São Paulo Rd2 – Caruana crushes Karjakin, Carlsen beats Paco

by Albert Silver
9/26/2012 – The second round of São Paulo was no less exciting than the first, with drama and action. The first game to end was Anand-Aronian in a quiet draw, but this was merely the eye of the hurricane. After a slip in the opening by Karjakin, Caruana sacced two exchanges to win, and took the lead, while Carlsen beat Vallejo in a study-like endgame. Games, pictures and report by Albert Silver.

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São Paulo / Bilbao Grand Slam Final

Round 2: Tuesday, September 25, 15:00h
Francisco Vallejo 
0-1
 Magnus Carlsen
Sergey Karjakin 
0-1
 Fabiano Caruana
Viswanathan Anand 
½-½
 Levon Aronian

Round two

Report and pictures by Albert Silver


Just adorable

The second round of the Grand Slam Masters in São Paulo was no less exciting than the first, and the organizers included numerous activities such as tournaments for children, to maximize the efforts to use the event as a promotional tool for chess.


"Hmmm.... does she think I am intimidated?"


Giant tournaments were organized with hundreds of children

The day also marked the arrival of Susan Polgar who joined Gilberto Milos at the commentary table.


Susan Polgar arrived to start the second round and give her expert commentary


When not in active competition, the audience was filled with rapt youth. They were
not merely being polite as I was asked by a very young spectator to not block one
of the board monitors.

The first game to end was a fairly uneventful draw between Vishy Anand and Levon Aronian with neither allowing the other a chance to create any trouble, but soon the spectators would soon find that this was merely the eye of the hurricane.


Vishy Anand is still getting in gear after his three month layoff


It was a fairly uneventful game and they soon agreed to a draw

The game between Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana soon looked like a page from the Apocalypse, as the Italian took advantage of a mistake by the Russian to sneak in his bishop, and then blow his opponent’s position sky high with two successive exchange sacrifices to take it to the king.


Sergey Karjakin shows his most penetrating gaze

Whereas yesterday the young Italian was certainly quite lucky to walk home with the full point, this time the merit was all his as he attacked with great gusto for an attractive win. This also means that he is now the early leader with six points.


A deeply disappointed Sergey quickly explained that he made a mistake in the move
order before leaving the stage


Fabiano Caruana listens to Gilberto Milos's question

[Event "5th Final Masters"] [Site "Bilbao ESP"] [Date "2012.09.25"] [Round "2"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2773"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2012.09.24"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Bb7 11. Re1 exd4 12. cxd4 Nb4 13. Qe2 c5 14. a3 Nc6 15. d5 Ne7 16. h3 Re8 17. Bc2 Ng6 18. b3 Ba5 $1 {The Italian's bishop finds a way into White's position.} 19. Rab1 Bc3 {Black is better now, and what is worse, Sergey finds it hard to coordinate his pieces to improve his position. Sure, White's pieces seemd to be on good natural squares, but Dvoretsky once wrote that it was a player's duty to constantly seek a way to *improve* his position. } 20. Rec1 b4 21. a4 $2 a5 22. Bd3 h6 23. Qd1 Ba6 24. Bc2 Ra7 25. Kh2 Rae7 26. g4 {Although it looks bad, White is trying to find a lifesaver for his sinking ship.} Nxe4 {# With most of White's pieces tripping over themselves on the queenside, and the king's position increasingly precarious, Caruana plays forcefully and gives up the exchange.} 27. Nxe4 Rxe4 28. Bxe4 Rxe4 29. Qc2 Qe7 30. Rg1 Rxe3 {#There she blows!} 31. fxe3 Qxe3 32. Rbf1 Be2 33. Qf5 Bd3 34. Qd7 Be5+ 35. Kh1 Be4 36. Qe8+ Nf8 0-1


Fabiano Caruana

The game between Francisco Vallejo-Pons and Magnus Carlsen was another affair entirely. The game started quite slowly giving Carlsen exactly the kind of endgame he likes. While promising, that still meant an early endgame, which is not usually the most exciting way to pursue the full point. That said, to squeeze out a win from what is objectively an equal endgame against a player in the world’s top 50 still smacks of black magic. The final winning maneuver with Bd3-Bf1-Bxg2-Bh3-Bf5 was worth an inclusion in endgame test books and future instruction manuals.


After his win, Carlsen ponders a move with Paco before joining the press conference

[Event "5th Final Masters"] [Site "Bilbao ESP"] [Date "2012.09.25"] [Round "2"] [White "Vallejo Pons, F."] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "2697"] [BlackElo "2843"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2012.09.24"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. dxe5 dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Bg5 Be6 8. O-O-O Nbd7 9. Nb5 Ke7 10. Nxd6 cxd6 11. Bb5 Rhd8 12. Nd2 h6 13. Bh4 g5 14. Bg3 a6 15. Bxd7 Rxd7 16. f3 Rc8 17. Kb1 Nh5 18. Nf1 f5 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Ne3 Bg6 21. Rd2 Ke6 22. b3 b5 23. Kb2 d5 24. Re1 Nxg3 25. hxg3 h5 26. c3 d4 27. cxd4 Rxd4 28. Rxd4 exd4 29. Nc2+ Kd5 30. Nb4+ Kd6 31. Rc1 $2 {White is anxious to simplify the position, and save the draw, but Magnus has seen deeper, and the exchange merely worsens it.} Rxc1 32. Kxc1 h4 $1 33. gxh4 gxh4 {White doesn't have much choice, and he is objectively lost already.} 34. Nxa6 { #Magnus converts this position with a study-like maneuver.} (34. Nc2 $2 {is unplayable as the pawn endgame is dead lost for White.} Bxc2 35. Kxc2 Ke5 36. Kd3 Kf4 $1 37. Kxd4 Kg3 {and Black queens.} 38. Ke5 (38. f4 Kxf4) 38... Kxg2 39. f4 h3 40. f5 h2 41. f6 h1=Q 42. f7 Qh6 $19) (34. Kd2 $2 {The only reason this gets a question mark in a lost position, is that it loses faster.} a5 35. Na6 (35. Nd3 Bxd3 36. Kxd3 Ke5 {etc.})) 34... Bd3 $1 35. Nb4 Bf1 $1 36. Kd2 Bxg2 37. Ke2 Bh3 $3 38. a4 Bf5 39. axb5 d3+ $1 {The pawn cannot be taken.} 40. Ke3 (40. Nxd3 Bxd3+ 41. Kxd3 h3) 40... h3 41. Nxd3 Bxd3 0-1

Photos by Albert Silver and official site

Traditional crosstable after two rounds

Bilbao crosstable after two rounds

Playchess commentary schedule

Date
Round
Commentator
26.09.2012
round 03
King
27.09.2012
rest day
28.09.2012
round 04
Collins
29.09.2012
round 05
Trent
08.10.2012
round 06
D‘Costa
09.10.2012
round 07
King
10.10.2012
round 08
King
11.10.2012
rest day
12.10.2012
round 09
King
13.10.2012
round 10
D'Costa

Schedule and results

Round 1: Monday, September 24, 15:00h
Viswanathan Anand 
½-½
 Francisco Vallejo
Levon Aronian 
1-0
 Sergey Karjakin
Fabiano Caruana 
1-0
 Magnus Carlsen
Round 2: Tuesday, September 25, 15:00h
Francisco Vallejo 
0-1
 Magnus Carlsen
Sergey Karjakin 
0-1
 Fabiano Caruana
Viswanathan Anand 
½-½
 Levon Aronian
Round 3: Wednesday, September 26, 15:00h
Levon Aronian 
   Francisco Vallejo
Fabiano Caruana 
   Viswanathan Anand
Magnus Carlsen 
   Sergey Karjakin
Round 4: Friday, September 28, 15:00h
Fabiano Caruana 
   Francisco Vallejo
Magnus Carlsen 
   Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin 
   Viswanathan Anand
Round 5: Saturday, September 29, 15:00h
Francisco Vallejo 
   Sergey Karjakin
Viswanathan Anand 
   Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian 
   Fabiano Caruana

São Paulo partners


 

Links

The games are being 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 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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