Aerosvit 2008: Carlsen and Shirov win in round one

Aerosvit-2008 Tournament in Foros, Ukraine

The "Aerosvit-2008" tournament is taking place in the sanatorium complex “Foros” in the settlement Foros of AR Crimea, Ukraine, from June 7th (day of arrival), to June 20th, 2008 (day of departure). The event is a 12-player round robin with invited participants. The average rating of the players is 2711.7, time controls are 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes to the end of the game, with an addition of 30 sec. after every move. In case of equal points at the end of the tournament the tiebreak is based on the (1) the result of the direct encounter; (2) the Sonneborn-Berger system; (3) the number of won games. The rounds are from Sunday, June 8th until Thursday, June 19th, always starting at 15:00h local time, which is currently CEST +1 (14:00h Berlin/Paris, 13:00h London, 08:00 a.m. New York). Here is a chart for your local time.

A Google Earth satellite view of the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea

A down-to-earth view of Foros settlement with its sanatorium complex

The hotel with the playing venue in Foros

The opening ceremony with the drawing of colours

Round one report

Results of round one

Round one: 17-year-old Magnus Carlsen, Norway faces veteran Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukraine

Carlsen,M (2765) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [E97]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (1), 08.06.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.f3 Kh8 13.b5 Ne8N A new move in this line by Ivanchuk. 14.Be3 Bf6

15.Ne6 This forces Black's hand: 15...Bxe6 16.dxe6 Ng7 17.Bh6 Nxe6 18.Bxf8 Qxf8. Ivanchuk has a pawn for the exchange, Carlsen gives him another: 19.c5 Nxc5 20.Bc4 Bg5 21.Qe2 Qh6 22.Rad1 Rf8 23.a4 b6 24.g3 Qh3 25.Qg2 Qh6 26.Qe2 Qh3 27.Kh1. Black is satisfied with a draw, White wants more. 27...Nd7 28.Ra1 Qh6 29.Ra2 Nf6 30.Kg2 Nh5 31.Nd5 Nxd5 32.Bxd5 Bf4. The bishop cannot be taken because of the knight fork on f4. 33.Qf2 fxe4 34.Bxe4 Qg5 35.Rc2

35...d5?! Ivanchuk wants to make use of the knight fork. 36.Bxd5 Bxg3 37.hxg3 Nf4+ 38.Kf1 Nxd5. Pretty, but it has helped White, who can now exchange off the pieces and go for a winning endgame. 39.Rce2 Qf6 40.Rxe5 Qxf3 41.Qxf3 Rxf3+ 42.Ke2 Rf5 43.Rxf5 gxf5 44.Kd3 c5 45.Re5 Nb4+ 46.Kd2 1-0. Great, mature play by the 17-year-old top seed in this event. [Click to replay]

First round game between "Van Wely Loek" and "Shirov Oleksey"

Van Wely,L (2677) - Shirov,A (2740) [D86]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (1), 08.06.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Rc1 e5 13.dxc5 Be6 14.c4 bxc5 15.Bxc5 Bh6 16.Rc3 Re8 17.Ba3 Qc7 18.Qc2 Rab8 19.c5 Red8 20.c6 Rb6 21.Rb1 Rxc6 22.Rxc6 Nxc6 23.Bc1 Bxc1

Black has just taken a bishop on c1. White recaptures with the wrong piece (24.Nxc1 was required): 24.Rxc1? Qd6 25.Qxc6 Qxc6? What are we missing? 25...Qxd3 followed by 26...Rc8 looks like it is immediately winning. Now Shirov has to develop a new attack to win the point. Fortunately for him this is his speciality. 26.Rxc6 Rxd3 27.f4 Bg4 28.Nc3 exf4 29.Nd5 Rd1+ 30.Kf2 Rd2+ 31.Kf1 Be2+ 32.Ke1 Rxa2 33.Nxf4 Bb5 34.Rc8+ Kg7 35.Rc7 Ra4 36.Ne6+ Kf6 37.Nc5 Ra2 38.g4 Re2+ 39.Kd1 Rxh2 40.g5+ Ke5 41.Rxf7 a5 0-1. [Click to replay]

Links Official tournament web site All games 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.