Harikrishna draws with Karjakin, loses to Eljanov at Shamkir 2017

by Sagar Shah - 23/04/2017

Harikrishna has made a slow start at the Shamkir Masters 2017. He drew his first game against Sergey Karjakin and lost in the second against Pavel Eljanov. This is a wonderful opportunity for Harikrishna as he fights with the best players in the world including Wesley So, Vladimir Kramnik, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and many others. Wesley So lost his first game against Mamedyarov after a 67 game unbeaten streak. Pavel Eljanov leads with 2.0/2.

Harikrishna played the Ragozin the first round against Sergey Karjakina and drew the game with ease. At no point was he in any real danger.

Karjakin - Harikrishna with light notes by Tactical Analysis feature

[Event "4th Shamkir Chess 2017"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2017.04.21"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2755"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 O-O {
D38: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence (4 Nf3 Bb4)} 8. e3 Bf5 9. Qb3
Bxc3+ {LiveBook: 5 Games} 10. Qxc3 Nbd7 11. Nd2 Rc8 12. Be2 c5 13. O-O Qb6 {
Threatening ...cxd4.} 14. Rfc1 Rfe8 $146 (14... cxd4 15. Qxd4 Qxd4 16. exd4 {
1/2-1/2 (40) Wojtaszek,R (2733) -Matlakov,M (2684) Poikovsky 2016}) 15. Kf1 Ne4
(15... cxd4 $5 {feels hotter.} 16. Qxd4 Qxd4 17. exd4 g5 18. Bg3 Nf8) 16. Nxe4
dxe4 17. a4 cxd4 18. Qxd4 Qxd4 19. exd4 Nb6 20. Rc5 Rxc5 21. dxc5 Nd5 22. Rd1
Nf4 23. Bb5 Rc8 24. Rd8+ Rxd8 25. Bxd8 $11 {Endgame KBB-KBN} Nd3 26. c6 bxc6
27. Bxc6 Nxb2 28. Ke2 Nc4 29. Be7 Ne5 30. Bb5 Bc8 31. Bd6 a6 (31... f6 $5 {
is interesting.} 32. Ke3 a6 33. Bf1 Bb7 34. Kd4 Nd3) 32. Bxe5 axb5 33. axb5 $14
{KB-KB} f6 34. Bd6 Kf7 35. Ke3 Bd7 36. Kxe4 (36. b6 $5 {creates asymmetry.} Bc6
37. Kd4 Ke6 38. Bf8 Kf7 39. Bb4) 36... Bxb5 {The position is equal.} 37. Kf3 h5
38. h4 g6 39. g3 Ke6 40. Ba3 Bc6+ 1/2-1/2

In the second round Harikrishna lost with the white pieces against Pavel Eljanov. It was a very interesting game with Eljanov played a line that is not so popular from the black side in the Nimzo Indian Rubinstein. Hari got an initiative out of the opening. However, his queen exchange was a bad move that let Pavel improve his pawn structure considerably. Although the position was around equal at move 30 mark, Hari made a few more mistakes and in the end Pavel converted with precision.

[Event "4th Shamkir Chess 2017"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2017.04.22"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Black "Eljanov, Pavel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E50"]
[WhiteElo "2755"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 b6 7. d5 exd5 {
5 E0: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4...0-0 5 Nf3} 8. cxd5 {LiveBook: 17 Games}
Nxd5 {[#]} (8... Ba6 9. O-O Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Re8 11. Nb5 d6 12. a3 Ba5 13. b4 a6
14. Nxd6 Qxd6 15. bxa5 {1/2-1/2 (31) Shimanov,A (2593)-Kamsky,G (2680) Las
Vegas 2015}) 9. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 {White is slightly better.} 10. Qxd5 Bxc3+ 11.
bxc3 {aiming for Qh5+.} Qf6 12. Bb2 $146 (12. O-O Nc6 13. e4 Kg8 14. Qh5 Ba6
15. Re1 {1-0 (60) Geller,E-Smyslov,V Moscow 1965}) 12... Nc6 13. O-O-O Kg8 14.
h4 $1 Ba6 15. h5 $1 (15. c4 Qh6 $15) 15... Qh6 16. Nh4 Qe6 17. Qxe6 ({White
should play} 17. h6 $14 Bc4 18. Qg5 Qxh6 19. Qxh6 gxh6 20. Nf5) 17... dxe6 $15
18. h6 Bc4 19. Nf3 Rad8 20. Rxd8 (20. Rh4 $15 Rxd1+ 21. Kxd1 Bxa2 22. Rg4)
20... Rxd8 $17 ({Worse is} 20... Nxd8 21. Ne5 b5 22. Rh4 $16 (22. Nxc4 bxc4 23.
hxg7 Kxg7 $16)) 21. Rh4 b5 ({Stronger than} 21... Bxa2 22. c4 f6 23. Rg4 $16) (
{Better is} 21... Be2 $1 $17 22. c4 Nb4 23. Bxg7 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Nxa2+ 25. Kc2
Kh7) 22. Ba3 $11 gxh6 23. Bxc5 Bxa2 24. Nd4 Rd5 25. Rg4+ Kh7 26. Bf8 Ne5 27.
Rg7+ Kh8 28. Rg3 Nd3+ 29. Kc2 Nxf2 30. Rf3 Ne4 {Hoping for ...e5.} 31. Rxf7 (
31. Rf4 $17 f5 32. Rh4) 31... Rg5 $1 $19 32. Rxa7 Rxg2+ 33. Kc1 Nxc3 (33... h5
$142 {Strongly threatening ...h4.} 34. Ra8 Kh7 35. Ra7+ Kg8) 34. Bxh6 $17 b4 {
White must now prevent ...Bd5.} 35. Bf4 Bd5 {Threatens to win with ...Be4.} 36.
Be5+ Kg8 {And now ...Be4 would win.} 37. Rc7 Na2+ (37... Ne2+ $17 38. Kd1 Nxd4
39. Bxd4 b3 40. Rc8+ Kf7 41. Rc7+ Ke8 42. Rc8+ Kf7 43. Rc7+ Ke8) 38. Kb1 $15
Nc3+ (38... Rg5 $15 39. Rc8+ Kf7 40. Rc7+ Ke8) 39. Kc1 $17 Ra2 (39... Ne2+ $17
40. Kd1 Nxd4 41. Bxd4 b3 42. Rc8+ Kf7 43. Rc7+ Ke8 44. Rc8+ Ke7) 40. Rc8+ Kf7 {
...Be4 is the strong threat.} 41. Nc2 {White wants to play Rc7+.} Ne2+ 42. Kd1
b3 43. Kxe2 Be4 44. Kd2 Kg6 45. Bd4 bxc2 $15 {Endgame KRB-KRB} 46. Rg8+ Kh5 47.
Rh8+ $1 Kg4 48. Rg8+ ({White should try} 48. Bf6 $1 $15) 48... Kf3 $1 $17 49.
Rf8+ {[#]} Bf5 $1 50. Kc1 $2 (50. Bf6 {keeps fighting.}) 50... Ra4 51. Rb8 Ra3
52. Rf8 $2 (52. Rh8 Ra5 53. Rh5) 52... Ke2 53. Rh8 Rb3 54. Rh2+ {[#]} Kf1 $1
0-1

With seven rounds to go India number two Harikrishna Pentala has all the chances to make a comeback!

Watch his third round game live at 16.30 hours IST.