Chess - the world in black and white

[Altherion]

On 8/21/2021 at 3:30 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

6.Kg2 Kg7 (black very much doesn't want his king trapped on the back rank)

Thank you for sharing the game -- it's a pretty interesting position. I looked at it on Lichess and it turns out that this Kg7 is where things go seriously wrong for black (there's no hope afterwards except on move 12 as you describe). Prior to the sixth move, it appears to be a draw as long as the queen guards the seventh rank and the king moves around to avoid the queen being pinned when the rooks are doubled vertically.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

27 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Just got interested in chess again after a long hiatus. I was looking at AHNS game and got hung up on Red1 since it appears both your rooks are on the d file. Is it Rde1? Also struggled a bit to recreate the position until I got an online board editor on my phone.

I did enjoy the analysis, although was the Kf7 where everything went south for black (going from memory)? The online engine seemed to think that black was better after Rxe5, so to me the lesson is about how accurate you have to be in dynamic positions.

In the position I gave the rook is already on d1. Just provided the last move I played to get into that position as sorta afterthought and to provide some context, why I was moaning about having to go into that dynamic unbalanced position. (you can just look at the given position with black to move essentially).

Black (ultimately) lost the game by capturing the rook on f2. Again g5 holds and White has to find a few moves to get a perpetual (the theme there is the king being cut off by the Rook on f2 and the other rook delivering checks from a safe distance). My screw up was playing Rf7 instead of Re7, whcih is just winning.

A sample line there goes 12.Re7!! b4 13.Rxb2 cxb2 14.Re5!! (that move is difficult to spot, as it requires you to ignore the queenside completely) curtains as black has no defense against 15.Rg5#. As a friend jokingly put it, if somebody coolly played Re5 in that position against him, he'd be leaving the playing hall screaming.

Before that the plan with Kg7-Kh6-Kh5-Kg4 was simply not good. I can't blame my opponent. Like I said, we were both approaching time control and were (too) short on time to calculate it deeply.  And we were both playing for a win. I mean you can try. 6...c5 7.Re8+ (obviously not 7.Rd7 Qc6+) Kg7 8.Rd7+ Kh6 9.Re7 it's quite similar to the game, the difference is, here black has managed to get c5 in, which is a useful move, tbf. 9...Qxb2+ 10.Kh3 Qh8 (forced) the drawback is, now the queen is tied to the defense of h7, till kingdom comes. Black can't really play c3, as he needs that square to give a check if white plays g4 (g5+ Rxh7+ is sorta mood killer for black). And two rooks on the 7th are usually quite potent. An old master (not sure who) referred to those as hogs, as they will just eat everything that's in their way. So white can play something like 11.Rb7 and see what black does. White always has the emergency break g4 in hand in that position which forces black into a perpetual.

The two rooks would be pretty helpless against the Queen and the incoming avalanche of pawns on the queenside, if it were not for the weakness of the black king.

 

[Plessiez]

Bumping the thread again since the world championship starts this month.

Any predictions?  I assume Carlsen will win, but honestly I don't really care what the result is -- my main hope is that we finally have a match that is decided during the actual classical phase of the game.  (More than zero decisive classical games would be a nice step towards that, of course.)

Reading Wikipedia I see that Nepomniachtchi will be playing under the FIDE flag, because of the current WADA ban on Russia competing in world champsionships.  I'm not quite sure how chess ended up with all the annoying bits of being recognized as a sport and absolutely none of the positives (like, for example, actually being recognized as a sport by anybody) but ... well, I'm not a fan.  (I guess the only mitigation is that nobody at the top level seems to take the doping tests at all seriously.)

(Interestingly -- or not? -- this won't be the first flag-based controversy to afflict a chess world title match.  The first time the modern Russian flag was flown in a world championship match was in 1990, when Kasparov demonstrated his usual respect for FIDE's regulations by flying it in place of the Soviet flag he was officially supposed to be playing under.   And before that, in 1978, the officially stateless Korchnoi is alleged to have offered to play under the skull and crossbones.  Though I think that story is due to Raymond Keene, which ... well.)

Looking ahead to the world championship match that is (supposedly?) happening next year ... the Grand Swiss tournament is currently half-way through, with five players tied for first.  Of those five, I'm pulling for MVL and Firouzja to qualify for the Candidates.  Especially as Firouzja's just managed to reach top five in the live rankings.  Next year still seems a little early for him to challenge for the title, but you never know...

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

5 hours ago, Plessiez said:

Looking ahead to the world championship match that is (supposedly?) happening next year ... the Grand Swiss tournament is currently half-way through, with five players tied for first.  Of those five, I'm pulling for MVL and Firouzja to qualify for the Candidates.  Especially as Firouzja's just managed to reach top five in the live rankings.  Next year still seems a little early for him to challenge for the title, but you never know...

It's a swiss format tournament, way too early to call. Early leaders usually get caught. The top boards will take points of each other, while those with a slower start (likesay Dubov or Aronian) are now paired with weaker opponents, and are thus more likely to collect full points. And they are just one point behind Firouzja.

After 8 rounds we will get a clearer picture, of who wins a golden ticket from that lottery. It's an 11 rounder, right? So we are just played one third of the games.

 

Edit: Sorry, I stand corrected. we are half way through. I lazily checked the tournament page over at cg, and they are apparently a few rounds behind with their crosstable. I'd still wait two more rounds for a real predicition.

[Plessiez]

11 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

It's a swiss format tournament, way too early to call.

Oh, yeah, I definitely agree with this.  I think that Wang Hao and Caruana were tied for first in the 2019 FIDE Grand Prix after six rounds (and then they both went on to finish tied for first after eleven rounds) but I agree that that's far from the general rule.

But (and I think I wasn't too clear in my original post) I didn't mean to suggest that the eventual qualifiers were going to be restricted to the current small group of leaders.  Just expressing a preference that -- whoever the eventual two qualifiers are through the Grand Swiss this cycle -- they're people who could plausibly have qualified by some other route; rather than ... well, another Wang Hao.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

And Caruana has put an end to Firouzja's run.

Now there's a three way tie at the top with Caruana, Firouzja and Howell (who managed to beat Anton "Koroboom" Korobov) sitting on 6.5 (9) with two rounds to go. Then there are a whole bunch of players sitting on 6 points (Yu and MVL arguably being the best players from that group).

With 8 points you are safely on your way to the candidates, with 7.5 it can get a bit tricky. Should be enough for Caruana thanks to Firouzja's and Howell's bloody scalps. But who knows. Anybody with less than 6 points after todays round is pretty much out of contention for the candidate tickets.

Caruana is now in the driver's seat. That could very well change, if he were to lose to MVL tomorrow.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

MVL-Caruana was a draw.

And Firouzja is winning against Howell. Some technique is still required but he should win this fairly easily.

Looks like Fabi and Alireza will qualify for the candidates. Ofc, there's still the final round to be played tomorrow.

Vitiugov lost Oparin and is out of the race. So is Sasikiran after his loss Esipenko

Yu is torturing Shirov, trying to get the full point out of the position. I think Shirov should hold ths due to the opposite coloured bshops.

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Huh? Why did Alireza agree on a draw? He was about to collect the his second extra pawn on d4. a is another weak pawn waiting to fall and Howell's k-side pawn are also split. This looks like a fairly straight forward position to play for a win for him.

 

Nevermind game is still going on, just chessbase displaying the 1/2 - 1/2 over the board confused me.

He is winning this one.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

And Firouzja converted. Good technique - as expected from a player of his callibre. 

And Howell is more or less out of contention, too now. Shirov held against Yu as expected. The queens came off eventually, leaving it merely an opposite coloured bishop ending, which was easily drawn.

Qualifiers should really be Caruana and Firouzja. 

Edit: Oparin is also still in contetion.

Standings after 10 rounds:

1. Firouzja 7.5

 

2. Caruana 7.0

3. Oparin 7.0

 

4. Yu 6.5

   MVL 6.5

   Deac 6.5

   Esipenko 6.5

   Sagrissian 6.5

   Shirov 6.5

   Anton 6.5

   Sevian 6.5

   Keymer 6.5

   Howell 6.5

   Predke 6.5

 

Round 11. Pairings

1.  Oparin - Firouzja

2. Caruana - Predke

3. Yu - MVL

4. Deac - Esipenko

5. Sargissian - Shirov

6. Anton - Sevian

7. Howell - Keymer

I am not bothering with the rest of field with less than 6.5 points.

Both Alireza and Caruana are through with a draw.

Fabiano just has this massive TB advantage thanks to his victory over Firouzja. And Firouzja would be on 8 points.

Both can theoretically crash out if they lose.

E.g. Alireza loses, Caruana draws. Oparin wins the tournament, Caruana beats out Alireza on tie-breaks.

Caruana loses, The game at the top board ends in a draw.

Alireza clinches the tournament, Oparin finishes half a point ahead of Fabiano.

It could get a bit hairy (at least in theory) for Caruana, if he draws and all the other results go against him. 

So Oparin wins.

Keymer wins against Howell, Grandelius loses against Bluebaum (this game would be absolutely crucial see below), and Chigaev also loses against Sanguly. Then a quite a few other results would've go against him. Likesay Yu beating MVL, and his victims collecting full points (Zhou, Bluebaum against Grandelius (check above) and Najer). Probably not enough, but now the calculating starts.

[Plessiez]

Firouzja-Oparin was a draw, so Firouzja is through to the next Candidates and (I think) Caruana is through as well as long as he doesn't lose against Predke.

Would be pretty happy with those two qualifying (although I'd still prefer the Grand Swiss wasn't a way of qualifying directly for the Candidates, of course).

[A Horse Named Stranger]

And Alireza did draw his game and qualified for the candidates.

Caruana should be safe with a draw, but he could still be caught by Yu, if he beats MVL.

I quite like Yu position. Probably based on not much, but I think black can go wrong there easily. So Fabi is not safe.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

And MVL seems to have made a few inaccurate moves, and now the computer eval agrees with my gut feeling from 3-4 moves ago and rates this as +/-. My gut says Yu will beat MVL. 

Edit: Meh, Yu parted with his Bishop pair, now this looks a lot more drawish. With the Bishop pair intact White's position had a lot more dynamic potential. The position was way more concrete and complicated, but if you want to play for a win, that's what you need.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Ok, on the boards of interest (#1 Oparin - Firouzja; #2 Caruana - Predke; #3 Yu - MVL) all games have been drawn.

Last 6.5 pointer clash that is still in progress is Howell - Keymer. I don't see Keymer pushing his luck in this Rs v Q queen ending. Keymer has all his potential weaknesses defended. So Howell's Queen has nothing to attack. On the other hand, going on the offensive, is not without risks for Vincent, as that would leave his q-side pawns kinda vulnerable. So I think this will probably end up in a draw, too.

Firouzja tournament winner. Caruana clinches second thanks to his better tiebreaks over Oparin.

Oparin got the consolation prize, by claiming a ticket for the GP.

Altho not official yet, Yu should also get one of those, so should MVL. Last two Grand Prix spots are tougher predict as of now, because Howell and Keymer are still playing. If Ends in a draw, I think it might be Keymer and Shirov. Would be a great result for Vincent (and why I don't see him pushing things).

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Ok, I think we can try to put together the GP participants for Berlin(?).

Confirmed Qualifiers for the GP.

Bacrot (World Cup)

Vidit

Tabatabaei

Fedoseev

Shankland

Oparin (Swiss Tournament)

Yu

Keymer

MVL

Predke

Shirov

Now to the unconfirmed. 11 Rating spots.

1. Ding (2799)

2.Aronian

3.Giri

4.Grischuk

5.So

6.Mamedyarov

7. Rapport

8. Leinier

9.Anand

10.Nakamura (2736)

11.Vitiugov (2734)

I did exclude Wang Hao from that list. He'd eligible to play as a rating qualifier, but since he has retired, I didn't bother. Ofc some of it still in flux, as in the Wei Yi (2729) is just 5 points or so off. So if he were to play somewhere before the deadline, he could sneak in. Anand with his 2751 should be more or less safe. And then, let's see who accepts, and who declines participation their.

We also still have to see the Organizer and Presidential nominee. So two wild cards. 

[Plessiez]

On 11/12/2021 at 8:12 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

We also still have to see the Organizer and Presidential nominee. So two wild cards. 

Any word on when these will be announced? 

My only guess for the organizer's nominee (since the Grand Prix is being held in Berlin) would have been Vincent Keymer.  Except of course that (1) he's already qualified and (2) he wouldn't actually be allowed as the organizer's wildcard, if I'm reading the FIDE regulations correctly.

I might be misreading these, but it appears that the organizer's nominee has to be rated over 2650 (or, technically, has to have been over 2650 at some point in 2021).  And Keymer's current and peak rating is 2639.   But (slightly oddly, I think) there's no similar restriction for the FIDE President's nominee.  So no idea at all who that would be.

In another news, Alireza Firouzja is up to number 3 in the live rating list, and if his current hot streak continues it looks like he has a real chance of hitting 2800 (and overtaking Ding to reach the number 2 spot) very soon.   Even potentially this weekend, I think?

And the world championship starts in one week's time (technically Wednesday, but the first actual game of the match will be played a week today.)

[A Horse Named Stranger]

They weren't gonna pick a German for the organizer slot (there isn't a stand out German player that screams out to be picked. Donchenko arguably offers the best package from the eligible Germans, the alternative is Nisi. Other candidates like Rasmus Svane or Luis Engel (my choice) lack the rating). Berlin is presumably hosting it, but it's not bankrolled by a German. 

I think one of those spots (organizer or Presidential) will go to either Dubov or Esipenko. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up getting both of those spots. 

Dubov doesn't need much explaining. And Esipenko is the atm the highest rated junior player not named Firouzja, he is above the 2.700 mark and is Russian.

Obvious alternative Wei Yi and maybe a blast from the past with semi-retired Topalov. Topalov really shouldn't get the invite, because he really is semi-retired.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

So back, from today's team match.

Managed to get a win on my board, quite neatly I might add. 

Never underestimate the punch the mighty Petroff defense carries.

[Plessiez]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:48 AM, Plessiez said:

In another news, Alireza Firouzja is up to number 3 in the live rating list, and if his current hot streak continues it looks like he has a real chance of hitting 2800 (and overtaking Ding to reach the number 2 spot) very soon.   Even potentially this weekend, I think?

And he did it (though it looks like he was a bit lucky to escape with a draw against Grischuk on Saturday: White seemed to have a close to winning position before Grischuk swapped Queens).  Youngest ever player to reach 2800.

On 11/19/2021 at 9:24 PM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Berlin is presumably hosting it, but it's not bankrolled by a German. 

I think one of those spots (organizer or Presidential) will go to either Dubov or Esipenko. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up getting both of those spots.

Ah, fair enough: shouldn't have jumped to conclusions there.  (Next year's Grand Prix is going to be the last world championship cycle event to be organised by Agon/World Chess, right?  Whoever that actually is these days.) 

Dubov and Esipenko both sound like good bets, yes.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Gonna share the finish from my game on Sunday.

 

Fen: r4r1k/1pp3p1/6p1/1P6/3Pp1pq/2P5/2Q3P1/1RB2NK1 w - - 0 1

W: Kg1. Qc2, Rb1, Bc1, Nf1, Pb5, c3, d4, g2

B: Kh8, Qh4, Rf8, a8, Pb7, c7, e4, g4, g6, g7

Position arised as mentioned above from a Petroff. I was quite happy with the position I achieved with the black pieces. I am down on material, but the White King is so weak and the lack of coordination of the white pieces on queen side mean that my attack should prevail. g4-g3 is kinda problem for White. So my opponent felt obliged to play 1.g3 himself in the position. Spot the flaw. Solution in the spoiler tag.

Spoiler

after 1.g3 Rxf1+ kills instantly and violently. game continued with 2.Kxf1 Rf8+ 3.Bf4 Qxg3 my opponent missed that one and resigned. 

a). 3.Kg2 Qh3+ 4.Kg1 Rf1#

b) 3.Kg1 Qxg3+ 4.Qg2 Qe1+ 5.Kh2 Rf2 at the very least wins the queen.

c) 4.Ke1 Qh1+ 5. Ke2 Qg2+ also either drops the queen or the King

c1) 5.Kd2 Rf2+ 6.Ke3 Qf3#

d) Ke2 Qh2+ is basically the same problem again.

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Carlsen-Nepo started with a draw.

Interesting game tho.