Category Archives: Grand Prix – Zug 2013

Grand Prix – Zug 2013 6th round

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Kasimdzhanov-Nakamura
(Photo taken from the official site of the event)

There have been two decisive games yesterday but all games were really interesting with various missed chances.

Round 6 on 2013/04/24 at 14:00

GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709 0 – 1 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767
GM Radjabov Teimour 2793 ½ – ½ GM Topalov Veselin 2771
GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733 1 – 0 GM Kamsky Gata 2741
GM Morozevich Alexander 2758 ½ – ½ GM Leko Peter 2744
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766 ½ – ½ GM Giri Anish 2727
GM Caruana Fabiano 2772 ½ – ½ GM Karjakin Sergey 2786

Ponomariov-Kamsky transformed into a Nimzo-Indian with Black making a novelty on move 15. White looked a little better due to space advantage in the center and queenside throughout the middlegame. He could have pushed …d5 even on move 27 and get an attack but even on 29th it was very strong and he immediately became much better. Once Black got pinned on the e-file, position became hopeless…

Interesting choice of move order was played in Kasimdzhanov-Nakamura. White had a more pleasant position in the opening and middlegame. The game became quite messy when Black castled long and perhaps white should have attacked with a pawn sacrifice – 19.b5 and then 20.a4 to try to get to the King first. The idea of a R sac on d6 was interesting but didn’t work although Black pieces were very passive.

Pairings of today’s round

GM Karjakin Sergey 2786 – GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709
GM Giri Anish 2727 – GM Caruana Fabiano 2772
GM Leko Peter 2744 – GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766
GM Kamsky Gata 2741 – GM Morozevich Alexander 2758
GM Topalov Veselin 2771 – GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767 – GM Radjabov Teimour 2793

Official Site.

Grand Prix – Zug 2013 5th round

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Playing hall, 5th round
(photo taken from the official site)

What an interesting day – 5 games out of 6 were decisive!

Results of the 5th round

GM Caruana Fabiano 2772 1 – 0 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709
GM Karjakin Sergey 2786 1 – 0 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766
GM Giri Anish 2727 0 – 1 GM Morozevich Alexander 2758
GM Leko Peter 2744 ½ – ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733
GM Kamsky Gata 2741 1 – 0 GM Radjabov Teimour 2793
GM Topalov Veselin 2771 1 – 0 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767

Leko-Ponomariov was a Bogo-Indian where White made a novelty on move 13. Black equalized quite easily and once queens came off it wasn’t difficult to predict the outcome.

Karjakin-Mamedyarov was a Classical Caro-Kann and White had made a novelty on move 16 – Nxh6. A positional sacrifice in a way – no clear path to an attack, no active pieces on the kingside. Still, White had a clear plan of g2-g4-g5 after which the Black king didn’t feel safe at all.

Giri-Morozevich was a King’s Indian Fianchetto variation. Black got a very good position out of the opening, sacrificed a pawn on move 21 and got an interesting play on the e-file & two bishops for it.

Caruana-Kasimdzhanov was a Queen’s Gambit Declined in which 13.Rd1 was an interesting novelty. The position looked fairly equal in the middlegame as both sides were maneuvering due to lack of open files. 37…b5 was done to block the position and try to create a fortress but instead 37…Qb5 was still equal.

Kamsky-Radjabov was a Rossolimo in which white implemented a novelty on move 9, instead of Tal’s 9.Ba3. Black’s position looked solid and equal throughout the middlegame when he decided to simplify and sacrifice a pawn to get to a R endgame. It looked drawish but naturally White decided to play it out :).42…Rb1 would have made it very difficult for white to win, instead he allowed Rc7+ and was soon lost.

Topalov-Nakamura was a Ruy Lopez which reminded me of Fischer games 🙂 Exchange on e5, then a4-axb5 and play on the a-file for a small advantage or more. Black’s last change of getting counterplay was 33…Nh1 or 33…Nef5 stopping the white h-pawn from advancing.

Round 6 on 2013/04/24 at 14:00

GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709 – GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767
GM Radjabov Teimour 2793 – GM Topalov Veselin 2771
GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733 – GM Kamsky Gata 2741
GM Morozevich Alexander 2758 – GM Leko Peter 2744
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766 – GM Giri Anish 2727
GM Caruana Fabiano 2772 – GM Karjakin Sergey 2786

Official Site.

Grand Prix – Zug 2013 4th round

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Morozevich-Karjakin
(Photo taken from the official site)

Again all games were drawn, despite many interesting positions! Leaders are the same – Ponomariov, Topalov and Morozevich and they have 2.5 points out of 4 games.

Results of the 4th round

Round 4 on 2013/04/21 at 14:00

GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709 ½ – ½ GM Topalov Veselin 2771
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767 ½ – ½ GM Kamsky Gata 2741
GM Radjabov Teimour 2793 ½ – ½ GM Leko Peter 2744
GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733 ½ – ½ GM Giri Anish 2727
GM Morozevich Alexander 2758 ½ – ½ GM Karjakin Sergey 2786
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766 ½ – ½ GM Caruana Fabiano 2772

Radjabov-Leko was a Queen’s Gambit Declined. Black King was safe in the center, even though the center was quite open. 18.Rb5-Re5 maneuver looks interesting and perhaps could give white an initiative if not more. Also, 33.g4 was an interesting path leading to advantage.

In Nakamura-Kamsky, Black equalized rather easily out of a mixture of Slav and Gruenfeld. Later on, due to better pieces, White won a pawn but Black was never in danger of losing due to active Rook.

Kasimdzhanov-Topalov was a King’s Indian with exd4 where White implemented a rare but very interesting piece sacrifice on f5. 14…d5 was a novelty which gave white the piece back by force but stopped the initiative. The position would have become equal had Black played 20…Bf8.

In Ponomariov-Giri, Black got a very solid position from the Archangel variation of Ruy Lopez. Once rooks came off the board nobody could press for an advantage anymore.

In Morozevich-Karjakin, White chose the very rare 9.Rc1 in the Classical Nimzo Indian and soon launched a pawn attack on the kingside. Still but breaking through in the center, Black’s position didn’t look dangerous. The R and bishop endgame looked equal despite the g7-pawn. Perhaps, it was worth playing 26…Rc5, preventing Bc2 and making the game more simple. The game got very complicated in the Bishops endgame and both sides missed many nice opportunities.

In Mamedyarov-Caruana game Black played an interesting novelty (14…Nc5) in the well known Gruenfeld line. 19.Rxf7 was a very nice sacrifice but it didn’t seem to work as Black King became safe again after some moves.

Today is the rest day!

Pairings of the 5th round

GM Caruana Fabiano 2772 – GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709
GM Karjakin Sergey 2786 – GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766
GM Giri Anish 2727 – GM Morozevich Alexander 2758
GM Leko Peter 2744 – GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733
GM Kamsky Gata 2741 – GM Radjabov Teimour 2793
GM Topalov Veselin 2771 – GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767

Official Site.

Grand Prix – Zug 2013 3rd round

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Leko-Nakamura
(Photo taken from the official site)

All games ended in a draw! Ponomariov, Morozevich and Topalov lead the tournament with 2 points.

Round 3 on 2013/04/20 at 14:00

GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766 ½ – ½ GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709
GM Caruana Fabiano 2772 ½ – ½ GM Morozevich Alexander 2758
GM Karjakin Sergey 2786 ½ – ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733
GM Giri Anish 2727 ½ – ½ GM Radjabov Teimour 2793
GM Leko Peter 2744 ½ – ½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767
GM Kamsky Gata 2741 ½ – ½ GM Topalov Veselin 2771

Caruana-Morozevich was a quiet Spanish where Black managed to equalize by pushing c7-c6 and exchanges lots of pieces.

Mamedyarov-Kasimdzhanov was a Queen’s Gambit Declined. Black decided to allow exchanges in the center and got an isolated pawn in the opening instead of the usual 9…exd5. Still he controlled the center well and had a half open b-file to play on for it. After exchanging the minor pieces and the appearance of a Q and R middlegame the game became equal.

Karjakin-Ponomariov was a relatively rare line of the Scotch game which was played by many GMs including Carlsen with white. 12.Rhe1 was a novelty instead of Movsesian’s 12.Nd4 played last year. After many pieces came off the board white had a slight advantage in space and better pieces but didn’t manage to transform it into something larger.

Giri-Radjabov was a Catalan where white played the rare 12.a3 instead of the usual 12.Qc2 or 12.Bf4. Perhaps White should have gone for a pawn sacrifice 16.Nc5 but instead decided to repeat the position.

Leko-Nakamura was another “Poisoned Pawn” line but of the French :), with Nakamura playing it before at least twice (against Anand and Karjakin). Known theory ended on move 19 of Black as Nakamura made a novelty 19…Ba3 instead of the usual 19…Rc8. Looks like White was better in the middlegame and perhaps instead of exchange the dark square Bishops it was better to play 30.Qe3 securing a nice advantage.

Kamsky-Topalov was a rare line of the Moscow variation with 4.c3 (usual moves being 4.d4 and 4.0-0). Black got a solid position out of the opening and later initiative with the help of exd4 and knight maneuver Nd7-f8-e6. 26…Rxc3 was definitely an interesting exchange sacrifice but since White didn’t prevent it, it was still good on the next move. After that Black got a much better position and could have sealed it with 34…Qe5 going for the light squares on the kingside which got weakned by …g3.

Pairings of the 4th round

GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709 – GM Topalov Veselin 2771
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767 – GM Kamsky Gata 2741
GM Radjabov Teimour 2793 – GM Leko Peter 2744
GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733 – GM Giri Anish 2727
GM Morozevich Alexander 2758 – GM Karjakin Sergey 2786
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766 – GM Caruana Fabiano 2772

Official Site.

Grand Prix – Zug 2013 2nd round

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GP Zug, 2nd round
(Photo taken from the official site)

There were many fighting games yesterday and even draws (maybe except Morozevich-Mamedyarov) were not short at all. Topalov, Ponomariov and Morozevich lead the vent with 1.5 out of 2.

Results of 2nd round

GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709 1 – 0 GM Kamsky Gata 2741
GM Topalov Veselin 2771 1 – 0 GM Leko Peter 2744
GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767 ½ – ½ GM Giri Anish 2727
GM Radjabov Teimour 2793 ½ – ½ GM Karjakin Sergey 2786
GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733 1 – 0 GM Caruana Fabiano 2772
GM Morozevich Alexander 2758 ½ – ½ GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766

Kasimdzhanov-Kamsky was a Tarrasch French where Black got his fair share of counterplay but White tried to create an attack on the kingside. 14.Qe3 was a novelty. After the position opened up in the center, Black had the possibility to repeat the moves but since the position was very interesting, he didn’t.

Round 3 on 2013/04/20 at 14:00

GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2766 – GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2709
GM Caruana Fabiano 2772 – GM Morozevich Alexander 2758
GM Karjakin Sergey 2786 – GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2733
GM Giri Anish 2727 – GM Radjabov Teimour 2793
GM Leko Peter 2744 – GM Nakamura Hikaru 2767
GM Kamsky Gata 2741 – GM Topalov Veselin 2771

Official Site.