 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
World Chess Championship Tournament 2007. Mexico City - Round 11 by Mark Crowther
Round 11 (September 25, 2007)
Anand, Viswanathan - Morozevich, Alexander 1-0 56 B90 Sicilian Najdorf
Gelfand, Boris - Svidler, Peter 1/2 22 A15 English
Leko, Peter - Aronian, Levon 1/2 56 E15 Queens Indian
Grischuk, Alexander - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 13 C43 Petroff's Defence
WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** == == =. 1= 1. 1. =1 7.5 2881
2 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 == ** =. == 1. =0 == 1. 6.0 2789
3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 == =. ** =. =. == == 10 5.5 2750
4 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 =. == =. ** 0= =1 == =. 5.5 2746
5 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0= 0. =. 1= ** =1 =. == 5.5 2753
6 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 0. =1 == =0 =0 ** =. 1. 5.0 2717
7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 0. == == == =. =. ** 0= 4.5 2688
8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =0 0. 01 =. == 0. 1= ** 4.5 2689
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 11 by Mark Crowther Press conferences: http://www.chessvibes.com
Even if his words were of caution (in fact he really wouldn't speak about winning the tournament, "Sorry but tournament not ended blah, blah blah".) Anand's smile said it all at the end of round 11. Anand isn't quite over the line but it would take a major disaster now for him not to win the event. Given the weight of draws in the event and the clear tiredness of many of the participants Anand may only require a single draw to take the title. His lead stands at 1.5 points with three rounds to go. Today he faced the mercurial Alexander Morozevich who played the Najdorf Sicilian. Anand said he went for an atypical Najdorf line "but you get an interesting position". He pointed to Nf4 ("amateur move" Morozevich) being a bit early. Anand was worried by Morozevich's counterplay and wasn't even sure he was better at one point. However Qa6 turned out very well although he wasn't so sure at the time. Morozevich had a very depressed view of his game thinking he was losing for a long time and although he played enterprisingly this became a self-fulfilling prophesy. If anything the difference in class between Anand and the rest of the field is growing as the rest of the field becomes tired and Anand's play remains at least at the same level.
Anand's win against Morozevich. "Video © Macauley Peterson for ICC Chess.FM. Free videos & podcasts each day from Mexico at http://www.chessclub.com
Anand,V (2792) - Morozevich,A (2758) [B90] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 Nbd7 9.g4 Nb6 10.g5 Nh5 11.Qd2 Rc8 12.0-0-0 Be7 13.Rg1 0-0 14.Kb1 Qc7 15.Qf2 Nc4 16.Bxc4 Bxc4 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.Rxd5 f5 19.gxf6 [19.Qg2 fxe4 20.fxe4 Nf4 21.Bxf4 Rxf4 22.Nc1 Rg4 0-1 Sierra Canosa,F (2073)-Olay Valdes,R/Oviedo 2005/EXT 2006] 19...Rxf6 20.Qe2 Nf4 Anand said this was maybe a bit early as it clarifys the position for white. 21.Bxf4 Rxf4 22.Rd3 Qd7 23.Nc1 Rcf8 24.a3 Kh8 25.Na2 Qh3 26.Rg3 Qh5 27.Qg2 Rh4 28.h3 Qh6 29.Rb3! Morozevich missed this and already thought he was losing. He conceded this might have just been a state of mind but he was only looking for ways of complicating the position. 29...b5 30.Nb4 Rh5 31.Qf1 Rh4 32.Qg2 Rh5 33.Nxa6 Bh4 34.Rg4 Bf6 35.Qe2 Rxh3
In turn Anand didn't find this manoever for black and was unhappy losing this h-pawn and subsequently the f-pawn. At various points he conceded he didn't really know what was going on. 36.Rxb5 Bd8 37.Rb8 Qf6 38.Nb4 Rxf3 39.Nd5 Qf7 40.Qa6! This is very strong and puts white very close to the win. 40...h5 41.Rg2 [41.Rg1 is also strong.] 41...h4 42.Qxd6 Be7 43.Qxe5 Rxb8 44.Qxb8+ Kh7 45.Qc7 Bf8 46.Qxf7 Rxf7 47.Rg4 Rf1+ 48.Ka2 Rh1 49.e5 Bc5 50.e6 Kh6 51.Rc4! A really clinical way of finishing. White could of course win the bishop and that may also win but this is very clean. 51...h3 52.Rxc5 h2 53.Ne3 Ra1+ 54.Kxa1 h1Q+ 55.Ka2 Qe4 56.Re5!!
The fork on g4 protects the rook, black has no serious checks and the e-pawn will be decisive. 1-0
Boris Gelfand probably should have got more from the opening against Peter Svidler but in a complex position neither player seemed at his best, typified by Svidler's pessimistic assessment of the final position during the game where he accepted the draw and then later during the press conference realised he was probably not at all worse. Gelfand,B (2733) - Svidler,P (2735) [A15] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qb3 Nb6 7.d4 Bg7 8.Bf4 Be6 9.Qa3 0-0 10.e4N [10.e3 Nd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.Be2 Nd7 13.0-0 c6 14.Bg3 Nf6 15.Be5 Ne4 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Rfd1 h5 18.Ne5 Qd6 19.Qd3 f6 20.Nc4 Bxc4 21.Qxc4 Rad8 22.Qc2 f5 23.Rab1 h4 24.b4 a6 25.a4 h3 26.g3 Ng5 27.f3 Qd5 28.Kf2 Rfe8 29.Qc5 Ne6 30.Qxd5 Rxd5 31.Bc4 Rd6 32.Bxe6 Rxe6 33.Rdc1 Rd6 34.f4 g5 35.Rc5 Kg6 36.Rbc1 g4 37.Ke2 e6 38.Kd3 Ra8 39.Re5 Kf6 40.a5 Rd5 41.Kc4 Rad8 42.Rd1 Ke7 43.Rc1 R8d6 44.Kb3 Kd7 45.Rc3 1/2-1/2 Wang Yue (2626)-Areshchenko,A (2641)/Lausanne SUI 2006/The Week in Chess 619] 10...c6 Risky but reasonable defense. 11.Rd1 [11.0-0-0 perhaps with the idea of h4-h5.] 11...Nc4 12.Bxc4 Bxc4 13.Ne5 Ba6 14.Be3 Qd6 15.f4 Qxa3 16.bxa3 f6 [16...Rd8 should be more precise. 17.Kf2 Nd7 18.Nxd7 Rxd7] 17.Nf3 Nd7 18.d5 Nb6 19.dxc6 bxc6 20.Nd4 Rfc8 21.Ne6 Bh6 22.Kf2
Gelfand offered a draw thinking he didn't have chances to win. Svidler wasn't happy with his position so he accepted. [22.Kf2 Bc4 23.Nc5 Bf7 24.f5 Initially Svidler thought white was better in the final position but at the end he conceded that "The more I think about it the more I think that the white position isn't better at all."] 1/2-1/2
Vladimir Kramnik played a novelty 11...c6, Alexander Grischuk didn't meet it in the best way and the position was simply dead drawn when Queen's came off on move 13. Kramnik defended his decision to play the Petroff by saying he had prepared this for the event and he expected things to go more sharply today which may have given him some chances. He added that you can't just play any old nonesense with black just because you would like to play for a win. He understood his chances were slim but he pointed out he had two whites in the last three rounds and he would certainly be trying to get good results in those. Grischuk said that his aim was to try and play a little better with black as he'd lost three games so far with that colour. The press conference took place a long time before Anand finished and won again. Grischuk,A (2726) - Kramnik,V (2769) [C43] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nc3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Nxe5 8.dxe5 Be7 9.Qh5 Be6 10.Rb1 Qd7 11.Bg5 [11.h3 b6 12.0-0 g6 13.Qh6 Bf8 14.Qf4 Be7 15.Qh6 Bf8 16.Qh4 Be7 17.Bg5 Bxg5 18.Qxg5 Qe7 19.Bb5+ Bd7 20.Bxd7+ Qxd7 21.f4 Qf5 22.Rbe1 Kd7 23.Rd1 Kc6 24.c4 dxc4 25.Qg3 Rad8 26.Qf3+ Kb5 27.Rb1+ Ka6 28.Rb4 Qd7 29.Rxc4 c5 30.Rb1 Qd5 31.Qa3+ Kb7 32.Rxc5 Qd4+ 33.Kh1 Rd7 34.Qf3+ Kb8 35.Qc6 Rhd8 36.a4 Rb7 37.Rc4 Qd5 38.Qf6 Qxc4 39.Qxd8+ Qc8 40.Qd6+ Qc7 41.Qf8+ Qc8 42.Qd6+ Qc7 43.Qa3 a5 44.Qd3 Ka7 45.Rb5 Qd7 46.Qe3 Ka6 47.Kh2 Qd1 48.Qe4 Ka7 49.Rd5 Qc1 50.Qd4 Ka6 51.c4 Qa3 52.Rd8 Ka7 53.Rc8 1-0 Sutovsky,E (2629)-Roiz,M (2605)/Catalan Bay ENG 2007/The Week in Chess 639] 11...c6N [11...0-0-0 12.0-0 (12.Bb5 c6 13.Ba6 Bg4 14.Qxf7 Bxg5 15.Rxb7 Qxf7 16.Rxf7+ Kb8 17.0-0 Bc8 18.Rb1+ Ka8 19.Bxc8 Rxc8 20.Rbb7 Rce8 21.Rxa7+ Kb8 22.Rfb7+ Kc8 23.Rxg7 Kb8 24.g3 Bd2 25.Rgb7+ Kc8 26.Rc7+ Kb8 27.Rcb7+ Kc8 28.Rf7 Kb8 29.Rab7+ Ka8 30.Ra7+ Kb8 31.Rab7+ Ka8 32.Rbc7 Bxc3 33.f4 Bd4+ 34.Kg2 Rc8 35.Rxh7 Rxh7 36.Rxc8+ Kb7 37.Rg8 Kb6 38.h4 Ra7 39.e6 Kc5 40.Rd8 Bf6 41.Rd7 Rxa2 42.Rf7 Rxc2+ 43.Kf3 Bd4 44.f5 Rf2+ 45.Kg4 Re2 46.h5 Kd6 47.h6 c5 48.h7 Rh2 49.Kg5 c4 50.e7 Kd7 51.f6 c3 52.Rf8 Bxf6+ 53.Kxf6 Rh6+ 54.Ke5 Re6+ 55.Kd4 1-0 Sutovsky,E (2637)-Sakaev,K (2633)/Dresden GER 2007/The Week in Chess 650) 12...h6 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Qe2 Qc5 15.Qd2 d4 16.cxd4 Rxd4 17.Qe3 Rhd8 18.h3 g5 19.Rb5 Qc6 20.Rfb1 b6 21.a3 Kb8 22.R5b4 Qc3 23.h4 gxh4 24.Rxd4 Qxd4 25.Qxd4 Rxd4 26.Rb4 Rxb4 27.axb4 a5 28.bxa5 bxa5 29.Bb5 Kb7 30.f4 Kb6 31.Be8 Kc5 32.Kf2 c6 33.f5 Bxf5 34.Bxf7 Bxc2 0-1 Kremenietsky,A (2390)-Pripis,F (2285)/Moscow 1977/EXT 2002] 12.0-0 Bxg5 13.Qxg5
1/2-1/2 This has been a fairly brutal test of stamina for all the players and Peter Leko and Levon Aronian's play also displayed signs that tireness was taking its toll. Leko surprised Aronian in the opening who couldn't really remember the theory and gave some ground after playing Rc8 instead of Kramnik's Rd8. Leko then admitted to a number of bad miscalculations and then a drawn ending was reached. All a bit rubbish really. Leko,P (2751) - Aronian,L (2750) [E15] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 [5.b3 1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2770)-Leko,P (2743)/Budapest HUN 2001/The Week in Chess 322 (28); 5.Qb3 1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2809)-Leko,P (2713)/Monaco MNC 2002/The Week in Chess 385 (37)] 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.0-0 0-0 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Rd1 d6 11.Bf4 a6 12.Qb4 [12.Rd2 1/2-1/2 Borges Mateos,J (2500)-Spraggett,K (2580)/Havana CUB 1997 (53); 12.Qc2 1/2-1/2 Leko,P (2741)-Kramnik,V (2770)/Brissago SUI 2004/The Week in Chess 519 (17)] 12...Nc6 13.Qa3 d5 14.Qa4 Qc8 15.cxd5 b5 16.Qc2 Nb4 17.Qd2 Nbxd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Rac1 Qe8 20.Nd4 Rc8? Bad according to Aronian. [20...Rd8 21.Bg5 h6 22.Bxe7 Qxe7 23.Qa5 Rc8 24.Nb3 Nf6 25.Bxb7 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Qxb7 27.Qd2 Rc8 28.Rxc8+ 1/2-1/2 Leko,P (2749)-Kramnik,V (2754)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2005/The Week in Chess 533] 21.Bxd5 Bxd5 22.Nf5 Rd8 23.Bc7 Rd7 24.e4 exf5 25.exd5 Bd6 26.Re1 Qa8 27.Ba5 Rb8
28.a3 [28.Rc6 Bf8 (28...b4 29.Rxd6 Rxd6 30.Bc7 Rbd8 31.Bxd6 Rxd6 32.Qxb4 Rxd5 33.Qb7 Rd8) ] 28...b4 29.axb4 Bf8 30.Re5 [30.Bc7 Rc8 31.d6] 30...g6 31.Rc7 Rbd8 32.Rxd7 Rxd7 33.Qe1 Rxd5 34.Re8 Qc6 35.b5 Qd7 36.Kg2 Rxb5 37.Bc3 Qd6 38.Qe3 Rb7 39.Qd4 Qxd4 40.Bxd4 f6 This ending is just drawish. 41.Ra8 Kf7 42.Rxa6 Be7 43.Kf3 Rd7 44.Bc3 Bd6 45.Ke2 Be5 46.f4 Bxc3 47.bxc3 g5 48.Ra4 Rb7 49.Rd4 Ke6 50.Rd2 Rb1 51.Ke3 Rc1 52.Kd4 Rf1 53.Re2+ Kd6 54.Ke3 Rc1 55.Kd2 Rf1 56.Ke3 Rc1 1/2-1/2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Kasparov Books |
|
|
 Giant Chess Sets |
|
|
 Chess Computers |
|
|
 Books 2000/1/2/3 |
