A Tale of Two Leaders

Two rest days. Two tournament leaders. Two very different stories. Magnus Carlsen leads the 2019 Altibox Norway Chess Tournament on its second rest day by a healthy 1.5 tournament points. Yu Yangyi is in second place with 8 points, followed by Levon Aronian with 7.5 and Wesley So with 6.5. Fabiano Caruana is equal seventh place with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at 5 points. Meanwhile, on the third rest day of the 2019 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament, Aleksandra Goryachkina has taken a commanding lead over the field. Her 7.5/9 score puts her a full 2.5 points head of Kateryna Lagno, who is in second place, with five rounds to go. The Muzychuk sisters – Anna and Mariya – share third place at 50% (4.5/9). That Magnus Carlsen is leading Norway Chess is not surprising. He is the world champion, and the unusual format – more on this in a moment – seems to suit him. But very few would have predicted Goryachkina’s utter dominance in the Women’s Candidates. Outside of Russia, I suspect that very few even knew who she was. We will do our best to remedy that oversight in today’s report. But first: exhaustion and Armageddon in Stavanger. Norway Chess As discussed in our Round 1 report, the 2019 Altibox Norway Chess Tournament features an innovative format. If players draw in their classical time control game, they then contest an Armageddon game where White has 10 minutes to Black’s 7, with a 3 second increment beginning on move 61. If White wins, he gets the point for the Armageddon round, while Black takes it if he wins or draws. One assumes that the idea was to disincentivize draws at classical time controls… but it hasn’t quite turned out that way. A quick glance at the crosstable shows that there have been rather a lot of draws in the classical format. Indeed, while some of the games have resulted in fighting draws, others seem to involve an unspoken decision to move to the Armageddon round as quickly as possible. This seems especially true in the fifth and sixth rounds, where all ten classical games were drawn, some at or immediately after the required thirty moves of play. Why? Tournament leader Magnus Carlsen gave a hint in an interview after round six. https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1138165987835109376 It is not uncommon to hear players complain of illness during a tournament, but combine being sick with the stress of the Armageddon format, and you begin to see why some players may already have “checked out,” as Alexander Grischuk has admitted. Carlsen, however, is thriving in this format. His classical games have largely been combative, despite drawing five out of six of them, and he seems to pitch a pawn for (perhaps questionable) compensation in every game. Carlsen’s sixth round draw against Ding Liren is a good example of his energetic play.

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Chess 2019"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.10"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2875"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e5 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 e4 5. Qb3 d5 6. Nc3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 b5 8. Qb3
$5 Qxd4 9. Be3 Qb4 10. Bd2 Qxb3 11. axb3 Bf5 12. g4 $5 Bxg4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14.
Bxe4 g6 15. Bc3 Rg8 16. b4 a6 17. e3 Bg7 18. Ne2 Bxe2 19. Kxe2 Ra7 20. Bxg7
Rxg7 21. Rhc1 Rc7 22. h4 Kd8 23. h5 Kc8 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. Rd1 Rge7 26. f3 Re6
27. Rh1 Kb7 28. Rh6 Rf7 29. Rah1 Ree7 30. Rc1 Kb6 31. Rh2 Re6 32. Rch1 Nd7 33.
Rxh7 Rxh7 34. Rxh7 Nf6 35. Rh4 Nxe4 36. fxe4 c5 37. bxc5+ Kxc5 38. Kd3 g5 39.
Rg4 Rg6 40. Kc3 a5 41. b4+ axb4+ 42. Kc2 Kc4 43. e5+ Kd5 44. Rxb4 g4 45. Rxb5+
Ke4 46. Rb4+ Kxe3 47. e6 Kf3 48. Rb3+ Kf2 49. Rb4 Kf3 50. Rb3+ Kf4 51. Rb4+ Kf5
52. Rb5+ Kxe6 53. Kd3 g3 54. Rb6+ Kf5 55. Rxg6 Kxg6 56. Ke2 Kg5 57. Kf3 Kh4 58.
Kg2 Kg4 59. Kg1 Kh3 60. Kh1 g2+ 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

It’s in the Armageddon games that Carlsen is really doing the business. He is 5/5 thus far, showing impressive skill and stability in his games. The format fits him like a glove, as Kostya Kavutskiy points out on Twitter. https://twitter.com/hellokostya/status/1138125549312696320 The same cannot be said for Grischuk and So, who hung a piece and mate respectively in yesterday’s Armageddon round. https://twitter.com/ChesscomNews/status/1138354904865693696

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Armageddon"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.10"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2819"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r4rk1/1bqnnpbp/p5p1/1p1pp3/1PpPP3/P1P1BN1P/2BN1PP1/R1Q1R1K1 w - - 0 17"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

17. Bh6 $4 Bxh6 0-1

[/pgn]

https://twitter.com/olimpiuurcan/status/1138136109873975296

[pgn]

[Event "7th Norway Armageddon"]
[Site "Stavanger NOR"]
[Date "2019.06.10"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A22"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2754"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r1k/R5n1/p2pp1PN/4p3/P7/1p6/1P6/4K3 b - - 0 46"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]

46... Nf5 $4 47. Rh7# 1-0

[/pgn]

When two elite Grandmasters are hanging things like mere mortals, it’s a sign that something is amiss. It’s also no small comfort to those of us who make such moves more regularly, as WGM Tatev Abrahamyan noted: https://twitter.com/Tatev__A/status/1138164987027869696 Three rounds remain for the weary gladiators in Stavanger. Live coverage is available each day at the Norway Chess website, and their livestream with GM Judit Polgar and IM Anna Rudolf is available free of charge. Newly crowned U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura is also covering some rounds on his Twitch channel. Women’s Candidates Now we get to the real question. Just who is Aleksandra Goryachkina, and why is everyone losing to her? Gorykachkina may not be a household name among American chess fans, perhaps in part due to her youth and lack of comfort in speaking English, but she is certainly well known to the Russian chess community. Playing in the Candidates as the replacement for current Oxford student Hou Yifan, Goryachkina has won multiple golds at World Youth and World Junior events, a silver medal at the 2017 European Women’s championship, and two Russian Women’s Superfinals. All, by the way, before her current age of 20. Clearly Goryachkina is an immense talent, and the 2019 Candidates must be seen as her coming-out party on the world stage. Goryachkina has shown outstanding technique, particularly in the endgame, steely resiliance, and attacking verve in her games.

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.08"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"]
[Black "Muzychuk, Mariya"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2563"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8.
Qb3 e6 9. Bb5 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Na4 Qd6 13. Re1 Rb8 14. Qd1 Ne7
15. b3 Nf5 16. Bb2 Rd8 17. Rc1 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Bxd4 19. Bxd4 Qxd4 20. Qf3 Rd5 21.
Nc3 Rf5 22. Red1 Qh4 23. Qg3 Qxg3 24. Rd8+ Kg7 25. hxg3 Rc5 26. f4 Ra8 27. Ne2
Rxc1+ 28. Nxc1 Bb7 29. Rd7 Ba6 30. Kf2 h5 31. a3 c5 32. Ke3 c4 33. b4 Bb5 34.
Rb7 Bc6 35. Rc7 Bxg2 36. Rxc4 Bf1 37. Rc7 a5 38. Kf2 axb4 39. axb4 Bb5 40. Rb7
Bc4 41. Rc7 Bb5 42. Rb7 Ra1 43. Rxb5 Rxc1 44. Rb7 Rc2+ 45. Kf3 Rc3+ 46. Kg2 Kf6
47. b5 Rc5 48. b6 e5 49. Rc7 Rb5 50. fxe5+ Rxe5 51. b7 Rb5 52. Kf3 Rb4 53. Ke3
g5 54. Kd3 Kg6 55. Kc3 Rb1 56. Kd4 f6 57. Kd5 Kf5 58. Kc6 Kg4 59. Rh7 f5 60.
Rh8 Kxg3 61. Rxh5 Kf4 62. Rh1 Rxb7 63. Kxb7 g4 64. Rf1+ Ke4 65. Re1+ Kf3 66.
Rf1+ Ke4 67. Re1+ Kf3 68. Rf1+ 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.09"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"]
[Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D39"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2546"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Qc5 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. Nb3 Qc7 12. O-O O-O 13. Bd3 Rd8 14. Qe2
Nc6 15. Rac1 Be8 16. Rfd1 a6 17. Be3 Bd6 18. g3 Qe7 19. Bb6 Rdc8 20. Bb1 Nd7
21. Be3 Bb4 22. a3 Na5 23. Nxa5 Bxa5 24. Bd4 f6 25. Ba2 Bf7 26. e5 fxe5 27.
Bxe5 Nxe5 28. Qxe5 b5 29. Ne4 Bc7 30. Qc3 Qf8 31. Qd4 Rd8 32. Qe3 h6 33. Rxd8
Qxd8 34. Nc5 Bb6 35. Bxe6 Bxe6 36. Qxe6+ Kh8 37. Ne4 Bd4 38. Rd1 Ra7 39. Nd6
Bxf2+ 40. Kxf2 Rd7 41. Kg2 Qa8+ 42. Qd5 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "2019.06.10"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Gunina, Valentina"]
[Black "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2506"]
[BlackElo "2522"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2019.05.31"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qe2 Nxe4 6. Qxe4 Qa5 7. Bc4 Bf5
8. Qe2 e6 9. Ne5 Be7 10. c3 Bf6 11. d4 Bxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. g4 Bg6 14. f4 b5
15. b4 Qd8 16. Bb3 Qh4+ 17. Kd1 Rd8 18. Bd2 h5 $1 {Thematic and strong. Faced
with a crumbling position, Gunina throws caution to the wind and plays for an
attack that should not work.} 19. f5 exf5 20. e6 Nf6 21. exf7+ Kf8 {The king
is quite safe here and Black's initiative will take over.} 22. Kc1 Ne4 23. Be1
Qg5+ 24. Kb2 hxg4 25. a4 Bxf7 26. Bxf7 Kxf7 27. axb5 cxb5 28. Rxa7+ Kg6 29.
Qxb5 Rd1 30. Qc6+ Kh7 31. Qc7 Rg8 32. Kb3 Rb1+ 33. Ka4 Qe3 34. Kb5 Rxe1 35.
Rxe1 Qxe1 36. c4 Nc3+ 37. Ka5 Qa1+ 38. Kb6 Qg1+ 39. Ka6 Qd4 40. Qf7 Qd6+ 41.
Ka5 Qg6 42. Qd7 Rf8 43. c5 f4 44. Ra6 Qf5 45. Qd4 Qc2 46. Kb6 Rb8+ 47. Kc6 Qg2+
0-1

[/pgn]

With a 2.5 point gap separating Goryachkina and second place Lagno, and with only five rounds to play, thee race seems now to be for second place and “moral victory.” But hope springs eternal... https://twitter.com/FIDE_chess/status/1138162886138912768 Play continues tomorrow in the 2019 Women’s Candidates, with rounds continuing through June 17th. June 15th is the final rest day. GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko and IM Elisabeth Paehtz offer live commentary daily via the FIDE YouTube Channel. A complete set of games is available at Chess24 (with embedded YouTube coverage) and at The Week in Chess. Popular Twitch streamer Alexandra Botez is also offering a livestream of each round’s games.