Linares Round 11

Annotations taken from the ChessBase website. I urge you to check out their website where much more detailed commentary can be found.

Aronian-VallejoPons
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Na6 (The most logical continuation.) 9.Bd6 e5!? (Theory holds 9...b6 as the main line. For the sake of rapid development, Vallejo's choice looks more appropriate, although it will most likely cause him to lose his extra pawn back.) 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.0-0 (11.Nxe5 is not likely to offer White any advantage.) 0-0-0 12.Bd3 Qf4 13.Bxe5 Qxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxd1 15.Bf5+ (Removes the bishop from its exposed position in order to prepare the following tactical sequence. In case of 15.Raxd1 Nh6 White would have little chance to prove the superiority of the bishop over the knight.) Kc7 16.Nxf7!? Bh5 N (16...Ne7 17.Bxh7! Bg4 18.Nxh8 Rxh8 19.Rfe1 was better for White in Tal-Dorfman, Tbilisi 1978; 16...Nh6 17.Nxh6 Bh5 18.Bg4 Bxg4 19.Nxg4 Rd2 and Black's activity was sufficient for a draw in Bacrot-Tregubov, Corsica 2005.) 17.Nxd8! (The best way of maintaining the initiative.) Kxd8 18.g4 Nh6 (Best.) 19.Rad1+ Kc7 20.Rd7+ Kb6 21.Rxg7 Nxf5 22.gxf5 Rf8 23.Re1 Nc5? (The decisive mistake. It was essential to eliminate the f5-pawn at once with 23...Rxf5 in order to ensure stability to the bishop on g6 after 24.Ree7 Bg6. Play could become very sharp after 25.Rxb7+ Kc5 26.b3 Nb4 27.Rxa7 Kd4. At the cost of considerable material losses, Black would finally get all his pieces together, which would put the enemy king in a slightly uncomfortable situation.) 24.b4! Nd3 25.Ree7 Nxb4 (Forced.) 26.Rxb7+ Kc5 27.Rg5!! (Vallejo must have overlooked or underestimated this move.) Bf3 (27...Be2 28.f6+ Kxc4 29.f7 and the pawn would be unstoppable; 27...Bf7 28.f6+ Kxc4 29.Rg4+.) 28.f6+ Kxc4 29.Rf5! (The fight is over.) Bd5 (29...Rg8+ 30.Rg7) 30.Rf4+ Kc3 31.Rbxb4 Bxa2 32.Ra4 Bf7 33.Rxa7 c5 34.f3 c4 35.Kf2 Kb3 36.Rb7+ 36.Rb7+ 1-0

Bacrot-Svidler
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nc3 Bf5!? (The main line is 5...b5.) 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 e6 8.0-0 Be7 9.e4 0-0 10.Be3 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 Nd7 13.Rad1 (White has obtained a stable advantage of space.) Qa5 14.a3 Rad8 15.Rfe1 Rfe8 16.h3 Nf8 17.Qc2 Ng6 18.Bd2 Qh5 (Double edged decision, but correct.) 19.Bc3 Rd7 20.Qe4 Red8 21.Rd3 Bf6 22.g4 Qh6 23.Bd2 Qxh3 (White has no simple way of getting an advantage.) 24.Ng5 (24.g5?! Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Qh5 followed by ...c5, and Black recuperates the sacrificed material with a splendid position; even worse would be 24.Ne5? Qxd3 followed by ...Rxd4, with more than sufficient compensation for the queen; White's most consistent way to maintain the tension consisted of 24.Ree3.) 24...Qxd3!? (24...Qh4 leads to a repetition of moves.) 25.Qxd3 Rxd4 26.Qh3 Rxd2 27.Qxh7+ Kf8 28.Nxe6+ fxe6 29.Qxg6 Bd4 (Black's activity ensures him reasonable compensation for the queen.) 30.Rf1 Ke7 31.Qg5+ Bf6 32.Qc5+ Kf7 33.g5 Bxb2 34.Rb1 R8d3 35.Qb6 Bd4 36.Qxb7+ Kg6 37.Rf1 Rg3+ 38.Kh2 Rxg5 39.Qxc6 Kf6 40.Kh3 Rh5+ 41.Kg4 Rg5+ 42.Kh3 Rh5+ 1/2-1/2

Ivanchuk-Leko
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Ne5 Be7 8.Qa4+ c6 9.Bg2 Bb7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rd1 Re8 12.Ndf3 h6 13.Bf4 Bf8 14.Rac1 c5 15.h4 Na6 16.Bh3 Bd6 17.e3 Qe7 18.Ng4 Ne4 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 (After the exchange of the bishops Black gets almost perfect stability on dark squares.) 20.Bg2 Nc7 21.Nge5 Qf6 22.Qc2 Ne6 23.b3? Rac8? (Leko missed an unexpected tactical resource, 23...cxd4 24.exd4 Nxd4!! 25.Rxd4 Rac8 26.Qb2 Rxc1+ 27.Qxc1 Rxe5 winning a pawn.) 24.Qb2 cxd4?! (24...a5!) 25.exd4 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Rc8 27.Rxc8+ Bxc8 28.Ng4 Qe7 29.Ne3 (White's position is more pleasant and Leko had to struggle for 35 more moves, although he never got into concrete danger of losing.) Bb7 30.Bh3 Nc7 31.Nf5 Qd8 32.Ne5 Nb5 33.a4 Nbd6 34.Qc2 a5 35.Ne3 Nf6 36.f3 Nde8 37.Kf2 Qc7 38.Bf5 Qxc2+ 39.Bxc2 Nd6 40.g4 g5 41.Nf5 Nxf5 42.Bxf5 gxh4 43.Nd3 Ba6 44.Nf4 b5 45.axb5 Bxb5 46.Ng2 a4 47.bxa4 Bxa4 48.Nxh4 Ne8 49.Ke3 Kf8 50.Kf4 Ke7 51.Bd3 Ng7 52.Ke5 Bc6 53.Bh7 f6+ 54.Kf4 h5 55.Nf5+ Nxf5 56.gxf5 Be8 57.Bg8 Bf7 58.Bxf7 Kxf7 59.Kg3 Kg7 60.Kh4 Kh6 61.f4 Kh7 62.Kxh5 Kg7 63.Kh4 Kh6 64.Kg4 Kg7 1/2-1/2

Radjabov-Topalov was drawn in 26 moves.

Standings:
Leko - 7
Aronian - 6.5
Topalov, Radjabov - 6
Svidler - 5.5
Ivanchuk, Bacrot - 4.5
VallejoPons - 4