|
|
|
10th round press conferences |
|
Saturday, 22 May 2010 |
After 10th round games grandmasters came to the press office and answered to the journalist’s questions.
 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs. Ruslan Ponomariov
Mamedyarov: I didn’t expect this variation. I knew how to play
it, but I didn’t prepare for it. It seems I was unable to surprise my
opponent. He made a couple of decent moves and equalized the game. There
wasn’t much of a fight today.
Ponomariov: During the preparation to this game I studied
Shakhriyar’s games. He seemed to be on the rise, as he won his last two
games, while I made two dull draws. So for today’s game I selected a
solid setup, sometimes applied by Peter Leko. The most principled move
in this variation is 12.Bf4. After I carried out the freeing 18…с5, the
position became symmetrical and equal.
 Boris Gelfand -
Vassily Ivanchuk
Gelfand: We played a popular Gruenfeld line with 8.Bе3. Vassily
selected 9…сd4. 16.Kе1 is a tricky move, but Black found a strong reply
16...Bf8, and all I could do is force a draw.
Ivanchuk: I planned to play it safe and create small problems for
my opponent without trying to seize the initiative. White had to try
hard in order to lose this game.
Vladimir Akopian vs. Teimour Radjabov
 Akopian: I didn’t
play well in the opening, as Black got everything he could wish for in
the Sveshnikov. He tried to force the matters with 21...е4, which was
very aggressive, but possibly a little bit unsound, as it allowed me to
coordinate the pieces. Maybe trading the queens was wrong, and I should
have preferred 24.Qh6. I also don’t like my next moves – 26.Ndf4 and
28.f4. White’s position became very cramped, and Teimour showed good
technique, not giving me any chances to survive.
Radjabov: Black achieved a lot in the opening, but 21...е4 was
wrong, of course. There were many simple and positionally sound
alternatives, but even the anti-positional 21...f4 would be in order.
However, I was ahead on the clock and decided to force the matters, not
seeing that it gives White good counterplay. 26.Ndf4 is a serious
inaccuracy, which allowed me to bring the dark-squared bishop into play.
White’s time trouble also made an impact, but in any case it was hard
to survive in the arisen ending.
 Vugar Gashimov vs.
Ernesto Inarkiev
Gashimov: It was an exciting game. The position was complicated, but
I found an interesting plan with 15.Bd3 and 16.Re2. My pawn sacrifice
led to a curious position: White is a pawn down, Black pieces seem to be
active, but actually White can play for a win at no risk. Soon I
regained the material, keeping all the advantages of my position, then
won an exchange and converted the advantage without much trouble.
Inarkiev: The middlegame position was very complicated: I needed
to check various White’s sacrifices on every move. Thus I became short
on time and made a stupid mistake – 30...d5. After 31...Qe8 I lost an
exchange, but without these mistakes Black would have a decent position.
I admit that Vugar played very energetically and deserved his win.
 Peter Svidler vs.
Dmitry Jakovenko
Svidler: In his previous games Dmitry obtained a few suspicious
positions in the Catalan, so I decided to give it a try instead of
fighting against the Berlin. However, this time his position after the
opening was approximately even. 16.с5 was White’s only chance to play
for a win. A strange and imbalanced structure arose, but Black found the
safest way of dealing with my ghost initiative. I could try playing for
a win with 27.ba4, but this attempt is very sharp and risky, because
White’s pawns are weak, and the king is not safe. After 32...Qg6 I faced
a very responsible decision: I could either take on c6 and lose a few
pawns, or force a draw. I took the second option, also because I could
not pass the time control without repeating the position three times.
Jakovenko: Black equalized after the opening indeed, and I don’t
think White’s 16.с5 was justified. Peter also surprised me by 18.Qc3. It
turned out that I underestimated the dangers of my position, however,
White never had anything decisive, and even 27.bа4 looked very risky for
both sides.
 Pavel Eljanov vs. Peter
Leko
Eljanov: I habitually misplayed the opening – 10.Ng3 seems to be
wrong. Black obtained a pleasant position, and after the strong maneuver
Nd7-b8-с6 it became clear that he has no problems whatsoever, although
it was not easy to make progress. Perhaps 21...Nа5 and 24...b5 was a bit
too straightforward. After 24.Ne2 Black faced certain problems due to
poor coordination of his pieces. I was lucky that Peter did not grasp
the situation completely before the control, and after that his position
was already hopeless.
Leko: After the 13th move Black obtained a good position and seized
the initiative. However, I spent too much time looking for the best
continuations, and then made several inaccuracies, which wasted the
advantage and even led to a difficult position. After the control I
could notsave the game.
 Wang Yue vs.
Evgeny Alekseev
Wang: I played poorly today. White obviously had an edge after the
opening, but I played inaccurately and blew it. The game was lengthy;
White had a slight advantage, but it didn’t grow into anything bigger.
Alekseev: The game was complicated. My opponent played well and
created a lot of problems for me, but I managed to solve them and made a
draw.
|
|
|
|
