Tata Steel Rd.8: Carlsen beats Nakamura in 3.5/4 streak

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 eight

The third round of the one of the nine-round amateur sections

Who can understand these geniuses? After a rather wishy-washy start, including an embarassing blunder to Giri, Carlsen is on the move in the main group. His focus has been in question, as has his form, but consider that he has also scored 3.5/4 in the last four rounds, including a spectacular win over leader Nakamura, who has certainly been "the man in form". Spectacular is the word as he played exceptionally well, and had a very controlled win, culminating with a bazooka blow to Hikaru's king. The American played it out until the end, and while some might feel it was out of disrespect to Magnus, it was more likely out of respect to the audience who had the pleasure of seeing the final king hunt as opposed to reading about it in lengthy game notes at a later date.

An immensely exciting battle between the world number one and the tournament's
number one.

Carlsen,M (2814) - Nakamura,Hi (2751) [B92]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 23.01.2011 [Elshan Moradiabadi]

There we are with the game of the day! Nakamura is in the lead and Carlsen has come with all his forces at the board in order to narrow the gap. Both parties are known for being relentless and uncompromising. It is not too much to expect to enjoy an exciting battle! 1.e4. A good sign! Carlsen wants to play sharp against Nakamura!

1...c5 Being in the lead and feeling fully self-confident, Nak' sees no reason to change one of his regular replies against 1.e4. 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3!? A delicate choice by the world's number one. 8...0-0?! Nakamura provokes Carlsen to play sharp? 8...Be6 would have eliminated White's next move from his possible options. 9.g4

A sharp battle starts. Objectively, it should favor White: he is ahead in development and faster with his pawns. Does Nakamura have something up his sleeve? 9...Be6 10.g5 Nfd7 11.h4 Nb6 12.Qd2. Preparing to castle long. 12...N8d7 13.f4?!N Dubious. 13.0-0-0 Rc8 (13...a5 14.a4 Qc7 15.Kb1 Rfc8 16.h5 Nc4 17.Bxc4 Qxc4 18.Qd3 f5 19.Qxc4 Rxc4 20.exf5 Bxf5 21.Nd2 Rxc3 22.bxc3 Rc8 23.Kb2 d5 24.Nb3 d4 25.Bxd4 exd4 26.Nxd4 Be4 27.f3 Nc5 28.fxe4 Nxa4+ 29.Kb3 Nxc3 30.Rde1 a4+ 31.Kb2 1/2-1/2 (46) Gunnarsson,J (2429)-Adly,A (2551)/Reykjavik 2008/CBM 123 Extra (46)) 14.Kb1 Nc4 15.Bxc4 Rxc4 16.f3 Qc7 17.h5 Rc8 18.g6 fxg6 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.c3 R4c6 22.Rdg1 Nf8 23.f4 exf4 24.Nxf4 d5 25.Nxd5 Rc4 26.Bd4 Bxd5 27.Rh8+ Kf7 28.exd5 Qxd5 29.Rf1+ Bf6 30.Bxf6 Qe4+ 31.Ka1 gxf6 32.Re1 Qf5 33.Nd4 Qg5 34.Qh2 Rxd4 35.Rxf8+ Kxf8 36.Qh8+ Kf7 37.Qxc8 Qe5 38.Qxb7+ Kf8 39.Qh1 1-0 (39) Rogers,I (2575)-Huebner,R (2595)/Wellington 1988/CBM 007 13...exf4 14.Bxf4 Ne5 15.0-0-0 Rc8 16.Kb1 Qc7 17.h5 Rfe8?! I believe that Nakamura overestimated his position at this moment. He could go for the direct 17...Nec4 18.Bxc4 Nxc4 19.Qd3 (19.Qe1 Na3+ 20.bxa3 Qxc3 21.Qxc3 Rxc3 22.Bxd6 Bxd6 23.Rxd6 Rg3 24.Nc5 Bc4 25.g6 fxg6 26.hxg6 hxg6 is just about equal) 19...Na3+ 20.Ka1 Qc4 21.Qd2 Nb5 22.Na5 Qc7 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.exd5 Bd8 25.c4 Qxa5 26.Qxa5 Bxa5 27.cxb5 axb5 28.Bxd6 Rfe8 and Black should be able to hold by virtue of his activity in spite of White's dangerous d-pawn. 18.Ka1 Bf8?! 19.Nd4 Qc5

20.g6! Nec4 Too late! White's soldiers have already reached Black's castle. Enemy at the gate! 21.Bxc4 Nxc4 22.Qd3 fxg6 23.hxg6. Better was 23.Nxe6 Rxe6 24.Qh3 Rce8 25.hxg6 h6 26.Nd5 23...h6 24.Qg3 Qb6 25.Bc1 Qa5

26.Rdf1. Carlsen had a winning continuation here, though his choice was certainly good enough as it was. 26.Nxe6! Rxe6 27.Nd5 Ne5 and here White has the remarkable continuation (typical of engines)

28.Rdg1! Rxg6 29.Qb3! This is the point. The threatened discovered check is deadly. 29...Kh7 (29...Rxg1 30.Ne7+ Kh7 31.Qg8#) 30.Rxg6 Nxg6 31.Nf6+ gxf6 32.Qf7+ 26...Ne5 27.Nd5 Bxd5 28.exd5 Qxd5

29.Bxh6! A cold shower! 29...gxh6 30.g7 Be7 Against 30...Nf7 White would continue 31.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 32.Nf5 Re5 33.Qg7+ Ke8 and now, can you guess the continuation?

34.Nxd6+! Qxd6 (34...Nxd6 35.Rf8#; 34...Kd7 35.Nxf7) 35.Rxf7 and the threat of Qg8+ is fatal.; Taking with 30...Bxg7 is immediately punished by 31.Nf5 Rc7 32.Nxh6+ Kh7 33.Ng4+ Kg8 34.Nf6+ Kf8 35.Nxd5+ 31.Rxh6 Nf7 32.Qg6! Nxh6 33.Qxh6 Bf6 34.Qh8+ Kf7 35.g8Q+

A beautiful position which deserves a diagram. 35...Rxg8 36.Qxf6+ Ke8 37.Re1+ Masterful play by the world number one who has made sure chess fans can look forward to five more exciting days at Wijk aan Zee, though the result favors Anand more than anyone else in the crosstable. After 37...Kd7 38.Qe7# 1-0. [Click to replay]

As a special treat, we also give you Daniel King's analysis of the game, as seen in his Daily Round-up show on Playchess. The show is live so viewers will also send in questions and comments via chat.

 
Part 1 of GM Daniel King's analysis from the Daily Round-up show

 
Part 2 of GM Daniel King's analysis from the Daily Round-up show

Anish Giri also showed great class by wiping his previous day's loss to Kramnik from his mind and beating Wang Hao in an excellent game.

Anish Giri demonstrated once more his remarkable ability to overcome adversiy

Giri,A (2686) - Wang Hao (2731) [D45]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 23.01.2011 [Elshan Moradiabadi]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 This move defines the "Chebanenko" line, not a rare guest at the highest level. 5.Nf3 e6

This line has been popularized thanks to Sergey Rublevsky's games. Black combines ideas of the "Meran" and "Chebanenko", however in the meantime ...a6 is a critical loss of time, which White will try to take advantage of. 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Re1. This move is a reminder of a painful defeat of mine against Krishnan Sasikiran in the recent Asian Games in Guangzhou. This move was introduced by the legendary Dr. Huebner, with the idea counter e5 with an immediate e4. White is ahead in development and any type of conflict in the center would finish in his favor. This move has placed a serious question mark on the entire system's validity, and after this game, it will become even more visible!

10...dxc4. 10...e5?! 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 exd4 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nf6 15.Rc1! (15.Bg5 h6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Re4 Bd7 18.Rxd4 Rac8 1/2-1/2 (18) Huebner,R (2602)-Godena,M (2548)/Switzerland 2009/EXT 2011) 15...Bg4 16.h3 Bh5 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.g4 Bg6 20.Rc4 Rad8 21.Kg2 Rfe8 22.Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.Rxd4 Bxd3 24.Qxd3 g6 25.a4 Qe7 26.Qd2 Kg7 27.Rc4 Qf6 28.Qd3 Rd8 29.Qc2 Bf4 30.Qe4 Bd6 31.h4 Rh8 32.Qc2 h5 33.g5 Qa1 34.Qd2 Re8 35.Rc1 Qa3 36.Qc3+ Kg8 37.Re1 Rxe1 38.Nxe1 Bf8 39.Nf3 Qd6 40.Qc4 Qd7 41.Qe4 Bg7 42.Nd2 b5 43.axb5 axb5 44.Nf1 Bf8 45.Ng3 Bd6 46.Qd4 Bxg3 47.Kxg3 Qd6+ 48.Kf3 Kf8 49.b4 Ke8 50.Qc5 Qd7 1-0 (50) Sasikiran,K (2688)-Moradiabadi,E (2575)/Guangzhou 2010/CB00_2011 11.bxc4 b6 12.Rb1 Qc7 13.a4 a5

By having a look at the diagram it is clear that White has consolidated his advantage: the better center and development offer him a clear chance to seize the initiative. 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Bb7 16.Qc2 h6 17.Bc3 Rab8 17...Bb4!? 18.c5 (18.Bxb4 axb4 19.Rxb4? is bad because after 19...f5 20.Bd3 c5! gives Black excellent play) 18...bxc5 19.dxc5 f5 20.Nd4 fxe4 21.Nxe6 Qb8 22.Nxf8 Qxf8 23.Bxb4 axb4 24.Rec1 is also worse for Black objectively. 18.Red1 Ba6 19.Bh7+ Kh8 20.Bd3 f5 21.g3 Bb4? Right plan, wrong execution.

22.Bxb4?! Which Giri does not take advantage of. Instead 22.Nh4! Rf6 (22...Kh7 23.Bxb4 axb4 24.Rxb4 and White is simply a pawn up.) 23.d5 Bxc3 24.dxe6 Nc5 25.Qxc3 Nxa4 26.Qc2 Nc5 27.Bxf5 Nxe6 28.e4 would have given White a clear advantage. 22...axb4 23.Rxb4 c5 24.Rbb1 cxd4 25.exd4 Bb7 26.d5

From this point on, Giri starts to play very well and leaves almost no room for Wang to come back. 26...Nc5 27.Bf1 Rbd8 28.Bg2 Rf6 29.Nd4 exd5 30.Nb5 Qf7 31.cxd5 Giri has perfectly consolidated his material advantage and the result is almost obvious. 31...f4? 32.a5! Rc8 33.Na7 Rf8 34.Rxb6 Winning another pawn. 34...fxg3 35.Rxf6 Qxf6 36.hxg3 Nd7 37.Nc6 Qd6 38.Re1 Ba6 39.Qc3 Nc5 40.Ne5 Kg8 41.Ng6 Rf6 42.Nf4 A loss in dubious line for Wang Hao. 1-0. [Click to replay]

French GM Vachier-Lagrave cannot be overlooked as his win over Smeets placed him in the slightly crowded group of four with 5.0/8, who trail just behind Anand and Nakamura at 5.5/8. While not competitively the most important game, as both Shirov and Grischuk have been struggling throughout the tournament, their encounter was an exception to their unequal form, as they produced a fighting game worthy of their status.

Shirov,A (2722) - Grischuk,A (2773) [B90]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 23.01.2011 [Elshan Moradiabadi]

Both Shirov and Grischuk are haveing a bad time in this event. Being true fighters, both relentlessly fought for the initiative, and in this particular game the tables turned in favor of "Fire on the Board"! 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3. 6.Bg5 has been used by Shirov more often.

6...Ng4 Not an odd choice by Grischuk. He regularly uses this move which was popularized by 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov. 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Be2 h5 11.Bxg4 hxg4 Less popular, however, it is gaining popularity these days. It is not far from the truth that theory in this line changes "daily". 12.Nd5!? This move has not been examined at the highest level in recent years. It was introduced to top level by reigning world champion Vishy Anand back in 1999. 12...Nc6 13.Nf5 Bxf5 14.exf5 Bxb2 15.Rb1 Qa5+ 16.Qd2 Bd4 17.Qxa5 Nxa5 18.c3!?

"Not" a novelty, though never played by master level player, and very much in Shirov's style! He delays the check in order to probe whether Grischuk knows where to place his bishop or not, however, the time on the clocks made this evident. Grischuk has faced this problem at the board before.

18...Bc5? Grischuk falls in the trap, he had to place his bishop on f6! One cannot blame him for that, though. The previous game in this line went well for Black in spite of the result. On the other hand, Shirov has deeply investigated this line. 19.Nc7+ Kd7 20.Nxa8 Rxa8 21.h4! Simple, logical and confirmed by engines! Fair enough, no?! 21...gxh3 22.Rxh3 b5 23.Ke2 f6 24.Rbh1 Nc6 25.Rh8 Ra7 26.f4 gxf4 27.Bxf4

White has a clear advantage, though Black is still solid enough to maintain long-term resistance. Unfortunately, Grischuk had not enough time for this purpose. 27...a5 28.g4 b4 29.Bd2 bxc3 30.Bxc3 d5 31.g5!? Shirov takes advantage of Grischuk time trouble and creates more practical difficulties by opening lines around the enemy's king. Grischuk was down to one minute at this point, compared to over 45 for Shirov.

Though struggling with their form, both Shirov and Grischuk played a great game
displaying their fighting spirit.

31...fxg5 32.f6 exf6 33.Bxf6 Nd4+ 34.Kd3 Ne6 35.R1h6!? A tricky move. 35...Ra6? Loses a pawn! 36.Bxg5 Bb4 37.R8h7+ Kc8 38.Be3 Rd6 39.Ra7! Very fine technique. On this square both rooks are defended and White's king can simply march into Black's camp. 39...Nc5+ 40.Kd4 Ne6+ 41.Ke5 d4 42.Bxd4. 42.Rhh7! Kb8 43.Rab7+ Kc8 44.Rxb4 would have sealed Black's fate earlier. 42...Nxd4 43.Rh8+ Rd8 44.Rxd8+ Kxd8 45.Kxd4 Kc8

Black is simply an exchange down and is totally lost and the tablebases confirms this conclusion. That said, White should be careful about the way he is going to push his own a-pawn after winning Black's. 46.Kd5 Kb8 47.Rh7 Bd2 48.Kc6 Bb4 49.Rd7 Kc8 50.Rd3 Kb8 51.Kb6 Kc8 52.Rd1

Zugzwang! The first step is done. White wins Black's pawn. 52...Be7. 52...Bc3? 53.Rc1 53.Kxa5 Bh4 54.Rf1 Bg5 55.Rf3! Excellent, and you might be surprised by the exclamation mark as there are many ways to win, but the mark is for the the plan! White prevents Black's bishop from entering the a7-g1 diagonal. 55...Kb7 56.Kb5 Bd8 57.Rf7+ Bc7 58.Rd7 Kb8 59.Ka6 Bh2 60.Rb7+ Ka8 61.a4 Bg3 62.a5 Bf2 Too late! White has already trapped Black's king into the corner, and the tablebases show mate in 19! 63.Rf7 Bc5 64.Rf5 Bd6 65.Kb6 Bb8 66.Rf7 Bh2 67.Ra7+ 67.a6? would be a terrible blunder and lead to a draw! 67...Bg1+ 68.Kc6 Be3 67...Kb8 68.Rg7! Preventing Bg1+ 68...Ka8 69.a6 Be5 70.Ra7+ Kb8 71.Rd7 Ka8 72.a7 Bd4+ 73.Ka6 Bb6 74.Re7 A fine victory and late comeback from Shirov. Let us wish the same for Grischuk in the upcoming rounds! 74...Bd8 75.Rg7 Bc7 76.Rg8+ 1-0. [Click to replay]

Levon Aronian chose the Marshall Attack to play it safe against Anand

Since the game between two of the top players was played out and should not be overlooked, here is the game between Anand and Aronian:

Anand,V (2810) - Aronian,L (2805) [C89]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (8), 23.01.2011 [Elshan Moradiabadi]

1.e4 A "dull" game between the 2nd and 3rd ranked in the table. 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5

The "Marshall Attack" is not a new visitor in games between these two giants. It is one of Aronian's main weapons when he wants to play it "safe". 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 This is considered as the main line. 14...Qh3 15.Be3 Bg4 16.Qd3 Rae8 17.Nd2 Qh5

This position has been examined several times at the top level. For instance the latest encounters in this line went as below: 18.Qf1. Anand stays faithful to old principles of the line! He does not leave any room for Black to create counterplay, on the other hand, White also stays too passive and is not able to take advantage of his material superiority. 18.a4 Re6 19.axb5 axb5 20.Nf1 Bf5 21.Qd2 Bh3 22.Bd1 Qg6 23.Bc2 Qh5 24.Bd1 Qg6 25.Bc2 Qh5 26.Qd1 Bg4 27.Qd3 f5 28.Bd2 f4 29.Rxe6 Bxe6 30.Bd1 Qf7 31.Bc2 Qh5 32.Bd1 Qf7 33.Bc2 1/2-1/2 (33) Shirov,A (2739)-Aronian,L (2783)/Moscow 2010/CBM 139; 18.Bc2 f5 19.f3 Bh3 20.Bf2 Nf4 21.gxf4 Bxf4 22.Bg3 Qg5 23.Bb3+ Kh8 24.Nf1 h5 25.Qc2 h4 26.Qf2 Bxf1 27.Qxf1 hxg3 28.Qh3+ Qh6 29.Qxh6+ gxh6 30.hxg3 Bxg3 31.Re6 Rxe6 32.Bxe6 Re8 33.Bxf5 Re2 34.a4 Rxb2 35.axb5 axb5 36.Ra6 h5 37.Rxc6 h4 38.Rb6 Kg7 39.Bd7 Be1 40.Rxb5 Rxb5 41.Bxb5 Bxc3 42.d5 1/2-1/2 (42) Shirov,A (2749)-Aronian,L (2783)/Shanghai 2010/CBM 138 18...Re7 19.a4 Rfe8 20.axb5 axb5 Nothing new yet. Aronian faced this position before against Bacrot. 21.Bxd5 Qxd5 22.Qg2 Qxg2+ 23.Kxg2 h5

24.Rec1N Anand is the first to deviate from Bacrot-Aronian, however, his try to enable his majority on the queenside does not seem that successful in face of Black's pair of bishops and full piece activity. 24...f6 25.b3 g5 26.c4 bxc4 27.Nxc4 Bc7 28.Na5 Bxa5 29.Rxa5 Bd7 30.b4 Rb8 31.Rc4 Kf7 32.Kf1 Kg6 33.Ke2 Bg4+ 34.Kd2 The position is a draw in spite of White's extra pawn. 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

The "B" group has also seen a change in the guard,. After McShane lost to Le Quang in round seven allowing Efimenko and So to catch up with him, in round eight, McShane drew with Sargissian, and Efimenko unexpectedly lost to Tkachiev, but Welsey So, still blistering with his three wins in a row, made it four by beating Spoelman, and has now taken the lead with 6.0/8 and a 2852 performance.

The "C" Group also showed the mettle of the players with Vocaturo notching his second win after his loss to Tania Sachdev in round six, and in style with a nice final combination. With Nyzhnyk losing to Ivanisevic (yes, the kid is human), and Lahno drawing, Italian GM Daniele Vocaturo is back in the lead with a full point ahead and 6.5/8.

All photos © Frits Agterdenbos of ChessVista

Current standings after eight 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!