Round-4 of the London Chess Classic 2016, was held on December 12th. It saw only one decisive game, from American Grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, just as the in previous round. His victim is this round was Bulgarian Grandmaster, Veselin Topalov, who is not having a pleasant time of things at all in London.
The loss to Nakamura handed him his third loss in four games.
In the Caro-Kann Advance, Topalov (playing White) got himself into trouble very quickly, situating his Queen on a4 where it was very vulnerable. 11.c4(?) seems to have been the beginning of Topalov’s problems, the move being a bit too bold for the situation. Nakamura’s 11…a5(!) was very strong, giving White Queen considerations while also putting pressure on c5. Soon, Topalov was ditching his Queen for Nakamura’s bishops and a rook, which in some situations would be a fair exchange; in this case, it did him no favours at all. The problem was that his extra pieces just were not active, his bishops still at home and a knight stuck on g7, totally dead in the water.
Black continued with 11…a5!
Nakamura’s 20…Nc5(?) was a slight let off, however, (…Qe5+!), allowing his opponent to situate his dark-squared bishop on the long a1-h8 diagonal. Unfortunately, this was not taken full advantage of, 23.Be2 should really have given way to 23.Ra7+, which could potentially have saved White’s point. From here, Black took more and more of a grip on the position and White was soon overwhelmed. I can imagine this stung very badly to say the least. It is not exactly the loss, but the nature of the loss — it was a bit of a bashing.
Anish Giri appropriately chose the London System in order to take it to tournament leader, Wesley So, but this did him no favours at all. The problem with such flexible systems, is that as attractive as they are, they can be a very double-edge-sword — if one does not have a clear plan, things can quickly go south. This is what seems to have happened, here, with White getting himself problems, not least an isolated e-pawn and King stuck in the centre.
Black gradually took the better stance and White’s decision to exchange his knight, (which was an important defensive piece), further worsened matters and the e-pawn fell. The crucial point seems to have been So’s decision of 29…axb6, (29…Ra5 was perhaps more forceful), which led to a line allowing White to create some counter-play with a passer of his own. 37…Bc6 allowed simplification and after this Giri seemed much more comfortable and drew without too much trouble. It may be a while before he plays the London again, however.
Vladimir Kramnik took up a Colle-type system against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, but as soon as the tension had mounted, they engaged in a series of exchanges which left the position very simplified. The players played on, but unless there was a serious error, a draw was the likely result and this it was in 61-moves. The Spanish of Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian didn’t really turn into any kind of debate and was drawn in 31.
Michael Adams and Viswanathan Anand got into a Guioco Piano in which White was slightly better throughout. White did not seem to want to try for very much from it and Anand’s 29.Kf2 was either a very bad mistake, allowing Black a tactic to solve his problems, or (more likely) a draw offer. In the end, the game was a rather eventless 32-mover.
All of this left Wesley So in the lead, with one more round to go before the rest day.
- So — 3.0
- Aronian, Caruana, Nakamura, Kramnik — 2.5
- Giri, Anand — 2.0
- Vachier-Lagrave — 1.5
- Adams — 1.0
- Topalov — 0.5
[Site “London”]
[Date “2016.12.12”]
[Round “4.1”]
[White “Giri, Anish”]
[Black “So, Wesley”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D02”]
[WhiteElo “2771”]
[BlackElo “2794”]
[Annotator “Shaw,John Lee”]
[PlyCount “112”]
[EventDate “2016.12.12”]
[WhiteClock “0:59:56”]
[BlackClock “1:04:47”]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 {Quite appropriately, Giri opts for the London
system.} c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 e6 6. c3 cxd4 7. exd4 Nh5 8. Bg5 {This is a new
move, here, with Be3 and Bg3 having been tried before.} f6 9. Be3 Bd6 10. g3
O-O 11. Bg2 f5 12. Ne5 f4 13. Qxh5 fxe3 14. fxe3 Nxe5 {…Bxe5 was also good
here and may even have been better. Giri perhaps did not want to surrender his
bishop pair.} (14… Bxe5 15. dxe5 Bd7 {With an edge. The point here is time,
having the knight on the board rather than the Bd6 means that Black can
develop and with …Qc7 a further possibility, coupled with a later …Rf5,
the White e5-pawn is a weakness. White also has problems castling — …Rf2
being a nice reply to castling long. If White covers that, say with Qe2, Black
can safely take on e5.} (15… Rf5 {This is not as promising as it looks.} 16.
Qe2 {And White is ready to play e4 here} Nxe5 {there is nothing better than
this} 17. e4 Rf8 {…dxe4 is nicely met by Bxe4, and White could be winning
here.} 18. Nf3 Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 d4 {=})) 15. dxe5 Bc5 16. Rf1 Bxe3 (16… Rxf1+
17. Bxf1 (17. Nxf1 Bd7 18. O-O-O Qc7 {with a very superior stance.}) 17… g6
18. Qf3 Qc7 19. Nb3 Bb6 {is about equal.}) 17. Rxf8+ Qxf8 18. Qf3 {White’s
opening has not worked out at all and Giri wants to exchange down and simplify
a little.} Qxf3 {This is perhaps a bit complicit, but under the circumstances
is a valid decision.} 19. Nxf3 Bd7 20. Rd1 Rf8 21. c4 Bc6 22. Nd4 {Perhaps
trying for a bit too much. Ke2 would have been a bit more appropriate, here.}
Bxd4 23. Rxd4 Rf5 {With the knight off the board, this pawn is doomed.} 24. g4
Rxe5+ 25. Kf2 Kf7 26. b4 Ke7 27. b5 Bd7 28. b6 {Again, a little too much this
move, White should really be thinking about improving and solidifying his
position.} (28. cxd5 Bxb5 (28… exd5 29. Bxd5 Bxb5 30. Re4 Rxe4 31. Bxe4 {
sees Black with a very slight pull.}) 29. Rb4 Ba6 30. dxe6 b6 31. Ra4 Ra5 32.
Rxa5 bxa5 33. Bd5 Bc8 {Black is slightly better, here, but whether this can be
converted is unclear.}) 28… dxc4 {The best refutation.} 29. Rxc4 axb6 (29…
Ra5 30. Rc2 axb6 31. Bxb7 e5 32. g5 {seems rather juicy for Black.}) 30. Rc7
Rb5 31. Rxb7 Kd6 32. Kg3 h6 33. Rb8 Rb2 34. Bf3 b5 35. a4 {A clever device
worthy of committing to memory, allowing White to create a passer of his own.}
b4 36. a5 Rb3 37. Kg2 Bc6 {…e5 was a good alternative, here, the exchange of
bishops simplifies things somewhat.} 38. Bxc6 Kxc6 39. a6 Ra3 40. Rxb4 Rxa6 41.
h4 e5 42. Kf3 Kd5 43. Rb5+ {White has largely solved his problems and seems to
be doing ok now. With two Grandmasters of this calibre, very little is likely
to happen from here.} Ke6 44. Rb7 Kf6 45. g5+ hxg5 46. hxg5+ Kg6 47. Re7 Ra5
48. Ke3 Rb5 49. Kf3 Rb3+ 50. Kf2 Rb5 51. Kf3 Rd5 52. Ke3 e4 53. Kxe4 Rxg5 54.
Kf3 Kh5 55. Re1 Rg4 56. Rh1+ Kg5 {And the players agreed a draw, here, Black’s
extra pawn is of no consequence.} 1/2-1/2[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “2016.12.12”]
[Round “4.2”]
[White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “A49”]
[WhiteElo “2809”]
[BlackElo “2804”]
[PlyCount “121”]
[EventDate “2016.??.??”]
[WhiteClock “0:57:16”]
[BlackClock “0:22:02”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O O-O 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. b3 e5 8. dxe5
Ng4 9. c4 {This is a new move in this position, a sort of Colle state of
affairs.} d4 10. Ne4 Ngxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Bg5 f6 13. Bc1 f5 14. Nc5 c6 15.
Bb2 Qd6 {Not the best of moves, as White demonstrates. By contrast, f5-f4 was
worth a look.} (15… f4 16. Nd3 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 Bf5 {Black would be very happy
with this.}) 16. e3 Nxc4 {This sharpens things up quite considerably, but not
in Black’s favour.} (16… Qxc5 17. exd4 Qa5 18. dxe5 Bxe5 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 20.
Re1 {is slightly better for White.}) 17. Bxd4 {There is nothing wrong with
this, but Nxb7 was a good alternative.} (17. Nxb7 Nxb2 18. Nxd6 Nxd1 19. Raxd1
Rd8 20. Bxc6 Rb8 21. Bd5+ Kf8 22. Nxc8 Rbxc8 23. Bc4 {with a large edge.})
17… Bxd4 18. Qxd4 Qxd4 19. exd4 Nd6 20. Rfd1 {White could possibly have
pushed on with the immediate d5 here.} (20. d5 cxd5 21. Bxd5+ Kg7 22. Rfe1 Rb8
23. Re7+ {with an undoubtable initiative}) 20… Nb5 21. d5 Nc3 {The position
is about to implode on itself with a very long liquidation sequence.} 22. dxc6
Nxd1 23. Bd5+ Kh8 24. cxb7 Bxb7 25. Bxb7 Rad8 26. Ne6 Rfe8 27. Nxd8 Rxd8 28.
Kf1 {White has the best of things, and an extra pawn of course, but this is
unlikely to lead to anything. The players play on for quite a while, but
unless there is a serious error, the outcome will be a draw.} Nc3 29. a3 Rb8
30. Rc1 Nb5 31. Rc8+ Rxc8 32. Bxc8 Nxa3 33. Ke2 Nb5 34. Kd3 Kg7 35. Bd7 Nd6 36.
f3 Kf6 37. Kd4 Nf7 38. Bb5 Ne5 39. Be2 g5 40. Kd5 {absolutely even-stevens
here, both players are handling the endgame extremely competently, as one
would expect.} h5 41. b4 Ng6 42. b5 f4 43. g4 hxg4 44. fxg4 Ne5 45. h3 f3 46.
Bf1 f2 47. Ke4 Ng6 48. Ke3 Ke5 49. Bg2 Nf8 50. Kxf2 Kf4 51. Ke2 Kg3 {Mission
accomplished for Black, who will now work his knight to f4 and capture on h3,
when the position will be completely resolved.} 52. Bf1 Ne6 53. Ke3 Nf4 54. Ke4
Nxh3 55. Kf5 Nf2 56. Kxg5 Nxg4 57. Be2 Ne3 58. Kf6 Nd5+ 59. Ke5 Nc3 60. Bc4
Nxb5 61. Bxb5 {and here the players shook hands and split the point.} 1/2-1/2
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “2016.12.12”]
[Round “4.3”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C77”]
[WhiteElo “2823”]
[BlackElo “2785”]
[Annotator “Shaw,John Lee”]
[PlyCount “61”]
[EventDate “2016.12.12”]
[WhiteClock “1:00:46”]
[BlackClock “0:08:09”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. a4 b4 8. Nbd2
Bc5 {This move transposes the position to Naiditsch-Guijarro, Barcelona 2016,
but Black had the move from here in that game.} 9. Nf1 d6 10. Ng3 Nd4 (10…
Bg4 11. Be3 Bd4 12. Qc1 {=}) 11. Nxd4 Bxd4 12. O-O O-O 13. Rb1 Rb8 14. c3 Ba7
15. d4 Be6 (15… exd4 16. cxd4 c5 17. dxc5 Bxc5 18. Bf4 {=}) 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17.
Be3 {The situation is about equal, here, both sides are developed and without
weaknesses to speak of.} bxc3 (17… exd4 18. cxd4 c5 19. dxc5 Bxc5 20. Qb3 {
with a slight edge.}) 18. bxc3 Rxb1 19. Qxb1 Ng4 20. h3 Nxe3 21. fxe3 Qg5 22.
Kh2 {Rxf8 was another was to achieve equality, but this is fine.} (22. Rxf8+
Kxf8 23. Kh2 {=}) 22… a5 23. Rxf8+ Kxf8 24. Qb7 Bb6 25. Qc8+ Kf7 26. Qd7+ Qe7
27. Qb5 {White decides to keep the Queens on, but exchanging would have
changed very little.} g6 28. Nf1 Qg5 29. Nd2 {Technically, this is a draw
offer and it is accepted.} Qxe3 {Allowing White to slip to the 7th rank for
perpetual check.} 30. Qd7+ Kf8 31. Qd8+ {And the players shook hands and
shared the spoils, here.} 1/2-1/2
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “2016.12.12”]
[Round “4.4”]
[White “Anand, Viswanathan”]
[Black “Adams, Michael”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C54”]
[WhiteElo “2779”]
[BlackElo “2748”]
[PlyCount “63”]
[EventDate “2016.12.12”]
[WhiteClock “0:13:35”]
[BlackClock “0:19:15”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2
Ne7 9. Bb3 Ng6 10. d4 Bb6 11. Nc4 Be6 12. h3 c6 {A new move by Adams, here.}
13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Ncxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Re8 16. Qxd8 Raxd8 17. Bc2 g5 (17… Bxa2
{this leads to a long natural line resulting in equality.} 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19.
Rxa2 Nxe4 20. Bxe4 f5 21. Ra4 fxe4 22. Be3 Bxe3 23. Rxe3 Rd1+ 24. Kh2 Rd2 25.
f4 Rf2 {is about equal, with either rook capturing on e4 next for White.}) (
17… Bxh3 {this is less effective that …Bxa2, turning out much better for
White.} 18. Nxf7 Kxf7 19. gxh3 {White has a nice playable position from here.})
18. Nf3 g4 19. Nd4 (19. hxg4 Nxg4 20. Nd4 {and Black’s best seems to be
sacrificing the exchange for activity.} Rxd4 (20… c5 21. Nf3 Bc4 22. Bf4 Bd3
23. Bxd3 Rxd3 24. Kf1 {clearly better.}) 21. cxd4 Bxd4 22. Re2 Bc4 23. Rd2 c5 {
black does not seem to have adequate return for his piece, here.}) 19… gxh3
20. gxh3 Bxh3 21. Re3 {Bxh6 was also perfectly sound.} Bg4 22. Rg3 Bc7 23. f4
h5 24. e5 Nd5 25. Bf5 Bb6 26. Bxg4 hxg4 27. Rxg4+ Kf8 28. Bd2 Ke7 29. Kf2 {
I think this move was a draw offer for Anand, as he is very unlikely to have
missed the tactic that allows Black to simplify the position and draw. Kg2 was
the correct move to play on, but it is unclear if that would have led to a
different result.} (29. Kg2 Bxd4 30. cxd4 Rg8 31. Rxg8 Rxg8+ 32. Kf3 Rh8 33.
Ke4 {With a very nice, mobile phalanx of pawns, but whether this will prove
fruitful is unclear.}) 29… Nxc3 30. bxc3 Rxd4 31. cxd4 Bxd4+ 32. Be3 {
And the players agreed a draw here. Actually, Black is equal at worst after …
Bxa1, White certainly doesn’t have anything anymore.} 1/2-1/2
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “2016.12.12”]
[Round “4.5”]
[White “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B12”]
[WhiteElo “2760”]
[BlackElo “2779”]
[Annotator “Shaw,John Lee”]
[PlyCount “106”]
[EventDate “2016.12.12”]
[WhiteClock “0:47:02”]
[BlackClock “0:37:27”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. c3 e6 7. b4 a6 8. Nbd2
Nxe5 9. Qa4+ Nd7 {This is a new way of breaking the check, …Qd7 had been
played previously, advocated by Croatian Grandmaster Robert Zelcic, but
without any success it has to be said.} 10. Ne5 Ngf6 11. c4 {? This is a bit
too bold at this stage in the game, White should be focussing on development
for now, with Nb3 or Bb2. Getting rid of Black’s Bg4 is alo another good
option.} a5 {! a good refutation of White’s play, applying pressure towards
c5, but also giving White’s Queen a bit of a tickle.} 12. Nb3 {A very
dangerous undertaking, this, Qb5 was a little more advisable, but still works
out for Black.} (12. Qb5 axb4 13. cxd5 Bxc5 14. Nb3 Qc7 15. Nxd7 Nxd7 16. Nxc5
Qxc5 17. Qxc5 Nxc5 18. Be3 b6 {with White having some work to do.}) 12… axb4
13. Qb5 Be7 {a move with good intentions, but probably a bit slow, allowing
White to ease the situation a little.} (13… Qc7 14. Bb2 (14. Nxg4 Nxg4 15.
cxd5 Bxc5 16. Nxc5 Qxc5 17. Qxc5 Nxc5 18. dxe6 fxe6 19. h3 Nf6 {sees White
somewhat lagging.}) 14… Bf5 15. cxd5 Nxd5 16. Bc4 Nc3 17. Qxd7+ Qxd7 18. Nxd7
Kxd7 {sees a much better situation for Black.}) 14. c6 (14. cxd5 exd5 15. Nxg4
Nxg4 16. Be2 Ngf6 {and White will probably be breathing a tad more easily,
here, most likely continuing with Bd2 or Be3 or castling short. The b7-pawn is
probably a little poisoned.}) 14… bxc6 15. Nxc6 Qc7 16. f3 Bf5 17. Nxe7 Rb8
18. Nxf5 {an interesting continuation by Topalov, Qa5 wa the other way to go.}
(18. Qa5 Qe5+ 19. Kf2 Kxe7 20. Bd2 dxc4 21. Bxc4 Qxa5 22. Nxa5 Rhc8 {with
Black having a little initiative here.}) 18… Rxb5 19. Nxg7+ Ke7 (19… Kf8
20. Nxe6+ (20. cxb5 Kxg7 {sees White with not very much for his Queen
investment and Black is winning.}) 20… fxe6 21. cxb5 Rg8 {and Black is in
command.}) 20. cxb5 {To me, it doesn’t look like White has enough for his
Queen, here.} Nc5 {? This is actually a little ineffective, …Qe5+ would have
been more useful — the point is not the check exactly, but control of the
board, especially the long diagonal.} (20… Qe5+ 21. Be2 Nc5 {and the
development of the Bc1 is no simple matter. White has to watch out for …Nxb3
and …Qxa1 also.} 22. Rb1 Nd3+ 23. Kf1 Nxc1 24. Rxc1 Nd7 {sees Black with an
advantage that is quite likely winning.}) 21. Bb2 {This move would not have
been possible after …Qe5+} Nxb3 22. axb3 Qf4 23. Be2 {This seems too slow,
White really had to go Ra7+ here} (23. Ra7+ Kf8 24. Nxe6+ fxe6 25. b6 Rg8 26.
Kd1 {Ra8+ is also fine} h5 27. h4 Rg3 28. Bxf6 Qxf6 29. Ra8+ Kf7 30. b7 Qd4+
31. Ke2 Qe5+ 32. Kf2 Rg7 33. b8=Q {and Black will most likely take the draw by
perpetual} Qd4+ 34. Ke2 Qb2+ 35. Ke3 Qc1+ {and so on.}) 23… Rc8 {Black has a
very big control of the board here, White has problems.} 24. Rd1 Qg5 25. b6 {
White was probably better to get castled here, for numerous reasons, but when
lagging behind positionally and materially, it is easy to feel the pressure to
do something and Topalov probably felt that in droves, here.} Rc2 {…Qxg7 was
also super.} 26. Bxf6+ Qxf6 27. Nh5 Qc3+ 28. Kf1 Qe3 29. Re1 Qxb6 {With this
move, White’s main hope to save the point vanishes.} 30. Nf4 Qe3 31. g3 Qxb3
32. Kg2 Kf8 33. Kh3 Qb2 34. Rb1 Qf6 35. Rhe1 e5 {To top everything off, the
Black pawns are now moving.} 36. Nxd5 {sadly for White, there is nothing
better than this, which will lose to …Qe6+. Trying to save the knight would
unfortunately doom the Be2.} (36. Nd3 Rxe2 37. Rxe2 Qf5+ 38. Kg2 Qxd3 {is
overwhelming.}) (36. Ng2 Rxe2 {if Rxe2, then …Qf5+}) 36… Qe6+ 37. Kg2 Qxd5
38. Rxb4 Qd2 39. Rb8+ Kg7 40. Kf1 Qh6 41. Kg2 e4 42. Rb3 Qe6 43. Re3 {Topalov
digs deep in attempting to defend, but this is futile. Unless Nakamura
blunders horrendously, he is not to be stopped.} exf3+ 44. Kxf3 Qh3 45. Rd1
Qh5+ 46. Kf2 Qxh2+ 47. Kf3 Rc6 48. Rd4 Rg6 49. g4 {This allows Black to
continue very powerfully, but White was fading fast anyway.} Rf6+ 50. Ke4 Qh1+
51. Kd3 Qb1+ 52. Kd2 Qb2+ 53. Kd3 Rc6 {And here, Veselin Topalov resigned,
Black’s threats are numerous and there is no answer.} 0-1
[/pgn]
