Zug R06: Nakamura and Ponomariov score

by ChessBase
4/24/2013 – Hikaru Nakamura, playing with the black pieces, defeated former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov in a wild tactical battle, while Ruslan Ponomariov, also a former FIDE world champion, outplayed Gata Kamskyon the white side of a Nimzo Indian Rubinstein. Four games were drawn. Ponomariov, Morozevich and Topalov nox lead with 4.0/6 points each. Full illustrated report.

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

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 six report

Both leaders, Veselin Topalov and Alexander Morozevich, finished their games with draws, while Ruslan Ponomariov outplayed Gata Kamsky to join two other leaders on the top. Hikaru Nakamura won his first game in this tournament, against Rustam Kasimdzhanov. The craziest game of the sixth round, between Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin, ended in a draw, but not before both players had had winning positions.

Round 06 – April 24 2013, 14:00h
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2709
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
1-0
Gata Kamsky 2741
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Peter Leko 2744
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Fabiano Caruana 2772
½-½
Sergey Karjakin 2786

Veselin Topalov and Teimour Radjabov analysing in the press conference

Teimour Radjabov - Veselin Topalov ½-½
Following yesterday’s game, Radjabov wanted to come back to the event and he selected the Alekhine Variation against the Nimzo Indian. The line they followed was quite extensively played before, and the new move was 17.0-0-0. But this did not change much. However, White decided to check Black’s preparation and Veselin Topalov had to play precisely in order to equalize. It seems both opponents were familiar with many different lines in this opening as the players used around one hour each for the 30 odd moves played today.

Two former child prodigies: Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana - Sergey Karjakin ½-½
Six of the GMs in this event became grandmasters before the age of 15! The record holder Karjakin (GM at 12 years and 7 months, but now a ripe 23 years old!) was Black against Caruana who also achieved his title at a very young age (14y 11m 20d). They chose the positional variation of the Ruy Lopez Berlin with 4.d3, and while Black maintained equality until move 19.

[Event "Renova FIDE GP Zug"] [Site "Zug SUI"] [Date "2013.04.24"] [Round "6.6"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2786"] [PlyCount "120"] [EventDate "2013.04.18"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Nc4 Nd7 8. O-O Re8 9. Kh1 a5 10. a4 b6 11. g3 $146 (11. Be3 Bb4 12. Nfd2 b5 13. axb5 cxb5 14. c3 bxc4 15. cxb4 cxd3 16. bxa5 Ba6 17. Qb3 Nf6 18. h3 Nh5 19. Rfc1 Nf4 20. Rc6 Ne2 21. Qd5 Qb8 22. Rxa6 Rxa6 23. Qxd3 Qxb2 24. Rb1 Rd6 25. Qxe2 Qa2 26. Qb5 c6 27. Qb2 {1-0 (27) Anand,V (2780)-Kramnik,V (2810) Zuerich 2013}) 11... Nf8 12. Ncxe5 f6 13. d4 Bd6 14. Nxc6 Qd7 15. d5 Rxe4 16. Nd2 Re8 17. Nc4 Ba6 18. b3 Bxc4 19. bxc4 Ng6 20. Nd4 {Karjakin now chooses the dubious} Ne5 $2 { and gives Caruana the opportunity to get a winning advantage with} 21. f4 $1 c5 22. Nb5 Nf7 23. Qd3 Bf8 24. Bd2 Nd6 25. Nc3 Qh3 26. Rab1 Rab8 27. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 28. Bxe1 Kf7 29. Bf2 Rb7 30. Kg1 h5 31. Ne4 Qd7 32. Nxd6+ Bxd6 33. Re1 Qxa4 34. Qf5 Re7 35. Re6 ({Caruana missed an easy win with} 35. Rxe7+ Bxe7 36. Qe6+ Kf8 37. d6 Bd8 38. d7 Be7 39. Qd6 $18) 35... Qd7 36. Qxh5+ Kg8 37. f5 {After} a4 { Black was back in the game as the pawn had to be blockaded before it became a runner.} 38. Qf3 Re8 39. Qa3 Ra8 40. Be1 Be5 41. Bf2 Qb7 42. d6 {Fabiano Caruana had started to make mistakes, and it was hard for the Italian player to defend his position after this move.} Qc6 43. d7 Qxd7 44. Rxb6 Qxf5 45. Qxc5 Rd8 46. Qe3 Qxc2 47. Qf3 a3 48. Qxa3 {Chess engines are showing -6 = totally winning for Black.} Bd4 $4 49. Bxd4 Rxd4 50. Rxf6 $1 Rd2 (50... gxf6 51. Qa8+ Kf7 52. Qa7+ Ke6 53. Qxd4 {and White is winning.}) 51. Qf8+ Kh7 52. Rf2 Rxf2 53. Qxf2 Qxc4 54. Qf5+ Kh8 55. Qf8+ Kh7 56. Qf5+ Kh8 57. h4 Qa2 58. h5 Qe2 59. Qf8+ Kh7 60. Qf5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

During the press-conference Sergey (above) pointed out that probably he just didn’t deserve to win this game. His opponent replied with a smile that most likely both of them deserved to lose it.

Ruslan Ponomariov - Gata Kamsky 1 - 0
Interestingly, Ponomariov tested his opponent with 1.c4. Kamsky spent some time on his first move choice and then replied 1…c6 which soon transposed into a Caro Kann Panov Botvinnik with Bb4. Kamsky avoided the main line with 10…Bb7 and instead chose 10…Bxc3 which allowed white to resolve the traditional isolated pawn structure. “I tried to trick my opponent with this move order today. We had English, then Slav, Panov and even ended up in some Nimzo”, explained Ruslan Ponomariov. The new move came on with 15…Rfd8, but Kamsky was spending a lot of time on the position and around move 25 had only four minutes left for 15 moves in a very difficult position. Both players agreed that Black could have tried to play f6 earlier in order not to let White to get such a strong initiative. 29.d5! was a nice touch and White dominated from that point on.

In the press conference (with Kamsky and FIDE press chief WGM Anastasiya Karlovich) the former FIDE world champion Ponomariov said: “The tournament is very strong and it’s hard to win even one game here. I have +2 which I believe is a good result, taking into consideration my previous results in Grand Prix events.”

Alexander Morozevich - Peter Leko ½-½
Morozevich played a positional line against Leko as they chose the Symmetrical English. Black chose a minor line with 6…Bc5 instead of the main line 6…Qb6 or 6…Bb4 transposing to the Nimzo Indian. The idea of Black was just to avoid repeating the line with Qb6 played between same opponents in Tashkent. The Hungarian player lost that important game, and it was psychologically hard to repeat the same line. White in turn chose a rarely played line with 10.Nd5!? instead of 10.Bf4. “If I would have been ready for Nd5 I would have reacted immediately”, said Peter Leko at the press conference. Leko’s 12…d5 was a new move compared to the previous 12...b5. There was very little movement in the equality line, however, as both players played extremely accurately and gave no chance to the other side to take any realistic advantage. “Today I feel very happy because it’s the first game where I equalized with White," said Morozevich. "I’m pretty happy that I’m improving. I was not so sure after the opening if I would be able to do it today, but once I played Qe4 I thought it should be okay. Maybe I had some advantage, but not enough to put some real pressure. So, I plan to keep on playing game by game and equalizing.”

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Anish Giri ½-½
After yesterday’s game the Azeri player (above) decided not to spend much time for preparation and just play some fighting chess. Anish Giri cleverly chose a line with few complications and one which they had both played before, as White! Mamedyarov tried to tempt Giri to take on c4 after 4.Bg5, but Black went for a Ragozin setup with a slight improvement of 13…Bd7. In the post-game analysis the players spent some time on 19.Nh5, and although White may have been better, he could not convert the position into a concrete advantage. Once the queens came off there was a steadfast exchange of pieces in very short time and a draw was agreed on move 46. However, after the inaccurate move 29.Rb1 Black could have tried to play for more with 29…a5.

"I’d already said to myself it is a draw, and in such case it’s not a good idea to change my mind. Maybe I have slight pressure in this position”, explained Anish Giri.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov - Hikaru Nakamura 0-1
Nakamura was obviously in a mood for complications as he first went for 1…Nc6 and then chose 3…Nge7 in the Ruy Lopez. Kasimdzhanov played very well and got a solid advantage up until the dubious sacrifice 26.Rxd6?! to which Black reacted very well and took the upper hand, defending against the immediate threats to emerge with a piece extra for three pawns. This might not have been enough to win, but Rustam was in time trouble and made a few mistakes. According to the former FIDE world champion the last mistake was 37.Be2. He should have played 37.Be4, changing the pieces and keeping good chances to make a draw. After the move Be2 Black pieces came close to White’s king and there was no defence against checkmate.

Current standings

Replay all games

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

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
0-1
Hikaru Nakamura 2767
Teimour Radjabov 2793
½-½
Veselin Topalov 2771
Ruslan Ponomariov 2733
1-0
Gata Kamsky 2741
Alexander Morozevich 2758
½-½
Peter Leko 2744
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2766
½-½
Anish Giri 2727
Fabiano Caruana 2772
½-½
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.

Links

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.


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register