| Sep-09-08 | | DUS: Nice game. |
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Sep-09-08
 | | WannaBe: Topalov's LSB didn't do much to help protect a8 did it? |
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| Sep-09-08 | | whiteshark: <WannaBe:> This thought just rushed into my mind, too. Great minds think alike. :D |
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| Sep-09-08 | | Marmot PFL: This 5.a3 line seems to be white's best try for advantage, unless some improvement in 5.cd5 Qxd5 6.e3 Qf5 is found. My impression was that in the game line 6...Ne4 gave white more problems than 0-0. For instance 6...Ne4 7.Qc2 Nc6 8.e3 e5 9.cd5 Qxd5 10.Bc4 Qa5+ 11.b4 Nxb4 12.Qxe4 with very sharp play. The quieter line Topalov plays leaves white with a clearer advantage. |
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| Sep-09-08 | | Whitehat1963: Clever finish. |
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| Sep-09-08 | | Shams: why not 19...cxb4<?> |
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| Sep-09-08 | | Hesam7: <Marmot PFL> I think the main line is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 (7...Nc6, 7...e5) 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.cxd5 exd5. Nowadays 5.cxd5 is not dangerous, In addition to the line you mentioned after 5...exd5 6.Bg5 c5! White has been unable to pose any problems for Black. |
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| Sep-09-08 | | crwynn: <Shams: why not 19...cxb4<?>> 20.Qb1 looks very strong to me. 20...ba?? 21.Ba5 wins a piece (21...Nc4 22.Qb7 Na5 23.Qd7, 21...Qd8 22.Bb6, 21...Rc6 22.Nd4). If Black refrains from grabbing that second pawn, he is still in trouble because White threatens 21.Bb4 winning material, 20...a5 21.ab ab? 22.Bb4 is no help, so Black just loses a pawn with 20...a5. Black may have some magical way out after 20.Qb1 but it looks really bad. Otoh 19...Nf6 looks like a fancy way of resigning, at this level - where is the compensation for that passer on the q-side? I don't see why Black didn't just leave the kt on d7 and play 19...Ba8 or something. |
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| Sep-10-08 | | arsen387: After some tactical complications in the middlegame Levon emerges up a pawn and converts it in technically flawless manner. Very instructive by Aronian. |
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| Sep-10-08 | | Ulhumbrus: 5...Bxc3+ parts with the bishop pair, never a concesion to make lightly, and it dies this without doubling White's c pawns. Fir this to be justified, Black has to find sufficient compensation or make the bishop pair irrelevant or both. 6...0-0 plays quietly, making no attempt to mix it up and prevent White from attaining safety whilst keeping the bishop pair. 7...dxc4 concedes to White an advantage in space.
12 b4! attacks the opposing a pawn with both the b pawn and d pawn. This is the same type of two pawn attack against a c pawn which Ivanchuk used to defeat Carlsen in this round, with colours reversed . Is it possible that either Aronian or Ivanchuk saw the other player attack his opponent's c pawn in this way? 14 dxc5 parts with White's advantage in space but alsi isolates Black's c and a pawns. 19...Nf6 offers a pawn on c5. With 22...a5 Topalov regains the pawn but at the cost of his a pawn. After 28 Rac1 White's development is complete and he has kept his bishop pair as well as his extra pawn. Black can be forecast to lose with best play. It seems that Topalov did not gain compensation for the three concessions which he made to Aronian, first the bishop pair , then some space, then a pawn. |
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Sep-10-08
 | | Mateo: <crwynn: <Shams: why not 19...cxb4<?>>
20.Qb1 looks very strong to me. 20...ba?? 21.Ba5 wins a piece (21...Nc4 22.Qb7 Na5 23.Qd7, 21...Qd8 22.Bb6, 21...Rc6 22.Nd4). If Black refrains from grabbing that second pawn, he is still in trouble because White threatens 21.Bb4 winning material, 20...a5 21.ab ab? 22.Bb4 is no help, so Black just loses a pawn with 20...a5. Black may have some magical way out after 20.Qb1 but it looks really bad.> Black can simply play 20...Bxf3 (unpinning the b6 Knight). After 21.Bxf3 bxa3 22.Rxa3 Nc4 23.Rxa6 Nxd2 it should be a draw. So I think 19...cxb4 was a good move. |
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Sep-10-08
| | Mateo: Aronian, the cheap tactical player, like he called himself, calculated everything accurately here. 35...Nxg3 was tricky. 36.fxg3 ? Qxe3+ 37.Kh2 Bxf3 38.Qc2+ Kg8 39.Bxf3 Qxf3 40.Qxa4 Qf2+ 41.Kh1 Qf1+ and draw. But 36.Nd4! wins material. 36…Bxg2 37.Kxg2 Nf5 38.Nxf5 Nb6 39.Qc2 exf5 40.Qxf5+, White is a pawn up. 36...Nh5 37.Nb5 Qb6 38.Qc2+, White wins. |
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| Sep-10-08 | | crwynn: <Black can simply play 20...Bxf3 (unpinning the b6 Knight). After 21.Bxf3 bxa3 22.Rxa3 Nc4 23.Rxa6 Nxd2 it should be a draw. So I think 19...cxb4 was a good move.> Doesn't 19...cb 20.Qb1 Bf3 21.Bf3 ba 22.Bb4 win the Exchange? I mean 22...Nc4 looks like some compensation at first glance but I'm not sure the kts have stable squares. |
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| Sep-10-08 | | Ulhumbrus: In my previous message, in the first paragraph, "concesion" should be "concession" and "Fir" should be "For". |
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Sep-10-08
| | Mateo: <crwynn: <Black can simply play 20...Bxf3 (unpinning the b6 Knight). After 21.Bxf3 bxa3 22.Rxa3 Nc4 23.Rxa6 Nxd2 it should be a draw. So I think 19...cxb4 was a good move.>
Doesn't 19...cb 20.Qb1 Bf3 21.Bf3 ba 22.Bb4 win the Exchange? I mean 22...Nc4 looks like some compensation at first glance but I'm not sure the kts have stable squares.> Interesting suggestion. Maybe Black should try 22...Na4. If 23.Bxf8 Nc3. So White should consider 23.Qd3 avoiding the fork, threatening QxNd7 or Bxf8. However 23...Ndxc5 seems to hold. I don't see any forced win despite the pinn. Do you? |
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| Sep-10-08 | | crwynn: <Maybe Black should try 22...Na4. If 23.Bxf8 Nc3> Possibly I'm missing something but 24.Qb7 appears to win in that line, 24...Nd1 25.Rd1 and W is up a piece because of hanging Nd7 (and of course there is no 25...Nc5 because the Bf8 is not captured yet). |
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| Sep-10-08 | | crwynn: Okay 24.Qb7 Nd1 25.Rd1 "wins" a piece, but 25...Kf8 26.Qd7 Qd7 27.Rd7 Rc1 and White resigns, the a-pawn will promote. There are various lines after 19...ab 20.Qb1 where Black has to put a kt on c5 and pray that the pin doesn't kill him, I have to think White has a forcing solution somwehre. 22...Na4 23.Ra3 Ndc5 24.Qc2 and I don't see how to extricate the "doubled knights", the resource ...a5 doesn't work here, because of 25.Ba5 and you still can't move either kt. If 23...Nac5 just Rc1 and Ra5. |
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| Sep-20-08 | | Black Pawn: This game is another one of them I see again and again shows the power of the passed a-pawn in queen endgames, and the usage of the fact that if queens were gone white would win to control the queening square. |
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