There were, to be sure, a lot of fighting draws but they’re still draws.
Five of the 10 players didn’t lose a single game, and the top two, Carlsen and Aronian, won only two. The young Norwegian was awarded first prize for having the better tie-breaking score. Sharing 3rd-5th places were Ivanchuk, Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi who scored 5, half-a-point behind Magnus and Levon. The reigning Russian and world champs — Svidler and Anand — tied for 6th-7th places. Peter won 2 and lost 2 while Vishy drew all his games. Ex-world champ Kramnik and next year’s challenger to the world crown Gelfand ended in 8th-9th places. They lost 2 games and didn’t win any. The greatest disappointment, however, was Kasparov’s new student, the American Nakamura who lost 3 games, including one to Garik’s former protégé, Carlsen. As we say here on Saipan, Was happen’ Hikaru?
Game of the week. Armenia’s top player Levon Aronian played what should be the tournament’s best. GM Alejandro Ramirez annotates.
White: L. Aronian (2802)
Black: P. Svidler (2755)
Gruenfeld Defense
Tal Memorial, Moscow 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Rc1 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0-0 9.Nf3 Qxc5 10.Bb3 Nc6 11.0-0 Qa5 12.h3 Bf5 13.Qe2 Ne4 This position has been hotly debated since the Karpov-Kasparov match of 1986. In that case, 14. Nd5 was tried. 14.Nxe4 A rare move, and kind of passive. 14.Nd5 e5 15.Rxc6 (15.Bh2!?) 15…bxc6 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc6 And this position can still be seen often today, though Black has found ways to equalize. 14…Bxe4 15.Rfd1 Qh5 16.Bc2 Bxc2 17.Qxc2 Qb5 18.a4 18.e4 was played between Kozhunarov and Drenchev. 18…Qb4 White has slightly better piece development, as his rooks are in the open files, but it is quite a miniscule advantage. Black can’t be displeased with the ways things have ended from the opening. However Aronian is a master of squeezing positional advantages, and immediately sets off to create problems. 19.Ne1! With the obvious goal of Nd3-c5. e5 19…Qxb2 20.Qxb2 Bxb2 21.Rb1 Bf6 22.Rxb7 Nd8 23.Rbd7 Ne6 Creates the equalizing threat of Rfd8, as well as targeting the f4 bishop. This was probably the easiest way to full equality. 20.Bg3 Rfd8 21.Nd3 Qe7 22.Qc5 Rd6 23.b4 Rad8 24.b5 Rd5! 25.Qc2 e4 26.Nf4 Rxd1+ 27.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 28.Qxd1 Nb4 29.Qc1 Bf6 Svidler has still managed to get a relatively comfortable position. 30.Qc8+ Kg7 31.Qb8 a6 32.b6 32.Nxg6 Kxg6 33.Bd6 Qd8 34.Qxd8 Bxd8 35.Bxb4 axb5 36.axb5 Kf6 is not dangerous for Black. 32…Nc6 33.Qc8 h5 34.Ne2 Nd8 35.Bc7 Qe6 36.Qb8 Qd7?! Svidler starts playing too passively, when he had a good opportunity to simply counter-attack now that all of White’s pieces seem kind of stuck on the queenside. 36…Qa2 37.Nf4 Qxa4! 38.Bxd8 Qd1+ 39.Kh2 Bxd8 40.Qxb7 Qd6= 37.Be5 Ne6 38.Nc3 Qc6 39.a5 h4 40.Bxf6+ Kxf6 This looks wrong, but on the other hand it’s hard to say where White’s checks are. 41.Qh8+ Kf5 42.Qxh4‼+- A brilliant refutation. This isn’t just far prettier than the prosaic 42. Ne2, it is also much, much stronger. I believe White is already winning in this position. 42.Ne2 g5 43.g3! Kg6 44.gxh4 gxh4 45.Qxh4 Qd5 with a long struggle ahead. 42…Qxc3 Black had little choice in the matter. 43.g4+ Ke5 44.Qh8+ f6 45.Qb8+ Kd5 46.Qxb7+ So the point of the combination is revealed. Black has had no choice but to enter this position, and it is obvious that the passed b-pawn holds immense power. Unfortunately for him, the black knight is quite awkward in defending against the multiple threats. Qc6 47.Qb8! Incredibly strong play by Aronian. This forces Black’s pieces to arrange themselves awkwardly, and they are unable to both defend the b-pawn and attack White’s king. 47.Qxa6? is quite materialistic, but the Queen doesn’t find herself in a good place. This gives Black time to activate his pieces. Ng5! Clearly the only hope is a counterattack against the king. This will achieve one of two things: a perpetual, or force the queen into passivity. 47.Qf7 was also interesting, just not as strong. 47…Nc5 Forced 47…Ng5?? 48.b7 And there are no more than a few checks left. 48.Qg8+ Qe6 48…Kd6 49.Qxg6 Nd7 50.h4+- was not a lesser evil. 49.Qxg6 Kc4? 50.h4 Now Black has to worry about two passed pawns. The knight can only do so much. Any exchange of queens loses immediately for Black. The situation is hopeless. Kd3 51.h5 Ke2? 52.h6 Qc4 A last ditch effort, but there are no threats. 53.h7 Ke1 54.Qxf6 Cooly defending the f2 pawn, and with that any possible counterplay. Very precise, amazing, beautiful play by the Armenian. He played a relatively dull opening, but pressed hard and created problems. Finally, at a key juncture, Svidler remained too passive, and Aronian was swift to seize the advantage. He finished it off with a beautiful sacrifice that sealed the game in his favor. 1–0
Puzzler.
White: Ka5, Nb5, Qc1, Bd3, pawn on d4
Black: Kd5, Ne5, pawns on a6 and f3
White to play and mate in three moves.
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