Final Round 4 21st July 2002

LEKO ALL WASHED UP

I fondly remember the good old days when a draw used to be known as a “Leko”. Oh what fun we had in the press rooms of yore suggesting titles for Peter’s first book: My 60 Memorable Draws, Drawing Fundamentals, My Drawing System, 101 Drawing Combinations, and my own particular favourite with a Hungarian flavour, Draw is OK!

Topalov and Leko shake hands

That was then, this is now. In the past year there has been a subtle change in Leko's approach to the game, and one which has just produced the best-ever result for the young Hungarian as he convincingly won his way through the tough Dortmund Candidates' Tournament to become the official challenger for Vladimir Kramnik's title. Leko said he could feel the "change" starting in Wijk aan Zee and continued through to his Grand Prix victory in Dubai, and then onto nearby Essen where he had a +5 score by playing positive chess.

In the past, Leko’s had good positions but admitted himself during the final press conference of the tournament that he had had problems finishing off opponents. Now German is a tricky language at the best of times, and to great hilarity in the press conference our normally reliable translator got this part slightly confused, interpreting this problem in his game to being “unable to do the washing-up” – we all took pity here on Peter’s wife, Sofi.

Arshak Petrosian

Official challenger Leko was joined on the platform by World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, Einstein CEO Steve Timmins, and his manager (and coincidently Kramnik’s manager!) Carsten Hensel. In his victory speech, after thanking Carsten Hensel and RWE Gas (his sponsors) for their unstinting backing and support over the years, Leko gave full credit to this positive change in his game to his trainer and father-in-law, Arshak Petrosian – a highly-regarded coach who seems to have pulled all the right levers to bring the best out of Leko. “He's given me back the joy in chess," said an elated Leko. “Perhaps the best thing that happened to me here in Dortmund, which I regard as my second home, was the early loss to Bareev – from there we decided it was all or nothing. What can I say? It was almost as if everything combined together for this ‘explosion’ within me.

Kramnik and Carsten Hensel

“Some may say I had the easier route to the final than Topalov – whom I must congratulate on being such a worthy opponent. But who could have predicted beforehand what happened to Alexei [Shirov], who is normally superb in such match-play situations?” And what did he make of the new-styled format to the tournament (modelled on the football World Cup system of group stages and then knockout) and the lack of rest-days – was it fair? “Yes, the new system for this tournament was demanding – but in fairness the players responded by playing some of the best fighting chess seen in years. This was definitely a tournament worthy of remembering.” This was something Kramnik was also pleased about – the fact that his opponent had proved himself among a tough field in gruelling tournament. “There can be no arguments as to Peter’s rights to challenge for my title,” he said.

Carsten Hensel and Peter Leko

Now the Kramnik-Leko showdown could just be an interesting conflict, however for their manager [Carsten Hensel] it could just be a conflict of interest! There he was, dutifully sitting in-between his two star products, carefully listening to what each had to say, his concentration only broken by one or the other whispering sweet 10% into either of his ears! Now the idea of two players with the same manager playing for a world title is probably a new phenomenon for the chess world, and poor Carsten has taken a bit of stick recently from certain quarters of the media over it – personally speaking I would never stoop so low. While this may be new in the chess world, it happens on a regular basis in other professional sports (golf and snooker to name but two) and I don’t see why it should be any different in chess. In any case, the worst that could happen is poor Carsten having a major headache should one of the two vehemently disagree with something during the match.

It was after this that all the fun started as the players themselves started talking up each others chances. Asked how he thought he would do against Kramnik, Leko replied “I think I have the necessary game to trouble Vladimir – after all, I have a good record against him at classical chess with a +2 score.” Not one to be outdone, Kramnik instantly hit back with “But if we include rapidplay games, then I have the lead!”

Inevitably the talk got round to the exact ‘specifics’ of the Kramnik-Leko match. It’s to be a 16 game match similar to Kramnik’s memorable win over Garry Kasparov (with Kramnik having draw odds – something that could be crucial with these two! - and for now the organisers still remain a bit vague as to any further details. The least we can do is give them some time - hell, they’ve only just got over the hurdle of being involved in the staging of a successful Candidates’ Tournament!

Steve Timmins

On welcoming Leko as the official Einstein challenger, Steve Timmins said this wasn’t the time or place for such an announcement, but indicated that tentative negotiations are in hand with regard to the funding and a possible venue. “As we said in yesterdays conference, a number of interesting cities have come forward and all I can really tell you for now is that the match will take place mid-April through May next year, and we hope to make a conclusive announcement of all such details this coming October.”

I’ve already hinted in an earlier report that cities likely to be involved in any bidding for the match included Paris, Dortmund and Bahrain – though rumours now have it that a major US city could just swing the match by coming up with the ‘real deal’. Now April through May in the US is perfect timing for someone like me who is a an avid baseball fan as the new season starts – what chances do you think I have of it being held in Seattle so that I can also watch the Mariner’s in action? I can only dream...

So there we have it: the conclusion of certainly one of the most memorable tournaments I have ever witnessed. We had everything we could have ever wished for in Dortmund – apart from a rest-day! At least now that its ended poor Topalov can get a well-deserved break – he deserves it after all his heroic efforts. He’s probably out there somewhere wondering why he hasn’t got a game to play today.

Topalov,V (2745) - Leko,P (2722) [E27]

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 f3!? [The match situation dictated that Topalov would come up with something a bit on the unusual side to try to fluster Leko - and the Saemisch is as good an option as any.] 4 ..0–0 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 Ne8 [It looks a bit strange but this prophylactic knight retreat is very useful as it prevents White getting in Bg5.] 7 e4 b6 8 Bd3 Ba6 9 Nh3 Nc6 10 e5 Na5 [A key theme in the Saemisch: White aims for attack with no regard to his pawn structure, while Black builds up pressure on the weak c4 pawn, aiming to weather the storm and head towards an endgame where he holds an advantage.] 11 Qe2

11 ..f6! [The main reason for Leko delaying an immediate f5 - now he can start chipping away at the pawns.] 12 0–0N [ 12 Rb1 d5 13 Nf4 Qd7 14 cxd5 Bxd3 15 Qxd3 exd5 16 0–0 c6 17 Rb2 Nc4 18 Re2 Nc7 19 Nh3 Rae8 20 f4 f5 21 Nf2 g6 22 Nd1 Ne6 23 Ne3 Nxe3 24 Bxe3 b5 25 a4 a6 26 Bc1 Ra8 27 Ba3 Rf7 28 g3 Qe8 29 Rg2 Kh8 30 Bd6 Raa7 31 Ra2 Rfd7 32 Rfa1 Qf7 33 Qe2 Rdb7 34 Ra3 b4 35 cxb4 Nxd4 36 Qb2 Ne6 37 Qc3 Qd7 38 Rc1 a5 39 bxa5 c5 40 Qf3 d4 41 Rb3 Rxb3 42 Qxb3 Rxa5 43 Rb1 Kg7 44 Qd5 Kh6 45 Kg2 Qf7 46 Kf2 Qd7 47 Rb2 Rxa4 48 Rb7 Ra2+ 49 Qxa2 Qxb7 50 Qxe6 Qb2+ 51 Kg1 Qc1+ 52 Kg2 Qd2+ ½–½ Najdorf,M-Beni,A/Dubrovnik 1950/MCD . ] 12 ..c5 13 Be3 Rc8 14 Rac1 d5 15 Nf4 Nc7 16 exf6 Qxf6 17 cxd5 Bxd3 18 Qxd3 cxd4 19 cxd4 Nxd5 20 Nxd5 exd5 21 Bf2 Nc4!

[It's practically impossible for Leko to lose from here with the knight firmly cemented in c4, controlling all the key squares.] 22 Rfe1 Rfe8 23 Bg3 Qg6 [In a practical world Topalov would probably have exchanged queens here and agreed the draw - however he tries his best to complicate the position in the hope of Leko going astray as he did in game three.] 24 Qb3 h6 25 Qb5 Qf7 26 a4 Kh7 27 h3 Ra8 28 Be5 a6 29 Qb3 Qg6 30 f4 Rf8 31 Rc3 Ra7 32 Rg3 Qf5 33 Kh2 Raf7 34 Rg4 Rd7 35 Rc1 Rff7 36 Rc3 Rb7 37 Qd1 Qe4 38 Rgg3 Qf5 39 Rb3 b5 40 axb5 Rxb5 41 Rxb5 axb5 42 Rb3 Rb7 43 Qe1 Qe4 44 Qxe4+ dxe4 45 d5 g5 46 g4 e3 47 Kg3 e2!

[The draw is all but agreed after this move - there's not enough material on the board and both sides cannot defend their pawn weaknesses.] 48 Kf2 Re7?! [Perhaps nerves, but Leko makes his first error of the game to give Topalov some hope of staying in the match. Correct was 48 ..gxf4! 49 Bc3 ( 49 Bxf4 Rf7 50 Rf3 Ne5 51 Bxe5 Rxf3+ 52 Kxe2 Rf7=) 49 ..Re7 50 Be1 Ne5 51 Kxe2 Nxg4+ 52 Kf3 Ne5+ ( 52 ..Rxe1 53 hxg4 Rf1+ 54 Ke2=) 53 Kf2 Kg6 54 Bd2 and with the lack of material on the board along with the state of the pawns, the game is just drawn.] 49 Ke1 Nxe5 50 d6 Re6 51 fxe5 Rxe5 52 Rb2 Re8 [ White's last hope was 52 ..Kg6?? 53 d7 Rd5 54 Rd2! winning.] 53 Rxb5 Kg7 54 Rb6 [54 Rb7+ Kf6 55 d7 ( 55 Rh7 Kg6=) 55 ..Rd8 56 Kxe2 Ke6 57 Rb6+ Ke5 58 Rxh6 Rxd7 with a book draw.] 54 ..Re3! [A very brave and a very confidant move - Leko has to activate his rook to achieve the draw, and the best place for it is right behind White's d-pawn.] 55 d7 Rd3 [Just about all computers here will show White to be winning as the assessment jumps up to something like 0.95 - however, technically it's just a draw as with correct play the best White can hope for is a totally drawn king and pawn ending.] 56 Rb7 Kf8 57 Kxe2 [ 57 Rb8+ Ke7 58 Rh8 Kxd7 59 Rxh6 Re3 60 Rg6 Ke7 61 Rxg5 Rxh3 62 Kxe2 Kf6 and there's no chance of the Lucena position as Black will safely tuck his king in front of the g-pawn.] 57 ..Rd6 58 Ke3 Ke7 59 Ke4 Re6+! 60 Kf3 [ The final act! 60 Kd4 Rd6+ 61 Kc5 Rd3!=] 60 ..Rd6 61 Ke4 Re6+ ½–½

You can contact John Henderson at: jbhthescots@blueyonder.co.uk

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.