4/8/2018 – In the GRENKE Chess Classic, standings shuffled dramatically after the seventh round. Fabiano Caruana managed a convincing win against his former co-leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the black pieces, to take the sole lead in the standings. World Champion Magnus Carlsen also won with Black, against Arkadij Naiditsch, and moved up to second place. Georg Meier missed chances to add to Viswanathan Anand woes. GM Daniel Fernandez annotates all five games | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
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"Bad game, good point"
Timely black wins from both contenders of the next World Championship were the story of round seven on Saturday. Caruana dominated Vachier-Lagrave's English in an impressive show, while Carlsen was dissatisfied with his play, calling his win over Naiditsch a "bad game, good point". Carlsen is now nipping at the heels of Caruana, the new sole leader, but faces an important test in his next game with white against Vitiugov, with whom he shares second place.
Caruana looks over his shoulder — Magnus Carlsen is lurking | Photo: Frederic Friedel
Vachier-Lagrave 0-1 Caruana
The experience of being smashed to pieces by the opponent's overpowering bishop pair is shared by every chess player. The antidote was demonstrated by Fabiano Caruana in his game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Caruana maintained a rock on the e4-square in the way of Vachier-Lagrave's Fianchettoed light-squared bishop: first a pawn, then knight and a bishop. It spoke volumes that the once proud bishop finally gave up and went back to f1, where he subsequently found a rather sad existence. A simple but well thought-out opening concept, against which "MVL" found no solution today. Caruana made it look effortless, as he gained space and was able to collect a weak pawn. Instead of going into a winning but protracted endgame, he then systematically created further weaknesses in his opponent's camp.
Annotations by GM Daniel Fernandez
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1.c4e52.Nc3Presumably, White was looking for the 'nonsense' with ...Bb4
3.Qb3 etc.Nf63.Nf3Nc64.g3Bb45.Bg20-06.0-0e46...Re8is my
preference with Black, not 'forgiving' White for missing his chances to force
the win of my bishop-pair.The recent fashion is6...d6: Black would
like to revert to lines with the bishop on a7.7.d3Re87...h6!?is okay
despite its slow appearance.8.Bd2a69.a39.Nd5Bxd210.Qxd2Rb8=9...Bc510.b4Ba711.e3Rb812.Qc2Bf513.Rab1Qd7=Vidit,S-Gupta,A
chess.com INT 20188.Rb1!?An interesting innovation- it is not clear
what Black's waiting move should be.8.Na4d59.cxd5Nxd510.Bg5f611.Bd2Bf812.Rc1Be6Dubov,D-Karjakin,S Moscow 20188.Nd5Nxd59.cxd5Ne710.a3Ba511.b4Bb612.Nd2c613.dxc6Nxc614.Bb2a615.Rc1Be616.e3Qd7=Gelfand,B-Inarkiev,E Palma de Mallorca 20178...Bg4?!8...Rb8!?N9.Bd2Bf59.h3Be610.Bg5h611.Bxf6Qxf612.Nd5Bxd513.cxd5Nd414.Nxd4exd415.Qb3Eljanov,P-Kryvoruchko,Y Riadh 20177.Ng5Bxc38.bxc3Re89.Qc29.d3was the move I prepared when learning the
English from my then-coach (now a senior figure in chess politics) GM Zurab
Azmaiparashvili.exd310.exd3Here Black can play in all sorts of ways, but
in general should not be worse, e.g.h6The creative10...b6!?looks
okay too11.Ne4d612.Rb1Ne5!?13.f313.Nxf6+Qxf614.Bf4Rb8=13...Rb814.Be3b615.Qd2Nh716.g4f517.gxf5Bxf518.Rbe1Qd7
Danin,A-Gabrielian,A Voronezh 20129.f3!?is original-looking and
possibly underestimated.exf39...e3!?10.d3d511.cxd5Nxd512.Ne4f513.Qb3!10.Nxf3Here Black has many moves, but a good illustration
of White's possibilities was given by... Caruana, from the other side of the
board.d511.d4dxc412.Qc2h613.Bf4Ne414.Rad1Bf515.Ne5Nd615...Nxg316.e4Nxf117.exf5Nxh218.Bxh216.e4!Caruana,F-Anand,V
Moscow 20169...d5?!In my opinion, this opens the position too much.9...Qe7is probably better, because of the next note.10.d3exd311.exd3d6=10.cxd5Qxd511.d3Bf512.Bf412.Rb1was fittingly played in a
high-level game featuring yesterday's White player on the other side of the
board, and I believe it gets something.exd3Following12...h613.Nxe4Nxe414.c4!Qe615.dxe4Bxe416.Qxe4Qxe417.Bxe4Rxe418.Rxb7
White had acheived a little bit more than nothing, but was unable to make it
count in the end.Van Wely,L-Vachier Lagrave,M Evry 200812...Rab813.Bf4h614.Nxe4Nxe415.Rfd1‼13.Bxd5dxc214.Bxf7+Kh815.Rxb7Nd816.Rxc7Rxe217.Bc4Re818.f3White has the usual size of advantage
associated with the bishop pair- not more.12...h613.Nxe4Nxe414.Qb2
Inevitably, White finds clever things to do rather than taking the e4-knight
immediately!b614...Na5!?=makes White be a bit careful not to end up
worse.15.Rfd1Qc516.dxe4Bxe417.Bf1?!An ambitious move, and not
necessarily a bad one, but it stems from a wrong evaluation of the position.17.Bxe4Rxe418.Rd7=probably ends the adventures: two grandmasters of
such caliber can surely find a way to tacitly agree that the better minor
piece balances out the worse structure, and trade off most of the queenside,
leaving rook and 3 each on the kingside.17...Re718.a4Rae819.Rac1?!
White needs to explain why he thinks he is better, and a reasonable start is19.Qb5!?Qxb520.axb5Na521.h4when even though White's structure looks
appalling, he has definite reason to hope that the bishop-pair can come to
life in the near future.19...g520.Bd2Qf5!Strongly suggesting
White's next, on pain of ...Ne5-f3+.21.f3Qc5+21...Bxf322.exf3Qc5+23.Kh1Qf2is already possible, and White is in huge trouble.22.Kh1Bd523.Be1White is obliged to defend the f2-square, but now he sheds a pawn.23.Qb5?Qf2!-+is terminal.23...Bc424.e424.Rd2?g4-+
leads to a terrible tangle24...Bxf125.Bf2Qc426.Rxf1Qxa4Black
cashes out for a pawn. In what follows, White just drifts further and never
looks like being able to reach a drawable rook endgame.27.c4Ne528.Bd4g429.fxg4Qd730.Qc3c531.Bxe5Rxe532.Qf3Rxe433.Rcd1Qe634.g5hxg535.Rd5g436.Qc3Re50–1
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.
Aronian ½-½ Vitiugov
The Russian grandmaster Nikita Vitiugov is not as well known, locally, as the other protagonists of the GRENKE Chess Classic, but his class was again on display in the game against Levon Aronian. With black, Vitiugov had everything under control at all times and has remained solidly at the top of the table, though now sharing second place with Carlsen.
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1.c4c62.g3d53.Nf3Nf64.Bg2dxc4I didn't really get the raison
d'etre of this move, since both ...Bf5 and ...Bg4 are more 'conventional' Slav
choices, and both should equalise. So annotating this game and finding Black's
equalising methods was a learning experience for me too.5.0-0Nbd75...b5would be consistent, but likely not that great, e.g.6.a4Bb77.b3cxb38.Qxb3a69.Ba3Harika,D-Danielian,E Beijing 20116.Na3Nb67.Qc2g67...Be6is the main 'consistent' way to play this system. Black typically
cedes the bishop pair but keeps his pawn. Some brief theoretical notes follow,
though I have not found any significant improvement on the main 'draw line'-
these things tend to be rather thoroughly checked.8.Ng5Bg4!8...Qd7?!9.Nxe6Qxe610.b310.e4g611.b3cxb312.axb3Bg713.Bb2is
compensation, but not more10...cxb311.axb3g611...Qxe212.Nc4Nbd713.Ba3and White has at least sufficient compensation for 2 pawns, which
is always a worrying sign.12.Nc4Nxc413.bxc4Bg714.d40-015.e3
Black faces an unenviable defence against the Catalan bishop and its colleague.
9.Nxc4Bxe210.Ne5Bh511.Re1!11.b4is 'independent' but White
should not get anything this way.Nfd711...Nbd712.d4h6?!13.Nh3Nd514.b5!Dranov,A-Van Kampen,R Germany 201211...e6!?12.b5Bd613.Bb2Bxe514.Bxe5Bg615.Qb3Rc816.bxc6=Nepomniachtchi,I-Karjakin,S
Moscow 201812.Bf3Nxe513.Bxh5Qd5!13...g6?!14.Bb2Bg715.f414.d4!14.f4Qd4+15.Kg2Qd5+=14...h6!15.dxe5hxg516.Qe2g617.Bf3Qc4White can choose between the pawn back or compensation but is not
better in either case.11...h611...Nbd7?!may be playable but is
extremely risky if White works out the attack in detail, i.e.12.d4e613.Nexf7Bxf714.Nxe612.Ne4e613.Nxf6+13.Nc5!?could be an
interesting route to look at:Bxc514.Qxc5Qe715.Qxe7+Kxe716.b313...gxf614.Nxc6bxc615.Bxc6+Nd716.Qf5Bg617.Rxe6+Be717...fxe618.Qxg6+Ke719.b3and White has a dangerous attack despite trailing by a
whole rook and not having his own forces completely mobilised. It bears
mentioning that playable for Black here isKd6!?20.Bg2Ne518.Qxf6Rg819.Re1Kf820.Qf420.Qc3Rc821.d4Kg7is not really a way to
try for anything20...Rc821.Qxh6+Rg7Of course, if White wants there is
a repetition here for the taking, but it is also possible to play on with22.d4Kg823.d5when the position is dynamically level.8.Nxc4Nxc49.Qxc4Bg710.d30-011.Bd2Initially, looking at this position I thought
White must have something. However, then my inner Grunfeld fan got involved
and I realised this was not so.Nd5Black's counterplay must be associated
with either ...e5 or ...a5, so it makes sense to consider the immediate push11...a5. Here, White should save on Qc1 and play12.e4a413.Bb4!13.a3Be614.Qc2Bb315.Qb1Nd713.Bc3a3!14.b3Be615.Qb4b613...Ne814.d4Nd615.Qd3Bg4White has his big, imposing centre, but
Black has typical Grunfeld-like play against it, so he should not be that
worried. There are ideas like ...f5 or ...b5/...Nc4 in the pipeline.12.Qc1a512...e5!?13.Bh6Re814.Bxg7Kxg715.Rd1Bg4=Srdjanov,S-Adzic,M
Kragujevac 201013.Bh6Bg413...Nc714.d4a415.e4a3could be a
slightly more active strategy for Black14.Bxg7Kxg715.Ne5Be616.d4Nf616...f6is playable, but gaining tempi is less important than keeping an
essentially flawless pawn structure in most cases, especially when one is
facing the Catalan bishop.17.Rd1Qb618.e4Rfd819.Qc3Kg820.Rd3
Today being the day after producing my annotations to Mamedyarov-Ding from the
Candidates, my respect for the Black construction in such positions is higher
than normal!Rd621.Rad1Rad8There hasn't been much wrong with either
side's play since move 15 but Black has drifted ever so slightly.21...Bxa2!?is a move people only notice was playable retrospectively. During the game,
the ghost of Fischer tends to be a strong enough deterrent.22.b322.a3!?could be a better try, since Black's generally desirable reply ...a4 might
eventually play badly with his bishop in an endgame.22...Qb423.Qa123.Qxb4axb424.f4is probably harder for Black to play in spite of White's
pawns being the more hampered.23...a424.h3Following the desirable24.a3Qb525.b4Black is on time withNd7=24...axb325.axb3Nd726.Nxd7R6xd727.d5White realises that the static elements of the position favour
Black, and takes action quickly.cxd528.exd5Bf529.Re3Of course, one
looks at ways to try and trap the f5-bishop starting with29.Rd4but they
simply don't work out.Qxb330.g4Bc231.Rc1Rc8!29...Be630.Rde1Bxd531.Bxd5Rxd532.Rxe7Qxe7!Clinching the draw. Now the players just
have to wait for move 40.33.Rxe7Rd1+34.Qxd1Rxd1+35.Kg2b636.Kf3Rd3+37.Re3Rd238.Re4Rd3+39.Re3Rd240.Re4Rd3+½–½
On this DVD Grandmaster Daniel King offers you a repertoire for Black against the Catalan, based around maintaining the rock of a pawn on d5. Keeping central control ultimately gives Black good chances to launch an attack against the enemy king.
One reason Magnus Carlsen is World Champion is that he rarely loses a game — so far in this tournament, none at all. Sprinkle in a few wins here and there and you have all it takes to keep your leading position in the world. In this tournament, Carlsen has shown patience in this sense, which was rewarded today: Against Arkadij Naiditsch the World Champion took full advantage of the cards he was dealt.
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1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3a6Notwithstanding the
increased playability of lots of openings these days, at the top the old rule
'Petroff/Berlin/Caro for a draw, Najdorf/Marshall for a win' is holding up
reasonably well.6.g3I have to confess that as a Najdorf player I have
never seen the appeal of this move. If White wants kingside expansion, surely
6.h3 is a better way to start? Nevertheless, it is fairly popular.A
related line which I have tried is:6.a4e57.Nde2!?Nc67...Be78.g3Be69.Bg2Nbd710.h3Rc811.g4h612.Ng3g613.0-0Qc714.a5Kf815.Be3Kg716.f4Kamsky,G-Lautier,J Monte Carlo 19968.g3Be79.Bg2Nb410.Bg5Be6Here we have the game structure, but without Black having the
possibility of ...b5.11.Qd2Rc812.0-00-013.a5h6?!14.Bxf6Bxf615.Ra4Nc616.Nd5Fernandez,D-Hamitevici,V England 20156...e56...g67.Bg2Bg78.0-00-0is another common approach for Black, reasoning that
g3-systems are by no means the most critical for White against the Dragon, and
that ...a6 is useful in almost any kind of Sicilian position. This has seen
some high-level tests too, e.g.9.b3Bd710.Bb2Nc6?!10...e6!?=
works tactically, and so on principle it should be played11.Nd5Re812.c4Nxd513.exd5Nxd414.Bxd4b515.Bxg7Kxg716.Qd4+Kg817.Rfc1
Nakamura,H-Nepomniachtchi,I London 20177.Nb3Be78.Bg20-09.0-0Be610.Re1Nbd7!It is important to place the knight here, even though it might
seem like the d5-square is in no particular danger.10...Nc611.Nd5Rc812.c4is surprisingly annoying.11.Nd2Clearly, this knight is going to
d5, but the problem is that Black can, without too much trouble, arrange for
White's final recapture on d5 to be with a pawn, and then Black will get a
good version of the standard Sveshnikov structure.11.a4=makes a fair
amount of sense11...b512.Nf1Bg4!?This move may not be the best, and
Carlsen might well have known that during the game, but sometimes it is good
to make the position 'strategically richer' against a weaker opponent.
It is interesting, perhaps, to consider why Carlsen did not continue with the
supremely consistent12...b4!?The followup could be13.Nd5Nxd514.exd5Bf515.a3a5and while White lacks a convincing way to immediately
exploit the excessive airiness of Black's queenside, Black also lacks a way to
push ...f5-f4, and hence also winning chances.12...Nb6was possible
immediately:13.Ne3b414.Ncd5Nfxd515.Nxd5Nxd516.exd5Bd7=13.f313.Qd2b414.Nd5Nxd515.exd5a513...Be614.Ne3Rc815.a315.a4b416.Ncd5leads to a better version of all the above lines in the event
that Black takes, so I suspect Black's idea in this case was to keep the
position closed.a517.Nxe7+17.b3Bxd518.exd5g6=17...Qxe718.b3Rfd819.Bb2Nc515...Nb616.f4?!Now White risks being worse.16.a4was still necessary, admitting to having made a mistake in the previous
few moves.16...Re817.Kh1What Carlsen understood, and perhaps his
opponent did not, was that the position-type after17.f5?!Bd7is of the
make-or-break variety for White. Given just a few moves, Black will arrange
either ...Bc6 and ...d5, or ...a5 and ...b4. Hence18.g4is the main idea,
but afterh6there is no follow-up; the usual h4 runs into ...Nh7 and Black
is close to winning.17...Bf817...exf4!18.gxf4Bf8is
apparently better, with the idea that White will find it surprisingly
difficult to counter the simple ...Bd7-c6.18.f5Bd719.Qd319.Ng4!?
suggests itself to me, even if there is still no chance of White being better
afterBc620.Nxf6+Qxf621.Qd3Qd8=19...h6Playing it slow because
it is hard to think up active ideas for White.20.b3Bc621.Bd2Qc722.Rac1Qb7Black is done with prophylaxis and now for tactical reasons he is able to
start considering the move ...a5, or maybe ...Rcd8 and ...d5.23.Ned523.Ncd5!?might have been a better choice, since White can think about
generating play with c4 if Black plays as in the game.Bxd524.exd5e425.Qd4Re525...Nbxd526.Nxd5Qxd527.Qxd5Nxd528.Rxe4=26.c4bxc427.Nxc4Nxc428.bxc423...Bxd524.exd5Nbd725.Nd1e425...Be7!?gives Black an advantage; once this piece reaches the a7-g1 diagonal it will
either be unopposable or force a very favourable exchange.26.Qd4Ne527.Nf2?Leaving d5 without crucial protection, but as this is a game between
humans and not machines, there are more mistakes to follow.27.Bxe4?Nxe428.Qxe4Nc429.Qd4Nxd230.Rxe8Rxe831.Qxd2Be7is the idea; this
position is well-nigh impossible to defend for White.27.Nc3!?is hard
to play, but best.Nf328.Bxf3exf329.Rxe8Rxe830.Qf4Black can
sacrifice a pawn for sufficient compensation in various ways, but that is all.27...Nf328.Bxf3exf329.c4bxc430.bxc4Re5The correct idea of
doubling on the e-file, but a marginally inaccurate execution. Once again
White was able to attack the weakest link in Black's construction- the f3-pawn.
..30...Re2!was the best way to try and grow the advantage.31.Rxe231.Kg1Rce832.Rxe2Rxe233.Re1Qb3is painful to look at31...fxe232.Kg232.Qd3Nxd533.Kg1Nf634.Qxe2d5wins a pawn in a
complicated way32...Nxd533.Qe4Qb2!34.Qxe2Nf635.Qd3d5!31.Re331.Qd3Rxe1+32.Rxe1Qb233.Kg1is similar, but without the
back-rank 'tricks'. White has time to get organised (Bb4, etc) and can then
immediately take on f3.31...Rxe332.Qxe3Qb233.Nd3?Possibly the
decisive mistake, although the computer doesn't mind it, even after thought.33.Kg1!Be734.Nd1!still keeps Black's advantage within manageable
proportions33...Qxa334.Qxf3Qa235.Bc3Rxc436.Ra1Qb337.Bxf6gxf638.Kg238.Qd1is the best the machine can come up with, but it is
utterly miserable.38...Rc339.Rd139.Qg4+is some kind of practical
try, hoping for an endgame.Kh840.Nf2Qxd5+41.Qe4Qc5!41...Qxe4+42.Nxe4Rc643.Ra542.Rxa6d543.Qf439...h540.Kh3Bh641.Re1?In a lost position, White makes a sacrifice which can be refuted in a couple
of ways, but some of the other plausible answers leave him with hope of
stalemate ideas or other tricks.Rxd342.Qxh5Re3!42...Be3is also
good enough.42...Kg743.Re7Qxd544.Rc7‼miraculously draws; White
removes his rook from the idea of ...Kf8 with tempo and will play Qg6 to pick
up the h6-bishop next!0–1
When choosing an opening repertoire, there are days when you want to play for a win with Black, when you want to bear down on your opponent’s position with a potentially crushing attack. The Najdorf is perfect for just such occasions. Strategy, combinations, attack and defence, sacrifices and marvellous manoeuvres — exciting chess is all about the Najdorf!
After beating Naiditsch with black, Carlsen can fight for first, if he gets past Vitiugov | Photo: Frederic Friedel
Hou Yifan ½-½ Bluebaum
At no time did the match move outside the range of a draw, although Matthias Bluebaum had a long-lasting initiative in the rook and bishop endgame. The Chinese defused the situation eventually — and peace was inevitable.
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1.c4e62.Nf3d53.e3Nf64.b3Be75.Bb2It seems that after its use by
the World Champion in a tiebreak game against Giri, this system is gaining
traction among a number of top players. I shall try and avoid rehashing my
comments to that game, but it deserves mention.0-06.Nc3c5Black can
delay ...c5, but after a few moves it transpires that the move is more
indispensable to him than d4 is to White, and by extension, he must steel
himself sooner or later to recapture on d5 with the knight.6...b67.Be2Bb78.0-0Nbd79.Rc1and ...c5 must be one of Black's next three moves, or else
he is just being silly. Meanwhile, White can try Qc2-b1-a1, Rfd1, etc.7.cxd5Nxd58.Qc28.Nxd5was Carlsen's choice. A number of ways for Black to
in principle equalise the game have been suggested, and he should probably
memorise one or more of them, because without pre-existing knowledge, the
hanging pawn or isolated pawn structure that must result is difficult for
Black to play.exd59.d4Qa5+10.Qd2Qxd2+11.Kxd2Nc611...cxd4N
"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly." This
is a remarkable line from Shakespeare's Macbeth that not only provides the
most confusing multiple subjunctive in the history of the language, but also
neatly encapsulates Black's strategic decision here.12.Nxd4Nc613.Nxc613.Be2Bd714.a3Rac8=should lead to nothing13...bxc614.Rc1Bb4+15.Kd1Bd7Black has a reasonable amount of activity to compensate for
his worse structure.12.dxc5Bxc513.Bb5Bb4+14.Ke2Carlsen,M-Giri,
A Wijk aan Zee 20188...Nb48...b6=is also possible immediately;
this seems like a slightly less adventurous way of equalising.8...Nc6
was most played in the preceding games that reached this point: notable was the
9.h4!?h610.g4of Carlsen,M-Ganguly,S Doha 2016; the World Champion
was later outplayed but managed to extricate himself and draw.9.Qb1b610.a310.h4!?might be playable here too, but here there isBa6!
and this might be the point of Black's 8th.10...Nd511.Nxd511.h4!?
can again be tried, but the follow-upNf612.Rg1Bb713.Be2Nc614.g4Na5
indicates another possible point of Black's 8th.14...Nd4!?11...exd512.d4Nc613.Bb5Bd714.0-0White has no opening edge and this move
admits that.Nxd415.Nxd4cxd416.Bxd7Qxd717.Bxd4Reaching a simplified
position in which Black has one weakness, but is compensating for it well
enough with activity. I don't suppose either player was seriously anticipating
anything but a draw here. As we know, this kind of thinking can lead to
complacency...Rfc818.Rd1Rc619.Qb2?!Now White has to be slightly more
careful than Black.19.Qd3=19...Qf5Threatening ...Rc2.20.Qe220.Bxg7Rc2-+20...Rc221.Qf321.Rd2Rac822.b4=is the way the
computer suggests to grovel, and Black seems to have nothing concrete.21...Qxf322.gxf3Bh423.e423.Rf1Rac824.a4Re2is equally unpleasant23...dxe424.fxe4Bg525.a4Bd2Black has managed to liquidate his
only weakness, and what is left is his slight advantage in piece activity.26.Rab1Rac827.Rb2Rxb228.Bxb2Rc229.Bd4f630.Kg2Pointing out that
Black needs a plan here too.30.e5f531.e6Kf832.e7+Kxe733.Bxg7Ke630...Kf731.Kf3Ke632.h3h5There follows some 'messing around to
reach the time control'.33.Ke2Bf4+34.Kf3Bd235.Ke2Bf4+36.Kf3g537.Rd3Bd238.Ke2Bf4+39.Kf3Be540.Be340.Bxe5Kxe541.a5Ke642.axb6axb643.Kg2Rb2fails to solve White's problems40...Rb240...Bd6!?deserved consideration, trying seriously to take the bishops off, the better
to emphasise the slightly greater activity of Black's other two pieces
compared to their White counterparts.41.Kg2Bc542.Bxc5Rxc5and
White still has a little suffering ahead41.a5!Liquidating down to
something which is impossible to try and win.bxa542.Bxa7f543.exf5+Kxf544.Kg2g445.hxg4+hxg446.Rd5Rxb3½–½
Endings with rook and minor piece against rook and minor piece occur very frequently, even more often than rook endings, yet there's not much literature on them. This endgame DVD fills this gap. The four different material constellations rook and knight vs rook and knight, rooks and opposite coloured (and same coloured ) bishops and rook and bishop vs rook and knight are dealt with. In view of the different material constellations Karsten Mueller explains many guidelines like e.g. "With knights even a small initiative weighs heavily".
Hou Yifan | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Anand ½-½ Meier
This might have been Viswanathan Anand's second consecutive loss against a German player after yesterday if Meier had grabbed his chances in the endgame.
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1.e4e62.d4d53.Nc3dxe44.Nxe4Nd75.g3White makes a passable effort
to turn a French into something resembling a Catalan (a description that could
also be applied to a certain well-known grandmaster!) It goes without saying
that 5.Nf3 is the main move.Be76.Nf3Ngf67.Qe2Nxe48.Qxe4Rb8!
Very Catalan.We have already almost left the realm of praxis; the only
precedent continued8...Nf69.Qe2b610.Bg2Bb711.c30-012.0-0Qc813.Re1c514.Be3c415.Ng5?!and was promptly agreed drawn in Rigo,J-Somlai,L
Hungary 1994; the main problem with this is that Black has an extremely good
structure afterBxg216.Kxg2b59.Bg2b510.0-00-011.Rd1Bb712.Qe2Development is more or less complete the way it was destined to be after
White's 5th move.Nf6Black now drifts just a tiny bit.12...Bd513.c3Qc8=was more economical: Black wants to play ...c5 within the next few
moves. Possibly ...Qb7, ...a6, ...Rbc8, ...c5.13.c3a614.a4Bd514...b415.c4is awkward since Black has no means of arranging ...c5; as an
inveterate player of 1.d4 b5 as Black I have a better-than-average
understanding of these positions!15.Ne5One of several ways to cement an
advantage.15.axb5axb516.Bg5was a perfect Catalan solution; White
wants Bxf6 and b4, with a significant advantage.h617.Bxf6Bxf618.b4
Black lacks any sort of play and must wait patiently for White pieces to begin
crawling into his weak dark squares.15.Bf4Bb316.Re1is simple and
good.15...Bxg216.Kxg2Qd5+17.Qf3Qxf3+18.Kxf3Bd619.axb5?!19.Be3!?seems more accurate to me (though not the engine): the idea is that
Black will probably need to take on e5 anyway, so we should pick the best
route for our bishop in the aftermath of that.Bxe519...Rfe820.Nc6Rb721.axb5axb522.Ra6Nd523.Rda1looks even more uncomfortable20.dxe5Nd521.axb5Rxb521...axb522.Ra622.Rxa6Rxb223.c423.Rc6!?23...Nb624.Bxb6cxb625.Rd7There is still work to be done
because White has more active rooks.19...axb520.Bg5Bxe521.dxe5Nd5!=Now Black wants both ...c5 and ...Ra8, and White can't really stop both.22.Ra6c523.Be3Rfc824.Rda1h525.Ra7c426.Rd7b4!Black uses the
White king position to make time for his counterplay.27.Bd427.Raa7bxc328.bxc3Nxc329.Rxf7Rf8!=is the point, and White could easily find
himself worse soon.27...bxc328.bxc3Rb328...Rd8=was possible if
Black had anticipated what was about to happen...29.Rxd5!?An ambitious
sacrifice, and one which impressed me quite a lot.exd530.Kf4Rbb831.Kg531.Ra5!Rd832.Ra7seems called for; Black's rooks can't easily get
in, so he has to resort to harassing the White rook in order to maintain the
balance.31...Ra832.Re1Rc633.f4?!Now Black gets in, and only he can
be better.33.Rb1!was still interesting33...Ra234.h3Rd235.f5Rd336.Kf4h437.e6Kf838.gxh4fxe639.Ra1exf540.Kxf5Rxh340...Kg8!?is not a bad try, but it could be a hard move 40 to make.41.Ra8+Ke742.Ra7+Ke843.Ke5Rxh444.Kxd5Rg645.Bxg7White forces a draw.
A shame, because his concept was a bold one. Nevertheless, in essence this was
a typical modern game of chess, played on small margins, outside the realm of
opening theory.½–½
The French Defence is one of the best choices a player can make for his opening repertoire, especially older players with limited study time. The solid construction of Black’s game puts the onus on positional understanding and makes it immune to sharp and tricky variations. The longer you play the French the better you’ll play it. On this DVD Nigel Davies explains the strategy behind the French Defence by examining typical pawn structures and explaining the plans and ideas for both sides.
Anand languishes at the bottom of the standings | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Klaus BesenthalKlaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
Pirc Defence Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10027 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024; of these 874 are annotated.
The Pirc Defence Powerbook 2025 consists for a greater part of engine games (168 000), to which has been added high value material from Mega and the Correspondence Database (115 000).
The free app from ChessBase! ChessBase Mobile has everything you need as a chess player on the go:
access your chess data in cloud databases - and 13 million games.
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