World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

[Wayne Komer]

World Chess Team Championship 2013

Antalya, Turkey

Nov. 26 – Dec. 5, 2013

Ten countries are taking part over nine rounds. They are Germany, Turkey, Netherlands, Ukraine, Armenia, USA, China, Azerbaijan, Egypt and the favorite Russia. The event has zero tolerance rules, no draw offers for the first 30 moves and is being played under the standard team tournament system with two points given to a match winner, one for a draw and zero the the loser of a match.

Tiebreaks will be decided by board points. The time control is the FIDE 90 minutes for 40 moves and an additional 30 minutes at move 40 with thirty second increment throughout the game.

A team is made up of four players, one reserve and a captain. For example, the lineups for the USA and Russia:

Captain: J. Donaldson. 1. Nakamura 2. Kamsky 3. Onischuk 4. Robson 5. Akobian. Gareev was unable to participate in the event due to passport issues. Wesley So is listed as Coach.

Captain: Yury Dokhoian 1. Kramnik 2. Karjakin 3. Grischuk 4. Nepomniachtchi 5. Vitiugov

Because their countries did not qualify, we do not see Caruana, Gelfand nor Topalov among the participants. But there are Ivanchuk, Giri, Aronian, and Ding Liren for their respective countries. The alternate for Armenia is Tigran L. Petrosian (b. 1984), who is no relation to the World Champion. The Captain of the team is Arshak Petrosian. One would think a team with two Petrosians would be formidable indeed!

It is hard to keep up with all the team championships. Lately, we have had the European Club Cup in Rhodes, then the European Team Championship in Warsaw and now the World Team in Turkey.

The link is http://wctc2013.tsf.org.tr/

If you can't connect, don't worry - the server is down, as usually happens in the first couple of rounds of these big events. Try chess bomb for results.

Because there is a seven-hour time difference, the games start in Toronto/Montreal at 8 a.m.
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In Round One, yesterday, our old friend and commentator, Sergei Tiviakov, lost in a Sicilian to Xiangzhi Bu in China-Netherlands. Gata Kamsky lost to Anton Korobov in USA-Ukraine; Ivanchuk-Nakamura was a draw in that same match. Kramnik-Aronian was a draw in Russian-Armenia.

In Round Two, today, there were these notable games:

Nakamura, Hikaru vs Kramnik, Vladimir

Round Two, Nov. 27, 2013
WCTC 2013 Turkey USA vs Russia
E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Nf3 dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Bg5 Ba6 10. Qc3 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. g3 Bb7 13. Bg2 Na6 14. O-O c5 15. Rac1 Rac8 16. Ne5 cxd4 17. Qxd4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Nc5 19. b4 Nb3 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Qd7 Rf8 22. f4 Qf5 23. Rf3 Qc2 24. Qd3 Qxd3 25. Rxd3 Nc1 26. Rd2 Rc8 27. h4 h5 28. b5 Rc7 29. Nc6 Kh7 30. Rb2 a5 31. Kf2 Rd7 32. Ne5 Rc7 33. Rd2 f6 34. Nd7 Nb3 35. Nf8+ Kg8 36. Rd7 Rxd7 37. Nxd7 Nd4 38. a4 Nxb5 39. axb5 a4 40. Nc5 a3 41. Nb3 a2 42. Ke3 Kf7 43. Kd4 Ke7 44. e4 e5+ 45. fxe5 Ke6 46. Na1 fxe5+ 47. Kc3 g5 48. Kb2 gxh4 49. gxh4 Kd6 50. Nb3 1-0
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Vitiugov, Nikita vs Robson, Ray

Round Two, Nov. 27, 2013
WCTC 2013 Turkey USA vs Russia
D31 QGD Semi-Slav, Marshall Gambit

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8. Ne2 Na6 9. Bf8 Ne7 10. Bxg7 Nb4 11. Qd6 Nc2+ 12. Kd2 Nxa1 13. Bxh8 Qc2+ 14. Ke1 e5 15. f3 Be6 16. Bf6 Ng6 17. h4 Qf5 18. Bg5 h6 19. Bxh6 Rd8 20. Qc5 Qb1+ 21. Kf2 Nc2 22. h5 Nf4 23. Bxf4 exf4 24. Qa5 Qd1 25. Nxf4 Rd2+ 26. Kg1 Ne3 27. Qg5 Qxf1+ 28. Kh2 28... Qxf3 0-1
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Li, Chao vs Ivanchuk, Vassily

Round Two, Nov. 27, 2013
WCTC 2013 Turkey China vs Ukraine
D10 QGD Slav Defence, Exchange Variation

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. e3 Bf5 6. Nc3 e6 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. Nf3 f6 9. Be2 h5 10. Bg3 Bh7 11. O-O Nh6 12. Nh4 g6 13. Nb5 Kf7 14. Nc7 Rc8 15. Qxb7 e5 16. dxe5 fxe5 17. Bf3 Rxc7 18. Bxd5+ Kf6 19. Qb5 Bd6 20. Rad1 Rb8 21. Qe2 Kg7 22. Rd2 Qe7 23. Rfd1 Rb6 24. Be4 Nd8 25. Qd3 Qe6 26. Nxg6 Nb7 27. Nf8 Bxf8 28. Bxh7 Bb4 29. Qe4 Nf7 30. Bf5 Nbd6 31. Bxe6 Nxe4 32. Bxf7 Bxd2 33. Bxe5+ Kxf7 34. Bxc7 Rxb2 35. a3 Ke6 36. Bd8 Ra2 37. h3 Nc3 38. g4 Rxa3 39. Rf1 hxg4 40. hxg4 Ra2 41. Kg2 Bxe3 42. Kf3 Bd4 43. Re1+ Kf7 44. Bh4 Nd5 45. Ke4 Rd2 46. Rc1 Nc3+ 47. Kf5 a5 48. g5 a4 49. g6+ Kg7 50. Ra1 Rd1 51. Ra3 Rb1 52. f4 Rb5+ 53. Ke6 Kxg6 54. Bd8 Rf5 55. Bg5 Ra5 56. Bd8 Ra6+ 57. Kd7 Kf5 58. Kc8 Ra8+ 59. Kd7 Kxf4 60. Bc7+ Ke4 61. Kc6 Ra6+ 0-1
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The two commentators are GM Mikhailo Oleksienko of the Ukraine and IM Can Arduman of Turkey. They speak well and the whole site is attractive but there were several interruptions in service and then, before the games finished, the server went down. I believe that USA won the match against Russia but I cannot confirm any other standings at the moment.
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(I have had to draw heavily on ChessBase’s coverage because of the official site being down so long) - The big news of the day is of course USA's win against Russia. This is the second year in a row that America topples the Russian powerhouse - in the 2012 Olympiad they were also victorious. In both occasions Hikaru Nakamura was able to defeat Vladimir Kramnik with the white pieces. Today Kramnik committed a series of strange mistakes allowing Nakamura to slowly pile on the pressure. A miscalculation left Kramnik in a lost endgame simply down a piece.

Wins by Ivanchuk and Korobov gave Ukraine a win over China. Admittedly this could have gone either way as Ivanchuk must surely have been dead lost with his king on f6 in an exchange slav. It is not clear how this happened, but it happened. Caruana's comment on the game:

An astonishing approach to the exchange by Vassily Ivanchuk. I don’t think it will be emulated in the future…

In the Netherlands vs. Azerbaijan match Loek Van Wely blundered in a drawn rook endgame and that gave Safarli an unexpected win. Meanwhile Sokolov broke under the pressure of Nidjat Mamedov who wins his second game in a row. This gives Azerbaijan a 3-1 victory. Azerbaijan is tied with first with Germany and Ukraine.

Naidtisch took advantage of a big mistake by his opponent in a complicated Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf to win against Yilmaz. Meanwhile Meier showed excellent technique and won a French endgame against Solak, giving Germany a 3-1 win and a tie for first place as they have won both of their matches.
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Viewers’ Comments

- Kramnik getting his *ss handed to him as usual by Naka

- More surprisingly, Vitiugov went down to Robson in a swashbuckling game from a very advantageous position. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but Armenia may have to fend off the USA for the gold!

- WCTC: USA 3-1 RUSSIA

- WCTC: CHINA 1.5-2.5 UKRAINE

- (Teymur Rajabov tweet) Our Azerbaijan's team won two matches in a row in World Team Championship! Come on guys!!! Many matches to play but very good start
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Standings after Round Two

Germany 4 MP
Azerbaijan 4 MP
Ukraine 4 MP
Armenia 3 MP
USA 2 MP
China 2 MP
Russia 1 MP
And Turkey, Netherlands and Egypt.

Matchups For November 28

Ukraine-Azerbaijan
Russia-China
Armenia-USA

Any bets on Nakamura-Aronian?

[Walter De Jong]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

With his win over Kramnik, Nakamura is now rated #3 in the world (with Kramnik falling to #4) on the live rating list. Is this Nakamura's highest ranking ever? I suspect so.

No outsize aggression in Nakamura's win today. Much more controlled. Indeed, his style felt very Kramnik-like...

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

World Chess Team Championship Turkey 2013

Round Three

Nov. 28, 2013

The tournament is taking place in Antalya, Turkey’s biggest sea resort, which is on the Turkish Riviera. The city was named after its founder, Attalos II, king of Pergamon.

The Library of Pergamon was renowned, second only to the Library of Alexandria.

In modern day, Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, which printed several high-quality chess books and for a time published CHESS magazine until it was sold by Maxwell.

Among the books issued were Polugayevsky’s two Grandmaster books, Botvinnik’s Half a Century of Chess, Tal’s Montreal 1979 etc, mostly in the 1980s. My big concern with the name was whether to pronounce it with the accent on the first or second syllable!
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Can Arduman and Mikhailo Oleksienko are the commentators and are doing a workman-like job – very little chit-chat, just analysis of the twenty games.

They spend a lot of time on two games – Aronian-Nakamura (Armenia-USA) and Ivanchuk-Mamedov (Ukraine-Azerbaijan).

Hikaru is in terrible time trouble and makes a bad 40th move Rh8. Stockfish recommends 40…Kxd5. One of the viewers on chessbomb says philosophically, “the 2800 curse strikes again: the closer you get, the harder it pushes you back “.
Nakamura resigns:

Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru (Armenia-USA)
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round 3, Nov. 28, 2013
D56 QGD, Lasker Defence

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nc3 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. Bd3 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 dxc4 12. Rxc4 Nd7 13. O-O e5 14. Bc2 Nb6 15. Rc5 exd4 16. Qd3 g6 17. Bb3 Kg7 18. Qxd4+ Qf6 19. Re5 Bd7 20. h4 Rad8 21. h5 Bf5 22. Qc3 Bg4 23. hxg6 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Nd5 25. Bxd5 cxd5 26. gxf7 d4 27. exd4 Rxf7 28. d5 Qxf3 29. Qxf3 Rxf3 30. Rd1 Kf7 31. Rd4 Re8 32. Rxe8 Kxe8 33. Kg2 Rf5 34. f4 Kd7 35. Kf3 Kd6 36. Ke4 Rf8 37. Rd2 h5 38. f5 h4 39. Rh2 Re8+ 40. Kf4 Rh8 41. f6 Re8 42. Rxh4 1-0

Lev talks to the two commentators right after the game. Hikaru was not obliged to come. He had good drawing chances until 26…d4 and then they slipped away.

He tweeted after the game: Such a pity to ruin Thanksgiving with 26 ... d4??? instead of 26 ... Rc8 27.Rf5 Rxc3 28.Rxf6 Rxe3.
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Ivanchuk has a winning position in his game with Mamedov but is short on time. He clears the 40th move and then starts a repetition of moves and then draws. The only explanation is that his team is winning the match and he need only draw.

Ivanchuk, Vassily-Mamedov, Rauf (Ukraine-Azerbaijan)
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round 3, Nov. 28, 2013
E92 King’s Indian, Petrosian System, Stein Var.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Na6 10. Nd2 Bd7 11. O-O Nc5 12. f3 b6 13. Re1 Qe8 14. Nb5 Rc8 15. a3 a4 16. Bf2 h5 17. Nb1 Bh6 18. N1c3 Nb3 19. Rb1 Nd2 20. Rc1 Nb3 21. Rc2 Nc5 22. Bd3 Nh7 23. Rce2 f5 24. Bc2 f4 25. Nxa4 g5 26. Nxb6 cxb6 27. Nxd6 Qg6 28. Nxc8 Bxc8 29. b4 g4 30. Kh1 Nd7 31. c5 Kh8 32. c6 Rg8 33. Bh4 Bg5 34. Bxg5 Nxg5 35. Rd2 Nf6 36. d6 gxf3 37. gxf3 Nh3 38. d7 Nxd7 39. cxd7 Bxd7 40. Bb3 Rg7 41. a4 Bc6 42. Bc2 Bd7 43. Bb3 Bc6 44. Bc2 Bd7 45. Bb3 Bc6 46. b5 Bxe4 0.5-0.5

Forced to comment, I would say what Vassily has said so many times, “I don’t understand anything”.

(Later) Ukraine has won its match.
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At noon it was -4°C in Toronto and 21°C in Antalya.

The Americans draw on the other boards so Armenia wins their match in view of the Aronian win.
A chessbomb viewer mentions that it is Thanksgiving in America or Turkey Day and the Americans are playing in Turkey t’day. Not very funny but there you are.

Anish Giri beats Igor Khenkin from a Berlin

Giri, Anish-Khenkin, Igor (Netherlands-Germany)
WCTC 2013 Turkey round 3, Nov. 28, 2013
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nbd2 d6 6. c3 O-O 7. h3 Bd7 8. Ba4 Bb6 9. Nc4 h6 10. O-O Ne7 11. Bc2 Ng6 12. a4 a6 13. Nxb6 cxb6 14. Re1 Re8 15. d4 Rc8 16. Be3 b5 17. axb5 Bxb5 18. Nd2 d5 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. f4 Nd3 21. Bxd3 Bxd3 22. e5 Nd7 23. Qf3 Bh7 24. Qxd5 Nc5 25. Qxd8 Rexd8 26. Nf3 Nd3 27. Re2 Be4 28. Nd4 Nc5 29. g4 Bd3 30. Rg2 Be4 31. Rd2 Re8 32. Re1 g6 33. Bf2 Bd5 34. Nf5 gxf5 35. Rxd5 Ne6 36. Be3 fxg4 37. hxg4 Rc4 38. Rf1 b5 39. Bd2 Rd8 40. Rxd8+ Nxd8 41. Kf2 Ne6 42. b3 Rc6 43. b4 Nc7 44. Kg3 f6 45. exf6 Rxf6 46. f5 Nd5 47. Rf3 Rc6 48. Rd3 Nf6 49. Rd4 Kf7 50. Kf3 Ke8 51. Kf4 Ke7 52. Be1 Ke8 53. Ke5 Nd7+ 54. Kd5 Rc8 55. Kd6 Nb6 56. Re4+ Kf8 57. Bf2 Na4 58. Be3 Nxc3 59. Bxh6+ Kg8 60. Re7 Rd8+ 61. Ke6 Ne4 62. Bf4 a5 63. f6 axb4 64. Kf5 Nc5 65. Bh6 1-0

I find Giri impressive as an analyst and as a player and am following his further development. He is only 19 years old and quite a good writer with a literate website:

http://www.anishgiri.nl/html/eng/news.html
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The matches are all over and the standings are:

1. Ukraine 6MP
2. Armenia 5MP
3. Azerbaijan 4MP
4. Germany 4MP
5. Russia 3MP
6. USA 2MP
7. China 2MP
8. Netherlands 2MP
9. Turkey 2MP
10. Egypt 0 MP

The commentators consider Armenia the favorite now.

Tomorrow’s pairings are Egypt-USA, China-Armenia, Azerbaijan-Russia, Germany-Ukraine and Turkey-Netherlands.
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Viewers’ Comments

- Well, that's the problem with Nakamura and all the other top players except Carlsen: yesterday a great win against Kramnik, today ripped into pieces by Aronian. They give away too many points to each other, everyone can win and does win against the others. Honestly, I find that both annoying and more interesting at once :-)

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

It would certainly appear that Russia is doing their best wont underporformance routine during the first 3 rounds. They should be sitting upon a single draw (against Armenia) point but got exceptionally 'lucky' today in their match with China. China had a seemingly easy win within their grasp until Yangyi Yu blundered terribly on move 40 against Ian Nepomniachtchi, turning a +3.27 Pawn advantage to a -4.26 disadvantage on the single move. Yu had to resign just 2 moves later.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

Russian underperformance..

Karpov is concerned about the lack of new Russian talent. He said, in part, today:

Kasparov, Kramnik and myself are the products of another time when the system nourished our talents. The system collapsed. We are still eating the bitter fruit of the breakdown of chess that happened in the ‘90s.

There was a time when we had an extensive network of coaches. They were choosing talented youth on regional and municipal levels. That is not working now. At that time trade unions were patrons of chess. Now that support has vanished. Once chess was played by hundreds of thousands of people, now it is played by thousands. It is hard to find talent even on a pure statistical level.

Prodigies still appear – Bobby Fischer and Carlsen. Maybe we should also be patient and mother nature may become generous and present us with a new genius in Russia.

If we just wait for that gift, we can lose our leadership position. If there is no support from the state and society, we should forget about having a champion title.

Hasn’t Malcolm Gladwell related Canada’s hockey pre-eminence with support on all levels?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

World Chess Team Championship Turkey 2013

Round Four

Nov. 29, 2013

The first game demonstrated was that of Chao Li vs Aronian, a Catalan. Aronian said that White is struggling and went astray with Rd1. There is a rather neat-looking final position with rook, bishop and knight boxing in the white king. The commentators say that Aronian is very kind and comes and visits each day. There is a very relaxed atmosphere in this analysis room.

WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Four Bd1
Li, Chao (China) vs Aronian, Levon (Armenia)
Nov. 29, 2013
E01 Catalan

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 cxd4 6. O-O Bc5 7. Nxd4 dxc4 8. Nc2 O-O 9. Be3 Qe7 10. Bxc5 Qxc5 11. Qd4 Qxd4 12. Nxd4 Nc6 13. Rd1 Rb8 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Rd2 Ba6 16. Nc3 Rfc8 17. Rc1 Kf8 18. Na4 c5 19. e4 Rb4 20. Nc3 Rcb8 21. Nd1 g5 22. e5 Ng4 23. f4 gxf4 24. gxf4 c3 25. Rxc3 Rxf4 26. Rxc5 Rf5 27. Rc7 Rxe5 28. Bf3 Rg5 29. Kh1 Rb4 30. Rg2 h5 31. Rxa7 Bf1 32. Rg3 Nxh2 33. Rxg5 Nxf3 34. Ra8+ Ke7 35. Ra7+ Kd6 0-1

The USA is playing Egypt and so they rested Nakamura. After losing to Aronian yesterday, he slipped one ranking on the World List below Kramnik. Kramnik was having a difficult game today against Rauf Mamedov but managed to save it. The Live Ratings for today has this new order:

1. Carlsen, 2. Aronian, 3. Nakamura, 4. Topalov, 5. Kramnik, 6. Caruana …
How did Topalov manage to slip in there?
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Consider the game

Khenkin, Igor (Germany) Ivanchuk, Vassily (Ukraine) Bd 1
WCTC 2013 Rd 4 Nov. 29, 2013
D10 GD Slav Defence, Exchange Variation

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Qb6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Rc1 Nc6 7. e3 Bf5 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 e6 10. Nf3 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Qb5 Rfc8 13. Ne5 Nh5 14. Qxb6 axb6 15. Nxc6 Nxf4 16. Nb4 Bxb4 17. exf4 Rc7 18. Ne2 Rxc1 19. Nxc1 Be7 20. Rd1 Bf6 21. g4 Ra4 22. Ne2 Rxa2 23. Rc1 h5 24. g5 Rxb2 25. Kf1 Be7 26. Rc7 Ba3 27. Rxb7 g6 28. Rd7 Rb1+ 29. Kg2 Re1 30. Nc3 Bb4 31. Nb5 Re4 32. Rb7 Rxf4 33. f3 h4 34. Rxb6 Be7 35. Rb8+ Kg7 36. Rb7 Bxg5 37. Nd6 Kf8 38. Kf2 Be7 39. Nb5 Rf5 40. h3 e5 41. Ke2 exd4 42. Nxd4 Re5+ 43. Kd3 Re1 44. Nc6 Bf6 45. Nb4 Rb1 46. Rb6 Rb3+ 47. Ke2 Bd4 48. Rb8+ Kg7 49. Nc6 Rxb8 50. Nxb8 Kf6 51. Na6 Ke5 52. Nb4 Kf4 53. Nxd5+ Kg3 54. f4 Bc5 0-1

Now look at the position at White’s 15th move,..Nc6.

ChessBomb gives these as the succeeding moves: Nxf4 16. Nb4 Bxb4 17. exf4 Rc7 as above. Have both players missed a White knight fork against rook and king and a won game? [16. Nxe7+ Kf8 17. Nxc8 Rxc8 18. exf4 Rc4 19. Rfd1 Ke7 20. g3 Kf6 21. b3 Rc6 22. Kg2 Kf5 23. Kf3 h6 24. Na4 b5 25. Nc5 b4 26. Nxb7 Ra6 27. Rc7 Kg6].

This is either a huge blunder or a wrong transmission of the board hardware/software. A ChessBomb viewer says that the correct possible order could be 15. ... Rxc6 16.g4 Nxf4 17. exf4 Bf6 18.Rfd1 Rc4 19.Ne2 Rxc1 20.Nxc1 Ra4 21.Ne2 Rxa2. No one has commented on this. I shall see if a correction is issued.
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USA has beaten Egypt 3.5-.5, China has beaten Armenia 2.5-1.5, Russia-Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5, Ukraine-German 3-1 and Netherlands-Turkey 3.5-.5

Standings

Ukraine 8MP, Armenia 5MP, Russia 5MP, USA 4MP, Azerbaijan 4MP, Netherlands 4MP, China 4MP, Germany 4MP, Turkey 2 MP and Egypt 0MP
Tomorrow, for Round Five, Netherlands-Egypt, Ukraine-Turkey, Russia-Germany, Armenia-Azerbaijan and USA-China
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Is the Poisoned Pawn Sicilian still being commonly played at the top levels? Two were played in these matches recently:

WCTC 2013 Round Two
Nov. 27 2013
Naiditsch, Arkadij (Germany) Yilmaz, Mustafa (Turkey) Bd 3
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. Qd2 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. e5 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. e6 Bxe6 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Bd3 Be7 17. Bg6+ Kd8 18. Bxe7+ Qxe7 19. O-O Nd7 20. Rf7 Qc5+ 21. Kh1 Rf8 22. Rxg7 Rf6 23. Bd3 Kc7 24. c4 d4 25. Qe1 Raf8 26. Qe4 b6 27. Qh7 Rd8 28. h3 Qd6 29. c5 bxc5 30. Qe4 Qd5 31. Qe1 Kd6 32. Qa5 Ra8 33. Re1 Raf8 34. Qxa6+ Kc7 35. Qa7+ Kc8 36. Bc4 Qc6 37. Rb1 R6f7 38. Bb5 Qxb5 39. Rxb5 Rxg7 40. Rb7 Rf1+ 41. Kh2 Kd8 42. Qa5+ Ke8 43. Qc7 Re7 44. Qc8+ Kf7 45. Rxd7 Rxd7 46. Qxd7+ Kf6 47. a4 Ke5 48. Qb5 Rc1 49. a5 Ke4 50. Qb2 Rc4 51. Qe2+ Kd5 52. Qa2 1-0

WCT2013 Round Three
Nov. 28, 2013
Guseinov, Gadir (Azerbaijan) Areschenko, Alexander (Ukraine) Bd 4
B97 Sicilian, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 h6 11. Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 g5 13. exf6 gxh4 14. Be2 Nd7 15. O-O Qa5 16. Kh1 Qg5 17. Rf4 e5 18. Nd5 exd4 19. Qxd4 Kd8 20. Ne7 Qe5 21. Qd2 Bxe7 22. fxe7+ Qxe7 23. Bg4 f5 24. Rxf5 Re8 25. Rd5 b6 26. h3 Kc7 27. Qxh6 Rb8 28. Qf4+ Kb7 29. Qd4 Kc7 30. Qf4+ Kb7 31. Qd4 Kc7 32. Qf4+ ½-½

Nothing more bracing on a cold November day than a couple of Poisoned Pawn Sicilians!
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[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

With Aronian winning again today (but China still won the match against Armenia), his live rating is 2810.8, more than 25 points ahead of the current #3, Nakamura (2785.5). While there's no disputing the fact that Carlsen is clearly #1 at 2872.0, there's also no doubt as to who the world's #2 is.

[Hans Jung]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

Id like to reward Aronian for that nice finish. The only thing I dont understand is how can such a nice guy be such a strong chessplayer??

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

World Chess Team Championship Turkey 2013

Round Five

Nov. 30, 2013

(From the official press release)
In perhaps the toughest battle today two superpowers, USA and China clashed against each other. Nakamura won a pretty game against Li Chao, which he also commentated afterwards for the fans. Except for a blackout against Aronian, Hikaru has been doing really well in this championship. Ding Liren was again the hero of his team, beating Kamsky in a magnificent game on second board. On the third board Onischuk and Yue Wang had a well-played game, which resulted in a drawn rook endgame. Bu Xiangzhi hadn't got anything from the opening against Ray Robson but when Robson embarked on a faulty plan of exchanging his dark square bishop to play d5, Bu played really well to take the advantage and punished Robson’s further mistakes very smoothly. Thus, China scored an important win and moved to the shared third place before the rest day.

Nakamura, Hikaru (USA) - Li, Chao (China) Bd 1
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Five
Nov. 30, 2013
A16 English (Grunfeld, King's Indian)

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Qb3 Nb6 6. d4 Bg7 7. e4 Bg4 8. Bb5+ c6 9. Ng5 e6 10. Be2 Bxe2 11. Nxe2 Bxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Bd2 Qc5 14. Rc1 Qe7 15. a4 N8d7 16. a5 Nc8 17. Qxb7 Rb8 18. Qxc6 O-O 19. Nf3 Rd8 20. O-O e5 21. Rfd1 f6 22. Bh6 Kf7 23. Qc4+ Qe6 24. Qc7 Ke8 25. Rxd7 Qxd7 26. Qxb8 Nb6 27. Nxe5 Rxb8 28. Nxd7 Nxd7 29. h4 Rb5 30. Rc8+ Ke7 31. Rh8 Rxb2 32. Rxh7+ Ke6 33. Be3 a6 34. Rg7 Ne5 35. Bc5 f5 36. Bd4 Rb1+ 37. Kh2 Rb5 38. Bxe5 Kxe5 39. Rxg6 1-0

Ding, Liren (China)–Kamsky, Gata (USA) Bd2
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Five
Nov. 30, 2013
D15 GD Slav Accepted (4…a6)

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 a6 5. g3 g6 6. Qb3 Bg7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Qxc4 Bg4 10. Qb3 Qc8 11. Bf4 Nbd7 12. Rac1 Be6 13. Qc2 Nd5 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. e4 Be6 16. h3 Nf6 17. Kh2 h6 18. Be5 Qd8 19. Ne1 Qa5 20. Nd3 Rad8 21. Nc5 Bc8 22. b4 Qb6 23. Qc3 Ne8 24. Bxg7 Nxg7 25. a4 Qc7 26. Qe3 Kh7 27. d5 Qb8 28. dxc6 bxc6 29. Qc3 h5 30. h4 f6 31. Kg1 Qd6 32. Bf3 e5 33. Be2 g5 34. Rfd1 Qe7 35. Rxd8 Rxd8 36. hxg5 fxg5 37. Nd3 Re8 38. Qxc6 h4 39. Qc7 Qe6 40. Qxe5 Qg6 41. Qd5 hxg3 42. fxg3 Qb6+ 43. Rc5 g4 44. Qd4 Bf5 45. Bxg4 Rd8 46. Bxf5+ Nxf5 47. Qe5 Ng7 48. Nf2 Rf8 49. Qd4 Rf6 50. a5 Qe6 51. Qe5 Qf7 52. Rc7 Qf8 53. Qe7 Qxe7 54. Rxe7 Rf3 55. Kg2 Rb3 56. Rb7 Kg6 57. Rb6+ Kf7 58. Ng4 Ne6 59. Ne5+ Ke7 60. Rxa6 Ng5 61. Rb6 Rb2+ 62. Kg1 Rb1+ 63. Kf2 Nxe4+ 64. Kf3 Nf6 65. a6 Rb3+ 66. Kg2 Nd5 67. Rb7+ Ke6 68. a7 Ra3 69. Nc6 Ra6 70. Rb8 Nc7 71. b5 Ra2+ 72. Kh3 Kd6 73. b6 1-0
++++++++++

The most exciting and also the longest match of the day was Armenia-Azerbaijan. Armenia was the favourite before the round of course, especially since Radjabov and Mamedyarov is not playing in this championship. But one should never underestimate the will of talented young players full of energy. Durarbayli-Sargissian was a Ruy Lopez in which the strong piece attack of white on kingside forced black to give up an exchange, which the Azeri player carried successfully to the endgame after which Gabriel Sargissian had to resign. Armenia's sole win in the match came from the second board. Akopian got a pressure on the open files in both queenside and kingside after a Kan Sicilian, which resulted in pawn win. Nidjat Mamedov tried the thematic Rxc3 exchange sacrifice to get the pawn back at the expense of the exchange but the beautiful white bishop on d5 and rooks proved to be too much and Akopian won easily.

As Safarli-Movsesian game was drawn, everything depended on the first board, Levon Aronian-Rauf Mamedov game. And it has lasted for ages! Aronian got nothing from the opening but he was forced to play for a win against Mamedov for a match win. No one could say he didn't try, he has tried it for 127 moves! The best he could get was a rook + bishop vs. rook endgame, which Mamedov had to defend with a few minutes time in his clock, mostly depending on the increment. For many famous players it has proved to be an extremely difficult task but Mamedov managed to defend for 50 moves. Not exactly though, as to the disappointment of Levon when he finally had the mating position on the board Mamedov claimed the draw. If the rule has been 53 moves at least, we would be talking about Levon's win.

++++++++++++++

The leader Ukraine had to play against the host country today. Turkey fought really well on all boards and came very close to disappoint the leader by holding them to a match draw but in a tough opposite color bishop endgame Esen finally lost his way against Kryvorouchko and this sole win brought the win to Ukraine once again! Ukraine has really tough matches coming up but their advantage is so big that they can afford a loss and perhaps a match draw too or even more. So now they have a very good chance to be the champions, although it's a little bit early to speak of that still.
Kramnik rested today but it didn't help much to Germans anyway as they lost terribly. The only draw for Germany was Nepomniatchi-Fridman game and in the rest of the games German players played very badly and Russians didn't really have to do anything special to win the games except to wait for his opponent self-collapse. Russia is now in second place, three points behind Ukraine.
Netherlands won very convincingly against Egypt with 3-1 score. Even in one of the two draws it was L'Ami pressing against L'Abib in a pawn up rook endgame, but L'Abib saved the game easily as it was quite elementary. Shoker got the other draw against Tiviakov who played on second board since Van Wely had a day off today. Giri's and Sokolov's wins decided the score for Netherlands. Despite losing in the first two rounds, winning the next three now Netherlands is one point behind Russia at the third place! This is a sign that still everything can change in this tournament.
+++++++++++

Kryvoruchko, Yury (Ukraine) – Esen, Baris (Germany) Bd 3
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Five
Nov. 30, 2013
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. Nd5 Nbd7 10. Qd3 O-O 11. O-O Bxd5 12. exd5 Nc5 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. c4 e4 15. Qc2 Bd6 16. f4 exf3 17. Bxf3 Nd7 18. Rae1 Qc7 19. g3 Rfe8 20. Kg2 Re5 21. Bd2 Rae8 22. Bc3 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 Rxe1 24. Bxe1 Ne5 25. Qe4 a5 26. Bd2 b6 27. Bf4 g6 28. Be2 Qe7 29. Qe3 f6 30. Kf2 Kf7 31. b3 g5 32. Bxe5 Bxe5 33. Kg2 Bd4 34. Qd3 Kg7 35. Bg4 Qe5 36. Qf3 Kf8 37. Be6 Qe3 38. Qxe3 Bxe3 39. d6 Bd4 40. Kf3 Be5 41. d7 Ke7 42. Ke4 Kd8 43. Kd5 Kc7 44. Bg4 h6 45. Ke6 Kd8 46. a4 Bd4 47. Kd6 Bg1 48. h4 gxh4 49. gxh4 h5 50. Bxh5 Bf2 51. Bg6 Bxh4 52. Bf5 Be1 53. Kc6 Bd2 54. Kxb6 Bb4 55. Kb7 Bd2 56. Kc6 Bb4 57. Kb6 Bd2 58. Kxc5 Kc7 59. Kb5 Be1 60. c5 Bd2 61. c6 Be1 62. d8=Q+ Kxd8 63. Kb6 Bf2+ 64. Kb7 Bg3 65. b4 1-0
++++++++

Results of Round Five

Netherlands-Egypt 3-1, Ukraine-Turkey 2.5-1.5, Russian-Germany 3.5-0.5, Armenia-Azerbaijan 2-2, USA-China 1.5-2.5


Standings
Ukraine 10 MP, Russia 7 MP, Netherlands 6 MP, Armenia 6 MP, China 6 MP, Azerbaijan 5 MP, USA 4 MP, Germany 4 MP, Turkey 2 MP and Egypt 0 MP.
+++++++

In the Round Four game of the Team Championship, in the match Grischuk and Mamedov, they fully reproduced Game 8 of the Carlsen-Anand WCh. With a slight variation in move order, they also changed the last two moves and immediately after the 30th move agreed to a draw. Grischuk spent 7 minutes on the entire game.

Mamedov, Nidjat (Azerbaijan) - Grischuk, Alexander (Russia) Bd 3
WCTC 2013 Round 4
Nov. 29, 2013
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 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. Bf4 d5 14. Bd3 g6 15. Nd2 Ng7 16. Nf3 Bf5 17. Bxf5 Nxf5 18. Qe2 c6 19. Re1 Ng7 20. Be5 Ne6 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Ne5 Re8 23. Ng4 Qd8 24. Qe5 Ng7 25. Qxe8+ Nxe8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27. Nf6+ Kf8 28. Nxe8 Kxe8 29. Kf1 Ke7 30. Ke2 Ke6 0.5-0.5

Carlsen-Anand went

29. f4 f5 30. Kf2 b5 31. b4 Kf7 32. h3 h6 33. h4 h5 0.5-0.5

I suppose this is perfectly legal even though it smacks of collusion!
++++++++++++

Tomorrow is a rest day. The Tournament resumes Monday, December 2.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

World Chess Team Championship Turkey 2013

Round Six

Dec. 2, 2013

The pairings this morning are:

Egypt-China
Azerbaijan-USA
Germany-Armenia
Turkey-Russia
Netherlands-Ukraine

The most interesting early game is Meier-Aronian. You can tell because there are people clustered around the playing area and the two commentators are having a difficult time assessing the continuations. Stockfish gives white 1.47 at the 28th move. The queens and bishops on diagonals seem potent for both players. In time trouble, White plays 34.Rd1 and loses all his advantage.

Meier, Georg (Germany) – Aronian, Levon (Armenia) Bd 1
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Six
Dec. 2, 2013
D30 QGD (3…c6)

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Bd3 f5 6. O-O Nh6 7. Ne5 O-O 8. f4 Nd7 9. Nc3 Nf6 10. Bd2 Bd7 11. Rc1 Be8 12. a3 Bh5 13. Qe1 Kh8 14. Ne2 a5 15. Ng3 Be8 16. b4 a4 17. c5 Be7 18. Nh1 Ne4 19. Nf2 Bh4 20. g3 Bf6 21. Be2 Nxf2 22. Rxf2 g5 23. fxg5 Bxg5 24. h4 Bf6 25. e4 Nf7 26. exf5 Nxe5 27. dxe5 Bxe5 28. fxe6 Bg6 29. Bd3 Qc7 30. Bxg6 Bd4 31. Bf7 Qxg3+ 32. Kf1 Rg8 33. Bg5 h6 34. Rd1 Rxg5 35. hxg5 Qh3+ 36. Ke2 Qe3+ 37. Kf1 Qh3+ 38. Ke2 Qe3+ 39. Kf1 0.5-0.5
The consensus is that Aronian is lucky to get away with a draw. He was unlucky to draw in the last round because of the 50-move rule. The two things balance out and the universe is equal again.
+++++++++++

In Azerbaijan-USA Ray Robson was up four pawns then five pawns over Gadir Guseinov. Fortunately, the weather in Antalya is temperate and Black lasted until the 38th move before dying of overexposure.
++++++++

Loek Van Wely (Netherlands) demonstrates his win against Anton Korobov (Ukraine). I have difficulty remembering the order of his three names. Like Grischuk, he is a poker player. This extraordinary interview from January of this year:

"When I dedicated a year to playing mostly poker, I thought I would earn millions. That didn't happen. Despite that my love to another game than chess is still with me; and I don't consider poker to be based only on luck. 
Anyway, you won't see me in Las Vegas anymore (laughs). Last time I flew to New York I was asked the main purpose of my journey. I said that apart everything else I was going to teach chess. The strangest thing is that chess in US is considered to be a hobby or gambling rather than a form of activity. Really? Did you come here for teaching chess? They treated me as if I was some criminal, I was put in a jail cell. I was searched thoroughly. They checked if I had a rope for, if you please, preventing me from hurting myself. I spent a night in the jail cell and the next morning I was deported to the Netherlands.
 Now I'm persona non grata in US. This summer I'm planning to go to Australia and play poker there."

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/10894

+++++++++++++

There are some long games - Ivan Sokolov (Netherlands) vs Yuri Kryvoruchko (Ukraine) is 76 moves and then drawn – Black with rook and b-pawn and White with rook and e-pawn.

Nakamura seems to embrace the New Era style of Carlsen and grinds away. His opponent, Rauf Mamedov, drew by reason of the 50-move rule yesterday, so Hikaru is going at him relentlessly. It is Rauf with knight, bishop and h-pawn vs Hikaru with two bishops and e-pawn. They are at the 97th move now after 5.5 hours of play. According to the Nalimov Tablebase, two bishops win against knight. Finally, it is a draw. The commentators say goodbye and the transmission ends.

Mamedov, Rauf (Azerbaiajan) – Nakamura, Hikaru (USA) Bd 1
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Six
Dec. 2, 2013
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 Bg7 11. c3 f5 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. Nc2 Be6 14. Nce3 Ne7 15. a4 O-O 16. Be2 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 e4 18. axb5 axb5 19. Rxa8 Qxa8 20. Nb4 d5 21. O-O Qa7 22. Qd2 d4 23. cxd4 Qxd4 24. Qxd4 Bxd4 25. Nc2 Bxb2 26. Bxb5 Rc8 27. Ne3 f5 28. g3 Rc5 29. Be2 Kf7 30. Rb1 Rc1+ 31. Rxc1 Bxc1 32. Bf1 Kf6 33. Bh3 Ba3 34. Kf1 Bc5 35. Kg2 Bd7 36. Kf1 h6 37. Kg1 Be6 38. Kg2 h5 39. Kg1 Ke5 40. Kg2 Bd7 41. Nc4+ Kf6 42. Ne3 Bc6 43. Kg1 Bd7 44. Kg2 Ba7 45. Kg1 Be6 46. Kg2 Ke5 47. Kg1 Bd4 48. Kg2 Bc5 49. Kg1 Bf7 50. Ng2 Be7 51. Ne3 Bc5 52. Bf1 f4 53. gxf4+ Kxf4 54. Bc4 Be8 55. Ng2+ Ke5 56. Be2 Be7 57. Ne3 Bg5 58. Kg2 Bg6 59. Nf1 Be8 60. Ne3 h4 61. Kh3 Bd7+ 62. Kg2 Kd4 63. Bg4 Bc6 64. Nf5+ Ke5 65. Kh3 Bd7 66. Ne3 Bb5 67. Kg2 Ba6 68. Kh3 Bd8 69. Kg2 Kf4 70. Bd1 Bb5 71. Bc2 Ba5 72. Nd5+ Ke5 73. Ne3 Be1 74. h3 Bc6 75. Kf1 Bb4 76. Ng4+ Ke6 77. Ne3 Be7 78. Bd1 Ke5 79. Be2 Bg5 80. Ng4+ Kd4 81. Ba6 Bd7 82. Ke2 Ba4 83. Kf1 Kc3 84. Bb7 Bb5+ 85. Kg2 Kd4 86. Ba8 Bd3 87. Bb7 Kc3 88. Ne5 Bc2 89. Ba8 Be7 90. Ng4 Kd2 91. Ne3 Bd3 92. Nf5 Bc5 93. Nxh4 Ke2 94. Ng6 Bc2 95. Nf4+ Ke1 96. h4 Bxf2 97. h5 Bd4 98. h6 Kd2 99. Bb7 Be5 100. Ng6 Bf6 101. Nf4 e3 102. Bf3 Bg5 103. Ne2 Bd3 104. Ng3 Kc3 105. Be4 e2 106. Nxe2+ Bxe2 107. h7 Bf6 108. Kh1 Bh8 109. Kg2 Kd4 110. Bf3 Bxf3+ 111. Kxf3 Ke5 112. Kg4 Kf6 113. Kf3 Kg7 114. Kg2 Kxh7 0.5-0.5

Nakamura and Kramnik are virtually tied in their third-place rating after today’s games.
++++++++
Round Six Results

Egypt-China 1-3, Azerbaijan-USA 1.5-2.5, Germany-Armenia 3-1, Turkey-Russia 1-3 and Netherlands-Ukraine 2.5-1.5.

Rank after Round 6

Ukraine 10 MP, Russia 9 MP, Netherlands 8 MP, China 8 MP, USA 6 MP, Armenia 6 MP, Germany 6 MP, Azerbaijan 5 MP, Turkey 2 MP and Egypt 0 MP.

Round Seven Pairings Dec. 3

Ukraine-Egypt, Russia-Netherlands, Armenia-Turkey, USA-Germany and China-Azerbaijan.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

[QUOTE=Wayne Komer;75508]World Chess Team Championship Turkey 2013

Round Six

Dec. 2, 2013

+++++++++++

In Azerbaijan-USA Ray Robson was up four pawns then five pawns over Gadir Guseinov. Fortunately, the weather in Antalya is temperate and Black lasted until the 38th move before dying of overexposure.
++++++++

Despite White (Robson) being up 4 physical Pawns at move 30, Stockfish had the position evaluated at 0.00 re Black's potential for a perpetual. Black's 30th move, 30. ...Bc7?? changed the assessment to +3.79.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

You’re right, of course, Jack. I got carried away after making the pawn count and looking at the black king's exposed position.

WCTC 2013 Turkey Round 6, Bd 4
Robson, Ray (USA) - Guseinov, Gadir (Azerbaijan)
B30 Sicilian, Nimowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6 7. Bf1 Bg4 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 e6 10. d3 Be7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. Qe2 b5 13. a3 Nd7 14. f4 d5 15. e5 Bh4 16. Rd1 f6 17. exf6 Qxf6 18. Qg4 h5 19. Qxh5 Bg3 20. d4 c4 21. Nxc4 bxc4 22. Qg4 Qh4 23. Qxe6+ Kh8 24. Qxd7 Na5 25. Qxd5 Nb3 26. Rb1 Nxc1 27. Rbxc1 Bxf4 28. Bxc4 Rad8 29. Qa5 Rc8 30. Bd3 [ 30.... Rc6 31. Rf1 Qg3 32. Rf3 Qh2+ 33. Kf2 Bg3+ 34. Ke3 Bf4+ 35. Kf2 ]X 30... Bc7 31. Qd5 g6 32. Bxg6 Kg7 33. Qh5 Qf2+ 34. Kh1 Rh8 35. Qg4 Rh4 36. Qd7+ Kxg6 37. Rf1 Rxh3+ 38. Qxh3 1-0

[Laurentiu Grigorescu]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

Kramnik's game (on chessbase.de) against Ipatov today was brilliant. Logic and (looked) easy.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

Kramnik's game (on chessbase.de) against Ipatov today was brilliant. Logic and (looked) easy.

Poor Ipatov. Kramnik yesterday and Aronian today. At least he can't face Carlsen tomorrow (:

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Chess Team Championship 2013 - Turkey

World Chess Team Championship Turkey 2013

Round Seven

Dec. 3, 2013

The pairings this morning are:

Ukraine-Egypt
Russia-Netherlands
Armenia-Turkey
USA-Germany
China-Azerbaijan

One of the first games through has Aronian winning

Aronian, Levon (Armenia) - Ipatov, Alexander (Turkey) Bd 1
WCTC 2013 Turkey
Dec. 3, 2013 Round Seven
A05 Reti, King's Indian Attack, Spassky's Variation

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b5 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O e6 5. d3 Be7 6. e4 d6 7. Nd4 a6 8. Nb3 c5 9. e5 Bxg2 10. exf6 Bxf1 11. fxe7 Qxe7 12. Qxf1 Nc6 13. Be3 O-O 14. Nc3 f5 15. Qg2 Rac8 16. a3 Qf6 17. Rd1 Nd4 18. f4 Rfe8 19. Bxd4 cxd4 20. Na2 Qd8 21. Rf1 Qb6 22. Qf2 e5 23. c3 Qb7 24. cxd4 exf4 25. Nc3 fxg3 26. hxg3 Rf8 27. d5 Rf6 28. Nd4 b4 29. axb4 Qxb4 30. Nc6 Qb7 31. Re1 Kh8 32. Re7 Qb3 33. Rd7 Re8 34. Nd4 Qb4 35. Ne6 Rg6 36. Rf7 Qg4 37. Ne2 Rf6 38. Rxg7 Qb4 39. Rxh7+ 1-0

Alexander Ipatov was born in the Ukraine in 1993. He has represented the Ukraine, Spain and now, Turkey. You might remember that in June he did a 233m high bungee jump off the Macau Tower. The reason was self-promotion and promotion for chess. One of the New Era players, I guess.
++++++++++

Vladimir Kramnik comes in to demonstrate the game that he won against Anish Giri. He says that after his 33.Bxc6 Giri played f3 and was losing. If he had played 33…Rc8 he could see no advantage for white and a draw was inevitable. At one point before this I believe he said, “Black has his trumps” which I took to indicate that Black has his chances. It is so easy to mis-hear something.

Kramnik is very affable, conversing easily with the guys. He says that Russia has good chances of winning the Tournament.

Kramnik, Vladimir (Russia) - Giri, Anish (Netherlands) Bd 1
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Seven
Dec. 3, 2013
D17 QGD Slav, Carlsbad Variation

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5 12. Nxe5 gxf4 13. Nxd7 O-O-O 14. Qd4 Qxd7 15. Qxf4 Bd6 16. Qc1 Kb8 17. O-O h5 18. h4 Rhg8 19. a5 a6 20. Ra4 Bc7 21. Ne4 Bxe4 22. Rxe4 Bxa5 23. Qc5 Bc7 24. e3 f5 25. Rd4 Qe6 26. Rfd1 Rxd4 27. Qxd4 Be5 28. Qb4 Bxg3 29. fxg3 Qxe3+ 30. Kf1 Qxg3 31. Rd2 Qg4 32. Qd4 f4 33. Bxc6 f3 34. Bd7 Qg3 35. Qd6+ Qxd6 36. Rxd6 Kc7 37. Rd5 Rg2 38. b3 Rh2 39. Rd4 b5 40. Be8 Kb6 41. Bxh5 1-0

Giri (tweet after the game) - Missed quite a few opportunities in my game with Kramnik, finally lost. So did the team. On the comeback menu- Armenia and USA!

In Russia-Netherlands, I was watching Grischuk-Tiviakov. Tiviakov had irked the hell out of both Nakamura and Grischuk when he was commentating on their games at the Paris Grand Prix. I thought Alexander might try to smash Sergei but he blunders with 26. Nxc5 and is perpetualized.
+++++++

As yesterday, the last game to finish is Nakamura’s. Today he is playing Georg Meier.

Meier started playing chess at 3 years old (born 1987). His play has had two big influences – training with GM Vladimir Chuchelov and the books of Vassily Smyslov, in fact he singles out Smyslov’s Endgame Virtuoso book as his favorite book ever.

“Once I finished school I had a strong desire to become at least a GM. I decided to postpone studying at a University and exclusively concentrate on chess. The first year was a bit difficult, with mixed results, but then my work started paying off and I made one GM-norm after another, increasing my rating in almost every tournament”.

Became a grandmaster in 2007.

He had a tournament Erevan, six years ago, when he could not sleep and so ran out of energy at the final. I am not sure if his endurance is still suspect. Certainly playing an endgame against Nakamura will test it to its limits. Both players had about a minute left at the end and Meier’s blunder then cost him the game. 80…Nc7 instead of Rxd3 was a draw.

Nakamura, Hikaru (USA) - Meier, Georg (Germany) Bd 1
WCTC 2013 Turkey Round Seven
Dec. 3, 2013
D53 QGD 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0-0

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Qc2 h6 7. Bh4 c6 8. Nf3 Nbd7 9. a3 b6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. O-O a6 13. Rac1 Bd6 14. Qe2 Qb8 15. Na2 Rc8 16. Rxc8+ Qxc8 17. Rc1 Qf8 18. Bg3 Bxg3 19. hxg3 Rc8 20. Rf1 a5 21. Bb5 Qd6 22. Nc3 Ne4 23. Nxe4 dxe4 24. Nd2 Bd5 25. Nb1 Nf6 26. Nc3 Qc7 27. Rc1 Bc4 28. Bxc4 Qxc4 29. Qxc4 Rxc4 30. Rd1 Kf8 31. Kf1 Ke7 32. Ke2 Kd7 33. Kd2 h5 34. Rh1 g6 35. Rh4 g5 36. Rh1 Rc8 37. f3 exf3 38. gxf3 Rh8 39. e4 h4 40. Ke3 Kc6 41. a4 Kd7 42. Ne2 Ke7 43. Rh3 Rb8 44. gxh4 gxh4 45. Nc3 Rh8 46. Kd3 Ne8 47. f4 f6 48. d5 e5 49. fxe5 fxe5 50. Nd1 Nf6 51. Ne3 Nd7 52. Nf5+ Kf6 53. Nxh4 Nc5+ 54. Ke3 Nxa4 55. Rh2 Nc5 56. Rf2+ Kg7 57. Rg2+ Kf6 58. Nf3 Rh3 59. Rg8 Nb3 60. Kf2 Nc5 61. Ke3 a4 62. Rb8 Nd7 63. Rb7 Ke7 64. Kf2 Ke8 65. Kg2 Rh6 66. Ra7 b5 67. Ra5 Nc5 68. Rxb5 Rg6+ 69. Kf2 Nxe4+ 70. Ke3 Nd6 71. Rb8+ Ke7 72. Nxe5 Rg2 73. Rb4 Rg3+ 74. Kf4 Rg2 75. Nd3 Rh2 76. Ke3 Rh3+ 77. Kd2 Rh2+ 78. Kc3 Rh3 79. Rxa4 Nb5+ 80. Kb4 Rxd3 81. Kxb5 Kd6 82. Ra6+ Kxd5 83. b4 Rb3 84. Rh6 Rb1 85. Ka5 Kc4 86. Rc6+ Kd5 87. b5 1-0

(Chessbomb viewer) - make all the excuses for Meier you want. Naka got him in time trouble and outplayed him. Simple. None of you would survive against Naka in a time scramble with equal material unless you are a world elite player.

- who is to say Meier wasn't also trying desperately for a win? After all, he had to win in order to save the match for Germany

- but you are right, Georg is not the best in time trouble
++++++++++++

Round Seven Results

Ukraine-Egypt 2.5-1.5, Russia-Netherlands 3.5-.5, Armenia-Turkey 3-1, USA-Germany 3-1, China-Azerbaijan 3-1.
At one point it looked as if Egypt might win the match against the Ukraine.

(From the Official Site) - The match Ukraine-Egypt in which the tournament leader was to play against the lowest seed seemed like the match where a surprise was the least expected compared to the other pairings. So did probably Ukraine's coach think since Ivanchuk rested today, obviously allowing him to prepare for Kramnik in tomorrow's crucial match. But the match didn't go well. Korobov had to play a complicated and very unclear King's Indian position in zeitnot against Ezat, on second board Moiseenko missed a move and his winning position turned into a lost one, on fourth board Bassem Amin won a nice game in Fischer Attack variation of Najdorf against Areshchenko. Only on the third board Ukraine had an advantage and Kryvoruchko managed to win against Shoker. Korobov outplayed Ezat in zeitnot and Moiseenko finally saved to secure a very close win for Ukraine: 2,5-1,5. The way the match went is very unfortunate of course for Egypt but all of them gave lots of effort in this match and that they continue battling without demoralization is quite exemplary.

Standings after Seven Rounds

Ukraine 12 MP, Russia 11 MP, China 10 MP, USA 8 MP, Armenia 8 MP, Netherlands 8 MP, Germany 6 MP, Azerbaijan 5 MP, Turkey 2 MP and Egypt 0 MP.

Round Eight Pairings

Egypt-Azerbaijan, Germany-China, Turkey-USA, Netherlands-Armenia, Ukraine-Russia

The Tournament may be decided in the Ukraine-Russia contest tomorrow
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