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Super GM
Tournament
clash in the M-Tel Masters |
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The Mtel Masters Super Tournament is under way. It is a category 20 event with an Elo average of 2744. The time controls are classic (up to seven hours per game) and the tournament is a double round robin (every player plays every other player twice). There is a special rule in place at this Super Tournament: draw offers are not allowed, i.e. draws by mutual agreement between the players are forbidden, only technical draws may be given by the arbiter.
A wild, sacrificial middlegame turned into a tough endgame for Judit Polgar, but she hung on to draw against Anand. Motherhood has not mellowed this woman! You may need to cover the eyes of the children just to go over this game.
Vishy Anand during his game
Polgar-Anand
after 20...Qh5
Anand gave up the exchange to gain enough counterplay to at least equalize. Then Polgar sacrificed a full rook to continue her attack. She played 21.Bxg6!? (21.Re3 looks okay. 21.Kg2?? Rxf4!! wins for Black.) 21...fxg6 22.Rxe6+ Bxe6 23.Qxe6+ and scooped up enough pawns for compensation. (39...Rc3 looks like a good winning try for Black.) After exchanges she just managed to hold the bishop for three pawns ending (see below). Another sensational game.
Topalov and Kramnik livened up the Petroff a little today (Kramnik has seen it in three of his four games). As GM John Nunn put it to us, the anti-draw rules aren't working. What we really need is a way for White to get an advantage against the Petroff! Topalov's over-aggressive h6 thrust got him into a little trouble, but he held a pawn-down rook endgame without much difficulty. Adams and Ponomariov followed a known exchange line that led to a quick perpetual check.
Vladimir Kramnik, who has seen three Petroffs so far (photos Olena Boytsun)
| Round 4 (Sunday, May 15, 2005) |
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Michael Adams |
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Ruslan Ponomariov |
Judit Polgar |
Viswanathan Anand | |
Veselin Topalov |
Vladimir Kramnik | |
The
players are working harder and our endgame
tablebases are also getting a workout thanks to the rule prohibiting
draw offers. Many of the games are going down to nearly no material, and that's
when the tablebases dramatically increase the accuracy of computer evaluations,
sometimes reaching absolute perfection.
Polgar-Anand after 58.Rh6+
For instance, as you can see below, Fritz knew Polgar-Anand was dead drawn as soon as Vishy played 58...Kg2. After Polgar's 59.Rh5 there is nothing Black can do to prevent Rg5, Kg8, Rxa5, f8Q with a draw.
Anand swapped all the pieces and ran to the queenside, but just like the tablebases, Polgar had it calculated perfectly and her king got there just in time to capture the last pawn on the board.
No mystery to Fritz. After zero seconds it's a 0.00 evaluation.
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