Translated material
No guarantees
Peter Leko fully realized his potential in Dortmund
The traditional super tournament in Dortmund ended with the victory of Peter Leko. In the final three rounds, he managed to score two points, which turned out to be enough to win the first prize, since it was difficult to expect the same finish from the far from ambitious “German” Jans standing next to him - Nepomniachtchi and Gustafsson.True, Gustafsson managed to add some intrigue in the fifth round, when he beat the obvious outsider Luc van Wely, while the game Leko - Nepomniachtchi ended in a draw. However, already in the next round everything fell into place, after in a principled match Leko beat Gustafsson with black in a difficult endgame. It should be noted that playing with class was generally typical for the elite at the end of the tournament, which was especially expressed in playing with white as a transition to a difficult endgame and the realization of an advantage in the rating over less sophisticated opponents. In addition to Leko, Vasily Ivanchuk succeeded even more, who scored 2.5 points in three games at the finish. But Vladimir Kramnik was unable to put the finishing touches on Nepomniachtchi with white, and in the last round he lost to Ivanchuk. The latter’s performance is worth special mention.
The penultimate place of Vasily Ivanchuk with an asset of 1.5 points on the eve of the finish in such a “motley” company seemed in no way consistent with his position in the table of ranks. Especially after successful performances at super tournaments in Sofia (first place) and Aerosvit-Foros (second place). But there is nothing surprising. For the leader of Ukrainian chess players, the emotional mood is important. At his peak, there are no authorities for Ivanchuk, but there are also downturns, especially considering that this year Vasily did not reject a single offer, which suggested that he had passed his peak form. However, after a day of rest, Ivanchuk seemed to be transformed. First, he outplayed Arkady Naiditsch technically in the endgame, did not lose one iota with black to Shakhtiyar Mamedyarov, and in the last round he managed to beat Kramnik, who was clearly determined to part ways with the world. After Kramnik confidently followed the path of his memorable Russian game with Naiditsch and confidently reacted to Ivanchuk’s evasion of further dialogue, it became clear: the uncompromising Ukrainian grandmaster was by no means going to sign peace. Vasily literally looked for the slightest chances bit by bit, managed to beat Vladimir in an absolutely equal position and clung to second place.
Against the backdrop of Kramnik's unsuccessful play, the best Russian chess player turned out to be Ian Nepomniachtchi. And although he played defensively - he managed to survive with Black at the finish line in worse positions against Leko and Kramnik, the share of second place undoubtedly needs to be credited to the 17-year-old Russian. As for Kramnik, this is his second in recent years failure in Dortmund (in 2005 he scored only half the possible points). It is unlikely that a contender for the world title would like such a rehearsal for the match with Anand, which starts on October 11 in Bonn, which confirmed the decline in form that began after a 50 percent result in the previous stage tournament in Wijk aan Zee.
But not only the athletic form of its leader is important for Russian chess. On the eve of the main tournament of the year - the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, which starts on November 12, the rating of our entire team, the composition of which was approved by the RCF Presidium: Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk and reserve Dmitry Yakovenko (as a reserve) is also of interest stated by Evgeniy Alekseev). This is what the FIDE “top list” looks like as of July 1st. The highest rating is still retained by Viswanathan Anand - 2798 points. But here's a sensation: Kramnik, who was in second place, was overtaken by Morozevich - both had 2788. Next - Vasily Ivanchuk (2781), Veselin Topalov (2777), Magnus Carlsen (2775), Teymur Radjabov (2744), Shakhtiyar Mamedyarov (2742), Alexey Shirov (2741), Peter Leko (2741). In total, there are only two representatives of Russia in the top ten, perhaps one of the last graduates of the Soviet chess school. The ratings of other members of the team are quite optimistic: 11. Svidler (2738), 14. Grischuk (2728), 24. Yakovenko (2709).
Against the backdrop of the elite renewal process, the tournament in Dortmund raises a number of questions. Indeed, in the era of massive devaluation of chess qualifications, launched in the late 80s by the then FIDE President Florencio Campomanes, FIDE's 18th category tournament would not surprise. And the prefix “super” in relation to the tournament in Dortmund is only a tribute to the participation of Kramnik, Ivanchuk and Leko in it. But, looking at the final table, how can we evaluate the fact that the superiority of super-grandmasters over the “average” players by a good fifteen hundred rating points does not guarantee success? Here the point is not in leveling the class - here the axiom of mathematics “the sum does not change by rearranging the terms” does not work, and the scale of power of grandmasters of different levels is still incommensurable.
There are other reasons here - everyone has their own. As for the popular opinion today that chess has changed and the difference in the class of grandmasters is insignificant, this is nothing more than the cunning of sybarites accustomed to an idle life. But this opinion does not reflect the essence of the chess game - its technical techniques are quite stable and reflect only the deepening of knowledge accumulated over time. The changes rather relate to preparation methods. With the advent of computers, the role of desk work has sharply increased, since now the initial stage of the game takes place outside the playing field. In essence, there is a competition of analytical programs, inaccessible to spectators, which improves the quality of preparation of opening systems, although it does not always allow an accurate assessment of emerging positions. And here, not everyone likes to rush into the unknown. It is important to get a convenient “starting” position (from which, in fact, the “public” game begins), which allows you to maximize your own gaming potential, in other words, the difference in the understanding of chess, which is different for everyone and depends on painstaking analytical work on all stages of chess parties. This is not at all easy with black pieces, and it was precisely this problem that Kramnik failed to solve in Dortmund.
Tournament results : 1. Leko - 4.5 points; 2--5. Ivanchuk, Mamedyarov, Nepomniachtchi and Gustafsson - 4 each; 6. Naiditsch - 3.5; 7. Kramnik - 3; 8. van Wely - 1 point.
5th round. Mamedyarov - Kramnik and Leko - Nepomniachtchi - draws; Ivanchuk - Naiditsch - 1:0; van Wely - Gustafsson - 0:1.
6th round. Kramnik - Nepomniachtchi And Mamedyarov - Ivanchuk - draws; Gustafsson - Leko - 0:1; Naiditsch - van Wely - 1:0.
7th round. Leko - Naiditsch, Nepomniachtchi - Gustafsson - draws, Ivanchuk - Kramnik - 1:0, van Wely - Mamedyarov - 0:1.