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A little sensation!
Kasparov did not lose heart and plays as if he feels himself
the champion. He tore to pieces the recent challenger and leader
A. Shirov. Now both of them lead the tournament with 6.5 points
of 9, but Shirov’s finish looks more difficult. Kramnik and
Morozevich have one point less each after a similar surprise.
Morozevich caught up with the World Champion, having won the
fourth game at the tournament. From the opening Kramnik got a
fine position and had a stable advantage. But the endgame was
cheerless. Kramnik allowed Black’s king to come to his camp and
lost several pawns, but after he got only a piece for his mighty
passed c-pawn, his king and bishop proved to be insufficient
forces to stop the army of Black’s pawns. Other participants
are hardly out of ordinary, except Tiviakov who lost already 5
games which really distinguishes him among them. The rest games
of the ninth round were drawn. Morozevich plays astonishingly. He
lost twice with White, but instead he won all his Black games.
The statistics which states the priority of White in chess is
nothing for him, and though his victories are less convincing
than Kasparov’s, it’s just impossible to forecast his
results. Four more rounds should be played, and the standings
will certainly change, but surely the favourites will stay the
leaders, whereas the rest will stay where they are.
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"He who fears an isolated queen's pawn should give up chess". Siegbert Tarrasch
"The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move"! David Bronstein.
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