Beijing 01: Three Black Victories

by ChessBase
7/4/2013 – In what seems to be the latest fashion, Black continues to accumulate wins in top level tournaments. Karjakin's Berlin was impervious to Giri's multiple sacrifices, Topalov played a clean game against Gelfand who over extended while Kamsky over stepped the time limit against Grischuk. Leko and Morozevich had their chances but were never winning. Pictures and analysis.

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The fifth stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series is taking place between the 3rd and 17th of July 2013 on the premises of the Chinese Chess Association in Beijing. The time controls are 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 61 onwards. The games start at 3 p.m. local time, except the last round. The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years (2012-2013). 18 top players participate in four of these six tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014.

Round 01 – July 04 2013, 15:00h
Giri Anish 2734
0-1
Karjakin Sergey 2776
Morozevich Alexander 2736
½-½
Wang Yue 2705
Gelfand Boris 2773
0-1
Topalov Veselin 2767
Leko Peter 2737
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
Kamsky Gata 2763
0-1
Grischuk Alexander 2780
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
½-½
Wang Hao 2752

The fans agreed today was an exciting round. At least most of them.

Giri, Anish - Karjakin, Sergey 0-1
Giri sacrificed a pawn early in this strange Berlin game, and although he had some compensation it never really seemed like Karjakin was in serious trouble. The Dutch player became overambitious with the move 24.f4?! after which Karjakin simply kept taking material. White's series of checks and Black's exposed king was insufficient compensation for what was now two pawns. Karjakin traded pieces methodically and took the full point.

Anish threw pawns and death glares Karjakin's way, but the latter was unfazed.

Ivanchuk, Vassily - Wang Hao ½-½
Ivanchuk seemed surprised at Wang Hao's Tarrasch set-up and his reply was far from the most challenging. After some simple moves Wang Hao achieved complete equality and the game ended in a relatively quick draw.

The media jumped on Wang Hao as soon as he was finished.

Leko, Peter - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½
This exciting game saw many pretty tactics, some missed opportunities and a hard fought draw. Through some clever tricks Leko obtained two pieces for a rook, a nice advantage that was however offset by Mamedyarov's activity and passed pawns. With some precise play Leko could have neutralized this, but he allowed Black's position to consistently improve until they reached an endgame in which the rook was no worse than the two minor pieces. Black didn't have true winning chances either and the game boiled down to a draw.

Morozevich, Alexander - Wang Yue ½-½
Morozevich obtained a commanding position from a completely off-beat Sicilian, but he spoiled his chances by allowing Black to exchange his powerful d6 knight in a position that was not d6 (which would have opened a powerful battery on the a1-g7 diagonal). After that the position was equal and the opposite colored bishops gave the players great chances for drawing.

China's number two had a tough time out of the opening, but regained composure and secured a draw with black.

Kamsky, Gata - Grischuk, Alexander 0-1
In another bizarre Sicilian Kamsky was forced to sacrifice a pawn very early on but obtained fantastic initiative. The players both got into severe time trouble and the game's quality at the end left much to be desired, as the many complications could not be calculated when both sides were playing on increment. Unfortunately for the American he let his flag fall and that sealed the deal.

Grandmaster Alexander Ipatov from Turkey, an adventurer in his own right, sent us annotations to what he considers the critical game of the round. He himself played over eight hours of chess today as he had a double round in the Turkish League. You can follow his blog at http://blog.alexipatov.com/.

[Event "FIDE GP Beijing 2013"]
[Site "Beijing"]
[Date "2013.07.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2741"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[Annotator "A,Ipatov"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. Ba4 a6 6. c4 {A very rare move in
well-known position. According to my Mega Database only 22 games were played
with 6.c4. The idea is to gain space advantage and prevent b7-b5. On the other
hand, it weakens the complex of dark squares.} Ng6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qc7 {
Black takes control over dark squares. Black wants to develop his dark squared
bishop to d6. Also the c4 pawn is under pressure now.} 9. Be3 Bd6 10. g3 Nxd4
11. Qxd4 Be5 12. Qd2 {White is obliged to give up a pawn. However, he obtains
some compensation.} (12. Qd3 {is not possible due to} Bxb2 $17) 12... Qxc4 13.
Bc2 Qc7 14. Bb3 O-O 15. f4 Bf6 16. e5 Be7 17. Nc3 {White has a space advantage
and better development for the sacrificed pawn. However, Black should be fine
anyway because White has a weak diagonal h1-a8. I think the position is
dynamically equal.} b5 (17... d5 $5 {was an interesting alternative, taking
control over e4-square.}) 18. Rac1 Qb8 19. Ne4 Bb7 20. Nd6 Bxd6 21. exd6 Rc8
22. h4 h6 23. Rxc8+ Qxc8 24. Rc1 Bc6 25. Rc5 Qe8 26. Bd4 a5 27. a3 Qb8 28. Be3
Qe8 29. Qd4 Nf8 30. Bd2 Nh7 31. f5 Bd5 32. Bc2 (32. Bxd5 $142 $1 exd5 33. Rxd5
Qe2 34. Bc3 Nf6 35. Qd3 Qxd3 36. Rxd3 Ne4 37. Kg2 {and White is pressing.})
32... b4 33. g4 Qd8 34. fxe6 dxe6 35. g5 hxg5 36. hxg5 Qxd6 37. Bf4 Qa6 38. Kf2
Rc8 39. axb4 {Conclusion : Despite White lost, the fresh idea 6.c4 is worth of
further examination. White got a fine compensation and was pressing the whole
middlegame.} 0-1

 

 

A classy Kamsky before the start of a bizarre game.

Gelfand, Boris - Topalov, Veselin 0-1
A very complex Gruenfeld gave both sides incredible tactical opportunities. Gelfand became too focused on preserving his passed d6 pawn and lost track that Black also had his own passed pawn which could become quite powerful. After pushing White's bishop around for many moves, Black was able to round up the White passer while preserving his own, which guaranteed victory.

Topalov seems pleased with his assistant's choice.

Information and pictures by FIDE press chief WGM Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule and pairings

Round 01 – July 04 2013, 15:00h
Giri Anish 2734
0-1
Karjakin Sergey 2776
Morozevich Alexander 2736
½-½
Wang Yue 2705
Gelfand Boris 2773
0-1
Topalov Veselin 2767
Leko Peter 2737
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
Kamsky Gata 2763
0-1
Grischuk Alexander 2780
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
½-½
Wang Hao 2752
Round 02 – July 05 2013, 15:00h
Karjakin Sergey 2776
-
Wang Hao 2752
Grischuk Alexander 2780
-
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
-
Kamsky Gata 2763
Topalov Veselin 2767
-
Leko Peter 2737
Wang Yue 2705
-
Gelfand Boris 2773
Giri Anish 2734
-
Morozevich Alexander 2736
Round 03 – July 06 2013, 15:00h
Morozevich Alexander 2736
-
Karjakin Sergey 2776
Gelfand Boris 2773
-
Giri Anish 2734
Leko Peter 2737
-
Wang Yue 2705
Kamsky Gata 2763
-
Topalov Veselin 2767
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
Wang Hao 2752
-
Grischuk Alexander 2780
Round 04 – July 07 2013, 15:00h
Karjakin Sergey 2776
-
Grischuk Alexander 2780
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
-
Wang Hao 2752
Topalov Veselin 2767
-
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
Wang Yue 2705
-
Kamsky Gata 2763
Giri Anish 2734
-
Leko Peter 2737
Morozevich Alexander 2736
-
Gelfand Boris 2773
Round 05 – July 09 2013, 15:00h
Gelfand Boris 2773
-
Karjakin Sergey 2776
Leko Peter 2737
-
Morozevich Alexander 2736
Kamsky Gata 2763
-
Giri Anish 2734
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
-
Wang Yue 2705
Wang Hao 2752
-
Topalov Veselin 2767
Grischuk Alexander 2780
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
Round 06 – July 10 2013, 15:00h
Karjakin Sergey 2776
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
Topalov Veselin 2767
-
Grischuk Alexander 2780
Wang Yue 2705
-
Wang Hao 2752
Giri Anish 2734
-
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
Morozevich Alexander 2736
-
Kamsky Gata 2763
Gelfand Boris 2773
-
Leko Peter 2737
Round 07 – July 11 2013, 15:00h
Leko Peter 2737
-
Karjakin Sergey 2776
Kamsky Gata 2763
-
Gelfand Boris 2773
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
-
Morozevich Alexander 2736
Wang Hao 2752
-
Giri Anish 2734
Grischuk Alexander 2780
-
Wang Yue 2705
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
-
Topalov Veselin 2767
Round 08 – July 12 2013, 15:00h
Karjakin Sergey 2776
-
Topalov Veselin 2767
Wang Yue 2705
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
Giri Anish 2734
-
Grischuk Alexander 2780
Morozevich Alexander 2736
-
Wang Hao 2752
Gelfand Boris 2773
-
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
Leko Peter 2737
-
Kamsky Gata 2763
Round 09 – July 14 2013, 15:00h
Kamsky Gata 2763
-
Karjakin Sergey 2776
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
-
Leko Peter 2737
Wang Hao 2752
-
Gelfand Boris 2773
Grischuk Alexander 2780
-
Morozevich Alexander 2736
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
-
Giri Anish 2734
Topalov Veselin 2767
-
Wang Yue 2705
Round 10 – July 15 2013, 15:00h
Karjakin Sergey 2776
-
Wang Yue 2705
Giri Anish 2734
-
Topalov Veselin 2767
Morozevich Alexander 2736
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
Gelfand Boris 2773
-
Grischuk Alexander 2780
Leko Peter 2737
-
Wang Hao 2752
Kamsky Gata 2763
-
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
Round 11 – July 16 2013, 15:00h
Ivanchuk Vassily 2733
-
Karjakin Sergey 2776
Wang Hao 2752
-
Kamsky Gata 2763
Grischuk Alexander 2780
-
Leko Peter 2737
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2761
-
Gelfand Boris 2773
Topalov Veselin 2767
-
Morozevich Alexander 2736
Wang Yue 2705
-
Giri Anish 2734

The games start at 9:00h European time, 11:00h Moscow, 3 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here. The commentary on Playchess begins one hour after the start of the games and is free for premium members.

Links

The games will be 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


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