by Aviv Friedman

Before arriving at Linares, I had made sure I spoke with people who have visited the place previously so as to get some advance advice about the "things to do and avoid" in the city. There is really not a whole lot to do in the city itself, although Ubeda and Baeza, which are near by, are quite interesting to visit. One can witness the Moorish influence from the 13th century and even more so from the renaissance of the 15th century. Still, Linares takes great pride in hosting this event. The town hall and council are very involved, the mayor of Linares is the head of the organizing committee.

A stroll around the many little shops near the hotel reveal, not unlike Wijk Aan Zee during Corus, the solidarity all locals show to the tournament by having posters of the festival on their doors and walls, chess sets, boards and clocks in the show windows. The newspaper shop opposite the hotel, which is literally a "hole in the wall" size store, carries an especially impressive selection of chess paraphernalia of many clocks, sets, boards and books, as well as mementos from past events such as postcards signed by past participants and older announcements of the festivals of the previous years. Quite aesthetic and cool! Hotel Anibal where the action takes place was quite a pleasant surprise for me. Over the years, I have learned not to get over excited by seeing 3 or 4 stars near the names of hotels in Europe, but this one is really nice. The rooms are spacious and in great shape and are not different than any respectable hotel in the US for example.

Which brings us to the food! Dear readers, if you are on a diet or plan to start one, don't come here! Or ok, come, but don't eat in the hotel. Not because the food is not good, it is quite fine, but the portions… here is a typical gastronomical day at the Anibal: Breakfast has a buffet that wouldn't embarrass the Roman emperors and their feasts: cold cuts, cheeses, eggs, fruits, cereal, many different breads, juices and pastries - the works. Even I, and by looking at my photo one would admit I must know a thing or two about food, salute this amazing selection. Now, for some this could last till "din-din" but in case, lunchtime came and one felt a "hungry-like" a visit to the restaurant will bring with it some fresh rolls and an opener I will call a "pre appetizer", a huge starter plate of salad, seafood or the like. Then comes the main course, a typical full dinner of meat or fish and side orders, and then one of many mouth-watering desserts. Water, soft drinks, wine or beer are included. For those who really play "for keeps", this menu repeats for dinner! Perhaps I can best sum this madness by telling you that one day I begged the head waiter for a small version of the colossal salad appetizer, he nodded, and returned with the same monster like plate full of generous portions of 8-9 cut vegetables, tuna and anchovies. Seeing my pale face he commented: "In Andalusia, when it comes to food there is no such thing as small" Amen, right he is!

Shirov - Vallejo: In this local Spanish derby the Berlin discussion was on the table again. Loyal to this variation that has yet to fail him against Anand and Adams, Paco sticks to not only the Berlin, but also the same 9…Ne7 sub-line, facing a third set-up against it. Shirov played the 11.Bg5+ followed by 12.Rad1 that he himself faced in 1998 (and lost) against Ivanchuk. Vallejo's treatment this time, left a lot to be desired. White literally got all he can hope for in such a structure: mobility of his center and kingside pawns, activity of the king that can be a strong factor later on. I quote GM Rozentalis who said it best: "when I get such a position from the exchange Ruy, I am very happy!" Indeed, the pawn majority, and the space advantage should have meant a lot more trouble to the ambitious Spaniard. Alexey played somewhat impatiently, allowing his opponent to activate his miserable Nd8 to the fullest and create counter chances by pushing his "a" pawn to a3. Black nicely neutralized white's plan of playing 29.cxb6 to control the d6 square by undermining it first with 30…Rd8! and then get rid of the light square B for one of the knights. Finally 32…b5! Lured the N back to d6 (33.Nxa3 Ra8 can only be good for black) where once again 33…f6 was enough to offer a draw that was accepted. If anyone is better at the final position, it might be black, but very slightly.

Adams - Anand: Vishy chose the 'other drawing line' that is popular amongst the world's elite: The Rubinstein French. The continuation with 12.Nxd7 doesn't strike me as too promising for white, despite the very temporary discomfort for black's development. To quote Ljubo in the pressroom: "It's a draw, well, not yet, but it will be a draw". Well, normally with the position that has arisen that would be a true statement, but today it was a combination of Anand relaxing to the level of carelessness and Adams squeezing every little chance he got. 23…Kb8?! was suspect, why not 23…Kd8 instead? Vishy unwisely mobilized his kingside pawns (29…f4?!), allowing the white Q to penetrate to h8 (31…g5??) after which a loss of the very important h6 pawn was inevitable, and with it the final result. Perhaps Anand thought the set-up of pawns on f4 and e4 would suffice for 'stealing' a perpetual somewhere, but he didn't even come close. This was a nice game for Mickey and quite a disappointment for Anand.

Ponomariov - Kasparov: For the first time the FIDE world champ meets the top rated player in the world. After the latter said of his young opponent that he is a champion much thanks to the time control, and that he 'wouldn't know him on sight', Pono was quick to retort that he also has only seen Kasparov in photos and so they are even. Either way, this game has a lot at stake, with Gazza wanting to prove who is in charge, and Ruslan needing to prove he is not a passerby. He entered Kasparov's pet Najdorf Sicilian, going right into the English attack, but leaving theory relatively early. Black also has the plan of placing a N on e5 before white gets to play f4. Garry might have been a bit impatient with his 16…a5 choice, since after the game continuation, white entered a pleasant endgame, but maybe not enough for anything tangible. White sure pushed very hard, taking some risks that brought him to the edge of a disaster. Probably 22.f5 wasn't really necessary, since allowing Kasparov to eventually isolate his pawn on g5 was a bad decision. White spent too much time picking up the "a" pawn for that g5 pawn, and the black kingside got rolling. It was still fine for white for quite a while, and he could have played differently to achieve a draw, but nervousness or overoptimism almost spelled doom for the Ukranian youngster. Why he didn't go 38.Ra8 exchanging his suspiciously placed rook for black's active one is hard to explain. After his 38.Bf3, everyone expected Kasparov to win the ending. Pono was sitting, visibly annoyed, shaking his head in disappointment. Kasparov returned the favor by playing the hasty 43…Kf7? Allowing the unexpected 44.bxc5! after which there is no longer a win! It was now his turn to shake his head, and fidget, and wipe his face continuously with his handkerchief. On his very next move, Kasparov offered a draw and quickly left the playing hall without analyzing - quite miffed at himself.