Teymur Radjabov withdrew from the competition in Morelia, after he was robbed in a hotel in the town of Patsuaro. There he arrived with his father shortly before the start. According to Baku, many important and valuable things related to their professional activities have disappeared. In a similar situation, the movie hero Anton Semenovich Shpak grieved about two tape recorders, two movie cameras abroad, two domestic cigarette cases ... Radjabov did not specify what exactly was stolen. It is possible that the most expensive is a laptop with debut developments: a novelty in the beloved Old Indian defense, an amplification in the Sicilian.
At a time when these ideas existed only on paper, chess players cherished the treasured notebooks like the apple of an eye. I remember that Boris Gelfand admitted in one interview: when he went to the tournament, he never handed over the manuscripts to the luggage compartment - he took them with him to the airplane cabin.
Replacing Teymur, Ukrainian Vasily Ivanchuk did not spoil the mass. The three-time winner of Linares immediately made him speak in enthusiastic tones. In the starting round, he “threw” the horse out of the blue to Hungarian Peter Leko, to whom he lost in the recent final of the First ACP Quick Chess Cup in Odessa. The victim was correct. True, then the Lviv man was too clever, and the game ended in an eternal check. And the next day Ivanchuk, playing white again, forced Veselin Topalov to capitulate. By the way, the novelty worked, applied on the 11th move in the well-known version of the “Sicilian”. By the 40th control move, the Ukrainian grandmaster had an extra pawn. He probably would have realized the material advantage, but the Bulgarian missed a simple tactical strike, after which he immediately surrendered.
Unfortunately, Ivanchuk, like all geniuses, in Morelia was destined not only to make discoveries. “A small man is small on the mountain, and the giant is large in the pit,” Lomonosov claimed. But these words are little consolation for Vasily, who in the fourth round meeting with Magnus Carlsen did not look like himself. Not only that, Ivanchuk, deprived of an opponent the opportunity to play the Catalan beginning, went all out in the opening, he also lost an equal position in the endgame.
The result “plus two”, with which the sixteen-year-old Norwegian crossed the tournament equator, will make you change your mind about whoever you want. And still we wait and see. Garry Kasparov, who appeared at last year's Tal Memorial, said about the same thing about Carlsen. When asked if Magnus would become a chess king, the thirteenth world champion remarked: “It's hard to say. He will fight ... The player is solid, his resistance is good. ” Mozart chess, as Magnus is called in the West, sees tactics great and is strong in a combination game. He has good rear areas - what is worth at least a new continuation in the "Old Indian" elected by Alexander Morozevich. Surely the subsequent victim of the horse more than once stood on the blackboard in the Norwegian creative laboratory.
Ivanchuk, again, just gave a point to Carlsen. But this can be said about Topalov with a slight caveat. The fact that in the fifth round the ex-world champion surrendered to the Norwegian in a draw, - from the category of curiosities. Most likely, Veselin, forced a dozen moves to beat off the enemy’s onslaught, mentally resigned himself to the worst and did not notice that he could be saved. The teenager skillfully stepped up the initiative, but at one point passed the win, after which Topalov was protected. Obviously Carlsen likes to checkmate. When it comes to subtle maneuvering, positional struggle, it is inferior to experienced rivals in the class. On the third day of the game, Professor Vishwanathan Anand posed a "young man" to the young student on this subject.
Staying in the basement of the Topalov standings is no longer a sensation. Last year, in Mexico, the number one favorite scored just 2.5 points out of 7. Although then in Linares Veselin got together and eventually shared 2-3 places with Rajabov. There is only one visible reason for this result: the Bulgarian is far from the peak of form.
Not in the best physical condition and Morozevich. He was in his element, but did not notice the most beautiful way to victory in a meeting with Levon Aronian. If we take into account that the Armenian chess player escaped defeat even in the game with Carlsen, we can conclude: he is lucky as the first prize-winner. However, the convincing, according to the game, Victoria Aronian over Anand forced her to look through her fingers at the “halves” that Levon got with the help of fortune.
That was until yesterday night (America after all), until Ivanchuk defeated Aronian at the position with the “isolator” on d5. Peter Leko, hitherto having only draws, attacked King Anand and was close to success. However, the time pressure ended, and White, having remained without quality, surrendered. In a difficult struggle, Topalov defeated Morozevich. Only one game ended in peace - exchanging queens, on the 27th move Svidler and Carlsen shook hands.
Now the grandmasters are flying to Linares - the 8th round is scheduled for March 2.
7th round. P. Svidler - M. Carlsen - 1/2: 1/2. V. Ivanchuk - L. Aronian - 1: 0. P.Leko - V. Anand - 0: 1. V. Topalov - A. Morozevich - 1: 0. Position after 7 rounds: 1-2 . Anand, Carlsen - 4.5 points each. 3. Ivanchuk - 4. 4-5. Aronian, Svidler - 3.5 each. 6-7. Leko, Topalov - by 3. 8. Morozevich - 2.
Alexander BLANK