The WCM are coming to an end, with only two matches remaining. Leko and Gelfand obtained a draw and a victory respectively in the fifth game and go through to Mexico City. After disappointing his fans for quite a long period Leko has finally appeared at his best in Elista: he made short work first of the bottom seed Mikhail Gurevich (3.5-0.5) and secondly of Evgeny Bareev (3.5-1.5). The Hungarian super GM was never in any trouble against his opponent and crushed the Russian's Petroff defence twice in powerful style. Boris Gelfand also made pretty short work of Gata Kamsky, whose opening preparation was all but perfect. The Israeli GM gained a pawn (with Black pieces) on move 17 in the last game and Gata made a mistake when he decided not to take it back three moves later, pushing for a win in a completely drawn position. It was easy for Boris to convert his material advantage into a full point, winning the game and the match (3.5-1.5). The other two matches will continue to the final game. Levon Aronian has a point lead against Alexei Shirov. This has been a very interesting duel up to now and Shirov will have one final go with White to try and take the match to the tie-break (as he did against Adams). In the fifth game Shirov selected the double-edged Gruenfeld Defense; Aronian chose a sharp and deeply analyzed variation where White sacrifices an exchange on a1, but Black defended accurately and a draw was agreed on move 34. Alexander Grischuk (with White pieces) offered a draw after only 18 moves, in a sharp position, to his compatriot Sergei Rublevsky and the match is still level (2.5-2.5) going into the final game. It's now difficult to predict who will win (I say Grischuk, anyway). Official site of the event: http://globalchess.eu/main.php. You can find a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
"Deep Junior" defeated "Deep Fritz" 4-2 in a match alongside the above mentioned event, called the "President's Cup Ultimate Computer Challenge". The Israeli program won the third and fourth game and drew all the others. Junior was running on 16 processors at 3.0+ GHz and looking at 25 million positions per second. Fritz had eight processors at 2.66 MHz and 12 million positions. Before the match a $100,000 challenge was made to Fide, to have Rybka play the winner in Mexico City; Fide has not answered yet.
The 7th European Individual Senior Championship took place in June 2-10, in the Business-Lounge of the Hockenheim circuit (Germany). Russian GM Nukhim Rashkovsky edged out Lithuanian IM Algiman Butnorius on tie-break after both finished on 7.5/9. The latter, 61 years old, can be satisfied anyway since he made a GM norm. Israeli GM Jacob Murey, Czech GM Vlastimil Jansa, Hungarian GM Ivan Farago and German GM Wolfgang Uhlmann were tied for third on 7 points. Italian FM Antonio Rosino was placed 24th on 6. Official site: http://www.euro-seniorchamp.de.vu.
Our "game of the day" is an interesting battle between Aronian and Shirov in Elista, where the Spanish GM found an improvement to his game against Topalov (Wijk aan Zee 2007).
Aronian,L (2759) - Shirov,A (2699) [D89], Elista 11.6.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0–0 10.0–0 Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bd3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Be6 14.d5
This sharp line recently gained a lot of popularity (see my annotations to "Messaggero Scacchi" April Queen, Rizza-Oliveri, in my post of May 31). White sacrifices an exchange and launches the attack on the kingside.
14...Bxa1 15.Qxa1 f6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Qd4
17.Kh1 was more popular until 3-4 years ago, but Black found the way to hold the position at last. The game Korotylev-Timofeev, Tomsk 2004, continued 17...Rc8 18.Nf4 Bd7 19.e5 Nc4 20.e6 Ba4 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.Bxg6 Ne5 23.Be4 Bc2 24.Bxc2 Rxc2 25.Qd1 Kh7 26.f4 Kxh6 27.fxe5 Qc8 28.exf6 Rg8 29.f7 Rgxg2 30.f8Q+ Qxf8 31.Rxf8 Rxh2+ 32.Kg1 Rcg2+ 33.Kf1 Rh1+ 34.Kxg2 Rxd1 35.Rd8 Kg6 and a draw was agreed (1/2–1/2).
17...Bf7 18.Bb5 e5 19.Qf2 Re7 20.f4 exf4 21.Qxf4 Qb6+ 22.Kh1 Bxd5
Black can't obviously play 22...Qxb5??, because after 23.Qxf6 White mates.
23.exd5 Qxb5 24.Qxf6 Qe8 25.Qd4 Rf7!?
A novelty. Shirov tried 25...Rd8 against Topalov in Wijk aan Zee last January. The game went 26.h3 Rf7 27.Rxf7 Qxf7 28.Qc3 b6 29.Ng3 and here the Spanish GM made a bad mistake: 29...Nb7? ; after (29...Re8 Rakhmanov-Danin, Sochi 2007) 30.Ne4 Qe7 31.Nf6+ Kf7 32.Nxh7 White obtained a strong initiative and won.
26.Rxf7 Qxf7 27.Bd2 Qg7!? 28.Qe4
After 28.Bxa5?! Qxd4 29.Nxd4 Rc8 30.Nb3 b6 31.Bb4 Kf7 Black has a good counterplay thanks to his strong rook.
28...Qf7 29.Bc3 Rc8 30.h3 Nc4 31.Qd4 Kf8
The only way to avoid mate, but this is enough.
32.Qh8+
Levon could have played 32.Nf4 Ke8 33.Ne6 , but this position is unclear and the Armenian GM had no reason to take a risk, since he lead the match by a full point.
32...Qg8 33.Qd4 Qf7
33...Ke7 34.Qe4+ Kd7 35.Qg4+ Ke7 36.Qe4+ would have led to a draw anyway.
34.Qh8+ 0.5-0.5
2007/06/10
Jan Werle, a Dutch king in Lodi
Dutch GM Jan Werle took first place in Lodi (Italy), where the third International chess festival was held in June 8 to 10. Werle scored 4.5 points out of 5, winning on tie break over Ukrainian GM and Elo-favourite Sergey Fedorchuk; eight players finished on 4: Croatian GM Mladen Palac, Belgian GM Vadim Malakhatko, Slovakian WGM Regina Pokorna, Filipino IM Roland Salvador, Italian IM Sabino Brunello, Croatian GM Robert Zelcic, Bulgarian GM Aleksander Delchev and Serbian GM Mirlojub Lazic. It was a very strong tournament indeed and it's just a pity that it is so short. I've already written about Karjakin's simul in yesterday's post: it's not clear why the young Ukrainian GM didn't take part in the main event, as previously announced by the organizers, but the festival was a great success anyway. Official site: http://www.lenuvole.org/. You can find a photo-gallery of the "simultaneous exhibition under the stars" on Messaggero Scacchi, at www.messaggeroscacchi.it/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=68.
Great fight today in Elista, where round 5 of the world candidate matches was played. Main news of the day come from the Russian derby: Sergey Rublevsky stroke back to level the duel against compatriot Alexander Grischuk, after a tough battle of 66 moves. But the longest game of the day, as usual :-), was between Shirov and Aronian: the Spanish GM probably had a winning position at some point, but the Armenian defended actively and a draw was finally agreed on move 84. Hungarian GM Peter Leko also missed a good chance to beat his opponent, Russian Evgeny Bareev, and a totally drawn position was reached on move 52; Leko is half a point from winning the match now. Last but not least, Gata Kamsky sacrificed the exchange against Boris Gelfand, but didn't get more than a draw from his position (and had to defend correctly not to lose another game). Gelfand, as well as Aronian, lead 2.5-1.5. Official site of the event: http://globalchess.eu/main.php. You can find a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
The 3rd European Union championship will start on June 15 in Arvier (Aosta Valley, Italy). Top seed players (last update of players list on May 31) are Bulgarian GM Aleksander Delchev (2600), German GM Thomas Luther (2586), Serbian GM Nikola Sedlak (2575), Swedish GM Evgenij Agrest (2561), Italian GM Michele Godena (2558), Croatian GM Nenad Sulava (2549), Irish GM Alexander Baburin (2545), Lithuanian GM Sarunas Sulskis (2528), Italian IM Fabiano Caruana (2523) and French GM Eric Prié (2513). I don't think EU championship will make sense for a long time: EU countries are growing in number and in a few years EU and Europe should include the same and identical territories... Official site: http://www.scacchivda.com/.
And now here is the decisive last round game between Jan Werle and Milan Mrdja in Lodi: the winner would have taken the first place...
Werle,J. (2556) - Mrdja,M. (2367) [A70], Lodi 10.6.2007
1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Nf6 5.e4 d6 6.Nf3 0–0 7.Bd3 e6 8.h3 exd5 9.cxd5 b6
Mrdja's style! This move is not uncommon, but 9...b5!? and; 9...Na6 are more popular alternatives.
10.0–0 Ba6 11.Bf4 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Ne8
12...a6 is the most common continuation, but Black has lost many games after White's 13.a4
13.Nd2
This looks to be a novelty. 13.Rfe1 is more common: 13...Nd7 (or 13...f6 14.Bh2 Nd7 15.Qc2 Qe7 16.Nd2 Nc7 17.a4 Rfb8 18.Nb5 Ne8 19.Nc4 Ne5 20.f4 Nxc4 21.Qxc4 a6 22.Nc3 and White is slightly better, Barbero-Saeed, Novi Sad 1990) 14.Rad1 f6 15.h4 Ne5 16.Bxe5 fxe5 17.Ng5 Qe7 18.Qh3 Nc7 19.Ne6 Rf6 20.Re3 Bh6 21.Rg3 and White has a strong initiative, Richter-Konietzka, Berlin 1998.
13...Nd7 14.Nc4 Qe7 15.Rad1 f6 16.Rfe1 Ne5 17.Qe2 Nc7
Black's position is solid, but White has a more active play.
18.Bh2 Nxc4 19.Qxc4 Qd7 20.a4 a6 21.b3 b5 22.Qd3 Rad8 23.Kh1 Rfe8
Black has now nothing to be afraid of. That is probably the reason why Werle pushes for a win and plays a risky move...
24.f4
24.g4 was a safer way for trying to get the initiative.
24...Kh8?!
Mrdja misses a good chance to get a full equality. 24...f5 was stronger, e.g.: 25.e5 dxe5 26.fxe5 b4 27.Na2 Qxd5 (27...Nxd5!? 28.Qxa6 Qf7 29.Qc4 Bf8=) 28.Qc2 Qb7 29.Qxc5 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Bf8 31.Qc4+ Ne6 and Black is ok.
25.f5 g5 26.Ra1 Ra8 27.Re2 Bf8 28.Rea2
After 24...Kh8?! White is improving his position move by move.
28...b4 29.Nb1 a5 30.Nd2 Na6?
The immediate 30...Ra6 was clearly better: the text move loses two tempos!
31.Nc4 Qc7 32.Re2 Nb8 33.Qg3 Ra6
This is why 30...Na6 was a bad mistake!
34.h4 h6 35.Qg4 Qf7 36.hxg5 hxg5 37.Rd1 Nd7 38.Rd3
The "h" file is open and White is now ready to use it. Black has a too passive position and a good defence is very hard to find.
38...Kg8 39.Rh3 Rd8 40.Rh5 Nb6?
The decisive mistake. 40...Qg7 was the only way to put up a resistance.
41.e5!
The first blow!
41...dxe5
41...Nxd5 was not better, e.g.: 42.Nxd6 Bxd6 43.exd6 Qg7 44.Qf3 Qf7 45.Qh3 Qg7 46.Rh6+-; 41...Nxc4 42.exf6 Qxf6 43.Rxg5+ Bg7 44.bxc4 was also hopeless for Black.
42.Nxe5!
The second blow!
42...Qxd5 43.Rd2!
The third blow! 43.Ng6 would have won anyway, but the text move is far more brilliant.
43...Qxd2 44.Rh8+!!
The fourth and final blow.
44...Kg7
The rook can't be taken: 44...Kxh8 45.Qh5+ Bh6 (45...Kg8 46.Qf7+ Kh8 47.Ng6#) 46.Qxh6+ Kg8 47.Qg6+ Kh8 48.Nf7#
45.Qh3 1–0
Black can't avoid mate, so he resigns. E.g.:45.Qh3 Qe1+ 46.Bg1 Qh4 (46...fxe5 47.Qh6+ Kf7 48.Qg6+ Ke7 49.Qe6#) 47.Rxh4 fxe5 (47...gxh4 48.Qg4+ Kh7 49.Qg6+ Kh8 50.Nf7#) 48.Rh7+ Kf6 49.Qh5 e4 50.Bh2 etc. A brilliant final combination by Werle.
Great fight today in Elista, where round 5 of the world candidate matches was played. Main news of the day come from the Russian derby: Sergey Rublevsky stroke back to level the duel against compatriot Alexander Grischuk, after a tough battle of 66 moves. But the longest game of the day, as usual :-), was between Shirov and Aronian: the Spanish GM probably had a winning position at some point, but the Armenian defended actively and a draw was finally agreed on move 84. Hungarian GM Peter Leko also missed a good chance to beat his opponent, Russian Evgeny Bareev, and a totally drawn position was reached on move 52; Leko is half a point from winning the match now. Last but not least, Gata Kamsky sacrificed the exchange against Boris Gelfand, but didn't get more than a draw from his position (and had to defend correctly not to lose another game). Gelfand, as well as Aronian, lead 2.5-1.5. Official site of the event: http://globalchess.eu/main.php. You can find a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
The 3rd European Union championship will start on June 15 in Arvier (Aosta Valley, Italy). Top seed players (last update of players list on May 31) are Bulgarian GM Aleksander Delchev (2600), German GM Thomas Luther (2586), Serbian GM Nikola Sedlak (2575), Swedish GM Evgenij Agrest (2561), Italian GM Michele Godena (2558), Croatian GM Nenad Sulava (2549), Irish GM Alexander Baburin (2545), Lithuanian GM Sarunas Sulskis (2528), Italian IM Fabiano Caruana (2523) and French GM Eric Prié (2513). I don't think EU championship will make sense for a long time: EU countries are growing in number and in a few years EU and Europe should include the same and identical territories... Official site: http://www.scacchivda.com/.
And now here is the decisive last round game between Jan Werle and Milan Mrdja in Lodi: the winner would have taken the first place...
Werle,J. (2556) - Mrdja,M. (2367) [A70], Lodi 10.6.2007
1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Nf6 5.e4 d6 6.Nf3 0–0 7.Bd3 e6 8.h3 exd5 9.cxd5 b6
Mrdja's style! This move is not uncommon, but 9...b5!? and; 9...Na6 are more popular alternatives.
10.0–0 Ba6 11.Bf4 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Ne8
12...a6 is the most common continuation, but Black has lost many games after White's 13.a4
13.Nd2
This looks to be a novelty. 13.Rfe1 is more common: 13...Nd7 (or 13...f6 14.Bh2 Nd7 15.Qc2 Qe7 16.Nd2 Nc7 17.a4 Rfb8 18.Nb5 Ne8 19.Nc4 Ne5 20.f4 Nxc4 21.Qxc4 a6 22.Nc3 and White is slightly better, Barbero-Saeed, Novi Sad 1990) 14.Rad1 f6 15.h4 Ne5 16.Bxe5 fxe5 17.Ng5 Qe7 18.Qh3 Nc7 19.Ne6 Rf6 20.Re3 Bh6 21.Rg3 and White has a strong initiative, Richter-Konietzka, Berlin 1998.
13...Nd7 14.Nc4 Qe7 15.Rad1 f6 16.Rfe1 Ne5 17.Qe2 Nc7
Black's position is solid, but White has a more active play.
18.Bh2 Nxc4 19.Qxc4 Qd7 20.a4 a6 21.b3 b5 22.Qd3 Rad8 23.Kh1 Rfe8
Black has now nothing to be afraid of. That is probably the reason why Werle pushes for a win and plays a risky move...
24.f4
24.g4 was a safer way for trying to get the initiative.
24...Kh8?!
Mrdja misses a good chance to get a full equality. 24...f5 was stronger, e.g.: 25.e5 dxe5 26.fxe5 b4 27.Na2 Qxd5 (27...Nxd5!? 28.Qxa6 Qf7 29.Qc4 Bf8=) 28.Qc2 Qb7 29.Qxc5 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Bf8 31.Qc4+ Ne6 and Black is ok.
25.f5 g5 26.Ra1 Ra8 27.Re2 Bf8 28.Rea2
After 24...Kh8?! White is improving his position move by move.
28...b4 29.Nb1 a5 30.Nd2 Na6?
The immediate 30...Ra6 was clearly better: the text move loses two tempos!
31.Nc4 Qc7 32.Re2 Nb8 33.Qg3 Ra6
This is why 30...Na6 was a bad mistake!
34.h4 h6 35.Qg4 Qf7 36.hxg5 hxg5 37.Rd1 Nd7 38.Rd3
The "h" file is open and White is now ready to use it. Black has a too passive position and a good defence is very hard to find.
38...Kg8 39.Rh3 Rd8 40.Rh5 Nb6?
The decisive mistake. 40...Qg7 was the only way to put up a resistance.
41.e5!
The first blow!
41...dxe5
41...Nxd5 was not better, e.g.: 42.Nxd6 Bxd6 43.exd6 Qg7 44.Qf3 Qf7 45.Qh3 Qg7 46.Rh6+-; 41...Nxc4 42.exf6 Qxf6 43.Rxg5+ Bg7 44.bxc4 was also hopeless for Black.
42.Nxe5!
The second blow!
42...Qxd5 43.Rd2!
The third blow! 43.Ng6 would have won anyway, but the text move is far more brilliant.
43...Qxd2 44.Rh8+!!
The fourth and final blow.
44...Kg7
The rook can't be taken: 44...Kxh8 45.Qh5+ Bh6 (45...Kg8 46.Qf7+ Kh8 47.Ng6#) 46.Qxh6+ Kg8 47.Qg6+ Kh8 48.Nf7#
45.Qh3 1–0
Black can't avoid mate, so he resigns. E.g.:45.Qh3 Qe1+ 46.Bg1 Qh4 (46...fxe5 47.Qh6+ Kf7 48.Qg6+ Ke7 49.Qe6#) 47.Rxh4 fxe5 (47...gxh4 48.Qg4+ Kh7 49.Qg6+ Kh8 50.Nf7#) 48.Rh7+ Kf6 49.Qh5 e4 50.Bh2 etc. A brilliant final combination by Werle.
2007/06/09
A picturesque night simul in Lodi
I thought my (old) camera would have failed in taking some decent photos, so I made a million and even more :-)... And now I have a million good photos from Lodi :-), where the "simultaneous exhibition under the stars" took place this evening in the beautiful San Francesco square. GM Sergey Karjakin and Rombaldoni chess family :-) (father Andrea and sons Denis, Axel and Brian) didn't give almost any chance to their opponents (a total of 60). I went away at 10.30 pm when the event was still in progress, but official results are already available: Karjakin won 28 games with two draws (against young candidate master Andrea Stella from Crema and Polish Jan Marini); Rombaldoni's family won almost all games (more than 30, since some opponents played more than one game), with only one loss by Axel and one draw by Denis. It was a very nice event, indeed: Adolivio Capece, journalist and editor of the Italian chess magazine "L'Italia scacchistica", introduced and interviewed all participants and was so kind to promote www.messaggeroscacchi.it by giving me the chance of speaking to the crowd :-). You should say we are competitors ("L'Italia Scacchistica" and "Torre & Cavallo - Scacco!", for which I write, are the main Italian chess magazines), but I don't think competition exists but on the board in the chess world (there are only a few chess media in Italy, in Europe and in the rest of the world, so why should we have to be rival?). I post here some pictures: you will find many more on Messaggero Scacchi, but give me the time to choose the best, as I can't publish all of them! This event was also a good opportunity for me to meet old friends and, among them, IM Roberto Messa, editor of "Torre & Cavallo-Scacco!" and "Messaggero Scacchi": he has many good ideas for the near future, so stay tuned...
The Rombaldoni family (with mom,
dad, brothers, sisters and... an intruder :-) )
Karjakin and Andrea Stella shaking hands
at the beginning of the game
Father and son: Andrea (right) and Brian Rombaldoni in action
Adolivio Capece interviewing a participant of the simul
Karjakin waiting for his opponent's move
Denis Rombaldoni (almost 2400
in the next Fide list): fire on the board
Axel Rombaldoni: IM norm in Budapest last April
A picturesque mate given by Karjakin (his knights are in d6 and e6)
Giulia, Mida's fiancée, and IM Roberto Messa
Coming back to the tournament, what's going on in the main event of the Lodi festival, the A-group? Four players lead with a perfect score after round 3 - but you can't find any of the main favourites -: Russian GM Igor Naumkin, Croatian GM Mladen Palac and IM Milan Mrdja, Belgian IM Anna Zozulia. Ukrainian GM and top seed Sergey Fedorchuk share the fifth place on 2.5 with Belgian GM Vadim Malakhatko, Dutch GM Jan Werle and Italian IMs Sabino Brunello and Giulio Borgo among the others. Bulgarian GM Aleksander Delchev (2600) lost to Mrdja in the 3rd round and has only 2 points, the same of Croatian GM Robert Zelcic and Hungarian GM Attila Czebe. Congratulations to Alberto Dassisti, main organizer of this tournament, for this undisputed success. Now we are only waiting for the PGN files to be downloadable (links are all broken) :-)
Official site: www.lenuvole.org. You will find more pictures from the simultaneous exhibition on the Italian Blog of Messaggero Scacchi, at www.messaggeroscacchi.it/dblog.
Our "game of the day" was played (naturally) in Lodi. Croatian IM Mrdja is a difficult opponent for everyone when he plays at his best (he made a GM norm 17 months ago in Verona, if I don't mind, by beating many strong opponents). Ask to Aleksander Delchev, a former Bulgarian champion and a 2600 rated player...
Mrdja,M (2367) - Delchev,A (2600) [B57], Lodi, 9.6.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 Qb6
6...e6 is the main alternative.
7.Nde2
7.Nb3 is a more common variation. One of the usual continuations is 7...e6 8.0–0 a6 9.a4 Qc7 10.a5 Be7 11.Be2 Nd7 etc.
7...e6 8.Bb3
8.0–0 is more frequent.
8...Be7 9.h3!?
Pure Milan's style. This move (not a novelty, anyway) seems to prepare Be3, but Mrdja will put this bishop on g5! 9.h3 also prevents ...Ng4, but I don't think that would be a good move for Black in many positions arising from this variation. So, why 9.h3? Only Mrdja may answer this question. The immediate 9.0–0 is more common.
9...0–0 10.0–0 a6
10...Na5 11.Qd3 Bd7 has been also played.
11.Bg5
The natural 11.Be3 was played in Djoric-Cabrilo, Nis 1995. The game continued 11...Qc7 12.f4 Na5 13.f5 b5 14.fxe6 fxe6 15.Nd5!? Nxd5 16.Rxf8+ Bxf8 17.exd5 e5 18.Qd3 Bb7 with an equal position. The text move looks to be a novelty.
11...Rd8 12.Qd3 h6 13.Be3
Finally. Black slightly weakened his position by playing 12... h6 and White's bishop now finds his appropriate square... What one could ask more?
13...Qc7 14.f4 b5 15.a3 Ne5
I don't think this is the best choice. After 15...Na5, followed by Nxb3 or Nb7-c5, Black would have probably got the initiative.
16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Nd5 exd5 18.exd5 e4
This was not necessary. I think the immediate 18...Bb7 19.Nc3 Rd7 (intending Rad8) would have been a bit more precise.
19.Qd4 Bb7 20.Nc3 Rac8 21.Rad1 Bd6 22.Rf5 Qe7 23.Rdf1 Bc5 24.Qd2 Rd6?
The first (very) bad move. In case of 24...Bxe3+ 25.Qxe3 Qc5 White would have kept good winning chances by playing 26.Qxc5 Rxc5 27.Rxf6 gxf6 28.Nxe4 Rcc8 29.Nxf6+ etc. So the best defence for Black would have probably been 24...a5 e.g.: 25.Rxf6 gxf6 26.Rf4 a4 27.Rxe4 Bxe3+ 28.Qxe3 Qc5 29.Qxc5 Rxc5 30.Ba2 and the position is about equal.
25.Bxc5 Rxc5 26.Qd4 Rc8 27.Re5 Qd8 28.Nxe4 Nxe4 29.Qxe4
White has played all the best moves.
29...f6?
The losing mistake, but a good defence was difficult to be find, e.g.: 29...a5 30.c3 a4 31.Re7! Bxd5 32.Bxd5 Rxd5 33.Rfxf7 Qb6+ 34.Kf1! Rg5 35.h4 Rg6 36.Qe5 and White has a strong pressure and is a pawn up.
30.Re7 Bxd5
After 30...Rb8 31.Re1 Black can't survive anyway, but the text move loses immediately.
31.Bxd5+ Rxd5 32.Rxf6!
A bad surprise!
32...Rg5
32...Rd1+ would have prolonged the agony: 33.Kh2 Qxe7 34.Qxe7 gxf6 35.Qe6+ and White wins a rook.
33.Qe6+ Kh8 34.Rxh6+! 1–0
The final blow, now Black can't avoid mate: 34...gxh6 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Qf7+ Kh8 37.Qh7# Go Mrdja, go!
dad, brothers, sisters and... an intruder :-) )
at the beginning of the game
in the next Fide list): fire on the board
Coming back to the tournament, what's going on in the main event of the Lodi festival, the A-group? Four players lead with a perfect score after round 3 - but you can't find any of the main favourites -: Russian GM Igor Naumkin, Croatian GM Mladen Palac and IM Milan Mrdja, Belgian IM Anna Zozulia. Ukrainian GM and top seed Sergey Fedorchuk share the fifth place on 2.5 with Belgian GM Vadim Malakhatko, Dutch GM Jan Werle and Italian IMs Sabino Brunello and Giulio Borgo among the others. Bulgarian GM Aleksander Delchev (2600) lost to Mrdja in the 3rd round and has only 2 points, the same of Croatian GM Robert Zelcic and Hungarian GM Attila Czebe. Congratulations to Alberto Dassisti, main organizer of this tournament, for this undisputed success. Now we are only waiting for the PGN files to be downloadable (links are all broken) :-)
Official site: www.lenuvole.org. You will find more pictures from the simultaneous exhibition on the Italian Blog of Messaggero Scacchi, at www.messaggeroscacchi.it/dblog.
Our "game of the day" was played (naturally) in Lodi. Croatian IM Mrdja is a difficult opponent for everyone when he plays at his best (he made a GM norm 17 months ago in Verona, if I don't mind, by beating many strong opponents). Ask to Aleksander Delchev, a former Bulgarian champion and a 2600 rated player...
Mrdja,M (2367) - Delchev,A (2600) [B57], Lodi, 9.6.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 Qb6
6...e6 is the main alternative.
7.Nde2
7.Nb3 is a more common variation. One of the usual continuations is 7...e6 8.0–0 a6 9.a4 Qc7 10.a5 Be7 11.Be2 Nd7 etc.
7...e6 8.Bb3
8.0–0 is more frequent.
8...Be7 9.h3!?
Pure Milan's style. This move (not a novelty, anyway) seems to prepare Be3, but Mrdja will put this bishop on g5! 9.h3 also prevents ...Ng4, but I don't think that would be a good move for Black in many positions arising from this variation. So, why 9.h3? Only Mrdja may answer this question. The immediate 9.0–0 is more common.
9...0–0 10.0–0 a6
10...Na5 11.Qd3 Bd7 has been also played.
11.Bg5
The natural 11.Be3 was played in Djoric-Cabrilo, Nis 1995. The game continued 11...Qc7 12.f4 Na5 13.f5 b5 14.fxe6 fxe6 15.Nd5!? Nxd5 16.Rxf8+ Bxf8 17.exd5 e5 18.Qd3 Bb7 with an equal position. The text move looks to be a novelty.
11...Rd8 12.Qd3 h6 13.Be3
Finally. Black slightly weakened his position by playing 12... h6 and White's bishop now finds his appropriate square... What one could ask more?
13...Qc7 14.f4 b5 15.a3 Ne5
I don't think this is the best choice. After 15...Na5, followed by Nxb3 or Nb7-c5, Black would have probably got the initiative.
16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Nd5 exd5 18.exd5 e4
This was not necessary. I think the immediate 18...Bb7 19.Nc3 Rd7 (intending Rad8) would have been a bit more precise.
19.Qd4 Bb7 20.Nc3 Rac8 21.Rad1 Bd6 22.Rf5 Qe7 23.Rdf1 Bc5 24.Qd2 Rd6?
The first (very) bad move. In case of 24...Bxe3+ 25.Qxe3 Qc5 White would have kept good winning chances by playing 26.Qxc5 Rxc5 27.Rxf6 gxf6 28.Nxe4 Rcc8 29.Nxf6+ etc. So the best defence for Black would have probably been 24...a5 e.g.: 25.Rxf6 gxf6 26.Rf4 a4 27.Rxe4 Bxe3+ 28.Qxe3 Qc5 29.Qxc5 Rxc5 30.Ba2 and the position is about equal.
25.Bxc5 Rxc5 26.Qd4 Rc8 27.Re5 Qd8 28.Nxe4 Nxe4 29.Qxe4
White has played all the best moves.
29...f6?
The losing mistake, but a good defence was difficult to be find, e.g.: 29...a5 30.c3 a4 31.Re7! Bxd5 32.Bxd5 Rxd5 33.Rfxf7 Qb6+ 34.Kf1! Rg5 35.h4 Rg6 36.Qe5 and White has a strong pressure and is a pawn up.
30.Re7 Bxd5
After 30...Rb8 31.Re1 Black can't survive anyway, but the text move loses immediately.
31.Bxd5+ Rxd5 32.Rxf6!
A bad surprise!
32...Rg5
32...Rd1+ would have prolonged the agony: 33.Kh2 Qxe7 34.Qxe7 gxf6 35.Qe6+ and White wins a rook.
33.Qe6+ Kh8 34.Rxh6+! 1–0
The final blow, now Black can't avoid mate: 34...gxh6 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Qf7+ Kh8 37.Qh7# Go Mrdja, go!
2007/06/08
Great fight in Elista (and Lodi)
What a fight! Nobody can complain about today's round in the 2007 WCM. Two decisive games, Leko-Bareev 1-0 and Kamsky-Gelfand 0-1, and two draws, Aronian-Shirov and Grischuk-Rublevsky, after 68 e 49 moves respectively. Peter Leko completely outplayed his opponent to take a solid advantage (2.5-0.5) after only three games. The Hungarian obtained the initiative and Bareev scrambled under the pressure on move 41. Kamsky entered in severe time trouble before the first time control: he had 12 seconds for 6 moves. The American GM played some wrong moves in an equal position and went down on material, giving 1 point advantage to Boris Gelfand. Aronian - Shirov was the longest game of the day. White knight was stronger than Black bishop in the endgame and Levon was dominating, but he missed to win a rook and pawn against rook endgame, thus failing to take stable advantage. Grischuk and Rublevsky played an opposite color bishops endgame. Rublevsky fell into time trouble and was two pawns down before the time control, but he was able to hold the game to a draw at last (but Alexander missed chances). Official site of the event: http://globalchess.eu/main.php. You can find a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
A strong open tournament started today in Lodi, Italy. Ukrainian prodigy Sergey Karjakin was announced to play, but he wasn't paired in round 1, so I think he will only give the so-called "simultaneous exhibition under the stars" tomorrow evening (at 9.30 pm Italian time, +1GMT), in the beautiful San Francesco square. Many other strong players take part in the event, anyway: Ukrainian GM Sergey Fedorchuk (2603), Bulgarian GM Aleksander Delchev (2600), Belgian GM Vadim Malakhatko (2598), Croatian GMs Mladen Palac (2568) and Robert Zelcic (2554), Dutch GM Jan Werle (2556), Hungarian IM Laszlo Gonda (2501) and GM Attila Czebe (2500), Russian GM Igor Naumkin (2497), French IM Vladimir Okhotnik (2484), Italian IM Sabino Brunello (2454), Serbian GM Miroljub Lazic (2450) and so on. A press conference was held this morning in Lodi in order to present the event: special guest Patrick Ray Pugliese from "Striscia la Notizia", one of the most famous (and watched) Italian Tv programs. I will post some pictures from Karjakin's exhibition by a couple of days (perhaps even tomorrow). Official site: http://www.lenuvole.org/.
Fide and Global Chess completed negotiations on an agreement which authorizes Global Chess BV to act as Fide marketing support agent on worldwide basis. In accordance with the "Memorandum of Understanding" signed by both parties, "Global Chess has the rights to promote forthcoming Fide events including world chess championships and Chess Olympiads to corporate sponsors and organizers, as well as to apply quality control and monitoring measures in order to ensure the best possible conditions for the events". Only time can say if this move is a winning one... More details on the Fide official site: www.fide.com.
Leko,P (2738) - Bareev,E (2643) [B17], Elista 8.6.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7
10...Nf6 11.Qe2 Qc7 12.Bd2 b6 13.0–0–0 Bb7 is a more common variation, where White usually gets the initiative after 14.Ne5 c5 15.Bb5+ Ke7 16.dxc5 Qxc5 17.a3 and now if 17...Qxe5?? 18.Qxe5 Bxe5 19.Bb4+ +-
11.0–0 b6
This move will leave Bareev in a very inactive position. 11...c5 is probably better, e.g.: 12.Bd2 c4 13.Be2 Nf6 14.Qh4 Bd7 15.Ne5 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Qxe5 17.Bf3 Bc6 18.Bxc6+ bxc6 19.Bc3 Qf5 20.Qxc4 0–0 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.b3 and both Almasi-Kallai (22...Rac8), Hungary ch 1995, and Almasi-Hulak (22...Rfd8), Tucepi 1996, ended in a draw.
12.Qg4 Kf8 13.Qh4 Bb7 14.Re1 Kg8
A novelty. The game Arakhamia-Speelman, England 1998, continued 14...Re8 15.Bd2 (15.Be3!?) 15...c5 16.Be4 Bxe4 17.Rxe4 Nf6 18.Re2 c4 19.Ne5 Bxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5=
15.Qh3 Re8 16.c4 Nf6
16...c5 17.d5 Ne5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 had to be considered, even if White would have been slightly better anyway.
17.Bd2 c5 18.d5
18.Bc3 was a good alternative.
18...e5?!
18...exd5 was not so bad, e.g.: 19.Rxe8+ Nxe8 20.cxd5 Nf6 (20...Bxd5 21.Re1 Nf6 22.Bc3 c4 23.Bc2) 21.Re1 c4 22.Bc2 Bxd5 (22...Nxd5 23.Re8+ Bf8 24.Qg3 Qxg3 25.hxg3) 23.Bc3 and White has a good positional compensation in return for the pawn, but Black can hold on with 23...Bc6 or 23...Kf8.
19.Bc3 g6 20.Qh4
Now White is definitely better.
20...Kg7 21.Nd2 Qd8 22.Bc2 Bc8
22...b5 23.b3 b4 24.Bb2 Nd7 25.Qh3 would have been good for White anyway.
23.Ba4 g5
If 23...Bd7 then 24.f4 Bxa4 25.fxe5 Be7 26.d6 Nd5 27.dxe7 Qxe7 28.Qxe7 Nxe7 29.e6+ f6 30.Ne4 Rhf8 31.b3 Bc6 32.Nd6 Rd8 33.Rad1 and White has excellent winning chances.
24.Qg3 Nh5
On 24...Bd7 White can reply by 25.Bc2 with the idea h2-h4.
25.Qf3 g4 26.Qd1 Re7 27.h3 Nf6 28.hxg4 Bxg4 29.f3 Bc8?!
29...Bd7 was probably more precise.
30.Re3
Leko is going to put some pressure both on the "e" file and the King side...
30...Nh5 31.Qe1 f6 32.Qh4 Nf4 33.Ne4 Rf7 34.g3 Ng6 35.Qh5 Bb8 36.Bc2
All White pieces but one (the Rook on "a1" :-) ) are placed on excellent squares.
36...f5
36...Ne7 37.Rd1 Qe8 38.g4 was not better at all.
37.f4! Re8?
Bareev was probably in time trouble, so he didn't find the best defence in a difficult position. Black had to play 37...fxe4 38.Bxe4 Rf6 39.fxe5 Nxe5 40.Bxe5 Bxe5 41.Qxe5 Qd6 42.Qxd6 Rxd6 , although White would have had a totally winning endgame.
38.Nf2 Rf6
Not the best move, again. But after 38...Qf6 39.Rae1 Rfe7 40.Nd3 Kg8 41.Ba4 White has a decisive advantage anyway.
39.Rae1 e4
Now White wins on the spot.
40.Bxe4! fxe4 41.Nxe4 1–0
After 41.Nxe4 Ref8 (41...Rxe4 42.Rxe4 Bd7 43.f5+-) 42.Nxf6 Rxf6 43.Re8 Qd7 44.R1e6 White is totally winning, so Bareev resigned.
A strong open tournament started today in Lodi, Italy. Ukrainian prodigy Sergey Karjakin was announced to play, but he wasn't paired in round 1, so I think he will only give the so-called "simultaneous exhibition under the stars" tomorrow evening (at 9.30 pm Italian time, +1GMT), in the beautiful San Francesco square. Many other strong players take part in the event, anyway: Ukrainian GM Sergey Fedorchuk (2603), Bulgarian GM Aleksander Delchev (2600), Belgian GM Vadim Malakhatko (2598), Croatian GMs Mladen Palac (2568) and Robert Zelcic (2554), Dutch GM Jan Werle (2556), Hungarian IM Laszlo Gonda (2501) and GM Attila Czebe (2500), Russian GM Igor Naumkin (2497), French IM Vladimir Okhotnik (2484), Italian IM Sabino Brunello (2454), Serbian GM Miroljub Lazic (2450) and so on. A press conference was held this morning in Lodi in order to present the event: special guest Patrick Ray Pugliese from "Striscia la Notizia", one of the most famous (and watched) Italian Tv programs. I will post some pictures from Karjakin's exhibition by a couple of days (perhaps even tomorrow). Official site: http://www.lenuvole.org/.
Fide and Global Chess completed negotiations on an agreement which authorizes Global Chess BV to act as Fide marketing support agent on worldwide basis. In accordance with the "Memorandum of Understanding" signed by both parties, "Global Chess has the rights to promote forthcoming Fide events including world chess championships and Chess Olympiads to corporate sponsors and organizers, as well as to apply quality control and monitoring measures in order to ensure the best possible conditions for the events". Only time can say if this move is a winning one... More details on the Fide official site: www.fide.com.
Leko,P (2738) - Bareev,E (2643) [B17], Elista 8.6.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7
10...Nf6 11.Qe2 Qc7 12.Bd2 b6 13.0–0–0 Bb7 is a more common variation, where White usually gets the initiative after 14.Ne5 c5 15.Bb5+ Ke7 16.dxc5 Qxc5 17.a3 and now if 17...Qxe5?? 18.Qxe5 Bxe5 19.Bb4+ +-
11.0–0 b6
This move will leave Bareev in a very inactive position. 11...c5 is probably better, e.g.: 12.Bd2 c4 13.Be2 Nf6 14.Qh4 Bd7 15.Ne5 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Qxe5 17.Bf3 Bc6 18.Bxc6+ bxc6 19.Bc3 Qf5 20.Qxc4 0–0 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.b3 and both Almasi-Kallai (22...Rac8), Hungary ch 1995, and Almasi-Hulak (22...Rfd8), Tucepi 1996, ended in a draw.
12.Qg4 Kf8 13.Qh4 Bb7 14.Re1 Kg8
A novelty. The game Arakhamia-Speelman, England 1998, continued 14...Re8 15.Bd2 (15.Be3!?) 15...c5 16.Be4 Bxe4 17.Rxe4 Nf6 18.Re2 c4 19.Ne5 Bxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5=
15.Qh3 Re8 16.c4 Nf6
16...c5 17.d5 Ne5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 had to be considered, even if White would have been slightly better anyway.
17.Bd2 c5 18.d5
18.Bc3 was a good alternative.
18...e5?!
18...exd5 was not so bad, e.g.: 19.Rxe8+ Nxe8 20.cxd5 Nf6 (20...Bxd5 21.Re1 Nf6 22.Bc3 c4 23.Bc2) 21.Re1 c4 22.Bc2 Bxd5 (22...Nxd5 23.Re8+ Bf8 24.Qg3 Qxg3 25.hxg3) 23.Bc3 and White has a good positional compensation in return for the pawn, but Black can hold on with 23...Bc6 or 23...Kf8.
19.Bc3 g6 20.Qh4
Now White is definitely better.
20...Kg7 21.Nd2 Qd8 22.Bc2 Bc8
22...b5 23.b3 b4 24.Bb2 Nd7 25.Qh3 would have been good for White anyway.
23.Ba4 g5
If 23...Bd7 then 24.f4 Bxa4 25.fxe5 Be7 26.d6 Nd5 27.dxe7 Qxe7 28.Qxe7 Nxe7 29.e6+ f6 30.Ne4 Rhf8 31.b3 Bc6 32.Nd6 Rd8 33.Rad1 and White has excellent winning chances.
24.Qg3 Nh5
On 24...Bd7 White can reply by 25.Bc2 with the idea h2-h4.
25.Qf3 g4 26.Qd1 Re7 27.h3 Nf6 28.hxg4 Bxg4 29.f3 Bc8?!
29...Bd7 was probably more precise.
30.Re3
Leko is going to put some pressure both on the "e" file and the King side...
30...Nh5 31.Qe1 f6 32.Qh4 Nf4 33.Ne4 Rf7 34.g3 Ng6 35.Qh5 Bb8 36.Bc2
All White pieces but one (the Rook on "a1" :-) ) are placed on excellent squares.
36...f5
36...Ne7 37.Rd1 Qe8 38.g4 was not better at all.
37.f4! Re8?
Bareev was probably in time trouble, so he didn't find the best defence in a difficult position. Black had to play 37...fxe4 38.Bxe4 Rf6 39.fxe5 Nxe5 40.Bxe5 Bxe5 41.Qxe5 Qd6 42.Qxd6 Rxd6 , although White would have had a totally winning endgame.
38.Nf2 Rf6
Not the best move, again. But after 38...Qf6 39.Rae1 Rfe7 40.Nd3 Kg8 41.Ba4 White has a decisive advantage anyway.
39.Rae1 e4
Now White wins on the spot.
40.Bxe4! fxe4 41.Nxe4 1–0
After 41.Nxe4 Ref8 (41...Rxe4 42.Rxe4 Bd7 43.f5+-) 42.Nxf6 Rxf6 43.Re8 Qd7 44.R1e6 White is totally winning, so Bareev resigned.
2007/06/07
Shirov-Aronian, fire on the board
"Leko, Bareev, Grishchuk, and Rublevsky showed the need of Sofia rules in chess". That's what Chessdom.com site wrote after the day of draws in the 2007 WCM. All games ended in a draw, in fact: Bareev offered to share the point after only 15 moves, Grischuk on move 18. Their opponents, Leko and Rublevsky respectively, accepted immediately. I don't think Sofia rules are necessary, anyway: at least they are not in the World championship cycle, where a player can obviously decide to take an extra rest day during a hard and (quite) long duel, even if he is a full point down (e.g.: Bareev and Rublevsky). By the way, Shirov-Aronian and Gelfand-Kamsky were exciting and tough games, especially the first one, where both players pushed hard for a win: Levon had to force a perpetual check at last.
An interesting article about visibility and Internet coverage of chess events (related to WCM) has been published today on the official site of the event, http://globalchess.eu, written by Press director Peter Rajcsanyi. Here are some passages: "Many, many years ago I have learnt that any sport event is as good as it is visible to the audience in the stadium or on TV and as far as it is well covered by the media. Chess is not different, although it has some distinct features. [...] Beyond the journalists working here in Elista and at the headquarters of the magazines, the main channel of the event to the outside world is Internet. After the difficulties of the first day when the operators of the server underestimated the potential interest and thus its overload resulted in slow access or refusal of connection, the Press Office has been looking at the ever-increasing number of hits and visitors on the official and FIDE websites at peak hours with certain satisfaction. The number of visitors on the official website was close to the sixty thousand on the third day of the first round and there were another few thousands looking for download opportunity and additional news on the FIDE website".
Remember there is a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
And now here is our game of the day, a fighting draw from Elista.
Shirov,A (2699) - Aronian,L (2759) [E15], Elista 7.6.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5
This has become a very popular line in the last months!
7...exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5
Only 20 days ago, Dutch IM Herman Grooten played 8...Bxd5 against Italian master Claudio Pantaleoni, in Palau (Sardinia), but he didn't survive long... The game continued 9.Nc3 Bc6 10.e4 d6 11.Bf4 Nbd7? (11...Be7) 12.0–0–0 Qb8? (12...Be7 13.Bxd6 0–0) 13.e5! Nh5 (13...dxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxg2 15.Nxd7+-) 14.Rhe1 and Black resigned on move 24.
9.0–0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.Qa4!?
This looks to be a novelty. White had previously played 11.Qf5 Nf6 12.e4 g6 13.Qf4 0–0 14.e5 Nh5 15.Qg4 with some compensation, Carlsen-Ivanchuk, Monte Carlo (rapid) 2007(while 15.Qh6 was played in Aronian-Leko, Tal Memorial 2006) ; After 11.Rxd5? Nb4 12.Qd1 Bxd5 (12...Nxd5? 13.Ne1 Bg5 14.e3 and White is better) 13.a3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nc6 15.Nc3 0–0 White has nothing in return for the exchange.
11...Nf6 12.Nc3 0–0 13.g4!?
In accordance to 11.Qa4.
13...Nb4
After 13...h6 White would have probably played 14.h4 with some initiative, e.g.: 14...Nb4 (14...h5 15.g5 Ng4 16.Bf4 etc.) 15.a3 Nbd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 (16...Nxd5 17.Ne5) 17.g5 Bc6 18.Qf4 hxg5 19.hxg5 Nh7 20.e4 etc.
14.a3 Nbd5
14...b5 15.Nxb5 Nbd5 16.g5 Nb6 17.Qh4 Ne4 followed by ...f5 was an interesting alternative.
15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.g5
The tempting 16.Rxd5 was not so good for White, e.g.: 16...Nxd5 17.Ne5 b5! 18.Qxb5 Rb8 19.Qxd7 Bf6 20.Qxd8 Rbxd8 21.Nc6 Rd7 and Black has the better chances.
16...Bc6 17.Qh4 Ne8
After 17...Ne4 18.Ne5 Black is in trouble.
18.Ne5 Bxg2 19.Rxd7 Bb7!?
19...Qc8 20.Rxe7 Bc6 was less risky, but Aronian was uninterested in passive defending...
20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Be3 Rd5 22.Nf3 Nd6 23.Qa4 b5 24.Qc2 Nf5 25.a4
25.Bd2 followed by Bc3 had to be considered.
25...b4 26.Rd1 Rxd1+ 27.Qxd1 Nxe3 28.fxe3 Rd8
Having the bishops pair and an open file for his rook, Black has good chances of equalizing the position.
29.Qc2 g6 30.h4 Bd6 31.Kf2 a6 32.Nd2 Bf8 33.Nc4
After 33.Ne4 Bxe4 34.Qxe4 Rd6 , followed by ...Re6, Black would have put up a fortress hard to be conquered.
33...Bc8 34.Qe4
34.Ne5 intending Nd3 would have probably given more problems to Aronian.
34...Be6 35.b3 Rd5
35...Bxc4 36.Qxc4 Rd6 would have probably drawn as well, but Aronian prefers an active play.
36.Kg3 h6 37.gxh6 Bxh6 38.Qf3 Kh7
The immediate 38...Bg5 was also possible: after 39.hxg5 Rxg5+ 40.Kh2 Rh5+ 41.Kg1 Rg5+ White has to repeat the position (42.Kf2 Rf5).
39.e4 Rh5 40.Nd6 Bg5 41.Nxf7 Bxh4+
Now Black has an easy draw.
42.Kg2 c4!? 43.bxc4 Kg8
After 43...b3?! 44.e5! b2 45.Qb7 b1Q 46.Qxb1 Bxf7 47.Qb7 Kg8 (47...Kg7 48.e6) 48.Qc8+ Kg7 49.e6 Bg8 50.e4 White would have kept a dangerous initiative.
44.Nd6 Rg5+ 45.Kh1
The only move: 45.Kf1 loses to 45...Rg3 46.Qf4 Bh3+ 47.Kf2 Rg4+
45...Rg3 46.Qf4 Rh3+ 1/2-1/2
White can't avoid perpetual, so a draw was agreed. How much "fuego en el tablero" (fire on the board)!
An interesting article about visibility and Internet coverage of chess events (related to WCM) has been published today on the official site of the event, http://globalchess.eu, written by Press director Peter Rajcsanyi. Here are some passages: "Many, many years ago I have learnt that any sport event is as good as it is visible to the audience in the stadium or on TV and as far as it is well covered by the media. Chess is not different, although it has some distinct features. [...] Beyond the journalists working here in Elista and at the headquarters of the magazines, the main channel of the event to the outside world is Internet. After the difficulties of the first day when the operators of the server underestimated the potential interest and thus its overload resulted in slow access or refusal of connection, the Press Office has been looking at the ever-increasing number of hits and visitors on the official and FIDE websites at peak hours with certain satisfaction. The number of visitors on the official website was close to the sixty thousand on the third day of the first round and there were another few thousands looking for download opportunity and additional news on the FIDE website".
Remember there is a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
And now here is our game of the day, a fighting draw from Elista.
Shirov,A (2699) - Aronian,L (2759) [E15], Elista 7.6.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5
This has become a very popular line in the last months!
7...exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5
Only 20 days ago, Dutch IM Herman Grooten played 8...Bxd5 against Italian master Claudio Pantaleoni, in Palau (Sardinia), but he didn't survive long... The game continued 9.Nc3 Bc6 10.e4 d6 11.Bf4 Nbd7? (11...Be7) 12.0–0–0 Qb8? (12...Be7 13.Bxd6 0–0) 13.e5! Nh5 (13...dxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxg2 15.Nxd7+-) 14.Rhe1 and Black resigned on move 24.
9.0–0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.Qa4!?
This looks to be a novelty. White had previously played 11.Qf5 Nf6 12.e4 g6 13.Qf4 0–0 14.e5 Nh5 15.Qg4 with some compensation, Carlsen-Ivanchuk, Monte Carlo (rapid) 2007(while 15.Qh6 was played in Aronian-Leko, Tal Memorial 2006) ; After 11.Rxd5? Nb4 12.Qd1 Bxd5 (12...Nxd5? 13.Ne1 Bg5 14.e3 and White is better) 13.a3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nc6 15.Nc3 0–0 White has nothing in return for the exchange.
11...Nf6 12.Nc3 0–0 13.g4!?
In accordance to 11.Qa4.
13...Nb4
After 13...h6 White would have probably played 14.h4 with some initiative, e.g.: 14...Nb4 (14...h5 15.g5 Ng4 16.Bf4 etc.) 15.a3 Nbd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 (16...Nxd5 17.Ne5) 17.g5 Bc6 18.Qf4 hxg5 19.hxg5 Nh7 20.e4 etc.
14.a3 Nbd5
14...b5 15.Nxb5 Nbd5 16.g5 Nb6 17.Qh4 Ne4 followed by ...f5 was an interesting alternative.
15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.g5
The tempting 16.Rxd5 was not so good for White, e.g.: 16...Nxd5 17.Ne5 b5! 18.Qxb5 Rb8 19.Qxd7 Bf6 20.Qxd8 Rbxd8 21.Nc6 Rd7 and Black has the better chances.
16...Bc6 17.Qh4 Ne8
After 17...Ne4 18.Ne5 Black is in trouble.
18.Ne5 Bxg2 19.Rxd7 Bb7!?
19...Qc8 20.Rxe7 Bc6 was less risky, but Aronian was uninterested in passive defending...
20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Be3 Rd5 22.Nf3 Nd6 23.Qa4 b5 24.Qc2 Nf5 25.a4
25.Bd2 followed by Bc3 had to be considered.
25...b4 26.Rd1 Rxd1+ 27.Qxd1 Nxe3 28.fxe3 Rd8
Having the bishops pair and an open file for his rook, Black has good chances of equalizing the position.
29.Qc2 g6 30.h4 Bd6 31.Kf2 a6 32.Nd2 Bf8 33.Nc4
After 33.Ne4 Bxe4 34.Qxe4 Rd6 , followed by ...Re6, Black would have put up a fortress hard to be conquered.
33...Bc8 34.Qe4
34.Ne5 intending Nd3 would have probably given more problems to Aronian.
34...Be6 35.b3 Rd5
35...Bxc4 36.Qxc4 Rd6 would have probably drawn as well, but Aronian prefers an active play.
36.Kg3 h6 37.gxh6 Bxh6 38.Qf3 Kh7
The immediate 38...Bg5 was also possible: after 39.hxg5 Rxg5+ 40.Kh2 Rh5+ 41.Kg1 Rg5+ White has to repeat the position (42.Kf2 Rf5).
39.e4 Rh5 40.Nd6 Bg5 41.Nxf7 Bxh4+
Now Black has an easy draw.
42.Kg2 c4!? 43.bxc4 Kg8
After 43...b3?! 44.e5! b2 45.Qb7 b1Q 46.Qxb1 Bxf7 47.Qb7 Kg8 (47...Kg7 48.e6) 48.Qc8+ Kg7 49.e6 Bg8 50.e4 White would have kept a dangerous initiative.
44.Nd6 Rg5+ 45.Kh1
The only move: 45.Kf1 loses to 45...Rg3 46.Qf4 Bh3+ 47.Kf2 Rg4+
45...Rg3 46.Qf4 Rh3+ 1/2-1/2
White can't avoid perpetual, so a draw was agreed. How much "fuego en el tablero" (fire on the board)!
2007/06/06
Three decisive battles in Elista
After two rest days, WCM re-started today in Elista. And it was a really bloody day: only one draw and three decisive games, all in White's favor. Top seed Levon Aronian beat Alexei Shirov, who gave an exchange sacrifice but didn't find enough compensation in return; Russian Alexander Grischuk won against his compatriot Sergei Rublevsky; Peter Leko got the full point after a miscalculated sacrifice by Evgeny Bareev, while Gata Kamsky and Boris Gelfand signalled their draw by repetition on move 23. The computer challenge duel between Deep Fritz and Deep Junior has also started today alongside the second round of matches. The first game ended in a draw on move 32. This match will have six games to be followed by tie-breaks if necessary. Official site of the event: http://globalchess.eu/main.php. As I've already written a million times, you can find a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
Fide has started publishing expected rating changes for July 1 (the so called "tentative list"). The main news about Italian players are that 14 y.o. (soon 15) Fabiano Caruana will be the new number 1, with a 2549 Elo, while GM Michele Godena will slip to second place ont 2547 (or 2546). IM Sabino Brunello will arise to fifth place on 2476 (same rating of IM Carlo D'Amore). Some tournaments are not calculated yet (such as Porto Mannu), so Caruana's and Godena's ratings should change (in Fabiano's favor, anyway). And what's about the world top 100? Anand didn't play any game in the last three months, so he is still on 2786. Topalov and Kramnik are going to lose 3 points each (Veselin played in Sofia, Vlad in the Ducth team champ.), so they still share second place (on 2769). Aronian will be fourth on 2759, since Morozevich lost 4 points, slipping to 2758. Mamedyarov keeps being sixth on 2757, Ivanchuk will arise to seventh place on 2753 (+24). Official site: www.fide.com.
The 7th European Senior championship takes place in Hockenheim, Germany, until June 10. Seven players share the lead after round 5 (out of 9): GMs Vlastimil Jansa (CZE), Mark Tseitlin (ISR), Jacob Murey (ISR), Janis Klovans (LAT), FMs Boris Khanukov and Efim Rotstein (both GER) and master Norbert Stull (LUX). Italian FM and national champion Antonio Rosino shares 8th place on 4 and will play Hungarian GM Ivan Farago (with Black pieces) in tomorrow's round. Come on Antonio! Official site: http://www.euro-seniorchamp.de.vu.
And now here is our game of the day...
Grischuk,A (2717) - Rublevsky,S (2680) [B84], Elista 6.6.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 d6
6...Qc7 is a more popular alternative.
7.0–0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bd7 9.a4 Be7 10.f4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Bc6 12.b4
Not a common move at this point: but Grischuk was probably well-prepared on the whole variation...
12...0–0 13.b5 Be8
In the game Fishbein-Psakhis, Tel Aviv 1992, Black played 13...Bd7 , but White got the initiative after 14.e5 Ne8 15.Ne4 d5 16.Nc5 Bc8 17.c4 dxc4 18.Qxd8 Bxd8 19.Bxc4 Nc7 20.b6 Nd5 21.Bxd5 exd5 22.a5 Be7 23.Rac1 Bxc5 24.Bxc5 Re8 25.Bd6 Bf5 26.Rc7 Rab8 27.Rd1 Be4 28.Rd2 and Fishbein took the full point in the endgame.
14.e5 Qc7 15.b6 Qc6 16.Bf3!?
This seems to be the first new move! In a previous game played by Rublevsky on the Black side, his opponent, Dmitry Jakovenko, continued 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Bf3 Qxd4 18.Bxd4 Rd8 with a completely equal position, the game went 19.Rfd1 (19.Ne2?! Nd5 20.c3 Bc6 21.g3 Rd7 22.Nc1 Rc8 23.Ne2 a5 24.Kf2 Rdd8 25.Rfd1 g6 and Black is even slightly better, Palac-Borgo, Valle d'Aosta 2001) 19...Rxd4 20.Rxd4 Bc5 21.Ne2 Bxb6 22.Bxb7 a5 23.Kf1 Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Bd7 25.Nb3 Nd5 26.Bxd5 exd5 27.Nxa5 Ra8 28.Nb3 Rxa4 29.Rxa4 Bxa4 and a draw was agreed on move 38.
16...d5 17.Rae1 Nd7
17...Rc8 was also possible, but after 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Nxd5! exd5 (19...Bxd4 20.Ne7+ Kh8 21.Bxc6 Bxe3+ 22.Rxe3 Rxc6 23.Nxc6 Bxc6 and Black is lost) 20.Qxd5 Qxd5 21.Bxd5 Bc6 22.c4 White would have kept the better chances.
18.Nxd5!?
A very interesting sacrifice, which Black is forced to accept.
18...exd5 19.Bxd5
This position is not simple for Black. He is a knight up, but all his pieces are bad placed.
19...Qc5?
This move is, for sure, not the most precise. After 19...Qc8 White has to prove his sacrifice is good (and I think he can). E.g.: 20.a5 (20.f5?! Bc5 21.Qe4 Bxe3+ 22.Qxe3 Qc5 23.Bxb7 Rb8 24.Bxa6 Qxe3+ 25.Rxe3 Nc5 and Black has good winning chances) 20...Bc5 21.Qd2 Kh8 22.Rf3 Nb8 23.f5 Bxe3+ 24.Rfxe3 Bc6 25.c4 and White has a good position and two strong pawns in return for the piece. Now 25...Qxf5? loses to 26.e6 fxe6 27.Rf3, so Black has to play 25...Nd7.
20.e6 Qxd4
After 20...fxe6 21.Bxe6+ Rf7 (21...Kh8? 22.Bxd7 Qxd4 23.Bxd4 Bxd7? 24.Rxe7+-) 22.Qe4 Qd6 23.Bf2 White is simply much better.
21.Bxd4 Nf6 22.Bb3 Rd8
What else? 22...fxe6 23.Rxe6 Bb4 would have lost to 24.Rxe8+; while 22...Bb4 23.e7 Bxe7 24.Rxe7 Bc6 would have been even worst than the text variation.
23.Bxf6 Bc5+
23...Bxf6 24.e7 Bxe7 25.Rxe7 Bc6 was not better, e.g.: 26.Rfe1 Rd2 27.R1e2 Rd4 28.g3 Rd1+ 29.Re1 Rd2 30.R1e5 Rg2+ 31.Kf1 Rxh2 32.Bd5 Rxc2 33.Bxc6 bxc6 (33...Rxc6 34.Rxb7 followed by a5) 34.Ra5 Rb8 35.Rxa6 Kf8 36.Rea7 and White wins (a5, Ra8, etc.).
24.Kh1 gxf6 25.e7 Bxe7 26.Rxe7 Bc6 27.Rc7
White has a must win position now, but Black had no better moves after 19... Qc5?
27...Rd2 28.Re1!
Grischuk wants to activate all his pieces, even at cost of a pawn.
28...Rf2
28...Bxg2+?! was good for White, e.g.: 29.Kg1 Bc6 30.Ree7 Kh8 31.Bxf7 Rfd8 32.Rxc6 bxc6 33.Bb3 R2d7 34.Rxd7 Rxd7 35.a5 Kg7 36.Bc4 followed by Bxa6 and White wins easily. 28...Rxg2?? would have lost on the spot, since 29.Rxc6 wins a piece. 28...Kg7 would have probably been the better try to fight for a draw, although after 29.Bc4! f5 (29...a5 30.h4 Bxg2+ 31.Kg1 Rxc2 32.Ree7 Kh6 33.Bxf7+-) 30.a5 Bxg2+ 31.Kg1 Kf6 32.Re2 Rxe2 33.Bxe2 Be4 34.Kf2 White is still much better.
29.h3 Rxf4
29...Kh8 would have lost anyway, e.g.: 30.Bxf7 Rxf7!? 31.Rxf7 Rxg2 32.Re6 Bd5 33.Rd6 Be4 34.Rd4 Bf3 35.Rd3+-
30.Ree7 Rf1+
This loses immediately. 30...Kg7 would have prolonged the battle some more moves.
31.Kh2 Rf2
31...Kg7 was better again.
32.Rxc6!
The first blow!
32...bxc6 33.Rxf7!
The second and final blow!
33...Rf4
If 33...Rxf7 then 34.b7+-
34.c3
To prevent ...Rb4.
34...Re4
Now Black loses the rook and the game. There was no good defence anyway.
35.Re7+ 1–0
Rublevsky resigned. Very convincing victory by Alexander Grischuk, who showed an excellent opening preparation!
Fide has started publishing expected rating changes for July 1 (the so called "tentative list"). The main news about Italian players are that 14 y.o. (soon 15) Fabiano Caruana will be the new number 1, with a 2549 Elo, while GM Michele Godena will slip to second place ont 2547 (or 2546). IM Sabino Brunello will arise to fifth place on 2476 (same rating of IM Carlo D'Amore). Some tournaments are not calculated yet (such as Porto Mannu), so Caruana's and Godena's ratings should change (in Fabiano's favor, anyway). And what's about the world top 100? Anand didn't play any game in the last three months, so he is still on 2786. Topalov and Kramnik are going to lose 3 points each (Veselin played in Sofia, Vlad in the Ducth team champ.), so they still share second place (on 2769). Aronian will be fourth on 2759, since Morozevich lost 4 points, slipping to 2758. Mamedyarov keeps being sixth on 2757, Ivanchuk will arise to seventh place on 2753 (+24). Official site: www.fide.com.
The 7th European Senior championship takes place in Hockenheim, Germany, until June 10. Seven players share the lead after round 5 (out of 9): GMs Vlastimil Jansa (CZE), Mark Tseitlin (ISR), Jacob Murey (ISR), Janis Klovans (LAT), FMs Boris Khanukov and Efim Rotstein (both GER) and master Norbert Stull (LUX). Italian FM and national champion Antonio Rosino shares 8th place on 4 and will play Hungarian GM Ivan Farago (with Black pieces) in tomorrow's round. Come on Antonio! Official site: http://www.euro-seniorchamp.de.vu.
And now here is our game of the day...
Grischuk,A (2717) - Rublevsky,S (2680) [B84], Elista 6.6.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 d6
6...Qc7 is a more popular alternative.
7.0–0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bd7 9.a4 Be7 10.f4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Bc6 12.b4
Not a common move at this point: but Grischuk was probably well-prepared on the whole variation...
12...0–0 13.b5 Be8
In the game Fishbein-Psakhis, Tel Aviv 1992, Black played 13...Bd7 , but White got the initiative after 14.e5 Ne8 15.Ne4 d5 16.Nc5 Bc8 17.c4 dxc4 18.Qxd8 Bxd8 19.Bxc4 Nc7 20.b6 Nd5 21.Bxd5 exd5 22.a5 Be7 23.Rac1 Bxc5 24.Bxc5 Re8 25.Bd6 Bf5 26.Rc7 Rab8 27.Rd1 Be4 28.Rd2 and Fishbein took the full point in the endgame.
14.e5 Qc7 15.b6 Qc6 16.Bf3!?
This seems to be the first new move! In a previous game played by Rublevsky on the Black side, his opponent, Dmitry Jakovenko, continued 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Bf3 Qxd4 18.Bxd4 Rd8 with a completely equal position, the game went 19.Rfd1 (19.Ne2?! Nd5 20.c3 Bc6 21.g3 Rd7 22.Nc1 Rc8 23.Ne2 a5 24.Kf2 Rdd8 25.Rfd1 g6 and Black is even slightly better, Palac-Borgo, Valle d'Aosta 2001) 19...Rxd4 20.Rxd4 Bc5 21.Ne2 Bxb6 22.Bxb7 a5 23.Kf1 Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Bd7 25.Nb3 Nd5 26.Bxd5 exd5 27.Nxa5 Ra8 28.Nb3 Rxa4 29.Rxa4 Bxa4 and a draw was agreed on move 38.
16...d5 17.Rae1 Nd7
17...Rc8 was also possible, but after 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Nxd5! exd5 (19...Bxd4 20.Ne7+ Kh8 21.Bxc6 Bxe3+ 22.Rxe3 Rxc6 23.Nxc6 Bxc6 and Black is lost) 20.Qxd5 Qxd5 21.Bxd5 Bc6 22.c4 White would have kept the better chances.
18.Nxd5!?
A very interesting sacrifice, which Black is forced to accept.
18...exd5 19.Bxd5
This position is not simple for Black. He is a knight up, but all his pieces are bad placed.
19...Qc5?
This move is, for sure, not the most precise. After 19...Qc8 White has to prove his sacrifice is good (and I think he can). E.g.: 20.a5 (20.f5?! Bc5 21.Qe4 Bxe3+ 22.Qxe3 Qc5 23.Bxb7 Rb8 24.Bxa6 Qxe3+ 25.Rxe3 Nc5 and Black has good winning chances) 20...Bc5 21.Qd2 Kh8 22.Rf3 Nb8 23.f5 Bxe3+ 24.Rfxe3 Bc6 25.c4 and White has a good position and two strong pawns in return for the piece. Now 25...Qxf5? loses to 26.e6 fxe6 27.Rf3, so Black has to play 25...Nd7.
20.e6 Qxd4
After 20...fxe6 21.Bxe6+ Rf7 (21...Kh8? 22.Bxd7 Qxd4 23.Bxd4 Bxd7? 24.Rxe7+-) 22.Qe4 Qd6 23.Bf2 White is simply much better.
21.Bxd4 Nf6 22.Bb3 Rd8
What else? 22...fxe6 23.Rxe6 Bb4 would have lost to 24.Rxe8+; while 22...Bb4 23.e7 Bxe7 24.Rxe7 Bc6 would have been even worst than the text variation.
23.Bxf6 Bc5+
23...Bxf6 24.e7 Bxe7 25.Rxe7 Bc6 was not better, e.g.: 26.Rfe1 Rd2 27.R1e2 Rd4 28.g3 Rd1+ 29.Re1 Rd2 30.R1e5 Rg2+ 31.Kf1 Rxh2 32.Bd5 Rxc2 33.Bxc6 bxc6 (33...Rxc6 34.Rxb7 followed by a5) 34.Ra5 Rb8 35.Rxa6 Kf8 36.Rea7 and White wins (a5, Ra8, etc.).
24.Kh1 gxf6 25.e7 Bxe7 26.Rxe7 Bc6 27.Rc7
White has a must win position now, but Black had no better moves after 19... Qc5?
27...Rd2 28.Re1!
Grischuk wants to activate all his pieces, even at cost of a pawn.
28...Rf2
28...Bxg2+?! was good for White, e.g.: 29.Kg1 Bc6 30.Ree7 Kh8 31.Bxf7 Rfd8 32.Rxc6 bxc6 33.Bb3 R2d7 34.Rxd7 Rxd7 35.a5 Kg7 36.Bc4 followed by Bxa6 and White wins easily. 28...Rxg2?? would have lost on the spot, since 29.Rxc6 wins a piece. 28...Kg7 would have probably been the better try to fight for a draw, although after 29.Bc4! f5 (29...a5 30.h4 Bxg2+ 31.Kg1 Rxc2 32.Ree7 Kh6 33.Bxf7+-) 30.a5 Bxg2+ 31.Kg1 Kf6 32.Re2 Rxe2 33.Bxe2 Be4 34.Kf2 White is still much better.
29.h3 Rxf4
29...Kh8 would have lost anyway, e.g.: 30.Bxf7 Rxf7!? 31.Rxf7 Rxg2 32.Re6 Bd5 33.Rd6 Be4 34.Rd4 Bf3 35.Rd3+-
30.Ree7 Rf1+
This loses immediately. 30...Kg7 would have prolonged the battle some more moves.
31.Kh2 Rf2
31...Kg7 was better again.
32.Rxc6!
The first blow!
32...bxc6 33.Rxf7!
The second and final blow!
33...Rf4
If 33...Rxf7 then 34.b7+-
34.c3
To prevent ...Rb4.
34...Re4
Now Black loses the rook and the game. There was no good defence anyway.
35.Re7+ 1–0
Rublevsky resigned. Very convincing victory by Alexander Grischuk, who showed an excellent opening preparation!
2007/06/05
Topalov to play in Mexico? No, please!
You shouldn't believe it, but it happened. The participation of Veselin Topalov at the Wolrd Championship in Mexico City has been included in the agenda of the Presidential Board of the World Chess Federation, which takes place in Tallinn, Estonia, on June 23 and 24. A Bulgarian delegation led by Silvio Danailov will attend the meeting. Fide has taken this decision after two consecutive letters by Stefan Sergiev, president of the Bulgarian chess federation. This doesn't mean that Topalov will play in Mexico city, but the possibility seems to be not so vague at the moment... Tell me it is just a nightmare, please. Is Fide going to change rules for the umpteenth time? I'm afraid the answer should be yes... But, dear Kirsan, it's too late now! Full story on www.chessdom.com.
Round 2 of the WCM will start tomorrow in Elista. Luciano Dalfovo from Bressanone-Brixen sent his forecasts, as he did for round 1 (where he chose 5 right winners out of 8, against my 6 :-) ). Here they are:
1. Aronian-Shirov
Luciano: Aronian after tie breaks
2. Leko-Bareev
Luciano: Leko 3,5-1,5
3. Grischuk-Rublevsky
Luciano: Grischuk 3,5-2,5
4. Gelfand-Kamsky
Luciano: Kamsky 3,5-2,5
Well, the latter match will decide the result of our duel :-), since it represents the only real difference between Luciano's and mine predictions (I wrote Gelfand will win on tie break).
Official site of the event: http://globalchess.eu/main.php. You can find a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
Right yesterday I posted an article about "When (chess) life starts at 40". Now I see that Ryan Emmett from Wales, a frequent writer on www.chess.com, wrote a nice story about a related argument the day before: the title is "Too old for chess?". You can read it on his own blog, http://sonofpearl.blogspot.com/. Amusing article, Ryan!
The game I'm going to show is not recent and many of you will probably know it. I found it on the book "The lost Olympiad - Stockholm 1937" (remember? I bought it in London last April) and I thought: "Good Lord! Italian players could win in less than 20 moves against chess legends... 70 years ago!".
Castaldi,V. - Tartakower,S. [C41], Stockholm, 1.8.1937
1.e4 e5
Speaking about miniatures (like this game), good "Tarta" was not new to very short losses. Take for example Reti-Tartakower, Vienna 1910: 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Qd3 e5?! (5...Nxe4) 6.dxe5 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qxe5 8.0–0–0! Nxe4?? (8...Be7) 9.Qd8+! Kxd8 10.Bg5+ Kc7 (10...Ke8 11.Rd8#) 11.Bd8#
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Be2
5.Bc4 is much more common nowadays. But chess theory was just moving its first steps 70 years ago.
5...Be7 6.0–0 h6 7.b3 c6
The "Hanhan set-up", according to W. H. Cozens, author of the above-mentioned book.
8.Bb2 Qc7 9.Qd2 g5?!
"Some excellent wins have been obtained by Black with such methods. But for the idea to succeed, it is essential that the centre be kept close" (Cozens).
10.Rfd1 Nf8?
This is already the losing move! 10...b5 11.a3 Bb7 and, when necessary, ...O-O would have been a much better alternative.
11.dxe5 dxe5
And now the weakness of "e5" gives an opportunity which Castaldi doesn't miss...
12.Nxe5!
The first blow!
12...Be6
12...Qxe5 loses immediately: 13.Nd5 Qd6 (13...Qxb2 14.Nc7#) 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 (14...Kd8 15.Qa5+ b6 16.Rxd6+ Bxd6 17.Qd2+-) 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.e5+-; 12...Ne6 would have been more stubborn, anyway.
13.Nb5!
The second blow! "The offer of the two knights in succession makes a combination of rare beauty" (Cozens).
13...Qb8
After 13...cxb5 14.Bxb5+ N8d7 15.Nxd7 0–0–0 16.Be5 Qxe5 17.Nxe5 Rxd2 18.Rxd2 Nxe4 19.Rd4 Black would have prolonged the agony. 13...Qb6 14.Qe3 Bc5 15.Qf3 N8h7 16.Nd6+ Bxd6 17.Rxd6 Qc7 18.Rad1 0–0 was (perhaps) the more stubborn defence, although 19.Nxf7! is simply winning for White.
14.Qa5 Bd8
White threatened Nc7+. 36 years later, the game Hoogendoorn-Jansen, Dordrecht 1973, went 14...b6 15.Nxc6 Qb7 16.Nxe7 Qxe7 17.Qc3 1–0. 14...cxb5 is probably the best move, but 15.Bxb5+ N8d7 16.Nxd7 Bxd7 17.Bxd7+ Kf8 18.e5 Nxd7 19.Rxd7 is just hopeless for Black.
15.Rxd8+!
The third and final blow!
15...Qxd8 16.Nc7+ 1–0
And Black resigned in view of 16...Ke7 17.Ba3+. "Quick debacles in the Philidor are not uncommon, but it is a surprise to find grandmaster Tartakower among the victims" (Cozens). In that same Olympiad Castaldi beat Reshevsky and drew with Pirc and Lilienthal among the others. Not bad indeed...
Round 2 of the WCM will start tomorrow in Elista. Luciano Dalfovo from Bressanone-Brixen sent his forecasts, as he did for round 1 (where he chose 5 right winners out of 8, against my 6 :-) ). Here they are:
1. Aronian-Shirov
Luciano: Aronian after tie breaks
2. Leko-Bareev
Luciano: Leko 3,5-1,5
3. Grischuk-Rublevsky
Luciano: Grischuk 3,5-2,5
4. Gelfand-Kamsky
Luciano: Kamsky 3,5-2,5
Well, the latter match will decide the result of our duel :-), since it represents the only real difference between Luciano's and mine predictions (I wrote Gelfand will win on tie break).
Official site of the event: http://globalchess.eu/main.php. You can find a WCM section on my Italian site, www.messaggeroscacchi.it (direct link: www.messaggeroscacchi.it/mondo/candidati07.html).
Right yesterday I posted an article about "When (chess) life starts at 40". Now I see that Ryan Emmett from Wales, a frequent writer on www.chess.com, wrote a nice story about a related argument the day before: the title is "Too old for chess?". You can read it on his own blog, http://sonofpearl.blogspot.com/. Amusing article, Ryan!
The game I'm going to show is not recent and many of you will probably know it. I found it on the book "The lost Olympiad - Stockholm 1937" (remember? I bought it in London last April) and I thought: "Good Lord! Italian players could win in less than 20 moves against chess legends... 70 years ago!".
Castaldi,V. - Tartakower,S. [C41], Stockholm, 1.8.1937
1.e4 e5
Speaking about miniatures (like this game), good "Tarta" was not new to very short losses. Take for example Reti-Tartakower, Vienna 1910: 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Qd3 e5?! (5...Nxe4) 6.dxe5 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qxe5 8.0–0–0! Nxe4?? (8...Be7) 9.Qd8+! Kxd8 10.Bg5+ Kc7 (10...Ke8 11.Rd8#) 11.Bd8#
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Be2
5.Bc4 is much more common nowadays. But chess theory was just moving its first steps 70 years ago.
5...Be7 6.0–0 h6 7.b3 c6
The "Hanhan set-up", according to W. H. Cozens, author of the above-mentioned book.
8.Bb2 Qc7 9.Qd2 g5?!
"Some excellent wins have been obtained by Black with such methods. But for the idea to succeed, it is essential that the centre be kept close" (Cozens).
10.Rfd1 Nf8?
This is already the losing move! 10...b5 11.a3 Bb7 and, when necessary, ...O-O would have been a much better alternative.
11.dxe5 dxe5
And now the weakness of "e5" gives an opportunity which Castaldi doesn't miss...
12.Nxe5!
The first blow!
12...Be6
12...Qxe5 loses immediately: 13.Nd5 Qd6 (13...Qxb2 14.Nc7#) 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 (14...Kd8 15.Qa5+ b6 16.Rxd6+ Bxd6 17.Qd2+-) 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.e5+-; 12...Ne6 would have been more stubborn, anyway.
13.Nb5!
The second blow! "The offer of the two knights in succession makes a combination of rare beauty" (Cozens).
13...Qb8
After 13...cxb5 14.Bxb5+ N8d7 15.Nxd7 0–0–0 16.Be5 Qxe5 17.Nxe5 Rxd2 18.Rxd2 Nxe4 19.Rd4 Black would have prolonged the agony. 13...Qb6 14.Qe3 Bc5 15.Qf3 N8h7 16.Nd6+ Bxd6 17.Rxd6 Qc7 18.Rad1 0–0 was (perhaps) the more stubborn defence, although 19.Nxf7! is simply winning for White.
14.Qa5 Bd8
White threatened Nc7+. 36 years later, the game Hoogendoorn-Jansen, Dordrecht 1973, went 14...b6 15.Nxc6 Qb7 16.Nxe7 Qxe7 17.Qc3 1–0. 14...cxb5 is probably the best move, but 15.Bxb5+ N8d7 16.Nxd7 Bxd7 17.Bxd7+ Kf8 18.e5 Nxd7 19.Rxd7 is just hopeless for Black.
15.Rxd8+!
The third and final blow!
15...Qxd8 16.Nc7+ 1–0
And Black resigned in view of 16...Ke7 17.Ba3+. "Quick debacles in the Philidor are not uncommon, but it is a surprise to find grandmaster Tartakower among the victims" (Cozens). In that same Olympiad Castaldi beat Reshevsky and drew with Pirc and Lilienthal among the others. Not bad indeed...
2007/06/04
When (chess) life starts at 40
They say that life starts at 40. And sometimes it is true. See what happened to Italian player Franco Curioni from Como (the same town where Topalov's challenger :-) Alex Brunetti lives - read my post of May 16). He was born on June 2, 1959 (I'm late, but... happy birthday anyway!). He was a 1558 rated player at 40, 1658 at 45, 1808 in the January Italian rating list and 1958 in that of April. And he will soon have a Fide rating, after a 2358 performance last April in Lugano (!!), where he even beat a strong GM, like Latvian Viesturs Meijers, in a very brilliant game. In the first years of this century he also started playing postal chess: that's, perhaps, one of the reasons why he has increased his strengh so much. And, more, Curioni won the 2007 championship of Como, a province where many talented (candidate) masters regularly play.
I don't know how many players had become chess masters after learning the game in "late" age. You may say "Botvinnik!", as he didn't learn playing during his childhood, but he was no more than 12 years old anyway... Staunton learnt at about 20 and became one of the strongest players of the XVIII century, but we are talking about old times. Chess are not football or tennis, anyway, so I think in the compute era (and in any other historical period) anyone can become a good chess player even at 40, if he or she has a touch of talent. And Curioni has much... So, let's see his victory against Meijers: this game was placed 4th in "The 2007 Queen - April" contest.
Curioni,F (1952) - Meijers,V (2485) [B22], Lugano 29.4.2007
1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.Nf3 b6
Not a fighting way to play Sicilian on Black side!
4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nf6 6.e5 Nd5 7.Nc3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.Bd3 Ba6 10.Bf4
10.0–0 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 d5 12.exd6 Qxd6 13.Ba3 Qc7 14.Bxe7 Kxe7 is a common variation where White has often obtained good results (I can find only victories for him on my database). The text move looks to be a novelty.
10...Qc8 11.Qd2
The immediate 11.0–0 was also possible: if 11...Qxc3? then 12.Be4 Nc6 13.Rc1 Qa5 14.Rxc6 Bb7 15.Rc5! bxc5 16.Bxb7 and White has a material advantage and better chances.
11...Nc6 12.0–0 Na5 13.Bg5 Ba3
Correct. After 13...Bxg5 14.Nxg5 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 h6 16.Ne4 0–0 17.f4 White gets the initiative.
14.Be3
This move was not necessary. The immediate 14.Rad1 was more precise (and wouldn't have lost a tempo): after 14...h6 Black could have put his bishop also on "f4".
14...h6 15.Rad1 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Qc4 17.Qc2 Rc8 18.Nd2!
A very smart move!
18...Qc6
White counted on 18...Qxc3? 19.Qxc3 Rxc3 20.Nb1 and Black is forced to sacrifice the exchange by 20...Rxe3 21.fxe3 etc.
19.Ne4
White's knight has finally reached a strong position in the center of the board.
19...Nc4 20.Bf4 b5
Castling would have been really bad: 20...0–0? 21.Bxh6! f5 (21...gxh6 22.Nf6+ Kg7 23.Qh7#) 22.exf6 gxh6 23.Ng5 Rxf6 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Qh8+ Ke7 26.Qg7+ Ke8 27.Qxf6 hxg5 28.d5+-
21.Rb1 a6
21...a5!? was an interesting alternative.
22.Rfe1 Be7 23.Qd1 Nb6 24.Qg4 g5
24...Kf8 was more cautious, but Black plays against a lower rated (-500!) opponent and tries to fight for the initiative.
25.Be3 h5 26.Qf3 g4 27.Nf6+ Kd8
Black tries to move his king in a safer position via c7.
28.Qf4 h4?!
28...Bxf6 29.Qxf6+ Kc7 30.Qxf7 h4 followed by Rcg8 would have given Black a good counterplay in return for the sacrificed pawn. Now White takes a strong initiative.
29.d5!
Very well played! White opens lines for his bishop (the g1–a7 diagonal) and rooks (the "d" file): he can do that as Black king is not in a safe position yet.
29...Nxd5 30.Nxd5 exd5 31.a4!
To open the "b" file as well.
31...h3 32.axb5 axb5 33.Bd4
Now 33.Qxf7?? would have lost to 33...d4
33...Qe6 34.Rxb5 Rh5
Black position is very difficult...
35.f3?
What a pity! After 35.Rb6 Qf5 36.Qxf5 Rxf5 37.Rb5 Black would have lost a pawn and probably the game.
35...g3?
Meijers misses a good opportunity to equalize the position: after 35...Rf5 36.Qg3 (36.Qxg4 Rg5 37.Qxe6 Rxg2+ 38.Kf1 fxe6 39.Re2 Rxe2 40.Kxe2 Bg5 and Black is even slightly better) 36...gxf3 White has to decide if he wants to take some risks by playing 37.Qxh3 or to make a draw by 37.Qg8+ Kc7 38.Reb1 Rxg8 39.Rb7+ Kd8 40.Rb8+ Kc7 41.R8b7+ Kd8 42.Rb8+ with a perpetual check.
36.Rb6
White doesn't miss the chance for the second time in a row...
36...gxh2+?!
If 36...Qf5 then 37.Qxf5 gxh2+ 38.Kxh2 Rxf5 39.Kxh3 Rh5+ 40.Kg4 Rg5+ 41.Kf4 Rxg2 42.Rh1 Rc6 43.Rh8+ Kc7 44.Rb5 and White would have had good winning chances anyway, but Black could have fought hard for a draw.
37.Qxh2 Qf5 38.g4 Qg5 39.Kh1
Now Black's position is really unpleasant...
39...Rh4?
... and this is the final mistake! 39...Rh6 40.f4 Qg7 41.g5 Rxb6 42.Bxb6+ Ke8 43.Qxh3 Qg6 44.Bd4 Bf8 or 39...Rh7 40.Qa2 Ke8 41.Rb7 Rh6 42.Qxd5 Rd6 43.Qe4 Re6 would have prolonged the game. Now the end is very close...
40.Be3 Qg7 41.Qa2
Very precise play by White!
41...Qxe5?
41...Ke8 42.Qxd5 Rd8 43.Rb7 wouldn't have been much better, but this move loses even sooner.
42.Bf2
42.Rg6 followed by Bb6+ would have been more brilliant.
42...Qf4 43.Qe2
Black's position is completely hopeless.
43...Bg5
43...Qg5 44.f4 would have lost soon anyway. Now White mates by playing a brilliant combination...
44.Qe8+ Kc7 45.Rc6+!! dxc6
45...Kxc6 46.Qxc8+ Kb5 47.Rb1+ Ka5 48.Qa8#
46.Re7+ Kb8 47.Ba7+ 1–0
If 47...Ka8 then 48.Qxc8+ Qb8 49.Qxb8#. An astonishing win by Curioni. Congratulations!
I don't know how many players had become chess masters after learning the game in "late" age. You may say "Botvinnik!", as he didn't learn playing during his childhood, but he was no more than 12 years old anyway... Staunton learnt at about 20 and became one of the strongest players of the XVIII century, but we are talking about old times. Chess are not football or tennis, anyway, so I think in the compute era (and in any other historical period) anyone can become a good chess player even at 40, if he or she has a touch of talent. And Curioni has much... So, let's see his victory against Meijers: this game was placed 4th in "The 2007 Queen - April" contest.
Curioni,F (1952) - Meijers,V (2485) [B22], Lugano 29.4.2007
1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.Nf3 b6
Not a fighting way to play Sicilian on Black side!
4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nf6 6.e5 Nd5 7.Nc3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.Bd3 Ba6 10.Bf4
10.0–0 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 d5 12.exd6 Qxd6 13.Ba3 Qc7 14.Bxe7 Kxe7 is a common variation where White has often obtained good results (I can find only victories for him on my database). The text move looks to be a novelty.
10...Qc8 11.Qd2
The immediate 11.0–0 was also possible: if 11...Qxc3? then 12.Be4 Nc6 13.Rc1 Qa5 14.Rxc6 Bb7 15.Rc5! bxc5 16.Bxb7 and White has a material advantage and better chances.
11...Nc6 12.0–0 Na5 13.Bg5 Ba3
Correct. After 13...Bxg5 14.Nxg5 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 h6 16.Ne4 0–0 17.f4 White gets the initiative.
14.Be3
This move was not necessary. The immediate 14.Rad1 was more precise (and wouldn't have lost a tempo): after 14...h6 Black could have put his bishop also on "f4".
14...h6 15.Rad1 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Qc4 17.Qc2 Rc8 18.Nd2!
A very smart move!
18...Qc6
White counted on 18...Qxc3? 19.Qxc3 Rxc3 20.Nb1 and Black is forced to sacrifice the exchange by 20...Rxe3 21.fxe3 etc.
19.Ne4
White's knight has finally reached a strong position in the center of the board.
19...Nc4 20.Bf4 b5
Castling would have been really bad: 20...0–0? 21.Bxh6! f5 (21...gxh6 22.Nf6+ Kg7 23.Qh7#) 22.exf6 gxh6 23.Ng5 Rxf6 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Qh8+ Ke7 26.Qg7+ Ke8 27.Qxf6 hxg5 28.d5+-
21.Rb1 a6
21...a5!? was an interesting alternative.
22.Rfe1 Be7 23.Qd1 Nb6 24.Qg4 g5
24...Kf8 was more cautious, but Black plays against a lower rated (-500!) opponent and tries to fight for the initiative.
25.Be3 h5 26.Qf3 g4 27.Nf6+ Kd8
Black tries to move his king in a safer position via c7.
28.Qf4 h4?!
28...Bxf6 29.Qxf6+ Kc7 30.Qxf7 h4 followed by Rcg8 would have given Black a good counterplay in return for the sacrificed pawn. Now White takes a strong initiative.
29.d5!
Very well played! White opens lines for his bishop (the g1–a7 diagonal) and rooks (the "d" file): he can do that as Black king is not in a safe position yet.
29...Nxd5 30.Nxd5 exd5 31.a4!
To open the "b" file as well.
31...h3 32.axb5 axb5 33.Bd4
Now 33.Qxf7?? would have lost to 33...d4
33...Qe6 34.Rxb5 Rh5
Black position is very difficult...
35.f3?
What a pity! After 35.Rb6 Qf5 36.Qxf5 Rxf5 37.Rb5 Black would have lost a pawn and probably the game.
35...g3?
Meijers misses a good opportunity to equalize the position: after 35...Rf5 36.Qg3 (36.Qxg4 Rg5 37.Qxe6 Rxg2+ 38.Kf1 fxe6 39.Re2 Rxe2 40.Kxe2 Bg5 and Black is even slightly better) 36...gxf3 White has to decide if he wants to take some risks by playing 37.Qxh3 or to make a draw by 37.Qg8+ Kc7 38.Reb1 Rxg8 39.Rb7+ Kd8 40.Rb8+ Kc7 41.R8b7+ Kd8 42.Rb8+ with a perpetual check.
36.Rb6
White doesn't miss the chance for the second time in a row...
36...gxh2+?!
If 36...Qf5 then 37.Qxf5 gxh2+ 38.Kxh2 Rxf5 39.Kxh3 Rh5+ 40.Kg4 Rg5+ 41.Kf4 Rxg2 42.Rh1 Rc6 43.Rh8+ Kc7 44.Rb5 and White would have had good winning chances anyway, but Black could have fought hard for a draw.
37.Qxh2 Qf5 38.g4 Qg5 39.Kh1
Now Black's position is really unpleasant...
39...Rh4?
... and this is the final mistake! 39...Rh6 40.f4 Qg7 41.g5 Rxb6 42.Bxb6+ Ke8 43.Qxh3 Qg6 44.Bd4 Bf8 or 39...Rh7 40.Qa2 Ke8 41.Rb7 Rh6 42.Qxd5 Rd6 43.Qe4 Re6 would have prolonged the game. Now the end is very close...
40.Be3 Qg7 41.Qa2
Very precise play by White!
41...Qxe5?
41...Ke8 42.Qxd5 Rd8 43.Rb7 wouldn't have been much better, but this move loses even sooner.
42.Bf2
42.Rg6 followed by Bb6+ would have been more brilliant.
42...Qf4 43.Qe2
Black's position is completely hopeless.
43...Bg5
43...Qg5 44.f4 would have lost soon anyway. Now White mates by playing a brilliant combination...
44.Qe8+ Kc7 45.Rc6+!! dxc6
45...Kxc6 46.Qxc8+ Kb5 47.Rb1+ Ka5 48.Qa8#
46.Re7+ Kb8 47.Ba7+ 1–0
If 47...Ka8 then 48.Qxc8+ Qb8 49.Qxb8#. An astonishing win by Curioni. Congratulations!
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