Morelia/Linares 2007. Round 12 7th March 2007

Round 12 (March 7, 2007)

Anand, Viswanathan     -  Aronian, Levon         1/2   23  C88  Ruy Lopez Closed
Topalov, Veselin       -  Carlsen, Magnus        1/2   25  A30  English Symmetrical
Ivanchuk, Vassily      -  Morozevich, Alexander  0-1   39  C45  Scotch Game
Leko, Peter            -  Svidler, Peter         0-1   36  B90  Sicilian Najdorf Variation

XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (MEX/ESP), 17 ii-10 iii 2007cat. XX (2746)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Anand, Viswanathan     g IND 2779 ** 11 == 0= == =. 1= 1.  7.5  2834
2 Carlsen, Magnus        g NOR 2690 00 ** =. == 1= 11 1= =.  7.0  2812
3 Svidler, Peter         g RUS 2728 == =. ** == == == =. =1  6.5  2782
4 Aronian, Levon         g ARM 2744 1= == == ** =. 0. == ==  6.0  2742
5 Topalov, Veselin       g BUL 2783 == 0= == =. ** 0= 1. ==  5.5  2710
6 Ivanchuk, Vassily      g UKR 2750 =. 00 == 1. 1= ** =0 ==  5.5  2713
7 Morozevich, Alexander  g RUS 2741 0= 0= =. == 0. =1 ** =1  5.5  2715
8 Leko, Peter            g HUN 2749 0. =. =0 == == == =0 **  4.5  2659
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Peter Svidler broke his duck in the twelfth round at Linares and finally won a game of chess. The GM from St Petersburg has had some good positions in the tournament but had drawn all eleven. Facing the only other player without a victory, Svidler sacrificed a pawn for the attack in a sharp Sicilian Najdorf and dumped the Hungarian at the bottom of the tournament table.

There are now three players in with a chance of victory at the world’s most prestigious tournament. Svidler moved to 6.5/12, half a point behind the prodigy Magnus Carlsen and one point behind Vishy Anand who has games against Leko and Vasily Ivanchuk to come. Had Svidler converted his winning position against Anand in round 9 the placings would have been reversed. Ivanchuk’s challenge has faltered and he slipped below 50% after allowing Alexander Morozevich to hoover all four kingside pawns in a bizarre game.

The front runners drew. Anand achieved precisely nothing with the Ruy Lopez against Levon Aronian while Carlsen gave the world number one Veselin Topalov a few anxious moments in short draw which was full of tricky variations. At the end it was Topalov who was the happier with the half point.

This tournament has been a relative failure for Topalov who could even lose his world number one spot to Anand if more results go in the Indian’s favour. Resigning in a drawn position against Magnus Carlsen probably put paid to Topalov’s traditional second half surge, more for psychological reasons than the half point it cost.

Carlsen is white against Svidler in round thirteen.

Leko,P (2749) - Svidler,P (2728) [B90]
XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (12), 07.03.2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 [6...e6 7.f3 and Qd2, g4, 0-0-0 is the other main line but it seems to be under a cloud at present] 7.Nb3 Be7 8.f3 Be6 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 White intends to use his control of d5 to keep the Black pieces away from his king and plans g2-g4 with a kingside pawn storm. Svidler decides on immediate action to counter this 10...a5!? [10...Qc7 followed by Rfc8 or; 10...Nbd7 11.g4 b5 are alternatives] 11.Qe1 Threatening Nc5 if White tries to block the pawn with [11.a4 Nc6 the knight comes to b4 and covers d5] 11...Qc8! [11...a4?! 12.Nc5 a3 13.b3 is good for White.] 12.a3N [12.a4 Na6 13.Kb1 Nc7 14.g4 Rd8 15.Bb6 Nd7 16.Be3 Nf6 17.Bb6 Nd7 18.Bf2 b6 19.Bd3 Qb7 20.Qe2 Nc5 21.Nxc5 bxc5 22.Nb5 Rdb8 23.c4 Bd7 24.h4 Ne6 25.g5 Rf8 26.Be3 Nd4 27.Bxd4 cxd4 28.f4 f5 29.Rhe1 Rac8 30.fxe5 Bxb5 31.cxb5 f4 32.exd6 Bxd6 33.e5 f3 34.Qe4 Qxe4 35.Rxe4 Bc5 36.e6 f2 37.e7 Rfe8 38.Rc1 Kf7 39.b6 Bxe7 40.Rf1 Bd6 41.Rxf2+ Kg8 42.b7 Rb8 43.Rxe8+ Rxe8 44.Rf5 Rb8 45.Be4 Bb4 46.Kc2 g6 47.Rb5 1-0 Svidler,P (2728)-Bu Xiangzhi (2644)/Tegernsee GER 2007/The Week in Chess 639] 12...a4 13.Nd2 Nbd7 14.Kb1 Rd8! d6-d5 cannot be prevented as White's knight on d2 gets in the way. Black is doing well 15.Bb5 d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.Qe2 Qc7 19.Ne4 Be6 20.Nc3 Leko decides to grab a pawn 20...Nb6 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Nxa4 Nc4 23.Bxc4 Bxc4 24.Qf2 Qc6 25.Nb6 [Black's bishop pair and major pieces have plenty of open lines and he is better. Now 25.Nc3 looks safer and is met by 25...Be6 26.Rd1 Rc8!] 25...Be6 26.Qe2 f5 27.Re1 Bf6 28.g3 h6 29.Bf2 With the knight marooned White can only wait and drifts into time trouble. Svidler decides to provoke acrisis 29...e4!? 30.fxe4 fxe4

31.a4? [31.Qxe4?? Qxe4 32.Rxe4 Rd1# mate; 31.c4! was the only chance then 31...Bd4 32.Nd5 Bxd5 33.cxd5 Rxd5 34.Bxd4 Rxd4 with good defensive chances] 31...Qd6! 32.c4? Now this loses [32.c3 Qd3+ 33.Qxd3 exd3 34.Be3] 32...Qb4 33.Nd5 Bxd5 34.cxd5 Rxd5 35.Qc2 [35.Be3 Bxb2 36.Qxb2 Qxe1+] 35...Rd2 36.Qc8+ Kf7 0-1

Topalov,V (2783) - Carlsen,M (2690) [A30]
XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (12), 07.03.2007

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Re1 d5 8.d4 dxc4 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Qa4+ Nbd7 11.Qxc4 [11.Ne5 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 0-0 13.Rd1 Nxe5 14.Rxd8 Rfxd8 15.Bg5 a6 16.Rd1 Rdc8 17.Bxf6 b5 18.Qc2 gxf6 19.Qc1 Bf8 20.Qf4 Bg7 21.g4 Ng6 22.Qg3 b4 1/2-1/2 Garcia,R-Ricardi,P/Buenos Aires ARG 1995] 11...0-0 12.Rd1 Rc8 13.Qh4 Be7 14.Qh3 Qe8 15.Nd4 Bxg2 16.Qxg2 Ne5 17.Qb7 Bc5 18.Bg5 Nfg4 19.h3 Nc6 20.hxg4 [20.Nxc6 Nxf2 21.Ne7+ Kh8 22.Kg2 (22.Qxc8 Nxd1+ 23.Kg2 Nxc3 24.Qxe8 Rxe8 25.bxc3 Bxe7 26.Bxe7 Rxe7) 22...Rb8 23.Qxa7 Nxd1 24.Rxd1 f6 25.Bf4 Ra8 26.Qb7 Rf7] 20...Bxd4 21.Nb5 Rb8 22.Qc7 Rc8 23.Qb7 Rb8 24.Qc7 Rc8 25.Qb7 1/2-1/2