Paris 10: Gelfand and Caruana win, lead

by ChessBase
10/3/2013 – With powerful preparation and a strong follow-up Gelfand was able to take down Nakamura and steal the leading position from him. Caruana took advantage of this and beat Tomashevsky, putting him at 6.5/10 tied with the Israeli. In the duel of the French players Bacrot easily demolished Fressinet and he is now tied with Nakamura. We bring you in-depth analysis by grandmaster Romain Edouard.

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Sixth FIDE Grand Prix - Paris 2013

The sixth and final Grand Prix of the system is taking place at the Chapelle de la Villedieu, founded in 1180 by soldier-monks of the Order of the Temple. The p laying site is considerably west of Paris. The tournament will determine the last qualifiers for the Candidates tournament for the next World Chess Championship cycle. This leg of the series is being played under classical time controls: Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and then each player gets 15 minutes and an increment of 30 seconds per move after the second time control). No draws offers: Sofia rules!

Round 10

Round 10 – October 03, 14:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
½-½
Wang Hao 2736
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
0-1
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
1-0
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
½-½
Giri, Anish 2737
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
0-1
Gelfand, Boris 2764

Nakamura-Gelfand was definitely the game of the day... even Giri took time off to watch!

The players are tired. Today Fressinet confused himself and lost quickly.

Fressinet, Laurent 0-1 Bacrot, Etienne
The French duel resulted in a strangely one-sided game as Fressinet basically collapsed out of the opening. He made a couple of strange decisions, but the truly bad ones started with 22.c5? after which some simple moves left White down two pawns and in the receiving end of a deadly attack.

Playing natural and good moves Bacrot obtained an easy victory and is now tied for third

Ivanchuk was following Robson-Volokitin until move 16, when Black's Qd7!? allowed the Dutch to equalize comfortably

Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ Giri, Anish
The Petroff landed the players in a truly symmetrical position that was very much dead drawn from move 25.

The second Petroff of the day actually turned into a French, but Dominguez found himself without problems anyways

Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ Dominguez Perez, Leinier
The Russian player played an unusual 5.d3 which transposes into an exchange French, hardly the most testing way of playing against the Petroff. Dominguez had no problems holding equality and forcing a repetition shortly afterwards.

Trying to surprise his opponent? 5.d3 is hardly considered to be the critical line of the Petroff, also known in some places as the Russian defense.

A back and forth game that was always about even and ended in a draw

Ponomariov, Ruslan ½-½ Wang Hao
A maneuver heavy game was played between these players in an advance Caro-Kann. Wang Hao got a comfortable position from the opening, but Ponomariov kept his position tied down to the defense by advancing his kingside. Eventually Wang Hao stalled his opponent's advances but wasn't able to counterattack by any means, and the game ended in a draw when the players ran out of ideas.

Grandmaster Romain Edouard brings us brilliant annotations of today's key games:

Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 Gelfand, Boris

Nakamura loses his lead and is now in third place, but definitely not out of contention

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Paris 2013"] [Site "Paris"] [Date "2013.10.03"] [Round "10"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "FRA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 {A line that Nakamura plays with Black from time to time.} 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bg7 12. h3 Ne5 13. f3 Nbc6 14. Bf2 Be6 15. Qd2 Rc8 16. O-O-O (16. Nd5 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd5 18. exd5 Qc7 19. c3 Qa5 {was fine for Black in ½-½ (31) Karjakin,S (2776)-Nakamura,H (2774) ROU 2011}) 16... Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Qa5 18. a3 $1 {The well-known only try for White is this position.} (18. Qf2 Rc6 19. g3 O-O 20. f4 Nd7 21. h4 g4 22. Nd5 Bxd5 23. exd5 Rc5 $1 {was excellent for Black in 0-1 (44) Karjakin,S (2769)-Gelfand,B (2739) NED 2012}) 18... O-O $1 {The beginning of an excellent preparation by Gelfand.} ({ Computer suggests} 18... Rg8 {but after} 19. Kb1 {Black never equalizes completely.}) 19. h4 g4 $1 20. Qf2 (20. Qe3 Nc4 $1 (20... Rc6 {makes a difference with the game since after} 21. f4 Rfc8 22. Kb1 $1 {Black cannot take on c3 anymore and White seems to be better.}) 21. Bxc4 Rxc4 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 {looks very decent for Black.}) 20... Rc6 $1 21. f4 Rfc8 22. Qg3 $2 (22. Kb1 $2 Rxc3 $17) (22. f5 {seems to be best, with a very unclear position:} Bc4 23. Bxc4 Nxc4 24. Nd5 (24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. f6+ Kg8 $1 {is given as a draw by Houdini, for example:} 26. Qf4 exf6 27. Nd5 Nxa3 28. Ne7+ Kf8 29. Nxc6 Rxc6 30. bxa3 Qxa3+ 31. Kd2 Qb4+ $11) 24... Nxb2 $1 25. Nxe7+ Kh7 26. Nxc6 Qxa3 27. Kd2 Rxc6 28. f6 Qa5+ 29. Ke3 Nxd1+ 30. Rxd1 Bf8 $132) 22... Nd7 $1 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. f5 Rxc3 (24... Ne5 $1 25. fxe6 Rxc3 26. bxc3 Rxc3 {wins but Black has to be precise:} 27. Rd3 Nxd3+ 28. Bxd3 Rxa3 29. Qxg4+ Kf8 30. Kd1 Ra1+ 31. Ke2 Rxh1 32. exf7 Qe1+ 33. Kf3 Qd1+ $1 34. Be2 Rf1+ 35. Ke3 Qc1+ $19) 25. bxc3 Qxa3+ ( 25... Ne5 $5) 26. Kd2 Nf6 27. Qd3 Bc4 {The most human move.} (27... Nxe4+ {was however very strong:} 28. Qxe4 Qxc3+ 29. Kc1 (29. Ke2 Rc4 $1 {wins:} 30. Qd3 Qe5+ 31. Kf2 Rf4+ 32. Kg1 Bxf5 33. Qd2 Qc5+ 34. Kh2 g3+ $1 35. Kxg3 Rg4+ 36. Kf3 e5 $19) 29... Qa1+ 30. Kd2 Qa5+ $1 {Definitely not such an easy move to find in advance.} 31. Ke2 (31. Kc1 Bxf5 $19) 31... Rc4 32. Rd4 Bxf5 33. Rxc4 Bxe4 34. Rxe4 Qf5 35. Ke3 d5 $19) 28. Qd4 d5 29. exd5 Bxd5 30. Rg1 Be4 31. Bd3 Qa5 (31... Bxd3 32. cxd3 Qb2+ 33. Ke3 Rxc3 34. Rc1 Qxc1+ 35. Rxc1 Rxc1 {is better for Black, but it is difficult to say how much better.}) 32. Qb4 Qc7 33. Bxe4 $2 {A big blunder while White had almost escaped.} ({After} 33. Kc1 { White would still suffer but Black's advantage wouldn't be that big.}) 33... a5 $5 (33... Qf4+ 34. Ke1 Nxe4 35. Qd4+ f6 36. g3 Qxf5 $19) 34. Qxb7 Qf4+ 35. Ke2 Rc7 36. Qb6 Nxe4 37. Qd4+ Kh7 38. c4 (38. Rgf1 $8 {was the only way not to lose at once but after} Nxc3+ 39. Qxc3 Qxf1+ {the rook ending should be easily winning for Black.}) 38... Rd7 $1 39. Qe3 Ng3+ 40. Qxg3 Qxg3 41. Rxd7 Qe5+ 0-1

a very important victory for Gelfand

Caruana, Fabiano 1-0 Tomashevsky, Evgeny

Caruana had to win to keep his dream of participating in the Candidate's tournament alive, and he has a chance to fulfill it if the results align correctly tomorrow

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Paris 2013"] [Site "Paris"] [Date "2013.10.03"] [Round "10"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2706"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "FRA"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Bg6 7. Nbd2 Nh6 8. Nb3 Nf5 9. a4 Rc8 (9... Be7 10. g4 Nh6 11. h3 Ng8 $5 {has been played successfully by Dreev and Laznicka this year, but it is also true that the black setup seems a bit suspicious here!}) 10. a5 h5 $146 {A new move. Black wants to keep his knight on f5!} 11. g3 $5 {Stopping ...h4 (because of g4) and allowing a future h4-move for White.} Be7 12. Bf4 $5 a6 (12... c5 $5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Bb5+ Kf8 15. c4 {should be a bit difficult for Black.}) 13. c4 dxc4 14. Bxc4 O-O 15. Qe2 {Due to the super-pawn on a5, Black's position is a bit difficult since no knight can come to d5!} b5 $6 {An interesting practical decision, but objectively not such a good move.} 16. axb6 Nxb6 17. Bxa6 Rc7 18. Rfd1 (18. Rfc1 $1 {should be more precise, e.g.} Qd7 19. Qd1 Nd5 20. Bg5 $16) 18... Ra7 19. h4 Nd5 20. Bd2 Qb6 21. Bc4 Rfa8 22. Bc3 $6 (22. Qe1 {with the idea to exchange one rook and play Ra1 again should give White a clear advantage, though with that structure it is never so easy to convert it.}) 22... Rxa1 23. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 24. Nxa1 c5 25. Nb3 cxd4 26. Nfxd4 Nxc3 27. bxc3 {Black is still worse but saved some of the problems. Now the drawing chances should, in principle, be much higher. But Tomashevsky blundered and Caruana brillantly punished it.} Bc5 $4 28. Nxc5 Qxc5 29. Nxe6 $1 fxe6 30. Bxe6+ Kh8 (30... Kf8 31. Qe4 $1 $18) 31. Bxf5 Bxf5 32. Qxh5+ Bh7 33. Qe8+ Bg8 34. e6 $1 Kh7 35. e7 Qe5 36. Qf8 (36. Qf8 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Bd5 $8 38. Qf5+ $18) 1-0

Tomashevsky steered away from his trusted Spanish and was finally toppled

Romain Edouard

Born in 1990 in Poitiers, France, Romain won the French and European U16 Championships in 2006, came second in the U18 section in European and World Championships in 2007, and was co-champion of France in 2012.

He has been a member of the French national team since 2009 (except in 2011). He won several international open tournaments: Bad Wiessee 2008, Zaragoza 2008, Echternach 2009, Andorra 2009, Hastings 2010, Echternach 2010, Clermont-Ferrand 2011, etc. as well as closed tournaments: Grand Prix de Bordeaux 2007, Antwerp 2011, Nancy 2012.

Standings

Photos by Alina l'Ami

Replay round ten games

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Schedule

Round 01 – September 22 2013, 15:00h
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
½-½
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Wang Hao 2736
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Gelfand, Boris 2764
1-0
Giri, Anish 2737
Round 02 – September 23 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
½-½
Giri, Anish 2737
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2764
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
½-½
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Wang Hao 2736
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Round 03 – September 24 2013, 15:00h
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
1-0
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
1-0
Wang Hao 2736
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
1-0
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Gelfand, Boris 2764
1-0
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Giri, Anish 2737
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Round 04 – September 25 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
1-0
Giri, Anish 2737
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2764
Wang Hao 2736
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
0-1
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Round 05 – September 27 2013, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
0-1
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
½-½
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Gelfand, Boris 2764
½-½
Wang Hao 2736
Giri, Anish 2737
0-1
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Round 06 – September 28 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Wang Hao 2736
½-½
Giri, Anish 2737
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2764
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
1-0
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Round 07 – September 29 2013, 15:00h
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
½-½
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
1-0
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Gelfand, Boris 2764
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Giri, Anish 2737
½-½
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
½-½
Wang Hao 2736
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
½-½
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Round 08 – September 30 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
0-1
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Wang Hao 2736
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
1-0
Giri, Anish 2737
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
1-0
Gelfand, Boris 2764
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
0-1
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Round 09 – October 02 2013, 15:00h
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772 ½-½ Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Gelfand, Boris 2764 ½-½ Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Giri, Anish 2737 ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703 ½-½ Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757 ½-½ Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Bacrot, Etienne 2723 ½-½ Wang Hao 2736
Round 10 – October 03, 14:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
½-½
Wang Hao 2736
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
0-1
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
1-0
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
½-½
Giri, Anish 2737
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
0-1
Gelfand, Boris 2764
Round 11 – October 04, 14:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2764   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Giri, Anish 2737   Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703   Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757   Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Bacrot, Etienne 2723   Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Wang Hao 2736   Fressinet, Laurent 2708

The games start at 15:00h European time, 17:00h Moscow, 9 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here.

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.


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