Game Of the Week: GM Grischuk vs. GM Leko

GM Grischuk vs. GM Leko

Opening: D58: QGD: Tartakower

Player(s): Grischuk, Leko

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Today's chess fans have little tolerance for drawn games, yet it is a simple fact that a solid, well-prepared grandmaster opponent can be incredibly difficult to defeat. Alexander Grischuk faced such a dilemma when he squared off against Peter Leko in the Petrosian Memorial.

Leko's opening repertoire is designed to purely equalize with Black and he generally takes few chances. In their last two games Leko had achieved a draw without making a single move out of preparation. So Grischuk decided to provoke him with a risky move that Grischuk himself described as 'second-rate.' Whatever its objective value, the move did succeed in conjuring up a sharp struggle. Let's see how it turned out.