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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
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The announcement was made today that "The World's Strongest Chess Tournament" - Altibox Norway, will take place in Stavanger Norway from 27 May to 8 June with these players:
Vishy Anand
Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin
Ding Liren
Magnus Carlsen
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Hikaru Nakamura
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Fabiano Caruana
Wesley So
Sunday May 27 – Press Conference, Rapid Tournament
Monday May 28 – Round 1
Tuesday May 29 – Round 2
Wednesday May 30 – Round 3
Thursday May 31 - Rest Day
Friday June 1 – Round 4
Saturday June 2 – Round 5
Sunday June 3 – Round 6
Monday June 4 – Rest Day
Tuesday June 5 – Round 7
Wednesday June 6 – Round 8
Thursday June 7 – Round 9
If 2 players share 1stplace by 19:00, there will be playoff with rapid and blitz chess after the games end on Thursday, June 7th. If there are more than 2 players sharing 1stplace, the playoff will take place on Friday, June 8th.
Friday June 8 – Prize Ceremony and Closing Dinner Party
The games start each day at 16:30 local or 10:30 AM Toronto/Montreal
________
World Champion Magnus Carlsen's schedule in 2018: Norway Chess: May 27th-Jun 8th, Biel: July 22nd-Aug 1st, European Club Cup (probable): 11th-19th Oct, World Championship vs Caruana 9th to 28th Nov. Not known whether he'll play any part in the Olympiad: 23rd Sept to 6th Oct. Based on info by Tarjei J. Svensen @TarjeiJS.
Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler are the commentators.
Their banter is the best in chess. Now I shall give some examples which will throw that statement into doubt.
Jan says that he doesn’t know anything about Discworld – a favorite of Peter:
“Discworld is a comic fantasy book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett (1948–2015), set on the fictional Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle.” [Wikipedia]
Peter says that he introduced his children to the Discworld series at a very young age and they have read almost all of the 41 novels in the series.
Strangely, the topic came up in a discussion about playing in the Chinese League. Peter said that it is very tiring to take a flight from Moscow to China. There is the time change going east and then little time for preparation and facing Chinese players who are under-rated!
Peter, after Norway, is going to China to play a rapid and blitz match with Yu Yangyi.
Lawrence Trent is monitoring the chat and says that both Jan and Peter are flat-earthers. He completely avoids the four elephants and the turtle!
Mamedyarov has been suffering for two days with a serious toothache and seriously considered withdrawing from the tourney. Were he to do so, there would be no substitute and every player would have one extra rest day.
This morning, he visited a dentist for the third time and he is playing. In fact, he had an early draw with MVL. One comment on it:
- A quick but not entirely toothless draw!
Tarjel Svensen tweets this: An impressive stat that should not be forgotten: Ding Liren has gone an unbelievable 72 games without losing, scoring +20 =50 -0 (performance 2790). His last loss was in August 2017.
Hikaru had a chance after Ding’s 30…Ng6 but missed it and the game went to a draw.
The guys talk about the Turk chess-playing automaton, bands and Fabiano’s latest venture.
The Prodigy Desk by Fabiano is a limited edition height adjustable desk created for chess enthusiasts and developed by Grandmaster Caruana.
Comment in the chat room: Magnus gets modeling gigs, fabi sells desks
Speaking of the chat room, there is one contributor who always gets mention – MrDodgy. Peter says that he is integral to the smooth running of the show. All they know about his personal life is that he has a wife and horses.
Jan mentions another contributor (pramod?) who was asking pointless questions and recommending bad TV shows before MrDodgy came on the scene.
After five hours, all the games except Carlsen-Caruana have ended in draws. Nakamura had chances in his game but Ding kept his unbeaten streak going.
The guys speculate on who might have replaced Mamedyarov if he had to withdraw – candidates are Hammer, Giri, Tari, Shankland, Nielsen and Kramnik. All mere speculation, of course.
(Peter) - Aronian’s 2017 was one of the best chess years ever by a player – even by Kasparov and Carlsen
- by wins and by quality of play. The Candidates did not work out for him; it was painful to watch him in that tournament.
Sinochess says that the 2018 Yu Yangyi-Svidler Chess Match. Shenzhen Luohu Grand Master Rapid and Blitz Match will take place June 11-15 in Shenzhen, China.
Jan and Peter talk about titles in Germany where an academic might be Professor Doctor Muller (for example). Jan says that if you have an academic doctorate, there is a term, which means that you are right and someone who disagrees with you must prove they are right even though they don’t have a doctorate.
The term in German is called “Beweislastumkehr”, which translates as “the burden of proof”
Comments in the chat room:
- Isn’t Aronian called Dr. Levon? What PhD does he have?
- In Austria sometimes even the wife of a doctor is called Frau doctor
- In English, a doctor is a physician (like dr. Jekyll)
- Using the Dr. preface is considered boastful
- I work at a software company with several PhDs. Each will get very mad if I refer to any of them as “Dr”, so, the “Dr” title is often not used in non-academic professional contexts.
- In fact, Pepe Cuenca is a Dr or PhD (of Math)
After two and a half hours, the games are over and are all draws.
The quiz question to get a coffee mug autographed by Dr Svidler is this:
5 players get 5 black games and only 4 white games in this tournament. Name them!
The trick is to remember the order of finish in the blitz, with the top players getting to pick a number that gave them 5 white games!
Answer at the end
Round 2, May 29
Karjakin, Sergey – Carlsen, Magnus
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence
Simen Agdestein and Knut Skeie Solberg are doing the live coverage on the official site. I switched over from Jan and Peter on chess24 to hear the post-mortem on Mamedyarov-Karjakin. It seemed that it was almost all preparation by Karjakin, which he did for the Candidates. Shakhriyar seemed to be in good humour despite all his recent visits to the dentist.
Mamedyarov dental update: "Now I'm ok - I can eat ice-cream & everything!"
Round 3, May 30
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Karjakin, Sergey
C54 Giuoco Piano
The original quiz question asked for five players and then they realized that there were six. A reader comes through with this answer which he insists is correct: Pia Cramling, Susan Polgar, Maia Chiburdanidze, Judith Polgar and Yifan Hou – exactly five.
“The Altibox Norway Chess participants had one of the strangest rest days ever. They were brought to a farm (Felleskjøpet Agri, one of the tournament's sponsors) half an hour away from Stavanger, and then they... turned into farmers. They had to cut trees, drive tractors and milk cows!
The uniforms were a green and yellow baseball cap, rubberized green and yellow jacket and long pants with rubber boots and gloves. Safety glasses also were supplied. It is said that when Vassily Ivanchuk sees photos of the baseball cap, he will want to get one! Kramnik and So won the event.”
The players today were in a cooking competition. First, they received instruction from a chef, who told them how it was to be scored – flavour, hygiene etc and then they were given chef’s uniforms – white chef’s hat and white coveralls. Videos can be seen at
There is an amusing photo of Levon and Maxime in the full get-up, looking like two French chefs! (Alphonse and Gaston ?)
The teams for the cooking:
1- Vachier Lagrave – Lev Aronian
2- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Hikaru Nakamura
3- Ding Liren – Vishy Anand
4- Sergey Karyakin – Fabiano Caruana
5- Wesley So – Magnus Carlsen
Recipes for the cook off competition:
Hollandaise Sauce
3 egg yolks
3 ts reduction
300 g melted clarified butter
Salt, pepper, lemon juice
1. Melt the butter over low heat. Set it aside and let it clarify. Then slowly separate the fat from the milk on the bottom.
2. Mix egg yolks together with the reduction, start to whip it heavily over a water bath. When the yolks start to thicken and get fluffy, slowly add the butter. Whip constantly.
3. Season the sauce to your taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
4. Set it aside in a warm water bath until serving.
5. Check on it regularly, the temperature must not be lower than 45 degrees Celsius. (You can add the fish roe to the sauce together with fancy chopped chives or use it as garnish when you finish the plate)
Vegetables
Peel and cut your vegetables as you like. Using asparagus, cabbage, radishes and turnip.
The Fish
You can choose the cooking method for your fish. Pan fried, oven baked or steamed. Portion and season our fish, and cook it to your liking. (The fish take about 7-8 minutes to cook)
Then there are videos of the players working away at the veggies and clarifying the butter and cutting the fish and finally the judging and the eating. The last has Wesley and Magnus being judged on their preparations.
_________
The results are in:
The winners are: Anand and Ding, who had the best flavour. Credit to the 5x WC, who did most of the job, while Ding cut vegetables like a hero.
Carlsen/So second, while MVL and Aronian finished last
Here are the final standings of the cook off:
1- team 3
2- team 5
3- team 4
4- team 2
5- team 1
Congratulations to Vishy and Ding Liren!
Last edited by Wayne Komer; Thursday, 31st May, 2018, 07:11 PM.
When Mamedyarov had a bad toothache and might have had to withdraw from the tournament, I wondered if this had happened before in modern times. I could not think of such a situation.
Now this – late today
DING LIREN HOSPITALIZED
Unfortunately, Ding Liren had a bicycle accident early Thursday afternoon that has fractured his hip bone and he will be doing surgery Friday morning.
Ding Liren will therefore not be able to play Friday June 1st. We will know more after his surgery, whether he can continue to play in the tournament or not. For now, round 4 will be postponed for Ding Liren and Fabiano Caruana till June 4th, until further notice.
Ding Liren will spend the night at the Stavanger University Hospital, waiting for his surgery, where he is taken very good care of.
“He fell off a bicycle before winning a cooking contest with Vishy Anand and then learnt in the hospital that he has a fractured hip. Ding Liren likely won't play more games in the Altibox Norway Chess tournament.
It was Ding Liren who arrived last at the Clarion Hotel Air, close to Sola Airport, where the chess players would contest each other in a cook off on Thursday afternoon. It was another original, and splendid idea from the organizers to secure a fun rest day. It was definitely fun, even for the Chinese GM, who entered the hotel limping.
Earlier that day, together with his father he went for a bicycle ride, which ended badly. Making a turn at high speed, he fell off the bike and hurt his leg seriously; only later he would find out how bad it was. Showing huge respect to the tournament organizers and also a strong will to participate in the cooking, Ding declined the invitation to be taken to the hospital directly.
It was only after the cooking contest that Ding went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a fractured hip. In a statement on the tournament website it is mentioned that he'll need surgery, and that Friday's game with Fabiano Caruana has been postponed.”
Answer – 124 moves between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi.
[From the New York Times of July 31, 1978 by Robert Byrne
Stalemate After 124th Move Ends Fifth Chess Game
BAGUIO, The Philippines, July 30—The fifth game of the world‐championship chess match here finally ended in yet another draw today, after two adjourned sessions last week and a completed sixth game yesterday.
The challenger, Viktor Korchnoi, dragged the game out to the 124th move, although it had been apparent several moves earlier that a draw was inevitable. Frustrated and angry, he slammed his last move down on the table, creating a draw by stalemate and avoiding the traditional handshake that accompanies a draw by agreement. He and the world champion, Anatoly Karpov of the Soviet Union, immediately left the stage.]
Position after White’s move 124.Bg7 in Korchnoi-Karpov, Rd 5, July 27, 1978
Ding Liren has to withdraw from the tournament. His surgery went well, but it will take time for him to recover so he is not able to continue to play in the tournament.
Regarding the tournament, as he has completed less than 50% of his games, his results will not be counted for standings and tie break. They will only be counted for rating.
Ding Liren has withdrawn due to his surgery. Supposedly, this evens out whites and blacks so that each player now has four of each.
The guys try to recall when a player has withdrawn from a supertournament. Peter remembers Morozevich retiring from Biel in July, 2012.
This statement at the time:
Victor Bologan replaces Alexander Morozevich
Due to health issues, Alexander Morozevich retired from the Biel Grandmaster Tournament after Round 2. He has been this Wednesday with the organisers of the Festival to a hospital, where a doctor confirmed, with a medical certificate, his inability to go on to play the competition. Alexander Morozevich will travel back to Moscow as soon as possible to recover. The length of his healing process is unknown.
After the approval of the players, the organisers could secure a substitute. GM Victor Bologan (Moldova, World No 20, 2732 Elo) takes the place of Alexander Morozevich. He arrived already in Biel. He starts the tournament from Round 3. His game against Magnus Carlsen, scheduled for Wednesday July 25th, will be held on Sunday 29th. Victor Bologan will play his first game on Thursday July 26th against Hikaru Nakamura.
The 3 points of the victories of Anish Giri and Etienne Bacrot, achieved against Alexander Morozevich, are kept. Victor Bologan accepted to play with two games less.
Biel International Chess Festival Organisation Committee
________
Mamedyarov-Nakamura is a quick draw and so there isn’t too much to talk about with two games down.
They talk of injuries and Peter says that he invariably got injuries playing football. From football they go to cricket. Galactic then writes in chat, “Would you like to fight a hundred cricket-sized whales or a whale-sized cricket? The discussion progresses and another chat reader writes:
“I just came here, what the f* are they talking about?”
Another reader says, “I remember Tony Miles playing face down laying on a table after having injured his back in 1985”
And another poses the question, “Would you rather play chess against a Tony Miles-sized cricket or a Tony Miles-sized whale?”
Quiz of the day – to win a mug signed by Peter Svidler!
The Bond Movie “From Russia with Love” starts with a chess scene. What is the last move played in that game?
(Answer at end)
________
Peter says that the best chess movie ever is called Grandmaster (in Russian) and Korchnoi actually acted in it. Jan says that his favorite is called Fresh! (1994)
From Edward Winter’s Chess Notes:
“7747. Soviet film
Gerhard Thoma (Dornbirn, Austria) draws attention to the 1972 Soviet film Гроссмейстер, which can be watched on-line. Many masters appear, including Petrosian, Korchnoi, Tal and Kotov.
Our correspondent mentions too the observation by Milan Novković that some of the over-the-board action is based on the spectacular draw between Alatortsev and Kholmov in the 1948 Soviet championship in Moscow.”
I usually monitor Jan and Peter on chess24. There is also the official live stream with Simen Agdestein and Anna Rudolf and the ChessBrahs with Aman Hambleton and Yasser Seirawan, who is sporting a white goatee.
The guys talk about the American team for the coming Olympiad. If Sam Shankland is on the team as Number 4, what about Leinier Dominguez for the fifth? He lives in Miami.
This from chess24 earlier this year:
Leinier Dominguez is currently based in Florida while he pursues US residency. Dominguez would be world no. 23 but no longer features on the active rating list at all after not playing a classical game in over a year. He did find the time to work with Fabiano Caruana before the Candidates, though, and if Dominguez switches federation the US would have five 2700 players.
It appeared that So had a winning line against Carlsen after 25….Be7 with 26. Na5 Qxb4 27. Nxb7 Bd3 28. Rfe1 Bc2 29. c6 Bb3 30. Qd7 Be6 31. Bd6 Bxd6 32. Qxd6 Qxd6 33. Nxd6 Rc7 34. Red1 Rb8 35. Nb7 Kf8 36. e4 f6 37. Kf2 Bb3
But the game progresses and finally Wesley wins his first game ever against the World Champion
Round 6, June 3
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
D10 QGD Slav Defence, Exchange variation
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