Wijk aan Zee Rd4: Aronian rejoins Carlsen in lead

by ChessBase
1/17/2012 – If Carlsen had hoped to demoralize Aronian with yesterday's win, the Armenian showed it takes more than that. In a good game against Gata Kamsky, Aronian built a solid advantage he never let go of until the end. Carlsen on the other hand was actually in danger of losing to Caruana at one point, but ended up drawing. Karjakin also came back to 50% with a second win over Navara. Round four report.

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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 four

Group A: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 17th
Veselin Topalov - Vugar Gashimov
½-½
Vassily Ivanchuk - Loek van Wely
½-½
Levon Aronian - Gata Kamsky
1-0
Fabiano Caruana - Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Anish Giri - Hikaru Nakamura
½-½
David Navara - Sergey Karjakin
0-1
Boris Gelfand - Teimour Radjabov
½-½

After Carlsen and Aronian’s cataclysmic encounter, one went off to score a resounding victory, while his rival had an uneven game he was in danger of losing at one point. From the opening phrase, and knowing Carlsen scored an important victory in the previous round, one would have thought the victor being spoken of was Carlsen, but not so. If the Norwegian had hoped his win that stole the lead would act as a dagger being twisted in the wound, it was dashed as Aronian showed that self-pity isn’t one of his defining characteristics.


A tough day at the office for Gata Kamsky

Early in his game against American Gata Kamsky, he seized an advantage, though nothing decisive per se. He then proceeded to put a strangle hold on Kamsky’s position that looked like it would end before the endgame, but somehow Gata constantly found ways to last a little longer. It seemed almost as if he would save the game, but ultimately the Armenian’s will to win bore out, and he scored his third win in four games.

Carlsen’s game against Caruana was another animal entirely. If he had hoped to simply outplay his Italian opponent in the positional subtleties of the Berlin, it never worked out that way, and Fabiano seemed to know exactly what needed to be done. The shocker was when Carlsen actually made what could have been a decisive mistake with 30…Rh8, but Caruana, possibly out of excessive respect for the world number one, missed the chance and chose a prophylactic move where a proactive one was needed. The balance was immediately restored and they drew a few moves later.


Fabiano Caruana

The other decisive game was by none other than Sergey Karjakin, scoring his second straight, and is now back at 50%, and with plenty of chances to make a statement.

Tomorrow is a rest day.

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

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1.e41,172,27354%2421---
1.d4951,24355%2434---
1.Nf3283,16356%2440---
1.c4182,99656%2442---
1.g319,77556%2427---
1.b314,39754%2427---
1.f45,92048%2377---
1.Nc33,83450%2384---
1.b41,76548%2379---
1.a31,22854%2405---
1.e31,07449%2409---
1.d395850%2378---
1.g466746%2361---
1.h445753%2378---
1.c343651%2426---
1.h328356%2419---
1.a411560%2464---
1.f39646%2431---
1.Nh39166%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 Bb4 11.Ne2 Be6 12.Nf4 Bd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.g4 Ne7 15.Nd4 Bc5 16.Rd1 h5 17.Kg2 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 c5 19.Rd3 d4 20.b4 cxb4 21.Rxd4 Nc6 22.Rd5 hxg4 23.hxg4 Rd8 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Bg5+ Kc7 26.f4 b5 27.Rd1 a6 28.Rd5 Re8 29.Kf3 Rh8?! 29...Na5 was better. 30.Kg2?! 30.f5! was winning. Re8 30...Rh3+ 31.Ke4 Rc3 32.e6 Rc4+ 33.Ke3 fxe6 34.fxe6 Rxc2 35.Bd8+ Kc8 35...Nxd8?? 36.e7 36.e7 Rc3+ 37.Kd2 Nxe7 38.Bxe7 a5 39.Bf8! 39.Rc5+? Kd7 40.Bf8 Ke8 41.Rf5 g6 42.Rf2 Ra3 43.Kc1 Rg3= 39...g6 40.Rc5++- 31.Bf4 Kc8 32.Ke4 Na5 33.e6 fxe6 34.Rc5+ Kb7 34...Kd8 35.Bc7+ 35.Rc7+ Ka8 36.Rxg7+- 30...Re8 31.Bh4 Na5 32.Bf2 Nc4 33.Kf3 g6 34.Bd4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2736Carlsen,M2835½–½2012C6774th Tata Steel GMA4
Navara,D2712Karjakin,S27690–12012C6774th Tata Steel GMA4
Ivanchuk,V2766Van Wely,L2692½–½2012E0474th Tata Steel GMA4
Giri,A2714Nakamura,H2759½–½2012B7774th Tata Steel GMA4
Gelfand,B2739Radjabov,T2773½–½2012E9274th Tata Steel GMA4
Topalov,V2770Gashimov,V2761½–½2012D1674th Tata Steel GMA4
Aronian,L2805Kamsky,G27321–02012A1574th Tata Steel GMA4

Group A standings after four rounds


Group B: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 17th
Alexander Motylev - Sergey Tiviakov
1-0
Ilya Nyzhnik - Vladimir Potkin
½-½
Daniele Vocatura - Jan Timman
½-½
Sipke Ernst - Erwin L'Ami
1-0
Pentala Harikrishna - Viktorija Cmilyte
½-½
Dimitri Reinderman - Harika Dronavalli
½-½
Lazaro Bruzon - Kateryna Lahno
½-½

There were few decisive results in the B Group, and Indian Pentala Harikrishna dropped his first half point, though has a comfortable lead of a full point over his nearest rivals. Erwin L’Ami lost to his compatriot Sipke Ernst, and though he continues in equal second, he was joined by Alexander Motylev, who beat Sergey Tiviakov in a very sharp 3…Qd6 Scandinavian after the latter went astray in the middlegame. That said, Tiviakov cannot blame the opening, which left him with a  good fighting position, and showed the viability of the material on which he authored a DVD.


Alexander Motylev moved into equal second with a good win over Sergey Tiviakov

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1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 Nf6 3.Nbc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Nxd5 Qxd5 6.d4 e5 7.Nc3 Qxd4 8.Be3 Qxd1+ 9.Rxd1 Be6 10.Ne4 Nd7 11.Ng5 Bf5 12.Bc4 f6 13.Ne6 Bxe6 14.Bxe6 0-0-0 15.Ke2 Kc7 16.g4 Be7 17.h4 Nb6 18.b3 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 h6 20.h5 Bd6 21.Kf3 Re8 22.Bf5 Nc8 23.Ke4 Ne7 24.c3 Nc6 25.Bg6 Re7 26.f3 Nd4 27.Bd2 Ne6 28.Bf5 Nf4 29.Be3 Kc6 30.Bf2 Bc7 31.Be3 Ba5 32.Bd2 c4 33.bxc4 Kc5 34.Bh7 Kxc4 35.Bg8+ Kc5 36.Bc1 Bxc3 37.Be3+ Kb5 38.Rb1+ Ka5 39.Bxa7 b5 40.Be3 Rd7 41.Bb3 Ne2 42.Bf2 Nd4 43.Rd1 Rc7 44.Bd5 b4 45.Be3 Ka4 46.f4 Re7 47.Kd3 Rd7 48.Ke4 Re7 49.Kd3 Rd7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Bruzon Batista,L2691Lahno,K2557½–½2012B2074th Tata Steel GMB4
Reinderman,D2581Harika,D2516½–½2012A1674th Tata Steel GMB4
Vocaturo,D2545Timman,J2571½–½2012C1174th Tata Steel GMB4
Ernst,S2606L'Ami,E25961–02012A4074th Tata Steel GMB4
Harikrishna,P2665Cmilyte,V2503½–½2012A6274th Tata Steel GMB4
Nyzhnyk,I2568Potkin,V2684½–½2012D4374th Tata Steel GMB4
Motylev,A2677Tiviakov,S26771–02012B0174th Tata Steel GMB4

Group B standings after four rounds


Group C: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 17th
Pieter Hopman - Lisa Schut
0-1
Anne Haast - Maxim Turov
0-1
Lars Ootes - Elina Danielian
1-0
Hans Tikkanen - Etienne Goudriaan
1-0
Sahaj Grover - Baskaran Adhiban
0-1
Matthew Sadler - Daan Brandenburg
½-½
Tania Sachdev - Elizabeth Paehtz
0-1

In the C Group, Turov continues to dominate with 4.0/4, though he has yet to meet any of the 2500+ rated players in his group. Hans Tikkanen moved to second, joined by the Indian GM Baskaran Adhiban. 19-year-old Adhiban was the last person to add his name to the Wijk roster, and fought his way in by winning a qualifier late last year. In round four he beat his 16-year-old compatriot, IM Sahaj Grover, and now has 3.0/4.


19-year-old GM Baskaran Adhiban


Elizabeth Pähtz is interviewed (in German) (courtesy of the Tata Steel Facebook page)

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
Position not in LiveBook
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 Be6 7.Be2 Qa5 8.Nf3 dxc4 9.0-0 Rd8 10.Re1 a6 11.a4 h6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Bf1 Qf5 14.Ne4 Rg8 15.Rc1 Bd5 16.Nh4 Qf4 17.Qf3 Qxf3 18.Nxf3 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 f5 20.Rf4 Rg4 21.Rxf5 e6 22.Rh5 Nxd4 23.Ne5 Re4 24.Nxc4 Nb3 25.Rc3 Rd1 26.g3 Rxc4 27.Rxc4 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Nd2+ 29.Ke2 Nxc4 30.b3 Nd6 31.Rh4 Bg7 32.Kd3 f5 33.f3 Kf7 34.Rb4 e5 35.g4 e4+ 36.Ke2 fxg4 37.fxe4 Bc3 38.Rb6 Ke6 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Haast,A2290Turov,M26450–12012B1374th Tata Steel GMC4
Sadler,M2660Brandenburg,D2527½–½2012D2774th Tata Steel GMC4
Grover,S2532Adhiban,B25610–12012E3474th Tata Steel GMC4
Hopman,P2342Schut,L22900–12012D9274th Tata Steel GMC4
Sachdev,T2411Paehtz,E24540–12012E9274th Tata Steel GMC4
Tikkanen,H2549Goudriaan,E22791–02012E0674th Tata Steel GMC4
Ootes,L2326Danielian,E24901–02012B1474th Tata Steel GMC4

Group C standings after four 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
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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