Archive for December 7th, 2009

It’s that time of the year again, when everyone is looking for that unique gift to give to a close friend or family member. Being a chess focused website, obviously we have a preference as to what we’ll be recommending this holiday season! So if you are looking at different chess sets here is our [...]

Any “chess tourists” who might be visiting New York City this holiday season should take the famous chess tables in the Southwest corner of Washington Square Park (site of Waitzkin’s epiphany and training and the Amp Can’s triumph) off their list of places to stop.  The chess tables were removed in early October when the overall park renovation moved to that quadrant.  A KCC regular informs me that the place looks like a disaster zone, but a recent article he sent from Curbed, NY (”Teary Destructoporn: Washington Square Park Mounds, RIP“) says that the removal is not permanent and “Games of skill will also return, and wits will be tested once again all along Washington Square South,” likely by the summer.  You can follow news of the reconstruction’s progress at the Washington Square Park blog.

Karjakin – Gelfand
Position after 11….Ra6!

It has been hard to follow the FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk Siberia (see games at Chessgames.com), which seems like a chaotic awards show, with loads of great stars making only cameo appearances and very few memorable performances.  That is until yesterday’s Round 6 game between Sergey Karjakin and Boris Gelfand, which is very well annotated by Dennis Monokroussos.  Karjakin resorted to a Giuoco Piano by a Bishop’s Opening move order to sidestep the drawing power of the Petroff, but Gelfand had easy equality with a Two Knights set-up and an early d5 (a la Marshall).  Then Karjakin ended up getting his head handed to him when he failed to play the standard 11.Qf3 inducing 11…Be6 and allowed Gelfand a neat Rook lift with 11….Ra6! (see diagram above) followed by Rg6 with attacking chances.  You may be asking yourself (or you should) why not simply 12.Bxd5 Qxd5 13.Rxe7 winning a piece?  Well, Black has a strong attack and at least a draw after 13…Rg6 (see Monokroussos’s notes for details).  A fascinating game right out of the opening, and probably right out of Gelfand’s preparation.

Related Links

• Gelfand bests Karjakin with Black at ChessBase (photos and some notes)
• Gelfand beats Karjakin on first day of semi-finals at ChessVibes (photos and brackets to follow the standings)
  

The Tal Memorial this year in Moscow? It has been billed as such, but it all depends on how you evaluate such events. If you correct for rating inflation, and especially if you consider the world ranking of the participants, other tournaments easily outstrip this one. Very plausibly AVRO 1938 was the strongest – or at least the most elite, since players #1-8 were present. Jeff Sonas explains.