Paris: Carlsen and Nakamura lead after day 1

by André Schulz
6/9/2016 – For top favorite Magnus Carlsen the Grand Chess Tour tournament in Paris began with a shock. In round one he had a completely winning position against Wesley So but then forgot to move and lost on time. Carlsen recovered by winning three games in a row to finish the day with a draw in round five. He now has 3.5/5 and shares the lead with Hikaru Nakamura.
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Before the tournament began there was a moment of silence
in honor of Viktor Kortschnoi who died on Monday.

Kasparov makes the first move

The stage

This year World Champion Magnus Carlsen has to defend his title against Sergey Karjakin and therefore has not enough time to take part in the Grand Chess Tour tournament in St. Louis in London. However, he received a wildcard to take part in the rapid- and blitz-tournaments in Paris and Leuven.

The Grand Chess Tour 2016 starts with the tournament in Paris. On Thursday and Friday the ten participants play a rapid tournament, on Saturday and Sunday they will play blitz. The rapid tournament began at 14.00 hrs local time. The organisers of the Grand Chess Tour provided the media and the chess websites with a video-livestream, a marked contrast to the policy of FIDE marketer Agon - a company that at the Candidates Tournament in Moscow even forbid the media to transmit the live-pgns of the games and plans to follow a similar policy during the coming World Championship in November.

World Champion Magnus Carlsen is top favorite in Paris but the tournament did not start well for him. In the first round Carlsen played with White against Wesley So and with bold and creative play the World Champion reached a completely winning position in which he had two queens against queen and knight. But then he could not make up his mind which winning move he should play and lost on time - a bitter loss particularly so because the rapid games are played with a time-limit of 25 minutes for the whole game and a 10-second increment per move.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.Ba4 a6 9.d4 Ba7 10.Bc2 d5 11.Nxe5 Nxe4 12.Nd2 Nd6 13.Ndf3 Bf5 14.Re1 Bxc2 15.Qxc2 Ne4 16.Qb3 Qc8 17.Ng5 Nxg5 18.Bxg5 f6 19.Nd3 Qd7 20.Bf4 c6 21.Re2 Ng6 22.Rae1 Rad8 23.Re6 Kf7 24.Bg3 Rde8 25.Rxe8 Rxe8 26.Rxe8 Kxe8 27.a4 Qe7 28.a5 Kd8 29.Qd1 Qe4 30.Kh2 Ne7 31.Qb3 Kc8 32.Qb4 Qe6 33.Nf4 Qf7 34.Kg1 Bb8 35.Nd3 Bxg3 36.fxg3 Nf5 37.g4 Ng3 38.Nc5 h5 39.gxh5 Qe7 40.Kf2 Nf5 41.g4 Qe3+ 42.Kf1 Qxh3+ 43.Ke1 Qg3+ 44.Kd2 Nd6
45.Nxb7!? Qg2+ 46.Kc1 Qf1+ 47.Kc2 Qe2+ 48.Kc1 Qe1+ 49.Kc2 Qe4+ 50.Kb3 Nxb7 51.Qf8+ Kc7 52.Qxg7+ Kb8 53.h6 Qd3? 53...Nxa5+ 54.Ka2 Qc2= 54.Ka3+- Qb1 55.h7 Qa1+ 56.Kb3 Qd1+ 57.Kb4 Ka7 58.h8Q Qa1
And while Carlsen was pondering whether to defend b2 with Qh2 or a5 with Qd8 he overstepped the time and lost. 58...Qa1 59.Qh2 Qxa5+ 60.Kb3 Qb5+ 61.Kc2 Qa4+ 62.Kd2+- 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2855So,W27700–12016C65GCT Rapid Paris 20161

 

Carlsen just realised that he had lost on time

But Carlsen recovered quickly and in round two he outplayed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with Black in 26 moves. In round three Carlsen won against Levon Aronian and with 2.0/3 he now shared the lead with Vladimir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura.

In round four Carlsen did not slow down and beat Fabiano Caruana with Black to win his third game in a row. With two wins and two draws Hikaru Nakamura was the only player who could keep pace with the World Champion. Veselin Topalov started the tournament with 0.0/3 but managed to beat Anish Giri in round four.

Vladimir Kramnik

Levon Aronian

In the fifth and last round of day the two leaders, Carlsen and Nakamura,  met. Carlsen had White but misplayed a Nimzo-Indian and was forced to seriously shatter his pawn structure on the kingside to avoid the loss of a pawn. However, he managed to drum up enough counterplay to hold the game and save the draw.

Results of day 1

1. Round, 09.06.2016, 14:00
Br. Nr. Elo   Name Result   Name Elo Nr.
1 1 2846 GM Nakamura Hikaru ½ - ½ GM Kramnik Vladimir 2799 10
2 2 2771 GM Topalov Veselin 0 - 1 GM Caruana Fabiano 2829 9
3 3 2738 GM Giri Anish ½ - ½ GM Aronian Levon 2739 8
4 4 2695 GM Fressinet Laurent ½ - ½ GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2784 7
5 5 2878 GM Carlsen Magnus 0 - 1 GM So Wesley 2652 6
2. Round, 09.06.2016, 15:30
Br. Nr. Elo   Name Result   Name Elo Nr.
1 10 2799 GM Kramnik Vladimir ½ - ½ GM So Wesley 2652 6
2 7 2784 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 0 - 1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2878 5
3 8 2739 GM Aronian Levon 1 - 0 GM Fressinet Laurent 2695 4
4 9 2829 GM Caruana Fabiano ½ - ½ GM Giri Anish 2738 3
5 1 2846 GM Nakamura Hikaru 1 - 0 GM Topalov Veselin 2771 2
3. Round, 09.06.2016, 17:00
Br. Nr. Elo   Name Result   Name Elo Nr.
1 2 2771 GM Topalov Veselin 0 - 1 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2799 10
2 3 2738 GM Giri Anish ½ - ½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2846 1
3 4 2695 GM Fressinet Laurent 1 - 0 GM Caruana Fabiano 2829 9
4 5 2878 GM Carlsen Magnus 1 - 0 GM Aronian Levon 2739 8
5 6 2652 GM So Wesley 0 - 1 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2784 7
4. Round, 09.06.2016, 18:30
Br. Nr. Elo   Name Result   Name Elo Nr.
1 10 2799 GM Kramnik Vladimir 0 - 1 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2784 7
2 8 2739 GM Aronian Levon 0 - 1 GM So Wesley 2652 6
3 9 2829 GM Caruana Fabiano 0 - 1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2878 5
4 1 2846 GM Nakamura Hikaru 1 - 0 GM Fressinet Laurent 2695 4
5 2 2771 GM Topalov Veselin 1 - 0 GM Giri Anish 2738 3
5. Round, 09.06.2016, 20:00
Br. Nr. Elo   Name Result   Name Elo Nr.
1 3 2738 GM Giri Anish ½ - ½ GM Kramnik Vladimir 2799 10
2 4 2695 GM Fressinet Laurent ½ - ½ GM Topalov Veselin 2771 2
3 5 2878 GM Carlsen Magnus ½ - ½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2846 1
4 6 2652 GM So Wesley ½ - ½ GM Caruana Fabiano 2829 9
5 7 2784 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime ½ - ½ GM Aronian Levon 2739 8

All games

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.Ba4 a6 9.d4 Ba7 10.Bc2 d5 11.Nxe5 Nxe4 12.Nd2 Nd6 13.Ndf3 Bf5 14.Re1 Bxc2 15.Qxc2 Ne4 16.Qb3 Qc8 17.Ng5 Nxg5 18.Bxg5 f6 19.Nd3 Qd7 20.Bf4 c6 21.Re2 Ng6 22.Rae1 Rad8 23.Re6 Kf7 24.Bg3 Rde8 25.Rxe8 Rxe8 26.Rxe8 Kxe8 27.a4 Qe7 28.a5 Kd8 29.Qd1 Qe4 30.Kh2 Ne7 31.Qb3 Kc8 32.Qb4 Qe6 33.Nf4 Qf7 34.Kg1 Bb8 35.Nd3 Bxg3 36.fxg3 Nf5 37.g4 Ng3 38.Nc5 h5 39.gxh5 Qe7 40.Kf2 Nf5 41.g4 Qe3+ 42.Kf1 Qxh3+ 43.Ke1 Qg3+ 44.Kd2 Nd6 45.Nxb7 Qg2+ 46.Kc1 Qf1+ 47.Kc2 Qe2+ 48.Kc1 Qe1+ 49.Kc2 Qe4+ 50.Kb3 Nxb7 51.Qf8+ Kc7 52.Qxg7+ Kb8 53.h6 Qd3 54.Ka3 Qb1 55.h7 Qa1+ 56.Kb3 Qd1+ 57.Kb4 Ka7 58.h8Q Qa1 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2855So,W27700–12016C65GCT Rapid Paris 20161.1
Fressinet,L2687Vachier-Lagrave,M2789½–½2016D85GCT Rapid Paris 20161.2
Nakamura,H2787Kramnik,V2812½–½2016D35GCT Rapid Paris 20161.3
Topalov,V2761Caruana,F28040–12016C45GCT Rapid Paris 20161.4
Giri,A2782Aronian,L2792½–½2016D37GCT Rapid Paris 20161.5
Kramnik,V2812So,W2770½–½2016D78GCT Rapid Paris 20162.1
Caruana,F2804Giri,A2782½–½2016C80GCT Rapid Paris 20162.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2789Carlsen,M28550–12016C78GCT Rapid Paris 20162.3
Nakamura,H2787Topalov,V27611–02016A29GCT Rapid Paris 20162.4
Aronian,L2792Fressinet,L26871–02016A20GCT Rapid Paris 20162.5
So,W2770Vachier-Lagrave,M27890–12016D83GCT Rapid Paris 20163.1
Fressinet,L2687Caruana,F28041–02016D78GCT Rapid Paris 20163.2
Giri,A2782Nakamura,H2787½–½2016A14GCT Rapid Paris 20163.3
Carlsen,M2855Aronian,L27921–02016C65GCT Rapid Paris 20163.4
Topalov,V2761Kramnik,V28120–12016C65GCT Rapid Paris 20163.5
Caruana,F2804Carlsen,M28550–12016C78GCT Rapid Paris 20164.1
Kramnik,V2812Vachier-Lagrave,M27890–12016A04GCT Rapid Paris 20164.2
Nakamura,H2787Fressinet,L26871–02016D31GCT Rapid Paris 20164.3
Aronian,L2792So,W27700–12016D15GCT Rapid Paris 20164.4
Topalov,V2761Giri,A27821–02016C24GCT Rapid Paris 20164.5
Carlsen,M2855Nakamura,H2787½–½2016E21GCT Rapid Paris 20165.1
Vachier-Lagrave,M2789Aronian,L2792½–½2016C65GCT Rapid Paris 20165.2
So,W2770Caruana,F2804½–½2016C65GCT Rapid Paris 20165.3
Giri,A2782Kramnik,V2812½–½2016A14GCT Rapid Paris 20165.4
Fressinet,L2687Topalov,V2761½–½2016D58GCT Rapid Paris 20165.5

 

Yasser Seirawan, Jennifer Shahade, Maurice Ashley and Alejandro Ramirez, the well-known team from St. Louis commented the games in their usual entertaining and animated way, this time with additional support by the Canadian GM Eric Hansen.

Jennifer Shahade and Yasser Seirawan followed
the events from St. Louis

Alejandro Ramirez and Maurice Ashley were in Paris

Maurice Ashley interviews Hikaru Nakamura,
who had just won against Veselin Topalov.

Alejandro Ramirez

Maurice Ashley interviews Carlsen during the opening ceremony

Vladimir Kramnik enjoys the team match during the opening ceremony

Magnus Carlsen tests the strength of possible future opponents

Garry Kasparov enjoys the Parisian chess culture

The ten participant of the Grand Chess Tour in Paris: Wesley So, Veselin Topalov, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Magnus Carlsen, Laurent Fressinet, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vladimir Kramnik, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian

Photos: Grand Chess Tour

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Tournament page Bruxelles...

André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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