Grenke Classic: Rapport scores 2/2, now a half point behind Carlsen

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/31/2024 – Magnus Carlsen continues to be the sole leader at the Grenke Chess Classic in Karlsruhe. Second-placed Richard Rapport closed the gap between him and the leader to a half point after collecting back-to-back victories on Saturday. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave stands in sole third place a full point behind Rapport, and is set to face the Romanian representative in the penultimate round. | Photo: Angelika Valkova

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Rapport beats Ding and Keymer

Thursday was a disastrous day for Richard Rapport. After grabbing the lead in the first four rounds of play, the Hungarian-born grandmaster suffered two consecutive losses in rounds 5 and 6 to find himself a full point behind the new sole leader, Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen, as has often happened in the past, started slowly, but consecutive wins on the third day of action (over Vincent Keymer and Rapport himself) allowed him to take pole position.

Friday was a rest day for the players in the main event of the Grenke Chess Festival, which apparently helped Rapport to regroup and recover his form. On Saturday, he defeated Keymer and Ding Liren to go into the final two rounds of the double round-robin a half point behind Carlsen, who beat Daniel Fridman and drew Ding in rounds 7 and 8.

As per the regulations, those placed first and second at the end of the double round-robin will face off in a match for tournament victory on Monday. While Carlsen is almost certain to reach the final, Rapport still needs to work hard on Sunday, as he is paired up against third-placed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in round 9 — the Frenchman stands a full point behind Rapport after signing two draws (in two sharp battles) on Sunday.

Standings after round 8

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
TBPerf.
1
2830
5.5
8
19.50
2842
2
2720
5.0
8
18.25
2842
3
2728
4.0
8
15.75
2716
4
2762
3.5
8
15.00
2693
5
2738
3.0
8
11.25
2622
6
2590
3.0
8
10.75
2672
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

Round 9 pairings

  • Ding Liren v. Daniel Fridman
  • Magnus Carlsen v. Vincent Keymer
  • Richard Rapport v. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Round 10 pairings

  • Daniel Fridman v. Richard Rapport
  • Maxime Vachier-Lagrave v. Magnus Carlsen
  • Vincent Keymer v. Ding Liren

Rapport 1 - 0 Ding

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Rapport, Richard27201–0Ding, Liren2762
GRENKE Chess Classic 2024
Karlsruhe30.03.2024[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Nge2 0-0 5.0-0 c6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.Bb3 Bg4 10.f3 Nc6 11.Nce2 Bh5 12.c3 Re8
Ding Liren obtained a nice position due to Richard Rapport's unusual opening choice. 13.Bg5 Bg6 14.Kh1 He couldn't possibly remain pinned any longer. Qb6?! This is probably too optimistic. 14...Qd6!= now results in 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Bxd5 with an equal position after Nxd4 17.Nxd4 Rad8 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nf4! This knight move retains some advantage. Ne7 17.Qd2 Kg7 18.Rfe1 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Qxd4 20.cxd4 Nf5 21.Red1 Rad8 22.Rac1 Ne3 23.Re1
The computers all calculate White's advantage to be around one pawn. In any case, White has the better minor pieces; Rapport can play for a win without much stress. 23...Nc4?! After this move, White's advantage increases. After the stronger 23...Nf5 24.Red1 Ne3 25.Rd2 nothing would have changed in the assessment. 24.Rxe8 Rxe8 25.h4! Of course he has to get his king an exit. b5 26.Nxd5 Nxb2 27.Rc7 a5 28.Nf4! The knight clears the d5-square for the bishop and at the same time threatens to eliminate the protecting piece on f7. a4 29.Bd5 Nd3 It turns out that f7 was beyond saving: 29...Rf8?? 30.Ne6++- 30.Nxg6 hxg6 31.Rxf7+ Kh6 32.Rxf6 Rd8 33.Bc6 Kg7 34.Re6 Rxd4 35.Bxb5 Rxh4+ 36.Kg1
White's virtual extra pawn has become a real one thanks to the activity of his pieces. 36...Rd4 37.a3 g5 38.Re3? But this rather timid move is not good. 38.Re4 Rxe4 39.fxe4 Nc5 40.Bc6+- was a better alternative - the white king first moves to g4, while the black knight is not allowed to move. 38...Nf4 39.Re4 Now this no longer works as in the previous variation. Rd1+! 40.Bf1 Nd5? More precise was 40...Ra1 41.Rxa4 Nd5 42.Kf2 Ra2+ 43.Kg3 Ne3 44.Bb5 Rxg2+ 45.Kh3 Rf2 46.Bc6 Kf6 and the king defends the pawn. 41.Kf2 Rd2+ 42.Kg3? Once again White's advantage, which had once again become promising, evaporates. Rd1? This is not the way to do it. 42...Kf6! 43.Rxa4 Ne3 as shown above. 43.Bc4 Nf4 44.Kg4!
Now a completely new motif appears, which Rapport had certainly already seen: a mating attack against the black king. 44...Nxg2 45.Kxg5 Ra1 46.Re8 Rxa3 47.Rg8+ Kh7 48.Rf8 Rc3 49.Rf7+ Kg8 50.Be6 Re3 51.Bd5 a3 Or this fascinating variation, which is difficult to calculate: 51...Rd3 52.Rd7+ Kf8 53.Kf6 Ke8 54.Rd6 Nf4 55.Bf7+ Kf8 56.Ra6 Rd8 57.Rxa4 Rd6+ 58.Ke5+- 52.Kh6 Rd3 53.Bc4 Or simply: 53.Rf5+ Rxd5 54.Rxd5+- 53...Ne3 54.Rg7+
1–0

Keymer 0 - 1 Rapport

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Keymer, Vincent27380–1Rapport, Richard2720
GRENKE Chess Classic 2024
Karlsruhe30.03.2024[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 9.a4 Na6 10.Nf3 Nb4 11.0-0 a6 12.Bxd7+ Bxd7 13.f5 0-0 14.Bg5 f6 15.Bf4 gxf5 16.Qd2 Re8 17.Rae1 c4 18.exf5 Rxe1 19.Nxe1 Bxf5 20.Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Rxf5 Re8 22.g3 Qd7 23.Rf1 f5 24.d6 b5 25.axb5 axb5
After these rather wild first 25 moves, it can be said that none of the players made a serious mistake - so the computers evaluate the position as balanced. 26.Ne2?! Better was 26.Nd1! and the knight does not place itself in the line of the black rook, it covers b2 and it can secure the a7-g1 diagonal by defending f2. In general, this is a rare, somewhat curious position: the two white knights on the first rank are by no means as bad as they seem. For example: Qa7+ 27.Nf2 Qc5 28.d7 Rd8 29.Nf3 Nd3 30.Qe2 Ne5 31.Rd1 26...Re6 27.Rxf5 27.Qxb4 Rxe2-+ 27...Rxe2 28.Qxe2 Qxf5 29.Qe8+ Bf8?! 29...Qf8 30.d7 Bf6 was probably better. 30.d7 Nc6 31.d8Q Nxd8 32.Qxd8 b4 After this move, Black's advantage is actually gone, but it comes with a small trap. More precise was 32...h6 with the intention of getting out of the pin with Kh7. 33.Qd1? Did Vincent Keymer want to control the c2-square to stop a potential passed pawn? 33.Kg2! c3 34.bxc3 bxc3 35.Qd4 Qc5 36.Qe4= 33...Bc5+ White will be checkmated. 34.Kg2 Qf2+ 35.Kh3 Qf1+ 36.Kg4 h5+! Mate in three moves.
0–1

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1.d4 5 d5 1 2.Nf3 3 Nf6 2 3.e3 2 e6 10 4.Nbd2 3 c5 1:49 5.b3 4 Nc6 11 6.Bb2 12 cxd4 34 7.exd4 5 g6 3 8.a3 4:47 Bg7 4 9.Bd3 1 0-0 2 10.Qe2 36 Qb6 35 11.0-0 6:00 Nd7! 10 12.Qe3 13:57
12...e5! 2 13.dxe5 19 Qxe3 2 14.fxe3 4 Ndxe5 2 15.Rab1 4:53 Nxd3 4:37 16.cxd3 2:03 Bf5 2 17.e4 22 dxe4 3 18.dxe4 1
Bxg7 would now be deadly. 18...Be6 2 19.Bxg7 1:25 Kxg7 2 20.Rfc1 2:43 Rfd8 1:16 21.Rc3 46 Rd7 19 22.Rb2 2:54 Rad8 7 23.Kf2 29 Nd4 9:04 24.Nxd4 2:28 The position is equal. Rxd4 2 25.Ke3 1 f5 56 26.Rc7+ 41 R8d7 2 27.Rxd7+ 48 Rxd7= 2       Endgame. KRB-KRN 28.g3 1:58 fxe4 2:52 29.Nxe4 2 Bf5 2 White must now prevent ...Re7. 30.Rd2 1:31 Re7 4:49 31.Rd4 1 Bd7 2:42 32.Kf2 36 Rf7+ 40 33.Ke3 2 Re7 24 34.Kf2 1 Rf7+ 47 35.Ke3 1 Re7 Weighted Error Value: White=0.05 (flawless) /Black=0.05 (flawless) . Inaccurate: White=3 Black=1 OK: White=12 Black=9 Strong: --- Black=1 Brilliant: --- Black=1
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keymer,V2738Fridman,D2590½–½2024D05GRENKE Chess Classic 20241.1
Rapport,R2720Carlsen,M28301–02024B12GRENKE Chess Classic 20241.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2728Ding,L2762½–½2024A45GRENKE Chess Classic 20241.3
Ding,L2762Rapport,R2720½–½2024A62GRENKE Chess Classic 20242.1
Fridman,D2590Carlsen,M28300–12024A47GRENKE Chess Classic 20242.2
Keymer,V2738Vachier-Lagrave,M2728½–½2024D20GRENKE Chess Classic 20242.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2728Fridman,D25900–12024C02GRENKE Chess Classic 20243.1
Carlsen,M2830Ding,L2762½–½2024E10GRENKE Chess Classic 20243.2
Rapport,R2720Keymer,V2738½–½2024C50GRENKE Chess Classic 20243.3
Rapport,R2720Fridman,D25901–02024C00GRENKE Chess Classic 20244.1
Carlsen,M2830Vachier-Lagrave,M2728½–½2024B50GRENKE Chess Classic 20244.2
Ding,L2762Keymer,V2738½–½2024E21GRENKE Chess Classic 20244.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2728Rapport,R27201–02024C18GRENKE Chess Classic 20245.1
Keymer,V2738Carlsen,M28300–12024A61GRENKE Chess Classic 20245.2
Fridman,D2590Ding,L2762½–½2024A05GRENKE Chess Classic 20245.3
Fridman,D2590Keymer,V2738½–½2024A05GRENKE Chess Classic 20246.1
Carlsen,M2830Rapport,R27201–02024A61GRENKE Chess Classic 20246.2
Ding,L2762Vachier-Lagrave,M2728½–½2024A48GRENKE Chess Classic 20246.3
Rapport,R2720Ding,L27621–02024C26GRENKE Chess Classic 20247.1
Carlsen,M2830Fridman,D25901–02024C08GRENKE Chess Classic 20247.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2728Keymer,V2738½–½2024E46GRENKE Chess Classic 20247.3
Fridman,D2590Vachier-Lagrave,M2728½–½2024D79GRENKE Chess Classic 20248.1
Ding,L2762Carlsen,M2830½–½2024E11GRENKE Chess Classic 20248.2
Keymer,V2738Rapport,R27200–12024A67GRENKE Chess Classic 20248.3
Ding,L2762Fridman,D2590½–½2024D45GRENKE Chess Classic 20249.1
Carlsen,M2830Keymer,V27381–02024E21GRENKE Chess Classic 20249.2
Rapport,R2720Vachier-Lagrave,M2728½–½2024D30GRENKE Chess Classic 20249.3
Fridman,D2590Rapport,R2720½–½2024E17GRENKE Chess Classic 202410.1
Vachier-Lagrave,M2728Carlsen,M2830½–½2024A05GRENKE Chess Classic 202410.2
Keymer,V2738Ding,L27621–02024A06GRENKE Chess Classic 202410.3

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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