MVL one point ahead in Biel

by Alejandro Ramirez
7/18/2014 – With absolutely masterful positional understanding and technique MVL cleanly won an important game against Anish Giri in the fifth round of Biel. In an unusual couple of other games, Harikrishna essayed a strange idea as early as move six in a Najdorf against Wojtaszek while Hou Yifan had to suffer somewhat after playing a long theoretical line against Motylev. Round five analysis.

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International Chess Festival in Biel

Round Five

Round 05 – July 18, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
½-½
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
1-0
 Anish Giri 2750
Alexander Motylev 2698
½-½
 Hou Yifan 2629

Video Recap

Pentala Harikrishna chose a very strange opening against Radoslaw Wojtaszek and he obtained nearly no advantage. Some simplifications later the game ended in a drawish endgame that was played out until the very end.

Radoslaw Wojtaszek was faced with something unusual in move six of the Najdorf

Pentala Harikrishna might have taken inspiration from one of his own old games

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave showed excellent positional understanding and technique in his victory over Anish Giri. With the slightest of advantages, the pair of bishops in a closed position, MVL was somehow able to improve, improve and improve his position until Giri was forced to resign in a hopeless endgame!

Giri has five decisive games so far! But he has lost more than he has won...

MVL on the other hand remains undefeated and is one point ahead of the field

An important game between the top rated players

In an unusual turn of events the World Champion Hou Yifan used a deep theoretical line against Alexander Motylev. The Russian player, however, had an improvement on move 21! Hou Yifan had to use some creativity but she was able to hold the draw in an endgame that was maybe slightly better for White.

Hou Yifan: the opening expert?!

The Biel Open is running concurrently with the Grandmaster tournament

Post-mortems are always friendly and full of information

Replay Round Five Games

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Qe2 This bizarre move has been played before, but it is not popular at all. Actually more games have finished in an agreed draw after 5...a6 than there have been games in which Qe2 was played. Interestingly enough Harikrishna had faced this as Black in 2006. Nc6 6...e5 Romero-Harikrishna, 2006 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nd5 9.Bd2 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 d5 11.h4 h5 12.Qd3 e6 13.Be2 Bb7 14.b4 c5 15.bxc5 Bxc5 White's opening experiment didn't really net him anything. Black is ok, he has no real problems besides a somewhat weak kingside but his counterplay on the other side of the board will compensate for this. 16.Bd4 Bc6 17.Bxc5 Qa5+ 18.c3 Qxc5 19.a4 Rb8 20.0-0 a5 21.Rfb1 Rxb1+ 22.Rxb1 0-0 23.Qd4 Qxd4 24.cxd4 Bxa4 25.Ra1 Bc2 26.Rxa5 Bg6 The rest could have been spared 27.f3 Rb8 28.Ra2 Rb4 29.Rd2 Kh7 30.Kf2 Kh6 31.Ke3 Bb1 32.Bd1 f6 33.g3 Kg6 34.Kf4 Kh6 35.Ke3 Kg6 36.g4 Kh6 37.exf6 gxf6 38.Rg2 hxg4 39.fxg4 e5 40.Rd2 Rxd4 41.Rxd4 exd4+ 42.Kxd4 Be4 43.Ke3 Bg6 44.Bf3 Bf7 45.Kd4 Be6 46.g5+ fxg5 47.hxg5+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Harikrishna,P2726Wojtaszek,R2733½–½2014B90Hans Suri Mem 20145.1
Vachier-Lagrave,M2766Giri,A27501–02014C67Hans Suri Mem 20145.2
Motylev,A2698Hou,Y2629½–½2014B48Hans Suri Mem 20145.3

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Standings

Schedule

Round 01 – July 14, 2014
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
½-½
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Alexander Motylev 2698
0-1
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Hou Yifan 2629
1-0
 Anish Giri 2750
Round 02 – July 15, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
1-0
 Anish Giri 2750
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
 Hou Yifan 2629
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
½-½
 Alexander Motylev 2698
Round 03 – July 16, 2014
Alexander Motylev 2698
1-0
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Hou Yifan 2629
0-1
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Round 04 –July 17, 2014
Hou Yifan 2629
½-½
 Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750
1-0
 Alexander Motylev 2698
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
½-½
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Round 05 – July 18, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726
½-½
 Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
1-0
 Anish Giri 2750
Alexander Motylev 2698
½-½
 Hou Yifan 2629
Round 06 – July 19, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733   Alexander Motylev 2698
Anish Giri 2750   Hou Yifan 2629
Round 07 – July 21, 2014
Anish Giri 2750   Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Hou Yifan 2629   Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733
Alexander Motylev 2698   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Round 08 – July 22, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Alexander Motylev 2698
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766   Hou Yifan 2629
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733   Anish Giri 2750
Round 09 – July 23, 2014
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733   Pentala Harikrishna 2726
Anish Giri 2750   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766
Hou Yifan 2629   Alexander Motylev 2698
Round 10 – July 24, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna 2726   Hou Yifan 2629
Alexander Motylev 2698   Anish Giri 2750
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2766   Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2733

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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