Tata Steel Masters 2020: World Champion outclasses Firouzja
The first classical game between two of the biggest chess talents of the XXI century, 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja and the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, was a pinnacle not only of the 9th round but of the whole tournament. Playing with Black Carlsen completely outplayed his young opponent in Ruy Lopez and secured a historic win in the first game of an epic match-up that will inevitably last for at least a decade. January 21, 2019, will be an important date in modern chess history as Firouzja and Carlsen played in classical chess for the first time. Their last blitz encounter ended with a scandal and that added some zest to the clash in Wijk aan Zee. Firouzja had a certain advantage as he was a point ahead and played with White. Carlsen admitted after the game that he was not frightened, but worried as he knew how dangerous his opponent could be in “his type of positions”. Anyway, Magnus had no choice but to strive for a complex position as he was trailing the leaders. He went for an interesting psychological twist – Carlsen played Berlin Defense as he was sure that Firouzja wouldn’t choose the main line with early queens’ exchange. He guessed right and got what he wanted – a “playable” position with a number of options for both sides. Alireza was drifting as Carlsen pointed out after the game. The youngster couldn’t find a clear plan and you can’t afford it when facing Magnus. After move 20 Black was already better and kept progressing. In a strategically lost position, Firouzja tried to complicate the matters with 32.g3 and 34.h4, but the remedy was worse than the disease. Ironically when Carlsen decided to win a piece with 39…Bxf1 it was objectively a mistake that gave White some minuscule chances to escape, but Firouzja was so disappointed that he just resigned immediately. Tough one for a young Iranian, playing under FIDE flag, but this was definitely an important lesson for him. It looks like everyone else was aware of the importance of the moment as the other 6 games were drawn. Actually, it was the round with the fewest decisive outcomes in the entire tournament. Anand’s game against Dubov ended first – Vishy was slightly better, but understandably not in a fighting mood after a drama in Round 8 game vs Caruana. Nikita Vitiugov played the lucky winner of that battle and went for the line in which Giri had tested the tournament leader in Round 2 – Fabiano Caruana came up with a slight improvement that triggered massive exchanges. Another quick draw was registered in So – Giri game – Anish sacrificed a pawn in the opening but seized control over the only open file leaving White no real chance for a win. Jorden van Foreest who is having the time of his life in Wijk aan Zee missed a real opportunity to join Caruana on the top of the leaderboard. In his game with Black against Kovalev he faced a very rare line as Vladislav chose 6.Qe2!? against Najdorf. Valiant van Foreest went for an early queen sacrifice, but Kovalev suddenly changed his mind and didn’t take the queen (10.Ne6 was mandatory) though he was forced into a very gloomy endgame after that. Soon White was down an exchange, but somehow managed to build a fortress – there is a strong feeling that Black was winning, but is not completely clear where van Foreest stumbled. Artemiev – Yu Yangyi and Duda – Xiong became the two longest games of the round. Artemiev had a huge, probably decisive advantage after the opening, but failed to convert. Duda and Xiong have already had some history between them as they played a crazy match full of twists and turns in the Round of 16 at the latest World Cup. Xiong prevailed in blitz play-off and Duda was looking for revenge today – he tried to break Xiong’s defense for 79 moves, but to no avail. After Round 9 Caruana moved to a sole lead but Carlsen, So, van Foreest and Firouzja are only half a point behind. Caruana will have White against Firouzja on Wednesday. Carlsen has a much easier pairing as he plays with Kovalev – it’s worth mentioning though that last time these two played each other (in the Grand Swiss) Carlsen was completely lost and miraculously saved a draw. Official site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/Photo: Alina l’Ami Tata Steel Masters 2020 Standings after Round 9: 1. Caruana – 6;2-5. Firouzja, Van Foreest, So, Carlsen – 5½;6. Duda – 5;7-9. Dubov, Artemiev, Giri – 4½;10. Anand – 4;11. Xiong – 3½;12-14. Vitiugov, Yu Yangyi, Kovalev – 3.
Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2020 gets underway
One of the best open tournaments in the world, Gibraltar International Chess Festival kicked off today. The schedule of the festival includes several tournaments for amateurs and professionals. More than 500 players are taking part this year. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Wang Hao, Veselin Topalov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Kirill Alekseenko and others will fight for the first prize of £30,000 in the ‘Masters’ section. Among those who skip it this year are last year’s winner Vladislav Artemiev who chose Wijk aan Zee and one of the regulars on the rock Hikaru Nakamura, who won this event four times. High prizes for women traditionally attract a very strong field of female participants to the rock too. Anna Muzychuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Lei Tingjie, Tan Zhongyi, and others are in the race for £20,000. Curiously, in 2012 the first place was shared by GM Nigel Short and women’s world champion GM Hou Yifan. The legend of British chess claimed the trophy by winning in the playoff. These days Nigel Short and Hou Yifan are commenting on the Women’s World Championship Match live broadcasts are available on our YouTube channel. Official site: https://www.gibchess.com/Photo: John Saunders and Niki Riga Key results of Round 1: Raahil Mullick (2382) – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770) 0-1Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2770) – Sukandar Irine Kharisma (2402) 1-0Martin Percivaldi (2403) – Wang Hao (2758) 0-1 Veselin Topalov (2738) – Sankalp Gupta (2400) 1-0 Jovanka Houska (2401) – Navara David (2717) 0-1 Le Quang Liem (2713) – Lawrence Trent (2383) 1-0Peter Lombaers (2383) – Kirill Alekseenko (2704) 0-1Vassily Ivanchuk (2698) – Xander Wemmers (2380) 1-0Erik Hedman 2376 – Maxim Matlakov (2698) ½-½Michael Adams (2694) – Mieles Palau Daniel (2374) 1-0Evgenios Ioannidis (2373) – Ivan Cheparinov (2686) 0-1
WWCC Game 10: Ju Wenjun spurts into the lead
“Avoid euphoria: draw after a loss, also draw after a win” —Tigran Petrosian After decisive outcomes in Games 8 and 9, with just three games left in the match, what could we expect to see today? Despite a heartbreaking loss in Game 9, should we still consider Aleksandra Goryachkina to be the favorite? After all, she had two games left with White, compared to Ju Wenjun‘s one. Would the Russian player’s lack of experience in such high profile matches become a factor? Will Goryachkina attempt to take back what she felt was hers in the previous game? Oleg Gumenyuk, mayor of Vladivostok, and Alexander Verkhovsky, Chairperson of the Board of directors of the main sponsor Gidrostroy (the Vladivostok leg of the match), made the first symbolic moves in Game 10. The game began in an auspicious manner for Goryachkina, as the opponents mirrored Ganguly – L’Ami encounter that was played just yesterday at Wijk aan Zee. Goryachkina’s (playing White) first opportunity to question Ju’s preparation came on move 21. She could have opted for a natural Re5!, forcing Black to react with 22…f6, weakening the bishop on g6, and setting up dangerous play along the g-file for her rook. Instead, Goryachkina played a more pedestrian 21. Re3. It looked all but certain that the game was heading for a short draw, with players struggling to find sensible moves to reach the required 40-move minimum. What happened to Goryachkina next had more to do with sports psychology than with chess itself. Starting around move 25, the game was a dead draw—a result she could have forced at any point all through the first time control. Instead, she made moves like 26. b5 and 38. Bd5, probing for an advantage that was simply not there. Aleksandra did not appear to realize that she needed to be more careful and the position was not as one-sided in her previous games with White. At the press conference, Goryachkina admitted that she “blundered” 42…Be6 that in itself is still fine for White, but while chess engines continued to show zeros, the position suddenly became unpleasant to defend, especially against such a fine technical player as is Ju. By move 50, Goryachkina had to be extremely precise, something she was not able to keep up with in the approaching time trouble. Aleksandra collapsed with 53. Kb4?? whereas any other retreat left her some chances for a draw. Ju won and now is one point away from retaining her title. Was it Goryachkina’s lack of match experience? Was it Aleksandra’s well-documented stubbornness that her coaching team couldn’t overcome? Tomorrow’s day off could not have come sooner for the challenger. Does she have it in her to get herself together and pull out a miracle come back in the last two rounds? We will find out this week. Tomorrow, Tuesday, is a rest day. Play will be resumed on Wednesday 22. The 11th game will begin at 15:30 local time. Official website: https://wwcm2020.fide.com Text: Michael Friedman Photos: Eteri Kublashvili Contact: press@fide.com Photos in high resolution are available for the press at our official Flickr account.