Morelia / Linares 2008. Round 13. Mark Crowther with additional notes by IM Malcolm Pein. Photos and videos by Peter Doggers of ChessVibes.

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Morelia / Linares 2008.

Morelia/Linares Round 13: Anand retains his half point lead over Carlsen into the final round as both draw.

by Mark Crowther with additional notes by IM Malcolm Pein. Photos and videos by Peter Doggers of ChessVibes.

Linares Videos by Peter Doggers of ChessVibes for TWIC

Round 13 (March 6, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Carlsen, Magnus	½-½	28	E17	Queens Indian
Topalov, Veselin	- Lékó, Peter	1-0	48	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Radjabov, Teimour	- Shirov, Alexei	1-0	29	B92	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2
Ivanchuk, Vassily	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½	23	B86	Sicilian Sozin Attack

XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares (MEX/ESP), 15 ii-7 iii 2008																	cat. XXI (2756)
					1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8
1.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2799	*	*	1	½	0	½	½	.	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	8	2834
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	0	½	*	*	1	½	1	1	0	.	½	1	½	0	½	1	7½	2817
3.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	1	½	0	½	*	*	0	1	½	½	1	½	½	.	½	½	7	2787
4.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	½	.	0	0	1	0	*	*	½	½	1	½	1	1	0	1	7	2777
5.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2735	½	½	1	.	½	½	½	½	*	*	½	½	0	½	0	1	6½	2760
6.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	½	½	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	*	*	1	1	½	.	6	2727
7.	Lékó, Peter	g	HUN	2753	0	½	½	1	½	.	0	0	1	½	0	0	*	*	½	½	5	2670
8.	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2755	0	0	½	0	½	½	1	0	1	0	½	.	½	½	*	*	5	2669

Vassily Ivanchuk against Viswanathan Anand in Round 13. Photo © ChessVibes.

Playing black against Vassily Ivanchuk is an unpredictable affair and certainly the opening looked tricky for Viswanathan Anand. However he quickly found a way through and by move 19 things seemed to be equal enough and Anand got the draw he probably wanted.

Ivanchuk,V (2751) - Anand,V (2799) [B86]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (13), 06.03.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Bb3 Nc6 9.f4 Qc7 10.Kh1 0-0 11.f5 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 b5 13.fxe6 Bxe6 14.Bf4 Qc5 [14...Rad8 15.Rad1 Qc5 16.e5 dxe5 17.Qxc5 Bxc5 18.Bxe5 Ng4 19.Bg3 Bxb3 20.cxb3 Ne3 21.Rxd8 Nxf1 22.Rxf8+ Kxf8 23.Be1 Bd4 24.g3 f5 25.Kg2 Ne3+ 26.Kf3 Ng4 27.h3 Ne5+ 28.Ke2 Kf7 29.Nd1 Ke6 30.Bc3 Nc6 31.Kd3 Be5 32.Bxe5 Kxe5 33.Ke3 Nb4 34.a3 Nd5+ 35.Kf3 g5 36.Nc3 Nxc3 37.bxc3 a5 38.Ke3 Kd5 39.h4 h6 40.hxg5 hxg5 41.Kd3 a4 42.c4+ bxc4+ 43.bxc4+ Kc5 44.Kc3 f4 45.gxf4 gxf4 46.Kd3 0-1 Toel,K-Balogh,C (2340)/Dortmund 2001/EXT 2002] 15.Qd3 b4 16.Ne2 [16.Nd5] 16...d5 17.e5 Ne4 18.Be3 Qc7 19.Nf4 Qxe5!

Ivanchuk-Anand diagram

Now the pieces come off fairly fast. 20.Bxd5 Bxd5 21.Nxd5 Rad8 22.Rad1 Bd6 23.Bf4 1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian against Magnus Carlsen in Round 13. Photo © ChessVibes.

Aronian,L (2739) - Carlsen,M (2733) [E17]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (13), 06.03.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

Magnus Carlsen sacrificed the exchange against Levon Aronian and in return he tied his pieces up. The players called it off after 28 moves, Carlsen may have been a little bit better but it wasn't clear how he was supposed to win.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Qc2 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.cxd5 Bxd5 [9...Nxd5 10.Qe4 Nb4 11.Qxb7 N8c6 12.Bf4 Nc2+ 13.Kd2 Nxa1 14.Rxa1 Bf6 15.Rd1 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 Qf6 17.Bh3 d5 18.Bg5 Qg6 19.Ke1 d4 20.cxd4 Nxd4 21.Be7 Rab8 22.Qd5 Rfe8 23.Ne5 Qc2 24.Qxf7+ Kh8 25.Bg4 Qe4 26.f4 Nc2+ 27.Kf2 Ne3 28.Rd7 Qxe5 29.fxe5 Nxg4+ 30.Ke1 Nxe5 31.Qe6 Nxd7 32.Qxd7 Rbc8 33.Kd2 1-0 Gajewski,G (2515)-Hernandez,H (2524)/Calvia 2006/EXT 2007] 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Nh4 Nb4 12.Qd2 N8c6 13.Nf5 Nd4 14.Nxd4 cxd4 15.Bxa8 Qxa8 Black gets plenty of compensation for the exchange. 16.0-0 Qe4 17.a3 Nc2 18.Ra2 Rc8 19.b3 Rc3 20.Bb2 Rc6 21.Rd1 Bf6 22.Qd3 d5 23.Qf3 h6 24.h4 g5 25.hxg5 hxg5 26.b4 Kg7 27.Qd3 b5 28.Bc1

Aronian-Carlsen diagram

Maybe black even has more than enough here but its difficult to see how he wins. 1/2-1/2

Veselin Topalov beat Peter Leko in Round 13. Photo © ChessVibes.

Peter Leko is going to have to go away and have a rethink in what must be one of the most depressing tournaments of his career. When he plays well he for the most part draws, and today was not one of his better days, he was pretty close to lost on move 24 and that became a reality after first time control. Veselin Topalov who has had an up and down event himself made this look pretty easy.

Topalov,V (2780) - Leko,P (2753) [C88]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (13), 06.03.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.c3 [11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Rxe5 Qd7 13.Qg4 Qd6 14.Re1 Rae8 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.Bf4 Qb6 17.Qg3 c5 18.Be5 c4 19.dxc4 Nh5 20.Bc7 Qc5 21.Qe5 Qc6 22.Qd5 Qxc7 23.Qxh5 bxc4 24.Ba4 Rd8 25.Rad1 Bc5 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Re8+ Rxe8 28.Bxe8 g6 29.Qg4 Qe5 30.Qe2 Qg5 31.Qg4 Qc1+ 32.Qd1 Qf4 33.Qe2 Bd6 34.g3 Qd4 35.Qg4 Qe5 36.Qe2 Qc5 37.Ne4 Qe5 38.Nc3 Qc5 39.Ne4 Qe5 40.Nc3 Qd4 41.Qg4 1/2-1/2 Parma,B-Harandi,K (2270)/Siegen 1970/EXT 2002] 11...Qd7 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 Rad8 14.Qg4 f5 15.Qg3 Bf6 16.Re1 Kh8 17.Nd2 b4 18.Nf3 bxc3 19.d4 f4 20.Qg4 Qxg4 21.hxg4 g5 22.Ne5 Kg7 23.bxc3 Nxc3 24.Bb2

Topalov-Leko diagram

I'm not sure where Leko went wrong but he's already close to being lost. 24...Nd5 25.Rac1 Rfe8 26.Ba3 Re6 27.Rc2 Be7 28.Bxd5 Bxd5 29.Rxc7 Re8 30.Rd7 Bxa2 31.Rc1 Kg8 32.Rcc7 Bf6 33.Nc6 Re1+ 34.Kh2 Be6 35.Rd6 Bg7 36.Ne7+ Kh8 37.Nf5 Bf8 38.Rxa6 Bxf5 39.Bxf8 Rxf8 40.gxf5 Kg8 41.f6 Re4? This loses immediately. [41...Rd1 42.Rg7+ Kh8 43.Rd7] 42.Rg7+ Kh8 43.Re7 Rxe7 44.fxe7 Re8 45.Ra7 Kg7 46.d5 Kf7 47.d6 Rb8 48.Rc7 1-0

Teimour Radjabov beat Alexei Shirov in Round 13. Photo © ChessVibes.

Alexei Shirov probably got into trouble today by forgetting or not knowing his theory. He was thinking in a position that plenty of people have been down and he got his rook trapped after which the best he could hope for was a draw. Radjabov played carefully and although the computers might have finished it off better, his solution was clear and to the point.

Radjabov,T (2735) - Shirov,A (2755) [B92]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (13), 06.03.2008 [Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.0-0-0 Nd4 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5 0-0 15.Qf3 Re8 16.Bd3 Re5 17.Kb1 Qa5 18.g4 Qxd5 19.Qxd5 Rxd5 20.f4 Bh4N Shirov didn't spend long on this move but had done plenty of thinking before. Perhaps he forgot the theory. His rook gets into big trouble. Don't think this line will be played again as there are even more powerful lines than Radjabov played found with the aid of computers. [20...g5 21.fxg5 Rxg5 22.Bf5 Re8 23.Rhf1 Be5 24.h4 Rg7 25.h5 h6 26.Rf3 f6 27.a4 Ree7 28.Rb3 Rc7 29.Rdd3 Kf8 30.Rb6 Ke8 31.Rdb3 Kd8 32.R3b4 Rge7 33.Rxa6 Rg7 34.Ra8+ Ke7 35.Rb8 d5 36.R8xb7 Rg8 37.Rxc7+ Bxc7 38.Rxd4 Rd8 39.c3 Kd6 40.Kc2 Kc6 41.b4 Be5 42.Rd3 Rb8 43.Be6 Rd8 44.c4 d4 45.Bd5+ Kb6 46.Kb3 Ka6 47.a5 Ka7 48.Bf3 Bg3 49.c5 Be1 50.Kc4 Bc3 51.b5 Rf8 52.a6 f5 53.Bb7 Ba5 54.Rxd4 fxg4 55.Rxg4 Bc7 56.b6+ Bxb6 57.cxb6+ Kxb6 58.Rg6+ Ka7 59.Rxh6 Rf4+ 60.Kd5 1-0 Kulaots,K (2530)-Areshchenko,A (2564)/Cappelle la Grande 2004/CBM 099 ext] 21.b4! Rc8 22.a4 Rc3 23.Kb2 [23.Rc1 is also hard to meet.] 23...f5 24.gxf5

Radjabov-Shirov diagram