Chess thread

[The Baron]

The view from Black's side. White to play and win. Answers are on Carlsen's FB page.

[Tal]

Click to see full-size image.

The happiest man in British chess is one Michael Adams, as he took the title in Dortmund with a clever draw against Kramnik. My German is passable but not strong enough to report on the link below:

http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/2013/index.php

Anyone who is more confident might help us out with a translation of the quotes.

Für die Englische, here's a report from Chessbase in our more confident tongue (ironically, Chessbase is a German site):

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4010680/dortmund-final-adams-emerges-victorious-040813.aspx

[Tal]

The view from Black's side. White to play and win. Answers are on Carlsen's FB page.

Anyone had any joy with this?

[Tal]

Have to say I'm having trouble with this puzzle!

To win the game, we need to chop off the e-pawn and the advancing a-pawn. If we can do that and keep our rook, provided we haven't let the other pawns advance too far, we should be OK.

1.Rxe3 seems like the way to start, cutting off the king and threatening to lop off the a-pawn. 1...Kb4 seems obvious as a response.

Anyone else looking at it?

[Evilpengwinz]

Have to say I'm having trouble with this puzzle!

To win the game, we need to chop off the e-pawn and the advancing a-pawn. If we can do that and keep our rook, provided we haven't let the other pawns advance too far, we should be OK.

1.Rxe3 seems like the way to start, cutting off the king and threatening to lop off the a-pawn. 1...Kb4 seems obvious as a response.

Anyone else looking at it?

The king is already stopping the e-pawn from going anywhere, so we only need to worry about the pawn on a3.

The first thing I thought of was

1. Ra8   1. Kb4
2. Rb8+ 2. Kc3
3. Rb1   3. Kxc2
4. Re1


Also wondered what happens if Black doesn't move the King, and instead responds with 1. d6, but then 2. Rxa5+ 2. Kb4 3. Rd5, then whatever Black does we play 4. Rd1 so that doesn't help Black either.

Think that will end up as a win for white, eventually?

[Tal]

Yea, if 1.Rh8, you get 1...Kc4 and the king will look to get to b2 to help the a-pawn. Tough to stop that. At least to win as well.

[Tal]

Very much a point worth making that people think endgames are easy because there aren't many pieces on the board. In fact, they are often the most difficult part of the game and the least likely to recover from if you go wrong. The tactics are as important as they are in the middlegame and the positional understanding is critical.

A puzzle like this is full of little tricks and traps and, to win in it, you need to be spot on with each move. This is how you beat a Grandmaster.

Have fun with it by putting it into a computer if you like and trying to win it as White. See how quickly Black pounces on an error. You might lose a couple of games. That's fine. Understand why you lost and improve the variation so that you avoid the loss next time.

Feel free to post ITT. If anyone has access to Facebook and wants to look at the solution, feel free to let me know by PM. Happy to explain the answer when I know what it is

[Tal]

Starts 10 August. If you like your betting, this is Marathonbet's book:

Chess. 2013 World Cup. Norway. Outright
2013 World Cup. Norway. Outright.  10 Aug 11:00

Name        Price
Aronian, Levon  3.95   
Karjakin, Sergey  4.60   
Grishchuk, Alexander  5.10   
Caruana, Fabiano  6.00   
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar  7.00   
Kramnik, Wladimir  7.50   
Nakamura, Hikaru  9.00   
Svidler, Peter  10.50   
Morozevich, Alexander  18.00   
Leko, Peter  21.00   
Ivanchuk, Vassily  26.00   
Wang, Hao  26.00   
Ponomariov, Ruslan  29.00   
Nepomniachtchi, Ian  31.00   
Gelfand, Boris  36.00   
Kamsky, Gata  41.00   
Le, Quang Liem  46.00   
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime  46.00   
Andreikin, Dmitry  46.00   
Radjabov, Teimour  51.00   
Shirov, Alexei  51.00   
Adams, Michael  56.00   
Bacrot, Etienne  61.00   
Jakovenko, Dmitry  71.00   
Domínguez, Lenier  81.00   
Moiseenko, Alexander  101.00   
Korobov, Anton  101.00   
Giri, Anish  126.00   
Polgar, Judit  126.00   
Wojtaszek, Radosław  151.00   
Tomashevsky, Evgeny  151.00   
Fressinet, Laurent  151.00   
Navara, David  201.00   
Shimanov, Aleksandr  251.00   
Khismatullin, Denis  251.00   
Wei, Yi  301.00   
Safarli, Eltaj  301.00   
Malakhov, Vladimir  301.00   
Iturrizaga, Eduardo  351.00   
Bologan, Viktor  351.00   
Durarbayli, Vasif  501.00   
Hou, Yifan  751.00   
Ushenina, Anna  1501.00   
Any Other  67.00 
 

Are you sure this isn't a Skybet book?

They are betting to about 200%.

Hard pressed to find a bet here young Tal.

With his victory in Dortmund, Adams is now 16/1!

That's likely too short, because I think results flattered him a touch, but you can't go far wrong with the form horses at 3½ times the price.

[Tal]

Mamedyarov is in to 5.6, so a little move inwards, while the other two I've dabbled on (Nakamura and a banzai with Anish Giri) have held their price at 8/1 and 125/1 respectively.

The World Cup starts on Sunday. The market isn't any less overroundy, either, so I suspect I'll be avoiding any bet recommendations on Tips for Tikay on this one.

The format makes it a bit of a lottery, as anyone can win a single game at this level and draw the return leg.

[Tal]

A nice game for you from the British yesterday.

Keith Arkell is (and he'll hate me for saying this) one of the more senior members of the British top brass; a professional Grandmaster for some years and a prodigious player of weekend comps on the circuit (he played no fewer than 150 longplay games last year). He has a well-known style of being one of the very best endgame players around (I would argue there are few more naturally gifted endgame players in the world; that Norwegian chap aside).

However, he is a Grandmaster and able to play any style when demanded. Yesterday, against another experienced player in GM Peter Wells (known as PK, would you believe?), he played some more attacking chess than we are familiar seeing him play.

It's a very nice game and Andrew Martin's analysis once again excels.

[theprawnidentity]

Any time I feel that my poker ego is getting too big for the house, I come here to demolish my chess ego to make room for it!!!!!

[Tal]

Any time I feel that my poker ego is getting too big for the house, I come here to demolish my chess ego to make room for it!!!!!

I have a similar experience whenever in post a hand in PHA.

"So, should I be value betting the river?"
"Er...why did you 3-bet pre??!"
"Oh..."

Like any game, chess is easy to learn and just about impossible to master. There is always someone better around the corner and you just have to accept it for what it is. Puzzles like the one above show just how difficult the game can be, even when looking straightforward.

The video in the post above this one shows a pretty intense game and, in short, how being precise in choosing moves is critical to beat a Grandmaster. The understanding of when to develop, when to attack and when to play a patient, waiting move as demonstrated by Arkell is a demonstration of the game played at its peak. It's like watching a brilliant individual goal. Doesn't matter which division, but it's a professional showing you why he makes money from the game.

If you go to the British Championship website, the same round as Arkell's win saw Simon Williams beat Stephen Gordon in a game more unstable than plutonium in a warm and slightly leaky oxygen tank; pieces flying all over the place; nothing safe. Amazing stuff but I'd have kittens trying to explain what was going on!

[Tal]

OK. I have the solution to the TomSom-Carlsen joint venture puzzle.

Reveal tonight.

[theprawnidentity]

OK. I have the solution to the TomSom-Carlsen joint venture puzzle.

Reveal tonight.

I've not had chance to look at it yet!!! Can you postpone till tomorrow please

[Tal]

OK. I have the solution to the TomSom-Carlsen joint venture puzzle.

Reveal tonight.

I've not had chance to look at it yet!!! Can you postpone till tomorrow please

Can do.

I'll describe it as fiendish; it is an advanced level puzzle and very clever. I haven't seen it before but I'd say with some confidence that this wasn't from a real game.