The FIDE World Chess Championship is taking place in the Hotel Potrero de
los Funes Complex, in the Province of San Luis, Argentina, from September 27
to October 16, 2005..
Round Three Summary
Vishy Anand played a convincing game against Michael Adams, ending with a
devastating king-side attack and Adams' resignation on move 32. Judit Polgar
played a very nice game to defeat Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Peter Svidler defeated
an apparently out-of-form Peter Leko. Veselin Topalov, playing black, ground
down is Alexander Morozevich in 74 moves.
Round 3: Friday, September 30th |
A. Morozevich |
0-1
|
Veselin Topalov |
Peter Svidler |
1-0
|
Peter Leko |
Judit Polgar |
1-0
|
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Vishy Anand |
1-0
|
Michael Adams |
|
Current standings at the World Championship in San Luis
World Championship Diary: Round 3
By Nigel Short – on site in San Luis
Myomancy: Noun; divination from the movements of mice.
One should always start the day with a nice word: this one seems to accurately
describe the activity of those following the games live on the Internet. Naturally
I am referring to mice of the computer variety. Being technophobic, I prefer
instead to rely on intuition for my prognostications. My only prediction for
today is that Svidler-Leko will end in a “tablas” (draw). I would
very much like to be proven wrong, but this pairing has a pacific, if not to
say soporific, feel to it.
Veselin Topalov being checked out by security at the entrance
4.10pm: Anand-Adams has exploded into extraordinary violence.
The Zaitsev Variation is not a regular feature of the Englishman’s repertoire
(he tends to prefer other systems of the Spanish), but clearly he had prepared
something particular for the tournament favourite, excavating a line that was
popular from the Kasparov-Karpov clashes back in the 1980s. It also jogged
long-dormant painful memories of a game that I lost brilliantly to Gyula Sax
in the Subotica Interzonal. Black’s kingside is jolly weak indeed.
Adams vs Anand, before the start of round three
Anand, whose memory (not to mention ability) is better than most, appeared
unperturbed by the unexpected turn of events and offered his opponent a bewildering
choice of captures with the novelty 23.Qd2!? which, from the relative speed
with which he played it, looks as if it was home-cooked. I have absolutely
no idea what is going on, quite frankly, other than to say that if Anand fails
to give mate (or a perpetual check) he will most likely lose. It is not the
sort of position that one can just hold. It is do or die. Mind you, defending
against a ferocious onslaught is even worse. At moments like this that I am
quite glad that I am just watching and not playing .
Polgar-Kasimjanov looks almost sedate by comparison. She has “only”
sacrificed two pieces within the first thirteen moves. She will win one back,
I imagine, but then it is anyone’s guess as to who stands better. Bravo
girl! One has go to admire such gutsy spiritedness.
Leko vs Svidler in the foreground, Topalov vs Morozevich in the background
I suspect that I may have maligned Svidler and Leko: their game appears rather
unbalanced and pregnant with possibilities. One would describe it as very interesting
were it not for the fact that one’s attention is instinctively drawn
to the first two games. Svidler has central doubled isolated pawns –
usually a liability – but I rather like his position. I will stick by
my prediction of a draw though for the time being.
Peter Leko fascinated by the Anand-Adams slugfest
5.10pm: Crikey, Vishy has won! What a rout! What an annihilation!
It turns out that he prepared this novelty ten years ago, when he prepared
it for his Kamsky match, and had kept it in his memory banks ever since. He
is not just a very fine player but he is a world class analyst too. Adams was
severely punished for playing a risky line without adequate study (a few months
would probably have sufficed). Doubtless he could have defended more resiliently,
hypothetically speaking, but this was an almost impossible task over the board.
Animated Anand in the press conference
Adams subdued after the horrible loss
5.45pm: Polgar is stoking the blazing bonfire with more wood!
She is two pieces down but will win back a queen for a rook. Judit is in her
element, attacking like a demented axeman. This is fabulous, swashbuckling
entertainment! The drugs’ Tsarina Dr. Jana Bellin had better get here
quickly: I am sure these players are on steroids. If they are, give them more,
is what I say!
Peter Svidler, suffering in success
6.10pm: Svidler has won! It was a question of which rock
(Peter) would crumble first. This looked like a fine positional game from the
Russian. Leko’s knight, miserably stranded on a5 (and then on b7), was
the cause of his downfall – a perfect illustration of the truth of the
saying “A knight on the rim is grim”. This equine neglect led to
first one concession and then the other, as first his rook was forced to abdicate
the e-file and then his queen was driven back in a most unregal manner. Finally,
with Black’s queenside collapsing (which itself would have sufficed for
victory) Svidler brutally zeroed in on the king. With mate in the offing, Leko
resigned. The much fancied Hungarian is having a torrid time of it here. He
still has a chance to make a recovery but, if he is to even dream of victory,
he had better start winning very quickly.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov, world champion from Uzbekistan
6.30pm: Polgar has regained her sacrificed material with
interest. The World Champion is on the ropes and I can hardly conceive of him
recovering with his paralysed pieces. This is extremely impressive stuff from
the young lady who has bounced back well after her disappointing opening day.
There is a reason why I have been ignoring the Morozevich-Topalov clash: it
has been a pretty turgid affair so far. Moroz was clearly intent on keeping
the position very tight and not allowing the aggressive Bulgarian to play the
sort of game which he enjoys. The strategy has backfired, though, because the
Russian has dropped a pawn. White enjoys a modicum of compensation, by means
of a well-positioned knight, but I doubt that he will be very happy with what
he has done. It appears as if a draw is the best he can hope for now.
Judit Polgar in the press conference after her victory
6.47pm: Kasimjanov resigned. The endgame was beyond redemption.
Polgar had a choice of winning with rooks on (the silicon choice) or with them
off (as any normal human being would prefer). She exchanged – obviously
she does not carry Pocket Fritz in that handbag of hers – and elegantly
shepherded her passed c-pawn through to promotion. Three decisive results and
we are not finished yet!
Morozevich (seated) letting it slip away against Topalov
8.05pm: There has been an understandable lull after all the
excitement of earlier. I find myself singing the refrain from Paul Simon’s
hit “Slip-slidin’ away” after looking at Morozevich’s
position. He must be cursing himself: if one is to lose, better to do it with
testosterone, not with faggotty shuffling like this. I did the same myself
against Topalov this year, and it was pretty miserable.
Morozevich going under
10.45pm: This oenomaniac has returned from dinner after pleasant
discourse with the World Champion on linguistics and ophthalmology. Toppy,
who duly won his game as anticipated, mentioned, a touch incredulously, that
his opponent had offered a draw on move 12 . One can only surmise that Morozevich
was suffering from insomnia or some other physical ailment. Why else would one
wish to waste a precious White?
Four decisive games. This was an amazing day for the spectators – not
that the others have been bad. Toppy and Vishy share the lead with Peter Svidler
half a point behind. Long may this slugfest continue!
Nigel Short
As a special service we provide our readers with definitions of
some of the words used in Nigel Short's Diary of the World Championship.
If we have missed a few obscure or difficult expressions –
a good place to look them up is the OneLook
Dictionary Search.
A Short English Dictionary
- Technophobic: Noun; fear or dislike of advanced technology
or complex devices and especially computers.
- Prognostication: Noun; knowledge of the future, a statement
made about the future.
- Soporific: Adjective; sleep inducing, inducing mental lethargy
- Malign: Verb; to say false and unpleasant things about someone
or to unfairly criticize them.
- Crikey: Interjection; British informal: an expression of
surprise, euphemism for "Christ", used as a mild oath. Pronunciation:
Cry-key.
- Equine: Adjective; of or belonging to the family Equidae,
resembling a horse.
- Turgid: Adjective; swollen and distended or congested, (of
language or style) tediously pompous or bombastic.
- Modicum: Noun; a small portion, a limited quantity.
- Oenomaniac: Noun; a person with an obsession or craze for
wine. Pronounciation: Ee-no-mania. Oenomania sometimes leads to the
abundant use of rare or obscure words.
|
Full schedule
Round 1: Wednesday, September 28th |
Peter Leko |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
A. Morozevich |
½-½ |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Judit Polgar |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 2: Thursday, September 29th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Judit Polgar |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
|
|
Round 3: Friday, September 30th |
A. Morozevich |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Peter Leko |
Judit Polgar |
1-0 |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
|
|
Round 4: Saturday, October
1st |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Michael Adams |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
- |
Vishy Anand |
Peter Leko |
- |
Judit Polgar |
A. Morozevich |
- |
Peter Svidler |
Games –
Report |
|
Free day: Sunday, October 2nd |
|
Round 5: Monday, October 3rd |
Peter Svidler |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Judit Polgar |
- |
A. Morozevich |
Vishy Anand |
- |
Peter Leko |
Michael Adams |
- |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 6: Tuesday, October
4th |
Judit Polgar |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
- |
Peter Svidler |
Michael Adams |
- |
A. Morozevich |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
- |
Peter Leko |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 7: Wednesday, October
5th |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Peter Leko |
- |
Michael Adams |
A. Morozevich |
- |
Vishy Anand |
Peter Svidler |
- |
Judit Polgar |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 8: Thursday, October
6th |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Peter Leko |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
- |
A. Morozevich |
Michael Adams |
- |
Peter Svidler |
Vishy Anand |
- |
Judit Polgar |
Games –
Report |
|
Free day: Friday, October 7th |
|
Round 9: Saturday, October
8th |
Vishy Anand |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Judit Polgar |
- |
Michael Adams |
Peter Svidler |
- |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
A. Morozevich |
- |
Peter Leko |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 10: Sunday, October
9th |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
A. Morozevich |
Peter Leko |
- |
Peter Svidler |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
- |
Judit Polgar |
Adamas |
- |
Vishy Anand |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 11: Monday, October
10th |
Adamas |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
- |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Judit Polgar |
- |
Peter Leko |
Peter Svidler |
- |
A. Morozevich |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 12: Tuesday, October
11th |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Peter Svidler |
A. Morozevich |
- |
Judit Polgar |
Peter Leko |
- |
Vishy Anand |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
- |
Michael Adams |
Games –
Report |
|
Free day: Wednesday, October 12th |
|
Round 13: Thursday, October
13th |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Michael Adams |
- |
Peter Leko |
Vishy Anand |
- |
A. Morozevich |
Judit Polgar |
- |
Peter Svidler |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 14: Friday, October
14th |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Judit Polgar |
Peter Svidler |
- |
Vishy Anand |
A. Morozevich |
- |
Michael Adams |
Peter Leko |
- |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Games –
Report |
|
Tie-breaks: Saturday, October 15th |
|
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