The eight gentlemen started peacefully in Mexico. All four boards were relatively quick draws, somewhere between moves 22 and 28. In such a first round, players are scanning everything. The opponents get a first glance on the months of preparation, but further than that they didn't go. No aggressive actions yet, like at San Luis 2005 (where Topalov and Anand won there first round game with Black), although Morozevich kept true to his style with his early h2-h4. In this first report we already have the first video by Macauley who is Mexico City.Svidler may return to his beloved Gr?ɬºnfeld later on, but against Kramnik he opted for the Semi-Slav. It looked like it was becoming interesting, especially after Black's pawn sacrifice 19...c5 and White's follow-up with 21.h5, but a few moves later Kramnik called it a day. He has to get rid of the pin with Bb1-d3, his knight on h2 will get a nice square on g4 but at the same time White has to keep defending e5 and Black will get a passed pawn on d4. Let's say dynamically balanced?The move 8.h4 wasn't new at all but it was ?ɬ† la Moro. Aronian's 11...e5
was new, and a classical central action against White's central play. The open h-file didn't give White much (imagine you get your queen to h7 and the Black king goes f8, then what?) and after exchanging many pieces and pawns the position was becoming too simple.The by the fans so feared Petroff again took a half point out of White's good intentions; this time those of Anand. Gelfand's reaction to White's slightly aggressive set-up (f4, Nh2 and Rg1 to follow with g2-g4-g5) was similar to that of Aronian: playing centrally, this time with the heavy pieces. Here much was exchanged as well and that was about it.Grischuk-Leko wasn't much either. The Russian declined the Marshall of the Hungarian, pieces were traded and a peace treaty signed. That's all I can make of it.While the games are being played, you can watch them also here on ChessVibes, up in the grey column. It's a little experiment and we'll have to see if it's a good idea, but during the first round quite some people were chatting already. Here the first round games in our regular game viewer:
As said before, I'll be heading to Mexico next Monday; Macauley is already there. He's working for ICC but we'll also be working together. His videos of day 1:
Standings:
Playing schedule:
| Round 1: Thursday, Sept. 13th 2007, 14:00h | Kramnik | ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? | Svidler | Morozevich | ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? | Aronian | Anand | ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? | Gelfand | Grischuk | ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? | Leko |
| | Round 2: Friday, Sept. 14th 2007, 14:00h | Svidler | | Leko | Gelfand | | Grischuk | Aronian | | Anand | Kramnik | | Morozevich |
|
| Round 3: Saturday, Sept. 15th 2007, 14:00h | Morozevich | | Svidler | Anand | | Kramnik | Grischuk | | Aronian | Leko | | Gelfand |
| | Round 4: Sunday, Sept 16th 2007, 14:00h | Svidler | | Gelfand | Aronian | | Leko | Kramnik | | Grischuk | Morozevich | | Anand |
|
Free day: Monday, Sept. 11th 2007 |
| | Round 5: Tuesday, Sept. 18th 2007, 14:00h | Anand | | Svidler | Grischuk | | Morozevich | Leko | | Kramnik | Gelfand | | Aronian |
|
| Round 6: Wednesday, Sept. 19th 2007, 14:00h | Svidler | | Aronian | Kramnik | | Gelfand | Morozevich | | Leko | Anand | | Grischuk |
| | Round 7: Thursday, Sept. 20th 2007, 14:00h | Grischuk | | Svidler | Leko | | Anand | Gelfand | | Morozevich | Aronian | | Kramnik |
|
Second half
| Round 8: Friday, Sept. 21st 2007, 14:00h | Svidler | | Kramnik | Aronian | | Morozevich | Gelfand | | Anand | Leko | | Grischuk |
| Free day: Saturday, Sept. 22nd 2007 |
|
| Round 9: Sunday, Sept. 23th 2007, 14:00h | Kramnik | | Svidler | Morozevich | | Aronian | Anand | | Gelfand | Grischuk | | Leko |
| | Round 10: Monay, Sept. 24th 2007, 14:00h | Svidler | | Leko | Gelfand | | Grischuk | Aronian | | Anand | Kramnik | | Morozevich |
|
| Round 11: Tuesday, Sept. 25th 2007, 14:00h | Morozevich | | Svidler | Anand | | Kramnik | Grischuk | | Aronian | Leko | | Gelfand |
| Free day: Wednesday, Sept. 26th 2007 |
|
| Round 12: Thursday, Sept 27th 2007, 14:00h | Svidler | | Gelfand | Aronian | | Leko | Kramnik | | Grischuk | Morozevich | | Anand |
| | Round 13: Friday, Sept. 28th 2007, 14:00h | Anand | | Svidler | Grischuk | | Morozevich | Leko | | Kramnik | Gelfand | | Aronian |
|
| Round 14: Saturday, Sept. 29th 2007, 14:00h | Svidler | | Aronian | Kramnik | | Gelfand | Morozevich | | Leko | Anand | | Grischuk |
| Sunday, Sept. 30th 2007 Possible tiebreaks, closing ceremony |
|
The eight gentlemen started peacefully in Mexico. All four boards were relatively quick draws, somewhere between moves 22 and 28. In such a first round, players are scanning everything. The opponents get a first glance on the months of preparation, but further than that they didn't go. No aggressive actions yet, like at San Luis 2005 (where Topalov and Anand won there first round game with Black), although Morozevich kept true to his style with his early h2-h4. In this first report we already have the first video by Macauley who is Mexico City.Svidler may return to his beloved Gr?ɬºnfeld later on, but against Kramnik he opted for the Semi-Slav. It looked like it was becoming interesting, especially after Black's pawn sacrifice 19...c5 and White's follow-up with 21.h5, but a few moves later Kramnik called it a day. He has to get rid of the pin with Bb1-d3, his knight on h2 will get a nice square on g4 but at the same time White has to keep defending e5 and Black will get a passed pawn on d4. Let's say dynamically balanced?The move 8.h4 wasn't new at all but it was ?ɬ† la Moro. Aronian's 11...e5 was new, and a classical central action against White's central play. The open h-file didn't give White much (imagine you get your queen to h7 and the Black king goes f8, then what?) and after exchanging many pieces and pawns the position was becoming too simple.The by the fans so feared Petroff again took a half point out of White's good intentions; this time those of Anand. Gelfand's reaction to White's slightly aggressive set-up (f4, Nh2 and Rg1 to follow with g2-g4-g5) was similar to that of Aronian: playing centrally, this time with the heavy pieces. Here much was exchanged as well and that was about it.Grischuk-Leko wasn't much either. The Russian declined the Marshall of the Hungarian, pieces were traded and a peace treaty signed. That's all I can make of it.While the games are being played, you can watch them also here on ChessVibes, up in the grey column. It's a little experiment and we'll have to see if it's a good idea, but during the first round quite some people were chatting already. Here the first round games in our regular game viewer:As said before, I'll be heading to Mexico next Monday; Macauley is already there. He's working for ICC but we'll also be working together. His videos of day 1:
Playing schedule:
