Stavanger 2015

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Stavanger 2015

Stavanger 2015

Round Six concluded from last posting

Round 6, June 22, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Topalov, Veselin
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 O-O 6.e4 d6 7.Ne2 b5 8.Nf4 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.Be2 Nbd7 11.O-O c4 12.Be3 Bc5 13.Bxc5 Nxc5 14.b4 cxb3 15.axb3 b4 16.Nb5 Qb6 17.Kh1 g5 18.Qd4 Ncd7 19.Qxb6 Nxb6 20.Nc7 Ra7 21.Nb5 Re7 22.Nxd6 gxf4 23.Bxa6 Rd8 24.Bxc8 Rxd6 25.Bf5 Nbd7 26.g3 fxg3 27.Rg1 Kf8 28.Rxg3 Nc5 29.Bh3 Re8 30.Rb1 Nh5 31.Rg5 Nf4 32.Bf1 Ra8 33.Bc4 Ra2 34.Rg4 Rh6 35.h4 Nfd3 36.Rg2 Rxh4+ 37.Kg1 Ra7 38.d6 Rh6 39.Rh2 Rxd6 0-1

Tarjei J. Svensen (tweet) – Topalov: Sometimes it happens that you get all the luck in one tournament, and that’s what is happening to me right now.

Nigel Short (tweet) The fact that you can blunder a piece, like Grischuk, and still not be completely lost, is testament to how bad the Benoni is.

Round 6, June 22, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Hammer, Jon Ludvig
A13 English, Neo-Catalan

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 d4 5.e3 Nc6 6.O-O Bc5 7.b4 Bxb4 8.exd4 O-O 9.Bb2 Rb8 10.Na3 Bxa3 11.Bxa3 Re8 12.Bb2 b5 13.Bc3 bxc4 14.Qa4 Bd7 15.Qxc4 Nd5 16.Rfb1 Rb6 17.a4 Qb8 18.Re1 a5 19.Qc5 Nxc3 20.dxc3 Rb2 21.Ng5 Qb6 22.Ne4 Ne7 23.Qg5 Ng6 24.h4 h6 25.Qg4 Bc6 26.h5 Bxe4 27.Bxe4 Ne7 28.Qf3 Rd8 29.Rab1 Nd5 30.Rxb2 Qxb2 31.Rb1 Qa2 32.Rb7 Qxa4 33.Bxd5 exd5 34.Rxc7 Qe8 35.Rc5 a4 36.Rxd5 Rxd5 37.Qxd5 a3 38.Qa5 Qe1+ 39.Kg2 Qe4+ 40.Kh2 Qc2 41.Qxa3 Qxf2+ 42.Kh3 Qf1+ 43.Kh2 Qf2+ 44.Kh3 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 22, 2015
Giri, Anish – Aronian, Levon
D39 QGD, Ragozin, Vienna Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Nbd7 11.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12.Kf1 gxf6 13.h4 a6 14.Rh3 Qb4 15.Be2 Ne5 16.Rb1 Qd6 17.Qd2 Bd7 18.Rxb7 Bb5 19.Rb3 Rc8 20.Bxb5+ axb5 21.Qb4 Qxb4 22.Rxb4 O-O 23.R7xb5 Rfd8 24.Ke2 Kg7 25.Ra4 Ra8 26.Rbb4 Rdb8 27.Nb3 Rxb4 28.Rxb4 Rxa2+ 29.Nd2 Kg6 30.g3 h5 31.Rd4 f5 32.exf5+ Kxf5 33.Rf4+ Kg6 34.Rd4 Kf5 35.Rf4+ Kg6 36.Rd4 1/2-1/2

Standing After Round 6

1. Topalov 5.5/6
2. Nakamura 4.0/6
3. Anand 4.0/6
4. Giri 3.5/6
5. Vachier-Lagrave 2.5/6
6. Aronian 2.5/6
7. Caruana 2.5/6
8. Carlsen 2.0/6
9. Grischuk 2.0/6
10. Hammer 1.5/6

Round Seven Pairings

Nakamura-Grischuk, MVL-Carlsen, Aronian-Anand, Hammer-Giri and Topalov-Caruana

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Stavanger 2015

Stavanger 2015

Round Seven
June 23, 2015

As usual the commentators are Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam and Jan Gustafsson. I like Dirk’s knowledge of chess history, although others find him dry. Jan is an exponent of modern chess play, especially the openings. His main attraction to me is an abundance of whimsy and pop culture. One of the viewers on the official site writes: “I saw a tv cast where pigs grow faster listening to Mozart music. So I am listening to Gustafsson speaking.” Both guys are friends with all the top grandmasters. They also realize that a chess broadcast is not just analyses of the games, there has to be entertainment as well. Usually there are interviews, history, records broken, behind the scenes revelations, trivia, interaction with the viewers and a lot of humour.

One of the first games to finish is a draw between Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave. It seems hard to explain what has happened even by the players themselves in the postgame interview.

The guys ask MVL about what his situation is now.

MVL – My situation was bright at the start of the tournament. I face Hikaru tomorrow, I didn’t have a good opening against him at Khanty. (MVL lost in 27 moves in a bloodbath). I was at the peak of my misery in Khanty.

Dirk – That is something, to be at the peak of your misery in Siberia.

Jan – They say that once you have hit rock bottom, it can only go up but you can also stay there, so I’ve never really bought into that.

MVL – You can always dig deeper. One and a half would be good for the last two games. So far I have been playing difficult openings and had tough games. I’ve wasted two whites and so I shouldn’t be expected to be doing better than -1 now.
_____

Dirk and Jan have interviews with three ladies. The second, Kaia, is with Norway’s Channel 2 – a tall blonde with an accent that is more American than Norwegian. Dirk says that he has seen her broadcasting at chess tournaments all over the world.

She asks Jan about chess in Germany and Dirk about the potential of Anish Giri. Then she goes live on television and asks Jan, “How are you enjoying Norway so far?”

He says that everything is wonderful so far and he usually likes to complain about things. She asks him to complain about one thing:

Jan – Breakfast only lasts until 9:30 and that is very chess-player-unfriendly.

Kaia – I agree, luckily lunch starts at 11:00 a.m.

Jan – I have figured that trick and treat lunch as breakfast – some pasta to start the day; that works for me.
_______

Quiz for Round Six – was an easy one, where you were asked about the second of Jan Ludvig Hammer in this tournament. The second is Laurent Fressinet (also known as Fress).

The winner is Dante Zuniga from Toronto, Canada

Maybe we can all go over each month and read Dante’s latest NIC Magazine!

Quiz for Round Seven – Although he doesn’t have a driving license yet, Magnus Carlsen recently bought a car and a pretty spectacular car at that. What car?
_______

The games:

Stavanger 2015
Round 7, June 23, 2015
Topalov, Veselin – Caruana, Fabiano
D73 Neo-Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Ne5 e6 9.O-O Nfd7 10.Nf3 Nf6 11.Bf4 Nc6 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Bd7 14.Qd2 Qe7 15.Rac1 Bc6 16.Rc2 Rfd8 17.Rfc1 Ne8 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.e3 Nd6 20.Ne2 Bb5 21.Nf4 Rac8 22.h4 Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8 24.Rxc8 Nxc8 25.Qa5 Qd7 26.b3 b6 27.Qc3 Qc6 28.Qa1 Qc7 29.Bh3 Qc2 30.a4 Ba6 31.Qa3 Qd1+ 32.Kh2 Qd2 33.Bg2 h6 34.a5 Qxa5 35.Qc1 Qb4 36.e4 Qxd4 37.exd5 e5 38.Ne6+ fxe6 39.Qc7+ Kf6 40.Qd8+ Kf7 41.Qd7+ Kf8 42.Qd8+ Kf7 43.Qd7+ Kf8 44.Qd8+ 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 23, 2015
Hammer, Jon Ludvig – Giri, Anish
B08 Pirc, Classical (Two Knights) System

1.Nf3 g6 2.e4 d6 3.d4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Be3 a6 6.Qd2 b5 7.Bh6 O-O 8.Bd3 Bg4 9.e5 dxe5 10.dxe5 Nh5 11.Bxg7 Nxg7 12.Be4 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 Ra7 15.Rad1 Nd7 16.Rhe1 Nb6 17.Bc6 Ne6 18.Kc1 Nd8 19.Be4 c5 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.Bxd5 Ne6 22.g3 c4 23.Bxe6 fxe6 24.f4 Kf7 25.h4 h5 26.Rd4 Rc8 27.Red1 Ke8 28.c3 a5 29.Kc2 Rb7 30.Re4 b4 31.Rdd4 Rbc7 32.Kd2 Rc5 33.Kc2 R5c7 34.a3 b3+ 35.Kd2 Rc5 36.Ke3 R8c7 37.Rd2 Rd5 38.Red4 Rxd4 39.Rxd4 Rc5 40.a4 Rc8 41.Re4 Kf7 42.Kd4 Kg7 43.Re2 Kf8 44.Rg2 Kg7 45.Rd2 Kf7 46.Ke4 Ke8 47.Rd4 Rc5 48.Kf3 Kf7 49.Ke3 Ke8 50.Ke4 Rc7 51.Kf3 Rc5 52.Ke3 Rc8 53.Re4 Kf7 54.Kd4 Kg7 55.Re3 Kf7 56.Re2 Kf8 57.Rg2 Kg7 58.Ke3 Kf7 59.Rh2 Kf8 60.Kd4 Kf7 61.Rg2 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 23, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Carlsen, Magnus
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 g5 7.Bg3 Ne4 8.Nxe4 dxe4 9.Nd2 Qxd4 10.e3 Qxb2 11.Rb1 Qc3 12.Be2 Nd7 13.O-O Nc5 14.Nb3 Nd3 15.Nd2 Nc5 16.Nb3 Nd3 17.Nd2 Nc5 1/2-1/2

Vachier-Lagrave – Well, I didn’t really expect Magnus to go for Meran again. He completely took me by surprise with Ne4.

Nigel Short – Never even seen this line before which Magnus plays. Either I am ignorant (most likely) or it is very unusual.

Round 7, June 23, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Anand, Vishy
A29 English, Bremen, Smyslov System

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O e4 7.Ng5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Re8 9.f3 exf3 10.Nxf3 Qe7 11.e3 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Rb1 Rb8 14.Rb5 Qe7 15.d3 d6 16.e4 Bg4 17.Bf3 Bh3 18.Bg2 Bg4 19.Bf3 Bh3 20.Bg2 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 23, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Grischuk, Alexander
A37 English, Symmetrical, Botvinnik System Reversed

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.a3 Nge7 7.O-O O-O 8.Ne1 d6 9.Nc2 Be6 10.Ne3 Qd7 11.d3 Bh3 12.Rb1 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 f5 14.Ned5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 Ne7 16.Nc3 h5 17.b4 Rf7 18.f3 e4 19.Bb2 exf3+ 20.Rxf3 Re8 21.bxc5 dxc5 22.Qd2 Qe6 23.Re1 Nc6 24.Nd5 Bxb2 25.Qxb2 Nd4 26.Rf2 b5 27.Qc1 bxc4 28.Qxc4 Nc2 29.Qxc2 Qxd5+ 30.Kg1 Rfe7 31.Rc1 Re5 32.Qc4 Qxc4 33.Rxc4 Kg7 34.e4 fxe4 35.dxe4 Rxe4 36.Rxc5 R8e7 37.Ra5 R4e5 38.Ra6 R5e6 39.Ra5 Re5 40.Ra6 R5e6 1/2-1/2

All draws. It looks like everyone has more or less conceded that Topalov will win the tournament.

Standing After Round Seven

1. Topalov 6.0/7
2. Nakamura 4.5/7
3. Anand 4.5/7
4. Giri 4.0/7
5. MVL 3.0/7
6. Aronian 3.0/7
7. Caruana 3.0/7
8. Carlsen 2.5/7
9. Grischuk 2.5/7
10. Hammer 2.0/7

Pairings for Round Eight

Grischuk-Caruana, Giri-Topalov, Anand-Hammer, Carlsen-Aronian and Nakamura-MVL.

(Tarjei J. Svensen tweet) – Carlsen on facing Aronian: “He’s difficult to play against. One of the few who are capable of outplaying me.”

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Stavanger 2015

Stavanger 2015

Round Eight
June 24, 2015

Four players are up till now, in this very strong tournament, unbeaten. They are Topalov, Nakamura, Anand and Giri. Dirk and Jan expect that at least one of these at will go down today.

The world blitz record was broken this morning. It is now 40 hours 40 minutes, beating the old record of 40 hr 20 min. Joachim and Magne found it was tougher than they expected and one of them was sick a couple of times.

Eric Hansen has a video predicting the results of today’s action, which is described on YouTube this way:

GM Eric Hansen and guest NM Elias Oussedik give their round eight predictions from the chessbrah cave in Montreal, Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyQv...ature=youtu.be

_________

IM Sopiko Guramishvili comes in. She is the fiancée of Anish Giri. She has been keeping Anish company during the entire tournament. She goes to almost every tournament with him and usually has to fill in some time alone while he is playing and preparing. There are a couple of places, which are rather boring but she won’t say which. They are getting married on the 18th of July in Tbilisi, in Georgia.

Jan tosses her a tough question: You once described your future husband as being older than you, not a chess player and not wearing glasses. And you chose Anish! What was going on there?

She says that was her mistake and didn’t know Anish yet. She just ticked all the boxes during an interview; she didn’t want an Elo 2700 geek, but Anish is not one.

He helps her when she is preparing for a tournament. Thus, she has a very strong second.

Jan asks if it is her influence that has made Anish dress more stylishly lately. She says yes but they don’t go clothes shopping together.

She is 24, born on the first of January, 1991. A bio states: “Her play is bright and aggressive, and her personality shines through both on and off the board. Until graduation in 2013 she managed to combine her chess with studying English and Spanish at the Ilia Chavchavadze University of Georgia in Tbilisi.”

Jan says that she has the most successful video series ever on chess24 on sacrifices in the Sicilian.
_______

Kris Littlejohn comes in to talk with the guys. He is the second of Hikaru Nakamura and specializes in computer preparation. They first met online on ICC more than ten years ago through a mutual friend. He and Hikaru talked about bughouse chess. Kris was just a 1700 player but one of the top bughouse players in the world. Dallas, where he comes from, was a bughouse mecca in those days.

The last time he played he partnered with Hikaru and went again Magnus and Levon at the last Amber Tournament in Monaco, where they were soundly beating because they were in their cups.

He started to work with Hikaru in 2007 or 2008. He didn’t really have a second at that time and worked with Kris at Barcelona and Kris got paid. After that they travelled together pretty regularly. He continued to work with him even alongside Kasparov in 2011. That line about Kris and Kasparov coming to the same conclusion about a position but Kris being quicker probably was made at Wijk aan Zee in 2011.

Kris works on things that Hikaru will be comfortable with. This would not work with everyone, especially a player with a restricted opening repertoire. Their team is unique in the chess world because no one has a second who is such a weak player but then Kris says, “How strong do you have to be to hit the space bar on the keyboard?”

Sometimes he works 12 hours straight through the night and other times just a few hours looking at something prepared before and he gets a good night’s sleep. He usually sleeps from midnight to 5 or 6 a.m. but can’t sleep at all when the game is on. Usually he catches up on his shuteye on rest days.

He is asked about his computer? Is it a supercomputer or a laptop that anyone can buy?

He seems to acknowledge the second but doesn’t want to give details.

Just an ordinary laptop might be a little ingenuous. What is it connected to? Compare this to what his mother Debra Littlejohn Shindler wrote in 2010:

“My son Kris Littlejohn works many tournaments as "second" to U.S. Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura. He handles much of the data gathering and analysis and works closely with Hikaru in planning for tournaments. Kris built a computer for that purpose — a Nehalem i920 3.2 GHz processor-based tower with 6 GB of RAM and a fast Intel x25 M SSD. It runs Windows Server 2008 R2, a 64-bit operating system that, like Windows 7, takes advantage of TRIM, a technology that allows the operating system to pass information to the SSD controller about data blocks that are no longer in use. This helps the SSD maintain its high speed over its lifespan, instead of slowing down after too many cells have been written to. (MSDN has more information about SSD optimization in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2.)”

A brief search online failed to give me Kris’s birthdate. Perhaps someone knows where to find the USCF rating list with the information.

Also, something about bughouse chess would be welcome.

Jan says that he can only think of the Greek 1800 player, Tsiros, who is similar to Littlejohn in strength and computer preparation.

Kris ends by saying, “With Black equality is fine, with White, equality makes you feel like you failed.”
________

Round 7 Quiz – What kind of car has Magnus Carlsen bought? The answer is a Tesla Model SP85D.

The winner is Laura Ratniece.

Round 8 Quiz – New in Chess is being read all over the world. But do you know the exact number of countries where NIC has subscribers?

Hint: A while ago, as a promotion, NIC said they had subscribers in 96 countries. The actual number now is more than 96.
_______

A note on the Tesla S P85D, which is an all-electric car. It can hit 100 km/h from a standing start in only 3.2 seconds. It has a new automated parking and driver assist system, which allows the car to read speed signs and adjust its speed accordingly. The cost is US$120,000.
_______

Carlsen, Anand and Giri win and their opponents Aronian, Hammer and Topalov consequently go down to defeat.

The games:

Stavanger 2015
Round 8, June 24, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Caruana, Fabiano
A49 King’s Indian, Fianchetto

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.d4 d5 4.c4 c6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.Qb3 O-O 7.Nc3 Qb6 8.O-O Rd8 9.Na4 Qxb3 10.axb3 Na6 11.Nc3 Bf5 12.Bf4 Nh5 13.Bg5 Nf6 14.Bf4 Nh5 15.Bg5 Nf6 16.Rfc1 h6 17.Bd2 Ne4 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Be1 Nb8 20.e3 Nc6 21.Nh4 Nxc3 22.bxc3 Be4 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.b4 a6 25.c4 e6 26.Rab1 Na7 27.Ng2 g5 28.Bc3 Rac8 29.c5 e5 30.dxe5 Nc6 31.Ne1 Bxe5 32.Kf1 Bxc3 33.Rxc3 Rd2 34.Rc2 Rcd8 35.b5 axb5 36.Rxd2 Rxd2 37.Rxb5 Nd8 38.Rb4 Ne6 39.Rxb7 Nxc5 40.Rb5 Nd7 41.h3 Kg7 42.Rb4 f5 43.Rc4 Ne5 44.Rc2 Rd1 45.Ke2 Ra1 46.f4 exf3+ 47.Nxf3 Nxf3 48.Kxf3 Rf1+ 49.Kg2 Ra1 50.Kf3 Rf1+ 51.Kg2 Ra1 1/2-1/2

Round 8 concluded with next posting

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Stavanger 2015

Stavanger 2015

Round Eight concluded from last posting

Round 8, June 24, 2015
Carlsen, Magnus – Aronian, Levon
C90 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Pilnik Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.Re1 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 Nc6 12.Nf1 h6 13.Ne3 Re8 14.a4 Be6 15.d4 exd4 16.cxd4 Nb4 17.Bb1 bxa4 18.Rxa4 Bf8 19.Ra1 d5 20.e5 Ne4 21.h3 Qb6 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Bxe4 Rad8 24.Bxd5 Rxd5 25.Be3 Red8 26.dxc5 Bxc5 27.Qb3 Bxe3 28.Rxe3 a5 29.e6 fxe6 30.Rae1 R8d6 31.Rc1 Nd3 32.Rc8+ Kh7 33.Qa4 Qxb2 34.Qe4+ Rf5 35.Kh2 Nf4 36.Rc2 Qa1 37.g4 Qf1 38.Ne1 Nh5 39.gxf5 exf5 40.Qc4 1-0

Round 8, June 24, 2015
Giri, Anish – Topalov, Veselin
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.Rd1 b6 10.b3 a5 11.Bc3 Bb7 12.Nbd2 c5 13.Ne5 cxd4 14.Bxd4 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Qc8 16.Rac1 dxc4 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Qxc4 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Qb7+ 20.Qe4 Rfb8 21.Rc6 Qd7 22.Rcc1 Qb7 23.Qxb7 Rxb7 24.Ne4 Be7 25.Nd6 Rd7 26.Nc4 Rxd1 27.Rxd1 b5 28.Ne5 Bf6 29.Nd7 a4 30.Rc1 axb3 31.axb3 Be7 32.Rc7 Rd8 33.Rb7 Bd6 34.g4 h5 35.gxh5 Kh7 36.b4 Bxb4 37.Ne5 Rd5 38.Nxf7 Rxh5 39.f4 Kg6 40.Ne5+ Kh7 41.Nf7 Kg6 42.Ne5+ Kh7 43.Nf3 Rf5 44.Ng5+ Kh6 45.Kf3 Bd2 46.e3 b4 47.Nxe6 Rh5 48.Nxg7 Rxh2 49.Nf5+ Kg6 50.Ne7+ Kf6 51.Nd5+ Ke6 52.Ke4 Rh3 53.Rb6+ Kd7 54.Kd3 Bc1 55.Rxb4 Kd6 56.Kd4 1-0

Round 8, June 24, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime
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.Qd3 b5 9.a4 b4 10.Nd5 Bb7 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12.Bd2 a5 13.c3 bxc3 14.Bxc3 O-O 15.O-O Nc6 16.Rfd1 Re8 17.Bf3 Be7 18.Qb5 Qc8 19.Bg4 Qxg4 20.Qxb7 Rec8 21.Nxa5 Nxa5 22.Qxe7 Nb3 23.f3 Qf4 24.Ra3 Nd4 25.Raa1 Ne2+ 26.Kh1 Nxc3 27.bxc3 h5 28.Qxd6 Rxc3 29.Qd5 Ra6 30.Qb5 Rac6 31.Qf1 h4 32.h3 Rc2 33.Re1 Qd2 34.Red1 Qg5 35.Re1 Qd2 36.Rad1 Qb4 37.Qd3 Kh7 38.Qd8 Rf6 39.Rc1 Qxa4 40.Rxc2 Qxc2 41.Qd1 Qf2 42.Rf1 Qg3 43.Qd7 Rg6 44.Rg1 Rf6 45.Rf1 Rg6 46.Rg1 Rf6 47.Rf1 1/2-1/2

Round 8, June 24, 2015
Anand, Vishy – Hammer, Jon Ludvig
A22 English, Bremen, Reverse Dragon

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Nb6 6.d3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Rc1 f5 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.O-O Be6 11.b4 a6 12.a3 Kh8 13.Na4 Nxa4 14.Qxa4 Bd5 15.Bc5 Bd6 16.Qc2 Qf6 17.e4 Be6 18.exf5 Bxf5 19.Be3 a5 20.b5 Ne7 21.Bg5 Qf7 22.Qc3 h6 23.Bxe7 Qxe7 24.Nh4 Bxa3 25.Bxb7 Bxc1 26.Nxf5 Rxf5 27.Bxa8 Ba3 28.Qxa5 Bc5 29.Be4 Rf8 30.Kg2 Qd6 31.h4 h5 32.Qd2 Qf6 33.Qe2 g6 34.Bxg6 Qxg6 35.Qxe5+ Kg8 36.Qxc5 1-0

Standing After Round Eight

1. Topalov 6.0/8
2. Anand 5.5/8
3. Giri 5.0/8
4. Nakamura 5.0/8
5. Carlsen 3.5/8
6. Caruana 3.5/8
7. MVL 3.5/8
8. Aronian 3.0/8
9. Grischuk 3.0/8
10. Hammer 2.0/8

Last Round Pairings

MVL-Grischuk and Hammer-Carlsen are friends. Aronian-Nakamura, Caruana-Giri and for the tournament Topalov-Anand.

Tweets

Carlsen – I won’t talk much to Jon Ludvig before tomorrow. When you play someone, you are not their friend anymore

Short – Toppy’s luck has finally run out. Still, he has a score that most people could only dream of.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Stavanger 2015

Stavanger 2015

Round Nine
June 25, 2015

Everyone is anticipating Topalov-Anand. The latter has a chance to take first prize with a win. They have a long history with each other. They played for the World Championship in 2010 in Sofia, where Topalov had the initiative but Anand won the match.

Today is the birthdate of Jan Gustafsson and Vladimir Kramnik – the ages, 36 and 40.

At the first, Dirk and Jan talk about the death of Walter Browne yesterday at the age of 66. The six-time American champion passed away in Las Vegas.
________

Topalov-Anand ends in a draw. The players repeated moves and both seem happy with the result.

Jan says that he talked to Peter Svidler this morning and he said that this is the best that Vishy has played in years.

Anand says he is happy to end with +3 and was never in trouble in his games although there were a few tense moments with both Grischuk and Giri. He knew that Topalov would play a solid game but he was still ready for a fight, should one begin but he wasn’t going to be silly about forcing one.

He is playing in St. Louis next, then Bilbao, and the World Rapid in Berlin, Kazakhstan and London. If he runs a training camp, it will be at his home.

As of today, the live ratings are: 1. Carlsen, 2. Anand, 3. Topalov, 4. Nakamura, 5. Caruana, 6. Giri, 7. Kramnik, 8. So, 9. Grischuk and 10. Aronian.

Topalov comes in. He is happy with the draw. He wins the tournament. “Some times you have to be practical. I think we’ve had enough excitement, sorry we didn’t have any excitement today.” His expectations were, at the start, third place. He thought that the youngsters would be fighting for first.

He spends 4 or 5 hours a day on chess but not on every day because his priority is his family.

_________

Yasser Seirawan comes in to talk about the late Walter Browne, who was a close friend of his. They met in 1974 and Yasser was always a “customer” of Walter – usually in the last round of a tournament. Walter won every type of competition you could think of.

Vishy’s mother remembered two chess players above all others and often asked her son how they were doing – Tony Miles and Walter Browne!

Walter was a great calculator but he would recalculate and then get into time trouble. Seeing this, Yasser would try to blitz him, Walter would play better and Yasser would lose. Walter would jump up and down and it was very off-putting to play against him. Yasser preferred the calm guys like John Nunn, Alexander Beliavsky and Anatoli Karpov.

He had the competitive spirit, like Bent Larsen, winning the tournament was everything. He played well in the States but not so well abroad.

He was one of the first chess players to take up poker and that was his profession.

He was very much influenced by Bobby Fischer and played the Najdorf. Yasser recounts an anecdote of being in Reykjavik in 1990 and David Bronstein would be playing Walter Browne the next day. David called Yasser into his hotel room where he and Geller had set up a position deep into a Najdorf that he wanted to play on the morrow. The game is given in The Sorceror’s Apprentice by Bronstein and the game is at

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1035015

if you want to see how Bronstein fared.

He loved Bobby Fischer and in his book, The Stress of Chess, he gives his game against Bobby at Zagreb in 1970 saying, “This was an epic encounter that lasted four days over several adjournments. Bobby had a big edge after the opening, but one slip and the whole position unraveled. By the 40th move I won the exchange, then the real battle began!” Fischer managed to draw in 98 moves and Walter was seething afterwards, saying, “I’ll get him next time”, but there was no next time because Bobby stopped playing chess after his World Championship win.

There is also an anecdote about Fischer on page 220 of the book:

Bobby stayed overnight. The next day he was on the phone five to six hours straight! I told him that there had to be a limit on phone use – after all he was visiting us and I wanted to share more time with him. He must have taken offense and unfortunately the immature, frustrated and naïve child within him acted out. Bobby left soon after and never made contact with me again.

Yasser gave his condolences to Raquel, Walter’s wife and to his family and many friends for their loss.
______

Silvio Danailo and Veselin Topalov were celebrating the latter’s victory in the bar - the former with a pitcher of beer and the latter, with an espresso. They worked together since 1992 and now live in Salamanca, Spain.

Silvio explained how Veselin started off by emulating Fischer but after the loss to Anand in 2010, he took time off, got married, had a child. Now he relaxes and tries to enjoy life and so winning the world title is not a big thing with him. In fact, to play in the Candidates is a very expensive proposition – in time, in money (hiring seconds, maintaining a training facility etc). And there is only one prize. If you don’t win that there is an economic loss and depression. He mentions that places like London and Amsterdam are fun and interesting to play in but Sochi and Khanty-Mansiysk are depressing. Don’t hold back Silvio, tell us what you really think!
________

Round Eight Quiz Question – How many countries have subscribers to New In Chess? The answer is 116. There were many correct answers and the winner of the year’s sub is Subhashish Nandi from New Delhi, India.

Round Nine Quiz – In the lobby of the Scandic Hotel, a painting shows Magnus Carlsen playing “Bobby Fischer”. But it’s not Fischer, who is depicted but the actor who plays the American chess world champion in the movie that will be released this autumn. What’s the name of the actor?

The winner will be announced on the Norway Chess website tomorrow.

Jan gives the hint: Peter Parker.
________

Caruana and Giri come in for the post game when it is announced that Jon Ludvig Hammer has beaten Magnus Carlsen. Giri and Caruana say they are shocked, shocked, and then without missing a beat, forget everything else and analyze their game into the ground!

Fabiano is going to Dortmund immediately after Stavanger.

Nakamura wins and ties Anand for second. Jan makes fun of Nakamura’s “just want to play good chess” by saying they should mandate that you take a drink every time the phrase is used.

Nakamura talks about an opponent’s loss, kharma and his philosophy and ends up by saying, “I just want to play good chess” and everyone laughs.

Both Levon and Hikaru are going to play in St. Louis next. That is August 21st. Dortmund is June 27th for some.

Jan says the final question, “Between the two of you, who is the better bughouse player?” Hikaru says that it is Levon hands down.

The interviews end, the tournament has ended. Dirk understands that Anand’s SB is slightly better than Nakamura’s, so he gets the money for second.

The Final Standing

1. Topalov 6.5/9
2. Anand 6.0/9
3. Nakamura 6.0/9
4. Giri 5.5/9
5. Caruana 4.0/9
6. MVL 4.0/9
7. Carlsen 3.5/9
8. Grischuk 3.5/9
9. Aronian 3.0/9
10. Hammer 3.0/9

Games given in next posting

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Stavanger 2015

Stavanger 2015

Final Round
June 25, 2015

Concluded from last posting

Stavanger 2015
Round 9, June 25, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Grischuk, Alexander
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Nbd7 8.e3 g5 9.Bg3 Ne4 10.Qc2 h5 11.h3 Qf6 12.Bd3 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Nxg3 14.fxg3 g4 15.hxg4 hxg4 16.Nh4 Nb6 17.Qf2 Qxf2+ 18.Kxf2 Be6 19.Nf5 Kd7 20.Rh4 Rhg8 21.Ke2 Nc8 22.Rf1 Nd6 23.Nxd6 Kxd6 24.Bf5 Rg5 25.Bxe6 Kxe6 26.Rh7 Rf8 27.a4 b6 28.Kd3 c5 29.Rh6+ f6 30.Rh7 Rf5 31.Rf4 c4+ 32.Ke2 Rxf4 33.gxf4 Kf5 34.Rd7 Ke4 35.Re7+ Kf5 36.Rd7 Ke4 37.Re7+ Kf5 38.Rd7 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 25, 2015
Topalov, Veselin – Anand, Vishy
D38 QGD, Ragozin, Marshall Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.O-O cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bd7 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc3 14.Rxc3 Bxc6 15.Bb5 Bd5 16.Bc4 Bc6 17.Bb5 Bd5 18.Bc4 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 25, 2015
Hammer, Jon Ludvig – Carlsen, Magnus
D30 Queen’s Gambit Declined

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.Bg5 f6 5.Bd2 dxc4 6.e3 Nc6 7.Bxc4 Bd6 8.e4 Nge7 9.O-O O-O 10.Qb3 Kh8 11.Bxe6 Bxh2+ 12.Kxh2 Qd6+ 13.Kh1 Bxe6 14.d5 Bg8 15.Qa3 Qxa3 16.Nxa3 Na7 17.Bb4 Rfe8 18.Rac1 Rac8 19.Nd4 f5 20.f3 fxe4 21.fxe4 Ng6 22.Nf5 Rxe4 23.Bc3 Bxd5 24.Bxg7+ Kg8 25.Bd4 Rxd4 26.Nxd4 Bxa2 27.b3 Rd8 28.Ne6 Rd2 29.Rc3 Re2 30.Nf4 Rb2 31.Nxg6 hxg6 32.Rxc7 Rxb3 33.Rd1 Nc6 34.Rdd7 1-0

Round 9, June 25, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Nakamura, Hikaru
A25 English, Sicilian Reversed

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 d6 5.e3 a6 6.Nge2 Ba7 7.a3 h5 8.d4 h4 9.b4 Nge7 10.c5 Bf5 11.Bb2 Qd7 12.Qb3 h3 13.Bf3 exd4 14.Nxd4 Bg4 15.Bxg4 Qxg4 16.Nxc6 Nxc6 17.Qd1 Qg6 18.cxd6 O-O-O 19.Rc1 Rxd6 20.Qc2 Qh5 21.Qe2 Ne5 22.Qxh5 Nd3+ 23.Ke2 Nxc1+ 24.Rxc1 Rxh5 25.g4 Re5 26.Rg1 Re8 27.Rg3 Bd4 28.Na4 Bxb2 29.Nxb2 Red8 30.Nc4 Rc6 31.Ne5 Rc2+ 32.Ke1 f6 33.Nf3 Rh8 34.g5 Ra2 35.Nd4 Rxa3 36.Ne6 Ra1+ 37.Ke2 Rh1 38.gxf6 gxf6 39.Nf4 b6 40.Nxh3 Rb1 0-1

Round 9, June 25, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Giri, Anish
C80 Ruy Lopez, Open, Bernstein Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 d3 13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 15.Re1 O-O 16.b4 Qd7 17.h3 Rfd8 18.g4 Bg6 19.Bf4 a5 20.bxa5 Rxa5 21.Ba2 Rf8 22.b4 Ra4 23.Qd2 Nd8 24.Bg5 c5 25.Bxe7 Qxe7 26.bxc5 Qxc5 27.Nh4 Ne6 28.Bb3 Rxa1 29.Rxa1 Qxe5 30.Nxg6 hxg6 31.Bxe6 fxe6 32.Qxd3 b4 33.Rc1 Qf4 34.Rf1 b3 35.Qxg6 Qc4 36.Re1 Rf6 37.Qe8+ Kh7 38.Qh5+ Rh6 39.Qe5 Rxh3 40.Qxe6 Qxe6 41.Rxe6 Rxc3 42.Rb6 Rc4 43.Rxb3 Rxg4+ 1/2-1/2