Astonishing Alexander Morozevich wins Pamplona

The astonishing Alexander Morozevich drew exactly two games in the tournament, winning all the rest of his encounters. His performance was 2951 – with other words, we could expect this kind of a result against this opposition from a player with that Elo rating. If he had won a won queen vs rook ending against Jakovenko (see highlights below) his performance would have in fact been 3085!

Dimitry Jakovenko, 23, who gave a 2809 performance in Pamplona

23-year-old Dmitry Jakovenko was in the lead with Morozevich after round five, but draws in round six (against Shirov) and seven (against Bauer) left him a full point behind the leader.

Alexei Shirov, who hadn't drawn a single game until round six, scored 4.5/7 with a 2755 performance, and France's Christian Bauer was half a point behind with 2712 TPR.

The number of draws in this event was very low – 35% is in fact almost sensational. Note that more games were won with the black pieces than with the white.

The players contributing most heavily to these positive statistics were obviously Morozevich, Shirov and Christian Bauer (+3, =2, –2). But we must also remember Viktor Laznicka (+1, =2, –4) and Oleg Korneev (+0, =2, –5), who influenced the statistics from the bottom end of the table.

A few highlights

Note that at the bottom of the page there are links where you can replay the selected games, or download all of them. As you probably know, during replay on our JavaScript board you can click on the notation to follow the moves on the graphic chessboard.

Korneev,O (2657) - Shirov,A (2720) [B33]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (1), 22.12.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 0-0 12.Nc2 Bg5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 a5 15.Bb5 Ne7 16.Ncb4 Bh3 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Bc6 Rac8 19.Rxa5 Bxg2 20.Rg1 Bh3 21.Qh5 Bh4 22.Qh6 g6 23.Qe3 Be6 24.Ra7 Qf6 25.Bd5 Rb8 26.Ra6 Rfc8 27.Rc6 Rxc6 28.Bxc6 h5 29.Bd5 Bg4 30.Kf1 Kg7 31.Ke1 Bg5 32.Qg3 Bf4 33.Qd3 Bxh2 34.Rh1 Qg5 35.Kf1 Bf4 36.f3 Bd7 37.Qc2

37...Rxb4! 38.cxb4 Qg3. With a pawn on c3 White would still be able to defend with Qf2. 9.Qe2 Be3 40.b3 Bh3+ 0-1 because of mate in one.

Jakovenko,D (2671) - Illescas Cordoba,M (2620) [E90]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (2), 23.12.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.h3 0-0 7.Nf3 e6 8.Bd3 Na6 9.0-0 Nc7 10.Re1 Re8 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 a6 13.e5 dxe5 14.d6 Qxd6 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Ne4 Qe7 17.Nxf6+ Qxf6 18.Nxe5 Rd8 19.Qd2 b6 20.Qxh6 Bb7 21.Re3 Qg7 22.Qh4 Rd4 23.f4 Kf8 24.Rae1 Ne8

25.Nxf7 Rxd3 26.Rxe6 Qd4+ 27.Kh2 Bxg2 28.Qe7+ Kg8 29.Nh6+ Kh8 30.Qf8+ Kh7 31.Qg8+ 1-0 because of mate in one.

Shirov,A (2720) - Wojtaszek,R (2630) [B90]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (2), 23.12.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a5 11.Kb1 a4 12.Nc1 a3 13.b3 Ra5 14.Bc4 Bxc4 15.bxc4 Qc8 16.Qd3 Nbd7 17.Nb3 Ra6 18.g4 Rc6 19.g5 Ne8 20.Nd5 Bd8 21.Nd2 Nc5 22.Qxa3 Ra6 23.Qb2 Na4 24.Qb4 Nc7 25.Nb3 b5 26.c5

26...Nxd5 27.exd5 Bb6 28.cxb6 Nc3+ 29.Qxc3 Qxc3 30.Rd3 Qc4 31.Rc1 Qa4 0-1. Shirov on the wrong side of a deadly attack.

Morozevich,A (2747) - Shirov,A (2720) [D90]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (3), 24.12.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Nb6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Rc1 0-0 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 c5 11.d5 e6 12.d6 Nd5 13.h4 g4 14.Ne5 Qxd6 15.e4 f5 16.exf5 Bxe5 17.Nb5 Qc6 18.Bxe5 exf5 19.Nd6 Nb6 20.f3 Be6 21.Bb5 Qd5 22.Qe2 N8d7 23.Bf4 gxf3 24.gxf3 Kh7 25.Rd1 Qxa2 26.Kf2 Rf6 27.Rhg1 Raf8 28.Be5 Nxe5 29.Qxe5 Nd7?

30.Bxd7 Bxd7 31.Ne4 fxe4 32.Rxd7+ Kh8 33.Rg6 1-0.

Laznicka,V (2596) - Shirov,A (2720) [C43]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (4), 26.12.2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.0-0 Bd6 8.c4 c6 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 0-0 12.Qh5 g6 13.Qxd5 Qc7 14.Qf3 Bxh2+ 15.Kh1 Bd6 16.c4 Rfe8 17.c5 Bf8 18.Be4 Bc6 19.d5 Bb5 20.d6 Qxc5 21.Bd5 Bg7 22.Ba3 Qd4 23.Bxf7+ Kh8 24.Bxe8 Rxe8 25.Rad1 Qh4+ 26.Kg1 Bxf1 27.d7 Rd8 28.Re1

Laznica is trying to mate Shirov. 28...Qa4 29.Qf7 Be2 30.Rxe2 Qd1+ 31.Kh2 Qxe2 32.Be7 Qh5+ 33.Kg3 Qe5+ 34.f4 Qe3+ 35.Kh2 Rg8 36.Qxg8+ Kxg8 37.d8Q+ Kf7 38.Bd6 Bd4 39.Qd7+ Kf6 40.Qxh7?

40...Qg1+ 41.Kg3 Qe1+ 42.Kh2 Bg1+ 43.Kh3 Qe6+ 44.g4 Qxd6 0-1.

Bauer,Christian (2585) - Morozevich,A (2747) [D00]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (4), 26.12.2006
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Bg4 3.f3 Bh5 4.e3 e6 5.c4 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Ne7 7.Rc1 c5 8.dxc5 0-0 9.Nge2 Nd7 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Kf2 Nxc3 12.Nxc3 Bxc5 13.Ne4 Bb6 14.Bc4 h6 15.Qd6 e5 16.Bxe5 Rc8 17.Bd4 Rc6 18.Bxb6 Rxb6 19.Qd4 Qh4+ 20.g3 Qe7 21.Be2 Ne5 22.Rc5 Re6 23.Rd1 Nxf3 24.Bxf3 Bxf3 25.Kxf3 Rxe4 26.Qxe4 Qxc5 27.Kg2 Qb5 28.Rd2 Re8 29.Qf3 b6 30.b3 Re7 31.Rd8+ Kh7 32.e4 Qc6 33.Qf5+ g6 34.Qd5 Qc2+ 35.Kh3 Qf2 36.Qd4??

36...Qf1+! 37.Kh4 g5+ 38.Kg4 f5+ 39.exf5 Qe2+ 40.Kh3 Qh5+ 41.Kg2 Re2+ 0-1.

Jakovenko,D (2671) - Wojtaszek,R (2630) [E12]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (4), 26.12.2006
1.c4 b6 2.Nc3 Bb7 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.d4 e6 5.a3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Qc2 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.e4 0-0 10.Bd3 c5 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Qe2 Nd7 13.Bb2 Rac8 14.Nd2 Nf6 15.f4 b5 16.Kh1 g6 17.Rae1 c4 18.Bc2 a5 19.Rf3 Nh5 20.Qe3 b4 21.g4 Nf6 22.Rg1 bxa3 23.Ba1 Rfe8 24.h4 Bf8 25.h5 Bg7 26.Rf2 Kh8 27.hxg6 fxg6 28.Kh2 Rf8 29.e5 Nd5 30.Qg3 Qe7 31.g5 Nb4 32.cxb4 axb4 33.Qh3 Kg8 34.Ne4 Bxe4 35.Bxe4 c3 36.Kg2 Rc4 37.Qd3 Qc7 38.d5 Qc5 39.dxe6 Rd4 40.Qe3 Qc4 41.Re1 Re8 42.Bc2

With those three black passers Black could not resist a full-out attack: 42...Rd2? 43.Rxd2 cxd2 44.Qxd2 b3 45.Be4 b2 46.Bxb2 axb2 47.Qd7 Rxe6? But the position is lost anyway. 48.Bd5 Qc2+ 49.Kg1 1-0.

Korneev,O (2657) - Laznicka,V (2596) [B44]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (5), 27.12.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nb5 d6 6.Bf4 e5 7.Be3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd2 a6 11.Nc3 f5 12.Bc4 Qg5 13.g3 h5 14.Nd5 0-0-0 15.c3 Bh6 16.Ne3 fxe4 17.Nxe4 Qg6 18.Qa4?

Do you see the fork? 18...Bxc4 19.Qxc4 Bxe3 0-1 because of 20.fxe3 d5.

Morozevich,A (2747) - Jakovenko,D (2671) [E39]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (5), 27.12.2006

After ouplaying his main rival Alexander Morozevich traded down to this won ending, and once again we saw that even world class GMs can have problems with it. 71.g8Q Kxb5 72.Qc8 Rd5 73.Ke6 Rd4 74.Ke5 Rd3 75.Qc2 Rd8 76.Qb3+ Kc5 77.Qc3+ Kb5 78.Ke6 Kb6 79.Qc4 Rg8 80.Qd4+ Kc6 81.Qc3+ Kb5 82.Kd6 Rg6+ 83.Kc7 Rg4 84.Qc6+ Kb4 85.Qd6+ Kc3 86.Kc6 Rd4 87.Qa3+ Kd2 88.Kc5 Re4 89.Kd5 Rg4 90.Qf3 Rb4 91.Kc5 Ra4 92.Qf6 Kd3 93.Qd6+ Ke3 94.Qg3+ Ke2 95.Qc3 Rf4 96.Kd5 Rg4 97.Ke5 Rh4 98.Kf5 Kf2 99.Qd3 Rh7 100.Qd4+ Kf3 101.Kg5 Rh2 102.Qf4+ Kg2 103.Kg4 Kg1 104.Qd4+ Kg2 105.Qd3 Kg1 106.Qe3+ Kf1 107.Qc1+ Kf2 108.Qd2+ Kg1 109.Qe1+ Kg2 110.Qg3+ Kh1

Now comes the fatal mistake, to which we have all at least once fallen prey: 111.Kf3? Rf2+! 112.Ke3 Re2+! 113.Kd3 Rd2+! White cannot escape the suicidal rook. 114.Kxd2 ½-½.

Laznicka,V (2596) - Bauer,Christian (2585) [B07]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (6), 28.12.2006
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.g4 h6 5.h3 e5 6.Bg2 c6 7.Nge2 b5 8.a3 Bb7 9.Be3 a5 10.Ng3 g6 11.f4 Bg7 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.f5 Qc7 14.Qf3 Nb6 15.b3 Nfd7 16.0-0 Bf6 17.h4 0-0-0 18.g5 hxg5 19.hxg5 Be7 20.Qf2 Ba6 21.Rfc1 Kb7 22.a4 b4 23.Nd1 Rh4 24.Ne2 Rg4 25.f6 Bc5 26.c3 Qd6 27.cxb4 Bxb4 28.Ndc3 Nc5 29.Rd1 Nd3 30.Qf3 Bc5 31.Ra2 Rxg5 32.Rad2

It is a pleasure to watch how this game ends: 32...Ne1 33.Rxd6 Nxf3+ 34.Kf2 Rxd6 35.Rxd6 Rxg2+ 36.Kxg2 Bxd6 37.Kxf3 Nd7 38.Kg4 Nxf6+ 39.Kg5 Be7 0-1.

Shirov,A (2720) - Illescas Cordoba,M (2620) [B84]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (7), 29.12.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 Qc7 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 d6 9.f4 Bd7 10.g4 h5 11.g5 Ng4 12.Bxg4 hxg4 13.g6 0-0-0 14.gxf7 Rh3 15.f5 d5 16.Bf4 Qb6 17.fxe6 Bxe6 18.Na4 Qa7 19.c3 dxe4 20.Kg2 Rxd4 21.cxd4 Rd3

Who wouldn't play 22.Qe2 or at least move the queen elsewhere in the above position? The correct answer is: Alexei Shirov, who continued 22.d5! Rxd1 23.Raxd1 e3 24.Rfe1 b5 25.dxe6 bxa4 26.Rd7 Qb6 27.Rxe3 Qxb2+ 28.Kg3 g5 29.Bxg5 Nd4 30.Rd8+ Kb7 31.Rxd4 Qxd4 32.e7 Qh8 33.e8Q Qh3+ 34.Kf4 Bd6+ 35.Kf5 1-0.

Morozevich,A (2747) - Korneev,O (2657) [D48]
XVI Magistral A Pamplona ESP (7), 29.12.2006
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.d5 Qc7 11.0-0 Bb7 12.Bc2 0-0-0 13.Ng5 Ne5 14.f4 Nc4 15.b3 Nb6 16.f5 h6 17.Nxf7 Qxf7 18.fxe6 Qc7 19.Bf4 Bd6 20.Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Rf5 Qc7 22.a4 b4 23.a5 bxc3 24.axb6 Qxb6 25.Kh1 Rhe8 26.Qf1 Kb8 27.Rd1 Ka7 28.h3 Qb4 29.Ra1 Nxe4 30.Bxe4 Qxe4 31.Rf7 Qxd5??

Naturally Alex Morozevich saw the combination that Black had allowed: 32.Rxa6+! Kb8 33.Qf4+ Rd6 34.Rxb7+ Kxb7 35.Rxd6 Qxb3 36.Qf7+ 1-0.

Previous winners of Pamplona

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