Dortmund 2008. Rounds 6-7 Plus Karjakin - Short and the start of the Poikovsky tournament by Malcolm Pein

Dortmund Round 6

Peter Leko, emerged as the likely winner of the Sparkassen tournament at Dortmund as Vasily Ivanchuk and Vladimir Kramnik failed again to impove on a 50% score. Leko outplayed Jan Gustafsson, the lowest rated player in the tournament and replaced him as leader. Gustafsson played a quiet line with white and sought simplifications but was outplayed from a level endgame position. Kramnik tried to put one of his positional squeezes on Ian Nepomniachtchi but was unable to make any progress while Ivanchuk had to play very accurately to maintain the balance against Shak Mamedyarov.

Loek Van Wely's disastrous tournament got a lot worse in the sixth round as he allowed Arkady Naiditsch free rein on the kingside. Not for the first time at Dortmund Van Wely simply failed to defend himself.

Naiditsch,A (2624) - Van Wely,L (2677) [B90]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (6), 05.07.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 [9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.0-0 g5 11.Nde2 Rg8 12.f4 gxf4 13.Nxf4 Qg5 14.Kh1 Ne5 15.Na4 Bd7 16.Nb6 Rd8 17.Qe2 Bb5 18.c4 Bc6 19.Rae1 Bg7 20.Bd1 Ng6 21.Nh5 Be5 22.Nd5 exd5 23.exd5 Bd7 24.Nf6+ Ke7 25.Ne4 Qh4 26.g3 Qh3 27.Nf2 Qf5 28.Ne4 Qh3 29.Nf2 Qf5 30.Ne4 1/2-1/2 Naiditsch,A (2624)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2634)/Dortmund GER 2008] 9...Nc5 [When in doubt, follow Kasparov. The world champion decided to get the queens off as soon as possible when he defended this position with 9...Qa5 10.Qe2 (10.0-0 Qh5 11.Qxh5 Nxh5 12.f3 b6 13.Rfd1 Bb7 14.Bc4 Be7 15.Bf2 Rc8 16.Bf1 0-0 17.Nb3 Rc6 18.a4 Nhf6 19.Rd2 Rfc8 20.Nd4 R6c7 21.a5 b5 22.Bxb5 axb5 23.Ndxb5 Rc4 1/2-1/2 Ehlvest,J (2620)-Kasparov,G (2775)/Skelleftea 1989) 10...Qh5 11.Nf3 Be7 12.0-0-0 0-0 13.Rhg1 Ne5 14.Bg3 Nxf3 15.gxf3 Bd7 16.e5 dxe5 17.Bxe5 Bc6 18.Rg3 Qf5 19.Rdg1 g6 20.f4 Nh5 21.Rg4 Bf6 22.Qe3 Rad8 23.Bxf6 Qxf6 24.f5 g5 25.h4 exf5 26.hxg5 Qd6 27.Rh4 Rfe8 28.gxh6+ Kh8 29.Qg5 1-0 Morozevich,A (2707)-Cvitan,O (2562)/Bled SLO 2002/The Week in Chess 418; 9...Qa5] 10.Qe2 Be7 11.0-0-0 0-0 [11...Qc7 12.f4 Nfxe4 13.Nxe4 Bxh4 14.Nf5 Nxb3+ 15.axb3 d5 16.Nxg7+ Kf8 17.Nh5 Be7 18.Nc3 b5 19.f5 b4 20.fxe6 bxc3 21.Rhf1 Rh7 22.Qd3 Bg5+ 23.Kb1 Kg8 24.exf7+ Rxf7 25.Qg6+ 1-0 Mueller,K (2521)-Shchekachev,A (2522)/Graz AUT 2003/The Week in Chess 473] 12.Bg3 [12.f4 Nfxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxb3+ 14.Nxb3 Bxh4 15.Rxd6 Qc7 16.g3 Be7 17.Rd2 Bd7 18.Rhd1 Bb5 19.Qe3 Rfd8 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.Nc3 Be8 23.Qd4 Qxd4 24.Nxd4 g5 25.Kd2 Kg7 26.Ne4 Bd7 27.c4 f5 28.Nf2 Bf6 29.Ke3 gxf4+ 30.gxf4 e5 31.fxe5 Bxe5 32.h3 Kf6 33.b4 f4+ 34.Ke4 Bxd4 35.Kxd4 Bc6 36.Ng4+ Kg5 37.Ke5 f3 38.Nf2 Kh4 39.Kf4 Bd7 40.Kxf3 Be6 41.Kg2 Bxc4 42.a3 Bd5+ 43.Kh2 Be6 44.Kg2 Bd7 45.Kh2 h5 46.Kg2 Bc6+ 47.Kh2 Kg5 48.Nd3 h4 49.Kg1 Kf5 50.Kf2 Ke4 51.Ne1 Kd4 52.Nf3+ Kc3 53.Nxh4 Kb3 54.Nf3 Kxa3 55.Ne5 Be4 56.Ke3 Bf5 57.Nc4+ Kxb4 58.Nd6 Bxh3 59.Nxb7 Kc3 60.Na5 Bg2 61.Ke2 Kc2 62.Ke3 Kc3 63.Ke2 Bd5 64.Kd1 Kb2 65.Kd2 Ba2 66.Kd1 Bb1 67.Nc4+ Kc3 68.Kc1 Bd3 69.Na5 Be4 70.Nc6 Kb3 1/2-1/2 Estay,O (2275)-Michel Yunis,C (2295)/Santiago CHI 1998] 12...Qc7 [I have always thought Black should remove the dangerous bishop on b3 if he can so 12...Nxb3+ 13.Nxb3 Qc7 14.Qd3 Rd8 seems reasonable] 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxe5 Qa5 15.Kb1 Bd7 16.f4 b5 17.g4! b4 18.g5! bxc3 [18...hxg5 19.fxg5 Ne8 20.Nd5 exd5 21.Bxd5 Rc8 (21...Nd3 might confuse matters) 22.Qh5 Nc7 23.g6 wins] 19.gxf6 gxf6

Scores: 1 Leko (Hungary) 4/6; 2-3 Gustafsson (Germany), Nepomnachtchi (Russia) 3.5; 4-7 Kramnik (Russia), Naiditsch (Germany), Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 3; Van Wely (Holland) 1

Dortmund Round 7

Kramnik had a terrible event and finished on a negative score after losing a middlegame battle against Vasily Ivanchuk. The position was roughly equal for much of the game although Ivanchuk had a slight edge with queen, rook and bishop against queen, rook and knight on an open board. Ivanchuk was pressing when Kramnik blundered and had to resign immediately. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Kramnik, and his trainer Loek Van Wely had their minds on the former's world title match in the autumn against Vishy Anand.

I doubt if Kramnik has ever lost twice with the solid Petroff Defence in the same event but some might say that this is good for chess as games in this opening are often uneventful.

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Kramnik,V (2788) [C42]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (7), 06.07.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]

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 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nxd4 12.Qd1 Ne6 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Bb5+ c6 15.Nxd5 cxb5 16.Qh5 [16.Bf4 Nxf4 17.Rxe7+ Kf8 18.Re5 Qd6 19.Qd2! Ng6 20.Ree1 f6 21.Rad1 Kf7 22.Qe3 Rhe8 23.Ne7 Qxe7 24.Qb3+ Kf8 25.Rxe7 Rxe7 26.Qxb5 Rae8 27.g3 Ne5 28.Kg2 Nc6 29.b4 a6 30.Qb6 h6 31.a4 Ne5 32.Qc5 Kg8 33.b5 axb5 34.axb5 Nf7 35.h4 Kh8 36.Rd2 Kg8 37.Kh3 Kh8 38.f4 Kg8 39.h5 Kh8 40.Qf5 Nd8 41.Rd7 Ne6 42.Qd5 1-0 Naiditsch,A (2624)-Kramnik,V (2788)/Dortmund GER 2008/The Week in Chess 713] 16...0-0 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Qxb5 Rfd8 19.Be3 a6 20.Qb3 Rac8 21.h3 h6 22.Rad1 [22.Rac1 Nd4 23.Bxd4 1/2-1/2 Zavoronkov,V (2399)-Svirjov,I (2503)/ Tallinn EST 2005/The Week in Chess 552] 22...Rxd1 If Black can exchange queens or rooks or both he should draw but with all three pieces on the board and pawns on both sides Ivanchuk has a slight edge as his bishop operates all over the board 23.Rxd1 b5 24.Rd3 Rc6 [24...Nc5 25.Qa3] 25.Qd5 Qe8 26.Rd2 Qc8 27.b3 Rc3 28.h4 a5 29.Rd1 Rc2 [29...Qc6 30.Qxc6 Rxc6 31.Rd5! Rc2 32.a4 b4 33.Rxa5 Rb2 34.Rb5 Rxb3 35.a5] 30.Qxb5 Rxa2 31.h5 Nf8 32.Rd4 Qc7 33.Rd1 Rb2 34.Rc1 Qd7 35.Qb8 Rc2 36.Ra1 Qf5 37.Qd8! The exchang e of the a5 pawn for the h5 pawn creates a passed b pawn and turns the game in White's favour 37...Qxh5 38.Rxa5 Qg4 39.Ra4 [39.Ra8 Kh7 40.Qxf8 Qd1+ 41.Kh2 Qh5+ =] 39...Qd7 40.Rd4 Qb7 41.b4 Rb2 42.Bd2 [42.Bxh6 gxh6 (42...Rxb4 is better.) 43.Rg4+ Kh7 44.Qxf8 wins] 42...Rb1+ 43.Kh2 Qb5 44.Qd5 The passed pawn means that positions without queens are also hard for Black to defend 44...Qe2 45.Be3 Ng6 46.Qf5 Qf1 47.Kg3! Rb3 48.Re4 Nf8?? [48...Qh1! 49.b5 Kh7 50.b6 (50.Rd4! h5 51.Rd5!! keeps the pressure on) 50...h5 gives Black counterplay] 49.Rf4! [

Sergey Karjakin against Nigel Short

Nigel Short lost the first two games of his Rapid Chess match against the Ukrainian prodigy Sergei Karjakin. The eight game contest is sponsored by the Ukrainian mobile operator life:) and played at the Kiev Puppet Theatre. Short could easily have emerged ahead at the end of the day but somehow Karjakin seemed to be pulling the strings at the critical moments.

The second game saw a terrible finger fehler from Short that transformed a totally won position into a lost one. Short's F4 Sicilian gave him no advantage but Karjakin kept sacrificing pawns in search of a non-existent mate and in the diagram below he is four down with just a few random tactical ideas to keep him interested. Short doubtless saw 47.c5 Rb2 with strong threats and with very little time on the clock appears to panic.

Short,N (2655) - Karjakin,Sergey (2727) [B23]
Rapid Match Kiev UKR (2), 03.05.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.d3 e6 7.0-0 Nge7 8.a3 0-0 9.Ba2 Nd4 10.Kh1 Bd7 [10...Nec6 1/2-1/2 Kallio,H (2501)-Le Quang,L (2386)/Budapest 2005/CBM 108 ext (48)] 11.Bd2 [11.Nxd4 cxd4 12.Ne2 Ba4 13.Ng3 Rc8 14.Rf2 Rc5 15.b3 Bd7 16.b4 Rc8 17.Bb3 a5 18.bxa5 Nc6 19.f5 Nxa5 20.Ba2 Rc5 21.Bd2 Nc6 22.Bb3 Na5 23.Ba2 Nc6 24.Bb3 Na5 1/2-1/2 Shkuro,I (2415)-Nechaev,A (2391)/Alushta UKR 2008/The Week in Chess 708] 11...Nec6 12.Ng5 h6 13.Nh3 b5 14.Rc1 a5 15.Nb1 b4 16.c3 b3 17.Bxb3 Nxb3 18.Qxb3 Rb8 19.Qa2 e5 20.f5 gxf5 21.exf5 Qf6 22.g4 Qh4 23.Nf2 c4 24.Rce1 Ne7 25.Re3 Bc6+ 26.Kg1 Nd5 27.Rh3 Qd8 28.dxc4 Nf4 29.Bxf4 exf4 30.b4 Re8 31.Qd2 Re3 32.Rxe3 fxe3 33.Qxe3 Qf6 34.Re1 h5 35.b5 Ba8 36.Qe7 Rc8 37.Qxf6 Bxf6 38.gxh5 Kh7 39.Ng4 Bh4 40.Rd1 Bf3 41.Rd4 Re8 42.Nd2 Re1+ 43.Nf1 Rc1 44.Nge3 Be1 45.Rxd6 Rxc3 46.a4 Rb3

Karjakin,Sergey (2727) - Short,N (2655) [B12]
Rapid Match Kiev UKR (1), 03.05.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.0-0 Ne7 9.c4 Ng6 10.Qe2 [10.f4 Bc5+ 11.Kh1 0-0 12.Nd2 a5 13.Qa4 Bd7 14.Nb3 Bb6 15.c5 Bc7 16.Bd2 f6 17.exf6 Rxf6 18.Nd4 e5 19.Bxg6 Rxg6 20.fxe5 Bxe5 21.Nf3 Bxb2 22.Rab1 Bf6 23.Bf4 Bf5 24.Rb6 Be4 25.Bg3 d4 26.Rd1 h5 27.Nxd4 Qe8 28.Nf3 h4 29.Re1 Rg4 30.h3 Rxg3 31.Rxe4 Qg6 32.Qc4+ Kh7 33.Rxc6 Qf5 34.Rxh4+ 1-0 Nisipeanu,L (2690)-Kiik,K (2444)/Fuegen 2006/CBM 115] 10...Be7 11.f4 0-0 Black has a poor version of the French Defence but defends extremely well 12.Nd2 a5 13.Nf3 Ba6 14.Be3 a4 15.Rac1 Qb8 16.Rc2 Rd8 17.Rfc1 c5 18.h4 Nf8 [18...Nxh4 19.Nxh4 Bxh4 20.Qh5 wins] 19.cxd5 Bxd3 20.Qxd3 Rxd5 With the bad bishop exchanged Black has solved most of his probems 21.Qe4 Nd7 22.h5 Ra7 23.Nd2 Ra6 24.Qf3 f6 [The alternative was 24...Rb6 25.Nc4 Rb7 26.h6 g6 followed by 27.Nb6] 25.exf6 Nxf6 26.h6 gxh6 27.Bxc5 Bxc5+ 28.Rxc5 Rxc5 29.Rxc5 Qb6 30.Qf2 Ng4 31.Qd4 Qd6 32.Rc8+ Kf7 33.Qh8! Nf6 [33...Qxd2 34.Qxh7+ Kf6 35.Rf8# mate] 34.Nf3 Kg6 [Not 34...Qxf4 35.Qf8+ Kg6 36.Rc5 Ra8 37.Qe7 when Ne5+ wins; but; 34...Ra5 35.Ne5+ Rxe5 36.fxe5 Qd4+ 37.Kh2 Qh4+ 38.Kg1 Qe1+ draws] 35.Rf8 [Missing 35.Ne5+ Kf5 36.Rf8 Qe7 37.Rxf6+ Qxf6 38.g4+! Ke4 39.Qxf6] 35...Qxf4! 36.Rg8+!? [36.Qg8+ Nxg8 37.Rxf4] 36...Kh5?

Nigel Short was 5.5-2.5 behind at the end of the fourth day's play in his ten game Rapid Chess match against the Ukrainian prodigy Sergei Karjakin. Karjakin secured victory with a day to spare outplaying Short in the seventh game before Short unleashed the King's Gambit and won the eighth. The exhibition match was staged at the Kiev Puppet Theatre and sponsored by the Ukrainian mobile operator life :)

Short lost the first three and he might have been a bit punch drunk but he hit back in style. Game 4 was a bit Punch and Judy, Nigel was Punch.

Short,N (2655) - Karjakin,Sergey (2727) [B23]
Rapid Match Kiev UKR (4), 04.05.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.f4!? Short naturally wanted to avoid opening theory against Karjakin who is extremely well prepared but this move takes the game into uncharted territory after only four moves 4...e5 Turning the game into a sort of Vienna Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 where White has a silly knight on e2 and Black has played the pointless move c7-c5. Chances are about equal 5.d3 Nc6 6.Ng3 Be7 7.Be2 Nd4 8.0-0 exf4 9.Bxf4 0-0 10.Kh1 d5 11.Bf3 Nxf3 12.gxf3!? Be6 With the two bishops and the centre Black is doing quite well but underestimates the danger of Short's slow build up 13.Rg1 Re8 14.Qe2 g6 15.Rae1 Rc8 16.Qf2 Qb6 17.Be5! dxe4 [17...Qxb2 18.exd5!; 17...d4!?] 18.Ncxe4 Nd7 19.Bc3 [Three moves ago this bishop was doing nothing on 19.f4 now it is the most powerful piece on the board] 19...c4 20.Bd4 Qa6 21.dxc4 Qxc4 22.c3 Qxa2 23.Nh5! # Position after 23.Nh5! 23...Qa5 24.Ng7! Rf8 25.Qd2 Simply heading for h6 and delivering mate 25...Rc4 26.Qh6 Rxd4 Black had no choice but to remove this bishop but it will not of escaped your attention, I am sure, that White is attacking with all hispieces 27.Nxe6 fxe6

Short lost all four games with black and has yet to equalise in the opening.

Karjakin,Sergey (2727) - Short,N (2655) [A52]
Rapid Match Kiev UKR (7), 06.06.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 Re8 8.Nc3 Ngxe5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.b3 a5 11.Ne4 Bf8 12.Bb2 d6 13.Nc3 Bd7 14.Qd2 Bc6 15.Rad1 g6 16.Nd5 Bg7 17.Kh1 f5 18.Qc3 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 Re7 20.c5 Nd7 21.Qc4 b5 22.Qc2 Nxc5 23.Bxb5 Qf8 24.Ba3 Ne4 25.Bc6 Ra7 26.f3 Nf6 27.Rd3 Kh8 28.e4 f4 29.Rfd1 Nd7 30.Bxd7 Rxd7 31.Rd5 Re7 32.Bc1 Re5 33.R1d3 g5 34.Bd2 h6 35.Rxe5 Bxe5 36.Rd5 a4 37.bxa4 Qe8 38.a5 Kh7 39.h3 Qb8 40.Bc3 c6 41.Rd1 Qb5 42.Bxe5 dxe5 43.a4 Qb7 44.Qc5 Qc7 45.Qf8 Qxa5 46.Kh2 Qc7 47.Rd6 Qg7 48.Qf5+ 1-0

Poikovsky Starts

The Karpov Poikovsky tournament is underway in Siberia. The first round was a real treat as it pitched two of the world's most creative and gifted players, Emil Sutovsky and Alexei Shirov against each other. Both went all out for the win, Shirov took as many risks as it was possible to take while Sutovsky took one too many but escaped with half a point.

Sutovsky,E (2654) - Shirov,A (2741) [C78]
9th Karpov Poikovsky RUS (1), 08.07.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.Qd3 0-0 12.Bg5 exd4 13.cxd4 h6 14.Bh4 g5 [14...Bg4 1/2-1/2 Rodriguez Cespedes,A (2484)-Suarez Pousa,D (2396)/Mondariz 2002/CBM 090 ext (55)] 15.Bg3 [15.Nxg5 hxg5? 16.Bxg5 Nxd4 17.Qg3 Ne2+] 15...Nh5 [15...g4 16.e5 gxf3 17.Bh4! (or 17.Qg6+ are strong) ] 16.Nc3 [16.Nbd2 Qf6 17.e5 Bf5 18.Qc3 dxe5 19.dxe5 Nxg3 20.hxg3 b4 21.exf6 bxc3 22.bxc3 Rfd8 23.Rfd1 Rd6 24.Nc4 1/2-1/2 Sutovsky,E (2630)-Avrukh,B (2632)/Dagomys RUS 2008/The Week in Chess 701] 16...Nxg3 17.fxg3 g4