[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Morelia/Linares, Round 10 Recap

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Morelia/Linares, Round 10 Recap
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1204407391.shtml


   Four games, four draws:
   Round 10 Results:
   Anand - Carlsen 1/2-1/2
   Shirov - Leko 1/2-1/2
   Ivanchuk - Topalov 1/2-1/2
   Radjabov - Aronian 1/2-1/2
   After all the excitement so far in this tournament, a round like
   todayâs was bound to happen â and even so it wasnât really that bad.
   The first game to finish was unfortunately the roundâs most attractive
   pairing: leader and world champion Viswanathan Anand enjoyed the White
   pieces against his closest competitor, âWonderboyâ Magnus Carlsen.
   Carlsen employed a slight sideline of the Sveshnikov Sicilian, and
   drew with consummate ease. One possible continuation from the final
   position shows the active resources latent in Blackâs position:
   22â¦Rxf5 23.Qe2 Qb7 24.Qg4 g6 25.Rfd1 Raf8! 26.Rxa5 Bxd5 27.Raxd5 Qa7,
   when Whiteâs best is probably 28.Kh1 Qxf2 29.Qe2, when 29â¦Qxe2
   30.Bxe2 leads to a stale equality.
   Levon Aronian could have caught Carlsen in a tie for second, had he
   defeated Teimour Radjabov with the Black pieces, but that was never
   really in the offing. The game saw the popular and sharp Anti-Moscow
   gambit, and Radjabov introduced a novelty with 16.Qc1. Black responded
   reasonably, and Whiteâs activity always looked like approximately
   enough for the pawn, but not more. One possible conclusion at gameâs
   end was 32.Qb1 cxd5 33.Qxb5 Bc6 34.Qb2, when White needs to keep the
   d-pawn blockaded and Black canât do anything to get it moving.
   Shirov-Leko was a typical Marshall Gambit draw. Shirov tried almost to
   the first time control to make something happen, but despite retaining
   the extra pawn and trading off lots of pieces he was unsuccessful.
   Blackâs bishop pair, and the light-squared bishop in particular, serve
   to give the second player both counterplay and excellent blockading
   possibilities, and Leko drew with ease.
   Finally, Ivanchuk-Topalov was a tense game that seemed for a while to
   be headed for a decisive result. White came out of the opening with a
   nagging edge, though perhaps 17...Bd7 might have equalized. The cute
   point is that after 18.Nb6, Black can play 18...Qxb6!, as 19.Nxe6 Nh5!
   20.Qe1 Qb8 21.Nxf8 Qxf8 is approximately equal. In the game, White
   might have increased his advantage with 25.Ra5 (eyeing a possible
   Bxc5), but after 25. Bd4 his advantage was minimal until Topalovâs
   shocking 34â¦d5(?) gifted White with a more or less free extra pawn.
   Ivanchuk probably should have remained in the middlegame with 37.Qc3,
   however, as the endgame starting from move 41 was very difficult to
   win â Blackâs fantastic knight blockades the passed c-pawns while
   protecting the weakness on a6. Ivanchuk thought for a long time on
   moves 41 and 42 but failed to find a convincing plan; in fact, after
   his sloppy 45th and 48th moves, he actually needed to save the draw a
   pawn down â which he did (fortunately).
   (ChessBase hasn't posted the games yet, but the link will most likely
   be [1]this.)
   Standings after Round 10:
   1. Anand 6.5
   2. Carlsen 6
   3. Aronian 5.5
   4. Topalov 5
   5-7. Radjabov, Shirov, Ivanchuk 4.5
   8. Leko 3.5
   Round 11 Pairings: (On Monday; Sunday is a rest day)
   Radjabov - Anand
   Aronian - Ivanchuk
   Topalov - Shirov
   Leko - Carlsen

References

   1. http://www.chessbase.com/news/2008/linares/games/linares10.htm