Download PGN of November '07 1 d4 d5 games
Queen's Gambit Declined
Aronian - Grischuk: Aronian played a tricky order of moves in order to limit Black's possible choices in the opening, but Grischuk came up with some energetic pawn advances, which helped him to obtain good play in a hybrid of the Catalan and Moscow Variations. However, a slight inaccuracy in the middlegame allowed White to develop a very annoying initiative by a series of wonderful knight manoeuvres and pawn pushes, and then finish the game in style.
Grischuk - Morozevich: Alexander Morozevich played very ambitiously here, but too riskily and eventually paid a high price for all those pawn advances, which made his king so vulnerable. Black's play could be improved but White's chances still seem to be better after 13...Kg7:
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Catalan [E01-09]
Kramnik - Morozevich: The first Kramnik victory in the Catalan in the World Championship, but not the last. He came up with an interesting new set-up in a rare line, 8 0-0!?:
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A knight sacrifice looked too double-edged but White's strong passers, supported by the Catalan bishop eventually prevailed. Again, Morozevich's play could have been improved but the whole White approach certainly deserves more attention.
Gelfand - Anand: Vishy Anand introduced a very rare idea in a well-known position and quickly equalised here. It looked easy but actually Black's defence required some accurate decisions.
Kramnik - Grischuk: Vladimir Kramnik once again showed his excellent preparation and extraordinary technique. In one of the most topical Catalan variations Alexander Grischuk found himself in a lost position without making any visible mistakes! He still managed to get half a point by a miracle but it happened only because of Vlad's unexpected error.
Aronian - Kramnik: Nowadays the Catalan Opening is Kramnik's main weapon so he should know it very well from the opponent's side. Here he comfortably equalised without giving Aronian any chance to fight for an advantage in the line with 11...Qc8!?:
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Gelfand - Leko: Peter Leko followed Kramnik footsteps and comfortably solved all Black's problems here. Boris Gelfand introduced a small improvement on the previous game, but failed to achieve anything and had to force a draw by perpetual check.
Kramnik - Leko: Kramnik continued terrorising his opponents with the Catalan. Just a few rounds after he comfortably equalised in the same line with Black (as Leko himself did!), in this game he came up with a new idea and put Black under pressure! However, it should be mentioned that Peter played very well in the opening and could have exploited Vlad's inaccuracy to get the better chances. Instead, Leko was carried away by a possibility to win the exchange which gave Kramnik full control over the position.
Ruslan
If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or subscribers can email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.