[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Dortmund, Round 2: Lots of wins

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Dortmund, Round 2: Lots of wins
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1214765279.shtml


   Today's games weren't much longer than round one's, but while all four
   games were drawn yesterday, three of today's games saw the player with
   White win.
   The first game to finish, Gustafsson-Naiditsch, may have featured the
   event's lowest-rated players, but it was surely the game of the day.
   Gustafsson introduced a new move in the Vienna Variation of the QGD
   (16.f4), and while I think Black can neutralize it with 17...Rac8!,
   it's quite easy to prefer Naiditsch's 16...Rab8 OTB. It's natural and
   logical, but it loses, and Gustafsson crushed him quickly.
   The second completed game was the only draw of the day. Nepomniachtchi
   had some advantage on the White side of a Closed Ruy, but after
   missing some opportunities Mamedyarov managed to equalize and draw.
   Shortly thereafter, Kramnik finished his crushing win over van Wely in
   a Colle (Zukertort version)/Slav hybrid. Kramnik made it look easy:
   Ne5, Qf3-h3, f4, etc...but it's the "etc." that took the skill. One
   remarkable feature of the game was that despite Kramnik's kingside
   buildup, he simultaneously managed to lure all of his opponent's
   pieces to the queenside, with predictable results.
   Finally, Leko defeated Ivanchuk in his best style. Step 1: press
   strategic advantages. Step 2: when the opponent lashes out to relieve
   the pressure, exploit this tactically. Step 3: calmly cash in the
   winnings collected in step 2. The game went 57 moves, but it had been
   decided from move 25.
   Standings after Round 2:
   1-3. Kramnik, Leko, Gustafsson 1.5
   4-5. Nepomniachtchi, Mamedyarov 1
   6-8. van Wely, Ivanchuk, Naiditsch .5
   Round 3 Pairings: (On Tuesday; tomorrow is a rest day)
   Naiditsch - Kramnik
   Mamedyarov - Gustafsson
   Ivanchuk - Nepomniachtchi
   van Wely - Leko
   The round 2 games, with my comments, are [1]here.

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/dortmund2008_rd2.htm