Aronian -- Gelfand Critical Position

Kingscrusher suggested that finding Levon Aronian's move in this position makes for a nice tactical puzzle. This position is from Aronian -- Gelfand in the 2013 Candidates Tournament in London. In the second round, Aronian and Teimour Radjabov scored the first wins and moved into the early lead.

White to move

2rb4/pb3pkp/4p1p1/4N3/1P1P4/4B2P/1P3PP1/2R3K1 w - - 0 26

Tata Steel Chess, Round 12

The 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament ends tomorrow. With two rounds remaining, Magnus Carlsen leads by a full point over Levon Aronian. Viswanathan Anand is behind Carlsen 1 1/2 points, and three players have a chance to tie the leader if he loses his last two games. One of these, Hikaru Nakamura, opted for the aggressive Kalashnikov Sicilian against Carlsen today. This game bears watching. Can Nakamura upset the leader? Anand and Aronian have relatively easier opponents.

By the time the games have been going for 2 1/2 hours, it will be time for me to leave the house, and my internet connection. Today is the eleventh annual Winterfest Scholastic chess tournament, an event that I created and run. As many as 143 young chess players have competed in this event in past years, although it will be much smaller today. By the time my event is over, the players in Wijk aan Zee will be asleep.

Carlsen,Magnus (2861) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2769) [B32]
75th Tata Steel Chess Group A Wijk aan Zee (12), 26.01.2013

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5

White to move

I played this variation of the Sicilian in the 1990s before switching to the Sveshnikov (4...Nf6 and 5...e5). Vladimir Kramnik played the Sveshnikov in his youth, but switched to more solid defenses when he started playing against the world's top players.

The Kalashnikov is similar to the Pelikan, which was a frequent choice of Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais in his match with Alexander MacDonnell. In the Pelikan, Black plays 5...a6, which permits 6.Nd6. MacDonnell played 5.Nxc6, which is now considered a positional error, thanks to La Bourdonnais's terrific win in one game that every chess player should study.

The Kalashnikov would seem too risky for top-level grandmasters, but checking the database reveals a number of games. Garry Kasparov played it once in 1997. Vasily Ivanchuk and Teimour Radjabov both have played it on multiple occasions.

Reference games:

Nakamura,Hikaru (2774) - Radjabov,Teimour (2744) [B32]
Bazna Kings 5th Medias (9), 20.06.2011

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5 Nge7 9.c4 Nxd5 10.cxd5 Nd4 11.Bd3 g6 12.Nc2 Bg7 13.0–0 0–0 14.Be3 Kh8 15.Rc1 f5 16.f3 Bd7 17.Qd2 f4 18.Bf2 g5 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Be2 Qb6 21.Rfd1 Rac8 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.b4 Be5 24.a3 Kg7 25.Kf1 Kf7 26.Ke1 Qc7 27.Bxd4 Bxd4 28.Qxd4 Qc3+ 29.Qxc3 Rxc3 30.Rd3 Rxd3 31.Bxd3 h5 32.g3 h4 33.gxf4 gxf4 34.Kd2 Kf6 35.Kc3 Ke5 36.a4 Be8 37.Be2 Bd7 38.Bf1 Be8 39.axb5 axb5 40.Kd3 Bd7 41.Ke2 Kd4 42.Kd2 Ke5 43.Kd3 Bc8 44.Kc3 Bd7 45.Kd3 Bc8 46.Kc3 Bd7 ½–½

Carlsen,Magnus (2837) - Radjabov,Teimour (2788) [B32]
Wch Rapid Astana (14), 08.07.2012

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qe7 8.Qxe7+ Ngxe7 9.Nc3 d5 10.Bd2 Be6 11.0–0–0 0–0–0 12.f3 Kc7 13.b3 f6 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5+ Rxd5 16.Bd3 h6 17.Be4 Rd7 18.Bc3 Rhd8 19.Rxd7+ Rxd7 20.Re1 Bd5 21.Bf5 Rd8 22.Kb2 Bf7 23.Bd3 Bd5 24.a4 a5 25.Re3 Nb4 26.Bf5 Nc6 27.g3 b6 28.f4 Re8 29.fxe5 Nxe5 30.Bd4 Bc6 31.h4 Nf3 32.Rxe8 Bxe8 33.Bf2 g5 34.Kc3 Bc6 35.Kb2 Be8 36.c3 Bc6 37.Ka3 Bd5 38.Bc2 Bc6 39.c4 Bd7 40.Be4 Bc6 41.Bf5 Be8 42.Kb2 Bc6 43.Kc3 Be8 44.Be4 Bc6 45.Bf5 Be8 46.Be6 Bc6 47.Bg4 Be4 48.hxg5 hxg5 49.c5 bxc5 50.Bxc5 f5 51.Bh5 Bd5 52.Be3 Kc6 53.Bg6 Be6 54.Be8+ Kb7 55.Bb5 Bd5 56.Bd3 Be6 57.Bc2 Kc6 58.Bd1 Bd5 59.Be2 Kb7 60.Bd1 Be4 61.Bc5 Bd5 62.Bd6 Kc6 63.Be7 Kd7 64.Bf8 Kc6 65.Bg7 Kc7 66.Be2 f4 67.gxf4 gxf4 68.Bh6 Bxb3 69.Bxf4+ Kd8 70.Bxf3 Bxa4 71.Kd4 Bb3 72.Bd6 Kd7 73.Ke5 a4 ½–½

5.Nb5 d6 6.g3 h5 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Nge7 10.Bg2 Bg4 11.f3 Be6 12.c3 h4 13.Nc2 Bxd5 14.exd5 Na5 15.f4 Nf5 16.g4 h3 17.Be4 Nh4 18.O-O g6 19.Kh1

Black to move

19...Bg7 20.f5 gxf5 21.gxf5 Ng2 22.f6 Bf8 23.Qf3

Black to move

By this point in the game, Carlsen believed he was winning.

23...Qc7 24.Nb4 Nb7 25.Nc6 Nc5 26.Bf5 Nd7 27.Bg5 Rg8 28.Qh5 Nb6 29.Be6 Rxg5 30.Qxg5 fxe6 31.dxe6 1–0

Magnus Carlsen offers analysis in a postgame video.

Tournament Directors: Beware

And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other."
I Kings 3: 24-25

The game between Teymour Radjabov and Jan Smeets yesterday had a remarkable finish. With both players in time trouble, and with Radjabov finally securing an advantage after a complex and difficult game, Radjabov knocked Smeets' bishop askew after moving his rook. He pressed his clock; Smeets immediately pressed the clock and asked Radjabov to correct the piece on his time.

The official report on the Corus Chess 2009 site states:

The game’s climax happened when as he was making his 39th move, and with only seconds on the clock for both players, Radja knocked over a piece, and pressed the clock without fixing it. Smeets restarted his opponent’s clock without making a move., Teimour then overstepped the time limit. Just before the arbiters were about to award a time win for the Dutchman (a decision that would have been sure to prompt an appeal), and upon the initiative of the arbiters, the players decided to meet half way and the game was declared a draw.
"Report of Round 10"

Further discussion of the incident should start at ChessVibes and Mark Crowther's The Week in Chess Report.

Chess Vibes has a video of the incident and the subsequent press conference.

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

Corus 2009: Follow the Leaders

In the Corus Grandmaster A Group in Wijk aan Zee, Sergey Karjakin is half a point ahead of four others after five rounds. Round six in is progress, and he has Black against Magnus Carlsen. Former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov leads GM Group B, also with 3.5 of 5. Today, he has White against Fabiano Caruana. Six players are half a point behind. Swedish Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp leads the C Group with 4.0 and is playing White against Abhijeet Gupta. Wesley So has 3.5 and is alone in second in the C Group.

Round six is not yet the mid-point, so much can still happen. Indeed, no player is theoretically unable to win his or her section. But some are playing better than others, and starting with two or three losses in five games leaves minimal hope.

Among those close behind Karjakin in the A Group, Jan Smeets and Leinier Dominguez took their game one move longer than the game they followed for twenty-one moves.

Smeets - Dominguez [B92]
Corus Chess (6), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.0–0–0 Qb6 12.Qxd6 Be7 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 Rd8 15.Qc4 Rxd1+ 16.Rxd1 Qxf2 17.Rf1 Qe3+ 18.Kb1 0–0 19.Bg4 g6 20.Bd7 Nd4 21.Nxd4

Black to move


21...exd4N

21...Qxd4 22.Qxd4 ½–½ Stellwagen,D-L'Ami,E, Hilversum 2008

22.Qd3 Kg7 23.a3 ½–½

Levon Aronian may have a slight edge in his game, not least because he is twenty minutes ahead on the clock against Vassily Ivanchuk. At least Ivanchuk now has the notoriously stupid drug testing fiasco behind him and can concentrate on the games.

Teymour Radjabov's 5.Nc5 against Gata Kamsky's Caro-Kann is a rare move, but my Master Trends opening book shows a 56% score and higher resulting Elo performance than the vastly more popular 5.Ng3. He appears to have built a slight edge from there, so I'll return to that game shortly.

Karjakin is struggling to hold on to his lead as Carlsen is pressing an advantage. Perhaps, today, he'll show us the winning ways that thrust him to the top five in 2008. He is a future world champion, IMHO. While flapping my jaws at chess club last night, I predicted by age 25 he'll reach that rare summit. A win today will add some confidence to such speculation.

Kasimdzhanov seems to be making some progress against Carauna's Slav.


Beat the Devil

Someone nicknamed the Caro-Kann "the Devil's Opening," perhaps because Garry Kasparov could get nowhere against it in his World Chess Championship matches against Anatoly Karpov. A few years ago, Chess Base News presented an annotated game allegedly played between God and the Devil. God opted for the Panov-Botvinnik Attack, but Radjabov today went for an obscure line in the classical.

Of course, for an American, Kamsky is not the Devil, even if he plays the Evil One's opening. Kamsky is America's hope for greatness in chess on the world stage, and the world's hope for taking down Veselin Topalov in their upcoming match to select a challenger to Anand for the next World Championship.


Radjabov - Kamsky [B18]
Corus Chess (6), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Nc5

Black to move


5...b6 6.Nb3 e6 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.g3

Black to move


8...a5 led to quick victory for White in Kasimdzhanov - Al Modiahki, Doha 2006

8...Nbd7 9.Bg2 Qc7 10.0–0 Rd8 11.Qe2 Bd6 12.Re1 The novelty.

Black to move


12...0–0 13.Nh4 Bg4 14.Qc4 Nd5 15.Bg5 Rc8 16.a4

Black to move


16...b5 17.Qd3 N7b6 18.Nc5 h6 19.Bd2 Nc4 20.axb5 cxb5 21.h3 Bh5 22.Bxd5 exd5 23.Bc3 Rfe8 24.b3 Ne5 25.Qxb5 Bxc5 26.Qxc5 Qd7 27.Qxa7 Qxa7 28.Rxa7

The rook needs some lipstick!

Black to move


29...Nf3+ 29.Nxf3 Bxf3 30.Rxe8+ Rxe8 31.b4

... and the live feed appears to have failed.

When the feed is restored, the game is over.

31...Bd1 32.Ra2 Rc8 33.b5 Rb8 34.Rb2 f6 35.Ba5 Be2 36.b6 Rb7 37.Rb1 Kf7 38.Bd2 g5 39.Bc1 Bf3 40.Ba3 Be4 41.Bd6 1-0



The players have made the time control, and White's passed pawn is well protected by the bishop. Hence White's active rook will rule the board while Black's must try to hold back the b-pawn. Kamsky resigned.

Aronian - Ivanchuk drew in 56 moves.

Kasimdzhanov - Caruana drew in 62 moves.

Carlsen - Karjakin continues with two rooks each, and White's two pawns to Black's one. If Carlsen pulls off a win here, it will be one for the endgame books.

10:02am PST

I don't see that Carlsen has any advantage after 73 moves, but the kid is a lot better than me, and Karjakin is running out of time.

10:07am PST

Karjakin's clock on the Playchess server showed two minutes, then zero, and now fifteen, all to Carlsen's thirty or more. These are not the official clocks.

10:12am PST

A pair of pawns came off the board, and rooks soon will. The players agreed to a draw after 79 moves.

Pawn Storms: Ivanchuk - Radjabov

Wijk aan Zee: Corus Chess 2009, Round 3

Vassily Ivanchuk is storming Teymour Radjabov's King's Indian Defense with every available pawn.

Ivanchuk,V-Radjabov,T
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4

Black to move


This position is common enough to lead chapter four in Joe Gallagher, Starting Out: The King's Indian (2002), where he writes:

Over the last six or seven years the Bayonet Attack has been one of White's main success stories in the King's Indian.
Gallagher, Starting Out: KID, 61

I'm not certain that in the six years since Gallagher made that statement it has continued as White's most successful line, but we see that the top rated competitor at Wijk aan Zee thinks it is good enough. It appears as the most popular move in my database of master level games since 2003.

9...Ne8 10.a4 f5 11.a5 Nf6 12.Bg5

Black to move


This move appears to be the novelty. 12.Nd2, a6, and exf5 appear in the ChessBase online database. 12.Nd2 was played in the only high level game among these four: Miroshnichenko-Nataf, Kapuskasing 2004. White won.

12...Nh5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Qd2 Nf6 15.c5 Bd7 16.b5

Black to move


16...Be8 17.c6 b6 18.Nh4 Bf7 19.Bd3 Bg6 20.f3 Qe8 21.Kh1 Kh8 22.Bc2

I started following three other games, but this one has absorbed my interest (and my weak typing skills creates certain limitations for multi-tasking). Two of the other games were drawn, and Kamsky defeated Morozevich.

Carlsen - Movsesian [D11]
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Nh4 Bh5 8.h3 Nbd7 9.g4 Bg6 10.g5 Ng8 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Qc2 Ne7 13.Bd2 Nf5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Nb5 Bd6 16.Qa4 a6 17.Rc1 Ke7 18.Nxd6 Nxd6 19.Bd3 Rhc8 20.Ke2 e5 21.Qb4 e4 22.Bc2 Qxb4 23.Bxb4 a5 24.Bxd6+ Kxd6 25.f3 exf3+ 26.Kxf3 Nf8 27.Bd3 Ne6 28.h4 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Rh8 30.Kg4 Re8 31.Bb5 Rg8 32.Rc3 f5+ 33.Kg3 Rf8 34.Bd3 f4+ 35.exf4 Nxf4 36.Kg4 Nxd3 37.Rxd3 Rf2 38.Rb3 Kc6 39.Rc3+ Kd6 ½–½

Aronian - Stellwagen [B13]
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 dxc4 7.Bxc4 h6 8.Bh4 Qxd4 9.Qxd4 Nxd4 10.0–0–0 e5 11.Nf3 Nxf3 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Bb5+ Ke7 14.Nd5+ Kd8 15.gxf3 Bd6 16.Rd2 Be6 17.Rhd1 Bc5 18.Nb6+ Ke7 19.Nxa8 Rxa8 20.Bd7 Bxa2 21.Bg4 Bd4 22.f4 ½–½

Kamsky - Morozevich [C78]
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.axb5 axb5 10.d3 0–0 11.h3 Ne7 12.Na3 Ng6 13.Nc2 h6 14.Re1 Bb6 15.Ne3 c6 16.Nh2 Kh8 17.Nhg4 Nxg4 18.hxg4 Qh4 19.d4 exd4 20.cxd4 Qf6 21.Nf5 Kg8 22.Be3 Bxf5 23.gxf5 Ne7 24.Bc2 Rfd8 25.b4 c5 26.bxc5 dxc5 27.Qg4 Rxd4 28.Bxd4 Qxd4 29.Qg3 Nc6 30.e5 c4 31.Rad1 Qb2 32.f6 g5 33.Re2 Qb4 34.Qh3 1–0


7:42am PST

Back to Ivanchuk - Radjabov

22...Qf7

White to move


23.g4 Nfg8 24.Ra4

In the other games in the Corus A group, the two Dutchmen, Van Wely - Smeets, drew in thirty moves. Adams - Dominguez, and Karjakin - Wang Yue are still in progress. My kibitzer, Fritz 9, thinks Karjakin might be gaining a slight edge, but is more confident that Adams has winning chances. It also likes Ivanchuk's position in our main game.

24...Rae8 25.axb6 axb6 26.Ra7 Rc8 27.Nxg6+ Qxg6 28.Rg1

Black to move


It is 8:04am PST, and I really should get some breakfast. I also need to decide whether I'll blog to the end of the game, or go downtown and join the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day parade. My son is meeting a bunch of his school friends for the parade, and asked me yesterday if I was going, too.

28...Qf7 29.Rg3 e4 30.Ne2 Nf6 31.Nf4

8:21am PST. Breakfast is ready.

31...exf3 32.gxf3 Nfxd5 33.Rxf3 Nxf4 24.Qxf4 Bf6

White to move


35.Bb3 Qh5 36.Bxf6+ Rxf6 37.Be6

Black to move

37...Rcf8 38.Rxc7??

Ivanchuk's game from the early moves has been leading to this point, but 38.Rg3 must be played first. Time pressure provoked an error again, as it did in round 1. Bad day for Chucky.

Black to move


38... Rxe6 39.fxe6 Rxf4 40.Rxf4 Qd5+ 41.Kg1 Qg5+ 0-1

Time for me to go to a parade.