Archive for June, 2009

This tournament, named after the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov, took place from June 3rd to 12th in the West Siberian town, with a population of 20,000. It was category 18 with an average rating of 2694, and convincingly won by Russian GM Alexander Motylev, who finished a full point ahead of the field. At the bottom of the table was shockingly Alexei Shirov. Report.

The Scheveningen Sicilian is the
most polular response to 1.e4. There are many thousands of games, and it is very hard for
club players to grasp the really important ideas. On his new DVD GM Lubomir Ftacnik explains key games and provides you with an understanding that
is soundly founded on the development of each line.
Buy his DVD now
or read this review with a nine minutes sampler.

About 320 volumes on chess, 400 periodicals, nine unexamined personal floppy
disks, proofs for My 60 Memorable Games, preparation notes for Taimanov, Petrossian and Spassky – all
of this was up for sale at Bonhams and Butterfield on Madison
Avenue. It was snapped up for US $61,000 by Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield,
sponsors of the 2009 US Championship. Press release and details.

Mark your calendar if you are interested in seeing “Chess in Concert” next Wednesday, June 17, on PBS’s Great Performances. Vocalist Josh Groban headlines the cast, from a concert production last year at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The Kenilworth Summer Tourney begins its 13-week run tonight.

I have posted two of my best “Killer Games” from recent online play. They are really fun miniatures with the Tango and the Left Hook Grand Prix (respectively), which I have discussed here before.

Not finding time to visit the club or even do a lot of chess analysis, I have been able to find a few minutes here or there for online blitz play. I used to play mostly unrated games at ICC, but lately I have been trying out a bunch of different sites (where I feel less invested in my rating status) and am working up toward a review of the ones I have used and a survey of others. My current favorites are Buho21 (where I probably play the most and have broken through my 2200 ceiling on several occasions) and ChessCube (which has a very nice interface, if not the strongest competition). One side benefit of playing at Buho21 is that I am learning a lot of new Spanish curse words…. I welcome suggestions for sites I should try — especially if I can try them for free.

I have posted two of my best “Killer Games” from recent online play. They are really fun miniatures with the Tango and the Left Hook Grand Prix (respectively), which I have discussed here before.

Not finding time to visit the club or even do a lot of chess analysis, I have been able to find a few minutes here or there for online blitz play. I used to play mostly unrated games at ICC, but lately I have been trying out a bunch of different sites (where I feel less invested in my rating status) and am working up toward a review of the ones I have used and a survey of others. My current favorites are Buho21 (where I probably play the most and have broken through my 2200 ceiling on several occasions) and ChessCube (which has a very nice interface, if not the strongest competition). One side benefit of playing at Buho21 is that I am learning a lot of new Spanish curse words…. I welcome suggestions for sites I should try — especially if I can try them for free.

The ChessBase CD “The
greatest tournaments in the history of chess” has a remarkably detailed
review of the most beautiful game in the 1883 London tournament. In the diagram
position the d5-square has been cleared; but White now has to deal with threats
on the c-file. Which evaluations is correct: A) Black has the initiative firmly
in his hands since he is threatening …Rc2; B) It’s obvious how White can get
the advantage – what are long diagonals for? C) The bishop on b2 will
play a decisive part in the attack – but first White needs some more open
lines. The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram

Last week the Chinese Championship was decided, amongst other things, by a winner getting a full point when his last-round opponent did not appear at his board in time for the start. A lot of readers have commented, some eloquently, some stridently, some tongue-in-cheek, on FIDE’s “zero tolerance” rule. We, on the other hand, were hard put to find the exact wording. Who can help clear this up?

He had read about her in chess magazines and websites. In August 2008 they met at the Tal Memorial. Peter Zhdanov and Natalia Pogonina played some blitz, and a new friendship was born, which eventually blossomed into love and led to a marriage between the two young Russian chess players. They are currently working on an extraordinary book, one you are not going to want to miss.

The sixteen-year-old winner of the 2009 Championship, with 8½/11 and
a near-2800 TPR, was undefeated and beat three of the four highest-rated players
in the tournament. In this week’s Playchess
lecture Dennis Monokroussos takes a first look at Ding’s chess, specifically
that the game that decided the championship: his win over Wang Hao. Be there to watch at 9 p.m. ET.

In a week the new issue of ChessBase Magazine will be shipping. The DVD includes
multimedia commentary by Vishy Anand and analyses by top players (Aronian, Gelfand,
Humpy). The 12 classical opening articles cover many surprise weapons, for instance
5.Nc5 against the Caro-Kann, or 4…Bb4 in the Scotch Game. Oder
CBM 130 now, or the CBM taster
with an Anand DVD, or read this preview.

The 2009 Chinese Championship was won by Ding Liren, an untitled 16-year-old, rated 2458, the youngest national champion ever. But Ding’s victory was overshadowed by the last-round default of his opponent, who was not seated at the board when the clocks were started. The only female contender, 15-year-old GM Hou Yifan, also lost a game by default when she arrived five seconds late for the start.

Both games were hard-fought draws, with World Champion Vishy Anand pressing, but unable to overcome Peter Leko’s defence. In the end Anand had won 5-3. We bring you games with GM analysis and pictures of the final day in Miskolc. For his victory Anand received an equisite crystal glass trophy (and Peter Leko a smaller one). We used the opportunity to visit the artist who made them.

Java-replays for Thursday’s Hamilton-Karpovs & Summit-Kortchnois matches have been uploaded along with a revised West Orange-Maplewood page.

Zipped PGN for each match can be downloaded from the above links. For a single file with all 3, click here.

One of the key encounters at the weekend was the 4th game between Carlsen and
Ivanchuk in the final of the
rapid chess event in Leon. The Ukrainian required only a draw to achieve
victory in the tournament, but nevertheless he turned to an opening which is
actually well suited to an aggressive repertoire for Black. He had obviously not
read the article by Alexey Kuzmin in
CBM 125, which we publish here in full. In the position in the diagram the Russian had recommended 8…dxc4 or 8…Na6. You can replay the game Carlsen –
Ivanchuk or read the article
Kuzmin: The Slav Stonewall

Once again it was a real cliff-hanger: the first two rapid chess games were drawn, then Vassily Ivanchuk won and took the lead, after which Magnus Carlsen equalised. A blitz decider was required. The first two games were drawn, in the final Armageddon game Carlsen won by trapping Ivanchuk’s knight. So the 18-year-old Norwegian, number three in the world, once again shows his class.

Vishy Anand took the full point with black in the first game of the day, a Gruenfeld Russian with the first eleven moves mirroring the previous game. In the second game Anand was pressing with white, but just when it looked over Peter managed to hold the draw. We bring you grandmaster commentary and historic photos of a world chess champion being mobbed by adoring female fans.

Those of us who collect chess books often choose works as much for their rarity and beauty as for the games and ideas they contain. Dale Brandreth’s Caissa Editions has long catered to collectors, supplying limited editions of truly beautiful books, complete with library bindings, high quality paper, very readable fonts, multiple diagrams per page, attractive layouts, rare photographs, excellent indexes, and careful editing. Yet Caissa books not only exhibit rare quality but also supply rare content, as is the case with Robert Sherwood’s excellent book of the Chicago 1926 and Lake Hopatcong 1926 Chess Tournaments, which finally brings to light many games that had long been missing from the historical record.

I have posted a page of four Tactical Puzzles from Chicago 1926.

As Jeremy Silman mentions in his review, even his “database of over 3,850,000 games only has 27 from the Chicago 1926 event, while the tournament book we’re about to discuss has 78!” Why is it that, until now (for the databases are already adding them), we have only had access to about a third of the games? Because, as with many tournaments, the majority of the games were never published. Only the games of the tournament stars (especially Marshall, Torre and Maroczy) were of much interest to the public, and so only the best of their games and a few others ever made their way to print and subsequently into the databases. Frank Marshall was personally responsible for adding two to the record, analyzing his games with Kupchik and Maroczy (certainly among the best of the tournament) in his Marshall’s Best Games of Chess. And Gabriel Velasco collected all of Torre’s games from the event for his book on the Mexican GM. But we owe a debt of gratitude to author Robert Sherwood for returning to photostats of the original score sheets (some of which proved “impossible to decipher”) to puzzle out most of the moves for the rest.

Ironically, despite Sherwood’s efforts, I think my favorite games from the tournament remain those that have long been known, including Marshall – Kupchik, Marshall – Maroczy, Maroczy – Chajes, and Showalter – Torre — the last of which features a truly challenging tactical idea from Torre (see diagram below and in the puzzles), who found not only a winning idea but also the only move to survive (a move you can forgive Showalter for having overlooked when he played 20.Qxg7?).

Showalter – Torre, Chicago 1926
Black to play and win.

Yet some of the long unkown games are of interest as well, mostly for their fascinating endgames, as in Marshall – Isaacs and Kashdan – Lasker. In fact, I would say that those who love to study endings will find much to appreciate in Chicago 1926, since all of the games were hard fought (every draw and win well earned) and therefore typically feature some endgame play. The openings, meanwhile, were the standards of the time, including the Queen’s Gambit, Ruy Lopez, Caro-Kann, Colle-Zukertort, and the London System, as well as the surprisingly popular Alekhine’s Defense. There are a couple absolutely classic Ruy Lopez attacks (most notably Ed. Lasker – Chajes and Chajes – Showalter with their queen sacrifices) and classic Queen’s Gambits (especially Marshall’s games cited above). But it is in the endings where the games have the most to offer those more interested in the theory of the game than its human history. Sherwood has done a marvelous job of annotating every game to maximize its value to us.

Kupchik – Capablanca,
Lake Hopatcong 1926
Position after 19.Rf3? h5!

The section on Lake Hopatcong 1926 is also very well put together, with many notes in addition to those in the original tournament book by Herman Helms and C.S. Howell. Readers of these pages will likely recall my own fascination with the two Lake Hopatcong tournaments of 1923 and 1926. Comparing in a few places my own annotations to those of Mr. Sherwood, I am impressed by how much he adds to my understanding of these games.

My favorite game from Lake Hopatcong 1926 is probably Kupchik – Capablanca, where Capablanca’s 19…h5 (see diagram above) long puzzled me, so that I was only too happy to accept C.S. Howell’s fascinating explanation that the move was part of a deep-seeded plan to distract Kupchik’s forces by luring them over to the kingside, thus strengthening his own queenside attack. I am still convinced that something like that happens in the game. But Sherwood’s explanation of 19…h5! is even more persuasive. Having pointed out that 19.Rf3? was in error because the superior 19.Rg1 planning a g4 push would have given White some kingside chances, Sherwood notes that Capa’s 19…h5! “takes advantage of the now blocked d1-h5 diagonal to forever preempt White’s g2-g4, thereby freeing himself to operate unhindered on the other wing.” This note is simply one of many that offer a deeper insight into these excellent games.

My only regret is that author Sherwood and editor Brandreth did not conceive of a separate volume devoted to the Lake Hopatcong tournaments of 1923 and 1926 — creating coherence of geography rather than chronology. Most of the 1923 games had long been lost to the historical record and are only now making their way into the databases. I was able to uncover 42 from Herman Helms’s Brooklyn Eagle chess columns — though I now discover that Phony Benoni (a.k.a. David Moody) has posted even more at ChessGames.com in an excellent page devoted to the event. And clearly Brandreth knew the event well, since he includes a great photo of the 1923 players (one of many photos that alone repay the cost of the book).

I think the combination of the two Lake Hopatcong events would have been at least as interesting as the current volume. My favorite game from 1923 is the long known Kupchik – Marshall, which Marshall annotated in his collected games. But there are many more of value, including the interesting game Kupchik – Chajes, which offers what I called “An Opening Novelty from 1923.” Though the Chicago 1926 tournament (which takes up only 152 pages) likely needed something more to fill out a book, perhaps there were other events that could have done it. Most of the action in 1926 was in Europe, of course, but there was a Chicago-London cable match and I see tantalizing hints in the game records of a New York 1926 event from which comes Maroczy – Tenner. I certainly understand the choice of Lake Hopatcong 1926, and I probably appreciate more than most the additional information on this historic New Jersey event; I simply regret the missed opportunity for a fascinating separate volume.

As I hope is clear from this review, I heartily recommend the Chicago 1926 and Lake Hopatcong 1926 Chess Tournaments, which can be had by sending a check for $40 plus $4 for shipping and handling to:

Dale A. Brandreth
Caissa Editions
P.O. Box 151
Yorklyn, DE 19736

After a draw in the first of four rapid chess games Chinese GM Wang Yue dealt
Magnus Carlsen a blow by winning game two. But the young Norwegian came back
immediately with a 23-move win in game three. The fourth game was drawn, so
that a blitz tiebreak was necessary. It was won by Magnus in the final, sixth
game. Playchess is broadcasting all games
live. Day two report.

In Garden State Chess League action last night, the 1st place Kenilworth Kortchnois defeated Summit 3-1 but the Kenilworth Karpovs fell to Hamilton 2.5-1.5.

In Garden State Chess League action last night, the 1st place Kenilworth Kortchnois defeated Summit 3-1 but the Kenilworth Karpovs fell to Hamilton 2.5-1.5.

This four-player rapid chess knockout event is under way in the city of León, Spain. The tournament began with Vassily Ivanchuk playing Alexander Morozevich. The Ukrainian won the first game and drew the remaining three to advance to the final on Sunday. On Saturday Magnus Carlsen plays top Chinese GM Wang Yue. Playchess is broadcasting all games live. Illustrated day one report.

Game three, in which Viswanathan Anand has the white pieces, was a somewhat timid draw in 28 moves. In game four he was under pressure from Peter Leko, and was forced to hoover the board of pawns, ending up with a bishop against two bishops. But Anand put his king into a corner square where he could draw with an unusual fortress. Full photo report with GM commentary.

T S Eliot tells us that “April is the cruellest month”, but in the chess world of 2009, it is May that has been the bitterest. Three prominent and popular masters passed away within two weeks of one another, two from the former Soviet Union – IM Mikhail Podgaets, Ukraine, GM Alexander Panchenko, Russia – and one from the Netherlands, IM Rob Hartoch. Obituaries by Steve Giddins.