Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 25th February, 2016, 03:23 PM

Re: Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

Schedule

March 1 Tue 18:00 Opening Ceremony
March 2 Wed 15:00 Game 1
March 3 Thu 15:00 Game 2
March 4 Fri Day Off
March 5 Sat 15:00 Game 3
March 6 Sun 15:00 Game 4
March 7 Mon Day Off
March 8 Tue 15:00 Game 5
March 9 Wed 15:00 Game 6
March 10 Thu Day Off
March 11 Fri 15:00 Game 7
March 12 Sat 15:00 Game 8
March 13 Sun Day Off
March 14 Mon 15:00 Game 9
March 15 Tue Day Off
March 16 Wed 15:00 Game 10
March 17 Thu Day Off
March 18 Fri 15:00 Tie-break games
March 18 Fri 18:00 Closing Ceremony

15:00 Lviv time is 8:00 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 1st March, 2016, 01:06 AM

Re: Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

February 29, 2016

From the official site:

Today, a day before Women’s World Chess Championship Match, Mariya Muzychuk and Hou Yifan, Ukrainian and Chinese GMs, inspected the rooms for play and rest in Potocki Palace and also choose the chairs.

‘It’s great honour for our city to welcome three-time champion Hou Yifan and current champion Mariya Muzychuk in Lviv. This year there is a fight among them. And here in Lviv there will be chosen next chess queen. I wish a fair game, that everyone enjoys a good game, and this match will go down in the history of world chess’, said Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi.

‘It is amazing that the Match takes place in Lviv. I’m still trying to believe it. In fact, I rarely participate in chess tournaments in Ukraine, but I want to believe that over time this will change. We are really satisfied with a playing ground and rest rooms’, said Mariya Muzychuk.

‘ I’m for the first time in Lviv, and in Ukraine. The city is very beautiful and I am glad that I have the opportunity to take part in the championship. I hope that the match will be interesting to all viewers in Ukraine and worldwide’, added Hou Yifan.

‘The city is fantastic, very beautiful. I am sure that participants feel very comfortable’, noted Carol Jarecki, chief arbiter.

http://www.lviv2016.fide.com/2016/02...ayers-meeting/
_______

The Chief Arbiter has a fascinating Wikipedia entry:

Carol Jarecki (born 1935) is an American chess organizer, an International Arbiter, and a chess writer.

A licensed pilot, she first became involved with chess as a "ChessMom", flying her young son, John Jarecki, who became the youngest ever chess master in U.S. history at the age of 12 in 1981 (the record was soon surpassed by a slightly younger Stuart Rachels), to various chess events in the United States. Soon, she started working at those tournaments and eventually became a certified tournament director at the highest National Tournament Director level. She has continued directing, although her son is no longer an active player. Jarecki earned her pilot licenses while living in Heidelberg, Germany, and flew extensively in Europe. She remains an active pilot, having flown her Cessna 210 throughout the United States, to Alaska and to many destinations in the Caribbean as far as St. Lucia, West Indies.

She has directed many prestigious chess events including serving as Head Tournament Director at several U.S. Chess Championships, SuperNational Scholastic Championships, National Elementary Championships, and World Opens in Philadelphia as well as many other national tournaments large and small. She has been the chief arbiter at the Bermuda International Open and associated invitationals for over 20 years.

She is also an International Arbiter recognized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. She regularly works the World Chess Olympiad, sometimes as the Head Arbiter. She is also the Delegate from the British Virgin Islands to the FIDE Congress.

She was the Chief Arbiter at the PCA World Chess Championship match in 1995 in New York held at the top of the World Trade Center, between World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Viswanathan Anand. Jarecki was the arbiter and referee for the high-profile match between Kasparov and the IBM supercomputer program Deep Blue in 1997 in New York City, as well as the two Intel Grand Prix matches held there. She was the head arbiter for the HB Global Chess Challenge, Minneapolis 2005; this tournament had the richest prize fund, $500,000, for an Open tournament in chess history. It attracted over 50 Grandmasters and nearly 1,500 players.

Outside of chess, Jarecki is known for a very successful run of roulette winnings with her husband Dr. Richard Jarecki in the 1970s, playing in casinos in Monte Carlo and San Remo using a system based on finding roulette wheels biased by mechanical imperfections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Jarecki

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 2nd March, 2016, 05:07 PM

Re: Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 2, 2016

Game One

The official account of Game One doesn’t stir the blood:

The first game of the Women’s World Championship Match between Maria Muzychuk and Hou Yifan finished in a draw after 31 moves and 3 hours of play.

Hou Yifan had black pieces and decided to switch from Sicilian, which has been played in the last game between opponents in Monaco, and chose 1…e5. Soon Italian game (or Giuoco Piano) appeared on the board and the Women’s World Champion didn’t manage to get any edge out of the opening. After many exchanges the game was converted into the drawish ending.

World Women’s Chess Championship,
Lviv, 2016
Game One, March 2, 2016
Muzychuk, Mariya – Hou Yifan
C50 Giuoco Piano

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. c3 d6 7. h3 h6 8. Re1 a6 9. a4 Ba7 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. Nf1 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Nxe3 d5 15. Qc2 Qd7 16. Rad1 Rd8 17. Nf5 Qe8 18. b4 b5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Nd2 Ne7 21. Nxe7+ Qxe7 22. Nb3 dxe4 23. dxe4 Red6 24. Nc5 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 26. Qxd1 Qd6 27. Qe2 c6 28. g3 Nd7 29. Nxd7 Qxd7 30. Kg2 Qd6 31. Qe3 ½-½

It appears that there was a 20-minute or so delay in the transmission of the moves so there could be no cheating with outside help. This fact got one kibitzer online steamed up:

- is this an advertisement strategy? ChessBomb let's us sit and watch a game, which is over for 20 minutes?

- Crappy broadcast, and crappy venue in Lviv but well, it's war over there

- actually, no war in Lviv

Lviv is like 1000 kms from the frontlines
______

The English commentators are A. Mykhalchyshyn and Nelly Aleksanyan. I give that spelling of Adrian’s name because there are as many variants of his family name as Shakespeare had!

His Wikipedia entry begins:

Adrian Bohdanovych Mikhalchishin (also Mihalcisin, Mihalčišin or Mykhalchyshyn, Ukrainian: Адріян Богданович Михальчишин, born November 18, 1954 in Lviv) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster now playing for Slovenia.

He is a coach and the author of 20 books, most with Alexander Beliavsky.

Since he is always talking, there is very little time for Nelly to say anything.

One site says this: The broadcast has two sets of studio commentators — Russian and English. Commentators are the Lviv chess players Mikhail Alekseenko, Vita Kryvoruchko, Nelly Aleksanyan, Marta Litinskaya and Adrian Mikhalchishin. They meet all the requirements for commentators, chief among them — excellent knowledge of Ukrainian and English languages, understanding of the game of chess at the professional level and experience of participation in international chess tournaments.

At one point in the broadcast a guest comes on to talk about cheating and chess. He was not introduced or, if he was, the sound was dodgy at that point and I didn’t hear who he was. From his dominance and authority I figured it must be the Makro that Danailov is always posting about. Kasparov and Ilyumzhinov get a lot of negative comments in tweets but Georgios Makropoulos and Raymond Keene seem to be devils incarnate with some tweeters.

Makropoulos worked from 1977 as a journalist for the Athens daily Eleftherotypia. He has been since 1982 President of the Greek Chess Federation. In 1986 Makropoulos became Vice President of FIDE. In 1990 he moved to the position of General Secretary of the organization, which he held until 1996. Since then, he has been Deputy President of FIDE.
______

In spite of what the kibitzer said above, Lviv appears to be a lovely city.

Lviv is situated in the western part of Ukraine just 70 km from the European Union border and 160 km from the eastern Carpathian Mountains.

With 757,500 people, it is the 7th largest Ukrainian city in terms of population. The first record of Lviv as a city was made in chronicles in 1256.

Lviv, founded around 1250 on a hill above the Poltva River by king Danylo of Halych, and named after his son Leo, quickly grew into an important trade centre on the crossroads between East and West, South and North.

Between the 14th and 15th centuries Lviv was a major transit point: via Lviv oriental goods came to Baltic countries and Nurnberg, whereas merchants from Hungary brought wine to sell to Istanbul and Asia Minor.

They are most proud of three inventions from there – the kerosene lamp, the typhus vaccine and Banach spaces. Since I could not, on the witness stand, differentiate for the court, Banach spaces from Hilbert spaces, I will leave it at that.
_____

The official site gives these prominent Lviv chess players:

Leonid Stein, Alexander Belliavsky, Oleg Romanyshyn, Adrian Mykhalchyshyn, Vassily Ivanchuk, Adrey Volokitin, Orest Hrytsak, Josif Dorfman, Aleksander Guzman, Mikhail Gurevich, Yuri Kryvoruchko, Martha Litynsk, Iryna Cholushkina Kateryna Lagno and Anna and Mariya Muzychuk. There is some difference between transliteration from the Ukrainian and Russian. Let us attribute any of my spelling mistakes to that!

**Nigel Hanrahan** · Thursday, 3rd March, 2016, 07:01 AM

Lviv players probably don't include Lagno anymore

Originally posted by Wayne Komer

The official site gives these prominent Lviv chess players [etc]

Kateryna Lagno, who was born in Lviv and grew up in the Donbass, is unlikely to play out of Lviv these days as she has changed Federations (and nationality as Ukraine does not recognize dual nationality) from Ukrainian to Russian.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 3rd March, 2016, 01:46 PM

Re: Lviv players probably don't include Lagno anymore

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 3, 2016

Game Two

Adrian Mykhalchyshyn and Vita Kryvoruchko are in the commentators chairs. Vita is quite responsive and adds to the commentary.

The online viewers are criticizing Mykh for being dull and old-fashioned. One guest says that in the position then shown on the board, Korchnoi would play such-and-such. Mykh quotes Bronstein and Capablanca, in particular Capablanca’s Rule:

Put all your pawns on the opposite colour of your bishop, so that they can't be attacked by the opponent's bishop and complement your bishop by protecting squares of the other colour to compensate for the bishop's greatest weakness, it can only visit squares of its colour.

Vita remarks that Mariya is not taking any food or drink. Adrian says that it is necessary to compensate for the energy that you are using during the game. Kasparov used to bring a big table of dark chocolate to his games. Bananas supply the same nutrient. Just what that nutrient is, I couldn’t make out. Both are high in magnesium but that is not going to help you immediately.

He doesn’t think that Red Bull is a good thing to take during a game but young players disregard this advice without harm while they are young.

The online kibitzers try to think of commentary teams that would be better than Adrian and Vita. Some choices – Judith and Nigel, Nigel and Fiona, Topalov and Kramnik, Chucky and Anna, The Olsen Twins, JayZ and Ice Cube and the ultimate, Putin and Trump!

I can just hear The Donald saying that he could beat all the competitors single-handedly, while Putin is engaged in taking off his shirt to show his abs!

Komarov is given high marks – “Komarov is hilarious to listen to; he’s got this deadpan voice..”
_______

Ian Rogers, the Australian GM, comes in as a guest. The discussion about the state of chess suddenly becomes very modern. He talks about Hou Yifan, saying that she is only a semi-professional because she is studying international relations at school. She played well at Wijk/Tata but gave her opponents at least one chance a game to win. You will recall that she tied for 12-14 places with Adams and Van Wely with 5/13. She beat Navara and was holding Magnus Carlsen to a draw, when she blundered on move 45 and lost.

Perhaps the kibitzers are spoiled by listening to Jan Gustafsson’s commentaries, for one remarks:

I know, right? They haven’t even mentioned one DiCaprio film yet…

Rogers’ accent puzzles some. Does “soft British” = Australian?

- who in the blue hell is Ian Rogers?

- old dude

- best dressed GM ever

- probably some old british master

Because of the twenty-minute transmission delay, Adrian and Ian say that the game could be over and they wouldn’t know until the moves were updated.

One kibitzer says that it is a 30-minute delay. Another is not aware that there is a delay at all and a third says that this would not happen in the men’s World Championship.

In any case, Mariya gets doesn’t trade bishops on move 27, then gets increasingly short on time and Hou Yifan polishes her off.

World Championship 2016
Lviv, Ukraine
Game 2, March 3, 2016
Hou Yifan - Muzychuk, Mariya
C80 Ruy Lopez

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.Be3 Be7 10.c3 O-O 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.Bc2 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 Bg4 14.Bf4 Bxf3 15.gxf3 Rad8 16.Rfd1 Qe6 17.Qe3 Rd7 18.Bg3 g6 19.a4 Nd8 20.axb5 axb5 21.f4 f6 22.exf6 Qxf6 23.Qe2 c6 24.Qg4 Rb7 25.f5 Bd6 26.Ra6 Rg7 27.fxg6 Bc5 28.Kg2 hxg6 29.Rxd5 Bxf2 30.Bb3 Ne6 31.Rd6 Bc5 32.Qxe6+ 1-0

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 6th March, 2016, 02:02 AM

Re: Lviv players probably don't include Lagno anymore

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 5, 2016

Game Three

From the Official Site:

The third game of the Women’s World Championship Match finished in a draw after 3 hours of play and Hou Yifan keeps on leading in the Match with 2:1 score.

Playing White, Maria Muzychuk, switched from her main move 1. e4 to 1. d4, which is a relatively rare guest in her games. She went for the Catalan which is considered to be one of the weapon of the champions – very solid opening and quite dangerous for Black. After five moves neither of the opponents have faced the position at the board in their previous games.

Both players agreed that after the opening White had pleasant edge due to the pair of bishops even though the position was closed.

According to the Women’s World Champion, her move 17. a4 led to the concrete position and more quiet 17. Rac1 could have been a better choice.

After both queens left the board, White could have tried to play a bit aggressive by pushing g4 on move 23 or 25 but Maria decided it was a bit risky decision in this type of the position. After numerous exchanges the game finished in a draw after move 36.

The fourth game of the Women’s World Championship Match will start at 3 p. m. local time on 6th of March.

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the lead vocalist of “Okean Elzy”, the most successful rock band in Ukraine, came to support Women’s World Champion Maria Muzychuk after the third round of the Women’s World Championship Match. Vakarchuk is going to make the first symbolic move in the 4th game of the Match and will take part in a short press conference after the start of the game.

World Championship 2016
Lviv, Ukraine
Game 3, March 5, 2016
Muzychuk, Mariya - Hou Yifan
E01 Catalan, Closed

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 c6 9. Rd1 b6 10. Bf4 Ba6 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Ne5 Rc8 13. Nc6 Bb5 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. Nc3 Nh5 16. Be3 Nhf6 17. a4 Bc4 18. a5 bxa5 19. Rxa5 Qb4 20. Rda1 Rb8 21. Rxa7 Qxb2 22. Qxb2 Rxb2 23. Bf3 h6 24. h4 Rc8 25. Bf4 Rc2 26. R7a3 h5 27. Kg2 Kh7 28. Rc1 Rxc1 29. Bxc1 e5 30. dxe5 Nxe5 31. Be3 Nxf3 32. Kxf3 Ne4 33. Nxe4 dxe4+ 34. Kxe4 Bxe2 35. Ra5 f6 36. Rc5 Rxc5 ½-½

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 6th March, 2016, 02:56 PM

Re: Lviv players probably don't include Lagno anymore

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 6, 2016

Game Four

The commentators today are WIM Nelli Alexanian and GM Mykhaylo Oleksiyenko. There are a number of spellings of both his names, so I shall give the one that appeared on the screen during the commentary. He reminded me of the very young, slim Wayne Gretsky for a moment. He was born in 1986 and was made grandmaster in 2005.

The main discussion is whether Hou Yifan’s team prepared her opening line properly or not.

Mykhaylo says that before computers, a player would prepare a small number of openings by himself or by analysing with another player. That consisted of looking at the position for a really long time and getting to know it. You could cover only a few openings this way.

Today’s GMs are prepared in all the openings. They have to use chess engines. And the engine will give you an evaluation that white is better for example. Then you have to understand why you are better.

You often simply don't have time to understand all positions.

Mykhaylo remembers being at Reykjavik at the European Team Championships where he was coaching the Dutch Women’s Team. There were men and women’s teams competing. In the men’s, Turkey was playing Russia. On the second board there were Alexander Ipatov for Turkey and Evgeny Tomashevsky for Russia.

Ipatov had black and he played a variation of the QGD (Cambridge Springs). Not the main line, and Ipatov lost it to Tomashevsky, who sacrificed a pawn and checkmated him. Ipatov said that he spent an hour or two analyzing this line before the game. He asked Tomashevsky about it and Evgeny said, “I spent two weeks analyzing this line on a powerful computer at home”. That is the level they are playing at.

There is a youtube video on this game at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXGROfS6KEM

European Team Championship Reykjavik 2015
Russia – Turkey, Board Two
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Ipatov, Alexander
D52 QGD Cambridge Springs Defence, Yugoslav Variation

1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Rc1 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Ba3 10.Rc2 b6 11.Be2 Ba6 12.O-O Bxe2 13.Rxe2 O-O 14.e4 Rfe8 15.Re3 Bf8 16.e5 Qxa2 17.Nd2 c5 18.Ne4 cxd4 19.cxd4 Rac8 20.Qg4 Rc4 21.Rf3 Rxd4 22.Qf4 Ra8 23.Qxf7+ Kh8 24.Bf6 Rxe4 25.Rg3 Nxf6 26.exf6 g6 27.Rh3 h6 28.Qxg6 Qd2 29.Qxe4 Rc8 30.Rd3 Qc2 31.Qxe6 Qc6 32.Qg4 Rc7 33.Qg6 Qe6 34.Rd8 1-0

Hou Yifan is doing the long think, as if something is not right with her computer preparation.

Mikhaylo says that in real time maybe the game has ended in a draw. There is a time delay in transmission and nobody knows what is going on in the closed room – only the players and the arbiter. You won’t know the game is over until the players emerge for the press conference.

In his training Mikhaylo gives high marks to solving chess puzzles and studies. He says that you often need some trigger to your inspiration to solve a puzzle. Vassily Ivanchuk has walked around a tournament with just kids or amateurs with no GMs and looked at lower boards number 20 or 30 perhaps, to pick up ideas. He said in one interview that in church, during mass, he often thinks about chess.

Mikhaylo states that he prefers Houdini as an engine and blames Stockfish7 for Hou Yifan’s prep problems.

Some comments on the broadcast by the online kibitzers:

- Hou got burned by her computer. She needs to take the draw and go back and reassess. She will discover that her prep was flawed and trace it to the flaw in her SF7 engine

- good game from mariya

- nicely played on both sides

- all computer analysis, all preparation

- stockfish didn’t like hxg4

- SF7 finds 16..hxg4, but takes about a minute with the evaluation of 0.00. Why all the criticism of it?

- We need FischerRandom chess for the world championship

- nice game by mariya. Yifan will scold her seconds after this game. LOL

- If mariya wins she will steal a chunk of rating points from Hou

- White has a strong counterattack with Qc6+, so that’s why Qh4 is too slow

- break tomorrow – see you all in 2 days

- a beautiful draw in a beautiful city – the piano music with the ad is awesome. I’m having a rewinding festival.

- Mariya already said in the interview that this was found at home. Don’t say “beautiful” if a computer found it.

- Mariya achieved a draw with Black but she is still losing the match. She needs to find a way to at least tie the match soon!

- Isn’t it impressive that they managed a few giggles at this conference?

- the secrecy around this match on the part of the Ukrainians is quite alarming, from the sequestering of muzychuk’s games in the national championship to the match played in a closed room sans a live audience and a time delay. It’s like fischer vs spassky playing in the basement

- Is Ivanchuk Catholic or Orthodox?
______

Women’s World Championship 2016
Lviv, Ukraine
Game Four, March 6, 2016
Hou Yifan – Muzychuk, Mariya
C83 Ruy Lopez, Open, Classical Defence

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.c3 Be7 10.Bc2 Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 12.g4 Bg6 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.cxd4 h5 15.f3 Ng3 16.Rf2 hxg4 17.Bxg6 Rxh3 18.Qc2 Bc5 19.Qxc5 Rh1+ 20.Kg2 Rh2+ 21.Kg1 Rh1+ 1/2-1/2

Perpetual, the ladies shake hands for a draw.

There is a table in view behind the board where there are refreshments, including a bowl of fruit. I can’t think that anyone would actually bring an apple to the board and crunch it while playing. When Mariya had achieved the draw, she got up and walked over to the table and unwrapped a couple of tablets of chocolate and rewarded herself for the good game.

An enjoyable morning for the viewer with the game and commentary. Rest day tomorrow. Game Five of ten on Tuesday, March 8.

The scoring so far is:

Hou Yifan – ½, 1, ½, ½ = 2.5
M. Muzychuk – ½, 0, ½, ½ = 1.5

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 8th March, 2016, 05:03 PM

Women's World Chess Championship 2016

Women's World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 8, 2016

Game Five

The commentators are Adrian Mikhalchishin and Vita Kryvoruchko. It is International Women's Day and Adrian gives Vita a bouquet of yellow flowers.

They are both heavily into training and it becomes apparent why Ukraine has so much success in chess. The children learn when they are young and have volunteers and trainers helping them all along the way. Vita's career is a case in point.

Vita was born Chulivska and learned chess in 1993, when she was 5 years old. She was introduced to both chess and swimming that year and, on the whole, preferred swimming. So, they said that she could continue swimming if she also did chess. Her first coach was Mykola Matvienko.

Her husband is Yuriy Kryvoruchko, who learnt chess at 7 and was coached by Evgeny Lysenko, Yuriy Privalov and Vladimir Grabinsky. Evidently Vita and Yuriy studied in the same group.

In the 2013 World Cup at Tromso, Norway he was in Section 7 and beat Parimarjan Negi 4-2 and then Michael Adams 2.5-1.5 but went down to Vassily Ivanchuk in the third round. Ivanchuk was beaten by Vladimir Kramnik in the fourth. Kramnik went on to play and beat Andreikin in the final.

From what I understand, all the Lviv players also are trainers. No wonder that Ukraine is fourth in the world in titled players.

Adrian goes on a long disquisition about chess talent and working at the game. He believes that an individual working on his own will not achieve his potential until he works with a coach or trainer to direct his energies. He said that Fischer and Kasparov were two of the hardest-working World Champions and that Kasparov worked almost five times as hard as Karpov. It was not explained where he got those figures. I am working on it.
______

There is nothing like a world match online to advertise your city and country. The kibitzers have been looking at the Lviv videos that are shown in the break:

- Lviv is a cool town! I've been there more than 30 times and it never gets boring.

- They make the best coffee there. Travel to Lviv. That whole city smells like the best coffee.

- Welcome everyone to Lviv, a city with 750 years of history

- Is this a tourist agency or a chess site?
______

From the Official Site:

The fifth game of the Women's World Championship Match has finished in a draw after 3 hours of play. The score in the Match is 2-3 in a favor of the Challenger.

Hou Yifan had white pieces for the second time. The measure of changing the colors after the fourth game had the aim of preventing the same player having the white pieces after each of the rest days throughout the match because it might give to one of the players an advantage in preparation.

For the first time in the Match Hou Yifan chose to play 1. c4 and one of the rare lines of the English Opening appeared at the board. According to Maria Muzychuk, Black got quite comfortable position with a slight edge after the opening.

The idea of Black was to double the rooks on e-file and try to use a weakness of e2 pawn. Chinese player decided to simplify the position and after numerous exchanges the game transferred into the equal endgame.

Women's World Chess Championship 2016 Lviv
Game Five, March 8, 2016
Hou Yifan - Muzychuk, Mariya
A11 English, Caro-Kann Defensive System

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Qa4 dxc4 6. Qxc4 e5 7. d3 Ne7 8. O-O Na6 9. Bd2 O-O 10. Qc1 Nf5 11. Na3 Nd4 12. Re1 Bg4 13. Nxd4 exd4 14. Bh6 Re8 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Qd2 Qd7 17. Nc4 f6 18. h4 Re7 19. e4 dxe3 20. Nxe3 Be6 21. d4 Rae8 22. b3 Nc7 23. Qb4 Nd5 24. Nxd5 Bxd5 25. Rxe7+ Qxe7 26. Qxe7+ Rxe7 27. Bxd5 cxd5 28. Rc1 Kf7 29. Kf1 Ke6 30. Ke2 Kd6+ 31. Kd3 Rc7 32. Re1 Re7 33. Rc1 Rc7 1/2-1/2

Mariya is looking more confident now than at first but I hope that the match doesn't consist of one win for Yifan and nine draws.

Can I get some of that Lviv coffee without going to Lviv?

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 9th March, 2016, 02:16 PM

Re: Women's World Chess Championship 2016

Women's World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 9, 2016

Game Six

The commentators are Adrian Mikhalchishin and Nelli Alexanian.

The online kibitzers remind us that today is the birthday of both Bobby Fischer and Taras Shevchenko (b. 1814). The latter is the great Ukrainian poet and a prime influence on Ukrainian literature.

Adrian is first and foremost a trainer. This from ChessBase:

My first steps as a trainer were completely normal – I was invited by my friend, GM Oleg Romanishin, to be his second during the Soviet Championships and Interzonals in the middle of the 70s. Then I sometimes helped other friends, such as GMs Aleksandr Beliavsky and Marta Litynska. I got enormous experience when I worked with them.

The turning point of my training career was my cooperation with Iosif Dorfman in Lvov, in 1986, after we had both had huge experience in the Karpov-Kasparov matches, working on different sides. This cooperation, where we studied and then consulted each other, proved to be very productive. Some of the students that we worked with those days even became trainers themselves, such as Vitali Golod, trainer of Israeli Olympic Team; Alex Sulypa, trainer of the Polish Women’s Team; and Andrey Maksimenko, who works as a trainer in Poland.

Later, I was a trainer of the Soviet National Team of 1989, which won the World and European Championships. Then I started to write books, especially on endgames, which were published in England, Italy, Poland, the US, and Spain. I wrote theme books, opening books and middle game books. My last books were about the Petrosian variation, and about such middle game structures as isolated and hanging pawns. Books about middle game subjects are very instructive, but it is very difficult to evaluate the material. In the early 90s, as one of the most productive writers in chess, combined with my training performance, I was invited to train the Polgars. In particular, I worked with Zsusa and Zsofia, which was a fantastic experience. We worked eight hours per day on chess, and we also did some physical training, with two hours of ping-pong.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/adrian-...nd-che-trainer

He also became the Chairman of the FIDE Trainers’ Commission in 2009.

The problem is that he seemingly needs no one else when he commentates. Poor Nelli seems cut out from most of the analysis. Who can interrupt the trainer?

Today Adrian is wearing a red sweater and as things progress, the online kibitzers start to take potshots at him:

- This red-sweater man is even more talkative than Peter Svidler!

- He never brings Nelli into the discussion. Really bad form.

- I think she shows deference to this gentleman as if he was her chess teacher; she sure doesn’t “argue” with him…

- Are the commentators openly favoring Mariya? Is that the deal? Home field chess commentators?

- the red man in the middle is no help. I hate his commentating.

- bye red sweater dude…bye Nelli
_______

Mariya comes out of the opening well. Things are rosy. Then she seems to lose her direction and plays 25. Kh2. Hou gradually outplays her and then Mariya goes 33. Bc2 and the game is lost.

Mikhalchishin was almost apoplectic at one point in the game, saying, " 23. Be2? An incomprehensible mistake. How can White consider removing the bishop from its powerful attacking outpost on c4?? White would still retain a huge initiative on the white squares after 23. f6 Qxf6 24. Qxg4 Rbd8 25. Qe4."

Muzychuk is down two games with four to go

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv
Game 6, March 9, 2016
Muzychuk, Mariya – Hou Yifan
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 O-O 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 g4 10.Nh4 Nh5 11.a4 a6 12.Na3 Qg5 13.Nc2 Ba7 14.Ne3 Ne7 15.d4 Qg7 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.Nef5 Bxf5 18.exf5 Bc5 19.Re1 Nxg3 20.hxg3 Kh8 21.Qe2 Bd6 22.Qe4 Rab8 23.Be2 h5 24.Rad1 Ng8 25.Kh2 Qg5 26.Bc4 Nf6 27.Qe3 Qxe3 28.Rxe3 e4 29.Re2 Rbd8 30.Bb3 Rd7 31.f3 Re8 32.Rde1 Rde7 33.Bc2 exf3 34.Rxe7 Rxe7 35.Rxe7 f2 36.Rxf7 f1=Q 37.Ng6+ Kg8 38.Rxf6 Bc5 0-1

(Tim Harding) - Indeed. Muzychuk seemed to lose her way completely when her preparation ran out. I expect this will prove to be the decisive game of the match as I don't see her recovering from this.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 11th March, 2016, 05:07 PM

Re: Women's World Chess Championship 2016

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 11, 2016

Game Seven

Mykhaylo Oleksiyenko and Vita Kryvoruchko are the commentators again.

At move 20, Mariya spends 46 minutes on the reply Bf8. Someone states the obvious, that Mariya has time management problems.

Vita says that she was once like that. She was playing in the Ukrainian Team Championships and her coach said to her, ”If you spend 30 minutes on one move, you will not play on the team again!”

And it so happened that soon after she had spent 29 minutes on a move and the clock was ticking and her teammates all gathered around her knowing what would happen when 30 minutes had elapsed. Fortunately, she was able to move before that happened.

To help correct her problem, she played lots of blitz after this and soon found that she was moving too quickly and finally settled into a mode where she played at the right speed. She had one rule though, no more than 15 minutes on any one move.

English kibitzers:

- Shame Muzychuk couldn’t have made something of the extra pawn

- She can’t be accused of not trying

- Indeed not. (She might anyway have been encouraged by Hou messing up that ending against Giri last month.)

Women’s WCC 2016, Lviv
Game 7, March 11, 2016
Hou Yifan – Muzychuk, Mariya
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 Be7 10. c3 Nc5 11. Bc2 d4 12. cxd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Qxd4 14. Nf3 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 O-O 16. Be3 Rfd8 17. Rdc1 h6 18. Nd4 Bd5 19. Bd1 Nd3 20. Rxc7 Bf8 21. e6 fxe6 22. Bg4 Re8 23. b3 Bd6 24. Rc2 Ne5 25. Be2 Be4 26. Rd2 Bb4 27. Rdd1 Bd5 28. Rac1 Rac8 29. h4 Ba3 30. Rc2 Rxc2 31. Nxc2 Be7 32. h5 Rc8 33. Nd4 Kf7 34. f3 Bf6 35. Kf2 Rc3 36. f4 Nd7 37. Bd3 Ke7 38. Bb1 Bh4+ 39. Ke2 Bf6 40. g4 Bxd4 41. Bxd4 Rh3 42. Rc1 Bf3+ 43. Kf2 Bxg4 44. Bxg7 Rxh5 45. Kg3 Bf5 46. Bxf5 Rxf5 47. Bxh6 Rc5 48. Rf1 Nf6 49. Bg5 Kf7 50. Bxf6 Kxf6 51. b4 Rc4 52. Rf3 Kf5 53. Ra3 Rxf4 54. Rxa6 Rxb4 55. Rb6 Ke5 56. Kf3 Kd5 57. Ke3 e5 58. Kd2 Rb2+ 59. Kc1 Rb4 60. a3 Kc5 61. Re6 Re4 62. Kc2 Kd4 63. Rd6+ Kc4 64. Rc6+ Kd5 65. Rb6 Rc4+ 66. Kd2 Kc5 67. Rb8 Ra4 68. Rc8+ Kd4 69. Rb8 Ra5 70. Rd8+ Kc4 71. Re8 Kd5 72. Rd8+ Ke4 73. Rb8 Rxa3 74. Rxb5 Kf4 75. Rb8 Kf3 76. Rf8+ Ke4 77. Rb8 Ra2+ 78. Ke1 Kf4 79. Rb3 e4 80. Rc3 e3 81. Rc8 ½-½

A draw from here in all variations.

The score is now Hou Yifan 4.5 and Mariya 2.5

There are potentially three games to go. If one player get 5.5, however, then the match is over.

3.6.1 The FWWCM shall be played over a maximum of ten (10) games and the winner of the match shall be the first player to score 5.5 points or more. If the winner scores 5.5 points in less than 10 games then the organizer can re-schedule the Closing Ceremony for an earlier date.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 13th March, 2016, 04:30 PM

Re: Women's World Chess Championship 2016

Women's World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 12, 2016

Game Eight

From the Official Site:

The eighth game of the Women’s World Championship Match was drawn after 44 moves and 4 hours of play. Mariya Muzychuk, who had white pieces today, managed to get slight edge after the opening and even though Black had to play passively, it was not enough to put too much pressure on her opponent.

The Women’s World Champion returned to the Catalan and Hou Yifan chose the quite rare line b5.

The first critical moment in the game was after 13 moves. Mariya Muzychuk decided to close the position by playing e5 and c5. At the press conference she was not sure if it was the best option but could not estimate the position after quiet 14. Re1.

Probably the last moment in the game when Mariya could have kept some chances. After the queens exchange White followed the original plan to push f5 but didn’t achieve much.

The score in the match is 5:3 and Hou Yifan needs only half a point to return the title of the Women’s World Champion, while Mariya Muzychuk has to win 2 out of 2 games to equalize a score and get the right to play the tie-break.

The ninth game of the Women’s World Championship Match will start on 14th of March at 3 p. m. local time.

Women’s World Championship 2016
Lviv, Ukraine
Game 8, March 12, 2016
Muzychuk, Mariya – Hou Yifan
A46 Queen’s Pawn, Fianchetto (Lasker)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 b5 5.O-O Bb7 6.a4 b4 7.c4 a5 8.Bg5 Nbd7 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.Rc1 h6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Qc2 c6 13.e4 O-O 14.e5 Be7 15.c5 g5 16.h3 Kg7 17.Rfe1 Rh8 18.Bf1 Qg8 19.Re3 Kf8 20.Ne1 h5 21.Ng2 Ke8 22.Kh2 Nf8 23.Bd3 Ba6 24.f4 Bxd3 25.Qxd3 Qh7 26.Rf1 Qxd3 27.Rxd3 gxf4 28.Nxf4 Ng6 29.Nb3 Bg5 30.Nxg6 fxg6 31.Rdf3 Ra7 32.Kg2 Rg8 33.Kf2 Rf8 34.Kg2 Rxf3 35.Rxf3 Bd8 36.Nc1 g5 37.Nd3 Rg7 38.g4 h4 39.Nc1 Rg8 40.Nb3 Rg7 41.Kf2 Rf7 42.Rxf7 Kxf7 43.Kf3 Ke8 44.Kf2 Kf7 1/2-1/2

Online Comments

- A Ruy Lopez will only give Mariya a draw. Now it's time for the Sicilian.

- She needs to win twice not just once. Might not get a better chance than right now.

- if she plays some Sicilian or something else, like the Dutch, it would be interesting fight

- The Ukrainians prepared both Ushenina and Muzychuk fairly well in openings.

Unfortunately for them, Hou Yifan is simply the superior player.

- Mariya needs to play some enterprising lines next game if she wants to salvage this match (and her title), something like a Benko or Stonewall variation but I doubt that's in her repertoire

- You have to spar with the best to feel what you need to get to that level.....bravo to Mariya.

- let s see tomorrow..

- LOL, no. Rest day, my dear

**Hans Jung** · Monday, 14th March, 2016, 01:31 PM

Re: Women's World Chess Championship 2016

Ive really enjoyed this match. Quality games and good fights on the board (in most games)

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 14th March, 2016, 01:47 PM

Re: Women's World Chess Championship 2016

Women’s World Championship 2016, Lviv

March 14, 2016

Game Nine

The game opened with e4 for Hou Yifan. The photographers had several minutes for their pictures and the consistent use of the flash seemed worrying to Mariya. She played a Sicilian to take the game to Hou Yifan, who just needs a draw to finish the match.

The first guest is Horst Metzing – the long-standing General Secretary of the German Chess Federation and the European Chess Union. He is a good friend of Oleg Romanishin, the Ukrainian grandmaster (b. 1952) from Lviv.

Horst says that he is astonished by the old city of Lviv. He says that he is now retired and can use his leisure time to attend chess matches. The attractions are mentioned – the architecture, the coffee and the chocolate being the most interesting.

He couldn’t see the playing hall because that is closed off. The museum is a good venue but because of paintings on the wall and limited space, only 100 spectators could be accommodated – so the Internet coverage is the best way to watch.

He knows the Muzychuk family and hopes that she will do well but there was that game when she lost her plan and the game.
He met Romanishin in Dortmund in the 70s. At one time Oleg was in the world’s top ten. The strong Lviv chess school is primarily due to two coaches/trainers Viktor Kart and Vladimir Grabinsky.

If you are a professional chess player you can live anywhere you want in Europe but many live in Lviv. It is beautiful and has reasonable prices and the city helps you, so to speak.

Horst says that Germany has a similar chess tradition and cities like Dortmund, Munich and Berlin are the centres and it is easier if players move to one of these and play out of it in European tournaments, they are closer to chess friends and chess organizers.
Many talents are lost when a player is in a city with no chess connections. You need a good trainer, strong opponents and invitations to tourneys.

Becoming a chess professional is a goal for many but you can’t make a decent living in Western Europe just playing chess. Mykhaylo is the coach of the Dutch women’s team and they tell him that only Giri makes good money there but otherwise you have to teach. In Germany as well, you have to supplement your winnings by teaching, coaching or writing articles. It’s a nice job – you can make videos and commentate too. It is easier to be a professional in countries where the expenses are not as great as in Germany and the Netherlands.

During the maneuvering of the middlegame the kibitzers talk about world champions and one gives a quote I have never heard before:

It’s like Paul Morphy himself said, “Being a good chess player is the mark of a gentleman, being a great chess player is the mark of a wasted life.”

On chessbomb the kibitzers talk about Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Judit Polgar and the man vs machine Go match in progress. One asks, “Just wondering, are there blindfold Go matches?”

After 27…Rg8 Mariya’s game gets worse. The commentators say that if she were content with a draw, she would not have made her risky moves in playing for a win.

Just before the time control black’s position is resignable. One kibitzer says:

I think it would be a graceful gesture on Yifan’s part to offer a draw here, she doesn't need to prove anything by bludgeoning Mariya in this game. Just offer the draw and be done with it.

The commentators say that Hou Yifan has not lost a game in a women’s match but did lose a game to a woman at the Knock-out Women’s World Championship in 2012 - against Monika Socko (Bobrowska).

Mariya stops her clock, shakes hands with Hou Yifan and after signing their score sheets, they leave. The Match is over and Hou Yifan is World Champion again.

Women’s World Chess Championship, 2016
Lviv, Ukraine
Game 9, March 14, 2016
Hou Yifan – Muzychuk, Mariya
B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 Be6 10. f3 Na5 11. Nxa5 Qxa5 12. Qd2 Rfc8 13. Rfd1 Kf8 14. a4 a6 15. Nd5 Qxd2 16. Rxd2 Nxd5 17. exd5 Bd7 18. a5 Bb5 19. Kf1 f5 20. c3 g5 21. Rc2 h5 22. c4 g4 23. b4 f4 24. Bf2 Bd7 25. c5 Bf5 26. Rc4 Kf7 27. Rd1 Rg8 28. g3 fxg3 29. hxg3 Rac8 30. fxg4 hxg4 31. Kg2 Bd7 32. Rh1 Rg7 33. cxd6 Bxd6 34. Rxc8 Bxc8 35. Bc5 Bxc5 36. bxc5 Bf5 37. Kf2 Rg8 38. Ke3 Rd8 39. Rf1 Kg6 40. Rd1 Kg5 41. d6 Rh8 42. d7 Rd8 43. c6 bxc6 44. Bxa6 c5 45. Bb7 c4 46. a6 1-0

Final Match Standing:

Hou Yifan 6
Mariya Muzychuk 3

**Jack Maguire** · Monday, 14th March, 2016, 02:01 PM

Re: Women's World Chess Championship 2016

Yifan Hou is now a perfect +10, -0, =14 in her 3 World Championship matches. In 2011 she defeated Humpy Koneru +3, -0, =5. Two years later, in 2013, she trounced Anna Ushenina +4, -0, =3. And now she adds a +3, -0, =6 score against Mariya Muzychuk.