ChessBase Magazine 124

Another winner in Sochi, though he did not belong to the victorious team, was Sergei Movsesian. For months the Slovak has been displaying magnificent form. Thanks to his strong results at the Russian championships and also the European championships (see below) his Elo rating will for the first time make the leap above 2700 in July. Considering the fact that Movsesian had to work hard at getting this rating mainly in open tournaments against “normal” grandmasters rather than keeping it up in elite invitation only tournaments, this performance deserves special recognition.

On this DVD Movsesian annotates two of his games from Sochi and two from the ECh in Plovdiv (see below). Against Popov, Movsesian succeeded in laying bare in exemplary fashion the Achilles heel of the Sveshnikov Defence – the backward pawn on d6. After a move which has not been played much yet, 20.Cf5 (see diagram), followed by the exchange of the black bishop for the white knight White retains a long lasting positional advantage and can go on to play for a win without any risk. Movsesian explains the decisive moments in this game and demonstrates impressively how to play in order to transform such a positional advantage into the full point. A real highlight for all 1.e4-players, who have often had to gnash their teeth when confronted with the Svesnikov! Click here or under the diagram, to play through the games with Movsesian’s comments.

Movsesian,S - Popov,I 
Position after 20.Cf5

Movsesian,S - Nepomniachtchi,I
Position after 15.Tad1

Movsesian had to struggle much harder on the other hand two rounds later against Nepomiachtchi. In a Najdorf  Sicilian with 6.Cf3 and then mutual kingside castling, things soon started happening in the centre. According to Movsesian’s analysis, in the position in the diagram Nepomiachtchi could have achieved an ending with an uneven distribution of material which was probably to his advantage. Can you see how Black should have continued here? In the game on the other hand 15...Axd5 16.cxd5 Cb4 led to a clear advantage for White. Movsesian shows excellent technique in this game. Thanks to the material advantage of two pieces against a rook and to his dominating positional play, White can capture the opposing pawns one at a time without any danger. In his analysis the Slovakian grandmaster explains the finer points with which he nipped in the bud all black counterplay.

Gashimov,V - Svidler,P
Position after 9.a4

To the vast majority of chess lovers the names Vugar Gashimov and Wang Yue would probably have been relatively unfamiliar until recently. Since their common victory in the  FIDE Grand Prix in Baku, the first of the six Grand Prix events, via which the best players will qualify for the next FIDE WCh, things have altered somewhat. And who knows how far they will go amongst the top players in the world?  The hometown boy from Baku, Vugar Gashimov, annotates two of his victories which are worth seeing. His first victory over Svidler began with a novelty on move 9. The move 9.a4 (see diagram) is, according to Gashimov’s analyses, so conclusive that for the foreseeable future Black will lay off this setup. In fact, for the whole game Svidler never managed to bring his pieces properly into play. The advance 21.f5, followed by the later rook lift to the third rank – a motif which keeps coming back in some of the highlights of this issue – is the prelude to the short but final attack on the king position.

In the last but one round, Gashimov met Alexander Grischuk, who was also still well placed, and he had the chance to go to the top of the table with a victory as White. In this game too, the Azeri had the opportunity to set White on a winning path with an important innovation. Grischuk had, for the second time in this tournament, turned to the same variation of the Ruy Lopez Steinitz Defence and in doing so ran straight into the home preparation of his opponent. In the position in the diagram, up until now White has usually played 12.c4. Gashimov’s innovation 12.Dd3, on the other hand, allows a setup without what in his opinion is the superfluous move c4. The game then followed Gashimov’s preparation, and only a few moves later Black already had his back to the wall. In his analysis Gashimov examines, for example, alternative replies to his innovation and shows some of the tactics which are worth considering towards the end of the game.

Gashimov,V - Grischuk,A
Position before 12.Dd3
 

The third “Grand-Slam” tournament of the year saw Vassily Ivanchuk the clear victor and in many of his games impressively majestic. After a faultless run in the first round of games, beginning with victories over Radjabov and Topalov and a more peaceful second round his final score of 8 out of 10 meant a comfortable lead. Many of Ivanchuk’s games are thoroughly analysed on this DVD, for example by GMs and openings experts Postny and Krasenkow). All the games and a tournament report can be accessed via the link to MTel Sofia 2008 in the left hand column.

One who was not happy with his result at half-time was the young star Teimur Radjabov. His brilliant game against Bu Xiangzhi in round 7 was his first win in the tournament and the turning point which led a more respectable final score of  +1. The young Chinese player chose the Slav with 4…a6 and Radjabov went for the closed continuation with c4-c5. The position then turned into a sort of Stonewall formation, in which the Azerbaijani managed to set his opponent serious problems by means of the instructive manoeuvre Ac1-d2-e1-h4-g5 After the nice 24.Tf7 (see diagram) White is already winning. In his analysis Radjabov explains the different ways of exchanging, between which Black must now choose. In the game Bu Xiangzhi selected the endgame with rook and bishop against queen, obviously hoping to be able to force a draw by completely blockading the position. But Radjabov made use of the last remaining hole on the queenside to penetrate decisively into Black’s position with his king.

Radjabov,T - Bu Xiangzhi
Position after 24.Tf7