Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Sergey Karjakin (2015)

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Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Sergey Karjakin
FIDE Grand Prix Khanty-Mansiysk (2015), Khanty-Mansiysk RUS, rd 6, May-20
Spanish Game: Berlin Defense (C65) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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May-20-15		EhsanBalani: Do this player (MVL) get drunk before playing chess? 38.f4?!

May-20-15		cro777: Interestingly, in the 4.d3 Anti-Berlin the players followed the Chessgames Challenge The World vs Naiditsch, 2014 Position after 12.a3 click for larger view Here, Karjakin opted for 12...a6 while Naiditsch had chosen 12...Bg6.

May-20-15		fgh: <EhsanBalani>: Judging by your profile, you seem to be one big troll. Time to join the (ignore) party!

May-20-15		ColdSong: "Grand roque",as frenchmen say,(three consecutive defeats) for MVL:a major crisis.The Frenchman has to think,right now,very seriously about how to play safely,soundly,to this difficult game.

May-20-15		SirRuthless: Like a steer to the slaughterhouse...

May-20-15		notyetagm: M Vachier-Lagrave vs Karjakin, 2015 <SirRuthless: Like a steer to the slaughterhouse...> Yes, I am a huge MVL fan and this is like the worst game I have ever seen him play. Karjakin just completely outplays him with Black in this game. 3 losses in a row. Mon dieu!

May-20-15		Ulhumbrus: 8 d4 opens lines in a position where Black is ahead in development. An alternative is 8 Ba4 and Bc2 A move like 12 a3 is a sign that White is in trouble. White's centre has become a target instead of a weapon.

May-20-15		Ron: <Ulhumbrus: 8 d4 opens lines in a position where Black is ahead in development. An alternative is 8 Ba4 and Bc2 A move like 12 a3 is a sign that White is in trouble. White's centre has become a target instead of a weapon.> Were you involved in this chessgames.com challenge? The World vs Naiditsch, 2014 The world team played 12 a3 and it was the top choice of at least one chess computer, for example RYBKA.

May-21-15		cro777: Maxime Vachier Lagrave: "12.a3 maybe not the best choice for today as it is very complicated." Position after 11...Bh5 click for larger view Here, the main move is 12.Qb3 with the continuation 12...d5 13.e5 Nd7. This line had occurred in the games of both players (they were familiar with this position). As already mentioned, the move 12.a3 was introduced by The World team in the Chessgames Challenge The World vs Naiditsch, 2014 (game of the day Dec-30-14). It was suggested by <RandomVisitor> (as the move preferred by his engine Rybka 4.1). The final vote tally was: <12.a3> 115 votes, <12.Qb3> 102 votes, <12.Ba4> 14 votes etc. <kwid>: "I would like to share an idea of how we could improve on our development: 12. a3. Our problem is the DCB and the Q-rook plus d4 defense requirement. With a2-a3 we have b2-b4 against the treat of Ba5 with pin on d2-e1. but a3 will put the ball in his court to show what he is up to." The move 12.a3 was also tried in March this year at the Moscow Aeroflot open tournament B Bok vs I Kovalenko, 2015 The main answer to 12.a3 is 12...a6 followed by the bishop retreat to f1, while Kovalenko tried 13.Ba4. In the aforementioned Chessgame Challenge, Naiditsch surprised The World by playing 12...Bg6. <RandomVisitor>: "I think that if anyone seriously suggested that 12...Bg6 was worth more than 3 seconds of effort, that they would have been met with sarcasm, or worse."

May-21-15		cro777: The sideline 12.a3 was Maxime's home preparation (previously he tried the main line 12.Qb3). 12. a3 a6 13. Bf1 Re8 14. e5 Nfd5 15. Nc4 Ba7 16. g4 Bg6 17. Bg5 de5 18. de5 h6 19. Bh4 b5 20. Na5 Qc8! click for larger view The chances are equal. White has several good moves here (21.Nc6, 21.Bg2). But Maxime, as he said himself, "immediately blundered" by playing 21.Rc1? "Up till here it's probably all still in my computer. After 21...c5 I suddenly realized I didn't know what to do ... As soon as I got out of my preparation, I started to make bad move after bad move."

May-21-15		Ulhumbrus: <...Maxime, as he said himself, "immediately blundered" by playing 21.Rc1? "Up till here it's probably all still in my computer. After 21...c5 I suddenly realized I didn't know what to do ... > This suggests that after 20...Qc8 the advance 21...c5 has to be considered a threat. This in turn suggests something else: Vachier-Lagrave is suffering from poor playing form, caused perhaps by his previous losses. Perhaps he needs to play just one game in a less sharp style in order to steady his nerves.

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