Magnus and his rivals

by Nagesh Havanur
8/26/2019 – In his last review of ChessBase Magazine 190, Nagesh Havanur dealt with the report on the recent European Women’s Championship in our magazine. In this review he deals with the rest of the magazine: Nepomniachtchi's gains in the Grand Prix, Magnus versus Maxime, and more...

Analyses by Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, Anand, Kashlinskaya, Wojtaszek, Navara, Meier, Keymer etc. from recent top-class tournaments. Videos by King, Trent, Pelletier and Marin. 12 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more!

ChessBase Magazine 190 Review

As I write these lines, the 7th Sinquefield Cup Tournament is in progress. After the poor result in St. Louis Rapid & Blitz Tournament (he came only fifth) Magnus Carlsen is determined to prove himself here. But success has eluded him so far, and he remains bogged down by draws.

However, form is temporary and class is permanent. One only has to look at the world champion’s games in this magazine and see how well he plays. As for his rivals, they are also in hot pursuit of the title. Currently, they are in the race for the Candidates’. The present “leader” (if you may say so) among them is Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Nepomniachtchi's gains in the Grand Prix

In May this year Ian won the FIDE Grand Prix Tournament in Moscow, a qualifying event for the Candidates’. This was a strong event with GMs like Aronian, Karjakin and Grischuk competing. How he managed to get ahead of them all is a story in itself. All the games from the tournament are included in this issue and Nepomniachtchi himself analyses his encounter with Aronian.

Nepo vs Aronian

Andrey Filatov, President of the Russian Chess Federation, makes the first move | Photo: World Chess

The annotations are a revelation and offer an insight into the mind of a grandmaster. It is only for reasons of space that I am not able to reproduce them here. However, there is one critical moment on which he is a bit opaque. He writes, Black made the wrong move and it is only later that we understand why. Here is the position with pawns on both sides racing to queen. 

 
Black to play

Readers should give it a try and see what would be the best outcome for Black. What was wrong with Aronian? After the tournament he confessed, he had not sufficiently prepared for his openings. In this game he was surprised by Nepomniachtchi’s novelty and put up a big fight with a mix of imagination and desperation. To no avail in the end.

It was not easy for seasoned campaigners, Nakamura, Svidler and Mamedyarov either. Each of them was eliminated in the knockout. Among the rest Radoslaw Wojtaszek played well and was only let down by nerves in the end against Nepomniachtchi.

As for the young, Duda and Dubov, time is on their side and I am sure we shall hear from them again.

Apart from Grand Prix Moscow, this issue includes three other events, all of them won by Carlsen. Magnus easily dominated the Grenke and Gashimov Memorial Tournaments. Peter Heine Nielsen has annotated his games with Karjakin, Grischuk and Svidler here. The last of them offered much mirth, with Svidler sportingly allowing a pawn mate (video). 

Magnus versus Maxime

Magnus, however, had a rocky ride in Côte d’Ivoire Rapid & Blitz. While he came first in the final standings ahead of Hikaru Nakamura and  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, he suffered in blitz. MVL beat him with both white and black pieces and indeed came first in blitz.

Carlsen vs Vachier-Lagrave

All lenses on Magnus vs MVL  | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Here is the win from the second round:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 The sharp Sicilian Najdorf 6.Be3 Here comes The English Attack. e5 6...e6 leads to the Scheveningen Variation. 7.Nf3 A positional line in which White focuses on control of the centre via d5. 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Be7 9.f3 0-0 10.0-0-0 leads to standard attack on opposite sides. 7...Be7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 Be6 10.Bb3 b5 Curiously, this thematic move in the Najdorf is less seen in practice. 10...Nc6 11.Bg5 Nd7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nd5 Qd8 is more usual. Or 13...Bxd5 14.Qxd5 Nf6 15.Qd3 11.Bg5 Nbd7 12.Re1 Rc8 13.a3 h6 A novelty. The ensuing exchange on f6 would ease Black's position. 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.Nd2 The contest for the control of d5 is on. Here the knight is heading for e3 via f1. 15.Qe2 followed by 16. Rad1 is an alternative. 15...Bg4 16.f3 Qb6+ In" New in Chess" Magazine, 05/2019 issue Maxim Dlugy prefers the immediate 16...Bd7 followed by ...Qd7. 17.Kh1 Be6 18.Nf1 Rc5! Making way for... Rfc8 with more pressure on the c-file and also preparing. ..d6-d5 freeing advance. 19.Ne3 Rfc8 20.Re2 This move could have waited. 20.Qd3 preparing Rad1 followed by Nd5 would be better. 20...Rxc3!? Just the kind of move to upset Magnus' momentum in blitz. Otherwise 20...a5 is correct. 21.bxc3 Rxc3 22.Qe1 Qc6 23.a4? This move only helps Black to advance on the queenside. 23.Nd1! Rc5 24.a4 is preferable. 23...b4 24.Nd1 Bxb3! 24...Rc5? 25.Qxb4 wins a pawn. 24...Rxb3 25.cxb3 Bxb3 26.Qxb4 25.Nxc3 Bc4 The point. Black has a series of threats to capture one piece or the other. 26.Nd1 If 26.Rf2 bxc3 27.Qxc3 Bd8 with 28...Bb6 and the advance, d6-d5 in the offing. 26...Bxe2 27.Qxe2 d5! 28.exd5 Nxd5 29.Qe4 29.Qxe5?? loses to Bf6 30.Qb8+ Kh7 31.Ra2 Qc4-+ 29.Ne3 Nxe3 30.Qxe3 Qxc2 drops a pawn. 29...Qe6 30.Ne3 Nc3 31.Qc4! Suddenly Black pawns on a6, b4 and the knight on c3 are under pressure. Qg6 Dlugy gives 31...Qxc4 32.Nxc4 f6 33.Nd2 Kf7 34.Ne4 Nd5 and thinks Black can draw. 32.a5 32.Nd5? Nxd5 33.Qxd5 Qxc2-+ 32...Kh7 33.Re1 The only move. How else can the rook be activated? 33.Nd5? Nxd5 34.Qxd5 Qxc2-+ 33...e4 If 33...f5 34.Nd1 Nxd1 35.Rxd1+- Black won't be able to defend the pawns on a6, b4 and e5 in the long run. 34.fxe4 Nxe4 35.Nd5? He has been waiting to activate this knight for ages. When he gets the chance it turns out to be a mistake! He would have won with 35.Qd5! Nf2+ 36.Kg1 Nh3+ 37.Kf1 Ng5 37...Nf4 38.Qf5 comes to the same thing. 38.Qf5+- 35...Nf2+ 36.Kg1 Nh3+ 37.Kf1 Playing for a win! Magnus is not interested in a draw by repetition of moves with 37.Kh1 Nf2+= 37...Qf5+ 38.Ke2 Qe5+ 39.Ne3 Not 39.Kd1?? Nf2+ 40.Kd2 Bg5+-+ 39...Nf4+ 40.Kf1 40.Kd1?? b3! 41.cxb3 Qa1+ 42.Qc1 Qxc1+ 43.Kxc1 Nd3+ 44.Kd1 Nxe1 45.Kxe1 Bb4+ 46.Ke2 Bxa5 40...Ne6 41.Qxa6? The king can run for cover with 41.Kg1 But Black has counterplay after Bd6 42.g3 Bc5 43.Qd3+ Kg8 Instead he could have tried 41.Nd5! Qf5+ 42.Kg1 Bd6 42...Bc5+? 43.Kh1 and White threatens 44.Qe4 forcing exchange of queens. If Black avoids the same, White still has other threats like Rf1 and Nxb4. 43.Rf1 Qe5 44.g3 Ng5 45.Qd3+ Kg8 46.Kg2± 41...Qxh2 42.Qd3+ Kg8 43.a6?? It's too late to run away with 43.Ke2?? Nf4+-+ But he had a draw with 43.Nd5! Qh1+ 44.Ke2 Qxg2+ 45.Kd1 Bg5 46.a6 Qg4+ 47.Re2= 43...Bh4! The first false trail was 43...Nf4 44.Qd7 Bh4 45.Qc8+ Kh7 46.Qf5+= and the second 43...Qh1+ 44.Ke2 Nf4+ 45.Kd2! Qxe1+ 46.Kxe1 Nxd3+ 47.Kd2! Bc5 48.Kxd3= 44.Qd2 Nf4 and Magnus gave up. Note: Ordinarily Black sacrifices the rook for the knight on c3 to put pressure on e4 or break up the pawn cover if White has castled on queenside. Here Black did it only to generate active piece play. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2861Vachier-Lagrave,M27800–12019B90Cote d'Ivoire Blitz2

Nakamura watches MVL blitz

This game attracted a lot of attention | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

A terrific battle! MVL is one of the few players who can take on the world champion in blitz. In fairness to Magnus he played some fine games in this event. So did other specialists in speed chess like Karjakin, Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi. It’s worthwhile looking at these games. You also learn about handling the clock in time pressure.

Who has the last laugh here?

This brings me to the rest of the magazine. There are as many as 12 opening surveys ranging from the Caro-Kann to the King’s Indian with 60 annotated games. The authors include Rainer Knaak, Lars Schandorff, Robert Ris and others. Among them Romain Edouard’s work deserves special mention. The following position is from his analysis. White has won the exchange and is also a pawn up. Can Black save himself?

 
Black to play

I have an issue with Alexey Kuzmin, one of the authors in this issue. He manages to get the name of a young grandmaster wrong. It should read Vidit Santosh Gujarathi and not the other way round. Dr. Santosh Gujarathi, his father is a well-known doctor in Nashik and runs a migraine clinic. Vidit’s victims are welcome!

Summing up

Apart from these surveys, there are regular exercises in opening traps, middle game tactics and endgames. With this issue the magazine has introduced a new feature: Letters to the Editor. So feel free to ask questions and offer comments.

There is much else in this DVD that deserves to be explored. In all, there are about 1200 games of which 90 are annotated. The commentators include Anand, Caruana and Wojtaszek among others. A major contribution is made by Michal Krasenkow who has annotated as many as 10 games.  .

Note: This year the Magazine has come up with a new format for its contents. I still prefer the old format, though. Gen.Next, however, is entitled to a different opinion. Your move!


Analyses by Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, Anand, Kashlinskaya, Wojtaszek, Navara, Meier, Keymer etc. from recent top-class tournaments. Videos by King, Trent, Pelletier and Marin. 12 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more!


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Prof. Nagesh Havanur (otherwise known as "chessbibliophile") is a senior academic and research scholar. He taught English in Mumbai for three decades and has now settled in Bangalore, India. His interests include chess history, biography and opening theory. He has been writing on the Royal Game for more than three decades. His articles and reviews have appeared on several web sites and magazines.

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