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Leko leads at the halfway stage, Aronian half a point behind and Ivanchuk a further half point behind. The tournament now moves to Linares, Spain, with a scheduled restart of the 3rd March 2006.

Aronian fights back from a lost position to beat Bacrot. Topalov’s pressure pushes Leko toward a draw. Radjabov finds a fascinating king walk to split the points with Svidler. Vallejo and Ivanchuk play to a short quiet draw.

Bacrot - Aronian

Bacrot gets a slight advantage out of a Kasparov variation of the Nimzo-Indian. After first occupying d6 with his queen followed by a knight White’s position is very strong, almost winning. But Aronian fights back in his typical stubborn style and slowly reduces White’s advantage. His key aspects are his active pieces and rampant centre pawns, but he is a piece for two pawns down. Aronian sacrifices another piece to kill off White’s promotion threats, leaving him with a rook and four pawns against a defence of two minor pieces and a rook. Bacrot blunders - perhaps deep in time trouble, and is forced to conceed a rook in an effort to queen his own pawn. Both sides queen at the same time, but Aronian’s threat of queening a second pawn is too much for Bacrot to handle.

Leko - Topalov

Topalov opts for the Sicilian Scheveningen against Leko’s English Attack, and adopts a Jonathan Rowson speciality (7… h5) which serves to hold back White’s aggressive kingside pawns. Leko takes the aggressive option and castles queenside. Topalov sacrifices a pawn and obtains two bishops and the initiative. This keeps Leko busy through the middle game, to the point he forces an exchange of queens, which wrecks his kingside pawn structure. A repetition of position forces a draw.

Svidler - Radjabov

Svidler ventures into a Bb5 Sicilian, presumably to bypass any Radjabov theory, as well as to avoid a theoretical dispute perhaps giving Svidler time to play himself in considering the debacle of the last two rounds. Radjabov equalises comfortably, but Svidler gets a tiny edge into the endgame. After a fascinating king walk, Radjabov secures the position into a draw.

Vallejo - Ivanchuk

Vallejo gets nothing out of a solid variation of the Petroff, and the major pieces quickly get chopped off leaving a barren balanced drawn position.

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Leko keeps his place at the top of the table, Aronian a point behind. Ivanchuk’s creativity is enough to see of Svidler. Topalov gets smashed by Vallejo. Radjabov’s classical play gives him a smooth win over Bacrot. Leko repeats his Queen’s Indian and secures a draw.

Ivanchuk - Svidler

Ivanchuk follows Aronian’s win over Svidler from the previous round in an obscure variation of the Grunfeld. But Svidler deviates into a more active position. Svidler sacrifices his b-pawn for better development, but Ivanchuk proves its no poisoned pawn. Ivanchuk returns the pawn and sacrifices an exchange to drive the Black queen away from her king. Ivanchuk prompty occupies the back rank with his rook and queen, and the black king is forced toward the centre into a mating net.

Topalov - Vallejo Pons

Topalov follows in Radjabov’s footsteps from the previous round in a Semi Slav, and tries to improve on Radjabov’s play, but finds Vallejo ready and willing for a full-blooded struggle. Vallejo’s queenside pawn push gives him a threatening passed pawn on c2. Focusing on removing the White pieces from c1, Black infitrates with his queen. Topalov embarks on risky counterplay by a piece attack on the black king which is stranded in the centre. A queen sacrifice from Vallejo forces his passed pawn through to promotion, leaving him a rook up and under some pressure to ensure his king safety. Vallejo consolidates his king safety, and the result is in the bag.

Radjabov - Bacrot

In a Slav Defence Radjabov builds up classically and prepares an e3-e4 pawn break which gives him a sizable advantage. Bacrot is forced to compromise his position to prevent White from completely dominating, but it compels Bacrot to give up a piece to remove a dangerous passed-pawn. Radjabov’s technique is sufficient to bring home the point.

Aronian - Leko

Aronian follows Leko’s previous round game against Bacrot (a Queen’s Indian), and his improvement presents no problems for Leko. Neither side makes much headway in the middlegame or endgame. Draw.

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Topalov chalks up his first win by running Ivanchuk out of moves. Aronian wins a minor piece endgame against Svidler. Leko holds comfortably against Bacrot, and Radjabov draws an exciting game against Vallejo Pons.

Ivanchuk - Topalov

Topalov equalises easily in an exchange variation of the Slav defence. He starts operations by annexing space down the queenside. Ivanchuk is playing quietly, and allows Topalov to take over the c-file. Topalov builds up his advantage toward a definite edge. Topalov switches to nailing down the kingside, Ivanchuk is already short of moves, and blunders, allowing Topalov to sacrifice a knight to gain full access to the back-rank. Ivanchuk sacrifices an exchange to get at the Black king, but resigns when it becomes clear that the Black king has a passage to safety.

Aronian - Svidler

Aronian gets a small edge out of an esoteric line of the Grunfeld after the queens get chopped off quickly. Svidler swops off his strong bishop and accepts a bad bishop. Aronian seizes some space on the kingside, and his pieces are better placed in the minor piece endgame. And Aronian converts it to a winning like coloured bishops endgame.

Bacrot - Leko

Leko equalises in a Queen’s Indian, but Bacrot gets in a central pawn advance which gives him a slight edge. Leko keeps things solid, neutralising Bacrot’s advantage, and both sides agree to a draw.

Radjabov - Vallejo Pons

Out of a Semi-Slav both sides aim for a complicated but balanced struggle. Vallejo’s kingside attack is countered by Radjabov’s central and queenside piece play. Vallejo breaks through and wins an exchange, but White’s position offers more enough compensation to keep the game balanced. In the endgame, Vallejo’s rook pair just manages to keep the balance. The game ends in a draw after Radjabov sacrifices his rook for Black’s last pawn.

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Leko and Svidler extend their lead at the top of the table. Topalov suffers another serious blow, losing to Radjabov. Leko pounces on an Ivanchuk misstep. Svidler takes full advantage of Bacrots weakened pawn structure.

Topalov - Radjabov

Topalov plays an unusual variation of the King’s Indian, and the position transforms into a Benoni-type setup. Topalov is helpless to prevent Radjabov’s grasp of the open e-file. Topalov’s opening of lines against the Black king proves more useful to Radjabov who consistently improves his position on both sides of the board. Eventually the Topalov kingside attack runs out of steam. He resigns on the collapse of his queenside pawn structure.

Leko - Ivanchuk

Ivanchuk’s over-elaborate knight manoeuvre on the Black side of a Ruy Lopez cedes an opening advantage to Leko. Within a few moves Leko has control of the queenside, and a strong hold on the centre. That hold produces a win of a pawn, ejecting Ivanchuk into a lost pawn endgame.

Svidler - Bacrot

Svidler adopts Topalov’s esoteric Petroff line, but instead of playing for a thematic kingside attack he switches to a positional mode and gains a tiny edge through his kingside space advantage. In the double rook ending Svidler has the better pawn structure and he makes it count by a number of subtle and accurate rook diversions.

Vallejo Pons - Aronian

Vallejo follows in the footsteps of Bu Xiangzhi’s English opening variation, but Aronian is happy to allow a repetition of position rather than step on the same landmine that claimed Bu’s opponent in the recent Aeroflot tournament.

Related Resources

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The top of the table clash between Leko and Svidler ends in an early truce. Topalov eventually manages to salvage a draw in a 100+ move effort against Aronian. Vallejo - Bacrot, and Radjabov - Ivanchuk end in short draws.

Aronian - Topalov

Aronian sacrifices a pawn in a Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian, and replaces it with a later exchange sacrifice for good piece mobility. Topalov gives back the exchange, leaving him a pawn up. Aronian then sacrifices another exchange to drag Topalov’s king into the firing line, and after a king chase, White has a strong position and adequate compensation for the exchange. Aronian forces an exchange of queens, and gets a very strong position of a minor piece and two pawns against Topalov’s rook. Topalov stubbornly defends the inferior endgame, and after 120 moves Aronian acceeds to a draw.

Radjabov - Ivanchuk

Both players complicate right out of a Grunfeld, but the queens get exchanged off quickly. Both sides settle down to split the points.

Svider - Leko

Leko follows his Sicilian Najdorf loss to Anand (Corus 2006), and deviates with the recommended move which establishes equality. A draw agreed a handful of moves later.

Bacrot - Vallejo

A Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian ends in a draw shortly out of the opening.

Related Resources

• Chessbase: Morelia R3: Aronian-Topalov 123-move battle
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Leko demolishes Radjubov, Svidler brushes aside Vallejo, Ivanchuk has a fine finish against Aronian. Topalov makes no headway against a solid Bacrot.

Leko - Radjabov

Radjabov heads into a Sveshnikov Sicilian, a Leko speciality. Leko probes on both sides of the board, and succeeds in generating a weakness in the black kingside. He switches to the queenside, and pressure on the a-file nets him a rook on the seventh rank. Radjabov fights back with active play, but Leko calmly sacrifices the exchange which forces the Black king into a mating trap. A knight sacrifice concludes a smooth Leko win.

Ivanchuk - Aronian

Aronian adopts a Hedgehog formation against Ivanchuk’s English, but Ivanchuk emerges with a comfortable edge after dominating the d-file. He wins a pawn, and his two rooks dominate the position. Aronian gets his knight into an active spot and starts to push Ivanchuk’s rooks out of the heart of the Black position. But after swopping off the light squared-bishop Ivanchuk’s rooks re-enter the Black position, taking up strong positions on the seventh rank. Aronian’s counterplay isn’t sufficient to defuse White’s threats, and a pretty knight sacrifice ends Aronian’s resistance.

Vallejo - Svidler

Vallejo plays an obscure sideline of the exchange variation of the Grunfeld, and its Black who emerges from the opening moves with an edge. Svidler converts this to a strong advantage inside the first fourteen moves. Vallejo’s position is a wreck, and Svidler reasserts his advantage after regrouping and taking control of the centre. The White king is helpless under the ensuing onslaught. The threatened pawn endgame gives White no hope.

Topalov - Bacrot

Topalov plays a conservative variation of the Petroff and emerges with a slight edge, which Topalov converts into a weakening of the kingside pawns protecting the Black king. Bacrot equalises with a queenside minority attack, and obtains an active rook which prevents White from extending his advantage. Draw agreed in a balanced rook and pawn endgame.

Related Resources

• Chessbase: Morelia R2: Svidler and Leko win
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Svidler topples Topalov with a magnificient effort, Leko batters Vallejo with an opening novelty, Aronian teases out a win against Radjabov, and Ivanchuk works hard for the half-point against Bacrot.

Svidler - Topalov

Svidler sacrifices a pawn out of the opening to get a pawn to f5, in a Berlin Ruy Lopez. His centralised pieces keep the Black king locked in the centre. Svidler has compensation for his pawn, but Topalov has the two bishops. Its in the rooks that Svidler has the advantage, piling up pressure on the central files. Topalov starts to outplay Svidler but loses the thread of the position and eventually blunders in time trouble. Svidler has a great edge in the endgame, although Topalov mounts a tough resistance, he cannot prevent the queening of a White passed pawn.

Vallejo Pons - Leko

Vallejo plays an unusual side-line in a classical Nimzo-Indian, and is met with a solid active play from Leko. Leko quickly gets control of the centre and offers a knight, which Vallejo cannot accept. Leko builds up pressure on the centre and queenside. Vallejo eventually removes the sacrificed knight at the cost of an exchange. In the endgame, Vallejo’s kingside pawns aren’t sufficient compensation for the exchange and Black’s active rook.

Aronian - Radjabov

Radjabov tries to improve on a previous game in a King’s Indian. Aronian emerges with a slight edge in a complicated position. Aronian sacrifices two pawns to push the Black queen out of play on the queenside, and quickly regains them in the ensuing activity of his major pieces. Aronian uses his active pieces in combination with an insecure Black king to increase the pressure in the endgame, and coverts the queen and pawn ending where he has the extra pawn.

Bacrot - Ivanchuk

Bacrot plays an new move in a Queen’s Indian, and exerts great pressure on Black’s c7-square. Ivanchuk defends doggedly, as the game takes on a Kings Indian Attack character. Bacrot sacrifices a pawn, and his flurry of piece activity sees him demolish Ivanchuk’s central pawns. Ivanchuk presses in the rook and pawn ending, and the battle continues down to the last pawn finishing up in a drawn ending.

Related Reading

• Closet Grandmaster: Svidler the Mauler
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• Chess Lodge: Exclusive Interview GM Peter Svidler
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• TWIC: Morelia/Linares 2006 Round 1