Washington Times, DC
June 3 2006
Armenia leads the pack
By David R. Sands
June 3, 2006
Having faced down some of its top rivals, tiny Armenia is coming up
big in the 37th Olympiad, winding down in Turin, Italy.
Anchored by rising superstar GM Levon Aronian, the third-seeded
Armenian team defeated the Czech Republic 3-1 in yesterday’s Round
11, giving it a 31/2-point cushion with two rounds to go.
The U.S. squad — GMs Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk, Gregory
Kaidanov, Ildar Ibragimov, Hikaru Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian —
has rallied in the late rounds, capped by a stunning 21/2-11/2 upset
of top-seeded Russia yesterday despite the presence of classical
world champ Vladimir Kramnik on Russia’s top board. The Americans are
in third, a half point behind France and China and in strong
contention for a medal.
On the women’s side, Ukraine’s team won its first 10 matches but
clings to just a half-point lead over second-place Russia. The U.S.
women — WGMs Anna Zatonskih, Camilla Baginskaite, Rusudan Goletiani
and IM Irina Krush — are in eighth place.
If Armenia takes the gold, fourth board GM Gabriel Sargissian may
rate as the team’s most valuable player. The unheralded Sargissian
has won eight and drawn two in his matches, including a
tournament-saving victory over Russian star Alexander Morozevich that
halved the teams’ Round 5 match.
Aronian went down meekly to Kramnik on Board 1, and the other two
games were drawn, meaning Sargissian had to win on Board 4 to salvage
the half point despite a ratings deficit of nearly 120 points.
The ever-inventive Morozevich is one of the few top-line
grandmasters who play openings like the Modern Defense in a money
game, but Sargissian as White wins the opening battle with the alert
12. Bg5 Qa5 13. b4!, inviting 13…Nxb4 14. Bd2 Qa4 15. Nxb4 Qxd1 16.
Raxd1 cxb4 17. Bxb4 Re8 18. Rc1, with the advantage. The White
finesse gives him two powerful bishops and an enduring initiative.
Unhappy with his increasingly passive position, Black lashes out
with 26. f4 c5?!, which only makes things worse after 27. Bxc4 dxc4
28. d5 Qf5 29. d6 Rb8 30. Rc2 g5 31. Rxc4 gxf4 32. Rxc5 Rd8 33. Qd5,
when White is a pawn up with a dominating game.
Sargissian gives his higher-rated opponent no hope after 36. Rc4!
(threatening to simplify with 37. Qe4 Qxe4 38. Rxe4 f6 39. d7 Rd8 40.
e6, winning) Bxe5 37. d7 f3+ 38. Qxe5! Rxe5 39. d8=Q f2 40. Rxh4+ Kg6
41. Rg4+, and Morozevich resigns as 41…Kh7 (Qxg4 42. fxg4 f1=Q
fails to 43. Bxe5 f6 44. Qg8+ Kh6 45. Bd6 Qf2 46. Bf8 mate) 42. Qg8+
Kh6 43. Qg7+ Kh5 44. Qh8+ Qh7 45. Qxh7 is mate.
The veteran Kaidanov has been strong for the U.S. team, scoring
41/2 points in his first six games. His intricate Round 7 win over
Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp Persson gave the American team a 2-2 tie for
the match.
The game features one of the sharpest lines in the Queen’s
Gambit, a variation favored by Soviet world champion Mikhail
Botvinnik. With 24. Qg4+ Qd7 25. Qxd7+ Kxd7 26. a5!, White is the
first to clarify things, firmly establishing the weakness of Hillarp
Persson’s fixed queen-side pawn mass.
But Black does a decent job of keeping things in balance until
38. Re8 Re6?! (Kd6! 39. h5 Rh6 40. g4 Na5 41. Rd8+ Kc6 42. Be2 f6
makes White’s job much harder) 39. Rxe6+ fxe6 (see diagram), where
the White bishop will quickly show its superiority to the Black
knight in the tricky ending.
With superb technique, Kaidanov calmly walks his king from one corner
of the board to the other, picking off the Black a-pawn while
preserving his connected king-side pawns. Even the presence of the
two White pawns on c4 and e4 doesn’t undermine the White bishop’s
effectiveness.
It’s over after 55. Kb5 Nf2 (Nb2 56. Be2 Kg6 57. Kxc5) 56. Bf3
Nd3 57. Ka6 Ne1 58. Be2 Nc2 59. Kxa7, and Hillarp Persson resigns in
view of lines like 59…Nd4 (Nb4 60. Kb6) 60. Bd1 Kg7 61. Kb6, and
the c-pawn can’t be saved.
The U.S. Chess Center is hosting the 17th annual D.C. Action
Championship today at its 1501 M St. NW site downtown. Registration
for the popular one-day Game/30 event starts at 10 a.m., and the last
round begins at 8 p.m.
Call 202/857-4922 for more information or check out the
tournament details at
37th Chess Olympiad, Turin, Italy, May 2006
Sargissian Morozevich
1. d4 g6 22. Bxb1 Rb8
2. e4 Bg7 23. Bd3 Rb5
3. Nf3 d6 24. Nxe6 Qxe6
4. c3 Nd7 25. h3 h5
5. Bd3 e5 26. f4 c5
6. 0-0 Ne7 27. Bxc4 dxc4
7. Na3 0-0 28. d5 Qf5
8. Re1 exd4 29. d6 Rb8
9. cxd4 d5 30. Rc2 g5
10. e5 c5 31. Rxc4 gxf4
11. Nc2 Nc6 32. Rxc5 Rd8
12. Bg5 Qa5 33. Qd5 Kh7
13. b4 cxb4 34. Kh2 Re8
14. Rb1 Nb6 35. Bb2 h4
15. Nxb4 Nc4 36. Rc4 Bxe5
16. Nxc6 bxc6 37. d7 f3+
17. Nd2 Be6 38. Qxe5 Rxe5
18. Re2 Rfb8 39. d8=Q f2
19. Nb3 Qa3 40. Rxh4+ Kg6
20. Bc1 Qe7 41. Rg4+
21. Nc5 Rxb1 Black resigns
37th Chess Olympiad, Turin, Italy, May 2006
Kaidanov Hillarp Persson
1. d4 d5 31. bxc3 Nd6
2. c4 c6 32. c4 Bh6
3. Nf3 Nf6 33. Bxh6 Rxh6
4. Nc3 e6 34. Rb1 Nb7
5. Bg5 dxc4 35. Rxb3 Nxa5
6. e4 b5 36. Rb8 Rxf6
7. e5 h6 37. h4 Nb7
8. Bh4 g5 38. Re8 Re7
9. Nxg5 hxg5 39. Rxe6+ fxe6
10. Bxg5 Nbd7 40. Kf2 Kd7
11. g3 Bg7 41. Ke3 Ke7
12. Bg2 Qc7 42. g4 Nd6
13. exf6 c5 43. Bd3 Kf6
14. d5 b4 44. Kd2 Nc8
15. d6 Qb6 45. Bc2 Ne7
16. Ne4 Bd5 46. Ba4 Ng6
17. 0-0 0-0-0 47. g5+ Kg7
18. a3 b3 48. h5 Nf4
19. Bf4 Qc6 49. Bd1 Nh3
20. f3 Bxe4 50. g6 Nf4
21. fxe4 e5 51. Bg4 Kh6
22. Be3 Nb6 52. Kc3 Kg7
23. a4 Rxd6 53. Kb3 Kf6
24. Qg4+ Qd7 54. Ka4 Nd3
25. Qxd7+Kxd7 55. Kb5 Nf2
26. a5 Nc8 56. Bf3 Nd3
27. Rac1 Rd3 57. Ka6 Ne1
28. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 58. Be2 Nc2
29. Rxd1+Kc6 59. Kxa7
30. Bf1 c3 Black resigns
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
