FIDE GP: Aronian shares first place with Alekseev

In Round 9 of FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Nalchik Armenian grandmasters Levon Aronian and Vladimir Hakobyan played to draw with Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk respectively. In Gelfand-Aronian game our player once again proved the importance of domestic preparation. He made a very strong novelty in the Vienna Variation of the Queen’s Gambit – 19…Rg8!, and it forced Gelfand to fall asleep at the board! An hour and a half was spent for a good reason. It was a heroic effort in Lev Polugaevsky’s style! The exchange sacrifice 24.Rxe4! forced Black to fight for a draw. And the Armenian grandmaster succeeded: he returned the extra material and proceeded to a dull rook ending.

Herewith are Round 9 games:

Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian 0,5:0,5

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bxd7+ Nxd7 13.0-0 a6 14.Rb1 Qc7 15.Qh5 Nc5 16.Rb4 Qe5 17.Qh4 Rd8 18.Nf3 Qxc3 19.e5 Rg8 20.Qxh7 Ke7 21.Rf4 f5 22.Qh4+ Ke8 23.g3 Ne4 24.Rxe4 fxe4 25.Qxe4 Rd5 26.Qf4 Qc2 27.Ng5 Qf5 28.Qxf5 exf5 29.Nh7 Rg6 30.Nf6+ Rxf6 31.exf6 Rd6 32.Re1+ Kf8 33.Re5 Rxf6 1/2-1/2:

Vassily Ivanchuk – Vladimir Hakobyan 0,5:0,5

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Re8 8.Ne1 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nc2 e4 11.Rb1 Na5 12.Nd4 b6 13.Qc2 c5 14.Nb3 Nxb3 15.axb3 Bf5 16.f3 exf3 17.Qxf5 fxg2 18.Qxf7+ Kh8 19.Rf2 Qd6 20.c4 Nf6 21.Bb2 Rf8 22.Qb7 Qxd2 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Ra1 Rfe8 25.Qc6 Rf8 26.Kxg2 Qd4 27.Ra2 Rac8 28.Qb7 Rb8 29.Qf3 Rf7 30.e4 Re8 31.Rfe2 Rd7 32.Qf5 Kg7 33.h4 Qd6 34.Re3 Qe6 35.Qf4 a5 36.Rf2 Rd4 37.Kh2 Re7 38.Qf3 Qe5 39.Qg4+ Kh8 40.Rf5 Rd2+ 41.Kh3 Qb2 42.Qf3 Rg7 43.Qh1 Qd4 44.Qf3 Qb2 45.Qh1 Qd4 1/2-1/2:

Alexander Grischuk – Gata Kamsky 0:1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.a4 c5 16.d5 c4 17.Bg5 h6 18.Be3 Nc5 19.Qd2 h5 20.Bxc5 dxc5 21.Bd1 Rb8 22.Qe3 Kh7 23.Nf1 Qc7 24.Ng5+ Kg8 25.Be2 Bc8 26.Ra2 Qb6 27.Nf3 Kh7 28.Ng5+ Kg8 29.axb5 axb5 30.Nd2 Bh6 31.Qg3 Nh7 32.Ndf3 Qf6 33.h4 Nf8 34.Ra7 Bd7 35.Rea1 Qd6 36.R7a6 Qe7 37.Ra7 Qd6 38.R7a6 Qe7 39.Nh2 Bc8 40.Ra7 Rb7 41.Ra8 Nd7 42.Nf1 Nb6 43.R8a5 Bd7 44.Ne3 Qf6 45.Ra7 Reb8 46.R1a6 Be8 47.Rxb7 Rxb7 48.Bxh5 gxh5 49.Nf5 Bg7 50.d6 Nd7 51.Qf3 Bf8 52.Qxh5 Qg6 53.Qg4 f6 54.Ne7+ Bxe7 55.dxe7 Rb6 56.Rxb6 Nxb6 57.Qe6+ Kg7 58.Nf3 Na4 59.h5 Qxh5 60.g4 Qh3 61.Nxe5 Nxb2 62.Qc8 Qh8 63.Nd7 Nd3 64.Nf8 Qh4 65.Qxe8 Qxf2+ 66.Kh1 Qh4+ 67.Kg2 Qxg4+ 68.Kh2 Ne5 69.Kh1 Nf3 70.Ne6+ Qxe6 71.Qf8+ Kh7 72.Kg2 Nh4+ 73.Kf2 Ng6 74.e8Q Nxf8 75.Qxf8 b4 76.Qxc5 b3 77.Qc7+ Kg6 78.Qg3+ Kh5 79.Kf3 Qd7 80.Qg8 Qd3+ 81.Kf4 Qd2+ 82.Kf3 Qxc3+ 83.Kf4 Qc1+ 84.Kf3 Qf1+ 85.Ke3 Kh4 86.Kd4 Qd3+ 87.Kc5 Qxe4 88.Qh8+ Kg5 89.Qg7+ Qg6 90.Qb7 Qd3 91.Qg2+ Kf5 92.Qf2+ Ke6 93.Qg2 f5 94.Qg7 f4 95.Qg8+ Kf5 96.Qc8+ Kg5 97.Qg8+ Kh4 98.Qg2 f3 99.Qh2+ Kg4 100.Qg1+ Kf4 101.Qh2+ Ke3 0-1:

Pavel Eljanov – Rustam Kasimdzhanov 0,5:0,5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.a3 b6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 9.e3 c5 10.Bd3 c4 11.Bc2 Nc6 12.h4 b5 13.Ng5 h6 14.Qh5 Qe8 15.Nf3 f5 16.g4 Qxh5 17.gxh5 Bf6 18.Rg1 Kh8 19.Kd2 Be6 20.Be5 a5 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Ne1 Ne7 23.Ng2 Rg8 24.Nf4 Bf7 25.Kc3 Rg4 26.Rh1 Rgg8 27.Rhg1 Rg4 28.Rh1 Rgg8 29.Kd2 b4 30.Rhb1 b3 31.Bd1 Nc8 32.Bf3 Nb6 33.a4 Rg7 34.Ne2 Rag8 35.Nc3 Be6 36.Rh1 Kh7 37.Ne2 Rd8 38.Nf4 Bf7 39.Bg2 Bxh5 40.Bh3 Bf7 41.Bxf5+ Kh8 42.Bh3 Rgg8 43.Ne2 Rg7 44.Nc3 Rdg8 45.Rhe1 f5 46.Rf1 Be6 47.Ke2 Nc8 48.Rh1 Ne7 49.Kd2 Bf7 50.Ne2 Bh5 51.Nf4 Bf3 52.Rhf1 Ng6 53.Nxg6+ Rxg6 54.Bxf5 Rf6 55.Bh3 Be4 56.f3 Rxf3 57.Rxf3 Bxf3 58.Rf1 Be4 59.Rf4 Rg1 60.Bf1 Rh1 61.Bxc4 dxc4 62.Rxe4 Rh2+ 63.Kc1 Rh1+ 64.Kd2 Rh2+ 65.Kc1 Rh1+ 1/2-1/2:

Peter Svidler – Peter Leko 0,5:0,5

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxe5 Nd4 12.Nd2 c5 13.c3 Nxb3 14.Nxb3 Re8 15.Qh5 Rf8 16.d4 c4 17.Nc5 Bxc5 18.dxc5 Qc7 19.Bd2 Rae8 20.Ng4 Qc6 21.Ne5 Qc7 22.Nf3 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Qxc5 24.Nd4 Kh8 25.Bf4 Qc8 26.Be5 Qd7 27.Nf5 f6 28.Bg3 Bc6 29.Nd4 Re8 30.Rxe8+ Qxe8 31.Qxe8+ Bxe8 32.Ne6 1/2-1/2:

Etienne Bacrot – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1:0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Re1 Be7 10.e5 Nd7 11.Qg4 g6 12.Na4 c5 13.c4 Qa5 14.Qd1 dxc4 15.Be4 Rb8 16.Bh6 Rb4 17.Nc3 Rxb2 18.Qc1 Rb8 19.Bc6 Bb7 20.Ba4 Kd8 21.Rd1 Bd5 22.Qc2 Rb4 23.Bd2 Ba8 24.Be1 Rxa4 25.Nxa4 Qb5 26.Rab1 Qc6 27.f3 Ke8 28.Rxd7 Kxd7 29.Qd1+ Kc8 30.Nb6+ Kb7 31.Nd5+ 1-0:

Evgeni Alekseev – Sergey Karjakin 1:0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Nde2 Bb4 10.Bg2 0-0 11.0-0 Nxc3 12.Nxc3 Nc6 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Na4 e5 15.c3 Be7 16.Nb6 Rb8 17.Nxc8 Rbxc8 18.Be3 Kf8 19.Rfd1 Rd6 20.Kf1 Na5 21.Rxd6 Bxd6 22.Rd1 Ke7 23.b3 Nc6 24.Be4 b5 25.b4 Nd8 26.Rc1 Ne6 27.Ke2 Rb8 28.Ra1 Nf4+ 29.Kd2 Nxh3 30.Rh1 Nf4 31.Rxh7 Kf6 32.Kc2 Bc7 33.Ba7 Rd8 34.Rh1 a5 35.Rb1 axb4 36.Rxb4 Kg5 37.f3 g6 38.Rxb5 f5 39.gxf5 gxf5 40.Bb7 Ng2 41.Bf2 Bd6 42.a4 Kf4 43.a5 e4 44.fxe4 fxe4 45.Bb6 Rg8 46.a6 e3 47.Kd3 1-0:

Now Levon Aronian and Evgeni Alekseev lead with 5,5 points. Bacrot, Svidler and Leko rank 3-5 with 5 points. Next come Karjakin, Grischuk, Hakobyan and Eljanov with 4,5 points. Mamedyarov, Kasimdzhanov, Gelfand and Kamsky have 4 points. Ivanchuk ends last with 3 points.

Round 10 is due tomorrow. The pairings are as follows:

Aronian-Eljanov
Hakobyan-Bacrot
Grischuk-Alekseev
Mamedyarov-Svidler
Leko-Gelfand
Kamsky-Kasimdzhanov
Karjakin-Ivanchuk