Tata 06: Could'ves and should'ves

by ChessBase
1/18/2014 – Levon Aronian continued his imperial romp, outclassing Wesley So to reach 5.0/6 and a 3013 performance, but the tale of the day was the amazing number of missed chances from all around. In Group A, Giri, Dominguez, Van Wely, and Harikrishna all had winning positions, yet failed to close. In Group B, both Saric and Muzychuk also had golden opportunities. Group A report.

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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 six - Masters

Group A: Round 6 - Saturday Jan. 18
Anish Giri - Boris Gelfand
½-½
Levon Aronian - Wesley So
1-0
Sergey Karjakin - Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Leinier Dominguez - Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Loek van Wely - Richard Rapport
½-½
Pentala Harikrishna - Fabiano Caruana
½-½

Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 Naiditsch, Akradij
Karjakin pressed a small advantage throughout the game, but the German was very close to sealing the draw. However a mistake in the very late stages of the game allowed Karjakin to win an important pawn and make his passed a-pawn a real threat in the queen endgame. Naiditsch basically collapsed under pressure.

Aronian, Levon 1-0 So, Wesley

This man seems unstoppable this tournament

[Event "Tata 2014"] [Site "Wijk ann Zee"] [Date "2014.01.18"] [Round "6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A16"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2719"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 {not the most popular of the anti-Grunfelds, but these ideas are still dangerous for Black if not handled properly.} (6. dxc3 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 f6 $1 {is now known to be equal for Black.}) 6... Bg7 7. Be2 c5 8. O-O Nc6 {Black has a lot of pressure against d4, but the pawn hasn't reached this square yet and it won't for a few moves, which allows White to bolster the defense of this square indirectly.} 9. Qa4 Bd7 10. Qa3 Qa5 11. Rd1 {This had all been seen in a game between Akopian and Mamedyarov, so its likely that Aronian was absolutely sure of what he was doing.} O-O (11... e5 12. Bc4 Qxa3 13. Bxa3 b6 14. Rab1 {eventually ended in a draw in the aforementioned game, in 2011.}) 12. Rb1 b6 13. d4 Qxa3 14. Bxa3 { White holds some pressure as he is better developed, but with good play it seems very likely that Black can hold equality.} Bg4 15. dxc5 Bxc3 16. Ba6 Rab8 17. Rdc1 Bxf3 $6 (17... bxc5 $1 {was most precise, using a cute tactical trick} 18. Rxb8 (18. Rxc3 $4 Rxb1+) 18... Nxb8 $11) 18. gxf3 Bd2 19. Rd1 Bc3 20. Kg2 { Now White's pair of bishops give him some hope for an advantage. Black has to be very precise not to be worse.} bxc5 21. Bxc5 Bb4 22. Be3 Bd6 23. Rbc1 Nb4 24. Bc4 Rfc8 25. f4 Kf8 26. a3 Nc6 27. Ba6 Bxa3 28. Rc4 Rd8 $6 (28... Rc7 29. Rd5 $1 {Allows White to keep a lot of pressure. Notice that it is not easy to untangle as Black. However this was preferable to the game continuation.}) 29. Ra1 $1 Bb2 30. Raa4 $1 {A surprising position! Black's knight is impossible to defend as it is trapped on c6!} Rd6 31. e5 Re6 32. Rc2 {The rook is now trapped one e6 while all of Black's pieces are under attack.} Nd8 (32... Rb4 33. Ra2 Bd4 34. Bc8 {lost material, but the move in the game loses even faster. }) 33. Bxa7 Ra8 34. Bb5 {Now it's Black's bishops turn to be trapped. The game is over.} Bxe5 35. fxe5 Rxe5 36. Be3 {It is not realistic to hope to draw this position down a piece. The two pawns do not compensate for the pair of bishops and Black's king is not safe.} 1-0

So has had a good showing, but Aronian brought him back to reality

Daniel King analyses the ending of Aronian vs So in his play of the day

Giri, Anish ½-½ Gelfand, Boris
After a grueling game in which neither side seemed to have an advantage, Gelfand let go of his precision and Giri had good winning chances. He chose the wrong plan, though and instead of 53.Rd8? the correct 53.Rh8! would have probably given him a winning position.

Things haven't been going Gelfand's way this tournament
but today he was at least able to draw a lost position

Harikrishna, Pentala ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano
Harikrishna converted an extra passed pawn on the queenside into an extra exchange, but the position of the pawns in the kingside and the fact that all the game was on one side of the board made the knight and rook combination of Caruana have hopes of keeping the draw against Harikrishna's two rooks. After 137 moves, Harikrishna admitted that he could not break his opponent's defenses.

Caruana's knight and rook held what seemed to be a lost endgame

Dominguez Perez, Leinier ½-½ Nakamura, Hikaru
Dominguez played a very powerful Berlin endgame agaisnt Nakamura. He obtained a winning position with an extra exchange after Black's kingside could not be held anymore. However his conversion phase was not as precise as the begininng of the game and he let Nakamura escape with a draw.

Nakamura tried the Berlin, but he ended up escaping narrowly

Van Wely, Loek ½-½ Rapport, Richard
Rapport essayed a relatively normal opening today, but it did not pay dividends as he was positionally lost anyways. It was a combination of a miracle and unexplainable mistakes by Van Wely that the game ended in a draw.

Van Wely can't be happy with this result

Rapport played a King's Indian, relatively normal for him,
but it was Van Wely's mistakes that allowed him to draw today

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Standings after six rounds

Round seven - Challengers

Group B: Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 18
Radek Wojtaszek - Zhao Xue
1-0
Anna Muzychuk - Merijn van Delft
½-½
Ivan Saric - Baadur Jobava
½-½
Yu Yangyi - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Sabino Brunello - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
0-1
Benjamin Bok - Kayden Troff
½-½
Jan Timman - Dimitri Reinderman
1-0

Few true surprises happened in the Challenger section, but definitely, like in the Master's, there were missed opportunities. The big miss was probably from Muzychuk, who was winning against Van Delft, but she missed her killing blow and remaind half a point behind Saric and Jobava.

Muyzchuk had her chance to be one of the three leaders, but she missed the winning tactic

The two leaders drew, but it was certainly Saric that was calling the shots. He had a very clear advantage, maybe even decisive, but a tenacious defense from Jobava allowed him to force a draw after sacrificing a rook. Saric continues his good form, but having a point over Jobava and Muzychuk would have been much better than the situation he is in right now.

Timman is the one that starts to poke his head from the rest of the players trying to catch the three leaders. He beat Reinderman today after the purple haired player played a more than questionable version of the Dutch defense.

Brunello played a nice sacrifice against Duda, and even obtained a winning position, but two blunders in a row turned a win into a losing queen endgame that the Polish youngster converted. Bok tried to deviate from theory against Troff but the American was never in any danger.

Troff has lost two games, against Saric and Muzychuk, but still has a good performance

Wojtaszek demolished Zhao Xue without problems to gain back some momentum while Yu Yangyi inflicted upon Goudriaan his seventh loss in a row from what should have been an easily drawn endgame.

The Chinese player's -1 result so far puts her a little below expectation

Arianne Caoili, Aronian's girlfriend, was spotted in one of the amateur sections

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Standings after seven rounds

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
½-½
Boris Gelfand - Arkadij Naiditsch
½-½
Levon Aronian - Hikaru Nakamura
1-0
Sergey Karjakin - Richard Rapport
1-0
Leinier Dominguez - Fabiano Caruana
1-0
Loek van Wely - Pentala Harikrishna
½-½
Group A: Round 5 - Friday Jan. 17
Pentala Harikrishna - Anish Giri
0-1
Fabiano Caruana - Loek van Wely
1-0
Richard Rapport - Leinier Dominguez
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura - Sergey Karjakin
½-½
Arkadij Naiditsch - Levon Aronian
0-1
Wesley So - Boris Gelfand
1-0
Group A: Round 6 - Saturday Jan. 18
Anish Giri - Boris Gelfand
½-½
Levon Aronian - Wesley So
1-0
Sergey Karjakin - Arkadij Naiditsch
1-0
Leinier Dominguez - Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
Loek van Wely - Richard Rapport
½-½
Pentala Harikrishna - Fabiano Caruana
½-½
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
0-1
Dimitri Reinderman - Benjamin Bok
½-½
Kayden Troff - Sabino Brunello
½-½
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Yu Yangyi
0-1
Etienne Goudriaan - Ivan Saric
0-1
Baadur Jobava - Anna Muzychuk
½-½
Merijn van Delft - Radek Wojtaszek
0-1
Group B: Round 7 - Saturday Jan. 18
Radek Wojtaszek - Zhao Xue
1-0
Anna Muzychuk - Merijn van Delft
½-½
Ivan Saric - Baadur Jobava
½-½
Yu Yangyi - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Sabino Brunello - Jan-Krzysztof Duda
0-1
Benjamin Bok - Kayden Troff
½-½
Jan Timman - Dimitri Reinderman
1-0
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
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.


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