This is it! Judit has made this as exciting as can be with a win yesterday. She needs one more and Sofia and I are rooting for her big time! Can she do it?
Bareev – J. Polgar [A46]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b5 (Surprise! I don’t think Bareev expects this.)
4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0–0 c5 6.c3 Na6 (6…Be7 is the most popular move. 6…cxd4, 6…d5, 6…Qb6, 6…Nc6 and more have been played. The most popular response here for White is 7.Bg5)
7.Bg5 Be7 8.Nbd2 0-0 (This position is equal)
9.Qb3 (More popular choices are 8.e3 or 8.Re1. But 8.Qb3 is also fine.)
9…Qb6 (Off the top of my head, I am not sure if this move has ever been played.)
10.a4 b4 (The position is equal. However, it is important for Judit that the position is unbalanced and opened. She would have a better chance to score in positions like this.)
11.Nc4 (The only 2 playable moves are 10…Qc7 and 10…Qd8. I prefer 10…Qc7 but both are fine.)
11…Qd8 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Qxb4 (He accepted the pawn sac. This is not a good line for Bareev. 14…Rb8 would give Black an advantage. Sorry I mistyped 14…from another line.)
13…Rb8 (14.Qa5 is almost forced here. Anything else would give Black a big advantage and borderline winning. 14.Qa5 Bd5 15.Qxd8 Rfxd8 16.Nfd2 Bxc4 17.Nxc4 d5 18.b4 dxc4 19.bxc5 Bxc5 =)
14.Qa5 (14…Qxa5 15. Nxa5 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Rxb2 Black is better but not enough to win.)
14…Qxa5 15.Nxa5 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Rxb2 17.Rfd1 Rc8 (White has a Bishop pair but horrible pawn on c3. Black also has a Rook on the 7th rank. Black is better. The question is: Is it enough to win? One thing for certain, Bareev will have to work hard to earn it as she cannot afford to take a draw.)
18.Be3 (18…d5 here is good. It will block the mobility of the White Bishop while controlling the center.)
18…Kf8 19.Bd4 Rc2 =+ 20.Nb7 Nb3 21.Rab1 Nxd4 22.cxd4 d5 (This is not an easy position for Judit to win but she has excellent chances. Bareev has to work very hard to hold this and he is very low on time. This is very exciting! Black will try to work on White’s a pawn.)
23.a5 g5 24.h3 (A safe move in time pressure.)
24…h5 (Judit is working on her pawn structure while there is no need to rush in other areas of the board.)
25.g4 hxg4 26.hxg4 (Now the pawn on g4 will be another target for Black.)
26…R8c4 27.e3 Nd7 28.Kf1 Ra4 29.Rdc1 (The more pieces off the board, the easier for White to draw this game. The position is equal.)
29…Rb4 30.a6 (Bareev has played perfectly so far in time pressure to hold the position.)
30…Nb6 31.Be2 Rxc1+32.Rxc1 Nc4 33.Bxc4 dxc4 34.Na5 Ra4 (Unfortunately, I see Judit’s chances of winning diminished.)
35.Nxc4 Rxa6 = 36.Ne5 Bd6 37.Rc8+ Ke7 38.Nc4 (Positionally speaking, White is doing fine and may even be a little better. The only hope now for Black is if White plays too passively. Bareev is too experienced and too good to blow this.)
38…Bb4 39.Rc7+ Ke8 40.Rb7 Be7 (Unfortunately, White is now better. I don’t see any chance for Judit to win this game. And she may even lose if she pushes too hard. 41.Ne5 gives White an excellent position.)
41.Ke2 Ra2+ 42.Kd3 Rxf2 43.Rb8+ += (The problem for Black is the King position.)
43…Kd7 44.Rb7+ Ke8 45.Rb8+ Kd7 46.Rb7+ Ke8 1/2
Good fight Judit! Good job by Bareev! Congratulations to him! He will face Peter Leko next.
Absolutely! Judit has the ability and skill to win again! I hope she does and all of her fans feel the same as I do! With Big Sis on her side, she will do it!
No
Yes she can! Bareev got checkmated yesterday and he wil not recover soon from this knockout.
The trick is to disconnect the rooks and the reconnect them whe the time is right!
We all hope so!
By the way, what kind of cat was she holding?
I hope she can do it. But I have heard average grandmasters say in the past that they could draw against anyone starting with white. I don’t believe this is true though, think of Kasparov’s many wins with the black Sicilian- those grandmasters probably wouldn’t hold him.
But it is quite a large uphill battle- Black might have to be a bit reckless in order to unsettle the position if Bareev plays solidly, and may even end up losing. You can not force against the natural demands of the position. Perhaps a very surprising deviant opening to catch Bareev off-guard?
In any case, best of luck.
After the incredible luck Polgar had yesterday, anything can happen today. Either Bareev will crush her like in the games before, or Polgar will profit from another Barev-Blunder.
My guess: Bareev wins convincingly with white today.
I would hope that she can make it- but would need some special preparation with black to give surprise value otherwise Bareev could set up a solid position with white and Polgar would have to be reckless and might end up losing.
Best of luck…
No. But I hope I am wrong.
About a half year ago she won against Topalov with black so i say yes.
Bareev told Susan he will play 1.d4 🙂
Hmm… Susan, you chose a bad picture for the topic. The symbolismof it is not good for Judit…
Vote for Stephen Jones, Joe Lux, Don Schultz and Sam Sloan. We want Americans! We don’t want any Hungarian woman to run the show. These men will work great with the leadership by Bill Goichberg. The USCF is fine the way it is. There’s no need to change a thing.
Susan you move order is wrong. you have double 8th.
The numbering of the moves needs to be fixed, starting with move 8.
The opening is a good start. Black approx. equalized with an interesting position. Bareev can’t relax.
Anonymous Frank
judit will tie the match!
she has the advantage now, taking the initiative she loves to have…what a comeback this will be!
poor leko, he won’t make it in mexico…gud for chess, a figter instead of a drawer!
Bareev is certainly taking his time on move 14. What do you suppose he is considering? Is there a reasonable alternative to Qa5? Just worrying?
Anonymous Frank
Something wrong with the numbering Susan. Seems your movecount is one up. Please check it.
14…d5 looks interesting but may transpose
Anonymous Frank
…absolutely funny what happened to Ponomariov! 🙂 Anyway after his lousy playing here he deserved that! Rubl was my man after his great win in Game3.
It’s Leko who faces Bareev/Polgar,right?
After 17…Rc8 Fritz played it out in 3 variations and Black won three times…
Again Bareev uses a lot of time. 2Bs are nice to have. Doesn’t look tough to draw. The weak QPs are a strategic problem, but he could probably drop a P and get a drawn endgame, alla Kasimdzanov?
Anonymous Frank
Why on earth would Ponomariov agree to a draw after 19 moves when he needs a win to stay in the competition?
Am I mising something?
18 …d5 19c4 seems to solve all problems for W, no?
Anonymous Frank
18 …d5 19c4 seems to simplify White’s game. 18.. Kf8 leaves things more complex.
Anonymous Frank
Now, after 20 Nb7, …d4 looks interesting! Of course Judit has her own idea of interesting…
Anonymous Frank
Why on earth would Ponomariov agree to a draw after 19 moves when he needs a win to stay in the competition? Am I mising something?
The black Queen is trapped. It can move g6-f5-e4, but on any of those it will be attacked by white’s white-squared Bishop.
I’ll say, anyone who accused you of being biased towards Topalov in the infamous WC-match (including myself) owes you a big apology. We didn’t really know a thing about bias before reading your comments on this match! It is understandable, agreed, but maybe in this case you are just not the best choice to comment. You are getting terribly close to insulting Bareev – a player who was invited to supertournaments in his own right when your sister still was some exotic attraction. (I know that this comment won’t pass the newly installed censorship.)
Bareev’s game after 23a5 looks a little easier, and he’s playing faster. After 24h3, he seems to be saying – now whatta you gonna do? OK 24…h5. Attack, like I like to do. But we have opposite bishops and symmetrical P structure. …26hxg4. A little TOO fast now. B’s KS P structure a little nicer, but maybe no real chances for Black here. Bareev still has a minute per move.
Anonymous Frank
Astardis, what the heck are you talking about? How does she insult Bareev? Stop trolling.
I’ve never played in a tournament (let alone something like Elista). But wouldn’t this be a good time for Judit to shoot for tangled complications? She has the initiative, and white is getting into some time cruch issues. Press him into making a blunder.
I am Mr. Ramailov,Mr.Bareev’s assistant.
If Mrs Polgar equalises the game,we strongly insist to scan the Ladies WC.
Astardis,
I don’t see any insulting in her comments.
About the censorship : you’re right.
I recently posted two comments on the dresscode fuss, in which I attacked her position with strong arguments (without injury or insult), and they were never published.
Steven
Astardis what are you moaning about. Susan already discussed how strong a player Bareev is, mentioning that he was a 2700+ class player and not to be fooled by his 2640 rating.
That is praise not insult!
Move 37: Aronian is having trouble putting Carlsen away. Both players have had several opportunities to trade off pieces, but they aren’t taking them. Interesting maneuverings!
Looks like Bareev has struggled from an inferior position to a draw.
I thought Judit had this game. Where did she go wrong?
Can anyone tell me where Judit blow the win?
I was hoping I could post the question to the blog as to where Judit went wrong. This is my third attempt.
Mommy may I have this question published?
After 40 …Be7, it would not be impolite for Bareev to offer a draw, though perhaps insensitive, if offered too quickly. Better after his move.
Anonymous Frank
I think games at this level can often turn on very small things. Not a great player myself but the machine did not like 18…Kf8 prefering 18…d5 as did Susan.
There wasn’t any win.
The weak pawn c3 was compensated by the bishop pair.
After the exchange on d4 a symmetrical position was left.
Judith did nothing wrong.Maybe she had a very small advantage in some stages but nothing more.This small advantage could outplay even a 2500 player but not a player in this competition…
Hmmm… that 42.Kd3(?)… why give chances on the K-side? The a-pawn would never advance… Again,white is better.
TREMENDOUS FIGHT BY SHIROV!!!!
Hope Carlssen holds…
Gian
oops! If Aronian played 42 Bb2 then …Nb4+ 43 Kg1 Qe1+ and no good defense. But 42 Bc5 may have been better than 42f4. Aha. They just drew. Fair end of a slugfest.
Anonymous Frank
On teh game site it says Bareev didn’t repeat the checks but played Ke4? Why did Judit then accept draw with one more pawn?
OT for Carlsen and Aronian! Wow.
I still can’t get it why GMs make draws where all other would continue playing. Why not risk to win the game? It’s worth half a point to risk until losing, isn’t it? I don’t know.
Would be interesting to see how ELOs have moved on the basis of the last 6 games.
I don’t think JP comes out worst after this. Was she actually lost in this game or was it a draw?
Ke8 is the last move. Ke4 is the signal that the game has ended. Both kings are moved to the center after the game.
Well this is the upset of the year if I’m asked for!
Judith Polgar lost a 6 game match vs -85 ELO in comparison.
What happend?
🙁
win some lose some – try playing at this level while having young babies to feed and a family to raise sometime