Games from Recent Events

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

November 5, 2017

Peter Doggers at chess.com:

Did Ding Liren Play the Game of the Year?

Besides all the action at the European Team Championship, some more top grandmasters are active this week, in the Chinese League. Yesterday World Cup runner-up Ding Liren played a mesmerizing game of the kind that you see only once a year.

The Chinese League is a huge event in fact, with 12 teams playing a double round robin between April and December. Usually three or four rounds are organized together, so that players can gather just a few times a year. Some international players are active in the league, such as Vassily Ivanchuk, Ernesto Inarkiev, Dmitry Jakovenko and Dmitry Andreikin.

This week rounds 16, 17 and 18 were played in Tianjin in north-east China. In the match between the city of Shaoxing and the city of Hangzhou, a very special game was played on board one. We've reported several times about Wei Yi brilliancies, but this time it was Shaoxing's Ding Liren who stole the show and played what might well be the Game of the Year.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/did-...me-of-the-year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GGtfG8CFgs

and Jan Gustafsson’s take on the game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ8racLC8MA

Chinese Chess League 2017
Round 18
Bai, Jinshi (han) – Ding, Liren (zhe)
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Bg5 c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Nc6 8.Qd3 h6 9.Bh4 d5 10.Rd1 g5 11.Bg3 Ne4 12.Nd2 Nc5 13.Qc2 d4 14.Nf3 e5 15.Nxe5 dxc3 16.Rxd8 cxb2+ 17.Ke2 Rxd8 18.Qxb2 Na4 19.Qc2 Nc3+ 20.Kf3 Rd4 21.h3 h5 22.Bh2 g4+ 23.Kg3 Rd2 24.Qb3 Ne4+ 25.Kh4 Be7+ 26.Kxh5 Kg7 27.Bf4 Bf5 28.Bh6+ Kh7 29.Qxb7 Rxf2 30.Bg5 Rh8 31.Nxf7 Bg6+ 32.Kxg4 Ne5+ 0-1

Final position of Bai-Ding (after 32…Ne5+)



Chessbomb chat comments

- Game of the Year!
- Anderssen would be proud!
- Damn fine game! Well done Ding!
- Wow, dammit! I did not know, it is even possible for a mere human to play like this these days
- Ding’s immortal

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

November 8, 2017

Anish Giri is studying the games of the Chinese League and finds an outstanding contest and tells Sergei Karjakin about it.

Since Wei Yi, Vassily Ivanchuk and Ernesto Inarkiev are playing too, it is not unusual that Giri would be reviewing the action.

It was played in the match Jiangsu-Shandong.

Chinese Chess League
Round 18, Nov. 4, 2017
Jiangsu-Shandong, Board 5
Zhang, Xiaowen (2345) – Shen, Yang (2473)
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.O-O d6 9.Nbd2 Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Nc4 Nf4 12.Ne3 Qf6 13.g3 Nh3+ 14.Kh1 Ne7 15.Bc4 Ng6 16.Qe2 c6 17.Bb3 a5 18.a4 Be6 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Nd2 Nxf2+ 21.Kg2 Nh4+ 22.Kg1 Nh3+ 23.Kh1 Nf2+ 24.Kg1 Nh3+ 25.Kh1 Nf2+ 1/2-1/2

Final position in Zhang-Shen




Zhang Xiaowen is a 28-year-old WGM. Shen Yang is also a 28-year-old WGM.

https://twitter.com/SergeyKaryakin?r...ess-news.ru%2F

https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-to...se-league-2017

The 2017 Chinese Chess League Division A is a 12-team double round-robin featuring most of the top Chinese players. It takes place from April to December, with 22 rounds in six 3-4 day sessions. Each match is played over five boards, with women playing on two boards.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

November 15, 2017

From Dennis Monokroussos:

Last week, just prior to the Champions Showdown in St. Louis, Magnus Carlsen won the November edition of the "Titled Tuesday" competition on Chess.com. It's a 10 round tournament played with a 3'+2" time control, and it's a very strong event. (Other participants included Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Dmitry Andreikin and tons of other GMs.) Carlsen won with an undefeated 9-1 score, but he had a huge scare in round 9, nearly losing to a French national master named Kevin Bordi. Bordi had a great tournament, and even mere masters can upset super-GMs every once in a while, especially in blitz. As it happened, Carlsen escaped with a draw, by the skin of his teeth, after being thoroughly lost for a very long time.


But what makes the game especially notable, blogworthy, is that Mr. Bordi achieved all of this with the worst opening in chess: the Grob, aka the Spike. (That's 1.g4?/??*, for those unfamiliar with the nomenclature.) Carlsen chose about the only setup against it that can sort of justify it, and while he wasn't worse even then the position was difficult for Black to play in a blitz game. Carlsen finally went (what should have been) fatally wrong with 25...Qe8 (Black is fine after 25...Nf5), and had Bordi played 33.Be6+ before playing Bxd4 he would have been a heavy favorite to convert his advantage. After 33.Bxd4 it was messy, with both players (but still mostly Bordi) having winning chances before the game finished in a perpetual.

http://www.thechessmind.net

Live Chess, chess.com, Nov. 7, 2017
Bordi, Kevin – Carlsen, Magnus
(Blitzstream vs MagnusCarlsen)
A00 Grob, Spike Attack

1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 c6 3.g5 e5 4.d4 e4 5.c4 Bd6 6.Nc3 Ne7 7.Qb3 O-O 8.h4 Na6 9.a3 Rb8 10.Nh3 Be6 11.c5 Bc7 12.Nf4 b6 13.Qa4 Qc8 14.b4 bxc5 15.bxc5 Nf5 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.e3 Ra8 18.Bd2 Nb8 19.Rb1 a5 20.Kd1 Ra7 21.Kc2 e5 22.Ne2 Qa6 23.Bf1 Ne7 24.Nf4 Qc8 25.Bh3 Qe8 26.Ne6 Rxf2 27.Nxc7 Rxc7 28.Qxa5 Na6 29.Rhf1 Rxf1 30.Rxf1 Ra7 31.dxe5 Ra8 32.Bc3 d4 33.Bxd4 Nd5 34.Qe1 Nac7 35.Qf2 Rxa3 36.e6 Ra2+ 37.Bb2 Nb4+ 38.Kb1 Rxb2+ 39.Qxb2 Nbd5 40.Qe5 Qb8+ 41.Kc1 Qb4 42.Qd6 Qc4+ 43.Kb2 Qb4+ 44.Kc1 Qc3+ 45.Kb1 Qb3+ 46.Kc1 Qxe3+ 47.Kb2 Qc3+ 48.Kb1 Qb3+ 49.Kc1 Qc4+ 50.Kb2 Qc3+ 51.Kb1 Qb3+ 52.Kc1 Qc3+ 1/2-1/2

Position after Carlsen’s 25….Qe8?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

November 17, 2017

Headline from The Hindu:

Tarvisio, Italy – November 17, 2017

Prodigious talent R. Praggnanandhaa, 12, stunned top-seeded Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest to move to the joint second spot in the World junior (under-20) chess championship here on Thursday.

Flawless display

Praggnanandhaa, rated 2509 and seeded a distant 26th in a strong field, produced a flawless display over 44 moves to defeat the favourite rated 2616.

Russian duo of Kirill Alekseeno and Aleksey Sorokin share the lead with four points, half a point ahead of nine players.

World Junior Championship, Under 20
Tarvisio, Italy
Round 4, Nov. 16, 2017
Van Foreest, Jorden – Praggnanandhaa, R.
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Bb3 Ba7 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 h6 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nf1 Be6 12.Bc2 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Ng3 Qd6 15.Nh4 Qe7 16.Qh5 Rad8 17.d4 Nf4 18.Bxf4 exf4 19.Nf1 Qf6 20.Nf3 Re7 21.Bb3 Bxb3 22.axb3 Rde8 23.N1d2 Nd8 24.b4 c6 25.Qg4 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 27.Nxe1 Ne6 28.Nd3 Qg5 29.Ne4 Qxg4 30.hxg4 Kf8 31.Kf1 Ke7 32.Ke2 g5 33.Ndc5 Bxc5 34.bxc5 Ng7 35.Nd6 b5 36.Kd3 Ke6 37.Ke4 h5 38.f3 hxg4 39.fxg4 a5 40.Nb7 a4 41.Nd8+ Kd7 42.Nxf7 Ne6 43.Ne5+ Kc7 44.Nxc6 1-0

- According to Dimitri Reinderman, Jorden should have played 19.Rd5 but after thinking for 45 minutes he choose to play Qf6. Jorden knew instinctively that Rd5 was the best move but did not know why. So he had to calculate everything and when that went wrong he chose Qf6

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

November 17, 2017

A game from Round Five of the World Junior U20.

Praggnanandhaa beats another grandmaster. Sunilduth is 19 and has been a GM since 2016.

World Junior U 20 2017
Tarvisio, Italy
Round 5, Nov. 17, 2017
Sunilduth Lyna, Narayanan (2585) – Praggnananadhaa, R. (2509)
C78 Ruy Lopez, Archangelsk variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.Re1 Bc5 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a4 O-O 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Nxg5 hxg5 14.Bxg5 exd4 15.cxd4 Nxd4 16.Bd5 Ne6 17.Bh4 c6 18.Ra3 cxd5 19.Rg3+ Ng7 20.e5 Bxf2+ 21.Kxf2 Qb6+ 22.Kf1 dxe5 23.Qf3 Ne4 24.Rxe4 dxe4 25.Qf6 Qxf6+ 26.Bxf6 Rfc8 27.Rxg7+ Kf8 28.Rh7 Ke8 29.Ke2 Rc6 30.Bxe5 Rd8 31.Nc3 b4 32.Nxe4 Rc2+ 33.Ke3 Bxe4 34.Kxe4 Re2+ 35.Kf4 Rxg2 36.Rh8+ Kd7 37.Rh6 Rg6 38.Rh3 Rdg8 39.Rd3+ Ke6 40.h3 f6 41.Bc7 Rc8 42.Bb6 Rc6 43.a5 Rc4+ 44.Kf3 Rg8 45.Rd2 Rh4 46.Rh2 Kf5 47.Bc7 Rc4 48.Bb6 b3 49.Rh1 Rf4+ 50.Ke3 Rg3+ 51.Kd2 Rff3 52.h4 Rh3 0-1
________

On Board 8, an endgame of three pawns vs knight. Is this a win for White or a draw?

The position in Donchenko, Alexander – Livaic, Leon after 63.Ke4

[Hans Jung]

Re: Games from Recent Events

I was looking for zugzwang but alas its probably a draw. The knight is well placed and so is the black king.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

November 22, 2017

Praggna vs Awonder – who will win?

World Junior Championship U20
Tarvisio, Italy
Round 8, Nov. 21
Praggnanandhaa, R. – Liang, Awonder
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bb3 O-O 7.Bg5 Be6 8.Nbd2 Bxb3 9.Qxb3 Bb6 10.Nc4 Qe7 11.a4 Nd8 12.O-O h6 13.Bh4 c6 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Qxb6 Ne6 17.Qe3 Ra6 18.Ra3 Rfa8 19.Rfa1 Nc5 20.b3 Qe6 21.Nd2 Nd7 22.b4 b6 23.d4 d5 24.exd5 Qxd5 25.Nf3 exd4 26.Qxd4 Qxd4 27.Nxd4 Ne5 28.R3a2 c5 29.Nf5 cxb4 30.cxb4 Nd3 31.Ne7+ Kh7 32.Nd5 R6a7 33.Ra3 Ne5 34.Nxb6 Rd8 35.a5 Nc6 36.Rb3 Rd4 37.Rab1 Re7 38.h3 Re2 39.a6 Rdd2 40.Nc4 Ra2 41.b5 Nd4 42.Ra3 Rxf2 43.Rxa2 Rxa2 44.b6 Rxa6 45.b7 Nc6 46.b8=Q Nxb8 47.Rxb8 Ra7 48.Rb6 Re7 49.Kf2 g6 50.Rd6 Kg7 51.Nb6 Rb7 52.Kf3 Rb8 53.Nd5 Rb7 54.Ne3 Ra7 55.Nc4 Re7 56.Rd5 Kf6 57.Rc5 Kg7 58.Ne5 Kf6 59.Kf4 Ra7 60.Rc6+ Kg7 61.Rc4 Ra2 62.g4 Rf2+ 63.Nf3 Ra2 64.h4 Ra1 65.Rb4 Rc1 66.Rd4 Ra1 67.Rd7 Ra4+ 68.Nd4 Ra1 69.Rb7 Rf1+ 70.Nf3 Rf2 71.Rd7 Kg8 72.Ke3 Rf1 73.Ne5 Rh1 74.Nxf7 Rxh4 75.Ne5 g5 76.Ke4 h5 77.Kf5 hxg4 78.Kg6 Kf8 79.Nc6 1-0

Final position after 79.Nc6



Kibitzers on chess24.com:

- The winner becomes the World Junior Champion and receives 2,500 Euros and the GM title.
- The 2nd and 3rd placed players receive the IM title.
- now a gm norm is guaranteed for little praggu
- praggna reached 2749
- It's Tari-Praggnanandhaa in R9 then
- The winner of this tournament is automatically declared a GM if not already. No need for norms.
- Excitement awaits
- PRAGGU WILL CRUSH ARYAN TARI!
- GREAT PLAY BY PRAGNA!
- Go Praggu Go!
- another win for praggu ...what a game...

Standings after Round Eight

1. Tari, Aryan 7/8
2. Alekseenko, Kirill 6.5/8
3. Praggnanandhaa 6.5/8
4. Xu, Xiangyu 6/8
5. Lomasov, Semen 6/8
6. Karthikeyan, Jurali 6/8 and 5 others

The championship is an 11-round Swiss open taking place in Tarvisio, Italy from 13-25 November 2017

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

November 28, 2017

A King of Chess

From Peter Doggers at chess.com:

A decade ago Romania added an interesting tournament to the international calendar: the Kings Tournament. In early editions chess legends such as Henrique Mecking, Ulf Andersson and Lajos Portisch were described as the "kings of chess."

In later years the tournament was upgraded to a field with super-grandmasters who usually played a double round robin of classical chess. For example, in May 2011 victory was shared by Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin.

The creator and co-organizer of the tournament was Elisabeta Polihroniade, a famous chess personality in Romania. She passed away in January 2016 and since then, the event is dedicated to her. Last year, the Polihroniade memorial saw a match between Vladimir Kramnik and Hou Yifan.

This year's Kings Tournament in Medias, Romania saw a double Ukrainian success as Vassily Ivanchuk and Anna Muzychuk dominated their groups in both the rapid and blitz sections.

In the very first round of the second day of rapid, Ivanchuk beat his former compatriot, took over the lead and would never let go. It looks like Karjakin was caught by surprise in this line of the Queen's Gambit where 10.Rd1 is very topical, but Ivanchuk decided to castle queenside instead.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/ivan...ngs-tournament

11th Kings Rapid 2017
Medias, Romania
Round 4, Nov. 27
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Karjakin Sergey
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 Nc6 9.Qc2 Qa5 10.O-O-O Ne4 11.Nb5 a6 12.Nc7 e5 13.Nxd5 exf4 14.Qxe4 fxe3 15.fxe3 h6 16.Nd4 Qd8 17.Bd3 f5 18.Qf4 Bd6 19.Qf2 Be5 20.Bc2 Rf7 21.Rhe1 Qf8 22.Nf3 Be6 23.Nxe5 Nxe5 24.Qf4 Ng6 25.Qg3 Bxd5 26.Rxd5 Ne7 27.Rd6 Rc8 28.Kb1 Kh8 29.Red1 Nc6 30.Qf4 Re8 31.R1d5 Ne7 32.Re5 Nc6 33.Rxe8 Qxe8 34.Bxf5 Qf8 35.g4 Rf6 36.Rxf6 Qxf6 37.Qc7 g6 38.Qc8+ Kg7 39.Qxb7+ Kf8 40.Qc8+ Kf7 41.Qd7+ Ne7 42.Bd3 Qe5 43.Qd4 Qxh2 44.c5 h5 45.gxh5 gxh5 46.Bc4+ Ke8 47.Be6 1-0

Position after 13.Nxd5

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

December 2, 2017

Kasparov-Carlsen

The number of times that Gary Kasparov met Magnus Carlsen over the board is very small. Three times, I think – at the Reykjavik Rapid in 2004 with the result 2.5-0.5, in favor of Kasparov.

Garry was lucky to draw in the QGD:

Reykjavik Rapid
Reykjavik, Iceland
Round 1, March 18, 2004
Carlsen, Magnus - Kasparov, Garry
D52 QGD, Cambridge Springs Defence, Bogoljubow variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 O-O 9.Be2 e5 10.O-O exd4 11.Nb3 Qb6 12.exd4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 a5 14.a4 Qc7 15.Rae1 h6 16.Bh4 Bd6 17.h3 Nb6 18.Bxf6 Nxc4 19.Ne4 Bh2+ 20.Kh1 Nd6 21.Kxh2 Nxe4+ 22.Be5 Nd6 23.Qc5 Rd8 24.d5 Qd7 25.Nd4 Nf5 26.dxc6 bxc6 27.Nxc6 Re8 28.Rd1 Qe6 29.Rfe1 Bb7 30.Nd4 Nxd4 31.Qxd4 Qg6 32.Qg4 Qxg4 33.hxg4 Bc6 34.b3 f6 35.Bc3 Rxe1 36.Rxe1 Bd5 37.Rb1 Kf7 38.Kg3 Rb8 39.b4 axb4 40.Bxb4 Bc4 41.a5 Ba6 42.f3 Kg6 43.Kf4 h5 44.gxh5+ Kxh5 45.Rh1+ Kg6 46.Bc5 Rb2 47.Kg3 Ra2 48.Bb6 Kf7 49.Rc1 g5 50.Rc7+ Kg6 51.Rc6 Bf1 52.Bf2 1/2-1/2

Position after 28…Qe6, supposedly Bc7 is a winning move.


________

The London Chess Classic is underway. On the eve of the main event there was the traditional Pro=Biz Cup, featuring a grandmaster paired with a chess aficionado from the business world, playing tandem chess. This year the setting was particularly notable; London’s Google Headquarters. Google Deep Mind co-founder Demis Hassabis, himself an accomplished player, was teamed up with British number one, Michael Adams.

These were not consultation games – advice is not allowed during most moves, save for two one-minute timeouts when a brief team discussion could ensue.

Players received 20 minutes plus 5 seconds per move for the game. The tournament was only three rounds, with tiebreaks if necessary. There were eight teams, but the two that concern us are Chris Flowers & Magnus Carlsen and Terry Chapman & Garry Kasparov.

The show-stopper was the game between these two teams including the 13th and 16th World Champions, Carlsen was celebrating his 27th birthday, but his team was the one giving out a present. In a carless moment, Carlsen and Flowers blundered a piece against Kasparov and Chapman, although the latter team was already better.

Later Kasparov tweeted: A consultation game only, but at this point in my career I have to take what I can get! Happy Birthday, Magnus!

https://en.chessbase.com/post/london...-beats-carlsen

Pro-Biz Cup 2017
London
Round 2, Nov. 30, 2017
Magnus Carlsen & Chris Flowers – Garry Kasparov & Terry Chapman
B18 Caro-Kann, Classical variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Qf3 e6 6.c3 Nd7 7.Bf4 Qb6 8.Bd3 Bxe4 9.Bxe4 Ngf6 10.Ne2 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Be7 12.O-O O-O 13.Qc2 Rfe8 14.Rfe1 c5 15.Rad1 Rad8 16.d5 exd5 17.Rxd5 Qe6 18.Red1 Nf6 19.Rxd8 Bxd8 20.Ng3 Qxa2 21.Nf5 Qe6 22.h3 Ne4 23.Qa4 Bb6 24.Qd7 c4 25.Be3 Nc5 26.Qxe6 fxe6 27.Bxc5 Bxc5 28.Nd6 Rd8 0-1

28.Nd6?

Position after 27…Bxc5

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

December 4, 2017

From Colin McGourty in chess24.com:

The London Chess Classic switched to its familiar Olympiad Conference Centre venue on Sunday, but the main event is yet to spark into life. Perhaps we should, therefore, highlight some of the other action in the chess world first. Jorden van Foreest won the CNE Dutch Rapid Championship with 5/7, including a crushing win over second-placed Anish Giri. The Russian Championship Superfinals started in St. Petersburg, with Daniil Dubov stealing the show with the brilliant 13.Nd5!! piece sacrifice against Sergey Volkov.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/lon...sic-2-dracarys

What better introduction to two games than that?

Dutch Rapid Championship
Amstelveen, Netherlands
15/10
Round 4, Dec. 3, 2017
Van Foreest, Jorden (2298) – Giri, Anish (2779)
C47 Four Knights game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Be2 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.O-O Nxc3 7.bxc3 e4 8.Ne1 Bd6 9.f3 f5 10.fxe4 fxe4 11.Rb1 Qe7 12.d4 exd3 13.cxd3 Bd7 14.Rxb7 O-O-O 15.Rb2 Ba3 16.d4 Rde8 17.Ba6+ Kd8 18.Re2 Qd6 19.Bg5+ Ne7 20.Bc4 h6 21.Bh4 g5 22.Bg3 Qc6 23.Qb3 Bd6 24.Nd3 Bxg3 25.hxg3 Ng6 26.Qb8+ Bc8 27.Bb5 Qxc3 28.Rxe8+ Rxe8 29.Bxe8 1-0

Final position


______

Russian Championship Superfinal
St. Petersburg, Russia
Round 1, Dec. 3, 2017
Dubov, Daniil (2677) – Volkov, Sergey (2649)
D15 QGD Slav Accepted

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.Qc2 b5 6.e4 dxc4 7.b3 Qa5 8.Nd2 e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.Be2 Nxe5 11.O-O Be7 12.bxc4 Be6 13.Nd5 cxd5 14.cxd5 Bd7 15.Bb2 f6 16.f4 Nc4 17.Nxc4 bxc4 18.Kh1 Qa4 19.Qd2 Bb4 20.Bc3 a5 21.e5 O-O 22.e6 Rc8 23.a3 Bxc3 24.Qxc3 Qb3 25.Qd4 c3 26.Rfb1 a4 27.Rxb3 axb3 28.exd7 Nxd7 29.Bg4 b2 30.Rg1 Rcb8 31.Bf5 Rxa3 32.Bb1 Rc8 33.Qb4 Ra1 34.Qb7 Rca8 35.d6 g6 36.Qb3+ 1-0

Position after 13.Nd5!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

December 5, 2017

From The Telegraph:

Garry Kasparov: I was wrong about women playing chess

For more than 30 years he's courted controversy with a string of sweeping statements about women.

But, having once believed female players should stick to having children, chess great Garry Kasparov may have finally turned over a new leaf.

"It was a long time ago, and I was always speaking my mind so that's why," said the famously belligerent Kasparov.

"I don't believe that now," he continued, before adding that a female world champion is, at least theoretically, possible.

Kasparov is in the UK for the London Chess Classic, the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour, and to throw his weight behind the charity Chess in Schools and Communities.

With his former opinions, Kasparov set himself up as a target to topple for female chess players around the world.

And in 2002 the inevitable happened - the "Beast of Baku" who dominated world chess for 20 years lost to a member of the opposite sex.

The great Hungarian trailblazer of women's chess Judit Polgar, a player Kasparov once dismissed as a "circus puppet", beat him in 42 moves.

It was the first time in chess history that a female player beat the world's number one player in competitive play, and a sweet revenge for Polgar.

And the fact it happened at a showpiece "match of the new century" event between Russia and the Rest of the World made it even sweeter.

Kasparov was distraught. Polgar, who made it to number eight in the world rankings, described the game at the time as "one of the most remarkable moments of my career".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...playing-chess/

Russia vs The Rest of the World
Moscow, Russia
Round 5, Sept. 9, 2002
Polgar, Judit – Kasparov, Garry
C67 Ruy Lopez, open Berlin Defence

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.Nc3 h6 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.h3 Be7 12.Ne2 Nh4 13.Nxh4 Bxh4 14.Be3 Bf5 15.Nd4 Bh7 16.g4 Be7 17.Kg2 h5 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.Kf3 Bg6 20.Rd2 hxg4+ 21.hxg4 Rh3+ 22.Kg2 Rh7 23.Kg3 f6 24.Bf4 Bxf5 25.gxf5 fxe5 26.Re1 Bd6 27.Bxe5 Kd7 28.c4 c5 29.Bxd6 cxd6 30.Re6 Rah8 31.Rexd6+ Kc8 32.R2d5 Rh3+ 33.Kg2 Rh2+ 34.Kf3 R2h3+ 35.Ke4 b6 36.Rc6+ Kb8 37.Rd7 Rh2 38.Ke3 Rf8 39.Rcc7 Rxf5 40.Rb7+ Kc8 41.Rdc7+ Kd8 42.Rxg7 Kc8 1-0
_________

Comments at chessgames.com

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1254283

Simon Webb - there is a certain schadenfreude in this game, though.
After bashing his head v. the Berlin (and Kramnik), Garry drops the Najdorf or Scheveningen for it and gets gubbed! It just adds a certain poetry to the Berlin Wall story.

Alex Schindler - Bizarre opening for a much higher-rated player with a markedly aggressive style. Did he have a notion that endgames are her weakness or something? There had to be some background strategy here, involving a poor assessment of his opponent's strengths, because this opening certainly doesn't let Kasparov play to his own unparalleled strengths.

I can't explain the decision based on her own tremendous attacking prowess. It seems extremely unlikely that Kasparov was afraid to go toe-to-toe with her (or anyone else) in a tactical melee. At least from his public statements, he didn't even think much of her chess at the time. I really wish I could understand what he was hoping to get out of this opening.

- My theory is that Kasparov simply did not believe Polgar could find a plan for breaching the Berlin that had eluded him all through the 2000 match.

Could she in one shot do better than what cost him months of analytical torture?

He undoubtedly had an improvement against his own plan with b3 and the tactics with e6, which he won with at Astana, but Polgar played her own way, when Garry became nervous defending a passive position.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

December 14, 2017

The Troitzky Line

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_kn...ts_versus_pawn

Whilst two knights cannot force checkmate (with the help of their king) against a lone king, a decrease in material advantage allowing the defending king to have a pawn can actually cause his demise. The reason that checkmate can be forced is that the pawn gives the defender a piece to move and deprives him of a stalemate defense (Müller & Lamprecht 2001:19–20). Another reason is that the pawn can block its own king's path without necessarily moving (e.g. Kling & Horwitz position right).

The Troitsky (or Troitsky) line (or Troitsky position) is a key motif in chess endgame theory in the rare but theoretically interesting ending of two knights versus a pawn.

The line, assuming White has the two knights and Black the pawn, is shown in the diagram in the wiki article whose link is given above.

The Russian theoretician Troitsky made a detailed study of this endgame and discovered the following rule:

If the pawn is securely blockaded by a white knight no further down than the line, then Black loses, no matter where the kings are.

It is interesting to try to find where Inarkiev lost the win.

Russian Championship Superfinal 2017
St. Petersburg, Russia
Round 10, Dec. 13, 2017
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
C91 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Bogolyubov variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.d4 d6 9.c3 Bg4 10.Be3 exd4 11.cxd4 Na5 12.Bc2 c5 13.h3 Bh5 14.g4 Bg6 15.Nbd2 Rc8 16.d5 Nd7 17.Nh2 Bf6 18.Rb1 Re8 19.f4 h6 20.Bf2 Bh4 21.Bxh4 Qxh4 22.Kg2 Qd8 23.b3 Bh7 24.Ndf3 b4 25.Qd2 c4 26.f5 cxb3 27.axb3 Qb6 28.Nd4 Rc3 29.Re3 Rxe3 30.Qxe3 Nf6 31.Qd2 Nxe4 32.Bxe4 Rxe4 33.Nhf3 Nb7 34.Re1 Nc5 35.Nc6 a5 36.Nfd4 Kh8 37.Kf3 Qa6 38.Rxe4 Qf1+ 39.Ke3 Qxh3+ 40.Nf3 Nxe4 41.Kxe4 Qxg4+ 42.Qf4 Bxf5+ 43.Ke3 Qxf4+ 44.Kxf4 Bc2 45.Nfd4 g5+ 46.Ke3 a4 47.bxa4 Bxa4 48.Nxb4 Kg7 49.Nf5+ Kg6 50.Nxd6 Bb3 51.Ke4 f5+ 52.Nxf5 Bxd5+ 53.Nxd5 h5 54.Nde3 Kf7 55.Ke5 g4 56.Nh4 Ke7 57.Nef5+ Kd7 58.Kd5 Kc7 59.Kc5 Kd7 60.Nd4 Ke7 61.Kd5 Kf6 62.Ne6 Ke7 63.Nf4 Kd7 64.Nfg6 Kc7 65.Ne5 Kb7 66.Nc6 Kc7 67.Ne5 Kb7 68.Kd6 Kb6 69.Nc6 Kb5 70.Kd5 Kb6 71.Nd4 Kc7 72.Ke6 Kb6 73.Kd6 Kb7 74.Nb5 Kb6 75.Nc3 Kb7 76.Nd5 Ka6 77.Kc5 Ka5 78.Nb6 Ka6 79.Nc4 Kb7 80.Kd6 Kc8 81.Ne5 Kb7 82.Nd7 Ka6 83.Kc5 Kb7 84.Ne5 Kc7 85.Nc6 Kd7 86.Kd5 Kc7 87.Ne5 Kb7 88.Kc4 Kc7 89.Kc5 Kb7 90.Nc4 Kc7 91.Nb6 Kd8 92.Nd5 Kd7 93.Nf4 Kc7 94.Ne6+ Kd7 95.Kd5 Ke7 96.Nf4 Kf6 97.Nfg2 Kf7 98.Nf5 h4 99.Nfxh4 g3 100.Nf5 Kf6 101.Nd4 Ke7 102.Kc6 Kd8 103.Nf5 Kc8 104.Ne7+ Kb8 105.Nd5 Ka7 106.Nc7 Kb8 107.Kb6 Kc8 108.Na6 Kd7 109.Kc5 Ke6 110.Kc6 Ke5 111.Nc5 Kd4 112.Ne6+ Kc4 113.Nef4 Kb4 114.Kb6 Kc4 115.Ne3+ Kd4 116.Nfg2 Ke5 117.Kc6 Ke6 118.Nd5 Ke5 119.Ndf4 Ke4 120.Kb5 Kd4 121.Kc6 Ke4 122.Kb5 Kd4 123.Kb4 Ke4 124.Kc4 Ke5 125.Kc5 Ke4 126.Kd6 Kd4 127.Ne6+ Ke4 128.Ng5+ Kf5 129.Nh3 Ke4 130.Kc5 Kf3 131.Nhf4 Ke4 132.Kd6 Kd4 133.Ne6+ Ke4 134.Ng5+ Kf5 135.Nf3 Ke4 136.Ne5 Kd4 137.Nf3+ Ke4 138.Ne5 Kd4 139.Nf3+ 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 98….h4



________

John Nunn analyzed the endgame of two knights versus a pawn with an endgame tablebase and stated that "the analysis of Troitsky and others is astonishingly accurate" (Nunn 1995:265). He undertook this checking after the very ending occurred in a critical variation of his post mortem analysis of a game he lost to Korchnoi in the 1980 Phillips and Drew Tournament in London. Neither player knew whether the position was a win for the player with the knights (Korchnoi).

Even when the position is a theoretical win, it is very complicated and difficult to play correctly. Even grandmasters fail to win it. Andor Lilienthal failed to win it twice in a six-year period, see Norman vs. Lilienthal and Smyslov vs. Lilienthal. But a fine win is in a game by Seitz, see Znosko-Borovsky vs. Seitz (Giddins 2012:26).

Two knights versus pawn is sometimes called the "Halley's Comet" endgame.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

December 27, 2017

The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships for 2017 are taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There is a very strong field in the Open. One youngster, who is making a name for himself, is Andrey Esipenko. He recently played for the World Team U17 in the Match of the Millennials, scoring 4 out of 7.

Mig Greengard:

15-year-old Russian Esipenko plays the move of a lifetime, 22..Qb3, against former world championship challenger Karjakin, who played on for a few more moves, likely in shock.

World Rapids 2017
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Round 8, Dec. 27
15/10
Karjakin, Sergey (2760) � Esipenko, Andrey (2564)
B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 Nf6 6.d3 e6 7.Bd2 Qb6 8.O-O-O d4 9.Ne2 c5 10.e5 Nd5 11.Nf4 Nb4 12.Kb1 Nd7 13.Qe4 Nc6 14.Nh5 O-O-O 15.f4 c4 16.dxc4 Ba3 17.Bc1 Nc5 18.Qf3 d3 19.cxd3 Na4 20.Rd2 Nd4 21.Qf2 Nc3+ 22.Ka1 Qb3 23.bxc3 Qxc3+ 24.Bb2 Bxb2+ 25.Rxb2 Qc1+ 26.Rb1 Nc2+ 27.Qxc2 Qxc2 28.g3 b5 29.cxb5 Rd4 0-1

Position after 22�Qb3



chessbomb kibitzers:

- karjakin is destroyed like a patzer in 29 moves by a 15 years old kid who is not even GM. chess is a game of jokes !! mind my words

- the problem is that this kid is a GM, he has his three norms and rating, he just has to wait

[Hans Jung]

Re: Games from Recent Events

For those who know chess culture this is a beautiful checkmate pattern seen many times before. Maybe a danger of the computer generation is that they dont know chess history although you could study checkmate patterns from databases.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games from Recent Events

Games from Recent Events

January 3, 2017

On the 25th anniversary of his death year, chess24 published an article on the chess career of Vladas Mikenas.

We give here a couple of excerpts and his immortal game.

The “Grandmaster killer” and his immortal game

by Laurynas Barkauskas

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/vla...dmaster-killer

Vladas Mikėnas (1910 – 1992) was one of the most prominent players from the Baltic states, a multiple champion of Estonia and Lithuania, an IM and an honorary GM. Mikėnas participated in five Chess Olympiads on the 1st board of the Lithuanian team before World War II. After Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, he also played in many USSR Championships. Mikėnas made contributions to chess theory such that his name features in several openings.

In his later years he was the Chief Arbiter in many outstanding events such as the 1984 Kasparov – Smyslov Candidates Tournament final match and the 1985 World Championship match between Karpov and Kasparov. Both Karpov and Kasparov held Mikėnas in high regard: Karpov called him maestro and noted that Mikėnas was unique in that he had met all the chess champions except Steinitz (Kasparov being the last one).

_________

Mikėnas was giving a simultaneous display in 1929 in Estonia and, to everybody’s surprise, he was beaten by a thirteen-year-old, with whom he played a few more games afterwards. The boy’s name was Paul Keres and this was the first time Keres got noticed at a national level.

_______

Mikėnas’ immortal game

Mikėnas was an attacking player who preferred playing semi-closed openings as that allowed easier manoeuvring of the pieces and more opportunities for tactical shots. Such a style helped Mikėnas take an honourable 5th place in the 1944 USSR Championship. The tournament winner, Botvinnik, who valued positional over tactical play, compared Mikėnas to Johann Strauss – a composer of “light music”.

Mikėnas hardly ever played 1.e4 and this is reflected in his contributions to opening theory. He developed the Mikenas-Carls Variation (A18) of the English Opening, which runs 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4. There is also the Mikenas Variation of the Modern Benoni (A66), a sharp attacking line: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.e5.

Mikėnas’ style can best be appreciated by looking at what became known as his immortal game, which was played in 1941 in the 4th Georgian Championship against N. Lebedev. The move of the game is the counterintuitive 20.f4!, which allows a seemingly destructive check with a fork, but instead ultimately led to a great sacrificial attack.

4th Georgian Championship 1941
Tbilisi, Geo
Mikenas, Vladas – Lebedev, Sergey
D53 QGD, Orthodox Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Nf3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nd5 11.Bg3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 c5 13.O-O a6 14.Bd3 Nf6 15.Ne5 Bd6 16.Bh4 Be7 17.Bb1 Qe8 18.dxc5 g5 19.Bg3 Bxc5 20.f4 Bxe3+ 21.Kh1 Bxc1 22.fxg5 Bxg5 23.Rxf6 Kg7 24.Qd3 h5 25.h4 Kxf6 26.Ng4+ hxg4 27.Be5+ Kxe5 28.Qd4# 1-0

Position after White’s 20.f4