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Morelia/Linares 2006. Round 1 Brief comments by Mark Crowther. Notes by Malcolm Pein Round 1 (February 18, 2006)
Aronian, Levon - Radjabov, Teimour 1-0 79 E93 King's Indian Classical
Svidler, Peter - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 67 C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin
Bacrot, Etienne - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1/2 66 E16 Queens Indian
Vallejo Pons, Francisco - Leko, Peter 0-1 40 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (MEX/ESP), 18 ii-11 iii 2006cat. XX (2732)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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1 Leko, Peter g HUN 2740 ** .. .. .. .. .. .. 1. 1.0
2 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2752 .. ** .. .. .. 1. .. .. 1.0
3 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2765 .. .. ** .. .. .. 1. .. 1.0
4 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2717 .. .. .. ** =. .. .. .. 0.5 2729
5 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2729 .. .. .. =. ** .. .. .. 0.5 2717
6 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2700 .. 0. .. .. .. ** .. .. 0.0
7 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2801 .. .. 0. .. .. .. ** .. 0.0
8 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2650 0. .. .. .. .. .. .. ** 0.0
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The traditional Linares tournament is taking place in two venues this year. The first half being in Morelia in Mexico before a switch back to Spain for the second half. Kasparov announced his retirement last year having been a Linares fixture since 1997. The rather silly seven player format was constructed in part to give him extra rest days and that's been dropped this year. FIDE Champion and winner of Wijk aan Zee Veselin Topalov was of course strong favourite before the event. He was in for a bit of a rough ride in round 1 when Peter Svidler hit him with an important novelty in the Ruy Lopez Berlin. At the expense of a pawn Svidler bottled up a rook and had nice pressure. Topalov seemed at first to cope well but by first time control he was in trouble and things went rapidly down hill from there. Another good start for Svidler, he beat Kramnik in round 1 of the Russian championships but in that case let that start slide. Svidler,P (2765) - Topalov,V (2801) [C67] XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (1), 18.02.2006 [Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 This is the Berlin Wall. White as space and development and better pawns. Black has lost the right to castle but has 2 bishops and a very solid position 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.h3 Ng6 11.Bg5+ Ke8 12.Rad1 Bd7 13.Nd4 [13.a3 Topalov - Vallejo Benidorm 2003 and Leko - Kramnik Dortmund 2004 achieved little] 13...h6 [13...Nxe5 14.Rfe1 f6 15.Nf3 Bd6 16.Bf4 Be6 17.Nxe5 fxe5 18.Bxe5 Bxe5 19.Rxe5 Is a comfortable edge for White with his mobile kingside pawns] 14.Be3 h5 A novelty, anticipating f2-f4 and intending to blockade with h5-h4 and Rh5 [14...Bb4 15.f4 (15.Ne4 Nxe5; 15.Ne4 Nxe5 16.c3 Be7 17.Bf4 f6 18.Rfe1 Black is rather pinned down) 15...Bxc3 16.bxc3 Was comfortable for Black in ablindfold game between Shirov and Almasi but 15.Ne4 is a better move; After 14...Nxe5!? 15.Rfe1 f6 16.Nb3 Black's position seems rather precarious] 15.f4 h4 16.f5 Nxe5 17.f6! Preventing f7-f6 by Black 17...Rh5 [17...gxf6 18.Ne4 Be7 19.Nxf6+ Bxf6 20.Rxf6 And Black's king cannot easily find shelter in a position where White's pieces are more active his dark squared bishop unchallenged. This more than compensates for Black's extra doubled pawn] 18.Ne4 g6 19.Bf4 Threat Pawn g2-g4 undermining the rook's defence of the Ne5 19...c5 20.Nf3 Nxf3+ 21.Rxf3 Svidler exchanges Black's best piece and opens the e file and attacks c7 21...Be6  22.Rfd3! [22.Bxc7 Rd5 would help Black] 22...c4 23.R3d2 c6 24.Ng5 Bc5+ 25.Kh2 Now it is Black's rooks which are a problem 25...Bd5 26.Re2+ Kf8 [26...Kd7 27.Nxf7 Rf8 28.Ne5+ Kc8 29.Ng4] 27.Rde1 b5 28.c3 a5 29.a3 Rc8 30.g4 hxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Be6 [If Black just sits White has some ideas for example 31...Rd8 32.h4 Rc8 33.Bc7 a4 34.Ba5 Bd6+ 35.Kg4 Rh8 36.Bb4 Bxb4 37.axb4 Rd8 38.Re7] 32.h4 Kg8 33.Re5 Bf8 [33...Bd6 34.Rxe6! Bxf4+ 35.Kxf4 fxe6 36.Kg4 Rxg5+ (36...Rd8 37.f7+ Kh8 38.Nxe6) 37.Kxg5 Kf7 38.Rd1] 34.Nxe6 fxe6 35.Rd1 Rh7 36.Rxe6 Rb7 37.Re4 Watching c4 and thus preventing b5-b4 37...Kf7 38.Bg5 Re8 39.Rxe8 Kxe8 40.Kg4 White is effectively a pawn up and converts 40...Rh7 41.Re1+ Kd7 42.a4 bxa4 [42...Bd6 43.Ra1 Bc7 44.Rf1 Ke6 45.Re1+ Kd7 46.Be3 Threat Kg5 and if 46...Rh5 47.Rf1] 43.Re5 c5 44.Bf4 Rh8 45.Bg3 Bh6 46.Re7+ Kc6 47.Bf4 Bxf4 48.Kxf4 Rh5  [48...Rxh4+ 49.Kg5] 49.Re5! Rxh4+ 50.Kg5 Rh5+ 51.Kxg6 Rxe5 52.f7 Re6+ 53.Kg5 Re5+ 54.Kg4 Re4+ 55.Kg3 Re3+ 56.Kf2 a3 57.f8Q axb2 [57...a2 58.Qc8+ (58.Qa8+? Kb5 59.Qh1 Rh3 60.Qa1 a4 61.Qxa2 Rh1 Is a study-like variation found by Svidler) 58...Kb5 59.Qd7+ Kb6 60.Qa4 Rh3 61.Qxa2 Rh1 62.Qxc4] 58.Qc8+ Kb5 59.Qb7+ Ka4 60.Kxe3 Ka3 61.Qb5 a4 62.Qxc5+ Kb3 63.Qb4+ Kc2 64.Qxa4+ Kxc3 65.Qa5+ Kc2 66.Qf5+ Kc1 67.Qf1+ [67.Qf1+ Kc2 68.Qxc4+ Kd1 69.Qd3+ Kc1 70.Qd2+ Kb1 71.Kd3 Ka1 72.Qa5+ Kb1 73.Qa4 Kc1 74.Qc2#] 1-0 First to finish was Peter Leko. He hit Vallejo Pons with a line in the Nimzo-Indian Classical which had been tried before but they players had agreed a draw shortly afterwards. He built up a huge position rapidly. It took him a while to realise the advantage but it was over at first time control. Vallejo Pons,F - Leko,P [E32] XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (1), 18.02.2006 [Malcolm Pein] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 The most aggressive move, 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 leads to a completely different type of game 5...d5 [5...Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 d6 is also possible but Leko is confident of his home analysis] 6.e5 Ne4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c5 Black must attack the centre quickly or he will worse after Bd3 and Nf3 9.Bd3 Qa5 10.Ne2 cxd4 11.cxd5 [11.Nxd4 Nd7 And the knights have good squares] 11...exd5 12.f3 This is the idea the Ne4 will find it hard to escape 12...Nxc3 13.Nxd4 Now all discovered checks except Ne4 allow Bd2 and the knight is in trouble 13...Ne4+ 14.Ke2 f5! 15.Be3 [15.fxe4 fxe4 16.Bb5 Bg4+ 17.Ke3 Qd8 coming to g5 wins] 15...Nc6 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Rhc1 [17.fxe4 fxe4 Traps the Bd3] 17...Rb8 18.Kd1 [18.Kf1 f4! 19.Bd4 (19.Bxe4 fxe3 20.Bxh7+ Kh8) 19...Nd2+ 20.Kg1 Nb3 and the knight escapes] 18...Rd8 19.Bd4 [19.fxe4 dxe4 20.Bd2 Qxe5 21.Bc4+ Kh8 22.Qc3 Qd6 followed by f5-f4 with 3 pawns and a raging attack for the piece. 22...Qxh2 is also good] 19...Be6 
White is a pawn down with a vulnerable king and Leko cleans up easily 20.Rab1 Rxb1 21.Rxb1 c5 22.Rb5 Qxa3 23.Bb2 Qa2 24.Be2 Bd7 Ironically the possibility of Bd7-a4 forces the capture of the knight but to no avail 25.fxe4 Bxb5 There is a powerful computer variation which exploits the weakness of white's d1-a4 diagonal. MC [25...a6 26.Qb3 (26.Rxc5 Ba4) 26...Qb1+ 27.Bc1 Qxb3+ 28.Rxb3 Ba4 29.exf5 Bxb3+] 26.Bxb5 Rb8! 27.Bc6 Qxb2 28.Bxd5+ Kh8 29.Qxb2 Rxb2 30.exf5 Rb4 31.Kc2 [31.e6 Rd4+ 32.Kc2 Rxd5 33.e7 Re5] 31...Rd4 32.Bf7 Re4 33.e6 h5 34.Bxh5 [34.Kd3 Re5 35.Kc4 Kh7 36.h4!?] 34...Kg8 35.g4 Kf8 36.g5 Ke7 37.h3 a5 38.Bg4 a4 39.f6+ gxf6 40.g6 Kf8 0-1 The only game not decisive during the round was Etienne Bacrot against Vassily Ivanchuk. This was a really interesting and complex game which had a slightly berzerk passage between moves 35 and 45 which has all the hallmarks of a big time scramble. Ivanchuk built up a decisive advantage in this period but rather annoyingly for him lost it again after move 40 where I presume he was still blitzing.l Bacrot,E (2717) - Ivanchuk,V (2729) [E16] XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (1), 18.02.2006 [Crowther,Mark] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bf4 d5 [8...0-0 9.0-0 d5 10.b3 Nbd7 11.Qd3 Ba6 12.Rfd1 Rc8 13.e4 c5 14.exd5 exd5 15.Nb5 cxd4 16.Nfxd4 Nc5 17.Qc2 Qd7 18.a4 Nce4 19.Rac1 Bc5 20.Qb2 Rfe8 21.b4 Bf8 22.f3 Nd6 23.Bxd6 Bxd6 24.Bh3 Qxh3 25.Nxd6 Bxc4 26.Nxe8 Rxe8 27.Re1 Qd7 28.Qc2 h5 29.Rxe8+ Qxe8 30.Kf2 g6 31.Re1 Qd7 32.b5 h4 33.Kg2 Qd6 34.Qc3 Kg7 35.Nc6 a6 36.Qe5 Qxe5 37.Nxe5 axb5 38.axb5 1-0 Samarin,I-Kharlamov,V/Briansk 1995/CBM 049 ext] 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nb5 Na6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Rc1 Ne4 13.h4 Nd6 14.a4 Nc4 15.Ne5 Na5 16.Bh3 Qe8 17.h5 Nc6 18.h6 g5 19.e4 dxe4 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Bxg5 Bxg5 22.Qg4 Qe7 [22...f6 23.Nd6 Qd7 24.Qxe6+ Qxe6 25.Bxe6+ Kh8 26.Rxc6] 23.Rxc6 f5 24.Qh5 Kh8 25.d5 exd5 26.Nd4 Bf6 27.Nxf5 Qe8 28.Qxe8 Raxe8 29.Rd1 Nb4 30.Rc7 a5 31.Ng7 Re7 32.Rxe7 Bxe7 33.Ne6 Rc8 34.Nf4 Rd8 35.Be6 Bg5 36.Kf1? [36.Nxd5] 36...Rd6 [36...Bxh6] 37.Bf5 [37.Rc1] 37...Bxf4 38.gxf4 Rxh6 39.Ke2 Rf6 40.Bg4 Rxf4 [40...Nd3] 41.Rg1  41...Nd3 [41...d4 is a clean win.] 42.Be6 Rxf2+ [42...Rf8 is much better.] 43.Ke3 Rf8 44.Bxd5 Nb4 [44...Nxb2] 45.Bxe4 The last ten moves contained so many errors it seems likely both players blasted through the time control and started thinking here. It was roughly level before and although black is better the game should end in a draw. 45...Rd8 46.Rc1 h5 47.Kf4 Nd3+ 48.Bxd3 Rxd3 49.Kg5 Kg7 50.Rc7+ Kf8 51.Kxh5 Its equal. 51...Ke8 52.Kg5 Rd4 53.b3 Kd8 54.Rc6 Rb4 55.Rc3 Ke7 56.Kf5 Kd6 57.Rd3+ Kc5 58.Ke5 b5 59.Rc3+ Kb6 60.Kd5 bxa4 61.bxa4 Rxa4 62.Rb3+ Ka6 63.Kc5 Rh4 64.Rb6+ Ka7 65.Rg6 a4 66.Kb5 1/2-1/2 The last game to finish was Levon Aronian's win against Teimour Radjabov. This was a really interesting King's Indian where Aronian sacrificed almost all his queenside for open lines. Really tough play followed from Aronian and he eventually ground down Radjabov. Aronian,L (2752) - Radjabov,T (2700) [E93] XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (1), 18.02.2006 [Crowther,Mark] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 g5 [9...Nc6] 10.Bg3 Nh6 11.d5 Nd7 12.Nd2 f5 13.exf5 [13.f3 Nf6] 13...Nf6 [13...Nxf5 14.Nde4+/=] 14.Nde4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxf5 16.Bd3 g4 [16...c6!?] 17.0-0 [17.Qe2 0-1 Dorfman,J-Nataf,I/Mondariz ESP 2000 (47); 17.Qd2 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Nf5 19.Qd3 Qg5 20.0-0 Qh5 1/4:1/4 Mecking-Gligoric, Palma de Mallorca izt 1970] 17...Qe8 [17...Kh8 1-0 Volkov,S-Nataf,I/Cappelle la Grande FRA 1999 '1-0 Volkov,S-Nataf,I/Cappelle la Grande 1999/EXT 2000' (32); 17...Bxe4 1/2-1/2 Markus,R-Sikula,V/Hungary 2004/EXT 2006 (63)] 18.c5 Qg6 19.Re1 Nf7 20.Bh4 Rae8 21.Rc1 dxc5 22.Rxc5 Nd6 23.Qa4 Bxe4 24.Bxe4 Qh6 25.Bg3 Qd2 26.Rcc1 Re7 27.h4! Sacrificing his queenside pawns. 27...Qxb2 28.Qd1 Qxa2 29.h5 Nxe4 30.Rxe4 Qa6 31.Qb3 Kh8 32.Rce1 Qb6 33.Rb4!?  Now things get very interesting in the run up to first time control. 33...Qc5 34.Rxb7 Ref7 35.Rb5 Qd6 36.Qc4 Rf5 37.Qxg4 Qh6 38.Rb8 Rxf2 39.Rxf8+ Rxf8 40.Rxe5 Qd6 Time control. White has all the pressure because of his safer king. 41.Rf5 Qe7 42.Rxf8+ Bxf8 43.Bf2 h6 44.Qd4+ Kg8 45.Qc4 Qf7 46.Bxa7 Bg7 47.Be3 Kh8 48.Bd4 Bxd4+ 49.Qxd4+ Kh7 50.Qe5 Qg7 51.Qf5+ Kh8 52.Kh2 Qe7 53.Kh3 Qd6 54.Qf7 Qe5 55.g3 Qe4 56.Qf1 Kh7 57.Qd1 Qe5 58.Qf3 Kg7 59.Qg4+ Kh8 60.Qg6 Qxd5 61.Qxh6+ Kg8 62.Qg6+ Kh8 Two advanced connected passed pawns ought to be enough but black will always have perpetual chances. 63.Qf6+ Kh7 64.Kh4 Qe4+ 65.g4 Qe1+ 66.Kg5 Qd2+ 67.Qf4 Qd8+ 68.Kf5 Qf8+ 69.Ke4 Qb4+ 70.Kf3 Qc3+ 71.Qe3 Qf6+ 72.Kg3 Qd6+ 73.Kh4 c5 73...Qd8+ 74 g5 Qd7 is the drawing line without the c-pawn according to John Nunn. Its not totally clear if the extra pawn makes a difference.74.g5 Qh2+ 75.Kg4 Qg2+ 76.Kf5 Qd5+ 77.Kf6 Qd6+ 78.Qe6 Qd4+ 79.Ke7 1-0 A promising start to the event. |
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 Kasparov Books |
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 Giant Chess Sets |
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 Chess Computers |
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 Chess Assistant |
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 Books 2000/1/2/3 |
