Unive Hoogeveen: Tiviakov beats Hou Yifan in a tense battle

by ChessBase
10/25/2012 – After the free day Anish Giri vs Hikaru Nakamura ended in a 25-move draw, while Dutch GM Sergey Tiviakov ground down Hou Yifan in a 70-move marathon, after the women's world champion had missed several promising opportunities. This is shown in the analysis of our commentator GM Eltaj Safarli, which is accompanied by pictorial impressions by WGM Alina L'Ami.

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The 16th Univé Chess Festival is taking place from the 19th to 27th of October 2012, in Hoogeveen, Holland. The main event is a four-player Crown Group double round robin with Hikaru Nakamura, USA, rated 2786, Anish Giri, NL, 2730, Sergey Tiviakov, NL, 2659, and women's world champion Hou Yifan, China, 2605. The average rating is 2695, making this a category 18 tournament. The Unive Open has 78 players and is a nine round event that started on October 19. The prize fund is € 7,500, with a first prize of € 3,000. The sponsor of the Univé Chess Festival is Univé.

Crown Group report after round four

Round 4 – Thursday, October 25, 2012, 14:00h
Sergey Tiviakov
1-0
 Hou Yifan
Giri, Anish
½-½
 Nakamura, Hikaru

Commentary by GM Eltaj Safarli


Chinese GM Hou Yifan and her mother (left) arrive at the playing venue


The decided game of the Crown Group is under way

[Event "Hoogeveen 2012"] [Site "?"] [Date "2012.10.25"] [Round "4"] [White "Tiviakov, Sergei"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2623"] [Annotator "Eltaj,Safarli"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2012.10.22"] [SourceDate "2012.10.25"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 g6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bg7 9. h3 {Three days ago Sergey played 9.f3 against Nakamura} Qc7 10. Qe2 $5 ({White mostly plays this way:} 10. b3 Qa5 11. Bd2 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Qe5 13. Qb1 f5 14. Bc3 Qxe4+ 15. Qxe4 fxe4 {The position gets less complex and it seems to me that Black equalizes without many problems.} 16. Nb5 Bxc3+ 17. Nxc3 Nd7 18. Nxe4 Rc8 19. Kd2 Nc5 20. Rhe1 Nxe4+ 21. Rxe4 Rf8 22. f3 Kd7 23. a4 a5 24. Rae1 Rf7 25. Ke3 {1/2-1/2 Spasov,V (2594)-Mamedov,N (2587) Konya TUR 2011}) 10... Nc6 11. Nc2 O-O 12. O-O a6 13. Bd2 {Sergey is just trying to develop his pieces. The position is of course about equal.} e6 14. Rac1 Rfe8 15. Be3 Ne5 16. Na3 (16. b3 b5 $1) 16... Rac8 17. b3 Qa5 18. Nab1 d5 $1 (18... b5 $6 {is dubious because after} 19. cxb5 axb5 20. Qxb5 Qxb5 21. Nxb5 Nxe4 22. f3 $1 Ng3 23. Nxd6 Ne2+ 24. Kh1 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Nxc1 26. Nxe8 Nxa2 27. Nxg7 Kxg7 28. Bd4 f6 29. Bxe5 fxe5 30. Kg1 $16 {White can get a winning endgame in a more or less forced line.}) 19. f4 (19. cxd5 exd5 20. exd5 Nxd5 21. Nxd5 Qxd5 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Rd1 Qe6 24. Na3 {would be just equal.}) 19... Nc6 20. e5 Nh5 21. Qf2 $6 { Although this move led White to victory, in my opinion a better move would be 21.g4, with a draw as a probable outcome. The move that White chose to play could provoke huge problems for him. However, Black did not realise that opportunity.} (21. g4 Ng3 (21... d4 22. gxh5 dxe3 23. Ne4 $13) 22. Qf2 Nxf1 23. Bb6 Qb4 24. Bc5 Qa5 25. Bb6 $11) 21... d4 $1 22. Bxd4 Nxd4 23. Qxd4 g5 $1 ( 23... Ng3 $5 {was also interesting, but 23...g5! is much stronger} 24. Rf3 Bf8 25. Kh2 Nf5) 24. fxg5 Bxe5 25. Qf2 Bf4 $2 {Black played very reasonably and strongly, but unfortunately now Hou Yifan misses an opportunity to take an initiative.} (25... Ng3 $1 26. Rfd1 (26. Qxf7+ Kh8 27. Rf2 Qc5 28. g6 hxg6 29. Qxg6 Qe3 $1 30. Qc2 Rcd8) 26... Red8 {and probably White is in big trouble here.}) 26. Ne4 $1 $16 Bxc1 27. Rxc1 {White chose a more positional play.} (27. Qxf7+ Kh8 28. Rxc1 Ng7 29. Nbd2 $16) 27... Qe5 28. Re1 Kh8 29. Nbd2 Red8 30. Nf3 $16 {White had a very nice position, and I didn't have any doubts that Sergey would gain victory in this round.} Qf4 31. g3 Qc7 32. Qb2+ Ng7 33. Ne5 Qb6+ 34. Kg2 Rc7 35. c5 Qb4 36. Qf2 Rd5 37. Nd6 Nf5 38. Nexf7+ Rxf7 39. Nxf7+ Kg7 40. Nd6 Nxd6 41. Qf6+ Kg8 42. Qxe6+ $1 Kg7 (42... Nf7 43. Rf1 $1 Rd2+ 44. Kh1 $18) 43. cxd6 {also wins, but 43.Qf6 would mate Black in nine moves.} ({ For example:} 43. Qf6+ Kg8 44. Qd8+ Kg7 (44... Kf7 45. Re7+ Kg6 46. Qg8+) 45. Re7+ Nf7 46. Qxd5) 43... Qxd6 44. Qxd6 Rxd6 45. Re7+ Kg8 46. Rxb7 Rd2+ 47. Kf3 Rxa2 48. Kg4 Rd2 49. h4 a5 50. Kh5 Rd6 51. Ra7 Rb6 52. Kg4 Rb4+ 53. Kh3 Rb5 54. Kh2 Kh8 55. Kg2 Kg8 56. Kh3 Kh8 57. Kg4 Rb4+ 58. Kf5 Rxb3 59. h5 Rf3+ 60. Kg4 Rf8 61. Rxa5 Rb8 62. h6 Kg8 63. Kh5 Kf7 64. Rf5+ Ke6 65. Rf4 Rb3 66. Rf6+ Ke7 67. Ra6 Kf7 68. Ra7+ Kg8 69. Ra8+ Kf7 70. Rh8 1-0

[Event "16th Unive Crown"] [Site "Hoogeveen NED"] [Date "2012.10.25"] [Round "4"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Nakamura, Hi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2693"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2012.10.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. O-O O-O 8. Bg5 Nc6 9. Nc3 h6 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. Nb5 Na7 12. a3 Bd6 13. Nc3 b5 14. a4 Bb7 15. axb5 Bb4 16. Ne5 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 Qd8 18. Kg1 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Nxb5 20. Qc2 Qd5 21. e4 Qd6 22. Rfc1 c5 23. Nxc4 Qc7 24. d5 exd5 25. exd5 Nd6 1/2-1/2

Standings after four rounds

Photo impressions from Hoogeveen

By WGM Alina L'Ami


Jan Timman encounters his colleague Erwin L'Ami on his way to the playing hall –
note the usual Dutch method of transport: a bike!


The Town Hall is the venue of the festival: the Crown Group, Unive Open and Amateur group


The participants gather in front of the Town Hall with the round about to start


Smaranda Padurariu (left) and Olgica Djuric, girlfriend of Dutch GM Sipke Ernst


Dutch chess legend Jan Timman before the start of his game (in the Unive Open)


Top seed in the Unive Open: Dutch GM Erwin l'Ami


Georgian IM Sopiko Guramishvili, girlfriend of Anish Giri


5148 Elo points together: Sopiko and Anish


Sopiko playing a friendly game with Anish's sister


Reigning women's world champion Hou Yifan from China


It's never too early to start with chess


Holland with its trademark windmills...


... and canals winding through the city, with the beautiful colours of autumn

Schedule and results

Round 1 – Sunday, October 21, 2012, 14:00h
Hou Yifan
½-½
 Sergey Tiviakov
Nakamura, Hikaru
1-0
 Giri, Anish
Round 2 – Monday, October 22, 2012, 14:00h
Hou Yifan
½-½
 Giri, Anish
Sergey Tiviakov
½-½
 Nakamura, Hikaru
Round 3 – Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 14:00h
Sergey Tiviakov
½-½
 Giri, Anish
Nakamura, Hikaru
1-0
 Hou Yifan
Round 4 – Thursday, October 25, 2012, 14:00h
Sergey Tiviakov
1-0
 Hou Yifan
Giri, Anish
½-½
 Nakamura, Hikaru
Round 5 – Friday, October 26, 2012, 14:00h
Giri, Anish
  Hou Yifan
Nakamura, Hikaru
   Sergey Tiviakov
Round 6 – Saturday, October 27, 2012, 14:00h
Hou Yifan
   Nakamura, Hikaru
Giri, Anish
   Sergey Tiviakov

Links

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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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