Leko eliminated, World Chess Championships sweet sixteen set
Monday, Aug. 9, 1999 | 9:11 a.m.
Movsesian, 20, replaced the 19-year-old Leko as the youngest player remaining when he defeated the 11th seeded Hungarian. Movsesian became one of the 16 players who will advance to the fourth round Monday.
Leko became widely known as a wunderkind in the early 1990s when he gained the grandmaster title in at age 14. He was one of the favorites to win the tournament being sponsored by the Federation Internationale des Echecs, or FIDE.
Movsesian crushed Leko in their first game. Movsesian described the game as "kind of a massacre."
In the second game Leko, seemed to have Movsesian tied up. But Movsesian managed to wiggle free and force a position where Leko could not prevent being checked on every move, a perpetual check. This is a draw and secured the little-known Movsesian his place in the sweet sixteen.
In other games, second-ranked Alexei Shirov of Spain returned to form as he swept both games from Brazil's Gilberto Milos, the 50th seed. In the first game Milos made the mistake of creating weaknesses around his king. This was a big mistake against Shirov, one of the most feared attacking players in the game. The Spaniard quickly forced a checkmate. Shirov easily won the second game.
Only the match between the 12th seeded Boris Gelfand of Israel and 60th ranked Joel Lautier of France went to the second tie-break set.
Their first set of the day produced two wild draws. Gelfand seemed to have an overwhelming positional advantage in the first game, but the Frenchman wiggled off the hook.
The string of draws was broken in the first game of the second set. Gelfand played a beautiful game to go ahead by a point.
In the final game Lautier played somewhat passively for someone in a must win situation. The experienced Gelfand seized the initiative and broke through to move on.
The score of the first playoff game of the first round between Movsesian, playing white, and Leko:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Re1 d6 8. h3 Bd7 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Bxd7 dxc3 13. Nxc3 Qxd7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nd5 Qe6 16. Qf3 c6 17. Nxf6+ Kg7 18. Nh5+ Kh7 19. Rad1 Rad8 20. Ng3 Rfe8 21. b3 Bc5 22. Nh5 Rf8 23. g4 Qe5 24. Kg2 Kh8 25. Ng3 Rde8 26. Nf5 Re6 27. h4 Rfe8 28. g5 hxg5 29. hxg5 Rf8 30. Rh1+ Kg8 31. Qh5 Qxe4+ 32. Kf1 1-0.
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