World Cup 2009: Gelfand’s march to greatness!
SPRAGGETT ON CHESS
Boris Gelfand is playing the tournament of his life! Nobody and nothing can stop him. He may get the worse position sometimes; he may even lose a game from time to time; but one thing seems to be certain: Boris never loses his head! We wish him good luck on his way to win the World Cup…
Today Boris crushed Karjakin in humiliating fashion WITH THE BLACK PIECES!
Boris would not need his angel today! Just some juices…
…and a short nap!
Karjakin, Sergey – Gelfand, B
6/12/2009.
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
Karjakin avoids Boris’ feared Petroff!
2… Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Bb3 d5
The ease with which Gelfand gains the initiative is impressive.
7. exd5 Nxd5 8. h3 a5 9. a4 Nd4 10. Nxd4 exd4 11. Re1 Ra6 12. Qh5 Nb4 13. Na3 Rg6 14. Bf4 b6
Black is simply better. White tries to prevent Black from building up his attack
15. Qf3 Be6! 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Qe4 Bd6 !
18. Bxd6 cxd6 19. Qxd4
For his trouble White has a pawn. Boris shows that it the trouble is big
19… Qg5 20. g3 Qf5 !
Simple and effective. White is probably already lost
21. g4
21… h5 good enough, but 21… Nd5! is stronger.22. Re4 d5 23. Kh2 Qf3 24. Ree1
The rest goes in silence
24… hxg4 25. Qe3 gxh3 26. Qxf3 Rxf3 27. Rg1 Rxf2 28. Kxh3 Rxg1 29. Rxg1 Nxc2 30. Nb5 Rf3 31. Kg4 Rxd3 32. Nd6 Ne3 33. Kf4 Nc4
White resigns
‘That was fast! Maybe I can still go ice-fishing…”
POST GAME INTERVIEW
POST GAME INTERVIEW
(COURTESY OF THE OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT WEBSITE)
Boris Gelfand of Israel outplayed the Ukrainian Sergey Karjakin in the first game of the semi final games with black. The traditional press conference took place after the game and here what they both said.
• B.G.: The “two knights” opening which is rarely used now by the professional chess players was played in our game. I remember the main ideas of this variation. There was even something similar in the game of Alexey Shirov. Perhaps we were both playing not well, but at one point it happened that all the black pieces were attacking the white King. The black pieces were strong indeed in this position. I am not saying that Sergey had a forced loss, but he had real objective problems. In general, the game was very interesting in my opinion.
• S.K.: I decided to play a rare variation in order to avoid the Petroff Defense with its high possibilities of making a draw. I just wanted to play chess. So, I did it now. In addition my defense was not ideal, to say the least. Though it is difficult to say where exactly my decisive mistake was. I should consult the computer.
• Boris when did you realize that you can win this game?
• B.G.: I was not thinking about it. I was just calculating the variations and trying to find the better continuations. Even, there was a moment when I could not see how the white pieces would defend. It is rather logical: the black pieces attack and the white pieces have just started getting into the game.
• Sergey, do you think there was a moment where you could make a draw?
. S.K.: The position was very strong for black and I did not see a forced draw.
• So, today the activity was coming only from one opponent?
• B.G.: I would not say so. Most probably it is easier for the black pieces: they had a plan to attack a King. But if the white pieces managed to consolidate, then he could have got a better position.
• Boris, can you imagine that you may lose tomorrow with white?
• B.G.: I don’t want to discuss it.
• Sergey, would you call your defeat a catastrophe?
• S.K.: Since I still have chances, I will fight. We shall see then.