The tournament, which was held from Dec. 8 to 15, started with a bang: only 1 of the 4 games in the first round was drawn (Vishy vs. Nakamura) with McShane thumping Carlsen in grand style. Magnus bounced back in the next round with a win against Adams, only to lose to Anand in the third round. (Their head to head score in classical games is now 8-1 with 13 draws — in favor of the Indian.) In the next two rounds, however, Carlsen scalped his contemporaries Nakamura and Howell, escaped, Houdini-like, with a draw as black against Kramnik in the penultimate round before outplaying the former world championship challenger Short in the last round to retain his title. Attaboy Magnus!
Carlsen, Anand and McShane finished with 4.5 points but in this tournament, a win was worth 3 points and draw 1 point and so Magnus got the grand prize of 50,000 euros ($66,100) for garnering the most points: 13. Anand finished second; McShane, third; Nakamura, fourth; Kramnik, fifth; Adams, sixth; Howell, seventh; and Short, the oldest player, eighth.
Game of the week. Here’s the fascinating game between Carlsen and Kramnik in round six as annotated by GM Sergey Shipov.
White: V. Kramnik (2791)
Black: M. Carlsen (2802)
Queen’s Gambit, Chigorin Defense
London 2010
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 Excellent! The Chigorin Defence. A rare guest in contemporary chess. Only Morozevich has regularly used this ancient opening, but he too would usually put the pawn on c6 instead of the knight. 3. Nf3 One of the solid replies. I prefer the classical 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. e3 e5 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd2 and so on. 3…Bg4 Black’s playing extremely energetically and with a flourish. Quick development and real pressure on the white center — that’s the creed of the given opening. 4. Nc3 White replies to a blow with a blow. 4.cxd5 Bxf3! 5.dxc6 Bxc6 6.Nc3 e6 7.e4 Bb4 8.f3 f5! 9.e5 Ne7 with wonderful play for Black, H. Pillsbury – M. Chigorin, Saint Petersburg 1896. 4…e6 Again played according to Chigorin. Black has employed one bishop and will now bring out the second. The chronic flaw in his position is the passivity of the c7-pawn, which has been hurt by its own knight. But it’s hard to come up with a workable scheme for Black with no flaws whatsoever. Everything has its cost. 5. Bf4 An analogous approach. Before playing e2-e3 it’s worth letting the black-squared bishop escape. 5…Bd6 A logical refutation. Overall the exchange of minor pieces is favourable for Black. 6. Bg3 Kramnik insists on an exchange on his own terms. If you think there’s something new here then you’re deeply mistaken. It’s already been known about for more than a hundred years! 6…Nf6 There’s also no point in Black hurrying to exchange. 7. e3 0-0 Black is first to complete his development. Now he needs to think up a plan of action. Of course, you’d like to open the centre and start an attack. But how? White has a different problem. If you bring out the f1-bishop then Black will immediately take on c4. You’d like to wait for that to happen with the bishop still on f1, but in that case you need to find other useful moves… 8. a3 Yes, there it is. A battle for tempos begins. 8…Ne7 A standard manoeuvre. As Black can’t quickly organise the e6-e5 break he switches the knight to the kingside, at the same time freeing the c7-pawn for better things. 9. Qb3 Vladimir sticks to his guns. 9…b6 10. Ne5 The most principled response, leading to serious complications. It seems as though the ex-champion is in a very aggressive mood and isn’t inclined to take extra precautions. 10…c5 Fierce play. A bone for a bone! A pleasure to watch. Note that Black still hasn’t exchanged pawns on c4 and so hasn’t allowed White to develop his kingside and evacuate the king. That means that Black still has one or two tempos in reserve. Even if the structure isn’t the most ideal for Black, he’ll no doubt get dynamic counterplay…The two super-grandmasters have been struggling for two hours already, but only 10 moves have been made on the board. A very rare occurrence in our enlightened times. 11. Nxg4 Nxg4 12. Rd1 White has reinforced the centre. As before, any pawn exchanges will aid his development. Magnus is thinking for a long time, looking for ways of opening up play and using his advantages. Time: 1:03 – 0:55. 12…Bxg313. hxg3 Nf6 Solid and strong. Control over the centre comes first. 14. cxd5 Carlsen has after all won the long struggle of nerves — he’s forced his opponent to be the first to defuse the pawn tension. 14…exd5 15. Be2 Qd6 16. Qc2 h617. 0-0 c4 18. b3 Qxa3 19. bxc4 dxc4 20. Bf3 Rab8 21. Ra1 Qd6 22. Nb5 Qd7 23. Qxc4 a5 It’s time to look at the position a little more carefully. The complications begun with the rushed move 17…c4?! have led to a position with an obvious positional superiority for White. He has the center, while the black pawns on the queenside are solidly blocked and, most likely, will come under serious pressure. 24. e4 No, Kramnik has played something even stronger than I expected. He’s decisively attacking in the centre! When the pawn gets to e5, the knight on b5 will switch to d6. You wouldn’t envy Carlsen now… Let’s look at the clocks: 0:36 – 0:29. 24…Rfc825. Qe2 What now? Active ideas for Black are nowhere to be found. 25…Rc6 Fantastically cold-blooded! Magnus is putting the rook under attack from the f3-bishop — but, it seems, there’s no direct way to make use of that. 26. Rab1 Rd8 27. Rfd1 Rdc8 28. d5 Rc2 29. Qe3 R2c5 30. Nd4 Re8 31. Qd3 Qd6 32. Qa6 Rb8 33. Nb3 Rc2 34. Nd4Rc5 It seems Vladimir doesn’t see a direct way to win and simply wants to get through time trouble and then find a plan for a decisive offensive under calmer conditions. 35. Nb3 Rc2 36. Qd3 Rcc8 37. Nd2 Ng6 38. Be2 Qc5?! The players have no longer got any time to think. They’re blitzing.It was better to play 38…Ne5 39. Qd4 Ned7 etc. 39. Rb5 Qc3 40. f4! a4?!41. e5 White’s strategy is triumphant; the black knights have been pressed to the edge of the board. 41…Nd7 42. Qxc3 Rxc3 43. Ne4 Rc7 44. Ra1 Ra7 45. d6Ngf8 Magnus is doing everything in his power; he’s trying to free the knights from their captivity. 46. Nc3 But Vladimir is in charge on two thirds (or even three quarters) of the board. 46…Nc547. Nd5 Ra5 48. Rxb6 The first fruit. 48…Rxb6 49. Nxb6 Nfe6 In exchange for the pawn Black has time to catch his breath, and even the hope of pushing his outside passed pawn,though it’s unlikely to be dangerous for White. 50. Bc4 Kf851. f5 Powerful! 51…Nd8 A sad necessity. 52. Rf1 Ncb7 53. Re1 a3 54. e6 fxe6 55. fxe6 Nxd6 56. e7+ Ke8 57. exd8=Q+ Kxd8 So, the avalanche happenedand brought White an extra piece. He should be able to deal with the pawn on a3. The long-range bishop is a guarantee of success. True, I’m a little concerned by the fact that the h8-corner is inaccessible for that same guarantor…58. Rd1 Kc7 59. Ba2 Rg5 60. Nd5+ Kc6 61. Nc3 Rc5 The second time control has passed. 62. Rxd6+ Kxd6 63. Ne4+ Kc6 64. Nxc5 Kxc5 65. Kf2 Kd4 66. Kf3Kd3 Exactly. And isn’t it a draw, dear spectators? I’ve got a strong feeling… Here Kramnik’s sunk into thought.67. g4 Yes, the only chance. Vladimir is trying to gain a tempo. 67…Kd2 The most precise move.68. Be6 Kd3 Correct. Now Black simply stands and waits to see what White does. I ask dear readers who are electronically armed not to be deceived by the computer’s evaluation. There’s most likely a drawn position on the board. Our famous metal friends aren’t yet capable of “grasping” such concepts as a fortress, a positional draw and so on. That’s why they come up with senseless materialistic evaluations, even when there’s no win. 69. Kg3Ke3 70. Kh4 Kf2 71. Bd5 g6 71…Ke3 was the simplest path to a draw. 72. Kh3 Kramnik’s playing subtly. Very subtly… 72…g5 73. Kh2 Kf1 74. Be6 Kf2 75. Bc4 Ke3 Now White’s task is to free the king and manage to play g2-g3 without allowing his black counterpart to get to f4. Then it would be won. But how can you do that? 76. Kg3 Kd4 77. Be6 Ke3 78. Kh2 Kf2 79. Bc4 Ke3 80. Kg1 Kf4 81. Be6Ke5 The most precise move. White has no chances left. 82. Bb3 Kf4 83. Be6 Ke5 84. Bb3 DRAW! A fantastically dramatic and vivid encounter. A quick summary of what we’ve witnessed: Carlsen equalized in the opening, then clearly rushed with 17…c4? Kramnik launched a counterattack of the highest quality and gained a won position. Then he blundered while converting it:62. Rxd6+? He rushed, forgetting to think and allowing his opponent to make a truly study-like draw. Analyzing the ending provides great aesthetic pleasure above all because computer programs (which, objectively speaking, are stronger than all of us, including champions!) aren’t capable of understanding what any competent flesh-and-blood player realizes quite quickly. Long live chess, a game for people!
Puzzler.
White: Qa8, Nd5, Bg5, Kh7
Black: Ke5
White to play and mate in three.
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