Grenke Classic: Magnus grinds a second win

by Antonio Pereira
4/22/2019 – Another epic battle ended up with Magnus Carlsen on top at the 2019 GRENKE Chess Classic — his victim on Sunday was Francisco Vallejo Pons, who was not able to withhold the world champion's pressure in a complex endgame. Veterans Vishy Anand and Peter Svidler also won in round two to reach 1½/2 and stand half a point behind the leader. Vishy will have the black pieces against Magnus on Monday. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

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Decisively strong

We named the last report from this year's Shamkir supertournament "Magnus makes it five", referring to the amount of wins he had obtained in Azerbaijan. By that time, his last round win over Alexander Grischuk was his third straight victory. Now, after having won his first two encounters in Karlsruhe, Magnus has "made it five" again...despite having started the single round robin with two Blacks.

The games from Shamkir have not been officially reported yet, but his 9 out of 11 so far in April has resulted in him gaining exactly twenty rating points, reaching an exorbitant 2865 mark, twenty-four points short of his historical record. Norwegian journalist Tarjei J. Svensen keeps track of all relevant stats about Carlsen and, before the event began, he pointed out the score Magnus would need to surpass his rating record...which now seems slightly less unreachable, given the fact that the world champion has four games with White left.

The new — more ambitious — version of Magnus surely welcomed the fact that his record against Paco Vallejo in classical chess does not include any draws. Before their Sunday encounter, the world champion had defeated Vallejo four times and lost on two occasions. As you might have already noticed, his win in round two, again, "made it five" for Magnus...

After twelve moves of a Ruy Lopez, the Norwegian decided to challenge Paco's setup by harassing White's bishop with a somewhat surprising advance:

 
Vallejo vs. Carlsen
Position after 12.Bf4

Typical manoeuvres like 12...♜e8 or 12...♝g4 are perfectly playable in this position, but Magnus decided to go for the more challenging 12...g5, weakening his king indefinitely. Vallejo gave up the bishop pair with 13.xd6 xd6 and the queens were immediately exchanged. Black had a shattered pawn structure, but the initiative was also on his side.

Francisco Vallejo Pons

No draws in this match-up | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Carlsen played actively, advancing his d-pawn as quickly as possible to get rid of his position's structural issues, while creating problems for his rival. Vallejo, meanwhile, was having trouble dealing with the complexities of the position, which pushed him to spend way too much time from his clock. Each side had a rook, a knight, a bishop and two pawns, when Paco made a slight yet costly mistake:

 
Position after 36...axb5

The computer gives 37.a3 as the most accurate. From a human point of view, this choice also would have given White counterplay on the queenside after capturing Black's b-pawn, which, in hindsight, would have been very helpful. Instead, after 37.e3 d2+ 38.h3 d3, Magnus has a free hand to put pressure on White's position.

Paco managed to get rid of all the pawns left on the board, increasing his drawing chances, but needed to give up an exchange in order to do so:

 
Position after 49...Nf4+

White's only choice is to give up the rook for the knight with 50.xf4+ xf4 and the tablebases dictate that, with perfect play, Black can give mate...in 54 moves! Defending such a position against an endgame virtuoso is not easy, however. Paco failed to find the most stubborn defensive resources and gave up the point after 73 moves. A second lengthy victory for the world champion. 


Endgame analysis with Magnus Carlsen and Jan Gustafsson


Anand and Svidler score

While Carlsen needed over six hours to get both his wins so far, Vishy Anand and Peter Svidler managed to score on Sunday in around forty moves each. Anand inflicted Vincent Keymer his second loss of the event and Svidler got the better off the always ambitious Arkadij Naiditsch.

Keymer bravely played the Najdorf against Vishy, despite the fact that the former world champion has always been one of the strongest practitioners of the Sicilian. Thus, the opening did not go well for the German youngster, as White was the one with all the positional trumps in the middlegame. In the post-game interview, Vishy pointed out that after 24...f4 he had a clear advantage:

 
Anand vs. Keymer
Position after 24...Nf4

After 25.xf4 exf4 Anand had 26.e6, a concrete manoeuvre that clearly showed who was on top. From that point on, it was all Vishy, who obtained a strong pawn phalanx on the queenside, which provoked Vincent to give up shortly after the time control:

 
Position after 43.c5

There is no way anybody can survive this against Vishy.

Vishy Anand

A Sicilian expert from Madras | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Meanwhile, Svidler was facing Naiditsch's Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez. As noted by Peter afterwards, Arkadij does not play this — or any other — opening looking for a quick way to split the point, but instead as an attempt to get a game and go all in for the win. This time, however, the Azeri did not handle his position precisely and faced a ruthless Svidler, who kept putting pressure on his opponent's weak e4-pawn:

 
Naiditsch vs. Svidler
Position after 29.Rd2

The player from Saint Petersburg calmly rerouted his knight to d6 with 30...d8, 31...b7 and 32...d6, creating more threats against White's vulnerable central structure. With all the positional advantages on his side, Black went on to push his h-pawn and calculate a precise way to break his opponent's defences. 

 
Position after 37.Re2

Black's knight and queen are attacked, but 37...b5 is enough to keep all the material advantage, and some more. Naiditsch resigned after 38.c2 c4 39.e6 xe3.

Peter Svidler

Peter Svidler | Photo: Georgios Souleidis


Round-up show

GM Yannick Pelletier takes a look at the highlights of Round 2
(Due to a technical hiccup, this video breaks after 26 minutes)


All games

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.Be2 e5 8.0-0 Ne8 9.Ne1 f5 10.exf5 gxf5 11.f4 E92: King's Indian: Classical: 6 Be2 e5: 7 dxe5, 7 Be3 and Petrosian System without 7...Nbd7 Nd7 11...e4 12.Nc2 Na6 13.Be3 Nac7 14.Rf2 a6 15.a4 Bd7 16.g4 Bxc3 17.bxc3 fxg4 18.Bxg4 Nf6 19.Bxd7 Qxd7 ½-½ (43) Cruz,F (2344)-Rojas Keim,L (2330) Sant Aria de Besos 2017 12.Nd3 e4 13.Nf2 White is slightly better. 13.Ne1 feels hotter. Nc7 14.Nc2 Qe7 15.a4 Nf6 16.Bd2 13...Bxc3 14.bxc3 Ndf6 15.Be3 Ng7N Predecessor: 15...Qe7 16.h3 Ng7 ½-½ (48) Edwards,R (2013)-Turner,D (1832) High Wycombe 2011 16.Qe1 Bd7 17.Nd1 Ba4 18.h3 Bxd1 19.Qxd1 Qe8 20.Kf2 Qg6 21.Rg1 White should play 21.g4± 21...Kh8 22.a4 Rg8 23.Qf1 Nfh5 23...h5!= 24.g3 Raf8 25.Qg2 25.Rg2! 25...Qf6!= 26.Rac1 Qd8 26...Nxg3= 27.Qxg3 Nh5 28.Bxh5 Rxg3 29.Rxg3 Qh4 27.Qh2 Nf6 28.g4 Nd7 29.g5 Qa5 30.g6 30.Qh1± 30...h6 30...Nf6= keeps the balance. 31.Rb1 Rb8 32.Qg3 Qh4! is the strong threat. Qd8! 33.Ke1 33.Ra1 33...Ne8 34.Kd2 34.h4= 34...Nf8! 35.Bf2 Qe7 36.Ke3 36.h4 36...Qf6 Don't do 36...Nxg6 37.Bh5 36...Rxg6-+ 37.Qh4 Qg7 37.Kd2 Nxg6 38.h4 Ne7 39.Qh3 Rxg1 40.Rxg1 Qf7 41.h5 Nf6 42.Bh4 b6 43.Rb1 Qf8 44.Rg1 Qf7 45.Rb1! Qg7 46.Rg1 Qf8! 47.Kc2 Nfg8 48.Kd2 Qf7 49.Kc2 Rf8 50.Kd2 Qe8 51.Ra1 Rf7 52.a5 bxa5 53.Rxa5 Nc8 54.Ra1 Qf8 55.Rb1 Nb6 56.Rg1 Rg7 Better is 56...a5 And now ...a4 would win. 57.Rb1 Rb7 57.Rxg7!= Kxg7 58.Qg3+ Kh8 59.Qg6 a5       60.Bf1 a4 61.Kc2 a3       Black has some pressure. 62.Kb3
62...Na4!       63.Bh3 63.Kxa4 a2 63...Qg7 64.Qxg7+ Kxg7 65.Bxf5       Endgame KBB-KNN Nf6 66.Kxa3 Nxc3 67.Bf2? 67.Kb3= Ne2 68.Bxf6+ Kxf6 69.Bxe4 67...Ne2 68.Ka4? 68.Kb2 was the crucial defense. 68...Nxh5-+ 69.Ka5 Nf6 70.Kb6 Kf7 71.Kc7 Ke7 72.Be3 Nd4 73.Bg6 intending f5. h5 74.Bf2 Nf3 75.Bf5 75.Kb6 Ng4 76.Bxe4 Nxf2 77.Bxf3 75...Nd2 76.Bh4 e3 77.Bd3
77...Nf3! 78.Bxf6+ Kxf6 79.Kxd6 h4 Black mates. 80.Kc7
80...Nd4! 81.Kc8 e2 Accuracy: White = 48%, Black = 61%.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keymer,V2516Carlsen,M28450–12019A566th GRENKE Chess Classic 20191.1
Svidler,P2735Caruana,F2819½–½2019B346th GRENKE Chess Classic 20191.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2773Anand,V2774½–½2019B126th GRENKE Chess Classic 20191.3
Aronian,L2763Naiditsch,A2695½–½2019B906th GRENKE Chess Classic 20191.4
Meier,G2628Vallejo Pons,F2693½–½2019A066th GRENKE Chess Classic 20191.5
Vallejo Pons,F2693Carlsen,M28450–12019C786th GRENKE Chess Classic 20192.1
Anand,V2774Keymer,V25161–02019B906th GRENKE Chess Classic 20192.2
Caruana,F2819Vachier-Lagrave,M2773½–½2019B236th GRENKE Chess Classic 20192.3
Naiditsch,A2695Svidler,P27350–12019C686th GRENKE Chess Classic 20192.4
Meier,G2628Aronian,L2763½–½2019B526th GRENKE Chess Classic 20192.5
Carlsen,M2845Anand,V2774½–½2019A226th GRENKE Chess Classic 20193.1
Svidler,P2735Meier,G26281–02019C116th GRENKE Chess Classic 20193.2
Keymer,V2516Caruana,F28190–12019E166th GRENKE Chess Classic 20193.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2773Naiditsch,A2695½–½2019C676th GRENKE Chess Classic 20193.4
Aronian,L2763Vallejo Pons,F2693½–½2019C116th GRENKE Chess Classic 20193.5
Caruana,F2819Carlsen,M2845½–½2019B346th GRENKE Chess Classic 20194.1
Naiditsch,A2695Keymer,V25161–02019B236th GRENKE Chess Classic 20194.2
Aronian,L2763Svidler,P27351–02019C886th GRENKE Chess Classic 20194.3
Vallejo Pons,F2693Anand,V27740–12019B116th GRENKE Chess Classic 20194.4
Meier,G2628Vachier-Lagrave,M27730–12019D906th GRENKE Chess Classic 20194.5
Carlsen,M2845Naiditsch,A2695½–½2019A296th GRENKE Chess Classic 20195.1
Anand,V2774Caruana,F2819½–½2019C676th GRENKE Chess Classic 20195.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2773Aronian,L2763½–½2019C886th GRENKE Chess Classic 20195.3
Svidler,P2735Vallejo Pons,F2693½–½2019C556th GRENKE Chess Classic 20195.4
Keymer,V2516Meier,G26281–02019D376th GRENKE Chess Classic 20195.5
Vallejo Pons,F2693Caruana,F2819½–½2019C486th GRENKE Chess Classic 20196.1
Naiditsch,A2695Anand,V27741–02019C486th GRENKE Chess Classic 20196.2
Meier,G2628Carlsen,M28450–12019A056th GRENKE Chess Classic 20196.3
Aronian,L2763Keymer,V2516½–½2019B236th GRENKE Chess Classic 20196.4
Svidler,P2735Vachier-Lagrave,M2773½–½2019A346th GRENKE Chess Classic 20196.5
Vachier-Lagrave,M2775Vallejo Pons,F26981–020196th GRENKE Chess Classic 20197.1
Keymer,V2516Svidler,P2735½–½2019E156th GRENKE Chess Classic 20197.2
Carlsen,M2845Aronian,L27631–02019D376th GRENKE Chess Classic 20197.3
Anand,V2774Meier,G26280–12019C106th GRENKE Chess Classic 20197.4
Caruana,F2819Naiditsch,A26951–02019E016th GRENKE Chess Classic 20197.5
Vallejo Pons,F2693Naiditsch,A2695½–½2019D306th GRENKE Chess Classic 20198.1
Meier,G2628Caruana,F28190–12019B316th GRENKE Chess Classic 20198.2
Svidler,P2735Carlsen,M28450–12019B306th GRENKE Chess Classic 20198.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2773Keymer,V25161–02019B226th GRENKE Chess Classic 20198.4
Aronian,L2763Anand,V2774½–½2019C656th GRENKE Chess Classic 20198.5
Naiditsch,A2695Meier,G26281–02019A106th GRENKE Chess Classic 20199.1
Caruana,F2819Aronian,L2763½–½2019C896th GRENKE Chess Classic 20199.2
Carlsen,M2845Vachier-Lagrave,M27731–02019A376th GRENKE Chess Classic 20199.3
Keymer,V2516Vallejo Pons,F26930–12019A616th GRENKE Chess Classic 20199.4
Anand,V2774Svidler,P2735½–½2019C846th GRENKE Chess Classic 20199.5

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Antonio is a freelance writer and a philologist. He is mainly interested in the links between chess and culture, primarily literature. In chess games, he skews towards endgames and positional play.

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