
The XXII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de Linares", a category
20 double round robin, is being held in the Spanish town of Linares and from
February 23 until March 10 2005. During each round one player rests, and in
addition there are full rest days on March 1st and 7th. The games start at 15:30h
local time (CET = GMT 14:30h = 9:30 a.m. NY) in the Hotel Anibal. Live coverage
of the event is expected on the official
web site and on Playchess.com. We
will be reporting daily on our news page.
Round thirteen
The day started with some excitement. There were fire-engines and policemen
just opposite the entrance to the tournament hall, putting out a fiercely burning
car.

Maybe it was a routine incendiary accident, but in a country that is plagued
by terrorist activities, both indigenous and imported, people can hardly be
blamed for being a trifle apprehensive.

The round began punctually with the players trouping in, and all attention
given to Kasparov vs Anand on center stage. This time at least a score of spectators
turned up to watch the game of the tournament.

Garry Kasparov, the Mover of the White Pieces

Vishy Anand, who defended with a Petroff or "Russian" Opening
Kasparov,G (2804) - Anand,V (2786) [C42]
XXII SuperGM Linares ESP (13), 09.03.2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4
Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.a3 Nc6 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Bf5 14.Re1 Rfe8 15.Bf4
Rac8 16.Bd3 Qd7N 17.Rb1 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 b6 19.d5 Bf6 20.c4 h6 21.h3.
Correct us if we are wrong, but didn't this position occur two years and a
day ago, in the same hall in Linares. At the time it was Leko playing against
Anand, and White won after 21...Re7 22.Rbd1 Rd8 23.Rxe7 Nxe7 24.Ne5 Bxe5 25.Bxe5
Re8 26.Bg3 Nf5 27.Bxc7 Qxc7 28.Qxf5 Qxc4 29.d6 Rd8 30.d7 Qc6 31.g3 a6 32.h4
b5 33.Rd5 a5 34.Rxb5 g6 35.Qd5 Qxd7 36.Qxd7 Rxd7 37.Rxa5 in 65 moves. Last October
at the Calvià Olympiad we saw Gelfand play 21...h3 Rxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Ne7
23.Ne5 Bxe5 24.Bxe5 Nf5 and draw against Akopian. Anand played the novelty 21...Ne7
and after 22.Ne5 the players agreed to an early draw.

Afterwards a brief discussion of their game...

Then a quick handshake and off they were. "I think I'll have a lie
down", said Anand as he left. Good for you if you know where he got that
line.

FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Rustam Kasimdzhanov is understandably sick of Linares and clearly wanted nothing
but a draw in his last game here. He was circumspect and accurate in his B31
Sicilian against Peter Leko. The latter pottered around, hoping to detect some
trace of inaccuracy. But it never came and the game was drawn in 24.

Peter Leko, searching for inaccuracies in Kasim's position

Topalov and team approach the tournament hall
That left us with what was basically a very boring round. If it weren't for
Veselin Topalov, that is. Playing with black against tailender Vallejo he put on a "you-must-be-joking"
face when the Spaniard offered him a draw on move 16. Black had a pair of bishops
and no intention of conceding the tournament irrevocably to the leading Kasparov.

Ready to fight with the black pieces: Veselin Topalov
Vallejo Pons,F (2686) - Topalov,V (2757) [D37]
XXII SuperGM Linares ESP (13), 09.03.2005
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Qc2 dxc4
8.e3 c5 9.dxc5 Qa5 10.Bxc4 Qxc5 11.Ne4 Qa5+ 12.Ke2 Be7 13.Qc3 Qxc3 14.Nxc3 a6
15.Rhd1 Nd7 16.Ne4 b5 17.Bb3 Bb7 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.Rxd6 Ke7 20.Rad1 Rhd8 21.R6d4
Rac8 22.Ne1 a5 23.f3 Rc7 24.e4 Rdc8 25.a3 g5 26.Ke3 Ne5 27.R4d2 Ba6 28.Rd6 Ra7
29.R6d2 b4.
Afterwards Topalov told the journalists that here it was essentially curtains
for Vallejo. 30.axb4 Rb8 31.Ra1. We preferred 31.Nc2 a4 32.Bxa4
Nc4+ 33.Kf2 Nxd2 34.Rxd2 after which White has a knight and two pawns for the
rook and a better chance of hanging on. After the text move it is genuinely
hopeless, and Vallejo had to resign after seven more moves: 31...Rxb4
32.Ra3 a4 33.Ba2 Bc4 34.Bb1 Bf1 35.Ba2 Rab7 36.Nc2 Rxb2 37.Rxa4 Rc7 38.Kf2 Bb5
0-1.

Trailing with Fortuna definitely not on his side: Francisco Vallejo
During communal dinner in the Anibal restaurant there was much debate about
what Topalov's win and score meant for the outcome of the tournament. Suppose
he were to win with white against Kasparov on the morrow. Who would then be
the overall winner of the XXII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de
Linares", he or Kasparov? Both would have the same number of points, so
the tiebreak would decide. And that would favour whom?

A few spectators watching the games in the hotel lobby

Aruna Anand at the computer in the press room
The amazing answer is that nobody knew. We asked tournament officials and did
not get a definitive answer. We asked colleagues who mainly said they had been
meaning to ask us. And we asked Topalov himself, and he confessed that he did
not know. The only thing that appears to be certain is that the traditional
SB system will not be used, rather the number of won games is the first tiebreaker.
"But we would both have won the same number of games," said Veselin,
"and then I don't know what decides." Some people were sure that it
was the number of black wins, in which case Kasparov would already be the winner.
But as we said, nobody was sure. So apart from the very exciting game we expect
to see on Thursday there is the additional nervous pleasure of not knowing exactly
what the outcome will imply. Well, let's hope it has been figured out by the
time of the prize-giving ceremony – which by the way is also unclear.
It was announced for Friday, but that is a national day of mourning in Spain,
so many expect it to be held tomorrow evening after the final round. But as
with so many other things only time will probably tell...
Round 13 (Wednesday, March
9, 2005) |
Garry Kasparov |
½-½
|
Viswanathan Anand |
Francisco Vallejo |
0-1
|
Veselin Topalov |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
½-½
|
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 14 (Thursday, March
10, 2005) |
Peter Leko |
|
Francisco Vallejo |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Garry Kasparov |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Michael Adams |
Games – Report |
|
Current standing
|
Scores
Kasparov |
+5 |
Topalov |
+3 |
Anand |
+2 |
Leko |
0 |
Adams |
–2 |
Vallejo |
–4 |
Kasimdzhanov |
–4 |
|
Report and pictures by Frederic Friedel
Schedule and results
Round 1 (Wednesday, February
23, 2005) |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Garry Kasparov |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Francisco Vallejo |
|
|
Round 2 (Thursday,
February 24, 2005) |
Garry Kasparov |
½-½ |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Viswanathan Anand |
1-0 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
|
Round 3 (Friday, February
25, 2005) |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Francisco Vallejo |
0-1 |
Garry Kasparov |
|
|
Round 4 (Saturday, February
26, 2005) |
Michael Adams |
1-0 |
Francisco Vallejo |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 5 (Sunday, February
27, 2005) |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
Garry Kasparov |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
|
|
Round 6 (Monday, February
28, 2005) |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Garry Kasparov |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Francisco Vallejo |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
|
|
Round 7 (Wednesday, March
2, 2005) |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Garry Kasparov |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
|
Round 8 (Thursday, March 3,
2005) |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Garry Kasparov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Francisco Vallejo |
1-0 |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
|
|
Round 9 (Friday, March 4,
2005) |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
0-1 |
Garry Kasparov |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
|
Round 10 (Saturday, March
5, 2005) |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
Garry Kasparov |
1-0 |
Francisco Vallejo |
|
|
Round 11 (Sunday, March 6,
2005) |
Francisco Vallejo |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
0-1 |
Viswanathan Anand |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
|
|
Round 12 (Tuesday, March 8,
2005) |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
Viswanathan Anand |
½-½ |
Francisco Vallejo |
Michael Adams |
0-1 |
Garry Kasparov |
|
|
Round 13 (Wednesday, March
9, 2005) |
Garry Kasparov |
½-½ |
Viswanathan Anand |
Francisco Vallejo |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Rustam Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 14
(Thursday, March 10, 2005) |
Peter Leko |
|
Francisco Vallejo |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Garry Kasparov |
Viswanathan Anand |
|
Michael Adams |
Games
– Report |
|
Links