Morelia R6: Radjabov beats Carlsen, Topalov-Anand draw

Morelia-Linares 2008

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 six express

Summary of round six

By Antonio Galan Alcala

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.

Standings after six rounds

Picture gallery

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

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The two analyse for a while in the post-game cubicle in the press center

Animated discussion between the two players

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

Schedule and results

Links Official web site (with live coverage) All games in PGN ChessBase Reports from Morelia 2008 ChessBase Reports from Morelia 2007 ChessBase Reports from Morelia 2006 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. Download free PGN reader ChessBase Light