Category: English

I arrived in London on December 1st, in a familiar environment and in a city I like, to compete in the Grand Chess Tour final, with the same 4-player format than the previous year.

I learned of my qualification at the last minute, as it depended on the results of the other players, especially Anand. It wasn’t the most likely, but I qualified instead. It obviously overloaded my December calendar, at a time when the qualification for the Candidates was about to be decided. But I was pretty happy to be qualified anyway. The challenge was highly interesting; first playing against Magnus of course, and then the second match as well, against Aronian or Ding Liren. So I was motivated, in a format that generally suits me well. The match against Magnus was very, very tense. In the first game, for example, it was really extremely complex and anything could have happened. It ended up being a perpetual after we missed a lot of stuff. After several other draws, I was the first to win in the Blitz, from a position where I had nothing at all, by the way. However, he struck back immediately, in a game where, on the contrary, I had a very good position, but made further bad decisions. Generally speaking, the level of our match was still quite high. Maybe the key moment was when I defended the last Blitz with little time on the clock and a definitely unpleasant endgame.

Then of course, there was the first game of the tie-break with black, which was completely crazy; the advantage changed sides all the time, it was so tactical, but I ended up winning. After that, all that was left to do was to draw the second game; which I did .
Of course, I was very happy to win a 10-game match against the world champion, especially with a mix of cadences. Psychologically, it was a boost, because who else can claim such a result? Unfortunately, we had to go on to the final, and Ding Liren made me come down from my cloud right away, by putting me under enormous pressure in the first classical game. After that, he wasn’t precise enough in an ending that was completely lost for me. Well, I hung in there as best I could, and he freaked out a few times. I finally held the draw in a crazy four-queen position!

In the second game, I found myself in trouble from the start in an English opening. I misjudged the position, and with the advantage, it was clinical from him. It’s mostly a game where there hasn’t been much to do. I wasn’t alert enough, and he was impeccable….. Then in the Rapids, I tried to come back but it quickly went wrong! I still saved the honor by winning the Blitz match by a wide margin.

Overall, the balance of the Grand Chess Tour 2019 is not so bad, as I ended up second for the third year in a row.

Then, the switch to the FIDE Grand Prix was complicated because I couldn’t arrive in Jerusalem until late Tuesday afternoon after a long journey, while the tournament already started the next day. The good news, though, is that the draw looked rather good. Unfortunately, I could see right away that I wasn’t playing at my best. Already in the first game against Topalov I was in great danger; I managed to hang on and I remained unscathed by a little bit of a miracle, but I was really close to disaster. So I decided not to take any undue risks in the classical games. Especially since I quickly understood that the bonus points would serve absolutely no purpose, which was indeed the case. The important thing was to be qualified after each round…

So I focused on the Rapids. First against Topalov, and then against Andreikin, after my opening in the first classical game petered out into a draw, due to a memory error!
On the other hand, in the Rapids, it went well; against Andreikin, the first game was ultra hot. But in the end, I saw more stuff than he did, so it’s only natural that I won 🙂 .

Then there was the decisive match against Nepo, and I have to admit I didn’t make the right decisions, that’s for sure. First, I was surprised by the rare 8.Be3.

So I wasted a lot of time looking at 8…Ng4 9.Bg5!?, which could have been his idea. On 9.e5, which he played, I had several possibilities, not only that of taking e3. But I said to myself: “We’ll go for the simplest”; unfortunately, the simplest in question was not the best… So he took a large advantage, but then he allowed me counterplay. The critical moment was obviously after 19.Qa3…

Of course, I saw the natural 19… c5 20.dxc5 Qc8, which I remember having rejected because of 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Bc4! Bxh4+ 23.Rxh4 Nxh4 24.Rd6!. I haven’t analysed the game at all since then, but on the board, it looked very suspicious for me. What happened in the game after my choice 19…fxe5 20.dxe5 Qe8 (with the idea of counterplay based on …Qc6-b6), is that I realized only after he played 21.Bg2 that the planned continuation 21…Bxe5 22.fxe5 Nxh4+ 23.Kg1 Nxg2 was refuted by the dreadful intermediate move 24.Ne4! and White wins.

With my back to the wall, I managed to introduce a good opening idea in the second game. And I got a very good position; unfortunately spoiled by bad decisions… First of all, 15.Nf4 was less accurate than 15.Bd2!.

But above all, 19.b4? turned out to be really catastrophic, instead of the normal 19.Nfe2 which kept the edge. In fact I completely forgot while playing 19.b4 – too fast! – that the black’s Queen was going to land on c4 via a6.

And finally, there is the last big mistake 25.Ng3? instead of 25.Nd3. In fact, after 25…f5, I wanted to go 26.e5 f4 27.Bxf4 gxf4 28.Nh5, but I quickly realized that Black is winning after 28…Bxe5! 29.dxe5 0-0-0!. As a result, I accepted to be worse after 26.exf5, and I quickly offered a draw. Anyway, there was really nothing to do here, except to lose! And I’ve lost enough games stupidly in must win situations, remember Jakovenko two years ago in identical circumstances…

Eliminated, I caught an early plane the next morning and found myself having to wait at home for the Nepo-Wei Yi final match. My destiny was no longer in my hands, but a victory for the Chinese would still have sent me directly to the Candidates! Unfortunately, the coin fell on the wrong side again, but I still made the decision not to give up the Rapid & Blitz World Championships in Moscow. I knew I was completely cooked physically, but in terms of effort it was less complicated anyway, and still quite fun. I also know that I have an ability to bounce back, so I went to Moscow full of innocent enthusiasm 🙂 . But let’s be honest, I’ve done a bit of a mess there… I’ve had three disastrous days, the first and third Rapid, and the first Blitz; that’s only two ok days… In the end, finishing 14th in the Rapid and 4-5th in the Blitz in these conditions, There’s not much to strut about, but given my state of form, I’ll take it! And given the level of my games, I have to take it even more 🙂 .

Now let’s look ahead to 2020, which is going to be a much lighter season. It will be an opportunity for me to get back to basics, both technically and physically. In terms of events, I will play in Gibraltar at the end of the month, Norway Chess at the beginning of June, and I will participate in the Grand Chess Tour 2020 for which I am qualified.
These are the only certainties at the moment!

If you want to know more about everything concerning the world championship cycle, the qualification for the Candidates, Laurent Vérat’s open letter on wild-card, the controversy that followed, but also the relationships between French players of the elite, the possible French naturalization of Firouzja, and many other subjects, read without delay the long interview given by Maxime a few days ago to www.chess.com .

Maxime’s games in London:

Maxime’s games in Jerusalem:

Maxime’s games in the Rapîd World Championship:

Maxime’s games in the blitz world championship:

There are still two places to be distributed on sporting criteria for the Candidates’ Tournament, via the 2019 FIDE Grand Prix which is coming to an end. The Hamburg tournament has just ended, and the final stage is scheduled from December 11 in the heart of the historic district of Jerusalem.

In Hamburg, it was therefore a question of getting ahead before the sprint… For the occasion, the large port city of northern Germany had made a theatre available for the event. Some have been disturbed by the level of the organization. For my part, I have few complaints about the playing hall. Just that it was a little difficult to reach the toilet level; there was a big staircase to climb, not a very convenient access during a game. But it is true that it was linked to the configuration of the premises, in the heart of an old theatre. For the rest, I didn’t have noise problems to deal with, I found the room quiet, quite spacious too, even when there were 16 of us. Maybe a little dark, but hey… It was no luxury, but there was really nothing to complain about, unlike what we saw in Zagreb this summer! (Editor’s note, stage of a Grand Chess Tour event).

Round of 16:

MVL – WEI YI (2724) 1.5-0.5

In the first game, I was able to place a nice prep against the Najdorf, which had been cooked by Matthieu Cornette during the Top 12 in May. He sent me a file by email during the Norway Chess in June. I liked the idea of playing 6.g3 without putting the Bishop in g2, and I decided to try it at the next opportunity! So it worked well and I took and advantage out of the opening.

Later, I wasn’t sure about my move 21.Nd5.

Of course, after 21…Nxd5 22.exd5 Rc7 (if 22…Rc5 23.Nxb6 Rd8 24.Bc4! followed by b4-a5 is very favorable to white) 23.Nxe5 (now 23.Nxb6 would be worse because of 23…Rb8 24.a5 Bc8!, idea …Bg4 and he has counterplay) 23…dxe5 24.d6 Rd7 25.dxe7 Rxe7 26.Rd6, with a clearly superior endgame, but not sure it is objectively winning. Before the pure Bishop endgame, I’m not sure what I could have done better? I had considered 35.Rxe5 (instead of 35.Bf1) 35…Rc1+ 36.Bf1, but he has 36…Kf6! and after 37.Re3 Bd5 38.Ra3 (and not 38.Rd3? as I had initially planned, because of 38…Bc4 39.a7? Rxf1+!) 38…Bc4 39.a7 Bxf1 (39…Rxf1+? was loosing very nicely after 40.Kg2 Rd1 41.a8=Q Bd5+ 42.Rf3+! counter-check 🙂 ) 40.f3 Bc4+ 41.Kf2 Bd5 and draw.

In the transition to the Bishop endgame, he stumbled with 42…Kd4? 43.Rxc5 Kxc5 44.Re3 +-, while 42…Rxb5 43.Bxb5 f4! should have guaranteed the draw. During the game, I was counting on 44.g4!?. Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t have been enough; after for example 44…Kd4 45.Bd7 Kc5 46.Bc8 Kb6 47.Kc3 Kc7 48.Bb7 Bxb7 49.axb7 Kxb7 50.Kd4 Kc6 (but not 50…e3? 51.fxe3 f3 52.Kd3 Kc6 53.Kd2! Kd5 54.Ke1 Ke5 55.Kf2 Ke4 56.h3! zugzwang, while 53.e4? would have missed the target: 53…Kd6 54.Ke3 Ke5 55.Kxf3 Kd4 56.h3 Kc5! – only move – 57.Ke3 Kc4 =) 51.Kxe4 Kc5 52.Kf5 Kd4 53.Kg6 Kd3! (not the other route 53…Ke4? 54.Kxh6 Kf3 55.Kxg5) 54.Kxh6 Ke2 55.Kxg5 f3 56.h4 Kxf2 57.h5 Kg3 58.h6 f2 59.h7 f1=Q 60.h8=Q Qf4+ =.

All in all, I would say that it was a pretty controlled game (1-0, 51 moves).

Najdorf again, but with reversed colours, for the second leg. In the 6.Nb3 variation, it was Peter Svidler who explained to me after my match against him in the World Cupthat the easiest way was 6…e6. I was obedient and actually got a good position pretty quickly, before even taking over.

I know there are people who didn’t understand why I often accepted draws in favourable positions during these mini KO matches. First of all, because the Elo race from the Candidates’ perspective has been over for me for some time . Secondly, because in this context, ensuring the bonus point remains the most important. And finally, I have no reason to spend two more hours playing, because the energy saved for the next round is also a factor. (1/2, 27 moves).

¼ Final:

MVL – TOPALOV (2740) 1,5 – 0,5

In the first game, I played a kind of delayed Benoni with black. I managed to keep delaying taking on d5 for a long time, and I regretted finally doing it on the 14th move.

If I had started with 14…a6, I would have allowed 15.Nf1 exd5 16.exd5 with a structural change, even if 16…Ta7 now would still have been comfortable for me. So, I preferred 14…exd5 15.cxd5 (15.exd5 Bf5! would now be inferior) 15…a6 16.Bf1 Nd7 (now that the c4 square is free, after 16…Ra7, white would have 17.Nc4 Rae7 18.Bg5! h6 19.Bh4 g5 20.Bg3 and if 20…Nxe4 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Rxe4 Rxe4 23.Nxd6 with a clear advantage) 17.Na2 (I was rather expecting 17…f4, but as a good Benoni player himself, Topalov felt it was dangerous after 17…Bd4+ 18.Kh2 Nf6 19.Nf3 Bg4! 20.hxg4 Nxg4+ 21.Kg3 Bf2+ 22.Kh3 Qd7, like after 18.Kh1 Nf6 – or even 18…f5!?) 17…Ra7 18.Nc4 Ne5 with a balanced position.

The critical moment afterwards was when he decided to give the exchange with 28.Re3!?.

An interesting sacrifice in practice, especially since 28.Rd3 f5 was not particularly attractive to him. After 28…Bf4 29.Bf3 Bxe3 30.Bxe3 Rc8 31.Qd4, I saw the variation 31…Qe5 32.Qxb4 Rc3 33.Ff4 Rxb3! 34.Qxb3 Qxf4 more or less forced the draw, with the other move order looking identical 31…Rc3 32.Qxb4 Qe5. Except that starting with 31…Qe5?! gave him the extra option 32.Qa7!, and the position really gets out of control; 32…Be8 33.g3 Rc3, and then he should have played 34.Ff4!, even if it’s counter-intuitive not to put the Bishop on the long diagonal. After 34…Qf6 35.Qb8, I would have had to find 35…Rxf3 36.Qxe8+ Kg7 37.e5 Qf5 38.exd6 (38.e6 fxe6 39.dxe6 g5 40.Be3 Rxe3!) 38…Qxd5! 39.d7 Qd1+ 40.Kg2 Rxf4! – only move – 41.gxf4 Qd5+ 42.Kg3 Qd3+ 43.f3 Qd1! with perpetual.

In the complications, he erred with 36.Bf1? Rxb3 and white can no longer generate counterplay. (0-1, 44 moves).

I had seen that 36.Kg2? didn’t work either, because of 36…Qxe2 37.Qe7 Qf3+! 38.Kh2 Rc8. But the paradoxical move 36.Kh2! would have saved white: after 36…Rc7 (certainly not 36…Qxe2? now, because of 37.Qe7 Rc8 38.Qf6 Kf8 39.Qxd6+ Kg8 40.Qf6 Kf8 41.d6 +-) 37.Qxc7 Qxd4 38.Kg2 Qxe4+ 39.Bf3 Qe5 40.Qa5! =.

I controlled the secong game with white pretty well, playing the Exchange variation against the French, recently used a few times by Etienne Bacrot.

I locked everything up, but the important thing in these cases is to play with a plan, however basic it may be, and not to wait stupidly; in this case, a4 then b4-b5.

Dans la position finale, je ne me suis pas rendu compte que 27.Ta1! était si fort. Mais encore une fois, si je gagne ça ne change vraiment rien… (1/2, 26 cps).

In the final position, I didn’t realize that 27.Ra1! was so strong. But again, if I win it doesn’t really change anything… (1/2, 26 moves).

1/2 Final :

MVL – GRISCHUK (2771) 0.5-1.5

With white, I was surprised by his choice of the Arkhangelsk Spanish. As a result, I hesitated between 13.Bc2 and the resulting ton of theory, and 13.Be3, which is less risky. I chose the latter and got a very small plus, but I started making small miscalculations…

Especially when here I played 23.Ba4?! and instantly noticed that I was allowing 23…Nd5!. What Sacha and I both missed is that after 24.Nc6, black doesn’t only have 24…Qh4 25.g3, but also 24…Qf6! 25.Qxd5 Qxf4, and the position turns in his favor. So, while Sacha was thinking, I had decided, in case of 23…Nd5, to go for 24.Qf3 with a slight advantage for black.

Maybe if I had focused a little more on the position, I would have chosen 23.Ba2 with the idea Qd2-Rad1, and a microplus for white.

The rest of the game was a quick path towards the draw (1/2, 27 moves).

In the second game, in my usual English line with black (1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3), I had decided before the beginning of the tournament that I would not play again 5…Nxc3, but rather 5…e6.

During the game, I chose to avoid 12…Bb7 13.d5 exd5 14.Bxd5 Rad8 15.c4, even if it seems to be ok for black. I preferred 12…Rd8, with the idea that in case of 13.d5, I was ready to play 13…Na5 14.Bd3 c4 15.Fc2 e5!?.

After 13.Be3 Na5 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.h4!, I realized how unpleasant this kind of position was. So I played 15…b5!?… and after 16.Bxb5 Bxe4, I was all focused on 17.Ng5. He didn’t play it because of 17…cxd4 18.cxd4 a6, but I was rather on 17…Bf5!? 18.g4 Bg6 19.h5 Bxg5 20.Bxg5 Rd5 which seemed very messy to me. So when he played 17.dxc5, he took me by surprise and I reacted badly with this inopportune 17…Bxf3?, which I analyze as being just a bug in the understanding of the position. I thought about 17…Bd5, first choice of the machine, but I didn’t believe it… On the other hand, I rejected the natural 17…Bxc5 because of 18.Rxd8+ Rxd8 19.Bg5 Rb8 20.Qxe4 Rxb5 21.Rd1 and with such badly placed pieces, the position looked suspicious to me.

After 18.Qxf3 Bxc5, we both missed the 19.Bg5 Be7 20.Rd7! refutation, which was hard, but not impossible to find: 20…Rxd7 21.Bxd7 Rb8 22.Bxe7 Qxd7 23.Qg3 Nc6 24.Bf6 g6 25.Qf4 with great danger on black squares.

Nevertheless, after 19.Bf4 Qb7 20.Qe2, white remained better. But I thought to myself that, since the opening was not successful, I was bound to have a bad time, but maybe not so catastrophic.

Then, it seems he missed a machine win with 26.Qe4! instead of 26.Qd1?!. He didn’t play it because of 26…Qc1+ 27.Kh2 Rf8, and if 28.Rxa7 Qc5! with quadruple attack, but the computer improves this variation with 27.Bf1! Qc6 28.Qd3, and claims that white’s advantage is decisive.

In the game, after 26…h6 27.g3 Rf8 28.Rxa7 Nc6 29.Rd7 Ne5 30.Rd8, I saw this endgame Q+N vs Q+B with the passed a pawn coming, and thought I should find some resources. The truth is that it’s really hard to be precise in this position, a very difficult one to play. I chose the endgame transition 30…Qc7 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.a4 Ke7;in fact, I wanted to have the King in the center, and not cornered after 30…Rxd8 31.Qxd8+ Kh7. I thought it was more important than keeping my Queen active; but again, these are really extremely difficult decisions to make.

Then, he offered me a little respite with 37.Qd7?! ; I had seen that in case of 37.Qa8!, threatening to take my King for a walk, I would have been in dire straits!

After move 40, I realized that if I kept Queens, I wasn’t going to hold the position. It is counter-intuitive, because normally you tell yourself that the Queen will allow you to generate counterplay and leave the white’s King at a distance. But in reality, as my Knight is out of the game, it is actually the Q+B couple that does too much damage, especially after forcing me to weaken the white squares by touching my f7 pawn!

After that, the resulting minor pieces ending is too hard to evaluate, I still don’t know if it is a win or not.

What is certain is that I should have played 47…Ke6! (instead of the defensive withdrawal 47…Kf6? 48.Kh5 Kg7 which gives white a clear plan to win: attack the d5 pawn on the long diagonal, force it to move to d4, then come back with the King towards e4 to surround it) 48.Kh5 d4 49.Kxh6 Kd5 and if it exists, which is well possible, it would take Sesse to show us the win ! It’s too hard, there’s too much to calculate 🙂 .

Anyway, Sacha played very well in this game. Sometimes you just have to accept that you haven’t played a good game and that your opponent has. (1-0, 53 moves).

All in all, even if it ends on a bad note, the tournament is not a bad one either. I am currently in second place, a qualifying one for the Candidates. I am a little ahead of my pursuers, and my fate in my hands before the last tournament in Jerusalem.

But what’s rather funny is that as far as the qualification for the Candidates is concerned, it doesn’t really change much whether I’m eliminated in the first round in Jerusalem, or whether I make the semi-finals! If Mamedyarov or Nepo go far, I better go far too. Otherwise, I can still score 0 and qualify. The difference in percentage of chances of qualifying between losing in the first round and going to the semi-finals may climb from 40 to 80%, whereas we have the impression that it should be from 20 to 100%! Finally, it should not be forgotten either that all players who have between 1 and 5 points in the overall ranking still have a theoretical chance to qualify, certainly infinitesimal for the former!

What is certain, however, is that clearly, the drawing of lots will be decisive…

I will also say a word about the announcement made by the Russian Federation concerning the famous wild card for the Candidates….

In principle, giving this privilege to a Russian is not a big concern in itself. Not only was it quite expected , but I’m not that fond of qualifying through this method; I think the wild card should definitely be deleted…

On the other hand, the timing of the announcement was really crazy. As in 2017, they do not wait for the tournaments to be completed, they do not wait for the cycle to be completed. As a result, they generate an unclear situation. What happens if, for example, Karjakin or Jakovenko is 3rd in the Grand Prix?

And then, why make us play a match for third place at the World Cup? I played that match, I won it, and it’s no use at all.

I will end on a positive note by congratulating Sacha Grischuk on his success in Hamburg, and for what looks like a quasi-qualification for the Candidates!

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The Ile-de-France Chess League and the Beaux-Arts de Paris organized, within the framework of the autumn festival and Anna Boghiguian’s exhibition « The square, the line and the ruler », several chess activities. Especially on October 31, for Halloween, there was a « Meeting of Spells » in the form of an Escape game « Arts, chess and mathematics », in which Maxime participated, a few days before his departure for Hamburg.

Played in the Chapelle des Beaux-Arts – staged for the occasion – this Escape Game consisted in solving mathematical, logical and artistic puzzles using the game of Chess, and this in limited time.

By the way, Maxime’s team won… 🙂

Maxime’s games :

¼ FINAL:

MVL – ARONIAN (2758) 2.5-1.5

In the first game with black, I knew what I was getting into when I entered this line of the 5.Bg5 Grünfeld. A position slightly difficult to defend where I will have to find one or two precise moves to equalize completely; which was the case after 25…f5! (draw, 44 moves).

In the second game, I improved the variation of the Italian I played a few days earlier against Jakovenko, with 15.Ne4 instead of 15.Qe4.

But I quickly made the mistake 19.Bg5? which doesn’t make any sense in fact, and that I played much too fast. In my mind 19…h6 20.Bh4 didn’t change anything, but in fact 20…g5 21.Bg3 Kg7 followed by …f5-f4 was clearly unappealing, so I had to resort to the sad 20.Bxe7.

It’s a pity because almost everything was better for White with the Bishop pair, for example 19.a4, or 19.Nd2-c4, or even 19.Bf4 (draw, 31 moves).

In the first Rapid game, I got a good opening position with black.

At one point, while trying to put pressure on the clock, I got a little carried away with 15…Bc6, forgetting 16.Ne4!. I should have played 15…Nc6. I know that Magnus, who was commenting live, rather criticized the next move 16…Bxe4, but at the board, I had the feeling that I had already spoiled the advantage. So Magnus and I come to the same conclusion but with a one-move delay!

After that, in my mind, I was still playing for the initiative. Besides, I’m puzzled that this position is not so good for Black, because when you look at it, it doesn’t seem bad at all! Still, I was a little surprised that he offered me a draw, because I saw a complex endgame coming up, where everything was still up for grabs (draw, 31 moves).

In the second tie-break, I had a good position but I really got tangled up with it.

Here, I realized that black’s Knight was going to land on c5 and that I would have nothing left to play for. So I decided to go 22.Qc1 Nd7 23.Qa3 Nc5 24.f4. Obviously, I was very wrong because of 24…exf4 25.Nf5 Qf8 26.gxf4 Rf6 followed by the exchange sacrifice 27…Rxf5!, exploiting the absence of white’s Queen around the King. But you had to see the sac from the beginning of the variation, and I missed it throughout the line. Without this sacrifice, what I did would not have been so criticized! So it came as a cold shower to me, because at no point did I realize that there was this 27…Rxf5! looming. A few moves later, Levon missed a direct win, which I hadn’t seen either 🙂 ; but in Rapid games and tactically rich positions, these are inevitable things, you can’t see everything as the machine does.

After that, I felt that he no longer had much of an edge; and instead of taking the draw by perpetual check, he screwed it up horribly by giving a piece. Obviously, he understood right away what he had done and his face kind of crumbled (1-0, 53 moves).

It has to be said though that the World Cup format is very violent; we had the same day the dramatic Armaggedon game between Yu Yangyi and Vitiugov, a true breathtaking highlight of its kind….

½ Final:

MVL – RADJABOV (2758) 0.5-1.5

In the first game, I played the first move of the tournament I was proud of; it was 11.Re1.

Besides, it’s not the move I had in my file 🙂 but at the board, 11.Re1, with the idea to play Be3, I really liked it. I was thinking it was a bit of a Grischuk move! You think about this position for 15 minutes, everybody wonders why as it seems to be useless; then you play this little move that looks harmless!

Fortunately for him, after 11…Nf7 12.Be3, he has 12…Qb7, only move. If 12…Qxb2? 13.Rab1! Qxc3 14.Bd4 Qd3 15.Rbd1 and the Rook protects e4! And if 12…Qa6 13.Qxa6 Bxa6 Fxa6 14.Rad1 followed by 15.c5 is unpleasant for black. After 12…Qb7, the problem for me is that I can no longer play 13.c5 because b2 can now be taken, as black’s Queen comes out of the trap via d3 and a6.

So I played 13.Qb3, and I was pretty happy with myself at the moment! I thought I was a little better, which was indeed the case in the game, but because he missed 13…Rb8! 14.Qxb7 Rxb7 15.b3 f5 16.Bd4 e5! and his dynamic counter-play compensates for what I thought was a static white advantage. On the other hand, after 13…Qxb3?! 14.axb3 Rb8 15.Rxa7 Rxb3 16.Na4 Rb7 17.Rxb7 Bxb7 18.Nb6!, I could claim an edge.

Unfortunately, there was a time when I didn’t quite understand the position. After 18…d6 19.c5 e5, I should have played 20.Ra1! instead of 20.b4?!.

In fact, I rejected it because I didn’t like the position after 20…d5 21.Ra7 Rb8, and 21.exd5 cxd5 22.b4 d4 also seemed very messy to me; I thought it could easily go wrong… But the truth is that it’s just a clear advantage for me, even though the position gets much more tense, and without any guarantees! As I played, I just gave up the advantage straight away (draw, 31 moves).

In the second game, as usual, I failed in the opening. I know I shouldn’t have played so fast…

… What happened in my head is that instead of 10…0-0, I was planning 10…Bc6, but I saw the very unpleasant 11.b4!; if 11…cxb4 12.cxb4 Bxb4 13.Qb2!, and if 11…b6 12.b5 Bb7, white will manoeuvre the Knight towards c4. So I came back to 10…0-0, and I just thought that if 11.e5, I had 11…Bc6; I prevent 12.Qe4; I also prevent 12.Bg5, and that’s it.

And just when I put my King on g8, I saw 11.e5 Bc6 12.Ng5! and could contemplate the horror of my position!

Then there was not much to do, white’s attack is terrifying. What I should have played in practice – but I didn’t find the idea – was 12…g6 instead of 12…h6. After 13.Nxh7, certainly 13…Kxh7? loses on the spot to 14.Qh5+ followed by 15.Bxg6, but I had 13…c4!?, which complicates matters and was much less easy for him than in the game.

Later, the commentators felt that I would have had a small chance by exchanging Queens, which I could have done twice. But for me, the resulting endings were technically lost, so it wasn’t really an option either (1-0, 45 moves).

As a result, I came out of the World Cup through the back door, missing my direct qualification for the Candidates at the last hurdle once again. That night, I was disgusted and I would have flown back to Paris right away, but no way it could be! There was still a week left to play the match for third place against Yu Yangyi!

MATCH FOR 3rd PLACE:

MVL-YU YANGYI (2763) 4-2

So I tried to think of something else, I did a little bit of everything for the two days off before this last match. I had already been in « power saving mode » for some time, and it was even more so against Yu.

In the first game, he played a new move in the main line of the 5.Qb3 Grünfeld.

I’ve been waiting for this 15.e5 for so long! It’s been 6 years since I’ve had it in my files, including the endgame position we got after 15…. Ng4 16.e6 fxe6 17.h3 Ne5 18.dxe6 Bxe6 19.Qxd8 Raxd8 20.Bxb5 Bc4 21.Bxe8 Nd3+ 22.Kf1 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Nxc1+ 24.Kg1 Ne2+ 25.Kh2 Rxe8 26.Rhe1 🙂 . I think all the specialists of this line were also aware of this move 15.e5, and knew that it gave positions where black must make 2-3 precise moves to equalize (draw, 36 moves).

In the second game, I didn’t expect him to play a Russian line he had tried a few weeks earlier against Wei Yi, but which seemed a little artificial to me. But the fact is, I didn’t get anything… (draw, 30 moves).

In the third game, I was in trouble in a very rare line of the Exchange Grünfeld, with an early 9.d5 push.

I decided to react in a very concrete way by amplifying the central tension with 12…f5, which was clearly not necessary. He responded very effectively!

… And it was after 21.Re2! that I realized I was clearly not doing well. Luckily, after 21…Rfc8 22.Qa5 Rc4 23.Nd5 Dd4 24.Re7 Rac8, he didn’t play 25.Qa3! which would have left me in great difficulty after 25…Qc5 26.Qxc5 R4xc5 27.g4! and my position is hanging only by a thread. During the game, it was impossible to measure precisely what was happening, but the fact is that I didn’t feel particularly reassured; I imagined that there were things that could easily go wrong! My belief is that he thought he took a clear advantage with 25.Rd1 Rc1 26.Ree1, but that he overlooked 26…Nc4 27.Qb4 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Qb2 29.Qe7 Qg7! and the worst is behind me (draw, 32 moves).

In the last classical game, Yu made a surprising new choice in the Russian Defense. I thought I was a little better in a position that reminded me of the Topalov-Giri game, Wijk aan zee 2012, won by white.

It seemed to me that in the long run, as in Topalov’s game, white’s King was safer than his counterpart. It’s true I had forgotten the doubled c pawns of Giri, which were an aggravating factor for black.

In our game, I may have overestimated my position because in fact, I can’t play g3 and f4 to fix the structure, in which case I could have pounded the e6 pawn and claimed the advantage. Unfortunately, if instead of 19.Td2 in the diagrammed position, I had played 19.f4 – which was indeed my first idea – black completely equalizes with 19…Qf7! 20.g3 e5 and a drawn endgame is coming up. As a result, I couldn’t find any realistic way to play for the win (draw, 30 moves).

In the first tie-break game, Yu gave up defending a third Russian Defense! Overall, I played a good game, even if I missed a quick mate that would have ended his suffering earlier!

Here, I opted for a winning heavy pieces ending after 42.Rxa6 Qf5 43.Kg2 Qxh5 44.Rxe6, but of course, 42.Rc8! Rxc8 43.Qxf7+ Kh8 44.Bg6 was more effective! (1-0, 66 moves).

In the second Rapid game, he had to win but he completely screwed up in the opening and I won easily.

23…Bb5+ 24.Ke1 Bc3+ 0-1 illustrates the power of the Bishop pair!

Even if a bronze medal at the World Cup remains an excellent result, I still have mixed feelings about the month of September I spent in Russia 🙂 . However, before the World Cup, I was counting much more on the FIDE Grand Prix series. The World Cup was a ” bonus attempt ” to qualify for the Candidates; I considered that I had a 15-20% chance to succeed.

Of course, it’s frustrating to lose in the semi-finals and to end up being the first unqualified player once again. But on the other hand, there were a lot of very shaky moments, and I could really have been ousted of the tournament earlier! Overall, I didn’t play as well at this World Cup as I did in 2017, when I think I really deserved more.

Now, I have the last two FIDE Grand Prix tournaments in Hamburg and Tel-Aviv left; I think I have a good chance of qualifying, over 50%. As for the speculations on the wild card that the Russian organisers will give, I prefer to leave them to the commentators.

That’s not my subject right now… Mine is to be at the top on November 5th in Hamburg!

The French team is currently competing in the European Team Championship in Batumi (Georgia). As he had the opportunity to explain several times, Maxime had decided at the beginning of 2019 that this year’s international calendar would not allow him to participate. It is clear that this problem of flagrant imbalance between the two semesters of the year, one very airy, and the other very congested, will have to be resolved as a priority for the 2020 season.
Let’s take advantage of the European Championship underway to watch a nice video animation that traces many figures on the French chess Elite since the beginning of the century… (thanks to Natacha for the realization) 🙂 .
An opportunity to learn that Maxime has just celebrated another birthday than his 29th one, since with 106 months spent as France’s top player, he has beaten the old record held until now by Joël Lautier (105 months between 1990 and 2004)!

Les parties de Maxime :

The World Cup is a format I like… I’ve played them all since 2009, with two semi-finals and a quarter-final to my credit. First of all, it’s a competition that changes a little bit from our ordinary life; there’s more show and more at stake every game, it’s as well nice for the spectators. But it’s also a very difficult tournament of course, and a very long one; unless you’re eliminated in the first round of course! But when you go through the whole process, it’s almost a month in the same place (in this case Siberia 🙂 ), with the pressure in each of the games, because all are decisive. It has a huge impact on the physical strength of the players; for my part, I think that in Khanty-Mansiysk, I was pretty ok physically until my quarter-final, but then it got worse very quickly. I felt there was nothing I could do anymore in the evening, I was just in autopilot mode to try to get as much rest as I could.

But let’s start at the beginning!

Round 1:

MVL – ANWULI (2284) 2-0

A first round against a much lower rated opponent is always an introduction to the subject where you have to show a minimum of application. Though I did it, I still caused myself some minor problems. I’m mainly referring to the first game, where the Rook endgame was maybe objectively drawn.

I feel that after 38.g4! (instead of the 38.Kg4? he chose), the best thing for me would have been to get the famous ending with h and f, which remains a theoretical draw, though very difficult to reach.

I did also sputter a bit from a very promising position in the second game. I must say that the Nigerian IM has defended his chances quite well overall. But it’s hard when you don’t have a real opening repertoire, which is his case :-).

Round 2:

MVL – KOVALENKO (2674) 2-0

I was surprised by his choice in the opening of the first game (a Sicilian with …e6), and he found himself in very big difficulty. Moreover, it is not at all his style to defend positions of this kind.

Nevertheless, there was a mistake just before move 40, when I forgot …Rc8 in a critical variation… The worst part is that I had thought long before playing 40.b5? in the diagrammed position. But it turns out the breakthrough is too hasty! It had to be better prepared, because after 40…axb5 41.Bxb5 Rc8! I had to admit that my advantage had evaporated; 42.Rb1 Rc2+ 43.Kg1 Nc8 44.Rd7+ Rxd7 45.Bxd7 and fortunately here, he played 45…Nd6? instead of taking on b6, despite a long reflection! After 45…Nxb6!, I could still have tried 46.Bb5!? – with the idea Bd3-e4 – which still poses problems, even if it is certainly not enough objectively. Apart from this poorly controlled breakthrough on b5, it was still a good game, especially in the middlegame phase when I had to conquer the advantage (24.Ra3!).

In the second game, a draw was obviously enough, which is a rather pleasant situation. Against his slightly baroque opening, 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.f3!?,I probably should have played 4…e5, but on the board, 4…d5 didn’t seem so bad. But in fact, the position I obtained was not so trivial….

… and even a bit unpleasant after I played 13…Ke7?! a little too fast. On 14.Bb5 Rd8 (originally, I planned 14…Bd7 15.Rhe1 Rhd8 16.Nf5 Kf8 17.Nd6 Rab8, but I had forgotten 18.Nxb7! Rxb7 19.Bxc6) 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Rxd8 Rxd8 17.f4, white has a slightly more pleasant endgame. In the position of the diagram, I had also rejected 13…Bd7 because of 14.Nc4 Ke7 15.Nd6, but it was in fact the equalizing line, because I now have the nice comeback 15…Bc8!, justified by the variation 16.Bb5 Rd8 17.Bxc6 Rxd6 =. After that, I think he had ways to press a little harder than what he did. He brought his King to c3 a little too quickly and in fact, it happens to be useless! By the way, he came back to c1 soon afterwards… Then he tried everything possible to complicate matters, but by doing so, he just deteriorated his position from “equal” to “much worse”. I gave him the chance to settle for a draw for a long time, but he went so far he even lost it!

Round of 32:

MVL – JAKOVENKO (2681) 3.5-2.5

A complicated match, against an opponent who is also complicated for me! You have to know that Jakovenko has an excellent score against me and that he therefore has the confidence… And you could see it! He was really there to play his luck to the fullest. Compared to, for example, Svidler in the next round, you clearly feel the difference in state of mind. And it was bad luck for Peter, since apparently he has kind of a monster score against Jakovenko!

The first game didn’t go too well, despite the draw… It was the first of a long series of omissions on my part in the opening! Fortunately, he relieved my position by making two bizarre central exchanges.

The Berlin in the return leg was my first game under control, even if not to the end. I took an edge, but from then on, he defended really well. Maybe I missed some opportunities.

I suspect that at this point after 27…Be6, it is objectively winning for white, but I did not find how. And then I thought what I was doing was ok, but strangely enough after move 40, I just couldn’t find the win and in fact, there certainly isn’t one anymore…

So, first tie-break!

In the first rapid game, troubles started as soon as I played 11…b6. In fact, that’s a constant in my Grünfeld, I forget the possibility that d5 can be strong for white! I made exactly the same mistake against Aronian in London last year. And besides, the game was really very similar: same material balance, same difficulties, and same attempt at counter-play. Except Levon had screwed up at one point, and not Jakovenko!

So, after 11…b6 12.d5, I realized that if 12…Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5, I was going to face the central onslaught f4-e4-e5, like against Levon! Quite obvious of course, but it’s like a bug I have on this theme….

Then I had a hesitation on move 19, which was fatal.

At first, I wanted to play 19…Qa3 without thinking. And then I thought to myself, “19…Qh5 idea 20…Bg4, I have play on the Kingside”, and it attracted me.

In fact obviously, 19…Qa3! was the correct move, to keep an eye on d6 and have counter-play on the Queenside. But my misjudgment is that I thought the Queen on h5 was going to be closer for the King’s defense; whereas it is the opposite, and it is also too exposed on h5!

Then, he missed a forced win with 25.Rb5!, but it’s a computer move, not a natural one, and we both missed it… After that, I didn’t have much to blame myself for, I found all the defences, but he just played the perfect game, including in the tricky tactical complications with heavy pieces.

Here, instead of 35…Qe6, I could have chosen the passive defense with 35…Kg7 of course. I let him play 36.Qe7, and then I throw my Queenside pawns forward… But I was pretty sure that at some point he was going to play h3 to parry the back rank mates; then, Qh4 or Qd8, threatening Re7, and I didn’t see in which world it could hold this.

As a result, he brilliantly concluded after 36.Qd8+ Kf7 37.Rf1+ Rf5 38.Qc7+ Kg8 39.Rd1 Qe2 40.Qc1! Rg5 (40…Rf8 41.d7 Rd8 offers zero chance of survival) 41.Qc8+! Kg7 42.Qb7+ Kf8 43.Rg1! and the passed pawn decides.

With the back against the wall and in view of how the opening went, it is true that the fact that I tied the match with a win on demand was a miracle! First of all, because I played 15.Qe4 instead of 15.Ne4 as I had planned 🙂 ; it turns out that I would have the opportunity to play this 15.Ne4 move a few days later against Aronian…

Take it from Jakovenko’s point of view, and it’s always the same old story; you need a draw, you equalize in the opening and then at some point, you want to simplify matters as much as possible. For example, when he went for the Rook + opposite coloured Bishops ending.

Here, 27…Bxe4 28.Bxe4 c6 was in no way mandatory. It wasn’t even necessary, but on the other hand, it simplifies the position and you think you’re never going to lose that; basically, he was sitting on the fence, and it’s never good to be sitting on the fence! Of course, normally this endgame should still give nothing to white objectively, but it can also easily go wrong. And when I got the position after 29.g3 g6 30.b4 Kf7 31.a4 a6 32.Kg2 Rd7 33.Rb2! with the idea of a breakthrough on b5, I knew that I now had at least a 40% chance of winning. And I actually ended up winning and staying alive in the tournament!

The second set of rapid 10′ games was also tense (two draws), and then finally, I won a nice game with white in blitz.

And in the last blitz, I did the opposite of what Dmitry did when a draw was enough for him! I played my normal, dynamic game, and in fact, these positions with asymmetric pawn structures, you get the impression that it’s less drawish but for me, it’s so much easier to play!

Round of 16:

MVL – SVIDLER (2729) 1.5-0.5

Peter doesn’t usually play the Spanish Chigorin. My theory is that he didn’t expect me to accept the Marshall Gambit at all, which is now known to be over analyzed and drawish in most lines. So I think it upset him.

So I got an edge quite convincingly out of the opening, leading to what looked like a good pawn up position.

During the game, I had no idea that he could completely equalize with 31…Bd6! as the machine shows. The problem is that in this case, I don’t install the Bishop on b4 as in the game, since 32.Bb4? Qc2! would be unpleasant. So after the inaccurate 31…Rc8? 32.Bb4 Qc1+ 33.Qd1 Qc4, I played 34.g3 because I understood that there was a really good chance he would fall into the trap 34…Qxe4? 35.gxf4 Rc6, forgetting the resource 36.f5! Qxf5 37.Bd6!. Besides, I also saw that 36.f3 would probably leave him defenseless too. But anyway, knowing Peter, I felt he was going to take on e4!

After that, I was surprised that he resigned so quickly, even though he’s known for that. Because you can still play a little bit in the final position:

My pawn is only on a3, my King is not yet completely safe, it could have been worth a few more moves…

Overall, I consider this to be a good game of me.

In the second game, Peter made a fine opening choice in the sub-variation of the Najdorf 6.Nb3. I got a little carried away with 7…h5, but I wanted to avoid his prep.

I suspected that it was 7…b5 8.a4 b4 9.Nd5 e6 the critical line. And that’s what was in my notes, of course! But I thought to myself, “I don’t remember anything more; that’s necessarily what he looked at first. So, we’re going to get him out of his prep, while playing a move that makes a little bit of sense”. 7…g6 8.g4 could quickly become unpleasant, so I decided to improvise completely with this 7…h5.

After that, I still think white is a little better, and I was very surprised by his choice of 13.Qd4?!. I also understand that in his situation, keeping a little edge with 13. Na5 seemed less promising to him than a variation that leads to the win of the a6 pawn. However, after 13.Na5 with f4-f5 to come, it could quickly become complicated for me – there have to be some small disadvantages to putting the pawn on h5!

I also think he chose 13.Qd4?! because after 13…Rb8 14.Bxa6 0-0 15.Qd3 Bxa6 16.Rxa6 Nc4, he forgot that he couldn’t play 17.Ra7? because of 17…Nxb2!

As a result, he had to fall back to 17.Bc1, and after 17…e6 18.0-0 Nd7, I got the dream position. His pieces are not coordinated, and he cannot redeploy them without losing his Queenside pawns. In fact, he even went too far and found himself much worse. But I preferred to avoid complex variations, even favourable ones, and forced the draw that qualified me for the 1/4 finals.

(to be continued)

The day after his return from the World Cup, Maxime went to Asnières City Hall, where his club organized the “Trophée des Petits As”, an invitational competition bringing together eight French hopes under 8 years old. The idea was to offer these young players a context worthy of high level chess, with games played in excellent playing conditions, and broadcast live on the Internet. Maxime came to launch the last rounds of Sunday, then gave a number of tips to the players, including to some of his little clubmates 🙂 .

Maxime’s games:

The sequence of tournaments in recent months has been really difficult to handle. They said here and there that I had played too much; it’s true, but I didn’t really have a choice! The FIDE Grand Prix and the Grand Chess Tour are unavoidable, but they decided on dates much too late. Otherwise, I could have thought about sacrificing the Norway Chess in June, but I had already signed the contract a long time ago. That being said, it was mainly the Zagreb-Riga-Paris series that was hard, but I’m not going to blame myself for going all the way to the final in Riga!

As usual in recent years, August = Missouri! I arrived in the U.S. a little early… Obviously, I didn’t have much time between the end of the Grand Chess Tour in Paris and this long trip; barely four days. The tournament started on August 10th and I arrived on the evening of the 7th, just to have two full days to digest the jet lag and rest.

Anyway, I knew when I arrived in Saint-Louis that I couldn’t play 100% throughout the three weeks, it was strictly impossible. Nevertheless, I was still hoping to have a rather acceptable state of form at first. In Rapid and Blitz, it is more important to be in good physical shape, to calculate well, than for long games. In Classical, if you’re a little diminished, it’s not that bad; you still have time to be careful, and the opening prep will be important, so you can limit the damage in any case. In fact, that’s a bit what happened because in the end, I actually saved the day with 5/11 in the Classical part! The way I played, I didn’t deserve -1 in terms of chess. But we will come back to this later….

SAINT-LOUIS, RAPID & BLITZ

In the Rapid, it’s true that the first game hurt me a lot. I’m much better against Aronian and I lose because of tactical mistakes in the endgame.

Fortunately, there was this spectacular game against Rapport in the third round, which was a good game in the Romantic spirit, but which could also have gone very badly wrong.

28. Qxd7!?! a speculative Queen sacrifice that will finally bear fruit! (1-0, 50 moves).

Which means I could limit the damage to 50% on the first day. Then I had a very good second day, a little by miracle.

Of course, I play a very good game against Ding. And a rather good one against Mamedyarov, even if at one point I am lost and under no circumstances should I win that one! And then, against Karjakin, the dull and symetric position from which I manage to win is also amazing. 🙂

In the Bishop ending, there are now practical chances for white, even though few who would have bet on a white victory ! (1-0, 66 moves).

The third day, I lost against Magnus but on the other hand, I didn’t demobilize and won the last two, rather good games by the way; against Dominguez first, then against Caruana, out of the loop and who was a bit in tilt.

In this Berlin position, which has turned out well for white (you deserve it sometimes ), the thematic 22.e6! fxe6 23.Bf4 puts blacks under considerable pressure (1-0, 44 moves).

In the first day of blitz, I didn’t play so badly and I really didn’t have luck on my side (4.5/9). I should have scored at least 1.5 points more; against Rapport, I am clearly better and I let myself be swayed by a stupid calculation error. Of course there is also the game against Ding, where I am winning, before playing a wrong combination instead of taking a perpetual check.

But above all, this game against Dominguez where I have a four-minute lead on the clock!

Here, white has just played 20.Bxf4 and I automatically took back on f4, before I noticed that 20…Rfc8! intermediate was much stronger; 21.Bd3 (otherwise 21…Qc2+) 21…exf4, with a much better version than in the game (1-0, 49 moves).

On the second day of the blitz, however, I was completely out of the loop; it’s a bit of a miracle that I won the last two, to finally share the overall 2nd place, only half a point behind the winner Aronian. There are some amazing games that day, against Ding for example; against Caruana, I don’t even talk about it…

In in my opinion, this game shows well that it is not at all the nerves that are an issue; this kind of endgame, clear pawn up, I win them 99 times out of 100, nerves or no nerves. It was just pure fatigue, a true Way of the Cross (0-1, 67 moves).

Besides, I win the last one against Aronian with black because a draw was enough for him to win the tournament, and he was in a panic, my friend!

All in all, 2nd ex-aequo, it was not so bad as far as points are concerned…

But I was so sure that I would win the tournament… Indeed, after having scored -2 in the blitz in Paris (8/18), I could not imagine a similar performance in Saint-Louis (8.5/18).

Anyway, the calendar this year is a crazy calendar, and it’s true that I finished the run of tournaments completely exhausted. And when you’re tired, you can see it in Rapid chess, and even more so in blitz. You think at the wrong moments, sometimes you don’t think at all, and in the end, you miss simple tactics.

Besides, when you’re away like I was for almost 4 months, you can’t prepare yourself properly physically. I also had some minor physical problems, especially in Zagreb and Riga, with also a lumbar pain that prevented me from running for a long time.

SINQUEFIELD CUP

A tournament that brings together precisely the top 10 players in the world, not easy when you’re running on empty, at the end of the road! I started by making seven draws i a row. But psychologically, I had a sharp blow to my morale as soon as in the first game against Aronian.

Instead of 25…Bd3?!, repeating the position a third time, I could play 25…Bg6 followed by the manoeuver …Ra7-c7, with a dominant position. In fact, I repeated moves because I didn’t think I was especially better. However, it’s just a butchery as soon as I double on the c-file! Normally, I would have continued the game, but I didn’t feel fit, so I didn’t feel especially better; which shows that I wasn’t fit by the way!

After that, I gradually settled into the tournament; I played some good games, for example against Ding.

Against So and Anand with white, I didn’t shine in the opening. Generally speaking, in this tournament, I remembered my preparations very badly, with a lot of surprising omissions; once again it is always linked to the same thing, the general state of fitness…

Round 6 game against Caruana was very correct, a real theoretical debate at high intensity on the Najdorf.

But the bad mistakes began the next day, against Mamedyarov…

Well, there ! The position I’m getting! I came out of the opening with a nice advantage; a pair of Bishops, space, and an off-side Bh5.

And then how I managed to sabotage it! In fact, I immediately regretted playing 20.Bb2. The Bishop had to stay on c1, and 20.g4 Bg6 21.h4 was the right way. I’m going to play g5 and not him; I’ll put the Bishop on b2; then f4, and it’s just a terrible position to defend for black (1/2, 33 moves).

And in round 8, the first decisive game. But I’m on the wrong side of it! Frankly, when I think about this game, it’s crazy…

In this theoretical position of the Grünfeld exchange, which I have in my notes, I played 17…bxc5? without thinking; by reflex, thinking mechanically that it was forced. And it leads to a nightmarish endgame to defend. And then I remembered – but too late of course  – that 21…Bh3! was the move of the position! (1-0, 51 moves).

The next day against Nakamura, the ordeal continued, despite a good prep this time.

In this position, it’s amazing but 20.Qh4!, I didn’t even think about this move for a second! However, the Qh5-g6 threat is so powerful that black’s position should not be able to resist it. It’s a move I would normally play instantly in a blitz. Besides, it’s not even a question of playing too fast or not too fast, since I unleashed the insipid 20.Qe3?! in more than 4 minutes. And 20.Qh4!, I just didn’t think about it…. Of course, even after 20. Qe3?! I’m still better. Then I decided to go into the endgame because I thought it was better than keeping the pawn. Probably not stupid, but then I got into a muddle anyway (1/2, 59 moves).

The next day, to prove that I wasn’t the only one doing stupid things, Nepo gave me a great gift by landing his Knight on the wrong square! My conversion phase was not ideal, but fortunately, there was a huge margin!

Finally, against Carlsen, I didn’t want to just force a draw with white. So I chose the Rossolimo against his Sicilian, and I think the opening didn’t go so badly, even if the normal plan was obviously to play Nh4 followed by f4.

But on 14.Nh4, I didn’t like 14…Ne5 15.Qg3 Nc6, with the idea 16.f4 f5! ; even 14…e6 15.f4 g5!? also seemed interesting for him. So, I made the decision to play 14.h4!?, a move that Magnus criticized; but I still believe it wasn’t a bad move. After 14…Rb7 15.h5 g5, I hesitated between 16.Nh2 and 16.Ne2. I don’t know why, but I chose the first one, which is much worse. After 16.Ne2-g3, I would have more or less forced…e6, and that’s where I sinned. I thought that …e6 allowed him to justify his move 14…Rb7, but in this case f6 is actually much weaker, the Bc8 is no longer in play, and he will never have …f5 anymore. For all these reasons, this Knight’s maneuver to g3 was much better than my choice of the game 16.Nh2.

After that, I started to be surprised by his moves….

And when 21…f5 arrived, I wasn’t really enjoying my position anymore. If 22.exf5, I wasn’t afraid to give the exchange in case of 22…Bd4, but the simple 22…Bxf5 dissuaded me, whereas there is 23.Rg3!, that I didn’t see. Well, it’s true that I didn’t give myself time to see it either! So I went back to 22.exf5 and saw 22.Nf3? instead. I said to myself, “It’s okay, there’s no 22…Bd4, and 22…fxe4 23.Nxe4 suits me. Lastly, there’s no 22…e5 either because of 23.Bg5! “. So I played 22.Nf3?, I got up, and when I came back to the board and saw he had replied 22…Bxc3!, I immediately understood that I had already reached the point of no return. I still found 23.Rd3!? to fish in muddy waters, but it was not enough (0-1, 44 moves).

Congratulations to Carlsen, who finished tied for first place thanks to his final sprint. And huge congratulations to Ding Liren, who managed the feat of beating the world champion in a tiebreak!

I am therefore the first player to have completed the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, as all the others will play at least one of the last two tournaments (Bucharest and Kolkata in November). As a result, my chances of taking one of the 4 qualifying places for the final in London are now very hypothetical.

But everything in due course, another important milestone awaits me very soon; the start of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansyisk (Russia) on Tuesday, September 10. The objective is stated: reaching the final to earn a spot for the Candidates’ Tournament in March 2020…

On his return from Saint-Louis, Maxime had an evening of rapid games online, as part of the 1/8th finals of the Speed Chess Championship organized by www.chess.com. The format of the 2019 edition is unchanged, with 90 minutes of 5|1, 60 minutes of 3|1, and 30 minutes of 1|1. Paired against the world’s number one junior, Wei Yi (2727), Maxime had a very tough start, conceding five straight losses to be led 1.5-5.5 after 7 games! But he didn’t demobilize, and he overpowered the rest of the match, notably posting a series of 7 consecutive wins, then another of 5, to finally win the match on the final score of 21-10. In the semi-final – in October – he will face the winner of the match Mamedyarov-So.