Bucharest 09: Wang Hao shocks Caruana

by ChessBase
10/16/2013 – Caruana's winning streak came to an end today as the Chinese player was able to take him down with black. A complex game gave Caruana a definite advantage but Wang Hao survived the complications and an amazing king march supporting a passed pawn left the Chinese player in a winning position. Wang Hao can tie with Caruana for first tomorrow if he wins and the Italian loses. Report.
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The opening ceremony of the 7th edition of Kings Tournament Romgaz took place on the 6th of October in the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (Piata Romana Nr.6). This international tournament is organized by the Sports Club “Elisabeta Polihroniade” and is a part of the Grand Slam circuit. The Kings Tournament will be a double round robin competition with 5 world-class participants: Fabiano Caruana (Italy, GM, 2779), the former World Cham pion Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, GM, 2756), Wang Hao (China, GM, 2736), Radjabov Teimour (Azerbaijan, GM, 2733) and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, (Romania, GM, 2665). This year’s edition will be played in the Magna Auditorium and Conference Hall "Virgil Madgearu" of the  Bucharest University of Economic Studies – a partner of the Kings Tournament. The rounds will start every day from the 7th until the 17th October at 3:30 p.m. (last round starts at 1:30 p.m) and entrance will be free for spectators.

Round 9

Round 9 – October 15, 15:30h
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
½-½
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
0-1
 Wang Hao 2733
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
bye
    

Player Post-Mortems:

 

 

Analysis of Round 9

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,168,43054%2421---
1.d4948,59355%2434---
1.Nf3282,13556%2441---
1.c4182,40456%2442---
1.g319,72456%2427---
1.b314,32154%2427---
1.f45,91348%2377---
1.Nc33,81451%2384---
1.b41,75948%2379---
1.a31,22154%2405---
1.e31,07349%2409---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466646%2361---
1.h444953%2374---
1.c343551%2426---
1.h328356%2419---
1.a411259%2465---
1.f39346%2435---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
In the 9th round of Kings Tournament the leader Fabiano Caruana unexpectedly lost with the white pieces to Wang Hao. Caruana achieved a large advantage against the Petrov’s Defense, but then the things went completely out of hand for the Italian and first he let the advantage slip away and in time trouble White missed even the forced draw. Nisipeanu-Radjabov is best explained by Nisipeanu’s own words after the game: “If you want to become a 2700-player, you don’t have to beat them, it’s enough to make a draw with them”. The Romanian chose a safe strategy and only the tournament rules didn’t allow the players to shake hands before move 30. Thus before the last round Caruana is leading with plus two score, Nisipeanu and Wang Hao are on 50 per cent and Ponomariov with Radjabov share places 4-5 with minus one. The last round starts at 13:30 local time. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 7.Bf4 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nc5 10.Be3 c6 11.c4 Ne4 12.Qe1 Re8= Ponomariov,R (2751)-Nisipeanu,L (2674) Bucharest 2013 7...0-0 7...Nc6 was played by Wang Hao in the fifth round: 8.Qd2 Be6 9.0-0-0 Qd7 10.h4 h6 11.Kb1 Bf6 Ponomariov,R (2751)-Wang,H (2733) Bucharest 2013 8.Qd2 In this popular position Black usually chooses between 8...Nc6 and 8...Nd7. It is also common to develop the bishop to e6, f5 of g4. b6!? The patent of Wang Hao, who played this move earlier this year. In no other games did Black try 8...b6. At this point Caruana started to think longer. 9.0-0-0 Bb7 10.Nd4 Nc6 11.Nf5 Bf6 12.Ng3 An improvement over Wang Hao's previous game, which forced the Chinese GM to start thinking over the board as well. Until this moment Caruana spent about half an hour, while Wang Hao was replying instantly. 12.h4 Re8 13.Bg5 Ne5 14.f4 Ng4 15.Bb5 Re4 16.Ng3 Re6 17.Rde1 Rxe1+ 18.Rxe1 was good for White in Nakamura,H (2775)-Wang Hao (2743) Sandnes 2013, but Black's play can certainly be improved at several points. 12...Ne7 Played after more than 20 minutes of thinking. Most likely Wang Hao was trying to recall his home preparation. 13.Nh5 Nf5 14.Bf4 Be5 15.h4 g6?! A committing, rather dubious move. 16.Bd3! gxh5 16...Ng7!? 17.Bxf5 Qf6 18.Bxe5 dxe5 18...Qxf5 19.Bd4 leads to an unpleasant position for Black due to the more vulnerable position of his king. For instance c5 20.Be3 d5 21.Rh3± 19.Bd3 Black's pawn structure is broken and his position is becoming dangerous. Kg7?! This move is hard to understand. Even Wang Hao couldn't explain its purpose after the game... More logical looks 19...Rad8 or even 19...Kh8 20.Qe2 An attractive alternative was 20.Rh3 Rg8 21.Rg3+ Kh8 22.Rg5 Also 20.f3 is a good option. 20...e4 21.Bc4 Qh6+ 22.Kb1 Rad8 23.a3 Defending such a position with Black is highly unpleasant. f5
24.Bb3 Now Qc4 becomes an additional option for White. Strong was 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Rd1 Rd6 26.g3 and White keeps a clear strategic advantage. 24...Kg6 Another daring move with the king. Preferable is 24...c5 and if 25.Qc4 Qf6 26.Qa4 Black has Qc6! 25.Rh3 Again 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Rd1 was a simple and good solution. 25...f4 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.g4 Even here White could transfer the rook to the d-file with the help of unexpected tactics - 27.Rd3! and Black is in troubles: Rxd3 27...Qf8 28.Bf7+‼ Kxf7 29.Qxh5+ 27...exd3 28.Qe6+ Kg7 29.Qe7+ with a soon mate 28.cxd3 e3 29.Qe1! followed by fxe3 and Qg3, keeping the attack. 27...c5 28.Rh1 28.gxh5+ Kf6 28...Kg7 29.Rd3! 28...Qxh5? 29.Bf7+ 29.Rh1 28...f3 29.Qc4 Stronger is 29.gxh5+ 29...Bd5 30.Qa4 Bxb3 Here both players had about 10 minutes left on the clock - very little for such a sharp position, with a lot of variations to calculate. White is still better, but things are getting more and more complicated and under pressure Caruana collapses - a rare case for the young Italian GM. In the next part White's lay is obviously influenced by the time-trouble. 31.cxb3 31.Qc6+ Kg7 32.Qc7+ Bf7 33.Qxd8 hxg4 34.Qc7 31...Qf4 32.Re1?! hxg4 33.Rxe4 Qf5 34.Ka2 Kh5 Black is not worse any longer. 35.Re1 35.Rf4 Qg6 is bad for White. 35...h6 36.Qxa7 g3 37.fxg3? White could still make a draw: 37.Qe7 gxf2 38.Re5 Qxe5 39.Qxe5+ Kg4 40.Qe4+ Kg3 41.Qg6+ Kh2 42.Qc2 Kg1 43.Qg6+= 37...f2 38.Rf1 Kg4 39.Qg7+ Kf3 40.g4 Qf4 The time trouble is over and Black is winning now! 41.Qb7+ Ke2 42.Rb1 Rd3 Instead Wang Hao had a nice forced win: 42...f1Q 43.Qe7+ Kd2 44.Qxd8+ Kc2 45.Rxf1 Qxf1 with inevitable mate 43.Qg2 More stubborn was 43.Qxb6 f1Q 44.Rxf1 and Wang Hao had to find Qxf1! 44...Kxf1? is a mistake due to 45.Qxc5 Qxg4 46.Qf8+ Ke2 47.Qxh6 and it is still a question if Black can win this. 45.Qxc5 Kd2! 46.a4 Kc2 Black is very active and should win 43...Rd1 Now is easy for Black 44.Rxd1 Kxd1 45.Qf1+ Kd2 46.g5 hxg5 47.hxg5 Qg3 48.Qb5 Qd3 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2779Wang,H27330–12013C427th Kings Tournament9
Nisipeanu,L2674Radjabov,T2723½–½2013B227th Kings Tournament9

Information and photos by Dorian Rogozenco

Standings

Schedule

Round 1 – October 07, 15:30h
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
½-½
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
0-1
 Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Wang Hao 2733
bye
    
Round 2 – October 08, 15:30h
Wang Hao 2733
½-½
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
½-½
 Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
bye
    
Round 3 – October 09, 15:30h
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
1-0
 Wang Hao 2733
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
bye
    
Round 4 – October 10, 15:30h
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
½-½
 Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Wang Hao 2733 ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
bye
    
Round 5 – October 11, 15:30h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
½-½
 Wang Hao 2733
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
1-0
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
bye
    
Round 6 – October 12, 15:30h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
½-½
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
 Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Wang Hao 2733
bye
    
Round 7 – October 13, 15:30h
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
½-½
 Wang Hao 2733
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
½-½
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
bye
    
Round 8 – October 14, 15:30h
Wang Hao 2733
½-½
 Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
0-1
 Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
bye
    
Round 9 – October 15, 15:30h
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
½-½
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
0-1
 Wang Hao 2733
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
bye
    
Round 10 – October 16, 13:30h
Wang Hao 2733
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
bye
    

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