Round 10: Svidler takes Biel
Peter Svidler of Russia won the Biel tournament with 7˝ points from 10 games. In his 10th round game Svidler rather expectedly drew with Boris Gelfand.
As Svidler had secured his overall victory with his 9th round win over van Wely, the main suspense for the last day was in the race for second place. The young Ukranian Ruslan Ponomariov expectedly beat the tournament tail-ender Gallagher with the white pieces and caught up with Loek van Wely who could only draw with Milov. A very promising feat for Ponomariov!
Round 10 Results
Gelfand, Boris - Svidler, Peter ˝-˝
A Ruy Lopez which soon turned into a complicated middlegame. After the dust settled, both players' queens were attacking their opposing kings. Svidler coolly gave away a pawn to force perpetual check on move 33.
van Wely, Loek - Milov, Vadim ˝-˝
A Nimzo-Indian Defence. Milov embarked on a courageous pawn advance in front of his king, but van Wely could make nothing of it and he decided to exchange queens rather than allow himself a bad bishop. The Dutchman had some nominal endgame advantage with his passed h-pawn, but the players agreed a draw on move 37. A Game of the Doubled Pawn, you might say.
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Gallagher, Joseph 1-0
A Sicilian Defence, where black never got the chance to castle. Given a free hand, Ponomariov did not have much problems in checkmating his opponent on move 34.
Biel Chess Festival Crosstable
| Rk |
Player |
ELO |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Pts |
| 1 |
Ponomariov |
2630 |
* * |
0 ˝ |
˝ ˝ |
˝ ˝ |
1 1 |
˝ ˝ |
5˝ |
| 2 |
van Wely |
2643 |
1 ˝ |
* * |
˝ 0 |
˝ ˝ |
˝ 1 |
˝ ˝ |
5˝ |
| 3 |
Svidler |
2689 |
˝ ˝ |
˝ 1 |
* * |
1 ˝ |
1 1 |
1 ˝ |
7˝ |
| 4 |
Milov |
2626 |
˝ ˝ |
˝ ˝ |
0 ˝ |
* * |
1 ˝ |
˝ ˝ |
5 |
| 5 |
Gallagher |
2514 |
0 0 |
˝ 0 |
0 0 |
0 ˝ |
* * |
0 ˝ |
1˝ |
| 6 |
Gelfand |
2681 |
˝ ˝ |
˝ ˝ |
0 ˝ |
˝ ˝ |
1 ˝ |
* * |
5 |
Round 9 Results
Svidler, Peter - van Wely, Loek 1-0
A Sicilian Scheveningen, the fashionable Perenyi Attack (see Lubomir Kavalek's article). Rook sacrifices followed (one rook each), and van Wely's king was soon roast meat. The Dutchman resigned on move 34, facing decisive material losses.
Milov, Vadim - Ponomariov, Ruslan ˝-˝
A King's Indian Defence, Averbakh variation. The symmetrical pawn position led to the longest game of the round. Pono was living on The Edge in the ending, but succeeded in controlling Milov's h-pawn on the 7th rank. The Swiss player suggested a draw on move 56.
Gallagher, Joseph - Gelfand, Boris ˝-˝
No spectators' prizes for this short draw.
Round 8 Results
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Svidler, Peter ˝-˝
A Grunfeld defence, the 5.Qb3 variation. An interesting game from a theoretical point of view. Neither player made mistakes, and the game was drawn in 32 moves.
Gallagher, Joseph - Milov, Vadim ˝-˝
The unlucky Gallagher played a fascinating game with his fellow Swiss Vadim Milov. White unleashed a spectacular opening novelty in the Sicilian Paulsen, and when Black took up the challenge, sharp complications arose quickly. Tables turned twice in the middle game, and in the end Gallagher was given numerous chances to clinch his first victory of the tournament. Bun not this time; the game was eventually drawn in a Queen ending. A pity!
Gelfand, Boris - van Wely, Loek ˝-˝
Gelfand is just cruising now. No real winning attempts as white and a short draw.
Round 7 Results
Svidler, Peter - Gallagher, Joseph 1-0
A sharp Najdorf Sicilian led to Svidler's advantage, but at one point Gallagher missed a good chance to turn the game to his favour. Svidler won in 35 moves.
van Wely, Loek - Ponomariov, Ruslan ˝-˝
Young Ruslan is having some success with his Pirc/Modern defense against 1.e4. Today he held Loek van Wely to a draw in a Queen's Gambit accepted, and was even a pawn up for the rook ending. But the Dutchman escaped with a draw, retaining his chances to still win the tournament.
Milov, Vadim - Gelfand, Boris ˝-˝
These two were happy with an extra rest day. A draw in 19 moves.
Round 6 Results
Gelfand, Boris - Ponomariov, Ruslan ˝-˝
A Pirc where Black developed his bishop to e7. Gelfand soon prevented Black's kinside castling, so Ponomariov took his king to the Queen's wing. Gelfand opened lines for attack and after an exchange of pieces, he was left with some advantage in the Queen ending. Both players had passed pawns, but none of them very seriously andvanced. Ponomariov managed to eliminate Gelfand's pawns, exchange queens and draw the simple pawn ending with the well-known distant opposition. Drawn in 63 moves.
Gallagher, Joseph - van Wely, Loek 0-1
A Najdorf Sicilian. van Wely outplayed Gallagher in an opposite castles attacking game and won two pawns. He then exchanged queens and converted his material advantage in the ending with Knight and two pieces against a lone Bishop.
Milov, Vadim - Svidler, Peter ˝-˝
A rather quiet Grunfeld, where White could not make much progress against Black's weakened queenside. Drawn in 34 moves.
Round 5 Results
Gelfand, Boris - Gallagher, Joseph 1-0
A King's Indian where Gallagher seemed to miss his chance in the middlegame by refusing to play f4 until late in the game. After several exchanges, Gallagher was down 2 pawns in the rook+pawn ending, as he couldn't defend everything. Gallagher resigned in 64 moves. It will be tough for him to find a win in this tournament. For Gelfand, a nice rebound after his terrifying loss to Svidler last round.
Van Wely, Loek - Svidler, Peter ˝-˝
A Grunfeld Exchange where Svidler decided on a perpetual check with his queen for a draw in 25 moves.
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Milov, Vadim ˝-˝
A Sicilian Paulsen where Milov won a pawn after queens were exchanged, but apparently he had nothing as they repeated moves for a draw in 41 moves.
Round 4 Results
Svidler, Peter - Gelfand, Boris 1-0
A Scheveningen with 6. Be3 and 7. g4. Svidler sacked a piece for better development and open lines against Gelfand's king sitting on e8. Svidler sacked a second piece - his bishop for the f7 pawn. If Gelfand could only weather the storm, he would score a quick win himself. Svidler brought his other rook into the attack while Gelfand hurriedly tried to bring his pieces out for the defense. Gelfand lost his queen on move 28, and resigned after 29 moves when he dropped another piece. A brilliant attacking game by Svidler against his main tournament rival.
Gallagher, Joseph - Ponomariov, Ruslan 0-1
A Modern Defense where black took control with an advancing passed d-pawn. With checkmate staring him in the face, Gallagher resigned in 38 moves.
Milov, Vadim - Van Wely, Loek ˝-˝
A Grunfeld where Van Wely tried to make use of his 2-1 pawn edge on the queenside. He got a passed c-pawn and passed h-pawn. But Milov's knight was able to hold off both, so a draw was agreed in 60 moves.
Round 3 Results
Svidler, Peter - Ponomariov, Ruslan ˝-˝
Pirc defense. Svidler got a passed c-pawn and a knight outpost on d6. He offered an exchange sacrifice but Ponomariov declined. Unable to defend the passed c-pawn, Svidler forced a draw in 28 moves.
Milov, Vadim - Gallagher, Joseph 1-0
A Pirc with g3 for white. Gallagher busied himself by taking control of the a-file while Milov went about winning black's weak f-pawn. Black won white's h-pawn, but his king was vulnerable to an attack. Gallagher resigned in 39 moves.
Van Wely, Loek - Gelfand, Boris ˝-˝
Slav defense. Once the queens came off the board, most of the others pieces followed suit. Van Wely had an extra pawn on the kingside but could do nothing with it. Drawn in 41 moves.
Round 2 Results
Gallagher, Joseph - Svidler, Peter 0-1
Sicilian Najdorf with 6. Be2. Once the queens were off, Svidler got a passed a-pawn in the bishop+pawn ending that was completely won for him. Gallagher resigned in 52 moves.
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Van Wely, Loek 0-1
A Sicilian Alapin where the queens came off early, followed by a lot of positional maneuvering. Van Wely finally won a pawn; he had a bishop and 5 pawns versus a knight and 4 pawns for Ponomariov. Van Wely walked his king from the a-file to the h-file to take Ponomariov's pawn and march his own h-pawn down for the win in 78 moves.
Gelfand, Boris - Milov, Vadim ˝-˝
A Catalan where Gelfand achieved some pressure but Milov managed to exchange enough pieces for the draw in 37 moves.
Round 1 Results
Svidler, Peter - Milov, Vadim 1-0
A Kan Sicilian where Svidler quickly won a pawn, leaving him with passed a- and b-pawns on the queenside. Milov resigned after 34 moves. An ugly start for the Swiss GM.
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Gelfand, Boris ˝-˝
Scheveningen with 6. Be3 and g4. Ponomariov sacked a knight on f5 for 2 pawns. He later got the material back to equality. Both kings were in some danger. Gelfand sacked the exchange for an attack; he seemed to miss a clear win at move 29. Ponomariov had to return the exchange to avoid mate. Gelfand was almost winning with 2 passed pawns in the bishop+pawn ending. But Ponomariov defended accurately for the draw. A tough result for Gelfand and an exciting game for the fans!
Van Wely, Loek - Gallagher, Joseph ˝-˝
King's Indian Defense with many early exchanges resulting in a draw in 33 moves.
Svidler, Gelfand Headline Biel GM Tournament
The Biel International Chess Festival grandmaster tournament ran from July 24 to August 4 in Biel, Switzerland. Six players were competing in a double-round robin format:
Peter Svidler, Russia, 24 years, 2689
Boris Gelfand, Israel, 32, 2681
Loek van Wely, Netherlands, 27, 2643
Ruslan Ponomariov, Ukraine, 16, 2630
Vadim Milov, Switzerland, 27, 2626
Joe Gallagher, Switzerland, 36, 2514
Live games were broadcast at http://www.kasparovchess.com
Website: http://www.schachfestival-biel.ch/start_e.htm
Games in PGN
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