[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Dortmund, Round 3: Three draws and a Kramnik disaster

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Dortmund, Round 3: Three draws and a Kramnik disaster
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1214928802.shtml


   The games were decided early on today, though not all the games were
   drawn.
   With White, Ivanchuk chose Fischer's 6.Bc4 against Nepomniachtchi's
   Najdorf, but got nothing. If anything, it was his opponent who had
   some chances, but apparently neither player felt very comfortable and
   a draw was agreed on move 19.
   Mamedyarov-Gustafsson didn't last much longer, and like the
   Ivanchuk-Nepomniachtchi game, it ended too soon. With 26.Be2 (instead
   of repeating with 26.Qe2) Mamedyarov seemed to have a promising
   position, but he disagreed and called it a day.
   The third game to finish was in a sense the first one to end.
   Naiditsch produced a very clever novelty against Kramnik's Petroff,
   19.Qd2. The move offers a full rook, but its real value was
   psychological. It's often possible to decline a sacrifice and achieve
   reasonable play, but this was not one of those occasions. After
   19...Ng6? 20.Ree1 f6 21.Rad1 Kf7 22.Qe3, White was clearly winning.
   Kramnik gave up his queen for a rook and knight, hoping to achieve a
   fortress. It seemed unlikely to succeed, but with a blunder on move 41
   he didn't get the chance to find out.
   Last but least, the supremely dull van Wely-Leko game yawned to a
   finish.
   Games [1]here, with my comments.
   Standings after Round 3:
   1-2. Gustafsson, Leko 2
   3-6. Kramnik, Naiditsch, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedyarov 1.5
   7-8. Ivanchuk, van Wely 1
   Pairings for Round 4:
   Kramnik - Leko
   Nepomniachtchi - van Wely
   Gustafsson - Ivanchuk
   Naiditsch - Mamedyarov

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/dortmund2008_rd3.htm