1/28/2017 – Again, despite only one decisive game in the top section, it was a day in which much more blood should have been spilled. Giri was clearly winning against Harikrishna, while Adhiban had a winning shot against Carlsen, but it was Wei Yi that simply demolished Karjakin, putting him just half a point behind So. In the Challenger's section, the Texan Jeffery Xiong is unstoppable. Full report with GM commentary.
new: Mega Database 2023
The ChessBase Mega Database 2023 is the premiere chess database with over 9.75 million games from 1560 to 2022 in high quality.
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Knights add irrational content to any position. However, in this video tutorial you will learn how to tame them.
€34.90
The elite Tata Steel tournaments in Wijk aan Zee are underway and take place from January 13-29, with two main tournaments, the Masters with both Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin as headliners, as well as Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Baskaran Adhiban, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Richard Rapport, Dmitri Andreikin, Wei Yi, Pavel Eljanov, and Loek van Wely. All rounds in Wijk aan Zee begin at 1.30pm, except for the last round on 29 January 2017, which begins at 12.00pm. Both rounds on the Chess On Tour days start at 2.00pm.
All Photos by Alina l'Ami for the official website
Masters tournament
Round 11 - Friday, January 27
Wojtaszek, R.
½-½
Aronian, L.
Andreikin, D.
½-½
So, W.
Wei, Y.
1-0
Karjakin, S.
Nepomniachtchi, I.
½-½
Eljanov, P.
Carlsen, M.
½-½
Adhiban, B.
Giri, A.
½-½
Harikrishna, P.
Rapport, R.
½-½
Van Wely, L.
Quick Impressions from Round 11
This cute store has had a chess tradition dating back fourteen years!
Only one decisive result, but, yet again, the round was full of drama. And what a game to have the decisive result in! Wei Yi's victory against Sergey Karjakin was crushing, and this catapults the Chinese teenager into second place in the competition, just a half point behind Wesley So... his opponent for tomorrow!
Breakthrough event for the Chinese prodigy
Wei Yi - Sergey Karjakin (annotated by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson)
[Event "79th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2017.01.27"] [Round "11"] [White "Wei Yi"] [Black "Karjakin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2706"] [BlackElo "2785"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2016.11.19"] [EventCountry "NED"] {Last time Wei Yi played against Karjakin, he started out with 1.b3 and it didn't go well. Now he seems to have gained more confindence and his preparation today was surely impressive.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Scotch is not for everyone and somewhat harsh against mistakes. The Giuoco Piano is like an amarone, in that it is hard to go wrong with it. The Ruy Lopez is more complex with oaky notes. A full bodied opening.} Nf6 4. d3 { Avoiding the Berlin defence main lines is the dish of the day for those rated above 2600.} ({Last years clash continued} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re1 c6 12. Ne3 Be7 13. c4 Nc7 14. d4 {and here Karjakin played} d6 {and ended up in a worse position. Wei Yi (2705)-Karjakin,S (2765) 78th Tata Steel GpA 2016} ({Instead} 14... d5 15. cxd5 Bb4 16. Bd2 Bxd2 17. Qxd2 Nxd5 {has been proved to draw with ease for Black (in about twenty games).})) 4... Bc5 5. c3 (5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. h3 {was played by Magnus Carlsen in a number of blitz games last year.} ({However, his } 6. Qe2 {against Wesley So in the Masters Final, indicates that White is scraping the bottom of the bucket for ideas here.} Qe7 7. Nbd2 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. a3 Nd7 10. b4 Bd6 11. Nc4 f6 12. Ne3 a5 13. Nf5 Qf8 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. O-O Qf7 16. a4 Nc5 17. Qe1 b6 18. Nd2 Rxa4 19. Nc4 Bf8 20. Be3 Kd7 21. Qc3 Nxe4 22. Nxb6+ cxb6 23. dxe4 Qc4 24. Qd2+ Kc7 25. g4 Bg6 26. Rfd1 {1-0, Carlsen,M (2855) -So,W (2770) 9th Masters Final 2016})) ({It seems the reason why White often prefers 5.c3 over} 5. O-O {is that} Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 {gives Black an easier game. Still, White has been able to squeeze a few wins here too, even on a high level.}) 5... O-O ({Black has also tried} 5... d5 {, which seems very principled.} 6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Bc4 Qd6 8. Qe2 O-O 9. Nbd2 a5 10. Ng5 Bf5 (10... Qe7 11. Nde4 Bd6 12. a4 h6 13. h4 $1 Nd8 14. Qf3 Ng4 15. Qe2 Kh8 16. f3 Nf6 17. Nxf6 Qxf6 18. g4 Ne6 19. Qe4 $1 {gave White a winning advantage, in Svidler,P (2745)-Inarkiev,E (2730) 69th ch-RUS 2016.}) 11. Nde4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. dxe4 Nd8 14. Bd2 c6 15. a4 Ne6 16. Rd1 Qe7 17. g3 {and the bishop pair (especially the strong light-squared bishop) gave White some edge, in Topalov, V (2760)-Aronian,L (2790) 4th Sinquefield Cup 2016. The game Rozentalis - Smith, Gothenburg 2013, is an excellent example of the challenges that Black faces here.}) (5... d6 {is a please-don't-take-my-pawn move, that leads to a position that very much resembles the Giuoco Piano, but where the bishop is somewhat more annoying on b5. After} 6. O-O O-O 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 {White has been doing well with} 12. a4 {lately.}) 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Nxe5 {An incredibly prosaic sequence; to stop Nd4, not castle and then just snatch a pawn. Two decades ago most GMs would have shunned such simplistic (although possibly efficient) moves. Perhaps the change is due to the engines, but also because the Kasparov era was all about keeping the tension.} d5 8. d4 ({White must stay clear of} 8. Nxc6 $2 Qe8 9. Nd4 dxe4 10. O-O Ba6) 8... Bb6 {This is the main line, but Black has tried some alternatives:} (8... Qe7 9. O-O dxe4 10. Nxc6 Qe6 11. dxc5 Qxc6 12. Bg5 { was rather balanced, in Safarli,E (2644)-Fedorchuk,S (2653) Kocaeli 2015, but I'm curious as to what Black would have replied to a set-up similar to Wei Yi's.}) (8... Qe8 9. O-O {Again and again we come to this crossroad, where Black has to decide whether to take with the pawn or the knight on e4. Taking with the knight is usually more solid, but leads to positions where Black lacks dynamic play. It's more challenging to take with the pawn.} dxe4 (9... Nxe4 10. Nd2 Nxd2 11. Bxd2 Bd6 12. Re1 f6 13. Nc4 Be6 14. Nxd6 cxd6 {looks pretty dull to me, but Black will suffer a bit due to the messed up pawn structure.}) 10. Nd2 (10. Qa4 $5) (10. Re1 Bd6 11. Nc4) 10... Bd6 11. Ndc4 Be6 12. Re1 c5 13. Be3 Nd5 {was unconvincing for White, in Tari,A (2520)-Fressinet, L (2712) Oslo 2015. I don't understand much of this structure, so my recommendations on move 10 are pretty much 100% silicon based.}) (8... Bd6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. e5 Qxc6 11. O-O Ba6 12. Re1 Rfe8 13. Bf4 Qb5 14. Nd2 (14. b3) 14... Qxb2 15. Qb3 Reb8 $11 {Tari,A (2520)-Hammer,J (2665) Oslo 2015}) 9. O-O dxe4 (9... Nxe4 10. Nxc6 (10. Nd2 Nxd2 11. Bxd2 c5 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Qf3 Be6 14. Rfe1 {was microscopically better for White, in Xu,X (2445)-Malakhov,V (2695) TCh-CHN 2016, since the knight can dream of out-witting the light squared bishop at some point.}) 10... Qf6 (10... Qd6 {is the older line, which also seems good enough for Black.}) 11. Nb4 Be6 12. Nd2 c5 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Nd5 Qe5 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Nxe3 f5 {left Black with decent compensation, in So,W (2770)-Caruana,F (2795) Ultimate Blitz Challenge 2016.}) 10. Bg5 {White has a clear plan: to use the bind on Nf6 to attack the pawn on e4. Black needs to undermine White's center as fast as possible.} ({After} 10. Nxc6 Qe8 11. Ne5 c5 12. Re1 Qe6 13. Be3 Nd5 (13... Rd8 $5) (13... cxd4 14. cxd4 Nd5) 14. Nd2 f5 15. Ndc4 Bb7 16. dxc5 ({The silicon monster indicates that} 16. Qb3 {is very good for White, so something have gone wrong for Black in the last four moves. Perhaps 13...Nd5 was a mistake.}) 16... Nxe3 17. fxe3 Bxc5 { Black had enough compensation for the pawn, Sokolov,I (2640)-Lorparizangeneh,S (2465) 1st Stars Cup 2016.}) 10... c5 $1 11. Nd2 cxd4 $6 {This does look natural, but seems to be a serious mistake.} ({I presume Wei Yi had something prepared against} 11... Bb7 $1 {, which has been seen in two games.} 12. dxc5 ( 12. Ng4 cxd4 13. Nxf6+ gxf6 14. Bh6 Qd7 $13) 12... Bxc5 13. Nb3 Bb6 (13... Bd6 14. Ng4 Be7 15. Qxd8 Raxd8 16. Nxf6+ Bxf6 {was seen in Pogonina,N (2448) -Olsarova,K (2267) Istanbul 2012, where instead of} 17. Be3 ({White should have exchanged the bishops} 17. Bxf6 gxf6 {and kept some pressure. The knight can access the weak squares on the queenside, and the light squared bishop is playing in parallell dimension where there's nothing to attack.})) 14. c4 (14. Qxd8 $5 Rfxd8 15. a4) 14... Qd6 (14... e3 $5 15. Qxd8 exf2+ 16. Kh1 Rfxd8 17. c5 Rd5 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Ng4 Rxc5 20. Nxc5 Bxc5 21. Rfc1 $1 Bb6 22. Rc2 f5 23. Nxf2 f4 {is possibly balanced, but quite hard to handle for both sides.}) 15. Qxd6 cxd6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Ng4 Rfc8 18. Rac1 Kf8 19. Ne3 Ba6 20. Nd2 Bd4 21. b3 {with an advantage for White, in Balogh,C (2601)-Naiditsch,A (2684) Aix les Bains 2011. Both sides could have played better here and if I was to enter these positions with any colour, then this is where I would be looking for improvements.}) 12. Nxe4 {This sets a forced sequence in motion...} dxc3 13. Qf3 Bb7 $8 (13... cxb2 $2 14. Nxf6+ gxf6 15. Bxf6 $18) 14. Bxf6 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 Qxf6 $6 {An accident rarely comes alone.} (15... gxf6 16. Nc6 Qd2 17. bxc3 { was the better way to fight on. In the game Black gets no chance.}) 16. Nd7 Qg6 (16... Qd4 17. Qxd4 Bxd4 18. Rad1 $18) 17. Qxg6 hxg6 18. Nxf8 cxb2 19. Rab1 Kxf8 20. Rfd1 $1 {With an extra couple of pawns on - let's say - e3 and e5, Black would have some chances of holding the position (K...e6), but with so many open lines, Black's king is stuck on the kingside where it becomes vulnerable to attack. Black is also unable to launch the c-pawn any further than c5, without losing it, so it is better to keep it in the starting position where it doesn't obstruct the bishop.} Ke7 ({It looks like Karjakin had resigned himself to losing, or otherwise he might chosen something more active, like} 20... Re8 21. Kf1 Re4 22. Rxb2 Rc4 {Still, the final result is in little doubt.}) 21. Rxb2 {It's hardly even clear where Black made his mistake, but suddenly he is lost.} g5 22. Rbd2 Rh8 (22... f5 23. Re2+ Kf6 24. Rd7 g4 25. g3 Rf8 26. Kg2 Rh8 27. Rde7 Kg6 28. R2e6+ Kh7 29. Rf7 {and the f-pawn is lost. Generally speaking, Black's hope in such a positon as this, it to keep his weaknesses to a minimum and thus not move the pawns to far (unless they can be used to attack something).}) 23. g3 Rh5 {This looks weird. Perhaps Karjakin was trying to keep his rook from being exchanged. Three rooks on the board or one single; it doesn't matter since White is winning in both scenarios.} 24. Kg2 Kf6 (24... Rh6 25. Rd7+ Ke6 26. R7d5 Rf6 27. f3 g4 28. f4 $18) 25. h3 Rh6 26. Rd8 Ke7 27. R1d7+ Ke6 28. Rd2 Rf6 {This makes it easy for White, but the fight was hopeless anyway.} 29. Rg8 Rg6 30. Re8+ Kf6 31. Rd7 { There is no defence against Rf8, so Black resigned.} 1-0
Another game that was full of excitement was the game between the World Champion and Adhiban Baskaran. The Indian essayed a very unusual opening,
"1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6... you serious dude?"
"Yeah, brah"
The World Champion tried to put in the pressure, but he actually got in hot water. Danny King chose this as his game of the day, and explains how Carlsen was even losing had Adhiban found the crushing 34... Qg4.
Skip to 10:17 if you want to see the crushing tactic, or enjoy the full video to learn a lot!
Another exciting game was the Giri-Harikrishna duel. The Dutch player came out guns blazing, and sacrificed a piece straight from the opening. Unfortunately his killer instinct was not up to par, and he gave his opponent some chances to come back... so many, in fact, that Harikrishna was winning at some point! A fascinating struggle with many turns, and despite the big number of mistakes in time trouble, one can appreciate the fighting spirit and willingness to sharpen the struggle that these players had:
[Event "79th Tata Steel Chess 2017-Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2017.01.27"] [Round "11"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. Nf3 {(0:00)} Nf6 {(0:12)} 2. c4 {(0:00)} c5 {(00:08)} 3. Nc3 {(0:00)} d5 { (0:07)} 4. cxd5 {( 00:00)} Nxd5 {(0:09)} 5. e4 {(0:00)} Nb4 {(0:10)} 6. Bc4 { (0:00)} Nd3+ {(1:35)} 7. Ke2 {(0:00)} Nxc1+ {(00:07)} (7... Nf4+ 8. Kf1 Nd3 { was So's choice against Aronian in the London Classic.}) 8. Rxc1 {(0:11)} a6 { Not the most popular, but in my view more logical than Nc6, which allows Bb5.} 9. d4 {(0:10)} b5 {(0:07)} 10. Bd5 {(0:03)} Ra7 {(0:06)} 11. dxc5 {(0:46)} e6 { (0:07)} 12. c6 $1 {A novelty, an improvement over Jakovenko-Nepomniachtchi. The sacrifice of the piece is logical in a sense, as Black is very underdeveloped and theh c6 pawn is worth quite a bit.} b4 {(28:23] Played after a 30 minute think.} (12... exd5 13. Nxd5 {forces Black to find some ugly, forced moves.} Rc7 14. Qd4 Rxc6 (14... Nxc6 15. Qb6 $1 $18) 15. Qe5+ Be6 16. Rhd1 $1 Nd7 17. Nc7+ Qxc7 18. Qxc7 Rxc7 19. Rxc7 {and the endgame is just horrible for Black due to his lack of development.}) 13. Qd4 {(13:28)} Rc7 { (4:31)} 14. Na4 $1 {(4:35)} exd5 {(01:07)} 15. exd5 {(2:13)} Be7 {(3:05)} 16. Qxg7 {(04:44)} Bf6 {(1:50)} 17. Qh6 $16 {(5:05) White's three pawns, especially those on the center, easily compensate for the piece.} Re7+ {(24:31) } 18. Kf1 {(0:19)} Qxd5 {(6:06) Giving back material seems like a practical chance.} 19. Qxf6 {(1:47)} Rg8 {(1:03)} 20. h3 $6 {(25:09)} (20. g3 $1 { was cleaner, seeking to develop as rapidly as possible.}) 20... Re6 {(13:30)} 21. Qf4 {(00:54)} Nxc6 {(0:40)} 22. Nc5 {(4:28)} Re7 {(1:49)} 23. g3 {(7:46)} Rg6 {(7:42)} 24. Kg2 {(6:56)} Qd6 {(9:14)} 25. Qc4 {(3:21)} Qf6 {(1:12)} 26. Rce1 {(04:16)} Qxb2 {(1:08)} 27. Na4 {(3:51)} (27. Qf4 $1 $18) 27... Qa3 { (3:31)} 28. Nb6 $4 {(0:36) In time trouble, Giri goes very wrong.} (28. Nc5 { still keeps some pressure on the game.} Qb2 29. Qf4 {is winning, as it was last time they had this position.}) 28... Bb7 $1 {(0:05)} 29. Nd5 {(0:07)} Rge6 $2 {(0:08) Returning the favor, but that's what happens when you have no time!} (29... Rd6 $3 30. Nxe7 {what else?} Ne5 $1 {And Black is crashing through on the long diagonal.} 31. Qb3 Nxf3 32. Qxa3 Nxe1+ 33. Kh2 bxa3 {and Black is just winning, for example:} 34. Rxe1 Rd2) 30. Qc5 {(8:47)} Rxe1 $2 {(0:56)} 31. Rxe1 {(02:31)} Rxe1 {(0:04)} 32. Nxe1 $2 {(0:44)} (32. Qd6 $1 {a surprisingly powerful move, threatening mate on f6 or c7.} Ne7 33. Qb8+ Bc8 34. Nxe1 $16 { and Black's king is still very weak.}) 32... Qxa2 {( 02:04)} 33. Nf3 {(2:48)} Kd7 {(0:01)} 34. Kh2 {(1:02)} Qe2 {(0:23)} 35. Nf6+ {(5:15)} Kc7 {(0:15)} 36. Nd5+ {(00:05) peace was agreed before someone blundered something again.} 1/2-1/2
Wojtaszek tried to outplay Aronian in a classical Slav, but it was not to be. The Armenian was simply too solid.
Hard to crack the solid Armenian
Wesley So continued his strategy that, when ahead in the tournament, take no risks, and Dmitry Andreikin saw no reason to push him too far. The Re1 Berlin reared its head and the draw was never in doubt.
Ian Nepomniachtchi and Pavel Eljanov played another very long game, going to move 53 and spending hours in it, but at no point did either side have a clear advantage. The resulting endgame was more or less balanced, and the bishop had nothing on the knight, which hopped around the board.
The last game had a crazy opening, White sacrificed a piece, Black was underdeveloped, and both sides were getting mated. Obviously, it was a Rapport game. The Hungarian was a bit overzealous in his will to sacrifice, and instead of taking a perpetual he handed his opponent a clear win, but Loek Van Wely in heavy time trouble did not find it and allowed the perpetual again.
Current Masters standings
Challengers tournament
Round 11 - Friday, January 27
Ragger, M.
½-½
Grandelius, N.
van Foreest, J.
½-½
Bok, B.
l'Ami, E.
½-½
Tari, A.
Xiong, J.
1-0
Smirin, I
Tingjie, L.
1-0
Guramishvili, S.
Hansen, E.
0-1
Jones, G.
Dobrov, V.
0-1
Lu, S.
It was another big day in Wijk aan Zee Challenders, as Jeffery Xiong simply keeps winning. Today he checked his opponent's preparation in the symmetrical fianchetto Grunfeld, and he came out ahead. Xiong has scored 4.5/5 in the last five rounds, and this catapults him to sole first place. Not only that, Xiong's massive rating games currently put him as #4 in America, behind the giant trio if Caruana, So and Nakamura. His closest rival and former #4, Sam Shankland, lost his game today against Ju Wenjun in Gibraltar.
On fire
Smirin is now a point behind the leader
The other tournament leader before the round started, Markus Ragger, tried his best to beat Nils Grandelius, but rook and knight vs. rook is an easy draw for a grandmaster of this caliber.
Nils Grandelius had to suffer for a while, but he got his half point
Eric Hansen had a tough day at the office as he was simply outplayed by Gawain Jones, who keeps his eyes on the prize: both him and Ragger are only half a point behind Xiong.
Lu Shanglei gained some ground as he, very luckily, beat Dobrov
Dobrov had a clear win in the following position, can you find it?
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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 14 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Alejandro RamirezGrandmaster 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.
Videos by Felix Blohberger: Reti Opening and Nico Zwirs: Najdorf Variation. "Olympiad Special": 21 analyses by Howell, Meier, Nguyen, Pelletier, Pichot, Van Foreest, Vitiugov, Wojtaszek and many more. Update Service with almost 40,000 new games!
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.
