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Home » Chess News » Events » 75th Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee 2013 » Coldblooded defence and tiredness sees all the Tata Steel Round 2 games drawn

Ivan Sokolov came the closest to winning with a draw against Hikaru Nakamura which lasted for 90 moves. Most probably Sokolov's tiredness allowed Nakamura to escape but Sokolov will no doubt be annoyed to have missed 46...Kh3 which would have been quite a simple win for him to execute. Sokolov on the official video said "I was completely winning. If I don't kill myself tonight, I will live for a thousand years". "From the beginning of the game I played like an idiot. Just decided to be creative at the wrong time. Ivan made a bunch of logical and correct moves and then somewhere just after time control he went for this crazy idea with Kf5-g4 when Ke4 all the way to b3 and then, I mean there are plenty of plans that win and he played the one plan where I had hopes of a draw.... I managed to get a little bit lucky." Nakamura.

Nakamura,Hikaru (2769) - Sokolov,Ivan (2663) [A22]
75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (2.6), 13.01.2013

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 Nc6 6.Nc2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 0-0 8.Bg2 d5 9.cxd5 Qxd5 10.f3

[10.d4 0-1 Amanov,Z (2401)-Adams,M (2728)/Wheeling USA 2012/The Week in Chess 916 (56)]

10...exf3 11.Bxf3 Qa5 12.Bg2 Bf5 13.0-0 Be4 14.Ne3 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Rfe8 16.Rf5 Re5 17.Qf1 Rae8 18.Rxf6 gxf6 19.Qxf6 R8e6 20.Qf3

Sokolov is well on top.

20...Ne7 21.Qxb7 Nf5 22.c4 Qc5 23.Qb3

23...Re4

[23...Qc6+ is a computer win. 24.Kg1 Nd4 25.Qb8+ Re8 26.Qb2 Nxe2+ 27.Kf2 Rh5; 23...Qd4 maintains control in a more positional manner. 24.Qb8+ Re8 25.Qb1 h5 26.Qb2 Nxe3+ 27.dxe3 Qxc4]

24.Qd3 Nxe3+ 25.dxe3 Qxc4 26.Qd8+ Kg7 27.Bb2+ f6 28.Rf1 Qc6 29.Kg1 Qd6 30.Qxd6 Rxd6

Black has a technical ending that should surely be a matter of technique.

31.Rc1 Rxe3 32.Rxc7+ Kg6 33.Kf2 Ree6 34.Rc2 Rc6 35.Rd2 Red6 36.Rxd6

[36.Bd4 Rc4 37.e3 Rdc6 38.a3 a5 39.e4 Ra4 40.Rd3 Rc2+ 41.Kf3 Rxh2 42.Bb6 Ra2 and white loses key pawns.]

36...Rxd6 37.a3 a5 38.Bc3 a4 39.Bb4 Rb6 40.Bc5 Rb5 41.Bd6 Rb3

Nakamura pointed out marching the King to b3 and then sacrificing the exchange looks like a fairly sure win but this certainly is really straightforward either as white can eventually get his king free.

42.h4 Kf5 43.Be7 Kg4 44.Bd6 f5 45.Kg2 h6 46.Kf2

46...h5?!

This wins too but Sokolov could have won far more simply with:

[46...Kh3! and white will run out of moves quickly and have to give ground decisively. 47.e3 (47.Kf1 h5 48.Kf2 Kg4 49.Kg2 Rc3 50.Kf1 Kh3 51.Kf2 Rb3) 47...Kg4 48.Ke2 h5 49.Kf2 Rb2+ 50.Kf1 Kf3]

47.Kg2 f4?!

This truly will test Sokolov's calculation ability.

48.gxf4 Kxh4 49.e4 Kg4 50.f5 Rd3 51.Bb4 h4?!

[51...Rg3+ 52.Kh2 Rf3 wins.]

52.f6 h3+ 53.Kh2 Rf3 54.e5 Rf2+ 55.Kh1 Kh5

It doesn't seem that white has a win anymore.

[55...h2 56.f7 Rxf7 57.Kxh2 Rf2+]

56.Bc5 Rf3 57.Kh2 Kg4 58.Bb4 Rf2+ 59.Kh1 h2 60.f7 Rxf7 61.Kxh2 Rf2+ 62.Kg1 Re2 63.Bd6 Kf3 64.Kf1 Re4 65.Kg1 Re1+ 66.Kh2 Rd1 67.Bb4 Rd4 68.Bd6 Rh4+ 69.Kg1 Rh6 70.Bf8 Rh8 71.Bd6 Rh6 72.Bf8 Rb6 73.Bd6 Rb1+ 74.Kh2 Re1 75.Bc7 Ra1 76.Bd6 Rd1 77.Bb4 Rd4 78.Bd6 Rg4 79.e6 Rg2+ 80.Kh1 Re2 81.e7 Kg4 82.Kg1 Kf5 83.Kf1 Re6 84.Kf2 Kg6 85.Kf3 Kf7 86.Bb4 Ke8 87.Bc5 Kd7 88.Bb4 Rb6 89.Bc5 Rc6 90.Bb4 Rc4 1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian got an extremely pleasant position as white against Magnus Carlsen's rather unusual handling of the King's Indian. Aronian offered a piece on move 18 but it would have given him full compensation. As it was Carlsen's position looked bad but he kept his position together with accurate play and eventually liquated to a drawn ending. "I thought I got more or less an interesting position, maybe slightly worse and then he outplayed me and I was pretty lucky to survive." - Carlsen "The position was really good because I thought I played well up to a point and then somehow like yesterday my intruition failed me. I felt this should be winning with g5 but after c6 it's kind of a miracle that black is surviving because if I have time to bring my kind it's gone." - Aronian. "I'm not sure if it was winning for him or not but is looked very, very dodgy." - Carlsen.

Aronian,Levon (2802) - Carlsen,Magnus (2861) [E90]
75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (2.4), 13.01.2013

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.h3 Nc6 7.d5 Nb4 8.Be2 e6 9.Be3

[9.0-0 Re8 10.Bg5 exd5 11.exd5 h6 12.Be3 Na6 13.Qd2 Kh7 14.Rfe1 Nc5 15.Bxc5 dxc5 16.Bd3 Bd7 17.Ne5 Re7 18.Re3 Ne8 19.Rae1 Rxe5 20.Rxe5 Bxe5 21.Rxe5 Nd6 22.Qe3 b6 23.Re7 Kg8 24.g4 a6 25.f4 Nc8 26.Re5 1/2-1/2 Iotov,V (2569)-Libiszewski,F (2478)/Marrakesh MAR 2010/The Week in Chess 817]

9...Re8 10.Nd2 a5 11.0-0 Bd7 12.Re1 b6 13.Rc1 Kh8 14.a3 Na6 15.Qc2 e5 16.Rb1 Ng8 17.b4 f5 18.Nb5!?

Offering a piece but Carlsen didn't take long to realise this was poisonous.

18...Bh6

[18...f4 19.Bxb6 cxb6 20.Nxd6 with more than enough for the piece.]

19.Bxh6 Nxh6 20.exf5 gxf5 21.f4 exf4 22.Qc3+ Kg8 23.Bh5 Nf7 24.Rxe8+ Qxe8 25.Qf6 Qf8 26.Bxf7+ Qxf7 27.Qg5+ Qg7 28.Qxf4 axb4 29.axb4 Re8 30.Nd4 Qe5 31.Qg5+ Qg7 32.N2f3

This looks horrible for black but Carlsen makes liquidation to a draw look very easy.

32...Qxg5 33.Nxg5 Kg7 34.Nge6+ Kf6 35.Rf1 Bxe6 36.Nxe6 h5 37.g4 hxg4 38.hxg4 Nxb4 39.Rxf5+ Kg6 40.Nf4+ Kg7 41.g5 c6 42.Kf2 cxd5 43.cxd5 Re5 44.Ne6+ Kg6 45.Rf6+ Kh5 46.Kf3 Re3+ 1/2-1/2

It may turn out that Aronian had winning chances somewhere but as it was Carlsen trod a very fine line and liquidated the position to a drawn endgame.

Fabiano Caruana also showed coolness under fire after his careless 14.h3 was just taken by his opponent Pentala Harikrishna. Caruana took his time and eventually found a way to activate his pieces and eventually equalise.

Caruana,Fabiano (2781) - Harikrishna,Pentala (2698) [C65]
75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (2.5), 13.01.2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Nbd2 a6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Re1 Re8 10.Nf1 d5

[10...h6 1/2-1/2 Svidler,P (2749)-Jumabayev,R (2525)/Astana KAZ 2012/The Week in Chess 922 (54)]

11.Be3 Bf8 12.Qc2 Bg4 13.N3d2 Nh5 14.h3?

14...Bxh3! 15.gxh3 d4 16.Nf3 dxe3 17.fxe3 Qd7 18.Kh2 Re6 19.Nh4 Rd6 20.Rad1 Rd8 21.d4 g6 22.Nf3 Bg7 23.Ng3 Nxg3 24.Kxg3 c5 25.d5 Qe7 26.Kh2 f5 27.Rg1 Bh6 28.Rde1 Rf8 29.Kh1 f4 30.exf4 Bxf4 31.Qg2 c4 32.b3 cxb3 33.axb3 a5 34.Ng5 Bxg5 35.Qxg5 Rdf6 36.Ref1 Qd7 37.Qg2 Rf4 38.Rxf4 Rxf4 39.Rf1 Qf7 40.Rxf4 Qxf4 41.Qg4 Qc1+ 42.Kg2 Qc2+ 43.Kg1 Kg7 44.Qd7+ Kh6 45.Qxc7 Qd1+ 46.Kf2 Qd2+ 47.Kf1 Qf4+ 48.Kg1 Qe3+ 49.Kf1 Qf4+ 50.Kg1 Qe3+ 51.Kf1 1/2-1/2

Loek van Wely and Hou Yifan drew a lively game where Van Wely got a nice edge before going wrong later on. Hou Yifan missed a win but the line to the win was a very slendor one.

Van Wely,Loek (2679) - Hou,Yifan (2603) [B35]
75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (2.2), 13.01.2013

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.a4 bxa4 13.Bxa4 Bxa4 14.Rxa4 Qb8 15.0-0 Rc8 16.b3 Qb7 17.Rfa1 a6 18.Qd3 Rc6 19.Nd1 Nd7 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Qd4+ Nf6 22.Ne3 Qb5 23.Ra5 Qb7 24.g4 h6 25.h4 e5 26.Qd2 Qa7 27.Kg2 Rac8 28.Qe2 Ra8 29.R1a2 Qd4 30.R2a4 Qb6 31.Ra1 Qa7 32.Rd1 Qc7 33.Raa1 Qa7 34.Rd2 Rd8 35.Rad1 Qe7 36.Qf2 Kh7 37.Rd3 Qe6 38.R1d2 Qe7 39.Qe1 Qe6 40.Qd1 Qe7 41.Kg3 Qc7 42.c4 Qa7 43.Rh2 Rg8 44.Qc1 a5 45.Ra2 Ra6 46.Qd2 Rb8 47.Ra1 Nd7 48.Re1 Nc5 49.Rxd6 Rxd6 50.Qxd6 Rxb3 51.Ng2 Rb2 52.Ne3 Rb3 53.Ng2 a4 54.h5 Nd3 55.hxg6+ fxg6 56.Re3 a3 57.c5

A very good practical chance that fails to very exact play found by the computer. As it is this was sufficient for a draw.

57...Nxc5

[57...a2 58.c6 a1Q (58...Qf7 59.c7 a1Q 60.c8Q Qf4+ 61.Nxf4 exf4+) 59.c7 holds.]

58.Rxb3 Nxb3 59.Nh4 Qg1+ 60.Kh3 Qh1+ 61.Kg3 Qg1+ 1/2-1/2

Erwin L'Ami against Sergey Karjakin was a very lively Nimzo-Indian which seemed more or less balanced throughout.

Viswanathan Anand had slightly the better of a Ruy Lopez with black against Anish Giri but it didn't look likely this would turn into a full point for him. Anand hoped that Giri would overestimate his attacking chances and After the games Anand thought 31...Qb6 instead of 31...Nf6 might have given him more winning chances.

Wang Hao didn't make much progess against Peter Leko's solid Queen's Indian.

75th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee (NED), 12-27 i 2013																cat. XX (2732)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2780	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2808
2.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2698	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1½	2943
3.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2781	.	½	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2779
4.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2627	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	2757
5.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2861	.	.	½	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2791
6.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2802	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	2770
7.	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2769	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	½	.	.	.	1	2717
8.	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2752	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	½	.	.	.	.	1	2699
9.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2735	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	1	2689
10.	Sokolov, Ivan	g	NED	2663	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	½	.	*	.	.	.	.	1	2760
11.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2772	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	½	.	1	2744
12.	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2679	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	½	1	2702
13.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2720	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	2542
14.	Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2603	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	½	2536

Round 2 (January 13, 2013)
Caruana, Fabiano	- Harikrishna, Pentala	½-½	51	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
L'Ami, Erwin	- Karjakin, Sergey	½-½	42	E52	Nimzo Indian
Aronian, Levon	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	46	E90	King's Indian Classical
Nakamura, Hikaru	- Sokolov, Ivan	½-½	90	A22	English Opening
Wang, Hao	- Leko, Peter	½-½	35	E15	Queens Indian
Van Wely, Loek	- Hou, Yifan	½-½	61	B35	Sicilian Defence
Giri, Anish	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	46	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed

75th Tata Steel GpB Wijk aan Zee (NED), 12-27 i 2013																cat. XV (2620)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2655	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	.	2
2.	Rapport, Richard	g	HUN	2621	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1½	2826
3.	Timman, Jan H	g	NED	2566	.	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2815
4.	Nikolic, Predrag		BIH	2619	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	1½	2814
5.	Van Kampen, Robin	g	NED	2581	.	½	.	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2618
6.	Movsesian, Sergei	g	ARM	2688	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	2637
7.	Smeets, Jan	g	NED	2615	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2590
8.	Dubov, Daniil	g	RUS	2600	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	2593
9.	Grandelius, Nils	g	SWE	2572	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	½	.	.	.	.	1	2615
10.	Turov, Maxim	g	RUS	2630	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	½	.	1	2579
11.	Edouard, Romain	g	FRA	2686	.	0	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	2427
12.	Naiditsch, Arkadij	g	GER	2708	0	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	2478
13.	Ipatov, Alexander	g	TUR	2587	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	½	2449
14.	Ernst, Sipke	g	NED	2556	.	.	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

Round 2 (January 13, 2013)
Rapport, Richard	- Edouard, Romain	1-0	42	D20	QGA
Timman, Jan H	- Movsesian, Sergei	½-½	36	D15	Slav Defence
Nikolic, Predrag	- Ernst, Sipke	1-0	31	D10	Slav Defence
Van Kampen, Robin	- Smeets, Jan	½-½	29	C67	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Grandelius, Nils	- Dubov, Daniil	½-½	31	B67	Sicilian Rauzer
Naiditsch, Arkadij	- Tiviakov, Sergei	0-1	39	E15	Queens Indian
Ipatov, Alexander	- Turov, Maxim	½-½	37	E21	Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3

75th Tata Steel GpC Wijk aan Zee (NED), 12-27 i 2013																cat. X (2476)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Brunello, Sabino	g	ITA	2572	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1	.	.	2
2.	Peralta, Fernando	g	ARG	2617	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1	.	2
3.	Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag	g	BRA	2543	.	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2699
4.	Gretarsson, Hjorvar Steinn	m	ISL	2516	.	.	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2664
5.	Romanishin, Oleg M	g	UKR	2521	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2471
6.	Van Der Werf, Mark	m	NED	2450	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	1	2459
7.	Bitensky, Igor	m	ISR	2400	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2421
8.	Admiraal, Miguoel	f	NED	2321	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	2347
9.	Klein, David	m	NED	2445	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	1	.	.	.	1	2433
10.	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	wg	RUS	2402	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	2340
11.	Schut, Lisa	wm	NED	2295	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	0	.	*	.	.	.	½	2190
12.	Kovchan, Alexander	g	UKR	2579	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	½	2347
13.	Swinkels, Robin	g	NED	2508	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	½	2405
14.	Burg, Twan	m	NED	2492	.	.	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

Round 2 (January 13, 2013)
Peralta, Fernando	- Swinkels, Robin	1-0	32	D32	Tarrasch Defence
Romanishin, Oleg M	- Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag	½-½	39	A07	Barcza System
Admiraal, Miguoel	- Bitensky, Igor	½-½	32	B06	Modern Defence
Klein, David	- Schut, Lisa	1-0	29	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Goryachkina, Aleksandra	- Van Der Werf, Mark	½-½	62	D41	Semi-Tarrasch Defence
Kovchan, Alexander	- Brunello, Sabino	0-1	44	C45	Scotch Game
Burg, Twan	- Gretarsson, Hjorvar Steinn	0-1	36	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed

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