Wijk R12: after the penultimate round – too close to call

Results of round twelve

GM Group A

GM Group B

GM Group C

Too close to call

Round twelve report by Steve Giddins

It is the closest Wijk aan Zee in years. Today's penultimate round started with four leaders, and ended with six. The pairing between Movsesian and Radjabov brought together two of the overnight leaders, and an interesting struggle ended in a draw at move 27.

Slovakian GM Sergey Movsesian

Azeri GM Teimour Radjabov

Movsesian,S (2751) - Radjabov,T (2761) [B30]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (12), 31.01.2009
Notes by Sergey Shipov, translation by Steve Giddins

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6. 3...g6 is more popular. 4.0–0 Nge7. The classical idea – Black is ready to replace on knight on c6 with the other. But White does not want to exchange on c6 too early, and before Black has spent a tempo on a7-a6. 5.Nc3. Going for quick development. He could also prepare a retreat for the bishop by 5.Re1. In Adams-Radjabov, Dresden Olympiad 2008, White tried 5.b3 Nd4 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Ba3 '!?' 7...a6 8.Bd3 d6 9.c3 dxc3 10.Nxc3 Nc6 11.Ne2 Be7 12.Bc2 d5 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.d4 Bd7 15.Nf4 dxe4 16.Bxe4 Bc6 and Black had equalised. 5...Nd4. In the event of 5...a6 White can open the centre by 6.Bxc6 Nxc6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 for example, 8...Qc7 9.Re1 Bd6 10.Nxc6 dxc6 11.f4 e5 12.f5 Qe7 13.a4 a5 14.Be3 0–0 15.Qd2 Bc5 16.Rad1 with some advantage to White (Lahno-Cmilyte Plovdiv 2008). 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Ne2. The pawn on d4 is cut off from its base. Defending it by e6-e5 is unfavourable, since this gives White new objects of attack and weakens the light squares. 7...a6. A useful interpolation. In Rublevsky-PengXiang, Poikovsky 2007, after 7...Nc6 8.c3 Bc5 9.b4 Bb6 10.a4 a6 11.Bxc6 '!' 11...dxc6 12.a5 Ba7 13.cxd4 Bxd4 14.Nxd4 Qxd4 15.Qc2 '!' 15...Qxa1 16.Bb2 Qxf1+ 17.Kxf1 0–0 18.g4! an unusual material balance arose. The white queen turned out to be stronger and more effective than the passive black rooks. 8.Ba4 Nc6. Now taking on c6 is psychologically very difficult, after a tempo has already been spent retreating the bishop to a4. 9.d3. After 9.Bxc6 dxc6 the queen takes over from the knight, as defender of the d4 pawn; whilst 9.c3 is not good without the bishop on b5, because of 9...d3 10.Nf4 b5 11.Bb3 Ne5. 9...b5. After 9...Bc5 in the game Sutovsky-Nataf, Esbjerg 2001, White managed to overcome his psychological resistance: 10.Bxc6 '!?' 10...dxc6 11.Ng3 h5 (¹11...Bd6! '!') 12.e5 '!' 12...Qd5 13.Re1 Bb4 14.Re4 g6 15.Ne2 '!' 15...Bc5 16.h4 b5 17.Bg5 and developed a strong initiative on the dark squares. 10.Bb3 Bc5. Now the pawn on d4 is defended very solidly, but it no longer interests White. 11.f4. A natural and strong attacking plan. White has a nice space advantage on the kingside, by occupying which, he comes nearer to the black king. 11...Qh4. A sharp reaction. The black king stays in the centre. In some circumstances, this can be so for a long time. But then it can flee to whichever wing it feels safest on. [How dangerous White's attack can be was shown by the following game: 11...g6 12.f5! Bb7 13.Nf4 Na5 14.Qg4 Nxb3 15.axb3 Qc7 16.Qh4 '!' 16...Be7 17.f6 Bd6 18.Nxg6 '!!' 18...Rg8 (18...fxg6 19.f7+ Kf8 20.Bh6# '!') 19.Ne7 Bxe7 20.fxe7 Qe5 21.Qxh7 Qg7 22.Qxg7 Rxg7 23.Bf4 and White realised her advantage without difficulty (Kovalevskaya-Cmilyte Halle 2000) A modest development, but maybe the prelude to aggression. Also a novelty! 12.Bd2. The source game went 12.Ng3 Bb7 13.Qh5 Be7 14.f5 g6 15.Qxh4 Bxh4 16.Bh6 (Stronger is 16.fxe6! dxe6 17.Bh6 with some chances of success. ) 16...Bxg3 17.hxg3 gxf5 '!' 18.exf5 Rg8 19.fxe6 dxe6 20.Bf4 0–0–0 and Black achieved a full equal game Westerinen-Gausel, Gentofte 1999 1999. 12...Bb7. As predicted, Black opens a path for His Majesty in both directions.

13.Kh1. With his typical modest approach, Movsesian shows his opponent that he is not ready to attack, but simply strengthens his position and waits. In Radjabov's shoes, I would not be fooled. The move Kh1 is certainly prophylactic. The x-ray from the bishop on c5 is not pleasant, and he can never play c2-c3 without moving the king into the corner first. On the other hand, White also obtains a new route for activating his knight: Ne2-g1–f3! Then the enemy queen on h4 proves awkwardly placed, and must lose a tempo. [It is interesting to analyze the sharp 13.f5 '!?' 13...Bd6! (13...Ne5 14.Rf4 Qh5 15.Qe1 is very dangerous) 14.Nf4 g6 15.g3 Qe7! (15...Qd8 allows 16.fxe6 dxe6 17.Nh5! with the idea of 17...gxh5 18.Rxf7! Kxf7 19.Qxh5+) 16.Nh3 with the idea of activating the bishop on d2. 13...Qe7. If you cannot see a good decision, the best thing is to defer it. Wait and see... 14.Qe1. The war of nerves continues. I am a simlpe and straightforward fellow, so I again looked at the direct 14.f5 Bd6 15.Nf4 g6 16.Nh3 '!' 16...gxf5 17.exf5 Ne5 18.Qh5 Rg8 19.Ng5 0–0–0 20.Rae1 and despite the weakness of g2 (which must never be forgotten), White's chances are better. After 20...h6 there follows 21.Ne4! 14...g6 15.c3. An important decision on principle. Sergey keeps the move f4-f5 as a threat, which is stronger than its execution. The clasical principle, of psychological pressure on the opponent! With the text move, White opens the centre and creates pressure on the dark squares. 15...dxc3. He cannot keep the tension for long anyway. On 15...Rc8 there follows 16.Rc1 '!' 16.Bxc3 Bb4. Teimour seeks peace in exchanges. A sensible decision. After 16...0–0 17.f5 the threats grow. '!' 17.d4. I think Sergey avoided the continuation 17.f5! gxf5 18.exf5 purely out of general considerations, not wanting to expose the square g2. However, in my analysis, White's trumps appear to outweigh Black's. For example 18...Rg8 (on 18...h5 there is the strong 19.Nf4 with the idea of 19...Rg8 20.Qe2 h4 21.fxe6 dxe6 22.Nxe6! fxe6 23.Bxe6 with a fierce attack) 19.Ng3 0–0–0 20.a4 h5 21.axb5 axb5 22.Ne4! (too slow is 22.Qe2 h4 23.Ne4 h3! 24.g3 Bxc3 25.bxc3 d5 26.f6 Qf8 27.Nf2 d4! etc) 22...d5 23.Nf6 Rxg2! (23...Bxc3 24.Nxg8!) 24.Kxg2 Bxc3 25.bxc3 (25.Qxc3 d4) 25...Qxf6 26.d4 e5 27.Rd1! - White keeps the bishop on b7 under wraps and guarantees himself a comfortable advantage. 17...Bxc3 18.Qxc3. The reply 18.bxc3 leads to the creation of a weak pawn on c3, although it would not be easy for Black to exploit this, given White's active pieces and Black's exposed king. He risks not surviving to an ending. 18...Qb4 19.Qe3 Na5 20.d5. Stronger seems 20.f5! eg 20...gxf5 21.exf5 Rg8 22.Rf2 and on 22...0–0–0 there is the interesting retort 23.d5! as a result of which Black is practically forced to take on d5 with the pawn. He cannot keep his bishop alive because of 23...Nxb3 24.axb3 Bxd5? 25.Qa7! followed by a rook check on c1. 20...0–0 21.Rad1. At the moment, 21.f5 exf5 22.exf5 Rfe8! is premature, since there is no attack with 23.Qh6? Rxe2 24.f6 because of 24...Qf8! 21...Rae8. On 21...exd5 I regarded as promising the line 22.Rd4!? Nc4 (22...Qe7 23.Bxd5!) 23.Bxc4 dxc4 24.f5!; But I have not managed to refute 21...Nxb3!? 22.axb3 exd5. 22.Ng3. The artificial 22.Rd4 Qc5 23.f5 exf5 24.Rxf5 does not even give White perpetual check: 24...Nxb3 25.axb3 f6! and only Black will be able to attack now. 22...Nxb3. In the variation 22...Nc4 White can change direction: 23.Qa7! 23.axb3 f5 24.Qa7. The survival instinct overcomes everything. 24...Bc8. White wins in embarassingly simple fashion after 24...Ba8? - 25.dxe6 dxe6 26.Rd7! 25.Qe3 Bb7. White obtains a strong initiative after 25...fxe4 26.Rd4! Qe7 27.dxe6 dxe6 28.Rxe4; è 25...exd5 26.Rxd5 fxe4 27.Rc1!

26.Qa7 Bc8 27.Qe3 draw. [Click to replay]

Aronian tried hard  to overcome back marker Morozevich, sacrificing a couple of pawns for a significant bind. However, Black's position proved impossible to break down, and Aronian eventually overpressed and was probably lucky to survive. Fritz is extremely pessimistic about White's position, had Morozevich chosen 39...Qd3, instead of 39...Qf5.

Aronian,L (2750) - Morozevich,A (2771) [D98]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (12), 31.01.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.0–0–0 a6 10.h3 Bxf3 11.gxf3 b5 12.Qb3 c5 13.dxc5 e6 14.f4 Qe7 15.Rd6 Rc8 16.e5 Nxc5 17.Bxc5 Rxc5 18.Kb1 Rc8 19.h4 Qb7 20.Rg1 Qf3 21.Bg2 Qxf2 22.Qd1 Ra7 23.Ne4 Qxh4 24.Qd4 Rac7 25.Nf6+ Bxf6 26.exf6 Rf8 27.b3 Qh5 28.Rd1 Qf5+ 29.Ka1 h5 30.Rd8 Rc8 31.Rd6 a5 32.Bb7 Rce8 33.Re1 b4 34.Kb2 Qh3 35.Re5 a4 36.Qxb4 axb3 37.axb3 Rd8 38.Rxd8 Rxd8 39.Re2

39...Qf5 40.Qe7 Qd3 41.Rc2 Qd4+ 42.Ka2 h4 43.Rc7 Qd2+ 44.Ka3 draw. [Click to replay]

The other co-leader, Dominguez, drew a quiet game against Ivanchuk. This left the way clear for Carlsen and Kariakin to join the leaders, by beating Smeets and Adams respectively. Carlsen worked up some pressure in an IQP structure, but it is not clear that he had so much, until the Dutchman got his pieces into a tangle on the e-file. Once he did so, he was despatched emphatically.

Carlsen-Smets in the background, with Reinderman-Caruana up front

Magnus Carlsen, who jumped into the joint lead with this victory

Carlsen,M (2776) - Smeets,J (2601) [B10]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (12), 31.01.2009

1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nxd5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bb5 e6 8.0–0 Be7 9.d4 0–0 10.Re1 Bd7 11.Bd3 Rc8 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Ne5 Bf6 14.Bf4 g6 15.Qb3 Na5 16.Qb4 Be6 17.Bh6 Bg7 18.Bxg7 Kxg7

19.h4 Re8 20.h5 f6 21.Nf3 b6 22.Bb5 Re7 23.Re2 Rcc7 24.Rae1 Kf7 25.Qd2 Qf8 26.Qf4 Bf5 27.g4 Bc8 28.b4 Nb7

29.Bc6! 1–0. [Click to replay]

Adams looked to stand satisfactorily in the early middlegame, but misjudged the consequences of 25...Nc3, and suddenly found the dark-square weaknesses around his king were fatal.

Karjakin,Sergey (2706) - Adams,Mi (2712) [C92]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (12), 31.01.2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a4 Na5 13.Bc2 b4 14.cxb4 Nc6 15.Nb3 exd4 16.Bd2 d5 17.e5 Ne4 18.Nc5 Bxc5 19.bxc5 Rb8 20.b4 Ba8 21.Rb1 g6 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 Nxe5 24.Nxe5 Rxe5 25.Bf4

Nc3 26.Qxd4 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Nxb5 28.Qe5 Qf8 29.Bd3 Na7. One key point is that White threatens 30.Bxb5 Rxb5 31.Bh6 Qxh6 32.Qe8+ Kg7 33.Qxb5. 30.Qxc7 Nc6 31.Ra1 Rb7 32.Qd6 Ra7 33.Rxa7 Nxa7 34.Qd7 Nc6 35.Bb5 1–0. [Click to replay]

The games van Wely-Kamsky and Stellwagen-Wang Yue were both drawn. Going into tomorrow's final round, the lead is therefore shared between Carlsen, Aronian, Dominguez, Movsesian, Kariakin and Radjabov.

In the B Group, Short and Kazimdzhanov share the lead, half a point ahead of Caruana and Volokitin. The final round sees Caruana face Short, whilst Kazimdzhanov  and Volokitin have Black against   Motylev, and Efimenko respectively.

Nigel Short, after a victory still in the lead in Group B, but being challenged by...

Uzbek GM and former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasmidzhanov

Fourteen-year-old Hou Yifan defeated GM Francisco Vallejo, 2702, in 31 moves

At last a win: top seed Krishnan Sasikiran, India, in third-last place

In 1977 Henrique Mecking, 57, from Brazil was ranked number three in the world

In Group C, Wesley So leads by a point, after beating Hillarp Persson with Black today. The young Filipino needs only a draw with White against david Howell tomorrow, to clinch outright victory. In second place is the world's youngest grandmaster, Anish Giri.

Group C leader Wesley So, Philippines, the second youngest player in this section

In second place: Anish Giri, at 14 the youngest in Group C

The final round starts one hour earlier than usual, at 12.30 local time, tomorrow. Don't miss it!

All pictures by Frederic Friedel in Wijk aan Zee

Videos reports by Europe Echecs

GM Robert Fontaine wraps up each round for the French Chess magazine and portal Europe Echecs

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Links Official web site All games in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2009 Live coverage is available on the Playchess server The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.