Inside this Issue Carlsen - Karjakin 2 Aronian - Caruana 3 FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2017 | ISSUE 2 Nakamura - Vachier-Lagrave 4 Svidler - Anand 5 ROUND 2 HIGHLIGHTS Nepomniachtchi - So 6 BY WGM TATEV ABRAHAMYAN Current Standings 7 Round 3 Pairings 7 Schedule of Events 8 Round 2 Results GM M. Carlsen 1 GM S. Karjakin Ø GM L. Aronian Ø GM F. Caruana 1 GM M. H. Nakamura 1⁄2 GM M. Vachier-LaGrave 1⁄2 GM P. Svidler 1⁄2 CARLSEN VS. KARJAKIN // LENNART OOTES GM V. Anand 1 2 ⁄ Just as in round one, the second round of the Sinquefield Cup saw GM I. Nepomniachtchi Ø three decisive results. However, the road to these results was significantly different. The first result came from Ian Nepomniachtchi and Wesley So; GM W. So 1 the Russian misplayed the opening and saw his position fall apart quickly after. Peter Svidler versus Viswanathan Anand and Hikaru Nakamura versus Maxime Vachier-Lagrave were quite uneventful draws. The game Current Standings that had everyone’s attention was the battle between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin. The World Champion came out on top after outplaying 1 1. GM M. Carlsen 1 ⁄2 his opponent in true Carlsen-esque fashion. Fabiano Caruana and Levon 2. GM F. Caruana 1 1⁄2 Aronian played a 110 move marathon game, with the American finally converting the winning advantage. 3. GM M. Vachier-LaGrave 1 1⁄2 4. GM L. Aronian 1 5. GM S. Karjakin 1 6. GM H. Nakamura 1 7. GM V. Anand 1 8. GM W. So 1 GRANDCHESSTOUR.ORG | @CCSCSL @GRANDCHESSTOUR | #GRANDCHESSTOUR 9. GM P. Svidler 1⁄2 10. GM I. Nepomniachtchi Ø 2017 CUP CHRONICLE PAGE 2 GM MAGNUS CARLSEN – GM SERGEY KARJAKIN BY WGM TATEV ABRAHAMYAN; ANNOTATIONS BY GM CRISTIAN CHIRILA 5...d6 6.d3 g6 7.a3!? [an interesting plan for white, he will try to expand on the queenside without committing the position of the "c" pawn] [7.c4 Bg7 8.Nc3 0–0 9.h3² white enjoys a slight advantage due to his extra tempo] 7...Bg7 8.c3 0–0 9.b4 a6! [9...b6 would be the natural response, defending the pawn structure in the center, nevertheless it would have been a big strategical mistake 10.b5 Ne7 (10...Na5 11.c4 a6 12.a4 axb5 13.axb5²) 11.c4 a6 12.Nc3 axb5 13.Nxb5²] GM MAGNUS CARLSEN // LENNART OOTES 10.Nbd2 b5 11.Rb1 Nd7 12.Nb3 cxb4 Diagram after Move 26 All eyes were on this match as the two [12...a5 would have been better, releasing giants have developed quite the rivalry the tension in the pawn structure in usually [31...exf4!? 32.Qxf4 Nd1 33.Nc6 (33.Rxb5 since their World Championship match not advisable 13.bxc5 a4 14.Na1 Nxc5 Qd7 34.Rc5 Ne3°) 33...Qd7] in 2016. Since then, they met only once 15.Nc2 (15.Rxb5? Ba6µ) 15...Qc7 16.Qe2²] in a classical tournament in the Altibox 32.Rxc8+ Bxc8 33.Nc6 Qd6 34.Nxe5 Norway Chess in 2017, where the World 13.axb4 Nb6 14.Be3 Be6 15.Qd2 Rc8 Qxb4 35.f5 Qd6 36.Nf3 [Despite the Champion won in a one-sided game. True 16.Rfc1 Re8 17.h4 [17.Ng5 Bd7 18.c4 Na4 balanced material, white's attack on the to his style, Carlsen slowly started building 19.Nf3²] kingside coupled with the structural up his position and putting pressure on weaknesses (d4 pawn) gives White a his opponent. Karjakin made one crucial 17...Na4 18.c4 [18.d4 was another decisive advantage. It is only a matter of mistake when he did not fight for the only interesting potential break 18...exd4 technique now, and Magnus surely doesn't open file in the game and allowed his 19.cxd4 Bg4 20.Nh2 Bd7 21.Ra1 Nb6 lack in that department!] opponent to penetrate with his rook and 22.Rxa6 Nc4° and black harmonizez eventually build up an attack on his king. his pieces in time and obtains full On move 42, Karjakin admitted defeat. compensation for his lost pawn] [After defeating Karjakin in their World 18...h5 19.Kh2 Bg4 20.cxb5 axb5 21.Na5 Championship match, Carlsen has been Nd4 22.Rxc8 Qxc8 23.Rc1 Qd7 24.Nxd4 dominating his arch rival in most of their exd4 25.Bh6 Bh8 [25...Bf6 26.f3 Be6 recent encounters. Their last one was 27.Rc6 Rc8 28.Ra6 Nc3 29.Bf4 Be5 during Norway Chess, and that game was 30.Bxe5 dxe5 31.f4÷ would lead to a very one sided. Let's see what happened in similar position with a few extra trumps round 2 of the Sinquefield Cup!] for black, as he is now enjoying full control over the "c" file] 1.Nf3 [An interesting approach by the World Champion, deviating from his usual 26.Rc6 Nc3? [26...Rc8 would have been repertoire as soon as move #1.] necessary 27.Ra6 Nc3 28.f3 Be6 29.f4÷] 27.f3! [white will be able to force the 1...Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.0–0 [4.d4 leads exchange of key pieces and build a very 36...gxf5 37.Qg5+ Kh7 38.e5 Qg6 39.Qd8 to a reversed Grunfeld with white enjoying unpleasant initiative on the kingside. Be6 40.Ng5+ Kg7 41.Qxd4 Na4 42.Nh3 an extra tempo. Black should be able to Karjakin is in trouble!] [A brilliant display of sheer pressure and equalize with ease] strategical play by the World Champion, 27...Be6 28.Bf4 Be5 29.Bxe5 dxe5 30.f4 who is now in shared lead going into round 4...e5 5.e4 [5.d3 d5 6.e4 d4 7.a4 Be7 8.Na3 Qe7 [30...exf4 31.Qxf4 Ne2 32.Qg5 Qe7 3 of the 2017 Sinquefield Cup!] 0–0 Black has full control over the center 33.Rc5²] and has comfortably equalized out of the 1–0 opening] 31.Rc5 Rc8? [the final mistake, after this is all downhill for Karjakin] PAGE 3 2017 CUP CHRONICLE GM LEVON ARONIAN – GM FABIANO CARUANA BY WGM TATEV ABRAHAMYAN; ANNOTATIONS BY GM CRISTIAN CHIRILA This was an epic battle that lasted almost 19...Nxc3 20.Bxb7 Nxa2 21.Qxa2 Rxb7 Kf7 54.Rd6 Ke7 55.Rc6 Rd3 56.Ra6 Rd6 seven hours. Aronian made a careless 22.Qxa6 Rc7 23.b3 Nf5 24.Rxc7 Qxc7 57.Ra3 [57.Rxd6 Given the double pawns blunder and found himself down a piece 25.Qb5 [25.Qc4!? Qxc4 26.bxc4 Rc8 on the "g" file, white can't accept the rook in an endgame. The only reason this was 27.Rc1 Ba3 28.Rc2 f6³] exchange proposition 57...Kxd6 58.Kf3 complicated was because Caruana had Ke5 59.Kf2 Kd4 60.Kg2 Ke3 61.Kf1 Be7 25...h6 26.d5 exd5 27.Qxd5 Nxg3 28.hxg3 a pawn on the h-file and a dark squared 62.Kg1 Bg5 63.Kf1 Kf3 64.Kg1 Be3+ Rd8 29.Qb5 g6 30.Ne5 Qc5 31.Qxc5 Bxc5 bishop. Without any material on the board, 65.Kh2 Bc5 66.Kh1 Kf2 (66...Kxg3?? 67.g5 32.Kf1 Kg7 [Black is slightly better but this position is a theoretical draw. However, hxg5 stalemate (67...h5 68.g6 Bd4 69.g7 there was absolutely no warning to what each side had a rook and Aronian also had Bxg7 and the promotion of the h pawn was going to happen next...] two pawns. Caruana missed a tactical win is impossible) ) 67.Kh2 Bb6 68.Kh1 Kf1 on move 40, before making time control 69.Kh2 Be3 70.Kh1 (70.Kh3 Kg1 71.Kh4 and the game went on for another 70 Kg2 72.Kh5 Kxg3–+) 70...Bg1 71.g5 hxg5 moves. The former US champion missed 72.g4 Bd4–+] several other wins in the marathon game, 57...Ke6 58.Kf3 Ke5 59.Ra5+ Rd5 60.Ra3 but his technique was still good enough Kd4 61.Ra4+ Kd3 62.Ra3+ Kd2 63.Ra1 as he forced the game into a winning Rc5 64.Kf2 Rc2 65.Rb1 Bf6 66.Kg2 Ke3+ rook and bishop versus a rook endgame. 67.Kh3 Kf2 68.Rb5 Re2 [still plenty of These endgames are usually drawn with work left!] correct play, with the exception of some specific theoretical positions, one of which 69.Rb6 Bg5 70.Rb5 Bd2 71.Kh2 Kf1+ appeared on the board. 72.Kh1 Re4 73.Rf5+ Ke2 74.Kg2 Rxg4 [after the capture of the g4 pawn, the rook [The longest game of the round (potentially exchange now favors white!] the tournament) was the grueling battle between the victor of round 1, Lev 75.Rf2+ Kd3 76.Rf6 Rd4 77.Rf1 Ke4 Aronian, and the local favorite, Fabiano 78.Rf8 Bg5 79.Rf1 Be3 80.Rf8 Rd2+ Caruana. Let's get right into the action!] 81.Kh3 Bg1 82.Kg4 Ke5 83.Rf5+ Ke6 33.Ke2?? [A huge blunder that simply loses 84.Rf1 Bd4 85.Rh1 Bg7 86.Kf3 Kf5 1.d4 d5 [Fabiano has recently started a piece instantaneously] 87.Rh5+ Kg6 88.Rb5 Rd3+ 89.Kf4 Bf8 experimenting with different weapons [33.Re2 Rd1+ 34.Re1 Rd5 35.Nf3 Rd3 90.Rb6+ Bd6+ 91.Ke4 Rd1 92.Kf3 Kf5 against 1.d4 Back in the days his main line 36.Rb1³] 93.Rb5+ Be5 94.Rb6 h5 95.Rh6 Kg5 of defense was the Gruenfeld] 96.Re6 Bd6 97.Re8 Rc1 98.Re6 Rd1 [98... 33...Bb4 34.Rc1 Re8 35.f4 f6 36.Rc7+ 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 [The QGA has Rc3+ 99.Re3 Rxe3+?? 100.Kxe3 Kg4 101.