Tata R9: Aronian beats Caruana, increases lead as Carlsen loses to Karjakin

In the 9th round of the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands Levon Aronian increased his lead to a full point. On Tuesday the Armenian grandmaster beat Fabiano Caruana, and saw his main rival Magnus Carlsen lose to Sergey Karjakin. In the same round, Vassily Ivanchuk won against Anish Giri.

Karjakin beats Carlsen, which was good news for Aronian, who won against Caruana

The round 6 report on the official website already mentioned it, but we think that the 9th round was even more suitable.

The late Dutch GM Hein Donner used to claim that blunders are not made but pre-exist and, like viruses, infest tournament halls where they pick their victims among unsuspecting players.

In all Grandmaster Groups strange things happened on Tuesday. The virus was there!

Maybe the length of the tournament is already taking its toll? Open tournaments usually last nine rounds too, don't they? Well, in Wijk aan Zee the players already had two rest days, and they have to play four more rounds (with another rest day in between). There's no reason to complain - this is how they do it here, a long tournament like in the old days, and it's actually something that most players like about this event!

Let's start with Levon Aronian, who was the first to score a point. The Armenian grandmaster preferred not to give a press conference, because he didn't like his play at all.

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Aronian, L."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2736"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2rk1/pp1pbppp/4qn2/1N6/1PP1pP2/4B3/P3B1PP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 15"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

15... Bxb4 $6 {
Black sacrifices the exchange, hoping to untangle his position quickly.} 16.
Nc7 Qc6 17. Nxa8 b6 18. Rb1 Bc5 19. Bxc5 bxc5 ({Also after} 19... Qxc5+ 20. Kh1
Qc6 21. Nxb6 axb6 22. Qd4 {Black doesn't have enough compensation.}) 20. Rb8
Bb7 21. Rxf8+ Kxf8 22. Qb3 g6 23. Rb1 Bxa8 24. Qb8+ Kg7 25. Qxa7 e3 26. Bf3 d5
27. Re1 $6 (27. Rb8 Nd7 28. Rxa8 Qe6 29. Qa3 d4 30. Qd3 {was a better version
of the game. "I forgot that I couldn't defend f4 very well." (Aronian)}) 27...
Qd6 28. Qxa8 d4 29. Qa3 $6 (29. g3 {was possible, but it looks dangerous:} d3
30. Rxe3 Qd4 31. Kf2 Qxc4 {and now} 32. Re7 $1) 29... Qxf4 30. Rf1 Qe5 31. Qd3
Qe8 32. g3 h5 33. Bg2 Qa4 34. a3 Qa5 35. Bf3 Qa6 36. Be2 Qa5 37. Qb1 Qd2 $6 (
37... Qa7) 38. Qe1 $6 (38. Qb7 $1 {would have won on the spot:} Qxe2 39. Qe7
Qxc4 40. Qxf6+ Kg8 (40... Kh6 41. Qh8+ Kg5 42. Qd8+ Kh6 43. Qf8+ Kg5 44. Qe7+
Kh6 45. Rxf7) 41. Rb1 Kh7 42. Rb8 Qc1+ 43. Qf1 $18) 38... Qa2 39. g4 $6 (39.
Qd1) 39... hxg4 $6 (39... Nxg4 $1 40. Bxg4 hxg4 41. Qg3 f5 {
would have been enough to draw the game.}) 40. Qg3 $1 {
Just before the time control White is back on track.} Qxe2 41. Qe5 {
White is winning.} d3 42. Rxf6 Kh6 43. Rxf7 Qe1+ 44. Kg2 Qe2+ 45. Kg3 Qe1+ 46.
Kxg4 Qg1+ 47. Kh3 1-0

Nonetheless Ivan Sokolov awarded the 500 euro daily prize to Aronian, who said after the game:

I had a very good position out of the opening. I felt that I managed to get my opponent into my preperation. It looked like a comfortable win and for some reason I started to complicate with each and every move. I'm not sure what was his last mistake, but I know where my mistakes are! You're used to playing with mistakes when you're playing such a long tournament.

The way Magnus Carlsen got into trouble is probably something he would describe himself as a "blunder" as well. In just two half-moves, an equal position turned into a miserable one. Karjakin could have finished things quicker but he never let the win slip away.

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qr1k1/pb3pp1/1p5p/2npP3/8/P1NB4/1P3PPP/2RQR1K1 w - - 0 17"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

17. f4 $6 d4 18. Ne4 $2 {Karjakin didn't like these last two moves.} Bxe4 $1
19. Bxe4 d3 {White is in big trouble.} 20. Rc4 Rc8 21. Bf5 Qd5 $1 22. Rc3 Rcd8
23. Qd2 Qd4+ 24. Kh1 a5 $1 {Preventing 25.b4 - Black controls the position.}
25. Rb1 a4 26. Rd1 Rd5 ({The immediate} 26... g6 27. Rxd3 (27. Bxd3 Ne4 28.
Bxe4 Qxd2 29. Rxd2 Rxd2 30. Bc2 Rf2) 27... Nxd3 28. Bxd3 Rd7 {
should win rather easily.}) 27. h4 g6 28. Bxd3 Red8 29. Qe1 Qxf4 30. e6 Nxe6
31. Bc2 b5 32. Rxd5 Rxd5 33. Re3 Nd4 34. Bd3 Kg7 35. Kg1 Qf6 36. Kh2 Rh5 37.
Rh3 Ne6 38. Rf3 Rxh4+ 39. Kg1 Qd4+ 40. Qf2 Qxf2+ 41. Kxf2 b4 {and Black won.}
0-1

Amazingly, this was only the first win ever for Karjakin over Carlsen with a classical time control. The Moscovite is having a rollercoaster tournament, with just one draw, four wins and four losses now. He said:

I think I managed to play a good game today. He gave me a chance which I completely used. He was defending very well I think but basically the position was really very bad for White so I managed to win it.

Anish GIri miscalculated in the 5th hour and saw to his horror that the pawn ending he had gone for, was lost.

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Ivanchuk, V."]
[Black "Giri, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2766"]
[BlackElo "2714"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/2rk4/p7/4PppR/3K4/5P2/7P/8 w - - 0 47"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

47... Rb7 $2 (47... Ke6 $1 48. Rh6+ Ke7 {
and Black has good drawing chances according to Ivanchuk. Here} 49. Rh7+ Kd8
50. Rxc7 Kxc7 51. f4 gxf4 52. h4 a5 {is like the game, but with the black king
on c7 instead of b7 - a crucial difference.} 53. h5 a4 54. h6 a3 55. Kc3 f3 56.
h7 f2 57. h8=Q f1=Q 58. Qg7+ $11) 48. Rh7+ Kc8 49. Rh8+ Kd7 50. Rh7+ Kc8 51.
Rxb7 $1 Kxb7 52. f4 $1 {The pawn ending is winning thanks to this move.} gxf4 (
52... g4 53. e6 Kc7 54. Ke5 Kd8 55. Kxf5 $18) 53. h4 a5 54. e6 Kc7 55. h5 a4
56. e7 Kd7 57. h6 1-0

Also in the game between Vugar Gashimov and David Navara something happened that got the engine's alarm bells ringing.

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Gashimov, V."]
[Black "Navara, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2761"]
[BlackElo "2712"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2b2rk1/2p1qpp1/1r5n/1p1Bp2N/p3P3/3P1P2/PP1Q2P1/2R1K2R w K - 0 25"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

25. g4 $6 (25. Rxc7 $1 {wins instantly:} Qxc7 26. Qg5 Rg6 27. Qxg6 $18) 25...
Rg6 26. Ng3 Qd8 27. Rh5 Be6 28. g5 Bxd5 29. gxh6 Rxg3 30. Qh2 Rg5 31. hxg7 Kxg7
32. Rh7+ Kf6 33. exd5 Qxd5 34. Rh6+ Ke7 35. Rxc7+ Kd8 36. Rhc6 Qxf3 37. Rc8+
Ke7 38. R8c7+ Kd8 39. Rc8+ Ke7 40. R8c7+ 1/2-1/2

Pentala Harikrishna is still leading in the B group. Ilya Nyzhnyk chose the wrong square for his king and was lost soon after:

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMB"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Nyzhnyk, I."]
[Black "Harikrishna, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2568"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3r1k1/pp3pp1/n6p/1bN5/3p4/6P1/PP2PPBP/2R1K1R1 w - - 0 20"]
[PlyCount "18"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

20. Bxb7 $1 Rxe2+ 21. Kd1 $2 ({White has the better chances after} 21. Kf1 $1 {
and there is no good discovered check.}) 21... Rb8 22. Bxa6 Bxa6 23. Nxa6 Rbxb2
24. Rc8+ Kh7 25. Nb4 Rxf2 26. a3 a5 27. Nd5 Ra2 28. Re1 $2 d3 0-1

In the C group, it was surprising to see a 2532 rated played miss a very simple move that would have forced resignation.

[Event "74th Tata Steel GMC"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.01.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Haast, A."]
[Black "Grover, S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C19"]
[WhiteElo "2290"]
[BlackElo "2532"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k2rr1/1p2n3/p1n2p1p/3pp2N/P1pP4/B1P3Pq/2P2P1P/R2QR1K1 w - - 0 25"]
[PlyCount "28"]
[EventDate "2012.01.14"]

25... Nf5 $2 (25... Rg5 {picks up a full piece.}) 26. dxe5 $1 (26. Bxf8 $2 Nh4
{was Black's idea.}) 26... fxe5 27. Bxf8 Rxf8 (27... Nh4 28. Nf4 $1 exf4 29.
Qxd5 Rxf8 30. gxh4) 28. Rb1 Kc7 29. a5 Nd6 30. f4 Ne4 31. Re3 $2 (31. Qxd5 $18)
31... exf4 32. Rxe4 fxg3 $2 (32... dxe4 33. Nxf4 Qf5 $11) 33. Re2 gxh2+ 34.
Rxh2 Qe3+ 35. Kh1 Qe4+ 36. Rg2 Rf2 37. Qg4 Qxc2 38. Rxb7+ Kd6 39. Qg3+ 1-0

Matthew Sadler again drew his game while both Maxim Turov and Hans Tikkanen won again, so it's really these two players fighting for qualification to the B group.

Hans TIkkanen

Maxim Turov

Daily video by the organizers

Games group A, round 9

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group A | Pairings

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group A | Round 9 standings

Games group B, round 9

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group B | Pairings

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group B | Round 9 standings

Games group C, round 9

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group C | Pairings

Tata Steel 2012 | Grandmaster Group C | Round 9 standings