Grenke: Caruana, Carlsen, or Vitiugov

by Macauley Peterson
4/9/2018 – On a gorgeous Spring day in Baden-Baden there was another series of five draws in the eighth round. Magnus Carlsen tried to will his way to victory over Nikita Vitiugov, in the longest game of the round, but in the end, had to settle for a draw. Both remain a half point behind Caruana. It will be one of those three emerging as the GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 winner. Vitiugov, with White against Caruana in the final round (WATCH LIVE) has a chance to make a bold statement. For Magnus Carlsen, he'll have to try to win with black against Viswanathan Anand. Naiditch vs Anand is annotated by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson. | Photos: Macauley Peterson

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Tiebreak possible

After a suite of draws today, the range of possibilities has narrowed, but one intriguing one still available is a tiebreak match between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Fabiano Caruana. That would surely be a riveting contest. However, Vitiugov plays Caruana in the last round, so for that scenario to come to pass that game would have to end in a draw, while Carlsen would have to win on-demand with black against Anand. [WATCH LIVE]

Of course Carlsen would have greatly preferred to score a full point in his last White game on Sunday, and he seemed determined to do so. But Vitiugov was equally determined to hold, and the experienced Russian grandmaster is known for having nerves of steel. The game ran into the night, while all the rest were finished within a few hours, providing ample time for them to enjoy the absolutely perfect Spring weather in Baden-Baden.

outdoor chess

This outdoor chess in idyllic surroundings is just two minutes walk from the venue | Photo: Macauley Peterson

Arkadij Naiditsch and Viswanathan Anand provided one of the more interesting games of the day, despite being among the first to finish (Aronian and Caruana beat them by a few minutes.) Anand noted how comfortable he feels after many visits:

"I’ve never hidden it, Baden is one of my favourite cities. It’s just incredibly beautiful — the parks and the scenery, there’s a river flowing through — I mean I find this place very calming. I wish I could play the chess to prove it but…it’s already my second bad year. 2015 was a disaster and this year is also not great. But I don’t know why — I like the town I like the tournament. I wish I would play better."

Strolling along the Lichtentaler Allee, a historic park and arboretum along the west bank of the Oos river, on a day like this one would make anyone disinclined to sit indoors at a chess board for six hours. The players' stay at the Brenners Park Hotel, a few minutes from the LA8 building on the opposite side of the main pedestrian path. You can get a sense of the clientele by the cars parked out front. First there was a red Mercedes sports car that caught my eye. But the pair of Bugatti roadsters that followed made the Mercedes look like a jalopy.

Mercedes

Click or tap to enlarge — more photos from the Lichtentaler Allee are in the gallery above | Photos: Macauley Peterson

Bugatti roadster

Multi-million dollar cars are (still) out of range of even the most elite chessplayer

Naiditsch ½-½ Anand

In such environs, the players could be forgiven for wrapping things up within two or three hours. But commentator GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson found this game the most lively despite being the second to finish (Aronian and Caruana beat them by a few minutes).

Annotations by Tiger Hillarp-Persson
 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 I have not played 1.e4 in a while and I keep getting surprised again and again in the next few moves. Chess is still developing. 4.c3 4.d3 has the advantage of making Black's (critical) Nf6-followed-by-d5-as-fast-as-possible-plan less critical: Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.a4!? and now 6.h3 6.Nbd2 6...d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 looks better for White compared to d3 after c3, as c2-c3 might not be the most wanted move here. 4...Nf6 5.d4 When I last looked at these lines Black was doing fine after 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 but then 8.a4!? was discovered. The point of this move is a bit obscure, but in a surprising amount of lines the a-pawn becomes a source of annoyance for Black. 8.Re1 Bg4! 9.h3 Bh5 looks to be doing very well for Black in classical chess (whereas White has won a few rapid games). 8...Bg4 8...Bf5 9.Re1 Nb6 10.Bb5 Ne7 11.a5 c6 12.axb6 cxb5 13.Be3 axb6 14.Rxa8 Qxa8 15.Bxc5 bxc5 16.Rxe5 Qd8 17.d4 cxd4 18.Nxd4 Bxb1 19.Qxb1 b4 was pretty equal, in Mamedyarov,S (2800)-Kramnik,V (2785) 80th Tata Steel GpA 2018. The ball seems to be in White's court here. 9.a5 a6 10.Nbd2 and with Black's queenside being frozen stiff, White can concentrate on the h3/Nd2-e4-g3-maneouvre. Compared to the lines where White plays Re1 instead of a4, White is doing significantly better. 5...exd4 I was under the (mistaken and obviously simplified) impression that this didn't set Black any problems. 6.e5! This is the only ambitious move. 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Qb3 Na5 10...Nce7 is more ambitious 11.Qa4+ Nc6 12.Qb3 forces a draw. 6...d5! More than a hundred games with this position in the few last years rubbing my face in my obvious ignorance. 7.Bb5 From a rather superficial perspective (like mine) 7.Be2!? is far, far more uncommon, but seems to contain some poison. d3!? is principled 7...Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 8...Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Nxd2 10.Nbxd2 0-0 11.0-0 f6! 12.Rc1! Kh8?! The engine prefers 12...fxe5! 13.dxe5 a6 , when 14.Nb3 Re8 15.Rxc6 bxc6 16.Nfd4 doesn't turn out as fun as I want it to after Rxe5 16...Qd7 17.f4 c5 18.Nc2 17.Nxc6 Qe8 18.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Nb3! put White in the drivers seat, in Jobava,B (2702)-Karjakin,S (2786) Loo 2013, since Black's bishop on b4 doesn't get access to the active b6-square. 9.0-0 0-0 10.Nc3 and compared to the usual line it is not as attractive to play Bg4 10...f6!? 11.Be3 f6 since 12.exf6 looks slightly nicer for White. 8.exf6 dxe2 9.Qxe2+ Kf8 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.Qxe8+ Kxe8 12.fxg7 Rg8 13.Bf4 Bb6 14.0-0 f6 15.Na3 Rxg7 16.Rfe1+ Kf7 17.Rad1 Be6 18.Nb5 Rc8 19.Be3 Bg4 20.Kf1 Bxf3 21.gxf3 a6 22.Nd6+ cxd6 23.Bxb6 Ne5 led to an unbalanced and unorthodox position in Beerdsen,T (2400) -Van Foreest,L (2350) Bundesliga 2017, which White eventually won. 7...Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 8...Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Nxd2 10.Nbxd2 0-0 11.a3 Bxd2+ 12.Qxd2 Bg4 9.Nc3! Baadur Jobava's name keeps popping up again and again in these lines. Lately he has tried 9.h3 a few times. Considering how annoying Bg4 is later, it looks very human and logical to want to stop it. 0-0! 9...Bd7 10.Ba4 f6 11.0-0 fxe5 12.dxe5 led to a nicely unbalanced position in Jobava,B (2699)-Jakovenko,D (2742) Sochi 2015. 10.0-0 f6! After this move White has to fight for equality. Baadur tries to mess things up: 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Be3 f5! 13.Qc1 f4 14.Bxf4 c5 15.dxc5 Nxc5! 16.Be3 Nd3 17.Qd1 Ba6 1-0 (58) Jobava,B (2705)-Kramnik,V (2805) GCT Blitz YourNextMove 2017 9...0-0 9...Bg4 10.Be3 10.Be3 Bg4 Black has plenty of other moves to chose from, but f6 and Bg4 seem like the most critical candidates. 10...Ne7 also makes sense and White's best chance to keep some pressure is 11.Bd3 Bf5 12.0-0 when it is a small victory for White to have stopped Bg4 without spending a tempo on h3. 10...Be6 would only be played by someone with a Bg4-phobia. 10...f6 11.Qb3!? 11.h3 Bh5 12.Qc2 I usually don't consider statistics, but the 8% White-score after 12.g4 makes me suspicious. 12.0-0 f6 12...Nxc3 13.bxc3 Na5 was played in Svetushkin,D (2614)-Naiditsch,A (2710) Linares 2013 and now, instead of playing 14.g4 White would have kept some advantage with 14.Bd3 12...Bxf3 12...Bg6 13.Qb3 Ne7 14.Nh4 c5 15.Nxg6 hxg6 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.Bxc5 Bxc5 18.0-0 Bd4 18...a6!? 19.Rad1 was a bit better for White, in Ivanchuk,V (2731)-Kramnik,V (2793) Antalya 2013. 12...Ba5 shows up in a game Najer - Rodshtein from last year and this forces White to play some exact moves in order to keep the initiative: 13.Bxc6 13.0-0?! Bxf3 Rodshtein played 13...Bxc3!? 14.gxf3 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Qg5+ 16.Kh1 Bxc3 17.bxc3 Qf5 forces perpetual checks. 13...bxc6 14.0-0 Nxc3 15.bxc3 f6 16.Qa4 Bb6 17.g4 Be8 18.Qc2 Bg6 19.Qe2 is a suggestion by the engine, that ends with a small plus for White. White's king might look shaky, but the bishop on b6 is obviously not in a happy place. 13.gxf3 Ng5 14.0-0-0 Nxf3 This is an improvement over an earlier game: 14...Ne6?! 15.Ne2 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.f4 f5 17.Ne2± 15...Ne7 16.Kb1 f5 17.exf6? 17.f4 17...Rxf6 was fine for Black, in Kravtsiv,M (2621) -Bruzon Batista,L (2659) Berlin 2015. 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Qf5! Nh4 17.Qg4 Ng6 18.f4 I have a suspicion that this position was part of - at least - one of the players's preparation. Qh4 The engine immediately strikes down on this move, but it is quite human to avoid the alternative. The only other move is 18...Qc8 , when it first looks like 19.f5 is a blunder due to Nxe5 However, after 20.Qg3 Nc4 21.Bh6 g6 22.Rhf1! Things are not so clear. Qd7! is the best defence and here 22...Re8? 23.fxg6 fxg6 24.Rf6 Re6 25.Qf3 Qe8 26.Nxd5+- 23.h4 looks quite nasty, although taking the exchange also merits attention. Perhaps Anand avoided this because he (rightly) evaluated it as dangerous for him?!! 19.Rd3! The point of this move is to threaten f4-f5, when Nxe5 can be met with dxe5, without dropping off the bishop on e3. Qxg4 20.hxg4 f5! 20...f6 21.f5 Nxe5 22.dxe5 Bxe3+ 23.Rxe3 d4 24.Rd3 dxc3 25.e6 cxb2+ 26.Kxb2 is not hopeless for Black, but very awkward. 21.g5! Kf7 22.Rxh7?! Arkady misses his chance to get some real pressure here. 22.Ne2! leaves Black with a cramped position. An important point is that it is Rh8 and h6 doesn't solve Black's problems: Rh8 23.Rh5! Ke6 24.Kc2!? h6?! 24...Rag8 25.Bd2 25.Bf2 Nf8 25...c5 26.dxc5 Bxc5 27.b4 Bb6 28.a4 a6 29.a5 Ba7 30.Be3 Bxe3 31.Rxe3 Ke7 32.Rc3 Kd7 33.Rch3 25.Bd2 Rag8 26.a4 a6 27.Rb3 and Black is under heavy pressure. 22...Rh8 Now Black gets counterplay and gets the knight to the wonderful e6-square. White's extra pawn counts for nothing. 23.Rxh8 Rxh8 24.a3 24.Ne2 Rh1+ 25.Kd2 Ke6 26.Rc3? Ba5 24...Nf8 25.Ne2 Ke7 26.Rc3 Kd7 27.Kd2 Ne6 28.Rc1 g6 Neither side can improve his pieces. After a bit of jumping around the draw becomes unavoidable. 29.b4 a5 30.Kd3 axb4 31.axb4 Ba7 32.Ra1 Bb6 33.Ra6 Rb8 34.Ra2 Rh8 35.Ra1 Ke7 36.Ra2 Kd7 37.Ra1 Ke7 38.Ra2 Without this game todays round would have been a rather dull affair. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Naiditsch,A2701Anand,V2776½–½2018C545th GRENKE Chess Classic 20188

The Italian Game is considered a sound but quiet opening without early trades, giving rise to rich positions where plans are more important than forced variations. So shows black's plans on this DVD.


Here are Anand's own thoughts on the game

Carlsen ½-½ Vitiugov

Critical for the standings, this game ran over six hours. It was clear that Carlsen needed to win to put himself in the best position to fight for first place in the last round. It was his first game ever against Nikita Vitiugov.

When Vitiugov exchanged queens, it came at the cost of a weakened pawn structure, giving Carlsen a position typically to his liking: an endgame in which he himself had a noticeable advantage with no risk. But sometimes such an advantage is just not big enough.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 0-0 8.0-0 Re8 9.Re1 h6 10.Nbd2 Bb6 11.Nf1 d6 12.Ng3 Be6 13.h3 Bxb3 14.axb3 d5 15.Qe2 Bc5 16.b4 Bf8 17.Nd2 a5 18.bxa5 Rxa5 19.Rxa5 Nxa5 20.exd5 Qxd5 21.Nde4 Nxe4 22.dxe4 Qc4 23.Qf3 Qe6 24.Nf5 Nc4 25.h4 Kh7 26.h5 g6 27.Ne3 Nxe3 28.hxg6+ fxg6 29.Bxe3 Bd6 30.Qe2
Black's position is holding together well. 30...Qc4 But this move leads to an unnecessary weakening, giving Carlsen the chance to generate play. Vitiugov's life becomes more difficult now; Nevertheless, it's doubtful that Carlsen now really got a chance of winning. From here on out, Vitiugov defends himself extremely carefully. 31.Qxc4 bxc4 32.Ra1 Rb8 33.Bc1 Rb6 34.Ra4 Rc6 35.Be3
Black's position is passive but stable. 35...h5 Perhaps this is not the best. 35...g5 threatening g5-g4, was probably better. 36.Kf1 36.Ra5 initiates the plan that the computers suggest. Kg7 37.g3 Kf6 38.f4 Ke6 39.Kg2 Kf6 40.Kf3 Ke6 41.Ba7 Kf6 42.g4 White has gained space on the kingside, his pawns are dynamic, and there are potential targets in the black position. That looks plausible. 36...Kg7 37.Ke2 Kf6 38.Kd1 Ke6 39.Kc2 Be7 40.f3
Now holes are opening on the dark squares of the kingside. The game is equal, but Carlsen tries for a long time to capitalize on his active rook. 40...Bh4 41.Ra5 Bg3 42.Bc5 g5 43.Bb4 g4 44.fxg4 hxg4 45.Ra8 Kf7 46.Rc8 Bf4 47.Kd1 Kg7 48.Ke2 Kf7 49.Rf8+ Kg7 50.Rd8 Kf7 51.Kf2 Kg7 52.Rd7+ Kf6 53.g3 Bc1 54.Rd1 Bg5 55.Ke2 Ke6 56.Rh1 Ra6 57.Ba3 Rb6 58.Rh7 Rb7 59.Kd1 Rb8 60.Kc2 Rd8 61.Rg7 Rd2+ 62.Kc1 Bf6 63.Kxd2 Bxg7 64.Bc5 Kd7 65.Be3
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2843Vitiugov,N2735½–½2018C775th GRENKE Chess Classic 20188

Vitiugov summarises the encounter | GRENKE Chess on YouTube

Jan Gustafsson's round eight recap nicely explained the denouement:

Caruana ½-½ Aronian

A low-tension, 'correct' game that ended in an early draw. Both players obviously had no objection to this course of the game. Aronian offered a pawn sacrifice shortly before the end, which Caruana passed up. In view of the opposite-coloured bishops, pawn would have only extended the working day, rather than give chances to change the final result. A nice walk in the park was much more appealing.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1
Checking the reference games in the ChessBase online database, one comes across the slightly amazing fact that the position has an extremely high draw rate, in this line beginning 5.Re1. The conclusion is obvious that Caruana was happy with a "quiet" game. 10...Nf5 11.d5 Re8 12.Bd3 Rxe1+ 13.Qxe1 Qe7 14.Qxe7 Nxe7 15.d6
Caruana once again creates a little bit of tension. 15...cxd6 16.Na3 d5 17.Nb5 d6 Black does not want the knight jumping to d6 and fixing the d7 pawn. 18.Nxd6 Nc6 19.Bf4 Be6 20.Nxb7 Nb4 21.Nc5 Bxb2 22.Rb1 Nxd3 23.cxd3 Bd4 24.Be3 Bxc5 25.Bxc5 d4 Aronian offers a pawn to activate his bishop, though it need not be taken. 25...a6 26.d4= 26.Bxa7 Bxa2
27.Rb8+ seals the draw. 27.Rb2 Bd5 Or 27...Be6 28.Kf1 h5 29.Bxd4 28.f3 h5 29.Bxd4 would have won a pawn - but hardly the game! 27...Rxb8 28.Bxb8 Bb1 29.Ba7 Ba2 30.Bb8 Bb1 31.Ba7 Ba2 32.Bb8
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2784Aronian,L2794½–½2018C675th GRENKE Chess Classic 20188

Aronian

Aronian is nearing the end of a very long six weeks of chess | Photo: Macauley Peterson

Bluebaum ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave

Matthias Bluebaum has had a strong tournament, with draws against Carlsen, Caruana, and now Vachier-Lagrave. At the end he erected a fortress, in a position which computers, amusingly fail to understand.

"I couldn’t do much of anything else in the opening and I grabbed my chances when I got them, but they were just too little", Vachier-Lagrave said afterward.

 
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1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Qc7 7.e4 Nc6 8.Qd2 e6 9.Qg5 f6 10.Qh5+ Qf7 11.Qxf7+ Kxf7 12.Be3 e5 13.Bc4+ Be6 14.Bxe6+ Kxe6 15.0-0-0 Be7 16.Rd5 Rhd8 17.Rhd1 b6 18.g4 Na5 19.b3 Rxd5 20.exd5+ Kf7 21.c4 Nb7 22.Nd2 Rh8 23.Rg1 Nd6 24.Kc2 Re8 25.Kd3 h5 26.g5 f5 27.f4 e4+ 28.Ke2 g6 29.Rc1 Rc8 30.a4 Nb7 31.Nf1 Bf8 32.Bd2 Bg7 33.Ne3 a6 34.Bc3 Bd4 35.Kd2 Re8 36.Rc2 Nd6 37.Ra2 Nb7 38.Rc2 Ke7 39.Ra2
Bluebaum had some advantage earlier due to extra space, but once black installed a pawn on e4 it evaporated. 39...Na5 With this move, Vachier-Lagrave tries to generate tension again. 40.Bxa5 Or 40.Rb2= 40...bxa5 41.Rc2
This position has unforeseen problems - for the computers! The Machines clearly see black with a large advantage, even if they do not produce a viable plan. 41...Rb8 42.Rc3 h4 43.h3 Kd6 44.Kc2 Bxe3 Nach 44...Bxc3 45.Kxc3 White has built a fortress. 45.Rxe3
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bluebaum,M2631Vachier-Lagrave,M2789½–½2018A345th GRENKE Chess Classic 20188

Vachier-Lagrave

MVL is just starting his 2018 chess season | Photo: Macauley Peterson

Meier ½-½ Hou Yifan

Meier noted that he and Hou have played Catalans in the past, and indeed the game followed their 2015 encounter in Dortmund through move 13...Bxc5.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Bd5 11.Qc2 Be4 12.Qd1 E05: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3 Be7 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Qxd8 14.Nbd2 Bc6 15.Ne5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Nbd7 17.Rc1 Nxe5 18.Rxc5 Ned7 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 1/2-1/2 (59) Meier,G (2654)-Hou,Y (2676) Dortmund 2015 14...Rxd8 15.Nbd2 Bc6 16.Rfc1
LiveBook: 3 Games 16...Bb4N Predecessor: 16...Nbd7 17.Ne1 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 h6 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 1/2-1/2 (31) Onischuk,A (2666)-Karjakin,S (2785) Istanbul 2012 17.Rc4
Black must now prevent Bxf6. 17...Be7 18.Ne5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Nbd7 20.Nd3 Rac8 21.Rac1 Nb6 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Rxc8+ Nxc8 24.e4 Nd7 25.Be3 Nd6 26.f4 f5 27.Kf3 Kf7 28.g4 g6 29.h3 Ke8 30.Bd4 Kd8 31.Bc3 Ke8 32.Bd4 Kd8 33.Bc3 33.e5!? Ne8 34.Nc4 33...Ke8 Precision: White = 20%, Black = 37%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Meier,G2648Hou,Y2654½–½20185th GRENKE Chess Classic 20188

Both players joined Peter Leko to analyse the game on the live webcast:


Standings after eight rounds

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In the event of a tie for first place there will be a tie-break match consisting of two games at 10 minutes plus 2  seconds per move; then if still tied, two games of 5 min. + 2 sec. per move; and finally a sudden-death 'Armageddon' game with 6 minutes for White and 5 minutes for Black (in the case of a draw, Black wins).

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Commentary webcast

Commentary by GM Peter Leko and GM Jan Gustafsson

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

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