Sochi R09: Wang Yue wins two, joins Cheparinov in the lead

FIDE Grand Prix in Sochi 2008

The Second FIDE Grand Prix Tournament is taking place in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi, from July 30 to August 15, 2008, with 14 players from ten different countries. The field is dominated by Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk, who is 37 point ahead of the next highest ranked player in the field.

Report after round eight

Vassily Ivanchuk played the Berlin (in the Ruy Lopez) against Peter Svidler, who employed a new idea on move ten – and was soundly punished by for it by his Ukrainian opponent. Very traumatic. When is the last time Peter lost a game with white in just 25 moves?

Svidler,P (2738) - Ivanchuk,V (2781) [C65]
2nd FIDE GP Sochi RUS (8), 08.08.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.Bg5 d6 7.Nbd2 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Nh5 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.d4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nxg3 13.hxg3 Qf6 14.N2b3 Bb6 15.Qf3 Qxf3 16.gxf3 Kg7 17.g4 d5 18.Nf5+ Bxf5 19.gxf5 Rfe8 20.Nd2 Rad8 21.Rd1 dxe4 22.fxe4 Rd5 23.Ke2 Rxf5 24.Rh2 Rf4 25.f3 f5 0-1.

Kamsky-Al-Modiahki was a Sicilian Rossolimo in which the Qatari GM found himself in trouble after a Kamsky novelty on move 11. He seemed to have saved the day with a "drawn" rook ending a pawn down, but the American world class GM outplayed him thoroughly to take the full point.

Kamsky,G (2723) - Al Modiahki,M (2556) [B31]
2nd FIDE GP Sochi RUS (8), 08.08.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.Re1 e5 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Ne7 8.a3 a5 9.Be3 b6 10.Nbd2 a4 11.Qb1 Qc7 12.b3 0-0 13.bxa4 Rxa4 14.Qb3 Ra6 15.a4 Be6 16.Qc3 h6 17.Nb3 Bxb3 18.cxb3 Rd8 19.a5 Rxa5 20.Rxa5 bxa5 21.Bxc5 Nc8 22.h4 Nd6 23.Rc1 Nb5 24.Qc4 Rb8 25.Be3 Nd4 26.Bxd4 exd4 27.g3 Qb6 28.Nd2 Qb5 29.Kf1 Rd8 30.Ra1 Bf8 31.Qxb5 cxb5 32.Rxa5 Bb4 33.Ra2 Bxd2 34.Rxd2

From now on it is every pawn for itself. Watch how Kamsky wins this position: 34...Rc8 35.Ke2 Rc3 36.e5 f6 37.exf6 Kf7 38.Kf3 Kxf6 39.Ke4 Rxb3 40.Kxd4 b4 41.Kc4 Rb1 42.Re2 h5 43.d4 Kf5 44.Re3 Rd1 45.d5 Rd2 46.f4 Kf6 47.Rb3 Rd1 48.Rxb4 Rc1+ 49.Kd4 Rd1+ 50.Kc5 Rd3 51.Rd4 Rc3+ 52.Kb4 1-0.

Boris Gelfand suffered one of his rare defeats, certainly with the white pieces, against a vigorously attacking Chinese GM Wang Yue.

Gelfand,B (2720) - Wang Yue (2704) [D17]
2nd FIDE GP Sochi RUS (8), 08.08.2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 9.g3 e6 10.Bg2 Bb4 11.0-0 0-0 12.e3 h6 13.Qe2 Bh7 14.Rd1 Nfd7 15.Nd3 Qe7 16.e4 e5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Bc5 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.Qxe3 Nc4 21.Qe2 Nxe5 22.f4 Nd7 23.Rd4 Rfd8 24.Rad1 Nc5 25.Qe3 Rxd4 26.Rxd4 Nb3 27.Rd1 Re8 28.e5 Qc5 29.Qxc5 Nxc5 30.Bf1 Kf8 31.Kf2 Ke7 32.Ke3 f6 33.exf6+ Kxf6+ 34.Kf2 Bc2 35.Rc1 Bb3 36.Nd5+ Bxd5 37.Rxc5 Re4 38.Bg2 Rc4 39.Rxc4 Bxc4 40.Ke3 Bb3 41.Kd4 Bxa4 42.Kc5 Bb3 43.Be4 a4 44.h4 Bd1 45.Kd6 h5 46.Bd3?! Not a prudent idea to allow the black bishop to take over the h1-a8 diagonal. 47...Bf3 47.Kc5 b5 48.Bc2 Ke6 49.Bg6 Kd7 50.Bc2 Kc7 51.b3? White was already in trouble after Wang Yue's energetic play, but with this move he jumps into the fire.

51...a3. An interesting alternative was 51...Bd1! and now 52.bxa4 (52.Bxd1 a3 wins) 52...Bxc2 53.axb5 cxb5 54.Kxb5 Kd6 and it is game over for White. 52.Bb1 Be4 53.Ba2 Kd7 54.Kb4 Ke6 and White resigned. 0-1.

Second loss in this tournament: GM Boris Gelfand of Israel

Standings after eight rounds

Report after round nine

Wang Yue (2704) - Radjabov,T (2744) [E81]
2nd FIDE GP Sochi RUS (9), 09.08.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bxc5 Nc6 10.Nge2 b6 11.Ba3 Bb7 12.Rd1 a5 13.Nc1 Nb4 14.Bd3 Bh6 15.Nd5 Nfxd5 16.cxd5 e6 17.Bxb4 axb4 18.dxe6 Bxc1 19.e7 Rdc8 20.e8Q+ Rxe8 21.Rxc1

The white b-pawn looks like prime picking, but Black goes for a different tactical shot: 21...f5?! 22.Rc7 Bd5 23.0-0 fxe4 24.fxe4 Bxa2 25.Ra1 Bd5 26.Rxa8 Bxa8 27.Bb5 Re5 28.Bc4+ Kf8 29.Rc8+ Re8 30.Rxe8+ Kxe8

This is an endgame only White can win, and Wang Hue proceeds to do so with great determination. 31.e5 Ke7 32.Kf2 Bc6 33.g3 g5 34.Ke3 h6 35.Kd4 Bd7 36.Bd5 Bb5 37.Bf3 Be8 38.Bg2 Ba4 39.Bd5 Bb5 40.Bg8 Kf8 41.Bc4 Ba4 42.Bd5 Bb5 43.Bf3 Ke7 44.Bg4 Bf1 45.Kd5 Bb5 46.Bf5 Be8 47.Kc4 b3 48.Kxb3 Bb5 49.Kc3 Be2 50.Kd4 Bb5 51.Kd5 Ba4 52.b4 Bb5 53.Bg4 Ba4 54.Bc8 Kd8 55.Ba6 Kd7 56.e6+ Ke7 57.Bc8 Bb5 58.Bd7 Be2 59.Kc6 b5 60.Kb6 Bc4 61.Bxb5 Bxe6 62.Kc7

It is hopeless: Black must give up his bishop to stop the b-pawn, and is completely lost after that. 1-0.

Joins Cheparinov in the lead: Chinese GM Wang Yue

Peter Svidler bounced back from the painful loss in the previous round to put tremendous pressure on Levon Aronian, with the black pieces. Unfortunately (for Peter) he was not able to convert the rook and pawn ending into a win.

Levon Aronian vs Peter Svidler in round nine

Aronian,L (2737) - Svidler,P (2738) [A29]
2nd FIDE GP Sochi RUS (9), 09.08.2008
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Nd4 5.Bg2 Nxf3+ 6.Bxf3 Bb4 7.Qb3 Bc5 8.d3 c6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg2 h6 11.Bd2 Re8 12.Rac1 Bf8 13.h3 d6 14.Kh2 a6 15.Be3 Qe7 16.Rcd1 Rb8 17.Ba7 Ra8 18.Bb6 Nd7 19.Be3 f5 20.c5+ Kh8 21.cxd6 Qf6 22.d4 e4 23.f3 exf3 24.Rxf3 Bxd6 25.Bf4 Bxf4 26.Rxf4 Re3 27.d5 c5 28.d6 Rxg3 29.Kxg3 Qg5+ 30.Kh2 Qxf4+ 31.Kh1 c4 32.Qb4 a5 33.Qb5 Nf6 34.Qb6 Bd7 35.e3 Qg3 36.Qxb7 Re8 37.Qf3 Qxf3 38.Bxf3 Rxe3 39.Kg2 g5 40.Nd5 Nxd5 41.Rxd5 g4 42.hxg4 fxg4 43.Bxg4 Bxg4 44.d7 Bxd7 45.Rxd7 Re2+ 46.Kf3 Rxb2 47.Rc7 Rc2 48.a4 c3 49.Ke4 Rc1 50.Rc5 c2 51.Kd3 Ra1 52.Kxc2 Rxa4 53.Kb3 Rb4+ 54.Kc3 Ra4 55.Kb3 Ra1 56.Kb2 Re1 57.Rxa5 Kg7 58.Kc2 Kg6 59.Kd2 Re8 60.Ra3 Kg5 61.Re3 Rf8 62.Ke2 Kg4 63.Re7 h5 ½-½.

Standings after nine rounds

The draw quota is still at 70% (44 out of 63 games). But it has to be noted that relative few of the draws were short or unfought. 22% of the games were won by White, 8% by Black.

   Number of games (1-6) played with which number of moves (23-89)

All pictures by Mark Gluhovsky © for FIDE

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