Dortmund Rd3 – Ponomariov overpowers Nakamura

by ChessBase
7/23/2011 – In spite of an inauspicious loss to Kramnik in the first round, Ponomariov bounced back with a win in round two, and now with a second win in round three, outplaying Nakamura, he is clear second. Giri also won, but was dead drawn against Meier until the latter threw the game away with a blunder on move 70. Kramnik was unable to crack Le Quang Liem and conceded his first draw. Round three.

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From Thursday July 21 to Sunday July 31, 2010 the 39th edition annual Sparkassen Chess-Meeting is taking place in Dortmund, Germany. It is a six-player round robin, in which each player has to play two games against each of the others, one with as White and one as Black. 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 ten 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
Title
Nat.
Born
Rating
Kramnik, Vladimir
GM
RUS
1975
2781
Nakamura, Hikaru
GM
USA
1987
2770
Ponomariov, Ruslan
GM
UKR
1983
2764
Le, Quang Liem
GM
VIE
1991
2715
Giri, Anish
GM
NED
1994
2715
Meier, Georg
GM
GER
1987
2656

Round three

Round 3: Saturday, July 23, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
½-½
 Le Quang Liem
Anish Giri 
1-0
 Georg Meier
Hikaru Nakamura 
0-1
 Ruslan Ponomariov 


An avid audience packs the auditorium

Young Anish Giri finally posted his first win in Dortmund, and while wone would love to cheer and yell, the truth is it was a the result of a last-minute blunder from his opponent. After 70 moves of trying to make something from nothing, and having no luck, Giri was no doubt getting ready to accept the inevitable when on move 70 Meier suddenly blundered away a piece and the game. It might not be the ideal way to notch a win, but persistence does have its rewards.


Giri's strategy was remniscent of siege tactics of ancient times: if you cannot beat
them by brute force, wait them out until they just collapse.

[Event "39th GM"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2011.07.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Meier, Geo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "2701"] [BlackElo "2656"] [PlyCount "149"] [EventDate "2011.07.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 b6 9. Rd1 Nbd7 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. Ne5 Nh5 12. Bd2 Nhf6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nc6 Bxc6 15. Qxc6 a6 16. e3 b5 17. Qc2 Qc8 18. Qd3 Qc4 19. Bf1 Ne4 20. Be1 Rfc8 21. b3 Qxd3 22. Bxd3 e5 23. a4 exd4 24. exd4 b4 25. a5 Ng5 26. Be2 Rc2 27. Kf1 Rb2 28. Rd2 Rxd2 29. Nxd2 g6 30. h4 Ne6 31. Nf3 Kf8 32. Rc1 Ke8 33. Bd2 Bd8 34. Ra1 Be7 35. Ra4 Nb8 36. Bxb4 Bxb4 37. Rxb4 Nc6 38. Ra4 Ke7 39. Ke1 f6 40. Kd2 Nc7 41. Ne1 Nb5 42. Nc2 Kd6 43. Kd3 Re8 44. Bf3 Rc8 45. Kd2 f5 46. h5 Rc7 47. Be2 Ra7 48. h6 Ra8 49. Bd3 Ra7 50. Bf1 Ra8 51. Be2 Ra7 52. Bd3 Ra8 53. f3 Ra7 54. Bf1 Ra8 55. Be2 Ra7 56. Bd3 Ra8 57. Ke3 Re8+ 58. Kd2 Ra8 59. Ke3 Re8+ 60. Kf2 Ra8 61. Kg2 Ke6 62. f4 Kd6 63. g4 fxg4 64. Kg3 Nc3 65. Ra1 Ne4+ 66. Bxe4 dxe4 67. Kxg4 Rb8 68. Rb1 Nxa5 69. Ra1 Nc6 70. Rxa6 Rxb3 $4 {A terrible blunder that loses the game on the spot.} (70... Kd5 {was correct.}) 71. d5 $1 Kxd5 72. Rxc6 Kxc6 73. Nd4+ Kd5 74. Nxb3 e3 75. Nc1 1-0

Kramnik finally conceded his first half-point when he drew Le Quang Liem.


Unable to crack the Vietnamese prodigy, Kramnik drew against Le Quang Liem


Le Quang Liem is undefeated so far, and in his second Dortmund through extraordinary
circumstances: winning the Aeroflot Open twice in a row.

[Event "39th GM"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2011.07.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Kramnik, V."] [Black "Le Quang Liem"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D19"] [WhiteElo "2781"] [BlackElo "2715"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2011.07.21"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Nh4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. h3 Qa5 12. Na2 Bd6 13. b4 Qg5 14. f4 Qh4 15. Qf3 g5 16. fxg5 Qxg5 17. b5 O-O 18. Nc3 Qh4 19. Bd3 Rac8 20. Bd2 c5 21. Ne4 Be7 22. Nxf6+ Nxf6 23. Rac1 b6 24. a5 Rcd8 25. Be1 Qh6 26. Bf2 Nd5 27. axb6 axb6 28. Be4 cxd4 29. exd4 Bh4 30. Rc6 Nf6 31. Bd3 Bxf2+ 32. Qxf2 Rb8 33. Qg3 Rfd8 34. Kh1 Nd5 35. Be4 Nf6 36. Bb1 Nd5 37. Be4 Nf6 38. Bb1 Nd5 39. Ba2 Qe3 40. Qh4 Nf6 41. Bxe6 fxe6 42. Rxf6 Rxd4 43. Qh5 gxf6 44. Qg6+ Kf8 45. Qxf6+ Kg8 46. Qg6+ Kf8 47. Qf6+ Kg8 48. Qg6+ Kf8 1/2-1/2

Despite having the worst kind of start, Ponomariov's composure has brought him back right on the heels of Kramnik. The 2010 winner might have been disappointed to lose against a player he knew felt completely at home in Dortmund, but he was nowhere near ready to stop believing this year's tournament was still his to win. His victory over Nakamura was as clean as could be as he built up his position inch by inch via precise play and minute mistakes by the American.


One cannot argue his combativity, as Ponomariov is second
and nary a draw in sight.

[Event "39th GM"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2011.07.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Nakamura, Hi"] [Black "Ponomariov, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E58"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2764"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2011.07.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 d5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. Bb2 Re8 11. h3 Na5 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Nd2 Be6 14. Rc1 b5 15. dxc5 Nc4 16. Rb1 Qxc5 17. Nb3 Qc7 18. Bc1 a6 19. Nd4 Bd7 20. Bc2 Rac8 21. Ne2 Qe5 22. Ng3 Qxc3 23. Rb3 Qe5 24. Bb1 a5 25. Rd3 Qe7 26. Re1 b4 27. axb4 Qxb4 28. Bd2 Nxd2 29. Qxd2 g6 30. Ba2 Bb5 31. Rb1 Qxd2 32. Rxd2 Rc5 33. Rb3 a4 34. Ra3 Ra8 35. f3 Rc1+ 36. Kf2 Rac8 37. e4 R8c2 38. Rxc2 Rxc2+ 39. Ke3 Rxg2 40. Kf4 Kg7 41. h4 h6 0-1

Pictures by Georgios Souleidis

Standings after three rounds


Schedule and results

Round 1: Thursday, July 21, 15:00h
Georg Meier 
½-½
 Le Quang Liem
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Ruslan Ponomariov
Anish Giri 
½-½
 Hikaru Nakamura 
Round 2: Friday, July 22, 15:00h
Le Quang Liem 
½-½
 Hikaru Nakamura
Ruslan Ponomariov 
1-0
 Anish Giri
Georg Meier 
0-1
 Vladimir Kramnik
Round 3: Saturday, July 23, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
½-½
 Le Quang Liem
Anish Giri 
1-0
 Georg Meier
Hikaru Nakamura 
0-1
 Ruslan Ponomariov 
Round 4: Sunday, July 24, 15:00h
Anish Giri 
   Le Quang Liem
Hikaru Nakamura 
   Vladimir Kramnik
Ruslan Ponomariov 
   Georg Meier
Round 5: Monday, July 25, 15:00h
Le Quang Liem 
   Ruslan Ponomariov 
Georg Meier 
   Hikaru Nakamura
Vladimir Kramnik 
   Anish Giri
Round 6: Wednesday, July 27, 15:00h
Le Quang Liem 
   Georg Meier
Ruslan Ponomariov 
   Vladimir Kramnik
Hikaru Nakamura 
   Anish Giri
Round 7: Thursday, July 28, 15:00h
Hikaru Nakamura 
   Le Quang Liem
Anish Giri 
   Ruslan Ponomariov 
Vladimir Kramnik 
   Georg Meier
Round 8: Friday, July 29, 15:00h
Le Quang Liem  
   Vladimir Kramnik
Georg Meier 
   Anish Giri
Ruslan Ponomariov 
   Hikaru Nakamura
Round 9: Saturday, July 30, 15:00h
Ruslan Ponomariov 
   Le Quang Liem
Hikaru Nakamura 
   Georg Meier
Anish Giri 
   Vladimir Kramnik
Round 10: Sunday, July 31, 15:00h
Le Quang Liem 
   Anish Giri
Vladimir Kramnik 
   Hikaru Nakamura
Georg Meier 
   Ruslan Ponomariov 

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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