Masters meet

The close proximity of the Chinese New Year to the dates of this year’s Tata Steel chess tournament has meant that I haven’t been able to give this annual international chess event in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, much attention. 

This Wijk aan Zee tournament has a very long history that goes back to 1938. Before Tata Steel came into the picture, it used to be called the Corus tournament and before that, the Hoogovens event. Wijk aan Zee itself is the Dutch seaside town from where the tournament takes its name.

Anyway, the Tata Steel chess tournament is traditionally a very strong event and only the world’s best players will ever get a chance to be invited. There are three Grandmaster groups with 14 players each.

Since Jan 13, the eyes of the chess world have been focused mainly on the Grandmaster Group A tournament. And why not when this year’s participants include six of the world’s eight highest-ranked players in Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Veselin Topalov, Sergey Karjakin and Vassily Ivanchuk? Only the names of Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand are missing from this list. 

To round up the player’s list, there are also Vugar Gashimov, Hikaru Nakamura, Boris Gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Gata Kamsky, Anish Giri, David Navara and local Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely in the starting line-ups.

Until the eighth round, Carlsen and Aronian were leading the tournament but so far, it did not look like a complete domination to me. They were just a half point ahead of Radjabov who in turn was half a point ahead of Ivanchuk, Caruana and Nakamura.

Gelfand’s inclusion in this premier event was a surprise. He is due to play Anand for the world chess championship title in May and I thought he would have withdrawn himself from active play in order to prepare for the match of his life. However, he must be believing that the best preparation is to keep on playing actively, at least for this one or two months.

The Grandmaster Group B included players like Lazaro Bruzon, Vladimir Potkin, Alexander Motylev and Sergey Tiviakov. It was rather disappointing to see only Pentala Harikrishna and Harika Dronavalli as the only Asian players in this group because last year there were three Asian players in Wesley So, Li Chao and Le Quang Liem.

Nevertheless, it was interesting to notice the inclusion of four women chess players – all grandmasters – in this Group B tournament, namely, Harika, Kateryna Lahno, Daniele Vocaturo and Viktorija Cmilyte. 

This week, I’d like to feature an interesting game from the third round of this tournament. 

White: Magnus Carlsen

Black: Levon Aronian

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.Qc2 Nf6 7.h3 g6 8.e3 Bf5 9.Qd2 h5 10.Bd3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Nbd7 12.Nge2 a5 13.0-0 0-0 14.f3 b5 15.e4 dxe4 16.fxe4 Nc5 17.Qf3 Ne6 18.Be3 (I should think that White has a firm grip on this game. His centre is strong while his opponent has several weaknesses all over the board, in particular the pawn on c6 and a very loose kingside due to his pawn on h5. It’s not so clear yet, as it’s hidden by the knight, but the pawn on f7 is also weak.) 18….b4 19.Nb1 Nh7 (Now we see Black’s other weakness exposed: the pawn on f7.) 20.Nd2 Rc8 21.Rad1 Bh4 22.g3 Bf6 23.Nc4 Bg7 (Black’s position is all passive. He has no counter-play and can only react to White’s play.) 24.b3 Qe7 (Black realises that the pawn on a5 cannot be defended for long and so, prepares to give it up.) 25.Qg2 Nc7 26.Nxa5 Rfe8 27.e5 Nd5 28.Bd2 Red8 29.Nf4 Qa7 30.Nxc6 (The start of a little combination) 30….Rxc6 31.Nxd5 Rc2 (Not 31….Qxd4+ 32. Kh1 Qxe5 when 33.Ne7+ wins material.) 32.Kh1 Bf8 33.e6 (Superb play by White. Black’s kingside becomes totally exposed. The next few moves are just about forced for both sides.) 33….Qa8 34.exf7+ Kh8 35.Nf4 Qxg2+ 36.Kxg2 Rxd4 37.Rf2 Rd6 38.Bc1 Rxf2+ 39.Kxf2 Rxd1 40.Bb2+ Nf6 41.Bxf6+ Kh7 42.Ne6 Bd6 43.Be5 Be7 (43….Bxe5 44.f8=Q, naturally. Anyway, there is no doubt that White is already winning in the endgame.) 44.f8=Q Bxf8 45.Nxf8+ Kh6 46.Ne6 g5 47.h4 gxh4 48.gxh4 Kg6 49.Nd4 Rd3 50.Nc6 Rd2+ 51.Ke3 Rxa2 52.Bd6 Ra1 53.Kd4 Rg1 54.Kc5 Kf5 55.Nxb4 Rc1+ 56.Kd4 Re1 57.Nc6 Re4+ 58.Kd5 Rxh4 59.b4 Rh1 60.b5 Rb1 61.Nd4+ Kg4 62.Kc6 Rc1+ 63.Kd7 Rb1 64.Kc7 h4 65.b6 Kh3 66.b7 Kg2 67.Nf5 h3 68.Nh4+1–0 (See diagram. White will promote his pawn next and after which, the knight will manoeuvre to f3 where it combines with the bishop to stop Black’s pawn from any further advance.)

The event only ends on Sunday, so you can still follow the last three rounds of the Tata Steel tournament from their website, http://www.tatasteelchess.com/, from 8.30pm nightly. Do enjoy the games!

Up Next

InSoFar chess

The InSoFar Chess Academy will hold its first event of the year at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Players can choose to play in any one of three sections – the rapid open, the junior scholarship open and the adult scholarship open – which will all be run off together.

Seven Swiss rounds with a 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM20 (rapid open), RM50 ( junior scholarship open and adult scholarship open). To register, please send your full name and age by text message to Mat Zaki Yeop (017.2032051). Entries are limited to the first 64 players only.

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will kick off this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng grand prix chess circuit with the first leg at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Clifford in Kuala Kangsar on Feb 12. 

This is the third series of the local grand prix which will see six legs held in Kuala Kangsar, Taiping, Slim River, Bagan Serai, Kampar and Ipoh until July. Last year’s second series attracted widespread interest from players around the country and were held at five different districts in the state. PICA is confident that this year’s series would attract even greater response. 

Each leg of the grand prix will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Players can register for the open, the under-16 or the under-12 sections. Grand prix points shall be awarded to the top 10 winners of the open section of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg in Ipoh. Those that register under the two junior categories will not be eligible for the open prizes or grand prix points. 

Entry fees for the first leg in Kuala Kangsar: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). Closing date: Feb 9. For more information, call Yunus (013.3908129), Abu Bakar Martin (019.4007663), Azhar (013.4570443) or check the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for updates. 

Rakan Muda JB

The Rakan Muda Johor Bahru, Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Southerncity Giant hypermarket  are the joint organisers of this year’s seventh Johor Bahru junior tournament on Feb 19. Venue will be the concourse area of the hypermarket in Johor Bahru. Seven-round Swiss event with 25 minutes time control.

Entry fees: RM15 (players under 17 years old) and RM13 (players under 12 years old). Closing date is Feb 17. Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).