by National Life Master Loal Davis
Anish Giri
In the sixth round of the 79th Tata Steel Master Tournament there were two decisive games.
After a long series of draws through multiple tournaments, Giri uncorked an absolutely beautiful win against Nepomniachtchi. This game could have been a draw many times over, but Giri played razor sharp moves right through the ending to finish off the game.
“Tata Steel Masters 2017”
Round “6”
White “Giri, Anish (NED)”
Black “Nepomniachtchi, Ian (RUS)”
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3
Black has to watch it. White could end up with good control of the d5 square (Knight/Pawn/Bishop) and should a mobile piece be placed there, equality is hard to come by.
e5 7. Nde2 Be7 8. Bg2 Nbd7 9. a4 b6 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Rb8 12. Nc3 O-O 13. O-O Bb7 14. Qd1 Rc8 15. Re1 h6 16. Bh3 Rc6
White (Giri) To Play
17. Bxh6 !
Good Tactics.
gxh6 18. Qg4+
This regains the piece; remember White just nabbed the h6 Pawn. But Black will have some apparent counterplay.
Bg5 19. Qxd7 Qxd7 20. Bxd7 Rc7 21. Bf5 Bd2
White (Giri) To Play
22. Red1 Bxc3 23. bxc3 Rd8 24. Rab1
It is important to activate the pieces (especially Rooks) and find targets rather than attempt to defend weak Pawns.
Rc6 25. f4 exf4 26. e5 Bc8 27. Be4 Rxc3 28. Rxd6 Rxd6 29. exd6 Rc4 30. Bd3 Rc6 31. Rd1 Kf8
White (Giri) To Play
32. Bxa6 !
Immune – else White Queens.
fxg3 33. hxg3
And Black’s King cannot approach the Passed Pawn (Ke8) as after a Bishop exchange, d7+ is a nasty fork.
Final Position
1-0
Yi Wei
Wei is one gutsy player.
“Tata Steel Masters 2017”
Round “6”
White “Rapport, Richard (HUN)”
Black “Wei, Yi (CHN)”
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Ne3 Be6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. g3 Nc6 9. Bg2 Qd7 10. b4 d5 11. b5 Nd4 12. Qd3 c5 13. O-O O-O-O 14. Re1 h5 15. h4 g5 16. b6 a6 17. hxg5 Ng4 18. Ncxd5 h4 19. Nc7
Black (Wei) To Play
h3
Apparently not aware of what is about fall around his head; not on his head.
20. Bxb7+
White (Rapport) goes for the “mating” attack.
Kxb7 21. Qxa6+ Kc6 22. Nxg4 Bxg4 23. b7+ Kxc7 24. Qa5+ Kb8 25. Qa8+ Kc7 26. Qa5+ Kd6 27. Qb6+ Kd5 28. Re3
Who would be “comfortable” with such a Black King in the center of the board with Queens still in play? Actually White just ran out of steam.
h2+ 29. Kh1 Qc6 30. Rb1 Qxb6 31. Rxb6 Bd6 32. Bb2 Rde8 0-1
Final Position
| # | Name | Pts | SB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | So, Wesley | 4.5 | 10.5 |
| 2 | Carlsen, Magnus | 4 | 13 |
| Eljanov, Pavel | 4 | 8 | |
| 4 | Aronian, Levon | 3.5 | 11.5 |
| Giri, Anish | 3.5 | 10.5 | |
| Wei, Yi | 3.5 | 8.5 | |
| 7 | Harikrishna, P. | 3 | 9.25 |
| Andreikin, Dmitry | 3 | 7.75 | |
| Karjakin, Sergey | 3 | 7 | |
| Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | 3 | 6 | |
| 11 | Adhiban, B. | 2.5 | 7.5 |
| 12 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2 | 6.75 |
| 13 | Rapport, Richard | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| 14 | Van Wely, Loek | 1 | 2.75 |
Images below courtesy of Derrick Bartotto.
[Event “Tata Steel Masters 2017”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2017.01.20”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Giri, Anish (NED)”]
[Black “Nepomniachtchi, Ian (RUS)”]
[Result “1-0”]
[PlyCount “65”]
[EventDate “2017.01.15”]
[SourceDate “2017.01.20”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e5 7. Nde2 Be7 8. Bg2 Nbd7 9. a4 b6 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Rb8 12. Nc3 O-O 13. O-O Bb7 14. Qd1 Rc8 15. Re1 h6 16. Bh3 Rc6 17. Bxh6 gxh6 18. Qg4+ Bg5 19. Qxd7 Qxd7 20. Bxd7 Rc7 21. Bf5 Bd2 22. Red1 Bxc3 23. bxc3 Rd8 24. Rab1 Rc6 25. f4 exf4 26. e5 Bc8 27. Be4 Rxc3 28. Rxd6 Rxd6 29. exd6 Rc4 30. Bd3 Rc6 31. Rd1 Kf8 32. Bxa6 fxg3 33. hxg3 1-0
[Event “Tata Steel Masters 2017”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2017.01.20”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Rapport, Richard (HUN)”]
[Black “Wei, Yi (CHN)”]
[Result “0-1”]
[PlyCount “64”]
[EventDate “2017.01.15”]
[SourceDate “2017.01.20”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Ne3 Be6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. g3 Nc6 9. Bg2 Qd7 10. b4 d5 11. b5 Nd4 12. Qd3 c5 13. O-O O-O-O 14. Re1 h5 15. h4 g5 16. b6 a6 17. hxg5 Ng4 18. Ncxd5 h4 19. Nc7 h3 20. Bxb7+ Kxb7 21. Qxa6+ Kc6 22. Nxg4 Bxg4 23. b7+ Kxc7 24. Qa5+ Kb8 25. Qa8+ Kc7 26. Qa5+ Kd6 27. Qb6+ Kd5 28. Re3 h2+ 29. Kh1 Qc6 30. Rb1 Qxb6 31. Rxb6 Bd6 32. Bb2 Rde8 0-1