Who is Better?

This position arose in Morozevich -- Bareev, Sarajevo 1999 (Chess Informant 75/264). Does Black already stand better, or did White err in the middle game? Perhaps this game was decided in the ending.

White to move

Morozevich played 14.Bg3 and Bareev went on to win after a long struggle. It was the my sixth study game this morning. I went through the game quickly, then marked it for further study.

Having identified the Steinitz variation as a weak point in my handling of the French Defense, I am laboring to transform weakness into strength. The first step involves absorbing patterns by rapidly playing through a large body of games.

My resource is the Paramount Database. The indexing system that this database brings to the material in all Informants 1-123 is proving useful. A list of the most popular openings contains links to all games in that opening. There are 588 games classified C11. I am working through all of these games, learning patterns. Sometimes I race through a game in two minutes. Sometimes I print a copy of the game for further study on a physical chess board after my first pass through the list.

The games published in Informant contain the development of theory in this opening through the past half century. When I return to study of opening monographs, the reference games will be familiar.

Morozevich -- Bareev is game 292 in the list of 588. Both players are devotees of the French Defense and have had many games published in Informant through the years.

The diagram position was reached at least once since 1999 in Wongwichit -- Song, Australian Open 2005. White played 14.Kb1 and went on to lose in 25 moves.

Converting an Advantage

My copy of Chess Informant 125 arrived on Monday and is already proving challenging. As a long devotee of the French Defense who occasionally adopts the Rubinstein, my attention fell quickly upon Alexander Morozevich's "Midnight in Moscow".  I will devote considerable time to this article in the coming weeks.

Then, there is an abundance of games from the Sinquefield Cup annotated by Aleksandar Colovic, Sarunas Sulskis, and Michael Roiz. The English language content goes on through more than half of the volume, and includes the second installment of "The New Romantics" by Pentala Harikrishna. Mihail Marin's "One Golden Rule -- Development" is the latest installment of his "Old Wine in New Bottles," a column I always make a point of reading.

Turning to the traditional games section in Informant codes, the first game offers a challenging study. White's opening faltered and Black gained the advantage. The annotator offers suggested alternatives for more than half of both players' moves. Black blundered from the position in the first diagram and White turned the tide.

Black to move

How would you play this position? How would I? I am mulling over the position while I consume my morning coffee.

The New Informants

Long a publication that crosses language barriers, in recent years Chess Informant has been expanding its front sections with articles written in English. These changes began with opening theory and expanded into articles on many topics.

Informant 110 offered a new feature called CI Labs with five articles concerned with new trends in the openings. Each article contained a short introduction in English. CI Labs expanded to six articles in the next issue, which also added two other articles. "Chess History" by Harald Fietz celebrates the centenary of Jose R. Capablanca's entry into the world elite. Anna Burtasova's "Women and Chess" marked the 50th birthday of Maia Chiburdanidze, five-time world champion.

CI Labs peaked at ten articles with Informant 113 and that issue also included the first "Garry's Choice" column, which ran through Informant 118. In these columns, Garry Kasparov offered his analysis of recent Grandmaster games. The number of articles continued to grow as did their breadth and depth. With Informant 119, the company added download versions customized for the ChessBase database software. Because I use ChessBase daily, this feature puts Informants in easier reach.

The new content is outstanding. While Informant has long been a periodical that was indispensable to professional players, some average players found it intimidating. Many of the new articles aim at the average tournament player.

Mihail Marin's column, "Old Wine in New Bottles," has proven illuminating. In Informant 119 (the Viking edition), he explored rook endings. Viswanathan Anand missed a draw in a difficult rook ending in his World Championship match with Magnus Carlsen. Most chess enthusiasts know that, but still may find Marin's analysis illuminating. In the same article, he points out a hidden resource in the well-known game Capablanca -- Tartakower, New York 1924. Marin poetically notes that the reputed author of the aphorism, "all rook endings are drawn," missed a drawing opportunity in his most famous loss.

In Informant 122, Marin examines the role of memory in chess through an exploration of the double bishop sacrifice. He works his way back through time, beginning with recent play by a teammate and working towards Emanuel Lasker's famous game against Johann Bauer (1889). The importance of pattern recognition in chess training is brought home for ambitious players and chess teachers working with all levels of students.

There are also compelling columns by Alexander Morozevich, Ivan Sokolov, Karsten Mueller, Wesley So, and an ever changing cast of Grandmasters. These columns are suitable for chess enthusiasts across a wide range of skill levels.

Informants have long had versions compatible with ChessBase, but not all commentary translated well. The image below shows Informant 75/156 in Chess Informant Expert (left) and ChessBase (right). The intended text "with the idea of 17...Rac8, 17...Qa1" is almost unreadable in ChessBase. (readers may click on the image for better viewing).

Side-by-side CI Expert and ChessBase

In the latest versions created especially for ChessBase, such commentary reads perfectly. Below is some text from "Midnight in Moscow: Avoiding the Saemisch by a Less Traveled Road" by Alexander Morozevich. "With the idea" is spelled out, and the figurine algebraic displays correctly.

Informant 122 in ChessBase

I have been a fan of Chess Informants for nearly two decades. My first issue in late 1996 or early 1997 was Informant 64 and it quickly paid dividends in a nice win in a correspondence game (see "Playing by the Book"). In the early years of this century, I started buying electronic editions of Informants and reading them in Chess Informant Reader (CIR). Later, the company came out with Chess Informant Expert, which offered editing and publishing functions not available in CIR. CI Expert also offered a more pleasing interface with options for different color combinations.

CI Expert offers functionality not available in ChessBase. For example, from the electronic edition of the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, it is possible to jump to reference games in the relevant issue of Informant, as I demonstrated in this YouTube video.

Despite the advantages of reading Informants in their proprietary software, or in print, I welcome these new ChessBase versions. Designing Chess Informant publications specifically for ChessBase software makes Informants more accessible.

Rook vs. Bishop

In pawnless endings, rook vs. bishop is a theoretical draw that should offer few difficulties for the weaker player when the stronger wants to press. Rook vs. bishop with pawns on the board is another matter entirely.

Chess Informant 113/10 presents such an endgame without commentary. Tablebases clarify that the moves by the stronger player did not extend the length of the game by more than a few moves, nor did poor play by the defender shorten the game to any significant extent. While neither player was perfect from a computer's point of view, both were quite close. Their play was as optimal as should be expected from humans.

The game is Vitiugov -- Morozevich, Reggio Emilia 2011. Nikita Vitiugov annotated the game for Informant. After 46...Bd3, White had a double attack that provoked Black to swap off the dark-squared bishops.

White to move

The game continued 47.Ra4 Be5 (Vitiugov mentions 47...Bf2 as an alternative that leads to a pawnless ending that is won for White). 48.Bxe5 Kxe5 49.Kg3 Be2

White to move

White's pawn cannot be touched, but neither can it advance without a sacrifice. The problem for White is that after the rook captures Black's pawn, leading to exchange of rook for bishop and pawn, White's king will be on f3, but the Black king will be able to move to f5--a drawn pawn ending.

White must drive the Black king back to the eighth rank. That requires rook and king in coordination. Occasionally, targeting Black's bishop helps force matters. Once the Black king has been driven back, the rook must confine it there while White's king returns to g4 or f4.

While looking through this game in Informant, I did not perceive that White could force matters. After going through the moves several times, however, and checking the play with tablebases, I began to see that White's play is relatively straightforward.

50.Kg4 Kf6

At first glance, this move appeared cooperative with White's plans. However, after 50...Bd1 51.Rb4, the effort to shuffle the bishop between e2 and d1 will alow White's rook to seize the e-file after the White king occupies g5. The consequence of Black's king being driven to the d-file will be that White's king can return to g4, the rook will snatch the pawn, and in the pawn ending the White king will outflank Black. (Readers not familiar will opposition and outflanking can watch my video, "Pawn Endings: First Steps.")

51.Kf4 Bd1 52.Ra6+ Kf7 53.Ke5 Be2 54.Rf6+

Black to move

54...Kg7

54...Ke7 is slightly more stubborn, but White has several methods to continue at his disposal, including 55.Rf4 Bd1 56.Rc4 and the Black king will be driven back.

55.Kf5 Bd3+ 56.Kg5 Be2 57.Rf4 Kg8

If 57...Bd1, 58.Rd4.

58.Kh6 Bd1

58...Kh8 59.Rf8#

White to move

The king has been driven to the eighth rank, now the second phase begins: confinement.

59.Rd4 Be2 60.Rd7 Kf8

And now the third phase: White's king returns to f4.

61.Kg5 Ke8 62.Ra7 Kf8 63.Kf4 Kg8

White to move

White is now able to seize the pawn because the Black king is too far back to reach a drawn pawn ending.

64.Ra3 Kf7 65.Rxf3 Bxf3 66.Kxf3

Black to move

White has the distant opposition, and so wins.

66...Kf6 67.Kf4 1-0

Wijk aan Zee: Round Twelve

The penultimate round is in progress at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Nearly half of the players in the Grandmaster A Group can be confident that with two good games, he will finish in first. In this fourteen player all play all tournament, 8.5 points is good enough for first place most years. Four players remain capable of reaching that mark. Some years, 8 points are good enough, and six players are within reach of that score.

For the chess fan, it is hard to select the key game to watch.

Alexander Morozevich will finish near last place. He has two wins, four draws, and five losses. Today he has Black against one of the leaders, Levon Aronian. The opening was a Grunfeld. Aronian castled long, and his monarch looks a wee bit less secure than Moro's.

Against Jan Smeets, Magnus Carlsen played 1.c4, but this English rapidly transposed into a Caro-Kann.

The event's top seed, Vassily Ivanchuk, has been inconsistent in this event and will need a strong performance in the last two rounds to finish in the upper half. He is struggling for advantage against Leinier Dominguez, who played a Sicilian Defense. Dominguez is one of the current leaders, and has recently joined the exclusive group of players rated above 2700. His rating graph shows a steady rise: he crossed over 2600 on the April 2002 rating list, and over 2700, July 2008.

Sergei Karjakin - Michael Adams are playing from a closed Ruy Lopez.

Two of the four leaders are playing each other. Sergei Movsesian opted for a Bb5 line against Teymour Radjabov's Sicilian.

It is 6:30 am on the Pacific Coast of North America. That's 3:30pm on the North Sea Coast where these games started two hours ago.

Loek van Wely and Gata Kamsky played to an early draw. Perhaps Kamsky is starting to think more about his games next month. Meanwhile five other games are demanding my attention. I need to make some choices while I extract some nectar from the almighty coffee bean.


The Youngest Grandmaster

My attention has been directed towards the drama of the Corus A Group, but in the C Group Anish Giri completed his final Grandmaster norm. At fourteen and a half, he is now the youngest grandmaster in the world and currently in third place in the C Group, one game behind Wesley So. Watching Giri attempt to break down Leon Hoyos's Modern Defense could easily draw my attention away from the battles in the A Group. Giri came into this event rated 2469, fifteen points lower than the 2004 C Group winner who was about the same age then, Magnus Carlsen.

Giri - Leon Hoyos [A41]

Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.g3 Bxf3 4.exf3 g6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0–0 c6 8.Nc3 Nb6 9.d5 Rc8 10.Qd3 Nf6 11.Be3 cxd5 12.cxd5 Nfd7 13.Bd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 0–0



7:21am PST; 4:21pm CET

Aronian - Morozevich [D98]
Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.0–0–0 a6 10.h3 Bxf3 11.gxf3 b5 12.Qb3 c5 13.dxc5 e6 14.f4 Qe7 15.Rd6 Rc8 16.e5 Nxc5 17.Bxc5 Rxc5 18.Kb1 Rc8 19.h4



19...Qb7


Carlsen - Smeets [B10]
Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nxd5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bb5 e6 8.0–0 Be7 9.d4 0–0 10.Re1 Bd7 11.Bd3 Rc8 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Ne5 Bf6 14.Bf4 g6 15.Qb3 Na5 16.Qb4 Be6 17.Bh6 Bg7



18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.h4 Re8


Movsesian - Radjabov [B30]
Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0–0 Nge7 5.Nc3 Nd4 6.Nxd4 cxd4 7.Ne2 a6 8.Ba4 Nc6 9.d3 b5 10.Bb3 Bc5 11.f4 Qh4 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.Kh1 Qe7 14.Qe1 g6 15.c3 dxc3 16.Bxc3 Bb4 17.d4 Bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qb4 19.Qe3



19...Na5 20.d5 O-O

Things seem slow this morning (afternoon). I don't know if all the players are on a long think, or if there are broadcast transmission problems. But all these games seem to be moving slow, or not moving at all right now. The clocks on the Playchess server are never fully reliable for these broadcasts, but they usually give up some clues regarding the official game clocks. Today, they seem non-functional. Perhaps the servers are having bandwidth issues.

Perhaps the broadcast issue was local? The Playchess server seemed frozen, but my web browser was slow, and an expected email was delayed. I'll rant about the near monopoly of my ISP another day.

In the A Group, Carlsen beat Smeets and Karjakin prevailed over Adams. Aronian - Morozevich is still in progress, and the otehr games were drawn.

If Aronian - Morozevich ends as a draw:

Standings after Twelve Rounds (Projected)
1. Aronian, Dominguez, Radjabov, Movsesian, Karjakin, Carlsen 7.0
7. Kamsky 6
8. Ivanchuk, Smeets, van Wely 5.5
11. Adams, Wang, Stellwagen 5
14. Morozevich 4.5


Aronian - Morozevich Update

20.Rg1 Qf3 21.Bg2 Qxf2 22.Qd1 Ra7 23.Ne4 Qxh4 24.Qd4 Rac7 25.Nf6+ Bxf6 26.exf6 Rf8 27.b3 Qh5 28.Rd1 Qf5+ 29.Ka1 h5 30.Rd8 Rc8 31.Rd6 a5 32.Bb7 Rce8 33.Re1 b4 34.Kb2 Qh3 35.Re5 a4 36.Qxb4 axb3 37.axb3 Rd8 38.Rxd8 Rxd8 39.Re2 Qf5 40.Qe7 Qd3 41.Rc2



41...Qd4+ 42.Ka2 h4

That pawn must be stopped, and the stopping may relieve Black of any pressure on his king. But, the position is complex, and there is a lot at stake. Aronian can hope to go into the last round with a 1/2 point lead. Morozevich can lift himself from sole possession of last place.

43.Rc7 Qd2+ 44.Ka3 1/2-1/2

The White king's own security appears to be decisive. This draw creates some anticipation for tomorrow's battles.

Wijk aan Zee: Round Nine

In the Corus Chess Tournament, Grandmaster A Group in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, Sergei Movsesian leads after eight rounds. He is the fifth seed, and the tenth highest on the FIDE rating list. His recent move into the top ten results from rapid improvement in his performance. He won the Corus B Group in 2008, earning entry into this year's A Group. At the time he was number 42 on the FIDE rating list. In January 2007, he was number 74. His rating crossed 2700 for the first time in July 2008.

Current Standings
1. Sergei Movsesian 5
2. Levon Aronian, Sergei Karjakin, Leinier Dominguez, Teymour Radjabov 4 ½
6. Magnus Carlsen, Loek van Wely, Gata Kamsky, Michael Adams, Jan Smeets 4
11. Daniel Stellwagen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wang Yue 3 ½
14. Alexander Morozevich 2 ½

I'm following several games as they unfold today: Karjakin - Movsesian and Kamsky - Aronian are both between players still in contention. Dominguez - Stillwagen and Morozevich - Radjabov both pit a potential leader against a player near the bottom of the standings. With five rounds to play, no player is completely out of the running, but it is unlikely that tail-ender Morozevich will win five straight. Even if he does, 7 ½ might be good enough for third place, but not first.

Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, and Leinier Dominguez have yet to lose a game in this event. Carlsen and Daniel Stellwagen are the only players without a win.


Dominguez had a supported passed pawn already by move nine against Stellwagen. But, that's a frequent concession Black makes in the French Winawer.

Dominguez - Stellwagen [C18]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 13.Rb1 0–0–0 14.Nxc3 Na5 15.h3 Kb8 16.g4 Rc8 17.Nb5 Bxb5 18.Rxb5




Aronian's king moved thrice in the first eighteen moves against Kamsky, but that's not terribly unusual in the Berlin Defense in the Spanish Opening (or Ruy Lopez).

Kamsky - Aronian [C67]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.b3 a5 11.a4 Be6 12.Ne2 Bd5 13.Rd1 Kc8 14.Ne1 g5 15.Bb2 Bg7 16.Nd3 b6 17.f3 Kb7 18.Kf2 Be6 19.g4




Radjabov's Grunfeld has produced symmetrical pawns and clerics against Morozevich, and perhaps transposed into an English; Moro's only draw so far in the event was in the game against Michael Adams.

Morozevich - Radjabov [D73]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0–0 7.0–0 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nb5 Be6 10.N1c3 Nxc3 11.Nxc3 Nc6 12.Qa4 Qb6N 13.Qa3 Rfd8 14.Be3 Qa5 15.Qxa5 Nxa5 16.Rac1




Movsesian struggles to maintain his lead against Karjakin with a Sicilian Scheveningen.

Karjakin - Movsesian [B80]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 Be7 8.Qd2 0–0 9.g4 d5 10.g5 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Nh5 12.0–0–0 Bxg5 13.Kb1 Kh8 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.Rg1 Qf4 16.Qc5 Bd7 17.exd5 Nf6 18.Bh3 exd5




Ready for Bets?

5:54am PST; 2:54pm CET

Of these four games, Dominguez - Stillwagen appears to offer the best prospects of a decisive result, but I would not put any money on it.

Morozevich - Radjabov Update

16...Rac8 17.Bxa7 Rd2 18.b4 Bxc3 19.bxa5 Bxa5 20.Bxb7 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rd7 22.Rb1 Bxa2 23.Rb2 Bc3 24.Rxa2 ½-½

There's no symmetry and a bit more fight in the Grunfeld I have going against a fellow blogger on one of those turn-based sites. That is not to say there is nothing we patzers cannot learn from this short grandmaster draw. Nor am I as convinced as many commentators that draconian measures are warranted to prevent top players from desisting from conflict in positions they deem not worth fighting about.

Let me put it another way: Radjabov played aggressively as Black, pieces came off rapidly. After 24 moves, these grandmasters, who are so good they can play me and thirty others of my strength simultaneously and win most if not all, reached a position that I can hold eight out of ten times against a computer that can beat them. The position may not be a "dead draw", but only an egregious blunder of the sort grandmasters do not make (well, usually not) can offer either player a slim chance of victory.

Kamsky - Aronian Update

19...Ne7 20.Ng3 Rhd8 21.h3 c5 22.f4 c4 23.bxc4 Bxc4 24.f5 Nc6 25.e6



25...Bf8 26.exf7 Bxf7 27.Ne4 Bc4 28.Bf6 Re8 29.Kf3 Ka7 30.Ndf2 Ba6 31.h4?! gxh4 32.Bxh4


Carlsen remains undefeated in this year's Corus tournament

Adams - Carlsen [B70]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1 Bg4 9.f3 Bd7 10.Be3 Nc6 11.a4 Ne5 12.Bf1 Rc8 13.a5 a6 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Nc4 16.Bxc4 Rxc4 17.c3 Re8 18.Nc2 Ra4 19.Bb6 Rxa1 20.Qxa1 Qc8 21.Ne3 e5 22.dxe6 Rxe6 23.Qd1 Qe8 24.Kf2 Qe7 25.g3 Qg5 26.Qd5 Qxd5 27.Nxd5 Rxe1 28.Kxe1 Kf8 ½–½



7:30am PST; 4:30pm CET


Karjakin - Movsesian Update

19.Bxd7 Nxd7 20.Qxd5 Nf6 21.Qxb7 Qxh2 22.Ne4 Nxe4 23.Qxe4 Rad8 24.a4 Qc7 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Rg5 g6 27.Rb5 Rd1+ 28.Ka2 Rd7 29.c4 Kg7 30.c5 a6 31.c6



31... axb5 32.cxd7 Qxd7 33.Qe5+ Kf8 34.axb5 h5 35.Kb3 Kg8 36.b6 h4 37.Qc7 Qd1+ 38.Kb4 Qe1+ 39.Kb5 Qe2+ 40.Ka5 Qd2+

They continue to slug it out in a queen and pawn endgame with plenty of passed pawns. This could be one of those games when the players are happy that many chess sets come with four queens. No upside-down rooks will be needed here.

White to move


8:15am PST; 5:15pm CET

8:27am Prediction

At the end of this round, three players will be tied for first: Movsesian, Aronian, and Dominguez with 5 ½ each.

Kamsky - Aronian Update

32...Bb7 33.Kf4 Nb4 34.c4



34...Na6 35.Nc3 Bc6 36.Nfe4 Nc5 37.Nf6 Re7 38.Nh5 Rf7 39.Nb5+ Kb7 40.Ra2 Re8 41.Nf6 Ree7 42.Nd4



Black (Aronian) has better pawn structure and a bishop pair: two advantages in the late middlegame. He still has much work to press the advantage, but a win puts him in a share of the lead. Moreover, a win with Black always confers certain psychological advantages, especially going into the late rounds.

42...Bxa4 43.Rxa4 Bg7

The bishop pair is gone, but now Black has an outside passed pawn. Aronian exchanged one advantage for another. Hiarcs 12 has -0.98.

44.Nh5 Re4+ 45.Kf3 Bxd4 46.Ra3 Rxf5+ 47.gxf5 Rxh4 48.Ng3 a4

"Wheee! The rabbit's free, all the way to the other side!!" Fritz

49.Ra2 Be5 50.Rd5

Black to move



How to Excite a Patzer

I'm watching Kamsky - Aronian, considering the implications of White's last move. I see the line 50...Bxg3 51.Kxg3 R move and 52.Kxc5 and I think a draw becomes likely. Then, I decide that Aronian must play 50...Bd6 to maintain the tension and the advantage. And he does!

50...Bd6 51.Rxd6 cxd6 52.f6

Hiarcs 12 has -2.03

The players have been at the boards for nearly five hours. I've been watching a bit over four: spectating has not prevented my playing taxi driver for my son to school, my wife to work, and finding a few moments for some of my work, much of which is done from home in front of a computer.

52...Ne6 53.Rxa4 Rf4+ 54.Ke3 Rxf6 55.Ra1 Ng5 56.Ne2 Rf3+ 57.Kd4 Kc6

Aronian removes Kamsky's most significant threat for counterplay, but the evaluation of Hiarcs 12 drops to -1.55.

9:38am PST; 6:38pm CET

A bit over an hour ago, I predicted that three players would be tied in first at the end of play today. These three are still playing. My analysis engines still see an advantage for Dominguez and Aronian, and equality for Movsesian: the results needed to mark my prediction prescient.

Okay, Hiarcs 12 actually sees 0.98 in favor of Karjakin, but the engine is not to be believed in queen endgames, or at least, an alleged one pawn advantage in such endgames really is equality. Both Dominguez and Aronian, however, have an advantage the engine evaluates at 1.80. Dominguez is ahead a pawn in a rook and pawn endgame (often drawish), but the pawns are all connected and his king is closer.


Dominguez - Stellwagen Update

18...a6 19.Rb1 Nc4 20.Qc3 d4 21.Qxd4 Rgd8 22.Qxc4 Qa5+ 23.Qb4 Qd5 24.Be3 Qf3 25.Qxb7+ Qxb7 26.Rxb7+ Kxb7 27.Bd3 Nd5 28.Bd2 Nc3 29.Kf2 Rd4 30.Ke3 Ra4 31.Bxc3 Rxc3 32.h4 Raxa3 33.Kd4 Rc8 34.h5 Ra4+ 35.Ke3 a5 36.h6 Rb4 37.g5 a4 38.h7 Rh8 39.Ra1 Kb6 40.c3 Rb3 41.Rxa4 Rxc3 42.Kd2 Rxd3+ 43.Kxd3 Rxh7 44.Ra8 Kb7



45.Ra1 Rh3 46.Ke2 Rc3 47.Rh1 Kc8 48.Rh7 Rc7 49.g6 fxg6 50.Rxc7 Kxc7 51.Kf3 1-0

Hiarcs 12 says checkmate in twenty.




Kamsky - Aronian Update

58.Ra8 Rf8 59.Ra7 Ne6+ 60.Ke3 Rf5 61.Rh7

Hiarcs 12: -2.02


I Was Wrong: Nostradamus Can Keep His Job

Karjakin - Movsesian Update

41.b4 Qa2+ 42.Kb5 Qe2+ 43.Qc4 Qe8+ 44.Qc6 Qe2+ 45.Kc5 Qf2+ 46.Kd6 Qg3+ 47.Kd7 h3 48.b7 h2 49.Qc8+



49...Kg7 50.b8Q Qxb8 51.Qxb8 h1Q 52.Qe5+ Kg8 53.Qd5 Qh3+ 54.Kc7 Qh2+ 55.Kb7 Qh5 56.Kc6 Qh3 57.Kb7 Qh5 58.Qc6 Kg7 59.b5 Qe5 60.b6 g5 61.Kc8 Qf5+ 62.Kd8 Qa5 63.Qd6 Qa8+ 64.Kc7 Qxf3 65.b7 Qc3+ 66.Kd7 Qh3+ 67.Kd8 Qh8+ 68.Kc7 1-0

Movsesian could not hold the position.



Movsesian drops from the lead; Karjakin joins Dominguez, and Aronian might yet be among them by day's end. The Corus Chess 2009 Grandmaster A Group is wide open. Nearly half of the players still have a reasonable chance to win.


Back to Kamsky - Aronian

61...Re5+ 62.Kd2 h5 63.Rh6 Kc5 64.Kd3 Kb4 65.Ng3

Hiarcs 12: -2.24

10:25am PST; 7:25pm CET

65...Nf4+ 66.Kd4 Rc5 67.Rxd6 Rxc4+ 68.Ke3 b5 69.Rd1

Hiarcs 12: -2.45



69...Ng2+ 70.Kf3 Nh4+ 71.Ke2 Rc2+ 72.Kf1 Ng2 73.Rb1+ Kc4 74.Nf5 b4 75.Kg1 Kc5 76.Ra1 b3 77.Ra5+ Kb4 78.Ra7 Nf4




They've been playing six and one half hours.

79.Rb7+ Kc3 80.Ne3 Rc1+ 0-1

Bravo Aronian!

Current Standings
1. Levon Aronian, Sergei Karjakin, Leinier Dominguez 5 ½
4. Sergei Movsesian, Teymour Radjabov 5
6. Magnus Carlsen, Loek van Wely, Michael Adams, Jan Smeets 4 ½
10. Gata Kamsky, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wang Yue 4
13. Daniel Stellwagen 3 ½
14. Alexander Morozevich 3