Medias Kings Rd9: Karjakin catches Carlsen – again

by ChessBase
6/20/2011 – Carlsen manuevered to a promising middlegame, but an exchange sac by Nisipeanu stopped him cold, while a disastrous opening by Ivanchuk gave Karjakin a blitzkrieg attack that ended it in just 22 moves. Nakamura pressed but was not able to take Radjabov's fortress. Tomorrow will be the big showdown to decide gold and silver. Full report with videos and GM analysis.
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ROMGAZ and the Chess Club Society "Elisabeta Polihroniade” of Bucharest are staging a double round robin tournament with six top GMs: the world's second highest ranked player, Magnus Carlsen of Norway; Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk, currently the world's number five; Sergey Karjakin, former child prodigy and youngest GM of all time; top US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, clear winner of this year's Wijk aan Zee tournament; Teimour Radjabov, one of Azerbaijan's top GMs, and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the best Romanian player. The competition is taking place from June 11th to 22nd 2011 in Medias, Romania.

GM Dorian Rogozenco comments on round nine

Round 9: Monday, June 20, 15:30h
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
  Teimour Radjabov
Sergey Karjakin 
1-0
  Vassily Ivanchuk
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 
½-½
  Magnus Carlsen


Advice and encouragement before the game by Elisabeta the Wise...


... who then ceremonially executes the first move of the game


Serge clearly took her advice seriously


His victim in round nine: compatriot Vassily Ivanchuk

Ivanchuk’s quick loss against Karjakin was the biggest surprise of the ninth round. After just 15 moves Black’s position looked terrible, allowing Karjakin nicely to finish the game with a direct attack against the opponent’s king. Ivanchuk resigned at move 22 after spending just about 15 minutes of his time for the entire game.

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1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 Being in bad shape and going for the Pirc is a very risky choice. 4.f4 Of course. Karjakin goes for the most principled reply - the Austrian Attack. Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Na6 7.0-0 c5 8.d5
Karjakin has played this position several times before with great results. The future course of the game shows that something went terribly wrong in Ivanchuk's preparation. 8...Nc7 8...Rb8 9.h3 Nc7 10.a4 a6 11.a5 b5 12.axb6 Rxb6 13.Na4 Rb8 14.c4 e6 15.Qc2 (1-0 in 33 moves), Karjakin,S (2725) -Kramnik,V (2790)/Nice 2010 8...Bg4 9.Bc4 Nc7 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 a6 12.a4 b6 13.Qd3 (1-0 also in 33 moves), Karjakin,S (2722)-Chatalbashev,B (2556)/ Ohrid 2009 9.a4 b6 10.Qe1
10...e6?! "I was surprised by this. I think Black should rather try something with ...a6, ...Rb8 and so on", said Karjakin after the game. 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.e5 Nfd5 13.Ne4
This move is actually new. White has a clear advantage after it.. 13...dxe5 13...Ne8 14.Neg5 is also no fun for Black. For instance: Ne7 15.Nxh7 Kxh7 16.Qh4+ Kg8 17.Bxg6! Nf6 18.Bd3 and White will soon be at least one pawn up. Probably the best Black could do was 13...Nxf4 14.Bxf4 Rxf4 15.Nxd6 Bd7 16.Be4 Rb8 17.Qd2 Rf8 with an worse, but playable game. 14.fxe5 Bb7
"Is this the right position?" asked Henrik Carlsen when following the online transmission. Yes, it was the right one. White builds up a decisive attack already. 15.Bg5! Qd7 16.Qh4 Nb4 17.Rad1 Qc6 Including first 17...Nxd3 18.Rxd3 Qc6 changes nothing. White is winning after 19.Nf6+ Bxf6 20.exf6 18.Nf6+ Bxf6
19.Bxg6! 19.exf6 is also winning for White, but Sergey's lovely combination finishes the game immediately. 19...hxg6 20.Bxf6 Rxf6 21.exf6 Rf8 22.Qg5 The forced variation finished and Ivanchuk resigned. White wins easily. For instance: 22.Qg5 Qe8 or 22...Qe4 23.Rd7 Rf7 24.Rxf7 Kxf7 25.Ne5+ 23.Rd8 Qf7 24.Rxf8+ Kxf8 25.Ne5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S-Ivanchuk,V-1–02011B095th Kings Tournament9

Nisipeanu-Carlsen was an interesting strategic battle in the Breyer Variation of the Ruy Lopez. On move 16 the Norwegian chose a rare subvariation, forcing his opponent to think for about 20 moves. The result of this lengthy thinking was an interesting novelty from the Romanian GM, which looked promising for White indeed. However, Carlsen quickly started activity in the center and after a Nisipeanu’s positional exchange sacrifice it became clear that the chances for both sides are equal. Draw agreed on move 32.


Always in a cheerful mood, even when facing the Mag: Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu


Any idea what it feels to sit across the board from him?

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7
11.Nbd2 In the 6th round Nakamura against Carlsen played here 11.c4. Nisipeanu chooses the main move. Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.a4 Bf8 14.Bd3 c6 15.b3 g6 16.Bb2 16.Ba3!? 16...exd4 A rare continuation, which came quite unexpected for Nisipeanu. Instead, one of the main moves is 16...Nh5 Here is a game played by Viorel Iordachescu, who is Nisipeanu's second at the Kings' Tournament: 17.Qc2 Nf4 18.Bf1 Bg7 19.Rad1 Qb6 20.b4 d5 with complications that led later to a draw in Iordachescu, V (2640)-Avrukh,B (2601)/Mulhouse 2011. 17.cxd4 d5
18.Ne5 This new move is the result of the 20-minutes thought. In the previous games White always advanced the "e"-pawn: 18.e5 Nh5 "with a normal position for Black" (Carlsen) 18...Bb4 Still played a tempo by Carlsen. 18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 looks risky for Black, even if the consequences of dxe4 are not entirely clear. 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.e5 Nh5
White has several attractive ideas. He would be happy to exchange the dark-squared bishops in order to use the weak square c5, but that is not easy to achieve. 21.Bf1 The main alternatives were 21.Ba3 Bc3 21...Nf4!? 22.Rc1 The exchange sacrifice is probably not enough: 22.Bc5 Bxa1 23.Qxa1 Nf4 24.Bf1 Ne6 25.Bd6 a5 with the idea Ba6 22...Bxd4 23.Nf3 Bb6 24.Qd2 with positional compensation for the sacrificed pawn. 21.Qc2 Nf4 22.Bc3 c5!? 21...Nf4 22.Re3 c5 Magnus Carlsen felt that Black should quickly start counterplay in center in order to prevent White's plan with Nf3-h2-g4. In case of 22...Ne6 23.Nf3 c5 White can ignore Black's intentions and continue 24.Nh2 and if h5 then Better is probably 24...c4 25.Ng4 Be7 25.Rg3 with good attacking prospects. 23.dxc5 23.Nf3 is already too slow: c4 24.Nh2 h5 25.Rg3 Rac8 with sufficient counterplay for Black. 23...d4 23...Bxc5? 24.Ne4 Be7 25.Nd6 Bxd6 26.exd6 looks terrible for Black due to the "monster-bishop" on b2. 24.Ne4 The most natural move. 24.Nf3 Bxc5 24.Re4 doesn't work: Bxd2! 25.Rxd4 Nxh3+ 26.gxh3 Qc6 and Black wins. 24...Bxe4 25.Rxe4 Ne6
26.Rxd4 A good practical decision from Nisipeanu, since he saw no way to set any real problems for Black. After the exchange sac White is out of risk and the draw becomes the most likely result. After 26.Bxd4 Rad8 27.Be3 Qxd1 28.Rxd1 Rxd1 29.Rxb4 Nc7 only White can be worse. 26.axb5 brings White nothing either: axb5 27.Rxa8 27.Qd3 Rxa1 28.Bxa1 Rd8 29.Qxb5 Qxb5 30.Bxb5 d3 31.Bxd3 Rxd3 32.Rxb4 Rd1+ 33.Kh2 Rxa1 34.Rb8+ Kg7 35.b4 Re1 is again risky rather for White 27...Rxa8 28.Qd3 Bxc5 29.Qxb5 Qxb5 30.Bxb5 Ra2 with counterplay 26...Nxd4 27.Qxd4 Qxd4 28.Bxd4 Rad8 29.Be3 Rxe5 30.axb5 axb5 31.Rc1
31...Rxe3 Forcing the draw. 31...Rc8 32.c6 Kf8 33.g3 is also about equal: the strong extra pawn on c6 together with the bishops' pair secure White good compensation for the exchange. 32.fxe3 After 32.fxe3 Bd2 33.Rc2 Bxe3+ 34.Kh2 Rd5 the draw becomes obvious. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nisipeanu,L-Carlsen,M-½–½2011C955th Kings Tournament9

Radjabov met Nakamura’s 1.e4 with the so-called Kalashnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defense. The game confirmed Radjabov’s words from the beginning of the tournament: “The opening doesn’t matter, everything should be a draw”. In spite of Nakamura’s extra pawn, the better control of the dark squares secured Radjabov the draw in the bishops endgame.


Put the kibosh on White's winning aspirations: Teimour Radjabov

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5
5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5 Nge7 8...Nf6 9.Bg5 transposes to Sveshnikov Sicilian. 9.c4 Nxd5 10.cxd5 10.Qxd5 Bd7 10.exd5 Nd4 11.cxb5 Be7 12.Be3 Nf5 13.Bd2 e4 14.bxa6 0-0 15.Be2 Bf6 16.Nc4 Bxa6 17.0-0 Nd4 18.Rc1 Bb5 19.Bc3 Nxe2+ 20.Qxe2 Rxa2 21.Qxe4 1/2-1/2 Carlsen,M (2690)-Radjabov,T (2729)/Wijk aan Zee 2007 10...Nd4 11.Bd3 g6 12.Nc2 Bg7 13.0-0 0-0 14.Be3 14.Nxd4 exd4 15.a4 Bd7 is about equal. 14...Kh8 15.Rc1 f5 16.f3 Bd7 17.Qd2 f4 18.Bf2 g5
Radjabov allows his opponent to win the pawn on d4, rightly assessing that after the exchange of most of the pieces Black will be able to achieve a draw. 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Be2 Qb6 21.Rfd1 Rac8 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.b4 After the game Nakamura tried to look for advantage by advancing the pawn on the kingside with 23.h4 but Black still keeps the balance: h6 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.g3 Be5 26.gxf4 gxf4 and if 27.Bd3 (with the idea to run with the king to e2), then Black even manages to take over the initiative with Bh3! But deserves attention first 23.Kf1 and if b4 then probably better is 23...Be5 24.h4 23...Be5 24.a3 Kg7 25.Kf1 Kf7 26.Ke1 Qc7 27.Bxd4 Bxd4 28.Qxd4 Qc3+ 29.Qxc3 Rxc3 30.Rd3 Rxd3 31.Bxd3
White is a pawn up and as Nakamura admitted at the press conference, he was quite optimistic during the game about his chances here. But with accurate defense Black is able to achieve the draw. 31...h5 32.g3 h4! 32...Kf6 33.gxf4 gxf4 34.h4! looks risky for Black, since in opposite to the game he doesn't have square h5 for the bishop. 33.gxf4 gxf4 34.Kd2 Kf6 35.Kc3 Ke5 36.a4 Be8 37.Be2 Bd7 38.Bf1 Be8 39.axb5 axb5
40.Kd3 After 40.Bh3 Black has the answer Bh5 That's why the zugzwang ideas don't really work in this endgame. 40...Bd7 41.Ke2 Kd4 42.Kd2 Ke5 There is no point for Black to go for 42...Be8 43.Bh3 Kc4 44.Bc8 43.Kd3 Bc8 44.Kc3 Bd7 45.Kd3 Bc8 46.Kc3 Bd7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H-Radjabov,T-½–½2011B325th Kings Tournament9

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All photos by Ionut Anisca

Standings after nine rounds

Thus before the last round Carlsen and Karjakin are leading the field with 6 points out of 9. They will meet tomorrow (Carlsen with the white pieces) to determine the victor of the 5th edition of the Kings’ Tournament. Notice that the last round games will start two hours earlier, at 13:30 local time.

Schedule and results

Round 1: Saturday, June 11, 15:30h
Vassily Ivanchuk 
1-0
  Teimour Radjabov
Magnus Carlsen 
1-0
  Hikaru Nakamura
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 
½-½
  Sergey Karjakin
Round 2: Sunday, June 12, 15:30h
Teimour Radjabov 
½-½
  Sergey Karjakin
Hikaru Nakamura 
1-0
  Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
Vassily Ivanchuk 
½-½
  Magnus Carlsen
Round 3: Monday, June 13, 15:30h
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
  Teimour Radjabov
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 
1-0
  Vassily Ivanchuk
Sergey Karjakin 
½-½
  Hikaru Nakamura
Round 4: Tuesday, June 14, 15:30h
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 
½-½
  Teimour Radjabov
Sergey Karjakin 
½-½
  Magnus Carlsen
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
  Vassily Ivanchuk
Round 5: Wednesday, June 15, 15:30h
Teimour Radjabov 
½-½
  Hikaru Nakamura
Vassily Ivanchuk 
0-1
  Sergey Karjakin
Magnus Carlsen 
1-0
  Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
Round 6: Friday, June 17, 15:30h
Teimour Radjabov 
½-½
  Vassily Ivanchuk
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
  Magnus Carlsen
Sergey Karjakin 
1-0
  Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
Round 7: Saturday, June 18, 15:30h
Sergey Karjakin 
½-½
  Teimour Radjabov
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 
½-½
  Hikaru Nakamura 
Magnus Carlsen 
1-0
  Vassily Ivanchuk
Round 8: Sunday, June 19, 15:30h
Teimour Radjabov 
½-½
  Magnus Carlsen
Vassily Ivanchuk 
½-½
  Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
  Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Monday, June 20, 15:30h
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
  Teimour Radjabov
Sergey Karjakin 
1-0
  Vassily Ivanchuk
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 
½-½
  Magnus Carlsen
Round 10: Tuesday, June 21, 13:30h
Teimour Radjabov 
    Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
Magnus Carlsen 
   Sergey Karjakin
Vassily Ivanchuk 
    Hikaru Nakamura 
Games – Report

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