Tbilisi Rd2: Kasimdzhanov only winner

by Alejandro Ramirez
2/17/2015 – It was certainly a strange round, as many players squandered relatively big advantages. Most notably Dominguez was up the exchange for most of the game against Svidler, but never found the win. Grischuk and Giri also seemed to be better against Andreikin and MVL. At the end of the day the only win was a flashy spectacle, involving a piece sacrifice, by Kasimdzhanov.

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

The third stage of the 2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix is taking place in Tbilisi, Georgia. The tournament will run from February 14th to February 28, 2014. Some of the strongest players in the world will compete in a Round Robin event. The winner and runner-up of the Grand Prix series will earn their spot at the 2016 Candidate's Tournament.

Round Two

Round 02 –February 16, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731
½-½
Jobava, Baadur 2696
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Grischuk, Alexander 2810
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
0-1
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Giri, Anish 2797
½-½
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Dominguez, Leinier 2726
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2739

The tournament was unable to continue with the momentum from yesterday's four decisive games; many players had a chance to win, or at least create clear threats against their opponents, but these chances were missed.

Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ Jobava, Baadur
The locked nature of the position never promised much of an advantage for White, and Black was simply trying not to get smothered. A sequence that was flashier than it was useful simplified a bunch of pieces and lead the game into a drawn endgame.

Jobava defended a slightly uncomfortable position for some time

Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½ Tomashevsky, Evgeny
Somehow Tomashevsky keeps using the Stone Wall without getting into problems. He solidly equalized, and was probably even very, very slightly better against Jakovenko. A repetition of moves was agreed to in an equal and locked situation.

Well, I guess another Stone Wall it is!

Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ Andreikin, Dmitry
One of the many chances that could have been more dangerous for the holders of the black pieces. Grischuk obtained an extra pawn thanks to a blunder from Andreikin and the pressure from White's rooks; but he was unable to create even half-decent winning chances since the rook endgame he chose to go into was easily drawn.

Andreikin was a little lucky not to be Grischuk's second victim in a row

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 0-1 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam
Kasimdzhanov bounced back from his loss yesterday with a flashy win:

Mamedyarov was dragged back down to 50%: one win, one loss

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Mamedyarov, S."] [Black "Kasimdzhanov, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A12"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2705"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] 1. c4 c6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 Bf5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. Nbd2 e6 7. h3 {A plan that might be more becoming of Jobava; this idea of quick expansion on the kingside will leave White's king without a place to castle.} Nbd7 8. g4 Bg6 9. Rg1 Bc5 10. Qc2 Qe7 11. a3 a5 12. e3 e5 13. Nh4 Bh7 14. Nf5 Bxf5 15. gxf5 d4 16. e4 Nh5 {White obtained an open g-file and he has the pair of bishops, though they are currently rather useless. The position is still about level. Black will have a strong knight on f4, but it will not be so easy to reinforce.} 17. Qd1 Ndf6 18. Be2 Nf4 19. Rxg7 O-O-O 20. Bf1 {White is up a pawn, compensated by the domination in the dark squares for Black. Here Kasimdzhanov starts a great plan to bring his pieces into action.} Nh7 $1 21. Rg3 (21. b4 $5 { Counterattackin on the queenside makes sense - White would give up a pawn simply to open lines for his rook and queen. The reason that this makes sense is that, after all, White is already up a pawn- but he can't do anything with it!} axb4 22. Qb3 $1 $13) 21... Ng5 22. Nf3 Nh5 23. Rg4 Nf6 24. Rg1 Ngxe4 $5 { What a move! The compensation from the pieces will stem from the ability of Black to push his central pawns and expose the uncastled king on e1. Perhaps there is a defense to contain this aggression, but it is hard to find over the board; Black has very concrete threats.} (24... Nxf3+ 25. Qxf3 {gives Black compensation, but it doens't seem as if he has made much progress on the past few moves.}) 25. dxe4 Nxe4 26. Qe2 (26. Nd2 Nxf2 $5 27. f6 $3 (27. Kxf2 d3+ 28. Kg2 Rhg8+) 27... Qe6 $1 (27... Qxf6 28. Qf3 Qxf3 29. Nxf3 $16 {here the piece is more valuable than the pawns.}) 28. Qf3 $13 {just gives you an idae of how messy this position is.}) 26... Nc3 27. Bxc3 dxc3 {The pawns are not connected any more, but a3 is hanging and White's development is seriously suffering.} 28. Rg4 Bxa3 29. Bg2 Bb4 30. Kf1 Rhe8 31. Re4 $1 {Mamedyarov shows great creativity with his development. The rook has made it to the center, even if it is in the most unusual way! Black still has compensation, especially since he can now try to take on f5, but White has his own chances.} Qf6 32. Rc1 Qxf5 33. Nxe5 $6 {This is too optimistic, however!} Rd2 $1 34. Qe3 Red8 (34... c2 $1 {was also good, threatening Rd1+. For example:} 35. Nxc6 Rd1+ 36. Ke2 Qh5+ $1 37. Bf3 Rd2+ $1 38. Ke1 (38. Qxd2 Rxe4+ $19) 38... Rxe4 39. Qxe4 Rd4+ 40. Nxb4 Rxe4+ $19) 35. Qf3 Qxf3 36. Bxf3 (36. Nxf3 Rd1+ 37. Re1 c2 38. Rxc2 Bxe1 39. Nxe1 Re8 $1 40. Re2 Rxe2 41. Kxe2 Rb1 {is a very gloomy, if not completely lost, endgame.}) 36... c2 {White is up a piece, true, but he has no way of stopping the c-pawn from advancing. He has to give up a full rook and Black will be up a serious amount of material.} 37. Kg2 Rg8+ 38. Kf1 Rgd8 39. Kg2 Ba3 40. Ree1 Re8 {White cannot hold his position together anymore.} 0-1

Giri, Anish ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Definitely one of the games were White had some better alternatives than what was chosen, though this was certainly a very complicated position:

A complicated struggle could be expected from these two

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D73"] [WhiteElo "2797"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. d4 c6 6. Qb3 O-O 7. O-O dxc4 8. Qxc4 Bf5 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Qb3 Qb6 11. Re1 Qxb3 12. axb3 Be6 13. b4 Nd5 14. b5 Nb4 15. bxc6 bxc6 16. Ra5 c5 $5 {This is the start of some wild complications!} 17. Ng5 (17. dxc5 Nc6 18. Ra3 {should somehow favor Black. It would be interesting to see what MVL had planned against this.}) 17... cxd4 18. Nxe6 (18. Bxa8 dxc3 { should just transpose.}) 18... fxe6 19. Bxa8 dxc3 20. bxc3 (20. Rxa7 cxb2 21. Bxb2 Bxb2 22. Rxd7 Rxa8 23. Rxe7 {is a position that only White can win, but the odds of that happening seem somewhat low. The two pieces should be good enough to hold the draw.} (23. Rb7 Ba3 $1 $17) (23. Rb1 Ra1 $11)) 20... Bxc3 21. Rd1 Rxa8 22. Rxd7 Nd3 $1 {This is the point - Black is attacking that bishop on c1 and the rook on a5. White cannot d efend both.} 23. Ra2 $1 Nxc1 24. Rc2 {A nice fork! The bishop on c3 is not under attack currently because of Ne2+, but the knight has to move!} Nxe2+ 25. Rxe2 a5 26. Rxe6 Bf6 {And at the end of the strange sequence we arrive to this situation. Giri is up an exchange but Black has his powerful passed pawn on the a-file. It's a very difficult position to win.} 27. Rb6 a4 28. Rbb7 a3 29. Ra7 Rxa7 30. Rxa7 Bb2 31. Ra6 Kf7 32. g4 h5 33. gxh5 gxh5 34. Kg2 e6 35. f4 (35. Kf3 Kf6 36. Kf4 Be5+ $11) 35... Ke7 36. Kg3 Kd7 37. Kh4 Kc7 38. Kxh5 Kb7 39. Ra4 Kc6 40. Kg6 Kb5 41. Ra8 Kb4 {Black will win the rook and White has no time to take all the pawns. For example:} (41... Kb4 42. Kf7 Bc1 $11) 1/2-1/2

Dominguez, Leinier ½-½ Svidler, Peter
A very strange game. Dominguez obtained a nearly decisive advantage in the opening by winning an exchange. Even though Svidler had a pawn for it, it was clear that it was not sufficient. Dominguez nurtured his material advantage into an endgame (with queens) that should have been winning, but he misplayed it badly, exchanged queens at the worst possible moment and allowed the Russian to wiggle out with a draw.

Svidler was down the exchange for most of the game, but he survived

Standings

Round Two Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Photos from the official website by Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule

Round 01 – February 15, 2015 - 15:00
Dominguez, Leinier 2726
½-½
Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Svidler, Peter 2739
0-1
Giri, Anish 2797
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
0-1
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
0-1
Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
1-0
Jobava, Baadur 2696
Round 02 –February 16, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731
½-½
Jobava, Baadur 2696
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Grischuk, Alexander 2810
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
0-1
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Giri, Anish 2797
½-½
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Dominguez, Leinier 2726
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2739
Round 03 –February 17, 2015 - 15:00
Svidler, Peter 2739   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Giri, Anish 2797
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Round 04 –February 18, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Giri, Anish 2797   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Svidler, Peter 2739   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Round 05 –February 20, 2015 - 15:00
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Svidler, Peter 2739
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Giri, Anish 2797
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Round 06 –February 21, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Giri, Anish 2797   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Svidler, Peter 2739   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Round 07 –February 22, 2015 - 15:00
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Svidler, Peter 2739
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Giri, Anish 2797
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Round 08 –February 23, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Giri, Anish 2797   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Svidler, Peter 2739   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Round 09 –February 25, 2015 - 15:00
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Svidler, Peter 2739
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Giri, Anish 2797
Round 10 –February 26, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Giri, Anish 2797
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Svidler, Peter 2739   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Round 11 –February 27, 2015 - 13:00
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Svidler, Peter 2739
Giri, Anish 2797   Dominguez, Leinier 2726

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register