50th Biel: Round 6 - Three wins for White

by Marco Baldauf
7/30/2017 – Leader Etienne Bacrot drew against Peter Leko to remain on top with 4.5 / 6. The closest pursuers are now Pentala Harikrishna and Ruslan Ponomariov. The Ukrainian former FIDE World Champion overcame of David Navara's Najdorf, as the Czech's slide continues. Rafael Vaganian got a win to pull himself out of the cellar. | Photos: Pascal Simon
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50th Biel International Festival

Round 6

Bacrot 1/2 Leko

The game of tournament leader league Etienne Bacrot proved to be less than exciting. Playing the white side of a Spanish game with 6.d3 against Peter Leko, he followed his own game against Ernesto Inarkiev from the 2016 European Team Championship, through move 15. The always well-prepared Leko had to play a few precise moves, but generally had no trouble holding the balance.

Ponomariov 1-0 Navara

David Navara had to lick his wounds after yesterday's defeat against Hou Hifan, standing at a disapointing 50% score, but instead Ponomariov poured salt in them:

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,185,00854%2421---
1.d4959,51055%2434---
1.Nf3286,50356%2441---
1.c4184,83456%2442---
1.g319,89256%2427---
1.b314,60054%2428---
1.f45,95448%2377---
1.Nc33,91150%2384---
1.b41,79148%2379---
1.a31,25054%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Najdorf! Although he has an extremely broad repertoire, Navarahas mostly trusted this sharp system of the Sicilian. Yesterday's defeat in the Najdorf against Hou Yifan did not scare him off. 6.f3 with this move order White prevents ...Ng4, which would follow 6.Be3 6.Be3 Ng4 which Navara selected in the previous round against Hou 6...e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Qd2 9.g4? is premature, as Black gains counterplay in the center d5 10.g5 d4 11.gxf6 Bxf6 0-1 (32) Hossain,E (2495)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2599) Dhaka 2007 9...0-0 10.0-0-0 ...d5 now prevented White Can start his attack on the kingside b5 11.g4 Nbd7 12.g5 b4 here White has a choice of three interesting options. 13.gxf6 13.Ne2 is the old main line. Both sides pawn storm and a sharp game ensues. Ne8 14.f4 a5 15.f5 a4 16.fxe6 axb3∞ 1-0 (71) Saric,I (2666)-Wojtaszek,R (2744) Wijk aan Zee 2015 CBM 165 [Havasi,G] 13.Na4 is a rarely played, but complex and interesting alternative Nh5 14.Qxb4 d5 15.Qa5 Qxa5 16.Nxa5 d4∞ 1/2-1/2 (41) Inarkiev,E (2686)-Wojtaszek,R (2722) Gjakova 2016 CBM 173 [Baldauf,M] 13.Nd5?! is, however, too cooperative. Black is happy to exchange off his f6-knight and bring the Be6 to the important b1-h7 diagonal. Nxd5 14.exd5 Bf5 13...bxc3 14.Qxc3 Nxf6 15.Na5 Rc8 16.Nc6 Qd7 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Qa5 Rc6 Up to this point both players rapidly followed previous games. White has the advantage of the bishop pair, but Black has the more active rooks, the Be6 is well placed and his king is safe. Because of the pawn weaknesses, both sides have opportunities for attack and the position is double-edged. 19.Rg1 Rfc8 20.Kb1 Nh5 20...Rxc2?!N 21.Bxa6 R8c6 22.Bb7 Bxa2+ 22...Rxb2+ 23.Kxb2 Qxb7+ 24.Ka1 Ne8 But here black is fighting only for a draw. In the medium term the a-pawn will be dangerous, so that Black should play against the white king 22...Rc7 23.Bb6 23.Ka1 23.Kxa2? Rxb2+ 24.Kxb2 Qxb7+ 25.Ka1 Ra6-+ 23...Be6 24.Bxc6 Rxc6 25.Rc1 20...d5 thus Grischuk ran off the rails in 2011 against Topalov: 21.Bg5 d4? 21...dxe4 22.fxe4 Kh8∞ the pin against the knight on f6 is unpleasant 22.f4! h6 23.Bxh6 Ng4 24.Bxg7!+- 1-0 (70) Topalov,V (2775)-Grischuk,A (2747) Monte Carlo 2011 21.Rg2 Qf6N 21...Bh3 22.Rgd2 Bxf1 23.Rxf1 h6 24.Rfd1 Qf6 25.Rf2 Qg6 26.Rfd2 Qf6 27.Rf2 Nf4 28.Bxf4 Qxf4 29.Qd2 Qf6 30.Qe3 0-1 (66) Khanin,S (2434)-Kokarev,D (2640) Kazan 2017 22.Rf2 h6 23.b3 Kh7 24.c4! Since Black does not have any levers on the queenside Ponomariov improves his position. His only problem remains the f3 pawn, however, the Navara has no way to seriously threaten it. Nf4 25.Qb4 Nh3 (?) 25...Rd8 26.Rfd2 Ng6 And the counter-play against f3 is sufficient for the time being. Yet Navara is not out of the woods yet, and Ponomariov can try to find chinks in the armour at will. 27.Be2 27.Bg2 Nf4 28.Bh1 ist zu passiv Qe7= 27...Nf4! 26.Bxh3 Bxh3 I have the feeling that the exchange of the knight for White's light-squared bishop is not a good strategy. On the one hand the Bf1 was very passive, but on the other hand Navaras Springer ensured a control of the dark squares and served (on g6 or f4) as a bulwark for his king. 27.Kb2 Qd8 28.Qd2 Ponomariov now aims his queen towards the kingside. Pressure against the d6 pawn is of lesser importance after the exchange of minor pieces. More important is now activity and a mating attack. Rb8? too slow! By 28...a5, Navara could have taken the initiative 28...a5! 29.f4 29.c5!? is undoubtedly critical. f5!? 29...Qf6? And the difference is now that the pawn on a5 hangs 30.cxd6 Rd8 31.Qxa5 Rcxd6 32.Rxd6 Rxd6 33.Qc3± 30.exf5 30.cxd6 f4-+ 30...Bxf5 31.cxd6 a4 29...a4 30.fxe5 30.f5 axb3 31.axb3 Ra8 30...axb3 31.axb3 Be6 32.exd6 Rb8-+ and the white king position falls completely apart 29.f4! 29.c5? Qf6! 30.cxd6 Rd8 29...Qc7? Navara's position at this point can no longer be saved. 29...Rxc4 30.fxe5 Rxe4 31.exd6 29...exf4?! 30.Rxf4 Be6 31.e5!± 30.Rg1 Rxc4 31.Rg3 d5 A last attempt to muddy the waters, but Ponomariov is not confused 31...Bc8 32.Rfg2 g6 33.f5+- And the attack hits, Black is completely powerless in the face of the threat of fxg6 32.f5! 32.Rxh3? d4 32...d4 33.Bxh6 Rc3 34.Bxg7! Re3 35.Rxe3 dxe3 36.Qxe3 Kxg7 37.f6+ Kf8 38.Qxh3 Ke8 39.Rd2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ponomariov,R2699Navara,D27371–02017B9050th Biel Festival 20176

When choosing an opening repertoire, there are days when you want to play for a win with Black, when you want to bear down on your opponent’s position with a potentially crushing attack. The Najdorf is perfect for just such occasions. Strategy, combinations, attack and defence, sacrifices and marvellous manoeuvres — exciting chess is all about the Najdorf!

Ponomariov dispatched Navara's Najdorf and moves into the upper tier of Bacrot's pursuers | Photo: Pascal Simon

Harikrishna 1-0 Hou

The India vs. China matchup ended in favor of the former as Harikrishna leapfrogged Yifan to keep pace with Pono.

 
Unleashing complications with 37.g4

Harikrishna's timing was perfect, as the Chinese had to calculate some difficult variations just as the time control approached. After the sequence 37...hxg4 38.Qxg4 Ra8 39.h5 Kg7 40.hxg6 Hou was under pressure:

 

 
Position after 40.hxg6

At this point both 40...Rf8 and 40...Rg8 hold the balance, but after the obvious move 40...fxg6, Harikrishna came up with 41.Qd7. The black king was now much more vulnerable than White's monarch, the and once Harikrishna's rook was able to join the attack, there was no hope for Hou.

 
Position after 45...Qc8: Harikrishna's 46.e5! activates the rook and combined with the potential advance of the d-pawn here was no longer any way to defend.

Hari moves to 2nd place after today's win | Photo: Pascal Simon

Georgiadis 1/2 Morozevich

Nico Georgiadis has played an outstanding tournament. Undefeated with one win, is an unexpected position for the young Swiss facing such tough opposition. Today he even had Alexander Morozevich under pressure. Morozevich sacrificed a pawn for some compensation but had to fight his way to a drawn queen ending.

Alexander Morozevich looking a bit flumoxed | Photo: Pascal Simon

Vaganian 1-0 Studer

An exciting game was played by Rafael Vaganian and Noel Studer. Vaganian sacrificed an exchange for positional compensation in the center. In a confusing endgame, Vaganian's connected passed c- and d-pawns raced against Studer's passed h-pawn, and in the end, as often happens in these games, a single move decided:

 
Here Studer could have drawn with the surprising 51...Rxc5+ as after 52.Bxc5 Rh4+ 53.Kd5 Rh5+ White has nothing better than to repeat.

 

A hard defeat for Studer, his third straight loss as he fades to clear last place.

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Live commentary by GMs Danny King and Joe Gallagher

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Marco Baldauf, born 1990, has been playing since he was eight. In 2000 and 2002 he became German Junior Champion, in 2014 he became International Master. He plays for SF Berlin in the Bundesliga.

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