Four more draws today in Dortmund, leaving Kramnik still in the clear lead on +2 with two rounds to play. He reverted to the Petroff against Leko today to bring back memories of their 2004 WCh match in Brissago. Leko started to get just enough of a little something to impress Jon Speelman on Chess.FM that there might be extended torture afoot, but the Hungarian let the black knight back into the game and it was drawn immediately. A pity, since, as spectator RueeLopaith put it, "every time the Petroff loses, an angel gets its wings." I'd add the Berlin to that wing-giving category. Kramnik has been playing the non-Berlin Lopez (Lopaith?) lately.
Naiditsch-Alekseev was the game of the round. A strategically sharp Nimzo led to a sharp tactical battle on the queenside. Who tricked whom, or if anyone was tricked at all, is the open question. It looked like Naiditsch was setting up a risky maneuver with a rook penetration on the b-file. Then Alekseev answered with the clever 19..a6! and White had to give up his queen for rook and knight. Or was it all part Naiditsch's plan to "fall" into the trap since it turned out White had excellent play and threats after giving up the queen? The position became amazingly sharp. White got two rooks for the queen and it seemed like they should easily overwhelm the cut-off black king. But it wasn't easy at all. White's pieces were poorly coordinated and the black c-pawn became one-man counterplay. White's best chance was 37.Re6 and the black queen has no good squares. A computer might defend after that but the mate threats are constant. Alekseev went for safe harbor instead of trying for more with 45..Nb5.
Mamedyarov-Anand was interesting below the surface. White got more than expected thanks to the nice 15.d5 blow. Anand accepted weak pawns and a long defense instead of risking the attack after 17..g6. Even the endgame had some poison and many interesting lines, but Anand held the draw without too much trouble. Carlsen-Gelfand was another stealth affair that didn't liven up at all until Carlsen tried the combo 21.Nb5!? Gelfand had the wonderfully absurd 22..Na1! to save the day. Note that 24..Bb3? loses wood to the knight returning to a1! Black's up a pawn in the final position but the bishop pair holds things down easily. You get eternal fame and glory if you can find another ..Na1 or equivalent (white knight on a8) on move 22 or earlier without a capture. Get Krabbe on the line!
(Okay, I looked. There are hundreds. The first I found with ..Na1 was Schubert-Hromadka, Prague 1921. Luckis-Czerniak, Mar del Plata 1941 isn't exactly right but includes 20.Na1 Nxa1!. Pogrebissky-Novotelnov sees it very early, 14..Na1 and winning material. Polugaevsky beats that, and back in Mar del Plata no less. He played 12..Na1 in a 22-move victory. Smetana-Pacl is a lousy game but it might be a winner with 15..Na1 white resigns! Or it could be Beliavsky-Kasparov, Linares 93, which ended in 22 moves on a very unusual perpetual check with ..Nb3+ - ..Na1+. We can now resume our attempt to get a life.)
Round six on Saturday should again see the favorites go for wins with the white pieces against the less Elo-endowed. Anand-Alekseev and Kramnik-Naiditsch, plus Mamedyarov-Carlsen and Gelfand-Leko. Note that Sunday's final round begins two hours earlier than the other rounds: 1300 local, 7am EDT.
FIDE has released a new list.
1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 4 1969
2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 1 1975
3 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2768 10 1975
4 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2762 22 1969
5 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 18 1977
6 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2755 14 1985
7 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 9 1979
8 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 15 1982
9 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2746 7 1987
10 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2735 29 1983
11 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2735 28 1972
12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 6 1976
13 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 21 1968
14 Adams, Michael g ENG 2731 8 1971
15 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 18 1983
16 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2717 28 1974
17 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2710 19 1990
18 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2708 5 1971
19 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2707 10 1976
20 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2706 16 1983
Hmm, I thought Topalov would only lose 3 points? That's what other people seem to have thought as well. Then, of course, he would share 2nd with Kramnik, and probably be ahead on more played games. But as it is, he is BEHIND Kramnik! I smell another anti-Topalov conspiracy!
Odd to see a untitled player named Adams, Michael with a rating of 2687 on #25 in the new FIDE rating list.
I'm not THAT familiar with the FIDE rules for creating the "ELO conspiracy TOP list" as other "dirty ninjas" for sure are.
Thus, my question might produce some laughter amongst the inaugurates, so please let me off for asking it:
Does Kramnik's drop of 3 points (as i could see only one game was rated for him) trace back to his game vs. Jan Smeets (a "short kilted draw" in the Team Chamionship of the Netherlands) or is it an other game, which i don't know?
Thx for your patience and greetings!
Yes, Kramnik's rating drop is due to the game against Smeets.
http://fide.com/ratings/tourarc.phtml?codt=24&field1=4101588
Vohaul, indeed it is the game with Jan Smeets.
Regarding an early Na1, I think the game Vaganian-Planinc, Hastings 1974 deserves mention. Judge for yourselves: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1145440
thx a lot to acirce and oscar (i'm still smirking ... Jan - the Kramnik ELO crusher - Smeets - great! obviously "Rubl" did not hand over all secrets of the scotch opening to his "boss"... ^^)
Both Anand and Kramnik in unpleasant positions according to my patzer-eyes.
Might Kramnik even be loosing ?
Arr.. Wrong on Kramnik.
Is 47.Rd5+ ticking for Kramnik?
Wohoo! Kramnik-Naiditsch 1-0! 37..Bc5? (37..Rd8!) was probably the losing move, I don't see how Black can save that rook ending.
Btw, Kramnik is not a very good tournament player - he just doesn't win enough games. Right?
Correction: I meant 37..Bd8! above, of course.
It'd be interesting to see how far Kramnik calculated ahead in his game vs. Naditsch. He's now at + 3, and only Alekseev and Anand can even tie him.
Of course, "Alexejew" (spelling from the Dortmund site) will be White vs. Kramnik, so there may be some work left to clinch clear first. Anand is Black against Carlsen, which might be interesting
"Btw, Kramnik is not a very good tournament player - he just doesn't win enough games. Right?"
Yes, everyone knows this. The high drawing percentage in this tournament must be Kramnik's gravitational pull.
Has any other world class player dominated a particular international chess tournament (time and time again) as Kramnik has Dortmund?
Would be Topalov in Danailov's Sofia tournament - a perfect 3/3 so far :-) Hensel used to be involved in organizing Dortmund, but I haven't seen any indication that he still is. Is he?
Dortmund is very much still a Hensel tournament. So, you will always find Kramink and Leko at Dortmund.Similarly, Sofia is a Danailov event . So, you will always find Topalov there.
Yes 37... Bd8 would have been a draw in the game Kramnik - Naiditsch
a friend of mine sent me following small analytical approach to the Kramnik - Naiditsch game yesterday. the comments, especially those, starting with black's 32. move, encouraged me, to share it with you.
[Event "Sparkassen GM"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2007.06.30"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2007.06.23"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Nd7 7. Qxc4 Nb6 8.
Qb5 a6 9. Qd3 e5 10. Nxe5 Nb4 11. Qd1 $146 (11. Qc3 Qxd4 12. O-O Qxc3 13. Nxc3
{L'Ami,E (2594)-Naiditsch,A (2663)/TCh-NED 2006-7 2007 (6)/1/2-1/2}) 11... Qxd4
12. Qxd4 Nc2+ 13. Kd1 Nxd4 14. Be3 Nf5 15. Bxb6 cxb6 16. Nc3 Bc5 17. e3 O-O 18.
Ke2 Re8 19. Nd3 Rb8 20. Rhc1 Be6 21. Bd5 Bd7 ({or} 21... Rbd8 {e.g.} 22. Bxe6 (22. Bxb7 $6 Bc4 23. Be4 Nxe3
$3 24. fxe3 Bxd3+ 25. Bxd3 Rxe3+ 26. Kf1 Rexd3 $17) 22... Rxe6 23. Nxc5 bxc5
24. Na4 c4 25. Rd1 Rxd1 26. Rxd1 Kf8 $14) 22. Ne4 Bf8 23. Rc7 Rbd8 24. Nc3 Nd4+
25. Kd2 Be6 26. exd4 Bxd5 27. Nxd5 Rxd5 28. Rxb7 b5 29. a4 Rxd4 30. axb5 Red8
31. bxa6 $1 Rxd3+ 32. Ke1 Re8+ $2 {most probably the losing move} (32...
R3d4 $1 33. a7 Rb4 34. Rc7 Ra8 35. Ra2 Rb6 $15) 33. Kf1 Rdd8 34. a7 $6 {
a serious inaccuracy, giving away the win} (34. b4 $1 g6 35. a7 Kg7
36. b5 Bc5 37. Rc1 Bd4 38. b6 Be5 39. Re1 $18) 34... Ra8 35. b4 Re7 36. Rxe7
Bxe7 37. b5 Bc5 $2 {black blunders his luck away...} (37... Bd8 $1 38.
Ra6 Kf8 39. b6 Bxb6 40. Rxb6 Rxa7 $11) 38. Rc1 Bd4 39. Rc4 Bxa7 40. Ra4 Rb8 41.
Rxa7 Kf8 42. Ra5 Ke7 43. Ke2 Rb6 44. Kd3 Rd6+ 45. Kc4 Rd2 46. b6 Kd6 47. Rb5
Rc2+ (47... Rc2+ 48. Kd4 Rc8 49. Rd5+ Ke7 50. Rc5 Rb8 51. Rc7+ Kd6 52. Rxf7
Rxb6 53. Rxg7 {and so on}) 1-0
Some new photos :)
http://rsport.netorn.ru/enot/ephoto/dort07/dort07.htm
Thanks Eugene.