Bucharest 07: No changes

by ChessBase
10/14/2013 – Two hard fought draws were featured today in Bucharest. Ponomariov had good chances to play for a win against Nisipeanu as he obtained a slight advantage with the black side of a Nimzo-Indian. However the Romanian's defense was spot-on and he barely held to a draw. Radjabov couldn't penetrate Wang Hao's Schlecter. Analysis and an exclusive interview with Ponomariov.
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The opening ceremony of the 7th edition of Kings Tournament Romgaz took place on the 6th of October in the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (Piata Romana Nr.6). This international tournament is organized by the Sports Club “Elisabeta Polihroniade” and is a part of the Grand Slam circuit. The Kings Tournament will be a double round robin competition with 5 world-class participants: Fabiano Caruana (Italy, GM, 2779), the former World Cham pion Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, GM, 2756), Wang Hao (China, GM, 2736), Radjabov Teimour (Azerbaijan, GM, 2733) and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, (Romania, GM, 2665). This year’s edition will be played in the Magna Auditorium and Conference Hall "Virgil Madgearu" of the  Bucharest University of Economic Studies – a partner of the Kings Tournament. The rounds will start every day from the 7th until the 17th October at 3:30 p.m. (last round starts at 1:30 p.m) and entrance will be free for spectators.

Round 7

Round 7 – October 13, 15:30h
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
½-½
 Wang Hao 2733
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
½-½
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
bye
    

The Chinese player has not been able to find his groove this tournament

Radjabov and Wang Hao are both at -1, but Radjabov temporarily has half more point as he has played one more game

Wang Hao defended a typical Schlecter where White has the two bishops, but black remains solid

"Nisipeanu saved half a pawn with the help of the a1 square and he did so twice: first the Romanian GM placed the queen in the corner, which was a very strong idea, helping White to gain the highly important pawn g7. And then in bishops’ endgame Nisipeanu used the well-known motif of a “wrong square”, when even a bishop up with a marginal pawn is not enough for a win. " - Rogozenco

Ponomariov seemed a little confused how Nisipeanu managed to escape his grasp

Interview with Ponomariov

Dorian Rogozenco conducts an interview with Ruslan Ponomariov who talks about his tournament perfomance so far, what he thinks of the tournament, and even what he thinks of Kasparov's chances for becoming the next FIDE president and his thoughts on the upcoming World Championship match

 

Player Post-Mortems:

 

 

Analysis of Round 7

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Even playing until all fighting resources were exhausted didn’t produce decisive games in the 7th round of the Kings Tournament. Radjabov with the White pieces against Wang Hao achieved a slight advantage in the Schlechter Variation, which wasn’t enough to create big problems for the Chinese GM and the game was drawn on move 44 in a bishops’ endgame with equal material. Nisipeanu-Ponomariov saw a classical line of the Nimzo-Indian, where in a complicated middlegame Black succeeded to take over the advantage. However, today Nisipeanu saved half a pawn with the help of square a1 and he did so twice: first the Romanian GM placed the queen in the corner, which was a very strong idea, helping White to gain the highly important pawn g7. And then in bishops’ endgame Nisipeanu used the well-known motif of a “wrong square”, when even a bishop up with a marginal pawn is not enough for a win. The draw was agreed on move 52. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 The Schlechter Variation is a mix between Slav and Gruenfeld. The American GM Gata Kamsky is considered to be the best specialist for Black in this opening. 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 a6 8.b3 Ne4 9.Bb2 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 e6 "Any player who has the Schlechter Variation in his repertoire should be ready to defend this kind of position. Black is solid, although somewhat passive. The presence of the bishop in fianchetto has two consequences. The positive aspect is that the thematic opening of the center with e3-e4 is somewhat inhibited. On the other hand, the queenside dark squares have been left slightly unattended, which may make itself felt. Black has placed all his pawns on light squares, in order to restrict the f3-bishop. This will give White a free hand on the dark squares, allowing him to annoy Black with moves such as Bb4 or Ba5" (M.Marin). 13.Qc2 Magnus Carlsen treated White's position differently: 13.Qd2 Re8 14.Ba5!? An interesting idea to use the weaknesses of Black's queenside. Qe7 15.Rac1 Nd7 16.Qb4 Qxb4 17.Bxb4 with a slightly better endgame for White in Carlsen, M (2710)-Bu Xiangzhi (2685) Biel 2007 13...Nd7 14.Rfd1 After 14.e4 (which is one of White's main plans in such a pawn structure: to open the position for his bishops) Black can consider the interesting answer e5!? 14...Re8 15.a4 Qc7 16.Be1 A move which shows that Radjabov is not willing to play for e3-e4. Instead, the Azerbaijani GM prepares the advance of the b-pawn. Rac8 17.Be2 dxc4 Wang Hao doesn't wish to wait passively. With all his pieces placed optimally the Chinese GM decides to release the pressure and to simplify the position. 18.Qxc4 18.bxc4 c5 offers Black a comfortable position, according to Radjabov. 18...c5 19.Rac1 Qb8 20.dxc5 Rxc5 21.Qe4 21.Qf4 and 21.Qb4 were other attractive options. Everywhere White is slightly better thanks to his bishop pair. 21...Nf6 22.Qd3 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Rc8 24.Rxc8+ Qxc8 25.Kf1 h5 26.Qc4 Both sides were thinking that with queens on the board Black's defense would be more difficult, but Radjabov didn't see a clear way for White to keep the queens on without allowing Black some counterplay. For instance 26.Bf3 Nd7 27.Qe4 Qc1 28.Qxb7 Nc5 with activity for the pawn (Radjabov). 26...Qxc4 27.Bxc4 Kf8 28.Ke2 Ne4! 29.f3 Nd6 The knight is optimally placed on d6 and Black needs just a little accuracy in order to reach the draw. 30.Bd3 Ke7 31.e4 f5! 32.Ke3 fxe4 33.Bxe4 Nxe4 34.Kxe4 Kd7 35.g4 Ke8 36.Bg3 Kf7 37.Bh4 Bb2 38.Kf4 e5+ The most precise defense, even if 38...Bc1+ 39.Ke5 Ba3 is also a draw. 39.Ke4 Ke6 40.Be1 Ba3 41.b4 b5 42.axb5 axb5 43.Bd2 43.Bc3 brings nothing either: Bc1 44.Bxe5 Bd2 and the b4-pawn falls 43...Bb2 44.Be1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Radjabov,T2723Wang,H2733½–½2013D947th Kings Tournament7
Nisipeanu,L2674Ponomariov,R2751½–½2013E597th Kings Tournament7

Information and photos by Dorian Rogozenco

Standings

Schedule

Round 1 – October 07, 15:30h
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
½-½
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
0-1
 Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Wang Hao 2733
bye
    
Round 2 – October 08, 15:30h
Wang Hao 2733
½-½
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
½-½
 Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
bye
    
Round 3 – October 09, 15:30h
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
1-0
 Wang Hao 2733
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
bye
    
Round 4 – October 10, 15:30h
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
½-½
 Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Wang Hao 2733 ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
bye
    
Round 5 – October 11, 15:30h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
½-½
 Wang Hao 2733
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
1-0
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
bye
    
Round 6 – October 12, 15:30h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
½-½
 Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
 Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Wang Hao 2733
bye
    
Round 7 – October 13, 15:30h
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
½-½
 Wang Hao 2733
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
½-½
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
bye
    
Round 8 – October 14, 15:30h
Wang Hao 2733
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
bye
    
Round 9 – October 15, 15:30h
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Wang Hao 2733
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
bye
    
Round 10 – October 16, 13:30h
Wang Hao 2733
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2751
Radjabov, Teimour 2723
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Nisipeanu, L.-D. 2674
bye
    

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