 "Chess (#1154)")
The last round of the Norway Super tournament turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Veselin Topalov met Viswanathan Anand in a game where first and second were at stake. Unfortunately for the spectators, Topalov, who had a half-point lead and the white pieces, decided to force the draw in 18 moves. He just repeated a known drawing line and Anand decided not to risk playing on.
That left Topalov in clear first place with an excellent score of 6.5 points from 9 games. Topalov steamrolled 5/5 against the bottom of the field and lost one game, to Anish Giri. Topalov was incredibly lucky as well in that he won from a dead-drawn position against Jon Ludvig Hammer and from a totally lost position against Magnus Carlsen in that infamous first round flag out.
Anand produced an equally impressive though less lucky performance, to tie for second-third place with Hikaru Nakamura (both scored 6 points). Anand won a classic positional crush against Carlsen, and a sacrificial attack against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Nakamura also produced a rock solid performance, going unbeaten with wins against Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian and Nakamura. Giri took fourth place, also unbeaten, with 5.5.
The world champion had a dreadful time on home ground. Carlsen started with a loss and ended with a loss and scored only 3.5 (+2,-4,=3). There will be four players sitting above 2800 in the next ratings list. Anand and Topalov will tie for 2-3 with Nakamura slightly behind, in 4th place. This result might make a positive difference to the Bulgarian GM's prospects of entering the Candidates tournament.
Meanwhile Yu Yangyi won the 50th Capablanca Memorial in Havana with a round to spare. The young Chinese star has scored 6.5/9 with Dmitry Andreikin in second place with 5.
In the DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY, (White: Anand Vs Black: Vachier-Lagrave, Norway 2015), Black has just played a novelty (17.Bb7). White responds 18.Kh1! One key possibility is 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Qxh6 d5 20.g5 Qxg3 21.Rd3 Bc5+! 22.Kh1 Be3! when black defends the attack. This king move aims at an improved version of that sacrifice.
Now Black responded 18...Rbd8? Maybe 18...Kh7 or 18...d5 19.e5 Qxe5 20.Bf4 Qxb2 21.Bxb8 Rxb8 is possible. White crashed through with 19.Bxh6! gxh6 20.Qxh6 d5 21.g5! Qxg3 22.Rd3 White is winning because that Bc5-e3 relocation idea is impossible.
Black tried 22...Nh5 Or 22...Nxe4 23.f6! Bxf6 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.Rxg3; Or 22...Qe5 23.gxf6 Bxf6 24.Rf4 Bg7 25.Rg3. Here white found the brutal finish 23.g6! fxg6 24.fxg6 Rxf1+ 25.Bxf1 Nf6 26.Rxg3 dxe4 27.Be2 e3+ 28.Kg1 Bc5 29.Kf1 (1-0). White has material and his attack continues. It would be interesting to know how much of this Anand found over-the-board.
That left Topalov in clear first place with an excellent score of 6.5 points from 9 games. Topalov steamrolled 5/5 against the bottom of the field and lost one game, to Anish Giri. Topalov was incredibly lucky as well in that he won from a dead-drawn position against Jon Ludvig Hammer and from a totally lost position against Magnus Carlsen in that infamous first round flag out.
Anand produced an equally impressive though less lucky performance, to tie for second-third place with Hikaru Nakamura (both scored 6 points). Anand won a classic positional crush against Carlsen, and a sacrificial attack against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Nakamura also produced a rock solid performance, going unbeaten with wins against Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian and Nakamura. Giri took fourth place, also unbeaten, with 5.5.
The world champion had a dreadful time on home ground. Carlsen started with a loss and ended with a loss and scored only 3.5 (+2,-4,=3). There will be four players sitting above 2800 in the next ratings list. Anand and Topalov will tie for 2-3 with Nakamura slightly behind, in 4th place. This result might make a positive difference to the Bulgarian GM's prospects of entering the Candidates tournament.
Meanwhile Yu Yangyi won the 50th Capablanca Memorial in Havana with a round to spare. The young Chinese star has scored 6.5/9 with Dmitry Andreikin in second place with 5.
In the DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY, (White: Anand Vs Black: Vachier-Lagrave, Norway 2015), Black has just played a novelty (17.Bb7). White responds 18.Kh1! One key possibility is 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Qxh6 d5 20.g5 Qxg3 21.Rd3 Bc5+! 22.Kh1 Be3! when black defends the attack. This king move aims at an improved version of that sacrifice.
Now Black responded 18...Rbd8? Maybe 18...Kh7 or 18...d5 19.e5 Qxe5 20.Bf4 Qxb2 21.Bxb8 Rxb8 is possible. White crashed through with 19.Bxh6! gxh6 20.Qxh6 d5 21.g5! Qxg3 22.Rd3 White is winning because that Bc5-e3 relocation idea is impossible.
Black tried 22...Nh5 Or 22...Nxe4 23.f6! Bxf6 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.Rxg3; Or 22...Qe5 23.gxf6 Bxf6 24.Rf4 Bg7 25.Rg3. Here white found the brutal finish 23.g6! fxg6 24.fxg6 Rxf1+ 25.Bxf1 Nf6 26.Rxg3 dxe4 27.Be2 e3+ 28.Kg1 Bc5 29.Kf1 (1-0). White has material and his attack continues. It would be interesting to know how much of this Anand found over-the-board.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player