Superfinals: Nepomniachtchi beats Karjakin in key matchup

by Klaus Besenthal
12/13/2020 – A big point for Nepomniachtchi. In Round 7 of the Russian Superfinal, Ian Nepomniachtchi won the top match against Sergey Karjakin in fine style. With 5½ points, the leader now has a full-point lead over Karjakin, who despite the defeat managed to hold on to second place for the time being. In the women’s competition, Polina Shuvalova did not win for the first time in Round 7, as she “only” managed a draw against Leya Garifullina. | Photos: Eteri Kublashvili
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Striking when it matters the most

Some bad news from Moscow: Mikhail Antipov withdrew from the tournament, with the reasons not provided for the public immediately. The games played by him are rated, so whoever can no longer play against him receives a point without a fight. 

Should one make a safe move, aimed primarily at holding one’s position together, or is it justified to move forward risking getting in trouble? This might be the question of all questions in a game of chess, which simply cannot be answered satisfactorily under time pressure while at the board. Sergey Karjakin was faced with this problem on move 18. The former World Championship challenger opted for the brute liberation of his position constricted by the white pawn on d6 — but his decision was a mistake:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 dxe4 7.fxe4 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.exd5 0-0 10.Be2 Re8 11.Nf3 Bg4 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.d6 Bf8 14.h3 Bh5
It's a familiar position - Karjakin had it on the board as Black in a recent online blitz game against Vidit Gujrathi. 15.Bf4 A new move that looks perfectly logical. Up to now, only 15.Nb5 had been tried. 15...Qb6 16.b3 Rad8 17.Ra2 h6 18.a4 Nepo wants to play a4-a5, challenging Black to find a a good square for his queen. Bxf3?! With this manoeuvre Black wants to free himself, but the attempt backfires. The best response was 18...Qa5! when a4-a5 is not possible and the black queen continues to stand unassailable on a good square, as 19.Bd2? fails due to Interesting was 19.Nb5 a6 20.Nc7 Re4 21.Bh2 Qc3 but it is White who needs to figure out how to hold everything together. 19...Bxd6 19.Bxf3 Ne5
This was the position Karjakin had in mind when he captured on f3: he gets the e5-square for his knight and the d-pawn seems difficult to defend. 20.Nb5 Bxd6 20...Nxf3+ 21.Qxf3 Qc6 22.Qxc6 bxc6 23.Nxa7 Bxd6 24.Nxc6 Bxf4 25.Rxf4 Rd1+ 26.Rf1 The computers think this is the best continuation, but Black has lost a pawn. 20...a6? 21.a5 Nxf3+ 22.Qxf3 Qc6 23.Qxc6 bxc6 24.Nc7 Re4 25.Nxa6 would be completely lost for Black. 21.a5 Qa6
This is what Karjakin had in mind: the white knight doesn't get to c7. 22.Rd2! However, the coordination of the white pieces is much better than that of the black pieces, and that decides the game. Nxf3+ 23.Rxf3 Ne4 The only move, but it is not enough. 24.Nxd6 Nxd2 24...Nxd6 25.Rxd6 does not work. 25.Qxd2 Re6 26.Rd3 b6 27.Nf5 Rxd3 28.Qxd3
From a purely material point of view things are still fine for Black, but his queen is completely offside, while the white pieces are magnificently positioned - a direct king attack is coming. 28...Qb7 29.Qd5! Qxd5 Or 29...Qc8 30.Be5! with a quick win. 30.cxd5 The passed pawn cannot be stopped. Re1+ 31.Kf2 Rd1 32.Ke2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nepomniachtchi,I2784Karjakin,S27521–0202073rd RUS-ch Superfinal 20207.1

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Sergey Karjakin — two top players sitting opposite a real board, a rare sight during this terrible pandemic

Standings after Round 7

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Shuvalova draws

In the women's tournament, the leader Polina Shuvalova gave up half a point for the first time in the tournament — against Leya Garifullina. Formally, the game was drawn by a threefold repetition, but in fact the players repeated the position no fewer than five times!

Leya Garifullina facing leader Polina Shuvalova

Aleksandra Goryachkina, one of the favourites to win the title, came within one point of Shuvalova. The two players are scheduled to meet directly in the tenth round on Tuesday.

In her game against Olga Girya, Goryachkina was on the better side of an uncommon ending:

 
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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 dxc4 5.e3 a6 6.a4 c5 7.Bxc4 Nc6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.h3 b6 13.e4 Bb7 14.Be3 Rfd8
Games with this structure, without c- and d-pawns, tend towards a draw, but it is of course up to the players to come up with something. 15.Rxd8+ Rxd8 Girya sacrifices her pawn on a6 - she went for activity with her rook. 15...Qxd8 would have been "normal". 16.Bxa6 16.Bxc5 bxc5 17.Bxa6 Nd4 was objectively balanced, but White would initially have been on the defensive, which was certainly not in Goryachkina's interest. 16...Bxa6 17.Qxa6 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Na5 19.Qb5 h6 20.Ne5 Rd2
Now Girya has quite a good amount of compensation - and the position has become interesting! 21.Rf1 Rc2 It looks strange, but Girya could now answer Tf2 with Tc1+ - after all, the active rook should be preserved. 22.Rd1 Nb7 With this move Girya allows her opponent to force her into giving up an exchange. 23.Qb3 Rxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Nc5 25.Qc2 After 25.Qb5 Qxe5 26.Qxb6 Nfxe4 Black would have gained at least one more pawn, which, together with the open white king, would have been sufficient compensation for the exchange. 25...Qxe5 26.Qf2 Always a good strategy when your own king is threatened: to place the queen nearby. Nfxe4 27.Qf4 Qxf4 28.exf4 Nxc3 29.bxc3 Nxa4 30.c4 Nb2
Two pawns are plenty of compensation for the exchange, but the knight is slow, while the rook is fast and there are pawns on both sides of the board. The coming tasks were certainly easier to solve for White than for Black. 31.Rd8+ Kh7 32.Rc8 g5 33.Kf3 Kg6 34.Ke4 gxf4 35.Kxf4
The black knight is actually in an optimal position: the white rook is tied to the defence of the c4-pawn, the knight cannot be attacked by the rook and the white king has a long way to go to reach the knight. 35...Nd3+? The knight begins to wander haphazardly around the board. After 35...f6! 36.Rc6 e5+ 37.Ke4 h5 38.h4 Na4 39.Kd3 Kg7 40.Kc2 Kg6 41.Kb3 Nc5+ 42.Kb4 Nd3+ 43.Kc3 Nc5 it is tough to find a way for White to win. 36.Ke4 Nf2+ 37.Ke5 Nd3+ In case of 37...Nxh3 38.Rg8+ Kh5 39.Rb8 White would have held all the trumps, especially as the c4-pawn would have started moving forward quickly. 38.Kd4 Nb2 39.Kc3 Na4+ 40.Kb4 Nb2 41.Rd8 f5 42.Rd2 A tragedy! Nxc4 43.Kxc4 f4 44.Kd3 Kf5 45.Rb2 e5 46.Rxb6 e4+ 47.Kd4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Goryachkina,A2592Girya,O24691–0202070th RUS-ch Women Superfinal 20207.6

Aleksandra Goryachkina is still in the hunt

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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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