Chess thread

[The Baron]

Masterclass from Carlsen.

It's a shame Caruana isn't facing Carlsen here. 34. h5?

[Tal]

Time pressure does things to even the best

[Tal]

Game two of the World Chess Championship went the way of the favourite, as Magnus Carlsen got everything he wanted: a quiet opening where both players had a little bit of play but not much more and a grind forward to capitalise on any inaccuracies.

A lot has been made in comparing Anand's situation (a middle aged man in a world title rematch the year after losing his crown to a younger foe) to that of Mikhail Botvinnik, who did the same thing in 60/61 with Mikhail Tal. The comparison doesn't end there: Carlsen's "jump-off" of the rook (bringing it up to a3 and swinging it across to the kingside) was a feature of Tal's imaginative middlegame play. It's a clever way of developing the piece quickly in what seems like an unnatural way.

It worked this time, as it forced an error from Anand and he was able to build a pressure so persistent it became insurmountable and the former champion wilted after hours of fighting.



First blood to the youngster. A rest day today, followed by Anand with the White pieces. Will Carlsen dare to try the Grünfeld again?

Reports, pictures and Danny King's video are here:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/world-championship-02-carlsen-strikes-first

[Tal]

Most of those not in the Big Dance are playing in other tournaments. Man of the Moment is not Caruana, but Alexander "I once shared a table with Pleno" Grischuk, who is rampaging through a very strong field by essentially blasting people off the board. Have a look at this crosstable with two rounds to go:

[McGlashan]

Most of those not in the Big Dance are playing in other tournaments. Man of the Moment is not Caruana, but Alexander "I once shared a table with Pleno" Grischuk, who is rampaging through a very strong field by essentially blasting people off the board. Have a look at this crosstable with two rounds to go:

And there's the issue in a nutshell. The various top GM's are capable of putting on a run and becoming number 2 in the world, but Magnus is consistently number 1. Consistency and a hard to beat style make for a formidable matchplay opponent.

[McGlashan]

They say you learn something new everyday and yesterday we learnt that a Queen behind 2 rooks is known as Alekhine's gun.

In the game Nimzowitsch played on for 4 more moves before resigning.

This position arose in yesterday after Qe2 hence the Alekhine's gun references.

If Alekhine's gun killed you with a headshot, this one was a fatal bodyshot causing a slow painfull death. When white controls that many squares good things will happen.

[MintTrav]

A lot has been made of Anand being under pressure, both time-wise and on the board. The strange thing, though, was that Svidler, probably tired but under no pressure at all doing the commentary, also missed it. Amazing that two GMs (and not just any GMs but two of the top ten players in the world) both failed to see a very obvious critical move.

[Tal]

A lot has been made of Anand being under pressure, both time-wise and on the board. The strange thing, though, was that Svidler, probably tired but under no pressure at all doing the commentary, also missed it. Amazing that two GMs (and not just any GMs but two of the top ten players in the world) both failed to see a very obvious critical move.

That is interesting. Of course, anyone is capable of a moment of blindness but doubling on the seventh would be an idea I would expect a reasonably competent club player to spot without too much difficulty.

Obviously, they've both spotted twenty moves I've not even considered in getting to that position...

[Tonji]

Click to see full-size image.

If you've got 20,000 euros spare, a Man Ray chess set is up for sale in Paris later in the week.

[MintTrav]

I wouldn't pay €20k for them. They're not even finished properly. The horses don't have any heads and the bishops don't even have a stripey line on them.

[Tal]

I wouldn't pay €20k for them. They're not even finished properly. The horses don't have any heads and the bishops don't even have a stripey line on them.

Those pawns would look lovely on a chest of Ikea drawers

[The Baron]

Most of those not in the Big Dance are playing in other tournaments. Man of the Moment is not Caruana, but Alexander "I once shared a table with Pleno" Grischuk, who is rampaging through a very strong field by essentially blasting people off the board. Have a look at this crosstable with two rounds to go:

And there's the issue in a nutshell. The various top GM's are capable of putting on a run and becoming number 2 in the world, but Magnus is consistently number 1. Consistency and a hard to beat style make for a formidable matchplay opponent.

Agree. But Magnus needs more games like yesterday for the casual watcher like me. It makes him more exciting than his usual dry games. It takes someone with a very deep understanding of chess to appreciate Carlsen to the degree he should be (which I don't have) which makes other players for more appealing to watch a lot of the time.

[Tal]

The positional side of the game is less relatable for most people than the tactical side. That's why people prefer Tal to Petrosian, Alex Higgins to Hendry, 1970 Brazil to 1990 Italy and Viv Richards to Rahul Dravid; you can see the brilliance without needing to understand much about what you're watching.

Fischer was fortunate that he was around at the perfect time, because his chess wasn't inherently exciting. He was a positional player first and foremost. Carlsen's style isn't dissimilar.

[The Baron]

The positional side of the game is less relatable for most people than the tactical side. That's why people prefer Tal to Petrosian, Alex Higgins to Hendry, 1970 Brazil to 1990 Italy and Viv Richards to Rahul Dravid; you can see the brilliance without needing to understand much about what you're watching.

Fischer was fortunate that he was around at the perfect time, because his chess wasn't inherently exciting. He was a positional player first and foremost. Carlsen's style isn't dissimilar.

This.

Would Karpov have beaten Fischer?

[MintTrav]

The positional side of the game is less relatable for most people than the tactical side. That's why people prefer Tal to Petrosian, Alex Higgins to Hendry, 1970 Brazil to 1990 Italy and Viv Richards to Rahul Dravid; you can see the brilliance without needing to understand much about what you're watching.

Fischer was fortunate that he was around at the perfect time, because his chess wasn't inherently exciting. He was a positional player first and foremost. Carlsen's style isn't dissimilar.

This.

Would Karpov have beaten Fischer?

I read somewhere that Kasparov said Carlsen's style is a mixture of Fischer's and Karpov's, and that Carlsen agreed.