Elista R03: Leko, Kamsky, Carlsen and Rublevsky score

by ChessBase
5/29/2007 – Peter Leko beat Mikhail Gurevich in a second consecutive game, Gata Kamsky did the same to France's Etienne Bacrot. Rublevsky beat Ponomarionv with black, Magnus Carlsen struck back against Levon Aronian to equalise their score with a fine white-game win. Judit Polgar failed to win a promising position. Leko and Kamsky have a comfortable lead at the half-way mark. Full report.

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The Candidates Matches for the 2007 World Chess Championship Tournament will be held in Elista, Russia, from May 26 to June 14, 2007. A total of 16 candidates play two rounds of six-game matches to fill four places in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico City. The prize fund is US $40,000 per match, most of the money ($320,000) coming from a personal fund of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, FIDE ($160,000) and the general sponsor, Rosenergomash.

Round three report

Round 3 results: Tuesday, May 29th 2007

Magnus Carlsen 
1-0
 Levon Aronian
Peter Leko 
1-0
 Mikhail Gurevich
Boris Gelfand 
½-½
 Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Ruslan Ponomariov 
0-1
 Sergei Rublevsky
Gata Kamsky 
1-0
 Etienne Bacrot
Alexander Grischuk 
½-½
 Vladimir Malakhov
Judith Polgar 
½-½
 Evgeny Bareev
Michael Adams 
½-½
 Alexei Shirov

Peter Leko moved into a two-point lead over Gurevich, after grinding the latter down in a classic French Defence endgame. As so often in this opening, Black’s light-squared bishop displayed a crippling lack of mobility, and Leko slowly squeezed his opponent's position until the pips squeaked.

Leko,P (2738) - Gurevich,M (2635) [C11]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Ne2 Qb6 11.Bxc5 Nxc5 12.Ned4 Ne4 13.Qe3 b4 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.0-0 0-0 16.Rae1 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 18.Nxd4 g6

19.Ra1 a5 20.a3 Nc5 21.axb4 axb4 22.Kf2 Rfc8 23.g4 b3 24.Ke3 bxc2 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Bxc2 Kf8 27.Rc1 Rc8 28.Ra1 Ra8 29.Rxa8+ Bxa8 30.b4 Na6 31.b5 Nc5 32.Nb3 Nd7 33.Kd4 Ke7 34.Nc5 Nb6 35.h4 Kd8 36.Bd3 Ke7 37.Be2 Kd8 38.Bf1 Ke7 39.Bd3 Kd8 40.Bc2 Ke7 41.Bd1 Kd8 42.Be2 Ke7 43.g5 Kd8 44.h5 Ke7

45.h6 Kd8 46.Bd3 Ke7 47.Bc2 Kf8 48.Nd3 Nd7 49.Nf2 Ke7 50.Ng4 1-0.


At the press conference after the game – Peter's face says it all


Kamsky also increased his lead to two points, after outplaying a somewhat dispirited-looking Bacrot. Kamsky’s 9th move is regarded as giving Black an excellent game, but Bacrot played rather passively and soon shed a pawn. With two rooks each on the board, the opposite-coloured bishops were never going to be the drawing factor that they so often are, and Kamsky soon forced a decisive passed c-pawn. A disappointing day for the poker-playing Frenchman, who is going to need to produce an ace or two from up his sleeve, if he is to turn the match around.

Kamsky,G (2705) - Bacrot,E (2709) [C88]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.c3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.d3 Qd6 12.Nbd2 Rad8 13.Ne4

13...Qd7 14.a4 Kh8 15.axb5 axb5 16.d4 exd4 17.cxd4 f6 18.Nc3 Ncb4 19.Qe2 Bd6 20.Qxb5 Nxc3 21.Qxd7 Rxd7 22.bxc3 Nd3 23.Rd1 Nxc1 24.Raxc1 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Bf4 26.Ra1 Rd6 27.c4 Rb6 28.Rd3 g6 29.c5 Rb5 30.Bc4 Rb4 31.Be6 Rd8 32.d5 Kg7

33.d6 cxd6 34.c6 d5 35.Ra7+ Kh6 36.c7 1-0.


Carlsen seems to have recovered his confidence after the game one fiasco, and today he struck back to equalize the match score. Aronian relieved the kingside pressure at the cost of transposing into an ending, where the passed white d-pawn and advanced h6-pawn both posed potential problems for Black. Having spurned the obvious 25…Nxe4, he was soon in desperate trouble due to his back rank weakness, and Carlsen wrapped up the full point.

Carlsen,M (2693) - Aronian,L (2759) [A30]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Re1 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.d4 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be4 11.Ne5 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 0-0 13.e4 Qc8 14.Qg4 Bf6 15.Nf3 Kh8 16.h4 Nc6 17.Bg5 cxd4 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.cxd4 e5 20.Qxc8 Raxc8 21.d5 Na5 22.h5 Nc4 23.Nh4 Nd6 24.h6 Rc3 25.Rac1

25...Rfc8 26.Rxc3 Rxc3 27.Nf5 Nxf5 28.exf5 Kg8 29.Re4 Kf8 30.Rg4 Rc7 31.Rg7 b5 32.Rxh7 Kg8 33.Rg7+ Kh8 34.d6 Rd7 35.Kf3 b4 36.Ke4 Rxd6 37.Rxf7 Ra6 38.g4 Kg8 39.h7+ Kh8 40.g5 fxg5 41.f6 1-0.

At the press conference after the game Levon Aronian (right) said that 24...Rc4 would have been better than 24...Rc3. Magnus Carlsen said he will go bowling tonight. He said that he went to the Bermuda party in Turin and liked it, so he may go tonight to the Bermuda party here.


The other winner of the day was Rublevsky, who profited when Ponomariov over-pressed. The queen ending looked better for White, thanks to his outside passed b-pawn, but the ex-FIDE World Champion was too profligate with his pawns, and Rublevsky was able to turn the tables and win the longest game of the day.

Ponomariov,R (2717) - Rublevsky,S (2680) [B46]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Qe2 Be7 10.Na4 0-0 11.c4 Bb7 12.e5 Nd7 13.Bf4 Nb6 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Nc3 Nd7 16.Rad1 Nc5 17.Bb1 a5 18.Rfe1 g6 19.Be3 Ba6 20.Qd2 Rb8 21.Bd4 Rb4 22.Qe3 Nd7 23.a3 Rb7 24.f4 Bc4 25.Rd2 Nb8 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Nd7 28.Na4 Qb8 29.Rc1 Rc8 30.Rdc2 Rbc7 31.Rxc7 Rxc7 32.Rxc7 Qxc7 33.Qc3 Qb7 34.Kf2 Qb5 35.Qc2 Nb8 36.Nc3 Qb7 37.Ne2 Nc6 38.Bc5 Qb5 39.Bxe7 Nxe7 40.Qc3 h5 41.Nd4 Qb6 42.Ke2 Nf5 43.Nxf5 gxf5 44.b4 axb4 45.axb4 Qa6+ 46.Ke3 Qa7+ 47.Qd4 Qa3+ 48.Kf2 h4

49.Qb6 Qb2+ 50.Ke1 Qc1+ 51.Ke2 Qc4+ 52.Kd1 Qf1+ 53.Kc2 Qc4+ 54.Kd1 Qf1+ 55.Kc2 Qxf4 56.Qd8+ Kh7 57.Qe7 Qxe5 58.Qxf7+ Kh6 59.b5 Qe2+ 60.Kc3 Qc4+ 61.Kd2 d4 62.Qf8+ Kg6 63.Qg8+ Kh5 64.Qe8+ Kg5 65.Qd8+ Kg4 66.b6 Qc3+ 67.Kd1 Qd3+ 68.Kc1 Qf1+ 69.Kb2 Qxg2+ 70.Kb3 Qf3+ 71.Kc4 Qc3+ 72.Kb5

72...Qb3+ 73.Ka6 Qa3+ 74.Kb5 Qb2+ 75.Ka6 Qa2+ 76.Kb5 Qe2+ 77.Kc5 Qc2+ 78.Kd6 d3 79.b7 d2 80.Kxe6 Qe4+ 81.Kf6 Qc6+ 82.Ke5 Qxb7 83.h3+ Kxh3 84.Qd3+ Kh2 85.Qxd2+ Qg2 86.Qd1 Qf2 87.Kf6 f4 88.Kf5 f3 89.Kg4 Qg3+ 90.Kh5 f2 91.Qf1 Qf3+ 92.Kh6 Qg2 0-1.


Unlucky Ponomariov – sometimes he simply tries to hard


Adams-Shirov was short and sharp. The Latvian’s 14th appears to be a novelty. Adams reacted in the most aggressive way, and the remaining moves on both sides were largely forced, culminating in a perpetual.

Adams,Mi (2734) - Shirov,A (2699) [C78]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.Qd3 0-0 12.Bg5 exd4 13.cxd4 h6 14.Bh4

14...g5 15.e5 gxh4 16.Qg6+ Kh8 17.Qxh6+ Nh7 18.Bc2 f5 19.exf6 Rf7 20.Ng5 Qxf6 21.Nxf7+ Qxf7 22.Bxh7 Qxh7 23.Qf8+ Qg8 24.Qh6+ Qh7 25.Qf8+ Qg8 26.Qh6+ ½-½


Gelfand and Kazimdzhanov indulged in an orgy of complications, clearly designed to give the spectators something to analyze throughout tomorrow’s rest day. Black emerged with an extra pawn, but Gelfand managed to activate his pieces against Black’s weak pawns, and a draw resulted.

Gelfand,B (2733) - Kasimdzhanov,R (2677) [D43]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 Nbd7 12.Bxg4 Rg8 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.Bf3 0-0-0 15.Bf4 a6 16.a4 Bb4 17.e5 c5

18.exf6 cxd4 19.axb5 Qxb5 20.Qc2 Bxf3 21.gxf3 dxc3 22.bxc3 Qf5 23.Qxf5 Bxc3+ 24.Ke2 exf5 25.Ra4 Rge8+ 26.Be3 Rd2+ 27.Kf1 Rd1+ 28.Kg2 Rxh1 29.Kxh1 Bxf6 30.Rxc4+ Kd7 31.Rb4 Rc8 32.h5 Bg7 33.Kg2 Rc6 34.Rb7+ Ke6 35.Ra7 Rd6 36.Bc5 Rc6 37.Be3 Rd6 38.Bc5 Rc6 ½-½.


After two days’ of suffering in bad endgames, it was Judit Polgar’s turn to exert the pressure today. But Bareev’s defences held.

Polgar,Ju (2727) - Bareev,E (2643) [B13]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 dxc4 7.Bxc4 Qxd4 8.Qxd4 Nxd4 9.0-0-0 e5 10.f4 Bg4 11.Nf3 Nxf3 12.gxf3 Be6 13.Bd3 Be7 14.f5 Bd7 15.Rhe1 0-0-0 16.Rxe5 Bd6 17.Re2 Bc6 18.Ne4 Be5 19.Bh4 Rd5 20.Nxf6 gxf6 21.Be4 Rxd1+ 22.Kxd1 Bxe4 23.fxe4 Rg8 24.Kc2 Kd7 25.Kd3 Rg4 26.Be1 Rg1 27.Bf2 Rd1+ 28.Kc2 Rh1 29.Bxa7 h5

30.Bd4 Bxd4 31.Rd2 Kc7 32.Rxd4 Rxh2+ 33.Kc3 h4 34.a4 Rh1 35.Rd3 Kc6 36.Kc4 b6 37.Rc3 Kb7 38.Rd3 Ka6 39.b4 h3 40.Kd5 Rh2 41.Kd6 Re2 42.Rxh3 Rxe4 43.Rh8 Rxb4 44.Ke7 Rxa4 45.Kxf7 Kb5 46.Kxf6 Ra1 47.Rc8 Kb4 48.Kg6 Rg1+ 49.Kf7 b5 50.f6 Ka3 51.Ra8+ Kb3 52.Rg8 Rf1 53.Rg5 b4 54.Ke6 Kc4 55.f7 Rxf7 56.Kxf7 b3 ½-½.


Polgar and Bareev in the press conference after the game


After his bad loss in game one, Malakhov abandoned his Sicilian in favour of the old main line Berlin Defence to the Spanish, and held the draw comfortably.

Grischuk,A (2717) - Malakhov,V (2679) [C67]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (3), 29.05.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 9.Nd4 0-0 10.Nc3 Bc5 11.Rd1 Re8 12.Bf4 Bxd4 13.Rxd4 d5 14.b4 a6 15.Qd2 Qe7 16.Bg3 Nd8 17.Rh4 Bf5 18.Ne2 Ne6 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.Rxd4 a5 21.c3 Be6 22.Bh4 Qf8 23.Rc1 c5 24.bxc5 Qxc5 25.h3 Rab8 26.a4 Rb3 27.Bg5 Reb8 28.c4 dxc4 29.Rd8+ Rxd8 30.Qxd8+ Qf8 31.Rd1 Rb8 32.Qxc7 h6 33.Qxb8 Qxb8 34.Rd8+ Qxd8 35.Bxd8 Bd7 ½-½.


Malakhov and Grischuk talk to the press

Commentary by Steve Giddins, photos by Casto Abundo (FIDE)

Current standing

 Player
Rating
1
2
3
4
5
6
 Tot. 
 Perf. 
 Magnus Carlsen
2693
0
½
1
1.5
 
 Levon Aronian
2759
1
½
0
1.5
 
 
 Peter Leko
2738
½
1
1
2.5
 
 Mikhail Gurevich
2639
½
0
0
0.5
 
 
 Ruslan Ponomariov
2717
½
½
0
1.0
 
 Sergei Rublevsky
2680
½
½
1
2.0
 
 
 Boris Gelfand
2733
½
½
½
1.5
 
 Rustam Kasimdzhanov
2677
½
½
½
1.5
 
 
 Gata Kamsky
2705
½
1
1
2.5
 
 Etienne Bacrot
2709
½
0
0
0.5
 
 
 Alexander Grischuk
2717
1
½
½
2.0
 
 Vladimir Malakhov
2679
0
½
½
1.0
 
 
 Judit Polgar
2727
½
0
½
1.0
 
 Evgeny Bareev
2643
½
1
½
2.0
 
 
 Michael Adams
2734
½
½
½
1.5
 
 Alexei Shirov
2699
½
½
½
1.5
 

Links


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