Morelia / Linares 2008. Round 6. Comments by Mark Crowther

Jacob Aagaard at the London Chess Centre

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Morelia / Linares 2008.

Anand keeps his half point lead over Aronian after round 6 in Morelia

by Mark Crowther

Round 6 (February 22, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Lékó, Peter	½-½	50	A33	English Symmetrical
Topalov, Veselin	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	42	E21	Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3
Radjabov, Teimour	- Carlsen, Magnus	1-0	43	C65	Ruy Lopez Berlin
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Shirov, Alexei	½-½	27	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit

XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares (MEX/ESP), 15 ii-7 iii 2008																	cat. XXI (2756)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2799	*	*	0	.	½	.	½	.	1	.	1	.	1	.	.	.	4	2874
2.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	1	.	*	*	0	.	½	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	3½	2819
3.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	½	.	1	.	*	*	½	.	0	.	.	.	0	.	1	.	3	2752
4.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2735	½	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	.	.	0	.	1	.	½	.	3	2759
5.	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2755	0	.	½	.	1	.	.	.	*	*	½	.	½	.	½	.	3	2759
6.	Lékó, Peter	g	HUN	2753	0	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	0	.	2½	2695
7.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	0	.	.	.	1	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	2½	2705
8.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	.	.	0	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	1	.	½	.	*	*	2½	2692

Viswanathan Anand maintained his half point lead and Veselin Topalov stopped his two games losing streak as the players drew in 42 moves in round 6. Topalov was the first to innovate with 12.Bd2 but it could hardly be described as a major novelty. Both players probed for some time before the game ended in perpetual check just after first time control. There is just one round left before the tournament moves to Linares in Spain for its second half.

Topalov,V (2780) - Anand,V (2799) [E20]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (6), 22.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 b6 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.0-0 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qd3 0-0 10.b3 d5 11.cxd5 Ne7 12.Bd2N [12.Bb2 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Nexd5 14.Bb2 h6 15.Ne5 Qe7 16.Qd4 Rfd8 17.Qh4 Rac8 18.Rac1 Qf8 19.Nc4 b5 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Bxd5 Rxd5 22.Ne3 Rdc5 23.Rxc5 Qxc5 24.Qxf6 Qg5 25.Qd4 Qc5 26.Qxc5 Rxc5 27.Rd1 Rc3 28.Kf1 a5 29.Ke1 a4 30.bxa4 bxa4 31.Rb1 Bd5 32.Nxd5 exd5 33.Rd1 Rc2 34.a3 Ra2 35.Rxd5 Rxa3 36.Ra5 Ra2 37.f4 a3 38.Kf2 Ra1 39.h4 Kg7 40.Kg2 a2 1/2-1/2 Lesiege,A (2525)-Leitao,R (2550)/San Felipe VEN 1998; 12.a3 Bxc3 13.Qxc3 Rc8 14.Qb2 Nexd5 15.Bd2 Ne4 16.Rfc1 Nxd2 17.Nxd2 Qe7 18.e4 Nf6 19.e5 Bxg2 1/2-1/2 Grigore,G (2455)-Komarov,D (2535)/Bucharest 1994] 12...Rc8 13.e4 Bxc3 [13...exd5 14.e5 Nd7 is unclear.] 14.Bxc3 Nxe4 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Qxe4 Bxd5 17.Qg4+ Ng6 18.h4 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 Qf6 20.Qb7 Qe7 21.Qe4 Qc5 22.Rad1 Rfd8 23.Rfe1 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rc7 25.Bf3 Qe5 26.Qb4 Qc3 27.Qg4 f5 Black is perfectly fine here. 28.Qh5 Qf6 29.Bg2 e5 30.Bh3 Rf7 31.Qe2 e4 32.Rd5

Topalov-Anand diagram

If anything black stands a tiny bit better but as the game shows there isn't much in the position. 32...f4 [32...Ne5!?] 33.Rf5 Qa1+ 34.Kh2 fxg3+ 35.fxg3 Rxf5 36.Bxf5 Nxh4 Heading for the draw. 37.Bxe4 [37.gxh4 Qe5+ wins for black.] 37...Qe5 38.Qg4+ Ng6 39.Bxg6 hxg6 40.Qd7+ Kh6 41.Qxa7 Forcing black to take the perpetual check. 41...Qe2+ 42.Kh3 1/2-1/2

Magnus Carlsen seemed to be doing well out of the opening as black against Teimour Radjabov's quiet Ruy Lopez but it turned out that white's two bishops contained some venom, something that became especially clear after 27.Ba6!! when the single bishop and smashed pawn structure proved impossible to counteract, although Radjabov only made first time control with 19 seconds left he was completely winning and the Carlsen resignation followed three moves later.

Radjabov,T (2735) - Carlsen,M (2733) [C65]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (6), 22.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 7.Nbd2 dxe4 8.Nxe4 [8.dxe4 1-0 Van Delft,M (2322)-Lamby,P (2167)/Vienna AUT 2003/The Week in Chess 461 (32)] 8...Nxe4 9.dxe4 Qf6 [9...Qe7 10.b4 Bb6 11.Bc4 Rd8 12.Qb3 h6 13.a4 a6 14.a5 Ba7 15.h3 Qf6 16.Kh2 Ne7 17.Be3 Bd7 18.Rad1 Nc8 19.Bd5 Nd6 20.Qc2 Bxe3 21.fxe3 Qe7 22.Rf2 Rac8 23.Kh1 c5 24.Qb1 Be8 25.c4 Rd7 26.b5 axb5 27.cxb5 Nxb5 28.Qb2 Nd6 29.Nxe5 Rdc7 30.Rf4 Kh7 31.Nf3 Rd8 32.Rf1 Bb5 33.Rc1 Be8 34.e5 Nc8 35.Bc4 Na7 36.Qb1+ g6 37.Nh2 Nc6 38.Ng4 Nxe5 39.Nf6+ Kg7 40.Qb2 Qd6 41.Rcf1 Kf8 42.Nd5 Kg8 43.Rf6 Nxc4 44.Rxd6 Rxd6 45.Nf6+ Kf8 46.Qc3 Bb5 47.Ne4 Re6 48.Qh8+ Ke7 49.Qb8 Rd7 50.Nxc5 Nd6 51.Rc1 Rd8 52.Qc7+ Rd7 53.Nxd7 Bxd7 54.Rd1 g5 55.e4 f6 56.g4 1-0 DEEP JUNIOR-CRAFTY/Ramat Gan ISR 2004/The Week in Chess 506] 10.Qe2 Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Qxf3 13.gxf3 Ne7 14.f4 c6 [14...f6!?] 15.Bc4 exf4 16.Bxf4 White has the two bishops but it doesn't look like black should get in too much trouble. 16...Ng6 17.Bg3 Rfe8 18.Rfe1 Rad8 19.Rad1 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Rxe4 21.Rd8+ Nf8 22.Bd3 Re1+ 23.Kg2 a5 24.Ra8 Rd1 25.Bc4 Bb6?! [25...b6 26.Rc8 Rd2 27.b3 Rc2] 26.Rb8 Rd7

Radjabov-Carlsen diagram

27.Ba6! bxa6 Given how the game goes perhaps Carlsen might have tried Bc7. Somehow the game has drifted away from Carlsen and now he's in big trouble. [27...Bc7 28.Bxc7 Rxc7 29.Rxb7 Rxb7 30.Bxb7] 28.Rxb6 f6 29.Rxa6 Rd2 30.b4 axb4 31.cxb4 Rb2 32.Bd6 Ne6 33.a4 Rc2 34.a5 Kf7 35.Bc5! Nf4+ [35...Nxc5 36.Rxc6 Ra2 37.Rxc5] 36.Kf3 Nd5 37.Rb6 Rc4 38.Rb7+ Kg6 39.a6 Rc3+ 40.Kg2 Played with just 19 seconds to go. It looks weird but in fact there is nothing wrong with this move. 40...Nf4+ 41.Kg1 Nxh3+ 42.Kh2 Nf4 43.Be3 and the pawn queens.1-0

Peter Leko thought 84 minutes on move 9 to put him in serious time trouble until the first time control where he still had 30 seconds left. The reason for the long thought was Levon Aronian's 9.Qa4 novelty which offered 9...Qxf2+ with big complications. The result of Leko's long think was to reject the pawn and go for a solid setup. This didn't really avoid complications and an interesting struggle ensued. At first time control the position was dynamically equal and a few moves later Aronian sacrificed a rook for perpetual check.

Aronian,L (2739) - Leko,P (2753) [A33]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (6), 22.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Ndb5 Ne5 8.Bf4 Nfg4 9.Qa4!?N

Aronian-Leko diagram

A novelty that sent Leko into an 84 minute think! It offers f2 with check which is probably why it hasn't been played before.... [9.e3 Qc6 10.h3 Nf3+ 11.Ke2 Nge5 12.b3 g5 13.Bg2 gxf4 14.exf4 a6 15.fxe5 axb5 16.Bxf3 Qc5 17.Nxb5 Qxe5+ 18.Kf1 Bg7 19.Kg2 Qxa1 20.Nc7+ Kd8 21.Qxa1 Bxa1 22.Nxa8 Bd4 23.b4 b6 24.Rd1 e5 25.a4 Rg8 26.c5 bxc5 27.b5 Rg6 28.b6 Rf6 29.Rb1 c4 30.b7 Bxb7 31.Rxb7 d5 32.Rb8+ Kd7 33.a5 c3 34.Bg4+ Kc6 35.f4 c2 36.a6 Bc5 37.Rc8+ Kb5 38.Nc7+ Kc4 39.Be2+ Kb3 40.Ne6 c1Q 41.Nxc5+ Ka3 42.a7 Ra6 43.a8Q 1-0 Korchnoi,V (2635)-Greenfeld,A (2570)/Beer Sheba ISR 1995] 9...g5 Probably an extremely sensible response. [9...Qxf2+ is of course the main line with wild complications. 10.Kd2 Qb6 (10...Qc5 11.Kc2 May well be the main line. (11.Ne4 Qb6 12.h3 Nf6 13.Nxf6+ gxf6) 11...Be7 (11...Qc6 12.Bg2 Qxg2 13.Nc7+ Ke7 14.Nxa8) 12.h3 g5 13.Ne4 Qxc4+ 14.Qxc4 Nxc4 15.Nc7+ Kd8 16.hxg4 gxf4 17.Nxa8 d5) 11.h3 g5 12.Bxg5 Nf2 13.Rh2 Nfd3 14.exd3 Nf3+ 15.Kc2 Nxg5 is great for white.] 10.Bxe5 Nxe5 11.0-0-0 a6 12.e3 Rb8 13.Nd4 Qc7 14.Be2 Be7 15.Kb1 Nc6 16.Rc1 Qe5 17.Rhd1 h5 18.Ka1 g4 19.Bf1 f5 Apart from working out the consequences of taking on f2 I guess Leko must already have been thinking about his setup on move 9 and this is what he came up with. It works out well. 20.Bg2 Kf7 21.h3 Bf6 22.Qc2 Ne7 23.Nce2 [23.Qd2 b5] 23...b5 24.cxb5 [24.c5 gxh3 25.Bxh3 Bb7=] 24...axb5 25.Nf4 d5 26.Qc5 Rb7 27.Qb4 Bd7 28.Nd3 Qb8 29.Nc5 Qd6 30.Qa5 Rc7 31.Nxd7 Rxd7 32.hxg4 hxg4 33.Bf1 b4 34.Nb5 Qe5 35.Qxb4 Ra8 36.Rd2 Qb8 37.Kb1 Be5 38.Rdc2 Rda7 39.a3 Ra4 40.Qb3 Qb6 Black did really well to make time control, with the position dynamically equal. 41.Rc5 R4a5 42.Be2 Rb8 43.Qb4 Kf6 44.R1c2 Rh8 45.e4 fxe4 46.Bxg4 Rha8 47.Rc1 Ra4 48.Qd2 Rxa3 49.Nxa3 Rxa3 50.Rc6 Heading for a draw by perpetual check by deflecting the knight. Leko is forced to accept this, so draw agreed.1/2-1/2

Vassily Ivanchuk against Alexei Shirov was a short but interesting struggle where Shirov's 8...g5 (pushing the g-pawn forward two squares with either colour is almost a Shirov patent!) introduced new problems in the position, although that the move is playable could hardly be described as a shock. Black certainly equalised but Shirov decided not to push his luck when Ivanchuk offered a repetition.

Ivanchuk,V (2751) - Shirov,A (2755) [D43]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (6), 22.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Qd2 g5N There are lots of choices for black here, Shirov seems to find a new one. [8...Qe7; 8...Bd6; 8...Qd8; 8...Bb4; 8...g6] 9.Bd3 Bg7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Qc2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 [12.Ne4 Qe7 13.Qxc4 e5] 12...c5 13.Rfd1 g4 14.Ne1 cxd4 15.exd4 Nb6 16.Be2 h5 17.Ne4 Qg6 18.Nc3 Qxc2 19.Nxc2 Bd7 20.Rd2 Bh6 21.Ne3 f5 22.g3 f4 23.gxf4 Bxf4 24.Re1 Bc6 25.Bb5 Bf3 26.Be2

Ivanchuk-Shirov diagram