London Chess Center round 6 report

News release
Monday 14th December 2009

LONDON CHESS CLASSIC: ROUND 6 PRESS RELEASE

The penultimate round was full of exciting chess. It featured two decisive games and the number should arguably have been three had things gone Michael Adams’ way. Vladimir Kramnik’s win against Nigel Short took him within one point of Magnus Carlsen which means that these two cannot be caught by anyone else but either of them could still win the tournament.

Magnus Carlsen had a narrow escape when he played a strange opening and overreached against Michael Adams. The English super-grandmaster sacrificed a piece for a dangerous counter-offensive. For some time it seemed as if Carlsen would lose and endanger his chances of appearing at the top of the January 2010 FIDE Rating List (he needs at least two draws or one win from the last two games to be sure of this). But Michael hesitated, repeated the position a couple of times and ultimately missed a chance of finishing the game quickly. He still emerged with a strong position but Carlsen managed to hold the draw, ensuring that he would stay top of the table going into the last round.

Magnus Carlsen – Michael Adams
Nimzo-Indian E46

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 0–0 5 Nge2 d5 6 cxd5 exd5 7 g3 Re8 8 Bg2 Bf8

It seems to have been a recurring theme in this tournament: bishops going home to their original squares. Perhaps we could dub it a ‘London bishop’?

9 0–0 Na6 10 a3 c6 11 f3 c5 12 g4 h6 13 h3

About 20 years ago, I adopted a similar structure of pawns around a fianchettoed bishop in my play and my clubmates thereafter referred to such a configuration as ‘a Saunders bishop’. I should add that they did not mean it in a nice way: it was a cruel jibe intended to undermine what little faith I had in my strategic abilities. I just hope some of these unkind people are reading this annotation and can see that the Saunders bishop now comes with the Carlsen stamp of approval. In fact, by way of a Christmas present, I am prepared to cede any claim I have to naming rights for this to him – completely free, gratis and for nothing. But I am not sure he would want it because his position isn’t terribly good here. Black has much the easier position to play.

13…b6 14 Ng3 Bb7 15 f4 Rc8 16 g5

Carlsen probably felt morally obliged to justify the overextension of his kingside but this does not help.

16…hxg5 17 fxg5 Ne4!

Black has quite an audacious plan in mind.

18 Ncxe4 dxe4 19 Qg4 g6 20 Nxe4 Bxe4 21 Bxe4 cxd4! 22 Bb7 Rc2! 23 Bxa6 Qc7

Black has given up a piece for a strong attack.

24 Qf4 Bd6 25 Qf3 Bc5

Here the commentary and press rooms were willing Black to play 25…dxe3! The reason Michael Adams didn’t play this was because he thought White could play 26 Bd3, missing the fact that Black could then follow up with 26…Bc5! which should sure the win for Black after 27 Bxc2 e2+ 28 Kg2 exf1Q+ 29 Qxf1 Qc6+!, etc. Easily missed, of course. I think Carlsen also missed the Bc5 possibility.

26 Qf4 Bd6

One intriguing line considered in the commentary room was 26…Re5 27 exd4?! Rxg5+! 28 Kh1 Qc6+ 29 Qf3 and now the bone-crushing move 29…Rg3!! 30 Qxc6 Rxh3+ 31 Kg1 Bxd4+ 32 Rf2 Bxf2+ 33 Kf1 Rxc6 34 Kxf2 Rh1 and Black wins. White should play 27 e4! though it is still very complex.

27 Qf3 Bc5 28 Qf4 Qxf4

28…Bd6 would not be a threefold repetition.

29 Rxf4 dxe3 30 Kf1

Adams admitted he had not seen the plan of Kf1–e1 for White.

30…e2+ 31 Ke1 Rd8 32 Bxe2 Re8 33 Bd2!

White can’t save a piece but he can ensure that he loses the right bishop so that opposite-coloured bishops remain on the board, thereby improving his drawing chances.

33…Rxd2 34 Kxd2 Be3+ 35 Kc2 Bxf4 36 Bc4 Bxg5 37 Rg1 Re5 38 h4

38 Rf1 is even simpler and would probably lead to a very early ceasefire.

38…Bxh4 39 Rxg6+ Kf8 40 Rd6

Black has an extra pawn but no real way of exploiting the material advantage.

40…Re7 41 Bb5 Rc7+ 42 Rc6 Re7 43 Rd6 Re5 44 Bc4 Rf5 45 b4 Ke7 46 Rd5 Rf2+ 47 Rd2 Rf4 48 Bb5 Ke6 49 Re2+ Kf6 50 Rd2 Ke6 51 Re2+ Kf6 52 Rd2 Bf2 53 Rd7 a5 54 bxa5 bxa5 55 a4 Bc5 56 Rd5 Bb4 57 Kd3 Ke6 58 Rd4 Rf3+ 59 Ke2 Ra3 60 Bc4+ Ke5 61 Rd3 Rxd3 ½–½

Vladimir Kramnik moved up to within one point of Carlsen and consigned Nigel Short to last position after a scrappy game. The fans were impressed by the fighting spirit, and probably the entertaining commentary (Kramnik and Short in action together was riveting) and it was voted best game of the day. The Russian unfurled a new move, 8 Bg5, against Short’s Nimzo-Indian set-up and the English number one struggled against his well-prepared opponent. Kramnik soon won a pawn and, despite a possible chance for Short to get back into the game with 25…Qxa2, Kramnik made no mistakes. Well, except in the commentary room, much as Magnus Carlsen had in a previous round. But this time the super-GM’s momentary lapse was seized upon by a sharp-eyed commentator who, to the undisguised glee of the audience, demonstrated that the ex-world champion’s “winning” idea would have resulted in him being mated on the back rank. Don’t miss their dialogue in the annotation below…

Vladimir Kramnik – Nigel Short
QGD Ragozin D38

1 Nf3 d5 2 d4 Nf6 3 c4 e6 4 Nc3 Bb4

This opening can’t quite make up its mind whether it is the Ragozin variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined or a line of the Nimzo-Indian. But, as William Shakespeare said, what’s in a name?

5 Qb3 c5

5…Ba5 is an idea here.

6 cxd5 exd5 7 dxc5 Nc6 8 Bg5!?

You won’t find that move on your database – it is fresh from ‘Laboratoire Kramnik’. Why did he inflict it on Short? Because he’s worth it… 8 e3 0–0 9 Be2 Be6 10 Nd4 Bxc5 11 Nxe6 fxe6 12 0–0 Qe7 which was Karpov-Kramnik, Monte Carlo 1997. Kramnik won that game.

8…Be6 9 0–0–0

Things are already a bit tricky for Black. He decides to sacrifice a pawn.

9…Qa5 10 Bxf6 gxf6 11 Nxd5 0–0–0 12 e4 f5 13 Bc4 Bxc5

13…Qxc5 is a bold try but 14 Kb1 fxe4 15 Ng5 looks very useful for White.

14 Ng5 fxe4 15 Nxe4 Bd4 16 Ndc3 Rhe8 17 Bxe6+ Rxe6 18 f3 Ne5

Perhaps 18…Kb8 is called for, though White is still better.

19 Nb5

Kramnik was heard to say in the commentary room, and at a later video interview, that his position was very strong after this.

19…Rb6

If Black backs off with 19…Bb6 then 20 Rxd8+ Kxd8 21 Nbd6 starts to get very unpleasant.

20 Qc2+ Rc6 21 Nec3 Bxc3

The only other move worth contemplating is 21…Be3+ 22 Kb1 Kb8 23 Rxd8+ Qxd8 24 Rd1 Qg8 but really Black is a pawn down for no compensation after this.

22 Rxd8+ Kxd8 23 Nxc3 Kc7 24 Rd1 a6 25 Qxh7

25…Kb8

It is surprising that neither player gave much thought to 25…Qxa2 here, as it is perfectly logical and apparently quite playable. When the players were discussing this in the commentary room, they looked at 26 Qh8 Rxc3+!? 27 bxc3 Qa1+ 28 Kd2 Qb2+ 29 Ke1 Qxc3+ 30 Kf1 Qc4+ 31 Kg1 Qc5+ 32 Kh1 …

… etc, etc, and Kramnik concluded he was winning, so they moved onto another position.

But it was suddenly apparent to the spectators that IM Lawrence Trent was desperately straining to say something. On and on went Kramnik, barely pausing for breath and oblivious to Lawrence’s attempts to catch his eye. Eventually the Kramnik stream of consciousness abated for a second and Lawrence seized his chance: “Can we go back to the earlier position?” (the one in the diagram). At this point Lawrence dropped his bombshell: “Black plays 32…Nd3!!”… the super-GMs were temporarily bemused by the sheer effrontery of the young English commentator… Kramnik tried to rescue his line… “I play 33 Rf1”, but Lawrence was ready for him: “… then 33…Nf2+!!”… followed by another super-grandmaster pause. Kramnik, finally recognising a choice between being mated on the back rank or being caught by Philidor’s legacy, smiled in that closed-eye way of his and said: “Well… I wouldn’t have played 26 Qh8!”, to a gale of mirth from an audience which was thoroughly enjoying young Trent’s moment of triumph over his elders and betters. Back to the game…

26 Kb1 Nc4 27 Qh8+ Rc8 28 Qd4 Qb4 29 b3 a5 30 Ka1 Na3 31 Qxb4 axb4 32 Nd5 Rc2

It is hard to resign when you can place a rook on the seventh and perhaps threaten something. But in fact Kramnik had calculated it all through to the finish.

33 Nxb4 Rxg2 34 Rh1

The rook sits behind the pawn and pushes. Simple chess.
34…Ka7 35 h4 Kb6 36 h5 Ka5 37 h6 Kxb4 38 h7 Nc2+ 39 Kb1 Na3+ 40 Kc1 1–0

David Howell and Hikaru Nakamura drew after most of the pieces were hovered off the board by move 33. Nakamura tried a kingside counter-offensive with Black but Howell resisted stoutly, reaching a drawn opposite-coloured bishop endgame.

Luke McShane seemed to be doing very well against Ni Hua until move 29 when his mistaken Nd6 move was trumped by Bc6. From that point on, his bad bishop was a major handicap and the Chinese super-GM played very well and ground him down to score his first win in London.

After today’s two decisive results, the scores with one round to go are as follows: Carlsen 12/18, Kramnik 11, McShane 7, Adams, Ni Hua, Howell 6, Nakamura 5, Short 4. In the final round Carlsen still needs to win (with Black against Nigel Short) to be sure of the overall tournament victory. A draw will not be enough – if Vladimir Kramnik wins with the black pieces against Hikaru Nakamura, he would leapfrog over the young Norwegian and snatch first place. Meanwhile, Magnus’s fellow countryman Jon Ludvig Hammer is poised to make it a Norwegian double as he leads the Festival Open by a whole point (they are using traditional scoring) with one round to go. Lots to play for tomorrow!

For more information and to buy tickets to The London Chess Classic, please go to www.londonchessclassic.com

ENDS

For further information please call:
John Saunders
Chess Press Chief, London Chess Classic
Press Room: 020 7598 6598
Mobile: 07777 664111
E : chesspress@londonchessclassic.com