Dortmund Rd7 – Kramnik beats Meier and breaks 2800

by ChessBase
7/28/2011 – With a huge lead over the field, Kramnik could conceivably cruise to victory, or he could take this chance to make history and see where it goes. With his powerful win over Meier, he is soaring over the 3000 performance mark once more, and is at 2800 in the live rating lists. Anish Giri beat Ponomariov in a double-rook endgame and is now third, while Nakamura and Le drew. Round seven.

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

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 seven

Round 7: Thursday, July 28, 15:00h
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
 Quang Liem Le
Anish Giri 
1-0
 Ruslan Ponomariov 
Vladimir Kramnik 
1-0
 Georg Meier


The playing hall


The entrance hall


The tournament program

The great poker players have a quality that helps separate them from the rest: they recognize when they are hot, and exploit this to the max to make up for the lackadaisical days that will inevitably occur as well. Vladimir Kramnik shows he has the very same skill, and with an unusual set of circumstances where he is able to impose his will, and his opponents are wilting more often than not, he is not content to simply cruise to a tournament win. He played a tough game against Meier keeping the tension alive, and was rewarded in the end. To say that his 6.0/7 is a 300+ performance would be reiterating old news at this point, but it also marked another important milestone: his return to the exclusive 2800 club. The calculations of his results show that if the tournament were to end today and he were not to play until the next rating list came out, he would officially be ranked 2800.


Helmut Kohl plays the ritual first move as they ready to sacrifice Meier to Kramnik

[Event "39th GM"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2011.07.28"] [Round "7"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2781"] [BlackElo "2656"] [EventDate "2011.07.21"] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 a6 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d4 c6 9.Ne5 a5 10.Bf4 Bf5 11.Qb3 Ra7 12.Rfd1 Nbd7 13.Rac1 h6 14.a3 Qb6 15.Qxb6 Nxb6 16.f3 Re8 17.e4 Bh7 18.Be3 Raa8 19.Bf2 Rad8 20.Re1 Bf8 21.h3 dxe4 22.fxe4 Nfd7 23.Nd3 Nc4 24.Re2 Nb8 25.Na4 Nd6 26.Ndc5 Re7 27.Nb6 Nc8 28.Nc4 b6 29.Nb3 a4 30.Nbd2 Rb7 31.e5 Na7 32.d5 Bc5 33.Bxc5 bxc5 34.e6 Kf8 35.Na5 Rc7 36.Rxc5 fxe6 37.dxc6 Ke7 38.Ndc4 Rd1+ 39.Kh2 Bd3 40.Re3 Bxc4 41.Rxc4 Rd2 42.Rce4 Nbxc6 43.Rxe6+ Kf7 44.Nc4 Rc2 45.Nd6+ Kg8 46.h4 g5 47.Nf5 gxh4 48.Kh3 Rc5 49.Rg6+ 1-0

Quang Liem Le, now 1.5 points behind Kramnik, had a long and hard-fought game against Hikaru Nakamura, and though they were not the longest game this time round and did not play to the bare kings (the American could be sick) it was typical of the chess-to-the-end games that Nakamura has insisted on playing. The no-draw rules clearly have no impact on his games. No decision was achieved and Kramnik increased his lead to two full points, while others threaten to catch Le.


Nakamura playing Le in round seven

[Event "39th GM"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2011.07.28"] [Round "7"] [White "Nakamura,Hikaru"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D46"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2715"] [EventDate "2011.07.21"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 a6 10.Rd1 b5 11.Bd3 Qc7 12.Bd2 c5 13.dxc5 Qxc5 14.b4 Qc7 15.a4 bxa4 16.Qxa4 Bb7 17.Qa5 Qb8 18.Be2 Rc8 19.Rdc1 Ne5 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.f4 Bc7 22.Qa3 g5 23.Rf1 Rd8 24.Rad1 Bc6 25.Kh1 Qb7 26.Bf3 g4 27.Bxc6 Qxc6 28.Qa2 Rd3 29.Rc1 Rad8 30.Be1 Rxe3 31.Qf2 Qc4 32.Bd2 Red3 33.Nb1 Qd5 34.Rxc7 Ne4 35.Qh4 Nxd2 36.Qxg4+ Kh8 37.Qh4 Qf5 38.Nxd2 Rxd2 39.h3 Qg6 40.Rf2 Kg7 41.Kh2 h6 42.Rc6 Rxf2 43.Qxf2 Qd3 44.f5 Qxf5 45.Qxf5 exf5 46.Rxa6 Rd3 47.Rc6 Rb3 48.Rc4 Kg6 49.g3 Rb2+ 50.Kg1 Kg5 51.Kf1 Kf6 52.Ke1 Ke5 53.Kf1 Rb3 54.Kf2 Rb2+ 55.Kf1 Rb3 56.Kf2 Rb2+ ½-½

The surprise of the round, meaning no disrespect to the young Dutchman, was Giri's win over Ponomariov. The reason is both because Ponomariov had started as a potential contender for top honors in the early rounds, and because the double-rook endgame reached, seemed tenable at first view. Considering the Ukrainian is far the more experienced player, one would have expected this to be enough, but it was not. With his win, Giri moves into third place and is now only a half-point behind Le. It looks like there will be a brawl to see who gets second.


Anish Giri and Ruslan Ponomariov

[Event "39th GM"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2011.07.28"] [Round "7"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2701"] [BlackElo "2764"] [EventDate "2011.07.21"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bg4 12.Be2 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Bf6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qc2 Rac8 16.Bxd5 Rfd8 17.Rd1 Qe5 18.Qc4 b5 19.Qa2 Rd7 20.0-0 Na4 21.Bb3 Rdc7 22.Rd4 Nb6 23.Rfd1 g6 24.Qb1 Kg7 25.g3 Nc4 26.Kg2 Qf6 27.Bxc4 bxc4 28.Qe4 Re7 29.Qd5 c3 30.bxc3 Rxc3 31.Rf4 Qc6 32.Qxc6 Rxc6 33.Rdd4 Rc2 34.Rd5 h5 35.Ra5 Rb7 36.h3 Ra2 37.Rfa4 Rbb2 38.Rf4 Rb7 39.g4 hxg4 40.hxg4 Rc7 41.Kg3 Rb2 42.g5 Rb1 43.Kg2 Rb2 44.Rfa4 Rcc2 45.Rf4 Rb7 46.Kg3 Rc1 47.Rd4 Rb2 48.Rf4 Rb7 49.Rd4 Rb2 50.f3 a6 51.Rxa6 Rb5 52.f4 Rb3 53.Re4 Rcc3 54.a4 Rxe3+ 55.Rxe3 Rxe3+ 56.Kf2 Ra3 57.Ra7 Kf8 58.a5 Ke8 59.a6 Kf8 60.Ke2 Ke8 61.Ra8+ Kd7 62.a7 Kc6 63.Rc8+ Kb7 64.Rf8 1-0

Pictures by Georgios Souleidis

Standings after seven rounds


Schedule and results

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

Previous reports

Copyright ChessBase


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register