15 May 2015

Complicating at any cost

Eteri Kublashvili reports on the first round of the FIDE Grand Prix final stage.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Ugra is one of the most active chess regions not only in Russia, but also in the whole world. Every year tournaments of different levels are held in Khanty-Mansiysk, ranging from local events to the most significant international competitions. Chess in Ugra is being supported on the highest level, that's why the events are always visited by officials.

For example, the first round guest of the 4th FIDE Grand Prix stage was Ugra Deputy Governor Aleksey Putin, who made the honorary first move in Jakovenko-Giri. Thanks to Aleksey Putin, who played 1.Nf3 on Dmitry's behalf, the game finished with the Russian's victory.

At the press conference Dmitry told that he decided to use this rare variation in Ragozin Defense at the suggestion of his second Denis Khismatullin.

In the middlegame Anish Giri played inaccurately:

Jakovenko - Giri


A poisoned pawn sacrifice 19. c4 allowed White to liberate his bishops. Anish admitted that the position after 19…Nxc4 20. Rc1 b5 21. Bxc4 bxc4 22. f3 Nf6 23. Rxc4 is quite difficult. He doesn't think he had overlooked an easy solution somewhere later in the game – White's advantage is objectively very significant.

23…Qe6 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 25. Qxf6 gxf6 26. Kf2 

Anish Giri praised this decision: "A very strong move!"

 
Anish said that Black is obliged to part with the c7-pawn, otherwise his position would be just horrible.

26…Rab8 27. Rfc1 Rb3 28. R1c3 Reb8 29. Rxc7 

White won a pawn, and in the forthcoming game Dmitry Jakovenko demonstrated excellent technique, gradually squeezing out a win.



The Grand Prix series leader Evgeny Tomashevsky also started with the win, but that was a thorny path. His opponent Baadur Jobava chose a quite ambitious and poisoned line against the Chebanenko System of the Slav Defense. "Even the world champion plays it", reminded Baadur. Evgeny ended up in a bad position. "I tricked myself in the opening, not playing b6 and Bb7. That's why to a certain point the game was very one-sided, but then I got extremely lucky. This was exactly the situation when a single inaccuracy may cost a game. After all there could be no fight at all, not to mention me winning the game, because it was unclear what should Black do. I had a strategically lost position, and decided to complicate at any cost, without paying attention on material".

Jobava - Tomashevsky




In the position with a big advantage White made a mistake – 23. Rb4, apparently underestimating Black's swift response in the center.

23…e5!

Tomashevsky: "That was the only chance for me. The game kind of starts over, and Black is even not worse. My time pressure also does not affect the game that much. Here and on the couple of next moves I got very lucky".

24. b6 Qb8 25. Rxe5 Rxe5 26. dxe5 Bf5

 
Jobava: “I did not see 26...Bf5 at all. I lost control over the position, but continued playing for win where I should not do it at all".

27. Qe2 Bd3 28. Qe3 Nd7 29. Nd5 Nxe5 30. Ne7+ Kh7 31. c6 Nxf3+ 32. gxf3 Qd6 33. Ba3 bxc6

 
Here Baadur suggested a nice move 34…Bd4, threatening ...Qg3+ after White's queen retreat.

34. b7 Rb8 35. Nc8 Qd7 36. Qe7 Qxh3 37. Qxf7 Qf1+ 38. Kh2 Qxf2+ 39. Kh1 Be2 White resigns.


All other games were drawn.

Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler made peace on the 31st move. At the press conference Svidler characterized this game as not the most interesting. He added: "I have a broken arm, you see, I can't even hold a mouse to show variations, so drawing as Black in such conditions is a good result. Generally I play this line once in a year: one game was in 2013, then in 2014 and one more in 2015. Perhaps people forget that I can play this line, when it comes just once in a year, and do not prepare for it."

Grischuk: "My score against Peter Svidler is 1-7, and I think it is a very decent result for me, so I try to play it safe against him. I remember Peter playing this line with Levon Aronian, and before the game I had some ideas, but decided to play something else." 


Sergey Karjakin and Hikaru Nakamura discussed the Dragon Variation.

Karjakin: "I didn't expect Hikary choosing this variation, though I saw his brilliant games in the Dragon. He was well prepared; we entered a quite equal endgame almost by force."

The grandmasters looked through the main lines and came to a conclusion that Black found an optimal stand and confidently achieved a draw.



Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Boris Gelfand also drew. 

The grandmaster from Israel said he improved his opening play in the game against Caruana,, but Vachier-Lagrave was ready to this variation too.

In the middlegame the players have sharpened the game: after the forced line Black lost a pawn, but had very decent compensation. Boris found the right plan of rearranging the rooks, and the position equalized. A draw by perpetual check followed on the 33rd move.


Fabiano Caruana, playing White, did not set indeterminable tasks before Leinier Domínguez in the Berlin Defense. Leinier pointed out: "I had played some games in this variation, though I chose the Najdorf more often. The game was equal, although they were some interesting moments."

As the press conference started, Caruana commented on his switching to the USA, having said that he got this offer several times during the latest St. Louis tournament and agreed with pleasure, as he had a dual citizenship. The grandmaster mentioned that he was looking forward to his team performances for the USA.



































Pairings of the second round: 

Gelfand - Nakamura, Giri - Karjakin, Domínguez - Jakovenko, Svidler - Caruana, Tomashevsky - Grischuk, Vachier-Lagrave - Jobava.