Superbet: Mamedyarov joins the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/10/2021 – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov joined Wesley So and Alexander Grischuk in the lead of the Superbet Chess Classic after beating local hero Constantin Lupulescu in round 5. The Romanian, who played with the white pieces, faltered in time trouble and is now sharing last place with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Anish Giri — a single point behind the leaders, though! | Photo: Bryan Adams

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Theoretical battles

Aside from Shakhriyar’s Mamedyarov victory over Constantin Lupulescu in round 5, three of the four remaining (drawn) games saw the contenders showing strong theoretical preparation mostly in topical lines — this is made evident by the fact that novelties were only seen on moves 16, 20 and 23.

The one exception, out of the four draws, was the game between Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri, as the American grandmaster circumvented the main line of the Berlin Defence.

 
Caruana vs. Giri

Instead of the usual 8.Qxd8, Caruana played 8.Qe2, trying to take his opponent away from the most trodden paths. The queens were only traded on move 31, in fact, although precise play by both sides nevertheless led to a 45-move draw.

Fabiano Caruana

Not one to shy away from a fighting game — Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes

The clash between Mamedyarov and Lupulescu was the one that provided most of the excitement on Wednesday, with the Romanian playing a novelty as early as move 8.

 
Lupulescu vs. Mamedyarov

Lupulescu went for 8.Na4, deviating from a 2018 game in which White had played 8.a3. A strategical battle ensued, as Black was left with doubled pawns on the f-file after 8...b6 9.Bxf6 gxf6

This is the kind of battle in which Shakh’s excellent feel for the initiative and dynamic play really come to the fore. By move 32, Lupulescu was in deep time trouble while the Azerbaijani had all but maximized the power of his pieces.

 

32.Be2 was responded by 32...Nd5, threatening ...Nxe3 as the white queen is protecting a potential invasion along the g-file. The best continuation here for White would have been 33.Rg1, while Lupulescu’s 33.Bf1 — returning with the bishop — proved how dangerous Black’s threats actually are.

Both against 33.Rg1 or the text move, Mamedyarov’s response was the best in the position.

 

33...e5 makes way for the rook to be transferred to the kingside, fully unleashing the potential of Black’s well-coordinated pieces. At this point, White needed to make a difficult decision with little time on the clock, and Lupulescu erred with 34.fxe5 — the engines suggest 34.Rb2 and 34.Nh4 as the best continuations.  

There followed 34...Rg6 35.Nh4 and the very strong 35...Rxg3

 

The crucial point here is that White cannot play 36.Nxf5 due to 36...Rf3 37.Nxg7 Rxf2+ 38.Kg1 Rf3 and Black will gain a piece.

 
Analysis diagram

Instead, Lupulescu went for 36.d4 and resigned two moves later, with Black ready to wreak havoc on the kingside with his heavy pieces lined up on the g-file and his excellent centralized pair of knights.

 
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1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 e6 3.c4 Be7 4.b3 Bf6 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.Bb2 A13: English Opening: 1...e6. 6.Ba3 6...c5= 7.Qc2 Nbc6
8.Na4N The position is equal. Predecessor: 8.a3 b6 9.Be2 Bb7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.0-0 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.Bd3 h6 14.Ne2 1-0 (49) Jorgensen,A (1803)-Bengtsson,J (1985) Helsingor 2018 8...b6 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.cxd5 Qxd5 11.Nc3 Qh5 12.Ne4 Qg6 13.Nh4 Qh6 14.Nd6+ Kf8 15.Nxc8 Rxc8 16.g3 Rd8 17.Be2 Kg7 18.a3 Rd6 19.f4 Rhd8 20.Rd1 f5 21.Nf3 21.b4!? 21...Nd5 22.0-0 Kg8 23.Rb1 a5 24.Bb5 Nce7 25.Rfd1 Nf6 26.Bf1 Ng4 27.h3 Nf6 28.d3 Nc6 29.Re1 Qg7 30.Qf2 Kh8 31.Kh2 Rg8 32.Be2 Nd5 Hoping for ...Nxe3! 33.Bf1 e5 34.fxe5?
Loses the game. White should play 34.Rb2 34...Rg6!-+ Weaker is 34...Nxe5 35.Nxe5 Qxe5 36.e4 35.Nh4 Rxg3 And now ...Qg5! would win. 36.d4 Qg5 37.Ng2 cxd4 38.exd4
38...Nxd4! Weighted Error Value: White=0.60/Black=0.05
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lupulescu,C2656Mamedyarov,S27700–12021GCT Superbet Romania 20215.3

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Constantin Lupulescu

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov playing black against Constantin Lupulescu | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Going into the rest day, three players are sharing the lead with a +1 score, while no one has scored less than 2 out of 5 points, so everything is still up for grabs. In Friday’s sixth round, Levon Aronian will play black against Mamedyarov. The Armenian star has so far drawn all his games in Bucharest — much like Teimour Radjabov — but we certainly expect him to choose a fighting opening against his ever-combative opponent.

The other two co-leaders will also have the white pieces in round 6. So will face Giri, while Alexander Grischuk will play against Lupulescu.

Levon Aronian

A fan favourite — Levon Aronian | Photo: Bryan Adams


Standings after round 5

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TBPerf.
1
GM
GM
2770

1
GM
2770
½

2
GM
2781
½

3
GM
2776
½

4
GM
2820
1

5
GM
2627
½

Ø 2755
3/5
2770
3.0
5
8.00
2827
2
GM


2
GM
2770
½

3
GM
2770
½

4
GM
2627
1

5
GM
2765
½

Ø 2738
3/5
2776
3.0
5
7.75
2810
3
GM

1
GM
2770
½

2
GM
2776
½

3
GM
2627
½

4
GM
2765
½

5
GM
2656
1

Ø 2719
3/5
2770
3.0
5
7.50
2791
4
GM

1
GM
2820
½

2
GM
2780
½


4
GM
2770
½

5
GM
2776
½

Ø 2781
2.5/5
2765
2.5
5
6.25
2781
5
GM
GM
2627

1
GM
2780
½


3
GM
2770
½

4
GM
2776
0

5
GM
2770
½

Ø 2771
2.5/5
2627
2.5
5
6.00
2771
6
GM
GM
2781

1
GM
2656
½

2
GM
2770
½

3
GM
2820
½

4
GM
2780
½


Ø 2757
2.5/5
2781
2.5
5
5.75
2757
7
GM
GM
2820

1
GM
2765
½

2
GM
2656
1

3
GM
2781
½

4
GM
2770
0

5
GM
2780
½

Ø 2750
2.5/5
2820
2.5
5
5.50
2750
8
GM
GM
2780

1
GM
2627
½

2
GM
2765
½

3
GM
2656
0

4
GM
2781
½

5
GM
2820
½

Ø 2730
2/5
2780
2.0
5
5.00
2658
9
GM

1
GM
2776
½

2
GM
2627
0

3
GM
2765
½

4
GM
2656
½

5
GM
2781
½

Ø 2721
2/5
2760
2.0
5
5.00
2649
10
GM

1
GM
2781
½

2
GM
2820
0

3
GM
2780
1


5
GM
2770
0

Ø 2782
2/5
2656
2.0
5
4.25
2710
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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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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