Dortmund sparks into life

Submitted by SonofPearl on Sun, 06/29/2008 at 2:13pm.

Three wins in the second round

Now that's more like it After a disappointing first round of safety-first play, the 2008 Dortmund tournament sparked spectacularly into life in the second round.

Kramnik opened his account by defeating Van Wely's Slav Defence with effortless ease in just 29 moves. Van Wely's pieces were bunched up helplessly on the Queenside while Kramnik created lethal threats on the Kingside. Between the dominant Knight on e5, raking Bishop on b2 and active Queen the Black monarch never stood a chance.

Peter Leko (pictured) also reminded everyone that he is a force to be reckoned with in this tournament by beating Ivanchuk to keep pace with Kramnik at the top of the leaderboard. In a Sicilan Paulsen, Leko avoided a possible 3-fold repetition as early as move 9 and instead caught Ivanchuk's King in the middle of the board.

Ivanchuk rustled up a pawn storm on the Queenside, achieving doubled, isolated passed pawns on c3 and c2! However, Leko ended up the winner after 57 moves of a fascinating game.

The other decisive game of the day was also the quickest. The derby match between the two local boys, Jan Gustafsson and Arkadij Naiditsch ended in a win for the former when he pounced on a Naiditsch error, finding a sweet combination with 20. exf6+ to end the game early enough for both of them to watch their countrymen lose in the Euro 2008 Football Championship Final. Well done Spain!

Tomorrow (30 June) is a rest day. Yes, I know they've only just started, but that's the schedule! The third round will take place on 1 July.

The full results in round 2:

Gustafsson, Jan	- Naiditsch, Arkadij	1-0	23	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Kramnik, Vladimir	- Van Wely, Loek	1-0	29	D11	Slav Defence
Leko, Peter	- Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0	57	B46	Sicilian Paulsen
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	½-½	40	C84	Ruy Lopez Centre Attack

The standings after round 2:

Jan Gustafsson	1.5
Vladimir Kramnik	1.5
Peter Leko	1.5
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov	1.0
Ian Nepomniachtchi	1.0
Arkadij Naiditsch	0.5
Vassily Ivanchuk	0.5
Loek Van Wely	0.5

» more Chess event coverage

| 1558 reads | 10 comments |

2 votes:

Comments:

by nibir - 3 months ago
Dhaka Bangladesh

Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 89

Nice games..

by BirdBrain - 3 months ago
KY United States

Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 631

That Kramnik idea is amazing and subtle. He takes the attacking potential of the Stonewall system and applies it to the Slav. He shows a command of ideas and potential.

by ashwath - 3 months ago
bangalore India

Member Since: Apr 2008
Member Points: 42

the leko game was good

by eternaloptimist - 3 months ago
Orange Beach, AL United States

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 210

TonightOnly: He might play it to see how it does, & if it works, he might try it again. He will definitely need to do his homework though it he is going to beat Anand playing a Semi-Slav. He hardly ever loses when he plays it, & he wins w/ it a lot. Also, he has been playing it for a long time, so he has a lot of experience w/ it. He has been playing it on the professional level @ least since '91. On the other hand, if anybody can come up w/ some great opening novelties, it's Kramnik. Although, he might play the English to avoid Anand's prowess in the Sicilian & Semi-Slav Defenses.

by TonightOnly - 3 months ago
Phoenix, AZ United States

Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 1215

Wow, I loved the Leko-Ivanchuk game. This was very instructive for me, and reminded me that passed pawns are still just pawns. I have no doubt I would have crumbled under the pressure, but Leko calmly dealt with all threats and emerged with a piece for a pawn.

by TonightOnly - 3 months ago
Phoenix, AZ United States

Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 1215

In the first round coverage, SonofPearl wondered if Kramnik is trying to avoid giving clues of his preperation to Anand's camp. We know Anand is something of an expert on the Slav. Was Kramnik trying to avoid giving hints again with a rather obscure variation? His plan was definitely quite respectable, but not one of the popular lines. Does anyone here believe that this is actually the way he will approach Anand's Slav? Just a thought.