Bareev - Karpov 1/2 Ivanchuk - Timman 1-0 Ponomariov - Van Wely 1-0 Kramnik - Topalov 1-0 Krasenkow - Radjabov 0-1 Shirov - Anand 0-1 Grischuk - Polgar 0-1 Hello dear friends! Today it's me Grandmaster Sergey Ivanov who is your pilot in the review of today's round. Yesterday was the rest day in the tournament, so today the participants have to struggle with the double energy. The most interesting games on my view there are Shirov - Anand and Kramnik - Topalov. Anand is the sole leader but I don't think that today's game will be so easy for him because Shirov can get him in case if he wins today. Kramnik and Topalov have 50 per cents of the scores, but the struggle of such monsters has to be interesting in any case. It seems Bareev has overcome the crisis (which he had in the middle of the tournament) and he will try to strengthen his tournament standing in the game with Karpov. And for Ponomariov there's nowhere to set back: he has to fight today with unexpected leader Van Wely despite of all difficulties connected with his conflict with FIDE, he has to keep up his dignity. Shirov - Anand The contenders have played the sharpest variation of Caro Cann where Anand playing by white won Karpov in the 5th round. Then Black had chosen 6...Ne7 and after 7.f4 c5 White had used the novelty - 8.Ng3!?, which had brought the win for White. Now Anand has decided to attack the center by immediate 6...c5. This variation was popular in 80-90s years of the last century and White usually chose then 9.Nd4 with following f2-f4. Now Shirov transfered his Knight to the other side - 9.Nf4. This position already met in the paractice of Shirov - the game Shirov-Gyimesi (Moscow 2001) after 9...Ne7 White had played 10.Bb5 N7c6 11.Qe2 Be4 12.Ne4 de4 13.Rd1 Qc7 with unclear play. Now Shirov has prefered to castle to the Q-side. And already on the next move he has sacrificed the piece - 12.Nfd5, there was no necessarity in it though. He had other not bad possibilities, for example - 12.h4!? with idea 12...Bh4 13.Ng6 hg6 (13...Ng6 14.Nd5!) 14.f4 with strong initiative It looks like White underestimated the blow 13...d4! - and if 14.fe5 then 14...Bg5!, and Black has an extra piece. Anand has not made anything bad so he should not be punished at once. Let's see maybe Shirov has been up to something extraordinary... Alas White could not invent anything good. After 14.h4 (taking the square g5 under control) Black has dealt a blow - 14...Nd3! (by the way there was an alternative: 14...Bd3 15.cd3 Nd7) 15.cd3 h5! - it's very important to make the Bishop to stay on the board. Not so clear 15...dc3 16.h5 Qd5 17.Rh3 Qa2 18.bc3 - White takes back a piece. And in the game, after Black could get an extra piece and to castle, White has got hopeless position. His pieces lost the coordiantion and all what Black had to do was the simple accuracy. Unfortunately for White he could not play 21.d5 due to 21...Bg5! 22.hg5 Re2 winning the Queen, so he had to play then 21.Qc4, but in that case White would have lost all his pawns of K-side. The technical part of the game Anand has led with confidence. Especially I'd like to notethe moves 26...Bf5! (bringing the Bishop into the game); 29...Be6! and 30...Qd5! - forcing the Queen exchange. Very confident win of Anand, who has strengthened his position in the tournament and alas, one more defeat of Shirov. Kramnik - Topalov Thecontenders are in fighting mood, especially Veselin, who has used one of the sharpest his favourite schemes - Volga gambit. In reply for that Kramnik has used the actual set up in this opening - 10.Rb1!? This move necessary play before the castling because in case of 10.0-0 follows 10...Nb6! 11.Rb1 (11.b3 is impossible - after 11...Nfd5 the rook a1 "hungs") 11...Bb7 12.Nh4 Nc4!, and White cannot develop his Q-side optimally Now (after 10.Rb1) if 10...Nb6 then 11.b3, and Black does not get anything. After 10.Rb1 0-0 11.0-0 Black has several plans, for example 11...Nb6 12.b3 Ra7 with following Qa8 and with pressure on the pawn d5; or 12...Bb7 13.Nh4 Ra5 with following Qa8. But Topalov has chosen the standart set up: 11...Qa5, 12...Rfb8 with following Ne8-c7. Kramnik has played 15. a4 - avoiding Nb5 with numerous exchanges. If 15.b3 then possible 15...Qa3. But after 15...Qb6 16.b3 (or Black moves Qb3) Black has taken back the pawn, but by the exchange of dark-colored Bishops. By move 18.Ne5 White evoked the exchanges. I should to note that Black could not play 18...Nc3? 19.Nd7 Qb4 because of 20.Rbc1! Ne2 21.Re2 Be2 22.Nb8, and White has a material advantage. After the exchanges the game passed into the position where White has some advantage due to the better pawn structure. But, to tell the truth, it's difficult to win such a position. Kramnik has showed a filigree technic in the endgame. We couldn't say the same about his rival alas: it seems Topalov kept the draw and made a mistake only in the very end. The position turned out to be nevertheless not simple for Black. White got a plan to exchange the pawns b3 and c5 obtaining a remote passing a-pawn. When the opponents passed to the Rook endgame Kramnik skillfully kept the strain giving no Black the possibility to be occupied with a6-pawn. Topalov defended heroically and found the King's movement on b8, then White nevertheless was forced to go away the a6-pawn but he got instead an extra-pawn on the opposite flank. In my opinion the position remained drawn, the decisive Black's mistake 53...Rc4? and White moved the pawn on g6 in time and got a passage for the King's invasion. Ought to play 53...Ra1, attacking White from below, for example: 54.Ke4 Re1 55.Kd4 Kg8 or 54.Kg4 Ra4 with threat e5. After Black has lost a tempo his position couldn't be saved. One more a very interesting Rook endgame! Bareev-Karpov Bareev once again looks for the new ways in the system 4.Qc2 in Nimzo Indian. Now he has chosen the rare 9.Ne2!? Usually White plays 9.f3 with following development according to these schemes - Bd3+Ne2 or Nh3+Be2. The idea of 9.Ne2 is in transfering of the Knight to the c3-square. On the next move White moves Qd3 but not Qc2 - this move looks more natural and met several times already. The sense is to take on d4 by the Queen after c7-c5 and с5xd4. But for Karpov it was not unexpected because this position already met in the game of the same contenders in the recent rapid event in Cap d'Adge. There Bareev played 13.Be2, and after 13...cd4 14.Qd4 e5 15.Qd1 Bg2 16.Rg1 Bc6 17.Bg4 g5 18.Bf5 Rfd8 19.Qe2 Kf8 20.Bg3 Nc5 he did not get sufficient compensation for the pawn. Now Bareev plays more accurately - 13.Rd1. But on the nextmove White sacrificed the pawn though, Karpov has prefered not to take th sacrifice: if 14...Bg2 15.Rg1 Bc6 then 16.e4!? and White has an initiative. By way 16.Bf6 Qf6 17.Qf6 gf6 Bareev has passed the game into the ending, although there was no necessarity for that, he could play for example 16.0-0 Nb3 17.Qd3 Rac8 18.Qc2. As result Black practically equalized the chances. Certainly it is impossible to win such a position against Karpov. After 20.Nc7 Bb3! is the most correct. In case of 20...Rac8 21.Nd5 Rd5 22.Rd5 ed5 23.0-0 White could hope for something. But now Black has only one weakness the h6-pawn, therefore Black don't pass to the Rook endgame (for example by way of 27...Nc4), but in opposite trade the Rooks: White will not be able to reach h6-pawn with the Bishop against the Knight. On the 38th move Black certainly don't need to take on b2: after 39.Ke3 b5 40.Kd4 Kd6 (was threatened the passing in the pawn endgame) 41.Bf7 White get some chances. Bareev maneuvered long time but at least was forced to humble with an inavitable: draw. The only draw in the round! Ivanchuk - Timman The riavals played the old Steinitz variation of Ruy Lopez. The 7th move of Black looks rather strange - 7...Bg4, it looks like he just lost the tempo. Ivanchuk reacted very creatively: 8.d4 ed4 9.Ne2!?, in the game Romanishin-Smyslov (Hastings 1976/77) White played simply 8.h3 Bf3 9.Qf3 g6 10.d4 Nd7 11.de5 Nde5 12.Qe2 with certain advantage. Here Black has got acceptable position, in fact he has lost the game by only one move - 14...Rc8? Instead of that he had to play 14...Nb6 (with idea 15.a4 Qe6, and he takes the c4-pawn), for example 15.Qd3 Qe6 16.b3 Qd7 17.Na5 Be7 with approximately equal position. Seems Black blundered the following 16.a4! Qf3 and there's 17.Ra3! Qg4 18.Rg3 Qe6 19.b3, where Black has no positive moves. Timan rushed into the desperate counter attack - 16...d5, but Ivanchuk simply has taken the piece but Black could not make any sufficient threats. Yeah, Timman cannot compete in this event, and Ivanchuk now can to struggle for the top places. Ponomariov - Van Wely A titanic fight! Nevertheless Ruslan has finished squeezing his rival. Since the first moves the game went away from the "theoretic tracks". In a calm variation of Sicilian defence Van Wely repeated the move 7...c4, which he tested in the 1st round against Grischuk. By the way it is unclear why one cannot take the pawn; in the game Yemelin-Shvedov (Novgorod 1999) White played simply - 8.dc4 Qd1 9.Kd1 Be6 10.c5 0-0-0 11.Ke1 Nd7 12.Be3 Ne5 13.Nd4 and wins gradually. But Ponomariov played the same as Grischuk and Van Wely was the first who deviated - 11...Bb7 instead of 11...cd4. Although Black in the game Grischuk-Van Wely couldnot complain of the results of the opening. The arose position slightly remained the Grunfeld defence. On my opinion the initial chaos of Black's difficulty - the move 18...Kh8?!, instead of this he should prefer 18...Re8. After 19.Ne7 Re7 20.Be7 Black has two possibilities: 20...Qe8 21.Bf6 Bf3 22.gf3 Ne5 23.Bg7 Nf3! 24.Kg2 Qc6 with a sharp play; or even the Queen sacrifice: 20...Bf3 21.gf3 Ne5 22.Rd8 Qd8 23.Bd8 Rd8 - it is not simply to win for White. With the strong moves 20.Bf6! and 22.Ne7! Ponomariov led his advantage almost to decisive one. Black is not obliged to take on e7 as it is bad for example 22...Qc5 23.Ne5+-. But later Ponomariov played slightly limply. So, instead of 24.Rfe1 a decisive attack White had after 24.Ne5! Re7 25.Ng4. By way of 27.Qc5 (instead of 27.Qf6) White won practically forcibly: 27...Rc5 (27...bc5 28.Nd2) 28.Rd8 Rc8 29.Red1 f6 30.R1d7 Bc6 31.Rc8 Bd7 32.Rd8 Ba4 33.b3+-. As it happened in the game Van Wely managed to pass to the four Rooks endgame where certainly White kept the advantage but he should play correctly. For example looked strange Ponomariov's move 33.Ree6 - several moves later Rook was forced to return back. The chances on a draw Black could keep only after 35...Kf7, removing a dangerous e7-pawn (instead of 35...Ra3). For example: 36.Rf6 Ke7 37.Rde6 Kd7 38.Re8 Ke8 39.Rf5 Ra3 40.Re5 Kf7 41.Re2 Kf6. In the game White managed to coordinate his forces and to arrange the movement of h-pawn. The last subtlety arose on the 54th move: in case of 54...Rh7 White play not 55.Re8? (hoping on 55...Ke8 56.Rb8 Ke7 57.Rb7) - after 55...Rg7! 56.Kf3 Ke8 and a draw on the board but 55.Rf8! Rf8 56.ef8Q Kf8 57.Rh7 winning. The endgame in this meeting was very interesting! Grischuk - Polgar A very "rush" game. In her favorite Paulsen system Polgar has chosen an interesting Knight's transfer Ne7-g6-e5 against the last fashion variation Be3+Qd2+f3+0-0-0. According to the position's structure it seems Black should not have any special problems. After the opening Grischuk played rather passively (17.Qe1, 18.Rd2). This instigated Polgar on a perspective pawn sacrifice - 18...Bc5!? The black King felt not bad in the center meanwhile the white Knight on g7 turned out to be in danger. Probably Grischuk overestimated his position. He should pass to endgame: 23.Bc5 Qc5 24.Qc5 Rc5 25.f4 Nf7 26.Bh5 Rh5 27.Rd4 with approximately equal chances instead of 23.f4. In the game White has not gained any real compensation for a piece. Further White instead of the capturing one more pawn (31.Ba6 Ba6 32.Qa6 Kc7 33.Qd3) has made an unintelligible move 31.Qf2?! Black continued methodically to strengthen the position and has got a completely winning position. But the time trouble has interfered in the course of the game and Black made a blunder by the control move 40...Rgg7? Suddenly White managed to create threats on the 8th rank. It's a luck that the move 43...Rb2 has been found. Black's position was so good that even giving away the piece he has not let out the win. An important victory of Judit Polgar. She has consolidated confidentely on the 2nd place. Krasenkov-Radjabov Krasenkov has chosen his favorite system with 6.h3 against the expected King's Indian defence. On the 11th move White has been able to show the agressive intentions 11.g4, but he prefered more calm 11.0-0. Black has replyed very correctly: 11...h6 12.Be3 Nh7!?, preparing the play with f7-f5. When several moves later Black has provided this movement White also with a standard way - 18.ef5 gf5 19.f4 allowed no the rival to develop an attack on the kingside. In a result has appeared a position with mutual pawns weaknesses: c3 and с4 for White and f5 for Black. The difference was only that White in compare with his rival had the possibility to attack the black's weakness and this gave him slightly better chances. Perhaps Black shouldn't change the darkcolored Bishops. This untied White's hands deliver him from the care of the c3-pawn. A long time the opponents have maneuvered and just before the time control White has provided a movement 39.g4. Probably the reply 39...Qe5! became a surprise for him. It turned out to be that the pawn coudn't be win. Instead of 39.g4 one may play simply 39.Bf5, and after the numerous exchanges: 39...Bf5 40.Rf5 Rf5 41.Rf5 Rf5 42.Qf5 Qe2 43.Kh3 Qc4 44.Qf3 a4 45.h5 appeared a rather unpleasured for Black endgame (look the difference in Kings' positions). All this probably affected bad on Krasenkov and he has began play unsuccessfully. The White's position was still not worse than Black's one. Instead of 43.Qg3?! one ought to choose 43.Re3 Qh8 44.Qg3 Qg7 45.Rh4 with an approximate equality. White has fallen to pieces in several moves getting a hopeless endgame. Well done, Radjabov! He is already "in plus"! |
