Almost Like Last Year

Yu Yangyi plays successfully in Qatar, this is a fact. Last year he won against the heavy-lifted V. Kramnik in the last round to take the trophy in China. This year he had to face another top player- Wesley So:

[Event "Qatar Masters Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.12.29"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Yu, Yangyi"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "153"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:09"]
[BlackClock "0:03:59"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {The Nimtzo-Indian remains a reliable weapon for
Black.} 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 {The aggressive Romanishin line.} cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7.
Bg2 d5 8. Nc2 {Diagram [#] A relativey rare line. Yu forces the swap of the
black bishop.} ({A famous tabia arises after} 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 Qa5 10. Bd2
Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ba6 14. Rfd1 Qc5 15. c4 {Bukavshin,I
(2655)-Jakovenko,D (2759) Chita 2015}) ({Both} 8. O-O) ({And} 8. Qb3 {are more
common too.}) 8... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nb4 $1 $146 {[%csl Yb4,
Yc3][%cal Gg2a8] Diagram [#] A novelty! White gets rid of the isolated pawn.
The indifferent development does not promise anything to White:} ({Predecessor
(4):} 11. Bb2 Rd8 12. Qc1 b6 13. O-O Bb7 14. Rd1 Nd7 $11 {Cebalo,M (2520)
-Hulak,K (2543) Stari Mikanovci 2008}) 11... Nxb4 {So decided to avoid Yu's
home preparation. He could have accepted the sacrificed pawn} (11... Qxc3+ 12.
Bd2 Qf6 {Diagram [#] to which White can play in two different ways. The more
dangerous one seems to be the pawn sacrifice after} 13. Rc1 $5 ({Not} 13. Nxd5
exd5 14. Bxd5 $6 Rd8 {with pressure along the d file.}) ({But White can aslo
regain the pawn with} 13. Bxd5 exd5 14. Nxd5) 13... Nxb4 14. Bxb4 Rd8 15. Qb3 {
White's pieces are dominating, but a pawn is a pawn. Which one is better will
be revealed by the future practice.}) 12. cxb4 Rd8 13. Qb3 Nc6 14. O-O ({
The black knight can be deprived of the d4 square for a while but} 14. e3 e5
15. O-O Be6 16. Qc3 Rac8 $11 {is just equal.}) 14... Nd4 {[%csl Gd4][%cal
Gc8e6,Ge6f5,Ye6e5] Diagram [#] This is why So rejected the sacrifice. The
centralized knight seems good enough to compensate for the bishop pair.} 15.
Qb2 e5 {The more active approach was also good. The line} (15... Qc4 16. Be3
Nxe2+ 17. Kh1 {seems dangerous for the black knight on e2, but there is a way
out-} Bd7 18. Rfe1 Nc3 19. Rac1 Rac8 {with unclear play.}) 16. Be3 {White
finished the development and wants to make good use of the bishops.} Bg4 $1 {
[%csl Ye2,Rg2][%cal Yf2f3] Diagram [#] Provokes the f2-f3 advance in order to
block the fianchettoe one.} 17. Rac1 Qd7 (17... Nxe2+ $4 18. Qxe2) 18. f3 Bh3 {
Since this bishop is stronger than the one on g2 (at least for the moment)
Black could have also gone for} (18... Be6 19. Rfd1 a5 $11 {when the bishop is
eyeing the a2 pawn.}) 19. Rfd1 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Qe6 {An excellent square for the
queen.} 21. Rc7 $1 {Diagram [#] Yu squeezed a lot from his novelty. His active
rooks put a lot of pressure on Black's position and his bishop looks better
than the knight. However, Wesley So's creativity should not be underestimated.}
(21. Bxd4 Rxd4 22. Rxd4 exd4 $11) 21... b6 22. a4 Nf5 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Bf2 ({
Perhaps} 24. Bg1 {was a bit more subtle when the Black pawn is not reahcing e3
with a tempo at least.} e4 25. Rxa7 h5 {although Black is still creating
dangerous threats.}) 24... e4 {[%csl Yg2][%cal Ge4f3] Diagram [#] Black is
losing the battle for the queenside but makes good use of the absence of the
white rook to create threats of his own on the opposite wing.} 25. Qc2 (25.
Rxa7 h5 (25... e3 26. Be1 h5) 26. Qc2 e3 27. Be1 {might transpose to the game.}
) 25... e3 26. Be1 h5 27. Rxa7 {With this move order Yu could have gone for} (
27. Bc3 $1 h4 28. Qe4 Qg6 29. Qg4 $1 {anytime he trades the queens he should
be close to winning.}) 27... Nd4 28. Qe4 Qc4 {[%csl Yg2][%cal Rc4e2] Diagram
[#] So is threatening mate!} 29. Qxe3 $5 {White sacrifices a piece. The exclam
is for the desire to win, the question- for the objective value of the move.
Although as we shall see Yu did not cross the boarder line yet.} ({Objectively
the game should ended in a draw after} 29. Qd3 Qxd3 30. exd3 Rc8 31. Re7 Rc2+
32. Kf1 Nxf3 33. Rxe3 Nxh2+ 34. Kg1 g5 35. a5 bxa5 36. bxa5 g4 37. d4 Nf3+ 38.
Kf1 Nh2+ $11) 29... Nc2 30. Qe7 Nxe1+ 31. Kf2 Qd4+ $6 {In time trouble So errs.
Correct was} (31... Rd1 32. Qe8+ Kh7 33. Qe4+ Qxe4 34. fxe4 Nc2 {Diagram [#]}
35. a5 ({Or} 35. Rxf7 Nxb4 36. Rf5) 35... Nxb4 36. axb6 Rd6 37. Rxf7 Rxb6 {
Is this a win for Black is another question, but at least he had taken away
the 1-0 result from the board.}) 32. Kf1 Nc2 $2 {And this is proper mistake.
He should have forced the draw with} (32... Rf8 33. Kxe1 Qg1+ 34. Kd2 Qd4+ 35.
Kc2 Qc4+ $11) 33. Qxf7+ Kh8 34. Qxh5+ Kg8 35. Qf7+ Kh8 36. Qh5+ Kg8 37. Qf7+
Kh8 38. Kg2 Ne3+ 39. Kh3 Kh7 40. Qh5+ Kg8 {Time trouble is over, Yu has four
pawns for the knight and great winning chances.} 41. Re7 $1 {[%csl Ye3,Ge7,Yg8]
[%cal Re7e8,Re7e3,Gh5f7,Ge7e4,Ge4h4] Diagram [#] A nice move that prepares
various threats like Qh5-f7+ followed by Re7-e4 or the advance of the e pawn.}
Rf8 $1 {The only defense. Everything else loses fast, say} (41... Nc2 $2 42.
Qf7+ Kh7 43. e4 (43. Re4 Qd7+)) (41... Qxb4 $4 42. Qf7+ Kh8 43. Qxg7#) 42. a5
bxa5 43. bxa5 Nd5 44. Qe5 Qxe5 45. Rxe5 Nb4 {[%csl Ga5,Ge2,Gf3,Gg3,Gh2]
Diagram [#] Black survived to the endgame but the value of the pawns grew now.
Yu is still close to winning.} 46. Re4 (46. Rc5 $5) 46... Nd5 47. Rc4 Rf6 48.
Rc5 Rf5 (48... Ne3 49. g4) 49. Rc8+ Kf7 50. a6 Ne3 51. g4 Ra5 52. Rc7+ Kf6 53.
Rc6+ {Perhaps White simply had to push the pawn further} (53. a7 Ra2 54. Kg3 g5
55. h4 gxh4+ 56. Kxh4 Nd5 57. Rb7 Ne3 58. Kg3 {and once that the white pawns
start rolling it should be soon over.}) 53... Kf7 54. Kg3 g5 55. h4 gxh4+ 56.
Kxh4 {Diagram [#] Now the pawns come into motion.} Nd5 57. e4 Ne7 58. Rb6 Ng6+
59. Kg3 Ra3 60. g5 Ne5 61. Rf6+ Ke7 62. Kg2 Nd3 63. Rh6 {In the second
time-trouble Yu misses what seems to me is a win-} (63. f4 $1 Nc5 64. e5 Nxa6
65. g6 $1) 63... Ra5 {So gets one of the pawns back.} 64. a7 Rxg5+ 65. Kf1 Rg8
(65... Ra5 $2 {loses to the typical trick} 66. Rh8 Rxa7 67. Rh7+) 66. Ke2 Ne5
$2 {It is time for Black to go wrong. He should have held after} (66... Nc5 $1
{Diagram [#]} 67. Ke3 Ne6 68. e5 Kf7 69. f4 Rg3+ 70. Ke4 Ra3) 67. f4 Nd7 68.
Ra6 {White's pieces are optimally placed and have room for improvement. The
game is practically over.} Ra8 69. Ke3 Nc5 70. Ra1 Nb7 71. e5 Nd8 72. Ra6 Kd7 (
72... Ne6 73. f5 Nc7 74. Ra5 {followed by a king march to b7 is hopeless.}) 73.
f5 Nc6 74. e6+ Kc7 75. f6 Nb4 76. f7 Kb7 {Diagram [#]} (76... Nxa6 77. e7) 77.
Rd6 (77. Rd6 Kxa7 78. e7) 1-0

What happene din the additional match for the first place between Yu and Carlsen, you can check in this report.

A Good Finish

Magnus Carlsen had a very bad tournament in Reykjavik,with some horrible moments including a one-move piece blunder against Pelletier. His final game though was typical for his style:

[Event "Open European Team Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.22"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2850"]
[BlackElo "2748"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:24:24"]
[BlackClock "0:02:04"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 {Diagram [#] Carlsen did not have great tournament in Iceland
but remained true to his search of fresh opening lines.} d5 3. e3 c5 4. c3 {
A Reversed Slav defense arose on the board.} Nc6 5. Nd2 cxd4 6. exd4 {Now we
have typical Carlsbad pawn structure. Similar position can easily arise from
the exchange Caro-Kann after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c3.} Bf5 7. Qb3 Qc8
{In case of} (7... Qb6 {White will leave his queen where it is} 8. Ngf3 {
and enjoy the possible trade after} Qxb3 9. axb3 {as he has the clear plan
b3-b4-(b5) and Nd2-b3-c5(a5).}) 8. Ngf3 e6 9. Nh4 Be4 {[%cal Yf2f3] Diagram [#]
Motylev decided not to provoke the f2-f3 move and played solidly against
Grischuk in Berlin:} (9... Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. h3 Be7 12. Bd3 Bd8 $1 13. Nf3
Bc7 {with approximate equality, Grischuk,A (2774)-Motylev,A (2649) Berlin 2015}
) 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Nf3 Bd6 {Not only finishes the development but reduces
White's attacking material on the kingside. In the Carlsbad the first player
is looking for piece attack there as he owes the nice e5 outpost and can
easily shift heavy pieces along the third (fifth) rank.} 12. Bxd6 Nxd6 13. Bd3
Qc7 14. Qc2 $146 {[%csl Ge1,Rh7][%cal Rd3h7] Diagram [#] A novelty. The idea
is clear- to prevent the immediate castling and to provoke kingside weakness
by Black.} ({The straightforward} 14. O-O {gave a chance to Black to castle at
once} O-O 15. Qc2 g6 (15... h6 $5 {looks safer.}) 16. Rfe1 b5 17. Qd2 Kg7 {
with mutual chances in Sandipan,C (2594)-Kasimdzhanov,R (2700) Dubai 2014})
14... O-O-O {Wojtaszek decided to avoid any kingside attacks and simply went
on the opposite wing.} ({If} 14... h6 {White can wait for his opponent's
castling with an useful move like} 15. Qe2) ({While} 14... g6 {can be answered}
15. h4 $5 O-O-O 16. h5 {and White is using his rook from its initial position.}
) 15. O-O h6 {Quite unusual situation arose. Instead of a minority attack,
Black will attack on the kingside himself, while White will push the pawns
against the enemy king as well.} 16. a4 Kb8 ({The line} 16... g5 17. a5 g4 18.
Ne5 Nxe5 19. dxe5 Nc4 20. Bxc4 Qxc4 21. a6 b6 22. Ra4 {is favourable for the
first player.}) 17. Rfe1 ({Black will reply in the same way after} 17. b4 Rc8)
17... Rc8 {[%cal Gc6b4] Diagram [#] The threat Nc6-b4 forces White to retreat
temporarily.} 18. Qd1 Rhe8 $1 {Wojtaszek switches to central play. A wise
decision that should nivilate White's aggressive intentions on the queen's wing.
} (18... g5 19. Ne5 h5 20. Nxc6+ Qxc6 21. a5 g4 22. a6 {looks better for White.
}) 19. Bf1 Re7 (19... f6 $5 {followed by e6-e5 is also good.}) 20. Rc1 Rd8 21.
Re2 $1 {[%cal Gf3e1,Ge1d3,Gd3c5] Diagram [#] A deep maneuver. The rook frees a
square for the knight that wants to get on the best square ever- c5.} Ne4 22.
b4 Ng5 23. Ne1 {The point behind Carlsen's maneuver. If Black manages to trade
the knights, he will be out of danger.} e5 $1 {This is the proper moment to
hit the center, all the pieces are either on the first or the second rank.} 24.
b5 Na5 25. Rxe5 Rxe5 26. dxe5 Qxe5 {Diagram [#] The Polish GM played
energetically and almost equalized completely. Now he wants to put pressure on
the backward c3 pawn, thus next move is forced:} (26... Nc4 $5 {was an
interesting pawn sacrifice} 27. f4 Ne6 {when Black has compensation thanks to
the weakened dark squares.}) 27. c4 Ne6 28. Nf3 Qf4 $2 {[%csl Ya5] Diagram [#]
But this is wrong. Black needed to try and trade the queens instead} (28... Qd6
29. cxd5 Qxd5 30. Qxd5 $6 (30. Qe1 $5 {might still give some hopes for an
advantage to the first player.}) 30... Rxd5 $11) 29. cxd5 Rxd5 30. Qxd5 Qxc1
31. g3 {Takes away the f4 square and prepares the development of the bishop.
Black's position is very unpleasant to say at least.} (31. Qd7 Qf4 {is less
precise.}) 31... Qc5 32. Qd7 Qf8 33. Ne5 {[%csl Ya5,Yb8,Yf8] Diagram [#] All
of a sudden the black pieces are completely helpless. The knights lack
co-ordination, the queen is extremely passive.} Nc5 34. Qd5 {With the major
threat Qd5xc5.} Kc7 35. Nxf7 Nxa4 36. Qe5+ Kb6 (36... Kc8 37. Bh3#) 37. Nd6 Nc5
38. Ne8 {Diagram [#]} ({The threat Qe7-c7 mate can be stopped only with} 38.
Ne8 Qf7 {but that loses a whole piece after} 39. Qd6+) 1-0

Report.

On a High Note

The battle for the first place at the Norway Chess finished early with a quick draw between the leader and his closest pursuer. Veselin Topalov played solidly in the opening and left no chance to his opponent Vishy Anand. However, Hikaru Nakamura found a way to try his luck with the black pieces and managed to outplay Levon Aronian to take joint second place.

[Event "Norway Chess"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.06.25"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "1:00:34"]
[BlackClock "1:07:22"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Bc5 4. Bg2 d6 5. e3 a6 {Diagram [#] Sooner or later
Black will have to saveguard his bishop.} ({Also possible is} 5... Nf6 6. Nge2
Bf5 7. d4 Bb6 8. h3 O-O 9. O-O h6 10. Kh2 Re8 {Erdos,V (2621)-Wojtaszek,R
(2742) Germany 2015}) 6. Nge2 Ba7 7. a3 h5 {[%cal Gh5h4,Rh8h1] This is why
Nakamura kept his knight on g8, he wants to create play along the h file. This
plan is possible because the center is closed.} 8. d4 ({The problem with the
move} 8. h4 {is that Black can use the g4 square for his bishop} Bg4 9. b3 Nge7
10. Bb2 Rb8 11. Qc2 Qd7 12. d3 O-O {and Black is solid, Mwali,C (2250)-Anton
Guijarro,D (2624) Tromso 2014}) (8. h3) 8... h4 9. b4 $146 {[%csl Ya7][%cal
Gc4c5] Diagram [#] A novelty by Aronian. He plans to lock the bishop on a7.} ({
In the only predecessor White played rather inconsistently} 9. d5 Nce7 10. e4
$6 {Opens the bishop on a7 for no good reason.} Nf6 11. h3 $6 hxg3 12. fxg3 c6
13. b4 cxd5 14. Nxd5 Nfxd5 15. exd5 Qb6 $17 {and White's position is on the
verge of colapse, Felser,M (1913) -Jorczik,J (2333) Schwaebisch Gmuend 2010})
9... Nge7 10. c5 Bf5 {The first critical moment of the game as both the
players mentioned later.} ({Nakamura also considered alternative closure of
the white bishop after} 10... h3 11. Bf3 d5 12. O-O (12. dxe5 Nxe5 {followed
by c7-c6 and Ba7-b8 is good for Black.}) 12... e4 13. Bh1 ({The USA GM was
also afraif of the position sacrifice} 13. Nxe4 $5 {Diagram [#]} dxe4 14. Bxe4
{as the Ba7 needs plenty of moves to get into the game.}) 13... f5 {but he was
afraid that he cannot hold the line after} 14. f3 {Indeed} Be6 15. Nf4 Qd7 16.
Nxe6 Qxe6 17. Bd2 {followed by Qd1-b3, a3-a4 and b4-b5 looks easy for White.})
11. Bb2 ({Aronian was considering the sharp play after} 11. d5 $5 Nb8 12. f4
dxc5 13. d6 {to which Black react with an exchange sacrifice} cxd6 (13... Nec6
{is also possible though.}) 14. Bxb7 Nbc6 {(Nakamura)} ({Or} 14... Nd7 {In
both cases Black will have plenty of play on the light squares for the
exchange.})) 11... Qd7 {Diagram [#]} 12. Qb3 ({Once again} 12. d5 {does not
yield White anything} Nd8 13. e4 Bh3 14. Bxh3 Qxh3 15. Qa4+ Qd7 $11 {but this
was perhaps the best that he had.}) 12... h3 $1 {It is time to worry the white
king before it escapes from the center. If this happens, the locked bishop on
a7 might become the key factor of the position.} ({Better than the preliminary
trade} 12... exd4 13. exd4 h3 {when after} 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Nxe4 Qf5 {White
has the important move} 16. f3 {(Nakamura)}) 13. Bf3 ({The line} 13. Be4 Bxe4
14. Nxe4 Qf5 {looks good for Black (Nakamura)}) ({White cannot evacuate the
king from the center} 13. Bxc6 Qxc6 14. O-O-O {because if the strong} Qf3 {
(Aronian)}) 13... exd4 {Diagram [#] Dynamic play.} (13... d5 14. O-O e4 15. Bh1
$11) 14. Nxd4 {Black clears too many lines in case of} (14. exd4 dxc5 15. dxc5
$6 Ne5 $17) 14... Bg4 15. Bxg4 Qxg4 16. Nxc6 ({The immediate} 16. Qd1 Qxd1+ 17.
Rxd1 {sacrifices a pawn but after} dxc5 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. bxc5 f6 20. Ne4 {
White has compensation for it. Both Aronian and Nakamura considered this
position good for Black on the account of the excellent d5 square for the
black knight.}) 16... Nxc6 17. Qd1 $1 {[%csl Re1] Diagram [#] Aronian
correctly seeks trade of queens.} (17. cxd6 O-O-O {looks very dangerous for
White with the king in the middle.}) 17... Qg6 $1 {And Nakamura rejects it.}
18. cxd6 {Now Black's attack is very dangerous. The lesser evil was to chase
the black queen with} (18. Qb1 $5 Qxb1+ (18... Qh5 19. Qe4+ $1) 19. Rxb1 dxc5
20. b5 {when White should have enough compensation for the pawn. The excluded
bishop feels worse with less pieces on the board.}) 18... O-O-O 19. Rc1 $2 {"A
terrible move." (Aronian)} ({Close to equal was} 19. Qb1 Qh5 (19... f5 {can be
answered by} 20. b5 $1 axb5 21. dxc7) 20. Qd1 {although I would definitely
prefer Black after} Qe5 {The white king is still not safe.}) 19... Rxd6 20. Qc2
Qh5 $1 {[%csl Yd1,Yd3,Ye2,Yf3,Yg2] Diagram [#] Now White's weakened light
squares are a pain in the neck.} ({"Somehow I felt} 20... Rd3 {was kind of
forced." (Aronian) Indeed, White will be OK after} 21. Ne2 Qe4 22. Rf1 Rhd8 23.
Nf4 {as the sacrifice} Bxe3 24. fxe3 Rxe3+ 25. Ne2 {is not decisive.}) 21. Qe2
Ne5 {Also missed by Aronian. Now the weakness of the white squares decides the
game.} 22. Qxh5 {White loses the exchange as} (22. O-O Nf3+ 23. Kh1 Rd2 {loses
the house.}) 22... Nd3+ {Diagram [#]} 23. Ke2 {In case of} (23. Kf1 Rxh5 24.
Rc2 {Black has the nice} Bxe3 $1 25. fxe3 Rf5+ 26. Kg1 (26. Ke2 Rf2+ 27. Kd1
Nxb4+) 26... Rdf6 {Diagram [#] with unstoppable mate.}) 23... Nxc1+ 24. Rxc1
Rxh5 {The extra exchange wins easily.} 25. g4 Re5 26. Rg1 Re8 27. Rg3 Bd4 $1
28. Na4 (28. Rxh3 b5 {dominates the knight.} (28... Bf6 {with the ideas Rd6-c6
and Re8-d8 would also do.})) 28... Bxb2 29. Nxb2 Red8 {Diagram [#] The rooks
enter the second rank and it is all over.} 30. Nc4 Rc6 31. Ne5 Rc2+ 32. Ke1 f6
33. Nf3 Rh8 34. g5 Ra2 35. Nd4 Rxa3 36. Ne6 Ra1+ 37. Ke2 Rh1 38. gxf6 gxf6 39.
Nf4 b6 40. Nxh3 Rb1 0-1

Report.