Zurich 05: Caruana strikes

by Alejandro Ramirez
2/3/2014 – The Classical portion of Zurich 2014 has come to an end. Carlsen comes out on top after having an effortless draw against Anand. Nakamura had no chances against Gelfand and they agreed to a draw which forced a rapid game won by the Israeli. Caruana won a very nice game against Aronian in a grueling endgame in which the Armenian was not his usual solid defender. Rapids tomorrow!
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The «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» will be the first encounter between the newly crowned World Champion, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, and the former title holder, India’s Viswanathan Anand after their recent match in Chennai. From Wednesday, 29 January to Tuesday, 4 February 2014, they will compete in the 3rd Zurich Chess Challenge along with four other great chess stars: Levon Aronian (Armenia), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (Italy) and Boris Gelfand (Israel).

Round Four

Round 5 – February 03, 15:00h
Carlsen, Magnus 2872
½-½
 Anand, Vishy 2773
Caruana, Fabiano 2782
1-0
 Aronian, Levon 2812
Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
½-½
 Gelfand, Boris 2777

Gelfand had no problems in the classical game and demolished in the rapid

Nakamura obtained absolutely nothing against Gelfand in a typical anti-Sveshnikov. With the draw being pacted before move 40 the players had to play a rapid game which proved to be entertaining. Nakamura's strange opening was duly punished and Gelfand's light squared domination was very strong. The American despaired and an unnecessary sacrifice in a difficult to play position lost him the game, which didn't count for any real result.

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1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.Nf3 0 h6 3 3.c4 0 g5 1 4.Nc3 10 d6 17 5.g3 12 Bg7 90 6.Bg2 1 0-0 1 7.0-0 14 Nc6 9 8.d5 52 Na5 1 9.b3 42 e5 108 10.e4 155 Bg4 89 11.Qd3 236 b6 26 12.h4 19 Nh7 16 13.hxg5 37 hxg5 1 14.Nh2 80 Bd7 11 15.Qe2 13 f5 36 16.exf5 5 Bxf5 1 17.Ne4 104 Nb7 5 18.Be3 5 Nc5 64 19.Bxc5 1 bxc5 2 20.Bf3 47 Nf6 83 21.Ng4 4 Qd7 79 22.Nexf6+ 10 Bxf6 2 23.Nh6+ 2 Kg7 1 24.Nxf5+ 1 Qxf5 2 25.Kg2 14 Rh8 67 26.Rh1 2 Qg6 40 27.Be4 15 Qf7 1 28.Qg4 13 Be7 12 29.f3 34 Raf8 12 30.Rxh8 7 Rxh8 1 31.Rh1 2 Rxh1 59 32.Kxh1 0 Qf8 15 33.Kg2 25 Qd8 9 34.Qh5 31 Bf6 4 35.Qh7+ 31 Kf8 2 36.Qf5 4 a5 73 37.Kf1 28 Kg7 25 38.Ke2 10 Qe7 97 39.Kd3 17 Qd8 0 40.Kc2 1 Kf8 47 41.Kb2 8 Kf7 1 42.Qh7+ 46 Kf8 5 43.Qh6+ 12 Ke7 16 44.Qh3 26 Kf8 7 45.Qe6 9 Kg7 20 46.g4 39 a4 45 47.bxa4 18 Qb8+ 0 48.Kc2 4 Qb4 1 49.Qd7+ 5 Kf8 1 50.Qb5 28 Qe1 17 51.a5 12 Qa1 92 52.Kb3 41 Qd1+ 46 53.Bc2 36 Qxf3+ 38 54.Ka4 1 Qc3 1 55.Bb3 9 c6 22 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Gelfand,B2777Nakamura,H-1–02014A46Zurich CC 2014 - Rapid5

Anand and Carlsen played a short game. The World Champion proposed a solid Berlin Wall game and Anand was simply unable to obtain even the slightest of advantages. With nothing going for him and with no desire to push the issue he allowed simplifcations to an opposite colored bishop that any amateur could defend. The players unspokenly agreed to play util move 40 so no rapid game was necessary.

Anand didn't have any chances to fight today

But he was rewarded for having the best novelty of the year due to his
c6-c5 against Aronian in Wijk Aan Zee last in January 2013

The fight of the day was bewteen Caruana and Aronian. With a well prepared novelty Caruana obtained a pleasant position that quickly turned into a pawn, but with many technical complications for its conversion. With a little aid of his opponent and accurate moves the Italian won a nice game:

The beginning of what was a very long game

Daniel King shows the game Caruana vs Aronian

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Be3 An idea that is already a few years old. 16.Bxd5 is the theoretical main line, but Black has proved ways to equalize here. 16...Bxd3 17.Nd2 Qf5 18.Bd4 Caruana's novelty. White retains some pressure due to the fact that Black's structure is still somewhat vulnerable and White's development is more coordinated. 18.Qxf5 Bxf5 19.Bd4 Rfd8 20.a4 Bf8 and the game was eventually drawn in Ivanchuk-Aronian, 2008 18...Rfe8 19.a4 h6 20.Kg2 Kf8?! 20...Bf8 just puts the bishop in a slightly safer square and allows a future b5 in some lines, which we will see is not possible with the bishop on d6. 21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.axb5 axb5 23.Qxf5 Bxf5 24.Bxd5!? 24.Ra6 also gave White a minimal amount of initiative. Here Black would like to reply something alone the lines of b4/c5 but he can't because of the bishop on d6 and the knight on d5. 24...cxd5 25.Ra6 The structure is shattered and only White can hope for the advantage, but it shuldn't be too serious yet. Be7?! Misassessing the situation 25...Be5! Was important. 26.Bxe5 26.Nb3 Bc2 27.Bxe5 Bxb3= should not be worrisome for Black. 26...Rxe5 allows Black's rook to penetrate onto e1 or e2 with sufficient counterplay for equality. 26.Nf1 b4 27.Ne3 Bd3 28.Ra5 bxc3 29.bxc3 Black loses the e4 pawn by force now. He needs to activate as soon as possible to obtain counterplay. Bd8?! Natural looking, but since the pawn is lost regardless it was better to simply gift it right away. 29...Rb8 30.Nxd5 Bd8 31.Rc5 Be4+ 32.Kh3 Rb2 with real activity. 30.Ra8 f6 31.f3 Be7 32.Ra7! A very good move. With the rook on the 7th rank it is easier to create threats. Bd6 32...Rd8 33.Bb6 Re8 34.Nxd5 Bd6 was still preferable to the gaim continuation. Letting the knight remain solidly around the king eases White's consolidation. 33.Rd7 Ba3 34.Rxd5 Kg8 Black is down a pawn but he has real hopes of holding thanks to his pair of bishops. Ideally he would like to exchange his dark squared bishop for the knight to obtain an opposite colored bishops position. 34...Bc1 35.Bc5+ didn't work just yet. 35.h4 Bc1 36.Ng4 Bc4 37.Rc5 Be6 38.Nf2 Ra8 39.g4 Ra2 39...Rc8!? 40.Rxc8+ 40.Ra5 Bf4 is also not easy as now Black controls c4. 40...Bxc8 since this endgame is not easy for White at all due to the pair of bishops it was possible that this was Black's best hope of holding. 40.Kg3 Ra6?! 41.Rc7 Bd2? The start of a strange and bad plan. Aronian spent a lot of time on this move which makes it even more bizarre. 42.Ne4 Be1+ 43.Bf2 Bxf2+ 44.Kxf2 With the darksquared bishops off the board it is much easier for White to make progress as he doesn't have to worry about his knight being exchange unfavorably. Ra2+ 44...f5!? 45.Nc5 Rd6 46.Nxe6 Rxe6 47.gxf5 Re5 48.f6 gxf6 49.c4 is not pleasant at all but maybe it can be held? More analysis is needed. 45.Kg3 Rc2 46.Kf4 Ra2 47.h5 Fixing the structure on the kingside. White is not winning yet but it looks uglier and uglier for Black. Ra5 48.Nc5 Bd5 49.Rc8+ Kf7?? The final mistake 49...Kh7 50.Nd7 was unpleasant of course but Black isn't dead yet after g5+ 51.hxg6+ Kxg6± 50.c4! Nice tactics Ba8 50...Bxc4 51.Nb7 Ra4 52.Nd6+ Ke6 53.Rxc4+- 51.Rc7+ Kg8 52.Ne6 The kingside cannot be held together and the rest is a simple mop up. Ra3 53.Rxg7+ Kh8 54.Kf5 Bxf3 55.Rg6 Be2 56.Rxh6+ Kg8 57.Rg6+ Kh8 58.Rxf6 Rf3+ 59.Nf4 Bxc4 60.Kg5 Kg8 61.Kh6 Ra3 62.g5 Ra7 63.g6 Rc7 64.Nh3 Rc8 65.Ng5 Rd8 66.Nh7 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2782Aronian,L28121–02014C89Zurich Chess Challenge 20145.2

And Aronian's resignation ages after everyone else was done

Replay round five games

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1.e41,166,62354%2421---
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.d3 Nf6 6.Nd2 d6 7.Nf1 Bg4 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.Nd5 Be6 10.Nfe3 Bg5 11.c3 0-0 12.Qd1 Nb6 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.Qb3 d5 16.0-0 Kh8 17.a4 Na5 18.Qb5 Nc6 19.Qb3 Na5 20.Qb5 Nc6 21.Qb3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2789Gelfand,B2777½–½2014B30Zurich Chess Challenge 20145.1
Caruana,F2782Aronian,L28121–02014C89Zurich Chess Challenge 20145.2
Anand,V2773Carlsen,M2872½–½2014C65Zurich Chess Challenge 20145.3

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Cristian Chirila - Guest Commentator

Former World u-16 Champion and currently a grandmaster finishing his studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, Cristian is an ambitious chess player. Find out more about Cristian, including his chess lesson services, biography and games here.

Maria Emelianova - Photographer

Maria Emelianova is 26 years old, born in Ekaterinburg, Russia, Women FIDE Master, with a 2113 Elo rating. After finishing school Maria moved to Moscow to study at the university, so chess was forgotten for some time. She worked for about a year with Alexander Roshal in the chess magazine "64". Her career as a chess photographer started at the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. "It was just a hobby, but somehow became an interesting job," says Maria, who works with a Canon 1DX. "Now I am finishing my studies at two universities in Moscow, and am looking forward to a future in the big world of chess."

Schedule and Pairings

The event is a six player round robin, with a rate of play of 40 moves in 120 minutes, then 20 moves in 60 minutes and the rest of game in 15 minutes, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting after move 61. Special rule: in case of a draw before move 40, an additional rapid game will be played (which does not count for the overall result).

Wed. January 29: 19:00  Opening Ceremony & Blitz
Thu. January 30: 15:00  Round 1
Fri. January 31: 15:00  Round 2
Sat. February 01: 15:00  Round 3
Sun. February 02: 15:00  Round 4
Mon. February 03: 15:00  Round 5
Tue. February 04: 13:00  Rapid Tournament 19:00  Closing Ceremony
  • The blitz will be used to determine the colors
  • The classical time control gives two points to wins, one for draws and none for losses
  • The rapid time control gives one point to wins, half to draws and none for losses

The winner will be the one who scores the most points between the classical tournament and the rapid.

Schedule of Commentary

Date   English German
30.01.2014 Round 1 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
31.01.2014 Round 2 Daniel King Oliver Reeh
01.02.2014 Round 3 Alejandro Ramirez Klaus Bischoff
02.02.2014 Round 4 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
03.02.2014 Round 5 Alejandro Ramirez Klaus Bischoff

Schedule and results

Round 1 – January 30, 15:00h
Carlsen, Magnus 2872
1-0
 Gelfand, Boris 2777
Aronian, Levon 2812
1-0
 Anand, Vishy 2773
Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
½-½
 Caruana, Fabiano 2782
Round 2 – January 31, 15:00h
Carlsen, Magnus 2872
½-½
 Aronian, Levon 2812
Gelfand, Boris 2777
½-½
 Caruana, Fabiano 2782
Anand, Vishy 2773
0-1
 Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
Round 3 – February 01, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2782
½-½
 Anand, Vishy 2773
Aronian, Levon 2812
½-½
 Gelfand, Boris 2777
Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
0-1
 Carlsen, Magnus 2872
Round 4 – February 02, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2777
0-1
 Anand, Vishy 2773
Carlsen, Magnus 2872
1-0
 Caruana, Fabiano 2782
Aronian, Levon 2812
1-0
 Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
Round 5 – February 03, 15:00h
Carlsen, Magnus 2872
½-½
 Anand, Vishy 2773
Caruana, Fabiano 2782
1-0
 Aronian, Levon 2812
Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
½-½
 Gelfand, Boris 2777

Rapid Schedule

Round 1
Gelfand, Boris 2777   Carlsen, Magnus 2872
Anand, Vishy 2773   Aronian, Levon 2812
Caruana, Fabiano 2782   Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
Round 2
Aronian, Levon 2812   Carlsen, Magnus 2872
Caruana, Fabiano 2782   Gelfand, Boris 2777
Nakamura, Hikaru 2789   Anand, Vishy 2773
Round 3
Anand, Vishy 2773   Caruana, Fabiano 2782
Gelfand, Boris 2777   Aronian, Levon 2812
Carlsen, Magnus 2872   Nakamura, Hikaru 2789
Round 4
Anand, Vishy 2773   Gelfand, Boris 2777
Caruana, Fabiano 2782   Carlsen, Magnus 2872
Nakamura, Hikaru 2789   Aronian, Levon 2812
Round 5
Carlsen, Magnus 2872   Anand, Vishy 2773
Caruana, Fabiano 2782   Aronian, Levon 2812
Nakamura, Hikaru 2789   Gelfand, Boris 2777

 

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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