Candidates come out swinging

by Macauley Peterson
3/11/2018 – An unusual start to the Candidates tournament in many respects. Three winners, three losers, and several players troubled by their first-round experience in the "Kuehlhaus" Berlin. The good news is, the first round games were great, amid many teething problems. Fans and professionals alike are eagerly awaiting round two to see how the situation develops. | Photo: Frederic Friedel

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Three decisive games to start

Sometimes the start of a tournament can be a bit dry, with players proceeding cautiously, trying to settle their nerves and find their footing in a new location. Not so today. All the games were fighting with players posing problems for each other from the opening. Speaking of posing problems, the venue choice is turning out to be a tad too avant-garde even for the chess glitterati. All around, there were signs that, for all practical purposes, the event was still a few days away from being ready for primetime. For an ironically optimistic spin on it, look no further than Garry Kasparov's view from afar:

Indeed, three decisive games to start the tournament is noteworthy. Both of the last two Candidates (Khanty-Mansiysk 2014 and Moscow 2016) started with three out of four games drawn — in both cases a win from Anand.

Caruana 1-0 So

Here in Berlin, it was Fabiano Caruana who scored the first full point, in a game in which he was never worse. Caruana flew to Germany a week early and spent his first five days in the country staying at Rustam Kasimdzhanov's house in a small village northeast of Bonn, the former West-German capital where Anand confirmed his classical World Championship ten years ago in a match against Kramnik. There, Caruana could get over jet-lag, and get in some last minute training before the pair travelled to Berlin by train on Thursday, the day before the opening ceremony.

Caruana was one of the few players who did not seem bothered by the noise in the playing hall, an almost-inevitable consequence of the multi-level interior surrounded by steel beams and exposed concrete. Every door opening reverberates, every cough echoes. But Fabiano remained focused.

At the post-game press conference, he said, "I know there are levels of people looking down, but I didn't really notice. I wasn't distracted." He added that he has worked with some other players to prepare before the tournament, aside from Kasimdzhanov, but will refrain from mentioning them, for now.

Wesley So

A "God's-eye-view" from the balcony | Photo: Frederic Friedel

So was exceptionally diplomatic, referring to the playing hall only as "quite different", while focusing on the positive side of the noise problem — the fact that there are a healthy number of live spectators there to make noise in the first place.

So arrived in Berlin directly, but a week in advance, and said that jet-lag was not an issue. "It's clear it's going to be a tough tournament, we have some of the best players in the world here and it's hard to predict what will happen...Unfortunately, I always seem to get bad positions against Fabi."

 
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1.d4 So: "The very first move was already a surprise for me because in the last Candidates Fabiano played e4 in all his games." Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qb3 Nbd7 9.Bf4 a5 10.Rd1 Nh5 11.Bc1 Nhf6 12.Nbd2 b5 13.c5 b4 14.Qc2 a4 15.Re1 e5 FC: "I expected e5, but I wasn't really happy with my last two moves. I was trying to get e4 in but I felt I'd lost the plot a bit." So suggested the idea of e3 and Bf1. 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nd7 18.Nf3 Bxc5 19.Ng5 FC "I took a long time to play Ng5 because it leads to a very sharp position. I had to make sure I wasn't losing in the complications." g6 20.Bf4 Qb6 21.e4 Fabiano decided on this when he played Ng5. 21.e3 b3 22.axb3 22.Qb1 Bb4 "and then Nc5 and Bf5 I can quickly get a strategiacally lost position. So I decided to play in the sharpest way." 22...axb3 23.Qb1 23.Qe2 21...b3 22.axb3 axb3 23.Qe2 Ba6 So: "After Ba6 my king is too vulnerable, and I couldn't manage to defend. Somehow things went really badly, really quickly." 23...Ra2 24.exd5 Caruana was worried about 24.Rab1 Ba6 25.Qf3 Bd3 26.Qxd3 Bxf2+ 27.Kh1 Bxe1 28.Rxe1 28.exd5 This zwichenzug, however, is still winning. Nc5 29.Qe3 cxd5 30.Rxe1 Rxb2 31.Bxd5 White's bishops are strong. 28...Rxb2 29.exd5 Qf2 gives Black counterplay. 24...Ba6 25.Qf3 Rxb2 26.Ne4 cxd5 27.Nxc5 Nxc5 28.Be3 FC: "I had a feeling that black is doing well...I was also worreid that the b-pawn would be winning for black." Bc4 29.Bd4 "and we get some sort of mess". 24.Qf3 Bc4 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.e6 dxe4 27.exf7+ Bxf7 28.Nxe4 Bd4 28...Re8 "was still putting up a good fight." 29.Nd6 Bd5 30.Qe2 Nf8 31.Bxd5+ cxd5 32.Qf3 Qa5 33.Re7 "I think we see in every Candidates tournament that there are ups and downs for every player." So: "It's clear it's going to be a tough tournament". 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2784So,W27991–02018FIDE Berlin Candidates1

Afterwards, Caruana joined the English webcast with GM Yannick Pelletier and Judit Polgar, and once again pointed out a few key moments from his first-round win. For some reason, he was greeted with a comic-book style graphic proclaiming "we have a winner" which elicited a broad if somewhat sheepish smile. 

Caruana webcast

Caruana off to a good start, but celebration would be premature | Webcast frame via WorldChess.com

"I can't say I have any expectations. It's a really good start, but it's still the first round, and I think we see in every candidates tournament that there are a lot of ups and downs for pretty much all players. But, it's still a great start."

Kramnik 1-0 Grischuk

One of the big questions coming into the tournament was how Grischuk would manage to handle his clock. If the first round is any indication, he could be in for a rough time. Grischuk was in time trouble leading up to move 40...a4, which left him in the second time control facing very difficult prospects. On the other hand, as Judit Polgar noted, "Kramnik played a brilliant game".

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.b3 c5 4.dxc5 Qa5+ 5.Nbd2 Qxc5 6.Bb2 Bg7 7.e3 0-0 8.c4 b6 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Rc1 d6 12.Nb1 Nbd7 13.Nc3 Rac8 14.Rc2 Qb8 15.Qa1 a6 16.Rd2 Rfe8 17.Rfd1 Ba8 18.Ng5 Rc5 19.Nh3
A interesting opening phase. So far both players have tried to develop their pieces to the best possible position without provoking too much "enemy contact". But that changes immediately. 19...b5 20.Nf4 bxc4 21.Bxc4 Rg5 22.Ncd5 Ne5 23.Be2 Ne4 24.Rd4 Nc5 25.h4 Rf5
Kramnik has an advantage - the black rook gets lost on the kingside. 26.e4 26.g4! war hier aber wohl der stärkere Zug. 26...Rxf4 27.Nxf4 Nxe4 28.Nd5 Nc5 29.Rb4 Qa7 30.Ne3 a5 31.Rb5 Ne6
This is how it can come: Black has lost the exchange, but he has a pawn for it his minor pieces are strong. Kramnik's advantage is small, though the ex-world champion decides to execute a brutal solution. 32.Rxe5 dxe5 33.Bxe5 The advantage may still be small, but it exists: Kramnik's army is very active and he can make progress with the queenside pawns long before Black can mobilise his own majority. Qc5 34.Bxg7 Nxg7 35.Qd4 Qxd4 36.Rxd4 Bc6 37.Rd2 Rb8 38.Rc2 Be8 39.Rc7 Kf8 40.Ra7 a4 41.bxa4
Kramnik has managed to increase its advantage. 41...Rb1+ 42.Kh2 Rb4 43.a5 Rxh4+ 44.Kg1 Ra4 45.Bc4 Bc6 46.Rc7 Be8 47.a6 Nh5 48.Nd5
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2800Grischuk,A27671–02018A48World Chess Candidates 20181

Kramnik vs Grischuk

Kramnik won the all-Russian duel | Photo: Frederic Friedel

It's worth noting that the all-American and all-Russian pairings in the first round are no accident. This is common nowadays for the Candidates to avoid even the suggestion of collusion among players from the same country, which could conceivably arise later in the tournament.

After the game, Grischuk was characteristically blunt: "I think the playing conditions are absolutely terrible. Now that I've lost, it will sound like an excuse, but believe me, it's not — I mean there is not even water in the toilet — but it has nothing to do with my loss."

Now, as veteran chess fans since the World Championship match in Elista 2006 know, if there's any word you don't want associated with the sport in a game involving Kramnik, it's the T-word.

Kramnik also noticed the noise problem and says he had raised the concern yesterday at the players meeting. "Everybody is in equal condition and I understand we need spectators, but something must be done".

Karjakin 0-1 Mamedyarov

Winning with black against as solid an opponent as Karjakin is a dream start for Mamedyarov, who is joined in Berlin by his wife Narmin. He had to do quite a lot of work with his queen but eventually brought home the full point, with a crucial breakthrough 50...g5! But queen endings are difficult — see for yourself:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.c3 a6 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bg4 8.Qb3 Bxf3 9.gxf3 Bg7 10.Be3 Ne7 11.Nc3 Bxd4 12.Bxd4 Qxd4 13.Qxb7 0-0 14.Qxc7 Rab8 15.0-0 Rxb2 16.Qxe7 Qxc3 17.Kg2 Rc2 18.Rad1 Rxa2 19.Rc1 Rc2 20.Rxc2 Qxc2 21.Ra1 Qc4 22.Qb7 Qb5 23.Qxa6 Qg5+ 24.Kf1 Qf6 25.Kg2 Rb8 26.Ra5 Rb3 27.Qc8+ Kg7 28.Qg4 Rb5 29.Rxb5 cxb5 30.Qd7 Qg5+ 31.Kf1 Qe5 32.h4 b4 33.Qb7 Qc3 34.e5 b3 35.Kg2 Qc4 36.Qb6 h6 37.Kg3 Qd5 38.f4 Kh7 39.Qb8 Qc4 40.f3 Qc3 41.Qf8 Qc4 42.Qb8 Kg7 43.Qb6 Qd5 44.Qb8 Qd1 45.Qb7 Qg1+ 46.Kh3 Qe3 47.Kg2 Qe2+ 48.Kg3 Qe1+
A difficult position. Black can hardly advance his pawns, because white threatens e5-e6, or even a queen invasion via f6. 49.Kg2 Qe3 50.Qb4 g5 In that sense, it is only logical that Black opens the position on the kingside. 51.hxg5 hxg5 52.fxg5 Qe2+ 53.Kg3 Qxe5+ 54.Kf2 Qh2+ 55.Ke3 Qg1+ 56.Kf4 Qc1+ 57.Kg4 Qe3 58.Kg3 It's hard to say why Karjakin did not play 58.f4 here. 58...Qxg5+ 59.Kf2 Qd5 60.Ke3 Kg6 61.Ke2 Kf6 62.Ke3 Ke6 63.Qb6+ Kd7 64.Qa7+ Kc6 65.Qa6+ Kc5 66.Qa4 Qc4 67.Qa5+ Kc6 68.Qa1 Kb5 69.Qb2 Kb4 70.Kd2 Qf4+ 71.Ke1 Qh4+ Last but not least black forces the exchange of queens.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2763Mamedyarov,S28090–12018C60World Chess Candidates 20181

Karjakin vs Mamedyarov

Karjakin was clearly annoyed with himself in the post-game press conference, and when things are not going well, everything else around that is not to one's taste is made that much worse. When it was his turn to answer how he felt about the playing conditions, he pulled no punches.

"Well, actually I don't like almost anything about the organisation of the tournament. I don't like the hotel, I don't like the venue and also it was a few times very noisy during the game. I don't want to say that I lost because of all these things, but basically, I don't like anything."

Mamedyarov singled out a stunning blunder that was mainly hidden from view, telling the press and spectators that at a certain moment in his game, the monitors usually reserved for showing the live positions of the boards in the playing hall, instead displayed the live commentary webcast from Polgar and Pelletier. Fortunately, at the time, he said, only the commentators were shown — no chess positions — at which point he immediately informed the arbiter. So they may have dodged a bullet there, in a situation that could otherwise have caused a huge scandal, albeit an accidental one.

Pelletier and Polgar

Pelletier and Polgar were a fine team, but unfortunately reached just a tiny audience in the hundreds throughout much of the day | Photo: Frederic Friedel

If the commentary was possible to find in the playing all when unwanted, it was sadly difficult to locate on the official website WorldChess.com. The video was sandwiched at the top of the page worldchess.com/berlin which was not clearly linked from the home page, although they have now added a prominent "watch broadcast" link, so that will improve.

The live games are still an issue, with a re-designed custom game viewer still undergoing development, and not enough time to implement a backup plan, viewers were forced to look elsewhere (such as live.chessbase.com) for the games, which by request of World Chess are delayed by five minutes. There was no way to watch the moves of the first round in real-time if you were not physically in Berlin.

Levon Aronian ½-½ Ding Liren

"Even the draw was tense and lively", was Pelletier's verdict near the end of day one. Judit was surprised by how sharp and tactical the games were for a first round, but her sister kibitzing from Reykjavik was surprised by Aronian's decision to allow a draw at all.

In the early opening, it looked like Levon Aronian came prepared for a fight, and the Armenian had his Chinese opponent quite tangled up. But Ding Liren bravely offered up a piece for a few pawns, after which Aronian pulled the emergency brake, satisfied with a draw:

 
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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.d4 b6 8.h4
That certainly looks like a fighting Aronian. 8.Nf3 is most often played at this point. 8...Bb7 9.Bg5 Qf5 10.Bd3 Qa5 11.Kf1 Nc6 11...Qxc3 12.Ne2 Qb4 13.c5 would be playable but Black would have given White a lead in developmental and a difficult defensive task, which was certainly not in Ding's interest. 12.Rb1 f6 12...Qxa2 13.Ra1 Qb2 14.Ra4± 13.Bd2 0-0-0 13...Qa3 would have been the best move - avoiding the constraining a2-a4 giving space to the black queen. 14.a4!
Now White is a little better: without material loss, White has gained some space advantage and Black's queen is unable to move. 14...e5 15.c5 15.Rh3 the computers suggests at this point. The fact that after this move the d3-bishop has been covered, the threat of c4-c5 probably increased. 15...Bxc5 16.Rb5 Qa6 17.Rh3
17...Bxd4! 18.Be2 18.cxd4 Rxd4 19.Ne2 Qxa4 20.Qb1 Rdd8 21.Nc3 Qd4= 18...Rd6 18...Ba8!= allowing the queen to come back into the game via b7. 19.Rb1 19.Rb2! Qa5 20.cxd4 Qd5 21.dxe5 White still has an edge. The difference between Rb1 and Rb2 is that on b2 the rook defends the d2-bishop. 19...Qa5 20.Rb5 Qa6 21.Rb1 Qa5 22.Rb5
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2794Ding,L2769½–½2018A18World Chess Candidates 20181

Levon Aronian und Ding Liren watched by IA Klaus Deventer, vice-president of the German Chess Federation | Photo: Andre Schulz

Had the game continued, we may well have seen four decisive games, which would have made everyone (save the loser) happy.

I caught up with Ding as he was retrieving his coat from the cloakroom at the exit and asked him how his nerves were as he sat down for the first game of his first Candidates tournament. After all, by drawing Aronian with black he has already survived an important test as the first ever Chinese player to reach this far in a World Championship cycle.

"The tournament is different but I tried to think of it as a normal tournament because otherwise, it will make me very stressed out and uncomfortable."

And did he succeed?

"Maybe", he said.

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

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