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Round 8 - Amber highlights
Monte Carlo, Monaco - We now have a three-way tie for first, as Veselin Topalov was able to catch up with Anand and Kramnik by shutting out former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. In their rapid encounter, both players made some strange decisions.
Topalov (2718) - Karpov (2679)
Amber Rapidplay (8), 2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Qc2 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bg2 c5 11.0-0 Nd7 12.Rfd1 Rc8 13.Qb2 Bb7 14.e4 N5f6 15.d5 exd5 16.exd5 Bd6
17.Bh3! h6
17...a6 18.Bg5 and White threatens both Bxd7 and Ne4.
18.Nb5 Bb8 19.Bc3 a6 20.Na3 b5 21.Nc2
21...Re8?
This lands Black in serious trouble. Critical was 21...Bxd5 22.Rxd5 (What else? If 22.Bxd7 then 22...Bxf3) 22...Nxd5 23.Bxg7 Re8.
22.Ne3
Now the pin along the h3-c8 diagonal is very awkward indeed. Karpov tries to bail out by sacrificing an exchange.
22...b4 23.Bxf6 Nxf6
24.Rac1?
24.Bxc8 was a given.
24...Ne4?
Why not 24...Nd7? If 25.Nf5 then 25...Qf6 seems perfectly playable for Black.
25.Bxc8 Bxc8
Black's compensation quickly turns out to be insufficient.
26.Rc4 Bd6 27.Qc2 Ng5 28.Nxg5 Qxg5 29.Re4 Rd8 30.Nc4 Bf8 31.Re5 Qf6 32.Qe2 g6
33.d6
On top of everything else, White has a dangerous passed pawn to play around with.
33...Bb7
33...Bxd6? 34.Nxd6 Rxd6 35.Re8+ followed by Rxc8.
34.Qe3 g5 35.f4 g4 36.Qxc5
The rest is smooth sailing for Topalov.
36...Bf3 37.Rd2 Qg6 38.Re1 Bg7 39.Qc7 Bf6 40.Ne5 Qh5 41.d7 Kg7 42.Qc2 Ba8 43.Qd1 Bf3 44.Qc2 Ba8 45.Qc4 a5 46.Nc6 Qg6 47.Rd6 Bxc6 48.Qxc6 Bd4+ 49.Kg2 Qd3
50.Qe4 resigns. 1-0
THE MOST IMPRESSIVE game in the blindfold event was Anand's sparkling attacking display against Van Wely. It's hard to say how much of this was preparation, but Anand is reported to have spent a lot of time calculating the piece sacrifice on move 14.
Anand (2790) - Van Wely (2700)
Amber Blindfold (8), 2001
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Qe2 c5 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Bd2 0-0
10.0-0-0!? Qd5
This looks like the only critical test of White aggressive opening scheme.
11.Kb1 Qxg2 12.Nf3 Qxf2 13.Qe5
White is two pawns down, but he has a substantial lead in development and open lines and diagonals towards Black's kingside.
13...Nd7
14.Bxh7+!
It was already too late two worry about material. White has committed himself to an all out kingside attack.
14...Kxh7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Rhg1
16...Be3
If 16...Nf6 then White blasts his way through with 17.Rxg7+! Kxg7 18.Qh6+ Kg8 19.Qxf6. Black seems to have nothing better than 19...Bd4 20.Qg5+ Bg7 21.Rg1 Qxg1+ 22.Qxg1 f6. The question here is whether or not Black can bring his pieces out before White causes further damage on the kingside. One attacking idea is simply running the h-pawn up the board.
17.Bc3 f6 18.Rdf1 Qe2 19.Re1 Qf2
Unfortunately for Black, his queen has to stay in touch with Be3.
20.Ref1 Qe2 21.Re1 Qf2 22.Qg4
No draw!
22...Rf7
22...Bh6 was probably preferable, although White remains on top after 23.Bd4 Ne5 24.Nxe5 Qf4 25.Qg6 (25.Qxf4 Bxf4 26.Ng6 Bxh2 27.Rg2 Rd8) 25...fxe5 26.Be3 Qf5 27.Qxh6. Black's extra pawn is of no value, and White's attack is still very much alive.
23.Rgf1
Now the queen is trapped.
23...Nf8 24.Rxf2 Bxf2 25.Rf1 Bb6
The material situation is approximately level, but Black still needs to get the rest of his guys out. In the meantime, White can probe Black's weakened kingside.
26.Qh5 g6
Otherwise Ng5 would be painful.
27.Qh4 e5 28.Nd2
28...g5?
28...Bf5 was the only way to keep on fighting.
29.Qh6 Bd8 30.Ne4 and Black resigned since something has to drop on the kingside. 1-0
I WAS ALSO impressed with Leko's solution to the technical problems in his ending against Almasi. Keep in mind: This is blindfold chess, and they've played over 70 moves!
Leko (2745) - Almasi (2640)
Amber Blindfold (8), 2001
Question: How can White make the most of his kingside passers?
Answer: By giving them away!
73.g7! Kxg7 74.Ke7
Threatening to run the pawn to f8.
74...Bc3 75.Ba2 Bd4
76.f6+! Bxf6+ 77.Kd7
Now White's b-pawn decides the game.
77...Bd4 78.Kxc7 Bc5 79.b6 Kf6 80.b7 Ba7 81.b8Q Bxb8+ 82.Kxb8 resigns. 1-0
OF COURSE, THERE WERE a couple of blunders in today's blindfold action as well. In the following game, Ljubojevic misses a golden opportunity when Piket decides to get cute.
Ljubojevic (2566) - Piket (2632)
Amber Blindfold (8), 2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 c6 7.h3 Bb4 8.Qb3 a5 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.Qxc3 0-0 11.e3 Ne4 12.Qc2 a4 13.Bd3 Qa5+ 14.Kf1 Re8 15.g4 Nf8 16.Kg2 Ng6 17.Bh2 Qd8 18.Qe2 h5 19.gxh5 Nh4+ 20.Nxh4
20...Qg5+??
The idea is to drive White's king to an inferior square before recapturing on h4, but there's a serious catch.
21.Kf1??
White could have won a piece with 21.Bg3 Nxg3 22.Nf3! (22.fxg3? Rxe3) 22...Nxe2+ 23.Nxg5, since the Ne2 is trapped.
21...Qxh4 22.Bf4 Bg4 23.Qc2 23.Qxg4?? Qxf2 mate 23...Bf3 24.Rh2 Qxh5 25.h4 c5 26.dxc5 Rac8 27.Be2 and here the players agreed to a draw. ½-½
YOU THINK THAT was bad? Well, these blunders pale in comparison to Gelfand's howler against Shirov. For the second day running, the Israeli ace managed to blunder a whole rook.
Gelfand (2712) - Shirov (2718)
Amber Blindfold (8), 2001
51.Rc5?? Rxc5 and White resigned. 0-1
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GM Einar Gausel 