Chess thread

[Tal]

A million dollar prize pool for a chess tournament?

In Vegas?

During the NFL season?

http://millionairechess.com/

http://en.chessbase.com/post/1-000-000-open-tournament-announced

Click to see full-size image.

Where do I put the staking thread?

[McGlashan]

Magnus Carlsen made the New York times crossword yesterday

Click to see full-size image.

courtesy of a Mark Crowther @MarkTWIC  (The Week in Chess magazine) re-tweet.

[theprawnidentity]

Where do I put the staking thread?

Res 10%

[McGlashan]

In a world of heavily prepared opening theorem, are these guys out of book by move 11?

[Tal]

Er...what?!

[McGlashan]

Er...what?!

It's a.. em.. new novelty.

[Tal]

There's a story behind that game, I'm sure. Would love to know what it is


Meanwhile, here's an interview with Hikaru Nakamura:

http://www.chess.com/news/hikaru-nakamura-i-feel-good-im-optimistic-1927

[Tal]

And an update on what our world champ is up to:

http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-from-moscow-to-oman-4659


"I'm good at what I do, I suppose"

[Tal]

http://en.chessbase.com/post/magnus-carlsen-explains-his-approach-to-chess


Some have criticized you for play on the age difference between the two of you, dragging out boring positions waiting for him to collapse. Is that your view of chess?

"Since my collaboration with Kasparov, my strategy is as follows: At a time when all players prepare themselves with software, my goal is not to see if my computer is better than my opponent's. In the openings, I just need to reach a position that gives me play. The idea is to be smart rather than trying to crush the other. I try to figure out where he wants to take me and I do my best to not put myself in positions where I could fall into his preparation. I try to play 40 or 50 good moves, and I challenge my opponent to do as much. Even if the position is simple and seems simple, I try to stay focused and creative, to find opportunities that lie within. Not to play it safe. It is important to know how to adapt to all situations."


What an incredible quote. It is somehow both vulgar and elegant. The notion that you should play chess by making a good move followed by another one seems so disconnected from the soul of the game as to make the classicists queasy. Yet the game is not like poker in that it is a game of complete visibility; nothing is hidden; you just have to look hard enough. So, play the best move on the board when it is your turn to act.

If only it were that simple to the rest of us!

[McGlashan]

You know that moment when you get a really good position against your arch nemesis then let it all slip away.

Click to see full-size image.

Funnily enough Hikaru Nakamura seems to get good positions against Magnus Carlsen, positions that he likes to play. Surely it cannot be long until he gets that elusive first win.

[Tal]

Thank you for that, McGlashan. Have neglected this thread a little of late. Let me do a quick catch up.

The photo is from the Gashimov Memorial tournament, where Carlsen lost consecutive games for the first time since 2010. He had a crucial last round against Caruana, where the winner would take the title. Here's what happened:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/gashimov-r10-from-fool-to-king

In the context of the tournament and the importance of a win, this is nothing short of a jaw-dropper.


-----------------------------

Here is the current top 20, according to the 1 May ratings:

 1    Carlsen, Magnus        NOR    2882       
 2    Aronian, Levon        ARM    2815   
 3    Grischuk, Alexander    RUS        2792
 4    Anand, Viswanathan     IND    2785   
 5    Caruana, Fabiano     ITA    2783   
 6    Kramnik, Vladimir    RUS    2783   
 7    Nakamura, Hikaru     USA    2772   
 8    Topalov, Veselin             BUL    2772    
 9    Karjakin, Sergey        RUS    2770   
 10    Dominguez Perez, Leinier   CUB    2768    
 11    Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar   AZE    2760    
 12    Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA    2758    
 13    Svidler, Peter        RUS    2753   
 14    Gelfand, Boris    .        ISR    2753    
 15    Ivanchuk, Vassily    UKR    2753    
 16    Adams, Michael        ENG    2750    
 17    Giri, Anish        .      NED    2746    
 18    Vitiugov, Nikita        RUS    2742    
 19    Leko, Peter               HUN    2737    
 20    Nepomniachtchi, Ian    RUS    2735   


----------------------------

And finally:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/no-bids-for-world-championship-2014

[McGlashan]

There's a chess themed movie on Sky Premier this week. Life of a King sees Cuba Gooding Junior plays an ex con who starts a chess club for inner city youths. Based on a true story n all that, it scores a solid 6.9 on the IMDB.   

[Tal]

So my favourite living player is playing the closest thing we have in terms of style in England, who happens also to share my name.

Hard to refuse to post their game:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/final-four-nations-league-weekend-part-two



Simon Williams (left) playing Alexei Shirov.

[curnow]

http://norwaychess.com/
http://norwaychess.com/en/supertournament/standings/
http://live.norwaychess.com/ live stream of event
todays games , not sure what time it starts
   white   black   
1   Aronian (0) ARM   Agdestein (0) NOR      ...
2   Grischuk (0) RUS   Caruana (0) ITA      ...
3   Carlsen (0) NOR   Giri (0) NED      ...
4   Svidler (0) RUS           Kramnik (0) RUS      ...
5   Karjakin (0) RUS   Topalov (0) BUL

seen this on twitter yesterday , they were playing quick play & starting main event today

[Honeybadger]

Shame this thread is dying down a bit. What's going on Tal? You super busy or summat?