Morelia / Linares 2008. Round 5. Comments by Mark Crowther

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Morelia / Linares 2008.

Round 5 (February 20, 2008)
Aronian, Levon	- Shirov, Alexei	½-½	18	A21	English Opening
Topalov, Veselin	- Carlsen, Magnus	0-1	44	B04	Alekhine's Defence
Radjabov, Teimour	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	½-½	38	B46	Sicilian Paulsen
Lékó, Peter	- Anand, Viswanathan	0-1	45	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation

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	*	*	0	.	1	.	.	.	1	.	½	.	1	.	.	.	3½	2892
2.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2739	1	.	*	*	½	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	3	2836
3.	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2755	0	.	½	.	*	*	1	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	2½	2760
4.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2780	.	.	1	.	0	.	*	*	0	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	2½	2742
5.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2733	0	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	*	*	.	.	½	.	½	.	2½	2767
6.	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2735	½	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	*	0	.	½	.	2	2692
7.	Lékó, Peter	g	HUN	2753	0	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	*	*	0	.	2	2682
8.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2751	.	.	0	.	.	.	0	.	½	.	½	.	1	.	*	*	2	2676

The second rest day sees Viswanathan Anand in the lead with 3.5/5 and apart from a strange moment against Levon Aronian in round 2 playing the best chess so far as befits the World Champion. Today he was black against Peter Leko and both players headed straight for an endgame which turned out to be very sharp. It's possible that Leko missed a chance to win and after that Anand's pawns got home quickly.

Leko,P (2753) - Anand,V (2799) [B90]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (5), 20.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.f3 b5 10.0-0-0 Be7 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 Nb6 13.Bxb6 Qxb6 14.Na5 Rc8 15.Nc6 Nxd5 16.Nxe7 Nxe7 17.Qxd6 Qxd6 18.Rxd6 Nc6 19.c3N

I suppose its safe to say both players headed for this position. It looks like white should have at least something but in fact his pieces are a bit restricted. [19.Rd2 Ke7 20.Bd3 g6 21.Be4 f5 22.Bxc6 Rxc6 23.Rhd1 Rhc8 24.Kb1 R8c7 25.c3 Re6 26.Rd8 e4 27.fxe4 fxe4 28.Rh8 Kf6 29.Rf8+ Kg7 30.Rf2 e3 31.Re2 Rf7 32.Rde1 Rfe7 33.Rf1 Re5 34.Kc2 Rh5 35.g3 Rd7 36.Rd1 Rf7 37.Rd3 Rf2 38.Rdxe3 Rhxh2 39.Rxf2 Rxf2+ 40.Kb3 Rg2 41.Re7+ Kh6 42.Ra7 Rxg3 43.Rxa6 Kg7 44.Ra7+ Kg8 45.Rb7 Rg5 46.c4 bxc4+ 47.Kxc4 h5 48.Rb3 Ra5 49.a3 h4 50.Rh3 Rh5 51.b4 g5 52.b5 g4 53.b6 Rh7 54.Rxh4 g3 55.Rg4+ Rg7 56.Rxg3 Rxg3 57.b7 Rg4+ 58.Kb5 Rg5+ 59.Ka6 1-0 Adamski,M (2287)-Litwin,J (2221)/Mielo POL 2005/The Week in Chess 558]

19...Ke7 20.Rd1 f5 21.Bd3 21.a4 bxa4 22.Bxa6 was an alternative 21...g6 22.Rhe1 Rhd8 23.Bf1 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Na5 25.a4 Nc4 26.axb5 axb5 27.Rd5 Kf6 28.Rxb5 Ne3 29.Rb6+ Kg5 30.Ba6 Rd8

Leko-Anand diagram

White may be a pawn up but the initiative is all black's. 31.b4 Kf4 32.Rc6? [32.Be2 Nxg2 33.Re6] 32...Nxg2 33.b5 Ra8 34.Bb7?! [34.Rc8! Ra7 and maybe white is winning after 35.Rc4+ at least I couldn't find a drawing line.] 34...Rb8 35.Rc7 [35.Ba6] 35...Ne1 Black is already winning. 36.Rxh7 Nxf3 37.c4 e4 38.Kc2 e3 39.Kd3 g5 40.Ke2 Nd4+ 41.Ke1 Rd8 42.Re7 Nc2+ 43.Kf1 Rd1+ 44.Ke2 Rd2+ 45.Kf1 Nd4 0-1

ICC's Macauley Peterson had a pretty good day with interviews with Alexei Shirov and then Magnus Carlsen upon the conclusion of their games (also he has a video of Ivanchuk's melt down against Aronian in the last round check these out at the Internet Chess Club website). Carlsen admitted his opening choice was all about avoiding Veselin Topalov's deep ultra deep opening preparation and in that his opening was a complete triumph. In fact Topalov seemed uncertain throughout, spending half an hour over some non-critical moves that left him at best only a tiny bit better, this changed with 12...c5 (you can read a bit about this on Carlsen's blog too at Magnus Carlsen's Blog) when black is at least equal. After 20 moves black was just a pawn up (Topalov said to Carlsen afterwards that he missed every second move and he wasn't in great shape.) and Carlsen converted quite easily. Carlsen said he was pleased to get his first win straight after a loss, something he'd never done at this level before (a rather odd record to keep track of).

Topalov,V (2780) - Carlsen,M (2733) [B04]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (5), 20.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 Nf6! Carlsen has played a huge variety of openings on his way up in a bid to widen his experience. Here he plays the Alekhine's Defence in a bid to surprise Topalov and at least avoid his ultra-deep preparation. 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 c6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.Nxd7 Topalov spent half an hour on his first 10 moves and this move certainly isn't a major test of the opening. 7...Bxd7 8.0-0 g6 9.Nd2 Bg7 10.Nf3 0-0 11.Re1 [11.Qd2 a5 12.a3 a4 13.Qg5 Rc8 14.Rd1 b5 15.Qh4 e6 16.Bg5 f6 17.Bd2 Rf7 18.Qe4 c5 19.c3 cxd4 20.cxd4 Bf8 21.h4 Bd6 22.Rac1 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Qe7 24.Bb1 Qd8 25.Ba2 Qa8 26.Ne1 Re7 27.Nd3 Bc6 28.Qg4 Nc7 29.Bb4 Bxb4 30.Nxb4 Bd5 31.Nxd5 Nxd5 32.Rc5 Nc7 33.Qf4 Ne8 34.Rxb5 Kg7 35.Rb6 e5 36.dxe5 Rxe5 37.Rb4 Ra5 38.Rb8 Qc6 39.Rxe8 Qe4 1-0 Kulaots,K (2530)-Heim,S (2379)/Gausdal NOR 2003/The Week in Chess 469] 11...Bg4 12.c3 c5

Topalov-Carlsen diagram

According to Carlsen's blog white might have been at least a tiny bit better up to here but this move at least equalised. 13.Be4 [13.dxc5 Nxc3! with complications which at least won't favour white and probably favour black.] 13...cxd4 14.cxd4 e6 15.Qb3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Bxd4 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 18.Qxd5 exd5 19.Rd1 Bg7 20.Kf1 Black is just a pawn up. After the game Topalov admitted to Carlsen that he was missing almost everything at the board. [20.Rxd5 Rad8 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Be3 Bxb2 23.Rb1 b6] 20...Rfd8 21.Bg5 Rd7 22.Rd2 h6 23.Be3 d4 24.Rd3 Rc8 25.Bd2 Rc2 26.Rb1 Re7 27.a4 f5 28.b3 Rec7 29.Be1 Kf7 30.Rd2 Rc1 31.Rxc1 Rxc1 32.Ke2 Rb1 33.Rd3 Ke6 34.h4 Kd5 With an overwhelming bind. Black can decide when he moves in for the kill as white can hardly move a piece. 35.Bd2 Ke4 36.Rg3 f4 37.Rd3 Be5 38.f3+ Kd5 39.Be1 Bd6 40.Bd2 g5 41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Be1 g4! A very direct method. 43.fxg4? Accelerates the loss by a few moves. [43.Bf2 Be5 44.Be1 g3 and Rg1 is added to the list of moves white can't allow.] 43...Ke4 44.g5 Rxe1 will follow, its unclear whether it did as the final move is an error on the official website. Topalov either resigned straight away or had the move played.0-1

Levon Aronian achieved nothing against Alexei Shirov in round 5 but Shirov took a long time to get to a good position and a draw was agreed after 18 moves.

Aronian,L (2739) - Shirov,A (2755) [A21]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (5), 20.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Be7 4.d4 d6 5.e4 Nf6 6.Nxe7 Qxe7 7.f3 Nh5 8.Be3 [8.Ne2 0-0 9.Be3 exd4 10.Bxd4 Nc6 11.g4 Bxg4 12.fxg4 Qxe4 13.gxh5 Qxh1 14.Bg1 Qf3 15.Qd5 Ne5 16.h6 g6 17.0-0-0 Rfe8 18.Qd4 c5 19.Qxd6 Nxc4 20.Qf4 Ne5 21.Bg2 Qxf4+ 22.Nxf4 Rad8 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Bxb7 g5 25.Nd5 Rb8 26.Nf6+ Kh8 27.Be4 Rb6 28.Nxh7 Rb4 29.Bc2 f5 30.Nxg5 Rg4 31.Bxc5 Rxg5 32.Bd4 1-0 Gulko,B-Granda Zuniga,J/Moscow RUS 1994] 8...f5 9.exf5 Nf6 10.Ne2 exd4 11.Bxd4 Bxf5 12.Qd2 Nc6 13.0-0-0 0-0-0 14.g4 Bg6 15.Nf4 Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Kb8 17.h4 Bf7 18.Bd3

Aronian-Shirov diagram

Black if anything is better but had spent quite a bit of time getting here. Shirov admitted afterwards that he had prepared much of this stuff but so long ago he couldn't remember it clearly at the board. This was a problem he talked about at Wijk aan Zee last year. He said he should probably spend some time before games reviewing material he had prepared.1/2-1/2

To use a poker term Vassily Ivanchuk quite often goes on the "tilt" after losses, but recently he has seemed to settle down at least a little bit and keep his standards at least quite good. Today following his catastrophe in round 4 he had a double edged game against Teimour Radjabov where it looked like it might come down to a race between Kingside and Queenside pawns. It was hard to say who was better but this became academic when Ivanchuk forced a perpetual check.

Radjabov,T (2735) - Ivanchuk,V (2751) [B46]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (5), 20.02.2008
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f4 d5 8.e5 Nd7 9.Qd2 Bc5 10.0-0-0 0-0 11.Qf2 Qe7 12.Kb1 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 b5 14.Bd3 b4 15.Ne2 a5 [15...Bb7 16.Rhe1 a5 17.f5 exf5 18.Bxf5 Bxd4 19.Nxd4 Nc5 20.Re3 g6 21.Qf4 Ne4 22.Bxe4 dxe4 23.Nf5 Qe6 24.Nh6+ Kg7 25.Ng4 Rad8 26.Ree1 Kh8 27.Nf6 Kg7 28.Ng4 Kh8 29.Nf6 Kg7 30.g4 h6 31.h4 Rxd1+ 32.Rxd1 Rc8 33.b3 Qc6 34.Rd2 Qc3 35.g5 hxg5 36.Qxg5 e3 37.Nh5+ Kh7 38.Nf6+ Kg7 39.Nh5+ Kh7 40.Nf6+ Kg7 1/2-1/2 Berg,E (2583)-Ni Hua (2680)/Gibraltar ENG 2008/The Week in Chess 690] 16.Rhe1 Ba6 17.f5 Bxd3 18.Rxd3 exf5 19.Nf4 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 Nf6 21.Rf1 Nd7 This is a pretty clever idea from Ivanchuk that trades some problems away. 22.Re1 Nf6 23.Rf1 Nd7 24.Nxd5 Qxe5 25.Rxf5 Qxd4 26.Ne7+ Kh8 27.Rxd4 g6 28.Rb5 Nf6 29.Nc6 Rfe8 30.b3 Re2 31.Nxa5 Rxg2 Now its a pawn hacking race. 32.h4 [32.Rdxb4 Rxh2] 32...Ng4 33.Nc4 [33.Rdxb4 Ne3 34.Rb8+ Rxb8 35.Rxb8+ Kg7 36.c4 Nd1] 33...Rg1+ 34.Kb2 Nf2 35.Rxb4

Radjabov-Ivanchuk diagram