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"It's difficult to fight against an opponent who blunders a piece like a beginner and then begins to play like a genius." That's the take from our annotator, Ukrainian GM Mikhail Golubev, on the game that captivated audiences around the world. It was so shocking there were even those who tried to rationalize the mistake as some sort of deliberate gambit / sacrifice, a suggestion all the players on-site ridiculed, including the World Champion himself.
Everyone was wondering what the heck just happened to Magnus? | Photo: Alina l'Ami © 2018 Tata Steel
Carlsen says he didn't expect the Sicilian Dragon, despite Jones having authored a book on the opening. After the blunder, Magnus had some compensation and soon was able to complicate the position such that Jones' advantage was slim and he was burning time on the clock. After 23.g5! Jones thought for over 50 minutes on his next three moves.
"It's a little embarrasing obviously." But he kept up the pressure until Jones' finally cracked.
Now in a joint tie for first place with Giri and Mamedyarov, Carlsen says, "It's looking better than it ever did."
| Tata Steel Chess YouTube
The Sicilian Dragon Vol. 2: All Lines except 9.Bc4
The Dragon is one of Black's most daring openings, leading to fascinating positions with opposite castling and strong mutual attacks. This DVD provides a complete and up to date repertoire to help Black to score with the Dragon.
Gawain magnanimously visited the commentary booth after the defeat to go over the game.
Jones: "I'm not sure I'm going to get much better chances to beat Magnus than this one" | Tata Steel Chess YouTube
The World Champion @MagnusCarlsen is now officially a full piece stronger than the rest of the mankind! 😂👏✌️ #stillgotit #TataSteelChess
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) January 21, 2018
Carlsen owes Anish Giri a beer, after his game with tournament leader Mamedyarov ended in a resounding victory for Giri, which throws the standings to a three-way tie.
@MagnusCarlsen has been playing in our tournament since he was 13... What's his advice for young players? #TataSteelChess pic.twitter.com/dwRhQCq1tU
— Tata Steel Chess (@tatasteelchess) January 20, 2018
"Magnus Carlsen has been playing in our tournament since he was 13... What's his advice for young players?"
Perhaps his advice should be, "never resign", keep fighting and posing problems for your opponent and good things will happen.
Fabiano Caruana seems to have written off his tournament already with healthy amusement. After beating Hou Yifan in what he viewed as a pretty bad game, he then revisted yesterday's opening blunder and described it as the low point of the tournament.
Caruana got a lucky break in this game as Hou Yifan missed a chance to increase her already clear initiative on move 33:
Play your moves right on the live diagram!
Hou played 33.Qd2 but 33.Rf3 was the move Caruana missed an subsequently feared. The point is that it's highly dangerous to take the knight: 33...Kxh6 due to 34.Rxf7 Qe8 35.Qd2+ g5 36.Rf6+ Kg7 37.Qxg5 Kh8 38.Rxd6 with a strong attack.
The Ruy Lopez Breyer Variation
Pavel Eljanov explains in depth what Gyula Breyer already saw in 1911 and what became an opening choice of the likes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand or Carlsen. The Breyer Variation, which is characterised by the knight retreat to b8.
Caruana: "I'm just happy to win a game, and I don't really have high ambitions" | Tata Steel Chess YouTube
Mamedyarov, suffering before finally admitting defeat. | Photo: Alina l'Ami © 2018 Tata Steel
Power Play 8 - Knights and Bishops
When we are starting out in chess we are told that knights and bishops both have a value of three points, but it is quite clear that in some positions a bishop is clearly superior to a knight - and vice versa. After watching this 8th Power Play DVD you’ll have a better idea of how to play positions with knights and bishops – what to look for, what to avoid, and how to place your pawns.
Anish Giri got an edge right out of the opening and smoothly increased his advantage until Mamedyarov's position was on the brink of collapse. It was an interesting illustration of a position in which the bishop pair conferred no advantage. In the final position, it's not immediately obvious just how dire Black's position is:
Play a few moves, however, and the situation quickly becomes clear. The game might have continued 32...Kh6 33.Kh2 Ba6 34.Bd2+ Kh7 35.Rxh5 Kg8 36.Rg1 and the pin along the g-file is devastating.
Giri: "Every victory for me is massive" | Tata Steel Chess YouTube
Wesley So felt he was fine out of the opening, despite being surprised by Vladimir Kramnik's choice. He turned down Kramnik's efforts to sacrifice his knight, and kept the game close to equality, before liquidating to an endgame with opposite coloured bishops and shaking hands on move 28.
The knight sat en prise for six more moves until the truce was signed.
Power Play 24: A repertoire for black against the Catalan
On this DVD Grandmaster Daniel King offers you a repertoire for Black against the Catalan, based around maintaining the rock of a pawn on d5. Keeping central control ultimately gives Black good chances to launch an attack against the enemy king.
Wesley So: "Vladimir plays very risky chess these days" | Tata Steel Chess YouTube
All round-up shows are available in ChessBase Videos, for Premium account holders
Commentary by GM Robin van Kampen and GM Eric Hansen| Tata Steel Chess YouTube
We'll take a closer look at how things are going in the Challenger's section tomorrow, the second rest day in Wijk aan Zee.
Vidit and Anton are currently sharing 1st place for the #Challengers, both a full two points ahead of other players. These two will go head to head in R11! #tatasteelchess pic.twitter.com/eQgSafu2IZ
— Tata Steel Chess (@tatasteelchess) January 21, 2018
