Amber 2010 (10)
Carlsen leads Amber with a round to go
IM Malcolm Pein - Sunday 28th March 2010
Magnus Carlsen took the lead at Amber with a round to play after a 2-0 victory over Ruslan Ponomariov that included a 100 move Rapid Chess victory in a rook and pawn endgame that began from a position where a draw would normally be agreed.
Carlsen worked his magic to beat Ponomariov in the Rapid. Photo © Association Max Euwe | http://www.amberchess2010.com
Magnus Carlsen took the lead at Amber with a round to play after a 2-0 victory over Ruslan Ponomariov that included a 100 move Rapid Chess victory in a rook and pawn endgame that began from a position where a draw would normally be agreed. I have never seen one GM defeat another in an endgame of rook and four pawns each where the pawns were all on the same files. Carlsen said afterwards he had studied this type of position and was familiar with its intricacies but Ponomariov could easily have set up a fortress position and drawn. Ponomariov will have nightmares about this game and may find it hard to play Carlsen again after being outplayed from such a position.
Carlsen's first action was to weaken White's structure by isolating the e5 pawn which eventually falls. Then the connected 'f' and 'e' pawns advance and force the win. I have shown several ways White could have drawn, there are probably more, but you have to admire Carlsen's tenacity and his ability to create problems.
Magnus Carlsen
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Ruslan Ponomariov
Position after 41.f4
41.f4 h6! 42.Kf3
(42.h4 g5 43.hxg5 hxg5 44.fxg5 Kg7 45.Kf3 should hold)
42...Rc3+ 43.Kf2
(43.Kg4 Kg7 44.g3 g5 45.h4 but not 44.h4 h5+ 45.Kg5 Rg3#)
43...g5 44.fxg5 hxg5 45.Ra4 Kg7 46.Rg4 Kh6 47.g3
(47.h4 gxh4 48.Rxh4+)
47...Kh5 48.Ra4 Kg6 49.Ra5 Rd3 50.h4
(50.Rb5 Kf5 51.Rb7; 50.Rb5 Rd5 51.Rxd5 exd5 52.Ke3 Kf5 53.Kd4 Ke6 54.h4 gxh4 55.gxh4 f6=)
50...gxh4 51.gxh4 Rd7 52.Ke3 Rb7 53.Kf4 Rb4+ 54.Kg3 Kf5 55.Ra7 Rg4+ 56.Kf3 Rg7 57.Ra5 Rg1! 58.Rb5
(58.Ra7 Kxe5 59.Rxf7 Rf1+)
58...Ra1 59.Rc5 Ra3+ 60.Kf2 Ke4 61.h5 Ra8 62.Kg3 Kf5 63.Kh4 Ra4+ 64.Kg3 Rg4+ 65.Kf3 Rf4+ 66.Kg3 Kg5 67.h6 Rg4+ 68.Kf3 Rh4 69.Rc7 Kg6 70.Rc8 Rxh6 71.Kg4 Rh1 72.Rg8+ Kh7 73.Ra8 Rf1 74.Ra2 Kg6 75.Rg2 Rf5 76.Re2 Kg7 77.Kg3 Kf8 78.Re4 Ke7 79.Kg4 Kd7 80.Rd4+ Kc6 81.Rd6+ Kc7 82.Rd1 Rxe5 83.Rf1 f5+ 84.Kg5 Kd6 85.Kf6 Re4 86.Rd1+ Kc5 87.Rd8 f4 88.Kg5 e5 89.Kg4 Re3 90.Rd1 Kc4 91.Rd2 f3 92.Kg3 e4 93.Kf2 Rd3 94.Ra2 Kd4 95.Ra4+ Ke5 96.Kg3 Rd2 97.Ra5+ Kd4 98.Ra4+ Ke3 99.Ra3+ Ke2 100.Kf4 f2 0-1
Overall scores with one round and two games to play.
1 Carlsen 13.5;
1 Ivanchuk 13;
3 Kramnik 12;
4 Grischuk 11.5;
5-6 Gelfand, Karjakin 11;
7-8 Gashimov, Svidler 10.5
9 Aronian 9.5;
10 Ponomariov 7.5;
11 Smeets 5.5; 12 Dominguez 4.5;
Carlsen leads the Rapid with 7/9, Alexander Grischuk leads the Blindfold with 7/9. Carlsen plays Grischuk in the last round while Ivanchuk plays Boris Gelfand
The two week long chess extravaganza is organised by the Association Max Euwe and has a prize fund of €216,000. The tournament is supported by the Dutch chess sponsor Joop van Oosterom who originally hosted it to celebrate the birth of his first daughter and since then every leading player has competed with the exception of Garry Kasparov. Ivanchuk has played every one.
White sacrifices a pawn and with Black's rook on h8 trapped his practical chances are poor.
V Gashimov - J Smeets
19th Amber Rapid Nice
Petroff Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Re1 Bg4 9.c4 Nf6 10.Nc3 Nxd4 11.cxd5 Bxf3
(11...0-0 12.Bxh7+ Nxh7 13.Qxd4)
12.gxf3 c5 13.d6!? Qxd6 14.Nb5 Nxb5 15.Bxb5+ Kf8 16.Qe2 a6 17.Bf4! Qxf4 18.Qxe7+ Kg8 19.Be8! Qg5+
(19...Rxe8 20.Qxe8+ Nxe8 21.Rxe8#)
20.Kh1 Qh5 21.Re3 h6 22.Ba4! b5 23.Bc2 c4 24.Rd1 Nh7 25.Rg1 Nf8 26.f4! Ng6 27.Qe4
(27.Rxg6 fxg6 28.Qe6+ Kh7 29.Rg3 also wins)
27...Rd8 28.f5 Nf8 29.Qe7 Rd7 30.Rxg7+! Kxg7 31.Rg3+ Kh7 32.f6+ Ng6 33.Qxd7 1-0
Jan Smeets
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Vugar Gashimov
Final position after 33.Qxd7
