The game of his life
Endorsements
Chessdom.com makes a real difference in the field of objective and reliable chess reporting.
George Mastrokoukos, CEO of ETCC 2007
Chessdom is setting new standards in organization and marketing of big chess events.
Milan Bozic
Gorenje Tournament Director
Round 1 results:
Cheparinov Ivan 2695 BUL 1 - 0 Bu Xiangzhi 2708 CHN
Aronian Levon 2763 ARM 0 - 1 Topalov Veselin 2767 BUL
Radjabov Teimour 2751 AZE 0 - 1 Ivanchuk Vassily 2740 UKR
All news about 2008 Mtel Masters
In the first round of this year Mtel Masters, Vassily Ivanchuk presented us with wonderful lesson on pawn endings and play with compensation for material. He snatched the offered pawn with cold blood, giving an exchange in the process, and even spoiled his own pawn structure just to make a Queens' swap. White weaknesses, however, proved to be more significant, the Bishop was lacking breathing air and pawns were poorly placed. Teimour Radjabov is not really a patient defender, he will rather seek for counterplay, so he quickly returned the exchange to find some activity. Ivanchuk forced him with 37...c6! to transpose to the pawn ending (Rook retreat was bad because Knight jumps on c5), which turned to be lost for white after the key move 40...h5!
The games are taking place inside the soundproof glass aquarium
Levon Aronian leading white pieces has been particularly unpleasant for Veselin Topalov, having beaten him in Corus, Linares and Melodi Amber. Well, it looks like the spell has ended today. Topalov quickly equalised in the opening and 17...Bxd4! even gave him upper hand because his central passed pawn was constant distraction for white pieces. Then the Queen and Knight started doing wonders on the kingside, forcing Aronian to allow new weaknesses in his position. After a beautiful and precisely calculated combination with temporal Rook sacrifice, Topalov finally reached a winning endgame.
Ivan Cheparinov and Bu Xiangzhi had a discussion in the Naidorf Sicilian, and soon Bu was left with a backward d6 pawn, hole on d5 and limited dark-squared Bishop. Still, he could have transfered one of the Rooks to the kingside and 2nd rank, which should have been sufficient for counterplay. The Chinese instead tried to fortify with his weak pawns, thus leaving greater maneuvering space to Cheparinov. White won the h-pawn and started harassing black King with his Rooks, while ideally placed Knight on f5 was giving support. Bu resigned after his Bishop ended trapped on f8.
Round 2 pairings:
Bu Xiangzhi 2708 CHN - Radjabov Teimour 2751 AZE
Aronian Levon 2763 ARM - Cheparinov Ivan 2695 BUL
Topalov Veselin 2767 BUL - Ivanchuk Vassily 2740 UKR
Levon Aronian in deep thought
Ivan Cheparinov
Chessdom Chess Shop
It just got better!
Chessdom.com
Official media partner
Chessdom.com
Official media partner
Khanty-Mansiysk
Chess tournaments 2007
Top chess players
Copyright © 2007 Chessdom. All rights reserved.
