Miskolc 2010: Gelfand takes the lead after six rounds

Peter Leko vs Boris Gelfand in Miskolc, Hungary This Rapid Chess event is taking place in the National Theater, 1 Déryné str, Miskolc from August 25–29, 2010. The number one Hungarian grandmaster, Peter Leko takes up a duel of eight games against the top Israeli GM and World Cup winner Boris Gelfand. The games are being played at a rate of 25 minutes for all moves plus an increment of ten seconds per moves. In case of a 4-4 draw blitz games decide the winner. The arbiter of the match is WGM Zsuzsa Veroci, head of Communication of the Hungarian Chess Federation. At the end of each day of play there is a press conference of 10-15 minutes with both players. On the final day the press conference will last 30 minutes.

Round five

Gelfand,Boris - Leko,Peter [D43]
Miskolc Rapid, 28.08.2010 [Berkes/Meszaros]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 Rg8 12.Bxg4 Nbd7 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.Bf3 c5 15.e5. Novelty. In the first game 15.dxc5 happened. This move opens the way for the c3 knight. 15...Nd5 16.Ne4 0-0-0 17.0-0

17...Rxg3! 18.Nxg3 Nf4! It's a very deep plan! For the exchange Black has stong pressure on the d-line and better pawn structure. 19.dxc5 [19.Qd2 Qxd4; 19.a4 b4] 19...Qc7 20.Bxb7+ Qxb7 21.Qf3 Qxf3 22.gxf3 Bxc5 23.Ne4 Bd4 24.Nd6+ Rxd6! 25.exd6

25...Kd7!? After the second beautiful exchange sacrifice Leko misses his chances! He could capture the b2 pawn for example: 25...Bxb2 26.Rab1 c3 27.Rxb2 (27.Kh2? Kd7 28.Kg3 Nd3-/+) 27...cxb2 28.Rb1 Nd3 29.Kf1 a5! 30.Ke2 (30.a3? a4 31.Ke2 b4 32.Kxd3 bxa3 33.Kc2 a2 34.d7+ Kd8-+) 30...Nc1+ 31.Kd2 Nxa2 32.Rxb2 Nb4<=> with an exciting position. 26.a4! Gelfand trying to break Black queenside pawns and open new lines for his rooks. 26.Rab1 Kxd6 27.Rfd1 e5 is drawish. 26...b4 27.Rac1! c3

28.Rfd1!! This fantastic move uses the x-ray power of his rook and opens the way for the king! 28...e5. 28...Ne2+ 29.Kf1 Nxc1 30.bxc3 Bxc3 31.Rxc1 Kxd6 32.Ke2 Ke5 (32...Kd5?! 33.Kd3 h5 34.f4! a5 35.f3+/-) 33.Ke3 Bd4+ 34.Kd3 Bxf2 35.h5 with good practical winning chances for White.; 28...cxb2 29.Rc7+ Kxd6 30.Rc4! Nd5 31.Rcxd4 Kc5!

This is one of the most beatiful endgames we ever saw! 32.R4d2 Nc3 33.Rc2 Kc4 34.Rb1 b3 35.Rcxb2 (35.Rbxb2 bxc2 36.Rxc2 a5) 35...Nxb1 36.Rxb1 Kc3 37.Kg2 Kc2 38.Re1 b2 39.Kg3 h5 (39...a5 40.Kg4 b1Q 41.Rxb1 Kxb1 42.Kh5 Kb2 43.Kxh6 Kb3 44.h5 Kxa4 45.Kg5+–) 40.Kf4 f6 41.Ke4 b1Q 42.Rxb1 Kxb1 43.f4! a5 44.f5+/–.

29.bxc3 bxc3 30.Kf1

30...f6?! 30...a5 It was better possibility to try to save the game! 31.Rc2 Nd5 32.Ke1 h5! 33.Rd3 (33.Rb1 Nb4 34.Kd1 Kxd6) 33...f6 34.f4+/–. 31.Rc2 Nd5 32.Rb1 a5 33.Ke2 Nb4

34.Kd1 This is also winning, but 34.Rxb4 was easier, for example: 34...axb4 35.Kd3 Bb6 (35...b3 36.Rxc3; 35...Kxd6 36.Kc4) 36.Kc4 Ba5 37.h5 Kxd6 38.Rc1+–. 34...Kxd6 35.Rb3 Nxc2 36.Kxc2 h5 37.Rb5 Bxf2 38.Rxa5 Bxh4 39.Rb5 Bf2 40.Rb7 Kc6 41.Rf7+–. The rest is easy: 41...Kb6 42.Rxf6+ Ka5 43.Rf5 Kxa4 44.Rxe5 h4 45.Kxc3. With this victory Gelfand again leads the match! 1-0. [Click to replay]

Round six

Leko,Peter - Gelfand,Boris [D43]
Miskolc Rapid, 28.08.2010 [Berkes/Meszaros]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 g6 10.0-0 Bg7 11.Re1. A rare continuation which contains some positional tricks. 11...0-0 12.e4 e5 13.d5 Nb6 14.Bb3 Bd7 Now we can see the idea of 11.Re1: after 14...Bg4 15.Re3 Black cannot make a weakness in White's pawn structure. 15.h3 Rac8 16.Qe2 Rfe8 17.Rad1 Bf8 18.a3 h5 19.Rd3! Bh6 [19...cxd5 20.exd5] 20.Red1 cxd5

21.Bxd5! Gelfand did not find a really good plan, and after some precise move by Leko his position has become dubious. Leko's plan is to exchange the f3 knight for the b6 knight! 21...Rc7 22.Nd2 Qe7 23.Nc4! Nxc4 24.Bxc4 Bc6 25.Bd5 Kh7 26.Bxc6 bxc6 27.Na4 Bf8 28.Qc2 Qe6 29.b4. After series of excellent moves Leko reached decisive advantage. 29...Rec8 30.Rc3?! 30.Nc5 Bxc5 31.Qxc5 Qe7 32.Rd6 Kg7 33.R1d3+/–. 30...Rd7 31.Rxd7 Qxd7 32.Nb2 a6? 32...h4 33.Nc4 Rd8 gave better chances to survive. 33.Nc4 Qe7

34.Na5?! 34.Nb6 Rd8 35.Rxc6 Rd4 36.Nd5 Qh4 37.Rf6 Kg7 38.Qc7+–. 34...c5 35.Nb3 a5. Of course Black is still lost, but Gelfand gets some counterplay. 36.Rxc5 Rxc5 37.Nxc5 axb4 38.axb4 Qa7

39.g3?! 39.Qc4 h4 40.Nd3 Bd6 41.b5 Kg7 42.Qd5 it wins easily. 39...Qa1+ 40.Kg2 Qd4 41.Qb3 Kg8 42.Qd5 Qxb4 43.Nd3 Qd4 44.Nxe5 Qxd5 45.exd5 Bd6 46.f4 Kf8 47.Kf3 Ke7 48.Ke4 Bc5 49.g4. 49.f5 gxf5+ (49...g5 50.f6+ Kxf6 51.Nd7++-) 50.Kxf5 Bf2 51.g4 hxg4 52.Nxg4 Bg3 53.Nh6 Be1 54.Ke4 Kf6 55.Nf5+/–. 49...hxg4 50.hxg4 Bg1 51.Nc4 Bc5 52.Ke5 f6+ 53.Ke4 Bb4 54.Kd4 Kf7

55.f5?? In time-trouble after some inacurace play Leko made an extremly big mistake in this difficult endgame! 55...gxf5 56.gxf5 Ke7 57.Nb2 Kd6 58.Nc4+ Ke7 59.Ke4 Kd7 60.Nb2 Kd6 61.Nc4+ Kc5 62.Ne3 Bc3=

And White cannot break this fortress. 63.Ng4 Bb2 64.Nh6 Kd6 65.Nf7+ Ke7 66.Nh8 Kd6 67.Ng6 Bc1 68.Nf8 Bb2 69.Ne6 Be5 70.Nd4 Kc5 71.Nb3+ Kd6 72.Na5 Bc3 73.Nb3 Be5 74.Nd4 Kc5 75.Nc6 Bb2 76.Nd8 Be5 77.Nf7 Bg3 78.Nh6 Be5 79.Ng4 Bb2 80.Nf2 Bc3 81.Nd3+ Kd6 82.Nc1 Bb2 83.Nb3 Be5 84.Na5 Kc5 85.Nc6 Bb2 86.Ne7 Be5 87.Nc8 Bc7 88.Ne7 Be5 89.Ng8 Kd6 90.Nh6 Bb2 91.Ng4 Kc5 92.Ne3 Be5 93.Nf1 Bc3 94.Ng3 Be5 95.Ne2 Bb2 96.Nf4 Kd6 97.Ne6 Be5 98.Ng7 Bb2 99.Ne8+ Kd7 100.Ng7 Kd6 101.Ne6 draw. [Click to replay]

Current standings

Remaining schedule

Links

Lékó & Gelfand official web site All games in PGN All ChessBase reports from Miskolc 2006 Leko vs Karpov Miskolc 2007 Leko vs Kramnik Miskolc 2008 Leko vs Carlsen Miskolc 2009 Leko vs Anand The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.