Today in the sixth round of the Altibox Norway Tournament in Stavanger, Levon Aronian smashed Vladimir Kramnik. I recommend playing through the game once yourself. Just give it a casual run through if you don't have a lot of energy. And then watch Peter Svidler's recap of the game. I'll embed the video here, but the video is on YouTube if you want to watch it on your TV instead.
Svidler's recap is pretty much a master class. I'm particularly struck by the section from the 6:30 to 8:24. The analysis flows quickly in the more tactical phase of the game, and I'm not going to pretend I caught all of it, especially in my current brain-dead state. But I'm going to go back to this again a couple of times this week - it's just that good. It's just over 22 minutes long, and I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Showing posts with label Aronian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aronian. Show all posts
Monday, June 12, 2017
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Games & a trick from the World Rapid Championships
I was watching the coverage of the 2016 edition of the FIDE World Rapid Championships today and saw a game of some interest to the many of us in the club that play the French Defense. Anna Muzychuk playing White mated Alina Kashlinskaya in 23 moves in a French Defense Exchange Variation. Not only that, the queens came off the board on move seven! A lesson on how NOT to play the French Exchange as Black.
A game that I liked (Komodo 8)
The moves 68 Rb6-b5+ Ke5-d4 have just been played. Nepo has almost achieved his goal, which is to capture the a-pawn and bishop, securing a draw. But there's a trick! If now 69 Rxa5 Kc4 and White finds himself on the losing end of a mating attack!
Aronian is a real artist at the board, and this is just another example.
However, Nepo realized there was a rat and played 69 Rh5 instead, and eventually made the draw. I'll try to remember to post the whole game score later.
[Event "World Rapid Women 2016"]
[Site "Doha QAT"]
[Date "2016.12.27"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Muzychuk, Anna"]
[Black "Kashlinskaya, Alina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "2558"]
[BlackElo "2429"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2016.12.26"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Bd6 6. Qe2+ Qe7 7. Qxe7+ Bxe7
8. Bf4 c6 9. h3 Ne4 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 Bf5 12. Nbd2 Nxd2 13. Rxe7 Nxf3+ 14.
gxf3 Bxh3 15. Rxb7 Re8 16. Kh2 Be6 17. Re1 Rd8 18. Bc7 Rc8 19. f4 g6 20. f5
gxf5 21. Rg1+ Kf8 22. Bd6+ Ke8 23. Rg8# 1-0
Yuck!
On a more amusing note, the game between Nepomniachtchi and Aronian featured a nice trick in the endgame. Here's the position:
The moves 68 Rb6-b5+ Ke5-d4 have just been played. Nepo has almost achieved his goal, which is to capture the a-pawn and bishop, securing a draw. But there's a trick! If now 69 Rxa5 Kc4 and White finds himself on the losing end of a mating attack!
Aronian is a real artist at the board, and this is just another example.
However, Nepo realized there was a rat and played 69 Rh5 instead, and eventually made the draw. I'll try to remember to post the whole game score later.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Back to Chess
First, a candidate for Move of the Year:
Sam Copeland reporting for Chess.com has the rest of the story.
In other news, the USCF has a Couch Potato's Guide to the World Chess Championship, written by GM Ian Rogers. It's quite a good read, and I recommend it. I may even try the cheesecake recipe.
I also have a couple of comments on the Carlsen-Karjakin match that starts Friday in NYC. First, the games will be at 2 PM Eastern, which is perfect for those of us in the Club.
Second, the betting odds favor Magnus heavily. If you're a betting man (or woman), and have access to a (legal) book, I'd recommend betting on Sergey. Yes, Magnus should be the favorite, but I don't think he should be favored by more than three to one, tops, and possibly only two to one. If I had spare cash and access, I'd bet on Sergey just because I think the EV is good. That said, if I had to be the rent money, I'd bet on Magnus, because he's Magnus. But I've heard the odds are as much as 8 to 1, and that's just absurd.
Finally, one last note. I now have a TD license, and the Club is looking into running some rated events. Perhaps just quick quads or small quick swisses, perhaps ladders, and maybe eventually larger events. We still have a couple of minor administrative issues to work out. We'll let you know when we get going.
Black to move
Sam Copeland reporting for Chess.com has the rest of the story.
In other news, the USCF has a Couch Potato's Guide to the World Chess Championship, written by GM Ian Rogers. It's quite a good read, and I recommend it. I may even try the cheesecake recipe.
I also have a couple of comments on the Carlsen-Karjakin match that starts Friday in NYC. First, the games will be at 2 PM Eastern, which is perfect for those of us in the Club.
Second, the betting odds favor Magnus heavily. If you're a betting man (or woman), and have access to a (legal) book, I'd recommend betting on Sergey. Yes, Magnus should be the favorite, but I don't think he should be favored by more than three to one, tops, and possibly only two to one. If I had spare cash and access, I'd bet on Sergey just because I think the EV is good. That said, if I had to be the rent money, I'd bet on Magnus, because he's Magnus. But I've heard the odds are as much as 8 to 1, and that's just absurd.
Finally, one last note. I now have a TD license, and the Club is looking into running some rated events. Perhaps just quick quads or small quick swisses, perhaps ladders, and maybe eventually larger events. We still have a couple of minor administrative issues to work out. We'll let you know when we get going.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Bric-a-brac, 2016 March 21 edition
Nothing Ventured: Justin Horton, inspired by the recent Nakamura touch move controversy, discusses one of the problems with chess journalism.
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis looks to be starting a new feature, Today in Chess. It appears it will be a daily broadcast on YouTube. The first one is two hours of commentary on Round 8 of the Candidates tournament. I haven't watched it yet, so I can't vouch for it. But if you've got a couple of hours to kill....
Meanwhile, Chess24.com has posted an interview with Anish Giri. I haven't read it yet as I'm saving it for later. But these pieces are usually pretty good, and Giri is very entertaining.
Finally, Lars Bo Hansen tweets the following:
That said, the endgame of Anand-Aronian will probably be worth some time if you're into rook & pawn endgames. Both sides have two rooks currently, but somehow I'm reminded of Capablanca-Tartakower, New York, 1924. I'll see if it the comparison holds up, but what I'm thinking is that Anand will sacrifice pawns to aggressively post his king, as Capa did long ago. Update: Here's the Anand-Aronian game. It didn't go as I thought it might, but I particularly like Anand's last move. It's dead won after 66 Kxg7, but the text is just cleaner, and aesthetically better.
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis looks to be starting a new feature, Today in Chess. It appears it will be a daily broadcast on YouTube. The first one is two hours of commentary on Round 8 of the Candidates tournament. I haven't watched it yet, so I can't vouch for it. But if you've got a couple of hours to kill....
Meanwhile, Chess24.com has posted an interview with Anish Giri. I haven't read it yet as I'm saving it for later. But these pieces are usually pretty good, and Giri is very entertaining.
Finally, Lars Bo Hansen tweets the following:
When the game is finished I'll post it in a replayable window, so you'll understand what he means. Update: Here it is.Giri-Caruana at #MoscowCandidates is why I advice to study classical games if you want to improve. Modern games are often hard to learn from— Lars Bo Hansen (@GMLars) March 21, 2016
That said, the endgame of Anand-Aronian will probably be worth some time if you're into rook & pawn endgames. Both sides have two rooks currently, but somehow I'm reminded of Capablanca-Tartakower, New York, 1924. I'll see if it the comparison holds up, but what I'm thinking is that Anand will sacrifice pawns to aggressively post his king, as Capa did long ago. Update: Here's the Anand-Aronian game. It didn't go as I thought it might, but I particularly like Anand's last move. It's dead won after 66 Kxg7, but the text is just cleaner, and aesthetically better.
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