Kamsky Bounces Back In Moscow

Submitted by SonofPearl on Tue, 08/19/2008 at 12:54pm.

Gata Kamsky (pictured) recovered from his drubbing at the hands of Vassily Ivanchuk in the opening round to overcome Alexei Shirov in round 2.

With the Grunfeld back in the repair shop, Kamsky opted for the Slav with 4...a6. An ill-advised Knight sortie by Shirov resulted in his losing the chance to castle, and after a complex struggle Kamsky won first one pawn, then another and soon it was all over. Poor Shirov will need all his famous skills to recover from a poor 0/2 start in this very strong tournament.

None of the other games produced a decisive result in a much quieter round in Moscow.

The results in round 2:

Kramnik, Vladimir	- Leko, Peter	½-½	28	E15	Queens Indian
Gelfand, Boris	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	36	A30	English Symmetrical
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	- Morozevich, Alexander	½-½	31	D85	Gruenfeld Defence
Alekseev, Evgeny	- Ponomariov, Ruslan	½-½	20	D38	QGD Ragozin
Shirov, Alexei	- Kamsky, Gata	0-1	45	D15	Slav Defence

The standings after round 2:

1	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	2781	1½
2	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	2788	1½
3	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2788	1½
4	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2720	1
5	Leko, Peter	HUN	2741	1
6	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	2742	1
7	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	2718	1
8	Kamsky, Gata	USA	2723	1
9	Alekseev, Evgeny	RUS	2708	½
10	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	2741	0

» posted in Chess event coverage

1126 reads | 7 comments |

1 vote:

Comments:

by sadhumohit - 2 days ago
India

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 4

why isnt anand in this tournament

by martinwalker - 2 days ago
Wembley England

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 1

Dear Hatoblue,

Because black plays 12.....Bxe5 13. dxe5(Or 13. Bxh5 Bxd)Nf4 and white will soon lose a pawn. The way he played it, he ended up with a slightly worse position. SO I think Shirov's mistake was 11.Nfg5. If instead 11. Bxg7 Nxg7 (Or 11.....Qa5+ 12. Qd2 Qxd2+ is equal)12. 0-0 white is fine.

by hatoblue - 2 days ago
United States

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 17

Why didn't Shirov just block the queen check with his knight on move 12?

by Phobetor - 2 days ago
Eindhoven Netherlands

Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 591

I agree qisq, although I also like watching Ivanchuk (or Carlsen) when he's playing well. Hopefully they can both live up to their new 2780+ ratings and beat up the rest of the field.

Morozevich was close again today. He was better for a big part of the game, but 28... c4? (28... Be5 is better) threw away the advantage.

by qisq - 3 days ago
laughlin United States

Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 8

Another exiciting game by Morozovich, he is the best to watch by far. Did anyone else watch all his games from the Russian Championship that he won by 1.5 pts, they were sublime. He is truely a chess artist.

by santiR - 3 days ago
d.c. United States

Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 147

thanks for posting.

by dwaxe - 3 days ago
Thousand Oaks, California United States

Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 441

Not as exciting as the first round, but great games nontheless.

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