Indian superstar Vishy Anand is the highest-rated player among the 14 colorful grandmasters at the traditional Corus tournament, underway in the Dutch coastal town of Wijk aan Zee. Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was leading after yesterday's second round with two wins, against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov and the current classical world champion, Vladimir Kramnik.
A Glorious Return
Judit Polgar, the all-time best female player, gave birth to a son, Oliver, last summer. She didn't play any serious chess for more than a year, and it was not clear how she would fare in elite tournaments upon her return. On Saturday she came back with a bang, defeating four-time Russian champion Peter Svidler in the first round of the Corus tournament. Two years ago Polgar finished second behind Anand. It would be, perhaps, too much to expect her to repeat this success this year, but the way she outplayed Svidler in the Marshall Attack in the Spanish was very impressive.
Polgar-Svidler
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.g3 Bd6 13.Re1 Qd7 14.d3 Qh3 15.Re4 (Svidler has played this variation successfully for both sides.) 15 . . . Nf6 16.Rh4 Qf5 17.Nd2 Re8 (Avoiding an exciting exchange sacrifice17 . . . g5 18.Rh6! Ng4 19.Ne4!! Nxh6 20.Nxd6 Qg6 21.Ne4 Svidler pioneered as white against Michael Adams, defeating him in Elista in 1998. Of course 17 . . . Qxd3 is met by18.Rd4 and white wins.) 18.Ne4! Nxe4 (A new try. In the game Davila-Neumann, Bled 2002, after 18 . . . Bc7?! 19.Bf4 Be5? 20.Bxe5 Qxe5 21.Nxf6+ Qxf6 22.Rf4 Bf5 23.g4 black resigned.) 19.Rxe4 Rxe4 20.dxe4 Qxe4 21.Bc2 Qe7 22.Bg5! (Polgar's pieces often come into play elegantly. Black's main weakness is the pawn on c6.) 22 . . . f6 (After 22 . . . Qxg5 23.Qxd6 Qd5 24.Rd1 black's queenside is vulnerable. But better is 22 . . . Qc7.) 23.Be3 Be6 24.Qf3 Qd7 (After 24 . . . Rc8 25.Re1 black has to deal with a potential pin on the e-file).
25.Rd1! (An unpleasant pin that is hard to shake off.) 25 . . . Rd8 26.Be4 Bxa2? (Grabbing the pawn loses. So does 26 . . . Bg4 27.Rxd6! After the better 26...Rc8 white can prevent the threat Be6-g4 with 27.h3, since after 27...Bxh3? 28.Rxd6! Qxd6 29.Qh5 Be6 30.Bh7+ Kf8 31.Bc5 wins.) 27.Bb6! Bb3 (On 27...Rc8 28.Bc5 wins.) 28.Rd4 c5 29.Bxc5 Qe6 (After 29...Bxc5 30.Rxd7 Rxd7 31.Qf5 Rd1+ 32.Kg2 white should win.) 30.c4! (A beautiful interference, threatening 31.Bd5 and 31.Qxb3. After 30...Bxc4 31. Rxc4! wins.) Black resigns.
Bloody Sunday
Yesterday's second round at the Corus brought two major upsets when two major favorites lost with the white pieces. Anand succumbed to the Hungarian Peter Leko in 57 moves in the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Kramnik lost the shortest game of his career, being defeated by Topalov in mere 20 moves. This month Topalov quietly moved into the third place on the FIDE rating list behind Garry Kasparov and Anand, and ahead of Kramnik. The Bulgarian is an unpleasant opponent who likes to bring the games to the edge with sharp openings well prepared at home. His novelty in the Sicilian English Attack against Kramnik is a perfect example.
Kramnik-Topalov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 h6 9.Qd2 b4 10.Na4 Nbd7! (This variation of the English Attack is favored by Sergei Movsesian, a former Armenian grandmaster who plays for Slovakia. Black can leave his b-pawn unprotected because after 11.Qxb4 d5 white's center collapses; and after 11.Nc6 Qc7 12.Nxb4 d5 black threatens at the same time to attack both knights with 13...Qa5 and destroy white's pawn center with 13...dxe4.) 11.0-0-0 Ne5!? (It looks like a prepared novelty and it is not obvious why white can't take the b-pawn. Movsesian tested with various success 11...d5 and 11...Qa5.) 12.Qxb4 Bd7! (Targeting the knight on a4 makes it difficult for white to coordinate his forces. The immediate 12...d5 is met by 13.Qb6.)
13.Nb3? (A critical slip, but the retreat 13.Nc3 leaves the white queen vulnerable to the attacks of black pieces. Topalov can almost force a repetition with13...Rb8 14.Qa3 Ra8, threatening the devastating 15...d5. Now 15.b4 looks too weakening, and after 15.Qb3 Rb8 repeats the position. But it is entirely possible that black can play for more with 13...d5.) 13...Rb8 14.Qa3 (The white queen is forced to the edge because after 14.Bb6 comes 14...Rxb6!, for example 15.Qxb6 Bxa4; or 15.Nxb6 Nc6 and white can't protect the knight on b6. After 14.Nb6 comes 14...Nc6 followed by 15...Rxb6.) 14...Nxf3 15.h3? (Kramnik should have minimized his losses with 15.Be2 Nxg4 16.Ba7 Rb7 17.Bxf3 Rxa7 18.Bxg4 Qg5+ 19.Nd2 Qxg4, although black has a clear advantage. Giving up the central pawn is disastrous.) 15...Nxe4 16.Be2 Ne5 17.Rhe1 Qc7 18.Bd4 Nc6 19.Bc3 d5! (Topalov waited with this attack after it became deadly. Kramnik is forced into a pin that loses material.) 20.Nbc5 Qa7 White resigns.
Solution to today's study by A. Wotawa (White: Kf7,Rd1,P:b7,e3; Black: Kb8,Rh8,P:c5,f5,h4): 1.e4! fxe4 (After 1...h3 comes 2.e5 h2 3.Rh1 Kxb7 4.e6 Kc7 5.e7 Kd7 6.Rxh2!) 2.Kg7 and the black rook is caught in its own e8-e5-h5-h8 square, for example 2...Re8 3.Kf7 Re5 4.Kf6 Rh5 5.Kg6 Rh8 6.Kg7; or 2...Rh5 3.Kg6 Re5 4.Kf6 Re8 5.Kf7 draw.
