[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Svidler, P."]
[Black "Leko, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C89"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[Annotator "Mihail Marin"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
{A principial duel between two Marshall specialists is always interesting to
watch.} d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3
Qh3 15. Qe2 $5 {Astonishngly, this seems to be a new move. In the main line,
White hurries to place his bishop on the exposed e3-square. With his last move,
Svidler expresses his belief that the higher priority is to expell the enemy
queen from its threatening position.} Bg4 16. Qf1 Qh5 17. Nd2 Rae8 18. Rxe8
Rxe8 19. f3 Bf5 20. Ne4 {In some other lines, White gladly places a rook on
this square, offering an exchange sacrifice which Black accepts only rarely.
Installing a knight here is a great achievement for White.} Bc7 ({
A fine tactical point is that Black cannot win the pawn back with} 20... Bxe4
$2 21. fxe4 Rxe4 {because after} 22. Bd1 Qg6 {(forced)} 23. Bc2 {
he loses an exchange. An impressive demonstration of the force of two bishops.}
) 21. Bd2 Qg6 22. Re1 ({White hurries to complete his development. Actually,
it is not entirely clear whether the modestly looking} 22. Bc2 {
, consolidating the knight, was entirely wrong.}) 22... Bxe4 23. Rxe4 {
White had several tempting continuations at his disposal and Svidler's choice
might not be the best. For the author of the express report is not much easier
to decide which is the best way to maintain a stable advantage and he kindly
passes the responsability of digging in for the truth to the Chessbase
Magazine 120 commentator.} Rxe4 24. Bc2 f5 25. fxe4 fxe4 26. Qg2 Nf6 27. Qh3
Ng4 28. Bb3+ Kf8 29. Bd1 e3 30. Bc1 h5 31. Bxg4 hxg4 32. Qf1+ Ke8 33. Bxe3 Kd7
34. Qe2 Qf5 35. b3 g6 {White has won a pawn, but Black's centralized army as
well as the firm control on light squares offers him good saving chances.
Besided, the white king is passive and slightly exposed.} 36. Bf2 Bd6 37. c4
bxc4 38. bxc4 Bc7 39. d5 cxd5 40. cxd5 Bd6 41. a4 Qb1+ 42. Kg2 Qf5 43. Kg1
1/2-1/2

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Grischuk, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[Annotator "Mihail Marin"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb7 ({From the spectator's point
of view, a refreshing deviation from the ultra-fashionable} 5... Bb4+ 6. Bd2
Be7) 6. Bg2 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 c5 ({The other possible attempt to take advantage of
the slight weakness induced by the move b3 is} 7... a5) 8. Bxb4 cxb4 {
The only difference if compared to a popular Bogo Indian tabyia consists of
White's extra-move b3. This apparently insignifiant detail not only leaves the
c3-square weak, but also deprives the white queen from the important b3-square.
An old game between two historical rivals, Karpov - Kortschnoj, Amsterdam 1987,
where a genuine Bogo Indian was played, continued 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qb3 a5 10.a3 Na6
11.Nbd2 and Black could not activate his a6-knight under favourablecircumstance
s.} 9. O-O O-O 10. Qd3 Be4 11. Qe3 Nc6 12. Nbd2 d5 {A very interesting
position, played on several occasions by Romanischin (with Black). White has a
pawn majority in the centre, but the weakness of the c3-square offers Black
unexpected ideas for counterplay.} 13. Rfc1 Rc8 14. cxd5 Bxd5 15. Qd3 Bxf3 16.
Nxf3 Nd5 17. Rc4 {Aiming to keep the rook alive before the knight jumps to c3.}
Nc3 18. a3 b5 $5 ({
Grischuk refrains from the standard way of ensuring stability to his knight,} 
18... a5 {, because this would have allowed White to activate the other rook
as well. Instead, the tactical operation initiated with his last move will
lead to mass simplifications and a comfortable position for Black.}) 19. Rxc6 (
{Forced. The generally desirableo} 19. Rc5 $2 {, installing the rook on an
apparently comfortable square, would lose material to} Nxd4 $1 {
attacking not only the rook, but also the queen (in view of the threat Ndxe2+).
}) 19... Rxc6 20. Ng5 Qxg5 21. Bxc6 Rc8 22. Bb7 Rc7 23. axb4 {After 23...Nxe2+
24.Qxe2 Rxb7 25.Qe4, White's piece activity compensates for his slightly worse
pawn structure.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Aronian, L."]
[Black "Anand, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Mihail Marin"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5
{An excellent way to play for a win with Black, although it should be said
that White's cooperation is needed, too. In case of 6.Bxf6 (as played just one
day earlier by Kramnik against Svidler), play takes a positional course.
However, Aronian is not the kind of player to refrain from a sharp battle,
especially when he has the white pieces.} 9. Ne5 h5 10. h4 g4 {Black is a pawn
up, but White has a strong centre and better prospects of transferring his
king to a safe location. In the next phase of the game, both players have to
permanently take into account the standard pawn moves (White's) d5 or f3 and
(Black's) ...b4 or ...c5. For a while, however, play continues with natural
developing moves.} 11. Be2 Bb7 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Qc2 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Bg7 15. Rad1
O-O 16. Bg3 Nd7 17. f3 {This move is almost unanimously played here. White
finally establishes a centre of pawn tension and aims to open the f-file for
his king's rook. The only (but significant) drawback of this move is that it
weakens the king's residence.} c5 $5 ({An interesting novelty. Previously,} 
17... Qb6 {was considered best. Anand decides that the best way of taking
advantage of the vulnerability of the enemy king is to keep the queen on her
initial square.}) 18. dxc5 ({The generally desirable} 18. d5 {
can be strongly met by} Be5 $1 {when White is in some sort of trouble:} 19.
Bxe5 $6 ({After} 19. f4 Bd4+ {
the black dark-squared bishop is much more active than his direct rival.})
19... Nxe5 20. f4 $2 Qxh4 $1 {with decisive attack.}) 18... Qe7 19. Kh1 a6 20.
a4 Bc6 {Black has stabilized the position and threatens to win the c5-pawn
with ...Nxc5. Since 21.Rd6 can be strongly met by 21...Be5!, White is forced
to resort to radical measures.} 21. Nd5 $5 exd5 22. exd5 {
Normally, this kind of operation would yield White an advantage...} Be5 $1 {
... but only with a safer king's position! With this already familiar to us
move, Anand forces his opponent to release the kingside tension andconsolidates
his advantage.} 23. f4 Bg7 24. dxc6 Nxc5 {Both White's bishops are very
passive. The c6-pawn in conjunction with certain rook activity along the
d-file will prove insufficient to level the balance.} 25. Rd5 Ne4 26. Be1 Qe6
27. Rxh5 f5 {White has temporarily won a pawn, but his rook is miserably
placed. Anand went on winning convincingly.} 28. Kh2 Rac8 29. Bb4 Rfe8 30. axb5
axb5 31. Re1 Qf7 32. Rg5 Nxg5 33. fxg5 Rxc6 34. Bf1 Rxe1 35. Bxe1 Re6 36. Bc3
Qc7+ 37. g3 Re3 38. Qg2 Bxc3 39. bxc3 f4 40. Qa8+ Kg7 41. Qa6 fxg3+ 0-1

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kramnik, V."]
[Black "Morozevich, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2769"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "Marin,Mihail"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]

1. Nf3 {When Kramnik played this move in the previous round, I thought he
might have just wanted to avoid Svidler's Grünfeld. Now, it seems that he
really switched back to the favourite weapon of his youth.} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3
d5 4. d4 {However, the Catalan is a relatively recent "discovery" of Kramnik
and his results with it have been excellent. Apparently, the subtle
combination of tactical and strategic motifs suits his talent quite well. This
game is an excellent illustration.} dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. Ne5 ({
The more ambitious continuation is supposed to be} 6. O-O {. The text move is
considered to offer Black an equal game after 6...c5, but both Morozevich and
Kramnik seem to have a different opinion...}) 6... Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nd5 {Morozevich
aims to put his mighty opponent under direct pressure from an early stage of
the game. This policy will soon turn against himself as a boomerang.} 8. O-O $5
{A novelty. White simply ignores Black's apparently strong threat and
continues his development. The move is simple and logical, but its
consequences are not easy to evaluate. This often happens in the sharp lines
of the Catalan: you know exactly what you have to do, but cannot always trust
your judgement, because of the irrational character of the position.} O-O ({
This looks like some sort of concession, after which Black's ambitious play in
the previous phase of the game loses part of its meaning. Morozevich might
have feared Kramnik's famously deep home preparation, but I must say that at
first sight it is not easy to see the danger for Blackafter} 8... Nxc3 9. bxc3
Bxc3 {. Obviously, he is strongly underdeveloped, but for the time being he is
two pawns up. Proving White's compensation is beyond the scope of the express
report, but I shall do my best to make some adequate suggestions in CBM 120.})
9. Qc2 b5 10. Nxd5 exd5 {The first optical sensation is that a massive
migration of Black's pieces from the kingside to the opposite wing has taken
place. Paradoxically, White will not try to attack the slightly vulnerable
king's position, but will hit precisely on the side where Black has such an
apparently strong group of forces. This is enabled by the fact that all the
queenside pieces are undeveloped yet, while the b4-bishop is vulnerable.} 11.
b3 c6 12. e4 {Three of Black's pawns are under serious pressure now.
Morozevich puts more wood into the fire with} f6 13. exd5 $3 {Further analysis
might prove that the objective merits of this move are debatable, although I
very much doubt it. (Refer to the final part of the comment after 8.0-0).
However, for the time being, I will limit myself to saying that the
enthusiastic evaluation refers to White's courage, in the best spirit of the
good old romantic times. From practical point of view, Black's position is
very difficult to play.} fxe5 14. bxc4 {It is not easy to understand what
happens on board after these three consecutive pawn captures. Black has won a
piece for a pawn, but is strongly underdeveloped and has to avoid dxe5 somehow.
} exd4 {Four.} 15. dxc6 {Five.} Be6 {Morozevich finally starts developing his
queenside. Books recommend to develop knights and only then bishops, but how
to accomplish that in this position?} 16. cxb5 $1 {Kramnik is not interested
in winning the undeveloped a8-rook. He just carries out his "plan". The
imemdiete threat is c7; in the meanwhile, White has created two connected
pawns.} d3 17. c7 Qd4 18. Qa4 Nd7 19. Be3 Qd6 20. Bxa8 Rxa8 {White has retrieve
d his material investment with some interest and preserves his passed pawns.
Still, the position remains complicated and certain accuracy is still required.
} 21. Bf4 $2 ({Kramnik cold have crowned his logical play by just completing
the mobilisation of his forces with} 21. Rac1 $1 {
which "incidentally" threatens to promote the pawn. After} Rc8 22. Rc6 {
followed by Rxe6, White obtains a decisive material advantage.}) 21... Qf8 $2 (
{Kindly returning the favour. Black misses his chance to change the course of
the game with} 21... Qd5 $3 {, when} 22. Qxb4 $2 {is impossible because of} Qf3
$19 {, with the decisive threats ..Bd5 or ...Bh3.}) 22. b6 $1 {Now it's all
over. These pawns cannot be stopped. 22...Nxb6 drops a piece to 23.Qc6, while
Morozevich' desperate (but delayed!) counterplay cannot change anything.} Ne5
23. Bxe5 Qf3 24. Qd1 Qe4 25. b7 Rf8 26. c8=Q Bd5 27. f3 1-0

