Short but sweet? Dortmund and Biel round-up
Of the six games at the super-tournaments in Biel and Dortmund today not a single one made it to the time-control. The three wins also shared a theme – the defending player (in each case, the “youngster”) appeared to have things under control, relatively speaking, until catastrophe struck with unnerving speed. Perhaps a lesson can be learned – to maintain concentration and believe in the resources of your position – but a more obvious message struck this observer: chess is brutal!
First the draws – in Dortmund there was only one, between Le Quang Liem and Hikaru Nakamura. Perhaps Nakamura can finally get some sleep (see his Twitter account!) after the players began repeating on move 18. It was a similar story in Biel, where Shirov and Vachier-Lagrave proved once more that the Sicilian isn’t always exciting, repeating on move 21. Morozevich and Pelletier didn’t actually get round to repeating, but we can trust the players that the same-coloured bishop ending that rapidly appeared on the board was drawn.
But now for the fun (or pain):
25...Rd8 is already the beginning of the end - the a-pawn has legs!
When Ruslan Ponomariov exchanged queens on move 24, the young super-GM Anish Giri perhaps breathed a sigh of relief – yes, his bishop is awkwardly placed and White has the d-file, but surely there’s nothing some gradual manoeuvring can’t solve. Instead, barely 3 moves later, he was lost, after fitting two apparent blunders into that short gap. A remarkable turn of events.
Georgios Souleidis finds an unusual angle in his photography for the tournament website
Georg Meier – Vladimir Kramnik was a game that perhaps had a logical outcome – it was clear that Kramnik with Black had maintained the tension in a complex position, had more time, and might well gain a strategic edge – but no-one could have foreseen how spectacular the denouement was going to be.
Kramnik puts the cat among the pigeons with 27...Nc4!!?
On move 27 Meier may well have thought Kramnik was ready to agree to a draw by repetition (especially given both players' lack of time). Instead the Russian ex-World Champion unleashed the 27…Nc4 knight sac, with pushing the d-pawn and general mayhem following. Perhaps you'd only trust Mikhail Tal or Garry Kasparov (or Houdini, which of course likes White!) to handle what Meier was faced with at that moment. The decisive blunder came on move 31. Move 32 meant the agony wasn’t prolonged.
And last, but not least, Magnus Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana in Biel. In many ways the scenario was familiar. Carlsen ended up in an almost dead-drawn endgame, but then used some wizardly – and a creative exchange sacrifice – to achieve an unlikely win. It has to be noted, however, that this wasn’t quite the flawless display of technique we’re used to. Carlsen gave his young opponent two golden chances to save himself. As GM Sergey Shipov summed up for WhyChess – with a lesson for today’s losers:
Houdini would have drawn here...
The game turned out to be very rich in subtle nuances. The exchange sacrifice played by Carlsen had a powerful psychological effect on Caruana. He couldn`t compose himself and organise a defence - although his opponent gave him good chances. Unfortunately, we didn`t end up with an interest-packed ending. As late as the 25th move Black had a path to salvation, and on the 27th he resigned. A sad occurrence. The Italian chess player still needs to work on himself, including on his mentality. You can`t trust your opponents so much! They`re very cunning and even liars. They regularly use deceptive manoeuvres, sometimes bluff and even simply miscalculate. Therefore you have to check everything they do...
The tournaments in both Biel and Dortmund continue tomorrow.
Biel: tournament homepage, WhyChess broadcast with Sergey Shipov’s commentary
Round 5 tomorrow: Vachier-Lagrave – Carlsen, Caruana – Morozevich, Pelletier – Shirov
Standings (with the football system): Carlsen 10, Morozevich, 6, Shirov 5, Vachier-Lagrave & Pelletier 3, Caruana 2
Dortmund: tournament homepage, WhyChess broadcast with Houdini analysis
Round 3 tomorrow: Kramnik – Le Quang Liem, Giri – Meier, Nakamura – Ponomariov
Standings: Kramnik 2, Le Quang Liem & Nakamura & Ruslan Ponomariov 1, Giri & Meier 0.5.