Baku 2014

[Wayne Komer]

Baku 2014

The Grand Prix series, consisting of four tournaments to be held over two years (2014-5), is beginning with Baku 2014.

Each of the 16 GP players will play in three tournaments out of four and all of his results will be taken into account in the final standings of the GP.

The winner and second placed player overall will qualify for the Candidates to be held in the last quarter of 2015 or the first half of 2016.

The Baku tournament takes place October 1st until the 15th in an eleven round robin with the time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, with 60 minutes being added at that point and then each player allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move allowed from move 61 onwards.

The twelve contestants are Fabiano Caruana (ITA), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE), Teimour Rajabov (AZE), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB), Boris Gelfand (ISR), Leinier Dominguez (CUB), Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and the Russians Alexander Grischuk, Peter Svidler, Sergey Karjakin, Evgeny Tomashevsky and Dmitry Andreikin.

The total prize money offered by the host city is 120,000 Euros, with the winner getting 20,000 Euros.

The Grand Prix tournaments are:

1 Oct. 1 – Oct. 15 Baku, Azerbaijan
2 Oct. 20 - Nov. 3 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
3 Feb. 14 – Feb. 28 Tehran, Iran
4 May 13 – May 27 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia*

Looking at the participants lists, it appears to me that eight players will no sooner finish at Baku then they will go to Tashkent for a further grueling eleven rounds viz. Caruana, Nakamura, Karjakin, Mamedyarov, Gelfand, Andreikin, Radjabov and Kasimdzhanov.

This seems to be cruel and unusual punishment – how can this be? They will be joined by four fresh players MVL, Giri, Jakovenko and Ghaem (IRN).

No Ivanchuk this time around. Pity.
_______
* It is not entirely clear whether the fourth round will take place in Moscow or in Khanty-Mansiysk.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Baku 2014

Im eager to see if Fabulous Fabio Caruana can keep his streak going and at least win Baku.

[Laurentiu Grigorescu]

Re: Baku 2014

This cycle seems to be all about Fabiano. If he wins the cycle it's just expected. If he places third it is a miss. Hope he makes to the Candidates, he fully deserves it.
The schedule seems insane with two tournaments in succession, but there might be some benefits in terms of travel and costs.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Baku 2014

Baku 2014

Schedule

1 Oct. Wednesday Opening Ceremony
2 Oct. Thursday Round 1
3 Oct. Friday Round 2
4 Oct. Saturday Round 3
5 Oct. Sunday Round 4
6 Oct. Monday – Free Day
7 Oct. Tuesday Round 5
8 Oct. Wednesday Round 6
9 Oct. Thursday Round 7
10 Oct. Friday Round 8
11 Oct. Saturday – Free Day
12 Oct. Sunday Round 9
13 Oct. Monday Round 10
14 Oct. Tuesday Round 11

Games start at 15:00 Baku time, which I make to be 6 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time.

Chess-news.ru is reporting the pairings for Round One as:

Dominguez - Kasimdzhanov
Tomashevsky – Grischuk
Karjakin – Caruana
Gelfand – Andreikin
Nakamura – Svidler
Mamedyarov - Radjabov

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Baku 2014

Baku 2014

October 2, 2014

Round One

The official site is up and working with live video

http://baku2014.fide.com/live/index.html

The various commentators are GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko & GM Emil Sutovsky (English), GM Sergey Shipov (Russian) and Anar Allahverdiyev & Farid Abbasov (Azerbaijani).

The first games to finish are:

Mamedyarov – Radjabov 0.5-0.5
Tomashevsky – Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Nakamura – Svidler 0.5-0.5
_______

Boris Gelfand won against Andreikin

Baku 2014
Round One
Oct. 2, 2014
Gelfand, Boris – Andreikin, Dmitry
E15 Queen’s Indian, 4.g3 Bb7

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 c5 6. d5 exd5 7. cxd5 Bxd5 8. Nc3 Bc6 9. e4 d6 10. O-O Be7 11. Nh4 g6 12. Bh6 Bf8 13. Bxf8 Kxf8 14. Qd2 Ne8 15. Rad1 Kg7 16. f4 Qc8 17. Nd5 Rf8 18. e5 dxe5 19. f5 Qd8 20. f6+ Nxf6 21. Nf5+ Kh8 22. Qh6 Rg8 23. Nxf6 1-0

Dominguez – Kasimdzhanov is a draw.

The commentators seemed to think that Karjakin’s game against Caruana was in Sergey's favour almost to the end. Then there was slight time trouble and transmission troubles and suddenly Caruana won!

Baku 2014
Round One
Karjakin, Sergey – Caruana, Fabiano
D37 QGD Hastings Variation

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. Rc1 Nbd7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 c6 9. h3 Ne4 10. Bd3 Ndf6 11. O-O Bf5 12. Ne2 Nd7 13. Qb3 Qb6 14. Qc2 Bg6 15. Bh2 Rfe8 16. Nf4 Bd6 17. Nxg6 Bxh2+ 18. Kxh2 hxg6 19. g3 Qd8 20. Kg2 g5 21. Rh1 Qe7 22. b4 a5 23. b5 c5 24. h4 g4 25. Ng5 Rac8 26. Bxe4 dxe4 27. Qb3 g6 28. Rc4 b6 29. Rhc1 Rcd8 30. dxc5 Nxc5 31. Rxc5 bxc5 32. Rxc5 Rc8 33. Re5 Qf6 34. Rd5 Red8 35. a4 Rxd5 36. Qxd5 Rc2 37. Kh1 Rxf2 0-1

From chess.com - It must be said that with today's win, Caruana had Caïssa on his side — in a strange way. On move 21 Karjakin stayed in a room behind the podium room for a while, where players can eat and drink and see the games on a screen. However, there must have been some issues with the transmission of the games because when he came back, he noticed that Caruana had moved already fifteen minutes earlier!

Later in the game this became quite important, because Karjakin got into serious time trouble (he needed to make ten moves in two minutes). In this tournament the players don't have increment: the time control is the classical 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes to finish the game with 30 seconds increment per move from move 61 onwards.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Baku 2014

Caruana is now within 15.1 rating points of Carlsen.

http://www.top40chess.com/

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Baku 2014

Caruana is now within 15.1 rating points of Carlsen.

Retaining the world championship and maintaining the highest rating are two different things.

With a defense coming up Carlsen isn't necessarily showing his best stuff or what he's working on for the big match. Don't forget Anand isn't the highest rated either but he easily won the Challengers and made it to the big match.

Maybe in the next few years Caruana will get his ticket to the big match. Maybe he won't.

[Paul Bonham]

Re: Baku 2014

Retaining the world championship and maintaining the highest rating are two different things.

With a defense coming up Carlsen isn't necessarily showing his best stuff or what he's working on for the big match. Don't forget Anand isn't the highest rated either but he easily won the Challengers and made it to the big match.

Maybe in the next few years Caruana will get his ticket to the big match. Maybe he won't.

In tennis, there is no 'World Champion' match. The #1 player in the world is kept track of by ATP points earned at tournament events. A record is kept of the number of weeks a player is on top of the ATP point rankings. I think Federer holds the record of most consecutive weeks at #1.

Maybe chess needs to go in this direction, seeing as how FIDE has so much trouble getting sponsors for the WC match.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Baku 2014

In tennis, there is no 'World Champion' match. The #1 player in the world is kept track of by ATP points earned at tournament events. A record is kept of the number of weeks a player is on top of the ATP point rankings. I think Federer holds the record of most consecutive weeks at #1.

Maybe chess needs to go in this direction, seeing as how FIDE has so much trouble getting sponsors for the WC match.

And to that, I'll say, why not have both?

I like the rating system, it's objective, relatively precise and all.

But the WC matches are just too interesting, IMO, to give up. One on one, winner takes all. You have to beat the champ to become the champ. There can be only one etc.

That's where most of the excitement comes from. We all know who was world champion in any given year, and who were the challengers. But we don't really remember the exact Elo rankings, like who was #2 or #3 in 1964?

I'd say sports like tennis should have WC matches too. Just imagine the excitement of having Federer and Nadal playing each other for 2 weeks.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Baku 2014

[QUOTE=Gary Ruben;87850]Retaining the world championship and maintaining the highest rating are two different things.

Perhaps Magnus has a different perspective now than he did in 2012, but Magnus is on record as to what's more important to him.

"For me right now I think being the world number one is a bigger deal than being the world champion because I think it shows better who plays the best chess. That sounds self-serving but I think it’s also right."

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Baku 2014

Baku 2014

Round Two
October 3, 2014

The first game to finish is the one between the two leaders Caruana and Gelfand:

Baku 2014
Round Two
Oct. 3, 2014
Caruana, Fabiano – Gelfand, Boris
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 h5 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 g6 12. Be2 Bg7 13. Na5 Qc7 14. c4 e4 15. O-O exf3 16. gxf3 O-O 17. b4 Rfe8 18. Rac1 Rxe3 19. Qxe3 Re8 20. Qd2 Kh7 21. Nb3 Bh6 22. f4 Ne4 23. Qe1 Ndf6 24. Bd3 Qd7 25. Rc2 Qh3 26. Qd1 Bxf4 27. Qf3 Qxf3 28. Rxf3 Ng5 29. Rf1 Re3 30. Nc1 Ng4 31. c5 dxc5 32. bxc5 Re8 33. h4 Re3 34. hxg5 Rg3+ 35. Kh1 Rh3+ 36. Kg2 Rg3+ 37. Kh1 Rh3+ ½-½

The idea of the sacrifice 18…Rxe3 was conceived by Gelfand’s coach Alexander Huzman. Boris at the press conference: "Nigel Short said recently that one doesn't need seconds in modern chess except to send them to the laundry because just pressing a computer key is enough to work on one's openings. However, I (probably like many others) am really thankful to my seconds for their difficult job of finding novelties like this one.”

While Miroshnichenko and Sutovsky are commenting on the games still in progress, Anastasiia Karlovich is interviewing Caruana and Gelfand. Just after the interview starts Fabiano and Boris start doing variations on the board and analyze without stopping for almost 19 minutes. The interviewer twiddles her thumbs, so really, no interview to speak of.

Svidler beats Mamedyarov

Baku 2014
Round Two
Oct. 3, 2014
Svidler, Peter – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D31 QGD, Charousek Exchange

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. g4 Be6 8. h3 Nd7 9. Qb3 b5 10. Nf3 h6 11. Bd3 Ngf6 12. Qc2 Rc8 13. O-O b4 14. Ne2 c5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Ned4 O-O 17. Rac1 Bd6 18. Ne5 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 Qb6 20. Qb5 Bc5 21. Qxb6 axb6 22. Nd3 Nd7 23. b3 Rfe8 24. Nb5 h5 25. f3 hxg4 26. hxg4 Red8 27. Kg2 f6 28. Rfd1 Bf7 29. Nxc5 Rxc5 30. Nd4 Ra8 31. Bd6 Rxa2+ 32. Kg3 Rb2 33. Ra1 Rc8 34. Bxb4 Nc5 35. Ba3 Rxb3 36. Bxc5 1-0

Shakh was driving in and had a blinking red light on the main highway that stopped him far too long and he arrived at the board with one minute to go. Peter was rooting for Shakh because he did not want to win the game because his opponent forfeited. That must be one heck of a blinking red light!

Andreikin loses to Nakamura

Baku 2014
Round Two
Oct. 3, 2014
Andreikin, Dmitry – Nakamura, Hikaru
A80 Dutch, King’s Knight

1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c3 d6 7. Qb3+ e6 8. Bg5 Qe8 9. Nbd2 Nh5 10. Ne1 h6 11. Be3 g5 12. f4 gxf4 13. Bxf4 Kh8 14. Be3 Nc6 15. Nd3 b6 16. g4 Nf6 17. gxf5 exf5 18. Bf2 Be6 19. Qc2 Bd5 20. Nf3 Be4 21. Qd2 Ne7 22. Bh4 Ng6 23. Bxf6 Rxf6 24. Rf2 c5 25. Raf1 Qe6 26. a3 Rg8 27. Kh1 Kh7 28. Qe3 Re8 29. Qd2 Rg8 30. Qe3 c4 31. Nf4 Nxf4 32. Qxf4 Rg6 33. h3 Bf6 34. Kh2 Be7 35. Bh1 R8g7 36. Rg2 Bg5 37. Qg3 Bc1 38. Rxc1 Rxg3 39. Rxg3 Bxf3 40. Rxg7+ Kxg7 41. Bxf3 Qe3 42. Rg1+ Kf6 43. Bh5 Qd2 44. Rg6+ Ke7 45. Rg7+ Kd8 46. Rg8+ Kc7 47. Rg7+ Kb8 48. Rg8+ Kb7 0-1

Grischuk-Karjakin and Kasimdzhanov-Radjabov were drawn. Dominguez-Tomashevsky goes to 100 moves, rook and pawn each and a draw is signed.

Tomorrow Nakamura meets Caruana and Gelfand deals with Grischuk. Other contests are Tomashevsky-Kasimdzhanov, Karjakin-Dominguez, Mamedyarov-Andreikin and Radjabov-Svidler.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Baku 2014

Perhaps Magnus has a different perspective now than he did in 2012, but Magnus is on record as to what's more important to him.

"For me right now I think being the world number one is a bigger deal than being the world champion because I think it shows better who plays the best chess. That sounds self-serving but I think it’s also right."

This is very idealistic and I admire it. However, signing to defend his FIDE world championship at a match in Sochi, knowing the political situation and the prize fund which some thought not large enough, is also "self-serving".

You have to remember in 2012 he hadn't turned in a mediocre performance in the 2014 Olympiad nor played in the Sinqufield Cup where he likely needed binoculars to see the leader.

Sponsors love winners and world champions. Defeating Anand is no sure thing.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Baku 2014

Baku 2014

Round Three
October 4, 2014

Radjabov-Svidler is a draw and is press-conferenced and the other games continue.

A critical game:

Baku 2014
Round Three
Oct. 4, 2014
Nakamura, Hikaru – Caruana, Fabiano
D31 QGD, Charousek Exchange

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. g4 Be6 8. h4 Nd7 9. Bg3 Nb6 10. f3 Bd6 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. Qc2 h5 13. g5 Ne7 14. Bd3 O-O 15. Nge2 Rac8 16. Rd1 g6 17. Kf2 a6 18. b4 Bf5 19. Bxf5 Nxf5 20. e4 Ng7 21. Qb3 Nc4 22. e5 Qe6 23. Nf4 Qe7 24. Ne4 dxe4 25. Qxc4 Ne6 26. Ne2 exf3 27. Ng3 a5 28. a3 axb4 29. axb4 Ra8 30. Ne4 Ra3 31. Rd2 Nf4 32. Rb1 Kg7 33. Rb3 Rfa8 34. Nf6 Ra2 35. Rxa2 Rxa2+ 36. Kxf3 Ng2 37. Kg3 Ne1 38. Re3 Nc2 39. Qxa2 Nxe3 40. Qa8 Qf8 41. Qxb7 Nf5+ 42. Kh3 Nxd4 43. Qd7 Qxb4 44. Qd8 Qc3+ 45. Kg2 Qd2+ 46. Kh3 Qd3+ 47. Kg2 Qf3+ 48. Kh2 Qf2+ 49. Kh3 Qf1+ 50. Kh2 Qf2+ ½-½

Black had a winning position but crashed down to equality after 33…Rfa8 and 36….Ng2. Caruana was upset with his "terrible" move Ng2, but said that he could live with the rest.

Other results: Karjakin-Dominguez 1-0 and Mamedyarov-Andreikin 0.5-0.5.
_______

Grischuk made a mistake in the middlegame and had to enter an inferior endgame because of it. He was a pawn down in the rook endgame that should be drawn with perfect play. In a time scramble Grischuk went down. Boris now leads the tournament with 2.5/3

Baku 2014
Round Three
Oct. 5, 2014
Gelfand, Boris – Grischuk, Alexander
E17 Queen’s Indian, 5.Bg2 Be7

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Na6 8. Nc3 Ne4 9. Bf4 d6 10. Qc2 Nb4 11. Qb3 Nxc3 12. Qxc3 c5 13. e4 Nc6 14. d5 Bf6 15. Qd2 Nd4 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. e5 dxe5 18. Bxe5 Bxe5 19. Rxe5 exd5 20. Rae1 Qd6 21. Re7 Bc6 22. Bxd5 Rad8 23. Rxa7 Bxd5 24. Qxd5 Qxd5 25. cxd5 Rxd5 26. Rb7 Rd6 27. Re3 g6 28. Rb3 c4 29. R3xb6 Rxb6 30. Rxb6 Ra8 31. a3 c3 32. bxc3 Rxa3 33. Rc6 h5 34. h4 Kf8 35. Kg2 Ke7 36. Kf3 Ra2 37. Ke3 Rc2 38. Rc4 Kf8 39. f3 Ke7 40. Kf4 Rf2 41. Re4+ Kd6 42. Re3 f6 43. Ke4 Ra2 44. Rd3+ Ke6 45. c4 Rc2 46. Kd4 Kd6 47. f4 Rc1 48. Rf3 Rd1+ 49. Kc3 Rb1 50. f5 gxf5 51. Rxf5 Ke6 52. Rxh5 Rg1 53. Rh8 Rxg3+ 54. Kb4 f5 55. h5 Rg7 56. h6 Rf7 57. Re8+ Kf6 58. Re1 f4 59. Kc5 f3 60. Kd6 Kg6 1-0

Online Comments

- Gelfand is a gamer, plays above his rating every time something big is on the line

- Of course it's too early to declare Gelfand the (probable) winner of the event - let alone the entire GP Series. But praise where praise is due, and qualifying for a WCh match against Anand wasn't quite the fluke or accident that some people made of it. Subsequently, Gelfand did well not only in two GP events but also in Alekhine Memorial (shared first with Aronian) and Tal Memorial (clear first). True, he also had a couple of bad events - instability comes with age?

- Too early to predict a winner?

Seven players within 1 point from the leader and seven games still to play.

- If you actually watched the game, you will know that Gelfand was basically winning the whole time, then in the end (due to time trouble for both), he made some inaccurate moves, which resulted in a drawn position, but Grischuk also lost on time. It's not like it was a drawn position all the way along and Grischuk lost on time. 1-0 for Gelfand is a fair result.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Baku 2014

Baku 2014

Round Four
October 5, 2014

Caruana said they repeated the variation they played in Shamkir (2014) at the Gashimov Memorial. Caruana shows variations where Black is invading the king’s side but he escapes. The commentators say that it was an easy win for Caruana.

Baku 2014
Round Four
Oct. 5, 2014
Caruana, Fabiano-Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D11 QGD Slav, 4.e3

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. Qb3 Qb6 7. Nh4 Bh5 8. h3 g5 9. Nf3 h6 10. c5 Qc7 11. Bd3 Rg8 12. Qc2 Nbd7 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 g4 15. hxg4 Rxg4 16. Kf1 O-O-O 17. Ne2 Rdg8 18. Nf4 Rxf4 19. exf4 Bxf3 20. gxf3 Qxf4 21. Ke2 Rg2 22. Qc1 Qg3 23. Qf1 Ng4 24. fxg4 Qxg4+ 25. Kd2 Qf4+ 26. Ke2 Qg4+ 27. Ke1 Ne5 28. Be2 Qe4 29. Kd1 Bg5 30. dxe5 Qxb4 31. Kc2 Qxc5+ 32. Kb1 Rxf2 33. Qd1 Qe3 34. Re1 1-0

Gelfand draws with Dominguez with each in time trouble

Baku 2014
Round Four
Oct. 5, 2014
Dominguez, Leinier – Gelfand, Boris
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. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Rb8 12. Nc2 Bg5 13. a4 bxa4 14. Nce3 O-O 15. Qxa4 Bxe3 16. Nxe3 Ne7 17. O-O-O Bb7 18. Bd3 Bc6 19. Qa3 Qc7 20. Rd2 d5 21. exd5 Nxd5 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Bxh7+ Kxh7 24. Rxd5 Qc4 25. Rhd1 Rfc8 26. R5d3 Rc5 27. R1d2 g6 28. Rf3 Rb3 29. Qa2 Rcb5 30. Kd1 Qf1+ 31. Kc2 Qc4 32. Kd1 Qf1+ 33. Kc2 Qc4 ½-½

These games drawn: Tomashevsky-Karjakin, Andreikin-Radjabov and Kasimdzhanov-Svidler.

Svidler dominates the press conference saying that he was lost in the endgame. Both players are laughing during the analysis. Rustam says everything was winning for him and the clock was ticking and he had a minute left for five moves. Peter says at move 40, the win for his opponent was very difficult. Finally, a draw at move 45 – not exactly a Svidler swindle, but close.

The last game to finish is Nakamura’s

Baku 2014
Round Four
Oct. 5, 2014
Grischuk, Alexander-Nakamura, Hikaru
E97 King’s Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov Var.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Nh6 12. dxe5 fxe5 13. h3 g4 14. hxg4 Bxg4 15. Rc1 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Nd4 17. Bh5 Kh8 18. Nb5 Ne6 19. Rc3 Qe7 20. Na3 Bf6 21. Nc2 Bg5 22. Bh2 Bf4 23. g3 Bg5 24. Bf3 Rf6 25. Bg2 Rg8 26. Ne1 Rfg6 27. Bh3 Bf6 28. Kh1 Ng4 29. Bxg4 Rxg4 30. Nc2 Qe8 31. Rg1 Nd4 32. f3 R4g6 33. Nxd4 exd4 34. Rc2 c5 35. Qd3 Rh6 36. Rgg2 Rh3 37. Rcf2 Qh5 38. Kg1 Be5 39. f4 Bf6 40. Qf3 Qg6 41. Kh1 Qh6 42. Kg1 Qg6 43. Kh1 b6 44. b3 Qh6 45. Kg1 Qg6 46. Kh1 Qh6 47. Kg1 Bh4 48. Kf1 Bf6 ½-½

- Grischuk on his position with 22. Bh2: "This is perhaps the most ugly position in my whole chess career.. it's actually worse than it looks"

- Grischuk: "I played the worst possible line against the King's Indian because my friend recommended it to me... He said 15.Rc1 was a very strong novelty but a few moves later I thought for almost an hour and couldn't find any way to play. Black just slowly starts to mate me."

Standings

Caruana 3
Gelfand 3
Svidler 2.5
Nakamura 2.5
Karjakin 2
Tomashevsky 2
Radjabov 2
Kasimdzhanov 2
Dominguez 1.5
Grischuk 1.5
Mamedyarov 1
Andreikin 1

Free day tomorrow. Next round pairings for Tues. Oct. 7

Karjakin-Kasimdzhanov
Gelfand-Tomashevsky
Nakamura-Dominguez
Mamedyarov-Grischuk
Radjabov-Caruana
Svidler-Andrekin

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Baku 2014

Online Comments

- Gelfand is a gamer, plays above his rating every time something big is on the line

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

I'd like to see him win this event.