Tata Steel Rd.11: Nak in pole position with 2900+ performance

This event is taking place from January 14th to 30th, 2011 in the traditional De Moriaan Center in Wijk aan Zee. There are three Grandmaster Groups, with 14 players each and each competitor playing against every other. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and finally 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds/move increment starting with the first move of the game. Games begin at 13:30h local time (CET), except for the last round on January 30th, which begins at 12:00h. There are three rest days, on January 19th, 24th, and 27th.

Results of round eleven

The amateur sections in the playing hall

The race for the top honors in this year’s Wijk aan Zee has been nothing short of an absolute classic. Though it is hard to describe a player ranked in the world’s top ten as “breaking through”, in many ways, that is exactly what Nakamura has been doing, except his breakthrough has been at the very highest level. By taking this Category 18 tournament by storm, in which the top four players are all playing, Nakamura has clearly shown his ability to compete with them at their standard. Not only that, but Hikaru has also been racing against no less than World Champion Anand, and right now has taken the lead.

Nepomniachtchi against Nakamura: who is the more aggressive of the two?

The American GM played a Caro-Kann against the reigning Russian Champion Nepomniachtchi, whom he views as even more aggressive than himself, and sprang a novelty apparently suggested by Karpov at some unspecified time in the past. The quite original idea involved a loss of two tempi in exchange for a slight concession, and it is anyone’s guess which is worth more.

Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2733) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2751) [B12]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 28.01.2011

1.e4 c6 Although this is hardly the first time Nakamura plays the Caro-Kann, it is worth noting it is a strange opening to see him play. It is a bit like watching a Terminator film, where Schwarzenegger is armed with a wet towel. 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 At least we aren't greeted by some ultra-positional line. Otherwise it would be clear the names had been switched somehow. 4...h5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Ne7 7.Nge2

7...Bg4!? A novelty, and hardly an obvious one. For what it's worth, this move is not in the top 3-4 candidates of any engine tested here. 7...dxc4 8.Ng3 Bg6 9.Bg5 Qb6 10.Qd2 Qb4 11.a3 Qb3 12.Nge4 Nd5 13.Rh3 Qb6 14.Bxc4 Qa5 15.Nd6+ Bxd6 16.exd6 Nd7 17.Rc1 Nxc3 18.Rcxc3 Nf6 19.b4 Qd8 20.Qf4 1-0 Svidler,P (2734)-Nakamura,H (2729)/Amsterdam 2010/Mega2010 Update 36 (37) 8.f3 Bf5 Presumably the loss of tempi is counterbalanced by the weakness that f3 causes. 9.Ng3 Bg6 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Qd2 Nd7 12.a3

12...f6! White hasn't made any obvious mistakes, yet Black has equalized. Hikaru is to be congratulated on the depth of his concept. 13.Be3 Qb3 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 16.Rc1 Nb6 There was a pawn hanging on e5? What pawn? 17.Ne2 fxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5! Oh, that pawn! 19.Bd4 Qc7 20.Qg5 Bf5

Not only is this the best move, but this is also baiting White to push g4. 21.g4? hxg4 22.fxg4 Be4? Black saw the right line, but messes the move order which could allow White to escape with only minor cuts and bruises. The correct move order was 22...Be7! 23.Qxg7 Rh7 24.Qe5 (24.Qg8+ Kd7 25.Bxb6 Rxg8 26.Bxc7 Be4) 24...Qxe5 25.Bxe5 Rxh4 26.Rxh4 Bxh4+ 27.Ng3 Bxg4 23.Rh3 Be7 24.Qxg7?

The reason for the comment on the move order is that here White might have diminshed his losses by playing 24.Qe3! Bd5 25.h5 and though better for Black (he is still up a pawn), is far less clear. 24...Rh7! 25.Qe5. The point is that after 25.Qg8+ Kd7 26.Bxb6 Rxg8 27.Bxc7 Kxc7 25...Qxe5 26.Bxe5 Bxh4+ 27.Ng3 Nd7 28.Bd4 Bf3 29.g5 Bg4 30.g6 Rh6 31.Rxh4 Rxh4 32.Rc3 Bf3 33.Rxf3 Rxd4 34.Bh3 Ne5 35.Rf6 Nd3+ 36.Ke2 Nf4+ 37.Ke3 e5 38.Rf7 Rd3+ 39.Ke4 Rxg3 40.Bd7+ Kd8 41.Bf5 Nxg6 42.Rg7 Rb8 43.b4 b5 44.Bxg6 Rg5 0-1. [Click to replay]

This victory puts Nakamura in the clear lead once more, with 8.0/11 and a 2906 performance, and was certainly extremely satisfying. “Another good day at the office, but there are still two incredibly important rounds left!!”, he Tweeted. Still, his biggest test at this point comes tomorrow when he faces Kramnik, a game that could make or break his chance at first. In the post game interview, he declared himself confident.

Vachier-Lagrave was happy with the draw, while the same cannot be said of Anand

Anand faced Vachier-Lagrave with Black, and despite the quite fair draw, in view of the game, he was visibly frustrated to be trailing Hikaru so near the end, and he left the tournament hall straight for his hotel room without speaking to the press. Maxime commented, “I decided to go for 6.h3 and 7.g4 in our Najdorf in order to avoid the well trodden path. I played a good game, managing to keep the balance more or less until the end. It was a complicated and interesting game and the draw was the logical outcome in the end.”

Tip of the day: "When Kramnik offers a draw, play on." If your name is Magnus...

The somewhat unpredictable Carlsen, who had lost against Nepomniachtchi in the previous round, bounced back with a fantastic endgame win over Kramnik. The Russian has clearly found his chess nemesis in Carlsen, as Magnus seems to constantly defy expectations in their games. When the Norwegian is lost, he somehow survives, and when the position is equal or unclear, a strange voodoo takes place and Kramnik is seen resigning at the end. Despite not having anything near a winning edge, Carlsen clearly sensed his opponent’s vulnerability, when after 22 moves Vladimir proposed a draw. “I know Kramnik well,” Carlsen said afterwards, “and I know what it means when he offers a draw. It meant I had to play on.”

Kramnik,Vladimir (2784) - Carlsen,Magnus (2814) [E00]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 28.01.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d5 6.Bg2 Nbd7 7.Nf3 c6 8.0-0 b6 9.Rc1 0-0 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Na3 Bb7 12.Nb5 a6 13.Nd6 Qb8 14.Qb4 a5 15.Qa3 Ba6 16.Ne5 b5

17.Qxa5?! This move must be judged an error, since it leads to the endgame that Kramnik lost. Whether losing or not, it certainly gave him a ton of grief. The straightforward alternative was 17.Rc6 b4 18.Qe3 Bb7 19.Nxd7 Nxd7 20.Nxb7 Qxb7 21.Rc2 17...Qxd6 18.Rc6 Qb8 19.Rxa6 Rxa6 20.Qxa6 Nxe5 21.dxe5 Qxe5 22.Qxb5 Rb8 23.Qd3 Rxb2

24.Qe3. Kramnik obviously feels his best chance is by exchanging the queens and pushing the a-pawn. He knows he is losing a pawn, so the real question is which way gives him the best drawing chances. 24...Qxe3 25.fxe3 Rxe2 26.a4 Rc2 27.a5 Rc7 28.a6 Ra7 29.Bf1 Kf8 30.Rb1 Ke7 31.Rb7+ Rxb7 32.axb7 Nd7 33.Kf2 Kd6 34.Bb5 Nb8 35.Be8 Ke7 36.Bb5 f6 37.Kf3 Kd6 38.Be8 Kc7 39.Bf7 Kxb7 40.Bxe6 Kc6 41.Bg8 h6 42.Kg4 Nd7 43.Kf5 Ne5 44.h3 Kc5 45.g4. 45.Ke6 would have been enough for a draw. (Carlsen) 45...Kd6 46.Bh7 Ke7 47.Bg8 g6+ 48.Kf4 Nf7 49.Bh7 g5+ 50.Kg3 Nd6 51.Bg8 Ne4+ 52.Kg2 Kd6 53.Kf3 Kc5 54.Bh7 Nc3 55.Bd3 Kb4 56.Ba6 Kb3 57.Bb7 Kc2 58.Ba6 Kd1

59.Bb7?! He (Kramnik) might have played 59.Bc8 to avoid zugzwang, but because he probably thought the game would be drawn anyway, Kramnik played inaccurately towards the end. - (Carlsen) 59...Kd2 60.Bc6 Ke1 61.Bb7 Kf1 62.Ba8 Kg1 63.Kg3 Ne4+ 64.Kf3 Nd2+ 65.Kg3 Nf1+ 66.Kf3 Nd2+ 67.Kg3 Nc4 68.Bxd5 Nxe3 69.Bb7 Nf1+ 70.Kf3 Kh2 71.Kf2 Nd2 72.Bg2 Nc4 73.Bf1 Ne5 74.Ke3 Kg1 75.Be2 Kg2 76.Ke4 Kxh3 77.Kf5 Kh4 78.Bd1 Nc4 79.Ke4 Nd6+ 80.Kd5

80...f5! After 81.Kxd6 fxg4 82.Ke5 g3 83.Bf3 Kh3 84.Kf6 g4 85.Bc6 g2 0-1. [Click to replay]

All photos © Frits Agterdenbos of ChessVista

Video report of round eleven in English courtesy of Europe-Echecs

Current standings after eleven rounds

Grandmaster "A" tournament

Grandmaster "B" tournament

Grandmaster "C" tournament

Watching the games

It goes without saying that the options to watch the games live are wide and varied. You can watch them at no cost on Playchess, enjoying the software's new options to display multiple boards at the same time, and if you are a Premium member, live grandmaster commentary will be provided on Playchess for every round by GM Daniel King, author of the best-selling Power Play series, and GM Lubomir Ftacnik.

If you miss the live games, you can always watch the commentary after the fact, or get an abridged tale via the Daily Roundup show also hosted on Playchess. Again, if you miss the show, it remains available on the server at your disposal.

Schedule of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule of Grandmaster Group C

Links Official tournament site "A" tournament games in PGN "B" tournament games in PGN "C" tournament games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!