Wijk R09: Karjakin, Aronian, Dominguez win and lead

Results of round nine

GM Group A

GM Group B

GM Group C

Language Barriers

Round nine report by Steve Giddins

Following my brief excursion into Highland dialect on Sunday, a friend of mine has reminded me that it is not only the Scots who have their own rather distinct local language, with which to baffle outsiders. The friend in question is a Londoner, more specifically a Cockney, and is very proud of his native "Rhyming Slang". As far as I know, this is a fairly unique thing amongst slang and local dialects, in that it relies on substituting for the intended word another, which indirectly rhymes with it. Thus, a Cockney who wishes to refer to his better half will not call her "the wife", but "the trouble and strife", whilst when he climbs the stairs to his bed at night, he is wont to refer to the process as "going up the apples and pears, to my Uncle Ned". Often, the rhyme is shortened, by leaving out the first word - thus, references to "the dog" usually mean the telephone, being short for "dog and bone", whilst a Cockney's favourite night's entertainment would be having a few "Britneys" (Britney Spears = beers) with the lads. And if a Cockney tells you that he is in the Brad Pitt, then you know he has serious problems...

The whole thing makes for great confusion, when outsiders are present. And that, of course, is the whole point. Rhyming slang is believed to have grown up as a defence mechanism amongst the criminal classes of London, who would use it as a means of thwarting police informers and other outsiders, who might have infiltrated their ranks. Such people would have great difficulty extracting any useful information from an overheard sentence, along the lines of "Ol' Bob's a bit of a tea leaf , I knew 'im when 'e and I shared a Peter in the boom". Only a Cockney insider would appreciate that the speaker is claiming that Bob is a thief (tea leaf = thief), and that he and Bob once shared a cell (Peter Snell = cell) in prison (boom and mizzen - prison)!

Like all living languages, Rhyming Slang is constantly growing, but I am not aware of any specific chess terms having acquired rhyming slang equivalents. But I do not see why this should not be the case. I cannot help feeling that my daily game summaries would sound rather more colourful if written for a Cockney audience. For example, "Bloggs sacked a Barry Took for a couple of mowed lawns, and Gareth Gated his opponent" sounds a lot better than "Bloggs sacked a rook for two pawns and mated his opponent". Yes, the thought appeals. I shall have to bear it in mind. Sadly, there are precious few Cockneys playing at Wijk aan Zee this year, but we do have three English GMs, Adams, Short and Howell. Despite none of them being born even within several hundred miles of the sound of Bow Bells, I am sure they would understand a report written in rhyming slang.

One GM whose performance so far tends to evoke a rhyming slang description is Alexander Morozevich. The world number five is languishing in last place, a point adrift of the field, losing rating points by the bucketful, and must be feeling thoroughly Moby Dick (sick) of the whole tournament. Today he got nowhere with the white pieces against Radjabov, and the game soon simplified to a dead drawn ending. The big game of the day was the clash between Kariakin and Movsesian. The former played an excellent game, eventually reaching a highly promising queen ending. After some subtle manoeuvering, his king managed to evade the James Becks and decide the outcome.

Karjakin,Sergey (2706) - Movsesian,S (2751) [B80]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 27.01.2009
Notes by Sergey Shipov, translation by Steve Giddins

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6. The Scheveningen, Movsesian's favourite. 6.Be3. Movssian's reputation goes before him. The move 6.g4 which was formerly considered extremely dangerous, now seems to be played less and less. 6...Nc6 7.f3. The most popular system of attack, following the English Attack against the Najdorf. The pawn on f3 both defends the e4 pawn and supports the g2-g4 thrust. 7...Be7 8.Qd2 0–0. Black refuses to be frightened by White's attack. By distinction with the Najdorf, Black has not expended a tempo on pawn moves such as a7-a6. All of his moves are developing moves, and this gives him the possibility of a counterattack in the centre. 9.g4. The standard idea. White drives away the knight from f6, which is a key player in the battle for the centre. 9...d5. "Not one step backwards!" Mind you, it is all theory, of course... 10.g5 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Nh5. Black is not bothered by the loss of the d5 pawn. In the first place, the g5 pawn is hanging, and in the second, the centre will be opened, where the white king stands. 12.0–0–0 Bxg5 13.Kb1. Motylev's idea. White sacrifices a pawn and prepares an attack with everything he has got. 13...Kh8. Prophylaxis. After 13...Bxe3 14.Qxe3 Qf6 15.exd5 Nf4 16.d6 Bd7 17.Bb5 Bxb5 18.Nxb5 Nd5 19.Qe4 Rfd8 20.Nc7 Rac8 21.Nxd5 exd5 22.Rxd5 Rxd6 23.Rxd6 Qxd6 24.Qxb7 and White remained with an extra pawn and won (Motylev-Belozerov, Tomsk 2006). 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.Rg1

15...Qf4. Novelty. In the first round game Stellwagen-Movsesian, Sergey played 15...Qf6 16.Qb4 Bd7 17.exd5 exd5 18.Nxd5 Qxf3 19.Bg2 Qf5 20.Qxb7 Ba4 21.b3 Rac8 22.Rd2 a5 23.Qa7 Bc6 24.Ne7 Qg5 25.Bxc6 Qxd2 26.Nxc8 Rxc8 27.Qxf7 and White had an advantage that was close to decisive. Although Black managed to draw, it is clear that nobody in his right mind would choose to repeat that experience. 16.Qc5. A surprisingly quick reply. Evidently, it is all in the great computer. Threatening mate in one, a fairly serious matter. Black's lack of development has its say. 16...Bd7. Correct. 17.exd5 Nf6. Black coordinates his pieces, and has also restored material equality. But it is still too early to speak of his having equalized the chances. White retains the initiative. However, Black has one small plus - his pawn structure is superior. The split white pawns on f3 and h2 could come back to haunt him later on – if he does not manage to create an attack. Pawn-grabbing would be extremely dangerous: 17...Qxh2 18.Bd3 and the white rooks will come into play on the h-file. 18.Bh3. The best means of strengthening the pressure. If 18.d6 Bc6 Black manages to place his pieces favourably and exert pressure on the f3 pawn. 18...exd5. Play in Sicilian positions is highly concrete, and a move which was wrong on the last move can be the strongest now! Thus, 18...Qxh2 deserved attention, eg. 19.dxe6 fxe6! 20.Rh1 Qf4 The bishop on h3 just gets under the feet of its own rooks. I cannot evaluate the position definitively; all that is clear is that both sides have chances. 19.Bxd7 Nxd7 20.Qxd5. As often happens in this variation, a feint at a kingside attack creates chances of an attack on the queenside! The pawn on b7 is en prise. 20...Nf6. Worse is 20...Ne5?! when White can postpone his pawn-grabbing and direct his knight to d6: 21.Nb5! 21.Qxb7. White does not fear opening the b-file, because he can always defend by advancing b2-b3. Clearly, Black must respond in kind, by taking on h2. Putting the knight on f6 means that he should not have to fear the threats against h7. 21...Qxh2 22.Ne4. Kariakin clearly has the same thoughts, and hurries to remove the protector of h7. But the departure of the white knight gives him his own weaknesses, for example on c2. 22...Nxe4. He could gain a tempo by attacking c2: 22...Rac8 and if 23.Nxf6? Qxc2+ 24.Ka1 Rb8 winning.

23.Qxe4 Rad8 24.a4. I find it hard to explain why Kariakin avoided the strong move 24.Qe7! It seems that in this case, Black would have to give up his last queenside pawn. Admittedly, in many lines he gets to devour the f3 pawn, but even so, the tempi are not on his side. 24...Qc7. Movsesian plays very carefully, keeping everything protected. It seems to me that he could have considered guerrilla tactics: 24...Qf2. 25.Rxd8. Advancing the pawns at once is out of place: 25.b4?! Qc3! White must not forget about the safety of his king. 25...Rxd8 26.Rg5. An original manoeuvre - maybe the rook will later come to b5 and b7. Black has no trouble after 26.Rh1 g6; nor after 26.f4 Kg8 27.f5 Qd6! 26...g6. Black in turn makes luft, and also prepares to advance his pawns. He is probably going to set his hopes on the outside passed pawn. 27.Rb5. The logical continuation of the rook manoeuvre. But Black has a defence. 27...Rd1+. A subtle moment. I ask the question: why bring the white king forward? Later in the ending, this could favour White. The immediate 27...Rd7 was more solid. 28.Ka2 Rd7. Black takes control of the seventh rank. White strengthens his position on the queenside. His chances are preferable in this position. 29.c4 Kg7. Black has to waste a tempo to bring his own king closer to the action. I think White should push his c-pawn now The variations are quite complicated - believe it or not, in my analysis, I currently have a position with four queens on the board! 30.c5. Exactly the move! The Ukrainian GM is clearly thinking along the same lines as me. Now Black must play very accurately – several plausible-looking moves lead to a very nasty position for him. 30...a6 31.c6 axb5 32.cxd7 Qxd7 33.Qe5+. White wins the b5 pawn and obtains two passed pawns. Black will soon push his h-pawn. The promised four queens position is not far away. 33...Kf8. No, Sergey does not risk it. This was my line: 33...f6 34.Qxb5 Qe6+ 35.b3 h5 36.a5 h4 37.a6 h3 38.a7 h2 39.a8Q h1Q 40.Qbb7+ Qf7 41.Qxf7+ Kxf7 42.Qd5+ Ke7 43.b4 Qh2+ 44.Kb3 Qd6! and Black holds.

34.axb5. Obviously, 34.Qxb5?? would be a terrible mistake, because after 34...Qxb5 35.axb5 Ke7 the black king is in the square of the b-pawn. 34...h5 35.Kb3. Now we see the consequences of the unfortunate check on d1. The white king is able to come into the game. It would be premature to play 35.b6? Qa4+ 36.Kb1 Qd1+ with perpetual. 35...Kg8. A difficult decision. The king moves further away from the b-pawn. It appears contrary to all laws of the endgame, but the idea is obvious - to hide from checks. Movsesian has clearly calculated that his h-pawn will queen at the same time as the white b-pawn. We will see....I saw looking at the queen exchange: 35...Qe8 36.Qc5+ Qe7 37.Kb4 Ke8 38.Qxe7+ Kxe7 39.Ka5 h4 40.b6 h3 41.b7 h2 42.b8Q h1Q and draws.; But not 35...Qe7?? 36.Qh8#. 36.b6 h4 37.Qc7. The queen has t leave its idea centralised position, else the pawn cannot get to b7. 37...Qd1+ 38.Kb4. The white king tries to shelter from the checks on a7, although there is also the option of bringing the queen back to defend on c3 or c4. Can Black take on f3? I suspect the tempo is more important than the material. 38...Qe1+. Analysis shows that 38...Qxf3? loses by force: 39.b7 Qe4+ 40.Ka3 Qe3+ 41.Ka4 Qd4+ 42.b4 Qd1+ 43.Kb5 Qd3+ 44.Qc4 Qf5+ 45.Qc5 Qd7+ 46.Kb6 Qe6+ 47.Kc7 and the checks run out.; If 38...Qd2+ 39.Ka4 Qd1+ White plays 40.b3! 39.Kb5 Qe2+. I think 39...Qf1+! was more accurate, with the idea of 40.Ka5 (or 40.Kc6 Qxf3+) 40...Qa1+. 40.Ka5

Kariakin offers the b2-pawn.Actually, Black should take it, but who can decide on such a big step on the last move of the time control? 40...Qd2+. As predicted, he decides against. On the final move of the time control, it was practically impossible to calculate the line 40...Qxb2 41.b7 Qa3+ 42.Kb6 Qb4+ 43.Ka7 Qa3+ 44.Kb8 h3 45.Qc8+ Kg7 46.Qxh3 Qd6+ 47.Kc8 Qc5+ with perpetual check. 41.b4. So you don't want my pawn? So be it, now it will play its role! While you, dear readers, have been putting the kettle on for your post-time control cuppa, I have been studying this variation quite deeply. Black can still draw, but he has to find a number of "only" moves. So Movsesian faces a difficult task, especially as he does not have a computer in his head. 41...Qa2+ 42.Kb5 Qe2+ 43.Qc4 Qe8+ 44.Qc6 Qe2+. Rather than merely repeating moves, White has actually transferred is queen from c8 to the more useful square c6, with tempo. On c6, the queen controls more squares and so makes it harder for the opponent to give perpetual. 45.Kc5 Qf2+. A surprise, and maybe also an inaccuracy. I saw looking at 45...Qe3+ 46.Kd6 Qf4+ 47.Kd7 h3 48.b7 h2 49.Qc8+ Kg7 50.b8Q Qd4+ (50...Qxb8 51.Qxb8 h1Q 52.Qf4 is less convincing.) 51.Qd6 Qxd6+ 52.Kxd6 h1Q It is impossible to analyse the variation to the end. White has a dangerous initiative, but I am not sure there is a definite win. 46.Kd6 Qg3+ 47.Kd7 h3. The checks run out. If 47...Qh3+? 48.Ke7. 48.b7 h2 49.Qc8+ Kg7. As already pointed out, 49...Kh7 leads to a difficult position after 50.b8Q Qxb8 51.Qxb8 h1Q 52.Qf4. 50.b8Q Qxb8. Further checks do not improve the situation: 50...Qh3+ 51.Kc7 Qg3+ 52.Kb6 Qf2+ 53.Qc5!] 51.Qxb8 h1Q So the extra queens disappear. White retains the initiative, since he has a strong passed pawn, and Black does not. Possession of the move is also important, and it is White who has it. 52.Qe5+ Kg8

53.Qd5! A very strong move. The white king is excellently protected by such a centralised queen on d5. 53...Qh3+ 54.Kc7 Qh2+ 55.Kb7 Qh5. If 55...Qf4 56.b5 g5 57.b6 g4 58.fxg4 Qxg4 we enter the realm of the six-figure tablebases. And White wins! In fact, he mates in 36, starting with 59.Qe5!! 56.Kc6 Qh3. 56...Qxd5+? 57.Kxd5 Kf8 58.Kd6 Ke8 59.Kc7 and the b-pawn queens. 57.Kb7. Sergey repeats moves to gain time on the clock. I did not find a draw for Black after 57.b5! 57...Qh5. Aha, he was not just repeating! Sergey has obviously seen my commentary and wants to make a fool of me... 58.Qc6 Kg7 59.b5 Qe5 60.b6 g5. Even pretend activity is better than nothing. 61.Kc8 Qf5+ 62.Kd8 Qa5. 62...Qd3+ 63.Kc7!

63.Qd6! Excellently played. This latest quiet move by the white queen creates the ideal position for the advance of the pawn. 63...Qa8+. A quick demise results from 63...f5 64.Qc7+ Kg6 65.b7 Qd5+ 66.Ke7 Qf7+ 67.Kd6 Qf6+ 68.Kd5! 64.Kc7 Qxf3. Desperation. After 64...Qa5 the simplest is 65.Kb8! followed by b6-b7. 65.b7 Qc3+ 66.Kd7 Qh3+ 67.Kd8 Qh8+ 68.Kc7! An excellent game and a well-deserved victory for Kariakin. He very subtly exploited some small inaccuracies by his opponent, and has regained the tournament lead. Bravo! 1–0. [Click to replay]

Unlike his countryman Smeets, Daniel Stellwagen does not have the Petroff in his repertoire, and he has started coming under heavy pressure with the Black pieces against 1.e4. His last two Sicilians both led to lost positions, so against Dominguez today, he switched to his old love, the French. The ultra-sharp 7.Qg4 Qc7 Winawer has recently made something of a comeback, but Black remains in serious danger of being swamped by the white kingside pawns. So it proved here. The Cuban sacrificed the exchange for a veritable rain-forest of extra timber on the kingside, and despite strenuous resistance, Stellwagan was unable to hold the endgame.

Joined the leaders: Leinier Dominguez, a bright new star from Cuba

Dominguez Perez,L (2717) - Stellwagen,D (2612) [C19]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 27.01.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 13.Rb1 0–0–0 14.Nxc3 Na5 15.h3 Kb8 16.g4 Rc8 17.Nb5 Bxb5 18.Rxb5 a6 19.Rb1 Nc4 20.Qc3 d4 21.Qxd4 Rgd8

22.Qxc4 Qa5+ 23.Qb4 Qd5 24.Be3 Qf3 25.Qxb7+ Qxb7 26.Rxb7+ Kxb7 27.Bd3 Nd5 28.Bd2 Nc3 29.Kf2 Rd4 30.Ke3 Ra4 31.Bxc3 Rxc3 32.h4 Raxa3 33.Kd4 Rc8 34.h5 Ra4+ 35.Ke3 a5 36.h6 Rb4 37.g5 a4 38.h7 Rh8 39.Ra1 Kb6 40.c3 Rb3

41.Rxa4 Rxc3 42.Kd2 Rxd3+ 43.Kxd3 Rxh7 44.Ra8 Kb7 45.Ra1 Rh3+ 46.Ke2 Rc3 47.Rh1 Kc8 48.Rh7 Rc7 49.g6 fxg6 50.Rxc7+ Kxc7 51.Kf3 1–0. [Click to replay]

Just a spectator and supporter: Arianna Caoili, girlfriend of Levon Aronian

The other winner of the day was Levon Aronian. He forsook his usual Marshall in favour of the Berlin Wall, and obtained a decent game without much trouble. However, he was in no danger at all of being better, until Kamsky's position deteriorated sharply between moves 38 and 42. Soon after, he was facing a lost cause, and although he defended grimly for 80 moves, he could not stave off the inevitable.

Living in Berlin, winning with the Berlin – Levon Aronian

Kamsky,G (2725) - Aronian,L (2750) [C67]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (9), 27.01.2009

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 h6 10.b3 a5 11.a4 Be6 12.Ne2 Bd5 13.Rd1 Kc8 14.Ne1 g5 15.Bb2 Bg7 16.Nd3 b6 17.f3 Kb7 18.Kf2 Be6 19.g4 Ne7 20.Ng3 Rhd8 21.h3 c5 22.f4 c4 23.bxc4 Bxc4 24.f5 Nc6 25.e6 Bf8 26.exf7 Bxf7 27.Ne4 Bc4 28.Bf6 Re8 29.Kf3 Ka7 30.Ndf2 Ba6 31.h4 gxh4 32.Bxh4 Bb7 33.Kf4 Nb4 34.c4 Na6 35.Nc3 Bc6 36.Nfe4 Nc5 37.Nf6 Re7

38.Nh5 Rf7 39.Nb5+ Kb7 40.Ra2 Re8 41.Nf6 Ree7 42.Nd4 Bxa4 43.Rxa4 Bg7 44.Nh5 Re4+ 45.Kf3 Bxd4 46.Ra3 Rxf5+ 47.gxf5 Rxh4 48.Ng3 a4 49.Ra2 Be5 50.Rd5 Bd6 51.Rxd6 cxd6 52.f6 Ne6 53.Rxa4 Rf4+ 54.Ke3 Rxf6 55.Ra1 Ng5 56.Ne2 Rf3+ 57.Kd4 Kc6 58.Ra8 Rf8 59.Ra7 Ne6+ 60.Ke3 Rf5 61.Rh7 Re5+ 62.Kd2 h5 63.Rh6 Kc5 64.Kd3 Kb4 65.Ng3 Nf4+ 66.Kd4 Rc5 67.Rxd6 Rxc4+ 68.Ke3 b5 69.Rd1 Ng2+ 70.Kf3 Nh4+

71.Ke2 Rc2+ 72.Kf1 Ng2 73.Rb1+ Kc4 74.Nf5 b4 75.Kg1 Kc5 76.Ra1 b3 77.Ra5+ Kb4 78.Ra7 Nf4 79.Rb7+ Kc3 80.Ne3 Rc1+ 0–1. [Click to replay]

Van Wely-Ivanchuk was a game where the boundaries of a draw were probably never exceeded, although the players fought down to the bitter end, in a drawn rook ending. Smeets and Wang Yue drew in a long theoretical line of the Sveshnikov, whilst Adams and Carlsen saw a balanced struggle in a non-critical line of the Dragon. With nine draws so far, Magnus could probably do with a tonic in more ways than one (tonic and gin = win....geddit??).

Wijk aan Zee at night (click to enlarge)

All photographs with permission of Fred Lucas

Videos reports by Europe Echecs

GM Robert Fontaine wraps up each round for the French Chess magazine and portal Europe Echecs

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Links Official web site All games in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2009 Live coverage is available on the Playchess server 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 the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.