Two leaders going into the final round
The inaugural event of the Grand Chess Tour is about to finish. With one round to go, Levon Aronian and Wesley So are tied for first place on 5/8 points, and are followed closely by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who stands a half point back. Given the ninth-round pairings, even the four players standing a half point behind MVL can still theoretically win the tournament. Of course, the likelihood of that happening is extremely low.
In case of a tie for first, the regulations of the Grand Chess Tour indicate that a playoff will decide who is declared the winner of the event. The tour points, however, will be evenly distributed according to the points obtained ‘in regulation’.
Saturday’s deciding round will see Aronian playing white against an out-of-form Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while So will get the black pieces against Leinier Dominguez, who comes from playing three decisive games in rounds 6 to 8 (two wins and a loss). Vachier-Lagrave will play black against top seed Alireza Firouzja.
Round 9 pairings
|
GM |
Aronian Levon |
|
GM |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar |
|
|
GM |
Rapport Richard |
|
GM |
Nepomniachtchi Ian |
|
|
GM |
Deac Bogdan-Daniel |
|
GM |
Caruana Fabiano |
|
|
GM |
Firouzja Alireza |
|
GM |
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime |
|
|
GM |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
|
GM |
So Wesley |
|
Aronian salvages a half point
Out of a theoretical line of the fashionable Giuoco Piano, Ian Nepomniachtchi blitzed out all but one of his first 21 moves. Aronian, who had the black pieces, took some more time on a few of his decisions. The US grandmaster agreed to enter an imbalanced endgame with a rook and a pawn against two minor pieces.
The Italian Game is considered a sound but quiet opening without early trades, giving rise to rich positions where plans are more important than forced variations. So shows black's plans on this DVD.
Nepomniachtchi vs. Aronian
The idea behind 21...Nb4 is that after 22.cxb4 Bxb2 White cannot prevent his opponent from gaining the exchange. The problem for Black is that, if his opponent manages to coordinate his bishop pair, he will be the one fighting for equality in the ensuing struggle.
Inaccuracies in the final moves before the time control left Aronian in an inferior position. However, the ever-resourceful Armenian never stopped creating problems for his opponent, as Nepo permanently needed to find precise continuations to keep his advantage.
White’s final mistake, which led to a draw instead of a win, came on move 75.
Nepo erred with 75.Ne5, when 75.Nh4+ was the way to go — of course, it is always difficult to choose the non-centralizing move.
After giving a check from h4, Black has nothing better than 75...Kg4, since 75...Kxg5 fails to 76.Nf3+, forking. Then comes 76.Ng2, attacking the rook, and thus White gains a few tempi to reroute his knight to the centre after having pushed the opposite king away from the action.
In the game, on the other hand, White’s continuation allowed the black king to grab the pawn on g5 and, more importantly, to be in time to transfer the monarch to the queenside. Aronian’s tenacious defensive effort was eventually rewarded with a half point, one that might turn out to be crucial in the fight for first place.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Nb6 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bb3! Qxd3 11...Kh8 12.Ne4 Nd7 13.Bd5 Bb6 14.Ng3 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 f5 16.d4 f4 17.Ne4 exd4 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.Bxf4 dxc3 20.bxc3 Ne5 21.Qg3 Nd3 22.Rad1 Nxe1 23.Rxd8 Raxd8 12.Nxe5 Qf5 13.Nef3! 13.Ndf3? Nxe5 14.Rxe5 Qxe5 15.Nxe5 Bxd1 16.Bxd1 Rfe8-+ 13...Rad8 14.Qe2 Nd5 15.Qe4 Qxe4 16.Nxe4 16...Be7N 16...Bb6 17.Bg5 f6 18.Rad1 Bf7 19.Bc1 Nde7 20.Bc2 Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Rd8 22.Re1 Ng6 17.Rd1 Nf6 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.g4 Rxd1+ 20.Bxd1 Bg6 21.Bf4 Nb4 22.cxb4 Bxb2 23.Rc1 Bxc1 24.Bxc1 Rd8 25.Be2 Bd3 26.Kf1 Rd5 27.Be3 a5 28.a3! axb4 29.axb4 Bxe2+ 30.Kxe2 f6 31.Nd4 Kf7 32.Kd3 h5 33.Kc4 c6 34.b5 hxg4 34...Re5 35.hxg4+- 35.bxc6?! bxc6 36.hxg4 Re5± 35...Ke8 36.b6 Kd7 37.Nb3 Rd1 38.Nc5+ Kc8 39.Bf4 39.Ne4+- 39...Rg1! 40.Bg3 Rc1+! 41.Kd4 Rd1+! 42.Nd3 Ra1 43.Bd6 Ra6 44.Bf8 Ra4+ 45.Bb4 Ra6 46.Kc5 Ra1 47.Kd4 Ra6! 48.Bf8 48.Bc5!? 48...Ra4+ 49.Nb4! Kd7 50.f3 g6 51.Bc5 Ke6 52.Kc4 f5 53.g5 f4! 54.Bd4 Kd6 54...Kf5= 55.Bg7 Kd7 55...Ra5 56.Be5± c5 57.Kxc5 Ra3 58.Nd5! 58.Bxf4 Rxf3 59.Bd2 Rf2± 58...Rxf3? 58...Ke6 59.Bc3 Rb3 60.Nxf4+ Kf7 59.Nxf4+- Rf1 60.Kd5! 60.Nxg6 Rf5± 60...Rf3 61.Bc7 61.Nxg6 Rf5 62.Nf4 Rxg5± 61...Rg3 62.Ne6! Rg1 63.Nc5+ 63.Be5 Rb1 64.Nc5+ Kc8 65.Ke6 63...Kc8 64.Ne4 64.Bf4+- 64...Rd1+± 65.Ke5 Re1 66.Kf4 66.Bd6!± 66...Kd7? 66...Rf1+ 67.Kg4 Rg1+ 68.Bg3 Rb1 67.Nd6+- Kc6 68.Nc4! Rf1+ 69.Ke4 69.Kg4 Rg1+ 70.Kf4 69...Re1+ 69...Kd7 70.Ne5+ Ke6 71.Nxg6 Re1+ 72.Kf4 Rg1 70.Kd4 Kb5 71.Nd6+ Kc6 72.Nf7! Kd7 73.Ne5+ Ke6 74.Nxg6 Kf5 75.Ne5? 75.Nh4++- Kg4 76.Ng2 76.g6 Kxh4 77.g7 Rg1= 76...Rd1+ 77.Ke4 Kxg5 78.Be5 75...Rd1+= 76.Kc5 Kxg5 77.Nf7+ Kf6 78.Nd6 Rc1+ 79.Kb5 Rb1+ 80.Ka4 Ra1+ 81.Kb3 Ke6 82.Nxb7 Rc1! 83.Kb4 Rxc7! 84.Nc5+ Kd6 85.bxc7 Kxc7 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
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Nepomniachtchi,I | 2773 | Aronian,L | 2765 | ½–½ | 2022 | | GCT Superbet Romania 2022 | 8.2 |
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A draw worth celebrating | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Dominguez beats Mamedyarov
Defending champion Mamedyarov is not having a great tournament this year in Bucharest. The Azerbaijani has lost three games so far, and his only win — in round 7, over Nepomniachtchi — came after his opponent missed a chance to win and then erred in the endgame.
Against Dominguez, Shakh faltered in a sharp endgame with queen and bishop against queen and knight.
Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.
White needs to be extremely careful here. In fact, the only move that keeps the balance is 43.Qg3, focusing on the defence of the vulnerable king on h1.
Mamedyarov instead went for 43.Qg8, though, and resigned after 43...Qe5
Any attempt to give a perpetual check fails, as the black king can find shelter on h4, which incidentally is a dark square (i.e. it cannot be attacked by the white bishop). Furthermore, playing 44.Qg3 at this point no longer works due to 44...Qxf5, while 44.Be6 fails to 44...Qe4+ when the queen and knight duo is perfectly placed to either give mate or provoke massive material concessions.
Dominguez thus bounced right back to a fifty-percent score after his loss on Thursday.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 c5 7.b3 b5 8.Be2 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Bb7 10.Nbd2 Be7 11.a4 b4 12.Rc1 Rc8 13.Ne5 cxd4 14.Rxc8N 14.Bxd4 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 0-0 16.Rxc8 Qxc8 17.Nc4 Ne4 18.Qc2 Rd8 19.Bf3 f5 20.Qb2 14...Qxc8 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.Bxd4 0-0 17.Qa1 Bf6 18.Nc4 Qc7 19.Rd1 Bd5 20.Bxf6 Nxf6 21.f3 Nd7 22.e4 Bxc4 23.Bxc4 a5 24.Qd4 Ne5 25.Be2 h6 26.g3 g5 27.Qe3 Rc8 28.f4 gxf4 29.gxf4 Ng6 30.f5 exf5 31.exf5 Nf4 32.Bc4 Kh7 33.Qf3 Rg8+ 34.Kh1 h5 35.h3 Rg5 36.Rf1! Ng2 36...Rxf5? 37.Bd3 Kh6 38.Bxf5+- 37.Qe4 37.Bd5!= Qd6 38.Bxf7 37...Rg3 37...Nh4! 38.f6+ 38.Rf4 Qb6 38...Kh6 38.Rf3= Rxf3! 39.Qxf3 Nf4 40.Qe4? 40.Qg3= 40...Kg7? 40...Nxh3-+ 41.Qf3 41.f6+ Kh6 41...Nf4 42.Bxf7 Kh6 41.Qd4+ f6 42.Qg1+ Kh6 43.Qg8? 43.Qg3!= 43...Qe5 0–1 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
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- Drag the split bars between window panes.
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Mamedyarov,S | 2770 | Dominguez Perez,L | 2753 | 0–1 | 2022 | | GCT Superbet Romania 2022 | 8.5 |
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Leinier Dominguez showing his game to Cristian Chirila | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Round 8 results
Standings after round 8
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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