Tata 05: Melee on the boards!

by Alejandro Ramirez
1/17/2014 – Fighting and strange chess was today's norm in both the Masters and Challengers section of the Tata Steel tournament. Aronian continues his steady pace and beat Naiditsch thanks to some mistakes by the German, while Dominguez ravaged Rapport, So blew Gelfand off the board, while Caruana and Giri won long endgames against Van Wely and Harikrishna. Round 5 analysis!

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The 76th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place from 10 to 26 January 2014. The top players will compete in two groups (previously there were three), with twelve players in each, instead of fourteen. The structure of the amateur tournaments remains unchanged. Both groups start on January 11th 2014, with all rounds starting at 13:30h (1:30 p.m.) local time, except for the last round on January 26th, which begins at 12:00h. Two rounds will be played in Amsterdam and Eindhoven and will start at 14:00. The time controls are 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move.

Round Five - Masters

Group A: Round 5 - Friday Jan. 17
Pentala Harikrishna - Anish Giri
0-1
Fabiano Caruana - Loek van Wely
1-0
Richard Rapport - Leinier Dominguez
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura - Sergey Karjakin
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch - Levon Aronian
0-1
Wesley So - Boris Gelfand
1-0

Harikrishna, Pentala 0-1 Giri, Anish
Giri simply put outplayed Harikrishna in this Italian game that closely resembled the normal ideas of the Chigorin Spanish. In an endgame that was difficult to hold, but maybe close to a draw, Giri kept finding resources to put the pressure on Harikrishna. He sacrificed his passed pawn on the queenside to secuure himself an advantage on the kingside and White's position was unholdable. A pretty strategical game.

Caruana, Fabiano 1-0 Van Wely, Loek
Caruana's knight was the true hero of this game. It went from an outpost on f5 where it was constantly in danger of being taken to another strong outpost on c6, from where it eliminated Black's pawn on b4. Van Wely was probably close to a draw despite being down a pawn due to the opposite colored bishops, but he misplayed the endgame and Caruana took full advantage of this to convert the game.

Caruana's knight made Van Wely dizzy

The Cuban menace showed he can win the tournament too

Rapport, Richard 0-1 Dominguez Perez, Leinier
The Cuban player shows us that the school of chess from his country is based on dangerous and double-edged games.

[Event "76th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2014.01.17"] [Round "5"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2691"] [BlackElo "2754"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "NED"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g4 $5 {As unorthodox as it gets. The move disrupts Black's development on the kingside as the knight cannot go to its natural square, f6. However White's kingside is now permanently weakened. This will create a double edged game for sure.} Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. d3 d6 6. g5 (6. h3 Nf6 7. g5 Nh5 {is not so comfortable for White, as h3 looks like a waste of a tempo.}) 6... e6 7. h4 h5 (7... Nge7 8. h5 O-O {is not a human way to play. Castling into it can be quite dangerous in this situation as White has realistic chances of opening the h-file favorably while Black will have no immediate threats, as opposed to other openings in which the h-file is opened against a fianchetto, for example the dragon.}) 8. Bxc6+ {An interesting move, though very unnatural. The point is that Black will have a hard time developing the c8 bishop to anywhere useful, whereas White can try to punish Black's pawn structure. Chances are still even now, but it seems that Black's moves come easier than White's.} bxc6 9. f4 $6 {I think this is too greedy. White is trying to hold back Black's pawn structure in the center but this severely weakens g4.} e5 10. fxe5 Bxe5 11. Nf3 Bxc3+ $5 {An eye for an eye! There was nothing wrong with simply retreating the bishop, but Dominguez wants to exploit his opponent's weaknesses as soon as possible.} 12. bxc3 Ne7 13. Bf4 O-O 14. Nd2 d5 15. Qa4 (15. Rb1 Bg4 16. O-O $13 {was more prudent. White can transfer the queen to the kingside where it will hold the king safely and maybe even start some threats on the darksquares.}) 15... Bg4 16. Rh2 Re8 17. Rb1 Qd7 18. Rf2 Qe6 {The pressure mounts on the e2 pawn.} 19. Nb3 $2 {Missing Dominguez's reply.} Bxe2 $3 {Fantastic!} 20. Kd2 (20. Rxe2 Qg4 {is absolutely lethal. White cannot defend against the threats of Qg1+ winning the b1 rook, the bishop on f4 and the opening of the e-file.} 21. Bh2 Nf5 22. Rbb2 Qg2 $1 { and it's lightsout for White, who cannot resist the attack.}) (20. Nxc5 Qg4 21. Kd2 Qxh4 {is just a transposition.}) 20... Qg4 21. Nxc5 Qxh4 22. Be3 Nf5 23. Rxf5 gxf5 {Unfortunately for White his problems are not over. He is still down a huge amount of material and he has no counterplay yet.} 24. g6 $1 {An exclamation mark for stubbornness. Part of being a strong player is putting as many problems as you can to your opponent.} (24. cxd5 Qxa4 25. Nxa4 cxd5 {is too much extra material for the Cuban player, though it was the move that prolonged the game the most.}) 24... Rxe3 $1 {The correct counter!} (24... fxg6 25. Qxc6 {and suddenly it is Black's king that is in serious danger! Defending g6 is surprisingly impossible.}) 25. Kxe3 Re8+ 26. Kd2 Qf2 27. gxf7+ Kxf7 { Dominguez ain't afraid of no ghost.} 28. Qxa7+ Kg8 29. Rb8 Bxd3+ $1 {The final finesse.} 30. Kxd3 Qe2+ {With mate next move. A spectacular tactical game after a position masterpiece, Dominguez is showing why he belongs in the top tier of chess players.} 0-1

Nakamura sits at 50%, surely he wants more from the rest of the event

Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ Karjakin, Sergey
A very wild game. Nakamura sacrificed his king safety for a positional advantage of playing against an isolated pawn and having the pair of bishops, but Karjakin never relented in his initiative and didn't even bother regaining a lost pawn on c5. Eventually the game ended in a spectacular perpetual check!

Even though the game only lasted 24 moves,
both players had used a significant amount of time.Karjakin was down to only 11 minutes.

Naiditsch, Arkadij 0-1 Aronian, Levon
Aronian's opening was quite interesting: his shattered pawn structure was compensated by his pair of bishops, which then turned into an endgame in which although White had a passed pawn, it was Black that was more comfortably placed because of his active position. However the opposite colored bishops made the endgame rather drawish. A big mistake by Naiditsch cost him his passed a7 pawn, and without it his position quickly collapsed.

Aronian keeps an unstoppable pace in this tournament

So, Wesley 1-0 Gelfand, Boris
Gelfand simply never found his footing in this anti-Sveshnikov variation. He was not aggressive enough when he needed to be and his shattered pawn structure did not allow him to play defensively. He resigned not having lost any material, but being in a hopeless position regardless.

Gelfand needs more energy than this to recover his form in this event

Replay round six - Masters

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Round six - Challengers

Group B: Round 6 - Friday Jan. 17
Zhao Xue - Jan Timman
0-1
Dimitri Reinderman - Benjamin Bok
½-½
Kayden Troff - Sabino Brunello
½-½
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Yu Yangyi
0-1
Etienne Goudriaan - Ivan Saric
0-1
Baadur Jobava - Anna Muzychuk
½-½
Merijn van Delft - Radek Wojtaszek
0-1

Brunello finished with a draw in an interesting game with Troff

Jobava tried as hard as he could to outplay Muzychuk from an equal endgame, but the Slovenian grandmaster never budged and she was never in any danger of losing. With this draw, Saric was able to catch up with Jobava as he defeated Goudriaan with Black. Sadly for the Dutch student, this is his sixth loss in a row. Theory of numbers says that at some point he will at least draw a game, hopefully soon.

Muzychuk comfortably drew, despite being 150 points lower rated and being black

Timman can still play wild chess!

Zhao Xue and Timman played a dangerous and tactical game that was won by the Dutch legend after the Chinese grandmaster blundered in time pressure. The most interesting game of the day certainly was Yu Yangyi's demolition of Duda. A picturesque knight sacrificed forced open lines against the enemy king, which could simply not be defended.

Duda was in the receiving end of a brilliancy today

Guramashvili is not only there as Giri's girlfriend, she is also playing a closed section of the
'amateur's' tournament, with a rating average of over 2350

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Photos by Alina l'Ami

Schedule and results

Group A: Round 1 - Saturday Jan. 11
Leinier Dominguez - Anish Giri
½-½
Loek van Wely - Sergey Karjakin
0-1
Pentala Harikrishna - Levon Aronian
½-½
Fabiano Caruana - Boris Gelfand
1-0
Richard Rapport - Wesley So
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura - Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Group A: Round 2 - Sunday Jan. 12
Anish Giri - Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Wesley So - Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Boris Gelfand - Richard Rapport
0-1
Levon Aronian - Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Sergey Karjakin - Pentala Harikrishna
½-½
Leinier Dominguez - Loek van Wely
½-½
Group A: Round 3 - Monday Jan. 13
Loek van Wely - Anish Giri
½-½
Pentala Harikrishna - Leinier Dominguez
1-0
Fabiano Caruana - Sergey Karjakin
1-0
Richard Rapport - Levon Aronian
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura - Boris Gelfand
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch - Wesley So
½-½
Group A: Round 4 - Wednesday Jan. 15
Anish Giri - Wesley So
½-½
Boris Gelfand - Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Levon Aronian - Hikaru Nakamura
1-0
Sergey Karjakin - Richard Rapport
1-0
Leinier Dominguez - Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Loek van Wely - Pentala Harikrishna
½-½
Group A: Round 5 - Friday Jan. 17
Pentala Harikrishna - Anish Giri
0-1
Fabiano Caruana - Loek van Wely
1-0
Richard Rapport - Leinier Dominguez
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura - Sergey Karjakin
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch - Levon Aronian
0-1
Wesley So - Boris Gelfand
1-0
Group A: Round 6 - Saturday Jan. 18
Anish Giri - Boris Gelfand  
Levon Aronian - Wesley So  
Sergey Karjakin - Arkadij Naiditsch  
Leinier Dominguez - Hikaru Nakamura  
Loek van Wely - Richard Rapport  
Pentala Harikrishna - Fabiano Caruana  
Group A: Round 7 - Sunday Jan. 19
Fabiano Caruana - Anish Giri  
Richard Rapport - Pentala Harikrishna  
Hikaru Nakamura - Loek van Wely  
Arkadij Naiditsch - Leinier Dominguez  
Wesley So - Sergey Karjakin  
Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian  
Group A: Round 8 - Tuesday Jan. 21
Anish Giri - Levon Aronian  
Sergey Karjakin - Boris Gelfand  
Leinier Dominguez - Wesley So  
Loek van Wely - Arkadij Naiditsch  
Pentala Harikrishna - Hikaru Nakamura  
Fabiano Caruana - Richard Rapport  
Group A: Round 9 - Thursday Jan. 23
Richard Rapport - Anish Giri  
Hikaru Nakamura - Fabiano Caruana  
Arkadij Naiditsch - Pentala Harikrishna  
Boris Gelfand - Leinier Dominguez  
Wesley So - Loek van Wely  
Levon Aronian - Sergey Karjakin  
Group A: Round 10 - Saturday Jan. 25
Anish Giri - Sergey Karjakin  
Leinier Dominguez - Levon Aronian  
Loek van Wely - Boris Gelfand  
Pentala Harikrishna - Wesley So  
Fabiano Caruana - Arkadij Naiditsch  
Richard Rapport - Hikaru Nakamura  
Group A: Round 11 - Sunday Jan. 26
Hikaru Nakamura - Anish Giri  
Arkadij Naiditsch - Richard Rapport  
Wesley So - Fabiano Caruana  
Boris Gelfand - Pentala Harikrishna  
Levon Aronian - Loek van Wely  
Sergey Karjakin - Leinier Dominguez  

Grandmaster Group B

Group B: Round 1 - Saturday Jan. 11
Etienne Goudriaan - Zhao Xue
0-1
Baadur Jobava - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
½-½
Merijn van Delft - Kayden Troff
0-1
Radek Wojtaszek - Dimitri Reinderman
0-1
Anna Muzychuk - Jan Timman
½-½
Ivan Saric - Benjamin Bok
½-½
Yu Yangyi - Sabino Brunello
0-1
Group B: Round 2 - Sunday Jan. 12
Zhao Xue - Sabino Brunello
½-½
Benjamin Bok - Yu Yangyi
1-0
Jan Timman - Ivan Saric
½-½
Dimitri Reinderman - Anna Muzychuk
½-½
Kayden Troff - Radek Wojtaszek
½-½
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Merijn van Delft
1-0
Etienne Goudriaan - Baadur Jobava
0-1
Group B: Round 3 - Monday Jan. 13
Baadur Jobava - Zhao Xue
1-0
Merijn van Delft - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Radek Wojtaszek - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
½-½
Anna Muzychuk - Kayden Troff
1-0
Ivan Saric - Dimitri Reinderman
1-0
Yu Yangyi - Jan Timman
1-0
Sabino Brunello - Benjamin Bok
0-1
Group B: Round 4 - Tuesday Jan. 14
Zhao Xue - Benjamin Bok
1-0
Jan Timman - Sabino Brunello
1-0
Dimitri Reinderman - Yu Yangyi
1-0
Kayden Troff - Ivan Saric
0-1
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Anna Muzychuk
0-1
Etienne Goudriaan - Radek Wojtaszek
0-1
Baadur Jobava - Merijn van Delft
1-0
Wednesday, Jan. 15 – Free day
Group B: Round 5 - Thursday Jan. 16
Merijn van Delft - Zhao Xue
½-½
Radek Wojtaszek - Baadur Jobava
0-1
Anna Muzychuk - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Ivan Saric - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
1-0
Yu Yangyi - Kayden Troff
½-½
Sabino Brunello - Dimitri Reinderman
1-0
Benjamin Bok - Jan Timman
½-½
Group B: Round 6 - Friday Jan. 17
Zhao Xue - Jan Timman
0-1
Dimitri Reinderman - Benjamin Bok
½-½
Kayden Troff - Sabino Brunello
½-½
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Yu Yangyi
0-1
Etienne Goudriaan - Ivan Saric
0-1
Baadur Jobava - Anna Muzychuk
½-½
Merijn van Delft - Radek Wojtaszek
0-1
Group B: Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 18
Radek Wojtaszek - Zhao Xue  
Anna Muzychuk - Merijn van Delft  
Ivan Saric - Baadur Jobava  
Yu Yangyi - Etienne Goudriaan  
Sabino Brunello - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Benjamin Bok - Kayden Troff  
Jan Timman - Dimitri Reinderman  
Group B: Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 19
Zhao Xue - Dimitri Reinderman  
Kayden Troff - Jan Timman  
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Benjamin Bok  
Etienne Goudriaan - Sabino Brunello  
Baadur Jobava - Yu Yangyi  
Merijn van Delft - Ivan Saric  
Radek Wojtaszek - Anna Muzychuk  
Monday, Jan. 20 – Free day
Group B: Round 9 - Tuesday Jan. 21
Anna Muzychuk - Zhao Xue  
Ivan Saric - Radek Wojtaszek  
Yu Yangyi - Merijn van Delft  
Sabino Brunello - Baadur Jobava  
Benjamin Bok - Etienne Goudriaan  
Jan Timman - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Dimitri Reinderman - Kayden Troff  
Group B: Round 10 - Wednesday Jan. 22
Zhao Xue - Kayden Troff  
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Dimitri Reinderman  
Etienne Goudriaan - Jan Timman  
Baadur Jobava - Benjamin Bok  
Merijn van Delft - Sabino Brunello  
Radek Wojtaszek - Yu Yangyi  
Anna Muzychuk - Ivan Saric  
Thursday, Jan. 23 – Free day
Group B: Round 11 - Friday Jan. 24
Ivan Saric - Zhao Xue  
Yu Yangyi - Anna Muzychuk  
Sabino Brunello - Radek Wojtaszek  
Benjamin Bok - Merijn van Delft  
Jan Timman - Baadur Jobava  
Dimitri Reinderman - Etienne Goudriaan  
Kayden Troff - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Group B: Round 12 - Saturday Jan. 25
Zhao Xue - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Etienne Goudriaan - Kayden Troff  
Baadur Jobava - Dimitri Reinderman  
Merijn van Delft - Jan Timman  
Radek Wojtaszek - Benjamin Bok  
Anna Muzychuk - Sabino Brunello  
Ivan Saric - Yu Yangyi  
Group B: Round 13 - Sunday Jan. 26
Yu Yangyi - Zhao Xue  
Sabino Brunello - Ivan Saric  
Benjamin Bok - Anna Muzychuk  
Jan Timman - Radek Wojtaszek  
Dimitri Reinderman - Merijn van Delft  
Kayden Troff - Baadur Jobava  
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Etienne Goudriaan  

Commentary schedule on Playchess

Day Date Round English German
Monday January 13 Round 3 Yasser Seirawan Klaus Bischoff
Tuesday January 14 Free    
Wednesday January 15 Round 4 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
Thursday January 16 Free    
Friday January 17 Round 5 Simon Williams Oliver Reeh
Saturday January 18 Round 6 Yasser Seirawan Klaus Bischoff
Sunday January 19 Round 7 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
Monday January 20 Free    
Tuesday January 21 Round 8 Lawrence Trent Klaus Bischoff
Wednesday January 22 Free    
Thursday January 23 Round 9 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
Friday January 24 Free    
Saturday January 25 Round 10 Simon Williams Klaus Bischoff
Sunday January 26 Round 11 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


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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