Seeing Patterns

Tal's Winning Chess Combinations (1979) has influenced my perception. Last week, I read the first chapter of this book by Mikhail Tal and Victor Khenkin, which exists under several titles with and without Tal's authorship. This chapter concerns the rook and corridor checkmates and checkmate threats. These corridor vulnerabilities are most often back-rank weaknesses, but there are other corridors, including a position where a rook must be given up to avoid checkmate between two walls of pawns alongside the f-file.

The large number of deflection combinations to threaten checkmate has made me more alert to these possibilities when going through other games. Of course, these ideas are not new to me. I was familiar with the idea even before Lev Alburt's Chess Training Pocket Book (1997), which I read fifteen years ago, stimulated my imagination for the maneuvers with this exercise.

White to move

Alburt gives the exercise the title, "Defection Detection". It is number 93 in the book.

This morning, I was reading Baskaran Adhiban's annotations to his draw against Wesley So at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January when the deflection motif jumped into my perception. After 25.Bxa7, So could have played 25...Rxa7. He did not, playing 25...Bxc3 instead.

What if he had grabbed the bishop?

White to move

Immediately, I saw 26.Qd5+ Kh8 27.Qxe5. However, nothing compels the suicidal 27...Rxe5. So would have had choices: 27...Raa8, 27...Qb6+, and others. In Adhiban's case, his offer of a bishop wins So's bishop, but no more. The game, as he points out, was, "[a]n exciting draw with lots of interesting twists!" (Chess Informant 131, 49).

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

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.

So -- Vachier-Lagrave

Live Blogging

Wesley So has been impressing me during his post-game analysis with Yasser Seirawan. He is currently tied for second place with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ding Liren in the 2015 Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee with 5.5/8. Today's match-up between So and Vachier-Lagrave has important implications for the race to catch Magnus carlsen, if that is even possible. If not, the battle for second place has importance too.

I was awake and looking at the website on my iPad when the games started. Usually, the games have been underway for 90 minutes when I rise. I started trying to guess the move.

The first moves came fast and with the 30-second increment, So had built up his time from the initial 1:40 to 1:49 by the time he played 20.Qc1. Vachier-Lagrave was moving slightly slower, but still managed to add three minutes to his clock. I am using the Ches24 iPad app to watch the game, and find no reason to expect that the clock in the app is particularly reliable.

So,Wesley (2762) -- Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2757) [D87]
Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee, 20.01.2015

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0–0 10.0–0 

I've been in this position often enough both as White and Black that this game stimulates additional interest.

Black to move

10...b6

I have played 10...Na5 in recent games. I had White in the only game in my personal database with 10...b6. I won.

10...Qc7 is the most popular move, and is one that I have both played and played against.

11.dxc5 Qc7

Vachier-Lagrave has had both sides of this position in recent years. So has played the Black side.

12.Nd4 Ne5 13.Nb5 Qb8 14.Be2 bxc5 15.f4

I thought about this move but did not have time to think about its merits before it was played. So's moves seem to come instantly while Vachier-Lagrave thinks for almost half a minute.

15...Ng4 16.Bxc5

So has won a pawn.

16...a6 17.Na3

But, now, perhaps his knight is misplaced.

17...Qc7 18.Bd4 e5 19.fxe5 Nxe5

White to move

Three games in my Grandmaster database have reached this position.

20.Qc1

So moved instantly. Clearly he prepared to reach this position.

Reference Game:

Bacrot,E (2720) -- Vachier Lagrave,M (2762) [D86]
FIDE World Rapid 2014 Dubai UAE (4.5), 16.06.2014

20.Qd2 Rb8 21.Nc2 Rb2 22.Kh1 Rd8 23.Bd1 Be6 24.Qc1 Qb8 25.Be2 Bxa2 26.c4 Nf3 27.Rxf3 Bxd4 28.Ra3 Rxc2 29.Qxc2 Bxa1 30.Qxa2 Be5 31.Rxa6 Qb4 32.Bf1 0–1

20...Bg4

Here So thought for a few minutes. I had the time to contemplate two alternatives: 21.Qe3 and the line So played.

21.Bxg4 Nxg4 22.Qf4 Qxf4 23.Rxf4 Ne5 24.Rb1

Black to move

Seizing the open file seems obvious, but can White secure it?

If 24...Rab8, 25.Rxb8 concedes the file. Two other possibilities suggest themselves:

25.Rff1 and 25.Rb3.

24...Rac8

Vachier-Lagrave avoids trades. He is down a pawn after all.

25.h3N

25.Rff1 was played in Estremera Panos -- Rambaldi, Chambery 2014.

25...Rfd8

So has used nearly an hour since move 21 and is thinking still. Vachier-Lagrave has used 35 minutes.

26.Rff1

And now Vachier-Lagrave is thinking.

26...Nd3

Seeing that Black can exchange bishops and win back the pawn, I started to consider Rb7 when So played it.

27.Rb7 Nc5

Vachier-Lagrave moved instantly.

White to move

28.Rfxf7 Nxb7 is hope chess because of the zwischenzug 28...Bxd4+.

28.Bxc5 sets up 29.Rfxf7, but after 29...Bxc3, White's rooks are not even blind swine with g7 defended. Black would be better.

28.Rbxf7 doubles the rooks on the f-file when the sseventh rank is the goal. It will take time for White to get his pieces better coordinated.

28.Re7

Seem best.

28...Bf8

White's position seems a little more difficult than Black's. While I was looking at an open file, Vachier-Lagrave simply brought his rooks to the center. Then, he repositioned his knight, which was already better than So's misplaced stallion.

As White, I would like to get both rooks on the seventh rank, but not at the cost of letting the center collapse.

29.Re5 does not retain the extra pawn. 29...Nxe4 30.Rxe4 Bxa3, but it might be nice to trade knights.

29.Rexf7 is not particularly attractive. 29...Nxe4 30.Nb1. 30.Nc2 looks as though it would lose a piece.

29.Bxc5!?

I was looking at this move, but wary.

29...Rxc5

I expected 29...Bxc5.

30.Rexf7 Rxc3 31.Nb1

The king's knight has found himself on the queen's knight's starting square.

Black to move

31...Rc2 32.Kh1 Bg7

So has 22 minutes for the next eight moves. Vachier-Lagrave has 50.

While I was putting out the garbage, Levon Aronian offered some analysis of this game. He thinks that Black is better. I need to rewind the video to see his analysis as I caught only the last few seconds.

Aronian showed a variation in which White goes after the a-pawn and gets mated. So will find something better, but he should be playing for a draw, it seems to me.

33.Na3 Rxa2 34.Nc4 Rf8 35.Rxf8+ Bxf8 36.e5

Black to move

36...Bc5 37.g4 Rc2 38.Nd6 Re2 39.Ra1 Rxe5 40.Nb7

I expected 40.Rxa6 Bxd6 41.Rxd6 and a draw, which would be convenient as I have essays to grade for the college history course that I am teaching.

40...Be7

Both players get another 50 minutes on the clock.

41.Rxa6 Kg7 42.Nd6 Bxd6 43.Rxd6 1/2-1/2

I was rooting for So, but also found Vachier-Lagrave's resilience impressive. He got the better position and was ahead on the clock. So, however, did not lose his head and go for Aronian's fantasy line that spelled disaster.

As a devotee of the Grunfeld on the Black side, I sense that studying some of Vachier-Lagrave's games are in my immediate future.

The host is interviewing So. I'll watch that and then see if I can get some papers graded before this afternoon's chess club.

Aronian -- So, Tata Steel 2014

The Tata Steel Grandmaster tournament in Wijk aan Zee has a history that goes back to the 1930s when it was first organized as a small, local chess tournament for workers at the Hoogoven Steelworks. Players from outside the Netherlands first joined the event in 1946. Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (1911-1980) from Belgium won the main tournament in that year. From 1952, players from eastern European countries have participated, and Vasja Pirc (1907-1980) from Yugoslavia shared first in 1954.

In the 1970s, I bought a book that has all of the games from the 1975 Grandmaster Tournament, won by Lajos Portisch (1937- ). I learned a lot about chess openings, tactics, and strategy from this book. It also made me familiar with the names of some Grandmasters, including Jan Timman, playing again this year in the B group. Playing through the games in the tournament book led me to buy a copy of Svetozar Gligoric's (1923-2012) selected games and play through some of the games in it as well. By the time that I started college in 1979, I had amassed a library of perhaps a dozen chess books, some of which I still have today.

In 2000, I followed the games live on the Internet Chess Club. Since then, I have often devoted a fair portion of my early mornings in January to watching live games on my computer screen. I have used ICC, the Playchess server, and in recent years the official tournament site. Some years I have tried to watch as many as nine games at once, and sometimes switching which nine through the course of the day. The past couple of years, I have tried to focus on one key game each day, trying to understand it as if I were there in the players' seats.

Some years I have followed closely the commentary, even giving Yasser Seirawan (1960- ) advice concerning cough drops as his voice grows weary through the broadcast. For the most part this year, I am ignoring the commentary and avoiding the engine evaluations. I want to assess the games for myself before I look to these other terrific resources.

I usually follow the A group, although I recall looking at the games of a young player who won the C group in 2004--Magnus Carlsen.

This year I am following Levon Aronian's games. He has White against Wesley So today. Aronian is the tournament leader after five rounds. So is one of two players 1/2 point behind. Today's game will prove important for the final standings.

Aronian,Levon (2812) -- So ,Wesley (2719) [A16]
Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee (6), 18.01.2014

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be2 c5 8.0–0 Nc6 9.Qa4 Bd7 10.Qa3 Qa5

White to move

11.Rd1 0–0 12.Rb1

This game started from an English Opening, but it resembles a Grunfeld Defense in certain respects. Maybe certain variations of the English often resemble the Grunfeld. I do not know. I have not thought about it before. Learning such patterns may become an important element in my training if I am to rise above my present level. Players below 1800 do not need to study openings beyond elementary opening principles. However, I have been over 1800 for nearly five years. I should know more about openings.

12...b6 13.d4 Qxa3 14.Bxa3 Bg4 15.dxc5 Bxc3 16.Ba6

I awoke at 5:00 am turned on my iPad and opened the website for this tournament, but then decided to close my eyes for more sleep. When I awoke the second time, this was the position on the board.

Black to move

16...Rab8 17.Rdc1 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Bd2 19.Rd1 Bc3 20.Kg2 bxc5 21.Bxc5 Bb4 22.Be3 Bd6

White to move

With my blog post begun, the game more or less up-to-date, and coffee in my cup, I can begin the task of thinking alongside Aronian.

Are doubled f-pawns a weakness? How valuable is the bishop pair against a bishop and a knight with rooks on the board?

Aronian is close to 40 minutes ahead on the clock, which seems to a pattern in his play in this tournament. It is nice to have an opponent in time pressure, as it helps him to make errors. So has just over one minute plus the thirty second increment for each move until the game reaches move 40.

23.Rbc1 Nb4 24.Bc4 Rfc8

I glanced at Black's unprotected a-pawn and quickly realized that 25.Bxa7 Ra8 26.Bd6 allows Black to capture the pawn on a2. If White has prospects of an advantage in this game, there will need to be pawns on both sides of the board.

Aronian appears to be thinking for a long time. I am certain that he has a much better notion than I do concerning how to proceed to apply pressure. He wants to give So a chance to err in a position that is probably equal, although there are imbalances.

Sometimes when it seems that a player goes into an exceptionally long think, there are problems with the broadcast. Later, I discover that many moves have been played. Even so, this position does seem to be one that merits deep analysis.

White to move

Trying to swap one set of rooks is one idea that occurs to this patzer. Pushing the forward f-pawn is another.

It was a problem with the broadcast, or with my home internet. Aronian used less than four minutes to play one of my candidate moves. He used more than five minutes on the next move, and then sixteen on the move after that.

25.f4 Kf8 26.a3 Nc6 27.Ba6 Bxa3

So. perhaps I was wrong about the importance of keeping this pawn.

28.Rc4 Rd8 29.Ra1 Bb2 30.Raa4 Rd6 31.e5 Re6 32.Rc2

Black to move

32...Nd8 33.Bxa7 Ra8 34.Bb5 Bxe5 35.fxe5 Rxe5 36.Be3 1-0

I did not find Aronian's ideas today. His play in this event is impressive. Studying these games may well prove useful in learning how to maneuver bishops for advantage.

Aronian extended his lead today unless Anish Giri manages to keep pace 1/2 point behind. Giri is playing Boris Gelfand, who so far is having a horrible event.

Wesley So Wins Corus C

Scroll down to "Historic Finale" for the live blog of today's games

Most of the games are still in progress at this moment. But Wesley So's short draw with David Howell gives So 9.5 and first place in the Corus C Group. Anish Giri and Tiger Hillarp Persson are battling other players to determine which of them will place second. Giri led Persson by half a point at the start of play today.

So - Howell [C96]
Corus Chess (13), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5 11.d4 Nxe4 12.Nxe5 f6 13.Nd3 Bd6 14.Bf4 Nc4 15.b3 Nb6 16.Qc1 Re8 17.Bxd6 cxd6 18.Nf4 f5 19.a4 bxa4 ½–½

At 16, Wesley So is the second youngest player in this year's tournament. He became a Grandmaster at 14 years, 1 month, 28 days--the seventh youngest Grandmaster in history. The youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title remains Sergei Karjakin, currently battling for first in the Corus A Group with Leinier Dominguez. Karjakin became a GM at 12 and just turned 19. As the winner of the C Group, So will be invited to participate in the B Group at Corus Chess 2010.