Adams & Kramnik Win Again in Dortmund
Michael Adams and Vladimir Kramnik are still tied for first place and they're now two full points ahead of the rest of the field at the 41st Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, Germany. Both grandmasters won their game on Thursday to reach the excellent score of 5 points ouf of 6 games. Georg Meier and Wang Hao are on 50%, and the other six players have minus scores. There are three more rounds to go and Adams and Kramnik will play each other on the last day!
Especially Vladimir Kramnik is drawing attention in Dortmund. After his bad first half in 2013, the former World Champion is suddenly playing like a young lion, sacrificing material all the time and constantly going for the initiative.
Kramnik's play hasn't been compared that often with that of Mikhail Tal, but his game in round 6 could easily have been played by the Magician from Riga. From a quiet double fianchetto, Kramnik started pushing his pawns on the kingside and then sacrificed a pawn & exchange (!) to tear apart the enemy king's protecting pawns. Daniel Fridman could probably have defended it better; after 28...Qf8 Kramnik found a very nice way to finish the game.
Here's the full game:
Michael Adams won quite differently. It was his opponent who started an attack on his king, although this was the logical plan in this typical IQP (isolated queen's pawn) position. Starting from the 21st move, Arkadij Naiditsch brought all kinds of forks into the position. Adam's super solid moves ...Nf6, ..Be8 and especially ...Nc6! basically refuted White's setup and got the h7-bishop trapped.
Peter Leko played well in the opening, a French, against Wang Hao. The Hungarian was in complete control, but then he missed the quiet move 21.Qh4! when the computer gives a winning advantage. White simply continues developing with Bc4 and Rhd1 and Black's position will collapse. In the game Wang Hao had a narrow escape.
Fabiano Caruana also escaped with a draw, after a bit of a strange game with Igor Khenkin. The German grandmaster sacrificed an exchange and got a strong initiative, then Caruana refrained from forcing a draw (34...Rxb3 and Qd1-h5+ is a perpetual) and then Khenkin spoilt a winning advantage after the time control.
Dortmund 2013 | Pairings & results
| Round 1 | 15:00 CET | 26.07.13 | Round 2 | 15:00 CET | 27.07.13 | |
| Khenkin | ½-½ | Leko | Leko | ½-½ | Caruana | |
| Meier | 1-0 | Naiditsch | Adams | 1-0 | Andreikin | |
| Kramnik | 1-0 | Wang Hao | Wang Hao | 1-0 | Fridman | |
| Fridman | ½-½ | Adams | Naiditsch | ½-½ | Kramnik | |
| Andreikin | 0-1 | Caruana | Khenkin | ½-½ | Meier | |
| Round 3 | 15:00 CET | 28.07.13 | Round 4 | 15:00 CET | 29.07.13 | |
| Meier | ½-½ | Leko | Leko | ½-½ | Adams | |
| Kramnik | ½-½ | Khenkin | Wang Hao | 1-0 | Caruana | |
| Fridman | ½-½ | Naiditsch | Naiditsch | 1-0 | Andreikin | |
| Andreikin | ½-½ | Wang Hao | Khenkin | ½-½ | Fridman | |
| Caruana | 0-1 | Adams | Meier | 0-1 | Kramnik | |
| Round 5 | 15:00 CET | 30.07.13 | Round 6 | 15:00 CET | 01.08.13 | |
| Kramnik | 1-0 | Leko | Leko | ½-½ | Wang Hao | |
| Fridman | ½-½ | Meier | Naiditsch | 0-1 | Adams | |
| Andreikin | 1-0 | Khenkin | Khenkin | ½-½ | Caruana | |
| Caruana | ½-½ | Naiditsch | Meier | ½-½ | Andreikin | |
| Adams | 1-0 | Wang Hao | Kramnik | 1-0 | Fridman | |
| Round 7 | 15:00 CET | 02.08.13 | Round 8 | 15:00 CET | 03.08.13 | |
| Fridman | - | Leko | Leko | - | Naiditsch | |
| Andreikin | - | Kramnik | Khenkin | - | Wang Hao | |
| Caruana | - | Meier | Meier | - | Adams | |
| Adams | - | Khenkin | Kramnik | - | Caruana | |
| Wang Hao | - | Naiditsch | Fridman | - | Andreikin | |
| Round 9 | 13:00 CET | 04.08.13 | ||||
| Andreikin | - | Leko | ||||
| Caruana | - | Fridman | ||||
| Adams | - | Kramnik | ||||
| Wang Hao | - | Meier | ||||
| Naiditsch | - | Khenkin |
Dortmund 2013 | Round 6 standings
| # | Player | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | Points | SB |
| 1 | Kramnik,Vladimir | 2784 |  |
1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0/6 | 13.00 | |||
| 2 | Adams,Michael | 2740 | |
1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.0/6 | 12.25 | |||
| 3 | Meier,Georg | 2610 | 0 | |
½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 3.0/6 | 7.00 | |||
| 4 | Wang,Hao | 2752 | 0 | 0 | |
½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.0/6 | 6.75 | |||
| 5 | Leko,Peter | 2737 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
½ | ½ | 2.5/6 | 8.00 | |||
| 6 | Khenkin,Igor | 2605 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
½ | ½ | 0 | 2.5/6 | 7.50 | |||
| 7 | Naiditsch,Arkadij | 2710 | ½ | 0 | 0 | |
½ | ½ | 1 | 2.5/6 | 6.75 | |||
| 8 | Caruana,Fabiano | 2796 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
1 | 2.5/6 | 5.75 | |||
| 9 | Fridman,Daniel | 2629 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | |
2.0/6 | 6.50 | |||
| 10 | Andreikin,Dmitry | 2727 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
2.0/6 | 5.50 |
Photos courtesy of the official website; games via TWIC
