[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: World Cup, Round 5 Tiebreaks: Karjakin advances

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
World Cup, Round 5 Tiebreaks: Karjakin advances
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1197134569.shtml


   And not only did Sergey Karjakin advance, defeating Evgeny Alekseev
   1.5-.5 in the rapid tiebreaks, he did it in brilliant style. The first
   game, with Alekseev playing White, was drawn quickly, though close
   analysis reveals some interesting moments behind the scenes. Alekseev
   might have missed a minor chance or two, but in the second game,
   Karjakin didn't miss a thing. In a sharp line of the Najdorf (almost a
   redundancy, but not quite), Karjakin showed a new move and a very
   powerful attacking plan that bowled his poor [DEL: victim :DEL]
   opponent over. [Recommendation: Use that game as a solitaire chess
   exercise, starting with White's 19th move.]
   Our semi-final matches are both set, and the pairings look like this:
   Shirov - Karjakin
   Kamsky - Carlsen
   Youth, or experience? While I'm rooting for my compatriots in chess
   senior citizenry, I wouldn't be too disappointed to see Karjakin
   and/or Carlsen progress to the final. Actually, while it would have
   been nice to see Ivanchuk go farther, I can't think of a player in
   this quartet I'd want to eliminate to have had that happen!
   Semis start tomorrow; for now, [1]here are today's games, with my
   comments.

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/worldcup2007_rd5_tb.htm