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Home » Chess News » Events » 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2012 » Carlsen beats Gelfand to rejoin Aronian in Tata Steel lead after 7 rounds

Ivanchuk draw Aronian

Vassily Ivanchuk played a variation of the Open Catalan that isn't supposed to amount to very much for white. In spite of Ivanchuk investing some time in the opening the players agreed to a draw after 30 moves in a more or less equal position.

Full Official Round 7 Summary video

Carlsen beat Gelfand

Magnus Carlsen defeated out of form Boris Gelfand in 52 moves. Carlsen played a very quiet variation of the Slav with white where he retained the two bishops. He felt he had an initial edge but that he let that go. On move 30 Gelfand could have played 30...Qc2 exchanging queens when a draw was the likely result. Instead he played it the following move when it already lost a pawn. Carlsen was very confident in converting this and joining Levon Aronian in the lead on 5/7.

Magnus Carlsen interview.

I had a slight advantage then at some point I blundered and lost all of my advantage and then basically he just played Qc2 exchanging queens one move too late because if he had played it one move earlier there would be no no question about me having an advantage and in the game I won a pawn and then it's very difficult for him.

He will play Anand in May.

Here he played one very good game against Karjakin otherwise he hasn't been in great shape but I'm sure he'll be be back.

Do you consider yourself better than Aronian?

In this tournament I don't know, according to the rating list I'm a little bit better than him

So you confess you will win this tournament?

No but I think I have a very good chance and certainly +3 after 7 rounds is not a bad score.

Carlsen,Magnus - Gelfand,Boris [D12]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (7.5), 21.01.2012

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.0-0 Bd6 10.h3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 0-0 12.Qc2 Qe7 13.Rd1 Rac8 14.Bd2 Nb6

[14...c5 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.Rac1 a6 17.a4 g5 18.Be1 g4 19.hxg4 Nxg4 20.Be2 Nf6 21.a5 Nce4 22.Qa4 Nxc3 23.Rxc3 Nd5 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Bf3 Be5 26.Qb3 Rc5 27.Qa3 Qc7 28.e4 Nf6 29.b4 Rc4 30.Qd3 Rd4 31.Qe2 Rxd1 32.Qxd1 Qc4 33.Be2 Qc6 34.f3 Bc3 35.Bxc3 Qxc3 36.Qd8+ Kh7 37.Qd3 Qe1+ 38.Bf1 g6 39.b5 Qxa5 40.bxa6 Qc5+ 41.Kh2 Qe5+ 42.Kg1 bxa6 43.Qxa6 Qc5+ 44.Kh2 Nh5 45.Qb7 Qe5+ 46.Kg1 Qd4+ 47.Kh2 Qd6+ 48.Kg1 Qc5+ 49.Kh2 Qd6+ 50.Kg1 Qd4+ 51.Kh2 Qe5+ 52.Kg1 Qd4+ 1/2-1/2 Cifuentes Parada,R (2529)-Bellon Lopez,J (2425)/Cala Mayor ESP 2008/The Week in Chess 722]

15.Bf1 e5 16.dxe5 Bxe5 17.Rac1 Rcd8 18.Be1 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.g3 Qe7 22.Bg2 Bd6 23.Bd2 Qe6 24.b3 Nbd5 25.Ne2 Nb4 26.Qb1 Qf5 27.e4 Qc5 28.Nf4

[28.Be3 Qa5]

28...g5 29.Ne2 g4 30.h4

30...Nd7?

[30...Qc2 and black gets queens off without losing a pawn.]

31.Be3 Qc2 32.Qxc2 Nxc2 33.Bxa7

Carlsen wins a pawn and he believes black's defence is very hard.

33...Ba3 34.Nc3 Bb2 35.Nd1 Bc1 36.Bf1 Nb4 37.a4 Nf6 38.e5 Nd7 39.Bd4 Nc2 40.Bc3 Nc5 41.Be2 Ne4 42.Bxg4 Nxc3 43.Nxc3 Bb2 44.e6 fxe6 45.Bxe6+ Kf8 46.Ne4 Nd4 47.Ng5 Ke7 48.Bg8 Kf8 49.Bc4 Ke7 50.Kg2 b5 51.Bg8 Kf8 52.a5 1-0

Nakamura draw Radjabov

Hikaru Nakamura surprised Teimour Radjabov with the unsual Queen retreat 16.Qe2 in the Sveshnikov Sicilian. However in spite of gaining time on the clock the position was still pretty equal and the players repeated to draw on move 28.

Van Wely draw Giri

Loek van Wely played the Trompowsky which gave him a tiny but long lasting initiative and reduced Giri's active prospects eventually to almost zero. Giri was critical of his own play and both said that van Wely had missed at least one win. 55.Kg4 would probably have given van Wely better prospects than the 55.g6 he played in the game. A few moves later Giri escaped with 57...Ne6! which started a very forcing variation where he gave up a piece in order to liquidate all the pawns to a clear draw.

Van Wely,Loek - Giri,Anish [A45]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (7.4), 21.01.2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c5 3.Bxf6 gxf6 4.d5 Qb6 5.Qc1 f5 6.g3 Bg7 7.c3 Qf6 8.e3

[8.Bg2 d6 9.Nh3 h5 10.Qg5 Nd7 11.Nd2 h4 12.Qxf6 Bxf6 13.f4 Nb6 14.0-0-0 Rg8 15.Bf3 Bd7 16.Ng5 hxg3 17.h4 g2 18.Bxg2 Na4 19.Bf3 b5 20.Rdg1 0-0-0 21.Nxf7 Rxg1+ 22.Rxg1 Rf8 23.Ng5 Rh8 24.h5 Be8 25.Rh1 b4 26.Nb1 bxc3 27.b3 Nb6 28.Kc2 Nd7 29.Nxc3 Ne5 30.fxe5 Bxg5 31.e6 Bh6 32.Rg1 Be3 33.Rg7 Kd8 34.Kd3 Bh6 35.Rg1 Rf8 36.e3 Kc7 37.a4 Kb6 38.Nd1 Ka5 39.Kc4 Rh8 40.Rg2 Rf8 41.Kc3 Rh8 42.Nb2 Kb6 43.Nc4+ Kc7 44.Kd3 Rf8 45.Ke2 Rh8 46.Kf2 Rf8 47.Kg1 Rh8 48.Kh2 Rf8 49.Kh3 Rh8 50.Kh4 Rf8 51.Rg1 Rh8 52.Be2 Rf8 53.Bf3 Rh8 54.Rg2 Rf8 55.Kh3 Rh8 56.Kh2 Rf8 57.Kg1 Rh8 58.Kf2 Rf8 59.Ke2 Rh8 60.Kd3 Rf8 61.Kc2 Rh8 62.Kb2 Rf8 63.Ka3 Rh8 64.b4 Rf8 65.Rg1 1-0 Kamenets,A (2246)-Kouvatsou,M (2185)/Agios Kirykos GRE 2010/The Week in Chess 820]

8...Na6 9.Ne2 Nc7 10.Nf4 Bh6 11.c4 d6 12.Nc3 Bd7 13.Be2 a6 14.a4 b6 15.Nh5 Qg6 16.Bf3 Rb8 17.Ne2 Rf8 18.Qd2 a5 19.0-0 Kd8 20.Rfe1 Ne8 21.Nef4 Qg8 22.e4 Qh8 23.Qe2 Rb7 24.e5 Qxe5 25.Qxe5 dxe5 26.Rxe5 Nd6 27.b3 Rg8 28.Rae1 Bf8 29.R5e3 Rb8 30.h4 Kc7 31.Bd1 Re8 32.Bc2 Kd8 33.R3e2 Rg4 34.Kh2 Rg8 35.f3 Kc7 36.Nd3 Rg6 37.Ne5 Rh6 38.Nxd7 Kxd7 39.g4 e6 40.Re5 Be7 41.Kh3 Bd8 42.R1e2 Rf8 43.Bd3 fxg4+ 44.fxg4 exd5 45.Rxd5 Kc7 46.Bf5 Rg8 47.Re3 Rf8 48.Ree5 Rg8 49.Bc2 Rf8 50.Bd1 Re8 51.Rxe8 Nxe8 52.g5 Rd6 53.Rxd6 Kxd6 54.Bc2 f6

55.g6

[55.Kg4 fxg5 56.hxg5 Ke6 57.Bxh7 Kf7 58.Nf4 Ng7 59.Bf5 Be7 60.Be4 Bd8 61.g6+ Kf8 62.Bf5]

55...hxg6 56.Bxg6 Nc7 57.Bf5 Ne6

Very crisply calculated. Black now liquidates to the draw.

58.Bxe6 Kxe6 59.Ng7+ Ke5 60.Kg4 f5+ 61.Nxf5 Bxh4 62.Nxh4 Kd4 63.Kf3 Kc3 64.Ke3 Kxb3 65.Kd3 Kxa4 66.Kc3 b5 1/2-1/2

Kamsky beat Navara

David Navara found an interesting idea in the Berlin against Gata Kamsky where he developed his rook along his 3rd rank to harass the queenside pawns. He seemed close to a draw before blundering with 36...c5 after which he quickly went down to defeat.

Kamsky,Gata - Navara,David [C67]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (7.7), 21.01.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bf4 Be6

[11...Be7 12.Rad1 Bd7 13.Ne4 Rd8 14.Nfg5 Bc8 15.e6 f6 16.Rxd8+ Bxd8 17.Nf7 Rg8 18.Nxd8 Kxd8 19.g4 hxg4 20.hxg4 Nd6 21.Bxd6 cxd6 22.Nxd6 Bxe6 23.Nxb7+ Kc7 24.Re1 Bxa2 25.Re7+ Kb6 26.b3 Bb1 27.c3 Rb8 28.Nd6 Kc5 29.Nb7+ Kb6 30.Nd6 Kc5 31.Nb7+ Kb6 1/2-1/2 Sutovsky,E (2695)-Jumabayev,R (2555)/Moscow RUS 2011/The Week in Chess 850]

12.Rfd1 Be7 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.Nxe6 Rxe6 15.Kf1 Rd8 16.Rxd8+ Bxd8 17.Ne4 Be7 18.Re1 c5 19.c4 Nd4 20.Nc3 Ra6 21.Rd1 c6 22.Be3 b5 23.a3 b4 24.axb4 cxb4 25.Bxd4 bxc3 26.Bxc3 Ra4 27.Ke2 Rxc4 28.Ra1 Bc5 29.g3 Bb6 30.Kd3 Rc5 31.f4 Rb5 32.b4 g6 33.g4 hxg4 34.hxg4 Kd7 35.f5 gxf5 36.gxf5

36...c5?

[36...Rd5+ 37.Ke4 Rb5 38.Rd1+ Ke8 39.Rd6 c5 40.Rd5 a6 41.Bd2 Ba7 42.Kd3 cxb4 43.Rxb5 axb5]

37.Kc4 Kc6 38.Rd1 Bc7 39.Rd5 a6 40.Rxc5+ Rxc5+ 41.bxc5 a5 42.f6 Kd7 43.Kd5 a4 44.c6+ Kd8 45.Bb4 Bb8 46.e6 Ke8 47.Bd6 1-0

Karjakin beat Topalov

Sergey Karjakin outlasted Veselin Topalov to score a win in 99 moves of a Closed Sicilian. Topalov was clearly frustrated with himself at the end of the game as can be seen from the video. Early on Topalov played creatively sacrificing the exchange for good play. Karjakin could probably have equalised with 28.Qxf7. 29...Qc4 would probably have given Topalov a big advantage. Both sides struggled to find the right play on the run up to first time control where Karjakin was the one an exchange up for a pawn and he ground down Topalov after that, it isn't clear to me whether he should have been able to or not..

Gashimov draw Caruana

"Well it was very complicated, really, we both probably missed something" was Fabiano Caruana's verdict on his draw against Vugar Gashimov in a Ruy Lopez.

Gashimov,Vugar - Caruana,Fabiano [C78]
74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (7.3), 21.01.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 11.h3 0-0 12.Re1 h6 13.Be3 Ra8 14.Nbd2 Re8 15.Bc2 Bb7 16.Bb1

[16.d5 0-1 Arakhamia-Grant,K (2456)-Bok,B (2488)/Antwerp BEL 2011/The Week in Chess 879 (94)]

16...Nb8 17.c4 exd4 18.Bxd4 bxc4 19.Bxa7 Rxa7 20.Ra3 Nbd7 21.Nd4 Ne5 22.Rg3 g6 23.f4 Nd3 24.Bxd3 cxd3 25.f5 g5 26.h4 g4 27.Rxd3

About here Caruana felt he was better.

27...Ra8

Perhaps allowing white to equalise.

[27...Re5 was Caruana's post-game suggestion as an improvement with the idea of d5.; 27...h5 is a computer suggestion.]

28.Rde3 h5

was a mistake according to Caruana.

29.Qc1 Kh7 30.Ne2 Re5 31.Ng3 d5 32.Nb3 dxe4 33.Nc5 Bc6 34.b4 Qd6 35.Qa1 Bd5 36.Nd3 exd3

This exchange sacrifice works well for Carnuana.

37.Qxe5 Qxe5 38.Rxe5 c6 39.Rd1 Rb8 40.Rxd3 Rxb4 41.Ra3 Kg7 42.Re2 Bc4 43.Rd2 Bd5 44.Ra1 Ne4 45.Nxe4 Bxe4 46.Rf1 Kf6 47.Rd6+ Ke5 48.Rd8 Kf6 49.Rd6+ Ke5 50.Rd8 Kf6 1/2-1/2

74th Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee (NED), 14-29 i 2012																cat. XXI (2755)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2835	*	1	.	½	½	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	½	5	2905
2.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2805	0	*	.	.	.	½	1	½	.	1	1	.	1	.	5	2917
3.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2773	.	.	*	½	½	.	½	.	½	1	.	½	.	1	4½	2844
4.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2736	½	.	½	*	.	.	½	½	.	1	½	.	½	.	4	2810
5.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2714	½	.	½	.	*	.	½	½	.	0	1	1	.	.	4	2807
6.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2766	½	½	.	.	.	*	½	½	½	.	½	.	1	.	4	2814
7.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2759	.	0	½	½	½	½	*	.	.	.	.	1	.	1	4	2799
8.	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2692	.	½	.	½	½	½	.	*	½	.	½	.	½	.	3½	2754
9.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2770	.	.	½	.	.	½	.	½	*	0	.	½	½	½	3	2694
10.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2769	.	0	0	0	1	.	.	.	1	*	.	0	.	1	3	2699
11.	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2732	.	0	.	½	0	½	.	½	.	.	*	.	½	1	3	2690
12.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2739	0	.	½	.	0	.	0	.	½	1	.	*	.	½	2½	2659
13.	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2761	0	0	.	½	.	0	.	½	½	.	½	.	*	.	2	2604
14.	Navara, David	g	CZE	2712	½	.	0	.	.	.	0	.	½	0	0	½	.	*	1½	2538

Round 7 (January 21, 2012)
Carlsen, Magnus	- Gelfand, Boris	1-0	52	D12	Slav Defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	30	E06	Catalan
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Radjabov, Teimour	½-½	28	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Van Wely, Loek	- Giri, Anish	½-½	66	A45	Trompowsky
Karjakin, Sergey	- Topalov, Veselin	1-0	99	B23	Sicilian Closed
Kamsky, Gata	- Navara, David	1-0	47	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Gashimov, Vugar	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	50	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence

B-C Groups

Pentala Harikrishna leads on 5.5/7 in the B-Group a point clear of Alexander Motylev after both drew their games in Round 7.

Maxim Turov made his second draw in a row in the C-Group as he started to play the harder opposition. He is now only half a point clear of Hans Tikkanen.

74th Tata Steel GMB Wijk aan Zee (NED), 14-29 i 2012																cat. XV (2603)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2665	*	.	½	.	1	.	.	1	1	.	.	½	½	1	5½	2818
2.	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	2677	.	*	.	½	½	½	.	.	1	1	.	½	.	½	4½	2712
3.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2596	½	.	*	½	½	½	0	.	.	1	1	.	.	.	4	2669
4.	Reinderman, Dimitri	g	NED	2581	.	½	½	*	½	.	.	1	½	.	.	.	½	½	4	2637
5.	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	g	CUB	2691	0	½	½	½	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	1	4	2635
6.	Nyzhnyk, Illya	g	UKR	2568	.	½	½	.	.	*	.	0	.	½	1	½	1	.	4	2657
7.	Ernst, Sipke	g	NED	2606	.	.	1	.	.	.	*	0	0	1	.	1	0	½	3½	2586
8.	Timman, Jan H	g	NED	2571	0	.	.	0	.	1	1	*	.	0	½	½	.	.	3	2568
9.	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2557	0	0	.	½	½	.	1	.	*	.	.	.	½	½	3	2555
10.	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2677	.	0	0	.	.	½	0	1	.	*	½	1	.	.	3	2556
11.	Vocaturo, Daniele	g	ITA	2545	.	.	0	.	.	0	.	½	.	½	*	½	1	½	3	2537
12.	Potkin, Vladimir	g	RUS	2684	½	½	.	.	.	½	0	½	.	0	½	*	.	.	2½	2513
13.	Cmilyte, Viktorija	g	LTU	2503	½	.	.	½	0	0	1	.	½	.	0	.	*	.	2½	2499
14.	Harika, Dronavalli	g	IND	2516	0	½	.	½	0	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	.	*	2½	2515

Round 7 (January 21, 2012)
L'Ami, Erwin	- Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	½-½	73	E92	King's Indian Classical
Nyzhnyk, Illya	- Vocaturo, Daniele	1-0	34	A56	Old Indian Defence
Timman, Jan H	- Reinderman, Dimitri	0-1	34	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Tiviakov, Sergei	- Ernst, Sipke	0-1	37	C55	Two Knights Defence
Potkin, Vladimir	- Harikrishna, Pentala	½-½	66	E53	Nimzo Indian
Cmilyte, Viktorija	- Lahno, Kateryna	½-½	58	D82	Gruenfeld 4.Bf4
Harika, Dronavalli	- Motylev, Alexander	½-½	37	A10	Dutch, QI and KID Systems

74th Tata Steel GMC Wijk aan Zee (NED), 14-29 i 2012																cat. IX (2454)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Turov, Maxim	g	RUS	2645	*	½	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	.	1	1	1	1	6	2711
2.	Tikkanen, Hans	g	SWE	2549	½	*	½	.	½	.	1	1	.	1	1	.	.	.	5½	2693
3.	Adhiban, Baskaran	g	IND	2561	.	½	*	1	.	½	.	.	½	1	.	½	.	1	5	2618
4.	Grover, Sahaj	m	IND	2532	½	.	0	*	½	.	1	.	½	1	½	.	.	.	4	2531
5.	Brandenburg, Daan	g	NED	2527	.	½	.	½	*	½	.	.	½	½	.	½	1	.	4	2517
6.	Sadler, Matthew D	g	ENG	2660	.	.	½	.	½	*	½	.	½	½	½	.	1	.	4	2487
7.	Goudriaan, Etienne	f	NED	2279	.	0	.	0	.	½	*	1	½	.	.	1	.	½	3½	2436
8.	Schut, Lisa	wm	NED	2290	0	0	.	.	.	.	0	*	.	.	½	1	1	1	3½	2417
9.	Tania, Sachdev	m	IND	2411	.	.	½	½	½	½	½	.	*	0	.	.	½	.	3	2429
10.	Paehtz, Elisabeth	m	GER	2454	.	0	0	0	½	½	.	.	1	*	.	.	½	.	2½	2409
11.	Danielian, Elina	g	ARM	2490	0	0	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	.	*	0	.	½	2	2312
12.	Ootes, Lars		NED	2326	0	.	½	.	½	.	0	0	.	.	1	*	.	0	2	2282
13.	Hopman, Pieter		NED	2342	0	.	.	.	0	0	.	0	½	½	.	.	*	1	2	2310
14.	Haast, Anne	wm	NED	2290	0	.	0	.	.	.	½	0	.	.	½	1	0	*	2	2261

Round 7 (January 21, 2012)
Turov, Maxim	- Grover, Sahaj	½-½	65	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
Adhiban, Baskaran	- Paehtz, Elisabeth	1-0	58	C55	Two Knights Defence
Brandenburg, Daan	- Hopman, Pieter	1-0	35	B01	Centre Counter
Goudriaan, Etienne	- Tania, Sachdev	½-½	42	E21	Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3
Schut, Lisa	- Tikkanen, Hans	0-1	47	B78	Sicilian Modern Dragon
Danielian, Elina	- Sadler, Matthew D	½-½	46	A95	Dutch Stonewall
Haast, Anne	- Ootes, Lars	1-0	37	B09	Pirc Defence

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