Tata Steel Rd.6: Four wins with black, Nakamura joins Anand

This event is taking place from January 14th to 30th, 2011 in the traditional De Moriaan Center in Wijk aan Zee. There are three Grandmaster Groups, with 14 players each and each competitor playing against every other. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and finally 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds/move increment starting with the first move of the game. Games begin at 13:30h local time (CET), except for the last round on January 30th, which begins at 12:00h. There are three rest days, on January 19th, 24th, and 27th.

Results of round six

The playing area for Groups A and B, just before the start of round six

It was as bloody a round as the fans could want. The “A” group had no fewer than four decisive games and all of them with black! Nepomniachtchi overcame Giri in a Gruenfeld Exchange after Anish began to insistently push on the kingside at the cost of his center.

Giri,A (2686) - Nepomniachtchi,I (2733) [D85]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 21.01.2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Be3 Bg4 9.Rc1 Bxf3 10.gxf3 cxd4 11.cxd4 0-0 12.f4 e6 13.Bg2 Nc6 14.e5 Qa5+ 15.Qd2 Qa6 16.Qe2 Qa5+ 17.Qd2 Qa6

A draw by repetition offer by Nepomniachtchi, which Anish scorns: 18.Bf1?! In the press room his trainer, Vladimir Chuchelov sadly shook his head at young Anish’s overconfidence. “Any pro would have accepted the draw, Anand would have,” he said. Nepomniashchi agreed: “The game was on an even keel after Anish had played 12.f4. I had no problems whatsoever. He should have repeated moves and gone for the draw. I was ready for it. But Anish is a fighter.” True, the darling of the chess public in Wijk fought on bravely, but his position was worse and it did not improve in what followed. 18...Qa4 19.Rc4 Qb5 20.Rc5 Qb1+ 21.Ke2 Qe4 22.f3 Qf5 23.h4 Qh5 24.Bf2 Rfd8 25.Bh3 Bf8 26.Bg4 Qh6 27.Rc4 Rd5 28.h5 Rad8 29.Rh3 Bc5 30.hxg6 Qxg6 31.f5 exf5 32.Bh5 Nxd4+ 33.Kf1 Nxf3 34.Qxd5 Rxd5 35.Bxf3 Bxf2 36.Bxd5 Qg1+ 37.Ke2 Qe1+ 38.Kf3 Qf1 0-1. [Click to replay]

The 16-year-old youngest participant lost but proved that he is a true fighter

The game Anand vs Grischuk was one of the first to finish – in a draw

Carlsen won a second straight game, this one far more convincing, after outplaying Smeets in a Berlin that was anything but boring. Kramnik came up with a new setup against Shirov’s Scotch, combining Bb7 and g6, though some very fine tactical fireworks by… Vlad (!) led to a mortally exposed white king that he did not miss in the end.

Shirov,A (2722) - Kramnik,V (2784) [C45]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 21.01.2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Nb6 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Bd2 g6 11.Ne4 0-0-0 12.a4 Ba6 13.Qe3 Qxe5 14.Bc3 Bb4 15.Bxb4 Rhe8 16.f3 d5 17.a5

Let the tactics begin: 17...Nxc4 18.Qxa7 Qxb2 19.Qxa6+ Kd7 20.Rd1 Qxb4+ 21.Kf2 Rxe4 22.fxe4 Qc5+ 23.Ke1 Qb4+ 24.Kf2 Qc5+ 25.Ke1

25...Qc5+ would be a draw by repetition, but now Kramnik, who had his first think in the game, decided to go for more: 25...Nb2 26.exd5?! Qc3+ 27.Rd2 Qc1+?! The immediate 27...Re8+ was probably stronger. 28.Ke2 Re8+ 29.Kf3 Qxd2 30.Qxc6+ Kd8 31.Qf6+ Re7

According to experts in Wijk Shirov has been “playing like a madman,” but actually he has come out of it with a defensible position. However now in time trouble he throws it all away: 32.Kg4? The king definitely needed to go to g3. 32...Nd1. Threatening ...Nf2+ and mate to follow. 33.Qh8+ Kd7 34.Bb5+ c6 35.Bxc6+ Kc7 36.d6+ Qxd6 (taking with the king was a braver but faster option) 37.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 38.Bf3 h5+ 39.Kg3 Qe1+ 40.Kh3 Qe6+ 41.Kh4 g5+ 42.Kxg5 Qg6+ 43.Kf4 f6 0-1. [Click to replay]

Man-in-white Magnus Carlsen prowling the playing area during his round six game

The game of the round, if only for sporting reasons, was Nakamura’s important victory over l’Ami, whom he outwitted in a balanced endgame resulting from a Nimzo-Indian. This win placed him back at the top with Anand with a 2900+ performance after six rounds.

American GM Hikaru Nakamura beat Erwin l'Ami in a fine game, to join...

...World Champion Vishy Anand in the lead on the scoreboard

The last game to finish, and one of only three draws in the A Group

The “B” group was even more guts-and-glory with six out of seven games ending in a win or loss. McShane had his biggest test now that his lead was down to a meager half-point, and his opponent was Wojtaszek, the Elo-leader no less. The Polish GM had been on the comeback track since his first round loss, but Luke was neither compassionate nor interested, and won convincingly in a Closed Sicilian to ensure none could catch him just yet.

It was a good thing for him too, since Efimenko won a strong game against Spoelman and continues to tailgate McShane. Wesley So moved into third place after beating French champion Laurent Fressinet.

Wouter Spoelman (right) lost to Zahar Efimenko

In the C Group leader Daniele Vocaturo of Italy suffered his first defeat of the tournament – at the hands of India’s Tania Sachdev. The 24-old Indian IM, at 2391 the lowest rated player in all three groups, earned a € 100 bonus and the prize of the day for her win, which had the public enthralled.

Sachdev,T (2391) - Vocaturo,D (2570) [A56]
73rd Tata Steel GMC Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 21.01.2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.f3 0-0 7.Nge2 e6 8.Ng3 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 Nbd7 11.Be2 h5 12.Bg5 Qc7 13.0-0 Nh7 14.Be3 Ne5 15.h3 h4 16.Nh1 f5 17.Qd2 Qf7 18.f4 Nd7 19.Nf2 b6 20.Rae1 Bb7 21.Bf3 Rae8 22.Nfd1 Bf6?

This mistake gives Tania an opportunity to go on full attack – and attack she does, in gutsy fashion. 23.Bf2 Qg7 24.exf5 gxf5 25.Rxe8 Rxe8 26.Ne3 Rf8 27.Qc2 Bxc3 28.bxc3 Qf6 29.c4 Bc8 30.Qb1 Rf7 31.Qe1 Ndf8 32.Bxh4 Qd4 33.Bh5 Rg7 34.Rf3 Bd7 35.Kh1 Nf6 36.Bxf6 Qxf6 37.Rg3 Bxa4 38.Rxg7+ Kxg7 39.g4 Bd7 40.g5 Qd8 41.Qa1+!

Outstanding. Tania really has to be appluaded for her courage here, because although best, this pawn grab also entails an enemy queen penetration and let's face it: a lot could go wrong if not judged to perfection. 41...Kg8 42.Qxa6 Qe7 43.Ng2 Qh7 44.Be2 Qxh3+ 45.Kg1 Qb3 46.Qa1 b5. Vocaturo assuredly knew he was in big trouble, and now tries to draw Sachdev's attention away from his king.

47.Qf6! No such luck! 47...b4. [Even after the best move 47...Be8 Black could no longer defend. 48.cxb5 c4 49.Kf2 Qxb5 (49...c3 50.Nh4 Nh7 51.Qd8 leads to mate.) 50.Qxd6 Qb2 51.Qe5 c3 52.Ne3 and it's all over. 48.Bh5 Nh7 49.Qf7+ Kh8 50.g6 Qd1+ 51.Bxd1 1-0. [Click to replay]

Indian star Tania Sachdev demolished tournament leader Daniel Vocaturo

Current standings after six rounds

Grandmaster "A" tournament

Grandmaster "B" tournament

Grandmaster "C" tournament

Watching the games

It goes without saying that the options to watch the games live are wide and varied. You can watch them at no cost on Playchess, enjoying the software's new options to display multiple boards at the same time, and if you are a Premium member, live grandmaster commentary will be provided on Playchess for every round by GM Daniel King, author of the best-selling Power Play series, and GM Lubomir Ftacnik. If you miss the live games, you can always watch the commentary after the fact, or get an abridged tale via the Daily Roundup show also hosted on Playchess. Again, if you miss the show, it remains available on the server at your disposal.

Schedule of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule of Grandmaster Group C

Links Official tournament site "A" tournament games in PGN "B" tournament games in PGN "C" tournament games in PGN 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 the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!