John Henderson Dortmund Reports

Round 6 Wednesday 18th July 2001

DEDICATED FOLLOWER OF FASHION

I’D imagine that many chess players would actually like Germany. With their average “Man at Oxfam” dress sense (and not to mention matching luggage of white, poly bags) it’s more a case of satirical rather than sartorial.

However, suddenly their wardrobe would be back in vogue here, thanks to 1970s music still being big. Like later-day John Travoltas, flowered shirts, tank-tops and flared trousers are still in fashion.

One of the biggest fashion victims of the elite circuit has to be Alexander Morozevich. Thankfully though he’s managed to ditch that ridiculous Chairman Mao suits. Could it be the influence of pop star Gerri “It’s Raining Men” Halliwell? I well remember when Moro first burst onto the scene in 1994 at Lloyds Bank in London. How they all laughed at his blue anorak and Chigorin Defence.

He had the last laugh, though. Wearing the same anorak throughout, and playing the same urine-extracting openings, Moro demolished the field to win with the practically unheard of score of 9.5/10!

His second, Alexander Baburin, who arrived yesterday, told me that there’s been a major topic of conversation on one of the newsgroups, revealing exclusively that Morozevich secretly married Gerri Halliwell last year in London! Apparently the former Spice Girl (remember them? The five-member girl group with the talent of one bad actress between them) reckoned that what she wanted, really, really wanted, was just someone with a higher intellect (not difficult) – and our Alexander fitted the bill!

I can’t wait to see the exclusive pictures of the lovebirds in magazines like Hello or OK!. Failing that, the Madonna infatuated New In Chess.

Alexander celebrated his 24^th birthday here in style yesterday in Dortmund, courtesy of the kind present gifted by Vishy Anand. It was also his first classical win over Anand, and a result that helped the young Russian to reduce his career score to 2-4 with three draws in nine clashes.

Morozevich is also one of the most dangerous players I know with the black pieces (remember: he beat Kramnik in Wijk with black also). Commentators often say it is Moro's black magic. One of the most exciting players on the elite circuit, Morozevich is regarded as a risky and unpredictable player. German Grandmaster Helmut Pfleger, says, "With Morozevich, there is always some excitement. There is never a dull moment." While Baburin adds with a wry smile on his face, "He loves playing with black so much, that I am teaching him to think it is black even when he is playing white!"

As a birthday present, Baburin gave him the latest CD from Gerri Halliwell. I’m reliably informed he listened to it all night long. At least it gave him the perfect excuse for his defeat in the next round to someone who IS a dedicated follower of fashion: Veselin Topalov!

Anand,V (2794) - Morozevich,A (2749) [D11]

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 a6 One of the more dangerous lines for white in this trendy line of the Slav with ..a6, is placing the bishop on f4 and following-up with c5 and Qb3. However, after the timid e3, black has no need to fear the crunch variation. 5 Bd3 Bg4 6 Qb3 Bxf3! [Morozevich's improvement over a recent game against Khenkin: 6 ..Qc7 7 Ne5 Bh5 8 cxd5 cxd5 9 Nc3 e6 10 Bd2 Nc6 11 Rc1 Bd6 12 Nxc6 bxc6 13 Na4 Bg6 14 Bxg6 hxg6 15 Qb6 Kd7 16 Qxc7+ Kxc7 17 Ba5+ Kb7 18 Ke2 Nd7 19 Rc3 Rac8 20 Rb3+ Ka7 21 h3 c5 22 dxc5 Nxc5 23 Bb6+ Ka8 24 Bxc5 Bxc5 25 Rc1 Ba7 26 Rbc3 Rxc3 27 Rxc3 Kb7 28 Kd3 g5 29 f3 Rh4 30 Nc5+ Bxc5 31 Rxc5 f5 32 a3 g4 33 hxg4 fxg4 34 f4 Rh1 35 Ke2 Rb1 36 Rc2 a5 37 Kf2 a4 38 Kg3 Re1 39 Rc3 Re2 40 b3 axb3 41 Rxb3+ Kc6 ½–½ Khenkin,I-Morozevich,A/Gelsenkirchen GER 2001/The Week in Chess 334 (41). ] 7 gxf3 Ra7

It looks strange, but this is one of the key move in the Slav with ..a6. 8 Nc3 e6 9 Qc2?! [A move from Anand that Morozevich couldn't understand. Instead, he suggested perhaps something like 9 Rg1!? since kingside castling is out of the question.] 9 ..Be7 10 Bd2 0–0 11 0–0–0 Nbd7 12 cxd5 [12 e4 dxc4 13 Bxc4 b5 14 Bd3 c5 and the black attack is coming first.] 12 ..cxd5 The signs are all there for imminent disaster in the white camp: bad pawn structure, open file to the queen and king down the c-line and poor developing squares for his bishop-pair. Therefore Anand has no alternative - he has to gamble on opening-up the position to generate some play. 13 e4 Kh8! 14 e5 [14 exd5 exd5 15 Kb1 b5 just makes the white pawn structure worse.] 14 ..Nh5 15 Bxh7 b5 16 Kb1 Rc7

17 Qd3? [Anand's only chance lay in the outlandish Bg6!?: 17 Bg6!? fxg6 (17 ..b4 18 Bxh5 bxc3 19 Bxc3 Bb4 20 Bxb4! Rxc2 21 Kxc2 Qc7+ 22 Kb1 Rd8 23 Be7 Ra8 24 Bd6 Qb7 25 Rc1) 18 Qxg6 Nf4 19 Bxf4 Rxf4 20 Qxe6 with enormous complications - but white has good survival chances as the black pawns disappear off the board] 17 ..Bg5! 18 f4? [Morozevich: "I couldn't understand Anand's play - it was almost as if he'd lost his concentration.": 18 Nxd5!? exd5 19 Ba5 Nf4 20 Qf5 Bh6 21 Bxc7 Qxc7 22 Qc2 again is unclear.] 18 ..Bxf4 19 Bxf4 Nxf4 20 Qe3 Qh4! A strong move that highlights all of white's weaknesses at once. Attacking the h7 bishop, it also defends the strong knight on f4, and clears the way for the doubling of the rooks on the c-file. 21 Bc2?! Again another puzzling move: why c2 if it moves to d3 on the next move? 21 ..Rfc8 22 Bd3 [22 a3 Nb6! and the hole on c4 prepares the way for a major assault on the white king.] 22 ..Nb6 23 Ne2 [23 Qg3 Qh6! is no better for Anand.] 23 ..Nxd3 24 Rxd3 Nc4 25 Qf3

25 ..Qe4! 26 Qxe4 dxe4 27 Rh3+ Kg8 28 Rd1 [28 Rc3 b4 29 Rcc1 Nd2+ 30 Ka1 Rxc1+ 31 Rxc1 Rxc1+ 32 Nxc1 Nf3 and the knight ending is pretty hopeless for white as all the pawns are falling off.] 28 ..Nxb2! [28 ..Nxb2! 29 Kxb2 Rc2+ 30 Kb3 Rxe2 and black easily wins.] 0–1

Playing some of his best chess in recent years, Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov is having a superb tournament. Just think how better it could have been had he noticed the Kramnik mistake just before the time control!

Kramnik,V (2802) - Topalov,V (2711) [A79]

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 [The smart way to play the Benoni. If, as in this game, white plays 3 Nf3, then you can safely play 3 ..c5 and have a Benoni without having to worry about the Taimanov system, commonly known as the "Flick Knife Attack", which is good for white. If white plays 4 Nc3, black has the option of the Nimzo or a QGD. 2 ..c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 f4 Bg7 8 Bb5+ Bd7 9 e5 dxe5 10 fxe5 Nh5 11 Nf3 0–0 12 Bxd7 Nxd7 13 g4 Nxe5 14 gxh5 Nxf3+ 15 Qxf3 Qh4+ 16 Kf1 Bxc3 17 bxc3 Qc4+ 18 Kf2 Rfe8 19 Bf4 Re4 20 Bg3 Qxd5 21 Rhd1 Qc4 22 Rd2 Rae8 23 h6 f5 24 Rad1 b5 25 Qd3 Qf7 26 Qd5 R4e6 27 Bh4 f4 28 Qd7 Qf8 29 Qxe6+ Rxe6 30 Rd8 Re3 31 Rxf8+ Kxf8 32 Rd8+ Kf7 33 Rd7+ Ke6 34 Re7+ Kd5 35 Rxe3 fxe3+ 36 Kxe3 Kc4 37 Bf6 a5 38 a3 a4 39 Be7 Kd5 40 Kf4 c4 41 Bh4 1–0 Ward,C-Quillan,G/England 2000/CBM 74 ext] 3 Nf3 c5 4 d5 d6 5 Nc3 exd5 6 cxd5 g6 7 Nd2 Bg7 8 e4 [8 Nc4 0–0 9 g3 b6 10 a4 Ba6 11 Nb5 Ne8 12 Bg2 Bxb5 13 axb5 Nd7 14 Bf4 Qe7 15 0–0 g5 16 Bd2 Nc7 17 Qb3 f5 18 Rae1 f4 19 gxf4 gxf4 20 Kh1 Ne5 21 Bf3 Qd7 22 Rg1 Qxb5 23 Qxb5 Nxb5 24 Nxe5 dxe5 25 Bg4 Kh8 26 Bd7 Nc7 27 Bc6 Rad8 28 e4 fxe3 29 Rxe3 Nxd5 0–1 Ivanchuk,V-Topalov,V/Novgorod 1995/CBM 48 (60). (60)] 8 ..0–0 9 Be2 Re8 10 0–0 Na6 11 f3 Nc7 12 a4 Nd7 13 Kh1 b6

14 Ra3N [Kramnik improves over the last outing between these two in this line: 14 Nc4 Ne5 15 Ne3 f5 16 f4 Nf7 17 exf5 gxf5 18 Bd3 Nh6 19 Qc2 Qf6 20 Bd2 Bd7 21 Rf3 Kh8 22 Raf1 Re7 23 Rh3 Qf7 24 Nc4 Qg6 25 Rg3 Ng4 26 h3 h5 27 Ne3 Nxe3 28 Rxg6 Nxc2 29 Bxc2 Ne8 30 Rg5 Nf6 31 Bxf5 Bxf5 32 Rxf5 Rae8 33 Kh2 Kh7 34 Kg3 a6 35 Kh4 Kg6 36 g4 hxg4 37 hxg4 b5 38 axb5 axb5 39 Rg5+ Kf7 40 Nxb5 Rh8+ 41 Rh5 Nxh5 42 Nxd6+ Kf8 43 gxh5 Bf6+ 44 Kg4 Rg7+ 45 Kf5 Bxb2 46 Rh1 Rd7 47 Ke6 Re7+ 48 Kf5 Rd7 49 Be3 Bd4 50 Bxd4 cxd4 51 Ke5 d3 52 Nf5 d2 53 h6 Kf7 54 Rd1 Re8+ 55 Kd4 Re2 56 h7 Rd8 57 Ng3 Rf2 58 Ne4 Rxf4 59 Rxd2 Rh4 60 Rf2+ ½–½ Kramnik,V-Topalov,V/Monaco 2001. ] 14 ..Qe7 15 Nb5 Nxb5 16 Bxb5 Rd8 17 a5 a6 18 Bc6 Rb8 19 axb6 Nxb6 20 b3 Be5! Played to entice the following move. If white is left with the g2-d5 pawn chain, the weaknesses in the black camp on a6 and d6 would be ruthlessly exploited. 21 f4 With 21 ..Qh4 threatened, there was no choice. 21 ..Bg7 22 f5! Nd7 Heading for the e5 outpost. 23 Bxd7 Bxd7 24 Qf3 Bd4 25 f6 Qf8 26 Nc4 Bb5 27 Be3 Bxe3 28 Qxe3 h5 29 h4

29 ..Kh7! Topalov stops any ideas of Qh6, and perhaps also preparing a Qh6 himself. 30 Rfa1 Bxc4 31 bxc4 Rb4 32 Rc3 [32 Qd3 Qh6 33 Rxa6 Qf4!] 32 ..Re8 33 Rxa6 Rb1+ 34 Kh2 [34 Rc1? Rxc1+ 35 Qxc1 Rxe4 and black holds a big advantage.] 34 ..Rf1 35 Rca3 Rxf6 Creative defending from Topalov has countered all of Kramnik's attempts at bursting through. Now, as the players reached the time control, Kramnik made an error - only for Topalov not to realise! 36 e5?

[36 Qg5! Kg7 37 Rf3 Rxf3 38 gxf3 and white has a small plus - though the likely result is a draw.] 36 ..Rf5 [Time pressure and the combination of Kramnik with the two rooks and a seemingly strong d-pawn clouded Topalov's judgment. He missed a golden opportunity to put Kramnik on the rack: 36 ..Rxe5! 37 Qxe5 dxe5 38 Rxf6 e4! This solves all of black's problems. 39 d6 a)39 Ra7 Qb8+!; b)39 g3 Qe7 40 Rc6 (b)40 Rf2 f5 41 Rfa2 (b)41 Rd2 f4 42 d6 fxg3+ 43 Kxg3 (b)43 Rxg3 Qxh4+ 44 Kg2 Qf4 45 Rd5 h4!) 43 ..Qe5+ 44 Kg2 e3 45 Re2 Qe4+ 46 Kh2 Qf4+ 47 Kg2 Qg4+ 48 Kf1 Qf3+!) 41 ..Qe5 42 Ra7+ Kh6 43 Rd7 f4 44 Raa7 fxg3+ 45 Kg2 Qb2+ 46 Kxg3 Qc3+ 47 Kg2 Qf3+ 48 Kg1 Qe3+ 49 Kh2 Qf4+ 50 Kg2 Qg4+ 51 Kf1 Qxh4 and black wins.) 40 ..e3 41 d6 Qe6!; c)39 Re3 Qg7 40 Rf1 Qd4; 39 ..Kg7 winning.] 37 e6 fxe6 38 Ra7+ Kg8 39 Qg3 Qf6 40 Ra8 Rxa8 41 Rxa8+ Kg7 42 Ra7+ Kg8 ½–½

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.