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The fourth FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament is being held in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, during 14th -29th April 2009 at the Intour Hotel "Sindica". The games start at 3 p.m. local time = 15:00h CEST. After five rounds there is a free day (on Monday, April 20) and another after round nine (on Saturday, April 25).
Round 10: Sunday, April 26, 2009 |
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Kamsky Gata |
½-½ |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
Aronian Levon |
1-0 |
Eljanov Pavel |
Leko Peter |
1-0 |
Gelfand Boris |
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar |
1-0 |
Svidler Peter |
Akopian Vladimir |
1-0 |
Bacrot Etienne |
Karjakin Sergey |
½-½ |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
Grischuk Alexander |
1-0 |
Alekseev Evgeny |
The following game notes were provided by FIDE and are translated (by Misha Savinov) from the comments of Sergey Shipov. We are grateful for permission to reproduce his commentary here. All photos by courtesy of FIDE.
This was the bloodiest round of the tournament – just two draws in seven games! Five games ended in White’s favor. As you can see, the right to make the first move plays a vital role at this level. Aronian retained the sole lead by confident win over Eljanov. Leko used the atomic novelty to crush Gelfand. Alekseev lost a logical game to Grischuk and stepped behind. Other games were only of local importance...
The press room at the FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik
Levon Aronian-Pavel Eljanov
In the Ragozin Defense Levon created non-trivial problems for the opponent with
his novelty 11.Qb4! I think Pavel’s reaction wasn’t optimal. Instead
of 11…Ne4 much stronger is 11…a5!, for instance, 12.Qd4 b6!, and
Black can castle and develop the bishop to a6. The Black’s knight arrived
on e4, but it only provoked the raid of its White counterpart. White placed
his knight to d6 and got strong pressure on Black’s weak pawns. Eljanov
initiated exchanges, after which Aronian’s bishops began to dominate.
Black’s 29…Nfe4+ was played out of desperation. Aronian confidently
converted the decisive advantage.
You saw that I had two bishops, didn't you? Aronian and Eljanov after the
game
The top Armenian GM showed some excellent piece play in round ten
Alexander Grischuk-Evgeny Alekseev
A good game. In the Rubinstein System of the Nimzo-Indian Defense Black got
a very solid position, but did not equalize completely. White gained more space,
and his bishops were potentially very strong. The position was quite complicated,
as neither side could easily develop the initiative. Grischuk played very slowly,
and provoked the opponent to employ a risky plan. The h-pawn home run (22…h5
and 22…h4) did not bring Black any fruits. White’s strong reply
24.e5! cut Black’s pieces off the kingside. Grischuk developed very strong
initiative. It is difficult to point at the decisive error. I can only recommend
25…Ndf4 26.Ne4 c4!? with the idea to sacrifice an exchange on d6, and
if 27.Rdc1, then Black can sacrifice a pawn by 27…Nd3. In both cases he
gets some initiative on the light squares. After the knight was transferred
to f5 (25…Nde7), White got an extra pawn without any compensation. Evgeny
gave up another one in order to proceed to the ending with opposite colored
bishops, but it didn’t help. Alexander overcame his usual time troubles
and showed good technique during the concluding stage.
Giving up pole position is not an easy thing: Russian GM Evgeny Alekseev
Alexander Grischuk is now in third place, together with Alekseev
Peter Leko-Boris Gelfand
The line of the Petroff that occurred in the well-known 15th game of the Karpov-Kasparov
championship match in Moscow 1985, was recently reassessed in White’s
favor. Even the fire-proof Kramnik lost two games (to Naiditsch and Ivanchuk)!
Lately Black found some saving ideas, but today another blow came! Leko showed
that White does not have to regain the b5-pawn. By 17.Be3! he completed the
development and soon started to create serious threats. I enjoyed the tricky
20.Qc2! with the idea to sacrifice the queen on h7 after the knight check from
e7. The march of the f-pawn to f7 (21.f4!) was also splendid. It became clear
that Peter follows his home analysis, when he instantly played 25.Kf1! not allowing
the Black’s queen to f2, and solving the back rank problem. Of course,
sooner or later Peter had to start working at the board, but it did not prevent
him from following the first suggested line of the best computer engines until
the very end of the game. White’s final attack (started with 27.f6!),
its pointe – 34.Qg7+!, and, last, but not least, the sharp-minded knight
maneuver 43.Na8! make it a real masterpiece. Congratulations, Peter, bravo!
Peter Leko and Boris Gelfand before the decisive round ten game
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov-Peter Svidler
This game contained a number of finesses, and Black’s first and only mistake
became fatal. The players discussed the Shabalov-Shirov Variation of the Slav
Defense. The position quickly became original. Black had problems with his king,
however, Peter bravely started to fight in the center (16…c5!) and for
a long time played very well, but apparently spent too much energy and got very
tired. On the 31st move he could force a draw by 31…Rd7! (and White must
give the perpetual), but blundered. After 31…Ke7? 32.Rxf2! it turned out
that Black cannot take the rook on f2 due to tactical nuances. Shakhriyar was
merciful in his final attack. The 36.Bxg7! blow immediately killed all the resistance.
Peter Svidler and Shakhriyar Mamedyrov analyse their game for the press
Vladimir Akopian-Etienne Bacrot
White did not get anything out of the Accelerated Dragon. Black managed to carry
out some exchanges and created counterplay on the queenside. His novelty 12…Ne5
proved decent. However, it seems Bacrot overestimated his chances. By 22…Rb4
he could force a draw (23.Nc3 Rd4! etc.), but decided to continue the struggle,
and ended up in an unpleasant ending. White’s pawn majority on the queenside
was the most important positional factor. Perhaps detailed analysis will show
many ways for Black to make a draw, but finding any of them at the board was
difficult. Akopian demonstrated impeccable technique (41.g4!, 49.b4!) and won
a good game.
Vladimir Akopian, now in joint 3-5th place, and Etienne Bacrot, in 6-9th
Will he come to round eleven clean shaven?
The French GM revealed to the press that he is, like many chess players, quite superstitious. "One of the signs is that I don’t shave when everything goes well. It’s one of the details. And it works as long as it works." So now off with the stubble, Etienne!
Sergey Karjakin-Vassily Ivanchuk
In this game Karjakin tested Ivanchuk’s knowledge of Karjakin’s
games. Up to the 37th move the players repeated Karjakin-So, UAE 2008. The tempo
of the game was very slow, creating the illusion of serious struggle. Ivanchuk
played a new move – 37…Re8, but the position was completely drawn
anyway. I don’t think this game will add anything to the theory manuals
of the Sveshnikov Sicilian.
The Ukrainian duo Karjakin and Ivanchuk – but soon Sergey will become
a Russian
Gata Kamsky-Rustam Kasimdzhanov
The 4.Nc4 Variation of the Petroff was considered harmless for Black, and this
game did nothing to alter the evaluation. White was busy fixing the disadvantages
of his structure, and allowed simplifying exchanges in the center, after which
Black had no problems whatsoever. The grandmasters played well, did not blunder
anything, and kept changing pieces. There is only one moment that requires clarification.
When Kamsky sacrificed the d4-pawn, Kasimdzhanov could show some greed by 29…Rf8!,
which would extend the struggle. However, in the game he allowed the opponent
to annihilate everything on the queenside, and it ended in a dull draw.
The press conference after the game Gata Kamsky vs Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Back in the lead: Armenian GM Levon Aronian
In second place: Lékó Pétern (ás hé
ís cálléd ín Húngáry)
FIDE Grand Prix Nalchik 2009 – Schedule and results
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