10/1/2012 – Alexander Grischuk almost managed to arrive late and forfeit the game, but he went on to beat the tournament leader Boris Gelfand. Azeri GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Leinier Dominguez Perez to go into the sole lead with 6.0/9 points. He is followed by Grischuk, Topalov and Gelfand, all half a point behind. Round nine report with GM commentary.
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The First FIDE Grand Prix is taking place from September 21 to October 3rd
in Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London. The games start at 14:00h local time
(= 15:00h CEST, 17:00h Moscow, 09:00 a.m. New York). The tournament has a prize
fund of 240,000 Euros.
Round nine report
Round 9 on 2012/10/01
at 14:00
Wang Hao
2742
½-½
Leko Peter
2737
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2729
1-0
Dominguez Perez Leinier
2725
Ivanchuk Vassily
2769
0-1
Topalov Veselin
2752
Adams Michael
2722
1-0
Nakamura Hikaru
2783
Giri Anish
2730
½-½
Kasimdzhanov Rustam
2684
Grischuk Alexander
2754
1-0
Gelfand Boris
2738
Today, we almost had a forfeit as Sasha Grischuk arrived just before the zero
tolerance kicked in. The Russian player decided to go for a rare Closed Sicilian,
to avoid the Sveshnikov of Boris. Right after the opening, Grischuk converted
his development advantage into a clear pawn up. On move 23 he decided to go
for a direct attack, sacrificing a piece on e6, which gave him a winning position.
Boris blundered with 24…Kd7?? Allowing 25.Qg4. With that the Israely GM
lost his lead! The game is analysed by GM Alejandro Ramirez below.
Nakamura and Mamedyarov both chose Caro Kann as a main weapon against 1.e4.
Once more, the American player seemed well prepared and spent just fourteen
minutes for 21 moves! Adams managed to install the strong knight on e5, with
the bishop on c3 and pawn on f4. White increased the advantage and Nakamura
made a huge mistake 26…Rb8? and found himself in an absolutely hopeless
position. The tournament has been a nightmare for Hikaru who has now lost his
fifth game.
Anish Giri (above left) chose a closed line of the Slav Defence with 4.e3 today.
White managed to get the pair of bishops and an impressive pawn structure with
c3-c5-d4-e3-f4! After 30 moves, the position was totally blocked and the only
possibility was to break through by g3-g4, which Anish did succeed in doing
on the 36th move. Rustam kept the balance, by putting his rooks on h7 and h8.
Dutch player tried all he could and found another breaking point with 48.c4!
It was not enough to win, however, and Rustam managed a draw.
Vassily Ivanchuk opted for a strange opening choice – a kind of King’s
Indian reverse. The Ukrainian player played solidly and didn’t create
a lot of danger for his opponent. Topalov's position looked even better, because
of pressure on the d3 pawn. The following exchanges were in favour of Black
and it was difficult for White to defend the bishop endgame with the passed
a-pawn.
Leinier Dominguez (above right) went for a solid Bogo-Indian today against
Mamedyarov. Probably the Cuban player wanted to play a safe line, but “Shak”
showed his intentions with the aggressive 10.g4, 11.g5. Dominguez decided logically
to counter-attack on the queen-side and in the centre with d6-d5. Mamedyarov
kept control of the position, exchanging pieces to arrive in a very comfortable
endgame with two bishops against knights. He won in 65 moves.
Wang Hao decided to go quickly to the endgame in one of the main line of the
Nimzowich. White looked a bit better thanks to his powerful bishop on d4. The
Chinese player had to exchange a pair of rooks but couldn’t penetrate
Black’s position. Leko created a strong blockade with his king on f7 and
his rook on d7. After suffering, Peter managed to draw the endgame!
Let us not
forget that Gelfand eliminated Grischuk in the finals of the Candidate's Matches
last year to play Anand for the World Championship. Judging by this game,
Grischuk certainly has not forgotten!1.e4c52.Nc3Nc63.Bb5Back when
the Sveshnikov was a big deal this used to be one of the many ways to try
to avoid it and still get an edge. The point of developing the knight on c3
and not the one on f3 is that White still retains the possibility to push
f4 in a given circumstance, so Bxc6 is a positional threat, which isn't necessarily
the case with Nf3.Nd44.Nf3e65.0-0a66.Bd3Nc6!?6...Ne7was Gelfand's
choice against Vallejo in the Olympiad.7.Be2 "threatening" to transpose
to a normal Paulsen Sicilian after d4!Nd48.Bd3Nc69.b3d610.Bb2Nf611.Re1Be7?!I actually don't like this move. In most cases the e5 break
shouldn't bring White anything, but it does free up some of his pieces, namely
the bishops. It was more solid to simply closed down that center.11...Qc7!?11...e5!?12.e5dxe513.Nxe5Bd714.Ne4Nxe515.Bxe5It's
become obvious that White has a little bit of pressure, but I wouldn't be
surprised that with exact play Black can neutralize it.Bc616.Qf3!This
temporary pin allows Grischuk to maneouver his queen to an attacking square
on the kingside.Rc816...0-017.Nxf6+Bxf618.Bxf6Qxf619.Qh5g620.Qxc5Costs a pawn, and although the computers think it's compensated it looks
pretty free to me.17.Re3!Grischuk's play was super powerful. I don't
think I would've looked at this move twice, but the more I consider it, the
stronger it becomes.b517...Nd518.Qg3!17...h618.Rae10-019.Qg317...h5!?18.Rae1c4loses a pawn. Gelfand miscalculated
the consequences of White's attack at the end.19.bxc4bxc420.Bxf6Bxe421.Rxe4Bxf621...cxd322.Bxe7Qxe723.Qxd322.Bxc4Qxd2?22...0-0!Should've forced Grischuk to show a great deal of technique in converting
this game. With his king safe, White's only advantage is his extra pawn, which
is very far from being converted. Not only that, now the opposite colored
bishops work in Black's favor.23.Bxe6!Grischuk doesn't forgive. This
pretty move gains a strong advantage.fxe624.Rxe6+Kd7?24...Kf725.Qh5+!g626.Qf3!This is the 'point' if you will. Now Black cannot defend
against both the hanging bishop on f6 and the queen check on b7 which costs
the c8 rook. Maybe Black is 'only' down a pawn, but with his weak king on
top of that its hard to survive.25.Qg4The nude king will not live long
against an onslaught by the coordinated major pieces.Kc726.Qc4+Kd727.Qa4+Kd828.Qxa6Kd729.Qb5+Kd830.Re8+The super solid Gelfand is not
dismantled like this every day. Kudos to Grischuk for playing such nice and
unusual moves like Qf3! and Re3!30.Re8+Rxe831.Rxe8+Kc732.Qc5+And
the rook falls with check, with mate following soon after.1–0
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