Carlsen vs Ivanchuk, Grand Slam

Grand Slam Final Sao Paulo/Bilbao

Chessbase Magazine in the December 2011 edition reported that In the Grand-Slam Final only two of the six top players managed to stand out: Vassily Ivanchuk was the man of the moment in the first leg in Sao Paulo, Magnus Carlsen dominated the return leg in Bilbao. As last year’s Grand Slam was held over two venues, one in Sao Paolo, Brazil and the other in Bilbao, Spain. Going by the traditional way of scoring in chess, the Norwegian would have won the tournament with 6 out of 10 (ahead of Ivanchuk with 5.5). In view of the course of the tournament it was somehow fitting that both of them tied at the end on 15 points because of the three points for a win rule used in the "Masters". A playoff with blitz thinking time was to decide the outcome and winner of the tournament. In the first tie-break game Carlsen was better with White, but Ivanchuk escaped with a draw. The second game, on the other hand, was a very one-sided affair going in favour of the Norwegian, who was thus able to celebrate a further success in a top tournament.

Here is the winning game between Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Vassily Ivanchuk of Russia during the Grand Slam Final 4th in Bilbao, Spain that provided the spurt for Carlsen to finish equal with Ivanchuk on 15 points.

[Event "Grand Slam Final 4th"] [Site "Sao Paulo/Bilbao"] [Date "2011.10.10"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2823"] [BlackElo "2765"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2011.09.26"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "BRA"] [EventCategory "22"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.11.11"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 f5 9. g3 Nf6 10. Bh3 O-O 11. O-O a5 12. Rd1 Qe8 13. d5 Na6 14. Bf4 exd5 15. Bxf5 dxc4 16. Ng5 Qh5 17. Rxd7 Kh8 18. Re7 Nd5 19. Bg4 Qg6 20. Nf7+ Kg8 21. Bf5 Qxf5 22. Qxf5 Nxe7 23. Nh6+ gxh6 24. Qg4+ Ng6 25. Bxh6 Rf7 26. Rd1 Re8 27. h4 Nc5 28. h5 Bc8 29. Qxc4 Ne5 30. Qh4 Nc6 31. Rd5 Ne6 32. Qc4 Ncd8 33. Qg4+ Ng7 34. Qxc8 1-0

 

 

Diagram 1. White just played 17.Rxd7!

However, Carlsen, the leader in the world ranking list set about matters very energetically with White and after around 15 moves of a side variation of the Nimzo-Indian he achieved a strong initiative on the kingside. In the position on the board Carlsen was unable to resist the temptation to play the move 17.Rxd7. In analysis, however, he admits had he been somewhat more circumspect he would have played 17.Rd4, followed by Bd2 and Rh4. But in spite of a few more inaccuracies on his part and an unsuspected defensive resource found by the Ukrainian, Carlsen managed to win the game at the end thanks to the weakened black kingside. As a result, Carlsen became the winner of the 4th Grand-Slam Finals 2011.

Here is the winning 2nd rapid playoff to determine the winner of the 4th Grand-Slam Final 2011 winner. Carlsen played black and won.

[Event "Grand Slam Final playoff 4th"] [Site "Sao Paulo/Bilbao"] [Date "2011.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2823"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2011.10.11"] [EventType "match (rapid)"] [EventRounds "2"] [EventCountry "BRA"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.11.11"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Be3 Qe7 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Bxc5 Qxc5 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O Rb8 10. Qd2 Qe7 11. b3 c5 12. h3 d6 13. Nh2 Nh5 14. Nd5 Qd8 15. Rae1 Be6 16. Nc3 f5 17. exf5 Bxf5 18. f3 Bg6 19. Rf2 Qh4 20. Nd5 Rf7 21. Qc3 c6 22. Ne3 Nf4 23. Qd2 Rbf8 24. Nd1 h5 25. Nc3 Bf5 26. Ne2 Ne6 27. Qe3 Rf6 28. Kh1 Rg6 29. Rg1 Nc7 30. Rgf1 Nd5 31. Qd2 Rgf6 32. Nc3 Nf4 33. Ne4 Rg6 34. Rg1 Qd8 35. Nf1 Qe7 36. Nfg3 d5 37. Nxf5 Rxf5 38. Nc3 Qh4 39. Kh2 Qg3+ 0-1

Diagram 2. Black played 39…Qg3+, White resigned.

Final Rankings Grand-Slam Finale 2011.

 

(source: Chessbase, Dec 2011)