The Sparkassen Chess Meeting will take place from June 28rd to July 6th, 2008, in the Dortmund Civic Theater, with eight players competing in a single round robin. The average rating is 2695, making the event a Category 18 tournament.

Mamedyarov,S (2752) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [E25]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (6), 05.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 0-0 9.Bd3 b6 10.Ne2 Ba6 11.0-0 Re8 12.Ng3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Nc6 14.Ra2 Qd7 15.Re2 Re6 16.Bb2 Rd8 17.Rd1 Ne7 18.e4 Qa4 19.Bc1 Rc8 20.Rde1 g6 21.dxc5 Rxc5 22.Be3 Rc8 23.Bd4 dxe4 24.Nxe4 Nxe4 25.Rxe4 Rxe4 26.Qxe4 Nf5 27.Bxb6 Qxe4 28.fxe4 axb6 29.exf5 ½-½.

Naiditsch,A (2624) - Van Wely,L (2677) [B90]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (6), 05.07.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Nc5 10.Qe2 Be7 11.0-0-0 0-0 12.Bg3 Qc7 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxe5 Qa5 15.Kb1 Bd7 16.f4 b5 17.g4 b4 18.g5

18...bxc3? 19.gxf6 gxf6?? 20.Nf5 (threatening Qg2+ followed by mate) 20...exf5 Qd8 22.Qh5 Kh7 23.Rhg1 Qe8 24.Rg3 Rg8 25.Bxf7 Rxg3 26.hxg3 1-0.

Gustafsson,J (2603) - Leko,P (2741) [E15]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (6), 05.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.dxc5 bxc5 8.0-0 Be7 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Rd1 Qb6 11.Bf4 Rd8 12.Rd2 d6 13.Rad1 Ne8 14.e4 Bc6 15.Qc2 Qb7 16.Qb3 Qxb3 17.axb3 f6 18.Ne1 Nd7 19.Ra1 Rdb8 20.Ra3 Rb7 21.e5 Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Bxg2 23.Bxd6 Nxd6 24.Kxg2 Nf5 25.Ra6 Nd4 26.Nf3 Nxb3 27.Rd3 e5 28.Rd5 Rd8 29.Rxd8+ Bxd8 30.Rd6 Be7 31.Ra6 Nd4 32.Nxd4 cxd4 33.Nb5 d3 34.Kf1 Bc5 35.Rc6 d2 36.Ke2 Rd7 37.Nc3 Bd4 38.Kxd2 Bxf2+ 39.Nd5 a5 40.b3 Kf7 41.g4 Rb7 42.Ke2 Bd4 43.h4 e4 44.h5 Rxb3 45.Rc7+ Ke6 0-1.

Kramnik,V (2788) - Nepomniachtchi,I (2634) [D11]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (6), 05.07.2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.Nc3 e6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.h4 dxc4 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.g5 Nh7 12.Bg2 Bb4 13.Qe2 Nb6 14.a3 Ba5 15.Bd2 Nf8 16.Ne4 Bxd2+ 17.Qxd2 Qe7 18.Qb4 Qxb4+ 19.axb4 Kd7 20.b5 Kc7 21.bxc6 bxc6 22.Nd2 Nfd7 23.Ra5 a6 24.Bf1 Rhb8 25.Rh3 Kd6 26.h5 gxh5 27.Rxh5 Ke7 28.Rh7 g6 29.Kd1 Ra7 30.Kc1 Rc7 31.Ne4 Rcb7 32.Nd2 Rc7 33.Ne4 Rcb7 34.Rxa6 Nd5 35.Bxc4 Rxb2 36.Nd2 R2b6 37.Rxb6 N5xb6 38.Bd3 Nf8 39.Rh4 Nfd7 ½-½.

Current standings

One round before the end of the tournament Peter Leko leads with plus two, half a point ahead of his nearest rivals. They are Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan Gustaffson, both at plus one. Behind them are four players at 50%, and at the bottom of the table the luckless Loek van Wely with minus four. Leko's performance is 2819, van Wely's 2409. The draw quota is as follows:

In the final round on Sunday Peter Leko has white against Arkadij Naiditsch and needs to draw to make sure he is at least equal first. The two players trying to catch him, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan Gustafsson are playing each other, Nepomniachtchi with white. Vladimir Kramnik, who must be dying for a plus one score, is facing the in-form Vassily Ivanchuk with the black pieces – a very daunting task for the former world champion.

Schedule and results

Links Official web site All games so far in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.

• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2008
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2007
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2006
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2005
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2004
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2003