Chess thread

[Tal]

In Shamkir

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Three rounds to go. Today's highlight matches are:

Carlsen v Kramnik
Caruana v So

[McGlashan]

Wesley So the Milliionare tournament winner is one to take note of.

[MintTrav]

Two of the favourites having serious problems. Strange to see that Kramnik and So have scored half a point between them from their last six games. Admittedly, So's two losses were against Caruana and Anand and two of Kramnik's three-in-a-row were against Carlsen and Caruana but, even so, you expect them to be doing better. Kramnik says he is having trouble concentrating and you couldn't tell what's going on in So's life.

[Tal]

It's been an odd tournament for sure. The only things that went as expected were Giri drawing a lot, Anand being solid, MVL looking not quite as good as the top few...oh and Carlsen GOATing like a bawse

Click to see full-size image.

Mamedov caved under pressure in the last round against Carlsen, who, quite simply, crushed for an almost 3000 rating performance.

Report and games: http://en.chessbase.com/post/shamkir-final-round-undisputed-winner

[MintTrav]

Mamedov's rating was improved by finishing joint last.

[Tal]

Mamedov's rating was improved by finishing joint last.

Seven draws and just two defeats is a superior performance to what we expected. Adams was a late addition and I can well understand him not delivering, save for the one win.

[Tal]

In the worst kept secret since anything involving Kevin Pietersen, Fabiano Caruana has announced he is switching national allegiance to the USA, having represented Italy for the last ten years. Here is the story:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/caruana-switching-back-to-u-s-a

In recent months, Caruana and Wesley So (who switched from the Philippines) have declared their love for all things red, white and starspangledbannery. Caruana has held dual passports and So has lived in the US for some time; it isn't quite a case of a random set of athletes signing for Bahrain or anything like that.

Nevertheless, if you're wondering why chess in the States is booming in recent times, this sentence from the linked article might help:

"It seems that the U.S. Federation, with heavy backing by the Saint Louis Chess Club and its sponsor, Rex Sinquefield, have finally managed to bring back the number three player in the World into their ranks"

[Tal]

How easy is it to cheat in chess?

http://en.chessbase.com/post/tkachiev-how-i-became-a-cheater-in-chess

[Tal]

On which note:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-threatens-exclusion-of-the-bulgaria

[Tal]

Another cheating scandal. What a letter of response from the tournament director!

http://en.chessbase.com/post/suspicion-at-the-european-women-s-championship

[Tal]

...and this is the player's response:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/support-for-mihaela-sandu

[TightEnd]

spotted this

Chess prodigy Samuel Reshevsky, age 8, defeating several chess masters at once, 1920. Photograph by Kadel & Herbert.

[Tal]

It's a corker, that. Our chess club has that photo on the wall, along with a few other notables. My favourite is the chap in the corner holding his head in disbelief.

Some mightily impressive facial hair on display, too.

[Tal]

Here he is playing some English clown:



He was a real star in America in the turn of the century.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/samuel-reshevsky-would-have-turned-100-today

This one really made me laugh:



Chess historian, Edward Winter, found this from a Cuban newspaper, which says it's a photo of Cuban superstar and world champion Capablanca as a boy. Complete nonsense, of course.

In a world of the internet in 2015, it's hard to appreciate how easy it was either not to know the truth or to lie and get away with it.

[The Camel]

Was it obligatory to dress like you were going to a wedding when you wanted a game of chess ~100 years ago?