Translated material
German crossroads
The tournament paths of Kramnik and Leko converged again in Dortmund
The 36th representative tournament with the participation of eight grandmasters, which, according to established tradition, is considered the third in rank in the international calendar after competitions in the Spanish Linares and the Dutch Wijk aan Zee, started on Saturday in Dortmund, Germany.True, despite such a respectable age of the tournament, Dortmund has had a high reputation since the 1990s of the last century, since the Russian Vladimir Kramnik began to play here regularly. The fourteenth world champion played ten tournaments in Dortmund, winning first prize in seven of them. Even though Sparkassen Chess-Meeting Dortmund (this is the official name of the tournament) is noticeably inferior in average rating to its older brothers, this does not bother the strongest chess players in the world, who are always not averse to playing in the middle of the season in a prestigious tournament located at the crossroads of their chess roads.
Here is an excellent opportunity to get a serious run-in before the main competition of the year - just remember the “training” of Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko on the eve of their match for the chess crown in 2004. This time they are “testing their muscles” in Dortmund, and for Kramnik this is the last serious assessment before the world championship match with the Indian Viswanathan Anand. This confrontation will begin in Bonn (Germany) on October 11.
Unfortunately, the absence of the world champion in Germany (Anand prefers to limit himself to warming up in rapid chess) and Veselin Topalov, whose candidate's match with Gata Kamsky is planned in Lvov in the fall, while maintaining the tradition of the organizers of the tournament in Dortmund to invite representatives of promising youth, its level has decreased this time up to the 18th FIDE category. In addition to Kramnik (second in the world ranking) and Leko (10), despite the busy schedule of Grand Prix tournaments, among the elite in Dortmund are the “omnivorous” Vasily Ivanchuk (11), who in May did not leave any chance for Topalov at the super tournament in Sofia , and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (7). The remaining participants are “six hundred” (that is, with odds above 2600) of the rating list: the Dutchman Luke van Wely, and his participation, apparently, was due to the request of Kramnik, whom Luke has been helping in recent years, the best representatives of the German youth Arkady Naiditsch and Jan Gustafsson.
According to the tradition that has developed over the last five years, the winner of the Moscow Aeroflot Open tournament also plays here. This year it is the representative of Russia, 17-year-old Ian Nepomniachtchi. We've already been waiting for our Carlsen to appear, but, unfortunately, we can't expect miracles from the Russian junior similar to those created by the Norwegian teenager. After all, high class primarily implies stability. And Jan, after winning the Aeroflot Swiss lottery, managed to fail twice: at the Russian Club Championship and at the European Championship.
Results. International XVIII category FIDE tournament in Dortmund (Germany). First round. Jan Gustafsson (Germany, rating 2603) - Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2788) - draw. Arkady Naiditsch (Germany, 2623) - Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia, 2634) - draw. Shahriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, 2752) - Peter Leko (Hungary, 2741) - draw. Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 2740) - Luke van Wely (Holland, 2676) - draw.