exd5!

27.12.2009
– Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler both won in round six and drew in round seven to maintain their places at the top of the table. Grischuk has 5.0/7 with a 2833 performance, Svidler 4.5/7 at 2778. In the women's section Alisa Galliamova has conceded a single draw. She lead by a full point, with a 2868 performance, but can still be caught, e.g. by Nadezhda Kosintseva.

Report by Misha Savinov.

Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
More information...

The Russian Championship Super Final for men and women is taking place from
December 19th to 30th in the Moscow Central Chess Club in the Gogolevsky Boulevard.
Participants are the top players by rating and qualifiers from the higher league
competitions. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes
for 20 moves, and then 15 minutes and a 30 second increment per move to end
the game. Players cannot offer draws directly to their opponents but have to
do so through an arbiter. Play starts at 15:00h local Moscow time (13:00 CET,
07:00 New York). The prize fund is close to two million rubles = US $100,000
for the men and 1.2 million rubles = US $40,000 for the women.

Fighting spirit in Moscow

Report after round seven by Misha Savinov

Peter Svidler quickly recovered after his sensational loss to Sanan Sjugirov
by beating Artyom Timofeev in the next round. According to Peter, his opponent
made a big mistake in the opening – 14...Rad8 (14...Rab8 is much better,
14...c5 is okay), after which White gained a lot of momentum. Already on the
18th move Black sacrificed an exchange. It was not exactly forced, but both
players considered this move to be Black’s best try. Yet, the compensation
was not sufficient, and White quickly converted his material advantage into
a win.

Svidler,P (2754) - Timofeev,Arty (2651) [C10]
62nd ch-RUS Moscow RUS (6), 26.12.2009
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6
8.Be3 Bd6 9.Bd3 b6 10.Ne5 0-0 11.Qf3 Nd5 12.Bd2 Qh4 13.g4 Bb7 14.0-0-0 Rad8?
15.Rhg1 Ba8 16.Qe4 Nf6 17.Qe2 Bxe5 18.dxe5

18...Rxd3?! An exchange sacrifice that does not work out.
19.cxd3 Nd5 20.f4 Rd8 21.Rdf1 c5 22.f5 Nb4 23.Bxb4 cxb4 24.Qf2 Qe7 25.Qe3
b3 26.Kb1 Qb4 27.a3 Qb5 28.Rd1 Qc5 29.d4 Qd5 30.Rg3 Qe4+ 31.Qxe4 Bxe4+ 32.Kc1
exf5 33.gxf5 Bxf5 34.d5 Re8 35.d6 Kf8 36.Rxb3 Bd7 37.Re3 Re6 38.Rdd3 Ke8 39.Rc3
a5 40.Kd2 1-0.

However, this victory didn’t return Peter to the top, as Alexander Grischuk
also paced up, breaking Sjugirov’s Sicilian in a very convincing way.
Thus Grischuk remained a sole leader in the men’s tournament.

Grischuk,A (2736) - Sjugirov,S (2612) [B90]
62nd ch-RUS Moscow RUS (6), 26.12.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2
Be7 9.f3 0-0 10.0-0-0 Qc7 11.g4 Rc8 12.g5 Nh5 13.Kb1 Nd7 14.f4 exf4 15.Bxf4
Nxf4 16.Qxf4 Ne5 17.h4 Qb6 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 a5 20.Rb5 Qc7 21.Nd4 a4 22.a3
Ra5 23.h5 Bf8

Grischuk has built up a deadly attack on the kingside and now sees it through:
24.g6 Rxb5 25.Bxb5 Qb6 26.gxf7+ Kh8 27.h6 Qxd4 28.hxg7+ Bxg7 29.Qf5
Ng6 30.Qxc8+ Nf8 31.Qc3 Qxe4 32.Rg1 1-0.

The next round was quite peaceful, with only one game ending decisively –
Alexander Riazantsev scored his first victory. He had black against Sanan Sjugirov,
won a pawn and methodically converted it in an endgame. Other players were not
that lucky: both Alekseev against Khismatullin, and Timofeev against Grischuk
had the same amount of extra material, but the weaker side was able to draw.
Tomashevsky against Vitiugov also had a lasting advantage over the entire game,
but Vitiugov managed to remain calm and defend a very unpleasant position.

In the last two rounds Vitiugov has the best finish – he faces the rather
unmotivated Riazantsev and Khismatullin. If the Petersburger wins twice, he
may catch up with Grischuk and play tie-break games. Svidler trails by just
half a point, but his finish is not as bright: Peter has to face Alekseev and
Tomashevsky. Grischuk also meets two 2700+ players, Jakovenko and Alekseev,
so it is hard to expect him winning the championship with +5 score. Yet, he
is the most likely candidate for winning the race.

Standings after seven rounds

The draw ratio is has climbed to 52% – 18 out of 35 games ended without
a decision. White won 13 = 37% of the games, Black won 4 = 11% of all games.
Grischuk's performance is 2933 and he is sure to be in the top ten in the next
world rankings (if FIDE include the Russian Superfinal in their January 1st
list).

Sanan Sjugirov vs Alexander Riazantsev in round seven (Raizantsev won in
59 moves)

Sjugirov-Svidler, the big sensation of the round five (Sjugirov won in 23
moves)

Dmitry Jakovenko, in fourth place with 3.5/7

Striking resemblance: Evgeny Tomashevsky and Robert Sean
Leonard, who plays Dr James Wilson in “House, MD”

Women's section

In the women’s event Alisa Galliamova had given up just half a point
in seven games, drawing with her main rival and defending champion Nadezhda
Kosintseva. In the seventh round Alisa continued her fantastic performance,
beating Anastasia Bodnaruk as Black. Nadezhda Kosintseva is a full point behind
after winning against the tailender Marina Romanko. Still, nothing is clear
in the women’s championship, and this is why:

In the round eight Galliamova has to conquer Nadezhda’s sister, Tatiana.
This championship is not the best tournament for the younger Kosintseva, but
she will be fully motivated to help her sister winning the Superfinal for the
second year in a row. And in the last round Galliamova faces the unpredictable
Valentina Gunina, a brilliant attacking player capable of beating anyone at
any time. And there is more! Kosintseva sisters play each other in the final
round. Usually they make quick draws, but with the championship at the stake
– who knows what can happen?

Leading with 6.5/7 and a 2868 performance: IM Alisa Galliamova

Standings after seven rounds

The statistics continue to show a sensationally low 20% of drawn games, with
White winning in 46% and Black in 34% of the games.

Maria Manakova, who gained fame five years ago with some playmate
pictures

Tatiana Kosintseva, draw against Maria Manakova in round seven

Nadezhda Kosintseva, beat Marina Romanko in 78 moves

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN: Men – Women The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

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27.12.2009
– The "Battle of the Giants" between tenth World Champion Boris Spassky, 72, and multiple World Championship challenger Viktor Korchnoi, 78 began with the latter pressing. But in the second half of the match it was Spassky who called the shots. He won two games and blundered away a good position in a third. Not bad after almost seven years of "hibernation". Report and games.

Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
More information...

Battle of the Giants – Korchnoi vs Spassky

It has been a while – almost seven years now – since Boris Spassky
had played a serious tournament game. The tenth World Champion appeared to be
understandably rusty after this "hibernation" (as the official web
site puts it) and slow to start his match against the older but infinitely more
active player, Viktor Korchnoi, multiple world championship challenger. In the
first four games it was Korchnoi who was pressing, and the first half ended
with a 2.5-1.5 lead in his favour.

Boris Spassky vs Viktor Korchnoi in the Kalmykian capital of Elista

The second half of the match in Elista, Kalmykia, was a different picture,
with Boris Spassky finding his pace and beginning to dominate. In game five
he effortlessly outplayed Korchnoi's Four Knights English with the black pieces,
forcing his resignation in just 26 moves. In the sixth game Spassky had a good
position but blundered in time trouble.

Spassky,B (2548) - Korchnoi,V (2567) [C49]
Match Kalmykia RUS (6), 24.12.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 Bxc3 7.bxc3 d6
8.Bg5 Bd7 9.Nd2 h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 Ne7 12.Bxd7 Qxd7 13.Nc4 Qe6 14.Ne3 Kh7 15.c4
Rg8 16.Rb1 b6 17.c3 Ng6 18.Rb2 c6 19.f3 d5 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.d4 dxe4 22.d5 Qc8
23.fxe4 Nf4 24.Qc2 Qa6 25.c4 Rac8 26.a4 Ne8 27.Rc1 Nd6 28.Be1 Rc7 29.g3 Nh3+
30.Kh1 g4

The position looks winnable for White, but Spassky, under time pressure, throws
it all away: 31.Bb4? Nxc4 32.Bd6?? Nxd6. Korchnoi could have
even gone for mate with 32...Nxe3 and then ...Qd3. 33.Qxc7 Rc8 34.Qxc8
Nxc8 35.Nxg4 Nd6 0-1.

In the seventh game Spassky was for the third time in a row able to gain the
upper hand and start pressing for victory. this time it was Korchnoi who got
into trouble with the clock and in an essentially lost position overstepped
his time. The match was level after seven games. The eighth was then drawn in
just eleven moves, so that in the final reckoning the match was level.

4.0-4.0 was the final score of the match between Boris Spassky and Viktor
Korchnoi

The way we like to see him: Viktor Korchnoi in good spirits

Spassky, too, was in an excellent mood in Elista

Explaining what had transpired in this nostalgic match

The two giants after their encounter in Elista

Links Tournament reports (in Russian) All games in PGN + replay in JavaScript To read, replay and analyse the PGN games we adivse you to download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light. This program also gives you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.

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27.12.2009
– "I try to tell people that I am like them. I am not some sort of freak.
I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person." Magnus Carlsen
is less than a week away from officially becoming the youngest player in history
to top the world rankings. "The 19-Year-Old King of Chess" spoke candidly
to Time Magazine in this must-read
December 25 interview.

Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
More information...

Chessbase.com

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26.12.2009
– Correct evaluation of pawn endings is an important pillar of good endgame
technique. So, e.g., in the following position Black had to come to a 
judgment as to whether, after the exchange of rooks with 47...Rxe2 48.Kxe2, the
ensuing pawn ending is a draw. Otherwise, he would be obliged to do without
the exchange and to defend the rook ending.
What do you think? Does the exchange of rooks lead to a drawn position?

The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.

Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
More information...

Does 47...Rxe2 48.Kxe2 lead to a drawn position?

Tactics,
Openings, Endgames - Visit ChessBase Magazine Online

Chessbase.com

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26.12.2009
– When he previewed our puzzle page on Christmas Eve John Nunn solved the first
position in fifteen seconds (yes, he's slowing down with age). But then he woke
up on Christmas day in a cold sweat, realizing that the problem was flawed.
The same conclusion was drawn by problem expert Noam Elkies. Today we give you
an explanation, a correction, and a new position to bait
your computer.

Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
More information...

Chessbase.com

Read Full Post »