Nepomniachtchi Leads Croatia Grand Chess Tour As Anand Miraculously Escapes
After a bloody affair on day one, round two at the Croatia Grand Chess Tour returned to normal, with five out of the six games ending in draws. Most of them were fighting games, while only Ian Nepomniachtchi managed to defeat Fabiano Caruana and the Russian now enjoys the sole lead.
World Champion Magnus Carlsen once again played in his trademark style and had Viswanathan Anand on the ropes before the latter survived miraculously.
Nepomniachtchi vs Caruana was by far the most exciting game of the round. It featured a Sveshnikov; Caruana seems to prefer this over the Petroff nowadays and has employed it with reasonable success. He was doing well, but it was Nepomniachtchi who took his chance while always having a huge time advantage on the clock.
Nepomniachtchi: "I'm not very satisfied with my play. Of course, I am satisfied with the result but the play should be improved" #GrandChessTour
— Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) June 27, 2019
Carlsen played his former world championship opponent Anand in a game that resembles a storyline that has occurred in several Carlsen vs Anand games from the past:
- Carlsen doesn't get much out of the opening.
- Anand seems to be holding his own before Carlsen starts the grind.
- Carlsen puts some pressure and then some more to get a strong initiative.
The world number-one then generally puts the ball in the back of the net, but not this time, as Anand put up a tenacious defense and hung on by a thread to save the game.
Anand summed up it beautifully by saying: "[Carlsen] won harder positions than this and I've lost easier ones."
The chess world, including fellow tour participant Anish Giri, applauded Anand's defense.
The chess world is a better place when Vishy Anand holds a worse endgame against Magnus Carlsen. 🤣👏 #icons #GrandChessTour
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) June 27, 2019
Spain's number-one player Francisco Vallejo Pons went a step further and called it a Houdini escape by Anand.
Houdini escape by @vishy64theking
— Paco Vallejo (@Chessidharta) June 27, 2019
Even if the world champion wasn't happy with the outcome of this game, he will surely be happy with the news that was discussed widely in the chess world yesterday that his country won't be hosting the 2020 world chess championship on Norwegian soil next year.
World number-three Ding Liren of China was the one who put Sergey Karjakin under pressure throughout the game but the "Minister of Defense" once again proved his credentials.
Levon Aronian and Giri played a Catalan in a game that didn't offer big chances to either player. Interestingly, these players played the same variation but with the colors reversed a few years ago. Aronian tried to apply the pressure but Giri equalized easily and then was never in any trouble.
Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had a symmetrical position for seven moves. Black struck the center with 8...d5, which allowed massive exchanges. Vachier-Lagrave was happy to repeat his old game that he played against his compatriot Sebastian Feller four years ago.
Both sides were left with two rooks and a knight in the middlegame when So played the first new move of the game. Black equalized completely in what was the first game to finish in round two.
Hikaru Nakamura tried to bounce back after yesterday's loss by trying to pose some problems to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the latter's Gruenfeld. Nakamura tried pushing his h-pawn down the board but Mamedyarov kept offering a bishop trade that White couldn't avoid, so they ended up repeating moves.
2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour | Round 2 Standings
The 2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour takes place June 26 to July 8 at the Novinarski Dom in Zagreb, Croatia. This is one of two classical events of the tour this year. The time control is a new one, with 130 minutes for each player with a 30-second delay from move one.
The games start at 4:30 pm local time (CEST), which is 10:30 am Eastern and 7:30 am Pacific. You can follow the games here as part of our live portal with daily commentary by GM Robert Hess.
Round two coverage by GM Robert Hess
Previous reports:
Rakesh Kulkarni is the Director of Indian Social Media for Chess.com and a correspondent on chess in India.
Rakesh has earned the International Master title and is a former Commonwealth Blitz Champion and a Commonwealth Bronze medallist in the junior category. Rakesh has a Masters of Commerce degree in Management & Business administration. He now is a professional chess player and trains young talents across the globe on chess.com
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