Sao Paulo/Bilbao Wrapup

The Bilbao half of the tournament provided some interesting chess. Here again are the players in order of decreasing rating.

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus ended with +2 as I predicted at the halfway mark. Given the run of the tournament, it is hardly surprising that he then won the playoff against Ivanchuk who was unrecognizable as White.

To his competitors, Magnus sent a clear and dangerous message: In every game, Magnus was equal or better in the opening and middlegame. To achieve such a feat in a double round robin against Anand, Aronian, Ivanchuk and Nakamura is amazing. Neverthless, as in other tournaments, the Norwegian had a slow start and had to play himself into form. Perhaps all the physical and mental preparation cannot recreate the environment of a real game and he needs time to adjust. If so, he should follow Botvinnik's model- although the Soviet Patriarch was an infrequent tournament player he kept himself battle-ready with secret training matches under tournament conditions.

Best moment: The three wins against Ivanchuk

V. Anand

Anand's 50% was disappointing and less than the +1 predicted. In principle, everyone at Sao Paulo/Bilbao would have scored a respectable +2 by beating Vallejo twice and drawing with everyone else. Anand was the only one to achieve the first part of the program but this was cancelled by losses to Ivanchuk and Aronian. It is true that Anand is focusing on the title match against Gelfand next year but one still expects a World Champion to finish with a plus score.

Best moment: The Sao Paulo grind against Vallejo

Levon Aronian

The Armenian should have done better than 50%. Overly sharp play cost him a point against Ivanchuk while he was surprisingly outplayed in an endgame by Nakamura.

Best moment: The win against a dispirited Anand

Vassily Ivanchuk

Nerves got the better of him in Bilbao and he finished on +1 as predicted. Vassily should really have taken clear first but the pressure and no doubt tiredness from his busy schedule took their toll. Here he was largely reacting to his opponents rather than pressuring them. Still, he deservedly gained rating points and hopefully will inch towards 2800 in the future.

Best moment: The wins against Aronian and Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

The American finished on 50% but was on target for +1 until the self-inflicted loss on time against Vallejo. Overall a solid performance that reverses his recent form and proof that he can hold his own against the world elite. Perhaps the rumored lessons by Kasparov are working.

Best moment: The win against Aronian

Francisco Vallejo Pons

While the first half was a nightmare, back in Spain convincing wins against Ivanchuk and Nakamura showed that Paco earned his invitation. He finished with more wins than either Anand, Aronian or Nakamura.

Best moment: The wins against Ivanchuk and Nakamura

If we take Ivanchuk and Vallejo out of the tournament, here's how the crosstable would look like-

                    Na   Ar   Ca   An
Nakamura    x x   =1   ==   ==   3.5

Aronian        =0   xx    ==   =1   3

Carlsen        ==   ==    ==   xx   3

Anand          ==   =0    ==   xx   2.5

Interestingly, these four had only two decisive results among each other. Most of the decisive games were played by Ivanchuk (4 wins, 3 losses) and  Vallejo (3 wins, 6 losses) and I believe it's because these two were targeted by the rest. Vallejo obviously because he was the lowest rated competitor and Ivanchuk because anything can happen with him especially if he is in time pressure. So against Vallejo and Ivanchuk the rest were more aggressive and willing to reach riskier positions. But both players coped well and punished their opponents.

Sao Paulo/Bilbao at the Halfway Mark

The Sao Paulo half of the Grand Slam Masters has finished and this is a good time to take stock of the tournament before the tournament resumes in Bilbao. Here is a progress report on the players in order of descending rating.

Magnus Carlsen 

The world #1 is at 50%. Magnus is the greatest exponent of chess 'serve and volley'- he just keeps playing and setting practical problems for his opponents. Nowadays, Magnus faces two difficult challenges.
1) His uncompromising style requires 100% physical and mental fitness and concentration. Occasionally even Magnus falters and shows that he is only human. At Sao Paulo, he had some winning chances against Aronian before the game fizzled out in a draw. More tragically, he gave a textbook performance of outplaying an opponent as Black against Vallejo. However, at the critical moment he missed the win and soon after overlooked a tactic to lose a piece and the game.
2) Many players are now content just to hold a draw against Magnus.  In Sao Paulo, all his opponents played without any ambition. When a strong grandmaster is content with a draw, Magnus has to work extra hard to create winning chances.

Bilbao prediction: Magnus is still very much in the running and I predict he will finish on +2.

V. Anand

The world champion has already achieved so much in his long and illustrious career. Anand nowadays seems happy to just play the game and enjoy himself without worrying too much about the result. While this has freed him of psychological demons that plagued him in the past, it does mean that he isn't striving for the maximum. A draw is the typical outcome with either color but his keen sense of danger means he loses very rarely.  In Sao Paulo he had three Whites and all his opponents chose the Ruy Lopez. All three games should have been drawn but he overestimated the position against Ivanchuk. A grind against Vallejo led to 50% at the halfway mark.

Bilbao prediction: With three Blacks it will be difficult to score well and I predict Anand will finish on +1.

Levon Aronian

The likeable Armenian has steadily climbed the rating ladder to become the only player in the post-Kramnik/Topalov and pre-Carlsen generations to reach 2800. The Aronian of today plays sophisticated positional chess and is less reliant on the tactically messy complications of his younger days. He seems to have shrugged off the Candidates elimination and is back to his usual self. At Sao Paulo he scored the obligatory win against Vallejo but balanced this with a loss against Ivanchuk to be at 50%.

Bilbao prediction: Aronian to finish on +1.

Vassily Ivanchuk

Vassily is the most complex among the world elite, equally capable of beating or losing to anyone. In Sao Paulo he was the revelation of the tournament playing imaginative chess as always. In round 1, the rare 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ (a Keres favourite) led to a precisely played draw against Nakamura. In round 2, he surprised Anand with the Schliemann Ruy Lopez. Perhaps he had prepared against this as White for his recent match with Radjabov at the World Cup and in typical Ivanchuk fashion decided to try it from the other side! At any rate, the decision worked like a charm as Anand avoided the critical lines and went astray in the middlegame. Then in round 3 Ivanchuk outplayed Vallejo with the English before the hair raising encounter against Aronian. This was undoubtedly the most entertaining game from Sao Paulo. Aronian's reckless play was convincingly refuted by Ivanchuk who then let his advantage slip in time pressure. However, just when the draw was likely, Aronian blitzed his moves in Ivanchuk's time shortage and blundered. In round 5 the fairytale performance unfortunately came to an end. Ivanchuk appeared surprised by Carlsen's choice of the French and played very passively and ultimately lost. To add insult to injury, he and his wife were robbed just outside the hotel when leaving for the airport. He was clearly deliberately targeted for winning the tournament- the robbers did not realize this was only the first half and had not collected any prize money. Let's hope he recovers from his tragic experience and sparkles in Spain.

Bilbao prediction: Nerves will continue to be a problem and Ivanchuk will finish on +1.

Hikaru Nakamura

The American #1 (or #2) began the year wonderfully with a fine win at Wijk aan Zee. Since then, he has struggled and had a series of patchy performances. Hopefully he has now sorted out his personal problems and is back to playing the position rather than trying too hard to win. In Sao Paulo, Nakamura was the star together with Ivanchuk. He was the only undefeated player and not only that was in no danger of losing any of his games. To achieve such a performance against Carlsen, Aronian and Anand, the three 2800s as well as Crown Prince Ivanchuk deserves the highest praise. The expected win against Vallejo has placed him at +1.

Bilbao prediction: A strong contender for first, and I predict he will finish on +2.

Francisco Vallejo Pons

Paco is in the unenviable position of being the invited local by the organizers. In the past, this has provided invaluable experience to players like Miguel Illescas at Linares and Loek van Wely at Wijk aan Zee. Nevertheless, it is difficult to play in an environment where everyone else considers you a punching bag and a victim that must be beaten.

Paco's performance in Sao Paulo suggests his form is poor. Everyone but Carlsen defeated him and Carlsen too was unlucky to convert a winning position into a loss. It is unlikely that the home ground advantage in Bilbao will prove to be significant and more misery can be predicted.

Bilbao prediction: More losses and a couple of draws.

Happy Birthday Melody Amber (Anand-Nakamura, Monte Carlo 2011)

The Dutch IT billionaire Joop van Oosterom is an avid chess fan and a world champion too at correspondence chess. To celebrate his daughter Melody Amber's birth he created the eponymous tournament that has run annually for twenty years. With nice appearance fees and no rating points at stake, the players can concentrate purely on chess. In the early years different formats were experimented with before settling on the current double round robin of blindfold and rapidplay.

This year's event, to be the last, featured 12 grandmasters who can be arranged like the pecking order at a medieval court. The inner circle of favorites are Anand, Carlsen, Aronian and Nakamura. World champion and #1 ranked V. Anand  is enjoying an Indian summer that proves chess life does not stop at 40. World #2 Magnus Carlsen impresses with his peculiar style of fighting chess which has sometimes backfired recently. The likeable Levon Aronian is now among the 2800 superelite while Hikaru Nakamura continues to improve and has added a dimension of solidity to his aggressive style.

Next are four Amber veterans who are feeling their age: Vassily Ivanchuk the crown prince seesaws between beautiful masterpieces and unrecognizable play. Boris Gelfand plays sharp openings but over time his drawing margin has increased while former world champions Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov are going through a lackluster patch.

Finally there are four players capable of beating anyone on a given day: Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, Vugar Gashimov and Anish Giri. Nevertheless, their recnt form or lack of Amber experience suggests it unlikely they would be a contender.

The first week of play brought some surprises. Aronian broke away with a number of 'lucky' wins while Carlsen and Anand jockeyed for second. Nakamura, perhaps because of his newly serious attitude, was languishing near the bottom. Ivanchuk started disastrously but then defeated Anand and Carlsen in their matches. This year's Amber featured a larger than usual share of blunders in the blindfold games but this only added to the entertainment value.

 Nakamura-Carlsen, 44. Rc7?? Kd8??

 Karjakin-Gelfand, 36 Be4??

 Anand-Gelfand, 58. h5??

 Gashimov-Aronian, 30. f5??

 Topalov-Grischuk, 69... Ra1??

 Aronian-Gelfand, 28... Qc3??

The Anand-Nakamura minimatch ended in a tie. The American has now drawn all five encounters against the World Champion. In the rapid game Nakamura was under pressure as Black but held on to draw an endgame with rook against bishop and two pawns.

Anand, Viswanathan (2817) - Nakamura, Hikaru (2744) [C12]
Melody Amber rapidplay, Monte Carlo 2011

 

1. e4 

 

The young Anand was exclusively an 1.e4 player. Then he went through a 1.d4 phase, returned to 1.e4 and successfully trotted out 1.d4 again in his matches against Kramnik and Topalov. Lately he has preferred 1.d4 except when targeting specific opponents.

 

1... e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 

 

Anand is also a leading exponent of the Steinitz 4.e5 with both colors.

 

4... Bb4 

 

The McCutcheon variation that has never been as popular or considered as sound as 4... Be7 or 4... dxe4. Anand would have anticipated it as it is part of Nakamura's repertoire. On the flip side, maybe the McCutcheon is a good choice against the World Champion! In recent tries he has scored only 50% with draws against Radjabov, Morozevich and Shirov.

 

5. e5 h6 6. Bd2

 

Gashimov-Nakamura saw the sideline 6.Be3 with a sharp struggle ending in a win for Black.

 

6... Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 g6

 

An alternative is 8...Kf8 with the plan of ...c5-c4, ...b5-b4 against which Anand has produced model games against Ivanchuk and Korchnoi.

 

9. Bd3 Nxd2 10. Kxd2 c5

 

 

The appeal of this McCutcheon mainline lies in the unsafe position of both Kings allowing Black some counterpunches.Nevertheless, White has an enduring pull on the dark squares hence its unpopularity.

11. Nf3 Nc6 12. dxc5

Relatively rare but presumably Anand had a specific idea in mind.

12... Qa5 13. Qf4 Qxc5 14. Nd4 Bd7 15. Rhb1 

Apparently new. The game Minasian-Lputian, Armenian ch 1996 is typical of Black's counterplay: 15.Qf6 O-O 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.h4 Rac8 18.Bxg6 Be8 19.Bd3 Qxc3+ 20.Ke2 Bb5.

15... O-O-O 16. Rb5

16. Qxf7 Nxd4 17. cxd4 Qxd4 would be terrible for White.

16... Qe7 17. Rab1 b6 18. Nxc6 

The caveman like 18. Rxb6 axb6 19. Ba6+ Kc7 does not lead to anything. A better try is 18. Rxd5 exd5 19. Ba6+ Kb8 20. e6+ Ka8 21. exd7 Qe5 but White's compensation is inadequate.

18... Bxc6 19. R5b4 g5 

19... Qg5 20. Qxg5 hxg5 21. h3 d4 looks like another reasonable way to maintain the balance.

20. Qe3 Qc5 

Heading for an endgame rather than the sharp 20... f6. 

21. f4 gxf4 22. Rxf4

22. Qxc5 bxc5 23. Rxf4 might be a better try although
Black should still hold.

22... Rhg8 23. g3 Qxe3+ 24. Kxe3 Rg5 25. Rxf7

White has no time for 25. Kd4 f5 26. exf6 e5+

25... Rxe5+ 26. Kf4 Rh5 27. g4

A critical moment as the later endgame is not easy to win. Sharper was 27. h4 Rg8 (27... d4 28. Rxa7 b5 29. a4) 28. Rxa7 e5+ 29. Ke3 d4+ 30. Ke2 e4 31. Ba6+ Kb8 32. Re7 {when White appears to be winning.

27... Rxh2 28. Rxa7 Rd7 29. Ra6 Kc7 30. Kg3 Rd2 31. Rbxb6 Bb7 32. Rxb7+ Kxb7 33. Rxe6 

White risks little with the exchange sacrifice but can he win? Anand comes up with the plan of anchoring his Bishop with one pawn and pushing the other but Nakamura's precise defence achieves a well deserved draw.

33... Rc7 34. Rxh6 Rxc3 35. Kf4 Rf2+ 36. Ke5 Rg2 37. Rg6 Ra3 38. Kxd5 Rxa2 39. Be4 Re2 40. c4 Rad2+ 41. Ke5+ Kc7 42. Kf5 Rf2+ 43. Kg5 Rd4 44. Bd5 Kd7 45. Kh6 Re2 46. Rg7+ Kd6 47. g5 Re5 48. Rf7 Rh4+ 49. Kg6 Rg4 50. Rf5 Rg1 51. Kf6 Rxf5+ 52. Kxf5 Rf1+ 53. Kg6 Ke5 54. Kg7 Rf4 55. g6 Kf5 56. Bf7 Rd4 57. c5 Rd8 58. c6 Rc8 59. Bd5 Rc7+ 60. Kh6 Kf6 61. Kh5 Ra7 62. Bf7 Kg7 63. Kg5 Ra5+ 64. Kf4 Rc5 65. Be8 Rxc6 1/2-1/2