GM Valerij Popov annotates the games of the 5th round: Hello dear chessfriends! We continue annotations of the Linares games. Today is 5th round. The pairings: Kasparov - Ponomariov 1-0 Radjabov - Anand 1/2 Leko - Vallejo Pons 1-0 The thoughts before round: Kasparov-Ponomariov One more test before supermatch :). Kasparov is beside himself. :-) Ponomariov is at the bottom of the tournament table too... So these fighters will show to each other! Everyone now understands that they are worth each other! Well, maybe almost...- Ponomariov is very young. He learns and first of all from "Great and Fiercefull". So the lesson is beginning... Keep the silence in the class! Radjabov - Anand Here everything is clear. The contenders will just play. Teumour for learning, Anand for habit. The tournament position they have is not such bad as at previous pair. So they can relax and gladden us by their play. Good luck! Leko - Vallejo Pons Peter will try to win at least one ending. :) So the task of Vallejo - to prevent him to get ending. Water and flame. Who will win? Eternal question in life - choose your favorite! Although I would not be on the side of Spaniard today... Opening and after... Kasparov-Ponomariov 1.е4 was not played... It's very interesting why? Because of Berlin variation (C67)? Yeah... OK! By tricky order of moves Kasparov got the Queen's Indian 4.g3 Bb7(E18). Although Black had the other reply to 3.g3 - с5... But it's already another opening! English opening if White plays c4 or the Queen pawns opening if he... does not. Well young man cannot know everything! So, White has got diserable variation. Lesson N1. Bishop f6 has rather strange position and Black plays not so often this line at last time. 11...Nc3 - very rare move, only 2 games in the Base. It looksKasparov has got what he wanted - position is not well-known for Ponomariov. Lesson N2. 12.bc! - right reaction, after 12.Rc3 c5! Bishop f6 has good perspectives. 13.Be5 Be7! (with idea Nd7 or Nc6) 14.dc bc 15.Rb3 Qc8 with unclear position Novikov-Rozentalis,Lvov 1985. 12...Na6 - anovelty. It's better than 12...Re8? 13.c4! dc? 14.Rc4 Na6 15.Qc2! with big advantage - c7-pawn is under attack and besides there's the threat Ng5 - Kochyev-Qvortrup,Gausdal 1991. Garry is trying to solve the position immediately 13.e4!?! - usualy there's quiet play in this variation. White plays against isolated pawn d5, or pair of c5,d5, limits the contender's forces;). But Garry foolows to himself everywhere. The idea looks very strong. Now Bishop f6 and Knight a6 have no good perspectives. So the position becomes dinamical and this is in favour of Kasparov Lesson N3... We are looking after with atention... Radjabov - Anand 1/2 Teumour is trying to play "logical" chess in super-tournaments. The defect is only one - the pieces are traded very often. And it's already "simple" chess. And it's already in Anand favour! Although who knows what will be in several years... Queen's Indian Petrosian variation 4.а3 (E12). Many years it is one of the fashionable variations among the practical chessplayers. 15.e5 - novelty, surely prepared at home. White spoils his pawn structure and lets to Black the d5-square for the Knight. But white Knight is going to the e4-square after Bishop's trading. Besides it's not so easily for Black to move Knight to d5 and also Knight cannot leave K-side where White is going to atack. Anand didnot want to defence psassively and prefered to play 18...f6!? He weakened his pawn structure but got the d5-squre and coordinated his heavy pieces To win such a position for White is very uneasily, but it's easily just to play it. Besides White has a weak pawn too - d4 and the line "c" is under control of Black, the only problem for Black is his King. So position is equal, the draw must be. Leko - Vallejo Pons Superfashionable at last time variation of Sicilian (B48) with Be3 and Qd2. From 12th move contenders left the main lines (12.Qg5 - novelty). 12.Kb1 - recipe of Leko. Anothers play 12.Qf2. Already on 13th move Leko offered to trade the Queens - read prognosis! Vallejo did not agree. Deserved attention 14...Bh2 - but surely Peter has some sufficient reply for that too. Spaniard was very cautious and wondered us by not logical moves 14...Rb8 and 15...0-0. Peter with great pleasure has traded the Queens by 16.Bc5. Due to b7-b5 Black has certain problems in the ending. White has slightly better position. Leko surely leads the game to the technical position. Middgame. Radjabov - Anand 1/2 Radjabov plays according to the tournament strategy and he fixed the draw in slightly better position. It's rather early, but... profitable. Leko - Vallejo Pons 1-0 Leko continue to pressure in the endgame. And although we have been teaching in the childhood that the Sicilian endgame is good for Black... The endgame with a weakness on a6 is somehow not that! The French probably! And to defence such endgames one should be Rustemov, Gurevich, Vaganian... But Vallejo still is only Vallejo. Leaving in the total passive, "Paco" resigns after the time control - he has nothing to move... Such affairs - Leko won nevertheless an endgame. The leader! Hurrah-hurrah-hurrah! Although it is slightly sick ... This is my influenza. Kasparov-Ponomariov 1-0 What can I say?! I remind about my influenza! After 14...g5?! I have not pleasure to analyse. A greatly praised practicalness-"computerness" of Ponomariov gave a blunder (regular?). Garry showed to all of us how he is able to play with a computer. The lesson number4...And here a symbiosis of a man-computer nothing can oppose him. And maybe we overpraised Ruslan? Or bothered... After today's play he can be bored of all the tournament. It's no joke - one point out of five! In opposite the Kasparov's play desire any respect. 16.f4!?! - this is a highest class! Trying to be not diverted by trifles. 15.Ne4 - Kasparov wants only one thing - to mate! After the Queen's transfer on h6 and the Knight's one on the killing f5 it became clear - Black is over. An elegant 43.Rf6 only stressed that Kasparov obtained the form! Now one should be afraid of the boss! :) An excellent game provided by White and a lot of lessons... For the beginners how to fight for the top chess titles. And certainly for all of us! We are waiting the new lessons! The epilogue . The tournament comes to a middle. Kasparov obtained a good form. The leader and outsider have been determined. All is only begin - remain with us! Take care - the influenza is not a hindrance for us! All the best!