74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2012 (8)
Carlsen and Aronian share Tata Steel lead after 8 rounds
IM Malcolm Pein - Wednesday 25th January 2012
Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian continue to share the lead after 8 rounds of the Tata Steel tournament. Malcolm Pein looks at Veselin Topalov's draw against Levon Aronian.
Topalov drew an interesting game against Levon Aronian in Round 8. Photo © Frits Agterdenbos. | http://www.chessvista.com
No change at the top in the eighth round of the Tata Steel tournament ay Wijk aan Zee. Vugar Gashimov was the only winner. World number one Magnus Carlsen found Teimour Radjabov in cautious mood and was even a fraction better on move 19 with black when he declined a draw but multiple exchanges led to dull equality. Carlsen remains in the joint lead with Levon Aronian who managed to create some counterplay when Veselin Topalov looked like getting the edge. The game appears to have little of interest but it was highly complex under the surface.
Topalov - L Aronian
Queen's Gambit Declined
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 0-0 6.a3 b6 7.Qc2 c5 8.Rd1 Nc6 9.cxd5 Nxd5! 10.dxc5 bxc5
(Now 11.e4 Nxf4 12.Rxd8 Rxd8 looks easier for Black to play for example 11.Qc1 Nd4 12.Qxf4?? Nc2+ 13.Ke2 Ba6 and mate next move)
11.e3 Qa5 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Rd8 14.Bd3 Ba6!
Levon Aronian
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Veselin Topalov
Position after 14...Ba6!
15.0-0
(15.Bxh7+ Kf8 16.Bd3 Bxd3 17.Rxd3 c4 18.Rd4 Nxe3! 19.Qh7 Nc2+! gets pretty random)
15...Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Nxc3 17.Qxc3 Qxc3 18.Bxc3 Kf8 19.Rxd8+ Rxd8 20.Rc1 g6 21.Kf1 Ke8 22.Ke2 a6 23.g4 Rd6 24.Be5 Rd5 25.f4 f6 26.Bc3 f5 27.h3 Kd7 28.a4 draw
Tigran Petrosian, no relation to the world champion, won the Armenian championship in the absence of Aronian. A sweet miniature provides today's puzzle.
L Babujian - S Ter Sahakyan
Nimzo Indian
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bf4 Nf6 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Nc6 7.Rc1 e5 8.Bg5 d4 9.a3 Ba5 10.b4 dxc3 11.bxa5
Samvel Ter-Sahakyan
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Levon Babujian
Black to play and win
Answer: 11...Qd2+! 12.Qxd2 cxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Ne4+ 14.Ke1 Nxg5 15.Ne2 Ne4 16.a6 bxa6 17.g4 Nxc5 18.Bg2 e4 0-1
There should have been two winners but Gata Kamsky let Boris Gelfand escape. See if you can find the win. the white king is in trouble. Kamsky missed other opportunities. Gelfand said afterwards: "I played another poor game, I saw two or three times how I could lose but luck was on my side today."
Gata Kamsky
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Boris Gelfand
Black to play and win
Answer: The game ended
34...Re4 35.Qf6 R4e6 36.Qd4 Qc7+ 37.Kf3 g5 38.g4 Re5 39.Kg2 Qc6+ 40.Kf2 R8e6 41.Qb2 Rf6+ 42.Kg1 Rb5 43.Qd4 Rf4 44.Qd6 Qxd6 draw
Black missed: 34...Qc7+ 35.Kf2 Qh2 With the plan of Re6-e4-f4 check which cannot be prevented. for example 36.Rd8 Re2+ 37.Kf3 Qxg2+ 38.Kf4 R2e4#; 34...Qc7+ 35.Kf2 Qh2 36.Rg1 Re4 37.Qg3 Rf4+
B Gelfand - G Kamsky
Gruenfeld Slav
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.d4 d5 4.Nc3 a6 5.e3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qb3 e6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.b3 b6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 c5 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Bg5 cxd4 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.Rxd4 e5 18.Rd2 Re8 19.Qb2 Bb7 20.Rad1 Re7 21.b4 Ne4 22.Rc2 a5 23.a3 axb4 24.axb4 Nxf2 25.Kxf2 e4 26.h3 exf3 27.Bxf3 Bxf3 28.Kxf3 Rae8 29.Qd4 Re6 30.c5 h5 31.Rcd2 bxc5 32.bxc5 h4 33.Qxh4 Qxc5 34.Kg3
