World Chess Championship Tournament 2007. Mexico City - Round 2 by Mark Crowther and Malcolm Pein

Mark Crowther on Round 2

Round 2 (September 14, 2007)

Kramnik, Vladimir      -  Morozevich, Alexander  1-0   27  E04  Catalan
Gelfand, Boris         -  Grischuk, Alexander    1/2   23  E15  Queens Indian
Svidler, Peter         -  Leko, Peter            1/2   43  C89  Ruy Lopez Marshall
Aronian, Levon         -  Anand, Viswanathan     0-1   41  D43  Anti-Meran Gambit

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 Kramnik, Vladimir      g RUS 2769 ** .. .. =. .. .. 1. ..  1.5  2939
2 Anand, Viswanathan     g IND 2792 .. ** =. .. .. .. .. 1.  1.5  2934
3 Gelfand, Boris         g ISR 2733 .. =. ** .. =. .. .. ..  1.0  2759
4 Svidler, Peter         g RUS 2735 =. .. .. ** .. =. .. ..  1.0  2760
5 Grischuk, Alexander    g RUS 2726 .. .. =. .. ** =. .. ..  1.0  2742
6 Leko, Peter            g HUN 2751 .. .. .. =. =. ** .. ..  1.0  2730
7 Morozevich, Alexander  g RUS 2758 0. .. .. .. .. .. ** =.  0.5  2566
8 Aronian, Levon         g ARM 2750 .. 0. .. .. .. .. =. **  0.5  2582
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Kramnik - Morozevich in PGN my IM Malcolm Pein

Round 2 of the World Chess Championship Tournament in Mexico City saw its first decisive games. First to win was Viswanathan Anand who defeated Levon Aronian. Aronian confessed afterwards that Anand had played well and he had not and that seems a reasonable description of the game.

Aronian,L (2750) - Anand,V (2792) [D43]
WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007
[Crowther,Mark]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 An attempt to surprise Anand. 5...h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Ne5 h5 10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Rad1 0-0 16.Bg3 Nd7 17.f3 c5N Anand and his second Peter Heine Nielsen found this only a few days before. [17...f5 18.fxg4 fxg4 19.e5 Rxf1+ 20.Rxf1 Nf8 21.Qd2 Ng6 22.Ne4 c5 23.Nf6+ Bxf6 24.Rxf6 Qxd4+ 25.Qxd4 cxd4 26.Rxg6+ Kf7 27.Rf6+ Ke7 28.Bf2 d3 29.Bd1 a5 30.Rh6 Be4 31.Rxh5 a4 32.a3 Bf5 33.Rg5 Kf7 34.Be3 b4 35.Bxg4 Rg8 36.Bh5+ Bg6 37.Rxg6 Rxg6 38.axb4 c3 39.bxc3 a3 40.c4 a2 41.Bd4 d2 42.Kf2 Ke7 43.Bd1 Rg8 44.Ke3 Rc8 45.c5 Rb8 46.Bc3 Rxb4 47.Kxd2 Rxh4 48.Bb3 Rh2 49.Bb2 Rxg2+ 50.Kc3 Re2 51.Bxa2 Rxe5 52.Ba3 Kd7 53.Kc4 Re1 54.Bb4 Ra1 55.Bb3 Kc6 56.Bd2 Ra6 57.Bd1 Ra3 58.Bb4 Ra1 59.Bf3+ Kc7 60.Kb5 Rb1 61.Be4 Rb2 62.c6 Rb3 63.Kc5 Rg3 64.Ba5+ Kc8 65.Kd6 Ra3 66.Bb4 Rb3 67.Bd2 Rb2 68.Bc3 Rb3 69.Be5 1-0 Bormida,A (2412)-Binelli,R (2476)/CAPA email 1999; 17...Qb6 18.Kh1 e5 19.d5 cxd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 21.Rxd5 Rad8 22.fxg4 hxg4 23.Bxg4 Nf6 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Bf3 Qe3 26.Rf2 Rd3 27.Re2 Qh6 28.b3 Nh5 29.Be1 Nf4 30.bxc4 Bf6 31.g3 Rxf3 32.gxf4 Bxh4 33.Rg2+ Bg3+ 34.Kg1 exf4 35.cxb5 Qb6+ 36.Bf2 Qe6 37.Qe2 Ra3 38.Qh5 Qxe4 39.Qg5+ Qg6 40.Qxg6+ fxg6 41.Bxg3 fxg3 42.Rb2 Kf7 1/2-1/2 Vallejo Pons,F (2648)-Dreev,A (2676)/Biel 2002/CBM 091/[Lutz]] 18.dxc5 Qe7 19.Kh1 a6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Nd5?

White was already not happy about the way things had gone and after the game Aronian was critical of this move. 21...exd5 22.exd5 Be5 23.f4 Bg7 24.dxc6 Nxc5 25.Rd5 Ne4 26.Be1 Qe6! Missed by Aronian. 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

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

Much more interesting was Vladimir Kramnik's sacrificial win against Alexander Morozevich. His 12.e4 set up a knight sacrifice a move later. Its hard to say whether the move is sound or not but it certainly set up grave practical difficulties for Morozevich who got a long way towards safety but only at the expense of much of his time. Kramnik actually played inaccurately on move 21 but with only four minutes left Morozevich blundered (and immediately saw the much better move) and went under quickly. That Kramnik doesn't play speculative sacrifices like this more often is I guess down to temperament rather than ability, I still remember his final two games in Brissago against Leko with great fondness where he took the brakes off.

Kramnik,V (2769)- Morozevich,A (2758) [E04]
WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007
[IM Malcolm Pein]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Of course, the Catalan 3...d5 4.d4 dxc4 5.Bg2 a6 Intending to hang on to the gambit pawn with b5 6.Ne5 Kramnik prevents b7-b5 by unmasking the Catalan bishop 6...Bb4+ [6...c5 Looks natural 7.Be3 Nd5 8.dxc5!? Nxe3 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.fxe3 Ke8 11.c6!] 7.Nc3 Nd5 8.0-0!? 0-0 [It would take a brave man to test the champ's home analysis after 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bxc3 10.Rb1 Qxd4 11.Qa4+ b5 12.Qa3 (12.Rxb5 axb5 13.Qxa8 Qxe5 14.Qxb8; 12.Qc2) 12...Qxe5 13.Bf4 Qf6 14.Bxa8~~] 9.Qc2 b5 [Another way to keep the pawn was 9...Nb6!? 10.Rd1] 10.Nxd5 [10.e4 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Be7 12.a4 f6 13.Nf3 Bb7 is safe enough] 10...exd5 11.b3 White must break up the black pawns. He threatens to take twice on c4 11...c6 12.e4!!

12...f6 [Moro cannot resist 12...dxe4!? 13.bxc4 f6 14.cxb5 fxe5 15.Qb3+ Qd5 16.Qxb4 exd4 17.Ba3 Also looks very random] 13.exd5 fxe5 14.bxc4 The computer evaluation is lost for White but the Catalan bishop is about to be unleashed 14...exd4 [14...e4 15.Bxe4 Bh3 16.Rd1 Bg4 17.Be3!! Bxd1 18.Rxd1 with huge compensation; 14...Kh8!?] 15.dxc6 Be6 16.cxb5! d3? [Natural but probably wrong, there were many choices 16...Qc7 17.Rb1 (17.Qe4 Bc4 18.Bf4 Rxf4 19.Qxf4 Bd6 20.Qxd4 axb5 21.Rad1 Be5 22.Bd5+ Kh8 23.Qe4) 17...Ba5 18.Bf4 Rxf4 19.gxf4 axb5 20.Qe4 both look good for White] 17.c7!! Qd4 [17...dxc2 18.cxd8Q Rxd8 19.Bxa8 axb5 (19...Bc3 20.Bg5!) 20.Be4] 18.Qa4 Nd7 19.Be3 Qd6 20.Bxa8 Rxa8 21.Bf4?

[21.Rac1! Rc8 (21...Ne5 22.b6) 22.Rc6 Qe7 23.Qxa6 is brutally effective] 21...Qf8?? [Missing 21...Qd5! Which Morozevich saw immediately after playing Qf8. He was however down to his last couple of minutes at this stage. 22.Rac1! (22.Qxb4? Qf3!! and astonishingly Black wins !) and after 22...Bc5 23.Qxa6!? anything could happen] 22.b6! Ne5 [Its over because 22...Nxb6 23.Qc6 Bh3 24.Qxb6 Bxf1 25.Rxf1 d2 26.Qb8 wins] 23.Bxe5 Qf3 24.Qd1 Qe4 25.b7 Rf8 [25...Qxb7 26.Qxd3 Bh3 27.f3+-] 26.c8Q Bd5 27.f3 1-0

The final two games were much tamer affairs. Peter Svidler bemoaned the fact that he still hadn't found the "Holy Grail, the refutation of the Marshall". Svidler felt he had a clear pawn out of the opening but miscalculated his chances when returning it later on and was disappointed not to win.

Svidler,P (2735) - Leko,P (2751) [C89]
WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Qe2 [15.Bxd5 cxd5 16.Qf3 Bf5 17.Qxd5 Rae8 18.Re3 Qh5 19.f3 Qg6 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.Nd2 Bxg3 22.Ne4 Bh4+ 0-1 Foltys,J-Thelen,B/Prague 1943] 15...Bg4 16.Qf1 Qh5 17.Nd2 Rae8 [17...Kh8 18.Ne4 Bc7 19.Bd2 f5 20.Nc5 f4 21.Qd3 fxg3 22.fxg3 Rf3 23.Qe4 Bxg3 24.Re2 Rff8 25.Rg2 Bf3 26.Bd1 Bxe4 27.Bxh5 Bxg2 28.hxg3 Bf3 29.Bxf3 Rxf3 30.Kg2 Rf7 31.Re1 Re7 32.Kf3 Rxe1 33.Bxe1 Rf8+ 34.Kg4 Re8 35.Nd3 Re3 36.Ne5 Rxe1 37.Nxc6 Re2 38.b3 Nxc3 39.a3 Ra2 40.a4 bxa4 41.bxa4 Rxa4 0-1 Nolan,K-Watson,J/Sydney 2002/EXT 2003] 18.Rxe8 Rxe8 19.f3 Bf5 20.Ne4 Bc7 21.Bd2 Qg6 22.Re1 Bxe4 23.Rxe4 Rxe4 24.Bc2 f5 25.fxe4 fxe4 26.Qg2 Nf6 27.Qh3 Ng4 28.Bb3+ Kf8 29.Bd1 e3 30.Bc1 h5 31.Bxg4 hxg4 32.Qf1+ Ke8 33.Bxe3 Kd7 34.Qe2 Qf5 35.b3 g6 36.Bf2 Bd6 37.c4 bxc4 38.bxc4 Bc7 39.d5 cxd5 40.cxd5 Bd6 41.a4 Qb1+ 42.Kg2 Qf5 43.Kg1 1/2-1/2

Gelfand - Grischuk was just one of those games where things never looked like getting terribly exciting and the players called it off after 23 moves.

Gelfand,B (2733) - Grischuk,A (2726) [E15]
WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 c5 8.Bxb4 cxb4 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qd3 Be4 11.Qe3 Nc6 12.Nbd2 d5 13.Rfc1 [13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Nd2 Nc3 15.Nb1 Nxd4 16.Nxc3 Nc2 17.Qc1 Nxa1 18.Nb5 a6 19.Nd4 Nxb3 20.axb3 Rc8 21.Rd1 Qf6 22.e4 Rfd8 23.Qb1 dxc4 24.Nc6 Rxd1+ 25.Qxd1 e5 26.Nxb4 cxb3 27.Nd5 Qd6 28.Qxb3 Rc1+ 29.Bf1 b5 30.Kg2 Qc5 31.Bd3 Qd6 32.Bc2 Qc5 33.Bd3 Qd6 34.Bc2 Qc5 1/2-1/2 Dokhoian,Y (2575)-Romanishin,O (2555)/Yerevan 1989] 13...Rc8 14.cxd5 Bxd5 15.Qd3 Bxf3 16.Nxf3 Nd5 17.Rc4 Nc3 18.a3 b5 19.Rxc6 Rxc6 20.Ng5 Qxg5 21.Bxc6 Rc8 22.Bb7 Rc7 23.axb4 The matter of the Sofia Rule was aired at the press conference, since both players had agreed to early draws in their games - this one in 23 moves. They responded by saying, in effect, that if a draw is justified, why not agree to split the point? Gelfand thought that he had the better pawn structure at the end but little else. His decision to play a rook to c1 was questioned, but defended by his opponent as correct. Mild criticism persisted, one person saying that the chess-playing public expected in Mexico expected wins. Grischuk replied that he for one did not play for draws, and went on to say that a draw was the probable result between strong, equally matched opponents. Even so, the feeling in the room was that the players have an obligation to make the game more exciting for the fans. Both GMs continued to defend their current performance, and the conference ended. 1/2-1/2