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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
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The two very competent commentators are Evgeny Miroshnichenko, a 2604 GM from Ukraine (born 1978) and Viorel Iordachescu, a 2588 GM from Moldova (born 1977). Moldova is a country between Romania and Ukraine. I do not want to comment on international politics so I will not tell you the capital. It is just my luck that they will ask what it is on Jeopardy! tonight.
With this round, the tournament is more than half over. The combatants are in the home stretch, so to speak. Is it possible that Nakamura will draw all of his games? His last five opponents are:
Miroshnichenko: This is the last stage of the Grand Prix, so some players have already lost the incentive to fight for a win. Of course, nobody wants to lose and finish last, however, by the round 5 more than half of the players do not have even the slightest chance to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. Such a situation does not exactly reward taking risks, so one could complain about lack of fighting spirit in some games. On the other hands, the favorites – Nakamura, Tomashevsky, and Caruana – are going to feel the growing pressure as the final rounds approach. I think the most interesting part lies ahead.
– It is true that for some players this tournament is their only chance to qualify for the Candidates?
– You know, we have two main qualifying criteria. One can rely on his high rating, but to absolutely guarantee participating in the Candidates one must succeed in the Grand Prix series or the World Cup. Prior to the series nobody considered Evgeny Tomashevsky a contender, and now he has good chances, although he clearly suffers from pressure and weight of responsibility, as he admitted at a Press Conference.
The games of Round Six:
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Six, May 20, 2015
Gelfand, Boris – Dominguez, Leinier
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence, Grunfeld Variation
My analytical engine says that White wins in 27 moves after 83..Kd6.
The Press Conference was most amusing with Svidler and Giri talking at the same time and the interpreter trying to keep up. At some point in the two pawns to one endgame, it was a draw, but the players disagreed on the method and Fabiano Caruana was in the audience putting in his two cents worth.
Giri said that it was one of the worst games he had ever played.
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Six, May 20, 2015
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Nakamura, Hikaru
E05 Catalan, Open, Classical Line
The final position is aesthetically pleasing as all of White’s pieces have floated to the second rank.
They are asked about older players at the PC – Gelfand and Anand are mentioned as getting tired in long games at the end of a tournament. Nakamura jokes that he would like to get them in the last rounds then.
Tomashevsky and Nakamura have played three games of classical chess against each other before today – a tie at the Tal Memorial 2012, a tie at the Grand Prix Paris 2013 and a tie at Grand Prix Baku in 2014. I thought Tomashevsky said that they had played in 1999 and 2009 but I can’t find these games in my sources, so I must have misheard.
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Six, May 20, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Karjakin, Sergey
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence
Moldova was part of Romania historically, with a majority of the population of Romanian descent. Ukraine still has regions that are historically Romanian.
Caruana has upped his odds of securing one of the two Grand Prix Candidates spots to 97.7%. We now have a 3 horse race for the second Candidates spot, with Tomashevsky at 44.3%, Nakamura at 31.1%, and Karjakin at 21.0%.
They say that Nakamura is more serious and stable these days. In any case, he has shaved off the heavy black beard and looks boyish. He also won against Vachier Lagrave. Giri in a hoodie beat Tomashevsky. He assembled a type of Alekhine’s Gun on the g-file and then disassembled it.
Giri-Tomashevsky was the last game to finish. If you are an official or a commentator, you know that your supper is going to be delayed if Tomashevsky is playing.
________
Boris Postovsky, Chief Arbiter of the final stage of the FIDE Grand Prix, visited the press-center before the start of today’s round. He discussed tournament organization and fighting spirit of the participants, and even compared some of the players to the NHL stars.
– What can you say about organization of the Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk?
– I like it very much, everything is organized at the highest level. I worked at many major international events, and Khanty-Mansiysk is by no means inferior to the best of them. The players have everything they need to fully concentrate on their games. I think everybody is happy, there are no complaints. Maybe the number of spectators in the playing hall is rather small, but this is normal for our times. Only the Alekhine Memorial in Paris 2013 was surprisingly crowded. Most spectators prefer watching games online, in the most comfortable conditions, drinking tea and listening to the grandmaster commentary. By the way, the commentators here are doing a great job.
– How does this tournament work out for you as an arbiter?
– Frankly speaking, it is always easy to be an arbiter at such a strong tournament with many players from the World’s top 10. I know all the players for many years and have great respect for them. They are also very respectful for me, and it is very easy to work in such conditions. There are no conflicted persons here. We are doing our best to create ideal conditions for the players, and they know they can talk to me about any issues, and I will help.
As for the competitive side of the event, the games are very exciting and tense. Some of them end around 10 pm, after full seven hours of struggle. Not everyone is in an ideal shape, but everything can change in the forthcoming rounds. Although it is already clear that Caruana secured a ticket to the Candidates. He is a very strong player, and luck is also on his side. The second ticket is still up for grabs and can go to either Tomashevsky, Karjakin, or Nakamura.
– Five participants of the Grand Prix are from Russia. Is there any concern about possible fixed games between them in order to help their compatriots qualify for the Candidates?
– It is absolutely impossible. Players nowadays are very independent, and they need every rating point they can get. Of course, some players are good friends or they work with each other a lot, and in this case their games sometimes end peacefully without much fight. But losing games on purpose is totally out of question! You can see Russian chess players fighting for 7 hours, like NHL stars!
______
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Seven, May 21, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Gelfand, Boris
E60 King’s Indian, 3.g3
Karjakin at the Press Conference: "I have no special tournament strategy, - I try to make maximum use of all my chances. Why have I won two in a row since the rest day? The day before, my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Maybe that helped me?"
- Jobava gets 6th draw in a row..what a boring player!
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Seven, May 21, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime
A45 Queen’s Pawn Game
Peter said at the PC that he has played black against Leinier in previous games and done badly. This is true for 2012 Grand Prix Tashkent, 2014 GP Thessaloniki, 2014 GP Baku and 2015 GP Tbilisi.
Too bad he lost today. Yesterday, after winning and while analyzing the endgame with Giri, he had this very quotable quote: “The two games I won in this tournament were both rook endings but I honestly have no idea about them, so don’t listen to anything I say. I’m just lucky that when I get to the endgames I have an extra pawn.”
Carnage! There were very hard-fought games and blunders. Caruana lost to Jakovenko: the Italian player was pressing for a significant amount of time and then out of nowhere he blundered heavily! Jakovenko took advantage of his chances and won. Grischuk beat Karjakin in a very complex game marked by a last-minute Karjakin blunder. (ChessBase).
This was originally scheduled to be a Rest Day and I posted it as such, but changed to playing Round Eight. I was hoisted by my own petard. Missing most of the action, I have no one to blame but myself.
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Eight, May 22, 2015
Gelfand, Boris – Svidler, Peter
D97 Grunfeld, Russian, Alekhine Variation
Boris beat Peter in the post-game analysis. Peter went for a line where his notes say, "White is winning" - oops! And so Boris ended with the Latin tag: humanum errare est, which really says it all.
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Eight, May 22, 2015
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Dominguez, Leinier
D80 Grunfeld, Stockholm Variation
(CB) Tomashevsky won two pawns in the opening, but Dominguez had typical Grunfeld counterplay. The Russian player decided to sacrifice a pawn to ease the pressure, giving the unusual material balance of a minor piece and two pawns against a rook. Dominguez thought he was worse and sacrificed the exchange back for a pawn, hoping to draw the opposite colored bishop endgame.
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Eight, May 22, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Giri, Anish
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav (6.Qc2)
(CB) A hard game to understand. Nakamura was better the whole game and at some point he was even up three pawns. However he botched it up and Jobava had good chances to hold. He inexplicably, however, went for a completely lost rook and pawn endgame that Nakamura finally managed to convert.
- looks like Nakamura will join Caruana in the lead. On Monday the big clash: Caruana - Nakamura
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Eight, May 22, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Karjakin, Sergey
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav
Despite today's loss, Caruana still has a 91.8% chance of securing his Grand Prix Candidates spot. Nakamura's odds have increased to 75.7%. Jakovenko has taken over the 3rd best odds at 11.1%. Gelfand is next at 8.7%, followed by Kanjakin at 6.5%, and Tomashevsky now sitting 6th at 6.2%.
Alexander Grischuk: It is nice to know that you are not the only one who has no clue!
23.05.2015
In the 8th round the Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk defeated his compatriot Sergey Karjakin in a tense game.
After the game the players attended the press-conference.
– It was a very complicated and sharp game. If there were no press-conference, would you start analyzing it by yourself, or go home and ask the computer’s opinion?
Grischuk: I think it is always interesting to discuss it with the opponent, even if it has no objective value, and computer would show everything right. But I’d like to know what my opponent thought about the game! Sometimes you just do not have a clue about the events in the game, but when you begin discussing it with the opponent, it turns out he does not have a clue either. And it gets better – after all, our opponents are not the worst chess players in the world.
Karjakin: Thank you, I appreciated your hint about the opponent who does not have a clue! As for the question, I think I would prefer discussing the game with the opponent. It is interesting even if you lose. And then I would go and ask the computer to check what was right and what was wrong.
– What do you think about the new coach of the Russian national team Andrey Filatov?
Grischuk: To be honest, I still think this is some kind of joke. I don’t mean anything bad, I just think that Andrey Filatov is a very busy man, and I don’t know why would he need it…
Karjakin: As far as I understand he becomes our trainer on January 1. I can’t wait to send him some of my chess questions. I am very curious about his reply (smiles).
_______
Andrey Vasilievich Filatov (born 18 December 1971) is a Russian entrepreneur. He is co-owner, Board of Directors Member and Chief Executive Officer of the N-Trans transportation-and-infrastructure group and President of the Russian Chess Federation, vice president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
In 2011, in the Russian version of the Forbes magazine Filatov was ranked 93rd among Russia’s wealthiest businesspersons, with the fortune of $1.1 billion.
Filatov was the initiator and sponsor of the World Chess Championship 2012 held in Moscow in 2012, in the State Tretyakov Gallery.
Filatov funded the restoration of the tombstone monument of Alexander Alekhine, who was the first Russian by birth world champion, in Paris.
It was an amazing 9th round at the FIDE Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansiysk! At the end of the day, two decisive games, two stalemates and no changes on the top of the crosstable.
Evgeny Tomashevsky made a step to reclaiming his spot in the Candidates Tournament by defeating this compatriot Peter Svidler. Still Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura hold a big advantage in the GP points.
Anish Giri was also victorious, after Baadur Jobava blundered a key pawn.
With Boris Gelfand pulling a miraculous save against Dmitry Jakovenko, and Caruana missing a win against Sergey Karjakin, the three leaders kept their spots on the top.
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Nine, May 24, 2015
Jakovenko, Dmitry – Gelfand, Boris
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack
Black was better prepared in a lengthy theoretical line of the Najdorf, and White had to force a draw by perpetual. Suddenly the Israeli grandmaster started to think and finally deviated from the repetition, avoiding a draw. However, that decision brought him a lost position.
“Lapse of reason! ” said Gelfand at the press-conference, clearly surprised by his decision. He studied this variation with his second Alexander Huzman, and planned to take a draw, but suddenly changed his mind at the board.
“This is one of the problems of modern chess”, added Gelfand. “The first move after deep home analysis is often a blunder. ”
Despite lengthy thought at the board, Gelfand overlooked 25. Rе4! He wanted to resign on the spot, but forced himself to keep fighting. “It is a miracle I did not lose at once”, smiled Boris.
Dmitry Jakovenko got four pawns for the piece, besides, Black’s king was very weak. White had many promising options, but there was no forced victory. Only after the time control was passed, Jakovenko found a clear plan of improving his position. Slowly he got a decisive advantage, but Gelfand fought to a bitter end, and his tenacity was rewarded.
On the 48th move Black gave away his last pawn. Dmitry was again under time pressure, and he took the pawn to protect against the check from f3. After that Gelfand sacrificed a knight and then a queen, forcing a stalemate!
Jakovenko: “I forgot about 50…Nd5+. Did not see this idea until Boris sacrificed the g4-pawn. I thought I can avoid taking the knight, and my king eventually escapes from checks. However, 50…Nd5+! forced me to capture the knight, and a draw became inevitable.
Thus, Boris Gelfand first created himself problems, and then heroically solved them.
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Nine, May 24, 2015
Karjakin, Sergey – Caruana, Fabiano
A35 English, Symmetrical, Four Knights System
This game was a symmetrical English Opening, which often transposes to an endgame with a slight plus for White directly from the opening. In theory Black’s chances for a draw are higher than White’s chances for a win, but in practice defending such position is very unpleasant, because White can play without risk. One can recall Boris Gelfand beating Peter Leko quite convincingly at the Petrosian Memorial half a year ago.
That game proved that trading the dark-squared bishops by 11…Bb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxd2+ 13. Kxd2 is bad for Black, and Caruana played the new main line 11…Bd6.
For a while the events in this game followed a well-known script: White increased pressure, Black defended accurately. Finally, Black solved all the problems, and the game transposed to a drawn bishop endgame. However, suddenly the events started to develop in a highly unusual way!
First White overextended, looking for a non-existing advantage, and Black got practical winning chances. Then Karjakin claimed a draw due to a threefold repetition, and it was accepted by the arbiter. The players shook hands and signed their scoresheets, but then the arbiters changed the decision, and the game continued!
Using multiple zugzwang threats, Black gradually shook the opponent’s defense. Karjakin used his best practical chance, transposing to a queen ending with an extra pawn for Black. The tablebases showed that Caruana could mate in 59 moves, but the Italian immediately made a mistake and allowed White’s king to join the defense. The game ended on the 85th move with a stalemate!
Nakamura turned to a Grunfeld sideline already on the 7th move by 7. Qa4+. Black’s response 7…Qd7 is also not the most popular, but nevertheless interesting. Nakamura spent a lot of time looking for the most accurate move order, but his initiative gradually evaporated. Clearly, Grischuk was prepared for this variation better.
After 17…Na7 (a very strong move in Hikaru’s opinion) Black completely solved opening problems and could even think of something more ambitious. The position was still about equal, but Alexander criticized his decision to trade on d5, as Black would have better practical chances after 24…Rfe8.
Nakamura could play sharper on the 29th move, but he rejected the idea of pushing the d-pawn to d6 and played a safer move instead. After further simplifications the game ended in a draw.
At the beginning of the press-conference Anish Giri explained that his opponent has a very broad opening repertoire, plays original variations, and is difficult to prepare for. Baadur Jobava added: “That is because I opt for positions that the computer does not understand. ”
One may think that such a romantic approach to chess must be praised. The problem, however, is that such positions are rare, and the number is getting smaller and smaller. Besides, a grandmaster armed with computer engine can find out the truth about practically any position. For the second time in this tournament Jobava went for a dubious 3…Nc6 line in the French, which was surely examined by Giri on the rest day. Consequently, the Dutch grandmaster found an interesting plan associated with an immediate attack on Black’s pawn centre.
A critical position occurred on the 19th move. Black had a choice between an inferior (but probably holdable) endgame and a very risky middlegame. True to his style, the Georgian grandmaster opted for the latter. White exchanged his queen for two rooks and a pawn. Jobava thought that position is just slightly better for White, but Giri disagreed, saying that White’s position is likely winning, but he must be very precise, because one poor move may cost him a game. White had 30 minutes for 15 moves in a complicated position, and the game could go on for a while.
And suddenly it all ended: Black blundered the d5-pawn, which was core for his counterplay, reaching d4 and d3 in some variations. Disappointed, Jobava resigned immediately.
Of course then, everyone said, "What just happened?"
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Nine, May 24, 2015
Dominguez, Leinier – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf
Tomashevsky played his pet line of the Ruy Lopez, the one that he used in the 7th round against Giri. He was first to deviate from that game, playing “a slightly riskier” (as he said at the press-conference) 13…Bc6 instead of 13…Bc8.
Svidler’s activity on the kingside did not surprise his opponent. A critical position arose after 22…c4. Svidler took the pawn – 23. Bxc4?, expecting 23…Nxc4 24. dxc4 Qa7+ 25. Qd4, but he completely missed the immediate 23…Qa7+! White’s king had no good retreat squares, so Svidler had to give away a pawn. After 23. d4 Nd3 24. Bxc4 Nxb2 25. Bxb2 Rxb2 26. Qf3! (pointed out by Tomashevsky; Svidler underestimated his move) White is in order.
Black found several precise moves (25…а3!, 30…f6!) and gradually developed his advantage. Only approaching the control move Evgeny made a slight misstep, but it did not shake the evaluation. Svidler resigned on the 42nd move.
In Round Nine, with Karjakin and Caruana playing, a strange situation arose. The spectators following on the internet saw the players agree to a draw at move 49, but a few minutes later, this result was withdrawn and the game continued. While the events were unfolding in the tournament hall, the live transmission was suspended, and the spectators instead saw a report about the rest day, profiles of the players and some adverts. When the broadcast resumed, the commentators did not explain what had happened, referring only to "eyewitness reports".
For an explanation, we asked chief arbiter Boris Postovsky.
"Karjakin wrote down his 49th move and claimed a draw by repetition. I was not there at that precise moment, so my assistant Kwai Keong Chen dealt with it. After looking through Karjakin's scoresheet, he decided there had been threefold repetition and declared the game drawn. By then, I was standing nearby also. I asked Caruana "Agreed?". It seemed neither player objected and they signed one of the scoresheets, Karjakin's. But then Chen came over to me, looking embarrassed, and said: "I made a mistake. There was no repetition." It turned out that both he and Karjakin had misread Black's 36th move on the scoresheet: 36... Kc6. The letters "с" and "е" are very similar, and if the king had gone to e6, there would indeed have been a repetition.
So now we had a problem. I asked Caruana if he was happy to agree a draw anyway, but he did not reply. Then I remembered what I was taught when I was a trainee arbiter 60 years ago: if you make a mistake, you are allowed to correct it. So I told the players to play on. Neither objected and the game continued".
"When Sergey claimed a draw, I was sure there had not been a repetition, - said Caruana at the press conference. - But I was confused by the fact that the arbiter confirmed the claim, and I thought "Oh well, there must have been", and I signed the scoresheet, quite annoyed. But then the arbiter changed his mind, which seemed a bit strange to me ..."
Sergey Karjakin drew attention to the situation: "It seems to me that today's episode was a very important from the point of view of arbiting, when I mistakenly claimed a draw. The arbiter mistakenly confirmed it. After Caruana realised there was no repetition, the game continued. But at that point, Fabiano had already signed the scoresheet. I think that after this, the arbiter was not allowed to change his decision and continue the game. I would very much like to see this cleared up. If the arbiter failed to follow the rules, then he is at fault and has not shown sufficient competence. But if he did follow the rules, then I will take back my words".
__________
A photo of the offending scoresheet is given on the referenced website.
In beating Karjakin today, Jakovenko not only joined the leaders of the tournament but also gained a real chance of taking second place in the overall series, and thus qualifying for the Candidates’.
Much, if not everything, depends on the outcome of the game Nakamura-Jakovenko tomorrow. Tomashevsky also retains a theoretical chance of reaching the Candidates’, but to do so, as well as beating Vachier, he needs other results to go his way also.
(chess-news.ru)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Ten, May 25, 2015
Gelfand, Boris – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
D15 QGD Slav Accepted (4…a6)
This was another example for Peter Svidler’s future book “Secrets of Opening Preparation”: the potential author somehow managed to overlook Vachier-Lagrave-Krylov, Aeroflot open 2010. “I definitely had not seen this game, and I specifically looked for Maxime’s game against the Zaitsev. After the previous three games I can be surprised by nothing, but this still would be a bit of an achievement by my side. That’s bizzare, I will go and recheck”, Peter did not try to hide his surprise. (From the Official Site)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Ten, May 25, 2015
Jobava, Baadur – Dominguez, Leinier
C53 Giuoco Piano
Alexander Grischuk looked puzzled at the press-conference: “Nobody played this line of the Semi-Slav against me for many years, and here I played two games in a row! ” In the 8th round Grischuk developed his bishop to g5 and defeated Karjakin, although Black had decent chances during the game. This time he preferred a more modest 5. е3.
“Even without the time trouble it was a crazy position! ” expressed him opinion the Russian grandmaster. Both kings were unsafe, and the pieces of both player were very active. Alexander decided to avoid risks and offered a draw after making his 32nd move. “Of course Grischuk was under time pressure, but with him it does not mean much, so I accepted the offer”, said Giri.
Both grandmasters were somewhat disappointed about the outcome and blamed the 30-move rule. Grischuk called it “an extremely stupid rule”, saying that draw offers should be allowed either from the move 1, or from the move 40, because the 30-move rule often interrupts games at the most interesting moment. (From the Official Site)
The players surprised each other with a highly original move order: 1. d4 c5!? 2. e4!? d6 3. Nf3, and suddenly there is a Sicilian on the board! Nakamura went for the Dragon Variation, which Caruana haven’t faced for quite a while. Fabiano did not go for the sharpest lines and preferred to test his opponent in a quiet position with a slight advantage to White. Hikaru was well-prepared for that, too, and demonstrated a novelty on the 15th move, forcing further simplifications.
After a short tactical battle a sharp four-rook ending arose. Three white pawns on the queenside and three black pawns on the kingside were going for a home run. However, it seems the leaders of the Grand Prix suddenly recalled about the series’ leaderboard and decided to avoid any risk. They consistently rejected the sharpest continuations, and prior to the first control white rooks penetrated the 7th rank and forced a draw by perpetual. (From the Official Site)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015
Round Ten, May 25, 2015
Jakovenko, Dmitry – Karjakin, Sergey
D46 QGD, Semi-Slav, Modern Main Line
The Nakamura-Jakovenko game is not the only critical outcome tomorrow. While both Caruana and Nakamura have roughly 90% probabilities of qualifying for the 2016 Candidates in Khanty-Mansiysk, there's apparently a 1/5500 chance that neither qualify and Jakovenko (19.5%) and Tomaskevsky (0.3%) both clip them at the wire. Highly improbable but about the same odds as asteroid Apophis hitting the earth in 2036 ):
With Caruana and Nakamura both drawing their games this morning, they're both qualified for the 2016 Candidates. The 3 known Candidates are thus Anand, Caruana, and Nakamura. Given they are currently the top 3 rated players (all now just over 2800) not named Carlsen, that means the 2 Candidates spots based on rating gets a good deal more interesting. Topalov's 'strategy' of sitting on his 2798 rating is looking more and more viable since he now leads the ratings list (after removing Anand, Caruana, and Nakamura from the equation).
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