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").

Wei Yi

Tata Steel Chess 2016, Round Three

After two rounds, the leaders in the Masters Group of this year's tournament in Wijk aan Zee are Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana, and Ding Liren. Nonetheless, the focus today will be on the first game between current World Champion Magnus Carlsen, and probable World Championship contender, Wei Yi. Wei Yi is sixteen years old, the current youngest Grandmaster, and last summer won a game that many analysts have claimed is the best game of the twenty-first century.

In late December at Inland Chess Academy's Holiday Chess Camp after dismissing my young students for the lunch break, I walked into the classroom next door where FM Jim Maki was conducting camp for the advanced group. He had this position on the projection screen.

White to move

Seeing this position, I claimed to have seen it in the Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations, where it cannot be found. Maki pointed out that it is not there, yet. It could not be as it had been played several months after the latest edition of the Encyclopedia was published. I was probably remembering a position from Ragozin -- Veresov, Moscow 1945. The position above is from Wei -- Bruzon Batista, Danzhou 2015, Chess Informant 125/65. I had looked at Wei Yi's beautiful game last summer. The intuitive sacrifice on f7 is a familiar pattern, but is far less clear in this position than in Ragozin's game. There have been many instances of such a sacrifice, several of which are elucidated in Grigory Serper, "From Paul Morphy to Wei Yi," Chess.com (19 July 2015), http://www.chess.com/article/view/from-paul-morphy-to-wei-yi.

Not only this game, but Wei's rapid ascent, has created a great deal of anticipation of his coming battles with Carlsen. The young Chinese player will not dethrone the World Champion today because that is not how it works. But, he could score a symbolic victory. I predict a fighting draw. But, today's battle offers a first glimpse of more battles to come.

Magnus Carlsen is the strongest player ever to sit at a chess board. His style is torturous, rather than flashy. Wei's approach, on the other hand, reflects a hunger for tactical fireworks. Today, we will see a battle of styles as well as the current World Champion defending his position against one of his possible successors.

Wei,Yi (2706) -- Carlsen,Magnus (2844) [C89]
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee (3), 18.01.2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.c3 d5

The Marshall!

Carlsen previously has played 8...d6 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.c4 c6 12.Nc3 b4 13.Na4 c5 14.d5 Re8 15.Bc2 Nf8 16.a3 a5 17.b3 Ng6 18.Nb2 Bd7 19.Nh2 h6 20.Nf1 Nh7 21.Ne3 Bg5 22.axb4 axb4 23.Rxa8 Qxa8 24.Nf5 Bxc1 25.Qxc1 Bxf5 26.exf5 Ngf8 27.Nd1 Nf6 28.f3 Qa2 29.g4 Ra8 30.Nf2 Qa3 31.Qb1 Qa2 32.Qc1 Qa3 33.Qb1 Qa2 34.Qc1 ½–½ Nakamura,H (2774) -- Carlsen,M (2815) Medias 2011.

9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 

White to move

12.d3

12.d4 has been more popular. 12.d3 was first played by Vassily Smyslov in 1949.

12...Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3

White to move

16.Be3

A relatively rare move.

16.Bxd5 has been most frequent.

16...Bxd3 17.Nd2 Qf5 18.Bd4 Rae8 19.Kg2 Qxf3+

19...h6 20.a4 Qxf3+ 21.Kxf3 Re6 22.axb5 axb5 23.Kg2 Rfe8 24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.c4 bxc4 26.Nxc4 Be4+ 27.f3 Bd3 28.Nxd6 Rxd6 29.Kf2 Rd7 30.Ra3 Nc7 31.Be3 Nd5 32.Bc5 f6 33.Ba4 Bb5 34.Bc2 Nc7 35.Bg6 Na6 36.Re3 Rd8 37.Be7 Rc8 38.b4 c5 39.Bf5 Rc6 40.Bd7 cxb4 41.Bxc6 Bxc6 42.Re6 1–0 Vachier Lagrave,M (2731) -- Adams,M (2740) Biel SUI 2015.

20.Kxf3 Re6

Wei has gone into a long think.

White to move

21.Rac1

21.a4 might have been expected, as it is a common idea when playing against the Marshall. The threat to play c4, however, seems to complicate this position.

21...h6

Yasser Seirawan had commented on the absence of this move earlier. The rook could go to h6, provoking White to play h4, a possibly weakening move.

22.Kg2 Rg6 23.Ne4 Nf4+ 24.Kf3 Bxe4+ 25.Rxe4 Nd3 26.Rd1

I would have played 26.Rc2, which my engine tells me is a slight inaccuracy. The computer likes 26.Rb1, a move that Seirawan also mentioned.

26...Nxb2 27.Rd2 Ba3

White to move

28.Bb6 Rd6

Seirawan looked at 28...c5 29.Ba5 c4 30.Bc2 Nd3 and also other lines prior to 28.Bb6 where Black's queenside pawns become separated. At this point in the game, or a few moves earlier, it appeared that Wei had some chances to play for a win.

29.Rxd6 Bxd6 30.Re2 Nd3 31.Rd2 Ne5+ 32.Kg2 Be7 33.f4 Nc4 34.Bxc4 bxc4 

White to move

Black's pawns have become separated after all, but with substantially less material on the board, their weaknesses do not offer White much.

35.Rd7 Bf6 36.Rc7 Bxc3 37.Rxc6 Rb8 38.a4 Bb2 39.Ba5 c3 40.Bxc3 Bxc3

Both players have reached the time control.

41.Rxc3

Black to move

A few years ago, I would have suggested that this position should be a simple draw. However, Carlsen became the World Champion by squeezing blood from turnips. If there is anything to play for, any resource in the position, Carlsen will make his opponent play on. His opponents usually find themselves in time pressure and occasionally crack.

41...Rb4 42.a5 Rb5 43.Ra3 Rb2+ 44.Kh3 f5 

White to move

Although this position should be objectively drawn, it is worth noting that Black's rook is more active, his king is more active, and it is possible for the White king to blunder into checkmate (I have been on both sides of that particular checkmate in many a blitz game).

45.Rc3 Rb5 46.Ra3 g5 47.fxg5 hxg5 48.Kg2 Kg7 49.h4 g4 50.Rc3 Rxa5 51.Rc6 Ra2+ 52.Kg1 a5 53.Ra6 a4

White to move

54.Kh1 Kf7 55.Kg1 Ra1+ 56.Kg2 Ra3 57.Kh2 Ra2+ 58.Kg1 Ke7 59.Kh1 a3 60.Kg1 ½–½


David Navara!

While trying to sort out the possibilities in the endgame for Wei and Carlsen, David Navara created some excitement with a rook sacrifice against Anish Giri. My attention was diverted to Navara's game after Carlsen's 20...Re6.

Navara,David (2730) -- Giri,Anish (2798) [D97]
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee (3), 18.01.2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 a6 8.Be2 b5 9.Qb3 c5 10.dxc5 Bb7 11.e5 Nfd7 12.Be3 e6 13.0–0 Qc7 14.Rad1 Nxc5 15.Qa3 Ne4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Ng5 Bc6 18.f4 Qb7 19.Bc5 Re8

White to move

20.f5! exf5 21.Rxf5 gxf5 22.Bh5 Bd5 23.Rxd5 Qxd5 24.Bxf7+ Qxf7 25.Nxf7 Kxf7

White to move

26.Qb3+ Kg6 27.Qg3+ Kf7 28.Qb3+ Kg6 29.Qg3+

Such a repetition could prove useful for reaching the time control before a difficult endgame.

29...Kf7 30.Qf3

30.Bd4 was examined by Seirawan during the commentary and may have been Navara's best chance to win.

30...Nd7 31.Qd5+ Kg6 32.Qc6+ Nf6 33.exf6 Rac8 34.Qxa6 Ra8 35.f7+ Kxf7 36.Qxb5 Rad8 37.Qb3+ Kg6 38.Qg3+ Kf7

Navara is essentially playing on the increment at this point in the game.

White to move

39.Qb3+ Kg6 40.Bd6?

40.h4!

Bxb2 41.Qxb2 Rxd6 42.h3 Ra6 ½–½

Giri dodged a bullet. After the forcing continuation initiated by 20.f5! both players faced a position with difficult imbalances. Giri managed to stay ahead on the clock and Navara was unable to take advantage of his inaccuracies. I hope to see this game with detailed analysis in Chess Informant 127.

The decisive games in the round came when Shakhriyar Mamedyarov blundered a rook in a winning position to Pavel Eljanov. In his postgame interview, Eljanov seemed relieved to have escaped without a loss but did not enjoy such a win. Fabiano Caruana also managed to grind out a win against Michael Adams, which now puts Caruana in sole possession of first place with ten rounds remaining. It is a long tournament.

Tata Steel Chess 2016, Round Two

When was the last time that two Americans shared the lead with a Chinese player in Wijk aan Zee? After the first round, they do.

Disappointing Chess Fans

Loek Van Wely and Sergey Karjakin had four draws at Wijk aan Zee before Karjakin's win in 2012. Karjakin then won again in 2013 and 2014. Their overall record together stands at two wins for Van Wely, the latest in 2005, seven wins for Karjakin, and six draws. After Van Wely missed a clear win against Shakhryar Mamedyarov yesterday, he will be hard-pressed to end Karjakin's streak of wins since 2012.

Van Wely played a Dragon and reached an interesting position analyzed in some depth by Yasser Seirawan and Lawrence Trent.

Karjakin,Sergey -- Van Wely,Loek [B76]
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee, 17.01.2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.h4 h5 11.Qd2 Qa5 12.0–0–0 Rfc8 13.Kb1 Ne5 14.Bg5 Kf8 15.f4 Neg4 16.Rhe1 Rc5 17.f5 gxf5 18.Nxf5 Bxf5 19.exf5

Black to move

19...Re8 

In their analysis, Trant and Seirawan concluded that 19...Re8 was Black's only non-losing move, and then learned from their researchers that it had been played before.

20.Nd5N

20.Bf4 was played in the reference game that I was able to locate. 20...Rxf5 21.Rxe7 Rxe7 22.Bxd6 Rfe5 23.Qf4 Kg8 24.Bxe7 Rxe7 0–1 Guempges,P (2076) -- Wisskirchen,A (2266) Germany 2004.

Apparently Karjakin offered a draw with the move's novelty. ½–½

Fighting Draws

Mamedyarov leads Evgeny Tomashevsky 3-5-1 (W-D-L) in their encounters. However, Tomashevsky's win in February 2015 was their most recent battle at classical time control. That win came in the fourth round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Tbilisi, an event that Tomashevsky won. In August 2015, Tomashevsky won the Russian Championship, which pushed him to his peak rating of 2758.

Among amateurs, there would still be some play in the position where Tomashevsky and Mamedyarov agreed to a draw, but I sense that the position is completely equal for Grandmasters. Black has a bishop pair and rook against White's bishop, knight and rook. Black also has an extra pawn, although two pawns are threatened.

In August 2014, Wei Yi lost to Pavel Eljanov in their only game prior to today. After a battle, the players reached a queen and minor piece ending with fourteen pawns still on the board. Maybe White's knight is a little better than Black's bishop according to the theory that knights work well with bishops. On the other hand, White's queen must guard the first rank or Black's queen and bishop will create checkmate threats. After a repetition of moves, the game was drawn.

White to move

Assuming that my database is complete, Magnus Carlsen leads Fabiano Caruana 16-10-7. In 2014, Caruana's astounding success, especially at the Sinquefield Cup where he beat Carlsen, created expectations that he was on the verge of challenging Carlsen's reign at the top of the rating charts. His results since then have not been as strong, although he defeated Carlsen again in 2015. It was Carlsen's second loss in the first two rounds of Norway Chess in Stavanger (see video). The two played seven games in 2015 with Carlsen winning three, Caruana winning one, and three draws.

Their game today was an intense battle.

Carlsen,Magnus -- Caruana,Fabiano [A00]
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee, 17.01.2016

1.g3 g6 2.Bg2 Bg7 3.e4 e5 4.Ne2 c5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Nd4 

7...Nge7 has been reached in at least four games with three White wins.

8.c3 Nxe2 9.Qxe2 Ne7 10.h4 h6 11.h5 g5 12.f4 exf4 13.gxf4 gxf4 14.Bxf4 Nc6 15.Na3 Be5 16.Be3 Be6 17.Nc4 Bg3+ 18.Kd2 Qd7 19.d4 cxd4 20.cxd4

Black to move

20...Ne5

Seirawan and Trent thought this move was forced. Caruana, in his postgame interview with Seirawan thought so as well.

21.Nxe5 dxe5 22.d5 Bg4 23.Bf3 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Qb5 25.Rac1 Qxb2+ 26.Kd1 Bf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.Qxf4 Rg8 29.Rf1 Qd4+ 30.Ke1 Qb4+ 31.Kd1 Qd4+ 32.Ke1 Qb4+ ½–½

Navara's Activity Level

David Navara has two draws and four losses against Michael Adams. He played well yesterday against Carlsen. It seems that Navara's level of activity has increased in the past year or two. He also is currently at his peak rating. Perhaps he will score his first victory against Adams.

He did not win. The game was a battle that ended when the players reached a knight and pawn ending after 31 moves.

Ding Liren and Anish Giri tied for second in last year's Tata Steel Chess tournament, along with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Giri won their individual encounter with an instructive endgame of knight and bishop against rook with three pawns each. Ding had won their first encounter in 2012 and the two have had three draws, two of them at the Bilbao tournament in 2015.

Ding is the highest rated Chinese player ever and the second to break into the FIDE top ten.

After Black's 33rd move, the knights are coming off the board and the resulting queen ending with five pawns each should be objectively drawn. The players agreed to a draw vefore exchanging knights.

Hou Yifan surpassed Judit Polgar as the top rated woman in 2015. Polgar had been the top rated woman for 26 years. Her five prior encounters with Wesley So have all ended in draws, typically fifty moves or more. Their shortest draw was in Dortmund last year and lasted forty moves.

At the time that I needed to turn my attention to the Seattle Seahawks and their effort to return to a third Super Bowl appearance in three years, this game was at its 49th move. So seemed to have the upper hand earlier, but now Hou seems better.

At the end of the first quarter, the Seahawks were already in a hole and I saw that after five more moves, Hou -- So ended with a draw.