Biel 09: Carlsen beats Radjabov and Onischuk, wins Biel

Results

Final standings:

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Round nine report

The final round started with Radjabov and Onischuk sharing first place, half a point ahead of Carlsen, Pelletier and Polgar. Naturally, most attention was on the clash between Carlsen and Radjabov. The latter needed a draw to guarantee at least a share of first place, but it never looked likely. His 12th and 13th moves initiated complications, the outcome of which would have been unclear after 16...Bb4. Instead, Radjabov's choice gave White an overwhelming initiative, and Carlsen crashed through in style.

Teimour Radjabov vs Magnus Carlsen in round nine [photo Europe Echecs]

Carlsen,M (2710) - Radjabov,T (2746) [B07]
GM Biel SUI (9), 02.08.2007
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nge2 Nbd7 5.g3 c6 6.Bg2 b5 7.a3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.h3 a5 10.g4 Ba6 11.Ng3 b4 12.Nce2

12...bxa3 13.Rxa3 d5 14.Re3 dxe4 15.Re1 Qc7 16.Nf5 Bd8? 17.g5 Nd5 18.Rxe4 f6 19.Neg3 g6 20.Nh6+ Kg7

21.dxe5 fxg5 22.e6 Kxh6 23.e7 Qb6 24.exf8Q+ Nxf8 25.c4 Nf4 26.Qd6 Kg7 27.Bxf4 gxf4 28.Re7+ with mate to follow. 1–0.

The other joint leader, Onischuk, fared better. His Marshall yielded a typical endgame, where White's extra pawn was balanced by Black's tremendous piece activity. It was perhaps a trifle surprising that the draw was agreed just at the point where White looked to have loosened the chains, but Motylev evidently felt that, after an exchange on e5, the opposite-coloured bishop ending would have offered few prospects.

Motylev,A (2648) - Onischuk,Al (2650) [C89]
GM Biel SUI (9), 02.08.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Re4 g5

16.Qf1 Qxf1+ 17.Kxf1 Bf5 18.Nd2 h6 19.Re1 Rae8 20.Nf3 g4 21.Ng1 Bd3+ 22.Ne2 Re6 23.Bxd5 cxd5 24.Be3 Rfe8 25.Red1 Be4 26.Nc1 h5 27.Nd3 Bf3 28.Re1 h4 29.Bf4 Be4 30.Ne5 Bf5 31.f3

½–½.

The other key game was the meeting of Polgar and Pelletier, either of whom could now share first by winning. This was a rather strange game, as Polgar first dropped a pawn to an elementary combination, then soon afterwards stood better! Pelletier reacted with a well-judged exchange sacrifice, and the position finally ended up as a draw.

Polgar,Ju (2707) - Pelletier,Y (2591) [B47]
GM Biel SUI (9), 02.08.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Ndb5 Qb8 8.f4 d6 9.Qf3 Be7 10.Bd3 a6 11.Nd4 Bd7 12.0–0 Nb4 13.f5 e5 14.Nde2 Bc6 15.a3 Nxd3 16.cxd3 0–0 17.g4 h6 18.g5 hxg5 19.Bxg5

19... Nxe4 20.dxe4 Bxg5 21.Rad1 Bf6 22.Nd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Rd8 24.Nc3 Qa7+ 25.Kh1 Rac8 26.Rd3 Rxc3 27.Rxc3 d5 28.Rfc1 dxe4 29.Qxe4 Qf2 30.R3c2 Rd2 31.Rxd2 Qxd2

32.Rc8+ Kh7 33.Rc2 Qd1+ 34.Kg2 Bg5 35.f6+ g6 36.Qc4 Qd7 37.Rf2 Bf4 38.Qb3 Kg8 39.Qh3 Qc6+ 40.Qf3 Qxf6 41.Qxb7 Qe6 42.h3 Qc4 43.b3 Qc3 44.Qf3 Qc5 45.b4 Qc4 46.Qe2 Qc6+ 47.Qf3 Qc4 48.Rb2 Bc1 49.Rf2 ½–½.

The two remaining games could not affect the top prizes, but both were fought down to the wire. Grischuk won a long ending against Avrukh, whilst Van Wely followed up his maiden win yesterday by outplaying Bu with the black pieces.

Avrukh,B (2645) - Grischuk,A (2726) [D39]
GM Biel SUI (9), 02.08.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bxd7+ Nxd7 13.0–0 a6 14.Rb1 Qc7 15.Qh5

15...Ke7 16.Rfd1 b5 17.Rb2 Rac8 18.Rbd2 Nc5 19.Re2 Qf4 20.g3 Qg5 21.Qf3 h5 22.e5 f5 23.c4 bxc4 24.Rc2 Qg4 25.Rxc4 Qxf3 26.Nxf3 Ne4 27.Rdc1 Rxc4 28.Rxc4 Rb8 29.Rc2 Rb4 30.Kg2 a5 31.Ne1 Rd4 32.f3 Nd2 33.Kf2 Nc4 34.f4 Nb6 35.Nf3 Ra4 36.Rb2 Nd5 37.Rb7+ Ke8 38.Ng5 Rxa2+ 39.Kf3 Ra3+ 40.Kf2 Ra2+ 41.Kf3 Nc3 42.Ke3 a4 43.Nxf7

43... a3 44.Nd6+ Kf8 45.Rf7+ Kg8 46.Ra7 Ra1 47.Kd4 Nd5 48.Nb5 Nb4 49.Ra8+ Kf7 50.Nc3 a2 51.Ra4 h4 52.Rxb4 Rd1+ 53.Nxd1 a1Q+ 54.Nc3 h3 0-1.

Bu Xiangzhi (2685) - Van Wely,L (2680) [D45]
GM Biel SUI (9), 02.08.2007
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.b3 0–0 8.Be2 b6 9.0–0 Bb7 10.Bb2 Qe7 11.Rfe1 Rfe8 12.Rad1 Rad8 13.Bd3 e5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.Qxe4 Nf6 19.Qh4 e4

20.d5 Bc5 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Rxe4 Qxh4 23.Rxh4 Re2 24.b4 Bxf2+ 25.Kf1 Rxa2 26.Re4 b5 27.Ne5 Rc2 28.Rd3 g6 29.Rf4 Bb6 30.d6 f5 31.g4 Re8 32.Rd5 Rc1+ 33.Ke2 Rc3 34.Rf3 Rc4 35.Kd3 fxg4 36.Rf1 Rxb4 37.d7 Rxe5 38.Rxe5 Rd4+ 39.Ke2 Rxd7 40.Rxb5 Re7+ 41.Kd1 h5 42.Rb3 Kg7 43.h3 Re4 44.hxg4 Rxg4

45.Ke2 h4 46.Rd3 Kh6 47.Rf8 Rg2+ 48.Kf1 Rg1+ 49.Ke2 Kh5 50.Rc8 Rg2+ 51.Ke1 Rg5 52.Rb3 Re5+ 53.Kf1 Re4 54.Rbc3 g5 55.Kg2 Re2+ 56.Kh1 Bd4 57.Ra3 Re1+ 58.Kg2 Rg1+ 59.Kh2 Rd1 60.Kg2 Rd2+ 61.Kh1 Re2 62.Ra4 Re1+ 63.Kg2 Rg1+ 64.Kh2 Rd1 65.Rcc4 Be5+ 66.Kg2 h3+ 0–1.

The Playoff

Shortly after the final game had ended, Carlsen and Onischuk sat down to contest a playoff to determine first place. Two 15-minute games both ended in draws, as did two games at five minutes plus two seconds increment.

Magnus Carlsen vs Alexander Onischuk in the tiebreak

Onischuk,Al (2685) - Carlsen,M (2680) [E15]
GM Playoff Biel SUI (10.1), 02.08.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 d5 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 Bb7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Ne5 0-0 11.0-0 c5 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Rc1 Qe7 14.Nd3 Nbd7 15.Re1 Rfe8 16.Qc2 Rac8 17.Qb2 Ba6 18.Nf4 d4 19.b4 cxb4 20.Qxd4 Nb6 21.Nb3 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rd8 23.Qc5 Qxc5 24.Nxc5 Bc4 25.Nfd3 Nfd5 26.Nb7 Rb8 27.Rxc4 Nxc4 28.Bxd5 Nb6 29.Bf3 Na4 30.Nxb4 Nc3 31.e3 a5 32.Na6 Ra8 33.Nc7 Ra7 34.a3 a4 35.Kf1 Nb1 36.Nb5 Ra6 37.Be2 Rc6 38.Na5 Rc5 39.Bd3 Nxa3 40.Nxa3 Rxa5 41.Bb5 Ra8 42.Ke2 Kf8 43.Kd3 Rc8 44.Nc2 Ra8 45.Na3 Rc8 46.Nc2 Ra8 47.Bc4 Rb8 48.Kc3 Rb1 49.h4 Rh1 50.Bb5 Rh2 51.f3 Rh3 52.Bxa4 Rxg3 53.Nd4 Rh3 54.Kd3 Rxh4 55.f4 Rh1 56.Ke4 h5 57.Kf3 g6 58.Bb3 Rf1+ 59.Kg2 Rb1 60.Bd5 Kg7 61.e4 Rd1 62.Nf3 f5 63.Ng5 Rd2+ 64.Kg3 fxe4 65.Bxe4 Kf6 66.Nf3 Re2 67.Bd3 Ra2 68.Be4 Ra3 69.Bd5 Rxf3+ ½-½

Carlsen,M (2685) - Onischuk,Al (2680) [E36]
GM Playoff Biel SUI (10.2), 02.08.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 dxc4 7.Qxc4 b6 8.Bf4 Nd5 9.Bg3 Ba6 10.Qa4+ Qd7 11.Qc2 Qb5 12.Nf3 Nc6 13.Rc1 Nde7 14.b4 Qh5 15.Qa4 Bb5 16.Qb3 Qd5 17.Qxd5 exd5 18.e3 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Rc8 20.Ke2 f6 21.b5 Na5 22.Rxc7 Rxc7 23.Bxc7 Kd7 24.Bg3 Rc8 25.Kd3 Nc4 26.Ra1 Nf5 27.Nh4 Nfd6 28.Bxd6 Nxd6 29.a4 Ne4 30.Ra2 Rc3+ 31.Ke2 Rc4 32.Kd3 Rc3+ 33.Ke2 Rb3 34.Kf3 Nc3 35.Ra1 Rb2 36.Nf5 Ne4 37.Ng3 Rxf2+ 38.Kg4 Rxg2 39.a5 Rxh2 40.Nxe4 dxe4 41.axb6 axb6 42.Kf5 Rg2 43.Kxe4 Rg5 44.Ra7+ Kc8 45.d5 h5 46.Ra8+ Kc7 47.Rh8 Kd6 48.Rd8+ Kc5 49.Rc8+ Kxb5 50.d6 Re5+ 51.Kd4 Re6 52.Kd5 Re5+ 53.Kd4 Re6 54.Kd5 Re5+ ½-½.

Onischuk,Al (2685) - Carlsen,M (2680) [A58]
GM Playoff Biel SUI (10.3), 02.08.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.Nf3 d6 8.g3 Bg7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.Qc2 Nb6 11.Nd2 Bb7 12.e4 Ba6 13.Bf1 Qc8 14.Bb5+ Bxb5 15.Nxb5 0-0 16.0-0 Qh3 17.f3 Nh5 18.Rf2 f5 19.Nc4 Nxc4 20.Qxc4 fxe4 21.Qxe4 Nf6 22.Qe6+ Qxe6 23.dxe6 Nd5 24.a4 Rfb8 25.Ra3 Nb6 26.b3 c4 27.bxc4 Nxc4 28.Raa2 Nb6 29.Rfc2 Rxa4 30.Bg5 Rxa2 31.Rxa2 Nd5 32.Na7 h6 33.Rd2 hxg5 34.Rxd5 Rb1+ 35.Kg2 Rb2+ 36.Kh3 Bf6 37.Nc6 Re2 38.Nd8 Kg7 39.Ra5 Bd4 40.Nf7 Rxe6 41.Nxg5 Re5 42.Rxe5 Bxe5 43.Kg4 Bb2 44.f4 Kf6 45.Ne4+ Kf7 46.h4 d5 47.Nf2 Bd4 48.Nd3 Kf6 49.Kf3 e5 50.fxe5+ Bxe5 51.g4 Bd6 52.h5 ½-½.

Carlsen,M (2685) - Onischuk,Al (2680) [C78]
GM Playoff Biel SUI (10.4), 02.08.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.d3 0-0 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Re1 Bb6 11.Nf1 Ng4 12.Re2 d5 13.exd5 Bxd5 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 15.h3 e4 16.Ne1 exd3 17.Qxd3 Qxd3 18.Nxd3 Rad8 19.hxg4 Rxd3 20.Be3 Re8 21.Rae1 h6 22.Bxb6 Rxe2 23.Rxe2 cxb6 24.Re8+ Kh7 25.Ra8 a5 26.Ra6 Ne5 27.Rxb6 Nc4 28.Rxb5 Rd1 29.f3 Ne3 30.Kf2 Nxf1 31.Rxa5 Rb1 32.Rd5 Rxb2+ 33.Kxf1 Rxa2 34.c4 Rc2 35.c5 f6 36.Ke1 Rxg2 37.Kd1 Ra2 38.c6 Ra8 39.c7 Rc8 40.Rd7 Kg6 41.Ke2 f5 42.Ke3 fxg4 43.fxg4 Kf6 44.Ke4 g6 45.Kd5 Kg5 46.Kd6 Kxg4 47.Rd8 Rxc7 48.Kxc7 h5 49.Rd4+ Kg3 50.Kd6 h4 51.Ke5 h3 52.Rd3+ Kg4 53.Rd2 Kg3 54.Kf6 h2 ½-½.

Finally, everything was decided by an "Armageddon" game. Onischuk had White and five minutes on the clock, Carlsen Black, four minutes, and draw odds. It was the Norwegian wonderboy who triumphed, finishing the game with a neat queen sacrifice. We have been unable to confirm rumours than an earth tremor was felt in Biel, during the final game, believed to have been caused by Mikhail Botvinnik revolving in his grave at the thought of a major international tournament being decided in such fashion...

Onischuk,Al (2685) - Carlsen,M (2680) [E20]
GM Playoff Biel SUI (10.5), 02.08.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bd2 Bxc3 10.bxc3 e5 11.Nb3 Nc6 12.0-0 Nb6 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Qc2 Be6 15.Rfd1 Nc4 16.Bc5 Rfd8 17.Qe4 Rac8

18.f4 f5 19.Qf3 b6 20.Bf2 e4 21.Qh5 Qf7 22.Qh4 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Nb2 24.Rd6 Nc4 25.Rd1 Nb2 26.Rc1 Na4 27.Nd4 Nxd4 28.Bxd4 Bxa2 29.g4 Be6 30.Rd1 Nb2 31.Ra1 Nc4 32.gxf5 Bxf5 33.Qg5 h6 34.Qg3 Kh7 35.e3 Rc7 36.Kf2 Qg6 37.Qh4 Nb2 38.Bf1 Nd3+ 39.Bxd3 exd3 40.Rg1

40...Qxg1+! 41.Kxg1 d2 42.Qh5 Bc2 0-1.

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