This Week's ChessVideos Show: The Quick Ruy Lopez, Part 6: Part 2 on Berlin Sidelines
We continue our very long-lasting series on the "quick" Ruy Lopez this week with another look at Berlin sidelines. This time around, it's the variations 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 and 5.Qe2 that come under scrutiny. Those of you looking for ways to avoid the "Wall" may want a look, and those of you who play the Berlin almost definitely will. (Next time, we start looking at the main line, i.e. the endgame that arises after 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8.)
The show is here and it's free (free registration required), available on-demand for the next month or so.
Another Gelfand Interview
Complete with ideas you can use in your own training. Have a read, here.
Ponomariov Continues to Lead Ukraine Championship
The Ukranian Championship in Kiev is extremely strong, and with several 2700s and several more players in the upper 2600s, it's almost as worth keeping an eye on as Bazna. The top seed, former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov, has led from the very start, and continues in first place after 6 of 11 rounds. He has 4.5 points, half a point more than Yuriy Kryvoruchko and a point more than Pavel Eljanov, Alexander Moiseenko, Evgenij Miroshnichenko and Zahar Efimenko.
(Convenient English-language materials, for the non-Russian readers among us, are here.)
Bazna, Round 5: Carlsen, Karjakin Win, Stand 1-2 At The Halfway Point
There were two decisive games today and the third was a very lively draw. That's the way to enter the rest day!
Magnus Carlsen defeated Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu with surprising ease. He stood a little better with White in a queenless QGA, but the advantage quickly turned decisive as Nisipeanu completely lost his way. With the win, Carlsen stayed half a point ahead of Sergey Karjakin to remain in clear first, and also kept ahead of Viswanathan Anand on the live rating lists.
Karjakin also won, catching an out-of-form Vassily Ivanchuk napping with the dirty trick 15...Bc8-e6 16.Rad1 Bxh3! Prior to White's 16th move the sac wouldn't have been as strong, as White's queen could subsequently retreat from c2 to d1, but once that avenue was cut off it was a different story. White still could have held with 17.d4, but after 17.c4? he wound up too far behind in material, and Karjakin won comfortably.
Teimour Radjabov and Hikaru Nakamura tested a Poisoned Pawn-like variation in the Najdorf whose name, if it exists, is unknown to me. (The line goes 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.f4 e5 8.Nf5 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 and so on.) Both players were in prep for a long time, well past the official "novelty", and the result was a position where Nakamura was up an exchange but Radjabov's pieces were extremely active. This was still the case when they agreed to a draw, somewhat prematurely, on move 31. Radjabov may not have stood better, but he could have continued. With only 10 minutes left for his last nine moves, and having had to prove compensation for a while, he probably felt relieved even if the trend had been slightly in his favor the last few moves.
Standings After Round 5:
1. Carlsen 3.5
2. Karjakin 3
3. Nakamura 2.5
4-6. Radjabov, Nisipeanu, Ivanchuk 2
Pairings for Round 6 (on Friday):
Radjabov - Ivanchuk
Nakamura - Carlsen
Karjakin - Nisipeanu
Bazna, Round 4: Three Draws
At the King's Tournament the spectators were treated to a super-GM lesson on how to draw in a rook ending a pawn down. Karjakin did it against Carlsen and Ivanchuk did it against Nakamura. Meanwhile, the third game saw Radjabov take his old favorite Schliemann out of mothballs against Nisipeanu, and he drew without distress. The games may not have been scintillating and no one had any real winning chances, but all three games had some fight and their instructive moments.
Standings After Round 4:
- 1. Carlsen 2.5
- 2-5. Nakamura, Nisipeanu, Ivanchuk, Karjakin 2
- 6. Radjabov 1.5
Round 5 Pairings:
- Radjabov - Nakamura
- Ivanchuk - Karjakin
- Carlsen - Nisipeanu
The games, with my comments, can be replayed here.
Other Events: Three Winners in Sigeman, Ponomariov Leads in Ukraine
In Sigeman, co-leaders Tikkanen and Giri faced off in the last round with the opportunity to take clear first by winning the game; as it turned out, they drew. Meanwhile, So bounced back from yesterday's loss, defeating Hector with Black, and so the trio of Tikkanen, Giri and So all tied for first with 3/5. Had Shirov beaten Grandelius he would have made it a four-way tie, but he only drew. Grandelius was a further half a point back, and Hector was last with 1.5.
In the Ukranian Championship, Ponomariov drew his fourth round game, but as Kryvoruchko was defeated by Volokitin, that was enough to put him in clear first, half a point ahead of Kryvoruchko, Eljanov and Areshchenko. Unlike the mini-tournament above, this is a 12-rounder, so there's plenty of chess yet to be played.
Bazna, Round 3: Two Draws and Nisipeanu Beats Ivanchuk
Two of the three games today were relatively easy-going. Neither Karjakin nor Carlsen obtained anything with White against Nakamura and Rajdabov, respectively, and both games were drawn before the first time control.
Nisipeanu-Ivanchuk was another matter altogether. Black played the Berlin in an incredible way. Granted, it isn't an open game like a 19th century King's Gambit, but tempi surely mean something, don't they? After 16 moves Ivanchuk could count such moves as Kxd8, Ke8, h5, and Ne7-f5-e7-g6-e7-f5 among his achievements, and somehow he wasn't dead lost as a result. Not quite, but his position was precarious. 19...a5 was perhaps one luxury too many, and then he really was in trouble.
At that point, he defended like a genius (with one exception) until the end of the time control. He could have drawn by exchanging rooks on move 42, and probably had some drawing chances until his 47th move. After that, there was no further forgiveness to be had, and Ivanchuk resigned on move 54, putting both players on 50% and leaving Carlsen alone in first.
Standings After Round 3:
- 1. Carlsen 2
- 2-5. Nakamura, Nisipeanu, Ivanchuk, Karjakin 1.5
- 6. Radjabov 1
Round 4 Pairings:
- Nisipeanu - Radjabov
- Karjakin - Carlsen
- Nakamura - Ivanchuk
Other Events: Sigeman, Ukranian Championship
In the Sigeman tournament, the penultimate round had a couple of surprises. Giri's grinding away for 111 moves against Hector before having to acknowledge the draw wasn't one, but the other two games were. First, Tikkanen continued to surprise, holding on with Black against Shirov and saving a draw. That kept him tied for first with Giri. The other surprise was that one of the co-leaders dropped off. So had White, more than 100 rating points and a much better tournament going than Grandelius, but that didn't help in the game - he was massacred. With one round to go, Giri and Tikkanen are tied for first with 2.5/4, half a point ahead of Shirov and So, and a full point ahead of Hector and Grandelius. Conveniently, the leaders play in the final round, with Tikkanen getting the white pieces.
The Ukranian Championship got underway on Thursday, and it's very strong. Ivanchuk isn't there because he's in Bazna, and Karjakin left for Russia last year, but all the other big guys are playing: Ponomariov, Eljanov, Efimenko, Areshchenko, Volokitin and so on. After three rounds, Ponomariov and Kryvoruchko lead with 2.5 points apiece.
Bazna, Round 2: The Leaders Draw, Nakamura Wins
Today's action in the 5th King's Tournament featured one short game and two marathons. The short game, unfortunately, was the battle of the leaders. Vassily Ivanchuk played 4.d3 against Magnus Carlsen's Berlin, got nothing, and the players had to struggle to make the game last 33 moves. It's not that they didn't try, but that a position arose where there was nothing to try.
Meanwhile, as predicted by the prophet Regan, Hikaru Nakamura showed himself able to do damage to the non-Carlsen portion of the field. In a Chigorin Ruy Nakamura tortured Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu for a long time, but without any success. Unfortunately for Nisipeanu, he found an idea that wins in every line but one. The "but one" part was a problem, though. Nakamura's only move was absolutely forced, easy to find and simply winning.
An even longer game in terms of moves, but shorter in time, was the 90-mover between Teimour Radjabov and Sergey Karjakin. Before they reached move 20, it was clear that Black (Karjakin) was banking on a fortress and White would have all the fun and winning chances. Karjakin defended dutifully, and 70+ moves later got his reward.
Standings After Round 2:
- 1-2. Carlsen, Ivanchuk 1.5
- 3-4. Karjakin, Nakamura 1
- 5-6. Radjabov, Nisipeanu .5
Round 3 Pairings:
- Carlsen - Radjabov
- Nisipeanu - Ivanchuk
- Karjakin - Nakamura
Games, with light notes, here.