Throwback Thursday: Ivanchuk wins the 2016 World Rapid Championship

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/14/2021 – Garry Kasparov has described him as a world-champion level grandmaster, an assessment that is shared by much of the chess world. A true genius, Vasyl Ivanchuk has won a number of super-tournaments and has been ranked number 2 in the FIDE rankings three times. The Ukrainian also won the World Rapid Championship in 2016, and celebrated in style.

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Ivanchuk edges Carlsen and Grischuk

Vasyl IvanchukFew players are as universally appreciated as Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk. At 52, the man from Kopychyntsi still belongs to the top 100 in the world ranking, while few doubt that, on a good day, he could still beat any player from the elite. The Ukrainian genius has won super-tournaments in  Linares and Wijk aan Zee, the Tal Memorial, the Gibraltar Masters and the M-Tel Masters, just to name a few of his numerous achievements.

Already in July 1991, at 22, ‘Chuky’ reached the second spot in the ranking, while he repeated the same feat no fewer than 16 years later, in October 2007. During the 1990s, Garry Kasparov mentioned that Ivanchuk was one of the players he feared the most. After all, in a memorable edition of the Linares tournament, a 21-year-old Ivanchuk had defeated the then world champion on his way to tournament victory. Kasparov told Business Insider in 2017, explaining what separates a good chess player from a great one:

And then you go to the very top, and the difference is so minimal, but it does exist. So even a few players who never became world champion, like Vassily Ivanchuk, for instance, I think they belong to the same category.

Not only is Ivanchuk respected by his colleagues for his remarkable results but also for his commitment to creativity and innovation on the chessboard. Anand said of him:

His playing style is unpredictable and highly original, making him more dangerous, but sometimes leading to quick losses as well.

In 2016, the Ukrainian won the World Rapid Championship in Doha, the capital of Qatar. With a score of 11/15, Ivanchuk edged Alexander Grischuk and Magnus Carlsen on tiebreak criteria. The event lasted three days with each game being played with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10-second increments.

A fan of poetry, it is apparent that Ivanchuk is not one to restrict himself from exploring areas of life — other than chess — that spark his curiosity. Not surprisingly, he has been attracted by the game of draughts: with a 1983 rating, he is currently the 52nd highest-rated Ukrainian player in the world.

At the closing ceremony of the World Championship in Doha, in typical ‘Chuky’ style, the recently crowned rapid champion interrupted a game of draughts — against another creative star, Baadur Jobava — to receive his prize. And he did not stop calculating variations while on the podium — which served him well, as he went on to win the game:



A hard-fought victory

With 8/10 Ivanchuk started day 3 as sole leader, but at first had trouble to find his form. He started with a loss against Ian Nepomniachtchi and then played two draws in rounds 12 and 13.

After winning a topsy-turvy game in round 14 against Vishy Anand, he was sharing the lead with Alexander Grischuk, Shakriyar Mamedyarov, Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen. But Ivanchuk had the best tiebreak score and therefore ‘only’ needed a win in the last round to become the new world rapid champion.

In round 15 Ivanchuk played Hrant Melkumyan and, though the game had been balanced for a long time, Melkumyan finally went astray in an opposite-coloured bishop ending and Ivanchuk pounced to win the game and the title.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.Be2 b6 7.0-0 Bb7 8.Bh2 Nbd7 9.c3 Re8 10.a4 a6 11.c4 Ne4 12.a5 bxa5 13.Rxa5 c5 14.Ra3 cxd4 15.exd4 e5 16.Nc3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Qc7 18.Re1 a5 19.c5 dxc5 20.Bb5 cxd4 21.cxd4 Rad8 22.Nxe5 Bxe5 23.dxe5 Qc5 24.Bxd7 Qxa3 25.e6 Qe7 26.exf7+ Qxf7 27.Bxe8 Rxe8 28.Rxe8+ Qxe8 29.Qb3+ Qf7 30.Qb5 Qe6 31.Bf4 Qc6 32.Qg5 h6?!
Throughout the game White had put Black under pressure and in the difficult queen endgame with opposite-colored bishops Black finally cracks. Safer was 32...Kf7 33.Qd8+ Kf7 34.f3 Qc5+ 35.Kh2 h5?! Now it's over. 36.Bd6 Qc8 37.Qe7+ Kg8 38.Be5
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V2747Melkumyan,H26331–02016A48World Rapid 201615.3

Second place went to Alexander Grischuk, world blitz champion in 2006, 2012 and 2015, who had a strong finish. He started day 3 with two draws, but then won his last three games against Farrukh Amonatov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi.

Alexander Grischuk

Magnus Carlsen finished third. He started day 3 by losing a short and violent game with white against Anton Korobov — shortly after the opening Carlsen miscalculated in a sharp position,  and that was all Korobov needed to win in a devastating attack.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.Nd2 e6 6.Ngf3 Bd6 7.Bg3 0-0 8.Bb5 Ne7 9.Bd3 b6 10.e4 Bxg3 11.hxg3 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Ng6 13.dxc5 Bb7 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.cxb6 e5 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Qd7 Qxb6
18.Ng5? After this move White is lost. After e.g. 18.Qh3 f6 19.0-0-0 the game is roughly balanced. 18...Bxg2 Did Carlsen overlook that the bishop on g2 covers h3, preventing White from mating with 19.Rh8+ Kxh8 20.Qh3? 19.0-0-0 Rab8 Suddenly it's Black who attacks. 20.b3 Qxf2 21.Qg4 Rfc8 22.Kb1 Rxc3 23.Qb4 Rcc8
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2840Korobov,A26920–12016D02World Rapid 201611.1

Carlsen resigns

Carlsen recovered and won his last four games. Particularly crucial was his game against Ian Nepomniachtchi in round 14. With 10/13 Nepomniachtchi led the field after 13 rounds, but Carlsen slowly outplayed him with the black pieces.

 
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1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.d4 Bd6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 Re8 9.c4 Nd7 10.Bd3 Nf8 11.h3 Ng6 12.Qc2 Qa5 13.c5 Bb8 14.Bd2 Qd8 15.Rfe1 Be6 16.Bc4 Nf8 17.Rad1 Bc7 18.Qb3 Bxc4 19.Qxc4 Qd7 20.b4 Ng6 21.a4 Ne7 22.b5 Nd5 23.bxc6 bxc6 24.Qa6 g5 25.Nh2 Bxh2+ After this exchange Black remains with a very good knight against a not particularly good bishop and seizes the initiative. 26.Kxh2 Kg7 27.Kg1 Rxe1+ 28.Rxe1 Rb8 29.Qd3 Rb2 30.a5 h6 31.Bc1 Ra2 32.Bd2 Qb7 33.Re8 Qb2 34.Be1 Nf4 35.Qa6 Qxd4 36.Qc8 Ng6 37.Qxc6 Ra1 38.Qe4 Qxc5 39.Kh2 h5 40.Qe3 Qc6 41.Bc3 Ra4 42.f3 Ra2 43.Kh1 Rc2 44.Be1 Qb5 45.Bg3 h4 46.Bh2 Qb1+ 47.Bg1 Qf1
Black will mate in a few more moves.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nepomniachtchi,I2767Carlsen,M28400–12016B15World Rapid 201614.1

Final standings (top 20)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Ivanchuk Vassily 11,0 2747
2 Grischuk Alexander 11,0 2740
3 Carlsen Magnus 11,0 2701
4 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 10,0 2738
5 Yu Yangyi 10,0 2724
6 Nepomniachtchi Ian 10,0 2713
7 Anton Guijarro David 10,0 2669
8 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 9,5 2758
9 Aronian Levon 9,5 2749
10 Dominguez Perez Leinier 9,5 2711
11 Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 9,5 2689
12 Amonatov Farrukh 9,5 2665
13 Cheparinov Ivan 9,5 2645
14 Korobov Anton 9,0 2743
15 Li Chao B 9,0 2733
16 Anand Viswanathan 9,0 2707
17 Jakovenko Dmitry 9,0 2674
18 Melkumyan Hrant 9,0 2664
19 Karjakin Sergey 9,0 2651
20 Volokitin Andrei 9,0 2627

...106 players


All games


 
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Garry Kasparov's rise to the top was meteoric and at his very first attempt he managed to become World Champion, the youngest of all time. In over six hours of video, he gives a first hand account of crucial events from recent chess history, you can improve your chess understanding and enjoy explanations and comments from a unique and outstanding personality on and off the chess board.


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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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