Picture from the official website
Leko held on for a draw against Karpov in the last game to decisively win the match by the score of 4.5 – 3.5. When I said decisively, I meant he had one decisive game in rapid! The other seven games were …. drawn. It would be really hard to have less wins than this in rapid chess. Mr. Safe managed to avoid just about all complications and went undefeated in the match with 7 draws and 1 win. One thing I can say is it is VERY HARD to beat Leko.
Here are the final 2 games. Enjoy!
Lékó, Péter (2738) – Karpov, Anatoly (2668)
Lékó vs. Karpov Miskolc (7), 09-03-2006
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0–0 a6 7.Bb3 cxd4 8.exd4 Be7 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.Bg5 0–0 11.Qd2 Nd5 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.Rfe1 Qd6 15.Rac1 Bg4 16.Ne5 Bf5 17.Rc3 Rac8 18.Rce3 Ng6 19.Nxg6 hxg6 20.Re5 Be6 21.h4 Rfe8 22.Bxd5 Rcd8 23.Qe3 Qxd5 24.Rxd5 Rxd5 25.a3 Red8 26.Rd1 Rb5 27.Rd2 Rbd5 28.f3 Rc8 29.Kf2 Rcd8 30.Qf4 Rc8 31.Qe4 Rcd8 32.g4 a5 33.a4 b5 34.axb5 Rxb5 35.Qc6 Rbd5 36.Ke3 Rb8 37.Qc7 Rc8 38.Qb6 Kh7 39.Rd3 Rc4 40.Qa7 Rb4 41.Ra3 Rxb2 42.Rxa5 Rbb5 43.Ra3 Rd7 44.Qa8 Rdb7 45.Kf4 Rb4 46.Kg3 Rb8 47.Qe4 Rd8 48.h5 Rbxd4 49.hxg6+ Kh6 50.Qc2 Rd2 51.Qc6 R2d6 52.Qc2 Rd2 53.Qb1 Rd1 54.Qb6 Kxg6 55.Re3 R8d6 56.Qb8 Kh7 57.Re2 R6d2 58.Rxd2 Rxd2 59.Qe5 Rd5 60.Qe4+ g6 61.Qb4 Kg7 62.Kf4 g5+ 63.Kg3 Kg6 64.Qe4+ Kg7 ½–½
Karpov, Anatoly (2668) – Lékó, Péter (2738)
Lékó vs. Karpov Miskolc (8), 09-03-2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.0–0 0–0 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Rd1 Na6 11.Bf4 Nc5 12.Qc2 Qc8 13.Rac1 Nce4 14.Nd4 Nxc3 15.Qxc3 a6 16.Qb3 Bc5 17.Bg5 Ng4 18.Bxb7 Qxb7 19.Qf3 Qxf3 20.exf3 Ne5 21.Kg2 f6 22.Bf4 Kf7 23.Ne2 Ke7 24.a4 Rfc8 25.b3 Ra7 26.Bxe5 fxe5 27.f4 exf4 28.Nxf4 Ba3 29.Ra1 Bd6 30.Nd3 Bc5 31.f4 Bd4 32.Rac1 Bf6 33.Kf3 g5 34.Ke4 gxf4 35.gxf4 Rac7 36.f5 Bg5 37.Ra1 d5+ 38.cxd5 exd5+ 39.Kf3 Kf6 40.h4 Bh6 41.Nb4 Rc3+ 42.Kg4 Rxb3 43.Nxd5+ Kf7 44.Kh5 Bf8 45.Rac1 Rxc1 46.Rxc1 Bc5 47.a5 Rd3 48.Nxb6 Be7 49.Rc7 Rd4 50.Rc4 Rxc4 51.Nxc4 Kf6 52.Kg4 h5+ 53.Kf4 Bb4 54.Ke4 Be1 55.Ne3 Bxh4 56.Nd5+ Kf7 ½–½
Here is the official website.
ChessBase has a beautiful report about the event and the city here.
Yes, even though I hear that Peter trained under Bobby at one time, it appears that his style more closely mimics Anatoly’s–careful study of your opponent, OTB play geared toward first neutralizing them while creating difficult complications, followed by looking for weaknesses in their position, and only upon finding these weaknesses exploiting your attacking/counter-attacking opportunities. Thus, the closeness of this match.
It is with great sadness I read Crocodile Hunter, Steve was killed by a stingray today. I really loved him and his show and love for wildlife.
Where did you read this?