Dortmund 2006 Gets Underway! Round 1 Report ...

by John Lee Shaw



The Dortmund Chess Tournament began on the 29th July, in Germany. Returning to defend his title, is last year's Champion Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2664). In what is a very strong field, he is joined by Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2743), Boris Gelfand (ISR 2729), Baadur Jobava (GEO 2651), Levon Aronian (ARM 2761), Peter Svidler (RUS 2742), Michael Adams (ENG 2732), and Peter Leko (HUN 2738). The tournament will be played over 7 rounds, concluding on August 6th.


Leko v Naiditsch: 2005 Winner, Naiditsch, knew that no match in this year's championship was going to be easy. Making it a little harder for him was that Peter Leko had not played a tournament in a little while, so not only was his form hard to judge, but also he will have had some time to work on his opening repertoire. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that Leko has ever played the Catalan with the White pieces, and Naiditsch really can't have expected him to start now. However, that he did, and the defending Champion can't possibly not have been thrown by it. Leko was the first to deviate from known theory, his 11.Nh4!? being new, (see diagram, below).

Prior to this move, 11.Ne1 or 11.Qd4 had been played, but Leko's novelty seems to be a credible alternative. Naiditsch seemed ready for it, playing 11...Qb6 with equality. Both players played strongly, but perhaps Black's mistake was not occupying the e5 square with his knight when he had the chance, playing the plan of 18...a3, and after 19.Rab1, continueing 19...Ba4!? looking to elevate a rook to the c2-square. Leko responded strongly, (as all great players do when they see the slightest opportunity), with 20.Qd4! After 20...Qxd4, 21.Nxd4 Bc2, Leko calmly played 22.Rbc1, with tempo on the bishop, and after 22...Bd3, exchanged rooks and pawns on a3. Then, with 25.f4, he threatened to very quickly get his central pawns moving, and things were already getting quite bad for black. While Naiditsch tried desperately for counter play, Leko patiently improved his stance, bringing his king into play with Re3 (hitting the black bishop on d3) and Kf2. Then he was ready with e5, and after exchanges e6, and the e-pawn became a decisive thorn in Black's side. Leko was clinical, and a few moves later Naiditsch was resigning the game. A very nice return to tournament chess from Peter Leko, who obviously has had no holiday!


Adams v Aronian: This game (a Spanish, predictably maybe) followed theory for quite some way, until Aronian played 20...Be7-d8, (see diagram, right). Previously, 20...Qc7 had been played, (by Stefansson against Svidler, Nordic Grand Prix 1997, and White had won that game in 35 moves). The position was about equal until black's 27...Bg5, (27...Be7 or ...Red8 would have kept the balance), which is a misjudgement, and allowed 28.Bxg5 hxg5, 29.b4, with the better of things. Here again, Aronian seemed to misjudge things, opting for 29...Nc4 instead of ...Nc6, which was the better alternative. The point is, that after 29...Nc4, White wins a pawn by force, and it would surprise me greatly if a player of Aronian's calibre missed this possibility. Adams went for the pawn, with 30.Rxa8 Qxa8, 31.Bxc4 Bxc4, 32.Qxd6. This just seems a free pawn to me, and with Black's g-pawns being doubled, this would be even more telling. Queens were exchanged immediately, and the endgame gave Adams a passed b-pawn, which he invested in order to start mopping up on the black kingside. White held an unquestionable edge, but did Adams misjudge his chances at move 58? Respect for Mickey says not, but then I have to wonder why he played 58.Rxg5, which draws, where as 58.Rf3 has black having to play very precisely with the stance against him. As it was, the game was agreed drawn after 58.Rxg5.


Jobava v Svidler: Georgian GM Baadur Jobava earned his invitation to this tournament by winning the strong Aeroflot Open tournament this year. This was following a nice showing at Wijk aan Zee in January. A force for the future for certain, he is impressing many people, and I believe I am correct in saying is part of team Topalov for his match against Kramnik coming up in September. (That will make round 6 interesting, when the two are set to meet!) In this round, he was up against world #3 Peter Svidler. If there is one thing about Jobava that will no doubt earn him fans, it is that he does not hold back, and is scared of nobody across a chessboard. Playing White, he took Svidler on in his beloved Grunfeld Defence, and left theory straight away with 8.Be2!? (see diagram, left).

You will be delighted to know, I am sure, that Svidler did not capture on g2, which would of course have dropped the Queen to Bf3, and I am sure that Baadur played Be2 with one of his wry smiles. However, let's not forget that this is the guy who beat GM Grischuk with a 95% home-cooked game, so no novelty that he plays can be taken lightly! Anyway, I digress -- Svidler developed nicely with 8...Bg7, and there followed 9.Nf3 Nd7, 10.0-0 Nb6, with equality. Both players played strongly and solidly, but something started to happen for Jobava around the 24th move mark.

The diagram to the left shows the position after White's 24.Bg3, with a slight edge. The reasoning behind this evaluation is not only a slight spacial plus, but also the quality of White's pieces, especially the bishop on g3, which is much superior to black's on g7. Granted, black can get rid of it with ...Nf5 and ...Nxg3, but that requires time, during which White can play Rb5, following with Rdb1, and black has a few problems. However, I must say that I don't really understand the move that Svidler did choose in this position, which was 24...h5!? which is nicely answered by either h3 or f3. The Georgian chose a different path, 25.Qb2, still with initiative, and there followed 25...Bf6!? (this seems time consuming, and maybe should have given way to 25...Nf5) 26.h3 Re7, and perhaps Jobava should have played 27.Bh2 instead of his 27.Qa3, as this seems to change things considerably, taking away the potency of ...Nf5. As it was, Bh2 should definitely have been played after Svidler's 27...Nf5, but White erred with the seemingly powerful 28.d5? However, after 28...Qd6 (see diagram, below left), black is every bit equal.

There followed, 29.Bh2 (and I am not so sure, but this doesn't seem to be such a great piece now) Ree8, 30.e4 Ng7, and then the very flashy 31.Rd4, but even this move can not break the equality. 31...Rab8 was a nice answer, but after 32.Ra1, Svidler made a mistake with 32...Be7? Black had to try for liquidation of sorts with ...c6 or ...Red8. Jobava pounced with 33.Rxc4, but after 33...c6, Jobava's 34.Qa2? (Rd1!) allowed Svidler to relieve some tension with 34...cxd5 with equality. There followed a sequence which left White with 6 pawns, queen and rook, against the 5 pawns, knight and bishop, and queen of black, evaluations were even. At this point, there was perhaps a refusal by Baadur to accept that things had not worked out, and maybe his best option was to just play good moves and settle for a draw. However, this is not really his style when he is in such a mood as he seemed in this game, and it was probably his un-doing. With 44.Ra7, he went pawn hunting, and a move or so later Svidler was winning. Jobava was never back in the game, and resigned on move 56.


Gelfand v Kramnik: Well, what can one say about this game? I was quite excited to see the Meran come out, but before I could get myself comfortable, the players had agreed a draw. Theory was only left with Kramnik's 13...Qb8 and fairly natural moves followed until move 19 when they shook hands. Certainly one can say that the position is not resolved when the draw was agreed, and I think that it is quite disappointing when quick draws like this happen at big tournaments.


Round 1 standings: Leko, Svidler -- 1/1; Gelfand, Aronian, Adams, Kramnik -- 0.5/1; Jobava, Naiditsch -- 0/1.

Dortmund 2006: Round 2 Report ...

by John Lee Shaw


The Dortmund Chess Tournament began on the 29th July, in Germany. Returning to defend his title, is last year's Champion Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2664). In what is a very strong field, he is joined by Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2743), Boris Gelfand (ISR 2729), Baadur Jobava (GEO 2651), Levon Aronian (ARM 2761), Peter Svidler (RUS 2742), Michael Adams (ENG 2732), and Peter Leko (HUN 2738). The tournament will be played over 7 rounds, concluding on August 6th.


Adams v Jobava: Not surprisingly, the game was a Caro-Kann, with Adams pulling out 12.Ne5 (see diagram, left) which appears to be new. Shytaj-Peralta, 37th Olympiad 2006, had continued 12.Qe4, and the game had been drawn. White held a slight advantage, but that is not surprising in openings such as the Caro-Kann, where black is looking to contain and control things, and set out his stall. Don't let engine evaluations fool you when looking at openings such as this, and the Sicilian, and Slav for example. They will all give a big plus score, but in reality, black is ok.

Things were relatively calm until Adam's 17th move, Be3, which is an offer to black of the b2-pawn. This, Jobava accepted, and after 18.Rab1, also took the a-pawn with 18...Qxa2, which appears to be a mistake. If not, then I would be interested to know what Baadur intended upon 19.Bc5! which seems a bit better than Adams' 19.Rxb7. For example, 19.Bc5 Re8, 20.Bxe7 Rxe7, 21.Rxb7 seems quite nice for White. After 19.Rxb7, Jobava played 19...Ng6! and whatever advantage White had seemed to have evaporated. Adams took what seems to have been the best option, in 20.Rxd7 Nxe5, 21.Rd2 Qxd2, 22.Bxd2 Nxg4, 23.Bxg4 a5 and here the game was agreed drawn. Quite a comfortable game for both players it seemed.


Leko v Svidler: The winners of round one got in to a Sicilian Najdorf, which left theory on move 17 with Svidler's ...Qc4-c7 (see diagram, right).  There followed 18.Nf1 which I am not sure of the reasoning behind to be totally honest. With Leko's g-pawn being so far advanced, I would not be surprised if the idea was to play the knight to g3, when exchanging on g3 would only open lines for white, and exchanging on h5 is not so good either for black. Also an interesting possibility is Ng3-f5, and before you groan at me, I didn't say it was good, just interesting! :-) It is my opinion, though, that a knight on f5 would be quite annoying for black, as leaving it there is like a thorn in his side, capturing gives white two very advanced pawns, and ...g6 would be just what white wants. Possibly this is why Svidler launched out with 18...f5, and it does seem to be the absolute best option in this position, as I do not think black could allow Ng3. Very intersting play by Leko. After 18...f5, there followed 19.gxf6 Nxf6, and here you will notice that the sting has been removed from Ng3, due to the f8 rook eyeing White's queen on f2. 20.Ng3 would be nicely met by ...Ng4! and all of a sudden, it is Black with the attack. Not surprisingly, then, Leko had to change tack, and this is were he really confuddles me -- 20.Rd3!? I am no Grandmaster, but I really don't get this move, it must be a part of some in-depth plan that is beyond my vision. In saying that, though, evaluations after Svidler's 20...Rf7, do tend to say that the pendulum has swung towards Black now. Perhaps Leko wanted to play for a win, and looked at the line 20.Bh6 Rf7, 21.Ne3 and evaluated it as being equal, and tried to find a way of keeping the game alive. Sometimes in chess, however, one just has to accept things are how they are. Anyway, after 20...Rf7, there came 21.Bg5 Nh5 (...Qa5 is possibly stronger), 22.Bxe7 Qxe7, 23.Ne3 and the game was agreed drawn.


Aronian v Kramnik: A rare outing for the Queens Gambit Accepted in a top tournament, and the game followed Zhong-Sorokin, Aeroflot Open 2004, which was drawn in 50. Aronian deviated with 15.Qa4, (shown left), and didn't really seem to get a lot from it. Some exchanges took place, and Kramnik mobilised his rooks very nicely along the d-file. White's 21.Raf1!? should probably have given way to Rff1 with equality, though black has fine play here. As it was, Kramnik wasted no time in coming forward with 21...Rd2, 22.Qe1 Qd4, 23.e6! and it is this move which maintains the equality, without it, Black is starting to swing things. Kramnik played the best move, 23...Rd1, and there followed 24.Qxd1 which is a temporary giving of material (the other option, 24.Qe2 would probably result in repetition 24...Rd2, 25.Qe1 etc.). Both players played flawlessly, 24...Qxd1, 25.e7 Qxf1+, 26.Rxf1 Re8, 27.Rd1 f5, 28.Bxf5 Rxe7, bringing about a relatively even rook and knight v rook and bishop endgame. The rooks and pieces came off not much afterwards, and white probably had a slight edge in the resulting position. However, making progress would not be easy (if at all) and so they shook hands and split the point.


Naiditsch v Gelfand: This game saw a Sicilian, which followed theory quite some way. There was some excitement on the playchess server where I was watching the games live, when Naiditsch played 10.Bxb5 (see diagram, right), and Gelfand seemed to take a few minutes thinking time. The earliest game I have in my database (which probably could use a touch up here and there) is from 1957, Conrady-Walther, Dublin, 0-1, but it was also played most recently prior to this game, in the Amsterdam Chess Tournament, Li Shilong-Becker, 1-0. Gelfand obviously had to do a bit of sorting out in his mental archives. The game that this one followed, was van der Wiel-Renet, Cannes team Championships, 1992, which was drawn in 30. Naiditsch left theory on his 17th move, playing Rd1 instead of van der Wiel's Bxe7+. I am wondering if this was found over the board, or whether it was preparation, because it seems that after 17...Nf6! black is absolutely fine upon the two main continuations (18.fxe5 and 18.Nxa8) infact, seems to be ahead. As it was, Gelfand did not play the best response, but chose 17...Bd5 with equality. Here, the best option for White was to bail with 18.Rxd5! exd5, 19.Bxe7+ Kxe7, 20.N3xd5+ Kd8, which is absolutely even. However, the defending Dortmund Champion had other ideas, playing 18.N3xd5? which was inaccurate and led to trouble after 18...exd5, 19.Qxd5 (Rxd5 is better, but maybe White was concerned about ...Nb6. However, it seems that after Bxe7+ things are only slightly worse for White) Bxg5, 20.fxg5 Rxa2. Gelfand was playing powerfully, and I am not quite certain why he allowed the draw by repetition a few moves later. A misjudgement perhaps, or time trouble? Black seemed to be well ahead.


Round 2 Standings: Leko, Svidler -- 1.5/2; Aronian, Kramnik, Adams, Gelfand -- 1.0/2; Naiditsch, Jobava -- 0.5/2

Round 3, Tuesday 1st August: Jobava v Aronian; Leko v Adams; Gelfand v Svidler; Kramnik v Naiditsch

Dortmund 2006: Round 3 Report ...

by John Lee Shaw


The Dortmund Chess Tournament began on the 29th July, in Germany. Returning to defend his title, is last year's Champion Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2664). In what is a very strong field, he is joined by Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2743), Boris Gelfand (ISR 2729), Baadur Jobava (GEO 2651), Levon Aronian (ARM 2761), Peter Svidler (RUS 2742), Michael Adams (ENG 2732), and Peter Leko (HUN 2738). The tournament will be played over 7 rounds, concluding on August 6th.


Kramnik v Naiditsch: Definitely the highlight of the round, this game, and it certainly caused a lot of excitement on the playchess server where I was watching the game live. In the Open Catalan, Naiditsch had seen the position at his 9...Na5 twice before, (Avrukh-Naiditsch, 21st ECC Saint Vincent 2005, and Nielsen-Naiditsch, Dortmund 2005) both continueing 10.Qc2 and being won by Naiditsch. No doubt Kramnik was aware of this, and so chose a different path of 10.Qd3, (see diagram, left). Black's response was an immediate 10...c5!? which led to a pawn sacrifice after 11.dxc5 Bxc5, 12.Qc3 Rc8, and Kramnik picked up the gauntlet with his 13.Qxg7. Most on the playchess server were believing that Naiditsch had just erred, here, especially after his 13...Bf8, but this does seem to be a daring lure to Kramnik. Taking the rook with 14.Qxh8!? would lead to something like 14...Rxc1+, 15.Kd2 Rxh1, 16.Bxh1 Ba5+, and here White's best appears to be 17.Qd4, when black can continue 17...Nac4 or 17...Bg7 for example. Maybe white is still better here, but Black certainly has his fair share of compensation and possibilities. Very commendable play by Naiditsch!

As it was, after 13...Bf8, Kramnik probably noticed that Arkadij was doing a lot of walking about/picking his finger nails/whistling innocently, and so bailed out with 14.Qg5, and upon 14...Qxg5, 15.Bxg5 (forced of course as the bishop is hanging on c1 after Nxg5) black is a mere pawn down, but with more than enough activity to compensate -- and would regain his material a few moves later anyway, with equality. Kramnik's 19.Bd6!? (see diagram, left) seems to be something of an inaccuracy, though it was certainly well thought out in preventing moves such as ...Ke7, connecting rooks for Black. However, maybe it was a little out of context in this situation, the c-file, and especially White's c2-square being of more importance. Here, Naiditsch could have played more powerfully, with 19...Rc2, and I like Black's position very much here. The question being, what does White do? After 20.0-0 Bg7 black has the better activity, and probably has a slight edge. 20.Kd1 is met by ...Ba4, which gives the Black king a very useful square on d7, and makes White's Bd6 look a bit silly. As it was, play got a little scrappy here, resulting in black winning a pawn (though only temporarily) with some advantage. Play progressed to Black beginning to march his passed b-pawn, but White was able o exchange down some and contain it. The game ended up being drawn in 44 moves. A nice game indeed.


Leko v Adams: Having had no recorded White games involving the Catalan before in his career, Peter Leko is obviously making up for lost time, taking it out once again for his game against England's Michael Adams. They played an interesting line, which to be honest looks to be chaos to people such as I who have no experience in the Catalan what-so-ever. White gives up his Queen for 3 pieces and the disintergration of black's Q-side pawns. Shown in the diagram to the right, Leko's 15.Rd1 was the new move, (from Gustafsson-Shabalov, 3rd ACP Blitz 2004), and I put my hands up and say that I have absolutely no clue how to evaluate the position after Adam's 15...Qg5. The chess engines will give black as winning, but we all know how fickle they can be! Experience tells me that they may have a point in this instance, though, but the problem is how to go about making it tell. That is certainly not straight forward at all, and it did not really shock me when they repeated moves and drew on move 25. I know that this would have caused some groans, but one has to give the players respect, here, and understand that in such a critical and unclear position, ering on the side of caution can be the wisest thing. Yes, the engines say black is winning, and give 21...Rd6 as a good way of proceeding, instead of Adams' 21...Qb6. However, anyone who has played chess under this kind of condition will know that it is never quite as simple as engines make out. To be honest, even with an engine, I can make no sense of this game :-) It was certainly interesting.


Jobava v Aronian: Baadur Jobava is a GM after my own heart, and played the English Opening against his good friend Levon Aronian. The game followed a line that was played by Korchnoi against Bareev, Tilburg 1991. Black doubles White's c-pawns, and then gives up his e-pawn in order to get castled and develop the rook speedily along the e-file. Further time is gained by the fact that it attacks White's queen in the process, and that White's king is still uncastled and on e1. Thus, I feel this is quite an interesting idea for Black, and Aronian's weilding of it might provoke some further tests. Aronian was the one to leave theory, doing so with 13...Qe7 (Korchnio had played 13...Rb8 and the game had been drawn in 31). Here, already, the outlook seemed to be that the game would draw, with niether side seeming to have very active options, however, with the opposite coloured bishops, there was a little hope. Jobava's continuation of 15.a4!? is not to my liking, and I would have preferred to have castled and tried to do something along the b-file. Of course, it would be likely that black would play 15...b6, but with the extra c-pawn, I would have at least given this a go. However, it does appear that 15.0-0 and 15.a4 are as good as each other, and totally equal. It was not really surprising, therefore, when the players exchanged a couple of bits before splitting the point on move 21.


Gelfand v Svidler: This encounter was a Grunfeld Defence, (no surprise there), and followed theory until Gelfand brought ot a new move with 15.Nd2 -- 15.Bb5 had previously been tried, favouring White. Gelfand's move seems a little quieter. From the diagram position (right) black responded well, with 15...f6, but really something like this had to be played I think, due to White's active plan of Ne4-d6, for example, even preceeded by Bf3 and exchanging off the b7-bishop first. Black can not just sit and wait here. The players exchanged down in to a minor piece endgame, with black having the two bishops, and possibly the better chances. However, the players agreed a draw on move 29.









Round 3 Standings: Leko, Svidler -- 2.0/3; Aronian, Kramnik, Adams, Gelfand -- 1.5/3; Naiditsch, Jobava -- 1.0/3.

Round 4, Tuesday 1st August: Aronian v Naiditsch; Svidler v Kramnik; Adams v Gelfand; Jobava v Leko.

Dortmund 2006: Round 4 Report ...

by John Lee Shaw


The Dortmund Chess Tournament began on the 29th July, in Germany. Returning to defend his title, is last year's Champion Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2664). In what is a very strong field, he is joined by Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2743), Boris Gelfand (ISR 2729), Baadur Jobava (GEO 2651), Levon Aronian (ARM 2761), Peter Svidler (RUS 2742), Michael Adams (ENG 2732), and Peter Leko (HUN 2738). The tournament will be played over 7 rounds, concluding on August 6th.


Adams v Gelfand: This was most definitely the game of the round, and took a staggering 117 moves to complete -- 7½ hours worth of play! The Najdorf Sicilian actually followed a game that Gelfand had played, also as black, against Vishy Anand in the 2000 FIDE World Cup. That game had been quite a quick one (draw in 21), very much different to the one that we are about to deal with! Adams deviated from the game with Anand by playing 13.Be2-d3 (Anand had played 13.Rfc1), and this is shown in the diagram to the left. Gelfand chose to challenge the bishop with 13...Bc4, and after 14.Rfd1 Qc7, 15.h3 Rfe8, Adams obtained nice play via 16.Bxc4 Qxc4, and 17.Ra4. Gelfand could have responded better to this, by playing 17...Qe6 instead of 17...Qc6. The reason being, that after 17...Qe6, the nice follow up move after ...Qc6, namely Rb4, is nicely answered by ...Rc4! Here, White's best is to exchange on c4 with a slight edge -- the tantilising Rxb7, is answered strongly by ...Nxe4! as the Bd4 is hanging to Black's bishop and rook.


Gelfand opted for 17...Qc6, however, and after 18.Rb4, Adams obtained nice central occupation with his pieces, and activity on the Queenside. Under pressure, Gelfand had to seek some exchanges, and try and relieve his situation, but his 22...Rc4? was not the best way to do it. I am interested as to what the time situation was around this stage, because some oversights were made by both players. For example, after 22...Rc4? (see diagram, left) Adams could have merely played the very strong 23.Bxe5!! All roads lead to Rome for White, here, it is simply winning. If 23...Rxa4, then 25.Bxg7 with the threat of Qh6 to follow (which in itself threatens to mate via the tactical Nf6+) and so 25...Kxg7 is pretty much forced here. White can then continue 26.Qc3+ followed by 27.b4! and the rook is trapped. Adams, however, decided on the next best move and played 23.Rxc4, and although this was clearly advantageous to White, it did somewhat give Black what he wanted.



A further slip from Mickey came after the exchanges, in the position shown to the left. Gelfand had just played 30...b4, and Mickey replied inaccurately with 31.Qa1. This is not a bad move as such, it does not have any dire consequences for White, indeed White is still very much on top. However, it does also allow Black to exchange on a6. Had Adams played his Queen up one square, with 31.Qc4! black would have been in all kinds of trouble, with Rxb7 or axb7 being enormous threats. Also, of course, you will notice that ...bxa6 is not possible for Black here, as it just drops the c6-knight. Even with 31.Qa1, however, Adams was able to build up tremendous pressure against Black, but when Gelfand was able to force the exchange of Queens, the game took the shape of a rook and knight endgame, where Adams ended up being two pawns the better, and winning. However, such endgames are not converted quickly, and both players were low on time, and Gelfand had nothing to lose by playing it out. However, Adams' technique came through for him, he exchanged off Black's remaining pawns, and patiently consolidated his position. With his two advanced passed pawns, and all of his pieces active, White was able to sacrifice his rook for the black knight. The passed pawns were on different wings of the board, and so too much for the King and rook to cover. Gelfand had to face the inevitable, resigning on move 117. A very instructive game, this, I would strongly advise you to take a good look at it -- nice work from Mickey Adams!

Aronian v Naiditsch: A close second to the above game, was defending Dortmund champion, Arkadij Naiditsch who faced Levon Aronian as Black. I believe that Naiditsch will be extremely disappointed with this game, because it seems that he was seriously out-prepared. Their Nimzo-Indian followed a game that Naiditsch himself had played (also as black) against Erwin l'Ami at this year's Wijk aan Zee (round 11 to be precise). Kibitzing online, Erwin announced, after Aronian's 12.g4 (see right -- idea being that if ...Bxg4, White obtains powerful play along the g-file, and if not, then Rg1-g3 is a serious threat of simply trapping the bishop) that he was curious how the game would develop. The game deviated with Aronian's 13.a3! where l'Ami had played 13.Nf5 and had gone on to lose. Apparently he had then later gone home and found 13.a3 as being a serious improvement himself. His assessment was that the new move was deep trouble (or words to that effect) for black. Naiditsch chose 13...Qa5 in answer to the novelty, but already things are looking quite promising for White upon Aronian's 14.Rc1 (14.Rg1!? might be even better!)

Arkadij chose to exchange on c3 (time is of the essence for black, because should White be able to play Rg1, things are extremely critical) and this seems to be the best choice here. The alternative of ...Bd6 is not too bad if white grabs the pawn on b7, but is just not good enough against Rg1. So, after 14...Bxc3+, 15.Rxc3, there came 15...Nc5 and I don't really like Aronian's 16.Qb4, which allowed the doubling of his b-pawns. I am interested as to why he didn't play 16.Qb5, as it seems far superior to me -- one possible continuation is: 16...Qxb5, 17.Nxb5 Na4, 18.Rb3 and here White seems to have a wonderful position. Of course, the situation after Levon's choice did not work out too badly for him, Black grabbed a pawn, and also got rid of his bystanding h3-bishop and a knight for one of White's rooks. White had a clear edge, but black was allowed to become active enough for this to gradually lessen. However, Aronian will kick himself for missing (in the diagram position, right) 35.Be5+! which seems to win for White. The idea, for example: 35...Kh3, 36.Rh1+ Kg2 (...Kg4? 37.Nd4! threatens f3 mate), 37.Rg1+ and Black will be lucky (after 37...Kxf2, 38.Rxg5) not to get mated. As it was, Aronian played the inferior 35.f4 and imaginative defence by Naiditsch led to a draw 10 moves later. Actually, it is a tough decision who I think will be more disgruntled by this game, Naiditsch for its opening, or Aronian for its ending. Answers on a postcard.


Jobava v Leko: This game was a Queens Indian, and though Jobava left book quite early on with his 8.dxc5!? (Nxd5 or e4 having been tried before) niether side really looked to be up for it, and they shook hands at move 22.


Svidler v Kramnik: Vladimir Kramnik brought out his Petroff's Defence, and the game followed theory quite some way. It was Kramnik who varied (from van Oosterom-Rause 18th World Correspondence Championships 2003 1-0) with his 22...f6 (...Ng6 was previously played). White had a slight advantage, but did not really seem to try to do much with it. Black had things pretty well contained, and it was not long before the players were exchanging down. Draw in 39 moves.



Round 4 Standings: Leko, Svidler, Adams -- 2.5/4; Aronian, Kramnik -- 2.0/4; Naiditsch, Jobava, Gelfand -- 1.5/4.

Round 5, Friday 4th August: Leko v Aronian; Gelfand v Jobava; Kramnik v Adams; Naiditsch v Svidler

Dortmund 2006: Round 5 Report ...

by John Lee Shaw


The Dortmund Chess Tournament began on the 29th July, in Germany. Returning to defend his title, is last year's Champion Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2664). In what is a very strong field, he is joined by Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2743), Boris Gelfand (ISR 2729), Baadur Jobava (GEO 2651), Levon Aronian (ARM 2761), Peter Svidler (RUS 2742), Michael Adams (ENG 2732), and Peter Leko (HUN 2738). The tournament will be played over 7 rounds, concluding on August 6th.


Gelfand v Jobava:With events in the middle east at the moment, it must be an extremely worrying time for Boris Gelfand, and sitting down to play chess obviously pails in comparison to the turmoil facing his homeland right now. This being said, it is even more admirable that he can demostrate the kind of chess that he did in this game, and against one of the most up-coming Grandmasters around these days. The game turned in to a Sicilian Maroczy, with Gelfand leaving theory with his 16.0-0 (see diagram, left). Jobava responded quite well to this, playing 16...Bc5, which keeps the a3-square eyed -- after the natural Nd5 from White, a3 would threaten to expand the queenside with b4, for example, with the d2-bishop now supporting. There followed: 17.Na4 Ba3, 18.Rb1 Bb7, 19.f3 Bc6. Here, Black's position has much improved, and Jobava can be quite satisfied with his opening. Here, Gelfand chose to grab the black a5-pawn, with 20.Bxa5, opting against possible better alternatives such as Nb2 (preserving his pawns) or the developing move, Rfd1.


Jobava wisely chose to exchange on the queenside, leaving White with doubled a-pawns, and isolated c-pawn. Here, however, he played a move that surprises me. The diagram to the left shows the position after White's 21.bxa4, and here, Jobava played 21...Kd7. Now, in evaluating this move, let us look at the situation. It is an endgame, and Black's king is relatively centralised. I believe it was Alexander Kotov who said that if one has the chance of moving the opponent's king away from the centre in an endgame, one should, in most cases, take it. While black's choice of move is not disasterous, every little counts in top level chess, and 21...Bc5+! in my opinion would have served black far better, he could always have followed white's only move of Kh1 with ...Kd7. Thus, not only connecting rooks, and activating his king, but also moving White's king to the very corner of the board. Now, if a mere mortal like me can spot this, then I think that Baadur should give himself a little tap on the wrist for this inaccuracy, which meant the difference between equality and White maintaining a slight edge.

Instead, Jobava wanted his knight to go to the c5-square, obviously targetting the White a4-pawn, and with a means to an end, he did win this, but it cost him time, while White improved his position, and prepared to advance c4-c5. Gelfand achieved this on move 28, with an increased edge. After exchanges, the position shown to the left was reached, with White having the two bishops, which in this kind of position is somewhat better than the knight and bishop of Black. Also, with Black's knight on b2 being pinned, (though not dangerously admittedly), black had some sorting out to do. Here, I do not understand Gelfand's move of 31.a4!? Perhaps, here, white's best option was to play 31.Rc1, which practically forces 31...Be5, and then 32.Bxa7 is a playable follow up. Black can not play 32...Ra8, for example, due to 33.Bb5+ and after 33...Ke6 (forced), 34.Rc6 leaves Black in dire trouble.




Another slip came a little later, in the following position, and this is very instructive I think, so I am including it as a special point of interest. The position to the left occurred at White's 35th move (black has just played 34...axb5). I think it was Garry Kasparov who said that chess is a matter of 'space, quality, and time', and I believe that in the endgame, time is increasingly important. For this reason, I think that Gelfand's choice of 35.a5 to be incorrect. It passes the a-pawn, indeed, but let us look at the alternative of 35.Ba7! Firstly, upon 35...Ra8, White simply plays 36.Bd4+ and there are threats galore, but simply what does Black do about the check coming next from the White rook, which will pick up the b-pawn at the very least? 35...Ra8 just loses. So, then, 35...Rb7 (Black must try to protect his b-pawn) and here is where the time element comes in, and this is a useful device to remember and look for in chess, endgames especially. After 35...Rb7, we still play 38.Bd4+ and after ...Ke6, we now play 39.a5! Compare this with the 35.a5 that actually happened in the game, and you will see that the mere delay of it by 2 moves makes the difference between an advantage, and a technically won position. The reason being, is that it now costs Black time to target the pawn, ...Ra8 is not possible for Black, where-as it was playable for Jobava on his move 35.

However, already worrying about the pawn, Jobava decided that he had to waste no time in bringing his king over to help contain it, with 35...Ke6? -- an error in judgement (...Ra8 was far better, though still not easy to save the game). Here, the game got a bit scrappy, so I am curious as to what the time situation was. Mistakes and inaccuracies were made by both, which resulted in a game that could have already been decided by move 39 to being just a slight edge to white at the same stage. The players exchanged down and at move 46 were in an endgame with 4 connected k-side pawns each, (see diagram, left). Here, White holds a slight edge, due to being more centralised. However, to win would take a lot of effort, and I do know that Gelfand had less time on the clock than Jobava.

Infact, it took a further 67 moves for White to grind Black down into capitulation. Both sides ended up promoting a pawn, but Gelfand had a pawn spare, and I would encourage you to study the ending of this game for yourself, as it is extremely useful should you wish to improve your endgame. Unfortunately it demands a little more time and space for me to get into here. A nice game from Gelfand, especially with his marathon defeat at the hands of Mickey Adams in the previous round.

Leko v Aronian: If Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian spent the rest day swatting up on his Catalan, he would have been pretty miffed when his Hungarian opponent shoved his e-pawn forward. You know, I really think that Peter Leko is having fun in this tournament, his play seems refreshed and confident from his few months break, and seems to have a touch of 'bring it on' about it. He played the Exchnage Ruy, with 6.d3, an unusual line which I can only find 17 games of, the most recent being back in 2005 at the Dubai Open, and a 25-move win by black. It was Aronian who left known ground with his 7...Ne7 (7...Be6 had previously been tried, in Rozentalis-Mastrovasilis, Acropolis GM Open, 2005 1-0) and this is shown in the diagram to the right. I suppose it would be fair to say that play went a little bit 'south-paw', with Leko especially opting for some inferior and un-natural moves, I believe deliberately in order to get away from theoretical grounds. Don't get me wrong, here, his position was still good, as were his moves, but I just mean that there were better ones available. I am certainly not being critical, it was nice to see top players playing chess instead of debating theory!

The game seemed to be approaching a situation where one would expect the players to agree a draw, the centre became quite immobile, and there was little contact between the pieces. The diagram position, (right) shows the situation after White's 17.Qg4! I give this move an exclamation mark, because it illustrates perfectly that Black does not sit so well as it seems. The problem is, that after exchanging, (17...Qxg4, 18.Nxg4), the Bf6 is not such a great piece anymore -- simply where does it go, and to what outlook? The alternative of not exchanging queens is not really that great either, because White's own queen is aggressively placed. Aronian played 17...Qc6 (I think I would have chosen ...Rad8 (which still does nothing about White's intended g3) and developed a piece, not that I am any authority) and here came 18.g3, which now shows just how quickly white can get things moving. The point here, of course, is that Leko can advance on the kingside because the classical counter to a flank attack of opening the centre is not possible for Black. Putting it quite simply, with a solid and safe position, Leko can try for more than his slight advantage without any risk. How awesome it is to see Grandmasters 'play chess'!

Aronian, quite obviously had to deal with this, as he is just a stitting duck otherwise. After his 18...Nf8 there came 19.f4 exf4, 20.Bxf6 Qxf6, 21.gxf4 -- the most aggressive recapture. Here, Aronian started to play a little shakily, as his 21...Qg6 could probably have given way to ...Rad8 or ...Ng6. There followed 22.f5 Qxg4, 23.hxg4 (see diagram, right). Perhaps 23.Nxg4 was a little better, but Leko is cleverly keeping things extremely tight and having Aronian do all the worrying. He is just sitting there with his very safe position, keeping things flexible and seeing what Aronian will do. While Levon was busy dealing with the kingside and completing his development, Leko actiivated his king, with Kh1-g2-g3-f4-e3, all the time seeing what Black was intending. Some shuffling about occurred, (time-saving rather than draw attempts), and Leko then employed the c2-c3 advance to support his intended d3-d4. Knights were exchanged, and a pair of rooks, and in the rook endgame, white clearly had the better of things, and maneouvered black in to virtual zgzwang. Very nice play by Leko to extend his lead!

Kramnik v Adams: Mickey took up the Petroff against Kramnik's 1.e4. Adams has been known to use the Petroff quite a lot in his career, but to be honest, it is hard to know more about it than Kramnik. True enough, it was Kramnik who left theory with 11.Ng5 (previously Bg5 had been played) and there followed 11...Bxg5, 12.Bxg5 f6, 13.Be3, (see diagram, left). Already things started to look like a draw here, and When Adams then castled on the Queenside, it was only white's two bishops that made the evaluation anything other than equal. Adams was able to double rook and queen along the d-file, and for a few moves seemed to have some nice play. However, when the rooks were exchanged, it was white with the better game. I think the draw was agreed rather lamely by Kramnik, (on move 41), who probably held an advantage in the final position and could have played it out a little bit more.





Naiditsch v Svidler: The other draw of the round was a closed Ruy, which followed theory until Svidler's 19...g6. White's opening of the a-file, with his 22.axb5 (see diagram, right) was probably a little unwise. Better would have been to maintain tension, with 22.b4. After 22...axb5, 23.Rxa8 Qxa8, black was a little better, and White's grabbing of the d6-pawn with 24.Qxd6? was probably inferior when compared to cxb5 or Nd5, although it led to a passed pawn for white after 24...Nxe4, 25.Bxe4 Bxe4, 26.Nd5 Bxd5 (...bxc4), 27.cxd5. A mistake from Svidler came upon his 28...Qa5? (...Bxc1 was probably best) which gave white a slight edge. However, an inaccuracy or two from Naiditsch and resilient defence from Svidler saved the day for Black. A fighting draw in 59 moves.








Round 5 Standings: Leko -- 3.5/5; Svidler, Adams -- 3.0/5; Gelfand, Kramnik -- 2.5/5; Naiditsch, Aronian -- 2.0/5; Jobava -- 1.5/5.

Round 6, Saturday 5th August: Aronian v Svidler; Adams v Naiditsch; Jobava v Kramnik; Leko v Gelfand.

Dortmund 2006: Round 6 Report ...

by John Lee Shaw


The Dortmund Chess Tournament began on the 29th July, in Germany. Returning to defend his title, is last year's Champion Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2664). In what is a very strong field, he is joined by Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2743), Boris Gelfand (ISR 2729), Baadur Jobava (GEO 2651), Levon Aronian (ARM 2761), Peter Svidler (RUS 2742), Michael Adams (ENG 2732), and Peter Leko (HUN 2738). The tournament will be played over 7 rounds, concluding on August 6th.



Jobava v Kramnik: I cast my mind back to one of my earlier Dortmund reports, and I recall saying that round 6 would be interesting because Jobava and Kramnik would play each other. The reason being that Baadur is a second of Vaselin Topalov. I am just wondering if this fact did not infact complicate this game for him a little, and possibly add to the nerves a bit. Of course, Jobava is a seasoned competitor, and able to prepare extremely well (anyone in doubt can ask GM Grischuk) but still, I am going to stick my neck out here and say that there was possibly a touch more to this loss than a simple over the board mistake.

The game was a Queen's Indian, with Jobava deviating from known theory with his 10.b4. The game proceeded very evenly until Jobava's 14.e5? Really, 14.Bd3 had to be played here -- a natural move anyway, it will still be good for White, while also preventing Kramnik's possibilities to 14.e5. After 14.e5? Kramnik sprung 14...Nxb4! to which 15.axb4 is pretty much forced and the best option, even though it allows Kramnik's 15...Ne4! (see diagram, left). Here, of course, there is immense pressure on the c3-knight, which is pinned to white's queen, ...Bxb4 is to follow, and here Jobava resigned, much to the befuddlement of kibitzers everywhere. To be honest, I am not so befuddled, forced is 16.Rd3 (other moves just lose) then comes 16...Bxb4, which forces 17.Bd2 and after 17...Qc5 for example (threatening to double along the c-file), White is in a very uncomfortable predicament -- against Vladimir Kramnik, who has two passed pawns to boot. Best probably is for Jobava to try 18.Re3 Rfc8 19.Ba6 as if he can not at least get active, he is just being buried alive. However, there is then 19...Nxd2 20.Bxb7 Nxf3+ 21.gxf3 Bxc3+ 22.Kf1 Bd4 and White is in a very difficult situation. To me, Baadur saw that he was going to face a very uphill struggle, and with full respect for his opponent, he resigned. I also think that emotions of the moment played their part too -- it is not easy for any chess player to make a mistake so early in a game, for a Grandmaster with Jobava's reputation, it is even harder. A tough result for Baadur, but he will bounce back from it I am sure.

Leko v Gelfand: This game was a rather quickly drawn Najdorf, with Gelfand playing a novelty on his 10th move. This did not seem to help Gelfand's cause very much though, as after a couple of exchanges White had the advantage. Leko either missed a tactical opportunity on his 14th move, with 14.Bxe6!?, as shown in the diagram to the right, or decided against it. After 14...fxe6, 15.Nxe6 Qc4, 16.Nxg7+, he would have 3 pawns for his piece, and pretty good play I think. However, the game continued 14.0-0 0-0, and here again, Leko could have played Bxe6, and this time picked up a rook after 15...fxe6, 16.Nxe6 Qc4, 17.Rxf8, although I have to say that after ...Rxf8 I don't like it so much for white as at move 14. As the game went, nothing very adventurous was tried, and the players agreed a draw after some exchanges, where white probably had an edge, though nothing dramatic.






Aronian v Svidler: Peter Svidler is probably the leading exponent of the Grunfeld Defence ever, and when taking him on with it, one has to be up to speed, or get steam-rolled. Levon Aronian discovered just that in this round. Black's 9...Nd7 is apparently a new move, (see diagram, left) and black is already equal at worst. Aronian did not respond as well as he might, his 10.Be2 seems a little slow to the eye, and could have been bettered by 10.e4!? Even so, after 10...Qa5, 11.Qc2 Nb6, 12.Bg3 c6, the pendulm seems to swing. After Svidler's 10...Bf5, with tempo on White's Queen, Black already seems to be smothering the position somewhat -- e4 is no longer possible for White, ...Be4 could follow at any point, the d3 square is eyed, and already I was beginning to feel concern for Levon here, even though the evaluation after his 11.Qb2 Bg7 (perhaps ...Nb6 insead) is that things are equal. This being said, an inaccuracy from Svidler, (12...e5 -- 12...c5 is much more in context), gave white an edge, and play took the game to the position shown in the next diagram, with black having just played 19...cxd4 as illustrated.


This is where Aronian seems to have started to go wrong, playing 20.exd4, where re-capturing with the c-pawn seems superior. There followed 20...Nf6, 21.Bb3 Ne4 and Black was starting to improve his situation. After White's 22.Re1 (Bxe5 was also possible) there came 22...Nxc3, and a mistake from Aronian in 23.Rb2? (23.Bxe5=). Svidler pounced with 23...e4 and from this obtained a slight edge. After some exchanges, they were left in a single rook endgame, with same coloured bishops, and 5 pawns a piece. However, due to White having 2 isoloted pawns, and not so centralised King, black's position was favourable. Aronian defended admirably, but after the remaining rooks were exchanged, black had too much play on the queenside of the board, and White has no choice but to capitulate.







Adams v Naiditsch: Not very often we see the Two Knights Defence in GM play (not high-profile GM play anyway) so I suppose it was quite exciting to see it brought out in this game. Adams' 11.Bxd5 was a new move, and probably slightly better than the 11.exd5 that had previously been tried. White enjoyed by far the best of things, but his 28.Nc4 was not good enough to maintain aggressive chances, and brought about an equalibrium after 28...b5 and some exchanges on the queenside. Shortly after the players shook hands and split the point.


Round 6 Standings: Leko, Svidler -- 4.0/6; Adams, Kramnik -- 3.5/6; Gelfand -- 3.0/6; Naiditsch -- 2.5/6; Aronian -- 2.0/6; Jobava -- 1.5/6.

Round 7, Sunday 6thh August: Gelfand v Aronian; Adams v Svidler; Naiditsch v Jobava; Kramnik v Leko.

Dortmund 2006: Vladimir Kramnik wins on tie-breaks From Peter Svidler!

by John Lee Shaw


The Dortmund Chess Tournament, which began on the 29th July, has concluded today, 6th August in Germany. Winning the tournament was Vladimir Kramnik, who finished on 4.5 points from the seven rounds. Also finishing on that score, was Peter Svidler, sharing the 2818 performance rating with Kramnik also. Kramnik took the clear first on tiebreaks. Here is how the final round panned out.



Naiditsch v Jobava: I think that Baadur Jobava's mind is on other things at the moment, (I can only speculate that it is the Topalov-Kramnik match coming up), as he seems very out of sorts and not playing with his usual flair. In this game his beloved Caro Kann Defence brought him all kinds of trouble. His opponent, German GM Arkadij Naiditsch, (playing his final game as defending Dortmund Champion), sprung a new move on his 16th (Nc4) but to be honest, Baadur seemed more than prepared for it, and by move 20 had quite the best of play, with his queenside pawns advancing steadily to White's castled-long king.

Trouble came, when in the diagram position to the left, with white having played 26.Qg4 as indicated, Jobava seems to have just taken his eye off the ball. In this position, 26...Bf8 seems to leave white with nothing, with black then holding a better position, and able to consolidate and turn his mind to agression. Why, in that case, did Black opt to play the self-imposed pin of 26...Bg5? Perhaps Baadur was thinking that if the immediate 27.f4 from white, there is then 27...axb3, and if 28.cxb3, then the simple ...b4 wins. However, surely Baadur saw that white can first play bxa4, with the threat of f4. That is how Naiditsch did continue, and after 27.bxa4 black can recover the situation by playing ...Qc8 for example, even ...Qc6, both attacking White's d7-rook, and threatening ...Rxa4. Black here is fine. Unfortunately, Jobava inexplicably played the only move that lands him in trouble, 28...bxa4? and this simply loses a piece to 29.f4! Black's game collapsed quite rapidly after this, a piece down and a passed pawn marching up the board for white was just too much. A very bad ending to this tournament for Baadur Jobava, who will feel I am sure that he did not do himself justice at this year's Dortmund.


Svidler v Adams: This game had hardly got out of theory (15...Na5 I believe) before the players agreed a draw on move 17.


Gelfand v Aronian: Levon Aronian is one of the most relaxed-looking Grandmasters when playing chess. I always say that he would make a great poker player, (in addition to being a great chess player), as he rarely shows any emotion, and can at times look quite non-chalant. His opponent in this game, on the other hand, can sometimes look like his head is about to burst. It was quite interesting to watch Boris Gelfand, (himself a very charming individual to talk to) playing chess, walking around with his chin tucked almost to his chest, red faced, eyes scrunched, deep in thought, while Aronian (always smartly dressed in suit and tie) swaggers about hardly with a care in the world. I digress from the game, of course, but it is just interesting to watch the players in action, and it can make the different styles and mannerisms very interesting ... just as interesting as the chess on occasion!

This game was a 4.g3 sideline of the Queen's Indian -- of course, Gelfand being a Catalan player wishes for a position he is comfortable with. White's 10.e4 (see diagram, right) appears new, and already has black with difficult decisions to make. Firstly, the e4-pawn can not be taken, as after 10...Nxe4, 11.Nxe4 if Bxe4 (...Qe7, 12.Nfg5 +/- is totally playable for white), then 12.Qxe4+ just wins. However, in saying this, how exactly then does Black set out his stall? The f8-bishop has no real nice place to go, the Bc6 stops the c8-knight developing, e5 looms from white. Possibly this just clear surprised Aronian, as it is not a situation he will have felt comfortable in I think. He chose 10...Be7, and this resulted in an opposite side castling position, White to the queenside and black to the kingside. White held an edge, but there came about an amusing situation where black had a knight on b4, which was en-prise to a white pawn, and this remained for ages. White was not able to capture it because it would have allowed black too much counter play, and infact advantage. However, this was dealt with, and by move 20, Aronian's position was critical. Gelfand had begun to expand on the kingside towards the Black king, and pressure was building move by move. Already in a winning position, he gave up a rook to leave himself with the bishop pair and queen, and an extremely powerful attack. Aronian tried to resist, but with his queen en-prise, and about to have to surrender herself to prevent mate, was left with no choice but to resign. His worst tournament performance in quite a while.


Kramnik v Leko: Peter Leko had led this tournament pretty much all the way, and going in to this final round, I would think he must have been feeling pretty good with himself. His play through the tournament certainly impressed me. He seemed rejuvanated from his few month break. My initial feelings about this game, was that it would either be fireworks or a quite reserved affair. I suspected the former, though, because my feeling was that Leko wanted to win this tournament, and in order to be in with a certain chance, a win was the only way to go.


1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 "the Nimzo-Indian Defence"  4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.f3 h6 9.Bh4 d5 10.e3 Nbd7 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Bxd8 Nxc3 13.Bh4 Nd5 14.Bf2 c5 15.e4 Ne7 16.Ne2 Rac8 17.Nc3 cxd4 18.Bxd4 Nc5 19.Rd1 Rfd8 20.Be3 "Up to this point the game had been following van Wely-Leko, Wijk aan Zee 2005, which was drawn. Now, we are in Bareev-Almasi, Amber Rapid/Blindfold 2003, 1-0 in 47." 20...Rxd1+ 21.Kxd1 e5 22.b4 [diagram, left] "This is the novelty. Bareev had played 22.Kc2."

22...Ne6 "Pretty much the only response, here." 23.Kc2 Nc6 "Black, quite rightly, targets the d4 square. The position is about equal, here." 24.Kb2 Kf8 "This is a slight inaccuracy, perhaps Leko could have delayed this a move or so. Better here was probably to have pounced on the d4-square with ...Ncd4, (although White would still have a slight edge after 25.Bd3 for example, or even Nb5) which aswell as being very logical, would have stopped White's next."


25.Bc4 =/+ Ncd4 26.Bxe6 "and this is the point of having allowed Bc4, recapturing with the f-pawn is horrible, and with the knight allows Nb5, hitting the a-pawn."  26...Nxe6 27.Nb5 Ra8 "not a nice move to play, but the only one. I was very surprised that Leko had gone along this route, which is not so hard to see really after 24...Kf8."  28.a4 "I do not get this move, and I am not the only one, Fritz 9 drops White from +0.50 to =0.09, giving 28.Nd6 as maintaining White's edge. Kramnik's move was obviously part of an idea that niether I nor my silicone companion can fathom."  28...Ba6 "maybe ...Bc6 was more equalling -- this was quite possibly Black's final opportunity to get back in to the game."  29.Na3 [diagram, left] "after 28...Bc6, this move would be bad due to the a4-pawn."  29...Rc8 30.b5 Bb7 "not a great piece this bishop now, and not great long-term prospects." 31.Rc1 Rxc1 32.Kxc1 Ke7 33.a5 bxa5 34.Bxa7 "a useful device to remember in order to create a passed pawn" 34...f5? "this move pretty much gives White a winning advantage, but Black's position was already very difficult. I suppose Leko preferred to go out fighting rather than battening down the hatches with ...f6 or ...a4."  35.exf5 Nf4 36.g3 Nh3 37.Nc4 Ng5 38.Nxa5 +- "the game is quite over here, all Leko can do is hope for a mistake." 38...Bd5 39.b6 Nxf3 40.h3 Ng5 41.b7 Bxb7 42.Nxb7 Nxh3 43.Bb6! "the absolute best, keeping the knight immobile."  43...Kd7 "as good as anything, 43...Ng5 would allow 44.Bd8+ Kf8, 45.Bxg5 hxg5 and after 46.Nc5 black has nothing to hold on to anymore." 44.Be3 Ke7 "there is nothing else to do but sit and wait and hope for a silly error -- it doesn't come. Kramnik is clinical in finishing the game." 45.Nc5 g6 46.fxg6 Kf6 47.Bxh6 Kxg6 48.Be3 [diagram below]

Here, unable to do anything about the g-pawn or White's pieces, Leko resigned, and relinquished his grip on the tournament. A big shame for him after his great earlier performance, but credit where it is due, he was simply out-played.

Vladimir Kramnik, then, is this year's Dortmund Champion, finishing equal points with Peter Svidler, but just pipping him on tie-breaks. Also, they both finish on a 2818 tournament performance rating.

An exciting finish to the tournament, which has been criticised somewhat by spectators (both fairly and unfairly) as being a 'drawfest' this year. This has left many people crying out for no-draw rules or penalties, and whilst this is understandable, I think that friend to Chess Gateway, Grandmaster Susan Polgar, said it best on her blog a few days ago. If players are drawing against the nature of competition, simply do not invite them back. Most high profile tournaments lately are invitation (and many top GM's will only play by invitation) if organisers stop inviting players who draw quickly and unreasonably, then the message will soon get through.

Anyway, that is by-the-by, and for tournament organisers to ponder on. For now, well done to Vladimir Kramnik on his victory, and I very much look forward to his up-coming match against Veselin Topalov -- 21st September!

Final Standings: Leko, Svidler -- 4.0/6; Adams, Kramnik -- 3.5/6; Gelfand -- 3.0/6; Naiditsch -- 2.5/6; Aronian -- 2.0/6; Jobava -- 1.5/6.