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World Championship Candidates Semi-Finals Elista 2007. Round 3 29th May 2007. Comments by Mark Crowther. Flash game notes by IM Malcolm Pein. We're already at the half way point of the first set of Candidates Matches and the players get a well earned day off, or probably more likely day of preparation and repair. Its time for the seconds to do their stuff and Misha Savinov and others reported on Mig's Daily Dirt blog that the teams they know of were as follows: Carlsen: Kjetil Lie Aronian: Sargissian and Potkin (thanks to Misha for the definitive answer). Ponomariov: Mikhail Golubev and Yury Kruppa. Rublevsky: Maxim Sorokin. Leko: Arshak Petrosian. Gurevich: Alex Chernin and Mikhail Brodsky. Gelfand: Pavel Eljanov and Alex Huzman. Kasimdzhanov: Daniel Fridman and Said Ali Iuldashev. Grischuk: Andrey Schekachev and the very strong Dmitry Jakovenko Malakhov: Alexey Dreev. Polgar: Jussupow and maybe Goloschapov Bareev: Ernesto Inarkiev. Adams: None. Shirov: Ganguly and Nisipeanu Bacrot: None Kamsky: None  Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com] Result of the day was Magnus Carlsen's win against Levon Aronian which allowed him to level the match. Carlsen obtained a nice edge out of the English Opening he played and even though Aronian managed to fight off the initial assault he fell victim to a long term plan from which there appeared no escape. Carlsen,M (2693) - Aronian,L (2759) [A30] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Re1 d5 [7...d6 8.e4 a6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Is another line but not trusted at the top level; 7...Ne4 is also played] 8.cxd5 Nxd5 [8...exd5 9.d4] 9.d4 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be4 The typical battle for the e4 square [10...Nd7 11.e4 0-0 12.Bf4 Gives White chances based on d4-d5] 11.Ne5! No other move makes any sense White must play e2-e4 11...Bxg2 12.Kxg2 0-0 13.e4 Qc8 14.Qg4 Bf6 15.Nf3 Kh8 [15...Nc6 16.e5 Be7 17.Bh6+-] 16.h4 Nc6 17.Bg5! cxd4 [17...Bxg5 18.hxg5 and Rh1] 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.cxd4 e5 [19...Rg8 20.Qf4 Qd8 21.Rad1] 20.Qxc8 Raxc8 21.d5 White is better in the endgame with a protected passed pawn 21...Na5 22.h5 Nc4 [22...h6 23.Nh4 Nc4 24.Nf5 Kh7 25.d6 with a big advantage] 23.Nh4 Nd6 24.h6 Black could not stop Nf5 and h6 and the h6 pawn proves to be a complete menace 24...Rc3 25.Rac1
25...Rfc8 [25...Nxe4 was critical. Black gets into a terrible bind but perhaps he can defend 26.Nf5 Rd8 27.d6 (However a better way to play is 27.Rxc3! Speelman 27...Nxc3 28.d6 b5 29.Rc1 b4 30.a3 a5 31.axb4 axb4 32.Rc2! Rd7 (32...Kg8 33.Rb2 Nd5 34.Ne7+ Nxe7 35.dxe7 Re8 36.Rd2!+- Speelman) 33.Rb2 Rb7 34.Rxb4!! Rxb4 35.d7 Rb8 36.Nd6+- Speelman) 27...Rxc1 28.Rxc1 Nc5 and now direct attack fails 29.Rc4 Kg8 30.Rg4+ Kf8 31.Rg7 Ne6 32.Rxh7 Kg8 33.Rg7+ Nxg7 34.hxg7 b5 35.Kf3 a5 36.Ke4 b4 37.Kd3 a4; 25...Nxe4 26.Nf5 Rd8 27.d6 Rxc1 28.Rxc1 Nxd6 29.Nxd6 Rxd6 30.Rc8+; 25...Nxe4 26.Nf5 Rd8 27.d6 Rxc1 28.Rxc1 Nc5 29.f4 trying to force a way in is possible but far from clear after 29...Kg8 30.Kf3 Kf8] 26.Rxc3 Rxc3 27.Nf5! Nxf5 28.exf5 Kg8 [28...Rd3 29.Rc1] 29.Re4! Kf8 30.Rg4 The White h pawn will tie down the black king and Black's queenside pawns are too slow but this was very hard to foresee. A very impressive game by Carlsen 30...Rc7 31.Rg7
31...b5 32.Rxh7 Kg8 33.Rg7+ Kh8 34.d6 Rd7 35.Kf3 b4 36.Ke4 Rxd6 [36...a5 37.Kd5 a4 38.Kc6+-] 37.Rxf7 Ra6 38.g4! Kg8 39.h7+ Kh8 40.g5 fxg5 41.f6! Kf5-g6 decides 1-0 The first game to finish was that between Michael Adams and Alexei Shirov. The game could be said to be a triumph for Shirov's preparation as he bashed out moves as Adams fell further and further behind on the clock. Shirov had used only 15 minutes for the entire game when Adams decided to repeat the position.Adams,Mi (2734) - Shirov,A (2699) [C78] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 A clever match tactic. Shirov plays the line Adams employed in game 2 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 [8...0-0 9.d4 Bb6 10.dxe5 Ng4 11.Bf4 Qe7= Shirov-Adams Game 2] 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.Qd3 0-0 12.Bg5 exd4 13.cxd4 h6 14.Bh4 g5
This position is virtually unknown 15.e5 [15.Nxg5? hxg5 16.Bxg5 Nxd4 -+; 15.Bg3 looks like a critical test 15...Nh5 16.e5 Ne7! 17.exd6 cxd6 18.Nc3 Bf5 19.Qd2 +/=] 15...gxh4 16.Qg6+ Kh8 17.Qxh6+ Nh7 18.Bc2 This looks dangerous but only leads to a draw 18...f5 19.exf6 Rf7 20.Ng5 [20.Re1 Bg4 21.Ng5 Qxf6 22.Nxf7+ Qxf7 -/+] 20...Qxf6 21.Nxf7+ Qxf7 22.Bxh7 Qxh7 23.Qf8+ Qg8 24.Qh6+ Qh7 25.Qf8+ Qg8 26.Qh6+ 1/2-1/2
Kamsky,G (2705) - Bacrot,E (2709) [C88] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.c3?! d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.d3 What was Kamsky thinking of. The Marshall must have been on his radar before the match [11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Rxe5 Nf4 13.d4 Nxg2] 11...Qd6 12.Nbd2 Rad8 13.Ne4 Qd7 [13...Qg6!?] 14.a4 Kh8 [14...b4] 15.axb5 axb5 16.d4
16...exd4 [16...f5 seems natural 17.Nc5 Bxc5 18.dxc5 e4] 17.cxd4 f6 Black's play makes a very passive impression 18.Nc3! fighting for d5 18...Ncb4 19.Qe2! Hitting b5 and e7. Bacrot's play has made a poor impression. After losing on time in game 2 he ruins a good position from the opening with black in just a few moves and loses without a fight 19...Bd6 20.Qxb5 Nxc3 21.Qxd7 Rxd7 22.bxc3 Nd3 23.Rd1 Nxc1 24.Raxc1 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Bacrot has secured opposite coloured bishops but he subsides remarkably quickly 25...Bf4 26.Ra1 Rd6 [26...Re7 27.Bd5 g5 28.c4] 27.c4 Rb6 28.Rd3 g6 29.c5 Rb5 30.Bc4 Rb4 31.Be6 Rd8 32.d5 Kg7 [32...Rb5 33.Ra4 g5 34.Rc4] 33.d6! cxd6? 34.c6 d5 35.Ra7+ Kh6 36.c7 1-0 Another player who is almost home and dry is Peter Leko who traded queen's on move 17 in what appears to have been a very finely judged decision against Mikhail Gurevich. Leko proceeded to torture his opponent for a long time in much the same way the old Soviet players were advised to do. After doing nothing for the moves running up to first time control he played 43.g5! and finished things clinically in only 7 more moves. Black's bad light squared bishop was not a great advert for the French Defence.
Leko,P (2738) - Gurevich,M (2635) [C11] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Ne2 Qb6 11.Bxc5 Nxc5 12.Ned4 Ideal for a player in the lead, solid as a rock and a bit better for White as well. 12...Ne4 13.Qe3 b4 [Fritz wants to play 13...Na5 and if 14.b3 Nc6] 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.0-0 0-0 16.Rae1 +/= Nxd4 [16...a5 17.f5 Nd2 18.Nxd2 Qxd4 19.f6 +/=] 17.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 18.Nxd4 g6 19.Ra1! a5 20.a3 Nc5 21.axb4 axb4 22.Kf2 Rfc8 23.g4 Black's French bishop eventually proves to be a terrible problem 23...b3 24.Ke3 bxc2 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Bxc2 Kf8 27.Rc1 Rc8 28.Ra1 Ra8 29.Rxa8+ Bxa8 30.b4
The perfect position for White, effectively winning, Black's king cannot get out and all Leko has to do is gradually advance on the kingside 30...Na6 31.b5 Nc5 32.Nb3 Nd7 33.Kd4 Ke7 34.Nc5 Nb6 35.h4 Kd8 36.Bd3 Ke7 37.Be2 Kd8 38.Bf1 Ke7 39.Bd3 Kd8 40.Bc2 Ke7 41.Bd1 Kd8 42.Be2 Ke7 43.g5 Kd8 44.h5 Ke7 45.h6 Kd8 46.Bd3 Ke7 47.Bc2 Kf8 48.Nd3 Nd7 49.Nf2 on the way to f6 49...Ke7 50.Ng4 [50.Ng4 Bb7 51.Nf6 Nf8 52.b6 Bc8 53.Ba4 Bb7 54.Kc5] 1-0 Boris Gelfand came distinctly second best out of the opening when he tried to break down Rustam Kasimdzhanov's Semi-Slav Defence. There was a lot of intricate play but the upshot after the exchange of queens on moves 23 and 25 (Kasimdzhanov had a nice zwischenzug) was that Gelfand was the one looking to draw. In fact even though his position looked worse he made it look rather easy with the game been drawn before even reaching move 40. Gelfand,B (2733) - Kasimdzhanov,R (2677) [D43] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 Nbd7 The Moscow Gambit, one of the sharpest lines there is. Sooner or later this match had to ignite, enough of the Queen's Indians! 12.Bxg4 Rg8 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.Bf3 0-0-0 15.Bf4 [15.a4 b4 16.Ne2 ∞; 15.a4 Qxd4? 16.Qxd4 Rxd4 17.Be5] 15...a6 16.a4 Bb4 17.e5 c5 [17...Nd5 18.Bd2 with the idea of playing Ne4 and after the exchange of dark bishops, getting a knight to d6. But this position is totally unclear] 18.exf6 [18.dxc5 Qxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Rxd1+ 21.Kxd1 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Nd5 23.Bd2 h5 is fine for Black] 18...cxd4 19.axb5
19...Qxb5 [19...dxc3 20.Qxd7+ Rxd7 21.Ra4 Bxf3 22.Rxb4 Rd1#; 19...dxc3 seems good for Black 20.Qxd7+ Rxd7 21.Ra4 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Rgd8 23.Rxb4 Rd1+ 24.Ke2 Rxh1 25.Rxc4+ Kb7 26.bxc3] 20.Qc2 Bxf3 but so does this 21.gxf3 dxc3 22.bxc3 Qf5 23.Qxf5 Bxc3+ 24.Ke2 exf5 25.Ra4! Rge8+ 26.Be3 Rd2+ 27.Kf1 Rd1+ 28.Kg2 Rxh1 29.Kxh1 Bxf6 30.Rxc4+ Kd7 31.Rb4 Rc8 32.h5 Bg7 33.Kg2 Rc6 34.Rb7+ Ke6 35.Ra7 Fortunately for Gelfand Black cannot free himself as he is tied down to h6, f7 and a6 35...Rd6 36.Bc5 Rc6 37.Be3 Rd6 [37...Bf8 38.Ra8] 38.Bc5 Rc6 1/2-1/2 Judit Polgar is finding that nevermind the decade Kamsky spent out of the game, even a year is proving very hard to get back when it comes to opening theory. Evgeny Bareev has won all three opening battles so far and two of those, including today, have been with black. Certainly by move 23 it was absolutely clear that there was only one player going for the win and it wasn't Judit. In the end she knuckled down and didn't have a great deal of difficulty saving the game but it must have been a dispiriting waste of the white pieces. She's probably going to have to rely on Bareev nerves to win this match because a win from the opening doesn't seem likely. Polgar,Ju (2727) - Bareev,E (2643) [B13] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 dxc4 7.Bxc4 Qxd4 8.Qxd4 Nxd4 9.0-0-0 e5 10.f4 Judit tries a very sharp line but its been analysed extensively and Bareev certainly knew how to handle it. Black equalises and keeps the lead 10...Bg4 11.Nf3 Nxf3 12.gxf3 Be6 13.Bd3 Be7 14.f5 Bd7 15.Rhe1 0-0-0 16.Rxe5 Bd6 17.Re2 Bc6 18.Ne4 Be5 19.Bh4 Rd5 20.Nxf6 gxf6 21.Be4 Rxd1+ 22.Kxd1 Bxe4 23.fxe4 Rg8 24.Kc2 Kd7 25.Kd3 Rg4 26.Be1 Rg1 27.Bf2 Rd1+ 28.Kc2 Rh1 29.Bxa7 h5 30.Bd4 Bxd4 31.Rd2 Kc7 32.Rxd4 Rxh2+ 33.Kc3 h4 34.a4 Rh1 35.Rd3 Kc6 36.Kc4 b6 37.Rc3 Kb7 38.Rd3 Ka6 39.b4 h3 40.Kd5 Rh2 41.Kd6 Re2 42.Rxh3 Rxe4 43.Rh8 Rxb4 44.Ke7 Rxa4 45.Kxf7 Kb5 46.Kxf6 Ra1 47.Rc8 Kb4 48.Kg6 Rg1+ 49.Kf7 b5 50.f6 Ka3 51.Ra8+ Kb3 52.Rg8 Rf1 53.Rg5 b4 54.Ke6 Kc4 55.f7 Rxf7 56.Kxf7 b3 1/2-1/2 Alexander Grischuk sank into quite deep thought even before the game left theory against Vladimir Malakhov probably realising that a chance for serious advantage had already gone. The game saw the pieces traded off until only the opposite bishops were left on move 35 when they immediately shared the point. Grischuk,A (2717) - Malakhov,V (2679) [C67] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 9.Nd4 0-0 10.Nc3 This line is solid but slightly worse for Black but Grischuk seems content to keep control. 10...Bc5 11.Rd1 Re8 12.Bf4 Bxd4 13.Rxd4 d5 14.b4 a6 15.Qd2 Qe7 preparing Nd8-e6 16.Bg3 Nd8 17.Rh4 Bf5 18.Ne2 Ne6 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.Rxd4 a5 21.c3 Be6 22.Bh4 Qf8 23.Rc1 c5 24.bxc5 Qxc5 25.h3 Rab8 26.a4 Rb3 27.Bg5 Reb8 28.c4
Just in time, Black was threatening to be better. Grischuk liquidates to stay one up with three to play but he will need to do better with Black in the next game 28...dxc4 29.Rd8+ Rxd8 30.Qxd8+ Qf8 31.Rd1 Rb8 32.Qxc7 h6 33.Qxb8 Qxb8 34.Rd8+ Qxd8 35.Bxd8 Bd7 1/2-1/2
Ponomariov,R (2717) - Rublevsky,S (2680) [B46] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Qe2 Be7 10.Na4 0-0 11.c4 Bb7 12.e5 Nd7 13.Bf4 Nb6 14.cxd5 cxd5 [14...Nxa4 15.Qe4 g6 16.Qxa4 exd5 17.Rfe1+/-] 15.Nc3 Nd7 16.Rad1 Nc5 17.Bb1 a5 18.Rfe1 g6 White is better but Black manages to prevent a direct kingside attack 19.Be3 Ba6 20.Qd2 Rb8 21.Bd4 Rb4 22.Qe3 Nd7 23.a3 [23.b3!?] 23...Rb7 24.f4 Bc4 25.Rd2 Nb8 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Black should be OK now. Compare this with the Leko-Gurevich game, Black has exchanged his bishop. 27...Nd7 28.Na4 Qb8 29.Rc1 Rc8 30.Rdc2 Rbc7 31.Rxc7 Rxc7 32.Rxc7 Qxc7 33.Qc3 Qb7 34.Kf2 Qb5 35.Qc2 Nb8 36.Nc3 Qb7 37.Ne2 Nc6 38.Bc5 Qb5 39.Bxe7 Nxe7 40.Qc3 h5 41.Nd4 Qb6 42.Ke2 Nf5! 43.Nxf5 gxf5 Very insightful play by Rublevsky. It seems that the outside passed pawn gives White good chances but Rublevsky has seen he has a lot of play against f4 and g2 44.b4 axb4 45.axb4 Qa6+ 46.Ke3 Qa7+ 47.Qd4 Qa3+ [47...Qxd4+ 48.Kxd4 Kf8 =] 48.Kf2 h4 49.Qb6 [49.Qd2 Qb3 50.Ke2 Kg7 Black is pressing] 49...Qb2+ 50.Ke1 Qc1+ 51.Ke2 Qc4+ 52.Kd1 Qf1+ 53.Kc2 Qc4+ 54.Kd1 Qf1+ 55.Kc2 Qxf4 56.Qd8+ Kh7 57.Qe7 Qxe5 58.Qxf7+ Kh6 59.b5 Qe2+ 60.Kc3 Qc4+ 61.Kd2 d4 [61...Qxb5? 62.Qf6+ Kh5 63.Qf7+ Kg5 64.Qg7+ Kf4 65.Qd4 +=] 62.Qf8+ Kg6 63.Qg8+ Kh5 64.Qe8+ Kg5 65.Qd8+ Kg4 66.b6 Qc3+ 67.Kd1 Qd3+ 68.Kc1 Qf1+ 69.Kb2 Qxg2+ 70.Kb3 Qf3+ 71.Kc4 Qc3+ 72.Kb5 Qb3+ 73.Ka6 Qa3+ 74.Kb5 Qb2+ 75.Ka6 Qa2+ 76.Kb5 Qe2+ 77.Kc5 Qc2+!
White's king is forced to go to the same file as his own pawn or black's pawn. Both cost a tempo in the race. 78.Kd6 [78.Kxd4 Qd2+] 78...d3! 79.b7 d2 80.Kxe6 Qe4+ 81.Kf6 Qc6+ 82.Ke5 Qxb7 83.h3+ Kxh3 84.Qd3+ Kh2 85.Qxd2+ Qg2 86.Qd1 Qf2 87.Kf6 f4 88.Kf5 f3 89.Kg4 Qg3+ 90.Kh5 f2 91.Qf1 Qf3+ 92.Kh6 Qg2 A win with Black in a six game match. Rublevsky's patience in a passive position was impressive 0-1 |
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 Kasparov Books |
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 Giant Chess Sets |
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 Chess Computers |
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 Books 2000/1/2/3 |
