Dortmund: Vachier-Lagrave takes lead

by André Schulz
7/13/2016 – In round four of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting Dortmund Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won against German grandmaster Rainer Buhmann. Long time Buhmann's Breyer looked solid but then the French grandmaster opened lines with a tricky pawn-break. The three other games ended in a draw: Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu could not convert an advantage against Evgeny Najer, Fabiano Caruana found no recipe against Leinier Dominguez' Petroff and Ruslan Ponomariov and Vladimir Kramnik also drew without too much excitement.
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

In round three German grandmaster Rainer Buhmann had to play with Black against the number two in the world, in round four he had to play with Black against the world's number four, Maxime Vachier Lagrave. In a Spanish Breyer Buhmann for a long time seemed to be equal or close to equal but then he lost control which gave the French grandmaster an opportunity to show his class.

Rainer Buhmann

 
Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

 

Najer and Nisipeanu

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu got an endgame with an extra pawn against Evgeny Najer but as it turned out this was not enough to win.

Dominguez against Caruana

Leinier Dominguez decided to try a Petroff against Fabiano Caruana. Before the Berlin Defense became popular the Petroff was the most popular defense against 1.e4 when Black had his eyes set on a draw. The Cuban grandmaster did in fact not seem to mind a draw with Black against Caruana and he had no real problems to get it.

Vladimir Kramnik played with Black against Ruslan Ponomariov and he too seemed to be content with a draw - which he got after 27 moves.

Ruslan Ponomariov

Vladimir Kramnik

Results of round four

Bd. Title Name ELO Result Title Name ELO
1 GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave 2788 1 - 0 GM Rainer Buhmann 2651
2 GM Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu 2669 ½ - ½ GM Evgeniy Najer 2681
3 GM Fabiano Caruana 2804 ½ - ½ GM Leinier Dominguez Perez 2732
4 GM Ruslan Ponomariov 2715 ½ - ½ GM Vladimir Kramnik 2801

Games - Rounds 1 to 4

 
Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

Standings after four rounds

  Title Name Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts. TB
1 GM Maxime Vachier Lagrave 2788     ½ ½ 1     1 3.0 / 4  
2 GM Leinier Dominguez Perez 2732     ½   ½ 1   ½ 2.5 / 4  
3 GM Vladimir Kramnik 2801 ½ ½       ½   ½ 2.0 / 4 4.25
4 GM Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu 2669 ½       ½ ½ ½   2.0 / 4 4.25
5 GM Fabiano Caruana 2804 0 ½   ½     1   2.0 / 4 3.75
6 GM Ruslan Ponomariov 2715   0 ½ ½     1   2.0 / 4 3.50
7 GM Evgeniy Najer 2681       ½ 0 0   1 1.5 / 4  
8 GM Rainer Buhmann 2651 0 ½ ½       0   1.0 / 4  

 

Photos: Georgios Souleidis

Tournament page...

André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.