Sinquefeld Cup

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  • Sinquefeld Cup

    The additions of Peter Svidler and Anastasia Karlovich - I must say I like it. Peter and Uncle Yaz are a good team.
    Magnus made an opening statement with a round one win. Who's going to challenge him? and Hans Niemann looks pretty smooth so far with a first round draw against Aronian but the real challenge will come when he has to take the black pieces.

  • #2
    Rd 2 Hans Niemann beats the Shak! - and is tied for first with Magnus! Is he pinching himself? Winning endgames were the order of the day as Nepo also won. Caruana had an interesting game as well. Which game did you think was the best/most interesting of round two?

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    • #3
      Rd 3 Hans Niemann has black against Magnus.

      Looks like Hans Niemann is giving lessons to Magnus in the endgame (smile)
      Magnus opening went wrong as Peter Svidler so nicely explained. Good for Hans!

      At move 30 the engines have Hans's position at +4.
      Last edited by Hans Jung; Sunday, 4th September, 2022, 05:01 PM.

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      • #4
        Rd 3 Commentators can be wrong sometimes. They thought after the opening in So-Caruana it would be a quick draw but it looks to be a win in the endgame for Wesley So now.

        Firoujza used Alekhines gun to beat Aronian. Big win.

        and So checkmated Caruana nicely.

        but the biggest news is Magnus lost to the wildcard!
        Last edited by Hans Jung; Sunday, 4th September, 2022, 07:07 PM.

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        • #5
          So who is leading Sinquefeld Cup after round 3? Hans Niemann!!! Instant celebrity! Whats that song: There'll be dancing in the street .....

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          • #6
            and another reward for Hans Niemann is that he is the newest member of the 2700 club! - number 40 in the world rankings.

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            • #7
              Rd 4 pairings Niemann vs Firoujza Hopefully fireworks.

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              • #8
                https://en.chessbase.com/post/sinquefield-cup-2022-r3 Emphatic statements by Hans Niemann in interview (half way down page)

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                • #9
                  Rd 4 Hans Niemann drew Firoujza in the most interesting game of the round. Many interesting moments and variations discussed by the commentators including an amazing potential double exchange sacrifice by White.

                  Caruana won a long queen endgame grind against MVL
                  Last edited by Hans Jung; Tuesday, 6th September, 2022, 11:16 AM.

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                  • #10
                    Yes, the Niemann-Firoujza game was very exciting and instructive.

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                    • #11
                      Rd 5 Hans Niemann is black against Lenier Dominguez. It will be interesting to see what transpires.
                      (by that I mean what will the prep of each player be and what the resulting play will be)

                      Niemann defended solidly against Dominguez and it was a draw.
                      The most interesting game out of the opening was Shak - Caruana. However Shak managed to trade off all major pieces and ended up in a bishop of opposites a pawn down - so draw.

                      The other games were drawn.
                      Last edited by Hans Jung; Tuesday, 6th September, 2022, 07:46 PM.

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                      • #12
                        Tomorrow Wednesday is a rest day. Next round is Thursday Sept 8th.

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                        • #13
                          Sinquefield coverage has been enjoyable to watch, for a change.

                          Sinquefield coverage, to my mind, in previous years was so bad that I found it unwatchable. They used to have constant interruptions by interviewing completely random person-of-the-hour unrelated to chess nonsense. They also finally got rid of the "and now lets take a call from our audience" where Billy Bob, the beginner player from middle-of-nowhere-Wyoming would feel the need to tell us that he picked up chess through... whatever... and then ask Yasser, Maurice and Jen about their recommended endgame book, or how the chess clock worked.
                          It had been depressing to see Yasser's chess analyzes drastically decline over the years in favour of showmanship. Forget Maurice Ashley, he had sold his chess soul to the engine and took its word as the word of God (as most even top players do), but without even attempting his own analyzes. Instead opting to make the broadcast sound like some WWF clip to motivate 12-year-olds to pick up chess. Jennifer Shahade was a total abomination, as far as contributions to the broadcast.

                          I had resigned myself to not watching Sinquefield Cups anymore and think to myself... they're doing what they're doing and there's a huge audience for their show. Therefore I am the idiot and I am wrong for wanting proper chess analyzes, and clearly they're doing it right, because people tune in.

                          This year is different. They brought in Peter Svidler, who is one of my all-time top 3 commentators. The broadcast seems a lot more about the chess than surrounding fluff. There has been the whole Carlsen / Niemann side-plot but people have been able to express their views on the matter and put it out in the open, which is a mixed bag, but maybe not a terrible thing. Yasser's analyzes have stepped back up. Alejandro doing the computer analyzes is doing it right. All things being equal I prefer watching GMs doing analyzes without engines, but if you're going to use engines, get to the lines that matter. Maurice used to find some insane line that would never happen with crazy sacrifices just to hype up the show. Alejandro balances his own GM knowledge with the engine lines a lot better. The interviews by Alejandro are also better this year. Anastasia is doing okay with the social media, too, and she catches the other players who don't make it onto the studio after the round, for a short interview in the hallways. And most importantly, they cut out most of the fluff, or you can watch it in the supplements outside of the broadcast. Gone from the live broadcast are the random tours to the Hall of Fame, the random interviews with the organizers, and the local firefighter that pulled the cat out of the tree outside the club, or whatever person-du-jour they felt the need to place on the airwaves.

                          The games have been rich in content, even if there are many draws.
                          Firouza has been slown down by the top players, as expected. Niemann is the new kid on the 2700 block, I hope he's legit and playing by the rules. Even though he's a bit cocky in interviews, at least he's got a strong personality. Most top chess players are almost too polite lately.
                          Sinquefield has been actually quite enjoyable this year!


                          Alex Ferreira

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                          • #14
                            Alex Ferreira and I can share with you from my time at the St.Louis Rapid & Blitz, that this broadcast team worked very hard (I'm not saying the previous one didn't, I just don't know)

                            The Arbiter team would arrive rather early, and the broadcast team was always already dry-running, fully prepared. I don't know how long they had been there, but they really worked at it!

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Alex Ferreira View Post
                              Forget Maurice Ashley, he had sold his chess soul to the engine and took its word as the word of God (as most even top players do), but without even attempting his own analyzes. Instead opting to make the broadcast sound like some WWF clip to motivate 12-year-olds to pick up chess. Jennifer Shahade was a total abomination, as far as contributions to the broadcast.
                              I said a few years ago that Ashley sounds like he is broadcasting a football game, and that Shahade interrupted Yaz so often that it became almost unwatchable. In other words, I agree with you. Svidler along with Leko are my two favourite commentators, and Yaz does a great job willingly showing deference to Svidler. And I too would prefer no engine analysis, at least until the post-mortems, but if they are going to do it then Alejandro at least uses his own brain as well.

                              The problem with many if not most chess commentators is that they just play blitz by calling out moves from the given position rather than trying to explain what is happening. This is why I love Leko and Svidler. If I have one mild criticism it would be that they show Svilder and Yaz too much rather than keeping us looking at the players and the games/analyses. But overall, again, I agree with you Alex, these are some of the best broadcasts we have had the pleasure of watching and learning from.

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