Edition two: Ivanchuk vs Leko in Mukachevo

Exhibition Rapid Match
Peter Leko vs Vassily Ivanchuk
in Mukachevo

This match over six games is taking place from January 2nd (opening ceremony) to January 5th (final rounds and closing), in Mukachevo, a small town located in the western Ukraine. It pits the top players of the two neighbouring countries Hungary and Ukraine and was originated by the initiative of Josef Resch of Universal Event Promotion, which is in the business of staging chess events world-wide.

Chess organiser and promoter Josef Resch

The schedule of the competition in Mukachevo: two rapid games will be played every day (January 3, 4 and 5). Starting times are 15:30h and 17:00h. The time control for each game is 25 minutes plus ten seconds per move. The games are being broadcast live on the official match web site (link at the bottom of the page) and on Playchess.com.

Ivanchuk,V (2779) - Leko,P (2751) [A46]
Rapid Rematch Mukachevo UKR (1), 03.01.2009
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.c4 Bb4+ 5.Nc3 dxc4 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.a3 Bd6 8.Qa4 0-0 9.Qxc4 e5 10.d5 Ne7 11.Bg5 Nd7 12.0-0 h6 13.Be3 Nf6 14.Bc5 Bxc5 15.Qxc5 Qd6 16.Qxd6 cxd6 17.Nd2 Rd8 18.Nc4 Ng6 19.Rfc1 Ne8 20.Nb5 Kf8 21.e4 f5 22.Rc3 fxe4 23.Bxe4 Ne7 24.Rac1 Bh3 25.Na5 Rd7 26.f3 b6 27.Nc4 Rb8 28.Ne3 Rbb7 29.a4 a6 30.Na3 Nf6 31.Nac4 b5 32.axb5 Rxb5 33.Ra1 Rd8 34.Rxa6 Nexd5 35.Nxd5 Nxd5 36.Rd3 Nf6 37.Rdxd6 Rxd6 38.Rxd6 Ke7 39.Rb6 Rc5 40.Rb7+ Kf8 41.Bd3 Rd5 42.Be2 e4 43.f4 Bg4 44.Kf1 Bxe2+ 45.Kxe2 Rh5 46.h4 g5 47.fxg5 hxg5 48.Rb5 gxh4 49.Rxh5 Nxh5 50.gxh4 Nf4+ 51.Kf2

The position is a draw, even if White's 51st move had been something else. But now Peter Leko forces matters: 51...e3+ 52.Kxe3 Ng2+ 53.Ke4 Nxh4. The top Hungarian player knows that this is a draw, but a disappointed Ivanchuk plays on for another 25 moves. You may want to replay the moves to see how the defence goes. 54.b4 Ke7 55.b5 Kd7 56.Kd5 Ng6 57.b6 Ne7+ 58.Kc5 Nc6 59.Nd6 Nd8 60.Kd5 Nc6 61.Ne4 Nd8 62.Kc5 Kc8 63.Kb5 Kb8 64.Nc5 Nb7 65.Nd7+ Kc8 66.Ka6 Nd6 67.Ne5 Kb8 68.Nc6+ Ka8 69.Ne5 Kb8 70.Nd7+ Kc8 71.Nf6 Kb8 72.Nd7+ Kc8 73.Ne5 Kb8 74.Nd3 Ka8 75.Nb2 Kb8 76.Na4 Ka8 77.Nc5 Kb8 78.b7 Nxb7 79.Nxb7 ½-½. [Click to replay]

The second game lasted just 16 moves, with Leko forcing a draw by repetition.

Leko,P (2751) - Ivanchuk,V (2779) [B90]
Rapid Rematch Mukachevo UKR (2), 03.01.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.a4 Be7 9.Be2 0-0 10.a5 Nc6 11.Bb6 Qb8 12.Nd5 Nxe4 13.Bc7 Qa7 14.Bb6 Qb8 15.Bc7 Qa7 16.Bb6 ½-½. [Click to replay]

Current standing

Pictures from Mukachevo

The venue of the match: Cinema Theatre "Peremoha", Mira Square, Mukachevo

The central street of the Ukrainian city

The well-known "Saints Cyril and Methodius" statue in contemporary Mukachevo. The Byzantine Greek brothers are credited with the creation of the Slavic Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets.

Links

Official match site Note that there have been Google warnings about this site, which was uploading malware. The root URL, www.ivanchukleko2009.com is still blocked by Google, although the organisers have said that the problem was fixed.   All games in PGN Download free PGN reader ChessBase Light The games are being broadcast on Playchess.com