Tashkent R2: Morozevich strikes again, takes sole lead

by ChessBase
11/23/2012 – Although the second round had more than its fair share of draws, they weren't without a struggle. Perhaps the closest of the non-winners was Svidler against Gelfand when he penetrated to the 7th with his rook, only to withdraw it and the pressure. Morozevich delighted his fans by outplaying Caruana in a non-mainline Berlin endgame to take sole lead. Report with analysis by GM Romain Edouard.

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The second stage of the 2012-2013 FIDE Grand Prix Series is taking place from November 21 to December 5th in the Gallery of Fine Art in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The games start at 14:00h local time (= 10:00h CET, 13:00h Moscow, 04:00 a.m. New York). The tournament has a prize fund of 240,000 Euros.

Round two report

Round 2 on Friday, 23.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
½-½
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Wang Hao 2737
½-½
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
½-½
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Leko Peter 2732
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Svidler Peter 2747
½-½
Gelfand Boris 2751
Morozevich Alexander 2748
1-0
Caruana Fabiano 2786

Although the second round of the Tashkent Grand Prix had more than its fair share of draws, they weren't without a struggle. While some of the draws were fairly dry, others did teeter on the edge of victory without actually achieving it.

Of those, perhaps the closest of the non-winners was Peter Svidler (above) against Boris Gelfand when he penetrated to the seventh with his rook with a nasty advantage, only to withdraw it for unclear reasons, and thus the pressure.

[Event "FIDE GP Tashkent"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2012.11.23"] [Round "2.5"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2012.11.22"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Re1 c4 9. a4 Ng6 10. b4 Nce5 11. axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8 Bxa8 13. Na3 Bc6 14. Nd4 Nf4 15. Nxc6 dxc6 16. d4 cxd3 17. Bxf4 Ng6 18. Bg3 dxc2 19. Qxd8+ Kxd8 20. Nxc2 e5 21. Ra1 Kc8 22. Ra7 f6 23. Ne3 Kb8 {Black is having difficulty playing anything that doesn't lose and tries to scare off the rook.} 24. Ra1 {Success! For Black that is...} ({Instead, why not simply} 24. Rf7 {keeping the 7th, and limiting Black's options. Even if this is not clearly won, why make it easy on the opponent?}) 24... Rg8 25. Nf5 Ne7 26. Nd4 Kb7 27. Ne6 Nc8 28. Rd1 Bd6 29. f3 g6 30. Bh4 Re8 31. Nc5+ Bxc5+ 32. bxc5 g5 33. Rd7+ Kb8 34. Be1 Re7 35. Rd8 Rf7 36. h4 Kc7 37. Rh8 gxh4 38. Bxh4 Ne7 39. Ra8 Kb7 40. Rd8 Ng6 41. Be1 Kc7 42. Ra8 Kb7 43. Rd8 Kc7 44. Ra8 Kb7 45. Rd8 1/2-1/2


Israeli GM Boris Gelfand

Alexander Morozevich (above left) delighted his fans by outplaying Fabiano Caruana in an endgame resulting from a Ruy Lopez Berlin, though not the usual mainline. As our GM commentator points out, in spite of his excellent play, White was unable to force a winning position without a fatal mistake. That said, it is very much the nature of Morozevich’s play, to keep the pressure at the maximum until even the hardiest opponent buckles.

GM commentary by Romain Edouard

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix-Tashkent 2012"] [Site "Tashkent"] [Date "2012.11.23"] [Round "2"] [White "Morozevich, Alexander"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2786"] [Annotator "Romain Edouard"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "UZB"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. h3 {The kind of positions White plays if he wants to play a game of chess. The position is already more or less equal, but Black has a slightly weaker pawn structure and White will try, much later, to enter some favourable endgame.} Be6 7. Qe2 $146 (7. Ng5 Qd6 8. Nd2 O-O-O 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. Qe2 Nd7 11. Nxe6 Qxe6 12. a4 a6 13. a5 Ba7 14. Be3 {was also very slightly better for White in Inarkiev,E (2676) -Efimenko,Z (2682) RUS 2009, where White won.}) 7... Nd7 8. Be3 Qe7 9. Bxc5 Qxc5 10. Nc3 Qd6 11. O-O-O c5 12. Nh4 O-O-O 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. exf5 Nf6 15. Rhe1 Rhe8 16. Qf3 {Black is simply suffering a little bit. It is not so easy to say where Black went wrong.} Qd4 17. g4 h6 18. a3 a6 19. Re3 Re7 20. Kb1 Nd5 21. Nxd5 Qxd5 22. Qxd5 Rxd5 23. Rde1 f6 24. f4 Kd7 25. c3 b5 26. Kc2 Kd6 27. b3 Re8 28. Re4 Re7 (28... a5 $5) 29. b4 Re8 30. c4 bxc4 31. dxc4 Rd4 32. fxe5+ fxe5 33. bxc5+ Kxc5 34. Rxe5+ Rxe5 35. Rxe5+ Kxc4 36. Re7 c5 37. Rxg7 Rd3 38. h4 Rf3 39. Kd2 (39. Rh7 {also looks like a draw:} Rf2+ 40. Kd1 Kd3 41. Rd7+ Ke3 42. Rd6 (42. h5 Rf4 43. Rd6 Rxg4 44. Rxh6 Rg5 {holds.}) 42... h5 $1 43. Re6+ Kd3 44. Ke1 Rf3 45. g5 Rxf5 46. g6 Rf4 47. Re5 Rxh4 48. Rg5 Re4+ $11) 39... Kd4 40. Ke2 {The problem of playing that kind of lines: in spite of a very good game by White, and obviously some unaccurate moves by Black, the position is still a draw!} Rxa3 $4 {Losing too much time for not such a useful pawn.} (40... Rf4 $8 {The only move that does not lose.} 41. Rg6 c4 42. h5 (42. Rxh6 Rxg4 {looks like a draw, e.g.} 43. Kf3 Rg1 44. Rd6+ Kc5 45. Rd2 c3 46. Rf2 Kd5 47. f6 Ke6 48. Rc2 Rh1 49. Kg3 Rg1+ 50. Kf2 Rh1 51. Rxc3 Rxh4 52. Rc6+ Kf7 53. Rxa6 Rf4+ 54. Ke3 Rxf6 $11) (42. f6 c3 $11) 42... c3 43. Rxa6 c2 44. Rc6 Rxg4 45. f6 (45. Kd2 Rg2+ 46. Kc1 Rh2 $11) 45... Kd5 46. Rxc2 Ke6 47. Rc6+ Kf7 48. Ra6 (48. Kd2 Ra4 $11) 48... Rg5 {and Black will make quite an easy draw.}) 41. f6 $18 Ra2+ 42. Kf3 Ra1 43. Kg2 Ra2+ 44. Kg3 Ra1 45. g5 hxg5 46. hxg5 Rf1 47. Rc7 a5 48. f7 a4 49. g6 a3 50. Ra7 Rf6 51. g7 1-0

With this win, Moro takes the early sole lead.

Leko-Mamedyarov: The Super-GM from Baku revealed at the press conference that his alarm rang 16 times (at 15 minute intervals), before he managed to wake up. It was already too late to prepare for the main lines, he said, so he went for rather unusual 3…c6. As a result Shakh killed the preparation of Peter Leko, who had spent a lot of time checking variations against the Caro-Kann. He spent too much time calculating all lines and ended up with seven seconds for five moves before the time control.


Even Moro seems impressed by Peter Leko's performance

"I remembered the game by Anatoly Karpov in Linares," Peter said, "where he had had only seven seconds for seven moves in a very complicated position but managed to make the best moves. And when time trouble had passed he spent another 53 minutes calculating the pawn ending and managed to draw." Peter followed the example and after the first time trouble, despite Black’s extra pawn White had enough compensation and and held the game. Shahriyar was full of admiration and said there were only very few GMs in the world who were capable of finding the best moves in so little time.

Wang Hao-Dominguez: As Wang Hao pointed out during the press conference his preparation finished after 8…c6, a move he had missed during his home preparation. The position became quite sharp but both opponents played creatively and it’s not easy to suggest any improvements for both sides.

Perhaps, the best chance for White was to take b4 pawn on move 29th hoping to convert the game into the endgame with extra pawn (four against three on the kingside). Later on the b4 pawn was advanced and became the real danger, so the Chinese player finished the game with perpetual check.

Kasimdzhanov-Ponomariov: Rustam Kasimdzhanov was not ready for a discussion in the Breyer Variation, which could have happened in the game, so he chose this line in order to avoid some possible variations.

Rustam feared that Black had to face some problems in the middle game, but it didn’t really happened as massive exchanges followed and the was converted into a drawish ending.

Ruslan Ponomarion proposed 15. Ra5 instead of Ra7, which could give more promising chances for White.

Replay the games of this round on our Javascript board

Standings after two rounds

All photos by Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule and results

Round 1 on Thursday 22.11.2012 at 14:00
Morozevich Alexander 2748
1-0
Kamsky Gata 2762
Caruana Fabiano 2786
½-½
Svidler Peter 2747
Gelfand Boris 2751
½-½
Leko Peter 2732
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
½-½
Wang Hao 2737
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
0-1
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Round 2 on Friday, 23.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
½-½
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Wang Hao 2737
½-½
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
½-½
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Leko Peter 2732
½-½
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Svidler Peter 2747
½-½
Gelfand Boris 2751
Morozevich Alexander 2748
1-0
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Round 3 on Saturday 24.11.2012 at 14:00
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Leko Peter 2732
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Wang Hao 2737
Round 4 on Sunday 25.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
-
Wang Hao 2737
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
-
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Leko Peter 2732
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Svidler Peter 2747
-
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Morozevich Alexander 2748
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Gelfand Boris 2751
Round 5 on Tuesday 27.11.2012 at 14:00
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Leko Peter 2732
Wang Hao 2737
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Round 6 on Wednesday 28.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Leko Peter 2732
-
Wang Hao 2737
Svidler Peter 2747
-
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Morozevich Alexander 2748
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Round 7 on Thursday 29.11.2012 at 14:00
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Gelfand Boris 2751
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Wang Hao 2737
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
-
Leko Peter 2732
Round 8 on Friday 30.11.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
-
Leko Peter 2732
Svidler Peter 2747
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Morozevich Alexander 2748
-
Wang Hao 2737
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Round 9 on Sunday 2.12.2012 at 14:00
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Gelfand Boris 2751
Wang Hao 2737
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748
Leko Peter 2732
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Round 10 on Monday 3.12.2012 at 14:00
Kamsky Gata 2762
-
Svidler Peter 2747
Morozevich Alexander 2748
-
Leko Peter 2732
Caruana Fabiano 2786
-
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
Gelfand Boris 2751
-
Wang Hao 2737
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
-
Karjakin Sergey 2775
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
-
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
Round 11 on Tuesday 4.12.2012 at 12:00
Dominguez Perez Leinier 2726
-
Kamsky Gata 2762
Karjakin Sergey 2775
-
Ponomariov Ruslan 2741
Wang Hao 2737
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2764
Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2696
-
Gelfand Boris 2751
Leko Peter 2732
-
Caruana Fabiano 2786
Svidler Peter 2747
-
Morozevich Alexander 2748

Video Reports

Live video coverage with English language commentary is available on the player above. There is also Russian commentary on the video page of the tournament site.

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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