HISTORY
AN EXCITING CONFRONTATION!
CONFRONTATION!
Peter Leko obtains an important half point and another psicological victory. The third game of the match between Leko and Khalifman in Budapest finished with a draw after a splendid game. Both players attacked and counterattacked in a vibrant game, with alternatives for each player until the end. I will try tosummarize this game for you now, although full analisis will be provided in the Info-Terra Boletin #3 which will come out in about ten days.
Leko in total concentration. He was pushed to the limit by Khalifman in game3.
Khalifman,A (2653) - Leko,P (2725) [D97] 1/2 Budapest match (3), 05.01.2000 [GM Amador Rodriguez]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.Bf4 Khalifman repeats the same variation that he used in the first game. On that ocasion he had good chances of obtaining an advantage in the opening. 7...c6 Leko changes his move. In the first game he employed the more popular move 7..Na6. 8.e4 Qa5!? Between different alternatives, this morning we decided to use this rare move, only used before in Makogonov-Bolevslavski, Russian ch 1944 and Michaelsen-Lutz, Germany 1944 9.b4 An instantly played novelty, obviously prepared beforehand. In the other two games, 9.Bd2 y 9.Bd3 were the moves played. 9...Qd8 Black has lost two tempi, but has weakened White's queenside. 10.Rb1 b5 11.Qd3 a5 12.a3 Nh5 Leko is proud of this move, although it is criticized in other places. 13.Be3 axb4 14.axb4 f5!? 15.Qd1! A deep move which hides an important positional concept. The queen starts creating threats on the a2-g8 diagonal. 15...fxe4 16.Ng5 e5!? Leko, with the Black pieces, decides to go for tactics. 16...Nf6 was a solid alternative. 17.Qb3+ Kh8 18.Nf7+ [18.dxe5 Bxe5 19.Rd1 Was an important alternative.] 18...Rxf7 19.Qxf7 exd4 20.Bg5 [It looks like White could play 20.Rd1 threatening 21.Rxd4! Bxd4 22.Bxd4+ Qxd4 23.Qf8++ but Leko had a surprise waiting: 20...Ra1!! and White can't capture the rook because of: 21.Rxa1 dxe3! winning] 20...Qf8 [20...Nf6!? 21.Nxe4 (21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Qxf6 Bxf6 23.Nxe4 Be7 seems good for Black) 21...Qd5 22.Qxd5 Nxd5 is OK for Black] 21.Qxf8+ Bxf8 22.Nxe4 Na6 23.Bd2 Bf5 24.f3 [24.Bd3 Nxb4!! 25.Bxb4 Nf4 26.Bc2 d3 27.Bc3+ Bg7 Is a long combination that seems to work] 24...Nf6 25.Bd3 Re8 [25...Nd5 Was an important alternative. Leko feared the pin 26.Ra1 Ndxb4 27.Bxb4 Bxb4+ 28.Ke2 and his pieces are all pinned.] 26.g4!? This move confused Leko completely.[26.Ke2 Was the move that everyone awaiting 26...Nd5 and Black has good play for the exchange.] 26...Bxe4 The critical move was to retrocede the bishop to c8 or d7 to keep threatening Nd5 and the pawn on b4, trying to obtain three passed pawns on the queenside. 27.Bxe4 c5 Looks good, but it probably isn't. [27...Nxe4 28.fxe4 Rxe4+ 29.Kf2 d3 30.Rhe1 Rxg4 Fritz6! Very difficult for a human player!.] 28.bxc5 Nxe4 29.fxe4 Rxe4+ [29...Nxc5 In the press room this was the awaited move, but Leko told me that he was worried about 30.0-0 Nxe4 31.Rfe1] 30.Kf2 Nxc5 31.Rxb5 31.Rf3 was also good. 31...Re8 [31...Rxg4 Will have to be verified with the computer, but in principle these variations seem suspicious.] 32.Kf3 Nd3 33.Rd5 Bg7
This is the best position for Khalifman in the whole game. He probably has a good continuation to try for a win. 34.Rf1 Ne5+ 35.Kg3 Nc4 36.Re1 Ne3 37.Bxe3 dxe3 38.Kf3 All the Hungarian fans in the press room thought that today their idol Leko would lose. 38...Bh6! 39.g5 Bg7 40.Rxe3 Rxe3+ 41.Kxe3 Kg8
This is the famous final which will be analised in Terra shortly. The theoretic importance is fundamental and obviously I will not pretend to summarize this final in a few words now. Based on the Enciclopedia of Endings, the position is a draw. 42.Rd8+ Kf7 43.Rd7+ Kg8 44.h4 Bb2 45.Kf3 Bg7 46.Kf4 Bf8 47.h5 gxh5 48.Kg3 h6 49.g6 Ba3 50.Kh4 Bc1 51.Kxh5 Bg5 52.Kg4 Bc153.Kf5 Bg5 54.Ke6 Bh4 It was better to maintain the Bishop in the c1-h6 diagonal. Now Black nearly loses. 55.Rh7 Bg5 56.g7! h5! 57.Rxh5 Bf6!
Nice move with which Leko saves half a point. 58.Rh3 Bxg7 59.Ke7 Bb2 60.Rb3 Bd4 61.Rd3 Bb2 62.Rg3+ Kh7 63.Ke6 Kh6 64.Kf5 Kh7 65.Rg6 Bc3 66.Kg5 Bb2 67.Kh5 Bc3 68.Rg2 Bd4 69.Rd2 Bc3 70.Rc2 Ba1 71.Rc7+ Kg8 72.Rd7 1/2-1/2
Grandmaster Amador Rodriguez from Budapest (Translation: IM Michael Rahal)
GAME 3: Khalifman- Leko 1/2 ANNOTATIONS BY IM ANGEL MARTIN
The third game of the match between Khalifman and Leko was an extraordinary fight. After his loss in the second game, Khalifman should have tried to take profit of the White pieces, although he can’t be very satisfied with the outcome. The election of the opening wasn’t a surprise for anyone, because Leko normally uses the Grunfeld (the first game of the match was also a Grunfeld defence). Leko used the same line, although he changed his seventh move, and tried the continuation that Amador Rodriguez mentioned in his notes on the first game in Terra.
Amador doesn’t mention Khalifman’s 10.b4, although that move had already been used before, whereas Leko’s reply 10...Qd8 is a new move. From here on the game was very dynamic and complicated: the Hungarian player played very actively and sacrificed the exchange for a pawn plus pressure on Khalifman’s queenside. Also Khalifman had problems to complete his development, and a mistake (26.g4) allowed Leko to win another pawn. But he preferred not to take the second pawn, and decided to simplify the position. Although only a detailed analysis will tell if the second pawn should have been taken, at first glance it seems quite promising.
But after Leko’s continuation, the advantage was for Khalifman who was able to activate his rooks. Leko sacrificed a pawn to obtain a known drawn ending, first played by Ljubojevic and Keene in Palma de Mallorca 1972, where the bishop draws against the rook because all the pawns are on the same side of the board. Khalifman tried to win, although Leko’s correct defence, especially 48...h6!, coasted Black towards the draw.
At the end of the game, Khalifman tried to win a pure rook vs. bishop ending because Leko’s king was stuck in the wrong corner, and he also had very little time (4 minutes) left on his clock. Leko defended correctly the ending, and without much trouble succeeded in obtaining the draw. Khalifman even played more than what is reasonable taking into account the position.
With this result, halfway through the match, Leko’s advantage is important: apart from winning 2 – 1 he has White’s in two of the three last games. On the other hand the fact that he has had to fight for a draw in a game that was favourable for him from the start, may have affected his morale.
For Khalifman, the next game is decisive, as a loss would be irretrievable. He will probably play for a draw with the Black pieces, and then try an win the 5th game with White. But it won’t be easy, especially taking into account his problems with Black in the second game.
IM Angel Martin Gonzalez (Translation: IM Michael Rahal)
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