Tata Steel 2020, Rd 2: So Strikes Against Anand In A Bloody Round, 5 Lead

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament will be held 12-28 January 2018 in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. | photo © www.tatasteelchess.com — Wijk aan Zee in The Netherlands, again becomes the focus of the chess world, for the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
photo © www.tatasteelchess.com

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2020, continued on Sunday 12th January, with round 2. It was a very busy day in the playing hall, with amateur events going on as well as the main groups. Spectators turned up in their hundreds, to see their chess heros play, partaking in a bowl of traditional pea soup and their liquid beverage of choice.

The fans were not to be disappointed. Traditionally, Sunday is deemed a day of rest, but the players came out with their sleeves rolled up in the main. The Masters group saw 4 decided games out of the 7. It could have been more, too, had Alireza Firouzja made the most of his chances against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The 16-year-old, (who had won in round 1, let’s not forget), was considerably better as Black in their Queen’s Gambit Accepted, but one or two loose moves saw him take home only half a point. He will no doubt kick himself, it was a good chance.

One player who didn’t waste his opportunity, was Wesley So. He had the White pieces against Viswanathan Anand. I really don’t know what to make of this game to be honest, I think Vishy will be very disappointed. His play seems uncharacteristically impatient and his decision to go for 12…Bxf2+ saw him fall on his own sword to a certain extent.

We must try things in chess, of course, but normally players of Vishy’s calibre make sure that they will be getting some kind of return when investing material. It doesn’t seem to be the case in this game. Then, later on, the former World Champion misses a drawing chance — again, most unlike him.

This is not to take anything away from Wesley So, however, who had to keep cool and composed in order to have a chance at the full point.

  [Event "82nd Tata Steel, Masters"]  [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]  [Date "2020.01.12"]  [Round "2.7"]  [White "So, Wesley"]  [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]  [Result "1-0"]  [BlackElo "2758"]  [BlackFideId "5000017"]  [BlackTitle "GM"]  [ECO "C54"]  [EventDate "2020.01.11"]  [Opening "Giuoco Piano"]  [WhiteElo "2765"]  [WhiteFideId "5202213"]  [WhiteTitle "GM"]   { 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.Nbd2 O-O 7.h3 a6 8.Bb3 Be6 9.Bc2 d5 10.Ng5 dxe4 { A new move at this point. Munteanu-Moldovan, Romania 1998, continued 10...Qd7 and was a win for White in 34. } 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.dxe4 { Black's novelty has not worked out badly so far. There is of course the issue of his doubled e-pawns, but these are not too much of a liability as yet. Plus, Black has nice development, which balances things out somewhat. White still has to unravel. And of course, he is as yet uncastled, something that Anand decides to try to make something of. } 12...Bxf2+ { ? A questionable decision. The bishop was a nice piece where it was, and this course of action does not result in anything even close to its value in the longterm. Patience may have been more rewarding for Anand, ...Qe8, for instance, preparing to bring the Ra8 to d8 and with White likely to castle Kingside, ...Qg6 or ...Qh5 might be options for later on. } ( 12...Qe8 13.O-O Rd8 14.Kh2 Nh5 15.Qe1 { And Black is doing fine after ...Qf7 or ...Nf4. } ) 13.Kxf2 Ng4+ 14.Kg1 Ne3 { This looks very nice, especially with the bishop hanging on c2, but in reality, Black is merely achieving exchanges in a very elaborate way. } 15.Qe2 Nxc2 16.Rb1 N6d4 { One way to go. The knight on c2 is of course in a rather untenable position and it is a matter of time before it falls. Therefore, Black decides to give the material on his own terms. } ( 16...Qh4 { This was another possibility, but should see White comfortable. } 17.Nf3 Qg3 { A nice way to cover the idea of White taking on c2. } 18.Bd2 Rad8 19.Rh2 { ! an important move, actually covering the bishop on d2. The threat by Black was to play ...Rxf3. After Qxf3 Qxf3, gxf3, Black would then have ...Rxd2. Now White's position is very secure and whatever Black had in mind has totally failed. For him it is now a matter of survival. } ) 17.cxd4 Qxd4+ { This may appear a strange decision when there was the possibility of undoubling the pawns. However, Anand obviously realised that that route was good for White. Black needs to do something. Here, he intends to follow up with ...Rf2 and will be hoping to generate some counterplay along the 2nd rank. } ( 17...exd4 18.Kh2 { The King gets out of the way of the rook, which is going to d1 in order to cover the d-pawn, which is Black's only possible chance. It is a valid one too, White can not afford to take his eyes off it. } 18...c5 19.Nf3 { White has beaten back the storm. It is now time to unravel and complete development and look to reap the rewards. } 19...d3 20.Qf2 { It looks strange to put the Queen on f2, given that it pins the knight on f3, but this is the most active square for the Queen (it is on its way to g3 or h4 anyway) and the pin is not serious in this position. } 20...Nd4 { Finally, Black frees his knight. } 21.Be3 { And White's superiority is clear to see here. } ) 18.Kh2 Rf2 { White is going to have to be a bit careful now. } 19.Qg4 Ne3 { From being rather out of the loop, this knight suddenly becomes extremely involved in the game. The g2-square has become highly important for both players. } 20.Qxe6+ Kh8 21.Rg1 { With the threat to g2, this move was mandatory. } 21...Qd3 { Black would have loved to play Raf8, here, bringing another piece over to the Kingside. Unfortunately, he does not have the time, due to the threat of Nb3. } ( 21...Raf8 22.Nb3 Qxe4 23.Bxe3 Qxe3 { And after Qg4, Black is just a piece down with no threats. } ) 22.Qxe5 { The correct move (or one of them anyway), but it seems that White only has enough for a draw, here. So's problem is that he is just not active enough to do anything. And Vishy's strength, which is his threat towards g2, means that he does not have the time to unravel. However, the right move has to be found. } 22...Raf8 { ?? Missing his chance to save the point -- ...Nxg2 was the only try. } ( 22...Nxg2 { ! Had Vishy played this, he would most likely have emerged with half a point from this game. The most important aspect of chess is of course King safety, and here Wesley's lack of it stops his game in its tracks. } 23.Rxg2 { White has nothing better than this. } 23...Rxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Qe2+ { And the White King can not escape the checks of the Black Queen, here, the game is a draw. } ) 23.Qg3 { Covering the g2-square. White has his t's crossed and i's dotted, here, now Black is just losing. } 23...Qe2 24.b4 { !! A superb move, showing So's vision and calculation. Of course, a possibility for White now is Bb2, threatening mate on g7. However, as nasty as it is, that is rather easy to defend. The real purpose behind the move is to facilitate Rb3, putting immense pressure on the Ne3. } 24...Rxg2+ 25.Rxg2 Nxg2 26.Qg4 { ! A tasty move. Obviously, Qxg2?? instead, would have lost humiliatingly to ...Rf2! Here, Black is in a zugzwang situation. Exchanging Queens would be virtual resignation for Anand, due to his material deficit. And should he move his Queen (to f2) then White can safely take the Black knight, without fear of ...Rf2. Anand resigned here. } 1-0

Other decisive results, were seen in Dubov-Kovalev and Artemiev-Vitiugov. As for the clash of the young whipper-snappers, (namely Xiong-van Foreest), well that went to the American, who came well armed as White in a Sicilian. The other games were drawn.

This left a 5-way tie for the lead, between Xiong, Dubov, So, Artemiev and Firouzja. The tournament is yet to get going of course, but the newbies are already showing their metal.

Masters Group, round 2 Results:

Dubov 1-0 Kovalev
Duda ½-½ Firouzja
Artemiev 1-0 Vitiugov
So 1-0 Anand
Giri ½-½ Caruana
Yu ½-½ Carlsen
Xiong 1-0 Van Foreest

The Challengers Group, saw Rauf Mamedov getting the better of Nils Grandelius. Their game was a real brawl in the Two Knights Defence, in which Mamedov was White. Both players just went for it and this was extremely exciting. Unfortunately, throwing his Kingside pawns saw Grandelius lagging a bit in development and he went into the endgame a pawn down and with a rather passive looking bishop pair. Mamedov took full advantage. The other win of the day went to Dutch Grandmaster Jan Smeets, who had a very comfortable White game against Uzbekistan’s Nordibek Abdusattorov.

Smeets and Mamedov went top of the table with this result, but as in the Masters, they share it with 3 others, Ganguly, Eljanov, and l’Ami.

Challengers Group, round 2 Results:

Mamedov 1-0 Grandelius
Eljanov ½-½ Sarin
Smirnov ½-½ Keymer
Warmerdam ½-½ l’Ami
Van Foreest ½-½ Ganguly
Abdusattorov 0-1 Smeets
Saduakassova ½-½ Anton Guijarro

Round 3, Monday 13th January, 13:30 local time.

Masters: Van Foreest vs Dubov, Carlsen vs Xiong, Caruana vs Yu, Anand vs Giri, Vitiugov vs So, Firouzja vs Artemiev, Kovalev vs Duda.

Challengers: Mamedov vs Grandelius, Eljanov vs Sarin, Smirnov vs Keymer, Wammerdam vs l’Ami, van Foreest vs Ganguly, Abdusattorov vs Smeets, Saduakassova vs Guijarro.