Corus 2008 live commentary with IM Miodrag Perunovic and Goran Urosevic
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Topalov – Ivanchuk / Kramnik – Radjabov / Cheparinov – Movsesian
Corus 2008 round 1 commented game
Mamedyarov Carlsen / Aronian – Topalov / Spoelman – Cheparinov / Peng – Caruana
Corus 2008 pgn, photos, and more
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After winning the 2nd World Rapid Cup, Teimour Radjabov continues strong at the 2008 Corus by beating World Champion Anand in the first round! Last year he finished tied first, but this time he obviously wants more. Tough challenge in the second round, as Vladimir Kramnik is always dangerous with white pieces.
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PGN Kramnik Radjabov
Copy the text below in your pgn reader
{Kramnik is lethal with Catalan in hands, but Radjabov won’t be worried about
that, as he’s mostly playing Kings Indian, or in some cases, Gruenfeld Indian
against fianchetto setups. It would be exciting to see another Bayonet Attack
discussion. Enjoy the game!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O
6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nd2 $5 {Surprise! Kramnik mostly used
Petrosian variation (earlier) and Bayonet Attack (lately) against the Kings
Indian. He is now back to his roots, as this was the line he used in his
early career, at the beginning on 90’s. Radjabov is now spending more than 5
minutes already.} a5 {After 9 minutes of thinking. Of course, Radjabov knows
every corner of this opening, but he took some time to figure out what are
Kramnik’s intentions. 9…a5 is the most popular reply, but 9…c5 was also
possible. Kramnik will try to prepare c4-c5, as the idea behind Nd2 is to
transfer the Knight to b3 or c4.} 10. a3 {This might be a good moment to
clarify controversy around yesterday’s Carlsen-Mamedyarov game. Many were
wondering why Mamedyarov resigned when it was still possible to put up some
resistance and there were speculations that he lost on time. He actually
resigned in disgust, as it was obvious that Carlsen has deadly attack. But, as
our reporter from Corus confirmed, there are also some problems with DGT
system. In some cases it automatically flagged players after 2 hours instead
of giving another hour.} Nd7 11. Rb1 f5 {Black won’t try to prevent b4-c5, the
only intention behind a5 and Nd7 was to slow it down and open the a-file.
Another idea behind Nd7 was to start the pawn avalanche on the other side of
the board, as is usual in most of Kings Indian variations.} 12. b4 axb4 13.
axb4 Kh8 14. f3 c6 {Radjabov wants to challenge Kramnik’s supremacy on the
queenside. Different plan was Ne7-g8, continuing with play against white King.}
15. dxc6 $5 {Obviously Kramnik’s preparation, as this move was seen only once,
in game Chuchelov-Roeder. Experts for 9.Nd2 system, Grandmasters Beliavsky and
Lputian, preferred 15. Kh1. After 15…bxc6 16. b5, white would loosen d5
square, but d4 could be also weak.} bxc6 (15… Nxc6 {
with next Nd4 was also interesting, as white can’t play Nb3 at the moment.})
16. Nb3 Nf6 (16… fxe4 $6 17. Qxd6 (17. fxe4 Rxf1+ 18. Bxf1 Nf6 {is equal})
17… Rf6 18. Qd1 exf3 19. Bxf3 Qb6+ 20. c5 Qxb4 21. Ne4 {
with wonderful compensation for Kramnik}) 17. Bg5 Be6 (17… h6 $5 18. Be3 {
but the ‘pin’ from Bg5 is not that dangerous and it is not urgent to act
against. Besides, pawn h6 might be a weakness in the later stages.}) 18. Kh1 {
After long consideration, and Kramnik now caught Radjabov on the clock. Kh1 is
always useful in this line, to get away from the checks on long diagonal or
after taking Be2 (in some lines). But, besides surprising effect, 15. dxc5
didn’t bring anything spectacular.} Bg8 19. Qd2 {We shouldn’t forget that
Kramnik is very patient in equal positions and one always has to be alert
against him. Qc7 looking safe, but perhaps 19…d5!? is possible?} Rb8 {
This is directly inviting b4-b5, which was white’s intention anyway.} ({
Very interesting was} 19… d5 {and now} 20. exd5 cxd5 21. c5 d4 {
is an imbalanced position where both players are having some pawns to push.})
20. b5 {Without hesitation! 20…cxb5 21. Nxb5! fxe4 22. Qxd6 is messy.} cxb5
21. cxb5 (21. Nxb5 fxe4 (21… Ne8 22. c5) 22. Qxd6 exf3 23. Rxf3 Qxd6 24. Nxd6
{and black has nothing to be afraid of}) 21… d5 $1 {
Timely reaction! White doesn’t have a slightest advantage anymore.} 22. exd5
Nexd5 23. Nxd5 Qxd5 24. Na5 $1 {The only practical chance! Take control of b8
after Nc6, and try to push the pawn. 24…Qxd2 25. Bxd2 Nd5 with idea e4 is
still equal.} (24. Qxd5 Nxd5 25. Rfc1 e4 $1 {
and only Black can hope for the initiative.}) 24… Qxd2 25. Bxd2 Nd5 $1 {
26. Nc6 Rb7 holds everything. Bd2 is restricted by wonderful centralized
Knight, and black Bishops will enter in the play very soon.} 26. Bc4 e4 $1 {
Opening diagonals for Bishops and creating his own passer. Kramnik might go
with exchange on e4 and d5 and try to quickly push his own pawn. He’s extremely
strong when it comes to calculation, and if this transformation is good, he
will find that out.} 27. fxe4 Nc3 $5 {Slightly unexpected. Radjabov probably
wants to play with opposite-colored Bishops after 28. Bxc3 Bxc3 29. Bxg8 Bxa5
and b-pawn will be blocked on dark square} (27… fxe4 28. Rxf8 Rxf8 29. Bxd5
$5 Bxd5 30. b6 {Radjabov probably didn’t like this, but it seems like there is
sufficient counterplay on the 2nd rank} Rf2 31. Be3 Re2 {with next e3, and
even if Black will be forced to sacrifice a piece for b-pawn, White’s winning
chances would be minimal with lone h2 pawn.}) 28. Rb3 $5 {
Now 28…Ne4 or 28…Bxc4!? 29. Nxc4 Nxb5 or immediate 28…Nxb5.} (28. Bxc3
Bxc3 29. Bxg8 Bxa5 30. Bd5 fxe4 31. Rxf8+ Rxf8 32. Bxe4 Bb6 {holds equal})
28… Bxc4 29. Nxc4 Nxb5 30. exf5 gxf5 {
On Bf4, black has 31…Rc8! 32. Nb6 Nd4!} 31. g3 {
Even if black loses f5 pawn, the position is easy draw.} Nd4 32. Rxb8 Rxb8 33.
Be3 Rc8 34. Nd6 Rc6 35. Nxf5 Nxf5 36. Rxf5 Rc2 {Shake hands matter of minutes}
37. h4 h6 38. Kg1 Kh7 39. Rd5 Re2 40. Bf4 Rc2 41. Kf1 Ra2 42. Be3 Rc2 {
Black King is perfectly safe behind pawn h6 and Bg7, while Rook will be used
to harass white King.} 43. Bf2 Kg6 44. h5+ Kh7 45. Kg2 Rc7 $1 {Best place for
the Rook. White can only exchange g-pawns, but it is impossible to break
Black’s fortress.} 46. Be3 Rf7 47. Bf4 Rb7 48. Kf3 Re7 49. Rd6 Rb7 50. Rd5 Re7
51. Rb5 Kg8 52. Bd6 Re6 53. Rb8+ Kh7 54. Rd8 Rf6+ 55. Ke4 Rf7 56. Rc8 Rf6 57.
Rd8 Rf7 58. g4 Ra7 59. Rb8 Ra4+ 60. Kf5 Ra5+ 61. Ke6 Ra4 62. Bb4 Ra6+ 63. Kd5
Ra7 64. Rb6 Rd7+ 65. Bd6 Ra7 66. Ke6 Ra4 $1 67. Bb4 Ra7 68. Rb8 Ra6+ 69. Kd5
Ra7 70. Re8 Rd7+ 71. Bd6 Ra7 72. Re4 Rd7 73. Ke6 Ra7 74. Rb4 Bc3 75. Rb5 Bg7
76. Bc5 Rc7 77. Ra5 Bc3 78. Ra7 Rxa7 79. Bxa7 {Finally draw! An exciting game
in the first half (before time control), when Kramnik was trying to gain the
advantage and Radjabov was finding fantastic resources to keep the dynamic
balance. The second part displayed Radjabov’s accurate defence to hold the
position being pawn down. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live
coverage, see you again tomorrow at 13:30 CET!} 1/2-1/2
