Superbet: Deac and Caruana strike first

by Klaus Besenthal
6/7/2021 – The first two decisive results of the Superbet Chess Classic were seen in Sunday’s second round, as the top seed and the bottom seed won their games and are now sharing the lead. Fabiano Caruana defeated Constantin Lupulescu, while Bogdan-Daniel Deac [pictured] stunned Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Two winners on day 2

Playing black against top seed Fabiano Caruana, Constantin Lupulescu was on the defensive from the start. Objectively speaking, the Romanian was not in a bad position, but the two or three small mistakes he made were duly punished by the latest challenger for the World Championship.

GM Karsten Müller demonstrated why, in the endgame, a mobile queen majority is often a strong asset.

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bxf6 Nxf6 8.Bd3 Nxe4 9.Bxe4 c5 10.Qe2 Qa5+ 11.c3 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Be7 13.0-0-0 0-0 14.Kb1 Rd8 15.Bc2 Bd7 16.Qe4 g6 17.h4 Ba4 18.Bxa4 Qxa4 19.h5 g5 20.Qxb7 "The queenside majority" - In an endgame a mobile queenside pawn majority often is a strong asset: Bc5? This runs into a refutation. After 20...Bf6 Black has some compensation for the pawn. 21.Qc6! Qxc6?! The resulting endgame is surprisingly bad for Black due to White's activity and mobile queenside majority. 21...Qc4 offers more resistance, but White is for choice after 22.Nb3+- 22.Nxc6 Rxd1+ 22...Rdc8 23.Ne5 f6 24.Nd3+- 23.Rxd1 Bxf2 23...Rc8 24.Ne5 Bxf2 25.Rd7 Rf8 26.Ng4 Bb6 27.Kc2+- 24.Rd7 f6 24...g4 25.Nd8+- 24...Rf8 25.b4+- 25.Nd8 Here a knight on the rim is strong. Bb6?! This forces the knight to win a pawn. 25...g4!? is more tenacious, but White should win in the long run after 26.Kc2+- 26.Nf7! Rf8 26...Kg7 27.Nxg5++- 27.Nxh6+ Kh8 28.Kc2 28.Kc2 f5 28...Be3 29.Kd3 Bc1 30.b4+- 29.Nf7+ Kh7 30.Nxg5+ Kh6 31.Nxe6+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2820Lupulescu,C26561–02021C13GCT Superbet Romania 20212.1

Fabiano Caruana scored his first win on Sunday | Photo: Lennart Ootes

On move 30, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave made a mistake that suddenly shifted his position from a nice middlegame with the initiative into an endgame a pawn down. The Frenchman then defended somewhat carelessly, so a rather quick defeat followed.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.c3 0-0 11.Bc2 f5 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.a4 b4 14.Re1 Bg4 15.Nf1 Bc5 16.Be3 d4 17.cxd4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 Qxd4 20.Rad1
White seems to have the more compact position here, but now he throws down the gauntlet to his opponent by offering a pawn himself. 20...Qxb2 Probably this was not the best move. Good was 20...Qg4! 21.Re2 Qc3 22.Rd3 Qa1 23.Rd1 Qc3 24.Rd3 Qa1 25.g4 b3 A pawn sacrifice that initially pushes the white bishop to a worse square. But Black also gains a tempo, e.g. to avoid g4-g5 threatening Qd5+ and Qxc5. 26.Bxb3+ Kh8 27.g5 Ng8 28.Qd5 Bd6 29.Rh3 g6
30.Qd3? This threatens Dxg6, but obviously MVL has overlooked or not sufficiently appreciated the black reply. 30.Qe6! was a better way to threaten Dxg6. After Qg7 31.Ng3 White would still have had the initiative. 30...Rf5! Now White no longer threatens Dxg6, while Black in turn has Rxg5+. 31.Qc3+ That immediately costs the g5-pawn, but was this pawn even salvageable? Qxc3 32.Rxc3 Rxg5+ 33.Ng3 Nf6 34.Kf1 Rb8 35.h3? This move does not seem to have a positive effect. 35.Re6! Ng4 36.Kg2 35...Re5 36.Bc4? 36.Rxe5 Bxe5 37.Re3 would have given White better opportunities. 36...Rc5 37.Rcc2 Ra5! Black wins a second pawn. That decides the game. 38.Ne4 Nxe4 39.Rxe4 Rxa4 40.h4 Kg7 41.h5 gxh5 42.Re1 Rbb4 43.Be2 Rh4 44.Bf3 a5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier Lagrave,M2760Deac,B26270–12021C83GCT Superbet Romania 20212.5

A dream start for Bogdan-Daniel Deac | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Grandmaster draws

In Round 1 we got to see three ‘grandmaster draws’ (of the modern type), while the second day of action was not all that different. It is perhaps no coincidence that this phenomenon was seen on the boards which faced players from the very top against each other.

You can compare it with cycling: the top riders scramble up the steepest mountains together, and then, when the opportunity is favourable, at some point there are a few ‘attacks’, which are decisive for the outcome of the race.

 
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1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.e4 Bb4 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 e5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Be3 Bxc3 11.bxc3 d6
This position was certainly still known to the players. 12.c5 Other grandmasters here have gone for 12.h3 planning to later advance with f2-f4. 12...d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Re1 14.Bd2 Nf4 was possible, but not better. 14...Nxe3 15.Rxe3 Qd5 16.Bc2 Qxc5 17.Qh5
Here everything fits together: White gets his pawn back. 17...g6 18.Qxe5 Qxe5 19.Rxe5 Now it's clear: the likelihood of a draw is at least 99.9%! a5 20.Rc5 Be6 21.a4 Rfc8 22.Be4 Bd5 23.Bxd5 cxd5 24.Rxd5 Rxc3 25.g3 Rc4 26.Kg2 Kg7 27.Kg1 Kg8 28.Kg2 Kg7 29.Kg1 Kg8 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.Kg1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mamedyarov,S2770Grischuk,A2776½–½2021B44GCT Superbet Romania 20212.4

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk in a good mood | Photo: Lennart Ootes

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Bd6 9.Qc2 e5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.0-0-0 Qe7 13.Kb1 Be6 14.Bxe6 Qxe6 15.f3 Rad8 16.e4
So far this has all been played before. The position is completely equal, but the opposite-side castling and the majorities on different flanks make it quite interesting. 16...Rd7 17.Bc1 Rfd8 18.Rxd7 Qxd7 19.Ne2 c6 20.Be3 Bc7 21.Rc1 21.Bxa7?! b6 Wesley So certainly wasn't going to do that to himself here. 21...Bb6 On the other side of the board, the trick of locking up the opponent's bishop does not work: 21...Bxh2 22.g3? But now comes 22.Bxa7!= 22...Qd3 22.Bg5 Qe6 23.Qb3 h6 24.Qxe6 fxe6 25.Bf4 Nh5 26.Be5 Rd2 27.Rc2 Rd1+ 28.Rc1 Rd2 29.Rc2 Rd1+ 30.Rc1 Rd2 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2770Aronian,L2781½–½2021D38GCT Superbet Romania 20212.2

Wesley So and Levon Aronian are waiting for the right time to attack | Photo: Lennart Ootes

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 Bd6 11.Nc3 Nbd7 12.Rfd1 Bxf4 13.gxf4 Nb6 14.Qd3 a5 15.Ne5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Nbd5 17.Qf3 c6 18.e3 Qe7 19.h3 Nd7 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.Ne4 Qe7 22.Kh2 b6 23.Rac1 Rac8 24.Rc4 Rc7 25.Rdc1 Rfc8
At least this game has one insight to offer: a pawn like the one on c6, which could be weak with a different piece constellation or setup, can also simply be safely covered. Then it might still look weak, but it isn't. 26.b3 Qa3 27.Qd1 Qe7 28.Qf3 Qa3 29.Qd1 Qe7 30.Qf3 An appropriate end: neither side can really open this position. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2780Radjabov,T2765½–½2021E05GCT Superbet Romania 20212.3

Teimour Radjabov and Anish Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 2

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TBPerf.
1
Caruana,F
2820
1.5
2
½
1
1.00
2904
2
Deac,B
2627
1.5
2
½
1
1.00
2963
3
Giri,A
2780
1.0
2
½
½
1.25
2696
4
Radjabov,T
2765
1.0
2
½
½
1.25
2800
5
Mamedyarov,S
2770
1.0
2
½
½
1.00
2773
5
So,W
2770
1.0
2
½
½
1.00
2776
7
Aronian,L
2781
1.0
2
½
½
0.75
2713
8
Grischuk,A
2776
1.0
2
½
½
0.75
2765
9
Vachier-Lagrave,M
2760
0.5
2
0
½
0.50
2509
10
Lupulescu,C
2656
0.5
2
0
½
0.50
2608
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.0-0 cxd4 11.Nxd4 The position is equal. Bd7 D38: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence (4 Nf3 Bb4). 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc3 14.Rxc3 Bxc6 15.Bb5 Bd5 16.Bc4 Bc6 17.Bb5
17...Bd5N Predecessor: 17...Be4 18.Bd3 Bxd3 19.Rxd3 b6 20.Rfd1 Rad8 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Rxd8+ Qxd8 23.g3 h5 24.h4 Qd7 25.Qc2 ½-½ (31) Xu,Y (2557)-Xu,Y (2454) Xinghua 2017 18.Bc4 Bc6 Not much happened in this game. Weighted Error Value: White=0.01/Black=0.00 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Radjabov,T2765Caruana,F2820½–½2021D38GCT Superbet Romania 20211.1
Mamedyarov,S2770So,W2770½–½2021D27GCT Superbet Romania 20211.2
Grischuk,A2776Vachier-Lagrave,M2760½–½2021D85GCT Superbet Romania 20211.3
Lupulescu,C2656Aronian,L2781½–½2021E39GCT Superbet Romania 20211.4
Deac,B2627Giri,A2780½–½2021D43GCT Superbet Romania 20211.5
Caruana,F2820Lupulescu,C26561–02021C13GCT Superbet Romania 20212.1
So,W2770Aronian,L2781½–½2021D38GCT Superbet Romania 20212.2
Giri,A2780Radjabov,T2765½–½2021E05GCT Superbet Romania 20212.3
Mamedyarov,S2770Grischuk,A2776½–½2021B44GCT Superbet Romania 20212.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2760Deac,B26270–12021C83GCT Superbet Romania 20212.5
Aronian,L2781Caruana,F2820½–½2021D26GCT Superbet Romania 20213.1
Deac,B2627Mamedyarov,S2770½–½2021E04GCT Superbet Romania 20213.2
Grischuk,A2776So,W2770½–½2021C67GCT Superbet Romania 20213.3
Radjabov,T2765Vachier-Lagrave,M2760½–½2021D85GCT Superbet Romania 20213.4
Lupulescu,C2656Giri,A27801–02021A28GCT Superbet Romania 20213.5
So,W2770Caruana,F28201–02021A20GCT Superbet Romania 20214.1
Grischuk,A2776Deac,B26271–02021D50GCT Superbet Romania 20214.2
Giri,A2780Aronian,L2781½–½2021E04GCT Superbet Romania 20214.3
Mamedyarov,S2770Radjabov,T2765½–½2021E60GCT Superbet Romania 20214.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M2760Lupulescu,C2656½–½2021C11GCT Superbet Romania 20214.5
Deac,B2627So,W2770½–½2021D24GCT Superbet Romania 20215.1
Radjabov,T2765Grischuk,A2776½–½2021D37GCT Superbet Romania 20215.2
Lupulescu,C2656Mamedyarov,S27700–12021A13GCT Superbet Romania 20215.3
Caruana,F2820Giri,A2780½–½2021C67GCT Superbet Romania 20215.4
Aronian,L2781Vachier-Lagrave,M2760½–½2021D41GCT Superbet Romania 20215.5
Mamedyarov,S2770Aronian,L27811–02021D38GCT Superbet Romania 20216.1
So,W2770Giri,A2780½–½2021E53GCT Superbet Romania 20216.2
Grischuk,A2776Lupulescu,C26561–02021B67GCT Superbet Romania 20216.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2760Caruana,F2820½–½2021C78GCT Superbet Romania 20216.4
Deac,B2627Radjabov,T2765½–½2021C67GCT Superbet Romania 20216.5
Caruana,F2820Mamedyarov,S27700–12021C48GCT Superbet Romania 20217.1
Aronian,L2781Grischuk,A27761–02021D40GCT Superbet Romania 20217.2
Radjabov,T2765So,W2770½–½2021D39GCT Superbet Romania 20217.3
Giri,A2780Vachier-Lagrave,M27601–02021A34GCT Superbet Romania 20217.4
Lupulescu,C2656Deac,B2627½–½2021A25GCT Superbet Romania 20217.5
Mamedyarov,S2770Giri,A2780½–½2021D85GCT Superbet Romania 20218.1
Grischuk,A2776Caruana,F2820½–½2021C78GCT Superbet Romania 20218.2
So,W2770Vachier-Lagrave,M2760½–½2021A34GCT Superbet Romania 20218.3
Deac,B2627Aronian,L27810–12021B51GCT Superbet Romania 20218.4
Radjabov,T2765Lupulescu,C2656½–½2021B67GCT Superbet Romania 20218.5
Vachier-Lagrave,M2760Mamedyarov,S2770½–½2021C47GCT Superbet Romania 20219.1
Giri,A2780Grischuk,A2776½–½2021C54GCT Superbet Romania 20219.2
Aronian,L2781Radjabov,T2765½–½2021C67GCT Superbet Romania 20219.3
Lupulescu,C2656So,W2770½–½2021E36GCT Superbet Romania 20219.4
Caruana,F2820Deac,B2627½–½2021A07GCT Superbet Romania 20219.5

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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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