Moscow Grand Prix R08: All quiet on the western front

by ChessBase
5/20/2017 – In terms of results, not a lot happened in round eight, aside from Pentala Harikrishna’s win over Ian Nepomniachtchi, bringing him to the 50% mark. There was indeed a long stream of draws, but not all were made alike. The leaders Ding Liren and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov both played interesting and dynamic games that fit their temperament. Here is the illustrated report with analysis by GM Alex Lenderman.

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Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

Round eight

Bo. No.   Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name FED Rtg No.
1 4 GM Ding Liren CHN 2773 4½ ½ - ½ 4 GM Giri Anish NED 2785 3
2 6 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2755 4 ½ - ½ 4½ GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2772 5
3 8 GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2750 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2786 2
4 13 GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2710 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2724 12
5 15 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2696 3½ ½ - ½ 4 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2795 1
6 16 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2652 3½ ½ - ½ 3 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2710 14
7 7 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2751 3 0 - 1 3 GM Harikrishna P. IND 2750 9
8 18 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2621 3 ½ - ½ 2½ GM Adams Michael ENG 2747 10
9 17 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2633 2½ ½ - ½ 2 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2727 11

The tournament has really been creeping forward at best. One can bemoan the complete lack of effort shown in some games, and there is no question that others, even when drawn, put in an honest day’s work, but in the end, the situation looks very much like the Sharjah Grand Prix some months ago, when an incredibly modest +2 score was sufficient to grab a share of first. Will history repeat itself?

The first move in the game Grischuk - Nakamura made by the president of the publishing house "Education", Vladimir Uzun. It was a fairly quiet draw in 24 moves.

Ding Liren (above) had also had a slightly problematic event in Sharjah, losing in the opening round, and though he soon bounced back, he never quite got into gear after that. Moscow has clearly been working much better, but the second half has been that killer blow to convert some of the winning advantages he has had but missed. His game against Anish Giri in round eight was not one of them, and the entertaining draw was quite appropriate.

Ding Liren vs Anish Giri

[Event "FIDE Moscow Grand Prix 2017"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2017.05.20"] [Round "8"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2785"] [Annotator "A. Silver"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 c6 9. Rd1 b6 10. b3 a5 11. Bc3 Ne4 (11... Bb7 12. Nbd2 Qc7 13. Rac1 c5 14. Bb2 dxc4 15. Nxc4 b5 16. Nce5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 {0-1 (55) Inarkiev,E (2727)-Jakovenko,D (2718) Poikovsky 2017}) 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. Bxe4 f5 14. Bxd5 $146 (14. Bg2 Nf7 15. Nd2 Ba6 16. e3 Qd7 17. a4 Rac8 18. Qb2 {1-0 (90) Mesaros, F (2373)-Martinovic,S (2550) Germany 2017}) 14... exd5 15. dxe5 f4 $1 16. cxd5 cxd5 17. Bd4 Ba6 $1 18. Qc6 Bxe2 {[#]} 19. Re1 ({The tempting looking} 19. Bxb6 $2 {would be a serious mistake after} Qc8 $1 20. Qxc8 Rfxc8 {and suddenly the white rook has nowhere to go. Ex:} 21. Re1 Bb4 22. Rxe2 f3 $1 {and White will lose material to protect against the back rank mate threats.}) 19... Qc8 20. Qxd5+ Kh8 21. Nc3 ({Not} 21. Bxb6 $2 Ra6 $19) ({nor} 21. Rxe2 $2 Qc1+ 22. Kg2 f3+ 23. Qxf3 Rxf3) 21... Ba6 22. e6 Rd8 $1 23. Qe4 Bb7 $1 {Both players had calculated the final sequence well before, making for a swift, though spectacular pas-de-deux.} 24. Qxf4 Qc6 {[#]} 25. Bxg7+ $1 Kxg7 26. Qf7+ $1 Kh8 27. Ne4 Qe8 28. Ng5 $1 1/2-1/2

The rest area/café where baords and tables are available to all

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has certainly been one of the names of the Grand Prix as a whole, not just now in Moscow. At the Sharjah event, he had led until an avoidable loss to Grischuk had knocked him off the podium. He salvaged it with a win in the final round, but was third on tiebreak. In round eight, he played an interesting game against Peter Svidler.

Peter Svidler vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (annotated by GM Alex Lenderman)

[Event "Moscow Grand Prix"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.05.20"] [Round "8"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C77"] [Annotator "Aleksandr Lenderman"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] {Hello Everyone! This is GM Aleksandr Lenderman with Moscow Grand Prix round 8 game of the day. I decided to choose the draw between Svidler and Mamedyarov because I thought it was a good complex battle amongst the leaders of the tournament.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 { According to my database this is the first time Mamedyarov has played this line in the Ruy Lopez. In general though Mamedyarov plays many different options even on move 1.} 7. Nc3 {When Mamedyarov chose 6...Bc5, he was probably basing his preparation on Svidler's recent game against Ding Liren, in which he replied with 7. c3, and Black got a good position in that game.} ( 7. c3 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Ba7 12. Nbd2 Na5 13. Bc2 Nh5 14. Kh1 Nc6 15. Bb3 Na5 16. Bc2 Nc6 17. Bb3 Na5 18. Bc2 Nc6 {1/2 (18) Svidler, P (2741) -Ding Liren (2759) Shenzhen CHN 2017}) 7... d6 (7... O-O {Ding chose this against Adams.}) 8. Nd5 h6 9. c3 O-O 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Bd5 Bd7 (11... Bb7 $6 12. g4 $36) 12. Rg1 Ne7 $5 {Up to here it was all played before but this interesting exchange sacrifise is a novelty according to my database. Before that a few other moves were tried.} (12... Qd8 13. g4 Kh8 14. g5 $40 {was very dangerous in Vachier Lagrave,M (2789)-Giri,A (2782) Paris FRA 2016 (drawn in 36 moves)}) (12... Rae8 13. g4 $36 {Is also very good for White.}) (12... h5 $5 {Is the engine suggestion but of course this move might be very dangerous and I'm not sure if this move will have many followers. I guess it remains to be seen whether 12. h5!? withstands deep home analysis.}) 13. Bxa8 Rxa8 14. g4 Qe6 {Black is just down an exchange but he has positional compensation in the two bishops, soon control of the center, and also very importantly Black was able to neutralize White's attack.} 15. Nh4 {A possible move but not sure if it's the best move.} (15. Be3 $5 {Perhaps it deserved attention to just exchange Black's strong bishop and trade off some pieces.} Bxe3 16. fxe3 d5 17. Nd2 $16 {And neither me, nor my engine see enough compensation here for Black.}) 15... d5 16. Nf5 Bc6 17. Qe2 (17. Nxe7+ Bxe7 18. Qe2 {Was also a try for an advantage, not allowing the Black knight to be strong on g6 and controlling the f4 square.}) 17... dxe4 18. dxe4 Ng6 19. Kf1 $6 {This is probably already an inaccuracy.} (19. Rg2 $3 {This brilliant, albeit clumsy looking move is simply a prophylaxis against Nf4, to be able to prepare the move f3, unpinning the f-pawn, currently protecting the rook on g1 from Bc5} Nf4 (19... b4 20. c4 $16) 20. Bxf4 exf4 21. f3 $16) 19... Nf4 (19... b4 $5 {was also possible.}) 20. Bxf4 exf4 21. Re1 {It also deserved attention here to give up material but Black also seems to have sufficient play then.} (21. f3 $5 Bxg1 22. Kxg1 Rd8 $11) (21. Nd4 $5 Bxd4 22. cxd4 f3 $1 23. Qxf3 Bxe4 24. Qe2 Re8 25. f3 Qf6 $36) 21... Re8 (21... b4 $5 {Is probably even a bit stronger.} 22. Kg2 Rd8 $1 { Prophylaxis against Nd4.} 23. Kh1 g6 24. Nd4 Bxd4 25. cxd4 Rxd4 26. f3 Bb5 $44) 22. b4 Bb6 23. f3 $1 {Otherwise Black has a very strong initiative. Possibly Black underestimated this reply.} Bxg1 24. Kxg1 Bd7 25. Rd1 Qb6+ 26. Qf2 Bxf5 27. gxf5 Qxf2+ 28. Kxf2 a5 {Now the game will end peacefully from here.} 29. a3 axb4 30. axb4 Ra8 31. Rd7 c6 32. Rc7 Ra2+ 33. Kg1 Ra1+ 34. Kg2 Ra2+ 35. Kg1 Ra1+ 36. Kg2 Ra2+ 37. Kh3 h5 38. Rxc6 f6 39. c4 {After bxc4 Rxc4 Rb2, White can't make any further progress with his king stuck on h3 and never being able to get into the game. Therefore draw agreed. A short but very interesting and instructive battle on the top board at the Moscow Grand Prix.} 1/2-1/2

Pentala Harikrishna may have been the only winner of the round, but it was not without some major palpitations. He had been dead lost after 25 moves to Ian Nepomniachtchi, in no uncertain terms, but blunders and more blunders cost the Russian dearly and the game reversed course. A win, no question, but not the most satisfying one, that is for sure.

Eteri Kublashvili, the author of the images of this round (photo by Anastasia Karlovich)

Standings after eight rounds

Rk SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts rtg+/-
1 4 GM Ding Liren CHN 2773 5,0 7,3
  5 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2772 5,0 4,8
3 1 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2795 4,5 -4,2
  2 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2786 4,5 -1,0
  3 GM Giri Anish NED 2785 4,5 -2,9
  6 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2755 4,5 1,8
  8 GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2750 4,5 2,2
  12 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2724 4,5 8,1
  13 GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2710 4,5 10,4
10 9 GM Harikrishna P. IND 2750 4,0 -3,7
  15 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2696 4,0 5,6
  16 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2652 4,0 8,1
13 14 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2710 3,5 -3,8
  18 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2621 3,5 6,4
15 7 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2751 3,0 -15,1
  10 GM Adams Michael ENG 2747 3,0 -10,9
  17 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2633 3,0 2,5
18 11 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2727 2,5 -15,6

Pairings for round nine

Bo. No.   Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name FED Rtg No.
1 12 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2724 4½   5 GM Ding Liren CHN 2773 4
2 5 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2772 5   4½ GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2795 1
3 2 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2786 4½   4½ GM Svidler Peter RUS 2755 6
4 3 GM Giri Anish NED 2785 4½   4½ GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2750 8
5 9 GM Harikrishna P. IND 2750 4   4½ GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2710 13
6 10 GM Adams Michael ENG 2747 3   4 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2696 15
7 11 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2727 2½   4 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2652 16
8 14 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2710 3½   3 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2751 7
9 17 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2633 3   3½ GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2621 18

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