London Chess Classic 2010: Round 6
News release
Tuesday 14thDecember 2010
LONDON CHESS CLASSIC 2010: ROUND 6
The sixth and penultimate round at Olympiad consisted of four draws out of four, so the leader board didn’t change. All four games were hard fought, as usual, and winning chances came and went on various boards. In some ways it was the ideal result as it leaves a tantalising final round with five players still having a realistic chance of the 50,000 euro first prize.
The first game to finish was the all-English battle between Nigel Short and David Howell. Nigel treated us to some 19th century romanticism - a King’s Gambit. David chose a 1870s continuation by Blackburne (7...Bg7) rather than the older 7...Bd6, as played by Staunton amongst others. In the spirit of the opening, the players disdained to defend pawns and attacked hard but eventually the pieces came off and a level position appeared on the board.
Adams-Anand was a cagey struggle. Mickey perhaps had slightly more targets to aim at but he couldn’t make significant progress. It lasted 54 moves but always seemed likely to be a draw.
Luke McShane had a great battle with Hikaru Nakamura. Luke repeated his 1 g3 experiment of the fourth round. It transposed into the English Four Knights variation. Luke might have improved with Qa4 around move 18 and it did get mightily complex in the lead up to the move 40 time control, with both players short of time. Hikaru could probably have improved his play and was close to winning but Luke was allowed to get his queen near the black king, setting up some perpetual check opportunities. Hikaru found a way to win material but Luke’s queen rescued the draw on her own.
London Chess Classic 2nd London (6), 14.12.2010
L.McShane - H.Nakamura
English Opening
1 g3 e5 2 c4 Nf6 3 Bg2 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 Nc3 Nb6 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 0–0 Be7 8 a3 0–0 9 b4 Re8 10 d3 Bf8 11 Bb2 a5 12 b5 Nd4 13 Nd2 c6 14 bxc6 Nxc6 15 Nc4!?
15 Nb5, 15 Rb1 and some other moves have been played here before but this is new.
15...Be6
15...Nxc4 16 dxc4 leaves White with an isolated c-pawn but gives him firm control of the d5 square by way of compensation.
16 Nxb6 Qxb6 17 Rb1 Qa6 18 Bc1 Rac8 19 Re1?
19 Qa4 is better, preventing Black's b-pawn advance and keeping it as a target along the file and long diagonal. After the text, the advantage passes over to Black.
19...b6 20 Bd2
If 20 Qa4 now, Black has simply 20...Nd4 with a pleasant game.
20...Red8
20...Bxa3?? 21 Bxc6 Rxc6 22 Qa4 forks two pieces.
21 a4 Nd4 22 Nb5 Bc5
Another possibility is 22...Bb4!? when 23 Bxb4 axb4 is quite promising since 24 Rxb4? loses to 24...Nc2 forking the rooks.
23 Nxd4 Bxd4 24 Be3 Rc5
24...Bxe3 25 fxe3 Rc5 brings only a minimal edge for Black.
25 Bxd4 exd4 26 Rc1 Qc8 27 Rxc5 Qxc5 28 Qa1 Rc8 29 h4 Qc3 30 Bb7 Rc7 31 Be4 f5 32 Bf3 Bb3 33 Kf1 Kf8
The a4 pawn looks vulnerable but if 33...Qb4 34 Rb1 and White will get the b6 pawn in exchange if Black captures on a4.
34 e3?!
A high risk move in mutual time trouble.
34...Qxd3+
34...dxe3 turns out to be better: 35 Qa3+ Qb4 36 Qxb4+ axb4 37 Rxe3 Rc1+ 38 Re1 Rxe1+ 39 Kxe1 Bxa4 and Black is a clear pawn up, though there is still chess left in the position.
35 Kg2 Qc3 36 Qa3+ Ke8
36...Qb4 37 Qxb4+ axb4 38 Rb1 Rc3 39 exd4 Ke7 might have been worth a try, though it is not clear how Black untangles his pieces in order to make progress.
37 Qd6
White had about a minute left for four moves here, while Black had about three.37 exd4+!? Qxe1 38 Qxb3 also looks quite good. White's king is safe but it seems unlikely that Black's king can escape a barrage of checks.
37...Rd7 38 Qe5+ Re7 39 Qb5+ Kf8 40 Qxf5+ Rf7
41 Qe5
41 Qg5?!, threatening mate in one with Qd8, is tempting but Black replies as in the game and could be winning.Some analysis engines plump for 41 Qb1 but human players would be worried by 41...Rxf3 42 Kxf3 Bd5+ 43 Kf4 d3 when it would be easy to overlook various threats to the exposed white king.
41...Rxf3
The immediate 41...Qxe1? would be much too dangerous with a 'live' white bishop on the board, e.g. 42 Qb8+ Ke7 43 Qc7+ Kf6 44 Qd6+ Be6 45 Bd5 Re7 46 Qf4+ Bf5 47 g4, etc.
42 Kxf3 Qxe1 43 Qb8+ Ke7 44 Qc7+ Kf6 45 Qd8+
45 Qxb6+?! Be6 46 Qxd4+ Kf7 leaves a few winning chances for Black.
45...Kf7 46 Qd7+ Kf8 47 Qd8+ Kf7 48 Qc7+ Kf6 49 Qd8+ Kf7 50 Qc7+ ½–½
Magnus Carlsen snaffled a slightly warm pawn in the early middlegame but Vlad won it back and then proceeded to set up a typical Kramnik grind. GMs shook their heads at Magnus’s seemingly hopeless defensive task as Vlad’s big central pawns trundled inexorably down the board. The Russian eventually won a piece for a pawn but the reduced material gave Magnus a glimmer of hope. But the win proved elusive: Vlad could probably have won after 62 Rd3 and may also have missed a difficult computer-inspired variation based on 69 g5! and 70 g3, and the game was drawn. A remarkable escape for the young man from Norway and a tribute to his resourcefulness in an utterly depressing position.
London Chess Classic 2nd London (6), 14.12.2010
V.Kramnik- M.Carlsen
QGD, Chigorin Defence
1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nc6
The Chigorin Defence isan unusual choice at super-GM level, though Morozevich is a regular user and Ivanchuk and Short occasional dabblers.
3 Nf3 Bg4 4 Nc3 e6 5 Bf4
Kramnik preferred 5 cxd5 exd5 6 Bf4 against Nigel Short at the 2008 Dresden Olympiad and went on to win.
5...Bd6 6 Bg3 Nf6
6...Bxg3 7 hxg3 would open up the h-file and make kingside castling problematic for Black.
7 e3 0–0 8 a3 Ne7 9 Qb3 b6 10 Ne5 c5 11 Nxg4 Nxg4 12 Rd1 Bxg3 13 hxg3 Nf6 14 cxd5 exd5 15 Be2 Qd6 16 Qc2 h6 17 0–0
So far, quite a successful opening experiment for Black as White has responded quietly. But things now take a turn for the worse.
17...c4?!
"Never poke a sleeping bear with a stick". I've no idea if that is a Russian proverb but, if it isn't, it should be (the Hogwart's motto 'draco dormiens nunquam titillandus' means something very similar, of course). Kramnik has been comatose to this point but after this naïve thrust he springs into immediate action.
18 b3! Qxa3
18...cxb3 19 Qxb3 promises White a small but persistent edge. Not the sort of thing you want against the likes of Kramnik, but even so, perhaps preferable to the text.
19 bxc4 dxc4 20 Bf3
20 Bxc4 Qd6 21 Ra1 is also quite good for White but Kramnik wants his bishop where it controls the board.
20...Rab8 21 Ra1 Qd6 22 Nb5 Qd7 23 Qxc4
Club players might be worried about gifting their opponent two connected passed pawns but Kramnik has the confidence to know (and the technique to ensure) that those pawns are going nowhere.
23...a5 24 e4 Rfc8 25 Qe2 Rc6 26 Rab1 Rd8 27 Rfd1 Rdc8 28 d5 Rc2
Allowing a rook onto the seventh rank would also worry those of us who cling to our book-learned 'basic principles'. Super-GMs don’t defer to such banal generalities and rely on concrete analysis. Kramnik has judged correctly that this inroad into his position doesn't lead anywhere and that he can simply continue with his plan of pressurising the queenside and seeking the opportunity to push his central pawns forward. Maybe the best advice to club players is not to attempt this sort of thing until you’ve acquired a couple of IM norms.
29 Qe3 R2c5
29...R8c5 30 Nd4 R2c3 31 Qf4 and Black has no adequate defence for his b-pawn.
30 Nd4 Re8 31 Qd3 Qd6 32 Qa6 Rb8 33 Nb3 Rc2
34 Nd4
Analysis engines suggest 34 Nxa5!? but this looks far too messy: 34...Qc5 35 Rf1 Ra2 36 Rb5 Qc7 and White is still some way from resolving the pin along the a-file.
34...Rc5 35 Nb3 Rc2 36 Qd3 Rcc8 37 Nd2 Ng6 38 Be2 Qc5 39 Rb5 Qc3 40 f4 a4
Carlsen tries to stay positive. Remarkably this pawn survives to the very end of the game.
41 e5 Nd7 42 Qxc3 Rxc3 43 Ne4 Rc7 44 Ra1 Ra7
45 d6
Material is still equal but White's dynamic central pawns give him a big advantage against Black's two static targets on the queenside. 45 Ra3 looks a very good alternative here, planning to play Nc3 and eliminate the a4 pawn. Instead Kramnik goes for the b-pawn.
45...Ngf8 46 Nc3 Nc5 47 Nd5 Ra5 48 Rxb6 Rxb6 49 Nxb6 Nfe6 50 Bc4 Kf8 51 f5 Nd8 52 Rf1 Ncb7 53 Re1
Another good plan here is 53 Rd1 Nc5 54 Rd5, which looks close to terminal.
53...a3 54 e6?
Surprising - the world's most patient chessplayer suddenly gets impulsive. The pawn advance can wait - 54 Ba2 first looks better: 54...Nc6 55 Rc1 Ncd8 56 Rc3 Ke8 57 d7+ Kf8 58 Re3 Ke7 59 e6 fxe6 60 fxe6 Nc6 61 Rf3 wins.
54...fxe6 55 fxe6 Nxd6 56 e7+ Ke8 57 exd8R+ Kxd8 58 Rd1 Kc7 59 Ba2
White has won a piece but the shortage of pawns makes the win slightly problematic.
59...Rg5?
Carlsen will no doubt be praised for his save in this game but this is a poor move. 59...Rc5 is better.
60 Nd5+ Kc6 61 Nc3
61 Rd3!? Ne4 (61...Nb5 62 Nb4+ Kc5 63 Nc2 also wins) 62 Rxa3 Nxg3 63 Ne3 also looks like a solid way of winning.
61...Rc5
61...Rxg3?? 62 Rxd6+ followed by Ne4+ and Nxg3.
62 Rxd6+?!
62 Rd3! would probably have been answered by Carlsen's resignation.
62...Kxd6 63 Ne4+ Kc6 64 Nxc5 Kxc5 65 Kf2 Kd4 66 Kf3
Garry Kasparov had just arrived at Olympia and proposed 66 Ke2 Kc3 67 Ke3 Kc2 68 Bf7 Kc3 69 g4 Kc2 70 Kd4 Kd2 71 Bb3! (Guarding c2) 71...Ke2 72 Kc3 Kf2 73 Bd5 which wins, for example 73...g6 74 g5 h5
66...Kd3 At this point Kramnik thought for about ten minutes, perhaps realising that the win was more difficult than he had thought.
67 g4 Kd2 68 Be6 Kd3 69 Kg3?
69 g5! on this (or the previous) move wins, e.g. 69...hxg5 and now the very important 70 g3! Kd4 71 Kg4 Ke5 72 Ba2 Ke4 73 Kxg5 Kf3 and now 74 Kh4! is the killer, e.g. 74...g5+ 75 Kh3 Ke3 76 Kg4 Kf2 77 Bd5! and wins.
69...Ke3 70 Kh4 Kf2 71 Bd5 g6! 72 Kh3 g5
White's king is now boxed in and his winning chances have evaporated.
73 Kh2 Kf1 74 Be6 Kf2 75 Bc4 Ke3 76 Kg3 Kd4 77 Be6 Ke3 78 Kh2 Kf2 79 Bc4 Ke3 80 Kg1 Kf4 81 Be6
81 Kf2 Kxg4 82 g3 Kf5 83 Kf3 g4+ is also drawn.
81...Ke5 82 Bb3 Kf4 83 Be6 Ke5 84 Bb3 Kf4 85 Be6 ½–½
Wednesday’s final round starts at 12 noon GMT.
Scores after round 6: Magnus Carlsen,Vishy Anand,Luke McShane10/18, Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Kramnik9, Mickey Adams 7, David Howell 3, Nigel Short 2. (Note, games are scored 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss)
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