Georgiadis Sacs Exchange, Holds Carlsen In Biel

Three straight losses didn't prevent Nico Georgiadis from playing aggressively, sacrificing material and eventually holding Magnus Carlsen to a draw. The other two games in round four of the Biel Chess Festival were drawn as well.

There were no decisive games, but it was definitely another hard-fought round in Biel. Especially Nico Georgiadis can be very satisfied for holding his own vs the world champion, who once again managed to find ways to make life hard for his opponent in positions where many players would have given the draw already.

The game started as a French defense. Magnus Carlsen tested his opponent’s knowledge in a Winawer, noting: “I saw Nico didn’t have games in this line.” But Georgiadis, who had looked at it a month ago, easily stood that test. “I was basically bluffing and caught red-handed at that point,” said Carlsen.

Georgiadis happened to know this line in the Winawer French pretty well. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Biel International Chess Festival.

Carlsen thought White should have gone for the quiet 13.Qc3, as was played once by Dutch IM Edwin van Haastert. Georgiadis’s novelty 13.Qd6 led to very enterprising play, but it also gave his opponent a lot of counter-chances.

But Georgiadis, rated 316 points lower than Carlsen, certainly deserves credit for sacrificing both an exchange (already planned on move 13) and a pawn against such a mighty opponent. This author once learned the rule for games against stronger players: “If you want a draw, play for a win.” This seems quite relevant for this particular game.

“I felt I should be better after the exchange sac but then I missed a few things and it wasn’t clear. Maybe I was even worse at some point,” said Carlsen.

Georgiadis finally got rid of the zero in the scoreboard. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Biel International Chess Festival.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Peter Svidler drew a Fianchetto Grünfeld that contained a very early tactic. Mamedyarov noticed it after he let go of his h-pawn on move 12, and Svidler missed it altogether since he thought this quiet position couldn't have any tactics.

12...Qc8 wasn't winning, but would have been a nice way to immediately equalize. Svidler admitted that it was better to hear it only after, instead of finding out during the game: "I would have been so annoyed with myself."

Svidler had to suffer in the game but was more alert in the remainder. His 25...Nd6 was important.

A Fianchetto Grünfeld with 5.Qa4 in Mamedyarov-Svidler. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Biel International Chess Festival.

David Navara vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was a Grünfeld as well. The queens left the board in a funny way, and a few moves later MVL suddenly remembered that this particular line, which he knew, is in fact better for White.

Navara, however, failed to find the most critical lines and then the players also found a funny way to split the point.

Navara vs MVL. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Biel International Chess Festival.

Biel 2018 | Round 4 Standings

Games via TWIC.

Round-five pairings: Svidler vs Navara, Vachier-Lagrave vs Georgiadis, Carlsen vs Mamedyarov.

The games start every day at 2 p.m. central European time (5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern). You can follow them in Live Chess. The Chessbrahs are providing daily commentary with GMs Yasser Seirawan, Eric Hansen and Aman Hambleton, which you can follow on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chessbrah.

Earlier post:

• Mamedyarov Beats MVL, Catches Carlsen In Biel
• Carlsen Wins Study-Like Endgame, Moves To 2/2 In Biel
• Carlsen Steals Show With Queen Sacrifice As Biel Begins
• Carlsen Tops Biel Field, Starting Sunday