From Thursday July 13 to Sunday July 22, 2012 the 41st edition annual Sparkassen
Chess-Meeting is taking place in Dortmund, Germany. It is a ten-player round
robin played. Draw offers are not allowed – a game
can only be declared a draw, by the arbiter, if there is no possible win for
one side, or if a position is repeated three times. The winner of the tournament
will be determined after nine rounds.
Games start at 15:00h = 3 p.m. local time (CEST, = 17:00 Moscow, 14:00 p.m.
London, 9:00 a.m. New York). All games will be broadcast by the official web
site's "Live
Games" page and on the Playchess.com
server. As in the previous year the moves of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting
will be transmitted on the Internet with a delay of 15 minutes – which
means that the moves stay in the playing hall for that period, before they are
broadcast to the rest of the world. This is an important anti-cheating measure
that has been proposed to FIDE since October 2005 and has the support of most
of the top players. We commend the Dortmund organisers for taking the initiative.
Participants
| Player |
Rating |
| Kramnik, Vladimir |
2799 |
| Karjakin, Sergey |
2779 |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
2775 |
| Leko, Peter |
2730 |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan |
2726 |
| Naiditsch, Arkadij |
2700 |
| Bartel, Mateusz |
2674 |
| Fridman, Daniel |
2655 |
| Meier, Georg |
2644 |
| Gustafsson, Jan |
2629 |
Round one
| Round 1: Friday, July 13, 15:00h |
| Daniel Fridman |
½-½ |
Jan Gustafsson |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Fabiano Caruana |
½-½ |
Arkadij Naiditsch |
Georg Meier |
1-0 |
Mateusz Bartel |
Sergey Karjakin |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Harald Heinze, the state commissioner, plays the traditional opening move
There is something about the Dortmund Super-GM that clearly appeals to Vladimir Kramnik. If he were able to figure out what it was, and how to reproduce the conditions in other venues, he would be nearly untouchable. This isn't an idle claim. Consider that he has won it no fewer than ten times already.
Still, be that as it may, there are more than a few hungry wolves, all of whom are ready to start their own record run if given the chance. Contrary to the last few years, in which the event brought six players for a ten-round tournament, including one top German representative, and of course the winner of the prestigious Aeroflot Open, this year the organizers changed the formula a bit to allow as many as four top German players, including Arkadij Naiditsch, Daniel Fridman, Georg Meier, and popular ChessBase author, Jan Gustafsson. Mateusz Bartel was the Aeroflot qualifier, and completing the table are top players Vladimir Kramnik, Sergey Karjakin, Fabiano Caruana, Ruslan Ponomariov, and Peter Leko.
The stage is set as Dortmund 2012 gets underway
The first round was fairly uneventful, despite the games being played out, and the only decisive result was Georg Meier's inhospitable reception of newcomer Mateusz Bartel, by giving him an egg as an opening round gift.
Round two
| Round 2: Saturday, July 14, 15:00h |
Jan Gustafsson |
0-1 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
1-0 |
Fabiano Caruana |
Arkadij Naiditsch |
½-½ |
Georg Meier |
Mateusz Bartel |
0-1 |
Sergey Karjakin |
Daniel Fridman |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Round two was simply amazing. What was amazing was not the results, but just one game. If one were to coyly say Kramnik beat Gustafsson in a King's Indian, the immediate reaction would be: was the German brave or suicidal to play this opening against the most famous King's Indian killer of all time?
It bears remembering that Garry Kasparov himself dropped it after the non-stop traumatizing losses against Vladimir Kramnik. The once ever-popular opening was reduced to surprise value, no more, as it all but vanished from elite play for years.
Now for the reason for this interlude: Vladimir Kramnik was playing black. This wasn't some oddball transposition either. The Russian made no effort to camouflage his intention. In fact, he had to be ready for just about any line, since one of the challenges of the combative opening is that White determines which line will be played, not Black. To add to the thrill, Vlad played a strong inspired game, and won in impressive fashion.
Jan Gustafsson stares at the board in shock
Annotations by GM Alejandro Ramirez
[Event "40. Sparkassen Chess-Meeting"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2012.07.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gustafsson, Jan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E94"]
[WhiteElo "2629"]
[BlackElo "2799"]
[Annotator "Ramirez, Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 {I can't imagine anything more exciting
or better for chess than the KID slayer, the bastion of the bayonet attack,
the super star that scared Kasparov of the KID, to play the KID himself!} 5.
Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. Be3 (7. O-O {is by far the main line. I'm not familiar
with Gustafsson's repertoire, but I would have loved it if he played Kramnik's
line against him.}) 7... c6 {a sideline, as Ng4 is definitely center stage.
That being said, Black has tried nearly everything in the position.} 8. O-O (8.
d5 Ng4 9. Bg5 f6 (9... Qb6 10. O-O Qxb2 11. Qd3 {gives Black some problems
even if he is temporarily up a pawn.}) 10. Bh4 c5 {is a typical Kid position.
Kramnik used this with White to crush Van Wely in 2010.}) 8... exd4 9. Nxd4 $6
(9. Bxd4 {is a better move. White takes advantage of the awkward pawn on c6,
since now Nc6 is not possible at all. White will follow up with Nd2 and
consolidate his center. Black should still be ok though.}) 9... Re8 10. f3 d5 {
This center break works well in this position specifically as White's e3
bishop is majorly misplaced. White shouldn't be any worse but Black has
equalized.} 11. cxd5 Nxd5 (11... cxd5 12. Qb3 $1 dxe4 (12... Nc6 13. Rad1 $14)
13. Bc4 {actually gives White a nice initiative. Taking with the knight is
much better.}) 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Rc1 (13. Qb3 Nc6 {gives Black counterplay.}
14. Rad1 Bxd4 $1 {is the difference.}) 13... a5 $5 {Nothing but fighting
spirit. The move itself is questionable. I don't believe that it can be the
best move in the position, but Kramnik wants to fight! He intends to push the
pawn to a4 where it will restrict some of White's activity. Also the pawn
wants to queen on a1. And you think I'm kidding...} 14. Qb3 a4 15. Qxd5 Qxd5
16. exd5 {It's possible that upon reaching this position Jan completely missed
Kramnik's next sequence. I can't blame him I wouldn't have though of it either.
That's why Kramnik is Kramnik.} a3 $1 17. b3 Nc6 $1 {This part is not so hard
to see.} 18. Nc2 {Now Black has some choices, for example:} (18. dxc6 $2 Rxe3 {
is obviously losing as White can't protect the knight on d4 and the bishop on
e2.}) (18. Nxc6 $2 Rxe3 19. Kf2 Rxe2+ 20. Kxe2 bxc6 21. Rfd1 $17) 18... Rxe3 $1
{Boom! This sacrifice is almost decisive. White must be very careful now.} (
18... Nb4 19. Nxb4 Rxe3 20. Bc4 {is what I would expect. Black has a lot of
initiative for that pawn and the dark squares are weak, but White is in no
immediate danger yet.}) 19. Nxe3 Nb4 {Black is down the exchange and a pawn.
However, his bishop on g7 is dominating and the a2 pawn cannot be protected.
One that falls, it is clear that the a-pawn is a powerful force.} 20. Rc4 (20.
Rc7 Bd4 (20... Nxa2 21. d6 $14) 21. Re7 Nxd5 (21... Nxa2 $1 22. Kf2 Nc3 23.
Re8+ Kg7 24. d6 Nd5 25. d7 Bxe3+ 26. Kg3 Bxd7 27. Rxa8 Nf4 {gives Black
excellent compensation - probably enough to be better.}) 22. Re8+ Kg7 23. Kh1
$1 Nxe3 24. Rc1 Nd5 25. Rcxc8 Rxc8 26. Rxc8 Nc3 27. Rxc3 $1 $11 {is the
computer line. Good luck finding that.}) 20... Nxa2 {It's really hard to see
how White can improve his position, whereas Black's plan is beyond obvious.
What is surprising is how effective it is.} 21. Ra4 $6 {This does make Black's
task easier.} Rxa4 22. bxa4 Bd4 23. Kf2 Nb4 {White's position is already
hpeless. Even after the best moves Black has a decisive advantage.} 24. Rc1 (
24. Rd1 Ba7 $1 25. Rc1 a2 26. Rxc8+ Kg7 27. Rc1 Nc2 $19) 24... a2 25. Rxc8+ Kg7
{White is a full rook ahead, but he cannot even retain material equality.} 26.
Rc1 Nxd5 27. Rd1 Nxe3 (27... Nxe3 28. Rxd4 a1=Q 29. Kxe3 Qg1+ {is clearly over,
so Gustafsson resigned. What a wonderful game by Kramnik.}) 0-1
For the record, Vladimir Kramnik has only two other games on record with the King's Indian. One is a win over Jeroen Piket in 1996, and the other is a loss to Vesselin Topalov in 1997.
In just the second round, Vladimir Kramnik has made it a memorable event
Mateusz Bartel was not himself in the second round, and though he certainly had his own mountain to climb, in the face of Sergey Karjakin, he made it easier on his opponent after an incomprehensible blunder.
[Event "40th GM"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2012.07.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Bartel, Mateusz"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2674"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2012.07.12"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. d4 e6 5. a3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Qa4+ Nd7 8.
Nxd5 Bxd5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. e4 Be7 11. Bf4 Rc8 12. Rd1 O-O 13. Bd3 c5 14. d5 c4
15. Be2 exd5 16. exd5 Nc5 17. d6 Bf6 18. Qxc4 $4 {What an incredibly odd
blunder, and a clear indication that the Pole is not himself. The discovered
attack on the queen is not exactly hidden, nor are the tactics thereafter.
Ugly.} ({Needless to say,} 18. O-O {was the move.}) 18... Ne6 19. Qb4 Rc2 {
attacking b2 and subsequently the bishop on f4 as the queen is the only piece
protecting it. White cannot castle as the bishop on e2 would be hanging.} 20.
Be3 (20. b3 Bc3+ $19) 20... Rxb2 {Black is winning.} 21. Qc4 Qd7 22. Bd3 Rc8
23. Qg4 Rc6 24. Bf4 Bc3+ 25. Kf1 Rc5 26. Ng5 h5 27. Qxh5 Nxg5 28. Bxg5 g6 29.
Bxg6 fxg6 30. Qxg6+ Bg7 31. Be3 Rd5 32. Ke1 Qxd6 33. Qxd6 Bc3+ 34. Kf1 Rxd6 0-1
One would love to wish him a swift recovery, but the pairings have him facing Mr. Dortmund himself (Kramnik) in round three. Four players lead after two rounds.
Photos by Georgios Souleidis
Schedule and results
| Round 1: Friday, July 13, 15:00h |
| Daniel Fridman |
½-½ |
Jan Gustafsson |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Fabiano Caruana |
½-½ |
Arkadij Naiditsch |
Georg Meier |
1-0 |
Mateusz Bartel |
Sergey Karjakin |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
| Round 2: Saturday, July 14, 15:00h |
Jan Gustafsson |
0-1 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
1-0 |
Fabiano Caruana |
Arkadij Naiditsch |
½-½ |
Georg Meier |
Mateusz Bartel |
0-1 |
Sergey Karjakin |
Daniel Fridman |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
|
| Round 3: Sunday, July 15, 15:00h |
Peter Leko |
|
Jan Gustafsson |
Georg Meier |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Arkadij Naiditsch |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Mateusz Bartel |
Fabiano Caruana |
|
Daniel Fridman |
|
| Round 4: Monday, July 16, 15:00h |
Jan Gustafsson |
|
Mateusz Bartel |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Sergey Karjakin |
Arkadij Naiditsch |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Daniel Fridman |
|
Georg Meier |
Peter Leko |
|
Fabiano Caruana |
|
| Round 5: Tuesday, July 17, 15:00h |
Fabiano Caruana |
|
Jan Gustafsson |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Mateusz Bartel |
|
Arkadij Naiditsch |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Daniel Fridman |
Georg Meier |
|
Peter Leko |
|
| Round 6: Thursday, July 19, 15:00h |
Jan Gustafsson |
|
Arkadij Naiditsch |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Mateusz Bartel |
Peter Leko |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Georg Meier |
|
Sergey Karjakin |
Fabiano Caruana |
|
Georg Meier |
|
| Round 7: Friday, July 20, 15:00h |
Georg Meier |
|
Jan Gustafsson |
Arkadij Naiditsch |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Mateusz Bartel |
|
Daniel Fridman |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Peter Leko |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Fabiano Caruana |
|
| Round 8: Saturday, July 21, 15:00h |
Jan Gustafsson |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Daniel Fridman |
|
Arkadij Naiditsch |
Peter Leko |
|
Mateusz Bartel |
Fabiano Caruana |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Georg Meier |
|
Sergey Karjakin |
|
| Round 9: Sunday, July 22, 13:00h |
Sergey Karjakin |
|
Jan Gustafsson |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Daniel Fridman |
Arkadij Naiditsch |
|
Peter Leko |
Mateusz Bartel |
|
Fabiano Caruana |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Georg Meier |
|
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