Round 6 of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, was played on Friday 17th January. After playing round 5 in Eindhoven, it was back to normality, as the Masters group returned to Wijk aan Zee. This year, there is only one ‘Chess on Tour’ location, (there have usually been 2), so the players will now stay in Wijk aan Zee for the remainder of the tournament.
Round 6 had been a highly anticipated round, because it would see Magnus Carlsen taking White against his 2018 World Championship challenger, Fabiano Caruana. Unfortunately, the game was pretty dull and anyone who put themselves out at all especially for it, will have been sorely disappointed. It was half theory, half not much else, and drawn in 28.
With all due respect to GM’s Carlsen and Caruana, I don’t know what it is with these two. They seem to just not want to get down to it with each other. I am beginning to suspect that it has become a matter of pride now, with neither wanting to be the first to crack.
Elsewhere in the group, there was some comfort for the largely Dutch crowd, as the home favourite, Anish Giri, got a point on the board. He had of course lost to Alireza Firouzja in Eindhoven. This result will have smarted somewhat, not only because elite chess players (any chess player worth their salt really) hate to lose. However, with it having been in Eindhoven, no doubt many Eindhoven locals, who don’t usually get to Wijk aan Zee, (seeing as it is a (give or take) 90 mile, 90 minutes trip away), will have come especially to see Giri.
And if that wasn’t enough, the former prodigy, had been beaten by the new prodigy on the block.
Sometimes it can take a loss to kick a player up a few gears and perhaps that is what happened, here. Anish seemed in determined mood against Vladislav Kovalev, who is struggling so far in the tournament, having lost 3 of his first 5 games. I feel that Giri had been set on adding to his misery, especially having the white pieces. The game was a Guioco Piano, in which Anish outplayed Vladislav to take the point. The endgame was especially dominant.
The other win of the round went to Daniil Dubov. He played his countryman, Vladislav Artemiev. Dubov took white in a Caro Kann Advance Variation and got a very nice point on the board. What is very noticeable in this game, is that there is no real ‘wham!’ until the very end, just steadily building pressure. This is clear indication, if ever it were needed, that the game is full of good, solid, strategic manoeuvring. In this, Black is not quite White’s equal on the day.
[Event “82nd Tata Steel, Masters”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee NED”]
[Date “2020.01.17”]
[Round “6.6”]
[White “Dubov, Daniil”]
[Black “Artemiev, Vladislav”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2731”]
[BlackFideId “24101605”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “B12”]
[EventDate “2020.01.11”]
[Opening “Caro-Kann”]
[Variation “advance variation”]
[WhiteElo “2683”]
[WhiteFideId “24126055”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for hotoffthechess.com. } 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 { The most popular move, here, is 4.Nf3, but h4 is by no means an obscurity. It has been wielded before by players such as Nakamura and Grischuk. } 4…h5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.cxd5 { White is going to play Bd3, to exchange light-squared bishops, so first he resolves the matter of his c-pawn. However, the other feature about this move, is the opening of the c-file. } 7…cxd5 { This is the correct recapture, taking with the e-pawn instead would leave Black with a rather inflexible position, as well as complications with regard to developing his Nb8. } 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.Nf3 Nh6 11.Bxh6 { If you can develop your worst piece by exchanging it, then it is usually a good thing. } 11…Rxh6 { Of course, …gxh6 would not be nice at all for Black. } 12.Rc1 { This is a novelty. 12.g3 was usual here, with good results for White, and 0-0 has had an outing, for a draw in McIntosh-Ramoutar 2019. } 12…Kf8 13.g3 g6 14.O-O Kg7 { Both players seem comfortable with the situation and will be quite satisfied so far I should think. } 15.Na4 Rh8 16.Nc5 Bxc5 { ? Positionally, this is not a good decision. The reason, is that it gives White an initiative along the c-file. The capture was also not necessary, …Qb6 would have covered things very well, with a potential sting in the tail along the b-file and towards d4. } 17.Rxc5 { Here, it is not easy for Black to boot the rook out of c5, (…b6 would hang the knight of course), which means that White has easy doubling along the c-file. } 17…Qd7 18.Rfc1 Rhc8 19.Qc3 { Trebling is even better. The Queen also covers the b4-square, White of course intends b4 and b5, hence Black’s next. } 19…a5 20.a3 a4 21.Ne1 { I have to put my hands up and say that I can’t see the motivation behind this move. White could just have played Kg2, as he does in a couple of moves time, with the knight back on f3. Was Dubov just gaining a move for time, or was he considering taking the knight to b4? } 21…Qe7 { Perhaps looking for counterplay (which he badly needs) with …g6-g5. Alternatively, it may have been prudent to bring the knight to e7 instead, bringing the c-file issue to a head. } ( 21…Ne7 { Calling White out along the c-file, like a poker player saying I’ll see you. And it seems to work well for Black. } 22.Rc7 { Rxc8 would be an admission of thwartation. } ( { Not } 22.Rxc8 { which sees the initiative switch a bit } 22…Rxc8 { and now, with the knight’s coverage of c8, Black has tempo on White’s Queen and White must defend. } 23.Qd2 Rc4 { and Black will not be at all unhappy with this. } ) 22…Qd8 { Holding things together very nicely. It is not easy to see where White goes from here. } ) 22.Nf3 Qd7 23.Kg2 { There is no way that White is repeating here. } 23…Rc7 24.Qc2 Qd8 25.Qd1 Rd7 { The players jostle for positional advantage. Black is aiming to make small improvements to his position if he can, or otherwise to do no damage. I don’t think that Artemiev will have been feeling bad, here, apart from the fact that his Ra8 must stay on the a-file, due to his a4-pawn. } 26.Ng5 { Dubov is the one with something to prove and prepares to do just that. This is a good square for the knight, it is safe and secure on g5, at least for now. } 26…Ra6 { ? This move does not really do anything for Black in the form of attack or defence. Meanwhile, White can push on. } 27.g4 { ! Good timing. } 27…Qh8 28.Qf3 { ! To the point, the completely different levels of piece quality and activity are revealed. White can now focus on the enemy King. } 28…Rb6 { ? Inappropriate. Now is not the time for counterplay, Black must defend, as White is about to demonstrate. } ( 28…Kg8 29.gxh5 Qxh5 30.Qf4 { Things would be neither here nor there after the exchange of Queens. Instead, White will bring a rook to f3 and power along the f-file. } ) 29.gxh5 { Perfectly fine, but Ra5(!) would have hit Black like a slap on the forehead. } ( 29.Ra5 { ! This type of move comes up once in a while, when one has been superior in strategy. } 29…Qd8 { It is imperative to guard the f6-square. If instead, …Nxa4(??) then Qxf6+ will see Black mated. This, due to the greedy knight having opened the c-file for White’s Rc1. } 30.Rxa4 { The fruit of his labour. Alternatively, gxh5 is perfectly good also. } ) 29…Qxh5 { Upon …gxh5, Qg3 threatens a nice discovery, (Nxe6 for instance). There is not a lot that Black can do in answer to this, his situation is very serious. } 30.Qf6+ Kg8 31.Ra5 { ! Also a very nice time to play this move. } 31…Qg4+ 32.Kf1 Nd8 { ?? A very bad blunder, not only throwing a piece but also heading to mate. Sadly for Black, the best he had was …Ra6, sacrificing the Nc6 in order to survive … with an excruciatingly losing position. } 33.Ra8 { All roads lead to Rome, here, for Dubov, Artemiev resigned. } 1-0
[/pgn]
The other games were drawn, leaving Wesley So and Alireza Firouzja still in control at the top of the standings.
Masters Group, round 6 Results:
Dubov 1-0 Artemiev
So ½-½ Duda
Giri 1-0 Kovalev
Yu ½-½ Firouzja
Xiong ½-½ Vitiugov
van Foreest ½-½ Anand
Carlsen ½-½ Caruana
Masters Standings after Rd 6:
So, Firouzja — 4.0
Caruana, van Foreest, Dubov — 3.5
Xiong, Carlsen, Duda, Anand, Giri, Artemiev — 3.0
Vitiugov — 2.5
Yu — 2.0
Kovalev — 1.0
With the Masters away for round 5, the Challengers group, had seen all but 1 game decided. What would happen now that they were back cramping their style? Well, it was not so bad, with another fighting round of chess, which produced 3 decided games.
These went to Pavel Eljanov, who beat Max Warmerdam with the black pieces, to make the top of the standings his own. His co-leaders after round 5, Erwin l’Ami and Surya Shekhar Ganguly, drew their games, against David Anton Guijarro and Jan Smeets respectively.
Elsewhere, points also went to Nils Grandelius, against Lucas van Foreest, and Vincent Keymer got his first point of the tournament, beating Dinara Saduakassova, who lost her third point in a row.
Challengers Group, round 6 Results:
Mamedov ½-½ Smirnov
Warmerdam 0-1 Eljanov
van Foreest 0-1 Grandelius
Abdusattorov ½-½ Sarin
Saduakassova 0-1 Keymer
Anton Guijarro ½-½ L’Ami
Smeets ½-½ Ganguly
Challengers Standings after Rd 6:
Eljanov — 4.5
Ganguly, l’Ami — 4.0
Anton Guijarro, Smeets, Grandelius — 3.5
van Foreest, Abdusattorov, Mamedov, Sarin — 3.0
Keymer — 2.5
Smirnov — 2.0
Saduakassova — 1.5
Warmerdam — 1.0
Round 7, Saturday 18th January, 13:30 local time.
Masters: Caruana vs Dubov, Anand vs Carlsen, Vitiugov vs van Foreest, Firouzja vs Xiong, Kovalev vs Yu, Duda vs Giri, Artemiev vs So.
Challengers: Ganguly vs Mamedov, l’Ami vs Smeets, Keymer vs Anton Guijarro, Sarin vs Saduakassova, Grandelius vs Abdusattorov, Eljanov vs van Foreest, Smirnov vs Warmerdam.
