Linares Round 8

Ivanchuk-Bacrot
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.g3 Nd7 8.Bg2 dxc4 9.0-0 Be7 10.Qc2 0-0 11.Rfd1 e5 12.d5 Nc5 13.Nd2 Bf5 14.Qc1 Rad8 15.dxc6 bxc6 16.Nxc4 Qe6 17.Ne3 Bg6 18.b4 Na6 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.a3 Nc7 21.Na4 e4 22.Nc5 Qe5 23.Nb7 Rd7 24.Na5 Bf6 25.Bh3 Ne6 26.Ra2 Rc7 27.Bxe6 Qxe6 28.Rc2 Bh5 29.Ng2 Bg5 30.Nf4 Qd6 31.Kg2 Qd7 32.h4 Bxf4 33.Qxf4 Rc8 34.Rd2 Qe6 35.Nb7 Re8 36.Nc5 Qc4 37.g4 Bg6 38.h5 Bh7 39.e3 a5 0-1

Topalov-Svidler
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Rc1 e5 13.dxc5 Be6 14.c4 bxc5 15.Bxc5 Re8 16.Be3 Re7 17.Qc2 Rd7 18.Rfd1 Nc6 19.a3 Qa5 20.Nc3 Qxa3 21.Nd5 Rc8 22.Ra1 Qf8 23.Ra6 Nb4 24.Nxb4 Qxb4 25.Rb1 Qf8 26.c5 Bh6 27.Bxh6 Qxh6 28.c6 Rdc7 29.Rb5 Rd8 30.Rb7 Rxd3 31.Qxd3 Qc1+ 32.Qf1 Rxc6 33.Ra1 Qf4 34.Qe1 Rc4 35.Rb4 Rc2 36.Rbb1 Bg4 37.h3 Be2 38.Ra3 a6 39.Re3 Bb5 40.Rc1 Ra2 41.Rc8+ Kg7 42.Rc7 Be8 43.Rf3 Qg5 44.Qc3 1-0

Radjabov-Aronian and Leko-VallejoPons were drawn in 29 and 2 moves, respectively.

Standings:
Leko - 5.5
Aronian - 5
Svidler, Radabov - 4
Topalov, Ivanchuk, VallejoPons - 3.5
Bacrot - 3

U.S. Championship starts today

This year, the 64 players have been sorted into two 32 player groups (lists available here). The top male and top female in each group after nine rounds will have each other in two games of rapid chess to determine the winner.

That's the dumbest format I've ever heard, even dumber than the FIDE knockout format!

Linares Round 7

Bacrot-Aronian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 Ne4 6.Qd3 Qa5 7.Qxe4 Bxc3+ 8.Bd2 Bxd2+ 9.Nxd2 Nc6 10.dxc5 b6 11.Bg2 Bb7 12.Qf4 bxc5 13.Qd6 Qb6 14.Ne4 Nd4 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.Nd6+ Ke7 17.Bxb7 Nc2+ 18.Kd2 Nxa1 19.Nxf7 Rxa2 20.Nxh8 Rxb2+ 21.Kd3 Rb3+ 22.Ke4 Nc2 23.e3 b5 24.Kf4 bxc4 25.Be4 Nb4 26.Bxh7 Nd3+ 27.Kg5 Nxf2 28.Rf1 Rb2 29.h4 d5 30.Ra1 Kd7 31.Nf7 c3 32.Kg6 Ng4 33.Rg1 Re2 34.Kxg7 Rxe3 35.h5 d4 36.h6 c4 37.Bc2 Nxh6 38.Nxh6 d3 39.Ba4+ Kd6 40.g4 Kc5 41.g5 Kb4 42.Ng4 Re4 43.Nf6 Re5 44.Bd1 d2 45.g6 Re1 46.Kf7 Rxg1 47.g7 Ka3 48.Bg4 Rxg4 49.Nxg4 d1Q 50.g8Q Qd7+ 51.Kf6 Qd4+ 52.Kxe6 c2 53.Qa8+ Kb2 54.Qb8+ Kc1 55.Qg8 Kd1 0-1

Leko-Topalov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e6 7.Be3 h5 8.Bc4 Nc6 9.Qd2 Na5 10.Bb3 Be7 11.0-0-0 b5 12.Kb1 Bd7 13.Rhe1 b4 14.Nce2 g6 15.Nc1 e5 16.Nde2 Nxb3 17.Nxb3 a5 18.Bg5 a4 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Nbc1 Rb8 21.Qxd6 Rb6 22.Qc5 Qb8 23.Nd3 Rb5 24.Qf2 Be6 25.f4 0-0 26.fxe5 Bxe5 27.Nxe5 Qxe5 28.Nd4 Rc5 29.Qg3 Qxg3 30.hxg3 Bg4 31.Rd3 Re8 32.Rde3 f6 33.a3 bxa3 34.bxa3 Bc8 35.Kc1 Bb7 36.Nf3 Rec8 37.R1e2 Rc4 38.Kb2 Rb8 39.Kc1 Rbc8 40.Kb2 Rb8 41.Kc1 1/2-1/2

Svidler-Radjabov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Be2 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bd6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bf3 Qc7 12.g3 0-0 13.Nd2 e5 14.c4 Nf6 15.Qc2 Rb8 16.b3 Bc5 17.Bb2 Bd4 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.c5 Rd8 20.Nc4 Nd7 21.Rfe1 Nxc5 22.Ne5 Ne6 23.Qxc6 Bb7 24.Qxc7 Nxc7 25.Bxb7 Rxb7 26.Nc6 Rd6 27.Rac1 Kf8 28.Na5 Ra7 29.Red1 Ne8 30.Rc8 Rc7 31.Ra8 Rc2 32.Nc4 Re6 33.Rxd4 Rxa2 34.Rdd8 h5 35.Nd6 Ke7 36.Nf5+ Kf6 37.Ne3 Nd6 38.Nd5+ Kg5 39.Nf4 Re1+ 40.Kg2 Nf5 41.Re8 Rxe8 42.Rxe8 1/2-1/2

VallejoPons-Ivanchuk was a 25 move draw. And with that the Morelia leg of the tournament comes to an end, with Leko on top and Bacrot at the bottom.



On to Linares...

Linares Round 6

Topalov loses again!

Ivanchuk-Svidler
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.e3 Be6 8.Qb1 c5 9.Qxb7 Bd5 10.Qb5+ Nd7 11.Nf3 Rb8 12.Qa4 cxd4 13.cxd4 Qc8 14.Rc1 e6 15.Bxc4 Rb4 16.Qa6 Bb7 17.Qa5 f6 18.Nd2 Bxg2 19.Rg1 Qc6 20.Rxg2 Qxg2 21.Bxe6 Bd6 22.Rc8+ Ke7 23.Rxh8 Kxe6 24.Qd8 Qg1+ 25.Ke2 1-0

Radjabov-Bacrot
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nf3 e6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 0-0 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Qc2 Re8 11.Rad1 h6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 c5 15.dxc5 Bxc5 16.b4 Bf8 17.c5 Qc7 18.Bc3 a5 19.a3 axb4 20.axb4 f5 21.Bd3 b6 22.Rfe1 Bb7 23.Bc4 Be4 24.Qb3 Kh8 25.Bxe6 Nf6 26.Nh4 bxc5 27.Bxf6 c4 28.Qxc4 Qxc4 29.Bxc4 gxf6 30.f3 Bxb4 31.Rd7 Rg8 32.Rf1 Rg7 33.Rxg7 Kxg7 34.fxe4 Bc5+ 35.Kh1 fxe4 36.Nf5+ Kg6 37.Ng3 e3 38.Bd3+ Kf7 39.Ne2 Ke7 40.g3 Ra2 41.Kg2 Rd2 42.Bc4 Bb6 43.Kf3 Kd6 44.Ke4 Ke7 45.Rb1 Rd6 46.Kf3 Rc6 47.Bd5 Rd6 48.Be4 Ke6 49.Rb5 Kd7 50.Nf4 Bd4 51.Rd5 Ba7 52.Rxd6+ Kxd6 53.Ng2 Ke5 54.Nxe3 h5 55.h4 1-0

Topalov-VallejoPons
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 h5 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Be5 Rh6 14.f3 Qe7 15.a4 a6 16.Qc2 Rd8 17.Rad1 Nd7 18.Bc7 Rc8 19.Bg3 e5 20.d5 b4 21.dxc6 Rhxc6 22.Nd5 Qe6 23.Qd2 h4 24.Bf2 c3 25.bxc3 bxc3 26.Qxg5 c2 27.Rc1 h3 28.g3 Qh6 29.Qf5 Qd2 30.Rfe1 Ba3 31.f4 Bxc1 32.Bh5 Rg6 33.Bxg6 Bxd5 34.exd5 Qxe1+ 35.Bxe1 Be3+ 36.Kf1 c1Q 37.Qxf7+ Kd8 38.Ke2 Bb6 39.Bd2 Qc4+ 40.Kf3 e4+ 41.Kg4 Kc7 42.a5 Bd4 43.Bf5 Rg8+ 44.Kh4 Rh8+ 45.Kg5 Qb5 46.Be6 e3 47.Be1 e2 48.g4 Rf8 49.Qh7 Be3 50.Kh4 Bxf4 51.g5 Qa4 52.Kh5 Bxh2 53.Bxh3 Be5 54.Qd3 Rh8+ 55.Kg6 Nf8+ 56.Kf7 Kd8 0-1

Aronian-Leko
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 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.Re1 c5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Rc1 Nf6 16.e3 Bb7 17.Rc2 cxd4 18.Bxd4 Qd7 19.Rxc8 Rxc8 20.Qb1 h5 21.Rd1 Qe6 22.Rc1 g6 23.h3 Rxc1+ 24.Qxc1 Qc6 25.Qb1 Ne4 26.Nf3 Ba3 27.Be5 Qc1+ 28.Qxc1 Bxc1 29.a4 Ba3 30.Bb8 a6 31.Ne5 Be7 32.Bc7 b5 33.axb5 axb5 34.Ba5 Bd6 35.Nd3 Kf8 36.Bb4 Ke7 37.Bxd6+ Kxd6 38.b4 Bc8 39.Ne1 Nc3 40.Nc2 Na2 41.Bf1 Bf5 42.Nd4 Bd7 43.Nxb5+ Bxb5 44.Bxb5 Nxb4 45.Kg2 Na2 1/2-1/2

Standings:
Leko - 4.5
Aronian, Svidler - 3.5
Ivanchuk, Radjabov - 3
VallejoPons - 2.5
Bacrot, Topalov - 2

Linares Round 5

Ivanchuk-Topalov (Topalov scores first win.)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 Nc6 7.Bg5 e6 8.e3 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Bd3 Bd6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Rac1 b5 13.Bb1 Bd7 14.Qc2 g6 15.Qd2 Rac8 16.Rfd1 Rc7 17.Qe1 b4 18.Ne2 a5 19.Qd2 Rfc8 20.Ne1 a4 21.Nd3 Na5 22.Rxc7 Rxc7 23.Rc1 Nc4 24.Qe1 Qd8 25.g3 Bb5 26.h4 g5 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Kg2 Qc8 29.Ng1 f6 30.Qd1 Be8 31.Nf3 Bh5 32.Rc2 Bg6 33.Re2 g4 34.Nh4 Be4+ 35.Kh2 f5 36.Ne1 Nxe3 37.Rxe3 Rc1 38.Qd2 Rxb1 39.Rxe4 dxe4 40.Qg5+ Kf7 0-1

Aronian-Svidler
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 c5 6.cxd5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Qxd5 8.e3 cxd4 9.Qxd4 Qxd4 10.cxd4 e6 11.Rb1 Be7 12.Bxe7 Kxe7 13.Bd3 Nc6 14.Nf3 b6 15.Ke2 Bb7 16.Rhc1 Rhc8 17.g4 h6 18.h4 Na5 19.g5 hxg5 20.hxg5 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rc8 22.Rxc8 Bxc8 23.Ne5 Bb7 24.a3 Nc6 25.Ng4 Nb8 26.Kd2 Bc6 27.Kc3 Nd7 28.f4 a5 29.e4 b5 30.Bc2 f5 31.exf5 exf5 32.Ne5 Nxe5 33.dxe5 b4+ 34.axb4 axb4+ 35.Kxb4 Bd7 36.Bb3 Bc6 37.Kc5 Be8 38.e6 1-0

Radjabov-VallejoPons
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 h5 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Be5 Rh6 14.f4 g4 15.Qc2 c5 16.d5 b4 17.f5 exd5 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.exd5 Bd6 20.Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Bxc4 h4 22.Bb5+ Kf8 23.Bc6 Rd8 24.Rac1 h3 25.gxh3 Rxh3 26.Qxc5 g3 27.Qxd6+ Rxd6 28.hxg3 Ng4 29.Kg2 Ne3+ 30.Kf3 Nxf1 31.Rxf1 Rh2 32.b3 Rxa2 33.Ke4 Ke7 34.Rh1 Rg2 35.Kf4 Rf2+ 36.Kg5 Rd8 37.Re1+ Kd6 38.Kf6 Rg8 39.Re3 Rg2 40.Kxf7 R8xg3 41.Re6+ Kc5 42.f6 Rxb3 43.Ke7 Rd3 44.f7 Rf2 45.f8Q Rxf8 46.Kxf8 Rxd5 47.Bxd5 Kxd5 48.Ra6 Kc4 49.Rxa7 b3 50.Rb7 Kc3 51.Rxb3+ Kxb3 1/2-1/2

Bacrot and Leko drew in 28 moves.

Standings:
Leko - 4
Svidler - 3.5
Aronian - 3
Ivanchuk, Bacrot, Topalov, Radjabov - 2
VallejoPons - 1.5

Linares Round 4

Leko and Svidler on top; Topalov at the bottom with Vallejo Pons.

Leko-Ivanchuk
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Nf1 Bc8 13.c3 Bd7 14.Ne3 Qc7 15.axb5 axb5 16.b4 Nb7 17.Bd2 Nd8 18.Bb3 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 Re8 20.bxc5 Qxc5 21.Qa2 h6 22.h3 Ne6 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.Bxd5 Qc8 25.d4 Bf6 26.Qb3 Bc6 27.Qb4 exd4 28.cxd4 Bxd5 29.exd5 Ng5 30.Rxe8+ Qxe8 31.Bxg5 hxg5 32.Qxd6 Qe2 33.Qc5 Qc4 34.Qxc4 bxc4 35.Kf1 Kf8 36.d6 Ke8 37.Ne5 Bxe5 38.dxe5 Kd7 39.g3 1-0

Topalov-Radjabov
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 0-0 6.Nge2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.h3 exd5 9.exd5 Nfd7 10.f4 f5 11.0-0 Na6 12.Be3 Nc7 13.Qd2 Re8 14.Bf2 Nf6 15.a3 a5 16.Bh4 Bd7 17.Kh1 Qe7 18.Rae1 Qf7 19.a4 Na6 20.g4 Nb4 21.Bb1 fxg4 22.f5 Bxf5 23.Bxf5 gxf5 24.Rxf5 Qg6 25.Ref1 Rf8 26.Ng3 Nh5 27.Nce4 Nxg3+ 28.Nxg3 gxh3 29.b3 Rae8 30.Kh2 Rxf5 31.Rxf5 Re5 32.Qg5 Qxg5 33.Bxg5 Nc2 34.Bd8 Nd4 35.Rf4 Re3 36.Rg4 Kf7 37.Re4 Rxb3 0-1

Svidler-Bacrot
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nc5 10.Be3 Re8 11.Bc4 Be6 12.Bxe6 Nxe6 13.h4 Qd7 14.Qd3 Qa4 15.Ng5 Nf8 16.Qd5 Bxg5 17.hxg5 Qe4 18.c4 Qxd5 19.cxd5 Nd7 20.Rd3 f6 21.Rc3 Rac8 22.Rh4 Re7 23.Rhc4 Nb6 24.Bxb6 axb6 25.gxf6 gxf6 26.a4 Kf8 27.Kd2 Rg7 28.g3 Ke8 29.Rf3 Rg6 30.Rh4 h6 31.Re4+ Kd7 32.Re6 Rf8 33.c4 h5 34.Rf5 Rg4 35.b3 h4 36.gxh4 Rxh4 37.Rfxf6 Rxf6 38.Rxf6 Ke7 39.Re6+ Kf7 40.Re3 Rh1 41.Rf3+ Ke7 42.Ke3 Re1+ 43.Kf4 Kf6 44.Rh3 Re2 45.Rh7 Rxf2+ 46.Ke3 Rb2 47.Rxc7 Rxb3+ 48.Kd4 Rb4 49.Rd7 Rxa4 50.Rxd6+ Ke7 51.Rxb6 Ra7 52.c5 Kd8 53.Ke5 Kc7 54.Rh6 Ra5 55.Rh7+ Kb8 56.Rh8+ Ka7 57.d6 Rxc5+ 58.Ke6 Rc6 59.Ke7 1-0

VallejoPons-Aronian was a 20 move draw.

Standings:
Leko, Svidler - 3.5
Ivanchuk, Aronian - 2
Bacrot, Radjabov - 1.5
Topalov, VallejoPons - 1

Linares Round 3

Standings (unchanged since all four games were drawn):
Leko, Svidler - 2.5
Ivanchuk - 2
Aronian, Bacrot - 1.5
Topalov - 1
Radjabov, VallejoPons - 0.5 (they finally got on the scoreboard)

Aronian-Topalov
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 d5 7.0-0 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nbd7 9.a3 cxd4 10.axb4 dxc3 11.bxc3 Qc7 12.Be2 Nd5 13.Bd3 Qxc3 14.Ra3 Qf6 15.Qc2 h6 16.b5 Nb4 17.Bh7+ Kh8 18.Qb1 a5 19.Be4 Nc5 20.Bd2 Bd7 21.Bxb4 axb4 22.Qxb4 Rxa3 23.Qxc5 Rfa8 24.Ne5 b6 25.Qc7 Bxb5 26.Bxa8 Rxa8 27.Rd1 Ba4 28.Rd4 Be8 29.g3 Kh7 30.Kg2 Ra5 31.Nc4 Ra2 32.Rf4 Qc3 33.Qxb6 Ra1 34.Qb7 Qc1 35.Kh3 f6 36.Rg4 Bg6 37.Rxg6 Kxg6 38.Qe4+ Kf7 39.Nd6+ Ke7 40.Nf5+ Kd7 41.Nxg7 Qf1+ 42.Kh4 Qxf2 43.Qxe6+ Kc7 44.Qc4+ Kb7 45.Qe4+ Kb8 46.Qf4+ Qxf4+ 47.exf4 Ra2 48.h3 Kc8 49.Kh5 Ra3 50.Nf5 Kd7 51.Kxh6 Ke6 52.Kg6 Ra5 53.Ng7+ Ke7 54.h4 Ra6 55.Nh5 Ra8 56.Ng7 Ra6 57.g4 f5+ 58.Kxf5 Kf7 59.Nh5 Ra5+ 60.Ke4 Ra3 61.g5 Rh3 62.Kf5 Rxh4 63.g6+ Kg8 64.Kg5 Rh1 65.Nf6+ Kf8 66.Nh5 Rg1+ 67.Kh6 Rh1 68.f5 Kg8 69.Kg5 Rg1+ 70.Kf6 Rg4 71.Ng7 Ra4 72.Ne6 Ra5 73.Nc7 Kf8 74.Ke6 Ra7 75.Nb5 Re7+ 76.Kf6 Rd7 77.Nc3 Rd6+ 78.Kg5 Kg7 79.Nb5 Rd5 80.Nc7 Re5 81.Ne6+ Kg8 82.Kf6 Ra5 83.Nc7 Rc5 84.Ne8 Rc1 85.Nd6 Kf8 86.Ne4 Rc6+ 87.Kg5 Rc4 88.Ng3 Rc3 89.Ne4 Rc4 90.Nf6 Rc1 91.Nd7+ Kg8 92.f6 Rf1 93.Ne5 Rg1+ 94.Kf5 Rf1+ 95.Ke6 Re1 96.Kd6 Re2 97.Nc6 Rg2 98.Ke6 Re2+ 99.Kd7 Kf8 100.Kd6 Rg2 101.Ne5 Rd2+ 102.Ke6 Re2 103.Kf5 Rf2+ 104.Kg5 Rg2+ 105.Kh4 Rf2 106.Ng4 Rg2 107.Ne5 Rf2 108.Kg5 Rg2+ 109.Kf4 Rf2+ 110.Nf3 Rf1 111.Ke3 Kg8 112.Kf4 Kf8 113.Ke4 Kg8 114.Ke3 Ra1 115.Kf4 Rf1 116.Kg4 Rf2 117.Kg3 Rf1 118.Kf4 Rf2 119.Ke4 Rf1 120.Ke3 Ra1 121.Kd4 Rf1 122.Ke4 Rf2 123.g7 Rg2 1/2-1/2

Svidler-Leko, Bacrot-VallejoPons and Radjabov-Ivanchuk were drawn in 21, 18 and 23 moves, respectively. I will not soil this blog by displaying the games. Boo! Hiss!! Shame!!!

Death to the grandmaster draw!

Linares Round 2

Topalov - Bacrot
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 Bf5 9.Re1 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 0-0 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Ng5 g6 14.Qh3 h5 15.Qg3 Qf6 16.Bxd6 cxd6 17.Nh3 Rae8 18.Qf4 Rxe1+ 19.Rxe1 Kg7 20.Qg3 Qf5 21.Nf4 b5 22.h4 Rd8 23.Qg5 Qxg5 24.hxg5 b4 25.cxb4 Nxb4 26.c3 Nxa2 27.Nxd5 Rb8 28.Re2 Nc1 29.Re7 a5 30.Ra7 Rc8 31.Rxa5 Ne2+ 32.Kh2 Nxc3 33.Nf6 Rb8 34.d5 Nb5 35.Ra4 Nc7 36.Ra7 Ne8 37.Ne4 Rd8 38.f3 Kf8 39.g4 hxg4 40.fxg4 Rb8 41.Kg3 Rb3+ 42.Kf4 Rb4 43.Ke3 Rb3+ 44.Kd4 Rb4+ 45.Kd3 Rb3+ 46.Kc4 Rf3 47.Rd7 Rf4 48.Kd3 f6 49.Nxf6 Nxf6 50.gxf6 Rxg4 51.Rxd6 Kf7 52.Re6 Ra4 53.Re4 Rxe4 54.Kxe4 1/2-1/2

Vallejo - Svidler
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0-0 8.h4 Nc6 9.e5 Bf5 10.Be2 Nb4 11.g4 Nc2+ 12.Kf1 Nxe3+ 13.fxe3 Be6 14.Nh3 f6 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Kg1 Bf7 17.Ng5 e5 18.Nxf7 Rxf7 19.dxe5 Bxe5 20.Ne4 Bxb2 21.Rb1 Qe7 22.Bf3 Bg7 23.Ng5 Rff8 24.Qb3+ Kh8 25.Bxb7 Rab8 26.Be4 Bf6 27.Qc2 Rbe8 28.Rf1 Qd7 29.Bf3 Rxe3 30.Rh3 Bd4 31.Kg2 Nd5 32.Kh1 Nf4 33.Bc6 Rxh3+ 34.Nxh3 Qxg4 35.Bg2 Nxg2 36.Rxf8+ Kg7 37.Qxc7+ Kxf8 38.Qd6+ Kg7 39.Qe7+ Kh6 40.Qg5+ Qxg5 0-1

Leko - Radjabov
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.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 0-0 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 a5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.b3 Kh8 17.Nce3 Be6 18.h4 Bf4 19.Nf5 g6 20.Nfe3 Kg7 21.g3 Bh6 22.Ng4 f5 23.Nxh6 Kxh6 24.h5 g5 25.exf5 Bxf5 26.Ne3 Bc8 27.Ra2 Ne7 28.0-0 Rf6 29.Qe2 Qb6 30.Rfa1 Qc6 31.Rxa5 Bb7 32.Bd5 Nxd5 33.Rxd5 Qxc3 34.Ng4+ Kg7 35.Ra7 Re6 36.Qc4 Qe1+ 37.Kg2 Re7 38.Rxb7 Rexb7 39.Rxd6 Rf8 40.h6+ Kh8 41.Qd5 Rbb8 42.Qd3 Qb4 43.Rd7 e4 44.Qd5 Rb5 45.Nf6 1-0

Ivanchuk - Aronian
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 g6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Bg7 8.Nc3 d6 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Rac1 Rc8 11.b3 a6 12.Rfd1 0-0 13.Qd2 Ne4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.Ne1 Nf6 16.Bh3 Rb8 17.Nd3 Ba8 18.f3 e6 19.Bf2 Re8 20.Nb4 a5 21.Na6 Rc8 22.Qxd6 Qxd6 23.Rxd6 Nd5 24.Rd1 Nc3 25.R1d2 b5 26.Rd7 Be5 27.cxb5 Nxb5 28.Bf1 Bc6 29.R7d3 Na3 30.f4 Bf6 31.Nc5 Be7 32.Rd1 Nb5 33.Na4 Be4 34.Rd7 Bb4 35.Bg2 Bxg2 36.Kxg2 Rc2 37.Rb7 Na3 38.Rdd7 Rf8 39.Kf3 Nb1 40.Be3 Rxa2 41.Bc5 Nd2+ 42.Kg2 Bxc5 43.Nxc5 e5 44.Ne6 exf4 45.Rxf7 1-0

Standings:
Leko, Svidler - 2
Ivanchuk - 1.5
Aronian, Bacrot - 1
Topalov - 0.5
Radjabov, Vallejo - 0

Linares Round 1

The first half of the Linares tournament isn't in Linares at all this year. It's taking place in Morelia, Mexico, February 18-26.

The players are:
Veselin Topalov (BUL) 2812 - 2
Peter Svidler (RUS) 2765 - 4
Levon Aronian (ARM) 2752 - 5
Peter Leko (HUN) 2740 - 7
Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) - 2729 - 8
Ettienne Bacrot (FRA) - 2717 - 13
Teimour Radjabov (AZE) - 2700 - 19
Francisco Vallejo (ESP) - 2650 - 54
Only Anand and Kramnik are missing from the world's top 8 players.

Round 1 was today.

Svidler - Topalov
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.h3 Ng6 11.Bg5+ Ke8 12.Rad1 Bd7 13.Nd4 h6 14.Be3 h5 15.f4 h4 16.f5 Nxe5 17.f6 Rh5 18.Ne4 g6 19.Bf4 c5 20.Nf3 Nxf3+ 21.Rxf3 Be6 22.Rfd3 c4 23.R3d2 c6 24.Ng5 Bc5+ 25.Kh2 Bd5 26.Re2+ Kf8 27.Rde1 b5 28.c3 a5 29.a3 Rc8 30.g4 hxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Be6 32.h4 Kg8 33.Re5 Bf8 34.Nxe6 fxe6 35.Rd1 Rh7 36.Rxe6 Rb7 37.Re4 Kf7 38.Bg5 Re8 39.Rxe8 Kxe8 40.Kg4 Rh7 41.Re1+ Kd7 42.a4 bxa4 43.Re5 c5 44.Bf4 Rh8 45.Bg3 Bh6 46.Re7+ Kc6 47.Bf4 Bxf4 48.Kxf4 Rh5 49.Re5 Rxh4+ 50.Kg5 Rh5+ 51.Kxg6 Rxe5 52.f7 Re6+ 53.Kg5 Re5+ 54.Kg4 Re4+ 55.Kg3 Re3+ 56.Kf2 a3 57.f8Q axb2 58.Qc8+ Kb5 59.Qb7+ Ka4 60.Kxe3 Ka3 61.Qb5 a4 62.Qxc5+ Kb3 63.Qb4+ Kc2 64.Qxa4+ Kxc3 65.Qa5+ Kc2 66.Qf5+ Kc1 67.Qf1+ 1-0

Bacrot - Ivanchuk
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bf4 d5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nb5 Na6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Rc1 Ne4 13.h4 Nd6 14.a4 Nc4 15.Ne5 Na5 16.Bh3 Qe8 17.h5 Nc6 18.h6 g5 19.e4 dxe4 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Bxg5 Bxg5 22.Qg4 Qe7 23.Rxc6 f5 24.Qh5 Kh8 25.d5 exd5 26.Nd4 Bf6 27.Nxf5 Qe8 28.Qxe8 Raxe8 29.Rd1 Nb4 30.Rc7 a5 31.Ng7 Re7 32.Rxe7 Bxe7 33.Ne6 Rc8 34.Nf4 Rd8 35.Be6 Bg5 36.Kf1 Rd6 37.Bf5 Bxf4 38.gxf4 Rxh6 39.Ke2 Rf6 40.Bg4 Rxf4 41.Rg1 Nd3 42.Be6 Rxf2+ 43.Ke3 Rf8 44.Bxd5 Nb4 45.Bxe4 Rd8 46.Rc1 h5 47.Kf4 Nd3+ 48.Bxd3 Rxd3 49.Kg5 Kg7 50.Rc7+ Kf8 51.Kxh5 Ke8 52.Kg5 Rd4 53.b3 Kd8 54.Rc6 Rb4 55.Rc3 Ke7 56.Kf5 Kd6 57.Rd3+ Kc5 58.Ke5 b5 59.Rc3+ Kb6 60.Kd5 bxa4 61.bxa4 Rxa4 62.Rb3+ Ka6 63.Kc5 Rh4 64.Rb6+ Ka7 65.Rg6 a4 66.Kb5 1/2-1/2

Aronian - Radjabov
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh6 11.d5 Nd7 12.Nd2 f5 13.exf5 Nf6 14.Nde4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxf5 16.Bd3 g4 17.0-0 Qe8 18.c5 Qg6 19.Re1 Nf7 20.Bh4 Rae8 21.Rc1 dxc5 22.Rxc5 Nd6 23.Qa4 Bxe4 24.Bxe4 Qh6 25.Bg3 Qd2 26.Rcc1 Re7 27.h4 Qxb2 28.Qd1 Qxa2 29.h5 Nxe4 30.Rxe4 Qa6 31.Qb3 Kh8 32.Rce1 Qb6 33.Rb4 Qc5 34.Rxb7 Ref7 35.Rb5 Qd6 36.Qc4 Rf5 37.Qxg4 Qh6 38.Rb8 Rxf2 39.Rxf8+ Rxf8 40.Rxe5 Qd6 41.Rf5 Qe7 42.Rxf8+ Bxf8 43.Bf2 h6 44.Qd4+ Kg8 45.Qc4 Qf7 46.Bxa7 Bg7 47.Be3 Kh8 48.Bd4 Bxd4+ 49.Qxd4+ Kh7 50.Qe5 Qg7 51.Qf5+ Kh8 52.Kh2 Qe7 53.Kh3 Qd6 54.Qf7 Qe5 55.g3 Qe4 56.Qf1 Kh7 57.Qd1 Qe5 58.Qf3 Kg7 59.Qg4+ Kh8 60.Qg6 Qxd5 61.Qxh6+ Kg8 62.Qg6+ Kh8 63.Qf6+ Kh7 64.Kh4 Qe4+ 65.g4 Qe1+ 66.Kg5 Qd2+ 67.Qf4 Qd8+ 68.Kf5 Qf8+ 69.Ke4 Qb4+ 70.Kf3 Qc3+ 71.Qe3 Qf6+ 72.Kg3 Qd6+ 73.Kh4 c5 74.g5 Qh2+ 75.Kg4 Qg2+ 76.Kf5 Qd5+ 77.Kf6 Qd6+ 78.Qe6 Qd4+ 79.Ke7 1-0

VallejoPons - Leko
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 d5 6.e5 Ne4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c5 9.Bd3 Qa5 10.Ne2 cxd4 11.cxd5 exd5 12.f3 Nxc3 13.Nxd4 Ne4+ 14.Ke2 f5 15.Be3 Nc6 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Rhc1 Rb8 18.Kd1 Rd8 19.Bd4 Be6 20.Rab1 Rxb1 21.Rxb1 c5 22.Rb5 Qxa3 23.Bb2 Qa2 24.Be2 Bd7 25.fxe4 Bxb5 26.Bxb5 Rb8 27.Bc6 Qxb2 28.Bxd5+ Kh8 29.Qxb2 Rxb2 30.exf5 Rb4 31.Kc2 Rd4 32.Bf7 Re4 33.e6 h5 34.Bxh5 Kg8 35.g4 Kf8 36.g5 Ke7 37.h3 a5 38.Bg4 a4 39.f6+ gxf6 40.g6 Kf8 0-1

Topalov and Anand win Wijk aan Zee

• Anand and Topalov tied for first 1.5 points ahead of Adams and Ivanchuk.
• Anand's rating passed 2800 for the first time.
• Nobody went through the tournament undefeated. Topalov lost to Kamsky; Anand lost to Adams.
• The best relative performance was Karjakin; the worst was Sokolov.
• Kamsky drew just one game, THANK YOU for the fighting chess. Unfortunately his score was +4 -8.

Wijk aan Zee Begins

This year's Wijk aan Zee (Corus) tournament started today.

The participants (Average rating 2716, Category 19):
Veselin Topalov 2801 - 2
Viswanathan Anand 2792 - 3
Levon Aronian 2752 - 5
Peter Leko 2740 - 7
Vassily Ivanchuk 2729 - 8
Boris Gelfand 2723 - 9
Etienne Bacrot 2717 - 12
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2709 - 15
Michael Adams 2707 - 17
Ivan Sokolov 2689 - 24
Gata Kamsky 2686 - 25
Sergey Tiviakov 2669 - 33
Sergey Karjakin 2660 - 42
Loek van Wely 2647 - 59

FIDE Candidate Match Pairings

As expected, Kasparov and Kramnik will not be participating in the FIDE candidate matches. They have been replaced by Shirov and Malakhov. Per the regulations, the pairings for round 1 are as follows:

Aronian - Carlsen
Leko - Gurevich
Ponomariov - Rublevsky
Gelfand - Kasimjanov
Bacrot - Kamsky
Grischuk - Malakhov
Polgar - Bareev
Shirov - Adams

Each match will consist of 6 games. There will be two rounds of matches, reducing these 16 players down to 4. The four finalists will join Topalov, Svidler, Anand and Morozevich in a FIDE world championship tournament next year.

Round 1 of the candidate matches is scheduled for October 2006 (assuming of course they can find sponsorship).

FIDE Rating List

1 Kasparov, Garry 2812 (retired)
2 Topalov, Veselin 2801 (the third player to break 2800 after Kasparov and Kramnik)
3 Anand, Viswanathan 2792
4 Svidler, Peter 2765
5 Aronian, Levon 2752
6 Kramnik, Vladimir 2741
7 Leko, Peter 2740
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily 2729
9 Gelfand, Boris 2723
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2723
11 Morozevich, Alexander 2721
12 Grischuk, Alexander 2717
Bacrot, Etienne 2717
14 Polgar, Judit 2711
15 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2709 (new member of the 2700 club)
Shirov, Alexei 2709
17 Adams, Michael 2707
18 Akopian, Vladimir 2704
19 Radjabov, Teimour 2700

(Nisipeanu fell off the 2700 list)

Two wins by Black

RMD-ALD, 12/23/2005 [B53]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Bd7 6.Qc4 {6.Bxc6 (B53 / 5-7) is the only move played with any regularity here.} a6 {6...Rc8, Uhlarova-Havlickova, Zilina 1997; 6...Nf6, Fisher-Croft, USA 1992} 7.Bxc6 {7.Ng5, Marabaoglu-Steinmann, Altenholz 1994} Bxc6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.O-O g6 10.Ng5 e6 11.f4 Qb6+ 12.Kh1 Ng4 13.Qe2 h5 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxe6? {I don't see the point.} fxe6 16.exf5 e5 -+ 17.a3 O-O-O 18.f6 Bh6 19.b4 Bxc1 20.Raxc1 Ne3 21.Rf2 Rdg8 22.Rg1 Nxg2 23.Rfxg2 Bxg2+ {23...Rxg2!} 24.Rxg2 Qc6 25.Ne4 Rxg2 26.Kxg2 d5 27.Ng5 Qxf6 28.h4 Qf4 29.Qe1Rg8 30.Qg3 Qxg3+ 31.Kxg3 e4 32.Kf4 Kd7 33.Ke5 Rxg5+! {It's all over.} 34.hxg5 e3 35.g6 e2 36.g7 e1Q+ 37.Kf6 Qc3+ 38.Kg6 Qxg7+ 39.Kxg7 h4 0-1

ALD-RMD, 12/23/2005 [D06]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 h5 {Pointless; 5...e5 is relatively best.} 6.Bc4 Bd7 7.Nf3 e6 8.Bf4 {Creating a very classical looking center, but probably not best; 8.e5 seems better.} Bb4! 9.O-O {9.Bg5 keeps more of White's advantage.} Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nxe4 11.Qd3 Bc6 12.Ne5= {12.Rfe1! Nd6 13.Rxe6+ fxe6 14.Qg6+ Nf7 15.Qxe6+ Qe7 16.Qc8+ Qd8 17.Bxf7+Kxf7 18.Ne5+ Ke8 19.Qxd8+ Kxd8 20.Nf7+ Ke7 21.Nxh8 +/-} Nd6 13.Nxc6 Nxc6 14.Rab1 Qf6 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Rxb7 O-O 17.Bb3 d5 18.Bc2 g6 19.Rfb1 Na5 20.R7b5 Nc4 21.Bb3? Na3! -/+ 22.Bc2 Nxb5 23.Rxb5 a6 24.Rb6 a5 25.Qb5 Qe7 26.Qb1 a4 27.Bxg6!? Qg5 {27...fxg6 28.Qxg6+ Qg7 29.Qxe6+ Qf7 held no dangers for Black, but my wife refused my attempt to complicate matters.} 28.Bc2 h4 29.h3 Kg7 30.Qe1 a3 31.c4 {Risky.} Rfb8 32.Rxb8 Rxb8 33.cxd5 Qxd5 34.Qe5+? {Trading queens leaves White with absolutely no hope.} Qxe5 35.dxe5 Kh6 36.f4 Rb2 37.Bb3 Kg6 0-1 {38.Bc4 Kf5 39.Kf1 Kxf4 40.Kg1 Kxe5}

Two games

I haven't posted any of the games between my and my wife in a while. Here's a couple of recent ones.

RMD-ALD, 10/23/2005 [C50]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.a3 Bg4 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Qd7 10.Qe1 {10.Qd2, Mazziotti Irigoyen Gabriel 2139 - Martinez Daniel 2193, Buenos Aires 2001} Ne7 11.Nd5 Nexd5 12.exd5 e4 13.Nd4 exd3 14.Bxd3? Rae8? {14...Nxd5} 15.Bb5! Qe7 16.Bxe8 Rxe8 17.c4 Qxe3+ 18.Qxe3 Rxe3 19.Nb5 Rb3 {I don't know why I left the c7 pawn undisturbed for so many moves. - ALD} 20.Rf2 Ne4 21.Rf4 Nf6 22.Rb1 a6 23.Nc3 {23.Nxc7 +/-} Bh5 24.Rf2 Ng4 25.Rd2 Ne5 26.Rd4 {26.Re1!} Bg6 27.Ne4?{27.Rc1} Re3! -/+ {Black handles the remainder of the game very well. - ALD} 28.Nf6+ gxf6 29.Rf1 Kg7 30.Rf2 Re1+ 31.Rf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kxf1 Bd3+ 33.Kf2 Bxc4 34.g3 Bd3 35.b3 Bf5 36.Kg2 Kf8 37.h3 Ke7 38.g4 Bc8 39.Kg3 c6 40.Kf4 Ng6+ 41.Kg3 cxd5 42.Rxd5 Be6 43.Rd3 Ne5 44.Rc3 Kd7 45.b4 b5 0-1 {My wife doesn't usually resign until the win is obvious, but in this case she decided she did not want to play on in this hopeless position. - ALD}

RMD-ALD, 12/11/2005 [C50]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Ng5 O-O 6.Qf3 d6 7.Nc3 Nd4 {7...Re8, Egold-Dietzel, Verden 2002; 7...Bg4, Mueller-Friess, Hassloch 1997; 7...Bb4, Strasser-Brehm, Bad Duerkheim 1993} 8.Qd1 {8.Qg3, Thomas-Thomas, Sebnitz 1998} Bg4 9.Nf3 Nxf3+ 10.gxf3 Bh5 11.Be3 Bb4 12.Qd2 Bxf3 13.Rg1 Ng4 14.h3 Nxe3 15.fxe3 Qh4+ 16.Qf2 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 Qxh3 18.Kd2 Bg4 19.d4 exd4 20.cxd4 Rae8 21.Kd3 c6 22.Rg3 Qh4 23.Qf4 Be2+? 24.Kxe2 Qxf4 25.exf4 Rxe4+ 26.Kd3 Rxf4 27.d5 c5 28.Re3 a6 29.Re7? b5! 30.Bb3 {forced} c4+ 31.Kc3 cxb3 32.axb3 Ra8 33.Rd7 Rf6 34.Rc7 g6 35.Kb4 Rf5 36.c4 bxc4 37.bxc4 Rf2 38.Rc6 a5+ 39.Kb5 Rb2+ 40.Ka4 Rb4+ 41.Ka3 Kf8 42.Re1 Re8 43.Rc1 Re3+ 44.Ka2 a4 {44...Ke7} 45.Rxd6 a3 46.Rc2 Reb3 47.Rd8+ Ke7 48.Rc8 Rb6?= {This turns a game with very good winning chances into a dead draw; 48...Rd3! -/+. - ALD} 49.c5 R6b5 50.Rc7+ Kd8 51.d6 Rb2+ 52.Rxb2 axb2 53.Kb1 h5 54.c6 Rb8? {And this turns a dead draw into a lost endgame; 54...Rb6=. - ALD} 55.Rxf7 Ke8 56.Rb7 Rd8 57.Re7+ Kf8 58.Rd7 {58.Re6!} Rc8 {58...Ke8} 59.Rc7 Ra8 60.Rb7 61.d7+ Kd8 62.Kxb2 h4 63.Kc3? {63.c7+! +-} g5 64.Kd4 h3 65.Ke5 h2? {65...Ke7 with (slim) drawing chances. - ALD} 66.Kd6! 1-0 {66...Rc8 67.Rb8 h1Q 68.dxc8Q#}

Ludek Pachman

GM Ludek Pachman, who passed away in March 2003, is in my opinion THE best chess writer ever ... hands down, bar none! Unfortunately, many of his books either were never published in English or are long out of print. Among my favorite Pachman books are ...

Modern Chess Strategy
A one-volume condensed version of the earlier (and long out-of-print) three-volume Complete Chess Strategy.

Tactica Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Tactics)
A two-volume follow-up to Modern Chess Strategy covering tactics. Lots and lots of examples, followed by lots of exercises and several illustrative full games, on each topic.

Teoria Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Theory)
A 4-volume opening treatise (Open Games, Semi-Open Games, Queen's Pawn Games, Closed Games). It doesn't cover quite the same amount of ground as ECO in terms of raw number of lines, but it still manages to cover an impressively immense amount of material while also including lots of textual discussion of the theory and strategy behind each opening and its major lines.

Decisive Games in Chess History
Pachman analysis 65 pivotal games from 1870 to 1972, looking not just at the actual chess moves on the board but also the competitive and psychological aspects of the situation.

FIDE World Cup Round 7 (Final)

All the games of the World Cup are available in PGN format.

The first ten places, who move on to the next phase of the FIDE World Championship. All five 2700-rated players among the sweet 16 ended up at the top of the list:
1. Aronian, Levon (ARM, 2724) - in tiebreak
2. Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR, 2704)
3. Bacrot, Etienne (FRA, 2725) - in tiebreak
4. Grischuk, Alexander (RUS, 2720)
5. Bareev, Evgeny (RUS, 2717) - in tiebreak
6. Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
7. Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) - 1.5 to 0.5
8. Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL)
9. Kamsky, Gata (USA) - in tiebreak
10. Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) - the lowest rated (2570) and of course youngest of the sweet 16

The remaining players are:
11. Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) - 1.5 to 0.5
12. Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP)
13. Dreev, Alexey (RUS) - in tiebreak
14. Van Wely, Loek (NED)
15. Lautier, Joel (FRA) - final score was tied, but Lautier had Black in the drawn seventh Sudden Death game
16. Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS)

If Kasparov and Kramnik decline to play in the 2006 Candidate Matches as is widely expected, then Shirov (based on his rating) and Malakhov (based on his #11 place finish) would take their places, as explained extremely well by ChessBase.

Ivanchuk (UKR, 2748) lost out because (a) he was not rated one point higher on either the July 2004 or January 2005 rating lists as that would have been enough to move him ahead of Bacrot on the rating list and (b) he lost in the second round to Cheparinov of the World Cup tournament.

The two other 2700-players were Shirov (ESP, 2710) and Radjabov (AZE, 2704) who both lost in round 3, to M. Gurevich and L. van Wely, respectively.

FIDE World Cup Round 6

For 1-4 places
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) in tiebreak
Aronian, Levon (ARM) over Bacrot, Etienne (FRA), 1.5-0.5

For 5-8 places
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) over Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) in tiebreak
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) over Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL), 2-0

For 9-12 places
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) over Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) in tiebreak
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) in tiebreak

For 13-16 places
Van Wely, Loek (NED) over Lautier, Joel (FRA) in tiebreak
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) over Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS), 1.5-0.5

FIDE World Cup Round 5

To determine Places 1-8
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Bareev, Evgeny (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) over Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Aronian, Levon (ARM) over Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL), 1.5-0.5
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Gelfand, Boris (ISR) in tiebreak

To determine Places 9-16
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) over Lautier, Joel (FRA), 1.5-0.5
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) over Dreev, Alexey (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) over Van Wely, Loek (NED) in tiebreak

FIDE World Cup Round 4

Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Kamsky, Gata (USA), 1.5-0.5
Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) over Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Van Wely, Loek (NED), 2-0

The following matches ended in 1-1 ties, with the blitz tiebreak winner indicated in bold:
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) - Carlsen, Magnus (NOR)
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) - Lautier, Joel (FRA)
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) - Aronian, Levon (ARM)
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) - Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL) - Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS)

Note that for the remaining rounds, nobody is eliminated. They simply keep playing in winners and losers brackets until places 1-16 are decided. Places 1-10 continue to the next stage of the FIDE Championship cycle. So Aronian, Bacrot, Bareev, Gelfand, Grischuk, Gurevich, Ponomariov and Rublevsky have qualified for the 2006 Candidate matches (but of course, the little matter of the winner of the $100K first prize still needs to be determined). The other eight players are still fighting for the last two qualification slots.

FIDE World Cup Round 3

The following matches were decisive:
Aronian, Levon (ARM) over Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR), 1.5-0.5
Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL) over Shirov, Alexei (ESP), 1.5-0.5
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Xu, Jun (CHN), 2-0
Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) over Tiviakov, Sergei (NED), 2-0
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) over Sokolov, Ivan (NED), 1.5-0.5

The following matches went to tiebreaks:
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) over Sutovsky, Emil (ISR)
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) over Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL)
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Shulman, Yuri (USA)
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) over Pantsulaia, Levan (GEO)
Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) over Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
Van Wely, Loek (NED) over Radjabov, Teimur (AZE)
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) over Harikrishna, Pentala (IND)
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Smirin, Ilia (ISR)
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) over Efimenko, Zahar (UKR)
Lautier, Joel (FRA) over Najer, Evgeniy (RUS)
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) over Bruzon, Lazaro (CUB)

FIDE World Cup Round 2

Ivanchuk (#1) upset by Cheparinov (#64)!

The following matches had decisive results:
Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR) - Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL): 0.5-1.5
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) - Kempinski, Robert (POL): 1.5-0.5
Aronian, Levon (ARM) - Sadvakasov, Darmen (KAZ): 2-0
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) - Istratescu, Andrei (ROM): 2-0
Shirov, Alexei (ESP) - Kotronias, Vasilios (GRE): 2-0
Lane, Gary (AUS) - Jobava, Baadur (GEO): 0.5-1.5
Sokolov, Ivan (NED) - Zhang, Zhong (CHN): 2-0
Bologan, Viorel (MDA) - Efimenko, Zahar (UKR): 0-2
Lautier, Joel (FRA) - Ivanov, Alexander (USA): 1.5-0.5
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) - Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER): 1.5-0.5
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) - Leitao, Rafael (BRA): 1.5-0.5
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) - Nikolic, Predrag (BIH): 2-0
Cao, Sang (HUN) - Xu, Jun (CHN): 0.5-1.5
Balogh, Csaba (HUN) - Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR): 0.5-1.5
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) - Ammonatov, Farrukh (TJK): 1.5-0.5

The following matches ended in 1-1 ties and were decided in blitz tiebreaks:
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) over Felgaer, Ruben (ARG)
Radjabov, Teimur (AZE) over Kazhgaleyev, Murtas (KAZ)
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Motylev, Alexander (RUS)
Tiviakov, Sergei (NED) over Korneev, Oleg (RUS)
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) over Paragua, Mark (PHI)
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Bocharov, Dmitry (RUS)
Bruzon, Lazaro (CUB) over Onischuk, Alexander (USA)
Najer, Evgeniy (RUS) over Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
Smirin, Ilia (ISR) over Wang, Yue (CHN)
Harikrishna, Pentala (IND) over Vescovi, Giovanni (BRA)
Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) over Erenburg, Sergey (ISR)
Van Wely, Loek (NED) over Moiseenko, Alexander (UKR)
Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) over Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND)
Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL) over Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
Pantsulaia, Levan (GEO) over Ganguly, Surya Sekar (IND)
Sutovsky, Emil (ISR) over Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)

Shulman - Khalifman ended in a 3-3 tie, and the sudden death seventh game also ended in a draw so Shulman who had the Black pieces advanced to the third round.

FIDE World Cup Round 1

The 2005 FIDE World Cup is under way. The official website is here. Unlike the ones in 1999-2004, this World Cup will not determine the FIDE Champion but is only the first step in the 2005-2007 FIDE Championship cycle. The field consists of 114 GMs (including eight 2700+ players), 7 IMs, 3 FMs and 3 untitled players.

The first 10 places in this World Cup tournament will join five players with the highest ratings who do not otherwise qualify for the cycle (that would be Leko, Adams, Polgar plus Kasparov and Kramnik - I suspect we will need two substitutes) and the former FIDE champion (Kasimdzhanov) in two rounds of candidate matches. The four survivors of this elimination will join the first 4 places in the 2005 San Luis FIDE Championship tournament (Topalov, Svidler, Anand, Morozevich) for the 2007 FIDE Championship tournament.

The winners in round 1 were:

Sibriaev, Aleksandr (RUS) - Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR): ½-1½
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) - Chumfwa, Stanley (ZAM): 2-0
Frhat, Ali (EGY) - Aronian, Levon (ARM): 0-2
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) - Needleman, Gaston (ARG): 2-0
Kobese, Watu (RSA) - Gelfand, Boris (ISR): 0-2
Shirov, Alexei (ESP) - Kuderinov, Kiril (KAZ): 1½-½
Radjabov, Teimur (AZE) - Flores, Diego (ARG): 2-0
Ahmed, Adly (EGY) - Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR): ½-1½
Tiviakov, Sergei (NED) - Belkhodja, Slim (TUN): 2-0
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL) - Sokolov, Ivan (NED): ½-1½
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) - Charbonneau, Pascal (CAN): 2-0
Zhao, Yun (CHN) - Kamsky, Gata (USA): ½-1½
Bologan, Viorel (MDA) - Matamoros, Carlos (ECU): 2-0
Rodrigo, Vasquez (CHI) - Bareev, Evgeny (RUS): ½-1½
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) - Wang, Hao (CHN): 1½-½
Lima, Darcy Gustavo (BRA) - Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS): 0-2
Volokitin, Andrei (UKR) - Cao, Sang (HUN): ½-1½
Kuzubov, Yuriy (UKR) - Moiseenko, Alexander (UKR): 0-2
Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) - Iljushin, Alexei (RUS): 1½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru (USA) - Ganguly, Surya Sekar (IND): 0-2
Stripunsky, Alexander (USA) - Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR): 0-2
Pantsulaia, Levan (GEO) - Milov, Vadim (SUI): 1½-½
Dao, Thien Hai (VIE) - Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS): ½-1½
Van Wely, Loek (NED) - Minasian, Artashes (ARM): 2-0
Xu, Jun (CHN) - Ye, Jiangchuan (CHN): 1½-½
Vescovi, Giovanni (BRA) - Adianto, Utut (INA): 1½-½
Wang, Yue (CHN) - Asrian, Karen (ARM): 1½-½
Ghaem, Maghami Ehsan (IRI) - Najer, Evgeniy (RUS): ½-1½
Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) - Kotsur, Pavel (KAZ): 1½-½
Popov, Valerij (RUS) - Onischuk, Alexander (USA): ½-1½
Granda-Zuniga, Julio (PER) - Ivanov, Alexander (USA): ½-1½
Smirnov, Pavel (RUS) - Bocharov, Dmitry (RUS): ½-1½
Paragua, Mark (PHI) - Movsesian, Sergei (SVK): 1½-½
Motylev, Alexander (RUS) - Roiz, Michael (ISR): 1½-½
Kazhgaleyev, Murtas (KAZ) - Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS): 1½-½
Ni, Hua (CHN) - Kotronias, Vasilios (GRE): ½-1½
Felgaer, Ruben (ARG) - Kaidanov, Gregory S (USA): 1½-½
Milos, Gilberto (BRA) - Sadvakasov, Darmen (KAZ): ½-1½

The following matches ended in 1-1 ties. The subsequent winner of the blitz tiebreak (Nov 29) is indicated in bold.

Pridorozhni, Aleksei (RUS) - Lautier, Joel (FRA)
Bruzon, Lazaro (CUB) - Kabanov, Nikolai (RUS)
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE) - Ibraev, Nurlan (KAZ)
Li, Shilong (CHN) - Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP)
Smirin, Ilia (ISR) - Arencibia, Walter (CUB)
Yu, Shaoteng (CHN) - Harikrishna, Pentala (IND)
Kudrin, Sergey (USA) - Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
Shulman, Yuri (USA) - Zvjaginsev, Vadim (RUS)
Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) - Balogh, Csaba (HUN)
Agrest, Evgenij (SWE) - Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab (GEO) - Carlsen, Magnus (NOR)
Ammonatov, Farrukh (TJK) - Krasenkow, Michal (POL)
Sutovsky, Emil (ISR) - Hamdouchi, Hichem (MAR)
Khalifman, Alexander (RUS) - Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS)
Gurevich, Mikhail (TUR) - Markus, Robert (SCG)
Izoria, Zviad (GEO) - Erenburg, Sergey (ISR)
Nikolic, Predrag (BIH) - Navara, David (CZE)
Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) - Leitao, Rafael (BRA)
Macieja, Bartlomiej (POL) - Efimenko, Zahar (UKR)
Kobalia, Mikhail (RUS) - Zhang, Zhong (CHN)
Korneev, Oleg (RUS) - Miroshnichenko, Evgenij (UKR)
Beliavsky, Alexander G (SLO) - Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
Ftacnik, Lubomir (SVK) - Istratescu, Andrei (ROM)
Vaganian, Rafael A (ARM) - Kempinski, Robert (POL)
Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) - Fedorov, Alexei (BLR)

Akopian (#7 seed) was unable to participate due to ill health, so his scheduled opponent (Lane) got a bye straight into round 2.

Chess Championship History

Check out this fascinating site describing the history of the World, USSR and US chess championships. The World Championship section makes an excellent supplement to Kasparov's My Great Predecessors.

In an earlier post I had referenced another site that discussed the world chess championship and is also well worth looking through.

Chrysalis Books sold to its management

Chrysalis has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement for the disposal of its books division to Anova Books Company Limited, a new company formed by Robin Wood (Chief Executive of Chrysalis Books) and senior managers of Chrysalis Books, for this purpose. The terms of the Disposal provide for the acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Chrysalis Books Group, together with the benefit of the outstanding inter-company debt owed by Chrysalis Books Group to Chrysalis Group at the date of the acquisition, for a purchase consideration of £12.5 million. The consideration will take the form of £9.0 million convertible 10-year loan stock and £3.5 million 3% cumulative redeemable preference shares, each to be issued by Anova and held by Chrysalis Group.

Chrysalis Books is the owner of the former Batsford Books that went bankrupt in 1999.

One final thought on Kramnik-Topalov

Kasparov thinks Topalov who won the FIDE championship ahead of the strongest active players in the world does not need to play Kramnik: "The schism in the chess world is over. It was brought about by the world champion not being the best player in the world. Now that he is, the matter can be closed."

I'm not clear on how Kasparov meshes this thought with page 9 of his own book My Great Predecessors I where he says that Kramnik is world champion 2000-? based on winning a match against him in London in 2000. Immediately following that match Kasparov declared that Kramnik was the real world champion and the FIDE rankings could be sent to the trash. So ... how exactly did the crown pass from Kramnik to Topalov?

More on Unification

Topalov should stop being a pussy and just play him already. If he is as superior as he thinks, he should have no problem beating Kramnik. Kramnik should say "whatsa matta? Afriad of losing to someone who has 60 less points than you? Bok bok bok chicken, bok bok!!!"

I agree completely. The SOA (or CAS) are often asked if completing certain coursework exempts you from taking certain exams. The Society's response: "Individuals who claim competence in the areas covered by the examinations should not have difficulty demonstrating their competence by participating in the examination process."

A few things worth noting:
1. When Kramnik played Kasparov in 2000, Kasparov's rating was 79 points higher than Kramnik's. That didn't stop Kramnik from spanking Kasparov 2-0.
2. Kramnik’s record against Topalov is +19 -9 =34. Even this year (Topalov’s best and Kramnik’s worst), they have two wins apiece and two draws.
3. NOW Kramnik is rated 60 points lower. But in 2002 Topalov tried to qualify at Dortmund to play Kramnik for the title, when Topalov was rated (you guessed it) 60 points lower.

I am of the opinion that the WC should be won in a match. However, even if the title in the future were to be won in a tournament in the future, today Topalov still needs to play Kramnik to take his title from him. The problem is that Topalov knows he doesn't have the match experience necessary to beat Kramnik.

Unification Dead

Kramnik: Generally speaking, I believe that the World Champion should be determined exclusively in a match. As for a candidates' qualification scheme it is quite acceptable to have it organized as in San Luis. For example, half of the participants according to their ratings, the other half through a qualification cycle. The knockout system proposed, actively agitated for, and imposed by FIDE has long since compromised itself. In accordance with the Prague Agreement of 2002 I am prepared to play in a reunification match. I've read comments in the press that Veselin does not believe I am a worthy contender for the title, given my relatively low rating as the basis for his argument. World championship and tournament performance are two entirely separate entities. I firmly believe that I am the real World Chess Champion. I won this title in a contest against Kasparov and later defended my title in a match against Leko. My title is legitimate and this was acknowledged even by FIDE in the Prague Accords. Should anyone, like Topalov, believe that he is stronger, let him beat me in a match.

Topalov: Topalov is not going to accept an unscheduled challenge by a player who is 60 points below him in the ratings list. Garry Kasparov agrees with Topalov and thinks the Bulgarian who won the FIDE championship ahead of the strongest active players in the world does not need to play Kramnik: "The schism in the chess world is over. It was brought about by the world champion not being the best player in the world. Now that he is, the matter can be closed." Topalov: "Kramnik is one of the best players of the last decade. However, he is currently number seven in FIDE world rankings, and I don’t think he has the right to challenge me. When I was the world's number seven player it never occurred to me that I had the right to challenge world's number one.” Topalov stressed that Kramnik had been invited to San Luis, but had refused to participate. Hence, in Topalov’s opinion, Kramnik has automatically lost the right to contend for the title. It is certainly true that five years ago Kramnik had defeated Kasparov. However, according to Topalov, Kramnik’s latest results do not provide sufficient grounds to have any claims for the title. Topalov: “There’s a big difference in our ratings. In chess 60 Elo points means a different class altogether. If Vladimir was offered to play against someone 60 Elo points below himself he’d simply burst out laughing. I do not believe we can play for the title because I’ve already won it here in San Luis. A Topalov-Kramnik match for the title is out of question, because FIDE has organised a two-year cycle for the world championship, analogous to the one we had in San Luis, where eight qualifiers will fight for the title. Thus the tournament shall determine the new holder of the Crown. That is the plan."

Kronsteen – McAdams, 1963

Continuing my theme of fictional chess scenes based on real chess games.

In the famous chess scene at the beginning of the Bond movie "From Russia With Love" we see Kronsteen of SPECTRE playing the Canadian McAdams. The score is 11½–11½. The scene is based on Spassky-Bronstein from the 1960 USSR Championship.

Spassky-Bronstein
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Bd6 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.d4 0-0 7.Bd3 Nd7 8.0-0 h6 9.Ne4 Nxd5 10.c4 Ne3 11.Bxe3 fxe3 12.c5 Be7 13.Bc2 Re8 14.Qd3 e2 15.Nd6 Nf8 16.Nxf7 exf1Q+ 17.Rxf1 Bf5 18.Qxf5 Qd7 19.Qf4 Bf6 20.N3e5 Qe7 21.Bb3 Bxe5

This is the starting position in the movie, except that the two White pawns on d4 and c5 were removed. Both the real and movie games continued...

22.Nxe5+ Kh7 23.Qe4+ (1-0)

However, what's odd is that in the original game, 22....Kh7 was not a blunder as Black had no defense. But in the movie, McAdams could have defended with 22....Ne6, which would not have worked in the position facing Bronstein.

So my question is WHY would the movie producers change the board position? Were they TRYING to make the point that Kronsteen could have been held off with calm defense, or am I giving them too much credit?

FIDE Championship (Final) Round 14

Results:
Topalov-Polgar, ½-½
Svidler-Anand, ½-½
Morozevich-Adams, ½-½
Leko-Kasimdzhanov, 1-0

The games
http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch14.htm

Final Standings:


Some things to note:

• Topalov was the only player to go undefeated, beating every other player except Anand by 1.5-0.5. His performance rating was 2890. At the end of the first half, he had scored +6 =1 for a performance of 3177 and was well positioned to break Karpov's record performance at Linares 1994, but in the second half he drew all seven games.
• Judith Polgar had a horrible tournament, losing 6 times and turning in a 2610 performance
• Morozevich and Polgar were the only players to get skunked (by Svidler and Anand, respectively).
• Adams (-3 =11) was the only player to go through the tournament without a single win.

FIDE Championship Round 13 - It's All Over

Topalov the winner with one round to go!

Results:
Kasimdzhanov-Topalov, ½-½
Adams-Leko, ½-½
Anand-Morozevich, ½-½
Polgar-Svidler, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 9.5
Anand, Svidler - 8
Morozevich - 6.5
Kasimdzhanov, Leko - 5.5
Adams - 5
Polgar - 4

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch13.htm

FIDE Championship Round 12

Results:
Topalov-Svidler, ½-½
Morozevich-Polgar, ½-½
Leko-Anand, 0-1
Kasimdzhanov-Adams, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 9
Anand, Svidler - 7.5
Morozevich - 6
Kasimdzhanov, Leko - 5
Adams - 4.5
Polgar - 3.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch12.htm

FIDE Championship Round 11

Results:
Adams-Topalov, ½-½
Anand-Kasimdzhanov, 1-0
Polgar-Leko, ½-½
Svidler-Morozevich, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 8.5
Svidler - 7
Anand - 6.5
Morozevich - 5.5
Leko - 5
Kasimdzhanov - 4.5
Adams - 4
Polgar - 3

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch11.htm

FIDE Championship Round 10

Results:
Topalov-Morozevich, ½-½
Leko-Svidler, ½-½
Kasimdzhanov-Polgar, 1-0
Adams-Anand, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 8
Svidler - 6
Anand, Morozevich- 5.5
Kasimdzhanov, Leko - 4.5
Adams - 3.5
Polgar - 2.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch10.htm

FIDE Championship Round 9

Results:
Anand-Topalov, ½-½
Polgar-Adams, ½-½
Svidler-Kasimdzhanov, ½-½
Morozevich-Leko, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 7.5
Svidler - 5.5
Morozevich, Anand - 5
Leko - 4
Kasimdzhanov - 3.5
Adams - 3
Polgar - 2.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch09.htm

FIDE Championship Round 8

Results:
Topalov-Leko, ½-½
Kasimdzhanov-Morozevich, 0-1
Adams-Svidler, ½-½
Anand-Polgar, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 7
Svidler - 5
Anand - 4.5
Leko, Morozevich - 4
Kasimdzhanov - 3
Adams - 2.5
Polgar - 2

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch08.htm

FIDE Championship Round 7

Topalov wins 6 out of 7!

Topalov won every game except against Anand. His performance rating stands at an amazing 3177!

Results:
Topalov-Kasimdzhanov, 1-0
Leko-Adams, 1-0
Morozevich-Anand, 1-0
Svidler-Polgar, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 6.5
Svidler - 4.5
Leko, Anand - 3.5
Morozevich, Kasimdzhanov - 3
Polgar - 2.5
Adams - 2

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch07.htm

FIDE Championship Round 6

Results:
Polgar-Topalov, 0-1
Anand-Svidler, ½-½
Adams-Morozevich, ½-½
Kasimdzhanov-Leko, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 5.5 (very impressive!)
Anand, Svidler - 3.5
Kasimdzhanov - 3
Leko - 2.5
Adams, Morozevich, Polgar - 2

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch06.htm

FIDE Championship Round 5

Results:
Svidler-Topalov, 0-1
Polgar-Morozevich, ½-½
Anand-Leko, ½-½
Adams-Kasimdzhanov, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 4.5 (nice lead)
Anand, Svidler - 3
Kasimdzhanov - 2.5
Leko, Polgar - 2
Adams, Morozevich - 1.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch05.htm

FIDE Championship Round 4

Four decisive games again.

Results:
Topalov-Adams, 1-0
Kasimdzhanov-Anand, 1-0
Leko-Polgar, 1-0
Morozevich-Svidler, 0-1

Standings:
Topalov - 3.5
Svidler - 3
Anand - 2.5
Kasimdzhanov - 2
Leko, Polgar - 1.5
Morozevich, Adams - 1

Aside from the chess, a great deal of entertainment can be had from reading the English version of the website, which is translated from the Spanish original either by a computer program or by someone with limited command of English. For example, in commenting on the Leko-Polgar game, the site says, "Leko changed his face and won, replacing himself on the race track." If you read the Spanish comments, this should have been translated as, "Leko about faced and won, placing himself once gain on the race track."

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch04.htm

FIDE Top 20

1 Kasparov, Garry g RUS 2812
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788
3 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2782
4 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751
5 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2748
6 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2740
7 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2739
8 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2735
9 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2725
10 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2724
11 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2720
12 Adams, Michael g ENG 2718
13 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2717
14 Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2710
15 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2707
16 Akopian, Vladimir g ARM 2707
17 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2707
18 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2704
19 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2704
20 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2700

Notes:

• The top five are unchanged, although Topalov dropped 6 points, allowing Anand to claim the #2 slot by himself.
• Kramnik drops another slot, as he and Svidler trade places because Kramnik lost 5 points and Svidler gained 2 points.
• There's three brand new names in the 2700+ list: Nisipeanu, Radjabov and Tiviakov. And two players fell off: Kamsky and Bologan. So the 2700 club is up to 20 members.
• The top rated US player is Kamsky, at #23 with a rating of 2690 (down 4 slots and 10 points from the July 2005 list).

FIDE Championship Round 3

Four decisive results, quite a change from last round.

Results:
Morozevich-Topalov, 0-1
Svidler-Leko, 1-0
Polgar-Kasimdzhanov, 1-0
Anand-Adams, 1-0

Standings:
Anand, Topalov - 2.5
Svidler - 2
Polgar - 1.5
Morozevich, Kasimdzhanov, Adams - 1
Leko - 0.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch03.htm

FIDE Championship Round 2

Results:
Topalov-Anand, 0.5-0.5 (97 moves)
Adams-Polgar, 0.5-0.5 (48 moves)
Kasimdzhanov-Svidler, 0.5-0.5 (24 moves)
Leko-Morozevich, 0.5-0.5 (69 moves)

Standings:
Anand, Topalov - 1.5
Morozevich, Kasimdzhanov, Svidler, Adams - 1
Leko, Polgar - 0.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch02.htm

FIDE Championship Round 1

Results:
Leko-Topalov, 0-1
Morozevich-Kasimdzhanov, 0.5-0.5
Svidler-Adams, 0.5-0.5
Polgar-Anand, 0-1

Standings:
Anand, Topalov - 1
Morozevich, Kasimdzhanov, Svidler, Adams - 0.5
Leko, Polgar - 0

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch01.htm

Grew-Schwartz, 827 GE (ca. 13000 AD)

As long as I'm posting games from literature, here's the game played between Grew and Schwartz in chapter 11 of Asimov's Pebble in the Sky. It too was an actual game.

Verlinsky-Levenfisch
Third USSR Championship, Moscow 1924
First Brilliancy Prize
Ruy Lopez [C84]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.O-O b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.d3 O-O 9.Nd5 Na5 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Ne1 Nxb3 12.axb3 Nd7 13.f4 f5 14.exf5 Rxf5 15.Nf3 Bb7 16.Bd2 exf4 17.Nd4 Rg5 18.Nf3 Rg4 19.h3 Rxg2+ 20.Kxg2 Qg5+ 21.Kh1 Ne5 22.Qe2 Qg3 23.Qg2 Nxf3 24.Bc3 Nd4 25.Qxb7 Qxh3+ 26.Kg1 Ne2+ 27.Kf2 Qe3+

The actual ending of the game was 28.Ke1 Nxc3#, but in the book the ending was given as 28.Kg2 Qg3+ 29.Kh1 Qh3#.

Poole-HAL, 2001

I was watching the movie 2010 this weekend, and I got curious about the famous game between Poole and HAL in 2001. I had heard that it was based on a real game. Here's what I found at the ChessGames website.

Roesch - Schlage, Hamburg 1910
Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack [C86]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.c3 0-0 8.0-0 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nf4 11.Qe4 Nxe5 12.Qxa8 Qd3 13.Bd1 Bh3

This is the initial position shown on the screen in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

14.Qxa6 Bxg2 15.Re1 Qf3 (0-1)

In the film, this move was incorrectly given by HAL9000 as "Queen to Bishop Three" instead of the correct "Queen to Bishop Six." Apparently some fans of the film believe that this error was intentional and meant to let the alert (and chess-savvy) viewer know that something was wrong with HAL.

I seriously doubt this! My evidence: the fact that there are several other sloppy oversights in the film. The most grotesque is that they refer to the monolith's dimensions as 1x4x9, bringing to film what was an important element of the book. However, if you look at the monolith on the screen it is nowhere near 1x4x9, not even close. If they weren't going to take the care to make the monolith the right size, then it would have been better just to avoid any mention of the 1x4x9 dimensions.

The forced mate sequence is 16.Qc8 Rxc8 17.h3 Nxh3+ 18.Kh2 Ng4#

Atlanta Chess Center

The Atlanta Chess Center finally got itself a website: http://www.atlantachessclub.com/

An interesting draw

RMD-ALD, 9/11/2005 [D00]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.Nb5 Na6 5.e3 c6 6.Nc3 Nb4 {6...Nc7, Van Vliet - Schippers, Hengelo 2002} 7.Bd3 Nxd3+ 8.cxd3 e6 9.Nf3 Bb4 10.Ne5 O-O 11.Qb3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.O-O Ng4 14.c4 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 dxc4 16.dxc4 b6 17.a3 Rfd8 18.Qb4 Qxb4 19.axb4 f6 20.Bg3 Rd7 21.c5 bxc5 22.bxc5 Rb7 23.Bd6 a5 24.f3 Rb2 25.e4 Bg6 26.Rf2 Rxf2 27.Kxf2 a4 28.g4 Kf7 29.h4 h5 30.g5 fxg5 31.hxg5 Ke8 32.Kg3 Kd7 33.Be5 a3 34.Bxg7 a2 35.Be5 Ra3 36.Kf4 Ra4 37.Ke3 Ra3+ 38.Kf2 Kc8 39.Bg3 Kb7 40.Ke2 Ka6 41.Kd2 Kb5 42.Be1 {42.Bf2 and the two saved tempos make all the difference and the position is a draw. Now Black gets (very slim) winning chances. - ALD} Kc4 43.Bf2 Kb3 {43...Rxf3! 44.Ke2 Rxf2+ 45.Kxf2 Kb3 -/+} 44.Kc1 {44.d5} Kc3 {44...Ra4! -/+} 45.d5 exd5 46.exd5 cxd5 47.c6 Rb3 {Ending any remaining winning chances. Better is 47.Ra4. - ALD} 48.Be1+ Kd4 49.Rxa2 Rb1+?! {Very weak. Correct was 49...Ke3=. Now it is actually White that has winning chances. - ALD]} 50.Kd2 Rb8 51.Ra6?! {51.c7! +/-} Rb2+ 52.Kd1 Rb1+ Draw {My wife was almost out of time, 0:29 - 0:25 (G/30 time limit), but gets a draw. We both played the endgame very weakly, but at least this game was free of any major blunders. - ALD}

Two more games

ALD-RMD, 7/7/2005 [D07]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Qa4 {Not best according to the book, but I've never learned the book well enough to get an advantage against her pet Chigorin Defense. So I decided to improvise.} Nf6 4.Nf3 {4.e3, Andersson Johan 2148 - Aijala Jouko 2155, Lahti 1996} Bd7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qb3 Nb6 7.Ng5 e6 8.Nf3 Bd6 9.Bg5? {9.e4} f6 {9...Nxd4! 10.Bxd8 (10.Nxd4 Qxg5-/+) Nxb3 11.axb3 Rxd8-/+} 10.Bh4 Qe7 11.e4!? {11.e3} e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 {13...Bxe5} 14.Nd2 O-O-O 15.Rc1 {15.Bg3} Ba4! 16.Qc3 Qxc3 17.Rxc3 Bb4! 18.Rd3 {Better is 18.Bg3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Bc6 20.f3} Bc2 {18...Rxd3 19.Bxd3 Rd8-+} 19.Rg3? {19.Rc3} Bxd2+ 20.Ke2 g5! 21.Bxg5 Bxg5 22.Kf3 Rhe8 23.Bb5 Rxe4 24.Rc1 Rf4+ 25.Ke2 Bg6 26.Rgc3 Kb8 {26...Rb4!} 27.Rxc7 Rb4! 28.a4 Rxb2+ 0-1

RMD-ALD, 7/3/2005 [C55]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Nd5 Nxe4 6.O-O Nxf2!? 7.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 O-O? {8...d6} 9.d3 {9.d4!} d6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.c3 Ne7? 12.h3 {12.Bg5!} Be6 13.Qb3? c6 {13...Bxd5! 14.Bxd5 c6!} 14.Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.d4!? {15.Bg5=} Bxc4 16.Qxc4 d5 17.Qa4 {17.Qc5!} e4 18.Nd2 f5 19.Ke2? {19.g3} f4! 20.Bg1 f3+ 21.Kf1 fxg2+ 22.Kxg2 Qg5+ 23.Kh1 Qxd2 24.Qb3? Rf3! 0-1

FIDE Championship

It looks like the FIDE Championship is taking place after all. The first round is scheduled for September 28th. Not sure about its sporting value, but at least it looks like they have funding, at least enough to put an official website up.

The players will be
#2 Anand (2788)
#3 Topalov (2788)
#4 Leko (2763)
#7 Svidler (2738)
#8 Polgar (2735)
#13 Adams (2719)
#14 Morozevich (2707)
#35 Kasimdzhanov (2670)

Of course #1 Kasparov is retired, and #6 Kramnik (Classical Champion) would not participate in this event. However, there's no word on why #5 Ivanchuk is not participating while MUCH lower rated Morozevich is. (Adams is taking part as the runner-up from the last FIDE Championship.)

Dortmund Final Results - Naiditsch the winner!!

                Rtng Score N T B V S K A L S N Perf Chg
-------------------------------------------------------
1: Naiditsch, A 2612 5.5 / X 0 = = = = = 1 1 1 2799 +23
2: Topalov, V   2788 5.0 / 1 X = 1 = 0 0 1 = = 2743 -6
3: Bacrot, E    2729 5.0 / = = X 0 = 1 1 = 1 0 2749 +2
4: Van Wely, L  2655 5.0 / = 0 1 X = = 1 0 1 = 2758 +14
5: Svidler, P   2738 5.0 / = = = = X = = 1 = = 2748 +1
6: Kramnik, V   2744 4.5 / = 1 0 = = X = = 0 1 2705 -5
7: Adams, M     2719 4.5 / = 1 0 0 = = X = = 1 2707 -2
8: Leko, P      2763 4.0 / 0 0 = 1 0 = = X = 1 2660 -14
9: Sutovsky, E  2674 3.5 / 0 = 0 0 = 1 = = X = 2632 -5
10: Nielsen, PH 2668 3.0 / 0 = 1 = = 0 0 0 = X 2588 -9
-------------------------------------------------------

Naiditsch (the lowest rated participant) won undivided first place, with 5.5 points and a 2800 performance. Hearty congratulations!

White trounced in this tournament, +16 =24 -5.

The games can be found in PGN format here.

Dortmund Round 9

Bacrot-Kramnik

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Ne4 7. Qd3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Nc5 9. Qf3 d6 10. Bg2 Bd7 11. O-O Bc6 12. Qg4 O-O 13. Bh6 Qf6 14. Bg5 Qg615. Nxc6 Nxc6 16. Qh4 f6 17. Be3 Rfd8 18. Rab1 Qf7 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Bxc5 dxc521. Qe4 e5 22. Rb2 Rab8 23. Rfb1 Rxb2 24. Rxb2 Qd7 25. Kg2 Re8 26. Qe3 Qe7 27.a4 g6 28. a5 Rd8 29. a6 Rd7 30. Rb8+ Kg7 31. Rc8 Qd6 32. Qe4 f5 33. Qxc6 Qxc6+34. Rxc6 Kf7 35. f4 exf4 36. gxf4 Re7 37. Kf3 Ke8 38. Rxc5 Kd7 39. Re5 Rxe5 40.fxe5 g5 41. c5 h6 42. c4 h5 43. h4 g4+ 44. Kf4 Ke6 45. c6 Ke7 46. c5 Ke6 47. c7 Kd7 48. e6+ Kxc7 49. e3 Kc6 50. Ke5 g3 51. e7 Kd7 52. Kf6 g2 53. c6+ Kc7 54.e8=Q g1=Q 55. Qd7+ Kb6 56. c7 1-0

Sutovsky-Adams

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Nd7 8.Nbd2 O-O 9. Nc4 f6 10. Nh4 g6 11. g3 Nc5 12. Bh6 Rf7 13. b4 Ne6 14. Qd2 c5 15.Kh1 b5 16. Na5 Bf8 17. Bxf8 Qxf8 18. a3 cxb4 19. axb4 c5 20. f4 exf4 21. gxf4Qh6 22. Ng2 cxb4 23. Qxb4 Qf8 24. Qxf8+ Kxf8 25. f5 Nc5 26. Ne3 gxf5 27. Nxf5Bxf5 28. Rxf5 Rc8 29. Raf1 Nd7 30. c4 Rc5 31. R5f2 Re7 32. d4 Rc7 33. c5 Rxe434. c6 Nb6 35. Rxf6+ Kg7 36. Rd6 Re2 37. Nb7 Nc8 38. Rd7+ Re7 39. Rxc7 Rxc7 40.d5 Nb6 41. Nd6 Kg8 42. Ne8 Rc8 43. Nf6+ Kg7 44. d6 Rxc6 45. d7 Nxd7 46. Nxd7 a5 47. Rg1+ Kh6 48. Ne5 Rc5 49. Nf7+ Kh5 50. Nd6 b4 51. Rb1 1/2-1/2

Nielsen-VanWely

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 Rb8 8. e4b5 9. d5 Nb4 10. b3 cxb3 11. Qxb3 c5 12. dxc6 Nxc6 13. Bf4 Rb7 14. e5 Nd7 15.Ne4 Na5 16. Qc3 Qc7 17. Qd4 Qb6 18. Rfc1 Rb8 19. Rab1 Bb7 20. Nd6+ Bxd6 21.Qxb6 Nxb6 22. exd6 Rc8 23. Ne5 Rxc1+ 24. Rxc1 f6 25. Rc7 fxe5 26. Re7+ Kd8 27.Bd2 Nac4 28. Rxb7 Nxd2 29. Rxb6 Kd7 30. Rxa6 Rc8 31. h4 Rc1+ 32. Kh2 Rc2 33.Ra7+ Kxd6 34. Rxg7 h6 35. g4 Rxa2 36. g5 hxg5 37. hxg5 e4 38. g6 Ra8 39. Rb7 Rg8 40. Rb6+ Ke7 41. Rxb5 Rxg6 42. Rb2 Nf3+ 43. Bxf3 exf3 44. Rb3 Rg2+ 45. Kh3 Rxf2 46. Kg3 Rf1 47. Rxf3 Rxf3+ 48. Kxf3 Kd6 49. Ke4 1/2-1/2

Topalov-Leko

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. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 O-O 12. Nc2 Rb8 13. h4 Be7 14. a3 Be615. Ncb4 Nxb4 16. axb4 Ra8 17. g3 Qd7 18. Bg2 Bd8 19. O-O Qc6 20. Ne3 a5 21.bxa5 Bxa5 22. Nf5 Qd7 23. Qd2 Bc7 24. Ne3 Qc6 25. Nf5 Qd7 26. Qg5 f6 27. Qd2 d528. Ne3 d4 29. cxd4 Qxd4 30. Qc2 Rxa1 31. Rxa1 Bb6 32. Rd1 Qc5 33. Qe2 Bb3 34.Rd3 Bc4 35. Nxc4 Qxc4 36. b3 Qb4 37. Bh3 Bd4 38. Kg2 g6 39. Be6+ Kh8 40. h5 Qe741. Qg4 Re8 42. Bd5 f5 43. Qh3 fxe4 44. Bxe4 gxh5 45. Qxh5 Rf8 46. Rd2 Qf7 47.Qh6 Qg7 48. Qc6 b4 49. Qd6 Bc3 50. Ra2 Qf6 51. Qc5 Kg7 52. Ra7+ Rf7 53. Bd5Rxa7 54. Qxa7+ Kf8 55. Qxh7 Bd4 56. Qc2 Bc3 57. Qa2 Qd8 58. Bc4 Ke7 59. Qa7+Qd7 60. Qa8 Kd6 61. Bd5 Kc5 62. Bf3 Kd6 63. Qb8+ Ke7 64. Qa8 Qd8 65. Qe4 Qd766. Qh4+ Kd6 67. Qf6+ Qe6 68. Qd8+ Kc5 69. Qa5+ Kd4 70. Qa7+ Kd3 71. Qa2 Kd472. Kf1 e4 73. Qa7+ Ke5 74. Qc7+ Kd4 75. Qa7+ Ke5 76. Qe3 Qxb3 77. Qxe4+ Kf6 78. Kg2 Qe6 79. Qd3 Qe5 80. Bd5 Qf5 81. Be4 Qc5 82. Bd5 Ke5 83. Qe4+ Kd6 84.Qe6+ Kc7 85. f4 Qd6 86. Qe4 Qd7 87. Kf3 Kd6 88. g4 Qb5 89. Qe6+ Kc5 90. Ke4Qe2+ 91. Kf5 Qd3+ 92. Be4 Qd8 93. g5 Qf8+ 94. Kg4 Qd6 95. Qxd6+ Kxd6 96. Bc2 Ke7 97. Kh5 Kf7 98. Kh6 Kg8 99. f5 Kh8 100. Kg6 Bd4 101. f6 Be3 102. Kf5 Kg8 103. Bb3+ Kh8 104. g6 Bh6 105. Ke6 Bg7 106. fxg7+ 1-0

Svidler-Naiditsch - Draw in 21 moves

Dortmund Round 8

Kramnik-Nielsen

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4 Nc68. Qd2 Bg4 9. Be2 Qd7 10. O-O-O a6 11. Rhe1 O-O-O 12. h3 Be6 13. c4 Kb8 14. Qc3Bf6 15. Qa3 Qe7 16. Be3 h5 17. Kb1 g5 18. b4 g4 19. Nd2 Nd4 20. Bd3 d5 21. c5Bg7 22. hxg4 hxg4 23. Nb3 Nxb3 24. axb3 c6 25. Bf4+ Ka7 26. b5 cxb5 27. Bxb5Rc8 28. Bd6 Qf6 29. Be5 Qg5 30. Bxg7 Qxg7 31. c6 Qf8 32. b4 Qd6 33. Rd4 Rc7 34.Kb2 Rhc8 35. c3 Rxc6 36. Bxc6 Rxc6 37. g3 Rc4 38. Red1 Qe5 39. Qb3 Rxd4 40.Rxd4 Qe1 41. Qc2 b5 42. Rd1 Qe5 43. Qd2 Kb7 44. Re1 Qf5 45. Qe3 Qf6 46. Rh1 Qf547. Rh8 Qf6 48. Re8 Bd7 49. Re7 Kc8 50. Qc5+ Kd8 51. Re2 1-0

Leko-Sutovsky

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Rb1a5 9. a3 Nd4 10. Nd2 c6 11. e3 Ne6 12. Nf3 Nc5 13. b4 axb4 14. axb4 Nxd3 15.Qxd3 e4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bb2 Bxb2 18. Rxb2 Qf6 19. Qd4 Be6 20. Rc1 Ra4 21.Qxf6 Nxf6 22. Nd4 Rfa8 23. Rbb1 Bd7 24. h3 Ra2 25. g4 h5 26. g5 Nh7 27. h4 f628. gxf6 Nxf6 29. Bf3 Ng4 30. Bxg4 Bxg4 31. c5 Rf8 32. Rc2 Rxc2 33. Nxc2 Bf534. Rb2 dxc5 35. bxc5 Bxc2 36. Rxc2 Rb8 37. Kg2 b6 38. cxb6 Rxb6 39. Kg3 Kg740. Kf4 Kf6 41. e4 Kg7 42. f3 Ra6 43. Rc5 Rb6 44. Rc3 Kf6 45. Rc1 Kg7 46. Rd1Rb2 47. Rc1 Rb6 48. Rc5 Kf6 49. Ra5 Rb1 50. Rc5 Rb6 51. Rc3 Ra6 52. e5+ Kg7 53.Rd3 Ra1 54. Rd7+ Kh6 55. Rc7 Rc1 56. e6 Re1 57. Rxc6 Kg7 58. Rb6 Re2 59. Rb7+Kf6 60. e7 Rxe7 61. Rxe7 Kxe7 62. Kg5 Kf7 63. f4 Kg7 64. f5 gxf5 65. Kxf5 Kf766. Kg5 Kg7 67. Kxh5 1/2-1/2

VanWely-Topalov

1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. a3 f6 7. Bd3 Qc7 8. Bf4O-O-O 9. O-O c4 10. Bc2 Qb6 11. b3 cxb3 12. Bxb3 g5 13. Be3 g4 14. Ne1 Na5 15.Bc2 f5 16. Nd3 Kb8 17. a4 Rc8 18. Qe2 Qa6 19. Qe1 b6 20. Na3 Bxa3 21. Rxa3 Ne722. Nb4 Qb7 23. Bd3 Nc4 24. Bxc4 dxc4 25. a5 b5 26. a6 Qa8 27. Qe2 Nd5 28. Nxd5Qxd5 29. f4 h5 30. Rb1 h4 31. Kf1 Bc6 32. Bg1 Ka8 33. Rb4 Rb8 34. Ra2 Rb6 35.Ke1 h3 36. g3 Rc8 37. Be3 Bd7 38. Ra5 Qh1+ 39. Kd2 Bc6 40. Qf2 Bd5 41. Qg1 Qe442. Kc1 Rcc6 43. Qf2 Rxa6 44. Raxb5 Ra1+ 45. Rb1 Rxb1+ 46. Rxb1 Ra6 47. Qd2 Qh1+ 0-1

Naiditsch-Bacrot - Draw in 23 moves

Adams-Svidler - Draw in 20 moves

Dortmund Round 7

Bacrot-Adams

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Rc8 13. e4 b5 14. Re1 dxe4 15.Bxe4 bxc4 16. bxc4 c5 17. d5 exd5 18. Bxd5 Nb6 19. Ba5 Bf6 20. Rb1 Rb8 21. Qf3Qd7 22. Bxb6 axb6 23. Ne4 Bd4 24. Qf4 h6 25. a4 Rbe8 26. Rxb6 Qxa4 27. Reb1Bxc4 28. Bc6 Qa5 29. Bxe8 Rxe8 30. h4 Be5 31. Nf6+ Bxf6 32. Qxc4 Qc3 33. Qxc3Bxc3 34. Rb8 Kf8 35. h5 Rxb8 36. Rxb8+ Ke7 37. Kf1 Kf6 38. Rb7 Bd4 39. Ke2 Kg540. Rxf7 Kxh5 41. Kf3 Kg6 42. Rf8 Kg5 43. g4 Bf6 44. Kg3 Kg6 45. f4 h5 46. g5Be7 47. Re8 Kf7 48. Rc8 Ke6 49. Kf3 Bd6 50. Ke4 g6 51. Rh8 Be7 52. Rh6 Kf7 53.Rh7+ 1-0

Svidler-Leko

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8.Be3 e5 9. Qd2 h6 10. O-O Qe7 11. Nh2 Nf8 12. f4 exf4 13. Rxf4 Ne6 14. Rf2 Nd415. Raf1 Be6 16. Ng4 O-O-O 17. Nxh6 f6 18. Nd1 Rh7 19. c3 Nb5 20. Rf3 c4 21.Ng4 Rxd3 22. Qe2 Bxg4 23. hxg4 Qe5 24. Bf4 Qc5+ 25. Nf2 Bh6 26. Bxh6 Rxh6 27.Rxd3 cxd3 28. Qxd3 Rh8 29. Rd1 Qe7 30. e5 fxe5 31. Qxg6 Kb8 32. g5 Nc7 33. Qf6Qe8 34. Rd7 Kc8 35. Re7 Qd8 36. Qf5+ Kb8 37. Qxe5 Rg8 38. Ne4 Qd1+ 39. Kh2 Qh5+40. Kg3 Rc8 41. Nf6 1-0

Nielsen-Naiditsch

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. d4 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Qa4 Nd7 7. Qxc4 Nb6 8.Qb5 Bd7 9. Qb3 Na5 10. Qc2 Rc8 11. O-O c5 12. Nc3 cxd4 13. Nxd4 Bb4 14. Qe4 Bxc3 15. bxc3 O-O 16. Rd1 Bc6 17. Qg4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 f5 19. Qh5 Qd5+ 20. Qf3Rfe8 21. Qxd5 Nxd5 22. Nb5 Nc4 23. Rd4 a6 24. Na3 Nxa3 25. Bxa3 Rxc3 26. Bd6Rc2 27. Kf1 Rec8 28. a4 Rc1+ 29. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 30. Kg2 Kf7 31. e4 fxe4 32. Rxe4 b533. axb5 axb5 34. Re2 b4 35. Ra2 b3 36. Ra7+ Kf6 37. Rb7 Rc6 38. Ba3 Rb6 39.Bb2+ e5 40. Rd7 Rb5 41. Kf3 Nb6 42. Rb7 h5 43. Ke2 Kf5 44. h4 Ke4 45. f3+ Kd546. Kd3 g6 47. Rb8 Ke6 48. g4 Kd5 49. Rb7 hxg4 50. fxg4 e4+ 51. Ke2 Rc5 52.Rxb6 Rc2+ 53. Ke3 Rxb2 54. Rxg6 Rb1 55. Rg5+ Ke6 56. Rb5 b2 57. Kd2 e3+ 58. Kc2e2 0-1

Sutovsky-Topalov

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 e5 8. Nf3 Ng4 9. Qd2 Nxe3 10. Qxe3 exf4 11. Qxf4 Be7 12. O-O-O O-O 13. Nd5 Be6 14. Kb1 Rc8 15. g4 Bxd5 16. exd5 Ne5 17. Nxe5 dxe5 18. Qe4 Qd6 19. h4 g6 20. h5 Bg5 21.Qg2 Rc5 22. Bd3 b5 23. Rdf1 Qxd5 24. Be4 Qd6 25. hxg6 fxg6 26. Rd1 Qe7 27. Qh3Rf6 28. Qxh7+ Qxh7 29. Rd8+ Rf8 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. Rxh7 Rc4 32. Bxg6 Rxg4 33.a3 Be3 34. Bd3 b4 35. axb4 Rxb4 36. c3 Rf4 37. Bc2 e4 38. Rh8+ Ke7 39. Rh7+ Kf640. Rh6+ Kf5 41. Rh5+ Kg4 42. Re5 Kf3 43. Bd1+ Kf2 44. Bc2 Kf3 45. Bd1+ Kf2 1/2-1/2

Kramnik-VanWely - Draw in 37 moves

Dortmund Round 6

Naiditsch-Kramnik

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc68. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Ne5 10. Be2 Ng4 11. Bd4 c5 12. h3 cxd4 13. hxg4 dxc3 14.Qxc3 Bxg4 15. Bd3 h5 16. Qc4 Re8 17. Bh7+ Kf8 18. Qf4 Qb6 19. c3 Bf6 20. Rxd6Qxf2 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Qxf6 Qe3+ 23. Kb1 Rad8 24. a3 Qe6 25. Qf4 Kg7 26. Bc2Qf6 27. Qg3 Kf8 28. Nd4 Re5 29. Bb3 Rde8 30. Ka2 a6 31. Rc1 Kg7 32. Rc2 Re3 33.Qh2 Qe5 34. Qh4 f6 35. Rf2 Re4 36. g3 Re7 37. Qh2 Re1 38. Rf4 Re4 39. Rf2 Qg540. Bc2 Qd5+ 41. Bb3 Qc5 42. Bc2 Re1 43. Rf5 R1e5 44. Rf4 Be6+ 45. Bb3 Bxb3+46. Kxb3 Re4 47. Rf5 Qb6+ 48. Kc2 Rxd4 49. Rxh5 Rd6 50. Rh7+ Kf8 51. Rh8+ Kf752. Qh5+ Ke6 53. Qg4+ f5 54. Qc4+ Ke5 55. Qf4+ Ke6 56. Qc4+ Ke5 57. Qf4+ Ke658. Qc4+ 1/2-1/2

Topalov-Svidler

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.O-O Qc7 9. Re1 Bb7 10. Qf3 Bd6 11. e5 Bf8 12. Ne2 Ne7 13. Nf4 g6 14. c4 Bg7 15.Qe2 O-O 16. Bd2 dxc4 17. Bxc4 c5 18. Rac1 Rfd8 19. Nd3 Nf5 20. f3 Rd4 21. Bg5 a5 22. Qf2 h5 23. b3 Qb6 24. a4 Rc8 25. Rc3 Bd5 26. Bb5 Qb8 27. Qb2 c4 28. bxc4 Rxd3 29. Rxd3 Rxc4 30. Qd2 Rb4 31. f4 Bf8 32. Kh1 Qb6 33. Rc1 Nd4 34. Qf2 Qa7 35. Be8 Bc5 36. Rdc3 Nb3 37. Rxc5 Nxc1 38. Bxf7+ Kxf7 39. Rxd5 Qxf2 40. Rd7+ 1/2-1/2

Leko-Bacrot

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. d5 Nb8 13. Nf1 Nbd7 14. N3h2 Nc5 15.Bc2 c6 16. b4 Ncd7 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. Bg5 h6 19. Bxf6 Nxf6 20. Ng4 Nxg4 21. Qxg4Bd7 22. Qf3 Rc8 23. Bb3 Be6 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. a4 Qc7 26. axb5 axb5 27. Ra3 Ra828. Rea1 Rxa3 29. Rxa3 Be7 30. Qd3 Qc6 31. Ne3 Rc8 32. g3 Bg5 33. h4 Bxe3 34.Qxe3 Kh7 35. Ra5 Qxc3 36. Qxc3 Rxc3 37. Rxb5 Rc4 38. Rb6 Rxe4 39. Rxd6 Rxb4 40.Rxe6 Rb5 41. Kg2 1/2-1/2

VanWely-Sutovsky

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6 14. d5 Bxa115. Qxa1 f6 16. Qd4 Bf7 17. Bh6 e5 18. Qf2 Re8 19. Bb5 Re7 20. f4 Rc8 21. fxe5Rxe5 22. Ng3 Nc4 23. Qxf6 Qxf6 24. Rxf6 a6 25. Ba4 b5 26. Bd1 a5 27. Bg4 Rd828. Rc6 Ree8 29. Rc7 Ne5 30. Be2 Rc8 31. Rb7 b4 32. Bf4 g5 33. Bxg5 Rb8 34.Rxb8 Rxb8 35. Bf4 Re8 36. Bb5 Ng6 37. Bxe8 Bxe8 38. Bc7 a4 39. Ne2 Bb5 40. Kf2a3 41. Nc1 Bc4 42. Bd6 Bxa2 43. Nxa2 b3 44. Bxa3 bxa2 45. Bb2 Nf4 46. Bc3 Kf747. g3 Nd3+ 48. Ke3 Nb4 49. Kd4 Nc2+ 50. Kd3 Ne1+ 51. Ke2 Nc2 52. Kd2 Nb4 53.Ba1 Na6 54. Kc3 Nc5 55. e5 Ke7 56. Kc4 Nd7 57. Kb5 h5 58. Kc6 Nb8+ 59. Kb5 Nd760. h3 Nf8 61. Kc6 Nd7 62. g4 hxg4 63. hxg4 Nb8+ 64. Kb5 Nd7 65. g5 Nf8 66. Kc6Ng6 67. e6 Nf4 68. Bf6+ Ke8 69. g6 Nxg6 70. d6 Ne7+ 71. dxe7 1-0

Adams-Nielsen

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. O-O-O Qd7 10. h4 h6 11. Kb1 O-O-O 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 Rhg8 14.h5 c5 15. Be3 Qc6 16. f3 Rge8 17. Bd3 d5 18. Qf2 Qc7 19. g4 Kb8 20. Rhg1 Bd621. f4 f6 22. Qf3 Bf7 23. Bg6 Bxg6 24. hxg6 Qc6 25. Bc1 Bf8 26. f5 Re4 27. Qxe4 1-0

Dortmund Round 5

Kramnik-Adams

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d4 d6 9. c3 Bg4 10. Be3 exd4 11. cxd4 Na5 12. Bc2 Nc4 13. Bc1 c5 14. b3 Nb6 15.Nbd2 Nfd7 16. h3 Bh5 17. Bb2 Re8 18. a4 bxa4 19. bxa4 Rb8 20. a5 Nc8 21. Nc4Na7 22. dxc5 Nxc5 23. Qd2 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Nc6 25. Rad1 Nxa5 26. Nxa5 Rxb2 27. Nc4Rb8 28. e5 d5 29. Qxd5 Qxd5 30. Rxd5 Rb4 31. Ne3 g6 32. Ra1 Ra8 33. Rdd1 Kf834. Ra2 Rab8 35. Nd5 Rb2 36. Rda1 Bh4 37. Ne3 Bg5 38. Nd5 Bd2 39. f4 Rxa2 40.Rxa2 Rd8 41. Nf6 Bxf4 42. Ra5 Ne6 43. Nxh7+ Kg7 44. Nf6 Rc8 45. Ba4 Rc5 46.Rxc5 Nxc5 47. Bc6 a5 48. Nd7 Ne6 49. Kg2 g5 50. Ba4 Nd4 51. Nc5 Bxe5 52. Nb3Nxb3 53. Bxb3 Kf6 54. Kf3 Bd4 55. Ke2 Ke7 56. f3 f6 57. Kd3 Be5 58. Ke4 1/2-1/2

Bacrot-Topalov

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. h3 e6 8. Bd3 Na69. O-O Nc7 10. dxe6 Nxe6 11. Be3 Nd7 12. Be2 Ne5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. Qxd8 Rxd815. Bg4 h5 16. Bxe6 Bxe6 17. Nd5 b6 18. a4 f5 19. f3 Bxd5 20. cxd5 Bf8 21. Rfc1 Kf7 22. Rc3 Rdc8 23. Rac1 Rc7 24. b4 Rac8 25. Rc4 Bd6 26. bxc5 Bxc5 27. Kf1 Bd628. Rxc7+ Rxc7 29. Rxc7+ Bxc7 30. a5 bxa5 31. Bxa7 Kf6 32. Ke2 Bd6 33. Be3 a434. Kd3 Ke7 35. Kc4 Kf6 36. Bd2 fxe4 37. fxe4 Bf8 38. Ba5 Kg5 39. g3 Kf6 40.Bc7 a3 41. Kb3 Bc5 42. Bd8+ Kf7 43. Bg5 Bf2 44. g4 hxg4 45. hxg4 Ke8 46. Bf6 Bd4 47. Kxa3 Kd7 48. Kb4 Kd6 49. Bg7 Be3 50. Kc4 Bc1 51. Bf8+ Kd7 52. Bc5 Kc7 53. Kd3 Kd7 54. Be3 Ba3 55. Bd2 Bc5 56. Kc4 Bf2 57. Bb4 Be3 58. Bc3 Kd6 59. Kb5 Bf2 60. Ka6 Bd4 61. Ba5 Kd7 62. Bb6 Bb2 63. Kb7 Bc3 64. Bc7 Bb2 65. Bb8 Bd4 66.Ka6 Kc8 67. Bd6 Kd7 68. Bf8 Bc3 69. Kb5 Bb2 70. Bc5 Bc1 71. Kc4 Bd2 72. Ba3 Be3 73. Bb4 Bc1 74. d6 Kc6 75. d7 Kxd7 76. Kd5 Bg5 77. Kxe5 Bh4 78. Kd5 Bg5 79. e5Bh4 80. Bc5 Bg5 81. Bf2 Ke7 82. e6 Ke8 83. Ke5 Ke7 84. Bc5+ Ke8 85. Ke4 Kd8 86.Bd6 Ke8 87. Bf4 Bf6 88. Be3 Ke7 89. Kd5 Ke8 90. Kd6 Kd8 91. Bd2 Ke8 92. Bf4 Kd8 93. Be5 Bg5 1/2-1/2

Nielsen-Leko

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Ra7 11. Rc1 Be4 12. Qb3 Nbd7 13. Ba5 Qa8 14. Nc3 Bc6 15.a3 Bd6 16. Bb4 Qb7 17. Rc2 a5 18. Bxd6 cxd6 19. Ne1 Bxg2 20. Nxg2 b4 21. Na4Qe4 22. Rd1 Rb7 23. Ne3 bxa3 24. Qxa3 Ng4 25. Qd3 Qxd3 26. Rxd3 Nxe3 27. Rxe3Rb4 28. Ra3 Rxd4 29. Nc3 Ra8 30. Nb5 Rd5 31. Nc7 Rc8 32. Nxd5 Rxc2 33. Nc3 Rxb234. Rxa5 g6 35. Ra8+ Rb8 36. Ra7 Nf6 37. f3 d5 38. Kf2 g5 39. Na4 g4 40. Nc5gxf3 41. Kxf3 Rb1 42. Ra8+ Kg7 43. Ra7 Rb6 44. Nd3 Ne4 45. Ne5 Nd6 46. Kf2 Rb747. Ra2 Kf6 48. Nd3 Ne4+ 49. Kg2 Nc3 50. Rc2 d4 51. Kf3 Rb3 52. Nc5 Ra3 53. Kg2Ke7 54. Rd2 Kd6 55. Nb7+ Kd5 56. Nd8 f5 57. e3 e5 58. exd4 exd4 59. Rf2 d3 60.Rxf5+ Kc4 0-1

Naiditsch-VanWely

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. Qg4 g6 8. Qe2d6 9. O-O Nd7 10. Na3 Qc7 11. Kh1 h5 12. Nc4 Ngf6 13. a4 b6 14. a5 b5 15. Nb6Rb8 16. Be3 Ng4 17. Bd4 Bf6 18. Nxd7 Bxd7 19. f3 Bxd4 20. Nxd4 Nf6 21. f4 h422. e5 Nh5 23. Qg4 dxe5 24. fxe5 Qxe5 25. Rae1 Nf6 26. Qxg6 Qxd4 27. Qxf6 Qxf628. Rxf6 Ke7 29. Ref1 Be8 30. Kg1 Rd8 31. b4 Rh5 32. R1f4 Rdd5 33. Kf2 Kd6 34.Be4 Rd2+ 35. Ke1 Rd4 36. c3 Rc4 37. Kd2 Ke5 38. Bf3 Rh7 39. g3 hxg3 40. hxg3Rc7 41. Be2 Bc6 42. Rf2 Be4 43. g4 Rh8 44. Rxf7 Rd8+ 45. Ke1 Rxc3 46. Rh2 Rb347. Rh5+ Kd4 48. Rf6 Rd6 49. g5 Rg3 50. Rh4 Ke3 51. Rg4 Rxg4 52. Bxg4 Rd5 53.Rxe6 Rxg5 54. Bh3 Rg1+ 55. Bf1 Rg6 56. Rxg6 Bxg6 57. Bh3 Kd3 58. Bc8 Kc3 59.Bxa6 Kxb4 60. Bxb5 Kxb5 1/2-1/2

Svidler-Sutovsky - Draw in 29 moves

Dortmund Round 4

Standings:
Naiditsch, Nielsen, Van Wely - 2.5
Adams, Kramnik, Leko, Svidler - 2
Sutowski, Topalov, Bacrot - 1.5

Sutovsky-Bacrot [C93]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. Nf3 Re8 13. Nbd2 Bf8 14. a3 h615. Ba2 Nb8 16. d5 c6 17. c4 Nbd7 18. b4 Nb6 19. dxc6 Bxc6 20. Qb3 Ra7 21.Bb2 Nxc4 22. Nxc4 bxc4 23. Qxc4 Bxe4 24. Rxe4 d5 25. Qb3 Nxe4 26. Nxe5 Qb627. Ng4 Rae7 28. Rf1 Nd2 29. Qxd5 Nxf1 30. Ne5 Qf6 31. Nd3 Re1 0-1

VanWely-Svidler [D88]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c58. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Bd3 cxd4 12. cxd4 b6 13. Qd2 Bb7 14.Rad1 Rc8 15. d5 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Rxc4 17. Bd4 Qd6 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Nd4 Qb4 20.Qe3 Rfc8 21. h4 Kg8 22. h5 Qc3 23. Rd3 Qb2 24. h6 Rc3 25. Nc6 Rxd3 26. Qxd3Kf8 27. a4 Bxc6 28. dxc6 Qf6 29. Rc1 Qd6 30. Qc3 e5 31. c7 Ke7 32. g3 a633. Kg2 b5 34. axb5 axb5 35. Qa5 g5 36. Qa7 Kd7 37. Qa1 Ke7 38. Qa7 Kd7 39.Qb7 Rxc7 40. Qxb5+ Ke7 41. Ra1 Qc5 42. Qb8 Qc6 43. Re1 g4 44. Qh8 Qf6 45.Qxh7 Qf3+ 46. Kg1 Rc2 47. Rf1 Rxf2 48. Rxf2 Qxg3+ 49. Kf1 Qd3+ 50. Re2 Qd1+51. Kf2 g3+ 52. Kxg3 1/2-1/2

Leko-Kramnik ended in a draw after 25 moves. (Big surprise!)

Topalov-Nielsen ended in a draw after 34 moves.

Adams-Naiditsch ended in a draw after 37 moves.

Dortmund Round 3

Results:
Kramnik-Topalov, 1-0
Nielsen-Sutovsky, 1/2-1/2
Naiditsch-Leko, 1-0
Adams-VanWely, 0-1
Bacrot-Svidler, 1/2-1/2

Standings:
Naiditsch, Nielsen, Van Wely - 2.0
Adams, Kramnik, Leko, Sutowski, Svidler - 1.5
Topalov - 1.0
Bacrot - 0.5

Kramnik-Topalov
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8.Bf4 b6 9. Nc3 Ba6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Rc1 Nc6 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Ne5 Nxd4 14.Bxd5 Nxe2+ 15. Qxe2 Bxe2 16. Bxa8 Rxa8 17. Rfe1 Bb5 18. Rc2 Nd5 19. Rec1Ba6 20. Bd2 f6 21. Nc4 Rd8 22. a3 Kf7 23. Ne3 h5 24. Nxd5 Rxd5 25. Bb4 Bd826. Rc6 Be2 27. Rd6 Rxd6 28. Bxd6 Ke8 29. Bb8 a5 30. Bc7 Bf3 31. Rc3 Bd5 32. f4 Kd7 33. Bxd8 Kxd8 34. Kf2 Kd7 35. Ke3 e5 36. fxe5 fxe5 37. Rc1 a438. Rf1 Ke6 39. Rf8 b5 40. Rg8 Kf6 41. Rb8 1-0

Nielsen-Sutovsky
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c58. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bxf7+ Rxf7 13. fxg4 Rxf1+14. Kxf1 Qd6 15. e5 Qd5 16. Bf2 Rd8 17. Qa4 b6 18. Nf4 Qf7 19. Nh3 Qe6 20.g5 Qf5 21. Kg1 Qd3 22. Rd1 Qxc3 23. dxc5 Rxd1+ 24. Qxd1 Bxe5 25. cxb6 axb626. Bxb6 Nc4 27. Bf2 Nb2 28. Qd5+ Kf8 29. Kh1 Bd6 30. Bd4 Qd3 31. Ng1 Nd132. Qf3+ Qxf3 33. Nxf3 Bb4 34. Kg1 Kf7 35. Kf1 Bc3 36. Ke2 Bxd4 37. Kxd1 Bb6 38. Ke2 Ke6 39. g4 Kd5 40. Kd3 Bc7 41. a4 Bf4 42. h4 Bg3 43. a5 e5 44.Nd2 Bxh4 45. Ne4 Kc6 46. Kc4 Be1 47. a6 Bh4 48. a7 Kb7 49. Kd5 Bxg5 50.Nxg5 h5 51. gxh5 gxh5 52. Kxe5 Kxa7 53. Nh3 Kb7 54. Kf5 Kc6 55. Kg5 Kd5 56.Kxh5 1/2-1/2

Naiditsch-Leko
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 6. e5 Nd5 7. d4 cxd4 8.cxd4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 d6 11. Re1 Qc7 12. exd6 exd6 13. Bf4 Bf5 14.Qa4 Rfd8 15. Qa3 a6 16. Bf1 Rac8 17. Nd2 Na7 18. Rac1 Nb5 19. Qb3 Na7 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21. Rxe4 Re8 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Rb1 Re7 24. h4 Nc6 25. Qd5 Rd7 26.Bxa6 Na5 27. Bf1 Bf8 28. g3 Rd8 29. c4 Nc6 30. h5 Bg7 31. Be3 Ra8 32. h6 Bf8 33. Qb5 Ne7 34. Bd3 Ra3 35. Rb3 Rxa2 36. Qxb7 Ra1+ 37. Kg2 Qa5 38. Qb4 Qh5 39. Rb1 Rxb1 40. Bxb1 d5 41. c5 Bxh6 42. Bxh6 Qxh6 43. Qb8+ Qf8 44. Qd6 Qe8 45. Ba2 Nc6 46. Bxd5 Nxd4 47. Bxf7+ Kxf7 48. Qxd4 Qc6+ 49. f3 Ke6 50.g4 Qa6 51. Qe4+ Kf6 52. c6 Qa2+ 53. Kg3 Qa7 54. g5+ Kf7 55. Qd5+ Ke7 56.Qe5+ Kf7 57. Qf6+ Kg8 58. Qe6+ Kf8 59. Qc8+ 1-0

Adams-VanWely
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. g4 h6 7. Bg2 Nc6 8.h3 Bd7 9. f4 a6 10. Be3 Be7 11. Qe2 Qc7 12. O-O-O Rc8 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bd4 b5 15. e5 dxe5 16. Bxe5 Qb7 17. Rhg1 b4 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Ne4 Bxe4 20. Bxe4 Qc7 21. Qf3 g6 22. Kb1 O-O 23. h4 Rfd8 24. h5 g5 25. fxg5 Bxg5 26. Bd3 Qc6 27. Qxc6 Rxc6 28. Rge1 Rcd6 29. Re5 Rd4 30. Rg1 R8d6 31. b3 Bf6 32. Ree1 Kg7 33. a4 a5 34. Ref1 Bg5 35. Rg2 Bf4 36. Rgf2 e5 37. Kb2 Kf6 38. Bf5 Kg5 39. c4 Be3 40. Rc2 Rd1 41. Rxd1 Rxd1 42. Re2 Kf4 43. Kc2 Rd6 44. Re1 Rd2+ 45. Kb1 Bd4 46. Kc1 Rf2 47. c5 Rf3 48. c6 Rc3+ 49. Kd2 Rxc6 50. Rf1+ Kg3 51. Be4 Rc3 52. Bd5 Kxg4 53. Bxf7 e4 54. Bc4 Be3+ 0-1

Bacrot-Svidler ended in a draw after 38 moves.

Dortmund Round 2

Leko and Adams drew in 21 moves. Games (and players) like that are absolutely killing our game! At least all the other games were well-fought. White again scored 4-1 for the round.

Standings:
Leko, Adams, Nielsen - 1.5
Naiditsch, Svidler, Topalov, Sutovski, VanWely - 1.0
Kramnik - 0.5
Bacrot - 0

Sutovsky-Kramnik
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. O-O g6 6. d4 Bd7 7. Re1 Bg7 8.d5 Ne7 9. Bxd7+ Nxd7 10. Be3 f5 11. Ng5 Nf8 12. exf5 gxf5 13. f4 Qd7 14. c4Neg6 15. Nc3 h6 16. Nf3 e4 17. Nd4 h5 18. Ncb5 Kf7 19. Ne6 Nxe6 20. dxe6+Kxe6 21. Qd5+ Ke7 22. c5 c6 23. cxd6+ Kf8 24. Qb3 cxb5 25. Rac1 Qf7 26.Qxb5 a6 27. Qb6 Kg8 28. Red1 Kh7 29. Rc7 Qf8 30. Bd4 Rg8 31. Qxb7 e3 32.Rf7 Rb8 33. Qd7 Rd8 34. Qxf5 Qxf7 35. Qxf7 Rxd6 36. Kf1 Nxf4 37. Qf5+ Rg638. Qxf4 Rf8 39. Qxf8 Bxf8 40. Bxe3 Re6 41. Kf2 Kg6 42. Rd5 Be7 43. Bc5 Bf644. b3 Be5 45. g3 h4 46. gxh4 Bxh2 47. h5+ Kh7 48. Kf3 Be5 49. Rd7+ Kh6 50.Kg4 Bg7 51. Rd6 1-0

VanWely-Bacrot
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nh5 10. Re1 a5 11. bxa5 Rxa5 12. Nd2 Nf4 13. Bf1 Ra8 14. a4 f515. Ra3 fxe4 16. Ndxe4 b6 17. Nb5 Kh8 18. g3 Nh5 19. a5 bxa5 20. Bd2 Bf521. Rxa5 Qd7 22. Qa4 Rxa5 23. Qxa5 Bxe4 24. Rxe4 c6 25. dxc6 Nxc6 26. Qa1d5 27. cxd5 Qxd5 28. Qe1 Nf6 29. Ra4 e4 30. Nc3 Qd7 31. Bb5 Qh3 32. Qf1Qxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Ne5 34. h3 Rb8 35. Be2 Nf3 36. Bf4 Rd8 37. Nxe4 Nd4 38. Bc7Rc8 39. Rxd4 Rxc7 40. Rd8+ Ng8 41. Nd6 Bf6 42. Ra8 Rc1+ 43. Kg2 Be7 44. Bc4h5 45. Rxg8+ Kh7 46. Rc8 Bxd6 47. Bg8+ 1-0

Topalov-Naiditsch
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. e5 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. exf6 Qxg5 11. fxg7 Qxg7 12. Qd2 O-O 13. Bxc4 a614. O-O Rd8 15. Qf4 b5 16. Qc7 Qf8 17. Bd3 Rd7 18. Qf4 Bb7 19. Rae1 Qg7 20.Be4 Kh8 21. Re3 Bxe4 22. Qxe4 Rd5 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Qxe6 Rd7 25. Rg3 Qf826. Re1 Raa7 27. Qf6+ 1-0

Svidler-Nielsen
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be78. Re1 Bg4 9. c3 f5 10. Qb3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Qc2 Nc6 13. b4 a6 14. a4Bd6 15. Ba3 Kh8 16. Qb2 Re8 17. b5 axb5 18. Bxb5 Qf6 19. Bxd6 cxd6 20. a5Reb8 21. Ra4 Qd8 22. Rea1 Nxa5 23. Qa3 Bxf3 24. Nxf3 Nc4 25. Bxc4 Rxa4 26.Qxa4 dxc4 27. Qxc4 Qc8 28. Qf7 Qxc3 29. Rf1 Qc8 30. Nh4 Qf8 31. Qxf5 Qxf532. Nxf5 b5 33. f3 Nc3 34. Nxd6 Ne2+ 35. Kf2 Nxd4 36. Ke3 Ne6 37. Rb1 b438. Ne4 g5 39. g3 Kg7 40. Kd3 Rd8+ 41. Ke3 Rb8 42. Kd3 Rd8+ 43. Ke3 Rb8 1/2-1/2

Dortmund Round 1

The Dortmund Super-Tournament started today. The participants are 2700 Club members #2 Topalov, #4 Leko, #6 Kramnik, #7 Svidler, #9 Bacrot and #13 Adams, together with #28 Sutovsky, #38 Nielsen, #48 Van Wely and Germany's fourth strongest player Naiditsch. The official website is here.

It proved to be an exciting first round. The first round produced four White wins out of five games. Hopefully, we will see more of this fighting chess. (Kramnik drew his game with Svidler in 25 moves.) The games are available in PGN format here.

• Leko - Van Wely 1-0
• Adams - Topalov 1-0
• Naiditsch - Sutovsky 1-0
• Nielsen - Bacrot 1-0

Naiditsch-Sutovski
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. Bd3 Bb7 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Qh5 d5 14. O-O-O d4 15. Nb1 Qa5 16. a3 b4 17. Qh6 Ng6 18. g3 Rb8 19. f4 b3 20. c4 dxc3 21. Nxc3 Rc8 22. f5 Ne7 23. Qxf6 Rxc3+ 24. Kb1 Rg8 25. bxc3 Qxa3 26. Qb6 Qa2+ 27. Kc1 Kf8 28. f6 1-0

Nielsen-Bacrot
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. Bg5 a5 7. e3 Be7 8. Be2 Na6 9. O-O O-O 10. Qb3 Nb4 11. Rac1 b6 12. cxd5 Nfxd5 13. Bf4 Nxf4 14. exf4 Bd6 15. g3 Bb7 16. Bc4 c5 17. d5 Bxf4 18. Rcd1 b5 19. axb5 Bd6 20. Rd2 a4 21. Qd1 e5 22. Re1 a3 23. bxa3 Rxa3 24. Qc1 Qa8 25. Ng5 Rd8 26. Nce4 Ra5 27. Qb1 h6 28. Nxd6 hxg5 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. Qf5+ Kg8 31. d6+ Bd5 32. Bxd5+ Nxd5 33. Qe6+ Kh7 34. Rxd5 Rxb5 35. Rdxe5 Rf8 36. Rxg5 1-0

Leko-VanWely
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. Qd2 h6 10. O-O Qe7 11. Nh2 Nf8 12. f4 exf4 13. Bxf4 Ne6 14. Bg3 Qg5 15. Qe1 Nd4 16. Qf2 O-O 17. Bd6 Bxh3 18. Bf4 Qxg2+ 19. Qxg2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nxc2 21. Rad1 Rad8 22. Rd2 Nd4 23. e5 f5 24. exf6 Rxf6 25. Ng4 Re6 26. Bxh6 Bxh6 27. Nxh6+ Kg7 28. Nf7 Rf8 29. Ng5 Re5 30. Nce4 Rff5 31. Nf3 Nxf3 32. Rxf3 Rd5 33. Rdf2 b6 34. Kf1 Rxf3 35. Rxf3 c4 36. dxc4 Rd4 37. Nc3 Rxc4 38. Ke2 Rh4 39. Kd3 Rh2 40. Ne2 g5 41. Kd2 Kg6 42. Rd3 Rf2 43. Rd7 Rf7 44. Rxf7 Kxf7 45. Nd4 c5 46. Nb5 a6 47. Nc7 a5 48. a4 Kf6 49. Nd5+ Ke5 50. Nxb6 Kd4 51. b3 g4 52. Nc4 g3 53. Ke2 Kc3 54. Nxa5 Kb4 55. Nc6+ 1-0

Adams-Topalov
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. O-O Bd6 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Qh5 f5 11. Re1 c6 12. Bg5 Qc7 13. c4 Be8 14. Qh3 h6 15. Bd2 Qf7 16. c5 Bc7 17. Rab1 Qd7 18. Qf3 Bg6 19. h4 Qf7 20. Bf4 Ba5 21. Rec1 Bh5 22. Qg3 b5 23. cxb6 Bxb6 24. c3 Kh7 25. Be5 Qg6 26. Qf4 Rae8 27. Re1 Kg8 28. f3 Qf7 29. Bd6 Rxe1+ 30. Rxe1 Re8 31. Rxe8+ Qxe8 32. Be5 Bg6 33. Bxf5 Qf7 34. Bc8 Qxf4 35. Bxf4 Ba5 36. Bb8 a6 37. Bxa6 Bb1 38. a3 Bxc3 39. Ba7 Bc2 40. h5 Kf7 41. Kf2 Bb2 42. Bc5 Bc1 43. Ke1 Bf4 44. Be2 Bb3 45. g4 Ba4 46. Bd1 Bg3+ 47. Ke2 Bb5+ 48. Ke3 Bc7 49. a4 Bc4 50. Bb4 Bh2 51. Kf2 g6 52. hxg6+ Kxg6 53. Be2 Bg1+ 54. Kxg1 Bxe2 55. Kf2 1-0

History of Dortmund Winners 1975-2004

1975 - Heikki Westerinen
1976 - Oleg Romanishin
1977 - Jan Smejkal, Alexander Kochiev
1978 - Ulf Andersson
1979 - Tamaz Georgadze
1980 - Raymond Keene
1981 - Gennady Kuzmin
1982 - Vlastimil Hort
1983 - Mihai Suba
1984 - Yehuda Gruenfeld
1985 - Vlastimil Hort, Stefan Kindermann, Yuri Razuvaev
1986 - Zoltan Ribli
1987 - Yuri Balashov
1988 - Smbat Lputian
1989 - Efim Geller
1990 - Alexander Chernin
1991 - Alexander Chernin, Igor Stohl
1992 - Gary Kasparov, Vassily Ivanchuk
1993 - Anatoly Karpov
1994 - Jeroen Piket
1995 - Vladimir Kramnik
1996 - Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand
1997 - Vladimir Kramnik
1998 - Vladimir Kramnik, Michael Adams, Peter Svidler
1999 - Peter Leko
2000 - Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand
2001 - Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov
2002 - Peter Leko
2003 - Viktor Bologan
2004 - Viswanathan Anand