Breaking News ! Timofeev beats Svidler
Timofeev upset Svidler at the Russian Superfinals. Svidler dug his own grave and now descends to the earth from the stratospheric heights that he used to reside at in the early rounds. He is now playing at his current rating strength. Svidler has now lost the lead to Alekseev and Timofeev. Somehow, Svidler manages to do this all the time. He did it at one of the last important tournaments and went on to finish badly. Hope he does something different after this round. We don't know if he can be excused for overlooking the Rook sacrifice. For us mere mortals, its OK to miss that move, but for Svidler it should have been fairly simple. Bad day at the office! Key Moments of the Game (See Diagram) 15 ... Kh8 (The simple h6 was enough.) 17 ... Rxd7 ?? With the white pieces all set to attack the King, Svidler completely missed the Rook sacrifice that Timofeev discovered. Svidler was right in all variations except the Rook sac. The best for white except the Rook sacrifice was Qd3 and Svidl...