Highs and Lows from the Candidates (Part 1)

Continuing where we left off in the previous posting, I’d like to take a look at some of the best and worst moments from the 2018 Candidates.

Let’s start from the very beginning, where we saw 3 decisive games in the 1st round itself.

A fine win by Caruana over So:

[Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”] [Site “Berlin GER”] [Date “2018.03.10”] [Round “1.4”] [White “Caruana, F.”] [Black “So, W.”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “E00”] [WhiteElo “2784”] [BlackElo “2799”] [Annotator “Chandra,Akshat”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “r1b2rk1/3n1p1p/1qp3p1/2bpP1N1/4PB2/1p4P1/1PQ2PBP/R3R1K1 w – – 0 23”] [PlyCount “21”] [EventDate “2018.03.10”] [EventType “tourn”] [EventRounds “14”] [EventCountry “GER”] [EventCategory “22”] [SourceTitle “The Week in Chess 1218”] [Source “Mark Crowther”] [SourceDate “2018.03.12”] [SourceVersion “2”] [SourceVersionDate “2018.03.12”] [SourceQuality “2”] 23. Qe2 {After displaying some deep preparation in the Catalan, Fabiano has built up a dangerous initative. The center is opening up, and White’s pieces are better equipped to deal with such a drastic alteration of the position. Black’s King is also extremely vulnerable, as most of his pieces are stranded on the queenside. The position is not beyond salvage yet, though.} Ba6 $2 { Natural, but too slow. White crashes through with a raging attack after this.} ({Black had to play the concrete} 23… Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Nxe5 $1 {I wouldn’t be surprised if Wesley saw this but rejected it, because it’s extremely difficult to evaluate in advance such a complicated variation.} 25. exd5 (25. Bxe5 f6 26. Nxh7 (26. exd5 fxe5 27. Qxe5 Bxf2+ 28. Kh1 Qe3 $132) 26… Kxh7 27. Bc3 d4 { White is still better here, but Black has succeeded in simplifying the position by trading off pieces, making his defensive task relatively easier.}) 25… Ng4 26. Ne4 Re8 27. Qf3 cxd5 (27… Bf8 $6 28. Be3 $1 {The only move to preserve an advantage.}) 28. Nxc5 Qxc5 29. h3 Nf6 30. Qxb3 $16 {Obviously, White is clearly better here. But Black has good chances of holding this position.}) 24. Qf3 Bc4 25. Rxa8 Rxa8 26. e6 dxe4 27. exf7+ Bxf7 28. Nxe4 Bd4 29. Nd6 Bd5 30. Qe2 Nf8 31. Bxd5+ cxd5 32. Qf3 Qa5 33. Re7 1-0

A blunder by Karjakin:

[Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”] [Site “Berlin GER”] [Date “2018.03.10”] [Round “1.2”] [White “Karjakin, Sergey”] [Black “Mamedyarov, S.”] [Result “0-1”] [ECO “C60”] [WhiteElo “2763”] [BlackElo “2809”] [Annotator “Chandra,Akshat”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “8/5pk1/8/6P1/1Q4K1/1p2qP2/8/8 w – – 0 58”] [PlyCount “28”] [EventDate “2018.03.10”] [EventType “tourn”] [EventRounds “14”] [EventCountry “GER”] [EventCategory “22”] [SourceTitle “The Week in Chess 1218”] [Source “Mark Crowther”] [SourceDate “2018.03.12”] [SourceVersion “2”] [SourceVersionDate “2018.03.12”] [SourceQuality “2”] {After suffering down a pawn the entire game, it would appear the “Minister of Defence” is closer than ever to a draw. However, his next move seals his fate. } 58. Kg3 $4 {Shocking and inexplicable. This drops a pawn and the game. It’s even easy to intuitively realize that White won’t be able to hold the game if he loses the g5 pawn for nothing , and so I don’t know why Sergey went for this.} (58. f4 $1 {led to a draw.} Qe2+ 59. Kg3 b2 60. Qc3+ Kh7 61. Qb3 $1 $11 {and Black still can’t promote due to Qxf7.} Kg6 62. Qc3 $1 {Of course these lines are far from easy, but Sergey could have played 58.f4 using process of elimination, even if he couldn’t calculate all the variations.}) 58… Qxg5+ 59. Kf2 Qd5 {The rest is simple for Mamedyarov.} 60. Ke3 Kg6 61. Ke2 Kf6 62. Ke3 Ke6 63. Qb6+ Kd7 64. Qa7+ Kc6 65. Qa6+ Kc5 66. Qa4 Qc4 67. Qa5+ Kc6 68. Qa1 Kb5 69. Qb2 Kb4 70. Kd2 Qf4+ 71. Ke1 Qh4+ 0-1

An incredible opening concept by Kramnik:

[pgn height=500 initialHalfmove=0 autoplayMode=none] [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”] [Site “Berlin GER”] [Date “2018.03.12”] [Round “3.4”] [White “Aronian, L.”] [Black “Kramnik, V.”] [Result “0-1”] [ECO “C65”] [WhiteElo “2794”] [BlackElo “2800”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “r1b1k2r/ppp1qppp/2p2n2/2b1p3/4P3/3P1N1P/PPP2PP1/RNBQ1RK1 b kq – 0 7”] [PlyCount “41”] [EventDate “2018.03.10”] [EventType “tourn”] [EventRounds “14”] [EventCountry “GER”] [EventCategory “22”] [SourceTitle “The Week in Chess 1218”] [Source “Mark Crowther”] [SourceDate “2018.03.12”] [SourceVersion “2”] [SourceVersionDate “2018.03.12”] [SourceQuality “2”] {In a typical Anti-Berlin middlegame, Kramnik unleashes an unfathomable variation-crushing novelty.} 7… Rg8 $1 {An amazing concept. Black simply wants to play g5-g4, taking advantage of White’s “hook” on h3. Such a position is extremely unpleasant to defend, and Aronian was unable to save the game.} 8. Kh1 Nh5 9. c3 g5 10. Nxe5 g4 11. d4 Bd6 12. g3 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Qxe5 14. Qd4 Qe7 15. h4 c5 16. Qc4 Be6 17. Qb5+ c6 18. Qa4 f5 19. Bg5 Rxg5 20. hxg5 f4 21. Qd1 Rd8 22. Qc1 fxg3 23. Na3 Rd3 24. Rd1 Bd5 25. f3 gxf3 26. exd5 Qe2 27. Re1 g2+ 0-1

One of many missed opportunities for Aronian:

[Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”] [Site “Berlin GER”] [Date “2018.03.15”] [Round “5.1”] [White “Aronian, L.”] [Black “Grischuk, A.”] [Result “1/2-1/2”] [ECO “E60”] [WhiteElo “2794”] [BlackElo “2767”] [Annotator “Chandra,Akshat”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “2b3kr/ppQ2qb1/3R4/2p2pn1/5pnp/4B3/PP2B2P/4KNR1 w – – 0 29”] [PlyCount “27”] [EventDate “2018.03.10”] [EventType “tourn”] [EventRounds “14”] [EventCountry “GER”] [EventCategory “22”] [SourceTitle “The Week in Chess 1219”] [Source “Mark Crowther”] [SourceDate “2018.03.19”] [SourceVersion “1”] [SourceVersionDate “2018.03.19”] [SourceQuality “2”] {An extremely messy and irrational position.} 29. Qd8+ $4 {Missing the win. It’s hard to explain this move.} (29. Qxc8+ {Grabbing a free piece with check is always pleasant} Kh7 30. Qxc5 {is the most precise} ({but even} 30. Qd7 { wins without too much trouble.} Ne5 31. Qxf7 Nexf7 32. Rxg5 Nxg5 33. Bxf4 $18 { White is just a clear piece up.}) 30… Ne4 31. Rxg4 $3 Nxc5 32. Rxh4+ Kg8 33. Rd8+ Bf8 34. Rxh8+ Kxh8 35. Bxc5 $18) 29… Qf8 30. Bxf4 Ne6 {Now things peter out into a draw.} 31. Bc4 Qxd8 32. Rxd8+ Kh7 33. Rxh8+ Bxh8 34. Bd6 Ng5 35. Rg2 Ne4 36. Bb8 Bd4 37. h3 Ne5 38. Bd5 Nd3+ 39. Ke2 Nc1+ 40. Kd1 Nd3 41. Nd2 Nf6 42. Bf3 1/2-1/2

Needless over-ambition from Kramnik:

[Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”] [Site “Berlin GER”] [Date “2018.03.16”] [Round “6.3”] [White “Mamedyarov, S.”] [Black “Kramnik, V.”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “D35”] [WhiteElo “2809”] [BlackElo “2800”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “3rb3/3rk1p1/p1n1p3/1p2P1Pp/3P4/4K3/P1B1NP2/1R1R4 b – – 0 31”] [PlyCount “66”] [EventDate “2018.03.10”] [EventType “tourn”] [EventRounds “14”] [EventCountry “GER”] [EventCategory “22”] [SourceTitle “The Week in Chess 1219”] [Source “Mark Crowther”] [SourceDate “2018.03.19”] [SourceVersion “1”] [SourceVersionDate “2018.03.19”] [SourceQuality “2”] 31… h4 $4 {A horrible move, fueled by Kramnik’s unobjective overambition. What is the need for such a risky move like this in an equal position? The h pawn is a goner.} (31… Na5 $11) 32. g6 $2 (32. Rbc1 $1 Na5 33. Bd3 $18 { and the point is revealed, as Black cannot go back to c6 with the knight now or contest the c-file.}) 32… Na5 33. Rbc1 Rc7 34. Bd3 Rdc8 $4 {More insanity. } (34… Rxc1 35. Rxc1 Bc6 $11) 35. Rxc7+ Rxc7 36. Rh1 $18 {White is completely winning now.} Nc4+ 37. Kf4 Nb2 38. Be4 b4 39. Rxh4 Nd1 40. f3 Nc3 41. Nxc3 bxc3 42. Rh2 Rc8 43. Ke3 Bb5 44. f4 Bc4 45. Rh7 Rg8 46. a3 a5 47. Bc2 Kd7 48. d5 Bxd5 49. Kd4 Ba2 50. Kxc3 Kc6 51. Rh2 Kc5 52. Rd2 Rh8 53. Rd7 Rh3+ 54. Kb2 Bd5 55. Rxg7 Kd4 56. Rh7 Rg3 57. Rh5 Rg2 58. Rg5 Rf2 59. g7 Be4 60. g8=Q Rxc2+ 61. Kb3 Rc3+ 62. Ka4 Rc5 63. Rg2 Bf3 64. Qd8+ 1-0 Tactics in an endgame with very few pieces: [pgn height=480 initialHalfmove=0 autoplayMode=none] [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”] [Site “Berlin GER”] [Date “2018.03.18”] [Round “7.1”] [White “Karjakin, Sergey”] [Black “So, W.”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “E51”] [WhiteElo “2763”] [BlackElo “2799”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “2r2k2/6pp/2N1p3/1K2P3/6P1/5n2/R6P/8 b – – 0 35”] [PlyCount “11”] [EventDate “2018.03.10”] [EventType “tourn”] [EventRounds “14”] [EventCountry “GER”] [EventCategory “22”] [SourceTitle “The Week in Chess 1219”] [Source “Mark Crowther”] [SourceDate “2018.03.19”] [SourceVersion “1”] [SourceVersionDate “2018.03.19”] [SourceQuality “2”] {The position is deceptively simple. While it’s clear that a draw should be the correct result, Black must tread with extreme caution due to the poor coordination of his pieces.} 35… Ke8 $4 {This natural move loses.} (35… Rc7 $1 36. Kb6 (36. Rf2 Rf7) 36… Rd7 37. Rf2 Rd3) 36. Kb6 {White is simply threatening Kb7, trapping Black’s Rook.} g5 37. h3 Nxe5 38. Nxe5 Rc3 39. Rh2 Ke7 40. Kb5 Re3 {Wesley lost on time, otherwise he could have tried to defend. But objectively, White is winning here.} 1-0

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