Chess thread

[Tal]

Can you post up your move list from your recent game? I'm sure like many I'm very intrigued.

Will do but will prob have a look at it myself to see whether there was anything interesting I missed first. Will put it up in the next week.

Post up the whole game, bit by bit, and let us amateurrecdonkfish examine it

Lol will ensure it's there warts and all. If I have made an error, it's more instructive if I explain what it is and why it's an error

There won't be any editing. It won't be like an American war movie where the truth that the story is "based on" gets horribly contorted for the Director's own ends (U571 etc), I promise.

[Tal]

There's a "player profile" that goes with the official tournament coverage. Here is Anand's:


Player portraits

Viswanathan Anand – the five-time champion wants more

There are already irrefutable arguments which confirm that Viswanathan Anand is one of the best chess players of all time: five-time world champion in all possible formats (knockout, tournament and long duels), and his career is not over yet. At the age of 42 (and after becoming a first-time dad in 2011) he has just recaptured the throne and is looking for more victories. One of the few that elude him is a win at the Masters Final.

Anand works very hard on his technique, between six and nine hours a day. He probably lacks that ‘killer instinct’ that distinguishes Fisher, Karpov and Kasparov, but he looks after his physique as much as or even more than they do. “Yes, years ago I realized that it was important. I am convinced that my two hours a day at the gym when I am at home are essential in order to withstand the wear and tear of the tournaments”, he explains, in perfect Spanish. As for psychological balance, apart from his family and chess he is also passionate about astronomy and economy.

The amazing speed of his reflexes, which allows for a display of brilliant moves in tenths of a second, frustrated his opponents since his first appearance at Linares in 1991, where an entire game took him scarcely half an hour. “The thing is, if I think, I don’t play well,” was his peculiar explanation. Today Anand maintains the same humility he had back then and is highly regarded in India, where in 2000 he was named Sportsman of the Millennium by popular vote and paraded in a horse-drawn carriage, with Chennai’s (formerly Madras) traffic cut off by a crowd which enthusiastically mobbed him. He once underwent a test to show that the right side of his brain, the side that controls intuition, is that of a genius, to which he replied, “I couldn’t care less about my mindpower”.

After his great victories, he always first thanks his wife Aruna, who he says “always takes perfect care of a thousand details”, and next he thanks his main trainer, Peter Heine Nielsen from Denmark. “I owe many of my World Championship victories largely to his magnificent work”. Karpov and Kasparov were never that generous to the people who aided them.

After toppling Topalov at the Sofia championship in 2010, Anand made it clear that he was still hungry for success saying, “The day you get used to victory is the end. I am as happy now as the first time, especially because this has been my most difficult victory, in which I suffered until the end. I remain with the ambition and especially the will to keep enjoying chess. Logically, winning is a big part of that, and I suppose that one day it will end. Nevertheless, age 40 is not a special number for me; it is simply the one that comes after 39. My professional attitude for the next two years is the same one that I had before my duel with Topalov”.

Subsequent events have been consistent with these words, although not without suffering. For Anand it had to come down to quick games (after the 6-6 of the twelve assaults at normal speed) to defend his title against the very tough Israeli Boris Guelfand at Moscow’s Tretiákov Museum this spring. He is already 42 years old but his opinion has not changed. “I see no reason to retire now,” he says.

Anand will continue to stir up excitement in a country with 1.1 billion inhabitants. “There are already more than 700,000 Indians receiving chess classes; of those, 200,000 are enrolled in my World Champion’s Academy. I hope to contribute to increasing that number”.

[The Baron]

Just read a few quotes about Anand by his fellow players. Great stuff. Seems like one of chess' good guys and a genuinely great all time player to boot.

[Tal]

Well, a fantastic denoument to the Grand Slam it most certainly was.

In the penultimate round, Carlsen stole the show with arguably the game of the tournament against Anand.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8547

If I may be so bold as to suggest you have a gander at the video on the above link, you will be talked through the action by GM Danny King. Carlsen played a move - as you will see - that stunned the crowd. What it lacks in objective drama (unlike, say, that Marshall queen move we saw a couple of weeks back), it more than makes up for in brilliance; the key to what makes it special is that it isn't an obvious move. That sounds silly. Let me explain: Carlsen is attacking and has a clear plan that those watching - even the GM commentators, perhaps even the World Champion opposite - will be expecting him to pursue. However, Magnus has found a way to unlock the Black defence with a subtle and delicate change in the position, which turns a level game into a completely won one. That he played this move almost immediately shows he had it prepared for a few moves and that makes it even more spectacular. Please watch the video and let Danny explain it better than I could.

Caruana also won, which meant that it was all down to the last round, with the two of them at the top and Aronian just half a point behind. With Carlsen playing Aronian and Caruana against the bottom seed Vallejo-Pons, it was the Italian-American who would be the paper favourite, even if Carlsen had course, distance and momentum in his favour.

Carlsen also had the opportunity, if he were to beat Aronian as Black, to get enough rating points to overcome Kasparov's highest ever rating, which would be headline news.

Results, games and reports are here:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8550

It was three draws, albeit very different types of draws, that brought an end to the tournament. Carlsen had to do a bit of defending against a stern test from Aronian, but passed with the colours we are now used to seeing. Caruana had already decided he wasn't going to press for a win and agreed a draw with Vallejo-Pons in no time at all. It's pretty disappointing to see that, especially with the sponsors and fans paying good money to see these guys playing. However, putting a different spin on it, Caruana could see that Aronian was the one with the edge, so decided to take half a point himself and, with it, the clubhouse lead.

Anand gave it a better bash than he has all tournament, but Karjakin held well to hold him to a draw.

This meant that Carlsen and Caruana finished first equal, but the title would need to be decided by two blitz games between them (one of each colour). Carlsen won the first by virtue of the same opening Kramnik famously used to beat Kasparov for the world crown (the Berlin Defence) in a long game and he won the second by virtue of Caruana making a mistake in his opening recollection.

2-0. Carlsen takes the title.

[Tal]

Some cracking pics from the last day event, which you'll also find on the link above.

Aronian deep in thought. This is a common pose for chess players from 7-70:




It is also pretty common to see one player leaning back and relaxed, while the other is forward and fighting to survive.



I love the whole picture. The crowd in the background, the fact they are separated by the sheet of glass, the apparent serenity of it all.

And the final picture. Magnus in vitory hat:

[The Baron]

Caruana beating Aronian seemed to get little coverage considering the feat. He's had a hell of a tournament.

Where is the best place to watch live with a decent GM's commentary?

TIA

[Tal]

Caruana beating Aronian seemed to get little coverage considering the feat. He's had a hell of a tournament.

Where is the best place to watch live with a decent GM's commentary?

TIA

That's a fair point, as it was a good win. Caruana is the form horse in world chess right now. He is playing a lot and getting fantastic results. It is probably a bit like Everton (he says carefully) doing so well in the league atm. The results are good and the performances excellent, but it is the manner of the way Chelsea are winning that is getting the headlines.

Caruana's wins in this tournament have been a mixture of solid wins like the Aronian game and benefiting from some pretty big mistakes from the opposition like the Carlsen game in Sao Paolo.

It was the manner of Carlsen's win the other day that set the tongues wagging.

[Tal]

As for your other question, the Play Chess server is a subscription site but has live commentary on the big tournaments. That aside, there will usually be a review a day or two later on you tube

[Tal]

Hello

Well, you asked nicely, so here is my game from the other night. I had the White pieces. Don’t worry too much about the opening. It’s a pretty well known variation of the French Defence. Black played a bit too passively. It is a fine balance in this variation, because he has to consolidate and will necessarily allow White a bit of extra space. He has to be ready to open the centre up at some stage to bring the position level. I should point out that the computer has the position as being technically equal as far in as move 20, which I found a little surprising.

1.e4 e6
2.d4 d5
3.Nd2 c5
4.dxc5 Bxc5
5.Bd3 Nc6
6.Ngf3 Nf6
7.Qe2 Nb4
8.0–0 Nxd3
9.cxd3 0–0
10.e5 Nd7
11.Nb3 Be7
12.Nbd4 Re8
13.a3 Nf8
14.b4 Bd7
15.Bd2 Rc8
16.Rfc1 Rxc1+
17.Rxc1 f6
18.Nb3 b6
19.Nbd4 Qa8
20.Rc7 Bd8
21.Rc1 Qb7
22.b5 fxe5
23.Nxe5 Bf6
24.Bf4 Rc8
25.Rxc8 Qxc8
26.Ndc6 Qb7
27.Qh5 g6
28.Qf3 Bg7

I played one more move and my opponent resigned. I will leave my last move out of the record, so that you can find this yourself. If you do find it, can you find the answer if Black had instead taken the knight on e5?

As a follow up, have a look at the position after move 20. I played Rc7 with the intention of playing a specific move if he played the natural-looking Rc8. He saw what I was up to and made a decent response, although Qb8 was better. Can you see what I was up to?

[Tal]

For those who don't fancy playing through an amateur's game, can you tell me who this grandmaster is?



Here he is more recently:

[Tal]

Endgames are very much underrated, even by some good club players. If you have an edge in the endgame, it can be a serious advantage for the rest of the game, as you don't fear the position simplifying.

Quite often, you see draws at a club and county level simply because the position is level, even though there is plenty of life left in it. In a way it is like chopping heads up because, although some people say there is no luck in chess, if you don't know whether your opponent is any good in the endgame, getting into one could lead to triumph or disaster!

Here, you get a Grandmaster and commentator walk you through four recent excellent examples of the breed:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8557

For those who are yet to be familiar with the notation (so my game above just looks like gobbledygook - fair enough, say I), these are JavaScript, so you can play through the moves and see the notes.

[Tal]

Our chess/poker man is the American Walter Browne.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Browne

I know very little about him. Seems an interesting character. Would I be right in saying he was one of the people who was on the TV when chess was on Channel 4?

[Tal]

Chess on TV

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/television.html

A fabulous article from the incomparable Edward Winter's Chess Notes.



Did this position lead to a TV murder? Columbo knows.

[curnow]

was your move Bh6 ?  , followed bt Qf7 & Ne7 looks good

btw he did have better of the opening but putting is bishops back jusrt closed his position in

[Tal]

was your move Bh6 ?  , followed bt Qf7 & Ne7 looks good

btw he did have better of the opening but putting is bishops back jusrt closed his position in

My move wasn't Bh6.

Bh6 is the delightful answer if he had instead played 28...Bxe5, if that's what you mean, because 29...Bg7 is met by 30.Ne7+ Kh8 31.Qf7 with mate to follow next move on g8.

As for the opening, he did play too passively. The problem is that he has to find a pawn break to make space for his pieces but f6 is difficult without getting lots of protection on the e6 pawn.

I think what would likely have happened if he had played Bb6 instead of Be7, say, is that my knights would still have looked after the centre and his light squared bishop would have been inferior to the knights.

As a general point to everyone else, closed positions (ie, where lots of pawns are still left on) tend to favour knights over bishops. So, if you have knights rather than bishops after an exchange, don't look to swap lots of pawns off; keep your patience and keep the bishops with nowhere to go.