Tigran Petrosian leads in Lake Sevan

by ChessBase
7/25/2011 – No, not Tigran Vartanovich, but the 26-year-old Armenian GM whose first name was deliberately chosen by his father to match that of the former world champion. Petrosian has 2.5/4, the same as two other GMs who are playing in the strong tournament on the banks of the beautiful lake. IM Ashot Nadanian sent us this big illustrated report with some remarkably instructive annotations.
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Lake Sevan 2011

Report by IM Ashot Nadanian

On the sunny shores of Lake Sevan, in the rustic town of Martuni, Armenia, the already-traditional Category 16 “Lake Sevan 2011” tournament has begun. This year's edition boasts ten strong grandmasters: Baadur Jobava (2713, Georgia), Sergei Zhigalko (2689, Belarus), Ildar Khairullin (2649, Russia), Zhou Jianchao (2636, China), as well as the Armenian GMs Tigran L. Petrosian (2636), Arman Pashikian (2616), Zaven Andriasian (2616), Avetik Grigoryan (2608), Hrant Melkumyan (2600) and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2558).


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Standings after four rounds

SNo.
 Name
Rtg
FED
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Pts
Rank
1
 Grigoryan Avetik
2608
ARM
*
½
½
1
½
2½
2
2
 Zigalko Sergei
2689
BLR
½
*
½
½
1½
8
3
 Khairullin Ildar
2649
RUS
½
*
½
½
1½
6
4
 Pashikian Arman
2616
ARM
0
*
½
0
1
1½
9
5
 Zhou Jianchao
2636
CHN
*
½
0
1
½
2
4
6
 Ter-Sahakyan Samvel
2558
ARM
½
*
½
0
½
1½
7
7
 Petrosian Tigran L.
2636
ARM
½
1
½
*
½
2½
1
8
 Melkumyan Hrant
2600
ARM
½
1
0
1
*
2½
3
9
 Jobava Baadur
2713
GEO
½
½
0
½
*
1½
10
10
 Andriasian Zaven
2616
ARM
½
½
½
½
*
2
5

Annotated games

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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 Bg6 7.Nbd2 Nh6 8.Nb3 Nf5 9.Bd2 Be7 10.g4! An interesting idea of Hungarian GM Attila Groszpeter, who first played it in 2002. White aims to advance his f-pawn to f5 in order to disturb Black's light-colored bishop. Nh4 After 10...Nh6?! 11.h3 Black's knight on h6 is extremely restricted. 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.f4 Now White threatens to win a piece after 13.f5. Black must decide how to counter this threat. There are three possibilities: 1. place bishop on e4; 2. push f-pawn; 3) open a "window" for the bishop by advancing the h-pawn. However none of these possibilities promise Black a sweet life. h6 After the game both Zhigalko and Jobava critisized this move. Baadur said that during the game he had a strong feeling that somebody had recommended him this move before. He said he has not checked it himself and now finds it just terrible. I would agree with him - if Black had a good alternative. But since Black has no reasonable options, I consider 12...h6 playable. Black should probably search for equality somewhere earlier. The problem with 12...Be4 is that after 13.Be3 Black's bishop is vulnerable to 14.Nd2. The move 12...f6 allows White to start a dangerous pawn storm after 13.f5 Bf7 14.g5 exf5 Or 14...Bxg5 15.Bg4 exf5 16.Bxg5 fxg5 17.Bxf5 Bg6 18.Bxg6+ hxg6 19.Qd3 15.gxf6 12...f5 13.exf6 White cannot separate the opponent's bishop from the rest of the army with 13.g5 because after h6 14.Bh5 Kf7! 15.Bxg6+ Kxg6 Black successfully saves it. 13...Bxf6 14.g5 Be7 15.Bg4 According to Zhigalko 15.Bh5 is also good. 15...Bf5 16.Re1 Fairly innocuous is 16.Bxf5 exf5 17.Qh5+ g6 18.Qh6 Kf7 16...0-0 17.Rxe6! Bxe6 18.Bxe6+ Kh8 19.Qg4! 19.Qh5 g6 20.Qh6 Bd6 21.f5 gxf5 22.Re1 22.g6 Qe7 23.Re1 Nf6 24.Bxf5 Ne4 22...Qc7 23.Re3 Nb6 24.Rh3 Rae8 25.Nc5 Qg7 26.g6 Re7 Efimenko,Z (2683)-Parligras,M (2601)/Delmenhorst GER 2011 Black sussefully holds White's attack. 19...Nb6 20.Rf1 Nc4 21.Bc1 Nd6 22.Nc5 g6 23.Nd7 White has a strong initiative. Caruana-Fernandez Romero, Gibraltar 2011. 13.f5 Bh7 14.Bd3 Activates both bishop and queen. Black's biggest headache is the extremely passive h7-bishop and the unsecure position of his king. 0-0 15.Qf3 Simple and good. White now threatens to play 16.Bb4. c5?! A desperate attempt to free the position. After the patient 15...a5 16.a4 Bg5 Black's position is passive, but defensible. 16.Nxc5 Nxc5 17.dxc5 f6 The more "natural" 17...Qc7?! is worse: 18.Qh3! Bg5 18...Be7 A very nice line is 19.f6 Bxc5+ 20.Kh1 Bxd3 21.cxd3 Qxe5 22.Bxh6! gxf6 23.Rf5‼ exf5 Or 23...Qxb2 24.Raf1 24.gxf5 with mate in a few moves. 19.Bxg5 hxg5 20.fxe6 Bxd3 21.exf7+ Rxf7 22.Qxd3 Qxc5+ 23.Kg2 18.fxe6?! After the correct 18.Bf4 White has an extra pawn and a good position. 18...fxe5 19.Qxf8+?! Yet another mistake. After 19.Bxh7+?! Kxh7 20.Qb3 Re8! 21.Qxb7 Rxe6 Black has enough activity for the pawn. However, very promising was 19.Bf5! After e4 but not 19...g6? 20.Bxh6 gxf5 21.Bxf8 Qxf8 22.gxf5 White's position is close to winning. 20.Qb3 Bxf5 If 20...Be7 then 21.Rad1‼ Bxc5+ 22.Kh1 and Black cannot hold the d5-pawn. For example Qd6 23.Bxh6‼ gxh6 24.Rxd5 Qa6 25.Rfd1 Be7 26.Qe3! 21.gxf5 Qc7 22.Kh1 d4 23.Qh3 e3 23...Bf6? 24.Bxh6! gxh6 25.Qxh6 Qh7 26.Rg1+ Kh8 27.Rg6! 24.Qxh4 Qc6+ 25.Kg1 exd2 26.Rf2! Qxc5 27.Qe4! Rf6 28.Rd1 Raf8 29.Rdxd2 Rxf5 30.Rxf5 Qxf5 31.Qxf5 Rxf5 32.Rxd4 Re5 33.Rd7 White has an extra pawn and good chances to win. 19...Qxf8 20.Rxf8+ Rxf8 21.Bxh7+? 21.Rf1 is much stronger. In this case Black would not be able to attack the e6-pawn so easily. 21...Kxh7 22.Be1 Now 22.Rf1 is not so strong: Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Kg6 24.Bc3 d4 25.Bb4 Kf6 25...Be7?? 26.c6! 26.e7 Kf7 27.Ke2 e4! 28.c6 bxc6 29.Bc5 Bf6! 30.Bxa7 Kxe7 with an equal position. 22...Be7 23.Bf2 Kg6! Going for e6-pawn. 24.Rd1 d4 25.c3 25.Re1? is a blunder: Rxf2! 26.Kxf2 Bh4+ 27.Kf1 Bxe1 28.Kxe1 Kf6 and only Black can win here. 25...Bxc5 Also possible was 25...dxc3 26.bxc3 Kf6 27.Rd7 Kxe6 28.Rxb7 Rf4 29.h3 Rc4 30.Rxa7 Rxc3 31.Kg2 Rc2 26.b4 Bb6 27.cxd4 Rf4 The position is totally equal now. 28.Re1 Rxg4+ 29.Kf1 Rf4 30.Kg2 Bxd4 31.Bxd4 Rxd4 32.Rxe5 Rd8 33.Rc5 Rd2+ 34.Kf3 Kf6 35.Rc7 Kxe6 36.Rxb7 Rxa2 37.Rxg7 Rxh2 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Zhigalko,S2689Jobava,B2713½–½2011B12Sevan Lake1

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.h3 e6?! Black should have immediately attack the e4-pawn with 4...Nc6 5.Bd3 d5! 5.Bd3 d5 6.e5 Nfd7 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Re1 Qc7 9.Qe2 Rb8 Does not work 9...f6 10.exf6 Nxf6 because of 11.Bf5 But 9...Be7 is more accurate than 9...Rb8. 10.Bc2 b5 11.d3 White's plan is to bring his queenside knight to opposite side with the Nbd2-f1-h2-g4 maneuvre and then start a typical attack on Black's king. Black should try to develope activity on the queenside, where he has an impressive pawn chain and a majority of pieces. Hovewer, he should push his pawns accurate to avoid a queenside blockade (e.g. c5-c4 is met by d3-d4). b4?! Too direct. I think it's better to complete development with 11...Be7 and 0-0 and only then think about queen-side play. 12.c4! A good move. Now the pawn chain on the queenside is more or less blocked, and Black cannot make use of his b-file and the rook's position on it. Nb6 13.Nbd2 Be7 14.Nf1 White continues his plan. Interestingly, the computer suggests a slightly illogical idea: 14.cxd5 Nxd5 14...exd5 15.d4 c4 16.Nf1 15.Qe4 0-0 16.Nb3 and evealuates it in White's favour. 14...0-0 15.Bf4 Bb7 16.Qe3 Rfd8 17.b3 Nd4 The d4 square is the only point which Black can use for counterplay. 18.Nxd4 cxd4 19.Qg3 Nd7! Correct maneuvre. Black's knight is either ready to jump to c5 or retreat to f8 to protect his king. Generally speaking in such positions a knight on f8 can play an important defensive role: he is defending the important h7-square and if nessesary can cover the g7-point with the Ng6 manoeuvre. 20.Bh6 A prophylactic move against the above-mentioned Nf8 maneuvre. Bf8 21.Bg5 Another good move. 21.Nh2 is premature due to dxc4 22.bxc4 22.dxc4 Nc5 22...f6 23.Bf4 23.Ng4 f5 23...fxe5 24.Bxe5 Nxe5 25.Qxe5 Bd6 26.Qxe6+ Kh8 21...Re8 22.Bf4! The end of interesting three-move bishop maneuvre. What has changed? The bishop came to its original square f4, while Black's bishop moved to f8 (blocking his Nf8 maneuvre) and rook to e8, where it is placed more passive than on d8. If 22.Nh2? then f6 22...dxc4?! An important moment. By taking on c4 Black opens both white-colored bishops. However the opening of White's c2-bishop is more dangerous for Black than opening of the b7-bishop for White, since it is White who is on the attack and the additional piece looking down on Black's king is just welcome. Black should have played 22...Be7! For example 23.Nh2 Nf8! and now White's 24.Ng4? is meet by Ng6 and White is in trouble. 23.dxc4 Nc5 24.Rad1 Rbd8 25.Nh2 d3 Zhou realizes how dangerous his opponent's attack is and decides to sacrifice a pawn in order to exchange White's c2-bishop and simplify the position. The alternative was 25...Kh8 but after 26.Ng4 Qc6 27.f3 d3 (otherwise it's not easy to defend against 28.Bg5 Rd7 29.Nf6!) 28.Bb1 (with the idea Nf2) Black faces difficulties. 26.Bxd3 Nxd3 27.Rxd3 Rxd3 28.Qxd3 Rd8 29.Qe2 a5 The attempt to prevent Rd1 by 29...Qa5 is met by 30.Rc1 and then Rc2-d2 30.Rd1 Qc6 Zhou played this move and offered a draw, which Petrosian reasonably declined. Black's compensation for pawn is clearly insuffitient. 31.Nf3 Rxd1+ 32.Qxd1 Be7 33.Qd4! h5 34.Be3! A good prophylactic move. On the impatient 34.Qa7?! Black can get some countreplay with g5 35.Be3 g4 36.hxg4 hxg4 37.Ne1 Qd7 34...a4 35.Qa7! White activates his queen. a3 36.Qb8+ Kh7 37.Kh2! Kg6?! In time trouble Black misses White's following tactical idea. He should have played 37...Qd7 38.Qh8! h4? Black defends against 39.g4, but misses the other shot. The only defence was 38...Qc8 39.Qxc8 Bxc8 40.Nd4 Bc5 41.Nc2 though White should still win. 39.Bh6‼ Bf6 40.Nxh4+! Bxh4 41.Qxg7+ Kf5 41...Kh5 42.g4# 42.Qg4+ And mate on the next move. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Petrosian,T2636Zhou Jianchao26361–02011B50Sevan Lake2.5

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1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 0-0 6.h3 A modest continuation, but not without poison. Na6 6...e5 6...c5 are more popular moves. 7.Bg5 Qe8 8.g4 c5 I think the moves 7...Qe8 and 8...c5 are poorly coordinated, and would prefer 8...e5. 8...e5 9.Be2!? An interesting novelty. Instead of the usual 9.Bg2 White places his bishop on e2. From there he is not only keeps eyes on the c4-pawn, but also supports future pawn storm on the kingside. 9.Bg2 9.d5 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11.f3 Bd7?! A waste of time. Black should have played 11...Ne6 12.Be3 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Be6 12.Qd2 Now we have a Dragon-like position, and White looks much healthier. The "extra" c2-c4 move is probably on their favour; Black's queen is misplaced and his knight is on c5 instead of c6, which means that Black is not fighting for the central point d4. Qb8?! A strange move. It would be understandable if Black intended to play b5, but with fourfold control of this square by White's pieces it is just unimaginable in the near future. If we try to justify 12... Qb8 from a different angle - allegedly Black wanted to unblock his f8-rook - then again we face inconsistencies, because by unlocking the kingside rook, Black locks in his queenside counterpart. Black should have prefered 12...Rc8 13.h4 Ne6 14.Be3 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Be6 13.h4 Rc8?! This is too much. Black's position was already calling for emergency measures, and maybe the best he could do was 13...d5!? After 14.exd5 Qg3+ 15.Kd1 15.Kf1? Nxg4! 16.fxg4 f5! 15...e5! 16.Nb3 Nxb3 17.axb3 e4! 18.Kc2 exf3 19.Rhg1 Qd6 20.Bxf3 b5! Black could mess up the position. 14.h5 Ne6 15.Be3! Now White develops the final rapid attack, and Black is totally defenseless. Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Be6 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.g5 Nh5 19.f4 Ng3 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 20...Nxh1 is not helpful 21.Qd4 Ng3 22.Bh6 f6 23.Nd5 Kf7 24.f5 21.Qd4+ f6 22.gxf6+ exf6 23.Rg1 Nxe2 24.Kxe2 Rxc4 24...Qc7 25.b3 25.Rxg6+‼ Kxg6 26.f5+ Kg7 27.Rg1+ Kf8 28.Qxf6+ Bf7 29.Rh1 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pashikian,A2616Jobava,B27131–02011E90Sevan Lake3

Picture gallery


One of the main organizers of the tournament GM Smbat Lputian

 
Singing girls at the opening ceremony


Elo favourite GM Baadur Jobava in an optimistic mood


Chief arbiter Ashot Vardapetyan with his son Levon and a local journalist


GM Zaven Andriasian


GM Zhou Jianchao


GM Samvel Ter Sahakyan


GM Sergei Zhigalko

 
GM Tigran L. Petrosian


GM Avetik Grigoryan


GM Ildar Khairullin


GM Hrant Melkumyan


Participants at the opening ceremony


The beautiful Lake Sevan, which gave the tournament its name

Photos by Gevorg Asatryan


Your reporter, IM Ashot Nadanian

IM Ashot Nadanian is a professional chess player and coach, currently rated 2436. His best single event was the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2002, where his performance against 2628-rated opposition was 2636. Ashot was born on September 19, 1972 in Baku, his parents, Sergei and Irina, are both hairdressers. He has played chess since the age of seven and twice won the Azerbaijan Youth Championship (1986 and 1987). In 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh War began, his family moved to Armenia. There he became an International Master (1997) and fulfilled two grandmaster norms (2002 and 2004). He was the Kuwait National Team coach from 1999-2001 and Singapore National Team coach between 2005-2010. In January 2011 he became the second of Levon Aronian and moved back to Armenia. Ashot is best known for his contribution to opening theory, with two variations named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4) and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 h6 3.c4 g5).

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