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The GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 will be held from March 31 to April 09 in Karlsruhe, Baden Baden. It will be the fifth edition of the super tournament. So far the event has had different winner in each edition - Viswanathan Anand, Arkadij Naiditsch, Magnus Carlsen, and Levon Aronian.
The participants are:
Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Fabiano Caruana
Vishy Anand
Nikita Vitiugov
Arkadij Naiditsch
Hou Yifan
Georg Meier
Matthias Bluebaum
Parallel to the Grenke Chess Classic the organizers will have an open tournament. Already 86 titled players are among those already entered.
The commentators on chess24 are Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko. We saw Peter last year paired with Lawrence Trent commentating on the Grenke Classic 2017.
The venues are Karlsruhe (Rds 1-3) and Baden Baden (Rds 4-9)
The premier game today is between Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen. There is a delay at the first. These comments from chessbomb kibitzers:
- Baden Baden is a famous town where Dostoyevsky lost a lot of money in the casino playing roulette
- If he didn't lose so much, we wouldn't have his excellent novel Gambler
- When does the game start?
- Not sure if they are playing with a delay
- Maybe the Chinese space station landed on the playing hall
There are other comments on how good a commentator Leko is and some suggestions that Peter Leko and Peter Svidler would make a good team.
Talking about computers, Peter says that many a 2700 GM believes that if they could glance at the computer evaluation of their position a couple of times during the game then they would be playing at a 3000 level.
I remember that in July of 1979 the American Skylab was to come hurtling to earth and looking up and worrying it might hit me.
Tiangong-1 Chinese space station is going to crash to earth this weekend. One hopes it will not be on one's house nor on the Karlsruhe Schwarzwaldhalle.
The Caruana game gets into a complex ending with the evaluation by Stockfish varying wildly from move to move. The analysts should have a field day with this ending.
- Magnus played the wrong move. According to Sesse, it was mate in 33 moves if Magnus had played Rh7 instead of 54..a5
(see analysis.sesse.net)
Both players come in for the post-game interview and Jan shows them that they played the best moves but failed when Rh7 should have been made. Neither Fabiano nor Magnus saw this. Magnus seems frustrated with his play. Jan very wisely lets the two players discuss the ending without his input.
Magnus said that he wanted to play fighting chess today.
Peter comes back when the players go off to dinner and says that Magnus deserved to win and Fabiano deserved to draw this ending.
Anand-Hou Yifan was spectacular from the beginning.
A draw was the logical result in Naiditsch's game because MVL kept finding resources.
A brilliant win by Vitiugov with some wonderful tactical tricks.
All the favorites have white tomorrow.
Last edited by Wayne Komer; Monday, 2nd April, 2018, 10:44 PM.
Comments on the Caruana-Carlsen ending of Round One
Lars Bo Hansen - Watching the great rook endgame in Caruana-Carlsen, I am reminded of the famous Botvinnik-Fischer game from 1962. Of course, her we know instantly that Carlsen actually missed a win (54..Rh7!) instead of 54...a5); it took decades of analysis in Botvinnik-Fischer
Mikhail Golubev - After Magnus failed to win quite a tricky rook ending vs Fabiano at Grenke Chess R1, online spectators armed with engines started to write things like "Blunder of the year". But CHESS IS COMPLEX, fools! Your day is coming. Ask your engine what it thinks about it.
Caruana-Carlsen after White's 38.Rxh7+
Peter Doggers - (Carlsen) was almost sure that 38...Kg8 (instead of 38...Kg6 which he played) would have won. "I think the game is over," he said, supporting it with 39.Rxc7 Rxc7 40.Kf2 Rd7.
However, when a computer engine showed him that 41.g5! draws here for White, Carlsen sighed: "What do I know?"
Carlsen-Hou Yifan goes on for a long time - all other games have finished. Gustafsson and Leko have a lot of air time to fill.
Peter talks a lot about himself. He is an aging (b. 1979) professional. He is working with 13-year-old German chess prodigy, Vincent Keymer, who on 6/7 is leading the pack in the Grenke Open.
Peter was born in Serbia of Hungarian parents. When he was one they moved from Subotica to Szeged in Hungary. When he was seven years old he saw the tournament at Subotica in 1987 in which Tal was participating - Sax, Short, Ribli and Speelman were also there. He and his parents came late and went into the hall and an arbiter kept young Leko from going on the stage with the players. Tal was already playing but came over and signed an autograph for Peter.
He is not participating in tournaments regularly. He will be playing top board for the Hungarian team in the Olympiad in September. He can see working with a computer on his openings at home every day but to what result? Commentating allows him to share his knowledge with the public.
He plays table tennis on a team, bikes a lot. He used to play tennis and football but injured his knee and had to give up squash and the tennis and football.
He finally got a cell phone and uses it mainly to take photos. When he went to the Isle of Man tournament last September, he went two days early and took over 200 photos of the castle there. He showed the photos to people, who all wanted copies but because he isn't on social media, they have not got them!
Peter wishes that there was more support by Hungary for chess. There are high expectations by the people for the Olympiad players. But, there are few tournaments there and no support for the players. He would like a sponsored match or a supertournament but there are none.
Eventually, Magnus beats Hou Yifan and the players come in for an interview with Peter. Magnus is not wearing glasses and his hair is nowhere as long as Aman Hambleton's. Peter goes through a long variation that it is impossible for the viewer to follow but both Magnus and Hou Yifan see it, of course, and comment.
Peter comments on the ending with all the pieces on the f-file being aesthetically pleasing.
Pleasing position after 54.Bf3
The games:
Round 2, Apr. 1
Carlsen, Magnus - Hou Yifan
C24 Bishop's Opening, Berlin Defence
In the game Meier - Caruana after 20 ...Qh6 Stockfish gives the eval line 21 Ba5 Nh2 22 Ne1 Ng4 23 Nf3 and draw if repeated.
However 22....Nf1 seems to win the White Q or forces mate since 23 Kxf1 Bc4ch etc
In the game Meier - Caruana after 20 ...Qh6 Stockfish gives the eval line 21 Ba5 Nh2 22 Ne1 Ng4 23 Nf3 and draw if repeated.
However 22....Nf1 seems to win the White Q or forces mate since 23 Kxf1 Bc4ch etc
Tweet: Why is it almost always so important to keep it secret who is helping the top players in candidates matches and WC matches? Why the hush? Stefan
Is it really a secret? It was known at Berlin that Kasimdzhanov was there with Fabiano, Dreev with Mamedyarov, Wei Yi with Ding Liren, Grischuk had Potkin and Grachev, Karjakin was with Riazantsev and Kramnik had Giri and Tomashevsky too.
It also depends on whether it was an old associate or a new guy brought in to treat a special opening.
Peter said that he was sometimes announced as a second and sometimes not. It was up to his boss.
In the match between Anand and Carlsen at Chennai when Anand announced his seconds and Carlsen didn't name anyone, that was kind of a shock.
Carlsen doesn't want to have his helpers all around. They are usually remote and keeping in touch by computer.
The seconds also may be in different time zones. While you are sleeping your workers are working away at their analyses. Usually they work at night if they are in the same city as you.
The helpers usually do night work.
Peter was going to sleep at 6 in the morning and then getting up when his principal was up to explain what he was doing.
________
The guys were also asked which of their games they were most proud of. Peter mentioned Kramnik-Leko in the World Championship Match at Brissago in 2004
"This game too looked at first to be headed for a draw. But with reduced material - an endgame of queen and knight against queen and knight - Caruana suddenly created dangerous threats against his opponent's king position. The basic problem for Naiditsch was perhaps the fact that he had led his knight too far into enemy territory. He grabbed a pawn, but it resulted in nothing but grief. Still, Caruana's play in this phase was enviable, beginning with the precise move 36.Ne3."
Question: Peter congratulations on your student. How important is a coach and a second given that Wesley So failed so miserably without a second at the Candidates?
Peter: He never revealed it but you got the impression from the interviews that he didn't have one. There is so much work that has to be done day and night in such a contest that you must have three or four seconds. You have to have the financing and assemble a team. There is glory and prestige at the end of the Candidates and the money is well-spent.
Regarding the coaching: a coach is necessary for a young player to make progress. It is a pleasure working with Vincent. My work with him started at the U20 at Tarvisio, Italy. We got to know each other for the tournament not before. The first day I asked him to show me some of his games and by his explanations, I thought he was an accomplished player already. I worked on his openings when he was at the games during the two weeks of the tourney. Vincent learned his openings when he was 10 - 11. His rating was 2200 then and he made the quick jump the new level and his openings didn't catch up, so to speak.
My situation was similar - a jump from 2255 to 2555 within one and a half years. I got the chance to play against Karpov and the other stars. With white I had no problems but I did with black.
In teaching chess to youngsters, the student should always experience the fun and the joy of playing chess. It is not only about concentration and hard work.
Sam Copeland in chess.com says that here that Georg Meier could have played "the beautiful combination beginning 39.Rh1 Qe7 40.Rxh7+! Kxh7 41. Rh5+. In mutual time trouble both players understandably missed the critical 41...Kg6 42.Rh6+!! mating the hapless Black monarch."
After the first hour, Peter Heine Nielsen joins Jan and Peter. He considers himself Magnus's second but with the Norwegian media allows his position to be that of coach.
He joins Magnus at some big events. Depending on game time he can work both during the day and during the night on preparation and analysis. Normally, during the game he has free time as he does today.
Peter is Danish, 44 years old. In 2007 he worked as second to WCC Vishy Anand. In 2013 he joined Magnus.
Because the three commentators are opening experts and have all been involved in World Championships, the conversation is quite lively and opening directed.
_________
When there was one game left to finish and Peter and Jan had a lot of air time to fill - this question: Hi Peter, do you still sometimes think back about the last game you had against Kramnik in your World Championship match and how close you came to achieving immortal glory as the Chess World Champion?
You'll recall that the match was in 2004 in Brissago, Switzerland. It was only 14 games long.
From chessgames.com:
"Come game 14, Leko needed only one more draw to secure the title of World Chess Champion. Kramnik was faced with the task of winning, at all costs, in order to save his title. Chess author and grandmaster Raymond Keene wrote of this phenomenal game:
Kramnik, the defending world champion, scored a brilliant victory in the 14th and final game; Peter Leko resigned after 41 moves when faced with checkmate. This is only the third time in the entire history of the World Championship that the defending champion has saved his titled by winning in the final game.
The game itself was a jewel of controlled aggression. Despite consistent exchanges throughout the game, Kramnik maintained an iron grip on the position and ultimately blasted his way into the black camp via the dark squares. Taking no account of material sacrifices it was Kramnik's king that dealt the fatal blow when it marched right into the heart of the opposing position.
After 14 games, with a tie score of 7 to 7, Vladimir Kramnik defended his title of World Chess Champion."
Peter: I felt after game 12, I was completely exhausted and there were two games left. Kramnik was putting a lot of pressure on the openings and I was changing the openings almost every day. In that last game I saw a sacrifice which I should have played. Kramnik played a brilliant game but the energy I spent early, took its toll.
I don't think now about the match but it was one of the highlights of my career. It was before serious computer work and Kramnik had a wealth of experience and help from Soviet grandmasters. (Officially, they were Bareev, Illescas and Svidler). I depended on my team, which consisted of Arshak Petrosian, Akopian and Tkachiev. We were all exhausted at the end.
MVL is not at the post-mortem. Jan has a question about honing one's endgame skills. Fabi says he likes to avoid hard work and does things like Dvoretsky studies only when forced to.
He said that he looked at endgames of rook and two pawns against rook and one pawn just before London. At that contest he was surprised to see the game Adams vs Nepomniachtchi exactly the ending we looked at. White could put his king on f3 or h3. It could not be figured out at the board. h3 draws and f3 loses.
Not quite sure where in the game one was supposed to make this king move but here is the
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