Halftime at the World Teams

It’s the rest day today in Astana, marking the (slightly more than) half-way point in the 2019 World Team Championship. The U.S. Open team suffered its first match lost yesterday in Round 5, falling to Azerbaijan by a score of 3-1. Despite being outrated, once again, on every board, the Women’s team defeated Armenia, also by a score of 3-1. As the teams prepare for Round 6 tomorrow, Russia is in clear first in the Open section, with India and England tied for 2nd/3rd two match points behind. China leads Russia by two match points in the Women’s section, having defeated them 2.5-1.5 in Round 5. Currently the American Open team occupies fourth place in the standings, while the Women sit in sixth position. OPEN RESULTS Two American draws, by GMs Sam Sevian and Alex Onischuk, were sandwiched by losses on board one by GM Dariusz Swiercz and board four by GM Alex Lenderman. Swiercz’s game against GM Arkadij Naiditsch featured a topical opening and chances for both sides, with Naiditsch coming out ahead in the complications.

[pgn]

[Event "World Teams 2019"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.09"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2710"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5
8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 (10. Re2 b6 11. Re1 Re8 12. Bf4 Rxe1 13. Qxe1 Qe7
14. Nc3 Bb7 15. Qxe7 Bxe7 16. a4 a6 17. g3 g5 18. Bxd6 Bxd6 19. Bg2 Bxg2 20.
Kxg2 {1/2-1/2 (78) Carlsen,M (2857)-Karjakin,S (2769) New York 2016}) 10... Re8
11. Rxe8+ Nxe8 12. d5 d6 13. Nd2 Bf5 14. Nc4 c6 15. c3 Be4 16. dxc6 bxc6 17.
Qa4 c5 $146 (17... d5 18. Nd2 Bg6 19. Nb3 c5 20. Nxc5 d4 21. cxd4 Qxd4 22. Qc6
Rd8 23. Be3 Qxb2 24. Rd1 Qb6 25. Qa4 {1/2 (90)-1/2 (90) Harikrishna,P (2733)
-Balogh,C (2625) Czech Republic 2019}) 18. Bf4 d5 19. Nd2 (19. Rd1 {wti Ne3})
19... Bf5 20. Bb5 {White's big idea is Bc6-b7, trapping the rook.} Qe7 ({
Computers like} 20... g5 21. Bg3 {and only then} Nd6 22. Bc6 Rb8 {. Why?}) (
20... Nd6 {first fails to} 21. Bc6 Rb8 22. Bxd5 Rxb2 {and the point seems to
be that the knight on d2 remains well-defended.}) 21. Nb3 (21. Nf3 {followed
by Re1 may improve.}) 21... c4 22. Na5 Qe2 23. Bc6 $6 Rd8 24. Qb5 $2 (24. Nb7 {
hunts the rook, but Black ends up better after the complications:} Qxb2 25. Re1
Bxc3) 24... Nd6 {Swiercz misses his chance.} (24... Bh4 $1 25. Qc5 (25. Bg3
Bxg3 26. hxg3 Nf6 $19) 25... Qxb2 26. Re1 Qxc3 $19) 25. Bxd6 Rxd6 26. Bxd5 Rb6
27. Qxc4 (27. Bxf7+ Kxf7 28. Qxf5 Rxb2 {is similar to the game}) 27... Rxb2 28.
Bxf7+ Kf8 29. Qc5+ Kxf7 30. Qxf5 Qc2 {The wrong way to try and trade queens...
because White can just refuse to do so!} (30... Qe6 {should be enough for the
draw after} 31. Qh5+ (31. Qxe6+ Kxe6 {is equalish}) 31... g6 32. Qxh7+ Bg7) 31.
Qd7+ $1 Kf8 (31... Kg6 $5) 32. Qc8+ Kf7 33. Rf1 Qxc3 ({Trying to swap rooks is
no better:} 33... Rb1 34. Qc4+ Kf8 35. g3 Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 Qxc3 37. Qd5 $1 (37.
Qxc3 Bxc3 38. Nc6)) 34. Nc4 Rc2 35. Qd7+ Kg6 36. Nd6 {threatening Qf5+ and a
quick mate} Kh6 37. Nf5+ Kg6 38. Ne3 Rc1 39. Qe8+ Kh6 40. g3 (40. Ng4+ Kg5 41.
f4+ Kf5 (41... Kxg4 42. Qe2+ Kf5 43. g4+ Kg6 44. Qe8+ Kh6 45. Qh5#) 42. Ne3+ {
and Black has to give up the queen to avoid mate}) 40... Rxf1+ 41. Kxf1 g6 42.
Qf8+ Kh5 43. g4+ Kg5 44. h4+ (44. h4+ Kf4 (44... Kxh4 $2 45. Qh6#) 45. Qxf6+
Qxf6 46. Nd5+ Ke5 47. Nxf6 Kxf6 48. f4 $18) 1-0

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WOMENS RESULTS   The Women’s victory over Armenia was an all-action affair, with American boards one through three (Abrahamyan, Nemcova, and Yip) all winning their games and only board four (Foisor) suffering defeat. WGM Tatev Abrahamyan essayed an uncommon idea in the Steinitz French and won fairly quickly out of the opening.

[pgn]

[Event "12th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.09"]
[White "Abrahamyan, Tatev"]
[Black "Danielian, Elina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "2377"]
[BlackElo "2402"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "United States of America"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 {3.Nc3 seems to be new to Tatev's repertoire,
although as a French player herself, she certainly knows how to play against
it!} Nf6 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bg5 $5 {An interesting, aggressive sideline.} Be7 6.
Qd2 c6 7. O-O-O Nbd7 8. Re1 O-O 9. h4 Re8 10. Bd3 b5 11. Nf3 b4 12. Na4 Qa5 13.
b3 Bb7 $2 {The reasons for this being a mistake are not obvious, but Black
never really recovers from here.} ({Better is} 13... Ba6 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Rxe5
(15. dxe5 Nd7) 15... Bxd3 16. Qxd3 $11) 14. Ne5 {with the idea of Nxd7 and
White will win material} Bf8 $2 (14... Nxe5 15. Rxe5 Bd8 16. Rxe8+ Nxe8 17. Re1
Bxg5 18. hxg5 Qc7 {(stopping the rook's invasion of the 7th rank)}) (14... Nf8
{is the computer move, but White has a significant advantage.}) 15. Nxd7 Nxd7
16. Qf4 Rxe1+ 17. Rxe1 {wti Qf5 +-} Ba6 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. Qf5+ (19. Qxf7 {
might be stronger.}) 19... Kg8 20. Qxd7 Bb5 21. Qb7 Rd8 22. Bxd8 Qxd8 23. Qxa7
Qxh4 24. Re8 Bxa4 25. bxa4 Qxf2 26. Qc5 Kh7 27. Rxf8 Qe3+ 28. Kb1 Qe1+ 29. Kb2
f6 30. a5 1-0

[/pgn]

WGM Katerina Nemcova benefited from an unwarranted knight sortie by her opponent, IM Lilit Mkrtchian, and found herself up an exchange by move 24.

[pgn]

[Event "12th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.09"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Mkrtchian, Lilit"]
[Black "Nemcova, Katerina"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D20"]
[WhiteElo "2390"]
[BlackElo "2315"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Bf5 6. Ne2 e6 7. O-O Nb6 8. Bb3
Nc6 9. Nbc3 Be7 10. a3 Qd7 11. Be3 Rd8 12. Rc1 O-O 13. Ba2 Qc8 14. Ng3 $6 Nxe5
15. Nxf5 exf5 16. Nb5 (16. Qc2 Ng6) 16... c6 17. Nxa7 $2 {How is the knight
going to get out?} Qa8 18. Qb3 Ned7 19. d5 {As good an attempt as any.} Nxd5
20. Nb5 Nxe3 21. Qxe3 Bc5 22. Rxc5 Nxc5 23. Qxc5 cxb5 24. Qxb5 {Black is up
the exchange. Nemcova brings home the point with good technique.} Qc8 25. h3
Rfe8 26. a4 g6 27. Bc4 Re4 28. b3 Qc7 29. Rc1 Qe7 30. Bf1 Rb4 31. Qa5 b6 32.
Rc7 bxa5 33. Rxe7 Rd1 34. g3 Rxb3 35. Kg2 Rb4 36. Bb5 Rd2 37. Ra7 Rbb2 38. Kf3
Rxf2+ 39. Ke3 Rg2 40. Kf3 Rgc2 41. Rxa5 Rc3+ 42. Kf4 f6 0-1

[/pgn]

FM Carissa Yip’s game against WFM Anna Sargsyan was marked by Yip’s inventive attacking play, and Sargsyan’s curious resignation on move 55. It turns out that the position is drawn, although not without difficulty. Perhaps if the match situation were different Sargsyan would have played it out?

[pgn]

[Event "12th World Teams Women"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.09"]
[White "Yip, Carissa"]
[Black "Sargsyan, Anna M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B18"]
[WhiteElo "2279"]
[BlackElo "2340"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/7r/8/4R2P/2k3P1/1p6/6K1/8 w - - 0 55"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "United States of America"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]

55. Kg3 (55. Kg3 b2 56. Re1 {and Black has two drawing plans to choose
from:} {(B)} Kd3 {goes for the win of White's rook:} ({(A)} 56... Kd5 {might
be simpler, putting the Black rook on b7 to hold the pawn and using the king
to help fight the White pawns.} 57. Rb1 Rb7 58. g5 Ke6 59. g6 Kf6 (59... Rb4 $2
{, trying to cut off the king, fails to} 60. h6 Kf6 61. g7 $18) 60. Rf1+ Kg7
$11) 57. Rb1 Kc2 58. Rh1 Kd3 (58... b1=Q $2 59. Rxb1 Kxb1 60. Kh4 {and the
king is too far away to help the rook fight the pawns. One tempo can make a
difference!} Ra7 61. h6 Kc2 62. g5 Ra1 63. g6 {and the two pawns on the sixth
rank can't be stopped!}) 59. Rb1 Kc2 60. Rxb2+ Kxb2 61. Kh4 Ra7 $1 {The rook
has to go behind and check the White king.} ({Bringing the king back with}
61... Kc3 $2 62. g5 Kd4 63. g6 Rb7 64. h6) 62. g5 Ra1 63. h6 Rh1+ 64. Kg4 Kc3
65. Kf5 Kd4 66. Kf6 Ke4 67. Kf7 Kf5 68. g6 Rxh6 $11) 1-0

[/pgn]

STUDY YOUR ENDGAMES Good endgame technique has always been critical for over-the-board success, but it takes on even more importance in an era of increments and sudden-death time controls. We saw confirmation for this in Carissa Yip’s game, and more evidence can be drawn from the Round 5 match between Russia and Kazakstan in the Open section, won by the Russians 3-1. One of the stories of the round was Kazakh GM Rinat Jumabayev’s upset victory over Russian board one and former World Championship Challenger GM Sergey Karjakin. Their game was headed towards a draw until Karjakin made an uncharacteristic blunder on his 61st move.

[pgn]

[Event "World Teams 2019"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.09"]
[White "Jumabayev, Rinat"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2609"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3k4/6R1/p2K4/1b1B4/1P6/8/8/1r6 b - - 0 61"]
[PlyCount "14"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "Kazakhstan"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "KAZ"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

61... Rxb4 $4 {Presumably a time-trouble blunder. The point is that the
Black rook can no longer aid in the king's defense.} (61... Re1 62. Ra7 Rc1 $11
) 62. Ra7 $1 Bd7 63. Rxd7+ Ke8 64. Re7+ Kf8 65. Rf7+ Ke8 66. Rf3 Rd4 67. Rb3
Kf8 68. Rg3 1-0

[/pgn]

Jumabayev was kind enough to analyze the game with Press Officer GM Yannick Pelletier on the FIDE YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-OLMEomo-Y   Team Kazakhstan returned the favor on board four, where GM Petr Kostenko threw away a half-point in a tricky knight and pawn ending against GM Vladislav Artemiev.

[pgn]

[Event "World Teams 2019"]
[Site "Astana KAZ"]
[Date "2019.03.09"]
[White "Artemiev, Vladislav"]
[Black "Kostenko, Petr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2466"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/3k2n1/7P/1p2KP2/5N2/8/8 b - - 0 46"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Kazakhstan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "KAZ"]

46... Nf8 $4 (46... Ne7 47. f5 Ng8 48. Kf4 Ke7 $11) (46... Nh8 47. f5 Nf7
48. Kf4 Ke7 $11) 47. Nd4 Kc5 48. h6 Kd6 49. Kf5 Kd5 50. Nb3 Kc4 51. Nc1 Kd4 52.
Kf6 Ke3 53. Kf7 Nh7 54. Kg7 Kd2 55. Nb3+ Kc3 56. Na5 1-0

[/pgn]

STANDINGS AFTER RD 5 Open Division: Women’s Division: Tomorrow the U.S. plays Sweden in the Open section, while the Women take on Russia. Rounds begin at 3pm local time, or 4am EST. Live on-site coverage is available at the official website:  http://kazchess.kz/world_astana2019/