Matthias Bluebaum with the win of the tournament! Thanks for the help, Germany! :)
— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) September 13, 2016
Showing posts with label Nakamura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nakamura. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Additional Olympiad Note
The US actually tied with Ukraine on match points, but won on the Sonneborn-Berger tie breaks. (Final match results: Team USA 9+ 0- 2=, Team Ukraine 10+ 1- 0=. Note that the US beat Ukraine in their individual contest.) Apparently, the final result was determined by Germany beating Estonia in the final round. Yikes!
Olympiad Final Round Update
In Round Ten, Jim won by forfeit against Congo, as I expected, and the Virgin Island team won their second match.
That left them playing a surprisingly strong team from Haiti in the final round, Round Eleven. Unfortunately, our guys lost all their games. So the final result for Jim is three wins, one draw, and five loses in games played, as well as the forfeit win and the team bye in Round Five. Overall, the Virgin Island team won two, lost ten, and the bye. Overall the Virgin Islands finished 167th out of 170 teams that played, with another ten teams that appear to have never shown up. Their seeding number was 158 (or 156 after adjusting for the absent teams), so that isn't too far off expectations.
Jim finished with a performance rating of 1974, and according to the website his new rating would be 2116. I don't know if that last bit is correct or not, though, as Jim's earlier rating was provisional, I believe. I'll try to remember to check the FIDE site next month for an update.
We'll have to wait to talk to Jim to see how he and they feel about it, but from here this looks like a decent result, and a good result if they had a good time. (Jim looked like he was enjoying himself in his photos posted to his Facebook page.)
I've looked for more photos of Jim on the official site, but I didn't see any. If anyone else wants to look the link can be found here.
In other Olympiad news, the US Team won the Gold Medals in the Open Section, with Wesley So winning individual Gold on the Third Board. Ukraine took Silver, and Russia a disappointing (for them) Bronze. The Open Board Prizes can be found here. Note that Board Prizes are decided on Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) and require a minimum number of games to qualify.
Some more Board Prize results: Caruana was third on the First Board while the Georgian Baadur Jobava (whose games I highly recommend) took Gold, Nakamura was fifth on Second Board while Kramnik took the Gold, So took Gold on Third Board, Sam Shankland finished a disappoint ninth on Fourth Board after taking Gold on that Board in the last Olympiad while Laurent Fressinet of France took Gold. Finally, on Board Five Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine took Gold.
The performance of Eugenio Torre (2447 FIDE) of the Philippines deserves special note. Playing in his 22nd Olympiad, he scored 9+ 0- 2=, was the only Filipino to play all eleven rounds, and won the individual Bronze Medal on Board Three with a TPR of 2836! Not bad for a man that turns 65 in a few weeks.
Caruana was First Board but Nakamura anchored the team, playing all eleven rounds. Caruana only skipped the first round, and So only missed the second. Shankland skipped the third, fifth and eighth rounds. The team only suffered three individual loses and had no team loses. They were the most consistent team of the event. On board points we would have only finished second, behind Russia (32) by a half-point, but that's only the second tie-break these days (after SB), not the primary scoring method, which is by match points.
In the Women's Olympiad, China took Gold (as expected), Russia Silver, and Poland Bronze. The US Women's Team finished sixth, which was their seeding number. The US Women played the 1, 2, 3, and 5 seeds in this tournament, so they had rough pairings. The Women's Board Prizes can be found at this link. None of the US women really came close to winning a Board Prize, from what I can see.
And thus concludes the best event on the Chess calendar. I'll see what stories or game notes I can get out of Jim when he gets back to the club.
That left them playing a surprisingly strong team from Haiti in the final round, Round Eleven. Unfortunately, our guys lost all their games. So the final result for Jim is three wins, one draw, and five loses in games played, as well as the forfeit win and the team bye in Round Five. Overall, the Virgin Island team won two, lost ten, and the bye. Overall the Virgin Islands finished 167th out of 170 teams that played, with another ten teams that appear to have never shown up. Their seeding number was 158 (or 156 after adjusting for the absent teams), so that isn't too far off expectations.
Jim finished with a performance rating of 1974, and according to the website his new rating would be 2116. I don't know if that last bit is correct or not, though, as Jim's earlier rating was provisional, I believe. I'll try to remember to check the FIDE site next month for an update.
We'll have to wait to talk to Jim to see how he and they feel about it, but from here this looks like a decent result, and a good result if they had a good time. (Jim looked like he was enjoying himself in his photos posted to his Facebook page.)
I've looked for more photos of Jim on the official site, but I didn't see any. If anyone else wants to look the link can be found here.
In other Olympiad news, the US Team won the Gold Medals in the Open Section, with Wesley So winning individual Gold on the Third Board. Ukraine took Silver, and Russia a disappointing (for them) Bronze. The Open Board Prizes can be found here. Note that Board Prizes are decided on Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) and require a minimum number of games to qualify.
Some more Board Prize results: Caruana was third on the First Board while the Georgian Baadur Jobava (whose games I highly recommend) took Gold, Nakamura was fifth on Second Board while Kramnik took the Gold, So took Gold on Third Board, Sam Shankland finished a disappoint ninth on Fourth Board after taking Gold on that Board in the last Olympiad while Laurent Fressinet of France took Gold. Finally, on Board Five Andrei Volokitin of Ukraine took Gold.
The performance of Eugenio Torre (2447 FIDE) of the Philippines deserves special note. Playing in his 22nd Olympiad, he scored 9+ 0- 2=, was the only Filipino to play all eleven rounds, and won the individual Bronze Medal on Board Three with a TPR of 2836! Not bad for a man that turns 65 in a few weeks.
Caruana was First Board but Nakamura anchored the team, playing all eleven rounds. Caruana only skipped the first round, and So only missed the second. Shankland skipped the third, fifth and eighth rounds. The team only suffered three individual loses and had no team loses. They were the most consistent team of the event. On board points we would have only finished second, behind Russia (32) by a half-point, but that's only the second tie-break these days (after SB), not the primary scoring method, which is by match points.
In the Women's Olympiad, China took Gold (as expected), Russia Silver, and Poland Bronze. The US Women's Team finished sixth, which was their seeding number. The US Women played the 1, 2, 3, and 5 seeds in this tournament, so they had rough pairings. The Women's Board Prizes can be found at this link. None of the US women really came close to winning a Board Prize, from what I can see.
And thus concludes the best event on the Chess calendar. I'll see what stories or game notes I can get out of Jim when he gets back to the club.
Monday, July 18, 2016
A thought about @NakaFacts
It occurred to me that @NakaFacts could well be Magnus Carlsen. I'm so amused by the idea that I'm simply going to believe that it's true. Hey, there's no evidence that it isn't!
(Of course, it's more likely that it's Anish Giri. But Magnus would be much more fun.)
(Of course, it's more likely that it's Anish Giri. But Magnus would be much more fun.)
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Hikaru finally wins!
He finally beat Magnus! And with the black pieces! Quite a day.
Here is a link to Chess24's coverage, including video analysis.
And here is a link to Chess.com's coverage, along with some more analysis.
Jaideep Unudurti made the following excellent point on Twitter.
And don't forget that he had a monster score against Judit Polgar, though I believe she finally won a game shortly before he retired. Record Check: Nope, she beat him, but only in one rapid game! Really, Garry's record against Judit practically constituted a hate crime. So make that four top players he blanked in their primes at "Classical Chess".
And finally, a bit of fun from the spoof account NakaFacts: This tweet went out before today's round, but it's still funny.
ADDED: First, IM Daniel Rensch of Chess.com has a nice ten minute long analysis of the game. It's quite good, and I recommend it, as he gives you the ideas of the position in a clear manner.
Second, I can't resist adding one more tweet, this one from Follow Chess:
Here is a link to Chess24's coverage, including video analysis.
And here is a link to Chess.com's coverage, along with some more analysis.
Jaideep Unudurti made the following excellent point on Twitter.
I knew about Kasparov's record against Shirov & Adams, but somehow had missed that he had such a record against Gelfand, too.Naka's win over Carlsen can be seen in the context that Adams, Shirov and Gelfand never beat Kasparov in their entire careers #BilbaoChess— Jaideep Unudurti (@Unudurti) July 13, 2016
And don't forget that he had a monster score against Judit Polgar, though I believe she finally won a game shortly before he retired. Record Check: Nope, she beat him, but only in one rapid game! Really, Garry's record against Judit practically constituted a hate crime. So make that four top players he blanked in their primes at "Classical Chess".
And finally, a bit of fun from the spoof account NakaFacts: This tweet went out before today's round, but it's still funny.
.@MagnusCarlsen is playing @GMHikaru in the first round of @BilbaoChess! Here is a quick comparison. #BilbaoChess pic.twitter.com/YeAhNLzgiM— NakaFacts (@NakaFacts) July 13, 2016
ADDED: First, IM Daniel Rensch of Chess.com has a nice ten minute long analysis of the game. It's quite good, and I recommend it, as he gives you the ideas of the position in a clear manner.
Second, I can't resist adding one more tweet, this one from Follow Chess:
Bonus points if you recognize everyone.How the chess world probably reacted to Nakamura's "shocking" 1st win against Magnus Carlsen with Black #BilbaoChess pic.twitter.com/iILKwsVjxX— Follow Chess (@FollowChessApp) July 14, 2016
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Something from nothing
The Your Next Move Grand Chess Tour Rapid/Blitz event is currently running in Leuven, Belgium. In the 18th round, played today, Nakamura had White against his personal bête noire, Magnus Carlsen. On his 23rd move, White removed Black's queen and an endgame was reached with balanced pawns and each side having a rook and a knight. If anything, it looks like White has an ever so slight edge, but nothing to be concerned about.
But Carlsen isn't the most feared grinder in the chess world for nothing. They kept at it, and Carlsen starts accumulating a small little advantage here, a tiny little plus there, and so on. Nothing that Nakamura couldn't handle, but his position slowly became unpleasant. Finally, with his 55th move, Naka cracked and played a losing move. He was close to losing, perhaps, if he had found 55 Ke1, but 55 Kd3 was immediately losing. Fortunately for him, Carlsen missed the winning move 58...Kf4 and the game was drawn.
Even though this was a blitz game, which accounts for the double errors on moves 55 and 58, I think Carlsen's technique from move 23 onward merits a closer look, especially for endgame connoisseurs. The link below will take you to Chess24.com's archived version of the game.
Nakamura - Carlsen, YourNextMove Grand Chess Tour, Leuven, Belgium, round 18
But Carlsen isn't the most feared grinder in the chess world for nothing. They kept at it, and Carlsen starts accumulating a small little advantage here, a tiny little plus there, and so on. Nothing that Nakamura couldn't handle, but his position slowly became unpleasant. Finally, with his 55th move, Naka cracked and played a losing move. He was close to losing, perhaps, if he had found 55 Ke1, but 55 Kd3 was immediately losing. Fortunately for him, Carlsen missed the winning move 58...Kf4 and the game was drawn.
Even though this was a blitz game, which accounts for the double errors on moves 55 and 58, I think Carlsen's technique from move 23 onward merits a closer look, especially for endgame connoisseurs. The link below will take you to Chess24.com's archived version of the game.
Nakamura - Carlsen, YourNextMove Grand Chess Tour, Leuven, Belgium, round 18
Monday, June 6, 2016
Problem Time: Anwuli-Nakamura Solution
From yesterday:
I was watching some blitz games on Chess.com and happened to catch the following.
Can Black save the game?
Answer:
I was watching some blitz games on Chess.com and happened to catch the following.
Anwuli-Nakamura, 3 minute game
Black to move
Can Black save the game?
Answer:
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Problem Time: Anwuli-Nakamura
I was watching some blitz games on Chess.com and happened to catch the following.
Can Black save the game?
Answer tomorrow.
Anwuli-Nakamura, 3 minute game
Black to move
Can Black save the game?
Answer tomorrow.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Ha ha!
#74: "It's ridiculously unsound. No wonder it's named after a region with no decent players." -Nakamura on the Scandinavian Def. #TeamScandi
— NakaFacts (@NakaFacts) May 30, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
Positional Chess, ELO 3300+ style....
A few days ago GM Joel Benjamin, a former US Champion currently sporting a 2544 FIDE rating, played a four game match against Komodo, the 3300+ rated champion of computer chess. It was an odds match, with Komodo giving greater and greater odds. Here were the odds in the four games:
- Five Moves — Benjamin plays White. d4, e4, f4, and Nc3 have already been played.
- Exchange and Move — Benjamin plays White. The b1 knight and the a8 rook are removed; the a1 rook starts on b1.
- One Pawn and Two Moves — Benjamin plays White. e4 has already been played. Komodo plays without the f7-pawn.
- Queen Vs. Two Bishops — Komodo plays White. Komodo starts without the queen. Benjamin starts without either bishop.
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.
Monday, December 21, 2015
The "Grand Chess Tour" is a joke.
I've tried to write this post a couple of times now. The topic just makes me too angry for coherence. The Grand Chess Tour, consists of the Stavangar Tournament in Norway, the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, and the London Chess Classic (not in Ohio). Players accumulate points in the overall standings based on their performances in the individual tournaments.
After the final tournament, concluded a week ago, Magnus Carlsen was declared the winner of both the London leg and the Tour as a whole. This last was due entirely to the most asinine tie-breaks ever used in the history of Chess. (Yes, I am including the time a Roulette wheel was used to settle the outcome of a Candidates Match between Huebner and Smyslov.) You can read about that The Chess Mind, in the perfectly named post Grand Chess Tour Tiebreaks: A System Than Which None Lesser Can Be Conceived.
The upshot is this: Despite only finishing on +1 for the tour, Carlsen finished first in the overall standings, ahead of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (+2), Hikaru Nakamure (+3) and Anish Giri (+5). To add to the absurdity, Carlsen finished behind or tied with Giri and MVL in all three stages of the tour, yet still finished ahead of them in the standings! (Call Magnus the Tortoise of Chess.)
MVL really got hosed more than once, though. As recounted elsewhere, despite beating Giri in a tiebreak, he actually finished behind Giri in London. All these tiebreak shenanigans resulted in MVL missing out on qualifying for next year's Grand Chess Tour. So, not only does he get lesser prizes than deserved this year, he will miss out on next year's Tour as well, meaning he will miss three of the best (and most lucrative) tournaments of the year, plus whatever money he might have won for his placement in the tour next year.
This is an egregious ... hmm, how to put this without using foul language? This is an egregious mistreatment of a player for playing well. But the Grand Chess Tour had already set a precedent for this when they didn't invite Karjakin this year, despite Karjakin having won the first two editions of the Stavangar Tournament ahead of Magnus Carlsen. So at least the GCT is consistent!
What a joke.
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