Skilling Open: Giri still on top

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/24/2020 – Day 2 of the preliminaries at the Skilling Open saw Anish Giri keeping the sole lead by scoring five draws in a row. Three players stand close behind, while the race to reach the knockout is fierce, with some big names — e.g. Levon Aronian and Sergey Karjakin — currently not in the top half of the standings table. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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A tough crowd

One of the attractive features of the format used in the Champions Chess Tour is the fact that advancing to the knockout stage is a tough task even for some of the strongest players in the world. With the likes of lower-rated players absolutely capable to upset the big stars at any point in time, the fight to stay alive is a fun spectacle before the direct matchups start on the fourth day of competition.

David Antón, Le Quang Liem and, of course, the youngster Alireza Firouzja have picked up wins over the big guns throughout. However, in a long 15-round all-play-all, consistency is what matters most. After all, the standings table has all 2800+ players among the top 8, joined by four regulars of the elite circuit — Anish Giri, Wesley So, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Teimour Radjabov.

Notice, though, that the likes of Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler will need to have a good run on day 3 to reach the quarterfinals. 

With the new tour granting points not only to those moving on to the knockout stage, fighting for first in the round robin is not only a matter of pride. Currently, Giri is atop the standings on 6½/10 after winning three times and drawing the remainder of his games. Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and Ding Liren stand a half point back.

Skilling Open 2020

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Eight games per round, with five rounds per day, surely provide plenty of interesting battles, good-looking combinations and missed opportunities. In round 6, for example, Nakamura did not foresee a tactical shot in his game against Le:

 
Nakamura vs. Le
Position after 29.Rac1

White is still fine after 29...Rxb5 30.Nxb5 Qxb2, but the game-losing blunder came after 31.Bxd5 Bxd5:

 
Position after 31...Bxd5

32.Nxc7 allowed Black to play the stunning 32...Rxe3, attacking the queen — the only piece defending the mate on g2. (Note that 33.Rxe3 fails to 33...Qc1+ attacking the knight). Nakamura was visibly upset, and tried to defend his losing position after 33.Nxd5 Rxg3+ 34.hxg3 Qd4 35.Ne3, but to no avail. Resignation came on move 46.

Le Quang Liem

It was a great start of the day for the Vietnamese, who had to face Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s Najdorf Sicilian in the very next round:

 
Le vs. Vachier-Lagrave - Round 7
Position after 19.g5

A typical double-edged Najdorf! And now Vachier-Lagrave showed why he is considered perhaps the biggest specialist in these systems — 19...Rxc3 and there is no way back. The game continued 20.gxf6 Rb8 21.Nb3 Rxb3 (insisting on the exchange sacrifice) 22.cxb3 Qxe4+:

 
Position after 22...Qxe4

Here is where White faltered decisively with 23.Ka1, allowing the Frenchman to place his dark-squared bishop on the all-important long diagonal with 23...Bxf6. Better for White was 23.Bd3 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Qxf4 25.Rhf1 (preventing ...Bf5+) Qh4 and 26.fxe7, when the king on b1 is still in danger, but Black will need to work harder to break through.

After the text, Le quickly found himself forced to resign after 24.Bg2 Nf3 25.Qe3 Qc2:

 
Position after 25...Qc2

0-1. It takes courage to face MVL in the Najdorf!

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Going into the last round of day 2, Carlsen was sharing the lead with Giri on 5½ points. Giri drew Radjabov with white, but anyway ended up in the sole lead for a second day in a row, as the world champion lost against Karjakin in round 10:

 
Karjakin vs. Carlsen - Round 10
Position after 27.Rf1

The Russian, playing white, has advanced his kingside pawns and closed the structure on that flank of the board. With Black’s position cramped on that side, White is threatening to trap the queen via Bh3. The double-edged battle continued — 27...c5 28.Be3 d4 29.Bh3 dxe3 30.Qg3:

 
Position after 30.Qg3

There is no way to save the black queen, thus 30...Qxc2 31.Rxc2 Nxc2 32.f5. The engines think Black is okay still, but finding the correct moves in such a sharp position is never easy, especially in a rapid game — even for the world champion. Black faltered with 32...Rd2+:

 
Position after 32...Rd2+

Black needed to play 32...Ned4 consolidating his position and putting the pressure on White, who would have needed to find a plan to make progress. After the text, however, there followed 33.Kh1 gxf5 34.Bxf5 and the move that probably Carlsen counted on from the beginning of the variation — 34...e2:

 
Position after 34...e2

The problem is that after 35.Nxe2 Rxe2 36.Bxe6 Rxe6, White has 37.Qf3 with a double attack on the rook and the weak spot on f7:

 
Position after 37.Qf3

White is totally winning. Carlsen continued playing until move 52, but Karjakin did not falter until getting his second win of the event.

Sergey Karjakin


Standings after Round 10

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
TBPerf.
1
2731
6.5
10
3.00
2878
2
2881
6.0
10
4.50
2831
3
2836
6.0
10
4.00
2821
4
2741
6.0
10
2.00
2813
5
2778
5.5
10
3.50
2803
6
2860
5.5
10
3.00
2780
7
2829
5.5
10
3.00
2791
8
2703
5.0
10
3.00
2762
9
2758
5.0
10
2.50
2775
10
2667
5.0
10
2.50
2785
11
2709
4.5
10
3.00
2742
12
2778
4.5
10
2.00
2715
13
2744
4.5
10
1.50
2728
14
2742
4.0
10
2.50
2681
15
2636
3.5
10
2.50
2661
16
2774
3.0
10
1.50
2599
TBs: Koya, Wins with black, Wins

All games

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.Qd3!       outshines the older 8.Bxc6. B62: Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer: 6...e6: Unusual White 7th moves. 8.0-0 with more complications. Be7 9.Nb3 Qc7 10.Be3 0-0 11.f4 8...Be7 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.0-0-0 0-0 11.Nb3 d5 12.e5 Ng4 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Qd4 Nh6 15.f4 f6
16.exf6N Predecessor: 16.Rhe1 Nf7 17.Nc5 fxe5 18.fxe5 Nh6 19.N3a4 Be8 20.Rf1 Bh5 21.Rde1 Nf5 22.Qd2 1-0 (36) Matlakov,M (2700)-Maghsoodloo,P (2688) St Petersburg 2018 16...Qxf6 17.g3 17.Nc5 keeps more tension. Qe7 18.Rhe1 Nf5 19.Qg1 Rae8 20.g3 17...Nf5 18.Qxf6 gxf6 19.Nc5 Rf7 20.Rhe1 Re8 21.g4 21.N3e4!? Bc8 22.g4 dxe4 23.gxf5 exf5 24.Rg1+ Rg7 25.Rxg7+ Kxg7 26.Rd6 21...Nd6 22.h4 Bc8 The position is equal. 23.Nd3 Ba6 24.Nc5 Bc8 25.Nd3 Ba6 26.Nc5 Bc8 Weighted Error Value: White=0.10/Black=0.05
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2731Vachier-Lagrave,M2860½–½2020B62Skilling Open CCT 20211.1
Karjakin,S2709Ding,L2836½–½2020B55Skilling Open CCT 20211.2
Nakamura,H2829Duda,J2774½–½2020C43Skilling Open CCT 20211.3
Le,Q2744Aronian,L27780–12020D66Skilling Open CCT 20211.4
Vidit,S2636Firouzja,A2703½–½2020E05Skilling Open CCT 20211.5
So,W2741Anton Guijarro,D2667½–½2020E32Skilling Open CCT 20211.6
Svidler,P2742Radjabov,T2758½–½2020C54Skilling Open CCT 20211.7
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Carlsen,M28811–02020C60Skilling Open CCT 20211.8
Vachier-Lagrave,M2860Carlsen,M2881½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 20212.1
Radjabov,T2758Nepomniachtchi,I27780–12020D93Skilling Open CCT 20212.2
Anton Guijarro,D2667Svidler,P27421–02020D85Skilling Open CCT 20212.3
Firouzja,A2703So,W27411–02020D04Skilling Open CCT 20212.4
Aronian,L2778Vidit,S26361–02020D41Skilling Open CCT 20212.5
Duda,J2774Le,Q2744½–½2020D41Skilling Open CCT 20212.6
Ding,L2836Nakamura,H2829½–½2020C54Skilling Open CCT 20212.7
Giri,A2731Karjakin,S27091–02020D37Skilling Open CCT 20212.8
Karjakin,S2709Vachier-Lagrave,M2860½–½2020B69Skilling Open CCT 20213.1
Nakamura,H2829Giri,A2731½–½2020B92Skilling Open CCT 20213.2
Le,Q2744Ding,L2836½–½2020E15Skilling Open CCT 20213.3
Vidit,S2636Duda,J2774½–½2020D85Skilling Open CCT 20213.4
So,W2741Aronian,L27781–02020E05Skilling Open CCT 20213.5
Svidler,P2742Firouzja,A2703½–½2020B10Skilling Open CCT 20213.6
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Anton Guijarro,D26670–12020A01Skilling Open CCT 20213.7
Carlsen,M2881Radjabov,T27581–02020D38Skilling Open CCT 20213.8
Vachier-Lagrave,M2860Radjabov,T27580–12020B30Skilling Open CCT 20214.1
Anton Guijarro,D2667Carlsen,M28810–12020D45Skilling Open CCT 20214.2
Firouzja,A2703Nepomniachtchi,I2778½–½2020D85Skilling Open CCT 20214.3
Aronian,L2778Svidler,P2742½–½2020B53Skilling Open CCT 20214.4
Duda,J2774So,W27410–12020D37Skilling Open CCT 20214.5
Ding,L2836Vidit,S2636½–½2020C77Skilling Open CCT 20214.6
Giri,A2731Le,Q27441–02020D41Skilling Open CCT 20214.7
Karjakin,S2709Nakamura,H28290–12020C28Skilling Open CCT 20214.8
Nakamura,H2829Vachier-Lagrave,M2860½–½2020B68Skilling Open CCT 20215.1
Le,Q2744Karjakin,S27091–02020B67Skilling Open CCT 20215.2
Vidit,S2636Giri,A27310–12020D85Skilling Open CCT 20215.3
So,W2741Ding,L2836½–½2020E32Skilling Open CCT 20215.4
Svidler,P2742Duda,J2774½–½2020D78Skilling Open CCT 20215.5
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Aronian,L2778½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 20215.6
Carlsen,M2881Firouzja,A27031–02020D35Skilling Open CCT 20215.7
Radjabov,T2758Anton Guijarro,D26670–12020D39Skilling Open CCT 20215.8
Vachier-Lagrave,M2860Anton Guijarro,D26671–02020C83Skilling Open CCT 20216.1
Firouzja,A2703Radjabov,T27580–12020C47Skilling Open CCT 20216.2
Aronian,L2778Carlsen,M2881½–½2020D37Skilling Open CCT 20216.3
Duda,J2774Nepomniachtchi,I27780–12020D85Skilling Open CCT 20216.4
Ding,L2836Svidler,P2742½–½2020E60Skilling Open CCT 20216.5
Giri,A2731So,W2741½–½2020A07Skilling Open CCT 20216.6
Karjakin,S2709Vidit,S26361–02020C54Skilling Open CCT 20216.7
Nakamura,H2829Le,Q27440–12020A29Skilling Open CCT 20216.8
Le,Q2744Vachier-Lagrave,M28600–12020B91Skilling Open CCT 20217.1
Vidit,S2636Nakamura,H2829½–½2020D37Skilling Open CCT 20217.2
So,W2741Karjakin,S2709½–½2020B56Skilling Open CCT 20217.3
Svidler,P2742Giri,A2731½–½2020D78Skilling Open CCT 20217.4
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Ding,L2836½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 20217.5
Carlsen,M2881Duda,J27741–02020D30Skilling Open CCT 20217.6
Radjabov,T2758Aronian,L27781–02020D37Skilling Open CCT 20217.7
Anton Guijarro,D2667Firouzja,A27030–12020E71Skilling Open CCT 20217.8
Vachier-Lagrave,M2860Firouzja,A2703½–½2020B10Skilling Open CCT 20218.1
Aronian,L2778Anton Guijarro,D2667½–½2020C77Skilling Open CCT 20218.2
Duda,J2774Radjabov,T27580–12020A38Skilling Open CCT 20218.3
Ding,L2836Carlsen,M2881½–½2020D37Skilling Open CCT 20218.4
Giri,A2731Nepomniachtchi,I2778½–½2020B22Skilling Open CCT 20218.5
Karjakin,S2709Svidler,P2742½–½2020A45Skilling Open CCT 20218.6
Nakamura,H2829So,W2741½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 20218.7
Le,Q2744Vidit,S2636½–½2020C80Skilling Open CCT 20218.8
Vidit,S2636Vachier-Lagrave,M2860½–½2020D85Skilling Open CCT 20219.1
So,W2741Le,Q27441–02020C54Skilling Open CCT 20219.2
Svidler,P2742Nakamura,H2829½–½2020C54Skilling Open CCT 20219.3
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Karjakin,S2709½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 20219.4
Carlsen,M2881Giri,A2731½–½2020B53Skilling Open CCT 20219.5
Radjabov,T2758Ding,L28360–12020B97Skilling Open CCT 20219.6
Anton Guijarro,D2667Duda,J27741–02020D35Skilling Open CCT 20219.7
Firouzja,A2703Aronian,L27781–02020A09Skilling Open CCT 20219.8
Vachier-Lagrave,M2860Aronian,L2778½–½2020C65Skilling Open CCT 202110.1
Duda,J2774Firouzja,A27031–02020B10Skilling Open CCT 202110.2
Ding,L2836Anton Guijarro,D26671–02020D02Skilling Open CCT 202110.3
Giri,A2731Radjabov,T2758½–½2020E52Skilling Open CCT 202110.4
Karjakin,S2709Carlsen,M28811–02020C41Skilling Open CCT 202110.5
Nakamura,H2829Nepomniachtchi,I27781–02020B90Skilling Open CCT 202110.6
Le,Q2744Svidler,P27421–02020B85Skilling Open CCT 202110.7
Vidit,S2636So,W2741½–½2020D37Skilling Open CCT 202110.8
So,W2741Vachier-Lagrave,M2860½–½2020D85Skilling Open CCT 202111.1
Svidler,P2742Vidit,S26360–12020E65Skilling Open CCT 202111.2
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Le,Q2744½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 202111.3
Carlsen,M2881Nakamura,H2829½–½2020C24Skilling Open CCT 202111.4
Radjabov,T2758Karjakin,S27091–02020D63Skilling Open CCT 202111.5
Anton Guijarro,D2667Giri,A2731½–½2020E51Skilling Open CCT 202111.6
Firouzja,A2703Ding,L28361–02020C54Skilling Open CCT 202111.7
Aronian,L2778Duda,J27741–02020C24Skilling Open CCT 202111.8
Vachier-Lagrave,M2860Duda,J27741–02020C01Skilling Open CCT 202112.1
Ding,L2836Aronian,L2778½–½2020E05Skilling Open CCT 202112.2
Giri,A2731Firouzja,A27030–12020B67Skilling Open CCT 202112.3
Karjakin,S2709Anton Guijarro,D26670–12020C54Skilling Open CCT 202112.4
Nakamura,H2829Radjabov,T2758½–½2020D37Skilling Open CCT 202112.5
Le,Q2744Carlsen,M2881½–½2020D45Skilling Open CCT 202112.6
Vidit,S2636Nepomniachtchi,I2778½–½2020D85Skilling Open CCT 202112.7
So,W2741Svidler,P2742½–½2020D85Skilling Open CCT 202112.8
Svidler,P2742Vachier-Lagrave,M28601–02020B90Skilling Open CCT 202113.1
Nepomniachtchi,I2778So,W2741½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 202113.2
Carlsen,M2881Vidit,S26361–02020C50Skilling Open CCT 202113.3
Radjabov,T2758Le,Q2744½–½2020D37Skilling Open CCT 202113.4
Anton Guijarro,D2667Nakamura,H28290–12020E46Skilling Open CCT 202113.5
Firouzja,A2703Karjakin,S27091–02020D75Skilling Open CCT 202113.6
Aronian,L2778Giri,A27311–02020B50Skilling Open CCT 202113.7
Duda,J2774Ding,L28361–02020D46Skilling Open CCT 202113.8
Vachier-Lagrave,M2860Ding,L2836½–½2020B90Skilling Open CCT 202114.1
Giri,A2731Duda,J2774½–½2020C42Skilling Open CCT 202114.2
Karjakin,S2709Aronian,L27780–12020D00Skilling Open CCT 202114.3
Nakamura,H2829Firouzja,A27031–02020B19Skilling Open CCT 202114.4
Le,Q2744Anton Guijarro,D26671–02020C83Skilling Open CCT 202114.5
Vidit,S2636Radjabov,T2758½–½2020A25Skilling Open CCT 202114.6
So,W2741Carlsen,M2881½–½2020E36Skilling Open CCT 202114.7
Svidler,P2742Nepomniachtchi,I27780–12020B90Skilling Open CCT 202114.8
Nepomniachtchi,I2778Vachier-Lagrave,M2860½–½2020B51Skilling Open CCT 202115.1
Carlsen,M2881Svidler,P2742½–½2020B53Skilling Open CCT 202115.2
Radjabov,T2758So,W2741½–½2020D93Skilling Open CCT 202115.3
Anton Guijarro,D2667Vidit,S26360–12020E51Skilling Open CCT 202115.4
Firouzja,A2703Le,Q27440–12020A11Skilling Open CCT 202115.5
Aronian,L2778Nakamura,H2829½–½2020C67Skilling Open CCT 202115.6
Duda,J2774Karjakin,S27090–12020D37Skilling Open CCT 202115.7
Ding,L2836Giri,A2731½–½2020A11Skilling Open CCT 202115.8

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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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