[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: World Cup, Round 5, Day 2: Shirov, Kamsky, Carlsen advance

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
World Cup, Round 5, Day 2: Shirov, Kamsky, Carlsen advance
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1197054859.shtml


   Shirov won quickly, completing his smooth entry to the semi-finals
   with a 2-0 victory over Jakovenko. Playing Black in an English, Shirov
   took some risks in an equal position, and his opponent could have
   obtained an edge. For whatever reason, Jakovenko's responses were
   consistently passive, and a blunder in an already difficult position
   cost him the game.
   In the currently popular 4.Nf3 Nimzo-Indian, Cheparinov gained a edge,
   quickly reaching an ending with both sides having a queen, two rooks
   and six pawns. Carlsen was faced with the choice of maintaining
   material equality and allowing a bind, or surrendering a pawn for
   counterplay. Of course, he chose the latter (in this case, it's not a
   matter of "style" but of good sense!) and Cheparinov was unable to
   make further progress. As Carlsen had won the first game, he thus won
   the match and advanced to the semi-finals.
   Kamsky defeated Ponomariov, outplaying him in a Richter-Rauzer after a
   bit of opening trickery. Ponomariov went for the Poisoned Pawn with
   7...Qb6, probably expecting Kamsky's usual bail-out line with 8.Nb3.
   Kamsky instead played 8.Qd2!, and now it was Ponomariov who chickened
   out with 8...Nc6. The play proceeding along typical lines for a while,
   but after Kamsky's 21.f5 it was clear that the American better
   understood the position. Within 10 moves Ponomariov was lost, and
   Kamsky advanced with a 1.5-.5 win.
   Alekseev-Karjakin got off to a lively start, and although the game was
   relatively short (32 moves), they worked through the complications
   this time. The result was the same, a draw, so they will face off in
   tomorrow's only tiebreaker. The winner will play Shirov, and Kamsky
   and Carlsen meet in the other semi-final, starting Sunday.
   Games, with comments, [1]here.

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/worldcup2007_rd5_2.htm