Zurich 05: Caruana strikes

The «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» will be the first encounter between the newly crowned World Champion, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, and the former title holder, India’s Viswanathan Anand after their recent match in Chennai. From Wednesday, 29 January to Tuesday, 4 February 2014, they will compete in the 3rd Zurich Chess Challenge along with four other great chess stars: Levon Aronian (Armenia), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (Italy) and Boris Gelfand (Israel).

Round Four

Gelfand had no problems in the classical game and demolished in the rapid

Nakamura obtained absolutely nothing against Gelfand in a typical anti-Sveshnikov. With the draw being pacted before move 40 the players had to play a rapid game which proved to be entertaining. Nakamura's strange opening was duly punished and Gelfand's light squared domination was very strong. The American despaired and an unnecessary sacrifice in a difficult to play position lost him the game, which didn't count for any real result.

Anand and Carlsen played a short game. The World Champion proposed a solid Berlin Wall game and Anand was simply unable to obtain even the slightest of advantages. With nothing going for him and with no desire to push the issue he allowed simplifcations to an opposite colored bishop that any amateur could defend. The players unspokenly agreed to play util move 40 so no rapid game was necessary.

Anand didn't have any chances to fight today

But he was rewarded for having the best novelty of the year due to his
c6-c5 against Aronian in Wijk Aan Zee last in January 2013

The fight of the day was bewteen Caruana and Aronian. With a well prepared novelty Caruana obtained a pleasant position that quickly turned into a pawn, but with many technical complications for its conversion. With a little aid of his opponent and accurate moves the Italian won a nice game:

The beginning of what was a very long game

Daniel King shows the game Caruana vs Aronian

And Aronian's resignation ages after everyone else was done

Replay round five games

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Cristian Chirila - Guest Commentator Former World u-16 Champion and currently a grandmaster finishing his studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, Cristian is an ambitious chess player. Find out more about Cristian, including his chess lesson services, biography and games here.

Maria Emelianova - Photographer Maria Emelianova is 26 years old, born in Ekaterinburg, Russia, Women FIDE Master, with a 2113 Elo rating. After finishing school Maria moved to Moscow to study at the university, so chess was forgotten for some time. She worked for about a year with Alexander Roshal in the chess magazine "64". Her career as a chess photographer started at the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. "It was just a hobby, but somehow became an interesting job," says Maria, who works with a Canon 1DX. "Now I am finishing my studies at two universities in Moscow, and am looking forward to a future in the big world of chess."

Schedule and Pairings

The event is a six player round robin, with a rate of play of 40 moves in 120 minutes, then 20 moves in 60 minutes and the rest of game in 15 minutes, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting after move 61. Special rule: in case of a draw before move 40, an additional rapid game will be played (which does not count for the overall result).

• The blitz will be used to determine the colors
• The classical time control gives two points to wins, one for draws and none for losses
• The rapid time control gives one point to wins, half to draws and none for losses

The winner will be the one who scores the most points between the classical tournament and the rapid.

Schedule of Commentary

Schedule and results

Rapid Schedule

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.