In search for Morozevich – Round 8 summary

The enigmatic Morozevich is on a roll. Imagine that! He is out of last place and now has an even score after defeating the reigning FIDE World Champion with the Black pieces. Topalov is not making the headline today! Anand defeated Judit to be in clear third.

Kasimdzhanov 0-1 Morozevich

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 Nf6 7.Be3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Kh1 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 e5 11.Be3 Be6 12.f4 exf4 13.Rxf4 a6 14.a4 Qa5 15.Qd2 Rfc8 16.Rd1 Bd8 17.Rff1 Bb6 18.Bd4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Rc6 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Rcc8 22.Rxf6! gxf6 23.Bd3 Re8 24.Qh4 Kf8 25.Rf1?! [25.Bxh7 Re5 26.b4 Qd8 27.Rf1+/-] 25…Qxd5 26.Qh6+? [26.Qxf6 Qe6 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qd4+/=] 26…Ke7 27.Qxf6+=/+ Kd7 28.h3 h5 29.b4 Re3 30.Rf5 Re5 31.Rxe5 dxe5 [31…Qxe5 32.Qxf7+ Kc6 33.a5=] 32.Qf5+? [32.Bf5+ Kc7 33.c4 Qxc4 34.Qxe5+ Kc6 35.Qf6+ Kc7 36.Qe5+=] 32…Qe6-/+ 33.Qxh5 e4 34.Be2 Rf8 [34…Rg8=/+] 35.b5 f5 36.bxa6 bxa6 37.Qh7+ Qf7 38.Qh6 Qf6 39.Qh7+ Rf7 40.Qg8 Ke7 41.Bc4 Rf8 [41…Qa1+ 42.Kh2 Qe5+ 43.Kh1 Rf8-/+] 42.Qh7+ Kd6 43.Qb7 Qa1+ 44.Kh2 Qe5+ 45.Kh1 [45.g3 a5 46.Qa6+ Ke7-/+] 45…a5 46.Qb6+ Ke7 47.Qb7+ Kf6-+ 48.Qb6+ Kg7 49.Qb7+ Kh6 50.Qb6+ Rf6 51.Qd8 Rd6 52.Qf8+ Kg5 53.Be2 Kf4 0-1

Kasimdzhanov played very well. On move 22, he made a brilliant sacrifice that gave him a very strong attack. Unfortunately, Kasim failed to find the best continuation during time pressure. Morozevich took advantage of this and converted an almost lost game for a full point and now tie with Leko for 4th – 5th place. It was an unlucky loss for Kasim.

Topalov 1/2-1/2 Leko

Topalov cooled down if you can believe it. He actually played “safe”, “boring” and “cautious”. Actually, it is not a bad idea for him to continue to consolidate his lead. Topalov offered a draw on move 24. I was actually very surprised to see Leko accepting the draw offer when he is trailing Topalov by 3 points with only 6 rounds to go. I would have certainly played on if I wanted to catch the leader.

Anand 1-0 J. Polgar

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0–0–0 Bb4 9.f3 Ne7 10.Nde2 b5 [10…d5] 11.Bf4 e5 12.Bg5 Bb7 13.Kb1 Ba5 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Qh6 Qb6 16.g3? Qe6? [16…b4 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 Nf5 19.Qc1 (19.Qh5 Ne3 20.Rd3 Qc5µ) 19…Qf2³] 17.Bh3 f5 18.Qh4 f6? [18…Qg6] 19.exf5 Qf7 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.fxe4 Nc6 22.Rd6 0–0 23.Rhd1 Ra7 24.Bf1 [24.Bg4+-] 24…Rc7 25.Nc1 Bb4 26.R6d5 Rfc8 27.Nb3 Bf8 28.c3 Kh8 29.g4 Qg7 30.Qg3 Ra8 31.a3 Rac8 32.Nc1 Na5 33.Na2?! [33.g5 Qxg5 34.Qxg5 fxg5 35.a4+-] 33…Nb3 34.h4 Nc5 35.Bd3 Na4 36.Bc2 Nb6 37.R5d3 d5?! [37…a5 38.g5 Be7±] 38.exd5 Bd6 39.Bb3 [39.g5 e4 40.Qxd6 exd3 41.Bxd3 Nc4 42.Qe6+-] 39…a5 40.Qf2 [40.g5 b4 41.axb4 a4 42.Bc2+-] 40…Nc4 41.Qe2 Rg8 42.Rg1 Qh6 43.Rdd1 a4? [43…Qxh4 44.Bxc4 Rxc4²] 44.Bxc4 Rxc4 45.g5 fxg5 46.hxg5 Rxg5 47.Qe3 Rf4 48.Qb6 Rgxf5 [48…Rxg1 49.Rxg1 Qf8 50.Qxb5±] 49.Qxb5 Rf8 50.Nb4 e4 51.Rde1 Rh4 52.Ka1 e3 53.Qxa4 Re4 54.Qa6 Rfe8 55.Re2 Qf8 56.Qd3 Qf6 57.Nc2 Bc5 58.Rge1 Qe5 59.b4 Bb6 60.Kb2 h5 61.d6 Qf5 62.Rxe3 1–0

This is not my sister Judit’s tournament. She can’t seem to get things going. Even though I am sad to see her performance, I am very proud of the fact that she is still fighting hard in every game. She has not given up and definitely not playing “safe”. She is giving her best shot in every game. The first chance that she missed was 16…Qe6? 16…b4 would have given her a completely different game. Anand played very cautiously to slowly convert the material advantage to a full point.

Adams 1/2-1/2 Svidler

Even though Adams has had a horrendous tournament, he is still fighting. He chose a sharp opening choice and had tried very hard to win. He had some chances but Svidler defended extremely well. The most shocking but affective move was 22…h6. Even GM Yasser Seirawan said that he almost fell out of the chair when he saw that move. Even though Svidler’s position looked horrible, Adams could not find an affective way to continue. They ended up in a Rook and pawns endgame and eventually led to a draw. I am glad to see Adams still fighting hard.