Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Looking for a book

I am actively looking to buy Complete Chess Strategy, volume 3: Play on the Wings by Ludek Pachman. If anyone has, or can point me to, a used copy of this book, let me know.

ETA - FOUND IT! (5/28/2008)

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Kasparov Retires!

September 24, 2004

Q: There has been some speculation that you may be thinking about retiring. What can you say about that?
Kasparov: Absolutely not! (laughter) That statement has absolutely no substance. I am eager to hear from BrainGames about the next plans and I’m still very much in business. I will prove that it (the match) was a very unfortunate slip in my career. I’ll be starting from the Wijk aan Zee tournament in January next year.


March 10, 2005

The world's strongest chessplayer, Garry Kasparov, has just announced his retirement from professional chess. His games in Linares are the last in his professional career, that has spanned thirty years, with twenty on the top of the ratings list. "I would like to make a short statement before the press conference. It could come as a surprise to many of you. But before this tournament I made a concious decision that Linares 2005 will be my last professional tournament, and today I played my last professional game. I hoped I could do better in my last game, but unfortunately the last two games were very difficult for me, to play under such pressure, because I knew it was the end of a career which I could be proud of."

Linares Final Results


The tiebreakers shown in the above table give the Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak results. However, in Linares the first tiebreaker was the number of wins (which was also tied at 5 wins each), and the second tiebreaker was the number of black wins (Kasparov won 3 games with black while Topalov won 1 game with black). That made Kasparov the overall winner in this tournament.

Oh, yeah . . . I almost forgot . . . Leko is still a putz, drawing all 12 of his games. Also, FIDE "champion" Kasimdzhanov didn't win a single game.

Linares Round 14

Topalov beats Kasparov!

Topalov,V (2757) - Kasparov,G (2804) [B30]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 d6 5.d3 Be7 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Nh4 Nd4 8.g3 Bg4 9.f3 Be6 10.Bg5 Ng8 11.Bxe7 Nxe7 12.f4 exf4 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.Rxf4 Kd7 15.Nf3 Rf8 16.Rxf8 Qxf8 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.Ne2 Qf6 19.c3 Rf8 20.Nxd4 Nc6 21.Qf1 Qxf1+?! [21...Qd8 22.Nf3 Qb6+ 23.d4 Qxb2 24.Rb1 Qxc3 25.Rxb7+ Kd8 (25....Kc8 26.Rb3) 26.Rb3 Qc2 and Black has good drawing chances; 21....Nxd4 22.Qxf6 Rxf6 23. cxd4 R3 24.Rd1 g5 - Topalov.] 22.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Nxd4 24.cxd4 d5 25.Kf2 Ke7 26.Kf3 Kf6 27.h4? [27. Kg4 g6 28.h3] g6? [27....h6 draws - Ljubojevic] 28.b4 b5 29.Kf4 h6 30.Kg4 1-0

Leko (2749) - Vallejo Pons (2686) [B32]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qf6 8.Qd2 Nge7 9.Nc3 d6 10.b3 0-0 11.Bb2 Be6 12.Nd5 Qh4 13.Nxe7+ Nxe7 14.Bd3 d5 15.Qe3 d4 16.Qg3 Qxg3 17.hxg3 Nc6 18.c3 Rfd8 19.Ke2 a5 20.cxd4 Nxd4+ 21.Ke3 a4 22.f4 f6 23.bxa4 Rxa4 24.Rhc1 Rxa2 25.Rxa2 Bxa2 26.fxe5 fxe5 27.Rc5 Nc6 28.Bxe5 Nxe5 29.Rxe5 Kf8 30.Rh5 h6 31.Rb5 Rd7 32.g4 Be6 33.g5 hxg5 34.Rxg5 Rc7 35.Kd4 Kf7 36.Rb5 Rd7+ 37.Ke3 Rc7 38.Rb6 Ke7 39.Kd4 Bc8 40.Bc4 Rc6 41.Rb2 Rg6 42.Bd5 b6 43.g3 Rxg3 44.Rxb6 Rg1 45.Rb8 Bd7 46.Rb7 Kd8 47.Ra7 Rg2 48.Ke5 Rg5+ 49.Kd6 Rg6+ 50.Kc5 Rg5 51.Rb7 Rh5 52.Rb6 Rg5 53.Ra6 Ke7 54.Kd4 Rg1 55.Ra7 Kd8 56.Bc4 Rg4 57.Kd5 Rg6 58.Kc5 Rc6+ 59.Kd4 Rg6 60.e5 Be6 61.Bb5 Rg1 62.Kc5 Rd1 63.Rxg7 Rd5+ 64.Kc6 Rxe5 65.Rh7 Rf5 66.Kd6 Rd5+ 67.Kxe6 Rxb5 1/2-1/2

Anand (2786) - Adams (2741) [E15]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 b5 14.Re1 dxe4 15.Bxe4 bxc4 16.Nxc4 Nb6 17.Nxb6 axb6 18.Qc2 h6 19.a4 Qc7 20.Red1 Rfd8 21.Rac1 Qa7 22.Bb2 b5 23.Ra1 bxa4 24.bxa4? [24.Rxa4] Bf6 25.Qd2 c5 26.d5 Bxb2 27.Qxb2 Bb7 28.Qe5 Qa8 29.a5 Bxd5 30.Bxd5 exd5 31.a6 d4 32.Rd3 Rd7 33.h4 Qa7 34.Rb3 c4 35.Rb4 c3 36.Qf5 g6 37.Qd3 c2 38.Rc1 Rc3 39.Qd2 Qxa6 40.Rxc2 Qc6 41.Rbb2 Kh7 42.Qd1 h5 43.Kh2 Rc7 44.Rxc3 dxc3 45.Rc2 Qe4 46.Rc1 Kg7 47.Rc2 Rc8 48.Rc1 Rc5 49.Kg1 Kh7 50.Qd6 Rf5 51.Qd7 Rf3 52.Qa7 Qd5 0-1

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Linares Round 13

Kasparov (2804) - Anand (2786) [C42]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.a3 Nc6 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Bf5 14.Re1 Rfe8 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.Bd3 Qd7 17.Rb1 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 b6 19.d5 Bf6 20.c4 h6 21.h3 Ne7 [TN; 21....Re7, Leko-Anand, Linares 2003] 22.Ne5 1/2-1/2

Vallejo Pons (2686) - Topalov (2757) [D37]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Qc2 dxc4 8.e3 c5 9.dxc5 Qa5 10.Bxc4 Qxc5 11.Ne4 Qa5+ 12.Ke2 Be7 13.Qc3 Qxc3 14.Nxc3 a6 15.Rhd1 Nd7 16.Ne4 [Here Vallejo Pons made a draw offer, which Topalov turned down.] b5 17.Bb3 Bb7 [If 17....Nc5 18.Bd5 exd5 19.Nxd5 Ne6 20.Nb6 Bb7 21.Nxa8 Bd8 22.Rxd8+.] 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.Rxd6 Ke7 20.Rad1 Rhd8 21.R6d4 Rac8 22.Ne1 a5! 23.f3 Rc7 24.e4 Rdc8 25.a3 g5! 26.Ke3 Ne5 27.R4d2 Ba6 28.Rd6 Ra7 29.R6d2 b4! 30.axb4 Rb8 31.Ra1 [31.Nc2 a4 32.Bxa4 Nc4+ 33.Bxa4 Nc4+ wins for black too.] Rxb4 32.Ra3 a4 33.Ba2 Bc4 34.Bb1 Bf1 35.Ba2 Rab7 36.Nc2 Rxb2 37.Rxa4 Rc7 38.Kf2 [38.Ne1 Rc3+ 39.Kd2 Rc4+! 40.Bxc4 Rxd2+ 41.Kc3 Nxc4 42.Rxc4 Rd1 also loses.] Bb5 0-1 [Nicely played by Topalov.]

Kasimdzhanov (2678) - Leko (2749) [B31]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.Re1 e5 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.a3 Bg4 8.d3 Nf6 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.h3 Be6 11.Nc4 0-0 12.Bd2 Qe7 13.Bc3 f6 14.Qe2 Rfd8 15.Na5 Rab8 16.Reb1 Rdc8 17.b4 b6 18.Nb3 Bf7 19.bxc5 bxc5 20.Qe3 Bf8 21.a4 c4 22.dxc4 Nb6 23.c5 Nd7 24.Bb2 Bxb3 1/2-1/2

Standings: Kasparov (+5). Topalov (+3). Anand (+2). Leko (0). Adams (–2). Vallejo, Kasimdzhanov (–4).

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Linares Round 12

Anand (2786) - Vallejo Pons (2686) [A30]

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qf4 Qb8 10.Qxb8+ Rxb8 11.Bf4 Rc8 12.Nb5 Ne4 13.Rfd1 a6 14.Nd6+ Nxd6 15.Bxd6 Bxd6 16.Rxd6 Ke7 17.Rad1 Rc7 18.b3 f6 19.Ne1 Rb8 20.Nc2 Bc8 21.f4 Nd8 22.e4 Nf7 23.R6d2 Bb7 24.a4 a5 25.h4 Rd8 26.Kf2 Rc5 27.Nd4 Ba8 28.Ke3 Bb7 29.Bf3 Ba8 30.f5 Re5 31.g4 Nd6 32.fxe6 dxe6 33.Nb5 Nf7 34.Rxd8 Nxd8 35.Na7 Bb7 36.Rb1 Kd7 37.b4 axb4 38.Rxb4 Ra5 39.Nb5 Nc6 40.Rb1 Ne5 41.Be2 Rxa4 42.Nc3 Ra3 43.Kd2 Kc6 44.g5 Ba6 45.gxf6 gxf6 46.Rf1 Nxc4+ 47.Bxc4 Bxc4 48.Rxf6 b5 49.Nd5 Bxd5 50.exd5+ Kxd5 51.Rf7 h5 52.Rh7 e5 53.Rxh5 Kd4 54.Rh8 Ra2+ 55.Kd1 Rh2 56.h5 b4 57.h6 Kd3 58.Kc1 Kc3 59.Rc8+ Kb3 60.Rh8 Kc3 61.Rc8+ Kb3 62.Rh8 e4 63.Kd1 Kb2 64.Ke1 b3 65.h7 e3 66.Kd1 Kb1?
[66....Rd2+! 67.Ke1 Rd7 68.Ke2 Re7 wins. Now the position is a draw.] 67.Rb8 Rxh7 1/2-1/2

Adams (2741) - Kasparov (2804) [B90]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8.Qd2 b5 9.a3 Bb7 10.f3 Nc6 11.0-0-0 b4 12.axb4 Nxb4 13.g4 Be7 14.g5 Nd7 15.h4 Nc5 16.Kb1 Rb8 17.h5 0-0 18.g6 Bf6 19.Rdg1 Ba8 20.Bg5? Be5 21.gxh7+ Kxh7 22.Nb3? Nxc2 23.Nxc5 Na3+ 24.Ka2 Qxc5 25.Na4? Nc2 26.Kb1 Qa3 0-1

Topalov (2757) - Kasimdzhanov (2678) [D31]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 Nc6 9.Qc2 Qa5 10.Nd2 Bb4 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bd3 d4 13.0-0 Bxc3 14.Nc4 Qh5 15.bxc3 Nd5 16.Bg3 dxe3 17.Rae1 Be6 18.fxe3 Nde7 19.Nd6 b6 20.Rb1 f6 21.Rb5 Ne5 22.Rf4 N7g6 23.Rd4 Bd7 24.Rbd5 Be6 25.Be2 Qh6 26.Bf4 Nxf4 27.exf4 g6 28.Qe4 Bxd5 29.Qxd5+ Kh8 30.Re4 Nd7 31.Nf7+ Rxf7 32.Qxf7 1-0

Standings: Kasparov (+5). Anand, Topalov (+2). Leko (0). Adams (–1). Vallejo (–3). Kasimdzhanov (–4).

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Linares Round 11

Leko (2749) - Topalov (2757) [B90]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Be7 8.f4 0-0 9.g4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.g5 Qb6 13.Nf5 Qa5+ 14.Bd2 Bb4 15.Ne3 Rd8 16.c3 Be7 17.Qc2 b5 18.a4 Bb7 19.b4 1/2-1/2

Vallejo Pons (2686) - Adams (2741) [A05]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.b3 0-0 10.Bb2 a6 11.e4 Nbd7 12.Qe3 Qc7 13.Nd4 Rfe8 14.Rad1 Bf8 15.Rfe1 Rad8 16.h3 g6 17.Qd2 Bg7 18.Nc2 Nc5 19.Ba1 Bc6 20.Nb4 Bb7 21.Nc2 Bc6 22.Nb4 Bb7 23.Re2 Qc8 24.Qe1 Qa8 25.Nc2 Qb8 26.Qd2 Qa8 27.Qe1 Qb8 28.Qd2 Qa8 29.Qe1 1/2-1/2

Kasimdzhanov (2678) - Anand (2786) [B50]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Bg4 5.d3 e6 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.Nf1 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Qa4 Bh5 10.Ng3 Nb6 11.Qd1 Bg6 12.0-0 Be7 13.a4 0-0 14.a5 Nd5 15.Qa4 Qc7 16.d4 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 f5 19.Qa4 Rad8 20.Rd1 f4 21.Ne4 Qe5 22.Bf3 b5 23.Qc2 Nf6 24.Nxf6+ Qxf6 25.Qb3 Rxd1+ 26.Qxd1 Rd8 27.Qe2 Bd3 28.Qe1 e5 29.Be2 Bxe2 30.Qxe2 e4 31.g3 e3 32.fxe3 f3 33.Qxb5 f2+ 34.Kg2 Rf8 35.Qd5+ Kh8 36.Kf1 Qh6 37.Bd2 Qh3+ 38.Qg2 Qf5 0-1

Standings: Kasparov (+4). Anand (+2). Topalov (+1). Leko (0). Adams (–1). Kasimdzhanov, Vallejo (–3).

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Linares Round 10

Kasparov (2804) - Vallejo Pons (2686) [D12]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.Rc1 a6 10.Bd3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 b5 12.Be2 c5 13.Bf3 Rb8 14.Ne2 Bd6 15.g3 0-0 16.0-0 e5 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.Bb4 Qb6 19.Nc3 Nb7 20.Bxd6 Nxd6 21.Nd5 Nxd5 22.Bxd5 Rbc8 23.Qg4 Nf5 24.Qe4 Qf6 25.Rfd1 Nd6 26.Qb4 Rfd8 27.a4 bxa4 28.Qxa4 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Nb5 30.Rd1 Nc7 31.Bc4 Rd6 32.Rxd6 Qxd6 33.Qb3 Ne6 34.h4 e4 35.Bd5 g5 36.h5 g4 37.Bxe4 Ng5 38.Qd5 Nxe4 39.Qxe4 Qd1+ 40.Kg2 Kf8 41.Qa8+ Ke7 42.Qb7+ Ke8 43.Qxa6 Qd5+ 44.Kg1 Qxh5 45.Qc6+ Kd8 46.e4 Ke7 47.Qc7+ Ke6 48.Qc8+ Ke7 49.Qb7+ Ke8 50.b4 Qg5 51.Qc6+ Ke7 52.b5 Qd2 53.Qc5+ Qd6 54.Qg5+ 1-0

Adams (2741) - Kasimdzhanov (2678) [C88]

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 Bc8 14.c3 Be6 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.b4 Nh5 17.N1h2 Nf4 18.Bxf4 Rxf4 19.Qb3 Qd7 20.a4 bxa4 21.Rxa4 cxb4 22.cxb4 Rb8 23.Rea1 Rb7 24.Rxa6 Nxb4 25.Ra8+ Rf8 26.Rxf8+ Bxf8 27.Rb1 Rb8 28.Qc4 d5 29.Qc3 Rc8 30.Qb3 Rc2 31.Ng4 Qa7 32.exd5 exd5 33.Ne3 Re2 34.d4 exd4 35.Nxd5 Nxd5 36.Qxd5+ Qf7 37.Qxd4 h6 38.Rb8 Re8 39.Ne5 Qe6 40.Rxe8 Qxe8 41.Qd5+ Kh7 42.g3 g6 43.Kg2 Bg7 44.Nd3 h5 45.Nf4 Bf6 46.Ne6 Qe7 47.h4 Qe8 48.Kh2 Qe7 49.Kh3 Kg8 50.f4 Qf7 51.f5 Be7 52.Nf4 gxf5 53.Qd1 Kh7 54.Nxh5 Bf8 55.Nf4 Bh6 56.Nd5 Qe6 57.Qd3 Kg7 58.Kg2 Qe5 59.Kf3 Qe6 60.Kg2 Qe5 61.Qc4 Bd2 62.Qd3 1/2-1/2

Anand (2786) - Leko (2749) [B33]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Nxe7 Nxe7 11.Qd3 d5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.Qb3 Qxd5 14.Qxd5 Nexd5 15.c4 bxc4 16.Bxc4 0-0 17.0-0 Nb4 18.Rfe1 Rfe8 19.Rad1 Ne4 20.Be3 Rac8 21.f3 Nf6 22.Re2 Be6 23.b3 e4 24.Rdd2 1/2-1/2

Standings: Kasparov (+4). Anand, Topalov (+1). Leko (0). Adams (–1). Kasimdzhanov (–2). Vallejo (–3).

Friday, March 04, 2005

Linares Round 9

Kasimdzhanov (2678) - Kasparov (2804) [D47]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 a6 10.e4 c5 11.d5 Qc7 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Bc2 c4 14.Nd4 Nc5 15.Be3 e5 16.Nf3 Be7 17.Ng5 0-0 [TN] 18.Bxc5 Bxc5 19.Ne6 Qb6 20.Nxf8 Rxf8 21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.exd5 Bxf2+ 23.Kh1 e4 24.Qe2 e3 25.Rfd1 Qd6 26.a4 g6 27.axb5 axb5 28.g3 Nh5! 29.Qg4 Bxg3! 30.hxg3 Nxg3+ 31.Kg2 Rf2+ 32.Kh3 Nf5 33.Rh1 h5 34.Qxg6+ Qxg6 35.Rhg1 Qxg1 36.Rxg1+ Kf7 0-1

Leko (2749) - Adams (2741) [C42]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Re1 Bg4 9.c3 f5 10.Qb3 0-0 11.Nbd2 Na5 12.Qc2 Nc6 13.b4 a6 14.a4 Bd6 15.Rb1 Re8 16.b5 axb5 17.axb5 Na5 18.Ne5 Bxe5 19.dxe5 Nxf2!? 20.Kxf2 Qh4+ 21.Kf1 Qxh2 22.Ba3 Re6 23.Qa2 Rd8 24.Bc5 Rh6 25.e6 Qf4+ 26.Kg1 Qh2+ 27.Kf1 Qf4+ 28.Kg1 Qh2+ 29.Kf1 1/2-1/2

Topalov (2757) - Anand (2786) [C42]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Be6 9.0-0-0 a6 10.Ng5 Bxg5 11.Bxg5 Qd7 12.b3 f6 13.Be3 0-0-0 14.h3 Qf7 15.Be2 h5 16.Rhe1 Rhe8 17.f3 Qg6 18.Bf1 Bf5 19.Kb2 Re5 20.Bf4 Rxe1 21.Rxe1 Re8 22.Rd1 Bd7 23.c4 Qf5 24.Bd3 Qc5 25.Bg6 Rh8 26.Be4 Re8 27.c3 g5 28.Be3 Qe5 29.Bf2 f5 30.Bd3 Qg7 31.c5 dxc5 32.Bxc5 Kb8 33.Bc4 Bc8 34.Bd5 Qe5 35.Bxc6 bxc6 36.Bf2 Qe2 37.Ka3 Qxd2 38.Rxd2 Kb7 39.h4 g4 40.f4 Re7 41.c4 Rd7 42.Re2 Rd3 43.Kb4 g3 44.Bc5 Rd7 45.Be7 Rd4 46.Bg5 Re4 47.Rd2 Kb6 48.Rd3 c5+ 49.Ka3 Re2 50.Rxg3 Bb7 51.Bf6 Rxg2 52.Rg5 Rxg5 53.fxg5 f4 54.Be5 f3 55.Bg3 Be4 56.Kb2 Kc6 57.Ka3 Bb1 58.Bf2 Kd6 59.Kb2 Be4 60.Kc1 Bg6 61.Kd2 Bb1 62.a3 Bg6 63.Bg3+ Kd7 64.Ke3 Bc2 65.Kxf3 Ke6 66.Ke3 c6 67.b4 cxb4 68.axb4 Kf5 69.Kd4 Bd1 1/2-1/2

Standings: Kasparov (+3). Anand, Topalov (+1). Leko (0). Adams (–1). Kasimdzhanov, Vallejo (–2).

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Linares Round 8

Kasparov (2804) - Leko (2749) [B30]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 d6 5.d3 Be7 6.Nd2 Bg5 7.h4 Bxd2+ 8.Bxd2 Nf6 9.0-0 Be6 10.f4 Bxc4 11.dxc4 h5 12.f5 Ng4 13.f6 gxf6 14.Nd5 Ne7 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 16.Rxf6 Ng8 17.Rf5 Qxh4 18.Be3 Qe7 19.Rxh5 Rxh5 20.Qxh5 0-0-0 21.Bg5 f6 22.Bh4 Qe8 23.Qf5+ Qd7 24.Rf1 Qxf5 25.Rxf5 Rf8 26.Rh5 Kd7 27.Rh8 Ke6 28.g4 Rc8 29.Kg2 Ne7 30.Rh6 Ng8 31.Rh8 1/2-1/2

Adams (2741) - Topalov (2757) [B90]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Nbd7 8.g4 h6 9.f4 g6 10.h3 b5 11.Bf3 Bb7 12.e5 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 b4 14.Nc6 Qc8 15.Nxb4 dxe5 16.Nd3 exf4 17.Bxf4 Bg7 18.Bd6 Bf8 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.Rf1 Kg7 21.h4 Rf8 22.g5 hxg5 23.hxg5 Nh7 24.Qe3 Qd8 25.Rg1 Qb6 26.Qg3 Rac8 27.0-0-0 Rc4 28.Rdf1 Qa5 29.Qd6 Qc7 30.Qxc7 Rxc7 31.Ne4 Rc4 32.Rf4 Rd4 33.b3 Rd5 34.Kb2 a5 35.Rg3 Ne5 36.Ndf2 f5 37.gxf6+ Nxf6 38.Ng5 Re8 39.Rg1 Ned7 40.Rf3 e5 41.Rfg3 e4 42.Ngxe4 Nxe4 43.Rxg6+ Kh7 44.Rg7+ Kh8 45.R7g4 Nef6 46.Rh4+ Nh7 47.Nh3 Rg8 48.Nf4 1/2-1/2

Vallejo Pons (2686) - Kasimdzhanov (2678) [D53]

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Qc2 0-0 8.0-0-0 c5 9.dxc5 d4 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.Qe4 Nc6 12.e3 f5 13.Qf3 Qg5 14.h4 Bxe3+ 15.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 16.fxe3 Ne5 17.Be2 Bd7 18.Rd6 Kf7 19.Bf3 Rac8 20.Rhd1 Rc7 21.b4 Ke7 22.Nb5 Bxb5 23.cxb5 b6 24.c6 g5 25.R6d4 Kf6 26.a4 Ng6 27.hxg5+ hxg5 28.Rd7 Rfc8 29.R1d6 g4 30.Bd1 Nf8 31.Rxc7 Rxc7 32.Bb3 Ke7 33.Rd1 Nh7 34.Rh1 Nf6 35.Rh6 Rc8 36.Kc2 Kf7 37.Bc4 Rd8 38.Rh1 Ke7 39.a5 Rb8 40.Kb3 Rd8 41.axb6 axb6 42.Ra1 Ne4 43.Ra7+ Kf6 44.Rd7 Rh8 45.Bd3 Nf2 46.Bc2 g3 47.Rb7 Ng4 48.Rxb6 Rc8 49.Ra6 Nxe3 50.b6 Nxc2 51.b7 Rxc6 52.b5 Rc5 53.Rb6 Nd4+ 54.Kb4 Rxb5+ 55.Rxb5 Nc6+ 56.Kc3 f4 57.Rc5 f3 58.Rxc6 fxg2 59.b8Q g1Q 60.Qf4+ 1-0

Standings: Kasparov (+2). Anand, Topalov (+1). Leko (0). Kasimdzhanov, Adams (–1). Vallejo (–2).

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Linares Round 7


Kasparov (+2). Anand, Topalov (+1). Leko, Kasimdzhanov (0). Adams (–1). Vallejo (–3).

Kasparov (2804) - Topalov (2757) [C88]

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 Bc8 14.c3 Be6 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.Ng3 Nd7 17.Be3 d5 18.exd5 exd5 19.a4 Rb8 20.axb5 axb5 21.b3 Ra8 1/2-1/2

Vallejo Pons (2686) - Leko (2749) [A33]

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.a3 Be7 7.g3 Qb6 8.e3 d5 [8. O-O, Smejkal-Gulko, Moscow 1994] 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Qb3 0-0 12.Qxb6 axb6 13.Bg2 1/2-1/2

Editorial Comment: Leko is a freaking joke. Twelve moves? Come on now! Players like him are why chess is dying from lack of sponsorship. Who the hell would want to sponsor a "game" I can find in my opening book?

Adams (2741) - Anand (2786) [B90]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a4 Nc6 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bf3 Bf8 13.Qd2 Rb8 14.Qf2 e5 15.Nde2 exf4 16.Bb6 Qe7 17.Nxf4 Be6 18.Rad1 g6 19.Qd2 Ne5 20.Be2 Rbc8 21.Bf2 h6 22.h3 Rc6 23.Bh4 g5 24.Nxe6 Qxe6 25.Bg3 Nc4 26.Qd4 Bg7 27.Bxc4 Rxc4 28.Qxd6 Qxd6 1/2-1/2

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

"FIDE is delusional"

The latest from Ilyumzhinov demonstrates an absolute refusal to deal with the realities of unification. Now he wants to have a tournament with all the top players with the winner anointed the new unified champ. Sounds dandy, but of course there’s no money (always “interest”), he did it without first speaking to the players, it’s only a double round-robin, and classical champ Vladimir Kramnik has already said he’s only interested in playing the winner of a qualifying cycle. This puts the onus on Kramnik/ACP to come up with something, and FIDE should be working with and/or pressuring him Kramnik/ACP to produce a cycle. So instead of another KO, FIDE would take a half-million (fictional) dollars and give it to eight players instead of 128 and still not have unification. Would the chess world be any more unified around the winner of Linares? This Linares would be Ilyumzhinov’s fantasy tournament if you replaced Vallejo Pons with Kramnik and added Morozevich. That’s hardly the new cycle people are hoping for. If Kramnik actually put his title on the line in such an event it would be a remarkable gesture toward unification. I don’t recommend holding your breath until this happens. Calling this Linares a qualifier to meet Kramnik makes more sense, but it’s a little late for that. Of course none of this stopped Ilyumzhinov from laying down one of those worthless deadlines he’s so fond of. Sign up by March 15 or, or… what, exactly? Not invited on the carpet ride to fantasy land? Sent to bed without dinner? Sure, go ahead and sign up. Just don’t block out those dates on your calendar until the money goes from “potential” to “ka-ching.”