Amber 2005 Round 9

Amber 2005 Round 9
Blindfold --------- Round 9 (March 29, 2005) Morozevich, Alexander - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 57 D31 Semi-Slav Defence Svidler, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 33 B31 Sicilian Rossolimo Leko, Peter - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 43 C12 French MacCutcheon Gelfand, Boris - Topalov, Veselin 1/2 39 D39 QGD Ragozin Van Wely, Loek - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 45 A17 English Opening Bareev, Evgeny - Vallejo Pons, Francisco 0-1 63 E14 Queens Indian Amber Blindfold Monte Carlo MNC (MNC), 19-31 iii 2005 cat. XX (2726) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2786 * = 1 . 1 = = . 1 1 1 = 7.0 2942 2 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2741 = * . = 1 . 0 = 0 1 1 1 5.5 2810 3 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2686 0 . * 1 1 0 . = 1 0 1 1 5.5 2806 4 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 . = 0 * = = 1 1 . = 0 1 5.0 2758 5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2754 0 0 0 = * 1 = . 1 1 . 1 5.0 2774 6 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2711 = . 1 = 0 * = = = 1 0 . 4.5 2728 7 Leko, Peter g HUN 2749 = 1 . 0 = = * = 0 . = 1 4.5 2729 8 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2696 . = = 0 . = = * = = 1 = 4.5 2720 9 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2757 0 1 0 . 0 = 1 = * = . = 4.0 2684 10 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2713 0 0 1 = 0 0 . = = * 1 . 3.5 2647 11 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2679 0 0 0 1 . 1 = 0 . 0 * = 3.0 2600 12 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2709 = 0 0 0 0 . 0 = = . = * 2.0 2511 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rapid ----- Round 9 (March 29, 2005) Anand, Viswanathan - Van Wely, Loek 1/2 119 D48 Queens Gambit Meran Ivanchuk, Vassily - Leko, Peter 0-1 58 C86 Ruy Lopez Worrall Attack Shirov, Alexei - Morozevich, Alexander 1/2 52 D17 Slav Defence Kramnik, Vladimir - Svidler, Peter 0-1 30 B46 Sicilian Paulsen Topalov, Veselin - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 50 D17 Slav Defence Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Bareev, Evgeny 1/2 45 D45 Anti-Meran Variations Amber Rapid Monte Carlo MNC (MNC), 19-31 iii 2005 cat. XX (2726) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2786 * 1 1 = 1 . = 0 . 1 = 1 6.5 2888 2 Leko, Peter g HUN 2749 0 * 1 = . = = 1 = 1 = . 5.5 2809 3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2711 0 0 * . = 1 1 . = 1 1 = 5.5 2808 4 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2741 = = . * = 1 0 1 0 1 = . 5.0 2773 5 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2713 0 . = = * = = . 1 0 1 1 5.0 2770 6 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 . = 0 0 = * 1 = 1 . 1 = 5.0 2758 7 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2754 = = 0 1 = 0 * = . = . = 4.0 2688 8 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2709 1 0 . 0 . = = * = 0 1 = 4.0 2688 9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2696 . = = 1 0 0 . = * = = = 4.0 2677 10 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2757 0 0 0 0 1 . = 1 = * . = 3.5 2647 11 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2679 = = 0 = 0 0 . 0 = . * 1 3.0 2600 12 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2686 0 . = . 0 = = = = = 0 * 3.0 2601 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combined -------- Amber Combined Monte Carlo MNC (MNC), 19-31 iii 2005 cat. XX (2726) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2786 == =1 =1 .. 1= .. 11 11 11 1= =0 13.5 2915 2 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2741 == .. 0= =1 10 =0 1= .. 01 1= 11 10.5 2787 3 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2711 =0 .. =0 =1 01 == 1= 1= =1 01 .. 10.0 2771 4 Leko, Peter g HUN 2749 =0 1= =1 0= == == .. .. 01 == 11 10.0 2772 5 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 .. =0 =0 1= =1 11 == 0= .. 01 1= 10.0 2758 6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2754 0= 01 10 == =0 .. 1= 0= 1= .. 1= 9.0 2731 7 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2696 .. =1 == == 00 .. =0 == == 1= == 8.5 2699 8 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2713 00 0= 0= .. == 0= =1 11 =0 11 .. 8.5 2706 9 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2686 00 .. 0= .. 1= 1= == 00 1= 10 1= 8.5 2705 10 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2757 00 10 =0 10 .. 0= == =1 0= .. =1 7.5 2670 11 Van Wely, Loek g NED 2679 0= 0= 10 == 10 .. 0= 00 01 .. =0 6.0 2600 12 Bareev, Evgeny g RUS 2709 =1 00 .. 00 0= 0= == .. 0= =0 =1 6.0 2606 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the free day the players tried some archery. Photo © Official site. Round 9 29th March 2005 Blindfold first three round 9 games Gelfand against Topalov was a Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence with 5 Bg5 dxc4. The game stayed in dynamic equality and ended with perpetual check. Van Wely against Anand was an English Opening. Pieces were traded and possibly Van Wely chose the wrong ones to keep because suddenly his position started to go down hill without any clear errors and Anand won a fine game. Svidler against Kramnik was a Sicilian with 2. ...Nc6 3. Bb5 g6. Pieces were gradually traded and it was clear the game was equal. Anand playing the blindfold game. Photo © Official site. Van Wely,L - Anand,V [A17] Amber Blindfold Monaco (9), 29.03.2005 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 b6 7.b4 a5 8.Bb2 axb4 9.axb4 Rxa1+ 10.Bxa1 c5 11.g3 d6 12.Bg2 e5 13.b5 Re8 [13...Bb7 14.0-0 Nbd7 15.Bb2 Qc7 16.Ra1 Rb8 17.Ra7 Qc8 18.d3 Nf8 19.Qa3 Ra8 20.Nh4 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 Rb8 22.Qa6 Qg4 23.f3 Qg5 24.Qa1 Nh5 25.Bc1 Nf4+ 26.Kf2 Qh5 27.Ra8 Rxa8 28.Qxa8 N4g6 29.Qd8 Nxh4 30.gxh4 f6 31.Ke1 Qxh4+ 32.Kd1 Qxh2 33.Qxb6 Qg1+ 34.Kd2 Ne6 35.Qc6 Qg5+ 36.e3 h5 37.Kc2 Qg2+ 38.Bd2 Ng5 39.Kc3 Nxf3 40.Bc1 Qf1 41.Qe8+ Kh7 42.Qxh5+ Kg8 43.Qe8+ Kh7 44.Qh5+ Kg8 45.Kc2 1/2-1/2 Van Wely,L-Handke,F/Amsterdam NED 2002/The Week in Chess 404] 14.0-0 Nbd7 15.d3 Bb7 16.Bb2 Nf8 17.Ra1 Ne6 18.e3 Qb8 19.Qa3 Qc7 20.Qb3 Ra8 21.Rxa8+ Bxa8 22.Qa3 Qb8 23.e4 Bb7 24.Bh3 Bc8 25.Bc1 h6 26.Kg2 Bd7 27.Be3 Nd4 28.Bxd7 Nxd7 29.Nxd4 exd4 30.Bf4 g5 31.Bd2 f5! White's position declines rapidly from here. Its hard to say where he went wrong. 32.f3 [32.exf5 Ne5 33.Qa6 Nxd3 34.f4 gxf4 35.gxf4 d5 36.cxd5 c4] 32...fxe4 33.dxe4 Ne5 34.f4 [34.h4 g4 35.f4 Nxc4 36.Qd3; 34.Qb3 Qb7] 34...Nxc4 35.Qa2 d5 36.exd5 Nxd2 37.Qxd2 Qa8 38.Qe2 Qxd5+ Now black is clearly winning. 39.Kf2 d3 40.Qe7 d2 41.Qe8+ Kg7 42.Qe7+ Kg6 43.Qe8+ Kf5 44.Qc8+ Ke4 45.Qe8+ Kd3 0-1 Blindfold second three round 9 games Ivanchuk played the McCutcheon Variation of the French with black against Leko's French. Ivanchuk equalised and may have in fact stood a tiny bit better but he sacrificed a pawn for what turned out to be a repetition of position. Bareev - Vallejo was a quiet d-pawn opening. Bareev obtained a slight advantage and then sacrificed a piece to open up Vallejo's King. He calmly defended and after white didn't play 40. e7 his position was long term lost. Vallejo won on move 63. Morozevich against Shirov was an interesting exchange Semi-Slav. Morozevich emerged with an extra pawn on the queenside which he managed to convert. Evgeny Bareev. Photo © Official site. Bareev,E - Vallejo Pons,F [E14] Amber Blindfold Monaco (9), 29.03.2005 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Nc3 Bb7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.0-0 Be7 10.b3 0-0 11.Bb2 Bd6 12.Rc1 Re8 13.Qc2 Qe7 14.Ne2 g6 15.Ng3 h5 16.Rfd1 Rac8 17.Qe2 Ba8 18.Rc2 Ne4 19.Nf1 Bb8 20.Rdc1 Qd6 21.Ne5 Nf8 22.Ba6 Rc7 23.f3 Nf6 24.Bd3 Rcc8 25.Qf2 N8d7 26.f4 Ne4 27.Qh4 Nxe5 28.dxe5 Qe7 29.Qh3 c5 30.Ng3 Bc6 31.Bxe4 dxe4 32.Nxh5 gxh5 33.Qxh5 Qf8 34.e6 f6 35.Qf5 Qh6 36.Bxf6 Rc7 37.Rd2 Rh7 38.h3 Qh5 39.Qxh5 Rxh5 40.Rd8 [40.e7 Kf7 41.Bg5 Bb5 42.h4 Bd3 43.g4 Rh7 was perhaps better.] 40...Rh6 41.Bg5 [41.Rxe8+ Bxe8 42.Bg5 Rxe6 43.f5 Rc6] 41...Rhxe6 42.Rcd1 Bc7 43.Rxe8+ Bxe8 44.g4 Rd6 45.Rxd6 Bxd6 White only has two pawns for a piece and in trouble. 46.Bf6 b5 47.Kf2 b4 48.f5 a5 49.Ke1 a4 50.Kd2 a3 51.h4 Bd7 52.Ba1 Be7 53.h5 Kf7 54.Be5 Bf6 55.Bd6 c4 56.Kc2 56...Bc3 [56...Ba4] 57.h6 Bc6 58.bxc4 Ba4+ 59.Kc1 Bb3! 60.Bxb4 Bxb4 61.axb3 Bd2+ 62.Kb1 Bxe3 63.Ka2 Bxh6 0-1 Rapid first three round 9 games Topalov - Gelfand was a Slav with pretty balanced play throughout. Viswanathan Anand got into trouble on the white side of a Semi-Slav against Van Wely. He made an exchange sacrifice which didn't look to work out that well. However after some inaccuracies Van Wely was faced with trying to win Rook and Pawn against Bishop and Pawn ending which he couldn't in the end. Vladimir Kramnik against Peter Svidler started as a Sicilian Taimanov. Kramnik started aggressively but when he got pushed back he had a lost position. Kramnik against Svidler. Photo © Official site. Kramnik,V - Svidler,P [B46] Amber Rapid Monaco (9), 29.03.2005 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0-0 Qc7 9.Qe2 Bb7 10.Bd2 [10.f4 Nf6 11.Bd2 Be7 12.Rae1 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 0-0 15.f5 exf5 16.Rxf5 g6 17.Rf3 Bd6 18.h3 Rfe8 19.Qc4 Rxe4 20.Rxe4 c5 21.Ba5 Qd7 22.Rd3 Bxe4 23.Qxe4 Rc8 24.Bc3 c4 25.Rd5 Qe7 26.Qxe7 Bxe7 27.Kf2 Rc5 28.Rxc5 Bxc5+ 29.Kf3 f5 30.Kf4 Bd6+ 31.Ke3 Bc5+ 32.Kf4 Bd6+ 33.Ke3 Bc5+ 34.Bd4 Bd6 35.Kd2 Bb4+ 36.Bc3 Bd6 37.Bd4 Bb4+ 1/2-1/2 Conquest,S-Prusikin,M/Pulvermuehle GER 2004/The Week in Chess 486] 10...Bd6 11.f4 Ne7 12.Kh1 0-0 13.e5 Bb4 14.Rf3 Bxc3 15.bxc3 c5 16.Rh3 h6 17.Qh5 f5 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Re1 White has committed himself to attack but now he get pushed back. 19...c4 20.Bf1 Ng6 21.Qg4 White's position falls apart rapidly now. Perhaps he needs an improvement here, or its possible he needed on earlier. [21.g3 e5 22.f5 Ne7 23.g4 Qa5; 21.Rf3] 21...Raf8 22.Rf3 e5 23.f5 Bc8 24.Kg1 Bxf5 25.Qg3 Bxc2 Now its clearly all over. 26.Rxf6 Rxf6 27.h4 Be4 28.h5 Nf4 29.Qg4 Qf7 30.Bxc4 Bf5 0-1 Anand,V - Van Wely,L [D48] Amber Rapid Monaco (9), 29.03.2005 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.d5 Bb7 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Bc2 c4 13.Nd4 e5 [13...Nc5 14.Qf3 Bd6 15.Qh3 b4 16.Na4 Ncxe4 17.dxe6 0-0 18.f3 Be5 19.Be3 Ng5 20.exf7+ Rxf7 21.Qh4 Rd8 22.Nf5 Ne6 23.Bb6 Qb8 24.Bxd8 Nxd8 25.Rad1 Bd5 26.Ne3 Qa7 27.Qf2 b3 28.axb3 cxb3 29.Nxd5 bxc2 30.Nxf6+ Bxf6 31.Qxa7 Rxa7 32.Rd2 Rc7 33.Rc1 Rc4 34.b3 Rb4 35.Rd3 Ne6 36.Rxc2 Nf4 37.Rc8+ Kf7 38.Rd7+ Kg6 39.Rc4 1-0 Tkachiev,V-Handoko,E/Jakarta 1996] 14.Nf5 g6 15.Ne3 Bc5 16.Qf3 0-0 17.Bd2 Ne8 18.Ne2 Nd6 19.Rfc1 Rac8 20.a4 b4 21.a5 Qd8 22.Ra4 Ba8 23.Bxb4 Bxb4 24.Rxb4 Qxa5 25.Ra4 Qb6 26.Rb1 Bb7 27.h4 Qd8 28.Qg3 Nc5 29.Nc3 Exchange sacrifices are pretty common in Anand's games. It doesn't look so good here. [29.Ra3] 29...Nxa4 30.Bxa4 f6 31.h5 g5 32.h6 Rb8 33.Nf5 Bc8 34.Ng7 Qe7 35.Qf3 f5 36.exf5 Bxf5 37.Re1 Rxb2 38.Qg3 e4 39.f4 Bg6 40.Ne6 gxf4 41.Nxf4 41...Qa7+?! Seems not to be the best. [41...Nf5; 41...Qe5] 42.Kh2 Qf2 43.Qxf2 Rxf2 44.Nxg6 hxg6 45.Nxe4 Nxe4 46.Rxe4 R2f4 47.Re7 c3 48.Bc2 R8f7 49.Re3 Kh7 50.Rxc3 R7f6 51.Ra3 Rd4 52.Bd3 a5 53.Bb5 Rxd5 54.Rxa5 Kxh6 55.Ra6 Rxa6 56.Bxa6 White has decent drawing chances here especially with more time on the clock. 56...Kg5 57.g3 Rd6 58.Bc8 Rc6 59.Bd7 Rc7 60.Be6 Kf6 61.Bg4 Ke5 62.Bf3 Rh7+ 63.Kg2 Kd4 64.Ba8 Ke3 65.Bc6 Rc7 66.Ba8 Rc2+ 67.Kg1 Kd4 68.Bb7 Rb2 69.Bc6 Ke5 70.Ba8 Kf5 71.Bf3 Ke5 72.Kf1 Kd4 73.Kg1 Ke3 74.Ba8 Ra2 75.Bb7 Rd2 76.Ba8 Rf2 77.Bb7 Ke2 78.Ba8 Ke3 79.Bb7 g5 80.Ba8 g4 81.Bb7 Ra2 82.Bc6 Rb2 83.Ba8 Kd4 84.Bc6 Rb6 85.Ba8 Ke3 86.Kg2 Rd6 87.Bb7 Rd2+ 88.Kg1 Rf2 89.Ba8 Rf3 90.Kg2 Rf2+ 91.Kg1 Ra2 92.Bb7 Ra4 93.Kg2 Kd4 94.Bc6 Rb4 95.Kg1 Kc5 96.Ba8 Rb8 97.Be4 Kd6 98.Kg2 Rb4 99.Ba8 Ra4 100.Bb7 Kc7 101.Bd5 Rd4 102.Ba8 Ra4 103.Bd5 Kd6 104.Bb7 Ra7 105.Be4 Ke5 106.Bc6 Ra6 107.Bb7 Rb6 108.Ba8 Rb8 109.Bc6 Kd6 110.Be4 Re8 111.Bf5 Rg8 112.Be4 Re8 113.Bf5 Re2+ 114.Kf1 Ra2 115.Bxg4 Ke5 116.Bf3 Kd4 117.Kg1 Ke3 118.Bd5 Rd2 119.Bc6 1/2-1/2 Rapid second three round 9 games Peter Leko. Photo © Official site. Vallejo against Bareev was a Semi-Slav which ended in a Rook and Pawn ending which was drawn. Shirov against Morozevich was a Slav Defence where Shirov got a serious advantage. He had to bail into an endgame where he was knight for two pawns down. However there were bishops of opposite colour and this proved enough for Morozevich to save it. Vassily Ivanchuk overpressed in a Ruy Lopez against Peter Leko. The game was balanced until move 40 when an error turned the initiative over to Leko which he didn't let go. Ivanchuk overpressed against Leko. Photo © Official site. Ivanchuk,V - Leko,P [C86] Amber Rapid Monaco (9), 29.03.2005 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Qe2 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.d3 d4 10.h3 Bc5 [10...Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Nbd2 Nd7 13.Nb3 dxc3 14.bxc3 Nb6 15.Be3 Na4 16.Rac1 Qe8 17.d4 Qg6 1/2-1/2 Short,N-Ehlvest,J/Parnu EST 1996] 11.Bg5 Qd6 12.Nbd2 h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Bd5 dxc3 15.bxc3 Bd7 16.a4 Rab8 17.Nb3 Bb6 18.axb5 axb5 19.c4 bxc4 20.dxc4 Nd4 21.Nfxd4 Bxd4 22.Nxd4 exd4 23.e5 Qg6 24.Ra3 Rb1 25.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 26.Kh2 c6 27.Be4 Qc1 28.Ra6 c5 29.Rd6 Be6 30.Bd3 Qg5 31.Qe4 g6 32.f4 Qe7 33.Qf3 Rb8 34.Be4 [34.Qc6] 34...Rd8 35.Rxd8+ Qxd8 36.Bd5 Qc8 37.Kg3 Kg7 38.Bxe6 Qxe6 39.Qd5 Qf5 40.Qd6? [40.Qxc5 Qe4 41.Qd5 Qe3+ 42.Qf3 Qc3 43.Kf2] 40...g5! Now black is in charge. 41.fxg5 hxg5 [41...Qxg5+] 42.Kh2 Qf4+ 43.Kg1 Qe3+ 44.Kh2 d3 45.Qf6+ Kg8 46.e6 fxe6 47.Qg6+ Kf8 48.Qf6+ Ke8 49.Qg6+ Ke7 50.Qg7+ Kd6 51.Qf8+ Ke5 52.Qg7+ Ke4 53.Qb7+ Kd4 54.Qb2+ Kxc4 55.Qa2+ Kc3 56.Qa3+ Kd2 57.Qb2+ Ke1 58.Qb1+ Ke2 0-1