| Chess Oscar winner misses tournament in Wijk aan Zee The chess elite are celebrating. A traditional international tournament started in the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee. By the way, the 66th in a row! Following the tradition of recent years, the leaders of the chess world strive to bolster their image at the first elite forum of the year. But not all. The game is played by Vladimir Kramnik, the only remaining legitimate world champion in classical chess, and his opponent in a match that has not yet taken place, Peter Leko. Viswanathan Anand, the world champion in rapid chess, also plays. But once again Garry Kasparov, who did not include this tournament in his long-term plans linked to the match with Ruslan Ponomaryov, is not playing.
In turn, the Ukrainian grandmaster simply did not receive an invitation. Apparently, his disruption of the match with Kasparov, planned last fall in Yalta, fundamentally undermined Ponomarev’s image and, accordingly, the organizers’ interest in him. In his recent speech at a press conference on the occasion of the Chess Oscars, Kasparov said: “What happened with the match in Crimea is an insult to chess. At the same time, the participants in this action did not hide the fact that they received their money!” In this regard, FIDE’s assessment of the place in the world elite of the participants in this failed match within the framework of the unification process is interesting. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov invited Ponomarev, who completed his two-year term as FIDE world champion, to join the next championship (planned in April-May), held according to the knockout system from the first stage, while Kasparov retained the right to play a match with the new champion.
As for inviting other participants, the organizers also traditionally maintain a rotation, striving to invite the most intriguing participants, while maintaining a high average rating for the tournament (this year it has the status of the 19th FIDE category). This time, along with the bronze medalist of the last tournament, Evgeniy Bareev, Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich were invited from Russia for the first time. But, unfortunately, at the last moment the Muscovite caught the flu, refused to participate and was replaced by Veselin Topalov. For the first time, the 2003 sensation Viorel Bologan (Moldova), who battered the elite in Dortmund, Vladimir Hakobyan (Armenia) and, legitimately, as the winner of last year’s “Tournament-B”, Zhong Zhao (China), are playing. The remaining 14 participants include familiar names Alexey Shirov (Spain), Michael Adams (England) and representatives of Holland Ivan Sokolov, Luc van Wely and Jan Timman.
Of course, all attention to the champions. And the very first round brought a sensation - Kramnik lost to Akopyan. In the Sicilian Defense with Black, the world champion chose the so-called Kasparov system, but never achieved complete equality. The opponents castled the kings on the opposite flanks, but White's attack looked more realistic. On the 28th move, Kramnik missed a beautiful rook throw and, under the threat of linear checkmate, resigned the game.
Difficult trials also befell the speedy world champion Anand, who had to show all his virtuosity in defense against the pressing Leko in order to save the game. And in the second round, the position of the world champion, who was “pressing” white on the home team van Wely, promised little, despite the fact that he even provoked the Dutchman to sacrifice a knight for three pawns. However, in the heat of battle, Luke overlooked a beautiful “long” rook move (reminiscent in style to the one that Kramnik himself missed in the first round from Akopyan), and the game was decided in favor of the champion. His opponent in the “virtual” match, Leko, also won his game against Dutch chess veteran Jan Timman, who “blown” his pawn. Anand also won, avenging the “classical” champion Hakobyan, who missed the opponent’s pawn to the queen at the decisive moment.
The remaining games of the first two rounds ended in draws. Moreover, the rest of the Russian grandmasters did not show off anything. Russian champion Svidler's attempt to attack Shirov was decisively stopped by a counterpunch in the center, followed by massive exchanges, and his attempt to confuse Zhong Zhao was reminiscent of an unsuccessful attack on the Chinese Wall. Evgeniy Bareev did not show himself in any way. In the first round, he voluntarily gave up the initiative, accepting the sacrifice of a rather “poisoned” pawn from van Wely, and in the second round he refused to fight Bologan. After two rounds, Anand and Leko are in the lead, with 1.5 points each. The third round will take place on January 13. Oleg STETSKO |
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