Mark Glukhovsky

The review of the round should start from the games of those who can sleep well, not being in torment because of opportunities they let slip. Peter Svidler and Alexei Shirov  were the first to appear in the Press Club. It is the second time in this tournament that Peter has failed to start a serious fight in the Ruy Lopez. According to Svidler, he was even able to gain a slight advantage, but one small inaccuracy nullified it. After the White Rook went over from the closed e-file to the open c-file it became obvious that Black had a clear - cut way to equality.

Alexei Shirov confirmed the assessment of his vis-a-vis: ‘Peter indeed had a slightly better game and was attacking in the most natural way, but Black was able to find a forced drawing variation’. Having exchanged their opinions, the grandmasters left the room and went to rest. Both of them have not yet shown their true strength and are just preparing for the big game.

The game between Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Ponomariov turned out to be somewhat more intricate. The Ukrainian grandmaster had made an attempt to surprise his very experienced opponent in the Nimzo-Indian. ‘A rarely played move’ - in this diplomatic manner Ruslan presented his surprise to the journalists. ‘Yes, indeed, this move was made by Romanishin’ - Boris responded at once.

It is far from easy to surprise the Israeli grandmaster, whose is renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of openings. ‘I was not upset, for I could threaten with a checkmate’ - Gelfand continued his comments. After the logical exchanges of pieces the game went over to the endgame, slightly more favorable for White, but here Ruslan, as in his first round game, was again able to show his best qualities. With several precise moves the Ukrainian grandmaster was able to neutralize his opponent’s initiative, making him resign himself to the repetition of moves.

The next game to comment may seriously claim to be the most intriguing not only in today’s round, but in the tournament itself. And not because of its purely chess content. The reason is that in chess, unlike soccer, the arbiter seldom plays an active role in determining the outcome of the contest. Before the first control the rivals were able to manage on their own. Alexander Morozevich was able to surprise his opponent with a rare move in the Sveshnikov variation. Carlsen reacted calmly - he generally gives the impression of an extraordinarily calm youth - still the position he got was somewhat depressing. The Russian grandmaster was slowly and methodically tightening the rope around his opponent’s neck. The Norwegian defended sturdily, but still the issue was open whether White finds a winning plan (if it exists at all) or the “kid” adds to his assets the first half a point. Both spectators and journalists were in a state of relaxed expectation - as a Victorian novelist would sag: nothing presaged the disaster. In the closed position Morozevich tried to find the winning method. Carlsen defended. White failed to disturb the fragile equilibrium and at some point the Norwegian called the arbiter and claimed the threefold repetition of the position. The claim was satisfied: Geurt Gijssen recognized the game as drawn. Both grandmasters moved to the exit. Taken unawares, the journalists caught up with them on the staircase. The distressed Morozevich refused to comment on the game: ‘What am I to talk about if I cannot count up to three!’

Carlsen, exhausted by the long defense, lacked virtually a couple of minutes to escape to the hotel, so he had to answer journalist’s questions.

While Magnus was demonstrating variations of the difficult game, offering his rival his condolences: ‘It certainly was nasty for Alexander to allow the repetition of moves in such a position’ - it has been found that in fact Alexander should feel even nastier about it, for, actually, there has not been a triple repetition at all! Indeed, the same position appeared for the third time, but with the other player having the move.

It is precisely this latter circumstance that the Chief Arbiter overlooked, while Morozevich seemed to rely upon his judgment. Later Geurt Gijssen made a statement to this effect. He also told ‘the latest news’ to the only one of the two participants of the drama who still remained in the playing area.

I am ready to play on’, said the descendant of the Vikings. All rushed to look for Morozevich - to no avail: he was obviously resting after the unfortunate game at a restaurant. Cynical journalists suggested that the justice should be restored and Alexander’s clock started. But, in the opinion of Morozevich’s coach grandmaster Alexey Kuzmin, a draw remains a draw, despite the arbiter’s wrong decision. Only thing remained unclear - what did Morozevich mean when complaining that he could not count up to three?

In the two remaining games, the arbiters did not take so active a part. But for the spectators the tension created by the players was quite enough. In the game between two friends - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Levon Aronian - spark were flying in all directions.

After the game the comrades-in-arms have analyzed the game for a long time in the press room, so that the journalists had enough time to get acquainted with the variations and test their impressions of the game. To summarize: just after the opening Mamedyarov missed the best line, which merely promised the repetition of moves though.

Later Aronian, who played Black, posed serious problems to his opponent, who was just able to get away from the worst thanks to the sly maneuver of the White Knight: d2-f1-g3-h1-f2! This unexpected raid in the rear of its own camp turned out to be salutary. Levon failed to react in good time (instead of 20…Re6 he could play the stronger 20…f6) and allowed Shakhiriyar ‘to almost equalize’. Black still had some advantage, but it was no longer possible to turn it into something tangible. For a long time Aronian remained unwilling to lose the prospect of becoming the single leader, but on move 68 he had to bow to the inevitable.

The last one to part with the chances to win was Alexander Grischuk. Behind his terse comments, a serious drama of a professional is visible. On the 10th move, Alexander adopted a quality novelty, took his opponent along the mapped-up path and got what he had striven for: the ending where he was an exchange down, but had very good chances to win.

He got a position as nice as he could only wish: the White Knight at a4 has not been able to come into play, whereas on the opposite wing the Black Pawns were slowly but steadily advancing. To reap what he sow Alexander lacked this time his usual accuracy, which is so important when you play the stubborn Hungarian. Leko found a way to extricate his Knight and eventually even had some winning chances, but, as Grischuk explained, ‘he wanted a draw and he got a draw’. It is too hard, having been in a trench for seven hours, suddenly to rush in a counterattack.

We have not the slightest desire to wring our hands on account of the low decisiveness of the round. Everyone who will take the trouble to get acquainted with the material will agree that we have witnessed highly exciting events.