18 March 2016
In Between Break and Respite
Round five of the candidates tournament in the review of Alina Bivol.
Round five, which your author was into luck to be present at, was in a certain sense a breaking point as it has broken the established tradition of the previous four rounds, in each of which three games would invariably end in draws while one would score a point. Although in round five all games ended in draws, it happened following a hard fight, rather than after some twenty moves, as is often the case in the traditional round robins.
Four hard-fought draws
The overall tournament standings has not changed, which means that prior to round six the Russian Sergey Karjakin continues to lead the field after having drawn with Veselin Topalov, while breathing down his neck is Levon Aronian. In round five the Armenian grandmaster’s play was very risky, but beating the cold-blooded Fabiano Caruana turned out beyond his capacities.
Aronian – Caruana
20.e5!
A very principled and ambitious move by Aronian! Such continuations as 20.Nd1 Bxb2 21.Qxb2 Qb6 22.Qa1 Qb4 or 20.Nb1 Bxb2 21.Qxb2 b5 22.Nd2 Qa5 would leave you with a very stale impression.
20...dxe5 21.f5 b5
Black launches his counterplay without any delay.
22.Ne4 Nb6 23.Bc1
Throwing oil on the fire. Simple taking on b5 was likely to lead to a draw, for instance: 23.cxb5 axb5 24.fxg6 fxg6 25.Qxc5 Na4 26.Qxb5 Nxb2 27.Qxb2 Qxd5 28.Qb3=.
In response to 23.fxg6 dubious is 23...hxg6? in view of 24.Rxf7! Nxc4 (losing is 24...Kxf7 25.Rf1+ Kg8 26.Nf6+ Qxf6 27.Rxf6 Bxf6 28.Qxg6+ Bg7 29.Qxb6) 25.Rf3, and Black king’s position sets alarm bells ringing. However, the alternative recapture 23…fxg6 keeps dynamic balance in the position.
23...Nxc4 24.d6
24…gxf5
White has a choice to meet 24...Qd7!? with a sharp move 25.Bh6, as well as with a positional one 25.g4. After 25.Bh6 gxf5 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 27.Ng3 Kh8 28.Nxf5 Re6 White is yet to prove his initiative being worth of sacrificed pawns, whereas 25.g4 Qc6 26.fxg6 fxg6 27.Rd1 Rad8 28.Qd3 results in a complex game.
25.Rxf5 Nxd6 26.Bg5 Qa5
Interesting was 26...Qd7!?, although attempting such a move in order to continue the fight is not an easy task, especially when you are pressed for time. This is especially so since 27.Nf6+ Bxf6 28.Rxf6 Re6 29.Qd3 e4 30.Qg3 looks dangerous for Black.
27.Bd2 Qd8
Another attempt to avoid repetition of moves 27...Qc7 28.Nf6+ Bxf6 29.Rxf6 Rad8!? 30.Bg5 e4 31.Qf2 would lead to unclear play.
28.Bg5 Qa5 29.Bd2 Qd8 30.Bg5 Draw.
The spectators’ hall has no shortage of room to move your elbows
By mid-tournament the audience's excitement would decrease and getting access to one of the main events of the year became no problem at all. Chess fans could buy entrance tickets right in front of the playhall without having to waste time standing in queues, but there were a lot of famous grandmasters following the progress of games on the big screen. From time to time the spectators’ hall would briefly witness such grandmasters as Evgeny Sveshnikov, Sanan Sjugirov, Jakov Geller, Andrei Deviatkin, Vladimir Belov and others. I believe that for many of us it still remains a mystery as to who assists the participants of the Candidates Tournament? While certain players arrive at the event alone, a little while after the start of the round the Peter Svidler’ support team consisting of St. Petersburg grandmasters made it to the Telegraph building, who were later seen actively discussing the game and cheering up for the Russians.
Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ildar Khairullin and Maxim Matlakov
In the game against Anish Giri Svidler failed to solve all of his opening problems, and the Dutch grandmaster could put Peter Veniaminovich in a rather unpleasant situation.
Giri – Svidler
The game saw 20.Rc4
After 20.d5! Black finds himself in a dubious position since his а4-pawn is weak, while the pieces are discoordinated. It could be followed by: 20...Bxe4 (20...Bf8 21.d6 Qa5 22.Rd1 b5 23.Nc5 is to White’s advantage) 21.Bxe4 Nc5 (if 21...Qxc3!?, then 22.Qb5! Nf6 23.Rc1 Qa3 24.Rxa4 Qd6 25.Bg2, and Black’s position is precarious) 22.Bc2 Bf8 23.Rd1 Bd6 24.Bxa4 Nxa4 25.Rxa4 f5 (25...Qxc3?? 26.Rc1) 26.Rc4 with a clear edge for White.
20...Qb6 21.Rb4 Qc7
Following the repetition of moves Giri once again refrained from advancing his pawn to d5, and a couple of moves later Black managed to equalize the game.
22.dxe5 Nxe5 23.Bf4 Bd7 24.Rd1 Bc6 25.Rbd4 Re6 26.Ng5 Ree8 27.Ne4 Re6 Draw.
After the game Peter Veniaminovich shared his tournament impressions with your correspondent:
“For me each participation in the Candidates Tournament has been a very interesting and tough experience. I love these tournaments because they motivate you into conquering the ultimate goal. Now my result is quite an expected one. This year’s event has assembled an extremely solid lineup, the percentage of draws is very high therefore. It is clear that having gained 50% after five rounds is not "the result of your dream", but the majority of the games that I have had so far in the first half of the tournament happened with me playing the black pieces and I hope that it is going to be easier in the subsequent encounters. As is well known, the main intrigue starts in the second half when people get tired.”
Svidler has also noted his feeling of being somewhat short of space for taking his walks around the playhall; personally he needs more space to walk around and warm himself up. Let us hope that this circumstance will not prevent Peter Veniaminovich from breaking out into a winning trot!
Alina Bivol and Peter Svidler
The former World Champion Vishy Anand opted for the Anti-Berlin line against Hikaru Nakamura, but following multiple trades of pieces the opponents agreed to a draw.
Topalov-Karjakin was unfolding in a very lively manner. Black emerged with central hanging pawns out of the opening, but laying siege against them was what White has failed to embark upon. Karjakin played very creatively, timely advancing his pawns and provoking numerous exchanges. Immediately after passing the time control the opponents agreed to a draw.
After completion of round five Sergey Karjakin has retained his lead with 3.5 points. Trailing a half point behind him is Levon Aronian, while 2.5 points is under the belts of Anish Giri, Peter Svidler, Fabiano Caruana and Vishy Anand. Hikaru Nakamura has 2 points and Veselin Topalov is with 1.5 points.
Photo credit: Vladimir Barsky and Alina Bivol
