[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Amber Rapid & Blindfold: Day 1

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Amber Rapid & Blindfold: Day 1
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1205639039.shtml


   The tournament exceeded expectations on its opening day: there were
   plenty of exciting games, and the ultimate highlight was the showdown
   of the world champions.
   Session 1: Blindfold
   The way the tournament works is this: it's a double-round robin, where
   the players face each other in both a regular rapid game (25' + 10")
   and a blindfold game (25' + 20"). The games aren't played back to
   back, but instead occur in a format that maximizes fan enjoyment. The
   field is split into two groups (call them "Group A" and the other half
   "Group B"; of course the identity of each group varies every round),
   and the day's action is divided into four sessions:
   Session 1: Group A - blindfold
   Session 2: Group B - blindfold
   Session 3: Group A - rapid
   Session 4: Group B - rapid
   Now to the particulars of the day's action. Here are the results of
   session 1:
   Mamedyarov - Morozevich 1/2-1/2
   Anand - Kramnik 1/2-1/2
   Topalov - Leko 1-0
   Morozevich brought one of his signature openings, the Chigorin Defense
   (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6!?) out of mothballs, and with great success. He
   enjoyed an advantage from early on, and increased it until he reached
   what seems to have been a winning queen and bishop vs. queen and
   opposite-colored bishop ending. Unfortunately for Morozevich,
   Mamedyarov managed to trade queens, blockade his opponent's passed
   pawns, and sneak out with a draw.
   Anand-Kramnik was an uneventful draw. Anand tried the trendy - or
   desperate - 5.Nc3, but Kramnik drew without any trouble at all.
   In Topalov-Leko, Black's 11th move was unusual, allowing White to
   reach a comfortable middlegame with opposite-colored bishops. Black's
   position was passive and his bishop somewhat irrelevant, and Leko's
   attempt to ameliorate the drawbacks of his position at the cost of a
   pawn only added to the list of woes. A very convincing win by Topalov.
   Session 2:
   Aronian - van Wely 1/2-1/2
   Carlsen - Ivanchuk 0-1
   Gelfand - Karjakin 0-1
   Aronian-van Wely was a very sharp Vienna QGD. Aronian kept sacrificing
   things, and while they didn't some compelling at the time, he had
   enough to encourage van Wely to force a perpetual.
   Carlsen likes to play the Open Ruy with Black from time to time, but
   this time he was forced to combat it. Carlsen's approach was to play
   for mate, building up on the kingside, but he underestimated Black's
   queenside counterplay. Ivanchuk won a pawn, neutralized Carlsen's
   threats, and pulled out a win.
   Meanwhile, Karjakin, Carlsen's neglected contemporary, defeated
   Gelfand with the black pieces. Karjakin enjoyed an edge early on,
   thanks to his superior queenside structure. Eventually all the pawns
   were on the same side of the board, but although I believe Gelfand
   should have held the game, the opposite-colored bishops were a
   nightmare. Black's strong dark-squared bishop gave him an enduring
   attack, while White's passive light-squared bishop was only a
   spectator. Faced with mate or the loss of his queen, Gelfand gave up.
   Session 3:
   Kramnik - Anand 0-1
   Morozevich - Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
   Leko - Topalov 1/2-1/2
   Let's discuss the less impressive games first: Morozevich again
   pressed Mamedyarov in a g3 Pirc (by transposition), but was again
   unable to collect the full point, while in Leko-Topalov the former
   world champ always had sufficient compensation for a sacrificed pawn,
   but not (much) more.
   Now for the big game. Anand played the perenially popular 4...Ba6 QID,
   but he made things lively with the combative 12...f5. The game
   gradually took on the characteristics of a Dutch Stonewall, with White
   trying to break through on the queenside and Black on the kingside.
   Kramnik broke through alright, winning material and creating some
   dangerous, far-advanced passed pawns. The only slight problem was his
   lonely king, almost completely abandoned on the kingside. It took some
   sacrifices, including above all the spectacular 42...Qf3!!, but
   Anand's mating attack succeeded. A very nice win for the world
   champion, and a painful reminder to Kramnik that if he wants to win
   their match later this year, he'd better do it in the slow games.
   Session 4:
   Karjakin - Gelfand 1/2-1/2
   van Wely - Aronian 0-1
   Ivanchuk - Carlsen 1/2-1/2
   In a Bishop's Opening Karjakin quickly obtained the bishop pair and a
   micro-advantage, but the structural symmetry secured safety for the
   sable forces: draw.
   Van Wely-Aronian was a most interesting game. Aronian offer an
   exchange sacrifice for several moves in a row, but van Wely wouldn't
   bite. In fact, van Wely promptly offered his own exchange sacrifice!
   Aronian grabbed the material, though it looked pretty risky: White's
   material compensation of two bishops and a pawn for a rook (in
   addition to the other pieces) together with his apparent positional
   compensation seemed to favor White. Van Wely missed some nasty
   tactics, however, allowing Black to gain a pawn, the initiative, and
   ultimately the full point.
   Finally, there was Ivanchuk-Carlsen. Carlsen blundered (or
   sacrificed?) a pawn, but his position was solid enough to make White's
   winning chances very unclear. Things continued normally through
   Black's 35th, which invited a N + 4 vs. N + 3 pawn ending with all the
   pawns on the same side. In the textbook case where the defender has
   f-, g- and h-pawns, the strong side ought to win; here, however,
   Carlsen would have e-, f- and g-pawns, giving him significantly better
   drawing chances. This is all purely hypothetical, however, because
   Ivanchuk played the stunning 36.Nxa3!?, pushing hard - almost too hard
   - for the win. After various adventures, the game was drawn.
   All the games can be replayed on the [1]tournament site (go to the
   Games tab), while my comments to Kramnik-Anand and Ivanchuk-Carlsen
   are [2]here.
   Tomorrow's pairings:
   Session 1:
   Ivanchuk - Gelfand
   van Wely - Carlsen
   Karjakin - Aronian
   Session 2:
   Kramnik - Leko
   Morozevich - Topalov
   Anand - Mamedyarov
   For Sessions 3 & 4, flip the colors for sessions 1 & 2, respectively.

References

   1. http://www.amberchess2008.com/
   2. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/amber2008_rd1.htm