Archive for November, 2009

A few days ago former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik won the brutally strong Tal Memorial tournament in Moscow, scoring 6.0/9 with a 2883 performance that increases his FIDE rating by 13.7 points. He is now on fourth place in the “live rankings” – and clearly striving for more. Kramnik talks about the event and his aspirations in this
Interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia.

The Tal Memorial concluded in Moscow with former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik winning with 6 out of 9 and Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen close behind with 5.5 out of 9. None of the top three finishers had any losses. Current World Champion Viswanathan Anand lost in the final round to Levon Aronian to drop to 5 out of 9, leaving him tied with Aronian for fourth and fifth. Carlsen was widely expected to do much better after his incredible performance in Nanjing (see Carlsen Wins to Finish Nanjing with 8/10 and Magnus Carlsen Dominates Nanjing), but he was suffering from the flu for the first half of the tournament (which prompted Ivanchuk to wear a mask during their game) and did not recover until the halfway point. However, after finishing with two wins he not only tied Ivanchuk for second but also gained enough rating points to edge out the temporarily inactive Veselin Topalov for the number one spot on the Live Ratings List, making him the youngest number one ever. You can download all games in PGN from a number of sources, including ChessBase and the official site, or view the games online at Chessgames.com. The official tournament site is only available in Russian. Kramnik and Carlsen’s next tournament will be the London Chess Classic, December 8-15.

Round 9

• Pictorial Impressions from Moscow by WGM Yana Melnikova
• Kramnik Wins Tal Memorial with annotations by Ian Rogers
• Tal Memorial 09 R9: Kramnik Untouchable by Mig Greengard
• Kramnik wins Tal Memorial 2009, Carlsen number one, with annotations by Michael Humphreys
• Kramnik Deserved Winner in Day of Slapdash Chess by Mark Crowther
• Tal Memorial, Round 9 annotations by Dennis Monokroussos
• Anand – Aronian annotated by Hector Leyva
• Leko – Carlsen annotated by GM Bauer, GM Safarli, NM Karagianis, and Jason Juett
• Ivanchuk – Kramnik annotated by GM Bauer, GM Safarli, NM Karagianis, and Jason Juett

Round 8

• Carlsen Beats Ponomariov with notes by GM Dmitri Reinderman
• Carlsen beats Ponomariov, report by Michael von Keitz with annotations by Michael Humphreys
• Tal Memorial 09: Carlsen (& Tal) in Moscow by Mig Greengard
• Tal Memorial, Round 8 annotations by Dennis Monokrousso
• Carlsen Finally Wins by Mark Crowther
• Carlsen – Ponomariov by GM Bauer, GM Safarli, NM Karagianis, and Jason Juett
• Carlsen – Ponomariov annotated by Wilfredo Sariego

Round 7

• Ivanchuk Beats Gelfand, with annotations by Wouter Spoelman
• Ivanchuk beats Gelfand, Morozevich interview, report by Michael von Keitz
• Ivanchuk Wins in “Bit Rubbish” Round by Mark Crowther
• Tal Memorial, The Classics by Mig Greengard
• Svidler – Carlsen by GM Bauer, GM Safarli, NM Karagianis, and Jason Juett
• Ivanchuk – Gelfand annotated by Antonio Torrecillas

Round 6

• Kramnik 2.0 leads in Moscow by Peter Doggers, with notes by Dmitri Reinderman
• Kramnik Back in the Lead Alone by Mark Crowther (with notes)
• Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Gelfand win, report by Michael von Keitz
• Tal Memorial, Round 6 annotations by Dennis Monokroussos
• Morozevich – Ivanchuk annotated by Wilfredo Sariego
• Morozevich – Ivanchuk annotated by Malcolm Pein
• Morozevich – Ivanchuk annotated by
• Carlsen – Anand annotated by GM Bauer, GM Safarli, NM Karagianis, and Jason Juett

Round 5

• Anand beats Leko, Leads with Kramnik by Peter Doggers with notes by Merijn van Delft
• Anand beats Leko, joins Kramnik in the lead, report by Michael von Keitz
• Anand Joins Kramnik in Lead by Mark Crowther
• Anand Steps Up by Mig Greengard
• Ivanchuk’s Mouth Cap by Peter Doggers
• Tal Memorial, Round 5 by Dennis Monokroussos
• Aronian – Morozevich annotated by Guillermo Soppe
• Anand – Leko annotated by Malcolm Pein

Round 4

• Kramnik Beats Svidler, Grabs Lead in Moscow by Peter Doggers with notes by Robert Ris
• Kramnik beats Svidler, leads in Moscow from ChessBase
• Second Win for Kramnik by Mark Crowther
• Lost Gruenfeld Weekend by Mig Greengard
• Tal Memorial, Round 4 by Dennis Monokroussos
• Kramnik – Svidler annotated by Alfonzo Jerez
• Kramnik – Svidler annotated by Malcolm Pein
• Carlsen – Aronian annotated by GM Bauer, GM Safarli, NM Karagianis, and Jason Juett

Round 3

• Anand, Aronian and Kramnik Win in Third Round of Tal Memorial by Peter Doggers with notes by Robert Ris
• Anand, Aronian, Kramnik draw first blood from ChessBase
• Deadlock Broken by Mark Crowther
• Action at Last by Mig Greengard
• Tal Memorial, Round Three by Dennis Monokroussos
• Andand-Svidler annotated by Lubomir Kavalek in the Washington Post
• Anand – Svidler annotated by Jack Peters in the LA Times
• Anand – Svidler annotated by Jorge Luis Fernandez
• Anand – Svidler annotated by Malcolm Pein
• Anand – Svidler annotated by GM Bauer, GM Safarli, NM Karagianis, and Jason Juett

Round 2

• Five more draws in second round of Tal Memorial by Peter Doggers with notes by Sipke Ernst
• All games drawn — first win expected tomorrow from ChessBase
• Five More Draws in Round 2 by Mark Crowther
• Ponomariov – Aronian annotated by Guillermo Soppe
• Ponomariov – Aronian annotated by Malcolm Pein

Round 1

• Five draws in first round of Tal Memorial by Peter Doggers with notes by Merijn Van Delft
• All games drawn, with plenty of excitement from ChessBase
• All draws on day 1 by Mark Crowther
• Tal Memorial 2oo9 by Mig Greengard
• Bettle Royal by Mig Greengard
• Morozevich – Leko annotated by Hector Leyva
• Carlsen – Kramnik annotated by Malcolm Pein

World Champion Vishy Anand, who turns forty in just under a month, is leading this event with 12.0/14 points, two more than his nearest rival Magnus Carlsen. Behind the Norwegian we find a big surprise figure (hint: he is almost twenty years older than Anand), followed by Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk. A photo report will follow, here for now are the results and games.

Another pot pourri is presented by the Editor of Chess
Notes. A prediction about Garry Kasparov made when he was only 11, a curious
Lilienthal reference in a chess poem, an almost unknown player who reportedly
challenged Alekhine for the world title in 1927, and an oft-published nineteenth-century
miniature which is spurious. A further visit to the wonderful world of chess lore…

The German Schachbundesliga – team chess championship – is the strongest in the world, with 273 players from 34 countries in 16 teams. The top female player is IM Anna Musychuk of Slovenia. The 2009/10 season went into its second weekend with rounds three and four. Werder Bremen, had to play without their top Azeri players owing to visa problems. Pictures, results and games.

Kenilworth Quads #2

Standings after 2 rounds
+ Results & Pairings

Quad 1

1. SM Yaacov Norowitz (2431) 2.0
2. Steve Ferrero (2020) 1.0
2. Don Carrelli (1791) 1.0
4. Ian Mangion (1929) 0.0

11/5
Carrelli 0-1 Norowitz
Ferrero 1-0 Mangion

11/12
Norowitz 1-0 Ferrero
Mangion 0-1 Carrelli

11/19
Norowitz vs. Mangion
Ferrero vs. Carrelli

Players in quad 1 must toss for color! Those in quads 2 & 3 have already done so.


Quad 2

1. David Pawlowski (1777) 1.5
1. Greg Tomkovich (1698) 1.5
3. Mike Wojcio (1622) 1.0
4. Lou Sturniolo (1446) 0.0

11/5
Sturniolo 0-1 Pawlowski
Tomkovich 1-0 Wojcio

11/12
Pawlowski ½–½ Tomkovich
Wojcio 1-0 Sturniolo

11/19
Wojcio-Pawlowski
Tomkovich-Sturniolo

Quad 3

1. Gordon Agress (1283) 2.0
2. Bert Shiffman (1283) 1.0
3. Joe Renna (1359) 0.5
4. Umar Ali (1346) 0.5

11/5
Agress 1-0 Renna
Ali 0-1 Shiffman

11/12
Renna ½–½ Ali
Shiffman 0-1 Agress

11/19
Shiffman-Renna
Ali-Agress

A wrap-up, games & crosstables will follow on Friday or Saturday.

We received a number of baffled letters asking us why we did not, as is usually our habit, include large numbers of pictures in our daily reports on the Tal Memorial. Well, our usual photographers unfortunately took ill, and it was only in the final round that WGM Yana Melnikova arrived at the venue and sent us a bunch of photos from the end of the tournament. Here is her report.

Aronian beats Anand with the black pieces, Carlsen did the same to Leko, Ponomariov beat Morozevich, while Kramnik drew against Ivanchuk. The result: Kramnik wins the tournament, with 6.0/9 and a 2883 performance. Ivanchuk and Carlsen share 2nd-3rd, with the young Norwegian trainee of Garry Kasparov going to number one in the world in the unofficial live rankings. Final round report.

Aronian beats Anand with the black pieces, Carlsen did the same to Leko, Ponomariov beat Morozevich, while Kramnik drew against Ivanchuk. The result: Kramnik wins the tournament, with 6.0/9 and a 2883 performance. Ivanchuk and Carlsen share 2nd-3rd, with the young Norwegian trainee of Garry Kasparov going to number one in the world, if our calculations are right. Express report.

The New Jersey Knockouts advanced to the final four of the US Chess League with their victory Monday night over Baltimore. Wins by the New York Knights (Monday over Boston), Miami Sharks (Wednesday over Seattle) and San Francisco Mechanics (Wednesday over Arizona) have made for an unpredictable final, since the Knockouts were the only team with the better record to advance. Miami’s victory over Seattle was especially a surprise, with GM Julio Becerra not only beating GM Hikaru Nakamura but doing so in a record 12 moves!

I have analyzed the Knockouts victory over Baltimore and posted it online in a java replay article along with the PGN file to download.

The New Jersey – Baltimore match was very hard fought, but Baltimore had little chance against the best team in the League playing with draw odds (which meant that Baltimore had to win the match to advance). Nevertheless, Baltimore gave it their all and the games were very hard fought and complex (which is part of why I have not posted my analysis sooner!)

The game that interested me most was the Board One encounter between GM Joel Benjamin and GM Sergey Erenburg, which had lots of drama in all of its stages. Benjamin played the super-solid Spanish Four Knights (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5), which I have written about in these pages (see my Spanish Four Knights Bibliography and various articles). It’s a great opening to choose when you are playing with draw odds as White. Erenburg played the increasingly popular 4…Bd6!? which has been discussed by a number of sources, including an article in SOS #1 by Jeroen Bosch titled “Sokolov’s Surprise” (currently available online as a PDF download at the New in Chess website.) This line has turned into a “cold war” of sorts, with Black waiting for White to castle kingside before he castles himself to avoid a potentially dangerous g4-g5 attack. The waiting game continues with White playing h3 (to support a possible g4 advance) and a3 (to provide an escape square for the Bishop) and Black playing h6 (to prevent a pin by Bg5) and a6 (trying to gain the Bishop pair by either Bxc6 dxc6 or Ba4 b5 Bb3 Na5 etc.) Black has more useful waiting moves than White does, however, and so White generally castles before Black and the second player can equalize without much trouble (as discussed by Larry Kaufman in The Chess Advantage in Black and White). But if Black wants to avoid a drawish Four Knights game then he might need to think of another plan.

Some recent games have shown that Black can get away with castling right away, inviting White into the complications that follow g4 and often gaining good counterplay against White’s king in the center. It’s a double-edged continuation, but just the thing if you need to play for a win, so Erenburg naturally gave it a try. But he made a clear mistake after 5.d3 a6 6.Ba4 h6 7.a3 0-0!? 8.g4! Bc5 9.Rg1 d6 10.h3 Nh7 when White pushed forward with 11.g5 and he answered with 11…g6? (temporarily sacrificing a pawn) when probably 11…hxg5 or even 11…h5!? are better and lead to a balanced but complex struggle. After Erenburg’s error, Benjamin had firm control of the initiative and great prospects of a kingside attack. However, just when the game began to look like it would be decided in the middlegame, Benjamin traded queens and headed for a slightly advantageous ending so that he could play for a win or draw without risk of losing. Erenburg fought hard and the ending became a very double-edged slugfest. Benjamin probably was never really at risk of losing, but both players were challenged to keep from getting in time trouble due to the complexity of the situation. Eventually Benjamin found a line that assured either a clear advantage or a draw by repetition (which by that point would have won the match.) Refusing to submit to the team loss, Erenburg chose a dangerous way to continue the game, after which Benjamin was able to force a win on the strength of a central passed pawn. This was quite an epic encounter and worth careful study.

Dean Ippolito’s game on Board Two against Tegshsuren Enkhbat was a much more straightforward affair. The opening posed some problems for Black, but none for which Ippolito seemed unprepared. Displaying his command of elite opening theory, Ippolito demonstrated an important improvement on some previous high level games in a line of the Slav where White typically has some chances of making trouble for Black in the ending. But Ippolito played with excellent care and secured a draw by repetition in an equal Rook ending. It is possible that most of the game was covered in his preparation.

On Board Three, Mackenzie Molner took up the White side of a well-traveled and extremely double-edged line of the Sveshnikov Sicilian where Black gambits a pawn. His opponent, Shinsaku Uesugi, eventually got very strong counterplay that won back the pawn with advantage. However, rather than patiently building up his position, Uesugi went for premature breakthroughs (especially with 28…f4 and 37…e3) that ended up allowing lots of exchanges. When he exchanged Rooks in time pressure with 42…Ra7, the game petered out into a drawn bishops of opposite color ending, which essentially guaranteed a New Jersey match win.

Battsetseg – Finn
Black to play.

Bour Four had the brilliant expert Sean Finn playing WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg in a line of the Saemisch King’s Indian that resembled a Benko Gambit. A clear ratings favorite, Battsetseg seemed to be playing to keep things under control and have a quiet game. But Finn would have none of that, offering up his b-pawn for queenside counterplay. Battsetseg declined the gambit but Finn got good play anyway. And when Battsetseg seemed to have him stymied, Finn channeled Boris Gulko to play a brilliant “GM Exchange sac” that changed the course of the game. Likely White could have maintained equality, but Battsetseg missed a neat tactic (see diagram above) that netted Finn a winning material advantage, which he promptly converted with the help of connected passed pawns. This was a brilliant game from start to finish and I expect Finn to have a master rating by next season.

Next week, New Jersey faces their arch-rival New York Knights, who have been responsible for ending New Jersey’s previous two seasons. Let’s hope there are plenty of donuts on hand — and that the third time is the charm.

Related Links

• Semi-Finals by IM John Donaldson
  Offers some insightful speculation about the line-ups for next week.
• Quarterfinals Game of the Week
  GM Giorgi Kacheishvili — NY’s top board — wins for his victory over Larry Christiansen.
• “Knockouts Win and Draw in Quarterfinal” by Robert Bernard
• Quarterfinals Photos by Masako Uesugi
• NJ Knockouts Blog
• NJ Knockouts on Twitter
• NJ Knockouts on Facebook
• US Chess League
• US Chess League News

Feeling better? At last the top seed Magnus Carlsen, 18, has scored a win in this tournament. It came in the form of an explosive English Attack in the Scheveningen, which floored the former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in 31 moves (actually with a mate in three). With plus one Carlsen now occupies fourth place alone, behind Kramnik, Anand and Ivanchuk. Full report with annotations.

Feeling better? Apparently. At last the top seed Magnus Carlsen, 18, has scored a win in this tournament. It came in the form of an explosive English Attack in the Scheveningen, which floored the former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in 31 moves (actually with a mate in three). With plus one Carlsen has now moved into fourth place, behind Kramnik, Anand and Ivanchuk. Express report.

Sweden is not really the most romantic place on earth in November. It is quite cold already and the days are getting shorter and shorter. Nevertheless, two brave chess players from Hamburg/Germany did not mind all the weather circumstances and came to Stockholm to play chess. Cheap flights and Swedish hospitality made it possible. Pictorial report by Andreas Albers.

… were the issue in this position where the first player had sacrificed an exchange to occupy the 7th rank and drive the black king to g6. Yet after
25…Rad8 an idea was required. What do you think, is the best continuation a move…
A) with the queen; 
B) with a bishop; 
C) or with a pawn?

The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a  larger version of the diagram.

Four draws today, in 23, 31, 36 and 40 moves, with Morozevich holding Anand to a draw and preventing the World Champion from catching up with his predecessor Kramnik. The game of the day was Ivanchuk-Gelfand, two winners of round six. There was only one winner today: Vassily Ivanchuk, who moves up to share second with Anand. Report plus an interview with Alexander Morozevich.

NM Peter Radomskyj took clear 1st at last month’s Westfield Championship, with a perfect 4-0 score.

NM Todd Lunna, Jonathan Cohen (top U2100) & Ziping Liu (top U1850) shared 2nd place honors, with 3-1.

Lev Zilbermints, Ian Mangion & Eve Zhurbinskiy tied for 5th, at 2.5.

Andy Chen, Shivani Shanmigudas & Pat Mazzillo shared the U1600 prize.

Sasha Romayev was the U1350 winner.

James Clark & Ivan Listoch went 3-0 to tie for 1st in last month’s Scotch Plains Swiss.

Joe Renna, Bert Shiffman, Alexander Gorbach, Scott Seyffarth & Pablo Vasconez tied for 2nd place, with 2-1 scores.

All of the above received Kenilworth Chess Club membership for the rest of 2009. Current KCC members Renna & Shiffman will get 25% off their 2010 dues, in lieu of a pro-rated refund.

Chess-in-the-Schools president Marley Kaplan is profiled in the Giving section of today’s New York Times (see “Marley Kaplan Left the Banking World to Teach Chess to Schoolchildren” by Geraldine Fabrikant — and be sure to check out the excellent “Chess for Change” photo gallery by Tom White). The article tells the story of how Kaplan left a lucrative banking career and turned the American Chess Foundation into Chess-in-the-Schools, “which now teaches 20,000 new children a year, with an annual budget of $3 million. Since 1986, it calculates, it has taught chess to 425,000 children on the theory that the game helps them develop basic analytical skills that lead to academic success.” Hat tip: Jim West.

On November 4th the World Junior Championship in Patagonia, Argentina, ended, with a final-round surge by the French participant (and top seed) Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who caught his main rival, Sergei Zhigalko from Belarus, to take the title. Maxime has given us an exclusive English language interviews, while we use the opportunity to take a nostalgic look back at past events.

“Doubts cast on Chessmen origins” is the title of a BBC World News story that reports on the continuing dispute between Britain and Scotland concerning the origins and ownership of the famous Lewis Chessmen, which were found on the Isle of Lewis but are now mostly kept in the British Museum (with only a few at the National Museum of Scotland.) According to an article to appear in the journal Medieval Archaeology by Dr. David Caldwell (of the National Museum of Scotland), it is most likely that the chessmen were passed down as a family heirloom by a rich cattle owner on the Isle of Lewis itself, which would justify the Isle’s and Scotland’s claim to them. We previously linked to the fanciful story “Stale Mate” by Allan Burnett (Herald Scotland, Feb 2 2008) which offered an involving reconstruction of what might be called “the merchant theory of origin,” in which it is suggested that the pieces were stolen from a rich Scandinavian merchant while in harbor off Lewis, which would mean that Scotland has no original claim. Hat tip: the BCC Weblog.

And Vladimir Kramnik has once again taken the sole lead, with plus three and a 2955 performance. In a remarkable game against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Kramnik pressed for 81 moves until the Ukrainian’s succumbed to zugzwang. Gelfand laid Aronian’s Meran System to waste, Morozevich-Ivanchuk ended in a black victory by the masked chessplayer!

Yesterday we published a report on an Islandic court awarding Fischer’s estate to his lawfully wedded wife Miyoko Watai. Today we received a message from Marilyn Young, Fischer’s “Filipina live-in partner”, who is seeking justice for her and Fischer’s eight-year-old daughter Jinky. The two are on their way to Iceland to file their claim. Marilyn has sent us some fairly compelling photographic evidence.

“A knight on the rim is dim” – there is no aphorism which is known more widely to amateur players than this one. And although there are more than enough
exceptions to this rule, the phrase naturally is also fully justified. All the more so
when the case involves not just a knight on the edge of the board, but that
rarely spotted example of the species: a knight in the corner. Recently, one
such example caused Ivan Cheparinov all sorts of problems, when the sad-looking steed was corralled in the corner with the help of a bishop. GM Karsten Müller analyses the ending
Cheparinov-Caruana for
ChessBase Magazine Online.

Sammy Reshevsky (1911-1992) was at one time one of the strongest players in the world.
He did have some weird weaknesses, though.
Apart from time trouble and carelessness in opening preparation he had an apparent
blind spot to stalemate. This is the subject of the Playchess
lecture at 9 p.m. ET by FM Dennis Monokroussos. Before that IM Merijn van
Delft discusses current games. Schedule.

Almost exactly a year ago the two were playing for the title of World Champion. Now Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand are battling each other for the lead in the Tal Memorial in Moscow. Kramnik worked very hard in an 81-mover against Boris Gelfand, but had to concede a draw. Anand beat Peter Leko in a Semi-Slav and joined Kramnik in the lead. Round five report.