Tashkent R4: Caruana, Svidler, Wang Hao win

by ChessBase
11/25/2012 – An exciting round with exciting games. The top seed Fabiano Caruana won his second game in a row, Peter Svidler defeated the former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, and Wang Hao wrestled the full point from the out-of-form US GM Gata Kamsky. Morozevich still leads with 3.0/4, followed by four players with half a point less. Full illustrated report with GM commentary.

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The second stage of the 2012-2013 FIDE Grand Prix Series is taking place from November 21 to December 5th in the Gallery of Fine Art in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The games start at 14:00h local time (= 10:00h CET, 13:00h Moscow, 04:00 a.m. New York). The tournament has a prize fund of 240,000 Euros.

Round four report

Round 4 on Sunday 25.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
0-1
Wang Hao 2737
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
½-½
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Leko Peter 2732
½-½
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Svidler Peter 2747
1-0
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Morozevich Alexander 2748
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Caruana Fabiano 2786
1-0
Gelfand Boris 2751

GM commentary by Romain Edouard


Fabiano Caruana and Boris Gelfand at the start of their round four game

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix-Tashkent 2012"] [Site "Tashkent"] [Date "2012.11.25"] [Round "4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "UZB"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. Re1 Nd4 (5... a6 {is known to be the main move.}) 6. Nxd4 cxd4 7. d3 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 Bb7 $146 (9... Nc6 {is played usually.}) 10. Nd2 Nc6 11. f4 Na5 $6 12. Bd5 $1 {White's only problem in this kind of positions is that the bishop on b3 only has no clear mission. So exchanging the light squared bishops simply gives White a small edge, if Black is not able to create immediate counterplay on the c2-pawn, which is the case.} Be7 13. Bxb7 Nxb7 14. Nf3 $14 Qb6 15. Qe2 Na5 $6 ({After} 15... O-O { White is better but at least Black will be able to play ...Bc5 and ...a5, ... b4.}) 16. Qf2 Bc5 17. a3 b4 18. axb4 Bxb4 19. Rf1 Bc5 20. f5 {Now Black is in huge trouble already.} f6 21. fxe6 dxe6 22. b4 $1 Bxb4 23. Rb1 Qc5 24. Nxd4 e5 25. Ne6 ({The amazing move} 25. Be3 $5 exd4 26. Bxd4 {followed by e5 looks crushing, according to chess engines! But of course the text moves is also very strong and much simpler.}) 25... Qxf2+ 26. Kxf2 Kf7 (26... Rb8 27. Bd2 $16 ) 27. Rxb4 Kxe6 28. Rb6+ Kd7 $8 29. Bd2 {The knight only did wrong things on a5, it seems!} Nc6 30. Rb7+ Ke6 31. Rxg7 a5 32. Ra1 Rhb8 33. Ra2 h5 34. Rc7 Rc8 35. Rb7 Rcb8 36. Rh7 Rh8 37. Rxh8 Rxh8 38. Rb2 Ra8 39. c3 Rb8 40. Rxb8 Nxb8 41. Bc1 Nd7 42. Ba3 f5 43. exf5+ Kxf5 44. c4 e4 45. Ke3 exd3 46. Kxd3 Ne5+ 47. Kd4 Ke6 48. c5 (48. Kc5 {(or 48.h3!?) first looked more technical to me, but actually the text-move looks very strong as well.}) 48... Nc6+ 49. Kc4 Ne5+ 50. Kd4 (50. Kb5 $2 Kd5 $11) 50... Nc6+ 51. Ke4 Ne5 52. Bb2 $2 (52. Kf4 Nc4 53. Bc1 Kd5 54. Kg5 {looks easily winning.}) 52... Nc4 53. Bc3 a4 {Now the position may be a draw already. Probably the next move by Caruana is the best practical chance.} 54. h4 (54. Kd4 Na3 $1 55. Ba5 Kd7 56. Kd5 Nc2 57. c6+ Ke7 58. Kc4 a3 59. Kb3 Nd4+ 60. Kxa3 Nxc6 {with a draw.}) 54... a3 55. c6 a2 56. Kf4 Nd6 $4 { Not sure it was easy, from the black side, to realize the position "could" be a draw without putting all hopes on promoting the a-pawn.} (56... Kd6 57. g4 hxg4 58. h5 g3 $1 {(very nice move!)} 59. Kxg3 Ne3 {looks like a draw: actually Black gets the knight on h6 which is a typical draw since the white bishop and the pawn on a2 change absolutely nothing (the knight will be turning around h6/g8/e7/f5 which doesn't belong to the squared the white bishop controls).} 60. Kf4 $4 Nd5+ $19) 57. Ba1 $18 Kd5 58. c7 Kc6 59. Kg5 1-0


Any complaints? Wang Hao checks out the game Caruana vs Gelfand


Two wins in a row: Fabiano Caruana appears to be on fire

GM commentary by Romain Edouard


Chinese GM Wang Hao during his round four game against Gata Kamsky, USA

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix-Tashkent 2012"] [Site "Tashkent"] [Date "2012.11.25"] [Round "4"] [White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2737"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "UZB"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 {An interesting idea but a dubious move when you consider the result!} (7. Nc3 {is the main move.}) 7... Qxd4 8. Bxb4 Qxe5 9. Nd2 (9. Na3 Nc6 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Bc3 Qd5 12. f3 e5 13. e4 Qc5 14. Qd2 Be6 {looks good for Black in Aronian,L (2773)-Mamedyarov,S (2721) Ohrid MKD 2009 (Black won).}) 9... Qb5 10. Ba3 Bd7 11. Qc2 Nc6 12. Rc1 O-O-O 13. Nxc4 Kb8 {White doesn't have enough compensation already.} 14. b3 Nd4 15. Qb2 Bc6 16. f3 h5 17. h4 e5 18. e4 Bd7 19. Kf2 Be6 20. Ne3 Nd7 21. Rhe1 f6 22. f4 Qb6 23. Kg1 Rdg8 $6 {Logical, but probably not best. } (23... Rhe8 $5 {just looks like a huge extra-pawn for Black, with the idea} 24. Kh2 (24. f5 Bf7 $17) 24... exf4 25. gxf4 Nb5 26. Bb4 a5 $19) (23... exf4 24. gxf4 Nb5 25. Be7 Rde8 26. Bb4 {is not entirely clear.}) 24. Qf2 g5 25. hxg5 fxg5 26. fxe5 h4 27. Nf5 $1 {Now White gets counterchances.} Bxf5 28. exf5 hxg3 29. Qe3 Nxf5 30. Qxb6 Nxb6 31. e6 Re8 32. Bb2 Rh6 33. Rc5 Nh4 34. Be5 Na8 35. Bxg3 Nxg2 36. Kxg2 Rhxe6 37. Rxe6 Rxe6 38. Kf3 Rg6 39. Kg4 b5 40. a4 $1 {White is very close to making draw.} bxa4 41. bxa4 Rb6 42. Kxg5 (42. a5 $5 Rb5 43. Rxg5 {is a draw:} Kb7 44. Rf5 $1 Rxf5 45. Kxf5 Kc6 46. Ke6 Kb5 47. Kd5 c6+ ( 47... Kxa5 48. Kc6 $11) 48. Kd6 c5 49. Bf2 c4 50. Be1 $11) 42... Rb4 (42... Kb7 {with the idea} 43. Kf5 $6 Rc6 $1 {was probably the best chance for Black.}) 43. a5 Rb5 44. Rxb5+ $6 (44. Rf5 {would be an easy draw.}) 44... axb5 45. Kf5 Kb7 46. Ke6 $2 (46. Ke5 {or 46.Ke4 should hold easily.}) 46... b4 47. Be1 $2 ( 47. Kd5 {looks still holding:} Ka6 48. Kc5 b3 49. Be5 Kxa5 50. Bc3+ (50. Kc6 $2 Kb4 51. Bb2 Kc4 $19) 50... Ka4 51. Bb2 Nb6 52. Kc6 Nc4 53. Bh8 Kb4 54. Kxc7 Ne3 55. Kd6 Nd1 56. Ba1 $1) 47... b3 $19 48. Bc3 Kc6 49. Ke7 Kb5 50. Ke6 Kc4 51. Be5 c5 52. Kd6 Kb4 53. Kc6 c4 54. a6 c3 55. Bxc3+ Kxc3 56. Kb7 b2 57. Kxa8 b1=Q 58. a7 Kb4 $1 0-1

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[Event "FIDE Grand Prix-Tashkent 2012"] [Site "Tashkent"] [Date "2012.11.25"] [Round "4"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "UZB"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qe2 O-O 8. Bg5 Nd4 9. Qd2 Nxb3 10. axb3 Re8 $5 {Fressinet's novetly at the Istanbul Olympiad.} (10... h6 {was played by Aronian.}) 11. f3 h6 12. Bf4 $5 $146 (12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 d5 14. O-O-O c6 {was equal in Bruzon Batista,L (2711) -Fressinet,L (2714) TUR 2012 (draw).}) 12... d5 13. O-O-O d4 14. Kb1 Be6 $6 ( 14... Qe7 $5 {seems to be a better move.}) 15. Nb5 Qe7 16. g4 Rad8 17. h4 c6 18. Na3 Bc7 19. Nc4 Bxf4 20. Qxf4 Qc5 21. g5 (21. Rg1 $1 {was probably much stronger.}) 21... Nh5 22. Qh2 Bxc4 23. Bxc4 (23. bxc4 $5) 23... b5 24. Bd3 Qe5 25. Rdg1 Qxh2 26. Rxh2 g6 27. Rg4 {Now Black is not too far from equality, though White will go f4 and put some pressure.} Ng7 $6 (27... Kg7 $142) 28. gxh6 Nh5 29. f4 Kh7 30. e5 Kxh6 31. b4 Kg7 32. Rf2 Kf8 33. f5 $16 gxf5 34. Rg5 $1 Ng7 35. h5 Re6 (35... f4 36. h6 Ne6 37. Rg1 Ke7 38. h7 Rh8 39. Kc1 $16) 36. Rfg2 Ne8 37. Rxf5 Rd7 $2 {The position looks lost anyway.} (37... Rh6 38. Rgf2 Rd7 39. R5f3 Rxh5 40. e6 Re7 41. Rxf7+ Rxf7 42. Rxf7+ Kg8 43. Rxa7 Rh6 44. Bf5 $18) 38. Rf1 $18 Rh6 39. e6 Re7 40. exf7 Nf6 41. Rg6 Rxg6 42. hxg6 Nh5 43. Rh1 Re5 44. Be2 1-0

Kasimdzhanov-Karjakin: Sergey Karjakin decided to surprise his opponent already on the second move. Queens Gambit Accepted didn’t appear in his practice for the last four years. Rustam Kasimdzhanov (above) was not in a mood to go for the principle but sharp lines against the seemingly well prepared opponent, so he chose one of the quietest continuations. White didn’t get anything out of the opening, so a draw seemed to be logical outcome of the game.

Both players (Kasimdzhanov and Karjakin, above) are following the women's world championship in Khanty Mansiysk. “Women don’t play so bad!” said Sergey Karjakin. When he learnt that Anna Ushenina is going to play in the final he said he is going to root for her because they played for the same team. Rustam Kasimdzhanov is hoping that Antoaneta Stefanova would be the winner, not only because she is his good friend, but because both of them became world champions at the same year in 2004. “If she wins the championship I will take it as a good omen”, said Rustam.

Leko-Dominguez: Once again Black’s second move came as a big surprise. Peter Leko expected the Grünfeld but Leiner Dominguez changed to the Nimzo. Peter explained that he used to play this as Black, so he spent some time trying to choose which line to play and finally went for 4.Qc2, as this move has never been played in his games with White. Right in the opening the position became very sharp, both opponents played quite precisely and ended up in an endgame where White kept on hoping to get an advantage. Leiner Dominguez found exact moves and game finished in a draw.

Morozevich-Mamedyarov: Despite the opening choice (Exchanged Slav) the game was sharp and complex. Shakh was happy with his position after 13…Bd6 but underestimated 14.Rb3. The following forced line led to a position where Black had four pawns for the knight, but superb coordination of white pieces gave Morozevich better chances. At the same time the position was so unbalanced that both players were not entirely sure where to look for improvements, even after the game had finished. Perhaps, 39.Ne7 Kh8 40.Qd6 would offer White better chances to win the game.

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Standings after four rounds

Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule and results

Round 1 on Thursday 22.11.2012 at 14:00
Morozevich Alexander 2748
1-0
Kamsky Gata 2762
Caruana Fabiano 2786
½-½
Svidler Peter 2747
Gelfand Boris 2751
½-½
Leko Peter 2732
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
½-½
Wang Hao 2737
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
0-1
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Round 2 on Friday, 23.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
½-½
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Wang Hao 2737
½-½
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
½-½
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Leko Peter 2732
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Svidler Peter 2747
½-½
Gelfand Boris 2751
Morozevich Alexander 2748
1-0
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Round 3 on Saturday 24.11.2012 at 14:00
Caruana Fabiano 2786
1-0
Kamsky Gata 2762
Gelfand Boris 2751
½-½
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
1-0
Svidler Peter 2747
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
½-½
Leko Peter 2732
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Karjakin Sergey 2775
½-½
Wang Hao 2737
Round 4 on Sunday 25.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
0-1
Wang Hao 2737
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
½-½
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Leko Peter 2732
½-½
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Svidler Peter 2747
1-0
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Morozevich Alexander 2748
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Caruana Fabiano 2786
1-0
Gelfand Boris 2751
Round 5 on Tuesday 27.11.2012 at 14:00
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Leko Peter 2732
Wang Hao 2737
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Round 6 on Wednesday 28.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Leko Peter 2732
-
Wang Hao 2737
Svidler Peter 2747
-
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Morozevich Alexander 2748
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Round 7 on Thursday 29.11.2012 at 14:00
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Gelfand Boris 2751
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Wang Hao 2737
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
-
Leko Peter 2732
Round 8 on Friday 30.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
-
Leko Peter 2732
Svidler Peter 2747
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Morozevich Alexander 2748
-
Wang Hao 2737
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Round 9 on Sunday 2.12.2012 at 14:00
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Gelfand Boris 2751
Wang Hao 2737
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Leko Peter 2732
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Round 10 on Monday 3.12.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Morozevich Alexander 2748
-
Leko Peter 2732
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Wang Hao 2737
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Round 11 on Tuesday 4.12.2012 at 12:00
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Wang Hao 2737
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
-
Gelfand Boris 2751
Leko Peter 2732
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Svidler Peter 2747
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748

Video Reports

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