World Chess Championship Tournament 2007. Mexico City - Round 6 by Mark Crowther

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

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

Round 6 (September 19, 2007)

Gelfand, Boris         -  Morozevich, Alexander  1-0   50  E17  Queens Indian
Grischuk, Alexander    -  Svidler, Peter         1/2   41  D43  Anti-Meran Gambit
Leko, Peter            -  Anand, Viswanathan     1/2   21  C78  Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Aronian, Levon         -  Kramnik, Vladimir      1/2   22  E06  Catalan

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. =.  4.0  2874
2 Gelfand, Boris         g ISR 2733 =. ** .. =. =. 1. =. 1.  4.0  2877
3 Kramnik, Vladimir      g RUS 2769 =. .. ** =. =. =. =. 1.  3.5  2809
4 Grischuk, Alexander    g RUS 2726 .. =. =. ** =. =. =. 1.  3.5  2806
5 Leko, Peter            g HUN 2751 =. =. =. =. ** 0. =. ..  2.5  2693
6 Aronian, Levon         g ARM 2750 0. 0. =. =. 1. ** .. =.  2.5  2697
7 Svidler, Peter         g RUS 2735 0. =. =. =. =. .. ** 0.  2.0  2629
8 Morozevich, Alexander  g RUS 2758 =. 0. 0. 0. .. =. 1. **  2.0  2625
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Mark Crowther on Round 6

Round 6 saw two interesting games and two rather dull ones and by the end a new joint leader.

Sadly at the time of writing neither the excellent http://www.chessvibes.com nor http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/ had clips up of the round 6 press conferences. No doubt they'll be available by the time you read this (actually the Anand conference is up at: http://www.europe-echecs.com along with their nice brief daily report).

Gelfand beat Morozevich in Round 6 to join Anand in the lead. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Boris Gelfand is the oldest player in the field (by a year from Viswanathan Anand) and also the bottom rated. However he is the consumate professional and has clearly arrived exceptionally well prepared. He faced the big wild card in the event Alexander Morozevich who can be brilliant one day and not so good the next. Gelfand chose a very sharp setup against Morozevich's Queen's Indian but it was Morozevich's decision to sacrifice the exchange on move 19. that probably cost him the game. Gelfand said afterwards that he thought it a reasonable decision but Morozevich didn't come very close to getting it to work and once Gelfand liquidated into an ending on move 28 he was always strong favourite to win which he did on move 50.

Gelfand,B (2733) - Morozevich,A (2758) [E17]
WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 f5 8.d5 Bf6 9.Qc2 Qe7 10.Nxe4 [10.Rd1 exd5 11.cxd5 c5 12.dxc6 dxc6 13.Nxe4 fxe4 14.Nh4 Bxh4 15.gxh4 0-0 16.Qc4+ Qf7 17.Qxf7+ Rxf7 18.Bxe4 c5 19.Bxb7 Rxb7 20.Bc3 Nc6 21.Rg1 Re8 22.Rg5 Re4 23.h5 Rbe7 24.e3 Nd4 25.Kf1 h6 26.Rd5 Nb5 27.Be1 Rf7 28.Rd8+ Kh7 29.R1d7 Rf5 30.Rd5 Rf6 31.Rb8 Rd6 32.Rf5 Rf6 33.Rxf6 gxf6 34.Rd8 c4 35.a4 c3 36.axb5 cxb2 37.Rd1 Rc4 38.Bd2 Rc5 39.Rb1 Rxb5 40.Bc3 Rc5 41.Bxb2 Rb5 42.Ke2 a5 43.Kd3 a4 44.Kc2 Rc5+ 45.Bc3 b5 46.Kd3 Rxh5 47.Bxf6 1-0 Khalifman,A (2650)-Korchnoi,V (2635)/St Petersburg RUS 1997] 10...fxe4 11.Qxe4 Bxb2 12.Rd1 [12.Rb1 Bf6 13.Nd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 e5 15.Qg4 d6 16.c5 0-0 17.c6 Bc8 18.Qa4 a5 19.0-0 Na6 20.Qa3 e4 21.Qe3 Bf5 22.Bc3 Rae8 23.Rbd1 Qf7 24.Qd4 Nc5 25.Qc4 Qh5 26.Bd4 Bh3 27.f4 exf3 28.exf3 Bxg2 29.Kxg2 Re7 30.Rd2 Rfe8 31.Rff2 Qg5 32.Bc3 h6 33.Qd4 Qg6 34.h4 Re3 35.h5 Qg5 36.Rd1 Ne4 0-1 Kortschnoj,V (2635)-Rozentalis,E (2650)/Beersheba 1997] 12...Bf6 13.0-0 Na6 14.Nd4 Nc5 15.Qe3 [15.Qg4 0-0 16.Bb4 Bxd4 17.Qxd4 e5 18.Qc3 a5 19.d6 axb4 20.dxe7 bxc3 21.exf8Q+ Kxf8 22.Bxb7 Nxb7 23.Rxd7 Rxa2 24.Rc1 Nc5 25.Rxc7 c2 26.Rxc5 bxc5 27.Kf1 Ke7 28.Ke1 Ke6 29.Kd2 Kf5 30.f3 e4 31.Rxc2 Ra3 32.Rc3 Ra4 33.Ke3 exf3 34.Kxf3 h5 35.h3 Rb4 36.Ke3 Ke5 37.Kd3 Rb1 38.Ke3 Rb4 39.h4 Kf5 40.Kf3 g6 41.Kf2 Kg4 42.Rf3 g5 43.hxg5 Kxg5 44.Rf4 Ra4 45.e3 Ra1 46.Kf3 Rc1 47.Re4 Kf5 48.Rh4 Kg5 49.Rf4 Rg1 50.e4 Ra1 51.Ke3 Re1+ 52.Kf2 Rc1 53.Rf5+ Kg4 54.Rxc5 Rc2+ 55.Ke3 Rc3+ 56.Kd4 Rxg3 57.Rc8 h4 58.c5 h3 59.c6 h2 60.Rh8 Rh3 61.Rxh3 Kxh3 62.c7 h1Q 63.c8Q+ Kg3 64.Qc7+ Kf3 65.Qf7+ Kg4 66.Qf5+ Kg3 67.e5 Qa1+ 68.Kd5 Qa8+ 69.Kd6 Qb8+ 70.Ke7 Qc7+ 71.Kf8 Qc5+ 72.Kf7 Qd5+ 73.Kg7 Qc5 74.Kg6 Qc7 75.e6 Qc6 76.Qf6 Kg4 77.e7 Qe8+ 78.Kg7 Qc8 79.Qg6+ 1-0 Burmakin,V (2581)-Hernandez Carmenates,H (2544)/Albacete ESP 2007/The Week in Chess 670] 15...exd5 16.cxd5 Qxe3 17.Bxe3 0-0-0 18.Rb1 Rhe8 19.Nb5 Rxe3?! Both players agreed seemed like a reasonable idea at the time but black doesn't make it work in the long term. 20.fxe3 a6 21.Nd4 Re8 22.Nf5 d6 23.Rb4 h5 24.g4 a5 25.Rbf4 Rh8 26.gxh5 Rxh5 27.Rg4 Rh7

28.Nxg7! A complex liquidation which leads to an ending where white has all the chances. 28...Rxg7 29.Bh3! Rxg4+ 30.Bxg4+ Kd8 31.Rxf6 Bxd5 32.a3 Gelfand would no doubt have been happy to be in a technical ending and he slowly makes his advantage count. 32...b5 33.h4 b4 34.axb4 axb4 35.Rf4 White can't allow the b-pawn to become too powerful. 35...b3 36.Bf5 Bf7 37.Kf2 Ke7 38.Ke1 Kf6 39.Bd3+ Kg7 40.Kd2 Be6 41.Kc3 Bf7 42.Bc4 Eliminating the b-pawn brings white extremely close to the win. 42...Bxc4 [42...d5 43.Bxb3 d4+ 44.exd4 Nxb3 45.Rxf7+ Kxf7 46.Kxb3 is a fun line.] 43.Rxc4 Kg6 44.e4 Ne6 45.Kxb3 Kh5 46.e5 d5 [46...dxe5 47.e3 c5 48.Re4 Nf8 49.Kc4 Nd7 50.Kd5 Nf6+ 51.Kxe5 Nxe4 52.Kxe4 Kxh4 53.Kd5 wins also.] 47.Rb4 [47.Rc6 Nd4+ Those knights can be tricky but Gelfand has plenty of time on the clock.] 47...Kg6 48.Rb8 Nd4+ 49.Kb2 Nf5 [49...Nxe2 50.h5+ Kf5 51.h6 Nf4 52.h7 Ng6 53.Rg8] 50.Rf8 Cutting the black king off from the passed e-pawn. 1-0

Svidler as black against Grischuk in Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Peter Svidler's pawn grab in the Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav followed by a second pawn sacrificed on move 16 was risky but forced Alexander Grischuk to put even more material on the fire to break through. Grischuk spent a lot of time sorting out the meaning of Svidler's novelty 16...Qc5 but it seems he found the right ideas. The game entered a time trouble phase and its probable on the run up to the first time control that Grischuk missed a win. He forced a draw on move 41.

Grischuk,A (2726) - Svidler,P (2735) [D43]
WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 h5 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Bg3 [15.b3 cxb3 16.axb3 0-0 17.Rad1 Nh7 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.g3 Rc8 20.f3 f5 21.exf5 exf5 22.fxg4 Qc7 23.Kh2 fxg4 24.Ne4 Rce8 25.Bd3 Qe7 26.Nc5 Nf6 27.Rde1 Qxe1 28.Rxe1 Rxe1 29.Nxb7 Nd5 30.Qd2 Re3 31.Nd6 Kf6 32.Be4 Rxb3 33.Bxd5 cxd5 34.Qh6+ Ke7 35.Qg7+ Kxd6 36.Qxf8+ Kc6 1-0 Goldin,A (2566)-Novikov,I (2591)/New York 2000; 15.Rad1 0-0 16.Bg3 Nd7 17.f3 c5 18.dxc5 Qe7 19.Kh1 a6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Nd5 exd5 22.exd5 Be5 23.f4 Bg7 24.dxc6 Nxc5 25.Rd5 Ne4 26.Be1 Qe6 27.Rxh5 f5 28.Kh2 Rac8 29.Bb4 Rfe8 30.axb5 axb5 31.Re1 Qf7 32.Rg5 Nxg5 33.fxg5 Rxc6 34.Bf1 Rxe1 35.Bxe1 Re6 36.Bc3 Qc7+ 37.g3 Re3 38.Qg2 Bxc3 39.bxc3 f4 40.Qa8+ Kg7 41.Qa6 fxg3+ 0-1 Aronian,L (2750)-Anand,V (2792)/Mexico City MEX 2007] 15...Qxd4 16.Rfd1 [16.Rad1 Qc5 17.e5 Nd5 18.Ne4 Qb6 19.Nd6+ Kf8 20.Kh1 Kg8 21.Qe4 Rf8 22.f3 Ba8 23.fxg4 Qe3 24.Rf3 Qxe4 25.Nxe4 hxg4 26.Ra3 b4 27.Rxa7 Ne3 28.Rdd7 c5 29.Nf6+ Bxf6 30.exf6 c3 31.bxc3 bxc3 32.Bd3 c4 33.Bg6 c2 34.Bxc2 Nxc2 35.Bd6 Bc6 36.Rdc7 Rd8 37.Rxc6 Nd4 38.Rc5 Nf5 39.Be5 Rd1+ 0-1 Wendt,J (2289)-Van Wely,L (2687)/Minneapolis USA 2005/The Week in Chess 550] 16...Qc5N [16...Qb6 17.a4 a5 18.Qd2 b4 19.Qg5 Kf8 20.Be5 Rh6 21.Bd4 Qc7 22.Bc5+ Kg8 23.Bd6 Qc8 24.e5 Nh7 25.Qf4 bxc3 26.bxc3 Nf8 27.Rab1 Ng6 28.Qg5 c5 29.Rb6 Be4 30.Bxc4 Qd8 31.Rb5 Nxh4 32.Qe3 Bxg2 33.Rdb1 Nf5 34.Qxc5 Qh4 35.Rb8+ Rxb8 36.Rxb8+ Kh7 0-1 Witt,R (2287)-Al Sayed,M (2443)/Amsterdam NED 2004/The Week in Chess 507] 17.Bd6 White started to use a lot of time to try and work out the significance of the novelty. 17...Qb6 18.a4 [18.b3 Is the other way to try and break up the queenside.] 18...a6 19.e5 Nd7 20.a5 Qa7 21.Ne4 c5 22.Ng5 Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.Bxc4!

A necessary decision, white's bishop is totally locked in so giving it up to open up the position is sensible. 24...bxc4 25.Qa4+ Kf8 26.Rd7 Threatening 27.Rxf7+ Kg8 28.Qd7 with the idea of Rg7+ Bxg7 Qf7 mate or just a slow build up. Black's major pieces are out of play. 26...Bd5! 27.Rd1 Bd4 28.Rxa7 [28.b3 Qb8 29.Rxf7+ Kg8 30.bxc4 was possibly stronger.] 28...Rxa7 29.b3! Kg7 30.bxc4 Ba8 31.Qc2 g3 32.Rxd4! Destroying black's strong bishop. 32...cxd4 33.Qe2 gxf2+ 34.Qxf2

34...Rd8?! [34...e5 35.Qg3 f6 36.Ne6+ Kh6 37.Qf2 Rf7 38.Qd2+ Kg6 39.Qd3+ Kh6 40.Qd2+ Kg6=] 35.Qg3! Kf8 36.Qe5 Ke8 [36...d3? 37.Nh7+ Ke8 38.Nf6+ Ke7 39.Qc5+ Kxf6 40.Qg5#] 37.Nxe6? [37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Qg7 Looks like it was winning.] 37...fxe6 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Qg7+ Ke8 40.Qh8+ Ke7 41.Qg7+ The black d-pawn is too powerful for white to play for a win. 1/2-1/2

Viswanathan Anand being searched with a metal detector (as all the players are) at the start of Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

There isn't much to say about this game. Peter Leko was surprised by Viswanathan Anand's choice of variation, played the rather old 13.Be3, got nothing and Anand decided to take the draw with black.

Leko,P (2751) - Anand,V (2792) [C78]
WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.d4 Bb6 10.Na3 0-0 11.axb5 axb5 12.Nxb5 Bg4 13.Be3 exd4 14.cxd4 Nxe4 [14...Qe8 15.Ba4 Nxe4 16.Nc3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Qe4 18.h3 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Qg6+ 20.Kh2 d5 21.Qd2 Ne7 22.Rg1 Qd6+ 23.Bf4 Qd8 24.Rae1 Ng6 25.Bg3 Qf6 26.f4 c5 27.Bc2 cxd4 28.f5 dxc3 29.Qe2 Rbc8 30.fxg6 fxg6 31.Rgf1 Kh8 32.Qg4 Bc7 33.Bxc7 Rxc7 34.Qg3 Rc4 35.Rd1 d4 36.Qd3 Qf4+ 37.Qg3 Qf6 38.Qd3 Qf4+ 39.Qg3 1/2-1/2 Almasi,Z (2590)-Onischuk,A (2590)/Wijk aan Zee 1995] 15.Qc2 Qe8 16.Ba4 Bd7 17.Rfe1 Nb4 Anand is happy to draw with black. 18.Qc4 Ba5 19.Nc3 Bxa4 20.Rxa4 d5 21.Qf1 Nc6

1/2-1/2

Levon Arionian in Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Kramnik in Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

The World Champion Vladimir Kramnik also equalised quickly as black and took the draw offer when it came from Levon Aronian.

Aronian,L (2750) - Kramnik,V (2769) [E06]
WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 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.Bxf6 Bxf6 [15...Nxf6 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] 16.Nc5 Bd5 [16...Nxc5 17.Qxc5 Rd8 18.Rac1 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Bxd4 20.Qxb5 Qb8 21.Qc4 Ra7 22.b3 Qb4 23.Rfd1 Qxc4 24.bxc4 Rd6 25.Rb1 g6 1/2-1/2 Pelletier,Y (2591)-Onischuk,A (2650)/Biel SUI 2007/The Week in Chess 664] 17.e4N The first new move. Jon Speelman was commentating on this game on ICCs chess.fm and had no recollection of the game they were following. [17.Rd1 Nxc5 18.Qxc5 Qb7 19.Rac1 Rac8 20.Ne1 Rfd8 21.e3 c6 22.b3 Be7 1/2-1/2 Sigurjonsson,G (2440)-Speelman,J (2520)/Brighton 1981] 17...Bc4 18.Nxd7 Qxd7 19.Re1 Bxd4 20.Rd1 c5 21.Qc2 e5 22.Nxe5

This draw agreement came as no real surprise. 1/2-1/2