Tashkent 03: Feisty third round

by Alejandro Ramirez
10/23/2014 – Most of the games today in Tashkent were interesting brawls, with quite a few decisive results. Kasimdzhanov overestimated his chances against Jobava, who took a pawn, outcalculated the Uzbek player and won. Karjakin nurtured an extra pawn into a win against Jakovenko while Mamedyarov tricked Gelfand in an endgame. The rest of the games were very long fights.

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The second stage of the 2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix is taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The tournament will run from October 20th to November 3rd, 2014. Some of the strongest players in the world will compete in a Round Robin event. The winner and runner-up of the Grand Prix series will earn their spot at the 2016 Candidate's Tournament.

Round Three

Round 03 – October 23 2014, 15:00h
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
1-0
Gelfand, Boris 2748
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Giri, Anish 2768
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
0-1
Jobava, Baadur 2717
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
½-½
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
1-0
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747

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Daniel King also brings us the recap of Round Three:

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 1-0 Gelfand, Boris
Mamedyarov's idea in the Benoni will probably not be repeated very often. Gelfand's position was good and he had a few chances to equalize or create interesting and double-edged play. However he played unusually passive and it allowed the Azerbaijani to open the queenside favorably. Black's weak b-pawn became an issue. After an inexact move from Mamedyarov an unpleasant endgame for Gelfand was reached (Mamedyarov could have kept his extra pawn instead of going for this endgame). With precise play the position was a draw despite Mamedyarov's passed pawns, but a last minute blunder/miscalculation lost the game for Gelfand.

Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ Giri, Anish
Nakamura's activity gave him the upper hand throughout the entire game, however it was never clear how to make any progress and breach Giri's defenses. The Dutch player was very patient and eventually Nakamura ran out of ideas. The resulting rook endgame was not an easy draw, but Giri comfortably held it.

Nakamura persisted and he persisted...

But Giri held on like a champ

Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Andreikin, Dmitry
Andreikin's handling of the Berlin was very good. Caruana never had any chances to create play, and a draw was agreed in a double-rook endgame.

Caruana has yet to find the pace from his previous tournaments

Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 0-1 Jobava, Baadur
After another unusual opening Jobava had a very passive position. Kasimdzhanov tried to smash it with a pawn sacrifice, but the Georgian maneuvered his pieces in the back rank and set up solid defenses. Black little by little pushed White away and his extra pawn was starting to become significant when Kasimdzhanov decided to take it back by force. This was, however, based on a miscalculation and Jobava seized his chance. He emerged up the exchange and the game was over.

Two bad games in a row and Kasimdzhanov finds himself at the bottom of the table

Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
A battle of monster preparations. It is possible that Radjabov used a different engine to analyze than MVL. White obviously had an edge in the endgame, but the question is whether that edge can or cannot be used. As it transpired, it was MVL that had to correct assessment as Radjabov was unable to put Black in any sort of danger. By the way, the novelty of the game was on move 25... maybe this will be common in Radjabov's games?

Radjabov uncorking his deep preparation

but MVL was certainy unfazed

Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 Jakovenko, Dmitry
In an unusual opening Karjakin ended up playing the Black side of the Fianchetto Grunfeld... with White! His extra tempo allowed him an early breakthrough and a pleasant position. Jakovenko gave up a pawn to use his two bishops, but Karjakin consolidated slowly. It seemed as if White would have to force his way through in a rook and opposite colored bishop endgame, which would have been a long task, but Jakovenko made it easy on his opponent and the b-pawn promoted without issues.

Jakovenko couldn't defend an uncomfortable situation

Karjakin is now in the suitor pack with 2.0/3, half a point away from MVL

Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich from the official website

Standings

Round Three Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Schedule

Round 01 – October 21 2014, 15:00h
Giri, Anish 2768
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2748
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
0-1
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
1-0
Jobava, Baadur 2717
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
0-1
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
½-½
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Round 02 –October 22 2014, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2748
½-½
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
½-½
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
1-0
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Jobava, Baadur 2717
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Giri, Anish 2768
½-½
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Round 03 – October 23 2014, 15:00h
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
1-0
Gelfand, Boris 2748
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Giri, Anish 2768
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
0-1
Jobava, Baadur 2717
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
½-½
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
1-0
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
Round 04 – October 24 2014, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Jobava, Baadur 2717   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Giri, Anish 2768   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Round 05 – October 26 2014, 15:00h
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Giri, Anish 2768
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Jobava, Baadur 2717
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
Round 06 – October 27 2014, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
Jobava, Baadur 2717   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Giri, Anish 2768   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Round 07 – October 28 2014, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Giri, Anish 2768
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747   Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757   Jobava, Baadur 2717
Round 08 – October 29 2014, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Jobava, Baadur 2717
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
Giri, Anish 2768   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Round 09 – October 31 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757   Giri, Anish 2768
Jobava, Baadur 2717   Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Round 10 – November 01, 2014, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Giri, Anish 2768   Jobava, Baadur 2717
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Round 11 – November 02, 2014, 13:00h
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Jobava, Baadur 2717   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722   Giri, Anish 2768

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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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