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| Linares Round 5 |
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Round 5 (March 4, 2000)
Kramnik, Vladimir - Shirov, Alexei 1-0 48 D17 Slav defence
Kasparov, Gary - Leko, Peter 1/2 38 D97 Gruenfeld indian
Khalifman, Alexander - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 22 D18 Slav defence
SuperGM Linares ESP (ESP), 5 ii-9 iii 2000 cat. XXI (2752)
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2758 ** =. =. 1. 1. =. 3.5 2899
2 Kasparov, Gary g RUS 2851 =. ** =. =. 1. 1. 3.5 2880
3 Leko, Peter g HUN 2725 =. =. ** =. =. =. 2.5 2757
4 Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2656 0. =. =. ** =. =. 2.0 2698
5 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2751 0. 0. =. =. ** 1. 2.0 2679
6 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2769 =. 0. =. =. 0. ** 1.5 2599
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The John Henderson Report for round 5: THE BOY OF THE NEW CENTURY?
THE BOY OF THE NEW CENTURY?
ON my way back to Scotland from the recent Wijk aan Zee tournament in Holland, I spotted a newspaper headline that I thought at first read 'Leko is the boy of the century'. Of course, on closer examination (I really must get my eyes tested), I discovered that it in fact read: 'Lego is the toy of the century', as yet another of these millennium polls revealed that the Danish building-bricks were the most popular toy of the last century. However, on reflection, perhaps we could readapt the title to 'Leko is the boy of the new century!'
Leko has recently had some very impressive tournament and match results, all of which have put him in the public eye as a potential title challenger. Its hard to believe, but he's virtually been on the road as chess professional since he was about ten years of age! Is it now Leko's time?
Immaculately groomed, Peter Leko cuts a dashing figure at the tournament with his trademark white shirt and jacket, emblazoned with the blue logo of his sponsor, "Westfalische Ferngas -AG". Thanks to this sponsorship deal, Leko now has a professional team behind him in his quest to become the No 1. Amador Rodriguez is his main trainer (with Arthur Yusupov also having a key role), and he works in Hungary with GM Tibor Karolyi and IM Gyula Feher. Looking after the business side, he now has a German manager, Carsten Hensel.
Leko is not like your typical chess player who travels around different countries playing weekend tournaments to survive. His stable economic situation saves him from having to play simultaneous games and other lucrative activities. With guidance from his manager and trainer, Peter's chess calendar is correctly planned so that he can concentrate fully in his advance towards the top of world chess.
Kasparov, Leko and Leontxo
Garcia.
No chessplayer today has a harder work ethic than young Mr Leko. He regularly puts in an eight-hour day at the chessboard as he works his way up the ratings towards his goal of replacing Kasparov as the world No 1. Now firmly established in the top-ten, its no wonder that many now see the young Hungarian as a realistic contender to the Kasparov throne. On the playing front, Leko is a typical product of the Hungarian chess school, educated with a solid understanding of chess, which has given him the name of a "drawish player". Nothing could be further from the truth. Leko's play has developed in all aspects and now he is a very aggressive player, but as the saying goes "work hard and rest on your laurels". He's now regarded as a hard player to beat across the board due to being well prepared in his openings. But in many ways this is also his weakness. He freely admits that although he's extensively well prepared, his repertoire just now is very limited and not yet up to the demands of a title match.
Peter Leko, expanding his opening
repertoire.
Like most Hungarians, he'll play (like Kasparov) the Gruenfeld against 1 d4, and the Sicilian Pelikan against 1 e4. He relies heavily on his knowledge of the Pelican (Sveshnikov) that was passed on to him by one of his early trainer, Andras Adorjan. It was only here in Linares where (due to the influence of Artur Yusupov) we started to see some changes in his repertoire when, against Alexei Shirov, he played the solid Petroff Defence (like Kramnik, Anand and Shirov). Both Anand, Kramnik and Shirov have declared that they are ready to beat Kasparov; well now is their opportunity to go for him. Peter has never said such a thing: he is still in a learning process, getting better every day, and trying to improve his play step by step (he is only 20 years old!). The day that he will be ready to challenge Kasparov is not far away - perhaps sooner than we all think - and until then he prefers to maintain a sensible attitude: silence. In fact, the smart money in the pressroom believes that, due to Vishy Anand's slump in form, Leko will be the one who first sits across the board from Kasparov in a title match. The last four outings between Kasparov and Leko have proved to be tough affairs all ending in draws (Kasparov beat Leko in their first two games together in 1993 and 1997). Today was no different. Leko came up with a TN in his (and Kasparov's) favourite Gruenfeld Defence that headed straight for an ending. To his credit, Kasparov worked very hard at the board "in order to make the structure work." He felt that somehow the White position was better but couldn't (despite using up a lot of time on the clock) find a way through Leko's well-organised defence. However, as if to gets us ready for what may or may not happens soon, all the fun came during the post mortem with a healthy game of verbal tennis between the two players. "The pawn ending was drawn by a miracle," opined Kasparov. "If it had been won then it would have been a scandal!" retorted Leko. Kasparov was now warming to this rivalry that was building up between himself and the young pretender. Kasparov remarked to young Leko that he should try and play this ending against someone like Kramnik. Leko's reply? "I thought it was good for the future that I knew whether this ending was drawn or not." Kasparov just turned to the assembled journalists enjoying the post mortem and, with a wry smile on his face, just laughed. We all got the message from Garry: "One day, young boy! One day…"
Kasparov-Leko (5)
Kasparov,G - Leko,P [D97]
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c4 Bg7 4 Nc3 d5 5 Qb3 dxc4 6 Qxc4 0-0 7 e4 a6 8 Be2 [Perhaps fearing some improvement over 8 e5 that Kasparov (and Anand) used to good effect at Wijk aan Zee last year against Peter Svidler, the world no.1 avoids the critical variation.] 8 ..b5 9 Qb3 c5 10 dxc5 Bb7 11 0-0 Nxe4 12 Nxe4 Bxe4 13 Bg5 Nc6 14 Qe3 Qd5!?
Kasparov-Leko (5) 14. ...Qd5!? Leko
gets a TN in first against Kasparov
[A TN specially prepared for the world no.1 by the Leko team. More usual has been ..Bf5 and placing the queen on a5 after Rad1. Leko's move aims quickly for an ending, which he believes is drawn.] 15 Rad1 Qe6 16 Bh6 Bf5 17 Bxg7 Qxe3 18 fxe3 Kxg7 19 a3 [Kasparov thought that perhaps he should have tried 19 Rd2 Rfc8 20 Nd4 (20 Rc1 b4 21 Nd4 Be4) 20 ..Be4; 19 Ng5!? Ljubojevic - Leko: "I was slightly concerned about this move." - 19 ..h6 20 e4] 19 ..Rfd8 20 b4 Bc2 21 Rxd8 Rxd8 22 Rc1 Be4 23 Kf2 Kf6 24 g4 h6 25 h4 Ke6 26 Rd1 Bxf3 27 Rxd8 [27 Kxf3!? Kasparov 27 ..Ne5+ 28 Kf4 Rxd1 29 Bxd1 Nd3+ 30 Kg3 Ne5 31 Bb3+ Nc4 32 Kf4] 27 ..Bxe2 28 Rc8 Kd7 29 Rxc6 Kxc6 30 Kxe2 f6 31 Kd3 e6 32 Kd4 g5 33 h5 Kd7 34 e4 Kc6 35 e5 f5 36 gxf5 exf5 37 e6 f4! [The correct pawn advance. Leko needs to queen on f1 with check in order to draw. Opting for the g-pawn allows Kasparov to win: 37 ..g4?? 38 Ke5 g3 39 e7 Kd7 40 Kf6 Ke8 (40 ..g2 41 c6+ Ke8 42 c7 If it were the f-pawn on the seventh, Leko could now queen with check.) 41 c6 g2 42 c7] 38 Ke4 Kc7 ½–½
Another interesting match-up was the encounter between Vladimir Kramnik and Alexei Shirov. Over the years both of these young players have also built-up a healthy rivalry. Before this game, their scores in classical chess (not counting rapidplay and blitz) had Shirov marginally ahead with 8 wins, Kramnik 7, and 17 draws. Kramnik, who now has gone 73 games without defeat (ironically to Shirov, in last years European Club Cup), evened the scores between the two with a nice, clinical endgame win in a topical line of the Slav Defence. And, with Kasparov drawing with Leko, this win from Kramnik put him back in the joint lead with the world no.1, both on 3.5/5.
Kramnik levels his lifetime score
against Shirov in round 5
Kramnik,V - Shirov,A [D17]
1 Nf3 d5 2 d4 c6 3 c4 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 Ne5 e6 7 f3 Bb4 [7 ..c5 8 e4 cxd4 9 exf5 Bb4 10 Bxc4 dxc3 11 Qxd8+ Kxd8 12 0–0 cxb2 13 Bxb2 Ke7 14 fxe6 fxe6 15 Nd3 Rc8 16 Bxe6 Kxe6 17 Nxb4 Rc4 18 Rfe1+ Kf7 ½–½ Ward,C-Ansell,S/Hove 1997/EXT 99 (18)] 8 e4 Bxe4 [Just another typical Shirov game - he sacrifices a piece in the opening!] 9 fxe4 Nxe4 10 Bd2 [If White's in a peaceful mood, he can always opt for the perpetual check with: 10 Qf3 Qxd4 11 Qxf7+ Kd8 12 Bg5+ Nxg5 13 Qxg7 Bxc3+ 14 bxc3 Qxc3+ 15 Ke2 Qc2+ 16 Ke1 Qc3+] 10 ..Qxd4 11 Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12 Qe2 Bxd2+ 13 Kxd2 Qd5+ 14 Kc2 [The other option with 14 Kc3 is also interesting: 14 Kc3 0–0 15 Qe3 b5 16 Be2 Nd7 17 Nxd7 Qxd7 18 Qc5 Qd8 19 Kc2 Rb8 20 Rad1 Qa5 21 Bxc4 Qxa4+ 22 Bb3 Qe4+ 23 Kc1 Rbd8 24 Qg5 Rxd1+ ½–½ Sherbakov,R-Bareev,E/St Petersburg 1998/CBM 67 (24)] 14 ..Na6 15 Nxc4 b5 16 axb5 Nb4+ 17 Kc3 cxb5 18 Rd1 [18 Nb6 leads to a perpetual check 18 ..Qc5+ 19 Kb3 Nc6! 20 Qxb5 Qe3+ 21 Kc2 Qf2+ 22 Kc3 Qd4+ Shirov,A-Khalifman,A/Ter Apel 1997.] 18 ..Qc5 [18 ..bxc4!? 19 Rxd5 Nxd5+ 20 Kc2 (20 Kxc4 0–0 is a bit risky; 20 Kd2!? Salov.) 20 ..0–0 21 Qe4 Rfc8 22 h4 Rc5 23 Rh3 Rac8 24 Ra3 a5 25 Kc1 h5 26 Qd4 was agreed a draw in Topalov,V-Anand,V/Dos Hermanas 1997.] 19 Qe5 Nd5+ 20 Rxd5 b4+!?
Kramnik-Shirov (5) after 20. ...
b4+!?
[Another TN from Shirov! In the past, play had proceeded: 20 ..Qxd5 21 Nd6+ Kf8 (21 ..Ke7 22 Nf5+ Kd8 23 Qxd5+ exd5 24 Bxb5) 22 Qxd5 exd5 23 Bxb5 Rd8] 21 Kb3 Qxd5 22 Be2! [The point of Shirov's new move is that after 22 Qxd5 exd5 23 Ne3 Rd8 he's managed to save his pawn. Kramnik, however, displays great control for a nice, technical endgame win.] 22 ..0–0 23 Qxd5 exd5 24 Na5 Rfe8 25 Bf3 Rac8 [25 ..Re3+ 26 Ka4] 26 Rd1 Re3+ 27 Ka4! [Just look how White's pieces coordinate far better than Black's.] 27 ..b3 28 Rxd5 g6 29 Rd7 [Also worth considering, was: 29 Rb5 Rc2 30 Rxb3 Re7 31 Rb8+ Kg7 32 b4 f5 33 Nc6] 29 ..Rc2 30 Ka3 Kg7 [30 ..a6 31 Nxb3] 31 Rxa7 h5 32 h3 h4 33 Rb7 Rc5 34 Kb4 Rf5 35 Rc7 g5 36 Nxb3 Rf4+ 37 Rc4 Rxc4+ 38 Kxc4 f5 39 Nd4 Kf6 40 b4 Re1 41 b5 Ke5 42 Nc6+ Kd6 43 b6 Rc1+ 44 Kb5 g4 45 b7 Rb1+ 46 Nb4 Kc7 47 hxg4 fxg4 48 Be4 [After ..48 Rb2 49 Ka4 followed by Na6+ soon wins.] 1–0
Shirov and Kramnik
discuss their game.
Nothing much could be said about the Khalifman-Anand game. The Indian ace was obviously upset about losing his last two games (and with White!) and, after playing an early TN, settled for a peaceful draw.
Khalifman-Anand (5)
Khalifman,A - Anand,V [D18]
1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4 8 0-0 Nbd7 9 Qe2 Bg4 10 Rd1 [10 h3 Bxf3 11 Qxf3 0-0 12 Rd1 Qa5 Beliavsky,A-Ivanchuk,V/Linares/1994] 10 ..Qa5 11 e4 Nb6!?
Khalifman-Anand (5) 11. ...
Nb6!?
More usual is 11 ..Qh5 12 h3 (12 Rd3 e5 13 d5 Nb6 14 Bb3 0–0 15 dxc6 bxc6 16 h3 Bc8 17 a5 Nbd7 18 Rd1 Nc5 19 Bc4 Bxc3 20 bxc3 Ncxe4 21 Qe3 Bf5 22 Ba3 Rfe8 23 Bb3 h6 24 c4 Ng5 25 Nxg5 hxg5 26 Ba4 Re6 27 Rd6 g4 28 h4 Qxh4 ½–½ Knobel,R-Hector,J/ICCF 1998 (28)) 12 ..Bxf3 13 Qxf3 Qxf3 14 gxf3 0–0 15 a5 (15 Be3 Rfd8 16 Be2 h6 17 Rac1 a5 18 Nb1 Nf8 19 Nc3 ½–½ Khalifman,A-Hector,J/Aaland-Stockholm 1997/EXT 98 (19)) 15 ..a6 16 Be2 Rfd8 17 Ra4 Be7 18 f4 Ne8 19 Be3 Rac8 20 Bf3 Nd6 21 Be2 g6 22 Raa1 ½–½ Khalifman,A-Georgiev,K/Elenite 1994/MON D10 LF (22); 11 ..0–0 12 e5 Nd5 13 Nxd5 cxd5 14 Bd3 h6 (14 ..f5?! 15 exf6 Rxf6? 16 Bxh7+±) 15 h3 Bh5 (15 ..Bxf3 16 Qxf3 f5 17 exf6 Rxf6 18 Qe2) 16 g4 Bg6 17 g5! hxg5 (17 ..h5? 18 Bxg6 fxg6 19 Nh4±) 18 Nxg5 Rfe8 (18 ..Bxd3? 19 Qxd3 g6 20 Nxe6 fxe6 21 Qxg6+ Kh8 22 Qh5+! Kg8 23 Bh6+-) 19 Bxg6 fxg6 20 Be3 Nf8 21 Qf3 Qc7 22 Rac1 Qd7 23 Rc2 Rac8 24 Rdc1 Rxc2 25 Rxc2 Nh7!= 26 Nxh7 Kxh7 27 b3 Rf8 28 Qg4 Rc8 29 Rxc8 ½–½ Lobron,E-Lautier,J/Amsterdam 1994/CBM 43/[Hertneck] (29); However, taking the pawn immediately is dangerous 11 ..Bxc3 12 bxc3 Qxc3 13 Ba3] 12 Bb3 Bxc3 13 bxc3 Qxc3 14 Rb1 0–0 15 h3 Bxf3 16 Qxf3 Qxf3 17 gxf3 Nbd7 18 Ba3 Rfc8 19 Bc4 Nb6 20 Bb3 ½–½
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(1) Kramnik,V (2758) - Shirov,A (2751) [D17]
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(2) Khalifman,A (2656) - Anand,V (2769) [D18]
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(3) Kasparov,G (2851) - Leko,P (2725) [D97]
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