The 2011 World Cup has now reached the Final, which for now I'm ignoring, lest I jinx one of the players taking part (see this recent post for a partial explanation). Alongside the Final is the 3rd place playoff, which carries some importance, as the winner of this match, between Ponomariov and Ivanchuk, will qualify for the next Candidates series.
Tonight's game saw an interesting opening line, which contains a rather clever trap. First played in 1990 (Lobron v Polgar), it starts with 13.Nxe6. The only problem with it is that it such a good sacrifice, no one has ever accepted it [13...fxe6 14.Rc1 Qe5 15.Rxc8+ Rxc8 16.Qxd7+ Kf8 17.Qxc8+ Kg7 18.Qd7+ Kh6 19.g3 just wins for White]. In the 9 games in my database, Black has automatically declined it. Even worse for White, is the fact that it scores miserably. 7 wins for Black versus 1 win for White isn't a good advertisement for the line. So Ponomariov's choice of this line was a real surprise, although the fact that he lost less so.
Ponomariov, Ruslan - Ivanchuk, Vasilly
2011 FIDE World Cup
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1 comment:
At some point someone will fall into the trap...:-)
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