[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Ongoing Events: Early Results from Montreal and Biel. Plus, is a Rook Better than a Knight?

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Ongoing Events: Early Results from Montreal and Biel. Plus, is a Rook Better than a Knight?
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1185260438.shtml


   Here are the results after four rounds of the [1]8th Montreal
   Invitational (aka the Empresa International Tournament):
   1-3. Eljanov, Ivanchuk, Kamsky 3
   4-6. Bluvshtein, Harikrishna, Tiviakov 2.5
   7. Miton 1.5
   8. Sutovsky 1
   9. Charbonneau .5
   10. Short 0
   At [2]Biel, the first round looked like this:
   Onischuk - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
   Grischuk - Motylev 1/2-1/2
   Pelletier - Avrukh 1/2-1/2
   van Wely - Polgar 0-1
   Carlsen - Bu Xiangzhi 1-0
   Also, there was a blitz tournament:
   Qualification Round:
   Polgar defeats Pelletier 2-0
   Motylev defeats Bu Xiangzhi 2-0
   van Wely defeats Avrukh 2-0
   Onischuk defeats Jenni 1.5-.5
   Quarterfinal:
   Radjabov defeats Onischuk 1.5-.5
   Polgar defeats Grischuk 2-0
   Motylev defeats Carlsen 2-0
   van Wely defeats Karpov 2-0
   Semifinal:
   Radjabov defeats Polgar 2-1 (1-1, then 1-0 in the tiebreak)
   Motylev defeats van Wely 2-0
   Final:
   Radjabov defeats Motylev 1.5-.5
   Finally, I'd like to call your attention to the fascinating game
   between Miton and Eljanov from round 3 of the Montreal Invitational.
   On move 23, Miton gave up the exchange in a roughly equal position, in
   exchange for - what? He relieved a little pressure on his c-pawn and
   slightly weakened Black's pawn structure. But he didn't gain a pawn or
   any attacking chances. There were no new targets for him to aim at,
   just a generalized advantage in light-squared control.
   It turned out, though, that Black could do absolutely nothing with his
   extra exchange. White's light-squared control made it impossible for
   his opponent to achieve anything in the center or the kingside, so
   naturally Black turned to the queenside. Black's threatened 38...b5
   brought about a second surprising moment in the game, White's 38.b4.
   The move is noteworthy because White, who seems to want to keep the
   board closed up (especially the files, which will presumably favor his
   opponent's rooks), is in fact the one opening the board. Even if it
   impedes ...b5 and is from that perspective understandable, opening
   lines and weakening his queenside pawns makes it a surprise.
   It gets even better: after the initial exchange, the players swap
   rooks and another pair of queenside pawns a few moves later. Yet
   despite what common sense and your chess engines may tell you, Black
   does not seem to be winning! If anything, he's slightly on the
   defensive at the end of this unusual game, which you can replay
   [3]here. A fascinating struggle.

References

   1. http://www.fqechecs.qc.ca/index.php?typ=actu&id=1760&categorie=1
   2. http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/cms/
   3. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/miton_eljanov_montreal2007.htm