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Leko 
Photo copyright © 2006 by Milan Kovacs (www.milankovacs.com)  
Peter Leko
Number of games in database: 1,403
Years covered: 1989 to 2008
Current FIDE rating: 2741
Highest rating achieved in database: 2763
Overall record: +294 -180 =646 (55.1%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      283 exhibition games, blitz games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (289) 
    B90 B33 B32 B42 B48
 Ruy Lopez (144) 
    C78 C89 C88 C92 C95
 Sicilian Najdorf (99) 
    B90 B93 B96 B92 B97
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (89) 
    C89 C88 C92 C95 C99
 French Defense (75) 
    C11 C16 C17 C12 C18
 Caro-Kann (54) 
    B17 B18 B19 B10 B11
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (180) 
    B33 B30 B31 B65 B56
 Grunfeld (91) 
    D85 D97 D79 D91 D73
 Queen's Indian (78) 
    E15 E12 E13 E14
 Ruy Lopez (65) 
    C88 C89 C84 C65 C78
 English, 1 c4 c5 (43) 
    A30 A33 A34 A35 A39
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (41) 
    C88 C89 C84 C86 C85
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Kramnik vs Leko, 2004 0-1
   Leko vs Kramnik, 2004 1/2-1/2
   Leko vs Kramnik, 2004 1-0
   Anand vs Leko, 2005 0-1
   Leko vs L Bruzon, 2005 1-0
   Leko vs Radjabov, 2003 1-0
   Leko vs Svidler, 2005 1-0
   Leko vs Kasparov, 2003 1/2-1/2
   Leko vs Kramnik, 1995 1-0
   Leko vs Radjabov, 2006 1-0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (2001)
   Kramnik-Leko World Championship Match (2004)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Battles at the Top: 2005-2007 by Anatoly21
   Leko! by larrewl
   2001-2007, 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 or 5.Nbd2, Rated 2700+ by cybermarauder
   Peter the Great by acirce
   Kramnik - Leko WCC Brissago,2004 by excmo
   WCC Index [Kramnik-Leko 2004] by Hesam7
   crippledpawn's favorite games by crippledpawn
   Road to Reunification by ruylopez900
   Fide 2007 world cup by King mega
   Wijk aan Zee Corus 2002 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Corus 2001 by suenteus po 147
   A game of chess has a beginning and an end, but by arielbekarov
   WCC Index [Dortmund 2002] by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Corus 2000 by suenteus po 147

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PETER LEKO
(born Sep-08-1979) Hungary

[what is this?]
Peter Leko was born in Subotica in 1979. He became the youngest grandmaster in the history of chess in 1994, at 14 years of age. With this honor, he started receiving invitations to major international events. His first supertournament victory came at Dortmund in 1999, and he repeated the win in the 2002 edition, in an event that doubled as a Candidates tournament to select a challenger for classical World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik.

The promised match with Kramnik took place in 2004, and Leko came extremely close to becoming Hungary's first World Champion. He led by one point going into the fourteenth and final game, but was then beaten by Kramnik, who thereby tied the match and retained his title.

Shortly after this near-miss, Leko won the Corus Chess Tournament (2005) in Wijk aan Zee. Undefeated throughout the event, he finished ahead of Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, and Kramnik. Leko thus became only the fifth player ever to win all of the "big three" annual supertournaments (Corus, Linares, and Dortmund). He is currently living in Szeged and is ranked sixth on the FIDE World Rating List, having previously been placed as high as fourth.


 page 1 of 57; games 1-25 of 1,403  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Leko vs A Rotstein 0-143 1989 WerfenB26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
2. D Seyb vs Leko  ½-½31 1989 NurembergB22 Sicilian, Alapin
3. Leko vs W Heckel 1-025 1989 NurembergB40 Sicilian
4. Leko vs U Jahr  0-150 1989 NurembergC08 French, Tarrasch, Open, 4.ed ed
5. Leko vs S Grunberg 0-141 1990 Budapest Spring opB02 Alekhine's Defense
6. Leko vs W Wirth  ½-½41 1990 Nuernberg op 6-37B86 Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin Attack
7. Leko vs T Souche 1-040 1990 ParisC44 King's Pawn Game
8. Leko vs K Pytel  0-134 1990 St IngbertB10 Caro-Kann
9. M Gretzer vs Leko 0-124 1990 Nuernberg op 5-55D85 Grunfeld
10. T Brionne vs Leko  0-127 1990 ParisD87 Grunfeld, Exchange
11. Leko vs Meiser Markus  1-030 1990 St IngbertB07 Pirc
12. B Kusic vs Leko  1-074 1990 Nuernberg op 1-21D94 Grunfeld
13. Leko vs A Labarthe  1-041 1990 ParisB01 Scandinavian
14. S Gorgievski vs Leko 0-150 1990 ParisA05 Reti Opening
15. Leko vs W Von Alvensleben  1-034 1990 Budapest Spring opB12 Caro-Kann Defense
16. G Koschka vs Leko 0-154 1990 Nuernberg op 7-36B54 Sicilian
17. Leko vs A Alawieh 0-159 1990 ParisC41 Philidor Defense
18. Z Siklosi vs Leko  ½-½22 1991 NettetalA05 Reti Opening
19. Leko vs F Felecan  1-044 1991 ?B07 Pirc
20. Mephisto vs Leko  ½-½17 1991 Dortmund-DD93 Grunfeld, with Bf4 & e3
21. Leko vs Shabalov  ½-½68 1991 London LloydsB82 Sicilian, Scheveningen
22. Berescu Alin vs Leko  0-136 1991 ?B56 Sicilian
23. Leko vs M Tratar  1-040 1991 KecskemetB82 Sicilian, Scheveningen
24. Leko vs S Arkhipov  1-079 1991 NettetalC06 French, Tarrasch
25. Leko vs Podzielny  ½-½45 1991 Dortmund-DB42 Sicilian, Kan
 page 1 of 57; games 1-25 of 1,403  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Leko wins | Leko loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 81 OF 81 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Mar-03-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  positionalgenius: Nice endgame today by leko
Mar-03-08   Udit Narayan: Notice how much larger Leko's name is than Carlsen's on the nameplates? http://www.chessbase.com/news/2008/...

Maybe that gave Leko a psychological advantage.

Mar-04-08   jussu: <Akavall: If you guys ever play Leko, don't play the Sveshnikov against him.>

Indeed, looks suicidal. He has played Sveshnikov for eons with both black and white, and at least with white, it suits his style perfectly.

Mar-04-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  acirce: <He applauded Leko after the game -- he didn't wait until after the match, if I remember correctly.>

Yes, <As for Kramnik he pretty much admitted it was an error in preparation but he was very gracious in defeat and said: Of course it is disappointing but it is better to lose this way in a beautiful game that will be remembered in the history of chess.”> http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/eve...

In "From London to Elista" Levitov adds that <Volodya even had enough courage to congratulate Leko 'on this wonderful achievement'. The hall rewarded the champion with applause.>

Glad to see Lékó playing some good games in Linares now, though personally I would have preferred him beating Anand instead of Carlsen.

Mar-04-08   slomarko: <Glad to see Lékó playing some good games in Linares now, though personally I would have preferred him beating Anand instead of Carlsen> and why is that?
Mar-06-08   Whitehat1963: Not having a great tournament this year.
Mar-06-08   fromoort: Scandinavian brotherliness.
Mar-07-08   hitman84: Kramnik does the singing for the unsung hero Leko.
Mar-07-08   Voltaic: i think the best for Leko is the conclusion of the tournament and then patiently renew his chess. he always fights very hard otb trying to find good moves, but i don't know maybe he needs a new system, new openings, work on some novelties to surprise his opponents, a new trainer! and then start to believe again that he can defeat anand and kramnik, topalov or anyone.
Mar-11-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <I think living in the elite bubble for so long has hurt Leko's killer instinct, which was never that of a rabid grizzly to begin with. He hasn't played anyone outside of the superelite in years, mostly due to his avoidance of team competitions. In club and national team events the big dogs on board one are expected to crush their opponents, which might provide the vegetarian Leko with a little chessic red meat now and then.> (http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt...)
Mar-11-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  acirce: <I felt bad when I heard that Macauley Peterson was talking to Leko after the final round and the Hungarian grimly joked that "I bet Mig is happy now.">

I'm glad Lékó said that, but next time I hope he hits back harder.

Mar-12-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tactic101: Any reason for Leko's sudden drop? It's quite surprising. It's been tough going for Leko ever since the Kramnik match. Imagine how the saga of world chess history could have played out had Leko drawn the final game... it's almost heartbreaking. Not outstanding results in tournaments since 2007. Only qualifying for the World Championship, but that's about it! And not many tournament wins since 2004. Corus (once), Tal Memorial and ACP Rapid World Cup stick out, but his peers are surpassing him in just about every way.

I don't know, but maybe Leko has poor nerves. Perhaps if he won the 2004 World Championship againt Kramnik, things today would have been different.

Mar-13-08   Abejorral: <I don't know, but maybe Leko has poor nerves>

Thats not the problem, the issue here is the lack of balls, he is so scared to lose, that he rather draw all games, before taking significant risks.

He is so worried about not losing, that he forgets to win, he proves that on the board, he plays like a chicken most of the time.

I just hope he drops out of top 10 soon, and that he stops receving invitations to such tournaments as Corus, Linares ans Sofia.

Im boreeeed of Drewko.

Mar-13-08   Udit Narayan: <Abejorral> It's rather convenient for you to say this in the comfort of sitting in front of your computer. Obviously you have no idea what is required of a person to compete at the highest level of sport.
Mar-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  positionalgenius: <Abejorral> Are you Bufon?
Mar-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tactic101: Well, I'm certainly not Bufon. :) I don't know much about who you're talking about (other than he got kicked out of CG for using multiple accounts for voting in a CG challenge).

I have nothing against Leko. He's a very talented player, no denying that (how many guys get the GM title at 14!). He's had a great career full of multiple successes. Still, one must wonder why his play of late has not been so outstanding as his peers.

I have to admit that I shouldn't really criticize someone for having poor nerves as I also have that problem. It affects a lot of players. And at the highest level, the problem get even bigger due to the media attention that is associated with being among the best. No one can get to the top without some courage (so Leko is certainly no 'chicken'). I doubt that the loss in the 2004 match has affected Leko for so long, but it can't exactly have been a good confidence booster. He had the chance to make chess history and he fell in the final game. Granted, Kramnik played brilliantly, but I'm sure Leko must have had the feeling that this was perhaps going to be his first and last chance to win. Getting the chance to play for the world title doesn't come often at all.

I really don't know. I'm just speculating. We can't hold top class players guilty of taking draws and we shouldn't insult them either, considering that we are a long way from them.

Mar-14-08   Scarecrow: Somehow I'm not that worried for Leko right now. Certainly I would be happy to win Sveshnikovs like he did even when at his worst! Plus it was quite clear to me that with Black he's still quite OK, he lost to Ivanchuk and that's pretty much all, because losing to Topalov is a default for him these days. His White games were really agressive, something people were demanding from him throughout the years, always saying 'he would get some heavy minus scores at first, then start winning'. He WAS objectively close to or completely winning against Anand, at one point the game against Ivanchuk's Caro was also promising. I did not see any opening problems for him in Linares, he just needs to work on his middlegame play (time management, nerves etc).
Mar-14-08   OneBadDog: <Thats not the problem, the issue here is the lack of balls, he is so scared to lose, that he rather draw all games, before taking significant risks.> Hey Mack, I have no truck with Leko, he just neeeds a new Peterbilt. LOL
Mar-18-08   Udit Narayan: Congrats Leko on winning in rapid game vs Anand!!!
Mar-18-08   Akavall: Very good game from Leko today; I hope he is back.
Mar-19-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  RookFile: Leko is very strong. I'm sure that someday, he will have his turn as world champion. Anand was in a similar position once, and just had to wait a while.
Mar-26-08   Abejorral: <I'm sure that someday, he will have his turn as world champion>

Are you on drugs man ??

Keep dreaming, cause such thing wont ever happen.

He had his chance to beat Kramnik in the most boring wc match ever, and he was so scared that he wasted his chance, but believe it wont happen again.

Apr-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Knight13: <He had his chance to beat Kramnik in the most boring wc match ever.> Actually, it was the most interesting match ever. But that's just my opinion.
Apr-14-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  veigaman: <Knight13> agree that it was a great match and the final game was a kramnik masterpice in my opinion
May-16-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Knight13: <veigaman: <Knight13> agree that it was a great match and the final game was a kramnik masterpice in my opinion> Leko apparently didn't follow the "if you want a draw, play for a win" rule. He was passive the whole time!! And I bet he knew that Kramnik could pull strings in dead-drawn looking positions.
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