The Hindu : Leko enters final; Bareev takes lead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 17, 2002

Sport

Sport - Chess

Leko enters final; Bareev takes lead

DORTMUND JULY 16. Peter Leko of Hungary on Monday advanced to the final of the Candidates' Tournament, crushing Spain's Alexei Shirov in the third game of their semifinal match.

The win gave Leko a 2.5-0.5 victory, while Evgeny Bareev of Russia also won to take a 2-1 lead in the other semifinal against Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov.

Shirov, as White, avoided the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defence, against which he lost in the first game of the match, by playing the Rossolimo Variation.

By move 11, the two kings had castled on opposite sides. This usually leads to sharp play as each side can launch an attack against the enemy king with compromising the defences around his own king. The first attack to break through usually wins.

Leko had faced this line twice this year, once against Alexander Grischuk of Russia and once against Shirov, drawing both times. While Leko advanced his queenside pawns against Shirov's king, Shirov's kingside play was slow in developing.

Leko called the pawn-push on his 15th move ``strategically bad but it's not a positional game any more. You just close your eyes and attack.''

When Shirov opened the position around his king on move 18, it resulted in a quick end.

Leko characterised his 21st move as ``a quiet prophylactic move. Already, White has no hope of surviving. His king is too exposed.''

On move 24, Leko had some quiet ways to win but ``the position calls for something more.''

So, he advanced his c-pawn and ripped open the remnants of White's defences. Faced with an irresistible mating attack, Shirov resigned on his 32nd move.

In the other semifinal Topalov, with Black, switched from the Benoni Defence, which brought him victory in the first game, to the King's Indian Defence. Bareev countered with the Bayonet attack.

On move 14, Bareev stuck his knight on e6. When Topalov exchanged his bishop for the knight, Bareev's pawn on e6 was bound to fall eventually.

Black soon had pawn roller in the centre while White's queenside pawns advanced menacingly in an unclear position. At this point, Lautier said Black should hold the draw.

But while White's e6-pawn fell, Black lost two on the queenside and White had three split passed pawns, two on the a-file and one on the c-file.

White sacrificed his passed c-pawn and the exchange to get his pieces into the game. Black gave back the exchange on move 35, and won a piece for two pawns on move 39.

But Black had to give back the piece almost immediately for a rook-and-pawn ending where White had an extra a-pawn while both sides had three kingside pawns.

Bareev heeded the old adage about putting his rook behind his passed pawn and observers believed he was winning. It was unclear where Bareev might have improved but by move 56, Lautier and other experts had changed their assessment.

However, Topalov's 58th move saw him throw away another pawn and with it the game. — AP

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