Linares 6: Shirov beats Radjabov

by ChessBase
2/25/2004 – The second decided game in the Linares Super-GM tournament came in round six, with the proverbial firebrand Alexei Shirov sacrificing an exchange and then a piece to defeat the youngest participant, Teimour Radjabov from Baku. Topalov vs Kasparov was hard-fought but ended in a draw. We bring you games and results.

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21st International Chess Tournament
Linares Feb. 19 – March 5, 2004

Linares Round 6

Round 5 (Monday, February 23, 2004)
Teimour Radjabov 
½-½ 
Francisco Vallejo
Peter Leko 
½-½ 
Veselin Topalov
Garry Kasparov 
½-½ 
Vladimir Kramnik
Round 6 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)
Veselin Topalov 
½-½ 
Garry Kasparov
Francisco Vallejo 
½-½ 
Peter Leko
Alexei Shirov 
1-0
Teimour Radjabov
Games – Report

There was one really dramatic game (although Topalov-Kasparov was very hard-fought as well). Alexei Shirov, the proverbial firebrand, sacrificed an exchange against youngster Teimour Radjabov to reach the following position:

Shirov,A (2736) – Radjabov,T (2656) [E97]
XXI SuperGM Linares ESP (6), 25.02.2004


Position after 29...Qd6-e7

Here Shirov played 30.Bxh6+! and the game continued 30...Kxh6 31.Qh4+ Kxg6 (31...Kg7?? 32.Qh7#) 32.Bxc6 (to uncover the square e5 for the rook) 32...bxc6 33.Re5. This threatens 34.Rg5#, and Black has no other option than to capture on e6 with his rook or queen. Radjabov went for the latter and ended up with two rooks for a queen and a pawn: 33...Qxe6 34.Rxe6 Rxe6 35.Qg4+ Kf7 36.Qxd4. This ending proved hopeless and the grandmaster from Baku resigned after 66 moves. 1-0.

Report to follow

Pictures from round six

Pictures to follow

Pictures by Jesús J. Boyero Gabarre

All results so far

Round 1 (Thursday, February 19, 2004)
Francisco Vallejo 
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Alexei Shirov 
½-½
Garry Kasparov
Teimour Radjabov 
0-1
Peter Leko
Round 2 (Friday, February 20, 2004)
Kasparov, Garry 
½-½
Teimour Radjabov
Vladimir Kramnik 
½-½
Alexei Shirov
Veselin Topalov 
½-½
Francisco Vallejo
Round 3 (Saturday, February 21, 2004)
Alexei Shirov 
½-½
Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov 
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko 
½-½
Garry Kasparov
Round 4 (Sunday, February 22, 2004)
Vladimir Kramnik 
½-½ 
Peter Leko
Veselin Topalov 
½-½ 
Teimour Radjabov
Francisco Vallejo 
½-½
Alexei Shirov
Round 5 (Monday, February 23, 2004)
Teimour Radjabov 
½-½ 
Francisco Vallejo
Peter Leko 
½-½ 
Veselin Topalov
Garry Kasparov 
½-½ 
Vladimir Kramnik
Round 6 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)
Veselin Topalov 
½-½ 
Garry Kasparov
Francisco Vallejo 
½-½ 
Peter Leko
Alexei Shirov 
1-0
Teimour Radjabov
Games – Report
Round 7 (Thursday, February 26, 2004)
Peter Leko 
 
Alexei Shirov
Garry Kasparov 
  Francisco Vallejo
Vladimir Kramnik 
  Veselin Topalov
Games – Report
Round 8 (Friday, February 27, 2004)
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
Francisco Vallejo
Garry Kasparov 
 
Alexei Shirov
Peter Leko 
 
Teimour Radjabov
Games – Report
Round 9 (Saturday, February 28, 2004)
Teimour Radjabov 
 
Garry Kasparov
Alexei Shirov 
 
Vladimir Kramnik
Francisco Vallejo 
 
Veselin Topalov
Games – Report
Round 10 (Sunday, February 29, 2004)
Veselin Topalov 
 
Alexei Shirov
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
Teimour Radjabov
Garry Kasparov 
 
Peter Leko
Games – Report
Round 11 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004)
Peter Leko 
 
Vladimir Kramnik
Teimour Radjabov 
 
Veselin Topalov
Alexei Shirov 
 
Francisco Vallejo
Games – Report
Round 12 (Wednesday, March 3, 2004)
Francisco Vallejo 
 
Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov 
 
Peter Leko
Vladimir Kramnik 
 
Garry Kasparov
Games – Report
Round 13 (Thursday, March 4, 2004)
Garry Kasparov 
 
Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko 
 
Francisco Vallejo
Teimour Radjabov 
 
Alexei Shirov
Games – Report
Round 14 (Friday, March 5, 2004)
Alexei Shirov 
 
Peter Leko
Francisco Vallejo 
 
Garry Kasparov
Veselin Topalov 
 
Vladimir Kramnik
Games – Report

 


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