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Tata Steel Group A (2011) Played at the De Moriaan Centre in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, 15-30 January 2011. Rest days: 18, 24 and 27 January. The rounds began at 1:30 pm, except the last round which began at 12:00. Time control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 50 more minutes for the next 20 moves, followed by 15 more minutes to finish the game, with 30 seconds added per move from move 1. Tournament category: XX (2740). Chief arbiter: Pavel Votruba. Hikaru Nakamura won his first super-GM event with 9/13. Elo 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 1 Nakamura 2751 * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 9 2 Anand 2810 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 8½ =3 Carlsen 2814 1 ½ * ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 8 =3 Aronian 2805 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 8 =5 Kramnik 2784 ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 7½ =5 Vachier-Lagrave 2715 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7½ =7 Giri 2686 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ * ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 6½ =7 Ponomariov 2744 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 6½ =9 Nepomniachtchi 2733 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 6 =9 Wang Hao 2731 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ 6 =11 Grischuk 2773 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 1 0 4½ =11 L'Ami 2628 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ 4½ =11 Smeets 2662 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ * 1 4½ 14 Shirov 2722 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 * 4 Official site: https://web.archive.org/web/2011020... Crosstable: https://history.tatasteelchess.com/... Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/nak... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/tata-... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew... FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/tournament... Previous: Corus Group A (2010). Next: Tata Steel Group A (2012). See also Tata Steel Group B (2011) and Tata Steel Group C (2011)  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 91  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Vachier-Lagrave vs H Wang ½-½ 37 2011 Tata Steel Group A D18 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Dutch 2. Nakamura vs Grischuk 1-0 42 2011 Tata Steel Group A D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 3. Nepomniachtchi vs Kramnik ½-½ 36 2011 Tata Steel Group A C45 Scotch Game 4. Ponomariov vs Anand 0-1 52 2011 Tata Steel Group A B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 5. L'Ami vs Giri ½-½ 58 2011 Tata Steel Group A D16 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 6. Carlsen vs Aronian ½-½ 28 2011 Tata Steel Group A C45 Scotch Game 7. Smeets vs Shirov 1-0 25 2011 Tata Steel Group A C78 Ruy Lopez 8. Giri vs Smeets ½-½ 38 2011 Tata Steel Group A D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 9. H Wang vs Nepomniachtchi 0-1 80 2011 Tata Steel Group A D70 Neo-Grunfeld Defense 10. Anand vs Kramnik ½-½ 23 2011 Tata Steel Group A E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 11. Aronian vs Nakamura ½-½ 17 2011 Tata Steel Group A A89 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation with Nc6 12. Shirov vs Carlsen ½-½ 28 2011 Tata Steel Group A C45 Scotch Game 13. Grischuk vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ 27 2011 Tata Steel Group A B30 Sicilian 14. Ponomariov vs L'Ami ½-½ 21 2011 Tata Steel Group A E59 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line 15. Vachier-Lagrave vs Aronian ½-½ 21 2011 Tata Steel Group A D39 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin, Vienna Variation 16. Kramnik vs H Wang ½-½ 46 2011 Tata Steel Group A E25 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 17. L'Ami vs Anand ½-½ 31 2011 Tata Steel Group A E11 Bogo-Indian Defense 18. Smeets vs Ponomariov 0-1 40 2011 Tata Steel Group A C18 French, Winawer 19. Nepomniachtchi vs Grischuk ½-½ 23 2011 Tata Steel Group A B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 20. Carlsen vs Giri 0-1 22 2011 Tata Steel Group A D71 Neo-Grunfeld 21. Nakamura vs Shirov 1-0 93 2011 Tata Steel Group A C78 Ruy Lopez 22. Aronian vs Nepomniachtchi 1-0 26 2011 Tata Steel Group A D83 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit 23. Ponomariov vs Carlsen ½-½ 32 2011 Tata Steel Group A A15 English 24. Grischuk vs Kramnik ½-½ 34 2011 Tata Steel Group A A09 Reti Opening 25. Shirov vs Vachier-Lagrave 0-1 32 2011 Tata Steel Group A D86 Grunfeld, Exchange  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 91    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 101 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jan-28-11    anandrulez: Yes drop a move to keep the bishops do two tasks. Its trivial , wonder how Kramnik could miss that idea really ! Jan-28-11    geladar: It is pretty strange that people react to this like kramnik is finished and carlsen a super-genious!These 2 gives us great games every time they meet and will continue to do it for at least a few years.The sequence is not yet completed and just a game doesn't say a think. Jan-28-11    fisayo123: The fan-boyism here is stifling,but i guess everyone has a right to support their favorite players.Even when we exaggerate their ability. Jan-28-11    anandrulez: Twitter Magnus : Exhausted, but extremely happy after grinding out a win against Kramnik :) Jan-28-11    YouRang: Looks like Hao-Smeets should be called a draw anytime now... Jan-28-11    YouRang: No sooner said than done! Jan-28-11    dakgootje: Bleh, that game made a 1250 c-buck difference.. which is about 2 times my current bankroll. If only Hao could've won at some moment.. Jan-28-11    fgh: <Lady In Black: Kramnik is becoming a grandpa.> Once you are born, you begin to age (and die, of course). You don't need to state the obvious, wiseacre. Kramnik lost to Carlsen in 2008 (same tournament), but defeated him in 2010 (again, same tournament). Their head-to-head results are hardly becoming one-sided. Jan-28-11    arnaud1959: <Eyal:...otherwise ...Nd1 just wins the e3 pawn.> Im looking at your diagram,I don't understand why. White can play e4 (with the B on c8 or a8) and if ...d4 then e5 dxe5, Ke4. The resulting position needs simply to be analysed. White may try to collect e5 and d4 or only e5, then bring the King to the kingside and give the bishop for the d pawn. Jan-28-11    turbo231: <dakgootje: Hao will not agree to draw until either he or Smeets drops dead from exhaustion.> They died from exhaustion, it's a draw. Jan-28-11    Kinghunt: <The Rocket: <"Endgame genius..Thats it.."> yeah pawn up and wins! he must be a genius.> Well, honestly, yes. An extra pawn doesn't mean a won position. This endgame, despite the extra pawn, was very drawish. Try playing it out yourself against a computer. You'll find that it's extremely tricky to convert. Jan-28-11    Eyal: <arnaud1959: <Eyal:...otherwise ...Nd1 just wins the e3 pawn.> Im looking at your diagram,I don't understand why. White can play e4 (with the B on c8 or a8) and if ...d4 then e5 dxe5, Ke4> Yes, I should have said either wins e3 or gets a passed pawn after e4 - but Black is definitely winning in the latter case as well. In your line there's no way White can just "collect" the d pawn after Black plays d3 and Nf2 - he would have to give up the bishop for this pawn, and then the white king can't get at both of the black pawns on the K-side - Black plays Nxh3, defending g5, and after that the win is trivial. Jan-28-11    The Rocket: <Kinghunt:> I doubt any other grandmaster would play it any different than carlsen, in fact it would probably be a 100% replica of the last part of the endgame from black. It was all about how white defended, not how black did on his part. Jan-28-11    pubaer: poor kramnik, if this is his client his business msut be doing really bad lol Jan-28-11    frogbert: <yeah pawn up and wins! he must be a genius.> the rocket, haha! please go on and show everyone how much you understood of that ending. oh my ... Jan-28-11    The Rocket: frogbert I dont need to understand it(even though I probably would).. the position plays itself.., black cant lose it unless he gives up material in one move. And you can just try any path and check out if white goes wrong, just like carlsen did. Jan-28-11    Kinghunt: <And you can just try any path and check out if white goes wrong, just like carlsen did.> But when white is Kramnik, you need to find a highly precise path to push him to go wrong. Like I said before, try playing it out yourself against the computer, and see how you do. CEGT is much weaker than Kramnik, so it'll be even easier for you. Jan-28-11    nigelsnoru: Something wrong with the crosstable. L'Ami and Grischuk show as having played 12 games. Jan-28-11    anandrulez: Carlsen has played better endgames than this . I mean this was a good game but need to realize that Kramnik was already a pawn down out of the opening and try to salvage a draw . Its easy to mess up in such positions , Kramnik missed some ideas like Bc8 which was odd I though . I mean the idea of cutting the King from f1 and keeping a check on d5 was elementary . Magnus himself said it did require help from Kramnik so have careless defended the position at some point . Jan-28-11    frogbert: reassess the ending in 20 years, the rocket. although i think white could've improved his defence on a few occasions and the ending might objectively be a draw from the outset - which was why kramnik steered towards it in the first place - you're doing yourself a disservice if you go on thinking that white defended poorly and that black had no way of going wrong here. you think too highly of the average gm, btw - and too little of the very best. but that's your loss, not mine. :o) Jan-28-11    crazybird: <you're doing yourself a disservice if you go on thinking that white defended poorly and that black had no way of going wrong here.> Well, even Magnus said that Kramnik "really played the endgame carelessly" Jan-28-11    SetNoEscapeOn: Carlsen himself said that Kramnik conducted the endgame in very poor style. He knows better than we do. Jan-28-11    Jim Bartle: If that position from move 25 (after the exchange of queens) to move 80 "plays itself," I can just stop trying to learn to play endings! I think I'll put Hiarcs playing itself at three minutes a move, see what happens. Jan-28-11    samikd: Anand still has a chance if he beats Giri with white pieces, because Nakamura is likely to draw against Kramnik. But in the last round Naka is still favorite to beat Wang Hao and clinch the title. Well, good for him. Good for American chess. America needed a chess hero very badly. Jan-28-11    anandrulez: Well Anand needs to win Giri , I think its really a tough task . Giri is a solid player and not tail ender category . I think Naka is now the front runner for the cup ! He deserves the honours too ... 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