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Round 8: Friday, May 19, 2006 |
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Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Etienne Bacrot |
Gata Kamsky |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Standings
Topalov confirms his fighting character by obtaining another fine win against Ponomariov. The slow manoeuvring phase was followed by a brilliant attack, with many unexpected moves. In order to avoid the worse, Ponomariov had to sacrifice the queen, but failed to build up a reliable fortress. Unfortunately, the game ended after I initiated the complex and demanding operation of packing my luggage for my trip to the Olympiad and I had no chance to annotate it properly. For complete annotations, please consult the next issue of the CBM. The other two games (Kamsky-Anand and Svidler-Bacrot) ended in draws after a relatively uneventfull fight.
The following notes are the short version of the full training analysis that is scheduled to appear in the next issue of ChessBase Magazine. You can replay the shorter versions here.
Topalov,V (2804) - Ponomariov,R (2738) [C88]
Mtel Masters Sofia BUL (8), 19.05.2006 [Mihail Marin]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a4 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Nbd2 Nd7 13.Nf1 Nb6 14.Bd2 b4 15.c3 bxc3
Black's fortress cannot last for tyoo long, because his king's position is too weak. 47...h6 48.h4 Rb8 49.Kg3 Re8 50.Kf3 Nf8 51.Qd2 Kg7 52.Qd4+ Kg8 53.Qf6 Re6 54.Qe7 Kg7 55.Qc7 Kg8 56.d7 Nxd7 57.Qxd7 Kg7 58.Qd4+ Kg8 59.Kf4 Rg6 60.Kf5 Re6 61.Qd7 Threatening Qxe6, which would transpose to a winning pawn ending. 61...Rg6 62.h5 Rg5+ 63.Kf6 Kh8 64.Qe8+ Rg8 65.Kxf7 1-0.
Svidler,Peter (2743) - Bacrot,Etienne (2708) [C88]
Mtel Masters Sofia (8), 19.05.2006 [Mihail Marin]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a3 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Nbd2 Nc6 13.Nf1
Queen side complications have led to almost perfect symmetry. Instead of asking for permission to agree to a draw, players preferred repeating moves. 33.Rb6 Kf7 34.Rb7+ Kg6 35.Rb6 Kf7 36.Rb7+ Kg6 37.Rb6 Kf7 1/2-1/2.
Kamsky,Gata (2671) - Anand,Viswanathan (2803) [C68]
Mtel Masters Sofia (8), 19.05.2006 [Mihail Marin]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 An early deviation from the otherwise inevitable Anti-Marshall systems. Kamsky seems to have had enough of it here in Sofia, although the practical results were quite favourable for him. 4...dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 Qf6 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.Nc4 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Qxf3 11.gxf3 Ng6 12.Rd1 c5 13.Kf1 Bd6 14.Ke2 f6 15.c3 Kf7 16.Be3 Rhd8 17.a3 a5 18.a4 b6
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Mihail
Marin, 41, Romanian Grandmaster, three times national champion
(1988, 1994, 1999), nine times member of the Olympic team, participant
in two Interzonals (Szirak 1987 and Manila 1990). In 2005 Marin was
the second of Judit Polgar at the FIDE world championship in San Luis.
Highest rating: 2604. Author of the ChessBase opening CDs English
1.c4 e5 and The Catalan Opening and the books: Secrets
of Chess Defense, Secrets of Attacking Chess and Learn from
the Legends. Graduate from the Polytechnic Institute Bucharest
(Specialty Electrotechnic) in 1989. |
If you have enjoyed the commentary provided by GM Mihail Marin you should try the following training CDs by the same author. They are amongst the best in our ChessBase Shop. Get them now: