Sinquefield Cup 2015

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

Round Two
August 24, 2015

The commentators are Maurice Ashley, Jennifer Shahade and Yasser Seirawan.

When the Topalov-Nakamura game was near the end, it was late at night in Europe where some viewers were watching and one said that Yasser’s soft voice and the late hour were putting him to sleep.

ChessBase - Veselin Topalov became the sole leader of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup. He played an excellent pawn sacrifice against Hikaru Nakamura, taking a commanding control of the dark squares in return for the lost material. Nakamura could not hold his position together and was forced to return his material, but his position was not good: Topalov’s bishops were dominant. After much maneuvering, Topalov reached a winning endgame thanks to a cute zugzwang and converted his win.

Hikaru said that Veselin owed something to luck in winning in Norway but here, he was just playing strong chess.

Sinquefield Cup 2015
Round 2, Aug. 24, 2015
Topalov, Veselin – Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nbd2 d6 6.O-O O-O 7.c3 Ne7 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 Bb6 10.Re1 Ng6 11.h3 c6 12.Bd3 Nh5 13.Nc4 Bc7 14.d5 Nhf4 15.Bf1 f5 16.e5 Nxd5 17.exd6 Bxd6 18.Nxd6 Qxd6 19.b3 Bd7 20.Bb2 Rfe8 21.Qd4 Qf6 22.Qd2 Qd6 23.Bc4 h6 24.Qd4 Qf6 25.Qxf6 gxf6 26.Bxf6 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Re8 28.Rd1 Be6 29.Nd4 Kf7 30.Nxe6 Rxe6 31.Bd4 a6 32.Kf1 Ngf4 33.b4 Re4 34.f3 Re8 35.g3 Ne6 36.Bf2 Rd8 37.Re1 f4 38.g4 Ng5 39.Kg2 Re8 40.Rd1 Re5 41.Bd4 Re8 42.h4 Ne6 43.Bf2 Nec7 44.h5 Kf6 45.Kh3 b5 46.Bd4+ Kg5 47.Bxd5 Nxd5 48.Rc1 Re6 49.Rc5 Rd6 50.Bg7 Re6 51.Bd4 Rd6 52.a3 Re6 53.Rc1 Ne7 54.Bf2 Kf6 55.Bh4+ Kf7 56.g5 hxg5 57.Bxg5 Nd5 58.Kg4 Kg7 59.Bxf4 Nxf4 60.Kxf4 Rd6 61.Rc3 Kf6 62.Kg4 a5 63.bxa5 Rd4+ 64.f4 Ra4 65.Rxc6+ Kg7 66.a6 Rxa3 67.f5 b4 68.f6+ Kf7 69.h6 Kg6 70.Rc8 b3 71.Rg8+ Kf7 72.h7 Ra4+ 73.Kf3 1-0

- I wonder what Topalov was thinking of when he decided to take the knight on d5?
_______

The day started off slowly with the following two draws. Move on everybody, nothing to see here.

Round 2, Aug. 24, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Aronian, Levon
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.e3 O-O 9.Be2 dxc4 10.O-O Bd7 11.Bxc4 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Rfd8 13.Be2 Be8 14.Qa3 Qe7 15.Qb2 b6 16.Nd2 Na5 17.Nb3 Nxb3 18.axb3 a5 19.b4 axb4 20.Qxb4 Kf8 21.Bf3 Qxb4 22.cxb4 Rxa1 23.Rxa1 Ke7 24.Kf1 Kd6 25.Ke2 Bb5+ 26.Kd2 e5 27.dxe5+ Kxe5+ 28.Kc3 Rd3+ 29.Kc2 Rd8 30.Kc3 Rd3+ 31.Kc2 Rd8 32.Kc3 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Aug. 24, 2015
Giri, Anish – So, Wesley
A30 English, Symmetrical

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 f5 5.d4 e4 6.d5 exf3 7.dxc6 dxc6 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.gxf3 Nf6 10.b3 Bd6 11.Bb2 Ke7 12.O-O-O Be6 13.Bd3 Rhd8 14.Kc2 Rd7 15.Ne2 g6 16.h3 Rad8 17.f4 Bc7 18.Ba3 b6 19.Ng3 Kf7 20.Bb2 a6 21.Be5 b5 22.Bxf5 gxf5 23.Bxc7 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rxd1 25.Kxd1 bxc4 26.bxc4 Ne4 27.Nxe4 fxe4 28.h4 Bxc4 29.a3 Ke6 30.f5+ Kxf5 1/2-1/2
________

ChessBase - The first decisive game of the day was the match between Alexander Grischuk and Vishy Anand. The Russian played the “correct bishop opening”, as he calls it, and obtained a slight edge after Anand’s inaccurate and somewhat strange development. Grischuk was in severe time trouble, but with the positional pressure. Anand tried to complicate the game, but he ended up making mistakes while playing quickly. Grischuk punished the mistakes accurately and won the game.

Round 2, Aug. 24, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Anand, Vishy
A45 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 c5 4.dxc5 Nc6 5.Bb5 Qa5+ 6.Nc3 a6 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.Nf3 e6 9.O-O Bd7 10.a3 Qxc5 11.Na4 Qa7 12.c4 Be7 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Rxc8+ Bxc8 16.Qd4 Qxd4 17.exd4 Bd7 18.Nb6 Bd8 19.Nxd7 Nxd7 20.Rc1 f6 21.Rc6 Kf7 22.Rxa6 Bb6 23.Bd2 g5 24.h3 Rb8 25.Bb4 Rb7 26.Ra8 Nb8 27.Kf1 Nc6 28.Bc3 e5 29.dxe5 d4 30.Bb4 Nxe5 31.Nxe5+ fxe5 32.Ke2 e4 33.f3 d3+ 34.Kd2 exf3 35.Rf8+ 1-0

Anand – I shouldn’t have repeated our blitz game from Norway – that’s basically what we were playing. That wasn’t very bright.

- Grischuk is cool as a cucumber, but he has 12 minutes for 17 moves..and ticking…
_______

ChessBase - Fabiano Caruana against Magnus Carlsen was a heartstopper. In a position that was very interesting, both players simply let their clock run out way too low. An unbelievable time scramble occurred, with both players falling to mere seconds to make their final moves. The engine evaluations kept changing wildly as the game became a bullet battle. On move 40, Caruana made a horrific blunder with only seconds left on his clock. He resigned as soon as he made time control.

Round 2, Aug. 24, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed (7..Bb7)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d3 Be7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.a3 d6 10.Re1 Qd7 11.Ne2 Nd8 12.Ng3 Ne6 13.Ba2 Rfe8 14.Ng5 d5 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Qf3 c6 19.c4 Rad8 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.Nf5 Bg5 22.h4 Bd2 23.Re2 dxe4 24.dxe4 Qf6 25.g3 Kf8 26.h5 Bg5 27.a4 b4 28.a5 Kg8 29.Bc4 Rd7 30.Ra4 Kh8 31.Rxb4 g6 32.hxg6 fxg6 33.Qb3 Bc6 34.Ne3 Bxe4 35.Bd5 Bxd5 36.Nxd5 Qc6 37.Nc3 Qf3 38.Qc2 Red8 39.Rbe4 Rd2 40.Rxd2 Rxd2 0-1

- Caruana took 30 minutes to play 13.Ba2!? – that’s crazy!

- What a terrible blunder by Fabiano. Poor Guy. This time control sucks.

Kasparov – Hard to criticize the quality of play with seconds left. Could have gone either way. Any win is a good win for Magnus after losing yesterday.

Chess24.com – Caruana didn’t know what move he was on at the end. “Today was mainly an accident – it could have gone the other way.”
__________

Standing After Round Two

1. Topalov 2
2. MVL 1.5
3. Aronian 1.5
4. Giri 1.5
5. Carlsen 1
6. Nakamura 1
7. Grischuk 1
8. So 0.5
9. Anand 0
10. Caruana 0

Round Three Pairings

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

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

While Giri has never lost to Carlsen (1 win and 8 draws), he's never beaten Aronian (4 losses and 6 draws). He plays his nemesis tomorrow (and Carlsen in R4) and the betting odds don't seem to accurately reflect the empirical evidence (:

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

While Giri has never lost to Carlsen (1 win and 8 draws), he's never beaten Aronian (4 losses and 6 draws). He plays his nemesis tomorrow (and Carlsen in R4) and the betting odds don't seem to accurately reflect the empirical evidence (:

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

They probably just take the ratings into account. And it's true that a rating, determined over a huge sample of games, might be more informative than a handful of face-to-face games.

[Nigel Hanrahan]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015 - Caruana confesses he lost track of the move number

Sinquefield Cup 2015

Round Two
August 24, 2015...

Chess24.com – Caruana didn’t know what move he was on at the end. “Today was mainly an accident – it could have gone the other way."

Even in a brutal time scramble, except at the very, very end in this case, a player has enough time to make a check mark on the scoresheet to indicate the moves. One can then go back, after making time control, and fill in the blanks as best they can. I think that Caruana maybe doesn't know this technique as it would have helped him to know when/if he had made time control, how many moves he had to go, and so on.

His remark about this was a surprise - I thought all players at his level would know this trick. There is another thing that can be done here. If you suspect that you may get into time trouble, then mark your scoresheet backwards, i.e., mark your 40th with a 1, mark your 39th with a (little) 2, and so on. When you make your check mark in a time scramble, you can make it over these little marks and you are then reminding yourself how many moves you have left.

None of this is necessary, really, when there is a 30s increment.

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015 - Caruana confesses he lost track of the move number

Even in a brutal time scramble, except at the very, very end in this case, a player has enough time to make a check mark on the scoresheet to indicate the moves. One can then go back, after making time control, and fill in the blanks as best they can. I think that Caruana maybe doesn't know this technique as it would have helped him to know when/if he had made time control, how many moves he had to go, and so on.

His remark about this was a surprise - I thought all players at his level would know this trick. There is another thing that can be done here. If you suspect that you may get into time trouble, then mark your scoresheet backwards, i.e., mark your 40th with a 1, mark your 39th with a (little) 2, and so on. When you make your check mark in a time scramble, you can make it over these little marks and you are then reminding yourself how many moves you have left.

None of this is necessary, really, when there is a 30s increment.

I think Wesley So would disagree with your suggestion to mark your scoresheet with little 1 and little 2 and so on, as reminders. I believe that would be ruled as making use of notes... On the other hand, making a quick mark to indicate a move was made can just be considered really poor penmanship ;-)

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015 - Caruana confesses he lost track of the move number

I think Wesley So would disagree with your suggestion to mark your scoresheet with little 1 and little 2 and so on, as reminders. I believe that would be ruled as making use of notes... On the other hand, making a quick mark to indicate a move was made can just be considered really poor penmanship ;-)

With what happened to So, I think it's fair to assume someone would have a case about the numbers marks. It is notes and it does help you with the game. But it's not strictly speaking, chess notes (or moves).

And anyway, I believe all top events must be using increments. With 30 sec. per move, if you lose track of what move it is, it's all on you.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

In fact, I'm always surprised to see some top players having recurrent problems with time management. Ivanchuk was notorious for that.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015 - Caruana confesses he lost track of the move number

Really enjoying this event. Incredible first round and then just when I thought it couldnt reach that heighth of excitement again the finish of round two gave me heart palpitations! Thats right - not just the commentators and some of the fans - but me - couldnt believe that finish - literally pure desperation on the part of both Magnus and Fabio! - and then the long elegant win by Topalov (including the shock when he traded off one of his two stellar bishops) but of course he saw a deep win. That resulted in six hours of commentary. I must commend the commentators whose love of chess showed in that they kept the interesting commentary going right to the end of the Topo - Naka endgame. No breaks to ruin the suspense. Well done indeed! Cant wait for whats next!

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015 - Caruana confesses he lost track of the move number

With what happened to So, I think it's fair to assume someone would have a case about the numbers marks. It is notes and it does help you with the game. But it's not strictly speaking, chess notes (or moves).

And anyway, I believe all top events must be using increments. With 30 sec. per move, if you lose track of what move it is, it's all on you.

The point is that the first 40 moves *are* without increment...

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015 - Caruana confesses he lost track of the move number

The point is that the first 40 moves *are* without increment...

Is that true? That's counter-productive. Why not just use 1h40+30s instead of 2h for the first time control? Would keep things a little more civilized.

Anyways, I'm an extremist when it comes to increments.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015 - Caruana confesses he lost track of the move number

27 moves into Nakamura vs Caruana, Naka has moved his Queen 14 times (:

http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2015-...aruana_Fabiano

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Sinquefield Cup 2015

Round Three
August 25, 2015

Jan Gustafsson and Tex de Wit had a video review of Round Two at chess24.com an hour before Round Three.

They are two of the tallest chessplayers around. Jan says that the Dutch are among the tallest races on earth, perhaps second only to a tribe in Kenya. For the record Tex is 2 metres tall (6 ft 6 in) and Jan 194 cm (6 ft 4 in).

The two main topics are the Caruana-Carlsen time scramble and Topalov’s amazing play.

In Europe it is supper-time and the kibitzers are posting comments about cooking, which leads one to ask, “Is chess24 entirely populated by students living on noodles?”

Jan and Tex feel that Topalov’s present relaxed attitude is almost Zen. He hasn’t studied chess since 2014 and is happy with his life; chess means less to him than it once did.

The third game that the guys discuss is Grischuk-Anand. Supposedly Sasha does not have a computer but possibly picked up this “correct” bishop’s opening, wandering around the local club. I feel my leg being pulled.

Peter Svidler comes on to the kibitzer group and they ask him why such a bad performance in the Russian Superfinals. He answers, “I wish I knew – not much went right from the start, these things happen.”

He is also asked about Handlock on Hearthstone. This is evidently a reference to Heroes of Warcraft. I shall leave that alone.

Somebody asks no one in particular the trenchant question, “What has Lawrence done to Caruana?”

Trent signed on as Caruana’s manager and Fabio has two straight losses. In an interview with Maurice he says that he is retired as a chessplayer. He does not help Fabiano in his preparation, he helps in other ways, off the board. Yesterday was a very disappointing day. It was very tense but after the lost game, the two went down to the gym and worked out.

He has found support and sponsorship for Fabiano with the St. Louis Chess Club and the Liberty Science Center (New Jersey).

Will Topalov’s great play continue? Round Three is just starting.

_______

Anand was World Champion in 2010 and his challenger for the title that year was Topalov. The match took place in Sofia in April-May. Anand won the final game to win the match 6.5-5.5 and retain the title.

This is the first game to finish (in a draw).

Sinquefield Cup 2015
Round 3, Aug. 25, 2015
Anand, Vishy – Topalov, Veselin
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bxd7+ Bxd7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nc3 e5 9.Qd3 h6 10.Nd2 b5 11.a4 Rb8 12.Rd1 Be7 13.axb5 axb5 14.Nf1 b4 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.Qxd5 O-O 17.Ne3 Be6 18.Qd3 Qc7 19.Bd2 Rfc8 20.c3 bxc3 21.Bxc3 Qb7 22.Nd5 Bg5 23.h3 Ra8 24.Ne3 Bxe3 25.Qxe3 Rxa1 26.Rxa1 Ra8 27.Rxa8+ Qxa8 28.f3 Qc6 29.Kf2 f6 30.Kg1 Qc5 31.Qxc5 dxc5 1/2-1/2

_______

Round 3, Aug. 25, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Giri, Anish
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.Be3 Re8 10.Qd2 Bf8 11.Rfc1 h6 12.a3 Bg4 13.Ne4 Nd4 14.Bxd4 exd4 15.Qf4 Bxf3 16.exf3 Nd5 17.Qg4 c6 18.f4 a5 19.Nd2 a4 20.Qd1 Nb6 21.h4 Ra5 22.Rc2 Nd7 23.Ne4 Nc5 24.Nxc5 Bxc5 25.Qd2 Bf8 26.Re1 Rxe1+ 27.Qxe1 Ra8 28.Qe4 Qb6 29.Re2 Qc5 30.Bf3 Rd8 31.Kg2 Bd6 32.f5 Bf8 33.f6 gxf6 34.Qf4 Qd6 35.Qf5 Ra8 36.Rc2 Bg7 37.Rc4 Qe6 38.Qf4 Qe5 39.Rb4 Qxf4 40.gxf4 Ra7 41.f5 Bf8 42.Rxd4 Ra5 1/2-1/2

Aronian – I’ve been starting to play very slow moves, because I studied games and books of Petrosian before the tournament.

_______

Round 3, Aug. 25, 2015
Carlsen, Magnus – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime
A15 Reti, Bremen

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c5 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Nc3 Qc7 8.Nd5 Qxc4 9.Nxe7+ Kh8 10.Nxc8 Rxc8 11.O-O Nc6 12.Be3 Ng4 13.Nc2 Nxe3 14.Nxe3 Qe6 15.Nd5 Bxb2 16.Rb1 Be5 17.Rxb7 Rab8 18.Rxb8 Rxb8 19.e3 Rb2 20.a4 Ne7 21.Nf4 Bxf4 22.exf4 Qb6 23.a5 Qc5 24.Qxd7 Ra2 25.Qd3 Kg7 26.a6 h5 27.Bb7 Nf5 28.Qe4 Nd6 29.Qb1 Rd2 30.Qa1+ Kg8 31.Bg2 Nf5 32.Qe5 Qxe5 33.fxe5 Re2 34.Rb1 Rxe5 35.Rb7 Re1+ 36.Bf1 h4 37.Rxa7 h3 38.Rd7 Ra1 39.g4 Nh4 40.Rd3 Ng2 41.Rxh3 Nf4 42.Rf3 g5 43.Rb3 1-0

______

Round 3, Aug. 25, 2015
So, Wesley – Grischuk, Alexander
A35 English, Symmetrical, Four Knights System

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O Bg7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bd7 9.b3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Bc6 11.Bb2 O-O 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.cxd5 Qa5 14.Bc3 Qa6 15.Qd2 Rfc8 16.Rfc1 Qb5 17.Rab1 a5 18.e4 Nd7 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qd4+ Kg8 21.Bf1 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Qb4 23.Rc4 Qe1 24.Rc7 Ne5 25.Kg2 Qb4 26.Qxb4 axb4 27.Rc2 Kg7 28.f4 Nd7 29.Kf3 f5 30.exf5 gxf5 31.Rc7 Nc5 32.Rxe7+ Kf6 33.Re2 h5 34.Ke3 h4 35.Kd4 hxg3 36.hxg3 Rg8 37.Re3 Ra8 38.Kc4 Rxa2 39.Kxb4 Rf2 40.Bc4 Ne4 41.Kb5 1-0

_______

Nakamura goes into the confessional and says that he is happy with his position. He also says that he had Scottish smoked salmon with a bagel for breakfast, so that must be why he is so happy.

A draw by repetition after five hours of play.

Round 3, Aug. 25, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Caruana, Fabiano
D81 Grunfeld, Russian Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Be6 6.Qa4+ Bd7 7.Qb3 c5 8.d5 b5 9.Nxb5 Bxb5 10.Qxb5+ Nbd7 11.g3 Rb8 12.Qa4 Bg7 13.Bg2 O-O 14.Nh3 Nb6 15.Qxa7 Nfxd5 16.O-O Qc8 17.Qa3 Nb4 18.Qb3 Nc6 19.Bf4 Nd4 20.Qd1 e5 21.Be3 Rd8 22.Bxd4 Rxd4 23.Qc2 Rc4 24.Qd2 Rd4 25.Qc1 e4 26.e3 Rc4 27.Qd2 Rb4 28.Rac1 Rxb2 29.Qd6 c4 30.Ng5 Rxa2 31.Nxe4 Qf8 32.Rfd1 Qxd6 33.Rxd6 Ra1 34.Rxa1 Bxa1 35.Rc6 Rc8 36.Rxb6 c3 37.Nxc3 Bxc3 38.Bd5 Rc7 39.h4 Kg7 40.g4 h6 41.g5 hxg5 42.hxg5 Rc5 43.Rd6 Kf8 44.e4 Be5 45.Rd8+ Ke7 46.Ra8 Rc7 47.Kg2 Bf4 48.Ra5 Kf8 49.Bb3 Rc3 50.Rb5 Kg7 51.Bd1 Rd3 52.Be2 Rc3 53.Rd5 Kf8 54.Bb5 Ke7 55.Kf1 Rc2 56.Be2 Rd2 57.Ra5 Rd4 58.Bf3 Rd3 59.Be2 Rd4 60.f3 Kf8 61.Ba6 Rd7 62.Bc4 Re7 63.Kg2 Re5 64.Ra8+ Re8 65.Ra5 Re5 66.Rxe5 Bxe5 67.Kh3 Bf4 68.Kg4 Bc1 69.f4 Ke7 70.f5 gxf5+ 71.Kxf5 Bb2 72.e5 Bc3 73.Bb3 Bb2 74.Bc4 Bc3 75.Bb3 Bb2 76.Bc4 1/2-1/2
_________

Standing After Round Three

Topalov 2.5
Carlsen 2
Aronian 2
Giri 2
MVL 1.5
So 1.5
Nakamura 1.5
Grischuk 1
Anand 0.5
Caruana 0.5

Pairings for the Next Round

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

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Sinquefield Cup 2015

Carlsen is the 58/25 betting favourite with Black against Giri despite never having beaten Giri in 9 career classical matches.

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

[Nigel Hanrahan]

scoresheets and stuff

... making a quick mark to indicate a move was made can just be considered really poor penmanship ;-)

The check marks alone would have helped Caruana in any case. In the post-match interview, he specifically mentioned that he had lost track of what move it was and that this was a contributing factor in the result. I'm not sure if I believe him entirely - couldn't he have looked at his opponent's scoresheet? With both players in time trouble, mind you, that wouldn't be of much help as neither player would be keeping track.

I think Wesley So would disagree with your suggestion to mark your scoresheet with little 1 and little 2 and so on, as reminders. I believe that would be ruled as making use of notes...

Nonsense. A player could and should challenge such a claim. The scoresheets are numbered and a player could simply challenge this on the basis of what numbering system he or she used, just as a player is entitled to record the moves in whatever language suits them. Wesley So was making notes. What we have here is simply an aid to proper record-keeping. I've actually seen this done many times and it's never been challenged. nor should it be.

See the following ..

Article 8.1 FIDE ...

The scoresheet shall be used only for recording the moves, the times of the clocks, offers of a draw, matters relating to a claim and other relevant data.

Clearly, a different numbering system relates to recording the moves and, therefore, does not violate the above rule.

In a related matter, I have seen players, not in time trouble, fail to record the moves, thus violating the rules, in a situation in which their opponent IS in time trouble. Not very sporting but, unless the player in time trouble has the backbone to stop the clock, call the arbiter, and claim their opponent is cheating, etc., then such behavior remains unpunished.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: scoresheets and stuff

In a related matter, I have seen players, not in time trouble, fail to record the moves, thus violating the rules, in a situation in which their opponent IS in time trouble. Not very sporting but, unless the player in time trouble has the backbone to stop the clock, call the arbiter, and claim their opponent is cheating, etc., then such behavior remains unpunished.

And most of that time trouble crap disappear when we use a 30 sec. increment.

I just don't understand why someone would want to go back to a time control without increment. Even from the organizer/arbiter point of view.