Dortmund R5: Anand and Svidler make their moves

Round five – Monday, July 26

Group 1: Anand 3.5; Svidler 3; Rublevsky 2; Naiditsch 1.5
Group 2: Kramnik, Leko, Bologan, Karjakin 2.5

The cream has risen to the top in Group 1 but Group 2 is looking more like butter. Despite the best attempts of the Dortmund press center, 10 consecutive draws isn't exactly what most chess fans call exciting! A translation of today's official press release: "The excitement could not be greater than in Group 2 where all four Grandmasters are tied at 2.5 points, racing neck-on-neck for the first two places." Wow, that is some spin that would make Bill Clinton proud! If this is "racing" it's definitely of tortoises, not hares!

Vishy Anand and Peter Svidler are providing a more traditional brand of excitement over in Group 1 by winning games. Anand locked up a semifinal spot by beating Rublevsky in a remarkable game. He sacrificed the exchange and kept the pressure on until the Russian cracked.

It looked like Black had decent defensive chances, but darned if these 2780+ super-GMs don't have all the luck! It's games like this one that makes us feel like Anand is playing a different game than other GMs and our computers.

In the diagram Anand has just sacrificed his b-pawn for no reason we can find, unless it was to induce Rublevsky to blunder with 31...f5??, which he promptly did. Black had no defense after 32.Ng3 f4 33.Nf5! Mate is worth more than a bishop with check! 33...Qb1+ 34.Kf2 fxe3+ 35.Ke2 1-0.

We still wonder what the Indian wizard had in mind after Black controls the light squares with 31...Be4. It looks like White still has enough play after 32.Ng3 Bg6 33.Rd7 Bf8 34.Rd8 or 33...f5 34.c3.

Peter Svidler completed his comeback by beating Naiditsch with black and all but locking up a spot in the semifinals that seemed in doubt when he lost to Anand in the second round. They rematch tomorrow but a win is almost meaningless for both of them and a short draw will guarantee Svidler's advance.

Over in the "exciting" Group 2, Sergey Karjakin again showed his mettle by tackling Peter Leko's feared Sveshnikov Sicilian Defense. They followed 20 moves of a recent Short-Shirov game before Leko swerved off the path to avoid an attack on his king. White made no progress and the game ended on a repetition on move 38.

Classical world champ Vladimir Kramnik was held to a short draw by last year's Dortmund champion Victor Bologan. After the round we were on the phone with Garry Kasparov, who is following the games closely. He thought that Kramnik missed at least one chance to improve significantly and that he was surprised Kramnik didn't continue on in what he evaluated as a superior position when the draw was agreed.

In this position after 15...Rxc5 Kramnik played 16.a3 and Bologan escaped much of the pressure after 16...Rxc1 17.Qxc1 Na6. Kasparov wondered why White doesn't capture on c5 before playing a3. Black is in a very uncomfortable position after 16.Rxc5 Qxc5 (16...bxc5 17.a3 dxe4 (17...Rd8 18.axb4 dxe4 19.Qc2) 18.Bxe4) 17.a3 Nc6 (17...Na6? 18.Qd3!) 18.b4.

With all four players on 2.5/5, the prospect of a silly all-play-all rapid tiebreak looms for Group 2. If either of the round six games is decisive, either Leko or Kramnik will be out of the semifinals. According to the tournament schedule, the rapid playoffs would take place tomorrow after the round and not on the Wednesday free day.

Kasparov also had an eye on Kramnik's narrow escape against Karjakin in round four. The world #1 said Karjakin had missed several opportunities in the middlegame and that both the young Ukrainian GM and our analysis missed a much quicker win in the queen vs rook endgame.

Here Karjakin played 63.Kd4, escorting his pawn, which complicated the win. In his rapid post-game analysis here at ChessBase.com, GM Ramirez suggested 63.Kd2 in a long winning line that was later corrected in minor fashion by Mig.

Kasparov showed us a faster win with a better idea here, 63.Ke2! The white king goes over to attack the g-pawn so the white queen can escape her prison on g1. 63...Kg4 64.c5 Kh3 65.Kf2 and Black is helpless. Shredder now announces mate in 19. Okay, we're embarrassed...

Behind the scenes

Picture Gallery by Olena Boytsun

At the entrance to the theatre the doormen while away the time – with chess

Journalists in the press center: "Look, Dago, a closeup of that pesky fly"

Spanish GM Miguel Illescas in the press centre. After I took this picture he asked me whether I was a journalist of just a visitor taking pictures for fun

That's me, sulking over Miguel's insensitive question

The man in the background: Carsten Hensel, tournament organiser of the Dortmund event, and manager of both Kramnik and Leko

Aruna Anand with the essential equipment of a chess wife: a good book to read

The next day we sneak a peak: really, a biography of Josef Stalin?!

An anxious chess mom following the game of her young son: Tatjana Karjakina

Ever seen hair like that? Aruna and Tatjana, chess wife and mom

Peter Leko's mother-in-law and his charming multi-lingual wife Sofia

One of the arbiters in Dortmund: Dr. Andrzej Filipowicz

The 14-year-old boy emerges from round three, having held the world's number five to a draw with the black pieces. Peter Leko (left) and Sergey Karjakin in their postgame analysis. Peter's father-in-law GM Arshak Petrosian (in the red sweater) watches carefully.

After the postmortem Serezha borrows my notebook to check the ChessBase.com web site for the latest news

After another long game mother and son pose for the camera

German chess hopeful Arkadij Naiditsch signs a poster for a chess fan

Olena Boytsun is from Ukraine. She has an MA in International Economics, having graduated recently from the Dnipropetrovsk National University in Ukraine. She is currently doing research for her PhD on "The effects of financial globalization on developing countries". Olena has been playing chess since her childhood. Her current title is Women's International Master. For the last four years she has been cooperating with Internet and regular newspapers, writing mainly (but not only) about economics. She travels a lot around Europe in search of new impressions, and finds it astonishing how many interesting and unusual situations she finds herself in. We welcome, with great pleasure, Olena in our fold of ChessBase contributors.

Participants

Full schedule and scoresheet