[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Odessa Rapid Event won by Leko

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Odessa Rapid Event won by Leko
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1168327154.shtml


   The event was mentioned [1]here, its homepage is [2]here and you can
   find an interim report [3]here. Since the replayable board situation
   still has not been remedied, I'll just refer interested readers to two
   games that especially caught my eye.
   First up: game one of the Smirin-Shirov match, which reached a single
   rook ending after White's 31st move. Both sides had an a-pawn and the
   traditional complement of f-h pawns. It would be hard to find a better
   starting position in support of the cliche that all rook endings are
   drawn, but Shirov's outstanding technique proved White's task a lot
   harder than many of us - myself included - would have thought. Smirin
   didn't make any obvious errors, and a few inaccuracies were enough to
   lose the game. A great ending to study!
   The second game to catch my eye was also from the first round, this
   time from the back-and-forth toussle between Harikrishna and
   Morozevich. The fourth game may not have been anything particularly
   special, but the position after Black's 20th move really caught my
   eye, as it reminded me of one of my tournament games some years
   before; ironically, one I had showed a student just the day before.
   (It wouldn't be terribly ironic if it was a game I paraded around on a
   regular basis, but I think it was only the first or second time I had
   shown it to a student this millenium.) Happily, Harikrishna followed
   my lead.
   That was the first moment in the game to grab me, but I was equally
   struck by White's paradoxical 23rd move. Prior to that moment,
   Morozevich had a nice lead on the clock, but White's move paralyzed
   both Morozevich's position and the man himself: he used up almost all
   his time there, but could not find a satisfactory reply and was
   quickly lost.
   Sorry to send you elsewhere in search of the games, but they're worth
   finding and replaying!

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1167984144.shtml
   2. http://worldcup.pivdenny.com/en/
   3. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3593