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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 2 of 4; games 26-50 of 91  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. Giri vs Nakamura ½-½ 69 2011 Tata Steel Group A E00 Queen's Pawn Game 27. L'Ami vs Smeets ½-½ 27 2011 Tata Steel Group A D12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 28. Anand vs H Wang 1-0 33 2011 Tata Steel Group A E25 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 29. Smeets vs Anand 0-1 65 2011 Tata Steel Group A C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer 30. H Wang vs Grischuk 1-0 36 2011 Tata Steel Group A E63 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Panno Variation 31. Vachier-Lagrave vs Giri ½-½ 39 2011 Tata Steel Group A C42 Petrov Defense 32. Kramnik vs Aronian ½-½ 26 2011 Tata Steel Group A D10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 33. Nepomniachtchi vs Shirov ½-½ 79 2011 Tata Steel Group A C78 Ruy Lopez 34. Nakamura vs Ponomariov ½-½ 43 2011 Tata Steel Group A E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 35. Carlsen vs L'Ami 1-0 94 2011 Tata Steel Group A C77 Ruy Lopez 36. Smeets vs Carlsen 0-1 33 2011 Tata Steel Group A C67 Ruy Lopez 37. Shirov vs Kramnik 0-1 43 2011 Tata Steel Group A C45 Scotch Game 38. Anand vs Grischuk ½-½ 23 2011 Tata Steel Group A B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 39. L'Ami vs Nakamura 0-1 43 2011 Tata Steel Group A E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 40. Giri vs Nepomniachtchi 0-1 38 2011 Tata Steel Group A D85 Grunfeld 41. Ponomariov vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ 22 2011 Tata Steel Group A D85 Grunfeld 42. Aronian vs H Wang ½-½ 51 2011 Tata Steel Group A D18 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Dutch 43. H Wang vs Shirov ½-½ 62 2011 Tata Steel Group A D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 44. Nakamura vs Smeets 1-0 61 2011 Tata Steel Group A D44 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 45. Kramnik vs Giri 1-0 59 2011 Tata Steel Group A D85 Grunfeld 46. Nepomniachtchi vs Ponomariov ½-½ 22 2011 Tata Steel Group A C11 French 47. Grischuk vs Aronian 0-1 49 2011 Tata Steel Group A C85 Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation Doubly Deferred (DERLD) 48. Vachier-Lagrave vs L'Ami ½-½ 24 2011 Tata Steel Group A A19 English, Mikenas-Carls, Sicilian Variation 49. Carlsen vs Anand ½-½ 18 2011 Tata Steel Group A B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 50. Ponomariov vs Kramnik ½-½ 19 2011 Tata Steel Group A D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation  page 2 of 4; games 26-50 of 91    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 121 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing> Feb-01-11    anandrulez: Lol @ Land of Anand :) Its a new usage . What Udayan mentioned is correct , exuberance of youth and maturity of a wise player . Feb-01-11    theagenbiteofinwit: <Isn't Anand fed up with his lack-lustre tournament performance and missed wins against lower ranked players?> I'm sure he goes home after every tournament, cries, then wipes his tears with his championship wreath. Feb-01-11    chancho: <I'm sure he goes home after every tournament, cries, then wipes his tears with his championship wreath.> lol Feb-01-11    SetNoEscapeOn: Or the Euros. Feb-02-11    Texas Skybear: Udayan. Are you saying one has to be conservative in his approach to be a world champ? I haven't seen a teenager reach the top either. Feb-02-11    DAVI DE RAFE: texas skybear, u have to be agressive to become world champion. once u reach there, be conservative and assertive.thats wat anand done. Feb-02-11    Udayan Chawdhary: Real World champs in any field have a healthy blend of being aggressive and being conservative. Anand is one of them. In India, we have litle sports icons as compared to other countries. Hence being an Indian, it is quite natural to be proud of Anand's accomplishments. Garry Kasparov who is universally accepted as the greatest of them all had a healthy blend of both. Even his agression had a conservatism blend and not recklesness as is the case with other youth icons. Your comments please. Feb-02-11    iamsheaf: If any of you have noticed. Anand doesn't usually "over-perform" or "under-perform" by a huge margin. I don't remember Anand performing at 2900+ in a very long time. Perhaps in Mexico 2007 he had that kind of performance. On the other hand Anand very rarely performs at 2700 level either. I can think of only 3 occassions in last 14 years when he did quite bad. 2001 dortmund, 2006 Olympiad and Bilbao 2008. Otherwise his performance is usually consistent, between 2760 to 2840 range.. Feb-02-11    TheMacMan: this is anand after his draw with Nepo, putting him in 2nd place! he was MAAADDDD!!!! http://chessbase.com/news/2011/wijk... Feb-02-11    plang: <* Anand hasn't won a super-tournament since Linares 2008; Of course these two players are, really, really great but in term of "winner of a super tournament", even if they are indeed high favourite, they are not the best in term of results as tournaments winner lately.> I continue to be amazed at the "disappointment" with Anand's results. Since 1997 he has won the World Championship in a tournament, in a match as well as defended his title in a match. He is the undisputed World Champion - he shouldn't have to prove anything to anyone. Feb-02-11    Winsome Knight: I feel that the way Anand trained himself for WC matches has made him more solid in his play. Of course, if he finds inaccuracies from his opponents he is pressing for a win or else he is finding it difficult to create winning positions. It is also true that opponents will be extra careful with Anand and will be happy to get a draw against him. I think only Magnus tries to play and presses for a win against Anand without compromising just for a draw. There is nothing wrong with Anand but it is just his approach that has changed after becoming world champion. And still he had come very close to winning a couple of tournaments! May be he will win one or two tournaments this year. Feb-02-11    montree: <iamsheaf> Exactly. I agree. Anand always maintain a class. Nowadays he is playing more like 'Capablanca' style (not losing to any lesser player, draws don't hurt). I think people should be OK with that. World Champions should not be losing often. Feb-02-11    Penguincw: Just in case anyone's wondering here are the TPR (tournament performance rating): Nakamura : 2880 Anand : 2844 Carlsen : 2821 Aronian : 2821 Kramnik : 2793 Vachier-Lagrave : 2798 Giri : 2744 Ponomariov : 2739 Nepomniachtchi : 2711 Hao : 2711 Grischuk : 2627 l'Ami : 2638 Smeets : 2635 Shirov : 2600 Feb-02-11    polarmis: I've translated some of the highlights of Russian journalist Yury Vasiliev's reports from the tournament. Highlights include Grischuk's summary of his tournament (plus Kramnik's and Nepo's) and e.g. Kramnik revealing what he missed against Carlsen (what we all assumed!). Here: http://www.chessintranslation.com/2... And not on topic, but 3 hours left to ask Levon Aronian a question :) http://www.chessintranslation.com/2... Feb-02-11    vanytchouck: <plang: <* Anand hasn't won a super-tournament since Linares 2008; Of course these two players are, really, really great but in term of "winner of a super tournament", even if they are indeed high favourite, they are not the best in term of results as tournaments winner lately.> I continue to be amazed at the "disappointment" with Anand's results. Since 1997 he has won the World Championship in a tournament, in a match as well as defended his title in a match. He is the undisputed World Champion - he shouldn't have to prove anything to anyone.> Yeah! So true ! What's a pity, people didn't tell Kasparov it was useless to win tournaments during his reign ... Oh wait ! It was just great to see a world champion eager to show at each very tournament, at each very game that he's the undisputed #1. And i just don't miss the Petrosian'times. Feb-02-11    plang: What's a pity, people didn't tell <Kasparov it was useless to win tournaments during his reign ... Oh wait ! It was just great to see a world champion eager to show at each very tournament, at each very game that he's the undisputed #1.> Kasparov's tournament record is amazing - expecting other players to match it seems unfair. Feb-02-11    DAVI DE RAFE: kasparov no longer in field, karpov humiliating himself nowadays then no one to question anand yet. that person may not yet born Feb-02-11    AuN1: < polarmis: I've translated some of the highlights of Russian journalist Yury Vasiliev's reports from the tournament. Highlights include Grischuk's summary of his tournament (plus Kramnik's and Nepo's) and e.g. Kramnik revealing what he missed against Carlsen (what we all assumed!). Here: http://www.chessintranslation.com/2... And not on topic, but 3 hours left to ask Levon Aronian a question :) http://www.chessintranslation.com/2...; there was an extremely interesting comment at the end by ilya nyzhnyk where he stated that he would prefer to play for another country, as opposed to his native ukraine. maybe he is thinking about a karjakin type transfer. Feb-06-11    ajile: <theagenbiteofinwit: <Isn't Anand fed up with his lack-lustre tournament performance and missed wins against lower ranked players?> I'm sure he goes home after every tournament, cries, then wipes his tears with his championship wreath.> lol win Mar-10-11    Maatalkko: What/when is the next big event, not counting the Candidates? (Obviously a doubleplusbig event.) The calendar is so dead this year. Jun-03-12    Open Defence: Viswanathan Anand clear second 8.5/13 (+4 -0 =9) is a lacklustre performance??? Aug-03-14    whiteshark: Quote of the Day <" I was sort of jumping up and down around the room. I was so happy. Winning a tournament is always nice but winning an elite tournament like this is something completely different. I cannot remember the last time an American won a major tournament. "> -- Nakamura (on winning Tata Steel '11) Feb-13-16    perfidious: <Open Defence: Viswanathan Anand clear second 8.5/13 (+4 -0 =9) is a lacklustre performance???> Sure is, same as Nakamura's victory in this event was achieved only because he pounded on the tailenders while not being able to win games against the top half. Many posters appear breathtakingly ignorant of the fact that Anand was already aged forty-one at the time of this tournament, same as Kasparov when he called it a career, at a time when the latter had already begun to go into a decline phase--if only by his august standards, as he was no longer clearcut number one. Plus ca change.... Jun-22-21    MissScarlett: QOTD again today: <I cannot remember the last time an American won a major tournament.> Me neither. Kamsky at Las Palmas (1994) ? Kamsky's bio mentions shared first at Dos Hermanas 1995 but I think a tournament should be won outright to qualify. Jul-15-24    phaeax: Wins against Grischuk, MVL and Nepo are victories against some of the best players currently. Naka played like a god to win this tournament. Tail-enders? Maybe in this tournament, but today three of the best in the world. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 121) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 121 OF 121 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. 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