With Alexander Grischuk sharing first in Linares (as of this writing), poised to win Linares for the second straight year and at an all-time career high rating (2770), it seems an auspicious time to feature him in this week's ChessBase show. And so we will.
The game we'll examine is from the 2005 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, from Grischuk's fourth round match with American GM Gata Kamsky. Both players have great experience in the Ruy Lopez, but Grischuk outplayed his illustrious opponent with what looks like ease, but in fact required some very subtle and accurate play on his part. Reminiscent of an aggressive Karpov, Grischuk was able to combine active ideas with well-timed prophylaxis, and the result was a very difficult and cramped position that Kamsky never managed to escape. Even so, Kamsky defended well for a long time, but missed a key defensive idea late in the game and went down to defeat.
The game is attractive, of course, but instructive too as it illustrates a number of positional themes (many but not all native to the Ruy Lopez), and taking a closer look at this game is well worth your time. To join us as we examine it on the Playchess server, log on at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night (= 3 a.m. Thursday morning CET), go to the Broadcast room and find Grischuk-Kamsky under the Games tab. Hope to see you there!