Harikrishna crushes Van Wely

Pentala Harikrishna crushed Loek Van Wely with a rook and queen sacrifice in the fifth round of the Tata Steel Group A Super Category Tournament at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands on January 17, 2013.

In the more important clash, world champion Anand as white faced the Petroff defence from No.1 ranked Magnus Carlsen of Norway. After 23 moves the players drew once queens were exchanged off the boards.

Harikrishna demonstrated how to defeat the Sicilian defence with a shower of sacrifices on a cold and chilly day in the Netherlands. Eight rounds remain to be played in this 14-player all-play-all.

Standings after round five: 1-3. Anand (Ind), Carlsen (Nor), Karjakin (Rus) 3.5/5 each; 4-7. Harikrishna (Ind), Leko (Hun), Wang Hao (Chn), Nakamura (USA) 3 each; 8 Aronian (Arm) 2.5; 9-11. Caruana (Ita), Giri (Ned), Van Wely (Ned) 2 each; 12-13. I Sokolov (Ned), L’Ami (Ned) 1.5 each; 14 Hou Yifan (Chn) 1.

The moves:

P Harikrishna-L. Van Wely, Round Five, Sicilian Scheveningen B84: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Be2 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. O-O Be7 8. a4 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. f4 Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bf3 Bd7 13. Nb3 b6 14. g4 Bc8 15. g5 Nd7 16. Bg2 Bb7 17. Rf3 Bf8 18. Rh3 g6 19. Qe1 Bg7 20. Qh4 Nf8 21. Qf2 Nd7 22. Rf1 Nb4 23. Bd4 Bxd4 24. Nxd4 Nc6 25. f5 Nce5 26. Qh4 h5 27. Nde2 exf5 28. Nf4 Kg7 29. Ncd5 Bxd5 30. Nxd5 Qxc2 31. exf5 Rac8 32. Nf4 Rh8 33. fxg6 fxg6 34. Ne6+ Kg8 35. Bd5 Qd2 36. Qe4 Rc1 37. Rhf3 Kh7 38. Rf7+ Nxf7 39. Qxg6+ 1-0