Tashir 02: Grischuk over 2800, Kramnik brilliant

by Alejandro Ramirez
11/5/2014 – Two decisive results in the Tashir tournament: Kramnik destroyed Inarkiev, as the lowest rated player of the event had to repeat Black and again had problems from the get-go. A brilliant rook sacrifice destroyed Black's position. Grischuk played a fantastic game against Gelfand. An important result as Grischuk now leads with 2.0/2, becoming the eighth player in history to cross 2800.
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The International Tashir tournament Tashir dedicated to the memory of Tigran Petrosian takes place in Moscow from November 3rd to November 11th. The format of the event is a seven-round round robin. The time control: 100 minutes for 40 moves + 50 minutes for 20 moves + 15 minutes to the end of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from the first.

Round Two

Round 02 – November 05
Kramnik, Vladimir 2760
1-0
 Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688
Gelfand, Boris 2759
 0-1
 Grischuk, Alexander 2795
Morozevich, Alexander 2724
½-½; 
 Aronian, Levon 2797
Ding Liren 2730
½-½;
 Leko, Peter 2731

Cameras are simply everywhere in this event

Kramnik, Vladimir 1-0 Inarkiev, Ernesto
Deja Vu for Inarkiev, but maybe this time it was even more brutal. Kramnik obtained a strong advantage in a symmetrical pawn position and very soon afterwards it was a situation in which White's pair of bishops dominated the board (especially the monster on d6) and Black on top of that had a bad pawn structure.

Inarkiev found out that playing Grischuk and Kramnik back to back isn't easy

This time around however Inarkiev's death was not slow and painful as Kramnik found a fantastic rook sacrifice on the kingside that shattered his opponent's position. Despite the follow-up being less than ideal Kramnik's attack always had enough steam to crush the opponent's position.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Qc2 White's early queen sortie is a subtlety of modern chess. The idea is that in certain variations it is beneficial to have pressure down the c-file, anticipating that Black will break there. 0-0 6.Bg5 c5 7.dxc5 dxc4 8.e4 Nfd7?! 8...Qa5 9.e5 Nd5 10.Bxc4 Nxc3 11.0-0 was eventually drawn in one of the legendary K-K duesl. Kasparov-Karpov, 1987. 9.Bf4! cleraly White does not desire trades. It makes sense to lose the tempo but retain pieces in this scenario. b5 Breaking his own structure hardly seems recommendable, but the alternatives were not great. 9...Bxc5 10.Bxc4 Nc6 11.0-0 Qf6 10.cxb6 Nxb6 11.Rd1 Qe8 12.Be2 Na6 13.Ne5 Nb4 14.Qc1 Ba6 15.a3 Nc6 16.b4! Using the typical idea of the Blockade. White's knight on c3 will remain a powerful blockader, killing any activity on the queenside. Bf6 17.Nf3! Bxc3+ 18.Qxc3 Qc8 19.0-0 Somewhat similar to the last game Inarkiev played. White has the pair of bishops, the better pawn structure and a clear advantage. Bb5 20.Bd6 Rd8 21.e5 Anchoring the bishop on d6 and obtaining a long term advantage. h6 21...a5 Inarkiev probalby should have tried to breakthrough as soon as possible. 22.bxa5 Rxa5 23.Rb1 but definitely the advantage is still White's. 22.Nd4 a6 23.Bf3 Nxd4 24.Rxd4 Bc6 25.Be2 Bb5 26.Rg4! White swings his rook into the kingside taking advantage of Black's lack of space. As is common in chess the side with less space has difficulties maneuvering his pieces from one side to the other. Kh8 Already Black has to play this awkward move to defend g7. 27.Qg3 Rg8 28.Rh4! Qd8 29.Qf4 Re8? Allowing a brilliant sacrifice, but the alternative was very ugly too. 29...g5! was the only way to survive. 30.Qc1! 30.Rxh6+? Kg7 31.Qf6+ Qxf6 32.Rxf6 c3 leaves White up a pawn but Black's c-pawn is gaining momentum and White is lacking coordination. 30...Rg6± White is obviously still better but there are chances. 30.Rxh6+! gxh6 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.f4 32.Rd1 weas more "to the point". Black is helpless against the rook lift. c3 33.Bd3! 33.Rd3! also works! 33...f5 34.exf6 Ra7 35.Qg6+ Kh8 36.f7 with mate in a few moves. 32...Bc6 33.Bf3 letting Black off the hook a little bit. Qc8? 33...Nc8! 34.Bxc6 Nxd6! 35.exd6 Qxd6 36.Rf3! Qd4+ 37.Kf1 Qd1+ 38.Kf2 Qd2+ 39.Kg3 is almost winning for White, but at least Black forced Kramnik to find some good moves. 34.f5 now its just very easily over. 34.Bxc6 Qxc6 35.Qg5+ 35.f5?! Qe4 36.h3!+- 35.Rf3 Qxf3 36.gxf3 is very unnecessary. 35...Kh7 36.Qh4+ Kg8 37.f5 also worked. 34...exf5 35.Qg5+ Kh8 36.Bxc6 Re6 37.Rxf5 Ra7 38.Qh4+ Kg7 39.Rh5 Qg8 40.Be4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2760Inarkiev,E26881–02014D37Petrosian Memorial 20142

Big Vlad with an awesome win

Gelfand, Boris 0-1 Grischuk, Alexander
A brilliant display by Grischuk. Everything from the opening to the handling of the middle-game complications to the endgame were handled perfectly. At the end Grischuk missed several moves that would have finished off the game, but it was irrelevant as he was always winning. When he amassed enough time thanks to the 60-move time control he confidently played the winning combination.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.Rc1 Be6 7.c5 c6 8.Bd3 8.b4 Nbd7 9.Bd3 was Ivanchuk-Grischuk last year which ended in a Black victory. 8...Bc8!? Black's development looks ridiculous, but the point is that c5 is not a desirable more and neither is Rc1. He now has a relatively clear plan of breaking on e5 with Nfd7 or, if he chooses to, play b6 and a5 to break open the queenside. 9.h3 9.Nf3 Bg4!= White will be unable to avoid Nbd7 or Nfd7 and e5. 9...Nfd7 10.Nf3 e5 11.dxe5 Nxc5 Already Black has to be happy with the result of the opening. He has successfully broken the center and his structure is superior, if he catches up in development he will even be better. 12.Bb1 Nbd7 13.b4 Ne6 14.0-0 Nxf4 15.exf4 Nb6 16.Qd4 f6! Of course. Black opens the center as he wants to let his powerful bishops breathe. Gelfand is already playing against the ropes, he must try to create some kind of counterplay against Black's central pawns. 17.b5 Nc4 18.bxc6 bxc6 19.Bd3 fxe5 20.Nxe5 20.fxe5 Rxf3 21.Bxc4 Bxh3!? 21...Kh8! 22.gxf3? Qg5+ 23.Kh1 Bxh3 24.Rg1 Qh6! Keeping an eye on the c1 rook is lethal. White has no good way of preventing a bishop retreat since 25.Qe3 Qh4 only setups a Bh6 in the future. 22.Nxd5! is very messy Qg5! 23.Nf4+ Kh8 24.Nxh3 Rxh3 25.Qd7!∞ 20...Bxe5! Very well calculated. 21.fxe5 Nd2 22.Rfd1 Qg5 White has to solve some serious issues; the main one at the moment is that h3 is hanging. 23.Qe3 23.Kh1 Nf3! leads to the game 24.gxf3? Rxf3-+ 25.Bf1 Bxh3 and White is defenseless. 23...Nf3+ 24.Kh1 Qxe3 25.fxe3 Nxe5 26.e4! White has lost a pawn, but he can keep on fighting. He has a development advantage in this endgame nad he must put pressure on his opponent as soon as possible. d4 27.Na4 Rb8 27...Rf2!? 28.Bc4+ Kg7 29.Rxd4 Rb4 30.Nc5 Rf2 White has gained his pawn back, but it is temporary. 31.a3 Rbb2 32.Na4 Bxh3 the bishop is obviously poisoned, so the rook must be taken to diffuse the pressure. 33.Nxb2 Bxg2+ 34.Kh2 Rxb2 now Nf3+ is a threat. 35.Kg3 g5 36.Rcd1 h5 Black's pawns are rolling! It doesn't seem possible to stop them without trading rooks. 37.R4d2 Rxd2 38.Rxd2 Bxe4 39.Re2 h4+ 40.Kf2 Ng4+ 41.Kg1 Nf6? There was no reason to prolong the game. 41...h3 was an immediate killer. h2+ is the obvious threat as the endgame is winning, and the bishop on h2 is poisoned. 42.Rxe4 h2+ 43.Kg2 h1Q+ 44.Kxh1 Nf2+ 45.Kg2 Nxe4-+ 42.Be6 Now the pawns have to advance, but they will do so at a slower pace. Kg6 43.Re1 Bf3 44.Re5 g4 45.Bf5+ Kh6 46.Bd3 Bd5 47.Bf1 g3 48.Bh3 Ne4 49.Be6 Nf2! Grichuk finds the winning motif. 50.Bxd5 cxd5 51.Kg2 51.Rxd5 h3-+ 51...d4 51...Nd3 52.Rf5 Kg6 53.Rf8 Kg5 was also winning. 52.Rd5 d3 53.a4 a5?! its as if Grischuk doesn't want to finish Gelfand off! He is always in time pressure and the next moevs are made just to get to the extra time on move 60. 53...d2 54.Rxd2 h3+ 55.Kxg3 Ne4+ 56.Kxh3 Nxd2 was very obviously winning. 54.Kf3 Kg6 55.Rd8 Kf7 56.Rd4 Kf8 57.Rd5 Ke8 58.Rd4 Ke7 59.Rd5 Kf6 60.Rd6+ Kf5 Move 60 has been reached. 61.Rd4 Ke6 62.Rd8 Ke5 63.Rd7 h3! The point. 64.Kxg3 Ne4+ 65.Kf3 65.Kxh3 d2 leaves White defenseless against the dual threats of Nf2+ and d1 as well as Nd6 blocking the rook out. 65.Kh2 Nd6 66.Re7+ Kd4 is clearly hopeless. 65...h2 66.Kg2 d2 A fantastic effort by Grischuk. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gelfand,B2759Grischuk,A27950–12014D83Petrosian Memorial 20142

Alexander Grischuk is third on the live rating list with a rating of 2803

Gelfand has not found the pace he had in Baku

Ding Liren ½-½ Leko, Peter
Leko's position simply proved to be too solid for Ding Liren to breach.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Re1 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nb1 The knight is so badly placed on d2 that Ding Liren decides to lose a tempo to relocated it, but this can't be too dangerous for Black. Nbd7 The position has been seen many times, except White usually plays Nc3 instead of Black playing Nbd7! 11.Nc3 c5 12.Bf4 Ne4 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.Bh3 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Ra8 Leko is known as a very solid player and here he shows that. It was also possible to not trade on c3 and instead reinforce the knight with f5, but that is of course more weakening. 16.Bg2 Re8 17.h4 h6 18.Nd2 Nf6 19.Be5 Ng4 20.Nf3 Bd6 21.Bxd6 Qxd6 22.e3 Re7 23.a4 Rd8 24.a5 Bc8 25.Re2 b5 26.dxc5 Qxc5 Both sides have weaknesses and they balance each other out. 27.Rd2 Nf6 28.Rd4 Rde8 29.Qb3 a6 30.Ne1 Bf5 31.Nc2 Bxc2 32.Rxc2 Qc7 33.Qb4 33.Bxd5 Nxd5 34.Qxd5 Qxa5= 33...Rd8 34.Rcd2 Red7 35.Bf3 Qe5 36.Qc5 Qe6 37.Kg2 h5 38.R4d3 g6 39.Rd4 Kg7 40.R2d3 Kg8 41.Rd2 Kg7 42.R2d3 Kg8 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding Liren2730Leko,P2731½–½2014E15Petrosian Memorial 20142

Ding Liren couldn't break Leko's solid set-up

It simply was far from the game of the day

Morozevich, Alexander ½-½ Aronian, Levon
It's hard to say that Morozevich obtained an edge from the opening, but the way Aronian played the game allowed White to increase his pressure little by little. Black's position, however, remained solid and Morozevich was unable to breach the fortress; subsequent trades increased the possibility of the game going to a draw. At a certain juncture, however, Morozevich seems to have blundered. Aronian was unable to find a continuation that would have put the Russian against the ropes, even if the resulting endgame might have been drawn with perfect play.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Bg5 dxc4 8.Qxc4 b6 9.Rd1 Ba6 10.Qa4 h6 11.Bh4 Qe7 A novelty, no doubt Aronian is very familiar with the position. 11...Qd7 12.Qc2 Qc6 was essayed in Beliavsky-Yu Yangyi last year. 12.Nf3 Rd8 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.g3 c6 14...c5!? is more aggressive and will need practical tests. 15.Bg2 Bb5 16.Qc2 Nd7 17.0-0 Qf5!? Tempting White to play e4. This would gain space and a tempo, but Aronian would have hoped for pressure against the central pawns on the long run. The computer doesn't approve, but what do they know. 18.Rd2 Qxc2 19.Rxc2 Ba4 20.Rc3 Nf6 21.Rfc1 c5?! perhaps a little optimistic. 22.b3 Be8 23.dxc5 Ne4 24.Re3 Nxc5 25.Ne5 Rab8 26.Bc6! White is certainly a little better in this position. Black has some problems to solve as his knight on c5 will not stay there forever. a5 27.Bxe8 Rxe8 28.b4 axb4 29.axb4 Na6 30.b5 30.Nc6 Rb7 is probably a little better for White still but Black should hold one way or another. 30...Nc5 31.Ra3 Rb7 32.Rd1 Kf8 33.Kg2 Rc8 34.g4 Ke7 35.h4 f6 36.Nc6+ Ke8 White is tightening the noose, but with so few pieces on the board it won't be possible to really make Aronian run out of moves. 37.g5 Rd7 38.Rxd7 Kxd7 39.Ra7+ Rc7 40.gxh6 gxh6 41.Ra8 Rc8 42.Rxc8 Kxc8 The knight endgame is drawn as long as Black is careful. 43.Kf3 h5! 44.e4 e5 45.Ne7+ Kd7 46.Nd5 Ke6 47.Ke3? Perhaps missing Black's next move. 47.Nxb6 Nb3 allows Black to recover the pawn immediately. 47...Nxe4 Luckily for Morozevich the endgame is still a draw. 48.Nf4+! Kf5? Letting White off the hook too easily. 48...exf4+ 49.Kxe4 f3! 50.Kf4! Kd5! 51.Kf5 Kc4 52.Kg6 It's all forced up to here. Kd3! Going for the f-pawn, not the b-pawn! 53.Kxh5 Ke2 54.Kg6 Kxf2 55.h5 Ke3 56.h6 f2 57.h7 f1Q 58.h8Q Qg2+! 59.Kf7! Even though White is suffering, the endgame sould be a draw. 49.Nxh5 Nd6 50.Ng3+ Ke6 51.h5 f5 52.f4 Nc4+ 53.Ke2 exf4 54.h6 Kf6 55.h7 Ke5 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Morozevich,A2724Aronian,L2797½–½2014E32Petrosian Memorial 20142

Press officer Eteri Kublashvili

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili and Boris Dolmatovsky

Standings

Round Two Games

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Qc2 0-0 6.Bg5 c5 7.dxc5 dxc4 8.e4 Nfd7 9.Bf4 b5 10.cxb6 Nxb6 11.Rd1 Qe8 12.Be2 Na6 13.Ne5 Nb4 14.Qc1 Ba6 15.a3 Nc6 16.b4 Bf6 17.Nf3 Bxc3+ 18.Qxc3 Qc8 19.0-0 Bb5 20.Bd6 Rd8 21.e5 h6 22.Nd4 a6 23.Bf3 Nxd4 24.Rxd4 Bc6 25.Be2 Bb5 26.Rg4 Kh8 27.Qg3 Rg8 28.Rh4 Qd8 29.Qf4 Re8 30.Rxh6+ gxh6 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.f4 Bc6 33.Bf3 Qc8 34.f5 exf5 35.Qg5+ Kh8 36.Bxc6 Re6 37.Rxf5 Ra7 38.Qh4+ Kg7 39.Rh5 Qg8 40.Be4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2760Inarkiev,E26881–02014D37Petrosian Memorial 20142

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Schedule

Round 01 – November 04
Ding Liren 2730
½-½;
 Kramnik, Vladimir 2760
Leko, Peter 2731
 ½-½;
 Morozevich, Alexander 2724
Aronian, Levon 2797
½-½; 
 Gelfand, Boris 2759
Grischuk, Alexander 2795
1-0 
 Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688
Round 02 – November 05
Kramnik, Vladimir 2760
1-0
 Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688
Gelfand, Boris 2759
 0-1
 Grischuk, Alexander 2795
Morozevich, Alexander 2724
½-½; 
 Aronian, Levon 2797
Ding Liren 2730
½-½;
 Leko, Peter 2731
Round 03 – November 06
Leko, Peter 2731   Kramnik, Vladimir 2760
Aronian, Levon 2797   Ding Liren 2730
Grischuk, Alexander 2795   Morozevich, Alexander 2724
Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688   Gelfand, Boris 2759
Round 04 –November 08
Kramnik, Vladimir 2760   Gelfand, Boris 2759
Morozevich, Alexander 2724   Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688
Ding Liren 2730   Grischuk, Alexander 2795
Leko, Peter 2731   Aronian, Levon 2797
Round 05 – November 09
Aronian, Levon 2797   Kramnik, Vladimir 2760
Grischuk, Alexander 2795   Leko, Peter 2731
Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688   Ding Liren 2730
Gelfand, Boris 2759   Morozevich, Alexander 2724
Round 06 – November 10
Kramnik, Vladimir 2760   Morozevich, Alexander 2724
Ding Liren 2730   Gelfand, Boris 2759
Leko, Peter 2731   Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688
Aronian, Levon 2797   Grischuk, Alexander 2795
Round 07 – November 11
Grischuk, Alexander 2795   Kramnik, Vladimir 2760
Inarkiev, Ernesto 2688   Aronian, Levon 2797
Gelfand, Boris 2759   Leko, Peter 2731
Morozevich, Alexander 2724   Ding Liren 2730

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Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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