Levon Aronian emerges as a leader at Grand Prix Nalchik

after 6th round win against Vassily Ivanchuk

Levon Aronian became the first player to achieve 3 wins at the Grand Prix Nalchik and emerged as the leader of the competition after 6 rounds. He is closely followed by Peter Leko and Evgeny Alexeev who do not have a single loss until now. The second position is also shared by Grischuk and Svidler, all four players being only 1/2 point behind Aronian. To make the competition even more unpredictable, six players are only 1 point behind the leader - Mamedyarov, Bacrot, Karjakin, Kamsky, Akopian, and Kasimdzhanov.

Here is the story of round 6, game analysis by Sergey Shipov, and the events from the rest day.

Aronian-Ivanchuk

Vassily, looking for winning chances, called fire upon him, and perished. The game was very one-sided. Black made a mistake, allowing Nc3-d5 by 12…Bxc6?! Of course, he should have taken with the queen, securing an equal game. Maybe Ivanchuk thought that he can pick up the h2-pawn, but later discovered that it is impossible. Consequently, he had to defend a slightly worse position. The opposite-colored bishops did not guarantee a draw. With the queens on the board, pawn weaknesses on b6 and f7 as well as poor king’s safety played an important role. Black held the balance for quite a while, however, Aronian’s spectacular 36.e5! was too much for Ivanchuk. By 36…Qg7! 37.Qe6 Qg6! Vassily could defend stubbornly, but he captured on e5, and White quickly developed the mating attack.

Mamedyarov-Grischuk

White created powerful pressure in a seemingly harmless position. Mamedyarov’s innocent-looking play was actually very poisonous. Black was close to equality all the time, but never could reach it. It all started with a tricky novelty 13.Bd2 in the Chebanenko Slav. Knowing the future events, one can question the 14…d4 break (14…Be6 looked well) or recommend the following line on the next move: 15…Qc2!? 16.Nxf6+ gxf6 17.Rxc2 Bf5! – here Black manages to develop his queenside at a relatively small cost of doubling the f-pawn.

After the exchanges Black was left with the only problem – weak b7-pawn. However, Grischuk failed to find the solution to it, and possibly there was no such solution. One can only point at the more tenacious continuations with more chances to survive, for instance, 24…Bf6!? 25.Bd6 Rd8 26.Bc7 Rd2 27.Bxb7 Rf8, and Black attacks White’s pawns. After Mamedyarov relocated his rook to b5, Black’s situation became really difficult. White won a pawn and energetically ended the game in his favor.

Akopian-Karjakin

The representative of the older generation (who had also been a young star someday) gave a perfect lesson to the young and brilliant opponent. Maybe Karjakin simply underestimated Akopian and decided to play against him beyond the acceptable risk. Perhaps judging Sergey’s novelty 16…b5 by a single game is irresponsible, especially considering that ‘Karjakin-made’ opening ideas are usually of the highest quality. However, Akopian used simple and logical means to parry Black’s threats, and obtained a lasting advantage. Vladimir converted this advantage in a classic way. The excellent 31.Qc7! deserves special attention. In the endgame White sacrificed a bishop (51.Qb5!) and advanced his passed a-pawn. Here began the most interesting part! Usually players always queen their pawns without giving a proper thought to underpromotion. However, in this case the automatic 71.a8Q? only led to a perpetual check. By promoting his pawn to the knight, Akopian defended his king and created irresistible threats to the opponent’s monarch! An excellent victory!

Eljanov-Svidler

A quiet outline of a position can often be misleading, and deep positional considerations are useless, when a sharp and unexpected combination can change everything. In a well-known variation of the Gruenfeld, Eljanov obtained a slight pressure in the endgame. White’s main trump was his super-solid d4-pawn, which completely locked Black’s dark-squared bishop. It seems Pavel overestimated this factor. The careless 21.Ne4? (after 21.Nf3! White is at least not worse) allowed Black to deliver the devastating 21…Bxd4! He heroic bishop crushed the White’s center. Soon Black regained the piece and ended up with an extra pawn. Svidler conducted the converting stage perfectly.

Kamsky-Gelfand

The amount of blank spots in the theory is simply amazing. Take the Catalan – a highly popular opening! Everybody played in recently, completely exhausting certain variations. However, Kamsky’s natural strengthening 8th move led the game to a whole new territory. And Gelfand was unable to solve the new set of problems. When it turned out that Black cannot hold the c4-pawn, Boris decided to simplify the game with a dubious central break – 14…e5? Gata could probably punish the opponent by 17.Nc5! with a crushing attack after 17…dxe3 18.Bxc6+! bxc6 19.Qe4+! However, the spectacular 17.Nd6+ also gave him the initiative. The Black’s king remained in the center and barely survived. I am sure Kamsky could handle his advantage better. For instance, one can suggest 26.Be4, and the threat of Be4-h7 provokes the weakening g7-g6, after which White’s queen can land on f6. In the game White played a little too slow and Black managed to regroup. Gata preferred to avoid problems, and transposed the game into an equal ending.

Kasimdzhanov-Bacrot

The game was short and seemingly peaceful, however, it contained an interesting theoretical innovation. Bacrot’s 11…Qh3! prevented White from castling. Kasimdzhanov brought his king to the queenside, but it wasn’t safe there either. Therefore Rustam took the safe route and forced a draw by repetition.

Leko-Alekseev

In this lengthy struggle White had a small edge all the time, but it didn’t give him anything real. In the Catalan, Black correctly opened the lines on the queenside by 13…b5!, which allowed him to survive White’s attack in the center. The structure that arose resembled the French Defense. White’s only chance for the advantage was attacking on the kingside. However, Peter wasted some time, and when Evgeny started to build his counterplay on the queenside, White preferred to force a draw by 49.b4 followed by the move repetition.

Rest day in Nalchik

According to the program of the FIDE Grand Prix Tournament the participants had a day off after the 5th rounds of the competition. They took the excursion to Chereksky region of Kabardino-Balkaria. At midday the bus reached the administrative border of the region. The representatives of the local administration were already waiting for chess players.

First the guests were shown a national dance. After that a famous Balkarian singer, an honored artist of KBR Aznor Ulbashev, following the tradition, presented a national drink airan in a big wooden bowl to the most respectable guest- the 10th World Champion, the commentator of the competition Boris Spassky. Boris Vasiljevich tasted the drink and thanked for the hospitality. Then he passed the bowl to the chief arbiter of the competition Vyacheslav Namruev. Then, practically, all the excursionists tasted the drink.

Then the guests, the accompanying persons and journalists went up to the gorge of the Chereksky ravine. After the bus had passed through the tunnel, which is one of the unique engineering construction in the republic, the guides advised to leave the bus and cars and to watch the nature. The local administration representative briefly told about the region, it’s inhabitants, their kinds of activities, and it`s interesting places. At the Blue Lakes the participants got acquainted with the handmade goods of the local craftsmen, took photos in front of the unique Diving center. They told the guests about the history of exploring the caste lake, which is the world’s second deepest lake. They also told about the work of the Diving centre. We asked the participants of the tournament to tell us words about their impressions of the day.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) - I am for the first time in KBR and I do not regret that I am taking part in the tournament. Today we are lucky to leave the hotel and to watch the places where the native people of the republic live. I was amazed by the Mountain scenery and the Blue Lakes. It’s wonderful! I can hardly find the words to express my feelings. If you hold such kinds of tournaments, I will always come to Nalchik.

Alexander Grishuk (Russia) - It’s cool here. As a matter of fact I seldom travel to the mountains and I am greatly impressed by everything I have seen. Today I have got a lot of positive emotions; it is nice to have such a rest especially after the tense working days, when every minute after the midnight is planned.

Boris Gelfand (Israel) - Frankly speaking it is my first time here and I liked it very much. Last year when the Championship was held here I was watching it very carefully, and I was reading a lot about the most beautiful places of KBR in Internet. But seeing is believing. There are wonderful places, beautiful lakes, unique mountainous relief. I was impressed by the location of the gorge and the narrow road to it. I wish we had more time. However, the tournament is very difficult, the players are rather strong. If we had a couple of days off we would have been able to see more. Probably, beside the things we have seen today there are a lot of places which are worth seeing in KBR.

Peter Svidler (Russia) - I expected to see a fantastic nature in KBR and I have seen it. Thank you for the real Caucasian hospitality.

Levon Aronian (Armenia) - I liked it greatly. I feel like I am at home, in Armenia. Certainly, your mountains are higher, and it is difficult to describe in words the beauty surrounding us. I often live in megalopolis, and that’s why I feel myself free when I breathe the freshest air of your place. I have never been to KBR before but I will let out one secret; my parents got acquainted here in Nalchik and they celebrated their wedding in KBR.

After the traditional dinner taken in honour of the guests, the administration of the region presented the guests with the souvenirs. And the honoured guest - a legendary chess player Nona Gaprindashvily was given a big woolen shawl.

On their way back the guests visited the village Babugent. The pupils of the bordering school were waiting for the famous grandmasters of our time. They were standing eighth their chess boards at the monument to the farther of the Balkarian literature Kyzim Mechiev. The children were very glad to see Nona Gaprindashvily. Levon Aronian played the game of chess with one child. In the end the hosts and the guests took photos together.

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