This year’s participating GMs are Vladimir Kramnik of Russia (2790), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760) of Azerbaijan, Ruslan Ponomariov (2737) of Ukraine, Peter Leko (2735) of Hungary, Arkadij Naiditsch (2691) of Germany, and Asia’s rising superstar, 19-year-old Le Quang Liem (2689) of Vietnam. This is former world champ Kramnik’s favorite tournament, having won it a record nine times. But in round two, he faced one of Ukraine’s top GMs, Ponomariov, who won the FIDE world championship title when he was 18 — ahead of Anand, Adams, Morozevich and Ivanchuk!
Now 26 years old, Ruslan is the world’s no. 14 player with a style described as “combative — he doesn’t shy away from complications, and once the game reaches the technical phase he’s extremely efficient.”
After five rounds, he is ahead of the field with Le (who beat Ruslan in the 4th round) and Mamedrayov half a point behind.
Game of the week. GM Sergey Shipov says Ponomariov conducted our featured partie very powerfully. “He managed the almost impossible — to find a weakness in Kramnik’s opening preparation… The position after the 12th move will no doubt be heavily studied in the best laboratories around the world.” Notes are from ChessBase.
White: R. Ponomariov (2734)
Black: V. Kramnik (2790)
Catalan Opening
Dortmund 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 b6 9.Rd1 Ba6 10.Ne5 Qc8. Though not a novelty per se, this move has only been played once before, whereas 10…Nfd7 is the usual continuation. 11.Nc3 Nbd7 12.Rac1 A novelty. 12…Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nd7 14.cxd5 cxd5. White’s pieces are now beautifully positioned, and a number of tactical themes are starting to rear their ugly heads based on the g2-a8 diagonal as well as discovered attacks based on a timely knight move. 15.Bf4. White is threatening e4 which would maximize the power of his artillery. 15…g516.Bxd5! Strong and precise, the Ukrainian forces Kramnik’s hand. 16…exd5 17.Nxd5 Qd8. The queen could not be taken with 17…Qxc2?? since after 18.Nxe7+ Kg7 19.Rxc2 gxf4 20.Rxd7 White’s two extra pawns would be more than enough. 18.Nc7 Rc8 This was the final mistake, and Ponomariov does not miss his chance. Better was 18…gxf4 19.Qf5! Bc8 20.Nxa8 fxg3 21.hxg3 Nc5 22.Rxd8 Bxf5 23.Rxf8+ Bxf8 though White’s chances are still preferable thanks to his rook and two pawns for the two pieces. 19.e6! fxe6 20.Qc6 Qe8 21.Qxe6+ Qf7. In truth, Kramnik could easily have resigned here as the next moves are forced, after which he is left with a dead lost endgame. Still, he may have continued just as easily for the benefit of the public, as he had no desire to have a 21-move loss listed in his curriculum. 22.Qxf7+ Kxf7 23.Nxa6 gxf4 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Rxd7 Rc2 26.Nb4 Rxb2 27.Nc6 Rxe2 28.Rxa7 f3 29.h4 h5 30.Rxe7+ Rxe7 31.Nxe7 Kxe7 32.g4 hxg4 33.Kh2 Ke6 34.Kg3 Kf5 35.a4 Ke4 36.Kxg4 and 1-0.
Puzzler.
White: Qa1, Nd5, Bg5, Kh7
Black: Ke5
White to play and mate in three.
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