LCC Home
TWIC Home
Chess Shop

Email TWIC
Email LCC

New Products

Morelia/Linares round 9: Anand holds Aronian. Carlsen moves into clear 2nd half a point behind

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

Aronian was held by Anand in round 9. Photo © ChessVibes.

Levon Aronian tried a sacrifice against the Queen's Indian he has played a number of times before at this level. He departed from those games with 10.Qe4 but Anand met this calmly and impressively. His 25...d5 showed he had at least equalised and the game was agreed drawn a few moves later with the computers slightly liking black. Probably Anand was happy to draw with black against one of his rivals.

Aronian,L (2739) - Anand,V (2799) [E15]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (9), 29.02.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 As we'll see Aronian likes this sacrificial line. 9.0-0 Be7 10.Qe4N A new move, Aronian has played Rd1 in at least a couple of important games. [10.Rd1 Qc8 11.Bg5 f6 (11...h6 12.Bxe7 Nxe7 13.e4 0-0 14.Nc3 Nbc6 15.Rd2 Ba6 16.Bh3 Ng6 17.Bxd7 Qb7 18.Bh3 Rad8 19.Rad1 Qb8 20.Bg2 1/2-1/2 Aronian,L (2744)-Carlsen,M (2690)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2007/The Week in Chess 637) 12.Bd2 Nc6 13.Qa4 Nc7 14.Nc3 0-0 15.Bf4 Ne6 16.Bd6 Re8 17.Bxe7 Nxe7 18.Qxd7 Qxd7 19.Rxd7 Bc6 20.Rd6 Nd8 21.Nh4 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Nf7 23.Rd7 Ne5 24.Rc7 N5c6 25.Rd1 Red8 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Nb5 Kf8 28.Nxa7 1/2-1/2 Aronian,L (2739)-Leko,P (2753)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2008/The Week in Chess 688] 10...Bc6 11.Ne5 Nf6 12.Nxc6 Nxc6 13.Qa4 0-0 14.Rd1 Nd4 15.Nc3 b5 16.Qa6 b4 17.Nd5 [17.Bxa8 Qxa8 18.Na4 Re8 and black's pieces are much better co-ordinated.] 17...Nxd5 18.Bxd5 Rb8 19.Bf4 Qb6 20.Qc4 d6 21.e3 Nb5 22.g4 Nc7 23.Be4 g6 24.Rd2 Rbd8 25.Qe2 d5 Black returns the pawn for easy equality. 26.Bxc7 Qxc7 27.Rxd5

Black could play on but probably thought a draw with black is enough against one of his his closest rivals. 1/2-1/2

Carlsen against Shirov in round 9. Photo © ChessVibes.

Magnus Carlsen and Alexei Shirov had a huge struggle in Shirov's former favourite, the Archangelsk Variation. 15.f4 is a new idea which gives black new problems. They followed Leko's game against Shirov from last year until Carlsen's 18.Ra6 novelty. White's 27.Bxd5 seemed close to wining but in fact led to perpetual. I may be wrong but Fritz suggests that white survives quite easily after only a few moves. However Carlsen defended and although he had the advantage he was far from winning. 41.Nd2 looked good and the 42...f3 was probably the only way to keep going. Then black had to defend against an attack from white's rook and knight before trading off as many pawns as possible. They then ended the lengthy Rook, knight and pawn vs Rook and pawn ending. In the end Carlsen only won when Shirov blundered and allowed queening.

Carlsen,M (2733) - Shirov,A (2755) [C78]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (9), 29.02.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.Na3 0-0 11.axb5 axb5 12.Nxb5 This position was a Shirov speciality a decade ago where he fashioned it into an important drawing weapon. 12...Bg4 13.Bc2 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nh5 15.f4 This idea has been seen in a few key games. 15...Nxf4 [15...Qh4 16.Qf3 (16.fxe5 dxe5 17.d5 Ne7 18.Qf3 Ng6 19.Kh1 Ngf4 20.c4 Nh3 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.fxe3 f5 23.exf5 Ng5 24.Qg2 Qxc4 25.Ba4 h6 26.b3 Qc5 27.Rac1 Qxe3 28.Rc3 Qb6 29.Rxc7 Nf4 30.Qc2 Qa5 31.d6 Rxb5 32.Bxb5 Qxb5 33.Rd1 Nf7 34.f6 Rd8 35.Qc4 Qxc4 36.bxc4 gxf6 37.c5 Ne6 38.Rb1 e4 39.Kg1 Ne5 40.c6 e3 41.Re7 Nxc6 42.Rxe6 Kf7 43.Rxe3 Rxd6 44.Rb7+ Kg6 45.Rb6 Rd1+ 46.Kf2 Nd4 47.Rg3+ Kf5 48.Rh3 Kg5 49.Rb8 Kf4 50.Rd8 f5 51.Rh4+ Ke5 52.Re8+ Kf6 53.Rxh6+ Kg5 54.Rhh8 Kf4 55.Rh4+ Kg5 56.Reh8 f4 57.R4h5+ Kg6 58.R5h6+ Kf5 59.Re8 Rd2+ 60.Kf1 Kg4 61.Rg8+ Kf5 62.Rf8+ Ke4 63.Re8+ Kf3 64.Rh3+ Kg4 65.Rhh8 Kf3 66.Rh3+ Kg4 67.Rh7 Kf3 68.Rh3+ 1/2-1/2 Gopal,G (2520)-Kasimdzhanov,R (2690)/Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2007/The Week in Chess 681) 16...Nxf4 17.Bxf4 exf4 18.Kh1 Ne7 19.Na3 c5 20.d5 Ng6 21.Nc4 Qf6 22.Qh5 Ne5 23.Nxe5 dxe5 24.Ra6 c4 25.Ba4 g6 26.Qe2 f3 27.Qxc4 Qg5 28.Rg1 Qd2 29.Rd1 Qxb2 30.Bc6 Qxf2 31.Ra2 Qe3 32.Qd3 Qf4 33.Rf1 f2 34.d6 Be3 35.Qe2 Rb6 36.Bd5 Rxd6 37.Kg2 Qg5+ 38.Kh3 Rf6 39.Qg4 Qh6+ 40.Kg2 Rf4 41.Qd7 Qg5+ 0-1 Kasimdzhanov,R (2690)-Anand,V (2801)/Moscow RUS 2007/The Week in Chess 681] 16.Bxf4 exf4 17.Qg4 Qf6 18.Ra6N [18.b4 Ne7 19.Na3 Ng6 20.Nc4 Bxd4 21.cxd4 Qxd4 22.Na5 Qd2 23.Bb3 Ne5 24.Nc4 Nxg4 25.Nxd2 Rxb4 26.Rfc1 Ne5 27.Rxc7 g5 28.Bd5 g4 29.Nc4 h5 30.Nxe5 dxe5 31.Re7 1-0 Leko,P (2755)-Shirov,A (2739)/Moscow RUS 2007/The Week in Chess 679] 18...Ne7 19.Na3 c6 20.Nc4 Bc7 21.Ra7 Rbc8 22.e5 dxe5 23.dxe5 Qh6 24.Rd1 Nd5 25.Be4 Rfd8 26.Rd3 White's advantage is getting serious. 26...g6 27.Bxd5 cxd5 28.Rxd5 Rxd5 29.Qxc8+ Kg7 30.Qg4?! White still has the advantage but it isn't clear he is winning anymore. [30.Rxc7 only leads to a draw. 30...Qg5+ (30...Rd1+ 31.Kg2 Qg5+ 32.Kf3 Qg1 is equal (32...Qh5+ 33.Qg4 wins)) 31.Kf1 Rd1+ 32.Ke2 Qh5+ 33.f3 Rh1] 30...Bxe5 31.h4 Bb8 32.Rb7 Rd8 33.Kg2 Kg8 34.Qg5 Qf8 35.Qf6 Re8 36.b4 Re6 37.Qd4 Qc8 38.Rd7 Qc6+ 39.Qd5 Qxd5+ 40.Rxd5 Rc6 41. Nd2

41...f3+! Just about the only way to keep fighting. 42.Nxf3 Kg7 43.Rd8 Bc7 44.Rd7 Rxc3 45.Ng5 Kg8 46.Ne4 Rc4 47.Nf6+ Kf8 48.Nxh7+ Ke8 49.Nf6+ Kf8 50.Nd5 Be5 51.b5 Rxh4 52.b6 Rd4 53.Kf3 Kg7 54.Ke3 Ra4 55.b7 Ra3+ 56.Ke4 Bh2 57.Nc7 Rb3 58.Ne6+ Kf6 59.Nd8 g5 60.Rxf7+ Kg6 61.Rd7 g4 62.Ne6 g3 63.fxg3 Bxg3 Black has got the problem down to one pawn. If he can sacrifice his bishop for the pawn then he should be able to hold. 64.Kd5 Rb1 65.Kc6 Rc1+ 66.Nc5 Bb8 67.Rd5 Ba7 68.Kd7 Bb8 69.Ne6 Kf6 70.Rc5 Rb1 71.Nd8 Bh2 72. Rc6+ Ke5 73. Rc1 Rb3 74. Rc2 Bf4 75. Kc6 Kf5 76. Rc5+ Kf6 77. Kd7 Rb1 78. Kc8 Bh2 79. Rc6+ Ke5?? Shirov picked up his King and then didn't put it down for a while, 79...Kf5 should still be ok. 80. b8=Q+ 1-0

Leko against Ivanchuk in round 9. Photo © ChessVibes.

Peter Leko has looked out of sorts for some time now. In this event he's out of form completely. Here Leko allowed equalisation before they were even out of theory and was completely tied up by move 28 at the expense of a mere pawn. Ivanchuk slowly applied the pressure and when he swapped rooks on move 35 he was winning. On the final move before time control Leko gave up any hope of resistance and resigned on move 48.

Leko,P (2753) - Ivanchuk,V (2751) [B19]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (9), 29.02.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Be7 14.c4 Qc7 15.0-0-0 Ngf6 16.Kb1 0-0 17.Rhe1 a5N [17...b5 0-1 Michielsen,J (2309)-Span,P (2274)/Netherlands NED 2007/The Week in Chess 684 (52); 17...Rfe8 1-0 Rodriguez Garcia,J-Lozano de Prado,T/Spain 1997 (44)] 18.Bc1 This already doesn't seem right black has already at least equalised. 18...Rfd8 19.Qc2 a4 20.Ne5 Nxe5 21.dxe5 Rxd1 22.Qxd1 Nd7 23.f4 Nc5 24.Ne4 Rd8 25.Qc2 Nxe4 26.Rxe4 Qb6 27.Qxa4 Qg1 28.Qc2 Rd1 29.Re2 Rf1 White is tied up, can black make use of this? 30.a3 [30.Re4] 30...Bc5 Black doesn't bother with mere pawns, he's after more. 31.Qd2 Rd1 32.Qc2 Bd4 33.c5 [33.Rd2 Rf1 34.g3 c5] 33...Rf1 34.Rd2 Rxf4 35.Ka2 Rf2!

Black is going to win. 36.Rxf2 Bxf2 37.g4 Bxc5 38.Bf4 Qd4 39.Qd2 Qe4 40.Ka1 [40.g5 was the last of a poor set of playable options now the rest is easy.] 40...Bd4 41.Qh2 c5 42.Ka2 b5 43.Qd2 Qd5+ 44.Kb1 b4 45.a4 b3 46.Qd3 c4 47.Qe2 Qh1+ 48.Bc1 Qa8 and mate or the loss of the queen will follow. 0-1

Topalov against Radjabov in round 9. Photo © ChessVibes.

Teimour Radjabov played his solid Schliemann Defence to the Ruy Lopez against Veselin Topalov. Topalov had a space advantage and black seemed passive however the major piece endgames offer a lot of drawing ideas and even when they went into a rook ending with his king out of play Radjabov seemed to draw with ease.

Topalov,V (2780) - Radjabov,T (2735) [C63]
XXV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (9), 29.02.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.0-0 Bc5 7.Qd3 d6 8.Qc4 Qe7 9.Nc3 Bd7 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Nd4 12.Bxd7+ Qxd7 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.a4N [14.c3 Bb6 15.a4 a6 16.a5 Ba7 17.Be3 Bxe3 18.fxe3 0-0-0 19.Qe4 h6 20.c4 Rhf8 21.b3 Kb8 22.h3 c5 23.Qg6 Qe7 24.g3 e4 25.Rf4 Rxf4 26.gxf4 Rf8 27.Kh2 Qf6 28.Rg1 Qd8 29.Qxg7 Ka7 30.Qc3 Qh4 31.Qc2 Qh5 32.Qf2 Rf7 33.Rg4 b6 34.axb6+ Kxb6 35.Qb2 Qf5 36.Qh8 Qf6 37.Qxf6 Rxf6 38.Rg7 Ka5 39.Rb7 Rg6 40.Rb8 h5 41.Re8 Kb4 42.f5 Rf6 43.Rxe4 Rxf5 44.Re6 Kxb3 45.Rxd6 Kxc4 46.e4 Re5 47.Re6 Kd4 48.Kg3 Kxe4 49.Rxa6 Rxd5 50.Kf2 Rd2+ 51.Ke1 Rh2 52.Ra4+ Kd3 53.Ra3+ Kd4 54.Kd1 c4 55.Rf3 c3 56.Kc1 Kc4 57.Rf8 Rxh3 58.Rc8+ Kd3 59.Rd8+ Ke2 60.Kc2 h4 61.Rd4 Kf2 62.Kb3 Rh1 63.Kxc3 h3 64.Rd2+ Ke3 65.Rd3+ Ke4 66.Rd4+ Ke5 67.Rh4 Kf5 0-1 Ovetchkin,R (2375)-Hachian,M (2480)/Pardubice CZE 1996] 14...a6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 0-0-0 17.Rf2 Rdf8 18.Raf1 Rxf2 19.Rxf2 Kb8 20.b3 Qe7 21.Qe4 g6 22.Qf3 Rc8 23.c4 Black is very passive but structurally sound. 23...c6 24.dxc6 Rxc6 25.e4 Qg5 26.h3 Qc1+ 27.Kh2 Qe1 28.Rf1 Qd2 29.Qf8+ Rc8 30.Qe7 Qd3 31.Rf3 Qxe4 32.Qxd6+ Ka7 33.Rf7 h5 34.a5 Major pieces are on the board but black's king is out of play for any rook ending. 34...g5 35.Qe6 Rg8 36.Rf6 Rh8 37.Qd5 Qxd5 and here we go. Black has to be very accurate. 38.cxd5 e4 39.Re6 Rd8 40.Re5 e3 41.Kg3 [41.Kg1 with the idea of 41...b6 42.Rxg5 h4 43.Kf1 bxa5 44.Ke2 Kb6 is another line.] 41...g4 42.hxg4 hxg4 43.b4 b6

Breaking the king out is essential. 44.axb6+ Kxb6 45.Kxg4 Kb5 46.Re4 e2 47.Rxe2 Kxb4 48.Rd2 Kc5 49.Kh5 Rxd5+ 50.Rxd5+ Kxd5 and astonishingly enough its a draw. 51.g4 Ke6 52.Kh6 Kf7 53.Kh7 Kf6 54.Kh6 1/2-1/2

Fritz 11.
Just $49.95!

New Books

5 pounds and half price books

Subscribe to "Chess" Magazine

7 New Foxys