Dortmund R2: Kramnik, Leko and Gustafsson win

by ChessBase
6/29/2008 – Vladimir Kramnik outwitted Loek van Wely in a highly tactical Queen's Gambit Declined and clinched the point in 29 moves. Peter Leko had to work harder and longer – 57 moves – against Vassily Ivanchuk in a Sicilian Taimanov. Jan Gustafsson (thumbnail) whipped up a deadly attack after strategic errors by Arkadij Naiditsch. Round two report.

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The Sparkassen Chess Meeting will take place from June 28rd to July 6th, 2008, in the Dortmund Civic Theater, with eight players competing in a single round robin. The average rating is 2695, making the event a Category 18 tournament.

Round 2: Sunday, June 29, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Loek van Wely
Peter Leko 
1-0
 Vassily Ivanchuk
Ian Nepomniachtchi 
½-½
 Shak. Mamedyarov
Jan Gustafsson 
1-0
 Arkadij Naiditsch


Jan Gustafsson, wearing a Germn soccer T-shirt under his jacket. It didn't work in the Euro-08 Football Championship, but it brought Jan a nice win in Dortmund.

Gustafsson,J (2603) - Naiditsch,A (2624) [D37]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (2), 29.06.2008
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 Ke7

In this Queen's Gambit Declined Ragozin Defence Black has ended up with a precarious uncastled king – White goes after it: 16.f4 Qxc3 17.Rfd1 Rab8 18.e5 Qe3+? 19.Kh1 Rhd8

The end is nigh: 20.exf6+ Ke8 21.Nxe6 Nxf6 22.Nc7+ Ke7 23.Qh4 1-0. [Click to replay]


At the start of a long, tough game: Peter Leko vs Vassily Ivanchuk

Leko,P (2741) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [B46]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (2), 29.06.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Qf3 Be7 10.Qg3 Nh5 11.Qf3 Nf6 12.e5 Nd7 13.Qg3 g6 14.Bh6 c5 15.Na4 c4 16.Be2 Bb7 17.b3 Bc6 18.Nb2 Rb8 19.Nd1 Nc5 20.Ne3 Ne4 21.Qh3 Ng5 22.Qg4 c3 23.a3 Bb5? 24.Bxb5+ axb5 25.f3 Qb6 26.Rae1 d4 27.Nd1 d3+ 28.Kh1 dxc2 29.Nf2 Bc5

Guess who is on the attack, who has a practically won position? 30.Nd3 Be3 31.Bxg5 Bd2 32.Re2 0-0 33.Nc1 b4 34.Bxd2 cxd2 35.Rxd2 bxa3 36.Rxc2 Rfc8 37.Qe4 Rxc2 38.Qxc2 Qd4 39.Na2 Qxe5

White has a knight for a pawn, and the black a.pawn in under control. This is a winnable position. 40.b4 Rd8 41.h3 h5 42.Rb1 Qe3 43.Rd1 Rd5 44.Qb1 Qe2 45.Re1 Qd2 46.Rc1 Rd8 47.b5 Rb8 48.Rc3 h4 49.b6 Qd6 50.Rb3 Rb7 51.Nc3 Qc6 52.Rxa3 Qxb6 53.Qxb6 Rxb6 54.Ra4 g5 55.f4 Rb3 56.Ne2 Re3 57.Ng1

Black has run out of resources, he will end up a full knight down, with no hopes of survival. 1-0. [Click to replay]


Vladimir Kramnik vs Loek van Wely in round two

Kramnik,V (2788) - Van Wely,L (2677) [D11]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (2), 29.06.2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.0-0 Bd6 9.Nbd2 0-0 10.Ne5 Qe7 11.Qf3 Rfd8 12.Qh3 h6 13.f4 Bb4 14.Ndf3 Ne4 15.Nxd7 Rxd7 16.Ne5 Rc7 17.Bxe4 dxe4 18.c5 bxc5 19.a3 Ba5 20.dxc5 Qxc5 21.b4 Qb5 22.Qg3

The black Bishop on a5 is protected by the pin on the wPb4. Black should do something about the deadly weakness on g7, e.g. 22...f5 (allowing the rook to protect the square). 22...Bb6? 23.Nd7 (the knight cannot be taken because of Qxg7 mate) 23...g6 24.Nf6+ Kf8 25.Be5 (25.f5, opening the path for the whtie Queen to d6, was a strong alternative) 23...Rcc8 26.Qh4 h5 27.Nh7+ Ke8 28.Bd6 Rc7 29.Rfd1 1-0. A very tactical game, well played by Vladimir Kramnik. [Click to replay]


Vladimir Kramnik at +1 after two rounds in Dortmund

Photos by Dagobert Kohlmeyer in Dortmund

Current standings


Schedule and results

Round 1: Saturday, June 28, 15:00h
Jan Gustafsson 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch 
½-½
 Ian Nepomniachtchi
Shak. Mamedyarov 
½-½
 Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk 
½-½
 Loek van Wely
Round 2: Sunday, June 29, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Loek van Wely
Peter Leko 
1-0
 Vassily Ivanchuk
Ian Nepomniachtchi 
½-½
 Shak. Mamedyarov
Jan Gustafsson 
1-0
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Round 3: Tuesday, July 1, 15:00h
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Shak. Mamedyarov 
-
 Jan Gustafsson
Vassily Ivanchuk 
-
 Ian Nepomniachtchi
Loek van Wely 
-
 Peter Leko
GamesReport
Round 4: Wednesday, July 2, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
-
 Peter Leko
Ian Nepomniachtchi 
-
 Loek van Wely
Jan Gustafsson 
-
 Vassily Ivanchuk
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Shak. Mamedyarov
GamesReport
Round 5: Friday, July 4, 15:00h
Shak. Mamedyarov 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Vassily Ivanchuk 
-
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Loek van Wely 
-
 Jan Gustafsson
Peter Leko 
-
 Ian Nepomniachtchi
GamesReport
Round 6: Saturday, July 5, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
-
 Ian Nepomniachtchi
Jan Gustafsson 
-
 Peter Leko
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Loek van Wely
Shak. Mamedyarov 
-
 Vassily Ivanchuk
GamesReport
Round 7: Sunday, July 6, 13:00h
Vassily Ivanchuk 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Loek van Wely 
-
 Shak. Mamedyarov
Peter Leko 
-
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Ian Nepomniachtchi 
-
 Jan Gustafsson
GamesReport

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