Triple tie

This week I conclude my coverage of the Fidé (World Chess Federation) Grand Prix which finished last month in Khanty-Mansiysk. Three shared first place: Dmitri Jakovenko, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. Although Jakovenko emerged in pole position on tie-break, it was Caruana and Nakamura who qualified for next year’s Candidates tournament to determine a challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen by virtue of their superior scores in the overall series.
 
Here are some of the decisive moments from this important event.
 
Caruana-Tomashevsky: Khanty-Mansiysk 2015 (see diagram 1)
 
White’s king is safer than Black’s and he has powerful central play. Caruana quickly converted these advantages. 31 e6 Re7 32 Bh4 Ree8 If 32 … Bxe1 33 Bxe7 Bxf2 34 Bd8 wins. 33 e7+ Qf7 34 Re6 b5 35 Rd8 bxa4 36 Qe3 Bxe7 Desperation but White’s build-up is overwhelming. He will move his king to unpin the rook and then continue Rxa8 Rxa8 and e8Q+.