CHESSDOM: NAJDORF - CARLSEN vs ANAND

Magnus Carlsen - Viswanathan Anand

Corus A, Wijk aan Zee 2008
Round 11
Wijk aan Zee

2008.01.25

A series of important games for Magnus Carlsen is starting with today's clash against World Champion Vishwanatan Anand. Carlsen has been leading at Corus since the very first round, but Aronian at 6.0 and pack of players at 5,5 (including Anand) are constantly breathing on his neck. Carlsen has yet to win against Anand in classical games, and this might be perfectly time for it, as he is in good shape and always plays for full point no matter who is on the other side of the table.

1.e4 We were wondering if Magnus would try to crack the Slav defence, but he seems to be more eager to fight in Anti-Marshall.

1... c5! Small surprise! Instead of drawish Anti-Marshall, Vishy Anand is obviously going for a win with the Sicilian. He already used Naidorf against Judit Polgar in one of the previous rounds.

2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 Teimour Radjabov would play 6. Bg5 :)

6... e6 More flexible than 6...e5, transposing the game to Kasparov's long time favorite - Sheveningen.

7.a4 Nc6 8.O-O Be7 9.Be3 O-O 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 Important move in this system. It allows dark-squared bishop regrouping and stands by for central breaks d5 or e5.

12.Bf3 Rb8 13.Qd2 Bf8 14.Qf2 Both are well prepared, banging out moves at lightning speed.

14... Bd7 (14... e5 Anand played this move on earlier occasion against Mickey Adams.)

15.g4 (15.a5!? was also tried, with idea 15... Nxa5? 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Bb6 but of course, black has variety of better moves.)

15... e5 Black has to react in the center, or white will overrun him on the kingside. e5 breaks white's pawn chain, but now there are good outposts on f5 and d5 for the knights.

16.Nf5 exf4 (16... Bxf5 17.gxf5 (17.exf5?! e4!) 17... exf4 (17... d5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.exd5 e4 20.Bb6! Qxf4 21.dxc6 exf3 22.c7! reveals the idea behind Bb6) 18.Bxf4 Ne5 19.Rad1 with small but longterm advantage for white...)

17.Bxf4 ( Interesting is 17.Bb6!? Qc8 18.g5 Nxe4 (18... Bxf5 19.gxf6 Bh3 20.Rg1 Ne5 21.Nd5) 19.Nh6+ gxh6 20.Nxe4 with huge complications)

17... Be6 Cleaning d7 for the knight, after white pushes g5

18.Rad1 Ne5 ( Black has to cover d6 pawn. 18... Bxf5 19.exf5 is just bad as white will occupy d5 square...)

19.Bxe5!? Giving the dark-squared bishop in order to keep Bf3. It shoots in its own pawn at the moment, but white wants to play Nd5, and since black might be forced to trade, Bf3 will support the passer on d5. (19.g5 Nfd7 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Nxf3 22.Qxf3 Ne5)

19... dxe5 20.g5 Nd7 21.Nd5 Qc6 White knights are wonderfully placed, and black can exchange only one of them.

22.Bg2 Qc5 Anand comes up with an odd move. White probably has slightly better ending after 23. Qxc5, but knowing Magnus, he will probably avoid the queens exchange....perhaps with 23. Nfe3!? (22... Qxa4? 23.Nc7 Red8 24.Nxe6 fxe6 25.Ne7+! wins for white) (22... Rbc8! threatening both Qxa4 and Qxc2 was definitely more testing!)

23.Qh4! Aggressive idea to play 24. g6 after black takes on c2. Safer was Nfe3...

23... Qxc2 24.Rc1!? Idea is to lift the rook to c3-h3... It still seems like black will defend with h6 at some point, and after gxh6, to play g6. Position will be very messy, and even if it's well known that Anand calculates fast, white has chances for successful attack. ( The alternative and probably Carlsen's initial intention was 24.g6!? hxg6 25.Nde7+ Bxe7 26.Nxe7+ Rxe7 (26... Kf8?? 27.Nxg6+ Kg8 28.Qh8#) 27.Qxe7 Nf6 black is better in spite of being exchange down, because white's pawns are weak and Bg2 is worst piece on the board.)

24... Qxa4 (24... Qxb2!?)

25.b3!? Probably to earn tempo for Rc3 if black takes. 25...Qb5 is met with Nc7, so maybe simple Qa5.

25... Qa5!? (25... Qxb3 26.Rc3 Bxd5 27.Rxb3 Bxb3 would be funny to see. Black is enjoying full compensation here as white's attack evaporated.)

26.Rc3 g6 (26... Bxd5!? 27.Rh3! h6 28.exd5 Qd8 29.Qh5 Qxg5? 30.Nxh6+! gxh6 31.Rg3)

27.Rh3 h5! 28.Bf3 Obviously, idea is to sacrifice bishops on h5 and open the file for heavy pieces. Black should now trade Be6 for one of the knights and reduce the attacking pressure, or try with a sneaky 28...Qb5 (28.Ng3 Bxh3? 29.Bxh3 is fun (for white only, as he would be winning), but black has 28...Bg4!)

28... Bxd5! 29.exd5 Bg7! Precise play by Anand. He has huge experience from both colors in this line. Bishop move is cleaning the path for kings' escape, should it be necessary.

30.Bxh5 (30.Nxg7 Kxg7 avoiding the 30th game move might have been more stubborn.)

30... gxf5 31.Bxf7+!? (31.Rxf5 might be a tad too slow 31... Qxd5+ 32.Rhf3 Re7 33.Bxf7+ Rxf7! 34.Rxf7 Nf8 refutes the attack and black is close to winning)

31... Kxf7 32.g6+ Kg8! The only move! The main difference is that after 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Rxf5+ black king can run via e7-d8 (no more queen on h4). (32... Kxg6 33.Rg1+ Kf7 34.Rxg7+! Kxg7 35.Qg5+ checkmates) (32... Kf8 33.Rxf5+ also checkmates quickly)

33.Qh7+ Kf8 34.Rxf5+ Ke7 35.Qxg7+ Kd6! ( Much better than 35... Kd8 36.Qf7 and white still has threats on the 7th rank and advance of g-pawn.)

36.Rf7 Qxd5+ It is quite possible, since he played so fast, that Anand saw this position (and all of the many subvariations) as early as on 26th move. And this is just amazing. One subtle difference (Queen on h7 instead of h4 allows king's escape), and the evaluation goes from winning to losing. It must have been a real shock for Carlsen.

37.Kg1 Rbd8 38.Rh7 Qd4+ 39.Kg2 Qg4+ 40.Kh1 Rg8 41.Rf6+ Kc7 42.Qe7 Qe4+ Here Carlsen resigned because he is losing his last hope - g6 pawn. Excellent effort from both players, Anand simply calculated one image deeper. Kudos to Magnus for attacking the world champion in situation when most would play conservative. Levon Aronian beat Loek Van Wely today and took over the leading position, Carlsen and Anand (and maybe someone else) will be tied on the 2nd place. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live coverage, see you again tomorrow at 13:30 CET.

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CHESSDOM: SLAV; TOPALOV - KRAMNIK

Veselin Topalov - Vladimir Kramnik

Corus A, Wijk aan Zee 2008
Round 9
Wijk aan Zee

2008.01.22

Hello! Today we'll see the most expected game on this tournament - between Topalov and Kramnik. They have to decide a lot of personal questions behind the board. In interview for sportni.bg the manager of Veselin Topalov announced that today there won't be a handshake. After the scandal in Elista they've played just one game, finished draw. But it seems that both sides haven't forgot their mutual past. I hope there will be a good game. Enjoy!

1.d4 We were secretly hoping to see Topalov taking another aim at the Petroff defence. He was successful against Boris Gelfand in one of the earlier rounds.

1... d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Topalov allows the open Moscow variation. Kramnik plays that with white and black, while it is not unknown for the Bulgarians since Cheparinov won a game in this line against Nepomnichtschi

6... dc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nf7 A novelty!

12... Kf7 13.e5 Very fast sacrifice! We blinked and Topalov had already sacrificed a figure!..... All this added to the fact that THERE WAS NO HANDSHAKE promises an exciting game! Yet, a very bad example from two ex world champions.

13... Nd5 14.Ne4 Topalov's idea is to press Kramnik on the d6,c5,f6 points, with support by the bishop from h5 and the queen from g4. The move f4 will opn the black king. Ne4 is better than immediate Bh5+. Black king will be forced to move anyway, because of the Nd6+ threat. Therefore, white will save the tempo to move the bishop to a more convenient square

14... Ke7 15.Nd6 Qb6 A good choice. The queen will watch over 'e4' square, and will help c5 when needed. The rook from а8 will free the queenside and will help the kingside.

16.Bg4 Raf8 Anticipating Bxe6, with idea 17. Bxe6 Kxe6 18. Qg4+ Ke7 19. Nf5+ Rxf5 when black can probably hold.

17.Qc2 Sneaky surprise! Topalov wants to take on e6 and continue Qg6.

17... Qd4 18.Qg6 Qg4 Instead of looking for the sharpest lines, Kramnik is giving back material in order to solidify the king.

19.Qg7+ Kd8 20.Nb7+ Kc8 The material on the board is equal, but the weak black king will be a problem for Kramnik. Time might also be a factor, as Topalov has 54 minutes more.

21.a4 Better than immediate Nd6+ because it breaks the pawn fort on the queenside. 21...Kxb7 22. Qxd7+ Kb6 23. a5+ would be a bad outcome for black.

21... b4 Almost obligatory, as black has to keep the a-file closed. Now the c4 pawn is loosened up, but c4-c3 might be an important deflecting factor is Black's further attempts to defend the king.

22.Rac1 Going after the c4 pawn outright. Kramnik would love to play Qf5 with idea Rh7, but e4 and f5 are unavailable because of Nd6 fork.

22... c3!? Kramnik wants to close the c-file no matter what. Perhaps it was better to first see what would white do with his Queen after (22... Rfg8 23.Nd6+ Kc7 24.Qf7 Rf8 25.Qg6 Nf4!?)

23.bxc3 b3?! (23... Nxc3 was expected, but now e7 is available for white queen. 24.Qe7 Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Nxc1 26.Nd6+ Kc7 27.Rxc1 with idea Nb5+! and Qd6)

24.c4! Chasing away black's best piece. 24. Rb1 was also strong, idea would be Rb3, Nd6+ and Rb7...

24... Rfg8 25.Nd6+ Kc7 Kramnik is dangerously approaching to time trouble, while Topalov is still playing rather quickly.

26.Qf7! Rf8 Now that white queen is touching e6 pawn, white can slip 27. h3 Rxf7 28. hxg4 in, and both Nd5 and Rf7 are hanging. Unbalanced exchange with 27. cxd5 also looks promising.

27.cxd5!? (27.h3! Rxf7 28.hxg4 Nf4 29.Nxf7 Ne2+ 30.Kh2 Nxc1 31.Rxc1 was even easier win. Topalov wants to win in great style, by sacrificing his Queen. He still has to be very careful, though.)

27... Rxf7 28.Rxc6+ Kb8 29.Nxf7 Rh8 is attacked and dxe6 is coming next! b-pawn might be a Trojan horse, but Topalov has everything under control at the moment.

29... Re8 Natural aim in the time trouble - to save both rook and pawn. But Topalov can play Nd6 with tempo... (29... Rc8 30.dxe6! Rxc6 31.exd7 Qxd7 32.e6+ and game over...)

30.Nd6! Rh8 Kramnik can only sit and wait, at least until he reaches the time control.

31.Rc4! wins e6 pawn...Bg3 might be the final executor after e-pawns start rolling.

31... Qe2 32.dxe6 Nb6 33.Rb4 Ka8 34.e7 One of the many ways to finish this game of. 34. Rb3 was also perfectly fine.

34... Nd5 35. Rxb3 Nxe7 36. Rfb1 looks like a best.

35.Rxb3 Nxe7 36.Rfb1! Nd5 Kramnik is desperately trying to cover c7 square, as Nb5-c7+ was threatening.

37.h3 h5 38. Nf7 and 39. e6 might be deadly because of mate threat on b8.

38.Nf7 Rc8 39.e6! a6 40.Nxg5 h4 41.Bd6! Topalov will solidify with Rb7, e7, Nf3, probably exchange one pair of rooks and go for promotion. (41.Bxh4 was also good, although 41... Nc3 42.Rc1 Qd2 43.Rf1 might still cause technical difficulties.)

41... Rg8 R2b3 and e7 are coming in any move order, because Queen can't protect the knight after capture on e7. Immediate Rxg5 is also not a threat since white has mate with Rb8 and Rab7....

42.R3b2!! Qd3 43.e7!! The threat is Rb8+ and e8Q after the rooks exchange. 43....Nxe7 44. Bxe7 is dead lost.

43... Nf6 44.Be5!! Nd7 45. Ne6 with Nc7+ and Rb7 checkmate. It s amazing how fast Topalov played this game! He spent only 75 minutes up to now!

45.Ne6 Kramnik resigned as there is no escape from the mating net! Wonderful game by Veselin Topalov, only two days after the painful defeat from Anand and all distractions around the Short-Cheparinov incident! This game is serious competitor for the brilliancy prize. Thank you everyone for following the live commentary, see you again tomorrow at 13:130 CET!

1-0

ABANTE: GONZALES GM NA

Gonzales GM na; Nolte nasikwat din ang IM norm

Bagama’t natalo sa tenth at penultimate round, si Jayson Gonzales, member ng multi-titlist Philippine Army Chess Team, nakopo pa rin nito ang third grandmaster (GM) norm, habang si compatriot Roland Nolte, mula Philippine Airforce Chess Team ay nakuha ang third International Master (IM) norm kasama din ang first GM norm. Mismong si Gonzales ang nagkumpirma ng magandang balita sa wri­ter na ito kahapon via long distance call. “Ngayon ko lamang nalaman (yesterday) na finally nakuha ko na ang 3rd at final GM norm ng makaiskor ako ng 7.0 points sa round 9 habang si (Rolando) Nolte ay nakuha din ang kanyang 3 rd at final IM norm at 1st GM norm ng makaiskor naman siya ng 6.0 points sa round 9,” paliwanag ni Gonzales sa writer na ito bago ang final round kahapon ng inaugural ASEAN Masters Chess Circuit sa Indo­nesian City ng Tarakan sa East Kalimantan (Borneo). “Pero kung hindi ko ma meet ang 7/9 requirements puwede ko ding makuha sa 8.5/11 requirements,” ani Gonzales, na sinuportahan ang kanyang kampanya nina Natio­nal Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chair William “Butch” Ramirez at businessman Reginald Tee. Lubos naman ang kagalakan ni National Chess Federation of the Philip­pines (NCF) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., sa tagumpay nina Gonzales at Nolte sa ASEAN Master Chess Circuit. “Magandang inspiras­yon sa ating mga kababa­yan at sa mga kabataan ang magandang hated na balita nina Jayson (Gonzales) at Rolando (Nolte). Bagong GM at IM ng Pilipinas. I hope marami pang player natin na makakuha ng title norms sa taong ito,” iniuugnay ni Pichay si GM candidate Julio Catalino Saddora, na good showing sa past international tournament sa bansa. Sina Gonzales at Nolte, parehong long-time resi­dent ng Quezon City ay nakuha ang atensiyon ni QC majority floor leader at 4th district councilor Ariel Inton na magpapasa ng resolution sa QC council para magbigay ng citation sa two Quezon City resident heroes sa field of chess. “Ipu-push natin sa (QC) council na bigyan ng rekomendasyon kina Jayson (Gonzales) at Rolando (Nolte) bilang pagkilala sa kabayanihang hatid nila sa ating bansa, partikular na ang Lungsod Quezon,” sabi ni Inton, well known sports advocate, na kinilala at binati sina Gonzales at Nolte sa opening ng Quezon City Inter-Barangay Chess Team Tournament kahapon sa Amoranto SB Gym sa Quezon City.

GM GONZALES EARNED 3RD GM NORM

Pinoys Gonzales, Nolte clinch GM, IM norms

Cebu Daily News

Posted date: January 20, 2008

JAYSON Gonzales earned his third and final grandmaster (GM) norm despite a loss in the 10th and penultimate round Friday, while compatriot Roland Nolte, also completed his International Master (IM) requirements and a first GM norm in the inaugural ASEAN Masters Chess Circuit in Tarakan City, East Kalimantan (Borneo). “Ngayon ko lamang nalaman na finally nakuha ko na ang 3rd at final GM norm ng makaiskor ako ng 7.0 points sa round 9,” an ecstatic Gonzales told CDN via long distance yesterday. Gonzales also said that Nolte earned his third and final IM norm and first GM norm when he scored 6.0 points after nine rounds. Meanwhile, National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCF) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., lauded Gonzales and Nolte's feat. “Magandang inspirasyon sa ating mga kababayan at sa mga kabataan ang magandang hatid na balita nina Jayson (Gonzales) at Rolando (Nolte). Bagong GM at IM ng Pilipinas,” said Pichay. Aside from their latest victories, Gonzales and Nolte, both long-time residents of Quezon City, are also set to receive a recommendation from the city in a resolution to be filed by QC majority floor leader and 4th district councilor Ariel Inton. In the ninth round, Gonzales beat countryman FM Oliver Barbosa after 25 moves of a Nimzovitch Defense but succumbed to Armenian IM Ashot Nadanian after 74 moves of a Kings Indian Defense in the 10th. Nolte, on the other hand, upset Indon GM Herman Ardiansyah after 33 moves of a Sicilian Defense in the ninth round but lost to Indon FM Syarif Mahmud in the 10th.

Gonzales secures 3rd GM norm

TARAKAN, INDONESIA — Jayson Gonzales is the Philippines newest chess grandmaster.

Gonzales formally earned the elusive GM title during the inaugural leg of the ASEAN Masters Chess Circuit near East Kalimantan here.

The veteran campaigner from Libon, Albay actually dropped his 10th and penultimate round match against IM Ashot Nadanian of Armenia, but earned his third and last GM norm by virtue of the 7/9 FIDE rule.

"I’m very happy for this achievement. Matagal ko nang pangarap ito at salamat sa Diyos nakuha ko na," Gonzales, a mainstay of the multi-titled Philippine Army and the V.Luna Chess Club, said.

Officially, Gonzales became the country’s ninth GM — and third in the last five months.

He joins the elite GM circle which also include Eugene Torre (1974), the late Rosendo Balinas (1976), Rogelio Antonio Jr. (1998) , Buenaventura "Bong " Villamayor (2000), Nelson Mariano (2004), Mark Paragua (2005), Darwin Laylo (2007) and Wesley So (2007).

Against Nadanian, Gonzales went all-out for the win before yielding in 74 moves of the King’s Indian Defense.

"Sayang. I missed the winning line against Nadanian, tapos natalo pa. Double celebration na sana," explained Gonzales, who earned his first two GM norms in the Calvia Open in Calvia, Spain in 2004 and the Asian Zonal eliminations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2005.

CHESSDOM: SLAV; PENG - CARUANA

Zhaoqin Peng - Fabiano Caruana

Corus Wijk Aan Zee 2008
Round 1
Wijk Aan Zee

2008.01.12

Welcome to the Chessdom live coverage of Corus 2008! We are pleased to open the tournament with the game between two wonderful persons and extraordinary chess players. Fabiano Caruana is one of the most promising juniors nowadays and his biography was the very first article on chessdom.com. Zhaoqin Peng is one in the handful of female players to be granted with men Grandmaster title, after winning the 2004 European Championship. Both of them played superbly at the ETCC, we are looking forward to an exciting game. Enjoy!

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Caruana's main opening was Nimzo-Indian, but recently he started employing Slav defence, first at the Italian Championship.

3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg4 Caruana is using the opportunity to develop light-squared Bishop before moving e-pawn.

6.Nbd2 (6.Ne5!? is possible but not really convincing. Black is equal after 6... Be6 7.Qa4 Nbd7)

6... Nbd7 7.g3 e6 8.Bg2 Be7 9.O-O This is a regular line where both sides are aiming to complete the development before engaging into the fight. Most likely 9...0-0 10. Qb3 (as Nb6 is anticipated) will follow...

9... Bh5! Exclamation mark because this is probably well prepared sideline by Caruana. Bh5 was seen in only one game, GM Evgeny Najer was black, while 9...0-0 has been played exclusively.

10.b4 ( The game Yevseev-Najer continued with 10.Qb3 Nb6 11.a4 a5 The game move b2-b4 is not really an usual plan in this kind of positions because "minority" attack is not likely to succeed and this pawn might be object of Black's counterplay. However, if Peng stabilizes pawn structure on the queen side, this will be a nice space advantage for her.)

10... Nb6 11.Qb3 Qd5! Excellent reaction! White Queen is the only protector of b4 pawn and Caruana is trying to use this pressure for improving pieces' position. Queen can't stay on d5 for long, however, because there might be some nasty Nf3 jump-offs.

12.Rb1 Bg6! Black is winning tempo after tempo and is already slightly better. We could say that b4 failed as experiment.

13.Rb2 Sad necessity.

13... Qxb3 14.Rxb3 Nfd5 Now that Queens are off the board, black doesn't have to castle, thus keeping the King closer for the incoming endgame. Nfd5 is good idea, attacking b4 and protecting Nb6 after the future a5.

15.a3 a5 is not possible as of yet, because after 16. bxa5 Rxa5 white has 17. e4.

15... Bc2 16.Rb2 Ba4 Since it's not really possible to prevent e4, Caruana is switching his Bishop to the queenside. Now maybe even f5 will come into consideration, since Bishop won't remain locked on g6. Ba4 is also controlling important square d1.

17.Re1 O-O Finally a castle. He couldn't delay it no longer, because it is necessary to connect the Rooks and decided how to make a pawn breach.

18.Bf1 Nc3-b5 and a7-a5 might be an idea...

18... Nc3! Jumping on the opportunity! It is not clear how (if) white can obstruct plan with Nb5 and a5.

19.e3 Nb5 20.Nb3 ( An attempt to seek compensation rather than waiting in passive position. On 20.Nb1 a5 Black has all the fun.)

20... Nxa3 21.Nc5 Bb5! Best reply! White can take the pawn back, but Black has wonderful pieces play.

22.Bxb5 cxb5! securing permanent outpost on c4. White is left with weak dark-squared Bishop.

23.Rb3 Nac4 24.Nxb7 Rfc8 ( Perhaps 24... Rfb8 25.Nc5 a5 was faster!?)

25.e4 Rc7 26.Nc5 a5 Now White has an extra tempo and might be finally able to develop Bc1.

27.Bf4 Rcc8 28.bxa5 Rxa5 29.Nd3 Pawn b5 might become weak. White is close to equalizing.

29... Ra3 30.Rxa3 Nxa3 31.Bd2 f6 32.Kg2 Kf7 33.Rc1 Rc4 34.Kf1 Position is completely equal after any of Rxc1, Bd6 or h5.

34... Ke8 35.Ke2 Kd7 36.Rxc4?! Uncalled for, now Black passer is more dangerous, because it can attack opponent's pieces while advancing over the c-file. Better was 36. g4 or h4.

36... bxc4 37.Nb2 Kc6 38.Ne1?! Pawn d4 is left unprotected and Black earns important tempo!

38... Nb5 39.Be3 Nc3+ 40.Kf3 Ba3 White King is clumsy and Caruana is enjoying small advantage once again. But nobody can say if it is sufficient for a win.

41.Bc1 Kb5 (41... Na2 42.Nc2 Nxc1 43.Nxa3 c3 44.Nd1 Na4 Probably wasn't enough for the win.)

42.Nc2 The only move, but it looks like White will be holding!? The most important fact is that d4 is protected and now White can slowly bring the King to better position.

42... Bxb2 Fabiano took a careful consideration after the time control and decided to slightly transform the position. The 'normal' 42...Be7 looked pretty tame as White would have time to regroup. This way, Peng is still facing with problems on the queenside, but the ending is roughly equal.

43.Bxb2 Nb1 44. Ke2 looks desirable.

44.Ke3 44....Ka4!? or 44...c3 and 45...Kc4

44... Ka4! Best looking! Pawn is still controlling d3.

45.d5?! This doesn't look right, unless Peng has it all calculated well. Caruana can chip 45...c3 in (45. ..exd5 46. Bd4!?) and only then take on d5. Interesting is 45...c3 46. Bxc3 Nxc3 47. dxe6 Nc8, can this be saved?

45... c3 46.Bxc3 Nxc3 47.dxe6 Nb5 Other possibility was Nc8, but still it is very hard to play for a win in the situation when there are no pawns on the other side of the board, therefore no chance to create a passer. White will now tie the e6 pawn with f4-f5.

48.Nd4 Nc7 ( Of course not 48... Nxd4 49.e7 Nc2+ 50.Ke2)

49.f4 Kb4 50.f5 Kc5 51.Nf3 Nc4+ 52.Kf4 It is interesting to see if Black can prevent White from trading all the pawns. Perhaps something can be done with the outpost on e5. If this happens, then f5 might have been premature.

52... Kd6 53.g4 Ne5 54.Nd4 g5+ 55.Kg3 Kc5 56.Nc2 Peng has to keep the Knight on the board, should the sacrifice for the last black pawn be needed. After the Knights trade, Black is probably winning.... Not that he doesn't have chances like this...

56... Ne8 57.h4 h6 58.hxg5 hxg5 (58... fxg5! with Nf6 looked better. Both players are probably in time trouble now.)

59.Ne3 Nc7 60.Kf2 Kd4 61.Nd5 Nxd5 62.exd5 Nc4 (62... Kxd5? 63.e7)

63.e7 Nd6 64.Ke2 Kxd5 65.Ke3 Ne8 and Peng resigned since she will end up in zugzwang pretty soon! Wonderful fighting spirit from the young Italian star! This concludes today's live coverage on Chessdom, join us again tomorrow at 13:30 CET for the 2nd round. Have a nice day all.

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CHESSDOM: SD; MAMEDYAROV - CARLSEN

Shakhryar Mamedyarov - Magnus Carlsen
Corus Wijk Aan Zee 2008
Round 1

1.e4
Mamedyarov decided to start this game in very aggressive fashion. He wants to avoid Carlsen's Nimzo indian/Queen's indian and Ragozin defence 1. d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 which became very popular lately.

1... c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3
Interesting decision! Mamedyarov didn't want to play d4 with classical Sicilian lines. He is more willing to play 3.Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 with small positional advantage and long battle thereafter. The same line Gata Kamsky used against Alexey Shirov in the World Cup final.

3... g6!?
Carlsen is inviting Mamedyarov into the Accelerated Dragon!! I can't remember when he used this line in his practice, particularly on high level and in such an important game. Good news for all Accelerated Dragon fans!

4.g3!?
A bit surprising, and I would add, disappointing move by Mamedyarov. We were expecting d4 with classical Sicilian variations and long theoretical battle. Although, with 4.g3 he would like to play sort of closed Sicilian and maybe even surprise the young chess prodigy....

4... Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O Bg4!?
There is only one high-level game in the database that featured this move, Romanishin - Gulko, Leningrad 1975. Boris Gulko demonstrated high class and converted nice development advantage into full point.

7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nf6!?
Novelty in regard to the above mentioned game. Gulko continued with e6!?, putting his knight on e7 and going for d5 afterwards. That looks like a very interesting idea.

9.d3 O-O 10.Qd1 Nd7!?
Opening "Dragon" bishop from g7 and achieving full domination over the h8-a1 diagonal. Of course, there is important struggle ongoing for d4 square (Knight will jump there) with support of Rb8, b5-b4...

11.f4
Expected. White wants to put Bishop on e3, and then either play Knight on e2 to push d4 (in the center) or to play g4-g5 with following Ne2-Ng3 going for attack on the king side.

11... c4!
Very strong positional move! I think we are on the crossroad of this game! If Mamedyarov takes on c4, then after 12...Bc3 13.bc3 white will have to deal with triple pawns and those will be an easy object to attack! Definitely we should expect something like 12.Be3.

12.dxc4?!
Perhaps a player of my caliber shouldn't give question marks after some moves of the top players, but simply I don't think this was a good decision. Although, after 12...Bc3 13.bc3 Qa5 white will have triple pawns, but on the other hand white will still hold a pair of bishops. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, 12.dc4 is questionable.

12... Na5
Basically all the following moves will be focused on creating triple pawns, but in the best possible move order. There is another idea, where Carlsen plays Rc8 instead of Bc3 and it also looks interesting, but I don't think Mamedyarov will have any problems there. Somehow this position begins to look like Dragon Sicilian with g3 by white, since d4 and c5 pawns are exchanged....

13.Nd5!?
Preparing to reduce the strength of bishop on g7 by playing c3.

13... Nxc4 14.c3 Ndb6 15.Qe2 Rc8
We are in the middle of a typical middlegame, where both sides play their developing moves. White will have to find a way to exploit e-file and he would be very happy to take with e-pawn on d5 should black exchange the Knights. This would create weak pawn on e7. But it is hard to believe that Carlsen will run into ambush.

16.Kh2
If Mamedyarov is playing such move in early stage of the game, it is more than obvious that he is not happy with his position. It is about equal, but don't forget that he is white in this game and that he should have tried something more aggressive. I don't see anything "breaking" at this moment so we could expect move like e6, Re8 or Qd7....

16... e6
Driving the Knight away from d5, and now White can retreat either on e3 (supporting f5 idea) or to take on b6.

17.Nb4 Na4
Very interesting move, after which Carlsen is trying to improve knight's position to c5. Also at some point Qb6 might be possible (now we can see an importance of 16.Kh2 by white) and at some point even Nc3 could be tempting motif.

18.f5!?
Quite expected since white has pair of bishops and he has to open the position as soon as possible. After 18...Be5 19. Nd3 Qb6 20. Ne5 Ne5 position should be very messy!

18... Re8?!
Once again I am putting question mark, but this time to Carlsen! Did he blunder 19.f6! Bf6 Qf2 Kg7 and all black pieces are tied up? I think Mamedyarov would definitely have time to organize attack on the king side!

19.fxe6
Carlsen should be happy that Mamedyarov didn't continue with f6!?

19... fxe6 20.Nd3 Qb6 21.h4 Qa6 22.Rf2 Ne5 23.Nf4 Nc5 24.Qxa6 bxa6 25.Re2 h6 26.Kh1
It seems like Mamedyarov is having lots of problems to complete queenside development. In addition, move Kh1 can't bring him anything useful (except maybe preventing some checks on g4) and it is obvious that Mamedyarov is waiting while Carlsen will try to improve his position with every next move...

26... a5
Carlsen will try to drive his pawn to a4, to fix b2 weakness, then pile up Rooks over the b-file and to play against b2 pawn.. .but on the other hand, Mamedyarov will play against d6 weakness. I still find his bishop on g2 almost useless since it shoots into his own pawn!

27.Be3 a4 28.Rd1 Rc6
Perhaps interesting plan could be Kh7 (protecting g6 pawn), then Nf7 holding d6 square and finally Reb8 and Rcb6....

29.Bd4 g5!?
Quite risky since it allows Nh5.

30.Nh3 g4 31.Nf4 Rb6
This was nice maneuver to get himself rid of g6 weakness by pushing that pawn to g4...now it's time to organize counterattack over b-file and against b2 pawn.

32.Nh5 Bh8 33.Red2 Reb8
Just as we predicted, Carlsen is taking advantage of b-file, pressures against b2, and Mamedyarov will definitely have to take some actions, for example with.... 34 Nf4 Bg7 35. Ne6!? Ne6 36. Bb6 Rb6 and Black is maybe only slightly better. Maybe it is even unclear ending.

34.Bxc5?
Mamedyarov is forcing exchanges but it only ads in black's favor after 35...Kf7!

34... dxc5 35.Rd8+ Kf7! 36.Rxb8 Rxb8 37.Rd2 Nc4?!
I wouldn't tag this move as mistake, but definitely Ke7 was more to the point since it would keep the control of d7 square, preventing Rd7, all together with Ra7.

38.Rd7+ Ke8 39.Rxa7 Be5 40.Rxa4 Ne3!
Absolutely unexpected! Idea is Rd8 followed by Rd1! Of course, 40...Ne3! 41.b3 Rd8! The resignation might have been premature decision as 41. b3 Rd8! 42. Kg1 was still struggling. Nevertheless, after 42...Rd2! with Nd1-Bc3-Bd4, Black seems to be winning. Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen for the fantastic start at the 2008 Corus! Miodrag over and out :)

0-1

CHESSDOM: KID - ARONIAN vs TOPALOV

Levon Aronian - Veselin Topalov
Corus Wijk Aan Zee 2008
Round 1
Wijk Aan Zee
2008.01.12

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.Nf3 Nc6 With his third move Topalov chose a sharp KID with which he shows intentions for an aggresive game. Last year the two players started with a calm English opening, that finished draw. The Grunfeld variation shows that Topalov does not want to play in the fiachetto variant of the KID

8.Bf4 O-O 9.e3 A popular move for white is (9.O-O)

9... h6 Other possible moves are 9...Be6 or 9...Bg4, but it is probably just a different move order

10.h4 Bg4 11.Rc1 Topalov's choice of a rare variation sent Aronian into deep though. After this move we are out of theory and beautiful chess starts! Aronian avoided ( 11.Qb3 ) and (11.O-O), probably sensing that this is still home preparation for Topalov. Interesting plan in this position includes the moves Qc8,Rd8,Nb4

11... e5 Topalov is trying to open up the center for aggressive play

12.dxe5 Qe7 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 the pawn on e5 is doomed, . White is aiming at strenghtening the position as much as possible while black prepares to take the pawn. A possible win of a figure is (14...Bf3 15.Bf3 g5 16.hg5 hg5 ), but it is not recommendable since it gives nice opportunities for counterplay of Aronian on the h file and possible attack. Topalov has to choose between difficult position with material advantage and looking for other stable options

14... Nb4 Black did not like the position with figure for pawn. A more stable idea is to use the late castle of Aronian. With active moves and by placing pieces on more stronger positions black can take an advantage

15.Qc4 Be6 16.Qc7 Nd3 Aronian is also looking for sharp lines! White rarely sacrifices a castle for active play! The idea of Aronian is to press Topalov and reach an endgame where his King in the center will not be a problem. If 17.Kd2 Qb4+ best is 18.Qc3 and Aronian will be close to getting the desired endgame

17.Kd2 Qb4 18.Qc3 Qxc3 19.Rxc3 Nxf2 White is losing an exchange here. The question is if there is compensation.Probably a better continuation was 19.bc3 Nc1 20.Kc1. The idea of Aronian is to escape the "pawn islands", which would form after a take on c3. Topalov definitely looks better.

20.Nd4 Nxh1 Aronian did not have to lose the pawn on f2. After a g5 move by Topalov (now or even later) the pawn structure on the kingside will break

21.Bxh1 The black bishop on g7 is not very strong at the moment, but there is a solution with Rfc8, Bf8,Bb4.

21... Rfd8 22.Rc7!? (21.Bb7 Rab8 22.Be4 Rb2+) it is not nice to let the opponent so close, the retreat of the black rook to the second rank does not look good. As a reply white will step on the 7th rank

22... Rac8 Probably better was 22...Rd7 23.Rd7 Bd7. in this line we see that the Aronian's move Rc7 wasn't so strong. White's plan is not to exchange rooks, so he will take b7. Topalov will get an open "c" file.

23.Rxb7 Bxa2 24.Rxa7 Topalov could have been more precise here. Pawns on the queenside will disappear and winning a game with an exchange up only on the kingside is a difficult task. We are going to witness an interesting and instructive endgame!

24... Be6 25.Rb7 It is time for planning. Here Topalov has to decide if a draw is enough or he will look for a way to victory

25... Bf5 26.Bf3 Rc2+ 27.Ke1 Rc1+ 28.Kf2 Be6 29.g4 Bc8 Time starts to press the players. Topalov doe not seem to have a plan, however, the position is not dangerous for him because it is rather static.

30.Rb8 Rf8 31.h5 g5 32.Bg3 The position is a dead draw. After move 40 they will probably shake hands and save energy for later rounds. Tomorrow Topalov plays with Ivanchuk and Aronian with Gelfand

32... Ra1 33.Rb6 Re8 34.Be2 Be5 35.Be5 Re5 36.Rh6 Re4 37.Bf3 Re5 38.Rc6 Be6 39.Ne6 fe6 40.Be2 Rb1 41.Rb6 Rd5 In that position white has some chances to push for the victory, but still looks drawish. After 42.Bc4 Rd2+ the pawn on b2 will disappear and white will use their "h" pawn.

42.Bc4 Rd2+ 43.Kf3 Rbb2 44.Re6 Topalov will have to concentrate because he is falling into a difficult position. (44...Kh7) and (44...Rf2+) look very dangerous. After 44...Kh7 will follow 45.Rg6 Rf2+ 46.Ke4 and advantage for white. On the check from f2 will follow 45.Ke4 Rb4 46.Kd3 and again advantage for white

44... Rbc2 45.Rg6+ Interesting opportunity for a draw with the king going to h8 i.e. a quare with opposite color to the bishop

45... Kh8 46.Be6 46...Rd6 47.Ke4 Rc5!

46... Rc6 47.Ke4 Rd8 48.Kf5 Rc5+ 49.Kf6 Rf8+ 50.Ke7 Rf3 51.Bf5 (51...Rc7+ 52.Kf6 Rc6 53.Kg5 Rg6+ 54.Kg6 Re3= ) as we mentioned before, the black king on h8 is giving a draw to Topalov. Here black could sacrifice a rook for the "g" pawn

51... Re5+ 52.Kf7 Rff5+ 53.gf5 Rf5+ 54.Ke6 Topalov chose another possibility for a draw by going into a Rook endgame. That is the advantage of being an exchange up, you can always sacrifice it and enter in the final position with equal material or maybe some advantage. In that case it is an easy draw. Or is it?

54... Ra5 55.e4 The rook endgame looked attractive, however, maybe not so effective. Black does not have a way to stop white in their plan to push the "e" pawn. The king on h8 may not save the situation as we expected. It will be lacking activity, which is crucial in Rook endgames.

55... Kh7 56.e5 Ra1 57.Rg5 Kh6 58.Rg2 Kh5 59.Kf6 Rf1+ 60.Ke7 a theoretical win for white, as the black king is kept away from the action

60... Ra1 61.e6 Kh6 62.Kf7 Instructive endgame by Aronian who took advantage of a series of weak moves by Topalov and grabbed the victory.

1-0

NBP Outreach

GM BALINAS Memorial

To roll-out the 2008 MERALCOLYMPICS, the MERALCO Chess Club held the GM Balinas Memorail Tournament, with National Master rolly Andador as special guest, in honor of former MERALCO employee and our country's second grandmaster ROSENDO BALINAS, who was famous for his Odessa Victory that was even chronicled in Bobby Ang's Chess Piece column of the Business World. Topping the event was Abet Casiano of Baliwag Business Center with Darryl Mata of Sta. Rosa Sector getting the silver and Rolly Sol Cruz of Customer Porcess snatching the bronze. Pau Bersamina won the Best Junior Player award.

Paulo BERSAMINA SIMUL