Lap of honor

Ruslan Ponomarev won the tournament in Dortmund

The chess super tournament of six grandmasters has ended in Dortmund. Contrary to forecasts, Vladimir Kramnik, on whom, in fact, the tournament rests, performed unsuccessfully. The final 50% result cannot be attributed to the ex-world champion; he played worse here only five years ago.

Kramnik became a hostage to his signature opening - the Catalan beginning, which reflects the essence of mass computer training, when the standard-minded majority feeds on the same information with similar assessments. At the same time, the creative spirit of individuals fades into the background, and the game becomes uninteresting. Now everyone is playing against Kramnik “Catalan”, and it’s psychologically difficult to play as if against yourself. In this regard, the game with Le Quang Liem is indicative, where Vladimir was unable to equalize the game with Black and even sacrificed a queen for a rook and bishop in order to sit out in the “fortress”. But it cannot be said that the leader of Russian chess players so obediently followed his destiny. This is evidenced by his fierce duel from the penultimate round with Arkady Naiditsch, which Vladimir played all-in with Black, although, having exceeded the share of risk, he was defeated. For the last battle with Mamedyarov, he played a new trump card in the Queen's Gambit, which turned out to be a complete revelation for Shakhtiyar. The fight, in fact, did not work out, and Vladimir finally caught up with his opponent, clinging to third place.

27-year-old Ponomarev played battle chess and has four victories, including over rating favorites Kramnik and Mamedyarov. Ruslan's play in the first round was so convincing that he could say he finished the second round, since no one was vying for the first prize. Only 19-year-old Vietnamese Le Quang Liem matched the winner, who, although he set the bar lower, was also impenetrable in the second round and took the second prize. True, not without the help of Kramnik, who with his victory held off Mamedyarov in the last round.

Summer is in full swing, but the main personal tournaments of the year are already behind us. Our grandmasters are still not very favored with invitations. Perhaps we should highlight the “Young Grandmasters Tournament”, which will end in Biel, Switzerland on July 28th. Our youth are represented by Evgeny Tomashevsky and Dmitry Andreikin, who after six rounds with 3.5 points are in the group of participants sharing 2-6 places. And the Italian Fabiano Caruana is in the lead with four points.

The chess calendar is expected to revive in September. The center of everyone's attention will be the World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, which opens on September 19, and the European Cup among chess clubs starts on October 16. It should be noted that in recent years club chess in Europe has been on the rise. With the advent of wealthy sponsors, a number of clubs were able to invite the world's leading chess players to their teams, providing them with significant fees. Almost no one refuses to play in such a prestigious competition.

Dortmund. Results of the tournament. 1. Ponomarev - 6.5; 2., Le Quang Liem - 5.5 each; 3--4. Kramnik, Mamedyarov - 5 each; 5--6. Naiditsch and Leko - 4 each.

Oleg STETSKO