By Lubomir Kavalek
Monday, February 27, 2006

The fabulous Linares tournament, often called the Wimbledon of chess, has turned into a flying circus. For the first seven rounds of this traditional double round-robin event, the organizers flew eight elite grandmasters, mostly Europeans, to the Mexican city of Morelia. They will be flown to Spain today for the next seven rounds. The victim of the double jet-lag competition is world champion Veselin Topalov. Saturday, after six rounds, the Bulgarian grandmaster shared the last place with Etienne Bacrot of France with two points. The super-solid Hungarian Peter Leko was leading with 4 1/2 points, a full point ahead of Russia's Peter Svidler and Armenia's Levon Aronian.

Vassily Ivanchuk, the moody genius from Ukraine, is at 36 the oldest participant. On any given day he is capable of defeating the world's best players or losing inexplicably. It was not his day against Leko's positional squeeze in the Anti-Marshall Spanish.

Leko-Ivanchuk

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Nf1 Bc8 (Aiming to oppose white's light bishop from the square e6.)

13.c3!? (This new move gives white control of the center and prepares a space grab on the queenside with b2-b4.) 13...Bd7 (After13...Be6 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.b4 white gets his queen to b3 with advantage.) 14.Ne3 Qc7 15.axb5 axb5 16.b4 Nb7 (A sad necessity. After 16...cxb4 17.cxb4 Nc6 white has a little combination, snatching a pawn with 18.Bxf7+!, for example 18...Kxf7 19.Qb3+ and now after 19...Kg6 20.Nh4+ Kg5 [20...Kh5 21.Qd1+!] 21.Nef5+ Kh5 22.Qd1+ Ng4 23.Qxg4+! Kxg4 24.f3+ Kh5 25.g4 mate; and after19...d5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.Rxa8 Rxa8 22.exd5, threatening 22.d6+, white is a healthy pawn up.) 17.Bd2 Nd8 18.Bb3 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 Re8?! (Black should have tried 19...cxb4 20.cxb4 Be6, although after 21.Rc1 Qd7 22.Qc3 white's better-coordinated forces dictate the play.)

20.bxc5! (The right moment to separate and isolate the black pawn on b5.) 20...Qxc5 (Black is forced to take with the queen, since after 20...dxc5 21.c4! white has strong pressure against the pawn on e5.) 21.Qa2 (Creating a strong bishop-queen battery on the diagonal a2-g8. Black can't oppose it with 21...Be6, because he needs his light bishop to defend his b-pawn.) 21...h6 22.h3 Ne6 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.Bxd5 Qc8 25.d4! (Increasing the tension in the center.) 25...Bf6 26.Qb3 Bc6 (The weakness on f7 does not allow black to take the pawn on d4.)

27.Qb4! (Black now has a problem of how to defend his weak pawns. After 27.Bxc6 Qxc6 28.d5 black escapes with 28...Nc5.) 27...exd4 28.cxd4 Bxd5 29.exd5 Ng5 30.Rxe8+ Qxe8 31.Bxg5 hxg5 32.Qxd6 Qe2 33.Qc5?! (Safety first, but Leko is giving black a new life. After 33.Qb8+ Kh7 34.d6 Qe6 35.Qxb5 Qxd6 white is a pawn up, but the win is not easy, as shown in a similar position reached in the 1927 world championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine.) 33...Qc4? (Losing. Black's only chance was to support his passed b-pawn with 33...Qb2! For example after 34.d6 b4 35.Qc8+ Kh7 36.Kh2 b3 37.Qf5+ Kg8 38.d7 Qc1 39.Qxf6 gxf6 40.d8Q+ Kg7 41.Qa5 Qf4+ 42.Kg1 b2 43.Nd2 Qxd4 black draws.) 34.Qxc4 bxc4 35.Kf1 Kf8 36.d6 Ke8 37.Ne5 (Preventing the black king from entering the game.) 37...Bxe5 38.dxe5 Kd7 39.g3 (After 39...f6 40.f4 white has two supported passers and wins.) Black resigned.

Ivanchuk redeemed himself with a win over the four-time Russian champion, Svidler, turning a dull variation of the Grunfeld defense into an astonishing tactical slugfest. The win gave Ivanchuk three points.

Ivanchuk-Svidler

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.e3 Be6 8.Qb1 c5?!

(Svidler is giving back the pawn, activating his pieces, but it is risky.) 9.Qxb7 Bd5 10.Qb5+ Nd7 11.Nf3 Rb8 12.Qa4 (The siege of the pawn on c4 begins.) 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Qc8 14.Rc1 e6 (Black is unable to hold the c-pawn.)

15.Bxc4! (A well-calculated capture. Ivanchuk has to find a few accurate moves to keep the pawn.) 15...Rb4 16.Qa6! Bb7 (After 16...Qc7 comes 17.Ne5.) 17.Qa5! (Indirectly protecting the bishop on c4, since after 17...Rxc4 18.Rxc4 Qxc4 19.Qd8 mates.) 17...f6 18.Nd2! Bxg2 19.Rg1! (More precise than 19.Bxf6 Bxh1 20.Bxh8 Qc6 and black is still breathing.) 19...Qc6 (A double-rook sacrifice 19...Bd5 20.Bxf6 Rg8 21.Bxd5!! Qxc1+ 22.Ke2 Qxg1 leads to a mate after 23.Qd8+ Kf7 24.Qxd7+ Kxf6 25.Ne4+ Kf5 26.Qxe6 mate.)

20.Rxg2! (A splendid exchange sacrifice, leaving the black king vulnerable.) 20...Qxg2 21.Bxe6 Bd6 (Svidler could not find anything better. The retreat 21...Qb7 is met by 22.Rc7!; and after 21...Rb6 22.Bxd7+ Kxd7 23.Qa4+! Rc6 24.Rc4 Bd6 25.e4 Rhc8 26.d5 wins.) 22.Rc8+ Ke7 23.Rxh8 Kxe6 24.Qd8 Qg1+ (Ivanchuk deserved to win the game brilliantly with a magnificent king's hunt after 24...Qh1+ 25.Ke2 Qc6 26.Qg8+ Kf5 27.e4+ Kg4 28.Qxg6+!! hxg6 29.h3+ Kxh3 30.Bg3+ Kg2 31.Rh2+ Kg1 32.Nf3 mate.) 25.Ke2 (After 25...Qg4+ 26.f3 Qxh4 [After 26...Qg2+ 27.Kd3 or 27.Bf2 wins.] 27.Re8+ Kd5 [27...Kf5 28.Qxd7+ wins.] 28.Qa8+ and white mates.) Black resigned.

Solution to today's problem by A. Grunenwald (White: Ke7,Qg6,Nh7; Black:Kg8,Qh8,Ne8,P:g7):1.Kd7! Nc7 (Or 1...Nd6 2.Kxd6 Qxh7 3.Qe8 mate.) 2.Kxc7 Qxh7 3.Qe8 mate.