Alexander Grischuk wins Tata Steel Chess India Blitz

by Klaus Besenthal
9/10/2023 – The Tata Steel Chess India Blitz tournament came to an end after rounds 10 to 18 were played on Saturday. Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk was the outright winner with a 12/18 score. Grischuk finished ahead of Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who both collected 11/18 points. Arjun Erigaisi and rapid-tournament winner Maxime Vachier-Lagrave were the two remaining players to end with a plus score. | Photo: Vivek Sohani

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Beating a direct rival

Praggnanandhaa finished the first day of blitz as the sole leader. But he had two players breathing down his neck, merely a half point behind: Vidit Gujrathi and Alexander Grischuk.

And if you want to win such a tournament, then of course it makes sense to defeat your direct rivals. It was Grischuk who managed to do just that in round 15, when he beat Pragg with the black pieces. The game had interesting moments, and eventually saw both players making one mistake after the other — with Grischuk coming out on top in the end.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 h6 6.a3 d6 7.Na4 Bb6 8.h3 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.0-0 Qd7 11.c3 g5 12.Nh2 0-0-0 13.b4 Qg7 14.Ng4 h5 15.Nxf6 Qxf6 16.Nxb6+ axb6 17.g3
Black's attack is faster than White's on the other side of the board, but Pragg uses a well-known, very effective defensive method: against g5-g4 comes h3-h4, against h5-h4 he plays g3-g4. Black cannot open lines and therefore concentrates on the file that is already open: the f-file. 17...Rdf8 18.Kg2 A superfluous move. 18.a4!= made more sense. 18...g4 Now it is clear that the white king's move was not suitable to defend f3. 19.h4 Qf3+ 20.Qxf3 Better was 20.Kg1 and after Qxd1 21.Rxd1 Rf3 almost the same position arises as in the game, but here it is White's move and he can go for 22.a4!= 20...Rxf3 21.Rd1 d5
In this position White begins to lose the thread. 22.Be3?! 22.b5 Na5 23.exd5= 22...d4 23.cxd4? This is quite bad. 23.Bg5 dxc3 24.Rac1 Nd4 25.Rxc3 White is not in a good position, but the weaknesses f2, d3, a3 can probably be covered. The good-looking d4-knight doesn't attack anything. 23...exd4 24.Bf4 e5 25.Bg5
White is lost. He is completely passive, the knight is much stronger than the bishop and Black can still create leverage with his c-pawn, which means the knight could get to c5. 25...Nd8? This move gives up much of the advantage (better minor piece). Better would have been: 25...Rhf8 26.Ra2 Nb8 preparing Na6 and c7-c5. 26.Bxd8! Rxd8 27.a4 Kd7
28.Rd2 Better was 28.a5! 28...Ra8 29.Kf1 b5 29...Ra6! 30.a5 b6 31.Ke2? Now players begin to make a lot of mistakes - but it's just the late phase of a blitz game. 31.Rda2! Rxd3 32.axb6 Rxa2 33.Rxa2 cxb6 34.Ra7+= 31...bxa5 32.bxa5 c5? 32...Ra6-+ 33.a6! c4 34.Ra5? 34.dxc4 bxc4 35.a7 d3+ 36.Ke1 c3 37.Rda2 d2+ 38.Ke2= 34...c3 35.Rd1 Kc6 36.Rb1 Rh8? Had Black hoped that Rhf8 would win when White struck on b5? 37.Rf1? The following idea would not have worked: 37.Raxb5 Rhf8 38.Rb6+= 37...Rhf8? 37...Kb6 38.Ra2 Ra8 39.Rfa1 Rf7-+ etc. 38.Raa1? 38.a7= 38...Kb6 39.Rfb1 Ra8 Grischuk's move wins, but better was of course 39...Rxf2+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Praggnanandhaa R2727Grischuk,A27320–12023Tata Steel India Open Blitz 202315.2

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

In shared second place — Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Vivek Sohani

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

In shared second place — Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Vivek Sohani

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Final standings

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  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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