Prague Masters: Navara beats Vidit in roller-coaster game

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/21/2020 – Just when it seemed like Vidit would coast to victory at the Prague Masters Tournament, a series of turnarounds left the fight for first place wide open. After getting a completely winning position, Vidit first reached a drawn rook endgame and then lost the thread and the game against David Navara. Meanwhile, David Anton defeated Nils Grandelius with Black and Nikita Vitiugov failed to find a win against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Going into last round, Vidit has a half-point lead over Anton, Vitiugov and Alireza Firouzja. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

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An eventful round

Until round seven, Vidit's performance in Prague was close to perfect, showing strong preparation with White to score three wins and managing to keep things under control with Black, even when he got slightly inferior positions. In rounds seven and eight, he got his first back-to-back Whites and, by move 15 of his game against David Navara, it looked like the Indian was about to put an end to the fight for first in style:

 
Vidit vs. Navara
Position after 14...c6

Out of a Queen's Indian Defence, Vidit quickly got a space advantage in the centre with 8.e4 and 9.e5, an idea that had not been seen in this exact position in the past. The Indian spent quite a while on his eighth and eleventh moves, as he carefully calculated whether the pawn breaks in both cases (8.e4 and 11.d5) were good for him. The position was difficult to assess correctly, and Navara gave his opponent a chance to sacrifice for a strong attack with 15.xf7 in the diagrammed position.

The game continued 15...xf7 16.e6+ (giving up the pawn) ♚xe6 17.e2+ f7 18.0-0-0 f6 19.e4+, when Black is a full piece up, although his king is in deep trouble!

Soon enough, Black gave back the piece to defend against the threats, entering a markedly uncomfortable endgame with four rooks and four knights still on the board. Allowing a rook swap was a strategical mistake by Vidit:

 
Position after 32...Rd8

33.b3 permitted Black to release some tension with 33...xd7. Instead, 33.♖df7+ ♚e8 and now 34.b3 would have posed Black many more problems with the rooks still doubled on the seventh rank. 

From this point on, Navara showed a lot of resourcefulness to turn the tables, giving up a pawn in exchange for activity. In a dynamically balanced position, Vidit faltered again by allowing his opponent to get two connected passers on the queenside:

 
Position after 54...Ke6

White played the committal 55.c5, considering that after 55...b5 his passer on the c-file combined with a potential passer on the kingside would give him enough counterplay. It was a miscalculation, as Black had enough time to advance his pawns, cover the g-file with his rook and defend the c-file with his king. Nine moves later, Vidit resigned. It was certainly a painful defeat for the 25-year-old from Nashik.  

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Bf4 d5 6.cxd5 E12: Queen's Indian: Unusual White 4th moves, 4 a3, 4 Nc3 Bb7 5 a3 and 4 Nc3 Bb7 . Nxd5 7.Bg3 Nd7
8.e4N White has an edge. Predecessor: 8.Nbd2 N5f6 9.e3 Bd6 10.Nc4 Qe7 11.Nxd6+ cxd6 12.Be2 0-0 13.0-0 Ne4 14.Rc1 Nxg3 15.hxg3 1/2-1/2 (74) Sakaev, K (2596)-Zhigalko,S (2571) Moscow 2019 8...N5f6 9.e5 Nh5 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Bc4 a6 12.d5 White has some pressure. exd5 13.Bxd5 Nxg3 14.hxg3 c6 14...Nc5 15.Bxf7+!± Kxf7
16.e6+! Decoy Kxe6 17.Qe2+ Kf7 17...Kd6± might work better. 18.0-0-0!+- And now Rxd7! would win. Bf6 19.Ne4! Qe7 But not 19...Kf8?! 20.Nxf6 gxf6 21.Qe6+- 20.Nd6+ Double Attack Kf8 21.Qxe7+ 21.Qc2!+- and the rest is easy. aiming for Rhe1. Qe6 22.Nxb7 21...Bxe7± 22.Nxb7 Nf6 23.Ne5 Strongly threatening Ng6+! Nd5 24.Kb1 Rc8 25.Rhe1 Bxa3? 25...g5± was called for. 26.Nxc6 Remove Defender Rxc6 26.Nxc6+- Not 26.bxa3 Nc3+ 27.Kc2 Nxd1+- 26...Bb4 27.Nxb4 Nxb4 28.Rd7 h5 29.Nd6 Ra8 30.Ree7 Rh7 31.Ne4 Rh6 32.Rxg7 Intending Ng5 and mate. Rd8 33.b3? Less strong is 33.Rxd8+ Kxg7 34.Kc1 Re6± 33.Rdf7++- Ke8 34.b3 Rd1+ 35.Kb2 33...Rxd7 34.Rxd7 Endgame KRN-KRN a5 35.f3 Rc6 36.Rd2 36.Rh7± 36...Kf7 37.Kb2 Ke6 38.Nc3 Rd6 39.Re2+ Kf5 40.Ne4 Rd1 41.Nc3 Rd3 42.Nb1 Nd5 43.Kc2 Nb4+ 44.Kb2 Nd5 45.Na3 Ne3 46.Nc4 Nxc4+ 47.bxc4= KR-KR a4 48.Kc2 Rb3 49.Rd2 Rb4 50.Kc3 Rb3+ 51.Kc2 With the idea Rd5+. Rb4 52.Kc3 Rb3+ 53.Kd4 a3 54.Ra2 Ke6 55.c5 55.Ra1= keeps the balance. 55...b5! Threatens to win with ...b4. 56.g4
56.Ra1 56...hxg4!-+ 57.fxg4?
57.Ra1 gxf3 58.gxf3 57...b4! 58.g5 Rb2 59.Ra1 a2 60.g6 b3 Black mates. 61.c6 Rc2 62.Rf1 b2 63.g7 Rxg2 64.c7 Kd7 Black used his chance. Accuracy: White = 64%, Black = 77%.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vidit,S2721Navara,D27170–12020Prague Festival Masters 20208.5

Vidit Gujrathi, David Navara

Vidit and David Navara in the background | Photo: Petr Vrabec

With one round to go, three players are now a half point behind Vidit, who will have the tough task of facing Jan-Krzysztof Duda with Black in a deciding match-up. One of the chasers is David Anton, who defeated tail-ender Nils Grandelius with the black pieces on Thursday. Anton was in his element, dealing with a close-to-static pawn structure. The Spaniard got to take advantage of White's vulnerable kingside — at some point, he positionally sacrificed a knight to improve his chances:

 
Grandelius vs. Anton
Position after 23.Kh1

Black destroyed his rival's strong pawn centre with 23...xe5, getting to push on the kingside in the sequence 24.dxe5 xe5 25.d2 h6 26.h3 e6 27.e1 f6 28.f2 h5. Anton had four pawns for the piece and a much more comfortable position to boot. From this point on, the winner of last year's Challengers showed great technique to convert his advantage into a full point. Grandelius defended tenaciously, but eventually accepted defeat on move 67.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 0-0 7.d4 a6 B31: Sicilian: 2...Nc6 3 Bb5 g6. 8.Bd3 d5 9.e5 Ne4
The position is equal. 10.Be3N Predecessor: 10.Nbd2 Nxd2 11.Bxd2 Bg4 12.Be3 cxd4 13.cxd4 f6 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Be2 Qb6 16.Qd2 0-1 (47) Khanin,S (2500)-Adhiban,B (2654) Moscow 2019 10...Qb6 11.Qc2 cxd4 12.cxd4 Bf5 13.Nc3 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Na5 16.h4 Qe6 17.Ng5 Qg4 18.f3 Qxh4 19.Re2! Strongly threatening g3! Nc4 20.g3! Qxg3+ 21.Rg2 Qh4 22.Rh2 Qg3+ 23.Kh1
23.Rg2!? Nxe5 24.Qe2 24.Rxg3? too greedy. Nxd3 25.f4 Nb2-+ 24.dxe5 Qxe5 25.Bd4 Qd6= 24...Nxf3+ 25.Nxf3= 23...Nxe5! 24.dxe5 Qxe5 24...h6!? 25.Rg1 Qxe5 25.Bd2 White has counterplay h6 26.Nh3 26.f4!? Qd6 27.Nf3 26...e6 27.Re1
27.Rg1= remains equal. 27...Qf6! 28.Nf2 h5 29.Nh3 Rfc8 30.Ng5 Rc4 31.f4 Rac8 32.Nf3 Ra4 33.Qb1 b5 34.Ne5 Qf5 35.Qxf5 exf5 Much worse is 35...gxf5?! 36.Rg2= 36.Rh3 d4 37.cxd4 Rxd4 38.Nf3 38.Rh2 38...Ra4 Played: Rd4-d3
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Grandelius,N2659Anton Guijarro,D26970–12020Prague Festival Masters 20208.2

Prague Chess Festival 2020

The playing hall and the 'control centre' | Photo: Vladimir Jagr

Vitiugov, in the meantime, missed a chance to catch up with the leader, as he could not make the most of his considerable edge with White against Duda. 

 
Vitiugov vs. Duda
Position after 34...Rb4

Duda had started losing the thread on move 30, and with his previous 34...b4 he had given his opponent a chance to pretty much put an end to the game with 35.♘d6, piling up against f7 — in case of 35...♜d4, White has 36.♖e7 threatening mate with the rook on e8, to which Black can only respond with 36...♛c6 37.♖e8+ ♛xe8 38.♘xe8, giving up the queen. Instead, Vitiugov played 35.f3, when White is still in the driver's seat but has a tougher task in conversion.

Nevertheless, Black still needed to give up his queen to defend against the attack, except that he made the sacrifice in more favourable circumstances. Eventually, the players entered an endgame with queen and pawn against rook and two pawns, leaving White with a tough technical task to win the game. Duda defended resourcefully and built an impenetrable fortress by move 60. Vitiugov kept on trying for a while, but eventually acquiesced to the draw.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Bd6 6.Bxd6 D06: Queen's Gambit: Symmetrical and Baltic Defences. Qxd6 7.e3 0-0 8.Qb3 b6 9.Rc1 c6 10.Be2 Nbd7 11.0-0 h6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Rfd1
13...b5N 13...a5 is interesting. 14.Bd3 Bg4 15.Qc2 Rfe8 16.Be2 Rab8 Predecessor: 13...Rfd8 14.h3 a5 15.a3 Rab8 16.Qa2 Ne4 17.Bd3 Ndf6 18.Ne5 Rbc8 19.Ne2 Be6 1/2-1/2 (44) Dorfman,J (2596)-Cuijpers, F (2450) Germany 2000 14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.Rxd3 Rfc8 16.Rd2 Nb6 17.Qd1 a5 18.Rdc2 a4 19.Nb1 Nc4 20.b3 axb3 21.axb3 Na5 22.Qd3 22.Nbd2 feels hotter. Nb7 23.Ne1 b4 24.h3 Nd8 25.Nd3 22...Ne4 23.Nbd2 Nxd2 24.Nxd2 Nb7 25.g3 Ra3 26.Qf5 Rc7 27.e4 dxe4 28.Nxe4 Qxd4 Black should play 28...Qd7 29.Qxd7 Rxd7 29.Rxc6 29.Rd2± Qb4 30.Re1 29...Rxc6= 30.Rxc6 Rc7! is the strong threat. Rxb3 31.Rc7! Nd8! 32.Rd7 Qa1+ 33.Kg2 Qa8 34.Kh3 White attacks. Rb4? 34...b4= 35.f3? 35.Nd6+- and the rest is easy. Rd4 36.Re7 35...Ra4 35...Rb3± is a better defense. 36.Re7!+- Inferior is 36.Qxb5 Ra5= 36...Qc6
37.Nd6! Deflection Qxd6 38.Re8+ Qf8 39.Rxf8+ Kxf8 Endgame KQ-KRN 40.Qc5+ Kg8 41.Qxb5 Rd4 42.Qe8+! Kh7 43.f4! g6 43...Rd1 was called for. 44.Qa4 Rd2 45.Qe4+ Kg8 46.Qe8+ Kh7 47.Qe4+ Kh8 48.Qe8+ Kh7 44.g4! Rd3+ 44...Rd5 45.f5 Kg7 45.Kg2 Kg7
46.f5! gxf5 47.gxf5 Rd6
48.Qe7! Rd5 49.h4 Less strong is 49.f6+ Kg6 49...Rxf5? 49...h5 50.Qg5+ Kf8 51.Qxh5 f6 50.Qxd8 KQ-KR Rf4 51.Qc8 51.Kh3 Re4 52.Qd3 51...Re4 51...h5 52.Qc5 Rg4+ 53.Kh3 Kg6 54.Qc2+ Kg7 52.Qc3+ Kg8 53.Qc8+ 53.Qg3+ Kf8 54.Qa3+ Kg7 55.Qg3+ Kf8 56.Qa3+ Kg7 57.Qa1+ f6 58.h5 53...Kg7 54.Qc3+ Kg8! 55.Qg3+ Kf8 56.Qd3 56.Qa3+ Kg7 57.Qa1+ Kg6
58.Qb1!
56...Rg4+ 57.Kf3 Rg6 58.h5 Rg5 59.Qh7? 59.Qd6++- Kg7 60.Qd4+ Kg8 61.Qh4 59...Rxh5= The position is equal. 60.Kf4 Ke7 61.Qg7 Rg5 62.Qxh6 62.Qd4 with more complications. 62...Rg6 63.Qh8 Rf6+ 64.Ke5 Re6+ 65.Kf5 Rg6 66.Qb8 Rf6+ 67.Ke5 Threatening mate with Qc7+. Re6+ 68.Kd5 Rg6 Blacks defense is rewarded with a draw. Accuracy: White = 77%, Black = 67%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vitiugov,N2731Duda,J2755½–½2020Prague Festival Masters 20208.4

Nikita Vitiugov

Defending champion Nikita Vitiugov during round five | Photo: Petr Vrabec

In the shortest game of the day, Harikrishna and Markus Ragger signed a 35-move draw out of a Ruy Lopez, while Alireza Firouzja got to put pressure against Sam Shankland from the white side of an Italian but could not escape the drawish nature of rook endgames. The 16-year-old will play Black against Anton in the final round, while Shankland will have the white pieces against Vitiugov. Friday's last day of action kicks off an hour earlier than usual, at 13:00 UTC (14:00 CET / 8:00 AM EST).


Standings after Round 8

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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