Meier Misses Opportunity vs Carlsen In Grenke
It is a rare and special thing to be able to defeat the world champion in classical chess. Players who do so belong to an elite group, termed the "Chigorin Club." For a player outside the world's top 50 to have such a chance is doubly rare.
GM Georg Meier could have etched his name in this pantheon today with a beautiful combination beginning 39.Rh1 Qe7 40.Rxh7+! In mutual time trouble both players understandably missed the critical 41...Kg6 42.Rh6+!! mating the hapless Black monarch.
GM Georg Meier was non-chalant about the missed chance. | Photo: Eric van Reem/Grenke Chess Classic.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian had just reached a sharp and dynamic middlegame in a Ruy Lopez when Aronian played 18...c5, missing 19.Nxe6! from Vachier-Lagrave. Unfortunately for the ambitions of the French number-one, Aronian found the correct rejoinder, 21...Rxf3! and the game soon resolved to a fairly drawn endgame.
Two creative sportsmen sit down to another duel. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis/Grenke Chess Classic.
Arkadij Naiditsch must have been rubbing his hands together with glee when he played 23.Rxg7! against Matthias Bluebaum. The quiet 24.0-0-0! which followed left Bluebaum facing a wide array of threats.
Unfortunately, the drawing margin is wide in chess, and after strong attacking play by Naiditsch and good defense by Bluebaum, the position resolved to an endgame in which Naiditch obtained an advantage with the bishop pair and three pawns compensating for an exchange deficit.
Both optically and objectively the position was strong for Naiditsch, but it was difficult to keep Bluebaum's rook under wraps. Once it became active, a draw became quite likely and was eventually agreed on move 65.
Arkadij Naiditsch must feel he missed a win today, but it's not easy to identify a concrete winning line. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis/Grenke Chess Classic.
The remaining two games between Hou Yifan and Nikita Vitiugov and Viswanathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana were also drawn after Vitiugov neutralized Hou Yifan's slight positional pressure and Anand and Caruana's complicated fireworks resolved in many exchanges.
2018 Grenke Chess Classic | Round 5 Standings
| Place | Player | Elo | FED | Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 1 | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2789 | 3.5 | . | . | ½ | ½ | 1 | . | ½ | 1 | . | ||
| 2 | Caruana, Fabiano | 2784 | 3.5 | . | . | ½ | . | ½ | ½ | 1 | . | 1 | ||
| 3 | Vitiugov, Nikita | 2735 | 3.5 | . | . | . | . | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ||
| 4 | Carlsen, Magnus | 2843 | 3.0 | ½ | ½ | . | . | . | ½ | . | 1 | ½ | ||
| 5 | Aronian, Levon | 2794 | 3.0 | ½ | . | . | . | ½ | . | 1 | ½ | ½ | ||
| 6 | Anand, Viswanathan | 2776 | 2.0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | . | ½ | . | . | ½ | . | ||
| 7 | Bluebaum, Matthias | 2631 | 2.0 | . | ½ | 0 | ½ | . | . | ½ | . | ½ | ||
| 8 | Naiditsch, Arkadij | 2701 | 1.5 | ½ | 0 | ½ | . | 0 | . | ½ | . | . | ||
| 9 | Hou Yifan | 2654 | 1.5 | 0 | . | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | . | . | . | ||
| 10 | Meier Georg | 2648 | 1.5 | . | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | . | ½ | . | . |
The Grenke Chess Classic is a 10-player round robin held in Karlsruhe (rounds 1-3) and Baden-Baden (rounds 4-9), Germany, The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and then 15 minutes to finish the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1. Draw offers before move 40 are not allowed.
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