GM Mikhail Golubev annotates games
Round 2
Shirov - Jakovenko
As well as Svidler in his
game, Shirov goes for a sacrificial line of the Queen's Indian. By playing
10.Qe4!? Shirov deviated from the Svidler-Carlsen game, where opoonents made the
opening moves a bit faster. But 10.Qe4 is not new and was already tested at the
top level. Jakovenko made a new move 11...Nc7. But it does not look as a result
of the deep preparation. Shirov obtained a reach compensation for the pawn.
After the strong 20.Nc3! Black still had problems. But Jakovenko played very
precisely, preserving a defensible position, almost without weaknesses. The open
d-file was in White's hands and Shirov preserved a slight long-term advantage.
Possibly, instead of 38...Bd4 Black should have played 38...Qh2. Later, instead
of 41...a6, Black's last chance was 41...Qc6. After 43.Kc2! there was already no
defence.
1-0
Volokitin - Onischuk
The main line of the calm Catalan Opening. Following the path of the two games
betweem Gelfand and Anand, Onischuk used a rare 10...Bd6!?. His move 12...Nbd7
seems to be new. After 17.Nh4! White developed a dangerous initiative. Onischuk
decided to sacrifice a piece - an interesting idea. 21.Kh1 Ng4 could have been
very unclear and Volokitin decided in favour of 21.Kf1 Ng4 22.Qxf4, which is
also a computer's suggestion. 24.Bd5+ was an important, strong move. 25.e6 was
possible, but Volokitin preferred a safer 25.Bc3, provoking a weakening 25...b4,
and then 26.Bd2. The exchange of queens followed. White should be better in the
ending. 28.Rac1! is a very good move. After 31.Nf5+! Black resigned. A very good
play by Volokitin!
1-0
Karjakin - Nisipeanu
In the Sicilian Tajmanov, Karjakin used the most popular setup with Be3, Qd2 and
0-0-0. Instead of the usual 12...Bb7 as Nisipeanu himself played two years ago
against Akopian, the Romanian grandmaster made a new move 12...h5 (preventing g4
for the time being). Karjakin's 14.Nc1!?, allowing 14...b4 and 15...b3 was not
forced. After 18...Bb4 White's position was sligtly better, but Karjakin's
19.Rd3 seems to be somewhat artificial. From other point of view, a conrete idea
behind this move is to prepare a2-a3!. Nisipeanu sacrificed a piece, quite
dubiously. Few moves later, Karjakin returned the piece to Black, but exchanged
queens and obtained the endgame with a healthy extra pawn on the queenside.
White easily converted his advantage into a full point.
1-0
Ivanchuk - Alekseev
The Catalan Opening. Instead of 9.Ne5 (as Kramnik recently played against Navara),
Ivanchuk opted for 9.a4 c6, and now 10.Nc3, which seems to be new. A sharp,
non-standard play followed. After 17...e5 it became clear that White obtained
some advantage. Trying to organise a counterplay, Alekseev sacrificed a pawn,
but White remained to be better. After 26...Nc5 Ivanchuk could have sacrificed
the exchange (27.Rxa5) but preferred the calm 27.Rd1. Few moves later White won
a second pawn (33.Bxc4!). After that White's technical task was not too
difficult.
1-0
Svidler - Carlsen
Peter, possibly being afraid of the Sicilian Dragon, started the game with 1.d4.
A topical line of the Queen's Indian emerged, where White sacrifices a pawn.
Position after 14.Qf4 was twice tested in the recent tournaments: Sargissian v
Hou Yifan and Cheparinov vs Kamsky. Both these games ended peacefully. It is not
clear what Svidler has found. Carlsen opted for the Kamsky's move 21...a5 which
was evaluated by the annotators of the Baku-2008 games very positively. After
playing 22.b3 Svidler proposed a draw.
0.5-0.5
Van Wely - Eljanov
The Gruenfeld Defence promises to be popular at the tournament. By playing
14.cxb6 Van Wely deviated from the unsuccessful for him Round 1 game against
Shirov. Possibly, this simple capture on b6 is a novelty. In the previous games
White always played 14.c4. But it seems that both opponents were well prepared
to play this line. The draw was agreed quickly.
0.5-0.5