Tashkent R5: Kamsky, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov win

by ChessBase
11/27/2012 – Boris Gelfand played a risky attack against Gata Kamsky's Leningrad System, and lost the game in a tactical melee. Ruslan Ponomariov faced a French Tarrasch by Alexander Morozevich and outplayed the erstwhile leader. Rustam Kasimdzhanov refuted Wang Hao's Scotch to win his first game in this tournament – and join four other players in the lead. Full 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 5 on Tuesday 27.11.2012 at 14:00
Gelfand Boris 2751
0-1
Kamsky Gata 2762
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
1-0
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
½-½
Svidler Peter 2747
Karjakin Sergey 2775
½-½
Leko Peter 2732
Wang Hao 2737
0-1
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696

Gelfand-Kamsky: Gata Kamsky chose the Leningrad Dutch after noticing that Boris Gelfand didn’t play it quite successfully and lost against Nakamura in this particular line. Kamsky was not sure why everyone gives away the light squared bishop and preferred to keep it (12…Bd7). Black got reasonable position and White’s slightly inaccurate 20. Qc2 break let Black get the initiative after d5. Gelfand’s try to solve White’s problems by tactical means with 22.Nd5 (22.Bc5 offered more resistance according to the chess engines) was convincingly refuted by the American player.

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix-Tashkent 2012"] [Site "Tashkent"] [Date "2012.11.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A88"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2762"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "UZB"] 1. d4 f5 {Looks like Boris Gelfand has some problems against the Dutch Defense, since he already lost recently to English GM Simon Williams in European Club Cup.} 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. O-O Bg7 6. c4 O-O 7. Nc3 c6 8. d5 e5 9. dxe6 Bxe6 10. b3 Na6 11. Bb2 Qe7 12. Ng5 Bd7 13. Qd2 h6 14. Nh3 Be6 $5 $146 { Not sure Black is worse at all already. Maybe White should look for something different before.} 15. Rad1 Rad8 16. Ba3 Nc5 17. f4 $6 {Probably all this plan is wrong.} Qc7 18. Nf2 Rfe8 19. Kh1 Qb6 20. Qc2 d5 $1 {White is facing quite important problems already.} 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Nxd5 Nxd5 23. Bxc5 Qc7 24. Rd2 $6 (24. Rd3 $5 b6 25. Rfd1 Nxf4 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8 28. gxf4 bxc5 29. e3 {might be White's best chance to hold, though Black is of course better.}) 24... Bc3 25. Nd3 (25. Rxd5 $142 Rxd5 26. Bb4 Be5 27. Rc1 Qxc2 28. Rxc2 Rb5 $17 ) 25... b6 $19 26. Bf2 Bxd2 27. Qxd2 Qc3 28. Qc1 Qxc1 29. Rxc1 Rc8 30. Ra1 Nc3 31. Bf3 Nxe2 32. Re1 Nc3 33. Nb4 Ne4 0-1

Ponomariov-Morozevich: As Ponomariov put it during the press conference, "a logical game until he (Morozevich) blundered". The French Defence with 3.Nd2 was played in this game and even though Ruslan expected this variation, White barely got anything from the opening. According to Ponomariov,18…Nb6 wasn't really needed as he wasn't sure what to do against 18…0-0. The former world champion had some doubts about Black’s decision f5, e5. Anyway, the position was balanced until Morozevich's unlucky 27…Nc8. The original idea of Black was logical – to bring the knight on d4 but Ruslan found nice tactical idea, Bxf5, which gave White a huge advantage. The Ukrainian player was not quite sure how to improve White’s position if Black just plays 27…Ref8 and keeps holding the position.

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix-Tashkent 2012"] [Site "Tashkent"] [Date "2012.11.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Black "Morozevich, Alaxander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C07"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "UZB"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. Qe2 Qc7 10. Nf3 dxe4 11. Qxe4 Nf6 12. Qh4 h6 13. O-O c5 14. Nd2 $5 $146 (14. Bg5 Nd5 15. Be4 Rb8 16. c4 Nf4 $13 {1-0 (44) Guseinov,G (2625)-So Wesley,- (2640) Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2009}) 14... Nd5 (14... Bf4 $5 {with the idea of exchanging the dark squared bishops immediatly after Nc4, should be better. After the text move Black has small problems already.}) 15. Nc4 Bf4 16. Re1 Rb8 17. Be4 Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nb6 19. Ne3 O-O 20. b3 f5 21. Bd3 e5 22. f3 Rbe8 23. Rcd1 Kh8 24. c3 Rf6 25. Bc2 Be6 26. Rd2 a5 27. c4 $16 Nc8 $2 28. Bxf5 $1 $16 Rxf5 (28... Bxf5 29. Nd5 Qc6 30. Nxf6 Qxf6 31. Qxf6 gxf6 32. Rd5 {is crushing.}) 29. Nxf5 Bxf5 30. Qh5 Rf8 31. Rd5 (31. g4 $5 Bh7 32. Qxe5 Qc6 33. Qd5 {looks even stronger.}) 31... Kh7 32. Rdxe5 Bg6 33. Qh4 Rd8 34. Qg3 $16 { Typical position where a rook and two pawns are much stronger than two pieces. Black has many weak pawns and White has a very solid pawn structure, preventing Black from attacking anything.} Bf7 35. Qf4 Bg6 36. h4 Rd4 $6 37. Qf8 Qd7 38. h5 Bf7 39. Qxc5 a4 40. Re7 $1 Nxe7 41. Rxe7 Rd1+ 42. Kh2 1-0

Wang Hao-Kasimdzhanov: The game turns to be rather one-sided as the Chinese player seem to mix two different plans in the Scotch with 4...Nf6 (normally Rc1 is played with White's queen being on h4, which makes Black's long castling impossible). As Rustam said during his first solo press-conference, "I just was brave enough to play 0-0-0 – it was the most difficult move in the game". Black got a big advantage after 26.Rc4, and later on the Chinese player didn't put up the most stubborn defence, as White could have played 31.Rc5 (after Black’s 30…c5) to complicate matters. Later on Black found 32…Nb2 and the position of White became absolutely hopeless.

In the press conference Kasimdzhanov (above with his wife Firuza) said: “I feel the support here, of course, and I’m gald to win a game [applause]. The Grand Prix tournaments are very strong, I managed to win only one game in London. I was not sure I could please the spectators here in Uzbekistan and I’m glad that I managed to do so!"

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix-Tashkent 2012"] [Site "Tashkent"] [Date "2012.11.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2696"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "UZB"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. c4 Nb6 $5 9. Nc3 Qe6 10. Qe4 Bb4 11. Bd2 Ba6 12. b3 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 d5 14. Qf3 ( 14. Qh4 {is supposed to be the main move, and was played by several of the strongest players ever, including Kasparov and Carlsen.}) 14... dxc4 15. Rc1 O-O-O 16. Be2 Kb7 17. O-O cxb3 $1 18. Bxa6+ Kxa6 19. axb3 Kb7 20. Ra1 Rd5 21. Qe2 Rb5 {Black is doing very well, though White is probably still not really worse.} 22. b4 Ra8 23. Rfc1 a6 24. h3 $6 Nd5 25. Bd2 Nxb4 26. Rc4 $6 (26. Bxb4 Rxb4 27. Rc5 Rb5 $15) 26... a5 $17 {White is not only much worse, but also have difficulties to find moves.} 27. f4 $6 Qd5 28. Rac1 Rd8 29. Be3 Nd3 $19 30. R1c2 c5 $6 (30... g5 $1 31. Rd4 Nxf4 $1 32. Qd1 Qxe5 33. Rxd8 Qxe3+ 34. Kh2 Rb3 35. Qg4 Ne6 $19) 31. Ra4 $2 (31. Rxc5 $8 Rxc5 32. Bxc5 {would give White some chances, though Black is still clearly better.}) 31... Kb6 32. Rca2 Nb2 33. Qxb2 Qd1+ (33... Rxb2 34. Rxb2+ Ka6 {is enough.}) 34. Kh2 Qxa4 $1 35. Bxc5+ Kb7 $6 36. Qf2 (36. Qe2 {was an option thanks to Black's move 35, but anyway after} Qb3 $8 (36... Qxf4+ $4 37. g3 $18) 37. Ra3 Qb1 {Black is winning.}) 36... Qb3 37. Ra3 Qc4 {White has no more control of the light squares and the game is over.} 38. Be3 g6 39. Qe1 Rd3 40. Qe2 Rbd5 0-1

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Sergey Karjakin at the start of his game against Peter Leko

Karjakin-Leko: “I’ve already asked Sergey a few questions in the Queen's Indian playing with white, so I didn’t want to be asked those questions in return by him”, pointed out Peter Leko, explaining why he preferred to go for the Ragozin Defense, which he had never played before. It came as a surprise for Sergey and he “wanted to check the main lines which might be prepared by the opponent, but try to get playable position”. 7.g3 is by far not the most popular plan for White, connected with a pawn sacrifice, which was accepted by Leko (8…dc4). During whole game Black wanted to push e5, but at the moment he did there was another interesting opportunity – to sacrifice the bishop after 32…Bd2 33.R1ce Be3 and 34…Qg3. White should keep the balance, but has to play precisely. In the game the opponents kept playing solidly, and the three-fold repetition seemed logical, as none of opponents could make a progress in final position.

Mamedyarov-Caruana: Once again a surprise in the opening, as Fabiano Caruana (above right) went for the Meran Slav with 8…Bd6 instead of his main choice – the Grunfeld Defense. The players followed the game Lupulescu-Inarkiev, Plovdiv 2012, which also finished in a draw, and Caruana’s first independent move seems to be an improvement on Black’s play, as the endgame with opposite colored bishops doesn’t offer White many chances for a win. Fabiano could have chosen to go into another endgame after 17…Rfd8 but as he pointed out “the version in the game after 17…Be7 looked better”. Black’s nice idea left behind the curtain – 29.Rc7 Rxc7 30.Bxc7 Bxb3!, forcing an exchange of queenside pawns as 31. axb3 a4 loses for White. Mamedyarov managed to win the second pawn but an awkward position of White’s rook was just enough for Black to hold the balance.

Dominguez-Svidler: Another Spanish with 5.d3 was played by Leinier Dominguez. Peter Sivdler developed his bishop on c5 in style of the Archangelsk Variation. 14…c5 indicated an intention to complicate the position, as Peter pointed out “I could have exchanged the bishops, but it looked too boring”. The same applies to his 17…bxc4 – “17…b4 was okay for Black but once again too boring”. Nevertheless the game remained balanced and both players agreeing to a three times repetition would’ve been a logical final of the game. Leinier’s spirited decision to play on (32.Rg3) in fact just led him into trouble. During the press conference the Cuban player said he was in the time trouble and didn’t have time to regret his decision but just to find moves. Svidler dropped his advantage with 39…Kh8 (instead after 39…c4 that would be a hard task for White to save the game), hoping to catch White in a nice trap – 40.g3 is met with a stunning 40…Be3!!, and after 41.fe3 Raf8 White’s position collapses. But he completely forgot about the same knight’s pawn move on the opposite wing. "I have no explanation for what I did," said the Russian player. "I was walking around shaking my head. Of course the most obvious and most natural move in this position is c4." After 40.b3 he understood that Black had lost his advantage and found the way to a forced draw.

Standings after five 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
0-1
Kamsky Gata 2762
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
1-0
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
½-½
Svidler Peter 2747
Karjakin Sergey 2775
½-½
Leko Peter 2732
Wang Hao 2737
0-1
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

Live video coverage with English language commentary is available on the player above. There is also Russian commentary on the video page of the tournament site.

Links

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