54th Reggio Emilia: Giri beats Nakamura to tie for lead

by ChessBase
1/5/2012 – The ninth and penultimate round was as dramatic as could be, and for all the right reasons as far as fans were concerned. Giri defied the pundit expectations by beating Nakamura with black, and is now tied for first with Nakamura and Moro. Caruana also won and it all comes down to the last round. In the women's event the final round will also decide. Report, games, and interview with Giri.

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.

The 54th Reggio Emilia is underway at Reggio Emilia, Italy, and runs from December 27, 2011 to January 6, 2012. The tournament is a six-player, double round-robin with ten rounds played at 50 moves for 100 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move. January 1st is a rest day. Games start at 3 PM Paris time (9 AM NY time).

54th Reggio Emilia

Round nine


Ivanchuk seemed quite recovered from the losing streak


After his draw with Morozevich, he joined the audience to watch the other games

The ninth and penultimate round was as dramatic as could be, and for all the right reasons as far as fans were concerned (as opposed to certain Chernobyl imitations yesterday). Morozevich and Ivanchuk were the first to finish, with a quiet draw, which would mean that if Nakamura drew he would keep his lead, right? Or he could beat Giri and re-establish his edge over the field. Or.... Or Giri might have plans of his own!


Anish Giri has risen from the ashes to tie for the lead

It was the one scenario few, if any, pundits actually predicted, and that was a win for the young Dutch player with black, against Nakamura who had had a superb tournament so far, with the exception of a speed bump in the previous round. It was a brilliant win through and through for Giri, as the timing of the victory could hardly be more precious: by beating the leader he crowned a remarkable comeback in the latter half of the tournament, and is now tied with both Nakamura and Morozevich for first, and it is anyone's guess who will take the title.

New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,174,61854%2421---
1.d4952,91955%2434---
1.Nf3283,84956%2440---
1.c4183,33456%2442---
1.g319,80456%2427---
1.b314,46454%2427---
1.f45,92648%2377---
1.Nc33,85550%2384---
1.b41,77548%2379---
1.a31,23954%2405---
1.e31,07549%2409---
1.d396150%2378---
1.g466946%2361---
1.h446554%2381---
1.c343651%2426---
1.h328456%2419---
1.a411759%2462---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39267%2511---
1.Na34360%2477---
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 This line has been giving Black a bit of a headache for the last couple of years, with several spectacular wins for White, but Giri never seemed worse, so his play will no doubt be studied closely. Be7 7.Be3 Nd7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 c6 10.h4 Re8 11.Bd3 d5N This may not seem like a big deal since it could easily transpose to the Nakamura-Kramnik game, but Giri is reserving his knight for queenside operations. 11...Nf6 12.Rde1 d5 13.Bd4 c5 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Qf4 Be6 16.Ng5 g6 17.Bb5 Rf8 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Rxe6 Bxc3 20.Qg4 Bg7 21.h5 c4 22.hxg6 h6 23.Rd1 Qa5 24.Rxd5 Qxa2 25.Bxc4 Qxb2+ 26.Kd1 Kh8 27.f3 a5 28.Rd7 Qb1+ 29.Kd2 Qb4+ 30.Kd1 a4 31.Qh4 Qb1+ 32.Kd2 Qb4+ 33.Kd1 1/2-1/2 (33) Nakamura,H (2729)-Kramnik,V (2790) Moscow 2010 12.Ng5?! Ultimately this ends up wasting three tempi, which while not fatal per se, is hardly ideal. Nf8 13.h5 Bf6 14.Nf3 Bg4 15.Rde1 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Ne6 17.f4 h6 18.a3 Qa5 19.Qd1 Nc5 20.Bf5 Na4 21.Qd3 Nc5? Missing a chance to really make White suffer with 21...Nxc3! 22.Bd2 22.bxc3 Bxc3 23.Kd1 d4 24.Bh7+ Kh8 25.Bd2 Bxd2 26.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 27.Kxd2 Kxh7 and Black should win pretty easily. 22...d4! Black is completely unconcerned with the knight en prise, since taking would be tantamount to suicide for White. 22.Qd1 Qb5 23.Qe2 Qa4 24.Qd1 Ne4 25.Bxe4 Rxe4 26.Rhg1 Rae8 27.Rg3 Kh8 28.Reg1 Qc4 29.Kb1 c5 30.Qd3 b6 31.Qxc4 Rxc4 32.Rd1 d4 33.cxd4 cxd4 34.b3? Missing Black's next shot. dxe3! 35.bxc4 exf2 White is lost. 36.Rf3 Re1 37.Kc1 Bd4 38.c3 Be3+ 39.Kc2 Soon White will be in zugzwang and resign. Black is just waiting for his opponent to run out of moves. f5 40.a4 a5 41.c5 Bxc5 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2758Giri,A27140–12012C4254th Reggio Emilia9
Morozevich,A2762Ivanchuk,V2775½–½2012D1554th Reggio Emilia9
Caruana,F2727Vitiugov,N27291–02012B4154th Reggio Emilia9

To make it even more tense, Caruana also won his game against Vitiugov, who has had a dreadful tournament so far, and is now a half point behind the leaders. He is due to play Giri in the last round, which gives him a mathematical chance for first, though only if he wins, and both Nakamura and Morozevich lose their respective games.


Caruana has also had a remarkable comeback, and is now on plus one

As none of the three leaders is scheduled to play each other, and all will be vying for their place in the sun, be sure that all games will be hard-fought and action-packed.


An interview with Anish Giri after the ninth round (courtesy of Martha Fierro)

In the women's event, the top spots are all up for grabs as well. Georgian WGM Sopiko Guramishvili leads entering the last round but meets Anna Sharevich in the last round who can snatch first should she lose. On the other hand, should Sharevich lose and Italian Marina Brunello win, then Brunello would take second over Sharevich.


Tournament director Roberto Mogranzini

Pictures by Martha Fierro

Men's standings after nine rounds

Men's standings after nine rounds (traditional scoring)

Women's standings after nine rounds

Links

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 and get immediate access. Or you can get our latest Fritz 13 program, which includes six months free premium membership to Playchess.

Copyright ChessBase


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

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.