Isle of Man International 2017

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    I met Kostya at a Spice Cup (2013?) and had a couple of conversations with him. At that time he had had a couple of disappointments in chess and wasnt sure about his progress. Good to see he has persevered and looks like he will eventually get the GM title.

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  • Wayne Komer
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    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Isle of Man International 2017

    October 23, 2017

    Kostya Kavutskiy is an American IM residing in California, rated 2390. He has an entertaining piece about the Isle of Man tourney and his participation in it.

    https://new.uschess.org/news/kostya-...international/

    An excerpt:

    Those who followed the tournament probably heard about most of the drama, starting with the ‘random pairings’ used for the first round, then the continuation of Hou Yifan’s pairing controversy from the Gibraltar Masters, then the stunning upset of GM James Tarjan over Vladimir Kramnik! And of course while all this was happening, Magnus, seconded only by his new romance, was delivering an open tournament performance of a lifetime, clocking in at 2903!

    My tournament progressed like a yoyo, one that’s familiar to many class players, where you play way up then way down and so on and so forth — in Round 1, I faced GM Falko Bindrich of Germany, losing the thread of the game in the middlegame and eventually going down in a difficult rook endgame.

    After a win in Round 2, I earned the chance to play another GM, and indeed in Round 3, I got paired with the legendary GM Ivan Sokolov! I had just spent 2 weeks watching him do the official commentary for the Tbilisi World Cup, so it was quite surreal to be in front of him at a chess board. Unfortunately, I lost the game rather quickly, but he was quite gracious when we discussed the game afterwards, so my mood was still mostly positive.

    A win in Round 4 gave me another crack at a strong player in Round 5: IM Nihal Sarin, one of two currently exciting prodiges from India, the other being Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (or ‘double Anand’ for short, as famously dubbed by GM Simon Williams). I was quite happy to have won the game, but I could have easily spoiled it in the final moments:

    Winning this game meant I had broken free of the proverbial ‘yoyo’ and, with +1 in such an event, was set to face an even stronger player. As it turned out, I ended up paired with none other than…Kramnik himself!

    Being the lowest rated player in my score group, I was paired “down” against the highest rated player with half a point less. It’s pretty safe to say I was thrilled, floored even. Kramnik has been a personal idol for years, and an absolute legend in his own right. It was a definite honor to play against him. it was a bit of an honor to get ground down in an endgame against Kramnik! 1–0

    I wasn’t upset about the loss at all as I learned a great deal, but it was a bit disappointing that he left quickly after the game. All in all, still the highlight of my trip! I bounced back quickly with a clean win over IM Martin Zumsande of Germany, which got me paired with GM Rasmus Svane (another German!) in Round 8. I prepared well for the game, but tried a little too hard to win in a drawn endgame and ended up blundering and losing. This was definitely a shame, as another half-point would have secured a fantastic tournament.

    In Round 9, I ended up losing again, this time to IM Aman Hambleton of Canada. And I wasn’t too upset about this one either, as it was an especially complicated game, which could have gone any number of ways.

    Thus, I finished my tournament with just 4/9, gaining just a few rating points. Overall, I felt fantastic about the experience, I got to play so many strong players and learned a great deal from all of my encounters.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
    Isle of Man International 2017

    October 3, 2017

    Three photos worth seeing at

    https://twitter.com/chessbrahTV

    1) Aman Hambleton and Fabiano Caruana in Chess Brah pullovers after the Isle of Man tourney

    2) Magnus Carlsen and his girlfriend, Synne Christin Larsen, at the table after receiving his trophies

    3) The bearded Simon Williams and Aman Hambleton, together
    Its nice to see Chess Brahs getting recognition as well.

    Leave a comment:


  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Yes real entertainment by Magnus. The Singaporean simul was impressive in that he finished the event in just 70 minutes! - 16-0! relentless pressure and top speed. Nice report on chessbase. And the chess.com speed match was great entertainment as well and many games! I really like his compliment to: Timmans Titans. Magnus is a real chess fan as well.

    Leave a comment:


  • Wayne Komer
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Isle of Man International 2017

    October 8, 2017

    After winning the tournament, Magnus said that he was going to play a chess.com speed match and going to Singapore (see post #44 in this thread).

    Chess legacy is a Magnus opus

    Jonathan Wong

    Magnus Carlsen stands in the centre of the room surrounded by four long tables and 16 opponents. A thunderstorm rages outside but indoors, the reigning chess world champion is all Scandinavian cool as he strolls across the grey rug, stopping briefly at each chessboard before moving one of the white pieces.

    Seventy minutes later, and to little surprise from the 50 or so guests of Norway's Ambassador-designate to Singapore Anita Nergaard, Carlsen has beaten all 16 players, despite the presence of a book titled How To Be Lucky In Chess next to one player.

    Underneath the dapper exterior - the Norwegian, with neatly coiffed hair and hip glasses, is wearing a light pink shirt with black trousers and a matching jacket - lies a ferocious competitor who takes nothing for granted, not even an exhibition contest.

    In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, the 26-year-old, who suffered a shock early exit in last month's World Chess Cup in Tbilisi, Georgia before rebounding to capture the Isle of Man Open last Sunday, said: "The feeling of losing is stronger than the joy of winning.

    "Sometimes when I lose games, I just want to give up and do something else. But then I find the motivation again and go on.

    "Losing is a huge blow to your whole sense of self-worth. You put so much into the match. There aren't any outside factors. If you lose it's your fault. There aren't any team-mates to blame, you cannot blame the conditions on that particular day.

    "It's all you and psychologically it's hard to cope with, especially when you're not used to losing."

    It is an unfamiliar feeling for Carlsen. According to the World Chess Federation website, he has lost 123, or just under 12 per cent, of his 1,052 career matches (winning 439 and drawing 490).

    No wonder that Pok Wern Jian, who teaches mathematics at National Junior College and was one of the 16 players - including six-time national champion Kevin Goh - selected to face Carlsen on Friday evening, was nervous.

    Pok said afterwards: "It was very intimidating. Every time Magnus moves a piece, he does so with such confidence and you feel like he's already seen how he's going to beat you."

    Trophies and accolades, however, serve merely as placeholders to the chess-obsessed Carlsen. Not only does he routinely test himself on his Play Magnus app - "it's hard to sit down and focus on a mobile screen so I usually get outplayed or get tricked", he said - but he also goes online under a pseudonym and competes against random players.

    He added: "If you feel like you're approaching perfection in chess, you're not being self-critical enough."

    Unlike many of his peers, Carlsen does not spend hours every day poring over databases of chess matches - "more practice doesn't necessarily lead to better play, more knowledge doesn't mean you can achieve more," he said - and tends to rely on his instinct and imagination instead.

    It has proven to be a winning formula for Carlsen, whose grandfather Kurt was a chemist. Besides his tournament winnings, he earns about £1 million (S$1.79 million) a year from sponsorship deals.

    A voracious reader who is fascinated by military history and political figures, he attributed his recent tournament win to a book, Timman's Titans: My World Chess Champions by Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman, that he had just finished.

    http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/ch...-a-magnus-opus

    Leave a comment:


  • David Ottosen
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Originally posted by Paul Bonham View Post
    Interesting what you say about him becoming a chess benefactor.... as in, giving money to chess with no strings attached? Or would he want to see some changes, such as a purge of FIDE? You must have some insights you can share with us?
    I wouldn't presume to speak for him. It may be that sponsoring this one tournament a year and bringing all the top players in the world to him is all he wants. Maybe if he was free to travel, he'd want to do more. I legitimately don't know, but I do know he loves chess a lot.

    As for what happened on April 15, 2011, I would rather not remember it.

    Leave a comment:


  • Garland Best
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Somebody buy Aman one of these!
    https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Bearded-.../dp/B00UFVRJ1W

    Leave a comment:


  • Paul Bonham
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Originally posted by David Ottosen View Post
    Isai's love of chess was a noted factor in my hiring with the company 15 years ago (as I mentioned some CFC volunteer positions in my resume). The chess world should pray he gets settled with the USA because he could be the chess benefactor of all time.

    Wayne Komer quoted a chess24.com article that said "There's been some speculation that he might "turn himself in" to finally bring an end to a saga that hit poker sites around the world hard"...

    Did it really hit poker sites around the world hard? Or just in the USA? I'm pretty sure poker sites in almost every corner of the world except the USA are thriving, but maybe I'm wrong....

    Interesting what you say about him becoming a chess benefactor.... as in, giving money to chess with no strings attached? Or would he want to see some changes, such as a purge of FIDE? You must have some insights you can share with us?

    Leave a comment:


  • David Ottosen
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
    One curiosity is that the prize ceremony saw a rare public appearance for tournament sponsor Isai Scheinberg. He co-founded the world's largest poker room, PokerStars, with his son Mark, who Forbes give a net worth of $4.5 billion. Isai is a hero for many for being instrumental in the poker boom, though he also has an unwanted claim to fame as the only remaining one of 11 defendants indicted in the Black Friday criminal case not to have faced a US court over violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and other charges. There's been some speculation that he might "turn himself in" to finally bring an end to a saga that hit poker sites around the world hard, and to enable him once again to travel freely.
    Isai's love of chess was a noted factor in my hiring with the company 15 years ago (as I mentioned some CFC volunteer positions in my resume). The chess world should pray he gets settled with the USA because he could be the chess benefactor of all time.

    Leave a comment:


  • Wayne Komer
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Isle of Man International 2017

    October 3, 2017

    Three photos worth seeing at

    https://twitter.com/chessbrahTV

    1) Aman Hambleton and Fabiano Caruana in Chess Brah pullovers after the Isle of Man tourney

    2) Magnus Carlsen and his girlfriend, Synne Christin Larsen, at the table after receiving his trophies

    3) The bearded Simon Williams and Aman Hambleton, together

    Leave a comment:


  • Wayne Komer
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Isle of Man International Tournament 2017

    October 3, 2017

    Final Notes

    I have always thought it odd that the two iconic symbols of the Isle of Man are the tailless Manx cat and the three-bent-leg Triskelion symbol.
    ________

    Excerpts from Colin McGourty’s article in chess24.com:

    Magnus Carlsen forced an effortless draw against Hikaru Nakamura in the final round to take home the £50,000 Chess.com Isle of Man International first prize. Only Vishy Anand managed to join Nakamura in second place after a sparkling win over Hou Yifan. No less than nine players tied for fourth, with Vladimir Kramnik winning his last four games and vowing to keep fighting for Candidates qualification. Elsewhere the hero remained 65-year-old James Tarjan, who beat another former World Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk, to cap a remarkable 2671 performance.

    Magnus Carlsen had won his first classical tournament in over 14 months, and with a 2900+ performance had boosted his lead at the top of the world rankings to over 36 points. Finally, you might say, Magnus was back!

    One curiosity is that the prize ceremony saw a rare public appearance for tournament sponsor Isai Scheinberg. He co-founded the world's largest poker room, PokerStars, with his son Mark, who Forbes give a net worth of $4.5 billion. Isai is a hero for many for being instrumental in the poker boom, though he also has an unwanted claim to fame as the only remaining one of 11 defendants indicted in the Black Friday criminal case not to have faced a US court over violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and other charges. There's been some speculation that he might "turn himself in" to finally bring an end to a saga that hit poker sites around the world hard, and to enable him once again to travel freely.

    For Hou Yifan, meanwhile, there was no reason to be too disappointed. As the top female player she won £6,000, more than double what each of the nine players who finished above her on 6.5/9 would earn for joint 4th place. In fact even the 2nd placed woman, Deimante Cornette (previously Daulyte), who scored 5.5/9, would earn more with £3,000.

    65-year-old US Grandmaster James Tarjan shot to prominence when he beat Vladimir Kramnik in Round 3. Despite that game featuring tenacious defence and then fine technique from the US player, it had to be said that Kramnik was well on top and would probably have won if he hadn’t blundered horribly as the time control approached. When Tarjan then lost the next game to Niclas Huschenbeth it seemed he might just fade away, but instead he didn’t lose another game and went on to beat Russian GM Pavel Tregubov and ultimately Pavel's wife and former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. In nine games he’d played only GMs, scoring a 2671 rating performance.

    https://chess24.com/en/read/news/isl...kes-no-mistake

    On-line Comments

    Karjakin on Kramnik and Isle of Man:

    Vladimir Kramnik was the world No. 2 chess player but now he is playing in not a very prestigious tournament and has already lost two of three games. In addition, he lost one of them to a little-known 65-year-old chess player

    https://realnoevremya.com/articles/1...-chess-players

    - Can someone tell me why in the Carlsen-Nakamura game, Carlsen plays 13. Qc1 instead of capturing the knight 13. exd4. I ran this through the computer and it started with 13. exd4 then after about a minute it changed to 13. Qc1

    - Nino Batsiashvil gets the GM title with 4.5/9 and won over more than one grandmaster. What is the reason that Praggnanandhaa does not get a GM norm with 5.5/9? He has one point more than Nino from Georgia

    - To achieve a GM norm a performance above 2600 is needed. Nino's performance was 2643, Praggnannadhaa's 2531.

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  • Bob Armstrong
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
    Congratulations to Magnus for being on board one from start to finish and winning it all.
    I think Magnus is being a great ambassador for our game, by being a "playing" World Chess Champion, and making himself visible to the general public.

    Bob A

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Congratulations to Magnus for being on board one from start to finish and winning it all.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Great play for most of the tournament with many players but collapsing towards the end. Anna Zatonskih for one comes to mind.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Re: Isle of Man International 2017

    Thanks Wayne. James Tarjan found a nice tactical shot against Alexandra Kosteniuk 33.Nd6! and then further on the sequence in the endgame started by Rg1 and h4. Nice crisp play on GM Tarjans part.

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