Morelia/Linares, Round 8: Anand extends his lead
There was another great round today in Linares; it's nice to see that the change of venue and the days off didn't cool the players' ardor. Three of the four games were decisive, and the one draw may have been the most interesting game of all.
Round 8 Results:
Anand - Shirov 1-0
Ivanchuk - Carlsen 0-1
Radjabov - Leko 1/2-1/2
Aronian - Topalov 1-0
Coming into the round, Anand enjoyed a slim half-point lead over Shirov and Topalov, so today's results were absolutely wonderful from his perspective. First of all, he defeated Shirov in good fashion, exploiting the weaknesses that are sometimes left in Black's wake in the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Black could possibly have created more problems with 28...g4 instead of 28...Qh4, but in the endgame resulting from the latter move Anand's technique was exquisite (his 44th move was particularly fine), and Shirov could not save the draw.
Anand's other near-rival, Topalov, also lost, and in a characteristically Topalovian way. The position was balanced through move 36, but his provocative (and good) 36...f5 introduced some imbalances. Aronian's decision to sacrifice the exchange (see his 38th move, but the decision had clearly been made the move before) should have given Topalov a slight edge, but after 39...Qxg2+? (instead of 39...Bd6!) he entered an inferior ending. Ultimately he was unable to hold it, and Aronian took over second place.
Or rather, joint second place, shared with Carlsen, a point behind the leader. Carlsen should not have been there, as he was completely lost in the opening against Ivanchuk. Fortunately for him, Ivanchuk used gobs of time to make inferior moves, most notably 20.Qc4? (20.Qd1+-), and Carlsen had completely outplayed him by the time Ivanchuk's flag fell on move 40. A fortunate win by Carlsen, and a catastrophe for Ivanchuk.
Finally, Radjabov-Leko was a very sharp, see-saw draw that ended prematurely. Radjabov utilized a pawn sac that Gelfand introduced into big-time chess, and then followed up with an interesting piece sac a few moves later. The position was very complex and both players made some inaccuracies, as far as I can tell, and in the final position there is still everything to play for. Understandably, the players seemed to have had enough action by that point, however, and agreed to a draw - alas for us.
The games can be replayed here.
Standings after Round 8:
1. Anand 5.5
2-3. Aronian, Carlsen 4.5
4-5. Topalov, Shirov 4
6. Radjabov 3.5
7-8. Leko, Ivanchuk 3
Pairings for Round 9:
Aronian - Anand
Topalov - Radjabov
Leko - Ivanchuk
Carlsen - Shirov
Remember, you can catch my online commentary on the Playchess.com server starting at 10 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. Central European Time. Hope to see you there!
Round 8 Results:
Anand - Shirov 1-0
Ivanchuk - Carlsen 0-1
Radjabov - Leko 1/2-1/2
Aronian - Topalov 1-0
Coming into the round, Anand enjoyed a slim half-point lead over Shirov and Topalov, so today's results were absolutely wonderful from his perspective. First of all, he defeated Shirov in good fashion, exploiting the weaknesses that are sometimes left in Black's wake in the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Black could possibly have created more problems with 28...g4 instead of 28...Qh4, but in the endgame resulting from the latter move Anand's technique was exquisite (his 44th move was particularly fine), and Shirov could not save the draw.
Anand's other near-rival, Topalov, also lost, and in a characteristically Topalovian way. The position was balanced through move 36, but his provocative (and good) 36...f5 introduced some imbalances. Aronian's decision to sacrifice the exchange (see his 38th move, but the decision had clearly been made the move before) should have given Topalov a slight edge, but after 39...Qxg2+? (instead of 39...Bd6!) he entered an inferior ending. Ultimately he was unable to hold it, and Aronian took over second place.
Or rather, joint second place, shared with Carlsen, a point behind the leader. Carlsen should not have been there, as he was completely lost in the opening against Ivanchuk. Fortunately for him, Ivanchuk used gobs of time to make inferior moves, most notably 20.Qc4? (20.Qd1+-), and Carlsen had completely outplayed him by the time Ivanchuk's flag fell on move 40. A fortunate win by Carlsen, and a catastrophe for Ivanchuk.
Finally, Radjabov-Leko was a very sharp, see-saw draw that ended prematurely. Radjabov utilized a pawn sac that Gelfand introduced into big-time chess, and then followed up with an interesting piece sac a few moves later. The position was very complex and both players made some inaccuracies, as far as I can tell, and in the final position there is still everything to play for. Understandably, the players seemed to have had enough action by that point, however, and agreed to a draw - alas for us.
The games can be replayed here.
Standings after Round 8:
1. Anand 5.5
2-3. Aronian, Carlsen 4.5
4-5. Topalov, Shirov 4
6. Radjabov 3.5
7-8. Leko, Ivanchuk 3
Pairings for Round 9:
Aronian - Anand
Topalov - Radjabov
Leko - Ivanchuk
Carlsen - Shirov
Remember, you can catch my online commentary on the Playchess.com server starting at 10 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. Central European Time. Hope to see you there!
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Thursday February 28, 2008 at 10:02pm