ƒThe Week in Chess. FIDE World Championship 2005, San Luis, Argentina. Round 8
Round 8 (October 6, 2005)
Topalov, Veselin - Leko, Peter 1/2 24 E15 Queens Indian
Anand, Viswanathan - Polgar, Judit 1-0 62 B48 Sicilian Paulsen
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 53 B83 Sicilian Scheveningen
Adams, Michael - Svidler, Peter 1/2 40 B80 Sicilian Scheveningen
WCh-FIDE San Luis ARG (ARG), 28 ix-16 x 2005 cat. XX (2739)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2788 ** 1. =. 1= 1. 1. 1. 1. 7.0 3071
2 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2738 0. ** =. 1. 1. =. == 1. 5.0 2831
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 =. =. ** =. 0. 0. 1. 11 4.5 2774
4 Leko, Peter g HUN 2763 0= 0. =. ** =. =. 1. 1. 4.0 2741
5 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2707 0. 0. 1. =. ** =1 =. =. 4.0 2733
6 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2670 0. =. 1. =. =0 ** =. 0. 3.0 2656
7 Adams, Michael g ENG 2719 0. == 0. 0. =. =. ** =. 2.5 2599
8 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2735 0. 0. 00 0. =. 1. =. ** 2.0 2552
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Veselin Topalov finally held. Leko equalised fairly comfortably and the game was drawn in 24 moves. Peter Svidler also drew so Topalov's lead remains at two points. Photo © http://www.wccsanluis.net
Round 8 6th October 2005
The 8th round is the last before the second rest day and looking at the play today it seems that the players need it. Veselin Topalov already has enough wins to take the event so long as he doesn't lose. Today he made no progress with white agasint Peter Leko and the game was level or even minutely better for black even before the players left theory. Pieces were traded and for the first time in the event Topalov was the first to finish with, in the context of the tournament, an entirely satisfactory draw.
As the closest challenger to Topalov, Peter Svidler has an interesting dilemma. Should he carry on and try to get the best result he can or does he need to take risks to close the gap with Topalov. Especially if his opponent Michael Adams appears to be in bad form. In the end he chose a sharp Sicilian but had to rein in his ambitions when Adam's position became too threatening. It was Adams that turned down a repetition but Svidler who benefitted. However when Svidler chose not to hang on to an extra pawn the position quickly became drawn.
The first decisive game of the day was that between FIDE Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Alexander Morozevich. As an aside Short informs us that although the change didn't take place in the recently published October FIDE list, he will be known as Kasimjanov from tomorrow (I'll probably make the change after the event), he's lucky, it took FIDE ten years to spell the Garry right in Kasparov in the rating list. There should be a way for players to get their own names changed to how they want quicker (or at all). Ask Jack Peters).
Kasimdzhanov pressed hard but again got into time pressure and his initiative dwindled away. He couldn't find a way to stay in the game after the first time control and in fact drove Morozevich's king into a safe and winning position.
The final game to finish looked set to be one of the first. Judit Polgar suffered an opening fiasco which left her position a wreck after only 20 moves on the black side of a Sicilian and indeed she's scored just a half from four in the opening. That Viswanathan Anand didn't finish her off quickly was probably a mixture of his own less than stellar form along with her undoubted fighting qualities. After a long hard struggle her position finally collapsed on the run up to the second time control.
Rest day Friday. Saturday sees Anand-Topalov, I would venture to suggest that anything other than an Anand win will mean Topalov will be champion.
Brief Comments by Mark Crowther
Topalov,V (2788) - Leko,P (2763) [E15]
WCh-FIDE San Luis ARG (8), 06.10.2005
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 0-0 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Nd2 Na6 12.e4 Rc8 13.Re1 Rc7 14.Nd3 [14.a3 c5 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.exd5 exd5 17.b4 Ne6 18.Bb2 dxc4 19.Bxb7 c3 20.Bxc3 Rxc3 21.Bg2 b5 22.Ndf3 Qb6 23.Qd2 Rc7 24.Rad1 Rd8 25.Qe2 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 h6 27.Bh3 Nf8 28.Nd4 Bd6 29.Nxb5 Bxe5 30.Qxe5 Rc2 31.Nd4 Ra2 32.Qe3 Qa6 33.Rd3 Ra1+ 34.Kg2 Ng6 35.Bf5 Qc4 36.Nf3 Nf8 37.Ne5 Qc7 38.Qd4 Re1 39.Nf3 Qb7 40.Re3 Rc1 41.Qd2 Qc6 42.b5 Qc4 43.Bd3 Qc5 44.h3 Ra1 45.Qb2 Rc1 46.Qd4 Qc7 47.Qe5 Qb7 48.a4 Qb6 49.Qd4 Ne6 50.Qxb6 axb6 51.Ne5 Ra1 52.Nc4 Rxa4 53.Nxb6 Rb4 54.Bc4 Kf8 55.Rb3 Rxb3 56.Bxb3 Nd4 57.Bc4 Ne4 58.Na4 1/2-1/2 Chernin,A-Georgiev,K/Villarrobledo ESP 1997] 14...dxe4 15.Nxe4 c5 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Bxb7 Rxb7 18.Ne5 Bxe5 19.dxe5 Rd7 Already its clear that white has nothing. In fact if anything black is better. 20.Qe2 Qc7 21.Rad1 Rfd8 22.Rxd7 Qxd7 23.Qe4 Nb8 24.Kg2
A draw is fair enough here. 1/2-1/2
Adams,Mi (2719) - Svidler,P (2738) [B80]
WCh-FIDE San Luis ARG (8), 06.10.2005
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.f3 0-0 9.0-0-0 a6 10.g4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Nd7 12.h4 b5 13.g5 [13.Bg5 Bxg5+ 14.hxg5 Qxg5+ 15.Kb1 Qe5 16.Qd2 g5 17.Rh5 f6 18.Bd3 Qf4 19.Qxf4 gxf4 20.Be2 Ne5 21.Rxd6 Ra7 22.b3 Rc7 23.Kb2 Bd7 24.Bd1 b4 25.Ne2 Nxf3 26.Nxf4 Ng5 27.Rxa6 Rfc8 28.a3 Nxe4 29.Rh2 bxa3+ 30.Kxa3 Nc3 31.Bf3 Bc6 32.Bxc6 Rxc6 33.Rxc6 Rxc6 34.Kb4 e5 35.Nh5 Kf7 36.Nxf6 e4 37.Nd7 Nd5+ 38.Kb5 Rc3 39.Rxh7+ Kg6 40.Rh5 Nc7+ 41.Kb4 Rxc2 42.Re5 e3 43.Nc5 Kf6 44.Nd7+ Kg6 45.Nc5 Kf6 1/2-1/2 Escandell,J-Giardelli,S/Villa Ballester ARG 1996] 13...Qa5 [13...Rb8 14.f4 b4 15.Ne2 Qc7 16.Kb1 Nc5 17.Ng3 Bd7 18.h5 Rfc8 19.Bc4 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Qxc4 21.Qxc4 Rxc4 22.Nxd6 Rc7 23.f5 Bc6 24.Rhf1 Rd7 25.Nc4 Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 exf5 27.Ne5 Be8 28.g6 hxg6 29.hxg6 fxg6 30.Rg1 Rd8 31.Kc1 Rd6 32.Bc5 Re6 33.Bxe7 Rxe7 34.Nxg6 Re4 35.Rg5 Kf7 36.Nh8+ Kf6 37.Rg1 Rh4 38.Re1 0-1 Rezan,S-Cebalo,M/Kastel Stari CRO 1997] 14.Kb1 b4 15.Ne2 Bb7 [15...Nc5 16.Bd2 Rb8 17.a3 e5 18.Bxb4 Qb6 19.Bxc5 dxc5 20.Qc3 c4 21.Bh3 Rb7 22.Ka2 Bxh3 23.Rxh3 Rfb8 24.Rb1 Qe6 25.Rhh1 a5 26.Rhc1 Rb5 27.Ka1 g6 28.Qd2 Qb6 29.Qc3 Qe6 30.Qe1 Qb6 31.Nc3 Rxb2 32.Nd5 Rxb1+ 33.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 34.Qxb1 Rxb1+ 35.Kxb1 Bxa3 36.Ne3 c3 37.Nc4 Bc5 38.Nxe5 Bf2 39.Ka2 Bxh4 40.f4 f6 41.Nf3 Bg3 42.f5 gxf5 43.exf5 fxg5 44.Nxg5 Be5 45.Nf3 Bd6 46.Kb3 Bb4 47.Kc4 Kg7 48.Kd5 Kf6 49.Ke4 a4 0-1 Njirjak,J-Stevic,H/Djakovo CRO 2005/The Week in Chess 548] 16.h5 Black has chosen a very sharp setup presumably with the idea of taking advantage of Adams' bad form. 16...Ne5 17.f4 Ng4 [17...Nf3 Is probably safer.] 18.Bh3 Nxe3
19.Qxe3 [19.h6 was a definite alternative and may have come as a bit of a shock.] 19...Qc5 Black decides things are getting a little too dangerous on the Kingside. 20.Qd3 Qb5 21.Qe3 Qc5 22.Qf3 White bravely decides to continue. 22...h6!? this seems pretty bold too. 23.gxh6 gxh6 24.f5 Qe5 25.Rhg1+ Kh7 26.fxe6 Bxe4 27.Qb3 a5 28.Bg2 [28.Ng3 looks better.] 28...Bxg2 29.Rxg2 fxe6 30.Qd3+ Qf5 31.Nd4 Qxd3 32.cxd3 Rg8 [32...e5 holding on to the pawn comes under consideration.] 33.Rxg8 Rxg8 34.Nxe6 Rg2 35.Rf1 Kg8 36.a4 b3 37.Nd4 Bf6 38.Nxb3 Rxb2+ 39.Kc1 Rxb3 40.Rxf6 Rxd3 The trades have left an equal ending. 1/2-1/2
Kasimdzhanov,R (2670) - Morozevich,A (2707) [B83]
WCh-FIDE San Luis ARG (8), 06.10.2005
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 Nf6 7.Be3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Kh1 Nxd4 [9...Qd7 10.f4 e5 11.Nf5 h6 12.g4 exf4 13.Bxf4 Ne5 14.Bxe5 dxe5 15.Qxd7 Bxd7 16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Rad1 Rfe8 18.Ned5 Rad8 19.Nxf6 gxf6 20.Rxf6 Kg7 21.Rfd6 1-0 Rodriguez Castineiras,J-Lamas Cao,A/Ferrol ESP 2002/The Week in Chess 407] 10.Bxd4 [10.Qxd4 Bd7 11.e5 dxe5 12.Qxe5 Bc6 13.Rad1 Nd7 14.Qg3 Bf6 15.f4 Qa5 16.f5 Rae8 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.Bf4 Rf7 19.Bc4 b5 20.Bc7 Qa6 21.Bd3 Nc5 22.Be2 Qb7 23.Bd6 Ne4 24.Nxe4 Bxe4 25.c3 Bf5 26.Bh5 1/2-1/2 Miroshnichenko,E-Korchnoi,V/Ohrid MKD 2001/The Week in Chess 343] 10...e5 11.Be3 Be6 12.f4 exf4 13.Rxf4 a6 [13...Ne8 14.Bd4 Bg5 15.Rf1 Bf6 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.Qd4 Qe7 18.Rad1 Rfd8 19.Rd3 Ne8 20.Rdf3 a6 21.Bc4 Nf6 22.Bxe6 fxe6 23.e5 dxe5 24.Qxe5 Rac8 25.Re3 Rd2 26.Re2 Rxe2 27.Qxe2 e5 28.Ne4 Nxe4 29.Qxe4 h6 30.h3 Qe6 31.Rd1 b5 32.Rd5 Re8 33.b3 Qf6 34.Kg1 Qb6+ 35.Kh2 Qf6 36.c4 bxc4 37.Qxc4 Kh8 38.Qe4 Qf2 39.Ra5 Re6 40.Ra4 Qd2 41.Rc4 Qd7 42.b4 Kg8 43.a3 Kh8 44.Rc5 Re8 45.Rc3 Re6 46.Rd3 Rd6 47.Rf3 Qe8 48.Rf5 Re6 49.Kg1 Kg8 50.Rf3 Qd7 51.Rc3 Qd1+ 52.Kh2 Qd7 53.Qd3 Qxd3 54.Rxd3 e4 55.Rd8+ Kf7 56.Kg1 Rc6 57.Rd4 Rc1+ 58.Kf2 Ra1 59.Ke3 1/2-1/2 Onischuk,A-Leko,P/Tilburg NED 1997] 14.a4 Qa5 15.Qd2 Rfc8 16.Rd1 Bd8 17.Rff1 Bb6 18.Bd4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Rc6 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Rcc8 22.Rxf6!? This exchange sacrifice must be the correct way to proceed. 22...gxf6 23.Bd3 Re8 24.Qh4 Kf8 25.Rf1 Qxd5 26.Qh6+ Ke7 27.Qxf6+ Kd7 28.h3 h5 29.b4 Re3 30.Rf5 Re5 31.Rxe5 dxe5 White's problem now is that he is in time pressure and he has lost the slight edge he had earlier. 32.Qf5+ Qe6 33.Qxh5 e4 34.Be2 Rf8 35.b5 f5 36.bxa6 bxa6 37.Qh7+ Qf7 38.Qh6 Qf6 39.Qh7+ Rf7 40.Qg8 Ke7 Time control and it hasn't been the end of the world for white but things are very tricky for him. 41.Bc4 Rf8 42.Qh7+ Kd6 43.Qb7 Qa1+ 44.Kh2 Qe5+ 45.Kh1 a5 46.Qb6+
White now drives black's King into a winning position. 46...Ke7 47.Qb7+ Kf6 48.Qb6+ Kg7 49.Qb7+ Kh6 50.Qb6+ Rf6 51.Qd8 Rd6 52.Qf8+ Kg5 53.Be2 Kf4 With his King safe and in an advanced position black is now obviously winning. 0-1
Anand,V (2788) - Polgar,Ju (2735) [B48]
WCh-FIDE San Luis ARG (8), 06.10.2005
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0-0-0 Bb4 9.f3 Ne7 10.Nde2 b5 11.Bf4 [11.Qd4 Nc6 12.Qb6 Qxb6 13.Bxb6 Rb8 14.Bc7 Rb7 15.Bf4 h6 16.g4 g5 17.Be3 Be7 18.Nd4 Ne5 19.h4 Rg8 20.hxg5 hxg5 21.Be2 d6 22.a4 b4 23.Na2 Rb8 24.Bd2 d5 25.f4 gxf4 26.Bxf4 Bd6 27.Bxe5 Bxe5 28.Nc6 Bf4+ 29.Kb1 Rb6 30.exd5 Nxd5 31.Naxb4 Bd7 32.Nxd5 exd5 33.Nd4 Bxa4 34.Bf3 Bd7 35.Rhe1+ Kf8 36.Nf5 Bxf5 37.gxf5 Rg5 38.Rxd5 Rb5 39.Rxb5 axb5 40.Be4 b4 41.Rd1 Ke7 42.Ka2 f6 43.Rd4 Bd6 44.Bd3 Rg8 45.Rh4 Kd7 46.Kb3 Rb8 47.Bc4 Be5 48.Rh7+ Kd6 49.Be6 Kc5 50.Rd7 Kc6 51.Rd5 Rb7 52.Ra5 Rb8 53.Bc4 Bd4 1/2-1/2 Moranda,W-Wen Yang/Belfort FRA 2005/The Week in Chess 560; 11.Qe1 Ba5 12.Qf2 d5 13.Bc5 b4 14.Na4 Rb8 15.Nd4 dxe4 16.Nb3 Ned5 17.Nxa5 Qxa5 18.Qg3 Rb7 19.fxe4 Nxe4 20.Qxg7 Qxa4 21.Qxh8+ Kd7 22.Bc4 Nxc5 23.Bxd5 exd5 24.Rxd5+ Kc6 25.Qxc8+ Kxd5 26.Rd1+ 1-0 Karjakin,S-Zhang Pengxiang/Tiayuan CHN 2005/The Week in Chess 558; 11.g4 h6 12.h4 (12.Rg1 Ng6 13.a3 Be7 14.f4 b4 15.axb4 Bxb4 16.Qd4 Qa5 17.Kb1 Rb8 18.g5 Nh5 19.gxh6 Rxh6 20.Rg5 Qc7 21.Nb5 Rxb5 22.Rxb5 axb5 23.Qxb4 Nhxf4 24.Nc3 Rxh2 25.Bg1 1-0 Leko,P-Polgar,J/San Luis ARG 2005/The Week in Chess 569) 12...Ba5 13.a3 b4 14.axb4 Bxb4 15.Bh3 Qa5 16.Kb1 d6 17.Nc1 Rb8 18.N1a2 Ba3 19.b3 Nd7 20.g5 h5 21.f4 Qc7 22.Bd4 0-0 23.g6 Nc5 24.gxf7+ Rxf7 25.Rh2 Nc6 26.Bxc5 dxc5 27.Qd6 Nd4 28.Qxc7 Rxc7 29.Ne2 Nxe2 30.Rxe2 c4 31.Rd8+ Kf7 32.Re3 cxb3 33.cxb3 a5 34.f5 Rb6 35.Rc3 Rxc3 36.Nxc3 Rc6 37.Nb5 Rc1+ 38.Ka2 Be7 39.Rh8 exf5 40.exf5 Bd7 41.Rb8 Bf6 0-1 Naiditsch,A-Nisipeanu,L/Warsaw POL 2005/The Week in Chess 555] 11...e5 12.Bg5 Bb7 13.Kb1 Ba5 14.Bxf6 [14.Qd6 Nfd5 15.Qxc7 Nxc7 16.Ng3 f6 1/2-1/2 Akopian,V-Nisipeanu,L/Gothenburg 2005] 14...gxf6 15.Qh6 Qb6 16.g3 Qe6 17.Bh3 f5 18.Qh4 f6 19.exf5 Qf7 20.Ne4
Polgar has suffered an opening fiasco. She fights hard and Anand doesn't increase his advantage for a long time but the result of the game was decided here. 20...Bxe4 21.fxe4 Nc6 22.Rd6 0-0 23.Rhd1 Ra7 24.Bf1 Rc7 25.Nc1 Bb4 26.R6d5 Rfc8 27.Nb3 Bf8 28.c3 Kh8 29.g4 Qg7 30.Qg3 Ra8 31.a3 Rac8 32.Nc1 Na5 33.Na2 Nb3 34.h4 Nc5 35.Bd3 Na4 36.Bc2 Nb6 37.R5d3 d5 38.exd5 Bd6 39.Bb3 a5 40.Qf2 Nc4 41.Qe2 Rg8 42.Rg1 Qh6 43.Rdd1 a4 44.Bxc4 Rxc4 45.g5 fxg5 46.hxg5 Rxg5 White is still much better but not as much as before. 47.Qe3 Rf4 48.Qb6 Rgxf5 49.Qxb5 Rf8 50.Nb4 e4 51.Rde1 Rh4 52.Ka1 e3 53.Qxa4 Re4 54.Qa6 Rfe8 55.Re2 Qf8 56.Qd3 Qf6 57.Nc2 Bc5 58.Rge1 Qe5 59.b4 Bb6 60.Kb2 Finally white is clearly winning. 60...h5 61.d6 Qf5 A self pin that concludes things. 62.Rxe3 1-0