Tata Steel R2: Carlsen beats Giri

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
1/17/2022 – World champion Magnus Carlsen joined a three-player leading pack on Sunday by beating Anish Giri with the white pieces. In the only other decisive game of the day in the Masters, Richard Rapport bounced back from his first-round defeat as he took down Jorden van Foreest. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Carlsen, Vidit and Duda in the lead

For the first time in Wijk aan Zee, Magnus Carlsen got to beat local hero Anish Giri, as he defeated him with white in the second round of this year’s Masters tournament. This was the Norwegian’s first full point this edition — he drew Andrey Esipenko on Saturday. The world champion is now sharing the lead with Vidit Gujrathi and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who both won in the first round and grabbed half points on Sunday.

Carlsen played enterprisingly from the get go and sacrificed an exchange as early as on move 16. It was a correct sacrifice, which gave him the upper hand.

 
Carlsen vs. Giri

The sequence 16.Rxc6 Qxc6 17.Ne5 leaves the black queen with only a few squares to escape while opening up the long diagonal for White’s light-squared bishop. The engines assess the position as balanced, but after 17...Qb5 18.Qc2 Giri already faltered, as White has many dynamic threats with his active pieces.

 

Giri thought for almost 15 minutes before playing 18...Nd5, which gives way to 19.Rb1 (attacking the passive queen) Qa5 20.Bxd5 exd5 21.Rxb7 and White is clearly for choice.

In the diagrammed position, Black had a better alternative — he could have played 18...Nb6, which would have been followed by the forcing 19.Bxb7 Nc4 20.Bxa8 Nxa3, and here White can play either 21.Qc6 or 21.Qxc7

 
Analysis diagram

This looks bad for Black, but after 21...Rxa8 he is nonetheless a piece up — 21.Qc6 is more nuanced, but it lead to roughly equal positions as well. After analysing these lines, we can understand why Giri rejected 18...Nb6.

Going back to the game, though, the Dutchman’s position quickly crumbled, with the world champion showing precise play to punish his opponent’s mistakes.

 

Giri went for 21...c5 here, and after 22.Qf5 Rf8 23.Nxf7 he played the showy 23...Qd8

 

Black is busted, but he goes down in style. Carlsen needed a bit over 10 minutes to find the correct 24.dxc5, and he did not hesitate to enter a superior endgame 24...Qf6 25.Qxf6 gxf6. The world champion had two pawns for the exchange, in addition to a more solid structure and active, coordinated pieces.

This is how the position looked after 26.Nh6+ Kh8 27.c6 Rc8 28.c7

 

Carlsen had no trouble converting his advantage into a 36-move victory. The Norwegian will face Duda with black in round 3, while Giri will try to bounce back in his game with white against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Na3 Bxa3 8.bxa3 Bd7 9.a4!? Leaves trodden paths. E05: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3 Be7. Bc6 10.Ba3 Re8 11.Qc2
The position is equal. 11...Nbd7N Predecessor: 11...Bd5 12.Rfe1 Nbd7 13.e4 Bc6 14.Nd2 a5 15.Nxc4 Nb6 16.Nxb6 cxb6 17.Bb2 Qd7 1-0 (48) Cordova,E (2571)-Slade,T (2124) Saint Louis 2019 12.Rac1 a6 13.Qxc4 Nb6! 14.Qc3 Nxa4 15.Qb3 Black must now prevent Rxc6! Qd5 15...Nb6 16.Rxc6 Qxc6 17.Ne5! Qb5 18.Qc2 aiming for Rb1. Nd5 18...Nb6!= keeps the balance. 19.Rb1± Qa5
...Nac3 is the strong threat. 20.Bxd5 20.Nc4? Qc3 21.Qxa4 b5-+ 20.Be4!± g6 21.Bxd5 21.Nc4? Qc3 21...exd5 22.Bb4 20...exd5 20...Qxd5 21.Qxa4 f6 21.Rxb7 Strongly threatening Bb4. Black is in trouble. White is more active. 21.Bb4?! Qb6 22.Bc5 22.Qxa4 a5 22...Qa5= 21...c5 To avoid Bb4. Loses the game. 21...Nc3± 22.Bb4 Qxa2 23.Qxc3 Qb1+ 24.Kg2 Qe4+ 25.Nf3 Rac8 22.Qf5+- Rf8 23.Nxf7 Qd8 24.dxc5 Qf6 25.Qxf6 The board is on fire. gxf6 26.Nh6+ Kh8 27.c6 Rfc8 28.c7 Nc3 29.Bb2 d4
30.Nf7+! Less strong is 30.e3 Nd5 30...Kg7 31.Nd6 Kg6 32.Kf1 Don't take 32.Nxc8 Rxc8 33.e3 Nd5 34.Bxd4 Rxc7+- 32...Nb5 33.Nxc8 Rxc8 34.a4 Nxc7 35.Bxd4 Ne6 36.Be3 Weighted Error Value: White=0.08 (flawless) /Black=0.25 (precise)
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2856Giri,A27721–0202284th Tata Steel Masters 20222.1

Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri

The world champion took down the ever-dangerous (particularly in Wijk aan Zee) Anish Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Rapport wins, Mamedyarov keeps it interesting

After losing against Duda in the first round, Rapport returned to a fifty-percent score by beating defending champion Jorden van Foreest with the white pieces. In an equal knight endgame, both players were low on time and the Dutchman went for a tricky move which simply does not work.

 
Rapport vs. Van Foreest

As the winner of the game explained afterwards, Black tried to go for counterplay by attacking the queenside pawns with 35...Nd7. However, White does not need to do anything in the centre and can immediately grab the h7-pawn with 36.Nxh7. Van Foreest had planned to go for 36...e5+ 37.fxe5 Nxe5 38.exf5 Nc6+ 39.Kc4 Ke5, but White keeps things under control with 40.f6 — everything is protected.

 

Rapport needed seven more moves to claim the win, and later called this “a present” by his opponent. The Hungarian himself had over-pressed from an equal position in round 1, so he considered that it is fair for him to have a fifty-percent score after two days of play.

Richard Rapport

Hungarian star Richard Rapport | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Earlier in the round, Mamedyarov had gone for the most shocking opening variation in his game against Esipenko.

 
Mamedyarov vs. Esipenko

The Azerbaijani simply cannot stop himself, as he finds ways to push his g-pawn as early as possible when playing white, even while facing top grandmasters. After having missed a huge chance to kick off the event with a win over Daniil Dubov, Shakh went for the throat with 3.g4, but saw his opponent steering away from the sharpest line, as after thinking for 8 minutes Esipenko played 3...d5 instead of 3...Nxg4.

In the end, a draw was signed after 26 moves. But we can certainly expect for Mamedyarov to continue stirring trouble for his opponents in the following rounds! 

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nbd2 Bf5 5.Nh4 Be6 6.e3 D11: Slav Defence: 3 Nf3 sidelines and 3. ..Nf6 4 e3 Bg4. g6 6...g5!? 7.Nhf3 g4= 7.b3 Bg7 8.Bb2 White has an edge. 0-0 9.Rc1!? A promising side line. Ne4
10.Nhf3N Predecessor: 10.Bd3 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Nd7 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Nf3 Qb6 14.Ba3 Bf6 15.h3 Rfc8 16.g4 Rxc1+ 17.Qxc1 ½-½ (87) Mamedyarov,S (2756)-Gelfand,B (2747) Jurmala 2015 10...Qa5 11.a3 c5 Inhibits b4. 12.Bd3 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 Nd7 15.Rc2 Rad8 16.h3 Rfe8 16...dxc4 17.bxc4 cxd4 18.exd4 Nb6 17.Ke2 cxd4 18.Bxd4 dxc4 19.Bxc4 Bxc4+ 20.Rxc4 Bxd4 21.Nxd4 Nb6 22.Rc5 Rc8 23.Rhc1 Rxc5 24.Rxc5 Rc8 To avoid Rc7 25.Rxc8+ Nxc8= Endgame KN-KN 26.Kd3 Nd6 27.f4 f5 28.Nf3 Kf7 29.a4 Ne4 30.Kd4 Ke6 31.g4 Kd6 32.b4 Nf6 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.Ng5 With the idea Nf7+. e6 35.e4 Nd7
A mistake that costs the game. 35...fxe4= and Black has nothing to worry. 36.Nxe4+ Ke7 36.Nxh7+- e5+? 36...fxe4 37.Ng5 37.Kxe4 Nb6± 37...e3 37.fxe5+ Nxe5 38.exf5 Nc6+ 39.Kc4 39.Ke4 Ke7 40.h4 39...Ke5? 39...Ne5+ 40.Kd4 Nc6+ 41.Ke4 Nxb4 40.f6
f7 would kill now. 40...Ke6 41.b5 Ne5+ 42.Kd4 a6 43.Ng5+ Kxf6 44.Ne4+ Kf5 45.Nd6+ Kf4 46.b6 a5 47.Kc5 Weighted Error Value: White=0.18 (very precise) /Black=0.42 Inferior is 47.Nxb7 Nd7=
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2763Van Foreest,J27021–0202284th Tata Steel Masters 20222.4
Mamedyarov,S2767Esipenko,A2714½–½202284th Tata Steel Masters 20222.5

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Round 2 results

 

Standings after round 2

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Murzin wins again

Curiously, 15-year-old Volodar Murzin is not the youngest player in the Challengers tournament, but his being the sole leader after two rounds is nonetheless remarkable. The young Russian beat his compatriot Polina Shuvalova to become the only player in both sections to kick off the event with a perfect 2/2 score.

Three players stand a half point behind — Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Czech Republic), Surya Ganguly and Arjun Erigaisi (both from India). Arjun beat Max Warmerdam with black after the Dutchman was over-confident in giving up his queen in the early middlegame.

 
Warmerdam vs. Arjun

16.Rxa6, played after almost 40 minutes, allows 16...Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Rxc2, when White considered that 18.bxa7, getting a far-advanced passed pawn, gave him enough counterplay for the queen. As Arjun demonstrated, though, this was not the case. The Indian continued to play confidently and quickly until getting a 25-move win.

Volodar Murzin

15-year-old Volodar Murzin is leading the field in the Challengers | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 2 results

 

Standings after round 2

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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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