1/18/2015 – After a disappointing start, Magnus Carlsen has put his foot on the accelerator and has now overtaken the lead with his fifth straight win in a row. There was still the question of Ivanchuk, but Wesley So beat him with a fantastic piece sacrifice and attack from preparation he later explained, "I saw this in a ChessBase article". Round eight report with GM analysis.
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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 eight - Masters
Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 18
Van Wely, L. - Caruana, F.
0-1
Hou, Y. - Aronian, L.
½-½
Jobava, B. - Carlsen, M.
0-1
Radjabov, T. - Wojtaszek, R.
1-0
Ivanchuk, V. - So, W.
0-1
Vachier-Lagrave - Giri, A.
1-0
Ding, L. - Saric, I.
1-0
Daniel King shows the highlights of round 8
Hou Yifan ½-½ Aronian, Levon
The only draw of the day was a long endgame between Hou Yifan and Levon Aronian. The Chinese player simplified into an endgame rather quickly, but she seemed to outplay Aronian step by step. At some point, Hou Yifan had very real pressure on the position, but she had to be incredibly precise in order to not lose her advantage. Aronian was given one opportunity to simplify the situation into a R+N vs. R endgame which Hou Yifan did not bother to try winning.
Ding Liren 1-0 Saric, Ivan
Saric's handling of the Slav left something to be desired. His position was already losing when Ding Liren finished with style:
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.18"] [Round "8"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "Saric, Iv"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2732"] [BlackElo "2666"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r2kr/pp2bppn/2q5/3pP3/3P1pP1/2N4P/P1Q2PB1/R2R2K1 w - - 0 23"] [PlyCount "23"] [EventDate "2015.01.09"] 23. Qb3 f3 {Saric's tactical operations don't work, but to be fair he was already lost as d5 could not be protected.} 24. Bxf3 Ng5 25. Bg2 Nxh3+ 26. Bxh3 Rxh3 27. Nxd5 $1 {The important point. Without this move White is actually losing. Now the queen on b3 cannot be taken, and there are two threats: Qxh3 and Nxe7.} Qxd5 (27... Rxb3 28. Nxe7+ Kf8 29. Nxc6 $18) (27... Qh6 28. Nxe7+ Kh8 29. Nf5 Rh1+ (29... Qh7 30. Ng3 $18) 30. Kg2 Qh2+ 31. Kf3 {and the tking is actually very safe on h3.}) 28. Qxh3 {The material difference is too big now.} Qe4 29. Rac1 Bg5 30. Rc3 Bf4 31. Qd3 Qd5 32. Qf5 Bxe5 33. Rc8 f6 34. Rdc1 1-0
Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 So, Wesley
Ivanchuk fell for some nasty opening preparation:
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.18"] [Round "8"] [White "Ivanchuk, V."] [Black "So, W."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2762"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2015.01.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nbd2 Qd7 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Rxe5 Nf4 14. Nf3 Nxg2 {As spectacular as this move is, along with the idea that follows it, it was already known. Gustafsson had employed two months ago against Guliyev. Before that, there was also a game Jolly-Gozzoli in July.} 15. Kxg2 a5 {This is the point of the position. Black wants to swing over the rook via a6 to g6, but he is also threatening a4 trapping the White bishop. This is very uncomfortable to meet over the board.} 16. Rxe7 (16. a4 Ra6 17. Qe2 Rg6+ 18. Kh2 Bd6 19. Nh4 Bxe5+ 20. Qxe5 Re8 21. Qf4 Rf6 22. Qg3 Re1 23. Bh6 Rxf2+ $1 24. Qxf2 Rxa1 25. Nf5 Rh1+ 26. Kg3 Bc8 27. Qg2 Qxf5 28. Qxh1 Qg6+ 29. Kf2 {and here Black, for some reason, had to first place the strong intermezzo 29...bxa4 before taking on h6 to keep his advantage. Gulyiev-Gustafsson, 2014.}) 16... Qxe7 17. c3 Ra6 {White isn't up much material. Black's game kind of plays itself, bring the pieces over to the kingside, while White has no development. Ivanchuk is already lost at this point.} 18. d4 Rf6 19. d5 a4 20. Bc2 Rd8 21. Qe1 Qd7 22. Ng5 h6 23. Ne4 Rg6+ 24. Kh2 f5 25. Ng3 Qxd5 26. Qg1 Qf3 (26... Qf3 {Black is threatening to take on g3 and, if White recaptures with the f2 pawn, to play Qe2 followed by mate.} 27. Be3 Qxe3 $1 {fails just the same.} 28. fxe3 Rd2+) 0-1
Good opening prep from the number six player in the World, according to the live ratings
Wesley So explains his surprise that Ivanchuk fell for this preparation, "I saw this in a ChessBase article"
Jobava, Baadur 0-1 Carlsen, Magnus
Jobava's opening choice was, predictably, bizarre. He obtained a fine position at some point, somehow, against Carlsen and was slowly pushing him back. Carlsen fought back and obtained just a slight initiative after Jobava made the mistake of allowing too much activity, and then time trouble claimed its victim on the 40th move:
Carlsen with his fifth (!) victory in a row and now the sole lead of the tournament
[Event "77th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2015.01.18"] [Round "8"] [White "Jobava, Ba"] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2862"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/q4p1k/6p1/p2p4/2b2PP1/P1P1N2p/1Q3K1P/8 b - - 0 39"] [PlyCount "23"] [EventDate "2015.01.09"] 39... Qe7 {After having a slightly better position we have reached this situation. Carlsen has a slight initiative as White's king is a little exposed, but so far it is nothing special. Jobava needs to make his 40th move, get to time control and resolve the situation.} 40. Qc1 $2 (40. Qb8 $1 {Gives White enough activity to draw the game.}) (40. Nxc4 dxc4 41. Kf3 {is a little unpleasant but should also be a draw.}) 40... Qe4 {Now the queen's position is too strong. White is quickly getting zugzwanged and his pawns are all weak.} 41. f5 Qf4+ 42. Kg1 gxf5 43. gxf5 Bd3 44. Qe1 Bxf5 45. Nxf5 (45. Qf2 {was a better chance at holding as the bishop vs. knight endgame is not easy to convert, to say the very least.}) 45... Qxf5 46. Qg3 Kh6 47. Qb8 Qf3 48. Qh8+ Kg6 49. Qg8+ Kf6 50. Qd8+ Ke5 {The queen will only push the king to take all th e pawns while his majesty on g1 will perish.} 0-1
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime 1-0 Giri, Anish
MVL very soundly outplayed Giri from a 4.d3 Spanish. After obtaining a small initiative with the pair of bishops MVL cashed it in for an attack on the king that yielded him a winning rook endgame. A nice positional game.
Giri was again outplayed in an anti-berlin by MVL, the previous time it was in Biel last year
Van Wely, Loek 0-1 Caruana, Fabiano
Van Wely had a good position in a hedgehog style structure. Caruana seemed planless until, at one point, Van Wely simply blundered a pawn. There was some compensation for it, but it was not enough. Eventually Caruana converted.
Fabiano Caruana found a free pawn and a point to go with it
Radjabov, Teimour 1-0 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
Radjabov chose a Najdorf variation that won him a pawn, but gave Wojtaszek some serious compensation. Slowly but surely Radjabov neutralized the enemy initiative, making the game go into an opposite colored bishop endgame that was very, very unpleasant for Wojtaszek. The combination of the passed a-pawn and the weak king was too much for Black to handle.
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Masters standings after eight rounds
Round eight - Challengers
Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 18
Wei, Y. - Klein, D.
1-0
l' Ami, E. - Sevian, S.
½-½
Haast, A. - Gunina, V.
1-0
Shankland, S. - Potkin, V.
½-½
Dale, A. - Saleh, S.
0-1
Navara, D. - Michiels, B.
1-0
Timman, J. - Van Kampen, R.
0-1
The Challengers group saw more draws than usual... two! A big win by Wei Yi puts him at 2688 live rating... at only 15 years of age! However, Navara is keeping pace as he beat Michiels. Timman lost one of the Dutch duels of this tournament against Van Kampen.
Dale lost again and is in last place by a full point,
but still somehow performing above his rating
The Dutch Women's team came to support Anne Haast!
And it worked! A big upset as Haast defeated Gunina.
Potkin is having an alright tournament with 4.5/8, but that is two points less than the leaders
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
Challengers standings after eight rounds
Photos by Alina l'Ami for 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.
0-1
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
Round 5 - Thursday Jan. 15
Vachier-Lagrave - Van Wely, L.
½-½
Ding, L. - Ivanchuk, V.
½-½
Saric, I. - Radjabov, T.
0-1
Giri, A. - Jobava, B.
1-0
So, W. - Hou, Y.
½-½
Wojtaszek, R. - Caruana, F.
1-0
Carlsen, M. - Aronian, L.
1-0
Round 6 - Friday Jan. 16
Van Wely, L. - Aronian, L.
½-½
Caruana, F. - Carlsen, M.
0-1
Hou, Y. - Wojtaszek, R.
½-½
Jobava, B. - So, W.
0-1
Radjabov, T. - Giri, A.
½-½
Ivanchuk, V. - Saric, I.
½-½
Vachier-Lagrave - Ding, L.
1-0
Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 17
Ding, L. - Van Wely, L.
1-0
Saric, I. - Vachier-Lagrave
0-1
Giri, A. - Ivanchuk, V.
½-½
So, W. - Radjabov, T.
½-½
Wojtaszek, R. - Jobava, B.
0-1
Carlsen, M. - Hou, Y.
1-0
Aronian, L. - Caruana, F.
½-½
Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 18
Van Wely, L. - Caruana, F.
0-1
Hou, Y. - Aronian, L.
½-½
Jobava, B. - Carlsen, M.
0-1
Radjabov, T. - Wojtaszek, R.
1-0
Ivanchuk, V. - So, W.
0-1
Vachier-Lagrave - Giri, A.
1-0
Ding, L. - Saric, I.
1-0
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.
1-0
Sevian, S. - Potkin, V.
1-0
Klein, D. - Saleh, S.
0-1
l' Ami, E. - Michiels, B.
1-0
Haast, A. - Van Kampen, R.
0-1
Shankland, S. - Timman, J.
½-½
Dale, A. - Navara, D.
0-1
Round 5 - Thursday Jan. 15
Navara, D. - Wei, Y.
½-½
Timman, J. - Dale, A.
1-0
Van Kampen - Shankland, S.
0-1
Michiels, B. - Haast, A.
1-0
Saleh, S. - l' Ami, E.
0-1
Potkin, V. - Klein, D.
1-0
Gunina, V. - Sevian, S.
0-1
Round 6 - Friday Jan. 16
Wei, Y. - Sevian, S.
1-0
Klein, D. - Gunina, V.
1-0
l' Ami, E. - Potkin, V.
½-½
Haast, A. - Saleh, S.
½-½
Shankland, S. - Michiels, B.
1-0
Dale, A. - Van Kampen, R.
0-1
Navara, D. - Timman, J.
1-0
Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 17
Timman, J. - Wei, Y.
0-1
Van Kampen, R. - Navara, D.
0-1
Michiels, B. - Dale, A.
1-0
Saleh, S. - Shankland, S.
½-½
Potkin, V. - Haast, A.
1-0
Gunina, V. - l' Ami, E.
1-0
Sevian, S. - Klein, D.
1-0
Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 18
Wei, Y. - Klein, D.
1-0
l' Ami, E. - Sevian, S.
½-½
Haast, A. - Gunina, V.
1-0
Shankland, S. - Potkin, V.
½-½
Dale, A. - Saleh, S.
0-1
Navara, D. - Michiels, B.
1-0
Timman, J. - Van Kampen, R.
0-1
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!
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.
Alejandro RamirezGrandmaster 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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