The Chess Mind

Here are the results after four rounds of the 8th Montreal Invitational (aka the Empresa International Tournament):

1-3. Eljanov, Ivanchuk, Kamsky 3
4-6. Bluvshtein, Harikrishna, Tiviakov 2.5
7. Miton 1.5
8. Sutovsky 1
9. Charbonneau .5
10. Short 0

At Biel, the first round looked like this:

Onischuk - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
Grischuk - Motylev 1/2-1/2
Pelletier - Avrukh 1/2-1/2
van Wely - Polgar 0-1
Carlsen - Bu Xiangzhi 1-0

Also, there was a blitz tournament:

Qualification Round:

Polgar defeats Pelletier 2-0
Motylev defeats Bu Xiangzhi 2-0
van Wely defeats Avrukh 2-0
Onischuk defeats Jenni 1.5-.5

Quarterfinal:

Radjabov defeats Onischuk 1.5-.5
Polgar defeats Grischuk 2-0
Motylev defeats Carlsen 2-0
van Wely defeats Karpov 2-0

Semifinal:

Radjabov defeats Polgar 2-1 (1-1, then 1-0 in the tiebreak)
Motylev defeats van Wely 2-0

Final:

Radjabov defeats Motylev 1.5-.5

Finally, I'd like to call your attention to the fascinating game between Miton and Eljanov from round 3 of the Montreal Invitational. On move 23, Miton gave up the exchange in a roughly equal position, in exchange for - what? He relieved a little pressure on his c-pawn and slightly weakened Black's pawn structure. But he didn't gain a pawn or any attacking chances. There were no new targets for him to aim at, just a generalized advantage in light-squared control.

It turned out, though, that Black could do absolutely nothing with his extra exchange. White's light-squared control made it impossible for his opponent to achieve anything in the center or the kingside, so naturally Black turned to the queenside. Black's threatened 38...b5 brought about a second surprising moment in the game, White's 38.b4. The move is noteworthy because White, who seems to want to keep the board closed up (especially the files, which will presumably favor his opponent's rooks), is in fact the one opening the board. Even if it impedes ...b5 and is from that perspective understandable, opening lines and weakening his queenside pawns makes it a surprise.

It gets even better: after the initial exchange, the players swap rooks and another pair of queenside pawns a few moves later. Yet despite what common sense and your chess engines may tell you, Black does not seem to be winning! If anything, he's slightly on the defensive at the end of this unusual game, which you can replay here. A fascinating struggle.

Here are the results from round 2 and from round 3, followed by the standings:

Round 2 Results:

Radjabov - Bu Xiangzhi 1/2-1/2
Polgar - Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Avrukh - van Wely 1/2-1/2
Motylev - Pelletier 1/2-1/2
Onischuk - Grischuk 1-0

Round 3 Results:

Carlsen - Avrukh 1/2-1/2
Pelletier - Onischuk 1/2-1/2
Bu Xiangzhi - Polgar 1-0
Grischuk - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
van Wely - Motylev 0-1

Standings after Round 3:

1-3. Carlsen, Motylev, Onischuk 2
4-8. Avrukh, Bu Xiangzhi, Polgar, Pelletier, Radjabov 1.5
9. Grischuk 1
10. van Wely .5

There have been a lot of draws so far, but many have been quite interesting. Here's one especially crazy affair, the round 3 tussle between Grischuk and Radjabov. For those wanting more coverage, have a look at ChessBase's round 2 and round 3 reports - the latter includes videos from Europe Echecs.

Here are the current standings, after round 6:

1. Tiviakov 4.5
2-4. Harikrishna, Ivanchuk, Kamsky 4
5-6. Eljanov, Miton 3.5
7. Bluvshtein 2.5
8. Sutovsky 2
9. Charbonneau 1.5
10. Short .5

I've provided brief notes to three of the games; they're not necessarily the best in the tournament (in fact, all three were fairly routine draws), but as they were the ones that caught my fancy early in the opening, I'm afraid that's what you're stuck with this time around.

The first two I've combined, as they occurred simultaneously and reached the same, quite unusual position after White's 16th move. Both Ivanchuk-Kamsky and Sutovsky-Short were Marshall Gambits featuring the very rare continuation 8...d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 Bb7!? (the dubious 11...Nf6 was Marshall's original idea, while 11...c6, the move that has become practically automatic, was his improvement some years later). I don't think I had ever so much as seen this move before, and here it was, twice, in round 5! The good news is that the games gave rise to positions off the beaten Marshall track; the bad news is that the Gambit's usual character emerged anyway: White had the extra pawn, but activity and bishop pair (subsequently transformed into an opposite-colored bishop situation - again characteristic of the Marshall Gambit) compensated. The result: two draws.

The third game was Kamsky-Sutovsky from round 6, featuring one of my favorite lines: the 4.Qxd4 line of the open Sicilian. It can result in lively play, but Sutovsky was well-prepared and the game was quickly drawn. Those who may face this variation are encouraged to pay careful attention to Sutovsky's instructive play.

Here they are.

Let's catch up on the results since the last update:

Round 4 Results:

Radjabov - Polgar 1/2-1/2
Avruk - Bu Xiangzhi 1-0
Motylev - Carlsen 0-1
Onischuk - van Wely 1-0
Grischuk - Pelletier 1-0

Round 5 Results:

Carlsen - Onischuk 1-0
Polgar - Avrukh 1/2-1/2
Bu Xiangzhi - Motylev 1-0
Pelletier - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
van Wely - Grischuk 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round 5:

1. Carlsen 4
2-3. Avrukh, Onischuk 3
4-7. Bu Xiangzhi, Grischuk, Polgar, Radjabov 2.5
8-9. Motylev, Pelletier 2
10. van Wely 1

The story so far is Carlsen, of course, whose rapid rise in the ratings and the rankings shows no sign of abating. Yet despite his success so far in this event, things could easily have been different, as he was the recipient of a remarkable stroke of luck in round 4. His opponent, Alexander Motylev, committed a blunder of a type probably best known from the famous old game Ebralidze-Ragozin, USSR Championship 1937.



White has various threats here: to the rook on c4, the pawn on a7, and - if the rook quits the c-file - Nc6. Black therefore played the not quite brilliant 1...Rc7, with the idea of meeting 2.Rxc7 with 2...Bd6+ and 3...Bxc7. There's just one problem, of course: 2...Bd6+ "allows" 3.Rxf7, but Ebralidze, like Ragozin, missed it! (And this despite some of his fans apparently shouting for him to capture the rook!)

Now to Motylev-Carlsen:



After 35.Qg6 followed by Kh1, White's extra material should eventually lead to a win. Had that happened, Motylev would have been tied for first while Carlsen would have slumped back to 50%, but alas: Motylev was too clever by half. Looking for a speedy way to break the pesky pin, he uncorked the "brilliant" 35.Bd6, with the idea that on 35...Qxd6 he could simplify with 36.Qxg7+ Kxg7 37.Nf5+ and 38.Nxd6. Unfortunately, 37.Nf5+ is every bit as illegal as 2...Bd6+ in the Ragozin game, and when Carlsen, unlike Ebralidze, took the free material, Motylev had to resign.

Those games, along with Onischuk's speedy fourth round win over van Wely in a Botvinnik Semi-Slav, can be replayed here.

Vassily Ivanchuk didn't play in San Luis and won't be playing in Mexico City, and that's a pity. On FIDE's July 2007 list his rating was 2762, and that wasn't counting Foros where, by my calculations, he netted another 9 points. Add the 10 points or so he's gaining here and his rating will be a whopping 2781 - second in the world! It's pretty lousy that he isn't involved in this world championship cycle, but he just shows up everywhere, plays, wins, and doesn't complain. Good man.

On to the details of this, his latest triumph, the Montreal Invitational. We left off our coverage after round 6, when he was part of the chase pack nipping at Tiviakov's heels. In round 7 both players won, but in round 8 Ivanchuk won again, while Tiviakov lost a long, hard game to Harikrishna (who thereby caught up with his opponent). That gave Ivanchuk a half point lead going into the last round, and he extended it to a full point by defeating Harikrishna while Tiviakov was held to a draw.

Final Standings:

1. Ivanchuk 7 (of 9)
2. Tiviakov 6
3. Harikrishna 5.5
4-5. Eljanov, Kamsky 5
6. Sutovsky 4.5
7-8. Mitov, Bluvshtein 3.5
9. Charbonneau 3
10. Short 2

That's right: 2/9 for Short, whose TPR was a dismal (by his standards, not mine) 2430. In the first two rounds he had a toothache, but even after that he couldn't pull things together. What happened? You can read more about that here, in Frederic Friedel's interview with the man himself.


On to the chess selection. From round 7 I've included three games. First, there's Ivanchuk's win over Bluvshtein, which combined zesty attacking play with good endgame technique. Next, tournament front-runner Tiviakov gets his due as we see his win over Miton. The game started slowly, but Tiviakov built up an attack, offered an impressive long-term exchange sacrifice, and finished the game off with an attractive sham sac. The third game of the round is between bestest buddies Short and Kamsky. Ironically, given their mutual enmity (and also given my recent comments about the Ponziani opening and (parts of) Short's repertoire), Short chose one of the most insipid openings in chess history, the Ponziani, and unsurprisingly achieved nothing with it. Still, both players worked at it, and although the game was drawn it was a good fight. Turning to round 8 I've included Ivanchuk's win with Black against Miton, featuring a somewhat non-traditional Greek gift sacrifice, and from round 9 Short's loss with the King's Gambit to Bluvshtein. (Speaking of openings that lose a pawn...) His repertoire may not receive FDA approval, but the chess world is a richer place thanks to those who trot out museum openings from time to time.

Games here.

As usual, we begin our Biel update with the results since the last post on the event:

Round 6 Results:

Radjabov - Avrukh 1-0
Motylev - Polgar 0-1
Onischuk - Bu Xiangzhi 1/2-1/2
Grischuk - Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Pelletier - van Wely 1/2-1/2

Round 7 Results:

van Wely - Radjabov 0-1
Carlsen - Pelletier 0-1
Bu Xiangzhi - Grischuk 1/2-1/2
Polgar - Onischuk 1/2-1/2
Avrukh - Motylev 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round 7:

1-2. Carlsen, Radjabov 4.5
3-4. Onischuk, Polgar 4
5-8. Bu Xiangzhi, Pelletier, Grischuk, Avrukh 3.5
9. Motylev 2.5
10. van Wely 1.5

After starting with five draws, Teimour Radjabov is playing like the top seed he is with back to back wins. The last one, in a King's Indian against Loek van Wely, a player who always goes for the most testing, principled lines, was a real donnybrook. Naturally, I've included it in the link, below.

Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen was guilty of one of the most extraordinary blunders I've ever seen in top level chess. In this position, against Yannick Pelletier



he uncorked the amazing 16.Bxh7??, losing the bishop for two pawns and no compensation after the patently obvious 16...f5 followed by 17...Kg7. Of course, Pelletier won and with relative ease, though there was at least a cute finish where he needed to overcome Carlsen's rambling rook.

(Steve Giddins, in the ChessBase report, calls this "eerily similar" to Fischer's famous 29...Bxh2 blunder against Spassky in game 1 of their 1972 match, but I disagree. The only similarity is that the players involved were strong and a bishop wrongly took an h-pawn. But there the similarities end: the event and board situations were disanalogous, the nature of the trap was different, and the depth of calculation required was very different.)

Pairings for Rounds 8 and 9:

Round 8:

Radjabov - Motylev
Onischuk - Avrukh
Grischuk - Polgar
Pelletier - Bu Xiangzhi
van Wely - Carlsen

Round 9:

Carlsen - Radjabov
Bu Xiangzhi - van Wely
Polgar - Pelletier
Avrukh - Grischuk
Motylev - Onischuk

Games here.

I know, the tournament has been over for a few days now - sorry! Unfortunately, I've been preoccupied with other matters, and in any case, you get what you pay for. With these excuses out of the way, here's my wrap-up report on Biel.

When we left off after round 7 (of 9), Carlsen, who had lost his last game, and Radjabov, who had won his last two, were tied for first with 4.5 points, half a point ahead of Onischuk and Polgar. Here's what happened next:

Round 8 Results:

van Wely - Carlsen 1-0
Radjabov - Motylev 1/2-1/2
Onischuk - Avrukh 1-0
Grischuk - Polgar 1/2-1/2
Pelletier - Bu Xiangzhi 1-0

The shock of the round was Carlsen's second straight loss, and to tailender van Wely at that. Nevertheless, it wasn't a good game for Carlsen by any means, but van Wely's fighting spirit and opening preparation shouldn't be denigrated. The Dutchman came out of the opening in good shape, and a piece sac for a quartet of passed pawns rendered the win inevitable. Radjabov maintained his first-place position with a quick draw against Motylev, and although Carlsen lost Radjabov had company in first, as Onischuk combined tactical astuteness with good ending technique to defeat Avrukh.

Standings after Round 8:

1-2. Onischuk, Radjabov 5
3-5. Carlsen, Pelletier, Polgar 4.5
6. Grischuk 4
7-8. Bu Xiangzhi, Avrukh 3.5
9. Motylev 3
10. van Wely 2.5

The key last-round matchups were Carlsen-Radjabov and Motylev-Onischuk. The latter was a Marshall Gambit, and we all know what that means: a draw. The battle of the prodigies was anything but a draw, however, as Radjabov's surprisingly shaky play and outright error on move 16 gave White an easy attack, and Carlsen finished with brutal and speedy efficiency.

Round 9 Results:

Carlsen - Radjabov 1-0
Motylev - Onischuk 1/2-1/2
Polgar - Pelletier 1/2-1/2
Avrukh - Grischuk 0-1
Bu Xiangzhi - van Wely 0-1

The final standings were appealing for those who like patterns: a two-way tie for first, followed by a four-way tie half a point behind and another four-way tie for last. There was also a Lake Wobegon flavor to those standings: maybe all of the children weren't above average, but most of them were!

Final Standings:

1-2. Carlsen, Onischuk 5.5
3-6. Pelletier, Polgar, Grischuk, Radjabov 5
7-10. Bu Xiangzhi, van Wely, Motylev, Avrukh 3.5

Did I write "Final Standings"? Not quite. Rather than splitting first or using some sort of statistical tiebreaker to determine the winner, Carlsen and Onischuk had a playoff. The first two games, at G/15, saw the players squander plenty of winning chances on the way to a pair of draws, and two 5-minute games were drawn as well. Only in the Armageddon game (White gets 5 minutes, Black gets 4 minutes and draw odds) did a decisive result occur, a Carlsen win with the black pieces.

In our games section, I've included five contests from the last two rounds. First up is Polgar's swindle draw against Grischuk - an important game, in retrospect, as the latter might well have tied for first with a win. Next is Carlsen's loss to van Wely (mentioned above) and Onischuk's win over Avrukh (ditto). From the last round, I've of course presented Carlsen's win over Radjabov, and finally van Wely's win over Bu Xiangzhi - but only because of the cute finish. Here's the link. Also, you can find an interview with the winner, here.