Morelia/Linares, Round 12 Recap
World champion Viswanathan Anand continues to lead, but Magnus Carlsen has closed back to within half a point of first as we head for the last two rounds after tomorrow’s rest day. Anand drew comfortably with Peter Leko, enjoying a slight, safe edge throughout on the White side of an Anti-Marshall. After his 20.Qxg5N hxg5 21.c4!, it looked like that advantage might become serious, thanks to Black’s weak pawns on g5 and c5, but Leko’s ingenious defense enabled him to hold the position. He had no choice but to give up a pawn, but he did so in a way that allowed his pieces to coordinate while Anand’s lost their harmony; the result was a draw.
Carlsen, meanwhile, was the recipient of some (partially earned) luck against Veselin Topalov. Carlsen achieved nothing from the opening, a reverse Sicilian, and his attacking plan with 19.Bg5, 20.Be3 and 21.f4 left him insufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. His further sacrifice, 23.Rd4, probably could have been accepted, but Topalov’s safe 23…Rad8 sufficed for an advantage as well. On move 28.e6 would have been interesting (28…Qe7 29.f5 gxf5 30.Rf3 is one possible continuation), but Carlsen’s 28.f5 led to complex play as well, again sacrificing material for activity and headhunting prospects. The critical moments came on moves 33 and 34: Topalov could have avoided perpetual check with 33…Qd7, though after 34.Bh6 Nc6 35.Bxc4+ Bxc4 36.Qxc4+ Qf7 37.Qc1 Black will have a hard time creating real winning possibilities. His 33…Kxg7 was safer – or should have been – but after 34.Bd8 Topalov blundered into mate with 34…Nc6?? Instead, 34…Qd5 more or less forces White to take a perpetual check: 35.Bxa5 Qxa5 36.Qe7+ etc.
If Aronian had won his game, he too would have pulled within half a point of the leader, but he was rather fortunate to draw. Shirov found a tremendous improvement over his game with Leko from two rounds ago – not a new move (Aronian was the first to deviate from the earlier game, with 27…Rc8 instead of Leko’s 27…Bc4) but a new plan. Instead of meeting …Bc4 with b3, he put the pawn on a3, played 30.g4 to cement his knight on e4, and then prepared and executed the h4-h5-h6 advance. The result was that Black now had to worry about passed (or potentially passed) pawns on both sides of the board, and Shirov gradually achieved a winning position. (Note: I thought during the live commentary that Black could force a draw with 47…Bc6, taking for granted that 48.Nc5 Bxc5+ (or 48…Bd6+ 49.Ke3 Bxc5) would lead to a draw. Not so: as GM Mikhail Golubev pointed out, White puts his bishop on h4, the pawn on f6, and then brings the king to the queenside, winning.) By the time of 59.f8N+! Shirov was winning, but Aronian’s tenacious defense and White inaccuracies on moves 61, 67 and 73 led to a draw.
Finally, Ivanchuk-Radjabov was a typical Sveshnikov Sicilian draw, where the opposite-colored bishops were more significant than Ivanchuk’s extra pawn.
Games (will be) here.
Round 12 Results:
Anand - Leko 1/2-1/2
Shirov - Aronian 1/2-1/2
Carlsen - Topalov 1-0
Ivanchuk - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
Standings after Round 12:
1. Anand 7.5
2. Carlsen 7
3. Aronian 6.5
4. Topalov 6
5-6. Radjabov, Ivanchuk 5.5
7-8. Leko, Shirov 5
Pairings for Round 13: (On Thursday)
Ivanchuk - Anand
Radjabov - Shirov
Aronian - Carlsen
Topalov - Leko
Carlsen, meanwhile, was the recipient of some (partially earned) luck against Veselin Topalov. Carlsen achieved nothing from the opening, a reverse Sicilian, and his attacking plan with 19.Bg5, 20.Be3 and 21.f4 left him insufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn. His further sacrifice, 23.Rd4, probably could have been accepted, but Topalov’s safe 23…Rad8 sufficed for an advantage as well. On move 28.e6 would have been interesting (28…Qe7 29.f5 gxf5 30.Rf3 is one possible continuation), but Carlsen’s 28.f5 led to complex play as well, again sacrificing material for activity and headhunting prospects. The critical moments came on moves 33 and 34: Topalov could have avoided perpetual check with 33…Qd7, though after 34.Bh6 Nc6 35.Bxc4+ Bxc4 36.Qxc4+ Qf7 37.Qc1 Black will have a hard time creating real winning possibilities. His 33…Kxg7 was safer – or should have been – but after 34.Bd8 Topalov blundered into mate with 34…Nc6?? Instead, 34…Qd5 more or less forces White to take a perpetual check: 35.Bxa5 Qxa5 36.Qe7+ etc.
If Aronian had won his game, he too would have pulled within half a point of the leader, but he was rather fortunate to draw. Shirov found a tremendous improvement over his game with Leko from two rounds ago – not a new move (Aronian was the first to deviate from the earlier game, with 27…Rc8 instead of Leko’s 27…Bc4) but a new plan. Instead of meeting …Bc4 with b3, he put the pawn on a3, played 30.g4 to cement his knight on e4, and then prepared and executed the h4-h5-h6 advance. The result was that Black now had to worry about passed (or potentially passed) pawns on both sides of the board, and Shirov gradually achieved a winning position. (Note: I thought during the live commentary that Black could force a draw with 47…Bc6, taking for granted that 48.Nc5 Bxc5+ (or 48…Bd6+ 49.Ke3 Bxc5) would lead to a draw. Not so: as GM Mikhail Golubev pointed out, White puts his bishop on h4, the pawn on f6, and then brings the king to the queenside, winning.) By the time of 59.f8N+! Shirov was winning, but Aronian’s tenacious defense and White inaccuracies on moves 61, 67 and 73 led to a draw.
Finally, Ivanchuk-Radjabov was a typical Sveshnikov Sicilian draw, where the opposite-colored bishops were more significant than Ivanchuk’s extra pawn.
Games (will be) here.
Round 12 Results:
Anand - Leko 1/2-1/2
Shirov - Aronian 1/2-1/2
Carlsen - Topalov 1-0
Ivanchuk - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
Standings after Round 12:
1. Anand 7.5
2. Carlsen 7
3. Aronian 6.5
4. Topalov 6
5-6. Radjabov, Ivanchuk 5.5
7-8. Leko, Shirov 5
Pairings for Round 13: (On Thursday)
Ivanchuk - Anand
Radjabov - Shirov
Aronian - Carlsen
Topalov - Leko
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Tuesday March 4, 2008 at 5:10pm