Dortmund R7: all games drawn, Kramnik wins for the eighth time

by ChessBase
7/1/2007 – Vladimir Kramnik and the Dortmund Super-GM seem to be a marriage made in heaven. For the eighth time the current world champion took first place, after all games in the final round were drawn. They were, we must add, fighting draws, especially the 107-move marathon Leko-Mamedyarov. Alekseev, Leko and Anand shared 2nd-4th place, a point behind the winner. Illustrated report.

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SPARKASSEN
CHESS MEETING
Dortmund 2007
June 23 to July 1, 2007

The Sparkassen Chess Meeting will take place from June 23rd to July 1st, 2007, in the Dortmund Civic Theater, with eight players competing in a single round robin. The average rating is 2727, making the event a Category 20 tournament.

Round 7: Sunday, July 1, 13:00h
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Peter Leko 
½-½
 Shak. Mamedyarov
Arkadij Naiditsch 
½-½
 Boris Gelfand
Evgeny Alekseev 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik

Final standings

Round seven report

World champion Vladimir Kramnk clinched his eighth first place at Dortmund, after securing the necessary half point against Alekseev. Kramnik once again placed his faith in the Russian, or Petroff Defence, and held the draw with little difficulty.


Draw you win: Alekseev facing Kramnik in the final round


The newcomer Evgteny Alekseev, trying to tie for first

Alekseev,Evgeny (2679) - Kramnik,V (2772) [C42]
Sparkassen GM Dortmund GER (7), 01.07.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0–0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0–0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.Ra2 Bf6 15.Rb2 b6 16.Bf4 Na5 17.cxd5 Qxd5

18.Ne5 Bxe5 19.Bf3 Qd7 20.Bxe5 Nc4 21.Rbe2 c6 22.d5 Nxe5 23.Rxe5 cxd5 24.Qxd5 Rad8 25.Rxe8+ Rxe8 26.Rxe8+ Qxe8 27.g4 Be6 28.Qb7 Qc8 29.Qxa7 Bxg4 30.Bd5 Bh5 31.Qxb6 ½–½.

Carlsen-Anand was also a very quiet draw. White reached an ending with two bishops, but the symmetrical pawn distribution meant his winning chances were minimal, and Anand held comfortably.


Magnus Carlsen facing the world's highest ranked player


Vishy Anand in his final game in Dortmund

Carlsen,M (2693) - Anand,V (2786) [D12]
Sparkassen GM Dortmund GER (7), 01.07.2007
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.a3 Be7 10.Qc2 0–0 11.Be2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 c5 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.0–0 Rc8 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Rac1 Rfd8 17.Be2 Nce4 18.Be1 Nxc3 19.Qxc3 Rxd1 20.Bxd1 Qxc3 21.Rxc3 Rxc3 22.Bxc3 Ne4 23.Be1

23...g5 24.Kf1 b6 25.Ke2 Bf6 26.Bc2 Nd6 27.b3 Kf8 28.Bd3 Ke7 29.g4 Bb2 30.a4 f6 31.b4 e5 32.f3 Bc1 33.Bc3 Kd8 34.b5 Ba3 35.Bd2 Ke7 36.f4 gxf4 37.exf4 exf4 38.Bxf4 g5 39.Bxd6+ ½–½

In Naiditsch-Gelfand, Black equalized easily against his opponent's quiet treatment of the Najdorf. An early draw looked on the cards, but after a spell of quiet manoeuvering, things came to life on the kingside, and Black won a pawn. The draw was agreed in a position where Black could possibly still have tried for more with 44...b5.


World Championship participant Boris Gelfand, Israel

Naiditsch,A (2654) - Gelfand,B (2733) [B92]
Sparkassen GM Dortmund GER (7), 01.07.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be2 Be7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.a4 Rc8 12.a5 Qc7 13.Rfd1 Nc5 14.Nxc5 dxc5 15.f3 Rfd8 16.Qe1 Rxd1 17.Bxd1 c4 18.Na4 Nd7 19.Be2 Qc6

20.Kh1 h6 21.h3 Kh7 22.Bd2 Qd6 23.Bc3 Kg8 24.Bf1 Kh7 25.Qd1 Qc6 26.Qe1 Qd6 27.Kh2 Kg8 28.g3 g5 29.Bg2 f6 30.h4 Kh7 31.h5 g4 32.Qe3 Rg8 33.fxg4 Bxg4 34.Bf3 Qc6 35.Bd2 f5 36.Bxg4 Rxg4 37.Qf3 Qxe4 38.Qxe4 Rxe4 39.Nc3 Rg4 40.Rf1 f4 41.gxf4 Rh4+ 42.Kg2 Rxh5 43.Nd5 Bd8 44.Ne3 ½–½.

The marathon of the day was Leko-Mamedyarov. A win for the former would have secured outright second place, and for once nobody can accuse the Hungarian star of not trying. An interesting opening eventually led to a R+N v R+B ending, where White was certainly better, but despite trying for a mammoth 107 moves, Leko was unable to break the Azeri's resistance.


Peter Leko starting his marathon seventh round game against...


Shak the resiliant Mamedyarov, who managed to hold

Leko,P (2738) - Mamedyarov,S (2757) [B46]
Sparkassen GM Dortmund GER (7), 01.07.2007
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

10...h5 11.e5 Ng4 12.h3 Bh4 13.Qf4 Nh6 14.Qf3 g6 15.Na4 Nf5 16.c4 0–0 17.Bxf5 exf5 18.cxd5 Qxd5 19.Qc3 Qe6 20.Nc5 Qe7 21.g3 Bg5 22.Bxg5 Qxg5 23.h4 Qe7 24.Rfd1 Rd8 25.Rxd8+ Qxd8 26.Qf3 Qb6 27.Qc3 Qd8 28.Qd3 Qxd3 29.Nxd3 Be6 30.Nc5 a5 31.b3 Rd8 32.Rc1 Rd5 33.f4 Rd2 34.a4 Rd4 35.Kf2 Bd5 36.Ke3 Rb4 37.Rc3 Kf8 38.Rd3 Ke7 39.Rd4 Rb8 40.Rd3 Kd8

41.Kd2 Ra8 42.Kc3 Kc7 43.Rd2 Kb6 44.b4 Ra7 45.Rb2 axb4+ 46.Kxb4 Ra8 47.Rb1 Be4 48.Rd1 Bd5 49.Rd2 Ra7 50.Rd3 Ra8 51.Rd1 Kc7 52.Rd4 Kb6 53.Rd2 Ra7 54.Rc2 Ra8 55.Rb2 Ra7 56.Rb1 Ra8 57.Rb2 Ra7 58.Rd2 Ra8 59.Rd3 Kc7 60.Ka3 Kb6 61.Rc3 Kc7 62.Rc1 Kb6 63.Rc3 Kc7 64.Rc2 Kb6 65.Nd3 Kc7 66.Rb2 Ra5 67.Kb4 Kb6 68.Rc2 Ra8 69.Nc5 Kc7 70.Kc3 Ra5 71.Kd4 Ra7 72.Rb2 Be6 73.Rb4 Bd5 74.Rb2 Be6 75.Kc3 Bd5 76.Rb1 Ra5 77.Kd4 Ra7 78.Rb4 Be6 79.Rb2 Bc8 80.Kc3 Ra8 81.Rb3 Ra5 82.Kb4 Kb6 83.Rc3 Ra8 84.Rd3 Kc7 85.a5 Rb8+ 86.Kc4 Rb1 87.Ra3 Rc1+ 88.Kb4 Be6 89.Nxe6+ fxe6 90.a6 Kb8

91.Rd3 c5+ 92.Kb5 c4 93.Rd8+ Ka7 94.Rd7+ Ka8 95.Re7 c3 96.Kb4 c2 97.Kc3 Rg1 98.Kxc2 Rxg3 99.Rxe6 Rg4 100.Kd3 Rxf4 101.Rxg6 Re4 102.e6 Ka7 103.Rg5 Rxe6 104.Rxh5 Kxa6 105.Rxf5 Kb6 106.Rd5 Kc6 107.Rd4 Re5  ½–½.

The closing ceremony


The closing and prize-giving ceremony at the Town Hall


Vishy Anand (red shirt) chatting with Arbiter Alexander Bakh...


and his colleagues Evgeny Alekseev (left) and Peter Leko


Always a pleasure: Anand and his wife Aruna


The runners up on the stage: Arkaidij Naditsch, Boris Gelfand, Magnus Carlsen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vishy Anand, Peter Leko and Evgeny Alekseev


The top scorers: Anand, Leko, Alekseev and Kramnik

Report by Steve Giddins, photos by Frederic Friedel in Dortmund


Full Schedule and Results

Round 1: Saturday, June 23, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Boris Gelfand 
½-½
 Evgeny Alekseev
Shak. Mamedyarov 
1-0
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
 Peter Leko
Round 2: Sunday, June 24, 15:00h
Vishy Anand 
½-½
 Peter Leko
Arkadij Naiditsch 
½-½
 Magnus Carlsen
Evgeny Alekseev 
1-0
 Shak. Mamedyarov
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Boris Gelfand
Round 3: Tuesday, June 26, 15:00h
Boris Gelfand 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Shak. Mamedyarov 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
 Evgeny Alekseev
Peter Leko 
½-½
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Round 4: Wednesday, June 27, 15:00h
Vishy Anand 
1-0
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Evgeny Alekseev 
½-½
 Peter Leko
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Magnus Carlsen
Boris Gelfand 
½-½
 Shak. Mamedyarov
Round 5: Friday, June 29, 15:00h
Shak. Mamedyarov 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
 Boris Gelfand
Peter Leko 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch 
½-½
 Evgeny Alekseev
Round 6: Saturday, June 30, 15:00h
Vishy Anand 
½-½
 Evgeny Alekseev
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Boris Gelfand 
0-1
 Peter Leko
Shak. Mamedyarov 
½-½
 Magnus Carlsen
Round 7: Sunday, July 1, 13:00h
Magnus Carlsen 
½-½
 Vishy Anand
Peter Leko 
½-½
 Shak. Mamedyarov
Arkadij Naiditsch 
½-½
 Boris Gelfand
Evgeny Alekseev 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik

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