World Cup Baku 2015

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

September 27, 2015

There is an outstanding interview with Pavel Eljanov (P) by Macauley Peterson (M) at

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/pav...d-cup-standout

This, from the last part of the interview. It is inconceivable to me that Vassily Ivanchuk would be drafted into the army!

M: Playing with Karjakin, do you feel that is affected at all by your opposing views on the Ukraine situation?

P: Our relation is good in any case. I have normal relation with any chess players from Russia. There's no tension. Fortunately this conflict is not touching personal relations in my case.

M: It's been a difficult period for Ukraine and Ukraine's chess players. There were comments recently by Adrian Mikhalchishin in the latest New in Chess magazine noting that Ponomariov and Ivanchuk had received draft notices from the military. Is that an issue for you as well? Is the conflict affecting you personally?

P: No. Of course it was very nervous — I'm in Kharkov, this is in the East of Ukraine, very close to the war area — 150 km from the war zone. So, from the beginning, when it started in 2014, it was a rather nervous situation and of course very unpleasant. I hope it will now be more peaceful. It looks like now it's more or less stable, but for me and for my family it was very unpleasant.

M: Does it worry you that some players like Ipatov, Nyzhnyk and Kovalaev have left to play for other countries.

P: No. For example with Alex Ipatov I have friendly relations. It's nothing personal at all. The Ukrainian chess federation is more or less OK, but from the government we have not much support, so for youngsters it's very hard to improve in Ukraine. For us — for Ukrainian team members — it's more or less OK, but still it's not like other chess countries like Azerbaijan, Russia and others. But for youngsters like Ipatov and Nyzhnyk it's really hard to improve because there's no support from the government.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Karjakin takes a 14 move draw with White and Giri appears to be playing for a draw, not a win. Go figure!

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Svidler's draw not only eliminates Giri from the World Cup but also eliminates Grischuk/Kramnik from the 2nd ratings spot for the Candidates since neither can realistically catch Giri in average 2015 rating the next two months. I wonder if Peter's good buddies were secretly hoping Giri would prevail here? (:

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

September 28, 2015
Round Six, Game Two
Semifinals

Anish plays the Caro Kann. It is solid but it leads to a game. As things look now, the two players who will qualify by rating for the Candidates are Topalov and Giri. So, even with a draw, Anish goes through.

Dirk points out that the Chief Arbiter, Faik Gasanov, is standing watching the action. He has been very active in Azeri chess for decades. He is in his mid-70s but plays football and is still very fit. During the Shamkir tournament last year (Gashimov Memorial 2014), he thought he would play in the football match, forgetting that Magnus Carlsen is a fanatical football fan. At some point Magnus just ran him over – injuring him. This is a good quiz question, “Which Chief Arbiter was injured by Magnus Carlsen?” Magnus did apologize after and said he didn’t know what he was doing.

Dirk says that he knows Faik because he was Chief Arbiter at the Linares tournaments.

As we said yesterday, Karjakin and Eljanov have a history from two years ago in the World cup. Pavel has gained 35 Elo points in this one tournament and has 7 wins but in the end he could still be knocked out in one game.

Looking at old ChessTalk postings, I found the draw between Eljanov and Eric Hansen in Round 9 of the Reykjavik Open in March, 2015. How soon we forget these thing!

There could be an all-Russian final. Russia is still the chess super power but recently has been lacking successes in the Olympiads, the World Championship and the number of players in the Top Ten. The level of chess in Russia is still very high.

Eljanov spoke Russian from birth. Dirk said this, then corrected himself by saying “or shortly after birth”. Would it be better to say “from the time he began to talk”?

Anish Giri was raised in Russia, in St. Petersburg before his family moved to Japan, back to Russia and then the Netherlands.
The semi-final players have each earned $50,000. The one who finishes first gets $120,000 and the runnerup, $80,000. There is no deduction of the 20% FIDE tax because that is being generously paid by the sponsors to FIDE. The two finalists also get a spot in the Candidates if they don’t already have one. The Candidates and World Championship will take place in March and November of 2016 but the locales have not yet been awarded. If Caruana or Nakamura is the challenger, it is possible that the United States might offer to stage the WC Match.

The commentators pause a moment because Sergey has gotten a bottle of mineral water and is trying to open it but can’t. Dirk asked him about this and he said that he had hurt his hand trying to open the bottles in earlier rounds and he showed Dirk that his hand was almost raw. Dirk says, “I don’t know what technique he is using to open water bottles!”

Dirk and Miro seem to get along together well. Dirk provides history and background and a great depth of knowledge of chess. Miro is a strong practical player and has commentated for a fair while. He says that he went out to commentate at the Russian Superfinals in August of this year, which were held in the city of Chita. It was six and a half hours by plane from Moscow! It is 600 km from the Chinese border.

Peter Svidler is observed to put on his sports jacket, then take it off, have it off and then put it on to go to the washroom. They wonder why and speculate it might be because of the air-conditioning. A viewer opines that perhaps Peter lives in a rough part of St. Petersburg, where you do not leave your jacket behind you when you get out of your seat for a few minutes.

This reminded me of when I was studying in Manchester and went to a pub with a friend. I would drink a small bottle of Pepsi, which was more expensive than a pint of ale. My friend, when he went off to the washroom, took his drink with him. I asked why and he said, “Somebody might spit in the glass while I am gone.”

The Karjakin-Eljanov game goes only 14 moves before it is agreed drawn:

Round 6, Game 2 Sept. 28, 2015
Classical
Karjakin, Sergey-Eljanov, Pavel
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.Nh4 d6 13.d3 Ng6 14.Nxg6 1/2-1/2

At the postgame, Eljanov says that the position could have got sharp with complications and so they agreed to a draw. This means a tiebreak tomorrow.

Pavel says that he talks to Boris Gelfand almost every day but wouldn’t say if he has been getting any advice from him in this tournament. The first thing they talked about yesterday was the injury to Lionel Messi, the Argentinian forward, who plays for Barcelona.

For those of us who don’t regularly follow international football, this news story is enough:

Leo Messi has seven or eight weeks of intense work ahead of him to complete the recovery process for his injured left knee. The Argentine striker began his rehabilitation on Sunday, although during the first few days his priority will be to rest and not make any efforts that might worsen the partially torn medial collateral ligament he suffered last Saturday. The injury occurred early in the match with Las Palmas last weekend.

In reference to the sharp position with complications above, Dirk tells the story that at Tilburg in 1985, Tony Miles was about to play Gennady Sosonko. After 1.c4 e5, Miles replied 2. Qc2 with a grin as if to say, “That’s the end of your theory, this move doesn’t lose.” The quote is from Sosonko’s collection of biographical sketches The Reliable Past, which has a chapter on Miles.

Talking about chess players who are good at sport, they mention Simen Agdestein, who was a professional footballer and say, bye the bye, that Efim Geller was good at basketball in his youth. You would not know it looking at photos of the rather rotund middle-aged Geller.
__________

The Svidler-Giri game winds down to a draw and Anish shakes Peter’s hand, congratulates him and they talk while signing the score sheets. Anish is smiling and seems happy.

Round 6, Game 2, Sept. 28, 2015
Classical
B18 Caro-Kann, Classical, Flohr Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nh3 Nf6 7.Nf4 e5 8.dxe5 Qa5+ 9.c3 Qxe5+ 10.Qe2 Nbd7 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Bf4 Qxe2+ 13.Bxe2 Bc5 14.Bf3 O-O-O 15.O-O Nd5 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Rad1 Nf8 18.Rfe1 Ne6 19.Be3 b6 20.Rd3 Kb7 21.Red1 Kc6 22.Ne2 Rh4 23.Nd4+ Bxd4 24.Bxd4 b5 25.g3 Rh5 26.Bxa7 Ra8 27.Be3 Rxa2 28.R1d2 Re5 29.h4 Ra4 30.Kg2 f6 31.Bd4 Rh5 32.Re3 Kd7 33.Red3 Kd6 34.Be3 Kc6 35.Rd1 Ra2 36.R1d2 Ra8 37.Rd1 Ra4 38.R1d2 Ra2 39.Kf1 Ra1+ 40.Rd1 Ra2 41.R1d2 Re5 42.Bd4 Rh5 43.Be3 Ra8 44.Rd1 Ra4 45.R3d2 Ra2 46.b3 Rxd2 47.Rxd2 b4 48.cxb4 Kb5 49.Bc5 Nxc5 50.bxc5 Kxc5 51.Ke2 g5 1/2-1/2

Svidler comes over to do a postmortem with the guys. Dirk keeps talking about the money they get and the fact that they must be thinking about that during the games. This prompts Hikaru Nakamura to tweet – Weird that the commentators think the players are thinking about money during the games in Baku 2015. It’s about chess, not the money.

A bit later Anish tweets – Thanks everyone for your support! Was getting lucky, until I no longer was. Knocked out ruthlessly in the semi-final.

Peter says that he didn’t weigh his chances highly of getting into the Candidates at the first. He is satisfied with the result now. He has two rest days before the final but actually he does have to attend the tiebreak tomorrow because the draw for colours in the final takes place right after the last game. He feels that the choice of the Caro-Kann by Anish was psychologically correct because they are forced to play normally. He has to make the decisions at each point and the positions are passive. He would never play so boring an opening out of choice.

Dirk asks Peter why he stands up after a move and walks around. Peter says that he can analyze the position more clearly away from the board. In any case he has been doing that since he was 9 or 10 and he is not going to change now.

So, we have a grandmaster opinion on the ChessTalk thread entitled, “Putt8ing up with an irritating kid” on the subject of an 8-year old, who makes his move instantly, gets up from the board and wanders off.

Peter says that putting on and taking off his sports jacket is just a nervous tic and has no significance. It amuses me that two objects in this tournament have almost had a life of their own – Karjakin’s water bottle and Svidler’s jacket.

In a similar vein, long time Simpson’s viewers might remember when Mr. Burns made an inanimate carbon rod, the employee of the month at the nuclear plant.

Peter is happy to be back with the Candidates but will not compare it to Vishy Anand’s accomplishments, which are at a much higher level. He is just going to have dinner tonight to celebrate with old friends and attend the tiebreaks and the drawing of colours tomorrow.

- Giri held to a draw by Peter Svidler, who qualifies for final AND for Candidates 2016.

(Svidler) - In a normal game I would never in a million years go for this position, because I’d be bored

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

September 29, 2015

Round Six Games 3-6

Tiebreaks

Round 6, Game 3, Sept. 29, 2015
25+10
Eljanov, Pavel – Karjakin, Sergey
A05 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.O-O e5 5.e4 Be7 6.Nc3 d6 7.d3 O-O 8.a4 Nb4 9.Nd2 h6 10.Nc4 Bg4 11.Qd2 Bd7 12.Nd1 Re8 13.Nde3 Bf8 14.c3 Nc6 15.f4 exf4 16.gxf4 Be6 17.Qf2 Bxc4 18.Nxc4 d5 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Bd2 Nf6 21.Qf3 Na5 22.Ne5 Qb6 23.Rab1 Rad8 24.Kh1 Qb3 25.Be1 Qxa4 26.Bh4 Rd6 27.Ra1 Qb5 28.c4 Qa6 29.d4 Rxd4 30.Qc3 Ne4 31.Qxa5 Qxa5 32.Rxa5 Nd2 33.Rd1 Bd6 34.Bf2 Bxe5 35.fxe5 Nxc4 36.Bxd4 Nxa5 37.Bc3 Nc4 38.e6 Rxe6 39.Rd8+ Kh7 40.Bd5 1-0

Round 6, Game 4, Sept. 29, 2015
25+10
Karjakin, Sergey – Eljanov, Pavel
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack (Barcza System)

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 c6 4.c4 e6 5.cxd5 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 cxd5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d4 Nf6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.e3 O-O 11.Bd2 Rc8 12.Rc1 Nd7 13.Ne2 Nb6 14.Nf4 Nc4 15.Bc3 Bb4 16.b3 Nb6 17.Bb2 Qe7 18.Nd3 Ba3 19.Bxa3 Qxa3 20.Nc5 Rc7 21.Nxb7 Rxb7 22.Rxc6 Qxa2 23.Qd3 Nd7 24.Rb1 a5 25.Bd1 Nf6 26.Bc2 g6 27.f3 Qa3 28.Qc3 Qb4 29.Qxb4 axb4 30.Ra1 h5 31.h4 Re8 32.Kf2 Ree7 33.Ke2 Rec7 34.Rxc7 Rxc7 35.Kd2 Rb7 36.Ra8+ Kg7 37.Bd3 Nd7 38.e4 dxe4 39.Bxe4 Rb6 40.Ra4 e5 41.Ke3 Kf6 42.dxe5+ Kxe5 43.Ra5+ Kd6 44.Kd4 Rb8 45.Bd5 f6 46.Ra6+ Ke7 47.f4 Nb6 48.Ra7+ Kd6 49.Bf7 Rc8 50.Ra6 Kc6 51.Bxg6 Kb7 52.Ra5 Rc3 53.Be4+ Kb8 54.Rb5 Ka7 55.Rxh5 1-0

Round 6, Game 5, Sept. 29, 2015
10+10
Eljanov, Pavel – Karjakin, Sergey
A05 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.O-O e5 5.e4 Be7 6.Nc3 d6 7.d3 O-O 8.a4 Nb4 9.h3 Re8 10.Re1 Bd7 11.Nd2 Bc6 12.Nc4 Bf8 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Na5 Bd7 16.Nb5 Qd8 17.Nc4 Be6 18.c3 Nc6 19.Ne3 a6 20.Na3 Rb8 21.Nd5 Ne7 22.Nc4 b5 23.axb5 axb5 24.Nce3 Nxd5 25.Nxd5 g6 26.Ra7 Bxd5 27.exd5 Qb6 28.Qa1 c4 29.dxc4 bxc4 30.Re2 Rb7 31.Ra6 Qb3 32.g4 Rb6 33.Ra5 Rb7 34.Be4 Qb6 35.Ra6 Qd8 36.Qa4 Qb8 37.Kg2 Rd8 38.Qxc4 Rxb2 39.Rxb2 Qxb2 40.Ra7 Qb6 41.Rc7 Bg7 42.h4 Bf6 43.h5 Bh4 44.Kh3 Qxf2 45.Qd3 gxh5 46.gxh5 Bg5 47.Qg3 Qf1+ 48.Qg2 Qf4 49.Qg4 Qe3+ 50.Kg2 Rb8 51.Rc8+ Rxc8 52.Qxc8+ Kg7 53.Qc4 Qd2+ 54.Kh3 Qd1 55.Qd3 Qxh5+ 56.Kg2 Qg4+ 57.Kh1 Bh4 58.Bf5 Qg5 59.Qf3 Be1 60.Bc2 Bd2 61.c4 Qh4+ 62.Kg2 Qxc4 63.Qf5 Qxd5+ 64.Be4 Qe6 65.Qh7+ Kf8 0-1

Round 6, Game 6, Sept. 29, 2015
10+10
Karjakin, Sergey – Eljanov, Pavel
A30 English, Symmetrical

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 f5 7.g3 Nf6 8.Bg2 Qa5 9.Qb3 Nbd7 10.Nd2 Nb6 11.O-O Bd7 12.Re1 Qa4 13.Bf1 Ne4 14.e3 O-O-O 15.Bd3 Nxd2 16.Bxd2 e5 17.f4 e4 18.Be2 h6 19.Kf2 g5 20.h4 Rdg8 21.Rh1 gxf4 22.exf4 Rg7 23.h5 Rhg8 24.Rhg1 Qa6 25.a4 Be8 26.Be1 Nd7 27.Ke3 Nf6 28.Rh1 Qa5 29.Bf2 b6 30.Rh3 Kd8 31.Be1 Ke7 32.Bf2 Kf8 33.Be1 Re7 34.Rh1 Rgg7 35.Ra3 Kg8 36.Bf2 Kh8 37.Be1 Rg8 38.Bf2 Reg7 39.Rh3 Qa6 40.Qd1 Ng4+ 41.Bxg4 fxg4 42.Rh1 Qxc4 43.Qe2 Qxd5 44.Rd1 Qe6 45.c4 Rd7 46.Rd5 Bf7 47.Be1 Qe8 48.Rf5 Kh7 49.Bc3 Be6 50.Rf6 Rf7 51.Rg6 Rxg6 52.hxg6+ Kxg6 53.Ra1 h5 54.Rd1 Rd7 55.Qh2 Qd8 56.Ba1 d5 57.cxd5 Rxd5 58.Qb2 Rd3+ 59.Ke2 Qd4 60.Qxd4 cxd4 61.Rxd3 Bc4 62.Bxd4 exd3+ 63.Ke3 Kf5 64.Bc3 a5 65.Be1 Ke6 66.Bc3 Kf5 67.Be1 Kf6 68.Bd2 Kg6 69.Bc3 Kf5 1/2-1/2

Sergey sees that there will be a three-fold repetition of his position when he plays 70.Be1. He calls over the arbiter, the clocks are stopped, and the game replayed to show this is correct. Moves 65, 67 and 70 would be the three-fold. Karjakin is awarded the draw, he wins the match. He goes against Peter Svidler on Thursday for the first game of the final. He has black.

_________

(Malcom Pein) – Shock horror, Eljanov plays model game and then repeats position 3 times in possibly winning ending. Tragic if the case

(Jaideep Unudurtl) – Chess is a simple game, 128 men chase the pieces for three weeks and the Russians win

(Silvio Danailo) – Feel sorry for Eljanov, he played the best chess so far. Unfortunately this format is a lottery and nothing to do about it.

(Chess Forecaster) – Final begins Thursday, 4 classical games, tiebreakers if needed.

_______

Annex 2 of the World Cup 2015 Regulations

ANNEX 2

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TECHNICAL REGULATIONS FOR TIE BREAKS

All tie break games shall be played according to the following:

1. Play is governed by the Annex 1 of the World Championship Technical Regulations, which apply with the exceptions mentioned below in (2), (3), (4) and (5).

2. The players do not need to record the moves. An Arbiter shall record the moves.

3. The player who has the move may stop the clocks and consult the Arbiter’s scoresheet and if his next move will produce a threefold repetition (according to the Article 9.2.a of the Annex 1 of the Technical Regulations), or the 50 moves rule (according to the Article 9.3.a of the Annex 1 of the Technical Regulations), he himself must write the intended move on the scoresheet and claim the draw, if he wants. A player can also claim a draw according to the Articles 9.2.b and 9.3.b of the Annex 1 of the Technical Regulations. If the claim is found to be correct. The game is immediately ended as a draw.

If the claim is found to be incorrect, the Arbiter shall add two (2) minutes to the opponent’s remaining time and the game continues with the intended move to be played in accordance with the Article 4 of the Annex 1 of the Technical Regulations. A maximum of two (2) incorrect claims for a draw can be made by each player. If a player makes a third (3rd) incorrect claim, the Arbiter shall declare the game lost for this player.

4. If a game has ended by resignation, checkmate, time loss, stalemate, threefold repetition or any other of the ways described in the Article 5 of the Annex 1 of the Technical Regulations, no claim for irregularities shall be accepted (irregularities include clock settings and all other described in the Article 7 of the Annex 1 of the technical Regulations.

5. For Blitz games the penalties mentioned in Articles 7 and 9 of the Competition Rules shall be one (1) minute instead of two minutes.

[Laurentiu Grigorescu]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

How many players would have remembered the three fold repetition of the position under these circumstances of very limited time? Karjakin certainly improved over the last few years, as his career seemed to go nowhere after his great start as a youth. Along with the 2nd place in the Candidates and the win in Norway, this is one of his best performances. Good for him and too bad for Elijanov, who played excellent chess, on the lines of his mentor.
Svidler somehow found a way to go back to another Candidates tournament. He's shown great confidence in the World Cup and he should be the favorite to win the final.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

September 30, 2105

Karjakin Interview from:

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/20152

The Ukrainian GM won the first 25+10 rapid game.

"This was a complete failure! - Karjakin lamented in the interview for Chess-News. - To be fair, I should note that Eljanov played a brilliant game and he showed brilliant play at this competition in general."

Sergey confessed he had decided to begin the return game with 1. Nf3 just seconds prior to the start: "Had I played 1. e4, we would get Berlin or Anti-Berlin, and then they'd be asking why I brought myself there (in case I didn't win). So, I guess I sort of caught him in the opening because I had analysed the position up to 20. Nc5."

"... I was familiar with the position and I guess computer evaluated it in White's favour. Of course it was not a winning position straightaway, but after 20... Rc7 I thought that I had to take on b7 and proceed with this position. Although there were not many pieces left, it was still pretty playable. The endgame with that b4-pawn... of course, he could hold it by accurate play, but as the game demonstrated you shouldn't underestimate the problems Black were facing. I think Pavel made a mistake with 37…Nd7?! I thought he had to play 37... Ng8 instead, bringing the knight on e7. If White plays e4, Black already has Nc6. His move, on the contrary, brought me a considerable advantage because the position is open and the bishop is strong on both flanks - those who have studied Fischer's games will understand what I mean..."

Then Karjakin, according to his own words, started to consider himself the favourite. Yet, "luck has been involved in there": the first 10+10 game saw a blunder by Eljanov on move 43 that resulted in his loss. As for the dramatic return clash, that's what the winner said:

"It was just a horror because I could not handle the opening properly as White, so he got exactly what he was seeking for - a fighting position with winning chances for Black. For me, it was a disaster! Somehow I managed to pull myself together and not to lose immediately, which wasn't easy at all.

Eventually I blundered 40... Ng4+ but when I played 45. c4 and transferred my bishop to c3, then, quite surprisingly... I mean it's clear that White's position was hopeless, but I still had some shaky checkmate ideas like Qb2 or Qh2, and Rh1 on occasion. At that point I felt like I got my chances back, so I was already not as pessimistic as some ten moves before. Then we went into a opposite-colored bishop endgame. I was thinking Black had some simple way to win, but in the final position he had only a minute left... White still could set many traps in there and in general such endgames hide quite some drawish tendencies... At the end, I caught him on a threefold repetition."

_______

Pavel Tweets

- It was a fantastic tournament for me in any case and it's wrong to call Sergey's victory undeserved. Chess is the fairest sport!

- Let the strongest win in the final! I had fantastic support in this event and am very grateful to everyone. In 10 days, another start, in Berlin!

________

The World Chess Blitz and Rapid Championship will take place on October 9 - 15, 2015 in Berlin.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

October 1, 2015

Finals

Round Seven, Game One
Classical
Svidler, Peter – Karjakin, Sergey
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 O-O 6. Nbd2 c5 7. e4 Nc6 8. Re1 b5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Ne4 Bb7 11. c3 a6 12. a4 b4 13. Bg5 f6 14. Bd2 e5 15. Rc1 Rf7 16. d4 bxc3 17. bxc3 cxd4 18. cxd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 exd4 20. Qb3 Rb8 21. Rb1 Qd7 22. Rec1 Qe6 23. Nc5 Bxc5 24. Rxc5 Rd8 25. Ba5 Rd6 26. Qc4 Nc3 27. Rxb7 Qe1+ 28. Bf1 Ne2+ 29. Qxe2 1-0

One continuation
29...Qxe2 30.Rc8+ Rf8 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Bxe2 Rc6 33.Rc7 Re6 34.Bc4 Re5 35.Bb4+ Ke8 36.Rxg7 Kd8 37.Rxh7 d3 38.Bxd3 Rd5 39.Bxa6 Rd1+ 40.Kg2
_______

In the postmortem Peter says that he and Sergey have been playing the King’s Indian Attack against each other for the past two years - in the Russian Clubs and in the Candidates, for example Each has an expectation of what the other will do. As usual, Peter thinks he comes out of the opening slightly worse. He gives lots of variations, which worried him. “Objectively I suspect my position out of the opening may have been objectively worse,” he said. “With 32 pieces on the board it's very complicated to play for both sides.” ChessBase says: White is down a pawn after 20. Qb3, but his pieces are coordinating much better than Black's. All of Karjakin's pieces are a target now, and the potential pins on the d5 knight are difficult to deal with. Already Black has to be careful of not losing material, but honestly he might already be worse. 22…Qe6 loses.

Miro picks out one question from all of the Twitter questions. It is quite bizarre - Do you know any other Australian chess players than Ian Rogers?

Peter can’t really name anyone. He says there is a Chinese chap he spent some time with at Khanty but can’t pronounce the name.
______

While the game was in progress, Dirk and Miro filled in the time between analysis with chessversation.

They say that this is the third all-Russian World Cup final. There was Svidler-Grischuk, which Svidler won in 2011 at Khanty-Mansiysk in 2011 and Kramnik-Andreikin at Tromso in 2013, where Kramnik prevailed.

Here, at Baku, Sergey Karjakin has had a dramatic run – losing to Eljanov in the first tiebreak game, winning the second and third and then spotting that three-fold repetition in the fourth, with less than a minute to go, to draw and win the match. Eljanov was the hero of the tournament. He made $50,000 and automatically qualified for the Grand Prix. He is now 13th or 14th in the World. He left Baku early this morning.

Svidler and Karjakin first played only in 2007 at Wijk aan Zee, when Karjakin was 17 years old. Sergey won that first game.

Peter is the 7-times Russian Champion and has a great deal of experience set against Karjakin's youthful energy.
______
Someone tweets the question – It seems unfair to allow a wild card into the Candidates, chosen by the organizers, when others have worked so hard to get in.

Dirk says that it does seem unfair but you also have to be practical. It is not that easy to organize tournaments and if getting to put in a candidate of your own in, makes it easier, well there you are!
Radjabov made it to the London Candidates 2013 as the choice of the organizer and did terribly, losing six games in a row. You’ll recall that Magnus Carlsen finished first and Teimour finished last.
Dirk reminds everyone that the organizer cannot just pick anyone. The person must have a rating of at least 2725.

Teimour has taken Vladimir Chuchelov as his trainer now (he was the trainer of Fabiano Caruana) and in this World Cup beat Samuel Sevian and Ilia Smirin, only to fall to Peter Svidler 2.5-1.5. So he is well on his way into the elite again.
_______

Another viewer asks what Dirk thought about the movie Pawn Sacrifice. He says that if you are looking for complete accuracy, it is not there. The third game of Spassky-Fischer was played in a back room, a table tennis room once. The film has it there three times so that when they play the dramatic sixth game it is on stage. The film essentially stops there and then goes on to explore why Fischer was like he was. Dirk wonders what non-chess players think of the film.

He says that Fischer carried around the Weltgeschichte des Schachs red book of Spassky’s games with him everywhere. This essentially was the database before there were computer chessgame databases but this was not explained in the film.
______

With another question, the viewer seems to think that Peter thinking about the position away from the board is cheating because an FIDE rule forbids analyzing the game on another board (his mind!). I thought the Australian player question above was bizarre but this is bizarrer.

The guys talk about situations where there have been other games being played with similar positions to the one at your own board. Miro has a couple of examples but Dirk quotes the classic one of the Russians versus the Argentinians at Goteburg Interzonal in 1955.

Here is the whole story:

The Argentinian players, Miguel Najdorf, Oscar Panno and German Pilnik had based their preparation for this tournament on the Najdorf Variation, but Paul Keres had defeated Panno with a novelty in the first part of the tournament, refuting their entire strategy of the South American team.

The Argentinians were in panic. But on a free day the temperamental Pilnik had come up with the 9... g5 improvement that seemed to give them a powerful weapon against Keres' new move. The Argentinian team and their helper spent 24 hours analysing every aspect of the devilishly clever Pilnik idea. In the end the great Najdorf made the decision: we play 9... g5.

This led to the "total chess war" in Gothenburg. Argentina was the second-strongest chess nation after the Soviet Union, and in round 14 chance would have it that the three top players had black against the leading Russians Efim Geller, Boris Spassky and Paul Keres.

About half an hour into the round the Argentinian plan struck like lightening out of a clear sky. Almost simultaneously the three GMs played the fateful move 9... g5, and the Soviet "analysis engine" came to a grinding halt.

The tension in the playing hall was tremendous. Three demo boards showed identical positions, and while the Russians sat there in deepest thought Miguel Najdorf wandered around the hall, merrily asking people what they thought of his position. One of them was Svetozar Gligoric, who was writing chess columns in Gothenburg.

(to be continued in next posting)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

Continuing from the last post, the story of the Gotheburg Interzonal:

On the boards the sharpest tactician amongst the Russian players, Efim Geller, was the first to play. After 30 minutes he played a three-move combination, sacrificing a knight, offering a bishop and then playing a quiet bishop move: 10. fxg5 Nfd7 11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. Qh5+ Kf8 13. Bb5 Ne5 14. Bg3. Spassky and Keres took almost an hour to find the same moves, which marked the end of the Argentinian dream. All three games were lost by Najdorf, Panno and Pilnik in very similar fashion.

That is the story of the "Sicilian Vespers", the tale of a variation that had appeared like a comet and gone down in a blaze. Who would ever dare to play the line again? The answer: a fifteen-year-old, and in a decisive game, one of the most important in his career!

Three years later on the next interzonal tournament, in Yugoslavia in Portoroz, the variation emerged again. Bobby Fischer already was in love with Najdorf variation and he wasn't afraid of Argentinian catastrophe.

Gligoric remembered how Fischer asked him about variation he later applied in their game - and with that draw Fischer qualified for Candidates tournament also in Yugoslavia 1959.

Here's what Gligoric had said:

I considered it my duty to take care of Bobby; he was 15, while I was 35. We spent a lot of time together. Once we were by the river, swimming and sunbathing. I was a good swimmer but Bobby tried to outswim me. And then sulked when he didn’t succeed. I told him: “Bobby, you need to train for about 20 years – and then you’ll beat me! ”

There, by the river, Fischer asked my opinion about a variation in the Sicilian Defence where white sacrifices a piece and develops an extremely strong attack on the black king. And it must be said that even then Bobby was already up-to-date with everything that was going on in the chess world. Everywhere he went he carried a pocket chess set. So he showed me a game, played somewhere in a minor tournament in Siberia, and asked what I thought about the rook move he was analysing.

Imagine my amazement when in the 21st and final round of the Interzonal Tournament in Portoroz I played Fischer and he played the line that he’d shown me by the river! And not just that, he made the same move that I hadn’t considered worthy of my attention! I got a draw with white, but nevertheless I have to admit that in the final position where I had three pawns for a piece Fischer was better.

It was just that by that time we both knew that we’d qualified to take part in the World Championship: I was second behind Tal, while Fischer was sharing 5th place.

See:

http://www.redhotpawn.com/forum/only...urprise.160281
________

Dirk and Miro talk about amateurs finding variations that grandmasters later use, Dirk citing the 16th game of Kasparov-Karpov in 1985.

They also talk about the type of memories great players have and Dirk says this:

There was a discussion one day among several people at a tournament and then Vishy Anand addressed Dirk and spoke two long sentences. He then asked Dirk if he got it. Dirk was confused and said no. Vishy said that they were two sentences that Dirk has once written in an article. Dirk was just amazed at this.

Miro responds with a story from an old Russian chess book about a master who gave a 20-board blindfold simultaneous exhibition at a chess club. After he had gone out, he realized he had left his hat behind.

The next day someone brought it over to where he was staying and the master said, “Thank you very much. What a bad memory I have.”

Some Online Comments

- If only Karjakin had played 21...a5! Oh well, lets hope Karjakin puts up better resistance in the next game.

- Karjakin blundered on move 21

- I'd rather say Peter outplayed Sergey. For sure there were mistakes; it is so human to err

- This final ain't over. karjakin 2 white's left

- As much as I like Svidler. With his style of play, he doesn't stand a chance against Carlsen

- That was a great game of chess. Fit for a World Cup. You think we will have a Ruy Lopez tomorrow or another KIA?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

October 2, 2015

Round Seven, Game 2
Classical
Karjakin, Sergey – Svidler, Peter
C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, Borisenko 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.c3 d6 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.a4 Bf8 14.Bd3 c6 15.Qc2 Rc8 16.axb5 axb5 17.b4 c5 18.bxc5 exd4 19.c6 dxc3 20.cxb7 cxd2 21.Qxd2 Rb8 22.Bxb5 Qb6 23.Rb1 Qxb7 24.Bd3 Qa8 25.Rxb8 Rxb8 26.Bb2 Qa2 27.Re2 h6 28.Qc1 Qb3 29.Bc4 Qb7 30.Qd1 Re8 31.Bxf6 Nxf6 32.e5 dxe5 33.Nxe5 Re7 34.Qd4 Nd7 35.Nxf7 Rxf7 36.Rb2 Qc6 37.Rb5 Kh8 38.Rd5 Nb6 0-1

37.Rb5? and 38.Rd5?

_______

(Roger de Coverly on ECF) - A Breyer today, rather than Svidler's newish idea in the Zaitsev of playing exd4, Nfd7 and Bf6. Svidler plays the move order which threatens the Marshall, but he only seems to play the Marshall about 1 in 3 games. He doesn't often play the Breyer, but one of these was against Karjakin in 2008.

Up to move 17, they were following a Short-Portisch game from 1990 where Portisch played g6. Perhaps more to the point, it was also a game Karjakin-Carlsen from 2013 where 17. .. Qc7 had been played. I think one could infer that both players remained within their respective preparation zones.

Sergey was pressing and then made two huge blunders that gave the game away. Peter is now leading 2-0. He is back again in the top fifteen in the world and has gained 24.4 Elo points.

At the joint (in English and Azeri) press conference, Peter says that Skype is a wonderful invention and it’s good to have friends because the idea 17…c5 is someone else’s idea in the Breyer.

He wanted to make a forced draw during the middlegame but couldn’t. With 8 minutes left, it was not fun to try and hold his position. It was a difficult position and he shows that, with a bad move, he could have been mated on h8. Sergey always had the draw in his pocket. But then Sergey moved Rb5 and Peter had 3 minutes left and was going to make a draw and then realized that he was winning. He is a piece up and there is no way for White to get it back. Then Sergey played Rd5 and resigned. Peter says he feels for Sergey, you don’t want to lose a game in this way ever.

Comment – You say it is a very long tournament but now you look even fresher?

Peter – It’s probably the jacket, because, trust me, I don’t feel fresher. I half expect myself to drop dead at any point.

Question – Are you the favorite now?

Peter – No, I should be the favorite now but it’s definitely not over. If and when I make the final half point, it will be over, but no.

Question – What match was most difficult for you?

Peter – In terms of tension, it was probably the match against Wei Yi. The closest I came to lose was in the tiebreak game against Teimour Radjabov. I played what I thought was a brilliant combination but it turned out it could lose in one move. So, that was the closest I came to getting knocked out. I had other suspect positions and there is pressure in the final but I would have to say the one with Wei Yi.

Comments online

- Peter missed a golden opportunity. When they asked "is it over", he should have said not until the fat lady sings, turn around to that interpreter and say "translate that"!!!

- They play again tomorrow - if Svidler draws or wins he's World Cup Champion. If Karjakin wins they'll play a 4th game, which Karjakin also needs to win to force tiebreak

- listening is not Svidler's forte...but it is his day today...

(Sergey Karjakin) – Seems like I used all the limit of luck I had

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

Looks like Karjakin is imploding. Svidler is just playing safe and waiting for the mistakes to happen.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015
________

Some Online Comments

- As much as I like Svidler. With his style of play, he doesn't stand a chance against Carlsen

Svidler is plus 2, minus 1, equal 10 in 13 classical encounters with Carlsen (:

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

October 3, 2015

Round Seven, Game 3
Classical
Svidler, Peter – Karjakin, Sergey
B53 Sicilian, Chekhover Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 a6 5. c4 Nc6 6. Qe3 Nf6 7. h3 g6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Be2 Nd7 10. Rb1 Nde5 11. O-O 11... O-O 12. Rd1 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 f5 14. exf5 Bxf5 15. Be4 Qd7 16. Nd5 Qe6 17. Bxf5 Qxf5 18. Bd2 Rae8 19. Bc3 e6 20. Nb6 d5 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. Qc5 Rf6 23. b4 Ne5 24. cxd5 Nd3 25. Qe3 Nxf2 26. Rf1 Qe4 27. Rbe1 exd5 28. Rxf2 Qh4 29. Qd2 Rxf2 30. Qc3+ d4 0-1

28.Rxf2? and 29.Qd2?

Svidler double blunders. Everyone shocked. Karjakin has white tomorrow for game 4 with score 2-1 for Svidler.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2105

October 3, 2015

Round Seven, Game 3

Jottings

During this round, Dirk and Miro were asked questions by viewers. This was meant to fill in the time between moves and give expert opinion to the Internet audience

Who is the most deserving player who never got the world title?

The guys reel off Rubinstein, Keres and Bronstein. Dirk says Paul Morphy because the title didn’t exist when he was the strongest player in the world.

Present day players are Aronian and Ivanchuk. The latter’s inability to become World Champion despite his immense talent and longevity among the chess elite has been attributed to his admittedly poor nerves, which were exposed during the high-tension atmosphere of World Championship match-format tournaments, such as in 2002 where he was heavily favored in the FIDE championship final after having defeated defending champion Viswanathan Anand in the semifinals, only to lose to countryman Ruslan Ponomariov in a significant upset, denying him the World Championship.

In 1991 in the Candidates Ivanchuk played a match against Yusupov in Brussels. Yusupov won games 8 and 9 to win the contest with 5.5-4.5. He played outside of himself in the ninth game, which has been called one of the most brilliant games of modern times.

An American viewer writes that Reuben Fine was one of the strongest players never to get the title. Dirk agrees, saying that Fine’s games at AVRO in 1938 were impressive but that he scuppered his chances by not going to the 1948 World Championships in Hague/Moscow.

Another says that he loves Alexei Shirov’s games for their exciting sacrifices and play.

Wikipedia: In 1998 Shirov's ranking rose to number four in the world. On the basis of his rating, he was invited to play a ten game match against Vladimir Kramnik to select a challenger for World Champion Garry Kasparov. Shirov won the match with two wins, no losses and seven draws. However, the plans for the Kasparov match fell through when sufficient financial backing could not be found. When Kasparov instead played Kramnik for the world title in 2000, Shirov maintained that the match was invalid and he was the rightful challenger.

The book of his best games is entitled “Fire on Board” (1997)

A rather enthusiastic online review says this:

And some of these games are so full of sacrifices and weird positional maneuvers that they're straight from Planet Shirov in the Hidden Dimension. If you're a chess player (or just a "connoisseur", as Capablanca might have said), and you want something inspiring to make to think more deeply about the game, you seriously have to think about getting a hold of this book - a book to be ranked among such classics of the genre as Capablanca's "My Chess Career", Alekhine's "My Best Games of Chess", Botvinnik's "100 Games" and Tal's (let's not forget Shirov studied with Tal) "Life and Games of Mikhail Tal". Unrestrainedly recommended!
________

Another attractive chess player is the Peruvian Julio Granda, once described as amateur chess player and farmer.

He won the Donner Memorials in 1995 and 1996 and the Dutch public knew him as the grandmaster-farmer. His ambition was to grow 64 kinds of fruit on his farm. Now he lives in Spain because his family is there and he has people to take care of the farm back in Peru.

He is a natural talent and once was one of the few players who did not use a computer – but he does now. He also never offers a draw.

Shelby Lyman wrote this about him in 1996:

A few years ago, the talented young grandmaster Julio Granda Zuniga was an oddball media item. He had decided to give up his professional chess career for that of a farmer in Peru.

But the young Peruvian found time nevertheless to play competitive chess--with more than a little success. For the second year in a row, the farmer-chess player has won the Donner Memorial Tournament in Amsterdam. Among those competing were Vassily Ivanchuk (the tournament co-winner) and Gata Kamsky--two of the world's top five players.

While other grandmasters depend on book knowledge and elaborate computer databases, Granda Zuniga has neither library nor computer. Incredibly, he claims to have read only one chess book in his life.

"Julio always has difficulties in the opening. But the moment his opponent does not know how to continue he starts to play brilliantly." explains fellow grandmaster Alexey Shirov, who lost to him in last year's tournament.

Curiously, Granda Zuniga's first love is soccer, not chess.

But an attempt early in his career to arrange a soccer competition at a chess tournament had a frustrating outcome. "At the beginning, everyone was enthusiastic. But after a few days, they preferred sleeping or drinking," he said.

Granda Zuniga's success at the chess board may be due in part to his superior conditioning earned on the soccer field.
________

You’ll recall that in Baku 2015, Julio won the first match against Alexandr Fier, the second against Villagra, but went down in the third to Radoslaw Wojtaszek, who in turn was beaten by Anish Giri.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: World Cup Baku 2015

World Cup Baku 2015

October 4, 2015
Round Seven, Game 4
Final, Classical
Karjakin, Sergey – Svidler, Peter
D02 Queen’s Pawn Game, Krause Variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c5 3.c4 cxd4 4.cxd5 Nf6 5.Qxd4 Qxd5 6.Nc3 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Ndb5 Kd8 9.Be3 Nc6 10.f3 h5 11.O-O-O Kc8 12.Bg5 g6 13.Nd6+ exd6 14.Bxf6 Rg8 15.e4 Be6 16.Kb1 Kd7 17.Nd5 Bg7 18.Bxg7 Rxg7 19.Bb5 Kd8 20.Rd2 Bxd5 21.Rxd5 Kc7 22.Rc1 Re8 23.Rd4 Re5 24.Ba4 b5 25.Bb3 Rc5 26.Rd5 Rxc1+ 27.Kxc1 a6 28.Rd3 g5 29.Kd2 h4 30.Rc3 Kb6 31.Rd3 Kc7 32.Ke3 f6 33.Rc3 Kb6 34.Rd3 Kc7 35.Rc3 Kb6 36.Bd5 Ne7 37.Kd4 Rh7 38.Be6 Rh8 39.a3 Rd8 40.Rc2 Rh8 41.Rf2 Ng6 42.Kd5 Rd8 43.Bf5 Nf4+ 44.Kd4 Re8 45.g3 Ne6+ 46.Bxe6 Rxe6 47.Kd5 Re5+ 48.Kxd6 hxg3 49.hxg3 g4 50.fxg4 Rxe4 51.Rf4 Re3 52.Rxf6 Rxg3 53.Ke5+ Kb7 54.Kf5 Rb3 55.g5 Rxb2 56.g6 Rg2 1-0
______

Tomorrow is the tiebreak day with the possibility of two 25+10, two 10+10, two 5+3 games and an Armageddon.