Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Anand Leads After Round 4, Tata Steel Chess

19 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The official website of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament reported that World champion Viswanathan Anand of India notched up a victory against China’s Wang Hao in fourth-round action image (see picture) to join Hikaru Nakamura of the U.S. on top of the standings in the 73rd annual Tata Steel Chess Tournament at Wijk-aan-Zee Tuesday.

Playing white in a Nimzo-Indian, ‘Vishy’ sacrificed a knight early on. He got two pawns and an impressive pawn centre in return, and as he also had the advantage of playing with the bishops’ pair, it was clear right away that Wang’s extra piece would be of little use. The Chinese GM was in danger of being gradually pushed off the board and saw himself forced to return the material bit by bit in order to block his opponent’s offensive. Towards the end, he was only an exchange up for three pawns and when these proved to be virtually unstoppable, he resigned on his 33rd move.

The knight sac was a leftover from the preparation for his world championship match against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Anand said as he was demonstrating the tactical niceties of the line to reporters after the game. “Obviously, I am pretty happy with my plus-2 score after four rounds and a day off ahead,” he added, fielding questions.

Asked for his opinion of 16-year-old Anish Giri of Holland, who is making a successful debut in top level chess at the Wijk-aan-Zee tournament, Anand said he was particularly “impressed by the young man’s confidence,” adding that “clearly, his understanding of the game is pretty good.”

Giri, meanwhile, was showing his understanding of the game and his self-confidence in the tournament hall. Playing white against Nakamura, he managed to wrest a slight advantage from an English opening, when (see diagram) 15. Bb4 could not be answered by 15. … Nxb4 since 16. cxb4 Qxb4 17. Nc7 Rb8 18. Nd5 would have cost black a piece. The Dutch boy wonder kept the initiative and battled his way to a rook ending in which he was a pawn up. His consequent effort to convert the advantage into a win was praiseworthy but to no avail. The peace was signed after 69 moves.

“Yeah, Anish is a strong player,” Nakamura had said before the start of Tuesday’s round. “I only beat him once, in the blitz tie-break at the Experience vs. Rising Stars Tournament in Amsterdam last year.”

Here is the video from chessvibes showing Anish Giri elaborating his recent win against Magnus Carlsen during round 3 of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2011.

Results of Round 4 held yesterday, 18th January 2011:-

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Games:

  • A-Group (14 players 13 Rds SRR Indiv TC:100:50:15+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: GpA | LiveA
  • B-Group (14 players 13 Rds SRR Indiv TC:100:50:15+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: GpB | LiveB
  • C-Group (14 players 13 Rds SRR Indiv TC:100:50:15+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: GpC | LiveC
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