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Candidates R01: Anand the first to score

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by Sagar Shah
3/11/2016 Today, the 2016 W orld Championship Candidates tournament finally took off in the Central
Telegraph building in Moscow . And w hat a fighting round it w as! Although there w as only one decisive game,
all the players tried really hard. Like in 2014, Vishy Anand is the only player to lead the event w ith 1.0/1 after
he beat Veselin Topalov. W e have extensive and Elo-boosting analysis of all four games.

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Today on playchess.com
3/14/2016 Yannick
Pelletier will sum up the
up downs of the first
three rounds of the
Candidates which are
tak ing place in Moscow. Starting tim e:
8pm CET. View the whole schedule!

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News

The 2016 FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament is a 14-round event, which determines the next Challenger to
Magnus Carlsen's title, is taking place in Moscow from March 1030. Eight players, including six of the Worlds topten rated grandmasters. The time control is 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves
and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The
guaranteed prize fund is US $420,000.

Candidates Round one: Anand the first to score

New Fritz, new friend

Full report from Moscow by IM Sagar Shah

Round 1, Friday 11 March 2016
Karjakin Sergey
- Svidler Peter
Nakamura Hikaru
- Caruana Fabiano
Giri Anish
- Aronian Levon
Anand Visw anathan 1-0 Topalov Veselin
It is said that good things are never easily achieved you have to w ork hard for them. Similarly, for all the
people w ho made their w ay to the Central Telegraph building on the Tverskaya Street in Moscow , to enjoy the
Candidates 2016, had to w ait for quite a bit of time outside before they w ere admitted into the building.

A m ust-have for
am bitious chess players
who want to im prove
their own attack ing
sk ills.

W inning with the

Double Fianchetto:
Nicholas Pert provides
deep insights into this
popular opening.
Geller-Karpov (1976):
Let Robert Ris show you
why this gam e becam e a classic in chess
history. Plus 37.565 topical gam es.

W ith fam ous classical

ex am ples from the
work s of the giants!

We waited for nearly half an hour to get to the next level

After getting admitted into the building w e climbed five flights of stairs to reach a final security check
w here everyone w as carefully monitored, before they could enter the playing and press area.

O n this DVD, Sam

Collins presents a
repertoire for Black
based on the rock -solid
Lask er variation, reinvigorated with new
ideas by form er W orld Cham pion Vishy

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Anand and form ing the cornerstone of

m any strong GM repertoires today.

O n this 60 Minutes
renowned and
successful coach Adrian
Mik halchishin presents
critical positions and
shows how to handle
them .

The usual m ove order

is 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3
Nf3 cx d4 4 Nx d4 e5!? 5
Nb5 d5 6 cx d5 Bc5
bringing us to a very
sharp position. Andrew
MArtin shows this
variation from black 's
point of view.

Even big names like Andrey Filatov and Zurab Azmaiparashvili had to wait in the queue

Advertising
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before they could take their seats for the 2 p.m. press conference along with AGON CEO Ilya Merenzon.

The interest of local and international press and reporters is extremely high
Soon it w as nearing three p.m. and the games w ere about to begin. The people w ith Press cards w ere
allow ed inside the tournament hall w here the players w ere going to fight it out. The reporters had exactly ten
minutes (five w ith flash, five w ithout it) to take as many pictures as they w anted.

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The official FIDE chess sets were used on all the four boards of the event

The magnitude of an event is often determined by the guests who attend its opening.
In the above picture we have two Presidents. Can you identify them?

Chief Arbiter Wener Stubevoll takes a final look at the arrangements before the first round

Sergey Karjakin vs Peter Svidler 0.5-0.5

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The tw o W orld Cup 2015 gladiators faced off against each other in the first round of the Candidates. Karjakins
main w eapon as W hite is, of course, 1.e4, but from time to time he likes to start w ith 1.Nf3. The players soon
reached the main line of the Slav Defence and as Svidler put it in the press conference, Sergey chose the only
line w hich I hadnt studied in the morning! But it w as important to show that I knew the position and hence
made the move 9Bd7 quickly. As it turned out Svidlers modest setup became quite potent w hen all his
pieces started to co-ordinate perfectly. Karjakin had to forget about an opening advantage and instead had to
focus on making accurate defensive moves to hold the balance. Being an excellent defender, Sergey did that
to perfection. Soon most of the pieces w ere exchanged and the game petered (no pun intended) out to a
draw .

Three friends, Sergey Karjakin, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Peter Svidler,

enjoy a nice session of post mortem after the first round game ended in a draw

Hikaru Nakamura vs Fabiano Caruana 0.5-0.5

The mouth-watering clash between the two Americans lived up to its expectations

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It is just like any other super tournament, w ith the addition that there are many photographers and
reporters! That w as Hikaru Nakamuras answ er w hen he w as asked w hether he felt any nerves about
playing his first Candidates. He faced his country mate Fabiano Caruana in the first round and the tw o
provided quite an interesting opening for the fans to view and analyze: the English Opening transposed into a
w eird Benoni w here Caruanas knight on e7 didnt look particularly impressive. Hikaru maintained the pressure
for quite some time, until he made an inaccuracy and the game ended in a draw in 31 moves.

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2016"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2016.03.11"] [Round "1"] [W hite "Nakamura,
Hikaru"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [W hiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2794"] [Annotator "Sagar
Shah"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2016.03.10"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e3 $5 {W hile Nf3 and Nc3
are the main moves in this position, e3 is not very uncommon. W hite's idea is simple that he w ants to play an
immediate d4 or Nge2 follow ed by d4 and for that he doesn't need to develop his b1 knight.} e6 {Fabiano
w ants to keep the game in uncharted territory. Nf6 and Nc6 are both more popular.} (4... Nf6 5. d4 (5. Ne2 OO 6. Nbc3 {might soon lead to a main line in the English.}) 5... cxd4 6. exd4 d5 { looks great for Black.}) 5. d4
cxd4 6. exd4 Ne7 7. d5 $5 exd5 8. cxd5 d6 { Interesting comments w ere made about this position by
Miroshnichenko, Kosteniuk and Gelfand. As Kosteniuk and Miro said, "It's a tradeoff betw een having more
space w ith the paw n on d5 and the open bishop on g7. W hat is more important? It is not so easy to decide!"
Boris had some other important points to make. "Black w ould have been completely fine if the black knight
w ould have been on f6 instead of e7. As things stand right now , the f5 square is the best for both the knight
and the c8 bishop and that in some w ays hinders Black's development."} 9. Nc3 Nd7 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O h6
$5 {An intersting move preventing ideas like Bg5 and getting ready to play g6-g5 at an appriopriate moment.}
12. h4 $5 {W hite nips the g5 idea in the bud. But everything comes at a cost. This move w eakens the g4
square and the c8 bishop w ould like to reach there soon.} Nc5 13. Re1 Bg4 {Now things look quite smooth for
Fabi. The knight is coming to f5 and the queen to f6 and the rooks to c8 and e8. Suddenly all the co-ordination
issues seem to have been solved, or have they?!} 14. Bf4 Nf5 15. Qd2 Bxf3 (15... Qf6 16. Nh2 {makes the
bishop on g4 looks silly and hence taking on f3 w as the right choice.}) 16. Bxf3 Qf6 17. Rac1 { This move
prepares b4. After the knight on c5 is displaced, the c3 knight jumps to e4. Black might have got his pieces coordinated but the bishop pair, combined w ith the space alw ays give the first player some better chances.} a5
18. Nb5 $1 {Nakamura is never averse w hen it comes to tactical complications. He sees that exchanging the
b2 paw n for the guy on d6 w ould be a good deal.} Qxb2 19. Qxb2 Bxb2 20. Rc2 Bf6 21. Bxd6 (21. Nxd6 {looks
natural but fails to} Nd4 $1 {The knight on b5 keeps this possibility under check.}) 21... Nxd6 22. Nxd6 (22.
Rxc5 b6 23. Rc6 Nxb5 24. Rxf6 $14 {might also be a position to explore for W hite, especially because Black
cannot get his blockade on d6.}) 22... b6 23. Rb1 Rab8 24. Nc4 (24. h5 $5 {Throw ing in this move at some
point w ould have created an additional tension in the position that w ould have been to W hite's advantage. It
is a Karpovian move w hose benefits are not so apparent in the current position. But later, w hen the rooks
penetrate, the possibility of opening the seventh rank w ith hxg6 fxg6 might play an important role.}) 24... Na4
25. Bg4 $6 {Black equalises after this inaccurate move.} (25. Ne3 Nc3 26. Rb3 Rfc8 {also looks pretty much
fine for Black.}) (25. h5 $5) 25... Rfd8 $1 {Attacking the d5 paw n.} 26. d6 h5 $1 27. Bh3 b5 28. Nxa5 Rxd6 $11
29. Nc6 Rb6 30. Nb4 Nc3 31. Rb3 {Nakamura had really got the pressure going in the position. But he couldn't
sustain it. One w rong move and Caruana w as right back and made w hat looked like an effortless draw .} 1/21/2

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I knew I was better but during the game it didnt look as if it was much! Hikaru Nakamura

Viswanathan Anand vs Veselin Topalov 1-0

Anand w as W hite. He began w ith 1.e4, and his opponent replied 1e5. His w as the only decisive game of the
round, and the tournament w as in Russia. All of these things happened today and also in Candidates 2014!
Talk about Dj vu! W hether Anand w ill w in this years Candidates or not is still a question that is a long w ay
off, but he surely he made a good start. Playing the Anti Berlin w ith 4.d3, Anand improvised on the existing
games w ith a novelty on move 12. Topalov faced hardly any difficulties to equalize. As Anand said in the press
conference, I had to take the bait on b7, otherw ise all my pieces w ould just end up looking silly. The paw n
surely w as not for free as Topalov got loads of activity in return. In fact on the 20th move he even had a
combination starting w ith 20Bxf2+! w hich w ould have given the Bulgarian a clear advantage.

Topalov had his eyes wide open before the start of the game, but failed to see the Bxf2 tactic on move 20
Veselin didnt go for that line and instead chose a variation that turned the evaluation 180 degrees. Anand
held the advantage, and although his technique w as not the best, he managed to w in the game and take
home the full point.

Another Candidates victory? Fingers crossed! Anand is the sole leader with 1.0/1 after the first round

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A very nice video prepared by AGON on Vishy Anand, which is shown during the commentary breaks

The thing which stood out was Topalovs great sporting behavior in spite of the loss

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2016"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2016.03.11"] [Round "1"] [W hite "Anand,
Visw anathan"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1-0"] [W hiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2780"] [Annotator "Sagar
Shah"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2016.03.10"] {In 2014 Candidates, Vishy Anand began w ith a w in over
Levon Aronian w ith 1.e4 in the first round. Tw o years later and 2500 kilometres apart (Khanty Mansisyk to
Moscow ), Vishy Anand sees no reason to change his strategy.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {Of course the
Berlin the opening that cannot be refuted. W hat better w ay to start a tournament!} 4. d3 Bc5 {The
interesting part about this position is that Anand has reached it w ith the w hite pieces on 24 occasions in the
past, w ith 15 of them continuing w ith Bxc6. In this game, how ever, he keeps his options open and goes for 00.} 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O 7. Nbd2 (7. d4 $6 Bb6 $5 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. dxe5 Nxe4 $15) 7... Ne7 {Kramnik introduced
this plan w ith Ne7 in his game against Aronian in 2012. The idea is to take the game into a territory w here the
paw n structures w ould not be symmetrical.} 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 {Now w e have a position w ith quite some
imbalances. W hite has a beautiful central paw n duo, but Black has absolutely no problems in finding squares
for his pieces. If Vishy can develop his guys on c1 and a1, keeping his centre intact, his position w ould be
much better. But as w e w ill see this is not so easy.} 10. Re1 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 {All this has been seen many
times w ith Topalov himself having this position against Fabiano Caruana in 2015 w ith the w hite pieces. But
now Anand makes the first new move of the game - the novelty!} 12. a4 $5 $146 {The idea of this move is
simply to gain more space on the queenside w ith a4-a5. At some point the rook may come into the game via
a3.} a6 13. Bf1 Re8 14. a5 Ba7 15. Qb3 Nc6 $1 {As Boris Gelfand rightly pointed out in the commentary room,
"Good players are alw ays flexible w ith their plans." Nc6-e7 w asn't played w ith the intention to return back to
c6, but Topalov sees that the position has changed since his Ne7 move. This is the best and although it may
look w eird Veselin doesn't hesitate to play it.} (15... Rb8 {is possible but is quite passive. W hite can continue
w ith } 16. Qc3 $14 {w ith the idea of b4 and developing the c1 bishop.}) 16. d5 Nd4 17. Nxd4 Bxd4 18. Qxb7
$5 {Good or bad, this paw n had to be taken. Anand had made his previous moves w ith the intention of taking
on b7, so there w as no backing out now .} Nd7 $1 {A strong move by the Bulgarian. The knight not only
threatens to jump to c5 but also opens the route for the queen to come to f6 or h4. W hite's pieces are
uncoordinated and undeveloped and the queen is looking a bit silly on b7. Anand has to be really careful
here.} 19. Nc4 $6 ( 19. Ra3 {w as Anand's original intention but he changed his mind at the last moment.} Qh4
{is now met by} 20. Rae3 $1 {An completely appropriate exchange the sacrifice. The bishop on d4 is w orth
the rook.} Nc5 21. Qxc7 f5 $1 $13 ( 21... Bxe3 22. Rxe3 $14)) 19... Nc5 20. Qc6 {[%csl Rf2,Rg1][%cal
Gd4f2,Gd8h4, Gc5e4] [#]A look at the position reveals that Black has clear cut compensation and a player of
Topalov's class know s that. How ever, it is one thing to know that you have compensation and quite another

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to find a concrete tactical refutation. This w as the moment w hen Black had a chance to take the advantage
but Topalov w as unable to find it.} Nb3 $2 (20... Bxf2+ $1 {This w as the move that w ould have destroyed
Anand's position.} 21. Kxf2 Qh4+ {The rook is hanging so g3 has to be played.} 22. g3 Nxe4+ {Once again
the knight has to be taken or else g3 falls.} 23. Rxe4 Qxe4 $17 {And even though W hite has tw o pieces for a
rook his position is pretty bad as his king is exposed. It's not so easy to come up w ith a good move for W hite
here. For eg.} 24. Bf4 $2 { fails to} g5 $1 $19) ({Another extremely interesting idea is the follow ing:} 20... f6
{W hat is the point, you may ask? W ell for starters how about meeting the threat of trapping the w hite queen
w ith Re7 and Be8. Seems very difficult.} 21. Be3 Bxe3 22. Rxe3 Re7 $1 {Be8 is threatened and the queen w ill
perish. The best W hite can try is} 23. b4 Be8 24. Qxa8 Qxa8 25. bxc5 $44 {Black should be better here, but
the position is not so easy to play due to the material imbalance.}) 21. Rb1 Nxc1 $6 {This makes W hite's task
easier.} (21... f5 { creating some play w as better.}) 22. Rbxc1 Rb8 23. Qxa6 $16 {W hite is tw o paw ns up
right now . Black may regain one of the paw ns but even then he w ould be in a poor position, mainly because
the a5 paw n is super strong.} Qh4 { This looks like the most natural human move to make as it attacks both
the f2 and e4 paw ns.} (23... f5 $5 {could have been a tricky move to face.} 24. exf5 $6 (24. Ne3 $1 $14) 24...
Bxf2+ $1 25. Kxf2 Qh4+ 26. g3 Qd4+ 27. Kg2 Bf7 $3 $40 {Only computers can see moves like these!}) 24. Rc2
Rxe4 25. Ne3 $1 {Experts praised this extremely accurate move by Vishy Anand. The knight saves the kingside
and now the c7 paw n is attacked.} (25. Rxe4 Qxe4 {gives some activity to Black.}) 25... Qd8 26. Qc4 Bg6 27.
Bd3 $1 {Once again very accurate.} (27. Qxc7 Bxe3 $1 28. fxe3 Ra4 {The rook on c2 is attacked and the pride
of W hite's position - the a5 paw n falls.}) 27... Rf4 28. Bxg6 hxg6 (28... Bxe3 29. Be4 $18 ) 29. g3 $1 (29. Qxc7
$6 Qxc7 30. Rxc7 Rxb2 $132) 29... Re4 30. a6 Qe8 31. Rce2 {This is a human move to make. The computer
comes up w ith a very interesting solution.} (31. Qxc7 $1 Bxe3 32. Rxe3 Rxe3 33. fxe3 Qxe3+ {Many players
w ould see until this move and reject this variation because of counterplay. But the engine suggests} 34. Kh2
$18 {w ith a completely w inning position.}) 31... Bb6 32. Qd3 Ra8 33. Kg2 Qa4 34. b3 Rd4 35. bxa4 $6 (35.
Qc2 {w as much better as the natural} Qxa6 {loses to the very nice tactical shot} 36. Nf5 $3 gxf5 37. Re8+
Rxe8 38. Rxe8+ Kh7 39. Qxf5+ $18) 35... Rxd3 {W hite's advantage has been reduced at this point, but still it
is much more pleasant to be in Anand's shoes than Topalov's!} 36. Nc4 Rxa6 37. a5 {This is a nice tricky
solution that Vishy came up w ith.} Bd4 (37... Bxa5 $2 38. Ra1 $16) (37... Bc5 {w as much better as after} 38.
Re8+ Kh7 39. R1e7 {the d5 paw n is hanging. The same w as not possible w hen the bishop w as on d4.} Rxd5
40. Rxf7 Rf5 $11) 38. Re8+ Kh7 39. R1e7 Rc3 40. Nd2 $5 {Anand transfers his knight to better squares after
Nd2-e4.} (40. Rxc7 $1 $16) 40... Rc2 $6 (40... f5 {prevents Ne4, but the knight can reach g5 via another
route.} 41. h4 $1 $14 {[%cal Gd2f3,Gf3g5]}) 41. Ne4 f6 {stops Ng5 but exposes the seventh rank, w hich
Anand takes full advantage of.} 42. h4 $1 {Stopping Black from going g5.} (42. Rf7 g5 {w as Black's idea.})
42... Rxa5 43. Rf7 g5 44. h5 {The mating net cannot be broken.} Rxf2+ 45. Nxf2 Ra2 46. Rff8 Rxf2+ 47. Kh3
g4+ 48. Kxg4 f5+ 49. Rxf5 {W ith a complete exchange dow n, there is no w ay to survive as Black, and hence
Topalov resigned.} 1-0

Anish Giri vs Levon Aronian 0.5-0.5

The thing w hich stood out in this round w as surely Anish Giris persistence. The Dutch grandmaster is famous
for being super solid, sometimes not taking enough risks. But today Anish w as not ready to split the point. He
fought on and on right until the bitter end. The computer keeps show ing 0.00 after a certain point, but that
doesnt make much sense because both the players agreed that W hite w as better and Blacks defensive task
w as not so easy. The game lasted nearly 65 moves w ith Aronian taking refuge in a theoretically draw n paw n
endgame. It w as the last game to finish.

Anish Giri and Levon Aronian entertained the crowd

with some highly instructive post-mortem analysis

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[Event "FIDE Candidates 2016"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2016.03.11"] [Round "1"] [W hite "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [W hiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2786"] [Annotator "Sagar
Shah"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2016.03.10"] {In this game I w ill avoid commenting too much about the
opening as it is all w ell know n and many games have been played in this line. But the middlegame and the
late endgame are particularly interesting.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5
c6 8. h3 b6 9. b4 a5 10. a3 h6 11. Bd3 Ba6 12. O-O Qc8 13. Rb1 axb4 14. axb4 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Qb7 {This
position has been reached, just 15 days ago in the game of Sargissian w ith the black pieces against Ding
Liren. Sargissian is one of Levon's second and w e can be sure that he prepared this line w ith him.} 16. Rfc1
{This same position w ith a different move order w as already played by Aronian against Nakamura from the
w hite side in the Zurich Chess Challenge 2016.} Rfc8 17. Ne1 $146 {Giri's novelty, not an earth shattering one
but just improving his f3 knight.} Bd8 18. Qd1 Bc7 19. Nd3 Bxf4 20. exf4 Ne4 21. Ne2 Ra2 22. Rc2 {As Anish
mentioned after the game, Black is comfortable here. He should only be careful not to allow b4-b5. Aronian
does not prevent it and after that he is under grave pressure.} Rca8 $6 23. f3 Rxc2 24. Qxc2 Nef6 25. b5 $1
Rc8 (25... bxc5 26. dxc5 cxb5 27. Nd4 $36 (27. c6 Qb6+ $11)) 26. Qa4 $1 {An extremely strong move by Anish
w ho threatens to play his queen to a6 here. This idea w as missed by Levon. Anish mentions that he found this
idea after much deliberation and his thoughts w ere mainly concerned w ith breaking on the kingside w ith f5.
But w hen that didn't w ork he turned his attention on the other w ing and found this idea. } Qc7 (26... bxc5 27.
dxc5 cxb5 28. Rxb5 Qc7 29. Nd4 $16) (26... cxb5 27. Qxb5 $16 {It is not at all easy for Black to untangle.}) 27.
bxc6 Qxc6 28. Qxc6 Rxc6 {[#] W hite has a w ay out.} 29. Rc1 (29. Nb4 Rc7 30. c6 Nb8 31. Nc3 $1 {The
absolute star move and hats off to Aronian for having seen this for his opponent. It just show s how good
these guys are, alw ays looking out for opponent's threats.} (31. Ra1 Nxc6 32. Rc1 Nxd4 $11) (31. Rc1 Ne8)
31... Nxc6 32. Nb5 Rc8 33. Nd6 Rd8 34. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 35. Nxc6 $16 {The knight comes to e5. The position might
not be 100% lost, but it is really unpleasant to be black here.}) 29... Rc7 (29... Rc8 30. c6 Nb8 31. Nb4 Ne8 32.
f5 $1 {Once again Aronian suggested this move. One gets the feeling that the Armenian w anted to get up
from the board and sw itch sides! He w as seeing some really excellent w inning resources for his opponent.}
Nd6 33. fxe6 fxe6 34. Nf4 $16 Kf7 $2 35. c7 $1 Nd7 36. Rc6 $18) 30. Nc3 bxc5 31. dxc5 Ne8 (31... Nxc5 32. Nb5
{Anish thought that he w as w inning at this point, but the computer show s an excellent defensive resource for
Black.} Nfd7 $3 {Even 2800 players can miss such moves!} (32... Nxd3 33. Rxc7 Nxf4 34. Nd6 d4 35. Rc8+ Kh7
36. Nxf7 d3 37. Rh8+ Kg6 38. Ne5+ Kf5 39. Nc4 $18) 33. Nxc7 Nxd3 $11) 32. Nb5 Rc8 33. Kf2 Nc7 34. Nxc7
Rxc7 35. Ke3 {W hite is better here, but Black can cling on by quickly bringing his king to the center.} Kf8 36.
Kd4 (36. f5 $5) 36... Nb8 $1 {A nice move by Levon. Suddenly it is not easy to make progress.} 37. Nb4 Rb7
38. Kc3 Ke7 39. Ra1 Kd7 40. Nd3 f6 {Aronian offered a draw at this point, but Giri saw that he w ill alw ays have
some chances w ith the f5 break or the kingside paw n storm and hence decided to continue the battle.} 41.
Ra8 Kc6 42. h4 Kb5 43. Ra1 Nc6 44. Rb1+ Ka6 45. Re1 Re7 46. Ra1+ Kb7 47. Nb4 g5 $5 {Aronian doesn't like
to just sit around. He actively tries to draw the game.} 48. fxg5 fxg5 49. h5 Rf7 ({ A very interesting variation
show ed by both the players w as} 49... Re8 50. Ra6 Nxb4 51. Rb6+ Kc7 52. Kxb4 Rb8 53. Kb5 {Both the
players thought this w as lost for Black, but as alw ays the computer begs to differ!} Kc8 $1 {A passive,
backw ard retreating and a difficult move for humans to see.} (53... e5 { Aronian and Giri show ed this line and
this is really nice.} 54. Rxb8 Kxb8 55. Kc6 $1 d4 56. Kd7 $18) 54. Rxb8+ (54. Kc6 $2 Rxb6+ 55. cxb6 d4 $19)
54... Kxb8 55. Kc6 Kc8 $11 {and miraculously Black holds the draw .}) 50. Ra6 (50. Nxc6 Kxc6 51. Ra6+ Kxc5
52. Rxe6 g4 $1 {A key point that had to be seen beforehand.} 53. fxg4 Rf2 $11) 50... Nxb4 51. Rb6+ Kc8 (51...
Kc7 $2 {Is losing. The point is that Black doesn't have Rb7 now .} 52. Kxb4 $1 g4 53. fxg4 Rf4+ 54. Kb5 Rxg4
55. Rxe6 Rxg2 56. Re7+ Kd8 57. Rh7 $18 {[%cal Gh7h6,Gc5c6]}) 52. Rxb4 (52. Kxb4 Rb7 $1 {This paw n
ending is draw n.} 53. Kb5 Rxb6+ 54. cxb6 d4 55. Kc4 e5 56. g3 Kb7 57. f4 exf4 58. gxf4 gxf4 59. Kxd4 $11)
52... Rf4 $1 {The king and paw n ending is draw n.} 53. Rxf4 gxf4 54. Kd4 Kd7 55. Ke5 Kc6 56. Kxf4 Kxc5 57. g4
Kd6 $1 {Only move to draw .} 58. Ke3 (58. g5 hxg5+ 59. Kxg5 Ke7 $1 (59... d4 $2 60. h6 d3 61. h7 d2 62.
h8=Q d1=Q 63. Qd8+ $18) 60. h6 Kf8 61. Kg6 Kg8 $11) 58... e5 $1 59. g5 Ke7 $1 60. g6 Kf6 61. Kd3 e4+ $1
{Aronian know s his endgame fortresses!} 62. fxe4 dxe4+ 63. Kxe4 Kg7 64. Kf5 Kg8 65. Kf6 Kf8 {A superb
game w ith some very nice resources found by both players. An entire chapter on how to keep pressing your
opponent and finding small nuances in simplified positions can be w ritten on this very game.} 1/2-1/2

The final move for the final game: Giri concedes the draw at 20:37h Moscow time

Guests on day one

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One of the distinguished guests on the first day w as Boris Gelfand. He spent a lot of time in the commentary
room and w hen he w asnt speaking about the games he w as busy posing for pictures w ith his friends and
fans! By the w ay, in case you are interested to increase the level of your chess understanding you must have
a look at the video broadcast of round one here and w atch Boris instructive comments.

Topalovs manager Silvio Danailov (sitting) has a word with

the Wijk Aan Zee tournament director Jeroen van Den Berg

Local stars Vladimir Potkin (standing), Ian Nepomniachtchi and

Maxim Matlakov enthusiastically followed the games on the big screen

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Levon Aronians fianc Arianne Caoili is in Moscow and watched the live games on the first day

On a parting note w e w ould like you to have a look at the w alls in the background of this tournament hall. It
looks like a dilapidated building, but the organizing committee has turned it around so w ell for this event. It
gives a traditional and historical feel and at the same time everything about the game and organization is
modern. A nice blend!
Pictures by Amruta Mokal of ChessBase India, World Chess live broadcast

Pairings and results

Round 1, Friday 11 March 2016
Karjakin Sergey
- Svidler Peter
Nakamura Hikaru
- Caruana Fabiano
Giri Anish
- Aronian Levon
Anand Visw anathan 1-0 Topalov Veselin
Round 2, Saturday 12 March 2016
Svidler Peter
Topalov Veselin
Aronian Levon
Anand Visw anathan
Caruana Fabiano
Giri Anish
Karjakin Sergey
Nakamura Hikaru
Round 3, Sunday 13 March 2016
Nakamura Hikaru
Svidler Peter
Giri Anish
Karjakin Sergey
Anand Visw anathan
Caruana Fabiano
Topalov Veselin
Aronian Levon
Rest day, Monday 14 March 2016
Round 4, Tuesday 15 March 2016
Svidler Peter
Aronian Levon
Caruana Fabiano
Topalov Veselin
Karjakin Sergey
Anand Visw anathan

Round 8, Sunday 20 March 2016

Svidler Peter
Karjakin Sergey
Caruana Fabiano
Nakamura Hikaru
Aronian Levon
Giri Anish
Topalov Veselin
Anand Visw anathan
Round 9, Monday 21 March 2016
Topalov Veselin
Svidler Peter
Anand Visw anathan
Aronian Levon
Giri Anish
Caruana Fabiano
Nakamura Hikaru
Karjakin Sergey
Rest day, Tuesday 22 March 2016
Round 10, Wed. 23 March 2016
Svidler Peter
Nakamura Hikaru
Karjakin Sergey
Giri Anish
Caruana Fabiano
Anand Visw anathan
Aronian Levon
Topalov Veselin
Round 11, Thursday 24 March 2016
Aronian Levon
Svidler Peter
Topalov Veselin
Caruana Fabiano
Anand Visw anathan
Karjakin Sergey

Nakamura Hikaru
Giri Anish
Round 5, Wed. 16 March 2016
Giri Anish
Svidler Peter
Anand Visw anathan
Nakamura Hikaru
Topalov Veselin
Karjakin Sergey
Aronian Levon
Caruana Fabiano
Round 6, Thursday 17 March 2016
Anand Visw anathan
Svidler Peter
Topalov Veselin
Giri Anish
Aronian Levon
Nakamura Hikaru
Caruana Fabiano
Karjakin Sergey
Rest day, Friday 18 March 2016
Round 7, Saturday 19 March 2016
Svidler Peter
Caruana Fabiano

Giri Anish
Nakamura Hikaru
Round 12, Friday 25 March 2016
Svidler Peter
Giri Anish
Nakamura Hikaru
Anand Visw anathan
Karjakin Sergey
Topalov Veselin
Caruana Fabiano
Aronian Levon
Rest day, Saturday 26 March 2016
Round 13, Sunday 27 March 2016
Caruana Fabiano
Svidler Peter
Aronian Levon
Karjakin Sergey
Topalov Veselin
Nakamura Hikaru
Anand Visw anathan
Giri Anish
Round 14, Monday 28 March 2016
Svidler Peter
Anand Visw anathan

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Karjakin Sergey
Nakamura Hikaru
Giri Anish

Aronian Levon
Topalov Veselin
Anand Visw anathan

Giri Anish
Nakamura Hikaru
Karjakin Sergey

Topalov Veselin
Aronian Levon
Caruana Fabiano

Links
Official tournament site + live broadcast
Dow nload all games in PGN
All ChessBase reports (+ reports on ChessBase India)

Sagar Shah
Sagar Shah is an International Master from India w ith tw o GM norms. He is also a chartered
accountant and w ould like to become the first CA+GM of India. He loves to cover chess tournaments,
as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He maintains his ow n
chess blog.

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Topics
Candidates 2016

See also

Candidates R03: Aronian beats Topalov

3/13/2016 In a tense battle Anish Giri sacrificed tw o pieces to force a perpetual
against Sergey Karjakin. Visw anathan Anand and Fabiano Caruana split the point in
a clearly daw n rook-and-paw n endgame. Veselin Topalov miscalculated badly to
lose tw o paw ns and the game to Levon Aronian. Svidler w as better w ith black
against Hikaru Nakamura but could not w in. Flash report w ith the finished games.
[Discuss]

Candidates R02: Nakamura implodes, Karjakin strikes!

3/12/2016 Svidler against Topalov w as a sedate draw . Anand and Aronian played
a theoretical battle w here both of them w ere excellently prepared. Giri and
Caruanas game promised quite a bit, but in the end also finished in a draw . The
game of the day w as surely Sergey Karjakins victory over Hikaru Nakamura. The
Russian put on the slow stove pressure and Nakamura simply self-destructed.
Detailed game analysis. [Discuss]

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ulyssesganesh 3/11/2016 07:24
great start by vishy!

Bendyer 3/11/2016 07:34

Not another Carlsen - anand !

Gs64 3/11/2016 07:42

Thank you for this quick summary of events. The

emerlion 3/11/2016 07:45

Take this "Computer simulates and predicts Candidates w inner" for not having a factor w here
Anand is good in these candidate matches.

Gs64 3/11/2016 07:46

The live page of Aegon and their behaviour speak for themselves.

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digupagal 3/11/2016 07:48

w hy not? the 2nd match w as closely faught. Maybe Vishy w ill not w in this torunament, but i
definitely believe he w ill not retire soon and prove all of you w rong by competing at this level.
He is a superman!!!
I am a great admirer of Kasparov(master of dynamic play) and he at his best w as w ay better
than carlsen of today imo, how ever even he could not cope up w ith the pressure that the age
brings, Vishy year after year has proved otherw ise. W ho gives mortal like us right to speak something
against these top players?
sorenmikkel 3/11/2016 07:50
It could be good to also show the games i n the report

Krokx 3/11/2016 08:09

Caruana could dress himself a little bit better for such a high-class tournament, in fact I w ould
impose a dress code to the players if I w ould be the organizer. The clothing should represent
the class of the event!

jesus Hum Ortega 3/11/2016 08:47

Anand has muchos experience un marches ,bit the fight beginning

jajalamapratapri 3/11/2016 08:50

Thanks for the quick summary. It's funny to read the game reports in pidgin English on
w orldchess.com. Or sad...

fightingchess 3/11/2016 08:51

fabiano w ore a suit so it is ok.

johnmk 3/11/2016 08:54

W hy does Anand play so w ell now , but so lousy in every other tournament?

Bertman 3/11/2016 10:07

@emerlion
Remember a simulation is only that, and the results w ere the percentage of times each w on. If
I flip a coin 5 times and heads comes up five of those five times, does that debunk the
statement there is a 50% chance for heads to appear?
Hhorse 3/11/2016 11:01
Oh god! A Carlsen-Vishy rematch w ill probably have to happen at the Marshall chess club in NY;
sponsor w ill offer donuts and coffee for the w inner...

abunickabhi 3/11/2016 11:14

Let nakamura w in....it w ill be the best thing ever

Resistance 3/12/2016 12:01

Good opening round. Too soon to draw conclusions about the future w inner, though w e
saw some stuff.
Karjakin-Svidler.
Svidler seized the initiative early on, but Karjakin's position w as solid enough (1/2). Still,
a good sign for Peter fans: he w anted to make things happen.
Nakamura Caruana.
Hikaru pressed, but his opponent w as up to the task. Tense battle (1/2).
Giri-Aronian.
Complex game. Aronian had to endure Giri's sustained pressure in a rather passive position, for a long time
(1/2). You gotta try something else at the opening stage, Levon, if you w anna w in this thing...
Anand-Topalov.
Sharp game; Topalov missed his chance in a razor-sharp position, Anand collected --but not w ithout
difficulties-- (1-0). It is too early to say how w ill Vishy fare against the rest of the field in the follow ing days,
but it is a good start for him anyw ay. More interesting w ill be the other guys' reaction to this result of his.

.
MJFitch 3/12/2016 12:12
Vishy missed his chance last match w hen Carlson blundered...Reading some of these post,
makes me w ant him to w in that much more!!!...He's a great player & a great ambassador of/for
chess!!!

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vincero 3/12/2016 01:47

w orst possible thing that could happen to chess w ould be for anand to become the candidate.
no one w ants to see it and w ill set chess back 5 years....

emerlion 3/12/2016 01:54

@Bertman. My comment w as a bit sarcastic, not to be taken too seriously. How ever, in a
simulation you can input all the factors you w ant. W hy ignore the fact that Anand is very good
at candidate tournaments? I guess accessing another w orld championship is something that
motivates Anand w hile in regular tournaments he's playing w ithout same motivation. This could
be factored in. Similarly Aronian has not played w ell in candidate matches so far, so w hy not
input that factor in?
Balaor 3/12/2016 02:03
@emerlion Alright, but don't forget to take a look at the games. Today, it w as mainly a fail by
Topalov in a tense position w here he, w ith black, had the initiative and a w inning continuation
(Bxf2). Sorry, but not an impressive w in by Anand this time.

bbrodinsky 3/12/2016 02:29

No offense to Anand, great career, one of the best ever.... BUT PLEASE, ANYBODY BUT HIM !

Truffaut 3/12/2016 03:29

Pathetic w eb site coverage by Agon. FIDE show s it's business sense and class yet again.

Hawkman 3/12/2016 03:30

Kramnik w ould have been my favorite, but I predicted Anand, Aronian, and Topalov w ould finish
top 4. W e'll see.

ulyssesganesh 3/12/2016 03:45

sorry brobdi, it is vishy, this time too!

morphic6 3/12/2016 04:44

Hopefully, not another Anand vs Carlsen again!

Mithrull 3/12/2016 05:35

C'mon people. W e know Anand is an all-time great player but if you w ant chess to grow w e
need a new match. #anyonebutanand

thlai80 3/12/2016 05:46

To Indian fans, I'm not sure if it is good for Anand to face Carlsen the 3rd time. The probability
of him losing again vs Carlsen is huge due to his fear of Carlsen, and he may then get the
unw anted record of losing w orld championship 3 times to the same guy.
The best bet to have a slightly more balance match w ould be Caruana, Giri or Aronian.
Nakamura may be a good player but doesn't appeal as he is alw ays a customer of Carlsn.
okfine90 3/12/2016 05:56
Former W orld Champion , V. Anand's performance in such very high pressure situations has
been a success nearly- alw ays. Just try to see it from 1993 and you w ill know it. Obviously a
simulation or a super smart machine learning algorithm has yet to learn some more hidden
input parameters w hich only, w e humans know it today. The answ er is the urge or the
motivation to become a W orld Champion is the deciding factor in candidate matches! .
jajalamapratapri 3/12/2016 06:19
The w inner of the candidates is the most w orthy challenger for the w orld champion.
I w ould not be surprised if it is Anand again. It w ould perhaps be more interesting to see
Carlsen play a W C match against for example Giri, Caruana, or Nakamura, as w e have not
seen this before. No matter w hat, Carlsen remains the favorite as his rating is 50 points above
anyone else, and that is the best objective measure w e have.
Hopefully Agon w ill implode after this fiasco and w e'll be able to w atch the W C match in a civilized manner.
For me that is on chessbase: all the boards on screen, "kibitzers" (engines) I ow n loaded (Stockfish, Komodo
and Houdini in my case) providing analysis w ith a mouse click; and then the best of all: the "cloud feature".
My analysis and others are shared on the net, so for example I may see that a position is +1.3 at 17 ply on
my Stockfish, but then I'll see (on the cloud) the eval of some dude in Germany w ith a supercomputer and at
34 ply the position is equal! I then try to figure it out, all w hile w atching some live video stream w ith
commentary in a separate w indow from some other w ebsite(s), then try to put things together and think it
through: this is great fun! Especially w hen the commentators do not use engines and are discussing lines,
you can immediately check if they got it right or not.
I've demo'd this w ay of w atching chess to people w ith some interest in chess and they love it and try it for
themselves.
So I suggest FIDE fires Agon and gets chessbase to take care of the games dissemination as they have
something w hich is head and shoulders above anything else. And cheap too! To make money I w ould not
mind if you w ould throw in some ads (like for the mafia-style BMW cars on the W orldchess.com broadcast).

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Checkravuh 3/12/2016 07:20

and then there are the idiots w ho claim Anand fears Carlsen.
If a man challenges someone multiple times, it certainly is not due to fear..

Omoplata 3/12/2016 08:30

Congratulations Vishy!

digupagal 3/12/2016 08:30

@vincero u r not the center of this w orld, if you are, then you w ould be a gr8 experiment for
the aliens. Many ppl. w ould be ok w ith the third match, it is not only your opinion that matters.
Having said that, the fact that Anand can compete w ith these kids proves a lot. Its ok even if
he loses. I am speaking as an Indian and i m biased, as is everyone. If not, Aronian w ould not
be seen in these candidates (He is there because his countrymen w ant him to w in the W C for
their country, same w as the case w ith Norw ay in 2013. It is necessary to love your country. Its
the basic human nature.). So cut this crap about Indians, Chienses, Americans
amarpan 3/12/2016 08:50
If Anand ends up playing Carlsen, I am sure it w ont be easy for Carlsen at all. The last match
w as far from being one sided, in fact if Anand has noticed Carlsen's blunder in game 6, the
championship result w ould have been very different. Unfortunately game 6 turned out to be a
double blunder that resulted in Carlsen's favour. Its hard to see anybody else be able to match
up w ith Carlsen better than Anand, except perhaps Kramnik w ho is not playing.
fightingchess 3/12/2016 10:04
w e all know how topalov is. he is not solid. he had a good luck in this game and topa missed
his chance Bxf2+. don't be dramatic.

ulyssesganesh 3/12/2016 10:13

dear dyer....surely yet another anand-carlsen!

ulyssesganesh 3/12/2016 10:14

dear thlai.....flaw ed you are!!

attack2006 3/12/2016 10:20

Vishy is plaw ing w ell!!! Keep it up!!!

bronkenstein 3/12/2016 01:13

Excellent! Go Vishy, go for the crow n again! :)

johnmk 3/12/2016 02:02

Still a a long w ays to go. Could be anyone but I think based on past record, the best result for
chess fans w ould an Aronian victory since Aronian has more w ins vs Carlsen than anyone else.
But he is very streaky so lets hope he can get it together this time.

DeepGreen 3/12/2016 02:07

I think most people, even some die-hard Anand fans, w ill agree w ith me w hen I say that w e do
NOT w ant another Carlsen - Anand match.
The reasons should be obvious:
- W e've already seen 2 matches betw een those tw o, and a new challenger w ill be more
interesting for a change.
- Anand lost both previous matches, and I think he w ill lose once more if he qualifies.
- A younger - preferrably an American player - w ill help to create more interest in the match (media,
sponsors, etc.), w hich w ill be held in the US. I personally hope an American player w ins, at least from a
tournament and publicity perspective.
I also think that Carlsen - Caruana is often more interesting to w atch than Carlsen - Anand. Caruana w ill
probably be able to push Carlsen harder than Anand. Carlsen - Nakamura also tend to be quite interesting,
but if Nakamura somehow manages to qualify, I don't think he w ill have any chance against Carlsen, given
Carlsens devastating 12-0 score.

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