Round 4 (drum)
After players of the black pieces have taken a pounding the entire tournament, they scored three wins in the 4th round. The other games were fairly calm with only Krasenkow-Akopian and Smirnov-Radjabov showing any dynamic imbalances. Krasenkow trotted out the “Shabalov Gambit” and while the game had lots of play, it petered out into a trivial draw. In the latter game, Smirnov may have sensed a Radjabov improvement and deviated with 24.Qe4… a draw was agreed. Veselin Topalov narrowly escaped defeat when Zdenko Kozul overlooked a combination in time pressure and ended up getting his white king mated.
Another decisive game of the round was from Almasi-Kasimdzhanov. In yet another Ruy Lopez, the Uzbek player set up a forteress . Almasi tried to set up an attack formation, but in the midst of complications Kasimdzhanov was able to steal white’s a-pawn. Black would then advance his a-pawn all the way into the end zone after which Almasi had to immediately give up a piece. Hikaru Nakamura was on the losing end of the brutal technique of Michael Adams. Adams trotted out the safe Queen’s Indian and played a solid methodical style. What is quickly becoming apparent is that opponents seem to be taking too many risks against Adams. Nakamura was saddled with a weak d4-pawn trying to create piece play. Nakamura tried to complicate matters, but may have missed a draw with 34.Nxd5! (diagram) Adams kept his calm and even jettisoned a pawn to get his passed b-pawn rolling. He finished the game with a cute parting shot of 66…Qxg2+!
In game 2, Nakamura opened with the Alekhine’s Defense which does not have the best reputation when playing for a win. Nevertheless, Nakamura would fight to create imbalances in the position. Adams was willing to go into unnecessary complications, played solidly and left no chances for an upset victory.
Topalov continued to roll through the field by ousting Kozul and now has scored a remarkable seven victories in eight games. In a classic Sicilian Rauzer battle, Kozul’s pawn storm combined with 11…Qb8 and 12…Rfc8 made his intentions clear while Topalov had a pawn storm of his own. Kozul forced a weakness in front of the Topalov’s king, but the Bulgarian was able to defend and get the queens off the board. In the ensuing endgame, Topalov was able to exploit weak pawns and create two connected pawns on the a- and b-files. These pawns would steamroll up the board and Kozul had to eventually resign. In Akopian-Krasnkow, this game ended in a complicated endgame battle after the Armenian had pocketed a pawn and penetrated black’s position. In the final analysis, Akopian’s active rook and material advantage wrapped up the point. Like Topalov and Adams, Akopian has played the minimum amount of games (to win four matches) which will come in handy when he faces Adams.
In Dominguez-Dreev’s second rapid tiebreak, the game steered into a strange French position with opposing fianchettoed bishops along the a8-h1 diagonal. The Cuban grabbed central squares and closed off the kingside with a pawn wedge on e5. After the attack gained momentum, Dominguez hit him with the winning 21. f7! He followed with a series of pinning tactics and ended up netting a piece. Beliavsky-Grischuk went to blitz tiebreaks after the previous games were drawn. In a blistering battle, Grischuk went for the win and built up an imposing attack formation. Beliavsky failed to liquidate white’s center and later missed 33.d5! when black would suffer massive losses. After a few more moves, the veteran resigned. Radjabov-Smirnov was decided in second blitz battle. Radjabov got to play his beloved Sveshnikov, a defense which relies on positional dynamism and incredible piece play. Smirnov was not familiar with the position and his hopes position went up in smoke in 26 moves. In Kharlov-Nisipeanu, exciting wins were traded in the two rapid tiebreaks and two hard-fought draws were traded in the blitz tiebreak. Both players sat down knowing only one would survive. Nisipeanu would play the white pieces with a 6:5 time advantage, but Kharlov holds “draw odds.” Both players played at a distance in the middlegame. Needing to force a win, Nisipeanu attacked frantically, but lost two pawns and later conceded the match.
Kozul, Zdenko (CRO) – Topalov, Veselin (BUL) 0-1 0-1
Smirnov, Pavel (RUS) – Radjabov, Teimour (AZE) ½ ½ (1.5-2.5)
Nakamura, Hikaru (USA) – Adams, Michael (ENG) 0-1 ½
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) – Beliavsky, Alexander (SLO) ½ ½ (2.51.5)
Almasi, Zoltan (HUN) – Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB) 0-1 0-1
Krasenkow, Michal (POL) – Akopian, Vladimir (ARM) ½ 0-1
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) – Dominguez, Lenier (CUB) ½ ½ (0.5-1.5)
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (ROM) – Kharlov, Andrei (RUS) ½ ½ (1.5-2.5)
Round 5 (drum)
In game 1 Dominguez avoided the Sveshnikov and opted for the Rossolimo. Immediately, it was apparent that the ” boy from Baku” was in a combative mood. The game was no more than eight moves old when the Cuban maestro banged out 9.Ng5?! While many frowned at the move, the maze of tactics and what would follow was pure chess combat!! Suddently it appeared that black would be up a clear piece and a quick win. Dominguez fought back with 16.d4! and had established three menacing central pawns as compensation. In addition, black’s king was exposed, pawn structure was bad and pieces uncoordinated. Dominguez (in severe time pressure) worked to get his pawn mass rolling, broke the blockade by trading queens and playing 37.b4! Black tried to stir counterplay by advancing the passed h-pawn, but was stopped cold with 43.Rc8! After a few more moves, Radjabov resigned.
Kasimdzhanov-Grischuk featured an energetic win by the Uzbek who suddenly has won four games in a row! The entire mid-game Grischuk was seeking to break out of the bind so his two bishops could run free. Finally, Grischuk got his chance, but his Bg8-b3-c2?? maneuver was hit by 47.Ne6+! attacking the bishop on c5 (diagram). So Grischuk played 47… Rxe6, but his “knightmare” would end when the last galloping horse later snared the c5-bishop. Topalov-Akopian was an example of pure technique from start to finish. With his performance, it is hard to see how any player in the field will be able to stop him. Out of a QGA, the queens came off quickly and after some very exciting middlegame play, it was Topalov’s bishop versus Akopian’s knight. In this battle, the bishop raked the entire board and combined with the advanced white king to begin a slow squeeze. The key moment came when black could no longer protect both sides of the board and eventually ran out of moves. Adams-Kharlov featured an opening Adams can claim some ownership to. The “English Attack” is still considered a potent weapon against the Sicilian and Mickey Adams used it with great effect. The queens came off the board fairly early and Adams owned an imposing pawn infantry on the kingside (e4, f4, g4, h4). As in previous rounds, the Englishman played logical moves and continued to improve his position while exploiting weaknesses. Kharlov attempted to get counterplay and got doubled rooks on white’s 2nd rank, but Adams ended the game neatly with an “defend and attack” move of 54.Re2!
In game 2 , Adams held off Akopian’s attack to advance . Topalov only needed a draw to clinch, but plowed ahead with a speculative piece sacrifice on move 22 with Nxe4. For many the game was mostly over when Topalov sacrificed the exchange with 29…Rxe4! Topalov kept the pressure and after 44.fxg5 Bf3 45.Rh2 Bxh2+ 46.Rxh2 Rf4!! his plan was starting to come to light. After 47.Bxf4 Qxf4, but the black pawns started marching up the board and Topalov finished the game with a beautiful combination.
In Radjabov-Dominguez, the two combatants entered a sharp Najdorf, but the Cuban played 8…Qa5!? In the middlegame, Radjabov pushed forward and after 17.Qb6! Black was suddenly lost. Black’s queen was trapped and Dominguez was facing certain material losses. He sacrificed an exchange, but soon resigned a hopeless position. Grischuk-Kasimdzhanov was a wild encounter as the young Russian went right after the win. In a very complicated middlegame, Grischuk fought hard to keep the position dynamic and coveted his bishop pair going into the endgame. Unlike their previous encounter, the two bishops sliced across the board and dominated the two knights. In severe time-pressure, Kasimdzhanov was unable to contain the powerful bishops, nor stop the strong e-pawn and resigned. Both tiebreaks were a hard battles with both sets of combatants fighting to the end. The first Kasimdzhanov-Grischuk game was a positional Ruy Lopez with the first set of pawns being traded on move 22. Pieces suddenly vanished from the board and the ending became tactical… white a pawn up. Kasimdzhanov sacked his extra pawn as his rook zipped around the board ultimately winning Grischuk’s remaining pawns. In the second rapid tiebreak, the game took on a position tone… pieces prodding and probing for 30 moves. Finally, the game exploded and another tactical ending occurred… Grischuk two pawns up. However, Kasimdzhanov never gave up and kept creating tactical threats on Grischuk’s exposed king. Grischuk fell into a maze of traps and lost a rook from a discovered check. Dominguez-Radjabov was one of the most exciting tiebreak matches of the tournament. Granted, all the games were drawn and there were a number of errors made, but the battles were brutal! Here’s a synopsis… Rapid #1 – Radjabov sacrificed a piece early and appeared to have little compensation, but in a time scramble Dominguez hung a piece and the game was drawn. Rapid #2 – Grandmaster Draw. Blitz #1 – Radjabov outplayed the Cuban master, but Dominguez got counterplay and Radjabov had to force a draw. Blitz #2 – A Najdorf with 6.Bg5 that exploded immediately, but by the endgame, Radjabov was a pawn up (again). He tried to win with 82…b4! and actually netted a piece but the game ended in an unwinnable B+N+K vs. N+K. Sudden Death – Dominguez made a mistake and went into Radjabov’s Sveshnikov Sicilian allowing his opponent to make instant replies. The game was a tactical slugfest and ended up in a frantic rook ending. In the end, the Cuban could not force a win and conceded the match. What a valiant effort by the Cuban… he has certainly won a number of new fans!
Topalov, Veselin (BUL) – Kharlov, Andrei (RUS) 1-0 1-0
Dominguez, Lenier (CUB) – Radjabov, Teimour (AZE) 1-0 0-1 (2.5-3.5)
Adams, Michael (ENG) – Akopian, Vladimir (ARM) 1-0 ½
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB) – Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) 1-0 0-1 (2-0)
Round 6
Topalov, Veselin (BUL) – Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (UZB) ½ ½ ½ ½ (0-2)
Adams, Michael (ENG) – Radjabov, Teimour (AZE) 1-0 ½ ½ ½
Final
| FIDE World Championship finals | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | TB | Tot | |||
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 2652 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4½ |
| Adams, Michael | ENG | 2731 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3½ |