{"id":9710,"date":"2019-08-09T11:36:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T09:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mvlchess.com\/?p=9710"},"modified":"2019-08-09T14:52:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T12:52:50","slug":"3-tournaments-in-a-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mvlchess.com\/en\/2019\/08\/09\/3-tournaments-in-a-row\/","title":{"rendered":"3 tournaments in a row!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I just finished a few days ago a 6-week marathon. Indeed, I left home on June 24 and flew to Zagreb, Croatia, in order to play the first Classical tournament of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT). On July 9, I flew directly from Zagreb to Riga, Latvia, where I began my Grand Prix FIDE campaign. Then I came back to Paris for the second GCT Rapid & Blitz, and only went back home on August 2!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m\ntired, that\u2019s for sure\u2026 Though I knew this year\u2019s calendar\nwould set a breathtaking pace. But I couldn\u2019t get the level of\nphysical preparation required beforehand, which would maybe have\nallowed me to stay fit during the whole period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately,\nI arrived in Zagreb in quite good shape, but paradoxically, my chess\nwas bad throughout in Croatia. Certainly, the playing conditions\ndidn\u2019t help. The air conditioning – a past-time one – was in full\nswing on the scene, causing annoying noise. Frankly speaking, it was\na real issue for me, especially as other organization details were\nalso suboptimal. It(s a pity though, as Zagreb is an enjoyable town\nand I very much liked its ambiance, restaurants\u2026 the town, the\norganization\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then,\naround half-tournament, I more or less gave up, and decided to save\nenergy. I benefited from these few days, as well as those from the\ntransit to Riga, to forget this unfortunate chess moment in Croatia,\nand recover energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Last
Last round; Carlsen isn\u2019t at the board, but he\u2019s just played 31.a3! and black\u2019s position collapses. Zagreb, a tournament to forget\u2026 (Photo: Leenart Ootes, GCT).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In Latvia, I must admit everything went really smoothly. I was pretty surprised to avoid all tie-breaks before the final, and also that for once, I could benefit from such favourable circumstances! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Navara,
Mvl-Navara, Riga, 1\/8 finals, first game.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to a good prep, I quickly gained a clear advantage, which I would probably have converted with the simple 13.Qxg7 Rg8 14.Qh6. Instead, I played the imprecise 13.Ne2?<\/strong>, which allowed black to come back into the game with 13\u2026Bb6, as now 14.Qxg7 Rg8 15.Qh6 would allow 15\u2026e4!, breaking the coordination between white\u2019s pieces. Fortunately, the Czech chose 13\u20260-0?<\/strong>, and after 14.Bf5!<\/strong>, I resumed the normal course of my advantage! (1-0, 19 moves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe \u00bc finals against Topalov, the first game was indeed\ndouble-edged, but it worked out very well in the end. However, it was\nstill far from perfect as, like I did against Navara, I happened to\nmiscalculate a critical variation\u2026 \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Topalov-Mvl,
Topalov-Mvl, Riga, \u00bc final, first game.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Black\u2019s position would be a technical win after normal moves like 43\u2026Re5 or 43\u2026Nb7, but I spotted a tactical solution with 43\u2026h5 44.gxh5 f5 45.Bxf5 Rf7 46.Bg6 Rf2+ 47.Kb1 Rxh2 48.Ne4 g4<\/strong>, forgetting that after 49.Bf5 (Topalov played the inferior 49.Kc1?<\/strong>), only 49\u2026Rg2! kept the win. All the same, I ended up winning that game (0-1, 57 moves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strangely\nenough, I played my best game during the \u00bd final return match\nagainst Grischuk, even though I had a minor health concern, and felt\nreally without energy. I quickly offered a draw, but he declined, and\nI was able to gather my last resources in order to ultimately win\nthat game. Being qualified for the Riga final without tie-break meant\nthat I would have two free full days ahead of me, which I fully used\nto rest and relax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\nI could approach the match against Mamedyarov in better shape, but it\nwas so full of twists that I\u2019m not yet able to analyze it clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of\ncourse, it\u2019s a pity I ended up losing the match because of a final\nArmageddon game, but I\u2019d rather remember that Riga was a prolific\ntournament in terms of result, as I gathered 8 points, thanks to the\n3 bonus points I earned from winning my first three matches without\ntie-breaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"GP
GP FIDE standings after 2 tournaments (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, a win would have given me 11 points instead of 8. Even if I wouldn\u2019t have booked my ticket for the Candidates yet, I think in this case my qualification chances would have raised to 95%. With 8 points, I rate my chances in the Grand Prix around 50-60%. Of course, I will have to arrive fresh in Hamburg and Tel-Aviv, as I\u2019m well aware of the fact that nobody\u2019s immune against a first round elimination and a big zero! (Giri and Aronian have both scored 0 in the first two tournaments\u2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nin my mind, if I reach one final or two semi-finals, I will be\nqualified; and maybe even less, with one or two bonus points gleaned\nhere or there\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, we must also take into account the possibility to qualify from the World Cup, which raises probabilities. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Finalist
Finalist in Riga, a good result! (Photo: Niki Riga, World Chess).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nThus,\nI only came back from Riga on July 25, and as soon as the next day,\nParis GCT Rapid & Blitz was beginning, with an afternoon devoted\nto press and technical meetings. The chain of events was beginning to\nweigh heavily\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfirst day of Rapid games, I played badly and was very lucky, mainly\nagainst Dubov in the first round. The second day was by far the most\naccomplished one, with a very nice win against Caruana in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Caruana,
Mvl-Caruana, Paris Rapid, round 5.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here, instead of 9.Qxe5, I had the novelty 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Bg2!<\/strong> prepared; a pawn sacrifice which allows white to quickly exert strong pressure on the Queenside (1-0, 53 moves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being\nin pole-position, I played the third day smooth sailing; two quick\ndraws with white against Nakamura and Anand, having on the way mixed\nup my prep in the Indian\u2019s pet Open Spanish. As Duda also gave me\nan easy win with black, I ended up the Rapid part with 6.5\/9, an\nalmost perfect result. I thought I would be able to finish off the\njob quite early in the Blitz. I didn\u2019t see what could happen and\nthen\u2026 there was this game against Grischuk!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Grischuk,
Mvl-Grischuk, Paris Blitz, round 2.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I found myself in a completely winning position, moreover with 3 minutes on the clock vs my opponent\u2019s 10 seconds! I wanted to apply myself not to spoil the win. I began beating around the bush, lost time, and in the following position…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Grischuk.\"
Mvl-Grischuk.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 I relinquished the idea of a simple exchange counter-sacrifice on e6 with 28\u2026Rf6, which leaded to a very easy ending two pawns up. Instead, I went into the sophisticated Bishop manoeuver 28\u2026Bc3 29.Rh3 Bb4 30.Bd4 Bc5<\/strong>, which is still winning, but complicates matters after 31.Bg7 Rf2+ 32.Kd3<\/strong>. And here, I uncorked the terrible 32\u2026Re7??<\/strong>, but Sacha didn\u2019t see 33.Bg8+! Kxg8 34.h7+ which would have forced resignation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Grischuk.\"
Mvl-Grischuk.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Quelques coups plus tard, non seulement mon avantage avait d\u00e9j\u00e0 fondu comme neige au soleil, mais en plus j\u2019ai \u00e0 nouveau rat\u00e9 sa menace Fg8+! avec 41\u2026Ff4??<\/strong>. Cette fois, Sacha n\u2019a pas laiss\u00e9 passer l\u2019occasion\u2026 (1-0, 49 cps). Le paradoxe, c\u2019est que je suis s\u00fbr que j\u2019aurais gagn\u00e9 cette partie si j\u2019avais eu 20 secondes \u00e0 la pendule au lieu de 3 minutes !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few moves later, not only my advantage had already melt like snow in the sun, but also I overlooked the threat Bg8+! again with the move 41\u2026Bf4??<\/strong>.
This time, Sacha didn\u2019t miss the chance\u2026 (1-0, 49 moves). Paradoxically, I\u2019m sure I would have won this game, had I got 20 seconds on my clock instead of 3 minutes!
Very hard to swallow, and even if I bounced back immediately against Caruana, I followed up with a couple of erratic games. Not the one against Nakamura, fairly won by him, but both my losses against Giri and Duda that day come to my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, after a shaky first Blitz day with 4.5\/9, I was somehow still leading, and I thought I would be able to turn the situation around on the last day.
How wrong I was, as it went from bad to worse! I crossed that day like a zombie, I couldn\u2019t calculate a single variation properly. I found it out during my third round game against Caruana\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Caruana-Mvl,
Caruana-Mvl, Paris Blitz, round 12.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here, I wanted to play the normal 31\u2026Qa8, and the game goes on. But on second thoughts, I wondered; what is the issue with 31\u2026Fc7<\/strong>? Fabiano replied 32.Qc2!<\/strong> and I understood I had a real problem, but too late!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Duda-Mvl,
Duda-Mvl, Paris Blitz, round 17.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another example of my shape at the end of Paris tournament; in this equal position, Duda blundered with 24.Nfe5??<\/strong>. And I didn\u2019t play the refutation 24\u2026b5! because after 25.Bxb7, I completely overlooked 25\u2026bxc4 and white loses a piece! No comment\u2026 (1-0, 56 moves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ndon\u2019t think I ever played so badly in a Blitz tournament, and with\nthis 8\/18 result, it is a miracle I could retain my lead in the\ncombined rankings and win the tournament. Results on the other boards\nall turned out in my favour in the last rounds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking\nabout figures, it was a very good result though, and I guess I\u2019m\nwell on my way to finish on one of the four qualifying spots for the\nFinals, scheduled in London early December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"GCT
GCT 2019 standings after 3 tournaments (www.grandchesstour.org).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next step for me, Grand Chess Tour again, with the Saint-Louis Rapid & Blitz (USA), which begins on August 10, immediately followed by the Sinquefield Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return\nto France, August 31!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skip it! <\/p>\n