Biel 06: Radjabov and Polgar win, Carlsen leads

Round six report

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Standings after six rounds

Our report of two days' ago included a video of Judit Polgar discussing Bobby Fischer. Coincidentally or not, in her game against Motylev today, she chose the old and unfashionable 11...gxf6 in the main line Najdorf, a line played several times by the 11th world champion, almost half a century ago! Her 13...h6 appears to be a novelty – it would be nice to be able to reveal that Fischer showed this to her back in 1993, when staying with the Polgar family, but as Judit's interview makes clear, he did not analyse or play with her at that time! Anyhow, an unclear position was reached, but once White snatched the h-pawn, his pieces became uncoordinated, and the initiative passed to Black. White shed the exchange in the process of untangling, and Polgar duly converted the advantage.

Alexander Motylev vs Judit Polgar in round six

Motylev,A (2648) - Polgar,Ju (2707) [B99]
GM Biel SUI (6), 29.07.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0–0–0 Nbd7 10.g4 b5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.a3 Bb7

13.h4 [13.f5 e5 14.Nde2 Nb6 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Rc8 17.Nc3 Nc4 18.Bxc4 bxc4 19.Kb1 Rb8 20.Ka2 h5 21.gxh5 Bf8 22.Rhg1 Ke7 23.Qe2 Bh6 24.Rg4 Rhc8 25.Qf2 Rb7 26.Rb1 Rcb8 27.Ne4 Rb6 28.Nxf6 Qb7 29.Ng8+ Kf8 30.c3 Bc1 31.Rg2 Rxb2+ 32.Rxb2 Bxb2 33.Qc2 Qb5 34.f6 Qa5 35.Qxb2 Rxb2+ 36.Kxb2 Qxd5 37.Rg7 Qd2+ 38.Kb1 Qd1+ 39.Kb2 Qb3+ 40.Kc1 Qxc3+ 0–1 Mednis-Fischer, US Ch 1959.] 13...h6 14.Rh2 Nc5 15.Rhd2 h5 16.g5 f5 17.Bd3 0–0–0 18.Qe3 fxe4 19.Bxe4 d5 20.Bg2 Bd6 21.Rf2 Kb8 22.Kb1 Rhe8 23.Rff1 Nd7 24.Nce2 Nb6 25.Ng3 Nc4 26.Qf3 Rc8 27.Nxh5 Rh8 28.c3 Qa5 29.Rd3

29...e5 30.fxe5 Nxe5 31.Qf6 Qd8 32.Nf4 Qxf6 33.gxf6 Nxd3 34.Nxd3 Rcg8 35.Bf3 Rh6 36.Be2 Kc7 37.h5 Bc8 38.Kc1 Bg4 39.Bxg4 Rxg4 40.Nb4 Bxb4 41.axb4 Rxh5 42.Rf2 Kd6 43.Kb1 Rhg5 44.Nf5+ Ke6 45.Nd4+ Kd7 46.Nb3 Rg2 47.Rf3 R5g3 48.Rf4 Rh3 49.Nc5+ Kd6 50.Rf1 Rhh2 51.Nd3 Rd2 52.Rf3 d4 0–1.

Radjabov won in decisive style against Avrukh. White's 14th is a novelty, improving on a previous Avrukh game. The Israeli turned down a couple of opportunities to snatch the c2-pawn, and by move 25, it was clear that the open g-file and powerful knight on f5 spelt doom for the black king.

Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan vs Boris Avrukh of Israel

Radjabov,T (2746) - Avrukh,B (2645) [B85]
GM Biel SUI (6), 29.07.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be2 Qc7 6.0–0 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 d6 10.Kh1 0–0 11.a4 Rb8 12.Qe1 Bd7 13.Qg3 Kh8

14.a5 [14.Rad1 Ng8 15.f5 Ne5 16.Bf4 Bf6 17.Nf3 Bc6 18.Rxd6 Nxf3 19.Bxf3 e5 20.Bxe5 Bxe5 21.Qxe5 Qb6 22.Qd4 Qxb2 23.Rb1 Qa3 24.Nb5 Qa2 25.Nc3 Qa3 26.Nb5 Qa2 27.Na3 f6 28.Be2 Qf7 29.Bxa6 Rfe8 30.Bc4 Qh5 31.Be6 Qh4 32.Nc4 Nh6 33.Bd5 Nxf5 34.Qc3 Nxd6 35.Nxd6 Bxd5 36.exd5 Re2 37.Qf3 Re1+ 0–1 Asrian,K-Avrukh,B/Leningrad 1990/EXT 2000] Nb4 15.Bg1 e5 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Nf3 Rbe8 18.Bb6 Qb8 19.Bd3 Bd6 20.Bc4 h6 21.Nh4 Nh5 22.Qf2 Nf4 23.g3 Be6 24.gxf4 Bxc4 25.Rg1 Be7 26.Nf5

26... Bf6 27.Bc5 Nc6 28.Ne3 Be6 29.f5 Bd7 30.Ncd5 Bg5 31.Bxf8 Rxf8 32.f6 g6 33.Rad1 Be6 34.Nc4 Rd8 35.c3 Kh7 36.Nce3 Bf4 37.Ng2 g5 38.Qf3 Qc8 39.Ngxf4 exf4 40.Rxg5 1–0.

Grischuk made a determined attempt to beat the leader. The quiet 4.e3, avoiding a Benoni in favour of the more positional channels of the QGD Tarrasch, left White with some pressure against Black's IQP. However, although the pawn eventually fell, it yielded no more than a drawn 3 v 2 rook endgame, with all pawns on the same side. Perhaps mindful of his opponent's blunder in a drawn R+P v R position against Aronian in Moscow last year, Grischuk made the youngster suffer for some 15 more moves, but could not change the verdict of endgame theory.

Trying to teach the boy a lesson: Alexander Grischuk vs Magnus Carlsen

Grischuk,A (2726) - Carlsen,M (2710) [D30]
GM Biel SUI (6), 29.07.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.0–0 Be7 10.Nc3 0–0 11.b3 Nce4 12.Ne2 Rc8 13.Bb2 Qd7 14.Ne5 Qd6 15.f3 Nc5 16.Qd2 Ne6 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Nd3 Ne8 19.Ndf4 Nxf4 20.Nxf4 Bf6 21.Rac1 Rxc1 22.Qxc1 Bxb2 23.Qxb2

23...Nf6 24.Rd4 Qc5 25.Qd2 h6 26.h3 Rd7 27.Rd3 Rd8 28.Kh1 Re8 29.Nxd5 Nxd5 30.Rxd5 Qxe3 31.Qxe3 Rxe3 32.Rd8+ Kh7 33.Rd7 Re2 34.a4 b6 35.Rxf7 Rb2 36.Rxa7 Rxb3 37.Kh2 b5 38.axb5 Rxb5

39.g4 h5 40.Kg3 hxg4 41.hxg4 Kg8 42.f4 g6 43.Kf3 Rb4 44.Rd7 Kf8 45.g5 Ra4 46.Ke3 Rb4 47.Rd4 Rb1 48.Ke4 Re1+ 49.Kd5 Kf7 50.Kc6 Rc1+ 51.Kd7 Rc5 52.Kd6 Rf5 53.Rc4 Kg8 54.Ke7 Kg7 55.Ke6 Kg8 ½–½.

The tough life of a teenage chess genius

Onischuk-Bu was the longest game of the day. The Chinese GM's exchange sacrifice netted two pawns and a promising-looking endgame, but after a long rearguard action, Onischuk held the half point.

Onischuk,Al (2650) - Bu Xiangzhi (2685) [D18]
GM Biel SUI (6), 29.07.2007
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0–0 0–0 9.Nh4 Nbd7 10.Nxf5 exf5 11.Qc2 g6 12.f3 Qb6 13.Kh1 c5 14.Na2 Ba5 15.dxc5 Qxc5 16.b4 Bxb4 17.Qb3 Nb6 18.Be2 a5 19.Nxb4 Qxb4 20.Qa2

20...Nbd5 21.Ba3 Qxa4 22.Bxf8 Qxa2 23.Rxa2 Kxf8 24.Ra3 b6 25.g4 Re8 26.g5 Nh5 27.e4 Ndf4 28.Bd3 Re5 29.Rb1 fxe4 30.fxe4 Nh3 31.Bf1 Nf2+ 32.Kg1 Nxe4 33.Rb5 Nc5 34.Rxb6 Rxg5+ 35.Kh1 Rf5 36.Bg2 Re5 37.Rb1 a4 38.Bc6 Nf4 39.Bxa4 Ncd3 40.Bc6 Nh3 41.Rf1 Nhf2+ 42.Kg2 Rc5 43.Be4 Rg5+ 44.Kf3 Nxe4 45.Rxd3 Nf6 46.Ke2 Ng4 47.Rf4 Re5+ 48.Kf3 Nh6 49.Rd7 Nf5 50.Ra4 h5 51.Raa7 Nh6 52.h4 Kg7

53.Ra4 Rb5 54.Kg2 Rb2+ 55.Kh3 Rb3+ 56.Kg2 Nf5 57.Rc7 Rd3 58.Rb7 Kf6 59.Rb6+ Nd6 60.Rf4+ Ke6 61.Ra6 Rd5 62.Kh3 f6 63.Ra3 Ke5 64.Rfa4 Rd1 65.Re3+ Kf5 66.Rf3+ Ke5 67.Re3+ Kf5 ½–½.

Pelletier-van Wely was a fairly quiet draw. The Dutchman managed to achieve a slight initiative in the endgame, but it was largely symbolic and a draw was soon agreed.

Pelletier,Y (2591) - Van Wely,L (2680) [D45]
GM Biel SUI (6), 29.07.2007
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.e4 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Bb4 11.a3 Bxd2+ 12.Nxd2 c5 13.0–0–0 cxd4 14.Qxd4 Qe5 15.Ne4 Qxd4 16.Rxd4 Ke7 17.Be2 a5 18.b3 b6 19.Rhd1 Nc5 20.Nxc5 bxc5 21.Rd6 Ra6 22.Rxa6 Bxa6

23.Kc2 Bb7 24.g3 g5 25.Kc3 Ra8 26.Rd3 f5 27.f4 g4 28.Bd1 h5 29.Rd2 Bc6 30.Bc2 Rb8 31.Re2 Kd6 32.Rd2+ Kc7 33.Re2 Kd6 34.Rd2+ Kc7 35.Re2 Bd7 36.h4 Rb6 ½–½.

• Tournament web site

Video from the Biel Chess Festival

"I think if you want to earn money you shouldn't be a chess player. You should be a chess player if you like it, if you like the game, the atmosphere, the life style. And if you are clever enough somehow you make money. I make a good living, but I've been in chess for two and a half decades, and also I'm known, and I am in the media a lot. But if I was a good doctor, not even at this level, just an average doctor, I would earn five times more.

Karpov on Topalov and the World Championship: "I still don't like the system, but it is an improvement. We have a positive trend. I think the decision [to implement the new FIDE world championship cycle] is illegal, because it breaks the rights of chess players, especially the winner of Khanty-Mansyisk, who had the right to play against the world champion under the previous regulations, and now he must play a match against Topalov – for what [reason] he does not know, and nobody knows. So it doesn't mean I support that Topalov is out [of the Mexico Championship], but actually he created the system himself, with Danailov. They made the system in Argentina, when Topalov and Danailov were there, and they thought that Topalov would beat Kramnik, and so they wanted to keep Kramnik apart. I don't know if you have this saying in Europe, but we have it in Russia: 'Don't dig a hole for others, you may fall in the hole yourself.' This is clearly the case with Topalov. I believe that for this provocation he should suffer. I don't know how it was possible to make such a decision."

Karpov on doping and computer-assisted cheating in chess: "We have some problems in chess. You must make strict controls and quick decisions. It is absolutely not acceptable to have access to computers and to have some communications. There are many rumours. I don't understand this populistic discussion about 'doping' in chess, aside from computers. It is unbelievable that they try to take probes from chess players. Nobody knows what is doping in chess. Anabolics or what?"

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