Zug GP R09: three wins, Topalov continues to lead

From April 14 to April 30, 2013, the third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 is taking place in Zug, Switzerland. Twelve players are competing in a round robin tournament with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes and an increment of 30 seconds per move for each player. The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years, with 18 top players, each participating in four of the six tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014.

Round nine report

It was raining hard during the second free day, and most of players preferred to stay in the hotel and relax before the final part of the tournament. Three decisive games were played in the ninth round. It could have been more, as Peter Leko and Rustam Kasimdzhanov were close to win against Sergey Karjakin and Anish Giri respectively. The leader of the tournament, Veselin Topalov, drew against Shakhriyar Mamdeyarov and remains half a point ahead of Fabiano Caruana, who won his game against Gata Kamsky and is now alone in second place. Ruslan Ponomariov moved from second to third after his loss against Teimur Rajabov. He shared this place with Hikaru Nakamura and Sergey Karjakin. Alexander Morozevich lost a third consecutive game, in spite of the fact that he had a huge advantage against Hikaru Nakamura.

The playing hall, with a smattering or spectators

It's the commentary area where the public can follow the games

GMs Klaus Bischoff and Robert Fontaine providing analysis on flat panels

Anish Giri - Rustam Kasimdzhanov ½-½
Another symmetrical English, and once again Anish Giri’s enterprising play led to a dynamic position with lots of complex variations on the board. 11...Be6 instead of 11...e6 was the new move and White decided to spice life up with 18.Ne5!? Black missed 18…Qa6 and instead allowed the exchange sacrifice and subsequent attack by White. However White pursued this attack a bit too aggressively and after 25.Rc1? Black simply took the rook and after a forced continuation Black could have played the strong 31…Rd8 or the computer move 32...e6, leaving White with some activity but down on material. Black decided to go for the endgame an exchange up but 36...e5 instead of Ra8 would have created more problems for White to solve. After 59 moves peace was signed.

Anish Giri and Rustam Kasimdzhanov discussing their game

Peter Leko - Sergey Karjakin ½-½
The players transposed quite quickly to a main line of the Queen’s Indian Defence. Leko was very well prepared and got a positional advantage shortly after the opening. His 13.Bf4 was the new move on the board, but White is relatively safe and comfortable after that. Sergey started to get into a bit of trouble in the early middlegame and lost a few tempi with his minor pieces. 18…Ne4?! allowed 19.cxd5! and White had a big advantage from that point on, despite the initial complications. But as is the norm with Karjakin you have to keep the pressure up, and one slight slip, 29.Ra3, allowed Black to get some counter play. After 40th move Peter Leko pointed out it was hard to find any edge for White.

Italian GM Fabiano Caruana, with an early novelty in the Ruy Lopez

Gata Kamsky - Fabiano Caruana 0-1
It’s always amazing how in such well-played lines as the Ruy Lopez one can still get new moves early in the opening. Kamsky tried to catch Black out with the rare 9.Be3 instead of the main line 9.c3. This did not seem to pose too much problems for Caruana, and he equalised and kept the balance throughout the game. The players spent a great deal of time on the ensuing moves, and after 25 moves White had just five minutes left against Black’s 17 minutes. Caruana got a slight edge after 18.Ng4, and the inaccurate 33.Qe3 allowed Black’s queen to enter the first rank. The position of White’s king became dangerous. Fabiano Caruana played precisely and managed to win the game on the 40th move.

Veselin Topalov - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ½-½
Mamedyarov (above left) was well prepared after the free day and did not repeat his game against Karjakin earlier in the tournament. After 14.Nf5 the moves came fast this time, and the first new move was by Black with 19…Qd7. The position was dynamically equal as the two knights in the center compensated for the space advantage that White had. After the multiple exchange of rooks and minor pieces we had an endgame with queen + bishop versus queen + knight. White had to go for a perpetual due to the advancing h-pawn.

Hikaru Nakamura - Alexander Morozevich 1-0
Both players wanted to win and move up in the tournament. A King’s Indian quickly transposed into a Benoni and 13.a4 did not seem to stop Morozevich’s exuberance as he went 13…b5 in gambit fashion anyway. Nakamura tried to refuse the pawn offer with 15.b4 but this allowed Black the immediate tactical initiative with 15…Ng4! According to Nakamura, he didn’t like his position after 22...Na3. Black obtained a winning position and might have netted the full point if instead of 25…Ra6 he went 25…Bg7 immediately. The delay in this allowed Nakamura to consolidate and equalise. The game was unexpectedly decided after the blunder of Black 31... Re4.

Teimour Radjabov - Ruslan Ponomariov 1-0
Teimour Radjabov (above) managed to win his first game in this tournament. In an earlier round Leko remarked that one of Ponomariov’s favourite lines was the Queens Gambit Accepted, and today he went for it. Radjabov seemed to get a very strong position and the position looked aesthetically very difficult for Black. 11..f5 was the new move on the board, but after 12.a5!? White seemed to be doing fine. Until move 22 the players followed the computer's first or second moves and kept a very delicate equality. 22...c6 was the first weaker option by Black, allowing White to increase his advantage. Both sides left themselves with very little time and by move 28 had started to play faster. As happens in many games, Ponomariov made a mistake on the last move of the first time control. This exchange was fatal for Black and after ten moves he has to resign. 40...g5, 40...Ka2, 40...Kb3 would have led to a draw.

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Ruslan Ponomariov and Teimour Radjabov in the post mortem

Current standings

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Chess pieces on display in Zug – here some examples:

Information and pictures by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich and GM Robert Fontaine

Schedule and pairings

The games start at 14:00h European time, 16:00h Moscow, 8 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here. The commentary on Playchess begins one hour after the start of the games and is free for premium members.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games will be 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.