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Bartolomiej
Macieja vs. Alexander Beliavsky 3.3
Black may have had a fleeting hope
of winning back the d-pawn and saving this
game, but things are worse than they look
at first glance: 44.Rd7! Re1 If 44...Rxd4
45.Nf6+! wins material by exploiting an unusual
double pin. 45.f3 1-0. The Nd5 cannot
move due to Nf6+ mating
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Rustam Kasimdzhanov vs. Vladislav Tkatchiev
3.4
White has just played 11.h3 trying to negotiate
a slight edge thanks to his better pawn structure
but black did not cooperate. After 11...Bxc3
12.bxc3 Qxc3 13.Rb1 Qxc4 14.hxg4 Qxa2
Black started a pawn-eating contest
that lasted the rest of the game. He won the
contest with no sign of indigestion. |
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Alexei
Shirov vs. Michael Gurevich 3.5
White's central command makes both his pawn
wedge more dangerous, and black's kingside
more exposed. Black tried to ventilate
white's kingside with 32...g4 but after
33.h4 Qxa5 34.h5 Qb4 35.h6 the passed
h-pawn created by this manoeuvre proved to
be unstoppable. |
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Sergey
Movsesian vs. Jaan Ehlvest 3.5
White may have had designs of slowly increasing
pressure on the kingside, but it was black
who struck first: 33...Nf4! seizes
the c5 square. 34.Nxf4 exf4 35.Nh5
35.Nf5 Bxf5 36.gxf5 Qc5 forces white into
full passivity with 37.Qg2, but this is probably
better than the game. 35...Nxh5 36.gxh5
Bxh3 and white's exposed king did not
last long. |
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Michael
Adams-Alex Yermolinsky 3.3
Black is getting an uncomfortable massage
here but the desperate method chosen to shrug
off pressure on f7 made things worse - much
worse: 57...f6? 58.Rxf6+! Rxf6 59.gxf6
Kf7 60.Kf5 Kf8 61.Ke6 Bd2 62.b5 Be3 63.Be4
1-0 Black cannot keep the pawns under
control and guard h7. |
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Peter
Svidler vs. Peng Xiaomin 3.3
Svidler made it two key victories in
a row on the white side of the Spanish/Ruy
Lopez. The first sent the match into overtime,
this one proved to be the winner. Here he
elegantly shrugs off an overambitious attack.
31.Nxc6! Re2+ 32.Kc3 Qf3+ 33.Kb4 Re4 34.d7!
1-0 |
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Alexander
Khalifman vs. Peter Leko 3.8
Leko is under pressure as Black in the sixth
playoff game after a slightly disreputable
18th move in a Petroff Defence. Now at blitz
pace, the reigning FIDE champ attacked with
28.Qf6! (threatening Bh6) Qd8?
(Black cracks. After 28...Qf8! he is still
defending) 29.Qxd8+ Rxd8 30.Bc6! and
black cannot avoid material loss. |
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