Dortmund Rd6 – The dark horses strike

by ChessBase
7/19/2012 – None of the leaders were able to make a dent in their opponents, and in fact Ruslan Ponomariov allowed the last-place Mateusz Bartel to finally score a full point after a blunder under pressure. Jan Gustafsson was not so fortunate, and it was precisely a blunder on his end, also under duress, that gave Arkadij Naiditsch his second straight win and a share of first. Illustrated report.

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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.

Round six

Round 6: Thursday, July 19, 15:00h
Jan Gustafsson 
0-1
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Ruslan Ponomariov 
0-1
 Mateusz Bartel
Daniel Fridman 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko 
½-½
 Sergey Karjakin
Fabiano Caruana 
½-½
 Georg Meier

It was a day for the unexpected, a day for the dark horses. The first major result was Arkadij Naiditsch’s win over Jan Gustafsson, who seems to never have recovered his equilibrium after the shock against Kramnik. For Naiditsch, and the German fans, it was more than a second straight victory, it was a taste of gold, even if shared, as he climbed to 4.0/6 and joined Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin.


Arkadij Naiditsch moved into shared first to the delight of the home crowd

As to the other leader, Ruslan Ponomariov, it was a fall from heaven as he lost to Mateusz Bartel, the lamb sent to the slaughterhouse in every round but one until now. As much as he tried, Bartel would not wilt as he had done previously, and instead it was Ponomariov’s hand that shook on move 40, leaving him with an awkward position.


Ponomariov suffered a bitter blow in round six

Seven moves later, he blundered, and this time there was no salvation as he lost, while Bartel will leave the tournament with the comfort that at least once blood other than his was drawn in his duels.


A relieved Bartel finally scores

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 d6 7.c3 0-0 8.Re1 b5 9.Bc2 Nd7 10.d4 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Bf6 12.Nf1 Re8 13.Ne3 Nb6 14.Ng4 Bc8 15.h3 Bxg4 16.hxg4 g6 17.d5 Ne7 18.g3 Qd7 19.g5 0.67/ 0 Bg7 20.Kg2 c6 21.dxc6 Qxc6 22.Nh2 d5 23.exd5 Nexd5 24.Be4 Rad8 25.Qf3 Qe6 26.Ng4 Na4 27.Rd1 Nc7 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.Bc2 Nc5 30.Be3 Nd3 31.Rd1 e4 32.Nf6+ Bxf6 33.Qxf6 Qxf6 34.gxf6 Nd5 35.Bd4 Nxb2 36.Re1 e3 37.Be4 exf2 38.Kxf2 h5 39.Kf3 Nc7 40.Bb7? The Ukrainian makes the time control but trips on the finishing line. The less than obvious 40.Bxg6! would hold the balance. fxg6 41.Re7 Ne8 42.Kf4 Nc4 43.Kg5 Nxf6 44.Bxf6 Rd3= 40...Rb8 Now he will struggle, though it is not lost yet. 41.Re7 Rxb7 42.Be5 Rb6 43.Rxc7 Nc4 44.Bd4 Re6 45.Kf4 Nd6 46.Ra7 -1.80/ 0 Nf5 47.Be5? Ouch. Ponomariov commits an elementary blunder and the in is now in Bartel's hands. Nxg3!-+ Black is now two pawns up. 48.Re7 Nf5! 49.Rd7 Nh6 50.Re7 Ng4 51.Bd4 Kf8 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ponomariov,R2726Bartel,M26740–12012C8440th GM6

Ponomariov dropped to second with 3.5/6, a half-point behind the leaders.

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Bd5 11.Qd3 c5 12.Nc3 Bc6 13.Rfd1 Qa5 14.Ne5 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 cxd4 16.Qxd4 Rd8 17.Qc4! Qxe5 18.Rxd8+ Bxd8 19.Bf4 Qa5 20.Qc8 Qb6 21.f3 g5! 22.a5 Nc6 23.Qxa8 Qxb2 24.Bxg5 Kg7! 25.Rd1 Qxc3 26.Rxd8 Nxd8 27.Qxd8 Nd5 28.e4 Ne3+ 29.Bxe3 Qxe3 30.g4 Qe2+ 31.Kg3 Qe1+ 32.Kg2 Qe2+ 33.Kg3 Qe1+ ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Leko,P2730Karjakin,S2779½–½2012E0640th GM6
Fridman,D2655Kramnik,V2799½–½2012D9340th GM6
Ponomariov,R2726Bartel,M26740–12012C8440th GM6
Gustafsson,J2629Naiditsch,A27000–12012E9440th GM6
Caruana,F2775Meier,G2644½–½2012C1140th GM6

Standings after six rounds


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 
1-0
 Jan Gustafsson
Georg Meier 
0-1
 Ruslan Ponomariov
Sergey Karjakin 
½-½
 Arkadij Naiditsch 
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Mateusz Bartel
Fabiano Caruana 
1-0
 Daniel Fridman
Round 4: Monday, July 16, 15:00h
Jan Gustafsson 
½-½
 Mateusz Bartel
Ruslan Ponomariov 
½-½
 Sergey Karjakin
Arkadij Naiditsch 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik
Daniel Fridman 
½-½
 Georg Meier
Peter Leko 
½-½
 Fabiano Caruana
Round 5: Tuesday, July 17, 15:00h
Fabiano Caruana 
1-0
 Jan Gustafsson
Vladimir Kramnik 
½-½
 Ruslan Ponomariov
Mateusz Bartel 
0-1
 Arkadij Naiditsch 
Sergey Karjakin 
1-0
 Daniel Fridman
Georg Meier 
½-½
 Peter Leko
Round 6: Thursday, July 19, 15:00h
Jan Gustafsson 
0-1
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Ruslan Ponomariov 
0-1
 Mateusz Bartel
Daniel Fridman 
½-½
 Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko 
½-½
 Sergey Karjakin
Fabiano Caruana 
½-½
 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

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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