Report of round 13 - CCT 2009

Karjakin Wins It All!

The smoke has cleared, and out of the six leaders who have entered the last round with a shot at the title, Ukrainian Sergey Karjakin emerged as a the sole winner. Playing black against Dominguez, Sergey might have had the toughest task of all leaders With both sides playing to win and reach first place, a very energetic game arose. As early as move eight the Ukrainian surprised first, playing 6...Ng4 instead of his usual 6...e5. The Cuban showed his aggression with 17.g4, leading to a wild game, and Karjakin said in the press conference that he felt he had to play 23...a3 as if 23...Ra5 white plays 24.0-0-0 with an edge. White was still in time for sanity had he played 24.b3, and after 24...Qa5 25.0-0-0 the position would now be equal. In his all-out attempt to win, Lenier sacrificed the exchange, but after 29.Bxg7? (see diagram 1) where 29.Bxg6 would have been only somewhat better for black, find himself in a lost position. The black king traveled arrogantly to safety, and a dejected Dominguez was forced to acknowledge defeat.

Another drama occurred in the game between Wang and Carlsen. Needing a win, the Norwegian tried his utmost to sidestep theory, and managed to equalize in the early middlegame. When the queens were traded off, it was black who looked preferable, thanks to his space advantage, and white’s weak b3 pawn. Right after the tome control however, black lost his passed b pawn for white’s pawn g2, and the game was heading for a draw. It was black’s 50...Bh4?! that put Magnus in danger, and 60...Re5?, where 60...g6!? was much better, that brought disaster on Magnus. 61.f6! (see diagram 2) was a fantastic resource, after which there was no more saving.

Morozevich overpowered Ivanchuk in a long game of piece shuffling and maneuverings. The position in the opening seemed balanced, and white’s 15.a3! was his best chance to try for an advantage. The middlegame with white’s pair of bishops against the black knights was evenly matched, since black had the stronghold center square of e4. When the Russian erroneously captured on e4, matters looked very good for black. The often fatal last move before the time control once again proved painful for the Ukrainian, who must have been surprised by 40.Rf4!? (see diagram 3). Had he played 40...g4! his advantage would not have been in doubt, but alas instead there was a collapse. First he played 40...gxf4?, after which black took over the initiative, and then with the horrid 44...Kd7?? (44...Kb7 keeps fighting on), mate became inevitable. A bitter disappointment for Ivanchuk.

Aronian could not make any headway against Smeets on the black side of a Sicilian. White chose a safe variation, but got a slight pull after 17.Nb5 (see diagram 4). After the game the Dutchman said that had it been a less formidable opponent, he might have played on, but with 30 minutes left on the clock, he opted for a repetition of moves.

In the Radjabov - Stellwagen white went for a very quiet treatment of the Scheveningen Sicilian. His 9.Nb3 (9.f4 is the normal continuation) is usually played after black goes ...Bd7, to avoid knight exchange. Then the bishop has to make its way back to c8 and b7, something black managed to achieve in the actual game without time loss. The Azeri realized he didn’t have much, and on move 24 sent a peace offering, which was accepted.

Adams felt he had some advantage against Van Wely in a typical Scheveningen Sicilian, but that he later squandered it with his queen maneuver to g3. After the game the Englishman said that both players played a reasonable game, and since the position was equal, his decision to go for a drawing combination starting on move 28 was a sensible one.

The Kamsky - Movsesian game had white enjoying a small plus in the middlegame, thanks to his grip on d5. Black was holding his own however, never allowing the American to comfortably place a piece there. Before long the queens were off, as were three sets of minor pieces. With only one weakness for black in the form of the backward d6 pawn, white could not generate anything meaningful, and the players shook hands after move 47.

Italian-American Fabiano Caruana (see picture) overtook Nigel Short after the latter blundered in a winning position. His win left him on top of the GM B group, with 8.5/13, and a ticket to the ‘big leagues’ of GM A next year. Three players tied for second through fourth places: Nigel Short, Alexander Motylev who beat Rustam Kasimdzhanov, and Rustam himself.

Philippine Wesley So (see picture) quickly drew with David Howel to claim his unshared first place in GM group C, with 9.5/13. GM Elect Anish Giri captured second position with 8.5/13, after his draw with Harika Dronavali. Tiger Hillarp Persson joined Anish on the second spot by beating Manuel Bosboom.

See you all in 2010!!