Tata 07: Exchange Sacrifice, anyone?
1/19/2014 – As if the spirit of Petrosian had possessed the playing hall, today's round in the Master's section of Tata Steel saw no less than five boards in which one side had an extra exchange! Interestingly, only in one of games was the exchange converted into a win (Rapport 1-0 Harikrishna) while one was lost (Nakamura 0-1 Van Wely) and three games finished in interesting positional draws.
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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 seven - Masters
| Group A: Round 7 - Sunday Jan. 19 | |
| Fabiano Caruana - Anish Giri |
½-½
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| Richard Rapport - Pentala Harikrishna |
1-0
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| Hikaru Nakamura - Loek van Wely |
0-1
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| Arkadij Naiditsch - Leinier Dominguez |
½-½
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| Wesley So - Sergey Karjakin |
½-½
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| Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian |
½-½
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Summary by GM Daniel King
Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Giri, Anish
Both of Chuchelov's star students played a weird Bishop's opening in which neither side was in any danger. The pieces came off the board and the draw was agreed.
It's not easy choosing an opening when you have the same coach as your opponent
Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 Van Wely, Loek
Without a doubt the game of the day
[Event "76th Tata Steel Chess Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2014.01.19"] [Round "7"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Van Wely, Loek"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B54"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "NED"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 {This specific move-order of the Scheveningen set up with d6 and e6 is desgined to take some of the sting of the Keres attack, which involves 6.g4. Since there is no knight on f6 yet there are not as many problems for Black... but that doesn't mean that Nakamura won't play it anyways!} 6. g4 Nge7 (6... a6 7. Be3 Nge7 8. Nb3 {is the more common variation. Notice that here White has played Be3 instead of h4. }) (6... h6 $5 {has become trendy recently}) 7. Nb3 a6 8. h4 (8. Be3 b5 9. f4 Bb7 10. Qe2 {has been seen a few times in grandmaster games. The game played by Nakamura is a novelty, but it's questionable how good it is to launch the pawns forward with so little preparation.}) 8... b5 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. g5 Rc8 11. Qe2 h5 {Locking in the kingside, but this is not always necessary.} 12. a4 $6 { I don't like this idea. Normal development seemed more prudent. Now White will have a target on the queenside but he will fall dangerously behind in development.} b4 13. Na2 g6 14. Bf4 Bg7 15. Rd1 Ne5 $5 {Van Wely's set up is interesting. True, b4 is hanging, but Black is relying on counterplay with his pieces to compensate for this.} 16. Nxb4 Nc4 17. Nd3 Qb6 {Black has compensation for the pawn, of that there is no doubt. However there is still no specific danger for White and he can hope to retain his extra material.} 18. O-O O-O 19. Nd2 Rfd8 20. Nxc4 Rxc4 21. Ne5 $6 {White starts getting in problems after this move. More prudent was} (21. b3 Rcc8 22. c4 $1 {Using tactics to solidify the structure} Ba8 (22... Qxb3 $4 23. Rb1 $18) 23. Nc1 { Black has some compensation, but not more than that.}) 21... dxe5 22. Be3 (22. Qxc4 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 exf4 24. Rd7 Bc6 $1 25. Rxe7 Bd4 {gives Black enough counterplay to probably force a perpetual against White's weakened king.}) 22... Rcd4 23. c3 {Nakamura wins an echange with this sequence, but his position is passive and his pawns become weak. More than this, the passed d-pawn Black receives as compensation will become quite strong.} Bc6 24. b3 $2 {It's hard to understand why White gave away this pawn.} (24. Qc2 $1 Rc8 { Gives Black strong compensation but not more than that.} (24... Bxa4 $2 25. Qxa4 Rxa4 26. Bxb6 $14 {leaves White in a slightly better position. True, Black is not down material, but White holds the pair of bishops and a superior pawn structure.})) 24... Qxb3 25. cxd4 exd4 26. Bf4 Qxa4 (26... d3 27. Qd2 Bxa4 {was more direct, but Black's position is good regardless}) 27. Qf3 Bb5 28. Ra1 Qb4 29. Rfd1 d3 {With two pawns for the exchange, one of them being the passed pawn on d3, it is obvious that it is not White that is playing for the advantage.} 30. Rab1 Qa3 31. Bf1 Nc6 32. Qg3 Qa2 33. Rbc1 {It was hard to suggest a move for White, but this allows a finishing blow.} d2 $1 {Excellent calculation by the Dutch player!} 34. Rxd2 Rxd2 35. Bxb5 axb5 36. Bxd2 Nd4 $1 { This is the point of the combination. White cannot hold on to his bishop on d2 because of the multiple forks.} (36... Qxd2 $2 37. Rxc6 Qe1+ 38. Kg2 Qxe4+ 39. Qf3 Qxh4 {is better for Black but not by much.}) 37. Rc8+ Kh7 38. Qc7 (38. Qd3 Qxd2 {loses the bishop and the game anyways because of the fork on f3.}) 38... Qb1+ $1 {Precise calculation! Black's attack is decisive.} (38... Qxd2 39. Qxf7 {forces Black to give a perpetual becuase of the unstoppable Qg8 threat.}) 39. Bc1 Nf3+ 40. Kg2 Nxh4+ (40... Qxe4 {also wins}) 41. Kh3 (41. Kf1 Qd3+ {speeds up White's demise.}) 41... Qxe4 42. Qf4 Qh1+ 43. Qh2 Qb7 44. Rd8 Be5 45. f4 ( 45. Qxe5 Qg2+ 46. Kxh4 Qg4#) 45... Qf3+ 46. Qg3 Qh1+ 47. Qh2 Qf3+ 48. Qg3 Qh1+ 49. Qh2 Qxc1 50. fxe5 Qxg5 51. Qf4 Qxd8 (51... Qg2+ 52. Kxh4 g5+ {was most precise, but obviously the move in the game wins as well.}) (51... Qxf4 $4 52. Rh8+ Kg7 53. Rg8+ {was Nakamura's last trap, with a stalemate trick.}) 52. Qxf7+ Kh6 {Definitely a spectacular and precise game from Van Wely. To be honest, if I had seen the game without being told who was White and who was Black I would have guessed that the players had the colors reversed!} 0-1
The winner of the 2011 edition has not been able to perform up to his rating
Rapport, Ricahrd 1-0 Harikrishna, Pentala
Rapport used a side variation (surprise!) of the Caro-Kann, but it gave good results today as he obtained a slight advantage against Harikrishna. The Hungarian played an excellent game and kept pushing the Indian's position, which soon saw itself in a surprising mating attack. Black shed some material to relieve the pressure but with an extra exchange Rapport was able to win the game.
The Indian grandmaster's performance is close to 2700, but thats just within expectations
Rapport moves to -1 and has exactly the same performance as his rating!
So, Wesley ½-½ Karjakin, Sergey
Karjakin (maybe unnecessarily) sacrificed an exchange to retain some light square control and for two powerful knights. So wasn't able to make progress with his passive position so he gave the exchange back, resulting in a drawn rook endgame.
Gelfand, Boris ½-½ Aronian, Levon
Aronian certainly surprised Gelfand from the opening with a pawn sacrifice in a Ragozin/Vienna variation of the QGD. However Gelfand decided to play it relatively safe, gave back an exchange to solidify his position and he was never in any danger of losing.
Naiditsch, Arkadij ½-½ Dominguez Perez, Leinier
Naidtisch's superior pawn structure did not grant him an advantage as Black's passed a-pawn was certainly not a weakness but a strength. This ended up costing the German player an exchange, in yet another game in which one side was down an exchange. It's difficult to say where Dominguez went wrong, or if he went wrong at all, but he was unable to convert a very difficult technical endgame.
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Standings after seven rounds
Round eight - Challengers
| Group B: Round 8 - Sunday Jan. 19 | |
| Zhao Xue - Dimitri Reinderman |
0-1
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| Kayden Troff - Jan Timman |
½-½
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| Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Benjamin Bok |
½-½
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| Etienne Goudriaan - Sabino Brunello |
½-½
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| Baadur Jobava - Yu Yangyi |
1-0
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| Merijn van Delft - Ivan Saric |
½-½
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| Radek Wojtaszek - Anna Muzychuk |
½-½
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Jobava's unusual opening repertoire keeps giving him dividends
The big result of today was definitely Jobava's victory over Yu Yangyi. He used his trademarked 1.b3, and as usual he got no opening advantage but did get an interesting position. Actually shortly after the opening Yu Yangyi erred and allowed White a better pawn structure and serious pressure on the long diagonal. White took advantage of this and won a pawn and then converted a simple knight endgame.
The Chinese player, Yu Yangyi, simply didn't find his groove in Wijk Aan Zee
Yes, her position at some point was that bad
Duda and Bok finished in a perpetual check after the Polish grandmaster decided that things weren't exactly going his way. Troff's White repertoire simply does not seem as sharp as his Black repertoire and Timman easily equalized against his Catalan using a Bogo-Indian set up. Van Delft's better pawn structure didn't promise him any real advantage against Saric's piece activity and that game also ended in a draw.
A strange perpetual check finished this game
In the most important blunder of the day Wojtaszek missed a winning move against Muzychuk during time pressure. 38.Rff4! would have won material because of the unusual but strong mating attack against Black's king. Instead the Slovenian player escaped with a draw. Reinderman's dutch set ups finally payed off and he was ble to outplay Zhao Xue, although maybe his win wasn't exactly due to the opening. On another happy note, Goudriaan finally obtained his first half point of the event in a strange game against Brunello.
Anne Hast, one of the best Dutch players, paid a short visit
Experience sometimes prevails in the amateur section!
"Sopiko Guramishvili - what can I do, if she is so photogenic?!" - our photographer, Alina l'Ami
Players eat the famous Dutch erwtensoup - a good idea for extra energy
Some spectators found vantage points to follow the games
Replay Challenger section round 8
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Standings after eight rounds
Photos by Alina l'Ami
Schedule and results
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Grandmaster Group B
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Wednesday, Jan. 15 – Free day
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Monday, Jan. 20 – Free day
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Thursday, Jan. 23 – Free day
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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 |
LinksThe 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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