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Leinier Dominguez grabbed the lead in round three and did not falter until getting first place with a 'plus two' performance on Sunday. Rounds four and five finished with all four encounters drawn, while Ian Nepomniachtchi was the sole winner in the final two days of action. The Russian grandmaster bounced back from a subpar start to end up in second place.
Let us recap what went on in the final two rounds.
The draw in this game was interesting, but also was a rather "controlled" one. Presumably, both players know this opening variation very well.
Flexible plans for Black and strong weapons against the majority of White’s deviations from the main line are presented in an easy-to-understand manner. Most of the key ideas are illustrated with great examples from notable games between famous chess titans including Kasparov, Anand, Petrosian, Smyslov, and Kharlov. In this DVD, FM Lilov will teach you a plan for Black with a6, b5, Bb7, Nbd7 and c5, which is one of the best ways to meet White’s Queen’s Gambit. For those of you who like to experiment more in the opening, the FIDE Master has prepared a creative plan with Bg4.
Daniel Fridman and Teimour Radjabov signed a short draw | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
If one of the players starts with a fierce attack right from the get go — especially in a balanced position — this usually is not a particularly dangerous situation from an objective point of view, but in a practical game it can bring about extremely difficult problems. Ian Nepomniachtchi was successful with this strategy: the Russian grandmaster defeated Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu in just 19 moves.
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu suffered a kind of "industrial accident" | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Of course, the group of super-grandmasters in Dortmund tried to beat Estonian Kaido Kulaots at all costs — just because of the big Elo difference. In this sense, this was an interesting study case on tournament tactics, as the super grandmaster took risks and eventually was worse (but not so bad that everything was lost!), while the outsider followed the proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".
Tired of spending hours and hours on the boring theory of your favourite opening? Then here is your solution, play an Anti-Sicilian with 3.Bb5 against 2...d6 or 2...Nc6, and 3.d3 against 2...e6. In 60 minutes you will get a crash course in how to avoid mainstream theory and in understanding the ideas of this Anti-Sicilian setup. After these 60 minutes you should be able to survive the Sicilian for a long time, without being bothered by new developments found by engine x supported by an x-core machine. Now that it finally comes down to understanding, let's play chess!
Kulaots showed he has what it takes to draw Dominguez | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
The world-class players did not take risks and were able to remain undefeated in Dortmund.
Polish Radoslaw Wojtaszek (left) and Hungarian Richard Rapport | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Leinier Dominguez Perez was never at risk of losing. Richard Rapport might have caught up with him, but that did not happen: the Hungarian only made a draw. The draw against Wojtaszek handed the newly naturalized US citizen tournament victory.
The Grunfeld Defence is a very dynamic opening with an excellent reputation and the list of players ready to defend it reads like a who's who in chess. It is rather remarkable, that one variation still retains the position of 'main line' and that after hundreds of games played with it some questions still remain open. GM Lubomir Ftacnik explains.
Dominguez kept things under control to win the tournament | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Richard Rapport had no chances to win against Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and thus did not catch up with the tournament leader.
Another draw in the tournament — Rapport and Nisipeanu | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
The players went for one of the best-known variations of the Winawer in the French Defence. The sharp variant has been attracting chess players for decades.
Unorthodox against the French Winawer
The French Defence is an aggressive and tough opening. Typically, the second player shows his ambitions as early as on move three in the main, after - 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 - the Winawer Variation. Black’s intentions are clear - pressure in the center, and quick development. Check the new Learn in 60 minutes to find a repertoire based on the move 4.Ng1-e2. The author GM Dejan Bojkov used it to win a crucial game at the Canadian Open Championship 2011, which helped him share victory at this prestigious event.
Teimour Radjabov would not have won the event with a victory over Kaido Kulaots, due to his scores in the tiebreak criteria | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
After his dubious start in the tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi made it to second place! Crucial was his brilliant endgame technique in this game, but the Russian grandmaster was also fortunate to have the best score according to the tiebreak criteria: the higher number of games with Black and the higher number of victories.
Ian Nepomniachtchi finished second | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Translation from German: Antonio Pereira
