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Chess from Malcolm Pein Friday February 22nd 2008 The fourth round at Morelia saw Veselin Topalov, the only player to avoid defeat in the first three games, outplayed by Alexei Shirov. With Vishy Anand held to a draw by Teimour Radjabov, there is a three way tie for the lead between; Topalov, Anand and Levon Aronian who was a lucky winner against Vassily Ivanchuk, see below. Shirov secured an advantage in the opening and clever play forced Topalov into an endgame of two rooks and five pawns each in which the Bulgarian was totally passive. Two games were drawn without too much incident although Peter Leko had to defend carefully against Magnus Carlsen.
This game was a tragedy for Ivanchuk and arguably the worse of his career. A new move in the Ruy Lopez line Ivanchuk used to defeat Peter Leko put Aronian on the defensive and it was he who started the blundering. V Ivanchuk - L Aronian 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.e5 Ne8 11.Qxd4 Bb7 12.c4 bxc4 13.Qxc4 d5 14.exd6 Nxd6 15.Qg4 Nb5 16.Nc3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Bd6 18.Bf4 Qf6 19.Bxd6 cxd6 20.Rad1 Rad8 21.Qb4! Ba8 22.Re3 g6 23.Qb6! Qg5 24.Rg3 Qb5 25.Rxd6 Rxd6 26.Qxd6 a5 27.Qf4 Bd5 28.Rg5 f5?? (28...Qe8 29.Qd2 Bxb3 30.axb3 a4 31.bxa4 Qxa4 would be hard to hold but this is horribly weakening) 29.Qe5 Rd8
30.h4?? (A case of mutual chess blindness 30.Qxf5 Bxb3 31.Qxb5 Rd1+ 32.Qf1 wins) 30...a4 31.Bc2 Qb8? (31...Qc6 32.Bxf5 Bxa2 33.h5 Bf7 34.h6 is very good for White but this is worse) 32.Qxf5 Bxa2 33.Bxa4 Bf7 34.h5 Qb6 35.hxg6 hxg6 36.Qf4 (White is 2 pawns up with an attack) 36...Rc8
37.Rg3?? Rc4 38.Qh6 (Even after blundering a piece Ivanchuk could still draw with the 38.Qe5 Rxa4 39.Rh3 Ra1+ 40.Kh2 Kf8 41.Rh8+ Bg8 42.Rxg8+ Kxg8 43.Qe8+ Kg7 44.Qe7+ Kh6 45.Qh4+ Kg7 46.Qe7+ or play for more with 42.Qf4) 38...Rxa4 39.Rh3 Ra1+ 40.Kh2 Qd6+ 41.f4 Qf6 42.Qh7+ Kf8 43.Qh6+ Ke7 44.Re3+ Kd7 45.Kg3 Ra4 46.Rd3+ Kc6 47.Rd4 Ra3 48.Rd3 Bd5 49.Qh3 Qf5 50.Qxf5 gxf5 51.Kh3 Ra1 52.Rd2 Rh1+ 53.Kg3 Rh6 54.Re2 Re6 55.Rd2 Rg6+ 56.Kh3 Kc5 57.Re2 Kc4 58.Rd2 Be4 59.g4 Kxc3 60.gxf5 Bxf5+ 0-1 Chess from Malcolm Pein Saturday February 23rd 2008 The world champion Vishy Anand scored a third win with the black pieces in the fifth round at Morelia to take the clear lead going into the second rest day. Anand reached 3.5/5 after outplaying Peter Leko from an endgame position that looked slightly better for the Hungarian. This looks like excellent prepared analysis from Leko and he avoided several drawing lines before spoiling his position in time trouble P Leko - V Anand 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.f3 b5 10.0-0-0 Be7 11.Nd5 (Presumably this was home analysis 11.Kb1 and 12.g4 or 11.g4 or 11.Qf2 are more aggressive) 11...Bxd5 12.exd5 Nb6 13.Bxb6 Qxb6 14.Na5 Rc8 15.Nc6 Nxd5 16.Nxe7 (not 16.Qxd5 Qxc6) 16...Nxe7 17.Qxd6 Qxd6 18.Rxd6 Nc6 19.c3 Ke7 20.Rd1 f5 (Black is more active but the white bishop should be better than the black knight)
21.Bd3 g6 22.Rhe1 Rhd8 23.Bf1 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Na5 (Anand wants to play Nc4 to block the f1-a6 diagonal and lessen the impact of White's next move) 25.a4 Nc4 26.axb5 axb5 (Had Leko wanted to make a draw he could simply have exchanged on c4) 27.Rd5 Kf6 28.Rxb5 Ne3 29.Rb6+ Kg5 30.Ba6 Rd8 (Threatening mate. Black is still more active but with two connected passed pawns and a bishop that can operate all over the board White looks to be doing fairly well.) 31.b4 Kf4! (31...Nxg2 32.c4 Rd3 33.c5 Rxf3 34.c6 would leave Black struggling) 32.Rc6! (Still trying to win 32.c4 Nxc4 33.Bxc4 Rc8 34.b5 Rxc4+ 35.Kd2 would be drawn) 32...Nxg2 33.b5 Ra8! (Very resourceful) 34.Bb7 (34.b6 Rxa6 35.b7 Rxc6 36.b8Q Rxc3+ 37.Kd2 Rxf3 is better for Black; But Leko misses 34.Rc8! Ra7 35.Rc4+ Kxf3 36.Ra4 e4 37.b6 when White is winning, note how the bishop plays on both sides; If 34.Rc8 Rxc8 35.Bxc8 Ne1 36.b6 Nd3+ 37.Kd2 Nc5 38.b7 Na6 39.c4 e4 40.c5 Kxf3 41.Ke1! wins but in this line 40...e3+ 41.Ke2 Ke5 42.Kxe3 f4+ 43.Kd3 Kd5 may hold) 34...Rb8 35.Rc7? (35.Ba6=) 35...Ne1! 36.Rxh7? (This pawn does not seem very important 36.c4!? Nxf3 37.c5 e4 38.c6) 36...Nxf3 37.c4 e4 (Suddenly Black is ahead in the pawn race) 38.Kc2 (38.c5!?) 38...e3 39.Kd3 g5! (39...Rd8+ 40.Bd5) 40.Ke2 (40.c5 Rd8+ forces the king away from the e pawn and Black wins 41.Ke2 Rd2+ 42.Kf1 e2+ 43.Kg2 e1Q+ 44.Kh3 Rxh2 mate; If Bxf3 Kxf3 41.Re7 f4 and Black's pawns advance while White's are stymied) 40...Nd4+ 41.Ke1 Rd8 (now there is a mating net if 42.Bd5 Nxb5 ) 42...Nc2+ 43.Kf1 Rd1+ 44.Ke2 Rd2+ 45.Kf1 Nd4 0-1
The seventeen year old prodigy Magnus Carlsen is clear second after inflicting another shock defeat on Veselin Topalov. The former Fide champion was clearly surprised by Carlsen’s surprise opening choice of the Alekhine Defence, hardly ever seen at the top level as it is considered too risky. Carlsen has played it before and it was used often by his first GM trainer Simen Agdestein. Carlsen’s, versatility in the opening and flawless exploitation of his advantage against Vesein Topalov in the previous round reminded me of Bobby Fischer. V Topalov - M Carlsen 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 c6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.Nxd7 Bxd7 8.0-0 g6 9.Nd2 Bg7 10.Nf3 0-0 11.Re1 Bg4! 12.c3 c5! 13.Be4 (The clever point is that after 13.dxc5 Nxc3! 14.bxc3 Bxc3 Black is winning a pawn although White can resist after 15.Rb1 Bxe1 16.Bh6) 13...cxd4 14.cxd4 e6
43.fxg4 Ke4 44.g5 0-1
Chess from Malcolm Pein Monday February 25th 2008 The world champion Vishy Anand retained his half point lead with one game to play before the tournament moves from Morelia in Mexico to its traditional home of Linares in Andalucia. Although the sixth round was not as entertaining as some of the previous days’ play, the chess was of high quality. Veselin Topalov pressed Vishy Anand throughout their 42 move game but the world champion’s defensive play denied him any winning opportunities. The only decisive game of the round saw Teimour Radjabov formerly the world’s strongest junior player defeat his successor Magnus Carlsen with some deft tactics in the endgame.
Peter Leko did well to keep his composure after Levon Aronian uncorked a novelty in the opening. After 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Ndb5 Ne5 8.Bf4 Nfg4 (Threatening Qxf2+ Aronian ignored the threat with) 9.Qa4!
Chess from Malcolm Pein Chess Tuesday February 26th 2008 Vishy Anand will be ahead of the field when the Morelia-Linares tournament resumes in Spain on Thursday afternoon. The world champion drew with Vassily Ivanchuk in the seventh and final round played in Mexico and has 4.5/7 with Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov half a point behind. Linares, a sleepy Andalucian town is the traditional home of the event and the players will return to the familiar surroundings of the Hotel Anibal for the second set of seven games but with colours reversed. The tournament remained exceptionally competitive with three more decisive games in round seven. Teimour Radjabov’s King’s Indian Defence was breached by Alexei Shirov who became the first player of the white pieces to secure the full point against Radjabov in this opening for some time. Peter Leko’s poor form persisted and he spoilt a good position with white for the second time and lost badly to Veselin Topalov after blundering in a drawish position. Magnus Carlsen easily refuted Levon Aronian’s unsound, sacrificial idea in the Ruy Lopez. A Shirov - T Radjabov 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 (The Main Line of the King's Indian. White attacks the queenside, specifically a7 and c7, Black plays for mate by advancing his kingside pawns with the aim of opening the g file) 10.Be3 (Double edged, the bishop move costs two tempi but greatly enhances the queenside attack by pressuring a7 b6 and c5) 10...f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Nd3 h5?! (I am not a fan of this move here. 13...Nf6 14.c5 Ng6 is standard or 14.g4!?) 14.c5 Nf6 15.Rc1
Chess from Malcolm Pein Wednesday February 27th 2008 Ian Nepomniachtchi, one of the most creative young players in the world today scored the finest result of his career with victory at the Aeroflot Open recently completed in Moscow. The Russian GM took home $30,000 and, more importantly, a guarantee of a place in the elite Dortmund Chess Festival which is traditionally one of the strongest events of the year. The 64 player A1 group was so tough that only eight of the sixty four players scored +3, 6/9 or better. The winner scored 7/9 with Russian internationals Alexey Dreev and Alexander Motylev on 6.5. One can gauge the strength of the event by the the players near the bottom of the tournament table who included former world title Candidate Artur Yusupov and German number one Arkady Naiditsch from Dortmund who will get a chance to cross swords with the tournament winner later in the year. Alexander Cherniaev of Guildford ADC, Britain’s top team, scored 1/8 plus a point for the bye. There were many fine games, here is a small selection. L Le Quang - R Mamedov 1.d4 d6 2.e4 e5 3.Nf3 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 (The Modern Philidor, but only Modern in the sense that Bent Larsen popularised it about 50 years ago. Nowadays it is regarded as vulnerable to the plan White adopts) 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Qd2 0-0 8.0-0-0 Re8 (Gaining a tempo to prevent the exchange of bishops after Be3-h6, the key difference between this and the analogous position in the Sicilian Dragon where there is a black pawn on e7 rather than c7) 9.f3 a6 10.h4 b5 (Both sides play for mate) 11.Bg5 Bb7 12.h5 Nbd7 13.hxg6 (13.Bh6 is of course met by 13...Bh8) 13...fxg6 14.Nd5 (14.g4!?) 14...Re5! 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 16.Bf4 Re7 (White mistakenly decides he wants to bludgeon open the c4-g8 diagonal which is a good idea in principle but he only succeeds in weakening his position) 17.c4!? Qf8! 18.cxb5 axb5 19.Nxb5 Qf7 20.Nc3
(20.b3 d5) 20...Nxe4!! 21.Nxe4 (21.fxe4 Bxc3 22.Qxc3 Qxf4+ or 21.fxe4 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Rxa2 23.Qe3 Rxe4 wins) 21...Rxa2 22.Nc3 Bxc3 23.Qxc3 Qxf4+ 24.Kc2 Qa4+ 25.Kd2 Bd5 26.g3 Qa7 27.Kc2 c6 28.Rh2 Rb7 29.Rb1 Rb3 30.Qf6 Qc5+ 31.Kd2 Qe3+ 32.Kc2 Rbxb2+ 33.Rxb2 Bb3+ 0-1 Final position after 33...Bb3+ A Evdokimov - A Volokitin 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.Nd2 Bg7 8.e4 0-0 9.Be2 Re8 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.a4 (11.Qc2 Nh5! Spassky - Fischer 1972) 11...Ne5 12.Qc2 Bg4 (A new move 12...g5 was Gligoric-Fischer 1970) 13.f3 Bd7 14.f4 (Who could resist ?) 14...Neg4 15.Nc4 (Threatening h3)
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