The 19-year-old Norwegian won the game and proceeded to scalp his next three opponents one after the other. And so after eight rounds, and with two to go, Kasparov’s protégé remains in the lead, a full point ahead of Israel’s veteran GM Boris Gelfand, the winner of the FIDE World Cup last year.
Sponsored by Romania’s largest, and state-owned, natural gas producer Romgaz and the Chess Club Society “Elisabeta Polihroniade” of Bucharest, the double round robin tournamentalso features Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov, a former FIDE champion; the top Chinese player, Wang Yue; Teimour Radjabov, the second highest ranked player of Azerbaijan; and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the best Romanian player. The event started on June 14 and ends on the 25th.
Elisabeta Polihroniade, 75, is a Romanian woman grandmaster and international arbiter. She’s her country’s seven-time women’s champ who played for Romania in the Women’s Chess Olympiads 10 times. She is also journalist and broadcaster, with her own daily radio program on contemporary culture.
Game of the week. GM Dorian Rogozenco annotates this partie that signaled the beginning of Carlsen’s winning streak (until his draw, that is, with Gelfand in the eighth round).
White: GM M. Carlsen (2813)
Black: GM Wang Yue (2752)
King’s Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit
Medias, Romania 2010
1.e4e52.f4A big surprise: the King’s Gambit is extremely rare on the top level nowadays. “Things weren’t going so well in the tournament I thought I just try it and see how it goes,” said Magnus after the game. 2…d5[Carlsen himself played once with Black 2…exf43.Nf3g5 ] 3.exd5exf44.Nf3Nf65.Bc4Nxd56.0-0Be77.Bxd5Qxd58.Nc3Qd89.d40-010.Bxf4Bf511.Qe2There is almost no theory here. The impression is that White can hope for an edge thanks to his lead in development and somewhat better control in the center, but Black has the bishop pair and should be able to hold equality. 11…Bd6A new and somewhat unexpected move, since Black is giving up the bishop pair and leaves the queenside undeveloped yet. [Previously Black played 11…Nc6. Another move to consider is 11…c6 ] 12.Bxd6Qxd613.Nb5Qd814.c4a6[More natural looks 14…c615.Nc3Nd7 ] 15.Nc3Nd716.Rad1Bg617.Qf2Re818.h3White is slightly better, but since Black has no weaknesses it is far from easy to break through. 18…Rc8What could be the purpose of this move? It does not prepare the advance c5 and Black doesn’t need to protect the pawn c7 either. So the only explanation I find is that the Chinese grandmaster wanted just to wait and see how his opponent is going to make progress. 19.Rfe1Rxe1+20.Rxe1c621.d5Sooner or later White must make this move. 21…Nf622.Qd4cxd523.Nxd5Nxd524.cxd5Qd625.Ne5White’s plan is to play at some moment Nc4 and then advance the d-pawn. If Black prevents it by playing b7-b5, then the weakness of square c6 is unpleasant. Therefore a good defensive plan is needed and Wang Yue fails to find it. 25…Re8[There was a reasonable way to force matters with 25…f626.Nxg6(26.Nc4?is a blunder in view of 26…Qb427.Rc1b5and Black wins.; 26.Nf3is also bad: 26…Bf727.Rd1Rd8and White loses the d5-pawn) 26…hxg627.Re6Qc5(Perhaps 27…Rc1+28.Kf2Rc2+29.Kf3Qd7is also acceptable.) 28.Qxc5Rxc529.d6Rd5 and the endgame should be a draw. For instance: 30.Kf2(or 30.h4b531.Kf2Kf732.Re7+Kf833.Rd7Rd2+34.Ke3Rxg235.Ra7Ke8 ) 30…g531.Ke3(31.g4b532.Ke3Kf733.Re7+Kf834.Rd7g635.Ke4Rd2 ) 31…f532.Re7Rxd633.Rxb7Kh734.a4Kg635.a5f4+36.Ke4Re6+37.Kf3(37.Kd3Re3+38.Kd4Re239.Rb6+Kf5 ) 37…Kf5 ; 25…Bf5!? ; 25…Qc5? loses due to 26.Qxc5Rxc527.d6Rd528.d7 winning.] 26.Re3Rd8[26…b527.Nc4!Qd828.Rxe8+Qxe829.Ne5 is the kind of position White is aiming for.] 27.Nc4Qf628.Re5!h6?This allows White to advance the pawn. [After 28…b529.Na5(29.Qe3h6 ) 29…h6 Black should be able to hold the position.] 29.d6!Bf5[29…b530.d7!Kh731.Nb6 is also unpleasant.] 30.Nb6!Be6[30…Rxd631.Nd5 forces Black to give up the exchange; 30…Qxd6? loses right away due to 31.Rd5 ] 31.d7Kh832.a4Black is almost paralyzed and will soon end up in a sort of zugzwang. 32…g633.Qc3Kg734.a5h535.h4Here the Chinese player decided to give up the exchange and go for a position where he said “I think I have chances to draw.” 35…Rxd7[35…Bxd7?36.Rd5 loses the bishop; 35…Qxh4?36.Rxe6+ ; Black could still wait with 35…Kg8 but then 36.Rc5(or first 36.g3 ) 36…Qxc3(36…Qxh437.Rc8 ) 37.Rxc3Kf838.Rc7 and White wins.] 36.Nxd7Bxd737.Qd4Bc638.b4Bb539.Kh2Ba440.Rd5Bc641.Qxf6+Kxf642.Rc5Ke643.Kg3f644.Kf2Bd545.g3g5?This loses by force, but the position must be lost anyway. White brings the king to d4, then attacks with the rook the pawn f6, forcing Black to play Ke6, then White goes with the king to b6 and takes with the rook on b7, winning. 46.g4!This way White creates a passed h-pawn, which decides quickly. 46…hxg447.h5Be448.Rc7f549.h6f450.h7g3+51.Ke1f352.h8Qf2+53.Ke2Bd3+54.Ke3and 1-0.
Puzzler.
White — Ka4, Ba6, Nb8, Nc6, Qc1, pawns on e3 and h4
Black — Kd5, Nd6, Rf7, Bh7, Rh3, pawns on b3, c4, c7, d4, e6 and f3
White to play and mate in four.
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