Dortmund 2015

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  • Dortmund 2015

    Dortmund 2015

    The Sparkassen Chess Meeting will take place 27 June - 5 July in Dortmund, Germany.

    It's a single round robin with eight players:

    2015 Sparkassen Chess Meeting

    Participants

    # Name Fed Rating Born

    1 Fabiano Caruana ITA 2803 1992
    2 Wesley So USA 2778 1993
    3 Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2777 1975
    4 Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2728 1990
    5 Arkadij Naiditsch GER 2720 1985
    6 Hou Yifan CHN 2686 1994
    7 Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu GER 2655 1976
    8 Georg Meier GER 2654 1987

    Caruana will be playing two top events back-to-back; he also plays in the Norway Chess tournament (15-26 June).

    The first-round pairings have already been announced:

    Nepomniachtchi-Caruana
    Georg Meier-Hou Yifan
    Kramnik-Naiditsch
    Nisipeanu-Wesley So

    http://www.chessdom.com/dortmund-chess-2015-live/

  • #2
    Re: Dortmund 2015

    Dortmund 2015

    Playing Schedule

    Round 1 June 27, 2015

    Nepomniachtchi-Caruana 1/2-1/2
    Meier-Hou 1/2-1/2
    Kramnik-Naiditsch 0-1
    Nisipeanu-So 1-0

    Round 2 June 28, 2015

    Caruana-So
    Naiditsch-Nisipeanu
    Hou-Kramnik
    Nepomniachtchi-Meier

    Round 3 June 30, 2015

    Meier-Caruana
    Kramnik-Nepomniachtchi
    Nisipeanu-Hou
    So-Naiditsch

    Round 4 July 1, 2015

    Caruana-Naiditsch
    Hou-So
    Nepomniachtchi-Nisipeanu
    Meier-Kramnik

    Round 5 July 3, 2015

    Kramnik-Caruana
    Nisipeanu-Meier
    So-Nepomniachtchi
    Naiditsch-Hou

    Round 6, July 4, 2015

    Caruana-Hou
    Nepomniachtchi-Naiditsch
    Meier-So
    Kramnik-Nisipeanu

    Round 7 July 5, 2105

    Nisipeanu-Caruana
    So-Kramnik
    Naiditsch-Meier
    Hou-Nepomniachtchi

    Round One Games

    Dortmund 2015
    Round 1, June 27, 2015
    Meier, Georg – Hou, Yifan
    E05 Catalan, Open, Classical Line

    1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Bd5 11.Qc2 Be4 12.Qd1 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Nbd2 Bc6 15.Ne5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Nbd7 17.Rc1 Nxe5 18.Rxc5 Ned7 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.Qc2 Rc8 21.Rxc8 Qxc8 22.Rc1 Qd7 23.Nf3 Rd8 24.Qb3 h6 25.Rc4 Qe7 26.e4 e5 27.Qc3 Re8 28.a5 Qe6 29.Rb4 Rc8 30.Qxe5 Qxe5 31.Nxe5 Rc5 32.f4 Rxa5 33.Kf3 b5 34.Rd4 g5 35.Rd6 Kg7 36.Nd3 Ra4 37.e5 Ne4 38.Rd7 gxf4 39.gxf4 Kg6 40.Ke3 f5 41.Rb7 Ra1 42.Rb6+ Kg7 43.b4 h5 44.Rb7+ Kg6 45.Rb6+ Kg7 46.h4 Ra3 47.Rb7+ Kg6 48.Kd4 Ng3 49.Rd7 Ne2+ 50.Ke3 Nc1 51.Kd2 Nxd3 52.Rxd3 Ra2+ 53.Ke3 Rb2 54.Rd6+ Kg7 55.Rxa6 Rb3+ 56.Ke2 Rxb4 57.Ke3 Rb3+ 58.Ke2 Rb4 59.Ke3 1/2-1/2

    Round 1, June 27, 2015
    Kramnik, Vladimir – Naiditsch, Arkadij
    D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

    1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.O-O b6 13.a4 Bb7 14.Bd3 a5 15.Rfc1 e5 16.d5 Nc5 17.Qe3 f5 18.Bc4 Qd6 19.exf5 Rxf5 20.Ng5 Rf4 21.Rab1 Qg6 22.Ba2 Qxg5 23.Rxb6 Raf8 24.f3 Nd3 25.Rd1 Nb4 26.Rxb7 Nxa2 27.d6 Nb4 28.Rb5 Nc6 29.d7 h6 30.Rbd5 Rd8 31.Qc3 Nd4 32.Kh1 Rh4 33.Qc7 Kh7 34.h3 Nxf3 35.Qc2+ Kh8 36.Qf2 Nd4 37.Re1 Rf4 38.Qb2 Qf6 39.Qb1 Nf5 40.Kh2 Rb4 41.Qc1 Ne7 42.Rxa5 Rxd7 43.Raxe5 Ng6 44.Re6 Qf4+ 45.Qxf4 Nxf4 46.R6e4 Rxe4 47.Rxe4 Nd3 48.Re8+ Kh7 49.Ra8 Rd4 50.g4 Nc5 51.a5 Ra4 52.Kg3 Ra3+ 53.Kg2 Ne4 54.a6 Nd6 55.h4 Nb5 56.g5 hxg5 57.hxg5 Nc7 0-1

    Round 1, June 27, 2015
    Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Caruana, Fabiano
    D78 Neo-Grunfeld

    1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 c6 5.O-O Nf6 6.b3 O-O 7.Bb2 Ne4 8.Nbd2 Bf5 9.c4 Nd7 10.Rc1 a5 11.Nh4 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Be6 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Nf3 Nf6 15.Ne5 Ne4 16.Qe3 a4 17.Nd3 axb3 18.axb3 Qb6 19.Nc5 Ra2 20.Bxe4 dxe4 21.Bc3 Qb5 22.Nxe6 fxe6 23.Rfe1 Qd5 24.Red1 Ra3 25.Qd2 Qxb3 26.Qg5 Ra2 27.Rd2 Bf6 28.Qc5 Rxd2 29.Bxd2 Qd5 30.Be3 Rd8 31.Rb1 Rd7 32.Rb5 Kf7 33.Qb4 Qc6 34.Rb6 Qd5 35.Rb5 Qc6 36.Rb6 Qc2 37.Rxb7 Rxb7 38.Qxb7 Bxd4 39.Bxd4 Qd1+ 40.Kg2 Qxd4 41.e3 Qd5 42.Qb2 Qf5 43.Qh8 Qf3+ 44.Kg1 Qd1+ 45.Kg2 Qf3+ 46.Kg1 1/2-1/2

    Round 1, June 27, 2015
    Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter – So, Wesley
    B23 Neo-Sicilian, Grand Prix Attack

    1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5+ Bd7 6.Bxd7+ Qxd7 7.O-O Nc6 8.d3 e6 9.f5 Nge7 10.fxe6 fxe6 11.Ng5 Ne5 12.Nb5 Qxb5 13.Nxe6 Kd7 14.Nxg7 h5 15.a4 Qb6 16.a5 Qb5 17.c4 Qc6 18.b4 Rh7 19.bxc5 Rxg7 20.Rf6 Nc8 21.d4 Ng4 22.Rf3 Qxe4 23.h3 dxc5 24.dxc5+ Ke8 25.hxg4 Ne7 26.Qf1 Rg8 27.Bb2 hxg4 28.Re1 1-0
    ______

    From chess24.com

    Lawrence Trent to manage Fabiano Caruana

    It’s quite a week for Fabiano Caruana. He finished playing in Norway Chess yesterday, starts in Dortmund tomorrow and has only just officially completed his switch from the Italian to the US Chess Federation. To cap it all, he now has a manager, International Master Lawrence Trent.

    No-one has worked harder than Fabiano Caruana to get to the very top of world chess, but so far he’s done it without a formal manager to handle all the logistics involved in being a professional sportsman. Lawrence Trent will now perform the same role Espen Agdestein does for Magnus Carlsen, liaising with tournaments, sponsors, the media and making sure nothing gets in the way of Fabiano’s sporting success. Lawrence is currently in Dortmund for the start of the 2015 Sparkassen Chess Meeting, and told us:

    I am absolutely thrilled and humbled to be given the opportunity to work with Fabiano – a decent, hard-working guy I believe has all the attributes you need to become World Champion, and in the not so distant future. I will do everything in my power to make sure he has all the support he needs to give reaching the pinnacle of the sport his very best shot. This opportunity, as many can imagine, was just too good to turn down.
    Last edited by Wayne Komer; Monday, 29th June, 2015, 10:47 AM.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Dortmund 2015

      Dortmund 2015

      Round Two
      June 28, 2015

      The chess24 commentators are Ilja Zaragatski and Jan Gustafsson. Jan must be tired after two weeks at Stavanger. Ilja was born in Leningrad (1985) but is a German grandmaster and to me, resembles Jimmy Fallon.

      As for the players, we have Caruana, now U.S.A. ex Italy, So, now U.S.A. ex Philippines, Naiditsch now Azerbaijan ex Germany and Nisipeanu, now Germany ex Romania.

      Hou Yufan is described as the former World Champion. She will be playing for the championship with Maria Muzychuk later, although nobody seems to know when that match will be. Jan says, “You never get to keep your title very long in the women’s world chess business!”

      Everyone knows Kramnik and Nepomniatchtchi.

      An interview with Georg Meier in 2008:

      WHEN DID YOU START TO PLAY CHESS?

      I learned the rules from my mother when I was 3-4 years old. But only when I was 9 we discovered that there are even clubs and tournaments…Then I started to play in child-tournaments, and just before turning 13 I played for the first time in an Open. For the standards of today’s generation of young GMs I had a very slow start as you can see.

      WHO WAS YOUR FIRST TRAINER?

      In the beginning I almost exclusively worked with books until I had some lessons with GM Gutman in 2001.

      WHO GAVE YOU MOST ON THE ROAD OF YOUR CHESS IMPROVEMENT?

      This is clearly GM Vladimir Chuchelov, with whom I train since 2002. He accompanied me all the way from a 2140-player to GM-level!
      I would also like to mention the books of Wassili Smyslov, which I studied a lot when I was young. They contributed much to the formation of my positional play. He is still one of my Chess-Idols.

      YOU MADE A RAPID GROW IN THE LAST TWO YEARS-BECAME GM AND IMPROVED YOUR RATING VASTLY. HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

      The period you mention begun, when I finished school. Naturally in the last years of my studies I had too little time for chess. But 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.
      ________

      Jan is asked about his Swedishness. He says that his great-grandfather was Swedish so that means he is either 1/8 or 1/16th Swedish.

      The guys talk about birthdays. Ilja asks what player in the top ten has a birthday today. It turns out to be Anish Giri, 21 years old today. Jan says that his birthday was a few days ago but he didn’t get many presents because hasn’t got many friends. “Then”, says Ilja, “maybe your job for the next year is to make some friends”. Jan responds that that is difficult because he spends all of his time talking about chess.

      Vladimir Potkin has a birthday anniversary today too. He was born in 1982. A former European chess champion, he now he coaches Nepomniachtichi.

      Jan says that Vladimir is the strongest red-haired player in the world. Ilja maintains that Hjorvar Gretarsson might give him a run for his money in the red-headed department. They then speculate on the tallest grandmasters. Jan is certainly tall, but the Dane, Peter Heine Nielsen, is taller and Sebastien Siebrecht claims to be the tallest.

      All of this makes my head ache so I shall go back to the games.
      _______

      Caruana has a good game until he makes an unfortunate move (20.b3 – everyone was surprised when he didn’t play the obvious c5). Some say it is because Lawrence Trent is his new manager and he has become Trentified. Jan points out that Fabiano has a string of bad-luck games against the Najdorf and that is it. Lawrence Trent comes on to the chatboard as does Hikaru Nakamura. All of this makes no difference, of course, and Caruana goes down to So. At move 67 Stockfish said that Black can mate in 47 moves!

      Hou Yifan is beaten by Kramnik and Nisipeanu beats Naiditsch.

      All in all, a very entertaining round, but if you are up at your cottage this holiday weekend, you are missing it.

      Dortmund 2015
      Round 2, June 28, 2015
      Naiditsch, Arkadij – Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
      B12 Caro-Kann, Advance Variation

      1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.O-O h6 7.Nbd2 Nd7 8.Nb3 g5 9.Ne1 Qc7 10.Nd3 b6 11.Be3 Bg7 12.Rc1 Rd8 13.Kh1 c5 14.dxc5 O-O 15.cxb6 axb6 16.f4 gxf4 17.Nxf4 Nxe5 18.Nh5 Nc4 19.Bg1 Bxb2 20.Nd4 Bg6 21.Nf6+ Kg7 22.Rb1 e5 23.Nb5 Qc6 24.a4 Nf5 25.Nh5+ Kh7 26.Qe1 Nce3 27.Rxb2 Nxf1 28.Qxf1 d4 29.Bf3 Qc5 30.Nf6+ Kg7 31.Ne4 Qe7 32.Rb3 Nh4 33.Qe1 f5 34.Nd2 Nxf3 35.Nxf3 Rfe8 36.Nh4 Kh7 37.Rh3 Qf6 38.Bf2 Bh5 39.Nf3 Bxf3 40.Rxf3 e4 41.Rh3 d3 42.cxd3 exd3 43.Qd1 d2 44.Nc3 Re6 45.Qb1 Qxc3 46.Qxf5+ Kh8 47.Rxc3 Re1+ 48.Bg1 Rxg1+ 49.Kxg1 d1=Q+ 0-1

      Round 2, June 28, 2015
      Hou, Yifan – Kramnik, Vladimir
      C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

      1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.d3 h6 7.Nbd2 d6 8.O-O Ne7 9.d4 a6 10.dxc5 axb5 11.cxd6 Qxd6 12.Qxb5 Ng6 13.Re1 b6 14.Nc4 Qe6 15.Ne3 Nxe4 16.Qd5 Nc5 17.b4 Bb7 18.Qxe6 Nxe6 19.Nf5 Rfd8 20.a4 Rd3 21.Be3 Rxc3 22.a5 Rb3 23.axb6 cxb6 24.Rxa8+ Bxa8 25.Bxb6 Bxf3 26.gxf3 Ng5 27.Kh1 Nxf3 28.Re4 Nf4 0-1

      Round 2, June 28, 2015
      Caruana, Fabiano - So, Wesley
      B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

      1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 b5 8.g4 b4 9.Nd5 Nxd5 10.exd5 h5 11.gxh5 Rxh5 12.a3 bxa3 13.Rxa3 Nd7 14.Bg2 Nf6 15.O-O Rb8 16.f4 Be7 17.c4 Qb6+ 18.Rf2 Rh4 19.Rc3 Bd7 20.b3 Bxh3 21.Bxh3 Ne4 22.Qe1 Nxc3 23.Qxc3 Qxb3 24.Qxb3 Rxb3 25.Bc8 e4 26.Bxa6 Bd8 27.c5 dxc5 28.Rg2 g6 29.Rg3 Rxg3+ 30.Nxg3 Rg4 31.Kh2 f5 32.Ne2 Rh4+ 33.Kg2 Bc7 34.Bc8 Kd8 35.Be6 Ke7 36.Be3 Bd6 37.Bf2 Rh8 38.Be1 c4 39.Bc3 Ra8 40.Be5 Ra2 41.Kf1 Rd2 42.Bc3 Rd3 43.Ba5 Ba3 44.Bg8 Bd6 45.Be6 Bc5 46.Ke1 Rb3 47.Kd2 Rb2+ 48.Kd1 Bb4 49.Bxb4+ Rxb4 50.Kc2 Rb3 51.Nc3 e3 52.Bg8 Rb6 53.Ne2 Ra6 54.d6+ Rxd6 55.Bxc4 Kf6 56.Bd3 g5 57.fxg5+ Kxg5 58.Ng3 Rc6+ 59.Kd1 f4 60.Nf1 Rb6 61.Nh2 Kh4 62.Ke1 Kg3 63.Nf1+ Kf3 64.Nh2+ Kg2 65.Nf1 Re6 66.Bc4 Re5 67.Ba6 Ra5 68.Bb7+ Kg1 69.Nxe3 Re5 0-1

      Nepomniachtchi-Meier was a draw in 25 moves.

      Standing After Round Two

      Nisipeanu 2.0/2.0
      Kramnik 1.0/2
      So 1.0/2
      Naiditsch 1.0/2
      Nepomniachtchi 1.0/2
      Meier 1.0/2
      Caruana 0.5/2
      Hou 0.5/2

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Dortmund 2015

        Dortmund 2015

        Round Three
        June 30, 2015

        The commentators today are Jan Gustafsson and Niclas Huschenbeth. The latter is a German grandmaster, presently studying in Baltimore. He has his own YouTube channel and his most recent posting is a discussion of Nakamura’s marvelous King Hunt game versus Michal Krasenkow.

        The guys discuss playing for Germany. Jan says he really hasn’t played for three years and hasn’t been asked to play for the national team. You really have to have a rating of at least 2600. It was something he strived for at one time and when he got it not much changed. Then around 2007 he had a string of bad results and sank to 2588 and worked very hard to get above 2600.

        Niclas says that there are young kids coming up that need a chance. Three who have recently got their GM title are: Dennis Wagner, Matthias Bluebaum and Alexander Donchenko.

        The guys predict the games today.

        Jan: Nisipeanu draw, Kramnik win, Caruana draw and So win

        Niclas: So win, Caruana win, Nisipeanu win and Kramnik draw

        When there is an idle moment Jan starts talking about dinosaurs – mainly because of the new movie Jurassic World that is making money all over the place. The viewers get into it and for a while chess takes second place to dinosaurs. Jan wants to put two things on the record – his favorite dinosaur is the Iguanodon and that the Jurassic movies have been very unfair to the velociraptors. They are not as fast and as fierce as in the movies. They are incredibly slow and are the size of turkeys. Then, supposedly to prove his point, he puts a picture of a velociraptor on the screen with feathers and a blood-curdling look that makes the viewers pull back suddenly from their computer screens, spilling their drinks.

        (tweet) - Topalovsaurus and Anandsaurus ROFL

        _______

        There is one chess player the spelling of whose name gives me fits. One viewer explains the meaning of his name:

        Jan & Niclas, do you guys know that Nepomniatchichi means, "guy who doesn't/can't remember" in Russian? I've always found that last name funny for a GM

        Another gives this pronunciation of the name:

        Ne (pause) pom (pause) ni (pause) schi
        ________

        Jan says that Kramnik let his advantage slip, a sign he is not playing so well in this tournament.

        He gets a dig in at his friend Lawrence Trent who is now Fabiano’s manager: Caruana is playing in the style of Lawrence Trent – play some random opening, get a losing position and play for tricks in mutual time trouble!

        There are lots of ideas from the viewers for replacing Trent as a regular at chess24.com. Among the replacements Nigel Short and Yu Yangyi!

        Jan says that he will be replaced by a player of similar strength and better dress sense!

        Now the viewers are discussing the Greek financial crisis, so it is time to leave them.

        In time trouble, Meier loses most of his advantage.

        Robin van Kampen and Anish Giri tweet:

        RvK: Meier – Caruana is the type of chess I like to watch!

        Anish Giri (a dig at Fabiano) – Dropping below me on the live-rating list was hard on the young American. No wonder he’s in despair.

        A glance at the list has Giri at fifth with 2790.6 and Caruana at sixth with 2790.5

        The games:

        Dortmund 2015
        Round 3, June 30, 2015
        Nisipeanu, L.D. – Hou Yifan
        E16 Queen’s Indian, Yates Variation

        1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 a5 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.O-O O-O 8.Bf4 Be7 9.Nc3 Na6 10.d5 Bb4 11.Nb5 exd5 12.Nh4 c6 13.Nd6 Bxd6 14.Bxd6 Re8 15.cxd5 Ne4 16.dxc6 dxc6 17.Bf4 Qf6 18.Be3 c5 19.Qd7 Bc6 20.Qg4 Nb4 21.Rad1 Qe6 22.Nf5 g6 23.Nh6+ Kg7 24.Qh4 Nc2 25.Ng4 Nxe3 26.fxe3 h5 27.Bxe4 Qxe4 28.Qf6+ Kg8 29.Qxf7+ Kh8 30.Qf6+ Kg8 31.Qf7+ Kh8 32.Qf6+ Kg8 33.Qf7+ 1/2-1/2

        Round 3, June 30, 2015
        So, Wesley – Naiditsch, Arkadij
        E10 Queen’s Pawn Game

        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.e3 Be7 6.b3 O-O 7.Bb2 b6 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.Qc2 c5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.O-O a6 12.Rfd1 Re8 13.Rac1 Bd6 14.Bf5 Rc8 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.Qd3 Rc7 17.Na4 Qe7 18.Qc3 d4 19.exd4 Bxf3 20.Qxf3 cxd4 21.Ra1 Ne5 22.Qh3 g6 23.Bd3 Nd5 24.Bxd4 Nxd3 25.Qxd3 Nf4 26.Qxa6 Qg5 27.g3 Ne2+ 28.Kf1 Qg4 29.Be3 Rxe3 30.Qa8+ Kg7 31.Rxd6 Re4 32.Kg2 Nf4+ 33.Kg1 Nh3+ 34.Kg2 Rc2 35.Rf1 Nf4+ 36.Kg1 Qf3 0-1

        Round 3, June 30, 2015
        Kramnik, Vladimir – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
        A05 Reti Opening

        1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 g6 4. c4 Bg7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 d5 7. Nc3 dxc4 8. Qa4+ Nbd7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rd1 Nb6 11. Qa3 Qd6 12. Qxd6 exd6 13. a4 a6 14. Bf4 Ne8 15. Rac1 a5 16. Ndb5 Bd7 17. Bxd6 Nxd6 18. Rxd6 Bc6 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Rxc6 Rab8 21. Rc5 Rfd8 22. Na7 Rd2 23. Rb5 Nd7 24. Rxb8+ Nxb8 25. Ncb5 Nd7 26. Rxc4 Bxb2 27. Kf1 Nb6 28. Re4 f5 29. Re8+ Kf7 30. Rb8 Nxa4 31. Nc6 Nc3 32. Nxa5 Rd1+ 33. Kg2 Nxe2 34. Nc4 Ba1 35. Nbd6+ Kg7 36. Rb7+ Kg8 37. Re7 Nc3 38. h4 Nd5 39. Rd7 h5 40. Ra7 Bd4 41. Ra8+ Kg7 42. Rd8 Ba1 43. Nb6 Nc3 44. Nbc8 Kf6 45. Rd7 Nd5 46. Nb6 Be5 47. Nb7 Nc3 48. Nd8 g5 49. Rxd1 Nxd1 50. Nd7+ Ke7 51. Nxe5 Kxd8 52. hxg5 Ke7 53. f4 Nc3 54. Kh3 Ne4 55. Kh4 1-0

        Round 3, June 30, 2015
        Meier, Georg – Caruana, Fabiano
        B06 Robatsch Defence

        1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 g6 3. e4 Bg7 4. Be2 Nd7 5. c4 e5 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. h4 h6 8. g4 Nb6 9. g5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Bg4 11. d5 f6 12. Be3 Bh6 13. Qd3 Bh5 14. O-O-O Kf7 15. Rdg1 Qd7 16. Bxh6 Rxh6 17. Bf1 Rah8 18. Bh3 Qd8 19. Ne1 c6 20. b3 Nd7 21. Qe3 cxd5 22. cxd5 Nc5 23. b4 Nd7 24. Qxa7 Qc7 25. Qe3 Nb6 26. Kb1 Kg7 27. Nb5 Qd8 28. f3 Rf8 29. Rg2 f5 30. Rc2 Na8 31. Qa7 fxe4 32. fxe4 Rf4 33. Bg2 Bd1 34. Rd2 Bg4 35. Qxb7 Rf7 36. Qa6 Nb6 37. Nd3 Nc4 38. Rc2 Bc8 39. Qa8 Ne3 40. Re2 Nxg2 41. Rxg2 Qb6 42. a4 Qe3 43. Rd1 Rf1 44. Rxf1 Qxd3+ 45. Rc2 Qxf1+ 46. Kb2 Qe1 47. Qa7 Qxb4+ 48. Ka2 Kf6 49. Rf2+ 0-1

        Standing After Round Three

        Nisipeanu 2.5/3
        Naiditsch 2.0/3
        Kramnik 2.0/3
        Caruana 1.5/3
        Nepomniachtchi 1.0/3
        Meier 1.0/3
        So 1.0/3
        Hou Yifan 1.0/3

        Tomorrow’s games Caruana-Naiditsch, Hou Yifan-So, Nepomniachtchi-Nisipeanu and Meier-Kramnik.

        Games start at 9 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Dortmund 2015

          Dortmund 2015


          Round Four
          July 1, 2015

          Grandmasters Niclas Huschenbeth and Jan Gustafsson are in the commentator chairs at chess24.com again.

          Jan raises health and nutrition as the topic of the day when they are not talking about chess. In fact, they do spend a lot of time analyzing the four games but in a six-hour broadcast, there is a lot of time to fill.

          Mental acuity and the memorization of variations come up. Most players are pretty good at remembering their pre-game work when at the board. Jan quotes Grischuk as saying, “If you haven’t looked at a variation in the last two weeks, it’s as if you had never looked at it at all”.

          It is 25C in Hamburg and Sunday 36C is predicted. Hamburg is usually fairly cool and air conditioning is rarely needed. This brings up temperature scale conversion and cm to feet and then Niclas says that he is 6’3” tall and Jan that he is 6’4”.

          Niclas is a German national, in the third year of a four-year course at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has been to Philadelphia for tournaments and New York City is four hours away by Greyhound bus. He finds that Washington, D.C. is far more interesting than NYC. He would like to see Florida and also the West Coast, Los Angeles and San Diego.

          One is reminded of Hans Jung’s posting of “My Texas Adventures” in ChessTalk, November 2012, where he describes his travels in the States in a Greyhound bus.

          Back to health and nutrition; Niclas says that after he gets up he does stretching exercises and 35 pushups. You should exercise first and then take breakfast as a reward. Jan says that he could do 20 pushups on a good day. He prefers swimming to running. Anand does his yoga and all the top grandmasters have their regimen. Exercise also has emotional and mental benefits and allays stress. Carlsen does everything – basketball, football etc. If you are going to play 5- and 6-hour games, you have to stay in shape.

          The guys wish Canadians a Happy Canada Day although neither has been here. Jan says that he was scared off by the South Park movie and by Celine Dion but he understands it is safe to come here now.

          They are asked about Yoko or dog chess and show the photo of a board with dogs as the pieces, which is on mashable.com. They cannot figure out how you distinguish a rook, say, from the other dogs.

          Eating sushi is said to be healthy although the guys have a suspicion that people like to talk about it because it has an air of sophistication. Jan says that he can abide salmon sashimi but not tuna. He says that he has been tweeted by Nakamura and Giri for not being a sushi fan.

          One viewer tweets: Raw fish from the polluted oceans... what could be wrong with that?

          Jan would like to come to the States. He asks if he could come to UMBC on a scholarship or maybe he would coach a chess team or a basketball one. He says that his introductory speech (influenced by all the sports movies he has ever seen) would be as follows:

          You guys can call me Coach or Mr. Gustafsson. I’m tough, but fair. Follow the rules and we won’t have any problems.

          Jan says that if Lawrence Trent can become Caruana’s manager, he can become a coach.

          “U.S. colleges, give me a call!”

          Lawrence Trent is kidded by everyone on his new position. Even Caruana said this yesterday about his dubious opening:

          I know what everyone's thinking, but that opening didn't come from Lawrence Trent. Anyway, glad to be back on 50%.
          ________

          The game Meier-Kramnik goes on and on, now in the sixth hour. Jan has cancelled a reservation to see Jurassic World this evening because the chess show must go on.

          The games:

          Dortmund 2015
          Round 4, July 1, 2015
          Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
          B12 Caro-Kann, Advance Variation

          1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 e6 7.Bg5 Qb6 8.Nd2 Ne7 9.Ngf3 Qa6 10.c4 Nf5 11.O-O Nd7 12.Qc3 Be7 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.c5 b6 15.a4 bxc5 16.dxc5 Qc8 17.b4 a5 18.bxa5 Qc7 19.Nb3 Ng6 20.Rfe1 O-O 21.Rac1 f6 22.Nbd4 Nf4 23.Qc2 Nxe5 24.g3 Nfd3 25.Nxe5 Nxe1 26.Rxe1 fxe5 27.Nxe6 Qxa5 28.Rxe5 Qxa4 29.Qxa4 Rxa4 30.Nxf8 Kxf8 31.Re6 Ra1+ 32.Kg2 d4 33.Rxc6 d3 34.Rd6 Rc1 35.c6 d2 36.Rxd2 Rxc6 37.Rd5 g6 38.Rd7 Rc3 39.Kf1 Rc2 40.Ke1 Ra2 41.Rd2 Ra3 42.Ke2 Kf7 43.Rd3 Ra2+ 44.Ke3 Kf6 45.Rd4 Rb2 46.Rf4+ Kg7 47.Ra4 Kf6 48.f3 Rb3+ 49.Kf4 Rc3 50.Ra6+ Kg7 51.Rd6 Ra3 52.Ke4 Rb3 53.Rd3 Rb5 54.Rd7+ Kf6 55.g4 hxg4 56.fxg4 Rb4+ 57.Rd4 Rb7 58.Rd6+ Kg7 59.Ke5 Rf7 60.Re6 Rf1 61.Re7+ Kg8 62.g5 Rf5+ 63.Ke6 Rf4 64.Rd7 Rxh4 65.Kf6 Ra4 66.Rg7+ Kh8 67.Re7 Kg8 68.Re6 Kh7 69.Re7+ Kg8 70.Re3 Kh7 71.Re7+ Kg8 72.Rg7+ Kh8 73.Rxg6 Ra6+ 74.Kf5 Ra5+ 75.Kf6 Ra6+ 1/2-1/2

          Meier is the tragic hero of the tournament so far; having excellent games against Caruana and Kramnik, he has gone down to defeat in both.

          Round 4, July 1, 2015
          Meier, Georg – Kramnik, Vladimir
          C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

          1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nf5 8.Nf3 d5 9.d4 O-O 10.c3 Bd6 11.Bd3 Nce7 12.Nbd2 c6 13.Nf1 g6 14.h3 Kh8 15.Bd2 f6 16.Qc2 Bd7 17.b3 Rc8 18.Re2 b6 19.g4 Ng7 20.Rae1 c5 21.dxc5 bxc5 22.Qc1 Bc6 23.Bf4 Ng8 24.Bg3 d4 25.N1h2 Bxg3 26.fxg3 g5 27.Be4 Bxe4 28.Rxe4 Qd6 29.Kg2 f5 30.Re5 h6 31.Qd2 Rcd8 32.Qd3 f4 33.Nf1 Qc6 34.cxd4 cxd4 35.R1e4 fxg3 36.Nxg3 Nf6 37.Rxd4 Ne6 38.Rxe6 Rxd4 39.Qxd4 Qxe6 40.Qxa7 Rc8 41.Nf5 Qe2+ 42.Qf2 Qd3 43.Qd4 Rc2+ 44.Kg1 Rc1+ 45.Kg2 Qc2+ 46.Kg3 Qc7+ 47.Kg2 Rc2+ 48.Kg1 Rc6 49.Kf2 Kh7 50.Ke2 Rc2+ 51.Ke3 Rxa2 52.Qc4 Qb7 53.Qe6 Nd5+ 54.Kd4 Qb4+ 0-1

          Round 4, July 1, 2015
          Hou Yifan – So, Wesley
          B19 Caro-Kann, Classical, Spassky Variation

          1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.O-O-O Be7 13.Kb1 Qb6 14.Ne4 Rd8 15.c4 O-O 16.Qe2 c5 17.Bc3 cxd4 18.Bxd4 Qc6 19.Nxf6+ Bxf6 20.g4 Bxd4 21.Nxd4 Qc5 22.Nf3 Nf6 23.Ne5 Rd4 24.Rxd4 Qxd4 25.Rd1 Qf4 26.Re1 Qd4 27.Rd1 Qf4 28.f3 a6 29.a3 Ra8 30.Rd6 Re8 31.Ka2 Nxg4 32.fxg4 f6 33.Rd7 fxe5 34.Rxb7 Qd4 35.g5 hxg5 36.h6 gxh6 37.Qh5 Qxc4+ 38.Ka1 Qc1+ 39.Ka2 Qc4+ 40.Ka1 Qc1+ 1/2-1/2

          Round 4, July 1, 2015
          Caruana, Fabiano – Naiditsch, Arkadij
          E04 Catalan, Open

          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 c5 6.O-O Nc6 7.Qa4 Bd7 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Rc8 12.Bf4 Bc5 13.Qd3 Qb6 14.Nd2 O-O 15.Ne4 Nd5 16.Ng5 g6 17.Be5 Be7 18.Nf3 Bc6 19.Qd2 f6 20.Bd4 Qb7 21.Rac1 Rfd8 22.Bh3 Bd7 23.Rxc8 Bxc8 24.Rc1 Bd7 25.Bc5 Bxc5 26.Rxc5 Rc8 27.b4 Rxc5 28.bxc5 Qc7 29.e4 Ne7 30.Qd4 Kg7 31.e5 f5 32.Bg2 h6 33.Qd6 Qxd6 34.exd6 Nc6 35.Ne1 a5 36.Nd3 b4 37.h4 Nd4 38.Kh2 Bb5 39.Ne5 Kf6 40.c6 Bxc6 41.Nxc6 1-0

          Standing After Round Four

          Kramnik 3.0/4
          Nisipeanu 3.0/4
          Caruana 2.5/4
          Naiditsch 2.0/4
          So 1.5/4
          Hou 1.5/4
          Nepomniachtchi 1.5/4
          Meier 1.0/4

          Pairings for Round Five

          Kramnik-Caruana, Nisipeanu-Meier, So-Nepomniachtchi and Naiditsch-Hou Yifan

          This is a seven-round tournament with two free days. Tomorrow is a free day and the tourney resumes on July 3.
          Last edited by Wayne Komer; Wednesday, 1st July, 2015, 03:43 PM.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Dortmund 2015

            Dortmund 2015

            Round Five
            July 3, 2015

            The commentators today are Jan Gustafsson and Maximilian Meinhardt, an IM. I am impressed with the cultural level of Jan’s German colleagues. Maximilian was quoting poetry all over the place – but I am getting ahead of myself. The topic today was about chess in the arts but seemed more or less confined to books and movies.

            Referring to the latter, Jan says: “It is usually done badly. It annoys me to see chess in a movie. They get the pieces wrong, the h1-square is always dark, king and queen are the wrong way around. They are using the chess scene to establish that they are brainiacs or intellectuals and then the board is set up the wrong way! It doesn’t convince me at all.”

            _______

            Kramnik has won ten Dortmunds and he is playing Caruana, last year’s winner. Naiditsch has four decisive games. All the chess world is talking about Wei Yi’s immortal king walk game today. (I have given it in another thread – Games From Recent Events) on ChessTalk.

            MM – What’s your worst defeat?

            Jan – I was crushed at Dortmund in 2012

            MM – But 2008 was great, you had +1, only losing to Peter Leko.

            Jan – I scored 4/7, a great result, but, in hindsight, that lost game to Leko prevented me from winning a supertournament; you only get such a chance one time in your life.

            [Dortmund 2008 – Final Standing – Leko 4.5 with Ivanchuk, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedyarov and Gustafsson all at 4]

            Peter Leko was so impressed with my play that I worked with him in 2009 and learned a lot of things.

            MM – If you were recognized in a hotel or in the street and someone greeted you, would you greet them back or ignore it?

            Jan – Greet them. Sure, that’s what you do but it doesn’t happen as often as you might think with us world famous chess celebrities.

            MM – It might have happened if you had won Dortmund 2008!

            Jan – That was my one chance for fame.

            The guys discuss Kramnik-Caruana, where there is a white knight on h4.

            MM – “A knight on the rim is dim”. In German, the expression is “Springer am Rand bringt Kummer und Schand”. I wonder what the expression is in Spanish?

            Jan – I don’t think that Spanish players are aware of the concept!

            (In fact, the question came up in a chess.com forum and a reader gave this: “Un caballo en la banda es un penco”. Un penco is a nag. Another gave the French: “Cavalier au bord, cavalier mort”.)
            _______

            A viewer sends in a photo of a movie poster for Queen to Play, a very enjoyable 2009 French film about a woman who becomes obsessed with chess. It stars Kevin Kline and Sandrine Bonnaire.
            _______

            Maximilian is a student of English and Latin and now is going for his Ph.D. in American Studies. I had a friend at U of T taking Honours English Language and Literature and learning great long passages of verse were essential to doing well in the course. There was one half-term course with 13 Shakespearean plays!

            Someone actually asks Maximilian for his favorite Shakespearean sonnet and he gives two:

            Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate (Sonnet 18)

            Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame (Sonnet 129)

            He notes that Vladimir Kramnik recently turned 40 and finds this apt quote:

            When forty winters shall besiege thy brow/ And dig deep trenches in thy beauty’s field (Sonnet 2)

            One really wants to look at a Kramnik photo to see if his wrinkles are like deep trenches! In any case, Maximilian is going to study for ten months in Davis in California from September. He has already spent 10 months in Mississippi.

            Jan has been to Philadelphia and has played at Opens in New York. Maximilian asks if he had to bring his own pieces and board to the Opens and Jan said he purchased a set for the occasions.

            Maximilian says that he played two blitz games with Asa Hoffmann and lost both and $10. Asa told him that he had played blitz against Bobby Fischer. Supposedly playing Fischer at blitz means that you can beat anyone else in blitz.

            They talk about the chess scene from To Russia with Love and an Austin Powers one.
            ______

            There is not much going on. A silly little joke appears on the chat board. This is for your kids:

            Que: What do you call a fish with no eyes?

            Ans: Fsh

            With Wei Yi’s great win today, there is some talk about the game of the century on the chat board.

            - Carlsen-Ernst 2004?

            - Kasparov-Topalov 1999!

            - The more material Wei sacrificed, the stronger he got

            - It’s a bit early to talk about Game of the Century, is it not?

            - There are 3 to 4 games of the century each year
            ________

            Caruana wins against Kramnik, So wins against Nepomniachtchi and my screen goes black. The transmission has failed.

            Games and Standing on next posting

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Dortmund 2015

              Dortmund 2015

              Round Five, July 3, 2015

              Concluded from last posting

              (Mark Crowther) - Fabiano Caruana defeated Vladimir Kramnik in an interesting struggle in the fifth round of the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting. Kramnik's 13.Bxe4 was probably based on a miscalculation with his follow up 15.Qc2 being met by the strong 15...Bf5! Caruana was better from then on and got a mating attack on the run up to the first time control.

              Wesley So won a fluctuating struggle in a Benoni structure against Ian Nepomniachtchi, 31...b6 would most likely have kept the balance for black but 31...c4?! followed by 34...Rxa4? lost the game for the Russian.

              Dortmund 2015
              Round 5, July 3, 2015
              Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter – Meier, Georg
              E42 Nimzo-Indian, Rubinstein

              1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Ne2 cxd4 6.exd4 d5 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nc6 10.Be3 O-O 11.O-O h6 12.Ba2 Ne7 13.Qf3 Ned5 14.Rac1 b6 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Qxd5 17.Qg3 Bb7 18.Bxh6 Qxg2+ 19.Qxg2 Bxg2 20.Bxg7 Bxf1 21.Bxf8 Ba6 22.Bd6 Rc8 23.Bc7 Bb7 24.Kf1 Kh7 25.Ke2 Kg6 26.Ke3 Kh5 27.Kf4 f6 28.Rc3 Bd5 29.Bd6 Rxc3 30.bxc3 b5 31.Be7 Kg6 32.h4 Bb3 33.h5+ Kf7 34.Bd8 Bd1 35.h6 Bc2 36.f3 a6 37.Ke3 Kg6 38.Kf4 Kf7 39.Kg4 Kg6 40.Kf4 Kf7 41.Ke3 Kg6 42.Kf4 1/2-1/2

              Round 5, July 3, 2015
              Kramnik, Vladimir – Caruana, Fabiano
              D78 Neo-Grunfeld

              1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 c6 7.Nbd2 a5 8.b3 a4 9.Ba3 axb3 10.axb3 Bf5 11.Nh4 Be6 12.Re1 Ne4 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 Qxd4 15.Qc2 Bf5 16.Nxf5 gxf5 17.Ng5 Qg4 18.f4 Bxa1 19.Rxa1 h6 20.Nf3 Nd7 21.Rd1 Rxa3 22.Rxd7 Qh3 23.Qc3 e6 24.Rxb7 Rfa8 25.Kf2 Ra1 26.Ke3 Rf1 27.Qf6 Rf8 28.Rd7 Rb1 29.Rb7 c5 30.Rb5 Rf1 31.Nd2 Rc1 32.Qb2 Rd1 33.Qc2 Rh1 34.Nf3 Qg2 35.Qc3 Rf1 36.Qf6 Rf2 37.Kd3 Rxe2 38.Ng5 Rd2+ 0-1

              Round 5, July 3, 2015
              So, Wesley – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
              E60 King’s Indian Defence

              1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 e6 4.e4 c5 5.d5 d6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Nge2 exd5 8.cxd5 O-O 9.Ng3 a6 10.a4 h5 11.Be2 Qe8 12.Bf4 Qe7 13.Bg5 Qe8 14.Qd2 Nbd7 15.Bh6 Qe5 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Bd3 Rb8 18.Rd1 Re8 19.Be2 h4 20.Nf1 h3 21.g4 b5 22.axb5 axb5 23.Ng3 b4 24.Na4 Ra8 25.b3 Ba6 26.Bxa6 Rxa6 27.O-O Rea8 28.f4 Qe7 29.Qe2 Nh7 30.Rf3 Qh4 31.Kh1 c4 32.Qxc4 Qxg4 33.Qd3 Kf8 34.Rg1 Rxa4 35.bxa4 Nc5 36.Qe3 Rxa4 37.Nf5 gxf5 38.Rxg4 fxg4 39.Rf1 Nf6 40.e5 Nfe4 41.f5 Ra2 42.e6 g3 43.hxg3 Ke8 44.g4 h2 45.Qh3 f6 46.g5 Nxg5 47.Qh8+ Ke7 48.Qg7+ Ke8 49.Qxf6 1-0

              Round 5, July 3, 2015
              Naiditsch, Arkadij – Hou, Yifan
              E48 Nimzo-Indian

              1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Ne2 Bd6 8.O-O Re8 9.Bd2 a5 10.Rc1 b6 11.Ng3 Ba6 12.Bxa6 Nxa6 13.Qa4 Nb4 14.Nf5 Bf8 15.a3 c5 16.Ng3 g6 17.Nce2 Na6 18.dxc5 Nxc5 19.Qd1 h5 20.Nd4 h4 21.Nge2 h3 22.g3 Nfe4 23.Be1 a4 24.Nf4 Qd7 25.Bb4 Rac8 26.Nde2 Rcd8 27.Nc3 Qf5 28.Nb5 Ng5 29.Nd4 Qd7 30.Rc2 Nge4 31.Re1 Bg7 32.Ree2 Rc8 33.f3 Ng5 34.Kf2 Kh7 35.Qf1 Nb3 36.Rxc8 Rxc8 37.Bc3 Rc4 38.Nxb3 Bxc3 39.Nd2 Bxd2 40.Rxd2 Qc6 41.Nxh3 Ne6 42.Nf4 Nxf4 43.gxf4 Rc1 44.Qg2 Qc4 45.Kg3 Kg7 46.f5 Re1 47.Qf2 Rf1 48.Qe2 Qc1 49.Rc2 Rg1+ 50.Kf4 g5+ 51.Ke5 Re1 52.f6+ Kh6 53.Rxc1 Rxe2 54.Rc3 Rxb2 55.Kxd5 Kg6 56.Rc6 Rb3 57.Ke4 b5 58.Rb6 Rxa3 59.Rxb5 Kxf6 60.Rb6+ Kg7 61.Ra6 Ra2 62.Kf5 Ra3 63.Kxg5 Rxe3 64.Rxa4 1/2-1/2


              Standing After Round Five

              Caruana 3.5/5
              Nisipeanu 3.5/5
              Kramnik 3.0/5
              Naiditsch 2.5/5
              So 2.5/5
              Hou 2.0/5
              Nepomniachtchi 1.5/5
              Meier 1.5/5

              Pairings for Round Six

              Caruana-Hou Yifan, Nepomniachtchi-Naiditsch, Meier-So and Kramnik-Nisipeanu.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Dortmund 2015

                Dortmund 2015

                Round Six
                July 4, 2015

                Jan Gustafsson and Maximilian Meinhardt are the commentators. The unfortunate topic of the day seems to be zombies – mainly zombie movies. They mention Independence Day (in the States) and aliens as well.

                The weather is very hot in Hamburg and there is little or no air-conditioning, so the guys have to change their shirts each hour.

                Coming to the studio, Jan was unaware of the heat because he was playing a game called Plants versus Zombies on his smartphone.

                I think there is something called Zombie Chess and, I believe, there is a variation of the Vienna Game called the Frankenstein-Dracula. This stuff is more in tune with Halloween than Independence Day.
                ________

                (Peter Doggers) GM Vladimir Kramnik reached a winning ending against GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu but then let his opponent escape. The other Russian, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, also played a nice ending and he did manage to beat GM Arkadij Naiditsch.

                Kramnik has won the tournament in Dortmund ten times — that we know. Caruana might be on his way to challenge this number: if he holds the draw as black against Nisipeanu tomorrow, he'll win his third title, after sharing first with Karjakin in 2012 and winning outright in 2014.

                In what was his fourth straight win, Fabiano Caruana today outplayed Hou Yifan from a Sämisch Nimzo-Indian.

                Dortmund 2015
                Round 6, July 4, 2015
                Caruana, Fabiano – Hou, Yifan
                D31 QGD

                1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 Nf6 6.e3 c6 7.a4 O-O 8.Nf3 b6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.O-O c5 12.Ne5 Re8 13.a5 Bxd3 14.Nxd3 Nc6 15.axb6 axb6 16.Rxa8 Qxa8 17.dxc5 bxc5 18.Nxc5 Ne5 19.Nd3 Nc4 20.Nf4 h6 21.Qd4 Re4 22.Qc5 Re5 23.f3 Qa2 24.Qd4 Qa4 25.h4 Qb5 26.g4 Nd7 27.Nd3 Re6 28.Kg2 Ndb6 29.Nf4 Re5 30.Nh5 Qb1 31.e4 dxe4 32.f4 Rxh5 33.gxh5 Qc2+ 34.Kh1 Qe2 35.Rg1 Qf3+ 36.Rg2 g6 37.hxg6 Qf1+ 38.Kh2 Qxc1 39.Qf6 1-0

                Round 6, July 4, 2015
                Kramnik, Vladimir – Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
                A13 Reti, Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

                1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.b3 c5 5.Bb2 Nc6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bb5 Bd6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 O-O 10.O-O Qc7 11.h3 Bh2+ 12.Kh1 Be5 13.Qc2 Bd7 14.Nf3 Bxb2 15.Qxb2 Rac8 16.Rc1 Qd6 17.Nc3 Ne5 18.Be2 Nxf3 19.Bxf3 Qe5 20.Qd2 Be6 21.Nb5 Bd7 22.Qd4 Qxd4 23.Nxd4 a5 24.g4 h6 25.Kg2 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Rc8 27.Rb1 Ra8 28.Ne2 g5 29.Nc3 Be6 30.Rd1 Rd8 31.e4 d4 32.Kg3 Rc8 33.Nb5 Nd7 34.Nxd4 Ne5 35.Be2 Rc3+ 36.f3 Kg7 37.Rd2 Kf6 38.Nf5 Bxf5 39.exf5 Ke7 40.Rd5 Nc6 41.Bb5 b6 42.h4 f6 43.Bxc6 Rxc6 44.hxg5 hxg5 45.a4 Rc3 46.Rb5 Rc6 47.f4 Rc3+ 48.Kf2 gxf4 49.Rxb6 Kf7 50.b4 Rc2+ 51.Kf3 Rc3+ 52.Kf2 Rc2+ 53.Ke1 Rc1+ 54.Kd2 f3 55.Ke3 Rc3+ 56.Kf2 axb4 57.Rxb4 Kg7 58.Kg3 Ra3 59.Rb7+ Kh6 60.Ra7 f2+ 61.Kxf2 Kg5 62.Ke2 Kxg4 63.Ra5 Kf4 64.Kd2 Ke4 65.Kc2 Kd4 66.Ra6 Rc3+ 67.Kb2 Rc4 68.Ra5 Rb4+ 69.Ka3 Kc4 70.Ra6 Rb3+ 71.Ka2 Rb4 72.Ra8 Kc5 73.Ka3 Rf4 74.Rb8 Rf1 75.Rb5+ Kc4 76.Kb2 Rf2+ 77.Kb1 Kc3 78.a5 Kc4 79.Rb7 Rxf5 80.a6 Ra5 81.a7 Kc5 82.Rf7 Kb6 83.Kc2 1/2-1/2

                Round 6 July 4, 2015
                Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Naiditsch, Arkadij
                D36 QGC, Exchange

                1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Nge2 Re8 10.O-O h6 11.Bf4 Nf8 12.a3 a5 13.f3 Nh5 14.Be5 f6 15.Bg3 Nxg3 16.Nxg3 Bd6 17.Rae1 Qc7 18.f4 Be6 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Bxf5 Re7 21.h4 Rae8 22.Rf3 b5 23.h5 b4 24.axb4 Bxb4 25.Re2 Qd6 26.Qd3 Rd8 27.Na4 c5 28.Nxc5 Bxc5 29.dxc5 Qxc5 30.Rc2 Qb6 31.Kh2 Ne6 32.Rg3 Kh8 33.Qa3 Qb4 34.Qxb4 axb4 35.Rc6 Nc7 36.Rf3 Nb5 37.Rc5 Nc7 38.Bg6 Kg8 39.Rc6 Kf8 40.b3 Ne8 41.Rb6 Rc7 42.Rxb4 Nd6 43.Rf1 Ke7 44.Rd1 Rc5 45.Rb6 Rb5 46.Rxb5 Nxb5 47.Kg3 Ke6 48.Kg4 Nd6 49.e4 dxe4 50.Bxe4 Rb8 51.Bd5+ Kd7 52.Ra1 f5+ 53.Kh3 Ne8 54.Ra7+ Nc7 55.Bc4 Kd6 56.Ra5 Rf8 57.Kg3 Rf6 58.Kf3 Kc6 59.g3 Ne8 60.Re5 Nd6 61.Bd3 Rf7 62.b4 Rb7 63.Rc5+ Kd7 64.b5 Ke6 65.Re5+ Kf6 66.Ke3 Ra7 67.Kd4 Ra3 68.Bc4 1-0

                Round 6, July 4, 2015
                Meier, Georg – So, Wesley
                D11 QGD Slav
                1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Nc3 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.g5 Ng8 11.h4 Ne7 12.Bd2 Nf5 13.Qg4 Be7 14.Rh3 Rh5 15.O-O-O Qc7 16.Kb1 dxc4 17.Bxc4 O-O-O 18.Ne2 c5 19.Bb3 Kb8 20.Bc3 Rdh8 21.Rdh1 Bd6 22.dxc5 Be5 23.e4 Bxc3 24.Rxc3 Rxh4 25.Rch3 Rxh3 26.Rxh3 Rxh3 27.Qxh3 Ne7 28.Qh8+ Nc8 29.Qxg7 Nxc5 30.Bc2 Qe7 31.f4 a6 32.Nc3 Nd7 33.e5 Qf8 34.Qxf8 Nxf8 35.Be4 Nd7 36.Kc2 Ne7 37.Bf3 Kc7 38.Kd3 b5 39.b4 Nb6 40.Kd4 Nf5+ 41.Kd3 Ne7 42.Kd4 Nf5+ 43.Kd3 1/2-1/2

                Standing After Round Six

                Caruana 4.5
                Nisipeanu 4.0
                Kramnik 3.5
                So 3.0
                Naiditsch 2.5
                Nepomniachtchi 2.5
                Hou Yifan 2.0
                Meier 2.0

                Final Round Pairings

                Nisipeanu-Caruana, So-Kramnik, Naiditsch-Meier, Hou Yifan-Nepomniachtchi

                On Sunday the tournament starts two hours earlier than the other rounds: at 7 am Montreal/Toronto time. Nisipeanu, still the only undefeated player in the field, needs to beat Caruana to win the tournament.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Dortmund 2015

                  Dortmund 2015

                  Round Seven
                  July 5, 2015

                  Fabiano Caruana, after drawing his first game in this tournament and losing to Wesley So in the second, has had five wins and just won the tournament. He beat Liviu-Dieter Nispeanu in a brilliant game in the final round.

                  Dortmund 2015
                  Round 7, July 5, 2015
                  Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter – Caruana, Fabiano
                  C52 Evans Gambit, Tartakower Attack

                  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 d6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.dxe5 Bb6 9.a4 Na5 10.Qa2 Nxc4 11.Qxc4 Ne7 12.Ba3 O-O 13.O-O Re8 14.exd6 cxd6 15.Rd1 Qc6 16.Nbd2 Be6 17.Qxc6 Nxc6 18.Bxd6 Rad8 19.Bb4 Rd3 20.a5 Bc7 21.Nf1 Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Nxa5 23.Nd4 Nc4 24.Nxe6 Rxe6 25.Rd7 Rc6 26.Ng3 g6 27.Ne2 a5 28.Nd4 axb4 29.Nxc6 b3 30.Rxc7 Nd6 0-1

                  The black knight ties up White so the queening pawn cannot be caught.

                  The other three games will be given in the next posting.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Dortmund 2015

                    Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
                    ..... I believe, there is a variation of the Vienna Game called the Frankenstein-Dracula. This stuff is more in tune with Halloween than Independence Day.
                    ________
                    I think it goes: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 and then with Ng5 (instead of Nd6) you have the Werewolf. I know but this stuff is fun to play.

                    One I've been having fun with onlne is the Smith Morra Gambit against the Sicilian defence. Used to play it as a junior but it wasn't called that.
                    Gary Ruben
                    CC - IA and SIM

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Dortmund 2015

                      Dortmund 2015

                      Round Seven Concluded

                      July 5, 2015

                      Ilja Zaragatski and Maximilian Meinhardt are in the commentators chairs. Jan Gustafsson is off giving a simul. Their American English is good but they are inclined to puns. After talking about Hou and So, they cannot use the words “who” and “so” without some joke. Toss in the word “maybe” and you are in a morass of English-speak.

                      The funniest occurrence is a discussion of slugfest. This is a fight with heavy punching or slugs but the guys are not familiar with this and say, “slugs are snails, so a snailfest”.

                      I suppose, at a snailfest, one would either be eating them or watching teams of them on a field of play. Who would go to a snailfest? Very few - “Come on Maude, put the kids in the car; we are going to drive to the Snailfest for the weekend!”

                      Later: There actually is a video of the annual Barcelona Snail Fest on YouTube!

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUepzp17B9c

                      Ilja and Max make many references to the Flight of the Chonchords. I have no idea what this is. Wiki says:

                      Flight of the Conchords is an American/New Zealand television comedy series that was first shown on HBO on June 17, 2007. The show follows the adventures of Flight of the Conchords, a two-man band from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City.

                      Ilja is so young that he knows little of Smyslov’s games or style. In fact, we hear little of chess before Kasparov with these commentators – no Fischer, no Tal, no Botvinnik. Is the generation gap that great? Is time going that fast?

                      ______

                      The prizes at Dortmund are not disclosed. In fact, each player gets a so-called “starting fee” for appearing. One viewer believes that Caruana and Kramnik are getting starting fees of 20,000 euro each. By my calculation that is CAN$ 28,000.

                      There is a bit of talk about computer evaluations. The quote most often these days is Aronian’s, “0.00 means the computer doesn't know what's going on”.

                      Nisipeanu-Caruana seemed to finish hours ago. The score has already been posted in this thread. The other games have been playing for six hours now. The guys say that the cleaning staff seem to be coming in and they can hear the vacuum cleaner going.

                      Hou-Nepomniachtchi is drawn in 62 moves. So is winning against Kramnik and so is Meier against Naiditsch.

                      One viewer posts this on the chat board, “Amazing that the best Russian player (Kramnik) may be losing to 2 different Americans in one tournament”.

                      Other comments:

                      - Counting Naka, there are now 3 Americans that can regularly beat Kramnik

                      - I am away for 3 minutes and what has happened with Meier? Why does he insist on throwing away his winning chances?

                      - In an interview, one of the 2800s said that Wesley So is a GM who developed from playing computer chess engines only! No wonder he played most computer recommended moves!

                      - Winning from Kramnik in the Berlin! Great show So

                      - Ilja and Max get funnier the more tired they get

                      - thanks for the excellent and entertaining commentating, Ilya and Max.

                      _____

                      A viewer, Boris Smolik, sends in a picture of Hou Yifan modeling for the Chinese edition of Vogue – no glasses and holding a white queen – sort of doing a Magnus Carlsen..

                      _______

                      And that is it. The games are all over and the tournament is over.

                      Dortmund 2015
                      Round 7, July 5, 2015
                      So, Wesley – Kramnik, Vladimir
                      C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

                      1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ne7 10.Nc3 Bd7 11.Ng5 Ke8 12.e6 Bxe6 13.Nxe6 fxe6 14.Re1 Kf7 15.Ne4 h6 16.Rd1 e5 17.Rd7 Rc8 18.Bd2 b6 19.Re1 Ke6 20.Rd3 c5 21.f4 Nc6 22.Rg3 Re8 23.fxe5 g5 24.h4 Bg7 25.hxg5 Bxe5 26.Rf3 hxg5 27.Bxg5 Bd4+ 28.Nf2+ Kd5 29.Rd1 Rhg8 30.Bf4 Re2 31.c3 Rxb2 32.cxd4 Nxd4 33.Be3 Rxa2 34.Rf4 Ra4 35.Ne4 Kc6 36.Nc3 Ra3 37.Bxd4 cxd4 38.Ne2 d3 39.Rf3 Ra2 40.Nf4 d2 41.Kf2 b5 42.Rc3+ Kb7 43.Nd5 Rg7 44.Rb3 a6 45.Nb4 Ra4 46.Rxd2 c5 47.Nd5 Rd7 48.Rf3 Re4 49.Rf6 Ka7 50.Rd3 c4 51.Rh3 Rd4 52.Nb4 R4d6 53.Rhh6 Rxf6+ 54.Rxf6 Rd2+ 55.Kf3 a5 56.Ra6+ Kb7 57.Rxa5 Kb6 58.Ra2 Rd7 59.Ra8 Kc5 60.Nc2 Rc7 61.Rf8 c3 62.Rf5+ Kb6 63.g4 Ka5 64.g5 Ka4 65.Ke3 Rd7 66.g6 b4 67.Rf4 Kb3 68.Nxb4 Re7+ 69.Re4 Rg7 70.Rg4 Re7+ 71.Kf3 Rg7 72.Nc6 Rg8 73.g7 c2 74.Nd4+ Kc4 75.Nxc2+ Kd5 76.Rg6 1-0

                      Round 7, July 5, 2015
                      Hou Yifan – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
                      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.O-O O-O 9.Qd3 Be6 10.Nd5 Bxd5 11.exd5 Nbd7 12.Bd2 a5 13.a4 Qc7 14.Rfd1 Rfc8 15.Rac1 g6 16.h3 Bf8 17.Qf3 Bg7 18.Bb5 Nc5 19.Nxc5 Qxc5 20.Bg5 Nh5 21.c3 f5 22.g4 fxg4 23.hxg4 Nf4 24.Bxf4 exf4 25.Re1 Be5 26.Rcd1 Rd8 27.Qd3 Qc8 28.f3 Qc5+ 29.Kg2 Rac8 30.Rxe5 dxe5 31.d6 Kg7 32.d7 Rc7 33.Qe4 Qe7 34.Rd5 Rc5 35.Rxc5 Qxc5 36.Qxb7 Qd6 37.Qe4 Kf8 38.Qe1 Qe7 39.b4 axb4 40.cxb4 h5 41.gxh5 Qg5+ 42.Kf1 gxh5 43.Qe4 Ke7 44.Qh7+ Kd6 45.Qc2 Ke7 46.Qc5+ Kf6 47.Qd6+ Kg7 48.Bc4 Qf6 49.Be6 e4 50.fxe4 f3 51.Qg3+ Kh8 52.Bf5 Qc3 53.Kf2 Qd4+ 54.Kxf3 Rg8 55.Qe1 Qd3+ 56.Kf4 Qd6+ 57.Kf3 Qd3+ 58.Kf2 Qd4+ 59.Qe3 Qb2+ 60.Kf1 Qb1+ 61.Kf2 Qb2+ 62.Kf1 Qb1+ 63.Kf2 1/2-1/2

                      Round 7, July 5, 2015
                      Naiditsch, Alexij – Meier, Georg
                      E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch Variation

                      1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 O-O 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Nh5 7.g3 f5 8.e4 d6 9.exf5 exf5 10.Bd3 c5 11.Ne2 Nc6 12.O-O Rf7 13.Be3 b6 14.Qc2 g6 15.g4 Qe7 16.Bh6 Ng7 17.Qd2 fxg4 18.Be4 Bb7 19.Bd5 Nd8 20.Bxf7+ Nxf7 21.Bxg7 gxf3 22.Nf4 Qg5+ 23.Kh1 Re8 24.Rf2 Kxg7 25.d5 Qe5 26.Rxf3 Bc8 27.Rg3 Bf5 28.Kg1 Kh8 29.Rf1 Qf6 30.Ne6 Ne5 31.Qh6 Re7 32.Rg5 Rf7 33.Qh4 Qe7 34.Nf4 Kg8 35.Qg3 Nxc4 36.h4 Qe3+ 37.Qxe3 Nxe3 38.Re1 Ng4 39.h5 Ne5 40.Rg3 Kg7 41.Rf1 Re7 42.Ng2 Bd7 43.Nh4 Bg4 44.Rf4 Bd7 45.Nf3 b5 46.Ng5 Bf5 47.a4 a6 48.a5 Nc4 49.Nf3 Bb1 50.Ng5 Bf5 51.Nf3 Be4 52.h6+ Kxh6 53.Rh3+ Kg7 54.Ng5 Bf5 55.Rxh7+ Kf6 56.Rxe7 Kxe7 57.Ne4 Nxa5 58.Rh4 Bxe4 59.Rxe4+ Kd7 60.Rg4 Nc4 61.Rxg6 a5 62.Rg7+ Kc8 63.Kf2 b4 64.cxb4 cxb4 65.Ke2 Nb6 66.Kd3 a4 67.Ra7 b3 68.Ra5 Nd7 69.Kc3 Nc5 70.Kb2 Kb7 71.Ka3 Kb6 72.Ra8 Kb7 73.Rh8 Kb6 74.Rh6 Kc7 75.Rh7+ Kb6 76.Rh6 Kc7 77.Rh7+ 1/2-1/2

                      Final Standing

                      Caruana 5.5/7
                      So 4.0/7
                      Nisipeanu 4.0/7
                      Kramnik 3.5/7
                      Naiditsch 3.0/7
                      Nepomniachtchi 3.0/7
                      Hou, Yifan 2.5/7
                      Meier 2.5/7

                      Post-game comments

                      Fabiano likens his game to the famed Ortueta-Sanz, Madrid 1933:

                      That was my Ortueta-Sanz. Thrilled to be the winner of Dortmund for the 3rd time!

                      (Sergey Karyakin tweet) – Congratulations to Fabiano with winning Dortmund! Seems that the key moment was his hard victory against Meier; then he was unstoppable.
                      Last edited by Wayne Komer; Sunday, 5th July, 2015, 07:53 PM.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Dortmund 2015

                        Dortmund 2015

                        There is a really good wrap-up to the tournament with the critical games So-Kramnik and Nisipeanu-Caruana analyzed.

                        http://en.chessbase.com/post/dortmun...irst-so-second

                        Comment

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