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The Morelia-Linares tournament is taking place from February 15th to 23rd February in Morelia, Mexico, and from 28th February to 7th March in Linares, Spain.
Round 6: Friday, February 22nd |
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Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Levon Aronian |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Teimour Radjabov |
1-0 |
Magnus Carlsen |
Vassily Ivanchuk |
½-½ |
Alexei Shirov |
Round six showed some interesting chess in keeping the pace with the trend seen throughout the Mexican leg of the Morelia-Linares Supertournament. In all four boards the players went for highly combative games, seeking out for unbalanced positions and pressing hard for the win.
A most expected game between Topalov and Anand saw a Nimzo-Indian where the World Champion with the black side got some dynamic play for his pieces in exchange for a weakness in his kingside. Topalov tried to make the best of his slight advantage but the position drifted to a Queen vs. Queen ending and a perpetual ensued.
In the Slav Defense, Ivanchuk with white got little out of the opening against Shirov. After some minor struggle in the center connected with black’s expansion in the kingside, the queens went off the board and the draw was agreed on move 27.
In the encounter between the youngest players of the tournament (both former child prodigies), Radjabov faced Carlsen’s Berlin Wall of the Ruy Lopez. Despite a seemingly harmless approach, this game proved the only decisive in the round. Carlsen won a pawn on move 20 but allowed uncomfortable pressure by the two bishops and a rook. Soon, Radjabov shattered his opponent’s queenside pawn structure, earned a couple of pawns and created an unstoppable passed pawn of his own. And that was it.
But the highlight of the round was the game Aronian-Leko. In a Symmetrical English, the interesting novelty Qa4 made Leko think for over 80 minutes (!). Despite time pressure, Black managed to put up a tough resistance. Having surrendered a pawn and making some unusual moves for him, Leko found shelter for his king and reasonable counterplay against Aronian’s queenside castling. For a while, White’s win seemed certain but hard to prove. In the end, white somehow lost the thread and allowed Rxa3 which led to an immediate draw after the necessary Rc6.
Antonio Galan Alcala is a Mexican chess amateur with a good playing level and a respectable knowledge of the culture of the chess game. He holds a Bachelor’s in Geological Engineering and a Master’s degree in Technology Management. Antonio has been well acquainted with the Mexican chess environment for many years now and is commonly involved in efforts to spread a better understanding of the game through its many links with fields such as Mathematics, Literature, technology, etc. He lives in Mexico City and works for the National University. |
The stage in the Theatro Ocampo is prepared for Round six
A Mexican camera man adjusts his focus and – very important –
the white balance
Teimour Radjabov is, as usual, the first on the stage
Peter Leko arrives and draws the fire of the photographers
Then it is Vassily Ivanchuk's turn to face the media
As more and more players arrive the photographers scurry back and forth
Anand and Topalov are surrounded
At last their game is under way
Teimour Radjabov starts his game against Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian (white) against Peter Leko
Magnus Carlsen vs Teimour Radjabov
World Champion against former World Champion: Vishy Anand vs Veselin Topalov
Magnus refreshes himself with his OJ drink
The first game to end is Topalov vs Anand
.
The two analyse for a while in the post-game cubicle in the press center
Animated discussion between the two players
Outside Aruna Anand waits for The Vish
Gottcha! Sofi Leko catches us photographing her studying German literature
in the darkened theatre
Meanwhile husband Peter Leko is struggling to hold his game against Levon
Aronian
The arbiters Juan Vargas and Faik Gasanov follow every move
Teimour Radjabov about to execute his final move, 43.Bc5-e3
Immediately after this move Magnus Carlsen resigns (no, we didn't catch it)
The arbiter collects the scoresheets and signatures
At the entrance Radjabov is mobbed by fans
Teimour spends fifteen or twenty minutes signing programmes or posing with
fans
...and then still has the energy to answer the questions of journalists
The last game, Aronian vs Leko, ends shortly after 9 p.m. in a draw
All pictures by Frederic Friedel in Morelia
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Links
The games are being broadcast live on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse the PGN games. |
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