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Tbilisi Grand Prix R7: Three decisive games |
The seventh round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Tbilisi was extremely exciting. It started with three draws, but the remaining three games finished with decisive results.
Dmitry Jakovenko defeated Anish Giri to emerge clear second in the standings. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov converted the material advantage against Alexander Grischuk, while Baadur Jobava capitalised on Leinier Dominguez's terrible time trouble.
Evgeny Tomashevsky remains the leader with 5 points from seven games.
Results and pairings are online, visit also the photo gallery and replay the games.
Press conferences will be available in the video gallery.
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Kasimdzhanov - Radjabov 1/2
This was the third game in the tournament in which Kasimdzhanov faced Gruenfeld Indian with white. Radjabov was well prepared to meet 5.Bd2.
It was important for black that 16...Be6 is working because of the pin on white queen. Black succeeded in breaking the bind by trading on d5 and pushing 18...b5. Radjabov noted that the safe 18...Qd7 was also good.
Radjabov also showed 19.Rxe8+ Qxe8 20.Qb2 Qe7 21.Rd1 bxc4. Tournament commentator GM Tornike Sanikidze proposed 19.d6!? bxc4 20.Qf4 h6 21.Rxe8+ Qxe8 22.Qxf6. If 19.d6 h6 20.Nf3 bxc4 21.Ne5, but there probably deflection with 21...c3.
After the game continuation the pieces were quickly exchanged and draw was agreed.
Kasimdzhanov said he wanted to play safe because it was obvious that his opponent analysed the opening in detail.
Tomashevsky - Svidler 1/2
The game saw an interesting theoretical discussion in the Gruenfeld Indian defence. Svidler for the first time played his discovery 7...Bg7, which he already presented in a DVD.
This failed to surprise Tomashevsky, who didn't see the videos, but found the same idea on his own. He prepared an antidote and played quite fast in the opening.
Svidler considered 13...f5 14.0-0 f4 but Tomashevsky said white would better after 15.d6. Later on black found a good waiting move 18...Kg7, because the immediate 18...Bxc3 19.bxc3 Qxc3 20.Qe3 might have been better for white, according to Tomashevsky.
Svidler added that he would have liked to play 18...Be5, but unfortunately it loses quickly to 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Qg5. He was also worried about 18...Kg8 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.e5 Bxe5 21.Rxf7+ Kxf7 22.Qg5, but luckily black has 22...Bf5.
Tomashevsky presented the line that shows why black couldn't take 20...exd6 - 21.e5 Qxe5 22.Rbe1 Qxc3 23.f6+ Kh8 24.Qh6 Rg8 25.Re4 g5 26.Qxh7+ Kxh7 27.Rh4#
Svidler found the precise move order than renders white's attack harmless and in the end Tomashevsky was forced to seek a draw by moves repetition.
Andreikin - Vachier-Lagrave 1/2
White used the Moscow Sicilian variation, which he already played many times with the quick time controls.
Andreikin questioned his 10th move, saying that perhaps he would be better off without the inclusion of h3 and a6.
Black usually play along the lines on 13...Nc5 14.Qc2 Ne6 15.Nxe6 fxe6, which is slightly better for white.
But Vachier-Lagrave found a very strong plan that involved the f5-break. This made 10.h3 look bad, according to Andreikin.
The rest of the game was dynamic but always roughly equal. Black won one pawn and white had dangerous pressure along the dark-squared diagonal.
Vachier-Lagrave was worried about the position which would have resulted after 29.Kh2 Qg7 30.Rf6. Since white left his king on g1, black used the opportunity to push the h-pawn and generate counterplay.
Andreikin decided it was best to take a draw by perpetual check.
Jakovenko - Giri 1-0
The game saw Dutch defence, where after the regular opening moves Giri was "feeling good about the position around 16.Qd2".
But a couple of moves later he was worried about 23.Rf1 and 24.Bh3 where white wins a pawn. Jakovenko also had his doubts, as he didn't like the looks of 28...Qxd4 29.cxd4 f4 30.d5 cxd5 31.cxd5 Nh3+!.
The players had different emotions about the game around move 32 - Giri was feeling uncomfortable, while Jakovenko was not pushing, he was just making normal-looking moves until he would come up with a plan.
The ending after the time control was extremely complicated. 40.Rg4 looks clumsy but it is a very good move which prepares the advance of h-pawn. However, 44.h4 was still premature as 44...Rxc3 45.hxg5 h5 shockingly wins for black.
Giri said that 46...Ra2+ was a mistake that allowed white king into the game. He should have played 46...Nf3 47.Re4 Kf8, which might hold. He admitted missing the powerful idea of 52.Rg2-d2, but even 51...Nf2 52.Rd2 Nd3+ 53.Ke4! appears to be winning for white. He reminded of the famous ending Capablanca-Tartakower where the world champion gives away his pawns in order to penetrate with the king.
In summary, Giri said that he made enough mistakes that he deserved to lose.
Grischuk - Mamedyarov 0-1
An extremely exciting game that started as Queen's Gambit Cambridge Springs where white offered two pawns as sacrifice.
Black snatched one, but passed on the second as white would have developed tremendous attack, for example 11...Qxb2 12.Rc2 Qa3 13.0-0 Be7 14.Bg3 f5 15.c5.
Black tried to challenge opponent's central supremacy with c5 and e5, but white would have been better after 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Qd5 f6 19.Qxe4 0-0 20.Qc2.
Instead, Grischuk made a terrible mistake 17.Ra5, missing black's "long" move Qb6-h6. The pin on white queen allowed black to emerge two pawns up, but in much better version compared to the 11th move. Now his defended passed pawn on d3 was very dangerous.
The technical phase took some extra time as white had certain activity due to opposite coloured bishops. But after the second time control Mamedyarov finally brought the victory home. This was his third win with black pieces.
Jobava - Dominguez 1-0
The local hero Baadur Jobava played the Reversed Philidor defence, already 7th time in his career. In the seemingly passive setup Jobava won five games and conceded only two draws against the world-class opposition.
Perhaps white did misplay the opening a bit, as the wandering knight allowed black to reposition his own knight to a better place, also clearing the way for the c-pawn.
Dominguez pointed that 13...c6 was better before trading on e4 because he has 14.Qc2 Qb6. With the game continuation he missed that after 15.Qc2 Qb6 white has simple 16.Nc4 (pawn no longer on d5).
He admitted that the misstep made him very upset and he couldn't bring his head back into the game. Jobava also noted that black started making erratic moves and that white position kept getting better and better.
Dominguez was also burning the clock and finally he was required to make six moves in 40 seconds. He was finding the best solutions, as praised by Jobava, until he stumbled and made decisive mistake on move 39. Dominguez said that he didn't even consider 39...Nd6, which turned to be superior. There was simply no time.
After the time control white was left with the pleasant duty of converting the advantage.
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