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The Tata Steel Chess Tournament has two main tournaments. They are played according to the 'round robin' system, whereby each competitor plays in turn against every other during the tournament. The Tata Steel Masters has 14 participants and the Tata Steel Challengers has 14 participants. Both groups start on January 10th 2015 and the last round is on January 25th. All rounds in Wijk aan Zee begin at 13.30 hours, except for the last round on January 25th, which begins at 12.00 hours. The time control is 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.
Admission to the playing hall in Wijk aan Zee, Rotterdam and The Hague is free of charge
| Round 3 - Monday Jan. 12 | |
| Ivanchuk, V. - Van Wely, L. |
1-0
|
| Vachier-Lagrave - Radjabov, T. |
½-½
|
| Ding, L. - Jobava, B. |
1-0
|
| Saric, I. - Hou, Y. |
½-½
|
| Giri, A. - Caruana, F. |
½-½
|
| So, W. - Aronian, L. |
1-0
|
| Wojtaszek, R. - Carlsen, M. |
1-0
|
Daniel King shows the highlights of round 3
Commentary the good old-fashioned way
A bloody round! Most of the games had an amazing amount of interest:
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Van Wely, Loek
Ivanchuk, the legend, played a nice game against a somewhat dazzled Van Wely:
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.12"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Van Wely, Loek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2667"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2015.01.10"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qe2 {Van Wely started to think about how to combat this Qe2 system. In his thought process he must have over-thought and confused himself, as the system employed in the game must be much better for White.} a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 Rc8 10. Kb1 Qc7 11. Nb3 $1 {Avoiding the knight trade denies Black the option of capturing on d4 and playing e5 with a tempo.} (11. g4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 $2 e5 $17) 11... b5 12. g4 b4 13. Na4 e5 (13... Nxe4 $2 14. Bb6 {is impossible.}) 14. g5 Bg4 15. Qg2 Bxd1 16. Bxa6 $1 {This is a very good line for Ivanchuk. He will recover a piece, leaving him down the exchange for a pawn but with complete board domination.} Nd7 17. Rxd1 (17. Bxc8 Qxc8 18. Rxd1 Qa6 {seems to trap the knight, but White has a miraculous resource.} 19. Qh3 $1 Qxa4 20. Qxd7+ Kxd7 21. Nc5+ {and White remains up a pawn. Although this is nice, I prefer the variation in the game as it is more annoying for Black to play against.}) 17... Ra8 18. Bb5 Be7 19. f5 $1 Qb7 20. c4 {Black has basically no moves. His counterplay is squashed.} O-O 21. f6 Bd8 22. Rxd6 Ncb8 {Once you play this move, you know the game is over. Ivanchuk's finishing technique was not the most precise, technically, but far more than good enough to finish the position off.} 23. Qg4 g6 24. h4 h5 25. Qf3 Bc7 26. Rxd7 Nxd7 27. Bxd7 Rad8 28. Nbc5 Qa8 29. Qd1 Qa7 30. Qd5 Ra8 31. Bd2 Rfd8 32. Bxb4 Ba5 33. a3 Qc7 34. Nc3 Bxb4 35. axb4 Qa7 36. Kc2 Rac8 37. Nb5 Qa1 38. Nd6 1-0
Loek Van Wely maybe overthought the opening ideas
Vassily Ivanchuk is now tied for the lead with +2 (2.5/3)
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime ½-½ Radjabov, Teimour
A topical line in the QGD, though all the ideas in this game have been seen before, including the pawn sacrifice on b5, the trade of the queen for the two rooks and the sacrifice of the exchange.
Ding Liren 1-0 Jobava, Baadur
Jobava selfdestructed:
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.12"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Jobava, Baadur"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A41"] [WhiteElo "2732"] [BlackElo "2727"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2015.01.10"] 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 Bf5 4. Nc3 h6 {This idea of playing Bf5 and h6 is very uncommon, and usually not successful. A similar idea was employed by Jobava against Mamedyarov in Tromso, but the Georgian player was annihilated there as well.} 5. g3 Nbd7 6. Bg2 c6 7. d5 c5 8. O-O g5 $6 {Sometimes Jobava's creativity produces spectacular and awe-inspiring games. Sometimes he shoots himself in the foot.} 9. h4 g4 10. Ne1 Bg7 11. e4 Bh7 12. Nd3 {Black's kingside is too weak. If he castled kingside he will slowly die.} a6 13. a4 Qc7 14. Be3 O-O-O {However castling queenside is even more suicidal.} 15. Rb1 e6 $6 (15... a5 16. Nb5 Qb8 17. b4 $5 axb4 18. e5 $1 {with a strong attack.}) 16. b4 $1 exd5 17. bxc5 $1 {Black is already completely lost.} dxc4 (17... dxc5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. cxd5 $18 {One would think White has sacrificed something to reach this position, but he hasn't...}) 18. e5 (18. cxd6 Qxd6 19. e5 $18) 18... Nxe5 19. Rxb7 Qa5 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Qa1 {White is preparing Qb2, Rc1, Rfb1, Rxf7, c6...} Rd3 22. Qb2 (22. Qb2 Rxc3 23. Rxf7 {leaves Black defenseless against Rxg7, Qb7+, etc etc.}) 1-0
Ding Liren won with a crushing victory
Saric, Ivan ½-½ Hou Yifan
A huge missed opportunity! Hou Yifan had Saric crushed and simply let him go:
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.12"] [Round "3.7"] [White "Saric, Ivan"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B27"] [WhiteElo "2666"] [BlackElo "2673"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2015.01.10"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. e5 Nc6 6. Qa4 Nd5 7. Qe4 Nb6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Bf4 d5 10. exd6 Bf5 11. Qe2 O-O 12. O-O-O exd6 13. Rxd6 Qc8 14. Qb5 Re8 15. h4 h5 16. a4 $2 {A weird decision.} Bxc3 $1 17. bxc3 Re4 $1 {Obviously strong, White's position is collapsing.} 18. Be3 Qf8 $2 {Almost inexplicable.} ( 18... Rxa4 $1 19. Nd4 Ne5 $3 {Is winning. We will leave the variations for the reader to figure out. This is, however, not the only way to win for Black, simply the most exact and prettiest. 18...Ra1+ followed by 19...Ra5 is good enough as well.}) 19. Bc5 Qh6+ 20. Be3 Qf8 21. Bc5 Qh6+ 22. Be3 Rxe3 23. fxe3 Qxe3+ 24. Rd2 a6 25. Qb3 Na5 26. Qb4 Nc6 27. Qa3 Na5 28. Qb4 Nc6 29. Qa3 Na5 30. Qb4 Nc6 1/2-1/2
Hou Yifan let slip a beautiful opportunity
Giri, Anish ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano
Giri and Caruana played a marathon 90+ move game that finished after many, many hours of play, though to be perfectly honest had they agreed to a draw at any point after move 30 it would have been perfectly acceptable as well. Can't say these guys didn't try.
Fighting spirit was not lacking here
So, Wesley 1-0 Aronian, Levon
A huge blunder straight out of the complex opening:
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.12"] [Round "3.6"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2797"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2015.01.10"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. Nd2 Rb8 $5 {Actually an interesting alternative to modern theory. It just shows how there is so much unexplored territory in so many openings.} (8... a5 {is a normal move.}) (8... g6 {is the most popular.}) 9. c4 Nf4 10. Qe3 Ng6 11. f4 f6 12. Qxa7 Rb7 13. Qf2 fxe5 14. f5 Nf4 {A weird position, to say the least. } 15. Qf3 (15. g3 Nh5 {was also possible.}) 15... Qf7 16. g3 Nh5 17. Be2 Nf6 18. g4 $5 {Hyper aggressive! It's hard to say who is better or what is going on, but it would be fun if this variations is repeated a few more times at the top level.} d5 19. g5 e4 (19... Ng8 {was what Aronian thought he should have played, but this also looks dubious at least.}) (19... Ne4 $5 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Qxe4 Bb4+ 22. Bd2 Bxd2+ 23. Kxd2 O-O {is incredibly complicated.}) (19... Nd7 20. Qh3 Kd8 {is not human.}) 20. Qh3 Ng8 $4 {Simply a big blunder.} (20... Nd7 21. Bh5 g6 22. Bxg6 hxg6 23. Qxh8 Nc5 $1 (23... gxf5 {is not as convincing.}) 24. O-O Bxf5 {and Black seems to have good compensation for the missing exchange.}) 21. Bh5 g6 22. fxg6 {the c8 bishop is hanging, so Black is forced to capture on h3.} Bxh3 23. gxf7+ Kd7 24. fxg8=Q Rxg8 25. Rg1 (25. Nb3 $1 {was easier as So pointed out after the game.}) 25... Bd6 26. cxd5 cxd5 27. Bf7 Rf8 28. Bxd5 {Black is simply down a piece and a pawn. Aronian made it complicated by finding some accurate and annoying moves, but it never changed the evaluation of the game.} Rb4 29. g6 hxg6 30. Rxg6 Rd4 31. Bxe4 Re8 32. Kf2 Rf8+ 33. Ke2 Re8 34. Kf2 Rf8+ 35. Ke3 c5 36. Rg7+ Kd8 37. Ke2 Bc8 38. Bf3 Ba6+ 39. Kf2 Rh4 40. Nf1 Kc8 41. Be3 Rh3 42. Nd2 Rxh2+ 43. Kg1 Rxd2 44. Bg4+ Kb8 45. Bxd2 Be5 46. Re7 Bd4+ 47. Be3 Rg8 48. Bxd4 Rxg4+ 49. Kf2 Rxd4 50. Rh1 Bb7 51. Rh8+ Ka7 52. Ke3 Rb4 53. b3 c4 54. Rh4 1-0
America's number one player in the live rating list,
just barely passing Hikaru Nakamura: Wesley So
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 1-0 Carlsen, Magnus
The Polish player takes vengeance over his loss in the Olympiad with fine technique against Carlsen, who made things easier on Wojtaszek with the blunder 28...Qe6?
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.12"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A41"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2862"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2015.01.10"] 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 f5 {A delayed dutch.} 4. b4 Bg7 5. Bb2 a5 6. b5 a4 $5 {This brave pawn will be weak, but it does restrict White a little. Carlsen has to be very careful not to lose it though.} 7. e3 Nf6 8. Be2 c6 9. bxc6 bxc6 10. O-O O-O 11. Qc2 Qc7 12. Nc3 a3 13. Bc1 {White has a nice edge. His central control and possibility to attack a3 makes Black's position very shaky. The best he can do is sacrifice the a3 pawn and try to gain counterplay using the open a-file, but that seems to be easier said than done.} Nbd7 14. Rb1 Ne4 { This uses a nifty tactical resource, but Wojtaszek smartly sidesteps the complications.} 15. Nxe4 fxe4 16. Nd2 (16. Qxe4 Nc5 $1 17. dxc5 (17. Qh4 Bf5 $132) 17... Bf5 {skewers the queen to the rook on b1.}) 16... Nf6 17. Rb3 { White is now going to win the b3 pawn and in some lines e4 is under attack. Black really has no compensation.} Bf5 18. Rxa3 h5 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. a3 h4 { Initiating operations on the kingside is the only way to go, but it is insufficient.} 21. Bb2 h3 22. g3 {Ignoring the pawn pushes is fine for White as there is no way to force the trade of the bishops, the knight on d2 AND get a queen to f3.} Qc8 23. Re1 (23. Ra1 Bg4 $1) 23... Rb8 (23... Bg4 24. Nxe4 {is no good. Re1 is prophylaxis against Bg4.}) 24. Bc3 Nh7 25. a4 Ng5 26. Rb1 Ra8 27. Qd1 (27. Rb6 $16) 27... c5 28. Rb6 Qe6 $2 {This leads to a forced win for White.} (28... Kh7 {still keeps Black's chances alive, though there is no doubt that White is better.}) 29. g4 $1 {Simply put the bishop on f5 is trapped. Black has some tricks, but that's it.} cxd4 30. Bxd4 {There is no rush in capturing on f5, so this is more precise.} Bxd4 31. exd4 e3 32. gxf5 gxf5 (32... exf2+ 33. Kf1 $1 Qxf5 34. Qb1 {is kaput.}) 33. Nf1 exf2+ 34. Kxf2 Ne4+ 35. Ke1 {White's king is a little exposed, and with time trouble looming the situation is tricky, but Wojtaszek handles it very well.} Qf6 36. Qd3 Rxa4 37. Rb1 $1 {Covering the first rank removes counterplay.} Qh4+ 38. Ng3 Kf7 ( 38... Nxg3 39. Qxg3+ Qxg3+ 40. hxg3 h2 41. Kf2 $18) 39. Qf3 $1 Kg7 40. Qf4 $1 { A very human reaction. The computers will tell you there are better moves out there, but simplifying into an endgame up a piece is the simplest.} Qxf4 41. Nh5+ Kf7 42. Nxf4 Ng5 43. d5 {The rest is relatively easy. White just needs to untangle and put his pieces in the correct spots. f5 and h3 will eventually work by themselves.} Kf6 44. Kf2 Ra3 45. Bd3 Ra2+ 46. Kg3 Ra3 47. Re1 Ne4+ 48. Kf3 Ng5+ 49. Ke3 Ra2 50. Re2 Ra3 51. Rf2 Ne4 52. Rf3 1-0
Can't win them all! World Champion Magnus Carlsen
suffered a bad defeat and starts with a dismal 1.0/3
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
| Round 3 - Monday Jan. 12 | |
| Dale, A. - Wei, Y. |
½-½
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| Navara, D. - Shankland, S. |
½-½
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| Timman, J. - Haast, A. |
0-1
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| Van Kampen, R. - l' Ami, E. |
½-½
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| Michiels, B. - Klein, D. |
0-1
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| Saleh, S. - Sevian, S. |
½-½
|
| Potkin, V. - Gunina, V. |
1-0
|
Jan Timman, recalling some old (chess) war stories...
Though today Anne Haast made one for herself by defeating a legend!
The Challengers section was certainly overshadowed by the Masters section that was full of action, but there were some interesting highlights in this section as well. Dale keeps having a good tournament as he very boldly attacked Wei Yi. The perpetual to finish the game was a fitting end.
Navara-Shankland was a game that outrated one of the games in the Masters section (Saric-Hou Yifan). The game ended in a solid draw.
Valentina Gunina could not hold against Vladimir Potkin's onslaught
Timman was brutalized by Haast, the annotations can be found below. Potkin also thrashed Gunina with a powerful positional game finished off with a simple, but cute, tactic.
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
All Photos by Alina l'Ami from the official website
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The tournament has a slight change this year. Most of the rounds will be played in the traditional De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk Aan Zee, but two of the rounds will be played elsewhere. Last year the tournament traveled to the National Museum in Amsterdam and the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven.
This year the fifth round will be held in De Rotterdam. De Rotterdam is a building on the Wilhelminapier in Rotterdam, designed by Rem Koolhaas in 1998.
Rotterdam is ready to host Tata Steel!
The tenth round will be played in the International Press Cnetre Niewuspoort in the Hague. Councillor Karsten Klein of The Hague had this to say: "The Hague is honored to be able to host the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2015 at the heart of the Dutch parliamentary democracy. Our city has a long history of international chess tournaments, a tradition which is continued in this manner. "
This being the first major event of the year, it is clear that we will be bringing you live commentary on our server www.playchess.com!
| Day | Date | Round | English |
| Saturday | January 10 | Round 1 | GM Alejandro Ramirez |
| Sunday | January 11 | Round 2 | GM Alejandro Ramirez |
| Monday | January 12 | Round 3 | GM Alejandro Ramirez |
| Tuesday | January 13 | Round 4 | GM Daniel King |
| Wednesday | January 14 | Free | |
| Thursday | January 15 | Round 5 | GM Daniel King |
| Friday | January 16 | Round 6 | GM Simon Williams |
| Saturday | January 17 | Round 7 | GM Nicholas Pert |
| Sunday | January 18 | Round 8 | GM Simon Williams |
| Monday | January 19 | Free | |
| Tuesday | January 20 | Round 9 | GM Daniel King |
| Wednesday | January 21 | Round 10 | GM Simon Williams |
| Thursday | January 22 | Free | |
| Friday | January 23 | Round 11 | GM Daniel King |
| Saturday | January 24 | Round 12 | GM Simon Williams |
| Sunday | January 25 | Round 13 | GM Daniel King |
LinksThe 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. |
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