Chess thread

[Tal]

Click to see full-size image.

Caption Comp, if you wouldn't mind.

[Tal]

In Zug today, Ponomariov and Nakamura beat Kamsky and Kasimdzhanov respectively. No one else could break their opponent down, so there were 4 drawn games, leaving the crosstable looking thusly:

Click to see full-size image.

Radjabov is struggling and it is becoming blindingly obvious that this comp has come too soon for him. He isn't threatening with either colour and he is haemorrhaging rating points. A dramatic turnaround would be needed to salvage even pride.

[Tal]

Kramnik and Ding Liren in the press conference after their draw.

Over in Paris, Aronian beat Svidler in the day's only decisive encounter, meaning the Armenian joins three others at the top.

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009599/alekhine-r04-aronian-joins-the-leaders-250413.aspx

[MintTrav]

Click to see full-size image.

Caption Comp, if you wouldn't mind.

"The next time we play blindfold chess, I'll be in charge of remembering the blindfolds!"

[Tal]

We are at the turn in the Alekhine Memorial and, while the players are travelling from Paris to St Petersburg, I have time to tell you the leader at halfway is France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave:

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009609/alekhine-r05-vachier-leads-after-paris-leg-260413.aspx

Kramnik was beaten as White by the considerable outsider on the day, Laurent Fressinet. He plays Anand first up in Russia and that will be an interesting test, as the Indian won both his game yesterday and their last encounter, last month.

Click to see full-size image.

[Tal]

The only winner in Zug, meanwhile, was American Gata Kamsky, whose more patient approach paid dividends against the flamboyant Morozevich.

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009611/zug-r07-kamsky-beats-morozevich-260413.aspx



Morozevich is on the left, Kamsky on the right.

Click to see full-size image.

Looks like it is one of the top seven there who will lift the trophy, but remember that this is about finishing positions to score points for the overall competition, so there is always something to play for.

[Tal]

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009624/zug-gp-r08-topalov-wins-leads-alone-270413.aspx

The latest round in Zug was all drawn, with the exception of Morozevich v Topalov, which ended in a win for the Bulgarian. The commentator is convinced Topalov had prepared the Black side of this opening in advance and that he was able to use that to his advantage.

He now leads the tournament by half a point, anyway:

Click to see full-size image.

Rest day Saturday. We then go again in both Zug and St Petersburg.

[Tal]

I have just stumbled across this article, tellibg the story of a chance encounter and a mutual love of one of Mikhail Tal's best games.

http://www.chess.com/article/view/brutal-tactics-and-positional-tactics

There's enough story in there to make it worth a read for those who aren't as confident at following the action and enough chess in there to be instructive.

Balance, see?

[Tal]

http://www.chess.com/article/view/butterfly-effect

As a follow-up, have a butcher's hook at this one. There are some puzzles, but the point of the article is to explain that, whilst spotting patterns is critical to chess success, so is spotting the differences.

Have fun with this one.

[Tal]

The Alekhine Memorial tournament resumed yesterday in the great player's original home of St Petersburg, where the players will carry their scores from Paris and complete the remaining games.

Round six was all draws, but the standout game was a tremendous display of resourcefulness by Lev Aronian against British Number 1, Michael Adams.

Aronian sacrificed (as his custom, but this time a piece) but it didn't work and this left Adams in the driving seat. However, a neat trick when the computers had Adams at -4.3 (almost the value of being a whole rook up!) which Adams missed and Aronian was able to salvage the draw.



Here are the games, including the Aronian Wriggle:

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009631/alekhine-r06-draws-prevail-in-saint-petersburg-290413.aspx

[Tal]

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009633/zug-gp-r09-three-wins-topalov-continues-to-lead-280413.aspx

Some really funny games in Zug, meanwhile, where two players made awful mistakes (at their level and, tbh, at club level) to lose from level positions. Ponomariov and Morozevich were the perpetrators; Radjabov and Nakamura the beneficiaries.

You might enjoy playing through those two games to see if you can spot the fatal combinations.

Click to see full-size image.

[Tal]

Round 7 of the Alekhine Memorial saw two decisive games and Boris Gelfand become a joint leader of the tournament:

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009658/alekhine-r06-gelfand-and-anand-strike-300413.aspx

Vishy Anand was the other winner, eschewing his Ruy Lopez for a Scotch (it's an opening, rather than Blackburne's favoured tipple!). Fressinet wilted under pressure and the World Champ sealed the full point.

[Tal]

Meanwhile, in Zug, Topalov won the Grand Prix tournament with a round to spare, putting away the chap in second, Fabiano Caruana.

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009659/zug-gp-r10-four-wins-three-with-black-300413.aspx

Nakamura is now in second place, but would lose out to the head to head defeat he suffered against the Bulgarian, even were he to close the full point gap today.

The report in link above seems to be written by a ladies' man, rather cheekily asking which of the competitors this person is married to:

[The Baron]

I'm not even sure what the last one is.

Or what you were doing walking in on those poor ladies with your camera.

All I know is you've sullied this beautiful thread. Again.

You don't know what Mad Dog 2020 is? Oh my, with a capful of that girls knickers magically fell to the ground, it was incred! Although the watermelon one did make me puke all over my white jeans.

This post needs more love.

[Tal]

...moooooooooooooving on...

The Grand Prix in Zug ended with the man who has been playing the best chess, playing the best chess.

Vesilin Topalov has grown in this comp to show the sort of form that propelled him to World Number One a few years back. Today, he played an excellent game and has won 5 and drawn 6 of his eleven games in this tournament, for a whopping 2924 performance.

He's almost certain to make the Candidates Tournament next time round, which will mean he will face Vladimir Kramnik, which will mean two easy games for the journalists to write about. The two don't shake hands.

Here are the games and reports:

http://en.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009690/zug-gp-r11-topalov-wins-game-set-and-event-300413.aspx

Topalov's win over Karjakin was the only decisive game of the last round, leaving the final table like this:

Click to see full-size image.