Beijing Grand Prix

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 4th July, 2013, 12:05 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Thursday, July 4, 2013

First Round

The games began at 3 a.m. time here and when I looked in much later on, the transmission was over. Often there is playback video, so that you can follow the games and listen to the commentary but there was nothing today. One would think that the videos would be posted later today. If not, it will be exceedingly awkward to follow this tournament.

The bare results posted are:

Giri(0)-Karjakin(1)
Morozevich(.5)-Wang Yue(.5)
Gelfand(0)-Topalov(1)
Leko(.5)-Mamedyarov(.5)
Kamsky(0)-Girschuk(1)
Ivanchuk(.5)-Wang Hao(.5)
+++++++++++

Gelfand-Topalov was a Grunfeld, Russian var. with e4, with Gelfand having a comfortable game until move 23, when black got a passed pawn on the third rank. Topalov increased his advantage and Gelfand resigned at move 41.
+++++++

Kamsky-Grischuk. For some reason Gata Kamsky’s name was inputted into the server as Kamsky Kamsky. As you might expect “hilarity ensued”.
There has been that discussion as to whether chess players whose names begin with “K”s could field a team that could beat any other team all time. Clearly Kamsky Kamsky is a name to be reckoned with.

The kibitzers on chessbomb.com had a field day:

- I guess Kamsky Kamsky is going like Duran Duran for his new-found resurgence. I just hope he doesn’t get their hair!
- Kamsky Kamsky does not care for king safety
- The Chinese have a piano genius called Lang Lang, so maybe they think (his name) has to be that way.

The game appeared to be fairly equal until both players got into time trouble and the clock ran out for Gata on move 39.

- Mr. K.K. has good drawing chances
- Kamsky Kamsky lo!
- Grischuk Grischuk won on time?

(ChessBase) In another bizarre Sicilian Kamsky was forced to sacrifice a pawn very early on but obtained fantastic initiative. The players both got into severe time trouble and the game's quality at the end left much to be desired, as the many complications could not be calculated when both sides were playing on increment. Unfortunately for the American he let his flag fall and that sealed the deal.
+++++++

Giri-Karjakin. Giri went astray about move 24. The kibitzers thought that something had gone wrong with his prep against the Berlin Ruy.

- He mixed up some moves obviously, but this prep will definitely have some impact on the berlin
- This system against the Berlin will need some tweaking
- I stopped following theory for a few months and suddenly White doesn’t have a draw in the Berlin? Strange.

and Giri resigned after the time control was reached.
++++++++

Ivanchuk-Wang Hao reached a draw in 28 moves with no time troubles.

(ChessBase) Ivanchuk seemed surprised at Wang Hao's Tarrasch set-up and his reply was far from the most challenging. After some simple moves Wang Hao achieved complete equality and the game ended in a relatively quick draw.

Leko-Mamedyarov went 51 moves to a draw. The final position was white K+N vs black’s K + gP.

(ChessBase) This exciting game saw many pretty tactics, some missed opportunities and a hard fought draw. Through some clever tricks Leko obtained two pieces for a rook, a nice advantage that was however offset by Mamedyarov's activity and passed pawns. With some precise play Leko could have neutralized this, but he allowed Black's position to consistently improve until they reached an endgame in which the rook was no worse than the two minor pieces. Black didn't have true winning chances either and the game boiled down to a draw.

Morozevich-Wang Yue was the last game to finish. It looked promising for Morozevich but ended in a draw at move 60.

The chessbomb guys:

-Last game of the round. Everyone went for a beer already. They should adourn
-and go straight to the bar
-opposite coloured bishops, opposite rooks, opposite kings, surely a dead draw
-the Boriskoff engine predicts that Moro will win on the 119th move
++++++++++

Chessvibes write-up has just come out and agrees with ours:

Grischuk beat Kamsky in a Rossolimo Sicilian that ended in a time scramble. Giri had prepared a deep line in the Berlin Ending, but Karjakin played well and refuted his opponent's material sacrifices. Veselin Topalov won against Boris Gelfand in a Grünfeld where Black's passed pawn proved more dangerous than White's.
++++++++

Teimour Radjabov skipped this tournament because his wife was due. He was replaced by Wang Yue. Yesterday a daughter was born to the Radjabovs.
++++++++

I shall leave the coverage of the first round off here. I hope that the videos will become available during the next round. Depending too heavily on chessbomb.com might drive me to drink.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 5th July, 2013, 12:43 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Two

Friday, July 5, 2013

Matchups and Results of Round Two:

Karjakin(1)-Wang Hao(0) Pirc
Grischuk(.5)-Ivanchuk(.5) Sicilian Paulsen
Topalov(.5)-Leko(.5) Queen’s Indian
Mamedyarov(.5)-Kamsky(.5) Slav Defence
Wang Yue(.5)-Gelfand(.5) Grunfeld
Giri(.5)-Morozevich(.5) French

As disappointing a round of chess as I can remember. Perhaps it is because one’s expectations of an international tournament are so high.

I got up very early and found that there was still no live video – and, therefore, no commentary or press conference available. There was no chess engine evaluation of the moves. The organizers seemed not to be taking advantage of all the technical innovations available in presenting a tournament. One yearned for the way Andrew Paulson engaged the audience at the London Candidates – multiple cameras and boards, being able to switch views and so forth. The Beijing treatment is ultra-conservative.

This round was very quiet. Topalov-Leko went nowhere and was drawn. Giri-Morozevich ended in a draw by repetition in 22 moves as did Wang Yue-Gelfand, same number of moves and by repetition.

(Chessvibes) Alexander Grischuk versus Vassily Ivanchuk, a Kan Sicilian, was a classic fight of bishop pair against structure. Black's knights found good squares, and even the king could join the defence of the e-pawn. White's pawn sac didn't give much extra play and in the end the players found a funny move repetition.

Actually, near the end, Grischuk was in time trouble with seconds to make his remaining moves. One imagines that Ivanchuk looked on with amused silence and was quite agreeable to the draw.
++++++++

Mamedyarov-Kamsky ended in a perpetual. I will not go back and count up all the perpetuals even though it is probably a record.

Kamsky wore an impeccable dark suit and a blue baseball cap. When was the FIDE dress code supposed to take effect?

There is an outstanding photo of him in the first round sitting on a black leather couch in his lucky white suit.

http://beijing2013.fide.com/en/main-...-photo-gallery

It is as good a photo as I have ever seen of a chess champion – showing confidence and a little arrogance; the mauve shirt, the splendid isolation – superb! If I tell you he is sitting on the part of the couch that Sheldon Cooper (from The Big Bang Theory) would call "his spot", then you will know immediately where that is.

When I joked about the white suit in an earlier commentary, I mentioned all the famous people who wore white suits. Alas, in a recent showing of The Godfather Part II, I found that I missed one.

Do you recall Don Fanucci, the Black Hand extortionist, in old New York’s Little Italy? He has a white suit and broad white hat. Vito Corleone follows him via rooftops to his apartment during a street festival and takes care of him.
++++++++++

Karjakin-Wang Hao was the one game, which was not a draw.

(ChessBase) An unusual guest in top level practice, the Austrian attack of the Pirc gave White a clear advantage from the opening. His superior development allowed him to blast open the kingside. Black had to go for the counterattack on the opposite flank, where Karjakin's king was, but through some solid combination of defense and attack and clever tactics Karjakin took an important full point and the lead.

On chessbomb, the kibitzers were trying to shore up Wang Hao’s game around move 22:

-he had to play Rbd8 to have c6c5 after Qf6 Qb6. but it's for engine, not for human.

-Ivanov would have 'found' Rbd8 and c5...

Borislav Ivanov has now become a popular iconic equivalent of the chess engine!
++++++++++

So Karjakin has the lead and a perfect score.

From on-line forums:

-Karjakin didn't go to Beijing to pick up flowers ! What a game. Wang Hao totally outplayed. Hope to see Sergei at the Candidates

-What a brilliant game by Karjakin. I was amazed with his keeping his cool, excellent defense, and the timely devastating attack against none other than Wang Hao. We keep talking about Magnus, but I wonder whether the next World Champion from this young 20 something generation is Sergei Karjakin! This game is worth studying to learn from to know how Super GMs play and win even if you are titled player yourself.
+++++++

(Karjakin)- I guess I played the opening quite well; I enjoyed my position. Mistaken was the Chinese's 12th move: 12...Bf6?. He should have tried 12...f6 instead, although white is better in that variation as well. After Bf6, White has a powerful initiative! In general I'm satisfied with my play and if I have seen 22.Na4 instead of 22.Rd4, we would even have a miniature! I gave him a chance to escape - he might have moved his rook on d8, however, even in that position White's position is close to winning."

Standings after Round Two:

Karjakin 2
Topalov 1.5
Grischuk 1.5
Mamedyarov 1
Morozevich 1
Wang Yue 1
Leko 1
Ivanchuk 1
Gelfand 0.5
Kamsky 0.5
Wang Hao 0.5
Giri 0.5

The official website is now posting interviews of the first round. Something may be gleanable from those.

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 6th July, 2013, 11:02 AM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Three

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Matchups and Results

Leko(.5)-Wang Yue(.5) 59 m, Semi-Tarrasch
Kamsky(.5)-Topalov(.5) 75 m QGD 5.Bf4
Ivanchuk(0)-Mamedyarov(1) 43 m Blumenfeld
Morozevich(0)-Karjakin(1) 35 m Queen’s Indian
Wang Hao(.5)-Grischuk(.5) 47 m Grunfeld
Gelfand(0)-Giri(1) 37 m Dutch Leningrad

m = number of moves
++++++++++

Just like the first round there were three wins for black. In the first round, Kamsky lost on time. Here Gelfand, from an equal position, lost on time on move 37.
In Ivanchuk-Mamedyarov, nearing the time control, Chucky had R+B+N vs Q. Black pushed his pawn to a4, white blocked with his rook and the whole position came tumbling down. White appeared to be in zugzwang and the black queen all-powerful. It wasn’t a time trouble loss.

Wang Hao-Grischuk and Leko-Wang Yue were draws.

The chessbomb guys think there should be a Leko prize for draws with Wang Yue and Leko hot in contention for it.

Kamsky-Topalov is the last game to finish. – a rooks and pawns endgame which went 75 moves.

Morozevich-Karjakin is more or less equal until Morozevich withdraws his knight protecting his e pawn (19.Nfd2)

Chessbomb comments at this point:

-maybe he missed the zwishen move after 19…Nxe5 20.Bf4 Qc6 with mate threat

-this looks like “amateur vs master” strategically. Quite amazing

-2790 for Karjakin now

-classical Moro self-destruction

-three in a row for Sergey! Strongest player nowadays.
+++++++++++

Standings after Round Three

Karjakin 3
Mamedyarov 2
Grischuk 2
Topalov 2
Giri 1.5
Wang Yue 1.5
Leko 1.5
Kamsky 1
Ivanchuk 1
Morozevich 1
Wang Hao 1
Gelfand .5
++++++++++++++

On Tuesday, there was published a Karjakin interview, which shows how the young grandmaster is working – or rather, how his staff works:

Sergey Karjakin gave an interview to Ukrainian newspaper Sport-Week while playing at the rapid event organized by Sberbank Russia in Kiev. According to Karjakin his coaches continued working on classical chess while he was playing in Ukraine.

"For instance I went to Kiev to play at Sberbank Open," Sergey explained. "Before leaving I gave the coaches the task to examine certain problem positions. So, while I'm playing here they're working non-stop there! They will present their work when I'll get back to Russia. ...The coaches do a huge amount of work, which is impossible to do for only one person. Thousands of new games are played every week. All of them are posted in the Internet. They should be monitored, as well as the novelties applied in them; they should be analysed and you should be ready to embody new ideas in practice, however, you should also be ready to face such ideas being applied against you. This is a permanent and very hard work."

Another interview shows the prep needed at this level:

Before leaving for Tashkent Sergey Karjakin gave an interview and told how he was preparing for the Grand Prix.  "I was preparing for the competition with my coaches Alexander Motylev and Yury Dokhoyan in a quiet place in Podmoskovye. 5-6 six hours a day were dedicated to preparations, other 2-3 hours were used for physical training, swimming pool, sauna and, of course, the walks."

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 7th July, 2013, 12:19 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Four

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Matchups and Results of Round Four

Karjakin(.5)-Grischuk(.5) 31 m Sicilian Najdorf
Mamedyarov(1)-Wang Hao(0) 37 m Slav Defence
Wang Yue (1)-Kamsky(0) 81 m English Symmetric
Topalov(.5)-Ivanchuk(.5) 46 m Sicilian Labourdonnais
Morozevich(1)-Gelfand(0) 34 m Grunfeld
Giri(.5)-Leko(.5) 25 m Nimzo Indian
++++++++++

Three white wins; both Kamsky and Gelfand lose again.

After seven hours play Wang Yue-Kamsky was still going on. White had R and pawns on the a and g files. Black had R and pawn on the c file.
Chessbomb kibitzers says that Wang is taking the long road to victory, the scenic route.

Tablebase victory finally, and Kamsky capitulates before making his 81st move.

Karjakin-Grischuk looks like a “pre-arranged” draw and ends in a perpetual after 31 moves.

Giri-Leko ends in a draw by repetition of position in just 25 moves. One commentator says of Giri that for such a young player, he sure produces a lot of boring draws. Leko is called The Draw King.

Morozevich-Gelfand is fairly equal until move 27 when Morozevich’s bishop takes the pawn at f7. Black should take the pawn with his king but fearing the advancement of white’s pawn on d6, moves his rook to f8. White exposes the king and begins a king hunt which ends with Gelfand resigning on move 34. It looks like time was a factor in his weak play at the end.

Without live video of the players, one can only guess what their reactions are.

When writing up these games, I have noticed that at various websites, the preliminary news is given as soon as the games are finished and then a more reasoned analysis comes a few hours later.

Watching the games for the first five-hour stretch, while making notes and then polishing up the commentary and putting it on-line is no joke – if this is done day after day. And there are other events on. For example, Mark Crowther of This Week in Chess is watching the games, and also Wimbledon tennis while tweeting all the while:

- Wimbledon Murray vs Djokovic final. The first question for me is how many hours is this going to go. 4hrs+ would be my guess. Then who wins?

- Beijing Grand Prix R4 ‪#Chess. I go for a shower and find Mamedyarov beats Wang Hao. How'd that happen? Even I saw 35...Kxe6 at least draws.

I was watching the Kamsky endgame over my morning cereal, then checked out the moves in Karjakin and Ivanchuk’s games before getting down to work.

In Mamedyarov-Wang Hao, black can either take the advanced e pawn on his exposing himself to attack or he can retreat to d8, which is fatal. Wang Hao resigns two moves later.
+++++++

Topalov-Ivanchuk goes toward the first time control and Vassily forces perpetual check. A draw.

The standings after Round Four:

Karjakin 3.5
Mamedyarov 3
Grischuk 2.5
Wang Yue 2.5
Topalov 2.5
Leko 2
Morozevich 2
Giri 2
Ivanchuk 1.5
Kamsky 1
Wang Hao 1
Gelfand .5

The tournament organizers are now putting latest round videos up so that you can hear the interviews after all the games are concluded.

Yesterday night I played over a short video (3 min 20 sec) with Anastasiya Karlovych interviewing Ivanchuk about his third round game with Mamedyarov:

http://livegames.fide.com/beijing201...0130706-B2.wmv

(Karlovych) – What happened in the end? Did you miss 39….g5?

(Ivanchuk)(speaking in a high voice, much higher than Karlovych’s) I consider the final position to be much like that of Karpov-Salov, from Volkov.

(Karlovych) Because I have never seen this game, can you tell us what happened?

(Ivanchuk) – You can check in the chessbases..

But then Vassily takes the mouse and goes through that game

(Ivanchuk) It was a very long time ago.

(Karlovych) I see that white sacrificed queen for three pieces. In your game today, you seemed attracted by the sacrifice of the pawn on c5 (17….c5) yet, there were other moves in the game.. In the end, this move g5, you just missed it?

(Ivanchuk)(waves his hand again and again) I just don’t understand anything about this position.

(Karlovych) – Maybe you could have played something different. Did you think about it?

(Ivanchuk) Different play maybe. Maybe to play card games or something else.

Everyone had big smiles on their faces. A very funny little clip and I recommend watching it very highly.
+++++++++++

I guess I must be very inept but I tried to find the Karpov-Salov game for over an hour. First, in the various chess bases, then in Karpov games collections and finally seeking out the position on the screen behind Karlovych and Ivanchuk and could find nothing.

If any reader here knows of the game, or has a good collection of Karpov games or can find the position on a chess base and trace it to date and place and give the game, it would be much appreciated. I would hate, a year from now, for somebody to be looking over this old thread and the game had not yet been found.

If you are fluent in spoken Russian, you might also find out what the game was, other than cards, that Ivanchuk said he might try!

From the above, I believe it was Karpov, as white, playing in his prime. His opponent sounded like Salov, but I could be wrong there. There are Volkovs in the Ukraine and Russia but I may have misheard there again. Karpov got three minor pieces for his queen but I am not sure what the result of the game was.

The FEN was:

4k2r/p2p1ppp/Pp2p3/2p5/2P1q3/5NP1/P2BPP1P/3RK3

But it is possible that Ivanchuk misremembered the position after all these years.

**Michael Barron** · Sunday, 7th July, 2013, 12:58 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post

... I tried to find the Karpov-Salov games for over an hour. First, in the various chess bases, then in Karpov games collections and finally seeking out the position on the screen behind Karlovych and Ivanchuk and could find nothing.

If any reader here knows of the game, or has a good collection of Karpov games or can find the position on a chess base and trace it to date and place and give the game, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you, Wayne, for your commentary!
Much appreciated!

As for the game in question here it is:
http://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=2291411

[Event "World Cup"]
[Site "Rotterdam"]
[Date "1989.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Black "Salov, Valery"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2630"]
[ECO "E17"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Bd2 Bf6 8. Rc1 Bxd4 9. Nxd4 Nxc3 10. Bxb7 Nxd1 11. Rxd1 c6 12. Bf4 O-O 13. Bd6 Re8 14. Bxa8 Qc8 15. b4 Na6 16. b5 Qxa8 17. bxa6 c5 18. Nf3 Qe4 19. Rc1 f6 20. a3 Qc6 21. Rd1 Qa4 22. Nd2 Qc6 23. Nf3 Qa4 24. Nd2 Qxa3 25. O-O Qxa6 26. e4 Qa4 27. e5 Qc6 28. Rfe1 a6 29. Re3 h6 30. Rc1 Ra8 31. Ne4 fxe5 32. f3 a5 33. Ra3 a4 34. h4 Ra5 35. Kg2 b5 36. cxb5 Rxb5 37. Kh3 Rb3 38. Rxc5 Qa6 39. Rc3 Qb5 40. Kg4 Kh7 41. h5 Rxa3 42. Rxa3 g6 43. Bf8 Kg8 44. Bd6 Kf7 45. Rc3 gxh5+ 46. Kxh5 Qf1 47. Kg4 Kg6 48. Bxe5 d5 49. Nc5 Qh1 50. Kf4 Qh5 51. Ke3 Qxe5+ 52. Kd2 d4 0-1

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 7th July, 2013, 01:05 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

As Mr. Burns would say, Michael, "Excellent!".

And so quick too! Clearly 1 a.m. is not a good time for me to be searching for an historic game.

**Dan Scoones** · Sunday, 7th July, 2013, 01:09 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Karpov-Salov, Rotterdam 1989 (Inf. 47/649)

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 8th July, 2013, 01:22 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Monday, July 8, 2013

This is a free day in the tournament schedule.

ChessVibes reports: Maybe the players in Beijing are lucky to be playing a chess tournament inside, in the air-conditioned premises of the Chinese Chess Federation. Outside, the weather in the Chinese capital is not very pleasant: about 32 degrees Celsius and more than 90% humidity! Besides that, it's just "a different location but the same players", as Peter Leko put it.

The pairings for the next two rounds:

Round 5 July 9
Gelfand-Karjakin
Leko-Morozevich
Kamsky-Giri
Ivanchuk-Wang Yue
Wang Hao-Topalov
Grischuk-Mamedyarov

Round 6 July 10
Karjakin-Mamedyarov
Topalov-Grischuk
Wang Yue-Wang Hao
Giri-Ivanchuk
Morozevich-Kamsky
Gelfand-Leko

This round has the two leaders against one another, Wang vs Wang and a rematch of Giri-Ivanchuk – they had that mixed match in the 26th Ciudad de León in June.

http://www.chessvibes.com/giri-beats...r-coaster-ride
+++++++++

Thanks again to Dan and Paul for finding the Ivanchuk-Salov game. Two days later, it is featured on the chess-news.ru site:

http://www.chess-news.ru/en/node/12638

Vassily is such a boyish charmer, that Anastasiya does not ask why he followed a strategy that lost for Karpov! She has a grin on her face during most of the interview.

I still wish I knew what that alternative to card games is:

(Ivanchuk) Different play maybe. Maybe to play..card games or kukukizimo or something else!

[Google does say that there is a mobile phone game called Kukuxumusu UFO – about worried sheep and a flying saucer, which is operated by the user. The player has to surpass 20 levels of difficulty by operating the flying saucer with the aim of abducting the sheep while also attempting to steer clear of projectiles, which fall from the sky.]

Vassily Ivanchuk, grandmaster of Kukuxumusu. Good Lord!

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 9th July, 2013, 10:33 AM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Five

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Matchups and Results

Grischuk(1)- Mamedyarov(0) 61 m English Four Knights
Leko(.5)-Morozevich(.5) 31 m Sicilian Paulsen
Ivanchuk(1)-Wang Yue(0) 42 m Sicilian Paulsen
Wang Hao(.5)-Topalov(.5) 49 m Grunfeld
Gelfand(.5)-Karjakin(.5) 49 m Queen’s Indian
Kamsky(0)-Giri(1) 43 m Sicilian Rossolimo

Standings

Karjakin 4
Grischuk 3.5
Mamedyarov 3
Topalov 3
Giri 3
Leko 2.5
Ivanchuk 2.5
Morozevich 2.5
Wang Yue 2.5
Wang Hao 1.5
Gelfand 1
Kamsky 1
+++++++++

Leko-Morozevich is a draw by repetition in 31 moves.

Wang Hao-Topalov has enterprising play on both sides. A black pawn sits on f2 for a long time but the game concludes in a draw after 49 moves.

Gelfand-Karjakin is a very solid game that ends in a draw after 50 moves.

Grischuk-Mamedyarov – is better for Grischuk. Mamedyarov makes a couple of bad moves around 49 and 52 and then a fatal one at 59 and goes down to defeat in 61.

Kamsky-Giri is not good for Kamsky early on. The chessbomb kibitzers think he has a suicide wish:

- what is gata doing?
- kind of suicide
- why did he give that pawn?
- positional sacrifice backfired
- wow, gata is going down!

and white resigned on the 43rd move

Ivanchuk-Wang Yue has a weird position on the 26th move with white’s king buried in a fortress of pieces on his first rank – N,R,R,K,B and black’s Q on h1!

There is then an inevitability of an Ivanchuk win.

- wang yue, you have been chucked!
- Look at the clock Chucky
- Wang is waiting for move 40 to resign
- Chucky did it
- Wang could play on
- Douglas Adams told him to resign on move 42
- Who is Adams?
- Adams solved chess and the solution was 42
- Game of the day

Douglas Adams wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In it, a giant computer called Deep Thought, having spent exactly 7.5m years pondering on Life, the Universe and Everything finally and solemnly announces that the Ultimate Answer is . . . "Forty two".

Wang Yue gets the message and resigns on move 42!

This has to be the most bizarre chess comment ever.

Tidbits from the Press Conferences

Grischuk-Mamedyarov

(Grischuk) – It is very difficult for me to play Shakriyar because my daughter is love with him and when we play chess, she secretly roots for Shakriyar and not for me. She roots for me but I can see in her eyes that it is a lie.
+++++++

Wang Yue-Ivanchuk

(Anastasya) – Today, there were two similar openings – in your game, and in Leko-Morozevich. How did it happen?

(Ivanchuk) – Well, there is a very very big difference between Bf4 and c4, a very big difference.

I played this (Sicilian Paulsen) many years ago against Granda. (Ivanchuk-Granda Zuniga, Biel 1993).

(Anistasya) (to Wang Yue) You remembered the game, yeh?

(Wang Yue) Yes.

(Ivanchuk) I won. A complicated battle.
+++++++++

Kamsky-Giri

(ChessVibes) It wasn't Gata Kamsky's day. In a 3.Bb5 Sicilian, he found himself looking at a lost position about ten moves after the opening was over. Giri, who did most of the talking during the press conference, gave the impression that he had studied the positions deeply.

Gata is in his famous lucky white suit and blue baseball cap. I promised myself last time I did it that I would quit my search for famous people who wore white suits. But, last night there was a rerun on television of a Johnny Carson Show from 1979, with Steve Martin plugging his new book, Cruel Shoes, and his new film The Jerk, and he was wearing a three-piece white suit. He and Travolta were famous for the white suit in that era.

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 10th July, 2013, 11:30 AM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Six Beijing Final

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Matchups and Results

Karjakin(0)-Mamedyarov(1) 95 m Petroff’s Defence
Topalov(.5)-Grischuk(.5) 49 m Ruy Lopez Berlin
Morozevich(1)-Kamsky(0) 38 m Grunfeld
Giri(.5)-Ivanchuk(.5) 46 m Ruy Lopez
Wang Yue(1)-Wang Hao(0) 57 m QGD
Gelfand(.5)-Leko(.5) 39 m English

Standings after Round Six

Karjakin 4
Grischuk 4
Mamedyarov 4
Topalov 3.5
Morozevich 3.5
Giri 3.5
Wang Yue 3.5
Ivanchuk 3
Leko 3
Gelfand 1.5
Wang Hao 1.5
Kamsky 1
+++++++++++++

Karjakin-Mamedyarov was the last game to finish – well over six hours in length. At move 78 there was an endgame of white Q and black Q+dP. It appeared to be a tablebase draw but Mamedyarov had a great time advantage (48 min to 12 min) so why not play on? Karjakin tiring, played 91.Kb3 and had to resign on move 96 with the prospect of being shortly mated.

Gelfand-Leko ends with equal pawns and both bishops on light squares. Draw.

Topalov-Grischuk is equal throughout and ends with a draw on the 49th move, white having rook pawn and black having none.
++++++++

Giri-Ivanchuk had Giri becoming more and more passive as the time control neared:

Chessbomb kibitzers:

- 9 moves for five minutes. Should be manageable even for Chucky
- there’s very little way of muddying the water, no complications to be had
- soon white will achieve maximum passivity
- If Ivanchuk doesn’t forget about his time, he might win this
- will Giri get the draw?
-I think Chucky kind of gave it to him
- They played a match together last month

Draw by perpetual check
++++++++

Wang Yue-Wang Hao was fairly even throughout. Wang Hao resigned on move 57 when many players would play on. One supposes that black’s pawns on e6 and g6 would soon fall..but still!

I had envisaged a more brilliant battle in which I could say something like: Wang came out swinging and met a rebuff with Wang’s brilliant play. Wang was down and then Wang was up but in the end, Wang tipped his king and Wang was victorious.

Ah, what might have been!
+++++++++++

Morozevich-Kamsky Yesterday, Kamsky said that, as white, he was lost by the tenth move. This game went well for him until he moved his queen over to the king’s side and Morozevich took black’s fiachettoed bishop with his and then mounted a very nice attack that ended on the 37th move. It looks like Kamsky lost on time. That’s three straight losses for him now.

At the press conference he was quite pleasant in his interchanges with Anastasiya and Alexander.

The press conferences are being posted in a timely fashion now. It seems that at these tournaments it takes a few rounds for the media persons to get their acts together.

The discussions are usually in English. Today, Ivanchuk spoke in Russian and so Giri spoke in quite fluent Russian too with Anastasiya interpreting. Anish Giri has an effective ELO of 2810 in this tournament. The mastery of Russian is perhaps not surprising since he was born in St. Petersburg and visits it regularly, even though he lives in the Netherlands. He just turned 19.

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 11th July, 2013, 10:42 AM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Seven

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Matchups and Results

Leko(1)-Karjakin(0) 75 m Queen’s Indian
Kamsky(.5)-Gelfand(.5) 50 m Grunfeld
Ivanchuk(1)-Morozevich(0) 49 m Queen’s Pawn
Wang Hao(1)-Giri(0) 22 m Philidor’s Defence
Grischuk(1)-Wang Yue(0) 77 m Barcza System
Mamedyarov(1)-Topalov(0) 24 m Nimzo Indian

Standings after Round Seven

Grischuk 5
Mamedyarov 5
Karjakin 4
Ivanchuk 4
Leko 4
Giri 3.5
Morozevich 3.5
Wang Yue 3.5
Topalov 3.5
Wang Hao 2.5
Gelfand 2
Kamsky 1.5
++++++++++++++

Grischuk-Wang Yue was the last game to finish – almost seven hours long. The endgame was K+R+bP for white and K+N+bP for black with Wang Yue resigning in the 77th move.

The chessbomb kibitzers were talking about chess engines and chess-playing machines:

- the first computer was that Turkish computer
- that Turkish computer with a chess playing midget inside of it?
- Yeah, Turk was the first machine
- The Turk was a hoax, a dwarf player was hiding under the table
- Yeah, ironic how it started off with a machine cheating by using a human!
++++++++

Kamsky-Gelfand was described as coffee-house chess and ends in a draw by repetition in 51 moves. Quite amazingly, this is the only draw this round. Must be something in the air or water. The chessbomb guys start talking about Beijing air pollution but I won’t go into that.
+++++++++

Wang Hao-Giri is not coffee-house chess but slaughter-house chess, one kibitzer says. It is a miniature of 22 moves. Others try to figure out how early Giri was completely lost.
+++++++++

Mamedyarov-Topalov – is another miniature. Topalov blunders his knight on move 21 and resigns on move 24. Surely, it is something in the air today.

- big mistake from Topa
- I feel sorry for that black horse
- Mamedyarov takes the lead
+++++++++

Leko-Karjakin was forecast to be a draw but Karjakin makes a bad move at 36 and Leko grabs the initiative.

- this is over unless Leko does something super stupid
- Leko winning is against the laws of chess
- What’s wrong with Karjakin?
- Leko on defeating Karjakin, ”Can’t tell where I went wrong…”
- “Karjakin surprised me with the very strong 36…Kf8, after that the win was unavoidable”
+++++++++

Ivanchuk-Morozevich is roughly equal until black’s 26th move. Vassily plays an impeccable game.

- very good game by Chucky
- damn good game
- an artist
- Finally, the Chuk is back
+++++++

You can’t spend five hours every day watching these games. Life must go on in other quarters - (especially the dental appointment quarter!)

Some more objective notes to the games than mine.

From ChessVibes:

Thursday saw a really spectacular round in Beijing, with five victories for White and just one draw! Karjakin fell further back with an unnecessary loss, Grischuk and Mamedyarov kept on winning and the day started with two quick losses for Giri and Topalov. The Bulgarian went for a forcing variation because he thought he would win a pawn, but Mamedyarov, who was missing several other tactics during the game, had looked one move deeper in this specific variation.

Wang Hao played a speculative bishop sacrifice on f7 against Anish Giri's Philidor, and one could say that it was in the style of Mikhail Tal: both players knew that it wasn't fully correct, but the Chinese "just wanted to play something interesting" and "Black has to make a lot of precise moves".

Giri initially reacted well, but his 13...d5 was far from good. At the press conference the Dutchman said: “ It looks like a move that solves all my problems. I like moves like that but they only exist in fairy tales.”

Sergey Karjakin's loss was really unnecessary. He was praised for his accurate play by his opponent Peter Leko, who said: “Chess is a very cruel game. You can play perfectly for six hours but then with one mistake it's all wasted.”

Karjakin's mistake came a bit earlier but the idea was the same: after a good game, the Russian spoilt everything on move 35. He kept on fighting for long, but to no avail.

Vassily Ivanchuk moved to shared third place with a fine win against Alexander Morozevich. In a rare opening (1.Nf3 d5 2.Nf3 Bf5) the Russian got a worse pawn structure and so he tried to find complications. He did create some, but he missed White's accurate 26th move and couldn't find any more good moves after that. Ivanchuk seems to be in good shape again as he is calculating deeply and accurately!
He spends each press conference saying the sides are equal and finding good moves for his opponent!

Alexander Grischuk decided to avoid heavy theory against Wang Yue and played the King's Indian Attack. His typical e5-e6 pawn sac was correct as White got nice compensation. After a forced series of moves an endgame came on the board. Grischuk: “Black has very good drawing chances and White has some winning chances.”

Wang Yue was defending very, very well until move 57, when he misevaluated an ending rook & pawn vs knight & pawn.

The only draw of the day occurred in the game Gata Kamsky versus Boris Gelfand, who played a setup his opponent likes to play himself with Black! The Israeli demonstrated that White's early b2-b4 and Bc1-b2 was not very useful and soon Black was a bit better. He kept the edge until the ending, and maybe there was a practical chance on move 34, but in general Kamsky had everything under control.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 12th July, 2013, 01:19 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Eight

Friday, July 12, 2013

Matchups and Results

Karjakin(0)-Topalov(1) 52 m Sicilian Paulsen
Wang Yue(.5)-Mamedyarov(.5) 32 m English
Giri(.5)-Grischuk(.5) 58 m Sicilian Paulsen
Morozevich(.5)-Wang Hao(.5) 47 m Sicilian Rossolimo
Gelfand(1)-Ivanchuk(0) 72 m King’s Indian
Leko(.5)-Kamsky(.5) 43 m Caro Kann

Standings after Round Eight

Grischuk 5.5
Mamedyarov 5.5
Leko 4.5
Topalov 4.5
Ivanchuk 4
Karjakin 4
Giri 4
Wang Yue 4
Morozevich 4
Wang Hao 3
Gelfand 3
Kamsky 2
++++++++++++++

Gelfand-Ivanchuk was a game in which both players found it tough going. They had separate press conferences, both being puzzled by the game.

In the endgame Ivanchuk marched his king down to g2 and then resigned prematurely, perhaps (Gelfand). Was he under psychological pressure?

The Russian news website has done an analysis of the endgame after Gelfand’s 65. Kd3 and Ivanchuk would have been able to hold. It is well worth taking a look:

http://www.chess-news.ru/en/node/12674

Ivanchuk spent a lot of time during his press conference just analyzing the position without saying anything to Anastasiya and at the end getting up with, “I am disappointed in chess more and more”.

Anastasiya (to Gelfand) Now that this round is behind you, what do you think about this tournament?

(Boris) It is hard to play. Jet lag and difficult climate. It’s not an excuse, there is nothing to do just accept it.

(Anastasiya) Tomorrow is a free day, I wish you good luck and to rest and come back (refreshed).
+++++++

Karjakin-Topalov had black with the advantage and Karjakin got into time trouble:

Chessbomb kibitzers:

- karjakin seems worse late in the tournament
- he must be tired
- loss of concentration
- after three wins in a row, now three losses in a row
- oh, what happened to Karjakin?
- Cracked at forty
- Or the crack began at move 33
- Topa must have noticed Karjakin being on a tilt. He kept up pressure the whole game and avoided simplifications till he got a decent advantage after some errors
- Topa showing the young man who’s still the boss
- Good game by Topy
++++++++

Leko-Kamsky. After yesterday’s result, the kibitzers are hoping that they are seeing the transformation of Drawko to Winko. Others, with far too much time on their hands discuss the eight-year period when Kamsky gave up chess (1996 - 2004) . He graduated from college in 1999, then tried medical school and attended and graduated from law school.

- I guess Kamsky simply loves playing chess, like so many other people. it's just that he lost this love for a while back then. anyway, the job of a lawyer is usually really boring in comparison.

The game has no advantage for either side and ends in a draw at move 44.

Gata has gone from suits to short-sleeved shirts and the blue baseball cap. It is not clear whether this is to change his luck or because of the humid climate.
+++++++++

Giri-Grischuk. Alexander is very close to a 2800 rating.

Kibitzers:

- Go Grischuk! 2800!
- Grischuk has gelfand, leko and topalov, I think
- It seems impossible to hold this game with 7 minutes for 18 moves
- Grischuk can do it
- Draw everywhere now
- Tomorrow is finally a rest day. I’m quite exhausted from so much high level chess
- Especially Grischuk’s time trouble made me sweat
- White has a little bit advantage here because of kind position
- That is why they are still playing
- Otherwise these GMs should stop and agree to a draw
- I said a draw is ok for Grischuk, but Giri is not agreeing

Draw by repetition on move 58. Grischuk has not got the 2800 yet.
+++++++++

Morozevich-Wang Hao

- This should have been the most exciting game of this round, with the styles of Moro and Hao. It did not live up to expectations, no matter how much they tried!

This ends in a draw at move 47
+++++++++

Wang Yue-Mamedyarov should have been an enterprising game but ends on move 33 by repetition of moves:

(From the Beijing website) Wang Yue was planning to start with 1. c4 but mixed the moves and played 1.Nf3. Shakhriyar tried to avoid the possible preparation and decided to simplify the position with 7…Nc3. Wang Yue was not happy with his play in the opening and didn’t like the moves 9.Qa4 and 10. Be3. According to Mamedyarov, Black solved all his problems and even got slightly better position after 12...e5 and declined to repeat the moves thinking he can play without risk. However, White found some contra play on the queen’s side and could have grabbed a pawn by playing 27. Ba7. Black moved his knight to the center and the game finished with repletion after 33 moves.

One feels that everyone was just waiting for the break.

If you remember the old comic strip Pogo, there was a running joke about Friday the Thirteenth being on other days in some months. Well, Friday the Thirteenth is on Saturday this month and that is tomorrow and a rest day.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 14th July, 2013, 12:17 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

Round Nine

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Matchups and Results

Mamedyarov(1)-Giri(0) 28 m Grunfeld
Grischuk(.5)-Morozevich(.5) 56 m Slav
Topalov(.5)-Wang Yue(.5) 59 m Slav
Ivanchuk(.5)-Leko(.5) 38 m Nimzo Indian
Wang Hao(.5)-Gelfand(.5) 83 m English
Kamsky(.5)-Karjakin(.5) 52 m Queen’s Pawn

Standings after Round Nine

Mamedyarov 6.5
Grischuk 6
Leko 5
Topalov 5
Ivanchuk 4.5
Wang Yue 4.5
Karjakin 4.5
Morozevich 4.5
Giri 4
Wang Hao 3.5
Gelfand 3.5
Kamsky 2.5
+++++++++

Wang Hao-Gelfand lasted more than seven hours. After move 77 for both sides the endgame was K+Q+P(e4) vs K+Q+P(a2) with slight advantage to black.
Wang Hao played 81.Qb2 and Gelfand could have had the win but, short of time, didn’t see it. A draw resulted two moves later.

The chessbomb kibitzers:

- poor Gelfand, once he switches on his engine he’ll have a heart attack
- what was this? Like a 7-hour game?
- Everybody will say now “chess is a difficult game”

The kibitzers are off to take a nap, or eat. One chap has to study for an exam in Lambda Calculus. There is a Wikipedia entry for that if you are interested. The rest of us on this side of the Atlantic are going to enjoy a sunny and warm Sunday.
++++++++++

Grischuk-Morozevich is a draw by perpetual in 56 moves.

The kibitzers speculate that they could both lose:

- if both their phones ring simultaneously
- or if the referee dares to apply the new “where is your tie?” dress code to them simultaneously
++++++++

Ivanchuk-Leko has no bad moves, very solid and a draw in 38 moves with a perpetual.

Just a note about the endgame Gelfand-Ivanchuk from the last round. If you’ll remember Gelfand thought that Vassily’s resignation was premature. Vassily was profoundly troubled by the game. The Russian chess news website published an analysis of the endgame a few hours later and I added the reference to the Round Eight write-up later.
+++++++++

Kamsky-Karjakin has the opportunity for Kamsky to start winning or for Karjakin to stop losing. What they do is to settle for a draw in 52 moves.
++++++++

Topalov-Wang Yue is more enterprising.

The chessbomb kibitzers:

- who is your favorite Russian player?
- I used to love Misha Tahl and the old Tolush. But I recognize that Tolush was a hacker, fun to watch though
- Topalov needs this one for his Grand Prix standings
- Wow, this is still going on and I want to take a nap!
- Repetition
- Wang Yue missed many options to win, but was afraid
- Tolush would have won it
- See you guys, all remaining games drawn, time to take a nap

Drawn by repetition in 59 moves.

Alexander Tolush was born and died in St. Petersburg [1910-1969]. He was an imaginative attacking player whose pupils included Keres and Spassky. I don’t seem to have a copy of his 1983 biography written by his wife in my collection. I should see if someone has it for sale..
++++++++++

Mamedyarov-Giri seems rather like the shark against the goldfish! Giri makes an unfortunate rook move at 15. Mamedyarov gives up his queen for two pawns, rook, bishop and knight. Giri resigns on move 28. Not quite a miniature.

- grand prix is producing some nice tournaments and games this season
- beautiful game
- this was like it was Morphy being channeled.
- Giri back to school tournaments.
++++++++

There is a lot being written about Wang Hao-Gelfand. This from ChessBase:

This certainly was a game full of mistakes. Wang Hao obtained a comfortable position with the two bishops, but strangely decided to trade one of them off early for an opponent's knight. Soon afterwards he blundered a piece in time trouble but Gelfand did not see the correct tactical continuation. Through further errors White found himself in the defending side of an ugly queen endgame, and just when it seemed he would reach the draw a gross blunder on move 82 was met by an excellent king move to the corner that forced coronation. However Gelfand was unable to find the subsequent queen maneouver (Qg8-c4-f1) that would secure the win and instead settled for an immediate draw.

The blunders started the Chessbomb crew onto that subject:

- Steinitz once allowed mate in 1 in a simul, after hanging a piece two moves before
- Kramnik vs fritz another mate in 1, but that was unusual
- Bellini vs gashimov, both players missed mate in 1
- Petrosian once hung a queen in 1
- Spassky overlooked a double threat on a piece coupled with a scholar’s mate threat
- Everybody blunders
- Aronkov-Biovosvky in 1963 was the record. Three mate in 1 sequence in a row missed. Pravda claimed that both were drunk
- The most famous case is when the computer did not miss mate in 1 vs Vlad

Obviously lots of material here for a ChessTalk thread on grandmaster blunders. Are either Aronkov or Biovosvky genuine players or was the kibitzer just blowing smoke? As I cannot document all these examples as genuine, I will stop here and enjoy my Sunday.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 14th July, 2013, 12:54 PM

Re: Beijing Grand Prix

The endgame of Wang Hao-Gelfand continues to be hot stuff.

ChessNews Russia just had this comment from Alexey Dreev:

“Holy smoke! This is not good” ["Елки-палки"]

http://www.chess-news.ru/node/12678

There is an analysis (use google translator)

Beijing Grand Prix

Beijing Grand Prix

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