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I should amend my last post to say "not named Carlsen or Anand". Mamedyarov is currently ranked #14 in the world (but has been as high as #4) and of the 13 currently rated above him only Carlsen and Anand seem to thrive in the typical Mamedyarov mess on the board. Naka has held his own, +5 -5 =5, as have Aronian and Caruana, while MVL has the exact same poor score that Shakh has against Carlsen. Eljanov fares even worse, +2 -8 =5. It would seem that most elite GMs are ill equipped to deal with Shakh's unconventional style (:
ChessBase has been reporting how Shakh loves to break every known chess rule and is "the most adventurous player in Qatar". It will be interesting to see what they have to say about his game today. Besides refraining from castling yet again, Shakh didn't develop his dark-square Bishop until move 37 and his Queen's Rook until move 43. Not the game you want to show new chess students. (:
On move 29 White could have played 29.b3 with one continuation being (29...Rd8+ 30.Kc4 Be2+ 31.Rxe2 Bxa1 32.Ba3 Qh1 33.Qf5 Qc6+ 34.Bc5 Rd6 35.d4 Qa6+ 36.Kb4 Qxe2 37.Qc8+ Ke7 38.Qxc7+ Kxf8 39.Bxd6+ Kg8 40.Qc4+ Qxc4+ 41.Kxc4 g6 42.e4). Shakh and both commentators missed it. It was pointed out by the producer looking at the computer lines! When he heard of it, Peter said that if Shakh had made it, he should be checked for electronic devices – meaning that it was a computer not a human move!
Sanan Sjugirov was born 31 January 1993 in Elista. He won the World Under-10 Chess Championship in 2003, the World Under-14 Championship in 2007 and the World University Chess Championship in 2014.
He played for Russia 4 team on the first board at the 2010 Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, where he defeated Magnus Carlsen among others. Sjugirov tied for first with Dmitry Andreikin in the World Junior Chess Championship of 2010, but placed second on tiebreak.
Now Sanan Sjugirov has added a brand-new title to his extensive curriculum: he won the famous Magistral Casino Round Robin tournament, held in Barcelona between October 23-31.
Ana Matnazde – Hello Sanan, welcome to Barcelona and congratulations for winning the tournament! Could you please, describe to us your preparation process for the Magistral Casino? What chess engine do you use?
Sanan Sjugirov – Thank you so much for your congratulations! My preparation for the tournament wasn't any different from my routine: I studied my opening systems and analyzed my opponents' games. I use Houdini as my chess engine and ChessBase as my database program.
Who did you expect to be the most difficult opponent? Are you happy with the quality of your games here?
All the players were strong and I was quite aware of it. However, the most difficult opponent "in situ" for me was Alvar Alonso. The game did not develop well for me and it was only with the help of luck I was able to draw. In all other games I had better positions and I am quite satisfied with my performance and play quality here.
And which was the best and the worst game, and why?
I consider my best game here the one against Predrag Nikolic. I managed to play what was quite a new position to me and at quite a good level. My worst game was, as I mentioned above, against Alonso.
Had you been to Barcelona before? Do you plan any sightseeing now?
No, this was the first time I visited Barcelona. Unfortunately, I couldn't do much sightseeing, since I was tied up with the tournament, but I did like the city and am really looking forward to visiting it again.
How were your first steps in chess? Who was your first trainer?
My father was my first chess teacher when I was just five years old. I liked the game and my parents took me to a chess club where I met my first coach - Aleksey Karikov – with candidate to Master of Sport title.
Who is your trainer now?
Now I work under the supervision of the Ukrainian grandmaster Andrei Zontakh. We have been working together for five years now. My co-coach is the Russian grandmaster Yuri Yakovich.
Tell us about your daily life, how is a normal day?
My daily schedule is like this – from 8 AM to 2 PM I have university classes, then from 4 PM until 8 PM I work on my chess. Sometimes after 8 PM I do some chess self-research.
Being a chess pro is tough. You are constantly traveling. What is your secret to deal with jet lag?
Yes, you are quite right. To be a chess pro is not easy at all. But guess what, I got used to a lot of traveling. I travel with no problem at all because maybe I'm young and simply love it!?
And your secret as to how to recover from a bitter loss?
There are no secrets. I just pull myself together and try to put up a good fight in every game no matter what the result of the previous game was.
What do you think would be necessary to do to make chess more popular? What would be your strategy or ideas to attract more sponsors?
I think the key to chess popularity is television. What I mean is rapid chess, but I don't think that it would be easy. Yet another, and very important, step to chess popularization is the inclusion of it into the Olympic Games program, but again, it wouldn't be an easy drive either.
I see... What do you think about the "short draws" phenomenon? What would be the method to avoid them?
Well, I personally think that ruling of impossibility to offer a draw before the 40th move is very efficient.
What is your opinion about cheating? It is becoming a very serious problem.
Yes, cheating is a real problem. Unfortunately, it is not easy to fight against it. I guess in cases where the guilt is proved so to say beyond reasonable doubt, serious sanctions should be enforced, up to a life ban.
What do you think about World Championship cycle and matches?
I am in no position to speak about it, partly because it is not part of my schedule, but, I think the present system is fair enough.
About the time controls, you think that…?
That's a good one. Personally I think the ideal is one hour and a half plus 30 minutes after the 40th move with an extra 30 seconds per move. I think this time control is best.
How do you manage to control your nerves? Do you have any "secret" before, after or during the games?
Oh, no. No secrets at all. I simply try not to pay heed to surroundings and to just concentrate hard.
What would be your advice to young people (well, younger than yourself, I mean!) who are just starting to play chess and take it seriously?
Young chess players, in my opinion, should pay more attention to broadening their horizons, read more and play less video games. It is essential to read books of renowned grandmasters. I also advise analyzing one's own games as well.
Very good advice indeed, and especially from someone as young as your self... By the way, which opponent has impressed you the most both chesswise and in personality matters so far? Do you have any chess hero?
Among the opponents I played with, the most impressive one for me was Alexander Grischuk. I don't idolize any player, but there are several masters whose manner of playing appeals to me. For instance Magnus Carlsen, Boris Gelfand, Alexander Grischuk. I value grand masters of the past as well, such as Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer and Jose Raul Capablanca.
And now, your plans for the future?
In my future I would like to enter the world top ten.
Good luck then! And thank you very much, Sanan, for an extremely interesting interview.
Last edited by Wayne Komer; Sunday, 27th December, 2015, 10:16 PM.
FM Mike Klein has an excellent report on today's action for chess.com in which Giri expresses the view that it will be tougher to win the Candidates than to beat Carlsen in a World Championship match. Of course he's absolutely correct since he has only about a 1 in 6 chance of winning the Candidates (he's currently at 5/1 odds) whereas I would think he'd have something like a 2 in 5 chance of beating Carlsen in a World Championship match.
There are few open tournaments where the chances to score GM or IM norms are better than in the Qatar Masters Open. Last year, a total of 13 players scored norms in the event.
There are certainly good chances that this number will be exceeded this year.
With an unbelievably strong field and a total of 71 Grandmasters and 36 International Masters, it means there will not be the common problem of facing an insufficient amount of titled opponents or too an average opposition that is too low. In any case, the job still has to be done on the board!
After seven rounds in this year’s event, we have several players who have already made the impressive achievement of scoring a norm two rounds to go provided they get a strong enough opponent in the final round.
Let’s take a look at them.
Impressive Asians
Looking at the list of candidates, it seems clear that Indians are doing something right. That is perhaps not so surprising, knowing they are the largest group taking part with 28 players in total.
But one of the most impressive performances of this year’s Qatar Masters Open, comes from China. Xu Yinglun (2470) is currently 6th in the tournament scoring a fantastic 5 points. His average opposition is as high as 2670, exactly 200 points higher than his own rating.
After beating strong players such as GM Nikita Vitiugov (2724) in round 1, the 19-year-old has now scored an unbelievable 3,26 points higher than expected. That clearly secures him a GM norm, regardless of how he performs in the last two rounds.
Another relatively unknown player that has caught everyone’s attention in Qatar, is 17-year-old IM N. R. Vignesh (2422). Beating Mateusz Bartel and Wei Yi on the way, the Indian has scored 4 points facing an opposition average of 2666.
Vignesh may have secured a GM norm already, regardless of his result in the final two rounds, but needs to face a player rated higher than 2450. If not, he would need at least half a point in either of the two rounds.
Among other strong candidates are 18-year-old Russian IM Daniil Yuffa, who despite losing to World Champion Magnus Carlsen, is very close to score a GM norm and Indian IM Shardul Gagare, who beat Wei Yi in the first round.
Young and strong teenagers
While the untitled Xu Yinglun apparently intends to “do a Kramnik” and go directly for the GM title, the list of players chasing the IM title is long. I am not going to go into detail with them all, but what they have in common is that they are all very young.
Untitled Indian Harshit Raja is 14 years old and has already secured an IM norm beating IM Rasmus Svane and GM Natalia Zhukova on the way.
Another one is Alireza Firouzja of Iran, 12 years old, who is also guaranteed an IM norm regardless of result in the final two rounds scoring 3,5 points. His most notable result was his 1st round win against GM Pavel Tregubov.
Roy Prantik is not a teen, but clearly a strong player, also scoring 3,5 points with a rating performance of above 2500 so far. He likely needs at least half a point to be sure to secure a norm.
15-year-old Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan has beaten one Grandmaster and one International Master so far and will be rewarded by an IM norm regardless of her result in the final two rounds. The super-talented girl may even have the chance for a GM norm if she manages to win both her two final games.
Last, but not the least, this is surely a name that you will need to learn how to spell before it’s too late. Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, only 11 years old, but already rated 2429 meaning he tops the world’s ranking list of players under 13 years old.
It is unknown whether the kid has any norms from before, but with 3 points he may be well on his way to get one here provided he scores at least a draw in the last two rounds.
Mohamed Al-Modiahki, one of the organizers of the Qatar Masters, comes on to talk to Alejandro Ramirez. With him he brings a hooded falcon named Barzan. The falcon is the national bird of Qatar and falcons are still used in hunting.
At the end Peter puts a large heavy leather glove on this left hand and the falcon grasps that, much to Peter’s pleasure. One hopes that this doesn’t become one of Peter’s enthusiasms or we shall hear falcon stories without end.
Round 8, Dec. 28, 2015
Kramnik, Vladimir – Sjugirov, Sanan
D02 Queen Bishop’s Game
At least Yu Yangyi is playing for a win. Instead of opening with his wont 1.e4, which has resulted in 4 previous draws with Wesley So (2 Sicilians and 2 Berlins), he's sought to 'surprise' Wesley with 1.d4 today. Kudos to Yu for at least playing for a win. (:
And the 2nd game to finish is the 30 move Berlin draw between Carlsen and Kramnik. Boo. ):
This game was played in a total of 98 seconds expired clock time, 4 minutes and 14 seconds by Kramnik and negative 2 minutes and 36 seconds by Carlsen. I wonder what UAE's best triathlete, Luke Mathews, would have to say about chess now. ):
Yu Yangyi certainly thrives on late round Qatar pressure! He's now 4/4 the past two years in the final two rounds! I'm assuming he heads to a tiebreak with Carlsen now. (:
While Yu Yangyi must absolutely love Qatar, I doubt Wei Yi shares those sentiments. His 4.5/9 and 2546 TPR cost him some serious ELO and he's now only the number 7 ranked player in China. Still, a rather magnificent seven. (:
1. Ding Liren 2766.0
2. Li Chao 2750.6
3. Yu Yangyi 2747.2
4. Bu Xiangzhi 2723.5
5. Wang Yue 2717.6
6. Wang Hao 2716.9
7. Wei Yi 2706.1.
Wei Yi has also lost his top Junior ranking as 'my' Richard Rapport reclaims that honour. (:
Last edited by Jack Maguire; Tuesday, 29th December, 2015, 05:48 PM.
The 2 game 5/3 blitz playoff evidently starts in 10 minutes. If no winner, they play another 5/3 2 game match. If still no winner, they keep playing a 5/3 game until there is a decisive game. There's no Armageddon game on the agenda!
Last edited by Jack Maguire; Tuesday, 29th December, 2015, 10:54 AM.
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