Round 3

Anand - Piket [C78]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5

This variation of the Ruy Lopez was introduced into big chess owing to successful games played in the middle of the nineties by A. Onischuk, A. Shirov and V. Tkachiev.

7. a4 Rb8 8. axb5 axb5 9. c3 d6 10. d4 Bb6 11. Na3 O-O 12. Nxb5 exd4 13. cxd4 Bg4 14. Ra4

White engages the rook in the defence of the pawn on d4. Other methods to struggle for an advantage were tested too: 14. Bc2, 14. Ba4, 14. Re1. The Indian grandmaster himself used previously the last of the listed opportunities. In the game Anand - Oll (Belgrade, 1999) White managed to win a keenest struggle after 14. Re1 d5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. h3 Bh5 17. g4 (17. Bc4 Qd7 was played in the game Shirov-Piket (Monte Carlo (blindfold), 1999)) 17... Bg6 18. Nc3 Ndb4 19. Bg5 Qd7 20. d5 Qd6?! (stronger was 20... Na5! 21. Rxa5 Bxa5 22. Ba4 Qd6 23. Be7= (Kolev -Campos Moreno, Castellar, 1999)) 21. Kf1!

14... Re8

Bad was 15... Rxe4? 16. Rxe4 Nxe4 because of 17. Bd5! Qe8 18. Qc2 Bxf3 19. gxf3 Ne7 20. Nxc7 Bxc7 21. Bxe4 or 14... Nxe4 15. Bd5 Qe8 16. Qc2 Ne7 17. Bxe4 Qxb5 18. Bxh7+ Kh8 19. Be4 with a considerable advantage by White.

15. Re1 h6?!

This novelty will hardly find any followers. The usual continuation in this position is 15... Qd7, hoping to get possibly to the knight on b5 or to the rook on a4. After 16. Bc2 d5 17. e5 Ne4 18. Nc3 Nxe5 19. dxe5!? (in case of 19. Nxe4 dxe4 20. Nxe5 Rxe5 21. Qd2 Rd5 Black maintains the balance, whereas after 19. Nxd5 Qxd5 20. Bxe4 Nxf3+ 21. gxf3 Rxe4 22. Rxe4 Qxe4 23. fxg4 Qd5 he has a compensation for the pawn) 19... Bxf3 20. Qxf3 (in case of 20. gxf3 Nxf2 21. Qxd5 Nd3+ 22. Re3 Qxd5 23. Nxd5 Bxe3+ 24. Bxe3 Nxe5 the position would be approximately equal) 20... Bxf2+ 21. Kh1 which was played in the game Bologan - Tkachiev (Enghien-les-Bains, 1999) Black could keep the equality with 21... Bxe1! 22. Nxe4 dxe4 23. Qxe4 Bd2 24. Qxh7+ Kf8 25. Qh8+ Ke7 26. Qh4+ Kf8 27. Qh8+. Probably V. Anand was going to strengthen White's play in this line but his opponent proved to be first to leave it.

16. Bc2 d5 17. e5 Ne4 18. Nc3

18... Rxe5?

Looks too pretentious. Black could look for a chance to attack the white king with 18... Bxf3 19. gxf3 Ng5 20. f4 (in case of 20. Be3 there is an unpleasant 20... Ba5) 20... Ne6 21. Ne2 Qh4 22. Qd3 whereafter he could attempt to drive the king away from his house as follows: 22... Nexd4!? 23. Nxd4 (23. Qh7+? Kf8 gives White nothing but problems) 23... Nxd4 24. Rxd4 Bxd4 25. Qxd4 Qg4+ 26. Kf1 Qh3+ 27. Ke2 Qh5+ . If White did not want to draw, then he would have had to venture on 28. Kd2 Qxh2 29. b4, so that his two bishops would have outweighed Black's rook and pawn despite the vulnerable position of the white king in the centre of the board.

19. Nxe4

Rather a simple solution, but it looks as if Black's rook could just be taken. After 19. dxe5 19... Bxf3 20. gxf3 Nxf2 21. Qxd5 Nd3+ 22. Kf1 Qxd5 23. Nxd5 Nxe1 24. Kxe1 Black had no compensation for the piece. Neither could Black get anything with 19... Bxf2+ 20. Kh1 or 19... Nxf2 20. Qxd5 Nd3+ 21. Kf1.

19... Rxe4 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. d5 Bxf3 22. gxf3 Qh4 23. Raxe4 Qxf2+ 24. Kh1 f5

25. Rc4!

A little combination let White catch the black queen which brought Black to a quick death.

25... Na5 26. Rf1 Nxc4 27. Rxf2 Bxf2 28. Qe2 1-0

Black resigned.

Leko-Akopian [C11]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O b6 10. Qe3

10. Bc4 and 10. Qf4 are well studied continuations in this position, yet the move in the game was seen in the tournament practice as well.

10... Bb7 11. Bd3

Usually they played 11. Ne5 Be7 12. Bb5.

11... Be7 12. Ne5

12... f5!

Equalising the game fully.

13. Nc3 Nxe5

Naturally there was no 13... Bxg2? because of 14. Rhg1 Bb7 whereafter White would have a thematic continuation 15. Rxg7+! Kxg7 16. Rg1+ Kh8 17. Qh6 with critical threats for the black king.

14. Qxe5 Bd6 15. Qxe6+ 1/2-1/2

Draw. White's extra pawn is a mere illusion. He is not able to keep it. Black would restore the material balance after 15... Kh8 16. Bf1 (if 16. f3, then 16... Qg5+, and in case of 16. Rhg1 there was 16... Qg5+ 17. Kb1 Rae8 to be followed with 18... Bxh2 ) 16... Bxg2 17. Bxg2 Qg5+.

Kramnik - Bareev [D17]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Nh4

The central variation of the Slav Defence, introduced with the move 6. Ne5, is also one of Kramnik's opening weapons.

6... e6 7. Nxf5 exf5 8. e3 Bb4 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Qc2 g6 12. f3 Rc8 13. Kh1

A helpful prophylactic move that takes away the king from any possible threats on the diagonal a7-g1. There occurred attempts to gain an advantage with other moves too: 13.Rd1; 13. Qf2 and even an immediate 13. e4.

13... Nb6

An immediate 13... c5 was seen as well. In the game I. Sokolov - Shirov (Sarajevo, 2000) after 14. Na2 (14. d5 Nb6 15. Ba2 c4 16. e4 fxe4 17. fxe4 Ng4 18. Qe2 Ne5 that occurred in the game Lautier - Sakaev (Las Vegas, 1999 ) led to a play with mutual chances) there were interesting tactical complications: 14... Ba5 15. dxc5 Qe7 16. b4 Bxb4 17. Nxb4 Qxc5 18. Bb3 Qxb4 19. Ba3 Qh4 20. Qa2 Nc5, as a result White got a compensation of the advantage of two bishops for the missing pawn.

14. Bb3 c5 15. a5

15... cxd4

Other continuations could result into certain problems for Black both after 15... Nbd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Qc4 and in case of 15... c4 16. axb6 cxb3 17. Qxb3 Qxb6 18. Bd2.

16. axb6

The line with 16. exd4 Nbd5 was troublesome for White only.

16... dxc3 17. bxa7 cxb2 18. Qxb2 Bc3 19. Bxf7+ Rxf7

Black lost a pawn after 19... Kxf7 20. a8Q Rxa8 (if 20... Bxb2, then 21. Qxb7+) 21. Qxb7+ Qd7 22. Qb3+.

20. Qxc3 Rxc3 21. a8Q Qxa8 22. Rxa8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

Draw.

Huebner - Khalifman [D47]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Be2

White prefers to avoid the keenest lines of the Meran System which are connected with 8. Bd3.

8... Bb7 9. O-O

Again White does not want to play the most principal continuation 9. e4 b4 10. e5.

9... b4 10. Na4 Be7 11. b3

Not much promised to White the line 11. a3 a5 12. Qc2 O-O 13. Rd1 Qc7 14. axb4 axb4 15. Bd2 Ra5 16. Rac1 Qb8 17. b3 Ba8 18. e4 c5 with an equal play (Gelfand - Lautier, Monaco (active), 2000).

11... O-O 12. Bb2 c5 13. Rc1

After 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Nxc5 Bxc5 there was an equal play too.

13... Rc8

14. Qd3

14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Nxc5 Bxc5 16. Qxd8 Rfxd8 occurred previously, maintaining the balance (Z. Polgar - Knaak, Stara Zagora, 1990). The move made by R. Huebner in the game was one more attempt to liven up this absolutely vapid position.

14... Qa5 15. Qb5 Qxb5 16. Bxb5 cxd4 17. Bxd4

If 17. Nxd4, then the simplest answer is 17... Nb8, covering the square c6.

17... a6 18. Be2 Ne4 19. Ne5 Nxe5 20. Bxe5 f6 21. Bb2 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Rc8 23. Rxc8+ Bxc8 24. f3 Nc5 25. Nb6

It looks as if White still attempts to gain something from this position. After 25. Nxc5 Bxc5 there would remain too few pieces to play.

25... Bb7 26. Nc4 e5 27. Bc1 Bd8 28. e4 Kf8 

Black should have protect the squares on the queenside by 28... Bc7 29.Be3 ( 29.Bd2 a5) 29... Bc7. After the move in the game the coordination of black pieces is broken.

29. Be3 Be7 30. Na5 Ba8 31. Bd2 Nb7 

32. Nc4?!

White do not continue the struggle. It was possible to do that by 32. Nc6!. After for instance 32... Bc5+ 33. Kf1 a5 34. Bc4 Bb6  35. Bd5  Ke8  ( the problem here is that it is not possible to retreat by the knight 35... Nd8? because of 36. Nxb4!) and the position of black pieces - a8 bishop and b7 knight is very poor.        

32... Bc5+ 33. Kf1 Nd8 34. Na5 Nb7 35. Nc4 Nd8 36. Na5 Nb7 1/2-1/2

Draw.

Adams- Junior 6 [C68]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6

Playing with people M. Adams prefers 4. Ba4.

4... dxc6 5. d4

The usual continuation is 5. O-O. The move in the game reminds of how they played in the beginning of the 20^th century.

5... exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8. Ne2 Bd7 9. Be3 Nf6 10. f3 O-O-O 11. Nd2 h6 12. O-O-O

The game Albin - Marco (Monte Carlo, 1903) can be an attestation: its main events developed after 12. Nf4 b6 13. O-O-O Bd6 14. Nd3 Ne8 15. c4.

12... g6 13. h4 b6 14. Nf4 Bg7 15. Nf1 Rhe8 16. Ng3 a5 17. Bd2 h5 18. c4 Ba4 19. b3 Bc6 20. Kc2 Nd7 21. Bc3 Bh6 22. Nh3 a4 23. Rhe1 Ne5 24. Rxd8+ Kxd8

The position gets simpler while its estimation remains “equal”.

25. Ne2 Kc8 26. Nef4 Bd7 27. Rd1 Nc6 28. Ng5 f5

29. e5

In case of 29. Nxg6 Black is ready to go 29... fxe4.

29... Nxe5 30. Bxe5 Rxe5 31. Nxg6 Re2+ 32. Rd2 Re8 33. Nf4 Bg7 34. Re2 Rxe2+ 35. Nxe2 axb3+ 36. axb3 Be8

The pair of the black bishops compensates White's pawn advantage on the kingside.

37. Kd3 Kd7 38. Nh3 Bf6 39. g3 Be5 40. Nhf4 Bf7 41. Ke3 Kd6 42. Nd3 Bf6 1/2-1/2

Draw.