The Chess Mind

Peter Leko came into the final round of Dortmund with a half-point lead, and that's how he left it, drawing Arkadij Naiditsch on the white side of a Marshall Gambit. Two players could have caught him with a win, but two of them, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan Gustafsson, drew quickly against each other to tie for second. They were joined by two others, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Vassily Ivanchuk, who defeated Loek van Wely and Vladimir Kramnik, respectively. Van Wely-Mamedyarov was complex, a race of passed pawns and attacks on opposite sides, and was objectively equal until just before the end. The tournament has been a disaster for the Dutchman, however, and his run of poor form continued. Ivanchuk-Kramnik revisited the Petroff line from round 3's Naiditsch-Kramnik game, and once again Kramnik lost. This time it wasn't due to the opening, however. Ivanchuk had a very slight edge, but Kramnik kept everything under control until after the time control, when an inaccuracy and then a blunder did him in.

The final standings are amusing, and it's a shame that Naiditsch didn't somehow beat Leko - then there would have been a six way tie for first! Here are the Garrison Keillor-approved standings:

1. Leko 4.5 (of 7)
2-5. Ivanchuk, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedyarov, Gustafsson 4
6. Naiditsch 3.5
7. Kramnik 3
8. van Wely 1 (and a dismal 2388 TPR)

The last round games (with my comments) are here.

With one round to go, Peter Leko has leaped into the lead, defeating Jan Gustafsson with surprising ease with the black pieces. Gustafsson's novelty, 16.Qb3, left him doubled, backward pawns on the b-file after 16...Qxb3 17.axb3, and at the end of the day that weakness proved decisive. Leko's technique was good enough, though his error on move 35 gave his opponent a chance to put up more resistance. Leko thus leads with 4 points, half a point ahead of Gustafsson and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who managed to hold on with Black against Vladimir Kramnik.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov-Vassily Ivanchuk was also drawn, and quickly, but for those who take the time to closely examine the game, you'll discover genuine value therein. The pawn roller plan used by Mamedyarov can be devastating - witness the famous Botvinnik-Capablanca game from AVRO 1938 - so it's valuable to reflect on the way Ivanchuk coped with that plan.

Finally, the tournament victim (Loek van Wely) was sacrificed on the altar once more, this time to Arkadij Naiditsch, who plastered him in 26 moves. With one round to go, van Wely's TPR isn't even enough for an IM norm, making this almost surely the worst tournament of his adult life.

The games, with my comments, are here.

Standings after Round 6:

1. Leko 4
2-3. Nepomniachtchi, Gustafsson 3.5
4-7. Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Naiditsch 3
8. van Wely 1

Last Round Pairings:

Ivanchuk - Kramnik
van Wely - Mamedyarov
Leko - Naiditsch
Nepomniachtchi - Gustafsson

Here's the full list. A comment: 2002 really shouldn't be included, as it was a Candidates event to see who would face Kramnik for the world championship.

1928 Sämisch, Fritz
1951 O'Kelly de Galway, A.
1961 Taimanov, Mark
1973 Hecht, Hans-Joachim
1974 Ciocâltea, Victor
1975 Westerinen, Heikki
1976 Romanishin, Oleg
1977 Smejkal, Jan
1978 Andersson, Ulf
1979 Giorgadze, Tamaz
1980 Keene, Raymond
1981 Kuzmin, Gennady
1982 Hort, Vlastimil
1983 Suba, Mihai
1984 Gruenfeld, Yehuda
1985 Razuvayev, Yuri
1986 Ribli, Zoltán
1987 Balashov, Yuri
1988 Lputian, Smbat
1989 Geller, Efim
1990 Chernin, Alexander
1991 Stohl, Igor
1992 Kasparov, Garry
1993 Karpov, Anatoly
1994 Piket, Jeroen
1995 Kramnik, Vladimir
1996 Kramnik, Vladimir
1997 Kramnik, Vladimir
1998 Kramnik, Vladimir
1999 Leko, Peter
2000 Kramnik, Vladimir
2001 Kramnik, Vladimir
2002 Leko, Peter
2003 Bologan, Viktor
2004 Anand, Viswanathan
2005 Naiditsch, Arkadij
2006 Kramnik, Vladimir
2007 Kramnik, Vladimir

(HT: ChessBase)

Dortmund is a very funny tournament. Either Kramnik wins (this has happened eight times), or else it's a complete outsider who takes the title. This year, it looks like another instance of plan B, as German GM Jan Gustafsson, the lowest-rated player in the event (considered probable "chum" by at least one commentator), is in clear first with two rounds to go. This was the result of a very quick, strange win against tournament tail-ender Loek van Wely, whose move 14 novelty gave him an immediately lost position that he resigned four moves later. My best guess is that he was simply unprepared for Gustafsson's move order, threatening the Noteboom Variation, and hadn't reviewed his prep for the Marshall (Slav) Gambit in some time. A disaster for van Wely, but happy days for his opponent.

That game finished pretty quickly, as you might imagine. Next up was a short draw between Leko and Nepomniachtchi. Leko had a small advantage on the white side of a 3.Bb5+ Sicilian, but he was unable to achieve anything with it. When Black played 25...e5 and 26...f5 the game turned double-edged, and a few moves later, just as the game was getting lively, Leko offered a draw, which was accepted.

The next draw was Mamedyarov-Kramnik, a game which caught my eye thanks to Kramnik's surprising - and good - 27...f5. The move looks like positional suicide, but it highlights the need and value of activity in even the quietest positions.

Finally, Ivanchuk won a nice ending against Naiditsch, outplaying him from an almost dead equal position in the opening. A remarkable technical display by the Ukranian, bringing him back to 50% overall.

The games can be replayed here, with my comments.

Standings after Round 5:

1. Gustafsson 3.5
2-3. Leko, Nepomniachtchi 3
4-6. Mamedyarov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk 2.5
7. Naiditsch 2
8. van Wely 1

Pairings for Round 6:

Kramnik - Nepomniachtchi
Gustafsson - Leko
Naiditsch - van Wely
Mamedyarov - Ivanchuk

Round 4 of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund saw three more draws, but it had its moments.

The first game to finish was Kramnik-Leko (shock, horror), a 22 move draw by repetition. Despite the quick and uninspiring conclusion, there were places where the game could have livened up, and the game may have a little theoretical significance as well.

Another short draw, finishing just a few seconds later, was Gustafsson-Ivanchuk, but this game was almost everything Kramnik-Leko was not. The opening was very sharp and neither player backed down from the complications. Ivanchuk's opening choice was quite clever: he entered the Vienna Variation of the Queen's Gambit, but then went down a sideline resulting in what looks like a favorable version of the Botvinnik Variation of the Semi-Slav. I think he had a very nice edge, but on move 16, perhaps overly concerned with the possibility of 17.d5, he preferred solidity over aggression, and that allowed Gustafsson to level the game.

After another hour or so, the remaining games finished in a near dead-heat. First came the only non-draw of the round, Nepomniachtchi-van Wely. White sacrificed a pawn for control of d5 and kingside prospects. Black's position was okay, but he wasn't able to find a solution to those problems - even after sacrificing the exchange, the same difficulties remained. White won a further pawn, and despite a hiccup on move 27, Nepomniachtchi's technique was good enough to win with the extra exchange.

Finally, Naiditsch-Mamedyarov ended too, a Taimanov Sicilian where first White and then Black enjoyed a very small edge, but accurate play from both players kept the game balanced.

The games, with my comments, are here.

Standings after Round 4:

1-3. Gustafsson, Leko, Nepomniachtchi 2.5
4-6. Mamedyarov, Naiditsch, Kramnik 2
7. Ivanchuk 1.5
8. van Wely 1

Pairings for Round 5: (On Friday; Thursday is a rest day)

Mamedyarov - Kramnik
Ivanchuk - Naiditsch
van Wely - Gustafsson
Leko - Nepomniachtchi

The games were decided early on today, though not all the games were drawn.

With White, Ivanchuk chose Fischer's 6.Bc4 against Nepomniachtchi's Najdorf, but got nothing. If anything, it was his opponent who had some chances, but apparently neither player felt very comfortable and a draw was agreed on move 19.

Mamedyarov-Gustafsson didn't last much longer, and like the Ivanchuk-Nepomniachtchi game, it ended too soon. With 26.Be2 (instead of repeating with 26.Qe2) Mamedyarov seemed to have a promising position, but he disagreed and called it a day.

The third game to finish was in a sense the first one to end. Naiditsch produced a very clever novelty against Kramnik's Petroff, 19.Qd2. The move offers a full rook, but its real value was psychological. It's often possible to decline a sacrifice and achieve reasonable play, but this was not one of those occasions. After 19...Ng6? 20.Ree1 f6 21.Rad1 Kf7 22.Qe3, White was clearly winning. Kramnik gave up his queen for a rook and knight, hoping to achieve a fortress. It seemed unlikely to succeed, but with a blunder on move 41 he didn't get the chance to find out.

Last but least, the supremely dull van Wely-Leko game yawned to a finish.

Games here, with my comments.

Standings after Round 3:

1-2. Gustafsson, Leko 2
3-6. Kramnik, Naiditsch, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedyarov 1.5
7-8. Ivanchuk, van Wely 1

Pairings for Round 4:

Kramnik - Leko
Nepomniachtchi - van Wely
Gustafsson - Ivanchuk
Naiditsch - Mamedyarov

Today's games weren't much longer than round one's, but while all four games were drawn yesterday, three of today's games saw the player with White win.

The first game to finish, Gustafsson-Naiditsch, may have featured the event's lowest-rated players, but it was surely the game of the day. Gustafsson introduced a new move in the Vienna Variation of the QGD (16.f4), and while I think Black can neutralize it with 17...Rac8!, it's quite easy to prefer Naiditsch's 16...Rab8 OTB. It's natural and logical, but it loses, and Gustafsson crushed him quickly.

The second completed game was the only draw of the day. Nepomniachtchi had some advantage on the White side of a Closed Ruy, but after missing some opportunities Mamedyarov managed to equalize and draw.

Shortly thereafter, Kramnik finished his crushing win over van Wely in a Colle (Zukertort version)/Slav hybrid. Kramnik made it look easy: Ne5, Qf3-h3, f4, etc...but it's the "etc." that took the skill. One remarkable feature of the game was that despite Kramnik's kingside buildup, he simultaneously managed to lure all of his opponent's pieces to the queenside, with predictable results.

Finally, Leko defeated Ivanchuk in his best style. Step 1: press strategic advantages. Step 2: when the opponent lashes out to relieve the pressure, exploit this tactically. Step 3: calmly cash in the winnings collected in step 2. The game went 57 moves, but it had been decided from move 25.

Standings after Round 2:

1-3. Kramnik, Leko, Gustafsson 1.5
4-5. Nepomniachtchi, Mamedyarov 1
6-8. van Wely, Ivanchuk, Naiditsch .5

Round 3 Pairings: (On Tuesday; tomorrow is a rest day)

Naiditsch - Kramnik
Mamedyarov - Gustafsson
Ivanchuk - Nepomniachtchi
van Wely - Leko

The round 2 games, with my comments, are here.

Four draws today, but they weren't too terrible. The first game to finish (barely) was Mamedyarov-Leko, a 4.f3 Nimzo-Indian. Mamedyarov devised a new idea with 12.Ne2, surrendering the extra, forward, doubled c-pawn in order to give Black a weak c-pawn which he can then win. That's just what happened, but then Leko had the last anti-c-pawn laugh. Given a choice between forcing perpetual, returning the extra pawn by losing his remaining c-pawn or keeping the pawn but giving Leko's rooks free reign he chose door #1, and the game ended on move 24.

Next up, we had a big opening surprise in Gustafsson-Kramnik. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Kramnik played 2...g6, a move which isn't exactly a normal part of the ex- (and future?) champion's repertoire or seemingly in keeping with his classical tastes. After 3.Nc3 the surprise was partially abated by his third move, 3...d5 (much more "Kramnikian" than a King's Indian), but I still suspect this is some sort of disinformation for Anand (to make him waste time preparing for something he won't play) or is being used to hide novelties in his "real" openings. (Possible objection: Anand never plays 1.d4. Reply: Neither did Leko prior to the 2004 match in Brissago, and it turned out that Kramnik was taken by surprise there.)

Whatever Kramnik's real motives, Gustafsson was clearly taken by surprise, as he wound up spending a fair amount of time repeating a Kramnik(!)-Svidler game that wound up a short, easy draw for Black. That game was drawn after Black's 27th move, and this game differed only in its going two more moves. An easy day for Kramnik, but perhaps a pity to waste such a surprise on the weakest player in the tournament.

Those games ended almost simultaneously, and it took a good while before the third game, Naiditsch-Nepomniachtchi, came to its peaceful end. This was the sharpest game of the day, a 6.Bc4 Najdorf that quickly left theory behind. After the opening a position was reached where Black's king was stuck in the center, but despite White's active pieces Black's bishop pair, strong knight on e5 and counterplay on the g-file was enough to keep the balance. White might have had a chance near the end with the risky-looking 22.g3, but preferred 22.Nd5, forcing a draw by "perpetual" on Black's queen.

Finally, Ivanchuk-van Wely was a Najdorf-turned-Scheveningen with 6.Be2 that saw the Ukranian pressing. Black's isolated d-pawn and White's extra space gave Ivanchuk some chances, but after a series of exchanges White's extra space was a liability. Ivanchuk could prevent perpetual or try to make progress, but not both, and a draw ensued.

After round 1, then, we have an eight-way tie for first, and so predictions for the tournament are still welcomed! Here are the pairings for round 2:

Kramnik - van Wely
Leko - Ivanchuk
Nepomniachtchi - Mamedyarov
Gustafsson - Naiditsch

Last but not least, here are the games, with my comments.

The Dortmund super-tournament starts in the morning (3 p.m. local time in Germany = 9 a.m. ET), and here are the pairings:

Gustafsson - Kramnik
Naiditsch - Nepomniachtchi
Mamedyarov - Leko
Ivanchuk - van Wely

I'm going to go out on a limb (not!) and predict that Kramnik will win the tournament, with Ivanchuk challenging (but maybe running out of gas); Nepomniachtchi is my dark horse. I think Mamedyarov will do well but not threaten for first; likewise Leko (but maybe slightly worse than Mamedyarov), and Gustafsson, Naiditsch and van Wely will likely feature as chum. Readers? Predict away - but do so before the first round gets going!

Ex-world champion Vladimir Kramnik hasn't played in the current rating period, but will re-emerge next weekend in the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, Germany, a tournament in which he has had incredible success. Here are the participants:

Kramnik RUS 2788
Mamedyarov AZE 2752
Leko HUN 2741
Ivanchuk UKR 2740
van Wely NED 2676
Nepomniachtchi RUS 2634
Naiditsch GER 2623
Gustafsson GER 2603

It's a very strong event (especially with Ivanchuk's "live" rating of 2790.8, making him the de facto top seed) but it's a little weaker than some of the annual super-tournaments thanks to their qualifiers & locals policy. Each year the winner of the Aeroflot Open is automatically invited (and once that qualifier - Viorel Bologan - won), along with a German entrant or two (and likewse, the local "tourist" has had the bad manners to forget his place and win the whole thing, as Naiditsch did a few years ago). Nevertheless, the presence of a mixed field of supertournament regulars along with strong but not elite GMs getting a big break usually keeps the tournament livelier than it would be if it were a Linares clone.

Play starts Saturday or Sunday (events are typically given as running from date X through Y, but usually date X is reserved for various opening ceremonies, drawing lots, etc., with actual play starting on day X + 1), and we'll follow the event closely on this blog.