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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 4 - Tuesday Jan. 13 | |
| Van Wely, L. - Carlsen, M. |
0-1
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| Aronian, L. - Wojtaszek, R. |
½-½
|
| Caruana, F. - So, W. |
½-½
|
| Hou, Y. - Giri, A. |
½-½
|
| Jobava, B. - Saric, I. |
0-1
|
| Radjabov, T. - Ding, L. |
0-1
|
| Ivanchuk, V. - Vachier-Lagrave |
1-0
|
Daniel King shows the game van Wely vs Carlsen
The tournament chess shop has one or two ChessBase DVDs
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Van Wely, Loek 0-1 Carlsen, Magnus
A tense Gruenfeld, Fianchetto variation. Van Wely's decision to sacrifice a pawn at around move 28 seems to have been too optimistic. Gruenfeld Expert GM Cristian Chirila brings us his thoughts:
[Event "77th Tata Steel Chess Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2015.01.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Van Wely, Loek"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D76"] [WhiteElo "2667"] [BlackElo "2862"] [Annotator "Chirila, Cristian"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "NED"] {The world champion has had quite a disturbing event so far. Simply put, his level of play has been nowhere close to what he has used to show. Playing one of the lowest seed, Carlsen surely looked to bounce back after his dissapointing loss yesterday.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 d5 (4... c6 5. Bg2 d5 {this is the most solid response to the fianchetto, but too drawish for Carlsen}) 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. O-O O-O 9. d5 (9. e3 {is the main line}) 9... Na5 (9... Bxc3 $6 10. dxc6 Bg7 11. Qc2 Qd6 12. cxb7 Bxb7 13. Be3 {white holds a nice advantage}) 10. Qc2 (10. e4 c6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bf4 cxd5 13. Nxd5 Nac4 $11 {is nothing special for white}) 10... c6 (10... Nxd5 { grabbing the pawn is a bit dangerous} 11. Rd1 c6 12. Ne1 (12. e4 Nb4 13. Qa4 b5 14. Rxd8 bxa4 15. Rxf8+ Kxf8 16. Nxa4 Nc4 $11) 12... Bd7 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Rxd5 e6 15. Rd3 Rc8 16. Qd1 Rc7 17. Bf4 e5 $11 18. Rc1 $14) 11. dxc6 Nxc6 12. Rd1 Bd7 (12... Qe8 $11) 13. Bf4 Qc8 14. Rac1 Bf5 {black is trying to provoke white into blocking his own bishop, as well as irremediably weakening the central d4 square} 15. e4 Bg4 16. Qb3 (16. Nd5 $5 e5 (16... Nxd5 $2 17. exd5 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Nd4 19. Qe4 Nxf3+ 20. Qxf3 $16) 17. Bg5 Nxd5 18. exd5 Bxf3 19. Bxf3 Nd4 20. Qxc8 Nxf3+ 21. Kg2 Rfxc8 22. Kxf3 f6 23. Be3 Kf7 {black is very close to equality}) 16... Qe6 17. Qxe6 $6 (17. Nd5 Qxe4 18. Nxb6 axb6 19. h3 $44) 17... fxe6 18. e5 Nd5 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. Ng5 $1 {quite precise} e6 (20... Bxd1 21. Bxd5+ Kh8 22. Rxd1 Bxe5 23. Be3 Bxb2 24. Nf7+ Kg7 25. Bh6+ Kf6 26. Bg5+ $11) 21. f3 h6 22. fxg4 hxg5 23. Bxg5 Nxe5 24. Bf4 (24. Rc7 {was necessary} Rac8 25. Rxb7 Rf7 26. Rxf7 Nxf7 27. Be3 Bxb2 28. Bxa7 Ra8 29. Rd2 Bc3 30. Rc2 Rxa7 31. Rxc3 Rxa2 32. Rc6 $11) 24... Nc6 25. g5 $2 {now this is hard to understand, why give away a pawn for no reason? maybe the time situation had a say in this dubious decision} (25. Rc2 $11) 25... Bxb2 26. Rc2 (26. Rb1 Bd4+ 27. Kh1 Bb6 $15) 26... Bd4+ 27. Kh1 Rad8 $17 {now black is simply a pawn up, and his central pawns are ready to be advanced} 28. Rb1 Rf7 29. Bh3 Re8 30. Re2 e5 31. Rb5 Ref8 32. Be6 exf4 33. Rxb7 (33. gxf4 Kg7 34. Bxf7 Rxf7 35. Rxd5 Rxf4 36. Rd7+ Rf7 37. Rxf7+ Kxf7 $17 {was a more resilient try, but still black should be winning with good technique (something the world champion doesn't lack)}) 33... f3 $19 34. Rd2 Kg7 35. Bxf7 Rxf7 36. Rxf7+ Kxf7 37. Rd3 f2 38. Kg2 Ke6 39. h4 Bb6 40. Rf3 Ne5 41. Rf6+ Ke7 42. a4 Bd4 43. g4 Nxg4 44. Rf4 Nh2 {a nice bounceback for Carlsen, if his positive trend continues we will soon be seeing him in the title contenders pack.} 0-1
Carlsen triumphed in what was a nearly must-win game
Aronian, Levon ½-½ Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
Wojtaszek seemed to have no problems equalizing from the opening. The game relatively quickly traded off into an endgame that was only marginally better for White. The Polish player held it without any real problems.
Birthday boy! Radoslaw Wojtaszek turned 28 today. Photo by Alina l'Ami.
Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ So, Wesley
First against Carlsen, and now against Caruana, So has shown an extremely solid repertoire which has allowed him to equalize without problems, neutralizing any initiative that White might come up with. Today the Spanish served him well as Caruana obtained nothing from the opening and after reaching a completely equal middle game the players agreed to a draw.
Caruana was neutralized by So
Hou Yifan ½-½ Giri, Anish
Side-stepping the Spanish opening with 3.Bc4 brought Hou Yifan absolutely nothing with White. Giri's approach to the position with 7...Kh8 and 8...Ng8 is not unheard of and is supposed to yield Black an acceptable position after he breaks with f5. A repetition in a position that was equal ended the game in a draw.
Hou Yifan was unable to bring much fight to the board against Giri
Jobava, Baadur 0-1 Saric, Ivan
Jobava pulled a Jobava (playing in a too suicidally creative way).
No one plays chess quite like Baadur Jobava
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Jobava, Ba"] [Black "Saric, Iv"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2666"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2015.01.09"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 g6 8. e4 $5 {Even though this idea looks bizarre, to play e3 and only then e4, it has been employed in the past by a very strong player...} dxe4 9. Nxe4 Bb4+ {White's point is that the only way to punish the e4 advance is with this check, but in that case the move g6 might not be desirable.} 10. Ke2 Qe7 (10... Qf4 11. Qd3 Be7 12. g3 Qc7 13. Bg2 {Gave White a slight edge in the game Kramnik-Leko, 2009. Though admittedly that was a blitz game.}) 11. c5 O-O 12. Qa4 {part of the point is that Black's bishop is nearly trapped, so White will try to use the time while Black saves it to improve his position.} Na6 13. a3 b5 (13... e5 $5 14. axb4 exd4 15. Kd3 Bf5 16. Nfd2 Nc7 {Gives Black compensation, but it is hard to say exactly how much.}) 14. Qb3 Ba5 15. Ne5 Nb8 {Black has kept all his material, but it feels something has gone wrong. He was unable to exploit the king position on e2 and White now has a nice bind all over the place.} 16. Qg3 (16. Qe3 $1) 16... Bc7 17. Ke3 $2 {Sometimes, however, Jobava just oversteps his limits...} (17. f4 $1 Rd8 18. Rd1 Bb7 19. h4 $1 h5 20. Qg5 $16 { White's bind is strong. The bishop on b7 is garbage and the rest is suffering for Saric.}) 17... g5 $1 {Creating swift counterplay. The threat of f5 is very real.} 18. f4 f5 19. h4 {A valiant attempt, but it doesn't come close to working.} Bxe5 20. dxe5 fxe4 21. hxg5 hxg5 22. Rh5 Rf5 {White simply lacks enough pieces to form an attack.} 23. Be2 Qg7 24. fxg5 Nd7 25. Rah1 Nf8 {Now there is no chance of creating a threat.} 26. Rh8+ (26. Qh2 Ng6 27. g4 Rf7 28. Rh6 Kf8 29. Rh7 Qxh7 30. Qxh7 Rxh7 31. Rxh7 {was perhaps the best hope, though White remains down a piece.}) 26... Qxh8 27. Rxh8+ Kxh8 28. Kxe4 Bd7 29. Ke3 Rf7 30. Qh4+ Kg8 31. Qe4 Rc8 32. a4 bxa4 33. Qxa4 Rb8 34. b4 Rf5 35. Bf3 Rxe5+ 36. Kd4 Rxg5 37. Kc3 Rc8 38. Qxa7 Rg7 {perhaps an odd time to resign, but Black does have a winning position.} 0-1
Radjabov, Teimour 0-1 Ding Liren
Ding Liren's hat trick is annotated by GM Cristian Chirila:
[Event "77th Tata Steel Chess Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2015.01.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E90"] [WhiteElo "2734"] [BlackElo "2732"] [Annotator "Chirila, Cristian"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "NED"] {The encounter between these two guys was already announcing to be an explosive one. Even though Radjabov hasn't had his best year in 2014, he remains one of the most aggressive and entertaining players. Ding on the other hand is the leading star in Chinese chess and has proven in recent years that he can be a world championship contender.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 {The chinese player is simply a machine in the KID, I personally can't remember how many wins against elite opposition I've seen. His understanding of this opening might be the best in the world at the moment. Even though, one could argue, it is actually his opponent, Teimour Radjabov, who is the best KID player in the world!} e5 7. d5 Nh5 8. g3 {this is the main line in recent years, previously} (8. Nh2 {was tried} Qe8 9. Be2 Nf4 10. Bf3 f5 11. g3 Nxh3 12. Bg2 fxe4 13. Nxe4 ( 13. Be3 Na6 14. Nxe4 Nf4 {leads to a very complicated battle in which black is able to hold his ground}) 13... Bf5 14. Ng4 (14. Rf1 h5 15. Qe2 Na6 16. f3 Nc5 $17 {Kuzubov,Y-Adhiban,B 0-1 2014})) 8... f5 9. exf5 gxf5 10. Ng5 Qe8 (10... Nf6 {is another option, though I prefer the game's continuation for black} 11. g4 $1 {white can play this move without losing time with Be2, with the N on h4 that is not possible due to the annoying N jump to f4} Qe8 12. gxf5 Bxf5 13. Be3 Na6 14. Rg1 Nb4 15. Rc1 Qg6 16. Nf3 $16 {Khairullin, I- Sutovsky, E 1-0 2011}) 11. Be2 (11. g4 $6 Nf4 $40) (11. c5 {is quite interesting} dxc5 12. d6 Nf6 (12... h6 13. Nd5 hxg5 14. Nxc7 Qg6 15. Nxa8 Rd8 $13 {I prefer black in this position}) 13. dxc7 Nc6 14. Bc4+ Kh8 15. Nb5 Ne4 16. Nxe4 fxe4 17. Nd6 Qe7 {this position is extremely complex, whoever has the better preparation will probably get the advantage}) 11... Nf6 12. Be3 Na6 13. Qd2 Bd7 14. O-O-O h6 { this is the first new move} (14... Nc5 15. g4 b6 16. Rdg1 Kh8 17. Bd1 $14 {Le, T- Ju,W 1/2 2010}) 15. Nf3 Nc5 16. Nh4 (16. Bxc5 dxc5 17. Qe3 (17. Kb1 Ne4 18. Nxe4 fxe4 19. Nh4 Rxf2 20. Qe3 Qf7 $13) 17... e4 18. Nh4 b6 19. Ng2 c6 20. dxc6 Bxc6 21. Nf4 {with a very interesting battle, white has nice control over a few key squares in the center and its proximity, while black has a black square monster on g7 which can very fast become a killing asset.}) 16... Nce4 17. Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Qc2 Ng5 19. Bd3 (19. f4 Ba4 20. b3 exf4 21. Bxf4 Bd7 $36) 19... e4 20. Be2 Rc8 21. Kb1 c5 22. dxc6 (22. Bf4 {this is preferable in my opinion, though the computer doess't tend to agree with me} Rf6 23. Ng2 Rb8 24. Ne3 Nf7 25. Rhg1 b5 (25... Ne5 26. g4) 26. cxb5 Bxb5 27. Bxb5 Qxb5 28. h4 $14) 22... Rxc6 23. Qd2 (23. Ng2 {white had to recycle his knight and bring it on a better square} Be6 24. Nf4 Bf7 25. g4 b5 26. c5 {with monstruous complications} ) 23... Be6 24. Bxg5 $2 {in my opinion this is a strategic blunder, I find it quite unnacceptable to renounce the only piece that can challenge black's main attacker (g7 B), and that for only one pawn.} (24. Bd4 $1 Qf7 25. b3 a5 26. Ng2 (26. f4 $5 exf3 27. Bxf3 d5 $13) 26... a4 27. Nf4 axb3 28. axb3 Ra8 29. h4 Rca6 30. Qb2 $13) 24... hxg5 25. Qxg5 Ra6 (25... Rxc4 $5) 26. Rd2 b5 27. Rc1 (27. g4 $1 {white had to look for king side counterplay}) 27... Qf7 28. Ng6 Bf6 29. Qh6 (29. Qh5 {was the only move to maintain the balance} Rc8 30. Nf4 Qxh5 31. Nxh5 Bg5 32. Nf4 bxc4 $15 {black has the superior endgame but he still has a lot of work to do}) 29... Rb8 {now the Chinese player's attack is iressistible} 30. Nf4 Bxc4 31. Rxc4 (31. Bxc4 bxc4 32. Qh5 c3 $19) 31... bxc4 32. Nd5 Bg7 33. Qg5 c3 $1 34. Bc4 (34. Nxc3 Rc6 35. Nd5 Qxd5 36. Qxg7+ (36. Rxd5 Rxb2+ 37. Ka1 Rxe2+ $19) 36... Kxg7 37. Rxd5 Rbc8 $19) 34... cxd2 35. Nf6+ Kf8 36. Nh7+ Ke8 37. Bxf7+ Kxf7 38. Qxf5+ Kg8 39. Kc2 $4 (39. Qe6+ $1 {was a more resilient try, it is not easy to escape the checks} Kxh7 40. Qxe4+ Kh8 (40... Kg8 41. Kc2 Ra5 42. b4 Re5 $17) 41. Qh4+ Kg8 42. Qc4+ d5 (42... Kf8 43. Qf4+ Ke8 44. Qe4+ Be5 45. Qg6+ Kd8 46. Qg8+ Kc7 47. Qf7+ Kc6 48. Qc4+) 43. Qxd5+ Kf8 44. b3 Bc3 $17) 39... Rxb2+ 40. Kd1 Rb1+ 0-1
Ding Liren with another win, a nice recovery after a first round loss!
He also has no draws in this tournament so far.
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
A very clean victory by Ivanchuk over one of the leading experts in the Najdorf:
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Ivanchuk, V."] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2757"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2015.01.09"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. Be3 (8. f3 {is another way of side-stepping the repetition, but it does cut off some of White's ideas in certain variations of the English attack.}) 8... Ng4 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bg7 12. h3 Ne5 13. Be2 Nbc6 14. Nb3 b5 15. a4 {A novelty. It avoids some ideas of Nc4, so it does make some sense to play this.} (15. Nd5 Nc4 16. Bxc4 bxc4 17. Nd2 Bxb2 18. Rb1 Be5 $6 {was the nice positional game Adams-Vallejo Pons in 2005 which was won by the Englishman.}) 15... b4 16. Nd5 {One of the next three Black moves is a dubious one, as after Ivanchuk castles he holds an advantage. However, which one and why is beyond my comprehension on the complexities of this Najdorf variation and its subtleties.} e6 17. Ne3 Bb7 18. Qd2 Qc7 19. O-O-O O-O-O 20. Kb1 {The problem for Black is that it is harder for him to transfer his pieces to the queenside and create threats than it is for White to do the same. If Black expands on the kingside he has no real targets to hit, so the question is... what does he do?} Kb8 21. f3 a5 22. h4 $1 {Playing in both sides taxes Black's position. Someone will now have to defend the g5 pawn as trading it would leave him a structural weakness and pushing it would allow f4, dislodging Black's best piece.} Na7 23. Nd4 Ng6 24. hxg5 hxg5 25. Rxh8 Bxh8 26. Bc4 Nf4 (26... Be5 27. Bf2 d5 {shouldn't work, but it at least made things somewhat uncelar.} 28. exd5 Nf4 $16) 27. Bb3 Qc5 28. Nc4 Ba6 $2 {A blunder in a bad position.} (28... Qxd4 29. Qxd4 Bxd4 30. Rxd4 Nc6 {is not something anyone wants to play.} 31. Rxd6 $16) 29. Bf2 $1 Bxc4 30. Nb5 Qc6 31. Bxa7+ Ka8 32. Bxc4 Qxc4 33. Bb6 {is completely hopeless. White will pick up a5 and b4 while Black is still planless.} (33. Bb6 Rd7 34. g3 Ng6 35. b3 Qc6 36. Bxa5 $18) 1-0
New leader! Vassily Ivanchuk with an amazing +3 (3.5/4)
Not even this amount of energy was enough to overtake Ivanchuk. Photo by Alina l'Ami.
Grandmaster Cristian Chirila - Guest CommentatorFormer World u-16 Champion, he recently finished his studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. Cristian is an ambitious chess player who streams, blogs, teaches and plays plenty! Find out more about Cristian, including his chess lesson services, biography and games here. |
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Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
| Round 4 - Tuesday Jan. 13 | |
| Wei, Y. - Gunina, V. |
1-0
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| Sevian, S. - Potkin, V. |
1-0
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| Klein, D. - Saleh, S. |
0-1
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| l' Ami, E. - Michiels, B. |
1-0
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| Haast, A. - Van Kampen, R. |
0-1
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| Shankland, S. - Timman, J. |
½-½
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| Dale, A. - Navara, D. |
0-1
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Ari Dale couldn't overcome the gigantic rating point difference today
Sam Shankland vs. Jan Timman ended in a draw
Anne Haast lost to Robin Van Kampen
Second-seed Wei Yi defeated Valentina Gunina
Husband and Wife team: Erwin l'Ami is playing the Challengers
while Alina l'Ami is the official photographer
It's very unclear which one is working harder...
A super bloody round! Six out of seven games today were decisive, two of them going for more than 90 moves! Even though the Masters group is doing a fantastic job of keeping us entertained, the Challengers group is not lagging far behind!
Sagar Shah brings us even more highlights from an exciting round four in the challengers. One of the highlights was that young Sam Sevian won against Vladimir Potkin after the Russian grandmaster cracked under pressure in a long endgame.
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
Photos by Nadja Wittmann for www.ChessBase.com
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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 |
| 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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