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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.
Change of plans: Last night we announced that this analytical report would appear with a twelve-hour delay, since we were travelling to Mexico, which from Hamburg is a 19-hour door-to-door endeavor. However at the airport this morning KLM – the Royal Dutch Budget carrier – announced that the flight had been cancelled due to technical problems with the plane. Reminds us of our adventure losing our luggage on the way to San Luis in 2005 (and Marge Simpson saying about Lionel Hutz: "Why do we keep hiring that guy?"). Anyway, there were no reasonable alternatives on this day, and we have switchted to travelling on Tuesday. As a result the GM commentary by Mihail Marin will not be delayed after all – which we assume will not cause anyone serious inconvenience. |
There have been many missed opportunities in this World Championship so far and this round is no exception. Playing with white against Grischuk, Kramnik once again proved his excellent home preparation in an almost non-existent variation. Later, he converted his slight advantage into a decisive one, but during his opponent's time trouble transposed to an endgame which offered him only slim chances for success. Grischuk defended accurately and obtained a draw.
Anand won a pawn with Black relatively quickly in his game against Morozevich. His position remained more or less winning for a long time, but he missed several favourable possibilities. Even in the moment when he forced a draw by repetition, White was still far from equality...
Svidler-Gelfand was a relatively uneventful game which ended with a draw. The Israeli GM seems to be quite confident in the Petroff defence... Aronian-Leko developed as a slow manoeuvring game, typical for the Hedgehog structure. At some point Leko seems to have lost patience and sacrificed a piece without obtaining real compensation. Aronian won without any difficulties.
Kramnik,V (2769) - Grischuk,A (2726) [E06]
WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5. Frankly speaking, it seems to me that entering the Catalan paths against Kramnik nowadays is a bit like playing with fire. This subtle opening seems to suit the World Champion's present personality and style perfectly. In this game, he will once again prove his deep opening preparation and only a time trouble miracle will save Grischuk. 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Ra7
White still has some winning chances. The knight is isolated in the corner, while the black pawns are vulnerable. A new miracle is needed... 45...Kb6 46.Kg2 Kc5 47.Kf3 Kb4 48.Be8 f6 49.Bf7 Nb3. Indirectly defending the pawn and winning an essential tempo. 50.e3 Nc5 51.h4 Kc3 52.Bg8 h6 53.Bf7 g5 54.Kg4 Ne4 55.hxg5 hxg5 56.Bxe6 Nxf2+ 57.Kf5 Kd3
The incredible has just happened. Black's pieces came back into play just in time. 58.Kxf6 Ne4+ 59.Kg6 Nxg3 60.Kxg5 Kxe3 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
Morozevich,A (2758) - Anand,V (2792) [D47]
WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 a6 10.e4 c5 11.d5
White has managed to win his pawn back, but his king is very exposed. 49.Kf2 Rd2+ 50.Ke3 Be5. Not the only good move. Black could have created a second passed pawn with 50...a5!? since 51.bxa5? is impossible because of 51...Rd5! winning one of the bishops. 51.Kf3 Red8 52.Re3 Rg8 53.g4 Rh2 54.h5 Rd8 55.g5 Rxh5 56.Be7
56...Re8?! Slowing down the rhythm. Black would have obtained a practically decisive attack with 56...Rd2 for instance 57.Rcxc3 Rhh2 Threatening mate in two and practically forcing the next move. 58.gxh6 Be8! when the king cannot survive the combined attack of all Black's pieces. Anand's failure to win this game might have been caused by the fact that he expected to achieve his goal by purely technical means, not by a sharp attack. If this is true, Morozevich' merit consists of having faced his mighty opponent with such a difficult psychological task. 57.Kg4 Rh2 58.Bf6
58...Rg2+. Anand's decision to force a draw looks premature. he could have maintained his advantage with 58...Rg8 59.Kf3 (After 59.Bxe5 Rxg5+ Black would win the f5-bishop because of the pin of the central pawn.) 59...Rxg5! 60.Bxg5 hxg5 with total domination. 59.Kh3 Rh2+ 60.Kg4 Rg2+ 61.Kh3 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
Svidler,P (2735) - Gelfand,B (2733) [C42]
WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4
White retains an advantage of space, but this element loses part of its relevance because of the previous simplifications. 20.Nd4 Nf6 21.Nf5 Bf8 22.Bd4 Nxd5 23.Bxg7 Ne7 24.Nxe7+ Rxe7 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]
Aronian,L (2750) - Leko,P (2751) [A33]
WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [Mihail Marin]
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Nc6
Black has no adequate compensation for the sacrificed piece. 34...Bb5 35.Qb2 Qa7 36.Bxb5 axb5 37.Bf2 Qa8 38.Nd6 e4 39.Nxe8 Rxe8 40.Nd4 Bf6 41.c6 e3 42.Be1 f3 43.gxf3 Nf4 44.Bg3 Ne6 45.Qb4 1-0. [Click to replay]
Levon Aronian speaks about
his strategy in the tournament situation
All videos by Vijay Kumar
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