Report of round 11 - CCT 2008

The most visible game today was the match up between the world champion Vishy Anand, who is on fire, and the surprise leader Magnus Carlsen. In the opening, Anand said: “I had my wires crossed and got into a worse position”. 14...Bd7?! was the culprit move, since after 15.g4! black had to play 15...e5. White was increasing his advantage gradually and had an overwhelming position. “I couldn’t find a forced win for white, but I’d be surprised if there isn’t one”, said the Indian. Magnus’ 22.Bg2?! was criticized in the post mortem, and black decided to grab the pawn on c2, giving him “practical chances” (Anand). On move 25, white should have tried 25.Rc3 Bxd5 26.Rh3 h6 27.gxh6 g6 28.h7+ Kh8 29.exd5 Qxh4 30.Nxh4 g5 31.Rxf7 gxh4 with some drawing chances for black. White’s downfall came when he played the faulty 33.Qh7+? (see diagram 1), since 37.Rxf5! Qxd5+ 38.Rhf3 Qd1+ 39.Rf1 Qd5+ would have led to a draw. Instead the black king ran between the raindrops into safety, leaving black up a piece, and winning. “A slightly undeserved loss for Magnus, but that’s how it goes” -- Anand.

Levon Aronian won a convincing game from Loek van Wely. Loek chose a line that is “dangerous for black” (Aronian), and his 16...Bb7?! was not a good move, as the bishop is missed on its original diagonal. White replied with 17.f5 - “time to go for the kill!” said the Armenian. On move 20, white should have opted for 20.dxc6 Bxc6 21.Be4 Bxc3 22.Rbc1! with a very strong initiative. Black reciprocated with 22...Rd8? - he should have tried 22...0-0, although white is still to be preferred after 23.Rc5!. In the game, black was in trouble after white’s strong 24.Rxc6! (see diagram 2) Qd7?! (24...Qb7!?) 25.Nd6+!. Now Loek had to sacrifice his queen, and while he may have had some chances, time trouble made the position practically untenable, and he had to resign right after the time control was made.

Boris Gelfand is in bad form. Today he lost with the white pieces against Teimur Radjabov’s signature King’s Indian, despite having a much better position for a long time. The Israeli was in complete control, but his plan of penetrating with his knight on c7 was a very poor one. It is highly likely that Boris simply should have taken on a7 on move 21. Instead, all of a sudden the c7 intruder was in danger, and with 25.Qc2? Gelfand simply dug himself into a hole. He had to play 25.Nxg4 Qxg4 26.Nb5!? and if 26...Ba5 27.Nxd6 with compensation. Radjabov could have decided the game at once with 29...Nh5!, instead of his 29...Ne8. Just when it looked as if Gelfand would escape with a draw, very short on time he came up with the terrible 35.Qxh7?? (see diagram 3) (35.Qe7+ and 36.Qxd6 would have drawn), and found himself in a mating net.

A first victory for Pavel Eljanov, at the expense of Judit Polgar. The Hungarian got absolutely nothing from the Ruy Lopez, and was slowly getting outplayed by the Ukrainian. After trading on g3, his dark squared bishop was simply unchallenged, and ended up giving Polgar some hard times. Black slowly built his kingside attack, (17...h5!), and so white had to try and pitch a pawn with 29.Nf5+, aiming for bishops of opposite color. Her only chance came with 31.Kh2! (see diagram 4) a counter-intuitive move, found by Rybka. Amazingly, after 31...h4 32.Bxg4 hxg3+ 33.Kxg3 white stays alive. In the game, after 31.Qe4?, black crashed through in rapid fashion.

Once again Vladimir Kramnik was tested in the Nimzo-Petroff, this time by Peter Leko. The Hungarian quickly sensed something was up, when his Russian opponent played 10...c6, a line that isn’t considered best. The two were following known theory, including 15.h4, of which Leko said after the game that it might need reconsideration. Vlady’s preparation continued with the new and exciting 16...Bxc3!?, a sacrifice Peter dismissed - “it didn’t look logical” - Leko. Soon, after a series of forced moves (white could not have played 18.Kd2? f5), black gave up an exchange, and his Bf5 as well for a perpetual check. White had to go down that road, as in the possible line 24.Qa2 Re8 25.Qb2 Qa5 26.g4 Bxg4 27.Rhg1 h5 28.f3 Re5, only black has reason to play on.

Veselin Topalov mobilized his entire queenside versus Shakhryar Mamedyarov in a King’s Indian. The Azeri was countering in the center and the other wing, and when his opponent played 25.Ne2?! could have taken over with 25...e4!?. In the game white managed to keep the position closed with his 28.f4 intermezzo, and after some manoeuvring, with most pieces still on the board, the players decided to share the point.

Vassily Ivanchuk felt he had a “promising position” against Michael Adams, but missed his chances. Black couldn’t quite equalize after the opening, and his 19...Nf6?! was inaccurate. Chuky struck with the strong 21.a4! but said after the game that he did not play the correct 25.e4, because he missed that after 25...Qe1+ 26.Kg2 Nb4 27.Qf3 Nc6 he had 28.Bc3!. When the Ukrainian eschewed 26.Rxb5 in favor of the game’s 26.Qf3, the players repeated moves and a draw was registered.

In the Grandmaster B group, Ian Nepomniachtchi slowed down leader Sergey Movsesian with a draw. Etienne Bacrot and Nigel Short beat Michal Krasenkov and Jan Smeets, respectively to remain at second place with 7.5, only one half a point behind. They are scheduled to play each other tomorrow in round 12.

Fabiano Caruana is back on track after beating Anna Ushenina. He is again alone at the top with 8/11, increasing his lead. Friso Nijboer who drew Efstratios Grivas, is in second place, one point behind the leader, joined with Dimitry Reinderman and Parimajan Negi who drew each other.

Ljubomir Ljubojevic kept his foot on the throttle in the Honorary Group. After his spectacular victory in round 4, he won again in round 5, catching up to the leader, Viktor Kortchnoi. With Black in a Semi Slav, Ljubojevic got a pleasant position out of the opening, until he missed a tactic by Kortchnoi that allowed an unfavourable trade of his a-pawn versus to white’s c-pawn (see diagram 5) (as 26…Rxa6 would lose to 27.Rb7). Kortchnoi smelled blood and refused a draw, albeit in an even position. After a subsequent queen trade, it was Ljubojevic his turn to decline a draw, as the endgame was better for black. The game came to abrupt end when the Swiss grandmaster blundered a piece (50.Kd3 Rb2!).

In the other game, playing white, Lajos Portisch scored his first victory at the cost of Jan Timman. The Hungarian grandmaster nurtured a slight advantage out of a Benoni. After some back and forth, the game reached a climax when white started a combination that appeared to win a piece. However, a hidden resource was available to black (see diagram 6) with 42…Na4 which would have kept black’s fighting chances alive. For example, 43.Bxa4 Rxc3, or 43.Nxa4 Re2, or 43.Bxg6 fxg6 44.Nxa4 Re2 45.Qg3 Rcc2. Timman lost his knight with 42…Nd3? and resigned fourteen moves later.