The Chess World Cup 2017

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 12, 2017

Round Four Notes

Moving to a new hall probably saved some costs, but it also came with a cost. The players' rest area, for getting drinks and snacks, is an ad-hoc area just outside the doors of the hall, and in the same corridor as where spectators enter. Furthermore, a walk to the toilet means even more potential interaction with spectators or hotel guests. Cheating is unlikely going to happen, but the possibility to do so has definitely increased.

The smoking area is not outside anymore, but in the hallway to the elevator. Luckily only Jobava and Grischuk smoke; the smell would have been worse if Kramnik and Kuzubov would still have been in the tournament.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/ivan...nd-4-with-wins

Jonathan Tisdall - Great fights today. Impressed with: Jobava's solidity; Bu's calculations; Grischuk's guts; Fedoseev's trickery; and Chukky - just Chukky.
_________

The World Juniors 2014 were held in Pune, India. Two youngsters were clear favourites to win the title: one was the top seed Vladimir Fedoseev and the other was the Chinese phenom Wei Yi. In the end it was Lu Shanglei who won the title, Wei Yi finished second and Fedoseev had to settle for the bronze. In the next two years Wei Yi climbed the rating ladder and reached 2740 on the Elo list, while Fedoseev was stuck somewhere around the 2650-80 mark. Something was definitely going wrong in this Russian grandmaster's preparation or play over the board.

Subsequently, Fedoseev was able to fix these small holes in his play and the result is there for everyone to see. Vladimir has gained nearly 85 Elo points in last six months and now has a live rating of 2742 and is currently world number 17!

http://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-wo...uk-is-ivanchuk

Geoff Chandler on the EC Forum to Anton:

But as a fellow player I know how upsetting any distraction before a game can be. What we can agree on is that this tirade should not have happened before an important game. And now the full details are coming out Zurab Azmaiprashvili was clearly in the wrong.

Here you have a case. Contact a no win no fee lawyer and get him to put one together. You were not warned after round one, you were bullied and insulted right before an important game and felt the only action was to walk away. Now you are getting slandered in chess forums etc... etc...

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic....205739#p205739

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 13, 2017

Round Four
Game Two

Gennady Sosonko joins the commentators for a while and the conversation seems to be almost entirely between Ivan and Gennady. Keti has a grin on her face and doesn’t seem to mind. She has hoop earrings on but I will not say, under any circumstance, that she looks like a gypsy.

When the last game was going on after four and a half hour, Sokolov said that was the end of their day and the broadcast ceased. Evidently myself and the rest of the viewers went over to watch Aman Hambleton and Yasser Seirawan discuss the ending of the Aronian-Dubov game.

And what a game that was! Aronian could not see the winning way until he had just seconds left on his clock.

This is the position after Black’s 49th move. How should white play?



__________

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Bu, Xiangzhi – Svidler, Peter
A54 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Qc7 7.Bc4 Nc6 8.O-O e6 9.e4 Bd6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 O-O 12.Qe2 Na5 13.e5 Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Bxe5 15.Nxe5 Qxe5 16.Be7 Re8 17.Qxc5 Qxc5 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Jobava, Baadur – So, Wesley
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, Modern variation

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 Nxd4 6.Bxd4 Be7 7.c4 O-O 8.Nc3 c5 9.Be5 d6 10.Bg3 Bf5 11.Bh4 Nd7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.d4 Nb6 14.a4 a5 15.Qd2 Rfd8 16.d5 Bg6 17.h4 Bh5 18.Be2 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 f5 20.f4 exf3 21.gxf3 Re8 22.Kd2 Qf6 23.f4 Re7 24.Rh3 Nd7 25.Rg1 Nb8 26.Qd1 Nd7 27.Rg5 Rf7 28.Kc2 Re8 29.Qd3 h6 30.Rg1 Nf8 31.h5 b6 32.Rhg3 Ree7 33.Nb1 Qh4 34.Qf1 Rd7 35.Nd2 Nh7 36.Nf3 Qe7 37.Qd3 Qe4 38.Nh4 Qxd3+ 39.Kxd3 Nf8 40.Ke2 Rf6 41.Kf3 Re7 42.Ng6 Nxg6 43.Rxg6 Ref7 44.Re1 Re7 45.Reg1 Ref7 46.Rxf6 Rxf6 47.e4 fxe4+ 48.Kxe4 Kf7 49.Kf3 Kf8 50.Re1 Kf7 51.Kg4 Kf8 52.Re6 Kf7 53.f5 Kf8 54.Rxf6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Najer, Evgeniy – Rapport, Richard
C10 French, Paulsen variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e5 f6 5.Bb5 Qd7 6.Nf3 a6 7.Bd3 fxe5 8.dxe5 Nh6 9.O-O g6 10.Bf4 Bg7 11.Qd2 Nf7 12.Rfe1 b6 13.a3 Bb7 14.Rad1 Ne7 15.Ng5 O-O 16.Nxf7 Rxf7 17.Bh6 Raf8 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.f3 c5 20.Ne2 Qa4 21.c3 Qh4 22.Rf1 Bc6 23.Bxa6 b5 24.a4 bxa4 25.Qe3 Rb8 26.Qxc5 Rxb2 27.Nd4 Bd7 28.Rb1 Ra2 29.Rb7 Qg5 30.Be2 Nf5 31.f4 Nxd4 32.Qxd4 Qf5 33.Bf3 Be8 34.Bxd5 Rxb7 35.Bxb7 Qc2 36.Qc5 Bf7 37.h4 Qb2 38.Bf3 Ra1 39.Rxa1 Qxa1+ 40.Kh2 Qc1 41.Kg3 a3 42.Qe7 Qxc3 43.h5 gxh5 44.Qf6+ Kg8 45.Qd8+ Kg7 46.Qf6+ Kg8 47.Qd8+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Giri, Anish – Ivanchuk, Vassily
E67 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Classical variation

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 g6 4.d4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bg2 Ngf6 7.O-O O-O 8.e4 a6 9.Qc2 exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.Re1 Ne5 12.b3 c5 13.Nf3 Nfg4 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Bb2 Nc6 16.Qd2 Qa5 17.Rad1 Bg4 18.f3 Be6 19.Nd5 Qxd2 20.Rxd2 Bxb2 21.Rxb2 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Nd4 23.f4 a5 24.Kf2 f6 25.h4 Re7 26.g4 h6 27.Ke3 f5 28.Kd3 fxg4 29.e5 Kg7 30.Re4 Nf5 31.Kc4 Ra6 32.a3 h5 33.Ree2 Nd4 34.Re4 b5+ 35.Kc3 b4+ 36.Kc4 bxa3 37.Ra2 Rb7 38.Rxa3 Nf5 39.Kc3 Rab6 40.Bf1 g3 41.Bh3 Nd4 42.Kd2 Nxb3+ 43.Kd3 Nd4 44.exd6 Rxd6 45.Kc4 Rb4+ 46.Kxc5 Rdb6 47.Rxd4 R6b5+ 48.Kc6 Rb6+ 49.Kc5 R6b5+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Ding Liren – Wang Hao
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Nc3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 c6 14.e3 a5 15.b4 axb4 16.Qxb4 Ra7 17.a5 Na6 18.Qb6 Qa8 19.Ne4 Bd8 20.Qb2 Nb8 21.Nd6 Bxa5 22.Nxb7 Qxb7 23.Qxb7 Rxb7 24.Rxa5 Rc8 25.Rc1 Rbc7 26.Ra8 Kf8 27.h4 Ke7 28.h5 Kd6 29.e4 Ke7 30.e5 Rd8 31.Kg2 Rb7 32.Rc4 f6 33.Be4 fxe5 34.dxe5 Rb2 35.Bg6 Nd7 36.Ra7 Re2 37.Re4 Rxe4 38.Bxe4 Rc8 39.f4 Kd8 40.Kf3 c5 41.Ke3 Rc7 42.Ra8+ Rc8 43.Ra6 Ke7 44.Ra7 c4 45.Kd2 c3+ 46.Kc2 Kd8 47.Bd3 Rc5 48.Ra8+ Ke7 49.Ra7 Kd8 50.Ra3 Nb6 51.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 52.Kxc3 Nd5+ 53.Kd4 Ke7 54.Be4 Nb4 55.Kc5 Na2 56.Kc4 Nc1 57.Bd3 1-0

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Fedoseev, Vladimir – Rodshtein, Maxim
E15 Queen’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 g6 6.O-O Bg7 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 9.Ne5 Bxg2 10.Kxg2 c5 11.Be3 Bxe5 12.dxe5 Qc7 13.Bd2 Nc6 14.Bc3 O-O-O 15.f4 h5 16.e3 g5 17.Kf2 h4 18.g4 gxf4 19.exf4 d6 20.exd6 Rxd6 21.Qf3 Rhd8 22.Kg1 Rd3 23.Qe4 h3 24.Rae1 Kb7 25.Re3 f5 26.gxf5 Rxe3 27.Qxe3 exf5 28.Qxh3 Rg8+ 29.Kh1 Nd4 30.Bxd4 Qc6+ 31.Qf3 cxd4 32.Qxc6+ Kxc6 33.Rg1 Re8 34.b4 b5 35.c5 Kd5 36.Rg7 d3 37.Rd7+ Kc4 38.Kg2 Kc3 39.h4 d2 0-1

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – MCL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.O-O O-O 9.Be3 Nc6 10.Qd2 Rb8 11.h3 Bd7 12.Rfd1 Qc7 13.Nb3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 2, Sept. 13, 2017
Aronian, Levon – Dubov, Daniil
D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3 O-O 9.Be2 b6 10.Qd2 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bb7 12.e5 Nc6 13.h4 Qd5 14.h5 Rfd8 15.Rc1 Qa5 16.h6 Bf8 17.e6 f6 18.O-O Qxd2 19.Bxd2 Nxd4 20.Nxd4 Rxd4 21.Be3 Rdd8 22.Bb5 Bd5 23.Bd7 g5 24.f4 Bxh6 25.fxg5 Bg7 26.Bd4 fxg5 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Rf7+ Kg6 29.Rxe7 Rf8 30.Re1 Bxa2 31.Bb5 a6 32.Bd3+ Kf6 33.Rxh7 b5 34.Rh6+ Ke7 35.Rh7+ Kf6 36.e7 Rg8 37.Rh6+ Kf7 38.Rh7+ Kf6 39.Be4 Rae8 40.Rh6+ Kf7 41.Bc6 Bc4 42.Bxe8+ Rxe8 43.Rxa6 Rxe7 44.Rxe7+ Kxe7 45.Kf2 Kf7 46.Rb6 Be6 47.Rxb5 Kf6 48.Kf3 Bf5 49.Rc5 Bd3 50.Ke3 Bf5 51.Kd4 Bb1 52.Rc1 Bg6 53.Rc6+ Kg7 54.Ke5 Bb1 55.Ra6 Bc2 56.Rd6 Kf7 57.Rf6+ Kg7 58.Rf2 Bb1 59.Rb2 Bd3 60.Rd2 Bb1 61.Ke6 Be4 62.Re2 Bd3 63.Rd2 Be4 64.Ke5 Bb1 65.Rd4 Kf7 66.Ra4 Bc2 67.Ra5 Bb1 68.Rc5 Kg6 69.Rc1 Bd3 70.Rd1 Bc2 71.Rd2 Bb1 72.Ke6 Be4 73.g3 Bb1 74.Rb2 Bd3 75.Ke7 Be4 76.Rb6+ Kg7 77.Rb5 Kg6 78.Rb4 Bc2 79.Kf8 Kf6 80.Kg8 Bd3 81.Rd4 Bc2 82.Rd2 Bb1 83.Rf2+ Kg6 84.Rb2 Bd3 85.Rb6+ Kf5 86.Rb4 Kf6 87.Rd4 Bc2 88.Rd2 Bb1 89.Rf2+ Kg6 90.g4 Be4 91.Rd2 Kf6 92.Rb2 Bd3 93.Rb6+ Ke5 94.Kg7 Kf4 95.Rb4+ Be4 96.Rxe4+ Kxe4 97.Kg6 Kd5 1-0
_________

Ivanchuk had a winning position but then played 45…Rb4+ instead of Rdb6 and Giri luckily escaped with a draw again. But he is out after today’s game.

Summary

Going on to Round Five (Sept. 15)

Vassily Ivanchuk
Levon Aronian
Ding Liren

Eliminated

Anish Giri
Daniil Dubov
Wang Hao

Going to the Playoffs (Sept. 14)

Bu-Svidler
MVL-Grischuk
So-Jobava
Fedoseev-Rodshtein
Najer-Rapport

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 14, 2017

That Ending!

From Peter Doggers:

Despite calling his play in both games "embarrassing," Levon Aronian managed to advance to the next round. Where he missed a win in yesterday's game ("I totally forgot about Ne8"), he "missed" a win 10 times today—but more about that later.

"First of all my opponent played a very suspicious line in the opening and instead of playing very solidly for some reason I decided to play for mate," Aronian said about the first phase. "I blundered a couple of things. First of I forgot that he threatened to exchange queens, and if it wasn't enough, I also blundered 17... f6."

Aronian, who felt he was in trouble, made a practical draw offer which Dubov declined by making a mistake. According to Aronian Black should have played 19... Rac8 instead of taking the pawn. After 23... g5 24. f4! it was Aronian who declined a draw offer.

Eventually he won an exchange, and a complicated endgame appeared on the board with rook vs (light-squared) bishop, and g-pawns for both. It was similar to Aronian's blitz game vs David Navara in St. Louis last month, where the pawns were on h4 and h5, when it's a draw (as Navara showed).



Black to play his 47th move

For this exact position, Aronian wasn't even sure if it was a win or a draw. As Dejan Bojkov wrote, how complex this ending is, was revealed during the live transmission of the game. Neither commentator GM Ivan Sokolov knew, nor was super GM Vassily Ivanchuk sure about the evaluation. Actually they both guessed it should be a draw!

https://www.chess.com/news/view/aron...-to-1-4-finals

Note added later: TommyCB 9/14/2017 re:Aronian - Dubov

This endgame is extremely complex, but is "solved" by the 6 piece endgame tablebases.

From move 47. Rxb5 the position is a 6 piece endgame tablebase position.

From move 43...Rxe7 until move 73. g3? the position is always winning for White.

From 73. g3? until 92...Bd3?, there are 18(!!) moves played that change the evaluation either from winning to drawn, or from drawn to winning.

The final blunder was 92...Bd3? when 92...Ke5 is the only move that draws.

After 47. Rxb5, it might be worth pointing out that the most stubborn defense by Black, 47...Kg6, (with best play by White), takes 42 moves of maneuvering before a pawn push, capture or checkmate occur. If White deviates, it takes more than 42(!!) moves to reset the 50 move counter.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 14, 2017

Round Four Playoffs
Games Three and Four
25+10

Round 4, Game 3, Sept. 14
25+10
Bu Xiangzhi – Svidler, Peter
A33 English, symmetrical variation

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Bf4 d5 7.e3 Bb4 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Bxc3 10.bxc3 Re8 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Ne4 14.Qc2 e5 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Rfd1 Bf5 18.Qb3 Rb8 19.Rxd5 Qc7 20.Qc4 Qxc4 21.Bxc4 Be6 22.Rxe5 Nxg3 23.Rxe6 Ne2+ 24.Kf1 fxe6 25.Bxe2 Rec8 26.Bd1 Rb2 27.Bb3 Kf7 28.Rd1 Rxc3 29.g4 Ke7 30.Rd4 a5 31.Re4 Rc6 32.Kg2 Kf6 33.Rd4 Ke7 34.Re4 Rd6 35.Kg3 Kf6 36.f4 Rb1 37.Re5 a4 38.Bxa4 gxf4+ 39.Kxf4 Rd3 40.Ra5 Ra3 41.e4 Rf1# 0-1

Round 4, Game 3, Sept. 14
25+10
So, Wesley – Jobava, Baadur
E18 Queen’s Indian, old main line

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 e6 5.O-O Be7 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Re1 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.d4 Re8 10.Bf4 h6 11.Ne5 Nbd7 12.Qa4 Nf8 13.Nc6 Qd7 14.Nxe7+ Rxe7 15.Qxd7 Rxd7 16.Bh3 Re7 17.Nb5 Ng6 18.Be3 Ne4 19.a4 a6 20.Nc3 Nxc3 21.bxc3 Rae8 22.Bg2 c6 23.Ra2 f6 24.Bc1 Nh8 25.Ba3 Rc7 26.Rb2 b5 27.e4 Nf7 28.Re3 bxa4 29.exd5 Rxe3 30.fxe3 cxd5 31.c4 Rd7 32.Bh3 Rc7 33.Bg2 Rd7 34.Rb6 Nd8 35.cxd5 f5 36.g4 Bxd5 37.gxf5 Bc4 38.Bf1 Bxf1 39.Kxf1 a5 40.Rb5 Nc6 41.Kf2 Ra7 42.Ke2 Kf7 43.Kd2 Nb4 44.e4 Rc7 45.Rxa5 Rc2+ 46.Kd1 Rc4 47.Ra7+ Kg8 48.Rxa4 Rxd4+ 49.Ke2 Rxe4+ 50.Kf3 Re5 51.Rxb4 Rxf5+ 52.Rf4 Ra5 53.Bb4 Rb5 54.Bc3 Rb7 55.Rc4 Rf7+ 56.Ke4 Kh7 57.Be5 Rf1 58.Rc7 Rg1 59.Kf5 Rg5+ 60.Ke6 Kg8 61.Rc3 Rg6+ 62.Kf5 Rg5+ 63.Kf4 Rg1 64.Kf5 Rf1+ 65.Kg6 Rg1+ 66.Bg3 1-0

Round 4, Game 3, Sept. 14
25+10
Najer, Evgeniy – Rapport, Richard
C55 Two Knights Defence (Modern Bishop’s Opening)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.O-O d6 6.c3 g6 7.d4 Qe7 8.Re1 Bg7 9.Nbd2 Nh7 10.Bb5 Bd7 11.Nb3 O-O 12.Bxc6 Bxc6 13.Na5 Qe8 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.a4 Rd8 16.Qb3 b6 17.Nxc6 Qxc6 18.Qb5 Rd6 19.Be3 Rfd8 20.c4 Qd7 21.c5 Rd3 22.Qa6 Qc6 23.Bxh6 Qxc5 24.Rac1 Qb4 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.Nxe5 R3d6 27.Qxa7 Ng5 28.h4 Ne6 29.Qa6 Rh8 30.g3 Rh5 31.Nd3 Qd4 32.Re3 Ra5 33.Qb7 Rxa4 34.e5 Qd5 35.Qxd5 Rxd5 36.Rc6 Rad4 37.Nf4 Nxf4 38.gxf4 Rxf4 39.Rxc7 Kh6 40.Kg2 Rf5 41.Re7 Rd4 42.Kg3 Kh5 43.f3 Rxh4 44.Rb3 Rhf4 45.e6 fxe6 46.Rxe6 b5 47.Ree3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 3, Sept. 14
25+10
Fedoseev, Vladimir – Rodshtein, Maxim
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O Re8 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 a6 9.Bxc6 dxc6 10.h3 Ba7 11.Bg3 Nd7 12.Nbd2 b5 13.Qc2 c5 14.Rfe1 c6 15.Nf1 Qf6 16.Ne3 Nf8 17.a4 Ng6 18.axb5 cxb5 19.Nd5 Qc6 20.c4 Bb8 21.cxb5 Qxb5 22.Rec1 Be6 23.Qxc5 Qxd3 24.Qc6 Ba7 25.Nc7 Rec8 26.Kh2 Rab8 27.Rc3 Qe2 28.Rc2 Qd3 29.Ra3 Rb3 30.Rc3 Rxc3 31.Rxc3 Qe2 32.Rc2 Qd3 33.Rd2 Qb3 34.Nxe5 Nxe5 35.Bxe5 Bb6 36.Rc2 Kh7 37.Qc3 Bxc7 38.Bxc7 Qb7 39.Qe5 Qb3 40.Rd2 Qc4 41.Bb6 Re8 42.f3 Qb4 43.Bd4 f6 44.Bc3 Qb7 45.Qf4 Qc6 46.e5 f5 47.Rd6 Qc8 48.Qa4 Bc4 49.Rc6 Bb5 50.Rxc8 Bxa4 51.Rc7 Re6 52.g4 Bc2 53.Kg3 Kg8 54.Bd4 Bb1 55.Rc1 Bd3 56.Kf4 fxg4 57.hxg4 g5+ 58.Ke3 Bb5 59.Rc7 Bc6 60.b4 Bd5 61.Bc5 Rc6 62.Ra7 Be6 63.Ke4 Bf7 64.Ra8+ Kg7 65.Kd4 Be6 66.Ra7+ Kg8 67.Re7 Bf7 68.Rd7 Be6 69.Rd8+ Kf7 70.Rf8+ Kg7 71.Rf6 Bd7 72.Bf8+ Kg8 73.Bxh6 Rxf6 74.exf6 Bc6 75.Ke3 1-0

Round 4, Game 3, Sept. 14
25+10
Grischuk, Alexander – MVL
A30 English, symmetrical

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 e4 6.d5 exf3 7.dxc6 fxg2 8.cxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxg2 g6 10.b3 Bg7 11.Bb2 O-O 12.Qd2 Qc7 13.O-O-O Bg4 14.f3 Rad8 15.Qe2 Be6 16.f4 Qe7 17.Bf3 h5 18.Kb1 Bh6 19.a4 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Rd8 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.Ka2 Qd7 23.Nb5 Bg7 24.e4 Ne8 25.Bxg7 Nxg7 26.Nxa7 Bg4 27.Bxg4 hxg4 28.Nb5 Nh5 29.f5 gxf5 30.exf5 Qxf5 31.Nd6 Qd7 32.Qe5 b6 33.a5 bxa5 34.Qxc5 Ng7 35.Qd5 Ne6 36.c5 Qc7 37.Qa8+ Nf8 38.Qd5 Ne6 39.Qa8+ Nf8 40.Qe8 f6 41.b4 Qh7 42.Qe2 axb4 43.Qxg4+ Kh8 44.Kb3 Nd7 45.Qxb4 Qd3+ 46.Kb2 Ne5 47.Qh4+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Game 4, Sept. 14
25+10
Svidler, Peter – Bu Xiangzhi
A04 Reti, Dutch

1.Nf3 f5 2.d3 d6 3.e4 e5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.d4 fxe4 6.Nxe4 d5 7.Neg5 exd4 8.Bd3 Qd6 9.Nxd4 c5 10.Nb5 Qe5+ 11.Be3 Na6 12.O-O Nf6 13.Re1 Bg4 14.Qd2 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Bf4 Qf6 17.Rxe4 O-O 18.Rae1 Rad8 19.Rxe7 Qxf4 20.Qxf4 Rxf4 21.Rxb7 Nb4 22.f3 Nxd3 23.cxd3 Bf5 24.Ree7 Bxd3 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Rgc7 Bg6 27.h3 Rb4 28.Nxa7 Rxb7 29.Rxb7 Rd1+ 30.Kh2 Bd3 31.Rd7 c4 32.Nc6 Rb1 33.Ne5 Bf1 34.Rd2 Ra1 35.a3 Ra2 36.Rf2 1-0

Round 4, Game 4, Sept. 14
25+10
Jobava, Baadur – So, Wesley
C42 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.O-O-O c6 10.Bd3 Qa5 11.a3 Ne5 12.h4 Nxd3+ 13.Qxd3 Bf5 14.Qd4 Rfe8 15.g4 Bf6 16.Qf4 Be4 17.Rxd6 Qa4 18.Rd3 b5 19.g5 Bxd3 20.Qxa4 bxa4 21.cxd3 Bd8 22.Nd2 Bb6 23.Ne4 Re5 24.Rg1 Bxe3+ 25.fxe3 Rf5 26.Rg4 Rf3 27.Nc5 Rxe3 28.Rxa4 Re2 29.Ra6 f5 30.gxf6 gxf6 31.Rxc6 f5 32.Nd7 Rd8 33.Nf6+ Kf7 34.Nxh7 Rxd3 35.Ng5+ Ke7 36.Ra6 f4 37.Rxa7+ Ke8 38.Ra8+ Ke7 39.Ra7+ Ke8 40.Ra8+ Ke7 41.Ra7+ 1/2-1/2

Three times repetition of position

Round 4, Game 4, Sept. 14
25+10
Rapport, Richard – Najer, Evgeniy
A09 Reti, Advance variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 Bg4 4.g3 Bxf3 5.exf3 e5 6.Bg2 Nd7 7.a3 a5 8.b5 Bd6 9.f4 exf4 10.Bxb7 Rb8 11.Bg2 Ngf6 12.d3 Qe7+ 13.Kf1 Nc5 14.Bc6+ Kf8 15.Ra2 Nfd7 16.gxf4 Qf6 17.Nd2 Qxf4 18.Ne4 Qf5 19.h4 h5 20.Bg5 Ne5 21.Nxc5 Bxc5 22.Be4 Qe6 23.Bd5 Qf5 24.Be4 Qe6 25.f3 Rxb5 26.Bd5 Qd6 27.Bxf7 Rb7 28.Bd5 c6 29.Be4 Bxa3 30.Qa4 Bb4 31.f4 Rf7 32.Kg2 Ng4 33.Qxc6 Qxc6 34.Bxc6 Ne3+ 35.Kf3 g6 36.Be4 Kg7 37.c5 Ng4 38.c6 Rc8 39.Rc1 Bc3 40.Bd5 Ne5+ 41.Ke2 Nxc6 42.Bxf7 Kxf7 43.Rb1 Re8+ 44.Kf1 Re3 45.Rb6 Nb4 46.Re2 Nxd3 47.f5 Rxe2 48.fxg6+ Kg7 49.Kxe2 Nc1+ 50.Bxc1 1-0

Round 4, Game 4, Sept. 14
25+10
Rodshtein, Maxim – Fedoseev, Vladimir
D30 Queen’s Gambit declined

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.Bg2 b5 7.O-O a5 8.a4 c6 9.Ne1 Nd5 10.e4 Nb6 11.Nc2 bxa4 12.e5 Be7 13.Qg4 g6 14.Ne4 h5 15.Qf3 h4 16.Rd1 Ba6 17.Ne3 Rh5 18.g4 Rh7 19.g5 N8d7 20.Ng4 Bb5 21.Bh3 Rh8 22.Nh6 Rf8 23.Qg4 Qc7 24.Qxh4 O-O-O 25.Bd2 Nd5 26.Qg3 Qb6 27.Bc3 c5 28.Bg2 Nxc3 29.bxc3 cxd4 30.cxd4 Nb8 31.Nc3 Bb4 32.d5 a3 33.Rdc1 Ba6 34.Rab1 Nd7 35.Bf1 Nc5 36.Qf3 exd5 37.Nxd5 Rxd5 38.Qxd5 Bb7 39.Qxc4 Qc6 40.Qg4+ Kb8 41.f3 Qd5 42.Bg2 Nb3 43.Rd1 a2 0-1

Round 4, Game 4, Sept. 14
25+10
MVL – Grischuk, Alexander
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 a5 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bb5 Ne7 12.d4 exd4 13.Nxd4 Ng6 14.N2f3 c6 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Bc4 d5 17.exd5 exd5 18.Bd3 Ne4 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.Rxe3 Nf4 21.Bxe4 dxe4 22.Rxe4 Qf6 23.Re3 Nd5 24.Re1 Nf4 25.Re3 Nd5 26.Re1 Nf4 1/2-1/2

Results of Games Three and Four

Eliminated

Baadur Jobava
Bu Xiangzhi
Evgeniy Najer
Maxim Rodshtein

Going to Round Five (Sept. 15)

Wesley So
Peter Svidler
Richard Rapport
Vladimir Fedoseev

Going to 10+10

Grischuk-MVL

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 14, 2017

Round Four Playoffs
Games Five and Six
10+10

Ivan says that the seconds of the two players are up in their hotel rooms analyzing the first two games today and sending down their results during the intermission.

Round 4, Game 5, Sept. 14
10+10
MVL – Grischuk, Alexander
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 a5 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bb5 Ne7 12.d4 exd4 13.Nxd4 Bd7 14.Nf1 Ng6 15.Ng3 Re8 16.Bc4 c6 17.Be3 Qc7 18.Ba2 Re5 19.Qc2 Rae8 20.Nf3 R5e7 21.Bxc5 dxc5 22.Rad1 Bc8 23.Bc4 Qf4 24.Qd2 Be6 25.Bxe6 Rxe6 26.Qxf4 Nxf4 27.e5 N6d5 28.Ne4 Rg6 29.Nh4 Rge6 30.Nd6 Rb8 31.g3 Nxh3+ 32.Kg2 Ng5 33.f4 Nh7 34.f5 Re7 35.c4 Nc7 36.e6 fxe6 37.Ng6 Rd7 38.fxe6 Rdd8 39.Ne7+ Kf8 40.Nxc6 Rxd6 41.Nxb8 Ke7 42.Rxd6 Kxd6 43.Rd1+ Kxe6 44.Rd7 1-0

On the chessbrah channel Yasser and Eric are talking. Eric says that this is the longest event that he ever commentated on.
Yasser said that the most enjoyable long commentate that he did was when he was working for chessbase and Frederic Friedel with the World Championship at San Luis, Argentina in 2005. This was an eight-player, double round robin event.

Round 4, Game 6, Sept. 14
10+10
Grischuk, Alexander – MVL
A34 English, symmetrical, Four Knights

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.d3 Nge7 5.g3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bg2 Nc7 8.O-O Be7 9.Nd2 O-O 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Qa4 Rb8 12.Nc4 Rb4 13.Qa5 f6 14.b3 Bh3 15.Re1 Qb8 16.Ba3 Rb5 17.Nxb5 cxb5 18.Ne3 Qb7 19.f3 b4 20.Bb2 Na6 21.g4 h5 22.a3 Bd8 23.Qa4 hxg4 24.axb4 Nxb4 25.Qxa7 Qxa7 26.Rxa7 gxf3 27.Kf2 fxe2 28.Kxe2 Be6 29.Bc3 Bxb3 30.Rb1 Bf7 31.Bxb4 cxb4 32.Rxb4 f5 33.Rb8 e4 34.Raa8 exd3+ 35.Kxd3 Be7 36.Nxf5 Bg6 37.Rxf8+ Bxf8 38.Ke4 Kf7 39.Ke5 Bxf5 40.Kxf5 g6+ 41.Kg5 Bc5 42.Kh6 Be3+ 43.Kh7 g5 44.Kh6 Bf4 45.Ra2 g4+ 46.Kh5 g3 47.h3 Be3 48.Kg4 Bf2 49.Kf3 Kg6 50.Ra5 Kh6 51.Rb5 Kg6 52.Rd5 Kh6 53.Re5 Kg6 54.Rb5 Kh6 55.Rb4 Kg5 56.Rg4+ Kh6 57.Ke4 Be1 58.Kf5 Bf2 59.Rg6+ Kh7 60.Kf6 Bd4+ 61.Kf7 Bf2 62.Kf6 Bd4+ 63.Kf5 Bf2 64.h4 Be1 65.h5 Bf2 66.Kf4 Be1 67.Kf3 Bf2 68.Ke2 Kh8 69.Kf3 Kh7 70.Kf4 Be1 71.Kg4 Bf2 72.Kf5 Be1 73.Kf4 Bf2 74.Ke5 Be1 75.Kf6 Bf2 76.Kf5 Be1 77.Kg5 Bf2 78.Kf5 Be1 79.Ke4 Bf2 80.Kf3 Be1 81.Re6 Bf2 82.h6 Bc5 83.Kxg3 Bf8 84.Kg4 Bxh6 85.Kf5 Bd2 86.Kf6 Kh6 87.Rc6 Kh5 88.Kf5 Kh4 89.Rc2 Be3 90.Re2 Bb6 91.Re6 Bc7 92.Rc6 Bb8 93.Rc3 Bg3 94.Rxg3 1/2-1/2

What a great ending! And this after Aronian-Dubov yesterday. Viewers were looking at tablebases to determine if Grischuk had a winning game somewhere at the end.

In any case, with a draw, MVL wins the match and goes on to Round Five tomorrow and Grischuk is eliminated.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 14, 2017

Round Four
Final Results

1. Bu-Svidler 1-3
2. MVL-Grischuk 3.5-2.5
3. Ivanchuk-Giri 1.5-0.5
4. Aronian-Dubov 1.5-0.5
5. So-Jobava 2.5-1.5
6. Fedoseev-Rodshtein 3-1
7. Najer-Rapport 1.5-2.5
8. Wang Hao-Ding Liren 0.5-1.5

Round Five Matchups

1. Peter Svidler-MVL
2. Vassily Ivanchuk-Levon Aronian
3. Wesley So-Vladimir Fedoseev
4. Richard Rapport-Ding Liren

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

http://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-wo...und-five-clash


Note Aronian's "cat shirt" about 1/4 of the way down the page.

[Peter McKillop]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

http://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-wo...und-five-clash


Note Aronian's "cat shirt" about 1/4 of the way down the page.

Aronian should avoid wearing that shirt next time he's in St. Louis - Trump might grab it. Lots of Russians in jeans. Zurab looking unkempt in an unpressed and untucked shirt. What a load of crap.

[Neil Frarey]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

Aronian should avoid wearing that shirt next time he's in St. Louis - Trump might grab it. Lots of Russians in jeans. Zurab looking unkempt in an unpressed and untucked shirt. What a load of crap.

Why does your kind continue to spread anti-Trump shit into other threads, Peter?

You're shown an awesome tee ...and that is where your filthy mind goes?

Seek help, Peter.

[Peter McKillop]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

Why does your kind continue to spread anti-Trump shit into other threads, Peter?

You're shown an awesome tee ...and that is where your filthy mind goes?

Seek help, Peter.

Because Trump has earned that disrespect, Neil. Why don't you see that?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 15, 2017

Round Five
Game One

Round 5, Game 1, Sept. 15
Svidler, Peter – MVL
A34 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb4 6.Bc4 Nd3+ 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kf1 Ne6 9.h4 Nd4 10.d3 Nbc6 11.Nb5 Be6 12.Bf4 Nxb5 13.Bxb5 Qb6 14.Ba4 Qa6 15.Rc1 b5 16.Bb3 Bxb3 17.Qxb3 e6 18.Be3 Na5 19.Qc3 b4 20.Qc2 Nb7 21.Qc4 Qxc4 22.Rxc4 Be7 23.Ke2 O-O 24.Nd2 Rfc8 25.Nb3 a5 26.a4 bxa3 27.bxa3 a4 28.Nd2 Nd6 29.Rxc5 Rcb8 30.Rb1 Rxb1 31.Nxb1 Bxh4 32.Rc6 Be7 33.Bc5 Nb5 34.Ke3 Kf8 35.Bxe7+ Kxe7 36.Rb6 Nd6 37.Nc3 h5 38.f4 f6 39.Nb5 Nxb5 40.Rxb5 h4 41.Rb7+ 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Game 1, Sept. 15
Fedoseev, Vladimir – So, Wesley
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack, Marshall variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Rb1 b6 12.Re1 c6 13.c4 dxc4 14.Bxc4 Nd7 15.Bd3 Re8 16.Bg5 Qxg5 17.Nxg5 Bxd1 18.Rbxd1 Nf6 19.Ne4 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Game 1, Sept. 15
Rapport, Richard – Ding, Liren
C77 Ruy Lopez, Four Knights variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 O-O 8.Qe2 Re8 9.h3 Nd7 10.Nd1 Nf8 11.Ne3 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Game 1, Sept. 15
Aronian, Levon – Ivanchuk, Vassily
A13 English Opening

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 dxc4 4.Qa4+ c6 5.Qxc4 b5 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Nc3 Rc8 9.O-O a6 10.d4 c5 11.d5 exd5 12.Nh4 Ndf6 13.Rd1 g6 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.e4 Bg7 16.exd5 Nf6 17.Qe2+ Kf8 18.a4 b4 19.Be3 Qd6 20.Rac1 Nd7 21.Nf3 h6 22.Nd2 Kg8 23.Ne4 Qf8 24.d6 1-0

Position after White’s 24th move and Black’s resignation




Would you resign or play on? Vassily spent 42 minutes on his tenth move and now Aronian has almost an hour up on him. Someone joked that Vassily was upset because Zurab came over and told him to change out of his jeans before the start of the game.

Chess24 calls the game an Ivanchuk meltdown and quoted Aronian saying that the 10th move was “a bit suicidal”. ‘From then on Chucky played even faster than he had to until abruptly resigning on move 24 in a position where there was still material equality.

Elsewhere Fedoseev-So and Rapport-Ding Liren gave themselves a rest day with quick draws, while MVL wriggled out of a tough position against Peter Svidler.’

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tbi...nchuk-meltdown

Comments online

- Why would a young and rested Ding Liren need to take a draw in 11 moves. He did not play yesterday, in contrast to Rapport who has played 6 straight days. I would have played on in that equal position and keep Richard at the board using up his mental energy.

(Peter Doggers) - Ivanchuk's 10...c5 allowed 11.d5! and if this pawn break is possible, it's usually bad news for Black. White ended up with a passed d-pawn while simultaneously preventing Black from castling. Black's queen was a bad blockader; she was easily chased away. By move 24 Ivanchuk had enough, and his loss almost looked amateurish.

Which Ivanchuk we'll see tomorrow is anyone's guess.

- However Chucky's career goes, he is, and has been incredibly fun to watch, and root for!

(Lawrence Trent) - Oh Chucky. Such talent, such genius, but ultimately one of the biggest bottle jobs the game has ever seen.

- I really do think that Lawrence Trent was being a huge d*** to Chucky for being "ultimately one of the biggest bottle jobs the game has ever seen.", when we all know that Chucky would easy crush this IM British-big-ego b****. He should really think before insulting people that are much stronger than him.

[Fred McKim]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

Bottle Job - Maybe I live under a rock, but I've never heard this quaint English expression before. After a bit of googling, in this use of the term, I'd equate it to "lack of nerves"

[Wayne Komer]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

The Chess World Cup 2017

September 15, 2017

I have never heard the expression either. When I google it I get:

Bottlejob - Someone who constantly backs out of events at the last second or with little to no real excuse.

which is certainly not true of Ivanchuk.


_______

chessgames.com has 3583 Ivanchuk games in its database and mentions 1229 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games etc not included in that number

[Hans Jung]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

So the games were a little short today and I tuned in a little late and Im glad I did. I checked the chessbrah commentary and sure enough there was Eric Hansen and Yasser Seirawan online commentating together. I admire Yasser very much for taking a double whammy to his nervous system. In his late fifties Yasser is combining the early morning hours with the high stress of super grandmaster games (always calculating, tactically alert, even when he misses something his recovery time is fast, and of course applying strategical knowledge, especially endgame advantages) and doing it with a sense of humour and enthusiasm. In short it was a chance to watch a grandmaster thinking workshop and highly entertaining as well. Uncle Yaz even told a great story about washers and dryers and when Eric mentioned that he was going to take him down in a speed match Yasser had that as an excuse but said next time they meet he would be glad to lay a beatdown to keep morale in balance (or that was my take on it - Eric might correct me if he sees this) - absolutely hilarious! and prime entertainment!

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: The Chess World Cup 2017

Bottle Job - Maybe I live under a rock, but I've never heard this quaint English expression before. After a bit of googling, in this use of the term, I'd equate it to "lack of nerves"

G.Kasparov told long time ago about Ivanchuk as a genius who plays as a class A player from time to time.