London Rd9: Gelfand loses, Mamedyarov takes the lead

by ChessBase
10/1/2012 – Alexander Grischuk almost managed to arrive late and forfeit the game, but he went on to beat the tournament leader Boris Gelfand. Azeri GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Leinier Dominguez Perez to go into the sole lead with 6.0/9 points. He is followed by Grischuk, Topalov and Gelfand, all half a point behind. Round nine report with GM commentary.

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The First FIDE Grand Prix is taking place from September 21 to October 3rd in Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London. The games start at 14:00h local time (= 15:00h CEST, 17:00h Moscow, 09:00 a.m. New York). The tournament has a prize fund of 240,000 Euros.

Round nine report

Round 9 on 2012/10/01 at 14:00
Wang Hao 2742
½-½
Leko Peter 2737
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
1-0
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
0-1
Topalov Veselin 2752
Adams Michael 2722
1-0
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
Giri Anish 2730
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
Grischuk Alexander 2754
1-0
Gelfand Boris 2738

Today, we almost had a forfeit as Sasha Grischuk arrived just before the zero tolerance kicked in. The Russian player decided to go for a rare Closed Sicilian, to avoid the Sveshnikov of Boris. Right after the opening, Grischuk converted his development advantage into a clear pawn up. On move 23 he decided to go for a direct attack, sacrificing a piece on e6, which gave him a winning position. Boris blundered with 24…Kd7?? Allowing 25.Qg4. With that the Israely GM lost his lead! The game is analysed by GM Alejandro Ramirez below.

Nakamura and Mamedyarov both chose Caro Kann as a main weapon against 1.e4. Once more, the American player seemed well prepared and spent just fourteen minutes for 21 moves! Adams managed to install the strong knight on e5, with the bishop on c3 and pawn on f4. White increased the advantage and Nakamura made a huge mistake 26…Rb8? and found himself in an absolutely hopeless position. The tournament has been a nightmare for Hikaru who has now lost his fifth game.

Anish Giri (above left) chose a closed line of the Slav Defence with 4.e3 today. White managed to get the pair of bishops and an impressive pawn structure with c3-c5-d4-e3-f4! After 30 moves, the position was totally blocked and the only possibility was to break through by g3-g4, which Anish did succeed in doing on the 36th move. Rustam kept the balance, by putting his rooks on h7 and h8. Dutch player tried all he could and found another breaking point with 48.c4! It was not enough to win, however, and Rustam managed a draw.

Vassily Ivanchuk opted for a strange opening choice – a kind of King’s Indian reverse. The Ukrainian player played solidly and didn’t create a lot of danger for his opponent. Topalov's position looked even better, because of pressure on the d3 pawn. The following exchanges were in favour of Black and it was difficult for White to defend the bishop endgame with the passed a-pawn.

Leinier Dominguez (above right) went for a solid Bogo-Indian today against Mamedyarov. Probably the Cuban player wanted to play a safe line, but “Shak” showed his intentions with the aggressive 10.g4, 11.g5. Dominguez decided logically to counter-attack on the queen-side and in the centre with d6-d5. Mamedyarov kept control of the position, exchanging pieces to arrive in a very comfortable endgame with two bishops against knights. He won in 65 moves.

Wang Hao decided to go quickly to the endgame in one of the main line of the Nimzowich. White looked a bit better thanks to his powerful bishop on d4. The Chinese player had to exchange a pair of rooks but couldn’t penetrate Black’s position. Leko created a strong blockade with his king on f7 and his rook on d7. After suffering, Peter managed to draw the endgame!

All photos by Ray Morris-Hill

All games of the round for replay

Game of the day analysis by GM Alejandro Ramirez

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix - London 2012"] [Site "London"] [Date "2012.10.01"] [Round "9"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2738"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "ENG"] {Let us not forget that Gelfand eliminated Grischuk in the finals of the Candidate's Matches last year to play Anand for the World Championship. Judging by this game, Grischuk certainly has not forgotten!} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Back when the Sveshnikov was a big deal this used to be one of the many ways to try to avoid it and still get an edge. The point of developing the knight on c3 and not the one on f3 is that White still retains the possibility to push f4 in a given circumstance, so Bxc6 is a positional threat, which isn't necessarily the case with Nf3.} Nd4 4. Nf3 e6 5. O-O a6 6. Bd3 Nc6 $5 (6... Ne7 {was Gelfand's choice against Vallejo in the Olympiad.}) 7. Be2 { "threatening" to transpose to a normal Paulsen Sicilian after d4!} Nd4 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. b3 d6 10. Bb2 Nf6 11. Re1 Be7 $6 {I actually don't like this move. In most cases the e5 break shouldn't bring White anything, but it does free up some of his pieces, namely the bishops. It was more solid to simply closed down that center.} (11... Qc7 $5) (11... e5 $5) 12. e5 dxe5 13. Nxe5 Bd7 14. Ne4 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 {It's become obvious that White has a little bit of pressure, but I wouldn't be surprised that with exact play Black can neutralize it.} Bc6 16. Qf3 $1 {This temporary pin allows Grischuk to maneouver his queen to an attacking square on the kingside.} Rc8 (16... O-O 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qh5 g6 20. Qxc5 {Costs a pawn, and although the computers think it's compensated it looks pretty free to me.}) 17. Re3 $1 {Grischuk's play was super powerful. I don't think I would've looked at this move twice, but the more I consider it, the stronger it becomes.} b5 (17... Nd5 18. Qg3 $1 $40) ( 17... h6 18. Rae1 O-O 19. Qg3 $14) (17... h5 $5) 18. Rae1 c4 {loses a pawn. Gelfand miscalculated the consequences of White's attack at the end.} 19. bxc4 bxc4 20. Bxf6 Bxe4 21. Rxe4 Bxf6 (21... cxd3 22. Bxe7 Qxe7 23. Qxd3 $14) 22. Bxc4 Qxd2 $2 (22... O-O $1 {Should've forced Grischuk to show a great deal of technique in converting this game. With his king safe, White's only advantage is his extra pawn, which is very far from being converted. Not only that, now the opposite colored bishops work in Black's favor.}) 23. Bxe6 $1 {Grischuk doesn't forgive. This pretty move gains a strong advantage.} fxe6 24. Rxe6+ Kd7 $2 (24... Kf7 25. Qh5+ $1 g6 26. Qf3 $1 {This is the 'point' if you will. Now Black cannot defend against both the hanging bishop on f6 and the queen check on b7 which costs the c8 rook. Maybe Black is 'only' down a pawn, but with his weak king on top of that its hard to survive.}) 25. Qg4 {The nude king will not live long against an onslaught by the coordinated major pieces.} Kc7 26. Qc4+ Kd7 27. Qa4+ Kd8 28. Qxa6 Kd7 29. Qb5+ Kd8 30. Re8+ {The super solid Gelfand is not dismantled like this every day. Kudos to Grischuk for playing such nice and unusual moves like Qf3! and Re3!} (30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Rxe8+ Kc7 32. Qc5+ {And the rook falls with check, with mate following soon after.}) 1-0

Daniel King: Play of the Day – Grischuk - Gelfand


Video stream of the whole game


Commentary by Grischuk on the game, provided by Macauley Peterson

Standings after nine rounds


Azeri GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov now in the sole lead

Schedule and results

Round 1 on 2012/09/21 at 14:00
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
½-½
Leko Peter 2737
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
0-1
Gelfand Boris 2738
Topalov Veselin 2752
½-½
Grischuk Alexander 2754
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
½-½
Giri Anish 2730
Wang Hao 2742
½-½
Adams Michael 2722
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
½-½
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
Round 2 on 2012/09/22 at 14:00
Leko Peter 2737
1-0
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
Adams Michael 2722
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
Giri Anish 2730
½-½
Wang Hao 2742
Grischuk Alexander 2754
½-½
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
Gelfand Boris 2738
½-½
Topalov Veselin 2752
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
0-1
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
Round 3 on 2012/09/23 at 14:00
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
½-½
Leko Peter 2737
Topalov Veselin 2752
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
½-½
Gelfand Boris 2738
Wang Hao 2742
½-½
Grischuk Alexander 2754
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
1-0
Giri Anish 2730
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
½-½
Adams Michael 2722
Round 4 on 2012/09/24 at 14:00
Leko Peter 2737
½-½
Adams Michael 2722
Giri Anish 2730
½-½
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
Grischuk Alexander 2754
1-0
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
Gelfand Boris 2738
1-0
Wang Hao 2742
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
½-½
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
½-½
Topalov Veselin 2752
Round 5 on 2012/09/25 at 14:00
Topalov Veselin 2752
½-½
Leko Peter 2737
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
½-½
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
Wang Hao 2742
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
½-½
Gelfand Boris 2738
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
½-½
Grischuk Alexander 2754
Adams Michael 2722
½-½
Giri Anish 2730
Round 6 on 2012/09/27 at 14:00
Leko Peter 2737
½-½
Giri Anish 2730
Grischuk Alexander 2754
½-½
Adams Michael 2722
Gelfand Boris 2738
½-½
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
0-1
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
0-1
Wang Hao 2742
Topalov Veselin 2752
1-0
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
Round 7 on 2012/09/28 at 14:00
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
½-½
Leko Peter 2737
Wang Hao 2742
½-½
Topalov Veselin 2752
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
1-0
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
Adams Michael 2722
0-1
Gelfand Boris 2738
Giri Anish 2730
½-½
Grischuk Alexander 2754
Round 8 on 2012/09/29 at 14:00
Leko Peter 2737
½-½
Grischuk Alexander 2754
Gelfand Boris 2738
½-½
Giri Anish 2730
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
1-0
Adams Michael 2722
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
0-1
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
Topalov Veselin 2752
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
½-½
Wang Hao 2742
Round 9 on 2012/10/01 at 14:00
Wang Hao 2742
½-½
Leko Peter 2737
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
1-0
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
0-1
Topalov Veselin 2752
Adams Michael 2722
1-0
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
Giri Anish 2730
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
Grischuk Alexander 2754
1-0
Gelfand Boris 2738
Round 10 on 2012/10/02 at 14:00
Leko Peter 2737
-
Gelfand Boris 2738
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684
-
Grischuk Alexander 2754
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
-
Giri Anish 2730
Topalov Veselin 2752
-
Adams Michael 2722
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
-
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
Wang Hao 2742
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
Round 11 on 2012/10/03 at 11:00
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2729
-
Leko Peter 2737
Ivanchuk Vassily 2769
-
Wang Hao 2742
Adams Michael 2722
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2725
Giri Anish 2730
-
Topalov Veselin 2752
Grischuk Alexander 2754
-
Nakamura Hikaru 2783
Gelfand Boris 2738
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2684

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