Opera Euro Rapid: Fighting for survival

by Klaus Besenthal
2/8/2021 – The Opera Euro Rapid tournament saw rounds 6 to 10 of the preliminaries being played on Sunday. At the top of the standings table, Magnus Carlsen defended his half-point lead over Wesley So and Anish Giri. The remaining five rounds will be played today (Monday) at 17.00 CET. Do not miss Karsten Müller’s analyses of five highly instructive endgames! | Photo: Play Magnus Group

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Day 2 of the preliminaries

In Round 6 Wesley So was able to catch up with Magnus Carlsen atop the standings table. His opponent, Sam Shankland, blundered a knight. Matthias Bluebaum obtained his first victory, as he played a marvellous game against none other than Levon Aronian:

 
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1.e41,165,57054%2421---
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Ne2 Qb6 9.Qc1 Be7 10.c3 0-0
This is not the first time that Bluebaum, an expert on the French, has had this position on the board (actually on his screen)). 11.h4 Aronian plays a new move. f6 12.h5 h6 13.Rh3 Qa5 14.Kf2 cxd4 15.cxd4 fxe5 16.fxe5 Ndxe5!
With this piece sacrifice, Bluebaum takes the initiative. 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Kg1 Ng4 19.Rg3 e5 20.Rxg4 Aronian tries to free himself by giving back material. Bxg4 21.Nxe5 Bxh5 22.Nf4 Rac8 23.Qe1 Qxe1 24.Rxe1 Bb4 25.Rb1 d4 26.Bc1 Bf7 27.Nxf7 Rxf7 28.g3 g5
Black's piece activity is obviously good, and materially he is also okay with rook and two pawns against bishop and knight. 29.Nd5? 29.Nd3! was clearly stronger here, but it was also the passive alternative, which grandmasters usually dislike. 29...Bd6 30.b3 Rf3 31.Bg2 Rd3 32.Bb2 Rc2 33.Nf6+ Kf7 34.Ne4 Bxg3
Black is winning - he has fantastically active pieces. 35.Bxd4 Rxd4 36.Nxg3 Rxa2 37.Rf1+ Rf4 38.Bxb7 Rxf1+ 39.Kxf1 a5
This endgame was completely won for Bluebaum. 40.Nf5 h5 41.Ng3 h4 42.Ne4 g4 43.Bc8 g3 44.Kg1 Kg6 45.Bh3 Rb2 46.Nc5 Kg5 47.Ne6+ Kf6 48.Nd4 Rf2 49.Nc6 Rh2 50.Bd7 Ra2 51.Bh3 Kg5 52.Ne5 Rb2 53.Nf3+ Kf4 54.Nxh4 Rxb3 55.Bd7 Rb1+ 56.Kg2 Rb2+ 57.Kg1 Ra2 58.Ng2+ Kg5 59.Ne3 a4 60.Nc4 Kf4 61.Bc6 a3 62.Nxa3 Rxa3
Now this is interesting. How to win here? 63.Kg2 Ra2+ 64.Kg1 Rc2 65.Bd5 Rd2 66.Bb7 Ke5 67.Bc6 Rb2 68.Bf3 Ra2 69.Bc6 Kf4 70.Bd5 Rb2 71.Bc6 g2!
Now Bluebaum finds the right twist! He needs the g3-square for his king. 72.Kh2 Ke3 73.Kg1 Kf4 74.Kh2 Rf2 75.Bd5 g1Q+ 76.Kxg1 Kg3 77.Bg8 Rf6 78.Bh7 Rf7 79.Bg8 Rg7 The bishop must now move to a square where the black rook can attack it from behind. Mate will follow on the first rank. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2781Bluebaum,M26700–12021Opera Euro Rapid Prelims 20216.8

Round 6 results

 

In Round 7, So lost the lead as he was defeated by Leinier Dominguez, who has been having trouble making the most of his chances in the tournament. The sole lead was once again in the hands of Carlsen, who got his second draw of the day against Alexander Grischuk.

Matthias Bluebaum also drew, despite reaching a rook endgame two pawns up against Daniil Dubov. Vidit also suffered in the seventh round — he entered a theoretically drawn endgame against Hikaru Nakamura with bishop against rook, and was tortured until move 156, when the draw was finally agreed.

Round 7 results

 

Round 8 produced a couple of draws at the top of the table, which So took advantage of to re-establish himself as co-leader alongside Carlsen as he defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

Matthias Bluebaum was convincingly defeated by Sam Shankland:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c6 4.h3 Bf5 5.g4 Bg6 6.Ne5 Nfd7 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bg2 e6 9.Nd2 f5 10.c4 Nf6 11.g5 Ne4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.h4 c5 14.dxc5 Nc6 15.a3 Bxc5 16.b4 Bd6
Black emerged from strange opening with the better prospects in terms of king safety. 17.Qb3 In case of 17.c5 Bc7 18.Qxd8+ White has a tenable position. 17...Kf7 18.c5 Be5 19.Ra2 Rxh4! A tactical blow with which Black secures a clear advantage. 20.Rxh4 Qxg5 21.b5 The losing move. A better defensive attempt was 21.Bxe4 fxe4 22.Rxe4 but after Rh8! Black is still better. 21...Na5 22.Qb4 Qxg2 23.Bd2 g5 24.Rh7 Kg6 25.Qxa5 Kxh7 26.Kd1 Qxf2 27.c6 b6 28.Qb4 Qf1+ 29.Be1 Bg3 30.c7 Bxc7 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bluebaum,M2670Shankland,S26910–12021Opera Euro Rapid Prelims 20218.8

Round 8 results

 

In Round 9, the top duo became a trio: Anish Giri beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to catch up with Carlsen and So, who only scored half points against Ian Nepomniachtchi and Grischuk respectively.

Round 9 results

 

In Round 10, So and Giri drew their direct confrontation. Carlsen made the most of this opportunity by winning his game against Hikaru Nakamura. Thus, the World Champion ended the day exactly as he had started it, with a half-point lead over two players.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.a3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.b4 Be7 9.e3 a5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.b5 Nd7 13.Be2 Nc5 14.0-0 a4 15.Be5 Nb3 16.Ra2 Be6 17.Nd4 Bd6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Bb2 Rc8 20.g3 Qd7 21.Bd3 Qf7 22.e4 Bc5 23.exd5 exd5 24.Be5 Rce8 25.Bf4 h6 26.Qg4 Re6 27.h4 h5 28.Qd1 Rf6 29.Kg2
In this position the game is equal, but of course there is a lot still in the air. 29...g6?! This debilitating move does not look good. 29...Rxf4! 30.gxf4 Nd4 was quite playable: Black has no objective advantage but is "in control". 30.Bh6 Re8 31.Bg5 Rfe6 32.Bc2
Nothing was lost for Black yet. 32...Re1? After this blunder, however, it is immediately over. 33.Bxg6! 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2862Nakamura,H27361–02021Opera Euro Rapid Prelims 202110.3

Round 10 results

 

Endgame analyses by GM Karsten Müller

Grandmaster Karsten Müller looked into five endgames from rounds 6 to 10. Analysing positions that were seen in practical games is a very helpful exercise for those wanting to improve their play! 

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
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1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 0-0 8.e3 Bf5 9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.Qxc3 g5 11.Bg3 Ne4 12.Qa3 Nd7 13.Bd3 Re8 14.Nd2 Ndf6 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.0-0 Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Ne4 18.Be5 c6 19.f3 Nc5 20.Qf5 Qe7 21.f4 Ne4 22.fxg5 hxg5 23.Rf3 f6 24.Bxf6 Qxf6 25.Qxf6 Nxf6 26.Rxf6 Rxe3 27.Rg6+ Kh7 28.Rxg5 Rg8 29.Rxg8 Kxg8 30.Kf2 Rd3 31.g4 Rxd4 32.Kg3 Rd3+ 33.Kh4 Rd2 34.h3 Rxb2 35.Kg5 d4 36.Rd1 c5 37.h4 Rxa2 38.h5 b5 39.h6 b4 40.Re1 b3 41.Re8+ Kf7 42.h7 Rh2 43.h8Q Rxh8 44.Rxh8 c4 45.Kf5 c3 46.g5 b2 47.g6+ Ke7 48.Rb8 c2 49.g7 b1Q 50.g8Q c1Q+ 51.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 52.Ke5 d3 53.Qe6+ Kd8 54.Qd6+ Kc8 55.Qc6+ Kb8 56.Kd4 d2 57.Qd6+ Kb7 58.Qe7+ Kb6 "Counterchecks and underpromotions" - Queen endings are notoriously difficult over the board: 59.Qd8+? The wrong check. Now the checks will either peter out or be met by counterchecks. 59.Qd6+ draws, e. g. Ka5 60.Qa3+ Kb5 61.Qc5+ Ka4 61...Ka6 62.Qa3+ Kb6 63.Qc5+ Kb7 64.Qe7+ Ka8 65.Qe8+= 62.Qxa7+ Kb3 63.Qb6+ Kc2 64.Qc6+ Kb2 64...Kd1 65.Qh1+= 65.Qc3+= 59...Ka6! 60.Qc8+ After 60.Kc3 d1Q wins and even 60...d1N+?!-+ Not however 60...d1R? due to 61.Qc8+ Qb7 62.Qe6+ Qb6 63.Qe2+= 60...Ka5 61.Qc5+ Qb5 62.Qxa7+ All other checks run into counterchecks. 62.Qa3+?! Qa4+-+ 62.Qc3+?! Qb4+-+ 62.Qc7+?! Qb6+-+ 62...Kb4 63.Qe7+ 63.Qa1 runs into d1Q+ 64.Qxd1 Qd7+-+ 63...Ka4 64.Qa7+ 64.Kc3!? forces the underpromotion d1R! as 64...d1Q? runs into 65.Qa3+ Kxa3 stalemate 65.Qe4+ Ka5 66.Qa8+ Qa6-+ 64...Kb3 65.Qf7+ Kb2 The king is now safe and the pawn can now be stopped, so Shankland resigned. 65...Kb2 66.Qf3 66.Qf2 Qb6+-+ 66...d1Q+ 67.Qxd1 Qd7+-+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Shankland,S2691Aronian,L27810–12021D38Opera Euro Rapid Prelims 20217.2
Aronian,L2781Dominguez Perez,L27581–02021B22Opera Euro Rapid Prelims 20218.7
Bluebaum,M2562Duda,J27740–12021D05Opera Euro Rapid | Prelims10.7
Ding,L2791Grischuk,A27770–12021A36Opera Euro Rapid Prelims 20216.4
Bluebaum,M2670Dubov,D2710½–½2021D04Opera Euro Rapid Prelims 20217.1

Select an entry from the list to switch between (end)games

Standings after Round 10

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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.

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