GM Aronian (2763) – GM Ivanchuk (2740) [D12]
Mtel – Round 5, 12.05.2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.a3 Nbd7 9.g3 Be7 10.b3 e5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qa5+ 13.Nc3 Qxc3+ 14.Bd2 Qb2 15.d5 cxd5 16.Bb5 a6 17.Bxd7+ Kxd7 18.0–0 e4 19.Bc3 Qxc3 20.Qxd5+ Ke8 21.Rac1 Qd3 22.Qxb7 Rd8 23.Rfd1 Qxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 25.Kg2 a5 26.g4 Kf8 27.Qxe4 g5 28.Qf5 Bd8 29.Qc5+ Kg8 30.Qe5 g6 31.b4 axb4 32.axb4 Kh7 33.b5 Rf8 34.Qc5 Kg8 35.b6 Rb1 36.f4 Rb2+ 37.Kg3 gxf4+ 38.exf4 Bxb6 39.Qc3 Rb1 40.f5 Rg1+ 41.Kh3 Re8 42.Qf6 Bf2 43.Qg7+ Kxg7 44.f6+ Kf8 Black wins 0–1
Click here to replay the game.
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
His victories include three black wins against Topalov, Radjabov and Aronian. That’s amazing.
In the back round he is going to have white against these three (highest rated) opponents…
Unbelievable!
I am bulgarian and I am rooting for Topalov and Chepa but you have to give credit to Ivanchuk. He is a brilliant player and is very entertaining to watch him play as well. I think many people in Bulgaria actually warmed up to his persona and we will have a great time watching the second part of the tournament. I think it’s a great tournament and hope it would stay like that.
Ivanchuk gives a great show, yes.
But what I personally find particular ugly is the 51,000.- extra money for the winner – but only given that he is Bulgarian!
The bank giving the money can of course do what they want, but it is the responsibility of the organizers to stop things like this. Either the money is given to all, or the sponsor has to be rejected.
Just imagine 1972 when the business-man who doubled the prize-fund for Spassky-Fischer would have said: “If Fischer wins, he gets the extra money, but if Spassky wins, I keep it.”
He of course didn’t do that; back then people still had character and style.
What is happening in the financial sector of chess today is just disgusting.
Amazing result and very convincing play. Anyway,I prefer Kramnik’s way of creativeness when he exploits even the slightest tint of positional advantage.
Okay! Fellas, there’s something either totally spooky about this or there’s been a technical glitch.
Are we sure Danailov didn’t have the electronic device meant for Topalov accidentally connected to Ivanchuk’s chair?
4.75/5 or 9.5/10 is 3207 performance, 4.5/5 or 9/10 is 3103 performance. Just to show what he has surpassed so far- ofcourse 5/5 is infinite or undefined performance.
Each round you think surely his streak will come to an end- but he has faced the three higher rated players with black the first half- so the second half should theoretically be easier!
Let’s see which accusations Danailov will file against Ivanchuk in order to get Topalov a win on forfeit against Ivanchuk in the back round…
What is the highest rating performance in a tournament ever (besides the rare occasions with perfect scores)? Is it Karpov’s 11/13 from Linares 1994?
stop this shit!
I am sick of all these shits about cheating! Enough!!!
Enjoy the beautiful chess and congratulate the winners and excellent players like the ones in Sofia (except Bu sofar)
It is unbelievable- Topalov has a tournament performance of nearly 2900 and yet is 1.5 points behind Ivanchuk after 5 rounds.
In normal circumstance we would be saying how Topalov is back in form here.
Instead he is almost unnoticed!
Yes, 3.5/5 would be enough for a lead in any normal tournament.
But this is no normal tournament 🙂
A wonderful advertisement for chess! Every sport needs it’s heroes and stories like this.
Another aspect: Oldies but Goldies 🙂 In the Top-20, only he, Anand and Gelfand were born before 1970.
“Topalov is almost unnoticed”
This is true and very much like Anand’s performance at the WC in San Luis. Anand’s performance would ordinarily have been sufficient to win. But because Topalov stole the show with his first round shut-out of everybody (except Anand), Anand’s strong performance was hardly noticed. Today, the Chennai grandmaster is World Champion, a title he could have held years earlier.
It is not without reason that Ivanchuk is considered to be number 14 best player of all time on chessmetrics site, ahead of Steinitz, Smyslov, Tal, Rubinstein and Reshevsky.
For top tourneys, Karpov’s 11/13 must rank up there. Fischer’s 11/11 is also memorable but the strength in the lower half of the table wasn’t as great.
This is one reason why declaring someone the best in the world is a difficult question. People go in and out of form – so right now the fates have aligned for Ivanchuk and he is clearly in form. Unfortunately, he has never had the chance to play for the WCC.
the last thing chucky needs is a rest day…
oops it’s coming!
Anonymous 11:38AM & 12:06PM
You are a perfect example of what a troll is.
Polluting just about every thread with this crap, no matter how irrelevant.
Your comments are not in the least bit funny, just pathetic.
Your level of obsession is such that you need to see a psychiatrist. You have a problem.
Interesting – what is Ivanchuk’s TPR if you imagine he drew (instead of winning) against the strongest of his adversaries?
I personally think the most incredible tournement victory wasn’t from Fisher or Karpov. Fisher won 11 out of 11 in tournement that was not that strong all over, and Karpov “only” scored 11 out of 13 in Linares. I would like to nominate Alexander Beliavsky for the honor of having the most impressive tournement victory ever. In a full GM tournement in Alicante 1978 he scored an astonishing 13 out of 13. As far as i know this is the only 100% score in a GM tournement.
Yes, but Karpov scored “only” 11 from 13 in a tournament where something like 6 or 7 from the top 10 players of the world were there.
Before the tournament Kasparov said that the winner could be named a “world champion of tournaments”. This must have been an extra push for Karpov because earlier Kasparov “reminded” him that he was “given” the world champion title for the second time.
This result must have given Karpov a big satisfaction 🙂
Interestingly enough, when Karpov played the best chess of his life, he was 1 year older than Kasparov was when he retired. Tells you something about Tolya’s longevity. 🙂
I have always thought that Ivanchuk was just as talented as Kasparov- but just had a weaker temperement. When he is in the right mode- he is the best player in the world. Only Kasparov has won more Linares supertournaments than him – ‘yeah but that was years ago he is no good in supertournaments now’ some said – well now, if he holds it together the second half, he answers your doubt. He always has it in him- it just is a matter of if he will show it that time. He is not old- same age as Anand.
Ivanchuk at 21 winning ahead of Kasparov at Linares was his greatest result. Is he at that standard again now? Why not?