80th Tata Steel Masters
Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
Jan. 12-28, 2018
Final Standings
1-2. Magnus Carlsen NOR 2834, Anish Giri NED 2752, 9.0/13
3-4. Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2787, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2804, 8.5/13
5-6. Viswanathan Anand IND 2767, Wesley So USA 2792, 8.0/13
7. Sergey Karjakin RUS 2753, 7.5/13
8. Peter Svidler RUS 2768, 6.0/13
9. Wei Yi CHN 2743, 5.5/13
10-12. Gawain Jones ENG 2640, Fabiano Caruana USA 2811, Maxim Matlakov RUS 2718, 5.0/13
13. Baskaran Adhiban IND 2655, 3.5/13
14. Hou Yifan CHN 2680, 2.5/13
Ave Rating 2750 Category 20
Time Control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 50 minutes for the next 20 moves then 15 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1.
Magnus Carlsen, the reigning world chess champion, won the 80th Tata Steel Masters after beating Dutch GM Anish Giri in their tie-break match 1.5-0.5. That we had already reported on. The two former world champions also playing in the tournament both did well themselves.
Vladimir Kramnik (born June 25, 1975, classical world chess champion 2000-2006, undisputed world chess champion 2006 to 2007) is very familiar to Filipino chess fans, as his international debut was at the 1992 Manila Chess Olympiad. Only a FIDE Master at that time (I believe this is the first time that a non-GM has played in the Russian team), he scored an incredible 8.5/9 on board 5. This was a rating performance of 2958, higher even than Garry Kasparov’s 2908 on top board (8.5/10).
It is noteworthy that Kramnik was conditioning himself to peak in March, during the Candidates’ tournament, so he was not supposed to be in top shape yet. He won 6 games (vs Anand, Svidler, Wei Yi, Caruana, Matlakov and Adhiban), more than anybody else, and lost 2 (to Giri and Karjakin).
The following game against Anand is very impressive.
Anand, Viswanathan (2767) — Kramnik, Vladimir (2787) [C50]
80th Tata Steel Masters 2018 Wijk aan Zee NED (7.6), 20.01.2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.a4 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Bg5
Wesley So recently did an opening DVD on “Black Secrets in the Modern Italian” (go get your copy from the Chessbase Shop: www.chessbase.com and click “shop”). Unfortunately, he did not cover this line.
7…h6 8.Bh4 Ba7 9.Nbd2 Qe7
Not an automatic move — you will see the point later. Black does not intend to castle kingside, his plan is …g7–g5 followed by …Nh5. He cannot do it now though because of 9…g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Nxe5! Nxg3 12.Bxf7+ Kf8 13.Ng6+ Kxf7 14.Nxh8+ Qxh8 15.hxg3.
10.h3 g5 11.Bg3 Nh5 12.Qe2
Kramnik himself pointed out that 12.Nxe5? is no longer possible because of 12…Nxg3 13.Nxc6 (13.Bxf7+ Kd8 this move would not have been possible if the black queen were on d8 14.Nxc6+ bxc6 15.fxg3 Qxf7 16.Rf1 Black is slightly ahead in material but more importantly has the two bishops) 13…Bxf2+! 14.Kxf2 Nxh1+ 15.Qxh1 bxc6 Black is simply an exchange up.
12…Qf6
Kramnik: “I thought Black is already better here”.
13.Bh2 Nf4 14.Bxf4 gxf4
Black has the two bishops and the open g-file should white castle kingside. Anand clearly realizes the strength of the two bishops and tries to close up the position.
15.g4 Ne7 16.b4 Ng6 17.Kd1 h5!
Provoking g4–g5 after which the Black king can safely transfer to the kingside.
18.g5 Qe7 19.b5 Kf8! 20.bxa6 bxa6 21.d4 Kg7 22.d5
Not 22.Bxa6? because of 22…Bxd4.
22…Bd7 23.Kc2 Rhb8 24.Bxa6 Bxf2 25.Bb5 Be3 26.h4 Ra5 27.c4
In case of 27.Nc4 Raxb5! is strong when White is helpless after 28.axb5 Bxb5.
27…Rba8 28.Kb3
After the “obvious” 28.Nb3 Black has 28…Rxa4! 29.Rxa4 Rxa4 30.Bxa4 Bxa4 31.Ra1 Qd7 Despite material inferiority Black is clearly better.
28…Nf8!
The c5–square is beckoning to the knight.
29.Rhc1 Bg4 30.Kc2 Bxd2 31.Kxd2 Nd7 32.Ra3 Nc5 33.Bc6 Rb8 34.Ke1 Qd8 35.Qc2 Bxf3 36.Rxf3 Qc8 0–1
Imagine that — Anand resigns despite material being equal with no mate in sight. He knows that the Black queen will be occupying g4 after which White’s position will collapse.
Vishy Anand (born Dec. 11, 1969, FIDE World Chess Champion 2000-2002, undisputed world champion 2007-2013) was not able to qualify for the Candidates’ Tournament this March. His results have been a bit up-and-down lately but he ended 2016 on a high note by winning the World Rapid Chess Championship.
Wijk aan Zee saw another strong performance by Anand, with 4 wins (Gawain Jones, Caruana, Matlakov and Hou Yifan) and 1 loss (the aforementioned game with Kramnik). The chess he displayed here showed that he was still working hard at the game and perhaps we should not count him out when we talk about potential challengers to the title in the coming years.
Hou Yifan tries to reach the Semi-Tarrasch Defence of the Queen’s Gambit, which goes 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 after which Black will continue 7…cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ forcing the exchange of bishops. The move order used contained a hidden nuance which Anand took advantage of to put pressure on Black’s position, stifle counterplay, and then overpower the opposing forces. I will show you that game.
Anand, Viswanathan (2767) — Hou, Yifan (2680) [D35]
80th Tata Steel Masters 2018 Wijk aan Zee NED (11.4), 26.01.2018
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5!?
Hou wants to transpose to the Semi-Tarrasch, but the move order chosen allows a subtle nuance. We will see.
5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5
The difference between this line and the Semi-Tarrasch, given above, is that White’s knight is not yet on f3. White uses the tempo to prevent Bb4+ after Black exchanges pawns on d4.
7.Rb1!
This plan was also used by Peter Svidler against Hou Yifan in Geneva last year. Hou managed to equalize there and probably hoped to achieve the same against Anand.
7…Be7 8.Nf3 0–0 9.Bc4 Nc6 10.0–0 b6 11.Be3
Svidler played 11.d5 Na5 12.Bd3 c4 13.Bc2 exd5 14.exd5 Bb7 at this game the game is probably equal, but now Black starts to drift. 15.Re1 Bf6? (Black shouldn’t allow the passed pawn to advance. Correct is 15…Qd6!) 16.d6! Re8 17.Rxe8+ Qxe8 18.Bf4 Rd8 19.Bf5! Now that both bishops are coordinating with the passed pawn it not so easy anymore to hold the game. Svidler,P (2749)-Hou,Y (2666) Geneva 2017 1–0 31.
11…Bb7 12.Qe2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Rc8 14.Rfd1 Qc7 15.d5
Anand admits that up to here this was still opening preparation, but now he couldn’t remember how to continue.
15…Ne5 16.Bb5!
Nice. At some point White will play Rbc1 followed by Bc6.
16…exd5 17.exd5 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 Bc5 19.Rbc1 Qe7 20.Bf4
He wants to play d5–d6 next.
20…Bd6 21.Bc6! Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Bxc6 23.dxc6 Qc7 24.Rd6!
With the end in view of putting his queen on d5 and then Rd6–d7.
24…Rcd8 25.Rcd1 h6
White also gets a decisive advantage after 25…Rxd6 26.Rxd6 Rd8 27.Rxd8+ Qxd8 28.h4 h6 29.c7 Qd7 30.Qc4 Qc8 31.Qc6 threatening Qc6–d6–d8+.
26.g3 Rxd6 27.Rxd6 Rc8 28.Qe5
Having tied up the black pieces with his passed c6–pawn Anand goes after the black king.
28…b5 29.Qd5 Kh7 30.Qe4+ Kg8 31.Rd7 Qa5
[31…Qxc6 32.Rd8+!]
32.c7 Rf8 33.Qe7 1–0 <D>
It is hopeless.
FINAL POSITION
Well, obviously Anand’s opening knowledge is till among the best in the world — he still works at his game. The Tiger of Madras is still on the prowl!
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
