21st International Chess Tournament
Linares Feb. 19 – March 5, 2004
|
Linares Round 9
Round 9 (Saturday, February
28, 2004) |
Teimour Radjabov |
½-½ |
Garry Kasparov |
Alexei Shirov |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
|
|
Round 10
(Sunday, February 29, 2004) |
Veselin Topalov
|
|
Alexei Shirov |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Garry Kasparov
|
|
Peter Leko |
Games
– Report |
|
Radjabov,T (2656) – Kasparov,G (2831) [C45]
XXI SuperGM Linares ESP (9), 28.02.2004
![](/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg)
Position after 55.Ne2-g1
Would you find the clear-cut win here? Kasparov played 55...Rf2?
and after 56.Ra6+ Kf5 57.Kd4 Rf1 58.Ke3 he had to agree to
a draw. But Fritz tells us the 55...Rb1! is the move to play
in the above diagram. It leaves Black, in computer-speak, the equivalent of
ten pawns up. A possible continuation is 56.Rf4+ Ke5! 57.Ne2 g1Q+ 58.Nxg1
Kxf4 and White is completely lost.
It is interesting to note (and was pointed out to us by FM Dr Eric Peterson)
that after 55...Rf1 the defence 56.Nf3 is more difficult for human beings.
Fritz discards this line because it leads to an ending which the computer can
look up in its "tablebases" of every R+P vs R ending that is possible
on the chessboard. The program discovers that after 56...g1Q+ 57.Nxg1 Rxg1
the position is mate in 37 moves, and so prefers the above line, where we end
up with rook and pawn vs knight, for which most versions of Fritz do not have
tablebases. That line only achieves a +18 pawn score.
Pictures from round nine
![](/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg)
Start of the most exciting, nerve-wrenching game of the day
![](/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg)
Vallejo put up a great fight, dominating his world-class opponent in the second
half of the game
![](/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg)
The two arch rivals getting settled down to a game which saw Kramnik pressing
with black
![](/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg)
Vladimir Kramnik, always cold (and dangerous) as ice
![](/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg)
Alexei Shirov, suffering in his game against Kramnik
![](/portals/all/_for_legal_reasons.jpg)
Veselin Topalov, one of the most daring players around
Pictures by Jesús J. Boyero Gabarre
All results so far
Round 1 (Thursday, February
19, 2004) |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Alexei Shirov |
½-½ |
Garry Kasparov |
Teimour Radjabov |
0-1 |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 2 (Friday, February 20, 2004) |
Kasparov, Garry |
½-½ |
Teimour Radjabov |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½-½ |
Alexei Shirov |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Francisco Vallejo |
|
|
Round 3 (Saturday, February
21, 2004) |
Alexei Shirov |
½-½
|
Veselin Topalov |
Teimour Radjabov |
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Garry Kasparov |
|
|
Round 4 (Sunday, February
22, 2004) |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½-½
|
Peter Leko |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Teimour Radjabov |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½
|
Alexei Shirov |
|
|
Round 5 (Monday, February
23, 2004) |
Teimour Radjabov |
½-½
|
Francisco Vallejo |
Peter Leko |
½-½
|
Veselin Topalov |
Garry Kasparov |
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
|
Round 6 (Wednesday, February
25, 2004) |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Garry Kasparov |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Alexei Shirov |
1-0 |
Teimour Radjabov |
|
|
Round 7 (Thursday, February
26, 2004) |
Peter Leko |
1-0
|
Alexei Shirov |
Garry Kasparov |
1-0 |
Francisco Vallejo |
Vladimir Kramnik |
1-0 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
|
Round 8 (Friday, February
27, 2004) |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½-½ |
Francisco Vallejo |
Garry Kasparov |
½-½ |
Alexei Shirov |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Teimour Radjabov |
|
|
Round 9 (Saturday, February
28, 2004) |
Teimour Radjabov |
½-½
|
Garry Kasparov |
Alexei Shirov |
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½
|
Veselin Topalov |
|
|
Round
10 (Sunday, February 29, 2004) |
Veselin Topalov
|
|
Alexei Shirov |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Garry Kasparov
|
|
Peter Leko |
Games
– Report |
|
Round
11 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004) |
Peter Leko
|
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Teimour Radjabov
|
|
Veselin Topalov |
Alexei Shirov
|
|
Francisco Vallejo |
Games
– Report |
|
Round
12 (Wednesday, March 3, 2004) |
Francisco Vallejo
|
|
Teimour Radjabov |
Veselin Topalov
|
|
Peter Leko |
Vladimir Kramnik
|
|
Garry Kasparov |
Games
– Report |
|
Round
13 (Thursday, March 4, 2004) |
Garry Kasparov
|
|
Veselin Topalov |
Peter Leko
|
|
Francisco Vallejo |
Teimour Radjabov
|
|
Alexei Shirov |
Games
– Report |
|
Round
14 (Friday, March 5, 2004) |
Alexei Shirov
|
|
Peter Leko |
Francisco Vallejo
|
|
Garry Kasparov |
Veselin Topalov
|
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Games
– Report |
|