Dortmund Sparkassen Chess: Ponomariov beats top seed Kramnik in Round 2

In good form: Ruslan Ponomariov

Hello Everyone,

And, it's fighting chess at Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meet as well. GM Ruslan Ponomariov beat GM Vladimir Kramnik after a hard-fought game in which White displayed precision to win the full point. The other games too were all headed for clear results but ended in draws despite considerable effort from both sides.

Results of Round 2

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Peter Leko-Shak. Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2

Le Quang Liem-Arkadij Naiditsch 1/2-1/2

Ruslan Ponomariov- Vladimir Kramnik 1-0

Standings after Round 2

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1. R. Ponomariov 2.0

2. S. Mamedyarov 1.5

3. Le Quang Liem 1.0

4. P. Leko 0.5

5. V. Kramnik 0.5

6. A. Naiditsch 0.5

Here is the nice Ponomario-Kramnik game that you can run in pgnplayer or check in flashplayer below. You will love the fireworks all over the place and how White finally ground down Black in the endgame.

PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 b6 9. Rd1 Ba6 10. Ne5 Qc8 11. Nc3 Nbd7 12. Rac1 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Bf4 g5 16. Bxd5 exd5 17. Nxd5 Qd8 18. Nc7 Rc8 19. e6 fxe6 20. Qc6 Qe8 21. Qxe6+ Qf7 22. Qxf7+ Kxf7 23. Nxa6 gxf4 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rxd7 Rc2 26. Nb4 Rxb2 27. Nc6 Rxe2 28. Rxa7 f3 29. h4 h5 30. Rxe7+ Rxe7 31. Nxe7 Kxe7 32. g4 hxg4 33. Kh2 Ke6 34. Kg3 Kf5 35. a4 Ke4 36. Kxg4 1-0

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com