[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Corus, Round 6: Carlsen clear first, Kramnik catching up, Topalov tackles Leko

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Corus, Round 6: Carlsen clear first, Kramnik catching up, Topalov tackles Leko
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1200721866.shtml


   Round 6 Results:
   van Wely - Gelfand 1/2-1/2
   Leko - Topalov 0-1
   Carlsen - Polgar 1-0
   Anand - Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
   Kramnik - Aronian 1-0
   Radjabov - Adams 1/2-1/2
   Mamedyarov - Eljanov 1/2-1/2
   Leko - Topalov was a well-balanced English Attack with no one enjoying
   more than a very slight edge until move 49. Leko chose to trade
   queens, but Black's two connected passed pawns gave him a large
   advantage which he was able to convert without much trouble. A
   completely unnecessary loss for Leko, and a gift for Topalov, who has
   fought back to 50%.
   Radjabov - Adams saw one of Fischer's pet lines from his later career,
   the Exchange Ruy, but the result was a very un-Fischerlike draw in 25
   moves. Radjabov offered what was at best a micro-improvement on move
   15, and Adams had no trouble neutralizing it.
   Carlsen - Polgar was a 4.Qc2 Nimzo, and one of that line's main
   themes, the bishop pair, proved the decisive factor. Carlsen's active
   bishops and Polgar's shaky pawn structure led to White's winning one
   pawn and then another, with the result one would expect. The victory
   puts Carlsen in clear first, half a point ahead of Kramnik and
   Radjabov.
   Anand - Ivanchuk saw a rather offbeat twist put to the Classical
   Caro-Kann, but what might have become an interesting and unusual game
   ended in an 18-move draw. Compared to van Wely - Gelfand, however,
   that was going the extra effort. Van Wely innovated on move 14 of a
   Queen's Indian, and it was effective. Previous games in that line had
   taken 27 or more moves to wind up drawn; this game, however, found its
   way to peace in just two more moves. That's what progress in chess is
   all about. (To be kind, van Wely had lost in the last round and has
   played hard games throughout the tournament, while Gelfand had lost
   two straight. So a day off is understandable, as long as they don't
   make a habit of it.) Mamedyarov - Eljanov was also drawn, but while it
   looked like the point would be split from early on, they played it to
   the finish.
   Finally, there was the marathon game Kramnik - Aronian. Unlike the
   micro-novelties mentioned above, Kramnik had something major up his
   sleeve in the currently hot Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav. His
   26.Nc3! was a big improvement over 26.Qd3 from Radjabov-Anand, Mainz
   (rapid) 2006. White achieved a clear advantage in the double-rook
   ending, but never a clearly winning position. Kramnik maneuvered
   around, but ultimately found nothing better than to enter a R + f & h
   pawn vs. R ending. This is theoretically drawn, but like R + B vs. R,
   it's quite possible to lose it, even if you know the basic defensive
   principles. This ending started on move 57, and through 46 more moves
   he defended well, if not perfectly, so that the position remained
   drawn. But on move 103 - finally - he erred, and Kramnik seized his
   chance and won.
   The games, with my comments, are [1]here.
   Standings after Round 6:
   1. Carlsen 4.5
   2-3. Kramnik, Rajdabov 4
   4. Aronian 3.5
   5-10. Adams, van Wely, Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk, Polgar, Topalov 3
   11-12. Leko, Anand 2.5
   13-14. Gelfand, Eljanov 1.5
   Pairings for Round 7:
   Eljanov - van Wely
   Adams - Mamedyarov
   Aronian - Radjabov
   Ivanchuk - Kramnik
   Polgar - Anand
   Topalov - Carlsen
   Gelfand - Leko
   This could be a very meaningful round, as three of the leaders have
   Black against especially strong opponents (Carlsen, Kramnik, and
   Radjabov), while two of their opponents are serious contenders in
   their own right. Further, this is a great chance for Anand to begin
   his own comeback. Although Polgar is ahead of him in the standings and
   has had decent results against him the past few years, his overall
   record against her is very good and his opening prep is almost always
   far better. So it's a chance. Topalov seems able to stop on a dime and
   change direction (he can lose two or three games, shrug his shoulders,
   and then win six in a row), but Anand has long been a player who needs
   to get his confidence going before he can roll.
   Leading Standings for Group B:
   1. Bacrot 4.5
   2-4. Movsesian, Smeets, Stellwagen 4
   Leading Standings for Group C:
   1. Braun 5
   2-4. Reinderman, Caruana, Nijboer 4
   Pairings for the Honorary Group: (Starts in the morning)
   Ljubojevic - Timman
   Korchnoi - Portisch

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/waz2008_rd6.htm