XX Ciudad de Linares
February 22 - March 9, 2003

 
Notes by Ian ROGERS

Ponomariov,R (2734) - Vallejo Pons,F (2629) D45
Linares (7), 01.03.2003
Ian Rogers
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Bb4 8.Bd2 Qe7 9.Bd3 e5 10.cxd5 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 e4 12.dxc6 exd3 12...bxc6 13.g5! exd3 14.gxf6 Qxf6 15.Qd1 gives White pressure along the g file not dissimilar to the game continuation. 13.cxd7+ Qxd7

14.Qb3! A superb idea, missed by Vallejo and his second Reynaldo Vera in their pre-game preparation. Black's queen was headed for the long diagonal; now it must capture on g4 and open the g file for White. 14...Qxg4 14...Qc6 15.d5! Qxd5 16.Qxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxg7 Rg8 18.Bd4 is very promising for White - the d3 pawn is doomed in the long run. 15.Qd1! Ne4 15...0-0 16.Rg1 Qe4 17.Nd2 Qd5 18.Qf3 is a typical line, leading to an endgame where White has all the chances. 16.Ne5 Qxd1+ 17.Rxd1 f6 18.Nxd3 Bg4 19.Rc1 Bf3 20.Rg1 Kf7 21.Nc5 Nd6 22.Nb3 Ne4 23.Nd2 Nxd2 24.Kxd2 g5 25.Kd3 Rhe8 26.Bb4 Rac8 27.Rxc8 Be4+? A careless check which leaves Black in dire straits. After 27...Rxc8 28.e4 Re8 29.Re1 f5! 30.e5 Ke6 31.Rc1 Bc6 32.Bd6 f4 33.Rc5 h5 White can do little, e.g. 34.b4 (34.Kc4 Rc8! - the trick Vallejo missed.) 34...a6 35.a4 g4 36.b5 axb5 37.axb5 Bd5 38.Rc7 h4 28.Ke2 Rxc8 29.Bc3 Bd5 30.f3! Bxa2 31.e4 a5 32.Ra1 Bc4+ 33.Ke3 b6 34.d5 Bb3 35.h4 h6 36.Rh1 Kg6 37.f4! gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 a4 39.Rh3 Bc2 40.Rh2 Bb1 41.Rh1 Bc2 42.Rc1 Bb3 43.Ke3! f5 44.Rg1+ Kh5 45.d6! fxe4 46.Bf6 Be6 47.Kxe4 Rc2 48.Bd4 b5 49.Rg7 Kxh4 50.d7 Bxd7 51.Rxd7 Rc4 52.Kd3 h5 53.Rd5 Rb4 54.Bf6+ Kg4 55.Rg5+ Kf3 56.Rxh5 Rb3+ 57.Kc2 Ke4 58.Bc3 Ke3 59.Rh4 Kf3 60.Rb4 Rxb4 61.Bxb4 Ke4 62.Kc3 Kd5 63.Bf8 Kc6 64.Kb4 Kb6 65.Be7 Kc6 66.Bc5 a3 67.b3 Kd5 68.Bf8 1-0

Ponomariov,R (2734) - Anand,V (2753) B30
Linares (8), 02.03.2003
Ian Rogers
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.Qe2 Qc7 7.Ng5 h6 8.Nh3 g6! 9.f4 Bg7 10.c4 e5 11.Nc3 d5!? 12.0-0 0-0 13.g4? Ponomariov had an unfortunate habit of pushing his pawns in front of his king in this tournament, and he was punished on more than one ocassion. Here Ponomariov has seen a tactical idea which leads to the win of Black's d pawn for his g pawn, but the price paid on the kingisde is too high. 13...exf4! Otherwise 14.f5 justifies White's last move. 14.Bxf4 Qd7 15.exd5 cxd5 16.Rae1

16...Nc6! 17.Nxd5 Nd4 18.Qg2 Qxg4 19.Ne7+ Giving up the wonderful d5 knight is depressing, so 19.Qxg4 Bxg4 20.Kg2 might have been a better chance, hoping for 20...Be2 (20...Rfe8!?) 21.Bd6! Bxf1+ 22.Rxf1 with some counterplay for White. 19...Kh7 20.Nxc8 Qxg2+ 21.Kxg2 Raxc8 22.Bd2 g5 23.Re7 Kg6 24.Rxa7 Ne6 25.b4! Rfd8 26.b5! Ponomariov is fighting hard. 26.Rfxf7 would lose to 26...Rxd3 27.Be1 cxb4 , allowing the second Black rook to enter the attack. 26...Rxd3 27.Bc1 Rcd8 28.Raxf7 Rc3 29.Re7 Rd6 30.Nf2 Bf6 31.Re8 Rc2 32.Kh1 Rxc4 33.Re1 Nc7! 34.Rg8+ Kh7 35.Rb8 Re6! 36.Rf1? A major blunder in a position which is difficult but perhaps not lost after 36.Bd2! Rxe1+ 37.Bxe1 Nd5 36...Nd5 37.Rc8 Bd4 38.Ng4 h5 39.Rd8 Nf4? An incredible blunder by Anand, which coloured the rest of his tournament. After 39...Nb6! White can resign. 40.Bxf4 gxf4 Anand thought the knight on g4 was still trapped, forgetting that 41.Nf2 was now playable. 41.Nf2 Rc3 42.Rf8 Rc2 43.Rxf4 Ree2 44.b6 Bxf2? Black would still be much better after both 44...Rxa2 and 44...Rb2 but Anand, unnerved by his oversight a few moves earlier, decided to force a drawn rook endgame (after 45.b7). Draw

Ponomariov,R (2734) - Radjabov,T (2624) B30
Linares (10), 05.03.2003
Ian Rogers
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 In 2003 this has almost replaced the slower 6.Nd2 , when the knight heads for e3 via f1. 6...Nf6 7.Ng5 0-0 8.f4 Bg4 9.Qe1 exf4 10.Bxf4 Nd4 11.Qd2 Qd7 12.h3 12.a4 , as tried by Kramnik at Wijk aan Zee, also seems to give White little. 12...Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nd5 b5 15.Bb3 Bd8?! Played after half an hour's thought. Certainly the ambitious 15...a5? 16.Nb6 Qa7 17.Nxa8 c4 fails to 18.Be3! but the simple; 15...Nxb3 16.Nxe7+ (16.axb3 Nxd5 17.exd5 Qb7 offers nothing for White.) 16...Qxe7 17.axb3 d5 18.e5 Ne8 is very close to equality. 16.Rae1? After 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Bd5 White would have a slight but clear advantage. Now Black takes over the initiative. 16...Nxb3 17.axb3 Nxd5 18.exd5 Bf6 19.Nf3 Rfe8 20.Qh2 Bxb2 21.Bxd6 a5 22.Be5 Bxe5 23.Rxe5 Rxe5 24.Qxe5 Re8 25.Qc3 Qd6 26.Kf2 b4

At this point many spectators were beginning to think that White's situation was becoming critical, as 27.Qc4 f6 leads to the win of White's d pawn without obvious compensation. However Ponomariov, after considerable thought, found a forcing sequence which not only holds onto material equality - it almost wins the game. 27.Re1! f6 28.Rxe8+ Bxe8 29.Qc4 Bf7 30.d4! Bxd5 30...cxd4 31.Qc6! is very dangerous for Black. 31.dxc5 Qd7 31...Qc6 is well met by 32.Nd4!; However 31...Qe6 was a safer method of keeping the balance. 32.Qf4 Bxf3 33.Qxf3 Qd2+?! The start of some pointless checks. After 33...Kf7! 34.c6 Qd2+ Black draws easily. 34.Qe2 Qf4+ 35.Kg2 Kf7 36.c6? Now Black scrambles a clever draw. Instead 36.Qd3! would leave Black with long and difficult defence to hold the balance. 36...Qd4! 37.c7 Qd5+ 38.Qf3 Qc5 39.Qb7 Qxc2+ 40.Kf3 Qc3+ 41.Ke2 Draw

Ponomariov,R (2734) - Kasparov,G (2847) E50
Linares (12), 07.03.2003
Ian Rogers
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.d5 Ne7 Played after half an hour's thought. the main line runs 7...exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxh7+ Kxh7 10.Qxd5 with a slight advantage for White and no winning chances for Black. Therefore Kasparov chooses a less reputable but more complicated alternative, hoping to confuse Ponomariov in a messy position. 8.e4 d6 9.Bd2!? exd5 10.exd5 Bf5 11.Qc2 Qd7 12.0-0 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Qf5 14.Qxf5 Nxf5 15.Rfe1 Rfe8

16.Rac1?! The first of some strange moves which gradually hand the initiative to Black. 16.a3 Bxc3 (16...Ba5 17.b4! works out well for White.) 17.Bxc3 Ne4 is dead equal. 16...h5! 17.Kf1 a6 18.h3 b5! 19.b3 «By now I was very happy - something smells in White's position,» said Kasparov.White's main problem lies in his passivity - he can no longer remove the bishop from b4 and must wait for Black to choose the right moment to open the c file. 19...Kf8 20.Ng5 h4 21.Re2 Rab8 22.Rce1 Rxe2 After the game Kasparov felt that 22...Red8!? might have made life even more difficult for Ponomariov, since after the game continuation White's king succeeds in reaching the useful square d3. 23.Kxe2 Nd7 24.f4 An ugly move, but if the knight reached e5, White's position would become critical. By now Ponomariov was becoming very nervous, with his half hour time advantage having been reduced from half an hour a few moves ago to less than ten minutes. (Kasparov already had only 16 minutes left to reach move 40.) 24...g6?! Too slow. Later Kasparov was kicking himself for not playing 24...Nf6 25.Kd3 Ba5! with ideas of invading on the b file. White can still fight with 26.Nge4 but Kasparov was confident that his pressure would eventually prove too much for his young opponent. 25.Kd3 Ba5 26.Nge4 bxc4+ 27.bxc4 Bd8 28.Rb1 Rxb1 29.Nxb1 Nf6 30.Nbc3 Ke8 31.Be1 Nh5 32.Ne2 Kd7 33.Bc3 Be7 34.Kd2 Draw

CBV file

LINARES 2003 Final Standings: 1-2. Leko (2736) and Kramnik (2807) 7, 3-4. Anand (2753) and Kasparov (2847) 6,5 5. Ponomariov (2734) 5,5 6. Vallejo (2629) 5 7. Radjabov (2624) 4,5. Official website www.todoajedrez.tv.