
ChessBase 16 - Mega package Edition 2021
Your key to fresh ideas, precise analyses and targeted training!
Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. 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.
The World Championship 2007 will take place from September 12 to 30 in the Sheraton Centro Histórico Hotel in Mexico City. Eight players are qualified – the tournament will be a double round robin. The prize fund is US $1.3 million.
GM Mihail Marin in his analysis kitchen at home in Romaina
The following express commentary was provided by Romanian Mihail Marin, who is the author of a number of very popular ChessBase training CDs and articles for ChessBase Magazine. GM Marin will study the games of the World Championship tournament in much greater detail and provide the full results of his analysis in the next issue of ChessBase Magazine.
A fighting round, featuring several sacrifices (one piece, three exchanges and numerous pawns were offered to Caissa's altar), missed opportunities, but only... one decisive game.
Morozevich equalized comfortably with black in a controversial variation of the Caro Kann. Searching for attacking possibilities, Svidler made a serious mistake and his position immediately became suspicious. This was only the start of a series of innacurate or just bad moves, which makes the final draw a logical and deserved result.
Anand-Kramnik was an enormously complicated game. After the first wave of tactical blows (which, apparently, had been analzyed at home by both players), Anand was left with two (at times just one) pawns for the exchange. After the first time control he had a choice between exposing his king to perpetual check or sending it forward, into active mission. He picked up the third possibility, by... accepting Kramnik's draw offer.
In Aronian-Grischuk, play took an original course from a very early stage. The position became strategically unbalanced and the opponents alternatively sacrificed small amounts of material in order to carry out their plans. Grischuk made just one significant mistake, by exchanging queens instead of one pair of rooks, but this was sufficient to determine the final outcome of the game.
Playing with White, Gelfand could not achieve anything against Leko's excellent preparation and soon sacrificed a bishop to force a draw by perpetual.
Svidler,P (2735) - Morozevich,A (2758) [B17]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0-0 b6 12.Qg4 Kf8
|
|
|
32...Qb6? Another tactical oversight, which could have had fatal consequences. 32...Bd5 was the best way to defend e6. After 33.Bxd5 exd5 34.Qxa6 White wins the pawn back, with a balanced position.] 33.Bxc5? [Kindly returning the favour. 33.Bxe6+! Qxe6 (Forced. Otherwise Black would get mated.) 34.Bxc5! would have won material. Black's relatively best solution would be 34...Nxc5 35.Rxe6 Rxe6 with highly questionable compensation. 33...Qxc5 34.Bxe6+ Kh8. Now, White stands only slightly better, because of his better structure. 35.Rd4 Bc6 36.Bxf5 Nf6 37.Rc4 Rxe1+ 38.Nxe1 Qe7 39.Nd3 Be8 40.Qg3 Nxh5 41.Qg4 Bf7 42.Rc5 Qd6 43.Qb4 Bg8 44.Ra5 Qxb4 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
Kramnik,V (2769) - Anand,V (2792) [D43]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4. Rather predictable. After losing in such a variation as "the e3-Benoni", one is inclined to play aggressive lines. 6...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6 14.Bh5 Bf8 15.Bxf8 Rxf8 16.e5 Qb6
|
|
|
|
41.Ra8+. The position remains very interesting, but both players were probably tired after the previous intense fight. After 41.Ra8+ , Black could return to b6, when White can force a perpetual already, or play 41...Kb4 with a double edged position. We can see an interesting symbiosis: the pawns would protect the king and the king sustains the advance of the pawns. I would again quote a game played by the 9th World Champion (Fischer - Petrosian, second round of the 1959 Candidates' Tournament) in which Black successfully carried out a similar plano. 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
Aronian,L (2750) - Grischuk,A (2726) [D30]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6
|
|
|
|
|
31.Rxd3! Simplest. By returning the exchange, Aronian calms down the position, depriving Black of his main trump: the two connected passed pawns. Although there remain certain technical difficulties, White will convert his advantage quite confidently. 31...cxd3 32.Rd1 Bc8 33.Rxd3 d4 34.Be4 Ba6 35.Ra3 Be2 36.h6 Bh8 37.Rxa7 d3 38.h7+ Kf8 39.Bg6 d2 40.Rf7+ Ke8 41.Nf6+ Bxf6 42.Rg7+ 1-0. [Click to replay]
Gelfand,B (2733) - Leko,P (2751) [E06]
WCh Mexico City MEX (10), 24.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 Qc8
|
Quite logical. Once Kramnik has shown the best way to meet the Catalan, a new trend of fashion has been opened. Until Kramnik will have this position with White, of course. 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Nbd2 Bb7 14.Nb3. Deviating from the slightly premature 14.Bxf6 , as played in Aronian - Kramnik, few days earlier. 14...a5 15.Rd1 Bd5 16.Ne5 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 a4 18.Nc5 Bxc5 19.Bxf6 Bb6 20.Bg5. Against the seemingly lethal 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.Qg5 , Black can defend with 21...Qd5+ 22.Qxd5 exd5 , when the relative weakness of the c7-pawn is compensated by the fact that White's bishop cannot find an active diagonal easily.; 20.Bxg7 would lead to a draw by perpetual slightly sooner than in the game. 20...Nxe5 21.dxe5 h6 22.Bxh6 gxh6 23.Qxh6 Rd8 24.Qg5+ 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
![]() |
|