Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

November 23, 2016

It looks like FIDE is going to play hardball with this incident:

Magnus Carlsen declined to attend the press conference

Tuesday, 22 November 2016

Magnus Carlsen failed to attend the Round 8 post game press conference. FIDE regulations state that every player must attend the post game press conference, otherwise he will be penalised by a deduction of 10% of his prize money.
Following the conclusion of the Round 8 game, Karjakin appeared in the Mixed Zone to give brief interviews with the three official media partners to the Championship.

The procedure for players granting interviews in the Mixed Zone was agreed with the players and their management teams at the Technical Meeting prior to the start of the Championship. Both players have granted brief interviews with the three media partners in each of the preceding 7 rounds and several times one player was waiting on the stage until the other one finished his obligations.

After round 8, Magnus Carlsen arrived at the Mixed Zone one minute later than Sergey Karjakin and declined to give any interview. He was then offered to wait for a while in the Mixed Zone or on the press conference stage and Magnus decided to wait on the stage. The World Champion decided to leave the Stage 95 seconds later, even though he was informed by the FIDE Press Officer, Anastasiya Karlovich, that Karjakin was about to come to the press conference. The FIDE Press Officer tried to persuade him and his manager to come back to the press conference room, but Magnus Carlsen declined to do so.

FIDE official statement

http://www.fide.com/component/conten...onference.html

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

November 22, 2016

Today is a rest day for the WCC Match.

I am expecting that the Canadian contingent will be reporting on their experiences at the venue in ChessTalk when they get back.

In the meantime, at the EC Forum, Chris Rice described today his experiences. For the full posting see:

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic....191847#p191847

Two large extracts:

I was at the venue for game 8 yesterday witnessing the first decisive game of the match so here’s a report on the day.

Getting off at Fulton Street was a great experience. From here you have direct access to the World Trade Centre buildings and the 9/11 Memorial. In addition, the Fulton Centre, which houses the subway, has an enormous mall with great places to eat and an awesome view of the Hudson River. Unfortunately, though that’s not where the venue was. Walking around five minutes to the very end of Fulton Street you find the Fulton Market building propped up against the Brooklyn Bridge. Not so awesome. There was some advertising outside for the chess so you knew you were in the right place even if the entrance wasn’t immediately transparent. Finally after lapping the building and being told to get away from the VIP and Media entrances I made my way in and for my $75 received a wristband.

The organizers had taken over the second floor of the building and partitioned it off using black hoardings with the advertisers logos on them.
...

For $75 I felt I received little value to be honest, it looked like it had been done on the cheap and I had the feeling that whatever money the organizers made from this would not be ploughed back into chess for the likes of the average player. This was no London Classic. The general auditorium only offered low level benches and little wooden chairs, Roger would have hated it!

OK gripe out of the way and on to the chess. Despite what I have said above, if you put 300 chess players together you will get atmosphere and the place certainly was crackling with it. When Carlsen went 3 e3 and into a Colle you would have expected a collective sigh of desperation. However, the Colle is played by millions of club players so the spectators at the venue, most of whom were club players I'm betting, surprisingly got excited as it was an opening they could understand. Suddenly cries of “it’s a Zuke!” went up. Took me a few seconds to realize they were referring to a Colle Zukertort.

Of course, we were helped in our understanding of what was going on by the ever-impressive Judit Polgar. Her view was that this has been a different match since Carlsen messed up in game 4. How different it is I wasn’t sure. Since the match started I feel like I’ve been watching an extended Premier League match between West Brom (Carlsen) and Burnley (Karjakin). Carlsen’s strategy seems to be to eliminate the opening so that he doesn’t get hit by any Russian theoretical bombs and slowly press while Karjakin’s strategy seems to be to keep it airtight at the back. Game 8 seemed to be heading that way but it was clear on move 23 that both players were starting to get short of time and the game was opening up. As the players approached move 40 they started moving quickly and the audience started getting on like it was a boxing match. When Karjakin played …Qa3 there were shouts of “get in there!!! Sergey” but Sergey messed up with …Qd3 and we all thought it was going to be a draw and we’d all be heading off to Shake Shack* for a well-earned burger. But Carlsen played Qc6, a collective gasp from the audience, whispers of “wtf is he doing?” but Judit calmed everyone down, “Magnus loves to play and this shows just how much” but Carlsen ended up going too far and made a fatal error. 0-1

Unbelievable.

Must say I really enjoyed the game and the experience and looking forward to Game 10 on Thanksgiving Day on Thursday.
_______

(Justin Horton) - I'm just jealous. God, imagine being there for that particular game.

_________

* A “culinary” note:

Shake Shack has been inspiring excitement since it opened in New York’s Madison Square Park 11 years ago. Created by revered New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, it has since grown from a humble burger stand into a global chain with 41 U.S. outlets and 29 overseas franchises in cities such as Moscow, Dubai, Istanbul, and London. Fans line up for its signature ShackBurgers (flavor-packed beef patties served on squishy Martin’s potato rolls and wrapped in nostalgia-triggering wax paper), hot dogs (Chicago-style or with beer-marinated shallots and cheese sauce), concretes (frozen custard blended with artisanal local ingredients; each Shack has its own unique creations), and house beer (ShackMeister ale, made by Brooklyn Brewery)

https://www.fastcompany.com/3046753/...ger-revolution

[Neil Frarey]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Hey Paul, I created this graphic. It might help ... it might not:

Dark Side Of The Pawn
http://societyofchessaficionados.wor...eofthepawn.jpg

Like its inspiration, Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd, its about the duality of life.

[John Coleman]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

The games and the associated broadcast are incredibly boring...

So after seven draws, Magnus presses too hard, and loses. There are only 4 games left in the match, and he has to win one, at least. "Boring" is not the term I would use.

Why don't you take up tiddley winks, there's a really exciting game for you...

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

If this is boring, I will take it any day. To his great credit, Magnus tried his damnedest to win from an equal position. This time, the result went against him but in the past I cannot count the number of equal games he has in fact won. Four games to go. This should be great fun.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

November 21, 2016

Game Eight

Magnus Carlsen resigns!

When Karjakin played 51..h5 the game was effectively over.

World Championship
New York City
Game 8, Nov. 21, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus - Karjakin, Sergey
D05 Queen's Pawn Game, Rubinstein (Colle-Zukertort) Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.b3 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Bb2 b6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.Qe2 Nbd7 11.c4 dxc4 12.Nxc4 Qe7 13.a3 a5 14.Nd4 Rfd8 15.Rfd1 Rac8 16.Rac1 Nf8 17.Qe1 Ng6 18.Bf1 Ng4 19.Nb5 Bc6 20.a4 Bd5 21.Bd4 Bxc4 22.Rxc4 Bxd4 23.Rdxd4 Rxc4 24.bxc4 Nf6 25.Qd2 Rb8 26.g3 Ne5 27.Bg2 h6 28.f4 Ned7 29.Na7 Qa3 30.Nc6 Rf8 31.h3 Nc5 32.Kh2 Nxa4 33.Rd8 g6 34.Qd4 Kg7 35.c5 Rxd8 36.Nxd8 Nxc5 37.Qd6 Qd3 38.Nxe6+ fxe6 39.Qe7+ Kg8 40.Qxf6 a4 41.e4 Qd7 42.Qxg6+ Qg7 43.Qe8+ Qf8 44.Qc6 Qd8 45.f5 a3 46.fxe6 Kg7 47.e7 Qxe7 48.Qxb6 Nd3 49.Qa5 Qc5 50.Qa6 Ne5 51.Qe6 h5 52.h4 a2 0-1

Position after 51...h5




(Robert Hess):

35. c5? Objectively a really suspect move that turns the position even more into Karjakin's favor. Karjakin goes under a minute on his clock before playing accurately by trading rooks.

37. ... Qd3?? In time trouble, Karjakin errs horribly. Black throws away great chances to win by allowing a beautiful tactic:

(37... Qa4 was the precise move needed to keep the advantage alive.)

51. Qe6??

(51. Qb7+ Nf7 52. Qa6 was necessary, though still not easy for White. Carlsen is hoping that the exposed black king is enough compensation for a draw to be held, but it remains an uphill battle.)

51... h5! The only move that reels in the full point for Karjakin. The black knight and queen do well to limit the white queen's mobility, and now Carlsen does not have a single useful move.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/karj...-new-york-8758
_________

After the game, Carlsen refused to answer questions from Agon reporter Kaja Snare and Norwegian media and immediately went to the press conference area. Because Karjakin gave his customary private interview with Russian television, Carlsen was all alone for almost two minutes.

With the world champion growing visibly uncomfortable, his manager Espen Agdestein asked for the press conference to begin without Karjakin. A few moments later, Carlsen threw up his arms and stood up, exiting back through the private door to the playing area. He did not return.

According to paragraph 6 of the match regulations, he may forfeit five percent of his prize money to Agon and a further five percent to FIDE. The prize fund is $1 million, with 60% going to the winner and 40% to the loser, or 55-45% in case of a playoff.

Online Comment

- Nothing against Karjakin, but how can he have a "customary" post-game interview with the Russian television, when Agon should have the priority to be first for the post game press conference? Once knocked out or beaten, many UFC fighters do not even show up for the press conference, so I can not blame Carlsen that he had enough for the day

- Sergey Karjakin's victory guarantees more interesting games as Magnus Carlsen, feeling the pressure, will pressure Karjakin for six hours or more in each of the remaining games. Karjakin may be the only player who can stand up to Carlsen under such pressure, or he may yet collapse under the attack..

- Spassky and Smyslov may be exceptions, but chessplayers aren't exactly known for their gentlemanly ways.

It may not be a good look, but I don't blame Magnus. He just lost a long, hard battle, one where he believed he had winning chances and blundered. Now his crown is in serious danger. On top of it all Karjakin delays his arrival to the press room to do his (customary) Russian interview. Who wants to sit and wait after all that? The next few games promise to be far more interesting than the first half of the match, with Carlsen in need of at least one win. Awesome.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

I just love Jan Gustafsson.

The games and the associated broadcast are incredibly boring and he seems to be the only one aware of the problem.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

November 20, 2016

Game Seven

The commentators are Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler.

- the guys are the best in the business

- yeah, today we have the dream team, Jan & Peter

Peter has come up quickly through the ranks of commentators. Even a year ago he was not the choice of most voters in a poll.

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...t=commentators

Peter and Jan have the same temperament and interests and are good conversationalists and have impeccable English.

When the endgame was reached Peter disqualified himself from commenting in deference to Jan. He said that he once resigned in a drawn position to Kramnik. Evidently the memory still haunts him.

The game is Corus 2004, Kramnik vs Svidler in a Poisoned Pawn Najdorf Sicilian. See:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1272144

Malcolm Pein in the Telegraph said that Svidler thought the winning plan was for white to go first to the K-side and grab the h6 pawn, then return and threaten the a5 pawn. He assumed he had to guard the a5 pawn with Be1, so he thought that white could cross over in the center.

"However what Svidler missed was that he can let the a5 pawn go and prevent the white king reaching the kingside while still holding the two passed pawns on the queenside."

Comment in the chat room today - I remember watching Svidler's game with Vlad in the press room and Vishy coming in and showing the draw, right at the moment Peter resigned!
_________

Jan takes on the mantle of endgame expert then.

He mentions Shereshevsky’s Endgame Strategy and an ending similar to the one today (rooks and bishops of opposite colours) in Reti-Nimzowitsch in the book. It was my experience at one time that only a select few knew about Shereshevsky. See the August 28th posting at:

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...t=shereshevsky

Then something happened to show that Jan and Peter are two schoolboys at heart.

Jan was explaining that after Black had played 22…b4 that if White played a4, then Black could play bxa e.p. and clearly said that this was en passant and showed it on the board. Then, the program rejected that move and went back to the last legal position. Jan tried it again but the program would still not accept e.p. It evidently had not been given that as a legal move. Then Peter started giggling and Jan did too.

They talked further of taxi cabs and Uber but shied away from the populist movement (Trump, Brexit etc) rising in the world. They had no wish to talk politics.

Then the draw came up and the program was over.
________

World Chess Championshiop
New York City
Game Seven, Nov. 20, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Carlsen, Magnus
D10 QGD Slav Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Bd3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nf3 c5 8.O-O b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.dxc5 Nc6 11.Nd2 Bxc5 12.Nde4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Be7 14.b3 Nb4 15.Bf3 O-O 16.Ba3 Rc8 17.Nf6+ Bxf6 18.Bxb7 Bxa1 19.Bxb4 Bf6 20.Bxf8 Qxd1 21.Rxd1 Rxf8 22.Bxa6 b4 23.Rc1 g6 24.Rc2 Ra8 25.Bd3 Rd8 26.Be2 Kf8 27.Kf1 Ra8 28.Bc4 Rc8 29.Ke2 Ke7 30.f4 h6 31.Kf3 Rc7 32.g4 g5 33.Ke4 Rc8 1/2-1/2

Online Comments on Game Seven

(World Chess) - Karjakin had White and opened with 1 d4 for the first time in the match after having played 1 e4 three times before. Carlsen replied 1 d5 and then steered the game into the Slav Defense. Carlsen equalized without difficulty and, after Karjakin played 11 Nd2, Carlsen was even able to grab the initiative.

But he erred with 16… Rc8 (16… Rb8 was better), which seemed to be a simple miscalculation. It led to a forced sequence of moves in which Karjakin won a pawn. But at the end, the players had reached an endgame in which there were opposite-colored bishops in addition to rooks and pawns and Carlsen had a pawn on b4 that effectively blocked Karjakin’s pawn majority on the queenside. After a few perfunctory moves, the players agreed to a draw.

- Youngest WCh match in history might depend on whether Pono-Ivanchuk counts

- pono ivanchuk should not count - that was a joke

Svidler: "I think it hasn't been as well-played a match as we would expect from these 2 players, but it hasn't been boring"

Silvio Danailov: It's amazing how poor is the opening preparation of Karjakin with white.What the hell is doing his team of seconds?

Teymor Radjabov: - What I like is that Karjakin is happy to upset Carlsen with the fact that he is better but can't win

- The main thing about a WC is that you have to be consistent; you must be consistently successful.
For Carlsen, he has figured out his algorithm, you can say, of how to be consistently successful. This includes taking people out of book, forcing them to make decisions in very complicated positions , making them endure a small or large pressure for hours on end. This, combined with his high degree of technique and refined intuitive positional skill, along with his awareness of the psychological state of the opponent, are some of the keys to Carlsen's success.

Karjakin is a mature product of the Soviet/Russian Chess School, based on Chigorin.
Chigorin was a very versatile, mature player, who was excellent in both attack and defense, and who could also, like Carlsen, play long endgames with a minimal advantage until it would increase into a critical mass, and who was keenly aware of the dynamic possibilities of the pieces and pawns, and had a great positional understanding.

Karjakin is also a prodigious talent, excellent in all aspects of the game, and above all he has a very strong nervous system, capable of withstanding the pressure that Carlsen can produce. In that respect, he is similar to Caruana and Giri, who are also very objective in their approach to the game....win, draw or lose, when they talk, it feels that you are listening to a physicist explaining an equation.
__________

Notes:

1) William Lombardy dropped in on the game today. His photo is the eighth in the article at

https://www.chess.com/news/karjakin-...e-headway-7792

I would not have guessed that that was he.

2) Mikhail Shereshevsky’s main books in English are

a) The Soviet Chess Conveyor (1994)
b) Mastering the Endgame, Two Volumes (1991, 1992)
c) Endgame Strategy (1985)

I don’t know how long I have sat and puzzled over the first title. What is the conveyor? The book is almost impossible to find on the used book market.

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Neil has organized quite a few unrated chess tournaments as well as organized at least one chess club that didn't have any rated events.

[Paul Bonham]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Your qualifications aren't my concern Dobzy, sorry.

I will leave you with this; chess is just a game ... have fun with it!

So when you pull your head out of your ass take a look around at us who really don't care all that much about our ratings ... we play the game for it's entertainment and engagement.

And that's true for vast majority of chess players around the globe!

I can't figure why you include yourself in the group of people who don't play for ratings, and then you turn around and donate money to a rated chess tournament. You say "just have fun with it".... but all I see you post about here are RATED chess events. You even congratulate people for achieving certain rating levels.

What a hypocrite. When are you going to walk the walk instead of just talk the talk? For the people who play chess to have fun with it, Vlad Dobrich has done more in 5 minutes than you'll do in your entire life.

I won't hijack this thread further, but I felt that needed saying.

[Neil Frarey]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Your qualifications aren't my concern Dobzy, sorry.

I will leave you with this; chess is just a game ... have fun with it!

So when you pull your head out of your ass take a look around at us who really don't care all that much about our ratings ... we play the game for it's entertainment and engagement.

And that's true for vast majority of chess players around the globe!

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

I did not personally feel qualified to predict the course of the match before it had begun.
You on the other hand, had no such qualms and got your foot stuck in your mouth.

[Neil Frarey]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

A little late there Dobzy.

Presumably this prediction was made on the basis of the rating difference of the two players. The predictors rating is 1419 - that says it all :o

If ... and that's HUGE if ... if your comment was written a week earlier it would of had some importance.

Written now in such an unimpressive safe zone is just more Canadian lame.

Up your game!

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Presumably this prediction was made on the basis of the rating difference of the two players. The predictors rating is 1419 - that says it all :)

Hey Vlad..........too brutal.

We class players may suck......but we "know"! :)

Bob A

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Games of the Carlsen-Karjakin W.C.C. Match

Carlsen wins the W.C.C. match in 9 rds. I'd say 7, but I think Karjakin can manage a couple of draws.

Presumably this prediction was made on the basis of the rating difference of the two players. The predictors rating is 1419 - that says it all :)