I hadn’t played for a while before the event, but had done some prep at home and played a few successful training games. The tournament wasn’t a disaster but was rather frustrating, as it seemed a long list of missed opportunities, but some of them weren’t easy to spot, at least for me!
I have reviewed some key misses below.
In my first game with Naiditsch I made a very casual move in the opening and after fortunately surviving this later missed good chances.
[Event "42nd GM 2014"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2014.07.12"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[Annotator "Blog"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2014.07.12"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.03.20"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Bd7 10. Rd1 Be7 11. c4 Kc8 12. Nc3 b6 13. Bg5 Re8 ({An
awful calculation error,} 13... h6 {or}) (13... Bxg5 14. Nxg5 h6 {were fine.})
14. g4 Bxg5 ({My intended} 14... h6 {is impossible due to} 15. e6 fxe6 (15...
Bxe6 16. gxf5) 16. Bxe7 Nxe7 17. Ne5 Rd8 18. Ne2) 15. Nxg5 Nh4 16. f4 h6 17.
Nge4 h5 18. gxh5 Rh8 19. Ng3 Bxh3 20. Kf2 Nf5 21. Nce4 ({White keeps an edge
with} 21. Rh1 Nxg3 22. Kxg3 Bf5) 21... Nh6 {A key retreat now my position is
preferable as I have covered my weaknesses and have a much clearer plan than
my opponent.} 22. Rh1 Be6 23. b3 Kb7 24. Rad1 Rae8 25. Rd2 a5 26. a4 c5 27. Ng5
Bc8 28. Nf3 Kb8 {The bishop now starts to become a big factor.} 29. Nh2 Ref8
30. Rg1 f6 31. exf6 Rxf6 32. Ne2 Nf5 33. Ng4 Rff8 34. Ne3 Rxh5 ({Instead} 34...
Nxe3 35. Kxe3 Re8+ 36. Kf2 Rxh5 37. Rxg7 Bb7 {is tricky to meet}) 35. Nxf5 Bxf5
36. Rxg7 Rh2+ 37. Rg2 Rh4 38. Kg1 Bg4 (38... Be4 {keeps the pressure on}) 39.
Rh2 Rxh2 40. Kxh2 Bxe2 41. Rxe2 Rxf4 42. Kg3 Rf1 43. Rf2 {As the king and pawn
ending is a draw there are no hopes here.} Re1 44. Rf3 Kc8 45. Kf2 Re6 46. Re3
Kd7 47. Kf3 Rd6 48. Ke2 Re6 49. Kd3 Rd6+ 1/2-1/2
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I managed to surprise Kramnik in the opening the next day with the Tromp, but things went downhill from there. I salvaged a lucky half point later on, the long game meant that we both missed the start of the Football World Cup Final. It’s easy to see that Germany has a very successful football team the celebrations would have been much wilder in England!
[Event "42nd GM 2014"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2014.07.13"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Adams, Michael"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2777"]
[Annotator "Blog"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2014.07.12"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.03.20"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Bxf6 gxf6 5. dxc5 e6 6. Nf3 Bxc5 7. Be2 Nc6 8.
O-O e5 9. c4 d4 10. exd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bxd4 12. Qc2 f5 13. Nd2 Qe7 {I think I
had a good position here and a pleasant lead on the clock but didn’t make the
most of it.} 14. Rad1 O-O 15. b4 Qxb4 16. Nf3 Rd8 17. Nxe5 ({It was more
practical to take the powerful bishop whilst retaining great compensation for
the pawn.} 17. Nxd4) 17... Be6 18. Qc1 f6 19. Nf3 Bb6 20. Qh6 Qf8 21. Qh4 Rxd1
22. Bxd1 Kh8 ({I was expecting} 22... Rd8 {but Black’s king is harder to get
to in the corner than I thought.}) 23. Re1 Bg8 24. Bc2 Rc8 25. Bd3 Rc6 26. h3 (
{This seemed sensible, but} 26. Qf4 {was better}) 26... Qd6 27. Bxf5 $2 ({A
horrible decision} 27. Qh6 Qxd3 28. Re7 Qd1+ 29. Ne1 Bxf2+ 30. Kxf2 Qd4+ 31.
Kf3 Qc3+ 32. Kf2 {leads to perpetual}) (27. Bf1 {was also playable.}) 27...
Rxc4 28. g4 Kg7 {I simply failed to see this move was possible until too late.}
29. Kg2 h6 30. Qg3 Qxg3+ 31. Kxg3 Rc3 32. Be6 (32. Re2 {was somewhat better.})
32... Rc2 33. Re4 Bxf2+ 34. Kf4 Bxe6 35. Rxe6 Rxa2 36. Rd6 (36. Re7+ Kg6 37.
Rxb7 Ra4+ {wins so only technical difficulties remain.}) 36... Kf7 37. Kf5 Ra5+
38. Ke4 Rb5 39. Rd2 Rb4+ 40. Kf5 Rb5+ 41. Ke4 Bg3 42. Nd4 Rb4 43. Kd5 a5 44.
Nf5 Bf4 45. Ra2 Rb5+ 46. Kc4 Rb4+ 47. Kd5 a4 $2 ({After this slip I manage to
escape} 47... b6 48. Re2 Be5 49. Nxh6+ Kg6 50. Nf5 a4 {was correct.}) 48. Kc5
Re4 49. Kb5 Ke6 ({The other options also fall short:} 49... Kg6 50. Nh4+ Kg5
51. Nf3+ Kg6 52. Nh4+) (49... h5 50. Rxa4 Rxa4 51. Kxa4 hxg4 52. hxg4 Bc7 53.
Kb5 Kg6 (53... Ke6 54. Ng7+ Ke5 55. Ne8 Bd8 56. Ng7) 54. Ne7+ Kg5 55. Nd5 Bd8
56. Kc5 Kxg4 57. Nxf6+ Bxf6 58. Kb6) 50. Rxa4 Rxa4 51. Kxa4 Kd5 ({I was more
concerned about} 51... Ke5 52. Kb5 Bg5 53. Kb6 h5 54. Kxb7 h4 55. Kc6 Kf4 56.
Kd5 Kf3 57. Nd4+ Kg3 58. Ke4 Kxh3 59. Kf3 Bc1 {but it seems White holds here
too.}) 52. Kb5 Ke4 53. Kb6 Kf3 54. Kxb7 Kg2 55. Kc6 Kxh3 56. Kd5 Kxg4 57. Ke6
h5 58. Kxf6 {Black’s pawn can’t move forward despite the precarious looking
position of my knight.} Bc1 59. Ke5 Bd2 60. Ke4 Bg5 61. Ke5 ({The flashy} 61.
Kd3 Kxf5 62. Ke2 Kg4 63. Kf1 Kg3 64. Kg1 {is also good enough.}) 61... Kf3 62.
Nd4+ Kg2 63. Nf5 Kf3 64. Nd4+ Kg4 65. Nf5 Bd2 66. Ke4 Bf4 67. Nh4 Kxh4 68. Kxf4
Kh3 1/2-1/2
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[Event "42nd GM 2014"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2014.07.16"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Adams, Michael"]
[Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Blog"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2014.07.12"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.03.20"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. Be3 Bb6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8.
h3 O-O 9. Re1 h6 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Nf1 Rb8 12. b3 c5 13. Ng3 Nd7 14. c3 d5 15.
d4 cxd4 16. cxd4 Ba5 17. Bd2 Bxd2 18. Qxd2 dxe4 19. Rxe4 exd4 20. Rxd4 c5 21.
Rd3 Qc7 22. Nh5 Bf5 23. Qc3 f6 24. Re3 Bg6 25. Ng3 Nb6 26. Rae1 Nd5 27. Qc4 Bf7
28. Re4 Rb4 29. Qc1 Bg6 30. Rc4 Rc8 31. Nh4 Bd3 32. Ngf5 g6 33. Nxh6+ ({The
most elegant win was} 33. Qd1 Bxc4 34. Nxg6 {although this is not easy to see.}
) 33... Kg7 34. Ng4 g5 35. Qd2 ({The most deadly} 35. Nxf6 Kxf6 36. Nf3 {was
also not obvious.}) 35... Nf4 36. Rxb4 ({Another missed opportunity} 36. Qc3
Qd8 37. Rxc5 Rxc5 38. Qxc5 {wins easily}) 36... cxb4 37. Qxb4 ({The simple} 37.
Nf3 {was the last way to keep the advantage.Now the game heads towards a draw.}
) 37... Ne2+ 38. Rxe2 Bxe2 39. Nf5+ Kh8 40. Ng3 a5 41. Qe4 Bxg4 42. Qxg4 Rd8
43. Qh5+ Qh7 44. Qf3 Qe7 45. Nf5 Qe1+ 46. Kh2 Kg8 47. Ne3 Qc3 48. g3 Rd2 49.
Kg1 Rxa2 50. Qd5+ Kf8 51. Qd8+ Kf7 52. Qd7+ Kf8 53. Qd8+ Kf7 54. Qd7+ Kf8
1/2-1/2
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[Event "Dortmund 42nd"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2014.07.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Meier, Georg"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2632"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[Annotator "Blog"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2014.07.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2014.07.26"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Qb3 Qb6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Nh4 Be7 8. h3
Bh5 9. g4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. Bg2 g5 12. Bd2 Nbd7 13. Qa4 Qc7 14. cxd5 Nxd5
15. O-O O-O 16. Rac1 Rad8 17. Qc2 Qb8 18. Rfd1 Rfe8 19. Ne2 Nf8 20. a3 Ng6 21.
b4 Nh4 22. Qb3 e5 23. Bh1 a6 24. a4 exd4 25. Nxd4 Nf4 26. exf4 Rxd4 27. fxg5
Red8 28. Be3 Rxb4 29. Qc2 Qe5 30. Rxd8+ Bxd8 31. Rb1 a5 32. Bd2 Bc7 {I
correctly thought this was very strong but had underestimated my opponent’s
calm reply. It is not easy to track the king down.} 33. Kf1 Qh2 34. Ke2 Qe5+ ({
The correct continuation was} 34... Rd4 35. Be3 (35. Rxb7 Qxh1 36. Rxc7 Qf3+)
35... Rd6 36. Be4 Qxh3 {with good winning chances. Now my opponent defends
very well.}) 35. Kf1 Qh2 36. Ke2 Rxb1 37. Qxb1 Qxh3 38. Qe4 Ng6 39. Qe8+ Nf8
40. Bf3 Qh2 41. Be3 {A good decision the bishop are very strong after the
queens are exchanged.} Qe5 42. Qxe5 Bxe5 43. Be4 Ne6 (43... Ng6 $5 {was a
trickier option}) (43... g6 44. f4 Bd6 45. f5 {also isn’t inspiring.}) 44. g6
Bf4 45. Bb6 Bc7 46. Be3 Kf8 47. Kd3 Ke7 48. Kc4 fxg6 49. Bxg6 Kf6 50. Bf5 g6
51. Bxe6 Kxe6 52. f4 {There is no way to exploit the extra pawn.} Bb8 53. Bd2
Bc7 54. Be3 Bd6 55. Bd2 Kf7 56. Be3 Bb4 57. Bc1 Ke6 58. Be3 Kf7 59. Bc1 Ke6 60.
Be3 Kf7 1/2-1/2
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At least a win in the last round finished on a high note.
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