Chessable Houska's Caro

77th Tata Steel Masters 2015 (13)

Magnus Carlsen wins Tata Steel Masters 2015

Carlsen didn't have things all his own way vs Saric in the final round. Photo ©

Carlsen didn't have things all his own way vs Saric in the final round. Photo © | http://www.tatasteelchess.com

Magnus Carlsen won the 77th Tata Steel Masters with 9/11 half a point clear of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, Wesley So and Liren Ding.

Magnus Carlsen secured a draw in his final round game against Ivan Saric that proved enough for him to take first place alone in the 2015 Tata Steel Masters. Carlsen was not happy with the quality of the final round game where he "just blundered a pawn" he was unhappy with his play even after this but eventually the game swapped down to a dead draw. This is Carlsen's 4th victory in the Wijk aan Zee top group. The 78th Tata Steel Chess takes place 15th to 31st January 2016. Carlsen didn't guarantee a return but thought it "not unlikely".

There were some pluses which Carlsen outlined on twitter as "First tournament win since April, first gain of rating since February, and my longest winning streak ever."

Anish Giri could have caught Carlsen with a final round win over Radoslaw Wojtaszek but instead a complex Gruenfeld traded off to a dull draw. Giri thought at various points he may have had chances but the tactics led to an equal position. Giri has moved to 2797 and 6 in the world and his progress is obvious.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played perhaps the most impressive game of the day to also share second place. He defeated Fabiano Caruana with a creative pawn sacrifice that almost immediately led to consessions by white. Vachier-Lagrave finished the game with a very nice mating flourish too.

Liren Ding defeated Levon Aronian in a very strange King's Indian. Aronian must have forgotten his preparation because he thought for 15 minutes over 16.g5 which is just losing after 16...Ne8! Aronian extended the game for a very long time but he never came close to recovering.

Wesley So defeated Loek van Wely in a Benoni. It didn't look like Van Wely had much patience to defend and once his aggression finished white simply broke through in the centre.

Baadur Jobava at least finished a catastrophic event for him with a win. It was a very odd game which started as a King's Indian and went into Benko style play. Rajdabov missed the winning sacrifice 20.Nxf3+! and the game looked to be heading for a draw. 46.Rb4? was a bad error (46.Rb3+ first saves the game) and then was practically losing. However Jobava gave Radjabov at least some hope with the crude 50.Nxb2 giving up a piece (50.Nd2 is wining) but 51....Ke7? (51.Bxe5 and if white is still winning it is tricky) led to a white win.

Hou Yifan was better against Vassily Ivanchuk out of the opening but they locked the position up after which a draw was the natural result.

Final Round 13 Standings: 1 Carlsen 9pts, 2-5 Vachier-Lagrave, Giri, So, Ding Liren 8.5pts, 6 Ivanchuk 7.5pts, 7 Caruana 7pts, 8 Radjabov 6pts, 9-10 Wojtaszek, Aronian 5.5pts, 11 Hou Yifan 5pts, 12 Saric 4.5pts, 13 Van Wely 4pts, 14 Jobava 3pts.

In the Challengers group Yi Wei won with 10.5/13 half a point clear of David Navara. Yi Wei has earned a place in the Masters next year.

Next events: Gibraltar Masters 27th Jan to 5th Feb 2015. Topalov, Nakamura, Svidler, Vitiugov, Jakovenko etc

GRENKEChess in Baden-Baden 2nd-9th February 2015. Carlsen, Caruana, Anand, Aronian, Adams, Bacrot, Naiditsch, Baramidze

Magnus Carlsen post-win interview

77th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee (NED), 9-25 i 2015 cat. XX (2746)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
1. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2862 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 9 2877
2. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2757 ½ * 1 ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 2854
3. Giri, Anish g NED 2784 ½ 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 2852
4. So, Wesley g USA 2762 ½ ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 2854
5. Ding, Liren g CHN 2732 ½ 0 0 ½ * ½ 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2856
6. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2715 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 2805
7. Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2820 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 7 2769
8. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2734 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 6 2717
9. Wojtaszek, Radoslaw g POL 2744 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 * ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 2688
10. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2797 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 2684
11. Hou, Yifan g CHN 2673 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 5 2664
12. Saric, Ivan g CRO 2666 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ * ½ 1 2641
13. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2667 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 4 2610
14. Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2727 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 ½ * 3 2536
Round 13 (January 25, 2015)
Carlsen, Magnus - Saric, Ivan ½-½ 49 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo
So, Wesley - Van Wely, Loek 1-0 32 A61 Benoni
Caruana, Fabiano - Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 0-1 35 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw - Giri, Anish ½-½ 30 D97 Gruenfeld Russian
Aronian, Levon - Ding, Liren 0-1 55 E90 King's Indian Classical
Hou, Yifan - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ 30 C50 Giuoco Piano
Jobava, Baadur - Radjabov, Teimour 1-0 60 E73 King's Indian Averbakh
77th Tata Steel GpB Wijk aan Zee (NED), 10-25 i 2015 cat. XIII (2561)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
1. Wei, Yi g CHN 2675 * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 10.5 2803
2. Navara, David g CZE 2729 ½ * ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1 10.0 2759
3. Shankland, Samuel L g USA 2652 ½ ½ * 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 9.0 2695
4. Van Kampen, Robin g NED 2615 ½ 0 0 * 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 8.5 2667
5. Salem, A.R. Saleh g UAE 2603 ½ 0 ½ 1 * ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 7.5 2615
6. Sevian, Samuel g USA 2511 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 ½ 1 7.5 2622
7. Potkin, Vladimir g RUS 2608 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 7.0 2586
8. L'Ami, Erwin g NED 2613 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6.5 2557
9. Gunina, Valentina g RUS 2538 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 1 * ½ 0 0 ½ 1 5.0 2476
10. Michiels, Bart g BEL 2563 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * 0 1 1 ½ 4.5 2451
11. Klein, David g NED 2517 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 * ½ ½ ½ 4.5 2454
12. Haast, Anne wm NED 2352 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ * ½ 1 4.0 2436
13. Dale, Ari m AUS 2291 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 0 3.5 2407
14. Timman, Jan H g NED 2593 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1 * 3.0 2348
Round 13 (January 25, 2015)
Salem, A.R. Saleh - Wei, Yi ½-½ 37 A37 English Symmetrical
Sevian, Samuel - Timman, Jan H 1-0 36 B07 Pirc Defence
Potkin, Vladimir - Michiels, Bart ½-½ 59 D11 Slav Defence
L'Ami, Erwin - Dale, Ari 1-0 61 D30 Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Gunina, Valentina - Van Kampen, Robin 0-1 62 A05 Various
Klein, David - Navara, David 0-1 33 B18 Caro Kann
Haast, Anne - Shankland, Samuel L 0-1 45 B90 Sicilian Najdorf Variation

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