7/13/2017 – The rest day in Geneva seems to have done the trick, since round six was sizzling. Five of the nine games ended in decisive results, and even the draw between the leaders Alexander Grischuk and Teimour Radjabov was hard-fought. At the top of the leaderboard, it was Harikrishna’s convincing win over Aronian that made the biggest waves, allowing him to join the leaders. Report, videos, and GM commentary.
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The Grand Prix is being organized by Agon Limited, the commercial partner of the World Chess Federation, the game’s governing body. Agon has the exclusive commercial rights to organize the cycle of the World Championship.
Each Grand Prix has a prize fund of 130,000 euros, and the Geneva Grand Prix is supported by EG Capital Advisors, Kaspersky Lab and S.T. Dupont.
Twenty-four of the world’s best players are competing in the Grand Prix, with 18 of them participating in each of the tournaments. They will play a nine round swiss open played at 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move one.
The tournament runs from June 6-15, with a rest day on June 11 after round five. Each round starts at 2 pm local time (8 am New York time).
The top game of the round was that between the leaders Alexander Grischuk and Teimour Radjabov. Anyone expecting them to agree to a short draw was heartwarmed to see the two duking it out, and not just for show. Grischuk unleashed a novelty that gave him a lasting edge, but explained that although he felt his opening was a success, Black’s position is still solid and it is not easy to break through. A mistake on move 31 was enough to let Radjabov equalize and the handshake on move 41 after the time control was no surprise.
A fascinating duel between the leaders as Alexander Grischuk showed he was there to win
One of the biggest surprises of the day was Levon Aronian’s loss to Pentala Harikirshna. Aronian is known to be particularly dangerous with White, and there was the hope by some of his fans that he might try to gain a long-shot at the Candidates spot should he win the event outright. He prepared an unusual opening novelty with 13.Re1 that would need a few moves to become apparent, and after 16.d4! he was firmly in the driver’s seat. However, not long after, with 20.f4? and 21.b5? he fatally weakened his king’s position for no reason, and was punished very quickly.
Aronian - Harikrishna
The Indian never let go after this, and instead of Aronian being a longshot qualifier, it is Harikrishna, though he would need to not only win Geneva outright, but storm away with Palma later this year. Either way, he now shares the lead with Grischuk and Radjabov with 4.0/6 to the delight of the Indian fans.
Levon Aronian slipped badly and was duly punished by Pentala Harikrishna
Levon Aronian - Pentala Harikrishna
[Event "FIDE Geneva Grand Prix 2017"] [Site "Geneva"] [Date "2017.07.12"] [Round "6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2809"] [BlackElo "2737"] [Annotator "A. Silver"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. Rc1 f5 11. a3 Kh8 12. b4 {4} a6 13. Re1 Qe8 $146 14. Qd2 Bd6 15. Bxb6 cxb6 16. d4 $1 exd4 17. Nxd4 Rd8 18. Nxe6 Qxe6 19. Qa2 Qh6 20. f4 {It is very difficult to understand why White chose to weaken his king like this. Presumably his idea was to fix the f5 pawn and then push e4 with the support of his pieces, but his king remains wide open, and for no clear benefit.} (20. e3 {was a much saner choice.}) 20... a5 $11 21. b5 Bc5+ $1 22. e3 $2 {[#] A blunder that meets with a nasty tactic.} (22. Kh1 $1 $11 {was the only way to keep the balance.} Bf2 23. bxc6 Bxg3 24. h3 Bxe1 25. c7) 22... Ne5 $1 $17 {Strongly threatening ...Nd3.} 23. Rcd1 $2 {Unfortunately, the exchange could not really be saved without greater consequences.} (23. fxe5 Bxe3+) 23... Ng4 $1 $19 {White is lost.} 24. h3 Nxe3 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Kh2 g5 27. fxg5 Qxg5 28. Qe6 f4 29. Ne4 {[#]} Qg7 $1 (29... fxg3+ 30. Kh1 $17) 30. g4 Nc2 31. Rf1 Nd4 ({Not} 31... Nxa3 $2 32. Nxc5 bxc5 33. Rxf4 $18 {and suddenly White is the one winning.}) 32. Qf6 Qxf6 33. Nxf6 Bxa3 34. Bxb7 Bd6 35. h4 a4 36. g5 a3 37. Kh3 Be5 38. Kg4 Nc2 0-1
Peter Svidler really played with fire as he tried to build a sacrificial attack against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Instead, the Azeri was very much in control and could now conceive of winning and joining the leaders himself. White dug deep though, and little by little whittled away at Black’s advantage until he had saved the draw.
A video of the rest day by WGM Anna Burtasova
Ian Nepomniachtchi was a convincing winner in round six as well, as he dispatched Ernesto Inarkiev in a nice game. With his win he moves to a plus score with 3.5/6, just half a point behind the leaders. Enjoy the detailed analysis by GM Krikor Mekhitarian who shares his expertise in the system employed by Nepo.
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Ernesto Inarkiev (annotated by GM Krikor Mekhitarian)
[Event "Geneva Grand Prix 2017"] [Site "Geneva SUI"] [Date "2017.07.12"] [Round "6"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Inarkiev, Ernesto"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C87"] [WhiteElo "2742"] [BlackElo "2707"] [Annotator "Mekhitarian, Krikor"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2017.07.06"] [EventType "swiss"] [SourceDate "2007.01.15"] [SourceVersionDate "2007.01.15"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 $5 {I have played many games in this system, and I think it's a great way to play more flexibly against the Ruy Lopez, without entering forced lines with the standard 6.Re1} d6 (6... b5 {is the most common reply} 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 {is the move I always liked, trying to play c3-Bc2 quickly, without allowing Na5-c5 (which Black still may play, but he needs to take some care)} (8. a3 {but this is the current fashion, with numerous games, and a very important recent one} O-O 9. Nc3 {here Black has played seven different moves in high-level games! just to show how rich the position is} Nb8 10. Ne2 Nbd7 11. c3 Bb7 12. Ng3 c5 13. Re1 Rc8 14. Nf5 c4 15. dxc4 Bxe4 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. cxb5 axb5 18. Bg5 Nc5 19. Ba2 h6 20. Bh4 g5 21. Bg3 Bh7 22. Qe2 Kg7 23. Rad1 Nfe4 24. Rd5 f5 25. Rxe5 $1 { a very creative approach by the ex-world champion. He ended up winning the game in the 42th move} dxe5 26. Bxe5+ Nf6 27. Qxb5 $40 {1-0 (42) Kramnik,V (2811)-Harikrishna,P (2755) Shamkir 2017}) 8... Bd7 9. c3 Na5 (9... O-O 10. Bc2 $1 {stopping Na5-c5, is the main idea. We will get a position very similar to this current game} Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. Re1 b4 13. a5 g6 14. Bb3 Be6 15. Ba4 Bd7 16. Nf1 $13 {with interesting play: 1/2-1/2 (116) Caruana,F (2794)-Svidler, P (2757) Moscow 2016}) 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qb8 $1 {an important move to defend the a8-rook - this was played in the 4th round} (11... Qc7 $6 12. axb5 { and Black is forced to take with the bishop to avoid b4} Bxb5 13. Re1 $16) 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 (13. Bxf6 {this move was tried three times} Bxf6 14. axb5 $6 (14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Qd5 Qc8 $5 (15... Nb7 $5 16. axb5 Be6 17. Qc6+ Bd7 18. Qd5 Be6 19. Qd1 axb5 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. Na3 Qa5 (21... b4 $5) 22. Nxb5 $1 Bc4 23. Nd6+ Nxd6 24. Qxd6 Bxf1 25. Kxf1 Qb5+ 26. Ke1 $44 {with good compensation, Navara went on to win the game: 1-0 (61) Navara,D (2703)-Caruana,F (2779) Rhodes 2013} ) 16. Nxe5 Be6 17. Qd6 Be7 $6 (17... b4 $1 $44) 18. Qd1 Qc7 19. axb5 axb5 20. Nf3 O-O 21. Nbd2 $16 {and White slowly consolidated, 1-0 (59) Khairullin,I (2629)-Gustafsson,J (2629) Bangkok 2016}) 14... axb5 15. dxc5 dxc5 16. Qd5 { now it simply fails for White, and Black achieves an advantage} Qc8 17. b4 (17. Nxe5 $2 {now this loses} Be6 18. Qd6 Ra6 $1 $19 {winning the knight, this is the difference}) 17... Be6 18. Qxc5 Qxc5 19. bxc5 Kd7 $1 20. Na3 Kc6 21. Rab1 Rhb8 $17 {with a big advantage in the endgame: 0-1 (63) Morozevich,A (2683) -Vitiugov,N (2718) Novi Sad 2016}) 13... Be6 14. Nbd2 O-O 15. Re1 (15. h3 { also didn't create problems for Black} Rc8 16. Bg3 cxd4 17. cxd4 Nh5 $1 18. Bh2 Nf4 19. axb5 axb5 20. Bxf4 exf4 21. Bd3 Nc4 22. Qe2 Rxa1 23. Rxa1 Bf6 $132 { Caruana found enough counterplay: 1/2-1/2 (39) Ponomariov,R (2742)-Caruana,F (2774) Thessaloniki 2013}) 15... cxd4 16. cxd4 Rc8 17. h3 Nc6 $1 {after major simplifications, equality prevailed} 18. axb5 axb5 19. Rxa8 Qxa8 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. d5 Nb4 22. dxe6 Nxc2 23. exf7+ Kxf7 $11 {1/2-1/2 (30) Grischuk,A (2761) -Aronian,L (2809) Geneva SUI 2017}) 7. c3 {bringing the bishop directly to c2 whenever it's needed} O-O 8. h3 Re8 9. Re1 Bf8 10. Nbd2 (10. c4 $5 {an original try from the 2016 world title challenger, which has been repeated five times already in practice. The idea is to have harmonious development (Nc3 especially), at the same time avoiding b5. Naturally, the d4-square gets weakened, but h3 is very important to avoid Bg4} Nd7 11. Be3 Ne7 12. Nc3 c6 13. b4 $1 Ng6 14. Bb3 h6 15. a3 (15. d4 $1 $14 {was a very natural way to claim an advantage}) 15... Nf6 16. Ra2 (16. c5 $5 $14) 16... a5 17. Qb1 Nh5 18. Ne2 Qf6 $36 {followed by Nhf4. With a couple of imprecise moves, Karjakin handed over the initiative to Black, but ended up winning the game: 1-0 (51) Karjakin,S (2769)-Amin,B (2661) Baku 2016}) 10... b5 11. Bc2 h6 (11... Bb7 {is a good move that was played against me, and I reacted so poorly that in a few moves I had a locked bishop in b1!} 12. a4 $5 (12. d4 $1 {transposes to a Zaitsev line, with the correct tempos, because even though White played d3 and d4, he also brought the bishop to c2 (without Bb3)}) 12... h6 13. Nf1 (13. b4 $1 $14 { with the idea of Nb3}) 13... d5 $1 {Black is doing fine already} 14. Qe2 (14. exd5 Nxd5 15. axb5 axb5 16. Rxa8 Qxa8 17. d4 $11 {should lead to massive simplifications}) 14... b4 15. Ng3 (15. a5 $1 $13 {an important move, to avoid my opponent's plan}) 15... Na5 $1 {suddenly I have problems to avoid b3, and cxb4 (although probably necessary), looks ugly as well} 16. Nf5 $2 (16. cxb4 Bxb4 17. Bd2 Bxd2 18. Qxd2 dxe4 19. dxe4 Qxd2 20. Nxd2 Rad8 $36 {and Black has a slight initiative}) 16... b3 17. Bb1 Bc8 18. N3h4 d4 19. cxd4 exd4 $17 { and it's clear I lost the game without a chance :): 0-1 (42) Mekhitarian,K (2544)-Vajda,L (2617) Albena 2013}) 12. a4 b4 13. a5 $1 {a good move to win space on the queen-side - not only the weakness on a6 is now fixed, but most importantly, there is no Na5 anymore (after Rb8 let's say).} Rb8 14. Nc4 g6 $6 {it feels like Black has to play in the center before White confortably plays d4} (14... Bd7 {was the precedent} 15. Bd2 bxc3 16. bxc3 Qc8 17. Nh2 (17. d4 $5 $14 {was more logical and direct, White keeps a small edge always}) 17... Be6 18. Ba4 Qb7 19. Ng4 Nxg4 20. hxg4 Red8 $1 (20... Bxc4 $2 {this is not something White should be worried about, because the light squares become a big problem, and d5 will never be played} 21. dxc4 Re6 22. g5 $5 $16) 21. Bc2 d5 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. Ne3 (23. g5 $5 $40) 23... Bb3 (23... Be6 $11) 24. Rb1 Bxc2 25. Qxc2 Qa8 $11 {1-0 (41) Naiditsch,A (2689)-Lenic,L (2625) Reykjavik 2015}) ( 14... bxc3 15. bxc3 d5 {is a typical reaction in these positions, but White always has something to play for} 16. exd5 Nxd5 (16... Qxd5 $5) 17. Bd2 f6 18. d4 $5 exd4 19. Rxe8 Qxe8 20. Nxd4 Nxd4 21. cxd4 $40 {and White has perspectives to attack the king-side, with a move like Qf3}) (14... d5 $5 { is also possible}) 15. Bd2 bxc3 16. bxc3 Bg7 17. d4 $1 $14 exd4 18. cxd4 Nb4 $6 (18... d5 $1 {was good, trying to exchange a pair of rooks or a pair of knights } 19. Nce5 $1 (19. exd5 $6 Rxe1+ 20. Qxe1 Qxd5 $11 {and Black is doing ok}) 19... Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Bb7 21. Ba4 Re6 {looks weird, but whenever White plays exd5, Black is fine} 22. Rb1 $1 Ba8 $1 $13 {with an unclear position} (22... Nxe4 $2 23. Nd7 $1 Bxd4 24. Be3 $16)) 19. Bb1 d5 20. Nce5 $1 {threatening Bxb4 followed by Nc6} Re6 (20... dxe4 21. Bxb4 Rxb4 (21... exf3 22. Nc6 $18) 22. Ba2 $1 {nice move} (22. Nc6 $2 Qd6 $1 23. Nxb4 exf3 24. Rxe8+ Nxe8 {and Black has amazing compensation} 25. Qe1 {forced, to defend b4 and win a tempo on e8} Nf6 $17) 22... exf3 23. Bxf7+ $40 {with a very strong attack}) 21. exd5 Nfxd5 22. Qc1 $1 $16 Qf8 23. Be4 {White has a very strong initiative, safer and better placed pieces} Rb5 (23... f5 $5 {an ugly positional move, but perhaps White's initiative had to be parried somehow} 24. Bxd5 Nxd5 25. Qc4 Rb5 {trying to stabilize with Qe8} 26. Rab1 Qe8 27. Rxb5 Qxb5 28. Qa2 {threatening Rb1 with deadly effects} Qb7 29. Rc1 $16 {Black still has problems to coordinate}) 24. Rb1 c6 (24... f5 {allows a different idea now} 25. Bxb4 $1 Nxb4 26. Bc2 $1 Nxc2 27. Qxc2 Rxb1 28. Rxb1 {And Black remains in deep trouble:} Qd6 29. Qb3 $1 Kh7 30. Rc1 Bd7 31. Qb7 $18) 25. Qc4 Qd6 26. Rb3 $1 {the rook will swing over to the king-side in many lines} Bf8 27. h4 $5 {bringing another soldier to the battle, more logical than the unclear 27.Nxf7!?} (27. Nxf7 $5 {shows White's potential on the king-side} Kxf7 28. Ne5+ Kg8 (28... Rxe5 {doesn't help} 29. dxe5 Qe6 30. Rf3+ Kg7 (30... Ke8 31. Bb1 $1 $18 {followed by the devastating Rf6!}) 31. Bxg6 $1 $18 {f8 falls or White wins the queen with Rg3}) 29. Bxg6 Rf6 (29... Rxg6 30. Nxg6 Qxg6 31. Rg3 Qxg3 32. fxg3 $18 {should be equally hopeless, with such an open king}) 30. Rg3 Bg7 31. Be4 {threatening Bxb4 Rxb4 Bxd5+! winning a piece} Be6 32. Qc1 $40 {the attack continues, and should be more than enough having already two pawns for the pieec}) 27... c5 $2 {Black's position was already vulnerable with the pawn on c6, now it totally collapses - cxd4 is not even a threat, because the c8 bishop is hanging} (27... Nf6 { The position is difficult anyway, but this was the last chance for Black to try some regrouping, it turns out that the knight on d5 is not ideally placed} 28. Bb1 Qd5 29. Qc3 $1 {threatening Bxh6 and Rxb4} Re8 (29... h5 $2 30. Ng5 Re7 31. Ne4 $16) 30. Bxh6 Be6 31. Rb2 Bxh6 32. Rxb4 $16) 28. h5 $1 $18 g5 29. Bf5 ( 29. Bxg5 hxg5 30. Nxg5 $18 {was also devastating, followed by Rg3 and taking on f7}) 29... Ne7 30. dxc5 $1 Rxc5 31. Bxb4 $18 Nxf5 32. Bxc5 Qxc5 33. Qxc5 Bxc5 34. Rc3 {a fine game by Nepo, now at 3,5/6, trailing by half a point the current three leaders: Radjabov, Grischuk and Harikrishna!} 1-0
Ian Nepomniachtchi shares his post-game impressions as well as some comments on his forthcoming games against Garry Kasparov at the Sinquefield Cup
Pavel Eljanov has certainly had a topsy-turvy event with only one draw out of six games, and sadly for the Ukrainian this is his second loss in a row. Li Chao took advantage of Black’s reluctance to castle, and when he saw his opponent seemingly think it was not urgent, set up a position to punish him and sure enough the hammer fell. Whereas Eljanov has had only one draw in six, Li Chao was happy to score his first win after five draws in the first half of the event.
Li Chao broke his drawing streak, a streak that is atypical for him, and defeated Pavel Eljanov when the latter became a little too adventurous about his need to castle
Hou Yifan and her legion of supporters will be delighted to see the Chinese player score her first win so far, though she has certainly had chances in other games. In a tough battle with Black against Saleh Salem, she pressured for the longest time, unable to get her opponent to crack. When he finally seemed to have things back in control, time trouble reared its ugly head and he blundered into a mate.
After a few unsccessful campaigns, it is finally mission accomplished as Hou Yifan scores her first win
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Albert SilverBorn in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.
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