Carlsen -- Tomashevsky, Tata Steel 2016

A London Model Game

Magnus Carlsen does not have an ambitious opening repertoire. Rather, he consistently reaches a playable middlegame outside of any deep opening preparation of his opponent and then plays chess until there are no resources left in the position. Today, he employed the London System against Evgeny Tomashevsky and won an instructive game.

This position merits inclusion in middlegame collections, such as can be found in books like GM-RAM: Essential Grandmaster Knowledge (2001)by Rashid Ziyatdinov, and Lev Alburt, Chess Training Pocket Book (2000).

White to move

All of the pieces remain on the board and chess engines regard the position as approximately equal. Nonetheless, according the the World Chess Champion, Black has already committed the error that will give him a very uncomfortable game. The novelty was played by White on move 11 and this position is after Black's move 12.

This morning I opted not to blog while watching the games live, deviating from my practice through the first five rounds of this year's Tata Steel Chess Tournament. I watched as many games as I could and watched most of the game commentary. My inclination had been to blog Hou Yifan's game against Wei Yi. Hou has been playing well in this tournament (Wei Yi's game against Carlsen was my focus in round three). That game would have been an excellent choice. She seemed to get an adavnatge and was pressing, but Wei found some clever defensive resources. That game was the last one to finish. As the games began and I made coffee, fed the dogs, and turned on my computers, I also grew interested in Wesley So's battle with Fabiano Caruana. They played the Italian Opening and all the bishops left the board by move 12. As several of my students routinely play this opening, that game could prove instructive for their lessons.

There were several other exciting games that the commentators moved among. Today, IM Robert Ris joined Yasser Seirawan as co-host; Ris conducted the postgame interviews. He seemed particularly excited about Carlsen's game, mentioning that the London System is something that he recommends to his students. In the fantasy variations that he and Seirawan played out on the analysis board, there were many instructive checkmate combinations, including one with White's knight on h8 to cover f7 while a queen and rook battery on the h-file do the rest.

After the broadcast concluded, I watched two videos on Chess.com: Maxim Dlugy, "Best Blitz Openings: The London System," and Eugene Perelshteyn, "Gems from the 2012 US Championship -- Part 2." Armed with quick analyses of two of Gata Kamsky's nice wins with the London System, I played a couple of games of blitz. I was able to use the London system as White twice and once as Black, going 3-0 in these games.

Here, then, is Carlen's inspiring win.

Carlsen,Magnus (2844) -- Tomashevsky,Evgeny (2728) [D02]
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee (6), 22.01.2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.h3

Tomashevsky faced 5.Bd3 in another loss 5...c5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.c3 0–0 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.a3 Rc8 10.e4 d6 11.0–0 Qc7 12.h3 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.Bh2 Rcd8 16.Nc4 b5 17.Nxe5 Bd6 18.f4 c4 19.Bc2 Rfe8 20.Rad1 Ba8 21.Bg3 Qc5+ 22.Kh2 Bf8 23.Bh4 Be7 24.Bg3 Qb6 25.Rfe1 Qe6 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Nf3 Nh5 28.Nd4 Qg6 29.Qf3 1–0 Radjabov,T (2784) -- Tomashevsky,E (2738) Moscow RUS 2012.

5...Be7

Already, Tomashevsky is starting to burn time, using 3.5 minutes for this move.

6.Bd3 0–0

Black used 3 minutes

7.0–0 c5 8.c3 Nc6

The Russian champion used more than five and one-half minutes for this move. Carlsen's longest move time so far was 64 seconds for 5.h3.

One of Kamsky's wins continued 8...cxd4 9.cxd4 Nc6 10.a3 d5 11.Nbd2 Rc8 12.b4 Bd6 13.Ne5 Ne7 14.Qa4 a6 15.Rac1 b5 16.Qb3 Ne4 17.Qb2 f6 18.Nef3 Bxf4 19.exf4 Qd6 20.g3 g5 21.fxg5 Nxg3 22.gxf6 Rxf6 23.Rxc8+ Nxc8 24.fxg3 Qxg3+ 25.Kh1 Rh6 26.Nh2 Qxd3 27.Ndf3 Nd6 28.Qc1 Nf5 29.Qc7 Rg6 30.Rg1 Rxg1+ 31.Kxg1 Qe3+ 32.Kf1 Qd3+ 33.Kf2 Qe3+ 34.Kf1 Qd3+ 35.Kg1 Qe3+ 36.Kh1 Qf2 37.Qb8+ Kg7 38.Qxb7+ Kg6 39.Ne5+ Kg5 40.Nhf3+ 1–0 Kamsky,G (2762) -- Leko,P (2732), Beijing CHN 2012.

White to move

9.Nbd2

9.a3 has been playd by Kamsky and others.

9...d5

Nearly ten minutes thinking time for Tomashevsky on this move.

10.Qe2 Bd6

This position appears in 22 games in my database. Tomashevsky used fifteen minutes for this move.

11.Rfe1N

In the highest rated precedent, 11.Bxd6 was played. 11...Qxd6 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.e4 White nursed a small edge, but did not find a win in Potkin,V (2646) -- Kurnosov,I (2676), Moscow 2010 (drawn in 62 moves).

11...Ne7

The beginning of a faulty plan.

While watching, I was thinking about 11...Bxf4 12.exf4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 (13.cxd4 Qd6 14.f5 exf5 15.Bxf5) 13...Nxd4 14.cxd4. There may be a reason that Tomashevsky rejected such ideas.

12.Rad1 Ng6

See diagram at top of article.

After the game, Carlsen suggested that this move was misguided as it gives White firm control of e5.

13.Bxg6 hxg6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Ne5

Black to move

There are probably dozens of books on my shelves that discuss the merits of such a fine knight outpost, but I usually think about Peter Romanovsky, Chess Middlegame Planning, trans. Jimmy Adams (1990).

15...g5 16.f4!

Carlsen's pawn sacrifice elicited a good deal of excitement among the broadcasters and on Twitter.

16...gxf4 17.Rf1

Black to move

17...Nd7 

17...fxe3

Ris and Seirawan concluded that Black could not open the f-file in this manner. Stockfish 7, however, considers it among its top three choices. Later, after the knight returned to f6, this Nd7 move was criticized. Stockfish prefers it.

18.Rxf6 exd2

18...gxf6?? 19.Qg4+ Kh7 20.Rf1 e2 21.Qxe2 Ba6 22.Qh5+ Kg7 23.Rf4 Be2 24.Qh4 Bd3 25.Qxf6+ Kg8 and checkmate is a few moves away. Carlsen said that he didn't need to calculate much in considering these possibilities, as he always has a draw by repetition.

19.Rxd2 Qe7 20.Rf4 White has plenty of compensation for the pawn.

18.Qh5 Nf6

18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Qc7 20.Rxf4 f5 21.Rh4 Qxe5 22.Ne4

Analysis Diagram

After 22.Ne4

22...Qxe4 (22...dxe4? 23.Rd7 checkmate in two) 23.Rxe4+-.

19.Qh4 Qd8 20.Rxf4 Ne4 21.Nxe4 

21.Ndf3? Qxh4 22.Rxh4 and suddenly Black is better.

Black to move

21...Qxh4

Only move

22.Rxh4 dxe4+-

And the rest is a matter of technique, as they say. Studying Carlsen's technique will help the developing player.

23.dxc5 bxc5 24.Rd7 Rab8 25.b3 

Black to move

Black is very nearly in zugzwang.

25...a5 26.Rc7 a4 27.bxa4 Ba8 28.a5 Rb7 29.Rxc5 Ra7 30.Nc4 1–0

Carlsen joins Caruana and Ding Liren in first place after six rounds.

Standings after six rounds.

Tomashevsky -- Eljanov, Tata Steel 2016

Blogging Round Five

Through the first four rounds of this year's Tata Steel Chess Tournamnet, I started my blog post each day the previous night and scheduled it to post at 3:30 am. The games begin at 4:30 am my time; 1:30 pm in the Netherlands. Today, the games are being played in Amsterdam, instead of Wijk aan Zee, and start half an hour later. For me, that made it possible to have my iPad on following the moves before play reaches the middle game.

Due to a gift on Monday and a nice trap on Tuesday, Pavel Eljanov is one of the players currently in second place. Evgeny Yomashevsky has shown in previous events that he plays interesting chess. I decided a couple of nights ago that I would concentrate on their game today.

Tomashevsky,Evgeny (2728) -- Eljanov,Pavel (2760) [E00]
Tata Steel Chess Amsterdam, 21.01.2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Nd2 

I was happy to see this position in the game that I decided to follow because White's play looks like a set-up that I often find myself in. I have had good games on both sides of the Catalan.

4...c5 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 cxd4 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 

Black's Bogo-Indian set-up strikes me as a smart choice against the Catalan. So often, normal Queen's Gambit Declined moves seem to give White a nice position and Black little play.

9.0–0 Bxf3 10.Bxf3

Black to move

Knights against bishops!

Tomashevsky has been on the Black side of this position after Black's ninth move. His opponent, however, played 10.exf3.

Volkov,Sergey (2615) -- Tomashevsky,Evgeny (2707) [E00]
RUS-ch Higher League 64th Taganrog (7), 22.06.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Nd2 c5 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 cxd4 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.0–0 Bxf3 10.exf3 Nc6 11.f4 0–0 12.b4 Rc8 13.Bb2 d6 14.Bxd4 Nxd4 15.Qxd4 Qc7 16.Rfc1 Rfd8 17.Qe3 Qd7 18.Qd4 Qc7 19.Qe3 Qd7 20.Qd4 ½–½

10...Nc6 11.b3

Played in one prior game that can be found in my database.

11...0–0 12.Bb2 Rc8N

12...e5 was played in the sole remaining reference game.

Mikhalevski,Alexander (2485) -- Sturua,Zurab (2595) [E00]
Biel MTO op Biel (10), 1998

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Nd2 c5 4.a3 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 cxd4 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.g3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.0–0 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nc6 11.b3 0–0 12.Bb2 e5 13.e3 e4 14.Bg2 d5 15.exd4 Na5 16.Qc2 dxc4 17.bxc4 Rc8 18.c5 Qd5 19.Bc3 Nb3 20.Rab1 Nxd4 21.Bxd4 Qxd4 22.c6 Qc5 23.Qxc5 bxc5 24.Rb7 Rxc6 25.Rxa7 Rfc8 26.Re7 Kf8 27.Re5 Ra6 28.Bxe4 Rxa3 29.Rc1 c4 30.Rc2 c3 31.Bf3 g6 32.Kf1 h5 33.Re3 g5 34.Rd3 g4 35.Bg2 h4 36.gxh4 Nh5 37.Rd4 Re8 38.Bc6 Ra1+ 39.Kg2 Ree1 40.Rxg4 f5 41.Rc4 Nf6 42.R2xc3 Ng4 43.Rf3 Rg1+ 44.Kh3 Ra3 45.Rc2 Rxf3+ 46.Bxf3 Kg7 47.Bg2 Ne5 48.Kg3 f4+ 49.Kxf4 Nd3+ 50.Ke3 Rxg2 51.Kxd3 Rxh2 52.f4 Rxh4 53.Ke4 Rh5 54.Rc7+ Kf6 55.Rc6+ Kf7 ½–½

13.Bxd4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 Rc5 15.b4 Rc7 16.e4

Black to move

What's going on here?

White has a bishop for a knight and more space. Six minor pieces and one set of pawns have come off the board. It is not surprising that the two reference games both ended in draws. Despite the imbalance in the pawn structure and minor pieces, this position must give bothe sides equal chances. In order to win such a position, a player must take some risks.

16...d6 17.Rfd1 e5 18.Qd3 Qc8 19.Be2 Rd8 20.Qe3 g6 21.Rd2 Kg7

White to move

The broadcast today is lively with Yasser Seirawan and FM Tex de Wit sitting on a stage in the NEMO Museum in front of a live audience. The banter between them is interesting, as is the discussion of chess in the Netherlands.

Seirawan and de Wit are looking at several exciting games, analyzing possible variations. If they have mentioned the game that I am following, it was when I was inattentive. Tomashevsky -- Eljanov seems a bit sedate compared to Ding Liren's queenside castling against Anish Giri or Hou Yifan's nice position on the Black side against Fabiano Caruana.

On the other hand, sedate play is the bread and butter of a Grandmaster's existence. Moreover, learning to play seemingly even positions is necessary for the improving club player. Tomashevsky and Eljanov could make a few more moves, risking nothing, and agree to a short draw. On the other hand, both are systemically improving the position of their pieces.

22.Rad1 Qe6 23.Kg2 h6 24.f3

These little pawn moves and the quiet position reminds me of a tournament game that I played in 2012. In my game we exchanged queens and most minor pieces early leaving rooks, one knight each, and most of the pawns on the board. we brought our rooks to the only open file, kept our kings on adjacent files, deprived one another's knights of certain squares, and then repeated the position. I would have been happy with a draw. My opponent, rated about 200 Elo higher than me did not want to share second place in the tournament with as many as half a dozen other participants, so he struck with a pawn break that convinced me that the game was likely to be decisive and that I was a little worse.

Then, the knights came off the board and I had a pawn structure that looked weak. During a nine minute think after exchanging one set of rooks, I discovered that the mutual zugzwang that our kings would find themselves in after the other rooks came off actually favored me, despite initial appearances to the contrary. I won the game and finished the tournament in sole second place behind IM John Donaldson, winning $250 (see "Pawn Wars").

In this game, however, there is a minor piece imbalance and the queens are still on the board. Jeremy Silman, in his popular How to Reassess Your Chess and other books, asserts that with an imbalance, one should play so as to make your minor piece better than your opponent's minor piece. For Tomashevsky, that means looking for a way to open up the position. On the other hand, a knight often works better with a queen, while a bishop works better with rooks. Seeking to swap queens also could be a long-term strategic goal for White.

24...Rdd7 25.Bf1 Qe7 26.Kg1 Qe6

Moving towards the time control, or avoiding risk? Tomashevsky has 23 minutes; Eljanov has 45.

27.Kg2 Qe7

I predict a draw in this game.

Navara -- So ended in a draw after 46 moves. All other games are continuing.

28.Kg1Qe6 29.Re1

29.Kg2 would draw by repetition: the same position occuring with Black to move after 25.Bf1, 27.Kg2, and 29.Kg2. I believe that under FIDE rules, the proper method of claiming such a draw is to write the move on one's scoresheet and notify the arbiter.

Black to move

29...Rd8

Maybe there is yet a battle brewing in this quiet game.

30.Qf2

Perhaps Tomashevsky has decided to play against the backwards d-pawn, the most glaring weakness in the pawn structure. I can see Re1-e3-d3 and Qf2-e2-d1. Black, however, has plenty of time to meet this threat.

30...Kh7

I suddenly noticed that my plan to build up on the d-file hangs White's c-pawn, White's most vulnerable point.

31.Ra1 Qe7 32.Re1 Qe6 33.Ra1 Qe7 34.Qe3

Loek van Wely is playing on the increment in a difficult position against Magnus Carlsen. It is hard to attend to Tomashevsky -- Eljanov.

34...Rc6 35.Rad1 Rcc8 36.Qf2 Kg7 

White to move

37.Qe3 Nh7 38.Rd5 1/2-1/2.

My chosen game ends with a quiet draw while there are fireworks on other boards. Even so, it is not without instructive value.

Standings after five rounds.