[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Bilbao Round 2: Everyone gets a full point

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Bilbao Round 2: Everyone gets a full point
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1220482425.shtml


   Which is just another way to say that everyone drew. (The scoring
   system in use in [1]Bilbao gives 3 points for a win and 1 point for a
   draw, while a loss receives its usual reward.) All three games were
   quite different, from the flying fur in Ivanchuk-Carlsen to the
   speedily sedate affair that was Anand-Radjabov; Topalov-Aronian was
   somewhere in between.
   Let's start with the "really big shew": Ivanchuk-Carlsen. The players
   rapidly went into a Dragon Sicilian, and Carlsen again played the
   ...a6 line that has become his trademark this year. There might have
   been a problem with the tournament website, because on the site where
   I watched the game, Ivanchuk spent 40 minutes thinking about his 13th
   move. There's not necessarily anything wrong with a deep think when
   faced by a new move in a complicated position, but that wasn't the
   case here. The position was one that had arisen in three recent
   Carlsen games, and a fourth recent super-GM contest
   (Karjakin-Radjabov) as well. So either Ivanchuk is crazy, or was going
   for an Academy Award, or the site had transmission problems.
   Whatever the story, Ivanchuk produced a novelty, to which Carlsen
   responded immediately. (So much for the surprise value, and Carlsen
   didn't bother trying to display his own acting chops.) The game grew
   very sharp almost immediately, with Black making the traditional
   ...Rxc3 exchange sacrifice and White trying to break through the
   center. As often happens in such situations, the game ended in a
   perpetual check after 29 thrill-packed moves.
   Topalov-Aronian was interesting as well, though not up to the same
   wild standard. Topalov found an interesting novelty on the white side
   of a 4.e3 Slav, but Aronian defended very well. Topalov often seemed
   on the verge of achieving something, but he never made it over that
   edge, and this game also ended in a perpetual.
   Last and least was Anand-Radjabov. Anand played a very rare line - a
   novelty with respect to grandmaster play - but within a very few moves
   it was clear that he had absolutely nothing. Pieces were then
   exchanged with breathtaking speed, and then the players repeated moves
   to get around the anti-draw rules as quickly as possible. My guess is
   that Anand played a sideline to avoid giving Kramnik (a known
   Sveshnikov specialist) any information, but to defeat this level of
   opposition he's going to need something more testing than what he has
   shown in the first two rounds.
   Standings after Round 2:
   1. Carlsen 4 (real score: 1.5)
   2-5. Anand, Ivanchuk, Radjabov, Topalov 2 (1)
   6. Aronian 1 (.5)
   Games [2]here.

References

   1. http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/en_index.asp
   2. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/bilbao2008_rd2.htm