Paris Leuven GCT 2017

[Wayne Komer]

Paris Leuven GCT 2017

June 15, 2017

From St. Louis Public Radio

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/...ayers#stream/0

The first leg of the GCT will be the Paris Grand Chess Tour from June 21-25. The second will be in Brussels-Leuven, June 28-July 2, with Your Next Move. The third stop on the tour is the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis August 2-12. That is followed by the newest event, the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz August 13-19. The tour will once again end with the London Chess Classic, from November 30-December 11.

The three blitz and rapid events (Paris, Leuven and St. Louis) will each have a $150,000 prize fund, whereas the classical events (Sinquefield Cup and London Classic), will offer $300,000 each. Once again, the winner of the tour will be awarded with a $100,000 bonus and the second place finisher will receive a $50,000 bonus. The total prize fund is $1,200,000, a $150,000 increase from 2016.

The 2017 tour will consist of nine players, who will compete in both classical and two rapid and blitz events of their choice. Unlike last year, however, the lowest score will not be dropped and all the scores will count towards the overall Grand Chess Tour standings. Each classical event will have one wild card, while the rapid and blitz events will have four wild cards. However, only the nine players who will compete in four events can fight for the title of the overall tour winner.

The tour has also altered its invitational guidelines as follows: three top finishers of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, top three players by average 2016 rating and three tour wild cards as determined by the Grand Chess Tour advisory board. Tour wild cards are different from event wild cards and will compete in four events.

The top three finishers in 2016 were:

Wesley So (U.S.A.) – No. 2 in the world, winner of Grand Chess Tour 2016 and the 2017 U.S. Champion
Fabiano Caruana (U.S.A.) – No. 4 in the world, 2016 U.S. Champion
Hikaru Nakamura (U.S.A.) – No. 9 in the world, 4 time U.S. Champion

The top three qualifiers by rating are:

Magnus Carlsen (Norway) – No.1 in the world and current World Champion
Sergey Karjakin (Russia) – No. 11 in the world, 2016 World Champion Challenger
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) – No. 6 in the world

The tour wild cards are:

Viswanathan Anand (India) – No. 8 in the world and 5-time World Champion
Levon Aronian (Armenia) – No. 7 in the world, former Olympiad gold medalist
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) – No. 23 in the world, bronze and silver Olympiad medalist

The wild cards for Paris are Grand Masters

Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) and Etienne Bacrot (France).

The wild cards for Leuven are Grand Masters

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) Anish Giri (Netherlands), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and Baadur Jobava (Georgia).

Many of these players are big fan favorites due to their fierce playing style. Their appearance will only make the event even more exciting.

http://grandchesstour.org/press-rele...ris-and-leuven

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris Leuven GCT 2017

June 21, 2017

Schedule

The Paris GCT is the 1st of 5 stages of the 2017 Grand Chess Tour, in which 9 of the world's best players and wild cards will play for a total prize fund of $1.2 million.

The Paris event takes place in the studios of the CANAL+ TV channel in Boulogne-Billancourt and features World Champion Magnus Carlsen, So, Vachier-Lagrave, Nakamura, Caruana and Karjakin alongside wild cards Mamedyarov, Grischuk, Topalov and Bacrot.

The rapid event is a 10-player single round-robin and features 3 rounds each day on the first 3 days, with a time control of 25 minutes for all moves and a 10-second delay from move 1.

The final 2 days are a blitz double round-robin, with 18 rounds of 5 minutes + 3-second delay blitz.

Rapid games count double, with 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw.

http://grandchesstour.org/2017-grand...our/watch-live

Round 1 – June 21, 2017 – 8:00
Round 2 – June 21, 2017 – 9:30
Round 3 – June 21, 2017 – 11:00
Round 4 – June 22, 2017 – 8:00
Round 5 – June 22, 2017 – 9:30
Round 6 – June 22, 2017 – 11:00
Round 7 – June 23, 2017 – 8:00
Round 8 – June 23, 2017 – 9:30
Round 9 – June 23, 2017 – 11:00

Round B1 – June 24, 2017 8:00
Round B2 – June 24, 2017 8:30

The chess24 coverage has Seirawan, Houska and Chirita as the commentators.

The starting times have been corrected to Toronto/Montreal time - i.e. first game at 08:00 a.m..

Round 1 Pairings
Nakamura-Mamedyarov
Karjakin-Topalov
Caruana-So
Bacrot-MVL
Grischuk-Carlsen

Round 2 Pairings
Mamedyarov-Carlsen
MVL-Grischuk
So-Bacrot
Topalov-Caruana
Nakamura-Karjakin

Round 3 Pairings
Karjakin-Mamedyarov
Caruana-Nakamura
Bacrot-Topalov
Grischuk-So
Carlsen-MVL

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris Leuven GCT 2017

June 21, 2017

Rounds One to Three

Wesley So seems to be first out of the gate. At the end he had more than six minutes and Fabi only had 17 seconds.

Round One games:

Paris GCT 2017
Round 1, June 21, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – So, Wesley
D73 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.c4 c6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qb3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 O-O 10.Nd2 e6 11.e4 Nc6 12.e5 b6 13.O-O Ba6 14.Re1 Rc8 15.Qd1 Re8 16.a4 Na5 17.Re3 Qd7 18.h4 Nc4 19.Nxc4 Bxc4 20.h5 a5 21.Ba3 b5 22.Bd6 bxa4 23.Bf1 Bxf1 24.Kxf1 Rc4 25.Kg2 Bh6 26.Rf3 Rec8 27.Qd3 Bg5 28.Rh1 Kg7 29.g4 Qb7 30.hxg6 fxg6 31.Rf6 Bxf6 32.exf6+ Kg8 33.Be7 R4c7 34.Bd6 Rxc3 35.Qe2 Qf7 36.g5 h5 37.Qb5 e5 38.Bxe5 Qe6 39.Rh4 Qf5 40.Qxd5+ Kh8 41.f7+ Kh7 42.Qb7 Qxg5+ 43.Bg3 Rxg3+ 44.fxg3 Rc2+ 45.Kf3 Qf5+ 46.Ke3 Rc3+ 47.Ke2 Qd3+ 48.Ke1 Rc1+ 49.Kf2 Rc2+ 0-1

Paris GCT 2017
Round 1, June 21, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Nc3 e6 8.O-O Re8 9.e4 exd5 10.exd5 Bf5 11.Bd3 Ne4 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.Bxe4 Rxe4 14.Qd3 Re8 15.Bf4 Na6 16.a3 Nc7 17.Rae1 Qd7 18.b4 cxb4 19.axb4 b5 20.Nd4 Rxe1 21.Rxe1 Re8 22.Rxe8+ Qxe8 23.Nf3 Qa8 24.h3 Bf8 25.Bc1 bxc4 26.Qxc4 Nxd5 27.Bb2 Bg7 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Ng5 h6 30.Ne4 Nf6 31.Nxd6 Qd5 32.Qc7 a6 33.Qb6 Qd1+ 34.Kh2 Qd2 35.Qc5 Nd7 36.Ne8+ Kg8 37.Qc8 Nf8 38.Nf6+ Kg7 39.Ne8+ Kg8 40.Qxa6 Qxb4 41.g3 Qd4 42.Qf6 Ne6 43.Qxd4 Nxd4 44.Nf6+ Kg7 45.Nd5 Kg8 46.Kg2 Kg7 47.Ne3 h5 48.g4 hxg4 49.hxg4 Kf6 50.f4 g5 51.fxg5+ Kxg5 52.Nc4 f5 53.gxf5 Nxf5 54.Kf3 Kf6 55.Ne3 Nxe3 56.Kxe3 1/2-1/2

Round 1, June 21, 2017
Bacrot, Etienne, MVL
A45 Queen’s Pawn

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Na4 c5 7.c3 cxd4 8.f3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Qxd4 Nc6 11.Qd1 Nxe5 12.Bd2 Nc4 13.Bxc4 dxc4 14.Ne2 O-O 15.Nb2 Rd8 16.Qc1 Bf5 17.O-O Rac8 18.Re1 b5 19.Nd1 Bd3 20.Nf2 Bxe2 21.Rxe2 Rxd2 22.Rxd2 Bxc3 23.Re2 Bxa1 24.Qxa1 c3 25.Qc1 b4 26.Qc2 Qc5 27.g4 a5 28.Kg2 Rc7 29.Nd3 Qd6 30.Ne5 Rc5 31.Nd3 Rd5 32.Nf2 Qd7 33.Qe4 Kg7 34.h4 Qd6 35.g5 a4 36.Qc2 Qd7 37.a3 Rd2 38.Rxd2 Qxd2 39.Qe4 Qd6 40.Qc4 e5 41.Nd3 bxa3 42.Qxc3 Qd4 43.Qxa3 e4 44.fxe4 Qxe4+ 45.Kg3 Qe3+ 46.Kg2 Qe4+ 47.Kg3 Qe3+ 48.Kg2 Qd2+ 49.Kg3 h5 50.Nf2 Qd4 51.Qf3 Qd6+ 52.Kg2 a3 53.Ne4 Qd5 54.Nc3 Qd2+ 55.Kh3 a2 56.Nxa2 Qxa2 57.Qc3+ Kh7 58.Qd4 Qe6+ 59.Kg3 Qf5 60.Kg2 Qb1 61.Qc4 Qb2+ 62.Kg3 Kg7 63.Kf3 Qe5 64.Qb4 Qf5+ 65.Kg3 Qd3+ 66.Kf4 Qh3 67.Qd4+ Kg8 68.Ke5 Qf5+ 69.Kd6 Qe6+ 70.Kc5 f5 71.Qd8+ Kf7 72.Qh8 Qe7+ 73.Kd5 Qe6+ 74.Kc5 Qe8 75.Qh7+ Ke6 76.Kd4 Qd7+ 77.Qxd7+ Kxd7 78.Kd5 Ke8 79.Kd4 Kd8 80.Kc4 Ke7 81.Kd5 Kd7 82.Ke5 Kc6 83.Kf6 f4 84.Kxg6 f3 85.Kh7 f2 86.g6 f1=Q 87.g7 Qf7 88.Kh8 Kd7 89.g8=Q Qxg8+ 90.Kxg8 Ke6 0-1

Round 1, June 21, 2017
Karjakin, Sergei – Topalov, Veselin
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 O-O 7.h3 a5 8.Bg5 Ba7 9.Nbd2 Ne7 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nh4 c6 12.Qh5 d5 13.Bb3 Ng6 14.Nf5 Kh8 15.g3 Be6 16.Bd1 Ne7 17.Bg4 Bxf5 18.Bxf5 Nxf5 19.Qxf5 Qe7 20.Nf3 Rg8 21.Kg2 Rad8 22.Rad1 Qe6 23.Nh4 Qxf5 24.Nxf5 Rd7 25.exd5 cxd5 26.d4 h5 27.Rfe1 Bb8 28.dxe5 fxe5 29.Rd2 Rgd8 30.Red1 Kh7 31.Kf3 Bc7 32.Ne3 d4 33.cxd4 exd4 34.Nc2 Be5 35.Ne1 Rc7 36.Nd3 Bf6 37.Re2 a4 38.a3 Rd5 39.Rdd2 Rc6 40.Rc2 Rb6 41.Rc5 Rxc5 42.Nxc5 Rc6 43.Nd3 Kg7 44.Kg2 Kf8 45.f4 Bg7 46.g4 hxg4 47.hxg4 Rg6 48.Kg3 Rc6 49.g5 f6 50.Kg4 fxg5 51.fxg5 Rb6 52.Kf5 Kf7 53.Rc2 Rb5+ 54.Kg4 Rb3 55.Rf2+ Kg8 56.Rf3 Kh7 57.Rh3+ Kg8 58.Rf3 Kh7 59.Rg3 Kg8 60.Kf5 Rb5+ 61.Ke6 Kh7 62.Rg2 Kg8 63.Nf4 Re5+ 64.Kd6 Re3 65.Nd5 Rf3 66.Kc5 Kf7 67.g6+ Ke6 68.Nb4 d3 69.Kc4 Kf5 70.Rd2 Kxg6 71.Nxd3 Rf5 72.Nc5 b6 73.Nd7 b5+ 74.Kb4 Kf7 75.Nc5 Bf8 76.Rc2 Kf6 77.Kxb5 Bxc5 78.Rxc5 Rf2 79.Kxa4 Rxb2 80.Ka5 Ke6 81.a4 Kd6 82.Rb5 Ra2 83.Rb4 Kc6 84.Ka6 Ra1 85.a5 Kc7 86.Rb5 Rc1 87.Ka7 Rc2 88.a6 Rc1 89.Ka8 Kc8 90.a7 Kc7 91.Rc5+ Rxc5 1/2-1/2

Round 1, June 21, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – Carlsen, Magnus
D10 QGD Slav Defence, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bg5 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.e3 a6 8.Rc1 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bg6 10.f4 f5 11.h4 h5 12.Nf3 e6 13.Na4 f6 14.Nc5 Bxc5 15.Rxc5 Rh7 16.Qb3 Na7 17.Rh3 Re7 18.Kf2 Nc8 19.Rh1 Nd6 20.Rhc1 Kf8 21.Qc2 Be8 22.Nd2 Bb5 23.a4 Bxd3 24.Qxd3 a5 25.Qe2 Qe8 26.Rc7 Rxc7 27.Rxc7 Rc8 28.Rxc8 Qxc8 29.Qxh5 Qc2 30.Ke1 Qc1+ 31.Ke2 Qxb2 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qg7+ Ke8 34.Qc7 Qb4 35.h5 Nf7 36.Qc8+ Ke7 37.Qc7+ Ke8 38.Qc8+ Ke7 39.Qc7+ 1/2-1/2

Jovanka Houska and Yasser Seirawan are working with Cristian Chirila in the studio and with Maurice Ashley who is in Paris.

From Cristian’s website:

“My name is Cristian Chirila and I am a chess International Grandmaster. I was born and raised in Romania but I am currently residing in California, by far the best state in America, working as a full time chess professional.”

Maurice is being Maurice. I am not sure if it is entirely politically correct to keep referring to Bacrot as “The Frenchman” in France.

Get yourself a cup of coffee and a buttered croissant and have a great morning of chess!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 21, 2017

It is cool here this morning but Western Europe is a different story. This from the EC Forum:

- Scorching in Paris. Going to be scorching over the chess board. Boiling in London. Have a cold pasta salad and iced drink and enjoy. They ought to take their jackets off!

- It looks to me as though they have.

The players are asked to wear their Grand Chess Tour jackets for the initial photographs. They are not expected to keep them on during play.
______

Magnus Carlsen wins his game over Mamedyarov. He talks to Maurice. His hair is cut and he looks confident.

Etienne Bacrot blunders in time pressure and loses to Wesley So.

Fabi had a winning position in the first game and lost and another in the game with Veselin Topalov and loses again.

I believe that Maurice in Paris is working with Romain Edouard, the grandmaster from Poitiers.

Yasser says that you could write a book on the MVL-Grischuk game. Cristian opines that this is what happens when the two best Najdorf players on the planet clash.

Wesley So comes in and talks to Maurice. He is glowing after his victory. His last tournament was all draws, so it is good to have two wins already. He is a tough man to catch when he has the lead.

The Round Two games:

Round 2, June 21, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Carlsen, Magnus
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Bg5 c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Be2 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.O-O Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 b6 14.Nd2 Be6 15.Nf1 Na5 16.Ne3 Rac8 17.Rc1 Rfd8 18.Bd3 Rc7 19.g3 g6 20.Ng2 Nc4 21.Rc2 Re7 22.Qc1 Bf5 23.Rxe7 Bxd3 24.Rxa7 g5 25.Rd2 Nxd2 26.Qxd2 Be4 27.Ne1 Re8 28.a4 Bf3 0-1

Round 2, June 21, 2017
So, Wesley – Bacrot, Etienne
A21 English, Kramnik-Shirov Counter-Attack

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Bc5 4.e3 c6 5.d4 cxd5 6.dxc5 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qxc5 8.Qg4 g6 9.b4 Qd6 10.cxd5 Nf6 11.Qc4 Na6 12.Rc1 b6 13.Nf3 Bb7 14.e4 O-O 15.a3 Rfc8 16.Qd3 Rxc1+ 17.Bxc1 Rc8 18.Bd2 Nc7 19.Qb1 Ncxd5 20.exd5 Qxd5 21.Be2 e4 22.Nh4 g5 23.Qb2 Ne8 24.Nf3 exf3 25.gxf3 Ng7 26.Rg1 h6 27.f4 Qe4 28.fxg5 h5 29.Qb3 Ne6 30.Be3 Nd4 31.Bxd4 Rc1+ 32.Kd2 Rxg1 33.Qc3 Rxg5 34.Be3 Rd5+ 35.Kc1 Rd6 36.b5 Rd5 37.Qc7 Re5 38.Bd3 Qxd3 39.Qb8+ Re8 40.Qxe8+ Kg7 41.Qe5+ Kh7 42.Qxh5+ Kg8 43.Qg5+ Kh7 44.Qh4+ Kg8 45.Qg3+ Kh7 46.Qh4+ Kg8 47.Bd4 Qxa3+ 48.Bb2 Qc5+ 49.Kb1 Qf5+ 50.Ka1 f6 51.Bxf6 Kf7 52.Bb2 Be4 53.Qh8 Bd3 54.Qg7+ Ke6 55.Qg8+ Qf7 56.Qb8 Qxf2 57.Qe5+ Kf7 58.Qd5+ Ke8 59.Qxd3 Qxh2 60.Qe4+ Kd8 61.Bf6+ Kc8 62.Qa8+ Kc7 63.Qxa7+ Kd6 64.Qb8+ 1-0

Round 2, June 21, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Karjakin, Sergei
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch variation

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Bc5 4.e3 c6 5.d4 cxd5 6.dxc5 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qxc5 8.Qg4 g6 9.b4 Qd6 10.cxd5 Nf6 11.Qc4 Na6 12.Rc1 b6 13.Nf3 Bb7 14.e4 O-O 15.a3 Rfc8 16.Qd3 Rxc1+ 17.Bxc1 Rc8 18.Bd2 Nc7 19.Qb1 Ncxd5 20.exd5 Qxd5 21.Be2 e4 22.Nh4 g5 23.Qb2 Ne8 24.Nf3 exf3 25.gxf3 Ng7 26.Rg1 h6 27.f4 Qe4 28.fxg5 h5 29.Qb3 Ne6 30.Be3 Nd4 31.Bxd4 Rc1+ 32.Kd2 Rxg1 33.Qc3 Rxg5 34.Be3 Rd5+ 35.Kc1 Rd6 36.b5 Rd5 37.Qc7 Re5 38.Bd3 Qxd3 39.Qb8+ Re8 40.Qxe8+ Kg7 41.Qe5+ Kh7 42.Qxh5+ Kg8 43.Qg5+ Kh7 44.Qh4+ Kg8 45.Qg3+ Kh7 46.Qh4+ Kg8 47.Bd4 Qxa3+ 48.Bb2 Qc5+ 49.Kb1 Qf5+ 50.Ka1 f6 51.Bxf6 Kf7 52.Bb2 Be4 53.Qh8 Bd3 54.Qg7+ Ke6 55.Qg8+ Qf7 56.Qb8 Qxf2 57.Qe5+ Kf7 58.Qd5+ Ke8 59.Qxd3 Qxh2 60.Qe4+ Kd8 61.Bf6+ Kc8 62.Qa8+ Kc7 63.Qxa7+ Kd6 64.Qb8+ 1-0

Round 2, June 21, 2017
MVL – Grischuk, Alexander
B56 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 O-O 9.Qd2 Be6 10.O-O-O a5 11.Bb5 Qb8 12.g4 a4 13.Nxa4 d5 14.g5 d4 15.gxf6 dxe3 16.Qxe3 Bxf6 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Nbc5 Bxa2 19.Nd7 Qd8 20.Nxf6+ Qxf6 21.Nb6 Be6 22.Nxa8 Rxa8 23.b3 Qe7 24.Qc3 c5 25.Kb2 c4 26.Ra1 Rc8 27.b4 Rb8 28.Ra4 h6 29.Ka3 Qg5 30.Ra5 Rd8 31.Rb1 Qg2 32.b5 Rd2 33.Rc1 Rf2 34.Ka2 Rxf3 35.Qxe5 Qd2 36.Ra8+ Kh7 37.Kb1 Qb4+ 38.Qb2 Qc5 39.Ra4 Qe3 40.Qb4 Qxe4 41.b6 Bd5 42.Ra3 Rf6 43.Ra5 Bb7 44.Rb5 Rf3 45.Qb2 Qc6 46.Qe5 Rf6 47.Rb4 c3 48.Rd1 Qf3 49.Qd4 Rg6 50.h4 f5 51.Qd3 Qf2 52.Rf1 Qc5 53.Qb5 Qe7 54.h5 Rg5 55.Rb3 Qe6 56.Rxc3 f4 57.Qb2 f3 58.Qb3 Qe2 59.Qc4 Rb5+ 60.Kc1 Qe5 61.Rb3 Rc5 62.Qb4 Qa1+ 63.Rb1 Qe5 64.Qd2 Qxh5 65.Qd3+ Kh8 66.Qd8+ Kh7 67.Qd3+ Kh8 68.Rb4 Qg5+ 69.Kb1 Qf6 70.Qd7 Qc3 71.Qd8+ Kh7 72.Qd3+ Qxd3 73.cxd3 g5 74.d4 Rf5 75.d5 Rxd5 76.Rxf3 Rd1+ 77.Kc2 Bxf3 78.b7 Rd8 79.b8=Q Rxb8 80.Rxb8 1/2-1/2

Round 2, June 21, 2017
Topalov, Veselin – Caruana, Fabiano
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Nb5 Na6 8.a3 Bd7 9.c4 Qe5+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2+ 11.Bxe2 Bxb5 12.cxb5 Nc5 13.O-O Nd5 14.Nc4 Nb3 15.Rb1 Rc8 16.Rd1 Bc5 17.Bg5 f6 18.Bh4 Ke7 19.Bf1 Nb6 20.Nxb6 Bxb6 21.Rd3 Nd4 22.Bg3 e5 23.Kh1 Nf5 24.f4 Nxg3+ 25.Rxg3 g6 26.fxe5 fxe5 27.Bd3 Bd4 28.Rf3 Rhf8 29.Rxf8 Rxf8 30.g3 Rf2 31.b3 Kd6 32.Re1 Rf3 33.Bc4 Kc5 34.Rc1 Rf2 35.Bd3+ Kd5 36.Bc4+ Kd6 37.Re1 g5 38.Re2 Rf3 39.Kg2 Rc3 40.Kh3 h5 41.Bf7 Be3 42.a4 e4 43.Bxh5 Ke5 44.Bf7 Kf5 45.Bd5 g4+ 46.Kg2 Ke5 47.Bxb7 Kd4 48.b4 Kd3 49.Ra2 Bd4 50.a5 Rc1 51.h3 gxh3+ 52.Kxh3 e3 53.Bf3 Rb1 54.b6 Rxb4 55.b7 Be5 56.a6 Rb6 57.Ra5 Bb8 58.Rd5+ Kc4 59.Rd8 Be5 60.Kg4 Kc3 61.Kf5 Bxg3 62.Be2 Kc2 63.Ke4 Re6+ 64.Kf3 Bh2 65.b8=Q Rf6+ 66.Kxe3 1-0

chessbomb kibitzers:

- French Defence – Marshall variation

- Marshall gets credit for too many things

- There is even a group of islands which took Marshall’s name

- There was also the Marshall Plan after WWII

- and Thurgood Marshall

- and Marshall Dillon from Gunsmoke

- Poor Fabi

- Fabi never does well with the clock

- Please someone tell him that this is rapid

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 21, 2017

Round Three

Carlsen’s king is in the centre of the board (e2) against Vachier-Lagrave. Cristian says that it is a great opening of the tournament with all players taking risks.

Caruana is well up on Nakamura. How long will this last?

In the chat room someone asks who the beautiful girl is? It is Jovanka Houska, six-time British Women’s Chess Champion. She has also co-authored a sexy chess novel entitled The Mating Game.

Jovanka: Chess is the background/the setting of this book, but it’s really about this young woman who is trying to achieve her ambition of becoming a Grandmaster. It follows her adventures and her romantic injuries and just sees her having a lot of fun along the way. Well, she definitely has certain aspects of me, certain little quirks that I have.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/sabrina...he-mating-game
________

The French commentary has Yannick Pelletier, Almira Skripchenko and Jean-Baptise Mullon.

Almira was born in Kishinev to a Ukrainian father and an Armenian mother and learned chess at the age of six.
She married French GM Joel Lautier in 1997 and lives in France.
_________

MVL has lost to Magnus after getting caught in a fork. Magnus is playing powerfully. So is crowding Alexander Grischuk. One kibitzer says: Carlsen and So are in a battle royal for who is the best rapid player.

At the moment So has 11 minutes on the clock and Grischuk has 30 seconds. This can’t have a good ending for Sasha. It is his N+R vs Wesley’s Q. Could there be a fortress?

Chessbomb kibitzer: A quasi-fortress?

- Quasimodo (we are in Paris)

Topalov-Bacrot is a draw, Caruana is ahead, Karjakin-Mamedyarov is even and So has a virtual win against Grischuk, in spite of the quasi-fortress.

From chess bomb:

- Fabi is Naka’s client

- Fabi is gonna blow this away with his amazing ability to manage time

- well it happened

- Rc8 30. Nf5!!

- Fabi was winning in all 3 games

- Caru losing wow

- How on earth did Naka turn this around?

At the interview with Maurice, Hikaru said he felt he had to go crazy and mix it up. The wrong attitude. He didn’t see a one-move win for Fabiano and he kept trying to find moves that weren’t losing and won. He feels good to be on +1.

Mameydyarov is all over Karjakin.

- will the defender of the millennium save the game against Shak? Sergei blunders and loses.

Incredibly the Grischuk-So game is a draw.

Yasser says that the players came to play today. He is elated with the fighting spirit.

Current Standings

1-2 So, Carlsen 5
3-4 Topalov, Nakamura 4
5-7 MVL, Mamedyarov, Grischuk 3
8 Karjakin 2
9 Bacrot 1
10 Caruana 0

Round Three games:

Round 3, June 21, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
A07 Reti, King's Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nd7 5.O-O Ngf6 6.c4 dxc4 7.Na3 Nb6 8.Nxc4 O-O 9.Na5 c6 10.b4 Nbd5 11.a3 c5 12.dxc5 Ne4 13.Ng5 Nec3 14.Qc2 b6 15.Nc6 Qd7 16.e4 Ba6 17.exd5 Bxf1 18.Kxf1 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 Bxa1 20.Bb2 e6 21.Bxa1 exd5 22.Ne5 Qe7 23.Ng4 f6 24.Bd4 bxc5 25.bxc5 Kg7 26.h4 h5 27.Ne3 Rad8 28.c6 Rd6 29.c7 Rc8 30.Nf5+ gxf5 31.Qxf5 Qxc7 32.Qh7+ Kf8 33.Qh8+ Ke7 34.Qh7+ Ke8 35.Qxh5+ Kd7 36.Nf3 Kc6 37.Qf5 Qd7 38.Qb1 Qg4 39.Kg2 Qe4 40.Qb2 Kd7 41.Bxf6 Rb6 42.Qd4 Rf8 0-1

Round 3, June 21, 2017
Karjakin, Sergei – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 a6 6.c3 d6 7.a4 Ba7 8.h3 h6 9.Re1 O-O 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.b4 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Nf1 Ne7 15.Ng3 Ng6 16.c4 Rae8 17.a5 c6 18.Be3 Bb8 19.Nd2 Nf4 20.Nb3 N6h5 21.Nxh5 Nxh5 22.Qd1 Nf4 23.Bxf4 exf4 24.Nd4 Re5 25.Qd2 d5 26.exd5 cxd5 27.c5 g5 28.Nf3 R5e6 29.Rxe6 Rxe6 30.Re1 Bc7 31.Nd4 Re8 32.Qd1 Be5 33.Nf3 Bf6 34.Rxe8+ Qxe8 35.Qb3 Qd7 36.Kf1 Kg7 37.Ng1 Qe6 38.b5 axb5 39.Qxb5 Qe5 40.Nf3 Qa1+ 41.Ke2 Qa2+ 42.Kf1 h5 43.Qxb7 g4 44.hxg4 hxg4 45.Qd7 gxf3 46.gxf3 Qxa5 47.Qxd5 Qa1+ 48.Kg2 Qd4 49.Qf5 Qe5 50.Qg4+ Qg5 51.c6 Qxg4+ 52.fxg4 Be5 53.Kf3 Kf6 54.Ke4 Bc7 55.d4 Kg5 56.f3 f5+ 57.gxf5 Kf6 58.Kd5 Kxf5 59.Kc4 Ke6 60.Kc5 Bd6+ 61.Kc4 Bb8 62.Kc5 Ba7+ 63.Kc4 Bb8 64.Kc5 Bc7 65.Kc4 Kd6 66.d5 Ke5 67.Kc5 Bb8 0-1

Round 3, June 21, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – MVL
B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bg5 Nbd7 9.a4 b6 10.Nd2 h6 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.Nc4 Bb7 13.a5 b5 14.Nb6 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Bf3 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Ra7 18.c4 d5 19.cxb5 Bb4+ 20.Ke2 Bxa5 21.Nxd5 axb5 22.b4 Bb6 23.Rxa7 Bxa7 24.Ra1 Bb8 25.Qd3 O-O 26.Qxb5 e4 27.g3 Be5 28.Rd1 Qg5 29.Kf1 f5 30.Qe2 Kh8 31.f4 exf3 32.Qxe5 Qh5 33.Nf4 Qxh2 34.Ng6+ Kh7 35.Nxf8+ Kh8 36.Ng6+ Kh7 37.Nh4 Qh1+ 38.Kf2 Qxd1 39.Qxf5+ 1-0

Round 3, June 21, 2017
Bacrot, Etienne – Topalov, Veselin
B10 Caro-Kann, Two Knights variation

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Qe2 Nxe4 6.Qxe4 Qd5 7.Qh4 Qe6+ 8.Be2 Qg4 9.Qg3 Qxg3 10.hxg3 g6 11.d4 Bg7 12.Bh6 Bf6 13.Ne5 Be6 14.O-O-O Nd7 15.f4 Rg8 16.g4 Rd8 17.c4 Bxe5 18.fxe5 Nb6 19.b3 g5 20.Kc2 f6 21.exf6 exf6 22.Kc3 Kf7 23.Rdf1 Rg6 24.Bd3 Bxg4 25.Bxg6+ Kxg6 26.Re1 Nc8 27.c5 Rg8 28.a4 a5 29.b4 axb4+ 30.Kxb4 Rd8 31.Kc3 b6 32.Kc4 Bf5 33.Re3 Bc2 34.Bxg5 Kxg5 35.Rg3+ Kf5 36.Rxh7 Bxa4 37.Rh5+ Ke6 38.Re3+ Kf7 39.Rh7+ Kg6 40.Rc7 Bb5+ 41.Kc3 bxc5 42.dxc5 Kf5 43.g3 Kg6 44.Kb4 Rd4+ 45.Kc3 Rd8 46.Kb4 Rd4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 3, June 21, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – So, Wesley
D02 Queen’s Bishop game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.Be2 Nc6 6.O-O Bd6 7.dxc5 Bxf4 8.exf4 Qa5 9.Nbd2 Qxc5 10.Nb3 Qb6 11.c3 O-O 12.Rb1 Bd7 13.Bd3 Rfd8 14.Qe2 Rac8 15.Rfe1 h6 16.Rbd1 a5 17.Nbd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Re8 19.Rd2 Qc5 20.a3 Rb8 21.Rc2 b5 22.b4 Qb6 23.h3 Rec8 24.g4 Ne4 25.Bxe4 dxe4 26.Qxe4 Rc4 27.g5 hxg5 28.fxg5 e5 29.bxa5 Qc5 30.Qxe5 Re8 31.Qxe8+ Bxe8 32.Rxe8+ Kh7 33.Re4 Qxa3 34.g6+ Kxg6 35.Rg4+ Kh7 36.Nxb5 Qa1+ 37.Kg2 Rxg4+ 38.hxg4 Qd1 39.Nd4 Qxg4+ 40.Kf1 Qd1+ 41.Kg2 Qa1 42.f3 Qxa5 43.Re2 Qxc3 44.Nf5 Qd3 45.Ng3 f5 46.Ra2 Qd5 47.Re2 Kg6 48.Rf2 Kg5 49.Ne2 Kh4 50.Rf1 Qd2 51.Rf2 Qe3 52.Kf1 Kg5 53.Kg2 Kf6 54.Ng1 Qg5+ 55.Kf1 Qg3 56.Rg2 Qd6 57.Re2 g5 58.Kg2 Qd5 59.Kf2 Kg6 60.Kg3 Qd4 61.Kg2 Kh5 62.Rf2 Kh4 63.Kf1 Qd1+ 64.Kg2 Qd5 65.Kf1 g4 66.Rh2+ Kg5 67.Rg2 Qd1+ 68.Kf2 Qd4+ 69.Kf1 Qe3 70.fxg4 fxg4 71.Ne2 Qe5 72.Rg3 Qa1+ 73.Kf2 Qf6+ 74.Ke1 Kh4 75.Rc3 Qf5 76.Kd2 Kg5 77.Ke1 Qb1+ 78.Kf2 Qh1 79.Rg3 Kf5 80.Rc3 Qh2+ 81.Kf1 Ke4 82.Rg3 Qxg3 1/2-1/2

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 21, 2017

Alexander Grischuk and the Bronstein Delay

By Colin McGourty in chess24.com

Alexander Grischuk is a wild card in Paris but when it comes to speed chess he’s arguably the world’s greatest specialist. He’s won the World Blitz Championship three times and won silver in last year’s World Rapid Championship in Doha, where he finished tied with Vassily Ivanchuk (gold) and Carlsen (bronze).

He’s also, of course, a time trouble junkie, and the unusual time control employed in the Paris Grand Chess Tour was always likely to become an issue. The players have 25 minutes (no surprise there), but instead of having a 10-second increment they have a 10-second “Bronstein delay”. That means that when you hit your clock you gain 10 seconds, then time begins to count down normally, but if you make a move before those 10 seconds are over (whether after 1 second or 9 seconds), the clock returns to what it was showing before. Things get interesting when time is running out – if the clock drops to 0 you lose, as normal, but if you make a move just before your flag drops the clock is reset to 11 seconds (you get 1 extra second as a bonus). Then for the rest of the game you can never have more than that 11 seconds!

Against Carlsen in Round 1 Grischuk was a long way down on the clock but only ever got as low as 15 seconds. Normal service resumed in the next two rounds, though, with Grischuk reaching 11 seconds on move 40 of his wild Sicilian against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and then having to play until move 80 on that 11-second allowance. Of course if there’s one thing Grischuk is known for it’s remaining icily cool in such circumstances, and he managed to navigate countless pitfalls, even if he missed one clear winning shot in particular.

In Round 3 it took him until move 43 against Wesley So to reach 11 seconds, and he played on in those circumstances until they drew on move 82.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/par...en-and-so-lead

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 22, 2017

Rounds Four to Six

The schedule for today:

Round Four
Mamedyarov-MVL
Nakamura-Bacrot
So-Carlsen
Karjakin-Caruana
Topalov-Grischuk

Round Five
Grischuk-Nakamura
Bacrot-Karjakin
MVL-So
Caruana-Mamedyarov
Carlsen-Topalov

Round Six
Mamedyarov-So
Karjakin-Grischuk
Nakamura-Carlsen
Caruana-Bacrot
Topalov-MVL

Paris GCT 2017
Round 4, June 22, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – MVL
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Qa4 Nfd7 6.cxd5 Nb6 7.Qd1 cxd5 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.a4 e6 10.Nf3 Bg7 11.h4 h6 12.O-O O-O 13.b3 Re8 14.Bf4 a6 15.Qd2 Kh7 16.Rad1 Bd7 17.e4 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Nd5 19.Rfe1 Qb6 20.h5 g5 21.Bd6 Rad8 22.Bc5 Qc7 23.Nd6 Nxd4 24.Bxd4 Qxd6 25.Nxg5+ Kg8 26.Ne4 Qb8 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Qb2+ 1-0

Round 4, June 22, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Bacrot, Etienne
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d3 b6 6.Nbd2 Bb7 7.e4 dxe4 8.dxe4 Nc6 9.a3 a5 10.e5 Nd7 11.Re1 Nc5 12.Qe2 O-O 13.h4 h6 14.Nf1 a4 15.N1h2 Qc8 16.Ng4 Rd8 17.Nxh6+ gxh6 18.Bxh6 f5 19.exf6 Bxf6 20.Ng5 Qd7 21.Qg4 Bg7 22.Rad1 Qe7 23.Rxd8+ Rxd8 24.Nxe6 Rd4 25.Qxg7+ Qxg7 26.Nxg7 1-0

Round 4, June 22, 2017
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.c3 d6 7.Re1 a6 8.Bb3 Re8 9.h3 h6 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Nf1 Bxb3 12.Qxb3 d5 13.Be3 Bf8 14.Rad1 Na5 15.Qc2 c5 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Bd2 Nc6 18.Ne3 Qd7 19.Nc4 Qc7 20.a4 b5 21.axb5 axb5 22.Na3 Qb7 23.c4 b4 24.Nb5 Rad8 25.Ra1 Qd7 26.Ra6 Re6 27.Qa4 Qxd3 28.Bxh6 gxh6 29.Nc7 Nd4 30.Nxd4 Rxa6 31.Qxa6 Rd6 32.Nc6 Qf5 33.Nd5 Qe6 34.Qa8 Rxc6 35.Re3 Ne8 36.Rg3+ Kh7 37.Rf3 e4 38.Rf4 Ra6 39.Rxf7+ Qxf7 40.Qxa6 Bg7 41.Qc6 Bd4 42.Kh2 Ng7 43.Ne3 Qf4+ 0-1

Round 4, June 22, 2017
Karjakin, Sergei – Caruana, Fabiano
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 a6 11.Bg5 Qc7 12.Bd3 Bd6 13.h3 Be5 14.c3 h6 15.Bh4 Bd7 16.Re1 O-O-O 17.Qf3 Bxd4 18.cxd4 Bc6 19.Qe2 Rxd4 20.Bg3 Qa5 21.Rac1 Qd5 22.Rxc6+ bxc6 23.Bxa6+ Kd7 24.Rc1 Ke7 25.Bb7 Ne4 26.Bxc6 Nxg3 27.fxg3 Qxa2 28.Qe5 Rhd8 29.Kh2 Kf8 30.Bf3 Qxb2 31.Rc7 Qb8 32.Qc5+ Kg8 33.Qe7 Rf8 34.Bh5 Qd8 35.Bxf7+ Kh8 36.Qxd8 Rdxd8 37.Bxe6 Rf2 38.g4 g6 39.Rc5 Re2 40.Bf7 Kg7 41.Bd5 Rd7 42.Bf3 Rb2 43.Rc6 Rbd2 44.Kg3 R2d6 45.Rc8 g5 46.Ra8 1/2-1/2

Round 4, June 22, 2017
Topalov, Veselin – Grischuk, Alexander
C11 French, Steinitz, Boleslavsky variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.Bb5 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 a6 13.Rb3 Qe7 14.Ba4 Qd8 15.Bb6 Qh4+ 16.g3 Qg4 17.O-O Be7 18.f5 O-O 19.Rf4 Bg5 20.Rxg4 Bxd2 21.Bxd7 Bxd7 22.f6 g6 23.Nd1 Rfc8 24.c3 h5 25.Rd4 Bh6 26.Kf2 a5 27.Rb2 a4 28.Rd3 a3 29.Rb1 Ba4 30.Ne3 Rc6 31.Bd4 b5 32.h4 Rac8 33.Ke2 Kf8 34.Kf2 Ke8 35.Ke2 Kd7 36.Kf2 Kc7 37.Kf3 Kb7 38.Kf2 Ka6 39.Kf3 R8c7 40.Kf2 Rb7 41.g4 hxg4 42.Kg3 Bf8 43.Kxg4 b4 44.cxb4 Rxb4 45.Rxb4 Bxb4 46.Kg5 Bf8 47.h5 gxh5 48.Kxh5 Rc1 49.Rd2 Rh1+ 50.Kg4 Bb4 51.Rg2 Bb5 52.Rc2 Kb7 53.Bc5 Bxc5 54.Rxc5 Be2+ 55.Kg3 Ra1 56.Rc2 Bb5 57.Kf4 d4 58.Nc4 Bxc4 59.Rxc4 Rxa2 60.Rxd4 Ra1 61.Rd2 a2 62.Rf2 Kc6 63.Rc2+ Kd5 64.Rd2+ Kc4 65.Rf2 Kd3 66.Rf3+ Ke2 67.Re3+ Kd2 68.Rf3 Re1 0-1

Four wins and could have been five if Caruana had managed his clock better!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 22, 2017

Round Five

Round 5, June 22, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – Nakamura, Hikaru
A45 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 e6 3.e3 c5 4.Nf3 d5 5.Nbd2 Nc6 6.c3 cxd4 7.exd4 Nh5 8.Be3 Bd6 9.g3 O-O 10.Bd3 f5 11.Ne5 Nf6 12.Ndf3 Bd7 13.Bf4 Be8 14.Qe2 Qe7 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Qe5 Qd7 18.Qf4 Qb7 19.Rb1 Bh5 20.Ne5 Qc7 21.O-O c5 22.Rfe1 c4 23.Bf1 Rfc8 24.b3 cxb3 25.Rxb3 Rab8 26.c4 Rxb3 27.axb3 Rb8 28.Rc1 Rc8 29.c5 Be8 30.Ba6 Rb8 31.Nd3 Qxf4 32.Nxf4 Bc6 33.Nxe6 Kf7 34.Ng5+ Ke7 35.Nf3 Kd8 36.Ne5 Kc7 37.Bd3 Rxb3 38.Ra1 Kb7 39.Bxf5 Bb5 40.Nf7 Rb4 41.Nd6+ Kb8 42.Kg2 g6 43.Be6 Bd3 44.Ra3 Rxd4 45.Rb3+ Kc7 46.Rb7+ Kc6 47.Rxa7 Kxc5 48.Nf7 Be4+ 49.Kh3 Rd2 50.Ng5 Rxf2 51.Nxh7 Nxh7 52.Rxh7 g5 53.Rg7 Rf6 54.Bxd5 Kxd5 55.Kg4 Rf2 56.Kxg5 Ke6 57.g4 Rxh2 58.Ra7 Rh8 59.Rg7 Bd5 60.Rg6+ Ke5 61.Rg7 Be6 62.Rg6 Rh1 63.Rg7 Bxg4 64.Re7+ Be6 65.Rg7 Rh2 66.Rg6 Rh7 67.Rh6 Rf7 68.Rg6 Ra7 69.Kh6 Bf5 70.Rg7 Ra4 71.Kg5 Be6 72.Rg6 Ra7 73.Kh6 Kf5 74.Rg5+ Kf4 75.Rg7 Ra8 76.Kg6 Bf5+ 77.Kf6 Ra6+ 78.Ke7 Ke5 79.Kf7 Rb6 80.Ke7 Bg6 81.Kf8 Kf6 82.Rf7+ Kg5 83.Rg7 Kh6 84.Rc7 Re6 85.Re7 Rf6+ 86.Kg8 Bf5 87.Re8 Bd7 88.Rd8 Be6+ 89.Kh8 Kg6 90.Re8 Kf7 0-1

Round 5, June 22, 2017
Bacrot, Etienne – Karjakin, Sergei
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O Nf6 5.Re1 a6 6.Bf1 b6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Bb7 9.Nc3 e6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Rad1 Qc7 12.a4 Rc8 13.h3 O-O 14.Qe3 h6 15.Bh4 Rfd8 16.Bg3 Ne5 17.Nd2 Nfd7 18.Kh1 Nc5 19.f4 Nc6 20.Nf3 Nb4 21.Qf2 Bf6 22.f5 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Na2 24.fxe6 Nxc3 25.Bxd6 Nxd1 26.Rxd1 Rxd6 0-1

Round 5, June 22, 2017
MVL – So, Wesley
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Rd1+ Ke8 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Ne2 Nh4 12.Nxh4 Bxh4 13.Be3 Be7 14.a4 h5 15.a5 h4 16.Nd4 Rh5 17.a6 Rxe5 18.Bf4 Rd5 19.c4 Rd7 20.axb7 Bxb7 21.Nf5 Bf6 22.Re1+ Kf8 23.Be5 Bxe5 24.Rxe5 Rd2 25.b3 Rd3 26.Nxh4 Rxb3 27.h3 Rb4 28.Rh5 Kg8 29.Rc5 a5 30.Rcxa5 Rxa5 31.Rxa5 Rxc4 32.Nf5 Rb4 33.Ra1 Rb5 34.Nd4 Rb4 35.Nf5 g6 36.Ne3 Kf8 37.g4 Ke7 38.Kh2 c5 39.Rc1 Kd6 40.Kg3 Bd5 41.h4 Re4 42.h5 gxh5 43.gxh5 Re6 44.Rd1 c6 45.h6 Kc7 46.Ng4 Be4 47.Re1 c4 48.Kf4 Bg6 49.Rxe6 fxe6 50.Nf6 Kd6 51.Ke3 Ke5 52.h7 Bxh7 53.Nxh7 Kf5 54.Nf8 c3 55.Kd3 Kf4 56.Nxe6+ Kf3 57.Nd4+ Kxf2 58.Nxc6 c2 59.Kxc2 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 22, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C81 Ruy Lopez, open, Howell Attack

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.Qe2 Nc5 10.Nc3 Nxb3 11.cxb3 Be7 12.Be3 O-O 13.h3 Qd7 14.Rad1 f6 15.exf6 Rxf6 16.Ng5 Rd8 17.Rfe1 Rf5 18.Nce4 h6 19.Nxe6 Qxe6 20.Ng3 Re5 21.Qd3 Bc5 22.Rc1 Bb6 23.Re2 Nb4 24.Qd2 d4 25.Bf4 Rxe2 26.Nxe2 Nxa2 27.Re1 Re8 28.Kf1 Qxb3 29.Nxd4 Rxe1+ 30.Kxe1 Qa4 31.Nc2 Ba5 32.b4 Nxb4 0-1

Round 5, June 22, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Topalov, Veselin
D76 Neo-Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.O-O Nb6 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.d5 Na5 10.e4 c6 11.Bf4 Nac4 12.Qe2 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 cxd5 15.exd5 Re8 16.Rac1 e5 17.dxe6 Rxe6 18.Qc2 g5 19.Rfd1 Qe7 20.Bd2 Rd8 21.Nd5 Nxd5 22.Qxc4 Red6 23.Re1 Qf6 24.Qg4 h6 25.Rc8 Bf8 26.Bxd5 Rxd5 27.Bc3 Qg6 28.Re8 Rxe8 29.Rxe8 Qb1+ 30.Kh2 Qf1 31.Be1 Kg7 32.Qf3 1-0

Round Six

Round 6, June 22, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – So, Wesley
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be2 Qb6 12.Be5 Nb3 13.Rb1 Bf5 14.Bd3 Be4 15.O-O Qg6 16.Bxe4 dxe4 17.Qxb3 exf3 18.Bg3 fxg2 19.Rfd1 b6 20.Qd3 Qxd3 21.Rxd3 Rfd8 22.Rbd1 Rxd3 23.Rxd3 Rd8 24.Rc3 Bf6 25.Rc7 a5 26.Rb7 Bxb2 27.Bd6 h6 28.Rxb6 Bc3 29.Kxg2 Rc8 30.Kf3 Rc4 31.Rb5 Rc6 32.Bc5 Rf6+ 33.Ke2 a4 34.Kd3 Be1 35.Ke2 Bc3 36.Kd3 Be1 37.f4 Rf5 38.Kc4 g5 39.fxg5 Rxg5 40.Bd4 Kh7 41.Rb1 Ba5 42.Rf1 Kg8 43.Rf6 Rh5 44.Ra6 Kh7 45.Ra8 Be1 46.Rh8+ Kg6 47.Rg8+ Kf5 48.Rg1 Bh4 49.Rf1+ Ke6 50.Kb4 Be7+ 51.Kxa4 Rxh2 52.Kb3 h5 53.a4 Bd8 54.Ra1 Ba5 55.Kc4 Rg2 56.Rf1 Bd8 57.Ra1 Rg5 58.Bc3 Bb6 59.a5 Rc5+ 60.Kd3 Rd5+ 61.Kc4 Rc5+ 62.Kd3 Rd5+ 63.Ke2 Ba7 64.a6 Rd7 65.Rh1 Rd5 66.Rf1 Rb5 67.Rf6+ Ke7 68.Rc6 Kd7 69.Rf6 Ke7 70.Rh6 Rb3 71.Bf6+ Kd7 72.Bg5 Rb6 73.Rxh5 Rxa6 74.Bf4 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 22, 2017
Karjakin, Sergei – Grischuk, Alexander
C07 French, Tarrasch

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 a6 11.Re1 Qc7 12.Bf1 Be7 13.Qf3 O-O 14.Bf4 Bd6 15.Bxd6 Qxd6 16.Rad1 Qb6 17.Qb3 Qc7 18.c4 Bd7 19.Nf3 Rfd8 20.Ne5 Be8 21.Qe3 a5 22.b3 b6 23.g3 Rac8 24.Bg2 h6 25.Bf3 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Qc5 27.Rd4 a4 28.Kg2 axb3 29.axb3 b5 30.h4 bxc4 31.bxc4 h5 32.Qf4 Qa5 33.Nd3 Qc7 34.Ne5 Qa5 35.Qe3 Qc5 36.Kg1 Rb8 37.Qf4 Rc8 38.Rd2 Qa5 39.Qd4 Rc5 40.Re2 Qc7 41.Kh2 Kh8 42.Qf4 Kg8 43.Qd4 Kh8 44.Qe3 Kg8 45.Re1 Ra5 46.Kg2 Rc5 47.Qd4 Kh8 48.Qa1 Kg8 49.Re3 Ra5 50.Qe1 Rc5 51.Kh2 Kh8 52.Qe2 Kg8 53.Bxh5 Nd7 54.Nxd7 Bxd7 55.Rc3 Bb5 56.Ra3 Rxc4 57.Ra8+ Kh7 58.Bf3 Rxh4+ 0-1

Round 6, June 22, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Carlsen, Magnus
D11 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 e6 7.h3 Bf5 8.Bxf5 exf5 9.Qb3 Ra7 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Ne5 Bd6 12.O-O O-O 13.Ndf3 Nc6 14.Bd2 Ne4 15.Rfd1 Ne7 16.Rac1 f6 17.Nd3 b6 18.Bb4 a5 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 20.Rc2 g5 21.Rdc1 Rb8 22.Qb5 Qd7 23.Qxd7 Rxd7 24.Nd2 Kf7 25.Nb1 Nd6 26.Nd2 Ng6 27.Nb1 Ne7 28.b3 Rc8 29.Rxc8 Ndxc8 30.Nc3 Nd6 31.Na4 Rb7 32.Kf1 h6 33.Nc3 Rc7 34.Na4 Rb7 35.Nc3 Rc7 36.Na4 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 22, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Bacrot, Etienne
A21 English, Kramnik-Shirov Counter-Attack

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Bc5 4.e3 Nf6 5.b4 Be7 6.Nxe7 Qxe7 7.Bb2 O-O 8.Nf3 d6 9.d3 b6 10.Be2 Bb7 11.O-O Nbd7 12.Nd2 h6 13.d4 Nh7 14.d5 f5 15.a4 c6 16.dxc6 Bxc6 17.a5 Ndf6 18.b5 Bb7 19.a6 Bc8 20.f4 Re8 21.fxe5 dxe5 22.Qb3 Ng5 23.Nf3 Nf7 24.Nh4 Ne4 25.Nxf5 Qg5 26.Ng3 Nd2 27.Qc3 Nxf1 28.Rxf1 Bg4 29.Ne4 Qh4 30.Bd3 Be6 31.c5 bxc5 32.Qxc5 Rec8 33.Qb4 Rc4 34.Qb3 Rac8 35.Bxc4 Bxc4 36.Qc2 Be6 37.Qb1 Rb8 38.Nc3 Bc4 39.Rf2 Ng5 40.Qf5 Rd8 41.Qxe5 Qg4 42.h4 Nh3+ 43.Kh2 Nxf2 44.Qe7 Rf8 45.b6 Bf1 0-1

Round 6, June 22, 2017
Topalov, Veselin – MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 h5 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.Nd5 Bxd5 11.exd5 g6 12.Be2 Bg7 13.O-O b6 14.c4 O-O 15.Rac1 a5 16.Qd1 a4 17.Nd2 Nc5 18.Nb1 Re8 19.Nc3 e4 20.f4 Nd3 21.Bxd3 Ng4 22.Bf2 exd3 23.Qxd3 Ra7 24.Bd4 Rae7 25.Bxg7 Re3 26.Qd2 Kxg7 27.f5 Qh4 28.g3 Qg5 29.Qd4+ f6 30.Qf4 Qxf4 31.gxf4 h4 32.Nxa4 h3 33.Rc3 gxf5 34.Rxe3 Rxe3 35.Nc3 Kh6 36.a4 Kh5 37.a5 bxa5 38.c5 dxc5 39.d6 Re8 40.Rd1 Rg8 41.Re1 Ne5+ 42.Kf1 Nf3 43.Re2 Rd8 44.Nb5 Kg4 45.Re7 Nxh2+ 46.Kf2 Kxf4 0-1

Standing after Round Six

1 Carlsen 10
2 Nakamura 9
3 Mamedyarov 8
4-5 So, Grischuk 7
6 MVL 6
7 Karjakin 5
8 Topalov 4
9 Bacrot 3
10 Caruana 1

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 22, 2017

Schedule for Rounds Seven to Nine

Round Seven
Bacrot-Mamedyarov
Grischuk-Caruana
Carlsen-Karjakin
MVL-Nakamura
So-Topalov

Round Eight
Mamedyarov-Topalov
Nakamura-So
Karjakin-MVL
Caruana-Carlsen
Bacrot-Grischuk

Round Nine
Grischuk-Mamedyarov
Carlsen-Bacrot
MVL-Caruana
So-Karjakin
Topalov-Nakamura

Day Two Action

Colin McGourty at chess24.com –

Magnus Carlsen beat co-leader Wesley So in the first game of Day 2 of the Paris Grand Chess Tour and leads Hikaru Nakamura by a point going into the final day of rapid chess. He held a draw against his US rival in the last round of the day, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is just one more point back after overpowering MVL and Fabiano Caruana. The latter had another day to forget and only has a single draw to his name in the score table after six games and more tragi-comic blunders.

Day 2 of the Paris Grand Chess Tour featured only four draws in 15 games, making it great fun to watch.

Three players scored 2.5/3 on Day 2 of the event, and one of them was of course named Magnus Carlsen. The World Champion seized the initiative by beating Wesley So with the black pieces in a complex and exciting game. Wesley showed why he’s so tough to beat by finding one hidden resource after another, but missed the last big chance to give the game a happy ending for him.

Carlsen referenced the famously solid Chinese Grandmaster Wang Yue, who hit the top a decade ago and briefly made it into the Top 10:

Recipe for success so far in Paris: Winning with white and channeling my inner Wang Yue with black

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/par...s-breaks-clear
_______

What makes it an enjoyable tournament to watch is that you’ve got the World Champion playing like a World Champion. Hikaru Nakamura is showing his strength in speed chess and is hard on Magnus’s heels. Alexander Grischuk is back in the spotlight. No drawing with a compatriot, he spanked Karjakin. He also went down in this ending to Nakamura:

Grischuk-Nakamura, Round 5. White to make his 83rd move:



What move should Grischuk play here?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 23, 2017

Round Seven

In the diagram in the previous post, Grischuk played 83. Rg7 and resigned on move 90. Rc7, Re7 or Ra7 would have given him the draw.

The last game of this round is still going. It has Carlsen with f pawn and queen vs queen. In a losing position Karjakin defends like mad and now achieves the draw. Magnus looked a bit shaky in this game.

Nakamura goes down to MVL and allows Mamedyarov and Grischuk to become joint seconds.

Round Seven games:

Round 7, June 23, 2017
Bacrot, Etienne – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B11 Caro-Kann, Two Knights

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.Be2 Bc5 7.O-O Ne7 8.Na4 Bd6 9.d4 dxe4 10.Qxe4 Nd7 11.Rd1 O-O 12.Nc3 Nd5 13.Qf3 Nxc3 14.Qxc3 Qh4 15.Qf3 Nf6 16.Bf1 Rad8 17.c3 h6 18.g3 Qe4 19.Qxe4 Nxe4 20.Bg2 Nf6 21.Kf1 a5 22.b3 Rd7 23.Bb2 Rfd8 24.Ke2 Nd5 25.c4 Ne7 26.Be4 Bc7 27.Rd2 f5 28.Bc2 Kf7 29.Rad1 g5 30.Kf1 b6 31.Re2 Ng6 32.Rde1 Re7 33.Rd1 Red7 34.Rde1 Re7 35.Rd1 Red7 36.Rde1 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 23, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – Caruana, Fabiano
C11 French, Steinitz, Boleslavsky variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 a6 9.Be2 b5 10.O-O O-O 11.a3 Bb7 12.Nd1 f6 13.c3 Rc8 14.Bd3 Na5 15.Qe2 fxe5 16.fxe5 cxd4 17.cxd4 Nb6 18.Nf2 Nbc4 19.Nh3 Nxe3 20.Qxe3 Nc4 21.Qe2 g6 22.Rf2 Qb6 23.Raf1 b4 24.axb4 Qxb4 25.Nhg5 Qb6 26.Kh1 h6 27.Bxg6 Kg7 28.Bb1 hxg5 29.Qd3 Rf5 30.g4 Rcf8 31.gxf5 exf5 32.Nxg5 Nxe5 33.Qg3 Ng4 34.Rxf5 Rxf5 35.Bxf5 Bxg5 36.Qxg4 Qh6 37.Bd3 Kh8 38.Rf7 1-0

Round 7, June 23, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Karjakin, Sergei
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.h3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.a4 f6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Nb3 Be7 11.Re1 Kh8 12.Bd2 Bg8 13.d4 exd4 14.Nbxd4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Qd7 16.Qf3 Rfe8 17.Re4 Bf8 18.Rh4 Re5 19.Bd3 Rd8 20.Bf5 Qe8 21.Qd3 Ne7 22.Bxh7 Rh5 23.Rxh5 Qxh5 24.Bxg8 Kxg8 25.Be3 c5 26.Qb3+ Qd5 27.c4 Qe4 28.Ne2 Rd3 29.Nc3 Nf5 30.Nxe4 Rxb3 31.Bxc5 Bxc5 32.Nxc5 Rxb2 33.Rd1 Rb4 34.Rd5 b6 35.Nd3 Rb1+ 36.Kh2 Rd1 37.c5 Ne7 38.Rd8+ Kh7 39.cxb6 axb6 40.Rd7 Nc8 41.g4 Ra1 42.Nf4 Rxa4 43.Nh5 Ra7 44.Nxf6+ Kg6 45.Rxa7 Nxa7 46.Nd5 b5 47.Nb4 Kf6 48.f4 Ke6 49.h4 Kd6 50.h5 Nc6 51.Nxc6 Kxc6 52.g5 b4 53.h6 gxh6 54.gxh6 b3 55.h7 b2 56.h8=Q b1=Q 57.Qe5 Qd3 58.Qe6+ Qd6 59.Qc8+ Kd5 60.Kg3 Qg6+ 61.Qg4 Qf6 62.Qh5+ Kd6 63.Kg4 Ke7 64.Qh7+ Kf8 65.Qe4 Kg7 66.Qe8 Qg6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 23, 2017
So, Wesley – Topalov, Veselin
A29 English, Bremen, reverse Dragon

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.Rb1 a5 9.d3 Be6 10.Be3 O-O 11.d4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 c6 14.f4 f5 15.e4 Rf7 16.Bh3 Nc4 17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Bxf5 Rxf5 19.Qd3 Qxd4+ 20.Qxd4 Bc5 21.Rfd1 Bxd4+ 22.Rxd4 Ne3 23.Kf2 Ng4+ 24.Kg2 Re8 25.h3 Nf6 26.g4 Rc5 27.Rbd1 b5 28.a3 Re3 29.g5 Nd5 30.Nxd5 Rxd5 31.Rxd5 cxd5 32.Rxd5 Re2+ 33.Kf3 Rxb2 34.f5 Rb3+ 35.Kg4 Rxa3 36.Rxb5 a4 37.Ra5 Ra1 38.g6 hxg6 39.fxg6 Kf8 40.Ra8+ Ke7 41.Ra7+ Kf8 42.Ra8+ Ke7 43.Ra7+ Kf8 44.Kh5 a3 45.Ra8+ Ke7 46.Ra7+ Kf8 47.Rf7+ Kg8 48.Rf3 a2 49.Rf2 Rb1 50.Rxa2 Rb5+ 51.Kg4 Rb4+ 52.Kg3 Rb3+ 53.Kg4 Rb4+ 54.Kf5 Rb5+ 55.Ke4 Kf8 56.Rf2+ Ke7 57.Rf5 Rxf5 58.Kxf5 Kf8 59.h4 Kg8 60.h5 Kh8 1/2-1/2

Round 7, June 23, 2017
MVL – Nakamura, Hikaru
C54 Giuoco Piano, d3 variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a6 7.a4 O-O 8.Re1 Ba7 9.h3 Ne7 10.d4 Ng6 11.Nbd2 Re8 12.Bb3 Be6 13.Bc2 h6 14.Nf1 exd4 15.cxd4 d5 16.e5 Ne4 17.N1d2 Bf5 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Rxe4 Qd5 21.Re1 Rad8 22.Be3 c5 23.dxc5 Bxc5 24.Bxc5 Qxc5 25.Qb3 Qd5 26.Qe3 f6 27.Rad1 Qxd1 28.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 29.Kh2 Rd7 30.Qb3+ Kh7 31.exf6 gxf6 32.Nd4 Re5 33.Ne6 b5 34.axb5 Rxb5 35.Qc2 f5 36.Qc6 Rf7 37.Nd8 Re7 38.Qf6 a5 39.h4 f4 40.Ne6 Reb7 41.Nd4 R5b6 42.Qf5 Kg8 43.Ne6 Nxh4 44.Qg4+ Kh7 45.Nf8+ Kh8 46.Qxh4 Kg7 47.Nd7 1-0

The players were asked who are the biggest trash-talkers and the general consensus was that Levon Aronian is Number One. Anish Giri tries but nothing like Levon.

Standing after Round Seven

1 Carlsen 11
2-4 Nakamura, Mamedyarov, Grischuk 9
5-6 MVL, So 8
7 Karjakin 6
8 Topalov 5
9 Bacrot 4
10 Caruana 1

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 23, 2017

Round Eight

Mamedyarov wins against Topalov with a brilliant attack. MVL, out of a Najdorf, beats Karjakin.

Chessbomb kibitzers:

- terrible for Maxime’s opponents, they know he will play the Najdorf, they prepare something and things always go wrong
- time for another miracle save from Kajakindini

- Wesley is the new Giri (draw master)
- Naka is doing a Giri here, drawing a won position
- No, Naka is doing a Naka
- losing a winning position
- please Naka pull out some nakamagic

Maurice keeps giving strained French references. He says that MVL’s opponents are like croissants and he just eats them up.

MVL has won his last three games.

Nakamura and So have drawn. Grischuk and Bacrot are working in their Bronstein Delay mode and Grischuk wins to join Carlsen and Mamedyarov at the top, momentarily. Carlsen draws with Caruana, so he is still first.

In the post-game interview Fabiano says that this tournament is his worst ever. Maurice keeps asking him how he handles it.

Hot MVL plays cold Caruana in the next round.

Round Eight games:

Round 8, June 23, 2017
Karjakin, Sergei – MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 h5 8.g3 Be6 9.Bg2 b5 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Be3 Be7 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 Bf5 14.f4 Rc8 15.c3 Bh7 16.Qe1 O-O 17.Rd1 h4 18.g4 exf4 19.Nxf4 Bg5 20.Bd4 Re8 21.Qf2 Ne5 22.Rde1 Qd7 23.Be4 Bxe4 24.Rxe4 Qb7 25.a3 Rc7 26.Bxe5 dxe5 27.Rfe1 Rc4 28.Rxc4 bxc4 29.Ng2 Qxd5 30.Nxh4 e4 31.Nf5 e3 32.Qe2 g6 33.Nd4 Bh4 34.Rf1 Bf2+ 35.Rxf2 exf2+ 36.Qxf2 Qe4 37.Nf3 Qe2 38.Kg2 Qxf2+ 39.Kxf2 Rb8 40.Ne5 Rxb2+ 41.Ke3 Rh2 42.Kd4 Rxh3 43.Kxc4 Rg3 44.Kd4 f6 45.Nd7 Rxg4+ 46.Kd5 Kf7 47.c4 Ke7 48.Nb6 Rg1 49.c5 Rd1+ 50.Kc6 g5 51.Kb7 g4 52.c6 g3 53.c7 Rc1 0-1

Round 8, June 23, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Topalov, Veselin
D31 QGD, Charousek variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Bd3 Bxd3 8.Qxd3 Nf6 9.Nge2 Nbd7 10.h3 O-O 11.O-O Re8 12.f3 b5 13.a3 a5 14.e4 Nb6 15.e5 Nfd7 16.Bc1 b4 17.axb4 axb4 18.Rxa8 Qxa8 19.Nd1 c5 20.f4 Bf8 21.Kh2 Qa2 22.Ne3 c4 23.Qd1 Qb3 24.Qe1 f6 25.Rf3 Qa4 26.Qh4 Qc6 27.Rg3 g6 28.f5 fxe5 29.fxg6 hxg6 30.Nf5 Qf6 31.Qh5 Re6 32.Nh4 Bg7 33.Nxg6 Qf7 34.Bh6 Nf8 35.Bxg7 1-0

Round 8, June 23, 201
Nakamura, Hikaru – So, Wesley
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Bf5 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.e4 g5 10.Qe2 Nc6 11.e5 Nh7 12.d4 Qd7 13.c3 f6 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Bh3 Nf8 16.Bg4 Kf7 17.O-O Ng6 18.Na3 Nce7 19.Rae1 Nf5 20.Nc2 Rh6 21.Rf2 Rah8 22.Rg2 b6 23.Ne3 c5 24.dxc5 bxc5 25.Bxf5 exf5 26.Rd1 Ne7 27.Ba3 Rc8 28.Qd3 d4 29.cxd4 Bxd4 30.Bxc5 Rxc5 31.Qxd4 Qxd4 32.Rxd4 Rc1+ 33.Rd1 Rxd1+ 34.Nxd1 Rd6 35.Nb2 Nc6 36.Rc2 Nd4 37.Rc7+ Kf6 38.Rxa7 Nxf3+ 39.Kf2 Nxh2 40.Nc4 Ng4+ 41.Kf1 Re6 42.a4 f4 43.gxf4 gxf4 44.Rd7 g5 45.Rd6 Ne3+ 46.Ke2 Nxc4+ 47.Rxe6+ Kxe6 48.bxc4 Kd6 49.Kf3 Kc6 50.a5 Kc5 51.Kg4 Kc6 52.Kf3 Kc5 1/2-1/2

Round 8, June 23, 2017
Bacrot, Etienne – Grischuk, Alexander
B31 Sicilian, NBimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.Re1 e5 6.b4 cxb4 7.a3 b3 8.cxb3 Nge7 9.Bb2 O-O 10.b4 a6 11.Ba4 d5 12.exd5 Qxd5 13.Nc3 Qd3 14.Ne4 b6 15.Rc1 Bb7 16.Qe2 Qd5 17.Qe3 Qd8 18.Qg5 f6 19.Qe3 Kh8 20.Qe2 Rc8 21.Bb3 Nd5 22.d4 Nxd4 23.Nxd4 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 exd4 25.Qd2 Re8 26.Qxd4 Nf4 27.Qxd8 Rxd8 28.Ng3 h5 29.Rc7 Bxg2 30.Bc1 Bd5 31.Bxd5 Nxd5 32.Rc6 Kh7 33.Ne4 Ne7 34.Rc7 Rd1+ 35.Kg2 Nd5 36.Rc6 g5 37.Bd2 g4 38.Rd6 Ne7 39.Rd7 Nf5 40.Nxf6+ Kg6 41.Ne4 Be5 42.f4 Bxf4 43.Rd3 Nh4+ 44.Kf2 Bxh2 45.Ke2 Ra1 46.Rc3 Nf3 47.Be3 Kf5 48.Nd6+ Bxd6 0-1

Round 8, June 23, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
C84 Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.c3 O-O 10.Bc2 b4 11.Re1 Re8 12.a5 Rb8 13.Nbd2 Bf8 14.Bb3 bxc3 15.bxc3 h6 16.h3 Be6 17.Ba4 Bd7 18.Nc4 Ne7 19.Bc2 Ng6 20.d4 exd4 21.cxd4 d5 22.exd5 Rxe1+ 23.Qxe1 Nxd5 24.Bxg6 fxg6 25.Nce5 Be8 26.Ba3 Bd6 27.Bc5 g5 28.Rc1 Nf4 29.Qe4 Bxe5 30.Nxe5 Qd5 31.Qxd5+ Nxd5 32.Re1 Rb5 33.Kh2 Bf7 34.Nxf7 Kxf7 35.Re5 c6 36.Rf5+ Ke6 37.Re5+ Kf7 38.Rf5+ Kg6 39.Re5 Rxa5 40.Re6+ Kf5 41.Rxc6 Ra2 42.Rd6 Nf6 43.d5 Ke4 44.Rd8 Nxd5 45.Re8+ Kf5 46.Bd4 Nf6 47.Re7 Rd2 48.Be3 Rd7 49.g4+ Kg6 50.Re6 a5 51.Ra6 Rd5 52.Kg3 Kh7 53.Kf3 Rb5 54.Bd4 Rb3+ 55.Kg2 Nd5 56.Be5 Rb5 57.Ra7 Ne3+ 58.fxe3 Rxe5 59.Kf3 Kg6 60.Ra6+ Kf7 61.Ra7+ Kf6 62.Ra6+ Ke7 63.Ra7+ Kd6 64.Rxg7 Kc5 65.Rg6 a4 66.Rxh6 a3 67.h4 gxh4 68.Rxh4 a2 69.Rh1 Kc4 70.Kf4 Ra5 71.Ra1 Kb3 72.g5 Kb2 73.Rxa2+ Rxa2 74.g6 Kc3 75.Kf5 Rf2+ 76.Ke6 Rg2 77.Kf7 Kd3 78.g7 Rxg7+ 79.Kxg7 Kxe3 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Eight

1 Carlsen 12
2-3 Mamedyarov, Grischuk 11
4-5 MVL, Nakamura 10
6 So 9
7 Karjakin 6
8 Topalov 5
9 Bacrot 4
10 Caruana 2

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 23, 2017

Round Nine

The final round of the rapid portion of the tournament. There should be 9 rounds of blitz tomorrow and a further 9 rounds of blitz on Sunday.

Carlsen wins against Bacrot and comes in to be interviewed by Maurice Ashley.

Ashley: Magnus, you seemed to have some hiccups earlier today; you didn't really have smooth performances. This game wasn't that smooth either. It was a little bit unclear. What's your feeling overall as the game was transpiring?

Carlsen: "What do you want me to do? I mean, I take the piece, of course, he hasn't done anything particularly wrong, of course, it's not going to be lost, I mean what do you want from me?"

A: "I don't want anything, I just wanna see just chess getting played..."

C: "You're talking about, I mean, that the game wasn't smooth... Again, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to get a huge advantage from the opening and then to push it all the way... Is that the only way you can win a smooth game? Is that your point?"

A: "Not at all Magnus, but certainly the game was tricky enough. Let me just get your thoughts on how you've done so..."

C: "I'm just feeling that the whole... the way you're approaching it is... trying to belittle the whole thing. That's my only issue."

A: "My apologies. We definitely have respect for you as a world champion so don't take any offense to what we're trying to say, we're just trying to do commentary."

C: "It's looking OK. Grischuk is doing extremely well but I'm hopeful that I can continue to win... not so smooth games."

Some comments on this from the chat room:

- wow, Carlsen reaction

- Maurice ashley just got schooled by magnus

- Ashley getting busted

- stupid questions

- magnus is not gracious..he walks away

- haha, Maurice had it

- wow, carlsen being rude, not seen this before

- that was the funniest stuff I’ve seen today

- but he’s right..what the heck do they want of him?

- they expect him to just crush everyone with his eyes closed, it doesn’t work like that

- what’s a smooth game?

- Magnus should have cold-cocked him

Maurice said later that if Magnus tried to punch him, he was ready to duck and weave. I don’t like violence as a rule but an Ashley-Carlsen fight would have been the icing on the cake of this part of the tournament.

Round Nine Games

You might look at Carlsen-Bacrot and see if it was not a smooth victory.

Round 9, June 23, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
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.Bf4 O-O 11.Nd4 Na5 12.f3 Nxb3 13.axb3 Nc5 14.b4 Nd7 15.Nc6 Qe8 16.Nd2 Bh4 17.Bg3 Bxg3 18.hxg3 f6 19.Re1 fxe5 20.Nxe5 Nxe5 21.Rxe5 Qg6 22.Nb3 Bf7 23.g4 Rfe8 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Qd2 Re5 26.Nd4 h5 27.gxh5 Qxh5 28.Qf4 Re7 29.Kf2 Bg6 30.Rxa6 Qh1 31.Ne6 Re8 32.Qd4 Qh6 33.Nxc7 Re7 34.Nxd5 Rf7 35.Ne3 Kh7 36.Ra7 Rxa7 37.Qxa7 Qh4+ 38.Ke2 Qh1 39.Qd4 Qc1 40.Qd2 Qb1 41.Kf2 Bd3 42.Kg3 Bg6 43.Qe2 Bd3 44.Qd1 1-0

Round 9, June 23, 2017
MVL – Caruana, Fabiano
C54 Giuoco Piano, d3 variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a6 7.a4 O-O 8.Re1 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.b4 Ba7 11.Ra2 Ne7 12.Nbd2 Ng6 13.Nf1 Qd7 14.d4 exd4 15.cxd4 d5 16.e5 Ne4 17.Qb3 a5 18.bxa5 c5 19.Ng3 Nxg3 20.hxg3 cxd4 21.Ba3 Rfc8 22.Qb5 Qf7 23.Rd2 h6 24.Bb2 Rc5 25.Qb3 Rxa5 26.Bxd4 Qd7 27.Qb1 Ne7 28.Rb2 Rb8 29.Bxa7 Rxa7 30.Rb6 Nc6 31.Rc1 Rf8 32.a5 Nxa5 33.Nd4 Nc6 34.Nxc6 bxc6 35.Rcxc6 Qf7 36.f4 Ra3 37.Kf2 Qa7 38.Qg6 Qa4 39.Kg1 Ra1+ 40.Kh2 Qd1 41.Qxe6+ Kh8 42.Qxh6+ gxh6 43.Rxh6+ Kg7 44.Rhg6+ Kh7 45.Rh6+ Kg7 46.Rhg6+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

Round 9, June 23, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Bacrot, Etienne
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 O-O 8.Re1 h6 9.h3 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.b4 Ba7 12.Nbd2 Ne7 13.Nf1 Ng6 14.Ra2 Nh5 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Rxe3 Nhf4 17.d4 Qf6 18.Kh2 exd4 19.cxd4 e5 20.d5 c6 21.g3 cxd5 22.gxf4 d4 23.Rea3 Nxf4 24.Ne1 d5 25.Ng3 Rac8 26.Ng2 Kh8 27.Qg4 d3 28.Nxf4 exf4 29.Nh5 Qg5 30.Rxd3 dxe4 31.Rd6 Qxg4 32.hxg4 Rf7 33.Re6 Rcf8 34.Rd2 Kh7 35.Rdd6 e3 36.fxe3 f3 37.Nf4 1-0

Round 9, June 23, 2017
So, Wesley – Karjakin, Sergei
A29 English, Bremen, reverse Dragon

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.Rb1 a5 9.d3 O-O 10.Be3 Be6 11.Bxb6 cxb6 12.a3 f5 13.e3 Bf6 14.Rc1 Kh8 15.Re1 Bf7 16.Nb5 Bh5 17.Qc2 Qd7 18.Nd2 Rad8 19.Nc4 Qxd3 20.Qxd3 Rxd3 21.Ncd6 Rb3 22.Nc7 Ne7 23.Ne6 Rb8 24.Rc7 Rxb2 25.Rec1 h6 26.h3 Rd2 27.Nxf5 Nxf5 28.Rc8+ Rxc8 29.Rxc8+ Kh7 30.Be4 g6 31.g4 Nd6 32.Rc7+ Kg8 33.gxh5 Nxe4 34.hxg6 Nd6 35.Rd7 b5 36.Kf1 b4 37.axb4 axb4 38.Ke1 Rd5 39.e4 b3 0-1

Round 9, June 23, 2017
Topalov, Veselin – Nakamura, Hikaru
C37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.a3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.e3 Nc6 9.Qc2 Qa5 10.Nd2 Bb4 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Nb3 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Qd8 14.Be2 Ne4 15.f3 Nf6 16.g4 Be6 17.O-O Rc8 18.Qd2 Qe7 19.a4 Nd7 20.a5 h5 21.h3 g5 22.Bg3 f5 23.Nd4 Nxd4 24.exd4 f4 25.Bf2 Qd6 26.Rfe1 Bf7 27.Bb5 Rfe8 28.Bxd7 Qxd7 29.Re5 Rxe5 30.dxe5 Re8 31.Bd4 Re6 32.Rb1 Be8 33.Qb2 b5 34.axb6 axb6 35.Ra1 hxg4 36.hxg4 Qh7 37.Ra8 Rh6 38.Qg2 Qb1+ 39.Kf2 Qc2+ 40.Kf1 Qd1+ 41.Kf2 Kf7 42.Ra2 Rh1 43.e6+ Ke7 0-1

Standing after Round Nine

1 Carlsen 14
2 Grischuk 13
3 Nakamura 12
4-5 Mamedyarov, MVL 11
6 So 9
7 Karjakin 8
8 Topalov 5
9 Bacrot 4
10 Caruana 3

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 24, 2017

Blitz Tournament
Day One

Round B1
Topalov-Grischuk
Mamedyarov-Bacrot
Carlsen-Caruana
Karjakin-So
MVL-Nakamura

Round B2
Grischuk-Nakamura
So-MVL
Caruana-Karjakin
Bacrot-Carlsen
Topalov-Mamedyarov

Round B3
Mamedyarov-Grischuk
Carlsen-Topalov
Karjakin-Bacrot
MVL-Caruana
Nakamura-So

Round B4
Grischuk-So
Caruana-Nakamura
Bacrot-MVL
Topalov-Karjakin
Mamedyarov-Carlsen

Round B5
Carlsen-Grischuk
Karjakin-Mamedyarov
MVL-Topalov
Nakamura-Bacrot
So-Caruana

Round B6
Grischuk-Caruana
Bacrot-So
Topalov-Nakamura
Mamedyarov-MVL
Carlsen-Karjakin

Round B7
Karjakin-Grischuk
MVL-Carlsen
Nakamura-Mamedyarov
So-Topalov
Caruana-Bacrot

Round B8
Grischuk-Bacrot
Topalov-Caruana
Mamedyarov-So
Carlsen-Nakamura
Karjakin-MVL

Round B9
MVL-Grischuk
Nakamura-Karjakin
So-Carlsen
Caruana-Mamedyarov
Bacrot-Topalov
______

5 minutes for all moves + 3 seconds delay from move 1

Round B1 starts at 8:00 a.m. with each succeeding round at half-hour intervals. Two hours earlier starting time on Sunday.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 24, 2017

Blitz Tournament
Rounds B1 and B2

After the disastrous interview yesterday between Ashley and Carlsen, do you think the chat room kibitzers will forget about “smooth” wins or will they make fun of that mercilessly?

Comments today:

- Magnus taking Maurice’s beating out on Caruana
- if Carlsen wins this no one will stop him
- Grischuk in trouble
- it’s a smoothie
- ahahaha topalov finally wins
- the smoothness is real!
- what a smooth win
- mix me a smoothie!
- good news for magnus this round, very smooth
- now we are talking smooth! Magnus you are amazing

Round B1, June 24, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Caruana, Fabiano
D02 Queen’s Bishop game

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.Bg3 O-O 8.Bb5 Bxg3 9.hxg3 Qb6 10.a4 h6 11.O-O Ne7 12.Qb3 Qc7 13.a5 Bd7 14.Be2 Ng6 15.Qa3 c4 16.b3 cxb3 17.Nxb3 Ne4 18.Rfc1 Bc6 19.c4 dxc4 20.Rxc4 Qd8 21.Nc5 Nd6 22.Rc2 Bd5 23.Bd3 b6 24.e4 bxc5 25.exd5 exd5 26.dxc5 Ne4 27.c6 Qc7 28.Qb3 Rfd8 29.Qb7 Rac8 30.Rb1 Qxa5 31.c7 Rf8 32.Qb5 Qa3 33.Qxd5 Nc3 34.Rxc3 Qxc3 35.Bxg6 Rxc7 36.Ne5 Qc5 37.Bxf7+ Rfxf7 38.Rb8+ 1-0

Round B1, June 24, 2017
Topalov, Veselin – Grischuk, Alexander
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e3 a6 6.Nge2 Ba7 7.b3 Nge7 8.Bb2 h5 9.h4 Bg4 10.d3 Qd7 11.Qd2 Rb8 12.Rc1 O-O 13.Ne4 f6 14.N2c3 Nd8 15.Nd5 Ng6 16.Ba3 Ne6 17.f3 Bf5 18.O-O Kh8 19.Qe2 Rbd8 20.Kh2 Nc5 21.Rcd1 c6 22.Ndc3 b5 23.d4 Nxe4 24.Nxe4 Qe6 25.dxe5 Bxe4 26.fxe4 Nxe5 27.Qxh5+ Kg8 28.Bh3 Qf7 29.Qxf7+ Nxf7 30.cxb5 axb5 31.Rc1 Bc5 32.Bxc5 dxc5 33.Be6 Rfe8 34.Bxf7+ Kxf7 35.Rxc5 Rxe4 36.Rf2 Rxe3 37.Rxc6 Rdd3 38.Rg2 Kg6 39.Rc5 Re5 40.Rxe5 fxe5 41.Rf2 e4 42.Kg2 b4 43.g4 Rc3 44.Re2 e3 45.Kf3 Kf6 46.Kf4 g5+ 47.hxg5+ Kg6 48.Rxe3 Rc1 49.Re6+ Kg7 50.Re4 Rf1+ 51.Ke5 1-0

Round B1, June 24, 2017
Karjakin, Sergei – So, Wesley
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.a4 a5 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 d6 10.c3 Kg7 11.Na3 Bg4 12.Nc2 Nh5 13.Ne3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Nxg3 15.hxg3 f5 16.Be6 Ne7 17.Qb3 Rb8 18.Nh2 Be2 19.exf5 Bxf1 20.Rxf1 h5 21.Qd1 Qe8 22.e4 Ng8 23.Qd2 Qe7 24.Bxg8 Kxg8 25.g4 h4 26.Nf3 Qg7 27.Qxg5 Qxg5 28.Nxg5 b5 29.Ne6 Rf7 30.axb5 Rxb5 31.Rf2 c6 32.g5 Rb8 33.Kh2 Rfb7 34.g6 Re8 35.Kh3 a4 36.Kxh4 Rbe7 37.Kg5 1-0

Round B2, June 24, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Karjakin, Sergei
A05 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.O-O e5 5.c4 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Qa4 Nb6 8.Qc2 Be7 9.b3 Be6 10.Bb2 f6 11.d3 Rc8 12.Nbd2 Nd4 13.Qd1 Qd7 14.e3 Nxf3+ 15.Nxf3 O-O 16.Qe2 Bd5 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Rac1 Bf8 19.h4 a5 20.Bc3 Ra8 21.Rb1 Qc6 22.h5 Nc8 23.Rbc1 Qe6 24.e4 Bc6 25.Nh4 Nd6 26.f4 Nb5 27.Ba1 a4 28.Nf5 axb3 29.axb3 Nd4 30.Bxd4 exd4 31.Qc2 Ra3 32.Bh3 Qf7 33.Qc4 b5 34.Qxf7+ Kxf7 35.b4 Rc3 36.Ra1 cxb4 37.Ra7+ Kg8 38.h6 gxh6 39.e5 fxe5 40.fxe5 Bd5 41.e6 Re8 42.e7 Bg7 43.Nd6 Bf7 44.Nxe8 Bxe8 45.Be6+ Kh8 46.Ra8 1-0

Round B2, June 24, 2017
So, Wesley – MVL
A04 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.d4 d5 4.dxc5 e6 5.b4 a5 6.Qb3 axb4 7.cxb4 b6 8.cxb6 Qxb6 9.b5 Nbd7 10.e3 Nc5 11.Qd1 Na4 12.Be2 Bd7 13.O-O Be7 14.Qb3 Ne4 15.Nd4 O-O 16.Ba3 Bxa3 17.Qxa3 e5 18.Nf3 Nac3 19.Qb2 Nxe2+ 20.Qxe2 Bxb5 21.Qb2 Rfb8 22.Rd1 f6 23.Nc3 Nxc3 24.Qxc3 Qe6 25.Rab1 Rc8 26.Qb4 Be2 27.Rd2 Bc4 28.a4 Qa6 29.Ra1 Rab8 30.Qc3 Bb3 31.Qb2 Bxa4 32.Qa2 Qc4 33.h3 Be8 34.Qa7 Bf7 35.Rda2 Qc7 36.Qxc7 Rxc7 37.Ra7 Rxa7 38.Rxa7 g5 39.g4 Bg6 40.Ra1 h5 41.Nh2 h4 42.Nf3 Rb2 43.Rd1 Be4 44.Nd2 Bd3 45.Nf1 Bc4 46.Rc1 Kf7 47.e4 Bxf1 48.Rc7+ Kg6 49.Kxf1 dxe4 50.Rc3 Rd2 51.Kg2 Rd3 0-1

Round B2, June 24, 2017
Bacrot, Etienne – Carlsen, Magnus
B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 e5 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.d3 Be7 8.a3 Bd8 9.O-O Nge7 10.b4 cxb4 11.axb4 Nxb4 12.Ba3 Nbc6 13.d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.Qxd4 O-O 16.e5 Nc6 17.Qxd6 Qxd6 18.exd6 Bf6 19.Rac1 Bxc3 20.Rxc3 Rfd8 21.Rb1 Rd7 22.Re3 f6 23.c5 Kf7 24.Reb3 Nd8 25.Kf1 Rc8 26.Ke2 Rc6 27.Rb5 Ra6 28.R1b3 Ra4 29.Ke3 Ke6 30.R5b4 Rxb4 31.Rxb4 Kd5 32.Re4 Nc6 33.Rh4 h6 34.Rh5+ Ne5 35.f4 g6 36.fxe5 gxh5 37.exf6 Rf7 38.Bb2 Kxc5 0-1

Standing after Blitz Round Two

1 Carlsen 15
2 Grischuk 13
3 Nakamura 12.5
4 Mamedyarov 12
5 MVL 11.5
6-7 Karjakin, So 9
8 Topalov 6
9 Caruana 3
10 Bacrot 4

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Paris Leuven GCT 2017

Paris GCT 2017

June 24, 2017

Blitz Tournament
Rounds B3 and B4

Fabi wins against MVL. One of his fanboys hopes there will be a 17-game winning streak!

Round B3, June 24, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – So, Wesley
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.b3 e6 4.Bb2 b6 5.c4 Bb7 6.d4 Bd6 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Rc1 Ne4 10.O-O Nxd2 11.Nxd2 Nf6 12.c5 bxc5 13.dxc5 Be7 14.c6 Bc8 15.Qe2 Bb4 16.Rfd1 Qe7 17.Nf3 a5 18.a4 Ne4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Ne5 Bd6 21.Qc2 f5 22.Nc4 Ba6 23.Nxd6 cxd6 24.Ba3 Bd3 25.Rxd3 exd3 26.Qxd3 Rac8 27.b4 axb4 28.Bxb4 Qc7 29.h3 Rfd8 30.Qb5 Qa7 31.Ba5 Rf8 32.Bb6 Qe7 33.a5 f4 34.exf4 Rxf4 35.a6 Rf5 36.Qa4 Qg5 37.Rb1 Qg6 38.Ra1 Rg5 39.g4 h5 40.a7 Kh7 41.Be3 Re5 42.g5 Rxe3 43.fxe3 Qxg5+ 44.Kh1 Qxe3 45.Qc2+ Kh6 46.Qg2 Ra8 47.c7 Qc3 48.Rg1 Kh7 49.Qe4+ 1-0

Round B3, June 24, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Topalov, Veselin
C00 Queen’s Pawn, Mason variation

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.c3 e6 5.Nf3 Bd6 6.Bg3 Nge7 7.Bd3 h6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.O-O Nf5 11.Bxf5 exf5 12.Nb3 Bb6 13.Qd3 Be6 14.Rfd1 Qf6 15.Qb5 Qe7 16.a4 Rfc8 17.a5 Bd8 18.a6 Bb6 19.axb7 Qxb7 20.Nc5 Qe7 21.Nd3 g5 22.Nde5 Nd8 23.h4 f6 24.Nd3 Nc6 25.Ra6 Qe8 26.Rda1 f4 27.exf4 g4 28.f5 Bxf5 29.Nd2 Qf7 30.Nf4 Ne7 31.Re1 Re8 32.c4 Rad8 33.c5 Bd7 34.Qb4 Nc6 35.Rxe8+ Rxe8 36.Qc3 d4 37.Qc1 Bd8 38.Nc4 Bc7 39.Nd6 Bxd6 40.cxd6 d3 41.Nxd3 Nd4 42.Nf4 Bb5 43.Ra3 a6 44.Kh2 Nf5 45.Qc7 Nd4 46.Rc3 Ne6 47.Nxe6 Qxe6 48.Bf4 Qf5 49.Kg3 h5 50.Rc5 Qd3+ 51.Kh2 Qg6 52.d7 1-0

Round B3, June 24, 2017
MVL-Caruana, Fabiano
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Nb5 Qd8 8.Bd3 a6 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.O-O Ne5 11.Be2 b5 12.Nf3 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Nc6 14.Bf4 Bb7 15.a3 Bc5 16.b4 Be7 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 O-O 19.a4 bxa4 20.Nxa4 Nd5 21.c4 Nxb4 22.Rd7 Be4 23.Rxe7 Nc6 24.Bd6 Nxe7 25.Bxe7 Rfb8 26.c5 Rb3 27.f3 Bc6 28.Nb6 Ra7 29.Bd6 a5 30.Bd1 Rb4 31.Ba4 Bxa4 32.Rxa4 f6 33.Kf2 Kf7 34.Ke3 e5 35.Rxb4 axb4 36.c6 b3 37.Kd3 Ra1 38.Nc4 Ra6 39.c7 Rc6 40.f4 b2 41.Nxb2 Rxd6+ 42.Ke4 Rc6 43.fxe5 Rxc7 44.Nd3 Rc2 45.exf6 Rxg2 46.fxg7 Rxh2 47.Nf4 Kxg7 48.Kf5 Ra2 49.Ne6+ Kh6 50.Nf4 Ra5+ 51.Kf6 Rg5 52.Ne6 Rg6+ 53.Kf5 Rxe6 0-1

In Rounds B4 and B5 Magnus will face his two main rivals – Mamedyarov and Grischuk.

One of the most esoteric comments I have ever seen in a chat room

- Mammy has brought his industrial-strength d/dx operator…little does he know that Magnus is e to the x
______

Magnus is angry and killing the field. He takes down Shakhriyar:

Round B4, June 24, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Carlsen, Magnus
D11 Queen’s Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Qc2 g6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.Nbd2 Bf5 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.O-O Rd8 10.Qa3 Na6 11.c5 Qb5 12.e3 Nb4 13.Qc3 a5 14.a4 Qa6 15.b3 Nd3 16.Rd1 Ng4 17.Rf1 Bh6 18.Nb1 e5 19.Bd2 Bg7 20.Na3 Nf6 21.Ne1 Ne4 22.Bxe4 dxe4 23.Nxd3 exd4 24.Qb2 Qxd3 0-1

The commentators say that Caruana may have had a winning position but still goes down to Naka. It might have been after 39….Qe5. Fabi played 40. Nc5 instead of Ne7!

Round B4, June 24, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.Nb3 Bb6 8.Qe2 Qe7 9.Bd2 a5 10.Bc3 Nd7 11.d4 a4 12.Nbd2 a3 13.b3 exd4 14.Bxd4 O-O 15.O-O Ba5 16.Rad1 Rad8 17.Qe3 Bg4 18.Nc4 Bb4 19.h3 Bh5 20.Qf4 Rfe8 21.c3 Bd6 22.e5 Bc5 23.g4 Bg6 24.Ne3 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 f6 26.exf6 Qxf6 27.Qg3 Nc5 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.Qxc7 Rf8 30.Nd4 Bd3 31.Nef5 Bxf1 32.Kxf1 h6 33.h4 Re8 34.Kg2 Kh7 35.b4 Ne4 36.Qd7 Rd8 37.Qxb7 Nxc3 38.Ne6 Rg8 39.Qxc6 Qe5 40.Nc5 Qd5+ 41.Qxd5 Nxd5 42.b5 Rb8 43.Nd4 Nc3 44.Na6 Rb6 45.Nb4 Nxb5 46.Nxb5 Rxb5 47.Nc2 Ra5 48.f4 h5 49.Kf3 hxg4+ 50.Kxg4 Kg6 51.Nd4 Kf6 52.h5 Rc5 53.Kf3 Rc1 54.Nb5 Rc2 0-1

Standing after Round B4

1 Carlsen 18
2 Nakamura 15
3 Grischuk 14.5
4 MVL 13.5
5 Mamedyarov 13
6 Karjakin 10.5
7 So 9.5
8 Topalov 7
9 Caruana 5
10 Bacrot 4