Friday 31 May 2013

Broadcasting from Planet Ivanchuk

I'm trying to follow the games from the Thessaloniki GP, while at the same time juggling some other chess activities. However I keep being drawn back to the Ivanchuk v Svidler game, which is still in progress as I type this. What is really fascinating about this game is that it once again demonstrates that Ivanchuk just operates on a different level to the rest of us. Yesterday he played an absolute shocker against Ponomariov (losing in 19 moves), so you would think he might just take a steady course against Svidler today. And of course you would think wrong.
Instead he has gone the bash, sacrificing an exchange while looking for a mating attack. So far Svidler has beaten off the worst of it, but it is still a position where one slip could end in disaster (for either side of it). As it looks like it won't be finished before I post, I'll put up the moves as they currently stand, and fill in the rest in the morning.
(*Update: Looks like Ivanchuk did not have enough to hold and went down just after the first time control)


Ivanchuk,Vassily - Svidler,Peter [C84]
Thessaloniki GP, 30.05.2013

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