4/18/2015 – Today's round was certainly duller than the one we started out with, and the day ended with four solid draws. None of the players seemed to be in any danger of losing, or even of falling a significantly worse position, and the results seemed like logical conclusions. The one decisive game went to Magnus Carlsen, who wiped Shakhriyar Mamedyarov off the board. Round two report.
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The Vugar Gashimov Memorial, is being held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, from the 17th to the 26th of April, in memory of the great Vugar Gashimov, who passed away on the 10th of January 2014. The tournament consists of some of the strongest players in the World: reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen, former World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, as well as, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Michael Adams, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rauf Mamedov will compete in this prominent event.
Round Two
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Adams Michael
2746
½-½
Caruana Fabiano
2802
Carlsen Magnus
2863
1-0
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
½-½
Anand Viswanathan
2791
Giri Anish
2790
½-½
Mamedov Rauf
2651
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
½-½
So Wesley
2788
Adams, Michael ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano White obtained nothing from the opening, a typical anti-Berlin with a quick exchange on c6. If anything it was Caruana that seemed to be enjoying his position more, but after a series of piece trades the players agreed to a repetition.
An effortless draw for Fabiano Caruana
Carlsen, Magnus 1-0 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Mamedyarov, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2756"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 g6 {The Schlechter system of the Slav. This is considered a much more appropiate response to 4.e3 than 4.Nc3, as now the bishop cannot go to f4.} 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O b6 8. a4 a5 9. cxd5 cxd5 (9... Nxd5 {Was Wang Yue's choice against Anand in 2010, but I feel taking with the c-pawn is more logical.}) 10. b3 Ne4 $6 {The beginning of Black's real problems. This trade is normally quite desirable on e4, as Black obtains a good square on d5 for his other knight and retains solid chances. However here, specifically, he is unable to do anything like that because of his slow development.} 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Nd2 Bb7 13. Ba3 f5 14. Rc1 Kh8 15. Nc4 {Black would like to play the move Nb8-d5, but the knight doesn't stretch so far.} Nd7 16. d5 {Precisely the problem. The pawn push creates issues for Black as the space created behind it activates White's pieces.} Rc8 17. d6 e6 18. b4 $1 { Opening up even more space.} axb4 19. Bxb4 Bd5 20. a5 $1 bxa5 21. Bxa5 Qe8 22. Qa4 {It's very clear that Black is passive. He doesn't have an active plan and simply hopes that his blockade on d7 will hold.} Bc6 23. Qb4 Rb8 24. Nb6 $1 { Why not? The pin looks uncomfortable but Black cannot take advantage of it, more importantly this trades off that d7 knight.} Ne5 $6 (24... Nxb6 25. Bxb6 Qd7 26. Rc2 $16) 25. Qc5 Ba8 $2 {The losing move, technically, but this was already a very difficult position.} (25... Rf7 26. Rfd1 $16) 26. Bc3 Nd7 (26... Qc6 27. Qxe5 $18) 27. Bxg7+ Kxg7 28. Nxd7 Qxd7 29. Qe5+ {Black's position very obviously collapses after the rook incursion to c7.} 1-0
Joining Kramnik and So at the top with +1 (1.5/2): Magnus Carlsen
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime ½-½ Anand, Viswanathan The idea of playing an early Bf5 in the Ragozin is becoming increasingly popular for Black, but it was unheard of to play it as early as Anand did. The Indian player made it look easy to equalize with Black in the Ragozin. Even though MVL cleverly got some pressure from an equal position, it was still nothing important and the game was eventually drawn.
Carlsen casually on-looking
Daniel King shows the game Carlsen vs Mamedyarov
Giri, Anish ½-½ Mamedov, Rauf Giri's early Qb3 attempt in this Slav gave him the slightest of edges, if anything. Mamedov put up stiff resistance and defended well, even sacrificing a pawn at some point to cripple his opponent's pieces. The endgame with a bishop vs. knight was a little more comfortable for Giri, but he was unable to put his opponent in any real danger.
Anish Giri was unable to break...
...Rauf Mamedov's defenses
Kramnik, Vladimir ½-½ So, Wesley Kramnik's unusual opening play netted him nothing. The game was solidly drawn after many trades.
Cool and collected: So had no problems equalizing
Kramnik isn't usually known for his unorthodox play in the opening. Here he must have been which spirit possessed him to make this decision.
Replay Round Two Games
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Photos taken from the official website
Standings
Schedule
Round 1
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
1-0
Adams Michael
2746
So Wesley
2788
1-0
Giri Anish
2790
Mamedov Rauf
2651
½-½
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
Anand Viswanathan
2791
½-½
Carlsen Magnus
2863
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
½-½
Caruana Fabiano
2802
Round 2
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Adams Michael
2746
½-½
Caruana Fabiano
2802
Carlsen Magnus
2863
1-0
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
½-½
Anand Viswanathan
2791
Giri Anish
2790
½-½
Mamedov Rauf
2651
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
½-½
So Wesley
2788
Round 3
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
So Wesley
2788
-
Adams Michael
2746
Mamedov Rauf
2651
-
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
Anand Viswanathan
2791
-
Giri Anish
2790
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
-
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
Caruana Fabiano
2802
-
Carlsen Magnus
2863
Round 4
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Adams Michael
2746
-
Carlsen Magnus
2863
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
-
Caruana Fabiano
2802
Giri Anish
2790
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
-
Anand Viswanathan
2791
So Wesley
2788
-
Mamedov Rauf
2651
Round 5
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Mamedov Rauf
2651
-
Adams Michael
2746
Anand Viswanathan
2791
-
So Wesley
2788
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
-
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
Caruana Fabiano
2802
-
Giri Anish
2790
Carlsen Magnus
2863
-
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
Round 6
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Adams Michael
2746
-
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
Giri Anish
2790
-
Carlsen Magnus
2863
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
-
Caruana Fabiano
2802
So Wesley
2788
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
Mamedov Rauf
2651
-
Anand Viswanathan
2791
Round 7
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Anand Viswanathan
2791
-
Adams Michael
2746
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
-
Mamedov Rauf
2651
Caruana Fabiano
2802
-
So Wesley
2788
Carlsen Magnus
2863
-
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
-
Giri Anish
2790
Round 8
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Adams Michael
2746
-
Giri Anish
2790
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
-
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
So Wesley
2788
-
Carlsen Magnus
2863
Mamedov Rauf
2651
-
Caruana Fabiano
2802
Anand Viswanathan
2791
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
Round 9
Name
Rtg
Res.
Name
Rtg
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2754
-
Adams Michael
2746
Caruana Fabiano
2802
-
Anand Viswanathan
2791
Carlsen Magnus
2863
-
Mamedov Rauf
2651
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
2762
-
So Wesley
2788
Giri Anish
2790
-
Kramnik Vladimir
2783
Commentary on Playchess
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Alejandro RamirezGrandmaster 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.
In this opening Black opts for active piece play and is not afraid to fight for the initiative from an early stage. One of the many good features of this opening is that Black is often the side which controls the pace of the game.
The French Defence Powerbase 2021 is a database and contains 9839 games from the Mega 2021 and the Correspondence Database 2020, 644 of which are annotated.
The main part of the material on which the French Powerbook 2021 is based comes from the playchess.com engine room: 637,000 games. An impressive number to which 80,000 games from correspondence chess and the Mega were added.
Looking for a surprise weapon against 1.e4? Try the Stafford Gambit! After the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5, rather than following the solid lines of the Petroff after 3...d6, Black prefers to sacrifice a pawn with 3...Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6.
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