THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON)
June 24, 2004, Thursday
Then there was one
By Malcolm Pein
DESPITE a valiant effort to unsettle his opponent, Nigel Short was
eliminated by Michal Krasenkow in the second round of the Fide
Knockout Championships at Tripoli.
English hopes now rest with Michael Adams, who looked impressive as
he defeated the dangerous Armenian player Karen Asrian with the white
pieces to go through 1.5-0.5. Adams looks to have a great chance as
some of the stronger players from his half of the draw either did not
show or have been eliminated.
The draw for the last 32 is: Top half: Topalov (Bul) – Movsesian
(Svk); Rublevsky (Rus) – Kozul (Cro); Mamedyarov (Aze) – Nisipeanu
(Rom); Kharlov (Rus) – Leitao (Bra); Filippov (Rus) – Grischuk (Rus);
Anastasian (Arm) – Beliavsky (Slo); Ivanchuk (Ukr) – Kasimdzhanov
(Uzb); Almasi (Hun) – Ye (Chn). Bottom half: Aronian (Arm) – Smirnov
(Rus); Bacrot (Fra) – Radjabov (Aze); Dominguez (Cub) – Tkachiev
(Fra); Sakaev (Rus) – Dreev (Rus); Adams (Eng) – Hamdouchi (Mar);
Nakamura (USA) – Lastin (Rus); Zvjaginsev (Rus) – Krasenkow (Pol);
Akopian (Arm) – Moiseenko (Ukr).
The youngest player left in the competition is the American Hikaru
Nakamura, 16, who eliminated Alexey Aleksandrov of Belarus, a tough
competitor in knockout competitions. Nakamura showed some cool nerves
to eliminate Russian GM Sergey Volkov in a first round tie-break
against Alexandrov, who was ground down in a drawn endgame after 71
moves. Needing a draw in the return, Nakamura produced some
fireworks. 7.g4 is favoured by Kasparov, who has used it against the
computer Deep Junior, if 7Nxg4 8.Rg1. 13.a3 does not look in the
spirit of the variation – 13.0-0-0 !?; 17Rhe8 was also possible, the
white king looks vulnerable on e1. If 24.Kf1 Qb5+ 25.Kg2 Nxe3+!!
26.fxe3 Qxb2+ 27.Kf1 Qxa1+ winning the house; if 27.Kh1 Bf3+ and
mate.
A Aleksandrov – H Nakamura
Fide KO Tripoli (2.2)
Semi Slav Shabalov Variation
1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 5 Nf3 Nbd7 6 Qc2 Bd6 7 g4 dxc4 8
Bxc4 e5 9 g5 Nd5 10 Ne4 Bb4+ 11 Bd2 Bxd2+ 12 Qxd2 Qe7 13 a3 N7b6 14
Ba2 Bh3 15 Rg1 exd4 16 Qxd4 0-0-0 17 Ng3 f5 18 gxf6 Nxf6 19 Qb4 Qd7
20 Ne5 Qc7 21 Nf7 Nbd5 22 Qh4 Bg4!! 23 Nxd8 Qa5+ 24 b4 Qxa3 25 Kf1
Qd3+ 26 Kg2 Nxe3+! 27 fxe3 Qc2+ 28 Kf1 Qd3+ 29 Kg2 draw
Nakamura
p ) l p 7 o c p p o c p c p m p p p p p n p p – f p p Y n l
A p p p X n
6 p p 6
Aleksandrov
Final position after 29.Kg2
David Howell is performing well at the second Young Stars of the
World tournament in Kirishi, Russia. He has scored 2/5 so far.