Chess (#1120)

Team Anand is packing for Sochi, going by the pictures tweeted from Viswanathan Anand's account. The exact composition of the team is still unknown though Sandipan Chanda is a key member. Anand was rumoured to be looking at wholesale changes after the 2013 title match, which he lost without ever getting a convincing edge out of the opening. The rumour mill says Magnus Carlsen has a much larger team with Peter Heine Nielsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Laurent Fressinet, Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer, etc, all said to be working in his cause.  

Meanwhile the results from the Tashkent Grand Prix indicate that fatigue has played a role there. Fabiano Caruana and Boris Gelfand won the preceding Baku GP, which ended just a week before Tashkent, with Sergey Karjakin sharing third. But they haven't done well here. Caruana and Karjakin are hovering on 50 per cent while Gelfand is in last place.

After 8 rounds, the lead is shared by Hikaru Nakamura, Dmitry Andreikin and Baadur Jobava, who have all scored 5. Early leader, Vachier-Lagrave, and Shakhriyar Mamedaryov have 4.5 with the rest of the field on 50 per cent or less. Nakamura has played steady chess. Andreikin has been his usual practical self.

Jobava has produced his usual brand of inspired lunacy. The Georgian GM is one of the most creative players around, often producing openings that are completely unheard of. He is also a very sharp tactician who revels in extreme risk. When it works, it is spectacular stuff. When it doesn't work, he shrugs his shoulders, absorbs the loss and tries something even more outrageous. At Tashkent, Jobava has lost one terrible game to Nakamura and he has beaten Karjakin, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Gelfand in convincing fashion.

There are just three rounds left at Tashkent, which means that the nine players who are at 4 points, or better, all have a shot at finishing in the prize list. Gathering GP points is important for anybody who's hoping to qualify for the next title cycle. So hard fights are guaranteed.

The DIAGRAM, BLACK TO PLAY (Karjakin Vs Jobava, Tashkent GP 2014) is the launchpad for a coffee-house sacrifice. Few people would have the courage to do this against a 2750-player.

Black played 16...Bxh3 17.gxh3 Qxh3 18.Bxg6 hxg6 19.Re3 g5.  Something like 20. Rae1 or 20. Qe4 could leave white somewhat better. Karjakin played 20.c5? Bf4! 21.Rb3 Bc7 22.Qc4 Qh5?! The engines say 22. - Qg4 is winning but White is now  uncomfortable anyway.

Play went 23.Kg2 Qg4+ 24.Kf1 Re8 25.Re1Qh3+! 26.Kg1 Rxe1+! 27.Bxe1 Qg4+ 28.Kf1 Re8 29.Ng1 Bh2. Now a line like the forced 30.Nh3 Qe4! 31.Re3 Qh1+ 32.Ke2 Rxe3+ 33.fxe3 g4 seems horrible but instead, white made an outright blunder with 30.Ne2?? Rxe2 31.Rxb7 Re6 (0-1). Even 30.- Qh5 wins.

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player