Carlsen-Caruana World Championship 2018

[Wayne Komer]

Carlsen – Caruana World Championship 2018

November 19, 2018

Round Eight

Grischuk – A very big miss for Fabiano, and the first game in which White showed something

Steve Giddens – It seems that when Caruana was asked to choose the weapon with which to land the killing blow, he rejected the sword, the shotgun and the kitchen knife, and went instead for the rolled-up newspaper

• Another great game wraps up. Eight draws, but boy, was that a close shave for Magnus!

• Good game, a shame Caruana couldn’t convert

Round 8, Nov. 19
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan (Lasker-Sveshnikov) variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.a4 Be7 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O Nd7 12.Bd2 f5 13.a5 a6 14.Na3 e4 15.Nc4 Ne5 16.Nb6 Rb8 17.f4 exf3 18.Bxf3 g5 19.c4 f4 20.Bc3 Bf5 21.c5 Nxf3+ 22.Qxf3 dxc5 23.Rad1 Bd6 24.h3 Qe8 25.Nc4 Qg6 26.Nxd6 Qxd6 27.h4 gxh4 28.Qxf4 Qxf4 29.Rxf4 h5 30.Re1 Bg4 31.Rf6 Rxf6 32.Bxf6 Kf7 33.Bxh4 Re8 34.Rf1+ Kg8 35.Rf6 Re2 36.Rg6+ Kf8 37.d6 Rd2 38.Rg5 1/2-1/2

Supposedly, 24.h3 lost the advantage for White. This is the position after Black’s 23….Bd6. Would you play Qh5 or Nc4 for a win?



Diagram corrected from earlier posting - Sorry, everyone!
___________

Erwin l’'Ami - With the queen coming to g6 Magnus is completely back in the game. 23.Rad1 and especially 24.h3 didn't meet the demands of the position.

Kostya Kavutskiy - Wow, Caruana admitted that 21.c5 was the only move he considered during his 33 minute think, spending that time calculating the consequences. Anyone who's read a bit of Aagaard would know that if you're already sure what move you're going to make, then you should just play it!

__________

Sopiko asks how someone recovers from a loss or a missed win. In turn, Alexander asks what the worse loss you ever had was.

Peter says, “Game 3 against Karjakin in Baku… and it’s not even close”

I wonder if this is the 5-minute blitz game when Peter played 42…Kg8?? and White replied 43.Qxb8+?

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/bak...credible-final

Alexander said that his worse loss was against Duda recently. After, when walking on the street he thought that if a car hits him now, it wouldn’t be bad thing…Some people think losing to Gelfand in the Candidates final was worse, but it’s not close.

___________

All of Carlsen’s games seem to be analyzed in real time on the sesse supercomputer. You can see it at:

http://analysis.sesse.net

[Henri Hughes]

So boring... Even more boring than Carlsen-Karjakin 2 years ago. Women Championship is much more interesting.

can't help but agreed there hasn't been much to see except for maybe the first game and todays game I think it will end up being decided on tie breaks

[Wayne Komer]

Carlsen – Caruana World Championship 2018

November 18, 2018

Round Seven (continued)

It looks like chess24 has locked up Anish Giri as a commentator as well. He is to appear for Game Nine.

You know I think that Agon/World Chess has bizarre marketing. Well, here is another example – the official pen of the Match:

“Put your pencils aside... The @STDupont_off Ball Point Pen is lined with meteor dust and is the official pen for #worldchess2018”

Grischuk on Caruana's play: "You can play such positions in a number of ways... If a young player played like this I would tell him, 'what are you doing?' But if it's a super top player, then maybe it's just ok"

24...Bxg3 and 25...Qd7 have puzzled Grischuk and Svidler. Alexander notes: "Fabiano has different instincts to most players - I'm not saying that as a good or a bad thing, just stating a fact"

Round 7, Nov. 18
Carlsen, Magnus – Caruana, Fabiano
D37 QGD, Hastings variation, main line

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 10.Nd2 Qd8 11.Nb3 Bb6 12.Be2 Qe7 13.Bg5 dxc4 14.Nd2 Ne5 15.O-O Bd7 16.Bf4 Ng6 17.Bg3 Bc6 18.Nxc4 Bc7 19.Rfd1 Rfd8 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.Rd1 Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1 Nd5 23.Qd4 Nxc3 24.Qxc3 Bxg3 25.hxg3 Qd7 26.Bd3 b6 27.f3 Bb7 28.Bxg6 hxg6 29.e4 Qc7 30.e5 Qc5+ 31.Kh2 Ba6 32.Nd6 Qxc3 33.bxc3 f6 34.f4 Kf8 35.Kg1 Ke7 36.Kf2 Kd7 37.Ke3 Bf1 38.Kf2 Ba6 39.Ke3 Bf1 40.Kf2 1/2-1/2

Final position in the game




Comments from the EC Forum:

Christopher Kreuzer: Seven draws. Clearly building up to a really exciting game tomorrow (game eight) when my visit is scheduled. 8) Either a breakthrough (with only four games left after tomorrow's game) or an historic eighth draw in a draw. Apart from the obvious K-K matches, what are the precedents for eight draws in a row (i.e. how often and when has this happened before)?

Jack Rudd: Kasparov-Anand in 1995 started with eight draws.

David Sedgwick: There were eight consecutive draws in the Capablanca - Alekhine match, from Games 13 to 20. After Alekhine won Game 21, there were a further seven consecutive draws from Games 22 to 28.

Karpov - Kasparov 1984 featured even longer sequences of draws. From Games 10 to 46 inclusive, there were only two decisive results.

Richard Bates: The problem is that the two players (and I think Carlsen especially), whether because of the format or otherwise, are taking risk averse chess to extremes. Carlsen already looks like he is aiming for the tie break. I don’t buy this stuff about “highest quality chess” or how closely matched the two players are. They are purposely targeting positions where there is a large margin for error, and where it will take really quite serious mistakes, or poor play over a long period, to create a serious advantage.

https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic...224269#p224269

Mark Crowther (tweet) - When the Beatles played the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg they weren't very animated on stage. Boss Bruno Koschmider used to go up to the stage and shout at them “Mach schau, mach schau!”. This phrase keeps coming into my mind in connection with the Carlsen-Caruana match.

[Wayne Komer]

Carlsen – Caruana World Championship 2018

November 18, 2018

Round Seven

Jonathan Tisdall has an interesting opening paragraph in his Wikipedia bio:

“Jonathan D. Tisdall is a grandmaster of chess and works as a freelance journalist. An American citizen by origin, he became Irish and later Norwegian. His father is Irish and his mother is Japanese. He was Norwegian Chess Champion in 1987, 1991, and 1995.”

He has written a very interesting half-time report on the Match at:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/2...nship-halftime

Two excerpts:

“Fun fact: There is a security guard in the playing room/board area 24/7. 24/7! Not just the daily full site sweep for various devices from a dedicated security crew. A live-in guard, to ensure no funny business can take place here.”

“The critical phase of this ending (of Game Six) kept the amazing Grischuk and Svidler in repeated confusion as they very nearly appeared to work out amazing intricacies, and a moment later were unable to reproduce or apply this knowledge in slightly different circumstances. At the press conference later, GM Ian Rogers, armed with the super-computer solution, could not really explain the winning ideas and only a vague idea of the possible one-off winning opportunity was communicated to the puzzled players.

Watching the press conference live in London after game 6 - with much of the public audience still present in the room - was a glittering argument for experiencing the match in raw form - just watching, and generally seeking human guidance. Because when the players reappeared on stage for the Q&A session, they were met with a roar of approval, and a prolonged session of standing applause and enthusiastic cheers from ticketholders.”

An entertaining read

__________

At one point in the analysis of today’s game (Rd 7), Peter Svidler talked about a game with Alexander Grischuk as being his favorite game. It is also that of Sasha’s too. Played in Mexico over ten years ago, Peter said:

FIDE World Championship
Mexico City MEX
Round 6, Sept. 19, 2007
Grischuk, Alexander – Svidler, Peter
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav


1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 h5 12.O-O Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Bg3 Qxd4 16.Rfd1 Qc5 17.Bd6 Qb6 18.a4 a6 19.e5 Nd7 20.a5 Qa7 21.Ne4 c5 22.Ng5 Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.Bxc4 bxc4 25.Qa4+ Kf8 26.Rd7 Bd5 27.Rd1 Bd4 28.Rxa7 Rxa7 29.b3 Kg7 30.bxc4 Ba8 31.Qc2 g3 32.Rxd4 cxd4 33.Qe2 gxf2+ 34.Qxf2 Rd8 35.Qg3 Kf8 36.Qe5 Ke8 37.Nxe6 fxe6 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Qg7+ Ke8 40.Qh8+ Ke7 41.Qg7+ 1/2-1/2

Notes from the Kibitzer’s Corner of chessgames.com

• The most exciting game of the tournament so far. What an incredible game!! This could go down as the draw of the year. Grischuk did seem to miss a win, but in time trouble was not easy. Had he of found the win, then it would have been one of his best ever wins.

I’m in awe of both these players calculating ability Some of the moves they both had to find were totally amazing. 24 Bxc4!! Is the move of the tournament for me, and then to understand the subtle moves like 29 b3! Is way beyond most mortal’

I have had my money’s worth already. This was just a sensational game to watch. Real credit to both players. Mexico will be proud of this draw.

• I went to house of chess Wednesday, gm Shabalov was going over the game, and neither he, I, nor any of the other 12 people were able to find why 37. N-h7 does not win for white. Well, actually there was a continuation in which Shablov said it was a draw, but I think he changed that stance to white still winning although he had begun going over it mentally and not telling us the moves or moving the pieces by that point... If someone can confirm this via computer I'd appreciate it, because as I said none of us after looking at it for about 15 minutes, could explain why my move was not superior to the move played, with the possible exception of time trouble.

• I have to admit I was 45 minutes late for work because I was watching this game yesterday. I have not seen Grischuck play with this much vigor in quite some time. Just when I thought he had already reached his peak he comes and throws this gem at us. beautiful game by both players.

It makes me wonder how much of this was home prepared by Grischuck however. It would be hard for me to buy that he blundered two pawns (the opening is a pawn sac so yes he was down three) and just fought back. However due to them both having less than 1 minute on the clock when they reached move 40 it could not have been much beyond Bxc4. Now that I have time I will read the analysis and look for improvements!

• 29.b3!! is an amazing move. I didn't see it at all. I wonder if Grischuk saw it when he played 24.Bxc4 which would be almost unsound without 29.b3. Whatever the answer, these guys got very far in intuition and in calculation. This is also true for Svidler who deliberately gets into this kind of position very often.

• Great game! I found it vaguely reminiscent in both play and outcome, to Anand vs Topalov, 2005

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1473014


(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Carlsen – Caruana World Championship 2018

November 16, 2018

Round Six

It is a real treat to listen to Alexander Grischuk’s observations.

About the Petroff in this game: “It’s a well-known line. Kovalev told me about it just recently during the Isle of Man tournament after our great Anti-Berlin Re1 and he said this 7…Nd4 just kills the line.”

“Honestly, I don’t want to analyze or even discuss this position until something happens…”

"Kramnik told me in France they're going to have a reality show. They'll put some cameras in the coffin & there'll just be a dead body in the coffin-lights & cameras. Twice per day 15 minutes on TV with highlights & 24/7 on internet. It's about as exciting as this game!"

Grischuk's prediction: "11 draws and then a huge fight in the final game, which would preferably end in a draw!"

__________

Antonio Pereira at ChessBase:

Fabiano started putting pressure on Magnus, and the latter eventually decided to give up a piece for three pawns (although later, he would lose two of them). Carlsen put up a fortress that, according to computers, could have been broken with an unlikely move. Former World Champion Garry Kasparov considered it unthinkable for a human to find the manoeuvre suggested by the silicon monsters

https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-...ip-2018-game-6

Round 6, Nov. 16
Carlsen, Magnus – Caruana, Fabiano
C42 Petrov’s Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nd3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Nf4 Nc6 7.Nd5 Nd4 8.Nxe7 Nxe2 9.Nd5 Nd4 10.Na3 Ne6 11.f3 N4c5 12.d4 Nd7 13.c3 c6 14.Nf4 Nb6 15.Bd3 d5 16.Nc2 Bd6 17.Nxe6 Bxe6 18.Kf2 h5 19.h4 Nc8 20.Ne3 Ne7 21.g3 c5 22.Bc2 O-O 23.Rd1 Rfd8 24.Ng2 cxd4 25.cxd4 Rac8 26.Bb3 Nc6 27.Bf4 Na5 28.Rdc1 Bb4 29.Bd1 Nc4 30.b3 Na3 31.Rxc8 Rxc8 32.Rc1 Nb5 33.Rxc8+ Bxc8 34.Ne3 Nc3 35.Bc2 Ba3 36.Bb8 a6 37.f4 Bd7 38.f5 Bc6 39.Bd1 Bb2 40.Bxh5 Ne4+ 41.Kg2 Bxd4 42.Bf4 Bc5 43.Bf3 Nd2 44.Bxd5 Bxe3 45.Bxc6 Bxf4 46.Bxb7 Bd6 47.Bxa6 Ne4 48.g4 Ba3 49.Bc4 Kf8 50.g5 Nc3 51.b4 Bxb4 52.Kf3 Na4 53.Bb5 Nc5 54.a4 f6 55.Kg4 Ne4 56.Kh5 Be1 57.Bd3 Nd6 58.a5 Bxa5 59.gxf6 gxf6 60.Kg6 Bd8 61.Kh7 Nf7 62.Bc4 Ne5 63.Bd5 Ba5 64.h5 Bd2 65.Ba2 Nf3 66.Bd5 Nd4 67.Kg6 Bg5 68.Bc4 Nf3 69.Kh7 Ne5 70.Bb3 Ng4 71.Bc4 Ne3 72.Bd3 Ng4 73.Bc4 Nh6 74.Kg6 Ke7 75.Bb3 Kd6 76.Bc2 Ke5 77.Bd3 Kf4 78.Bc2 Ng4 79.Bb3 Ne3 80.h6 Bxh6 1/2-1/2

The position after 68.Bc4:




Garry Kasparov (tweet) - The computer shows Black wins with 68..Bh4 here. But had Caruana played the incredible 69.Bd5 Ne2 70.Bf3 Ng1!! they would request metal detectors immediately! No human can willingly trap his own knight like that.

[Hans Jung]

Interesting endgame today. (rd 6)

[Wayne Komer]

Carlsen – Caruana World Championship 2018

November 15, 2018

Round Five

I find the Svidler-Guramishvili - Grischuk commentary very entertaining. It is like you are analyzing with old friends. Chess24 really has a great list of masters tied up for commentary. Leko and Kramnik would be the next additions if I had anything to say about a selection.

Andre Schulz at ChessBase:

The two players honoured Georgian champion Bukhtuti Gurgenidze with their opening selection and after a mild-mannered struggle, the game ended in a draw. The press conference, however, was once again lively. When asked which player Carlsen most admired from the past, he brought down the house with the original reply, "myself from three or four years ago".

As the game developed, Caruana was briefly up two pawns, but was badly lagging in development and quickly gave the material back with interest.

Caruana spent over 30 minutes to play 19.Bc3.

In the endgame with a rook and two minor pieces, Caruana was then even a pawn down. But there was little reason to expect that could be enough for Carlsen to make a run at the full point. And indeed, on the 34th move, Caruana offered a draw and Carlsen accepted.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-...ip-2018-game-5


Round 5, Nov. 15
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack
Gurgenidze variation


1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.Re1 e5 6.b4 Nxb4 7.Bb2 a6 8.a3 axb5 9.axb4 Rxa1 10.Bxa1 d6 11.bxc5 Ne7 12.Qe2 b4 13.Qc4 Qa5 14.cxd6 Be6 15.Qc7 Qxc7 16.dxc7 Nc6 17.c3 Kd7 18.cxb4 Ra8 19.Bc3 Kxc7 20.d3 Kb6 21.Bd2 Rd8 22.Be3+ Kb5 23.Nc3+ Kxb4 24.Nd5+ Bxd5 25.exd5 Rxd5 26.Rb1+ Kc3 27.Rxb7 Nd8 28.Rc7+ Kxd3 29.Kf1 h5 30.h3 Ke4 31.Ng5+ Kf5 32.Nxf7 Nxf7 33.Rxf7+ Bf6 34.g4+ 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 18…Ra8




White finally gets to develop his knight with 23.Nc3+ and the position becomes simplified:



________

Wikipedia - Bukhuti (Buchuti) Ivanovich Gurgenidze (November 13, 1933 – May 24, 2008) was a Georgian chess Grandmaster, born in Surami.

He was a multiple Georgian Champion, and played in eight USSR Chess Championships. He shared first place with Mikhail Tal at Tbilisi in 1969–70 and placed first at Olomouc in 1976. Gurgenidze was a trainer to several women grandmasters in the Soviet Union. He was a geologist by profession.

His name is attached to the Gurgenidze Variation in the Sicilian Defence (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.Re1 e5 6.b4) and in the Caro-Kann Gurgenidze Variation: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 g6.

[Vlad Drkulec]

regular chess like checkers will never go away, but most people would like to see something more exciting.

Alas, your variants are still-born, never to be played. Caruana and Carlsen are simply working within the parameters of the larger game they are playing. Questions of aesthetics can be dealt with once one or the other is crowned world champion.

[Victor Plotkin]

As usual, could not force myself to read Bonham's post till the end. Chess is not boring, absolutely not. This particular match is very boring (so far).

[Paul Bonham]

Final position



.

Someone else in this thread posted "So boring" and this final position reveals part of what is wrong with chess at this time. Black has gained a significant advantage and will achieve an advantage of K,B,P versus K, but cannot win. The h-Pawn's queening square is not of the same color as the Bishop, thus the material advantage cannot be winning.

It is simply too easy to get a draw in chess. In this case, it is built into the rules of piece movement.

Chess has gone through changes before to alleviate such problems. Giving Pawns the option of first move being 2 squares or 1 square.... the en passant rule.... castling.... all are examples of rule changes to make the game more dynamic and interesting.

One of the variants I've proposed to make chess much more exciting is Option Chess, and I have annotated games to prove that the dynamics of play are fantastic. If any reader wishes to receive Word documents of these games, just message me with an email address to which I can send them. Be prepared to have your mind blown by some of the incredible lines.

But most if not all of you will decline to even look into it, and that's fine, just don't be complaining about how boring chess is and that there are too many draws.

Another change I have in mind is something I call Full Court Chess, and if anyone wants to hear about that, I can send an email with all details on that as well. But I won't get into it here, I don't want to hijack this thread, just responding to the person who posted that this match is "so boring". Carlsen is the true modern chess player in that he plays much like a computer engine... which leads to long, long games in which Carlsen simply waits for a minor mistake that can be capitalized on in a winning way. If you like that kind of thing, good for you, regular chess like checkers will never go away, but most people would like to see something more exciting.

[Hans Jung]

Yes, complete analysis sessions open to the public. Further to that entertainers: blindfold chess, blindfold speed chess, small simuls with analysis etc. give the walk in fans their moneys worth. Find the characters and entertainers and storytellers. Put on a show (but dont make it a complete carnival)

[Tom O'Donnell]

Live coverage of tournaments were more enjoyable when they could jump back and forth between 6 boards, But to spend 4 hours watching a draw. I still think that reading a chess book of annotated selected games is a better use of time than following live events on the Internet..

I agree that just following the moves live is not particularly useful. However, listening to someone like Seirawan break down a position in real time is incredibly useful and I feel bad that this wasn't available when I was 2100ish. Annotated games are the sanitized version of the thinking process. Seeing the dead ends, changes in evaluations, the order in which a GM evaluates a position, etc., those things don't translate well imo in book form.

[Wayne Komer]

Carlsen – Caruana World Championship 2018

November 13, 2018

Round Four (continued)

The English commentary on the Match that I have noticed:

Peter Svidler, Sopiko Guramishvili and Alexander Grischuk

Eric Hansen and Aman Hambleton

Judit Polgar and Anna Rudolf

Another draw, the shortest of the Match so far:

Round 4, Nov. 13
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.O-O O-O 8.d3 Re8 9.Bd2 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 Nd4 11.b4 Bd6 12.Rb1 Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3 a6 14.a4 c6 15.Re1 Bd7 16.e3 Qf6 17.Be4 Bf5 18.Qf3 Bxe4 19.Qxf6 gxf6 20.dxe4 b5 21.Red1 Bf8 22.axb5 axb5 23.Kg2 Red8 24.Rdc1 Kg7 25.Be1 Rdc8 26.Rc2 Ra4 27.Kf3 h5 28.Ke2 Kg6 29.h3 f5 30.exf5+ Kxf5 31.f3 Be7 32.e4+ Ke6 33.Bd2 Bd6 34.Rbc1 1/2-1/2


The excitement of the round was Videogate.

A video was posted on line of Caruana hanging out at the Sinquefield farm estate, playing basketball and preparing for the match. It has since been deleted from YouTube.

Olimpiu Urcan (tweet) – “Viewers could also see a laptop screen with a ChessBase file laid open. The greatest intel blunder in chess history or a hoax?”

You can look at the video and see what you can glean from it:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-...ip-2018-game-4

[Erik Malmsten]

So boring... Even more boring than Carlsen-Karjakin 2 years ago. Women Championship is much more interesting.

Live coverage of tournaments were more enjoyable when they could jump back and forth between 6 boards, But to spend 4 hours watching a draw. I still think that reading a chess book of annotated selected games is a better use of time than following live events on the Internet..

[Victor Plotkin]

So boring... Even more boring than Carlsen-Karjakin 2 years ago. Women Championship is much more interesting.