Danzhou Rds 4-6: Super Solid Hari
At the end of six rounds in the seventh Hainan Danzhou super tournament Harikrishna is on 50% score with 3.0/6 and in the fifth position. After his win against Ding Liren in the third round, the Indian player has shown some very solid chess and drew next three rounds against Yu Yangyi, Wang Yue and Peter Leko. Ian Nepomniachtchi is the leader with 4.5/6 as we go into the rest day. We have some pictures for you and game analysis to learn from.
Hari's win against Ding Liren in the third round created quite a sensation. The Chinese number one is now one of the established super elite players in the world. To outplay him from an equal position speaks volumes about Harikrishna's talent. With that win Hari moved to 50% score. It was now important to keep the momentum and not lose any game.
Round 4
In the fourth Harikrishna faced a stiff challenge in the form of Yu Yangyi. The Indian player chose the Petroff Defence and reached quite a safe position. However one of his decisions in the game was quite dubious.
Hari played the move f6-f5. Clearly fxe5 was called for when Black had no problems. After closing the kingside with f5, he had a difficult task of playing in a position with no real plan. It was great that he could finally draw the game but it could have very well turned out quite badly as Black's position was really quite bleak.
Before you go over the game, we would like to give you the following position to think over:
Yu Yangyi has just played his knight to e5 and Hari took it with Nxe5. Instead of capturing the knight, what was wrong with Qc8. Your task is to analyze the intricacies of that move. The solution is in the PGN replayer below:
Round five
Wang Yue went for the Semi Tarrasch which is one of Hari's main opening with the black pieces. White got a tangible plus out of the opening but was unable to convert it into anything. With every exchange the game inched towards a draw and the players shook hands after 46 moves.
[Site "Danzhou CHN"]
[Date "2016.07.12"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Black "Wang, Yue"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D41"]
[WhiteElo "2755"]
[BlackElo "2730"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2016.07.08"]
opening against him. The Indian has used the Semi Tarrasch quite frequently
with the black pieces.} 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.
Qxd2 O-O 11. Rc1 $5 {Harikrishna is a quick learner. He uses the same line
that Giri essayed to beat him at the Gashimov Memorial in May 2016.} Nc6 (11...
b6 {Hari's move against Giri was slow and it allowed White to play Bd3. With
Nc6 this is no longer possible.}) 12. Be2 Qa5 13. Rc5 (13. Qxa5 Nxa5 14. Kd2
$14 {followed by Ke3 should give White at least a small edge.}) 13... Qxd2+ 14.
Kxd2 Rd8 15. Ke3 Bd7 16. Rb1 $14 {Black has very limited counterplay and White
always has the threat of central breakthrough. I would say White is more than
just slightly better. But Chinese players are stiff defenders and hence
nothing can be taken for granted!} Rab8 17. Bb5 {Stopping b6.} f6 18. g4 $5 {
Hari's idea of g4-g5 is also very interesting.} (18. d5 $5 exd5 19. Rxd5 Be6
20. Bxc6 (20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. Rb7 {is something to bite on in the
endgame for White.}) 20... bxc6 21. Rxb8 Rxb8 22. Ra5 $16 {With a much mroe
pleasant position.}) 18... Rbc8 19. Rbc1 Kf8 20. g5 Ne7 21. Bxd7 Rxc5 22. Rxc5
Rxd7 23. h4 h6 24. Ng1 $5 {Not at all an easy move to make. But White would
like to free his f-pawn and also place his knight on e2.} hxg5 25. hxg5 Rd6 26.
Ne2 Ra6 27. Nc3 Ra3 28. gxf6 gxf6 29. Kd2 f5 30. d5 Ra6 31. dxe6 Rd6+ 32. Ke2
Rxe6 33. Rc7 Rc6 34. Rxc6 Nxc6 35. exf5 Nd4+ 36. Kd3 Nxf5 {Now it is just a
draw.} 37. Nb5 a6 38. Ke4 Ne7 39. Nd6 b5 40. Kd4 Nc6+ 41. Kc5 Ne5 42. Ne4 Nd3+
43. Kb6 b4 44. Ka5 Nc1 45. Kxb4 Nxa2+ 46. Ka5 {An interesting game. Hari got a
pleasant position out of the opening but couldn't make much out of it.} 1/2-1/2
Round six
Leko's theoretical knowledge is beyond doubt. It was one of the reasons why he was on Team Anand for his match against Carlsen. However, against Harikrishna the Hungarian couldn't really get things moving. In the Semi Slav, the India number two played simple chess and had absolutely no problems. The isolated pawn was absolutely not a problem and Black managed to hold the draw.
[Site "Danzhou CHN"]
[Date "2016.07.13"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Leko, Peter"]
[Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2712"]
[BlackElo "2755"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2016.07.08"]
Hari switches to the Meran.} 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 {White plays one of
the most solid lines against the Meran.} O-O 8. Be2 e5 (8... b6 {is considered
to be the more combative way to play but e5 is a move played at the top level
when Black is not afraid of a quick draw.}) 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nb5 $5 {The
ambitious try for an advantage.} (10. dxe5 {It is well known that this move
gives absolutely nothing to White.} Nxe5 11. O-O (11. Bb2 Nxf3+ 12. Bxf3 d4 $1
$15) 11... Bg4 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Bxg4 Nxg4 14. h3 Rc8 15. Bb2 Nf6 16. Qd3 {
White isn't too comfortably placed with the bishop on e5 and Black is fine.}
Ne4 17. Rac1) 10... Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 (12. Qxd2 Ne4 $11) 12... a6 13.
dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nd4 {White has blockaded the isolated pawn. But he is behind in
development and Black's initiative is enough to give him even chances.} Bg4 15.
Bxg4 Nfxg4 16. O-O Rc8 17. Qd1 Qd6 18. h3 Nf6 19. N2f3 Nxf3+ 20. Qxf3 {In the
past years many people would think that White's position is preferable here
but now the thanks to computer engines we think more concretely. The d5 pawn
gives the black knight the e4 square and also the open c-file is in Black's
command. All these lead to an equal position.} Rc7 21. Rfc1 Rfc8 22. Rxc7 Rxc7
23. Rd1 g6 24. g3 Qe5 25. Kg2 Ne4 26. Qf4 Qxf4 27. gxf4 Kf8 {Hari's play has
been extremely simple and getting this position with black against a
theoretical expert like Leko is a great achievement.} 28. f3 Nc3 29. Rc1 Nb5
30. Rxc7 Nxc7 31. f5 Ke7 32. f4 Ne8 33. Kf3 Nd6 34. fxg6 fxg6 35. Kg4 Kf6 36.
Kf3 Ne4 37. Ne2 Ke7 38. Nd4 Nc3 39. a3 Nb1 40. a4 Nc3 41. a5 Kd6 42. b4 Na2 43.
Nc2 Kc6 44. Nd4+ Kd6 45. Nc2 Kc6 46. Nd4+ Kd6 47. Nc2 {A theoretically correct
game and a fine result for Harikrishna.} 1/2-1/2
Standings after six rounds
Rg. | Title | Name | Nation | Elo | Perf. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pkt. | Wtg. |
1 | GM | Ian Nepomniachtchi |
|
2703 | +124 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.5 / 6 | |||||
2 | GM | Wang Yue | 2730 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 3.5 / 6 | 11.50 | ||||||
3 | GM | Bu Xiangzhi |
|
2723 | -22 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 3.5 / 6 | 10.00 | ||||
4 | GM | Yu Yangyi |
|
2737 | +36 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 / 6 | 9.00 | ||||
5 | GM | Penteala Harikrishna |
|
2763 | -120 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 3.0 / 6 | |||||
6 | GM | Wang Hao |
|
2734 | -153 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 2.5 / 6 | 7.75 | ||||
7 | GM | Peter Leko |
|
2705 | -130 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 2.5 / 6 | 7.25 | ||||
8 | GM | Ding Liren |
|
2778 | -120 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 2.5 / 6 | 7.00 | ||||
9 | GM | Vassily Ivanchuk |
|
2710 | -124 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 2.5 / 6 | 6.75 | ||||
10 | GM | Hou Yifan |
|
2663 | -57 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 2.0 / 6 |
14th of July is a rest day. In the remaining three rounds Hari faces Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wang Hao and Hou Yifan. You can follow the games live on the ChessBase India website.
Pictures from http://www.cmsa.cn/