Zug R02: three wins, three draws

by ChessBase
4/19/2013 – A day of reversals! Kamsky and Leko outplayed their opponents, Kasimdzhanov and Topalov, in aggressive and impressive fashion straight from the opening. However both lost their way and not only relinquished the advantages, but also at the end a full point! Ponomariov played a fine positional game against Caruana while the rest of the games fizzled out into draws. Round two report with GM analysis.

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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 two report

By GM Alejandro Ramirez

Round 02 – April 19 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
1-0
Gata Kamsky 2741
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
Peter Leko 2744
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
1-0
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766

Teimour Radjabov from Azerbaijan

Radjabov-Karjakin ½-½
Karjakin's Gruenfeld held up easily as White found little more than to simplify to a position in which he had some compensation for a lost pawn, but as soon as he regained it the game was completely drawn.

Russian GM Alexander Morozevich

Morozevich-Mamedyarov ½-½
This could have been the highlight of the round as two of the most creative players in the world battle each other. Morozevich opened up super aggressively with an early h4-h5 against the Gruenfeld, and following it up with the maneouver Rh6-h4-xc4! However too many pieces came off the board quickly and the game was drawn.

Peter Leko vs Veselin Topalov

Topalov-Leko 1-0
Leko's aggressive setup in this game allowed him to quickly kick Topalov's dark square bishop around and at the same time permitted him to dangerously advance his queenside pawns. Black definitely stood better out of the opening, but he slowly allowed Topalov back into the game. Minor mistakes added up to a blunder in a difficult position and Topalov didn't forgive Leko.

Anish Giri against you-guess-who

Nakamura-Giri ½-½
Nakamura held a slight advantage of the opening, which meant he tortured Giri for seventy moves without any particular success.

Italian GM Fabiano Caruana playing former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov

Ponomariov-Caruana 1-0
Ponomariov showed great class in this match by outplaying young Caruana in a position where White had at most a smidgeon of an advantage. His maneouvers paid off and Caruana soon found himself down a pawn in the endgame, which was made worse by the presence of a bishop against a knight in Ponomariov's favor. He continued pressuring, won another pawn and converted a nice game.

Uzbek GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov

Kasimdzhanov-Kamsky 1-0
Yet another game in which Black outplayed White from the opening but was slowly pushed back. Kamsky even refused a three-fold repetition in the middle game to continue pursuing the full point, but he underestimated White's resources. Kasdimzhanov took one pawn after another and Kamsky had to resign in a hopeless endgame.

Wives: Firuza Kasimdzhanov and Sophie Leko

Annotation by GM Giorgi Margvelashvili

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.04.19"] [Round "?"] [White "Kasimdzhanov, R."] [Black "Kamsky, G."] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Margvelashvili, George"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [SourceDate "2013.03.08"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Bd3 (4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 { is another main line.}) 4... c5 5. dxc5 Nf6 6. Qe2 a5 {Black would prefer retaking the c5 pawn with the knight, since from the c5 square the knight would exert the pressure on White's center. The idea of 6...a5 is to allow the knight to enter the game from the a6 square.} 7. Ngf3 O-O 8. O-O Na6 9. e5 Nd7 10. c3 Naxc5 11. Bc2 b5 $1 {A very strong move by Kamsky. Black developes a big initiative on the queenside.} 12. Nd4 (12. Qxb5 $4 {would fall right into the trap, since after} Ba6 13. Qc6 Rc8 {White would lose his queen.}) 12... Qc7 13. Re1 (13. Nxb5 Qxe5 14. Qxe5 Nxe5 $15 {exchanging the b5 pawn for the central e5 pawn would give Black dominance in the center and a slightly better endgame.}) 13... b4 14. Qe3 bxc3 15. bxc3 Ba6 16. Ba3 Rfe8 17. h4 Rac8 {Kamsky has managed to develop all the pieces, and due to the weakness of the c3 pawn his position is preferable.} 18. Rab1 h6 19. h5 f6 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. Qh3 Nf8 22. Rbc1 Bg5 23. N4f3 Bf6 24. Nd4 Bg5 25. N4f3 Bf4 {Kamsky correctly decides to avoid threefold repetition, as his position remains slightly better.} 26. g3 Bd6 27. Qg4 Ncd7 28. Bxd6 Qxd6 29. Qa4 e5 $1 30. Qxa5 e4 31. Nd4 Ne5 $2 {This move is just a blunder. Both 31... Nc5 or 31...Re5 would leave Black with excellent compensation for the sacrificed pawn.} 32. Bb3 $2 (32. Bxe4 $1 {in time trouble both players overlooked this resource, which after} dxe4 33. Nxe4 Qd7 34. Qxa6 {would leave white with three extra pawns and a completely winning position.}) 32... Bc4 $2 {Under the time pressure Kamsky makes yet another mistake. After 32...Kh8 the position would remain balanced.} 33. Bxc4 Nxc4 34. Nxc4 Rxc4 35. Nf5 Qc6 36. Rcd1 {Now Black is down a pawn without any compensation.} Rc5 37. Qa7 Nd7 38. Rb1 Qe6 39. Nxg7 $1 Kxg7 40. Rb7 Rd8 41. Rxd7+ Rxd7 42. Qxc5 {The latter part of the game is played very strongly by Kasimdzhanov, who gives Kamsky no chance to get back into the game.} Qf6 43. Rd1 Qg5 44. Qd4+ Kg8 45. c4 Qxh5 46. Re1 Qf7 47. cxd5 Rxd5 48. Qxe4 Rd2 49. Qe8+ {The rook endgame is completely hopeless for Black, so Kamsky resigned in this position.} 1-0

Giorgi Margvelashvili is an International Grandmaster from Georgia, born on February 9, 1990. His his current FIDE rating is 2565. He has won various international competitions.

Some of Giorgi’s most notable achievements include winning U14 European Championship in 2004; second place at the Georgian Chess Championship in 2008; and winning U.S. Masters Championship in 2012.

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Information and pictures by FIDE press chief WGM Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule and pairings

Round 01 – April 18 2013, 14:00h
Alexander Morozevich 2758
1-0
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Fabiano Caruana 2772
1-0
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Sergey Karjakin 2786
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Anish Giri 2727
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Gata Kamsky 2741
Round 02 – April 19 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
1-0
Gata Kamsky 2741
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
Peter Leko 2744
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
1-0
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Round 03 – April 20 2013, 14:00h
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
-
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Fabiano Caruana 2772
-
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Sergey Karjakin 2786
-
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Anish Giri 2727
-
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Peter Leko 2744
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Gata Kamsky 2741
-
Veselin Topalov 2771
Round 04 – April 21 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
-
Veselin Topalov 2771
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
-
Gata Kamsky 2741
Teimour Radjabov 2793
-
Peter Leko 2744
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
-
Anish Giri 2727
Alexander Morozevich 2758
-
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
-
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Round 05 – April 23 2013, 14:00h
Fabiano Caruana 2772
-
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Sergey Karjakin 2786
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Anish Giri 2727
-
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Peter Leko 2744
-
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Gata Kamsky 2741
-
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Veselin Topalov 2771
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Round 06 – April 24 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Teimour Radjabov 2793
-
Veselin Topalov 2771
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
-
Gata Kamsky 2741
Alexander Morozevich 2758
-
Peter Leko 2744
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
-
Anish Giri 2727
Fabiano Caruana 2772
-
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Round 07 – April 25 2013, 14:00h
Sergey Karjakin 2786
-
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Anish Giri 2727
-
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Peter Leko 2744
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Gata Kamsky 2741
-
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Veselin Topalov 2771
-
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
-
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Round 08 – April 26 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
2709
-
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Ruslan Ponomariov
2733
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Alexander Morozevich
2758
-
Veselin Topalov 2771
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
2766
-
Gata Kamsky 2741
Fabiano Caruana
2772
-
Peter Leko 2744
Sergey Karjakin
2786
-
Anish Giri 2727
Round 09 – April 28 2013, 14:00h
Anish Giri 2727
-
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Peter Leko 2744
-
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Gata Kamsky 2741
-
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Veselin Topalov 2771
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
-
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Teimour Radjabov 2793
-
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Round 10 – April 29 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
-
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Alexander Morozevich 2758
-
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
-
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Fabiano Caruana 2772
-
Veselin Topalov 2771
Sergey Karjakin 2786
-
Gata Kamsky 2741
Anish Giri 2727
-
Peter Leko 2744
Round 11 – April 30 2013, 12:00h
Peter Leko 2744
-
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Gata Kamsky 2741
-
Anish Giri 2727
Veselin Topalov 2771
-
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
-
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Teimour Radjabov 2793
-
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
-
Alexander Morozevich 2758

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.

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