Morelia/Linares, Round 11 Recap
World champion Viswanathan Anand is now the prohibitive favorite to win this year’s edition of the Morelia/Linares tournament, enjoying a full point lead with just three rounds to go. He took a short, easy draw against Teimour Radjabov; a fairly easy task against Radjabov’s anti-Caro-Kann sideline. White’s 6.Nh3 + 7.Nf4 garners the bishop pair, but the resulting position is so balanced that they offer no meaningful chances.
Meanwhile, it looked like Magnus Carlsen, his closest pursuer, would stay within half a point of the lead. When the queens came off against Leko on move 26, it looked like a typical drawish Sveshnikov ending with opposite-colored bishops. It turned out that White enjoyed a nagging edge, however, thanks to his passed b-pawn, and Leko did a great job of nursing the position for all it was worth. Utilizing the principle of two weaknesses, he turned to the kingside, first trying to loosen up Black’s pawns with 45.h5, then trying to create a cage for Black’s king by 47.h6. The position was still probably objectively drawn through White’s 52nd move, but after Carlsen’s decision to bring his king to the center with 52…Kg8 (maybe Black can hold with 52…Be3), 53…Kf8 and 54…Ke7, it was clearly over.
Topalov-Shirov saw the old exchange sac line against the Gruenfeld made famous by the late David Bronstein, and Topalov brought something new to the table. His 16.Qd4 was relatively rare, and 20.Bd3 was a novelty. Shirov reacted well, but it took him a lot of time on the clock, and this may have cost him. On move 26, 26…Qxd5 would have given him a playable position. Instead, Shirov played 26…Qb6+?, and after 27.Kh1 Qe3 28.Qh4 made an even more serious error, 28…Re5? Perhaps this was Shirov’s idea on move 26, thinking he would regain the d-pawn in a more active setting, but after 29.Qf6, threatening both d6-d7 and Bxg6, he was completely lost.
Finally, Aronian-Ivanchuk saw almost surreal play from the opening, and the game was lively from the start until it’s sadly premature finish. It seemed that Black still had chances for the initiative in the final position (e.g. with 22…Qa8), and before that he may have missed the nice shot 18…b4 (19.Qxb4 Nc6 and all Black’s pieces are on their way to terrific squares).
Games here.
Round 11 Results:
Radjabov - Anand 1/2-1/2
Aronian - Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Topalov - Shirov 1-0
Leko - Carlsen 1-0
Standings after Round 11:
1. Anand 7
2-4. Aronian, Carlsen, Topalov 6
5-6. Radjabov, Ivanchuk 5
7-8. Shirov, Leko 4.5
Pairings for Round 12:
Anand - Leko
Shirov - Aronian
Carlsen - Topalov
Ivanchuk - Radjabov
Technical note: the ChessBase server had some problems with the audio system at the start of the round, but it was fixed in due course. Tomorrow's live commentary should go off without a hitch, so you're all invited to join me starting at: 10 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. Central European Time.
Meanwhile, it looked like Magnus Carlsen, his closest pursuer, would stay within half a point of the lead. When the queens came off against Leko on move 26, it looked like a typical drawish Sveshnikov ending with opposite-colored bishops. It turned out that White enjoyed a nagging edge, however, thanks to his passed b-pawn, and Leko did a great job of nursing the position for all it was worth. Utilizing the principle of two weaknesses, he turned to the kingside, first trying to loosen up Black’s pawns with 45.h5, then trying to create a cage for Black’s king by 47.h6. The position was still probably objectively drawn through White’s 52nd move, but after Carlsen’s decision to bring his king to the center with 52…Kg8 (maybe Black can hold with 52…Be3), 53…Kf8 and 54…Ke7, it was clearly over.
Topalov-Shirov saw the old exchange sac line against the Gruenfeld made famous by the late David Bronstein, and Topalov brought something new to the table. His 16.Qd4 was relatively rare, and 20.Bd3 was a novelty. Shirov reacted well, but it took him a lot of time on the clock, and this may have cost him. On move 26, 26…Qxd5 would have given him a playable position. Instead, Shirov played 26…Qb6+?, and after 27.Kh1 Qe3 28.Qh4 made an even more serious error, 28…Re5? Perhaps this was Shirov’s idea on move 26, thinking he would regain the d-pawn in a more active setting, but after 29.Qf6, threatening both d6-d7 and Bxg6, he was completely lost.
Finally, Aronian-Ivanchuk saw almost surreal play from the opening, and the game was lively from the start until it’s sadly premature finish. It seemed that Black still had chances for the initiative in the final position (e.g. with 22…Qa8), and before that he may have missed the nice shot 18…b4 (19.Qxb4 Nc6 and all Black’s pieces are on their way to terrific squares).
Games here.
Round 11 Results:
Radjabov - Anand 1/2-1/2
Aronian - Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Topalov - Shirov 1-0
Leko - Carlsen 1-0
Standings after Round 11:
1. Anand 7
2-4. Aronian, Carlsen, Topalov 6
5-6. Radjabov, Ivanchuk 5
7-8. Shirov, Leko 4.5
Pairings for Round 12:
Anand - Leko
Shirov - Aronian
Carlsen - Topalov
Ivanchuk - Radjabov
Technical note: the ChessBase server had some problems with the audio system at the start of the round, but it was fixed in due course. Tomorrow's live commentary should go off without a hitch, so you're all invited to join me starting at: 10 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. Central European Time.
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Monday March 3, 2008 at 6:01pm
Thx
This is the correct version
In Leko - Carlsen what about 23. Rb1 Bd2+! and black get perpetual check after 24. KxB Qxf+ 25. Kd3 Qg3+ 26. Kd2 Qxg+ and white king can't escape on c file?
Thx
(a) 26...Rfc8+. This is direct, but not too challenging. 27.Kb2 Qxg2+ (27...Qc3+ 28.Ka2 is a dead end) 28.Ka1 Qd2 29.b5+-.
(b) 26...Qxg2+ 27.Kb3 Kh8 (there isn't anything better) 28.Rhc1 f5 29.Qc6 fxe4 30.Bxe4 and White's piece and passed b-pawn are stronger than Black's pawns and counterplay.
(c) 26...Kh8. Might as well get to it right away! 27.b5 Qxg2+ 28.Kb3 f5 29.Rhf1 is also better for White, but Black has more chances than in the (a) and (b) lines.
In sum, it looks quite interesting, but probably not best at the end of the day. Very nice suggestion though!