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!
A quick simultaneous before the opening ceremony (Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival).
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…
Mvl-Carlsen, round 2: instead of 32.Rh6, Maxime opted for 32.Rgh4?.
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!
Mvl-Carlsen: a 4-Rooks endgame insanely complicated.
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.
Mamedyarov-Mvl, round 3; 9.h3!, a novelty which looks innocuous, but conceals a number of hidden ideas.
With only 0.5/3, things were looking very grim…
Beginning of the game against Navara (Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival).Navara-Mvl, round 4; 21…Rac8, an aesthetic move which forces the draw.
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.
Partial view of the playing hall: like in Wijk aan zee, everybody plays in the same room (Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival).
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…
Svidler-Mvl, round 6; 20.e5?! is a bit too ambitious.
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]
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 !
Middle rank; under the watchful eye of Asnières Mayor, Maxime interferes to help solving confusing situations ! (photo Ligue IDF des Echecs).
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 simultaneous display against 26 opponents, between the old walls full of history of Asnières’ castle (photo Christophe Perruçon, Asnières city).
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…
Black just played 28…Nd6?, and after the aesthetic 29.Bxd5!, Maxime will tactically take profit of the back rank weakness!Facing Faycal Douhane, Bobigny sub-prefect (photo Christophe Perruçon, Asnières city).
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.
Jules Moussard, Almira Skripchenko, Manuel Aeschlimann (Asnières mayor), MVL and JC Moingt (club president) (photo Christophe Perruçon, Asnières city).
With GMs Jules Moussard and Matthieu Cornette, whose arrival in Asnières was also announced, these are three prominent squad additions for an Asnières team which, no doubt about it, will aim for the national title as soon as it appears in the Top 12 Elite division, scheduled in May 2019.
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]
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.
Mvl-Karjakin, round 1; a difficult endgame with white to begin with.
Then, Caruana missed a win…
Caruana-Mvl, round 2; the Americain misses the combination 34.Qg5! Rxc4 35.Ne7+ with a winning attack. A treat for the computer, but nothing trivial for a human being !
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…
Mvl-Grischuk, round 4; the inaccurate 28.Rb3?! allows 38…c6! and black equalizes.
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.
After 42…Be8, it is black who plays for the win!
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.
Concentration before the game (photo Grand Chess Tour).
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!
Nakamura-Mvl, round 5; 26…Re8!, a remarkable Queen sacrifice!
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.
Mvl-Anand, round 6; inexplicably, Anand allows white to play 47.a5.
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.
Mvl-Giri, round 8; 28.Nxb5 sets the board on fire.
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.
Giri-Mvl, round 11; 50.Bxc4? costs the game.
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.
Mvl-Nakamura, round 12; in all in mode, Naka uncorks the doubtful 17…e4.
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.
Mvl-Aronian, round 17; despite being two pawns down, white’s Bishop pair will narrowly hold the position up.
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..
With Caruana, during the introduction of players in Leuven’s City Hall (Photo Grand Chess Tour).
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.
Grischuk-Mvl, round 19; under time pressure, Grischuk loses a piece by 49.Bc2? Bxc2 50.Nxc2 d3.
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.
Nakamura-Mvl, round 21; white would have kept a stable advantage after 23.Rxf8+ Kxf8 24.Nf4, but Naka chose 23.Nf4 immediately, and after 23…Rxf4! 24.Rxf4 Bxc2, things are not so clear anymore..
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 !
Caruana-Mvl, round 22; 21…e5! 22.Bd5+ Kh8 23.Ne6 Rxe6 24.Bxe6 f4 with a strong attack.
Afterwards, I think I played the best attacking moves.
29…Nd4! means the end !
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.
Mvl-Mamedyarov, round 23; Maxime wants more than a draw and avoids 30.Nxf6.
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.
Mvl-Karjakin, round 25; black has just played the terrible 50…c3??.
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.
Mvl-Anand, round 27; 24.Bb4! instead of 24.Qe5 : one move away from the tournament win!
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]
After three draws in the first rounds, another challenge was awaiting me during the first rest day. Indeed, after farm work last year (in french), the Norwegian organizers, who undoubtedly don’t lack imagination, had planned a cooking challenge, worked up with the Clarion Hotel crew ! Cooking teammates Aronian-Mvl
Spread over five teams of two, we players had to cook a specific recipe. I thought I got a good draw with Levon Aronian who, like me, has a bit of a cooking experience. But in the end, we messed it up, and it didn’t work as it should have. As I wrote on social networks, I would have done better alone in my kitchen !
Fish, vegetables and a sauce hollandaise on the challenge menu.
Anyway, it was rather fun, the more so as half the players (won’t name them…) were probably for the first time in their life behind the stoves !
Round 4: Karjakin-Mvl
The next day, I was again in some sort of kitchen, but on the board… Facing me was Karjakin, who challenged one of the Grunfeld variations I had analyzed in detail some six or seven years ago. In the first instance, I reacted correctly, and I remembered what was to be done. Unfortunately, I got carried away with the exchange sacrifice 24…f4?!, very tempting from a practical point of view, but probably slightly inaccurate.
Karjakin-Mvl, ronde 4 ; 24…f4?! est trop ambitieux.
Karjakin didn’t miss taking advantage of the breach, and I couldn’t do much afterwards.
Round 5: Mvl-Aronian
I tried 1.d4, but I’ve got to apologize to my helpers for not being able to remember the details of the prep’.
Mvl-Aronian, round 5; 13.Rd1?! was not supposed to be on the agenda !
After 13…Bxc3! 14.bxc3 Qa5, I land with a misplaced Bishop on b2, and I’m the one who has to fight for equality. Which I did quite adequately, but it was surely not my initial intention !
Round 6: Nakamura-Mvl
Hikaru decided to take over the idea Nc3/Qxd4 followed by b3/Bb2 against the Sicilian, which gave Carlsen a win over Wojtaszek a few weeks ago in Shamkir (Azerbaijan). I thought I could clarify the position with my move 10…e5, but the reality is that I’m slightly worse in the ensuing ending. My life could have been more complicated if, instead of the bad 21.h3?, he had chosen the variation 21.f4 Bg4 22.fxe5 dxe5 23.h3 Rxd3 24.hxg4 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 Nc6 26.Rd7 Bb6 27.Rxb7, even if I would have kept good drawing chances after 27…Rd8!. Maybe I could have been greedier afterwards, with a more concrete approach, in order to try getting the advantage. The game finally concluded in a fortress position, erected by both camps !
Analyzing with Magnus Carlsen and the Hungarian commentator Anna Rudolf (photo Altibox Norway Chess).
Ronde 7 : Mvl-Anand
Round 7 : Mvl-Anand
It is no mystery that I was surprised by his choice of the Open Spanish. But I had good recollections of my old analysis in this opening, and I even had two lines to choose from. I opted for the c3/Nbd2/Re1 arrangement, and I thought I was taking a slight edge. Therefore I became a bit too optimistic about my chances, and I didn’t anticipate properly his 21…f5! counterplay. My position went downhill after his nice exchange sacrifice 24…c5!. Even so, I could still have earned a draw, had I found 29.a3!, instead of the terrible 29.Rxb4?. It leads to a drawn Rook endgame after 29.a3! Nc5 (29…dxe3? 30.axb4 exf2+ [30…e2 31.Re3 Nd4 32.bxa5! +-] 31.Kf1 a4 32.Re3 with a clear white advantage) 30.Rxb4 axb4 31.Bxd4 Nb3 32.Rd1 Nxd4 33.Rxd4 bxa3 34.bxa3.
Mvl-Anand, round 7; Maxime misses 29.a3! and uncorks the terrible 29.Rxb4?.
But I completely forgot about 29.a3!, and it was the same for his 30…b3!, which shuts down any further debate in the game.
Out on a walk after the tournament, with a wink at the animated series « Rick & Morty ».
Round 8 : So-Mvl
A remake of what is now called the « French Najdorf », an idea of Laurent Fressinet found for Magnus. You play 6.Be2 e5 7.Nf3, then Bg5 and Nd2. A lot of French players have taken up the idea, with pretty good results. I was not unhappy with this choice, as I felt the variation was at the same time balanced and dynamic. Even if I was clearly not in the best shape, I could at least rely on my instincts in this type of position, which I handle fairly well. Then I found myself with an entrenched Knight on d3, and the possibility of playing 27…Qe7 before he could launch any play on the Queenside. I don’t know if the decision to force an endgame by 31…Qc7 was good from a practical point of view, even if it earned me a pawn.
So-Mvl, round 8; 31…Qc7 forces a good endgame after mass exchanges on d3, but it is perhaps not enough to win.
I have not had time to double check, but it looks as if this endgame is a draw, even if it holds by a hair’s breadth. So I cannot even speak of a missed opportunity; it’s just a half-missed one, and it’s the only one I got in the whole tournament…
Round 9: Mvl-Carlsen
I admit that before this game against the World champion, I had the thought that it was time to look towards the next tournament, unless he would try something special, in which case I would have gone and fought. But in a « normal » variation, I didn’t wish to use an idea I had in store, for a rather low-stakes game from a sporting point of view.
I would like to conclude with huge congratulations to Fabiano Caruana, who wins yet another top level tournament, and proves to be the indisputable World #2 and Challenger.
8th with 3/8, a tournament to quickly forget for Maxime…
On my side, a winless 3/8 forces me to admit that this 2018 Norway Chess tournament was no picnic at all. For sure, it is not a glorious result for what was meant to be my first major goal of the year…
Now, I have to quickly move on to something else, and get back into the swing of things. Fortunately, the 2018 Grand Chess Tour starts pretty soon in Leuven (Belgium), with the first rapid games scheduled on Tuesday, June 12
[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered” background_pattern=”otw-pattern-1″]ActivitiesThe Norway Chess tournament has taken the habit of offering the players non-chess activities outside the tournament itself and the other chess commitments (opening blitz, meetings with schools…). The cooking challenge for instance, that Maxime evokes above. But also a yacht journey during the second rest day, or a walk around the town before the closing ceremony. And the evenings in the hotel were not forgotten, as you could see regular players, among them Maxime, contesting fierce Avalon games…
And to avoid unwelcome gossip, Caruana was participating in all of these activities, with the result in the tournament everybody knows ! [/otw_shortcode_quote]
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