Round four report

Round 4: Wednesday, August 2, 15:00h
Levon Aronian	½-½	Arkadij Naiditsch
Peter Svidler	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik
Michael Adams	1-0	Boris Gelfand
Baadur Jobava	½-½	Peter Leko
Games – Report

Michael Adams vs Boris Gelfand was a real chess marathon, lasting seven hours and 25 minutes. It was a Sicilian Najdorf, naturally, in which the British player applied determined pressure throughout.

Adams,Mi (2732) - Gelfand,B (2729) [B90]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (4), 02.08.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 Nc6 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Be6 12.a5 Rc8 13.Bd3 Bc4 14.Rfd1 Qc7 15.h3 Rfe8 16.Bxc4 Qxc4 17.Ra4 Qc6 18.Rb4 Qc7 19.Rb6 Nd7 20.Nd5 Qb8 21.Rb4 Ne5 22.Ra4 Rc4 23.Rxc4 Nxc4 24.Qc3 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 Ne5 26.Rb4 Nc6 27.Rb6 Qc8 28.b4 Qd7 29.b5 axb5 30.a6 b4 31.Qa1 bxa6 32.Qxa6 Nd4 33.Rxb4 Ne6 34.Rb7 Qc8

35.Qb5 threatening 36.Nxe7, so 35...Kf8 36.Qb2 threatening of course 37.Qh8 mate. 36...Ng7 37.Nxe7 Qc4, not 37...Rxe7 38.Rb8 winning the queen for a rook and minor piece. White is now a pawn up, and now 38.Nd5 Qxe4 39.Nf6 Qe1+ 40.Kh2 Rc8 41.Nxh7+ looked quite compelling, but Adams went for a different line: 38.Qf6 Qxe4 39.Nf5 Qe1+ (not 39...gxf5 40.Qxf7#) 40.Kh2 Qe5+ 41.Qxe5 dxe5 42.Nd6 Rd8 43.Nxf7 Rc8 44.Ng5 h5 45.Nh7+ Kg8 46.Nf6+ Kf8 47.Nh7+ Kg8 48.Nf6+ Kf8. Draw by repetition? No, just a couple of rest moves. Adams fights on, going after the second pawn: 49.Nd7+ Kg8 50.Rb2 Kf7 51.Nxe5+ Kf6 52.Nf3 Ne6 53.Rb6 Ke7 54.Ne5 g5 55.c4 h4 56.Rb7+ Kf6 57.Ng4+ Kg6 58.Rb6 Kf7 59.Rb7+ Kg6 60.Ne3 Ra8 61.Rb6 Kf7 62.g3 Ra2 63.Kg2 hxg3 64.Kxg3.

White is two pawns up, but the path to victory is long and convoluted. 64...Nc5 65.Kf3 Nd3 66.Ng4 Ke7 67.Rb3 Nc5 68.Re3+ Kf7 69.Ne5+ Kf6 70.Ng4+ Kg6 71.Re5 Ra3+ 72.Ne3 Nd3 73.Rd5 Rc3 74.Rd4 Ra3 75.h4 gxh4 76.Rxh4

Simplified to just two extra pawns, but still a long way to go. 76...Ra2 77.Rh2 Kf6 78.Ke4 Nc5+ 79.Kd5 Nb3 80.f3 Ra5+ 81.Ke4 Nc5+ 82.Kf4 Ne6+ 83.Kg3 Ra3 84.Re2 Kg5 85.Nc2 Ra6 86.Nb4 Rb6 87.Nd5 Rd6 88.Re5+ Kh6 89.Nf4 Nc7 90.c5 Rc6 91.Kg4 Kg7 92.Kf5 Kf7 93.Ke4 Ra6 94.Rf5+ Ke8 95.Ke5 Rc6 96.Nd3 Ke7 97.Rh5 Re6+ 98.Kd4 Rf6 99.f4 Ra6 100.Rh7+ Kd8 101.f5 Ne8 102.Nb4 Ra1 103.Nc6+ Kc8 104.Rh8 Kd7 105.Ne5+ Ke7 106.Ng6+ Kd8 107.Kd5 Re1 108.c6 Rd1+ 109.Ke5 Kc7

Now comec a tactical trick: 110.Rxe8 Re1+ 111.Kd5 Rxe8, which Adams now spoils with 112.f6? (112.Nf4 was required). 112...Rd8+ 113.Kc5.

113...Rd1? This move throws away the draw that White has allowed. The correct defence, as Fritz will tell you, is 113...Ra8! 114.Ne7 (114.f7 Ra5+ 115.Kd4 Rf5 116.Ne5 Rxf7 117.Nxf7=) 114...Ra5+ 115.Kd4 Kd6 and White can make no progress, e.g. 116.Kc4 Rc5+ 117.Kd4 Rxc6 118.Nxc6 Ke6=. After the text move Adams was able to finish the game with a full point: 114.f7 Rc1+ 115.Kd5 Rd1+ 116.Ke6 Rf1 117.Ne7 1-0. [Click to replay]

Levon Aronian vs Arkadij Naiditsch looked very promising for White, but Naiditsch defended imaginatively and Aronian let it slip. A well-fought draw in 45 moves. Peter Svidler vs Vladimir Kramnik was a predictable Petroff that ended after 39 moves in a draw. Baadur Jobava vs Peter Leko was a Queen's Indian, with a cease-fire being agreed after 22 moves.

Elisabeth Pähtz vs Irina Krush: the fourth game of the women's match also ended in a draw, in 25 moves.

Standings after four rounds

• Download all games so far in PGN
• Games from the Pähtz-Krush match

Thursday is a rest day at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting, and the next round begins on Friday, August 4th, at 15:00h CEST. The final round is on Sunday. You can watch the action, together with some very strong players, on our chess server Playchess.com.

Full Schedule and Results

Links

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• All ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2006
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2005
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2004
• ChessBase reports on Dortmund 2003

Round three report

Round 3: Tuesday, August 1, 15:00h
Baadur Jobava	½-½	Levon Aronian
Peter Leko	½-½	Michael Adams
Boris Gelfand	½-½	Peter Svidler
Vladimir Kramnik	½-½	Arkadij Naiditsch
Games – Report

All games drawn, with an average length of under 30 moves, no change in the cross tables. Sounds bad, but there were sparks of excitement in the third round. Arkadij Naiditsch, playing black against Vladimir Kramnik, got into a fairly unpleasant position out of the opening:

Kramnik,V (2743) - Naiditsch,A (2664) [E04]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (3), 01.08.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Qa4 Nd7 7.Qxc4 Nb6 8.Qb5 Bd7 9.Qb3 Na5 10.Qd3 c5

Naiditsch has seen this line before, having won two games last year, against Nielsen and Avrukh, who played 10.Qc2 instead of Kramnik's novel 10.Qd3. Arkadij reacted with a daring pawn advance, 10...c5, that looked as if it simply lost material: 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Qc3 attacking the bishop and the pawn on g7 (although taking on c5 is not quite straightforward: 12...Nd5 13.Qxc5 is followed by 13...Rc8 and Black is fine). 12...Rc8 13.Qxg7 Bf8.

Naiditsch was apparently spoiling for a fight, with 14.Qxh8 Rxc1+ 15.Kd2 Rxh1 16.Bxh1 Ba4+ 17.Qd4 Nac4+, although after 18.Ke1 Bg7 19.Qxd8+ (19.Qxg7 Qd1#) 19...Kxd8 White would appear to have the upper hand. But Kramnik decided instead to swap queens immediately: 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Bxg5 Bg7 16.Nbd2 h6 17.Bf4 Bxb2 18.Rb1 Nd5 19.Bd6 Bg7 20.Ne5 Nc3. Here Garry Kasparov, kibitzing on Playchess.com, advocated 20...Rc2 with a clear advantage for Black. 21.Rc1 Nxa2 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.0-0 Nc3 24.Ra1 Nb5 25.Rxa5 Nxd6 26.Nec4 Ke7 27.Rxa7 Bd4 28.Ra8 Nxc4 29.Nxc4 b5 30.e3 Bd7 31.exd4 Rxa8 32.Bxa8 bxc4 33.Kf1 Kd6 34.Ke2 Bc6 35.Bxc6 Kxc6 36.Kd2 Kd5 37.Kc3 Ke4 38.Kxc4 Kf3 39.d5 exd5+ 40.Kxd5 Kxf2 41.Ke5 Kg2 42.Kf6 Kxh2 43.Kxf7 Kxg3 44.Kg6 ½-½. The game lasted four hours.

Peter Leko vs Michael Adams looked quite wild, with Black getting a queen and pawn for three minor pieces and an optically great position by move 14. But it turns out that this variation is known (it was used by Alex Shabalov in a Playchess blitz tournament in 2004) and on move 25 Adams went for a draw by repetition, instead of heeding the pleas of the visitors to Playchess.com and playing ...Rd6 to continue his winning attempts.

Baadur Jobava vs Levon Aronian was a 21 move draw in the Four Knights Variation of the English, while Boris Gelfand vs Peter Svidler, an Exchange Grünfeld, lasted 29 moves and ended in a draw.

Standings after three rounds

• Download all games so far in PGN
• Game three between the best female players in Germany and USA, Elisabeth Pähtz and Irina Krush, ended in a 35-move draw. Here are all the games of this match.

Full Schedule and Results

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Round two report

Round 2: Sunday, July 30, 15:00h
Levon Aronian	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch	½-½	Boris Gelfand
Peter Svidler	½-½	Peter Leko
Michael Adams	½-½	Baadur Jobava
Games – Report

The first game to end in the second round of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting was Peter Svidler vs Peter Leko. Both players had won their first-round games and the 23-move draw left them at the top of the table. The longest game was Levon Aronian vs Vladimir Kramnik, which lasted 43 moves and a total of four hours and 15 minutes.

Levon Aronian vs Vladimir Kramnik in round two

Aronian,L (2761) - Kramnik,V (2743) [D20]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (2), 30.07.2006
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 Qf6 8.0-0 Ne7 9.e5 Qg6 10.Nxd4 Nbc6 11.Nxc6 Nxc6 12.f4 0-0 13.Nf3 Bg4 14.Bd3 Qh6 15.Qa4 Rad8 16.Be4 Bxf3 17.Rxf3 Rd4 18.Qc2 Nb4 19.Qe2 Qb6 20.Kh1 Rfd8 21.Raf1 Rd2 22.Qe1 Qd4

23.e6 Rd1 24.Qxd1 Qxd1 25.e7 Qxf1+ 26.Rxf1 Re8 27.Rd1 f5 28.Bxf5 Rxe7 29.g3 g6 30.Bb1 c6 31.a3 Nd5 32.Bd3 Kg7 33.Kg1 Ne3 34.Re1 Kf6 35.h3 Nf5 36.Rxe7 Nxe7 37.Kf2 h6 38.Ke3 b6 39.b4 Nf5+ 40.Bxf5 Kxf5 41.g4+ Ke6 42.Kd4 h5 43.a4 ½-½.

Last year's winner Arkadij Naiditsch, Germany, vs Boris Gelfand, Israel

Arkaidij Naiditsch and Baadur Jobava both scored their first half-points, after their losses in the first round. Naiditsch did it on the white side of a Najdorf against specialist Boris Gelfand, while Jobava held his black game with a Caro Kann Panov against Michael Adams.

The two Peters, Svidler and Leko, drew after 23 moves

Standings after two rounds

On the same stage as the Super-GMs two women are playing a match: Germany's strongest female player, and former Women's Junior World Champion Elisabeth Pähtz, 21, Elo 2456 and number 22 in the current women's world rankings, vs the strongest female player in the USA, Irina Krush, 22, Elo 2436, women's world ranking 34.

Irina Krush of the US vs Elisabeth Pähtz of Germany

The first two games between the two ended in draws, in 28 and 18 moves. Click here to replay and download these games.

Photos by Jeroen van den Belt

Full Schedule and Results

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