Tata Steel Chess Tournament 14th - 30th January 2011

[Matthew Turner]

Stockfish has Luke at +9, so it's looking good!

[Matt Mackenzie]

Indeed, Luke won

What's the latest in Anand - Giri?? An upset looked very possible earlier

[Eoin Devane]

Great win for Luke. Navara also won, so it looks like being a showdown between those two tomorrow. Efimenko could still muscle in if he can either win today (looking like a draw) or beat Sargissian tomorrow.

[LozCooper]

Round 12 - Saturday the 29th

Group A:

V. Anand - A. Giri ½-½
R. Ponomariov - A. Shirov ½-½
E. l'Ami - L. Aronian ½-½
J. Smeets - A. Grischuk 0-1
M. Carlsen - Wang Hao 1-0
H. Nakamura - V. Kramnik ½-½
M. Vachier-Lagrave - I. Nepomniachtchi 1-0

Group B:

L. Fressinet - Li Chao 1-0
V. Tkachiev - W. Spoelman 1-0
F. Nijboer - D. Navara 0-1
L. McShane - W. So 1-0
R. Wojtaszek - S. Ganguly 0-1
L. Liem - Z. Efimenko ½-½
G. Sargissian - J. Hammer ½-½

Group C:

B. Bok - R. Pruijssers 1-0
M. van der Werf - T. Sachdev 0-1
S. Siebrecht - M. Bluvshtein 0-1
I. Ivanisevic - J.W. de Jong 1-0
K. Lahno - M. Kazhgaleyev ½-½
D. Swiercz - D. Vocaturo 1-0
I. Nyzhnyk - R. van Kampen 1-0

[LozCooper]

Standings after round 12

Group A:

1. H. Nakamura 8½
2. V. Anand 8
3. L. Aronian & M. Carlsen 7½
5. V. Kramnik & M. Vachier-Lagrave 7
7. A. Giri & R. Ponomariov 6
9. I. Nepomniachtchi & Wang Hao 5½
11. A. Grischuk, E. l'Ami & J. Smeets 4
14. A. Shirov 3½

Group B:

1. L. McShane & D. Navara 8
3. Z. Efimenko 7½
4. L. Liem, G. Sargissian, W. So & V. Tkachiev 7
8. R. Wojtaszek 6
9. L. Fressinet, S. Ganguly & Li Chao 5
12. J. Hammer & W. Spoelman 4
14. F. Nijboer 3½

Group C:

1. D. Vocaturo 8½
2. I. Nyzhnyk 8
3. I. Ivanisevic 7½
4. K. Lahno & D. Swiercz 7
6. M. Bluvshtein, M. Kazhgaleyev & T. Sachdev 6½
9. B. Bok 6
10. S. Siebrecht 4½
11. J.W. de Jong, R. Pruijssers, M. van der Werf & R. van Kampen 4

[Jonathan Rogers]

Lazy question - what are the tiebreaks in group B, including the possibility of a draw between Luke and Navara and a win by Efimenko? If Efimenko would then prevail then that means that Navara will need to play for a win tomorrow too (which is presumably what we want).

[Alex Holowczak]

Lazy question - what are the tiebreaks in group B, including the possibility of a draw between Luke and Navara and a win by Efimenko? If Efimenko would then prevail then that means that Navara will need to play for a win tomorrow too (which is presumably what we want).

1st is head-to-head, 2nd is Sonnenberg-Berger.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Ah thanks, and Efimenko would win on a three way head to head. So Navara will want to win tomorrow - good.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Indeed, since Luke would presumably prevail over Navara on S-B then he will be able to take a draw if it becomes clear that Efimenko is not going to win. Navara can never take a draw though.

[LozCooper]

Round 13 - Sunday the 30th starts at 11:00 English time

Group A:

Wang Hao (5.5) - H. Nakamura (8.5) 0.5-0.5
I. Nepomniachtchi (5.5) - V. Anand (8) 0.5-0.5
A. Grischuk (4) - M. Carlsen (7.5) 0.5-0.5
L. Aronian (7.5) - J. Smeets (4) 0.5-0.5
V. Kramnik (7) - M. Vachier-Lagrave (7) 0.5-0.5
A. Giri (6) - R. Ponomariov (6) 0.5-0.5
A. Shirov (3.5) - E. l'Ami (4) 0.5-0.5

Nakamura wins the tournament with 9/13

Group B:

D. Navara (8) - L. McShane (8) 0.5-0.5
Z. Efimenko (7.5) - G. Sargissian (7) 0.5-0.5
W. So (7) - R. Wojtaszek (6) 0.5-0.5
S. Ganguly (5) - L. Liem (7) 0.5-0.5
Li Chao (5) - V. Tkachiev (7) 1-0
J. Hammer (4) - L. Fressinet (5) 0-1
W. Spoelman (4) - F. Nijboer (3.5) 1-0

McShane & Navara 1st= on 8.5/13. I think McShane wins on tie-break.

Group C:

D. Vocaturo (8.5) - I. Nyzhnyk (8) 0.5-0.5
M. Bluvshtein (6.5) - I. Ivanisevic (7.5) 1-0
M. Kazhgaleyev (6.5) - D. Swiercz (7) 0.5-0.5
J.W. de Jong (4) - K. Lahno (7) 0-1
T. Sachdev (6.5) - S. Siebrecht (4.5) 0-1
R. van Kampen (4) - B. Bok (6) 0.5-0.5
R. Pruijssers (4) - M. van der Werf (4) 0-1

Vocaturo wins the tournament with 9/13

[Justin Hadi]

Luke's position looks very good to me. It looks like he can play Rf7-d7, neutralise any rook invasion on the c file , swop off rooks and then win the knight vs bad bishop endgame. Or am I missing something?

[Justin Hadi]

Or Rd8-d7-c7

[Jonathan Rogers]

The endgame is thoroughly bad for Luke. Even if the rooks are exchanged, Black will worry about his queenside pawns if White is able to fix them with a4-a5; which presumably he can do.

I'm not saying it's lost. And since Efimenko is not winning on the other board, there s a huge prize for Luke if he can hold it.

[Rob Thompson]

to me both games look as if they're heading for draws. I can't see how Navara can win with just the queenside, given that there is never anything happening on the kingside. If i have got it right luke wins if both games are drawn?

[Jonathan Rogers]

yes, if both drawn then I think Luke would prevail over Navara on S-B