Corus Wijk aan Zee, 14-29 Jan 2006
Last Edited:
Friday September 1, 2006 2:26 PM
Rd 12: Gelfand's Great Escape
Round 12 (2006.01.28)
Topalov, Veselin - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 23 C78 Ruy Lopez
Gelfand, Boris - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 61 E15 Queen's indian
Kariakin, Sergey - Aronian, Levon 1/2 27 C88 Ruy Lopez
Tiviakov, Sergei - Leko, Peter 1/2 23 C54 Italian Game
Van Wely, Loek - Adams, Michael 1/2 60 E15 Queen's indian
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Kamsky, Gata 0-1 48 D94 Grunfeld
Sokolov, Ivan - Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 28 D15 Slav defence
Corus Wijk aan Zee (NED), I 2006 cat. 19 (2716)
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Positions after Round 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
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1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2801 * = 0 = 1 = . = 1 1 1 1 = 1 8.5 2864
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 = * = . 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 0 = = 8.0 2833
3 Adams, Michael g ENG 2707 1 = * 0 = 1 = = = = = 1 . = 7.0 2774
4 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2723 = . 1 * = = = = = = 1 0 = 1 7.0 2765
5 Kariakin, Sergey g UKR 2660 0 0 = = * . = = = = 1 1 1 1 7.0 2776
6 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2729 = 0 0 = . * = = = 1 = 1 = 1 6.5 2748
7 Leko, Peter g HUN 2740 . 0 = = = = * = 0 = = 1 1 = 6.0 2706
8 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2669 = = = = = = = * = = 0 . = = 5.5 2693
9 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2647 0 0 = = = = 1 = * 1 . 0 = = 5.5 2692
10 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2752 0 = = = = 0 = = 0 * = 1 1 . 5.5 2686
11 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2717 0 0 = 0 0 = = 1 . = * 1 = = 5.0 2664
12 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2686 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 . 1 0 0 * 1 = 4.5 2635
13 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2709 = = . = 0 = 0 = = 0 = 0 * = 4.0 2592
14 Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2689 0 = = 0 0 0 = = = . = = = * 4.0 2590
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Steve Giddins reports direct from Wijk aan Zee -
Today was the keenly-anticipated clash between the leaders, Topalov and
Anand. Unfortunately, rather like FA Cup Finals, such games often turn
out to be disappointments, and today's was no exception. Anand repeated
the same line of the New Archangel which was seen earlier in the tournament
between Topalov and Sokolov. That game ended in a convincing victory for
White, but Anand's big improvement 12...Ncxe5 (Sokolov played 12...Qe8?)
13.h3 d6! offered a piece sacrifice. The computer-enhanced denizens of
the Press Room were all keen to see what would happen if White accepted,
but it was obvious from the start that such a course was far too risky
for White, especially with Anand clearly having prepared the whole line
at home. Topalov instead chose a quiet line, and Black equalized effortlessly.
A few pieces were rapidly hoovered and the draw agreed at move 23, after
barely an hour's play. This leaves Topalov with a half point lead over
Anand, going into tomorrow's last round, but whereas Anand has White against
Gelfand, Topalov faces a tougher game as Black against Leko.
Sokolov-Bacrot did not last very much longer. Facing the 4...a6 Slav
of which he is himself a leading practitioner, Sokolov embarked on a queenside
pawn advance, which led only to mass exchanges and a drawn ending.
Tiviakov-Leko was a third quiet draw. The Giuoco Piano with d3 is a line
where White can hope for an advantage against inferior defence, but against
players of Leko's class, it offers nothing at all. The latter's excellent
manoeuvre 13...Ne8! ensured that he would never have any problems, and
a draw soon resulted.
Kariakin has clearly been amongst the best-prepared players in the tournament,
and today he again knew far more about the opening than his opponent,
Levon Aronian. The position after 18...Bd7 had been reached in the game
Adams-Anand, from St Luis, although Aronian was unaware of the fact. That
game continued 19 Ba4 Bb5 and ended in a quick draw. Kariakin played the
new move 19 Rfc1 and soon obtained the advantage, with the better bishop
and more space. The move 25 Qf1! would have set Black much greater problems,
however. In the game, Black was about to play 27...c5 when the draw was
agreed, and the post-mortem did not reveal any way for White to gain the
advantage.
After a solid start in the first 6 rounds, Mamedyarov has looked much
less impressive in the second half of the tournament, and today he lost
another bad game, to Kamsky. The world junior champion misplayed the opening,
completely missing the strength of 11...Ne8. Further drifting left him
facing a prospectless position after 25 moves, with no counterplay against
Black's plan of preparing the break g6-g5. In desperation, Mamedyarov
gave up the b4-pawn, in the hope of creating some play, but it never materialised
and Kamsky finished him off without difficulty.
In this same tournament two years ago, Mickey Adams lost a crucial game
with Black against van Wely, and today, he came close to doing so again.
The position after 14...Bxc5 has been reached several times before, notably
in two games of Kengis, but nobody has ever taken the d5 pawn. Black looked
to have considerable compensation, but after long thought, van Wely found
a way to activate his pieces with 22 b4. The position should have simplified
to a draw, for example by 24...Rxa2, but after Adams' 24...f5?! he was
in trouble. Van Wely could perhaps have won with 33 Ke1! when 33...Rd4
(33...Kf8 34 a5 Bxf4 35 a6 wins), 34 Ke2 Bg1 35 Nf6+ is a slightly improved
version of the game. Instead, he liquidated immediately to a minor piece
ending, where his extra pawn proved insufficient for victory.
I am not sure if Boris Gelfand is a fan of the classic WW2 film "The
Great Escape", but today he put up a performance worthy of Richard
Attenborough himself:
Gelfand - Ivanchuk [E15]
Wijk aan Zee 2006, rd 12
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Ba6 5 b3 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Be7 7 Bg2 c6 8
0-0 d5 9 Qc2 Nbd7 10 Rd1
After starting out as a Queen's Indian, the game has transposed into
the Closed Catalan.
10...0-0 11 Bf4 Rc8 12 Nc3 Nh5 13 Bc1 Nhf6 14 Bf4 Nh5 15 Bc1 Nhf6
16 Bf4
Played after long thought. The spectators were now expecting the game
to end after Black's next move, but Ivanchuk also now sank into a prolonged
think. His conscience must have got the better of him, because he eventually
decided to avoid the repetition.
16...Re8 17 e4 dxc4
18 bxc4?!
The usual move here is 18 Bf4. Such pawn sacrifices are very common in
this line, with White usually able to recover the pawn at some point by
Nd2. Gelfand instead seeks to regain it immediately, but under-estimates
the danger to his queen.
18...Bxc4 19 Nd2 Ba6 20 Qa4 Bd3 21 Ndb1
21 Nb3 is slightly better try, but White still stands worse.
21...b5 22 Qxa7 e5! 23 Rxd3
23 dxe5 Bc5 wins immediately.
23...exf4 24 Rd1 b4 25 e5
25 Ne2 Nc5! is the point, when White loses the queen. Gelfand therefore
jettisons a piece for a couple of pawns, but this should be hopeless.
25...bxc3 26 Nxc3 Bb4 27 Rdc1 Bxc3 28 Rxc3 Nd5 29 Rc2 Ra8 30 Qb7 Rb8
31 Qa7 Re7 32 Qa3 Re6 33 Rac1 Nf8 34 Rxc6 Rxc6 35 Rxc6 Rb1+ 36 Bf1 h5
36...Qd7 was another strong possibility, but there is nothing wrong with
Ivanchuk's choice.
37 Rd6 Qc8 38 Qd3 Nc3 39 Kg2 Ne6 40 Qc4
40...Qxc4??
40...f3+ wins immediately, with the follow-up 41 Kxf3 Ng5+, etc. Given
the way that Ivanchuk has lined up his queen on c8 and knight on e6 over
the past couple of moves, it is very strange that he should miss this
possibility. He had about a minute on the clock for the last move of the
time control, but exchanged queens instantly.
41 Bxc4 Ne4 42 Bd3 Re1 43 Rb6 g6 44 Bxe4 Rxe4 45 d5 Nf8 46 gxf4 Rxf4
47 Rb8 Rd4 48 e6 fxe6 49 dxe6 Re4 50 Re8 Kg7
In the ending after 50...Rxe6 51 Rxe6 Nxe6 52 a4, White can oppose kings
on the K-side, whilst his a-pawn reaches a5 and ties down the black knight.
Maybe there is still a win, but it is not obvious how. Ivanchuk evidently
did not find one, but his plan also fails.
51 f3 Re5 52 Re7+ Kh6 53 f4 Re2+ 54 Kf3 Rxa2 55 Re8 Nh7 56 e7 Ra3+
57 Kf2 Ra7 58 h4!
Preventing Black from playing h4 and Kh5. Now he has no way to extract
his pieces from the positional draw, since 58...Kg7?? allows 59 Rg8+.
58...Nf6 59 Rh8+ Kg7 60 e8Q Nxe8 61 Rxe8 ½-½
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