Коробушка (Korobeiniki)

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky – Fabiano Caruana
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 31, 2016
Nimzo-Indian Defence E44

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 c5 6. a3 Ba5 7. Rb1 Na6 8. Ng3 Bb7 9. f3 0-0 10. Bd3 d5 11. 0-0 cxd4? Careless. The right way is 11. ... dxc4! 12. Bxc4 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Rc8 14. Qe2 Nb8 15. Bb2 Nd5 16. Rfc1 Qg5 17. f4 Qe7 18. f5 Qg5 19. fxe6 fxe6 20. Rf1 Kh8 21. Rxf8+ Rxf8 22. Rf1 Nd7 23. Rxf8+ Nxf8 24. e4 Nf6 25. Qe1 cxd4 26. cxd4 h5 ½ : ½ Hawkins – M. Adams, 20th Four Nations Chess League, Hinckley 2014. 12. Nb5! Much stronger than 12. exd4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Rc8 14. Qd3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Nc7 as occurred in the game S. S. Popov – Jeremić, 1st Serbian Team Chess Championship, Zlatibor 2006. 12. ... dxc4 13. Bxc4 Rc8 14. Qe2 Bd5 15. Bxd5 Qxd5

16. e4!? That’s shocking! Of course White still cannot play 16. b4?? (on account of 16. ... d3), but the smooth 16. exd4(!) would have left Black without perspectives. 16. ... Qa2? Caruana plays very nervously. Comparatively better is 16. ... d3! which simplifies the game very much. 17. Bg5 Rc4. A bad-looking move in a very bad position. 18. Rbd1. Tomashevsky is a little excited, because yet he has not won a single game out of the 12 played. All chess engines list on top 13. Bxf6! gxf6 14. Qf2 launching a direct assault. 18. ... d3 19. Qxd3 Rc5 20. Be3. And here 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Nd4 looks much stronger. 20. ... Qxb2 21. Bxc5 Nxc5 22. Qe2. After all, White is up the Exchange, and Tomashevsky laboriously gets ready to convert his advantages into a win. 22. ... Qxe2 23. Nxe2 a6 24. Nd6 b5 25. Nd4 Bb6 26. Kh1 g5 27. Nc6 Kg7 28. g3 h5 29. Rfe1 Na4 30. Rd3 Nc5 31. Rd2 Nb3 32. Rc2 Nc5 33. Kg2 Na4 34. Rd1 g4 35. Rd3 Nc5 36. Rd1 Na4 37. h3 gxf3+ 38. Kxf3 Nh7 39. e5 Bc5 40. Rd3 f6 41. Kg2 Bb6 42. exf6+ Nxf6 43. Nd4 Bxd4 44. Rxd4 Nd5 45. Re4 Rd8 46. Nb7 Rd7 47. Na5 Rd6 48. Rc6 Rxc6 49. Nxc6 Nc5 50. Re5! Nd3 51. Rg5+ Kh6 52. Rg8 Ne3+ 53. Kf3 Nc4 54. Nb4 Nde5+ 55. Ke2 a5 56. Nc2 Nd7 57. Rc8 Kg6 58. Rc7 Nf6 59. Rc6 Kf7. 59. ... a4 60. Rxe6 Kf7 61. Rc6 is equally hopeless. 60. a4! Nd5 61. axb5 Ne5 62. Ra6 Nc3+ 63. Kf1 1 : 0. Bravo!

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky. Photo: Alina l’Ami.

Corresponding squares

Magnus Carlsen – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 29, 2016
8/1p1k4/p1p4p/2Pp1p2/P4P2/1PK4P/2P5/8 b - - 0 45

Position after 45. Kb2xc3

Notes by Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek, The Huffington Post, February 9, 2016.

This was a critical position and the game continued: 45. ... h5? 侯 (Hóu) played this blunder rather quickly, allowing the White King to sneak to the square b6. 46. Kb4 Kc8 47. Ka5 Kc7 48. h4 Kb8 49. Kb6 Kc8 50. b4 Kb8 51. b5 cxb5 52. axb5 axb5 53. Kxb5 Kc7 54. c3 and 侯 (Hóu) resigned. She is in zugzwang and has to surrender the square b6. White wins the Pawn d5 after 54. ... Kd7 55. Kb6 Kc8 56. c6.
Instead of the faulty 45. ... h5, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) could have blocked the entrance to the square b6 with 45. ... a5! 46. b4. The only way to open the Queenside. 46. h4 h5 47. b4 just transposes.

It seems that Black now has two ways to make a draw but only one solves it with precise play.
A. 46. ... axb4+?! This comes deceptively close to a draw, but White can continue playing. 47. Kxb4 Kd8! Black’s defense is based on a stalemate and zugzwang. Here again 47. ... h5? loses to 48. Ka5 Kc7 49. h4 Kc8 50. Kb6 Kb8 51. a5 Ka8 52. a6 Kb8 53. axb7 wins. 48. Ka5 (48. Kc3 Ke7 49. a5 Kd7=) 48. ... Kc7 49. h4 h5 50. c3. Unfortunately, White has to move his c-Pawn to make progress. White wins with the Pawn on c2. 50. ... Kc8! One square makes a difference: 50. ... Kb8? 51. Kb6 Kc8 52. a5 Kb8 53. a6 bxa6 54. Kxa6 and White wins the c6 Pawn. 51. Kb6 Kb8 52. a5 Ka8! After 52. ... Kc8? 53. Ka7 Kc7 54. a6 wins. 53. Kc7. After 53. a6 Kb8! 54. axb7 d4 55. cxd4 stalemates, but not 55. Kxc6? dxc3 56. Kb6 c2 57. c6 c1Q Black wins. Even after some magic, Black is not out of the woods: 53. ... Ka7 54. Kd6 Ka6 55. Ke5 Kb5! 56. Kxf5 Kc4! 57. Kg6 Kxc3 58. f5 d4 59. f6 d3 60. f7 d2 61. f8=Q d1=Q 62. Qh8+ Kc4 63. Qxh5 and I am sure Magnus would still try to win it from here.
B. 46. ... Ke7! Hoping that the White Pawns can block the Queenside entrance for the White King. It is amazing to see the Black pieces placed on the right squares — a strange coincidence. 47. bxa5. A critical position. The defense is based on the resistance equilibrium: Black has only one move to hold a draw. 47. ... Kd7! A position with a mutual zugzwang. White to move: draw; Black to move: White wins. After 47. ... Kd8? 48. Kd4 Ke7 49. Ke5 White wins. 48. Kb4. Two other examples show how Black has to find the only one correct square for her King: 1a. 48. Kd3 Ke7!= (48. ... Ke6? 49. Kd4 Kf6 50. Kc3 Ke6 51. Kb4 Kd7 52. a6 bxa6 53. Ka5+−); 1b. 48.Kd4 Ke6!=. 48. ... Kc7 49. Kb3 Kc8 (or 49. ... Kd8) 50. Kc3 Kd7! Draw.

Magnus Carlsen vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni.

Pink Granite

Magnus Carlsen – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 29, 2016
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5! It was probably a surprise to Magnus. 2. Nf3 Nf6. The good news is that 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) doesn’t want to lose. It’s a good start! 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. 0-0-0 Qd7 10. b3 Bf6 11. h3 0-0-0. For 11. ... h5 12. Bg5 Qe7 13. Bb5 0-0-0 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Rhe1 h4 16. Re4 Rh5 take a look at Lékó – 李超 (Lǐ Chāo), Szeged 2015, match game 4. 12. g4 h6 13. Bg2 Kb8 14. Rhe1. Shall we too add another to those melancholy case histories entitled: The Wrong Rook? Maybe no, because Carlsen’s likely novelty does not appear to imply any substantial differences with respect to 14. Rde1 a6 15. Re2 d5 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Qxd4 g6 19. Rhe1 h5 20. f3 Qd6 21. Re5 hxg4 22. fxg4 c6 with a holdable game, Domínguez Pérez – Vázquez Igarza, 59th Spanish Team Chess Championship (División de Honor), Linares 2015. 14. ... Rhe8 15. Kb2 a6 16. Re2 Qe7 17. Rde1. “Not much is happening, but Magnus definitely has some pressure. Not a pleasant position for Black to play”, Grandmaster Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler said. Indeed, Black’s position looks rock solid. 17. ... Qf8 18. Nd4 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 Bd7 22. f4 Rxe2 22. Rxe2 Re8 23. Rxe8+ Bxe8. Now, Magnus, what can you do? Looking for water in the desert won’t be easy. 24. Qb4 c6 25. Bf1 Kc8 26. g5 Qe7 27. gxh6 gxh6 28. Qd4 f6 29. Qa7 Bd7 30. a4 Qd8 31. Qg1 Qe7 32. Qg6!? Ambitiously, angrily, bravely, and even disagreeably played. A silent draw offer with 32. Qa7 Qd8 was objectively justified. 32. ... Qe1! 33. Bd3 Qh4 34. Bf5 Bxf5 35. Qxf5+ Kb8 36. c4 Kc7. Indeed, the Queen ending is roughly equal. 37. Qa5+ Kc8 38. Qd2 Kd7 39. c5 d5 40. Qe3 Qh5. The time control reached. Quo vadis, Magnus? 41. Qg3 Qf7 42. Qg4+ f5 43. Qg3 Qf6+ 44. Qc3 Qxc3+? It’s not a mistake at all, but a necessary preparation for it. 45. Kxc3

45. ... h5?? Thus 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) decides to lose, and nobody never will know the reason why. Of course, after 45. ... a5 46. Kd4 (or 46. b4 h5!) 46. ... Ke6 it’s a dead draw. 46. Kb4 Kc8 47. Ka5 Kc7 48. h4 Kb8 49. Kb6 Kc8 50. b4 Kb8 51. b5 cxb5 52. axb5 axb5 53. Kxb5 Kc7 54. c3 1 : 0. I’m sure Magnus is not so happy.

Magnus Carlsen vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Alina l’Ami.

Anger Management

Anish Giri – Fabiano Caruana
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 19, 2016
Spanish Game C80

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Be3 Be7 10. c3 Qd7 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 Na5 13. Bg5 c5 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Bxd5? This is a very dubious move by which not only White renounces any theoretical advantage, but he submits himself to hold a slightly inferior position for the whole game. After 15. Rfe1 Rd8 16. Qf4 White has somewhat the better chances, Keres – Pilnik, Buenos Aires 1964. 15. ... Rd8 16. c4 Nxc4 17. Bc6+ Kf8 18. Qc3 b4 19. Qc1 h6 20. a3 bxa3 21. bxa3

21. ... g5! 22. Rb1 Qc7 23. Be4 Qa5 24. Rb7 Rg8 25. Rb3 Nd6 26. exd6 Bxb3 27. Qb2 Be6 28. Rd1 Qb5 29. Qf6 Qa4 30. Rb1 Qxe4 31. Qxd8+ Kg7 32. Qb6 g4 33. Nd2 Qd3 34. Qb2+ Kg6 35. f3 c4 36. Ne4 c3 37. Nxc3 gxf3 38. Nd1 Qxd6 39. Ne3 Qd3 40. Qc2 Qxc2 41. Nxc2 Kf6 42. Ne1 fxg2 43. Rb6 a5 44. Ra6 Rg5 45. Nxg2 Rf5 46. h3 Rc5 47. Nf4 Kf5 48. Nxe6 fxe6 49. Kf2 h5 50. a4 e5 51. Ra8 e4 52. Ke3 Rc3+ 53. Kd4 Rd3+ 54. Kc4 Kf4. Or 54. ... Ra3 when 55. Rxa5+ Kf4 56. Rxh5 Rxa4+ transposes into the next variation. 55. Rxa5 Rxh3? Caruana misses his big chance: 55. ... Ra3!! 56. Rxh5 Rxa4+ would have won for Black quite easily. 56. Ra8 Rh1 57. a5 h4 58. a6 Ra1 59. a7 Ke3 60. Kb5 h3 61. Kb6 Rb1+ 62. Kc6 Ra1 63. Kb6 ½ : ½. “Brilliant defence”, finally joked Giri.

Anish Giri (left) vs. Fabiano Caruana (right). Photo: Tata Steel Chess.