World Chess Championship Tournament 2007. Mexico City - Round 10 by Mark Crowther

The World Chess Championship Tournament takes place in Mexico City 13th-30th September 2007.

Official site: http://www.chessmexico.com

Round 10 (September 24, 2007)

Gelfand, Boris         -  Leko, Peter            1/2   24  E06  Catalan
Kramnik, Vladimir      -  Anand, Viswanathan     1/2   41  D43  Anti-Meran Gambit
Aronian, Levon         -  Grischuk, Alexander    1-0   42  D30  Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Svidler, Peter         -  Morozevich, Alexander  1/2   44  B17  Caro Kann

WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007               cat. XXI (2752)
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                                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 
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1 Anand, Viswanathan     g IND 2792 ** == == =. 1= 1. =. 1.  6.5  2857
2 Gelfand, Boris         g ISR 2733 == ** =. == 1. =0 1. =.  5.5  2791
3 Kramnik, Vladimir      g RUS 2769 == =. ** =. =. =. 10 ==  5.0  2753
4 Leko, Peter            g HUN 2751 =. == =. ** 0. =1 =. ==  5.0  2745
5 Aronian, Levon         g ARM 2750 0= 0. =. 1. ** =1 == =.  5.0  2754
6 Grischuk, Alexander    g RUS 2726 0. =1 =. =0 =0 ** 1. =.  4.5  2716
7 Morozevich, Alexander  g RUS 2758 =. 0. 01 =. == 0. ** 1=  4.5  2715
8 Svidler, Peter         g RUS 2735 0. =. == == =. =. 0= **  4.0  2683
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Round 10 by Mark Crowther

Press conferences: http://www.chessvibes.com/?p=1248

Kramnik - Anand was drawn in round 10. This was probably the final key game for Anand, he now is overwhelming favourite to take the title. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

After his loss to Morozevich in the previous round Vladimir Kramnik had no choice but to go all out for a win against Viswanthan Anand. Kramnik is often the better prepared but here it was Anand who blitzed out his opening preparation and got down to a position he was clearly happy with. Kramnik pinched a pawn on move 28 but Anand's 28....Nf4 contained a vicious threat which was no doubt seen by both sides but nevertheless was important to hold his position together (28...Nf4 29.Qxg5 Ne7+ 30.Kh1 Qxh7+!! 31.Kxh7 Rh8+ with mate next move). The position looked like it might start to favour Anand but Kramnik continued with his aggression and set up a position which was equal and the draw was indeed agreed right after first time control. Anand now only needs to draw out the event (and may indeed be able to afford a loss) to become World Champion.

Kramnik,V (2769) - Anand,V (2792) [D43]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007

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 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6 14.Bh5 Bf8 15.Bxf8 Rxf8 16.e5 Qb6 17.b3N Kramnik's novelty but Peter Heine Nielsen pointed it out to Anand a while back. [17.Ne4 0-0-0 18.Nd6+ Kb8 19.b3 (19.Nxf7 Rxf7 20.Bxf7 Nxe5 21.Qh5 Rxd4 22.Bxe6 c5 23.Qxh6 Ka7 24.Rae1 Nd3 25.Re3 Rd6 26.h4 Nf4 27.hxg5 Nxe6 28.f3 b4 29.Kh2 Qc7 30.Kg1 Nf4 31.Qf8 Rd2 32.Re7 Qd6 33.Qf7 Ne2+ 34.Kh1 Ng3+ 35.Kg1 Qd4+ 36.Kh2 Qh4+ 0-1 Radjabov,T (2728)-Anand,V (2779)/Mainz 2006/CBM 114) 19...f6 20.bxc4 fxe5 21.a4 exd4 22.axb5 cxb5 23.Nxb7 Kxb7 24.cxb5 axb5 25.Bf3+ Kc7 26.Rc1+ Nc5 27.Re1 Qd6 28.Qd2 Kd7 29.Qb4 Rc8 30.Rcd1 d3 31.Qxb5+ Ke7 32.Qb2 Rf6 33.Re3 Rb8 34.Qa3 Rb3 35.Qa7+ Ke8 36.Qh7 Qd4 37.h3 Ra3 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Bh5 Nd7 40.Qh7+ Kd8 41.Bf3 Ne5 42.Qh8+ Ke7 43.Bh5 Nd7 44.Bg4 Qf4 45.Rf3 Qd4 46.Qg7+ Kd8 47.Qh8+ Kc7 48.Qg7 Kd8 49.Qh8+ Kc7 50.Qg7 Kd8 51.Qh8+ 1/2-1/2 Ernst,S (2504)-Van Wely,L (2675)/Netherlands NED 2006/The Week in Chess 628] 17...0-0-0 18.bxc4 Nxe5 19.c5 Qa5 20.Ne4 Qb4 21.Nd6+ Rxd6 "When we came across this exchange sac I was more or less happy with that, black has very good compensation with two pawns." 22.cxd6 Nd7 23.a4 Qxd6 24.Bf3 Nb6 25.axb5 Perhaps he rushed with axb5 - Anand. 25...cxb5 26.Bxb7+ Kxb7 27.Qh5 Nd5 28.Qxh6

28...Nf4! Anand thought he might be better here. 29.Kh1! [29.Qxg5 Kramnik said that initially he forgot he couldn't take this pawn. 29...Ne2+ 30.Kh1 Qxh2+ 31.Kxh2 Rh8+ 32.Qh4 Rxh4#] 29...Qd5 30.f3 Rd8 31.Qg7 Rd7 32.Qf8 Ne2 [32...Qd6 33.Qg7 Qd5 with a draw.] 33.Rfe1 Missed by Anand. [33.Rad1 Anand was worried by this because of his loose knight.] 33...Nxd4 34.Red1 e5 35.Rac1 Qd6 36.Qg8 f6 37.Rc8 a5 38.h3 a4 39.Qe8 Kb6 40.Rb8+ Ka5 41.Ra8+ Both players couldn't see progress in the final position. 1/2-1/2

Gelfand took a short draw in round 10. He seems to be settling for fighting for second place. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Boris Gelfand was frustrated by Peter Leko's opening preparation which took the game straight to a drawish position and although he tried to avoid giving perpetual check with Bg5 Leko forced his hand to take the draw. Being a point behind Anand Gelfand is probably the only player who is in a position to catch Anand.

Gelfand,B (2733) - Leko,P (2751) [E06]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 Qc8 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Nbd2 Bb7 14.Nb3 a5 15.Rd1N [15.Bxf6 Nxf6 (15...Bxf6 16.Nc5 Bd5 17.e4 Bc4 18.Nxd7 Qxd7 19.Re1 Bxd4 20.Rd1 c5 21.Qc2 e5 22.Nxe5 1/2-1/2 Aronian,L (2750)-Kramnik,V (2765)/WCh Mexico City MEX 2007) 16.Nc5 Bd5 17.Ne5 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 c6 19.Ncd3 Ra6 20.Qe3 Nd5 21.Qf3 f6 22.Ng4 c5 23.dxc5 Nb4 24.Nf4 Qc6 25.a3 Nc2 26.Qxc6 Rxc6 27.Rac1 Nd4 28.b4 Rd8 29.e4 Kf7 30.Nd3 axb4 31.axb4 Rc7 32.f3 Nc6 33.Ngf2 Rd4 34.Rb1 Ra7 35.Rb2 f5 36.exf5 exf5 37.Rfb1 Bf6 38.f4 Ra4 39.Re2 Nxb4 40.Ne5+ Bxe5 41.Rxe5 g6 42.c6 Nxc6 1/2-1/2 Shirov,A (2699)-Onischuk,A (2663)/Foros UKR 2007/The Week in Chess 660] 15...Bd5 16.Ne5 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 a4 18.Nc5 Bxc5 19.Bxf6 Bb6 20.Bg5 [20.Bxg7 forces the draw straight away.] 20...Nxe5

Taking the draw. 21.dxe5 h6 22.Bxh6 gxh6 23.Qxh6 Rd8 24.Qg5+ 1/2-1/2

The battle between the two youngest players Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk saw some very interesting play but quite frankly lunatic clock handling from the Russian. Grischuk played the highly unusual 4...h6 so one would imagine that he was taking his opponent into a position he had prepared as a surprise. The subsequent course of the game showed this was not the case as he used acres of time including 23 minutes over 6....Nd7. By move 27 Aronian had half an hour left, Grischuk less than five minutes. Grischuk simply trashed his position under increasing time pressure and allowed Aronian a very pretty finish. I think both these players have shown that they belong at this level but both need to look at their opening preparation as compared to that of say Anand and Grischuk needs to get real with the clock (but good preparation should help that).

Grischuk was asked if Anand was more or less home and dry in his quest to become World Champion. After the usual platitudes about four rounds to go he said "I don't care much anymore because definitely it won't be me!"

Aronian,L (2750) - Grischuk,A (2726) [D30]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 h6!? Maybe good for a surprise but if you're going to play this surely you should actually prepare it? As it was it was Grischuk who consumed acres of time. 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.Nbd2 Nd7 Grischuk used 23 minutes on this move to add to the 12 he had used on the others. 7.g3 [7.Rc1 c6 8.g3 Qe7 9.Bg2 g6 10.0-0 Bg7 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Nf6 13.Nc5 0-0 14.b4 Rd8 15.Qb3 Qc7 16.b5 Nd7 17.Ne4 f5 18.Ned2 c5 19.Qe3 Kh7 20.Nb3 cxd4 21.Nfxd4 Nf6 22.Rfe1 Re8 23.c5 e5 24.b6 axb6 25.Nb5 Qe7 26.Nd6 Rd8 27.Qxe5 Qxe5 28.Rxe5 Rxa2 29.Bxb7 Bxb7 30.Nxb7 Rd7 31.c6 Rc7 32.Nd8 Ne4 33.Rd5 Nc3 34.Rd6 Ne2+ 35.Kg2 Nxc1 36.Nxc1 Rc2 37.Nd3 Rd2 38.Kf3 Bf8 39.Rd5 Bc5 40.Kf4 h5 41.h4 Kh6 42.Kf3 Re7 43.c7 Rxc7 44.Ne6 Re7 45.Nef4 Re4 46.Rxc5 Rxf4+ 0-1 Nikolic,P (2626)-Motylev,A (2662)/Solingen GER 2006/The Week in Chess 631] 7...g5 8.h3 Bg7 9.Rc1 c5 10.e3 0-0 11.Bg2 b6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.0-0 Bb7 14.Re1 Rfd8 15.g4 h5 Another 15 minute thought. Grischuk already didn't like his position too much and didn't want to allow an easy redeployment of white's knights into the holes round his King. Aronian thought this move weak. 16.gxh5 Qh6 17.Nh2 Rac8 18.Ndf1 f5 19.Ng3 Qe6 20.Nf3 Qf6 21.dxc5 bxc5 22.b4 f4 23.exf4 gxf4 24.Nf1 c4 25.N1h2 Qf5 26.Nd4 Qd3 27.Ne6 Qxd1 Black had less than 5 minutes. Flatly too little. Aronian still had half an hour left. 28.Rexd1 Ne5 29.Nxd8 Rxd8 30.Ng4 Nd3 31.Rxd3 cxd3 32.Rd1 Bc8 [32...Ba6 33.Bf1] 33.Rxd3 d4 34.Be4 Ba6 35.Ra3 Be2 [35...Bc4] 36.h6 Bh8 [36...d3 37.hxg7 d2 38.Bc2 d1Q+ 39.Bxd1 Rxd1+ Doesn't help.] 37.Rxa7 d3

Now there is a beautiful mate executed without any hesitation on the clock by Aronian. 38.h7+ Kf8 39.Bg6!! d2 Allowing white to demonstrate his idea. 40.Rf7+ Ke8 41.Nf6+! Bxf6 42.Rg7+ With mate next move. 1-0

Last placed Svidler has clearly decided to play some chess he enjoys in the final few rounds. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Svidler said "I obviously wasn't preparing for this opening. I spent some time in my life looking at this but it was a very long while ago so I wasted 40 minutes on developing all the pieces."

Svidler said that his second Motylev had suggested the Caro Kann was possible but he had said "not going to happen!". Morozevich said "It's my special weapon against Russian guys!".

Morozevich said he really wasn't happy with his position until 29.Be3 although he couldn't see anything concrete for Svidler. Then both players were very short of time and Morozevich allowed a big tactic which was overlooked by Svidler and the game ended in a draw.

Svidler,P (2735) - Morozevich,A (2758) [B17]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 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.Bd2 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Rd8 15.Rad1 c5 [15...Nf6 16.Qh3 (16.Qh4 c5 17.Ne5 cxd4 18.Bf4 Kg8 19.c3 dxc3 20.bxc3 Qe7 21.Qh3 Nd5 22.Bg3 g5 23.Ng6 Qf6 24.Nxh8 Kxh8 25.Bxd6 Rxd6 26.Be4 Nf4 27.Qf3 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Bxe4 29.Qxe4 Qxc3 30.g3 Nd5 31.Qd4+ Qxd4 32.Rxd4 Kg7 33.Kf1 h5 34.Rc4 Kf6 35.Ke2 a5 36.h4 gxh4 37.Rxh4 Nc3+ 38.Kd2 Nxa2 39.Rxh5 Nb4 40.Rh8 Nd5 41.Ra8 Kf5 42.Ra7 f6 43.f3 Ke5 44.Kd3 f5 45.Kc4 Ne3+ 46.Kb5 Nd5 47.Rf7 Nc3+ 48.Kxb6 a4 49.Kc5 Ne2 50.g4 Kf4 51.gxf5 exf5 52.Ra7 Kxf3 53.Rxa4 1/2-1/2 Jakovenko,D (2596)-Adams,M (2738)/playchess.com INT 2004) 16...c5 17.dxc5 Qxc5 18.Bc3 Qh5 19.Qxh5 Nxh5 20.Nd4 Nf6 21.Nb5 Bb8 22.Bb4+ Kg8 23.Be2 Kh7 24.Nd6 Bxd6 1/2-1/2 Citak,S (2358)-Erdos,V (2518)/Budapest HUN 2007/The Week in Chess 657] 16.dxc5 bxc5 My first reaction was that black is better. - Svidler. But then he had another think and decided that if black didn't have anything immediate then perhaps he might even be able to prove black's c-pawn a weakness. 17.h4 Protecting the h-pawn! 17...Nf6 18.Qh3 c4 19.Bf1 Bd5 20.h5 [20.Bc3 Ne4 21.Rxe4 Bxe4 22.Rxd6 with unclear complications, its also possible to try it on the following move.] 20...Kg8 21.Be3 Kh7 22.Bd4 Rhe8 23.b3 cxb3 24.axb3 Ne4 25.Bb5 Re7 26.Qg4 f5 27.Qg6+ Kg8 28.c4 Ba8

29.Be3? "One of the worst moves of this tournament". - Svidler. It loses two tempi although white is still fine. Svidler said that he briefly considered resigning!."But then I thought lets put it back and see what happens." 29...Rf8 30.Bd4 a6 A strange move. [30...Bb7] 31.c5 Bxc5 [31...axb5; 31...Bh2+] 32.Bc4 Qb6 33.Bxc5 [33.Bxe6+! Qxe6 34.Bxc5 Nxc5 35.Rxe6 Nxe6] 33...Qxc5 34.Bxe6+ Kh8 35.Rd4 [35.Bxf5 Qxf2+ 36.Kh1 Ng5] 35...Bc6 36.Bxf5 Nf6 37.Rc4 Rxe1+ 38.Nxe1 Qe7 39.Nd3 Be8 40.Qg3 Nxh5 41.Qg4 Bf7 42.Rc5 Qd6 43.Qb4 Bg8! 44.Ra5 Qxb4 1/2-1/2