Astrakhan, Round 1: Mostly Draws
After all the effort put out by Anand and Topalov in their games, round 1 of the Astrakhan Grand Prix was almost comical in its bloodlessness. Here's a quick recap:
Mamedyarov - Jakovenko: A Flexible Nimzo that repeated Kramnik's 18.Re1 from the Anand match. Black equalized, and with rook and three vs. rook and three they agreed to a draw after 35 moves.
Inarkiev - Ponomariov was a Berlin "Declined" (4.d3). Many quick exchanges occurred, and an even rook ending was reached after 28 moves. The pawns vanished in a hurry too, and in rook and 1 vs. rook and 1, the players agreed to a draw on move 41.
Alekseev - Radjabov saw what Avrukh dubs the "Solid Line" of the Gruenfeld (both sides fianchetto, Black plays c6 + d5), but Black surrendered the center with ...dxc4, turning it into something more like a Schlechter Slav. Whatever we call it, speedy liquidation was once again the order of the day, and the players were down to rooks and bishops by move 22, and the draw was agreed on move 25.
Akopian - Gelfand was a Petroff, of course, and like Mamedyarov-Jakovenko finished in a rook and three vs. rook and three ending. Akopian and Gelfand were a touch less efficient though, only shaking hands on move 39.
Wang Yue - Leko was far more professional, as they shook hands after just 18 moves. Nevertheless, this was an interesting game, as they played a variation from the Anand-Topalov match. It was a Catalan, and Leko used Topalov's 4...dxc4 5.Bg2 a6 line. After 6.Ne5 c5 Anand played 7.Na3 in game 2 and went on to win, but not because of the opening. In my notes to that game I mentioned 7.Be3 as an alternative, and gave two of Wang Yue's victories with that move. Those games, like Wang Yue - Leko, continued 7...Nd5 8.dxc5, but where his earlier opponents played the natural 8...Nxe3, Leko played 8...Nd7 (which is the main line) and drew quickly.
Eljanov - Svidler was the only interesting draw of the lot, a 4.Bg5 Gruenfeld that finished in a legitimate draw by repetition after 44 hard-fought moves.
Gashimov - Ivanchuk: We come at last to the only decisive game of the day. Gashimov outplayed Ivanchuk in an Anti-Marshall, as his opponent was unable to find a way to neutralize White's kingside buildup. White was better in any case, but after 33...Kh7(?) 34.Rf6! Black was in big trouble. 34...Re7? just made things worse, and in the final position Black's queen is trapped and its extrication will cost too much material and/or trouble. (For example: 36...Bxe5 37.dxe5 Qh5 38.Ng3 Qxe5 39.Bd4 Qe1 40.Bxg6+! Kg8 [40...Kxg6 41.Rf6+ mates quickly, while 40...fxg6 41.Rxf8 Qxd2 42.Rh8# is an immediate end] 41.Qc2 [Threatening 42.Bh7#] 41...f6 42.Bxf6 Rxf6 43.Rxf6 leaves White a piece up with an ongoing attack.)
The standings are easy to report: Gashimov is in clear first with 1 out of 1, Ivanchuk is in clear last, and everyone else has half a point. More here.
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