Action-packed!
A running report by Jonathan Tisdall - for the
live version see our Chess Message Boards.
Round Three, Day One
This was one of those days when any arguments
about a title tournament with a random lottery process
are forgotten, and the only complaint is
that it is so hard to follow so many entertaining
games. There are too many to list, and there are
highlights everywhere you turn.
The Brutal
A couple of the guys just got down to business,
took their gloves off, picked up their blunt instruments
and - whack. Some did this repeatedly. The outstanding
manhandlers today were Gelfand, who just
drove his heavy equipment right into downtown Piket,
and Topalov, who did to compatriot Georgiev what
butchers do with tough cuts of meat ...
The Mysterious
Leitao continued his winning ways in the match-up
of giant-killers. The Brazilian won't be welcome
in France if he thins out their delegation any more.
I find this game baffling, as Nataf suddenly
dropped a vital pawn in what appeared to me to be
a very comfortable position.
Azmaiparashvili lost rather oddly with white. Suddenly
faced with nasty threats and material going, he
sacrificed his queen to randomize the game,
but not enough to save it.
Aleksandrov also gave up a piece for rather unfathomable
reasons against Bareev, but his position was starting
to reek a bit when this happened.
The Delightful
That Morozevich guy sure is fun to watch. He switches
gears from positional to baffling tactics, then
down to calm - and winning technique. Young Grischuk
beat Serper in a breath-taking display of naked
aggression - another crowd-pleaser. Dreev showed
some very sophisticated technique for those wanting
a bit more of a varied diet. The Surprise
The round's shocker was Peng grinding down Svidler
in a long knight ending, finally winning by exploiting
his superior pawn structure with a neat finesse.
I find it refreshing to see new countries and faces
making their presence felt at the top level, but
it is a little early to see Svidler exit - because
it is also refreshing to have a top GM who
spends more time on his music collection database
than his ChessBase.
The biggest boys did not make any headlines today,
most of them preferring safety first. The Khalifman-Leko
promises to be a tough match, especially if it goes
to overtime - Khalifman has an unnecessarily bad
score against Leko, and if he can concentrate on
revenge rather than nerves this should be
fun to watch.
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