23.12.2005
Round 5: Jakovenko-Svidler, Tomashevsky-Kramnik
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Live commentary by Konstantin Sakaev
Jakovenko, D (2644) - Svidler, P (2740)
ch-RUS superfinal Moscow, Russia (5), 23.12.2005
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Be3.
A rare move - usually White retreats the knight to b3 automatically: 6.Nb3.
6...d6. The pawn on b2 is poisoned: 6...Qb6 7.c3 Qxb2 8.Nd2 (8.0-0 is also possible, with the idea to meet 8...Qxa1 9.Qc2, catching Black's queen and retaining a clear advantage). 8...Qxc3 9.Rc1 Qxd3 10.Rxc5 Nc6 11.Qc1 Nxd4 (otherwise 12.Rc3) 12.Rxc8+ Rxc8 13.Qxc8+ Ke7 14.Qc5+, winning a piece.
7.0-0 Nf6 Sounder than 7...Ne7, the knight is placed more actively on f6.
8.Qe2 0-0 Black has easy development, therefore he has a good game.
9.Nb3 Bxe3 10.Qxe3 Normally after 6.Nb3 Ba7 White trades the dark-squared bishops by Qd1-e2 and Bc1-e3. Thus Black has an extra tempo compared to the theoretical variation.
10...Nc6 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.c4.
Black has a good version of Hedgehog, the position is about even. Now b7-b6 will perhaps follow, and long series of maneuvers will follow.
12...Ne5 13.N1d2 b6 14.Rac1 Bb7 15.Bb1 Rad8 16.f3. Game drawn.
Tomashevsky, E (2564) - Kramnik, V (2739)
ch-RUS superfinal Moscow, Russia (5), 23.12.2005
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 Bd6 7.Qc2 0-0 8.h3 A rare but interesting idea that was popular in old times. White lives without d2-d4, which lockes his dark-squared bishop, while his pieces, the c2-queen and the b2-bishop, are looking at Black's king. His light-squared bishop may also come off to d3 to take part in the attack. White is ready to advance the g-pawn.
8...b6 A novelty, but this is exactly the case when novelty is found at the board - I don't think Vladimir studied this rare line seriously. We can look forward to an interesting game! Previously Black played 8...a6, depriving White's bishop of the b5-square and retaining a possibility to create some queenside play by b7-b5.
9.g4 Bb7 10.g5 Ne8 11.h4 11.Bd3 is too impatient in view of 11...f5!; maybe 11.Be2!? deserved attention. In this case 11...f5?! is dubious in view of a simple 12.gxf6, and 12...Qxf6 does not work, as the f3-knight is protected.
11...f5! A strong move, which blocks the с2-h7 diagonal, but the position is still unclear, as Black's knights have no good squares, and White's king will move to the queenside over time. Also, White may open the long diagonal by advancing the h-pawn (h4-h5-h6).
12.Nd4! Qe7 13.Bg2. The a8-h1 diagonal has to be controlled.
13...Rc8. I strongly dislike this move, as it allows White to strengthen his positions in the center. A very interesting play arises after 13...f4!?; also possible is 13...Be5, attacking the d4-knight and vacating the square d6 for the knight.
14.f4! Bc5 15.Nce2. The knight on d4 needs support.
15...Nd6 16.Nf3! White does not let his opponent to carry out e6-e5.
16...dxc4 17.h5! Excellent! Black obtains an active play after 17.bxc4 b5!, but now Black has no obvious targets on the queenside, while White is going to open the diagonal by h5-h6.
17...Bb4 It is necessary to prevent White's queen from going to c3.
18.h6 g6 Naked diagonal looks horrifying, but using it is not easy at all.
Zvjaginsev has a big advantage against Bareev, and on both wings...
The game Rublevsky-Motylev is close to a draw.
In my opinion, Volkov's pawn sacrifice is incorrect, he does not have a sufficient compensation, but the position is complicated.
19.0-0 Quite logical - it is hard to expect opening of the kingside files, thus the king may be transferred to a safer location.
19...cxb3 20.axb3 a5 21.Rad1 21.Nc1!?, with the idea to move the knight to d3 deserved attention, and if 21...Nc5, then 22.d3 Ba6 23.Rd1, preparing to exchange Black's bishop by Nc1-a2.
21...c5 22.Ba1
22...Kf7?! Now White has very powerful compensation for a pawn. Much stronger is 22...c4! 23.Qb2 Kf7. There are no direct threats, while White's queen will be unable to stay on the b2-h8 diagonal. A more risky idea to keep the king on g8, playing 22...Nf7 followed by e6-e5 is also interesting.
23.d3 Ke8 Strange: Black's king can hardly make it to the queenside, the position will be opened sooner.
24.Nc3 b5! But this plan looks correct - Black seizes space on the queenside, incidentally trying to deprive White's queen of b2 and с3.
25.Na2 Ba3 26.Qd2? Very passive. It was logical to throw the bishop in: 26.Bg7 Rg8 27.Nc3, and White is prepared to open the center by e3-e4 or, in certain cases, d3-d4.
26...b4! The b2- and с3-squares are controlled, thus the a2-knight falls out of play for long.
27.Nc1 Kf7 28.Ne2 Kg8 Arguable decision - the king goes closer to a place where he can get mated. On the other hand, this move vacates f7 for the knight, which is important in order to undertake e6-e5. 28...Bd5 also looked OK.
29.Ne1 Go back!! Actually, the knight goes to c2, in order to get rid of the bishop a3 and clear the a1-h8 diagonal once again.
29...Bd5 Another option is 29...Bxg2 30.Kxg2 e5.
30.Nc2 Bxg2 Returning to the aforementioned plan with loss of time.
31.Kxg2 e5 32.Nxa3 bxa3 33.Qc3 Nf7 34.Ng3 Nb6 35.e4 fxe4 36.dxe4 c4 The last moves in the time srcamble are the strongest. It is interesting if Vladimir finds a brilliant reply on 37.fe4 - 37...Qb4!
37.fxe5
37...cxb3 It is not bad of course, but after 37...Qb4! 38.e6 Qxc3 39.exf7+ Rxf7 40.Bxc3 cxb3 Black's pawns are unstoppable.
38.Qxb3 Nc4 39.e6 Qxe6 40.Rf6 Qe7 The time scramble is over, and one can take a breath. 40...Qg4 is met by 41.Rdf1. My evaluation - Black is better.
41.Rdf1 Having spent half an hour on a first move after the control, White took the line of least resistance. Black can simplify the position by 41...Qb4. The best move for White was 41.Rd5. his position is worse, but there are reasonable practical chances; it is not the curtains yet.
41...Qb4. Now it is basically over.
After some thought Tomashevsky resigned. 0-1
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