Tata 05 GroupB: Jobava unstoppable

by Alejandro Ramirez
1/16/2014 – With the clash of the 2700s being won by Jobava, the question of who can stop him in this tournament is a natural one. This is his fourth victory in a row. His two closest rivals, Muzychuk and Saric, are only half a point behind but will have to continue their winning streaks if they wish to catch up to what seems to be a crushing showing. His performance is currently over 2900.

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The 76th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place from 10 to 26 January 2014. The top players will compete in two groups (previously there were three), with twelve players in each, instead of fourteen. The structure of the amateur tournaments remains unchanged. Both groups start on January 11th 2014, with all rounds starting at 13:30h (1:30 p.m.) local time, except for the last round on January 26th, which begins at 12:00h. Two rounds will be played in Amsterdam and Eindhoven and will start at 14:00. The time controls are 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move.

Round Five - Challengers

Group B: Round 5 - Thursday Jan. 16
Merijn van Delft - Zhao Xue
½-½
Radek Wojtaszek - Baadur Jobava
0-1
Anna Muzychuk - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Ivan Saric - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
1-0
Yu Yangyi - Kayden Troff
½-½
Sabino Brunello - Dimitri Reinderman
1-0
Benjamin Bok - Jan Timman
½-½

More birthday celebrations! This time it was arbiter Aart Strik

Yu Yangyi ½-½ Troff, Kayden
Beating a young player in a sharp Najdorf isn't easy. Troff showed excellent preparation by playing an ultra-sharp game in which he only used a couple of minutes (thanks to the increment). Every move was a Houdini favorite and a crazy forced perpetual was the way this game finished.

Troff's clock marked 1:34:53 at the end of the game. He started with 1:40:00

Van Deflt, Merijn ½-½ Zhao Xue
A game that was solid all through-out and that maybe the players played on for too long. A hard-fought draw in which neither side had a real advantage at any point of the game.

Van Delft didn't have any real chances of winning today, but neither did his opponent

Brunello, Sabino 1-0 Reinderman, Dmitri
What a beautiful game! Brunello played sacrifice after sacrifice against Reinderman who defended the entire game. It is possible that White's sacrifices were not entirely sound and that there was a way to defend, but in the heat of the battle and with the clock running low it is very difficult to thwart the threats that Brunello was creating. Eventually White's attack crashed through, even though he played most of the game, and actually even ended the game, down a rook.

Lennart Ootes (left, chess photographer) and Reinderman:
the question is which color their hair will be in the next tournament

Saric continues showing good form, and today he wiped his opponent from the board

Saric, Ivan 1-0 Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
The Croatiana grandmaster gave his young opponent a severe lesson on positional chess in the Najdorf. White was dominant on the light-squares and Black never had any sort of counterplay. Saric continues to put pressure on Jobava, but is still half a point behind.

Bok can thank his lucky star for saving today's game

Bok, Benjamin ½-½ Timman, Jan
Timman got the better part of a strange Spanish game. His extra pawn was compensated by his opponent's activity, but Bok let go of the gas and Black's passed c-pawn became a monster. After missing direct wins, Timman tried to win a rook endgame in which he still had some practical chances. Bok defended well, and then accurately realized that an ensuing endgame with a rook against a queen with both sides having passed pawns was a draw.

Muzychuk is not letting Jobava run away with the tournament just yet.
She and Saric still only trail by half a point.

Muzychuk, Anna 1-0 Godriaan, Etienne
Muzychuk started out playing a fantastic game. She outplayed her opponent completely, weaving together threats in the kingside, pressure against an isolated black pawn and keeping the queenside locked down with a powerful knight on b5. However she let ther opponent back in the in time trouble after missing a couple of killing blows. Fortunately for her Godriaan's shape is obviously quite bad in this tournament and he blundered the game back to the Slovenian player.

Four in a row: Jobava sitting pretty with 4.5/5

Wojtaszek, Radek 0-1 Jobava, Baadur
The battle of the titans was a completely one sided affair. Jobava played a beautiful Budapest gambit in which he powerfully placed his pieces while not allowing any real threats from his opponent. White did not know exactly how to react, and instead of punishing Black's advanced pawn structure he ended up opening lines against his own king and Jobava finished him off in style.

Today's round didn't have the Master group or the amateurs playing, so it was rather lonely

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Photos by Alina l'Ami

Schedule and results

Group A: Round 1 - Saturday Jan. 11
Leinier Dominguez - Anish Giri
½-½
Loek van Wely - Sergey Karjakin
0-1
Pentala Harikrishna - Levon Aronian
½-½
Fabiano Caruana - Boris Gelfand
1-0
Richard Rapport - Wesley So
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura - Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Group A: Round 2 - Sunday Jan. 12
Anish Giri - Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Wesley So - Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Boris Gelfand - Richard Rapport
0-1
Levon Aronian - Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Sergey Karjakin - Pentala Harikrishna
½-½
Leinier Dominguez - Loek van Wely
½-½
Group A: Round 3 - Monday Jan. 13
Loek van Wely - Anish Giri
½-½
Pentala Harikrishna - Leinier Dominguez
1-0
Fabiano Caruana - Sergey Karjakin
1-0
Richard Rapport - Levon Aronian
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura - Boris Gelfand
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch - Wesley So
½-½
Group A: Round 4 - Wednesday Jan. 15
Anish Giri - Wesley So  
Boris Gelfand - Arkadij Naiditsch  
Levon Aronian - Hikaru Nakamura  
Sergey Karjakin - Richard Rapport  
Leinier Dominguez - Fabiano Caruana  
Loek van Wely - Pentala Harikrishna  
Group A: Round 5 - Friday Jan. 17
Pentala Harikrishna - Anish Giri  
Fabiano Caruana - Loek van Wely  
Richard Rapport - Leinier Dominguez  
Hikaru Nakamura - Sergey Karjakin  
Arkadij Naiditsch - Levon Aronian  
Wesley So - Boris Gelfand  
Group A: Round 6 - Saturday Jan. 18
Anish Giri - Boris Gelfand  
Levon Aronian - Wesley So  
Sergey Karjakin - Arkadij Naiditsch  
Leinier Dominguez - Hikaru Nakamura  
Loek van Wely - Richard Rapport  
Pentala Harikrishna - Fabiano Caruana  
Group A: Round 7 - Sunday Jan. 19
Fabiano Caruana - Anish Giri  
Richard Rapport - Pentala Harikrishna  
Hikaru Nakamura - Loek van Wely  
Arkadij Naiditsch - Leinier Dominguez  
Wesley So - Sergey Karjakin  
Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian  
Group A: Round 8 - Tuesday Jan. 21
Anish Giri - Levon Aronian  
Sergey Karjakin - Boris Gelfand  
Leinier Dominguez - Wesley So  
Loek van Wely - Arkadij Naiditsch  
Pentala Harikrishna - Hikaru Nakamura  
Fabiano Caruana - Richard Rapport  
Group A: Round 9 - Thursday Jan. 23
Richard Rapport - Anish Giri  
Hikaru Nakamura - Fabiano Caruana  
Arkadij Naiditsch - Pentala Harikrishna  
Boris Gelfand - Leinier Dominguez  
Wesley So - Loek van Wely  
Levon Aronian - Sergey Karjakin  
Group A: Round 10 - Saturday Jan. 25
Anish Giri - Sergey Karjakin  
Leinier Dominguez - Levon Aronian  
Loek van Wely - Boris Gelfand  
Pentala Harikrishna - Wesley So  
Fabiano Caruana - Arkadij Naiditsch  
Richard Rapport - Hikaru Nakamura  
Group A: Round 11 - Sunday Jan. 26
Hikaru Nakamura - Anish Giri  
Arkadij Naiditsch - Richard Rapport  
Wesley So - Fabiano Caruana  
Boris Gelfand - Pentala Harikrishna  
Levon Aronian - Loek van Wely  
Sergey Karjakin - Leinier Dominguez  

Grandmaster Group B

Group B: Round 1 - Saturday Jan. 11
Etienne Goudriaan - Zhao Xue
0-1
Baadur Jobava - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
½-½
Merijn van Delft - Kayden Troff
0-1
Radek Wojtaszek - Dimitri Reinderman
0-1
Anna Muzychuk - Jan Timman
½-½
Ivan Saric - Benjamin Bok
½-½
Yu Yangyi - Sabino Brunello
0-1
Group B: Round 2 - Sunday Jan. 12
Zhao Xue - Sabino Brunello
½-½
Benjamin Bok - Yu Yangyi
1-0
Jan Timman - Ivan Saric
½-½
Dimitri Reinderman - Anna Muzychuk
½-½
Kayden Troff - Radek Wojtaszek
½-½
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Merijn van Delft
1-0
Etienne Goudriaan - Baadur Jobava
0-1
Group B: Round 3 - Monday Jan. 13
Baadur Jobava - Zhao Xue
1-0
Merijn van Delft - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Radek Wojtaszek - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
½-½
Anna Muzychuk - Kayden Troff
1-0
Ivan Saric - Dimitri Reinderman
1-0
Yu Yangyi - Jan Timman
1-0
Sabino Brunello - Benjamin Bok
0-1
Group B: Round 4 - Tuesday Jan. 14
Zhao Xue - Benjamin Bok
1-0
Jan Timman - Sabino Brunello
1-0
Dimitri Reinderman - Yu Yangyi
1-0
Kayden Troff - Ivan Saric
0-1
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Anna Muzychuk
0-1
Etienne Goudriaan - Radek Wojtaszek
0-1
Baadur Jobava - Merijn van Delft
1-0
Wednesday, Jan. 15 – Free day
Group B: Round 5 - Thursday Jan. 16
Merijn van Delft - Zhao Xue
½-½
Radek Wojtaszek - Baadur Jobava
0-1
Anna Muzychuk - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Ivan Saric - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
1-0
Yu Yangyi - Kayden Troff
½-½
Sabino Brunello - Dimitri Reinderman
1-0
Benjamin Bok - Jan Timman
½-½
Group B: Round 6 - Friday Jan. 17
Zhao Xue - Jan Timman  
Dimitri Reinderman - Benjamin Bok  
Kayden Troff - Sabino Brunello  
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Yu Yangyi  
Etienne Goudriaan - Ivan Saric  
Baadur Jobava - Anna Muzychuk  
Merijn van Delft - Radek Wojtaszek  
Group B: Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 18
Radek Wojtaszek - Zhao Xue  
Anna Muzychuk - Merijn van Delft  
Ivan Saric - Baadur Jobava  
Yu Yangyi - Etienne Goudriaan  
Sabino Brunello - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Benjamin Bok - Kayden Troff  
Jan Timman - Dimitri Reinderman  
Group B: Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 19
Zhao Xue - Dimitri Reinderman  
Kayden Troff - Jan Timman  
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Benjamin Bok  
Etienne Goudriaan - Sabino Brunello  
Baadur Jobava - Yu Yangyi  
Merijn van Delft - Ivan Saric  
Radek Wojtaszek - Anna Muzychuk  
Monday, Jan. 20 – Free day
Group B: Round 9 - Tuesday Jan. 21
Anna Muzychuk - Zhao Xue  
Ivan Saric - Radek Wojtaszek  
Yu Yangyi - Merijn van Delft  
Sabino Brunello - Baadur Jobava  
Benjamin Bok - Etienne Goudriaan  
Jan Timman - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Dimitri Reinderman - Kayden Troff  
Group B: Round 10 - Wednesday Jan. 22
Zhao Xue - Kayden Troff  
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Dimitri Reinderman  
Etienne Goudriaan - Jan Timman  
Baadur Jobava - Benjamin Bok  
Merijn van Delft - Sabino Brunello  
Radek Wojtaszek - Yu Yangyi  
Anna Muzychuk - Ivan Saric  
Thursday, Jan. 23 – Free day
Group B: Round 11 - Friday Jan. 24
Ivan Saric - Zhao Xue  
Yu Yangyi - Anna Muzychuk  
Sabino Brunello - Radek Wojtaszek  
Benjamin Bok - Merijn van Delft  
Jan Timman - Baadur Jobava  
Dimitri Reinderman - Etienne Goudriaan  
Kayden Troff - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Group B: Round 12 - Saturday Jan. 25
Zhao Xue - Jan-Krzysztof Duda  
Etienne Goudriaan - Kayden Troff  
Baadur Jobava - Dimitri Reinderman  
Merijn van Delft - Jan Timman  
Radek Wojtaszek - Benjamin Bok  
Anna Muzychuk - Sabino Brunello  
Ivan Saric - Yu Yangyi  
Group B: Round 13 - Sunday Jan. 26
Yu Yangyi - Zhao Xue  
Sabino Brunello - Ivan Saric  
Benjamin Bok - Anna Muzychuk  
Jan Timman - Radek Wojtaszek  
Dimitri Reinderman - Merijn van Delft  
Kayden Troff - Baadur Jobava  
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Etienne Goudriaan  

Commentary schedule on Playchess

Day Date Round English German
Wednesday January 15 Round 4 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
Thursday January 16 Free    
Friday January 17 Round 5 Simon Williams Oliver Reeh
Saturday January 18 Round 6 Yasser Seirawan Klaus Bischoff
Sunday January 19 Round 7 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
Monday January 20 Free    
Tuesday January 21 Round 8 Lawrence Trent Klaus Bischoff
Wednesday January 22 Free    
Thursday January 23 Round 9 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff
Friday January 24 Free    
Saturday January 25 Round 10 Simon Williams Klaus Bischoff
Sunday January 26 Round 11 Daniel King Klaus Bischoff

Links

The games will be 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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