Isle of Man 01+02: Wesley held by Harika

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2016.10.02"] [Round "2.2"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2794"] [BlackElo "2528"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] {To outprepare a player like Wesley So is simply amazing! Wesley is known for his high class preparation and Harika was able to surpass that. Speaks volumes about the hard work done by the India number two.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Ng5 h6 8. f4 exf4 (8... hxg5 9. fxg5 $16 {is already better for White.}) 9. Nf3 Bd6 {Gelfand has played this twice against Adhiban and Guseinov.} 10. Nh4 Bb8 {Once again following Gelfand.} 11. Ng6 d5 $1 (11... Re8 $6 12. Nxf4 $14 {And White has a firm grip over d5.}) 12. exd5 fxg6 {Harika plays the obvious move and it is clearly better than what Gelfand did.} ({Gelfand's choice was} 12... Bg4 $2 13. Qd2 (13. dxc6 $1 b5 14. Qd2 bxc4 15. Nxf8 $16) 13... Nd4 14. Nxf8 f3 15. Qf2 Qxf8 16. Be3 Be5 17. Kh1 Bh5 18. Bxd4 Bxd4 19. Qg3 fxg2+ 20. Qxg2 Re8 21. Rf4 Re5 22. Raf1 Rg5 23. Qd2 Qe7 24. Qe1 Re5 25. Qg3 Rg5 26. Qe1 Re5 27. Qg3 Rg5 28. Qe1 Qd7 29. Qh4 Be3 30. Rxf6 gxf6 31. h3 f5 32. Nd1 Bd4 33. Qf4 Qe8 34. Qd2 Qe5 35. Qf4 Qe2 {0-1 (35) Guseinov,G (2649)-Gelfand,B (2731) Ashdod 2015}) 13. dxc6+ Kh7 14. Bxf4 Ng4 15. Bxb8 Qd4+ $1 16. Kh1 Rxf1+ 17. Qxf1 Nf2+ 18. Kg1 Nh3+ (18... Nxd3+ {Harika could have definitely played on here.} 19. Kh1 Nf2+ 20. Kg1 Ng4+ 21. Kh1 Rxb8 22. c7 Ra8 {At first sight this position is not so easy to assess. The pawn on c7 looks dangerous. But truth be told it is firmly blockaded right now. Rd1 is not possible due to Nf2 and Ne3 is on the cards. Well, overall Black is better here, but I don't blame Harika settling for a draw against her nearly 300+ rating point opponent. In any case the position should be objectively equal, but Wesley has to find some really difficult ideas.} 23. h3 Ne3 24. Qe2 Nxc4 25. Rd1 Qe5 26. Qxe5 Nxe5 27. Rd8 $44 {White has decent compensation and maybe the position is just drawn but Black can play on.}) 19. Kh1 Nf2+ 20. Kg1 Nh3+ 21. Kh1 {A great result for the Indian player who snatched a half point from the man in form.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2016.10.02"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Vishnu Prasanna, V."] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2522"] [BlackElo "2787"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Be3 Be6 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Nc3 g6 12. Qd2 Rc8 13. a4 {(#)} Ng8 $1 { This superb move may seem paradoxical at first sight, but is based on a deep understanding of the position. Nakamura explained that he felt this was the best way to pose White problems, instead of continuing in 'automatic'.} ({ The more obvious} 13... Bg7 {doesn't offer much and certainly doesn't ask too many questions of White. For example,} 14. Be2 Qa5 (14... O-O {would lead to problems after} 15. g4 $1) 15. Ra3 Rc7 {Just to illustrate.} 16. O-O O-O 17. g4 {is still not clear.}) 14. Ra3 $2 {Nakamura commented he thought this move was inaccurate in his view as it will turn out to be a waste of time. After lines with ...Bh6 Rb3 (the whole point of Ra3 after all) and ...Nc5, the rook will just find itself harassed.} f5 15. h4 Qa5 ({The tempting} 15... f4 {doesn't really offer that much, since White continues} 16. Qd3 Ne7 (16... fxe3 $4 { is just mate after} 17. Qxg6+ Ke7 18. Qe6#) 17. Bd2 Nc5 18. Qh3 Nf5 {and Hikaru explained that he was wary of the way the position might develop, since after} 19. Bd3 Nxd3+ 20. Qxd3 {White will have a very strong Ne4 with breaks on g3. Even if not worse, it doesn't make White's life difficult either.}) 16. f3 Bh6 $1 17. g4 $2 {White was already worse, and clearly did not want to wait and be steamrolled so chooses to take his fate into his hands and force the issue. This backfires almost immediately though.} Bxe3 18. Qxe3 hxg4 19. fxg4 Ne7 20. Qd2 (20. gxf5 {wouldn't save the game.} gxf5 21. Qg5 {and here Nakamura had in mind} Nc5 $1 {and if} 22. Qf6 Kd7 {and Black has ...Qb4 followed by the rook entering on the f- or g-file}) 20... Qb4 21. Rb3 (21. gxf5 $2 {also fails to} Rxc3 $1 {as in the game.}) 21... Qxg4 22. Rxb7 Rxc3 $1 ( 22... Rxc3 {White resigned in view of} 23. bxc3 Qe4+ {winning the rook.}) 0-1

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2016.10.02"] [Round "2.9"] [White "Trent, Lawrence"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2463"] [BlackElo "2679"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3 d6 9. a3 Be6 10. Bd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 Nd4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Ne2 Nxd5 14. Nxd4 Bf6 15. Nf5 Ne7 16. Ne3 Ng6 17. c3 Bg5 18. d4 {We all know what a great attacking player Shirov is. But the positional style in which he defeats Trent in this game is worth learning from!} Bxe3 $1 {We are usually said not to give up our bishop for a knight just like that. But here Shirov does it with a clear intention. The pawns are on dark squares and the bishop would not be a great piece. The evaluation of the position doesn't change. It is still equal. But as IM Jeremy Silman says, "You must first create an imbalance and then nurture it in the right way in order to win."} 19. Bxe3 Qd7 20. a4 (20. d5 {I was wondering if this move, in order to activate the bishop is good. Turns out that the d5 pawn would just become a weakness.} Rae8 21. Qd2 Re5 $15) 20... d5 {The bishop on e3 slowly but steadily starts to feel as if it is a big pawn!} 21. axb5 axb5 22. Qh5 c6 23. Rfe1 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 f5 25. Bd2 Re8 26. h3 Kf7 27. Kf1 h6 28. f3 $6 (28. g4 {Perhaps White should have been more resolute and taken some action.} fxg4 (28... f4 $2 29. Bxf4 $16) 29. hxg4 Qe6 30. Re1 Qf6 31. Rxe8 Kxe8 32. f4 {And we have a much better version of the game where the kingside pawns are putting Black under pressure.}) 28... Qe6 29. Re1 Qf6 30. Rxe8 Kxe8 {We now come to the famous Capablanca's theorem. A knight and queen in the endgame are superior to a bishop and queen. The reason is simple: the queen cannot move like a knight, so their roles are always different, while a queen can move like a bishop so they are always stepping onto each other's plans.} 31. Kf2 Kf7 32. g4 f4 $1 {Closing the bishop.} 33. Bc1 b4 $1 34. Bd2 b3 $1 {Now the b-pawn is just two squares away from queening. It is beautiful to see how slowly but steadily Shirov is turning the imbalances in the position to his advantage.} 35. Bc1 Kg8 36. Bd2 Kh7 {Getting the king to safety so that the queen can now go on some better journeys!} 37. Qf5 $2 Qh4+ 38. Ke2 (38. Kg2 Qg3+ $19) 38... Qxh3 {That's just a free pawn!} 39. Be1 (39. Bxf4 Qg2+ $19) 39... h5 $1 {A very nice decision. Shirov sees that going into the minor piece endgame is the easiest way to win.} 40. Qxh5+ Qxh5 41. gxh5 Nf8 42. Kd3 Ne6 43. c4 Kh6 44. cxd5 cxd5 45. Kc3 Kxh5 46. Bf2 (46. Kxb3 Nxd4+) 46... Ng5 47. Kxb3 Nxf3 48. Kc2 g5 49. Kd3 g4 50. Ke2 Ng5 51. b4 Ne4 {A fantastic positional game by Shirov. At the same time we learn that doing nothing against this strong guys is more often than not a recipe for disaster!} 0-1

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2016.10.02"] [Round "2.8"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Zumsande, Martin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2490"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 c5 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. e4 O-O 8. Re1 b5 9. e5 Nd7 10. Nf1 a5 11. h4 b4 12. N1h2 Ba6 13. Ng4 a4 14. h5 Nd4 15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. h6 g6 17. b3 Qb6 18. Nh2 Rfc8 19. Nf3 a3 20. Bg5 Bf8 21. Qd2 Rc3 22. Bh4 Ra7 23. Re2 Qc5 24. Qf4 Rxc2 25. Ng5 Nb8 26. Rxc2 Qxc2 27. Rc1 Qxd3 { [%tqu "White to play. What tactical shot is available? You know that you can move pieces on the main board and can even use an engine to analyse?!","","",Nxe6,"",10]} 28. Nxe6 $1 g5 (28... fxe6 29. Bh3 $1 {[%cal Gh4d8,Gh3e6] is the point.}) (28... Nd7 29. Ng5 $18) 29. Nxg5 Bxh6 30. e6 1-0

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2016.10.01"] [Round "1.9"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Van Foreest, Lucas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E17"] [WhiteElo "2686"] [BlackElo "2350"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 $5 { This move is Vidit's favourite against the Queen's Indian.} Na6 8. Bf4 d5 9. Ne5 c5 10. Nc3 Re8 11. Rc1 Ne4 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Nc4 Qf6 16. Qb3 Rad8 17. Red1 Qe6 18. a3 Rxd1+ 19. Qxd1 {The position is round about even at this point. But now Lucas starts to go wrong.} b5 {gives up the a5 square for the knight.} 20. Na5 Bd5 21. b4 Bb6 22. Bh3 $1 {A nice deflection.} Bxf2+ $2 {This doesn't quite work.} (22... Qxh3 23. Qxd5 $16) 23. Kxf2 e3+ 24. Ke1 Qe4 25. Bf1 $1 {Such backward moves are hard to see but you can bank on Vidit to find them.} g5 26. Bxg5 Qh1 27. Bxe3 Bg2 (27... Rxe3 28. Rc8+ Kg7 29. Qd4+ $18) 28. Qd7 $1 {A nice finishing stroke.} (28. Qd7 Qxf1+ ( 28... Rf8 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Bd4+ f6 31. Bxf6+ Rxf6 32. Rc8+) 29. Kd2 $18) 1-0

[Event "chess.com IoM Masters"] [Site "Douglas ENG"] [Date "2016.10.02"] [Round "2.14"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B83"] [WhiteElo "2442"] [BlackElo "2649"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2016.10.01"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] {This was quite an exciting match up with the World's youngest IM taking on World's Women Champion.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O a6 8. f4 Qc7 9. Kh1 O-O 10. a4 Nc6 11. Be3 {Praggnanandhaa plays the main line in the Sicilian Scheveningen.} Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Bd7 13. e5 Ne8 14. Qb4 {This has been played by Praggnanandhaa's sister Vaishali. Hence, the little boy follows his sister's footsteps.} Bc6 15. Bb6 dxe5 $1 16. Qa5 (16. Bxc7 Bxb4 $15) 16... Qc8 17. fxe5 g6 {The knight on e8 needs to be activated and g7 looks like the natural square. Overall it seems like White is better here because of the space he has and the free flowing development. Black on the other hand is solid but cramped.} 18. Bd3 (18. Rad1 Ng7 19. Rf4 {with the idea of Rc4 is a possible idea.}) 18... Bd8 19. Ne4 Bxb6 20. Qxb6 Qd8 {Hou Yifan looks to exchange the queens against her young opponent...} 21. Qe3 { ...but the 11-year-old wants to attack!} Bxe4 $1 {You can bank on the World Champion to make the right long term decisions. The knight on e4 was a dangerous guy and it had to be taken out.} 22. Qxe4 Qc7 23. a5 (23. Ra3 { with the idea of Rc3 or Rb3 would have maintained the balance. As it happens in the game, slowly and steadily Praggnanandhaa loses the thread of the game.}) 23... Rd8 24. b4 Ng7 25. g4 Qe7 (25... h5 $5) 26. Rae1 Rd7 27. Rf6 Rfd8 28. Ref1 Rd4 29. Qe3 Rxb4 30. Rxf7 Qxf7 31. Rxf7 Kxf7 {The position is still around equal.} 32. Qc5 (32. Qg5 {Attacking the rook on d8 and threatening Qf6+ was stronger.} Rd5 33. h4 $36) 32... Rbd4 33. Qb6 R8d7 34. h3 R4d5 35. Kg2 Kg8 36. Kf3 Rxe5 {[%tqu "White to move and gain an advantage! You know that you can move pieces on the main board and can even use an engine to analyse?!","","",h4,"",10,Bxa6, "It's not often that you see Praggu missing these tactics.",0]} 37. h4 (37. Bxa6 $1 {It's not often that you see Praggu missing these tactics.} bxa6 38. Qb8+ $18) 37... g5 38. h5 Ne8 {Black now has everything under control.} 39. Bxa6 $2 {A move too late.} bxa6 40. Qxa6 Kf7 41. Qb6 Re1 42. Qb5 Nf6 {The black king is safe and everything is co-ordinated and the rest is just easy for Hou Yifan.} 43. a6 Ra1 44. Qxg5 Rxa6 45. Qh6 Ke8 46. Ke2 Rf7 47. Qg5 Rd6 48. c4 Rd4 49. Qb5+ Nd7 50. g5 Rf5 51. Qa6 Ke7 52. Qa3+ Rc5 53. g6 hxg6 54. hxg6 Rdxc4 55. g7 Rg4 56. Qa1 Re5+ 57. Kf3 Rxg7 {A great fighting game by the youngster and calm cool headed defence by Hou Yifan.} 0-1