Chess: Tal Memorial 2012

[Tal]

Sorry one more....

Anand. I've heard him compared to Kasparov (I think Kramnik said he was his equal in every department) but also called lazy. He's like a zillion years old in chess terms. Sometimes he comes across as a total genius but then seems like he didn't play much until pretty recently compared to other players. I know he had a pretty significant victory over Carlsen in 2011 to take the no 1 spot in the rankings and he seems to win in all formats. How do you rate him? If he played Carlsen tomorrow for the WC, how would you price it up?

Sorry I know this is probably another long answer.

In the interests of not ending interest in this thread in one foul evening (lol), I'll try to be brief.

He’s the World Champion but he has been struggling for form in the last year. I would say that Carlsen is today a better player, but Carlsen has never played a 12-game match like you get in the World Champs and no one knows how he will react to that situation if and when it comes.

Carlsen starts as favourite for sure, but it would be marginal.
 

[GreekStein]

What's the gambling action like within the chess world, both online and live?

Have you ever played someone called Dan Diamond?

[smashedagain]

What's the gambling action like within the chess world, both online and live?

Have you ever played someone called Dan Diamond?

Dan Diamond is a great name. Do you play Cos?

[The Baron]

Tal that game is incred. Most of it above my head - to be so flawless in the endgame... incred.

[bobby1]

Tal that game is incred. Most of it above my head - to be so flawless in the endgame... incred.

I agree, I watched it twice and still couldn't believe he won.

[GreekStein]

What's the gambling action like within the chess world, both online and live?

Have you ever played someone called Dan Diamond?

Dan Diamond is a great name. Do you play Cos?

I used to play a little when I was like 10-12 but have probably played a handful of times the last 13 years.

[The Baron]

There was a Kasparov rook sac that amazed me back when I studied it a lot but I cannot remember who it was against. Possibly Anand.

Again the positional side was just incred.

[Tal]

If you're going to pick a favourite game, it might as well be a good one!

Diamond rings a faint bell. Maybe a few years younger than me?

[tikay]

This thread is the greatest, loving it, hope it continues.

Honeybadger manages to write as beautifully on chess, as PHA.

Tal is re-awakening my long lost interest in Chess, too.

Am going to try and get that book " Searching for Bobby Fischer" too, hopefully before I head to Vegas.

[tikay]

My original interest in Chess stemmed from the Fischer - Boris Spaasky thing in Iceland which made the front pages every day.

Off to remind myself of the details now. The Internet is a thing of wonder.

[Longy]

There was a Kasparov rook sac that amazed me back when I studied it a lot but I cannot remember who it was against. Possibly Anand.

Again the positional side was just incred.

Against Topalov?

[Tal]

Thank you, tikay.

Not sure of the Kasparov game off the top of my head tbh. He had incredible understanding of a position; he was able to  sacrifice a piece to open the game up to his advantage.

Today's results:

Round 5: Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Alexander Grischuk ½-½ Fabiano Caruana
Teimour Radjabov 0-1 Magnus Carlsen
 Levon Aronian 0-1 Alex. Morozevich
Hikaru Nakamura ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik
Ev. Tomashevsky ½-½ Luke McShane

http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8242

So Morozevich beats Aronian to take a 1point lead. Carlsen heads the chasing pack. The Morozevich game was interesting, as Aronian sacrificed a bishop in order to get a commanding pawn centre. As the pawns came forward, though, they became targets and Morozevich was able to exploit this by having active pieces. Aronian has taken a few too many risks in this tournament, but, as with poker, the great ones live on the edge.

[Honeybadger]

This thread is the greatest, loving it, hope it continues.

Me too, much respect and thanks to Tal for starting this. I think it would be great if we had regular chess threads in this forum. Probably not 'high level' stuff cos there is plenty of other resources out there for players who want to take it seriously. But tournament reports, stories, cool games, beautiful studies (not super complex ones) would all be good subject matter for threads..

Honeybadger manages to write as beautifully on chess, as PHA.

Am going to try and get that book " Searching for Bobby Fischer" too, hopefully before I head to Vegas.

Another lovely compliment from Tikay. Thanks m8.

You'll love Searching for Bobby Fischer. It is a great story.

[tikay]

Hoping that book is available at the airport, so went googling to check, and it appears it was turned into a film, too.

[Honeybadger]

Yep, but film not anywhere near as good.