M-Tel R8: all games drawn
21 May 2009, 18.30 CET | Last modified: 21:58 | By Peter Doggers | Filed under: Reports | Tags: M-Tel Masters
In round 8 of the M-Tel Masters in Sofia all games ended in a draw. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov executed the first move in Dominguez-Topalov, which turned out to be the most interesting game of the day. With two more rounds to go, Carlsen and Shirov lead with 5 out of 8, followed by Topalov who has half a point less.
The 5th M-Tel Masters takes place May 12-23 in a glass pavilion on the square in front of the National Theatre Ivan Vazov in Sofia, Bulgaria. It’s a six-player double round-robin with Carlsen, Dominguez, Ivanchuk, Shirov, Topalov and Wang Yue playing. The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves and then another hour to finish the game. “Sofia rules” will again be used, so draw offers can be made only through the chief arbiter in the case of a threefold repetition, perpetual check or a theoretically draw position.
Round 8
In all honesty not much can be said about today’s eighth round. In both Ivanchuk-Carlsen and Shirov-Wang Yue, the players quickly reached a drawn ending that was played out for another thirty moves or so without much happening.
Dominguez-Topalov was better; from yet another 6.h3 Najdorf it seemed that Black didn’t have any problems in the early middlegame. Instead of going for a haunt on pawn g5 (which might have been a bit risky), Topalov sacrificed an exchange for full control over the dark squares. Quite a logical concept since White had weakened his king’s position with b2-b3, but it wasn’t enough for an advantage, and just before the time control the Bulgarian decided to force the draw.
Game viewer
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M-Tel Masters 2009 | Pairings and results
| Round 1 | 13.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | Round 6 | 19.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | |
| Ivanchuk | 0-1 | Shirov | Shirov | 1-0 | Ivanchuk | |
| Wang Yue | ¬?-¬? | Dominguez | Dominguez | ¬?-¬? | Wang Yue | |
| Carlsen | 1-0 | Topalov | Topalov | ¬?-¬? | Carlsen | |
| Round 2 | 14.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | Round 7 | 20.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | |
| Shirov | ¬?-¬? | Topalov | Topalov | ¬?-¬? | Shirov | |
| Dominguez | ¬?-¬? | Carlsen | Carlsen | 1-0 | Dominguez | |
| Ivanchuk | 0-1 | Wang Yue | Wang Yue | ¬?-¬? | Ivanchuk | |
| Round 3 | 15.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | Round 8 | 21.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | |
| Wang Yue | ¬?-¬? | Shirov | Shirov | ¬?-¬? | Wang Yue | |
| Carlsen | ¬?-¬? | Ivanchuk | Ivanchuk | ¬?-¬? | Carlsen | |
| Topalov | ¬?-¬? | Dominguez | Dominguez | ¬?-¬? | Topalov | |
| Round 4 | 16.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | Round 9 | 22.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | |
| Carlsen | ¬?-¬? | Shirov | Dominguez | ¬?-¬? | Shirov | |
| Topalov | 1-0 | Wang Yue | Topalov | 1-0 | Ivanchuk | |
| Dominguez | ¬?-¬? | Ivanchuk | Carlsen | 1-0 | Wang Yue | |
| Round 5 | 17.05.2009 | 16.00 EEST | Round 10 | 23.05.2009 | 15.00 EEST | |
| Shirov | ¬?-¬? | Dominguez | Shirov | 1-0 | Carlsen | |
| Ivanchuk | 0-1 | Topalov | Wang Yue | ¬?-¬? | Topalov | |
| Wang Yue | ¬?-¬? | Carlsen | Ivanchuk | 1-0 | Dominguez |
M-Tel Masters 2009 | Round 8 Standings
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||
| 1 | Carlsen,M | 2770 | +72 | ** | ½ | 1½ | ½ | ½1 | ½½ | 5.0/8 | 18.50 |
| 2 | Shirov,A | 2745 | +103 | ½ | ** | ½½ | ½½ | ½ | 11 | 5.0/8 | 16.75 |
| 3 | Topalov,V | 2812 | -24 | 0½ | ½½ | ** | 1 | ½½ | 1 | 4.5/8 | |
| 4 | Wang Yue | 2738 | +11 | ½ | ½½ | 0 | ** | ½½ | 1½ | 4.0/8 | |
| 5 | Dominguez Perez,L | 2717 | +5 | ½0 | ½ | ½½ | ½½ | ** | ½ | 3.5/8 | |
| 6 | Ivanchuk,V | 2746 | -182 | ½½ | 00 | 0 | 0½ | ½ | ** | 2.0/8 |
Magnus Carlsen, still leading the field...
...together with Alexei Shirov
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov arrived in Sofia today...
...for a meeting with the board of directors of the Grand Slam tournaments.
At the meeting opportunities for collaboration between FIDE and the Grand Slam will be discussed.
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Carlsen - Wang Yue
will be a interesting game tomorrow. Last time Wang beaten Carlsen, otherwise Carlsen would be the champion in that tournment- sorry, i forget the name.
Wang beat Carlsen in the last round of Linares this year. I hope Carlsen will settle the score but I fear a bloodless draw in another Chenaneko Slav.
Check this out:
http://www.mtelmasters09.com/en/interviews&article_id=74.html
Q:…..
A: …banking and chess are games for the smart people….
….
Q: According to you, is it true that chess helps business?
A: Without claiming that I know the depth of chess, of this art, I would say that it is an essential condition as far as divining things with a few moves ahead is a duty. Not only to make plans for your game but also to react to your opponents moves. All the challenges of an interesting collision are apparent. The chess is a collision of individualities, behind stands the integrated potential.
Is this a case of lost-in-translation? Or is this answer by a smart-banker way beyond the comprehension of average-Joey like me? Anyone else makes sense of this?
btw, also check out the great responses by Carlsen to the questions another smart guy..
http://www.mtelmasters09.com/en/interviews&article_id=36.html
….
Q: You are called the wonder kid of chess. Are you a wonder really?
A: As I did not invent such a phrase I’m not the right person to try to explain or defend it
…