Zug R07: Kamsky beats Morozevich

From April 14 to April 30, 2013, the third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 is taking place in Zug, Switzerland. Twelve players are competing in a round robin tournament with time controls of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes and an increment of 30 seconds per move for each player. The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years, with 18 top players, each participating in four of the six tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014.

Round seven report

Only one game was decisive in the seventh round, while all others finished in draws. Gata Kamsky defeated one of the leaders Alexander Morozevich. The central game of the round between the two other leaders Veselin Topalov (White) and Ruslan Ponomariov (Black) finished peacefully after a long and precise defence by White in a worse endgame.

Kamsky – Morozevich 1-0
Gata Kamsky (above right) got a position with a small space advantage out of the opening, but was not sure how to fight for more, as he estimated the position as equal. Help suddenly came from his opponent, who chose the wrong plan with 19…Nf6 and 20…Nh5. During the press conference Alexander Morozevich pointed out that the game was completely lost for Black after Nf6.

The American player could have got advantage after an accurate 22.Bh4 but played Rae1 instead, allowing Black to cover the h4 square by playing Qd8. However, Black continued making mistakes and Gata Kamsky, despite the fact he was in time trouble, found the exact way to win.

Leko-Mamedyarov ½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (above left in the press conference) chose to play a fairly rare line of the Ruy Lopez (with 4...Nge7), while Peter Leko was expecting the Caro-Kann. He mentioned during the press-conference that his preparation started relatively late because he could not miss the football match Real-Borussia. The Hungarian player tried to find a way to get an edge with White, but it seems Shakhriyar had better preparation and was following his analyzes at least until the 15th move. The Azeri player managed to equalize, and after the nice blow Rf2 it was White who had to find the exact moves to make a draw.

Giri – Caruana ½-½
The Gruenfeld appeared in the game Giri-Caruana, where the Dutch grandmaster (above right) spent only five minutes for 30 moves! The players ended up in a sharp endgame, and suddenly Anish Giri spent next 70 minutes on his 31st move. According to Giri he was trying to find the disadvantages of the opponent’s move h6, and thought he had winning chances in the beginning. Afterwards he realized that there was no victory and it was time to look for the correct way to make a draw. Black sacrificed a rook for two pass pawns, and after 42 moves the opponents signed a peace agreement.

Topalov – Ponomariov ½-½
The longest game of the round finished in a draw, so both players lost the chance to become the sole leader. In a Nimzo Indian Ruslan Ponomariov (above left) got the better pawn structure after c4. Black increased his edge by choosing the correct plan with Nc7, a6, Nb5. Veselin Topalov decided to exchange queens to fight for a draw in a worse endgame. Ponomariov managed to grab a pawn in the knight endgame, but it was not enough to win a full point.

Karjakin – Kasimdzhanov ½-½
Rustam Kasimdzhanov (above left) was ready for the Scotch as Karjakin had already played this opening a few rounds earlier. The former World Champion repeated the line from his game against Wang Hao (which he won in Tashkent) and was ready for the endgame which happened today. 28…Bc8 was a strong move which doesn’t leave illusions for White, and few moves later the game finished in a draw.

Nakamura – Radjabov ½-½
Teimur Radjabov (above) got a comfortable position against Hikaru Nakamura in a Chelyabinsk Variation. The American player was hoping to get some play on the kingside but didn’t manage to do it during the game. Both players played very solidly and after 54 moves only opposite color bishops were left on the board and the game was drawn.

North American GM Hikaru Nakamura

Current standings

After seven rounds Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov share first place with 4.5 points. Two Russian players, Alexander Morozevich, Sergey Karjakin and Italian Fabiano Caruana are half a point behind.

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Information and pictures by WGM Anastasiya Karlovich and GM Robert Fontaine

Schedule and pairings

The games start at 14:00h European time, 16:00h Moscow, 8 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here. The commentary on Playchess begins one hour after the start of the games and is free for premium members.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.