Chessable Houska's Caro

1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden-Baden 2013 (1)

Caruana starts with a win in Baden-Baden

Fabiano Caruana beat Georg Meier. Photo ©

Fabiano Caruana beat Georg Meier. Photo © | http://www.grenkechessclassic.de

Fabiano Caruana leads the GRENKE Chess Classic in Baden-Baden after he defeated Georg Meier in the only decisive game of the first round. Fabiano Caruana had prepared very deeply against Georg Meier's 3...dxe4 French but it was some time ago and on move 19 he couldn't recall the analysis started to see difficulties. Caruana couldn't see a clear way to a plus against 20...Kc8 after 20.Qd3. However Meier played 20...Nd7 and was critical of himself afterwards for not finding Kc8. His position went downhill fast although 22...g6 and 24...Nf8 would have been tougher defences. Michael Adams drew against World Champion Viswanathan Anand in a Ruy Lopez Berlin with 4.d3. Adams thought 16... Rh5!? a bit suspicious but "unable to refute it in any way" and there didn't seem any clear way to an advantage after the game. Arkadij Naiditsch couldn't find any advantage against Deniel Fridman's Petroff Defence and the game was level after 16 moves. A draw was agreed on move 48. Some note below based on the press conferences. Round 2 Fri 8th Feb 2012. Fridman vs Meier, Anand vs Caruana, Naiditsch vs Adams.

Adams draw Anand

Adams,Michael (2725) - Anand,Viswanathan (2780) [C65]
1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden-Baden GER (1.1), 07.02.2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Re1 Ng6 10.Bd3 Re8 11.Qc2 c6

[11...h6 12.Be3 c6 13.Nbd2 Bc7 14.Rad1 Nh5 15.Bf1 Qf6 16.g3 Be6 17.Bg2 Qe7 18.Nb3 Rad8 19.c4 a5 20.d5 Bd7 21.dxc6 Bxc6 22.Nc1 Nf6 23.Nd2 h5 24.Ne2 h4 25.Nc3 hxg3 26.fxg3 Nh5 27.Kh2 Rc8 28.Nd5 Bxd5 29.exd5 Qd7 30.Rf1 b5 31.Ne4 Bd8 32.c5 dxc5 33.Nxc5 e4 34.Qf2 Rxc5 35.Bxc5 Re5 36.Be3 Bf6 37.g4 Ng3 38.Rfe1 Rxd5 39.Rxd5 Qxd5 40.Kg1 Be5 41.b3 f5 42.Qd2 Qxd2 43.Bxd2 Bd4+ 44.Kh2 Be5 45.gxf5 Nh4 46.Kg1 Bd4+ 47.Be3 Bc3 48.Rd1 Ngxf5 49.Bf2 e3 50.Bxh4 Nxh4 51.Bd5+ Kf8 52.Kf1 Bd2 53.Ke2 Ke7 54.Be4 Kf6 55.Rg1 g6 56.Rg4 Nf5 57.Bxf5 gxf5 58.Rg8 1-0 Dominguez Perez,L (2726)-Cheparinov,I (2710)/Leon ESP 2012/The Week in Chess 939]

12.Be3 d5

Viswanathan Anand

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Michael Adams

Position after 12...d5

Adams thought at first Anand had equalised but once he reached move 16 that f4 ideas were more dangerous than he thought.

13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Rxe5 15.Bxb6 axb6

[15...Qxb6 "Would solve all black's problems and this is what I really wanted to do but." - Anand 16.Nd2 dxe4 17.Nc4 (17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 g6 19.Bxg6 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 hxg6 (20...fxg6 is actually a lot less clear. (Houdini line)) 21.Re8+ Kg7 22.Qe4) 17...exd3 is fine for black.]

16.f4 Rh5!?

Viswanathan Anand

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Michael Adams

Position after 16...Rh5

"I was very suspicious of this Rh5 move. I was completely unable to refute it in any way but it looked ..." - Adams.

[16...dxe4 17.fxe5 exd3 18.Qd1 Ne8 is very passive for black and neither Adams nor Anand thought it likely to be good for black.; 16...Rxe4 17.Bxe4 Nxe4 18.c4 and neither were sure of the evaluation.; 16...Re8 "I also saw this and it looks dangerous but I wasn't completely sure." - Adams. 17.e5 Nh5 18.Qf2 g5 19.f5 (19.g3 gxf4 20.gxf4 Kh8) 19...Nf4 20.Bc2 Qc7 21.Nd2 Rxe5 22.Rxe5 (22.Nf3 Adams.) 22...Qxe5 23.Re1 "I didn't like the position too much. He plays Re8 obviously and then..." - Anand.]

17.e5 Nd7

[17...Ne8]

18.Qe2

[18.Qf2 Qh4]

18...Rh4

Again Adams thought somehow white should be doing well here with all these strange rook moves but just couldn't prove it over the board.

[18...Rh6 19.Nd2 "and I thought my rook was badly placed." - Anand.]

19.e6 Nc5 20.exf7+ Kxf7 21.Nd2

[21.Bc2 Rxf4 (21...d4!? 22.Qf2 d3 23.Bd1) 22.Qh5+ Kf8 23.Qxh7 Qh4]

21...Nxd3 22.Qxd3 Rxf4 23.Qxh7 Bf5 24.Qh5+ Bg6

[24...Kg8 25.g3]

25.Qe5 Rf6

[25...Qf6 26.Qc7+ Kg8 27.Qxb6 d4]

26.Nf3 Kg8 27.Ng5 Qd7 28.a3

Viswanathan Anand

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Michael Adams

Position after 28.a3

Black has to be careful, he doesn't want to exchange the major pieces in a passive way.

[28.Re3]

28...Raf8 29.Rad1 Qf5 30.Qe3 Qf2+ 31.Qxf2 Rxf2 32.Re6 Be4 33.Nxe4 dxe4 34.Rxe4 Rxb2 35.Rd7 Rff2 36.Rg4 Rf7 37.Rxf7 Kxf7 38.Rb4 Ra2 39.Rxb6 Rxa3 40.Rxb7+ Kg8 41.c4 Ra4 42.c5 Ra5 43.Rc7 Rxc5

The position is a draw.

1/2-1/2

Naiditsch draw Fridman

Naiditsch,Arkadij (2716) - Fridman,Daniel (2667) [C47]
1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden-Baden GER (1.2), 07.02.2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.h3 c6 11.Qf3 Re8 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Rfe1 Be6 14.Ne2 Qb8 15.b3 Bd7 16.Be3

[16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.c4 d4 18.Qf4 Qxf4 19.Nxf4 c5 20.Bf1 Bc6 21.Nd3 Nd7 22.g4 f5 23.gxf5 Kf7 24.b4 cxb4 25.Nxb4 Ba4 26.Bg2 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Re8 28.Rxe8 Kxe8 29.Bc6 Bxc6 30.Nxc6 d3 31.Kf1 a6 32.Ke1 Nc5 33.f3 Kd7 34.Ne5+ Kd6 35.f4 h5 36.Kd2 Ne4+ 37.Kxd3 Nf2+ 38.Ke3 Nxh3 39.Nf3 Ke7 40.Ng5 1-0 Rublevsky,S (2693)-Najer,E (2664)/Eilat ISR 2012/The Week in Chess 937]

16...a5 17.a4

Daniel Fridman

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Arkadij Naiditsch

Position after 17.a4

Black has completely equalised.

17...Qc7 18.Nd4 Bb4 19.Re2

[19.Bf4 Qb6 20.Rxe8+ Rxe8 21.Rd1]

19...Qe5 20.Rd1 Ne4 21.Bxe4 Qxe4 22.Qg3 Qg6 23.Qxg6 hxg6 24.Bd2 Rxe2 25.Nxe2 Bc5 26.Nf4 Bf5 27.Nd3 Bxd3 28.cxd3 Rb8 29.Rb1 Bb4 30.Bf4 Rb7 31.d4 Bc3 32.Be3 Kf8 33.Kf1 Ke7 34.Ke2 Kd7 35.Kd3 Bb4 36.h4 Rb8 37.g3 Be7 38.Kc2 Bb4 39.Rh1 Rh8 40.Kd3 Kd6 41.g4 f6 42.h5 g5 43.Rh3 Kd7 44.f4 gxf4 45.Bxf4 Re8 46.h6 gxh6 47.Rxh6 Rg8 48.Rxf6

These trade make the draw inevitable.

1/2-1/2

Caruana 1-0 Meier

Caruana,Fabiano (2757) - Meier,Georg (2640) [C10]
1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden-Baden GER (1.3), 07.02.2013

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Be3 Nd5 8.Bd2 c5 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Qxd7 11.c4 Nb6 12.Rc1 f6 13.0-0 cxd4

[13...Rc8 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.b4 Be7 16.Qb3 Kf7 17.Rfe1 Rhe8 18.c5 Nd5 19.Rcd1 Rcd8 20.Bc1 Bf8 21.Rd2 Qc8 22.a3 Nc7 23.Rc2 Qd7 24.Bf4 Nd5 25.Bg3 a6 26.h4 g6 27.Rc4 Kg7 28.Nd4 e5 29.c6 Qf7 30.cxb7 Nb6 31.Rc6 Nd5 32.Rcc1 Qxb7 33.Nc6 Rd7 34.Red1 Ne7 35.Nxe5 Rxd1+ 36.Rxd1 Qb6 37.Qf7+ 1-0 Nijboer,F (2525) -Mellema,A (2181)/Hoogeveen NED 2012/The Week in Chess 938]

14.Re1 Rc8 15.Qb3 Be7 16.c5 Rxc5 17.Rxc5 Bxc5 18.Rxe6+ Kd8 19.Re1 Qd5

Georg Meier

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Fabiano Caruana

Position after 19...Qd5

"I remembered I had looked at this position but I couldn't remember all the details. After 19.. .Qd5 I wasn't sure what to do." - Caruana.

20.Qd3

"I was going to play this immediately but then I saw 20...Qc8 was very hard to refute so then I was looking at other moves such as 20...Qb4, 20...Qc2." - Caruana.

20...Nd7?

Meier he admitted he "just wanted to play 20...Nd7." but if he had considered Kc8 he would have probably played it. As it was he "missed some details" when playing Nd7.

[20...Kc8 "If he plays Kb8 it's not so much." - Caruana. 21.Bf4 Bd6 22.Bxd6 Qxd6 23.Nxd4 "It's very little but it's still kind of unpleasant for black." - Caruana.; 20...Nc4 21.Bf4]

21.b4

"I have so many possibilities here it was kind of hard to choose." - Caruana. This is never a good sign for the defender and black's position deteriorates fast.

[21.Qb5 threatening b4. 21...d3 22.a4 Re8 23.b4 Rxe1+ 24.Nxe1 a6 25.Qa5+ b6 26.Qxa6 Bxb4 was Caruana's line at the board that put him off this line.]

21...Bb6 22.a4 a6?

[22...g6 was probably a better try according to Meier "because after a6 I'm just lost" but his position is still "very unpleasant." "Obviously the whole game I should be waiting for the opportunity to play Kc8 and I missed it." - Meier. Caruana admitted he hadn't seen g6 and so didn't have a move ready. 23.a5 Bc7 24.Nxd4 is about the best black can hope for but black is still in deperate trouble.]

23.a5 Ba7 24.Bf4

Georg Meier

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Fabiano Caruana

Position after 24.Bf4

24...Nb8?

This is probably the final error.

[24...g5 25.Bg3 g4 26.Qe2! was the move Meier had missed when heading towards this position.; 24...Nf8 was the move that had Caruana more concerned. 25.Bg3 (25.Qe2 Ng6 26.Bg3 d3 27.Qd2 Re8 28.Rc1 Re7; 25.Qc2 Qc6 26.Qb3 Ng6 27.Rc1) 25...Ne6 26.Nd2 and whilst black can't do anything white still has to break through but with h4 to come.]

25.Bxb8 Bxb8 26.Nxd4 Qd6 27.Ne6+ Ke7 28.Nc5+ Kf7 29.Qc4+ Kg6 30.g3

[30.Qe4+ f5 31.Qh4 ends things much faster. 31...Kf7 32.Qc4+! was the move Caruana had missed.]

30...h5 31.Qe4+ Kh6 32.Qxb7 Qd2 33.Re7 Qd1+ 34.Kg2 h4 35.Qd7 Bd6 36.Ne4 1-0

1st GRENKE Chess Classic Baden Baden GER (GER), 7-17 ii 2013 cat. XIX (2714)
1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2757 * * . . . . . . . . 1 . 1
2. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2780 . . * * ½ . . . . . . . ½ 2725
3. Adams, Michael g ENG 2725 . . ½ . * * . . . . . . ½ 2780
4. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2716 . . . . . . * * ½ . . . ½ 2667
5. Fridman, Daniel g GER 2667 . . . . . . ½ . * * . . ½ 2716
6. Meier, Georg g GER 2640 0 . . . . . . . . . * * 0

Round 1 (February 7, 2013)
Caruana, Fabiano - Meier, Georg 1-0 36 C10 French Rubinstein
Adams, Michael - Anand, Viswanathan ½-½ 43 C65 Ruy Lopez Berlin
Naiditsch, Arkadij - Fridman, Daniel ½-½ 48 C47 Four Knights

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