Home Preparation

The Queen's Indian Defense vexes me. I have struggled enough against it that I've found myself playing the Black side recently in blitz. Memories of a particularly frustrating game in 2010 are always present when I face the QID. In a rapid event at the Spokane Chess Club, I had White against Michael Cambareri. At the time, my only win against him had been a blitz game several years earlier when he was in third grade. But, he had taken some time off chess and was just coming back. In a bunch of casual games one night at the club, I won as many as I lost. I thought that I had a chance.

I played well that night, but could only manage a draw. A draw was still a good result for me against Michael, but my ambitions called for more. Three months later, we played another tournament game with the same first seven moves. I tried a different eighth move and lost, just as I had lost previously in 2007.

After last week's games, I thought there was a good chance that I would be playing Michael this week in the Spokane Chess Club Winter Championship. I started reviewing our games in the French Defense, thinking that I would have Black. On Monday, I received the email that told me that I had White against Michael. I started some work on the Queen's Indian Defense. Over the course of the next three days, I probably looked at four dozen grandmaster games.

I did not expect that Sergey Karjakin's 2007 miniature against Falko Bindrich would be helpful, but was aware of the possibility. My study convinced me that the most likely scenario was that we would reach a position out of the opening where I would not feel hopelessly lost in terms of ideas concerning how to proceed. With some luck, I might get a little ahead on the clock thanks to my preparation. In a game 90 + five second delay, being ahead on the clock can help.

Karjakin's miniature is astounding and should certainly be studied by players of the Queen's Indian Defense.

Karjakin,Sergey (2686) -- Bindrich,Falko (2469) [E17]
EU-ch 8th Dresden (10), 13.04.2007

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 e6 5.d4 Be7 6.Nc3 0–0 7.Qc2 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Qe4!

Black to move

10...Nb4 11.Qxb7 N8c6 12.Bf4 g5 13.0–0–0 gxf4 14.a3 1–0

When the diagram position appeared on my board last night, I realized that I could not remember all of this game. I realized that I had entered a tactical battle where my queen could very well become trapped.

We both had used about five minutes to reach this position. Now my opponent spent eight minutes. I also used his thinking time trying to recall, and to calculate for myself. If my queen becomes trapped, I lose.

Stripes,James (1791) -- Cambareri,Michael (1993) [E17]
SCC Club Championship (4), 09.02.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3

My move order reserves the possibility of going into the London System (see "Fiddling with the London System").

2...b6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7

White to move

6.Nc3

Castling is White's most popular move by far. When I complained to my friend John Julian some years ago about my frustration with Michael's set-up in the Queen's Indian Defense, his advice was, "don't let him set it up." My choice of White's second most popular move was the first step in hindering his tableau.

6...0–0 7.Qc2 

Delaying castling in this manner runs the risk that my king might get stuck in the center, or that I would need to expend the time to castle by hand. But, preventing Ne4 and f5 by Black was my intent.

7...c5 

Black also plays 7...d5 or 7...Na6 here. There are other obscure possibilities that do not seem as good. With either of these two moves, I would be in for a long struggle, but felt that I had looked at enough games that I might play well enough for a draw.

8.d5 exd5 9.cxd5 Nxd5?! 

Annotations on Karjakin's miniature recommend 9...Bxd5.

10.Qe4!

Michael admitted after the game that he did not anticipate this move. See diagram in Karjakin game above.

10.Ng5 was played in Tomovic -- Pirc, Zagreb 1949.

10...Nb4

10...f5 11.Qc4 b5 12.Qxb5 Nb6 13.Be3 Na6 14.0–0  was drawn in 52 moves in Lagno,K (2557) --Dzagnidze,N (2535), Tbilisi 2012

11.Qxb7 N8c6 12.Bf4 Nc2+

12...g5 13.0–0–0 gxf4 14.a3 1–0 Karjakin,S (2686) -- Bindrich,F (2469)/Dresden 2007 (presented above).

13.Kd2 Nxa1 14.Rxa1 

Black to move

14...Rc8N

14...Bf6 15.Rd1 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 Qf6 17.Bh3 and White won in 33 moves in  Gajewski,G (2515) --Hernandez Carmenates,H (2524), Calvia 2006.

At this point in the game, I could not recall whether we were still following the Karjakin game or not. I had to do the tactical and positional calculation on my own. However, the knowledge that I was winning in the objective sense after 10.Qe4 gave me confidence. I labored to combine confidence with a clear head and find strong moves.

15.Nd5!

"This move killed me." M. Cambareri during postgame analysis.

15... d6 16.Rd1 Bf6 17.Bh3 1–0

At this point in the game, I had used sixteen minutes, while Michael had used 34. He thought for another 34 minutes, then tipped his king.

While he was thinking, I walked to stay calm, frequently returning to the board trying to anticipate his move and my response. I thought that 17...Na5 was the most testing.

Lessons from the Championship

My advanced students this week saw several positions from the tie-break games of the World Chess Championship.

White to move

The first position is from the final game. I wanted my students to first understand Black's checkmate threats.

The game concluded 48.Rc8+ Kh7 49.Qh6+ 1-0.

We also looked at 48.Qg3, which wins more slowly and the checkmate sequence that follows had Black played 48...Bf8.

If your opponent threatens checkmate in one move, making certain that all of your moves are check is the only way to conduct a counterattack.

The second position also concerns understanding threats. It is from the third tie-break game.

White to move

The game finished 38.Rxc7 Ra1 0-1.

We looked at Black's several checkmate threats in the final position and also how White could have kept the game alive by playing 38.Rb1. Failure to find this move was a rare defensive oversight by Sergey Karjakin.

Most complex was a series of positions from the second game.

Black to move

The key ideas here require understanding the checkmate patterns that White needs to win and Black's drawing resources. For example, if Black can get rid of White's g-pawn and the dark-squared bishop, he would happily trade everything.

The game continued 61...Re2 62.Bg4

White had better chances to win after 62.Kf7. I mentioned this to the students, but we did not explore it in detail as it is quite complex. It's no surprise that World Champion Magnus Carlsen missed it in a rapid game.

62...Re8 63.Bf5 Kg8 64.Bc2 Re3 65.Bb1 Kh8 66.Kf7 Rb3 67.Be4 Re3 68.Bf5 Rc3 69.g4

An important move shielding the king from harassment from the rear.

69...Rc6 70.Bf8 Rc7+ 71.Kg6 Kg8 72.Bb4 Rb7 73.Bd6 Kh8 74.Bf8 Kg8 75.Ba3 Kh8 76.Be6 Rb6 77.Kf7 Rb7+ 78.Be7

We went through these moves quickly, observing Black's plan of constant harrassment and White's efforts to create checkmate threats.

Black to move

Finally, from this position, Karjakin seized his chance to exchange into an ending where White's bishop operates on the wrong color squares.

78...h5! 79.gxh5 f5 80.Bxf5 Rxe7 81.Kxe7 Kg8 82.Bd3 Kh8 83.Kf8 g5

White to move

White has two ways to capture Black's pawn, both of which lead to stalemate. Leaving the pawn on the board also draws.

Carlsen captured en passant.

84.hxg6 1/2-1/2.

Karjakin -- Carlsen 2016: Critical Positions

The World Chess Championship is tied 5-5 after ten games. Today is a rest day. Before the match, many were predicting a victory for the reigning champion, Magnus Carlsen. Some even thought that Carlsen would retain his title in fewer than twelve games, regarding Sergey Karjakin as clearly the inferior player. Karjakin had not been a favorite to win the Candidates tournament either. Nonetheless, Karjakin defended well in difficult positions early in the match. Perhaps Carlsen had a stronger move in a few cases. Karjakin also missed a few better moves. Some of those positions are presented below.

The first game was not particularly eventful. Although Carlsen managed to create weaknesses in Karjakin's pawn structure, the challenger managed to hold the position without too much pain. Looking at the final moves from my position as a class player, however, I did not know at a glance whether swapping the last pair of minor pieces could give either player an advantage in the pawn ending.

Black to move

After 40.Nd4+

The game concluded 40...Kd6 41.Nb5+ Kd7 42.Nd4 Kd6 and a draw was agreed due to repetition assured.

Had Karjakin played 40...Bxd4, would the game be drawn as well? Grandmasters probably understand the resulting pawn position at a glance, but many other chess players could do well to play it out against a friend or computer.

Carlsen's play with Black in game two deprived Karjakin of any real chance for an advantage.

Ruslan Ponomariov, who wrote the annotations to the first two games for ChessBase, thought that Carlsen could have presented Karjakin with a tactical problem to solve with a different move 26, but Karjakin probably would have seen the trick clearly.

Black to move

After 26.b4

Carlsen played 26...Re6 and the game was drawn on move 33. Ponomariov thought that 26...c5 27.Nxb5 cxb4 28.Nd6 Re6 29.Nxc8 Rxa6 might lead to complexities.

In the third game, Carlsen secured an advantage and then pressed hard for a win. The ending generated a lot of interest around the world. Yasser Seirawan was at a dinner in Saint Louis, where he joined Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Veselin Topalov, and Fabiano Caruana following the game on Caruana's smartphone. Seirawan's annotations for ChessBase presented a drawing opportunity missed by Karjakin from this position.

Black to move

After 70.Nc6

The game was drawn after 70...Kxf5 71.Na5 Rh1 72.Rb7? (72.Rf7+ seems to be winning) 72...Ra1! 73.Rb5+ Kf4! 74.Rxb4+ Kg3 75.Rg4+ Kf2 76.Nc4 h3 77.Rh4 Kg3 78.Rg4+ Kf2.

Seirawan's analysis, presenting the ideas of four other Grandmasters who "out-rated" him, after 70...Rc3!! is worth checking out at the link. Credit Anand for convincing the others that Karjakin could hold.

Chess fans following the game with the aid of engine analysis quickly spotted Carlsen's decisive error as he was pressing for a win in game four. However, Carlsen thought the line he played was winning. It took many more moves before Carlsen's winning ideas had been proven illusions.

Black to move

After 45.Nd1

How many humans could have found 45...Be6 and then had the ability to convert against Karjakin's defensive efforts? Carlsen played 45...f4, gaining a secure passed pawn on the kingside that left him plenty of time to penetrate with his king on the queenside. Many times during the next fifty moves, Karjakin had only one piece that could move without his position collapsing. Sometimes his king had to move. Other times his knight could move, and often only the bishop could. He was very close to zugzwang, but not quite.

Karjakin was slightly better in game five and spent a lot of time in this position, which my advanced students were watching on the demo board at chess club while it was taking place.

Black to move

After 42.hxg4

Karjakin's pawn sacrifice, 42...d4!, brought pressure against the White king. Carlsen returned the sacrifice two moves later and managed a draw.

Gmae six was the least interesting game, except to those who seek to understand the Marshall Gambit and its variants when Black needs a draw against the Spanish. In the annotations for ChessBase, Tiger Hillarp Persson points out Karjakin's method and the computer's method of securing a clear draw from this position as White.

White to move

After 20...Rfe8

For game seven, Karjakin switched to 1.d4 but made no progress. Already at move 15, he needed to secure equality.

White to move

After 15...O-O

16.Ba3 forces material off the board. Karjakin ended up with an ending in which he was a pawn up, but had no chance to fight for a win.

After failing to get an advantage in the two shortest games of the match, and his two consecutive Whites, Karjakin explained, "it is better to play well than to play with White." In game eight, he broke the historic run of draws (the longest in a world championship match sine 1995), winning with the Black pieces.

Both players made errors in the time scramble just before move 40. Carlsen made a bad move in a bad position and then Karjakin missed the strongest continuation. Play went on into another hour.

White to move

After 48.Nd3

It is easy for a computer, and for a human looking at computer evaluations, to understand where White needs to place his queen in such a position. Perhaps the queen is where she belongs and something else should move. For human players, however, it is very difficult to find the right move. World Champion Magnus Carlsen played 49.Qa5? and Karjakin found a way to bring home the full point.

In the ninth game, Sergey Karjakin might have had a chance to put Carlsen away and gain the upper hand in the match.

White to move

After 38...Ne7

Karjakin thought for a long time, finally choosing 39.Bxf7+. Commentators favor 39.Qb3. Neither move has consequences that are clear to human players.

In the tenth game, Karjakin missed a forced draw early in the game and then suffered a long time.

Black to move

After 20.Nd2

How many players can find a draw here without engine assistance?

Karjakin finally cracked after defending a difficult endgame for many hours, allowing Carlsen to even the score.

Karjakin -- Carlsen Match

Judit Polgar's commentary during the World Chess Championship, currently taking place in New York City, has been terrific! During game three, she assured her viewers that the game was likely to end in a draw, then later was quite certain that Magnus Carlsen would win, and then again that Sergey Karjakin could hold the draw. She seemed a little skeptical of her own predictive skill during game four. Through it all, her commentary offers clear explanations of general principles and stellar concrete analysis of the position on the board. It is also entertaining.

All four games so far have been draws, but they have been hard fought. In game three, it seemed that Carlsen had a clear advantage, but Karjakin defended well.

White to move

Carlsen played 72.Rb7, which Yasser Seirawan asserts in his annotations for ChessBase was the blunder that let Karjakin save the game. Ironically, most beginners would play the correct move without thinking, but Carlsen's move looks very good to experienced players. When White's b-pawn starts rolling, Black has difficulties. However, Black's rook is able to threaten the knight and pawn on the queenside, while also threatening to assist the h-pawn's run to promotion. As Seirawan points out, there is also a checkmate threat if the White king becomes greedy.

The manner in which Carlsen let Karjakin off the hook in game four is even more instructive.

Black to move

Carlsen played 45...f4. Karjakin was quite clear in the post-game interview in the hallway after the game that this move produced the draw. However, a supported passed pawn on one side of the board and serious pawn weaknesses for the opponent on the other are two factors that are nearly always decisive. Carlsen thought they would be, but after the game described his thinking as "sloppy".

45...Be6 increases the pressure on White's position. The defender wants simplifications. When attacking, it is often best to present as many problems to your opponent as possible. Of course, most players would make Carlsen's move in a heartbeat. How many would be able to defend as accuirately as Karjakin from the White side?

Dorian Rogozenco's annotations for ChessBase are worth a look.

This game was drawn on move 94, well short of the record for longest WCC game, Korchnoi -- Karpov 1978, game 5 (124 moves).

During the game three commentary, Polgar informed viewers that Cartlsen explained his match strategy to her: he will punch Karjakin until he finds the blow that knocks him down. If Karjakin keeps making the errors that give Carlsen a clear advantage, this decisive punch will come soon.

Good Blitz, Bad Blitz

Blitz chess is popular and fun. It also can be useful as a training tool. On the other hand, blitz can reinforce bad habits by cultivating sloppy thinking and rewarding reckless play. Blitz chess is characterized by blunders.

Today, while watching game three of the World Championship between challenger Sergey Karjakin and reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen, I played a few blitz games on Chess.com. Two of my wins featured successful mating attacks. These were successful because my opponents' errors matched my own.

Internet Opponent (1853) -- Stripes,J (1883) [A22]
Live Chess Chess.com, 14.11.2016

Black to move

11...Bf5+ 12.Kb3 Na5+ 13.Ka4?

13.Kb4 minimalizes Black's advantage

13...b6–+ 14.b4 Nb7

14...Bc2#

If I cannot find checkmate in one, maybe I should find a new hobby.

15.Ba6?

15.Kb3 and White's king is safe.

Black to move

15...Kb8?

15...Bc2+ 16.Kb5 Rd5+ 17.Kc6 Ba4+ 18.Bb5 Bxb5#.

16.Bb2?

16.Kb3 again leaves Black with a minimal advantage.

16...Bc2+

Finally, I find my way.

17.Kb5 Nd6+ 18.Kc6 Be4# 0–1

This flawed miniature could be useful instruction for beginners learning checkmate patterns, but it is nothing to brag about for the winner. Both players seem overrated.

Stripes,J (1899) -- Internet Opponent (1946) [B32]
Live Chess Chess.com, 14.11.2016

White to move

17.Rxf7!

This beautiful strike suggests that I see the checkmate in six, or at least that I recognize a familiar pattern. I have certainly seen many chess problems with sacrifices of a rook on f7 in similar positions.

17...Kxf7 18.Qxh7+ Ke6 19.Qxg6+ Kd7

19...Kxe5 20.Re1+ Qe3 21.Rxe3+ Kf4 22.Qg3#.

20.Bf5+

My move is clearly winning, but why not deliver checkmate immediately: 20.Qd6#. I had about two minutes left in a three minute game. There was no reason not to slow down and find the checkmate. Instead, I'm playing by instinct, making moves that might be good in similar positions. That is the sort of poor thinking that blitz cultivates.

20...Kd8 21.Qf6+??

21.Qd6+ finishes things 21...Bd7 22.Qxd7#.

Black to move

21...Re7??

21...Kc7 22.Qf7+ Kd8 23.Qf6+ and a draw by repetition is White's best option.

22.Qf8+ Kc7 23.Qxe7+ Kb8 24.Qd6+

Black to move

24...Qc7

24...Kb7 25.e6 Rb8 26.Re1+-.

25.Rb1+ Bb7 26.Qf8+ 1–0

White delivers checkmate next move, so Black resigned.

Determination

Reading Chess Informant

Last Thursday, Chess Informant 128 arrived via courier. With each new issue, I resolve to read all the articles or play through all of the games in the traditional section (see "Discovery"). With each new issue, I fall short of my goals.

I am determined to establish a new pattern, reading all of Informant 128.

Since Thursday, I have read all of the narrative text in Ernesto Inarkiev, "Moscow Candidates Tournament 2016"; Aleksandar Colovic, "Moscow Opening Report"; and Sarunas Sulskis, "European Championship 2016". I also solved rather quickly the first ending and was working on the second when I was interrupted by a text message that required action. Using the CD version that comes with the printed book, I have been working through the games and analysis in Inarkiev's article.

Black to move

Sergey Karjakin played 17...cxb4.

Inarkiev's comment brought my reading to a halt. He writes, "This is a tempting decision. Black sacrifices his queen for a rook, minor piece and a pawn, a balance of material that is usually sufficient" (18). My eye did not perceive the danger to the queen until I saw 18.axb4 Bxc3 19.Nc6 on the board, and only then could I begin to calculate the resulting imbalance.

Karjakin's determination at the Candidates shines in Inarkiev's narrative and analysis. The depth of the analysis and the complexity of the games reveals to me that my determination to read all of the issue clear through will require a significant investment of time.

My reading of Informant goes back two decades. The quality of my play has benefited. On this blog, I wrote about the first tangible benefit--a correspondence win in the 1990s--in "Playing by the Book" (March 2011). In a more recent correspondence game, I had this position with White.

White to move

Our game had been following Botsari -- Polgar,J, Eretria 2011, which Polgar won. Botsari played 28.Re7 and Polgar's pieces put an end to White's initiative. Apparently unbeknownst to my opponent, however, was the analysis of this game in Informant 112/51 by Dejan Antic who recommended 28.f7. I played that move and our game followed Antic's line 28...Rg7 29.Re8+ Nf8 30.Qd6 and then instead of the necessary 30...Qh4, my opponent played 30...Qh5+ and I won a few moves later.


Improving

If I continue to read Informant in bits and pieces and utilize my complete collection in electronic format as a reference in correspondence games, I will continue to see benefits. But I want more. I remain determined to improve my performance in USCF tournaments, reverse the slow downward slide that has been occurring since summer 2012, and renew efforts to push to a new peak rating (see "Eleven Consecutive Wins!" [July 2012]). I believe that Informant is among the most useful tools that I have for improving.

In the wake of my tournament success in 2012, I purchased Informant 113 as book and CD combination. Prior to that point, I acquired most of my Informant books after they went on sale because they were a year or more out of date, and acquired even more electronically via the CDs that had a year's worth. Gaps in my collection were filled when I placed fifth in the Reader's Contest for those who purchased Best of the Best 1000 (2008). When I bought Informant 113, I had a complete collection through the current issue. Several months later, when my collection was no longer current, I began systematically working through the games section (see "Training Log: August 2013"). That enterprise lasted several months, but eventually gave way other training priorities and my recurring obsession with blitz.

I bought a few more multi-issue CDs in 2014. Then, with download editions of Informants 119, 120, and 121, I was up-to-date with the latest issues. These were followed with timely downloads of Informants 122 and 123, keeping me current. Beginning with Informant 124, I became a subscriber. Each issue becomes the center of my chess focus for a few weeks after its arrival, but I never get through more than a fraction of the issue. I skim several articles and play through the games that interest me. Several printed issues contain brief notes that I make as I go through the games on the screen of my computer.

I am determined that with Informant 128 I will maintain the focus and self-discipline to work through every article, the games section, and the endings and combinations sections. There will be distractions. Since Thursday, I have played dozens of blitz games online. I also remain committed to study of Greco's and Morphy's games. I use these with my students. Time spent reading Informant must balance with study of classics.

The time and effort spent on Informant will improve the quality of my play.

Smashing the Berlin Defense

Tata Steel 2016, Round 9

The Berlin Wall variation of the Spanish (or Ruy Lopez) has been popular since Vladimir Kramnik employed it in his World Championship match against Garry Kasparov in 2000. Most games in this line have ended in draws, but not often quick draws. After the queens come off, the game reaches an immediate endgame, or perhaps a queenless middlegame, depending on how one defines the endgame. Black has a queenside pawn majority with doubled c-pawns. White has a slight lead in development.

The Berlin is rich in positional subtleties. If both contestants play accurately, the game will end in a draw. Small errors lead to decisive results.

This afternoon I won a blitz game from the Black side. My opponent created a phalanx of center pawns, but that gave me 3-2 on the queenside and 2-1 on the kingside. When my queenside pawn majority lured his king that direction, a breakthrough on the kingside led to a pawn promotion.

In the Tata Steel Chess Tournament this year, there have been no Berlin Walls and few Berlin Defense games. Then today, a novelty was played in relatively new line against the Berlin that keeps the queens on the board. This novelty was played in two games. Fabiano Caruana played it first against Sergey Karjakin. Karjakin played accurately and the game was drawn when it was clear that all the pawns would be consumed.

Wei Yi, who claimed the novelty was opening preparation, played the novelty a few minutes after Caruana. His opponent, David Navara, did not play Karjakin's move and was swiftly punished.

Wei,Yi (2706) -- Navara,David (2730) [C65]
78th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (9.3), 26.01.2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

I saw this move in Hou -- So in round two and immediately became excited, recalling that I had seen an article in Chess Informant 126 concerning the d3 Spanish. I checked the journal that morning, however, and discovered the article focused on 6.d3 after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7. Here, it is a little different. Even so, the intent may be similar.

[I]t's a very practical move for White as it assures easy development and stability in the centre. Thus many sharp lines, including the popular Marshall Attack are avoided.
Emanuel Berg, "Mirroring, The d3 Ruy Lopez: A Test of Patience," Chess Informant 126 (2015), 75.

Against the Berlin, it avoids the Berlin Wall. The move was played as early as 1836 but is a distant second in popularity to 4.O-O.

4...Bc5 5.Bxc6

This move first appears in my database in a game played in 1982. There are 567 games with more than 200 played in 2014 and 2015.

5...dxc6 6.Nbd2

Wei mentioned Anand while discussing this line. According to my database. Anand played this move in 2012 and again in 2013 against Kramnik. He won the second game and then drew Magnus Carlsen when he played it in their World Championship.

6...0–0 7.Nc4

Six games 2009-2011 and then quite a few more in 2012. Anand played it in his win against Kramnik.

7...Nd7

White to move

8.Qe2

8.O-O has been played at least 26 times. As near as I can discover from my database, 8.Qe2 was first played in 2010. There are three games that reached this position in my database, two from 2015. After Black's next move, however, a fourth game joins the selection, Anand -- Giri, Grand Slam Masters 2015.

8...Re8 9.Bd2 Bd6 10.h4N

The novelty played in two games today!

10...c5

Karjakin played 10...Nf8, which Wei said in his postgame interview was the correct move.

11.h5 h6

This sensible looking move creates a weakness that might be exploitable by a pawn storm. As White planned to castle queenside anyway, it might be deemed an error.

12.0–0–0 Nb8

Black's knight maneuver is too slow. Even relative beginners can observe that White has a significant lead in development having completed the essential opening tasks of mobilizing minor pieces, advancing the center pawns, lifting the queen from the back rank and castling to connect the rooks. In addition, Wei has already thrust forward one of his kingside pawns.

With opposite side castling, both players should storm the castled kings with pawns. Black, however is not prepared to support his pawn storm, while White's pieces are well-coordinated. White, thus, has a substantial strategic advantage, but how will he break through tactically?

White to move 

13.Rdg1 Nc6 14.g4 f6 15.g5 fxg5 

White to move

16.Nxg5 

It is much easier to sacrifice a piece when part of the opponent's forces remain in the bleachers. Black's queenside cannot be mobilized in time to protect the king. In this position, the knight sacrifice appears the only way to continue the attack. The attack is coming fast. Even White's other knight--the piece furthest from the action--is mobilized for the assault on Black's king.

16...Nd4

A zwischenzug before capturing the knight.

17.Qd1 hxg5

The computer prefers 17...b5

18.Bxg5 Be7 19.Be3

Yasser Seirawan asked whether 19.Bh6 could be played here. Wei thought it might be as good, but Stockfish 7 finds Wei's move vastly superior to 19.Bh6.

19...Bf6 

White to move

20.h6 Re7 

20...g5 was considered during the commentary and again in Wei's postgame analysis. A possible continuation might be 21.Bxg5 Bxg5+ 22.f4 Ne6 23.fxg5 Nxg5 24.Qh5+-.

21.hxg7 

21.Qh5 is strong.

21...Rxg7 22.Qh5 Be6

White to move

23.Bh6

I would probably take a more direct approach if I had such a nice position.

23.Qh8+ Kf7 24.Rxg7+ Bxg7 25.Nxe5+ Bxe5 These moves would have been easy to calculate, but White is ahead two pieces and there is not a checkmate in sight. Even so, with some time to think, it should be possible to see that White can win the bishop with a small tactical maneuver. 26.Rh7+ Kg6 27.Rh6+ Kf7 28.Qxe5 when White has two pawns for the knight. In addition, Black's king remains vulnerable to attack and his rook is still sitting in the stands watching the battle.

Wei's practical decision to exchange pieces into an endgame with a decisive material advantage is good enough.

23...Bf7

23...Qe8 leads to a similar position. 24.Bxg7 Qxh5 25.Bxf6+

This discovery and the same move in the position reached in the game offers an instructive lesson for my young students. 25...Kf7 26.Rxh5 Ne2 27.Kd2 Nxg1 28.Bxe5 Nf3+ 29.Ke3 Kg6 30.Rh1 and White is ahead two pawns, but at least Black's rook can come out to play.

24.Bxg7 Bxh5 

White to move

25.Bxf6+ Kf8 26.Bxd8 Ne2+ 27.Kb1 Nxg1 28.Bxc7 1–0

This game will be my lesson of the week for my advanced students. My beginning students this afternoon saw the two instructive positions that Navara offered in his postgame analysis of Sunday's win (see "Navara -- Caruana, Tata Steel 2016").

Tata Steel Chess 2016, Round Two

When was the last time that two Americans shared the lead with a Chinese player in Wijk aan Zee? After the first round, they do.

Disappointing Chess Fans

Loek Van Wely and Sergey Karjakin had four draws at Wijk aan Zee before Karjakin's win in 2012. Karjakin then won again in 2013 and 2014. Their overall record together stands at two wins for Van Wely, the latest in 2005, seven wins for Karjakin, and six draws. After Van Wely missed a clear win against Shakhryar Mamedyarov yesterday, he will be hard-pressed to end Karjakin's streak of wins since 2012.

Van Wely played a Dragon and reached an interesting position analyzed in some depth by Yasser Seirawan and Lawrence Trent.

Karjakin,Sergey -- Van Wely,Loek [B76]
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee, 17.01.2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.h4 h5 11.Qd2 Qa5 12.0–0–0 Rfc8 13.Kb1 Ne5 14.Bg5 Kf8 15.f4 Neg4 16.Rhe1 Rc5 17.f5 gxf5 18.Nxf5 Bxf5 19.exf5

Black to move

19...Re8 

In their analysis, Trant and Seirawan concluded that 19...Re8 was Black's only non-losing move, and then learned from their researchers that it had been played before.

20.Nd5N

20.Bf4 was played in the reference game that I was able to locate. 20...Rxf5 21.Rxe7 Rxe7 22.Bxd6 Rfe5 23.Qf4 Kg8 24.Bxe7 Rxe7 0–1 Guempges,P (2076) -- Wisskirchen,A (2266) Germany 2004.

Apparently Karjakin offered a draw with the move's novelty. ½–½

Fighting Draws

Mamedyarov leads Evgeny Tomashevsky 3-5-1 (W-D-L) in their encounters. However, Tomashevsky's win in February 2015 was their most recent battle at classical time control. That win came in the fourth round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Tbilisi, an event that Tomashevsky won. In August 2015, Tomashevsky won the Russian Championship, which pushed him to his peak rating of 2758.

Among amateurs, there would still be some play in the position where Tomashevsky and Mamedyarov agreed to a draw, but I sense that the position is completely equal for Grandmasters. Black has a bishop pair and rook against White's bishop, knight and rook. Black also has an extra pawn, although two pawns are threatened.

In August 2014, Wei Yi lost to Pavel Eljanov in their only game prior to today. After a battle, the players reached a queen and minor piece ending with fourteen pawns still on the board. Maybe White's knight is a little better than Black's bishop according to the theory that knights work well with bishops. On the other hand, White's queen must guard the first rank or Black's queen and bishop will create checkmate threats. After a repetition of moves, the game was drawn.

White to move

Assuming that my database is complete, Magnus Carlsen leads Fabiano Caruana 16-10-7. In 2014, Caruana's astounding success, especially at the Sinquefield Cup where he beat Carlsen, created expectations that he was on the verge of challenging Carlsen's reign at the top of the rating charts. His results since then have not been as strong, although he defeated Carlsen again in 2015. It was Carlsen's second loss in the first two rounds of Norway Chess in Stavanger (see video). The two played seven games in 2015 with Carlsen winning three, Caruana winning one, and three draws.

Their game today was an intense battle.

Carlsen,Magnus -- Caruana,Fabiano [A00]
Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee, 17.01.2016

1.g3 g6 2.Bg2 Bg7 3.e4 e5 4.Ne2 c5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Nd4 

7...Nge7 has been reached in at least four games with three White wins.

8.c3 Nxe2 9.Qxe2 Ne7 10.h4 h6 11.h5 g5 12.f4 exf4 13.gxf4 gxf4 14.Bxf4 Nc6 15.Na3 Be5 16.Be3 Be6 17.Nc4 Bg3+ 18.Kd2 Qd7 19.d4 cxd4 20.cxd4

Black to move

20...Ne5

Seirawan and Trent thought this move was forced. Caruana, in his postgame interview with Seirawan thought so as well.

21.Nxe5 dxe5 22.d5 Bg4 23.Bf3 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Qb5 25.Rac1 Qxb2+ 26.Kd1 Bf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.Qxf4 Rg8 29.Rf1 Qd4+ 30.Ke1 Qb4+ 31.Kd1 Qd4+ 32.Ke1 Qb4+ ½–½

Navara's Activity Level

David Navara has two draws and four losses against Michael Adams. He played well yesterday against Carlsen. It seems that Navara's level of activity has increased in the past year or two. He also is currently at his peak rating. Perhaps he will score his first victory against Adams.

He did not win. The game was a battle that ended when the players reached a knight and pawn ending after 31 moves.

Ding Liren and Anish Giri tied for second in last year's Tata Steel Chess tournament, along with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Giri won their individual encounter with an instructive endgame of knight and bishop against rook with three pawns each. Ding had won their first encounter in 2012 and the two have had three draws, two of them at the Bilbao tournament in 2015.

Ding is the highest rated Chinese player ever and the second to break into the FIDE top ten.

After Black's 33rd move, the knights are coming off the board and the resulting queen ending with five pawns each should be objectively drawn. The players agreed to a draw vefore exchanging knights.

Hou Yifan surpassed Judit Polgar as the top rated woman in 2015. Polgar had been the top rated woman for 26 years. Her five prior encounters with Wesley So have all ended in draws, typically fifty moves or more. Their shortest draw was in Dortmund last year and lasted forty moves.

At the time that I needed to turn my attention to the Seattle Seahawks and their effort to return to a third Super Bowl appearance in three years, this game was at its 49th move. So seemed to have the upper hand earlier, but now Hou seems better.

At the end of the first quarter, the Seahawks were already in a hole and I saw that after five more moves, Hou -- So ended with a draw.

Tata Steel Chess 2016, Round One

Last night, in preparation for today's opening round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, I reviewed previous encounters for each of the pairs of contestants. Although the overall strength of this year's event is down from prior years, there will be some interesting match-ups. In the Tata Steel Masters, there are three players from China and only two from Russia. The future is thus well represented.

Hou -- Karjakin

I found one game in the database between these two players, and it was a game that I remember watching live three years ago. It was played during the Tata Steel Chess tournament. Hou Yifan played the French Defense and chose an obscure line of the Steinitz variation designed to immediately swap off her bad bishop. Against a player of Sergey Karjakin's caliber, this strategy was fatal. Too much time was spent in the exchange. Karjakin built up his attack and forced the Black king to remain in the middle of the board. That was enough for a lasting advantage.

Today's game was drawn after both players reached the time control. Each had two rooks and four pawns remaining.

So -- Giri

Anish Giri had White in his first meeting with Wesley So in the Corus C-Group of the 2009 Wijk aan Zee tournament. That game was agreed drawn after it was reduced to a pawn ending. Both players were elevated to the B-Group the following year. Giri won with the Petroff. Later in 2010, Giri beat So again in Biel. Their next two encounters were draws, one in the 2014 Tata Steel Masters. In last year's Tata Steel Masters, Giri won a marathon battle of 111 moves. So then scored a win against Giri in the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in April. They played six more games against one another in 2015, with So winning one of the blitz games and the others all drawn.

So won a symmetrical English that left Black's minor pieces inferior to White's.

Ding -- Adams

The only prior encounter between these two players in my database was at the 2013 Alekhine Memorial. Ding Liren played 4.f3 against Michael Adams' Nimzo-Indian Defense. Most of the pieces came off in a tactical melee, and the players agreed to a draw in a balanced endgame.

Ding Liren won an ending that featured a knight, rook, and pawns on each side. Eventually, Adams lost his knight with a stalemate trap that Ding easily saw through.

Navara -- Carlsen

According to my database, David Navara has an even score against Magnus Carlsen, but all but one of these games were played before Carlsen ascended to the top of the rating list. Navara was over 2700, and ranked above Carlsen when he beat the future World Champion with a Grunfeld Defense at Wijk aan Zee 2007. The previous year, they drew their game in the B-Group. Carlsen's win against Navara came in 2008 at the Dresden Olympiad. Two other games, most recently in 2012, ended as draws.

David Navara gave a nice interview with Yasser Seirawan where he described how he avoided the sort of strategic complications that would have favored the World Champion. In the end, Carlsen forced a draw by repetition.

Caruana -- Eljanov

All of the games between these two players have been decisive with Pavel Eljanov leading 3-2. Two games were played in the World Blitz Championship in 2010. Caruana won with White, but lost in three moves from the Black side. There must have been an illegal move or some other irregularity. The only clue that I could find in ten minutes of searching was Mark Crowther's comment (The Week in Chess, theweekinchess.com, 18 November 2010) that some games were incomplete. Perhaps the game score is incomplete due to problems with the DGT boards. Fabiano Caruana's sole classic time control win against Eljanov came against the Berlin Defense in 2011. Later that year, Eljanov opted for the Caro-Kann and won. Will Eljanov opt to test Caruana in the Berlin once again?

Caruana told Seirawan that he was worse early on in this Queen's Gambit, but his attack began to gain ground after a coupld of time wasting moves by Eljanov. The score between these two players is now even.

Wei -- Tomashevsky

If Wei Yi and Evgeny Tomashevsky have played one another prior to today, the game is not in my database. Nor do any games from the usual online database appear via a Google search.

This 23 move draw was the shortest game of the round.

Mamedyarov -- Van Wely

These two have seventeen prior encounters at my fingertips. Shakhryar Mamedyarov leads Loek Van Wely 7-7-3 (W-D-L). Two of these games were played at Wijk aan Zee.

If you showed this position to any Grandmaster and mentioned that Black has a win, he or she would find it in under two minutes. Alas, there is no such voice of assistance in a tournament game and Loek van Wely missed his chance. The game was drawn after a long ending where White was unable to convert a small advantage.

Black to move

Training with Karjakin

While working to shore up some weaknesses in my French Defense, I became interested in Svidler -- Karjakin, Khanty-Mansiysk 2014 from last year's Candidates Tournament. The game was annotated by Suat Atalik for Chess Informant 120/98. This game transposed into a French Defense, King's Indian Attack after beginning 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d3 c5, when Svidler played the provocative 6.e4! After the subsequent 6...Nc6 7.Qe2 O-O 8.e5 Nd7 9.c4, we reach the point that caught my interest initially.

Black to move

In The Flexible French (2008), Viktor Moskalenko presents this position from one of his own games as Black. He played 9...dxc4, opining that 9...d4 "would be a strategic mistake, since the blocked center offers Black no counterplay" (249). Yet, 9...d4 was the move played by Karjakin!

IM Christof Sielecki offers interesting analysis of the whole game on his YouTube channel.

A complex game developed and Svidler sacrificed a pawn on g6 to open the h-file. In the endgame, Karjakin's doubled g-pawns proved to be a strength.

I played a training position against Stockfish 6.

Black to move

Karjakin spent fifteen minutes thinking on this position, and must have calculated the twenty moves to the end of the game.

64...Rxd4! 65.Kxd4 b6 66.Kc3

Stockfish varied from the game here, so the training begins. The plans are as in the game: push the forward g-pawn to force White's rook off the board in exchange, then work to promote the other g-pawn. Stockfish played in a manner that presented me with another winning method after exchanging the forward pawn for White's rook.

Stockfish 6 -- Stripes

66.Re7 g4 67.Re1 g3 68.Rf1+ Kg4 69.b4 Kh3 70.Rd1 g2 71.Ke5 Kh2 72.a4

Black to move

72...Bd3!

I like this move.

73.Kf6 Bxc4 74.Kxg6 Bf1 75.Rd2 Kh1 76.Rxg2 Kxg2 and twenty-one moves later I checkmated the Silicon Beast. Most of the remaining moves were executed rather quickly. I only had to be wary of letting White exchange the b-pawns and get its king to a1.

Aronian -- Karjakin, Tata Steel 2014

Battling Karjakin's Queen's Indian

In the 2014 Tata Steel Grandmaster tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, Levon Aronian leads after eight rounds with 6.0. Sergey Karjakin is one-half point behind in second. Their battle today is critical to the final standings. Aronian has White.

Aronian,Levon (2812) -- Karjakin,Sergey (2759) [E15]
Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee (9), 23.01.2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Bg2 c6 9.e4 d5 10.exd5 cxd5 11.Ne5

Black to move

11...Bb7 

Reference Game: 11...Nfd7 12.0–0 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nd7 14.Re1 dxc4 15.Bxa8 Qxa8 16.Bh6 Rd8 17.Qg4 Bf8 18.Rad1 Nc5 19.bxc4 Bb7 20.Rxd8 Qxd8 21.Rd1 Qc7 22.Bf4 Qc6 23.f3 Nd7 24.Ne4 Qa4 25.Rxd7 Bxe4 26.Rd8 Bg6 27.Bg5 Qa3 28.Qd4 h6 29.Qd6 Kh7 30.Qxf8 1–0 Aronian,L (2816) -- Karjakin,S (2778) Sao Paulo 2012

12.0–0 Nc6 13.Bf4 Na5 14.Rc1 Ba3 15.Rb1 Bb4

White to move

16.Ne2

Reference Game: 16.Na4 Ne4 17.a3 Be7 18.cxd5 exd5 19.b4 Nc6 20.Rc1 Rc8 21.Bh3 f5 22.f3 Nd6 23.Qd3 Nxe5 24.dxe5 Rxc1 25.Bxc1 Nc4 26.f4 b5 27.Nc3 Qb6+ 28.Rf2 d4 29.Ne2 Rd8 30.Qxf5 d3 31.Qe6+ Kf8 32.Qf5+ Ke8 33.Qxh7 d2 34.Bxd2 Rxd2 35.e6 Rd1+ 36.Bf1 Qxe6 37.Qh5+ Kf8 38.Nc3 Qc6 0–1 Aronian,L (2813) -- Karjakin,S (2767) Sandnes 2013

16...Nc6 17.Bg5 Be7 18.Nf4 Qd6 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.cxd5 exd5

White to move

21.Bxd5 Bxe5 22.dxe5 Qxe5 23.Re1 Qf6 24.Nh5 Qh6 25.Qg4 Qg6 26.Qh3 Rad8

White to move

There are some tactics here. I considered two moves, favoring the one played by Aronian.

27.Nf4

Be4 was the alternative.

27...Qf6

Of course. White can threaten checkmate with 28,Be4, but after 28...g6, White no longer seems to have an attack. How will Aronian increase the pressure?

28.Be4

I was hoping there was something better. But, I did not find it.

28...g6

Maybe if I understood why Karjakin spent more than nine minutes for this move, I would be a decent chess player, too.

29.Nd5 Qg7

Forcing a minor piece exchange is the first candidate move that comes to mind: 30.Ne7+ Nxe7 31.Bxb7. Aronian has an hour to half an hour for Karjakin. Will the clock be a factor over the next eleven moves?

30.Rbc1

This move shows why I follow Aronian's games. While I am looking at a simple tactic that creates an imbalance, but that also reduces the material on the board, he improves his weakest piece. Aronian finds ways to build pressure. Karjakin has faced this pressure before, of course. He became the youngest Grandmaster in history a dozen years ago, and his record stands today.

Among the building threats is an exchange of rook for two minor pieces.

30...Kh8

Most of the tactics that I was considering rely on a check at e7. Karjakin took that away.

White to move

31.Nxb6

Aronian shows there is still a discovery on c6 without the check.

31...axb6 32.Bxc6 Bxc6 33.Rxc6 Rd2 34.Qh4

I sometimes miss these quiet moves.

34...Rxa2

White to move

I was contemplating 35.Rxb6, but did not like 35...Qb2 with a battery on the second rank.

35.Qb4

Revealing the purpose, or one of them, behind the quiet move. Now, Qb2 loses instantly. Aronian should win the b-pawn. He will then have a passed pawn against which Karjakin must defend. Meanwhile, Karjakin will not be able to develop threats against f2.

35...h5 36.Qxb6

The pawn falls. With twenty minutes to go for four moves, Karjakin should easily reach the time control. However, his position is now clearly worse even though the advantage for White is not yet decisive.

36...Ra1 37.Rcc1

Can Aronian get a rook behind his passed pawn and keep it there? Perhaps his plan is to post his queen on c5 in order to usher the pawn to b6.

One possible line: 37...Rxc1 38.Rxc1 Qb2 39.Qe3 with threats of Qc6+ and Qh6+ may be bad for Black. We may see. Qh6+ does not look dangerous, but an exchange of queens on c3 should give White a winning advantage.

37...Rxc1 38.Rxc1 Qb2

My line has been played part-way, and now I notice that 39.Qe3 is not necessary to defend the pawn because Qc5 hits the rook.

White to move

39.Rd1!

So often when I am looking at one move and Aronian plays something else, I instantly realize that his idea offers more flexibility. I go for the obvious direct threat; he builds pressure. He is number two in the world; I am an A Class club player.

39...Kh7 40.Qb5

I was looking at 40.Qb7.

40...Kg7

Both players have made the first time control. I must leave for work soon. Chances are good that this post will be finished many hours after the game ends.

41.Qd3 Rb8 42.Rb1

Black to move

I marvel at how Aronian managed to get his rook behind his passed pawn.

42...Qe5 43.Qd2 h4

How will Aronian address the threat of h4-h3?

44.Qb2

I think the queens are coming off. White's extra pawn should prove decisive. How far will they play it out? On the other hand, 44...Kf6 may give Black a sufficiently active king to hold the position a pawn down.

Karjakin thought for eighteen minutes and chose the line that I thought was best.

44...Qxb2 45.Rxb2 Rb4 46.Kf1

Black to move

I expect Aronian to win this game, but that may simply reveal how little that I understand rook endings.

46...Kf6 47.Ke2 Kf5

I'm off to work and will update this post this evening long after the game has ended.

Shortly after I arrived at work, I was able to check on this game and see that Aronian had won. I went over the whole game with a couple of my chess students.

48.Kd3 g5 49.Kc3 Rb7 50.b4 Kg4 51.b5 Kh3 52.gxh4 gxh4 53.f4 Kg4

White to move

54.b6 f5 55.Kd4 Kxf4 56.Rb3 h3 57.Kd5 Kg4 58.Kc6 Rb8 59.Rg3+ Kh4 60.b7 f4 61.Rg7 1-0

Black to move

It took me a couple of minutes at lunch to see that, indeed, Black is utterly and hopelessly lost and that I could finish it against a computer or Anand or Carlsen. The ending was probably elementary for Aronian, but most of the rest of us can learn from his technique.

Leinier Dominguez, one of three players 1 1/2 points behind Aronian has White against him on Saturday. Dominguez is the strongest Cuban player since Jose R. Capablanca.