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Vota la migliore novit? del 2009!

?Puoi vincere un abbonamento annuale!

La famosa Casa editrice New in chess ha bandito un concorso per?premiare la migliore novità teorica giocata nel 2009, tra quelle pubblicate sul New in chess Yearbook. Sono state selezionate 4 partite che possono essere votate entro fine gennaio. L'autore della novità teorica più votata riceverà 350 euro, mentre tra tutti coloro che avrannò indicato la novità vincitrice verrà sorteggiato un abbonamento annuale al New in chess Yearbook. Tentar non nuoce... ; - )

Vediamo le novità in gara.

La prima riguarda la partita So-Gupta, Wijk aan Zee 2009. In un Attacco Marshall della Partita Spagnola il giovane GM indiano?ha sacrificato un pezzo con 18..f5, ottenendo in cambio un forte attacco.


Abhijeet Gupta gioca 18..f5!

La seconda è tratta dalla Kramnik-Naiditsch, Dortmund 2009, dove in una Variante?di Vienna della Nimzo-indiana l'ex Campione del mondo ha giocato la raffinata 17.Dh6.


Vladimir Kramnik gioca 17.Dh6!

La terza riguarda la Avrukh-Hector, Helsingor 2009, una Slava variante Krause nella quale la teoria assegnava un leggero vantaggio al bianco, ma il nero ha giocato 13..Cc5, che sacrifica un pedone e sembra ottenere una ottima?posizione.


Jonny Hector gioca 13..Cc5!

L'ultima novità è tratta dalla Van Wely-Stellwagen, Amsterdam 2009, un attacco Bayonet nel quale la novità 24..Df3 sembra far pendere il piatto della bilancia a favore del nero.


Daniel Stellwagen gioca 24..Df3!

Per vedere le partite complete e partecipare al Concorso, cliccate QUI

 
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1699
2010-01-28T12:38:05+01:00
 
 
 
The greatest specialist in the King's Indian
Nowadays, if the subject of the King's Indian Defence should crop up, so inevitably does the name Teimour Radjbov. He is reckoned to be the greatest specialist in the King's Indian amongst the world elite. Fortunately Teimour is also an industrious annotator for ChessBase Magazine. Here is his victory over Wang Yue, Wijk aan Zee 2009, annotated by Radjabov for CBM 129. More on our CBM Blog.
 
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5430
Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
 
 
 
La nueva Campeona Argentina

la jugadora Mª Florencia Fernández es la nueva campeona argentina, al haber derrotado a la jugadora Mª Carolina Lujan, de mayor puntuación en elo, y hasta ahora la jugadora de más rating en el país argentino. Es una bonita grunfeld, donde se aplican conceptos de la élite e ideas novedosas a doquier.


Mª Florencia Fernández (2105) - Mª Carolina Luján (2360)
ARG-ch62 Women Puan ARG (5), 24.04.2009
Defensa Grünfeld [D81]

1.d4 Cf6 2.c4 g6 3.Cc3 d5 4.Db3 Normalmente, esta línea transpone a otra más conocida: 4.Cf3 Ag7 5.Db3 pero Fernández tiene en mente demorar el desarrollo del caballo rey, como se viene jugando en la elite mundial últimamente. 4...dxc4 5.Dxc4 Ag7 6.e4 0-0 7.Ae2!?

Posición después de 7.Ae2He aquí la idea: las blancas no juegan Cf3 y pone al negro ante problemas novedosos. La teoría de esta variante es novísima, y tiene sus modelos en las partidas Kramnik-Domínguez, Olimpíada de Dresden 2008; Carlsen-Domínguez, Wijk aan Zee 2009, y un puñado de otras más. Lo que ha querido evitar Fernández es 7.Cf3 Ag4 que constituye la línea principal del Sistema Botvinnik. 7...Cfd7 La nueva campeona argentina sigue los pasos del cubano Domínguez, y realiza una maniobra de caballo hecha famosa por Smyslov y empleada por muchos jugadores de elite en posiciones similares. La idea del negro es jugar ...Cb6, por lo que el blanco debe defender el peón d4. Las opciones incluyen 7...Cc6 que luego de 8.Cf3 puede transponer a la línea 5.Db3, pero donde el blanco ha evitado ciertas variantes, en particular la muy popular línea 7...a6; la sospechosa 7...a6?! que el negro incluso puede considerar jugar, aún cuando el blanco no haya realizado Cf3; 7...Ca6 generalmente se responde con 8.Cf3; mientras que la poco dinámica 7...c6 podría transponer a una línea secundaria del Sistema Ruso. 8.Ae3 Cb6 9.Dd3

Posición después de 9.Dd3Esta jugada fue sugerida como la más sólida por Jonathan Tisdall (y otros), en el año 2000; pero solamente ahora, luego que fuera usada por Kramnik (2008) y Carlsen (2009), ha adquirido verdadera carta de ciudadanía en este sistema. Hasta entonces 9.Dc5 era lo único que aquí se veía. 9...Cc6 Así jugó Domínguez ante Kramnik, en Dresden 2008. Pero poco después el cubano prefirió 9...f5 ante Carlsen, en Wijk aan Zee 2009, amenazando ...f4 y, por ende, al peón d4. 10.Td1 f4 11.Ac1 e5 12.d5 c6 13.Cf3 cxd5 14.Cxd5 Cxd5 15.Db3 (15.Dxd5+ Dxd5 16.exd5 Af5 17.0-0 Cd7 18.Tfe1 a6 19.Ad2 Tac8= Jakovenko-Mamedyarov, Elista 2008 (1/2-1/2 57)) 15...Rh8 16.Ac4 Cc6 17.Axd5 A primera vista podría parecer que el blanco está algo mejor, por su control del centro, y porque el Ag7 se encuentra restringido por sus propios peones centrales; pero si se mira bien, también el alfil oscuro del blanco (Ac1) carece de grandes perspectivas. El cubano mantuvo el equilibrio, pero Carlsen lo presionó en apuro de tiempo, y ganó la partida. Carlsen-Dominguez Perez, Wijk aan Zee 2009 (1-0 39). Véase mis análisis en NCM25. 10.Td1 Así jugó Kramnik. Si se sostiene el peón d4 con 10.Cf3 se permite 10...Ag4 por ejemplo: 11.0-0-0 Axf3 12.gxf3 e5 13.dxe5 Dxd3 14.Axd3 Cxe5 15.f4 Cxd3+ 16.Txd3 Tfe8 17.Thd1 c6 18.Ad4 Ah6 19.Ae3 Ag7 20.Ad4 Ah6 1/2-1/2 Pashikian-Maslak, Moscow 2009. 10...e5N

Posición después de 10...e5Luján se aparta del camino conocido. En mi base de datos es una jugada nueva, aunque no estoy muy seguro que lo sea realmente. Pone al blanco en la disyuntiva de avanzar d4-d5 o permitir el cambio de peones en d4. Domínguez prefirió 10...f5 y tras 11.Cf3 f4 12.Ac1 Ag4 13.e5 Dd7 14.Ce4 Tad8 15.Cc5 Dc8 16.Dc3 e6 mantuvo un relativo equilibrio, Kramnik-Dominguez Perez, Dresden ol 2008 (1/2-1/2 45). 11.Cf3 Fernández permite el canje en d4, y la diferencia a favor de las negras es que al haber jugado ...Cc6, tras ...exd4 el blanco no podrá recapturar Axd4 como en posiciones similares, donde se logra eliminar el poderoso Ag7. Pero el caso es que el avance 11.d5 parece que no promete al blanco real ventaja tras 11...Cd4 y si 12.Cf3 Cxe2 13.Dxe2 Ag4 no parece haber grandes problemas para el negro. De todos modos, quizás se chequee esta línea en alguna próxima partida, y confirmaremos o no este juicio.



11...exd4 12.Cxd4 Ce5 Ahora Luján puede sentirse satisfecha por el resultado de la apertura: sus piezas menores juegan, se presiona sobre c4 y su principal problema, el desarrollo del Ac8, parece en camino de solución. 13.Db5!? Aparentemente la jugada más ambiciosa, presionando la Dd8 con la Td1 y lanzando la propia dama a una casilla activa. La opción era 13.Dc2 De7 (mi computadora se siente atraída por la secuencia 13...Cec4?! 14.Ce6 Cxe3 15.fxe3 Axe6 16.Txd8 Taxd8 pero no veo claro...) 14.0-0+/= 13...Dh4 14.Cf3 Cxf3+ 15.Axf3 c6 16.Dc5 Ag4 17.Axg4 Dxg4 18.0-0

Posición después de 18.0-0La pequeña ventaja espacial del blanco y su mayor asimiento del centro con su peón e4, es sólo una simbólica superioridad. La situación es dinámicamente equilibrada. 18...Cd7 Permite la incursión de la dama por e7, lo que imprime al juego nueva vivacidad. Viable y suficientemente sólida parece 18...Tfd8 19.f3 (si 19.De7 Td7) 19...De6 20.Da5=; Por supuesto, no hay que pretender ganar el peón e4 tras 18...Axc3? 19.Dxc3 Dxe4? porque el blanco juega 20.Ah6 ganando por lo menos calidad y manteniendo el ataque. 19.De7 Ce5 20.f3 Dc8 21.f4!? La conductora de las blancas juega con ambición y no quiere dejar pasar la oportunidad de sacar provecho de la iniciativa que mantiene. Una alternativa más sólida pero menos pretenciosa era 21.Ad4 Te8 (interesante es 21...Dd8!? /22.Dxb7 Cxf3+ 23.Txf3 Axd4+) 22.Dh4 Td8 con equilibrio. 21...Te8 22.Db4 Cg4 23.Ad4 Af8 24.Dc4 b5 Un debilitamiento del peón c6 que podría ser sentido en el final si es que el negro no puede jugar ...c5. La opción era 24...De6 25.Dxe6 Txe6 pero el canje de damas no soluciona todos los problemas de las negras, cuyas piezas quedan en desarmonía tras 26.h3 Ch6 27.g4+/= 25.De2 b4 26.h3 Contra 26.Ca4 lo mejor es deshacerse enseguida del peón retrasado: 26...c5! 27.Tc1 Dd7 28.Axc5 Dxa4 29.Axf8 Txf8 30.Dxg4 Dxa2 31.De2 De6 y parece que el negro puede sostener la igualdad en este final de piezas pesadas. 26...Ch6 La línea 26...bxc3 27.hxg4 cxb2 28.Axb2 parece fea para las negras, pero se observa que después de 28...De6 29.Aa1 Tab8 (29...Dxe4?? 30.Db2+-) 30.e5 g5 sus chances no lucen peores. 27.Cb1 En caso de 27.Ca4 c5 el caballo blanco no queda bien situado. 27...Cf5 28.Af2 De6

Posición después de 28...De6Un momento crítico: los peones e4 y a2 están atacados. 29.g4!? Una decisión muy aguda de la conductora de las blancas. Quizás ya había apremio de tiempo (propio o del rival, o mutuo): un factor que pudo haber influído en esta decisión. Una opción es 29.Cd2 Dxa2 30.Cc4 Db3 31.Ce5 Cd6 32.Ac5 De6 33.Axb4 y el blanco mantiene la iniciativa. 29...Cd6 30.e5 Dc4?! Probablemente en apuro de tiempo, las negras no aciertan con la mejor variante. En principio parece viable 30...Dxa2 y si 31.Dc2 Cc4 (31...Dc4!? 32.Tc1 Dxc2 33.Txc2 Ce4; 31...Cb5 32.Dxc6 a6) 32.Cd2 (32.Tc1 Cxb2 33.Ad4 a5 34.Axb2 a4) 32...Cxd2 33.Txd2 De6 , etc. En todas estas líneas las negras se sostienen bien, y su mayoría de peones en el ala dama podría pesar en el final, mientras que la mayoría blanca en el ala rey es pasible del eventual golpe ...g5. Pero la línea crítica parece ser 30...f6!? donde ni 31.Tc1 (ni 31.Ac5 parecen dar al blanco ventaja, sino todo lo contrario.) 31.Dxc4 Cxc4 32.b3 Cb6 33.Cd2 Cd5 34.Ce4

Posición después de 34.Cf4Un segundo momento crítico, ya en el pre-final. 34...f5? El error decisivo. Está claro que 34...Cxf4? se responde con 35.Cf6+; Pero era correcto 34...Te6!. 35.Txd5! Una pequeña combinación con la que las blancas pasan a un final ganador. 35...cxd5 36.Cf6+ Rf7 37.Cxe8 Txe8 38.Tc1! La diferente actividad de ambas torres es un factor decisivo. 38...fxg4 39.hxg4 h5 No alcanza para salvar el juego. 39...g5 40.Tc7+ Re6+/- 41.Ad4 gxf4 42.Rg2 Te7 43.Tc6+ Rf7 44.Rf3 Te6 45.Tc7+ Te7 46.Tc8 (amenazando 47.Td8) 46...Te8 (46...Ah6 47.Td8 a6 (47...Re6?? 48.Td6++-) 48.Txd5) 47.Txe8 Rxe8 48.Rxf4 a6 49.Rf5+- 40.gxh5 Las blancas ganan el final. 40...gxh5 41.Rg2 a5 42.Ad4 Re6 [42...Ah6 43.Rf3 Tf8 44.Tc6+-] 43.Rf3 Rf5 [43...Ae7 44.Tc6+ Rf5 45.Th6 h4 46.Th5+ Re6 47.f5++-] 44.Th1 Rg6 45.Tg1+ Rf7 [45...Rh7 46.Tc1 Te7 47.Tc5 Rg6 48.Tc6+ Rh7 (48...Rf5 49.Tf6#) 49.Td6 Ag7 50.Txd5+-] 46.f5 Tc8 47.e6+ Re7 48.Te1 Ah6 49.f6+ Re8 Si 49...Rd6 entonces 50.e7 Te8 51.Ab6 seguido de Ad8 ganando. 50.Tg1 Rf8 51.Tg6 Ad2 52.f7 1-0

1059957570
 
http://manoloajedrez.blogspot.com/2009/04/la-nueva-campeona-argentina.html
Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:05:00 +0000
 
 
 
Topalov-Kamsky: third game drawn

Topalov-Kamsky Game 3The third game in the Challenger’s Match between Veselin Topalov and Gata Kamsky has ended in a draw. Against Kamsky’s Grünfeld, Topalov went for the Russian Variation (4.Qb3) this time, but again the American grandmaster had no trouble reaching a comfortable position out of the opening.

The Kamsky-Topalov World Championship Semi-Final Match takes place February 16th to 28th in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Challenger’s Match consists of eight games and possible tie-breaks and has a prize find of US $250,000 which will be shared equally by the players. The winner qualifies for a World Championship Match against Viswanathan Anand.

Game 3
In what was probably his first 4.Qb3 ever, Topalov went for the topical 7.Be2 move-order (letting the knight on g1 for a while), as was played in a number of recent top games, the latest being Carlsen-Dominguez, Wijk aan Zee 2009. Kamsky’s 7…a6 is relatively new there, but the idea isn’t, of course.

After the queens went off the board, the position became a tactical slugfest where every move contained a threat, but this time Kamsky had enough time on the clock to calculate accurately, and so he easily found his way in all the variations. In the resulting ending Topalov tried it for a while, but soon he had to admit that it was a dead draw.

On the official website, below the photos, each day a video of the press conference is posted. Probably (partly) because of the arrival of American journalist (and occasional ChessVibes editor) Macauley Peterson, who will report on the match for ICC until the end, it’s now done in English as well.

But beware - it’s still quite disappointing to watch, although at the same time also fascinating. The thing is: the players don’t want to say anything. Really. Asked to describe the game, Topalov simply answered: “Very complicated, but after some time we reached an equal ending so it was a normal result.” To which Kamsky added: “The ending was very interesting but the endgame was equal.”

Macauley asked the question whether there were any draw offers prior to the end of the game and indeed, at the start of the repetition of moves, Kamsky offered a draw, but Topalov made two more moves before offering his hand anyway.

Then, Macauley again: “In the previous game we have seen the importance of clock management. Did you make some adjustments on the rest day?” Kamsky’s answer: “Yes, some adjustments.”

On the question by (probably a Bulgarian journalist) how he feels after three games in Bulgaria, Kamsky smiled and said: “I feel great.” The journalist then made clear that he didn’t understand why Kamsky kept on answering so briefly. “They’re logical answers, they just happen to be very short.”

Name Nat. Rtg
G01

17/2

G02

18/2

G03

20/2
G04

21/2
G05

23/2

G06

24/2

G07

26/2
G08

27/2
Score
Kamsky USA 2725
½
 0
½
 1
Topalov BUL 2796
½
 1 ½ 2


Photo © Ivan Stoimenov - courtesy of the official website

Links:

 
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/topalov-kamsky-third-game-drawn/
Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:42:09 +0000
 
 
 
WGM Hou Yifan’s 8th Move Offends me to the Very Core of My Chess Being

Hou Yifan Offends and Wins

Corus “B” Wijk aan Zee 2009
[Round "12"]
WGM Hou Yifan” (2571) - Vallejo Pons (2702)

Watch what young WGM Hou Yifan does in this game.  I could not believe it when I replayed it on ICC.  But here it is:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 g6 5. e5 Ng4 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. h3 Nh6 8. g4?? OMFG.  What a horrible move.  She gives up her light square bishop then opens up the d5-h1 diagonal to create a “fake bind” against the black knight on h6.  I wasn’t there, but Pons may have glanced at her with a pitying “you’re a beginner” look.  Pawns-don’t-move-backward.  The last time I saw a hideous lunge like this was the “fugly” Caro varation discussed in a prior post.

So Fugly

So Fugly

Position after 8. g4?? : Is Corus “B” a beginner’s sandbox?

Then the game proceeded incomprehensibly:
8…Bg7 9. d3 f5 10. exf6 exf6 11. Qe2+ Kf7 12. Be3 Re8 13. O-O-O Kg8 14. d4 cxd4 15. Nxd4 Qc7 16. Rhe1 Nf7 17. Qc4 Qh2 18. Nce2 Qxh3 19. Nf4 Qxg4 20. Rg1 Qd7 21. Nde6 Qe7 22. Nxg7 Kxg7 23. Nh5+ Kh8 24. Bc5 Qe6 25. Rge1 Qxe1 26. Qxf7 Qxd1+ 27. Kxd1 Bg4+ 28. Kd2 Rad8+ 29. Kc3 Bxh5 30. Bd4 Rxd4 31. Qxe8+ 1-0

and the 2700-rated Pons had suffered a humiliating defeat.

Quiz for the readers:  how should black play after white’s 8th?

      
 
http://nezhmet.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/wgm-hou-yifans-8th-move-offends-me-to-the-very-core-of-my-chess-being/
Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:17:30 +0000
 
 
 
01.02.2009. ChessZone Magazine ENG (#02, 2009)

Read in # 02, 2009:

Corus Wijk aan Zee 2009, FIDE Top 100 January 2009 Rating List, Reggio Emillia tournament, other chess news and the best games with annotations by our experts (GM Valery Aveskulov and IM Anatoly Polivanov).

 
http://www.chesszone.org/
2009-02-01
 
 
 
Corus 2009: XIII ed ultimo turno

  XIII ed ultimo Turno

Caruana - Short sfida decisiva

Karjakin batte Dominguez!

inizio ore 12.30

In occasione della 71esima edizione del "Corus Chess tournament" (Wijk Aan Zee, 17 gennaio - 1 febbraio 2009),   Scacchierando allestirà ogni giorno un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale della manifestazione, articolo dove sarà possibile, per i lettori, dire la loro su quello che quotidianamente accade nel torneo.

GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2646)  - Short, Nigel (ING, 2663) Corus Chess 2009 Gruppo A Wijk aan Zee (13), 2009 [Megalovic]

1.d4 Cf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 catalana, il repertorio di Caruana si sta decisamente ampliando 3..d5 4.Cf3 Ae7 5.Ag2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Dc2 a6 8.Dxc4 b5 9.Dc2 Ab7 10.Ad2 Ad6 qui la più giocata è 10...Ae4 11.Cg5  seguendo la Eljanov - Carlsen 0-1 Foros 2008 Axg2 12.Rxg2 Dc8 Novità. Carlsen giocò Cbd7 13.e4 Db7 14.Te1 Cbd7 15.Cf3 e5 16.Ag5 exd4 17.Cxd4 Tfe8 18.Cd2 c5 19.Cf5 Af8 20.b3 Te6 21.f3 Tae8 22.Tad1 Ce5 23.Af4 Cfd7 24.Dc3 h5 25.Ce3 (13') Cb6 (43') e Caruana ha, come gli è accaduto quasi sempre in questo torneo, 30' in meno del suo avversario (13' per eseguire 15 mosse, senza incremento) 26.Cdf1 (8') Cg6 (28') 27.Ag5 c4 28.bxc4 (6') Dc7 (16')  29.Tc1 bxc4 20.Cf5 Tc8 31.Cd2 f6 32.Ae3 Ce5 33.Tb1 Ac5 34.Af4 (2') Td8 (8') 35.Ted1 g6 36.Ch4 Ted6 37.Cxg6 Ad4 38.Da5?! [Dc2] Cxg6 39.Axd6 Txd6 40.Dxh5 Rg7 il bianco ha raggiunto il controllo della quarantesima dando due pezzi leggeri per una torre e due pedoni, ma il forte pc4 garantisce al nero un certo vantaggio 41.Cf1 c3 42.Tbc1 Cc4

Orologi: Caruana 37' Short 49'

Tempo di riflessione: 2h x 40 mosse + 1h x 20 mosse + 15' + 30" x mossa partendo dalla 61^   

Caruana - Short

Photo © Michiel Abeln

Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito:
1. risultato scontro diretto
2. Sonneborn Berger
3. Maggior numero di neri

4. Sorteggio

Caruana
Con Short non può arrivare pari merito
Con Volokitin e Kasimdzhanov (che hanno pattato tra loro), con i quali ha pattato, si dovrebbe ricorrere allo spareggio Sonneborn Berger che al momento è questo:

Kasimdzhanov 43
Volokitin 43.75
Caruana 39.25

Per arrivare a pari merito in testa, Caruana deve vincere, e quindi guadagnerebbe 8 punti di Short (facendo guadagnare 0.5 punti agli altri due). Per il pari merito con Kasimdzhanov l'ex campione del mondo dovrebbe pattare (facendo guadagnare 0.25 punti agli alri due), e guadagnerebbe 3.75 di Motylev (e farebbe guadagnare 0.25 punti agli altri due). Volokitin dovrebbe vincere (facendo guadagnare 0.5 punti agli altri due), e guadagnerebbe i 6 punti di Efimenko

Lo spareggio Sonneborn Berger diventa quindi:
Kasimdzhanov 47.75
Volokitin 50.75
Caruana 48.25

risulterebbero a questo punto decisivi i risultati degli altri.

Per Caruana il Sonner di Volokitin sarebbe comunque irraggiungibile.

Caruana - Kasimdzhanov
Kasimdzhanov guadagna, rispetto a Caruana, tutto il risultato di Vallejo pons e mezzo risultato di Efimenko e della Hou. Caruana guadagna mezzo risultato di Navara e Werle.

In caso di parità anche nel Sonnerborn Berger, si dovrebbe ricorrere al sorteggio, visto che entrambi termineranno il torneo con 7 neri.

ACCOPPIAMENTI 

Round 13 - Gruppo A
G. Kamsky - S. Movsesian  
M. Adams - L. van Wely  
L. Dominguez - S. Karjakin  
A. Morozevich - V. Ivanchuk  
J. Smeets - L. Aronian  
Y. Wang - M. Carlsen  
T. Radjabov - D. Stellwagen

Round 13 - Gruppo B
A. Motylev - R. Kasimdzhanov  
D. Navara - H. Mecking  
Z. Efimenko - A. Volokitin  
F. Caruana - N. Short  
J. Werle - D. Reinderman  
F. Vallejo Pons - K. Sasikiran  
E. l'Ami - Y. Hou

Round 13 - Gruppo C
E. Iturrizaga - R. Pruijssers  
M. Leon Hoyos - A. Gupta  
D. Harika - A. Giri  
F. Holzke - O. Romanishin  
A. Bitalzadeh - F. Nijboer  
W. So - D. Howell  
M. Bosboom - T. Hillarp Persson

VISORE PARTITE

 CLASSIFICHE

 

Corus A Wijk aan Zee (NED), 17 i-1 ii 2009cat. XIX (2716)
12345678901234
1. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2776 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 . ½ ½ ½ 7 2766
2. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2761 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 . ½ ½ 7 2778
3. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ . ½ ½ 1 ½ 7 2779
4. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2706 ½ ½ ½ * . 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 7 2773
5. Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2717 0 ½ 1 . * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 7 2773
6. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2751 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ * . 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7 2769
7. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2725 ½ 0 0 1 ½ . * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6 2712
8. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2625 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ . 0 5½ 2695
9. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2779 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ * 0 1 ½ ½ . 5½ 2677
10. Smeets, Jan g NED 2601 0 ½ . ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ 0 5½ 2693
11. Wang Yue g CHN 2739 . 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * ½ 0 1 5 2652
12. Stellwagen, Daniël g NED 2612 ½ . ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 5 2664
13. Adams, Michael g ENG 2712 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ . ½ ½ 1 ½ * ½ 5 2667
14. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2771 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 0 1 . 1 0 ½ ½ * 4½ 2619

Corus B Wijk aan Zee (NED), 17 i-1 ii 2009cat. XVI (2641)
12345678901234
1. Short, Nigel D g ENG 2663 * 1 ½ . ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 8 2764
2. Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2687 0 * ½ ½ . 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 8 2759
3. Volokitin, Andrei g UKR 2671 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 . 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 7½ 2730
4. Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2646 . ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 7½ 2734
5. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2676 ½ . ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 7 2691
6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2702 0 0 ½ 1 ½ * 0 ½ 1 0 1 . 1 1 6½ 2659
7. Navara, David g CZE 2638 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 * 1 ½ ½ 0 1 . ½ 6 2647
8. Efimenko, Zahar g UKR 2688 ½ ½ . 1 ½ ½ 0 * 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ 6 2635
9. Reinderman, Dimitri g NED 2549 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ . 5½ 2622
10. Hou Yifan wg CHN 2571 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 0 * . 1 1 ½ 5½ 2621
11. L'Ami, Erwin g NED 2603 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 1 1 ½ . * ½ ½ 1 5 2593
12. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2711 1 0 ½ 0 ½ . 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * 0 1 4 2505
13. Mecking, Henrique g BRA 2567 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 . 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 * ½ 4 2522
14. Werle, Jan g NED 2607 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ . ½ 0 0 ½ * 3½ 2493

Corus C Wijk aan Zee (NED), 17 i-1 ii 2009cat. XI (2521)
12345678901234
1. So, Wesley g PHI 2627 * ½ 1 . ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 9 2696
2. Giri, Anish f RUS 2469 ½ * 0 ½ 1 ½ . ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 8 2654
3. Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2586 0 1 * 1 0 1 ½ ½ . ½ 1 0 1 1 7½ 2619
4. Howell, David W L g ENG 2622 . ½ 0 * 0 ½ 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 7 2560
5. Gupta, Abhijeet g IND 2569 ½ 0 1 1 * 1 0 0 1 0 . 0 1 1 6½ 2544
6. Holzke, Frank g GER 2524 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 0 . 6 2519
7. Harika, Dronavalli m IND 2473 ½ . ½ 1 1 ½ * 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 5½ 2500
8. Nijboer, Friso g NED 2560 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 * 0 1 0 . 0 ½ 5½ 2498
9. Bosboom, Manuel m NED 2418 0 ½ . 1 0 0 ½ 1 * 0 0 1 1 ½ 5½ 2495
10. Pruijssers, Roeland m NED 2444 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 1 * 1 1 . ½ 5½ 2497
11. Leon Hoyos, Manuel g MEX 2542 0 0 0 0 . 0 1 1 1 0 * 1 0 1 5 2458
12. Bitalzadeh, Ali m NED 2400 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ . 0 0 0 * 1 0 4½ 2440
13. Iturrizaga, Eduardo g VEN 2528 0 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 . 1 0 * 1 4½ 2439
14. Romanishin, Oleg M g UKR 2533 ½ 0 0 0 0 . 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 * 4 2394

LINKS UTILI

sito ufficiale

presentazione gruppo A by Darkstorm

presentazione gruppo B  by Megalovic

presentazione gruppo C by runner

edizione 2008 articolo di Scacchierando by runner

 
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1309
2009-02-01T11:00:00+01:00
 
 
 
Wesley So Wins Corus C
Scroll down to "Historic Finale" for the live blog of today's games

Most of the games are still in progress at this moment. But Wesley So's short draw with David Howell gives So 9.5 and first place in the Corus C Group. Anish Giri and Tiger Hillarp Persson are battling other players to determine which of them will place second. Giri led Persson by half a point at the start of play today.

So - Howell [C96]
Corus Chess (13), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5 11.d4 Nxe4 12.Nxe5 f6 13.Nd3 Bd6 14.Bf4 Nc4 15.b3 Nb6 16.Qc1 Re8 17.Bxd6 cxd6 18.Nf4 f5 19.a4 bxa4 ½–½

At 16, Wesley So is the second youngest player in this year's tournament. He became a Grandmaster at 14 years, 1 month, 28 days--the seventh youngest Grandmaster in history. The youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title remains Sergei Karjakin, currently battling for first in the Corus A Group with Leinier Dominguez. Karjakin became a GM at 12 and just turned 19. As the winner of the C Group, So will be invited to participate in the B Group at Corus Chess 2010.
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/02/wesley-so-wins-corus-c.html
Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:14:00 +0000
 
 
 
Six Lead Corus!
In the Corus Chess 2009 tournament, six players are tied for first in the Grandmaster A Group.

Standings after Twelve Rounds
1. Aronian, Dominguez, Radjabov, Movsesian, Karjakin, Carlsen 7.0
7. Kamsky 6
8. Ivanchuk, Smeets, van Wely 5.5
11. Adams, Wang, Stellwagen 5
14. Morozevich 4.5

Tomorrow, the games start an hour earlier--12:30pm CET.

The match-ups to watch:
Levon Aronian has Black against Jan Smeets
Leinier Dominguez has White against Sergei Karjakin
Teymour Radjabov has White against Daniel Stellwagen
Sergei Movsesian has Black against Gata Kamsky
Magnus Carlsen has Black against Wang Yue

Who wants it bad enough to take the risks necessary to win?


Corus C Group

Tournament leader Wesley So defeated Tiger Hillarp Persson, his closest pursuer. A draw tomorrow makes him the winner, and secures his invitation to next year's B Group.

Hillarp Persson - So [D11]
Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.Qb3 Bxf3 7.gxf3 Qc7 8.Nc3 e6 9.a4 Nbd7 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.a5 Nb8 12.Bd2 Nc6 13.Ke2 Bd6 14.Na4 0–0 15.Qb6 Qe7 16.Nc5 Rab8 17.f4 Bc7 18.Qb3 Bxf4 19.Qc3 e5 20.Nb3 Rfc8 21.dxe5 Bxe5 22.Qc5 Nd4+ 23.Qxd4 Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Ne4 25.Rag1 g6 26.Bxe4 dxe4 27.h4 Rc4 28.Bc3 Rxc3 29.bxc3 Qc7 30.Kf1 Qxa5 31.h5 Qa1+ 32.Kg2 Qxc3 33.hxg6 fxg6 34.Rh4 Re8 35.Rb1 b5 36.Rhh1 Qc5 37.Rbc1 Qg5+ 38.Kf1 Rf8 39.Rh2 Qxe3 0–1

The newest Grandmaster, Anish Giri, also won today.

Giri - Leon Hoyos [A41]
Corus Chess (12), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.g3 Bxf3 4.exf3 g6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0–0 c6 8.Nc3 Nb6 9.d5 Rc8 10.Qd3 Nf6 11.Be3 cxd5 12.cxd5 Nfd7 13.Bd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 0–0 15.Rfe1 Nf6 16.Re2 Rc4 17.Qd3 a6 18.Rae1 Rc7 19.f4 Nc4 20.b3 Na3 21.Bh3 Rc5 22.Ne4 Nxe4 23.Rxe4 Rc7 24.f5 Nb5 25.fxg6 hxg6 26.a4 Na7 27.Qd4 b5 28.Rh4 f6 29.Qe3 g5 30.Qe4 f5 31.Qe6+ Kg7 32.Qh6+ Kf7 33.Bxf5 1–0

With eight points, Giri is the only player capable of catching So. If he wins tomorrow (Black against Dronavalli Harika) and So loses (White against David Howell), the two will tie for first. I think we can expect some quick draws in the C Group.


Corus B Group

Nigel Short is still playing. Before today's games, he had half a point lead over Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Fabiano Caruana. Kasimdzhanov won and Caruana drew. Short and Kasimdzhanov both have Black tomorrow. If their opponents are ambitious, the conclusion could be very much in the air.
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/six-lead-corus.html
Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:12:00 +0000
 
 
 
Wijk aan Zee: Round Eleven
Three rounds remain in the Corus Chess 2009 tournament. In the Grandmaster A Group, five of today's seven games could have an impact on who emerges as the champion on Sunday. Levon Aronian leads and Sergei Karjakin follows him by half a point. Another half a point behind him are four players: Magnus Carlsen, Leinier Dominguez, Teymour Radjabov, and Sergei Movsesian.

There are plenty of interesting and vital battles in the Grandmaster B Group, and the GM C group, too. Nigel Short leads the B Group with five players half a point behind. In C, Tiger Hillarp Persson is half a point ahead of Wesley So.

This tournament is a potluck prepared by the greatest chefs. Every choice excludes many other exceptional possibilities. I'm a terrible sports fan because I prefer to watch only the best winners. It is hard to divert my attention from Dominguez - Aronian because Aronian is in first. A win by Dominguez cdould produce a new leader from one of the other games and put both opf these players in second. Kamsky - Karjakin is my second choice because the player of Black is in second and Kamsky is hungry. Still, I will be unable to ignore three other games: Wang - Radjabov, van Wely - Movsesian, and Morozevich - Carlsen. The players with the best chances to finish at the top mostly seem to be playing Black today.

6:32am PDT, 3:30pm CET

I was up late last night because I drank a bunch of coffee at chess club where I played another French against Michael Cambareri, a high school senior that has not played much recently. In 2005, he ran over the top of my MacCutcheon, so last night I opted for the Winawer. He got in an early Nd6+ and I was struggling in an almost equal position that was tiring. Our game lasted almost three hours and my position collapsed on move twenty. More on that game another day. Suffice it to say, I'm bleary eyed for my virtual visit to the Netherlands this morning where the games have been underway for two hours.

Dominguez - Aronian [C88]
Corus Chess (11), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.e5 Ne8 11.c3 dxc3 12.Nxc3 d6 13.Bd5 Rb8 14.Be3 Be6 15.Ba7 Bxd5 16.Bxb8 Bb7 17.Ba7 Qa8 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Bd4 b4 20.Na4 Bxg2 21.Rxe8 Qxe8 22.Kxg2 c5 23.Be3 Qc6+ 24.f3 Re8 25.Bf2 c4

Kamsky - Karjakin [D02]
Corus Chess (11), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c3 c5 4.dxc5 g6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 0–0 7.0–0 Nc6 8.Qb3 Qa5 9.Qa3 Qc7 10.Bg5 Ne4 11.Be3 e5 12.Nbd2 f5 13.Rad1 Nf6 14.b4
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/wijk-aan-zee-round-eleven.html
Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:07:00 +0000
 
 
 
Wijk aan Zee: Round Ten
Five players contend for tournament victory in the Corus A Group in Wijk aan Zee. With four rounds to go, Levon Aronian, Sergei Karjakin, and Leinier Dominguez share the lead. Half a point behind them are Sergei Movsesian and Teymour Radjabov. There are no easy games in a tournament of this stature; the players at the bottom of the rankings are some of the world's best having a poor event. The top seed, Vassily Ivanchuk is tied in tenth with Gata Kamsky--playing a match with Veselin Topalov next month to select the World Championship challenger--and Wang Yue, who went most of 2008 without a loss.

Aronian's penultimate game in this event (Saturday) is against Alexander Morozevich, currently in last place, but capable of beating anyone. Today Aronian played a Catalan against Michael Adams. Things looked tense early on when the Armenian castled long. Now they are in a rook endgame in which Aronian has better pawn structure and some semblance of an initiative. As we know, however, "rook endgames are drawn," and these two players usually draw in their battles.

Sergei Karjakin is hammering away at Loek van Wely's Najdorf. The game featured the customary opposite wing castling and storms of pawns to frighten both monarchs. A win for White could give the youngest Grandmaster in history a temporary lead in this event. Van Wely is among those tied for sixth, which is far better than his performance here in recent years. Indeed, he and Jan Smeets are showing that Dutch players do not always finish at the bottom at Corus in the post-Jan Timman years. Perhaps Timman's harsh words for his countrymen last fall has given them some motivation to prove him wrong.

Magnus Carlsen shared first with Aronian last year, but can neither win nor lose this year. He has White today against the third of the present event leaders: the Cuban Dominguez. Dominguez played a Grunfeld and now has a bishop pair against a knight and bishop with the heavy pieces still on the board. But, the queenside pawns for both players have been liquidated, and that might favor the young Norwegian's horse. With so many pieces remaining, however, tactical considerations come first. Either player can create threats that the other must parry.

I don't know what to say about Radjabov's game against Smeets. It appears to have come from some sort of offbeat English. Smeet's pieces seem a bit heemed in around his king, and the players are at move fifteen nearly three hours into the game. The clock may prove decisive if they don't decide on one of those accursed grandmaster draws.

Wang Yue played a Petroff (Russian Defense) against former leader Movsesian, and the game was drawn in 22 moves.

Movsesian - Wang Yue [D20]
Corus Chess (10), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4 c6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d4 Be7 8.h3 d5 9.Bd3 0–0 10.0–0 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Nbd7 12.Re1 Nb6 13.Bb3 Nfd5 14.Bc2 Bf6 15.a3 Be6 16.Ne5 g6 17.Ne4 Bg7 18.Bg5 Qc7 19.Bh4 Rae8 20.Nc5 Nd7 21.Bg3 Bxe5 22.Bxe5 ½–½

I may be able to update this post with the results during lunch four hours from now. As unemployment in the world grows to levels not seen in decades, and some fear might reach proportions last seen in the 1930s, I am not yet unemployed. Today is a full day of work that keeps me away from my computer. Life could be much worse: I'm teaching chess in classrooms today. The older youth in one school will be battling it out on their chess ladder, and a few might challenge me for a lesson. In another school, I'll be teaching first graders how bishops and rooks move. Then, there's the after school club where my scholastic chess activities began when my son (a few months younger than the Carlsen boy) was a third grader there.
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/wijk-aan-zee-round-ten.html
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:52:00 +0000
 
 
 
Wijk aan Zee: Round Nine
In the Corus Chess Tournament, Grandmaster A Group in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, Sergei Movsesian leads after eight rounds. He is the fifth seed, and the tenth highest on the FIDE rating list. His recent move into the top ten results from rapid improvement in his performance. He won the Corus B Group in 2008, earning entry into this year's A Group. At the time he was number 42 on the FIDE rating list. In January 2007, he was number 74. His rating crossed 2700 for the first time in July 2008.

Current Standings
1. Sergei Movsesian 5
2. Levon Aronian, Sergei Karjakin, Leinier Dominguez, Teymour Radjabov 4 ½
6. Magnus Carlsen, Loek van Wely, Gata Kamsky, Michael Adams, Jan Smeets 4
11. Daniel Stellwagen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wang Yue 3 ½
14. Alexander Morozevich 2 ½

I'm following several games as they unfold today: Karjakin - Movsesian and Kamsky - Aronian are both between players still in contention. Dominguez - Stillwagen and Morozevich - Radjabov both pit a potential leader against a player near the bottom of the standings. With five rounds to play, no player is completely out of the running, but it is unlikely that tail-ender Morozevich will win five straight. Even if he does, 7 ½ might be good enough for third place, but not first.

Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, and Leinier Dominguez have yet to lose a game in this event. Carlsen and Daniel Stellwagen are the only players without a win.


Dominguez had a supported passed pawn already by move nine against Stellwagen. But, that's a frequent concession Black makes in the French Winawer.

Dominguez - Stellwagen [C18]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 13.Rb1 0–0–0 14.Nxc3 Na5 15.h3 Kb8 16.g4 Rc8 17.Nb5 Bxb5 18.Rxb5




Aronian's king moved thrice in the first eighteen moves against Kamsky, but that's not terribly unusual in the Berlin Defense in the Spanish Opening (or Ruy Lopez).

Kamsky - Aronian [C67]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.b3 a5 11.a4 Be6 12.Ne2 Bd5 13.Rd1 Kc8 14.Ne1 g5 15.Bb2 Bg7 16.Nd3 b6 17.f3 Kb7 18.Kf2 Be6 19.g4




Radjabov's Grunfeld has produced symmetrical pawns and clerics against Morozevich, and perhaps transposed into an English; Moro's only draw so far in the event was in the game against Michael Adams.

Morozevich - Radjabov [D73]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0–0 7.0–0 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nb5 Be6 10.N1c3 Nxc3 11.Nxc3 Nc6 12.Qa4 Qb6N 13.Qa3 Rfd8 14.Be3 Qa5 15.Qxa5 Nxa5 16.Rac1




Movsesian struggles to maintain his lead against Karjakin with a Sicilian Scheveningen.

Karjakin - Movsesian [B80]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.f3 Be7 8.Qd2 0–0 9.g4 d5 10.g5 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Nh5 12.0–0–0 Bxg5 13.Kb1 Kh8 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.Rg1 Qf4 16.Qc5 Bd7 17.exd5 Nf6 18.Bh3 exd5




Ready for Bets?

5:54am PST; 2:54pm CET

Of these four games, Dominguez - Stillwagen appears to offer the best prospects of a decisive result, but I would not put any money on it.

Morozevich - Radjabov Update

16...Rac8 17.Bxa7 Rd2 18.b4 Bxc3 19.bxa5 Bxa5 20.Bxb7 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rd7 22.Rb1 Bxa2 23.Rb2 Bc3 24.Rxa2 ½-½

There's no symmetry and a bit more fight in the Grunfeld I have going against a fellow blogger on one of those turn-based sites. That is not to say there is nothing we patzers cannot learn from this short grandmaster draw. Nor am I as convinced as many commentators that draconian measures are warranted to prevent top players from desisting from conflict in positions they deem not worth fighting about.

Let me put it another way: Radjabov played aggressively as Black, pieces came off rapidly. After 24 moves, these grandmasters, who are so good they can play me and thirty others of my strength simultaneously and win most if not all, reached a position that I can hold eight out of ten times against a computer that can beat them. The position may not be a "dead draw", but only an egregious blunder of the sort grandmasters do not make (well, usually not) can offer either player a slim chance of victory.

Kamsky - Aronian Update

19...Ne7 20.Ng3 Rhd8 21.h3 c5 22.f4 c4 23.bxc4 Bxc4 24.f5 Nc6 25.e6



25...Bf8 26.exf7 Bxf7 27.Ne4 Bc4 28.Bf6 Re8 29.Kf3 Ka7 30.Ndf2 Ba6 31.h4?! gxh4 32.Bxh4


Carlsen remains undefeated in this year's Corus tournament

Adams - Carlsen [B70]
Corus Chess (9), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1 Bg4 9.f3 Bd7 10.Be3 Nc6 11.a4 Ne5 12.Bf1 Rc8 13.a5 a6 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Nc4 16.Bxc4 Rxc4 17.c3 Re8 18.Nc2 Ra4 19.Bb6 Rxa1 20.Qxa1 Qc8 21.Ne3 e5 22.dxe6 Rxe6 23.Qd1 Qe8 24.Kf2 Qe7 25.g3 Qg5 26.Qd5 Qxd5 27.Nxd5 Rxe1 28.Kxe1 Kf8 ½–½



7:30am PST; 4:30pm CET


Karjakin - Movsesian Update

19.Bxd7 Nxd7 20.Qxd5 Nf6 21.Qxb7 Qxh2 22.Ne4 Nxe4 23.Qxe4 Rad8 24.a4 Qc7 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Rg5 g6 27.Rb5 Rd1+ 28.Ka2 Rd7 29.c4 Kg7 30.c5 a6 31.c6



31... axb5 32.cxd7 Qxd7 33.Qe5+ Kf8 34.axb5 h5 35.Kb3 Kg8 36.b6 h4 37.Qc7 Qd1+ 38.Kb4 Qe1+ 39.Kb5 Qe2+ 40.Ka5 Qd2+

They continue to slug it out in a queen and pawn endgame with plenty of passed pawns. This could be one of those games when the players are happy that many chess sets come with four queens. No upside-down rooks will be needed here.

White to move


8:15am PST; 5:15pm CET

8:27am Prediction

At the end of this round, three players will be tied for first: Movsesian, Aronian, and Dominguez with 5 ½ each.

Kamsky - Aronian Update

32...Bb7 33.Kf4 Nb4 34.c4



34...Na6 35.Nc3 Bc6 36.Nfe4 Nc5 37.Nf6 Re7 38.Nh5 Rf7 39.Nb5+ Kb7 40.Ra2 Re8 41.Nf6 Ree7 42.Nd4



Black (Aronian) has better pawn structure and a bishop pair: two advantages in the late middlegame. He still has much work to press the advantage, but a win puts him in a share of the lead. Moreover, a win with Black always confers certain psychological advantages, especially going into the late rounds.

42...Bxa4 43.Rxa4 Bg7

The bishop pair is gone, but now Black has an outside passed pawn. Aronian exchanged one advantage for another. Hiarcs 12 has -0.98.

44.Nh5 Re4+ 45.Kf3 Bxd4 46.Ra3 Rxf5+ 47.gxf5 Rxh4 48.Ng3 a4

"Wheee! The rabbit's free, all the way to the other side!!" Fritz

49.Ra2 Be5 50.Rd5

Black to move



How to Excite a Patzer

I'm watching Kamsky - Aronian, considering the implications of White's last move. I see the line 50...Bxg3 51.Kxg3 R move and 52.Kxc5 and I think a draw becomes likely. Then, I decide that Aronian must play 50...Bd6 to maintain the tension and the advantage. And he does!

50...Bd6 51.Rxd6 cxd6 52.f6

Hiarcs 12 has -2.03

The players have been at the boards for nearly five hours. I've been watching a bit over four: spectating has not prevented my playing taxi driver for my son to school, my wife to work, and finding a few moments for some of my work, much of which is done from home in front of a computer.

52...Ne6 53.Rxa4 Rf4+ 54.Ke3 Rxf6 55.Ra1 Ng5 56.Ne2 Rf3+ 57.Kd4 Kc6

Aronian removes Kamsky's most significant threat for counterplay, but the evaluation of Hiarcs 12 drops to -1.55.

9:38am PST; 6:38pm CET

A bit over an hour ago, I predicted that three players would be tied in first at the end of play today. These three are still playing. My analysis engines still see an advantage for Dominguez and Aronian, and equality for Movsesian: the results needed to mark my prediction prescient.

Okay, Hiarcs 12 actually sees 0.98 in favor of Karjakin, but the engine is not to be believed in queen endgames, or at least, an alleged one pawn advantage in such endgames really is equality. Both Dominguez and Aronian, however, have an advantage the engine evaluates at 1.80. Dominguez is ahead a pawn in a rook and pawn endgame (often drawish), but the pawns are all connected and his king is closer.


Dominguez - Stellwagen Update

18...a6 19.Rb1 Nc4 20.Qc3 d4 21.Qxd4 Rgd8 22.Qxc4 Qa5+ 23.Qb4 Qd5 24.Be3 Qf3 25.Qxb7+ Qxb7 26.Rxb7+ Kxb7 27.Bd3 Nd5 28.Bd2 Nc3 29.Kf2 Rd4 30.Ke3 Ra4 31.Bxc3 Rxc3 32.h4 Raxa3 33.Kd4 Rc8 34.h5 Ra4+ 35.Ke3 a5 36.h6 Rb4 37.g5 a4 38.h7 Rh8 39.Ra1 Kb6 40.c3 Rb3 41.Rxa4 Rxc3 42.Kd2 Rxd3+ 43.Kxd3 Rxh7 44.Ra8 Kb7



45.Ra1 Rh3 46.Ke2 Rc3 47.Rh1 Kc8 48.Rh7 Rc7 49.g6 fxg6 50.Rxc7 Kxc7 51.Kf3 1-0

Hiarcs 12 says checkmate in twenty.




Kamsky - Aronian Update

58.Ra8 Rf8 59.Ra7 Ne6+ 60.Ke3 Rf5 61.Rh7

Hiarcs 12: -2.02


I Was Wrong: Nostradamus Can Keep His Job

Karjakin - Movsesian Update

41.b4 Qa2+ 42.Kb5 Qe2+ 43.Qc4 Qe8+ 44.Qc6 Qe2+ 45.Kc5 Qf2+ 46.Kd6 Qg3+ 47.Kd7 h3 48.b7 h2 49.Qc8+



49...Kg7 50.b8Q Qxb8 51.Qxb8 h1Q 52.Qe5+ Kg8 53.Qd5 Qh3+ 54.Kc7 Qh2+ 55.Kb7 Qh5 56.Kc6 Qh3 57.Kb7 Qh5 58.Qc6 Kg7 59.b5 Qe5 60.b6 g5 61.Kc8 Qf5+ 62.Kd8 Qa5 63.Qd6 Qa8+ 64.Kc7 Qxf3 65.b7 Qc3+ 66.Kd7 Qh3+ 67.Kd8 Qh8+ 68.Kc7 1-0

Movsesian could not hold the position.



Movsesian drops from the lead; Karjakin joins Dominguez, and Aronian might yet be among them by day's end. The Corus Chess 2009 Grandmaster A Group is wide open. Nearly half of the players still have a reasonable chance to win.


Back to Kamsky - Aronian

61...Re5+ 62.Kd2 h5 63.Rh6 Kc5 64.Kd3 Kb4 65.Ng3

Hiarcs 12: -2.24

10:25am PST; 7:25pm CET

65...Nf4+ 66.Kd4 Rc5 67.Rxd6 Rxc4+ 68.Ke3 b5 69.Rd1

Hiarcs 12: -2.45



69...Ng2+ 70.Kf3 Nh4+ 71.Ke2 Rc2+ 72.Kf1 Ng2 73.Rb1+ Kc4 74.Nf5 b4 75.Kg1 Kc5 76.Ra1 b3 77.Ra5+ Kb4 78.Ra7 Nf4




They've been playing six and one half hours.

79.Rb7+ Kc3 80.Ne3 Rc1+ 0-1

Bravo Aronian!

Current Standings
1. Levon Aronian, Sergei Karjakin, Leinier Dominguez 5 ½
4. Sergei Movsesian, Teymour Radjabov 5
6. Magnus Carlsen, Loek van Wely, Michael Adams, Jan Smeets 4 ½
10. Gata Kamsky, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wang Yue 4
13. Daniel Stellwagen 3 ½
14. Alexander Morozevich 3
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/wijk-aan-zee-round-nine.html
Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:05:00 +0000
 
 
 
Wijk aan Zee: Round Eight
Sergei Movsesian from Slovakia is one of the new stars in international chess. He is currently tied for first with Ukrainian Sergei Karjakin, the youngest grandmaster in history, after his victory over Vassily Ivanchuk yesterday. Today, Karjakin has Black against Ivanchuk; Movsesian has White against Jan Smeets, who also lost yesterday.

Mig Greengard explains in "Movsesian the Real Deal in Wijk aan Zee" how his faint praise of Movsesian was taken as criticism. He won the B group last year, and then shot up to number 10 on the rating list. Greengard asks, "has anyone else entered the top 10 for the first time after turning 30? In the last decade?"

Smeets is playing the Russian Defense. It has the reputation for being drawish, which makes it a sensible choice against a player that is hot.

Movsesian - Smeets [C42]
Corus Chess (8), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4 Nc6 6.d3 Nf6 7.d4 Bg4 8.Be2 d5 9.c5 Be7 10.0–0 0–0 11.Be3 Ne4 12.Nc3 Bf6 Novelty

White to move


13.h3 Bh5 14.Qa4 Re8

Karjakin is playing a Sicilian Najdorf, a good choice for a player wanting to win with Black.

Ivanchuk - Karjakin [B92]
Corus Chess (8), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.a4 Qc7 12.Rfd1 Rac8 13.a5 Nc5 14.Nxc5 dxc5 15.Qe1 Rfd8 16.Rxd8+ Rxd8 17.f3 c4 18.Na4 Nd7 19.Qc3 Novelty

Black to move


19...f6 20.b3 Rc8 21.b4 Qc6 22.Qa3 f5

6:34am PDT, 3:34pm CET

If the Playchess game clocks are any where close to accurate, Karjakin's 22...f5 came after a long think, and Ivanchuk has lots of time.

Movsesian is ahead on the clock, and answered Smeet's 14...Re8 quickly.

Movsesian - Smeets

15.Rfe1 Qd7 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.Qxd7 Nxd7 18.Bxh5 c6 19.Bg4 Nf8 20.Ne2 g6

White to move


21.g3 Re7 22.h4 Rae8

Perhaps Ivanchuk will manage his time today.

Ivanchuk - Karjakin

23.b5 axb5 24.Qxe7 bxa4 25.Rd1 Nf8

They are blitzing these moves

26.Rd6 Re8 27.Rxc6 Rxe7 28.Bc5

Ivanchuk appears to have compensation for the pawn, but no significant advantage. He does remain ahead on the clock with a dozen moves to go to make the time control.

Black to move


28...Rd7 29.Rb6 fxe4

7:35am PST; 4:35 CET

Ivanchuk seems determined to put Movsesian in the lead for the rest day. Of course, Movsesian must do some work of his own.

Movsesian - Smeets

23.Rad1 Bg7 24.Kg2 h5 25.Bf3 Kh7 26.Nc1 Nf6 27.Nb3 Ng8 28.Kf1 Nh6 29.Bxh6 Kxh6 30.Rxe7 Rxe7

Where the theory runs deeper, as in the Spanish and several lines of the Sicilian, the players get closer to the first time control before they need to think. Movsesian - Smeets departed early, and we may be in for a blitz demonstration.

According to the Playchess clocks, Movsesian has eight minutes to fifteen for Smeets. Fritz 9 thinks that Smeets has a slight advantage.

White to move


31.Rd3 Ne6 32.Bg2 1/2-1/2

Ivanchuk - Karjakin

30.fxe4 c3

Ivanchuk may have the advantage here, but he's now slightly behind on the clocks. The players will need to fire off a move per minute to reach the control.

31.Kf2 Ba2 32.a6 bxa6 33.Rb8 Rf7+ 34.Ke3 g6 35.Bd6 Rf6 36.Rd8 a3 37.Bxa3 Kg7 38.Bd6 Rf7 39.Bxe5 Kh6 40.Bxa6 Ne6 41.Rc8 1-0



Ivanchuk made the time control, scored his second win, and thrust Movsesian into the lead. Levon Aronian is still playing with a bishop and two pawns against Loek van Wely's rook. If the bishop can escort a pawn past the danger, he can catch catch Movsesian today.

Aronian - van Wely

after 42.Ke1

Black to move


42...Rc7 43.Bd8 Rxc5 44.e7 Rc1+ 45.Kf2 Rc2+ 46.Kf3 Re2 47.Bxa5

I think the game will end as a draw. Black's king is better positioned. The rook and king will stop the queenside pawns, ending Aronian's threat to join Movsesian in the lead. Loek van Wely's rook is not enough to make any progress, however. The bishop can hold White's position.

47...Rxe7 48.Bxb4 Re4 49.Bc3 Rxa4 50.Kg4 1/2-1/2

More than three hours ago, when I started this post, I typed the name Sergei Movsesian. He is now in sole lead in Corus for the next forty-eight hours, at least. Nostradamus was never that specific! But, neither did he get help from Mig Greengard.
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/wijk-aan-zee-round-8.html
Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:59:00 +0000
 
 
 
Corus 2009: Follow the Leaders
In the Corus Grandmaster A Group in Wijk aan Zee, Sergey Karjakin is half a point ahead of four others after five rounds. Round six in is progress, and he has Black against Magnus Carlsen. Former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov leads GM Group B, also with 3.5 of 5. Today, he has White against Fabiano Caruana. Six players are half a point behind. Swedish Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp leads the C Group with 4.0 and is playing White against Abhijeet Gupta. Wesley So has 3.5 and is alone in second in the C Group.

Round six is not yet the mid-point, so much can still happen. Indeed, no player is theoretically unable to win his or her section. But some are playing better than others, and starting with two or three losses in five games leaves minimal hope.

Among those close behind Karjakin in the A Group, Jan Smeets and Leinier Dominguez took their game one move longer than the game they followed for twenty-one moves.

Smeets - Dominguez [B92]
Corus Chess (6), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.0–0–0 Qb6 12.Qxd6 Be7 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 Rd8 15.Qc4 Rxd1+ 16.Rxd1 Qxf2 17.Rf1 Qe3+ 18.Kb1 0–0 19.Bg4 g6 20.Bd7 Nd4 21.Nxd4

Black to move


21...exd4N

21...Qxd4 22.Qxd4 ½–½ Stellwagen,D-L'Ami,E, Hilversum 2008

22.Qd3 Kg7 23.a3 ½–½

Levon Aronian may have a slight edge in his game, not least because he is twenty minutes ahead on the clock against Vassily Ivanchuk. At least Ivanchuk now has the notoriously stupid drug testing fiasco behind him and can concentrate on the games.

Teymour Radjabov's 5.Nc5 against Gata Kamsky's Caro-Kann is a rare move, but my Master Trends opening book shows a 56% score and higher resulting Elo performance than the vastly more popular 5.Ng3. He appears to have built a slight edge from there, so I'll return to that game shortly.

Karjakin is struggling to hold on to his lead as Carlsen is pressing an advantage. Perhaps, today, he'll show us the winning ways that thrust him to the top five in 2008. He is a future world champion, IMHO. While flapping my jaws at chess club last night, I predicted by age 25 he'll reach that rare summit. A win today will add some confidence to such speculation.

Kasimdzhanov seems to be making some progress against Carauna's Slav.


Beat the Devil

Someone nicknamed the Caro-Kann "the Devil's Opening," perhaps because Garry Kasparov could get nowhere against it in his World Chess Championship matches against Anatoly Karpov. A few years ago, Chess Base News presented an annotated game allegedly played between God and the Devil. God opted for the Panov-Botvinnik Attack, but Radjabov today went for an obscure line in the classical.

Of course, for an American, Kamsky is not the Devil, even if he plays the Evil One's opening. Kamsky is America's hope for greatness in chess on the world stage, and the world's hope for taking down Veselin Topalov in their upcoming match to select a challenger to Anand for the next World Championship.


Radjabov - Kamsky [B18]
Corus Chess (6), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Nc5

Black to move


5...b6 6.Nb3 e6 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.g3

Black to move


8...a5 led to quick victory for White in Kasimdzhanov - Al Modiahki, Doha 2006

8...Nbd7 9.Bg2 Qc7 10.0–0 Rd8 11.Qe2 Bd6 12.Re1 The novelty.

Black to move


12...0–0 13.Nh4 Bg4 14.Qc4 Nd5 15.Bg5 Rc8 16.a4

Black to move


16...b5 17.Qd3 N7b6 18.Nc5 h6 19.Bd2 Nc4 20.axb5 cxb5 21.h3 Bh5 22.Bxd5 exd5 23.Bc3 Rfe8 24.b3 Ne5 25.Qxb5 Bxc5 26.Qxc5 Qd7 27.Qxa7 Qxa7 28.Rxa7

The rook needs some lipstick!

Black to move


29...Nf3+ 29.Nxf3 Bxf3 30.Rxe8+ Rxe8 31.b4

... and the live feed appears to have failed.

When the feed is restored, the game is over.

31...Bd1 32.Ra2 Rc8 33.b5 Rb8 34.Rb2 f6 35.Ba5 Be2 36.b6 Rb7 37.Rb1 Kf7 38.Bd2 g5 39.Bc1 Bf3 40.Ba3 Be4 41.Bd6 1-0



The players have made the time control, and White's passed pawn is well protected by the bishop. Hence White's active rook will rule the board while Black's must try to hold back the b-pawn. Kamsky resigned.

Aronian - Ivanchuk drew in 56 moves.

Kasimdzhanov - Caruana drew in 62 moves.

Carlsen - Karjakin continues with two rooks each, and White's two pawns to Black's one. If Carlsen pulls off a win here, it will be one for the endgame books.

10:02am PST

I don't see that Carlsen has any advantage after 73 moves, but the kid is a lot better than me, and Karjakin is running out of time.

10:07am PST

Karjakin's clock on the Playchess server showed two minutes, then zero, and now fifteen, all to Carlsen's thirty or more. These are not the official clocks.

10:12am PST

A pair of pawns came off the board, and rooks soon will. The players agreed to a draw after 79 moves.
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/corus-2009-follow-leaders.html
Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:07:00 +0000
 
 
 
Wijk aan Zee: Round Five
Chess is a spectator sport. It may not have the draw of baseball or soccer or even golf, but thousands of enthusiasts around the globe are watching the games in Wijk aan Zee as they are played. Wijk aan Zee has hosted a strong tournament annually since 1938, missing only 1945 during the Second World War. The tournament was created and sponsored by the Hoogovens Steelworks from its inception until the Corus Group was created through a merger with British Steel. Corus has continued as the lead sponsor.

Television was made for American football. The game's frequent breaks in the action is perfect for Ford and Budweiser commercials, and TV cameras give the best view of the action.

The internet was made for chess. The official Corus Chess 2009 site incorporates a Java viewer for following the games live. The games are also broadcast through the Playchess server and many other chess playing sites.

I only need decide which game or games to follow. There are three grandmaster groups with fourteen players each. That's twenty-one games between players who are mostly among the top one hundred in the world. In the Corus A Group, half of the world's top ten are competing. Today the top two seeds are playing each other: Vassily Ivanchuk (number 3 on the FIDE rating list) and Magnus Carlsen (number 4).

Certainly their game, a closed Spanish, bears watching. But what else?

Jan Smeets opted for the Russian Defense (aka Petroff) against Michael Adams. In the B Group, Nigel Short is facing Krishnan Sasikiran's Sicilian. Italian Fabiano Caruana is also playing a Sicilian against Ukranian Zahar Efimenko in the B group. Back in the A group, the queens came off early in Sergei Movsesian's Slav Defense against Levon Aronian. The American Gata Kamsky, a former Soviet junior champion that moved to the United States in 1989, is playing White against Wang Yue's Russian Defense. Teymour Radjabov opted for the King's Indian Defense against Loek van Wely. More Sicilians are being played in Sergei Karjakin - Daniel Stellwagen and Leinier Dominguez - Alexander Morozevich in A, and in Alexander Motylev - Francisco Vallejo Pons in the B Group.

It's a day for king's pawn openings.

While I try to watch more than I can process, Ivanchuk - Carlsen ends in a draw.

Final position; White to move



The Decision

I've selected two games to follow more closely.

Kamsky - Wang Yue [C42]
Corus Chess (5), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nc4 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Ne3 Nc6 7.c3 Nf6 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.Nf5 0–0 10.0–0 Ne7 11.Nxd6 Qxd6 12.Qc2 Re8 13.Na3 c6 14.Bg5 Ng6 15.Rfe1 Bd7 16.f3 Nh5 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.Qd2 Nf6 19.Bf4 Qf8 20.Be5



20...Nh7 21.Nc2 f6 22.Bg3 Qf7 23.Nb4 g5 24.a4 Bf5 1/2-1/2

Aronian - Movsesian [D15]
Corus Chess (5), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.a4 e6 6.g3 dxc4 7.Bg2 c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Nc6 10.Ne3 Bxc5 11.Nxc4 Ke7 12.0–0 Nd5 13.Rd1 f6 14.Nfd2 Rd8 15.Nb3 Ba7 16.Nca5 Rb8 17.Nxc6+ bxc6 18.Na5 Bd7 19.b3 Bc5 20.Bd2 Bb4 21.Rac1



21...Rdc8 22.Bxb4+ Nxb4 23.f4

Hiarcs 12 sees an advantage of nearly one pawn for Aronian. White's bishop has a bit more scope, his king appears further from danger, and Black has two isolated pawns. But the backwards b-pawn gives Black some play, too.

23...c5 24.Kf2 Rc7 25.Rc3



Okay, White can double rooks on the c-file to put some pressure on the isolated pawn. When Black also doubles his rooks in defense, the White knight might move a5-c4-b6. Is that enough for advantage? Does White have a better plan?

25...Be8

White will not get a bishop against a knight, which was part of my fantasy scenario.

26.Rdc1 Kd6

The king is a fighting piece. At least he can take care of himself, and a vulnerable farmer. I think that Hiarcs 12 is too optimistic for White. The advantage has dropped from 0.86 to 0.63 according to the silicon beast, but I think Movsesian is secure and the game may be drawn soon.

27.Re3 Bf7 28.Bh3

Perhaps the Black king will get overworked defending peons.

Black to move


Sometimes the live feed creates gaps in coverage, although these are less frequent than they were a few years ago. This game stalled for a bit, and now Playchess has it up-to-date again.

28...Ke7 29.Re4 g6 30.Rec4 Kd6 31.Bg2 Nd5 32.h4 Nb4 33.g4

It does appear that Aronian is finding the way towards progress. The White pieces have more mobility and play is taking place all over the board as pawns move forward. Will it be enough for victory?

33...h6 34.g5 hxg5 35.hxg5 fxg5 36.fxg5 Nd5 37.Rh1 Rb4

White to move


Clocks are nearing zero.

38.Rh8 Ke7 39.Be4 e5 40.Rh7 Kd6

The players have made the time control and get another hour on the clocks. Aronian appears to have a substantial positional advantage due to weaknesses in Black's pawn structure and more mobile White pieces. He must build the pressure until Movsesian realizes there is no point in continuing.

Black is almost in zugzwang.

41.e3

Increasing the mobility of the bishop.

41...Ke6

Black can shuffle the king back and forth while White seeks new targets. White has a decisive advantage.

42.Bd3 Rb8 43.Rc1

Black to move


The bishop's targets: a6 and d5.

43...Be8 44.Rch1 Rxh7 45.Rxh7 Nb4

Does Black have a fortress?

46.Be4 Rd8

White to move


47.Nc4

Improve your weakest piece.

47...Bc6

Movsesian wants to trade minor pieces perhaps, because, "In rook endings the weaker side generally has some chances of a draw right up to the very end" (Tarrasch). See "Okay, Not So Easy."

48.Bxg6 Rf8+

Perhaps Black sees a chance for a bunch of checks that can force a repetition. All Black's pieces look to be coming active and aim at the White king.

49.Ke2 Bf3+ 50.Ke1 e4 51.Rh6 Nd3+ 52.Kd2 Ke7

White to move


53.Kc3 Rd8 54.Rh7+ Ke6 55.Rc7 Rh8

The players are nearing the second time control.

56.Bh7 Nb4 57.Rxc5

Knights are better than bishops.

57...Nd5 58.Rxd5 Kxd5 1-0



Pawns are better than rooks!

A nice lesson from Aronian. 1.d4 is "best by test". Not only did Aronian win this slow grind, but van Wely's Bayonet Attack brought victory against Radjabov's KID.
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/wijk-aan-zee-rounf-five.html
Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:33:00 +0000
 
 
 
Pawn Storms: Ivanchuk - Radjabov
Wijk aan Zee: Corus Chess 2009, Round 3

Vassily Ivanchuk is storming Teymour Radjabov's King's Indian Defense with every available pawn.

Ivanchuk,V-Radjabov,T
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4

Black to move


This position is common enough to lead chapter four in Joe Gallagher, Starting Out: The King's Indian (2002), where he writes:
Over the last six or seven years the Bayonet Attack has been one of White's main success stories in the King's Indian.
Gallagher, Starting Out: KID, 61
I'm not certain that in the six years since Gallagher made that statement it has continued as White's most successful line, but we see that the top rated competitor at Wijk aan Zee thinks it is good enough. It appears as the most popular move in my database of master level games since 2003.

9...Ne8 10.a4 f5 11.a5 Nf6 12.Bg5

Black to move


This move appears to be the novelty. 12.Nd2, a6, and exf5 appear in the ChessBase online database. 12.Nd2 was played in the only high level game among these four: Miroshnichenko-Nataf, Kapuskasing 2004. White won.

12...Nh5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Qd2 Nf6 15.c5 Bd7 16.b5

Black to move


16...Be8 17.c6 b6 18.Nh4 Bf7 19.Bd3 Bg6 20.f3 Qe8 21.Kh1 Kh8 22.Bc2

I started following three other games, but this one has absorbed my interest (and my weak typing skills creates certain limitations for multi-tasking). Two of the other games were drawn, and Kamsky defeated Morozevich.

Carlsen - Movsesian [D11]
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Nh4 Bh5 8.h3 Nbd7 9.g4 Bg6 10.g5 Ng8 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Qc2 Ne7 13.Bd2 Nf5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Nb5 Bd6 16.Qa4 a6 17.Rc1 Ke7 18.Nxd6 Nxd6 19.Bd3 Rhc8 20.Ke2 e5 21.Qb4 e4 22.Bc2 Qxb4 23.Bxb4 a5 24.Bxd6+ Kxd6 25.f3 exf3+ 26.Kxf3 Nf8 27.Bd3 Ne6 28.h4 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Rh8 30.Kg4 Re8 31.Bb5 Rg8 32.Rc3 f5+ 33.Kg3 Rf8 34.Bd3 f4+ 35.exf4 Nxf4 36.Kg4 Nxd3 37.Rxd3 Rf2 38.Rb3 Kc6 39.Rc3+ Kd6 ½–½

Aronian - Stellwagen [B13]
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 dxc4 7.Bxc4 h6 8.Bh4 Qxd4 9.Qxd4 Nxd4 10.0–0–0 e5 11.Nf3 Nxf3 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Bb5+ Ke7 14.Nd5+ Kd8 15.gxf3 Bd6 16.Rd2 Be6 17.Rhd1 Bc5 18.Nb6+ Ke7 19.Nxa8 Rxa8 20.Bd7 Bxa2 21.Bg4 Bd4 22.f4 ½–½

Kamsky - Morozevich [C78]
Corus Chess (3), Wijk aan Zee 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.axb5 axb5 10.d3 0–0 11.h3 Ne7 12.Na3 Ng6 13.Nc2 h6 14.Re1 Bb6 15.Ne3 c6 16.Nh2 Kh8 17.Nhg4 Nxg4 18.hxg4 Qh4 19.d4 exd4 20.cxd4 Qf6 21.Nf5 Kg8 22.Be3 Bxf5 23.gxf5 Ne7 24.Bc2 Rfd8 25.b4 c5 26.bxc5 dxc5 27.Qg4 Rxd4 28.Bxd4 Qxd4 29.Qg3 Nc6 30.e5 c4 31.Rad1 Qb2 32.f6 g5 33.Re2 Qb4 34.Qh3 1–0


7:42am PST

Back to Ivanchuk - Radjabov

22...Qf7

White to move


23.g4 Nfg8 24.Ra4

In the other games in the Corus A group, the two Dutchmen, Van Wely - Smeets, drew in thirty moves. Adams - Dominguez, and Karjakin - Wang Yue are still in progress. My kibitzer, Fritz 9, thinks Karjakin might be gaining a slight edge, but is more confident that Adams has winning chances. It also likes Ivanchuk's position in our main game.

24...Rae8 25.axb6 axb6 26.Ra7 Rc8 27.Nxg6+ Qxg6 28.Rg1

Black to move


It is 8:04am PST, and I really should get some breakfast. I also need to decide whether I'll blog to the end of the game, or go downtown and join the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day parade. My son is meeting a bunch of his school friends for the parade, and asked me yesterday if I was going, too.

28...Qf7 29.Rg3 e4 30.Ne2 Nf6 31.Nf4

8:21am PST. Breakfast is ready.

31...exf3 32.gxf3 Nfxd5 33.Rxf3 Nxf4 24.Qxf4 Bf6

White to move


35.Bb3 Qh5 36.Bxf6+ Rxf6 37.Be6

Black to move

37...Rcf8 38.Rxc7??

Ivanchuk's game from the early moves has been leading to this point, but 38.Rg3 must be played first. Time pressure provoked an error again, as it did in round 1. Bad day for Chucky.

Black to move


38... Rxe6 39.fxe6 Rxf4 40.Rxf4 Qd5+ 41.Kg1 Qg5+ 0-1

Time for me to go to a parade.
 
http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2009/01/pawn-storms-ivanchuk-radjabov.html
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:41:00 +0000
 
 
 
Wijk Aan Zee round 6

Wijk aan Zee 2009 is here! Last January 16th started this legendary tournament. 42 players in the three GM groups are fighting for the first place.

At round 6 Magnus Carlsen played aggressively and imaginatively, and has Sergey Karjakin on the ropes. But at the critical moment he threw away the win. Adams beat Wang Yue, Morozevich lost to Movsesian, and Radjabov beat Kamsky.

Movsesian,S (2751) - Morozevich,A (2771) [B19]
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (6), 23.01.2009
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.0–0–0 Be7 13.Rhe1 0–0 14.Qe2 a5 15.Ne5 Bb4 16.c3 Bd6 17.f4 Re8 18.Qf3 Qc7 19.Ne2 c5 20.g4 cxd4 21.Nxd7 Nxd7 22.Nxd4 a4 23.Nb5 Qc4? 24.Nxd6 Qxa2 25.c4 a3 26.Bc3 Nc5 27.Qe3 b6 28.g5 e5 29.fxe5 Na4 30.b4 Qb3 31.Bd4 Qxb4 32.Qd2 Qb3 33.Re3 Nc5 34.Qf2 1–0

 
http://www.365chess.com/news/wijk-aan-zee-round-6/
2009-01-24T18:04:29Z
 
 
 
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