Biel 2011, Rounds 2 & 3
In round 2, the main story was against Magnus Carlsen, who won impressively against Alexei Shirov on the White side of a Meran. The Semi-Slav has long been one of Shirov's favorite openings, while Carlsen - except when he was working with Kasparov - has typically avoided the sharpest, most theoretical lines when possible. On this occasion he didn't, and the result was success.
An odd game, a slight echo of one of their games back in 2009 (with colors and results reversed), was Vachier-Lagrave vs. Morozevich. In 2009, Moro came out of the opening in a Najdorf with a winning advantage, with the most notable feature being Black's ridiculous rook stuck in the corner. (Black had pawns on g7 and h6, a king on g8 and a rook on h8; White had a pawn on g6 and soon a pawn on h5 preventing Black from escaping.) White was winning for a while and better for a long time, but somehow Vachier-Lagrave escaped and won. In their first game this year, it was Vachier-Lagrave who came out of the opening (with White) in great shape with Morozevich's pieces all bottled up, with the subsequent story following the old script: White was winning, then in good shape, and then eventually lost. That put Morozevich in clear second (behind Carlsen) with 1.5. (Or rather, with 4 points to Carlsen's 6, as they're [unfortunately] using 3-1-0 scoring.)
The third game was a long draw, with Caruana enjoying an advantage against Pelletier but not quite managing to convert it to a win.
Round 3:
Morozevich - Carlsen was the game of the day, and it lived up to the billing. Play was interesting throughout with all sorts of imbalances. They castled on opposite sides, and Carlsen enjoyed the initiative while Morozevich had the better structure. For a while Morozevich was probably better, then Carlsen was better for a short while, and finally the game ended in perpetual check.
Pelletier - Vachier-Lagrave was also exciting. Pelletier looked to squeeze his opponent with White in an old-fashioned King's Indian, but Black's 15...Nxd5! gave the game a sharp turn. Black probably should have played 18...Be5, with sufficient compensation for the sacrificed material, and later 26.Rxc7 (aiming to play Qc3 as soon as feasible) would have been very strong for White. Even 30.Qe1 would have maintained winning chances, but Pelletier, possibly in time pressure, bailed out with 30.Rxg3, allowing a perpetual.
There was one win today when Shirov outplayed Caruana a little at a time. The tide started to turn against the youngster after his 33...Qc6, which led to the loss of the d-pawn for nothing. Better was 33...Qb6! 34.Qxd7 Qxb3 with a likely draw.
Standings After Round 3 (remember, based on 3-1-0 scoring):
1. Carlsen 7 (of 9; real score 2.5/3)
2. Morozevich 5 (2)
3. Shirov 4 (1.5)
4-6. Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Pelletier 2 (1)
Tournament site here.
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