NC World Masters: Anand leads with one round to go

by Patrick Zelbel
7/24/2022 – Viswanathan Anand goes into his last game with a half-point lead over direct opponent Michael Adams and Dmitrij Kollars at the No-Castling World Masters in Dortmund. Meanwhile, Pavel Eljanov leads the Deutschland Grand Prix after beating Matthias Blübaum on Saturday. Bogdan-Daniel Deac also won and still has a chance of winning the tournament | Photos: Michelle Lassak

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Unprepared

The NC World Masters of the 49th Dortmund International Chess Festival saw Daniel Fridman facing Viswanathan Anand and Michael Adams facing Dmitrij Kollars on Saturday. After losing to Anand for a second time in the event, Fridman confessed:

My preparation was finished today when I went on stage. I saw that the seat opposite Dmitrij was already occupied, and I had prepared for the black game against him. Then I improvised against Vishy.

We saw 1.Nf3 on stage for the first time in No-Castling Chess. An interesting position emerged after the opening, in which Black had everything under control. Fridman entered a slightly worse endgame, and when he got a chance, the drew the game by a triple repetition.

The game between Adams and Kollars again saw the popular motif of f3 or ...f6 to place the king on f2 or f7. White captured the bishop pair, but the black pawn structure was intact. Both contenders played strongly, so the game was deservedly drawn.

There is still a lot to play for in the last round: the game between Anand and Adams will decide who gets the tournament title.


Standings after round 5

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
TBPerf.
1
GM
GM
2756

1
GM
2648
½

2
GM
2696
½

3
GM
2599
1

4
GM
2648
½

5
GM
2599
½

Ø 2638
3/5
2756
3.0
5
6.75
2710
2
GM
GM
2648

1
GM
2756
½

2
GM
2599
0

3
GM
2696
1

4
GM
2756
½

5
GM
2696
½

Ø 2701
2.5/5
2648
2.5
5
6.75
2701
3
GM
GM
2696

1
GM
2599
1

2
GM
2756
½

3
GM
2648
0

4
GM
2599
½

5
GM
2648
½

Ø 2650
2.5/5
2696
2.5
5
5.75
2650
4
GM
GM
2599

1
GM
2696
0

2
GM
2648
1

3
GM
2756
0

4
GM
2696
½

5
GM
2756
½

Ø 2710
2/5
2599
2.0
5
5.25
2638
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games

 
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1.c4 3 c5 12 2.Nf3 18       e6 13 3.Nc3 22 Nf6 21 4.e4 28 Nc6 11 5.d4 20 cxd4 24 6.Nxd4 10 Bb4 5 7.f3 34 d5 5:39 8.cxd5 45 exd5 12 B44: Sicilian: Taimanov: 5 Nb5. 9.Bb5 12 dxe4 1:02 ...Qb6 is the strong threat. 10.Nxc6 4:43
10...Bxc3+ 13 11.bxc3 6:47 Qxd1+ 15 12.Kxd1 3 a6 13
13.Ba4N 56 And now Nd4+ would win. Predecessor: 13.Nd4+ axb5 14.Nxb5 0-0 15.Bg5 Ra6 16.Kd2 exf3 17.gxf3 h6 18.Be3 Nd5 19.Bd4 0-1 (44) Farago,S (2249)-Erdelyi,Z (2362) Budapest 2009 13...Bd7 11      
Pin 14.Re1 5:55 Bxc6 1:07 15.Bxc6+ 2:49 bxc6 11 16.Bg5 19 Kd7 4:46 16...0-0-0+ feels stronger. 17.Kc2 exf3 17.Bxf6 11:19 gxf6 11 18.Rxe4 8 Rhe8 20 19.Rxe8 9:39 Rxe8= 9       Endgame KR-KR 20.Rb1 6 Re5 1:57 21.Rb4 2:36 Rh5 1:07 22.h3 1:26 Rg5 1:07 23.g4 54 f5 8:19 24.h4 6:54 Rg6 1:43 25.g5 4:01 f6 1:11 26.gxf6 2:40 Rxf6 9 26...Kc7 with more complications. 27.Ra4 Kb6 28.f7 Rf6 27.Ke2 2:26 Kd6 2:30 28.Ke3 2:17 Ke5 1:28 29.Ra4 2:51 f4+ 3:55 30.Kd3 43 aiming for Ra5+. Rh6 1:02 31.Rxa6 1:35 Rxh4 22 32.Ra5+ 7 Kd6 7 33.Ke4 37 Rh2 11 The position is equal. 34.Kxf4 3:55 Rc2 1:24 35.Ra7 2:16 Rxc3 15 36.Rxh7 12 Ra3 6 37.Rh2 34 c5 44 38.Ke4 50 Ke6 58 39.Rh6+ 55 Kf7 7 40.Rh2 33 Ke6 6 41.Rh6+ 30:11 Kf7 30:06 42.Rh2 8 Weighted Error Value: White=0.06 (flawless) /Black=0.05 (flawless)
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kollars,D2648Anand,V2756½–½2022B44NC World Masters 20221.1
Adams,M2696Fridman,D25991–02022C65NC World Masters 20221.2
Adams,M2696Anand,V2756½–½2022A33NC World Masters 20222.1
Fridman,D2599Kollars,D26481–02022A47NC World Masters 20222.2
Anand,V2756Fridman,D25991–02022C65NC World Masters 20223.1
Kollars,D2648Adams,M26961–02022C47NC World Masters 20223.2
Anand,V2756Kollars,D2648½–½2022D32NC World Masters 20224.1
Fridman,D2599Adams,M2696½–½2022B20NC World Masters 20224.2
Fridman,D2599Anand,V2756½–½2022B13NC World Masters 20225.1
Adams,M2696Kollars,D2648½–½2022B59NC World Masters 20225.2
Anand,V2756Adams,M2696½–½2022D35NC World Masters 20226.1
Kollars,D2648Fridman,D25991–02022C28NC World Masters 20226.2

Eljanov and Deac score

There were two impressive victories in the Deutschland Grand Prix on the stage of the Golden Hall at the Congress Centre of Westfalenhallen Dortmund.

When Pavel Eljanov went into the press centre after the game, there was special praise from Vishy Anand, who described his game as “very impressive”. Rarely do you see someone defeat European Champion Matthias Blübaum in such strategic manner. Eljanov grabbed the bishop pair early on, and improved his pieces bit by bit.

Eljanov decisively captured the pawn on e4, and went to win the game to get the sole lead in the standings before the last round.

Luke McShane has played a strong tournament so far, but in round 6 he lost against Romanian star Bogdan-Daniel Deac. Deac started the game super sharply, so both players were in time trouble early on. In zeitnot, the youngster kept the advantage and cold-bloodeldly exploited McShane’s mistaken 32...Ng6.

 
Deac vs. McShane

After move 40, Deac found himself in a winning position. For McShane the tournament is over, as he is free on Sunday and will be commentating live on the last round.

The decision will be between Eljanov and Deac. For Deac it is not only about tournament victory, but also about surpassing the magic 2700-rating barrier.

Pavel Eljanov


Current standings

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
TBPerf.
1
GM
GM
2681

1
GM
2649
1

2
GM
2634
1

4
GM
2692
½

5
GM
2649
½

6
GM
2673
1

7
GM
2688
½

Ø 2664
4.5/6
2681
4.5
6
3.00
2857
2
GM
GM
2692

1
GM
2688
1

2
GM
2649
½

3
GM
2634
½

4
GM
2681
½

6
GM
2649
1

7
GM
2673
½

Ø 2662
4/6
2692
4.0
6
3.00
2787
3
GM
GM
2649

1
GM
2673
1

2
GM
2688
1

3
GM
2649
½

4
GM
2634
½

5
GM
2681
½

6
GM
2692
0

Ø 2670
3.5/6
2649
3.5
6
3.00
2727
4
GM
GM
2649

1
GM
2681
0

2
GM
2692
½

3
GM
2649
½

4
GM
2673
½

5
GM
2688
½

7
GM
2634
½

Ø 2670
2.5/6
2649
2.5
6
3.00
2613
5
GM
GM
2634

2
GM
2681
0

3
GM
2692
½

4
GM
2649
½

5
GM
2673
½

6
GM
2688
½

7
GM
2649
½

Ø 2672
2.5/6
2634
2.5
6
3.00
2615
6
GM
GM
2688

1
GM
2692
0

2
GM
2649
0

3
GM
2673
½

5
GM
2649
½

6
GM
2634
½

7
GM
2681
½

Ø 2663
2/6
2688
2.0
6
3.00
2538
7
GM

1
GM
2649
0

3
GM
2688
½

4
GM
2649
½

5
GM
2634
½

6
GM
2681
0

7
GM
2692
½

Ø 2666
2/6
2673
2.0
6
3.00
2541
TBs: Games with black, Wins

All games

 
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1.e4 6 e5 8 2.Nf3 5 Nc6 6 3.Bc4 51 Nf6 14 4.d3 8 Bc5 5 5.Nc3 45 h6 2:47 6.0-0 2:10 d6 4:29 7.Na4 2:53 Bb6 2:09 8.a3 3:59 0-0 1:36 9.h3 5:49 Qe7 13:44 10.b4 15:21 Be6 9:09 11.Bxe6 11 Qxe6 1:18 12.c4 6:38 a6 15:04 13.Nxb6 21 cxb6 5 14.Bb2 2:33 Rfc8 4:43 15.Nh4 8:19 b5 2:41 16.cxb5 7 axb5 6 17.f4 1:33 Nd7 11:48 18.Kh1 5:47 Nb6 7:27 19.Rc1 8:59 Ne7 8:40 20.f5 5:33 Qf6 3:01 21.Nf3 38 Rxc1 1:06 22.Bxc1 5:38 d5 1:01 23.Nh2 1:01 Nd7 2:02 24.Ng4 7 Qh4 1:29 25.Kh2 8:14 Nf6 18 26.Nxe5 48 dxe4 33 27.Rf4 6:28 Qh5 1:32 28.g4 16 Qh4 37 29.dxe4 25 Nc6 2:59 30.Nxc6 3:44 bxc6 2 31.e5 2:23 Nd5 19 32.Rf3 6 Re8 1:25 33.Qe2 2:00 Qe7 1:25 34.Bb2 14 Nb6 7 35.e6 1:12 Nc4 56 36.Kg2 2:26 Nxb2 1:31 37.Qxb2 5 fxe6 1:09 38.f6 1 Qf7 37 39.Qc3 1:21 e5 50 40.Qxc6 39 e4 36 41.Re3 18:03 Re5 13:46 42.Rxe4 6:14 Qa2+ 4:54 43.Kg3 18 Qb3+ 9:57 44.Kf4 1:03 gxf6 7 45.Rxe5 2:37 fxe5+ 1 46.Kf5 1:44 Qd3+ 1:49 47.Qe4 1:12 Qxa3 1:06 48.Qd5+ 8 Kf8 2:06 49.Qd8+ 54 Kf7 10 50.Qf6+ 55 Ke8 21 51.Qxe5+ 12 Kd8 1:02 52.Ke6 22 Kc8 40 53.Qc5+ 12 Kb7 13 54.Qxb5+ 6 Kc8 5 55.Qc5+ 2:45 Kb7 8 56.h4 16 Qg3 1:31 57.Qd5+ 9 Ka7 11 58.Qd4+ 22 Kb7 20 59.Qe4+ 1:14 Ka7 23 60.h5 14 Qf2 44 61.Ke7 1:20 Qd2 48 62.Kf7 13 Kb6 26 63.Kg7 30 Kb5 21 64.Kh7 8 Ka4 44 65.Qc6+ 1:06 Kxb4 5 66.Qxh6 26 Qe2 59 67.Qf4+ 41 Kb3 9 68.Qf7+ 5 Kb2 25 69.g5 10 Kc1 1:01 70.h6 12 Qd3+ 21 71.g6 6 Kb1 23 72.Qf6 37 Qe4 46 73.Kg7 22 Qb7+ 19 74.Qf7 13 Qe4 42 75.h7 1:12 Qd4+ 18 76.Kf8 24 Qc5+ 33 77.Qe7 10 Qc8+ 12 78.Kf7 16 Qc4+ 16 79.Qe6 1:27 Qf4+ 31 80.Ke7 13 Qh4+ 27 81.Ke8 39 Qa4+ 21 82.Qd7 33 Qe4+ 35 83.Kd8 1:11 Qa8+ 30 84.Ke7 5 Qe4+ 17 85.Kf6 15 Qh4+ 1:32 86.Kg7 6 Qe4 29 87.h8Q 40 Qe5+ 13 88.Kf7 1:08 Qxh8 7 89.Qf5+ 5 Ka1 7 90.g7 5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Eljanov,P2681Svane,R26491–02022C50Deutschland Grand Prix 20221.2
Deac,B2692Navara,D26881–02022D85Deutschland Grand Prix 20221.3
McShane,L2649Bluebaum,M26731–02022C42Deutschland Grand Prix 20221.4
Navara,D2688McShane,L26490–12022E16Deutschland Grand Prix 20222.1
Svane,R2649Deac,B2692½–½2022E06Deutschland Grand Prix 20222.2
L'Ami,E2634Eljanov,P26810–12022E11Deutschland Grand Prix 20222.3
Deac,B2692L'Ami,E2634½–½2022B51Deutschland Grand Prix 20223.1
McShane,L2649Svane,R2649½–½2022C85Deutschland Grand Prix 20223.2
Bluebaum,M2673Navara,D2688½–½2022D11Deutschland Grand Prix 20223.3
Svane,R2649Bluebaum,M2673½–½2022C42Deutschland Grand Prix 20224.1
L'Ami,E2634McShane,L2649½–½2022E11Deutschland Grand Prix 20224.2
Eljanov,P2681Deac,B2692½–½2022A14Deutschland Grand Prix 20224.3
McShane,L2649Eljanov,P2681½–½2022C67Deutschland Grand Prix 20225.1
Bluebaum,M2673L'Ami,E2634½–½2022D33Deutschland Grand Prix 20225.2
Navara,D2688Svane,R2649½–½2022C54Deutschland Grand Prix 20225.3
L'Ami,E2634Navara,D2688½–½2022A34Deutschland Grand Prix 20226.1
Eljanov,P2681Bluebaum,M26731–02022A07Deutschland Grand Prix 20226.2
Deac,B2692McShane,L26491–02022E53Deutschland Grand Prix 20226.3
Bluebaum,M2673Deac,B2692½–½2022D11Deutschland Grand Prix 20227.1
Navara,D2688Eljanov,P2681½–½2022D35Deutschland Grand Prix 20227.2
Svane,R2649L'Ami,E2634½–½2022A37Deutschland Grand Prix 20227.3

Artem Lutsko on course for an IM norm

In the Sportland NRW Cup for women, a WGM norm is no longer possible, but in the Sportland NRW Youth Cup an IM norm for Artem Lutsko is within reach.

Lara Schulze is playing an outstanding tournament and was the sole leader before the eighth round. On Saturday, too, things went well for her at the start of the game. But the advantage evaporated and then Schulze made a big blunder, gave up a piece and lost the game.

Schulze is tied for the lead with Zoya Schleining. But the WGM norm is unfortunately no longer within reach.

The leader in the Sportland NRW Cup, IM Jonathan Carlstedt, also lost his game today. He later explained, praising his opponent:

Leonardo Costa was clearly the stronger player today, played very well, and I deserved to lose. Luckily I accumulated a few mistakes in one game today and didn’t scatter them over different games.

Artem Lutsko, meanwhile, defeated GM Alexander Bagrationi with Black. The young Ukrainian is playing a great tournament and is now tied on points with Carlstedt. A draw against the last player in the table, Timo Leonard, will be enough for him to achieve the coveted IM norm in Sunday’s final round.

Jasper Holtel remarkable in the Sparkassen Open A

The winner of the A-Open of the International Dortmund Festival is almost decided after sole leader Max Warmerdam’s draw. Behind him, Jasper Holtel is attracting attention.

After refusing an early draw and winning in the previous round, Warmerdam was very satisfied with a draw against GM Andreas Heimann. Heimann accepted the draw offer after 13 moves with Black. Warmerdam thus leads by one point before the last round, and the tournament win will hardly be taken away from him on Sunday (the round kicks off at 13:30).

The duel between FM Jasper Holtel and GM Tornike Sanikidze also ended in a draw. Sanikidze had an advantageous bishop ending, but it was not enough to win.

Holtel now has 5 wins and 3 draws, two of them against grandmasters.

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Patrick Zelbel is the press officer at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy yearly event in Dortmund.

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