Mukachevo: Leko equalises, Ivanchuk wins blitz tiebreak

Exhibition Rapid Match in Mukachevo

This match over twelve games took place from October 25 - 28, in Mukachevo, a small town located in the western Ukraine. It pitted the top players of the two neighbouring countries Hungary and Ukraine, Peter Leko and Vassily Ivanchuk, in rapid chess against each other. Four games were played on each day – October 26, 27 and 28, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They were broadcast live on the official web site and on Playchess.com.

Day three – rounds 9 to 12 + blitz tiebreak

In the first game of day three Peter Leko showed his determination and unwillingness to accept the loss of this match. In a nice attacking game he outwitted Vassily Ivanchuk and scored his first point in Mukachevo.

Leko,P (2755) - Ivanchuk,V (2787) [B36]
Rapid Match g/10+10 Mukachevo UKR (9), 28.10.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 0-0 10.Qd2 Qa5 11.0-0 Be6 12.b3 Rfc8 13.Rfc1 Ng4 14.Bxg4 Bxg4 15.Bd4 Bxd4 16.Qxd4 Be6 17.Rab1 a6 18.a4 Rab8 19.Re1 Qb4 20.Qd3 Rc5 21.h3 Rbc8 22.Re3 R5c6 23.Kh2 Qc5 24.f4 Rb6

25.Nd5 Bxd5 26.exd5 Rb4?! 27.Rxe7 b5? After this Black is completely lost: 28.Rbe1 Rf8 29.Re8 Qf2 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Qc3 Qxf4+ 32.Kh1 1-0.

The score was now just 5:4 for the Ukrainian grandmaster, who needed to survive thee more games. The tenth game was drawn, but in the eleventh Peter Leko struck again. Ivanchuk exchanged queens on move 32 and then gave up a pawn one move later. Leko settled down for a long grind, turned the pawn advantage into an exchange, and then won an endgame with rook vs bishops and each player having three pawns on the kingside. The Hungarian former world championship challenger had equalised!

A tough battle, if ever there was one: Vassily Ivanchuk vs Peter Leko

The final game was an uneventful draw, so two blitz tiebreak games were required. In the first Ivanchuk had white and the game ended in a relatively uneventful 49-move draw. The final game was a Sicilian Scheveningen which turned into a passed pawn festival.

Leko,P (2755) - Ivanchuk,V (2787) [B80]
Rapid Match g/10+10 Mukachevo UKR (14), 28.10.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 h6 10.0-0-0 b4 11.Na4 Ne5 12.b3 Bd7 13.Nb2 d5 14.Bf4 Qc7 15.Nd3 Nxd3+ 16.Bxd3 Qb6 17.Ne2 dxe4 18.Bxe4 Rd8 19.Be3 Bc5 20.Bxc5 Qxc5 21.Qd4 Rc8 22.Ng3 Ke7 23.Rhe1 Qxd4 24.Rxd4 a5 25.Bd3 Rhd8 26.Nf5+ Kf8 27.Nd6 Bc6 28.Be2 Rb8 29.Rd2 Nd5 30.Nc4 Nc3 31.Rxd8+ Rxd8 32.Nxa5 Nxe2+ 33.Rxe2 Bxf3 34.Rf2 Bxg4 35.Nc6 Rd1+ 36.Kb2 f5 37.Nxb4 e5 38.Kc3 e4 39.Rd2 Ra1 40.Rd5 e3 41.Re5 f4 42.Nd3 g5

Count the number of passed pawns! Black is much better positioned to make use of them. 43.h4? e2 44.hxg5 f3 45.Re4 h5 46.Rf4+ Kg7 47.a4 Rd1 48.Kd4

And now 48...e1Q wins immediately. The bulletin give 48...Ra1 0-1 – which of course also wins, but not as quickly and obviously. It is possible that Leko resigned after playing 48.Kd4.

All results:

Links

Official match site All games in PGN Download free PGN reader ChessBase Light