Dortmund R4: Adams beats Gelfand in 7½ hours

The Dortmunder Sparkassen Chess Meeting is taking place in the State Theatre (Schauspielhaus) in Dortmund, Germany, from July 29th to August 6, 2006. It is a single round robin tournament with eight players, averaging 2720 Elo and making for a category 19 event.

Round four report

Michael Adams vs Boris Gelfand was a real chess marathon, lasting seven hours and 25 minutes. It was a Sicilian Najdorf, naturally, in which the British player applied determined pressure throughout.

Adams,Mi (2732) - Gelfand,B (2729) [B90]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (4), 02.08.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 Nc6 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Be6 12.a5 Rc8 13.Bd3 Bc4 14.Rfd1 Qc7 15.h3 Rfe8 16.Bxc4 Qxc4 17.Ra4 Qc6 18.Rb4 Qc7 19.Rb6 Nd7 20.Nd5 Qb8 21.Rb4 Ne5 22.Ra4 Rc4 23.Rxc4 Nxc4 24.Qc3 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 Ne5 26.Rb4 Nc6 27.Rb6 Qc8 28.b4 Qd7 29.b5 axb5 30.a6 b4 31.Qa1 bxa6 32.Qxa6 Nd4 33.Rxb4 Ne6 34.Rb7 Qc8

35.Qb5 threatening 36.Nxe7, so 35...Kf8 36.Qb2 threatening of course 37.Qh8 mate. 36...Ng7 37.Nxe7 Qc4, not 37...Rxe7 38.Rb8 winning the queen for a rook and minor piece. White is now a pawn up, and now 38.Nd5 Qxe4 39.Nf6 Qe1+ 40.Kh2 Rc8 41.Nxh7+ looked quite compelling, but Adams went for a different line: 38.Qf6 Qxe4 39.Nf5 Qe1+ (not 39...gxf5 40.Qxf7#) 40.Kh2 Qe5+ 41.Qxe5 dxe5 42.Nd6 Rd8 43.Nxf7 Rc8 44.Ng5 h5 45.Nh7+ Kg8 46.Nf6+ Kf8 47.Nh7+ Kg8 48.Nf6+ Kf8. Draw by repetition? No, just a couple of rest moves. Adams fights on, going after the second pawn: 49.Nd7+ Kg8 50.Rb2 Kf7 51.Nxe5+ Kf6 52.Nf3 Ne6 53.Rb6 Ke7 54.Ne5 g5 55.c4 h4 56.Rb7+ Kf6 57.Ng4+ Kg6 58.Rb6 Kf7 59.Rb7+ Kg6 60.Ne3 Ra8 61.Rb6 Kf7 62.g3 Ra2 63.Kg2 hxg3 64.Kxg3.

White is two pawns up, but the path to victory is long and convoluted. 64...Nc5 65.Kf3 Nd3 66.Ng4 Ke7 67.Rb3 Nc5 68.Re3+ Kf7 69.Ne5+ Kf6 70.Ng4+ Kg6 71.Re5 Ra3+ 72.Ne3 Nd3 73.Rd5 Rc3 74.Rd4 Ra3 75.h4 gxh4 76.Rxh4

Simplified to just two extra pawns, but still a long way to go. 76...Ra2 77.Rh2 Kf6 78.Ke4 Nc5+ 79.Kd5 Nb3 80.f3 Ra5+ 81.Ke4 Nc5+ 82.Kf4 Ne6+ 83.Kg3 Ra3 84.Re2 Kg5 85.Nc2 Ra6 86.Nb4 Rb6 87.Nd5 Rd6 88.Re5+ Kh6 89.Nf4 Nc7 90.c5 Rc6 91.Kg4 Kg7 92.Kf5 Kf7 93.Ke4 Ra6 94.Rf5+ Ke8 95.Ke5 Rc6 96.Nd3 Ke7 97.Rh5 Re6+ 98.Kd4 Rf6 99.f4 Ra6 100.Rh7+ Kd8 101.f5 Ne8 102.Nb4 Ra1 103.Nc6+ Kc8 104.Rh8 Kd7 105.Ne5+ Ke7 106.Ng6+ Kd8 107.Kd5 Re1 108.c6 Rd1+ 109.Ke5 Kc7

Now comec a tactical trick: 110.Rxe8 Re1+ 111.Kd5 Rxe8, which Adams now spoils with 112.f6? (112.Nf4 was required). 112...Rd8+ 113.Kc5.

113...Rd1? This move throws away the draw that White has allowed. The correct defence, as Fritz will tell you, is 113...Ra8! 114.Ne7 (114.f7 Ra5+ 115.Kd4 Rf5 116.Ne5 Rxf7 117.Nxf7=) 114...Ra5+ 115.Kd4 Kd6 and White can make no progress, e.g. 116.Kc4 Rc5+ 117.Kd4 Rxc6 118.Nxc6 Ke6=. After the text move Adams was able to finish the game with a full point: 114.f7 Rc1+ 115.Kd5 Rd1+ 116.Ke6 Rf1 117.Ne7 1-0. [Click to replay]

Levon Aronian vs Arkadij Naiditsch looked very promising for White, but Naiditsch defended imaginatively and Aronian let it slip. A well-fought draw in 45 moves. Peter Svidler vs Vladimir Kramnik was a predictable Petroff that ended after 39 moves in a draw. Baadur Jobava vs Peter Leko was a Queen's Indian, with a cease-fire being agreed after 22 moves.

Elisabeth Pähtz vs Irina Krush: the fourth game of the women's match also ended in a draw, in 25 moves.

Standings after four rounds

• Download all games so far in PGN
• Games from the Pähtz-Krush match

Thursday is a rest day at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting, and the next round begins on Friday, August 4th, at 15:00h CEST. The final round is on Sunday. You can watch the action, together with some very strong players, on our chess server Playchess.com.

Full Schedule and Results

Links

• Official web site
• All ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2006
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2005
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2004
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2003