Topalov – Motylev
Ponomariov – Anand
Karjakin – Kramnik
These are three of the top matchups of the day.
Topalov – Motylev [D12] 1/2
Corus 2007, 13.01.2007
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Qb3 Qc7 8.Bd2 Ne4 9.Nxg6 Nxd2 10.Kxd2 hxg6 11.Rc1 (Amazingly, this has been played before) Qb6 12.c5 (It is a little disappointing that Topalov does not seem to get anything out of the opening with White. The position is somewhat equal) 12…Qxb3 13.axb3 Nd7 14.b4 a6 15.Ra1 Rb8 16. Kc2 Be7 17.Be2 f5 18.h3 Kf7 19.f3 e5 (Topalov has spent a lot of time so far to reach this position. What many people thought would be an easier opponent for the opening round for Topalov, it has become a real struggle.) 20.dxe5 Nxe5 21.f4 Nd7 22.Bd3 Rbe8 23.Rhf1 Bf6 (White has a serious problem with the e3 pawn. I prefer Black in this position) 24.Kd2 Re7 1/2 (If Motylev would be playing a 2500, I doubt that he would have offered a draw here. This is not a winning position for Black but Black has a good advantage. On the other hand, Topalov is happy to draw here as he got zero out of the opening again. A disappointing game for Topalov.)
Karjakin – Kramnik [C42] 1/2
Corus 2007, 13.01.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 0–0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0–0–0 Nc5 10.Be3 Re8 11.Bc4 Be6 12.Bxe6 Nxe6 13.h4 Qd7 14.Qd3 Qc6 15.Qf5 Qc4 16.Ng5 Bxg5 17.hxg5 Nf8 18.Kb1 Re5 (Even though Karjakin plays very agressively to reach this position, I would prefer Black. The position is somewhat equal but I don’t like the 2 sets of double pawns against Kramnik in the endgame) 19.Qd3 Qxd3 20.cxd3 Rae8 (At least one set of double pawns have been undone. Black’s position is solid enough that I expect the most likely result will be a draw) 21.Rh3 b6 22.Kc2 R5e6 23.Rdh1 f6 24.gxf6 Rxf6 (White no longer has double pawns and have a comfortable position. However, Black has nothing to fear) 25.d4 d5 26.Kd3 h6 27.Rh5 c6 28.b3 Rg6 29.Rg1 Nd7 30.g4 Nf6 31.Rh4 Ne4 (I am impressed with Karjakin’s aggressiveness so far. He is trying. However, I still think that Kramnik will have a relatively comfortable time holding this position.) 32.Rh5 Nf6 33.Rh4 1/2 (Just as I said about Motylev, if Karjakin was playing a 2500 player, he would have played on.)
Ponomariov – Anand [E05] 1/2
Corus 2007, 13.01.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Ra7 11.Rc1 Be4 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.e3 Qa8 14.Qd1 Nb8 15.Ba5 Rc8 16.Bb6 Rb7 17.Bc5 Bxc5 18.dxc5 (The position is somewhat equal but if I have a choice, I would prefer White) 18…Ra7 19.Nbd2 Bd5 20.Qc2 (This is the most interesting position out of the 3 top games. On surface, the game is about equal. However, I think White has an easier position to play as Black has to be absolutely careful) 20…a5 21.a3 a4 22.Qd3 (Ponomariov spent a lot of time for this move. Anand is ahead by about 30 minutes on the clock. This is a perfect position for you to play out at home against a friend or computer even though the players agreed to a draw. It forces you to come up with a plan in a difficult middlegame. A very instructional position!) 1/2
Now, Topalov, Anand and Kramnik all have 6 White and 6 Black left.
Hello Susan!
Thanks in advance for your live commentary on these games.
Also, I think you have mistyped the 11. move of the Topalov-Motylev game: the official site has it as 11.Rc1.
Karjakin-Kramnik:
Until the 15th move this was played in 15…Qc4 16.Kb1 g6 17.Qh3 h5 18.Nd4 Nxd4 19.Rxd4 Qe6
20.Qf3 Bf6 {1-0(58) Bartel, Mateusz (2569) – Fridman,
Daniel (2604) / Bundesliga 2006-7 (5), Solingen GER
2006}
Yes Susan, this message is to thank you very much; I follow your live comments since WCC and they are great ! Now concentrate..
Kind regards,
Montrealer
Am I the onlyone to think Topalov should spend some more time on opening preparation ? ;o)
Pono-Anand: ” This is a perfect position for you to play out at home against a friend or computer. It forces you to come up with a plan in a difficult middlegame. A very instructional position!)”
Why is it that everytime a commentator says things like these, the game is immediately drawn?
Kramnik is done, draw.
Negi destroyed Spoelman.
Kramnik is Drawnik, we all know it.
Amazing but not surprising, five games drawn, some rather short and the only person mentioned for criticism is Kramnik.
Ten players agreed to draws, not just one. Be equal in your criticism.
Negi delivered checkmate out of nowhere. Good stuff!
It is a major defect of chess as a sporting competition that top players agree to draws in positions that are not clearly drawn. I think draws by agreement should simply not be permitted.
More than anything else I believe it is the DRAW that is holding chess back from a huge surge in participation.
The public wants to see a winner and a loser. They have no interests in DRAWS.
Football and Hockey changed some rules to eleminate lots of draws and it helped them out a lot. But chess is stuck with people who have no imagination and creativity to eliminate the draw.