Zug R05: five decisive games

by ChessBase
4/23/2013 – That's a pleasant change from the "all games drawn", which was our headline for the last two rounds. Morozevich, Topalov, Caruana, Karjakin and Kamsky all won their games, leaving the first two in the lead with 3.5/5 points. Ponomariov, Karjakin and Caruana follow half a point behind. We bring you GM analysis and pictures in our round five report.

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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 five report – five decisive games

During the free day players charged their batteries to show tough fights on all boards. Five decisive results in the fifth round as Topalov, Caruana, Karjakin, Morozevich and Kamsky defeated their opponents. The only draw happened in the game Leko-Ponomariov. After five rounds Topalov and Morozevich are leading with 3.5 points. Caruana, Ponomariov and Karjakin share third place half a point behind.

Round 05 – April 23 2013, 14:00h
Fabiano Caruana 2772
1-0
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Sergey Karjakin 2786
1-0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Anish Giri 2727
0-1
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Gata Kamsky 2741
1-0
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
Hikaru Nakamura 2767

Sergey Karjakin - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1-0
The Russian GM showed why he is amongst the world’s top ten as he cruised to a strong victory over the creative player from Azerbaijan, Shakriyar Mamedyarov. Karjakin blitzed out his opening moves including the positional sacrifice 16.Nxh6+! which was prepared by GM Alexander Motylev and other members of Karjakin’s team. According to Peter Leko, he also prepared this move with the Hungarian team three years ago, so he was distressed to see it played in Zug. After 24 moves Black was already one hour behind on the clock and blundered with 24…Qc7. Sergey recovered his piece with a winning position after 27.Qg3.

At the press-conference Shakhriyar said he knew he would lose this game after c3 as it was obvious for him his opponent had prepared everything at home and it would be hard to find the exact defending moves over the board. This game is analysed by GMs Giorgi Margvelashvili and Danny King.

[Event "Zug"] [Site "Zug"] [Date "2013.04.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B19"] [Annotator "Margvelashvili, Giorgi"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "SUI"] 1. e4 {I liked the way Mamedyarov has played so far in the tournament. Even though he was not able to win any games yet, he had his chances against Kasimdzhanov and Caruana. Karjakin, on the other hand, was not able to show his best form and barely escaped against Morozevich in round four. Given these circumstances, a fierce battle was expected in this game.} c6 {Mamedyarov chooses one of the safer openings, the Caro-Kann Defense.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 { This is the classical line in Caro-Kann. Lately 3.e5 has become more popular.} dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 (4... Nd7 {is another possiblity, but 4...Bf5 is the main line.}) 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 (11. Bf4 {is also possible, with the following} Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Bb4) 11... Ngf6 12. O-O-O {This is the main position of the classical line. Black has a choice between a short castle and a long castle.} Be7 {Mamedyarov chooses the sharper variation and castles kingside. Now both sides will try to organize an attack on opponent's king. Karjakin's idea is to move the knight from g3 and push g4-g5, which will open the g-file and destroy the black king's defense. Mamedyarov, on the other hand, will try to develop his pieces and push c5, attacking Karjakin's center.} 13. Kb1 Qb6 (13... O-O {with the following c5 is more common.}) 14. Rhe1 O-O 15. Nf5 $5 {Karjakin demonstrates a very interesting idea: sacrificing his knight for the attack.} Bb4 (15... exf5 16. Rxe7 {leaves Black with a bad pawn structure and a slightly worse position. This is clearly not what Mamedyarov wanted to see.}) 16. Nxh6+ $1 (16. Bxb4 { is also interesting, but it only leads to a draw after} Qxb4 17. c3 Qa5 18. Ne7+ Kh8 19. Rxe6 $1 fxe6 20. Nh4 g5 $1 {the only move} 21. Nhg6+ Kg7 22. Ne5 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Rad8 24. Qg6+ Kh8 25. Qxh6+ Nh7 26. Ng6+ Kg8 27. Ne7+ {with perpetual check.}) 16... gxh6 17. c3 Ba3 18. Bc1 Rfe8 {to bring the bishop back to f8, from where it can defend the king.} 19. g4 $1 {Karjakin aims to open the g-file, which will enable his rooks to also join the attack.} Nh7 20. c4 Bf8 21. g5 hxg5 22. Nxg5 Nxg5 23. Bxg5 Kh8 24. Rg1 {Just by playing very natural moves, Karjakin has developed a very strong attack. I do not see how Mamedyarov could improve his play, which suggests that he was caught in very deep opening preparation by Karjakin.} Qc7 (24... Qa5 {is suggested by engines, but after} 25. c5 $1 Bg7 26. Qf3 f5 27. Qf4 Rg8 28. h6 Bf6 29. Bxf6+ Nxf6 30. Qe5 {White is just winning.}) 25. Qf3 f6 26. Bf4 Bd6 27. Qg3 Nc5 (27... Rg8 { is better, but} 28. Bxd6 Rxg3 29. Bxc7 {is also very bad for Black.}) 28. Bxd6 Qh7+ 29. Ka1 Ne4 30. Qh4 Rg8 31. f3 Ng5 (31... Nxd6 {loses to} 32. Qxf6+ Rg7 33. h6) 32. Qf4 {Karjakin has an extra pawn and a winning position. The game is over.} Qf5 33. Qxf5 exf5 34. Be7 Nxf3 35. Rgf1 Rg3 36. d5 cxd5 37. cxd5 Kg7 38. Rd3 Kf7 39. Bd6 Nh2 40. Bxg3 {and Mamedyarov resigned, since after} (40. Bxg3 Nxf1 41. Bf4 {his knight is also trapped and there is no stopping the d5 and h5 pawns. Great opening preparation by Karjakin and a disappointing loss for Mamedyarov.}) 1-0

Anish Giri - Alexander Morozevich 0-1
Giri has been playing solid chess so far, and today was no exception. He went for the exchange variation in the King’s Indian g3, but as is to be expected Morozevich decided to go for some early complications with 9…Nd4. The exchange on d4 left Giri with a worse position already out of the opening, and after 11..Qa5 Morozevich got the type of position which normally he is very comfortable with. The key question was whether Black could convert his better position into victory. Before the first time control the game became very sharp and White decided to exchange queens, which turned out to be an unfortunate decision. According to Anish Giri it was not really clear for him how to assess the position before that exchange. He had feeling that White should have a good position. After f5 the advantage of Black became decisive and the Russian player did not give any chances to his opponent.

Peter Leko - Ruslan Ponomariov ½-½
Peter Leko decided to switch to 1.d4 after the rest day, but Ruslan Ponomariov was ready for the changes as his opponent almost never chose 1.e4 against him. The Ukrainian player opted for a Bogo Indian Variation against Leko’s 3.Nf3, and White devoted some time early in the opening to choose which variation he would play. The line that occurred in the game was played in Aronian-Carlsen recently, and Ruslan Ponomariov decided that Black’s position should be safe if number 1 in the chess world chooses it. Nevertheless, he preferred to play 9...dxc4, instead of Carlsen’s 9...a6. Peter Leko tried but could not create any problems for Black.

Fabiano Caruana - Rustam Kasimdzhanov 1-0
Caruana (above right) needed to win, although in the Grand Prix it is definitely a very tough task to say which opponent one can try to win against. Despite Rustam having the lowest rating he has proved that he is still one of the top players in the world, and whilst Fabiano chose a side variation of the Queen’s Gambit Exchange, he found a way to equalize the position with Black and keep dynamic possibilities on the board. Just before the end of the first time control the former world champion decided to give a queen for rook and knight, as Rustam was sure the position was drawish. His estimation was correct and Black had opportunities to save the game. However, he put his king on f5 and gave playing options for White. The last chance to try to make a draw was on the 67th move, when Black could have played 67...Ra2 68. a5 f5!? instead of 67... Rb7 in order to try to build a fortress. During the press conference Fabiano Caruana was surprised to see a draw after f5, as he was sure the position was winning for White.  His initial instincts were right as the engines confirm a win for White, though far from obvious.

Gata Kamsky – Teimour Radjabov 1-0
The dark series continues for Teimour Rajabov after the Candidates Tournament. Both players have met each other on the board quite a few times, and whilst Radjabov has a good score overall against Kamsky he has never managed to beat him with black. In the round five game Kamsky chose a delayed exchange in the Rossolimo Variation.

Teimour (above left) surprised his opponent after a reasonably long think with 6…bxc6, but as GM Robert Fontaine pointed out this is a well-studied line and Radjabov presumably preferred to go into lines he has analysed before. According to Kamsky, he was not familiar with the position after the opening and was not sure if his plan with c3-d4 was good. Black managed to equalize after the opening and it looked like the game would finish in a draw quite soon but Teimour didn’t play accurately and Gata Kamsky got an extra pawn in the rook ending.

Veselin Topalov - Hikaru Nakamura 1-0
Both Topalov (above right) and Nakamura are well known for fighting play, and Topalov surprised his American opponent with 1.e4 and then choosing a Closed Ruy Lopez. Hikaru then went for a line frequently played by GM Michael Adams, but then selected the interesting 10…b5, whereas Black normally goes 10...h6 to try and exchange black squared bishops. “I was satisfied to get a position where I had bishop and knight against two knights. Eventually a4 is a good move and here I think I have slightly better position,” Veselin Topalov noted. Later on White managed to increase his advantage in the endgame, playing on the queenside. It was hard for Black to defend the weakness on c5 and create some counterplay on the kingside at the same time. In the rook endgame White queened his pawn one tempo faster and got a decisive mating attack. This game is analysed by our guest commentator Giorgi Margvelashvili.

[Event "Zug"] [Site "Zug"] [Date "2013.04.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C87"] [Annotator "Margvelashvili, Giorgi"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "SUI"] 1. e4 e5 {In recent years Nakamura has changed his opening repertoire, making it safer and more solid.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 { The 6.d3 system has gained popularity lately, since it avoids the main lines and leads to a very tense, positional middlegame.} d6 7. c3 Bg4 {Usually Black plays Bg4 after White's pawn is already on d4, but Nakamura has an interesting idea in mind.} 8. Re1 Nd7 {This is the idea of the early 7...Bg4. Nakamura transfers his knight to the queenside and prepares to exchange the dark-squared bishops with Bg5. The downside of this plan is that Topalov can push Nakamura's bishop to h5 and then attack it with tempo with the knight on g3. For now, both sides develop pieces and proceed with their plans.} 9. h3 Bh5 10. Be3 b5 11. Bc2 Nb6 12. Nbd2 O-O 13. Nf1 Rb8 14. Ng3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Bg5 16. Nf5 $1 {The ideal place for this knight is on e3, where it controls the d5 square and also can be quickly transferred to the kingsside.} Bxe3 17. Nxe3 Ne7 {Both sides have achieved what they wanted, but the next move shows that Nakamura is still far from equalizing the position.} 18. d4 $1 {Grabbing some extra space and putting pressure on Black's center.} c5 19. dxe5 dxe5 20. h4 { Preparing to play h5 in case Black plays Ng6.} Qd6 21. Red1 Qe6 22. a4 $1 {A very strong positional move by Topalov. Only the d-file is clearly not enough to penetrate Black's position, so Topalov opens up another file, simultaneously activating the a1 rook.} Rfd8 23. axb5 axb5 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Ra6 {The rook is already causing troubles on the a-file.} Qc6 26. c4 $1 { Reserving the d5 square for the knight and also activating bishop from a4.} b4 27. Ba4 Qb7 28. Bb5 Nbc8 29. Ng4 Nd6 30. Nxe5 Qxe4 31. Qxe4 Nxe4 {This is now an endgame where Topalov's bishop dominates Nakamura's knight. The weakness of the c5 pawn also makes Black's task much harder.} 32. f3 Ng3 33. Kf2 Ngf5 34. h5 f6 35. Nd7 Rc8 36. Ba4 $1 {Preparing Ra5.} Nd4 37. h6 $1 {Creating another weakness on the kingsside. This endgame was played masterfully by Topalov.} f5 38. Ke3 b3 39. hxg7 Kxg7 40. Kd3 {An active king in an endgame is always a big asset. In this case, Topalov brings his king to c3, winning the b3 pawn.} Nc2 41. Kc3 f4 42. Ra7 Kg6 43. Bxb3 Ne3 44. Nxc5 N7f5 45. Ra6+ Kh5 46. Ne6 Kh4 47. Nxf4 Kg3 48. Nd3 {Topalov's position is absolutely winning, but he still has to be careful, as Nakamura's h-pawn might cause some problems.} Kxg2 49. c5 Kxf3 50. Be6 Rd8 51. Bxf5 Nxf5 52. Rf6 Ke4 53. Re6+ Kf3 54. b4 h5 55. Ne5+ Kf4 56. Nf7 Rf8 57. Nd6 $1 {This move needed very precise calculation and Topalov has calculated everything correctly.} Nxd6 58. Rxd6 Rh8 59. b5 h4 60. b6 h3 61. b7 h2 62. Rd1 Ke4 63. Kc2 $1 {Another precise move.} (63. c6 $6 h1=Q 64. Rxh1 Rxh1 65. b8=Q Rc1+ 66. Kd2 Rxc6 {would result in a theoretically winning endgame for White, but there is no need for Topalov to play an extra 40-45 moves.}) 63... Rg8 64. c6 Rg2+ 65. Kc3 Rg3+ 66. Kc4 Rg1 67. b8=Q h1=Q {Both pawns promote, but White can force a mate in nine.} 68. Rd4+ Kf5 69. Qf4+ Kg6 70. Rd6+ Kh7 71. Qf5+ Kh8 72. Qf8+ {Here Nakamura resigned, since there is inevitable mate in three.} 1-0

Contemplative: top US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura

Struggling but cheerful: GM Peter Leko from Hungary

In a slump: GM Teimour Radjabov from Azerbeijan

In the lead: Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov

Sporting a 2899 performance: Russian GM Alexander Morozevich

Current standings

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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
½-½
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Fabiano Caruana 2772
½-½
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Sergey Karjakin 2786
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Anish Giri 2727
½-½
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Gata Kamsky 2741
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Round 04 – April 21 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
½-½
Gata Kamsky 2741
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Peter Leko 2744
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Fabiano Caruana 2772
Round 05 – April 23 2013, 14:00h
Fabiano Caruana 2772
1-0
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
Sergey Karjakin 2786
1-0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
Anish Giri 2727
0-1
Alexander Morozevich 2758
Peter Leko 2744
½-½
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
Gata Kamsky 2741
1-0
Teimour Radjabov 2793
Veselin Topalov 2771
1-0
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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