Recent Games

During my morning coffee today, I passively watched several Grandmaster games that had been played in the past few days, and one of the AlphaZero -- Stockfish battles. The Follow Chess iOS app has a useful autoplay feature that allows me to back the game up to the beginning and then sit back and watch the game take place while sipping my black nectar.

I started with two rapid games from the London Chess Classic. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave outplayed Levon Aronian in the Berlin Endgame and Hikaru Nakamura defeated Fabiano Caruana.

I had not been following the tournament closely, so I was surprised to learn that this position was part of Caruana's preparation and that he was not already worse. Being forced to move the king strikes me as unpleasant.

White to move

Later, I looked at a classic time control game between these players with the same opening. Then, I watched the live commentary, still available on ChessBase's website.

Karjakin -- Carlsen 2016: Critical Positions

The World Chess Championship is tied 5-5 after ten games. Today is a rest day. Before the match, many were predicting a victory for the reigning champion, Magnus Carlsen. Some even thought that Carlsen would retain his title in fewer than twelve games, regarding Sergey Karjakin as clearly the inferior player. Karjakin had not been a favorite to win the Candidates tournament either. Nonetheless, Karjakin defended well in difficult positions early in the match. Perhaps Carlsen had a stronger move in a few cases. Karjakin also missed a few better moves. Some of those positions are presented below.

The first game was not particularly eventful. Although Carlsen managed to create weaknesses in Karjakin's pawn structure, the challenger managed to hold the position without too much pain. Looking at the final moves from my position as a class player, however, I did not know at a glance whether swapping the last pair of minor pieces could give either player an advantage in the pawn ending.

Black to move

After 40.Nd4+

The game concluded 40...Kd6 41.Nb5+ Kd7 42.Nd4 Kd6 and a draw was agreed due to repetition assured.

Had Karjakin played 40...Bxd4, would the game be drawn as well? Grandmasters probably understand the resulting pawn position at a glance, but many other chess players could do well to play it out against a friend or computer.

Carlsen's play with Black in game two deprived Karjakin of any real chance for an advantage.

Ruslan Ponomariov, who wrote the annotations to the first two games for ChessBase, thought that Carlsen could have presented Karjakin with a tactical problem to solve with a different move 26, but Karjakin probably would have seen the trick clearly.

Black to move

After 26.b4

Carlsen played 26...Re6 and the game was drawn on move 33. Ponomariov thought that 26...c5 27.Nxb5 cxb4 28.Nd6 Re6 29.Nxc8 Rxa6 might lead to complexities.

In the third game, Carlsen secured an advantage and then pressed hard for a win. The ending generated a lot of interest around the world. Yasser Seirawan was at a dinner in Saint Louis, where he joined Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Veselin Topalov, and Fabiano Caruana following the game on Caruana's smartphone. Seirawan's annotations for ChessBase presented a drawing opportunity missed by Karjakin from this position.

Black to move

After 70.Nc6

The game was drawn after 70...Kxf5 71.Na5 Rh1 72.Rb7? (72.Rf7+ seems to be winning) 72...Ra1! 73.Rb5+ Kf4! 74.Rxb4+ Kg3 75.Rg4+ Kf2 76.Nc4 h3 77.Rh4 Kg3 78.Rg4+ Kf2.

Seirawan's analysis, presenting the ideas of four other Grandmasters who "out-rated" him, after 70...Rc3!! is worth checking out at the link. Credit Anand for convincing the others that Karjakin could hold.

Chess fans following the game with the aid of engine analysis quickly spotted Carlsen's decisive error as he was pressing for a win in game four. However, Carlsen thought the line he played was winning. It took many more moves before Carlsen's winning ideas had been proven illusions.

Black to move

After 45.Nd1

How many humans could have found 45...Be6 and then had the ability to convert against Karjakin's defensive efforts? Carlsen played 45...f4, gaining a secure passed pawn on the kingside that left him plenty of time to penetrate with his king on the queenside. Many times during the next fifty moves, Karjakin had only one piece that could move without his position collapsing. Sometimes his king had to move. Other times his knight could move, and often only the bishop could. He was very close to zugzwang, but not quite.

Karjakin was slightly better in game five and spent a lot of time in this position, which my advanced students were watching on the demo board at chess club while it was taking place.

Black to move

After 42.hxg4

Karjakin's pawn sacrifice, 42...d4!, brought pressure against the White king. Carlsen returned the sacrifice two moves later and managed a draw.

Gmae six was the least interesting game, except to those who seek to understand the Marshall Gambit and its variants when Black needs a draw against the Spanish. In the annotations for ChessBase, Tiger Hillarp Persson points out Karjakin's method and the computer's method of securing a clear draw from this position as White.

White to move

After 20...Rfe8

For game seven, Karjakin switched to 1.d4 but made no progress. Already at move 15, he needed to secure equality.

White to move

After 15...O-O

16.Ba3 forces material off the board. Karjakin ended up with an ending in which he was a pawn up, but had no chance to fight for a win.

After failing to get an advantage in the two shortest games of the match, and his two consecutive Whites, Karjakin explained, "it is better to play well than to play with White." In game eight, he broke the historic run of draws (the longest in a world championship match sine 1995), winning with the Black pieces.

Both players made errors in the time scramble just before move 40. Carlsen made a bad move in a bad position and then Karjakin missed the strongest continuation. Play went on into another hour.

White to move

After 48.Nd3

It is easy for a computer, and for a human looking at computer evaluations, to understand where White needs to place his queen in such a position. Perhaps the queen is where she belongs and something else should move. For human players, however, it is very difficult to find the right move. World Champion Magnus Carlsen played 49.Qa5? and Karjakin found a way to bring home the full point.

In the ninth game, Sergey Karjakin might have had a chance to put Carlsen away and gain the upper hand in the match.

White to move

After 38...Ne7

Karjakin thought for a long time, finally choosing 39.Bxf7+. Commentators favor 39.Qb3. Neither move has consequences that are clear to human players.

In the tenth game, Karjakin missed a forced draw early in the game and then suffered a long time.

Black to move

After 20.Nd2

How many players can find a draw here without engine assistance?

Karjakin finally cracked after defending a difficult endgame for many hours, allowing Carlsen to even the score.

Mamedyarov -- Caruana, Tata Steel 2016

Can Fabiano Caruana catch Carlsen?

With three rounds to play, Fabiano Caruana stands one-half point behind Magnus Carlsen in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. In today's games, Carlsen has White against Hou Yifan. She opted for a Petroff Defense, which often functions well as a drawing weapon. Caruana has the Black pieces against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and played the Sicilian Defense. Mamedyarov opted for the Alapin variation.

When I awoke this morning, the games had been going for nearly two hours. My morning begins with making coffee, feeding dogs, and creating the beginning of this blog post. Once I am caught up with the action in the Netherlands, I will attempt to follow the games live and record my observations here through frequent updates.

Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2747) -- Caruana,Fabiano (2787) [B22]
78th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee (11), 29.01.2016

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6

White to move

7.Bd3

The fourth most popular move with just over 300 games in my database. Mamedyarov asks Caruana, "just how deep is your preparation in this line that is new to both of us?"

7.Bc4 leads in popularity.

7...dxe5

A few dozen reference games. Only one with a player above 2600.

8.dxe5 Nb4

Sam Shankland has played this move.

9.Be4 Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Nd7

Reference Game:
Fruebing,Thomas (2187) -- Shankland,Samuel L (2539) [B22]
Dresden ZMD op 20th Dresden (1), 06.08.2011
10...N8a6 11.a3 Nc5 12.Nc3 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Nd5 14.Nd4 Bd7 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bh4 Rc8 17.Rc1 Rxc1+ 18.Kxc1 Nf4 19.Bg3 Nd3+ 20.Kc2 Nc5 21.Nc3 Be7 22.b4 Na4 23.Ne4 0–0 24.Rc1 Nb6 25.Nc5 Bxc5 26.bxc5 Rc8 27.Kb3 Nd5 28.Kb2 Bc6 29.Kb3 Kf8 30.a4 a6 31.h4 Ke7 32.Bh2 h5 33.g3 Kd7 34.Bg1 Kc7 35.f4 Ne7 36.Rc3 Rd8 37.Bf2 Be4 38.Rc1 Nc6 39.Kc3 Rd5 40.Nxc6 Rd3+ 41.Kc4 Kxc6 42.Rb1 Ra3 43.Rb6+ Kc7 44.Rd6 Rxa4+ 45.Kb3 Ra1 46.Bd4 Rb1+ 47.Bb2 Bd5+ 48.Kc2 Be4+ 49.Kb3 a5 50.Ka2 a4 51.Rd4 Re1 52.Bc3 Re2+ 53.Rd2 Bd5+ 54.Kb2 Re3 55.f5 a3+ 56.Kc2 Be4+ 57.Kb3 a2 0–1

White to move

There are still four games in my database with this position.

11.Bd2N a5 12.a3 Nc5 13.axb4 Nxe4

Black has created a minor piece imbalance.

14.Be1 b6 15.Nc3 Nxc3+ 16.Bxc3

White could undouble his pawns, but that would give Black a passed pawn and White's c-pawn would be backwards. The doubled b-pawns have strength.

16...a4 17.Nd2 Bb7 18.f3 Bd5 19.Kc1

Black to move

19...b5 20.b3 a3

Caruana has a passed pawn, but any hopes it cherishes of promotion are in the distant future.

21.Kb1 Be7 22.Ka2

The king blockades the passer, freeing White's rook for action.

22...O-O 23.Rac1

Black to move

Caruana has a achieved a middlegame with dynamic prospects to create winning chances.

I was looking at 23...Ra4 to pile on the b4 pawn, but 24...Bxb4 25.Bxb4 Rxb4 drops the a-pawn. Bad ideas are the curse of the class player. On the other hand, keeping the a-pawn on the board ties down one of Black's rooks. What else can he do?

23...Rfc8 24.Nb1 Bg5

Attack the rook. That's what Black can do.

25.Bd2 Rxc1!

Mamedyarov was ahead a few minutes on the clock until the amount of time that he spent on this position. While he thought, I looked at some tactical threats that Black might have in mind. Once I concluded that they did not work, they were played rapidly on the board.

26.Rxc1

Black to move

26...Bxb3+

That's the move I was looking at!

27.Kxb3 a2 28.Na3

When I found this move, I concluded that Black's combination failed. Somehow I overlooked that White's bishop on d2 was now undefended and that losing the a-pawn did not eliminate all of Black's winning chances. There are other vulnerable pawns in White's position. On the other hand, Black must watch his back rank.

28...Bxd2 29.Ra1 Bf4 30.h3 Bxe5 31.Rxa2 Rb8

White to move

32.Rc2

Nxb5 is threatened.

32...Bd6

Black can block a check, so the pawn is safe for now. With most of White's pawns on light squares, the bishop has few targets. But the crucial pawn is on a dark square. The pawns for both players on the kingside are mobile. In this position, the bishop is still a better piece that the knight.

Black is one pawn ahead.

33.Rc6 Be7 34.Rc7 Bf8

34...Bd6 might lead to a repetition, but one repetition gets closer to the time control.

35.Ra7 g6

Black's king gets some air.

36.Ra5

Black to move

Black cannot keep the b-pawn.

36...Rd8

But, an active rook is essential in this endgame and White has other pawns that can be threatened. Will Black be forced to give up the bishop to stop White's b-pawn?

Hou and Carlsen are still playing, but the commentators think that it is headed to a draw.

37.Rxb5 Rd2 38.Rb8

Black to move

38...Kg7

This move may have been necessary. If 38...Rxg2 39.Rxf8 Kxf8 40.b5 and White's pawn will promote.

39.Nc4 Rxg2 40.b5 Rg1 41.Rxf8! Kxf8 42.b6

Black to move

Uh-oh. Caruana is in trouble. How will he stop that pawn? Caruana will be fighting for a draw. Meanwhile, Carlsen continues to force Hou to play chess. That game is not drawn yet.

The commentators are convinced that Black must play 42...Rd1. It seems to me that 42...Rg5 might be worth considering. In any case, Caruana is using a lot of time to think. His tournament hangs in the balance. If he cannot draw this game, Carlsen will be out of reach.

After a little more than 30 minutes:

42...Rg5

White's king and knight will work together to try and prevent the rook's exchange for the pawn.

43.Kb4 Rg1

Now Mamedyarov is thinking. Watching the live video feed, I see Wei Yi stop by to look at the game, Then Carlsen came by. This game is drawing some interest. It is a significant game for the final standings, and it is also an interesting ending.

44.Nd2

White keeps the rook off b1. Now what can Black do?

44...Rd1 45.b7 Rxd2 46.b8Q+

Black to move

White must win this ending. Or, can Black construct a fortress?

46...Kg7 47.Qe5+ Kg8 48.Qb8+ Kg7 49.Qe5+ Kg8 50.Qb8+ 1/2-1/2

I am surprised at this draw. But perhaps Black could have created a fortress with his king on g7 and the rook shuffling among d5, f5, and h5. On the other hand, in such a position White would checkmate with king on e7 and queen on f8. The fortress might not be possible.

Carlsen won his game. Caruana falls a full point behind the leader.

Tata Steel Chess 2016, Round Ten

Caruana Closes the Gap!

I like blogging Grandmaster games while watching them live on the internet, but it can be exhausting. This morning, I considered blogging Navara -- Mamedyarov in this manner. They are playing in the Tata Steel Masters that is holding today's round in the Railway Museum in Utrecht, Netherlands. After the first six moves, the players reached a position that I had in one of my most memorable games (see "Pawn Wars").

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.c3 a6 5.Ba4 d6 6.d4 Bd7

White to move

I was playing for a draw because I was tired from the prior round and inadequate sleep the night before, because I was playing the highest rated player in my city, and because I did not feel that I understood the position very well after 3...g6. Also, with a draw, I would finish in a tie for second place in the tournament. After liquidation of most of the pieces, my opponent and I brought our rooks to the open file and repositioned our knights. We repeated the position once, and then my opponent struck with a pawn break that we both thought should favor him. We were wrong. I won the game and finished in second place alone. That tournament pushed my rating over 1900 for the first time.

David Navara castled here and the game was drawn after a short fight that concluded in a rook endgame with two pawns each. I am sure that the game would have been instructive to follow live.

The game of the day, however, must be Caruana -- Wei. When the round began, Fabiano Caruana trailed Magnus Carlsen by one point. Carlsen drew his game against Anish Giri and Caruana beat Wei Yi.

The Tata Steel Masters shares an exciting feature with the K-12 section of the youth tournament that I ran on Saturday. In the youth tournament, three players finished with 4.0/5. The second seed beat the first, but lost to a newcomer. The first seed beat the newcomer. In Tata Steel, Navara beat Caruana, but lost to Wei, who then lost to Caruana.

Caruana's win brought him one-half point closer to Carlsen with three rounds remaining. Caruana faces Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Loek Van Wely, and Evgeny Toashevsky. Carlsen has yet to play Hou Yifan, Wesley So, and Ding Liren. Perhaps Caruana's remaining games are slightly easier, especially as Tomashevsky seems out of form.

I wrote most of these annotations without reference to the commentary before watching the two minute postgame interview with Caruana. After watching that video, I added two quotes to my annotations. Most of my variations seem worse for Black than in the game. I have not checked any part of the game or variations with an engine.

Caruana,Fabiano (2787) -- Wei ,Yi (2706) [C83]
78th Tata Steel GpA Utrecht (10), 27.01.2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4

It is logical for Black to take an unprotected pawn, with the idea that while White is recapturing it Black gets a stake in the center. The chief disadvantage is that Black's position becomes a trifle loose. Nick DeFirmian, Modern Chess Openings, 13th ed. (1990), 27. 

5...Be7 is the most popular move. Wei's choice was slightly more popular in the nineteenth century, and was a favorite of Victor Korchnoi in the 1960s and 1970s.

6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3

9.Nbd2 is second most popular. The effort to gain the two bishops with  9...Na5 runs aground to  10.Nxe4 Nxb3 11.axb3 dxe4 12.Ng5 Qxd1 (12...Bd5 13.Qe2 and Black is losing a pawn; 12...Bd7?? 13.Qd5+-) 13.Rxd1 Bf5 when Black's other weaknesses more than compensate for the two bishops.

9...Be7 10.Bc2

"A rare move." Caruana

10.Nbd2 is played vastly more often; 10.Re1 is also popular.

10...Bg4

This sharp move appears in sixteen games in my database. White has done well.

10...0–0

11.h3

Black to move

11...Bh5

Wei spend over 40 minutes on this move.

11...Bxf3 wrecks White's kingside pawns 12.gxf3 Nc5 13.f4 Qd7 14.Qf3 Rd8 15.Rd1 f5 16.Be3 Qe6 17.Nd2 0–0 18.Nb3 Na4 19.Rab1 Rd7 20.Kh1 g6 21.Bd3 Bh4 22.Bf1 Rdd8 23.Bg2 Ne7 24.Nd4 Qf7 25.Qe2 g5 26.Rg1 c5 27.Nf3 Ng6 28.fxg5 f4 29.Bd2 Qf5 30.b3 Nb6 31.Rbe1 Rfe8 32.Bf1 d4 33.cxd4 cxd4 34.Ba5 Qe6 35.Rg4 Rd5 36.Qd2 Nd7 37.Nxh4 Ndxe5 38.Bg2 1–0 Polgar,J (2540) -- Huebner,R (2620), Munich 1991.

12.g4 Bg6 13.Nd4!N

Caruana's novelty appears to create problems for Black that are more difficult to solve than the loss of a pawn. The bishop on g6 may be vulnerable to a pawn storm, for instance. It is instructive that White's king seems impervious to attack even with all of the kingside pawns marching forward.Caruana has still been playing extremely fast, spending only a few seconds per move. According to the move times at ChessBase News, his longest move time up to this point was 35 seconds for 9.c3.

13.Bb3 wins a pawn 13...Na5 14.Bxd5 c6 15.Bxe4 Bxe4 16.Qxd8+ Rxd8 17.Nbd2 Bd5 18.Re1 h5 19.Ne4 hxg4 20.hxg4 Nc4 21.Kg2 Be6 22.b3 Nb6 23.Be3 Nd5 24.Kg3 f6 25.Bc5 f5 26.Nd6+ Bxd6 27.exd6 Kd7 28.Ne5+ Kc8 29.Nxc6 f4+ 30.Kg2 Ne3+ 31.Kg1 Bd5 32.Ne7+ Kd7 33.fxe3 Rh1+ 34.Kf2 Rh2+ 35.Kf1 Bf3 36.Ng6 Be4 37.Ne5+ 1–0 Fischer,R -- Olafsson,F, Havana 1966.

13...Qd7

13...Nxe5 14.f4
13...Nxd4 14.cxd4

14.f4 Nxd4 15.cxd4

Black to move

15...f5

This move seems forced.

15...h6 16.f5 Bh7 17.Bxe4 dxe4 18.d5.
15...f6?? 16.f5 Bf7 17.e6+-.

16.Be3 0–0 

16...fxg4 17.hxg4.

17.Nc3

Black to move

17...c6?

The critical error, according to Caruana.

17...Nxc3 18.bxc3 may give Black better chances than in the game. White has more space and a passed pawn on the e-file.

18.Bxe4! dxe4

The e-pawns are both passed!

18...fxe4 19.f5 Be8.

19.d5 b4

19...cxd5 20.Qxd5+ Qxd5 21.Nxd5 Bd8.

20.dxc6 Qxd1

20...Qxc6 21.Qd5+ Qxd5 22.Nxd5 Bd8.

21.Nxd1 Rfd8 22.Rc1 Rd3

White to move

23.Bc5 Bd8

23...Bxc5+ 24.Rxc5.

24.e6 Rc8

24...Bc7 25.Nf2 Rf3.

25.e7 Ba5 26.gxf5 Be8

26...Bxf5

27.Nf2 Rd5 28.Nxe4 Bxc6 29.Bxb4 Bxb4

White to move

30.Rxc6! Re8

30...Rxc6 31.e8Q+ Bf8 32.Qxc6.

31.f6 Rd4

31...gxf6 32.Nxf6+ Kf7 33.Nxd5 Bxe7 34.Rc7.

32.Re6 1–0

Standings after ten rounds.

Smashing the Berlin Defense

Tata Steel 2016, Round 9

The Berlin Wall variation of the Spanish (or Ruy Lopez) has been popular since Vladimir Kramnik employed it in his World Championship match against Garry Kasparov in 2000. Most games in this line have ended in draws, but not often quick draws. After the queens come off, the game reaches an immediate endgame, or perhaps a queenless middlegame, depending on how one defines the endgame. Black has a queenside pawn majority with doubled c-pawns. White has a slight lead in development.

The Berlin is rich in positional subtleties. If both contestants play accurately, the game will end in a draw. Small errors lead to decisive results.

This afternoon I won a blitz game from the Black side. My opponent created a phalanx of center pawns, but that gave me 3-2 on the queenside and 2-1 on the kingside. When my queenside pawn majority lured his king that direction, a breakthrough on the kingside led to a pawn promotion.

In the Tata Steel Chess Tournament this year, there have been no Berlin Walls and few Berlin Defense games. Then today, a novelty was played in relatively new line against the Berlin that keeps the queens on the board. This novelty was played in two games. Fabiano Caruana played it first against Sergey Karjakin. Karjakin played accurately and the game was drawn when it was clear that all the pawns would be consumed.

Wei Yi, who claimed the novelty was opening preparation, played the novelty a few minutes after Caruana. His opponent, David Navara, did not play Karjakin's move and was swiftly punished.

Wei,Yi (2706) -- Navara,David (2730) [C65]
78th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (9.3), 26.01.2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

I saw this move in Hou -- So in round two and immediately became excited, recalling that I had seen an article in Chess Informant 126 concerning the d3 Spanish. I checked the journal that morning, however, and discovered the article focused on 6.d3 after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7. Here, it is a little different. Even so, the intent may be similar.

[I]t's a very practical move for White as it assures easy development and stability in the centre. Thus many sharp lines, including the popular Marshall Attack are avoided.
Emanuel Berg, "Mirroring, The d3 Ruy Lopez: A Test of Patience," Chess Informant 126 (2015), 75.

Against the Berlin, it avoids the Berlin Wall. The move was played as early as 1836 but is a distant second in popularity to 4.O-O.

4...Bc5 5.Bxc6

This move first appears in my database in a game played in 1982. There are 567 games with more than 200 played in 2014 and 2015.

5...dxc6 6.Nbd2

Wei mentioned Anand while discussing this line. According to my database. Anand played this move in 2012 and again in 2013 against Kramnik. He won the second game and then drew Magnus Carlsen when he played it in their World Championship.

6...0–0 7.Nc4

Six games 2009-2011 and then quite a few more in 2012. Anand played it in his win against Kramnik.

7...Nd7

White to move

8.Qe2

8.O-O has been played at least 26 times. As near as I can discover from my database, 8.Qe2 was first played in 2010. There are three games that reached this position in my database, two from 2015. After Black's next move, however, a fourth game joins the selection, Anand -- Giri, Grand Slam Masters 2015.

8...Re8 9.Bd2 Bd6 10.h4N

The novelty played in two games today!

10...c5

Karjakin played 10...Nf8, which Wei said in his postgame interview was the correct move.

11.h5 h6

This sensible looking move creates a weakness that might be exploitable by a pawn storm. As White planned to castle queenside anyway, it might be deemed an error.

12.0–0–0 Nb8

Black's knight maneuver is too slow. Even relative beginners can observe that White has a significant lead in development having completed the essential opening tasks of mobilizing minor pieces, advancing the center pawns, lifting the queen from the back rank and castling to connect the rooks. In addition, Wei has already thrust forward one of his kingside pawns.

With opposite side castling, both players should storm the castled kings with pawns. Black, however is not prepared to support his pawn storm, while White's pieces are well-coordinated. White, thus, has a substantial strategic advantage, but how will he break through tactically?

White to move 

13.Rdg1 Nc6 14.g4 f6 15.g5 fxg5 

White to move

16.Nxg5 

It is much easier to sacrifice a piece when part of the opponent's forces remain in the bleachers. Black's queenside cannot be mobilized in time to protect the king. In this position, the knight sacrifice appears the only way to continue the attack. The attack is coming fast. Even White's other knight--the piece furthest from the action--is mobilized for the assault on Black's king.

16...Nd4

A zwischenzug before capturing the knight.

17.Qd1 hxg5

The computer prefers 17...b5

18.Bxg5 Be7 19.Be3

Yasser Seirawan asked whether 19.Bh6 could be played here. Wei thought it might be as good, but Stockfish 7 finds Wei's move vastly superior to 19.Bh6.

19...Bf6 

White to move

20.h6 Re7 

20...g5 was considered during the commentary and again in Wei's postgame analysis. A possible continuation might be 21.Bxg5 Bxg5+ 22.f4 Ne6 23.fxg5 Nxg5 24.Qh5+-.

21.hxg7 

21.Qh5 is strong.

21...Rxg7 22.Qh5 Be6

White to move

23.Bh6

I would probably take a more direct approach if I had such a nice position.

23.Qh8+ Kf7 24.Rxg7+ Bxg7 25.Nxe5+ Bxe5 These moves would have been easy to calculate, but White is ahead two pieces and there is not a checkmate in sight. Even so, with some time to think, it should be possible to see that White can win the bishop with a small tactical maneuver. 26.Rh7+ Kg6 27.Rh6+ Kf7 28.Qxe5 when White has two pawns for the knight. In addition, Black's king remains vulnerable to attack and his rook is still sitting in the stands watching the battle.

Wei's practical decision to exchange pieces into an endgame with a decisive material advantage is good enough.

23...Bf7

23...Qe8 leads to a similar position. 24.Bxg7 Qxh5 25.Bxf6+

This discovery and the same move in the position reached in the game offers an instructive lesson for my young students. 25...Kf7 26.Rxh5 Ne2 27.Kd2 Nxg1 28.Bxe5 Nf3+ 29.Ke3 Kg6 30.Rh1 and White is ahead two pawns, but at least Black's rook can come out to play.

24.Bxg7 Bxh5 

White to move

25.Bxf6+ Kf8 26.Bxd8 Ne2+ 27.Kb1 Nxg1 28.Bxc7 1–0

This game will be my lesson of the week for my advanced students. My beginning students this afternoon saw the two instructive positions that Navara offered in his postgame analysis of Sunday's win (see "Navara -- Caruana, Tata Steel 2016").

Navara -- Caruana, Tata Steel 2016

At the Tata Steel Masters Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, David Navara assisted Magnus Carlsen today. After an opening novelty, Navara maintained pressure against Fabiano Caruana throughout the game. Caruana had several opportunities to maintain equality, but his position proved difficult to play and Navara won a nice ending.

Vasily Smyslov has been credited with the assertion, "I will make 40 good moves and if you are able to do the same, the game will end in a draw." After winning the World Championship, Magnus Carlsen stated that his plan had been to make "40 to 50 good moves in every game" ("Magnus Carlsen: My goal was to play 40 to 50 good moves in every game").

Emanuel Lasker made a strong impression upon me with his annotations to his loss against Harry Nelson Pillsbury in Nuremburg, 1896. He was honest about his own mistakes. Also, in the critical middlegame position, he noted that he had presented a problem to Pillsbury.

Black wants to set White a task. The situation merits attention. Black has a pawn plus, an immediate danger is not apparent. If White does not threaten, Black fortifies his position.
Lasker's Manual of Chess (1947), 247.

Mulling over this statement, I developed the understanding that a chess player's job was to set problems for the opponent. If all of these problems are solved well, the game should be equal and the result may end in a draw. Navara managed to set problems for Caruana. The first problem resulted from an error, but Caruana missed his chance for an advantage. Then, Navara's pressure led to further inaccuracies and a difficult position. Even the, perhaps Caruana could have held until a critical error in a difficult position. Once he had a clear adantage, Navara demonstrated precise technique.

Navara,David (2730) -- Caruana,Fabiano (2787) [E39]
Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee (7), 24.01.2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6 7.g3 Nxc5 8.Bg2 Nce4 9.0–0 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be7 11.e4 d6 12.e5 dxe5 13.Nxe5 Qc7 14.Qe2 Nd7 15.Bf4 Nxe5 16.Bxe5 Bd6 17.Rfe1 Rb8 18.Rad1 Bxe5 19.Qxe5 Qxe5 20.Rxe5 b6 21.c5 f6 22.cxb6 axb6

White to move

23.Re2N

23.Re4 e5 24.Rb4 Be6 25.Rd6 Kf7 26.Ra4 Ke7 27.Rc6 Bd7 28.Ra7 Ra8 29.Rcc7 Rxa7 30.Rxa7 Kd6 31.Rb7 b5 32.Bf1 Rc8 33.Bxb5 Bxb5 34.Rxb5 Rxc3 35.Rb7 g5 36.Rb6+ Ke7 37.Ra6 f5 38.h4 ½–½ Ankit,R (2494) -- Khademalsharieh,S (2378), Doha QAT 2014.

23...Kf7 24.f4

"I miscalculated." Navara

I found Navara's postgame commentary interesting. It is available on Livestream for those who missed the broadcast. He describes his feelings during the game (annoyed with Caruana's inaccuracies), lines that he calculated for both players, and several fantasy positions that could be included in instructional collections for beginners. Yasser Seirawan conducted the interview.

24...e5 25.fxe5?

25.Bd5+ is still equal 25...Kg6 26.Be4+ f5 27.Bc6 e4 28.Rd6+ Kf7 (28...Kh5 29.Bb5).

25...Bg4 26.e6+ Kg6

26...Bxe6 27.Rde1 Rfe8?

Analysis diagram

After 27...Rfe8?

28.Rxe6 Rxe6 29.Bd5+- a line for the tactics books for beginners, according to Navara.

27.Be4+

Black to move

27...f5?!

"Maybe that was too ambitious?" Seirawan
"Yes." Navara

27...Kh6 28.Rde1 Bxe2 29.Rxe2 Rbc8 30.Bd5 Rc7 (30...Rxc3? is not possible (Navara) 31.e7 Re8 32.Bf7) 31.c4 and perhaps White has compensation for the exchange. Black at least would be the one pressing for advantage.

28.e7

28.Rd6? Rf6 Navara and Black is better.

28...Bxe2 29.Rd6+ Kg5

29...Rf6 30.Rd8 Bb5 31.Bd5 "Black is completely dominated." Navara

Stockfish 7 thinks the position is equal after 31...Rb7 32.Bxb7 Kf7 33.Rd5 Bc6 34.Bxc6 Rxc6 35.Rxf5+ Kxe7.

30.exf8R Rxf8 31.Bd5 Rf6 32.Rd7 Kh6 33.Kf2

This position should be equal

33...Bb5 34.Rc7

Black to move

34...Rd6

34...f4 "looked logical to me." Navara 35.g4 Bd3 (35...g5 36.Be4).

35.c4 Be8 36.Rc8 Bd7

36...Ba4 "still fine" Navara 37.Ke3 Kg5 38.Rc7 (38.Kd4 Rh6 "My pawns become weak." Navara) 38...Rd7 39.Rxd7 Bxd7 should be a draw. Black can exchange bishop for queenside pawns and f-pawn for White's g-pawn and White's bishop is on the wrong color squares.

37.Rd8

Navara had been happy to make a draw up until this point, but now felt that had some chances. Objectively, the position may be equal, but Black's position is unpleasant. Neither player's errors so far have been fatal

Black to move

37...Kg6 38.Ke3 Kf6 39.Kd4 

39.Rf8+ Ke5 40.Rf7 Be6= Navara.

39...Ke7

White's pieces seem a little more active

40.Rg8 Rg6 41.Ke5

"I hoped to put Black into zugzwang. It's not so easy for him to make a useful move."

Black to move

41...Rg5

Caruana played correctly, according to Navara.

41...h5 initiates another line that Navara offered for the beginner's books. 42.Rh8 Rg5 43.Bf3 Be8?? (43...f4+)

Analysis diagram

After 43...Be8??

44.Rxe8+ Kxe8 45.Kf4+-

42.Rb8

Navara considered 42.Rh8 Rh5 43.h4 Rh6 44.Rg8 Rg6 45.h5 Offering Black a chance to go wrong. Rg5 (45...Rxg3?? 46.h6 Re3+ 47.Kf4 Rh3 48.Rxg7+ Kd6 49.Rxh7+-).

42...Rg6

42...h5? 43.Bf3 Be8 44.Rxe8+ Kxe8 45.Kf4 Rg4+ (45...Rg6 46.Bxh5) 46.Bxg4 fxg4 47.Kg5+-.

43.Rh8 Rh6 44.h4 Be6 45.Ra8 Bd7 46.Rh8 Be6 47.a4

Black to move

47...Bd7

47...Bxd5 48.cxd5 Rh5 49.Kf4 Rh6 50.Kxf5 and White has a promising rook ending.

48.Ra8 Rg6 49.Ra7

Black to move

49...Rxg3?

Finally, Caruana makes a significant error.

49...Kd8 50.h5 Rh6 51.Bf3 g5 seems equal.

50.a5!

50.Bc6 Rd3 "should be fine for Black." Navara.

50...bxa5 51.c5 Kd8

51...Rg6 52.c6 Rd6 53.cxd7 Rxd7 54.Rxa5+- (54.Rxd7+= wrong bishop).

52.h5

Preventing the rook's return to g6.

52...f4 53.Kd6 Bc8 

53...Rd3 54.Rxd7++-

54.c6

Black to move

54...Rg5

54...Rd3 55.Rxg7 (55.c7+ Ke8 56.Ra8 Rxd5+ 57.Kxd5 Kd7) 55...Rxd5+ 56.Kxd5+-.

55.Bf7 1–0

Checkmate is coming.

Chess is a game. Even a top player forced to play for several hours in an unpleasant position may eventually crack and give the game to the other player.

Caruana -- Ding, Tata Steel 2016

After six rounds, three players shared the lead. Two play each other in round seven. Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Ding Liren shared first place with 4/6. In round seven, Caruana -- Ding was an important game.

Caruana won the game!



I was not able to follow this game live due to responsibilities as the tournament director for a youth chess tournament. Hence, I did not even know the result until the end of a long day.

I will annotate this game during the off day, Monday 25 January and then update this post.

Training with Caruana

Lesson of the Week

We know from the broadcast of Giri -- Caruana, Tata Steel Chess 2016 (see my blog post on the same) that Fabiano Caruana could have maintained his winning position with 55...Ra3, instead of 55...Rxh3. His move led to a draw that Anish Giri executed easily. The resulting position may have been something straightforward to most Grandmasters, but it is not an elementary ending for the rest of us.

Black to move

Armed with the knowledge that Black is winning here, I tried playing it agianst Hiarcs on my iPad while my beginning students were solving checkmate in one problems. Naturally, I was only partly focused on the exercise as I needed to guide the students through their occasional difficulties. I was not successful.

This morning, I awoke very early and watched Danny King's "Power Play" YouTube video on yesterday's Tata Steel games. He went through Hou -- Navara from Hou Yifan's rook sacrifice to David Navara's resignation, then he turned his attention to the ending in Giri -- Caruana. After watching the video, I tried again against my iPad and won easily.

Later in the morning, I played the position against Stockfish 7 on my notebook computer and on my desktop. I also played the position against Hiarcs 12 and Rybka 4. Different engines tried different replies for White.

After playing the position against several engines, I searched Nikolay Minev, A Practical Guide to Rook Endgames (2004) for positions that are helpful. One position in this book elucidates a technique that I stumbled upon in my play against the computer.

This position from Minev's text and some of my play against the computer will form the core of the lesson for my advanced students tomorrow afternoon.

In the game scores below, 1...Ra3 takes the place of 55...Ra3 as a variation in Caruana's game yesterday.

Hiarcs on the iPad and on the Desktop followed the same basic defensive idea that GM Danny King highlighted in his video. This game is one of several.

Hiarcs 12 -- Stripes,James
Blitz 10m, 20.01.2016

1...Ra3 2.Ra7 e3 3.Re7 Kf3 4.Kb4 Rd3

This move was the one that I was not finding until I watched King's video. Taking control of the d-file keeps White's king separated from the pawn that will promote while also offering a possible shield of Black's king from rear checks.

4...Ra1 seems as though it should be adequate, but always led me to positions where I found success elusive.

5.Kc4 Rd6 6.Rf7+ Kg2 7.Re7 Kf2 8.Kc3 e2 9.Rf7+ Ke1 10.Rb7

Black to move

10...Rf6

With my pawn only one square from promotion, transferring the shield to the f-file allows my king to come out from in front of the pawn.

10...Kd1 11.Rb1# would be embarrassing.

11.Rb1+ Kf2 12.Kd2 Rd6+ 13.Kc2 e1Q 14.Rxe1 Kxe1 

The rest is easy.

15.Kc3 Kf2 16.a5 Kg3 17.Kc4 Kxh3 18.Kb5 Kg3 19.a6 Rxa6 20.Kxa6 h4 21.Ka7 h3 22.Kb6 h2 23.Kc5 h1Q 24.Kb5 Kf4 25.Kc5 Ke5 26.Kc4 Qf3 27.Kb5 Qc3 28.Kb6 Kd6 29.Ka7 Qb4 30.Ka6 Kc7 31.Ka7 Qa5# 0–1

Rybka 4 threw me a curve and a bit of calculation revealed a surprising response, which I played with success.

Rybka 4 x64 -- Stripes,James
Blitz 10m, 20.01.2016

1...Ra3 2.Kb4

Black to move

2...e3! 

2...Rd3 seems to fail 3.Kc4 Rd7 4.Rxh5 e3 5.Rh8 Kf3 6.Rf8+ Ke2 7.Re8 Rh7 8.a5 Rxh3 9.a6 Rh7 10.Kd4 Rd7+ 11.Kc5 Kd2 12.Rxe3 Kxe3 13.Kb6 Rd6+ 14.Kb7 Rxa6 15.Kxa6.

3.Kxa3

3.Ra7 leads to a solution similar to the game above. 3...Rd3 4.Rf7+ Kg3 5.Kc4 Rd6 6.Re7 Kf2-+.

3...e2 4.Rc5

Komodo suggest 4.Rxh5, but Black still wins after 4...e1Q 5.Rb5 Ke4 6.h4 Kd3 7.h5 (7.Rb4 Qa1+ 8.Kb3 Qc3+ 9.Ka2 Qxb4) 7...Qa1+ 8.Kb3 (8.Kb4 Qc3#) 8...Qc3+ 9.Ka2 Kc2 10.Rb8 Qc4+ 11.Ka3 Qc5+ 12.Ka2 Qd5+ 13.Ka3 Qd6+ 14.Rb4 Kc3 and the rook falls.

4...e1Q 5.Rb5 Qa1+ 6.Kb4 h4 7.Rc5 Qb2+ 8.Kc4 Kg3 9.a5 Kxh3 10.Rb5 Qa2+ 11.Kc3 Kg4 12.a6 Qxa6 13.Rb4+ Kg3 14.Rb3 h3 15.Kb2+ Kg2 16.Rc3 

Black to move

16...Qe2+ 17.Rc2 Qxc2+ 18.Kxc2 h2 19.Kc3 h1Q 20.Kc4 Kf3 21.Kd4 Qh5 22.Kc4 Ke3 23.Kb3 Kd3 24.Kb4 Qd5 25.Ka3 Kc3 26.Ka4 Qf5 27.Ka3 Qa5# 0–1

Most of my play against the engines involved the immediate loss of a pawn.

After a couple of failures, I was able to find my way.

Stockfish 7 64 -- Stripes,James
Blitz 25m, 20.01.2016

1...Ra3 2.Rxh5 Rxa4+ 3.Kc3 Ke3

I went for a classic Lucena position.

White to move

4.Rh6 Ke2 5.h4 e3 6.h5 Ra3+ 7.Kc4 

7.Kb4 Ra7 8.Rf6 Ke1 9.h6

7...Ke1 8.Rf6 e2 9.h6 Rh3 10.Ra6 Kd2 11.Rd6+ Kc2 12.Re6 Rh4+ 13.Kb5 Kd2 14.Rd6+ Ke3 15.Re6+ Kd3 16.Rd6+ Kc3 17.Rc6+ Kb3 18.Re6

After stumbling in the blindness, I found a tactical shot. Alas, it leads to an ending of queen versus rook that I find terribly difficult when playing against engines.

Black to move

18...Rh5+ 19.Kc6 Rxh6! 20.Rxh6 e1Q 21.Kd7 Qe5 22.Re6 Qf5 23.Kd6 Kc4 24.Re5 Qf4 25.Ke6 Qh6+ 26.Ke7 Kd4 27.Ra5 Qc6 28.Rh5 Ke4 29.Rh1 Kf5 30.Rf1+ Kg6 31.Rg1+ Kh7 32.Rg5 Qc3

32...Kh6 33.Re5 Kh7 34.Rg5 Qe4+ 35.Kd6

33.Ke6 Kh6 34.Re5 Kg6 35.Kd5 Kf6 36.Re6+ Kf5 37.Rc6 Qd2+ 38.Kc4 Qd7 39.Rc5+ Ke4 40.Kb3 Qe6+ 41.Kc3 Ke3 42.Rc4 Qb6 43.Kc2 Qa6 44.Kb3 Kd3 45.Rc3+ Kd4 46.Rc1 Qb5+ 47.Kc2 Qc5+ 48.Kb1 Qb4+ 49.Ka2 Kd3 50.Rb1 Qa4+ 

50...Qa5+ 51.Kb2 Qb6+ 52.Ka2 Qa7+ 53.Kb2 Qa4 54.Rc1 Kd2 55.Rb1 Qb4+ 56.Ka2 Qa5+ 57.Kb3 Qb6+ 58.Ka2 Qa7+ 59.Kb3 Qb8+ 60.Ka2 Qg8+ 61.Ka3 Qg3+ 62.Ka4 Kc2 63.Rb6

51.Kb2 Qc2+ 52.Ka1 Qc3+ 53.Ka2 Qe5 54.Kb3 Qb5+ 55.Ka2 Qd5+ 56.Kb2 Kd2 

Finally! White is in zugzwang.

White to move

57.Rg1 Qb5+ 58.Ka2 Qa6+ 59.Kb3 Qb6+ 60.Kc4 Qxg1 61.Kd5 Kd3 62.Kd6 Kd4 63.Kc6 Qg7 64.Kd6 Qf7 65.Kc6 Qe7 66.Kb6 Qd7 67.Ka5 Kc5 68.Ka6 Qg7 69.Ka5 Qa1# 0–1

In the next example, I discovered on my own something that I might have learned from a book.

Stockfish 7 64 -- Stripes,James
Blitz 25m, 20.01.2016

1...Ra3 2.Rxh5 Rxa4+ 3.Kc3 Ke3 4.Rh6 Ke2 5.Rh4 Kf2 

5...Ra3+ seems inadequate.

6.Kb3 Rd4 7.Kc3 Rd3+ 8.Kc2 Ke3 

8...Re3 fails.

9.Rh6 Ke2 10.h4 e3 11.h5 Rd5 12.Rh7 Rc5+ 13.Kb2 Rf5 

13...Ke1 throws away the win 14.Re7 e2 15.h6 Rh5 16.h7 Kd1 17.Rd7+ Ke1 18.Re7 Kf1
13...Rd5 also loses all advantage.

14.h6

Black to move

14...Rf6!

Minev presents a position from Beliavsky -- Radulov, St. Petersburg 1977 in which he highlights the technique that I stumbled across out of necessity here.

15.Rh8 Kf2 16.h7 Rf7! 17.Rb8 Rxh7 18.Rf8+ Ke1 19.Kc2 e2 

A textbook Lucena, but with Black to move

20.Kb3 Rh5

20...Rc7
20...Re7 21.Kc2 Creates a textbook Lucena 21...Rc7+ 22.Kb2 Rc5

21.Kc3 Rc5+ 22.Kd4 Rc2 

22...Rc7

23.Ke3 Rc3+ 24.Kd4 Rc6

24...Kd2 25.Rf2 Ra3

25.Kd5 Rc7 26.Rh8 Kd2 27.Rh2 

Black to move

27...Kd1 28.Rh1+ e1Q 29.Rxe1+ Kxe1 30.Kd6 Rc4 31.Kd5 Rh4 32.Kc5 Ke2 33.Kd5 Ke3 34.Kd6 Ke4 35.Kc5 Rh5+ 36.Kd6 Re5 37.Kc6 Kd4 38.Kd6 Ke4 39.Kc6 Rd5 40.Kb6 Ke5 41.Kc6 Ke6 42.Kc7 Rd6 43.Kc8 Rd7 44.Kb8 Kd6 45.Kc8 Kc6 46.Kb8 Kb6 47.Kc8 Rd1 48.Kb8 Rd8# 0–1