Grenke Chess Classic 2017

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Grenke Chess Classic 2017

    Grenke Chess Classic 2017

    February 22, 2017

    The Grenke Chess Classic is an elite tournament held yearly in the German city of Baden Baden and sponsored by Grenke Leasing. There have been three editions before:

    2013 – six players. The winner was Vishy Anand ahead of Fabiano Capuana

    2014 – eight players, all from Germany. Arkadij Naiditsch won ahead of David Baramidze.

    2015 – eight players. Magnus Carlsen won on a five-game tiebreak with Arkadij Naiditsch. Michael Adams, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Etienne Bacrot, Vishy Anand and David Baramidze were the others.

    There was no 2016 fixture.

    2017 – The Classic will take place from 15-22 April in Karlsruhe/Baden Baden. The participants will be Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, MVL, Levon Aronian, Arkadij Naiditsch, Hou Yifan, Matthias Bluebaum and Georg Meier.
    Last edited by Wayne Komer; Saturday, 25th February, 2017, 01:41 AM.

  • #2
    Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

    Grenke Chess Classic 2017

    April 6, 2017

    From the official site:

    http://www.grenkechessclassic.com/en...s-classic-2017

    The Easter holidays are a festive season for German chess fans. This year is no exception, with the GRENKE Chess Classic 2017 being held from 15th to 22nd April. This grandmaster tournament is in a class of its own. World Champion Magnus Carlsen, who won the last GRENKE Chess Classic in 2015, will again be competing, ready to defend his title.

    His strongest competitors are top ten players Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian. Grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch will once again be joining the race for tournament victory. Naiditsch, competing for Azerbaijan, stood up brilliantly to the World Champion two years ago. In a legendary final he fought against Carlsen in a tiebreak for the title, which the Norwegian only claimed in a final Armageddon game.

    The organizers of the GRENKE Chess Classic 2017 are also pleased to announce the participation of Hou Yifan, the strongest female chess player in the world. Yifan is one of eight players in a line-up complemented by German national players Matthias Blübaum and Georg Meier. For the 19-year-old Blübaum it is his first time participating in a grandmaster tournament of this category and will be a great challenge. He qualified for this year's Chess Classic by winning the GRENKE Chess Open 2016.

    The following eight grandmasters will be competing against each other in a round-robin tournament at the GRENKE Chess Classic 2017 (Elo ratings according to the list of 1st March 2017):

    Magnus Carlsen, World Champion, Elo: 2838, Norway
    Fabiano Caruana, Number 3 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2817, USA
    Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Number 5 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2803, France
    Levon Aronian, Number 9 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2774, Armenia
    Arkadij Naiditsch, Number 41 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2702, Azerbaijan
    Hou Yifan, Number 110 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2649, China
    Matthias Blübaum, Number 148 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2632, Germany
    Georg Meier, Number 154 on the world ranking list, Elo: 2630, Germany

    GRENKE Chess Classic 2017 Schedule:

    15th to 17th April 2017: rounds 1 to 3 held at the Schwarzwaldhalle Karlsruhe (running parallel to the afternoon round of the Open)
    18th April 2017: rest day and move to Baden-Baden
    19th to 22nd April 2017: rounds 4 to 7 held at the Event Akademie Baden-Baden

    Official GRENKE Chess Classic website: http://www.grenkechessclassic.de/en/

    The website will be updated continuously with the latest information.

    As a special feature of the event, the first three rounds of the GRENKE Chess Classic will run parallel to the GRENKE Chess Open at the venue in Karlsruhe. After a rest day, all Chess Classic players will then move to Baden-Baden in order to complete rounds four to seven. We welcome everyone to join us and experience first hand the remaining games of the stars at the Event Akademie in Baden-Baden.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

      Grenke Chess Classic 2017

      April 14, 2017

      Pairings

      Round 1, Apr. 15, 2017

      1. MVL-Naiditsch, Arkadij
      2. Bluebaum, Matthias-Carlsen, Magnus
      3. Aronian, Levon-Meier, Georg
      4. Hou Yifan-Caruana, Fabiano

      Round 2, Apr. 16, 2017

      1. Naiditsch-Caruana
      2. Meier-Hou Yifan
      3. Carlsen-Aronian
      4. MVL-Bluebaum

      Round 3, Apr. 17, 2017

      1. Bluebaum-Naiditsch
      2. Aronian-MVL
      3. Hou Yifan-Carlsen
      4. Caruana-Meier

      Round 4, Apr. 19, 2017

      1. Naiditsch-Meier
      2. Carlsen-Caruana
      3. MVL-Hou Yifan
      4. Bluebaum-Aronian

      Round 5, Apr. 20, 2017

      1. Aronian-Naiditsch
      2. Hou Yifan-Bluebaum
      3. Caruana-MVL
      4. Meier-Carlsen

      Round 6, Apr. 21, 2017

      1. Naiditsch-Carlsen
      2. MVL-Meier
      3. Bluebaum-Caruana
      4. Aronian-Hou Yifan

      Round 7, Apr. 22, 2017

      1. Hou Yifan-Naiditsch
      2. Caruana-Aronian
      3. Meier-Bluebaum
      4. Carlsen-MVL

      Games start at 15:00 local or 9:00 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time

      Venue: Schwarzwaldhallte Karlsruhe (Round 1 to 3), Event-Akademie Baden-Baden (Round 4 to 7)
      Time control: 100 min/40 moves + 50 min/20 moves + 15 min/rest of the game with a 30 sec increment from move 1
      Draws: No draw offers before move 40
      Tiebreakers: 1. Number of wins, 2. Number of wins with Black, 3. Head-to-head score
      In case of a tie for first place: 2 games with 10 min + 2 sec a move; then if needed 2 games with 5 min + 2 sec a move; finally a game with 6 min for White and 5 min for Black + 2 sec a move (in case of a draw Black wins)
      __________

      The Grenke Open is running concurrently. Some of the names there – Vitiugov, Matiakov, Rapport, Bacrot, Fedoseev, Moiseenko, Kamsky – 714 players!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

        Grenke Chess Classic 2017

        April 15, 2017

        Round One

        Peter Doggers tells you all you have to know about the start of the Grenke Classic:

        Both Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave dropped below 2800 in the live ratings today. In round one of the Grenke Chess Classic Caruana lost to Hou Yifan, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was defeated by Arkadij Naiditsch. Sporting glasses, Magnus Carlsen spoilt a "dream position" and drew with Matthias Bleubaum.

        It was a very early novelty at the start of the first round, in the Schwarzwaldhalle in Karlsruhe, Germany. Recently he shared on Facebook that he has a girlfriend, and now something else changed in Carlsen's life: he is wearing glasses.

        Carlsen explained that he recently took a test, and "all sorts of things were wrong." He said that he has always been a little bit near-sighted, but was getting "some kind of headaches" recently. "I didn't really have a choice anymore."

        https://www.chess.com/news/view/gren...elow-2800-5413

        And who does he look like now?

        Two opinions – Jon Ludvig Hammer and

        - did Carlsen just transform into Bent Larsen?

        The commentators are Peter Leko and Lawrence Trent. Feels like it is going to be a fun tournament.

        The games:

        Grenke Chess Classic
        Karlsruhe, Germany
        Round 1, Apr. 15, 2017
        Bluebaum, Matthias – Carlsen, Magnus
        E90 King’s Indian

        1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.e4 O-O 6.h3 Na6 7.Be3 c5 8.Be2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nc5 10.Qc2 b6 11.O-O Bb7 12.Bf3 Rc8 13.Rad1 Qc7 14.b3 Qb8 15.Rfe1 Rfe8 16.Bc1 a6 17.Qe2 e6 18.Bb2 Rcd8 19.Qc2 Qa8 20.Qe2 h5 21.Ba1 Ncd7 22.g3 d5 23.Bg2 e5 24.Nc2 dxe4 25.Nxe4 Nxe4 26.Bxe4 Bxe4 27.Qxe4 Qxe4 28.Rxe4 Nc5 29.Ree1 Nd3 30.Re3 e4 31.Bxg7 Kxg7 32.Ne1 Nc5 33.Rxd8 Rxd8 34.b4 Nd3 35.Rxe4 Nxb4 36.a3 Nc6 37.Nc2 Rd1+ 38.Kg2 a5 39.Ne3 Ra1 40.Nd5 Rxa3 41.Nxb6 Rc3 42.Re8 Rb3 43.c5 Rc3 44.Na4 Rc4 45.Rc8 Ne5 46.Nb6 Rc2 47.Nd5 a4 48.Ne3 Rc3 49.Nd5 Rc1 50.Ra8 Rxc5 51.Ne3 Nc4 52.Rxa4 Nxe3+ 53.fxe3 Rc2+ 54.Kf3 g5 55.Ra5 f6 56.e4 Rc3+ 57.Kf2 Rc2+ 58.Kf3 Rc3+ 59.Kf2 1/2-1/2

        Round 1, Apr. 15, 2017
        Hou Yifan – Caruana, Fabiano
        C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

        1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 O-O 8.d4 Nf5 9.Nf3 d5 10.c3 Bd6 11.Nbd2 Nce7 12.Qc2 c6 13.Bd3 g6 14.Nf1 f6 15.h3 Rf7 16.Bd2 Bd7 17.Re2 c5 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Bf4 Rc8 20.Rae1 g5 21.Ng3 Nxg3 22.Bxg3 a5 23.Qd2 a4 24.b4 axb3 25.axb3 Ng6 26.h4 gxh4 27.Nxh4 Nxh4 28.Bxh4 Qf8 29.Qf4 Bd6 30.Qd4 Rd8 31.Re3 Bc8 32.b4 Kg7 33.Bb5 Bc7 34.Re8 Qd6 35.Bg3 Qb6 36.Qd3 Bd7 37.Bxd7 Rdxd7 38.Qf5 Bxg3 39.Qg4+ Kh6 40.Qh3+ 1-0

        Round 1, Apr. 15, 2017
        MVL – Naiditsch, Arkadij
        C11 French, Steinitz variation

        1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 a6 7.Ne2 Nc6 8.c3 b5 9.a3 c4 10.g4 h5 11.gxh5 Rxh5 12.f5 exf5 13.Nf4 Rh8 14.Qe2 Nb6 15.Rg1 Ra7 16.h4 Na8 17.e6 Bxe6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Rg6 Nc7 20.Bf4 Bd6 21.Qh2 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Kd7 23.Rxg7+ Kc8 24.O-O-O Qf6 25.Qg5 Qxg5+ 26.hxg5 Ne8 27.Rg6 Re7 28.Re1 Kd7 29.Rh6 Rg8 30.Bh3 Nd6 31.Rg1 Ne4 32.Kd1 Reg7 33.Rh5 Nd8 34.Ke2 Nf7 35.g6 Rxg6 36.Rxf5 Rxg1 37.Rxf7+ Ke8 38.Ra7 Rb1 39.Bxe6 Rxb2+ 40.Ke3 Rg3 41.Bxd5 Nxc3 42.Bc6+ Kf8 43.d5 Rg4 0-1

        Round 1, Apr. 15, 2017
        Aronian, Levon – Meier, Georg
        A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

        1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Nf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.c4 c6 7.d3 Be7 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Qb3 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Qd7 11.Be3 O-O 12.Rc1 Nc6 13.Nd2 a5 14.a4 Ne8 15.Bc5 Bxc5 16.Rxc5 Nd6 17.e3 h6 18.d4 Nb4 19.Rac1 Rac8 20.R5c3 Rfd8 21.Be2 Rb8 22.h4 Rdc8 23.Kg2 Qd8 24.Qa3 Rc6 25.Nf3 Ne4 26.Rxc6 Nxc6 27.Qb3 Nb4 28.Ne5 Rc8 29.Qd1 Rc7 30.Bh5 Nd6 31.Rc3 Rxc3 32.bxc3 Nc6 33.Nd3 Qc7 34.Bf3 Nb8 35.Qc2 Nd7 36.Nb2 Nb6 37.Qb3 g6 38.Be2 Qc6 39.f3 h5 40.Kf2 Kg7 41.Qa3 1/2-1/2

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

          Grenke Classic 2017

          April 16, 2017

          Round Two

          Peter Leko and Lawrence Trent are a good pair of commentators.

          The playing site is very impressive with 8 boards (4 from the Classic and 4 from the Open) on a stage with a giant screen behind and the foreground taken up with the tables of players in the Open.

          Lawrence says that the Casino at Baden Baden reminds him of the chess scene from To Russia with Love, which is played on the centre stage of a Doge’s palace (?) in Venice.

          https://www.chess.com/blog/SFN/james...ssia-with-love

          Peter, of course, played Kramnik for the World Championship (2004).

          A question comes in about the ways players can communicate with each other during a game, screwing in knight, for example. Lawrence said that the stare-down was unpleasant. Body language too is another way. Kasparov was very good at that, a brilliant player but one who also used psychological warfare to intimidate his opponent. Peter said that the first time he played against Kasparov, he could not sleep the night before!

          Asked about inspirations for novel moves, Peter said that he would go biking at the end of a day when it was cooler and he had been analyzing all day. While riding, he did the analysis and suggested the novelty to Lev Aronian, who finally played it against Wesley So in the 3rd Sinquefield Cup (2015).

          There is a discussion at:

          https://www.chess.com/news/view/aron...s-topalov-5658

          Even though he is not playing in tournaments, Peter is working very hard on chess, coming up with novelties but the odds are against him getting into the world championship cycle again.

          In the game against Aronian, Carlsen plays 34.Qxe4, which the guys say is a blunder and the World Champion goes from a winning position to possibly losing.

          A few minutes later, Hou Yifan wins over Georg Meier and she now has won both of her games and stands first.
          Naiditsch loses to Caruana. So, two results and the other two games, Carlsen-Aronian and MVL-Bluebaum continue on.

          The former has an endgame of a-pawn, knight and rook against queen.

          Grenke Classic 2017
          Round 2, Apr. 16, 2017
          Meier, Georges – Hou Yifan
          E01 Catalan, Closed

          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 O-O 6.Nf3 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Qe7 10.Ne5 Rfd8 11.Nd3 Bd6 12.e3 Rab8 13.Rc1 Ne4 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Re1 c5 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.Qc2 Rbc8 18.Nf4 Nef6 19.Nc4 Bc7 20.Red1 Bxf4 21.exf4 Ba8 22.Ne3 Qe6 23.Nf5 Re8 24.h3 d4 25.Bxa8 Rxa8 26.b4 Rac8 27.Qb1 Ne4 28.g4 g6 29.Nh4 Nxf2 30.Kxf2 Qe2+ 31.Kg1 Re3 32.Qc2 Rg3+ 33.Kh1 Rxh3+ 34.Kg1 Qe3+ 0-1

          Round 2, Apr. 16, 2017
          Carlsen, Magnus – Aronian, Levon
          C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, anti-Marshall

          1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 b4 9.d3 Bc5 10.c3 bxc3 11.bxc3 Rb8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Nh5 15.Nbd2 Nxg3 16.hxg3 Qf6 17.Nc4 d6 18.Ne3 Be6 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Qc2 h5 21.Rab1 Rxb1 22.Rxb1 h4 23.gxh4 gxh4 24.Rb7 h3 25.Rxc7 hxg2 26.Qe2 Ne7 27.Ne1 Rb8 28.Qg4+ Ng6 29.Nf3 Rb2 30.d4 exd4 31.e5 dxe5 32.Nc4 Rb1+ 33.Kxg2 e4 34.Qxe4 Nf4+ 35.Kg3 Ne2+ 36.Kg4 Qf5+ 37.Qxf5 exf5+ 38.Kxf5 dxc3 39.Rxc5 c2 40.Rc8+ Kg7 41.Rc7+ Kg8 42.Kf6 Rg1 43.Nxg1 c1=Q 44.Nxe2 Qh6+ 45.Ke7 Qh7+ 46.Kd6 Qd3+ 47.Kc5 Qxe2 48.Kb6 Qxf2+ 49.Kxa6 Kf8 50.a5 Ke8 51.Nb6 Qf5 52.Rd7 Qc5 53.Rh7 Qe5 54.Rd7 Qc5 55.Rd5 Qc6 56.Rh5 Qc3 57.Kb7 Qg7+ 58.Ka6 Kd8 59.Rd5+ Kc7 60.Rd7+ Kb8 61.Rd8+ Kc7 62.Rc8+ Kd6 63.Nc4+ Kd7 64.Rc5 Qg1 65.Kb6 Qb1+ 66.Ka7 Qb4 67.Nb6+ Kd6 68.Rh5 Kc6 69.Rh6+ Kb5 70.Rh5+ Kc6 1/2-1/2

          A great draw!

          Magnus comes in for the postmortem. He is sporting his new glasses and hasn’t had his hair cut for months. Then Levon comes on too, everyone seems happy in spite of the draw; lots of laughing.

          Round 2, Apr. 16, 2017
          Naiditsch, Arkadij – Caruana, Fabiano
          C28 Vienna game

          1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Na5 5.Nge2 Bc5 6.O-O O-O 7.Ng3 h6 8.h3 d6 9.Bb3 c6 10.Na4 Nxb3 11.axb3 Bb4 12.Bd2 Bxd2 13.Qxd2 d5 14.Qb4 b6 15.Nc3 c5 16.Qa3 d4 17.Nce2 a5 18.f4 Be6 19.Rae1 exf4 20.Nxf4 Nd7 21.Qa1 Qg5 22.Kh2 Ne5 23.Qd1 Rae8 24.Nge2 Ng6 25.Qc1 Qe5 26.Kg1 Nh4 27.g3 Ng6 28.Kg2 Qd6 29.Kh2 Ne5 30.Kg2 f5 31.Nxe6 Rxe6 32.exf5 Qd5+ 33.Kg1 Ref6 34.Nf4 Nf3+ 35.Kf2 Qxf5 36.Kxf3 Qxh3 37.Re4 g5 38.Ke2 Qxg3 39.Rf3 Qg4 40.Qh1 Rxf4 0-1

          Round 2, Apr. 16, 2017
          MVL – Bluebaum, Matthias
          A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

          1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Nf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.d4 Nbd7 7.c4 c6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Qe3+ Be7 11.Nh4 Bg6 12.Nc3 Qd8 13.b4 b5 14.a4 a5 15.Nxg6 hxg6 16.bxa5 b4 17.Na2 O-O 18.Bd2 Re8 19.Qb3 c5 20.dxc5 Nxc5 21.Qxb4 Nce4 22.Qd4 Nxd2 23.Qxd2 Qxa5 24.Qxa5 Rxa5 25.e3 Ne4 26.Nc1 Rea8 27.Ne2 Rxa4 28.Rxa4 Rxa4 29.Rd1 Bf6 30.Rxd5 Ra1+ 31.Bf1 Kf8 32.Kg2 Ra2 33.Rb5 Rb2 34.Ra5 g5 35.Ra4 Nc5 36.Ra8+ Ke7 37.Ra7+ Kf8 38.Nc1 Ne4 39.Nd3 Rd2 40.Kf3 Nd6 41.Ra8+ Ke7 42.e4 Bd4 43.Ra4 Bb6 44.e5 Nc8 45.Rg4 f6 46.h4 fxe5 47.Rxg5 Kf6 48.Kg4 Ne7 49.Nxe5 Bxf2 50.Kh3 Bd4 51.Nf3 Rf2 52.Bg2 Be3 53.Ra5 Rb2 54.g4 Ng6 55.Ra6+ Kf7 56.Bf1 Rb4 57.h5 Nf4+ 58.Kg3 Ne6 59.Bd3 Bf4+ 60.Kh4 Nc7 61.Rc6 Ke7 62.Bf5 Bd6 63.Kg5 Nd5 64.Ra6 Nc7 65.Rc6 Nd5 66.Nh4 Rb6 67.Ng6+ Kf7 68.Be4 Rb5 69.Rxd6 Nf6+ 70.Kf4 Rb4 71.Kf5 Nxe4 72.Rd7+ Ke8 73.Re7+ Kd8 74.Rxe4 1-0

          a nice comment from a chessbomb kibitzer:

          - pas facile d'abatre l'arbre bleu

          Standing after Round Two

          1. Hou Yifan 2
          2. Caruana 1
          3. Naiditsch 1
          4. MVL 1
          5. Carlsen 1
          6. Aronian 1
          7. Bluebaum 0.5
          8. Meier 0.5

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

            Grenke Classic 2017

            April 17, 2017

            Round Three

            With Magnus now wearing glasses, there are only two of six competitors without them – Naiditsch and Bluebaum.

            A tweet with a photoshopped picture has appeared showing Penny and Amy from The Big Bang Theory and between the two, looking a bit like Leonard Hofstader, is Magnus Carlsen!

            After two hours, MVL is starting to look uncomfortable in his against Lev Aronian. Peter says that MVL knows that if he makes one inaccuracy, Levon will achieve his plan.

            Fabiano in his game against Meier spent over half an hour before pushing 20.h4. Nothing spectacular there, just putting the pressure on Georg, who is twenty minutes behind him on the clock.

            Comment on the game from a chessbomb kibitzer:

            We have a German playing the French opening against an Italian-American. Lots of countries represented.

            The guys like Hou Yifan’s position against Magnus.

            Lawrence asks Peter what his personal score is against Magnus? He says between 2006 and 2009, at the beginning of Magnus’s career, he dominated him, with a score of +3 in classical chess. Then, in the Nanjing tournament he lost a Scotch to Magnus in the first round. Magnus went on to win the tournament, became number one in the world and has maintained that position ever since.

            The Second Pearl Spring tournament took place between 27th September and the 9th October 2009 in Nanjing, China. It was a six-player double round robin with the players being Magnus Carlsen, Veselin Topalov, Wang Yue, Temur Radjabov, Peter Leko and Dmitry Jakovenko. Each GM dropped one game to Magnus at least. He ended up 2.5 points ahead of the field, performing at a 3002 level.

            Peter lost three games to him since and so there lifetime score in classical against each other is equal.

            Lawrence thinks that Magnus has his back against the wall in his game.

            Levon beats MVL in their game. Magnus and Hou Yifan draw. At the post-mortem Magnus defended his play saying that he was not worse and there were interesting possibilities. Hou Yifan took the practical decision to draw and now has played her two highest-rated opponents and is at the top of the leaderboard.

            Caruana had 6 minutes to Meier’s 40 seconds at move 27 and he sacrificed his knight by taking the pawn on e6 and won the game on move 35.

            The games:

            Grenke Chess Classic
            Karlsruhe, Germany
            Round 3, Apr. 17, 2017
            Hou Yifan – Carlsen, Magnus
            B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

            1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Nd5 Nd7 11.Bc4 Rc8 12.Qe2 Nb6 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.Bxe6 Qxe6 15.O-O O-O 16.Rfd1 Rc6 17.a5 Nd7 18.b3 Rfc8 19.Rd2 Nc5 20.Rad1 Qe7 21.Qe3 g6 22.g3 b5 23.axb6 Rxb6 24.Rd5 Rcc6 25.Nd2 Nb7 26.Nc4 Rb5 27.Qa7 Qc7 28.Rxb5 axb5 29.Nxd6 Nxd6 30.Qxc7 Rxc7 31.Rxd6 Rxc2 32.Rd5 Re2 33.Rxe5 b4 34.Rb5 Rxe4 35.Kg2 Rd4 36.Kf1 Re4 37.Kg2 Rd4 38.Kf1 1/2-1/2

            Round 3, Apr. 17, 2017
            Aronian, Levon – MVL
            A30 English, symmetrical

            1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 e4 6.d5 exf3 7.dxc6 dxc6 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.gxf3 Kc7 10.b3 Be7 11.Bb2 Rd8 12.h4 g6 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.fxe4 h5 15.Be5+ Bd6 16.Bf6 Re8 17.f3 a5 18.a4 Be7 19.Bc3 Be6 20.O-O-O b6 21.Be2 Red8 22.Rdg1 b5 23.Kc2 b4 24.Be5+ Kb7 25.Bf4 Rd7 26.e5 Bf8 27.Rd1 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Bg7 29.Bd3 Rd8 30.Bg5 Rd7 31.f4 Bg4 32.Be2 Bf5+ 33.Kc1 Kc7 34.Bf3 Bf8 35.e4 Bh3 36.f5 gxf5 37.Bxh5 fxe4 38.Rxd7+ Kxd7 39.Bxf7 Bg7 40.e6+ Bxe6 41.Bxe6+ Kxe6 42.Kd2 1-0

            Round 3, Apr. 17, 2017
            Caruana, Fabiano – Meier, Georg
            C10 French, Rubinstein variation

            1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Be3 Bd6 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Qe2 b6 10.O-O-O Bb7 11.Kb1 c5 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 Rc8 14.c3 Be7 15.Bg3 cxd4 16.Nxd4 Rc5 17.Rhe1 Qc8 18.Be5 Nd7 19.Bf4 Nf6 20.h4 Rd8 21.Be5 h5 22.f3 Bd6 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Qe3 Kg7 25.f4 Rg8 26.Bc2 Bb8 27.Bb3 f5 28.Nxe6+ fxe6 29.Qd4+ Kh7 30.Rxe6 Be4+ 31.Ka1 Rg7 32.Qf6 Bxf4 33.Rd8 Qa6 34.Ree8 Qf1+ 35.Bd1 1-0

            Lawrence thinks that this is the best game Fabi has played in a long time.

            Round 3, Apr. 17, 2017
            Bluebaum, Matthias – Naiditsch, Arkadij
            E04 Catalan, open

            1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 a6 6.O-O Nc6 7.Be3 Bd7 8.Qc1 b5 9.b3 cxb3 10.axb3 Bd6 11.Ne1 Nd5 12.Nc3 Ncb4 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.Bd2 c6 15.Bxb4 Bxb4 16.Nd3 Bd6 17.Nc5 O-O 18.Nb7 Qc7 19.Nxd6 Qxd6 20.Qd2 Ra7 21.Rfc1 h6 22.Rc5 Rfa8 23.Qa5 Be8 24.e3 g5 25.Rc2 Qg6 26.Rca2 Bd7 27.Bf1 Kg7 28.b4 h5 29.Qb6 h4 30.Qc5 Bf5 31.Rc1 a5 32.Qb6 Ra6 33.Qc7 axb4 34.Rxa6 Rxa6 35.Qb7 Ra2 36.Rxc6 Be6 37.Qe7 Qf6 38.Qxf6+ Kxf6 39.gxh4 b3 40.hxg5+ Kxg5 41.f4+ Kh4 42.Bd3 Rd2 43.f5 Rxd3 44.fxe6 b2 0-1

            Standing after Round Three

            1 Hou Yifan 2.5
            2-4 Naiditsch, Caruana, Aronian 2.0
            5 Carlsen 1.5
            6 MVL 1.0
            7-8 Bluebaum, Meier 0.5

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

              Grenke Classic 2017

              April 19, 2017

              Round Four

              The commentators today are Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko. Jan has just come back from competing in the Bangkok Open. It was won by Nigel Short and Jan shared second through fifth places. He is replacing Lawrence Trent.

              The game of the day should be Carlsen-Caruana. The last time they met was in the Baku Olympiad, a draw. Their score overall is in Magnus’s favour but Fabiano has shown that he can beat him.

              Peter outtalks Jan, which is difficult. Rustam Kasimdzhanov joins them. He is Caruana’s second and an expert on openings and computers.

              Rustam is an Uzbekistani grandmaster and long-time second to Vishy Anand in his World Championship Matches 2008-2012 and has also trained with Sergey Karjakin.

              The guys analyze the Carlsen-Caruana game. It is a Petrov, which morphs into an Exchange French. There is a discussion of the isolated pawn from the Petrov and the NimzoIndian. Isolated pawn games have virtually disappeared. Peter says that he lost a game of Naiditsch in the Istanbul Olympiad of 2012 and he sat down and analyzed why he had lost and subsequently won a game against Sokolov at Wijk aan Zee which destroyed the variation. All this even though Sokolov had published a brilliant book on isolated pawns - Winning Chess Middlegames: An Essential Guide to Pawn Structures (2009).

              Actually the conversation among the three GMs is interesting, especially about the openings because all three have been seconds to World Champions.

              Rustam says he spends a lot of time analyzing but also, as a second, he has his meals with Caruana and they go on walks together. Hard core analysis is done at night.

              Peter says that in his work as a second, night sessions cannot be avoided and he never went to bed before 6 a.m. You try to sleep during the game because you also want to see how your analysis works out. So, you watch a bit, eat and go to sleep.

              Jan says that the best way to do it is to have your seconds in a different time zone as he was when he did some work for Magnus in his New York City match.

              Before computers it was much worse. You had a similar level of responsibility and no computer. Alexey Kuzmin told Rustam that when he worked for Karpov, he spent six months looking at one opening line.

              In the old days you would analyze all night without a computer and then Kasparov (say) would come in, having had a good sleep and a good breakfast and analyze against you! Torture!

              They discuss the Chebanenko Slav, which is being played in Bluebaum-Aronian. Peter and Jan did some analysis together on the white side in 2009. Rustam says that Chebanenko trained the Moldovan players, Bologan especially.

              Chebanenko’s approach was to build up your strength by studying the openings. The old classical way was to study the endings first, so pawn endings and then rook endings, bishop and knight and finally isolated pawn positions.

              John Donaldson wrote a review of Bologan’s book on the Chebanenko Slav. The first two paragraphs:

              The Chebanenko Slav According To Bologan is the rare opening book written by an active world-class player. It is entirely devoted to the position reached after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6.

              Victor Bologan, whose book of his best games was widely praised, has another winner here. His tribute to his trainer and teacher, Vyacheslav Andreevich Chebanenko (1942-1997) is full of funny and touching anecdotes and gives a good impression of what it was like to learn and analyze with him. There are several nice photos from this time period.

              They talk about Magnus’s new look. Rustam says that now he resembles not so much Jon Ludvig Hammer but Frode Urkedal, a tall blonde Norwegian player (with glasses).

              Rustam is a revelation to me – a man who knows chess history, is excellent in analysis, loves pop culture and is an excellent raconteur. If you have an hour, you might look at the recording of the interaction between Jan, Rustam and Peter.

              The Carlsen game is a draw, Aronian beats Bluebaum, MVL beats Hou Yifan and, after a long time, Naiditsch and Meier come in with a draw.

              The games:

              Round 4, Apr. 19, 2017
              Naiditsch, Arkadij – Meier, Georg
              D02 Queen’s Bishop game

              1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Bg4 6.c3 e6 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Nh4 Be4 11.f3 Bg6 12.Be2 Be7 13.Bg3 a6 14.Kf2 b5 15.Qd1 Qd8 16.a4 b4 17.a5 c4 18.Nxg6 hxg6 19.h4 Bd6 20.f4 Rb8 21.Qc2 Rb5 22.h5 bxc3 23.bxc3 Qb8 24.hxg6 Rxh1 25.Rxh1 Rb2 26.Rh8+ Ke7 27.Rxb8 Rxc2 28.Rb7+ Nd7 29.gxf7 Rxd2 30.Bh4+ Kf8 31.Rxd7 Be7 32.Bxe7+ Nxe7 33.g5 Kxf7 34.Ra7 Rc2 35.Ke1 Rxc3 36.Kd2 Ra3 37.Bh5+ g6 38.Bxg6+ Kxg6 39.Rxe7 Ra2+ 40.Kc3 Ra3+ 41.Kd2 Ra2+ 42.Ke1 Kf5 43.Kf1 c3 44.Rc7 Rc2 45.g6 Kxg6 46.Ke1 Kf5 47.Kd1 Rd2+ 48.Kc1 Rd3 49.Kc2 Rxe3 50.Rc6 Rf3 51.Rxa6 Ke4 52.Rxe6+ Kxd4 53.a6 Rf2+ 54.Kb3 Rb2+ 55.Ka3 Rb1 56.Rc6 Kd3 57.a7 Ra1+ 58.Kb3 d4 59.Rc7 c2 60.Kb2 c1=Q+ 61.Rxc1 Rxa7 62.Rh1 Rc7 63.f5 Rc2+ 64.Kb3 Rf2 65.Rh3+ Ke4 66.Rh4+ Kd5 67.Rh8 Rxf5 68.Kc2 Ke4 1/2-1/2

              Round 4, Apr. 19, 2017
              Carlsen, Magnus – Caruana, Fabiano
              C01 French, Exchange

              1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 Nf6 6.d4 d5 7.Bd3 Bd6 8.Qe2+ Be6 9.c4 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Qe7 11.O-O O-O 12.Nc3 h6 13.d5 Bg4 14.Qxe7 Bxe7 15.Nb5 Nbd7 16.Re1 Bc5 17.Bb3 Rac8 18.Bf4 Bxf3 19.gxf3 a6 20.Nxc7 Nh5 21.Ne6 Nxf4 22.Nxf4 Bd6 23.Nd3 Nc5 24.Nxc5 Rxc5 25.Rac1 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Re8 27.Ba4 Rd8 28.Kg2 Kf8 29.Re1 g6 30.h3 Kg7 31.Re8 Rxe8 32.Bxe8 Kf6 33.Bd7 a5 34.a4 b6 35.b3 Ke7 36.Bc6 Kf6 37.Be8 Ke7 38.Bc6 Kf6 39.Be8 Ke7 40.Bc6 1/2-1/2

              Round 4, Apr. 19, 2017
              Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Hou Yifan
              C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

              1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.Nbd2 dxe4 7.dxe4 O-O 8.O-O a5 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Nxe5 Ba6 11.Re1 Re8 12.Nxc6 Qd6 13.Nd4 Bxd4 14.cxd4 Qxd4 15.Nb3 Qxd1 16.Rxd1 a4 17.Nc5 Nxe4 18.Nxa6 Rxa6 19.Be3 h5 20.Rac1 c6 21.Kf1 Nf6 22.Bc5 Nd5 23.Rc4 Nc7 24.a3 Rb8 25.Rd2 Nd5 26.Ke1 f6 27.Kd1 Kf7 28.Kc2 Rb5 29.Kb1 g6 30.Ka2 Ke6 31.f3 Rb8 32.Re4+ Kf7 33.Rdd4 Rba8 34.Rc4 Ra5 35.Bf2 R5a6 36.Bc5 Ra5 37.g3 R5a6 38.h4 Ra5 39.Bf2 R5a6 40.Kb1 Rb8 41.Ka2 Rba8 42.g4 hxg4 43.fxg4 Re8 44.Rxe8 Kxe8 45.h5 Kf7 46.Be1 gxh5 47.gxh5 f5 48.Bd2 Nf6 49.Rc5 Ne4 50.Rxf5+ Ke6 51.Ra5 Rxa5 52.Bxa5 Kf6 53.b3 Kg5 54.Bb4 Kxh5 55.bxa4 Nf6 56.a5 Nd5 57.a6 Nc7 58.a7 Kg6 59.Ba5 Na8 60.Kb3 Kf7 61.Kc4 Ke7 62.Kc5 Kd7 63.Bb6 Kc8 64.Kxc6 Nc7 65.Bg1 Na8 66.Bh2 Nc7 67.Kb6 Na8+ 68.Ka6 1-0

              Some French bravado (?) from a chessbomb kibitzer:

              Bravo Maxime, tu as montré à cette vilaine chinoise qui était l'homme dans cette partie!

              Round 4, Apr. 19, 2017
              Bluebaum, Matthias – Aronian, Levon
              D10 QGD Slav Defence

              1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Qc2 b5 6.b3 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O Nbd7 10.Bb2 Bb7 11.h3 dxc4 12.bxc4 c5 13.Qe2 cxd4 14.exd4 bxc4 15.Bxc4 Nb6 16.Bb3 a5 17.a4 Nbd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 Bxd5 20.Ba3 Re8 21.Bc5 Bb7 22.Rfb1 Bxf3 23.Qxf3 Bxd4 24.Bxd4 Qxd4 25.Rd1 Qe5 26.Qd5 Qf6 27.Rac1 e6 28.Qc5 Red8 29.Qc7 h5 30.Rxd8+ Qxd8 31.Qe5 Qd7 32.Rc4 Qd3 33.Rd4 Qb1+ 34.Kh2 Qb8 35.Rd6 Qe8 36.Qb5 Qe7 37.Rd7 Qf6 38.Qb6 Rc8 39.Qd4 Qxd4 40.Rxd4 Rc2 41.Kg3 Kg7 42.h4 Kf6 43.Rf4+ Ke7 44.Rd4 Rc3+ 45.f3 Rc2 46.Kh3 Rb2 0-1

              There have been good fights in all the games. Carlsen-Caruana was analyzed at home by both sides and when Caruana equalized, a draw was the logical result. It wasn’t for lack of trying. MVL tortured Hou Yifan throughout the game and she dropped her first game. The endgame there was complicated. She plays Matthias tomorrow.

              Aronian won a nice game against Bluebaum. Matthias made no obvious mistakes, Aronian just played better.

              Meier was a pawn up in an endgame with a rook on either side but it was a theoretical draw.

              The standings after Round Four:

              1 Aronian 3.0
              2-4 Naiditsch, Hou Yifan, Caruana 2.5
              5-6 MVL, Carlsen 2.0
              7 Meier 1.0
              8. Bluebaum 0.5

              Caruana plays MVL tomorrow and Aronian takes on Naiditsch.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

                Hou Yifan in 1st place, including a draw against Magnus! I living in a dream world and I like it!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

                  Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
                  Hou Yifan in 1st place, including a draw against Magnus! I living in a dream world and I like it!
                  Really too bad our Ct culture has failed so miserably to attract female player members. They could do some crowing!

                  Bob A

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

                    Alas, like all good dreams it was far too short. Bob, some CTer should post this news on female chat sites but unfortunately it would need context interpretation so unlikely to happen. Why do this? might attract some interest.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

                      Grenke Classic 2017

                      April 20, 2017

                      Round Five

                      Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko are the commentators.

                      Caruana and MVL are two members of the 2800 club. They play a sharp variation of the Najdorf. Through the course of his career, Caruana has scored 9 out of 27 since 2013 with the Najdorf. MVL does a lot of analysis in the Najdorf too.

                      Jan asks Peter who are the leaders among the opening innovators today. They used to be Kasparov, Leko and Kramnik. These days Peter is following Caruana because he always plays 1.e4 and has to have a large repertoire. He also follows Anish Giri, who always has fresh ideas. He has switched to the Najdorf for the last year and it is in that period that he started drawing a lot. Kramnik and Anand are still producing good stuff. Wesley So has a very solid repertoire as white. He has recently played three innovations that Peter had analyzed and prepared for himself.

                      Peter says that he has no cell phone and no twitter nor facebook account. His wife does have a cell phone and she usually goes along to tournaments with him. However, it did happen that she did not accompany him once and he landed at 1:30 a.m. at Grozny airport in Russia and how does he tell his team captain, who was in Sochi, that he doesn’t know how to get through the Caucasus Mountains in the middle of the night?

                      Jan gives the not-to-helpful advice that, for emergencies, to get one of those one-way cheap phones that drug dealers have where you use it once and then throw it away.

                      The guys talk about Morozevich’s recent interview. Both found it very good. Peter wouldn’t necessarily agree with him that Ivanchuk and Nepo are more talented chess players than Carlsen.

                      http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...603#post112603

                      Peter says that Levon Aronian is his bête noire. He keeps losing games to him and yet can’t get mad at him because they are good friends.

                      Leko confides that the book he read again and again as a boy was Petrosian’s Chess Lectures and they formed his character as a player.

                      Jan said he became a tactical wizard by reading The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal.

                      A clarification on the book that Peter mentioned:

                      Petrosian’s Legacy (2012): Prior his untimely death in Moscow on 13 August 1984.at the age of only 55, Former World Chess Champion Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian had been going over his games and was preparing lectures and notes. He was giving lectures on TV and radio. He was planning to compile them all into a book. However, due to his premature death the book was never published. His widow Rona E. Petrosian went to work with Edward Shektman recovering tapes and transcripts of these radio and TV broadcasts. With great difficulty, they were able to recover 14 of them. They are published here. This book was originally published in Russian as Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian Chess Lectures. The publisher was Soviet Radio. Every chess enthusiast should have this important work in his chess library.

                      The original Russian - Shachmatnye lekcii - T.V. Petrosjan (1989)

                      The games:

                      Grenke Chess Classic
                      Round 5, Apr. 20, 2017
                      Hou Yifan – Bluebaum, Matthias
                      D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

                      1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 O-O 7.e3 h6 8.Bh4 Bf5 9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Nbd7 11.Be2 c5 12.dxc5 g5 13.Bg3 Nxc5 14.Qb5 Nfe4 15.Rc1 Qe7 16.Be5 Rac8 17.Bd4 a6 18.Qa5 Qc7 19.Qb4 Ne6 20.h4 Nxd4 21.Nxd4 Bg6 22.hxg5 hxg5 23.Nf3 Qc5 24.Qxb7 Nxc3 25.Qb2 Qa5 26.O-O Qxa2 27.Qxa2 Nxa2 28.Rxc8 Rxc8 29.Bxa6 Rc5 30.Ra1 Nb4 31.Ra4 Nc2 32.Be2 f6 33.Nh2 Rc7 34.Bf3 Bf7 35.Ng4 Kg7 36.Ra6 d4 37.e4 d3 38.Rd6 Nb4 39.Nxf6 Rc6 40.Rxc6 Nxc6 41.Ng4 Nd4 42.Ne3 Nxf3+ 43.gxf3 d2 44.Kg2 Bb3 45.Kg3 d1=Q 46.Nxd1 Bxd1 47.f4 gxf4+ 48.Kxf4 1/2-1/2

                      Round 5, Apr. 20, 2017
                      Aronian, Levon – Naiditsch, Arkadij
                      A15 English, Neo-Catalan

                      1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.O-O Nbd7 6.Qc2 c5 7.Na3 Nd5 8.Nxc4 b5 9.Ne3 Bb7 10.Nxd5 Bxd5 11.e4 Bb7 12.d4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Rc8 14.Qe2 a6 15.Rd1 Bc5 16.Nb3 Be7 17.Rd3 Qc7 18.Bf4 Ne5 19.Rc3 Qb8 20.Qh5 Bd6 21.Rxc8+ Bxc8 22.Rd1 Bc7 23.Na5 Bd7 24.Bxe5 Bxe5 25.Rxd7 Kxd7 26.Qxf7+ Kd6 27.Bh3 Re8 28.Nb7+ Kc6 29.b4 Rf8 30.Qe7 Bd6 31.Na5+ Kb6 32.Qxe6 Re8 33.Qd7 Bxb4 34.Nc6 Qd6 35.Qxe8 Qxc6 36.Qb8+ Qb7 37.Qxb7+ Kxb7 38.f4 Kc6 39.Kf2 a5 40.Kf3 a4 41.Bf5 h6 42.Bg6 Kd7 43.e5 Bc5 44.Bd3 Kc6 45.Bc2 Kd5 46.Be4+ Kc4 47.Bc6 Bg1 48.h4 Kc5 49.Be8 Bd4 50.h5 Bc3 51.Ke4 Be1 52.g4 Bd2 53.Kf5 a3 54.g5 b4 55.Ba4 Kd5 56.gxh6 gxh6 57.Bb3+ Kc5 58.Ke4 1-0

                      Round 5, Apr. 20, 2017
                      Caruana, Fabiano – MVL
                      B96 Sicilian, Najdorf

                      1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Be7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 Nbd7 12.O-O-O b5 13.g4 Bb7 14.h4 d5 15.e5 Ne4 16.Rh3 Nxf2 17.Qxf2 b4 18.axb4 Bxb4 19.f5 Nxe5 20.fxe6 O-O 21.Qg1 Rae8 22.g5 h5 23.Be2 g6 24.exf7+ Qxf7 25.Nb3 Nc4 26.Rf3 Qg7 27.Rxf8+ Rxf8 28.Qd4 Qxd4 29.Rxd4 Rc8 30.Bd3 Nxb2 31.Rxb4 Nxd3+ 32.cxd3 Rxc3+ 33.Kd2 Rc7 34.Ke3 Bc8 35.Kd4 Kf7 36.Nc5 Ra7 37.Kxd5 a5 38.Rf4+ Bf5 39.Kc6 Ke7 40.Rd4 a4 41.Kb6 Ra8 42.Nxa4 Bxd3 43.Nc5 1/2-1/2

                      Round 5, Apr. 20, 2017
                      Meier, Georg – Carlsen, Magnus
                      D90 Grunfeld, Three Knight’s variation

                      1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.g3 dxc4 6.Qa4+ Nfd7 7.Qxc4 Nb6 8.Qd3 O-O 9.Bf4 Nc6 10.Rd1 Bf5 11.Qd2 Bg4 12.Bg2 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nxd4 14.Bxb7 Nc4 15.Qc1 Rb8 16.b3 Rxb7 17.bxc4 c5 18.O-O Rb4 19.Bh6 Bxh6 20.Qxh6 Rxc4 21.Ne4 Nxe2+ 22.Kg2 Qa8 23.f3 Rxe4 24.fxe4 Qxe4+ 25.Kf2 Nd4 26.Qe3 Qd5 27.Rd2 e5 28.Re1 Re8 29.Qe4 Qe6 30.Re3 Kg7 31.Rb2 c4 32.g4 Qf6+ 33.Ke1 Qg5 34.Kf2 Re6 35.Ke1 h5 36.h3 Rf6 37.Kd2 Rf4 38.Qxe5+ Qxe5 39.Rxe5 Nf3+ 40.Ke3 Nxe5 41.Kxf4 Nd3+ 0-1

                      Levon has made it look very easy winning his three games. After winning with white he gets another white. Magnus after winning with black gets another black.

                      Comments online

                      - 3 wins in a row for Levon on fire
                      - yep Aronian still in drivers seat. He gets at least a share of the top spot if he wins one more (or ties both)
                      - levon looks poised to win the tournament
                      - Aronian with white against Hou tomorrow have to take Levon
                      - I am not ready to praise aronian. If I had his health and talent, I would succeed as well.

                      Standing after Round Five

                      1 Aronian 4.0
                      2-4 Hou Yifan, Caruana, Carlsen 3.0
                      5-6 Naiditsch, MVL 2.5
                      7-8 Bluebaum, Meier 1.0

                      Round 6 Pairings

                      1. MVL-Meier
                      2. Naiditsch-Carlsen
                      3. Aronian-Hou Yifan
                      4. Bluebaum-Caruana

                      Round 7 Pairings

                      1. Hou Yifan-Naiditsch
                      2. Caruana-Aronian
                      3. Meier-Bluebaum
                      4. Carlsen-MVL
                      Last edited by Wayne Komer; Friday, 21st April, 2017, 12:20 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

                        Grenke Classic 2017

                        April 21, 2017

                        Round Six

                        Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko are the commentators as usual.

                        Jan tries to see how much Peter knows about popular culture and says that Magnus resembles a character from X-Men: First Class called Jan the Beast. Peter says that he is not interested in superheroes and Star Trek although he does like Batman. Jan asks him what Batman and gets the answer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Jan mentions the movie Batman vs Superman and Peter says that when the superheroes start to fight against each other, that’s it, it is not his style.

                        Hou Yifan makes a move in a lost position (two pawns down) so that Levon will come to the board and she can resign.

                        At the post-mortem Levon repeats Svidler’s dictum on winning endgames: When you are winning, (cash in your assets) make a decision, but do it quickly.

                        Jan: How do you know you are cashing-in?

                        Levon: It doesn’t matter, just as long as it is quick. (lots of laughter from the panel).

                        I cannot recall hearing the expression “cashing in” before so searched and found this description of an Aronian-Nakamura game at Sinquefield Cup 2016:

                        “Too many weak squares and pawns began to appear on Nakamura's side of the board.

                        Aronian cashed in and picked up his first pawn with 34.Rxb6. The second pawn fell much later with 59.Bxe4. Aronian's conversion may not have been the most efficient, but it was certainly sufficient, denying Nakamura any real counter-chances.”

                        https://www.chess.com/news/view/aron...-endgames-9225

                        Naiditsch-Carlsen has an interesting endgame, Q against two rooks and bishop, which ends in a draw. Carlsen’s hair is the most unruly I have ever seen in chess. After the post-mortem Jan asks about it. He says that he went to a spa yesterday and the water and conditioner fluffed it up. He is not trying to look like Jon Ludvig Hammer. Arkadij said that he was too intent on the game to notice Magnus’s hairstyle. For a photo, see:

                        https://twitter.com/GRENKEChess

                        ________

                        The endgame Bluebaum-Caruana is going on so long that Jan asks Peter what actor’s movies you would take to a desert island. You get DVDs with all their movies and no other to distract you during your long stay on the island.

                        Various choices come up – Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Denzel Washington… Gene Hackman is dubious according to Jan, Kevin Spacey, especially for The Usual Suspects, Brad Pitt, Orson Wells.

                        Peter tells a very funny story about attending a movie in Dortmund with his wife. They showed up at the cinema at 8 o’clock because, in Hungary, the movies always start at eight on the dot. They were the only ones in the theatre for a Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz film, so they bought drinks and popcorn and sat and ate for half an hour. Then people started filtering in. But Peter wanted something else to eat and so, even though the movie might start at any moment, he went out and bought drinks and popcorn and came in. The lights were out and the movie had started, and it was so dark that he couldn’t see his wife. Also, some how he was casting his shadow on the screen and people were shouting for him to sit down. He stooped down, saw his wife and went in holding the goodies. A lady had put her handbag in the floor, he tripped over it and his drinks and popcorn went flying.
                        He hates to even to miss the first seconds of a movie, so that was a complete disaster.

                        I always thought Peter was rather straight-laced and not very interesting but his conversation of the last few days has been very diverting. Being marooned at the Grozny Airport, the incident in the theatre, his love of westerns, popcorn and handball have painted quite a different portrait of him.

                        If Levon wins today, he sews up the tournament. Only Fabiano has a chance to win if everything works out for him.

                        The games:

                        Grenke Chess Classic
                        Baden Baden, Germany
                        Round 6, Apr. 21, 2017
                        MVL – Meier, Georg
                        C10 French, Rubinstein variation

                        1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bd3 c5 7.O-O Nxe4 8.Bxe4 Nf6 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Be7 11.Bf3 O-O 12.Qd3 Bc5 13.Rad1 e5 14.Nb3 Qxd3 15.cxd3 Bb6 16.Rfe1 h6 17.Bh4 Be6 18.Bg3 Rac8 19.Bxe5 Bxb3 20.axb3 Rc2 21.Rf1 Rd8 22.Bxb7 Ng4 23.Bg3 Rxb2 24.Bf3 f5 25.h3 f4 26.Bh4 Nf6 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Rde1 Rxd3 29.Re4 Rd4 30.Re8+ Kg7 31.Rfe1 Rd7 32.R8e2 Rxe2 33.Rxe2 Rd1+ 34.Kh2 Rf1 35.g3 Rxf2+ 36.Rxf2 Bxf2 37.gxf4 Bb6 38.Be4 Bc7 39.Kg3 Bd6 40.Kf3 Bc7 1/2-1/2

                        Round 6, Apr. 21, 2017
                        Naiditsch, Arkadij – Carlsen, Magnus
                        A45 Queen’s Pawn game

                        1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.h4 h5 6.Be2 O-O 7.Nf3 c5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.O-O Qxc5 10.Nb5 a6 11.Nc7 Ra7 12.Nb5 axb5 13.Bxb8 Ra8 14.Be5 b4 15.Bd4 Qa5 16.c3 Bg4 17.Qb3 bxc3 18.Bxc3 Qc7 19.Rac1 Qd8 20.Rfd1 e6 21.Bb4 Re8 22.Bb5 Nd7 23.e4 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Ne5 25.Qh3 Nc6 26.exd5 exd5 27.Rxc6 bxc6 28.Bxc6 Rxa2 29.Bxd5 Kh7 30.Qf3 Rxb2 31.Bxf7 Rxb4 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.g3 Rb6 34.Bxg6+ Rxg6 35.Qxh5+ Rh6 36.Qf5+ Kh8 37.Kg2 Rf6 38.Qh5+ Kg8 39.Qe2 Rdf8 40.Qc2 Rxf2+ 41.Qxf2 Rxf2+ 42.Kxf2 1/2-1/2

                        Round 6, Apr. 21, 2017
                        Aronian, Levon – Hou Yifan
                        E10 Queen’s Pawn game

                        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Qc2 dxc4 6.e4 c5 7.Bxc4 a6 8.d5 Nb6 9.Be2 exd5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Qxe4 Qd5 13.Qf4 Be7 14.O-O O-O 15.Rd1 Qe6 16.Ng5 Qf5 17.Bf3 Qxf4 18.Bxf4 Nc4 19.b3 Bxg5 20.Bxg5 Nxe5 21.Be4 Re8 22.f3 h6 23.Bh4 c4 24.bxc4 Nxc4 25.Rac1 Be6 26.Bxb7 Ra7 27.Be4 a5 28.Rd4 Ne5 29.Bg3 f6 30.a3 Rd7 31.Bxe5 fxe5 32.Rxd7 Bxd7 33.Rc7 Bb5 34.Rc5 Rb8 35.Rxe5 a4 36.h4 Kf7 37.Rc5 Be8 38.Bc2 Rb2 39.Rc4 Ra2 40.Bxa4 Ra1+ 41.Kh2 Bxa4 42.Rxa4 1-0

                        Round 6, Apr. 21, 2017
                        Bluebaum, Matthias – Caruana, Fabiano
                        D27 QGA, Classical

                        1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 c5 6.O-O a6 7.b3 b6 8.Bb2 Bb7 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Ne5 Ke7 12.Be2 Nbd7 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.Nd2 Rhd8 15.Bf3 Bxf3 16.Nxf3 f6 17.Rfd1 e5 18.Kf1 a5 19.Nd2 a4 20.Ne4 Ke6 21.bxa4 Rxa4 22.Nc3 Rc4 23.Nb5 Rc8 24.Ba3 Bxa3 25.Nxa3 Rb4 26.Rab1 Rxb1 27.Rxb1 Ra8 28.Nc4 Rxa2 29.Nxb6 Nc5 30.Rd1 Rc2 31.f3 e4 32.fxe4 Nxe4 33.Nd5 g5 34.Nb4 Rf2+ 35.Kg1 Re2 36.Nc6 Rxe3 37.Nd4+ Ke5 38.Nf3+ Kf5 39.Rf1 Nc3 40.h4 Kg4 41.Nh2+ Kxh4 42.Rxf6 Re1+ 43.Nf1 h5 44.Kh2 Kg4 45.Rf3 Nd1 46.Rf6 h4 47.Rf8 Kh5 48.g3 Re2+ 49.Kg1 h3 50.Rh8+ Kg4 51.Nh2+ Kxg3 52.Nf1+ Kg4 53.Nh2+ Kf4 54.Rxh3 g4 55.Nxg4 Kxg4 56.Rh8 Nf2 57.Kf1 Rc2 58.Ke1 Kf3 59.Rf8+ Ke3 60.Re8+ Ne4 61.Kd1 Rh2 62.Kc1 Kd4 63.Rd8+ Kc4 64.Rc8+ Nc5 65.Kd1 Rg2 66.Ke1 Kd4 67.Rd8+ Ke3 68.Re8+ Ne4 69.Kd1 Rg6 70.Kc2 Rc6+ 71.Kb3 Kd3 72.Rd8+ Nd6 73.Rh8 Rb6+ 74.Ka4 Nc4 75.Rh3+ Kd4 76.Rh4+ Kd5 77.Rd4+ Kc5 78.Rd5+ Kc6 79.Rc5+ Kxc5 1/2-1/2

                        So, Levon has won the tournament.

                        Fabiano is asked the desert island question because he is a big movie fan. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino are his choices.

                        Jan says, “That is it for today. Levon Aronian is the winner. Can Carlsen’s haircut get any worse? Can Matthias Bluebaum avoid finishing last? Will Hou Yifan finish with a plus score? How many Wrestlemania results does Peter Leko know? Tune in tomorrow for the answers.”

                        I must say here that this has been a most enjoyable tournament. All the participants have been smiling, even when they lost. There has been a lot of joking around and the commentators were on top of their form – principally because Peter does this so rarely and Jan is just back from a playing vacation in Bangkok.

                        Contrast this with Sharjah Grand Prix 2017, which Eljanov said was one of the most boring tournaments he ever played in:

                        http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...ghlight=boring

                        Quote No. 334.
                        _______

                        Standing after Round Six

                        1 Aronian 5.0
                        2-3 Caruana, Carlsen 3.5
                        4-6 Naiditsch, Hou Yifan, MVL 3.0
                        7-8 Bluebaum, Meier 1.5

                        Tomorrow, in the final round, Caruana plays Aronian and Carlsen plays MVL.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Grenke Chess Classic 2017

                          Grenke Classic 2017

                          April 22, 2017

                          Round Seven

                          The commentators today are Peter, Jan and Rustam Kazimdzhanov.

                          Rustam comes in because the guys are discussing the renaissance of the Giuoco Piano and they are trying to see why Fabiano is using the particular move order today.

                          Rustam has a good sense of humor and an infectious laugh. Magnus’s hair is just as long and wild today as yesterday. When Jan says that Carlsen told him in an interview that he has a plan for his hair, Rustam replies: Some people don’t have a plan for their life and Carlsen has a plan for his hair!

                          For months the chess world made jokes about Anish Giri and all the draws he was making. Now the attention has shifted to Magnus’s hair.

                          Funny lines in the chat room:

                          - the hirsute man is back on stage – get the children away!
                          - he is hiding a computer in the hair
                          - can’t believe nobody has compared magnus to korobov yet
                          - magnus’s hair is an insult to Maurice Ashley
                          - fabiano escapes aronian. Aronian escapes vs Magnus. Magnus escapes vs the hairdressers – I don’t want to complete this cycle
                          ________

                          Rustam says that recently in Russia they made a national poll of who was the strongest chess player of all time. The results surprised me. The first place with a huge cap between first and second is Alekhine first, ahead of Fischer, Kasparov, Karpov, Kramnik and Carlsen. Rustam wants to put Anand higher than he was on the list. Fischer, Kasparov, Anand would be his top three. On other lists, people have checked all the moves with a strong engine and find that Capablanca made the fewest mistakes and therefore the "best" player.

                          Talking about time trouble, Peter says he was 19 years old, he was playing against Ivanchuk. In 1999, at Linares, Peter made his 40th move and Vassily had twenty minutes left to make his but the position was not easy. He started thinking while Peter went to the restroom and then had a drink and came back and with seconds to go Ivanchuk is still thinking. He lost on time but instead of getting angry, said to Peter, “This is a very complicated rook endgame, let’s go and to another board and analyze it.” The public loves Chukky because he loves and admires the game of chess."
                          __________

                          Caruana blundered away a knight early on in the game and both commentators thought he would be resigning soon.

                          If Aronian wins today, that will be five won-games in a row. The guys mention Caruana having taken seven in a row in the Sinquefield Cup of 2014. Aronian won four in a row at Bilbao in 2009. Topalov won five in a row at St. Luis WC tournament in 2005. Fabiano won five in a row at the Dortmund Sparkassen in 2015 and Magnus had six consecutive victories at Tata Steel in 2015.

                          Rustam says that to win a number of consecutive games, you must be playing well and your opponents should be having a bad day. Also, you may have the luck of the draw for colours – having black against your weaker ones and white against the strong guys.

                          I myself wrote the following, thinking the result was now written in stone:

                          Garry Kasparov tweeted this in September of 2015:

                          Congratulations to Levon Aronian on his victory in the Sinquefield Cup! The chess world is a better place when Aronian is playing well!

                          That tells you all you need to know about Grenke 2017.

                          He ended with six out of seven.

                          Indeed, Aronian looked like he would walk away with the game but allowed Caruana to have queen and rook on his back rank. Then he went into a long think and finally white was a little better on move 46 even though he was a rook and knight down!
                          Certainly an endgame that the magazines will analyze for next month’s issue.

                          At the end of a long day, both Fabi and Levon came in and talked about the game, which ended in a draw.
                          Fabi said that he considered resigning after he played 22.Nxe6 and Levon played 23….c5. There were times when the commentators were afraid that black was going to be mated but in the end the players agreed to split the point.

                          Kibitzers on chessbomb wrote:

                          - Congrats to both!
                          - Thank god it’s over
                          - congrats to Levon, he had a great tournament
                          - lucky Caruana
                          ________

                          Peter Leko had commentated twice before – at the WCC in Moscow 2012 and helped out in Zurich 2014 but this is the first time he was there from the first to last of a tournament. The viewers appreciated him very much so he will be back.

                          As far as playing, next week he plays for Padua in the Italian League and then he will go to the European Individual Championship in Minsk to qualify for the World Cup since he can no longer get in with rating.

                          The games:

                          Grenke Classic
                          Round 7, Apr. 22, 2017
                          Hou Yifan – Naiditsch, Arkadij
                          C11 French, Steinitz variation

                          1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 a6 7.Be3 Qb6 8.Rb1 Nc6 9.Qd2 Qc7 10.Be2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bc5 12.O-O Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 14.Qxd4 Qc5 15.Qxc5 Nxc5 16.Kf2 Bd7 17.Bd3 Ke7 18.Ke3 Bb5 19.Bxb5 axb5 20.a3 Ra5 21.Rf3 Rc8 22.b4 Rxa3 23.Kd4 Ra4 24.Nxa4 Nxa4 25.Kd3 g6 26.Kd2 h5 27.g3 Rc4 28.h3 Kd7 29.g4 Rd4+ 30.Kc1 hxg4 31.hxg4 Kc6 32.Rbb3 Re4 33.Rf1 g5 34.fxg5 Rxg4 35.Rxf7 Rxg5 36.Rh3 Rxe5 37.Rhh7 Re4 38.c3 Kd6 39.Rd7+ Ke5 40.Rh5+ Kf6 41.Rh6+ Kf5 42.Rh3 b6 43.Rf7+ Ke5 44.Rf2 Rc4 45.Re2+ Kd6 46.Kd2 d4 47.cxd4 Rxb4 48.Rh4 Rb2+ 49.Kd3 Rb3+ 50.Kc2 Rc3+ 51.Kd2 Rc6 52.Rh6 Kd5 53.Re5+ Kxd4 54.Rhxe6 Rxe6 55.Rxe6 1/2-1/2

                          Round 7, Apr. 22, 2017
                          Caruana, Fabiano – Aronian, Levon
                          C50 Giuoco Pianissimo

                          1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.a4 a5 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Be7 9.Bg3 d6 10.h3 Nd7 11.Nc3 Nb6 12.Bb3 Kh8 13.d4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 exd4 15.Qxd4 Bf6 16.e5 dxe5 17.Qxd8 Rxd8 18.Rfe1 Be6 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Ne4 Kg8 21.Nc5 Rd5 22.Nxe6 Rc8 23.b3 c5 24.c4 Rd6 25.Nxg7 Kxg7 26.Bxe5 Rd3 27.Bxf6+ Kxf6 28.Re4 Rc7 29.Rae1 Rxb3 30.Rf4+ Kg7 31.Re6 Nxa4 32.Rg4+ Kf8 33.Rxh6 Rf7 34.Rh8+ Ke7 35.h4 Nc3 36.h5 a4 37.h6 a3 38.h7 a2 39.Re8+ Kxe8 40.h8=Q+ Kd7 41.Kh2 a1=Q 42.Rg8 Qa5 43.Qh3+ Kc7 44.Qg3+ Kd7 45.Qd3+ Ke7 46.Qe3+ Kd6 47.Rg6+ Kc7 48.Qe5+ Kc8 49.Rg8+ Qd8 50.Qxc5+ Rc7 51.Rxd8+ Kxd8 52.Qf8+ Kd7 53.g4 Rb2 54.Qf3 Ke8 55.Qxc3 Rxf2+ 56.Kg3 Rff7 57.g5 Rg7 58.Kg4 Kf8 59.Qf6+ Kg8 60.g6 Rxg6+ 61.Qxg6+ 1/2-1/2

                          Round 7, Apr. 22, 2017
                          Carlsen, Magnus – MVL
                          B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky variation

                          1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.Qd3 Nbd7 10.Nd5 O-O 11.O-O Bxd5 12.exd5 Ne8 13.a4 Bg5 14.a5 Bxe3 15.Qxe3 Nef6 16.c4 Rb8 17.Rfb1 Qc7 18.Nd2 b6 19.Nb3 Nc5 20.axb6 Rxb6 21.Nxc5 dxc5 22.b4 Rfb8 23.Rd1 Rxb4 24.Rxa6 Rb3 25.Qg5 h6 26.Qf5 Qc8 27.Qxc8+ Rxc8 28.Rc6 Rbb8 29.Bd3 e4 30.Bc2 Rxc6 31.dxc6 Rc8 32.Ba4 Kf8 33.Bb5 Ke7 34.Ra1 Ng4 35.Ra7+ Ke6 36.f3 exf3 37.gxf3 Ne5 38.f4 Nf3+ 39.Kf2 Nd4 40.Ke3 g6 41.Ke4 Nxc6 42.Ra6 f5+ 43.Kf3 Kd6 44.h4 h5 45.Ke3 Rc7 46.Kd2 Rc8 47.Kc3 Rc7 48.Kb3 Rc8 49.Ka4 Rc7 50.Rb6 Rc8 51.Ba6 Rb8 52.Bb7 Ke7 53.Rxc6 Rxb7 54.Rxc5 Rb1 55.Rd5 Rh1 56.c5 Rxh4 57.c6 Rxf4+ 58.Kb3 Rf1 59.Kb2 Rf2+ 1/2-1/2

                          Round 7, Apr. 22, 2017
                          Meier, Georg – Bluebaum, Matthias
                          B13 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack

                          1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Bg5 Bxf3 8.gxf3 e6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Qe2+ Qe7 11.O-O-O O-O-O 12.Qc2 Kb8 13.Kb1 Qd7 14.a3 Be7 15.h4 Nh5 16.Bh3 Qc7 17.Bg4 Bxg5 18.hxg5 Nf4 19.Rxh7 Rxh7 20.Qxh7 g6 21.Qg7 Qe7 22.Rh1 a6 23.Ka2 Ka7 24.Rh7 Ne2 25.Nxe2 Qxe2 26.Qxf7 Qc4+ 27.Kb1 Qd3+ 28.Ka2 Qc4+ 29.Kb1 Qd3+ 30.Ka2 Qc4+ 31.Kb1 Qd3+ 1/2-1/2

                          Final Standings

                          1. Aronian 5.5
                          2. Caruana 4.0
                          3. Carlsen 4.0
                          4. Naiditsch 3.5
                          5. Hou Yifan 3.5
                          6. MVL 3.5
                          7. Bluebaum 2.0
                          8. Meier 2.0

                          A most enjoyable tournament.

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X