Biel 07: Radjabov wins, Carlsen loses to Pelletier

Round seven report

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Standings after seven rounds

The ghost of Bobby Fischer seems to be haunting Biel. Earlier in the tournament, it was Judit Polgar, who first gave an interview about him, and then adopted one of his old Najdorf lines. Today, it was the turn of tournament leader Magnus Carlsen to produce an echo of one of Fischer's games. His snatch of the h7-pawn was eerily reminiscent of Fischer's famously hubristic 29...Bxh2, in game one of his 1972 match with Spassky. It is hard to imagine what motivated Carlsen's choice, but his errant prelate paid the ultimate price, after which White's only drawing chance was that a mutual massacre of pawns might result in a theoretically drawn R v R+N ending. Alas for the Norwegian and his supporters, it was not to be; the agility of Pelletier's knight enabled him to preserve his last pawn, after which all that remained was to avoid the perpetual check/stalemate cheapos.

Carlsen,M (2710) - Pelletier,Y (2591) [E32]
GM Biel SUI (7), 31.07.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.e3 c5 9.dxc5 bxc5 10.Ne2 a5 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Qxf6 gxf6 13.0–0–0 Rd8 14.Nc3 d6 15.Bd3 Kf8

16.Bxh7? f5 17.e4 Kg7 18.exf5 Kxh7 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Rhe1 Bxg2 21.Ne4 Bxe4 22.Rxe4 Ra7 23.Rxe6 Rad7 24.Rd3 Nc6 25.Rh3+ Kg8 26.Rhh6 Ne5 27.f4 Nxc4 28.b3 Nxa3 29.Rhg6+ Kh8 30.Rh6+ Kg8 31.Rhg6+ Kh8 32.Rh6+ Rh7 33.Rxd6 Rxd6 34.Rxd6 Rxh2 35.Ra6

35... Nb5 36.Rxa5 Nd4 37.Kb1 Nxb3 38.Rb5 c4 39.f5 Kg7 40.f6+ Kxf6 41.Rf5+ Ke6 42.Re5+ Kd6 43.Rd5+ Kc6 44.Rd6+ Kc5 45.Rc6+ Kd5 46.Rd6+ Ke4 47.Re6+ Kd3 48.Re3+ Kd2 0–1.

The slugfest of the day, if not the whole tournament, was the game van Wely-Radjabov. The players renewed a theoretical discussion in the Bayonet King's Indian Defence, in which two previous encounters between them have ended 1-1. Having lost last time, at Corus this year, it was Van Wely's turn to improve, which he attempted to do with 15.c5. A razor-sharp position was soon reached, from which it was eventually Radjabov who emerged on top, after both players had shown great tactical ingenuity and imagination.

Van Wely,L (2680) - Radjabov,T (2746) [E97]
GM Biel SUI (7), 31.07.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.f3 Kh8 13.Ne6 Bxe6 14.dxe6 [14...fxe4 15.fxe4 Nc6 16.Nd5 Nxe4 17.Bf3 Nf6 18.b5 Nxd5 19.bxc6 Nb6 20.cxb7 Rb8 21.c5 e4 22.Rxe4 dxc5 23.Qxd8 Rfxd8 24.Bg5 Re8 25.Rd1 Bd4+ 26.Rexd4 cxd4 27.e7 h6 28.Bf6+ Kg8 29.Rxd4 Kf7 30.Rd8 Nd7 31.Bh4 g5 32.Rxd7 Ke6 33.Bg4+ Kf6 34.Be1 Rxb7 35.Bc3+ Kg6 36.Bf3 Rb1+ 37.Kf2 Rc1 38.Rxc7 Kf5 39.Bh5 Rc2+ 40.Kf3 1–0, Van Wely-Radjabov, FIDE World Cup, Khanty Mansiysk (3.1), 03.12.2005] 14...Nh5  15.c5 [15.g3 Bf6 16.c5 f4 17.g4 Ng7 18.Bc4 Nc6 19.cxd6 cxd6 20.Ne2 Rc8 21.Bd5 Nxb4 22.Rb1 Nc2 23.Rf1 b6 24.Rb2 Ne3 25.Bxe3 fxe3 26.Qb3 Bg5 27.Nc3 Rc5 28.Na4 Rc7 29.Nc3 Qc8 30.Nb5 Rc1 31.Rb1 Rxf1+ 32.Rxf1 Qc5 33.Kg2 Rc8 34.Re1 a6 35.Na3 Qd4 36.Re2 Rc3 37.Qb2 h5 38.h3 Qd1 39.Bb3 Rxb3 40.axb3 Nxe6 0–1, Van Wely-Radjabov, Corus Wijk aan Zee 2007] 15...Nf4 16.Bc4 fxe4 17.Rxe4 Nf5 18.g3 Nh3+ 19.Kg2 Ng5 20.Rg4

19...Nxf3 21.Kxf3 e4+ 22.Nxe4 Bxa1 23.Bg5 Ne7+ 24.Kg2 Be5 25.Rf4 Bxf4 26.gxf4 d5

27.f5 h6 28.Qd4+ Kh7 29.fxg6+ Kxg6 30.Bxe7 Qxe7 31.Qxd5 Rad8 32.Qe5 Rf5 33.Qc3 Qg7 34.Qg3+ Kh7 35.Qxg7+ Kxg7 36.Kg3 Rd4 0–1.

Polgar's anti-Marshall line brought nothing at all against Onischuk, and White was gradually outplayed in the middlegame. Fortunately, Black's extra pawn was partially balanced by White's excellent blockading knight on d3, and after some manoeuvering, Black mislaid his extra pawn and the draw followed.

Judit Polgar vs Alexander Onischuk

Polgar,Ju (2707) - Onischuk,Al (2650) [C88]
GM Biel SUI (7), 31.07.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.e5 Ne8 11.Qxd4 Bb7 12.Qg4 c5 13.c3 d5 14.Bc2 Bc8 15.Qe2 g6 16.Bh6 Ng7 17.Nd2 Re8 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.f4 Qb6 20.Rad1 f5 21.Nf3 Be6 22.Kh1 Rad8 23.Qf2 a5 24.h4 Rd7 25.Kh2 h5

26.b4 axb4 27.cxb4 d4 28.bxc5 Bxc5 29.Bd3 Ra8 30.Re2 Rda7 31.Rdd2 Bc4 32.e6 Bxe6 33.Ne5 Bc4 34.Qf3 Qf6 35.g3 Bxd3 36.Nxd3 Rc8 37.Rc2 Qd6 38.Re5 Rac7 39.Rce2 Qc6 40.Rd5 Rd7 41.Rxd7+ Qxd7

42.Ne5 Qc7 43.Rc2 Qb6 44.Qd5 Rc7 45.Nf3 d3 46.Qxd3 Be7 47.Re2 Bf6 48.Ng5 Bxg5 49.hxg5 Qc5 50.Qd8 Ra7 51.Kh3 Qc4 52.Rd2 Kh7 53.Kh2 Rxa2 54.Qe7+ Kg8 55.Qe8+ Kg7 56.Qe7+ ½–½.

The city of Biel, with a chess poster, on a quiet Sunday afternoon

The Biel Chess Festival posters all over the city

Outdoor chess on the streets of Biel/Bienne

Avrukh-Motylev was another stirring battle. White made the early running, but his queenside breakthrough stalled and he was reduced to repeating moves. Motylev avoided the draw with 35...Re8, but this proved optimistic, and White should probably have made more of his assortment of pieces against the queen.

Avrukh,B (2645) - Motylev,A (2648) [A29]
GM Biel SUI (7), 31.07.2007
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0–0 Nb6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.d3 0–0 9.Be3 f5 10.b4 Bd6 11.b5 Ne7 12.Qb3+ Kh8 13.Ng5 Qe8 14.a4 f4 15.Bd2 h6 16.Nf3 Nf5 17.a5 Be6 18.Qb2 Nd7 19.Ne4 Bd5 20.Bc3 Qe6 21.Bh3 Qe7

22.b6 Qe8 23.bxc7 Bxc7 24.Bb4 Qh5 25.Bg2 Rfe8 26.Rfc1 Rac8 27.Qc2 a6 28.Qa4 Red8 29.Qa3 Nb8 30.Bc3 Nc6 31.Qb2 Qe8 32.Bh3 Qh5 33.Bg2 Qe8 34.Bh3 Qh5 35.Bg2 Re8 36.Qxb7 Rb8 37.Qxc7 Re7

38.Qxb8+ Nxb8 39.Bxe5 Nc6 40.Bb2 Rb7 41.Rc2 Qe8 42.Rac1 Rb8 43.g4 Nfe7 44.Bc3 Bb3 45.Rb2 Be6 46.Rb6 Bxg4 47.Rxa6 Qh5 48.Rb6 Rxb6 49.axb6 Qb5 50.h3 Bxf3 51.Bxf3 Qxb6 52.Nc5 Qb8 53.Ne6 Ne5 54.Be4 f3 55.exf3 Qd6 56.Nxg7 Qa3 57.Rc2 Qb3 58.Rc1 Qa3 59.Rc2 Qb3 ½–½.

The only disappointing game of the day was Bu-Grischuk. They evidently decided that a single day's rest was not enough, engineering a well-known draw by repetition, after barely an hour's play.

Bu Xiangzhi (2685) - Grischuk,A (2726) [D39]
GM Biel SUI (7), 31.07.2007
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Qb3 Bxb5 13.Nxb5 0–0 14.0–0 Nc6 15.c4 Rad8 16.Qg3+ Kh8 17.Qh4 Kg7 18.Qg3+ Kh8 19.Qh4 Kg7 20.Qg3+ ½–½.

This exact position has occurred in Ftacnik-Khenkin 2003, Olafsson-Aronian 2004, Pelletier-Sargissian
2004, Cramling-Mkrtchian 2004, Novikov-Shulman2006, Vallejo-Topalov 2006, Rustemov-Jakovenko 2006, and doubtless in another few games in recent years. All were drawn.

• Tournament web site

Video from the Biel Chess Festival

What do you think about the FIDE cycle? "Okay, it is just terrible, so many terrible things. Everybody knows it, why should I repeat it?" Are you a chess or a poker player? "Now that I qualified [for the world championship] I am back in chess. I study a lot, train a lot. So now I am in chess." [Grischuk is a semi-professional poker player].

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