Chess thread

[Tal]

I've shied away from giving straight answers on that question because it is so difficult to be specific; it depends so much on the position of the pieces. If you put it into an engine and it told you you were +1.5 (that means one and a half pawns up, which would likely be enough to win in theory), there is your answer.

If the rook is active and the pawns are disparate and far back, it should be a reasonably straightforward job for the rook to win. Any other position makes it more difficult to win. If the pawns have come forward together, supported by the king and the bishop is keeping an eye on the opposing pawn, the other side is starting to get the advantage and could even win. Perhaps that's where you were.

If you want to learn the game, take a screen shot of the position when the other guy offered you the draw, reject the draw offer, play on and assess the position after the game, whatever the result. It's too tempting to accept draws when we don't know who is winning, but - and this is poker thinking - the other guy is of the same mindset, so we know he will not be enjoying life when you decline his offer and demand to play on.

Watch what he is up to but advance your pawns, support them by getting your king into the centre and get him thinking about how to defend, rather than how to attack. 

[Tal]

I was asked today (well yesterday, actually) on the Tips for Tikay thread what the advantage is for White in moving first. Here is a wiki page explaining the numbers, the history, the changing views over time and some examples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-move_advantage_in_chess

[Tal]

A wonderful article on Judit Polgar in the Independent today:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/i-never-wanted-mens-pity-chess-child-prodigy-judit-polgar-on-the-games-inherent-sexism-8340951.html

If you don't know the story of Judit and her sisters, this is well worth five minutes of your day.

She isn't in London to make up the numbers or to be the token girl.

[kinboshi]

A wonderful article on Judit Polgar in the Independent today:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/i-never-wanted-mens-pity-chess-child-prodigy-judit-polgar-on-the-games-inherent-sexism-8340951.html

If you don't know the story of Judit and her sisters, this is well worth five minutes of your day.

She isn't in London to make up the numbers or to be the token girl.

Great article.  Not sure about this bit:

"Laszlo, an educational psychologist by profession, had wanted to demonstrate that what we call 'genius' is not a naturally occurring or genetically created phenomenon, but could be achieved by any child, given intensive early tuition on a one-to-one basis"

Surely the control for this experiment would have been to coach a group of children from different families (and therefore different genetic make-up) and compare them after a period of equivalent training/education.  Also would have been good to not coach/train one of his own kids and then give them an abridged and less-effective training/education in chess - to see if they could compete (again in a control group). 

His 'experiment' can't distinguish between causation and correlation.

[Tal]

In other words: variance innit

[The Camel]

Asked this question twice on TfT thread and you've studiously ignored it.

Asking her so you can't claim you didn't see it!

What does a second get from this relationship?

A share of the prize money, or just valuable experience of working with a better player?

[Tal]

Asked this question twice on TfT thread and you've studiously ignored it.

Asking her so you can't claim you didn't see it!

What does a second get from this relationship?

A share of the prize money, or just valuable experience of working with a better player?

Sorry Camel! Didn't see it at all, I promise!

I suspect the answer is a bit of both, although more the latter than the former. The top players get their expenses covered by the organisers so the cost of bringing a second isn't prohibitive. Would be surprised if there weren't a financial reward as well.

Roger Federer must have a practice partner he plays with at events?

[Tal]

Preview of the London Chess Classic for you:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8665

All the personnel, all the details and all the pairings are there. If you were looking at visiting, it is cheaper in the week by a fiver.

I will endeavour to bring you daily updates on the action and will be looking for any value in the betting markets which I will post on Tips for Tikay to keep the betting angle separate.

I have tipped Magnus Carlsen to win as not only is he the best and most in-form of the competitors, but he has a decent draw with colours. He faces a tricky first game against Luke McShane, who recently became British Number one for the first time.

I'm excited about the prospect of some of the games and about the possibility of Carlsen becoming the highest-rated player of all time if he can finish in the top couple (depending on results).

I am looking to go down to watch either this Sunday or next weekend. If you fancy the trip, let me know and I'll be happy to chat over an overpriced West London beverage.

Venue is right by Kensington Olympia station and there is a direct train there from Watford Junction (if you are travelling from the Midlands like wot I is, for example).

[Tal]

Click to see full-size image.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8676

The London Chess Classic - the strongest tournament ever held on British soil - kicks off this afternoon. Here are the details of yesterday's press conference and a few amusing moments.

Carlsen's second has been granted a visa now so he can finally get back to trying to win games.

[Tal]

Live games are here:

http://www.londonchessclassic.com/index.htm

There are 'phone and tablet-friendly servers as well.

[Tal]

Worth pointing out that one of the four games is still going on...

Started at 2pm. There are no dinner breaks, no 20 minute "let's see if you can do your brains on the roulette tables" breaks.

Adams is two pawns up against Gawain Jones but it is a tough one to win. 90 moves have been made by each player and the grind continues.

[Tal]

Round one of a tournament is often a cagey affair. No one wants to concede ground early on and risks are reserved for only the most savage contemptibles.

Not here.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8678

Four decisive games out of four and a brilliant game between Carlsen and McShane. Luke played with heart, flamboyance and measured timing and built an attack against Carlsen's Berlin Defence that could - and possibly as should - have been decisive. As it was, he couldn't turn his advantage into a win but had the consolation of being level in the endgame and being very good at chess. Draw then?

Not a bit of it.

Carlsen wins drawn endgames for fun. It is a truly astonishing feat to beat such gifted players in these positions time and time again.

The Tips for Tikay thread came within a whisker of registering a real coup having backed McShane at 7-1 but it can rest happily that the man it has backed to win overall is in very fine form indeed.

[The Baron]

Hi Tal, from what position in this game do you think McShane should have converted from?

[Tal]

Hi Tal, from what position in this game do you think McShane should have converted from?

Good question, Baron.

If you have a look at the position after about 26 moves, McShane's pieces are looking at the Black king and Carlsen has put all his pieces back to defend. When I was watching the game on the internet yesterday, I had Shredder going on my phone to help me assess the position. He preferred Re1 to Kh1 and, as Carlsen immediately equalised after Kh1 by swapping the pieces off, that is probably the critical position.

Tough to say as, hilariously, my Shredder app is only rated at 2600, whereas McShane is over 100 points clear of that. Nevertheless, I'd take Shredder's view in that position unless told otherwise, as I'm not convinced Kh1 was right.

It is a small edge as, unless White forces a weakness in Black's position (say he forces one of the pawns on the kingside to move), he won't be able to break through.

I had a think about how to explain it. It is like being an early break up in a tennis match against a good returner. You have five long service games to hold to win the set and there is little room for error. In this case, McShane knew that Carlsen is not going to lose if they end up in a level endgame so he had to press the advantage before the pieces came off or only swap if he was left with a better endgame.

Colours reversed, I expect Carlsen to beat McShane in that position 7 out of 10 or more.

[Tal]

Elsewhere, Nakamura never looked in real danger against Aronian. His swashbuckling style took hold and Aronian's slightly surprising choice of 1.c4 (he plays 1.d4 mostly and does very well against Nakamura when he plays it) didn't work.

Polgar has a pretty unpleasant record against Kramnik and despite getting a space advantage early on, she struggled and her opponent is never one to panic when defending.

Michael Adams beat newboy Gawain Jones in a quiet game. If you were to study Adams's games (he has been in the top ten in the world) you would see he routinely makes small moves that seem to be nothing at all but when the position opens up they seem to be in the perfect place. "That was lucky!", you say to yourself. But it keeps happening over and over again, game after game. This was one of those. It is very difficult to define and to describe as a phenomenon but that's the best I can do

Today's games are:

Judit Polgar v Gawain Jones

Hikaru Nakamura v Vladmir Kramnik
    
Magnus Carlsen v Levon Aronian
    
Vishy Anand v Luke McShane
    
Michael Adams (bye) – assisting commentary

Game of the day is World Number 1 v World Number 2 but given that Nakamura and Kramnik both won yesterday, there will be a few eyes on whether either can go 2/2. That game could be Nakamura's attack v Kramnik's defence.