DORTMUND 2005

by Chess Base

Topalov – Naiditsch: The End

“Oh dear!” as we say, 23. Nxe6!! Literally opens up the position for White’s major pieces. The following result of this game is predictable and what is remarkable is that the young German player has succeeded to forget this defeat and win the tournament.

23...fxe6 24.Qxe6 Rd7 25.Rg3 Qf8 26.Re1 Raa7 (what else?!) and...

27.Qf6!! (a beautiful finish with 27...Qxf6 Re8 check and mate on the next move) 1 - 0

Bye Bye bloggers

* In chess, we call the major pieces the Queen or the Rook due to their power. See you soon...

Spluk...After 23. Nxe6!! It’s Over !

The Attack Continues

...18.Bxh7!! which destroys the kingside in a fantastic manner. In fact, 18...Kxh7 would be fatal after 19.Qxf7 Kh6 20.Nf3 Rd7 21.Qf6+ Kh7 22.Rae1) 18.Qf4 Bb7 19.Rae1 Qg7 20.Be4! (Evidently to fend off Qxg2 checkmate. But this equally allows White to establish himself in the centre. The attack must continue and black won’t be able to come back in the game.) 20...Kh8 21.Re3 Bxe4 22.Qxe4 Rd5 23.Nxe6!!

18. Bxh7!!

Nice Move

The Bulgarian’s Wisdom

14.0-0 (The Bulgarian acts as if nothing was happening...)14...Rd8?! 15.Qf4! (And here, on the other hand, he places his Queen on f4 because something is wrong with the position of the Black pieces)15...b5 16.Qc7 Qf8 17.Bd3 (precise)Rd7 (and not 17...Qd6 which allows a brilliant combination...

TO FOLLOW

13…a6 : A New Move

The Opposing Forces

In the position below, we notice that the fight for the centre has led to a massive exchange of pieces. Black, who has slightly opened up his kingside, hopes for an ending. In fact, White’s queenside pawn structure would be harmless if the queens were exchanged.

12.Qd2 0-0 13.Bxc4 a6 (The young German player decides to come out of opening theory. After the classical 13...Rd8 14.Qe3 Bd7, White must try hard to contain Black’s central play [for example with the knight on c6])

Let’s sum up the position !!

After 11...Qxg7

The Central Fight

One must realise that the Vienna variation of the Queen’s Gambit is really very aggressive. It is a pure and simple attempt to destroy the centre.

7.e5 (In order to attack the pinned knight. Here, the alternative 7.Bxc4 was played with success by the former world champion Anatoly Karpov) 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 (A more technical move while 8.Qa4 Nc6 9.0-0-0 leads to an extremely complex position. And yes, White has the possibility to win the knight on f6 but the army of central pawns is extremely menacing.)

8...Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.exf6 Qxg5 11.Bxg7 Qxg7

…Vienna Defence

of the Queen's Gambit

Topalov – Naiditsch (2nd Round)

And yes, another game of Topalov’s. You will think that I have done this deliberately but no. If I have made this choice, I have done so because it was worth it.

So Action...

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 (White has chosen a precise order of moves in order to finally transpose into a Queen’s Gambit type of position [1.d4-d5], one might as well say that the psychological warfare has already started) 4...dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5

With a position which symbolises the…

DORTMUND 2005 sponsored by “SPARKASSEN”

Final standings

DORTMUND 2005: The final word…

At the moment, there is a lot of speculation over who will win the world championships in Argentina. The Indian Anand and the Bulgarian Topalov are probably the favourites.

But what about the others?

The early retirement of Garry Kasparov has left the door wide open regarding the championship race. In Germany, a new generation appeared to be more equipped for this hard challenge.

Let the show begin and come to discover an exciting treat.

See you soon.

Etienne Bacrot

by Chess Base

DORTMUND 2005 “French Star”

The big star of French chess, Etienne Bacrot, has performed exceptionally well in this tournament which is similar to a grand-slam event.

Snubbed until now, Etienne has consolidated his place as one of the best in the world and continues to shine with his positional style.

After a difficult start, the young prodigy who originates from Picardie has made a wonderful comeback. With two super wins against Michael Adams and Vladimir Kramnik, he now shares second place with the Bulgarian Topalov, the Russian Svidler and the Dutch player Van Wely.

Well done!!!

Arkadij Naiditsch : The Revelation

© Klaus J. Lais

DORTMUND 2005 sponsored by “SPARKASSEN”

Germany, a leading country in the game of chess, organises each year one of the biggest events in the world.

In Dortmund, the big stars have been ruthless. Fierce battles have increased the psychological warfare before the next world championship.

And to the general surprise, the young prodigy Arkadij Naiditsch knew how to exploit the situation.