Mtel R4: All games drawn

Super GM Tournament in Sofia Six of the world's top players clash in the M-Tel Masters May 11 to 22, 2005 in the Grand Hotel Sofia, Bulgaria

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.

The lady is the tiger

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.

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)

Current standings

The tablebase tournament

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.

Schedule and results

• Download all games in PGN format
• All reports so far

Links

• Official M-Tel Masters web site
• Live coverage ; also on Playchess.com
• Mobiltel