We are not halfway through the matches yet. Anything can still happen. But just like her husband Anish Giri last year against Alexey Shirov, Sopiko Guramishvili has struck mercilessly in the first two days. The struggle between Jorden van Foreest and Jan Timman is still balanced, but today too, the game was subject to seismic swings.
Timman - Van Foreest
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.c4 Bg4 5.Ne5 Be6 6.b3 Nbd7 7.d4
A very logical move, but in this position it is a novelty. The beaten paths haven’t yet been trodden in the wedding room of the town hall.
7...Nxe5!?
This looks debatable. More logical was 7...g6 followed by 8...Bg7 and kingside castling.
8.dxe5 Nd7 9.cxd5 Bxd5 10.e4
‘I may have underestimated this a bit’, said Van Foreest.
10...Be6 11.f4
11...f5!?
In the commentary room, 11...f6 was suggested. After 12.f5 Bxf5!? (the computer gives 12...Bg8 here, which is undoubtedly the best move) 13.exf5 Qa5+ 14.Kf1 Qxe5 15.Qc2 Black doesn’t have enough for the piece.
However, 11...Nc5 looks more logical.
12.Be3 Qa5+ 13.Qd2 Qxd2+ 14.Nxd2
Now White gets a mighty centre.
14...fxe4 15.Bxe4 Nb6 16.0–0 Bd5
What went wrong for White? Van Foreest couldn’t give anything concrete after the game. ‘Maybe in this phase he should already have exchanged less pieces’, he suggested.
17.Bxb6 axb6 18.Bxd5 cxd5 19.e6
This looks very strong too, ‘but maybe it’s not so bad’, Van Foreest said.
19...g6 20.Nf3 Bg7 21.Rac1 0–0 22.Rc7 Bf6
With that pawn on e6, Van Foreest didn’t want to give up his own e-pawn. But here also, 22...Rxa2 23.Rxe7 Re2 was possible.
23.a4 Rad8
24.Rxb7
It’s hard to imagine that this could be wrong, but 24.Ne5 looks more powerful, for example: 24...Rd6 (after 24...Bxe5 25.fxe5 Rfe8 26.Rxb7 Black is rather squeezed to death) 25.Nd7 Ra8 (25...Rd8 26.Re1) 26.Nxf6+ exf6 27.f5! gxf5 28.Rxf5 with strong pressure along the seventh rank.
24...Rd6 25.Re1 Rc8
Now Black has protected everything, and he is ready to start counterplay.
26.g4?!
This does little but weaken the f4-pawn, and with hindsight, Timman was not satisfied with this move.
In the commentary room, Jorden thought that 26.Rd7 would have been White’s best chance: he had considered 26...Rxd7 (26...Kf8! looks like a good defence – Black will lay siege on the e6-pawn, possibly with ...Ke8) 27.exd7 Rd8 28.Ne5 (the direct 28.Re6! is also problematic for Black; the passed a-pawn becomes strong) 28...Bxe5 29.Rxe5 Rxd7 30.Re6 and this endgame is highly unpleasant for Black.
26...Bc3! 27.Rd1 Rxe6 28.Rxd5 Re4 29.Kg2 Rxf4 30.Kg3!?
In fact this comes down to an exchange sacrifice.
30...Rcf8 31.Rd3 Bb4 32.Rxb6 Bd6
33.Rbxd6
Clearly forced.
33...exd6 34.Ng5 Rb4 35.Ne6
Van Foreest thought he had played badly after this.
35...Re8?
35...Rc8 keeps a better check on the knight.
36.Nc7 Re1?
‘This was the worst possible move’, Van Foreest said. ‘I wanted to play 37...Rg1+ and 38...Rxg4, but I had missed the fork on f6.’
37.Nd5 Rb7 38.b4 Ra1
Now it’s already equal, even though it still looks tense. Van Foreest offered a draw, and this was accepted by Timman, whose faced had turned a little red by now.
Already early in the afternoon Anna-Maja Kazarian was looking at a ruin on the board, and there was nothing she could do about it anymore. Still, after the game she kept a brave face: ‘There’s still four games to go.’
Kazarian - Guramishvili
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6
A surprise for Kazarian. Until now Guramishvili had always played the Najdorf. We had to ask: was this Anish’s doing? ‘Could be’, is Guramishvili’s answer in such cases.
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Be7 9.Be3!?
A tad better is fast development with 9.Be2 and kingside castling. Guramishvili’s reaction is very alert:
9...Qa5! 10.f3?!
10.Qd2.
10...0–0
Here already, 10...d5 was quite interesting. Guramishvili keeps the move up her sleeve for a while – with devastating effect.
11.Qd2 Rd8 12.Rd1?
After this mistake things immediately go horribly wrong for White. Guramishvili had looked at 12.Qf2 Nd7, or even 12...Re8 13.Bb6 Qb4 ‘or another square. Her pieces are still misplaced.’
12...d5!
Of course. Now this breakthrough has enormous consequences. First of all any move with the d-pawn is threatened.
13.cxd5
13.Qf2 Bxa3 14.Bb6 Qb4 15.Bxd8 Bxb2 also turns out bad for White.
13...exd5 14.Nxd5
14.exd5 Nxd5 and everything is hanging, for example: 15.Nxd5 Bb4 – which, by the way, would have been better than the game, but an extra exchange is also sufficient for the point.
14...Bb4 15.Qxb4 Nxb4 16.Bb6
This only looks picturesque.
16...Nd3+ 17.Ke2 Nf4+ 18.Kf2 Rxd5 19.Bxa5 Rxd1
And Black had a full extra rook. Kazarian played on for a bit, to recover from the shock, and then resigned. ‘This was quite shocking’, she said afterwards. ‘Tactically, Sopiko is simply very strong. Maybe I will have to play more strategically in the last four games…’ The Georgian player doesn’t carry the nickname ‘Miss Tactics’ for nothing: ‘That’s women’s chess’, she laughed. ‘Anything can happen.’
