2016 Euro Ch. Rd8: Inarkiev continues to steamroll

by Albert Silver
5/21/2016 – Going into round eight, two players lead ahead of the rest. To say this is crunch time is an understatement. Ernesto Inarkiev scored a powerful win over co-leader David Navara taking sole lead, followed by a dozen others, all with chances to steal the gold at the first slip. In the meantime, Pavel Eljanov called Dubov's win a masterpiece reminiscent of Torre-Lasker.
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There is no question that when Inarkiev is hot, he is hot. Last year he won the extremely strong Moscow Open, chock full of top grandmasters, with a monster 8.0/9 score. His form later wavered a bit and his rating stayed around 2700. This year, just before the European Individual Championship, the Russian played in the Russian Team Championship, notably the top Premier League. Whilst the absolute top performance was indeed Vladimir Kramnik with 2970, the second best performance was by Ernesto Inarkiev, who not only faced five 2700+ players, but chalked up a 2901 performance! This was literally days before the start of the tournament in Gjakova. He has shown he has lost no steam at all, and after a magnificent win against Navara, is the sole leader with 7.0/8 and is looking at a huge 40 Elo gain this month alone!

Ernesto Inarkiev has been unstoppable this month so far

David Navara - Ernesto Inarkiev

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 Re8 8.0-0 Bf8 9.Bd2 b6 10.Nf4 A novelty at the grandmaster level. The usual move is 10.Rc1 to develop the rook and fight against the impending ...c5. Here White chooses to combine a fight against d5, preparing Rad1 once ...c5 dxc5 is played, with possible pressure against the kingside. Bb7 11.Qf3 a6 12.Rad1
12...Ra7‼ A fantastic move that shows just how inspired Inarkiev is. This seemingly odd move actually sets the stage for Black to fight back and play for the win himself. The point is to clear the a8 square for the queen, allowing not only Black to develop his knight on c6 or d7 without abandoning his pawn on d5, but also setting up a battery of queen and bishop on the long diagonal a8-h1. After ...c5 and dxc5, Black will then be ready to shove a nasty ...d4 of his own, when appropriate. 13.Bc2 c5 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Qh3 g6 16.Nce2 Bc6 17.Bc3 Nbd7 18.Bb3 Qa8
Both players have been quite consistent in their plans. White has set up pressure on d5 with some extra threats on the kingside if possible, while Black has also set up his plans. In a sense it is a bit unusual because usually grandmasters will work to impede their opponent's ideas as much as pomote their own, but here it seems a bit of a macho 'go ahead and do your worst and we'll see who is left standing.' 19.g4? Probably even deserving of two question marks. With that battery of Qa8 and Bc6, one would think opening up the king with g4, precisely that diagonal, would be the last thing one should do. Sure enough, White will be punished swiftly for his temerity. Ne5 20.g5?? Black's threat is obvious, and Navara is certainly strong enough to sense the risk even from afar, so one can only presume a moment of utter chess blindness. d4! 21.f3 dxc3 22.gxf6 c4 23.Bc2 Nxf3+ 24.Kf2 cxb2 The engines point out also 24...Rxe3! though the move played by Black wins no less clearly, and possibly with fewer complications. 25.Kxe3 Bc5+ 26.Nd4 Qe8+ 27.Nfe6 Ng5 Quite lovely. If the queen tries a cheapo with 28.Qh6 Qxe6+ ends White's resistance. 25.Qg3 Qb8 26.Nc3 Ne5 27.h4 Rd7 28.h5 Qd8 29.hxg6 fxg6 30.Rxd7 Qxd7 31.Kg1 Kf7 32.Ne4 Bh6 33.Qh4 Bxe4 34.Bxe4 Qg4+ 35.Qxg4 Nxg4 36.Bd5+ Kxf6 37.Nxg6+ Kg5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Navara,D2735Inarkiev,E26860–12016E4817th ch-EUR Indiv 20168.1

One great result and game is more than enough to make an enjoyable tale and report for a round, but Inarkiev was not the only player to shine. 20-year-old Daniil Dubov, the former pupil of Sergei Shipov, also produce an absolute pearl that impressed elite player Pavel Eljanov so much, that he tweeted:

Daniil Dubov's play was likened to Lasker. While fllattering, it should also be noted that should
be a warning that when you face Pavel Eljanov you are facing someone who is pulling up comparisons
and references that go back to 1925 at least!

Dubov - Brkic

Obviously with so many tip-offs you will probably guess the first move
quite quickly. Nevertheless, enjoy Dubov's inspired move and work out
the line to the full win. White to play and win.

Click for the solution

Inspired play by Daniil Dubov

So what about that Lasker game it is being compared to? Have a look at the classic suffered by the 2nd World Champion:

Torre - Lasker

One of the all-time classics: White to play and win.

Click for the solution

Replay games of round eight

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 Re8 8.0-0 Bf8 9.Bd2 b6 10.Nf4 Bb7 11.Qf3 a6 12.Rad1 Ra7 13.Bc2 c5 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Qh3 g6 16.Nce2 Bc6 17.Bc3 Nbd7 18.Bb3 Qa8 19.g4 Ne5 20.g5 d4 21.f3 dxc3 22.gxf6 c4 23.Bc2 Nxf3+ 24.Kf2 cxb2 25.Qg3 Qb8 26.Nc3 Ne5 27.h4 Rd7 28.h5 Qd8 29.hxg6 fxg6 30.Rxd7 Qxd7 31.Kg1 Kf7 32.Ne4 Bh6 33.Qh4 Bxe4 34.Bxe4 Qg4+ 35.Qxg4 Nxg4 36.Bd5+ Kxf6 37.Nxg6+ Kg5 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Navara,D2735Inarkiev,E26860–12016E4817th ch-EUR Indiv 20168.1

Results of round eight

Bd
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
Result
Pts
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
1 GM Navara David CZE
2735
6
0 - 1
6
GM
 Inarkiev Ernesto RUS
2686
2 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL
2722
5½
1 - 0
5½
GM
 Ter-Sahakyan Samvel ARM
2601
3 GM Bartel Mateusz POL
2653
5½
0 - 1
5½
GM
 Goganov Aleksey RUS
2600
4 GM Saric Ivan CRO
2650
5½
0 - 1
5½
GM
 Kovalenko Igor LAT
2644
5 GM Hovhannisyan Robert ARM
2632
5
1 - 0
5
GM
 Vitiugov Nikita RUS
2721
6 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP
2700
5
1 - 0
5
GM
 Lupulescu Constantin ROU
2620
7 GM Salgado Lopez Ivan ESP
2618
5
0 - 1
5
GM
 Fressinet Laurent FRA
2692
8 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL
2685
5
½ - ½
5
GM
 Anton Guijarro David ESP
2616
9 GM Piorun Kacper POL
2681
5
1 - 0
5
GM
 Parligras Mircea-Emilian ROU
2599
10 GM Zubov Alexander UKR
2612
5
½ - ½
5
GM
 Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter GER
2669
11 GM Jobava Baadur GEO
2661
5
1 - 0
5
GM
 Demchenko Anton RUS
2589
12 GM Dubov Daniil RUS
2644
5
1 - 0
5
GM
 Brkic Ante CRO
2584
13 GM Berkes Ferenc HUN
2636
5
½ - ½
5
GM
 Palac Mladen CRO
2577
14 GM Ponomariov Ruslan UKR
2715
4½
½ - ½
5
GM
 Bortnyk Olexandr UKR
2565
15 GM Ragger Markus AUT
2696
4½
½ - ½
4½
GM
 Khismatullin Denis RUS
2609

Click for complete round results

Standings after round eight

Rk SNo Ti. Name Fed Rtg Pts  TB  Perf rtg+/-
1 12 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2686 7.0 38.5 2948 22.8
2 2 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2722 6.5 39.5 2872 14.5
3 37 GM Kovalenko Igor LAT 2644 6.5 36.0 2795 15.5
4 60 GM Goganov Aleksey RUS 2600 6.5 34.0 2799 21.1
5 1 GM Navara David CZE 2735 6.0 38.5 2805 7.3
6 26 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2661 6.0 38.0 2786 13.8
7 5 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2700 6.0 36.5 2776 7.6
8 8 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2692 6.0 36.5 2786 9.5
9 43 GM Hovhannisyan Robert ARM 2632 6.0 33.5 2706 8.4
10 36 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2644 6.0 33.0 2759 11.0
11 16 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2681 6.0 31.5 2726 5.2
12 30 GM Saric Ivan CRO 2650 5.5 38.5 2710 7.4
13 13 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2685 5.5 37.5 2689 1.1
14 32 GM Ipatov Alexander TUR 2648 5.5 37.0 2695 4.7
15 42 GM Berkes Ferenc HUN 2636 5.5 35.5 2706 8.6
16 15 GM Najer Evgeniy RUS 2681 5.5 35.5 2682 0.3
17 29 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2653 5.5 35.0 2677 3.4
18 33 GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2647 5.5 35.0 2681 4.6
19 80 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2569 5.5 34.0 2687 13.5
20 55 GM Zubov Alexander UKR 2612 5.5 34.0 2733 11.9
21 53 GM Pantsulaia Levan GEO 2613 5.5 34.0 2615 1.9
  57 GM Yilmaz Mustafa TUR 2603 5.5 34.0 2707 12.3
23 51 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2616 5.5 34.0 2642 4.6
24 34 GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2646 5.5 33.5 2650 1.2
25 86 GM Can Emre TUR 2557 5.5 33.5 2636 9.9
26 59 GM Ter-Sahakyan Samvel ARM 2601 5.5 33.5 2657 8.3
27 19 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter GER 2669 5.5 33.0 2673 1.2
28 72 GM Palac Mladen CRO 2577 5.5 33.0 2636 7.8
29 85 GM Tari Aryan NOR 2558 5.5 33.0 2622 8.6
30 24 GM Dreev Aleksey RUS 2662 5.5 32.5 2646 -0.7

Click for complete standings

Schedule

Day
Date
Time
Program
Wednesday
11.05.2016
 
Arrival of participants
Wednesday
11.05.2016
20:00
Opening ceremony
Thursday
11.05.2016
22:00
Technical meeting
Thursday
12.05.2016
15:30
Round I
Friday
13.05.2016
15:30
Round II
Saturday
14.05.2016
15:30
Round III
Sunday
15.05.2016
15:30
Round IV
Monday
16.05.2016
15:30
Round V
Tuesday
17.05.2016
15:30
Round VI
Wednesday
18.05.2016
 
Rest day
Thursday
19.05.2016
15:30
Round VII
Friday
20.05.2016
15:30
Round VIII
Saturday
21.05.2016
15:30
Round IX
Sunday
22.05.2016
15:30
Round X
Monday
23.05.2016
11:00
Round XI
Monday
23.05.2016
20:00
Closing ceremony
Tuesday
24.05.2016
 
Departure

Links

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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