San Luis R9: Morozevich wins, Svidler, Anand draw

The FIDE World Chess Championship is taking place in the Hotel Potrero de los Funes Complex, in the Province of San Luis, Argentina, from September 27 to October 16, 2005.

Round Nine Summary

Tournament leader Veselin Topalov played a Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez against Vishy Anand, who sacrificed a knight and forced a repetition in 17 moves. Judit Polgar had to be content with a draw against Michael Adams in a Marshall Attack. Peter Svidler played a spectacular fighting game against Rustam Kasimdzhanov, which ended in a 34-move draw. The last game to end was Morozevich vs Leko, in which the Russian continued his winning streak with a 54-move victory.

Current standings at the World Championship in San Luis

• All games so far in PGN

World Championship Diary: Round 9

By Nigel Short – on site in San Luis

3.00pm: This being the weekend, the hall is much fuller than it has been on other days. A throng of photographers jostle close to the boards snapping the stars.

If this tournament is to be anything other than a Bulgarian triumphal procession, Anand had better win today. The Indian looks tense and determined. Toppy appears reasonably relaxed, although underneath the façade I am sure he is also nervous. A few quick moves are made and Vishy, cunningly ducks underneath the Berlin Wall. Kasparov used to consider it unmanly to do anything other than meet the Wall head on. Mind you, all too often he ended up with a frightful headache.

3.30pm: Such confidence! Or is it recklessness? Barely pausing to think, Toppy advances the g-pawn in front of his king. Hey! Pawns can’t move backwards, you know. I would have invested lots of time before making such a committal decision, but such a conservative viewpoint merely emphasizes the difference between chess generations. In the computer era nobody gives a flying fig about general principles. Precise evaluations are all that count.

Svidler is engaged in a heavy theoretical duel with Kasim in a Be3 Najdorf. I have no idea what is going on: these positions all look the same to me. Let us put it aside for the moment and wait until the middlegame proper.

Morozevich would doubtless like to make it three in a row. He tries an old-fashioned line against Leko’s robust Sveshnikov. There is a pause as the Hungarian either tries to remember the theory, or to anticipate what new idea may be in store for him.

Adams vs Polgar, a theoretical Marshall battle

If Judit Polgar is to emerge from the cellar, now is the moment to do it. Adams – the only player without a victory – would “undertake” her if she were to win. Masses of Marshall theory leads to an exchange of queens. My general view of such endings is that although White may be nominally better, due to the extra pawn, they are rarely winnable when Black is the possessor of two proud bishops against bishop and knight.

Anand jotting down his seventh move

4.00pm: Anand sacrifices a piece! He is really going for it! He has set up a nasty pin on the f6 knight from which it will difficult for Black to untangle himself. Will Black be cursing his early kingside pawn lunge? I don’t know. A piece is a hefty investment Anand had better show something tangible over the coming few moves.

4.30pm: Anand checks the Black king. Well, it looks like he can immediately force a draw, but surely he is not going to do that, is he? That would be, barring a unexpected implosion from the Bulgar in the remaining rounds, effectively handing him the title. Mind you, I don’t see anything better. It will be the soggiest of damp squibs if this clash of the titans ends peaceably within two hours play. Please, no! Do something different!

Svidler-Kasimjanov remains sharp and extremely murky. Polgar, meanwhile, has shed her extra pawn, although with her active pieces she is still a touch better. I can’t help thinking though that it will be insufficient to force victory. Black’s omnipresent threat of entering a drawish opposite bishops ending tends to pour cold water on White’s more ambitious plans.

My plea fell upon deaf ears. Topalov escapes with a comfortable draw with Black against one of his most dangerous rivals. I am very glad for him, but a touch disappointed from the sporting point of view. Only a miracle will now stop Veselin from becoming the new World Champion.

Incidentally the Women’s World Champion, Antoaneta Stefanova, also from Bulgaria, is here in San Luis for the duration of this lengthy event, although with important FIDE business to attend to, she rarely makes it to the playing hall.

Topalov and Anand in their post-game explain-it-to-the-press

Morozevich, in first fixing the queenside pawns and only then developing his bishop on h3, has improved on an idea that I have used myself with success, until being brutally flattened by Topalov earlier this year. The computer still fancies Black, although I would caution that the silicon oracle frequently has difficulty in accurately assessing certain quiet types of Sveshnikov positions.

5.30pm: Polgar-Adams petered out into a draw and in precisely the way envisaged. Yes, she finished a pawn up – a moral victory perhaps – but only in a dead drawn opposite bishop endgame. I don’t think Adams will be that bothered with the philosophy: half a point is half a point, whichever way you look at it.

Svidler-Kasimjanov has descended into total mayhem. The uxorious Uzbek, who came with his wife but no analyst, has proffered his dark-squared bishop. Svidler wants none of it and has politely rejected acceptance. There are now fascinating complications lurking ahead involving a diabolical Black queen sacrifice. One false move from either side could be fatal.

7.00pm: I have been sat with Alexander Motylev, the second of Peter Svidler, trying desperately to understand this mind-blowing difficult game in the hall. The two perspiring combatants exchanged blow for tactical blow in epic style. Just when it appeared that Svidler was emerging on top, Kasim – a rook and bishop down, no less – calmly attacked the White b-pawn.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Peter Svidler during their game

At first it seemed preposterous that an assault with such slender forces – a rook-pawn and knight against the vast but scattered array – could possibly succeed, but the more we considered it, the more plausible it appeared. Finally Peter, arriving at the same conclusion, acquiesced to a draw by perpetual check. It was a humdinger of a struggle, although why they did not play out the last three or four forced moves for the benefit of the spectators is beyond me. Does it really hurt to make this miniscule effort?

Morozevich, for the second time in as many rounds, made the most of his opponent’s time-trouble. It looked as if Leko was going to crash through on the kingside, but he became confused by his opponent’s ingenious defence. Even on the 39th move Leko could still have obtained a draw, but by this moment he had started to panic. On reaching the control at move 40 Morozevich miraculously emerged a piece to the good. There is still a bit of work to be done- however it is hard to imagine him failing to convert.

8.00pm: It is all over. Morozevich wins his third consecutive game. Leko heads back into minus territory. The Russian is exactly the sort of player capable of defeating Topalov with any colour (or losing, for that matter) but even if he does, it is hard to imagine that this will affect the destination of the first prize. In some ways this was an anti-climactic day which the brilliance of the Svidler-Kasimjanov encounter did not quite overcome. The best man is still winning and will win, unless there is a major disaster in the coming days.

Slowly the picture is getting sharper: who will win this trophy?

The Short Glossary

All photos: Word Chess Championship Press, Nadja Woisin, Frederic Friedel

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Links

• Official World Chess Championship web site
• All ChessBase World Championship reports so far