Chess Candidates 2014 R11: All games drawn, Anand still with 1 point lead

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

A determined Viswanathan Anand holds on to his one-point lead after 11 rounds at the Khanty Mansiysk World Chess Candidates 2014. Only three more rounds are to be played. Photo: FIDE

All four games of the 11th round of the FIDE World Candidates Tournament ended in draws.

The first to split the point were former World Champions Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand. Peter Svidler and Levon Aronian, Dmitry Andreikin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, followed the suit around the first time control.

Sergey Karjakin was pressing for a victory against Veselin Topalov, but the Bulgarian was alert to parry all the threats.

Round 11 standings: 1. Anand 7; 2. Aronian 6; 3-5. Svidler, Mamedyarov and Karjakin 5,5; 6-7. Kramnik and Andreikin 5; 8. Topalov 4,5.

Possibly the toughest challenge for Viswanathan Anand in the last four rounds was the game with black against Vladimir Kramnik.

It wasn’t a great surprise that Kramnik opened with the Catalan, which brought him so much success in the past.

The line with 7.Ne5 is considered innocuous, but Kramnik wanted to play something that he is familiar with. In an over-the-board inspiration he decided to go for the rare 11.Na3, which he analysed some years ago.

Anand continued in the regular manner, by quickly advancing the c-pawn to clear the files and achieve counterplay with heavy pieces.

A temporary pawn sacrifice helped black to clear the queenside and reach an easy draw.

Replay all the games of Round 11 with Chess King.

The game between Peter Svidler and Levon Aronian started as a Reti but soon the pawns were arranged in the shape of Slav Exchange variation.

Black solved the problem of the light-squared bishop and this helped him achieve good play on the queenside.

The structure was symmetrical but there were still plenty of resources for either player.

Svidler marked 22.b4 as a mistake after which black succeeded in trading the heavy pieces on the c-file. Both players agreed that 22.Rc2 was a better try, when black would probably start preparing a break with e5.

After the queens went off, draw was signed on move 33.

Dmitry Andreikin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also explored the Catalan opening. White inadvertently followed in the footsteps of former World Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand, but already by move 20 he was down to less than half an hour on the clock.

Andreikin admitted that he was surprised in the opening and had to spend lots of time to find the best moves.

White made a break by advancing c4-c5, but black exchanged all the pawns on the queenside. On a positive note, white obtained a pair of bishops.

The resulting endgame 2B vs B+N and four pawns on the same flank should be equal, but still some precision was required from black.

Mamedyarov recollected that Kramnik and Gelfand held similar endgames, but he didn’t feel entirely at ease in today’s game. Nevertheless, he managed to trade more pawns and draw was finally agreed on move 46.

Veselin Topalov and Sergey Karjakin played the Double Fianchetto Hedgehog, following for a while their earlier game from 2012 World Rapid Championship.

Topalov was the first to deviate by advancing his pawn to g5. In the battle for the long a8-h1 diagonal both players maneuvered their queens to the corners of the board.

The queens and three pairs of minor pieces were soon exchanged. Black tried to create an outside passed pawn on the h-file, while white concentrated his efforts on breaking through on the queenside.

While white was throwing his pawns forward, black seized the opportunity to trade a rook for the bishop and doubled passed pawns on the a-file.

Despite being an exchange up, white remained passive because black always threatened to advance the passers.

Eventually white stopped both pawns with his king and rook and black couldn’t find a way to activate his own king to make a decisive impact on the final outcome. Draw in 57 moves. (Official website)

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Chess Candidates 2014 R10: Anand Maintains 1 Point Lead

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Viswanathan Anand drew comfortably with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to maintain his one point lead in Khanty Mansiysk on Tuesday. Photo: FIDE

Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand maintained a full point lead in the FIDE World Candidates Tournament after playing a draw with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in round 10.
Anand’s nearest rival Levon Aronian also made a draw, with white against Veselin Topalov.In the all-Russian matches Peter Svidler defeated Vladimir Kramnik, while Sergey Karjakin and Dmitry Andreikin drew.

Anand is clear first with 6,5 points, one point ahead of the second-placed Aronian. Mamedyarov, Karjakin and Svidler are on 5 points each, while Kramnik and Andreikin share the 6th place with 4,5 points. Topalov remains last with 4 points.

Replay all the games of Round 10 with Chess King.

The 6.h3 Naidorf Sicilian is all rage now in the FIDE World Candidates Tournament. In round 10 Viswanathan Anand again used the system, this time in the game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

The game was similar to Anand’s match against Topalov, but this time black was more vigorous to trade the pieces, counter in the center and achieve good play.

Anand made a good psychological decision to go for relatively simple position in which Mamedyarov, a gifted tactician, could not create threats with taking excessive risk.

At some point white offered moves repetition but black decided to play on. However, on move 30 black changed his mind and offered a draw.

Dmitry Andreikin defended with the Taimanov Sicilian and Sergey Karjakin used Rustam Kasimdzhanov`s favorite 7.Qd3, although Karjakin admitted he didn’t analyzed this variation with his second.
Karjakin followed his earlier clash with Mamedyarov (2009), but then he chose a different pawn structure with 13.e5, very similar to the Classical French.Black didn’t meet many obstacles in solving the typical problems – exchange of the light-squared bishops and counterplay on the b-file.

Having achieved no advantage, white conceded a draw by repeating the moves.

Peter Svidler had another go at the Dutch defence and Vladimir Kramnik responded with the customary expansion in the center.

With the slightly better pawn structure white claimed a small advantage, but black always remained solid and was close to trading off the entire queenside.

At one point Kramnik blundered horribly by allowing 32…Bxh2+ which lost him an exchange and a pawn.

Further, the white king was exposed to a relentless attack and he gave up shortly before the time control.

Levon Aronian chose a quiet setup against Veselin Topalov’s Chebanenko Slav, allowing black to extinguish much of the opening pressure.

Around move 14 white was uncertain how to place the pieces. At the press conference Topalov proposed 15.a4 Qb6 16.Bc3, but Aronian replied that he didn’t like the bishop there.

After black installed the knight on the strong d4-outpost, white understood that he should be careful not to end up worse.

Topalov thought that he had small advantage throughout the middlegame, but he decided not to be rash and make mistakes in pursuit of a victory at all costs, as it happened to him earlier in the tournament.

Despite the doubled f-pawns and opponent’s passer on d-file, white was able to hold the endgame. Draw signed on move 45.

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Chess Candidates R9: Anand beats Topalov, Takes 1 Point Lead; Aronian Loses to Mamedyarov

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

In the battle of two former World Champions, Viswanathan Anand defeated Veselin Topalov to single out again on the top after his co-leader Levon Aronian lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

Sergey Karjakin scored a second consecutive victory by beating Vladimir Kramnik, while the other two Russians – Dmitry Andreikin and Peter Svidler, split the point.

After nine rounds of play Anand is leading the race with 6 points, a full point ahead of the second placed Aronian.

Kramnik, Karjakin and Mamedyarov are on 4,5 points each. Andreikin and Svidler share the sixth place on 4 points, while Topalov is last with 3,5 points.

Monday is the rest day, the tournament resumes with round 10 on Tuesday.

Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand - full throttle on in Khanty Mansiysk - on his way to beating Veselin Topalov on Sunday in Round 9.

The match between Dmitry Andreikin and Peter Svidler was a Naidorf Sicilian with the Fischer’s variation 6.h3.

Svidler opted for the traditional e5-Be6 setup, while Andreikin expanded on the kingside with g4. Black made a counter in the center and soon the queens went off.

Replay all the games of Round 9 with Chess King.

The position quickly simplified but there were still some resources for both sides.

However, after reaching the required 30 moves the players have agreed to a draw.

Levon Aronian introduced another stunning idea when he temporarily sacrificed two pawns in the sharp Gheorghiu Nimzo Indian against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
Black successfully built a strong attack and white was forced to concede an exchange. But then black strayed from the right path and white was given a chance to coordinate the pieces.
A few more mistakes by Aronian and Mamedyarov was already launching a devastating counterattack.

Shortly before the time control white decided to trade down to a winning opposite-colored bishops ending with two extra pawns. Black immediately gave up.

Former World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov also had the h3 Naidorf Sicilian on trial.
Topalov went for a more flexible structure with e6, much similar to the Scheveningen Sicilian.

White allowed the exchange of his strong dark-squared bishop, but he got a quick long castle in return. Black’s reaction was not the best and he soon ended up in a slightly passive French-like structure with the backward pawn on e6.

Black tried to obtain some counterplay against white f4-pawn, but the exchange of both pairs of rooks only helped white to press on black’s weak points.

In the ensuing Q+B endgame white king was also much safer.

After some clever maneuvering white won the pawn and proceeded to convert the advantage.

Today it was Sergey Karjakin’s turn to use an unexpected move order in the opening to throw Vladimir Kramnik off the balance.

The position after 7.Qb3 strongly resembled some of the Kramnik’s own games with white from the 90′s. Exactly at this moment black erred by capturing the pawn on c4 instead of taking the knight on f3.

Karjakin grabbed the b7-pawn and after a sequence of natural moves obtained clear advantage.

In desperation, black sacrificed another pawn in the hope of setting a blockade on the light-squares. But after some patient build-up, white was able to push the opponent’s pieces back.

Karjakin exchanged everything to reach a winning double-rook endgame with two extra pawns. Kramnik resigned on move 64. (Official website)

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Chess Candidates 2014 R8: Aronian, Anand Draw Stay in Joint Lead; Kramnik 1/2 Point Behind

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Levon Aronian plays safe with Viswanathan Anand, holds on to draw in Round 8 at Khanty Mansiysk Candidates 2014. Photo: FIDE

The co-leaders Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand shared the point in their round 8 match in the FIDE World Candidates Tournament, in Khanty Mansiysk, on Saturday.

The duo remained in joint lead, but now the possible tie-break at the end of the event would favor Anand (mutual score 1,5-0,5).

Vladimir Kramnik missed a chance to catch the leaders as his opponent Dmitry Andreikin defended very well to deserve half a point.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov sacrificed a knight for attack but Veselin Topalov found the safe route to make a draw in the rook endgame. Sergey Karjakin defeated Peter Svidler in the longest game of the day.

Replay all the games of Round 8 with Chess King

After eight rounds of play, Anand and Aronian are on top with 5 points each, while Kramnik is close behind with 4,5 points. The remaining five players, Mamedyarov, Topalov, Karjakin, Svidler and Andreikin are on 3,5 points each.

Levon Aronian stunned Viswanathan Anand with an enterprising novelty as early as on move 3.

Anand appreciated the strength of Qb3 in various transpositions as it was not easy for him to reach a convenient Catalan or Gruenfeld structure. He finally went for the reversed Benoni even if it included a pawn sacrifice. Black did achieve quick development as compensation.

Aronian said that he convinced himself in the viability of the novel idea, which “he discovered during a nap”. He knew that computers wouldn’t like the pawn grab, but he believed he could “always pull a Petrosian and slowly consolidate”.

As the game progressed Aronian grew unsatisfied with his position and started to fear of another quick loss against Anand. He joked that he wished black had his pawn back on c5, a square which Anand used to transfer the pieces and exert huge pressure on white queenside.

The game was drawn after repetition on move 19.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defended with the Naidorf Sicilian and Veselin Topalov used the Fischer’s favorite 6.h3 which is back in fashion again.

The play soon transposed into Dragon variation. White castled long and expanded on the kingside but black was quick to generate the counterplay on the other flank.

Mamedyarov said he didn’t like his knight and he didn’t want to stay passive in defence so he decided to sacrifice this piece to open up the b-file.

The temporary sacrifice triggered a forced line that led to an equal rook endgame. Draw signed on move 32.

Dmitry Andreikin used his trusted Chebanenko Slav defence to which Vladimir Kramnikresponded with a fianchetto setup.

White created some pressure as his bishops cross-fired all over the board, but he probably over-estimated the position resulting after the pawn sacrifice.

Black did experience problems with coordination while white dominated on the c-file and on the 7th rank.

At some point black was even two pawns up but white had strong pressure on the central pawns. After the massive exchanges white got the material back and a drawn endgame was reached.

Peter Svidler used a clever-move order to transpose from Reti to King’s Indian Attack, an opening which certainly wasn’t high on the priority list in Sergey Karjakin’s preparation.

Nevertheless, the young Russian played very well to extinguish white’s initiative on the kingisde.

Much of the middlegame was black’s effort to exchange some pieces and stabilize the extra pawn.

White attempted to set a fortress, but black broke through with 40…f4+ just before the time control. Faced with tough defence white was slowly losing the ground.

Karjakin converted the advantage in the 7th hour of play.

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Chess Candidates 2014 R7: Aronian catches Anand on shared first place

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Levon Aronian defeated Sergey Karjakin in round 7 of FIDE World Candidates Tournament to join Viswanathan Anand on the top of the crosstable.

Anand had some advantage with black against Peter Svidler but he couldn’t achieve more than a draw.

Vladimir Kramnik surged ahead by winning a wild game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Dmitry Andreikin escaped from the bottom by punishing Veselin Topalov’s over-ambitious play.

After seven rounds Aronian and Anand are leading with 4,5 points each. Kramnik is half a point behind and Svidler remained on 50% score. Topalov, Andreikin and Mamedyarov are on 3 points each, while Karjakin is last with 2,5 points.

Veselin Topalov was not amazed by Dmitry Andreikin’s opening choice, since the Russian repeated the line he used to beat Kramnik last year in Dortmund.

Already on the 7th move white introduced a novelty, but his plan was kind of slow and black threatened to take the initiative after a quick castle and pawn sacrifice.

REPLAY ALL THE GAMES WITH CHESS KING.

But Topalov chose a wrong path and instead of recapturing the c-pawn he went for the kingside expansion. The tactical problem is that 18…g4 wouldn’t work because of the powerful influence of white heavy pieces on the open files.

White first secured the advanced c6-pawn and then evacuated the king to safety on a1. Black was running out of options as his pieces couldn’t get to the good squares.

Andreikin besieged the weak d5-pawn and black position immediately fell apart.

Another Berlin Ruy Lopez in the game of former World Champion Viswanathan Anand proves that he has plenty of preparation left from the match in Chennai.

Anand employed a novel idea 11…exd4 with d5 and Nh5, which worked exceptionally well in combination with the strike against white center.

Peter Svidler spent 40 minutes to make 15.Bc2 and his position looked depressing, but then suddenly Anand pulled a break and allowed white to somewhat stabilize the game.

Anand started over again by giving the queen for rook, bishop and better pawn structure. But Svidler found the straightforward plan of eliminating all the pawns on the queenside, after which Anand agreed to a draw.

Levon Aronian also played the Berlin Ruy Lopez against Sergey Karjakin. After white was forced to capture on c6, the game started resembling the Delayed Exchange Variation.

White had difficulties in getting his pawn majority going, while black slowly probed opponent’s structure on the other flank. Despite the apparent simplicity on the board, Karjakin was spending lots of time and his position slowly deteriorated.

Few moves before the time control white conceded two pieces for a rook and some pressure on the back rank. He did win the bishop back, but then black captured a handful of pawns while constantly threatening the white king.

Karjakin tried to seek the escape by exchanging the queens but black pawns were too fast and the game was concluded in Aronian’s favor on move 53.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov remained loyal to the Ragozin Queen’s Gambit defence despite the earlier loss against Aronian. He attempted to surprise the opponent with unknown 14…b5, but Vladimir Kramnik navigated quickly through the opening, most likely thanks to the home analysis.

White emerged with a small but healthy advantage and Kramnik proceeded to perform his traditional positional squeeze.

At some point Kramnik rushed with the central break e3-e4 and Mamedyarov got the chance to unbalance the position by grabbing a piece and allowing two advanced pawns.

White pawns were looming near promotion but somehow he just couldn’t find the way to queen them.

Nevertheless, the position was immensely complicated and black had to find a sequence of computer-like moves to reach a better rook endgame. Mamedyarov’s hand slipped in the decisive moment when he allowed promotion with check instead of creating checkmating net around white king.

Kramnik easily converted the huge advantage. (Official website)

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Chess Candidates 2014 Round 6: Anand Leads; Topalov beats Kramnik, Mamedyarov beats Svidler

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Veselin Topalov won their respective games against Peter Svidler and Vladimir Kramnik in round 6 of Candidates Tournament.

The other two matches, Viswanathan Anand – Sergey Karjakin and Levon Aronian – Dmitry Andreikin, were drawn. Anand must feel happier as Aronian missed to win and catch him on the shared first place.

After six rounds of play Anand stays on the top with 4 points, while Aronian is close behind on 3,5. Four players are on 3 points each: Kramnik, Svidler, Mamedyarov and Topalov. Karjakin is on 2,5 points and Andreikin has 2 points.

REPLAY ALL GAMES OF ROUND 6 WITH CHESS KING
Thursday 20th April is rest day.Another Berlin Ruy Lopez in Viswanathan Anand’s game, this time playing white againstSergey Karjakin. Anand confidently entered the famous endgame, blitzing out the first 20 moves.

Karjakin also analysed the line up to 21.Rh1, but his moving was slower as he tried to recollect the exact preparation. He planned to make 23…Nb4 but then he understood that 24.f4 gxf4 25.Bh4+ with next Bf6 would be very unpleasant.

Anand tried to prepare f4 but Karjakin placed his pieces on optimal squares and white soon realized that there is no way to make progress. Draw was signed on move 33.

Huge tension was felt in the air ahead of the game between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik, their first classical since 2008. Somehow they kept missing each other in the past six years, with exception of the quick games in Melodi Amber events. Even the other participants recognized the importance of the moment and kept glancing at the board on far left.

The game started as a Queen’s Gambit Declined where Topalov entered the Bf4 variation and then introduced a novel idea with 8.Be5 and 9.Bd3.

Kramnik responded by pushing his pawn twice to f4 before starting the logical process of undermining white’s queenside. However, he probably missed the strength of the tactical blow 19.Nxd5, which allowed white to trade down to the practically winning endgame.

Topalov duly converted the advantage.

Peter Svidler started with the Dutch defence, an opening that he had planned to introduce during this event. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was not confused, he didn’t take more than two minutes to answer with 2.g3.

Mamedyarov criticized his 8.b4, but he had already tried many different moves in this position and it was time for something new.

Svidler believed that black emerged with a good position from the opening, having achieved everything that he hoped for. But then, as he said at the press conference, “his brain stopped working for about 20 minutes”, when he made a couple of mistakes in succession.

Mamedyarov didn’t take long to elegantly conclude the game.

The game between Levon Aronian and Dmitry Andreikin started with Reti opening where the first fight revolved around the black pawn on c4. But then white unbalanced the play by sacrificing two pieces for a rook and a pawn.

Black tried to improve on the earlier games of Dutch Grandmaster Smeets, but white was able to trade a couple of pawns and emerge with an outside passer.

Cracking under pressure, black was forced to give the material back and transpose into an endgame where white had an extra pawn – exactly that passer on the a-file.

But then Aronian rushed to exchange a strong bishop for opponent’s knight, probably considering the rook endgame easily winning. However, it turned out that the outcome was unclear, thanks to the black pawn on e6. White was not able to anchor the rook on f4 as there was always e6-e5. Game drawn on move 48. (Official website)

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Candidates R5: Svidler beats Topalov, Anand Leads

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Round 5 photo: FIDE/ugrasport.com

Peter Svidler bounced back after yesterday’s loss by winning against Veselin Topalov in round 5 of FIDE World Candidates Tournament, in Khanty Mansiysk, on Tuesday. At the same time Viswanathan Anand preserved the lead after splitting the point with Dmitry Andreikin.

Kramnik and Aronian played a wild match that eventually settled in a draw after six hours of play. The first game to finish today was a peaceful draw between Sergey Karjakin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

After five rounds Anand remains on top with 3,5 points. Kramnik, Aronian and Svidler share the second place with 3 points each. A full point behind are Topalov, Mamedyarov and Karjakin. Andreikin remains last with 1,5 points.

Replay all the games of Round 5 with Chess King.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov attempted to play the Naidorf Sicilian, which is not very common in his practice, but Sergey Karjakin circumvented with the Bb5 check and the Moscow variation.

White’s 12.Nd5 allowed massive exchanges at black’s convenience who was just on time to strike the pawn chain with 15…b5.

Black could even allow the luxury of giving up a pawn to activate his heavy pieces. Draw was signed on move 31.

At the press conference both players agreed that Mamedyarov’s 21…a5 was very strong, practically securing a draw.

Despite the unpleasant experience with Berlin Ruy Lopez in the World Championship Match in Chennai, Viswanathan Anand himself adopted the opening with black in the game against Dmitry Andreikin.

Andreikin employed the system with early Bxc6 and Be3, championed by his compatriot Ian Nepomniachtchi. But Anand was already familiar with the plan, having earlier defended black against Topalov.

The main battle was on the queenside where white was attempting to break to the 7th rank. Anand, however, played quickly and confidently, while Andreikin was burning his clock.

Black constantly had a small pull, but white held the position together and the draw was signed on move 43.

Veselin Topalov revived a line in the Ruy Lopez Møller Defence that was previously considered dubious. His 10…exf3 appears to better than the committal 10…Bxf2+.

The surprised Peter Svidler spent lots of time to accurately navigate the resulting sharp position. After move 14 he actually thought that he is losing. But he treated it well and even emerged with slight advantage.

A couple of imprecise moves by black, namely 26…Ka6 and 28…Ne5 were enough to get him in trouble. The combined force of rook and two bishops harassed the stranded black king until white was able to trade down to the winning endgame with the passed h-pawn.

The start of the game between Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian was quiet as it can get, but it didn’t take long before white started piling his pieces towards the black king.

Kramnik already has the experience of blasting the opponents off the board after a seemingly modest setup (for example against Van Wely). Aronian responded with counterplay in the center.

White forced the opening of the long diagonal, which looked immensely dangerous for black. Luckily for him, Aronian had a strong trump in the advanced e-pawn.

With the help of the temporary queen sacrifice black succeeded in simplifying the position down to an equal rook endgame.

Kramnik pressed on but to no avail as Aronian played precisely to hold a draw. (Official website)

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Candidates Chess 2014 R4: Anand draws Kramnik, Maintains Lead

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Viswanathan Anand didn’t get any advantage from the opening against Vladimir Kramnik and the game was quickly drawn, but the Indian retained the lead after round 4 of FIDE World Candidates Tournament in Khanty Mansiysk on Monday.

In the other matches Levon Aronian outplayed Peter Svidler, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won an exciting game against Dmitry Andreikin. Veselin Topalov forced perpetual check to hold Sergey Karjakin to a draw.

Anand is first with 3/4 points, while Kramnik and Aronian are close behind on 2,5 points each. Topalov and Svidler share the 4th place with 2 points each. Mamedyarov and Karjakin are on 1,5 points, while Andreikin sunk to the last place with 1 point.

The game between two old rivals, former World Champions Viswanathan Anand andVladimir Kramnik, was eventful, sharp and quick.

Kramnik defended with the Vienna Queen’s Gambit, which came as a surprise for Anand. Anand said he didn’t expect this line, particularly since he himself played it against Kramnik (in 2003).

After black has infiltrated behind the opponent’s ranks with the excellent 18…Qh2, the play became more forced. Black’s inspired defence finally brought him reward when he caught the white king in perpetual check.

Replay all the games of Round 4 at Chess King.

At the press conference Anand said that he was prepared up until 17.Qd2. He added that 18.Rd3 was forced and suggested that maybe 21.Nb3 was a better try.

Kramnik didn’t want to discuss his preparation, he just said that after 4.Nc3 he plays many different moves, 4…Be7, 4…Bb4, 4…c5, and now obviously 4…dxc4. Previously he entered Vienna with black in a game against Grischuk three years ago.

The players didn’t want to speculate on which score would be sufficient for the first place (+4 or +5). Kramnik said that the only sufficient score is to actually be just one step ahead of the rest of the field.

Sergey Karjakin started the round with 1.c4, which was only fourth such occasion from almost 1,000 games with white. Veselin Topalov thought for a couple of minutes before responding with his favourite Reversed Dragon setup.

Later in the game, black played the relatively rare 10…Re8 and then traded the knights on d5. White briefly contemplated the position and decided to double the rooks on the c-file.

In a matter of couple of moves all minor pieces were exchanged. White decided to launch the usual minority attack on the queenside, to which black responded by giving two rooks for a queen and a pawn to unbalance the position.

Karjakin tried to redeploy his rooks to the open e-file, but Topalov was able to take advantage of the weakened light squares and deliver perpetual check.

At the press conference Karjakin noted that it is curious that he also plays Reversed Dragon with black pieces. He was unhappy about 14.Rc3, after which he didn’t have advantage. Topalov added that no matter what white does instead of Rc3, he would still continue with the same plan as in the game.

After 21.e3 Qf6 Karjakin could not find anything convincing. Topalov said that 22…Qg6 was a strong threat. He suggested maybe to delay a4 for one move and play 26.Rb3 first, but it shouldn’t change the overall evaluation of the game.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov reversed the negative trend by defeating Dmitry Andreikin to leap ahead of the Russian player in the standings.

For third time in four rounds Mamedyarov faced with the Slav Defence. His start was modest, having moved e3 and a3, but soon-after he opened the center with e3-e4. Black naturally struck back with c6-c5.

White got some pressure after damaging black’s queenside structure and pushing b4. From that point on black experienced problems with the weakened light squares and advanced passer on c6.

White’s advantage was slowly increasing until he had missed the very strong 34.Qd6 and instead gave a check, because as Mamedyarov admitted, “when you are in time trouble you try to find some cheap tricks”.

After 35…f5 white realized that the win might be slipping away from his hands. But Andreikin quickly returned the favour with the weak 37…Kf7 (instead of the correct 37…Kh7 38. Qd6 Qa6).

Mamedyarov soon wrapped up the game.

Levon Aronian and Peter Svidler did their homework and quickly banged the first 20 moves in one of the lines of the Gruenfeld Indian defence. Svidler prepared a novelty 21…Qa3 instead of the previously played 21…Qa6, which according to him loses by force.

Svidler spent some time to consider 27…Nxd4 and thought that this forced line would lead to a draw. He preferred to fight on and deviated from this move, which was a decision that he regretted later in the game.

After another inferior move, namely 32…Nf7, white started to gradually squeeze the black’s position.

The endgame was quite unpleasant and black could only prolong the suffering until move 57. (Official website)

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Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Candidates R3: Viswanathan Anand in Sole Lead

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand moved into sole lead after defeating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Round 3 of Candidates Tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk on Saturday.

With the other three games, Dmitry Andreikin – Sergey Karjakin, Veselin Topalov – Levon Aronian and Peter Svidler – Vladimir Kramnik, being drawn, Anand is alone on the top of the crosstable with 2,5 points.

Replay all the games of Round 3 with Chess King.

Svidler and Kramnik are sharing the second place with 2 points each. Topalov and Aronian are on 1,5 points, while Andreikin and Karjakin are on 1 point each. Mamedyarov remained on 0,5 points.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Viswanathan Anand stuck to their guns, Vishy defended with the Slav while Shakh once again played knight on d2.

After the introductory moves white expanded in the center with e5 and f4. The former World Champion didn’t lose time and immediately undermined the pawn chain. White’s inability to bring the rooks to the central files, controlled by the beautifully placed black bishops, proved that his position was a little over-extended.

Mamedyarov was forced to make a concession and exchange the light-squared bishops. However, this maneuver left the squares around the white king horribly weak.

Anand jumped on the opportunity and quickly mobilized the heavy pieces to attack the opponent’s king.

White didn’t survive long and Mamedyarov resigned on move 31.

Dmitry Andreikin is an unpleasant opponent for Sergey Karjakin, having eliminated him in the 4th round of 2013 World Chess Cup.

Karjakin defended with the Berlin Ruy Lopez, and Andreikin avoided the famous endgame by slowly expanding in the center with d3, c3 and d4.

Black traded on d4 and struck back with d6-d5. After the massive exchanges, black found the excellent move 17…Qd5 to hold the balance.

With the weakened pawn structure around his king, Andreikin couldn’t find anything better than to trade all the rooks and force perpetual check.

Despite the loss in the first round, Levon Aronian didn’t hesitate to repeat the Ruy Lopez Anti-Marshall. Veselin Topalov chose the line that was earlier seen in Grischuk’s games.

Black conceded the bishop’s pair to get a pawn on d4 and the position appeared to be equal. White decided to complicate the matters with the queen’s excursion to h5.

Aronian thought for a long time but eventually decided not to take the pawn on e4. Soon-after he played 22…Ba6 allowing wild complications after 23.Bd6.

White captured the h7-pawn and set his f-pawn in motion. But black was just on time to create counterplay by pushing his d-pawn. White was eventually forced to take the perpetual check.

Peter Svidler didn’t want to test Vladimir Kramnik’s Nimzo-Indian or Ruy Lopez and decided to start with the English Opening.

It was a fairly normal position as black forced the trade of white’s light-squared bishop, but then 15…e6 gave the signal for Svidler to amass his pieces on the d-file.

Kramnik clung onto his pawn, but Svidler managed to break through by getting e5 and c5 in. White got an imposing passer on d6 but it was very difficult to force its advance.

Already around move 30 the players run into zeitnot and for the final moves before the time control they were down to seconds.

When the smoke cleared, it looked like white will finally remove the blockading rook from d7, but black was very resourceful to find counterplay. The amazing 45…f5 and 46…Rf6 saved the day for Kramnik.

Viswanathan Anand is leading the standings with 2,5 points. (Official website)

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FIDE Chess Candidates 2014 in Khanty Mansiysk Participants Confirmed: Anand, Kramnik, Andreikin, Topalov, Mamedyarov, Aronian, Karjakin, Svidler:

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

The Indian chess media had reported a month back that World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand was in two minds about participating in the upcoming Candidates Tournament 2014 in Khanty Mansiysk this March. FIDE has announced that all qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament 2014 in Khanty-Mansiysk have confirmed their participation: 




1. Viswanathan Anand (IND, former world champion)

2. Vladimir Kramnik (RUS, world cup 2013 winner)

3. Dmitry Andreikin (RUS, world cup 2013 finalist)

4. Veselin Topalov (BUL, grand-prix 2012-13 winner)

5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, grand-prix 2012-13 runner-up)

6. Levon Aronian (ARM, rating list 2012-13)

7. Sergey Karjakin (RUS, rating list 2012-13)

8. Peter Svidler (RUS, host nominee)
The pairings will be announced by 13 February.

The exact schedule of the event:

11 March: Arrivals
12 March: Opening Ceremony & Players Meeting
13-15 March: Rounds 1-3
16 March: Free day
17-19 March: Rounds 4-6
20 March: Free day
21-23 March: Rounds 7-9
24 March: Free day
25-27 March: Rounds 10-12
28 March: Free day
29-30 March: Rounds 13-14
31 March: Tiebreaks / Closing ceremony
1 April: Departures

Detailed technical regulations are published in the FIDE handbook.

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Khanty Mansiysk Chess Candidates 2014: FIDE seeks Players' Confirmation by Jan 20

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

FIDE has announced that the deadline for players to confirm their participation in the Candidates Chess Tournament is 20 January 2014. The event will be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia from 11 March (arrivals) to 1 April 2014 (departures) and the qualifiers are: 

1. Vishy Anand (IND, former world champion)
2. Vladimir Kramnik (RUS, world cup 2013 winner)
3. Dmitry Andreikin (RUS, world cup 2013 finalist)
4. Veselin Topalov (BUL, grand-prix 2012-13 winner)
5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, grand-prix 2012-13 runner-up)
6. Levon Aronian (ARM, rating list 2012-13)
7. Sergey Karjakin (RUS, rating list 2012-13)
8. Peter Svidler (RUS, host nominee)

First reserve from the FIDE Grand-Prix standings is Fabiano Caruana (ITA).

The winner of the Candidates Tournament will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the world championship title in the last quarter of 2014. The Players' contract is available at this FIDE Link.

Meanwhile, we also found interesting reports in the Indian media about World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand having not yet decided whether he would play in the Candidates. Anand has said he would take the decision later about Khanty-Mansiysk.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
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at www.chessqueen.com
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