Wijk R08: Ivanchuk beats Karjakin, Wang beats Morozevich

Results of round eight

GM Group A

GM Group B

GM Group C

Lang may yer lum reek!

Round eight report by Steve Giddins

In addition to being the day of the eighth round at Wijk aan Zee, today has an even greater significance in the cultural life of Europe, as it marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet, Robert "Rabbie" Burns. Just as on every 25 January, Scotsmen the world over will gather together for a traditional Burn's Night supper, with all the pomp and circumstance involved in that great tradition – piping in the haggis, the consumption of such delicacies as cockaleekie soup, haggis, neeps and tatties, plus the appreciation of some fine single malt whiskies. And then of course there is Burns' poetry. He is to Scotland what Pushkin is to Russia and Schiller to Germany – the man who almost single-handedly created and still embodies the national literature of his country. Mind you, Burns is not the easiest of poets for a 21st-century Sassanach like myself to understand. Take for example, his elegy to the haggis itself, that famous Scottish delicacy, consisting of sheep's intestines and other offerings, boiled for several hours in a sheep's stomach. It may sound like the recipe from Hell, but having eaten haggis, albeit only of the supermarket variety, I can testify to the fact that it is delicious. However, much as I empathise with Burns' appreciation of his national dish, I have more than a little trouble working out exactly what he is saying:

With all due respect to our Scottish cousins, I cannot help but sympathise with Tony Hancock, who in one of his shows described the perils of asking for directions on Scottish roads: "You ask them which road to take, and they stand there clearing their throats for five minutes, then when they've gone, you realise that those were your directions!".

Nonetheless, although we English may tease you about your incomprehensible poetry, your national tradition of dodgy goalkeepers, and your dubious entitlement to FIDE membership (not to mention deeply envying you your free hospital parking...), I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of my Scottish friends and readers, on this auspicious occasion. And if I may be allowed to lapse momentarily into the vernacular, may I say "Lang may yer lum reek!" [a salutation wishing long life and prosperity – literally: "long may your chimney smoke"].

I am not sure if Rabbie Burns was a chessplayer, but if he was, he would have seen a mixed day of chess at Wijk aan Zee. Carlsen's inability to win a game so far has already been one of the surprises of this year's tournament, and today, his opening creativity again led only to a draw.

Carlsen,M (2776) - Kamsky,G (2725) [D15]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 25.01.2009
Live commentary by GM Sergey Shipov, translated by Steve Giddins

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6. The Chebanenko Variation. Frankly speaking, I cannot understand why the classical players of the early 20th century could not find this useful move, keeping the possibility of actively developing the traditional problem child bishop on c8. Nowadays, the move seems so logical and natural! 5.a4. One of many sensible replies. What hasn't White tried, in an effort to refute the Chebanenko! Yet even the greatest sceptics have to acknowledge that Black's play has a healthy positional basis. The text move prevents Black gaining space on the queenside by b5. 5...e6. A solid response. True, the bishop on c8 remains passive after all, but White has had to pay for this achievement by weakening the square b4. The drawbacks of 5...Bf5 6.Qb3 Ra7 7.a5 were revealed in the game Gelfand-Morozevich, Astana 200: 7...e6 (7...dxc4 is more reliable) 8.Qb6! Qxb6 9.axb6 Ra8 10.c5 Nbd7 11.e3 Be7 12.Be2 0–0 13.Nd2 e5 14.0–0 Rfe8 15.Nb3 Bf8 16.Bd2 Bc2 17.Na5 and White's pressure on the queenside was overwhelming. 6.g3. Magnus heads for a Catalan set-up. The latest tests show that after 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.a5 (7.e3 Qa5!) 7...h6 8.Bh4 dxc4 9.e3 b5! 10.axb6 Nxb6 11.Ne5 c5 Black successfully equalizes. 6...a5. Securing a favourable queenside pawn structure. The black pieces will feel comfortable on the b4 square. 7.Bg2 Nbd7. A rare plan. Usually, Black directs the knight to b4 via a6, eg. 7...Na6 8.0–0 Be7 9.b3 0–0 10.Bb2 b6 11.Ne5 Nb4 12.e4 Ba6 13.Re1 Rc8 14.Rc1 dxc4 15.Nxc4 Bxc4 16.bxc4 e5! and Black took over the dark squares in the centre (Ruck-Rustemov, Warsaw 2005). 8.0–0. A novelty. In most cases, once Nbd7 has been played, White has to defend the c4 pawn, but Magnus is ready to sacrifice it. 8.Nd2 Be7 9.e4 dxe4 10.Ndxe4 0–0 11.0–0 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 Nf6 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Qb3 Ng4 15.Bf4 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Qc3 f6 18.c5 and White was better (Pham Hoang - Le Quang, Vietnam 2003). However, Black's play can easily be strengthened, eg. it would be interesting to try 9...c5! 8...Bb4. So this is why the b4 square was left free. 8...dxc4 9.e4 Bb4 10.Qe2 Nb6 11.Bf4 Black will have to suffer for a long time in a passive position. 9.e4. A sharp reply! Carlsen opens the centre at once, exploiting Black's slight lag in development. 9.Nd2 ] 9...Bxc3 [The most principled. Less convincing is 9...Nxe4 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Ng5 and now 11...f5? is impossible because of 12.Nxe6; Also 9...0–0 allows White pressure after 10.e5. 10.bxc3 Nxe4. Worse is 10...dxe4 11.Ng5 and White regains the pawn at once. 11.Ba3! Having said "a", White must say "b". He needs to create threats, not worrying about the c3 pawn. Carlsen cuts off the enemy king in the centre. 11...Ndf6. Kamsky does not grab the second pawn. After 11...Nxc3 12.Qb3 Ne4 13.Rfe1 White certainly has very strong pressure. One cooperative variation runs 13...b6? 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Nd2 Nxd2 16.Qxd5 Ra7 17.Rxe6+! mating. 12.Ne5. White must proceed energetically. 12...Nd6. Kamsky's idea is simple - he closes the a3-f8 diagonal, and so prepares castling. 13.cxd5 exd5 14.c4. Still trying to open central lines at all cost. 14...0–0. Kamsky does not even look at taking the pawn. The safety of the black king is worth all the pawns in the world. 15.cxd5 Nxd5. White has compensation for the pawn.

16.Bxd5 draw. [Click to replay]

In another Chebanenko Slav, Aronian played a strong middlegame against Van Wely, and should certainly have won. However, a time scramble between moves 30 and 40 saw a number of missed opportunities, and the game eventually ended in a draw.

Aronian,L (2750) - Van Wely,L (2625) [D11]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 25.01.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.c5 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Bg4 10.Nxf6+ Bxf6 11.a4 b4 12.Be4 a5 13.Be3 0–0 14.h4 Qd7 15.h5 Bf5 16.Qd3 Qd5 17.Bxd5 Bxd3 18.Bb3 Be4 19.0–0–0 Bd5 20.Bxd5 cxd5 21.Ne5 Rd8 22.Rh3 Bxe5 23.dxe5 Nc6 24.Bg5 Kg7 25.hxg6 fxg6 26.g4 d4 27.Rdh1 h5 28.gxh5 Rd5 29.f4 d3 30.Kd2 Nd4 31.Rxd3 Rad8 32.h6+ Kf7 33.Kd1 Ke6 34.h7 Rh8 35.Rh6 Kf5

36.Bxe7. 36.c6 Ke4 37.Rhh3 is one win pointed out by Sergey Shipov. 36...Ke4 37.Rd2 Rd7 38.Bf6 Rdxh7 39.Rxd4+ Kxd4 40.e6+ Kd3 41.Rxh7 Rxh7 42.Ke1 Rc7 43.Bd8 Rxc5 44.e7 Rc1+ 45.Kf2 Rc2+ 46.Kf3 Re2 47.Bxa5 Rxe7 48.Bxb4 Re4 49.Bc3 Rxa4 50.Kg4 draw. [Click to replay]

The biggest result of the day was Ivanchuk's defeat of joint leader Kariakin. The latter was doing fine until the late middlegame, when he suddenly underestimated a back rank tactical problem.

Ivanchuk,V (2779) - Karjakin,Sergey (2706) [B92]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 25.01.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.a4 Qc7 12.Rfd1 Rac8 13.a5 Nc5 14.Nxc5 dxc5 15.Qe1 Rfd8 16.Rxd8+ Rxd8 17.f3 c4 18.Na4 Nd7 19.Qc3 f6 20.b3 Rc8 21.b4 Qc6 22.Qa3 f5 23.b5 axb5 24.Qxe7 bxa4 25.Rd1 Nf8 26.Rd6 Re8 27.Rxc6 Rxe7 28.Bc5

28...Rd7? A fatal slip. he should guard the back rank with 28...Re8 29.Rc7 when he has no real problems, eg. 29...fxe4 30.fxe4 Nd7. 29.Rb6 fxe4. Black's problem is that as well as 30.Bxf8, White also threatens 30.a6 bxa6 31.Rb8. 30.fxe4 c3 31.Kf2. 31.Bxf8 Kxf8 32.Rxe6 Rd2 is less clear. 31...Ba2 32.a6 bxa6 33.Rb8 Rf7+ 34.Ke3 g6 35.Bd6 Rf6 36.Rd8 a3 37.Bxa3 Kg7 38.Bd6 Rf7 39.Bxe5+ Kh6 40.Bxa6 Ne6 41.Rc8 1–0. [Click to replay]

The day's other winner was Wang Yue, who heaped more misery on the out-of-form Morozevich. The latter's new idea at moves 7-9 of the Exchange Grunfeld backfired horribly. Black is usually happy to see the move dxc5 in similar structures, but here he never equalised, and although at one point he was permitted to regain the pawn, this proved only a temporary state of affairs.

Wang Yue (2739) - Morozevich,A (2771) [D85]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 25.01.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Nb6 6.Bf4 Bg7 7.e3

7...c5 8.dxc5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1 N6d7 11.Bb5 a6 12.Ba4 f6 13.Bxb8 Rxb8 14.Ne2 e6 15.Nd4 Ke7 16.Nb3 f5 17.Rd4 Nf6 18.Na5 Ne4 19.Rc4 e5 20.f3 Nf6 21.Rb4 Be6 22.c4 Rhc8 23.0–0 Nd7 24.c6 bxc6 25.Rxb8 Nxb8 26.Rb1 Kf6 27.Kf2 g5 28.Rb6 Nd7 29.Rxc6 Nc5 30.Rxc8 Bxc8

31.Bc2 Ke7 32.Ke2 Kd6 33.Kd2 h5 34.Kc3 h4 35.Nb3 f4 36.exf4 exf4 37.h3 Bb7 38.Bf5 Bc6 39.Kd4 Ne6+ 40.Bxe6 Kxe6 41.Nc5+ Kf6 42.Nxa6 g4 43.hxg4 h3 44.gxh3 Bxf3 45.Nc5 1–0. [Click to replay]

Movsesian made no impression at all on Smeets' Petroff, and indeed, was even nominally a little worse when the draw was agreed, whilst Radjabov and Dominguez started the rest day early. Stellwagen and Adams also drew, after a manoeuvering battle in the Spanish ended in a ko. Sorry, I mean a repetition...

And with that, I am off to celebrate Burns' Night with a brace or two of "wee drams". Tomorrow is another rest day at Wijk, and here at ChessBase, we will once again bring you an update on events in the B and C groups.

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule and results of Grandmaster Group C

Links Official web site All games in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2009 Live coverage is available on the Playchess server The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.