Amber, Day 8: Kramnik Defeats Carlsen; Ivanchuk Leads by a Point
Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 5:39PM There were a lot of draws today, but the battle of the headliners, Carlsen and Kramnik, provided plenty of excitement. Unfortunately, some very good chess alternated with blunders in both games. In the first game, Carlsen chose a gambit line in the Vienna QGD, but unaccountably seemed completely unprepared. Kramnik convincingly outplayed him, but faced with the very last problem Carlsen could pose, Kramnik blundered - giving Carlsen excellent drawing chances. Carlsen missed it, and went on to lose the game "properly," as if the exchange of errors never happened.
In game 2, a Bayonet King's Indian, Carlsen spoiled a position where he was no more than slightly worse with a blunder, after which he was two pawns down for nothing. Normally, Kramnik would be as good as gold in such a situation, but not today. As in game 1, there was an exchange of unseen blunders (42.Qc2??, 42...Rc1??), but Kramnik's third blunder of the day - after a serious error by Carlsen! - cost him the win. I guess the players are wearing down at the end of a long tournament. The blunders notwithstanding, however, Carlsen deserves credit for his resilient defense in a long-lost position.
Ivanchuk started the day half a point ahead of Carlsen, but was only able to pad his lead by another half point, despite the chance to face tailender Dominguez. In both games Ivanchuk made it to a rook ending with an extra pawn, but you know what they say about "all" rook endings. Both games were drawn.
Gelfand gained ground on Carlsen (but not Ivanchuk) with a pair of draws against Aronian, and is tied for third with Kramnik. Another half a point back are Grischuk and Karjakin, due to the former's 1.5-.5 victory over the latter. Here are the full (combined) standings:
Combined Standings After Round 8:
1. Ivanchuk 11
2. Carlsen 10
3-4. Kramnik, Gelfand 9.5
5-6. Grischuk, Karjakin 9
7-8. Gashimov, Svidler 8.5
9. Aronian 7
10. Ponomariov 6.5
11. Smeets 4
12. Dominguez 3.5
Tomorrow is a rest day; here are the round 9 pairings, coming Tuesday:
Gashimov - Ivanchuk
Kramnik - Svidler
Gelfand - Karjakin
Ponomariov - Aronian
Grischuk - Smeets
Dominguez - Carlsen
Finally, the two Carlsen-Kramnik games can be found here, with my comments, and the tournament website is here.
Carlsen, Kramnik in Amber 2010
Reader Comments (3)
Dennis, fast and fine analyses as always! Maybe some room for improvement (nobody is perfect): In the Kramnik-Carlsen rapid game, I wonder if 26.-Kg8 doesn't also run into Be5: tactics - because (if my line is correct) the a2-g8 diagonal isn't entirely safe either:
26.-Kg8?! 27.Be5: de5: 28.Re5: Qf6 29.Re6 Qg7 30.d6 Nc6? 31.Re8+ (and 31.-Rf8 is an illegal move, that's the point ...). Black can bail out with 27.-Nd5: but will then remain a pawn down. "Approximately equal" or "almost equal" might then be a correct evaluation because the extra pawn is hard to convert - still this could be the reason why Carlsen avoided this variation?
Black's best might be 26.-Bg7 or even the odd-looking 26.-Bf4 [to avoid Nf3-g5-e6 in some future lines]?
By the way, while Carlsen's blog can be interpreted in such a way ("I missed a simple tactic, and got a completely lost position.") I find it hard to believe that he missed Be5: ideas altogether - wasn't it obvious that this was white's idea when/if the opportunity arises??
That I'm imperfect goes without saying. Likewise my notes, but they survive this challenge: 26...Kg8 27.Bxe5 dxe5 28.Rxe5?! (28.Qxb7=) Qd7 (not 28...Qf6? 29.Qxb7+-) 29.Rxe7 Rxe7 30.d6+ Rf7 31.Ne5 Qf5 32.Qxf7+ Qxf7 33.Nxf7 Kxf7 34.Re7+ Kf6 with an ending where Black has the better half of what will likely result in a draw. (White might eventually have to suffer R vs. R & B, but has no winning chances at all.)
As for your last question, I don't think Bxe5 was entirely obvious. It wasn't a brilliancy, but the point is that it's much more natural to prioritize the other captures when you've got a strong bishop on the diagonal facing the enemy king.
About my analyses I can be brief: I simply missed that black's queen can also go to d7 - mea culpa, this happens (particularly as I obviously didn't have engine assistance ...).
Concerning my last question, I could have - more generally - written (pseudo-)sacrifices on e5. But somehow while watching the game live, I "prioritized" captures with the bishop: To me it seems that white is unlikely to get a direct mating attack, too many defenders around the black king. In that case, occupying and controlling the long diagonal is or looks nice but no more than that!? It would be a different story if the bishop had also targets on the queenside, notably if black played -Rb8 or -Rc7 to protect his b-pawn. On the other hand, white's knight has to remain on the board for the time being as it can subsequently fork black pieces - as in the lines you gave at earlier moves.