[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: MTel Masters, Round 1

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
MTel Masters, Round 1
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1210314108.shtml


   There weren't any whiz-bang games, but all the games were long and
   decisive. Both the locals - Topalov and Cheparinov - won, and they
   were joined in the winner's circle by Ivanchuk.
   Radjabov - Ivanchuk was a balanced game most of the way, with Radjabov
   having a slight edge at a few points, but the decision to play 31.Rd5
   was self-destructive. Maybe he wasn't losing there, but the trend was
   negative and by move 38 at the latest he was lost.
   Aronian - Topalov started without any problems for White, but
   Topalov's play offered a nice demonstration of "Capablanca's Rule",
   that queen and knight typically work better together than queen and
   bishop.* Topalov's 36th move was especially interesting: a brilliant
   rook sacrifice initiating an 11-move combination resulting in a
   winning knight vs. bishop ending. It was a very nice idea, but it has
   to be said that it was an error - see the game page for details.
   Finally, Cheparinov - Bu Xiangzhi was a nice case of light-squared
   domination by White. Especially instructive was Black's mistaken
   decision to open the position up with 26...g6 and 27...f5. Black
   possibly hoped to achieve counterplay with the break, but it didn't
   really happen. Worse, White's knight was able to reach f5, with great
   effect.
   For round 2, these are the pairings:
   Topalov - Ivanchuk
   Bu Xiangzhi - Radjabov
   Aronian - Cheparinov
   Links and videos [1]here; the games with my comments [2]here.
   * Whether this really deserves the status of "rule" is disputable - I
   believe John Watson has called this into question in Secrets of Modern
   Strategy. Still, while there are always loads of exceptions to such
   rules of thumb, there's enough to it that it deserves consideration.

References

   1. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4620
   2. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/mtel2008_rd1.htm