Tata Steel Chess
U.S. Champion GM Sam Shankland ended Tata Steel Chess (January 12-27) with a solid even score, good for a rating point gain in the elite field, bringing him up to #25 in the World. His tournament was a dramatic ride marked by big swings, including a disastrous round 11.
[pgn]
[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Date "2019.01.25"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Shankland, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2725"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Netherlands"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Na4 Qe7 7. a3 Be6 8. Bxe6
Qxe6 9. b4 Bb6 10. O-O O-O 11. c4 Nd7 12. Bb2 Nd4 13. Nd2 f5 14. Rc1 c5 15.
exf5 Nxf5 16. Ne4 cxb4 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. axb4 Qg6 19. Ra1 Rxa1 20. Bxa1 Nf6 21.
Nxf6+ Rxf6 22. Qf3 Nh4 23. Qd5+ Kh8 24. f4 h6 25. Qe4 Qxe4 26. dxe4 Rxf4 27.
Rxf4 exf4 28. e5 dxe5 29. Bxe5 Ng6 30. Bc7 b5 31. cxb5 Kg8 32. Kf2 Kf7 33. Kf3
Nh4+ 34. Kxf4 Nxg2+ 35. Ke5 Ke7 36. Bd6+ Ke8 37. Ke6 g5 38. Kf6 Kd7 39. Bf8 Nh4
40. Bxh6 Nf3 41. h3 Ng1 42. Bxg5 Nxh3 43. Be3 Kd6 44. Kf5 Kd5 45. b6 1-0[/pgn]
In the final position, Sam resigned in a drawn endgame, a painful mistake that was relived in
articles,
twitter feeds and dinner conversations around the World.
https://twitter.com/chess24com/status/1088846912420233217
Shankland, in the interview below, explained that the mistake was caused by a gap in his chess culture- he knew that the game was drawn with his king on a8, but didn't realize he could either reach the square or hold a similar fortress on c8.
As Sam discovered, the position spread even further than he may have expected.
https://twitter.com/GMShanky/status/1089991302454730752
Despite this devastating loss, Sam came back in grand style to win two games in a row in the final two rounds, against Nepomniachtchi and Kramnik.
[pgn][Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Date "2019.01.26"]
[White "Shankland, Samuel"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2725"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 a6 5. h3 e6 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. Nf3 b5 8. e5 b4
9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 d5 11. Bd3 c5 12. c3 bxc3 13. bxc3 Qa5 14. Bd2 Qa3 15. Qe2
Bh6 16. Rb1 Bxd2+ 17. Qxd2 c4 18. Bc2 Rb8 19. Rxb8 Nxb8 20. h4 h6 21. h5 g5 22.
Nh2 Nc6 23. Ng4 Na7 24. Bd1 Nb5 25. Rh3 Bd7 26. f4 gxf4 27. Qxf4 Qf8 28. Qf6
Bc6 29. a4 Na7 30. Rf3 Nc8 31. Bc2 Ne7 32. Bg6 Kd8 33. Bxf7 Kc7 34. Qxe6 Nc8
35. Qf6 1-0
[/pgn]
After the game, Shankland told WIM Fiona Steli-Antoni that it "feels good to come back from the worst moment of his career with one of the biggest wins of my life."
https://youtu.be/4mOnKMTW7lE
[pgn]
[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Date "2019.01.27"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Shankland, Samuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2777"]
[BlackElo "2725"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 g6 4. Qa4 d4 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. d3 Nd7 7. O-O Nh6 8. Nbd2
O-O 9. b4 e5 10. c5 a6 11. Nc4 f6 12. Qb3 Nf7 13. e3 dxe3 14. Bxe3 Kh8 15. Rae1
Re8 16. Na5 Re7 17. d4 e4 18. Nd2 f5 19. d5 cxd5 20. Qxd5 Qe8 21. c6 Nf6 22.
Qc5 bxc6 23. Ndc4 Be6 24. Rc1 Bd5 25. Bd4 Rb8 26. a4 Re6 27. Nb6 Bf8 28. Qc3
Kg8 29. Nac4 Nd7 30. a5 Nd6 31. Nxd6 Bxd6 32. Rfd1 Nxb6 33. axb6 Be5 34. Bxe5
Rxe5 35. Qe3 Qf7 36. Ra1 Qb7 37. Qd4 Re7 38. b5 cxb5 39. Qxd5+ Qxd5 40. Rxd5
Rxb6 41. Rd8+ Kf7 42. Ra8 Ree6 43. Ra7+ Kf6 44. Rxh7 b4 45. Rc7 b3 46. Bf1 Rec6
47. Rxc6+ Rxc6 48. Rb1 Rb6 49. Bc4 b2 50. Ba2 a5 51. Kf1 a4 52. Ke2 a3 53. Kd2
Rc6 54. h4 Ke5 55. Re1 Kd4 56. Bb1 Rc3 57. Rh1 Rd3+ 58. Kc2 Rc3+ 59. Kd2 Rf3
60. Ke2 Rd3 61. h5 gxh5 62. Ke1 Rc3 63. Kd2 f4 64. Ba2 e3+ 65. fxe3+ fxe3+ 66.
Ke2 Rc2+ 0-1
[/pgn]
On his official Facebook page, Sam said, "After the worst disaster of my career in round 11, I kept my head on straight and showed great character by rebounding with 2 wins in the final 2 games. The result was good on paper (I even gained 6 points) but all the mistakes will be good fuel for further analysis and hopefully improvement. Home tomorrow, and I'll be back in classical action next in Prague March 5-15!"
World Champion Magnus Carlsen took down his seventh Tata Steel Championship. Along the way he scored five wins and no losses. Here are two gems.
[pgn]
[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Date "2019.01.20"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B80"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2731"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "Hungary"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "HUN"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g3 a6 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. O-O
d6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Na4 Rb8 11. c4 c5 12. b3 Be7 13. Bb2 O-O 14. Qe1 Nd7 15.
Rd1 Bb7 16. Qc3 Bf6 17. Qd2 Be7 18. Qc3 Bf6 19. Qd2 Be7 20. f4 e5 21. Bc3 Bc6
22. Ba5 Qb7 23. Nc3 exf4 24. gxf4 Rfe8 25. e5 Bxg2 26. Qxg2 dxe5 27. Nd5 e4 28.
Bc3 f6 29. Kh1 Kh8 30. Rg1 Bf8 31. Ne3 Qc6 32. Rd5 Qe6 33. Rh5 Qf7 34. Qh3 g6
35. Rh4 Rb6 36. f5 Ne5 37. Nd5 Rd6 38. fxg6 Nxg6 39. Bxf6+ Rxf6 40. Rxh7+ 1-0
[/pgn]
[pgn]
[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Date "2019.01.26"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D24"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2738"]
[PlyCount "141"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "Poland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "POL"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nf6 8.
Qa4+ Nc6 9. Ne5 Rb8 10. Rd1 O-O 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Qxa7 Bd7 13. Qa4 c5 14. Qc2
cxd4 15. Rxd4 Bc5 16. Rh4 h6 17. Bxh6 gxh6 18. Qd2 Nh7 19. Qxh6 Bxf2+ 20. Kxf2
Qf6+ 21. Qxf6 Rxb2+ 22. Kg1 Nxf6 23. Rf1 Kg7 24. Rf3 Rg8 25. Rhf4 Bc6 26. Rxf6
Bxf3 27. Rxf3 Rd8 28. Rf2 Rb4 29. Bb5 Ra8 30. a4 c6 31. Be2 Ra5 32. Rf3 f5 33.
Kf2 Rc5 34. Bd1 e5 35. Ne2 Kf6 36. Ra3 Rb1 37. Ke1 e4 38. g3 Ke5 39. h4 Ra5 40.
h5 c5 41. Kd2 c4 42. Kc2 Rb8 43. Kc3 Rb1 44. Kc2 Rb8 45. Kc1 Rb6 46. Bc2 Rd6
47. Nf4 Rc5 48. Re3 Kd4 49. Re1 Rh6 50. Kd2 Re5 51. Ne2+ Kc5 52. Rh1 Re8 53.
Kc3 Rg8 54. Rb1 Rxh5 55. Bxe4 Re8 56. Nf4 Rg5 57. Rb5+ Kd6 58. Bxf5 Rxg3+ 59.
Kd4 Rg1 60. Rb6+ Ke7 61. Ng6+ Kf7 62. Ne5+ Kg8 63. Nxc4 Ra8 64. a5 Ra1 65. Rb5
Ra7 66. Be4 Rc7 67. Rf5 Kg7 68. Bc2 Rc1 69. Kc3 Rf7 70. Rxf7+ Kxf7 71. Na3 1-0
[/pgn]
Find more details on Tata Steel Chess on the official website, and follow more top American players currently in battle in the Gibraltar International Chess Festival. 
