
The FIDE World Chess Championship is taking place in the Hotel Potrero de los
Funes
Complex, in the Province of San Luis, Argentina, from September 27 to October
16, 2005.
Round Twelve Summary
Round 12: Tuesday, October 11th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½
|
Peter Svidler |
A. Morozevich |
½-½
|
Judit Polgar |
Peter Leko |
0-1
|
Vishy Anand |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½
|
Michael Adams |
|
Note that tomorrow (Wednesday) is a free day
Current standings at the World Championship in San Luis

Videos to watch
World Championship Diary: Round 12
By Nigel Short – on site in San Luis
3.15pm: The first little joke of the day belongs to Morozevich.
I cannot recall the Van Geet Opening (1.Nc3) ever making an appearance in an
event of this level. Of course the opening in itself is based on sound principles:
its only real drawback is that it has virtually no independent significance.
If Whites wishes to take the position down original paths then he must choose
second-rate moves with which to do it.

Alexander Morozevich in his game against Judit Polgar
Sure enough, the game quickly reverts to the Sicilian Najdorf. Nevertheless
Judit conceded five minutes on the clock in making this decision. Probably this
will be of no consequence, but it will not hurt Morozevich to have obtained
this small concession.

Judit Polgar pondering Morozevich's opening
3.30pm: The problem with the Petroff Defence is that when
the theory ends, the game often ends too – usually in a draw. Therefore
it is an ideal opening for those possessed of fast processor, strong work ethic,
good memory, and lack of ambition. Unfortunately it is very much a part of modern
tournament chess and there is little to be done about it.

Anand playing the Petroff against Peter Leko
Peter Leko, has often had to face this loathsome beast of late, and he was
the first to deviate from his disastrous game one of his Brissago match with
Kramnik, by offering his g-pawn as a gambit. Anand snatched it; cheekily threatened
mate the following move (although allowing his bishop to be incarcerated) but
then trapped the White bishop in exchange.
Leko,P (2763) - Anand,V (2788) [C42]
WCh-FIDE San Luis ARG (12), 11.10.2005

Position after 16...Be4
17.Nd2 Bxg2 18.Bg4 Bh1 (threatening ...Qg2#) 19.f3
(trapping the white bishop) 19...Bh4 20.Rf1 f5 21.Bh5
g6 (trapping the black bishop) 22.Kxh1 gxh5 23.Rg1+ Kh8.
This difficult tactical sequence was played at the highest speed and was clearly
etched in the hard drives of both players. It seems to this doddery observer
that White’s initiative is too slender to trouble the Indian much, and
that Black has a reasonably comfortable game.

Topalov playing his pieces like a pianist at the start of his game
5.15pm: It was always a regrettable possibility, but Topalov-Svidler
ended in a tame draw. Obviously Svidler faced an uphill task: burdened with
irresolution he could not quite decide whether he should go for broke, or try
to press without taking undue risk. He chose the latter course, no doubt calculating
that even if he were to win that he would still, most likely, require an extra
point to catch Toppy due to his inferior tie-break.

Facing a dilemma: Peter Svidler
That looked implausible. On the down side, with Anand snapping at his heels,
a defeat would have been costly. Were it not for the fact that there is only
one World Champion, I would say that his sober assessment of odds was impeccable.
However it might have been better to risk everything, however poor the prospects,
in the knowledge that this was his chance for immortality . In fairness I should
add that it is very easy for me to pontificate when I sitting here comfortably
with nothing at stake. The final position, incidentally, was slightly in Toppy’s
favour and therefore very difficult for Svidler to make headway. Doubtless this
also influenced the big Russian.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov at the start of round 12
6.00pm: Kasimjanov-Adams featured an Anti-Marshall –
a very popular variation here. The reigning World Champion cunningly placed
his bishop on d5 in the opening in an effort to exploit Black’s wayward
knight on a5: the same theme had already occurred in an earlier game Svidler-Leko,
when the Magyar’s stranded cavalry was the root cause of his downfall.
Adam’s obtained reasonable activity after dropping a pawn, but omitted
to exchange queens on the 25th move – a serious error – which would
given him clear equality. The Englishman is now facing a most unpleasant task.
I would assess the Uzbek’s chances of winning as great as Adams’
chances of surviving.

Michael Adams, running into problems against Kasim
Anand, meanwhile, is completely winning. My impression is that he has just
totally outplayed the Hungarian who appears to have overestimated his chances
out of the opening. With a wobbly kingside like that one would have thought
he would have been eager to exchange off the queens as soon as possible, but
instead he carelessly
allowed the Black queen to go on the rampage. Should Vishy score the full point
– as is most probable – he will catch Svidler. Theoretically he
could still overtake Topalov, but anyone expecting that is living in cloud-cuckoo
land.

Michael Adams' wife Tara watching from the sidelines
6.40pm: I have studiously avoided saying too much about Morozevich-Polgar
for the simple reason that I have found it difficult to understand and I am
afraid to reveal my ignorance. It looks like Black had no problems whatsoever
out of the opening and indeed perhaps stood better, if anything. After the Hungarian
has allowed her bishop to be captured on f6, damaging her pawn structure in
the process, however, White has obtained the upper hand. Whether this will suffice
for victory is another matter – given the limited material remaining.

A chess journalist working with wireless on the hotel deck
This afternoon I have been given the latest analytical aid, Fritz 9, which,
it is claimed, is around 100 Elo points stronger than the previous version.
If true, it is a giant leap for siliconkind. Anyway, the monster is screaming
that Vishy is 7.36 points ahead which in layman’s terms means that it
is long past the correct time for Leko to give up.

Peter Leko resigning to Vishy Anand
7.20pm: The inevitable happened. Leko resisted as best he
could, but when faced with imminent unstoppable mate in six he resigned. This
is a truly woeful performance from one of the pre-tournament favourites and
he will be glad when it is all over. Curiously the American statistician, Jeff
Sonas, rated Svidler a better bet than Leko before this event – contrary
to Elo ratings – the standard gauge of expected performance- and would
seem that his obscure formulae are the more accurate.

Adams and Kasimdzhanov agree to a draw
8.00pm: Adams has managed to hold the dodgy endgame against
Kasim, who will perhaps be annoyed that he did not make more of his promising
position.. Eventually White’s king became too draughty and his pawns too
loose to escape the incessant threats of perpetual check.

In the press conference with Morozevich and Polgar
Morozevich-Polgar is proving to be very tough struggle. The Russian is a pawn
ahead but his pieces are tangled. Were I to dabble in soothsaying I would predict
a draw. Mind you, it is not inconceivable for him to lose if he gets over-ambitious
(and tired). No sooner had these words dripped off my quill than a draw was
agreed.
Tomorrow is a rest day (yahoo!). See you on Thursday.
All photos: Nadja Woisin, Word Chess Championship Press
Full schedule
Round 1: Wednesday, September 28th |
Peter Leko |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
A. Morozevich |
½-½ |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Judit Polgar |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 2: Thursday, September 29th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Judit Polgar |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
|
|
Round 3: Friday, September 30th |
A. Morozevich |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Peter Leko |
Judit Polgar |
1-0 |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
|
|
Round 4: Saturday, October 1st |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
1-0 |
Vishy Anand |
Peter Leko |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
A. Morozevich |
0-1 |
Peter Svidler |
|
|
Free day: Sunday, October 2nd |
|
Round 5: Monday, October 3rd |
Peter Svidler |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Judit Polgar |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
|
|
Round 6: Tuesday, October 4th |
Judit Polgar |
0-1 |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 7: Wednesday, October 5th |
Veselin Topalov |
1-0 |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Peter Leko |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
A. Morozevich |
1-0 |
Vishy Anand |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
|
|
Round 8: Thursday, October 6th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
0-1 |
A. Morozevich |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
|
|
Free day: Friday, October 7th |
|
Round 9: Saturday, October 8th |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Judit Polgar |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
A. Morozevich |
1-0 |
Peter Leko |
|
|
Round 10: Sunday, October 9th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
A. Morozevich |
Peter Leko |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
1-0 |
Judit Polgar |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 11: Monday, October 10th |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
1-0 |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Judit Polgar |
½-½ |
Peter Leko |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
A. Morozevich |
|
|
Round 12: Tuesday, October 11th |
Veselin Topalov |
½-½ |
Peter Svidler |
A. Morozevich |
½-½ |
Judit Polgar |
Peter Leko |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
|
|
Free day: Wednesday, October 12th |
|
Round 13: Thursday, October
13th |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
- |
Veselin Topalov |
Michael Adams |
- |
Peter Leko |
Vishy Anand |
- |
A. Morozevich |
Judit Polgar |
- |
Peter Svidler |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 14: Friday, October 14th |
Veselin Topalov |
- |
Judit Polgar |
Peter Svidler |
- |
Vishy Anand |
A. Morozevich |
- |
Michael Adams |
Peter Leko |
- |
R. Kasimdzhanov |
Games –
Report |
|
Tie-breaks: Saturday, October 15th |
|
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