Dortmund, Round 3: Sofia Rules, Anyone?
I have nothing against draws and am even tolerant of the occasional short draw, but these guys are really pushing it. (Unfortunately, I predicted this would happen.) Here's what happened today:
Carlsen - Kramnik: A 19-move perpetual check already known to theory.
Bacrot - Jakovenko: A Berlin Defense drawn in 22 moves, having reached a dead drawn pure opposite-colored bishop ending.
Naiditsch - Leko: A 29-move marathon, though it could easily have finished sooner. (It was nice of them to continue for the sake of the casual fan.) The key was Leko's 13th move - a novelty, though I don't know if it was prepared in advance; it led to massive exchanges and an easy draw.
So far, the tournament has been pretty lame, but there's still time for someone to get ambitious. If not, I hope the organizer wipes the slate clean for 2010 and invites a new batch of players.
Standings after Round 3:
1. Carlsen 2
2-5. Kramnik, Leko, Bacrot, Jakovenko 1½
6. Naiditsch 1
Tournament site here, games with my comments here.
Carlsen - Kramnik: A 19-move perpetual check already known to theory.
Bacrot - Jakovenko: A Berlin Defense drawn in 22 moves, having reached a dead drawn pure opposite-colored bishop ending.
Naiditsch - Leko: A 29-move marathon, though it could easily have finished sooner. (It was nice of them to continue for the sake of the casual fan.) The key was Leko's 13th move - a novelty, though I don't know if it was prepared in advance; it led to massive exchanges and an easy draw.
So far, the tournament has been pretty lame, but there's still time for someone to get ambitious. If not, I hope the organizer wipes the slate clean for 2010 and invites a new batch of players.
Standings after Round 3:
1. Carlsen 2
2-5. Kramnik, Leko, Bacrot, Jakovenko 1½
6. Naiditsch 1
Tournament site here, games with my comments here.
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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Saturday July 4, 2009 at 2:49pm