Tata Steel Rd3: Too many pieces

by Alejandro Ramirez
1/12/2015 – The top seeds all found themselves down material, voluntarily or involuntarily. The first surprise was Carlsen's loss to Wojtaszek, when he preferred to give a piece for swindling chances but lost. This was followed by Aronian who blundered a piece to Wesley So. In the Challengers, lowest-rated Dale drew Wei Yi after he sacrificed two pieces. Annotations of some tragic games!

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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 three - Masters

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:

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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 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 Rc8 10.Kb1 Qc7 11.Nb3! Avoiding the knight trade denies Black the option of capturing on d4 and playing e5 with a tempo. 11.g4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4? e5 11...b5 12.g4 b4 13.Na4 e5 13...Nxe4? 14.Bb6 is impossible. 14.g5 Bg4 15.Qg2 Bxd1 16.Bxa6! 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! 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! Qb7 20.c4 Black has basically no moves. His counterplay is squashed. 0-0 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
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V2715Van Wely,L26671–02015B4577th Tata Steel GpA3.2

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:

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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 8.0-0 g5?! 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 0-0-0 However castling queenside is even more suicidal. 15.Rb1 e6?! 15...a5 16.Nb5 Qb8 17.b4!? axb4 18.e5! with a strong attack. 16.b4! exd5 17.bxc5! Black is already completely lost. dxc4 17...dxc5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.cxd5+- One would think White has sacrificed something to reach this position, but he hasn't... 18.e5 18.cxd6 Qxd6 19.e5+- 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
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Ding,L2732Jobava,B27271–02015A4177th Tata Steel GpA3.1

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:

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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 0-0 12.0-0-0 exd6 13.Rxd6 Qc8 14.Qb5 Re8 15.h4 h5 16.a4? A weird decision. Bxc3! 17.bxc3 Re4! Obviously strong, White's position is collapsing. 18.Be3 Qf8? Almost inexplicable. 18...Rxa4! 19.Nd4 Ne5‼ 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 ½–½
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Saric,I2666Hou,Y2673½–½2015B2777th Tata Steel GpA3.7

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:

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.Nd2 Rb8!? 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!? 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!? 20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.Qxe4 Bb4+ 22.Bd2 Bxd2+ 23.Kxd2 0-0 is incredibly complicated. 19...Nd7 20.Qh3 Kd8 is not human. 20.Qh3 Ng8?? Simply a big blunder. 20...Nd7 21.Bh5 g6 22.Bxg6 hxg6 23.Qxh8 Nc5! 23...gxf5 is not as convincing. 24.0-0 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.fxg8Q Rxg8 25.Rg1 25.Nb3! 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
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So,W2762Aronian,L27971–02015C4577th Tata Steel GpA3.6

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?

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1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 f5 A delayed dutch. 4.b4 Bg7 5.Bb2 a5 6.b5 a4!? 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 10.0-0 0-0 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! 17.dxc5 17.Qh4 Bf5 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! 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± 27...c5 28.Rb6 Qe6? 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! 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! 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! Covering the first rank removes counterplay. Qh4+ 38.Ng3 Kf7 38...Nxg3 39.Qxg3+ Qxg3+ 40.hxg3 h2 41.Kf2+- 39.Qf3! Kg7 40.Qf4! 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
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Wojtaszek,R2744Carlsen,M28621–02015A4177th Tata Steel GpA3.4

Can't win them all! World Champion Magnus Carlsen
suffered a bad defeat and starts with a dismal 1.0/3

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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 8.0-0 g5?! 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 0-0-0 However castling queenside is even more suicidal. 15.Rb1 e6?! 15...a5 16.Nb5 Qb8 17.b4!? axb4 18.e5! with a strong attack. 16.b4! exd5 17.bxc5! Black is already completely lost. dxc4 17...dxc5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.cxd5+- One would think White has sacrificed something to reach this position, but he hasn't... 18.e5 18.cxd6 Qxd6 19.e5+- 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
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2732Jobava,B27271–02015A4177th Tata Steel GpA3.1
Ivanchuk,V2715Van Wely,L26671–02015B4577th Tata Steel GpA3.2
Giri,A2784Caruana,F2820½–½2015D3777th Tata Steel GpA3.3
Wojtaszek,R2744Carlsen,M28621–02015A4177th Tata Steel GpA3.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2757Radjabov,T2734½–½2015D3777th Tata Steel GpA3.5
So,W2762Aronian,L27971–02015C4577th Tata Steel GpA3.6
Saric,I2666Hou,Y2673½–½2015B2777th Tata Steel GpA3.7

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Masters standings after three rounds

Round three - Challengers

Round 3 - Monday Jan. 12
Dale, A. - Wei, Y.
½-½
Navara, D. - Shankland, S.
½-½
Timman, J. - Haast, A.
0-1
Van Kampen, R. - l' Ami, E.
½-½
Michiels, B. - Klein, D.
0-1
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.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6 5.e4!? is a fighting move. 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Bb7 leads to normal lines. 5...c5 6.d5 6.e5 cxd4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Ng8 9.cxd4 6...Qe7 7.Bd2?! 7.Be2 looks the most logical to meet exd5 with exd5. 7...exd5! 8.Nxd5 8.cxd5?! Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Nxd5 10.Bxg7 Nb4 11.Qb1 Rg8 12.Bc3 Bb7 8...Nxd5 9.cxd5 Bxd2+ Something has gone horribly wrong with White. He is forced to recapture with the king now. 10.Kxd2 0-0 Black has a clear advantage. In the game ahead there were many ups and downs but Bart did not play well at all and that gave David his first of the tournament. It must be mentioned that Michael played the opening in an atrocius manner. 11.Nf3 d6 12.Re1 Bg4 13.Qc3 Nd7 14.Bb5 a6 15.Bxd7 Qxd7 16.Nh4 Qa4 17.f3 Bd7 18.g4 b5 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.gxf5 f6 21.Rhg1 Ra7 22.Ra1 b4 23.Qc4 Qe8 24.Rg3 Qe5 25.Kc2 a5 26.Rag1 a4 27.R3g2 Rb8 28.Kd3 Qf4 29.Ke2 Re8 30.Qb5 Qe5 31.Ke3 Rae7 32.Kf2 Qxb2+ 33.Kg3 Qe5+ 34.Kh3 Kf8 35.Qxa4 g5 36.Qc2 Ra8 37.Qb2 Ra3 38.Qxe5 Rxe5 39.Kg4 Re7 40.h4 Rg7 41.Kh5 h6 42.Rf2 Kf7 43.e5 fxe5 44.hxg5 hxg5 45.Rxg5 Rxg5+ 46.Kxg5 Ra8 47.f4 Rg8+ 48.Kh6 e4 49.Kh7 Rg3 50.Rh2 e3 51.f6 e2 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Michiels,B2563Klein,D25170–12015E3277th Tata Steel GpB3.1
Potkin,V2608Gunina,V25381–02015A2777th Tata Steel GpB3.2
Dale,A2291Wei Yi2675½–½2015E5277th Tata Steel GpB3.3
Van Kampen,R2613L'Ami,E2615½–½2015C6477th Tata Steel GpB2.4
Timman,J2593Haast,A23520–12015D2077th Tata Steel GpB3.7
Navara,D2729Shankland,S2652½–½2015C1177th Tata Steel GpB3.5
Salem,A2603Sevian,S2511½–½2015D4477th Tata Steel GpB3.6

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Challengers standings after three rounds

All Photos by Alina l'Ami from the official website

Schedule and results - Masters group

Round 1 - Saturday Jan. 10
Radjabov, T. - Van Wely, L.
½-½
Ivanchuk, V. - Jobava, B.
1-0
Vachier-Lagrave - Hou, Y.
1-0
Ding, L. - Caruana, F.
0-1
Saric, I. - Aronian, L.
½-½
Giri, A. - Carlsen, M.
½-½
So, W. - Wojtaszek, R.
½-½
Round 2 - Sunday Jan. 11
Van Wely, L. - Wojtaszek, R.
½-½
Carlsen, M. - So, W.
½-½
Aronian, L. - Giri, A.
½-½
Caruana, F. - Saric, I.
1-0
Hou, Y. - Ding, L.
0-1
Jobava, B. - Vachier-Lagrave
½-½
Radjabov, T. - Ivanchuk, V.
½-½
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
Round 4 - Tuesday Jan. 13
Van Wely, L. - Carlsen, M.  
Aronian, L. - Wojtaszek, R.  
Caruana, F. - So, W.  
Hou, Y. - Giri, A.  
Jobava, B. - Saric, I.  
Radjabov, T. - Ding, L.  
Ivanchuk, V. - Vachier-Lagrave  
Round 5 - Thursday Jan. 15
Vachier-Lagrave - Van Wely, L.  
Ding, L. - Ivanchuk, V.  
Saric, I. - Radjabov, T.  
Giri, A. - Jobava, B.  
So, W. - Hou, Y.  
Wojtaszek, R. - Caruana, F.  
Carlsen, M. - Aronian, L.  
Round 6 - Friday Jan. 16
Van Wely, L. - Aronian, L.  
Caruana, F. - Carlsen, M.  
Hou, Y. - Wojtaszek, R.  
Jobava, B. - So, W.  
Radjabov, T. - Giri, A.  
Ivanchuk, V. - Saric, I.  
Vachier-Lagrave - Ding, L.  
Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 17
Ding, L. - Van Wely, L.  
Saric, I. - Vachier-Lagrave  
Giri, A. - Ivanchuk, V.  
So, W. - Radjabov, T.  
Wojtaszek, R. - Jobava, B.  
Carlsen, M. - Hou, Y.  
Aronian, L. - Caruana, F.  
Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 18
Van Wely, L. - Caruana, F.  
Hou, Y. - Aronian, L.  
Jobava, B. - Carlsen, M.  
Radjabov, T. - Wojtaszek, R.  
Ivanchuk, V. - So, W.  
Vachier-Lagrave - Giri, A.  
Ding, L. - Saric, I.  
Round 9 - Tuesday Jan. 20
Saric, I. - Van Wely, L.  
Giri, A. - Ding, L.  
So, W. - Vachier-Lagrave  
Wojtaszek, R. - Ivanchuk, V.  
Carlsen, M. - Radjabov, T.  
Aronian, L. - Jobava, B.  
Caruana, F. - Hou, Y.  
Round 10 - Wednesday Jan. 21
Van Wely, L. - Hou, Y.  
Jobava, B. - Caruana, F.  
Radjabov, T. - Aronian, L.  
Ivanchuk, V. - Carlsen, M.  
Vachier-Lagrave - Wojtaszek  
Ding, L. - So, W.  
Saric, I. - Giri, A.  
Round 11 - Friday Jan. 23
Giri, A. - Van Wely, L.  
So, W. - Saric, I.  
Wojtaszek, R. - Ding, L.  
Carlsen, M. - Vachier-Lagrave  
Aronian, L. - Ivanchuk, V.  
Caruana, F. - Radjabov, T.  
Hou, Y. - Jobava, B.  
Round 12 - Saturday Jan. 24
Van Wely, L. - Jobava, B.  
Radjabov, T. - Hou, Y.  
Ivanchuk, V. - Caruana, F.  
Vachier-Lagrave - Aronian, L.  
Ding, L. - Carlsen, M.  
Saric, I. - Wojtaszek, R.  
Giri, A. - So, W.  
Round 13 - Sunday Jan. 25
So, W. - Van Wely, L.  
Wojtaszek, R. - Giri, A.  
Carlsen, M. - Saric, I.  
Aronian, L. - Ding, L.  
Caruana, F. - Vachier-Lagrave  
Hou, Y. - Ivanchuk, V.  
Jobava, B. - Radjabov, T.  

Schedule and results - Challengers group

Round 1 - Saturday Jan. 10
Shankland, S. - Wei, Y.
½-½
Dale, A. - Haast, A.
½-½
Navara, D. - l' Ami, E.
½-½
Timman, J. - Klein, D.
½-½
Van Kampen, R. - Sevian, S.
1-0
Michiels, B. - Gunina, V.
½-½
Saleh, S. - Potkin, V.
½-½
Round 2 - Sunday Jan. 11
Wei, Y. - Potkin, V.
1-0
Gunina, V. - Saleh, S.
1-0
Sevian, S. - Michiels, B.
0-1
Klein, D. - Van Kampen, R.
½-½
l' Ami, E. - Timman, J.
½-½
Haast, A. - Navara, D.
0-1
Shankland, S. - Dale, A.
½-½
Round 3 - Monday Jan. 12
Dale, A. - Wei, Y.
½-½
Navara, D. - Shankland, S.
½-½
Timman, J. - Haast, A.
0-1
Van Kampen, R. - l' Ami, E.
½-½
Michiels, B. - Klein, D.
0-1
Saleh, S. - Sevian, S.
½-½
Potkin, V. - Gunina, V.
1-0
Round 4 - Tuesday Jan. 13
Wei, Y. - Gunina, V.  
Sevian, S. - Potkin, V.  
Klein, D. - Saleh, S.  
l' Ami, E. - Michiels, B.  
Haast, A. - Van Kampen, R.  
Shankland, S. - Timman, J.  
Dale, A. - Navara, D.  
Round 5 - Thursday Jan. 15
Navara, D. - Wei, Y.  
Timman, J. - Dale, A.  
Van Kampen - Shankland, S.  
Michiels, B. - Haast, A.  
Saleh, S. - l' Ami, E.  
Potkin, V. - Klein, D.  
Gunina, V. - Sevian, S.  
Round 6 - Friday Jan. 16
Wei, Y. - Sevian, S.  
Klein, D. - Gunina, V.  
l' Ami, E. - Potkin, V.  
Haast, A. - Saleh, S.  
Shankland, S. - Michiels, B.  
Dale, A. - Van Kampen, R.  
Navara, D. - Timman, J.  
Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 17
Timman, J. - Wei, Y.  
Van Kampen, R. - Navara, D.  
Michiels, B. - Dale, A.  
Saleh, S. - Shankland, S.  
Potkin, V. - Haast, A.  
Gunina, V. - l' Ami, E.  
Sevian, S. - Klein, D.  
Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 18
Wei, Y. - Klein, D.  
l' Ami, E. - Sevian, S.  
Haast, A. - Gunina, V.  
Shankland, S. - Potkin, V.  
Dale, A. - Saleh, S.  
Navara, D. - Michiels, B.  
Timman, J. - Van Kampen, R.  
Round 9 - Tuesday Jan. 20
Van Kampen, R. - Wei, Y.  
Michiels, B. - Timman, J.  
Saleh, S. - Navara, D.  
Potkin, V. - Dale, A.  
Gunina, V. - Shankland, S.  
Sevian, S. - Haast, A.  
Klein, D. - l' Ami, E.  
Round 10 - Wednesday Jan. 21
Wei, Y. - l' Ami, E.  
Haast, A. - Klein, D.  
Shankland, S. - Sevian, S.  
Dale, A. - Gunina, V.  
Navara, D. - Potkin, V.  
Timman, J. - Saleh, S.  
Van Kampen, R. - Michiels, B.  
Round 11 - Friday Jan. 23
Michiels, B. - Wei, Y.  
Saleh, S. - Van Kampen, R.  
Potkin, V. - Timman, J.  
Gunina, V. - Navara, D.  
Sevian, S. - Dale, A.  
Klein, D. - Shankland, S.  
l' Ami, E. - Haast, A.  
Round 12 - Saturday Jan. 24
Wei, Y. - Haast, A.  
Shankland, S. - l' Ami, E.  
Dale, A. - Klein, D.  
Navara, D. - Sevian, S.  
Timman, J. - Gunina, V.  
Van Kampen, R. - Potkin, V.  
Michiels, B. - Saleh, S.  
Round 13 - Sunday Jan. 25
Saleh, S. - Wei, Y.  
Potkin, V. - Michiels, B.  
Gunina, V. - Van Kampen, R.  
Sevian, S. - Timman, J.  
Klein, D. - Navara, D.  
l' Ami, E. - Dale, A.  
Haast, A. - Shankland, S.  

Venues

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. "

Commentary on Playchess

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

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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