GM Mikhail Golubev  annotates games

Round 1

Dominguez - Van Wely

A good victory for Dominguez in the very topical English Attack of the Sicilian Najdorf. According to both opponents, 16...a4 was Black’s first inaccuracy. With this move Van Wely deviated from the rapid game Anand-Morozevich (Monaco, 2006). On the 19th move Van Wely sacrificed a pawn, but failed to get sufficient compensation. After 26.d6! White’s advantage was already close to decisive and he won confidently.

1-0

Shirov - Rublevsky

The most complicated game of the round. Rublevsky used the same line of the Slav Defence, which served him well in the recent match against Ponomariov in Elista. Ponomariov twice opted for 7.f3 in these games, but Shirov played another line, 7.g3. White gradually obtained the better position, but the fight remained tense. On the 24th move Shirov sacrificed an exchange. After Rublevsky’s maybe not so successful 33^rd move, only two results were possible: White’s win and a draw. The game ended dramatically: on the move 47 when his chances for a draw looked very real, Rublevsky lost on time.

1-0

Svidler - Eljanov

A bit unexpectedly, Svidler began with 1.e4. Some old preparation in the Queen’s Indian Defence did not serve well to him. Black equalised by sacrificing the pawn and the draw was agreed as quickly as on the move 23. This game finished first in the round.

0.5-0.5

Karjakin - Ivanchuk

Ivanchuk as Black played one of the main lines of the Sicilian Dragon, what must have been a surprise for Karjakin: lately, the Dragon occurs rarely in the top level games and in Ivanchuk’s games in particular. On the 13^th move Karjakin followed his old game versus Zeliakov and played 13.Bh6 (but possibly the most popular move 13.h4 is more promising). Ivanchuk sacrificed the exchange in a typical way: 13...Bxh6 14.Qxh6 Rxc3!. After curious and acute fight the game ended in a logical draw by perpetual check on the move 23.

0.5-0.5

Nisipeanu - Jakovenko

Quite an uneventful draw in the Slav Defence seemed to be very probable already by move 15, after Nisipeanu refused to play the most principled moves like 10.e4 and opted for a more modest setup. The position remained equal until the move 35 when everything ended in a draw by the repetition of moves.

0.5-0.5

Sasikiran - Onischuk

Krishnan Sasikiran achieved a victory in a good style. In the Queen’s Indian Defence, Onischuk deviated from the very main line on the move 12, but it was his 16th move, 16...dxc4?!, which was a real error. White sacrificed the exchange for the fantastic positional compensation by 17.c6!. What Black had missed, making his 16th move, is that after 19...Nd5 White retains the pressure by 20.Be5! Bd6 21.Bb2. But Onischuk’s move 19...b5 was hardly better, after White’s energetic play his position gradually collapsed.

1-0