Morelia R2: Svidler and Leko win

Round two report

Standings

Summary

It was another dia caliente in Morelia. We saw three decisive games for the second consecutive day. Bacrot has been involved in both draws, although they were both close to losses for him, so we shouldn't criticize. At the top we have two players with 2/2, the pair of Peters, Leko and Svidler. At the bottom of the table Radjabov and Vallejo Pons have yet to score at all.

Etienne Bacrot (left) arriving a few minutes late for his game against Topalov

Spectator Kasparov: "Topalov continued to press even with just a few pieces on the board. He was almost rewarded by his opponent's play, as he was at Corus when Bacrot lost a drawn endgame against him." History almost repeated itself in Morelia as the Frenchman had to scramble to draw a rook + knight ending. White's g5 pawn exerts a surprising amount of pressure, just like Topalov. It was drawn in the end, leaving the FIDE world champ at -1 in this event.

Ivanchuk scored the win he missed yesterday, beating Aronian in typical confounding style. Pouncing on a hidden weakness, Ivanchuk sent his knight out to conquer the queenside.

20.Nb4! a5 21.Na6! and Black has no good answer. Aronian gave up the d-pawn with 21...Rc8. After 21...Rb7 22.c5! is the point, based on the pin on the d-file. 22...Ra7 23.Qd3 and White keeps the loot.

This knight would go on to do further damage on the other side of the board.

Aronian was hanging on but fell to White's doubled rooks when he blundered with 43...e5?? Defense was very difficult; Fritz suggest 43...Nb1 to keep pressure on the e2 pawn and the white king. Amazingly it looks like Black can avoid mate this way. Aronian failed to do this in the game and 44.Ne6! exf4 45.Rxf7! 1-0 was the nice Tactics 101 finish.

Teimour Radjabov started out with two blacks and has lost them both. Paco Vallejo Pons started out with two whites and has the same zero. Leko and Radjabov battled in a main line Sveshnikov in which both players are experts. A full-board battle erupted as Radjabov tried to cause chaos against Leko's methodical play.

Leko,P (2740) - Radjabov,T (2700) [B33]
XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (2), 19.02.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 0-0 12.Nc2 Bg5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 a5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.b3 Kh8 17.Nce3 Be6 18.h4 Bf4 19.Nf5 g6 20.Nfe3 Kg7 21.g3 Bh6 22.Ng4 f5 23.Nxh6 Kxh6 24.h5 g5 25.exf5 Bxf5 26.Ne3 Bc8 27.Ra2 Ne7 28.0-0 Rf6 29.Qe2 Qb6 30.Rfa1 Qc6 31.Rxa5 Bb7 32.Bd5 Nxd5 33.Rxd5 Qxc3 34.Ng4+ Kg7 35.Ra7 Re6

36.Qc4! "Very nice, very strong!" said the world's strongest kibitzer, Garry Kasparov. Leko stays one step ahead in the tactics, eliminating resistance by forcing the exchange of queens or launching a mating attack. Radjabov avoided the exchange and was soon wiped out: 36...Qe1+ 37.Kg2 Re7 38.Rxb7 Rexb7 39.Rxd6 Rf8.

40.h6+ "After they reached the time control Peter probably went to get a cup of coffee and let everyone see the position," said Kasparov, watching the games in the early hours of the Moscow morning. Garry was impressed by Leko's play, which he called "very good chess".

Leko finished convincingly, although perhaps the prettiest line remained for the notes: 40.Qd5 Rbf7 41.h6+! Kg8 42.Nf6+ Kh8 43.Qxf7! Rxf7 44.Rd8+ Rf8 45.Rxf8#. But we shan't quibble when the actual final position of the game is so nice. 40...Kh8 41.Qd5 Rbb8 42.Qd3 Qb4 43.Rd7 e4 44.Qd5 Rb5 45.Nf6 1-0.

Vallejo Pons is having a bad week at the opening office so far in Morelia. He has now managed to reach two entirely inferior positions out of the opening with white. Today he innovated early and wildly against Svidler's inevitable Grunfeld with 8.h4. By move 15 Black had the bishop pair, the safer king, and an ideal structure. The Spaniard tried to mix things up, but never really recovered.

Vallejo Pons,F (2650) - Svidler,P (2765) [D85]
XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (2), 19.02.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0-0 8.h4 Nc6 9.e5 Bf5 10.Be2 Nb4 11.g4 Nc2+ 12.Kf1 Nxe3+ 13.fxe3 Be6 14.Nh3 f6 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Kg1 Bf7 17.Ng5 e5 18.Nxf7 Rxf7 19.dxe5 Bxe5 20.Ne4 Bxb2 21.Rb1 Qe7 22.Bf3 Bg7 23.Ng5 Rff8 24.Qb3+ Kh8 25.Bxb7 Rab8 26.Be4 Bf6 27.Qc2 Rbe8

28.Rf1. Perhaps his last best try to survive was 28.Nxh7!? giving up two pieces for a rook and two pawns after 28...Kxh7 29.Bxg6+ Kg7 and now either 30.Rh3 or 30.Bxe8 Qxe3+ leave Black for choice but with a few tiny swindling chances against the open black king. 28...Qd7 29.Bf3 Rxe3 30.Rh3 Bd4 31.Kg2 Nd5 32.Kh1 Nf4 33.Bc6 Rxh3+ 34.Nxh3 Qxg4 35.Bg2 Nxg2 36.Rxf8+ Kg7 37.Qxc7+ Kxf8 38.Qd6+ Kg7 39.Qe7+ Kh6 40.Qg5+ Qxg5 0-1.

In the big Morelia Mexican Open that ran alongside of the main event, Cuba's Lazaro Bruzon took clear first with 6.5/7. He was the top seed stayed around after playing in the Cuernavaca event.

Ivanchuk,V (2729) - Aronian,L (2752) [A30]
XXIII SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (2), 19.02.2006
Commentary by GM Mihail Marin [Click to replay]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 After few hesitations (Black could have played c5 one move earlier while White could have prevented it with 4.d4) we have reached a position that had never occured in the practice of the two players before. Not with these colours, to be more precise, since Aronian was generally succesful against it when playing with White. 5.0–0 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Rac1 Rc8 11.b3 a6 12.Rfd1 0–0

13.Qd2. During the last year, there has been an intense theoretical discussion about the slightly extravagant plan 13.Qh4 Rc7 14.Bh3 Qb8 15.g4 However, Aronian failed to obtain an advantage with White in a recent game, which might have inspired him when he made his opening choice for the present game. 15...e6 16.g5 Ne8 17.Bg2 b5 18.Ne4 bxc4 19.bxc4 d5 20.cxd5 Bxd5 21.Nc5 Nxc5 22.Bxc5 Nd6 23.Rb1 Qxb1 24.Rxb1 Rxc5 25.Qa4 Ne4 26.Qxa6 Rc2 27.Qd3 Rxa2 28.Rc1 Rfa8 and Black had excellent compensation for the queen and soon got the upper hand in Aronian-Kramnik, Saint Vincent 2005.

13...Ne4. Technically speaking, this is a novelty, although everything is relative in such an opening that allows all kind of transpositions. Usually, Black refrains from exchanging knights at such an early stage of the game. The flexible approach based on 13...Re8 14.Bh3 Qc7 or 14...Rc7 followed by Qb8 is more popular. In principle, Black needs both knights in order to defend his pawn weaknesses.. 14.Nxe4 Bxe4

15.Ne1! A strong move, taking advantage of the concrete circumstances of the position. Curiously, the more stereotype continuation 15.Bh3 Rc7 16.Nd4 Qb8 17.f3 Bb7 would lead by a huge transposition to the game Rogozenko-Ionescu,C Bucuresti 1999. After 18.Nc2 b5 19.Na3 bxc4 20.Nxc4 Ne5 21.Nxe5 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Bxe5 23.Qb4 White maintained a microscopical advantage which he failed to convert into a full point.

15...Nf6 Since the exchange on g2 would only help the knight approach the strong d5-square, Black prefers to maintain the tension. However, the transfer of the knight to the king side will leave Black with micro-problems on the other wing. 16.Bh3 Rb8 Here is the first consequence of ¤f6: Black cannot play the generally desirable 16...Rc7 any more. 17.Nd3 Ba8 With the rook on b8, 17...Bb7 looks less appealing, but this might have been a lesser evil, since now the a6-pawn will be vulnerable. 18.f3 e6 19.Bf2 Re8

20.Nb4! Suddenly, Black cannot defend all his weaknesses. 20...a5 21.Na6. A courageous move, based on precise calculation. 21...Rc8 Unfortunately for Black, he cannot defend his d6-pawn by indirect means with 21...Rb7 because of 22.c5! (22.Qxd6? Rd7) when after 22...bxc5 23.Nxc5 the only way to defend the d6-pawn would be 23...Rb6 which would lose the a5-pawn instead.

22.Qxd6 Qxd6 23.Rxd6 White has won a pawn but the position remains complicated, since some of his minor pieces are misplaced (Na6, Bh3). 23...Nd5!? 24.Rd1 Nc3 25.R1d2 b5 26.Rd7 Be5 27.cxb5 Nxb5 28.Bf1 Bc6 29.R7d3 Na3 30.f4 Bf6 31.Nc5 Be7 32.Rd1 Nb5 33.Na4 Be4 34.Rd7 Bb4 35.Bg2 Bxg2 36.Kxg2 Rc2 Finally, Black has managed to obtain certain counterplay along the c-file, but White will create strong threats by doubling rooks on the seventh rank. 37.Rb7 Na3 38.Rdd7 Rf8 39.Kf3 Nb1 40.Be3 Rxa2 Giving up the control of the c5-square allows White bring new reserves into the attack, but this might have been not easy to foresee right before the time control. 41.Bc5 Nd2+ 42.Kg2 Bxc5 43.Nxc5

White threatens ¤xe6 with a decissive mating attack. 43...e5?! As can be understood from the next comment, it was essential to clear the h7-square for the king with 43...h6 . Black would be worse, but still breathing. 44.Ne6 exf4 Black might have missed the fact that 44...Re8 can be stringly met by 45.Re7 when the capture on e7 is impossible because of the weakness of the back rank (here is where h6 would have been useful). After 45...Rc8 46.Rxf7 White mates in a couple of moves. 45.Rxf7! A simple but elegant combination to finish a well played game. Black cannot avoid mate. 1–0.

Mihail Marin, 41, Romanian Grandmaster, three times national champion (1988, 1994, 1999), nine times member of the Olympic team, participant in two Interzonals (Szirak 1987 and Manila 1990). In 2005 Marin was the second of Judit Polgar at the FIDE world championship in San Luis. Highest rating: 2604. Author of the ChessBase opening CDs English 1.c4 e5 and The Catalan Opening and the books: Secrets of Chess Defence, Secrets of Attacking Chess and Learn from the Legends. Graduate from the Polytechnic Institute Bucharest (Specialty Electrotechnic) in 1989.

Picture gallery

"¡Leko! ¡Leko!" – the usual mobbing by fans after the game

Peter's wife Sofia smiles in embarrassemnt as she is pushed aside by the crowd. "Now I know how pop stars feel," said Peter Leko, taking it all in his stride.

And one more of Peter Svidler facing the fans – we simply cannot get over the degree of chess enthusiasm we are encountering here in Mexico.

The utilities room where tecnicians run the projections and TV coverage

Our personal favourite: Pilar Molina, the chief press officer for the event

• Video of the start of round two
• Video of the press conference with Veselin Topalov (Spanish)
• More photos from round two on our Spanish news page

Schedule and results

Links

• Official web site
• All games in PGN
• All ChessBase reports on this event