Tata Steel R5: Grandelius beats MVL’s Najdorf, retakes the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
1/22/2021 – Round 5 of the Tata Steel Masters saw Nils Grandelius retaking the lead after beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the white pieces in the only decisive game of the day. Grandelius showed excellent preparation and managed to convert a position a pawn up against the ever-resourceful Frenchman. Exciting draws were seen in most of the remaining gamess, with David Anton v Aryan Tari a particularly thrilling encounter — Karsten Müller took a closer look at the endgame. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

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Beating the Najdorf, in style

Few players are as coupled with a particular setup as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is with the Sicilian Najdorf. The Frenchman, who holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, enjoys entering positions in which extremely precise calculations are needed to navigate the complications. While this strategy works wonders at times, it can also backfire against a deeply prepared opponent.

On Thursday, Nils Grandelius played 1.e4, knowing all too well that his opponent was very likely to play his pet opening. Perfectly ready for the challenge, the Swedish grandmaster entered a line in which, according to current theory, Black should be able to force a draw by repetition. MVL did not go for that particular line and agreed to play a pawn down in a messy position.

Grandelius, who knows how tough it can be to turn that advantage into a win against the Frenchman, spent almost an hour on moves 20 and 21. The lengthy reflections could have easily backfired as he got in time trouble, but in fact they turned out to be good investments, as the 27-year-old ended up getting a memorable win. Grandelius confessed:

I’m not super happy with my conversion, but I think it was sort of fine.

With the remaining games ending in draws, Grandelius reclaimed the sole lead he had let go of in round 3, when he lost to Pentala Harikrishna. For the Swedish star, a tough challenge lies ahead, as he will face defending champion Fabiano Caruana in the sixth round.

Jorden van Foreest

Jorden van Foreest has drawn all five of his games so far | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit 

A poisoned pawn, a potential repetition

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave grabbed the infamous poisoned pawn on b2 in the Najdorf, and 15 moves of theory were blitzed out by both players. Although they began to spend some minutes in each move, the position had been seen in a correspondence game until move 19:

 
Grandelius vs. Vachier-Lagrave
Position after 19.Rf4

The correspondence game continued 19...Nh5, when the commentators were expecting a repetition with 20.Rf5 Nf6 21.Rf4, etcetera. In the post-game interview, however, Grandelius hinted at the fact that he would not have repeated the position as he had something prepared against 19...Nh5.

Perhaps fearing that his opponent might have something ready in the main variation, Vachier-Lagrave responded instead with 19...Qe6. It was in the following two moves that Grandelius spent over 50 minutes — 20.Rxb7 0-0 21.h3:

 
Position after 21.h3

Of course, those do not seem to be very committal manoeuvres, but in such sharp positions every detail must be taken into account. Grandelius was now a pawn up and needed to convert his advantage into a win against an extremely sharp player. The Swedish grandmaster was up to the task, as he increased his advantage and finished the game in style:

 
Position after 30...g6

31.Qh4 ignoring the attack against his rook, as 31...gxf4 does not work due to 32.exf5 and the knight will give a deadly check on e7 in the next move. MVL tried to hold on to dear life with 31...Bf8, but then came 32.Rf6:

 
Position after 32.Rf6

Again Black cannot capture the rook with 32...Nxf6 — 33.Nxf6+ Kf7 34.Qxh7+ Bg7 35.Ng4 Rg8 36.Nh6+ Kf8 37.Bxg7+ Rxg7 38.Qh8+ Rg8 39.Qxg8+ Qxg8 40.Nxg8 Kxg8 and White is two pawns to the good in the pawn endgame.

The Frenchman went for 32...Qe8, and saw his opponent insisting on the exchange sacrifice with 33.Rxf8+. After 33...Qxf8 34.Ne7+ Kf7 35.Nxc8 Vachier-Lagrave resigned, as he is about to lose another pawn and his king is totally loose.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Be7 B97: Sicilian Najdorf: Poisoned Pawn. 11.fxe6 Bxe6 12.Nxe6 fxe6 White has an edge. 13.Bc4! Nbd7 ...Nc5 is the strong threat. 14.Bxe6 Don't play 14.Rxb7 Nc5 14...Nc5 15.Bb3 Rc8 16.0-0 Threatens to win with Bxf6. Nxb3 Double Attack 17.Rxb3 Double Attack Qc5+ 18.Be3 Qc4 19.Rf4
Hoping for e5! 19...Qe6N 19...Nh5!= keeps the balance. 20.Rf5 Nf6 Predecessor: 19...Nh5 20.Rf1 Rf8 21.Re1 b5 22.Nd5 Qxc2 23.Qd4 Nf6 1/2-1/2 (48) Rothman,I (2158)-Pessoa,F (2525) ICCF email 2010 20.Rxb7± 0-0 Keeping Black busy. 21.h3 Keeping Black busy. Rb8 22.Ra7 Ra8 23.Rxa8 Rxa8 24.Nd5 Rb8 25.c4 Bd8 25...Nxd5 26.exd5 26.cxd5 Qe5 26.Qxd5 Qxd5 27.exd5 Rb1+ 28.Rf1 Rb4 26...Rb1+ 27.Kh2 Qe5 26.Qf2 Nd7 27.Bd4 Bg5
27...h6± 28.Rf5!+- Bh6 29.Kh2 Rc8 29...Rf8± 30.Qg3 g6?       White is clearly winning. 30...Re8 is more resistant. 31.Bc3 Rf8 32.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Qh4! White is clearly winning. Bf8
31...Bg7 32.Qe7 32.Rf6 Qe8 Remove Defender 32...Nxf6 33.Nxf6+ 33.Rxf8+! Remove Defender Qxf8 Double Attack 34.Ne7+ Double Attack Kf7 35.Nxc8 Weighted Error Value: White=0.03/Black=0.41
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Grandelius,N2663Vachier-Lagrave,M27841–0202183rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.6

Nils Grandelius, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave never shies away from complex struggles | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit

Anton and Tari miss wins

We should add that both missed chances in the same (dramatic) game. Playing white, Anton had obtained a well-earned advantage out of a Berlin Defence. The Spaniard was not precise enough in the endgame though:

 
Anton vs. Tari
Position after 38...c5

The natural-looking 39.Rb5 was a mistake, as White needed to play 39.Kf2 first. The continuation of the game demonstrates the importance of bringing the king to the queenside in order to deal with the potential passer on that flank of the board.

After Anton’s rook manoeuvre the game continued 39...b3 40.Rxc5 Rxe5 41.Rxe5 a3 42.bxa3 b2 43.Rb5 and White had no other option than to give up his rook for the pawn:

 
Position after 43.Rb5

Anton still had three connected passed pawns on the kingside, which was enough to hold the balance. In a dramatic turn of events, however, he blundered again and entered a lost position — only to see Tari blunder in return a couple of moves later! Endgame specialist Karsten Müller took a closer look at the fascinating position.


Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Be7 10.Nc3 Nh4 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.Be3 h5 13.Rad1+ Ke8 14.Ne4 Bf5 15.Ng5 Rf8 16.Rd4 Bxg5 17.Bxg5 f6 18.exf6 gxf6 19.Bh4 Kf7 20.Rf4 Kg6 21.Re1 Bxc2 22.Re6 Bf5 23.Re3 Bb1 24.Rg3+ Kh7 25.Bxf6 Rf7 26.Rg5 Kh6 27.Be5 Raf8 28.Rxf7 Rxf7 29.f4 h4 30.Rg4 Kh5 31.Bg7 Rf5 32.Bc3 Bxa2 33.Be1 a5 34.Rxh4+ Kg6 35.Bc3 a4 36.Be5 b5 37.Rh8 b4 38.Rb8 c5 In the endgame the king should be active. But there is a point where it can become "too" active, as we will see later. At first, White's king should indeed be activated: 39.Rb5? White does not have time for this greedy plan. Now Black's counterplay is quick enough. 39.Kf2! wins, e.g. Rh5 40.Rb5 b3 41.Rxc5 Rxe5 42.Rxe5 a3 43.Re2 c5 44.Ke3 c4 45.Kd4 Bb1 46.bxa3 Bc2 47.Kc3+- 39...b3 40.Rxc5 40.Rxc5 Rxe5 41.Rxe5 a3= 40...Rxe5 41.Rxe5 a3 42.bxa3 Now 42.Re2? c5-+ even loses. 42...b2 43.Rb5 b1Q+ 44.Rxb1 Bxb1 45.Kf2 Bc2 46.g4 c5 47.Ke3 Kf6 48.Kd2 Ba4 49.h4 Bd7 50.f5 Ba4 51.Ke3 c4 52.Kf4? The wrong direction as White's activity leads nowhere, while his king is missing in the defense. The solid 52.Kd4 Bb5 53.h5 Kg5 54.Kc3 draws. 52...c3 53.g5+ Kf7 54.Ke3 c2? Black misses the moment to construct a pawn bishop barrier with 54...Bb5! 55.a4 Ba6 56.a5 Kg7 57.f6+ Kf7 58.h5 Bb5 59.h6 Kg6 and White is in fatal zugzwang. 55.Kd2 White's king comes back and everything is in order again. Kg7 56.h5 Bb3 57.Kc1 Ba4 58.Kb2 Bb3 59.Kc1 Ba4 60.Kb2 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anton Guijarro,D2679Tari,A2625½–½2021C6783rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.3

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 is the new trend. Be7 C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence: 4 0-0 Nxe4. 9...Ke8 feels hotter. 10.Rd1 Be7 11.Nc3 Be6 12.b3 Rd8 10.Nc3 Nh4 Black wants to play ...Nxf3+. 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 White has an edge. 12.Be3 h5 13.Rad1+ Ke8! New and interesting. 14.Ne4!?N New and interesting. 14.Ne2 looks sharper. b6 15.c4 Bb7 16.c5 Be7 17.f4 Predecessor: 14.Ne2 Bf5 15.Nd4 Bh7 16.f4 Rd8 17.f5 Rd5 18.Bf4 Be7 19.g4 Bc5 20.c3 1/2-1/2 (33) Karjakin,S (2752)-Ding,L (2791) chess24.com INT 2020 14...Bf5 15.Ng5 Rf8 16.Rd4 16.Nf3 with more complications. Be7 17.Nd4 Bh7 18.f4 Rd8 19.f5 16...Bxg5 17.Bxg5 f6 18.exf6 gxf6 White has the initiative. 19.Bh4 White has the initiative. Kf7 20.Rf4 Kg6 21.Re1 Bxc2 22.Re6 Bf5 23.Re3 Bb1 24.Rg3+ Kh7 25.Bxf6 And now Rg7+ would win. Rf7 26.Rg5 Kh6
aiming for ...Rxf6! 27.Be5 Raf8 27...Bxa2 28.Rxf7 28.Rxf7 Endgame KRB-KRB Rxf7± Endgame KRB-KRB 29.f4 h4 30.Rg4! Kh5 31.Bg7! Rf5 32.Bc3! Bxa2 33.Be1 a5 33...Rf7± keeps fighting. 34.Rxh4++- Kg6 35.Bc3 a4 36.Be5! b5 37.Rh8 37.Bxc7 Rd5 37...b4 38.Rb8 Less strong is 38.Bxc7 Rc5 38...c5 39.Rb5? Don't do 39.Bxc7?! Rd5 39.Kf2!+- 39...b3 39...Rxe5!? 40.fxe5 b3= 40.Rxc5 Threatens to win with Rc6+. Rxe5 41.Rxe5 KR-KB a3! 42.bxa3 b2 43.Rb5 b1Q+ 44.Rxb1 Bxb1 KB-KP 45.Kf2 Black should prevent a4. 45.a4 seems wilder. c5 46.Kf2 Be4 47.g4 Bc6 48.a5 45...Bc2 46.g4 c5 47.Ke3 Kf6 48.Kd2 Ba4 49.h4 h5 is the strong threat. Bd7 50.f5 Ba4 51.Ke3 c4 52.Kf4? 52.Kd2= 52...c3 53.g5+ Kf7 54.Ke3
54...c2? 54...Bb5! mates 55.a4 Bf1 56.a5 Bc4 57.h5 Kg7 58.f6+ Kf7 59.h6 Kg6 60.f7 Kxf7 61.Kd4
61...c2! 62.Kxc4 Double Attack c1Q+ Double Attack 63.Kb4 Qc6 64.Ka3 Qb5 65.a6 Qxa6+ 66.Kb4 Kg6 67.Kc3 Kxg5 68.h7 Qh6 69.Kc4 Qxh7 70.Kd5 Qd3+ 71.Kc5 Kf5 72.Kc6 Ke5 73.Kc5 Qc3+ 74.Kb6 Kd6 75.Kb5 Qb3+ 76.Ka5 Kc7 77.Ka6 Qb6#
55.Kd2= The position is equal. Kg7 56.h5 Bb3 57.Kc1 Ba4 58.Kb2 Bb3 59.Kc1 Ba4 60.Kb2 Never resign too early! Weighted Error Value: White=0.16/Black=0. 18
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anton Guijarro,D2679Tari,A2625½–½202183rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.3

Aryan Tari

It was a rollercoaster game for Aryan Tari and David Anton | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit

Top seeds cannot beat lower-rated opposition

Both Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana had the white pieces against much lower-rated players on Thursday. Alexander Donchenko and Andrey Esipenko proved, however, that they have what it takes to hold a draw with black against the top two players in the world. In both cases, the underdogs calculated extremely sharp variations to stay out of trouble against their famed rivals.

Donchenko spent almost half an hour on his 47th move:

 
Carlsen vs. Donchenko
Position after 47.cxd5

The German later explained:

The alternative was 47...e4, and basically you have to figure out if the position is a draw or not at that point. There are some forced lines, and sometimes I end up down a piece, but I think those are actually the harmless ones, and the one I chose was actually quite dangerous. It looked like if something goes wrong here it goes wrong forever.

Chess is tough!

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.h3 B90: Sicilian Najdorf: Unusual White 6th moves, 6 Be3 Ng4 and 6 Be3 e5. Nc6 9.Qf3 Rc8 10.0-0-0 Na5 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nd5
13...Bg5+N Predecessor: 13...b5 14.Nxa5 Qxa5 15.Kb1 0-0 16.Be2 Bd8 17.c3 Rb8 18.h4 Qa4 19.Rd2 a5 1/2-1/2 (42) Roubaud,D (2559)-Jonsson,D (2550) ICCF email 2016 14.Kb1 h5 15.Be2 h4 16.Nxa5 Qxa5 17.Qb3 Qc5 18.Bg4 Qc4 Wrong is 18...Qxf2? 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Nb6+- 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Nb6 Qxb3 21.axb3 Rc6 22.Nc4 Ke7 23.Rd3 Rf8 24.f3 Bf4 25.Rhd1 Rd8 26.c3 Rd7 27.Kc2 Rd8 28.Na5 Rc7 29.b4 Rdd7 29...b6!? 30.Nb3 g5= 30.Kb3 Rd8 31.Nc4 Rc6 32.Na3 d5 33.b5 Rcd6 34.bxa6 bxa6 35.Ka4 Rb8 36.b4 36.Nc4!? Rc6 37.Na5= 36...Rc6 37.Kb3 Rbc8 38.Ra1 Rc4 39.Ra2 39.exd5± exd5 40.Nb1 39...a5= 40.bxa5 Rb8+ White puts up resistance 41.Kc2 White puts up resistance Rc5 42.Nb1 Rbb5 43.exd5 exd5 44.a6 Ra5! 45.Rxa5 Endgame KRB-KRN Rxa5 Endgame KRB-KRN 46.c4! Rxa6 47.cxd5 Ra2+ 48.Kb3 Rxg2 49.Nc3 Rg3 49...Kd7= 50.d6+ Kd7 51.Ne4 Rxh3 52.Kc4 aiming for ...Rc1+. 52.Nc5+ is more complex. Kc6 53.d7 Bg5 54.Ne6 Be7 55.Kc4 52...Rh1! aiming for ...Rc1+. 53.Kd5 Nc5+ is the strong threat. 53.Nc5+ with more complications. Kc6 54.d7 Rc1+ 55.Kb3 Bg5 56.Ne6 53...Rc1 Strongly threatening ...h3.The position is equal. 54.Nc5+ Ke8 55.Ke6 Rxc5 KRB-KR 56.Ra3 White wants to mate with Ra8+. Rc8
Double Attack 57.d7+
Double Attack 57...Kd8 58.dxc8Q+ Kxc8 KR-KB 59.Ra1 h3 60.Rh1 h2 61.Kf5 g5 62.Kg4 Kd7 63.Kh3 Ke6 64.Kg2 Kf5 65.Kh3 e4 66.fxe4+ Kxe4 67.Kg4 Ke3 68.Rxh2 Bxh2 69.Kxg5 Weighted Error Value: White=0.08/Black=0.11
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2862Donchenko,A2668½–½202183rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.1
Firouzja,A2749Van Foreest,J2671½–½202183rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.2
Giri,A2764Harikrishna,P2732½–½202183rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.4
Caruana,F2823Esipenko,A2677½–½202183rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.5
Wojtaszek,R2705Duda,J2743½–½202183rd Tata Steel Masters 20215.7

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Alexander Donchenko

Germany’s number 2 Alexander Donchenko | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit


Round 5 results

 

Standings after Round 5

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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Karsten Müller Karsten Müller 1/23/2021 03:35
Von Thorsten Cmiel:
Moin,

sicher schon bekannt...der Gewinnweg in Anton-Tari 54...Lb5 war fast auf den Tag genau zwei Jahre zuvor in Wijk schon mal Thema gewesen in Pragg - Chigaev 23.1.2019. Hier spielte Pragg 46.Kf3??

Besten Gruß
Thorsten Cmiel
1
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