John Henderson Dortmund Reports

Round 2 Friday 13th July 2001

LET THE BRAIN GAMES BEGIN

“THE venue for the 29^th Olympic Games will be...” Forget about the chess, here in the pressroom we were all glued in to the live TV coverage from Moscow of Juan Antonio Samaranch’s announcement of the 2008 Olympics: Beijing.

There was a collective sigh of relief from all of the Germans over the choice – they didn’t want Paris to get the gig. Personally speaking I would have opted for Toronto myself, but it was obvious that there was no love lost between the Germans and the French. However, there was method in their madness of seeing the Games go to Beijing. Carsten Hensel explained to me that the region of Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Essen are hopeful of mounting a successful bid for the 2012 Games, and obviously if Paris had won ahead of Beijing it would have scuppered that particular idea.

I noted with interest that Tiger Woods said that he’d have to wait until the Athens Games of 2004 to discover whether Golf will be added for 2008. It’s my belief that we will also have to wait until then to see if Kirsan and the boys from Fide have been successful in admitting Chess as a sport after the Anand-Shirov Exhibition Match in Sydney last year. But don’t hold out in it going into the summer Olympics. Bridge is looking to be included in the Winter Games, and if successful, then chess could well be asked to follow suit, so to speak. Besides, it makes more sense for chess to be included in the Winter Olympics: it would be a pity to waste all those years of training we’ve all experienced in cold, damp, school halls!

There was also a collective sigh of relief from another chess quarter here in Dortmund at the Games going to Beijing: Ray Keene and the new CEO of Brain Games (remember them?), David Massey.

I suppose now would be a good time to tell you that after our little spat during the BGN Kasparov-Kramnik match at the Riverside Studios in London last year, Raymundo and myself have kissed and made-up (not a pretty sight). So much so that he even asked me if I’d like to be in charge of the Press Centre in Bahrain later in the year for the Kramnik-Deep Fritz match. Did I accept his kind invitation, I hear you ask? Well, let’s put it this way, I’ve already purchased the factor 60 sun tan lotion and a new pair of Bermuda shorts. I even had the chutzpah to ask him if I could have my own email address for the tournament: 3henderson1@braingames.com. For some reason he refused me! Anyway, I figure that he wouldn’t dare throw his own press officer out of the pressroom...would he?

BGN have a lot riding just now on some major Go tournaments taking place in China – and the extra exposure of the Games going there can only be beneficial to their plans – and for future sponsorship possibilities in chess. Over the past year the great Raymundo and David Massey have been jetting in and out of China in almost a monthly basis – and believe me it had nothing to do with him volunteering for medical research into Deep Vein Thrombosis!

The same two BGN head honchos were in Mainz and they’ve been here in Dortmund – and with good reason. On Sunday, along with Vladimir Kramnik, Dortmund organisers Gerd Kolbe and Carsten Hensel, and a representative of Dortmund City Hall, Jorg Studemann, Ray Keene will be hosting a press conference to finally announce plans for Kramnik’s defence of his crown next year.

Speculation is rife about just what will be said at the press conference, but I’ve had my ear to the ground and I’m able to pass on some of the following information acquired from a certain rotunded GM who likes his food and can also churn out the odd book or two.

Basically, next year’s Dortmund event will be jointly sponsored by Brain Games and Sparkassen Bank. They intend having an eight-player Candidates tournament (probably a KO event) as part of the Dortmunder Chess Festival to determine Kramnik’s challenger. Garry Kasparov and Vishy Anand will be the two players invited to take part, and they will be joined by four of the top players on the Elo list. And it looks likely that even you could be joining them, too! A giant online tournament is also to be organised with two qualifying places going forward for the Candidates tournament.

Of course, we have to wait and hear officially what will come out of the press conference, but take it from me: the above is the main gist of what will be disclosed during it.

So get ready for your chance for immortality by taking on Vlady – and at the same time upsetting Kasparov by being on the same stage as him!

Kramnik,V - Leko,P [E48]

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 A wise choice? Kramnik, as many Grunfeld aficionados such as Kasparov and Leko have discovered to their cost, is very adept at destroying the Grunfeld. 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 0–0 5 Bd3 d5 6 cxd5 exd5 7 Nge2 This variation leads to complicated positional struggle. It's an old favorite of Mikhail Gurevich, who used it with great success in the late 80's. He would often tuck his king away in the corner, put his rook on the g-file and start an assault on the kingside by throwing his pawns up the board. Despite being very sceptical about it, he won a lot of games with the system. 7 ..Re8 8 0–0 Bf8! This is the best square for the bishop. Not only does it get out of the road of the development of the black pieces, it plays a crucial defensive role in bolstering up the black kingside. 9 a3 a5 10 Kh1N [New, but it fits in well with this system and probably shouldn't qualify as a TN as it looks as if it will lead to a known position. Instead, more usual is 10 f3 or 10 Bc2 - a particular favourite of Gurevich: 10 Bc2 c6 11 f3 Qb6 12 Kh1 Be6 13 e4 g6 14 e5 Nh5 15 f4 f5 16 exf6 Nd7 17 f5 gxf5 18 f7+ Bxf7 19 Bxf5 Nhf6 20 Qd3 Bg7 21 Bg5 Nf8 22 Qg3 Ne4 23 Nxe4 dxe4 24 Bf6 Bg6 25 Bxg7 Kxg7 26 h4 Kh8 27 Bxg6 hxg6 28 Rf7 Kg8 29 Raf1 Qb5 30 Qe3 Qh5 31 g3 Rab8 32 Kg1 Re6 33 Qf4 Ree8 34 Qf6 Qh6 35 Rf4 Nh7 36 Qd6 Rbd8 37 Qc7 Nf8 38 R7f6 Ne6 39 Qf7+ Kh8 40 Rxe6 Rf8 41 Qxg6 Qxg6 42 Rxg6 Kh7 43 Re6 1–0 Gurevich,M-Akesson,R/Stockholm 1987/TD (43). ] 10 ..Na6 11 f3

11 ..c5! The typical reaction on f3 - the weakness of white pawn on e3 gives black very good counter chances. 12 Nf4 Nc7 13 dxc5 Bxc5 14 e4 dxe4 15 Nxe4 Nxe4 16 Bxe4 Qxd1 17 Rxd1 Nb5 18 Nd3 Bf8?! [Also worthy of consideration was 18 ..Bb6 19 Bf4 Nd4 20 Rac1 Bf5! 21 Bxb7 Rad8 with great piece-play for the pawn. As it is, black gets a bit cramped - not the sort of position you should aim for against someone like Kramnik.] 19 Bf4 Nd6 20 Bd5

20 ..Be6 [Leko just may have missed something a bit more active: 20 ..Bf5!? 21 Nc5 Rac8 22 Nxb7 (22 Bxd6 Bxd6 23 Nxb7 Be5 24 f4 Bc7! again with good play) 22 ..Nxb7 23 Bxb7 Rc4 24 g3 Rc2 25 Rd5 Bh3 26 Rh5 Bg2+ 27 Kg1 a4 28 Be4 Rxe4! 29 fxe4 Bf3! 30 Ra5 Bc5+ 31 Rxc5 Rxc5 32 Re1 Rc4 33 e5 Rc2=] 21 Bxe6 Rxe6 22 Nc5 Rf6 23 Be5 Rf5 24 Bxd6 Bxd6 25 Nxb7 Be7 [25 ..Bf8 was better] 26 Nd6 [It's not so easy to convert the pawn into a won ending: 26 Rd7 Bf6 27 Rb1 (27 Rad1 Rb5 28 h3 a4 29 Nd6 Rxb2 30 Ne4 Rb3! 31 Nxf6+ gxf6 32 Ra1 Kg7=) 27 ..Rb5 28 a4 (28 Rxf7? Rb8! (28 ..Kxf7? 29 Nd6+!) 29 Nd6 Rd5 turns the tables.) 28 ..Rxb2 29 Rxb2 Bxb2 30 Nxa5 g6 31 Nc4 Bc3 32 Nd6 Rxa4 33 g3 Rd4!=] 26 ..Rc5 27 Rab1 [27 Ne4 Rc2 28 Rd7 Kf8 29 Rb7 f5 30 Ng3 g6 31 Rd1 Bf6! 32 b4 (32 Rxh7 Bxb2 33 h4 Kg8 34 Rdd7 Rd8!=) 32 ..axb4 33 axb4 Raa2=] 27 ..Rd8 28 b4 axb4 29 axb4 Re5 30 Nc4 Rxd1+ 31 Rxd1 Rb5 32 Ne3 Bxb4 [32 ..Rxb4?? 33 Nd5!] 33 Rb1 Rb8 34 Nd5 Bd6 35 Rxb8+ ½–½

Anand,V - Adams,M

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 0–0 Be7 8 c4 Nb4 9 Be2 0–0 10 Nc3 Be6 11 Ne5 f6 12 Nf3 Kh8 13 cxd5 Nxc3 14 bxc3 Nxd5 15 Bd3 c5 16 c4 Nb4 17 d5 Nxd3 18 Qxd3

Deja vu? In the previous round Mickey had the same position against Leko and erred badly with 18 ..Bf7, afterwards admitting he should have played 18 ..Bd6! - this time there's no mistake. 18 ..Bd6! 19 Qb3 Bg4 20 h3 [20 Qxb7? Bxf3 21 gxf3 Be5! wins.] 20 ..Bh5 21 a4 ½–½

Morozevich,A - Topalov,V [C42]

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 This is the first time that Topalov has played the Petroff, however there is a reason: Morozevitch likes to play an obscure sideline. 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 Bd3 A Morozevich speciality - and as far as I can work out, this is the first time he's lost with it. It looks a bit strange, but basically the idea is to play c3, retreat the bishop to c2 and then play d4. Its got nice surprise value at club level, as it can often confuse an opponent and gain you some valuable time on the clock. Fortunately Topalov is no club player! 5 ..Nf6 6 h3 Be7 7 0–0 0–0 8 c3 c5 9 Bc2 Nc6 10 d4 Be6 11 Re1 h6N [Topalov's improvement - he aims to prevent Bg5, a theme in other Morozevich games with this line. 11 ..Qc8 12 Bg5 Nd5 13 Na3 h6 14 Qd3 Bf5 15 Qxf5 Qxf5 16 Bxf5 Bxg5 17 Be4 Nc7 18 Bxc6 bxc6 19 dxc5 dxc5 20 Ne5 Rfd8 21 Nac4 Rd5 22 Nxc6 Kf8 23 a4 h5 24 a5 Nb5 25 Nb6 axb6 26 axb6 Rxa1 27 Rxa1 Nd6 28 h4 Ke8 29 hxg5 Kd7 30 Na5 Kc8 31 c4 Rxg5 32 Rd1 Rg6 33 Rd5 Nb7 34 Nxb7 Kxb7 35 Rxc5 Rxb6 36 Rxh5 Rxb2 37 Rh7 Kc6 38 Rxg7 Rb7 39 Rg5 Kd6 40 Rd5+ Ke6 41 Rd1 Rb2 42 Rc1 Kd6 43 c5+ Kc6 44 g3 Rb3 45 Kg2 f5 46 Rc4 Rd3 47 Kh3 Rd2 48 Rf4 Rd5 49 Kh4 1–0 Morozevich,A-Vladimirov,E/New Delhi IND 2000/The Week in Chess 317 (49). ] 12 Be3 Re8 13 Nbd2 Bf8 14 Ne4 Nd5 15 dxc5 Nxe3 16 Rxe3 dxc5 17 Qe2 Qc7 18 Re1 Rad8

The opening looks as if it has worked well for Topalov: he has the bishop pair and good central rooks. However (there's always a "however" in Morozevitch games!).... 19 Neg5!? Rd6! [Of course, taking on g5 was never on the agenda: 19 ..hxg5? 20 Nxg5 Bd6 (20 ..g6? 21 Bxg6! fxg6 22 Rxe6 Rxe6 23 Nxe6 wins) 21 Qh5 Bh2+ 22 Kh1 Be5 23 f4! Qb6 (23 ..Bxf4? 24 Rxe6! fxe6 25 Rxe6 Rxe6 26 Qh7+ Kf8 27 Nxe6+ Kf7 28 Qg6+ Ke7 29 Nxc7 Bxc7 30 Qxg7+ wins) 24 fxe5 Qxb2 25 Bh7+ Kf8 26 Bf5! wins] 20 Ne4 [Typical Morozevich - he just wont settle for a peaceful life, will he?: 20 Nxe6 Rexe6 (20 ..Rdxe6? 21 Qd3! g6 22 Rxe6 Rxe6 23 Rxe6 fxe6 24 Qxg6+) 21 Rxe6 Rxe6 22 Qd3 Rxe1+ 23 Nxe1 g6=] 20 ..Rdd8 21 Nfg5 Bd5 [21 ..hxg5? 22 Qh5 g6 23 Nf6+ Kg7 24 Bxg6! Kxf6 (24 ..fxg6? 25 Qh7+ Kxf6 26 Qxc7!) 25 Rf3+ Qf4! (25 ..Ke7 26 Rxf7+!) 26 Rxf4+ gxf4 27 Be4 Rd2 (27 ..Bd5) 28 Qh4+ Kg7 29 Qxf4 Red8 30 Qg5+ Kh8 31 Re3 Bd6 32 f4 and white wins.] 22 Qh5?

It looks strange, but white should have played 22 Nh7! Bxe4 (22 ..Be7 23 Nxc5!) 23 Nxf8 Kxf8 24 Bxe4 with a nice advantage to play with. 22 ..Re5! With one, accurate move, suddenly Topalov turns the tables. 23 f4 Rf5 24 g3 g6 25 Qh4 c4 26 Kh2 Kg7! Threatening Be7 and taking the knight twice on g5. 27 Qg4 hxg5 28 Nxg5 Rxg5 29 Qxg5 Qb6 30 f5 Be7! 31 Qf4 [31 Rxe7? Qf2#!] 31 ..Qxb2 32 Rxe7 Qxc2+ 33 R1e2 Qxf5 34 Qxf5 gxf5 The ending is hopelessly lost for Morozevitch. 35 Re8 Rd7 36 Rd2 Kf6 37 Kg1 Ne5 38 Kf2 Nd3+ 39 Ke3 Bc6 40 Rb8 Re7+ [40 ..Re7+ 41 Kd4 Re4#] 0–1

You can contact John Henderson at: jbhthescots@cableinet.co.uk

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.