Tata Steel R11: Van Foreest takes down Giri

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
1/29/2022 – Anish Giri is all but out of contention for first place at the Tata Steel Masters tournament, as he was defeated by Jorden van Foreest in Friday’s eleventh round. Magnus Carlsen signed a draw against Vidit Gujrathi and has a half-point lead over Richard Rapport going into the final weekend of the event. Moreover, Carlsen will get a free point in the last round, when he was supposed to face Daniil Dubov, who had to leave the tournament after testing positive for Covid-19. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit
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Free points for Carlsen and Rapport

As announced by the organizers before the start of round 11, Daniil Dubov has withdrawn from the Tata Steel Masters tournament after testing positive for Covid-19. Since the Russian had played more than half his games, the results he had obtained will be included in the final standings table, while the Russian’s last three opponents will get wins by forfeit — i.e. Richard Rapport, Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen.

In hindsight, in pure competitive terms, it is “fortunate” that Dubov also forfeited his game against Anish Giri, as the three current main contenders for first place will all get the same “free point” in the end. For Carlsen in particular, who was paired up against Dubov in the last round, this means that keeping his half-point advantage in the next round will grant him tournament victory with one round to spare.

Despite this twist of fate, though, Giri is all but out of contention for tournament victory, as he was defeated by defending champion Jorden van Foreest in round 11. Giri is now a full point behind Carlsen, which means the Dutchman would need to win both his games and hope for Fabiano Caruana to beat the world champion on Saturday.

Caruana, by the way, won his round-11 game, as he got the better of Praggnanandhaa with the black pieces.

Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit

The crucial encounter of the round, which was a repeat of last year’s deciding playoff, saw Van Foreest entering a questionable line of the Nimzo-Indian with the white pieces. The defending champion was willing to take risks after his loss against Andrey Esipenko, and his approach ended up paying off.

 
Van Foreest vs. Giri

White here went for 16.Rxf6, giving up an exchange to get the initiative on the kingside. It was a tough place to be for Giri, who could not counter his compatriot’s excellent play. Soon enough, White regained the material while keeping his massive initiative on the kingside.

 

There followed 28...Bd7 29.Bxg6 fxg6 30.Bxf6+, and Black is in deep trouble. Giri continued playing until move 42, but his rival was clearly in good form and did not falter until securing the full point.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 6.f3 Nc6 E24: Nimzo-Indian: Sämisch: Unusual Black 5th moves and 5...c5 sidelines. 7.e4 Na5 8.Bd3 Ba6 The position is equal. 9.Qe2 d6 Better is 9...c5 10.f4= Qd7 11.Nf3! Qa4 12.Nd2
12...e5N Predecessor: 12...0-0-0 13.0-0 Nd7 14.Rb1 Nb8 15.Rb5 c5 16.Rb1 Rd7 17.f5 exf5 18.exf5 Nbc6 0-1 (56) Deze,V (2220)-Aleksic,N (2420) Barcelona 1991 13.0-0 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Rb1 14.fxe5 Nd7 14...Nc6 13...0-0 14.fxe5 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Rb1 15.fxe5 Nd7 15...Qc6 14...dxe5 15.Rb1 15.dxe5 Nd7 16.Qh5 Rae8 15...c5
15...Nd7= remains equal. 16.Rxf6!± gxf6
17.Qf3 17.Nb3! feels stronger. 17...Qc6= Don't do 17...cxd4 18.Nb3! Qc6 19.Nxa5 19.Bh6 f5= 19...bxa5 20.Bh6 17...exd4 18.e5 Rfe8 19.exf6+- 17...Bxc4? 18.Nxc4 h6 19.Bxh6!+- 18.d5 Qd6 19.Nf1 Kh8 19...Bxc4? 20.Ne3 20.Bh6 f5 20...Kh8 21.Bxc4+- 19...Nxc4? 20.Bxc4 20.Bh6 f5± 20...Bxc4 21.Ne3+- 20.Ne3 White has compensation. Bc8 21.Bd2 Rg8 22.Be1 Rg6
22...f5! 23.Bh4!± Rh6
24.Qf2 White is more active. Bd7 25.Rf1 Kg7? Black cannot hold the game after this. 25...Nb7± 26.Be2+- Rg6 Inhibits Bg4. 27.h3 Bxh3? 27...Rg8 28.Bh5 Rh6 28.Bh5 Bd7 28...Rf8 29.Bxg6 fxg6 30.gxh3 h5 29.Bxg6 fxg6 30.Bxf6+ Not 30.Qxf6+ Qxf6 31.Bxf6+ Kg8± 30...Kg8 31.Qh4 Threatens to win with Be7. Rf8 32.Rf3 Black must now prevent Be7. Rf7 Inhibits Be7. 33.Qg5 Qf8 34.Qxe5 Strongly threatening Qg5. Nb7 34...h6 35.Rf2 Nb7 35.Qf4 White is clearly winning. Nd6 36.e5 Ne8 37.d6 Nxf6 38.exf6 Qe8 39.Nd5 Hoping for Ne7+. Qe1+ 40.Kh2 Qd1 41.Ne7+ Kh8
42.Rh3! Weighted Error Value: White=0.14 (very precise) /Black=0.37 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Van Foreest,J2702Giri,A27721–0202284th Tata Steel Masters 202211.2

Anish Giri

Jorden van Foreest also beat Anish Giri in last year’s Armageddon decided for tournament victory | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit

Later on, Carlsen missed a big — yet difficult to find — chance to take down Vidit Gujrathi in a rook endgame.

Round 11 results

 

Standings after round 11

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All games - Round 11

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.Nc3 h6 6.h3 a6 C50: Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo. 7.a4 7.Be3 is a critical line. d6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Be6 10.b3 0-0 11.0-0
11...d5N Predecessor: 11...Nb8 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.d4 Nbd7 14.Qd3 Qe7 15.a5 Rac8 16.Qc4 Kh7 17.Rad1 exd4 18.exd4 1-0 (45) Aronian,L (2772)-Giri,A (2772) Warsaw 2021 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Qd2 Nxc3 14.Qxc3 Qd6 15.Nd2 f5 Inhibits Ne4. 16.Bxe6+ Qxe6 17.Qc4 Qxc4 18.bxc4 e4 19.d4 f4 20.Rxf4 Rxf4 21.exf4 Nxd4 22.Nxe4= Endgame KRN-KRN Ne2+ 23.Kf2 Nxf4 24.Rb1 b6 25.c5 Rf8 26.cxb6 Threatens to win with b7. cxb6 27.c4 Nd5+ 28.Ke2 Re8 29.cxd5± Rxe4+ KR-KR 30.Kd3 Rxa4 30...Rf4± is a better chance. 31.d6!+- Kf7 32.Re1 Ra5 33.Kd4 To avoid Rd5+. Hoping for d7. Ra2
34.Kd5! And now d7 would win. Stronger than 34.Re7+ Kf6= 34...Rd2+ 34...Rxg2? 35.d7+- 35.Re7+ Kf6± 35.Kc6 b5
36.d7? 36.Re7+!+- Kf6 37.Re4 36...Rc2+!= The position is equal. 37.Kb6 Rd2 38.Kc7 White threatens Re8 and mate. Rc2+ 39.Kd8 b4! 39...Rxg2? 40.Rf1+ Kg8 41.Rd1+- 40.Re7+ Kf8 41.Re3 Kf7 41...Rxg2? 42.Rf3+ Kg8 43.Rd3+- 42.Re7+ Kf8 43.Re5 Black must now prevent Rf5+. g6 Inhibits Rf5+. 43...Rxg2? 44.Rf5+ Kg8 45.Kc7+- 44.Re6 Strongly threatening Rf6+. b3 45.Rf6+ Kg7 46.Ke7 Intending Rf7+ and mate. Re2+ 47.Re6 Rxe6+ 48.Kxe6 b2 49.d8Q Qe7+ would kill now. b1Q ( -> ...Qe1+) 50.Qc7+ Kg8 ...Qf5+ is the strong threat. 51.Qd8+ Kg7 Blacks defense is rewarded with a draw. Weighted Error Value: White=0.05 (flawless) /Black=0.21 (precise) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2856Vidit,S2727½–½202284th Tata Steel Masters 202211.1
Van Foreest,J2702Giri,A27721–0202284th Tata Steel Masters 202211.2
Mamedyarov,S2767Karjakin,S2743½–½202284th Tata Steel Masters 202211.3
Grandelius,N2672Esipenko,A2714½–½202284th Tata Steel Masters 202211.4
Praggnanandhaa R2612Caruana,F27920–1202284th Tata Steel Masters 202211.5
Duda,J2760Shankland,S2708½–½202284th Tata Steel Masters 202211.6

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Nguyen and Bjerre both win in the Challengers

The two players chasing sole leader Arjun Erigaisi in the Challengers group, albeit a whole two points behind, won their games in round 11. Thai Dai Van Nguyen beat Roven Vogel, while Jonas Buhl Bjerre got the better of Volodar Murzin.

In the penultimate round, Nguyen faces Arjun in an all-important encounter, while Bjerre will try to profit from a potential win by Nguyen in his game against Zhu Jiner.

Round 11 also saw Marc’Andria Maurizzi grabbing his second win of the event, and once again he did it in style, beating Daniel Dardha in a 23-move encounter.

 
Maurizzi vs. Dardha

Black resigned in this position — watch out for those long-range pieces pointing out your vulnerable king!

Marc’Andria Maurizzi, Daniel Dardha

Marc’Andria Maurizzi versus Daniel Dardha | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit

Round 11 results

 

Standings after round 11

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All games - Round 11

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 c5 E04: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3. 7.Bxb4! 7.Bxb4 scores better than 7.0-0. cxb4 8.Ne5 0-0 White is slightly better. 9.a3 Nd5 10.0-0 bxa3 11.Nxa3 c3
12.b3N Predecessor: 12.Qc2 f6 13.Nec4 cxb2 14.Qxb2 a5 15.Nb5 f5 16.e3 Nc6 17.Nc3 Ra6 18.Rfc1 ½-½ (72) Oreopoulos,K (2442)-Lednev,V (2461) ICCF email 2012 12...Nc6 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Qd3 a5 15.Rfc1 White has compensation. Ba6 16.Qd1 16.Nc4 is more appropriate. 16...Ra7 The position is equal. 17.e3 Rd7 18.Nc4 Bxc4 19.bxc4 Nb4 20.Qa4 e5 21.Bxc6 Nxc6 22.Qxc6 exd4 23.exd4 Rc7 Weighted Error Value: White=0.10 (very precise) /Black=0.04 (flawless) ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
L'Ami,E2622Erigaisi Arjun2629½–½202284th Tata Steel Challengers 202211.1
Bjerre,J2586Murzin,V25191–0202284th Tata Steel Challengers 202211.2
Nguyen,T2609Vogel,R24521–0202284th Tata Steel Challengers 202211.3
Zhu,J2478Jumabayev,R2631½–½202284th Tata Steel Challengers 202211.4
Van Foreest,L2530Warmerdam,M2599½–½202284th Tata Steel Challengers 202211.5
Shuvalova,P2516Ganguly,S2627½–½202284th Tata Steel Challengers 202211.6
Maurizzi,M2496Dardha,D25331–0202284th Tata Steel Challengers 202211.7

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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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