World Championship Candidates Semi-Finals Elista 2007. Round 6 2nd June 2007.
Comments by Mark Crowther. Flash game notes by IM Malcolm Pein.
The final round of the regular timerate games produced more thrilling chess. Five matches of the eight have been concluded and three remain to be decided in a four game g/25+10 seconds plus two blitz if needed and finally a single Armageddon blitz game if needed.
The situation is that half the second round matches are decided.
Round 2 Pairings Wednesday June 6th 2007
Aronian/Carlsen -
Shirov/Adams
Leko - Bareev
Rublevsky - Grischuk
Gelfand/Kasimdzhanov - Kamsky
The playoffs on Sunday are:
Aronian-Carlsen
Gelfand-Kasimdzhanov
Shirov-Adams.
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com]
Ruslan Ponomariov needed a win with black against Sergey Rublevsky in the final game. He chose an unsual variation of the Caro Kann but things quickly started to go wrong. By move 16 he was already significantly worse and he decided to accept draw by repetition and elimination.
Rublevsky,S (2680) - Ponomariov,R (2717) [B16]
WCh
Candidates s/f Elista RUS (6), 02.06.2007
[IM Malcolm Pein]
Its a cliche of course but Pono goes out not with a bang but with a whimper. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 Trying to spice it up 6.c3 Qd5 [6...Bf5 Is traditionally played and if it was Larsen's choice then I guess its most combative] 7.Qb3 Nd7 Black has a good structure after a queen exchange 8.Nf3 Nb6 9.c4! It must have been very tempting to exchange but this gives White a clear advantage 9...Qh5 10.Be2
10...Bg7? Ponomariov was clearly too unfamiliar with the positions. Anyone who has played this line would play Rg8 here like a shot [10...Rg8 11.g3 Bg4 (11...Bh6 12.Bxh6 Qxh6 13.a4 is better for White but at least the game continues) 12.c5 Be6 13.Qd1 Nd5 14.Ng5 Qg6 15.Bh5 Qf5 16.g4 traps the queen] 11.Be3 0-0 12.0-0 e5 13.Qc2 very canny, Black is tempted to occupy a retreat square for his queen 13...Bf5 14.Qd1 Bg4 [14...e4 15.Ng5 Qg6 16.Bh5 Qh6 17.Nxf7] 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Qg6 White is better but he forces a draw and wins the match 17.Bh5 Qe4 18.Bf3 Qg6 19.Bh5 Qe4 1/2-1/2
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com]
Boris Gelfand and Rustam Kasimdzhanov had a 6th draw in a row. It seems both players fancy their chances in the rapid event tie-break as they didn't try particularly hard to force the issue in the final game.
Kasimdzhanov,R (2677) - Gelfand,B (2733) [E15]
WCh
Candidates s/f Elista RUS (6), 02.06.2007
[IM Malcolm Pein]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Nf6 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 b5 15.Nc5 Bxc5 16.dxc5 bxc4 17.Qe2 Qd3 [17...Nd5 18.Be5 Qg5 19.Bd6 Rfd8 20.bxc4 +/- L'Ami-Iordachescu Vlissengen 2006] 18.Qxd3 [18.Qe5 cxb3 19.Rfd1 Qg6 20.axb3 Bb5 followed by Nd5=; 18.Qe5 cxb3 19.Rfd1 Qg6 20.Bxc6 Rac8 21.Bg2 Bc4 intending Bd5 and White will be worse] 18...cxd3 19.Bxc6 Rac8 20.Bg2 Nd5 21.Bxd5= Tie breakers. These two have been very evenly matched
1/2-1/2
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com]
The match of the event so far is the struggle between Levon Aronian and Magnus Carlsen. With four out of five games finishing decisively so far this game promised to be interesting. Carlsen tried an ususual variation of the Slav Defence and played pretty quickly up to and including 13...Ra6 but already his position was a little fishy. Aronian's 15.Be5 was a very strong move and this led to Carlsen giving up his g7 pawn. Aronian chose 19.Qxc3 instead of 19.bxc3 which also looked promising. Aronian picked up the h7 pawn but Carlsen got significant counterplay. When Carlsen found the forced 43....Nb4+ it left 45.Rc4 as Aronian's last chance to exploit his advantage as Carlsen's rook sacrifice 45...Rxg3 forced a near instant draw. Great game, and more in the tie-breaks tomorrow is promised.
Aronian,L (2759) - Carlsen,M (2693) [D17]
WCh
Candidates s/f Elista RUS (6), 02.06.2007
[IM Malcolm Pein]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 [6...e6 7.f3 c5 8.e4 Bg6 9.Be3 was discussed in the Ponomariov-Rublevsky match. Black was solid] 7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 bagging the b4 aquare is always worthwhile in these positions. Also White's threat was a4-a5 9.g3 Nfd7 A bit of a sideline. 9...e6 and 10...Bb4 is standard 10.Nxd7 Qxd7 11.e4 Bh3 [11...Bg4 12.f3 Bh3 13.Bxh3 Qxh3 14.Qb3 Ra6 15.Be3 Qg2? 16.0-0-0! was disastrous for Black in Nielsen-Timman Sigeman and Co 2006. Provokoing f3 seems to help White] 12.Bxh3 [12.Be2 Bu Xiangzhi - I Sokolov Turin Olympiad 2006] 12...Qxh3 13.Qb3 Ra6 14.Bf4 [14.Be3 e6 15.d5 Bb4 16.dxe6 Qxe6=] 14...e6 15.Be5 Bb4! [15...f6 16.Bc7 Bb4 17.0-0-0 0-0 18.Ne2 Looks better for White] 16.Bxg7 Rg8 17.Be5 Qg2 18.0-0-0 Bxc3 19.Qxc3 [19.bxc3 Qxe4 20.c4 Qe2!] 19...Qxe4 20.Rhe1 Qd5
I guess really deep preparation and clever play. Black's strongpoint on d5 compensates for the other deficiencies in his position 21.b3 Qd7 It makes sense to get the knight to d5 but this costs a pawn [21...Nd7] 22.Qc2 Qe7 [22...Rg6 23.h4] 23.Qxh7 Rg6 [23...Qa3+ 24.Kd2 Rg6 25.Re3] 24.Re3 Nd5 25.Rf3 Qf8 26.h4 Rh6 27.Qc2 White must be better here. Carlsen digs in over the next few moves 27...Ra8 28.Qd2 Rh5 29.Kb2 Qg8 30.Re1 Qg6 31.Bd6 [31.Rh1 Qe4 32.Qd3 Qxd3 33.Rxd3 f6 34.g4 Rh8 35.Bg3 but that knight on d5 is still a wonderful piece. but White can play for a win here] 31...Rd8 32.Ba3 Qg4 33.Rd3 Rf5 34.Re5 Kd7 35.Qe2 Rg8! 36.Qe1 [36.Qxg4 Rxg4 37.Rxf5 exf5 38.Rd1 f4! with good counterplay ] 36...Rg6 37.Re2 Rf3?! 38.Rxf3 Qxf3 39.Rc2! a5 is suddenly lost but Carlsen survives even this 39...Qf6 40.Qxa5 Qxd4+ 41.Ka2 Rf6 42.f4 [42.Bc5 Qe4 43.Rd2 Rf3 and even here its tough for White to progress] 42...Rg6 43.Qa8 Nb4+ 44.Bxb4 Qxb4 45.Rg2
[45.Rc4 Qd2+ 46.Ka3 Kc7 47.Qf8 Rxg3 48.Qxf7+ Qd7 should be a draw] 45...Rxg3! 46.Rxg3 Qd2+ 47.Ka3 Qc1+ [47...Qc1+ 48.Kb4 Qxf4+ 49.Kc5 Qf2+ 50.Kc4 Qf4+ =] 1/2-1/2
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com]
Winning with the black pieces was always going to be a tall order for Judit Polgar against Evgeny Bareev. She gave it her best shot and obtained something of an advantage but she really never came close to turning it into a win. The draw was agreed on move 47. Bareev dominated the match and might have finished it earlier and deserved to go through.
Bareev,E (2643) - Polgar,Ju (2727) [A46]
WCh Candidates
s/f Elista RUS (6), 02.06.2007
[IM Malcolm Pein]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 c5 6.c3 Bareev's intentions are clear, no funny stuff and keep it solid 6...Na6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Nbd2 0-0 9.Qb3 Qb6 [9...Rb8 10.Qxb5 Bxf3 11.Qxa6 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 Rxb2 13.Rfb1 =] 10.a4 b4 11.Nc4 Qd8 12.dxc5 Nxc5! Polgar succeeds in creating some confusion but not enough 13.Qxb4 Rb8 14.Qa5 Qxa5 [14...Bd5 15.Qxd8 Rfxd8 16.Nfe5 Bxc4 17.Nxc4 d5 18.Na5 Rxb2 19.Nc6 Rd7 20.Rfb1 Nxa4 21.Rxb2 Nxb2 22.Be3 equalises] 15.Nxa5 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Rxb2 17.Rfd1 Rc8 18.Be3 Kf8 [18...d5 and if 19.c4 Bd8] 19.Bd4 Rc2 20.Nb7 Nb3 21.Rab1
21...Nxd4? [21...Nd2 22.Rb5 d5 avoids a symmetrical pawn structure and Black has an edge 23.Ra5 Nc4! 24.Rxa7? (but even after 24.Bxf6 Nxa5 25.Bxe7+ Kxe7 26.Nxa5 Rb2 is unbalanced and in Black's favour) 24...e5! -/+] 22.cxd4 d5 23.a5 g5 24.h3 h5 25.g4 hxg4 26.hxg4 R8c4 27.e3 Bareev holds on from here 27...Nd7 28.Kf1 Ra4 29.Rdc1 Rb4! 30.a6 Nb6 31.Be2 Rxc1+ 32.Rxc1 Nc4 33.Bxc4 dxc4 34.Na5 Ra4 35.Nxc4 Rxa6 36.Ne5 Black cannot defend against checks and threats to f7 and get the a pawn going at the same time. 36...Bd6 37.Rc8+ Ke7 38.Nc4 Bb4 39.Rc7+ Ke8 40.Rb7 Be7 [40...Ra1+ 41.Ke2 a5 42.Ne5 f5 43.Rb6 +=] 41.Ke2 Ra2+ 42.Kd3 Rxf2 43.Rb8+ Kd7 44.Rb7+ Ke8 45.Rb8+ Kd7 46.Rb7+ Ke8 1/2-1/2
Alexei Shirov was another player in a must win situation in his match against Michael Adams. He did however have the advantage of the which pieces. Adams played the Petroff Defence and Shirov headed for a sideline with 5.dxe5. Adams seemed to be doing OK in his task of drawing the game until he played 17...Kf8 which just dropped a pawn for nothing. Shirov is a very fine endgame player and his 36...bxc5 set up the win and a tie-break match tomorrow.
Shirov,A (2699) - Adams,Mi (2734) [C43]
WCh Candidates
s/f Elista RUS (6), 02.06.2007
[IM Malcolm Pein]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.dxe5 Be7 6.0-0 Bg4 7.Bxe4 dxe4 8.Qxd8+ Bxd8 9.Nd4 0-0 10.Nc3 Nd7 11.h3 Bh5 [11...c5 12.hxg4 cxd4 13.Nxe4 Nxe5 14.Nd6 Nxg4 =] 12.e6 fxe6?! [12...Nc5 13.exf7+ Bxf7 = 14.b4 Na6 15.a3 c5!] 13.Nxe6 Re8 14.Nxd8 Raxd8 15.Bg5 Nf6 16.Rfe1 White has a nagging edge here as e4 is permanently weak 16...Bg6 17.Rad1 Kf8 [17...Rxd1 18.Rxd1 Kf7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Nb5 Rc8 21.Rd7+ Ke6 22.Rxc7 Rxc7 23.Nxc7+ Ke5 with some compensation] 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Nd5 e3 Adams plays very well from here and finds a way to make his bishop count against the knight in an open board but Shirov, who got into time pressure was up to the task 20.Nxe3 c5 21.Kf1 Rd4 22.c3 Bd3+! 23.Kg1 Rd6 24.Rd2 b5 25.Nc2 Red8 26.Red1 Ke7 27.Ne1 Be4 28.Rxd6 Rxd6 29.Rxd6 Kxd6 Adams' plan is to force b2-b3 and then march his king in 30.Kf1 Kd5 31.Ke2 Bb1 32.a3 Kc4 33.Kd2 Shirov's trump card is that Adams' split kingside pawns will be hard to defend later 33...Be4 [33...Kb3 34.Kc1 Bg6 35.Nf3 b4 36.cxb4 cxb4 37.Nd2+ Ka4 38.axb4 Kxb4 and Black must hope he can swap the last pair on the queenside and get his king back to the kingside] 34.f3 Bg6 35.b4!
35...Kb3 anything else loses slowly [35...cxb4 36.axb4 Bb1 37.Nc2] 36.bxc5 Kxa3 37.c6 Ka4 [37...Bf5 38.c7 Kb3 (38...b4 39.Nc2+ +-) 39.Nc2 Bd7 40.Nd4+ Kc4 41.Nc6 +-] 38.g4 Be8 39.c7 Bd7 40.Nd3 Ka5 41.Nc5 Bc8 42.Ne4 and cleans up the kingside to take the match to tie breaks 42...Kb6 43.Nxf6 Kxc7 44.Nxh7 Kd6 45.h4 a5 46.h5 Ke7 47.Ng5 Bb7 48.h6 Kf6 49.f4 1-0
Carlsen, Magnus - Aronian, Levon 0-1 36 C84 Ruy Lopez Centre Attack
Aronian, Levon - Carlsen, Magnus 1/2 21 A58 Volga Gambit
Carlsen, Magnus - Aronian, Levon 1-0 41 A30 English Symmetrical
Aronian, Levon - Carlsen, Magnus 1-0 40 E14 Queens Indian
Carlsen, Magnus - Aronian, Levon 1-0 49 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian
Aronian, Levon - Carlsen, Magnus 1/2 47 D17 Slav Defence
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Aronian, Levon g ARM 2759 1 = 0 1 0 = 3.0 2693
Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2693 0 = 1 0 1 = 3.0 2759
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Leko, Peter - Gurevich, Mikhail 1/2 35 C10 French Rubinstein
Gurevich, Mikhail - Leko, Peter 0-1 53 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Leko, Peter - Gurevich, Mikhail 1-0 50 C11 French Defence
Gurevich, Mikhail - Leko, Peter 0-1 40 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Leko, Peter g HUN 2738 = 1 1 1 . . 3.5 2971
Gurevich, Mikhail g TUR 2635 = 0 0 0 . . 0.5 2416
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Ponomariov, Ruslan - Rublevsky, Sergei 1/2 37 D17 Slav Defence
Rublevsky, Sergei - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 41 B86 Sicilian Sozin Attack
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Rublevsky, Sergei 0-1 92 B46 Sicilian Paulsen
Rublevsky, Sergei - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 56 B87 Sicilian Sozin Attack
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Rublevsky, Sergei 1/2 38 D17 Slav Defence
Rublevsky, Sergei - Ponomariov, Ruslan 1/2 18 B16 Caro Kann
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2680 = = 1 = = = 3.5 2774
Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2717 = = 0 = = = 2.5 2623
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Gelfand, Boris - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 1/2 47 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 23 E15 Queens Indian
Gelfand, Boris - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 1/2 38 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 48 D24 QGA
Gelfand, Boris - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 1/2 45 D48 Queens Gambit Meran
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 17 E15 Queens Indian
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 = = = = = = 3.0 2677
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2677 = = = = = = 3.0 2733
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Kamsky, Gata - Bacrot, Etienne 1/2 29 D15 Slav Defence
Bacrot, Etienne - Kamsky, Gata 0-1 39 A81 Dutch Leningrad
Kamsky, Gata - Bacrot, Etienne 1-0 36 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed
Bacrot, Etienne - Kamsky, Gata 0-1 39 E08 Catalan
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Kamsky, Gata g USA 2705 = 1 1 1 . . 3.5 3045
Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2709 = 0 0 0 . . 0.5 2383
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Grischuk, Alexander - Malakhov, Vladimir 1-0 42 B61 Sicilian Rauzer
Malakhov, Vladimir - Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 64 A30 English Symmetrical
Grischuk, Alexander - Malakhov, Vladimir 1/2 34 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin
Malakhov, Vladimir - Grischuk, Alexander 0-1 37 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit
Grischuk, Alexander - Malakhov, Vladimir 1/2 43 B61 Sicilian Rauzer
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2717 1 = = 1 = . 3.5 2828
Malakhov, Vladimir g RUS 2679 0 = = 0 = . 1.5 2568
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Polgar, Judit - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 63 B19 Caro Kann
Bareev, Evgeny - Polgar, Judit 1-0 64 E15 Queens Indian
Polgar, Judit - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 56 B13 Caro Kann Exchange
Bareev, Evgeny - Polgar, Judit 1-0 54 E19 Queens Indian
Polgar, Judit - Bareev, Evgeny 1-0 33 B11 Caro Kann Two Knights
Bareev, Evgeny - Polgar, Judit 1/2 47 A46 Queen's Pawn Opening
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2643 = 1 = 1 0 = 3.5 2784
Polgar, Judit g HUN 2727 = 0 = 0 1 = 2.5 2586
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Adams, Michael - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 50 C06 French Tarrasch
Shirov, Alexei - Adams, Michael 1/2 54 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Adams, Michael - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 26 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Shirov, Alexei - Adams, Michael 0-1 40 E17 Queens Indian
Adams, Michael - Shirov, Alexei 1/2 38 C77 Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Shirov, Alexei - Adams, Michael 1-0 49 C43 Petroff's Defence
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 27 v-3 vi 2007
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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Adams, Michael g ENG 2734 = = = 1 = 0 3.0 2699
Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2699 = = = 0 = 1 3.0 2734
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