Chess thread

[Tal]

Before this thread started, I had the impression that these chess GrandMasters prepared for months for each titanic match, so I am really surprised to discover that they are playing another tournament nearly every week.

The results of some of the best players lately have been suggesting that they could really do with a break. Why do they keep playing week-in, week-out? Is it to keep their ranking? If so, it's not working in some cases. Do they have contracts that oblige to play so often? Do they need to keep playing to earn enough to get by?

Really good questions.

The top players get to manage their calendars. Some prefer to play as much as possible (Ivanchuk is a good example of that), whilst others aren't seen as often.

The last few months have seen a number of big events in quick succession and these can't easily be missed. The Candidates decides who gets to play for the World Title and the Grand Prix events are the qualification for the Candidates.

There will also be events where the sponsorship commitments require attendance but they aren't all that frequent.

Carlsen probably has the busiest diary, but most of that isn't actually playing in top level tournaments. It is his sponsorship commitments elsewhere. He is a very marketable product.

Svidler has had a very busy few months in terms of top flight chess and that has to take its toll at some point. Radjabov hadn't played a comp for a while before the Candidates and got found out for his lack of match practice. Then he had another tournament (he was the sponsor's choice in Azerbaijan) straight afterwards and took a pounding. Hence, he pulled out of this Grand Prix...

...and was replaced at the last minute by Etienne Bacrot, who has struggled because he hasn't prepared for the opposition enough.

I'm sitting watching the cricket ATM and can't help thinking how a player like Jonathan Trott or Alastair Cook just love batting. They'll stay there all day, all week and all year if allowed. Others get stale and impatient, so like to have a few weeks off and do other things.

Horses for courses, I suppose.

[Tal]

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009949/thessaloniki-r05-dominguez-takes-the-lead-270513.aspx

The latest round of the Grand Prix in Thessaloniki saw outsider, Lenier Dominguez-Perez take a surprise lead, being the only one of the seven on 2½/4 to win.



Dominguez completely outplayed Rustam Kasimdzhanov from about the halfway mark and he has now won three on the bounce. He faces Hilary Nakamura next with the White pieces and, with the American short of a gear or two this week, it will make for an interesting encounter.

[Tal]

"This game had nothing to do with chess. It's pure psychology. As a team partner, I want Vassily to recover as soon as possible."

These were the words of Ruslam Ponomariov after his mullering of compatriot, Vassily Ivanchuk in 19 moves. Chucky made a poor choice, having reached a playable position, when he castled queenside. His opponent was ruthless in response.

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009963/thessaloniki-r06-kamsky-and-caruana-join-dominguez-280513.aspx

America's Gata Kamsky played a lovely game to beat Peter Svidler. It was a very difficult game and one he handled excellently.



The other winner was Caruana, leaving the crosstable looking a little like this:

Click to see full-size image.

If he wins tomorrow, Ponomariov might well fancy his chances of lifting the trophy, as he has the easiest (if such things are possible) run in.

We shall see.

[theprawnidentity]

Sometimes I'm not sure I read these updates correctly.  Ponomariov won that match because he had such a dominant position that they both figured there was only one winner, despite no pieces having yet been taken from the board?

In my own personal chess news, I started using Shredder on your advice and can only beat it up to about 1400.  Guess I must be worse than I remember.  I seem to keep coming off one piece worse in most exchanges and my opening tekkers leave a lot to be desired.  Any ideas on places where I can learn new techniques / get help?  It would be greatly appreciated.

[Tal]

Sometimes I'm not sure I read these updates correctly.  Ponomariov won that match because he had such a dominant position that they both figured there was only one winner, despite no pieces having yet been taken from the board?

Yes. At that level, the loss of a pawn or two and an exposed king would be too much to bear. Ivanchuk resigned (decided not to carry on playing) because he concluded he had no chance of saving the game.

[Tal]

In my own personal chess news, I started using Shredder on your advice and can only beat it up to about 1400.  Guess I must be worse than I remember.  I seem to keep coming off one piece worse in most exchanges and my opening tekkers leave a lot to be desired.  Any ideas on places where I can learn new techniques / get help?  It would be greatly appreciated.

1400 isn't to be sniffed at, especially if you're rusty/making identifiable mistakes.

Chess.com has lots of videos of all levels that are uploaded by IMs and GMs for people to enjoy.

Feel free to post games up here or any general questions you have and I or someone else will have a go at answering.

[theprawnidentity]

Had a nightmare with HH's and replayers and things but decided to alter cause I finally found something that works:

http://www.chess-poster.com/english/pgn/pgnviewer/lt_pgn_viewer.htm

1.g3 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.Bh3 d5 4.Bxc8 Qxc8 5.0-0 Qh3 6.Re1 Nd7 7.b3
Ngf6 8.c4 0-0-0 9.d3 e6 10.Ba3 c6 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.d4 Kb8 13.Nbd2
Qf5 14.Rc1 h6 15.Nc4 g5 16.Nce5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Bxe5 18.Nxe5 Qxe5
19.Qd2 Qe4 20.Bb2 f6 21.Qa5 Ka8 22.Rc4 Qf5 23.e4 b6 24.Qa4 b5
25.Qa5 Qg4 26.exd5 Qf3 27.Rxc6 Qxd5 28.Bxf6 Qxc6 29.Bxd8 Rf8
30.Bc7 Rf7 31.Be5 Rd7 32.h4 gxh4 33.gxh4 a6 34.Re3 Rf7 35.Rg3
Qc1+ 36.Kg2 Kb7 37.Rg8 Qc5 38.Rb8+ Ka7 39.Bg3 e5 40.b4 Qc3 41.Qb6#
1-0

Think I played ok in this.  Im sure there will be some mistakes somewhere.  This is vs Shredder playing somewhere between 1350-1400.  Any thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated.  Was a bit confused by the computers Qc3 move, why wouldn't it have played Qc6?

[Tal]

Thanks muchly. Might take me a couple of days, but I will have a look and feed back ITT.

You can play it through Shredder BTW and turn the engine on only to assess the position when you think you might have gone wrong. It will give you a number: positive means white is winning; negative black. 1 means White is the equivalent of a pawn up.

If you want to play real people, Chess.com is free and has Android/IOS app versions.

[Tal]

LOVE this picture: Kamsky sees 1.d4 played against him and goes into the tank, playing through the options he has prepared. Aggressive or solid?

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009970/thessaloniki-r07-caruana-and-kamsky-keep-scoring-290513.aspx

Another set of confusing and odd games, where Kamsky and Caruana managed to repeat their victories from yesterday and Nakamura managed a point of his own.

Click to see full-size image.

[theprawnidentity]

I am having problems getting Shredder to analyse properly, I'm not entirely sure what buttons to press / what I'm looking for.  Any advice or help would be appreciated (I know I'm useless atm, but teach a man to fish and all that )

[Tal]

I am having problems getting Shredder to analyse properly, I'm not entirely sure what buttons to press / what I'm looking for.  Any advice or help would be appreciated (I know I'm useless atm, but teach a man to fish and all that )

When the computer is on (such as when you are playing against it), there should be a number being displayed somewhere to 2 decimal places. That number will be Shredder's assessment of the position.

[George2Loose]

80 pages.

[Tal]

80 pages.

I know. I don't 'alf waffle

[Tal]

Been a topsy turvy affair in Thessaloniki and, after nine rounds, two players lead the comp.

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4009994/thessaloniki-09-dominguez-wins-ties-for-first-010613.aspx

Kamsky is a really gifted player in tight, quiet positions and his defences were impenetrable today, holding Frenchman Etienne Bacrot to a draw.

If the first half of the tournament was about Fabiano Caruana catching up with Kamsky, the second seems to be about Lenier Dominguez Perez doing the same. As if to reinforce the point, the Cuban beat the Italian with the black pieces:



The crosstable - with two rounds remaining - looks like this:

Click to see full-size image.

Both Kamsky and Dominguez play fiery Russians tomorrow, but Kamsky plays with White against a player in Morozevich who is 0 for his last 3.

Great games in store, for sure.

[Tal]

Tomsom, I haven't forgotten and will have a look at your game