The games of round 1: deep analysis by Malcolm Pein

by ChessBase
3/18/2020 – The first round of the Candidates Tournament was very exciting: the audience saw four complex games and two of them ended with a win – for Black. Malcolm Pein took a close look. | Photo: FIDE

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1.e41,162,86954%2421---
1.d4944,72655%2434---
1.Nf3280,65156%2441---
1.c4181,58656%2442---
1.g319,66356%2427---
1.b314,17554%2427---
1.f45,87148%2376---
1.Nc33,76751%2384---
1.b41,73748%2378---
1.a31,19354%2403---
1.e31,06448%2408---
1.d394550%2378---
1.g465846%2359---
1.h444453%2373---
1.c342251%2422---
1.h327856%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.Nh38866%2510---
1.f38745%2429---
1.Na34063%2477---
1.e4 Notes by IM Malcolm Pein e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 10...Nxa5 11.Rxa5 Bxa5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Qxd8+ Kxd8 14.Nxe5 With forks abounding 11.h3 0-0 12.Be3 exd4 12...Ra8 Is the more popular move 13.cxd4 Nb4 The typical manouevre to prepare c7-c5 13...Nxe4?? 14.Bd5 14.Nc3 Bb7 15.Ng5 15.Bg5 15.Re1 c5 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 c4 18.Bc2 g5 19.Nxg5 was unclear in Jakovenko-Jones Isle of Man 2019 15...Qe7 16.e5 Following a recent game of Sasikiran's dxe5 17.Nxf7 e4! 17...Rxf7 18.dxe5 Bxe3 19.exf6 Wins 18.Nd6+ This looks ghastly but s absolutely fine for Black 18.Ng5+ Kh8 19.Ne6 Rfe8 Is unclear. 18...Kh8 18...Bd5 19.Ndxe4! 19.Nxb7 Rxb7 20.Qe2 c6! 21.Rad1 Rd7 After Nb4-d5 Black will be very well coordinated, Bb8 and Qd6 may follow 22.f3 exf3 23.Rxf3 c5 24.dxc5 Rxd1+ 25.Nxd1 Bxc5 26.Qf2 Bd6 27.Nc3 Nd3 28.Qe2 Nc5 29.Ba2 Re8 Chances seem about equal and opposite bishops appear 30.Qd2 Nce4 31.Nxe4 Nxe4 32.Qd3 Ng5 33.Bxg5 Bc5+ 34.Kh1 Qxg5 35.Rf1 Qe5 36.Qd5 Qe2 37.Qf5 Qe5 38.Qxe5 Rxe5 39.Rd1 g6 40.Bd5 Re7 41.Bc6 Re2 42.Bb7 Rxb2 43.Bxa6 Ra2 44.Bxb5 Rxa5 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2767Caruana,F2842½–½2020C78FIDE Candidates Tournament1.1

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

 
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1.e41,162,86954%2421---
1.d4944,72655%2434---
1.Nf3280,65156%2441---
1.c4181,58656%2442---
1.g319,66356%2427---
1.b314,17554%2427---
1.f45,87148%2376---
1.Nc33,76751%2384---
1.b41,73748%2378---
1.a31,19354%2403---
1.e31,06448%2408---
1.d394550%2378---
1.g465846%2359---
1.h444453%2373---
1.c342251%2422---
1.h327856%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.Nh38866%2510---
1.f38745%2429---
1.Na34063%2477---
1.Nf3 Notes by IM Malcolm Pein Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Ndb5 Ne5 8.Bf4 Nfg4 9.e3 A crazy line leads to a draw 9.Qa4 g5 10.Bxe5 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 Nxe5 12.Nc7+ Kd8 13.Nxa8 Qd4+ 14.Kc2 Nxc4 15.Kb3 15.e4 Qd2+ 15...Ne3+? 16.Kb3 Qd2 17.a3 Qc2+ 18.Ka2 Qxa4 19.Nxa4 Nxf1 20.Rhxf1 b5 21.N4b6 axb6 22.Nxb6 Bb7 23.Rxf7 Bc6 24.Rd1 Be7 25.Rf3 Kc7 26.Nxd7 Rd8 27.Rc3 1-0 (27) Nakamura,H (2776)-Karjakin,S (2760) Zuerich 2015 CBM 165 [RR] 16.Kb3 Qxb2+! 17.Kxc4 Bg7 18.Qa5+ b6 19.Qxg5+ f6 20.Qb5! 20.Qxg7?? Ba6+ 21.Nb5 21.Kd4 Qf2# 21...Bxb5# 20...Ba6! 21.Qxa6 f5= 15...Nd2+ 16.Kc2 Nc4= 9...a6 10.h3 axb5 11.hxg4 Nxc4 12.Rc1 Cooked up at home 12.Qb3 Is theory 12...d5 13.b3 Bb4! 14.bxc4 Ra3 15.Be5 f6 16.Bd4 Qa5 17.Be2 Bxc3+ 18.Rxc3! Rxc3 19.Kf1 b4! Giri started to think, a bad sign, Black is fine 20.g5 e5 21.Bxc3 bxc3 22.gxf6 gxf6 23.Qb1?! Mystifying 23.cxd5 Bf5 23...Qxa2!? 24.Qd3 Bd7 25.Qxc3 Qxd5 26.Rh4 0-0 White has some play but Black should be fine 24.Bd3! White has a safer king long term 23...Qc7 24.Qd3 24.cxd5 c2 25.Qc1 Bf5 24...b5! 25.Qxc3 bxc4 White's next is forced now or next move else the pawn phalanx decides 26.e4 dxe4 27.Rh4 Be6 28.Rxe4 0-0 29.Bxc4 29.Rh4!? 29...Kg7! 30.Qb3 30.Qb4 Rb8 31.Bb5 31.Bxe6 Rxb4 32.Rxb4 Qc1+ 33.Ke2 Qc2+ 34.Kf1 Qc1+ 35.Ke2 h5 Looks no better than the game 31...Bxa2 Must have looked unappealing. Giri sacs the queen to try and creat a fortress as the remaining pawns are all on the kingside. I've not exhaustively analysed this but it seems it does not work with best play 30...Rb8 31.Bxe6 31.Qa4 Bd7 32.Qd1 Bf5 33.Rh4 33.Rg4+ Kh8 33...Rb1 31...Rxb3 32.Rg4+ Kf8 33.Bxb3 Qc1+ 34.Kg2 Qc6+ 35.Kg1 h5! White craves a stable setup but is never allowed to achieve one 36.Rg8+ 36.Rh4 Qf3 37.Bc4 f5 38.Bf1 Ke7 with f5-f4 to come 36...Ke7 37.Rg7+ Kd6 38.Rh7 38.Rg6 Qf3 39.Rg8 h4 38...Qf3 39.Rh8 39.Bf7 Qd1+ 40.Kg2 Qb1! 41.Rxh5 Qb7+ wins the bishop 39...e4 40.Rd8+ Ke7 40...Kc7 41.Rg8 f5 42.Rg6 h4 43.gxh4 f4 41.Bd1 Qc3 42.Rd5 h4! 43.gxh4 f5 Giri seeks salvation with R+P vs Q+P and nearly gets it 44.Rxf5 Qe1+ 45.Kg2 Qxd1 46.Rg5 Qa1 47.Rg4 Qb1 In the long run White cannot hang on to the rook pawns. He needs to get his king to e1 or e2 but Nepo was aware of that 48.Rg3 Qxa2 49.Rh3 49.Kf1 Qd2! Is the key to stop Ke1/e2 when it's a draw for reasons we will see 49.h5 Qd5 50.Re3 Kf6 51.h6 Kg6 51...Qg5+ 52.Kf1 Qxh6? 53.Ke2= 52.Rg3+ Kxh6 53.Kf1 Qd1+ 54.Kg2 Kh5 55.Re3 If 55.Kh2 Qf1 55...Qd4 56.Kf1 Qxe3! 57.fxe3 Kh4 58.Kg2 Kg4-+ 49...Qd5 50.Kf1 Qd1+ 51.Kg2 Qg4+ 52.Rg3 Qh5! 52...Qxh4 53.Kf1!= 53.Ra3 Qd5 54.Kg1 Kf6 55.Rg3 Qd1+ 56.Kg2 Kf5 57.Rg5+ Kf4 58.Rg3 Qd5 59.Kf1 Qd2 60.Kg2 Qd1 61.Re3 Kf5 62.Rg3 Kf6 63.Rh3 Kg6 64.Rg3+ Kh5 65.Rh3 Qb1 66.Re3 Kxh4 Now the plan to penetrate with the king to e1. To achieve this Black has to break the road block on the third rank 67.Rg3 Kh5 68.Rh3+ 68.Rg8 e3 69.fxe3 Qa2+ 68...Kg4 69.Rg3+ Kf4 70.Re3 Qd1 71.Ra3 Ke5 72.Rg3 Kd4 73.Re3 Qd3! 73...Qd3! 74.Rxd3+ exd3 75.Kf1 Kc3 76.Ke1 Kc2 73...Qd3! 74.Rg3 Kc3 75.Rg7 Kd2 76.Rg3 Ke2 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2763Nepomniachtchi,I27740–12020A33FIDE Candidates Tournament1.3

 

 
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1.c4 Notes by IM Malcolm Pein e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.d3 0-0 5.Nc3 c6 6.Nf3 d6 7.0-0 Re8 8.Na4 A novelty and a good move Bb4 9.a3 Ba5 10.b4 Bc7 11.e4 White is slightly better a5 12.Bb2 Na6 13.b5 cxb5 14.cxb5 Nc5 15.Nxc5 dxc5 16.a4 Bg4 17.Ra3!? 17.h3 Bh5 18.Qb3 b6 19.Rae1 Qd7 20.Nh4 17...Nd7 18.h3 Bh5 19.Qb1 b6 20.Nd2 Nf8 21.Bf3 Qg5 22.h4 Qg6 23.Qd1 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 h5 25.Qf5 25.Nc4 Rad8 26.Ne3 Ne6 27.Nd5 25...Rad8 26.Qxg6 Nxg6 27.Kg2 f6 28.Nc4 Kf7 29.Bc1 Rd7 White had been better all game from a quiet English opening where to gained space on the queenside. Wang Hao decided to dig in and retain a solid position with only one weakness on b6. He has also prepared countermeasures against White's main active plan of f2-f4. Ding rushed it and was immediately worse. Kf3-e2-e3 and Bd2-e1 first was possibe but Black seems quite robust 30.f4? Losing patience, Candidates debut nerves ? 30.Ne3 Ne7 31.Kf3 Ke6 32.Ke2 Awaiting events was also possible but it will be hard to make progress for example. Red8 33.f3 Kf7 34.Bb2 Ke6 35.Rg1 Kf7 36.Nc4 Ng6 30...exf4 31.Bxf4 31.gxf4 Nxh4+ 31...Nxf4+ 32.gxf4 f5! Black is better, f4 and h4 are targets 33.e5 After 33.exf5 Rd4 White's pawns are a mess 33...Re6! 34.Kf3 Rg6 35.Ne3 Ke6 36.Rd1 Bd8! Black wins a pawn 37.Ra2 A better chance was 37.Rh1 Be7 38.Ke2 Rd4 39.Kf3 Rg4! 40.Nxg4 fxg4+ 41.Ke3 g6 42.Ra2 Bf8 43.Rf1 Bh6 44.Raa1 Kf5 There is still plenty of work to do 37...Rd4?! Repeating moves in time pressure 37...Bxh4! 38.Nc2 Rd5 38...Rd7! 39.Ne3 Rd7? 39...Rd4 40.Rdd2 In extreme time pressure Ding missed 40.d4! Rxd4 41.Rxd4 cxd4 42.Nc2 Kd5 43.Nxd4!= 40...Bxh4 Everything is back on track 41.Rg2 Rg4‼ 42.Rh2 42.Nxg4 hxg4+ 43.Ke3 Rd4 44.Rac2 g5! 45.fxg5 f4+ 46.Kd2 f3 42...g6 43.Nxg4 fxg4+ 44.Ke3 Be7 45.Rac2 h4 Black wins after 45...h4 46.Rc4 46.Rc3 g3 47.Rg2 Kf5 48.Kf3 Rd4 46...g3 47.Rg2 Kf5 48.Kf3 48.e6 Kxe6 49.Ke4 g5 48...Rxd3+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2805Wang,H27620–12020A22FIDE Candidates Tournament1.2

 

 
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1.c4 Notes by IM Malcolm Pein e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.d3 4.Nc3 c6 5.Nf3 e4 6.Nh4 d5 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.d3 Ng4 9.0-0 g5 10.d4! 1-0 (24) Anton Guijarro,D (2674)-Grischuk,A (2759) Douglas ENG 2019 [Malcolm] 4...d5 4...0-0 Ding Liren - Wang Hao Rd1 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nc3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 0-0 8.Qc2 Very quietly played but long-term White has a central pawn majority Nc6 9.Nf3 h6 Designed against Nf3-g5-e4 but possibly not best 9...Re8 10.Ng5 h6 11.d4! 9...Re8 10.Ng5 Bf5 11.g4!? 10.0-0 Rb8 11.Bb2 b6 12.Rad1 Qe8 On Chess 24 Svidler and Carlsen agreed that 13.e4 On Chess 24 Svidler and Carlsen agreed that 13.d4 Bd6 14.Nh4 Might also have been problematic for Black 13...Bd6 14.Nh4 Bg4 Time trouble was already approaching and as was pointed out this is a great move to make Grischuk think and he did, for 18 minutes which Carlsen was most critical of. Rd2 Re1 and f3 are all decent 14...b5 15.Nf5 b4!? 15.f3 If this was my position the pawn would already be on f3- Svidler Bd7 16.f4 exf4 17.gxf4 Na5 The ChessBase cloud fraternity recommended 17...f6 18.d4 18.Qf2 g5! 18...Qh5! 18.Rde1 Qd8 19.Qf2 19.Nf3?? Bxf4 19...Nc4 20.Bc1 20.dxc4 Bc5 But now Black is out of tricks and the pawns roll 20...Bc5 21.d4 Be7 22.Nf3 f5 23.Qe2 Nd6 24.e5 Ne4 25.Nd2 Nxd2 26.Bxd2 Be6 27.Qd3 Qd7 28.Be3 28.d5? Rfd8 28...c6 29.a4 Against b5 which Black needs to prevent c3-c4 and d4-d5 a6 Best practical move 29...Bd5 30.c4 Bxg2 31.Kxg2 b5 32.axb5 cxb5 33.d5 30.Qxa6 Ra8 31.Qxb6 Bd5 32.Qb2 32.Bxd5+ Qxd5 33.c4 Qxc4 34.Rc1 Qd3 35.Bf2 c6 falls and White must be better 32.Rb1 32...Rxa4 33.Ra1 Rfa8 34.Rxa4 Rxa4 Black has counterplay and both sides were running out of time. A chance missed for Grischuk 35.Ra1 Rxa1+ 36.Qxa1 Bxg2 37.Kxg2 Qd5+ 38.Kf2 Bh4+ 39.Ke2 Qg2+ 40.Kd3 Qe4+ 41.Kd2 Qg2+ 41...Qg2+ 42.Kc1?? Qf1+ 43.Kb2 Qe2+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Grischuk,A2777Alekseenko,K2698½–½2020A20FIDE Candidates Tournament1.4

Marin's English Love Vol.1 and 2 - A complete repertoire for White after 1.c4

The aim of these Dvd's is to build a repertoire after 1.c4 and 2.g3 for White. The first DVD includes the systems 1...e5, the Dutch and Indian setups. The second DVD includes the systems with 1...c5, 1...c6 and 1...e6.

International Master Malcom Pein is founder and owner of Chess & Bridge and publisher of the magazine Chess. He is also organizer of the London Chess Classics and co-organizer of the Grand Chess Tour. Malcolm Pein actively supports scholastic chess in England and once  worked as a coach for the English team. During the Candidates he runs a live blog on the tournament.

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