ChessBomb Blog: 2019-06

2019-06-30

Prishtina Open 2019

The interational chess tournament Prishtina Open is held from 28.06 to 04.07.2019 in Prishtina, Kosovo.
Time control: 90 min/ 40moves + 30min + 30sec

Official site

Schedule in UTC:
Round 1 2019/06/28 15:00
Round 2 2019/06/29 07:30
Round 3 2019/06/29 15:00
Round 4 2019/06/30 07:30
Round 5 2019/06/30 15:00
Round 6 2019/07/01 15:00
Round 7 2019/07/02 15:00
Round 8 2019/07/03 15:00
Round 9 2019/07/04 15:00

Watch the games of the Prishtina Open 2019 with computer analysis LIVE on ChessBomb.

Deloitte Dutch Championships 2019

The Deloitte Dutch Championship and the Deloitte Dutch Championship for Women 2019 are held from 1st to 7th July in Amsterdam.
Rate of play: 40 moves in 90 minutes, 30 minutes till end + 30 seconds increment from start
Tiebreak: 1st place – blitz match after round 7; Otherwise: 1. SB; 2. Most blacks; 3. Number of wins

Official site

Schedule (CET):
Sunday June 30: opening, drawing of lots, start 17:00
Monday July 1: round 1, 14:30
Tuesday July 2: round 2, 14:30
Wednesday July 3: round 3, 14:30
Thursday July 4: round 4, 14:30
Friday July 5: round 5, 14:30
Saturday July 6: round 6, 14:30
Sunday July 7: round 7, 12:00

Watch the games of the Deloitte Dutch Championship and the Deloitte Dutch Championship for Women 2019 with computer analysis LIVE on ChessBomb.

10th Danzhou Super GM 2019

The 10th edition of Danzhou Super GM is held from 30th of June ot 7th of July in Danzhou on the South China Sea island province of Hainan.
It's a single round robin among world famous chess players: Artemiev, Vladislav; Wei, Yi; Yu, Yangyi; Wang, Hao; Rapport, Richard; Vidit, Santosh; Gujrathi; Amin, Bassem; Inarkiev, Ernesto
Time control: 90 min for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes till the end of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1

Official site

Schedule in UTC:

Round 1 Jun 30, 2019 06:30
Round 2 Jul 1, 2019 06:30
Round 3 Jul 2, 2019 06:30
Round 4 Jul 3, 2019 06:30
Round 5 Jul 5, 2019 06:30
Round 6 Jul 6, 2019 06:30
Round 7 Jul 7, 2019 02:00

Watch the games of the 10th Danzhou Super GM 2019 with computer analysis LIVE on ChessBomb.

You can see games from previous issues of the tournament with computer analysis at ChessBomb:
9th Danzhou Super GM 2018
8th Danzhou Super GM 2017
7th Danzhou Super GM 2016
6th Danzhou Super GM 2015
5th Danzhou Super GM 2014

2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour – Recap Round 4

Ian Nepomniachtchi maintained his full point lead over the field as a result of six draws across the board. After about thirty minutes of play, it seemed as though there would be a big shake up in the standings; Magnus Carlsen was completely winning, while Nepomniachtchi was in big trouble against Sergey Karjakin. Alas, neither player was able to convert and the status quo was maintained. As a special treat for the viewers, Garry Kasparov joined the commentary to share his thoughts on the games. Tomorrow, Nepomniachtchi will face Nakamura with the black pieces, while Carlsen will sit across Karjakin, his 2016 World Championship challenger.

Read more >

Standings after round 4

Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Sergey Karjakin ½ - ½

The leader of the tournament escaped unscathed in what could have been a big disaster. In an unusual turn of events, the typically quiet Giuoco Piano turned dangerous for white after only eight moves. Nepomniachtchi played an incorrect move order, which allowed his opponent to leave his king in the center and launch a kingside attack. After castling queenside and bringing his other rook into the action, Karjakin should have kept the game alive by avoiding a queen trade. Instead, he allowed a queenless endgame, letting his winning chances slip. Neither player was thrilled with their play. Nepomniachtchi was dissatisfied that he was hoping for a draw after eight moves, while Karjakin’s disappointment grew as he learned what a big edge the computers were giving him. Nepomniachtchi still remains in the lead with this result.

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Magnus Carlsen vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ½ - ½

Magnus Carlsen described his 5-hour game as an epic struggle, but not a well-played game by any stretch of the imagination. The World Champion had a crushing position after 12 moves, but got tempted by a committal continuation instead of opting for a simpler edge. Carlsen’s choice was an objectively worse continuation and gave his opponent the opportunity to regroup and even turn the tables. It’s interesting to note that Mamedyarov is the last person to have defeated the Norwegian back in July of 2018. After several mistakes from both sides, the players reached an endgame where Carlsen had a rook and a passed pawn for Mamedyarov’s knight and two pawns. The World Champion had to give up his material for the passed pawns, ending the game with only kings and a knight left on the board.

Magnus Carlsen and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Wesley So vs Viswanathan Anand ½ - ½

With another draw, Wesley So remains tied for second place with Carlsen, a full point behind Nepomniachtchi. The duo avoided any theoretical discussions and entered a brand new position by move six in the English Opening. There was one critical moment in the game where So could have fought for an advantage by breaking up his opponent’s pawn chain. After the opportunity had passed, the game ended in a perpetual in under 30 moves, following a lot of piece exchanges.

Viswanathan Anand

Levon Aronian vs Fabiano Caruana ½ - ½

Caruana was disappointed with the result of his game, as he liked his position throughout and felt that he had the better chances. Aronian’s unambitious opening choice allowed his opponent to put all his pieces on their best squares and start pushing his kingside pawns. At the critical moment on move 28, the former US Champion decided to prepare a pawn break instead of calculating the complications and playing the more combative try. This gave Aronian an opportunity to quickly start trading pieces, which defused Caruana’s attack. The game ended with a threefold repetition.

Fabiano Caruana

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Anish Giri ½ - ½

The rollercoaster of a game ended in a draw due to mutual blunders. Vachier-Lagrave thought that his position would be dodgy had his opponent played c5 on move 19 instead of g5. Giri felt his kingside attack would be crushing and gave up a central pawn as he committed to his plan. On move 33, the Dutchman played a move that looked like it spelled impending doom for his opponent, but in fact was a blunder. As Giri sunk more into thought, he realized that he saw ghosts in the position and his sacrificial plan was a bluff. The correct continuation required the Frenchman to enter some scary variation that involved grabbing a lot of material and running with his king. Seeing ghosts himself, Vachier-Lagrave went for the safe line, giving up a queen for a rook, a knight and a passed pawn. Sensing some danger, Giri gave up his rook for the knight to end the game with a perpetual.

Anish Giri in deep thought

Ding Liren vs Hikaru Nakamura ½ - ½

Both players have drawn all their games since their round one loss. Ding Liren followed Nakamura’s game from the US Championship earlier this year, playing a novelty on move 14. However, his new approach did not put enough pressure on Nakamura, who simply traded all the pieces, entering a minor piece endgame where neither side managed to pose any difficulties for their opponents. Draw was agreed on move 45.

Hikaru Nakamura

Watch all the action live on GrandChessTour.org

Further Information:
Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTour
#GrandChessTour

Watch the games of the Grand Chess Tour Croatia 2019 with computer analysis LIVE on ChessBomb.

2019-06-29

2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour – Recap Round 3

Ian Nepomniachtchi extended his lead to a full point after defeating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov with the black pieces. With this result, Nepomniachtchi now has a perfect score of 3/3 and is at his personal peak rating of 2790. Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So are tied for second place after drawing Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri respectively. Tomorrow, all three will have the white pieces and will thus try to score a full point.

Read more >

Standings after round 3

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs Ian Nepomniachtchi 0-1

Mamedyarov played really provocative chess, essentially inviting an attack against his king. A knight trade on the d5 square killed off his own dark squared bishop, while only creating one weakness in black’s camp - the c7 pawn. By focusing on the queenside and grabbing the pawn, Mamedyarov abandoned his kingside, where Nepomniachtchi’s pieces were concentrated. In a desperate attempt to muddy the waters, the Azeri star offered a knight sacrifice. Nepomniachtchi simply ignored the offer, instead pushing his h-pawn down the board. The attack devastated white’s vulnerable king, forcing a resignation on move 32 after black’s bishop joined the action.

Ian Nepomniachtchi with a young fan

Caruana Fabiano vs Magnus Carlsen ½ - ½

The highly anticipated encounter did not produce a decisive result but was a titanic battle nonetheless. Carlsen deviated from his usual Sveshnikov, the opening he played exclusively against Caruana in their match. Instead, a rare line in the Ruy Lopez was the opening of the choice. Both players agreed that the game was mostly balanced until move 39, when Carlsen blundered a pawn. Luckily for him, the players were already in an opposite color bishop endgame. After the rook exchange, Caruana was left with two connected passed pawns but also with the “wrong” color bishop - he needed a light square bishop to promote his “a” pawn. Carlsen gave up his bishop for the two connected pawns and ran his king to the a8 square, ending the game in a well known theoretically drawn position.

The pre-game handshake

Sergey Karjakin vs Hikaru Nakamura ½ - ½

Until move 16, the players followed the round 1 game between Caruana and Nakamura. Karjakin did not play the dynamic line Caruana chose and instead repeated his own game against Anand from May of this year. Nakamura improved on Anand’s play, entering a pawn down endgame but maintaining active pieces and good compensation. Kajrakin’s 78-move long attempt did not prove fruitful as the pawn up rook ending simply did offer enough winning chances. The game ended in a draw with only kings left on the board.

Sergey Karjakin

Anish Giri vs Wesley So ½ - ½

There was no gift on the board in store for Anish Giri on his birthday. The 25-year-old expanded on the queenside in Guico Panno, offering a pawn sacrifice on move 14, which was declined by his opponent. In the postgame analysis, the Dutchman showed why he rejected the natural looking move, which the commentators thought would give him the advantage. Instead, he chose a path that led to a pawn up endgame, missing a move by So which gained the pawn back. The game ended in a draw once the material equalized.

Anish Giri and Wesley So

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Ding Liren ½ - ½

Ding Liren repeated a line that he has employed successfully, including a win in the Wijk aan Zee super tournament earlier this year. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played a novelty on move 14, knowing that it leads to a draw with perfect play. His reasoning was that Ding Liren avoided this line against him last month in Norway, leaving the Frenchman assuming that there was a problem in the Chinese superstar’s preparation. He explained that it was a 50/50 risk, as there was a chance his opponent may not know or remember his preparation. Ding Liren was out of book by move 23, but was able to figure the details of the position. The game ended in a draw with a perpetual.

Ding Liren

Viswanathan Anand vs Levon Aronian ½ - ½

"I think we spoiled the audience with the first round. Now we are back to our usual business", Levon Aronian joked in the post game interview. The quiet Giuoco Piano was an uneventful affair that ended in 40 moves. The pieces came off one by one, with the players entering a double rook ending on move 25. Once one pair of rooks were swapped off the board, the game ended in a draw shortly after.

Levon Aronian

Watch all the action live on GrandChessTour.org

Further Information:
Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTour
#GrandChessTour

Watch the games of the Grand Chess Tour Croatia 2019 with computer analysis LIVE on ChessBomb.