Category: English

After a difficult start in the tournament, I won two games juste before the break scheduled after round 6, getting back to 50% with only the four last games remaining. Thus, I could enjoy the rest day light-heartedly. At lunch, we were in a boat on Biel’s lake, a nice initiative from the organizers. Then, I could rush back to the hotel in order to watch the time trial of the Tour de France, before going to the blitz tournament in the playing hall, just for the sake of kibitzing!

You’ll have understood, I chose to relax and to settle for a light prep of my remaining games, first of all against World Champion Magnus Carlsen. I didn’t expect him to play the 6.f3 variation against my Najdorf, and that’s why I decided to improvise with 13…a5, instead of the normal 13…b6.

Even if this is probably slightly better for white, I got what I wanted, ie. a position with Kingside counterplay. However, I missed his 24.Qc2!.
It seems that 24…e3 25.Be1 was still playable for me, but on the board, I really didn’t like it; in hindsight, you see 25…Rxb5 26.axb5 Kf7!. Therefore, I preferred 24…Qe7, transposing into an endgame that looks inferior, but it’s not so clear actually. In any event, he was the one to crack first with 29.Rxa5?, allowing my Rook to penetrate into his position. Then, with 32.h4?, he gave me a miraculous win, but it was unfortunately very hard to find: 32…fxg2! 33.hxg5 Rd2 34.Be3 Rc2!! was the solution, white having nothing to do against the decisive entry of black’s black-squared Bishop.

The idea is to put the Bishop on e5, threatening …Rf1+/ Rxf1 Bh2+!/ Kxh2 gxf1=Q+. Pretty!
Later on, after 35.a7, I understood that 35…Rxf2 led to a draw, and I opted for 35…fxg2 instead. Unfortunately, after 36.a8=Q…

… I didn’t see the line 36…Rxa8 37.Bxa8 Nd3!, which would have given me the advantage, because 36…Nf3+ 37.Kxg2 Nxe1+ was too tempting, even if the endgame which follows is drawn after the precise 42.b4 cxb4 43.c5!. At the end, I repeated moves, in order not to risk losing the game.

Against Mamedyarov, I faced the old Dilworth variation of the Open Spanish, in which black gives two minor pieces for Rook, and pawn on f2. I chose to counter it with the rare 13.Cf1, which leads to a complicated game, but I didn’t remember all the details of my analysis. Nevertheless, I managed to pull through because he was imprecise with 16…h6.

Here, I should have followed up with 22.g4!, with an indeed complicated position, but probably a bit better for white. Instead, I preferred 22.Nf4, but after a long tactical sequence, the ending turned out to be equal, with black somehow pressing by the way. I found two good moves, 34.Bf4 and 37.c4, which allowed me to quickly split the point.

The next day, Georgiadis played an ultra solid line against the Grunfeld, and even if I had at some point the illusion of getting a little something, it turned out never to be true. A fairly correct draw.

Fortunately, the tournament ended on a high note for me, against Navara who messed up his opening. I tried to be clever in the move order, and it worked beyond my expectations ! Afterwards, after getting what I felt was a good version of the Italian for white, I had a good surprise when I saw his …Nh7-g5 manoeuver. As soon as my Knight landed on f5, I knew this was going to be a fun game!

After 15.Nf5 Ng5 16.Nxg5 hxg5, I chose 17.Qh5 which, I believe, is winning by force. But had I played the simple 17.g3, I don’t understand what exactly was black’s idea.
In the game, no defensive try was working for black. For instance 18…gxf4, instead of 18…exf4, was losing to 19.dxe5 dxe5 20.Rad1, and the threat 21.Rxd7! Qxd7 22.Qg4 followed by 23.Nh6+ is too powerful: 20…g6 21.Qh6 gxf5 22.exf5 f6 23.Qg6+ Kh8 24.Rxe5!, or 20…f6 21.Bd3! Qe8 22.Bc4+ Be6 23.Qg4!.

Echoing the game against Carlsen three rounds earlier, white threatens exactly the same
combination, namely 29.Rh8+! Kxh8 30.g7+ Kg8 31.Bh7+! Kxh7 32.gxf8=Q+.

In the end, the tournament had a better outcome than its beginning suggested, an exception that proves the lately rule! Third behind Magnus and an untouchable Mamedyarov, that was quite unhoped-for after three rounds. Playwise, it was good to have fights like the one against Carlsen, which was really interesting. I hadn’t played a game at this level for quite a while…

[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered” background_pattern=”otw-pattern-1″]Hello AmericaWednesday, August 8, Maxime will fly to the USA, where he will participate in the last two Grand Chess Tour (GCT) tournaments, the Rapid and the Sinquefield Cup in Saint-Louis. For the time being, Maxime is fourth in the GCT professional circuit, and let’s keep in mind that it happens to be the first four players who will qualify for the finals, to be held December 2018 in London.
Saint-Louis begins on August 11.[/otw_shortcode_quote]

Official site : www.bielchessfestival.ch

Maxime’s games (round 7 to 10) :

Tenth town of Switzerland with about 50.000 inhabitants, Biel, at the juncture of German-speaking and Romandie Switzerland, has been staging its July Chess Festival for decades.
This tournament has a special place in Maxime’s heart, because he very much appreciates the organization and the surroundings, but also because he already won there five times!

As the drawing of lots gave him #1, Maxime had the privilege to begin the tournament with two whites. After a lively draw against Svidler, he decided to dig into his sub-variations stock (4.Bf4) to counter the Pirc defense chosen by World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
In a queenless middlegame that strongly resembled a French position, things seemed to be heading towards a draw after the exchange of all minor pieces…

In the diagrammed position, 32.Rh6! followed by 33.Rf6 would have clinched the draw, thanks to the double task of this Rook defending f4 and putting pressure on f7. However, after 32.Rgh4? Rg8!, Black took over the initiative, in a position that oscillated for more than 25 moves at the very edge of a draw and of a black win!

Long analysis will certainly be required to bring out the truth about this ending which, in numerous variations, conceals subtleties worthy of the finest sudies. Kudos to both players for what should become a classic endgame…

Ouch, 0.5/3!

When he introduced the Candidates tournament in March, Maxime explained why Mamedyarov is a player he doesn’t feel comfortable playing against… « My results in classical chess against him are quite disastrous. The main reason for it is that we both love dynamic play, but that he more often got positions in which he felt at home. In several games, I collapsed in such complicated positions ». He will certainly not change his mind after the round-3 game, which brought the Azeri to a +5 lead in classical games against him. Indeed, Maxime collapsed after a difficult fight, marked by a high-level theoretical preparation by Mamedyarov.

With only 0.5/3, things were looking very grim…

This is probably the reason why Maxime didn’t tempt fate the next day against Navara. In the diagrammed position, instead of playing the very complex position arising after 21…Ng4!?, he preferred the stylish move repetition that 21…Rac8 forces: 22.exf6 Rxc6+ 23.Kb3 Rd3+ 24.Ka4 Bd6 25.Rb3 Rd5 26.Rb5 Rd3.

Svidler overestimates his position

Round 5 against local boy Nico Georgiadis, Maxime got his first win, all in all rather easily. The Swiss forgot a simple 19.Qb1, attacking both h7 and b6 pawns simultaneously.

In this double-round tournament, masterly directed by the very francophon Swiss GM
Yannick Pelletier, the rest day was scheduled after 6 of the 10 rounds. Maxime grabbed the opportunity to score again before the break, which is always nice. The Russian Peter Svidler was punished for overestimating his position…

After the simple 20.Ke2, followed for instance by 21.Rhc1, the position is rather equal and the game should steer towards the draw. Svidler’s move, 20.e5?!, drastically changes the character of the position, but not really in white’s favour. After 20…fxe5 21.Re1 f6 22.f4 Rf8!, it is Black who has more options.

With 3/6, Maxime managed to restore what initially looked like a precarious situation.
After a rest day on Saturday, during which a boat trip and a lunch on the Biel Lake have been scheduled by the organizers, Maxime will go back to fight for round 7, with black against World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered” background_pattern=”otw-pattern-1″]Champions du Monde !It’s at home in Paris, with a bunch of friends, that Maxime watched the France-Croatia Football World Cup final. The victory of France was worth the selfie below, published on Twitter by Maxime. In the hope that it will give ideas to the French National Chess team which, led by Maxime, will soon play its own Mondial, ie. the Olympiads scheduled end of September in Georgia.[/otw_shortcode_quote]

Champions du monde !! pic.twitter.com/W0kQBS9t44

— MVL (@Vachier_Lagrave) 15 juillet 2018

Official site: www.bielchessfestival.ch

Maxime’s games (rounds 1 to 6):

The Asnières chess club, in partnership with the city, organized on June 27 a « Trophée MVL », held in the heart of Asnières’ castle. This event was meant to close the chess season, and all afternoon long, pupils who learnt chess in school, members of the club, and various personalities, gathered inside the historic walls.

Simultaneous displays against children, and then against adults, prize-giving of the scholarship tournament, photo sessions, small private masterclasses, a busy program was awaiting Maxime, who was the patron of this sunny day in honor of chess.

Maxime all over the place !

Maxime will have done a bit of everything during this afternoon. And you could even find him where least expected, that is helping to record the results of the schools tournament, and operate as a deputy arbiter !
You need a proof ? Here it is !

In this kind of festive event, the result itself is generally irrelevant, but it still has to be noted that Maxime won all of his games. The ones of the simultaneous display against the children, but also the 26 against the adults, where you could find a few players rated around 2000 Elo.

A few personalities had decided to join the show and to play against Maxime, among them Jean-Daniel Belfond, boss of the Editions de l’Archipel, Laurent Baumel, former Parliament deputy, Faycal Douhane, Bobigny sub-prefect, as well as representatives of HP-BTP and Sepur, the club’s partner companies.

Asnières will play the Top 12 with Maxime

Asnières mayor, Manuel Aeschlimann, was also expected to play, the more so as he used to play competitive chess; but he finally declined, choosing to remain on the delicious memories of a fighting draw he earned in simultaneous against Karpov, back in his prime !

By the way, here is a nice tactic picked up from one of these 26 games…

But this festive day was also a good opportunity to officially announce the arrival of Maxime in Asnières’ club, for whom he will play next season 2018-2019. Indeed, Asnières just won its N1 group a few weeks ago, and will thus access the Top 12 next year.

Maxime is currently enjoying some well deserved holidays.
We will be back on this website at the beginning of the Biel tournament, on July 22.

[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered” background_pattern=”otw-pattern-1″]Asnières
Famous video about Asnières (in french) https://www.ina.fr/video/I06268515/
In the days prior to the « Trophée MVL », Asnières’ castle saw all the Grand Chess Tour players coming. Some of them, Maxime included, honored with their presence the « Rencontre des 400 », organized for the school audience by the Ligue d’Ile-de-France des Echecs. And all of them were there for the Paris Grand Chess Tour prize-giving ceremony.
For its part, the French Chess Federation, besides its own installation in the castle attic, organized at the same time two national finals, a few hundred meters from there, in Asnières’ Petit Théâtre.
Asnières, the new place to be of french chess ![/otw_shortcode_quote]

After a first stage in Leuven (Belgium), the 2018 Grand Chess Tour caravan stopped in Paris, Canal + studios, for almost a week…
Continue reading “Grand Chess Tour caravan in Paris !”

I arrived in Leuven after a quick stop in Paris, on my way back from Norway Chess. I was eager to be back on track after a poor showing in Norway.

Day 1
A slow start, as I have to admit I was in dire straits in all three games of the day ! I was obviously not very proud of myself, as I managed to pull through and earn three draws quite miraculously.
For sure, I was dead lost in the endgame against Karjakin.

Then, Caruana missed a win…

And to finish the day on a high note, with white I had to defend a pawn-down Rook ending against So !

Day 2
I approached this second day with the firm intention to do something else than defending inferior endgames !
Against Grischuk, at last I gained an advantage, but a detail escaped my mind…

Thus the position became balanced, except for the fact that I was carried away by a transposition into a Bishop endgame, as I simply forgot about 42…Be8.

And here I am again, forced to defend a difficult endgame, for the fourth time in a row ! I haven’t verified yet, but I guess I was probably lost. However, I’m sure that the pawn endgame which followed was a draw.

Then against Nakamura, I erred in the opening, but he let me back in the game by allowing a very interesting positional piece sacrifice. I got an initiative by sacrificing my Queen!

In the final position, I decided to take the perpetual, as I didn’t see any clear way of playing on without great risks. For sure, the dynamics of the game were a clear incentive to play on, but the position remained particularly unclear.
I closed the day against Anand, and things didn’t really go my way, as I found myself in a sub-optimal version of the « Berlin endgame ». But over time, Vishy let me do what I wanted, and had to transpose into a pawn-down endgame : at last, I was on the right side ! Nevertheless, he defended accurately for a long time, before to stumble in the Rook ending.

He could draw with 46…Rh4, and probably also with 46…bxa4, even if a lot of accuracy would still have been required. But he chose the neutral 46…Kb8?, which clearly is not the solution, as after 77.a5, white is already winning.

Day 3

Just before the Rapids last day, I had mixed feelings. Certainly, I was at +1, unbeaten, and that was the good side of it. But it was not in a pretty way, which was a bit worrying.
Against Mamedyarov, I easily drew with black. Maybe I could even have stopped him from giving back the exchange and levelling the position.
Against Giri, I succeeded in putting pressure all way long, and that was a rather nice game. My advantage was maybe not tangible, but Anish was suffering in the tournament, and he was calculating less and less accurately.

After 28.Nxb5, he was not forced to take, even if after 28…axb5 29.Bxb5, instead of choosing 29…Rxd6 30.Bxa4 Rd4 with chances to resist, he opted for 29…Ra7?, which leads to a lost ending after 30.Rc1 Nb6 (30…Bd7 31.Rc7! Rxc7 32.dxc7 Bc8 33.Bxa4 gives no hope whatsoever) 31.Rxc8+! (the point which he probably missed) 31…Nxc8 32.d7 Rxd7 33.Bxd7 Nb6 34.Bxe6+.

I ended the Rapid portion with a black draw against Aronian, after a game both very interesting and full of dynamic and complicated options. He took the upper hand, was much better, and probably even winning at some stage. But after I exchanged Queens by 35…Qg6!, although still in danger, I managed to draw somehow.

Day 4
Beginning of the blitz portion, and things started rather well, with a solid draw against Grischuk, and a win against Giri, who once again made a tactical mistake at the end of a game he had slightly dominated.

After 50.Bxc4? (50.Rxe5 =), the intermediate 50…Ra3+! takes it all: 51.Kb2 Bxc4 52.Kxa3 Bxd5 53.exd5 Kc5.
Next round, I faced a Nakamura who went all in, I don’t know why. After all, he still had 15 games to play afterwards ! So he gave me a pawn for no apparent reason.

I just had to consolidate the position, and convert the pawn advantage. After two uneventful draws against Caruana and Mamedyarov, I managed to cause problems to long time leader Wesley So in a technical position. Unfortunately, this type of tiny edge is difficult to convert in a blitz game, because you need utmost precision, and I finally had to share the point once again.

This first day of blitz ended badly, with a 0.5/3 relegating me far away from leader Wesley So… At first, Karjakin didn’t let me any chance, despite minor compensation for my sacrificed pawn. Then, a Queenless middle game played inaccurately put me on the verge of disaster against Aronian.

Finally, against Anand, I had the confirmation that I was not up to the task for a few rounds already, and he never let me escape…
In spite of a good beginning, this first day of blitz was a disappointment, the only good news being that Wesley’s lead in the rankings was slightly narrowed before money time..

Day 5
The morning of the last and decisive day, I decided to play more quickly, in order to increase the pressure on the clock. Of course, this strategy is always risky as you play without safety net in tactical phases. But it worked out pretty well, as soon as in the first game against Grischuk, where I could make a mess with my two minutes vs ten seconds.

Against Giri, I won a pawn at the end of the opening, but contrary to appearances, it was not easy to convert, and I even went through an inferior position, before things settled down. Against Nakamura, I messed my opening up, and white got a nice edge.

After I went back into the game with the exchange sacrifice 23…Rxf4, the American collapsed. Against Caruana, when I got a new opportunity to part with an exchange in order to play for a Kingside attack, I didn’t hesitate for a second !

Afterwards, I think I played the best attacking moves.

I took one minute to play 29…Nd4!, and I calculated the whole line until the winning endgame after 38.gxh5. Against Mamedyarov in the next round, I was a bit unlucky in the critical position.

I saw 30.Nxf6 Kxf6 31.Be5+ Kg5 (31…Ke6? 32.Bc3+) 32.Rg3+ Kh6 33.Rg4 with perpetual.
So I tried to make Nxf6 work better, and I included 30.h4. Unfortunately, I underestimated his counterplay on the Queenside, which is very quick; by the way, I probably should have stopped it with 36.b4 instead of 36.h5.
After a quick draw against an unambitious Wesley So, I got what I wanted to get against Karjakin, namely a position with slight pressure, where you can ask concrete questions. But he defended very well, and I ended up losing my edge, then going for a poker strike in the Bishop endgame.

After 50…c3?? (50…Bc6 =) 51.d7!, a white pawn queens ! (51…Ke7 52.f6+).

In the penultimate round, I had up to a three-minute edge against Aronian, which helped me a lot. I could counter his Kingside attack and counter-attack on the other wing, in a game that went perfectly well all way long.
Therefore, before the last round, three players stood within a half-point (So 22, Karjakin and Mvl 21.5). And the most unlikely scenario occured, all three leaders losing to players of the second half ! For my part, I had decided I would have to play for the win against Anand. By the way, the opening went fairly well, and I even got a crushing position.

But in the critical position, I looked at 24.Bb4 Qf6 without seeing any decisive blow, although the crushing 25.Bxb7! Nxb7 26.Rc6! was there ! A small detail which costs dearly…

Anyway, there’s no time for lamentations, as the Grand Chess Tour caravan goes on, with a next step in Paris Canal + offices, as early as Wednesday, June 20th.

[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered” background_pattern=”otw-pattern-1″]Autour du tournoihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIAtE6ywgwAThe games broadcast had a hiccup for the very last round, as at the beginning, Mvl-Anand (0-1) and Mamedyarov-Karjakin (1-0) games were inverted. Those who followed Maxime’s game without having refreshed their browser may have believed that he had won the game and the tournament ! Which, unfortunately, was just a mirage…[/otw_shortcode_quote]

Site officiel : https://grandchesstour.org/2018-grand-chess-tour
Maxime’s games in the rapid tournament:

Maxime’s games in the blitz tournament: