Javier

I'm often asked which app I use to follow online tournaments. The question does surprise me a little: there is nothing better than "Followchess", a FREE application and available for Android, Iphone (or any other operating system if you access their site directly from a browser: www.followchess.com). Among the great virtues of the program is its ease of use and the speed of transmission of games. In addition, they cover tournaments which nobody else pays any attention to: Open tournaments from all over the world -sometimes even the ones with an average rating of 1800- or Live World Championships, you name it! You can modify the settings, you can select colors, sounds, etc. and of course you can add analysis engine at any time for live evaluation. There is a "pro" version, for less than 5 euros, which also allows you to download all games in .pgn format and a few other extra features, but the free version works fine. There are other online platforms that relay tournaments with commentary, etc. but the truth is that they are very slow, you only see a couple of games, the comments are usually not particularly useful and you do not choose which games to see, etc. With Followchess, everything much faster. You get to choose which tournaments and which games you wanna follow and the touch of a screen. Here are some screenshots of their mobile version and another from their browser version for PC:

A new edition of the Sinquefield Cup has just started, the St. Louis tournament with $ 300,000 in prizes. One of thh tournament highlights will no doubt be the match between Carlsen and Caruana, a pretty significant game considering the these two will meet again in November for the World Championship! In the first round, Mamedyarov (who, by the way, thanks to this victory climbs to second place on the Elo lis) caused some turmoil thanks to his interesting opening choice on move six of his Queen's Gambit (6.Qc2!?) Participants: Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Sergey Karjakin , Viswanathan Anand and Wesley So. Please find attached all the games from round 1, including the notes to the Mamedyarov game! [pgn3][Event "Sinquefied Cup (EN)"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.08.18"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2780"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier,Gil"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Qc2 {This is a very unusuarl move order in the Queen's Gambit, and hardly ever seen at GM level. There is a game played by Andrikin from 2017, but it transposed into well known variations. And there's another game played by Predke, which is included here. Possible now are ...c5, ...b6, ...Nbd7, or the move played in the game.} h6 (6... Nbd7 7. Nc3 h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Rd1 Qa5 11. Nd2 Rd8 12. a3 d4 $2 13. exd4 Rxd4 14. b4 Qxa3 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. bxc5 {Black doesn't have enough compensation.} Bd7 17. Be2 Bc6 18. Nb5 Bxb5 19. cxb5 Rad8 20. O-O Qb4 21. Nb3 {1-0 (21) Predke,A (2601)-Vunder,A (2161) St Petersburg RUS 2017}) 7. Bxf6 $5 Bxf6 8. h4 g6 9. Nc3 (9. g4 Bg7) 9... c5 10. dxc5 dxc4 11. h5 $1 g5 12. Bxc4 Qa5 13. Rc1 Nd7 (13... Qxc5 14. Ne4 $5 (14. Qe2 Nc6 15. O-O Bg7 16. Rfd1 $14) 14... Qa5+ 15. Ke2 Bg7 16. Nfxg5 $1 $16) 14. O-O Bxc3 (14... Nxc5 15. Rfd1 (15. Nd4 $5) 15... Bd7 16. Qb1 $5) 15. Qxc3 Qxc3 16. Rxc3 Nxc5 17. Ne5 b6 18. f4 (18. Rd1 Bb7 19. Ra3 $5 $16) 18... Ne4 19. Rd3 Ng3 20. Rf3 Ne4 (20... gxf4 21. exf4 Nxh5 22. Rh3 $1 Nxf4 23. Rdg3+ Kh7 24. Rh4 Ng6 25. Bd3 $18) 21. Rd4 Bb7 22. f5 $1 Nf6 23. Rf1 Rae8 24. fxe6 fxe6 25. Ng6 Rf7 26. Ne5 Rff8 27. Rd6 Bd5 $2 {The resulting endgame after this move is just lost for Black.} (27... Nd5 28. Rxf8+ Kxf8 29. Rd7 $18) (27... Kg7 28. Bxe6 $16) 28. Rxf6 Rxf6 29. Bxd5 exd5 30. Rxf6 Rxe5 31. Rxh6 Rxe3 32. Rg6+ Kh7 33. Rxg5 Re2 34. Rxd5 Rxb2 35. Kh2 Rxa2 36. Kh3 a5 (36... Kh6 37. g4 a5 38. Rd6+ Kg5 39. Rg6+ Kf4 40. Rf6+ ( 40. h6 Ra1 $11) 40... Kg5 41. Rf5+ Kh6 42. Rb5 Ra1 43. Rxb6+ {And White wins.}) 37. g4 a4 38. g5 a3 39. Rd7+ Kg8 40. Rd8+ Kh7 41. Rd7+ Kg8 42. Rd8+ Kh7 43. g6+ Kh6 44. Rh8+ Kg7 45. Rh7+ Kg8 46. Ra7 Ra1 47. Kg2 $1 $18 Rc1 48. h6 Rc8 49. Rxa3 b5 50. Ra7 Rb8 51. Kg3 (51. Kg3 b4 52. Kg4 b3 53. h7+ Kh8 54. Kg5 b2 55. Kh6 $1) 1-0[/pgn3] sinqfield1EN.pgn

The best chess server in the world, Lichess (www.lichess.org), has just broken a new record this week by routinely having over 34,000 live online players, a figure that far surpasses other chess servers: chess.com, ICC and chessbase's playchess.com. Lichess already has a base of more than one million users who regularly connect to their server and the speed of play far exceeds its competitors: speed is such that games at 60, 30 or even 15 seconds without time increments are becoming ever more popular. In addition to its technical virtues, lichess is TOTALLY FREE and already has more than 1 million users who use the site regularly.

I decided to take a look at this game rather accidentally. I think It was one of those days when the big boys were playing in the world blitz championship, and I was curious to see if the quality of the games played by the young minds would be any better (it definitely was!). When I came across this game, my first impression was: oh my god, this was a HUGE swindle! However, the more I studied it, the more I realised how wrong I was: it was not a swindle at all, it was an incredible masterpiece! Lukasz Jarmula is a young (17) International Master from Poland. What I find incredible about this game is his ability to sense (by means of intuition) that he had enough compensation for the pawns he was giving up. I'm not exagerating here: not even the strongest chess engines can come close to guessing the validity of those pawns sacs (!!). [Event "WYCC Open U18 Porto Carras "] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.10.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Jarmula"] [Black "Garriga Cazorla, Pere"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2321"] [BlackElo "2422"] [Annotator "M.I. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [SourceDate "2016.02.22"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 {An Increasingly unusual move in the third millenium, everyone is afraid of "your opening preparation". Carl sen's 3. Bb5+ or the more modern tries 3.c3, 3.a3, 3.g3 and 3.b3 are gaining ground. but 3.c4 is the future. (lol). Seriously though, "being afraid of your opponent's computer preparation" actually favours strong lazy players who don't like to study opening theory, so the trick is to play some deeply studied book line every now and then so that you earn the reputation of a ruthless theoretician. After that you never study theory again, and people will try all kinds of weird stuff against you. Job done!} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {If Najdorf earned a cent each time someone had played this, his Grand Children would be quite well off now. (hey, maybe they are, just trying to be funny!)} 6. Bg5 Nbd7 {This is far more unusual than 6...e6, but Na kamura, Anan d, Navar a and Domingue z, amongst others, have tried it successfully.} (6... e6 7. f4 {And then we have the classic 7...Be7, 7...Qb6 poisoned pawn, Polugayevsky's 7...b5 and also the very interesting but heavily analysed 7... Nc6.}) 7. Qe2 g6 {In most games where this position was reached, black prefers to go 7...h6 first. If then 8. Bh4, then 8...g6 and the move which white played in this game wouldn't be possible. By the way, what is this called, a Najdragon? A Dragorf?} 8. O-O-O Bg7 9. h4 $1 {White feels no need to camouflage his not very peaceful intentions... 9.f4 has also been tried here.} h5 (9... h6 {Unfortunately, it's a little late for this.} 10. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 (10... Nxf6 11. e5 $1) 11. Nd5 Bg7 12. h5 g5 13. Nf5 $18) 10. Kb1 Qc7 (10... b5 $4 {This would be a blunder.} 11. Nc6 $1 Qb6 {11...Qc7 leads to the same thing.} 12. Nxe7 $1) 11. g4 $5 {Why prepare it when you can play it now?} (11. f4 Nb6 12. f5 Ng4 13. Rh3 Qc5 { This happened in Solak-Nakamura, which eventually ended in a draw. Solak played 14.Nb3.14.Nd5!? was very intersting.} 14. Nd5 Nxd5 $1 (14... Bxd4 $2 15. b4 Qc6 16. Nxe7 {Wins for white.}) 15. exd5 O-O $1 {And black's bishops are beginning to display a certain fury.}) 11... hxg4 (11... Nxg4 $2 12. Nd5 Qc5 13. b4 $18) 12. h5 {Very impressive!} Rxh5 (12... gxh5 13. Nf5 Bf8 14. f4 gxf3 15. Qxf3 Ne5 16. Qf4 $1 $44 {And the threat of Bxf6 is quite annoying.} Neg4 $2 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. Nxd6+ exd6 19. Qxf6 $16) 13. Rxh5 gxh5 14. Nf5 Bf8 15. Bg2 $1 {A cold blooded positional move, played as if white hadn't given up anything! it's moves like this that make this game so special. Lukasz sensed the difficulties that black was facing here.} e6 16. e5 $3 {Another pawn sacrifice, freeing the e4 square for his pieces.} dxe5 (16... Nxe5 17. Bxf6 exf5 18. Nd5 $18) 17. Ng3 {White's 3 pawns down(!). What's surprising is that he doesn't seem to have any immediate threats, but if you look closely, black can barely move any of his pieces or pawns!} Be7 (17... Nh7 18. Bh4 f5 19. Nxh5 Bh6 20. Ne4 $3 $16 {And black's pawn mass seems incredibly useless! Taking the N would lead to a devastating attack after 21.Bxe4.} fxe4 $2 21. Bxe4 Nhf8 22. Qxg4 $18 ) 18. Qd2 Nc5 {This seems to lose pretty quickly, but it wasn't easy to find a move for black.} (18... Bb4 19. Bxf6 Nxf6 20. Qh6 Bxc3 (20... Be7 21. Qh8+ Bf8 22. Qxf6 $18) 21. Qxf6 Qb6 (21... Bd4 22. Nxh5) 22. b3 $18 Bb4 (22... Bd4 23. Nxh5 $18) 23. Nxh5 $18) (18... Qb6 19. Nge4 $5 (19. Bxf6 {This is interesting also, but probably not as good.} Nxf6 20. Qh6 Nd7 (20... Bd7 $2 21. Qh8+ $18) ( 20... Ba3 $2 21. Qh8+ Ke7 22. Na4 Qc7 23. bxa3 $18) 21. Qh8+ Nf8 22. Nce4 Bd7 23. Nf6+ Bxf6 24. Qxf6 Nh7 25. Qh8+ (25. Qh4 $2 Qxf2) 25... Nf8 26. Qf6 $11) 19... Nxe4 20. Nxe4 f6 21. Bh4 $1 {And this positions looks really difficult for black.} Ba3 (21... f5 22. Bxe7 fxe4 (22... Kxe7 23. Qg5+ $18) 23. Qg5 Qxf2 24. Bxe4 $18) 22. c3 $1 (22. Qxd7+ {This is a flash queen sacrifice, but I think a draw is the most white can get.} Bxd7 23. Nxf6+ Kf7 $8 24. Rxd7+ Kf8 $8 (24... Kg6 $4 25. Be4+ Kh6 26. Rh7#) 25. Rxb7 Qd4 26. Nh7+ Kg8 27. Nf6+ Kf8 28. bxa3 Qd1+ 29. Kb2 Rc8 {White doesn't have time for the final stab.} 30. Be4 Qd4+ 31. Kb1 Qd1+ 32. Kb2 Qd4+ 33. Kc1 Qa1+ 34. Kd2 Qd4+ 35. Ke2 Qc4+ 36. Ke1 Qc3+ 37. Ke2 Qc4+ 38. Bd3 Qc6 39. Be4 $11) 22... f5 23. b3 f4 (23... fxe4 $2 24. Qg5 $18) 24. Qc2 Kf8 (24... f3 25. Nf6+ $1 Nxf6 26. Qg6+ $18) 25. Ng5 $18 { With a winning attack for white.}) 19. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 20. Nxh5 Be7 (20... Nd7 21. Qh6 Ke7 22. Nxf6 Nxf6 23. Qg5 $18 {Winning, as 24. Ne4 can't be stopped.}) 21. Ng7+ {Black resigned. He's getting checkmated.} (21. Ng7+ Kf8 22. Qh6 Bd6 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Qe8+ Kf6 25. Nh5+ Kg5 26. Qg8+ Kf5 27. Qh7+ Kg5 28. Qg7+ Kf5 29. Qf6#) 1-0 Link to Jarmula's FIDE card: https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=1160664

Yes, I think that book is definitly too advanced for a beginner... I'd go for "My System" or "Logical chess move by move" or other beginner manuals.

Well, I guess there's some truth in that, but there some new books out there which can be considered "jewels".

That is indeed a typo. Thanks for pointing it out! Quizzes will be upgraded at some point, as flash is slowly dying out.

Hi Franks, thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, Adobe made some decisions which have resulted in a major slow-down of educational books: They gave up on further development of Flash and, more importantly, they never allowed animated gifs on their pdf files, which would have solved may of the problems. Thus, we have a scenario where it is possible to develop an application which will allow what you're requesting BUT: it will only be compatible with *some* operating systems and not others, which is the major issue. So at present I'm leaning towards pdf (without animations) and then have some tutorials (both video + html) on my site. Cheers.

Carlsen has won Zurich 2014 (which was really not the strongest tournament in history, as it wasn't a double round robin and some of the worls's best players were not there. I mean, just 5 rounds of slow chess, it's not serious!). Magnus was 2 points ahead of Aronian before the rapid games began, and most GMs thought he wouldn't have any problems keeping his advantage. But they were wrong! Magnus lost 2 games, against his toughest opponents, Aronian and Caruana, and only managed to score 40% (2 points out of 5, with a rating performance of 2713 compared to a rating performance of +3000 in the slow games). However, Nakamura managed to defeat Aronian in his game and put a stop to the Armenian's hopes. Caruana won the rapid tournament with 4 out of 5 (and a rating performance of +3000 also) It must be said, however, that 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment is not really considered a rapid game (which is 25 minutes + 10). Aronian commented: "it was something kind of in between a blitz game and a rapid game. But I guess it was entertaining" . Meanwhile American GM Nakamura (3.5/5) reflected on a somewhat chilling fact: If only he'd defeated Carlsen in "that game" (which was totally winning for him), he would have ended up on 9.5 instead of 7.5, winning the tournament. (don't forget that the slow games score double) . Perhaps these little details will decide the tournaments of this decade? perhaps! The quality of the rapid games was below what we expected. Combined final standings: Carlsen 10, Caruana , Aronian 9, Nakamura 7.5, Anand 5, Gelfand 4.5 [Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "1.1"][White "Gelfan d, Boris"][black "Carlse n, Magnus"][Result "0-1"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2761"][blackElo "2872"][ECO "A58"][Opening "Benko gambit accepted"][WhiteFideId "2805677"][blackFideId "1503014"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. e4 O-O 8. Nf3Qa5 9. Bd3 Nxd5 10. exd5 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qxc3+ 12. Qd2 Qxa1 13. O-O Bxa6 14. Bb2Qxa2 15. Ra1 Qb3 16. Be4 d6 17. Rb1 f6 18. Bxf6 Qc4 19. Bb2 Qxe4 20. Re1 Qd3 21.Qxd3 Bxd3 22. Rxe7 Rxf3 23. gxf3 Na6 0-1[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "1.2"][White "Anan d, Viswanathan"][black "Aronia n, Levon"][Result "0-1"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2773"][blackElo "2826"][ECO "A56"][Opening "Czech Benoni defence"][WhiteFideId "5000017"][blackFideId "13300474"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Be7 7. g3 O-O 8. Bd3 Nh59. Qe2 a6 10. Bd2 g6 11. Kd1 Kh8 12. h3 Ndf6 13. Kc2 Bd7 14. a4 Qc8 15. g4 Ng716. Nh2 Ng8 17. f4 exf4 18. Bxf4 f6 19. Nf1 Rf7 20. Ne3 Qf8 21. h4 Bd8 22. Qh2Bc7 23. h5 g5 24. h6 Ne8 25. Bg3 Ne7 26. Nf5 Ng6 27. a5 Ne5 28. Be2 Bxf5 29.exf5 Qe7 30. Be1 Qd8 31. Ne4 Re7 32. Qg2 b6 33. Bc3 b5 34. cxb5 axb5 35. Bxb5Bxa5 36. Bc6 Raa7 37. Bxe5 Rxe5 38. Ra4 Nc7 39. Rha1 Na6 40. Nd2 Nb4+ 41. Rxb4cxb4 42. Nc4 b3+ 43. Kxb3 Ree7 44. Qg3 Qb8+ 0-1[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "1.3"][White "Caruan a, Fabiano"][black "Nakamur a, Hikaru"][Result "1-0"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2781"][blackElo "2776"][ECO "A62"][Opening "Benoni"][Variation "fianchetto variation"][WhiteFideId "2020009"][blackFideId "2016192"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. g3 e6 7. Bg2 exd5 8. cxd5d6 9. O-O Re8 10. Bf4 a6 11. a4 h6 12. Qc1 Kh7 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Nh4 Bc8 15. Qc2Nh5 16. Bd2 Nd7 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. Ne3 Rb8 19. a5 b5 20. axb6 Nxb6 21. Na4 Nxa4 22.Rxa4 Ng7 23. Be4 Be7 24. Ba5 Qd7 25. Bc3 Qd8 26. Nc4 Bd7 27. Ra3 Bb5 28. Na5 Qd729. Nc6 Rbc8 30. h4 Bf8 31. Bg2 Nh5 32. Kh2 Bg7 33. Bh3 f5 34. e4 Kh8 35. exf5Rxe1 36. Bxe1 Nf6 37. fxg6 Ng4+ 38. Kg1 Qe8 39. Bc3 Bxc6 40. dxc6 h5 41. Bxg4hxg4 42. Qf5 Bxc3 43. Rxc3 Qe1+ 44. Kh2 1-0[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "2.1"][White "Caruan a, Fabiano"][black "Gelfan d, Boris"][Result "1/2-1/2"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2781"][blackElo "2761"][ECO "B52"][Opening "Sicilian"][Variation "Canal-Sokolsky attack, 3...Bd7"][WhiteFideId "2020009"][blackFideId "2805677"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. O-O Nc6 6. c4 Nf6 7. Nc3 g6 8.d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bg7 10. Nde2 Qe6 11. Nd5 Qxe4 12. Nc7+ Kd7 13. Nxa8 Qxc4 14.Nb6+ axb6 15. b3 Qd5 16. Be3 Qxd1 17. Raxd1 b5 18. a4 b4 19. f3 e6 20. Nf4 Ke721. Rfe1 g5 22. Ne2 h6 23. Nd4 Kd7 24. Nb5 Nd5 25. Bf2 Be5 26. Bg3 Bf4 27. Bxf4gxf4 28. Re4 f5 29. Rc4 Rg8 30. Rxd5 exd5 31. Rxf4 Ke6 32. Rh4 Rg6 33. Nd4+ Ke534. Nc2 d4 35. Ne1 Kd5 36. Nd3 Rf6 37. Kf2 Ne5 38. Ke2 Nxd3 39. Kxd3 Kc5 40.Rxd4 d5 41. Rf4 Rg6 42. g3 Re6 43. Rxf5 Re1 44. Rf8 Rd1+ 45. Kc2 Rf1 46. Kd3Rd1+ 47. Ke3 Re1+ 48. Kd2 Rb1 49. Kc2 Rf1 50. Kd3 Rd1+ 51. Kc2 Rf1 1/2-1/2[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "2.2"][White "Nakamur a, Hikaru"][black "Anan d, Viswanathan"][Result "1-0"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2776"][blackElo "2773"][ECO "A01"][Opening "Nimzovich-Larsen attack"][Variation "modern variation"][WhiteFideId "2016192"][blackFideId "5000017"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 d6 3. e3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Qxd4 Nc6 6. Qd2 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8.O-O-O a6 9. f3 b5 10. g4 b4 11. Nce2 a5 12. Ng3 Ne8 13. Qd5 Bb7 14. Bb5 Ne5 15.Qxb7 Rb8 16. Qd5 Nf6 17. Qxe5 dxe5 18. Rxd8 Rfxd8 19. Bd3 Bc5 20. Bxe5 Bxe3+ 21.Kb1 Nd5 22. Nf5 Bd2 23. Bxg7 Nf4 24. Ne2 Nxd3 25. cxd3 Rxd3 26. Kc2 1-0[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "2.3"][White "Aronia n, Levon"][black "Carlse n, Magnus"][Result "1-0"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2826"][blackElo "2872"][ECO "E06"][Opening "Catalan"][Variation "closed, 5.Nf3"][WhiteFideId "13300474"][blackFideId "1503014"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. Qc2 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4e5 9. Nf5 d4 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Nd2 Bf5 14. Qb3 Nd7 15.Qa3 Qb6 16. Rfc1 Rfc8 17. b4 a5 18. c5 Qa6 19. Nc4 Be6 20. Nd6 axb4 21. Qxa6bxa6 22. Nxc8 Rxc8 23. c6 Nb6 24. Rab1 a5 25. a3 b3 26. c7 Bc4 27. Bb7 Rxc7 28.Rxb3 Rxb7 29. Rxc4 Nxc4 30. Rxb7 Nxa3 31. Kg2 Nc4 32. g4 Nd6 33. Ra7 f6 34. Rxa5Ne4 35. h4 h5 36. gxh5 Kh7 37. Ra8 Nd6 38. Kf3 Nf5 39. Kg4 Nh6+ 40. Kh3 Nf5 41.Rd8 Nh6 42. f4 exf4 43. Rxd4 Nf7 44. Rxf4 Kh6 45. Rf5 Nd6 46. Rd5 Nc4 47. Kg3Ne3 48. Rc5 Nf1+ 49. Kf4 Nd2 50. e3 Nb3 51. Rc3 Na5 52. Rc8 Kh7 53. Kf5 1-0[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "3.1"][White "Gelfan d, Boris"][black "Aronia n, Levon"][Result "1/2-1/2"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2761"][blackElo "2826"][ECO "E06"][Opening "Catalan"][Variation "closed, 5.Nf3"][WhiteFideId "2805677"][blackFideId "13300474"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. b3 Nb6 8. Ne5Bb4 9. Bb2 Ne4 10. Qd3 f6 11. Nf3 e5 12. a3 Bxc3+ 13. Bxc3 Nxf2 14. Kxf2 e4 15.Qc2 Bf5 16. Qa2 exf3 17. exf3 dxc4 18. bxc4 Be6 19. d5 Bf7 20. Rhe1 c6 21. Bb4Re8 22. Rxe8+ Qxe8 23. Re1 Qd8 24. f4 cxd5 25. cxd5 Nxd5 26. Bxd5 Bxd5 27. Qd2Qb6+ 28. Qe3 Qa6 29. g4 Bf7 30. Qd4 h6 31. Re7 Qc6 32. Kg3 Re8 33. Rxe8+ Qxe834. Qxa7 Bd5 35. Qc5 Qe6 36. Qe7 Qb6 37. Qc5 Qe6 38. Qe7 Qb6 39. Qc5 1/2-1/2[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "3.2"][White "Carlse n, Magnus"][black "Nakamur a, Hikaru"][Result "1/2-1/2"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2872"][blackElo "2776"][ECO "B51"][Opening "Sicilian"][Variation "Canal-Sokolsky (Nimzovich-Rossolimo, Moscow) attack"][WhiteFideId "1503014"][blackFideId "2016192"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. Re1 b5 7. c4 Ne5 8. Bf1Nxc4 9. a4 Bd7 10. d4 cxd4 11. Nxd4 e5 12. axb5 exd4 13. Bxc4 axb5 14. Rxa8 Qxa815. Bb3 Be7 16. Qxd4 O-O 17. Nc3 b4 18. Qxb4 Rb8 19. Qc4 Be6 20. Nd5 Bd8 21. h3h6 22. Bf4 Qb7 23. Bc2 Ba5 24. Rd1 Bxd5 25. exd5 Rc8 26. Qb3 Qxb3 27. Bxb3 Rb828. Bc4 Rxb2 29. Bxd6 Bb6 30. Be5 Rxf2 31. Kh2 Rf5 32. Bg3 h5 33. d6 Rc5 34. Be2Ne4 35. d7 Bd8 36. Bb8 Nf6 37. Bf3 Kh7 38. Bf4 g5 39. Be3 Rb5 40. Bc6 Ra5 41.Bd4 Kg6 42. Kh1 Ra6 43. Rc1 h4 44. Kg1 Be7 45. Bb5 Rd6 46. Bc5 Rxd7 47. Bxd7Bxc5+ 48. Rxc5 Nxd7 49. Rc6+ f6 50. Kf2 Ne5 51. Rc3 Kf5 52. Ke3 Nd7 53. Rb3 Nf854. Rb5+ Kg6 55. Ke4 Ne6 56. Rb2 Nf4 57. Ra2 Ne6 58. Kd5 Nf4+ 59. Kd6 g4 60.hxg4 Kg5 61. Ke7 Kxg4 62. Kxf6 Kg3 63. Kf5 Nxg2 64. Ra3+ Kf2 65. Kg4 Ne3+ 66.Kxh4 Kf3 67. Ra4 Nf5+ 68. Kg5 Ne3 69. Ra3 Ke4 70. Rxe3+ Kxe3 1/2-1/2[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "3.3"][White "Anan d, Viswanathan"][black "Caruan a, Fabiano"][Result "0-1"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2773"][blackElo "2781"][ECO "B41"][Opening "Sicilian"][Variation "Kan variation"][WhiteFideId "5000017"][blackFideId "2020009"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Be2 Nf6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. O-O Bc5 8. Bg5Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Kh1 d5 11. Bd3 Be7 12. f4 Bb7 13. Qe1 h6 14. Bh4 O-O 15. e5Ne8 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Ne2 c5 18. c3 a5 19. Ng1 Ba6 20. Bxa6 Rxa6 21. c4 Nc7 22.b3 a4 23. Nf3 Rfa8 24. Rb1 axb3 25. axb3 Ra2 26. Rf2 Qd7 27. Rxa2 Rxa2 28. h3Na6 29. Ra1 Rxa1 30. Qxa1 Nb4 31. Qa8+ Kh7 32. Qf8 Nd3 33. f5 exf5 34. Qd6 Qa735. Qxd5 Nf4 36. Qd2 Ne6 37. Kh2 Qb7 38. Qd3 g6 39. Kg1 Kg7 40. Kf2 Qa8 41. Qc2Qa1 42. Qd2 Qb1 43. Qc3 Kg8 44. Ne1 Ng5 45. Qc2 Qa1 46. Nd3 Ne4+ 47. Ke3 Qg1+48. Kf3 Qh2 49. Ne1 Qxe5 50. Ke2 Qg3 51. Qd3 Qf2+ 52. Kd1 Qb2 53. Qc2 Qd4+ 54.Ke2 h5 55. Qd3 Qe5 56. Kf1 Qf4+ 57. Ke2 Kg7 58. Qe3 Qe5 59. Nd3 Qh2 60. Nxc5Qxg2+ 61. Ke1 Ng5 62. h4 Nf3+ 63. Kd1 Qg4 64. Kc2 f4 65. Qe7 Qf5+ 66. Kc3 Ne567. Qg5 Qxg5 68. hxg5 h4 69. Ne4 Ng4 70. Kd4 0-1[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "4.1"][White "Anan d, Viswanathan"][black "Gelfan d, Boris"][Result "1/2-1/2"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2773"][blackElo "2761"][ECO "B92"][Opening "Sicilian"][Variation "Najdorf, Opovcensky variation"][WhiteFideId "5000017"][blackFideId "2805677"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3Be6 9. Nd5 Nbd7 10. Qd3 Bxd5 11. exd5 O-O 12. O-O Nc5 13. Qd2 Nfe4 14. Qb4 a515. Qc4 Rc8 16. Qb5 b6 17. f3 Nf6 18. Rfd1 Nh5 19. g3 g6 20. Nxc5 bxc5 21. Bd2Ra8 22. f4 Ng7 23. fxe5 dxe5 24. Be3 Rb8 25. Qc4 Nf5 26. Bf2 Rxb2 27. Rab1 Rb428. Rxb4 cxb4 29. Qc6 Bd6 30. c4 bxc3 31. Qxc3 e4 32. Bg4 Bb4 33. Qb3 e3 34.Bxe3 Nxe3 35. Qxe3 Re8 36. Qd4 Bd6 37. Kg2 Qc7 38. Rd2 h5 39. Re2 Rxe2+ 40. Bxe2Qc2 41. Qc4 Qd2 42. a4 Qe3 43. Qd3 Qe5 44. Bf3 Kg7 45. Bd1 h4 46. Qf3 hxg3 47.hxg3 Qd4 48. g4 Qd2+ 49. Kf1 Bc5 50. Bb3 Qc1+ 51. Ke2 Qb2+ 52. Kd1 Bb4 53. Qe3Bd6 54. Bc2 Qa1+ 55. Ke2 Qh1 56. Qc3+ Kg8 57. Qc8+ Kg7 58. Qc3+ Kg8 59. Qc8+ Kg760. Qc3+ Kh7 61. Qf3 Qh2+ 62. Kd3 Kg8 63. Qe4 Bb4 64. Kc4 Qc7+ 65. Kb5 Qb7+ 66.Kc4 Qc8+ 67. Kd3 Qc3+ 68. Ke2 Qe1+ 69. Kf3 Qf1+ 70. Ke3 Bd6 71. Kd4 Qf2+ 72. Kd3Bb4 73. Qe3 Qg2 74. Qe4 Qd2+ 75. Kc4 Qc3+ 76. Kb5 Qc5+ 77. Ka6 Qc8+ 78. Kb5 Bd679. Bd1 Qc5+ 80. Ka6 Qc8+ 81. Kb5 Kh7 82. Bc2 Qc5+ 83. Ka6 Bc7 84. Kb7 Qb6+ 85.Kc8 Bd6 86. Qc4 Qb8+ 87. Kd7 Qf8 88. Qe4 Qb8 89. Qc4 Qf8 90. Qe4 Qb8 91. Qc4 1/2-1/2[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "4.2"][White "Caruan a, Fabiano"][black "Carlse n, Magnus"][Result "1-0"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2781"][blackElo "2872"][ECO "A05"][Opening "Reti opening"][WhiteFideId "2020009"][blackFideId "1503014"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bf5 5. d3 e6 6. c4 Nbd7 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Be3Bc5 9. Bxc5 Nxc5 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Qd2 h6 12. Rfc1 Rc8 13. b4 Ncd7 14. a4 Qe7 15.Nb5 a6 16. Nbd4 Bg6 17. Nb3 e5 18. Nh4 Bh7 19. Bh3 d4 20. Nf3 Rxc1+ 21. Rxc1 Nb622. a5 Nbd5 23. Rc5 Rd8 24. Na1 e4 25. Nxd4 exd3 26. exd3 Bxd3 27. Qxd3 Nxb4 28.Qc3 Ne4 29. Nf5 Qf8 30. Qxb4 Nxc5 31. Nc2 Nd3 32. Qc3 g6 33. Nfd4 Nc5 34. Bg2Qd6 35. h4 h5 36. Qe3 Qf6 37. Nf3 Qf5 38. Nfd4 Qf6 39. Kh2 Kg7 40. Qc3 Nd7 41.f4 b5 42. Nb4 Nb8 43. Nd5 b4 44. Nf5+ 1-0[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "4.3"][White "Nakamur a, Hikaru"][black "Aronia n, Levon"][Result "1-0"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2776"][blackElo "2826"][ECO "A01"][Opening "Nimzovich-Larsen attack"][Variation "classical variation"][WhiteFideId "2016192"][blackFideId "13300474"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. b3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bb2 Bf5 4. h3 h6 5. Nf3 e6 6. c4 Be7 7. g4 Bh7 8. Rg1 Nbd79. cxd5 exd5 10. h4 Ne4 11. g5 hxg5 12. hxg5 O-O 13. d3 Bb4+ 14. Nbd2 Nxd2 15.Nxd2 c5 16. a3 Bxd2+ 17. Qxd2 Re8 18. f4 Qb6 19. Kf2 Qxb3 20. g6 Bxg6 21. f5 d422. e4 Bxf5 23. exf5 Re3 24. Rb1 Qd5 25. Rxg7+ Kf8 26. Rg2 Ne5 27. Qd1 Re8 28.Bc1 b6 29. Qh5 Qf3+ 30. Qxf3 Rxf3+ 31. Kg1 Rxf5 32. Rf2 Rh5 33. Bf4 Re6 34. Be2Rh3 35. Rd1 Ke7 36. Kg2 Rh8 37. Bh2 Rg6+ 38. Kf1 f6 39. Ke1 Ng4 40. Bxg4 Rxg441. Kd2 Rg6 42. a4 Rhg8 43. Re1+ Kd7 44. Ree2 Kc6 45. Kc2 f5 46. Kb3 Rf8 47. Re7f4 48. Rxa7 Re6 49. Kc4 Re1 50. Bxf4 Rc1+ 51. Bxc1 Rxf2 52. Kb3 Rf3 53. Kc2 c454. dxc4 Rc3+ 55. Kb2 Rxc4 56. Bd2 d3 57. Kb3 Rc2 58. Bf4 Rf2 59. Rc7+ Kd5 60.Rd7+ Kc6 61. Rc7+ Kd5 62. Be3 Rf1 63. Rd7+ Ke4 64. Bxb6 Rb1+ 65. Kc4 Rxb6 66.Rxd3 Ra6 67. Ra3 Ra5 68. Kb4 Ra8 69. Kc5 Rc8+ 70. Kb6 Kd5 71. a5 Kd6 72. Rd3+Ke7 73. a6 Rb8+ 74. Kc7 Rb1 75. Re3+ Kf7 76. Ra3 Rc1+ 77. Kb6 Rb1+ 78. Ka5 1-0[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "5.1"][White "Gelfan d, Boris"][black "Nakamur a, Hikaru"][Result "0-1"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2761"][blackElo "2776"][ECO "A80"][Opening "Dutch"][WhiteFideId "2805677"][blackFideId "2016192"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bd3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-ONc6 9. Ne2 O-O 10. c4 Nb4 11. Nc3 Nxd3 12. Qxd3 dxc4 13. Qxc4 Qe7 14. Rac1 Bd715. Ne5 b5 16. Qb3 Rfc8 17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18. Rfd1 Qf7 19. a4 b4 20. Ne2 a5 21. h3h6 22. Be5 Nd7 23. Bg3 Bf8 24. Nd4 e5 25. Qxf7+ Kxf7 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Nxf5 Ke628. e4 Rc2 29. Rd5 Rc5 30. Ne3 Nb6 31. Rd8 Be7 32. Re8 Kf7 33. Rb8 Nxa4 34. Nd5Bf6 35. Rb7+ Kg6 36. f4 exf4 37. Nxf4+ Kh7 38. Ne6 Rc6 39. e5 Bg5 40. Nxg7 Nc541. Ra7 Kg6 42. Ne8 a4 43. h4 Be3+ 44. Kh2 a3 45. bxa3 b3 46. h5+ Kxh5 47. e6Nxe6 48. Rb7 Rb6 49. Rxb6 0-1[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "5.2"][White "Aronia n, Levon"][black "Caruan a, Fabiano"][Result "1/2-1/2"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2826"][blackElo "2781"][ECO "A04"][Opening "Reti opening"][WhiteFideId "13300474"][blackFideId "2020009"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 f5 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 g6 5. h3 Bg7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O e6 8. Bh2 Nc69. Nbd2 Qe7 10. c3 b6 11. b4 a5 12. Qb3 Bb7 13. a3 h6 14. c4 Nd8 15. c5 axb4 16.axb4 Nf7 17. Nh4 Kh7 18. cxd6 cxd6 19. Nc4 Bd5 20. Qb2 Ne4 21. Nf3 Qb7 22. b5Rfc8 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. Ra1 Rxa1+ 25. Qxa1 Qc7 26. Nfd2 Nxd2 27. Nxd2 e5 28. Bf3Bxf3 29. Nxf3 Qc4 30. Qf1 Qb4 31. Kh1 Ng5 32. Nxg5+ hxg5 33. dxe5 dxe5 34. f3 e435. fxe4 Qxe4 36. Qc1 Be5 37. Qc6 Qb1+ 38. Bg1 Bg3 39. Qd7+ Kh6 40. Qd4 Kh7 41.Qd7+ Kh6 42. Qd4 Kh7 1/2-1/2[Event "Zurich CC Rapid 2014"][site "Zurich SUI"][Date "2014.02.04"][Round "5.3"][White "Carlse n, Magnus"][black "Anan d, Viswanathan"][Result "1/2-1/2"][WhiteTitle "GM"][blackTitle "GM"][WhiteElo "2872"][blackElo "2773"][ECO "C67"][Opening "Ruy Lopez"][Variation "Berlin defence, open variation"][WhiteFideId "1503014"][blackFideId "5000017"][EventDate "2014.02.04"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. Bf4 d5 14. Bd3 g615. Nd2 Ng7 16. Nf3 Bf5 17. Bxf5 Nxf5 18. Qe2 c6 19. Re1 Ng7 20. Be5 Ne6 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Ne5 Re8 23. Ng4 Qd8 24. Qe5 Ng7 25. Qxe8+ Nxe8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27.Nf6+ Kf8 28. Nxe8 Kxe8 29. f4 f5 30. Kf2 Kf7 31. b4 b5 32. g3 Kf6 33. Kf3 Ke634. Ke3 Kf6 35. Kf3 Ke6 1/2-1/2

Aronian's defeat against Caruana in the fifth round of the Zurich tournament could have a consequence: less people will be inclined to try something other than the ugly Berlin defence against the Ruy Lopez! Truth be told, however, Levon's defeat had little to do with the opening, as he had equalized. The endgame does seem a little more comfortable for Fabiano... It is a little surprising that Aronian's loss should happen in the last round of the tournament, just like it happened in the recent Tata Steel tournament. Does he tend to relax a little in the last rounds? Carlsen played a Berlin against Anand and Vishy achieved very little. They only played on to avoid having to play a blitz game. This is not Nakamura´s tournament, so his draw offer on move 21 against Gelfand did not come as much of a surprise. 5 rapid games will now follow (with reversed colours), the 5 games being played in one day. It will be hard to catch Magnus, as he's on 8 points, the slow games being worth double points...

No draws today in Zurich. Carlsen played an amazing game and defeating Caruana very convincingly (from a rather insipid opening position, as usual!). See analysis below. Anand played his best game so far and managed to beat Gelfand. Nakamura hasn't fully recovered from yesterday's dramatic loss against Carlsen and it showed in his game against Aronian, who got a very good game out of the opening. [pgn][Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.02"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Carlse n, Magnus"] [black "Caruan a, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [blackElo "2782"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {Javier: Could this be the new weapon against the Berlin defence? It didn't end too well for Anan d against Nakamura in round 2, but white did seem a little better out of the opening in that game, a detail that probably didn't scape Carlse n's attention!} Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 { Javier: White's basically playing an delayed exchange variation of a Ruy Lopez where black's pieces are not ideally posted as the N on f6 isn't doing much and, as the above mentioned game between Anan d and Nakamura showed, neither is the c5 B doing that much.} 6. h3 Nd7 {Javier: Nakamura chose 6...Be6 followed by Qd6.} 7. Be3 Bd6 (7... Bxe3 8. fxe3 {Javier: With some play along the f-file later on. White's pawns control important central squares also.}) 8. Nc3 c5 9. O-O Nf8 10. Nd2 {Heading for c4 and preparing f4 later.} Ng6 11. Nc4 Be6 12. Ne2 {Javier: White isn't worried about black taking on c4 because that would leave black with an awful B.} Qd7 {Javier: Both Caruan a and Carlse n were critical of this move in analysis room, but I pretty much doubt that this move would make much difference in a position like this, which is basically equal. Carlse n mentioned that 12...0-0 seemed more natural.} 13. Nxd6+ cxd6 (13... Qxd6 $5 14. f4 exf4 15. Nxf4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 Qd7 (16... Qe7 17. Qf3 O-O-O { Javier: This is possible also.}) 17. Qh5 b6 18. Be5 O-O-O (18... O-O 19. Qg5 $1 ) 19. Bxg7 Rhg8 {Javier: Black gets play along the g-file.} 20. Bf6 (20. Qxh7 $4 f6 $19) (20. Qh6 $2 f5 $1 $17) 20... Bxh3 21. Rf2 Rde8 22. Kh1 Bg4 (22... Be6 {Javier: Perhaps this is a better square for the B, as f7 might need protection later.}) 23. Qxh7 Rg6 $44 {Javier: Black has compensation.}) 14. f4 exf4 15. Nxf4 Nxf4 16. Rxf4 b6 (16... O-O $11 {Javier: This seems like a most reasonable alternative.} 17. Qh5 f5) 17. Qh5 d5 (17... O-O-O 18. a4 $14 {Would be slightly uncomfortable for black.}) 18. d4 c4 (18... cxd4 19. Bxd4 O-O-O 20. Bxg7 Rhg8 21. Bf6 Bxh3 22. Bxd8 {Javier: And black doesn't have enough.}) 19. b3 Qc6 (19... cxb3 $2 20. axb3 $16 {Javier: This would be just bad for black as now exd followed by c4 will be hard to stop.}) (19... Rc8 {Javier: This was a reasonable alternative. Black will castle short.}) 20. Raf1 O-O-O 21. bxc4 Qxc4 22. Rxf7 $3 {Javier: A powerful exchange sacrifice. In Carlse n's words, "it was always going to be quite difficult for the black K"} Bxf7 23. Rxf7 Rd7 24. Rxd7 Kxd7 25. exd5 $16 {Javier: Black's K is vulnerable indeed. Qf7 is the immediate threat.} g6 26. Qg4+ Kc7 27. Qe6 Kb7 28. Qe7+ (28. Qf6 $5 {Javier: This was, perhaps, stronger.} Qe2 $5 (28... Rc8 29. d6 Qc6 30. Qe7+ $18) 29. Bf2 Rc8 30. d6 Rxc2 31. Qf7+ $1 (31. d7 Qd1+ 32. Kh2 Rxf2 33. Qxf2 Kc7 34. Qh4 $16) 31... Ka6 32. d7 $18) 28... Qc7 29. Qe4 Qd7 30. d6+ Ka6 31. Bf4 Rc8 32. Kh2 {Javier: The basic problem for black is that his pieces can never become active, as they have to keep an eye on the d-pawn. This gives white enough time to maneuver.} Rc4 33. Bg3 (33. Qe7 $6 Qxe7 34. dxe7 Rc8 35. d5 Kb7 $1 { Javier: And the ending is not so clear now as white can't advance his PP.} ( 35... Kb5 $4 36. Be3 $1 $18 {Javier: And c4! is next no matter what black does. })) 33... Rc8 34. Qd3+ Kb7 35. c4 {Javier: Black can only wait.} Qc6 36. Qb3 Ka8 (36... Qxc4 $2 37. d7 $18) 37. a4 Re8 38. a5 Kb7 (38... bxa5 39. c5 h5 40. Qc4 Rc8 41. Qe6 a4 42. d5 $1 Qxc5 43. d7 Rd8 44. Qc6+ Qxc6 45. dxc6 $18) 39. c5 Kc8 40. axb6 axb6 41. d5 $1 Qxc5 42. Qa4 Re3 (42... Rd8 43. Qa8+ Kd7 44. Qb7+ Ke8 45. Qe7#) 43. Qa8+ Kd7 44. Qb7+ Ke8 45. d7+ Kd8 46. Bh4+ Re7 47. Qc8+ { Javier: Black resigned. A truly impressive victory by Carlse n.} 1-0 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.02"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [black "Anan d, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [blackElo "2773"] [ECO "D11"] [Opening "QGD Slav"] [Variation "4.e3"] [WhiteFideId "2805677"] [blackFideId "5000017"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8. Nh4 Bb4 9. Qb3 Qe7 10. Bd2 a5 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. f3 a4 14. Qc2 a3 15. b3 Nbd7 16. O-O-O O-O 17. Kb1 Rfc8 18. h4 Nb6 19. g5 Nh5 20. Bh3 Re8 21. Rhe1 Rad8 22. Bg4 Qd6 23. Ne2 Bxd2 24. Qxd2 Nd7 25. Nf4 Nxf4 26. exf4 f5 27. gxf6 Nxf6 28. Re5 Nxg4 29. fxg4 Rxe5 30. fxe5 Qe7 31. Rh1 Rf8 32. h5 Qf7 33. h6 Qf3 34. Re1 gxh6 35. e6 Re8 36. g5 Qf5+ 0-1 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.02"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [blackElo "2789"] [ECO "E63"] [Opening "King's Indian"] [Variation "fianchetto, Panno variation"] [WhiteFideId "13300474"] [blackFideId "2016192"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 d6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. d4 a6 8. h3 Rb8 9. e4 b5 10. d5 b4 11. Ne2 Na5 12. Qc2 c6 13. Nfd4 cxd5 14. exd5 Qc7 15. b3 e5 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. a3 bxa3 18. Bd2 Nb7 19. Rxa3 e5 20. Nc6 Ra8 21. Nb4 a5 22. Qa2 Bf5 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. Bxd5+ Kh8 25. b4 Bxh3 26. Rb1 Bf5 27. Rb2 Bd7 28. bxa5 Bc6 29. Nc3 Nc5 30. Be3 e4 31. a6 Nd3 32. Rb7 Qc8 33. Nxe4 Bxd5 34. cxd5 Qg4 35. Rxd3 Qxe4 36. Rdb3 Qxd5 37. Qe2 Qc6 38. a7 d5 39. Rxg7 Kxg7 40. Bd4+ Kh6 41. Qe3+ Kh5 42. g4+ Kh4 43. Qh6+ Kxg4 44. Qh3+ Kf4 45. Rf3+ 1-0[/pgn]

Round 3 at Zurich. Nakamura had Carlsen against the ropes today, but Magnus still managed to scape with the full point. A game worthy of study, no doubt! See full annotations below. Aronian-Gelfand was a draw where not very much happened. Although longer, not much happened in Caruana-Anand either. You can view all games by clicking on the menu above the little board. [pgn][Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.01"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Nakamur a, Hikaru"] [black "Carlse n, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [blackElo "2872"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 {Javier: This is still one of the sharpest systems against the Nimzo-Indian defence. Unfortunately 4.Qc2 has become so popular that people have just given up on finding anything else!} d5 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 e5 8. d5 Bc5 9. Bg5 {Javier: This is probably a better move than 9.Nf3, as it avoids the tricky line with 9.Nf3 Ng4.} (9. Nf3 Ng4 $1 10. b4 Bf2+ 11. Ke2 {Javier: And now 11...c5!? 12.h3 Bd4 is one interesting idea, although 11...Bh4!? has also been tried.}) 9... O-O $6 {Javier: This and Carlse n's next few moves seem a little mechanical, as though he wasn't really aware of the danger.} (9... h6 $1 {Javier: I think this is a better move in this position.} 10. Bh4 Bd4 11. Nb5 $6 {Javier: This is what GM Malaniuk chose when he first played this position. It's interesting because he also plays the Nimzo-Indian defence as black, and he too took up this move a couple of years later.} (11. Nce2 Nxe4 12. Qxd4 Qxh4+ 13. g3 exd4 14. gxh4 c5 $1 15. dxc6 Nxc6 16. Rd1 Bg4 (16... d3 $1 17. Rxd3 O-O {Javier: With a extremely difficult position for white.}) 17. Bg2 f5 {And later white was able to draw, but he's struggling here. 1/2-1/2 Kutuzovic,B (2375)-Malaniuk,V (2505) Pula 1990.}) (11. Nge2 Nxe4 $1 12. Qa4+ Bd7 13. Bxd8 Bf2+ 14. Kd1 Bxa4+ 15. Nxa4 Kxd8 $17) 11... Bxb2 12. Rb1 a6 13. Bxf6 {Javier: Exploiting the fact that c7 is hanging.} (13. Rxb2 axb5 $17 {Javier: And the P on a3 is hanging and white's position is full of weaknesses.}) 13... gxf6 14. Qa4 (14. Nxc7+ Qxc7 15. Rxb2 Qa5+ 16. Qd2 Qxa3 17. Bd3 $13) 14... axb5 $1 15. Qxa8 Bc3+ 16. Kd1 Na6 17. Kc2 O-O $3 (17... Bd4 {Javier: Nothing wrong with this move, black has excellent compensation for the exchange.}) 18. Kxc3 Qd6 19. Rxb5 c6 20. Ra5 cxd5 21. Rxa6 (21. exd5 Qb6 $17) (21. cxd5 Qc7+ $19) 21... bxa6 22. Qxd5 Qb6 23. Qd3 Rd8 24. Qg3+ Kh7 25. Bd3 Qa5+ 26. Kc2 Bd7 27. Ne2 Ba4+ 28. Kc1 Bb3 29. Rf1 Qxa3+ 30. Kd2 Bxc4 $19 31. Nc1 Qb2+ 32. Kd1 Bxd3 {0-1 Malaniuk,V (2515)-Kveinys,A (2345)/Minsk 1988/ EXT 1998}) 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 {Javier: I think white has a clear advantage here. White's not only got the 2 BB, those PP in the center are very powerful. White has more space.} Nbd7 13. O-O-O {Javier: As the game goes on, it becomes clear that white's attacking chances on the Kside are much better than black's ones on the Qside.} Bd4 14. Ne2 c5 15. g4 a5 16. Kb1 Ra6 17. Ng3 g6 18. h4 {Javier: White hasn't done anything out of the ordinary and yet, his attack progesses smoothly.} a4 19. Rh2 Qa5 20. Bd2 Qc7 21. g5 Ne8 22. h5 Rb6 { Javier: The first threat, but a very easy one to stop.} 23. Bc1 Rb3 24. Qg4 ( 24. Rd3 {There was nothing wrong with this, but Hiraku wants to use this R to double up along the h-file.}) 24... Nb6 25. Be2 Nd6 26. Rdh1 $6 (26. hxg6 $1 { Javier: This simple move seems to give white a winning advantage.} fxg6 27. Qe6+ Qf7 (27... Rf7 28. Nf5 $3 gxf5 29. g6 hxg6 30. Rdh1 $18) 28. Rdh1 $1 h5 ( 28... Rxg3 29. Rxh7 Qxe6 30. dxe6 $18) 29. Nxh5 $1 gxh5 30. Rxh5 $18) 26... Bxb2 {Javier: Carlse n senses that this is his only chance to stay alive.} ( 26... Nbxc4 27. Bxc4 Nxc4 28. hxg6 Bxb2 (28... fxg6 29. Qe6+ $18) 29. Bxb2 { Javier: Transposing into the game.}) 27. Bxb2 Nbxc4 28. Bxc4 Nxc4 29. hxg6 Qb6 (29... fxg6 30. Qe6+ $1 Kh8 31. Qxg6 $18) (29... Nxb2 30. g7 $1 (30. gxh7+ Kh8 31. Rxb2 Qb6 32. Rhh2 c4 {Javier: And no matter what the computers say, this position is not clear at all!}) 30... Nd3+ 31. Kc2 $1 (31. Ka2 Nb4+ 32. axb4 cxb4 33. gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 {Javier: And black seems to have enough to draw here as those pawns support the R checks on a3 and b3.}) 31... Rxa3 32. Qh5 $1 $18) 30. g7 $6 {Javier: Probably not the best, but it shouldn't spoil the win.} (30. gxf7+ $1 Rxf7 31. Nh5 $3 Rxb2+ 32. Ka1 $18 {Javier: And black's counterattack has run out of steam, but white's one is unstoppable.}) 30... Rd8 31. Qh4 Rxb2+ 32. Ka1 Rxh2 33. Rxh2 Qg6 34. Nf5 Re8 (34... Rd7 $2 35. Qg4 $1 $18) 35. Qg4 Qb6 36. Qh3 Qg6 37. d6 $4 (37. Qf1 $3 $18 {Javier: This was incredibly strong. Not only is the N threatened, white's preparing Rxh7!! next.} b5 38. Rxh7 $3 Qxh7 ( 38... Kxh7 39. Qh3+ $18) 39. Nh6+ Qxh6 40. gxh6 $18) 37... Nxd6 $1 38. Nxd6 Rd8 $1 {Javier: Although white shouldn't lose here, putting oneself together after having been so close is incredibly difficult.} 39. Nc4 (39. Nf5 $4 Rd1+ 40. Ka2 (40. Kb2 Qb6+ $19) 40... Qe6+ 41. Kb2 Qb6+ $19) (39. Nc8 $1 {Javier: This has the virtue of not only threaten Ne7, but also cover the b6 square to prevent the Q check in some variations.} Kxg7 40. Ne7 Rd1+ 41. Ka2 Qe6+ 42. Qxe6 fxe6 43. Rh6 {Javier: And white should definitely not lose this position. In fact, he might have winning chances...}) 39... Qxe4 {Javier: With white's K so exposed and with so many PP for the piece, Carlse n has turned the tables.} 40. Qh5 Rd3 $1 41. Rh4 Qf5 $1 $19 42. Qe2 b5 43. Nd2 Qxg5 $2 (43... Rxa3+ $1 { Javier: This was stronger.} 44. Kb2 Rg3 45. Ne4 a3+ 46. Ka2 Qe6+ $19) 44. Qxd3 Qxh4 45. Ne4 Kxg7 46. Qf3 Qf4 {"All your ending belong to us". } 47. Qg2+ Kf8 48. Kb2 h5 49. Nd2 h4 50. Kc2 b4 51. axb4 cxb4 52. Qa8+ Kg7 53. Qxa4 h3 54. Qb3 h2 55. Qd5 e4 $1 56. Qh5 e3 57. Nf3 e2 58. Kb3 f6 59. Ne1 Qg3+ 60. Ka4 Qg1 61. Qxe2 Qa7+ {Javier: A most disappointing game for Nakamur a, but he's getting closer and closer. He deserved better! This was a terrific fighting gae though. ..} 0-1 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.01"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Aronia n, Levon"] [black "Gelfan d, Boris"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [blackElo "2777"] [ECO "E60"] [Opening "King's Indian"] [Variation "3.g3"] [WhiteFideId "13300474"] [blackFideId "2805677"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Ne5 Ne4 8. Nd2 Nxd2 9. Bxd2 O-O 10. O-O Nd7 11. Bc3 Nf6 12. Qb3 Ne4 13. Bxe4 dxe4 14. Rfd1 Qb6 15. Qxb6 axb6 16. Nc4 Be6 17. d5 Bg4 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Kf1 b5 20. Ne3 Bd7 21. a3 Rfc8 22. Rac1 Kf6 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. d6 e6 25. Ng4+ Kf5 26. Ne3+ Kf6 27. Ng4+ Kf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.01"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Caruan a, Fabiano"] [black "Anan d, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [blackElo "2773"] [ECO "D11"] [Opening "QGD Slav"] [Variation "4.e3"] [WhiteFideId "2020009"] [blackFideId "5000017"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. d4 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Ne5 Bb4 10. Bd2 Nd7 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. a3 Ba5 13. Bg2 g5 14. Qc2 Rc8 15. Rd1 Bc7 16. Ne2 Nf8 17. Qb3 Rb8 18. e4 Nf4 19. Bxf4 Bxf4 20. h4 e5 21. d5 Ng6 22. dxc6 Qa5+ 23. Nc3 O-O 24. cxb7 Qc7 25. Nd5 Qxb7 26. Qxb7 Rxb7 27. b4 gxh4 28. Bf1 Bg5 29. Rh3 Rd8 30. Bc4 Rbb8 31. Rhd3 Rdc8 32. Bb3 Rb7 33. a4 a6 34. Rb1 Nf8 35. Nc3 Ng6 36. Nd5 Nf8 37. Nc3 Ng6 38. Nd5 Nf8 39. Nc3 Ng6 40. Nd5 Nf8 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

It's sad to see Anand losing 2 games in a row. His next tournament will be the candidates and if he scores badly for the rest of the tournament (he still has to play against Carlsen!), I doubt he'll be able to recover psychologically for that event. Vishy had doubts about taking part in it to begin with, although he did confirm that he'd be taking part. Truth be told, Nakamura played a formidable game against him... Meanwhile Carlsen didn't get much out of the opening against Aronian and had to fight for the draw. Gelfand-Nakamura was a very interesting draw. Gelfand seemed a little worse at several points, but ended up a pawn up, although Fabiano was never in serious danger or losing. First game is annotated. You can view the other games by clicking on the menu above the little board. [pgn][Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.01.31"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Anan d, Viswanathan"] [black "Nakamur a, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [blackElo "2789"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {Javier: I guess Anan d is keeping his anti-Berlin preparation for the candidates...} Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. h3 (6. Nxe5 $4 Qd4 7. Be3 Qxe5 8. d4 Qxe4 9. dxc5 Qxg2 10. Rf1 Bh3 11. Nd2 O-O-O $19) 6... Be6 7. Nc3 {Javier: A new move in this position, but it's unlikely to catch on given the result this game...} Qd6 8. O-O O-O-O 9. a3 Nh5 10. Na4 Bb6 11. Nxb6+ axb6 12. a4 {Javier: White's position looks a little bit more comfortable to play.} f6 13. Be3 (13. Ng5 fxg5 (13... g6 14. Nxe6 Qxe6 15. Be3 Nf4 16. a5 b5 17. a6 b6 18. Bxf4 exf4 {Javier: And although the chess engines give white the advantage here (+0.89), I very much doubt this will amount to anything serious. }) 14. Qxh5 h6 $11) 13... Nf4 {Javier: If white keeps still, black will play .. .g5 and things could get nasty for white on the Kside.} 14. a5 b5 15. d4 $2 { Javier: Missing an excellent opportunity with 15.a6!.} (15. a6 $1 b6 (15... bxa6 16. Rxa6 g5 17. Qd2 Rhg8 18. Rfa1 g4 19. hxg4 Rxg4 20. g3 $16 {Javier: And white's attack is far more dangerous than black's.}) (15... g5 $2 16. a7 Kd7 17. d4 $1 $18) 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Re1 {Javier: White's got better chances here.} Kb8 18. e5 fxe5 19. Nxe5 $16) 15... Nxh3+ $1 16. gxh3 Bxh3 17. dxe5 (17. Re1 Qd7 $1 18. Nd2 exd4 19. Bf4 g5 20. Bh2) 17... Qe6 (17... Qb4 18. Nd2 Bxf1 19. Kxf1 fxe5 20. a6 b6 $13) 18. Nd2 Bxf1 19. Qxf1 Qxe5 {Javier: Objectively, white's still doing ok here, but the position is unbalanced and black's not without chances on the Kside.} 20. c3 Kb8 21. a6 b6 22. Qg2 Rd6 23. Nf1 $2 { Javier: Too passive.} (23. Qxg7 {Javier: This daring move is perhaps not as risky as it seems, as white's King will be pretty safe on f1.} Rdd8 24. Kf1 Rhg8 25. Qh6 Rxd2 $5 {Javier: Makes sense, as white's N is what's keeping white's position together.} (25... Qd6 26. f3 Qd3+ 27. Kf2 Qc2 28. Rg1 Rxd2+ 29. Bxd2 Rd8 30. Ke1 Qb1+ 31. Bc1 Qc2 32. Bd2 Qb1+ 33. Bc1 $11) 26. Bxd2 Qxe4 27. a7+ Ka8 28. Re1 Qd3+ 29. Re2 Re8 30. Be3 Rg8 {Javier: And black will have no trouble getting a draw here, as Qb1+ and Qd3+ is basically unstoppable.} 31. Qxf6 Qb1+ 32. Re1 Qd3+ $11) 23... f5 $1 {[%cal Gd6g6] Javier: Threatening Rg6. Yes, white will block on g3 with his N later, but then black will advance his h P and white's going to need to start defending, which is not a good sign...} 24. exf5 Qxf5 25. Ng3 Qd7 26. Qe4 Ka7 27. Kg2 h5 $1 28. Qf5 Qe8 {Javier: Black avoids the exchange of QQ, as white's K is vulnerable and he'll need all his pieces to attack.} 29. Qe4 Qf7 30. Kh1 h4 31. Ne2 Re8 32. Qg4 Rg6 33. Qh3 $2 ( 33. Qf4 Qd5+ 34. f3 Qd7 {Javier: Protecting c7 and threatening ...Qh3.} 35. Ng1 {Javier: This was white's best chance, but I doubt he can survive here.}) 33... Qd5+ 34. Kh2 Rxe3 $1 35. fxe3 Qd2 36. Qf1 Rf6 {Javier: And Anan d resigned. A mighty exhibition of strength by Nakamura...} (36... Rf6 37. Qg2 Qxe3 38. Rf1 h3 $1 $19) 0-1 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.01.31"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Gelfan d, Boris"] [black "Caruan a, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [blackElo "2782"] [ECO "A88"] [Opening "Dutch"] [Variation "Leningrad, main variation with c6"] [WhiteFideId "2805677"] [blackFideId "2020009"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 f5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. b4 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. e4 Be6 11. exf5 gxf5 12. Nxe5 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Nfd7 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15. Bb2 Nb6 16. Rac1 Bxc4 17. Ba1 Rad8 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Bh3 Bd3 20. Nd1 Nc4 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. Bf1 Bxf1 23. Kxf1 Rd4 24. Ke2 Kf6 25. f3 Na3 26. Rc3 Nb5 27. Rb3 Rc4 28. Kd3 Rc1 29. Nc3 Rf1 30. Ke3 Re1+ 31. Kd3 Rf1 32. Ke3 Re1+ 33. Kd3 a6 34. a4 Nd6 35. Rb1 Rxb1 36. Nxb1 b5 37. axb5 axb5 38. Kd4 Nc4 39. Kc5 Ne5 40. Nd2 h5 41. f4 Nd3+ 42. Kxc6 Nxb4+ 43. Kxb5 Nd3 44. Nf3 Nf2 45. Kc6 Ng4 46. Kd6 h4 47. gxh4 Ne3 48. Ne5 Ng2 49. Nd7+ Kg7 50. Ke5 Nxh4 51. h3 Kf7 52. Nb8 Kg6 53. Nc6 Nf3+ 54. Ke6 Ng1 55. Ne5+ Kh5 56. Kxf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.01.31"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Carlse n, Magnus"] [black "Aronia n, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [blackElo "2812"] [ECO "A29"] [Opening "English"] [Variation "four knights, kingside fianchetto"] [WhiteFideId "1503014"] [blackFideId "13300474"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. a3 O-O 9. d3 Re8 10. b4 Bf8 11. Rb1 a5 12. b5 Nd4 13. e3 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 a4 15. Qe2 Ra7 16. Bb2 Be6 17. Rfc1 Qd7 18. Ne4 Ba2 19. Ra1 Bd5 20. Bg4 Qd8 21. Bc3 Nd7 22. Bf3 b6 23. Bb4 Bxb4 24. axb4 Qe7 25. Nc3 Bxf3 26. Qxf3 Nf6 27. Rxa4 Rxa4 28. Nxa4 Qxb4 29. Nc3 Qb2 30. Qd1 Rd8 31. Kg2 h6 32. h3 Rxd3 33. Qxd3 Qxc1 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. Qxc7 Ne4 36. Qxe5 Nxc3 37. Qf5+ Kg8 38. Qc8+ Kh7 39. Qf5+ Kh8 40. Qc8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Carlsen beat Gelfand (convincingly), Aronian won against Anand (convincingly also) and Nakamura-Caruana was a draw. First game is annotated. The other two can be viewed clicking on the board viewer menu, above the board. [pgn][Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.01.30"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Carlse n, Magnus"] [black "Gelfan d, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [blackElo "2777"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. c4 g6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 c6 {Javier: It's a pity that we didn't get to see a King's Indian Defence with ...0-0, ...d6, etc.} 5. Bg2 d5 6. Qa4 (6. O-O dxc4 {Javier: And now the logical} 7. Ne5 {can be met by} (7. Qc2 b5 $1) 7... Ng4 $1) 6... O-O 7. O-O Nfd7 8. Qc2 Nf6 {Javier: Although black has virtually wasted a tempo, the position doesn't really change very much.} (8... dxc4 {Javier: This is probably a more dynamic choice here.} 9. Qxc4 Na6 $5 { Javier: This was tried by Seirawan once. He played ...e5 next.}) 9. Bf4 Bf5 10. Qb3 Qb6 11. Nbd2 Ne4 12. e3 Qxb3 13. axb3 Na6 14. cxd5 cxd5 {Javier: If white doesn't play energetically now, he could easily fall into a rather difficult position. So he does!} 15. g4 $3 {Javier: Changing gears. This surprising pawn sacrifice actually works!} Bxg4 (15... Nxd2 16. Nxd2 Bd3 $2 (16... Be6 {This is slightly better, but white stands better after} 17. Ra5 $14) 17. Bxd5 $1 Bxf1 18. Kxf1 $1 $16 {Javier: With a rather difficult position for black.}) 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Nd2 f5 18. f3 $1 e5 {Javier: Gelfand tries to play actively rather than defend a difficult position.} (18... exf3 19. Nxf3 {Javier: And white's two BB, particularly the one on g2, give white plenty compensation for the sacrificed P.}) 19. dxe5 exf3 20. Nxf3 Rae8 21. Ra5 $1 Nb4 22. Nd4 (22. Rxa7 $5) 22... b6 23. Rxa7 Bxe5 24. Bh6 Rf6 (24... Rf7 25. Ra4 {Javier: Black can't move his N now, as that would allow Bd5.} Bd6 26. Nc6 Nxc6 27. Bxc6 { Javier: Hitting the R and threatening Bd5 again.} Rfe7 $5 {Javier: Perhaps the best chance.} (27... Re5 28. Ra8+ Bf8 29. e4 $1 {Javier: And Gelfand would probably be lost here. Bd5 is a new threat and black doesn't have too many waiting moves.}) 28. Bxe8 Rxe8 {Javier: And black's 2 BB give him some saving chances.}) 25. h3 Bh5 26. Nc2 $1 g5 (26... Nxc2 27. Bd5+ Rfe6 28. Rc1 Bf3 ( 28... Nb4 $2 29. Bxe6+ Kh8 30. Rcc7 $18) 29. Bxe6+ Rxe6 30. Rxc2 Re8 31. Bf4 Be4 32. Rd2 Bf6 33. Rd6 Bxb2 34. Rxb6 $16) 27. Bxg5 Rg6 (27... Nxc2 28. Bxf6 Nxe3 (28... Bxf6 29. Rxf5 $18) 29. Bxe5 Rxe5 30. Rc1 $18) 28. Rxf5 h6 (28... Nxc2 29. Bd5+ Kh8 30. Rxe5 $1 $18) 29. Bxh6 Rxh6 30. Nxb4 $16 Bxb2 31. Nd5 { Javier: White's pieces are just too active. The white R on a7 is the killer.} Kh8 32. Rb7 Bd1 33. b4 Rg8 34. Ne7 Rd8 35. Be4 Bf6 36. Rxb6 Kg7 37. Rf2 $18 { Javier: The R is coming to g2. Gelfand resigned.} 1-0 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.01.30"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Aronia n, Levon"] [black "Anan d, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [blackElo "2773"] [ECO "A13"] [Opening "English"] [Variation "Neo-Catalan accepted"] [WhiteFideId "13300474"] [blackFideId "5000017"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 a6 7. Qb3 Rb8 8. O-O b5 9. a4 Bb7 10. axb5 axb5 11. d3 Be7 12. Bf4 Nd5 13. Bd2 O-O 14. Rc1 c5 15. Ba5 Qe8 16. Nbd2 N5f6 17. Rab1 Bd5 18. Qd1 Ra8 19. b4 Ra6 20. e4 Bc6 21. Nb3 cxb4 22. Qd2 Bxe4 23. dxe4 Nxe4 24. Qc2 Nc3 25. Ra1 Nf6 26. Ne5 Nfd5 27. Nd3 Rc6 28. Bxd5 exd5 29. Re1 Rc4 30. f3 Qd7 31. Qf2 Bd6 32. Bb6 Qf5 33. Qe3 h5 34. Bd4 Rc7 35. Ra7 Rxa7 36. Bxa7 Ra8 37. Bc5 d4 38. Nxd4 Bxc5 39. Nxf5 Bxe3+ 40. Nxe3 b3 41. Nd1 Rc8 42. Nxc3 Rxc3 43. Rd1 b2 44. Nxb2 Rxf3 45. Rd8+ Kh7 46. Rd5 Rb3 47. Nd3 g6 48. Rd7 Kg7 49. Kf2 Ra3 50. Ke3 Ra2 51. h4 Kf6 52. Rb7 Ra5 53. Nc5 Ra3+ 54. Kf4 Ra1 55. Ne4+ Kg7 56. Nd6 Rf1+ 57. Ke3 Kf8 58. Rxb5 Ke7 59. Ne4 Re1+ 60. Kf4 Kf8 61. Rb8+ Kg7 62. Rb7 Rf1+ 63. Ke3 Kf8 64. Nd6 Rf6 65. Rb8+ Ke7 66. Ne4 Rf1 67. Ke2 Rf5 68. Rc8 Re5 69. Kf3 Rf5+ 70. Kg2 Re5 71. Ng5 Re2+ 72. Kh3 Rf2 73. Rc4 1-0 [Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.01.30"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Nakamur a, Hikaru"] [black "Caruan a, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [blackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [blackElo "2782"] [ECO "D90"] [Opening "Gruenfeld"] [Variation "Flohr variation"] [WhiteFideId "2016192"] [blackFideId "2020009"] [EventDate "2014.01.30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 O-O 8. Bf4 c6 9. e4 b5 10. Qd3 c5 11. dxc5 Na6 12. e5 Nxc5 13. Qe3 Nh5 14. Bg5 Ne6 15. Rd1 Qe8 16. Bh6 Bxh6 17. Qxh6 Bc6 18. Qe3 a6 19. Bd3 Nhf4 20. O-O Nxd3 21. Rxd3 Rd8 22. Nd4 Nxd4 23. Rxd4 Rxd4 24. Qxd4 Qa8 25. f3 Rd8 26. Qc5 Qb7 27. Rd1 Rxd1+ 28. Nxd1 Qd7 29. Ne3 Qd2 30. Qc3 Qxc3 31. bxc3 f6 32. exf6 exf6 33. Kf2 Kf7 34. Ke2 Ke6 35. Kd3 h5 36. Kd4 h4 37. Kc5 Ba8 38. f4 g5 39. g3 hxg3 40. hxg3 gxf4 41. gxf4 Be4 42. Kb6 Kd6 43. Kxa6 Kc5 44. a3 Bf3 45. Ka7 Kc6 46. Kb8 Kb6 47. Nf5 Bg4 48. Nd6 Be6 49. Ne4 f5 50. Nd2 Bd5 51. Kc8 Ka5 52. Kc7 Ka4 53. Kb6 Bg2 54. c4 bxc4 55. Nxc4 Bd5 56. Kc5 Bg8 57. Kd4 Kb3 58. Nd6 Kxa3 59. Ke5 Kb4 60. Kf6 Kc5 61. Nxf5 Bh7 62. Ne7 Bb1 63. Ke5 Bh7 64. Nd5 Kc6 65. Nf6 Bb1 66. f5 Bxf5 67. Kxf5 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

The Zurich 2014 Super Chess Tournament has just begun ( January 29 to February 4 ) with an average ELO of 2801. (BTW , I've looked it up and to get an IM norm in this tournament, you'd only need 0.35 points (!!), which is like showing up for the games! XD ) Is this the strongest tournament ever . In my opinion, no, not even close!. The reason is that only 5 slow games will be played . The other 5 will semi-rapid , and the remaining 5, a blitz tournament. But not just that, there are big names missing: Kramnik or Topalov are much tougher than Gelfand (and they have a higher rating). Still, a pretty tough tournament! The preliminary blitz tournament was won by Carlsen (equal first with Aronian). Magnus began like legendary Tal used to, with a loss in the first round (Later Carlsen said: , quote: "I have almost never played as badly as I did in the beginning here. It was so bad that I could not even get mad" ) , but then he got a couple of draws and ended up with two wins against Anand and Nakamura, the one against Anand in just 21 moves ( ! ). I don't think Anand has ever been beaten up like this, not even in a blitz game... here are my notes to the game: [pgn][Event "Zurich CC Blitz 2014"] [site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.01.29"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Carlse n, Magnus"] [black "Anan d, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A06"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [blackElo "2773"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2014.01.29"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 c5 3. e4 {Javier: This is a reversed Budapest Gambit with the extra tempo b3, which is a rather useful move in these positions.} dxe4 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Ncxe4 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 e5 $6 { Javier: Yes, this cuts off the long diagonal, but reopens the other one, c4-g8, and makes f4 possible.} (10... b6 $1 {Javier: This seemed like the correct choice here.} 11. Qg4 Nd4) 11. f4 $1 exf4 12. Qh5 $6 (12. Rxf4 $1) 12... Nd4 $2 (12... Be6 $1 13. Rxf4 (13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Qg4 Nd4 {Javier: And black is doing just fine.}) 13... Bxc4 14. bxc4 Nd4 15. Ng3 $11) 13. Rxf4 $16 g6 14. Qe5 $1 b6 15. Raf1 Bf5 16. g4 (16. Rxf5 {Javier: This would have been very strong also.} gxf5 17. Rxf5 $18 {Javier: White has 2 basic ideas in this position, either to attack f7 by means of Ng5 or Rf4-g4.} b5 (17... Rc8 18. Ng5 Qe8 (18... Rc6 19. Nxf7 $18) 19. Nxf7 Rxf7 20. Bxf7+ Qxf7 21. Rxf7 Kxf7 22. Bxd4 cxd4 23. Qf5+ $18 ) (17... h6 18. Rh5 Kh7 19. Qf4 $18) 18. Rf4 $1 Qb6 19. Rg4+ Qg6 20. Rxg6+ hxg6 21. Bxb5 $18) 16... Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Rxf8+ Bxf8 19. Nf6+ Kh8 (19... Kf7 20. Nxh7+ $18) 20. c3 (20. Ne8+ $1 {Javier: Not that it matters much, but this was more accurate.} Kg8 21. Qh8+ $3 Kxh8 22. Rxf8#) 20... Nc6 21. Ne8+ 1-0[/pgn] Tournament's official website: http://zurich-cc.com/

No insider information here, but from the outside, the 4th edition of the London Chess Classic seems to have been incredibly well organised. One of the things I liked about it was the decision to have and odd number of players so that every single round one of the GMs was available for the live streaming TV broadcast, where they commented on the games being played, answered some questions by the audience, Twitter, etc. You could get a first hand look into the mind of some of the top GMs in the world. Very impressive! I remember the broadcast from round 8. At one point, Short says: Short: Aronian loves the system with c6+d5+Bg4. All Armenians like this system. If you're Armenian, you play this just like if you're Georgian, you play the Caro-Kann, and if you'e English, you play the Grand Prix attack. Magnus, What do you play if you're Norwegian? Carlsen: If you're Norwegian you play 5 moves and then start thinking because you don't know any more theory! Videos from the event are still available at: http://www.londonchessclassic.com/videos.htm

GM Judith Polgar is now below 2700. Judith Polgar lost 9 rating points at the London Classic tournament which Carlsen won, and unfortunately this means that her rating will go below 2700. Judith is now a mother with more obligations and her motivations in life have changed. She doesn't play much competitive chess any more, so it won't be easy for her to improve her rating. How long will it be before another female player reaches 2700? In my opinion, it could be decades... Current rating list: 1 Polgar, J 2695.8 2 Hou Yifan 2603.4 3 Koneru 2597.4 4 Muzychuk, A 2584.0 5 Zhao Xue 2564.2 6 Dzagnidze 2555.0 7 Lahno 2547.0 8 Kosintseva, N 2530.6 9 Gunina 2520.1 10 Sebag 2519.7 11 Cramling 2517.8 12 Cmilyte 2517.6 13 Kosintseva, T 2517.4 14 Stefanova 2515.6 15 Harika 2513.8 16 Ruan Lufei 2501.0

After his triumph in London, a new event appears in the Norwegian GM´s calendar in January: The 75th Tata Steel Chess Tournament: from 11 to 27 January in Wijk aan Zee. Here's the list of players: GM Carlsen, Magnus NOR GM Aronian, Levon ARM GM Caruana, Fabiano ITA GM Anand, Viswanathan IND GM Karjakin, Sergey RUS GM Nakamura, Hikaru USA GM Wang, Hao CHN GM Leko, Peter HUN GM Giri, Anish NED GM Harikrishna, Pentala IND GM van Wely, Loek NED GM Sokolov, Ivan NED GM L'Ami, Erwin NED GM Hou, Yifan CHN Besides Kramnik, other big names missing are Radjabov, Topalov, Mamedyarov ... it would have been nice to have seen the taking part in this event. What I like about this event is how the organisers are quite willing to sacrifice the tournament category and instead prefer to promote local chess, a concept which not everyone understands (I remember some editions of the Linares tournament without a single Spaniard!). Also interesting is how the inclusion of a female player is now becoming a norm: Hou Yifan, with 2606, is ranked below the 200th spot on the FIDE list... but so what?? In any case, this new edition (75th!!) of a real classic tournament will be interesting. We will have to look closely at Caruana´s performance. Will Aronian prove that his result in London was accidental? maybe. Will Anand wake up this time? I don't think so. An unexpected victory for Chinese Chess by Wang Hao? unlikely. Will this be Nakamura´s tournament? I doubt it. Will Carlsen improve his rating? impossible! Here's the link to the official website, but not much info is available yet: http://www.tatasteelchess.com/

22 Year old Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen has won the IV London classic (his third English title!) with a rather impressive score of 6.5 out of 8, and a performance rating of 2994 (!). This result will push Carlsen's rating to a staggering 2861 (+13.4), the highest ever on the planet!! However, there are some clouds over the horizon: although Magnus result was very impressive indeed, the games were... how would I put it, BORING! not exactly spectacular! He played no less than 7 endgames, some of them were not particularly brilliant and looked rather drawish but he still managed to scrap the full point. His victory over Adams was somewhat dramatic, as Michael was even a little better at several points. Kramnik's second place, with just half a point less, was on another level. His chess was pretty impressive all along, and he did have his chances against Carlsen as well. Anand, now 7th in the world, will need to struggle a little if he's to make it back into the top 5 again. Aronian played some of the worst openings of his life and was fighting for equality in several games from very early on. Nakamura did pretty well and is now back in the top 10 (9th with 2768). Polgar suffered and lost 9 ratings points and loses the 2700 mark... not sure if she'll ever be able to get it back again, as she has growing family commitments and doesn't compete much anymore... Michael Adams had a wonderful tournament and proves once again that at 41, he's still got it. McShane was not at the level of last year's event, but that's understandable considering that he's not a professional player. Jones was only able to get 3 draws, but some of his games showed "potential"... Here's the final standings: And here's my favourite game of the tournament, fully annotated. [pgn][Event "4th London Chess Classic"] [site "London ENG"] [Date "2012.12.06"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [black "McShane, Luke J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D15"] [WhiteElo "2795"] [blackElo "2713"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2012.12.01"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. g3 {Javier: This is a pretty tough line against the Shebanenko variation of the Slav defence.} dxc4 6. a4 e6 7. Bg2 c5 8. O-O cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nbd7 10. Nc2 Qc7 (10... Bc5 {This was Karjakin's choice against Kramnik in Moscow 2010. It didn't end well for black. ..} 11. Ne3 Ne5 12. Qxd8+ Kxd8 13. a5 Rb8 14. Na4 Bb4 15. f4 Neg4 16. Nxc4 Bd7 17. h3 Bb5 18. b3 Nh6 19. g4 Nd7 20. f5 exf5 21. Bf4 Rc8 22. Bxb7 fxg4 23. Bxc8 Kxc8 24. Ncb6+ Kb7 25. Rfc1 {Javier: And black resigned.}) 11. Bf4 $146 (11. Qd4 { Javier: There's no doubt that McShane had studied the game Kramnik - Gelfand, where Kramnik played 11.Qd4 and the game ended in a draw in just 15 moves. But it's been 16 years since that game, and Luke must have expected a new move from Kramnik somewhere, and here it is. 11.Bf4 is a novelty.} Bc5 12. Qh4 Be7 13. Na3 Ne5 14. Bf4 h6 15. Bxe5 {1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2740) - Gelfand,B (2700) Linares 1997}) 11... e5 (11... Qc5 12. Be3 Qc7 13. Qd4 {Javier: This would be an improved version of the game against Gelfand. In that game, white's B was still on c1, and ...Bc5 is then a good move, as 12.Qxc4?? would lose to 12... Bxf2 discovered check. However, that trick wouldn't be possible here..}) 12. Bd2 (12. Bg5 {Javier: This look like a more logical square for the B. Can't really see what's so good about 12.Bd2 to be honest!} h6 (12... Be7 $6 13. Ne3 $1 {Javier: When Nd5 becomes a threat.}) 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. Ne3 {Javier: White has the usual compensation, the d5 square, pressure against c4, better development...} Be6 15. a5 Bc5 16. Qa4+ Bd7 17. Ncd5 $5 {Javier: Instead of taking on c4.} (17. Qxc4 {Javier: Intending b4.} Rc8 18. Qb3 {Javier: Planning Nd5.} Bxe3 19. fxe3 Bc6 20. Bxc6+ Qxc6 21. Qb4 Qc5 22. Qxb7 Qxe3+ 23. Kh1 O-O 24. Qxa6 {Javier: Looks a little better for white.}) 17... Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Qc8 19. Qc2 O-O 20. Rfc1 Bb5 21. b4 $1 {Javier: And white wins the exchange, as the N is attacking both b6 and e7.} Bd6 22. Nb6 Qc7 23. Nxa8 Rxa8 24. Bd5 Rc8 25. Rab1 $14) 12... Nc5 (12... Bc5 13. Ne3 Bxe3 14. Bxe3 Nc5 15. Nd5 Nxd5 16. Qxd5 Nb3 17. Rad1 O-O 18. Qd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 {Javier: An black's position is a little uncomfortable, due to the pressure of the 2 white BB.}) 13. Bg5 Be6 ( 13... Nb3 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Ne3 Nxa1 16. Ned5 Qd8 17. Qxa1 {Javier: And the position would resemble the one in the game.}) 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nd5 Qd8 16. Nce3 Nb3 17. a5 $1 {Javier: A very nice exchange sacrifice. White has better development, Black's K is still in the center, f6, b7 and c4 are targets, the b6 square is weak...} Rc8 (17... Nxa1 18. Qa4+ Bd7 $8 19. Qxc4 Rc8 20. Qh4 Rc6 21. Rxa1 f5 22. Qh5 $44 {With good compensation for the exchange.}) 18. Ra4 Nd4 19. Nb6 Rc7 20. Rxc4 $3 {Javier: White insists on sacrificing the exchange!} Bxc4 21. Nexc4 {Javier: The whole point is that white has total control over the light squares now, d5 and f5 in particular being the axis of white's idea.} Nb5 22. Qb1 Qd4 23. Rd1 Qc5 24. e3 Be7 25. Qf5 $16 Kf8 (25... O-O $4 26. Be4 $18) 26. Bd5 Kg7 27. Qg4+ Kh6 (27... Kf8 28. Nd7+ Rxd7 29. Qxd7 $18) 28. e4 { Javier: Planning Ne3, then the N has access to f5.} Nd4 29. Ne3 {Javier: Threatening Rxd4 and then Nf5.} f5 30. Qh3+ Kg7 31. Rxd4 $3 {Javier: Double exchange sacrifice!} exd4 32. Nxf5+ Kf8 33. Qh6+ Ke8 34. Bxf7+ Kd8 (34... Kxf7 35. Qg7+ Ke8 36. Qxh8+ Bf8 37. b4 $1 Qxb4 38. Qe5+ Kd8 39. Nd5 {Javier: And white's NN will become a tornado.}) 35. Qg7 Rf8 36. Nxd4 Rc6 37. Nxc6+ bxc6 38. Qg4 Kc7 $8 39. Qd7+ Kb8 40. Qd2 $6 (40. e5 $1 Qxe5 (40... Rxf7 $4 41. Qc8+ Ka7 42. Qc7#) 41. Qxc6 Ka7 42. Nc8+ Rxc8 (42... Kb8 43. Qb6+ Kxc8 44. Be6+ $18) 43. Qxc8 $18) 40... Kc7 41. Qd7+ Kb8 42. Kg2 Bd6 (42... Qd6 43. e5 Qxd7 44. Nxd7+ Kc8 45. Nxf8 Bxf8 46. f4 {Javier: And white has too many passed PP on the Kside.}) 43. b4 Qd4 (43... Qxb4 44. Qxc6 $18) 44. Qxc6 Ka7 45. Kh3 Qd1 46. Nc8+ Rxc8 47. Qxc8 $6 {Javier: Doesn't really spoil anything, but 47.Qb6! was more accurate.} (47. Qb6+ Ka8 48. Qxa6+ Kb8 49. Qb6+ Ka8 50. Bd5+ Qxd5 51. exd5 $18) 47... Qf1+ 48. Kg4 h5+ 49. Kxh5 {Black resigned.} 1-0 [/pgn]

Currently working on the pdf version of the book.

Final Standings, Istanbul Chess Olympiad, Women. 1 2 Russia RUS 11 8 3 0 19 450.0 33.0 155.00 2 1 China CHN 11 8 3 0 19 416.0 31.5 154.00 3 4 Ukraine UKR 11 7 4 0 18 408.5 30.5 154.00 4 6 India IND 11 8 1 2 17 336.0 28.0 148.00 5 10 Romania ROU 11 8 0 3 16 313.5 28.5 129.00 6 8 Armenia ARM 11 8 0 3 16 313.0 26.5 140.00 7 14 France FRA 11 7 1 3 15 347.5 29.0 147.00 8 3 Georgia GEO 11 6 3 2 15 344.0 28.5 144.00 9 26 Iran IRI 11 7 1 3 15 339.0 31.0 132.00 10 5 United States of America USA 11 6 3 2 15 326.0 29.5 133.00 11 9 Germany GER 11 7 1 3 15 316.0 27.0 144.00 12 22 Kazakhstan KAZ 11 6 3 2 15 309.0 27.0 138.00 13 21 Mongolia MGL 11 7 1 3 15 308.0 28.0 134.00 14 36 Belarus BLR 11 6 3 2 15 292.0 28.5 121.00 15 7 Poland POL 11 6 2 3 14 336.5 27.5 151.00 16 13 Bulgaria BUL 11 6 2 3 14 316.5 27.5 136.00 17 12 Hungary HUN 11 6 2 3 14 303.0 27.5 129.00 18 24 Latvia LAT 11 6 2 3 14 296.5 28.0 126.00 19 15 Cuba CUB 11 5 4 2 14 286.0 25.5 129.00 20 17 Netherlands NED 11 6 2 3 14 285.5 27.0 133.00 21 35 Uzbekistan UZB 11 6 2 3 14 278.5 24.5 138.00 22 20 Slovakia SVK 11 5 4 2 14 278.0 23.5 133.00 23 37 Peru PER 11 6 2 3 14 273.5 26.0 127.00 24 54 Indonesia INA 11 6 2 3 14 262.5 26.0 122.00 25 60 Mexico MEX 11 7 0 4 14 230.0 25.0 112.00 26 28 Vietnam VIE 11 6 1 4 13 307.5 27.0 135.00 27 23 Czech Republic CZE 11 6 1 4 13 306.5 26.0 139.00 28 27 Azerbaijan AZE 11 6 1 4 13 306.0 26.0 145.00 29 25 Israel ISR 11 6 1 4 13 302.0 26.5 138.00 30 19 Serbia SRB 11 4 5 2 13 290.5 25.5 137.00 31 34 Colombia COL 11 5 3 3 13 289.5 27.0 128.00 32 11 Spain ESP 11 6 1 4 13 285.0 25.5 132.00 33 31 Italy ITA 11 6 1 4 13 277.0 27.0 126.00 34 53 Venezuela VEN 11 6 1 4 13 262.5 26.5 119.00 35 42 Montenegro MNE 11 6 1 4 13 259.0 26.0 120.00 36 49 Estonia EST 11 6 1 4 13 243.5 25.5 123.00 37 43 Austria AUT 11 6 1 4 13 230.0 23.0 126.00 38 55 Chile CHI 11 6 1 4 13 200.5 26.0 106.00 39 64 Bolivia BOL 11 6 1 4 13 182.0 21.0 116.00 40 18 Greece GRE 11 5 2 4 12 276.0 25.0 132.00 41 16 Slovenia SLO 11 3 6 2 12 265.0 23.5 137.00 42 45 Turkey TUR 11 5 2 4 12 260.5 25.5 121.00 43 57 Philippines PHI 11 5 2 4 12 257.5 24.5 130.00 44 33 Lithuania LTU 11 5 2 4 12 255.0 24.0 131.00 45 30 Croatia CRO 11 5 2 4 12 242.0 25.5 119.00 46 44 England ENG 11 4 4 3 12 240.0 24.5 124.00 47 48 Belgium BEL 11 6 0 5 12 234.5 25.5 122.00 48 32 Ecuador ECU 11 5 2 4 12 227.0 22.5 124.00 49 58 Turkmenistan TKM 11 5 2 4 12 226.0 26.0 110.00 50 50 Australia AUS 11 6 0 5 12 217.0 24.0 122.00 51 41 Moldova MDA 11 4 4 3 12 214.5 23.0 122.00 52 63 Bangladesh BAN 11 5 2 4 12 202.5 24.5 113.00 53 62 Iceland ISL 11 6 0 5 12 197.5 23.5 111.00 54 39 Bosnia & Herzegovina BIH 11 5 2 4 12 197.0 20.5 117.00 55 52 Portugal POR 11 6 0 5 12 192.5 19.5 117.00 56 87 Tajikistan TJK 11 6 0 5 12 169.0 21.5 110.00 57 40 Norway NOR 11 4 3 4 11 227.0 23.5 114.00 58 47 Brazil BRA 11 5 1 5 11 225.5 23.0 123.00 59 84 Turkey 2016 TUR16 11 3 5 3 11 225.5 22.0 117.00 60 38 Switzerland SUI 11 5 1 5 11 224.5 22.0 132.00 61 83 Malaysia MAS 11 5 1 5 11 211.5 22.0 121.00 62 66 El Salvador ESA 11 5 1 5 11 206.0 21.5 124.00 63 51 Denmark DEN 11 5 1 5 11 201.0 22.5 117.00 64 59 Canada CAN 11 5 1 5 11 189.0 22.5 116.00 65 61 South Africa RSA 11 5 1 5 11 182.5 21.5 111.00 66 68 FYROM MKD 11 5 1 5 11 182.0 21.0 112.00 67 75 IPCA IPCA 11 4 3 4 11 180.0 22.0 106.00 68 72 Luxembourg LUX 11 4 3 4 11 177.5 22.0 103.00 69 85 Kyrgyzstan KGZ 11 4 3 4 11 167.5 20.5 109.00 70 94 Paraguay PAR 11 5 1 5 11 158.5 21.0 101.00 71 77 Finland FIN 11 4 3 4 11 148.0 19.0 109.00 72 29 Argentina ARG 11 5 0 6 10 222.5 20.0 135.00 73 79 Algeria ALG 11 5 0 6 10 190.0 23.0 109.00 74 80 Costa Rica CRC 11 4 2 5 10 188.5 20.5 112.00 75 92 Sri Lanka SRI 11 4 2 5 10 184.0 22.0 106.00 76 74 Syria SYR 11 3 4 4 10 181.0 19.5 111.00 77 69 Dominican Republic DOM 11 4 2 5 10 178.0 22.5 105.00 78 89 Albania ALB 11 5 0 6 10 175.5 20.5 107.00 79 65 Guatemala GUA 11 4 2 5 10 172.0 20.0 108.00 80 91 Ireland IRL 11 4 2 5 10 170.0 21.0 95.00 81 73 Egypt EGY 11 5 0 6 10 163.5 20.0 111.00 82 86 Wales WLS 11 4 2 5 10 156.5 21.0 104.00 83 76 Scotland SCO 11 4 2 5 10 149.0 19.5 106.00 84 104 Chinese Taipei TPE 11 5 0 6 10 115.0 18.0 88.00 85 56 ICSC ICSC 11 4 1 6 9 223.5 24.5 121.00 86 70 Jordan JOR 11 3 3 5 9 187.0 20.0 114.00 87 67 New Zealand NZL 11 4 1 6 9 183.0 21.5 116.00 88 46 Sweden SWE 11 4 1 6 9 182.0 20.5 128.00 89 115 Nigeria NGR 11 2 5 4 9 179.5 19.5 100.00 90 71 IBCA IBCA 11 3 3 5 9 175.5 19.5 112.00 91 88 United Arab Emirates UAE 11 3 3 5 9 154.0 19.5 105.00 92 78 Uruguay URU 11 4 1 6 9 145.5 20.0 99.00 93 116 Thailand THA 11 4 1 6 9 142.5 19.5 91.00 94 90 Puerto Rico PUR 11 4 1 6 9 139.0 17.5 105.00 95 102 Turkey 2023 TUR23 11 4 1 6 9 137.0 17.0 99.00 96 101 Qatar QAT 11 4 1 6 9 125.5 17.0 95.00 97 81 Jamaica JAM 11 4 1 6 9 122.5 20.5 86.00 98 82 Zambia ZAM 9 4 1 4 9 112.5 17.5 87.00 99 103 Japan JPN 11 4 1 6 9 104.5 16.5 93.00 100 111 Nicaragua NCA 11 4 1 6 9 99.5 14.5 98.00 101 96 Panama PAN 11 4 0 7 8 138.5 18.5 99.00 102 100 South Korea KOR 11 3 2 6 8 137.0 18.0 106.00 103 99 Lebanon LIB 11 3 2 6 8 132.5 16.0 102.00 104 106 Suriname SUR 11 4 0 7 8 128.0 18.0 93.00 105 120 Zimbabwe ZIM 11 3 2 6 8 119.5 17.0 91.00 106 97 Tunisia TUN 11 3 2 6 8 119.0 18.0 87.00 107 105 Monaco MNC 11 3 2 6 8 118.5 16.0 99.00 108 126 Kenya KEN 11 3 2 6 8 101.0 18.0 84.00 109 113 Netherlands Antilles AHO 11 3 2 6 8 71.0 15.5 76.00 110 93 Iraq IRQ 11 3 1 7 7 136.5 17.0 102.00 111 119 Mozambique MOZ 11 3 1 7 7 108.5 16.0 92.00 112 121 Pakistan PAK 11 2 3 6 7 97.5 17.5 82.00 113 95 Botswana BOT 11 3 1 7 7 97.0 15.0 101.00 114 109 Uganda UGA 11 3 1 7 7 94.5 14.5 94.00 115 114 Malta MLT 11 2 3 6 7 89.5 15.0 87.00 116 98 Yemen YEM 11 3 1 7 7 83.5 14.0 95.00 117 108 Barbados BAR 11 2 2 7 6 107.5 18.0 80.00 118 122 Palestine PLE 11 3 0 8 6 90.5 16.5 81.00 119 107 Trinidad & Tobago TRI 11 2 2 7 6 72.5 13.0 86.00 120 118 Fiji FIJ 11 2 2 7 6 68.5 14.0 81.00 121 112 Angola ANG 8 2 2 4 6 53.5 14.0 77.00 122 125 Ethiopia ETH 11 1 3 7 5 114.0 15.5 92.00 123 124 Aruba ARU 11 2 1 8 5 84.5 14.5 77.00 124 127 Namibia NAM 11 1 2 8 4 57.0 13.0 78.00 125 123 Afghanistan AFG 9 0 1 8 1 20.0 3.0 79.00 126 110 Libya LBA 1 0 0 1 0 0.0 0.0 65.00 127 117 Honduras HON 1 0 0 1 0 0.0 0.0 65.00

Final Standings. Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2012. Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4 1 3 Armenia ARM 11 9 1 1 19 397.0 29.0 155.00 2 1 Russia RUS 11 9 1 1 19 388.5 28.5 157.00 3 2 Ukraine UKR 11 9 0 2 18 363.0 29.5 147.00 4 6 China CHN 11 8 1 2 17 390.5 29.5 157.00 5 5 United States Of America USA 11 7 3 1 17 361.0 30.0 142.00 6 9 Netherlands NED 11 8 0 3 16 329.0 29.0 133.00 7 27 Vietnam VIE 11 6 4 1 16 313.5 29.0 126.00 8 25 Romania ROU 11 8 0 3 16 310.0 29.0 128.00 9 4 Hungary HUN 11 7 1 3 15 368.0 28.0 151.00 10 7 Azerbaijan AZE 11 6 3 2 15 344.0 29.0 144.00 11 15 Cuba CUB 11 7 1 3 15 338.5 30.5 130.00 12 14 Germany GER 11 6 3 2 15 334.5 26.0 148.00 13 16 Poland POL 11 7 1 3 15 313.5 27.5 138.00 14 20 Serbia SRB 11 6 3 2 15 307.0 28.5 126.00 15 22 Italy ITA 11 7 1 3 15 306.0 28.0 134.00 16 34 Sweden SWE 11 7 1 3 15 303.5 28.0 125.00 17 11 England ENG 11 6 3 2 15 300.5 26.0 137.00 18 39 Denmark DEN 11 7 1 3 15 270.5 27.0 121.00 19 23 Moldova MDA 11 6 2 3 14 348.5 29.5 129.00 20 10 Bulgaria BUL 11 7 0 4 14 321.5 28.0 134.00 21 35 Philippines PHI 11 6 2 3 14 321.0 26.0 152.00 22 29 Argentina ARG 11 6 2 3 14 316.0 25.0 146.00 23 8 France FRA 11 6 2 3 14 305.0 26.5 141.00 24 33 Uzbekistan UZB 11 6 2 3 14 303.0 27.0 138.00 25 28 Slovenia SLO 11 6 2 3 14 297.0 24.0 138.00 26 12 Israel ISR 11 5 4 2 14 296.0 25.0 136.00 27 19 Croatia CRO 11 6 2 3 14 295.5 25.0 137.00 28 30 Latvia LAT 11 7 0 4 14 295.0 26.0 136.00 29 32 Belarus BLR 11 6 2 3 14 289.5 27.0 127.00 30 42 Slovakia SVK 11 6 2 3 14 264.5 27.0 122.00 31 57 Turkmenistan TKM 11 6 2 3 14 255.0 24.5 121.00 32 61 Australia AUS 11 5 4 2 14 252.5 24.5 119.00 33 48 Bangladesh BAN 11 6 2 3 14 227.5 26.0 120.00 34 17 Czech Republic CZE 11 5 3 3 13 315.0 26.5 139.00 35 13 India IND 11 3 7 1 13 309.5 25.5 145.00 36 26 Georgia GEO 11 5 3 3 13 306.0 26.5 140.00 37 18 Spain ESP 11 6 1 4 13 286.5 25.0 141.00 38 49 FYROM MKD 11 6 1 4 13 275.5 25.0 137.00 39 24 Brazil BRA 11 6 1 4 13 274.0 24.0 132.00 40 21 Greece GRE 11 5 3 3 13 269.0 28.0 124.00 41 36 Austria AUT 11 5 3 3 13 258.5 25.5 124.00 42 31 Turkey TUR 11 6 1 4 13 252.0 24.5 132.00 43 38 Mexico MEX 11 6 1 4 13 251.0 25.5 121.00 44 87 IBCA IBCA 11 5 3 3 13 249.0 26.0 111.00 45 54 Norway NOR 11 6 1 4 13 247.5 25.5 122.00 46 56 Mongolia MGL 11 6 1 4 13 244.0 26.0 121.00 47 51 Iceland ISL 11 6 1 4 13 241.0 26.0 116.00 48 72 Turkey 2016 TUR16 11 5 3 3 13 236.5 24.0 122.00 49 63 Paraguay PAR 11 6 1 4 13 234.0 25.0 120.00 50 40 Kazakhstan KAZ 11 5 3 3 13 234.0 24.0 119.00 51 58 Venezuela VEN 11 6 1 4 13 211.5 21.0 131.00 52 53 Canada CAN 11 5 2 4 12 261.0 25.0 131.00 53 37 Egypt EGY 11 5 2 4 12 255.5 26.0 123.00 54 50 Bosnia & Herzegovina BIH 11 4 4 3 12 254.0 23.0 138.00 55 71 Peru PER 11 5 2 4 12 253.5 23.5 135.00 56 46 Chile CHI 11 4 4 3 12 252.5 24.5 120.00 57 80 Bolivia BOL 11 5 2 4 12 235.5 25.5 116.00 58 60 Tajikistan TJK 11 4 4 3 12 234.0 25.0 120.00 59 55 Singapore SIN 11 6 0 5 12 233.5 25.5 113.00 60 64 Portugal POR 11 6 0 5 12 232.5 24.5 118.00 61 45 Iran IRI 11 5 2 4 12 229.0 22.5 131.00 62 73 South Africa RSA 11 5 2 4 12 223.5 22.0 122.00 63 83 Zambia ZAM 11 5 2 4 12 223.0 26.0 112.00 64 86 Malaysia MAS 11 5 2 4 12 222.5 24.0 110.00 65 81 Kyrgyzstan KGZ 11 5 2 4 12 220.5 22.5 119.00 66 62 Albania ALB 11 4 4 3 12 210.0 23.5 109.00 67 96 Puerto Rico PUR 11 5 2 4 12 200.0 24.5 104.00 68 74 Faroe Islands FAI 11 5 2 4 12 199.0 24.5 107.00 69 78 Dominican Republic DOM 11 5 2 4 12 198.0 20.5 122.00 70 43 Switzerland SUI 11 5 1 5 11 241.0 24.5 122.00 71 70 Uruguay URU 11 5 1 5 11 223.5 23.5 119.00 72 47 Colombia COL 11 4 3 4 11 222.5 24.0 119.00 73 68 Indonesia INA 11 5 1 5 11 222.0 22.0 122.00 74 52 Finland FIN 11 4 3 4 11 220.0 22.5 122.00 75 94 Tunisia TUN 11 4 3 4 11 219.0 22.5 123.00 76 65 Scotland SCO 11 5 1 5 11 211.0 22.5 117.00 77 75 ICSC ICSC 11 3 5 3 11 211.0 22.0 122.00 78 101 Algeria ALG 11 5 1 5 11 211.0 20.5 114.00 79 66 Qatar QAT 11 5 1 5 11 209.5 22.5 125.00 80 112 Estonia EST 11 5 1 5 11 209.0 21.5 119.00 81 77 Costa Rica CRC 11 5 1 5 11 205.5 21.5 118.00 82 67 Lithuania LTU 11 5 1 5 11 203.5 23.5 112.00 83 76 United Arab Emirates UAE 11 5 1 5 11 199.5 21.0 117.00 84 99 Guatemala GUA 11 5 1 5 11 178.5 22.0 110.00 85 107 Botswana BOT 11 5 1 5 11 169.5 22.0 104.00 86 88 Andorra AND 11 5 1 5 11 160.0 20.5 104.00 87 69 Ireland IRL 11 5 0 6 10 237.0 22.5 127.00 88 44 Montenegro MNE 11 4 2 5 10 228.5 22.0 129.00 89 41 Belgium BEL 11 4 2 5 10 206.5 21.0 125.00 90 108 Uganda UGA 11 4 2 5 10 204.0 22.5 114.00 91 95 Lebanon LIB 11 4 2 5 10 200.5 22.5 107.00 92 85 Zimbabwe ZIM 11 4 2 5 10 198.0 22.0 118.00 93 89 IPCA IPCA 11 4 2 5 10 197.5 23.0 110.00 94 97 Myanmar MYA 11 5 0 6 10 181.5 21.0 109.00 95 105 Jamaica JAM 11 4 2 5 10 180.5 21.5 102.00 96 146 Nigeria NGR 11 3 4 4 10 175.5 21.0 109.00 97 91 New Zealand NZL 11 4 2 5 10 174.5 20.0 116.00 98 82 Jordan JOR 11 4 2 5 10 170.0 21.0 112.00 99 93 Monaco MNC 11 5 0 6 10 161.0 21.0 105.00 100 103 Yemen YEM 11 4 2 5 10 159.5 18.0 108.00 101 109 Thailand THA 11 5 0 6 10 158.0 19.0 110.00 102 110 Panama PAN 11 4 2 5 10 155.0 20.0 103.00 103 100 Pakistan PAK 11 4 2 5 10 151.5 18.0 108.00 104 117 Sri Lanka SRI 11 4 2 5 10 149.0 18.5 112.00 105 114 Trinidad & Tobago TRI 11 4 2 5 10 143.0 20.0 105.00 106 90 Wales WLS 11 5 0 6 10 140.0 20.0 99.00 107 113 Libya LBA 11 5 0 6 10 137.5 19.5 99.00 108 147 Ethiopia ETH 11 4 2 5 10 134.0 20.0 91.00 109 59 Ecuador ECU 11 4 1 6 9 180.5 21.5 110.00 110 98 Barbados BAR 11 4 1 6 9 171.5 22.0 102.00 111 152 Sudan SUD 11 3 3 5 9 166.5 22.0 98.00 112 84 Luxembourg LUX 11 4 1 6 9 153.5 19.0 116.00 113 124 Nepal NEP 11 4 1 6 9 149.0 21.5 91.00 114 106 Angola ANG 9 4 1 4 9 147.5 20.5 98.00 115 102 Syria SYR 11 4 1 6 9 141.5 17.0 109.00 116 155 Afghanistan AFG 10 3 3 4 9 133.0 17.0 100.00 117 79 Iraq IRQ 11 4 1 6 9 131.5 18.5 115.00 118 119 Cyprus CYP 11 3 3 5 9 130.0 18.5 99.00 119 111 El Salvador ESA 11 4 1 6 9 128.0 19.5 95.00 120 104 Nicaragua NCA 11 4 1 6 9 122.0 15.5 112.00 121 139 Honduras HON 11 4 1 6 9 119.0 17.0 99.00 122 123 Liechtenstein LIE 11 4 1 6 9 117.0 17.5 99.00 123 92 Japan JPN 11 3 2 6 8 156.5 18.0 118.00 124 133 South Korea KOR 11 2 4 5 8 141.0 18.0 92.00 125 120 Suriname SUR 11 3 2 6 8 132.0 17.5 99.00 126 129 Hong Kong HKG 11 4 0 7 8 131.0 20.0 93.00 127 136 Maldives MDV 11 3 2 6 8 124.5 17.5 100.00 128 116 Netherlands Antilles AHO 11 3 2 6 8 120.5 16.0 97.00 129 122 Jersey JCI 11 2 4 5 8 119.5 18.0 85.00 130 149 Mozambique MOZ 11 3 2 6 8 116.5 17.5 97.00 131 127 Macau MAC 11 3 2 6 8 114.5 17.0 90.00 132 125 Malawi MAW 11 4 0 7 8 104.0 15.5 93.00 133 118 Palestine PLE 11 4 0 7 8 94.5 14.5 89.00 134 126 Papua New Guinea PNG 11 3 2 6 8 85.0 16.5 89.00 135 128 Guernsey GCI 11 3 2 6 8 83.5 14.5 86.00 136 131 Haiti HAI 11 2 3 6 7 147.5 19.0 87.00 137 135 Mauritius MRI 11 3 1 7 7 139.5 19.0 94.00 138 138 Namibia NAM 11 3 1 7 7 132.0 21.0 87.00 139 121 Kenya KEN 11 3 1 7 7 129.0 16.5 92.00 140 140 Chinese Taipei TPE 11 3 1 7 7 116.0 17.5 87.00 141 115 Malta MLT 11 2 3 6 7 113.0 17.0 94.00 142 130 Mauritania MTN 11 2 3 6 7 108.0 16.0 91.00 143 154 Kuwait KUW 11 3 1 7 7 104.0 16.0 85.00 144 142 Aruba ARU 11 2 3 6 7 104.0 15.5 90.00 145 144 US Virgin Islands ISV 11 3 1 7 7 102.0 18.5 75.00 146 143 Ghana GHA 11 3 1 7 7 101.5 17.5 83.00 147 134 Fiji FIJ 11 3 1 7 7 92.5 16.5 88.00 148 141 San Marino SMR 11 3 1 7 7 85.5 16.0 78.00 149 148 Sierra Leone SLE 11 3 1 7 7 57.5 13.0 74.00 150 137 Sao Tome And Principe STP 11 3 0 8 6 78.5 14.5 86.00

I guess it isn't very nice to start a story about the Chess Olympiad with a "critical accent", but one can only describe what is currently happening in Turkey as UNACCEPTABLE. Many hours after the finish of the first round, the chess games are still not available in a downloadable .pgn file. This is truly incomprehensible when you realize that those games can actually be seen on-line at the official site... ¡but only one at a time! This basically means that they have all the pgn code for all the games, but somehow, they can't find a single person who can put those games together into one downloadable file!! Thousands of chess fans, journalists, magazine editors, webmasters, etc. from all over the world are still waiting. What is going on? Few surprises in the first round. Bolivia managed to snatch a point from Armenia thanks to a nice victory by GM Zambrano on board one. Here's the game with my notes: [pgn] [Event "Chess Olympiad"] [site "Istanbul"] [Date "2012.08.29"] [Round "1"] [White "(E) Zambrana, O."] [black "Movsesian, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "2471"] [blackElo "2698"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "101"] [sourceDate "2012.08.29"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 Bb4 8. Bd3 e5 9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. f5 {This move doesn't have a good reputation (at least not until this game!), but it's Zambrana's pet line and he's been playing it for a number of years. The critical line now is the capture on e4 with 10...Nxe4, but Movesesian chose a different idea.} h5 $6 {A "novelty", but it's unlikely to be repeated.} (10... Nxe4 11. Qg4 Nxc3 12. Qxb4 Nd5 13. Qe4 Bxf5 (13... Nxe3 {This seems like a simple alternative. Did Zambrana prepare some improvement here? who knows...}) 14. Qxe5+ Qe7 15. Qxe7+ Nxe7 16. Bxf5 Nxf5 17. Bb6 $1 { Despite being a P down, white's B is actually quite useful, and he's going to be able to use the central files.} h5 18. O-O Ne7 19. Rae1 Rh6 20. Rf5 Re6 21. Rxe6 fxe6 22. Rxh5 {And white was better in the game Zambrana,O (2458) - Kovalyov,A (2548), Benasque 2008. Eventually drawn in 51 moves.}) 11. Qf3 Ng4 12. Bd2 $1 {No black's position is beginning to look rather dubious, as he has some serious difficulties getting his pieces out, particularly that c8 B...} Bc5 13. h3 Nf2 14. Rf1 Nxd3+ 15. cxd3 Qh4+ 16. g3 Qe7 (16... Qxh3 $4 17. Rh1 $18 {And 17...Qg4 won't work because h5 is pinned.}) 17. O-O-O b5 18. Kb1 f6 19. Rc1 Bb7 20. Be3 Bd6 (20... Bxe3 21. Qxe3 c5 22. Ne2 Rc8 23. g4 $14) 21. g4 hxg4 22. Qxg4 O-O-O {Short castling was not a valid alternative, but black's Qside is rather weak also, particularly the b6 square.} (22... Bc7 {This looks safer.}) 23. Nd5 Qf7 24. Bb6 Rd7 25. Qg1 $1 Rxh3 (25... Kb8 26. Ba7+ Ka8 27. Nb6+ Kxa7 28. Nxd7+ Ka8 29. Nc5 Rxh3 30. Rfd1 $16) 26. Rxc6+ $5 {A flashy sacrifice, but probably not enough to gain the advantage...} Bxc6 27. Rc1 Qh5 $2 (27... Rxd3 {This was possible.} 28. Rxc6+ Kb7 29. Ba5 {Threatening Qb6.} Rd4 (29... Rd1+ $2 30. Qxd1 Kxc6 31. Qc1+ Kb7 32. Qg1 $1 {And white's Q finally makes it to b6.}) 30. Rb6+ Ka7 {And here, I don't think white has anything better than 31.Rc6, but black can repeat moves with ...Kb7.}) (27... Kb7 $2 28. Ba5 $1 $18 Bxd5 29. Qb6+ Ka8 30. Rc8+ Bb8 31. Rxb8#) 28. Rxc6+ Rc7 ( 28... Kb7 29. Rxd6 $3 Rh1 (29... Rxd6 30. Qxg7+ {With a quick mate.}) 30. Rxd7+ Kc8 31. Rc7+ Kd8 (31... Kb8 32. Ba7+ Ka8 33. Nb6#) 32. Rxg7+ Kc8 33. Rc7+ Kd8 34. Ra7+ Ke8 35. Nxf6+ Kf8 36. Bc5#) 29. Qc1 $2 (29. Bxc7 $1 {This move would have lead to a forced win.} Rh1 30. Bxd6+ Kd7 (30... Kb7 31. Rc7+ $18) (30... Kd8 31. Be7+ Ke8 32. Rc8+ Kd7 33. Rd8+ Kc6 34. Rd6+ Kb7 35. Rd7+ {And black's getting mated.}) 31. Qxh1 Qxh1+ 32. Rc1 Qf3 33. Bb4 Qxd3+ 34. Ka1 $18 Qxe4 35. Nb6+ Ke8 36. Rc8+ Kf7 37. Rf8#) 29... Rh1 30. Bg1 Rxg1 31. Rxc7+ Bxc7 32. Qxg1 Qe2 33. Qc1 Qxd3+ 34. Ka1 Qc4 35. Qxc4 bxc4 {Despite being a P down, the endgame seems to favour white thanks to his strong N, black's bad B and black's weak PP on the Kside. However, black's play left a lot to be desired, as we shall see...} 36. Kb1 Kd7 $4 {A blunder!} (36... Kb7 {This move was forced, to support ...Bb6.} 37. Kc2 (37. Ne3 $4 Kc6 38. Nxc4 Kc5 $1 {And I don't think white will be able to hold the ending, as black's K gains access to d4.}) 37... Bb6 $1 {And now if 38.Kc3 black has ...Bd4. Black shouldn't lose here.}) 37. Kc2 Ba5 38. Ne3 $1 {Now I think it's lost...} Ke7 39. Nxc4 Bc7 40. b4 Kf7 41. Kd3 g6 42. fxg6+ Kxg6 43. Ne3 Bb6 44. Nf5 Kg5 45. a4 Kf4 46. Ne7 Bd8 47. Nd5+ Kg5 (47... Kf3 48. a5 f5 49. exf5 e4+ 50. Kd4 Bg5 51. f6 e3 (51... Bxf6+ 52. Nxf6 e3 53. Ng4 e2 54. Ne5+ Kg2 55. Nd3 $18) 52. f7 Bh6 53. Nxe3 Bxe3+ 54. Kd5 Bh6 55. b5 axb5 56. a6 $18) 48. a5 $1 f5 49. b5 fxe4+ 50. Kxe4 axb5 51. a6 {And black resigned. A most interesting and one that makes you wonder if 2700 rated players are really as infallible as they tell us... } 1-0 [/pgn]

Wang grabbed the lead with this, his fourth win. It's kind of sad because Bologan deserved better, the draw being at his reach had he not blundered on move 35. Let's not forget that he didn't have the time that the other players did to prepare against each other, that's an enourmous handicapp at this level... [pgn][Event "45th Biel GM"] [site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2012.07.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [black "Bacrot, Etienne"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E92"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [blackElo "2713"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2012.07.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 { Petrosian's variation against the King's Indian Defence.} h6 9. Bh4 Na6 10. Nd2 Qe8 11. O-O h5 12. a3 Bd7 13. b3 Nh7 14. f3 f5 15. Rb1 g5 16. Bf2 f4 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Qg6 19. c5 g4 20. c6 {All book so far!} bxc6 (20... g3 21. cxd7 ( 21. Be1 bxc6 22. dxc6 Be6 23. Bc4 Rfb8 24. Bxe6+ Qxe6 25. Nd5 Qf7 26. b5 Nc5 27. Nc4 Nf6 28. b6 Nxd5 29. Qxd5 Qxd5 30. exd5 cxb6 31. Nxd6 Bf8 32. Nb5 Rd8 33. Rd1 e4 34. Bc3 e3 35. Rfe1 Ra2 36. d6 Rc2 37. Bf6 Ra8 38. Nd4 Rf2 39. d7 Nd3 40. Re2 Bc5 41. c7 Kf7 42. d8=Q {1-0 Flores,D (2439)-Mahia,G (2377)/ Asuncion 2003}) 21... gxf2+ 22. Rxf2 Nf6 23. Bxa6 bxa6 24. Qa4 Qf7 25. Nc4 Nxd7 26. Ra2 Bf6 27. Qc6 Rac8 28. Qxa6 Kh8 29. Nb5 Rg8 30. Rc1 Be7 31. Ncxd6 cxd6 32. Rxc8 Bd8 33. Nxd6 Qf6 34. Nc4 Rxg2+ 35. Kxg2 {1-0 Letelier Martner,R (2235) -Barria Zuniga,D (2285)/Santiago de Chile 1995}) 21. dxc6 Be6 22. b5 $146 {A new move. 22.Bc4 had been tried before.} (22. Bc4 Bxc4 23. Nxc4 g3 24. Be1 gxh2+ 25. Kh1 Rac8 26. Nd5 Bf6 27. b5 Nb8 28. b6 Kh8 29. bxc7 Nxc6 30. Nxd6 Rg8 31. Rb2 h4 32. Nxc8 Rxc8 33. Nxf6 Qxf6 34. Qd7 Ne7 35. Rb8 Qf8 36. Bxh4 Rxb8 37. cxb8=Q Qxb8 38. Qxe7 Qb5 39. Rd1 {1-0 Seipp,T (2117)-Schaack,H (2276)/ Germany 2001}) 22... Nb8 $2 {Javier: Hard to believe. After this black is basically playing a piece down for the rest of the game. For good or worse, 22. ..Nc5 had to be played.} (22... Nc5 $5 23. Bxc5 (23. fxg4 $6 hxg4 24. Bc4 Bxc4 25. Nxc4 g3 26. Bxc5 gxh2+ 27. Kh1 (27. Kxh2 dxc5 28. Qd5+ Kh8 29. Qxc5 $2 Qg3+ 30. Kg1 Qxc3 $19) 27... dxc5 28. Qd5+ Kh8 29. Qxc5 Rg8 $13) (23. b6 $5) 23... dxc5 24. Bc4 Bxc4 25. Nxc4 gxf3 26. Qxf3 Ng5 {And black gets counterplay.}) 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. exd5 g3 25. Be1 $1 Ng5 26. Rb4 {Eyeing the e4 square.} (26. b6 $5) 26... h4 27. Ne4 h3 {Those 2 PP look kind of threatening, but it's a bit of an optical illusion, as black really doesn't have enough pieces attackng the white K.} 28. hxg3 fxg3 29. Qd2 (29. Nxg3 $1 {This would have been stronger.}) 29... Rf4 $2 (29... Nxe4 30. Rxe4 Bh6 31. Qd3 h2+ 32. Kh1 $18) (29... hxg2 $5 { I think this move would have given black some attacking chances.} 30. Kxg2 Nh3 $1 {Heading for f4.} 31. Bxg3 $1 (31. Kxh3 $2 Qh5+ 32. Kxg3 Bh6 {Threatening not only white's Q but also a nasty check on f4.}) 31... Bh6 32. Qb2 Nf4+ 33. Kh1 {White's probably still better, but at least black's got some chances.}) 30. Nxg5 Qxg5 $2 (30... Rxb4 31. Qxb4 (31. Ne6 Rb3 32. Bc4 Bh6 $13) 31... Qxg5) 31. gxh3 $1 Qf5 32. Bxg3 Qxh3 33. Bxf4 exf4 34. Qxf4 $18 {It's kind of odd how the whole game can be decided in just 2 or 3 critical moves. Bacrot was not up to the task this time...} 1-0 [Event "45th Biel GM"] [site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2012.07.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2837"] [blackElo "2696"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2012.07.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d3 Nf6 6. d4 d5 {This is actually a french defence now! 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd exd 4. Nf3 Nf6.} 7. Bd3 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 h6 10. c4 dxc4 11. Bxc4 {Symmetry is broken. White gets an isolated P but his B is more active.} Nc6 12. Nc3 a6 13. Re1 Re8 14. Be3 { Black needs to get his other B out, but how? if ...Bf5, then Qb3 is a problem. d7 is too passive.} b5 15. Bf1 (15. Bb3 Bf5) 15... Bb7 (15... Bf5 16. g4 $5 Bh7 17. Bg2 b4 18. Na4 Be4 19. Nc5 $13) 16. Rc1 Ne7 17. Ne5 Ned5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Bd2 Qf6 20. Qh5 c5 {I think black has solved his opening problems very well...} 21. a4 c4 (21... cxd4 22. Ng4 Qg6 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Qxg6 fxg6 25. axb5 axb5 26. Bxb5 {And black can't be worse.}) 22. Re4 {Ng4 looks like a most dangerous threat now, as white has tactical ideas such as Nxh6+ and Rg4 coming up.} Bxe5 23. dxe5 Qg6 24. Qh4 {Planning Rg4.} Nf6 25. Ree1 (25. Rexc4 bxc4 26. exf6 { This might have been interesting with more pieces on the board. Here ...Re4! looks fine for black.}) 25... Ne4 26. Bc3 Rad8 27. axb5 axb5 28. Bb4 Nd2 {With the threat of ...Nf3.} 29. Qg4 Qxg4 30. hxg4 Nb3 31. Rb1 $8 Bc8 32. f3 Rd5 33. Rbd1 Red8 34. Bd6 Rxd1 35. Rxd1 Be6 36. Be2 f6 (36... Ra8 37. f4 Ra2 (37... g6 38. Be7) 38. f5 Rxb2 39. fxe6 fxe6 (39... Rxe2 $4 40. e7 $18) 40. Kf1 {Looks too risky for black.}) 37. exf6 gxf6 38. Bf4 Rxd1+ 39. Bxd1 Kg7 40. Be3 Bf7 41. f4 Bd5 42. Kf2 b4 43. Bc2 c3 44. bxc3 bxc3 45. Bf5 Nd2 46. Bd4 Ne4+ 47. Kg1 ( 47. Ke3 Nd6 48. Bd3 Bxg2 49. Bxc3 Kf7 $11) 47... Kf7 48. Bxe4 Bxe4 49. Bxc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "45th Biel GM"] [site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2012.07.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [black "Bologan, Viktor"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A58"] [WhiteElo "2739"] [blackElo "2732"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2012.07.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 {Benko gambit.} 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. g3 d6 8. Nf3 Bg7 9. Bg2 O-O 10. Rb1 Bc8 $5 {Quite an interesting idea. Black wants to play ...Bf5 and if white goes e4, then the B can return to c8 and then Ba6 again, as the a6-f1 diagonal has become weaker. 10...Nbd7 is the usual move.} 11. Nd2 Bf5 12. e4 Bc8 13. O-O Ba6 14. Re1 {Was it worth the time invested? well, white's N would like to get to c4, but with the black B on a6, that's rather unlikely. This means that the d2 N isn't that useful on d2. In fact, from f3 it did support e4-e5.} Nfd7 15. Nf3 Bc4 16. Bf4 Nb6 (16... Bxa2 $2 17. Ra1 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Ra3 19. Qd2 Qa5 20. e5 $1 dxe5 21. Nxe5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 {And white has a clear advantage despite material equality.}) 17. e5 $1 {No hesitation from Wang! He's sending out a very clear message: in the Benko, white should focus on the e4-e5 P break, and the best black can do is get his P back on the Qside whilst white gets the advantage playin in the center.} Bxa2 18. Ra1 Bxd5 19. Nxd5 Rxa1 20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21. Qxa1 d5 (21... dxe5 22. Nxe5 Re8 23. Re3 $16) 22. e6 $1 fxe6 23. Bh3 e5 24. Nxe5 $16 Qf6 25. Qa7 Kh8 (25... g5 26. Ng4 Qxb2 27. Nh6+ $3 (27. Bxb8 $18) 27... Bxh6 (27... Kh8 28. Nf7+ Kg8 29. Nxg5 $18) 28. Be6+ Kh8 29. Be5+ Qxe5 30. Rxe5 Nc6 31. Qxb6 Nxe5 32. Qxc5 $18) 26. Re2 $2 {Wang probably expected ...g5 now, after which Bxg5! Qxg5, Nf7+ Rxf7, Qxf7 wins, because Re8 is unstoppable. But Black still has a defensive resource...} (26. Nd3 $1 {I think this would have won outright. Black can't defend the N on b8, the P on c5 and the N on b6 if the black Q moves. d5 is also on. Be5 is a possility as well. It's curtains!}) 26... Nc6 $1 (26... g5 $2 27. Bxg5 Qxg5 28. Nf7+ Rxf7 29. Qxf7 $18) 27. Nxc6 Qxc6 28. Re6 Qa4 $1 {This is the move that Wang probably missed. Who wouldn't? it involves sacrificing the N and the exchange on f4!} 29. Qxb6 Qd1+ 30. Bf1 Rxf4 $1 {Suddenly black gets excellent drawing chances.} 31. Qxc5 (31. gxf4 $4 Qg4+ 32. Kh1 Qf3+ 33. Kg1 Qg4+ 34. Bg2 Qd1+ $11) 31... Bd4 32. Qc8+ {Note that after this check, when the white R goes to e7 next move, the g4 square will be covered...} Kg7 33. Re7+ Rf7 (33... Kh6 $4 34. gxf4 $18) (33... Kf6 $4 34. Qf8+ $18) 34. Rxf7+ Kxf7 35. Qb7+ Ke6 $4 (35... Kf8 $1 {I'm not sure if white can win any more after this move. d5 can't be captured due to the discovered check ...Bxf2, and there's a lot of pressure against f2. I'm not sure if 35...Kf6 works also, but 35...Ke6 jus seems to lose.} 36. Qxh7 $2 Qd2 $1 {And it is white who's fighting for the draw!}) 36. Qxh7 {Now the difference is that white threatens to take on g6 with check.} Qb1 (36... Bxf2+ {The problem with this is that white can give back his B at the right time and reach a winning Q ending.} 37. Kxf2 Qd4+ 38. Ke1 (38. Kg2 Qe4+ 39. Kh3 Qf5+) 38... Qb4+ 39. Kd1 Qb3+ 40. Ke2 Qc4+ 41. Kd2 $1 Qxf1 42. Qxg6+ $18) 37. b4 Kd6 (37... Qc2 38. Bh3+ $1 Kf6 ( 38... Ke5 39. Qe7#) (38... Kd6 39. Qd7+ Ke5 40. Qe7#) 39. Qh8+ $18) 38. Qh6 Qf5 39. Qd2 Qe5 40. b5 (40. h4 $4 Qxg3+) 40... g5 41. Qc2 Qe4 42. Qd2 Qg4 43. Bg2 Kc5 44. Qc2+ Kxb5 45. Qb3+ Ka6 46. Qd3+ Kb6 47. h3 {Bologan resigned. He's losing his B.} 1-0 [/pgn]

This was a really hard fought round. Bologan's creative play was "awarded" with a most undeserved defeat. Giri's opening preparation seemed rather poor and he was soon worse against Wang's convincing play. Carlsen played a Bogo-Indian and came out of the opening quite well (unusual in recent times!). Did he miss a win on move 44? maybe... [pgn][Event "45th Biel GM"] [site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2012.07.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Bologan, Viktor"] [black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D20"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "162"] [EventDate "2012.07.23"] 1. d4 {I think Bologan is more of a King Pawn player.} d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 Nc6 7. Be3 Bf5 8. Ne2 e6 9. Nbc3 Qd7 10. a3 O-O-O 11. Rc1 Kb8 12. O-O Qe8 13. Ba4 (13. Ng3 $5 Nxe5 14. Nxf5 exf5 15. Re1 $44) ( 13. Na4 $2 Nxe5 14. Nxb6 axb6 15. Bf4 Nc6 16. Ng3 Bg6 $17) 13... Nxa4 14. Qxa4 Bd3 15. d5 $5 {An interesting try, but it doesn't seem to work. There was nothing wrong with the "usual" 15.Rfd1} (15. Rfd1 Bxe2 16. Nxe2 Ne7 17. Qa5 Nd5 18. Rc4) 15... exd5 16. Rfd1 Bxe2 17. Nxe2 {For his P, white's pieces definitely look more threatening. a7 is under pressure.} Be7 {Most humans would rather play 17...a6 here. Apparently, Hikaru was quite happy with the position after the sacrifice on c6.} (17... a6) 18. Rxc6 Qxc6 19. Qxa7+ Kc8 20. Nd4 Qa6 21. Qxa6 bxa6 22. Nc6 Rd7 23. b4 (23. Rxd5 $2 {I'm pretty sure Nakamura had seen this.} Rhd8 $1 $17) 23... Kb7 {Objectively, white doesn't have enough compensation for the exchange.} 24. Rc1 d4 (24... Re8 25. f4 g6 26. Kf2) 25. Bxd4 f6 26. f4 (26. e6 Rd6 27. Nxe7 Rxd4 28. Nf5 Re4 29. Nxg7 Rg8 30. Nf5 Rxe6 $17) 26... fxe5 27. fxe5 (27. Bxe5 Bd6) 27... Bg5 28. Rc4 Re8 29. Kf2 Rf7+ 30. Ke2 Re6 31. Na5+ Kc8 32. g3 Rh6 33. h4 Bd8 34. Be3 Re6 35. Bf4 Bf6 36. Re4 Rfe7 37. Nc4 g6 38. Re3 Bg7 39. Kf3 Rc6 40. Na5 Rce6 41. Nc4 h6 42. g4 Rd7 43. Ke4 Bf8 44. Rf3 Rf7 45. Rc3 Rd7 46. Be3 Kd8 47. Rb3 Ke8 48. h5 {I'm not sure about this, as now h5 is a target.} (48. b5 axb5 49. Rxb5 Ra6 {And white's a P is more of a weakness than an asset.}) 48... gxh5 49. gxh5 Rc6 50. Nb2 Rc2 {...Rh2 is a threat now.} 51. Bf4 Rf7 52. a4 Re2+ 53. Be3 Rf1 (53... Rh2 $1) 54. Nd3 Be7 55. Nf4 Ra2 56. Nd5 Bd8 57. a5 (57. Bxh6 {I think it was important to get rid of black's h P. White's drawing chances improve considerably, as all of black's PP are on the same side now.} Rxa4 58. Nc3 (58. Bg7 a5 59. h6 Rh1 {And black threatens ...c6.}) 58... Raa1 59. Bd2 {Covering the e1 square. I think white should be able to draw this.}) 57... c6 58. Nf4 Rh2 59. Ne6 Rh4+ 60. Kd3 Rd1+ 61. Kc2 Re1 $6 (61... Rd5 $1) 62. Rd3 Bg5 (62... Rxh5 $4 63. Ng7+ $18) 63. Nc7+ Ke7 64. Bc5+ Kf7 65. Nxa6 {Black's taking too many risks!} Rh2+ 66. Kb3 Rb1+ (66... Rxe5 $4 67. Bd6) 67. Kc4 Rh4+ 68. Kc3 Ra1 69. Kb2 Rhh1 70. Nb8 Rhb1+ 71. Kc3 Rc1+ 72. Kd4 Ke6 73. Nxc6 {It's black who's fighting for a draw now!} Rc2 74. Ke4 Re1+ 75. Kf3 Rf1+ 76. Kg4 (76. Ke4 $4 Rf4+ 77. Ke3 Rxb4+ 78. Kf3 Rf4+ 79. Kg3 Rxc5 $19) 76... Rg2+ 77. Kh3 Ra2 78. a6 $2 (78. Nd4+ {It was important to prevent ...Kf5.}) 78... Kf5 $1 {Suddenly black is threatening mate, starting with ...Rh1.} 79. Nd4+ $2 (79. a7 $4 Rh1+ 80. Kg3 Bf4+ 81. Kf3 Rh3#) (79. Ne7+ $1 Bxe7 80. Bxe7 Kf4 81. Rd4+ Kxe5 82. Rc4 Rxa6 $15) 79... Ke4 80. Rf3 (80. Rb3 Rh1+ 81. Kg3 Bf4+ 82. Kg4 Rg2+ 83. Rg3 Rxg3#) 80... Rh1+ 81. Kg3 Bh4+ {A sad end to a hard fought game. I feel white deserved a lot better than a loss...} (81... Bh4+ 82. Kg4 Rg2+ 83. Rg3 Rxg3#) 0-1 [Event "45th Biel GM"] [site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2012.07.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [black "Wang Hao"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E84"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2012.07.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Nge2 a6 8. Qd2 Rb8 9. Rc1 {This move has become quite popular.} (9. Rb1 {With the idea of b4, is a strong alternative.}) 9... Bd7 (9... e5 {This looks like the standard reply here, but white's well prepared to meet it.} 10. d5 Na5 11. Nd1 $1 c5 12. b4 $1 cxb4 13. Qxb4 b6 (13... b5 $6 14. Nec3 $16) 14. Nec3 Re8 15. Na4 Nd7 16. Nxb6 (16. Rb1 $5) 16... Nxc4 17. Qxc4 (17. Rxc4 Nxb6 18. Rc6 Nd7 19. Qxd6 Qa5+ (19... Bf8 20. Qc7 Bb4+ 21. Kf2 $16) 20. Bd2 Qxa2 21. Rxc8 $2 (21. Bxa6 Bf8 22. Bc4 Qb1 23. Qc7 Bb4 {With some compensation, not sure if it's enough though.}) 21... Rexc8 22. Qxd7 Rc2 $17) 17... Nxb6 18. Qc7 Nd7 19. Qxd6 Qa5+ (19... Bf8 20. Qc7 Bb4+ 21. Kf2 Qe7 $16) 20. Bd2 Qxa2 21. Nc3 (21. Rxc8 $2 Rexc8 22. Qxd7 Rc2 $17) 21... Qb2 {This happened in the game Rowson - Mestel, West Bromwich 2005, which eventually ended in a draw. Instead of Rowson's 22.Qc7, 22.Rb1 looks better for white now.}) 10. Nd1 Re8 (10... b5 $6 {is now strongly met by} 11. c5 $1 e6 12. Nf2 Qe7 (12... b4 $6 13. g3 Na5 14. Nd3 dxc5 15. Nxc5 $16 { Black's << is in ruins.} Bb5 16. Nf4 g5 17. Nfd3 Nc6 18. Ne5 g4 $4 19. Bxb5 { 1-0 Nenashev-Gadjily, Dubai 2000}) 13. cxd6 cxd6 14. g3 {/\ Bg2} Qd8 15. Bg2 Qa5 16. Qxa5 Nxa5 17. b3 Rfc8 18. Kd2 $14 {and White has a strong P [+], therefore the space advantage as well, Conquest-Kindermann, Germany 2000.}) ( 10... e6 $5 {is an interesting, unusual plan.} 11. g3 Ne8 12. Bg2 f5 13. O-O Nf6 14. Nf2 Qe7 15. f4 (15. b4 $5) 15... fxe4 16. d5 Nd8 17. Nc3 Nf7 18. Ncxe4 Nxe4 19. Nxe4 e5 20. Rfe1 Bf5 $13 {Hertneck-Schmaltz, Germany 1998}) (10... e5 11. d5 Ne7 12. c5 $5 {White has the same reaction, as in case of 10...b5.} (12. g3 Ne8 13. Bg2 c5 14. b4 b6 15. O-O f5 16. Nf2 {1/2-1/2 Bischoff-Nunn, Paignton 2000}) (12. b4 $5) 12... Ne8 (12... dxc5 13. Bxc5 Ne8 {/\ Nd6 is a possibility transposing after} 14. Nec3 {to the game continuation.}) 13. b4 { against 13...dxc5} (13. Nec3 dxc5 $5 {vacating the d6 square for the blockading N comes into consideration.} (13... f5 14. Bd3 (14. b4 {- 13.b4})) ( 13... c6 14. cxd6 Nxd6 15. Bc5 $14) 14. Bxc5 Nd6 15. Bd3 f5 16. O-O Kh8 {/\ Ng8, Bh6}) 13... f5 14. Nec3 (14. Ndc3 Nf6) 14... Nf6 15. Be2 {Finally White can finish his development.} Kh8 16. Nb2 {/\ Nc4 improving the N and waiting with 0-0.} (16. O-O {castles into Black's standard ->.} f4 17. Bf2 g5) 16... Nc8 {If this is necessary, then White's advantage is undisputable in the opening. He has a strong pressure on the <<, while Black's chances for a >> -> are problematic.} (16... f4 17. Bf2 g5 18. Nc4 {and White's K may remain in the [+] because of the closed character of the position.}) 17. Nc4 (17. O-O { now comes into consideration, after one of Black's pieces has left the >>.} f4 18. Bf2 g5 19. Qd1 $1 {against g4.} (19. Nc4 g4)) 17... fxe4 18. fxe4 Ng4 ( 18... Nh5 19. Bxh5 Qh4+ 20. Bf2 Qxh5 21. O-O g5 22. Be3 h6 23. Rxf8+ Bxf8 24. Rf1 Be7 25. Ne2 Qg6 26. Ng3 $16 {Graf-Mamedov, Dubai 2002}) 19. Bg5 ({or simply } 19. Bxg4 Bxg4 20. Bf2 $16 {/\ 0-0}) 19... Bf6 20. O-O Kg7 21. Rxf6 Nxf6 22. Bh6+ Kg8 23. Bxf8 Qxf8 24. Qe3 $16 {Graf-Nunn, BL 2001 CBM 82}) 11. Nf2 b5 ( 11... e6 $5) 12. c5 dxc5 13. Rxc5 e5 14. d5 Ne7 15. g3 {A strange new move. 15. Qc2 is the main line.} (15. Qc2 c6 (15... Rc8 {I think Wang would have gone fo this instead.} 16. Ng3 $1 {This is probably the critical position in this line. Balck needs a good idea, but it's not easy to find!} (16. Nd3 $2 Nexd5 $3 17. exd5 e4 18. fxe4 Nxe4 {With excellent compensation for the piece.}) 16... h5 ( 16... c6 $2 17. d6) 17. Bd3 $16 {And white will castle and put his other R on c1. It looks pretty bad for black.}) 16. dxc6 Nxc6 17. Rxc6 Bxc6 18. Qxc6 $16 { This happened in Graf,A (2635)-Nunn,J (2611)/Germany 2003. The game ended in a draw but black struggled...}) 15... c6 16. dxc6 Nxc6 17. Rc1 Rc8 18. Bg2 Be6 { Is this Giri's home preparation? because black seems a little better already!} 19. b3 {a2 needs protection.} (19. O-O Qxd2 20. Bxd2 Bxa2 $17) 19... Qxd2+ 20. Bxd2 Red8 $15 21. Bg5 Nb4 22. Nc3 Rd7 23. Ke2 Rdc7 24. Bd2 Bf8 (24... Nc6 $5 { This looks very strong also, eyeing the d4 square.}) 25. Bh3 Nc6 26. Nd5 { Giving up a P, but white's position was very difficult already.} (26. Bxe6 Nd4+ 27. Kd1 fxe6 $1 {And white's in trouble.}) 26... Nxd5 27. exd5 Nd4+ 28. Ke3 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 (29. Bxc1 Rc3+ $19) 29... Rxc1 30. Bxc1 Bxd5 $17 31. Ne4 Bg7 32. g4 f5 33. gxf5 gxf5 34. Nd2 Kf7 35. Bb2 Kg6 36. Bg2 (36. Bxd4 exd4+ 37. Ke2 Be5 $19) 36... Ne6 37. Kf2 Kf6 38. a4 Bf8 39. axb5 axb5 40. Bf1 Bb4 41. Nb1 Bc5+ 42. Kg3 Bd4 (42... f4+ $1 43. Kg2 b4 44. Bc4 Bxc4 45. bxc4 Bd4 $19) 43. Bxd4 Nxd4 44. Nc3 Bxf3 45. Nxb5 f4+ 46. Kf2 Nxb5 47. Kxf3 Nd4+ 48. Kg4 Nxb3 $19 49. Bd3 h6 50. Bb5 Nd2 51. Bc6 Ke6 52. Bb7 Kd6 53. h4 Kc5 54. Kh5 f3 55. Kxh6 e4 56. h5 f2 57. Ba6 Nc4 {A most convicing win by Wang Hao and rather poor opening play by Giri.} 0-1 [Event "45th Biel GM"] [site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2012.07.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Bacrot, Etienne"] [black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A40"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2012.07.23"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ {Bogo-Indian.} 3. Bd2 Bxd2+ 4. Qxd2 d5 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. e3 Qe7 8. Rc1 Rd8 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Nc6 {This looks kind of odd, but it's actually a pretty good move here. Black prevents Ne5 and prepares ...Bg4 or even ...Ne4.} 11. Bb5 $1 {Against 11.0-0 both 11...Bg4 or 11...Ne4 look strong.} (11. O-O) 11... Rd6 12. Bxc6 $1 (12. O-O Bf5 13. Qd1 Bg4 14. Be2 {1/ 2-1/2 Shishkin,V (2532)-Kosic,D (2489) Bijelo Polje 2005}) 12... Rxc6 13. Ne5 Re6 {Blocking the B's diagonal, but black doesn't have anything better as 13... Rd6 would be met by 14.Nb5.} 14. f3 (14. O-O Ne4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Qc2 c6) 14... b6 15. O-O Bb7 16. Rfe1 h6 (16... c5) 17. Ne2 c5 18. Nf4 Rd6 19. dxc5 bxc5 20. Ned3 {This forces the weakening of the d4 square, and d5 becomes backward. But black has a little more space and can play along the e and b files.} c4 21. Nb4 Rad8 22. Nc2 Nd7 23. Nd4 Ne5 24. Rc3 (24. Nf5 Qg5 {And the N has to retreat to d4, as ...Nxf3 is a thret.}) 24... Ra6 25. b3 Rb6 26. Rd1 Re8 27. Nc2 {Attacking d5.} Qf6 28. Ne1 (28. Nxd5 $4 Bxd5 (28... Nxf3+ $5 29. gxf3 Qxf3 $19) 29. Qxd5 Nxf3+ 30. Qxf3 Qxc3 $19) 28... a5 29. Qd4 Rb5 30. Nh5 Qg5 31. Ng3 Nc6 32. Qf4 (32. Qd2 d4 33. Rxc4 dxe3 $15) 32... Qxf4 33. exf4 Nb4 34. bxc4 dxc4 35. Rxc4 Nxa2 {Black gets a passed P on the a file, but is it enough?} 36. Ne4 Bd5 37. Rc5 Rxc5 38. Nxc5 Nc3 39. Ra1 a4 40. Ned3 Bb3 41. Ra3 Nb5 42. Ra1 Nd4 43. Nb2 a3 44. Nbd3 Ra8 $2 (44... Nc2 $1 {I think this move would have given Carlsen real winning chances.} 45. Rc1 (45. Rxa3 Nxa3 46. Nxb3 $17) (45. Nxb3 $2 Nxa1 46. Nxa1 Re3 $19) 45... Re3 46. Nxb3 (46. Kf2 Rxd3 47. Nxd3 a2) 46... Rxd3 47. Rxc2 Rxb3 48. Rc8+ Kh7 49. Ra8 Kg6 50. Ra5 Rb1+ 51. Kf2 Rb2+ 52. Ke3 a2 {And I doubt that white can hold this ending...}) 45. Nxb3 Nxb3 46. Ra2 Rd8 47. Ne1 Rd1 48. Kf2 Ra1 49. Rxa1 Nxa1 50. Ke2 a2 51. Kd3 Nb3 52. Nc2 f5 (52... a1=Q 53. Nxa1 Nxa1 54. Kc3) 53. Kc3 Nc1 54. Kd2 (54. g3 Kf7 55. Kb2 Ne2 56. Kxa2 Ke6 57. Kb3 Kd5 {And it is white who has to play with care.}) 54... Nb3+ 55. Kc3 Nc1 56. Kd2 1/2-1/2 [/pgn] bielannotatedR4.pgn