Explosive round in Biel!

by Alejandro Ramirez
7/24/2014 – It's almost too much to take in. Anish Giri uncorked a novelty and defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who now only leads by half a point. Behind him is Radoslaw Wojtaszek who smashed Pentala Harikrishna, curiously both of these games were in a Grunfeld. But also importantly Hou Yifan won her game, which ties her for second. Now she is only eleven points away from Judit Polgar.
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International Chess Festival in Biel

Round Nine

Round 09 – July 23, 2014
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
1-0
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Hou Yifan 2629
1-0
 Alexander Motylev 2698

Video Recap

After three draws we have three exciting decisive results!

First of all Radodslaw Wojtaszek had a successful opening against Pentala Harikrishna. With a super center and eventually a strong passed pawn on d6 it was clear that the advantage was White's, and although at some point the Polish player did not play the most exact moves the position was so strong that White retained the winning advantage anyway.

Radoslaw Wojtaszek now shares second with 5.0/9

Pentala Harikrishna (above) is second to last, but he is at least a full point ahead of Alexander Motylev

Anish Giri also had great preparation against the Grunfeld! Catching MVL completely off-guard the Dutch player obtained a huge advantage... only to squander it! However MVL, between his time pressure and his tiredness, was unable to keep the balance in a very slightly worse rook and knight endgame and he ended up losing. He retains his lead, but only by half a point now.

Anish Giri enjoying the view while his opponent thinks

MVL was unable to come up with a good solution to Giri's novelty

Last but not least Hou Yifan's opening was not successful at all. Black equalized with ease and after a mistake by the Chinese player it was Alexander Motylev that was in the driver's seat. Yet, also in time pressure, the Russian made a huge blunder and his kingside collapsed, along with his game.

Hou Yifan only trails Judit Polgar by 11 rating points now

Updated after Biel's ninth round these are the top women in the world:

  Name Rating
+/-
 Rapid Blitz Age
1 Polgar, J 2676.0
0.0
 2646.0 2736.0 38
2 Hou Yifan 2665.0
+36.0
 2600.0 2662.0 20
3 Koneru 2598.4
-14.6
 2611.0 2521.0 27
4 Muzychuk, A 2554.9
-6.5
 2546.0 2665.0 24
5 Ju Wenjun 2551.2
+13.2
 2555.0 2469.0 23
6 Dzagnidze 2549.9
+8.9
 2547.0 2591.0 27
7 Lagno 2540.0
0.0
 2599.0 2540.0 24
8 Kosteniuk 2531.2
-1.8
 2577.0 2548.0 30
9 Muzychuk, M 2529.7
+8.7
 2445.0 2439.0 21
10 Cmilyte 2525.0
0.0
 2462.0 2439.0 30
11 Gunina 2523.8
+22.8
 2552.0 2577.0 25
12 Harika 2520.9
+7.9
 2421.0 2525.0 23
13 Zhao Xue 2519.1
-22.9
 2485.0 2576.0 29
14 Kosintseva, N 2513.0
0.0
 2516.0 2519.0 29
15 Stefanova 2505.2
+17.2
 2578.0 2569.0 35
16 Ruan Lufei 2503.0
0.0
 0.0 0.0 26

Play of the Day!

Replay Round Nine Games

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 e6 4.e4 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nc3 dxe4 7.fxe4 Bb4 8.Bd3!? Giri's new idea 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Nf3 Bg4 was eventually ok for Black in Svidler, Peter- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime from last year in the Paris Grand Prix 8...Nxe4 9.Qe2 0-0 9...f5 is possible but surely Giri had some prep against this. 10.Bxe4 Re8 11.Nf3 Bf5 black will regain the piece, but that's not the end of his problems. 12.Bg5 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 f6 14.Nd2 fxg5 15.0-0 Black is up a pawn but his position is suspicious; his king is open and his development is far from complete. Nd7 16.Qc4+ 16.Qd3! is stronger according to the computer. Bxe4 17.Nxe4 Kh8 18.Rae1± 16...Be6 17.Bd5 Bxd5 18.Qxd5+ Kh8 19.Rae1 19.Qxb7 19...c6 20.Qb3 Nb6 21.Nf3 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Qf6 23.Qe6 Qxe6 24.Rxe6 through some help by his opponent MVL has managed to come close to equalizing, but he doesn't find the best way to continue now. g4 25.Ne5 Nd5 26.c4 Nf4 27.Re7 Ne2+ 28.Kf2 Nxd4 29.Rxb7 Black's position is clearly dangerous a5?! 29...Rf8+! 30.Ke3 Nc2+ 31.Kd3 Ne1+= 30.Nd7 threatening the surprisingly lethal Nf6. Ne6 31.Kg3 Rd8 32.Nf6 Ng5 33.Kxg4± h6 34.Nd7! White is controlling his opponent's position. Nf7 35.Kf4 g5+ 36.Ke3 Nd6 36...Re8+ 37.Kd3 Re1 was the last chance for counterplay and to save the game. 37.Rb8 Rxb8 38.Nxb8+- the knight endgame is hopeless because of the king activity. Nxc4+ 39.Kd4 Nb6 40.Nxc6 a4 41.Kc5 Nc8 42.Kb4 Nb6 43.Kc5 Nc8 44.Kb4 Nb6 45.Kb5 Nd5 46.Kxa4 Kg7 47.Nb4 Ne3 48.Kb5 Kf7 49.a4 Ke6 50.a5 Kd7 51.a6 Kc8 52.Kc5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2750Vachier-Lagrave,M27661–02014E60Hans Suri Mem 20149.1
Wojtaszek,R2733Harikrishna,P27261–02014D85Hans Suri Mem 20149.2
Hou,Y2629Motylev,A26981–02014B18Hans Suri Mem 20149.3

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Standings

Schedule

Round 01 – July 14, 2014
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
½-½
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Alexander Motylev 2698
0-1
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Hou Yifan 2629
1-0
 Anish Giri 2750
Round 02 – July 15, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
1-0
 Anish Giri 2750
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
 Hou Yifan 2629
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
½-½
 Alexander Motylev 2698
Round 03 – July 16, 2014
Alexander Motylev 2698
1-0
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Hou Yifan 2629
0-1
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Round 04 –July 17, 2014
Hou Yifan 2629
½-½
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
 Alexander Motylev 2698
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Round 05 – July 18, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
½-½
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
1-0
 Anish Giri 2750
Alexander Motylev 2698
½-½
 Hou Yifan 2629
Round 06 – July 19, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
½-½
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
 Alexander Motylev 2698
Anish Giri 2750
½-½
 Hou Yifan 2629
Round 07 – July 21, 2014
Anish Giri 2750
½-½
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Hou Yifan 2629
½-½
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Alexander Motylev 2698
0-1
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Round 08 – July 22, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
½-½
 Alexander Motylev 2698
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
½-½
 Hou Yifan 2629
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
 Anish Giri 2750
Round 09 – July 23, 2014
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
1-0
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Hou Yifan 2629
1-0
 Alexander Motylev 2698
Round 10 – July 24, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Hou Yifan 2629
Alexander Motylev 2698   Anish Giri 2750
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766   Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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