Korobov leads Superbet Rapid and Blitz in Bucharest

by Johannes Fischer
11/9/2019 – With an Elo rating of 2670, the Ukrainian GM Anton Korobov is currently number 68 in the classical world rankings. However, he is ranked sixth in the world in rapid chess at 2798! Korobov demonstrated his mastery of this format in the rapid portion of the Superbet tournament of the Grand Chess Tour in Bucharest. He finished Day 3 with a two point lead over the field. | Photos: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes
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Rapid, Day 2-3

Korobov scored two wins from three games on the second day of the Superbet rapid tournament: He won against Vishy Anand in round four, drew against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in round five, then grabbed the lead with a win with Black against Wesley So in round six.

The Ukrainian rapid specialist maintained his edge on Friday by adding three more points (three draws worth 1 point each), to finish the rapid portion of the tournament with a 12/18 for a 2 point margin heading into the blitz.

Final standings

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The rapid tournament uses double-point scoring with 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw

Anton Korobov on the way to the playing hall | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

When getting out of the car before the start of round four, judging from this photo, Korobov seemed to have some coordination problems, but they had quickly dissipated in his game against Anand. Korobov staged a brutal attack out of the opening, which he saw through to mate.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.e3 0-0 9.Rd1 Rd8 10.Qb3 Qe7 11.a3 dxc4 12.Qxc4 Bd6 13.Bd3 e5 14.d5 Nb8 15.g4!? Putting his hopes on the attack. Nd7 16.Rg1 Nc5 17.Bb1 b5 18.Nxb5 a5?! Engines dislike this move. Instead, the recommendation is 18...g6 with a slight advantage to Black. 19.g5 h5 20.g6 f5?! After this second inaccuracy, the White attack is unstoppable. The best choice is 20...Rf8 when the black position is defensible. 21.Ng5! with a surprisingly direct idea. Qf6 22.Nf7 Ba6 23.Rg5 From g5 the rook attacks h5 and f5 and Black has no defense. e4 24.Qe2! Bxb5 25.Qxh5 Of course White doesn't take the bishop. Kf8 26.Rxf5 Qxb2 27.Ne5+ Black will be mated in three moves or fewer. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Korobov,A2670Anand,V27571–02019Superbet Rapid 20194.4

Then, in round six against Wesley So, Korobov showed his tactical skills, but this time on the defensive. So had built up a strong attack, but did not find the best continuation and allowed Korobov to launch a counterstrike.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Nxd7 5.0-0 Ngf6 6.Qe2 Qc7 7.b3 e6 8.Bb2 Be7 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 0-0 11.c4 a6 12.Nc3 Ne5 13.Kh1 Rfe8 14.Rad1 Nc6 15.f4 Nxd4 16.Rxd4 Rad8 17.Rd3 Qc6 18.Rg3 h6 19.e5 dxe5 20.fxe5 Nh7 21.Qh5?! So missed a very good chance: 21.Qg4! Bf8 22.Ba3 g5 After 22...g6 there follows 23.Rxf7 Ng5 24.Rf6 and White is winning. 23.Qh5 Qc7 24.Bxf8 Rxf8 25.Re1 and White has a strong attack bordering on winning. 21...Bg5 22.Rxf7 Rf8 23.Rxf8+ Nxf8 24.Ba3 White has won a pawn but Black gets counterplay. Bf4 25.Rf3 Qe4! Black reminds White of his weak back rank, and not for the last time in this game. 26.Rf1 Qxe5 27.Qf3 Ng6 28.Ne4?! After this move Black finally dictates the tempo. Better was 28.g3 Bg5 mit with approximate compensation. 28...Nh4 29.Qg4 Qxe4 30.Qxh4 Rd2 31.Qg4 h5 32.Qh3 Qe2 33.Rg1 b6 34.Bb4 Rd3 35.Qh4 g5 White gave up. 36.Qe1 Rh3! could have been a pretty conclusion, or 36.Rd1 would be met by ...Rf3. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2760Korobov,A26700–12019Superbet Rapid 20196.1

With this somewhat lucky win Korobov took over the sole championship lead. Anish Giri, who started as the leader in Day 2, fell back to second after beating Le Quang Liem in round four, losing against Vladislav Artemiev in round five and drawing against Anand in round six.

Anish Giri | Foto: © Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

Anand bounced back from his loss to Korobov with a win against his old rival Levon Aronian.

Old rivals: Levon Aronian and Vishy Anand | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

Interested young spectators | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Lennart Ootes

Three draws on Day 3 were good enough for Korobov to extend his lead over Anish Giri heading into the Blitz portion of the tournament. However, a bit of luck was needed, because in the direct encounter with Giri, in round eight, something clearly went wrong for the Ukrainian.

 
Giri vs Korobov
Position after 23...Be2

In this complicated position 24.♖f4 was the only clearly winning move. Giri's 24.♖g1 allowed Korobov strong counterplay with 24...♝d1.

Giri was able to hold his second place in the standings, but ultimately had to share this with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Levon Aronian. The Dutchman managed only two draws on the last day of the Rapid tournament and lost his game against Mamedyarov:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.dxc5 g5 9.Bg3 Ne4 10.Bxb8 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Rxb8 12.Qa4+
12...Ke7 Also possible was 12...Bd7 13.Qd4 0-0 14.f3 Nf6 15.g4! The game is about equal but black is unpleasantly on the defensive. 13.Qd4 b6 The rook sacrifice 13...Qa5 could have lead to a draw: 14.Qxh8 Nxc3 15.Qd4 Ne4+ 16.Kd1 Bd7 17.Qe5+ Be6 18.Qd4 Bd7= 14.c6 Be6 15.e3 Qd6 16.f3 Nc5 17.Ne2 Qxc6 18.Qd2
Black regained a pawn while, with his last move White cleared the d4 square for the knight. 18...Qd6 19.Nd4
19...Bd7 This move lays the groundwork for Black's future problems, as White's next will give his knight access to the f5 square. Good was 19...Rbc8! 20.Bb5! Kf8 20...Be6? 21.Nc6+ Black has to accept the bishop exchange. 21.Bxd7 Qxd7 22.0-0 Rg8 23.Rad1 Rd8 24.g4!
Black is rather uncomfortable. 24...h5 25.Nf5 hxg4 26.fxg4 Now White can also make use of the f-file. Qa4 27.h3 Rh8 28.Qh2 Ne6 Here 28...Qe8! was much tougher: 29.Nd6?? Qxe3+-+ 29.Nd6! White is winning. Nf4 30.exf4 Rxd6 31.fxg5 Qc6 32.Rf3 Rh7 33.Rdf1 Qc5+ 34.Kh1 Qc6 35.Kg1 Kg8 36.R1f2 Rg7 37.Rf6 Re6 38.Qf4 Qxc3 39.Qb8+ Kh7 40.Rxf7 Reg6 41.Rf8 Qe1+ 42.Kh2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mamedyarov,S2767Giri,A27801–02019Superbet Rapid GCT 20197.2

Mamedyarov

Mamedyarov prepares to catch Giri | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Justin Kellar

Wesley So, who was crowned "Fischer Random World Champion" a few days ago, finished the rapid in last place. So gave up 2 points against Levon Aronian — the Armenians benefited from a misjudgment by So:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 Bb6 8.a4 Ng4 9.Rf1 Kh8 10.h3 Nh6 11.b4 a6 12.Bb3 f5 13.Nbd2 Qf6 14.Ra2 a5 15.b5 Nd8 16.Nc4 With 16.d4! Ndf7 after 16...exd4 17.cxd4 Bxd4? Black is going down fast: 18.Nxd4 Qxd4 19.Bb2 17.exf5 White would benefit from better access to the centre. 16...fxe4 17.dxe4 Bc5 18.Bg5 Qg6
In this roughly balanced position, White could easily play Kh1. 19.Bxd8 At first sight this looks good, but it doesn't work out so well. Bxh3! 19...Rxd8? 20.Ncxe5 would of course favour White. 20.Bg5 So probably relied on this move but his position is rather unstable. Bg4 21.Ncd2 Rxf3!
22.Nxf3 Rf8 White is a rook up but his position is under severe pressure. 23.Nxe5 Qxg5 24.Nxg4 Nxg4 25.Be6 Ne5 26.Kh1 Qh4+ 27.Kg1 Rf6 28.Bh3 g5 29.Qd5 g4 30.Qxb7 gxh3 31.Qc8+ Kg7 32.Qxh3 Nf3+ 33.Kh1 Rh6!
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2767Aronian,L27580–12019Superbet Rapid GCT 20198.2

Wesley So

So not enjoying Bucharest so far! | Photo: Grand Chess Tour / Justin Kellar

Both Viswanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana, suffered setbacks on the third day and had to accept two defeats each. 

Once again that leaves the overall standings heading into the blitz as follows:

Current standings

Standings via Grand Chess Tour live webcast

Day 3 commentary

GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Cristian Chirila, Maurice Ashley, and WGM Jen Shahade

All rapid games

 
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Saturday and Sunday are the two blitz days, with nine rounds (5 + 3) on the program, beginning at the usual time: 13:00 UTC (14:00 CET, 8:00 AM EST).

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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