The 2nd tournament in the FIDE Grand Prix Series, SOCHI 2008, has started today with two victories: Grischuk beat Karjakin and Radjabov defeated Al-Modiahki. At 15:00 hrs, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov made the first move on the board of Navara and Ivanchuk, one of the five draws today.
In Wang Yue-Aronian, the first draw of the tournament, the players went
for a fashionable line of the Slav Defense, where White has two
bishops, and Black enjoys a solid position. Levon showed the most
energetic way of fighting for equality. He improved his own play in Bu
Xiangzhi-Aronian, Yerevan 2008 by 13…e5!.
The Chinese player went for
8.0-0 and 10.e4 for the first time. “My opponent had two games in the line
and I think White was better twice, so I played this. But 13...e5, I don’t
know, maybe after 14…h6 I should take on e5 but I think it’s all
equal,” after which he added: “My opening was
bad!” Well, as the Rolling Stones
sang, You can’t always get what you want. His natural reply
14.Bg5 basically killed the intrigue, as the game proceeded to a drawn
ending with opposite-colored bishops. The peaceful outcome of the game
is fair and just.
A satisfied Navara showed his game in the press room, which he had
drawn against first seeded Ivanchuk. “It is almost impossible to
prepare against this opponent but this line I know a little.” He was
talking about his off-beat 5.Qb3 against the Queen’s Indian, but here too, the Ukrainian was well prepared. He traded the dark-squared bishop, and
developed strong counterplay on the light squares.
His novelty 13…Qd7!
allowed Black to concentrate serious forces in the center. Navara
attempted to push the enemy knights off the key squares, and almost
succeeded. However, Ivanchuk’s sharp 19…c5! provoked a cascade of
exchanges that completely equalized the game. Both players played well,
and the draw is quite logical. According to Navara it was “probably
equal all the time”, although during the game he had the feeling he was
slightly better. A few moments he avoided an immediate draw but after
31…Qxa2!, a move he had missed, he had to go for it anyway.
In Svidler-Kamsky the players entered a fashionable line of the
Caro-Kann Defense (structurally resembling the French), and Kamsky demonstrated an original novelty – 9…a6. The idea behind it is probably
to keep more options for the light-squared bishop. Svidler replied
simply and sensibly, and continued developing his pieces. Afterwards he said he overestimated his chances. “17.f4 is better
than 17.b3 but it’s complicated.”
He hadn’t expected 17…Nac6! and the
only way to prevent the loss of a pawn was helping Black to catch up in development. The 21.c4 break opened up the position, and Black pieces
obtained two open files. Soon it turned out that White had many weak
pawns, and Svidler had to force the events in order to avoid the worst.
His timely break 26.g4! secured a draw. On 28.Kh2 Kamsky had planned
28…Qb5 after which 29.Rg1 Bf8 “there’s no mate and Black might be a bit
better already” (Svidler).
Grischuk was the first to draw blood in the tournament; he played an
excellent game against Karjakin. With 14…Bg7 the young Ukrainian
deviated from a game against the same opponent in January this year
(Odessa, rapid) and his 17...c5 was a novelty that tried to
rehabilitate a line of the Anti-Moscow Gambit. It did look promising,
and Black’s position looked good after the opening, however, only deep
home analysis can support or refute this impression. One thing is
obvious – Black had to play very accurately to avoid the mating attack,
and he failed to do so.
Grischuk had analysed it a bit before the game, “but I still couldn’t
remember if 21.Qd2 was the correct move,” the Russian grandmaster said.
He liked his 23.Ra3 which puts Black in “some kind of Zugzwang”. White
protects b3 already and any move by Bb7 allows the Bc2 and Qd3 battery.
Then, 24…Rb6! was was also strong according to Grischuk but then
Karjakin played a few weak moves. He could have tried 24…a4!? with the
idea of transferring the rook to b2.
In the game, Black’s play was a
bit slow, and it was ultimately decided by the poor position of Black’s
king. Grischuk kept picking up pawns, and played accurately even in his
traditional time trouble. All in all, the players produced a logical
game of high quality, and its outcome was determined by strategic
drawbacks of the Black’s position.
Gelfand-Jakovenko was a positional game. In a well-known line of the
Nimzo-Indian, Black carried out a positional pawn sacrifice, fighting
for the light squares in the center – 14…b5!?. Boris tried to improve
White’s play in Nogueiras-K.Georgiev, Leningrad 1987, declining the
offer. However, White failed to show any significant advantage. “I have
the bishop pair, but my pieces are rather clumsy in this line,” Gelfand
said afterwards.
The key squares d5 and e4 were under Black’s firm
grip, and Black even started creating some threats for the enemy king
(which were, however, not all that serious). Black’s attack (34…e5 and
36…e4) was parried by the accurate 38.Ra6!, which allowed White to
trade the rooks and proceed to a deadly drawn endgame.
Thanks to the efforts of both Radjabov and Al-Modiahki, their game
quickly deviated from the theoretical paths. The resulting position
looked like a weird version of the Catalan. White had the initiative,
and Al-Modiahki probably made a bad decision to open up the center by
11…c5?! – this move gave scope to the White’s bishops. Radjabov himself
wasn’t sure about 13…Bc5 (“Probably not the best”) and then his
original rook maneuver 14.Rh4!, 17.Ra4 and 19.Rc4! gave him a big
advantage.
In the subsequent game the d-pawn march gave Black decent
counterplay. The decisive mistake was made on the 27th move, when he
missed 27…Nc6! with good saving chances. After 27…gxf6? 28.Qxe7
Radjabov restored his advantage and convincingly won the game.
Cheparinov-Gashimov was a Petroff and in this opening, the move 7…Nc6
looks so familiar that we hardly think of any other continuations.
However, the logical 7…Nd6!? (aimed against c2-c4), played by Gashimov,
was invented more than a century ago. David Bronstein advertised it at
the highest level in 1972, and these days many grandmasters use this
move to avoid mainstream theory.
In the game Black obtained a solid
position despite certain lag in development. However, this was only a
temporary disadvantage. Ivan’s novelty 13.Ne2 proved fruitless. Black
easily parried White’s ill-prepared attack on the kingside, and moved
to active operations by 23…g5.
The resulting complications were too tough for both sides. The players
committed several inaccuracies and plain blunders.
The critical moment
occurred after the move 35…h5 (diagram). Here White could claim an
advantage by 36.Ne3! gxh4 37.Kh2! Instead, Cheparinov went for a
tactical solution, missing a beautiful refutation: 36.Nxf6+ Rxf6
37.Rxf6, and here Gashimov could punish his opponent by 37...Qb1+
38.Kh2 Nh3!!, and the White’s king is in the mating net. 39.Rg6+
doesn’t help in view of 39…Kh7. However, Vugar took on f6 with the
queen, which resulted in a completely drawn queen ending.
In Wang Yue-Aronian, the first draw of the tournament, the players went
for a fashionable line of the Slav Defense, where White has two
bishops, and Black enjoys a solid position. Levon showed the most
energetic way of fighting for equality. He improved his own play in Bu
Xiangzhi-Aronian, Yerevan 2008 by 13…e5!. 
A satisfied Navara showed his game in the press room, which he had
drawn against first seeded Ivanchuk. “It is almost impossible to
prepare against this opponent but this line I know a little.” He was
talking about his off-beat 5.Qb3 against the Queen’s Indian, but here too, the Ukrainian was well prepared. He traded the dark-squared bishop, and
developed strong counterplay on the light squares. 
In Svidler-Kamsky the players entered a fashionable line of the
Caro-Kann Defense (structurally resembling the French), and Kamsky demonstrated an original novelty – 9…a6. The idea behind it is probably
to keep more options for the light-squared bishop. Svidler replied
simply and sensibly, and continued developing his pieces. Afterwards he said he overestimated his chances. “17.f4 is better
than 17.b3 but it’s complicated.” 
Grischuk was the first to draw blood in the tournament; he played an
excellent game against Karjakin. With 14…Bg7 the young Ukrainian
deviated from a game against the same opponent in January this year
(Odessa, rapid) and his 17...c5 was a novelty that tried to
rehabilitate a line of the Anti-Moscow Gambit. It did look promising,
and Black’s position looked good after the opening, however, only deep
home analysis can support or refute this impression. One thing is
obvious – Black had to play very accurately to avoid the mating attack,
and he failed to do so.
Gelfand-Jakovenko was a positional game. In a well-known line of the
Nimzo-Indian, Black carried out a positional pawn sacrifice, fighting
for the light squares in the center – 14…b5!?. Boris tried to improve
White’s play in Nogueiras-K.Georgiev, Leningrad 1987, declining the
offer. However, White failed to show any significant advantage. “I have
the bishop pair, but my pieces are rather clumsy in this line,” Gelfand
said afterwards. 
Thanks to the efforts of both Radjabov and Al-Modiahki, their game
quickly deviated from the theoretical paths. The resulting position
looked like a weird version of the Catalan. White had the initiative,
and Al-Modiahki probably made a bad decision to open up the center by
11…c5?! – this move gave scope to the White’s bishops. Radjabov himself
wasn’t sure about 13…Bc5 (“Probably not the best”) and then his
original rook maneuver 14.Rh4!, 17.Ra4 and 19.Rc4! gave him a big
advantage. 
Cheparinov-Gashimov was a Petroff and in this opening, the move 7…Nc6
looks so familiar that we hardly think of any other continuations.
However, the logical 7…Nd6!? (aimed against c2-c4), played by Gashimov,
was invented more than a century ago. David Bronstein advertised it at
the highest level in 1972, and these days many grandmasters use this
move to avoid mainstream theory. 
The critical moment
occurred after the move 35…h5 (diagram). Here White could claim an
advantage by 36.Ne3! gxh4 37.Kh2! Instead, Cheparinov went for a
tactical solution, missing a beautiful refutation: 36.Nxf6+ Rxf6
37.Rxf6, and here Gashimov could punish his opponent by 37...Qb1+
38.Kh2 Nh3!!, and the White’s king is in the mating net. 39.Rg6+
doesn’t help in view of 39…Kh7. However, Vugar took on f6 with the
queen, which resulted in a completely drawn queen ending.