Wijk aan Zee Rd3: Carlsen beats Aronian to snatch lead

by ChessBase
1/16/2012 – It was the clash of the titans as the top two players in the world bumped heads for first place. Magnus Carlsen scored an impressive win over Levon Aronian as he slowly built up an advantage into a convincing win. Radjabov joined Caruana and Aronian in second after a blunder by Navara. Both Harikrishna and Turov lead Group B and C respectively with 3.0/3. Illustrated report with video.

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The 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from January 13 to 29, 2012 in the sports hall Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee. There are three grandmaster tournaments with fourteen players each playing thirteen rounds at 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. Rest days are on January 18, 23, and 26.


Tata Steel Tournament 2012

Round three


The players arrive for the round

Group A: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 16th
Boris Gelfand - Veselin Topalov
½-½
Teimour Radjabov - David Navara
1-0
Sergey Karjakin - Anish Giri
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura - Fabiano Caruana
½-½
Magnus Carlsen - Levon Aronian
1-0
Gata Kamsky - Vassily Ivanchuk
½-½
Loek van Wely - Vugar Gashimov
½-½

The first result of the day came in disappointing fashion as the Czech champion David Navara blundered a piece right after a mistake and that was that, Radjabov moved in to equal second with 2.0/3.


19-year-old Fabiano Caruana is already looking at a 2750 rating

Hikaru Nakamura was almost on the wrong side of the next decisive result as he was possibly lost at one point against Fabiano Caruana, but fortunately he kept his wits about him and saved the game in the end. It is worth noting that while Caruana’s rating may have seemed stationary for about a year, he seems to be solidifying his gains and has gained nearly 40 Elo since September if one is to refer to the Live Ratings list where he stands at 2750 and 12th in the world.


Relief is spelled K-A-R-J-A-K-I-N

It was also a relief for Sergey Karjakin, and a disappointment to Anish Giri’s fans, when he beat the Dutchman to break his nervy start. The game was relatively balanced until Giri decided to undertake energetic measures on the queenside with f5 that only yielded him fatal weaknesses on e6 and the dark squares.


Carlsen made a first step for glory by beating his most dangerous rival

Still the game of the day was also the biggest encounter of the event: Magnus Carlsen versus Levon Aronian, the two top seeds in Wijk and in the world. Aronian was sole first, with a perfect 2.0/2 start, and Carlsen, trailing a half-point behind, had a chance to invert their places, which he took. His typical provocative play drew his opponent out to make several concessions which he then negotiated beautifully. In his attempt to find the most precise move, he actually ended up with a secondary choice, though the more aesthetic of the two. This caused the game to go longer than he had planned, but his famed technique did not let him down and he maneuvered his way to the top of the leaderboard. His win also takes him to a stratospheric 2843, a rating he no doubt plans to push past Kasparov’s record 2851 set in 2000.

In tomorrow’s game Carlsen faces Caruana with Black, a game that has great promise while Aronian takes on Kamsky. Radjabov will face Gelfand.


The official round three video report (courtesy of the Tata Steel Facebook page)

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1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Qd2 e5 13.Bh6 exd4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.cxd4 cxd4 16.f4 f6 17.f5 Nc6 18.Bb5 Ne5 19.Nxd4 gxf5 20.Rad1 Qe7 21.Ba6! Bd7 22.exf5 Kh8 23.Qc3 Rae8 24.Rf4 Rg8 25.Bf1 Rc8 26.Qe1 Bc6 27.h3 Bd5 28.a4 Rg7 29.Qf2 Rcg8 30.Ne6 Bxe6 31.fxe6 Qxe6 32.Kh1 Rg6 33.Rd2 Qe7 34.Rfd4 Rc8 35.Rd1 Rgg8 36.Qd2 Qg7 37.Qf2 Qe7 38.Qd2 Rg3 39.Rf4 Rg6 40.a5 bxa5 41.Qxa5 Rgg8 42.Ra1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2759Caruana,F2736½–½2012D8674th Tata Steel GMA3
Radjabov,T2773Navara,D27121–02012D7374th Tata Steel GMA3
Van Wely,L2692Gashimov,V2761½–½2012A3374th Tata Steel GMA3
Kamsky,G2732Ivanchuk,V2766½–½2012D1174th Tata Steel GMA3
Carlsen,M2835Aronian,L28051–02012D3174th Tata Steel GMA3
Karjakin,S2769Giri,A27141–02012C0774th Tata Steel GMA3
Gelfand,B2739Topalov,V2770½–½2012D4574th Tata Steel GMA3

Group A standings after three rounds


Group B: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 16th
Lazaro Bruzon - Alexander Motylev
½-½
Kateryna Lahno - Dimitri Reinderman
½-½
Harika Dronavalli - Pentala Harikrishna
0-1
Viktorija Cmilyte - Sipke Ernst
1-0
Erwin L'Ami - Daniele Vocatura
1-0
Jan Timman - Ilya Nyzhnik
1-0
Vladimir Potkin - Sergey Tiviakov
0-1

The third round in Group B came close to six wins in seven with the only draws being Lahno-Reinderman and Bruzon-Motylev. Top-seed Bruzon (2691) has been out of form and after losing to the leader, Harikrishna, in the opening round, came dangerously close to losing against Motylev. He was quite lost but the Russian allowed an ending with opposite-colored bishops in which his two extra pawns were no longer decisive.

The Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna once again showed off his technical skills as he outplayed his female compatriot GM Harika Dronavalli, and now has 3.0/3. In second place is the Dutch player, Erwin L’Ami, who beat the winner of last year’s Group C, Italian GM Daniele Vocaturo.


After a first round loss, Sergey Tiviakov won two games, including over Vladimir Potkin

That said, the highest profile win was Sergey Tiviakov’s second straight win, this time against European Champion Vladimir Potkin in an impressive game that has already put him in third.


Nyzhnik and Timman, a pleasing victory for Timman's fans

Of note also, was the meeting between the tournament's youngest and oldest players, 15-year-old Ilya Nyzhnik, and 60-year-old Jan Timman. This time experience had the last word as Jan Timman converted an extra pawn after 97 moves.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Na6 8.Bf4 Ne4 9.Re1 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be4 11.Bf1 c5 12.Nd2 Bb7 13.e4 cxd4 14.cxd4 Rc8 15.h4 Bb4 16.Rc1 d6 17.Bg5 Qe8 18.Bh3 Rc7 19.Re2 e5 20.d5 Bc8 21.Bxc8 Qxc8 22.Nf1 Rxc4 23.Rxc4 Qxc4 24.Ne3 Qxe4 25.Rc2 f6 26.Rc4 Qg6 27.h5 Qf7 28.Bh4 f5 29.Qa4 Ba5 30.g4 fxg4 31.Rxg4 Nc5 32.Qc2 Qxh5 33.Be7 Rf4 34.Rg5 Qf7 35.Bxd6 Qf6 36.Rh5 Qxd6 37.Qxh7+ Kf7 38.Rg5 Qh6 39.Rf5+ Rxf5 40.Qxf5+ Kg8 41.Ng4 Qf4 42.Qg6 Nd7 43.Qe8+ Nf8 44.Nxe5 Bb4 45.Nd3 Qg4+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Potkin,V2684Tiviakov,S26770–12012E1874th Tata Steel GMB3
L'Ami,E2596Vocaturo,D25451–02012A3074th Tata Steel GMB3
Bruzon Batista,L2691Motylev,A2677½–½2012D4574th Tata Steel GMB3
Harika,D2516Harikrishna,P26650–12012A0574th Tata Steel GMB3
Timman,J2571Nyzhnyk,I25681–02012B9474th Tata Steel GMB3
Lahno,K2557Reinderman,D2581½–½2012A4174th Tata Steel GMB3
Cmilyte,V2503Ernst,S26061–02012D1074th Tata Steel GMB3

Group B standings after three rounds


Group C: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 16th
Tania Sachdev - Pieter Hopman
½-½
Elizabeth Paehtz - Matthew Sadler
½-½
Daan Brandenburg - Sahaj Grover
½-½
Baskaran Adhiban - Hans Tikkanen
½-½
Etienne Goudriaan - Lars Ootes
1-0
Elina Danielian - Anne Haast
½-½
Maxim Turov - Lisa Schut
1-0

In the C Group, Turov continues to dominate with 3.0/3, though he had a large Elo advantage over his opponent Dutch junior Lisa Schut. Etienne Goudriaan, the lowest rating of the group with 2279, is the surprise second with 2.5/3, though it bears noting none of his opponents outrated him by more than 50 Elo until now.

Matthew Sadler has conceded two draws so far, both against the lovely Tania Sachdev in round two, and Elizabeth Paehtz in round three.

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1.e41,166,62354%2421---
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bb5 Bg7 6.0-0 Bd7 7.Bc4 Nh6 8.f5 gxf5 9.d3 Na5 10.h3 Nxc4 11.dxc4 Be6 12.Nd5 Qd7 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Nh4 Be6 16.Qh5 Bf8 17.Rae1 0-0-0 18.b3 h6 19.Nf4 Bg7 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Ng6 Rh7 22.Qg4 Bf6 23.Rxe6 Rg7 24.Rfe1 Rdg8 25.Rxf6 Qxg4 26.hxg4 exf6 27.Ne7+ Kd7 28.Nxg8 Rxg8 29.Re4 Rg5 30.Kf2 Re5 31.Re3 Rg5 32.Rh3 Rxg4 33.Rxh6 Rf4+ 34.Ke3 Rf1 35.Rh7+ Kc6 36.Rf7 Re1+ 37.Kd3 Rg1 38.Rxf6 Rxg2 39.a4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Adhiban,B2561Tikkanen,H2549½–½2012B2374th Tata Steel GMC3
Goudriaan,E2279Ootes,L23261–02012E6874th Tata Steel GMC3
Turov,M2645Schut,L22901–02012D9074th Tata Steel GMC3
Danielian,E2490Haast,A2290½–½2012D0274th Tata Steel GMC3
Brandenburg,D2527Grover,S2532½–½2012C0974th Tata Steel GMC3
Sachdev,T2411Hopman,P2342½–½2012A4574th Tata Steel GMC3
Paehtz,E2454Sadler,M2660½–½2012B0674th Tata Steel GMC3

Group C standings after three rounds



All photos © Frits Agterdenbos of ChessVista



Commentary

There will be full broadcast of all games on the official site and on the Playchess server, which will provide live audio commentary of the most interesting games (free for Premium members) starting at 15:00h for each round, 14:00h for the final round.

Date Round Day Commentator
14.01.2012 Round 1 Saturday Pelletier
15.01.2012 Round 2 Sunday King
16.01.2012 Round 3 Monday Seirawan
17.01.2012 Round 4 Tuesday King
18.01.2012 Free Day Wednesday
19.01.2012 Round 5 Thursday King
20.01.2012 Round 6 Friday Seirawan
21.01.2012 Round 7 Saturday Seirawan
22.01.2012 Round 8 Sunday King
23.01.2012 Free Day Monday
24.01.2012 Round 9 Tuesday King
25.01.2012 Round 10 Wednesday Pelletier
26.01.2012 Free Day Thursday
27.01.2012 Round 11 Friday King
28.01.2012 Round 12 Saturday Trent
29.01.2012 Round 13 Sunday King

Commentary begins at approx. 3 PM and lasts 2-2.5 hours with breaks in between. A round up show is provided at 8 PM server time.

Links

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