Candidates Tournament 2014

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

Candidates 2014

Khanty-Mansiysk
Round Two
Friday, March 14, 2014

Second Round Results

Kramnik, Vladimir – Karjakin, Sergey 1-0
Svidler, Peter – Andreikin, Dmitry 1-0
Topalov, Veselin – Anand, Viswanathan 0.5-0.5
Aronian, Levon – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 1-0

Candidates 2014
Round Two
March 14, 2014
Kramnik, Vladimir – Karjakin, Sergey
D20 QGA, 3. e4

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Nb6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be3 Nb4 8. Be4 f5 9. a3 fxe4 10. axb4 e6 11. Nc3 Bxb4 12. Qh5 g6 13. Qg4 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Qd5 15. Ne2 Bd7 16. O-O Qc4 17. Ng3 Bc6 18. Ra5 O-O-O 19. Rc5 Qb3 20. c4 Kb8 21. Qxe6 Rde8 22. Qh3 Nxc4 23. Rxc6 bxc6 24. Nxe4 Nb6 25. Nc5 Qd5 26. Rc1 Ka8 27. Na6 Kb7 28. Nb4 Qf7 29. Qg4 Nd5 30. Nxc6 Re6 31. Na5 Ka8 32. Qe4 Rb6 33. g4 h5 34. Rc5 Rd8 35. Nc6 Rxc6 36. Rxc6 hxg4 37. Rf6 Qh7 38. Bg5 Qg8 39. Rxg6 1-0

Candidates 2014
Round Two
March 14, 2014
Svidler, Peter – Andreikin, Dmitry
B32 Sicilian, Kalashnikov Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Be6 9. Be2 Bg5 10. Nc2 Bxc1 11. Rxc1 Qg5 12. O-O Rd8 13. b4 Nf6 14. Qd3 O-O 15. Rfd1 Rc8 16. Nd5 b5 17. Qg3 Qxg3 18. Nxf6 gxf6 19. hxg3 bxc4 20. f4 f5 21. exf5 Bxf5 22. Ne3 Bd3 23. Bxd3 cxd3 24. Nf5 e4 25. Nxd6 e3 26. Nxc8 d2 27. Rxc6 e2 28. Rcc1 exd1=R 29. Rxd1 Rxc8 30. Rxd2 Rc3 31. Rd5 1-0

Candidates 2014
Round Two
March 14, 2014
Topalov, Veselin – Anand, Viswanathan
A11 English

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Qc2 e5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. d4 Bd6 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 Bxe5 10. Qe4 Qe7 11. Nxd5 cxd5 12. Bb5 Kf8 13. Qxd5 g6 14. Bd2 Kg7 15. Qxe5 Qxe5 16. Bc3 Qxc3 17. bxc3 Be6 18. Ke2 Rac8 19. Rhc1 Rc5 20. a4 Rhc8 21. Ra3 a6 22. Bd3 b5 23. axb5 axb5 24. Rb1 Rxc3 25. Rxc3 Rxc3 26. Rxb5 Bc4 27. Bxc4 Rxc4 28. Kf3 h5 29. h3 Rc2 30. Rb1 Kf6 31. Re1 g5 32. Ra1 Kg6 33. Ra6 f6 34. Ra4 h4 35. g3 hxg3 36. Kxg3 Rb2 37. e4 Rb1 38. f3 Rg1 39. Kf2 Rh1 40. Kg2 Rb1 41. Ra6 Kf7 42. Ra5 Kg6 43. Ra6 Kf7 44. Ra2 Ke6 45. Kg3 Rg1 46. Rg2 Rxg2 47. Kxg2 Ke5 48. Kf2 Kf4 49. Kg2 Ke5 50. Kg3 f5 51. exf5 Kxf5 52. h4 gxh4 53. Kxh4 Kf4 54. Kh3 Kxf3 0.5-0.5

Candidates 2014
Round Two
March 14, 2014
Aronian, Levon – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nd2 c6 8. e3 Nf8 9. Bd3 Ng6 10. O-O O-O 11. f4 h6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. f5 Ne7 14. Nde4 dxe4 15. Nxe4 Qh4 16. g3 Qh3 17. Nf2 Qxf1 18. Kxf1 Nxf5 19. Qf3 Nd6 20. e4 f6 21. Bc2 Be6 22. Nd3 Nc4 23. Kg1 Bd6 24. Nf4 Bxf4 25. gxf4 Rad8 26. f5 Bf7 27. Qc3 Rfe8 28. Bd3 Nb6 29. a4 a6 30. a5 Nc8 31. e5 Ne7 32. e6 Bh5 33. Be4 Nd5 34. Qh3 Be2 35. Kf2 Bb5 36. Rg1 Kh7 37. Qa3 Bc4 38. Rg4 Bb5 39. Rg1 Bc4 40. Rc1 Bb5 41. Bf3 Nf4 42. Rd1 Kh8 43. d5 Nxd5 44. Bh5 1-0
_________

The commentators again are GM Peter Heine Nielsen and GM Viktoryia Cmilyte. They are restrained and non-emotional unlike some of last year’s crews, although that is not always a bad thing. I am sure that a Nigel Short would stir things up here.

Anastasiya Karlovich does the interviews at the compulsory press conferences and uses two interpreters but I have not been able to get their names.

There appear to be no spectators in the playing hall. The tables are just wide enough to allow you to put most of your arm down but they could be more comfortable. More about this later.

From chessdom.com:

Topalov – Anand
In the battle between two former World Champions, Veselin Topalov started his game with a flexible Reti setup, which is a kind of Bulgarian specialty as their Grandmasters achieve excellent results with white pieces.
It wasn’t a great surprise that Viswanathan Anand responded by lining his favourite Slav structure.
White initiated an early skirmish in the center, but black didn’t hesitate to sacrifice a pawn in order to complete the development.
Topalov’s extra pawn was isolated and came under fire from the black rooks. Black’s compensation appeared to be sufficient.
The queenside got cleared of pawns and white kept a 4P vs 3P advantage on the other side of the board. Anand immediately forced the exchange of the bishops and played the textbook 28…h5 to secure a draw.
Topalov followed the Sofia rules and the point was officially split on move 54.

The press conference just looked unhappy. Topalov looked uncomfortable although there was no particular reason why. He wears a string bracelet on one wrist and a twitter from the viewing audience told why: The thing Topalov wears on his wrist is a Balcanic tradition celebrating spring (red and white strings woven together). When asked if it was for luck, he smiled for the first time during the interview and said that it didn’t bring him much luck today. You put it on the first day of March.

Svidler – Andreikin
Dmitry Andreikin treated us with an old Sicilian defence, the Labourdonnais-Loewenthal variation. This opening was revived in the recent years as several top players used it with success and a number of opening manuals were published.
Black apparently achieved the strategical aims, he traded the dark-squared bishops and struck the white pawns with 16…b5. But Svidler got some action going with the beautiful sequence that included 17.Qg3 and 20.f4.
It didn’t take long before black cracked under pressure and erred with 22…Bd3. A retort 24.Nf5 revealed the poor positioning of black pieces that allowed all kinds of geometrical motifs.
Black threw his pawns forward in the one last desperate attempt. He could only get a rook endgame being two pawns down. After the precise 31.Rd5 Andreikin gave up.
Svidler said that the opponent’s opening choice was a complete surprise. It’s been a long time since he looked at the variations. He conceded that after 11…Qg5 white doesn’t have a slightest advantage. Andreikin agreed and added that he was very happy with his position.
Andreikin disliked 13.b4, while Svidler believes that 16…b5 was rash and suggested 16…Rfd8 instead.

Both were asked about sports – in particular, hockey. Svidler knows nothing about the game.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time at this press conference although Andreikin looked a bit knocked around from his loss.
____________

Aronian – Mamedyarov

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defended with the Ragozin Queen’s Gambit and Levon Aronian avoided the sharpest lines by clarifying the central pawn structure early on.
The position resembled the Queen’s Gambit Exchange Variation and appeared innocuous enough, but one careless knight move blocked the retreat route for black queen.
Aronian pounced on the opportunity to win the opponent’s queen for a rook and minor piece.
However, converting the advantage was not that easy, as Aronian admitted in the press conference. If black consolidates the pieces he could even hold the game.
Aronian advanced his central pawn mass and then proceeded to maneuver in order to reach the time control.
As soon as the time was added to the clocks, Mamedyarov allowed the decisive d5-break and immediately resigned.

(to be concluded with next post)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

Candidates 2014

Khanty-Mansiysk

Round Two concluded
Friday, March 14, 2014

Kramnik – Karjakin

Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin engaged in a popular sharp line of Queen’s Gambit Accepted.
Black won a pawn but his advanced soldier on e4 was weak and a constant target of white’s attack. A rook-lift to c5 ousted the black queen and Kramnik gave the c4-pawn to win the e6-pawn clearing the way for his strong passer.
Karjakin thought about retreating the knight 9…N4d5 because he understood that Kramnik deeply analysed the position, but he decided to be principled and took the bishop on e4.
With Karjakin being low on time, Kramnik sacrificed an exchange to install the knight on the strong outpost.
This was an excellent practical decision as Karjakin could not be precise in parrying all the threats with only minutes on clock. Black dropped the guard and 34.Rc5-35.Nc6 won the material back with interest. Faced with further loses Karjakin resigned.
Kramnik said that he prepared 9.a3 for the last year’s Candidates Tournament, but he didn’t have a chance to use it before. He sensed that Karjakin might play the QGA and he reviewed the lines this morning.
Karjakin thought about retreating the knight 9…N4d5 because he understood that Kramnik deeply analysed the position, but he decided to be principled and took the bishop on e4.

At the press conference Kramnik seemed in control, Karjakin said very little.

Vladimir had exchanged the chair he was given for a more comfortable one. He called the one he is using today “the chair of my life”. He likes a chair with arms.
Someone in the audience says that the tables aren’t long enough to put one’s elbows comfortably on them. Vladimir says that he hadn’t thought about that before but now he will worry about it.
Someone else says that the chairs in Paris were too comfortable and Grischuk asked for one less comfortable so he wouldn’t fall asleep during the game.


Standings

1-3 Anand, Svidler, Kramnik 1.5/2
4-5 Aronian, Topalov 1/2
6-8 Andreikin, Karjakin, Mamedyarov 0.5/2

Round Three Pairings (15.03.2014)

Andreikin-Karjakin
Svidler-Kramnik
Topalov-Aronian
Mamedyarov-Anand

Round Four Pairings (17.03.2014)

Mamedyarov-Andreikin
Karjakin-Topalov
Aronian-Svidler
Anand-Kramnik


FIDE put out conditions for a bid for the World Championship Games and no country entered a bid by March 10, so the deadline has been extended to April 30. It is probable that some countries will wait to see if their favorite son is the winner of Khanty-Mansiysk, then enter a bid.

Viewers’ Comments on Round Two

- (Natalia Pogonina tweets) Aronian – Mamedyarov looks like a potential miniature (1-0). Black is getting his queen trapped.

- Anand coughing, Siberia has taken its toll; Tiger of Madras, playing Black, in a Yellow Shirt, has offered a Pawn on move 10, prowling around nonchalantly

- (Anish Giri) Svidler is playing terribly beautifully!

- Watching Svidler analyze his win from today. Poor Andreikin should be allowed to leave, he can’t get a word in edgeways.

- (Olympia Urcan) Andreikin [on preparation]: ”I don’t want to reveal all my secrets, [be]cause I don’t have many.”

- Two rounds of the Candidates and I’m already dreaming about an Anand-Carlsen rematch.

- That was a pretty cool position at the end of Svidler-Andreikin. Great game.
Only two rounds in and this is a wide-open affair. I wasn't expecting Anand and Svidler to win so early. If they can both ride this momentum the tournament will get very interesting.

- Game of the Century by Vladdy!

- Sorry, but no: definitely no game of the century by Vlad. ;-)

As an engine check will show you fast, both players missed important opportunities several times.

But humans are no machines, and so Vlad still played an impressive game! All these players play really interesting chess under big pressure, and even these top players show nerves and blunders in high tension and/or time trouble. That's exactly what makes it so interesting and prevents any predictions.

- Grischuk's joke about Kramnik having too weak prep to win an event like this one just looks funnier by the minute. Game 1 = draw with black without having to play a single move OTB, game 2 = won by move 15 without having to play a single move OTB.

- One can only be relieved to see Vladdy head the field, as Sutovsky said, when he takes the title back in the autumn we will get a Champion that is much more popular among fans and has much better chess understanding.

- Vladimir Kramnik, as always, very impressive with his 100MPH analysis. I like Sergey Karjakin - modest, smiley and unfazed.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

Candidates 2014
Khanty-Mansiysk
Round Three
Saturday, March 15, 2014

Third Round Results

Andreikin, Dmitry - Karjakin, Sergey 0.5-0.5
Svidler, Peter – Kramnik, Vladimir 0.5-0.5
Topalov, Veselin – Aronian, Levon 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Anand, Viswanathan 0-1

Candidates 2014
Round Three
March 15, 2014
Andreikin, Dmitry – Karjakin, Sergey
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. h3 d5 11. e5 Ne4 12. Bd3 Bf5 13. Qe2 Nc6 14. Rd1 Bxd4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. Nxd4 Qd5 18. Nxc6 Qxc6 19. f3 Bd5 20. b3 a5 21. Ba3 Rfd8 22. Rac1 Qb6 23. Kh1 Be6 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Rd1 Rxd1 26. Qxd1 h6 27. Qd8 Kh7 28. Qd3 Kg8 29. Qd8 Kh7 30. Qd3 Kg8 0.5-0.5

Candidates 2014
Round Three
March 15, 2014
Topalov, Veselin – Aronian, Levon
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, anti-Marshall (8.a4)

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. d4 d6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nbd2 Bc5 12. h3 Bb7 13. Qe2 Nd4 14. Nxd4 Bxd4 15. Bc4 a5 16. Bd3 Nd7 17. Nf3 Nc5 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Bf4 Re8 20. Qh5 Qe7 21. Bb5 c6 22. Bc4 Ba6 23. Bd6 Qxd6 24. Bxf7 Kf8 25. e5 Qd7 26. e6 Nxe6 27. Bxe8 Rxe8 28. Qxh7 Qd5 29. f4 d3 30. f5 d2 31. Qh8 Kf7 32. Qh5 Kf8 33. Qh8 Kf7 34. Qh5 Kf8 35. Qh8 0.5-0.5

Candidates 2014
Round Three
March 15, 2014
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Anand, Viswanathan
D23 QGA, 4.Qc2 (Neo-Mannheim)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. g3 e6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. Ne5 Bh5 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nb3 a5 13. a4 Bb4 14. e4 e5 15. Be3 exd4 16. Bxd4 Kh8 17. e5 Re8 18. f4 f6 19. exf6 Nxf6 20. Bf3 Bxf3 21. Rxf3 Re4 22. Re3 Rxe3 23. Bxe3 Qe8 24. Bb6 Qh5 25. Bd4 Re8 26. Rf1 Ng4 27. Qc2 c5 28. Nxc5 Rc8 29. Rd1 Bxc5 30. Bxc5 h6 31. Kh1 0-1

Candidates 2014
Round Three
March 15, 2014
Svidler, Peter – Kramnik, Vladimir
A39 English, symmetrical, main line Knight Exchange

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O Nxd4 9. Qxd4 d6 10. Qd3 Be6 11. Bd2 Qc8 12. b3 Bh3 13. Rac1 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Qc6 15. f3 e6 16. Rfd1 Rad8 17. Bf4 Rd7 18. Qe3 b6 19. Rd3 Rc8 20. Qd2 Ne8 21. e4 a6 22. e5 h6 23. h4 Rcd8 24. Rd1 b5 25. c5 Qxc5 26. Ne4 Qb6 27. Nxd6 Bf8 28. h5 Nxd6 29. exd6 g5 30. Be5 Rc8 31. Rc1 Rxc1 32. Qxc1 Qb7 33. g4 b4 34. Qc4 Bg7 35. Bg3 Qb5 36. Be1 Qe5 37. Bg3 Qe2 38. Bf2 Bf8 39. Qxa6 e5 40. Qc4 Qxa2 41. Qc6 e4 42. fxe4 Qe2 43. Rf3 Rxd6 44. Qe8 f6 45. e5 f5 46. gxf5 Rf6 47. Kg3 Qe4 48. Bc5 Qe1 49. Bf2 Qe4 50. Bc5 Qe1 51. Bf2 0.5-0.5

Round 3 Report

Official Press Release

Viswanathan Anand is leading the standings with 2,5 points.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Viswanathan Anand stuck to their guns, Vishy defended with the Slav while Shakh once again played knight on d2. After the introductory moves white expanded in the center with e5 and f4. The former World Champion didn’t lose time and immediately undermined the pawn chain. White’s inability to bring the rooks to the central files, controlled by the beautifully placed black bishops, proved that his position was a little over-extended.

Mamedyarov was forced to make a concession and exchange the light-squared bishops. However, this maneuver left the squares around the white king horribly weak.

Anand jumped on the opportunity and quickly mobilized the heavy pieces to attack the opponent’s king.

White didn’t survive long and Mamedyarov resigned on move 31.

Anand suggested possible improvements in 24. Bc5 or 24. Bf2, instead of the game move. Mamedyarov replied that 24. Bc5 Rd8 is unpleasant. Anand agreed and said that probably 24. Bf2 was the best try.
___________

Dmitry Andreikin is an unpleasant opponent for Sergey Karjakin, having eliminated him in the 4th round of 2013 World Chess Cup.

Karjakin defended with the Berlin Ruy Lopez, and Andreikin avoided the famous endgame by slowly expanding in the center with d3, c3 and d4.

Black traded on d4 and struck back with d6-d5. After the massive exchanges, black found the excellent move 17…Qd5 to hold the balance.

With the weakened pawn structure around his king, Andreikin couldn’t find anything better than to trade all the rooks and force perpetual check.
___________

Despite the loss in the first round, Levon Aronian didn’t hesitate to repeat the Ruy Lopez Anti-Marshall. Veselin Topalov chose the line that was earlier seen in Grischuk’s games.

Black conceded the bishop’s pair to get a pawn on d4 and the position appeared to be equal. White decided to complicate the matters with the queen’s excursion to h5.

Aronian thought for a long time but eventually decided not to take the pawn on e4. Soon-after he played 22…Ba6 allowing wild complications after 23. Bd6.

White captured the h7-pawn and set his f-pawn in motion. But black was just on time to create counterplay by pushing his d-pawn. White was eventually forced to take the perpetual check.
__________

Peter Svidler didn’t want to test Vladimir Kramnik’s Nimzo-Indian or Ruy Lopez and decided to start with the English Opening.

It was a fairly normal position as black forced the trade of white’s light-squared bishop, but then 15…e6 gave the signal for Svidler to amass his pieces on the d-file.

Kramnik clung onto his pawn, but Svidler managed to break through by getting e5 and c5 in. White got an imposing passer on d6 but it was very difficult to force its advance.

Already around move 30 the players run into zeitnot and for the final moves before the time control they were down to seconds.

When the smoke cleared, it looked like white will finally remove the blockading rook from d7, but black was very resourceful to find counterplay. The amazing 45…f5 and 46…Rf6 saved the day for Kramnik.
________

There was a lot of drama in Svidler-Kramnik with 10 moves to go and about six minutes each on the clocks (and no increments).
The commentators said that Svidler was excited at his 32nd move, realizing that he was close to winning over Kramnik.

After Kramnik’s 35…Qb5, Svidler can win with 36. Qxb5 but instead plays 36.Be1. If Kramnik can find 36…Qe5 then he has found the way to the draw. He does find it.

The players pass the time control.

Svidler gets a good game with 41. Qxb4, but thinks for thirteen minutes and then plays 41.Qc6. If Kramnik plays 41…e4 he has a study-like position to equality. Viktorija thinks he will find the route to the draw. He finds it.

43. Rf3 Rxd6 44. Qe8 f6 45. e5 f5 46. gxf5 Rf6

- amazing that Kramnik found f5 and Rf6

- Kramnik playing the best

- I suspect it's dawned on Svidler that the game is heading to a draw now

- they should send kramnik to look for that airplane ....he finds hidden things very well

(Fabiano Caruana) – 45..f5 46 gf5 Rf6 is unbelievable. Times like this I wonder what my thoughts would be playing over the board.
______

At the press conference after the draw is agreed, Svidler says that they will keep it briefer than usual. But that does not happen with two of the great analysts trying to outdo one another at the microphone and win the post mortem. Both speak in English and the Russian interpreter tries valiantly to keep up. The conference goes twenty minutes!

- You could also say Kramnik found an incredible defense after Svidler pulled the fantastic move c5 out of the hat. This focuses on the achievements, which are more relevant for the result I think.

- There was nothing spectacular in Kramnik's defence after c5. He just profited from Svidlers weak move Nxd6 (both Bxh6 and Be3 would have maintained a significant advantage). And later Svidler offered the blunders 36.Re1? and 41. Qc6? (then already out of time trouble after a longer think).

Kramnik had weakened his position with 30...Rc8 and then gave Svidler another big chance after his blunder 39...e5.

- I also severely doubt you have followed the game live. The "blunders" in move 36 and 39 were played in extreme time trouble and it took a genius to find the reply Qe5 in few seconds. The "blunder" Qc6 was just winning in all except one superhuman line. It's so easy to sit in front of the computer without any time pressure, without the adrenaline racing, and to criticize moves by regurgitating computer evals.

- Svidler - Kramnik is a hell of a game ! traps everywhere, it's a miracle that big vlad escaped this labyrinth
Svidler right now shows great skills and totally deserve his place.

Andreikin and Karjakin are playing the candidates for the first time ! give them a break ...
they both qualified ( world cup / rating list ), so nothing to complain about

Nakamura didn't show anything
 Grishuk had his chances last year and the year before

I agree on one point : Caruana should have been there, but then again, it would have been Svidler out ...
If Svidler plays at this level he might even win the candidates

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

Thanks, Wayne. Some very exciting games although Svidler-Kramnik looks to me to be a dead draw. But you never know.

[Hal Bond]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

This was a great round to witness. I am thrilled for Anand - leading the tournament after 2 of 3 games as Black. The Russians have now finished their first "round robin" so we shall see how they fare against the other flags. I thought Svidler was going to take Kramnik off during the time scramble. It was truly a clash of titans! Kramnik's 40th move came with 2 seconds before the first time control. Takis and I were both recording these final few moves, and our young Aussie colleague Jamie Kenmure followed Kramnik to the washroom 26 times during the game - just 2 visits shy of his record during "toilet gate". There was nothing awry - Kramnik just has a medical condition which he can manage and still play like a beast!
Tomorrow is a free day - time for some laundry detail and maybe another city tour. Frankly I wish it wasn't so. Bring on the games! Takis mentioned today that the most decisive rounds often follow a free day, so Monday comes with high hopes!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

The youtube stream of the tournament is at:

http://candidates2014.fide.com/youtube-stream/

I have checked over the time slider at the bottom and seem to see Hal at 3:26:55 watching Svidler-Kramnik.

It must be said that in the full-screen mode, that the images of the participants are outstandingly clear.

[Paul Bonham]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

I am wondering about the statement:
"Nakamura didn't show anything
 Grishuk had his chances last year and the year before"

Neither Nakamura nor Grischuk are in this event.

What does the statement mean? It seemed to just pop up out of nowhere.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

You are right, Paul.

I monitor a lot of chess discussion groups and, even though we are deep into the Candidates, there are those wishing that other players had got places in the contest.

The two most frequently named players are Nakamura and Caruana. Supposedly, they play more interesting chess than Mamedyarov and do have higher ratings.

My position is that FIDE set up the qualifiers and Andreikin and Mamedyarov have earned their chance at the top position. Nakamura and Caruana are young and we will probably see qualifying in the next cycle.

When I quote from the discussion groups, I try to get a wide range of opinion and the sentence you cite did seem to drop out of the blue. I shouldn’t have left it in. It was part of a larger debate on personal favorites to be at Khanty-Mansiysk and their “worthiness”.

The statement in that forum that first got blood pressures rising was this:

Looking at the games, it becomes more and more obvious that it's just a shame to have two Russian players from places 16 and 41 of the present ELO list there, instead of players like Caruana, Grischuk and Nakamura.

My apology again.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Candidates Tournament 2014

In a round robin it's the fishies who often decide the placing. Losing or sometimes even drawing with them, while the rest of the contenders score full points, can be the difference.

I know in this case the players are all strong but there's always a couple who don't quite seem to be as strong as the rest of the field.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

2700-level "fish" ?

In a round robin it's the fishies who often decide the placing. Losing or sometimes even drawing with them, while the rest of the contenders score full points, can be the difference.

I know in this case the players are all strong but there's always a couple who don't quite seem to be as strong as the rest of the field.

lol. That's the first time I've heard of 2700-level GMs called "fish". Your caveat notwithstanding, why not rack your brain and come up with a different term?

In chess parlance, a fish is a term for a poor chess player. Although roughly synonymous with the dismissive colloquialisms patzer or woodpusher, there are distinctions. In general a "fish" is a player easily defeated by simple stratagems: just as a fish is oblivious to the fact that bait is attached to a hook, the player appears oblivious to the purpose of the opponent's moves. In contrast, a "woodpusher" is someone consistently uninspired in his/her own play, and "patzer" can connote an amateur whose enthusiasm is unmatched by ability.

While a fish is necessarily an unrated or low-rated player, competitors at all levels can find themselves prone to episodes of "playing like a fish"--i.e., being inattentive and/or gullible.

fish at chess.com


"A greater proportion of suburban Toronto did not vote at all. That is to say, where Rob Ford did well, more people chose not to vote."

[Gary Ruben]

Re: 2700-level "fish" ?

For every stud who finishes first there's a fishie who finishes last.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Re: 2700-level "fish" ?

For every stud who finishes first there's a fishie who finishes last.

I can quote Richard James (on chess of course and not change the subject) who says in his book on teaching chess to children in the right way ...

Chess is, mathematically speaking, a two-person, zero-sum game with full information. If I win, you lose. If you win, I lose. If you draw, I draw. We both know exactly what pieces both players have and where they are. So it's a game of pure skill, a game so difficult that even the best players in the world make mistakes....

... which is one view. James is technically wrong; both players can get a score of "0" by, say, engaging in a fist-fight during the game, or some such foolishness. I prefer the more enlightened view of Lasker ...

"In Life," he says, "we are all duffers." In Life, we are all checkmated, sooner or later; in chess, we can bring off many successes which are inherent in the rational nature of the game. So, "On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culminating in a checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite. Our little chess is one of the sanctuaries, where this principle of justice has occasionally had to hide to gain sustenance and a respite, after the army of mediocrities had driven it from the marketplace. "

"Fish" is a deliberately demeaning term, intended as a chess insult, for the purpose of trash-talking, or amusing oneself at the expense of others, etc. Since everyone can err, and we are all duffers at something, we can just as well do without using such terms of contempt to explain our views.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: 2700-level "fish" ?

There aren't supposed to be duffers in the Candidates.

[Anand Gyan]

Re: Top 3 Finishers?: Candidates Tournament 2014

There is a choice for viewing the games with live commentators; either the official site at:

http://candidates2014.fide.com/live.html

or IM Lawrence Trent at chess24 dot com once you're registered:

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-to...ates2014/4/1/1

That's it!

[Wayne Komer]

Candidates Tournament 2014

Candidates 2014

Khanty-Mansiysk
Round Four
Monday, March 17, 2014

Fourth Round Results

Anand, Viswanathan – Kramnik, Vladimir 0.5-0.5
Aronian, Levon - Svidler, Peter 1-0
Karjakin, Sergey - Topalov, Veselin 0.5-0.5
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Andreikin, Dmitry 0-1


Candidates 2014
Round Four
March 17, 2014
Anand, Viswanathan – Kramnik, Vladimir
D24 QGA, 4.Nc3

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5 Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Qxc3 12. Kf1 gxf6 13. h4 a6 14. Rh3 Qb4 15. Be2 Ne5 16. h5 Qd6 17. Qd2 Nc6 18. Rd3 Qh2 19. f4 Rg8 20. Bf3 Bd7 21. Ne2 Qh1 22. Ng1 Nd4 23. Rxd4 Bb5 24. Kf2 Qh4 25. Ke3 e5 26. fxe5 Qg5 27. Kf2 Qg3 28. Ke3 Qg5 29. Kf2 Qg3 30. Ke3 Qg5 0.5-0.5

The commentators are Viktorija Cmilyte GM from Lithuania and Peter Heine Nielsen GM from Denmark. I learned from a tweet that they are married – tying the knot in December of last year.

Some of the Russian on-line viewers are not happy that the prime language of the press conferences is English. They have commented on the spectacle of Svidler and Kramnik analyzing at great speed in English while the interpreter tried to keep up difficultly with her Russian. I did find out her name – Anna Burtasova. She is a lawyer and Russian WGM. She is also a professional chess journalist and press officer for chess events.

There was actually a match between blondes and brunettes once at the Botvinnik Central Chess Club in Moscow and Burtasova was one of the players (May 2012). For the curious:

https://mateinmoscow.wordpress.com/category/gunina/


Candidates 2014
Round Four
March 17, 2014
Karjakin, Sergey – Topalov, Veselin
A29 English, Bremen

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. Rc1 Re8 11. a3 Nd5 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Qa4 a6 14. Rc3 Bf6 15. Rc5 Ne7 16. Rfc1 c6 17. Bg5 Bxg5 18. Nxg5 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Nf5 20. Qg4 Nd6 21. e3 Qf6 22. Ne4 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 Rad8 24. R1c3 Re6 25. b4 g6 26. a4 Rd4 27. exd4 exd4 28. Qxe6 Qxe6 29. R3c4 Qd6 30. a5 h5 31. h4 Kg7 32. Kg1 Kf8 33. Rc1 Qe6 34. R5c4 Qe5 35. Kf1 Qd5 36. Re1 Qh1 37. Ke2 Qd5 38. Kf1 Qh1 39. Ke2 Qd5 40. Kf1 0.5-0.5

Candidates 2014
Round Four
March 17, 2014
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Andreikin, Dmitry
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav, Accelerated Meran

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nf3 e6 6. a3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 Qc7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 c5 10. Nxf6 Nxf6 11. dxc5 a5 12. g3 Bxc5 13. Bg2 O-O 14. O-O e5 15. Bg5 Ra6 16. Rae1 Re8 17. Qc3 h6 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. b4 Bf8 20. Nh4 axb4 21. axb4 Be6 22. c5 b6 23. c6 Ra4 24. Rb1 Rd8 25. Qf3 Rd4 26. Nf5 Rdxb4 27. Rxb4 Rxb4 28. Qh5 Kh7 29. Rd1 Qc8 30. Ne3 f5 31. Bd5 f4 32. Nc2 Ra4 33. Qxe5 Bg7 34. Be4 Kg8 35. Qxf4 f5 36. c7 Rxe4 37. Rd8 Kf7 38. Qd6 Qa6 39. Rd7 Kg6 40. Qc6 Qc8 41. Rd8 Rc4 42. Qxc4 1-0

Candidates 2014
Round Four
March 17, 2014
Aronian, Levon – Svidler, Peter
D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O b6 13. Qc1 Bb7 14. Bc4 Qa4 15. Bb5 Qa2 16. Re1 Rc8 17. Qd1 Qc2 18. Qe2 Nc6 19. Bd3 Qa2 20. Bc4 Qa4 21. Bb3 Qa3 22. Bxf7 Kxf7 23. Qc4 e6 24. Ng5 Ke8 25. Nxe6 Qe7 26. Nxg7 Qxg7 27. Bc3 Nd8 28. Qb3 Rc7 29. Ba1 Rac8 30. d5 Qd7 31. Qb2 Qe7 32. Rbd1 Nf7 33. e5 Rc2 34. Qb5 Qd7 35. Qxd7 Kxd7 36. e6 Kd6 37. exf7 Rf8 38. Re6 Kd7 39. Rf6 Re2 40. f4 Re7 41. Be5 Rexf7 42. Rd6 Ke8 43. Re1 Re7 44. Rc1 Rff7 45. Bf6 Rd7 46. Re6 Kf8 47. d6 Kg8 48. h4 Rf8 49. Bg5 Kf7 50. Rce1 Bc6 51. h5 a5 52. Re7 Kg8 53. hxg6 hxg6 54. R1e6 Rf7 55. Rxg6 Kh7 56. Rh6 Kg7 57. Ree6 1-0

Aronian sacrificed a piece for a pawn, opening up Black's king, and creating two passed pawns in the centre. He used a lot of effort trying not to take the invitation of a draw by repetition much earlier on, and he was able to try out something in the opening that Svidler had not been able to analyse in depth in advance. Svidler thought for ages at move 27, with the usual dilemma of whether to try to refute Aronian's play - tempting - or whether to keep things steady, maybe with a repetition. Eventually, he decided to keep things solid, aiming to develop all his pieces. Declining to draw now he has a tough defense to maintain.
_________
From the press conferences:

Kramnik declined to reveal his preparation because the game has a theoretical significance. “I also showed that I am better prepared than it seemed after my last game as Black. Each tournament has its own scenario but a score of plus 3 to plus 5 might be winning at the end.”

Sergey Karjakin started the round with 1.c4, which was only fourth such occasion from almost 1000 games with white. Veselin Topalov thought for a couple of minutes before responding with his favourite Reversed Dragon setup.

Karjakin and Topalov were asked if they had used the new application “Play with Carlsen”. With Veselin looking grim as death, it is a hardy interviewer who would ask something like that but Karjakin said that his seconds have looked at it and Topalov said he had heard of it but not seen it.

In his conference Andreikin said that it has been six years since he has played a game without getting an increment. His wife recently gave birth to a daughter, how did this affect his preparation? He said that it takes a lot of his time but there are many positive emotions. During the tournament he is spending a lot of time on Skype with his wife and daughter.

Aronian-Svidler was very relaxed. Peter tried not to overwhelm Burtasova. What he did one time was to give his comments in Russian and then again in English so she would not have to interpret while he was talking.

Aronian showed a spectacular line and Svidler gave an analogous line from the Zurich 1953 Tournament Book with everybody laughing. Peter said that you don’t win tournaments like this by drawing in interesting positions so when he had a chance to draw, he played on. He had cause to regret this later on! His other mistake was played Qe7 instead of Qf7.

An odd question from the audience at the end to Peter Svidler – “Last year at the London Candidates' you had a very unpleasant game against Gelfand (Round Five) and then lost to Carlsen (Round Six). Is this going to happen again? Do you see a parallel?”

Most of the panel had shocked expressions.

Peter – “Let me express my gratitude for this question, just what I wanted to hear right now. There is always hope. I don’t know what I am expected to say here. We are doomed and going to die. Yes there are parallels.”

Anastasyia ( brightly) – Are there any more pleasant questions?

Viewers’ Comments

- I think Svidler screwed up completely. After 20 or so moves that must have been in his preparation (considering the speed at which he made his moves), all of a sudden he found himself in a practically very difficult situation, fighting two central connected passed pawns. He must have missed his chance for equality immediately after running out of prepared moves. Very strange, but good practical play by Aronian

- Svidler didn't really screw up, he took risks, offered everyone a beautiful show ! Aronian had to play very very precisely in order to win this game. Let's say that there was one careless move ... but who will blame him for that ?

- I'm really impressed by both players in the Aronian-Svidler game! It was high tension on high level from start to finish, even if Svidler finally lost track after defending strong for quite long. And seeing half a game with white a piece down and still putting constant pressure on black's position really was instructive to watch!

Svidler, who could have reached a dynamically balanced position on move 27, explained in the press conference that in the end you don't win such a tournament by just getting draws on occasion, and he was completely right IMHO.
If he had won this complicated game, where all three results seemed possible, he would have caught up with Anand.

Aronian also showed strong nerves and went in for an extremely sharp line, in which he felt less prepared than his opponent, as he confirmed. For him the same is true: Going for an opening repetition would have given him an early draw, but this would be no way to catch up with Anand, especially since Anand is expected to gain his next full point again Andreikin tomorrow, while Aronian has to face Kramnik with black and can hardly hope for more than a draw.

He took the high risk, played very well and was rewarded. I guess this win will play an extremely important role for his self-confidence during the rest of the tournament, even if after tomorrow Anand might be a full point ahead again.

Congratulations to both players for a great game, showing a lot of skill and courage from both sides! 
This tournament shows a lot of hot chess so far, and the tension is still rising.

- If Anand wins this tournament I will stop following chess.