Could
have been closer
A running report by Jonathan Tisdall - for the
live version see our Chess Message Boards.
Round Four, tiebreaks
The always dramatic playoff day definitely
delivered action, though I was expecting even more
at this stage - the players being progressively
more closely matched. By the second tie-break
game it looked likely to clear up across the boards.
Shirov completely crushed Gelfand in the first
tiebreak game, and Topalov manhandled Dreev.
Grischuk had to leave his boxing gloves at home,
but the teenager showed that he can do the quiet
stuff too, outlasting Ehlvest in long heavy
piece ending.
As the first pair of playoff games took place, Gulko
crashed out after oddly passive play against Bareev,
Svidler got dissected in a typically English handling
of the Sicilian from Adams, and the guys who were
ahead protected their leads.
Can't help himself
Except for Topalov. The Bulgarian super-GM is a
very determined and combative type, but one
has to wonder if sacrificing three pawns in a Benoni
when one needs to draw with black in a knock-out
event is ... a practical approach.
Topalov chased Dreev's king around the board and
then succumbed to the eventual counterattack.
Nice of him to supply the extra drama the spectators
desired.
Punch Drunk
The sheer violence of this particular match-up seems
to have taken its toll on the players. After this
turn of events, Dreev promptly returned the favor
with an incredible howler in another ultra-sharp
game, unprotecting a piece that was shielding his
face.
There was no recovery available this time,
and the quarterfinal pairings were set.
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to round 4 results.
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