[Event "World-ch Tournament"]
[Site "Mexico City"]
[Date "2007.09.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Leko, Peter"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[Annotator "Marin,Mihail"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[GameId "284556406202"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "MEX"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 120"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.10.02"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2007.10.02"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. d3 d6 10. Nbd2 Be6 {This variation was fashionable at top level some... 40 years ago.} ({Grischuk refrains from Grischuk renuncía a} 10... Na5 {, which had led him to defeat in the previous round. Maybe it would have been wiser to pick up a completely different opening, in order to avoid specific preparation and the negative influence of... bad memories. que le había llevado a la derrota en la ronda anterior. Tal vez debío de cambíar la apertura por completo, para evitar la preparación especifica y la influencía negativa de... los malos recuerdos.}) 11. Bxe6 {Curiously, in most of the previous games White refrained from this exchange. Curiosamente, en mayoría de las partidas anteriores las blancas evitaron este cambío.} ({In the '60s, the main line was considered to be} 11. Nc4 Rb8 {is more refined. Black anticipates White's plan and prepares for the opening of the b-file, maintaining the knight on f6 for one more move.} (11... Nd7 {intends to carry out a regrouping that would keep White's centre under pressure. The main drawback of the early knight retreat is that it allows} 12. Be3 Bf6 (12... a5 13. c3 bxc3 14. bxc3 d5 15. exd5 Bxd5 16. Rb1 Re8 17. Ba2 f6 18. Rb5 Bf7 19. Qc2 Nf8 20. d4 $16 {Ivkov,B-Petrosian,T/Bamberg 1968/MCD (½-½, 41). White's pieces are more active in an almost symmetrical position.}) 13. c3 (13. d4 exd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Re8 $11 {Ciric,D-Geller,E/Sukhumi 1966/MCD (½-½, 34)}) 13... Rb8 $6 {The rook will remain passive here, because Black will not be in time to open the b-file.} (13... bxc3 14. bxc3 Rb8 15. Rb1 Qe7 $132) 14. d4 exd4 (14... bxc3 $2 15. d5 $18) 15. cxd4 d5 16. Ncd2 dxe4 17. Nxe4 $16 {Ivkov,B-Geller,E/Leningrad 1964/EXT 2001 (1-0, 51)}) 12. h3 {This certainly looks like a loss of time if compared to the lines with an immediate 11...?d7.} (12. Be3 {is not effective now because of} Ng4 13. Bd2 Bh4 14. Rf1 Be7 15. Rc1 Nf6 {Firman,N (2505)-Ehlvest,J (2587)/Philadelphia 2003/EXT 2004 (0-1, 40). and White has achieved very little.}) (12. c3 $5 {, continuing the waiting policy, deserves attention. If} Nd7 $6 {then} 13. d4 $1) 12... Nd7 13. Be3 Bf6 14. d4 exd4 15. Nxd4 Bxd4 16. Bxd4 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Nc5 18. Re3 f6 $11 {Minic,D-Spassky,B/Belgrade 1964/MCD (½-½, 30)}) (11. Bc4 {initiates a regrouping on the light squares, but is a bit slow.} Nd7 {[%CAl Yd7b6]} 12. a5 Bf6 13. Nb3 Ne7 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. d4 Ng6 16. Qe2 Kh8 17. Qc4 exd4 18. Nbxd4 Bxd4 19. Nxd4 Qh4 20. g3 Qf6 21. f4 c5 22. Nf3 Nde5 $132 {Ciric,D-Geller,E/Leningrad 1964/EXT 2001 (0-1, 40). Black has active play and a strong central pawn formation, severly restricting the enemy bishop.}) (11. c3 Rb8 {[%csl Ga6] Once again, this move does not seem to be well-timed.} (11... Qd7 $5 {, connecting rooks, deserves attention.}) 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. d4 bxc3 14. bxc3 Nd7 15. Qe2 $1 exd4 (15... Qc8 16. Qc4 $16) 16. Nxd4 (16. cxd4 Nb4 17. Rb1 c5 $132) 16... Nxd4 17. cxd4 $14 {Ostojic,P-Geller,E/Wijk aan Zee 1969/MCL (½-½, 32)}) 11... fxe6 12. Nf1 $146 {The transfer of the knight to the kingside looks more constructive for the purpose of central expansion than the mechanical occupation of the c4-square.} (12. Nc4 Nd7 13. Bd2 Rb8 14. h3 Qe8 {½-½ Short,N (2535)-Olafsson,H (2515)/Vestmannaeyjum 1985/MCL}) 12... Qd7 13. Ng3 Na5 ({With this move, Grischuk probably wanted to anticipate the opening of the b-file after c3. However, the control over the centre is weakened now. Con esta jugada, Grischuk quíso probablemente anticipar la apertura de la línea de b con c3. Sin embargo, el control sobre el centro se debilita. Una importante alternativa era} 13... Rab8 {would have been a worthy alternative, inviting White to declare his intentions. For instance, , invitando a las blancas a que definen sus intenciones. Por ejemplo,} 14. c3 bxc3 15. bxc3 Na5 $5) 14. d4 {The logical reaction. La reacción lógica.} exd4 15. Qxd4 c5 16. Qd3 Nc6 17. c3 bxc3 18. bxc3 Kh8 ({Starting with this moment, Grischuk plays a series of moves without a clear plan. Here, he could have activated his play with Empezando con este momento, Grischuk realiza una serie de jugadas sin plan. Aquí, el podía activar su juego con} 18... Ng4 {, aiming to install a knight on e5 in order to control the relatively weak light squares from the centre. The only way to cross this plan would be , aspirando a instalar un caballo en e5, para así tomar bajo control las relativamente débiles casillas blancas del centro. La única forma de prevenir esto sería} 19. e5 $5 {but, among other reasonable possibilities, Black could have answered with , pero, entre otras posibilidades interesantes, las negras dispondrían de} d5 $5 20. h3 Nxf2 $1 21. Kxf2 Bh4 $44 {[%csl Gf3,Gg3][%CAl Yf8f5,Yd7f7,Yf7g6] , leaving White under an unpleasant double pin. The slow (but not really easy to parry) threat is ...?f5 followed by the transfer of the queen to g6, in order to win the g3-knight. , dejando a las blancas con una desagradable doble clavada. La amenaza lenta (pero, realmente, nada fácil de parar) sería ...?f5, seguído por la maniobra de la dama hacía g6, recuperando el caballo de g3.}) 19. h3 Qc7 (19... d5 $132 {looks more active. sería más activo.}) 20. Ng5 Ne5 21. Qe2 Qc8 22. f4 Nf7 23. Nf3 Rb8 24. c4 $14 {White's progress over the past few moves is obvious. El progreso de las blancas durante las úiltimas jugadas es evidente.} Qb7 25. Bd2 Qb2 26. Qd3 Qb7 27. Bc3 Qc6 28. a5 Kg8 29. Rad1 Rbd8 {White has regrouped in the optimal way and is ready for concrete action. Las blancas han reagrupado sus fuerzas de forma óptima y están preparadas para acciones concretas.} 30. f5 e5 $16 {Strategically, White's position is close to winning. In the manoeuvring phase that follows, Leko will combine the threats of a direct mating attack with the pressure along the d-file. Desde un punto de vista estratégico, la psoción de las blancas no está lejos de ganada. En la fase de maniobras que sigue, Leko combinará la amenaza de un ataque directo de mate con la presion sobre las debilidades de la columna de d.} 31. Nf1 Rb8 32. g4 h6 33. N1d2 Qc7 34. Kh1 Qd8 35. Rg1 Nh7 36. Nf1 Bg5 37. Ne3 Bxe3 38. Qxe3 Rb3 39. Rd3 Nhg5 40. Nd2 Ra3 41. h4 Nh7 42. Nf3 Nf6 43. g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 Nh5 45. Bd2 Ra4 46. Qe2 Ra2 47. Qe1 Nf4 48. Bxf4 exf4 49. Qh4 Qe8 50. g6 Nh6 51. Qxf4 Re2 52. Ng5 Qa4 53. Qxd6 Qxc4 54. Qd5+ Qxd5 55. Rxd5 {Nowadays, it is not so easy to mate the opponent in the middlegame, especially at this level. However, the resulting ending is almost as good. Hoy en día, no resulta fácil ganar por mate en el medio juego, especialmente a este nivel. Sin embargo, entrar en este final está casi igualmente bien.} c4 56. Rd7 c3 57. Ne6 Rc8 58. Rgd1 Rd2 59. R1xd2 cxd2 60. Rxd2 1-0