Aerosvit 2008: Five wins in round three, Carlsen leads

Aerosvit-2008 Tournament in Foros, Ukraine

The "Aerosvit-2008" tournament is taking place in a sanatorium complex 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.

Round three report

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The bags were delivered, Magnus Carlsen could play in a shirt and jacket. He's the one labeled "Kapnceh Marhyc" from "Hopberir", and he faces Bah Beni Aiok" from "Hinepnahnh" – or something to that effect.

Carlsen,M (2765) - Van Wely,L (2677) [D43]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (3), 10.06.2008
1.c4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Qc2 Qd8 9.Bd3 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rad1 dxc4 12.Bxc4 b5 13.Be2 Bb7 14.Ne4 Qb6 15.Rc1 Rfd8 16.Rfd1 Rac8

In this early position watch Carlsen go for an ending in which he knows he can outplay his experienced opponent. 17.Nc5 Nxc5 18.dxc5 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Qxc5 20.Qxc5 Bxc5 21.Rd7 Ba8 22.Ne5 Bb6 23.Nxf7. All perfectly calculated at move 17 to get the pawn back in a forced line. 23...Rc7 24.Ne5. 24.Nxh6+ gxh6 25.Rd8+ Kg7 26.Rxa8 was also tempting, but Magnus probably made the right choice. 24...Rxd7 25.Nxd7.

Here the position looked fairly equal, according to commentators in Foros and spectators on the Playchess server, who where watching the game very enthusiastically. When someone predicted that Carlsen had gone into this ending with the intention of outplaying van Wely he was greeted with incredulity. In fact some visitors thought that if anyone Black had winning chances. 25...Bc7 26.Nc5 Kf7 27.Bg4 e5 28.Bf3 Ke7 29.Kf1 Bb6 30.b4 a5 31.a3 Bxc5 32.bxc5 Bb7 33.Ke2 Ba6 34.Kd2 Kd7 35.Be4 g5 36.Kc3 Bc8 37.g3 Kc7 38.f4

38...g4? Definitely weakening. 38...exf4 39.exf4 gxf4 40.gxf4 Be6 41.f5 Bf7 looked very drawish. 39.f5 Bd7 40.f6 Kd8 41.Kd3 a4 42.Bg6 Be6

43.Kc3. Magnus disdains winning the pawn with 43.Ke4, possibly fearing some tricks on the queenside? But it looks okay: 43...b4 44.Kxe5 Kd7 45.f7 Bxf7 46.Bxf7 or 44...Bd5 45.Kd6 bxa3 46.f7 Bxf7 47.Bxf7 is all winning for White. 43...Kd7 44.Be4. This is what Jon Speelman calls a "volkswagen" (his term for "zugzwang", a weird German word). The black king has to defend the critical c-pawn, 44...h5 allows 45.Bg6, so Black must move his bishop. 44...Bf7 45.Bf5+ Ke8 46.Bxg4. He went after the g-pawn! 46...Bd5 47.Bh5+ Kd7 48.Bg6 e4 49.g4 Ke6 50.f7 Ke7 51.h4 Kf8 52.Kd4 Ke7 53.h5

The moment of truth has come for Black, and it is not a pleasant moment. 53...Bxf7 54.Bxe4 Be8 55.Bf5 Kf6 56.e4 Kg5 57.Bc8 Kf4 58.e5 b4 59.axb4 a3 60.Kc3 Kxe5 61.Kb3 and White picks up the a-pawn, putting him two pawns ahead in an easily won position. 1-0. A fine game by this young player from Hopberir.

Standings after three rounds

The draw average, which ChessBase users can get by pressing "S" (for statistics) in a games list, shows us that only 44% of the games in this tournament so far were drawn, and that White has been winning exactly half of all the games played.

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.