Caruana joins the lead

From Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden is about 20 minutes by car or 30 kilometres as the crow flies. It's a picturesque and wealthy town with pretty pedestrian streets, upscale shops and hotels and casinos. It's also a place with a fair bit of chess history, starting with one of the first elite chess tournaments back in 1870, which was won by Adolf Anderssen over Wilhelm Steinitz.

Here in 2018, at the start of the Baden-Baden leg, the day after a rest day looked destined to be a peaceful one. But Fabiano Caruana livened things up with a late attack in the time trouble of Arkad.

Carlsen ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave offered the World Champion a pawn in the opening, which was declined. Presumably, the Frenchman would have received enough compensation in the form of the initiative — and he would know since no one has played this variation in the past as often as he has.

The English Opening Vol. 1

Williams main teaching method behind this set of two DVDs is to teach you some simple yet effective set ups, without the need to rely on memorising numerous complicated variations.

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Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave kept it close to equal throughout | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Vitiugov ½-½ Anand

The transition from Caro-Kann Defence to French Defence put Anand down a tempo, but it was not a problem, as the Indian managed to confidently keep the co-leader, Vitiugov, from developing any significant initiative:

Beating the French according to Kupreichik

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black.

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Nikita Vitiugov and Viswanathan Anand | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Bluebaum ½-½ Meier

The match between the two German top players was not exactly a barn burner — basically, the draw was foreseeable after only 15 moves. That's a pity, because this result is of no use to either. Both players remain stuck in the lower half of the table. 

Matthias Bluebaum took his time against Georg Meier | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Caruana 1-0 Naiditsch

This game too looked at first to be headed for a draw. But with reduced material — an endgame of queen and knight against queen and knight — Caruana suddenly created dangerous threats against his opponent's king position. The basic problem for Naiditsch was perhaps the fact that he had led his knight too far into enemy territory. He grabbed a pawn, but it resulted in nothing but grief. Still, Caruana's play in this phase was enviable, beginning with the precise move 36.Ne3.

Winning with the Ruy Lopez Vol. 1: Berlin Wall and others

Among the open games the only opening with which White can really fight for an advantage in the long term is the Ruy Lopez. But in order to make this serious effort, he has buckle down and learn a whole series of sub-variations. That is what the professionals do, including of course Viktor Bologan, who now reveals the secrets of his own grandmaster repertoire.

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Fabiano Caruana: This man is currently in the shape of his life

Aronian ½-½ Hou Yifan

Chess Endgames 5 - Endgame Principles Activity & Initiative

Activity is above all important when we consider the role of the kings in the endgame because it is then that they leave their protective shield of pawns and take an active part in the proceedings. A further major topic is the activity of the rook and it is not uncommon in the ending for a pawn to be sacrificed to obtain such activity. The chapter on initiative introduces, for example, endgames such as rook+knight against rook+knight, because neither of these pieces is suited to a passive role and even a slight initiative can be sufficient for victory. In the endgame mate should contantly be in your thoughts. So, for example, Stamma’s mate is treated, as are mating attacks in rook endings and the 4th phase of the game. The correct choice of pieces to exchange naturally always plays an important role, but generally speaking the cost of every wrong move increases in the endgame. Video runnig time: 4 hrs 18 min.

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The game ended before the 40th move, due to a three-fold repetition with queen and bishop versus queen and knight. Hou could have tried to play on for an attack at this point, she probably concluded that she could not pose her opponent any great problems.

Levon Aronian remains unbeaten in this year's tournament, and still has chances to defend his 2017 title if he can post a couple of wins.

Hou Yifan remains at the bottom of the table after today | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Standings after four rounds

All games

Commentary webcast

GMs Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko

Translation from German: Macauley Peterson

Links

• Grenke Chess Classic official site
• Grenke Chess Open official site
• Grenke Open: 13-year-old-steals the spotlight
• Round 3: Black strikes back
• Round 2: The power of white
• Round 1: An exciting start as Carlsen and Caruana face off