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World Championship Candidates Finals Elista 2007. Round 1 6th June 2007. Comments by Mark Crowther. Flash game notes by IM Malcolm Pein. After a break of only two full days the Candidates finals got under way in Elista. The first games saw three decisive results and time trouble played quite a part in that. 
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com] Gata Kamsky got very little playing against Boris Gelfand's Sicilian Najdorf. He played a very old fashioned line and in fact followed a game between Smyslov and Kholmov from 1959. Kamsky had a long thought before playing 15.Qc1 which was new and only a few moves later neither player could find a way to avoid repetition.Kamsky,G (2705) - Gelfand,B (2733) [B92] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 Naturally Kamsky chooses a sideline 6...Nc6 7.Be2 e5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Be3 Be6 11.Bf3 Stopping d5 11...Na5 12.Nxa5 Qxa5 13.Qd2 Rfc8 14.Rfd1 Kf8 15.Qc1 White has only 40 minutes left after a long thought. [15.h3 Rc4 16.Qe1 Rac8 17.Bd2 Qc7 18.a5 Bd8 19.Be2 Rc6 20.Be3 Qe7 21.Bd3 Bc4 22.Bg5 Qe6 23.Qe2 Bxd3 24.Qxd3 h6 25.Be3 Ne8 26.Ra4 Rc4 27.Ra3 Rb4 28.b3 Rc6 29.Nd5 Rb5 30.Rda1 Rbc5 31.Bxc5 Rxc5 32.b4 Rc8 33.Rc3 Rxc3 34.Qxc3 g6 35.Rd1 f5 36.Qf3 Ng7 37.Ne3 f4 38.Nd5 h5 39.Qd3 g5 40.Nb6 Be7 41.Qd5 g4 42.Qxb7 gxh3 43.Qc8+ Kf7 44.Qxe6+ Nxe6 45.Nc8 hxg2 46.Kxg2 Nd4 47.Rxd4 1-0 Smyslov,V-Kholmov,R/Moscow 1949/URS-ch] 15...Rc4 16.Rd3 Rac8 17.Qd1 Neither side has a pawn break here 17...R4c6 18.Rd2 Rc4 19.Rd3 Offering the repetition. 19...R4c6 20.h3 Ah no, just gaining time on the clock. White's Rook on d2 protects c2 allowing Nd5 to become a threat. 20...h6 White had one plan of playing Bg5 and Bxf6 but now both sides are stymied 21.Rd2 Rc4 22.Rd3 R4c6 23.Rd2
1/2-1/2 
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com] Peter Leko played a very slow but apparent effective idea against Evgeny Bareev's Caro Kann. The first new move was Leko's 16.Be4 which simply exchanged Bareev's light square bishop but at the expense of at least a couple of tempi. This seemed to take Bareev out of his comfort zone and he started to use a lot of time trying to find the right setup. After 19 moves Bareev only had around 20 minutes left and the time trouble just got worse as Leko played some very obvious moves. 31...Bxg3 failed prosaically but already Bareev had virtually no time and his position was starting to worsen anyway.Leko,P (2738) - Bareev,E (2643) [B17] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0-0 b6 12.Qg4 Kf8 13.Re1 c5 14.c3 Bb7 15.Qh3 Rd8 16.Be4 White spends a couple of tempo simply to remove the light squared bishop. [16.Kh1 Nf6 17.Bd2 Kg8 18.Rad1 Bd5 19.b3 Qb7 20.Be3 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Kf8 22.Bc4 Qc7 23.Rg1 Be7 24.Qg3 Qxg3 25.fxg3 cxd4 26.Bxd4 g6 27.Rd3 Kg7 28.Rgd1 Rhf8 29.Kg2 Kg8 30.Kf1 h5 31.Ke2 h4 32.a4 hxg3 33.hxg3 Nh5 34.Bf2 Rxd3 35.Rxd3 Rd8 36.Ba6 Kf8 37.Rxd8+ Bxd8 38.Kd3 Nf6 39.Kc4 Ne8 40.b4 Ke7 41.Kb3 e5 42.c4 e4 43.Bb7 exf3 44.Bxf3 Kd7 45.Bd5 f5 46.b5 Nf6 47.Bc6+ Kc8 48.a5 Nd7 49.Bxd7+ Kxd7 50.a6 Kc8 51.Kc3 Bf6+ 52.Bd4 Bxd4+ 53.Kxd4 g5 54.Ke5 f4 55.gxf4 gxf4 56.Ke4 Kb8 57.Kxf4 Ka8 58.Ke5 Kb8 59.Kd6 Ka8 60.Kc7 1/2-1/2 Petrosian,T (2558)-Galkin,A (2616)/Kusadasi TUR 2006/The Week in Chess 597] 16...Bxe4 17.Rxe4 Nf6 18.Re1 g6 [18...Kg8 19.Be3 and now either g5 a la Karpov or perhaps c4 as Speelman once played against me in a similar position (from the French Defence ! )] 19.b3 [19.Bxh6+ Kg8 Is double edged and Bf8 is an awkward threat] 19...Kg7 Black was down to 20 minutes left. 20.dxc5 Bxc5 21.Bb2 Rd5!? [21...Qf4 22.c4 h5 and Qg4 was possible but then 23.Rad1 Qg4 24.Qxg4 hxg4 25.Ne5+-] 22.c4 Rh5 23.Qg3 Bd6 [23...Qxg3 24.hxg3 Be7 25.Be5 and the rampant rook is trapped] 24.Ne5 Rd8 25.h3 Rf5 26.Re2 Bc5 27.Rf1 Kh7 Black is doing quite well but he had run out of time 28.Qh2!
Highly devious! Threat g2-g4 28...g5 [28...Ne4!? 29.Rxe4 Rxf2!] 29.Ng4 Bd6 Looks like its that old chestnut the backwards knight move that undoes Bareev, he must have thought he was winning [29...Qxh2+ 30.Kxh2 Nxg4+ 31.hxg4 Rf4 32.f3 Bd4=] 30.g3! Nh5 31.Ne3 Bxg3? [31...Rf3 32.Qg2] 32.fxg3 Rxf1+ 33.Nxf1! Bareev was in terrible time trouble. Maybe he just missed this recapture but the sacrifice was unsound. 33...Rd1 34.Re3 1-0 
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com] Alexander Grischuk got off to the best possible start against Sergei Rublevsky . Rublevsky is an expert in the Scheveningen/ Taimanov Variations but he was rocked on his back foot, first of all by the unsual 12.b4! and even more by the 18.Nxd5 piece sacrifice which over the board must have been incredibly difficult to deal with. Only on move 23 did Grischuk slow down indicating the end of his preparation. It looked like Rublevsky had found a reasonable defence with some chances to draw but then he chased after the f-pawn which had little to do with the game and went under very rapidly although his time trouble by this point must have also had an impact.Grischuk,A (2717) - Rublevsky,S (2680) [B84] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 d6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bd7 9.a4 Be7 10.f4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Bc6 A very solid line once played by Petrosian. Only Rublevsky plays it often. Its a Sicilian Scheveningen with an early Nxd4. The plan of development allows White an aggressive option on the queenside. 12.b4! Attempting to push Black off the board [The standard plan of 12.g4 0-0 13.g5 Nd7 Is perhaps less efffective as Black has already made a space for his knight although 14.Nd5 is a move now] 12...0-0 13.b5 Be8 14.e5 Qc7 [14...dxe5 15.fxe5 Qxd4 16.Bxd4 Nd5 17.Nxd5 exd5 18.bxa6 bxa6 19.a5 when Black's pawns are weaker than White's] 15.b6 Qc6 16.Bf3N [16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Bf3 Qxd4 18.Bxd4 Rd8 19.Ne2 Nd5 20.c3 Bc6 21.g3 Rd7 22.Nc1 Rc8 23.Ne2 a5 24.Kf2 Rdd8 25.Rfd1 g6 26.h3 Be8 27.Be4 h5 28.g4 hxg4 29.hxg4 Bc6 30.g5 Bf8 31.Rh1 Bg7 32.Rh4 Nxc3 33.Bxc6 Rxc6 34.Bxg7 Kxg7 35.Ng3 Rd2+ 36.Kf3 Rcd6 37.Kg4 R6d3 38.Rg1 Nd5 39.Rh3 Rf2 0-1 Palac,M (2580)-Borgo,G (2403)/Saint Vincent ITA 2001/The Week in Chess 327] 16...d5 17.Rae1 White has every piece actively placed and is ready to attack [17.exf6 Bxf6-/+; 17.f5 Rc8 18.Ne2~~] 17...Nd7 18.Nxd5!
This looks like preparation and its quite good for White 18...exd5 19.Bxd5 Qc5 [19...Bc5 20.Bxc6 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 bxc6 22.Rb1 with advantage for white.; 19...Qxc2 20.Rc1 Qf5 and now both 21.Bxb7 Rb8 22.Bc8 and the amazing 22.Qd1 threatening g4 trapping the queen look promising] 20.e6! Qxd4 21.Bxd4 White is getting all the sacrificed material back in all lines. 21...Nf6 [21...Bf6 22.Bxf6 Nxf6 23.Bxb7 Rb8 24.e7 Rxb7 25.exf8Q+ Kxf8 26.a5 Is very good for White] 22.Bb3 White had around 95 minutes left, Black was down to his last half hourand worse. 22...Rd8! i thought Black was lost until this appeared. It looks like the only chance 23.Bxf6 Played after a long thought. White recovers the piece. 23...Bc5+! A finesse putting the king in the corner. [23...Bxf6 24.e7 Bxe7 25.Rxe7 Bc6 26.Rfe1 Rd2 27.R1e2 is just a clear extra pawn and White wins] 24.Kh1 gxf6 25.e7 Bxe7 26.Rxe7 Bc6 27.Rc7!? Complicating in the opponent's time trouble. Rfe1 was also good of course 27...Rd2 28.Re1 Rf2? The losing move [28...Kg7 was much tougher but then 29.h3 Kg6 30.Rxc6 bxc6 31.Re7 Black will be hard pressed to cope with the b pawn and his remaining pawns are a disaster. For example 31...Rfd8 32.b7 Kf5 33.Rxf7 Kxf4 34.Rxf6+ Kg3 35.Rf3+ Kh4 36.Rf7] 29.h3 Rxf4? Its already too late but now its easier. Rublevsky was very short of time 30.Ree7 Rf1+ 31.Kh2 Rf2 32.Rxc6! bxc6 33.Rxf7! Rf4 [33...Rxf7 34.b7] 34.c3!!
34...Re4 35.Re7+ 1-0 
Photo © Casto Abundo [http://www.fide.com] Levon Aronian against Alexei Shirov was a really fantastic battle only settled in a mutual time scramble in the run up to first time control. The opening was a Queen's Gambit Accepted with 3.e4 and just out of known theory the position became very unbalanced as Shirov gave up the exchange for what appeared to be quite a dangerous initiative. After exchanging queens black managed then to eliminate quite a few pawns and achieve a holdable position but with moves being bashed out Shirov missed that his King was getting into trouble and that he needed to play 39...h5, as soon as the dust settled he resigned as he had to give up too much material to stave off the mating net Aronian had conjoured up.Aronian,L (2759) - Shirov,A (2699) [D20] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 Rublevsky also plays this, its an incredibly hard nut to crack 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6 6.0-0 Be6 7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.Qb3 Qd7 9.Qxb7 Rb8 10.Qa6 Nf6 11.Nbd2 Bd6 12.b3 0-0 13.Bb2 Bf4 14.g3 [14.Qd3 e5 (14...Rbd8 15.Nc4 Nb4 16.Qxd4 Qe7 17.Qxa7 Ra8 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qd4 Nc2 20.Qc3 Nxa1 21.Rxa1 c5 22.g3 Bh6 23.Qc2 Qb7 24.h4 f5 25.Re1 Rad8 26.Kg2 Rf6 27.e5 Rg6 28.Nd6 Qb4 29.Rd1 Rf8 30.Qc4 f4 31.h5 Qxc4 32.Nxc4 Rg7 33.Rd3 fxg3 34.fxg3 Rg4 35.a4 Bf4 36.Ng1 Bg5 37.a5 Rd4 38.Rxd4 cxd4 39.Nf3 Be3 40.Ne1 Rb8 41.Nd3 Rxb3 42.a6 Rb1 43.Kf3 Ra1 44.Nc5 Bg1 45.Ke4 d3 46.Nxe6 Rxa6 47.Ng5 Bh2 48.g4 d2 49.Nxd2 Ra4+ 50.Kf5 Rf4+ 51.Ke6 Rxg4 52.Nde4 Kg7 53.Kd5 Bxe5 1/2-1/2 Van Wely,L (2617)-Sasikiran,K (2654)/Moscow 2004/CBM 100/[Huzman]) 15.Rac1 Rf7 16.Rc5 Qe8 17.Ba3 Nd8 18.g3 Bxd2 19.Rxe5 Qc6 20.Nxd2 Ng4 21.Rf5 Qh6 22.Nf3 Rxf5 23.exf5 Nf7 24.Qxd4 Nfe5 25.Qd5+ Kh8 26.h4 Re8 27.Kg2 Qh5 28.Nxe5 Rxe5 29.Qa8+ Re8 30.Qf3 h6 31.Rc1 Re5 32.Rc4 1-0 Shishkin,V (2484)-Solodovnichenko,Y (2574)/Krakow POL 2006/The Week in Chess 635] 14...Bh6 15.Ba3 Nxe4! [15...Rf7 is also possible.] 16.Bxf8 Nxd2 17.Nxd2 Bxd2 18.Ba3 Qd5 Black has great compensation [18...Ne5 is a good alternative.] 19.Qc4 Qxc4 Taking the ending where black still has a lot of compensation. [19...Qe4 20.f3] 20.bxc4 Ne5 21.Rab1 Rd8 Black should always keep a rook 22.c5 Nc4 23.Bc1 d3 24.Rb7 c6 [I was expecting 24...Bc3 25.Rxc7 d2 26.Rd1 and now 26...dxc1Q (26...a5!? 27.c6 Kf8 is unclear) 27.Rxc1 seems good for White; 24...Bxc1 or ; 24...Ba5 were both fine according to Shirov.] 25.Bxd2! Nxd2 26.Rd1 Ne4 27.f3 Nc3 28.Rd2 Nxa2 29.Rb3! Nc1 30.Rb1 Ne2+ 31.Kf2 e5 32.Ra1 Rd5 33.Rxa7 Rxc5 The moves to the end of the time control were blitzed out by both sides in mutual terrible time trouble. 34.Rxd3 Nd4 35.Rd2 h6 36.f4! Nb5 37.Ra8+ Kh7 38.f5 Nd4 39.g4 Rc3? [39...h5 Defusing what follows was best and will probably lead to a draw. 40.h3 Rc3] 40.Rb2! h5? [40...Nb5 Avoids the snap mate but probably not the loss.] 41.Rbb8 The big move after the time control so from point of view Shirov was unlucky
[41.Rbb8 Kh6 42.h4] 1-0 There is also a match (Ultimate Computer Challenge) between Deep Fritz and Deep Junior sponsored by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The first game was a draw.DEEP JUNIOR - DEEP FRITZ [D46] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.h3 Qe7 15.Be3 Rfe8 16.Ne2 Rad8 17.Bxa7 c5 18.Bxc5 Qc7 19.Be3 Qxc2 20.Bxc2 Bxe4 21.Bxe4 Nxe4 22.Rfd1 Bxb2 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Rb1 Be5 25.f4 Bc7 26.Rxb5 Rd3 27.Bd4 f6 28.h4 g6 29.a4 Ng3 30.Nxg3 Rxd4 31.Ne2 Rxa4 32.g3 1/2-1/2 The rival program Rybka has issued a $100,000 challenge to FIDE, to have Rybka play the winner of the 'Ultimate Computer Chess Challenge 2007'. http://rybkachess.com/docs/ChallengeToFIDE.htm |
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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 |
