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Linares - tournament of champions
The drawing of lots for the Linares 2001 super-tournament was held on Thursday, February 22nd 2001. This year's event will be a six-player double round-robin.
While the two players currently holding the two world "titles", FIDE's champion Vishwanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, the winner of the BGN match against top-rated Garry Kasparov, will not take part, the event remains attractive and has several points of interest in what appears fated to be yet another Kasparov victory.
Kasparov's other main rival, Alexei Shirov is here, in great form, still refusing to apologize for some hot-headed remarks about the Kasparov-Kramnik match, and still seen as a victim of power politics when he defeated Kramnik for a shot at Kasparov but Kramnik played him anyway.
That old rival of rivals, Anatoly Karpov is in town. He hasn't had a result worth mentioning in ages, but the last time he did it was probably when he had the greatest tournament result in history ... in Linares.
In fact the whole field is interesting. Judit is, as the world's greatest woman player, and one that has had some rather controversial meetings with Kasparov. Leko is, as one of the possible future challengers for some kind of world title, and Grischuk may be the hottest talent on the planet, and will now get his first chance to see if his brawling brand of youthful optimism can work at in the upper atmosphere.
This should be fun!
| Linares, February 2001 |
| 1. | Garry Kasparov | RUS | 2849 | 7½-2½ |
| 2-6 | Judith Polgar | HUN | 2676 | 4½-5½ |
| | Alexander Grischuk | RUS | 2663 | 4½-5½ |
| | Peter Leko | HUN | 2745 | 4½-5½ |
| | Anatoly Karpov | RUS | 2679 | 4½-5½ |
| | Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2718 | 4½-5½ |
The tournament pairings:
Round 1 (February 23, 2001)
Alexander Grischuk - Judit Polgar ½-½
Peter Leko - Garry Kasparov ½-½
Alexei Shirov - Anatoly Karpov ½-½
Don't let the result sheet fool you - these were three knuckle-bruising games. Kasparov had to prove he had compensation for a pawn shed somewhat involuntarily - the peaceful Leko spurned a draw by repetition but quickly had give up his ambitions for more.
Grischuk sacrificed a piece to ventilate Polgar's king and secure perpetual, a reasonable counterwieght to the fact that his position was creaking in other sectors of the board.
Karpov and Shirov produced a terrific game, with Karpov's very interesting handling of his favorite theoretical line in the Caro-Kann netted him an extra piece but a wildly wandering king. Karpov was very near an impressive win, but Shirov scrambled to an eventual R vs. R+N ending.
Round 2 (February 24, 2001)
Anatoly Karpov - Alexander Grischuk ½-½
Garry Kasparov - Judit Polgar ½-½
Peter Leko - Alexei Shirov ½-½
This round was as boring as the result table shows. Karpov made no impression on Grischuk's Semi-Slav and shook hands very fast. Leko got his vacuum cleaner plugged in early and most of the pieces were gone by the time Shirov was settled in his seat.
Kasparov-Polgar had a bit more tension, but Judit scored her first ever real-time draw against the king (can't call him champ any more) by very neatly neutralizing a new idea. In the final position she could have made Kasparov prove equality but ...
Round 3 (February 25, 2001)
Alexander Grischuk - Peter Leko ½-½
Judit Polgar - Anatoly Karpov ½-½
Alexei Shirov - Garry Kasparov ½-½
Um, this round ... was not quite as boring as it looks. Grischuk entered Leko's snore zone and early peace ensued. Polgar won a pawn after Karpov refused to repeat his wonderful opening against Shirov, but opposite colored bishops made winning efforts futile.
Kasparov managed lasting pressure against Shirov's rather inventive handling of the white side of a Scheveningen Sicilian, but again opposite colored bishops came to the weaker side's rescue.
One is almost tempted to welcome the return of furious organizer Luis Rentero's tantrums and fines for lack of sweat and bloodshed. Leko could certainly due with a few weeks in his company...
Round 4 (February 27, 2001)
Alexander Grischuk - Garry Kasparov 0-1
Anatoly Karpov - Peter Leko ½-½
Judit Polgar - Alexei Shirov 1-0
Fighting broke out again, and this time there were casualties. The two ripe-for-decision pairings lived up to their billing, and even the predicted snooze between the solid men turned into a vintage day at Anatoly's House of Horrors for young Leko.
Kasparov played a lovely, textbook game exploiting all the fine, active points of the Sicilian Defence to perfection. It was not all clear that he had control, but he proved it with powerful play, completely destroying the coordination of young Grischuk's forces.
Judit Polgar grabbed a somewhat surprising share of first by coming out on top in a tremendous brawl with Shirov, sacrificing her queen to first tame his attack and then usher in a powerful passed pawn - a brilliant game, and an even better battle.
And Karpov secured one of his patented small, safe advantages and settled in for a long day of torture. Could Leko show his neutralizing talents once again? Of course he could.
Round 5 (February 28, 2001)
Garry Kasparov - Anatoly Karpov 1-0
Peter Leko - Judit Polgar ½-½
Alexei Shirov - Alexander Grischuk 1-0
We reach the half-way mark with another day of decisive results, and today's wins graphically illustrate how an abstract board game can be violent.
Kasparov and Shirov tore their opponent's symbolically limb from limb, with chess that was closer to assault than attack - glorious, gruesome stuff.
And Leko agreed a draw, burning another white for the sake of peace. Time to wheel out the screaming, threatening Rentero of old. No one wants to watch Leko play like this.
Round 6 (March 1, 2001)
Anatoly Karpov - Alexei Shirov ½-½
Garry Kasparov - Peter Leko 1-0
Judit Polgar - Alexander Grischuk ½-½
Kasparov is combining good form with the return of 'champion's magic', that indefinable ingredient that makes your opponents play worse. The normally ultra-solid Leko was forced to go on an obviously risky pawn raid to try and justify self-inflicted wounds on his pawn structure, and succumbed to direct attack.
Karpov played for a minimalist advantage against Shirov and hardly got that. Polgar found her pawns dropping off at an alarming rate in an ending but managed to rustle up enough counterchances around Grischuk's king to hold the balance.
Round 7 (March 3, 2001)
Alexander Grischuk - Anatoly Karpov 1-0
Judit Polgar - Garry Kasparov ½-½
Alexei Shirov - Peter Leko ½-½
This was one of those days when even the old, bad-tempered Rentero would have applauded the draws. Shirov and Polgar sacrificed bushels of pieces to launch mind-boggling, creative attacks. I would not want to try and assess these games without several days to form an opinion, but they are tremendous fun to watch.
The only decision went to the sanest game, where Karpov contrived to lose a complicated ending where he did not seem to be in trouble objectively. This lets the kid climb out of the cellar and leave the veteran in his place.
I can remember the landmark when Karpov began to get negative scores for the first time in his career - I wonder if we are now to see him finishing last in major events.
Round 8 (March 4, 2001)
Anatoly Karpov - Judit Polgar 1-0
Garry Kasparov - Alexei Shirov 1-0
Peter Leko - Alexander Grischuk ½-½
What little excitement there was left in the event went out the window as the Big K's showed some nerves and technique. Shirov's famous piece sacrifice for swarming pawns routine didn't come off and Kasparov methodically blockaded and destroyed to clinch first with two rounds to go.
Karpov took unbelievable risks to score his first win, grabbing red-hot pawns, running his king around the board, weathering time scrambles and eventually pocketing his first point. This was exactly the kind of game an angry and aging man should lose, and Karpov's win speaks volumes about his basic class.
Leko took no risks as usual, and got his draw, as usual. I think that organizers ought to seriously consider giving Pete a long holiday, until he at least considers that, even if chess isn't entertainment, those who want to watch it don't actually want to be bored.
Round 9 (March 5, 2001)
Alexander Grischuk - Alexei Shirov 1-0
Anatoly Karpov - Garry Kasparov ½-½
Judit Polgar - Peter Leko ½-½
Karpov had to tread with a bit of care to draw with white, and this was enough for Kasparov to guarantee unshared first. Polgar could not make any impression on her ever-solid compatriot.
Grischuk played another one of his bizarre openings and converted this to lasting pressure to beat Shirov, in what is turning out to be a real rivalry.
Teenager Grischuk has gone from the cellar to a share of second in recent days and seems fated to spend the rest of his long career at this level. He has made the transition to super-tournaments with the easy confidence of youth - after all, he was invited, so he must belong?
Round 10 (March 6, 2001)
Garry Kasparov - Alexander Grischuk 1-0
Peter Leko - Anatoly Karpov ½-½
Alexei Shirov - Judit Polgar 1-0
A remarkable final crosstable that answers the riddle: when is a tournament like a match? Answer: When finishing second is finishing last. The rest of the managed the feeble score of -1 against Kasparov's +5, and it should be noted that he did not look to be near top gear.
In the final round Kasparov took a safe advantage and converted it steadily. Shirov got revenge for his earlier loss to Judit in yet another incredible slugfest where he packed enough adventure for a tournament into a standard day at the office. These two deserve great credit for providing outstanding entertainment throughout the event.
Leko gave it his best shot and pressed Karpov good and hard but the old master of defence went wandering with his king again and managed to plug all the holes and hang on. This tournament has featured a remarkable number of sprinting kings, Karpov and Shirov are especially adept at making this happen.
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