The second round of the FIDE Hamburg Grand Prix 2019, was played between November 8th and 10th, in Hamburg Germany. The first round of this knockout tournament, had seen Ian Nepomniachtchi, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Hikaru Nakamura, Wei Yi, Teimour Radjabov, Nikita Vitiugov, Pentala Harikrishna, and Dmitry Jakovenko eliminated. That left the following pairings for the second round, or rather, quarter finals:
Vachier-Lagrave vs Topalov
Grischuk vs Navara
Svidler vs Dubov
Yu vs Duda
Just as in round-1, the players would play a mini-match of two 90-minute games to try to take victory. If the score was 1-1, tie-break games would follow, getting progressively quicker. These tie-break games were only needed in one of the matches, Svidler vs Dubov, and we’ll come to that in a moment. But first, to a match that was settled without needing any extra games.
This was, namely, the pairing of French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Bulgarian Grandmaster Veselin Topalov. As it would turn out, this match was settled in the very first game, with what would be the only decisive first game of the round. It saw Topalov as White, in a King’s Indian Defence.
Things were fairly even until Veselin decided to go for an exchange sacrifice, (giving rook for bishop), with his 28th and 29th moves. This was a straight sacrifice, and for me it is very hard to see what the former World Champion got in return. However, that only goes to show why Topalov is on the world stage and I am sat here writing about him. He certainly had his chances to at least earn himself a half point and things could have become rather precarious for Vachier-Lagrave in places.
However, Veselin missed what opportunities were presented to him, in particular, 36.Kh2(!) which gave him good chances to save the game. After this, it was all over bar the shouting.
[Event “Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix”]
[Site “Hamburg GER”]
[Date “2019.11.08”]
[Round “2.1”]
[White “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2777”]
[BlackFideId “623539”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “E60”]
[EventDate “2019.11.05”]
[Opening “King’s Indian, 3.Nf3”]
[WhiteElo “2736”]
[WhiteFideId “2900084”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Nc3 e6 8.Nd2 Na6 9.O-O Re8 10.e4 Nc7 11.a4 b6 12.Re1 { This is not an uncommon position as a whole, but in the 16 or so games I find, it has mainly been White to move. 12…a6 and 12…exd5 have been played before by Black, but Vachier-Lagrave goes his own way. } 12…Na6 13.h3 Nb4 { Again, this position has been seen before, but Black had the move in Roselli Mailhe vs Flores 2012. …a6 was played and Black won in 42. } 14.Ra3 { The game really starts from this new move by Topalov. One would expect the players to have some idea of where they are at this point. The question, now, is how deep their preparation goes. } 14…exd5 15.cxd5 { Much better than other recaptures, 15.Nxd5 would allow Black to exchange his Nf6 and then strike out with …f5. And in the case of 15.exd5, then the f5-square is available for Black’s light-squared bishop. } 15…a6 16.Bf1 Nd7 17.Na2 Ra7 18.Nc4 { Topalov doing his best to be active as always. A respectable alternative was 18.Nxb4. } ( 18.Nxb4 cxb4 19.Rb3 Nc5 { ! Trying to hold the pawn would be fruitless for Vachier-Lagrave, …a5 would surrender the b5-square for starters. A further consideration is that Black can now swing his rook from a7 to e7. } 20.Rxb4 Rae7 { White has to start thinking about things along the e-file now. } 21.Qc2 Bb7 { Threatening …Bxd5, due to the vulnerability of White’s Re1. Things can get rather sharp and unclear from here, with 22.Nf3 Bxd5 23.Bg5; or, could head for repetition with 22.Rd1 Bc8 23.Rd1, etc. } ) 18…Ne5 { Getting the knight to a nice central outpost, albeit briefly. } 19.Nxe5 { Black’s knights are better pieces than White’s, which are a bit lifeless and hemmed in, so Topalov decides to exchange them off. } 19…Bxe5 20.Nxb4 cxb4 21.Rf3 Bd7 22.b3 { Releasing the bishop from the defence of the b-pawn. Black’s Be5 is in an uncomfortable place for White, it is a very good piece, on a good square. Not only does it have the a1-h8 diagonal at its disposal, but it is also firing towards the h2-square. Therefore, White wants to challenge it as soon as possible, either by achieving Bb2 or the manoeuvre Be3-Bd4. } 22…b5 23.Be3 { So, Topalov is sending this bishop to d4. } 23…Ra8 24.axb5 { This is preferable to letting Black undouble his pawns, now the Frenchman two isolated and doubled pawns. These will be long-term weaknesses that White can pick on later. However, the trade off is that it gives Vachier-Lagrave the use of the a-file. Also, Topalov has an isolated pawn himself, though this is harder for Black to get at, for the time being at least. } 24…axb5 { I think that Vachier-Lagrave would have seriously liked to throw in an extra move before this recapture, namely …Bc3. The point is that c3 is an important square for Black, because exchanging on c3 is a way of not only undoubling his pawns, but passing one. So, the idea would be, …Bc3 and then when the Re1 moves, …axb5 and then to get at least a rook along the c-file. Unfortunately, the idea is not feasible. } ( 24…Bc3 { An interesting idea, to try to turn the Queenside weakness into a potential feature, and to play …Bxb5 after the rook moves. Black would then have a very nice position. Unfortunately, White can afford to leave the Re1 where it is and still achieve a commanding result. } 25.bxa6 { ! Another black pawn off the board and should Black capture the rook, (and there seems to be nothing better), White will not be at all unhappy. } ( 25.Re2 { ? Not the way to go. } 25…Bxb5 26.Rc2 Rxe4 { is not a nice position at all for White. } ) 25…Bxe1 26.Qxe1 { With a very big edge. Black’s best continuations are either 26…Rxe4 or 26…Qa5, but White is very much in charge. } ) 25.Bd4 { White wants this bishop dealt with. } 25…Ra2 26.Re2 Rxe2 { There is nothing better than this, but a lot that is worse. } 27.Bxe2 Qe7 28.Re3 { This looks like a slip, (because of …Bf4), but it is a calculated exchange sacrifice by Topalov, who would rather risk losing than take a drawing route. } 28…Bf4 29.Bf3 Bxe3 30.Bxe3 Rc8 { With at least a small edge, I think. In my opinion, Topalov does not have enough in return for his rook. He really needs his bishop pair active. } 31.Qd4 Qe5 { ! An exchange up, it suits Black to exchange Queens. } 32.Qa7 { It is always nice to decline an exchange with a tempo, especially an unfavourable exchange. } 32…Be8 33.g3 Rc3 { ? For reasons that I mentioned earlier, it would be very nice for Black to situate a piece on c3. However, now is not really the optimum time. The reason for this, is that after 33.g3, Black’s Queen is now vulnerable to Bf4. The other downside to …Rc3 is that Black’s back rank is a little vulnerable to White’s Queen. 33…Qf6 would have been a little more appropriate for Vachier-Lagrave, hitting Topalov’s Bf3, while nullifying the threat of Bf4. } 34.Bd4 { ? Right piece, wrong square, Bf4 would have had Topalov right back in the fight. The fork of Queen and Rook looks great but it is not really very powerful, due to the fact that Black would love for White to take the rook and pass his pawn. } ( 34.Bf4 Qg7 { (…Qf6, Qb8) } 35.Qb8 Rxf3 { The only respectable move. } 36.Qxe8+ Qf8 37.Qd7 { And all of a sudden, it is White with the better play. } ) 34…Qg5 { Probably played quite calmly, threatening to cause havoc in the White camp along the c1-h6 diagonal. } 35.Be2 { ? This is too complicit, though not quite as bad as it would have been to take the rook with …Bxc3?? which would just have lost to bxc3. 35.h4 may have put up a better defence, when 35…Rc1+ 36.Kg2 Qd8 seems to leave both sides scratching their heads. If instead, 35…Qd2, material could well even up with 36.Be3 Rxe3 37.fxe3 or Qxe3. } 35…Qd2 { Black looks completely on top, here, but believe it or not, White is safe as long as he is accurate in his defence. Unfortunately for Topalov, he isn’t. } 36.Bf1 { ? Missing his last chance to possibly survive. White had to play Kh2 instead, tucking his King away and depriving White of very valuable tempo checks. Certainly, the last thing Topalov should have done was put the bishop on the back rank. } ( 36.Kh2 { ! One of those hard to spot moves, but the only saving option for White. Now, if Black chooses to take the b-pawn, } 36…Rxb3 { , then White can recapture with 37.Bxb5 — Black must not take …Bxb5?? or he will be mated, Qb8+! White also has the threat of Qe7! } ( 36…Qxe2 { ?? This move shows why tucking White’s King out of harms way on h2 is so good. Black’s own King is rather solitary, with the White Queen and Bd4 bearing down on it. } 37.Qe7 { !! And White is now winning! For example: } 37…Rc8 38.Qf6 { and if } 38…Kf8 39.Qxd6+ Kg8 40.Qf6 { and Black is toast — if …Kf8 again, d6 is superb! } ) 36…Rxb3 { White is hardly in the game anymore and it is hard to see how Topalov can mount any kind of counter play or resistance. } 37.Kg2 { Now Bb5 would lead to a dire situation for White after …Qd1+ and …Rb1, when White does not have the time to set his own mating net. Chess really is about fractions sometimes. } 37…Ra3 { ! To the point — time to march along the b-file. From here, White is powerless. } 38.Qb6 Ra6 { This was not really necessary, Vachier-Lagrave could have pushed on with …b3, but Black is still in full control of the game. } 39.Qxa6 Qxd4 40.Qc8 { Qxd6 was a good alternative, but would not have changed the stance much. } 40…Qxe4+ { Black’s excerts more and more dominance. } 41.f3 Qe3 { Keeping the Be8 covered, while getting ready to push the b-pawn. } 42.Bxb5 b3 43.Bxe8 Qe2+ 44.Kg1 Qd1+ { And Topalov resigned here. Vachier-Lagrave will play Qc2+ next, forcing the exchange of Queens and then Queen his b-pawn. } 0-1
[/pgn]
This Loss left Topalov needing to win the second game in order to take the match to tiebreaks. He played the Black side of a French Defence (how’s that for bold), but it really didn’t work for him at all. Vachier-Lagrave was well on top of things when they agreed a draw after 26-moves. And with that handshake, the Frenchman went through to the semi-finals.
Also going straight through, were Alexander Grischuk and Jan Kyzysztof Duda. They settled things in their second games, against David Navara and Yu Yangyi, respectively. Navara had a bit of a tough time as White in the Ragozin Queen’s Gambit Declined and was perhaps guilty of over-pushing with 22.Qa6(?) which put his Queen out of touch with the game and gave Grischuk the chance to pick up a pawn with 22…Rxe4(!).
Unfortunately for David, he got his defence a little wrong, trying to activate his Queen instead of just cutting his losses, which meant that Alexander actually picked up a piece. The point and match went to the Russian without too much trouble.
Peter Svidler and Daniil Dubov played 2 rather quick draws in their opening games and this meant that they would go to tie-breaks. Their rapid tie-break games were also drawn, and this meant that the next ones saw just 10-minutes on their clocks. Svidler would have White in the first game, and the Reti King’s Indian Attack would go badly for him. It all started with 6.Be3(?!) …
When we are learning chess, we are told that we should not do this kind of thing, putting pieces in front of central pawns. Rules are meant to be broken, however and there are situations when it can work out ok. One such situation is the fianchetto. As we can see, White has carried out a fianchetto with his light-squared bishop, which means that his e2-pawn does not have to advance in order to develop it. White is also castled, which is not insignificant either.
However, the bishop itself is not in a very positive place on e3, it does not have much scope. This is shown very well when Peter moves it to f4 on move-8, g5 on move-9, and back to c1 on move-10. I remember doing this kind of thing a couple of times in the early days of my chess life, to which my old mentor would say, “you have obviously not been listening.”
Looking through the game, it occurs to me that Peter wasted so much time with this piece. And it doesn’t stop here, he later returns it to e3, then f4, before it gets exchanged off, one can imagine with some great relief. By this time, however, Dubov had the much better game. And in the endgame, with an extra pawn, the advantage steadily grew and he had the point in 40-moves. And unfortunately the second game didn’t work out much better for Svidler either. Although it was a draw in 18, Dubov was once again standing much better.
And with this result, the four players going through to the semi-finals were known. This saw the following pairings:
Vachier-Lagrave vs Grischuk
Dubov vs Duda
The next round would be played between November 11th and 13th and would produce the finalists for the tournament.
