Chess all over the world

Wijk aan Zee results and best games

2012-02-02T00:33:00.000+01:00

Wijk aan Zee 2012 was convincingly won by Aronian w 9/13, 2 losses but 7 wins (!), and 2891 performance.
Carlsen defeated him but it was not enough and finished with 8/13 with a 2835 performance.
Good tournament for Radjabov 8/13, only undefeated player.
Very good one for Caruana 8/13 with a 2842 performance and climbing to 10th place in the world!

Strange tournament for the usually solid Karjakin with 5 wins, 5 losses and only 3 draws!
Last seed Van Wely made 10 draws in a row before finally losing 2 games.

Very poor tournament for Gelfand, Topalov, Gashimov, Navara and Giri (5 losses in a row!).

Out of the 91 games played, I selected 10 good or very good (*) games :
Aronian - Nakamura *
Carlsen - Aronian
Nakamura - Navara *
Karjakin - Gelfand
Giri - Gashimov
Carlsen - Karjakin *
Giri - Aronian *
Caruana - Giri *
Carlsen - Topalov
Kamsky - Topalov

Partie intéressante sur la qualité

2012-01-03T20:13:00.002+01:00

Je vous souhaite beaucoup de plaisir sur l'échiquier en 2012 :-)

Voici une partie que j'ai jouée à une cadence de blitz contre Genius sur mon téléphone :-)

vs.
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[Event "Blitz"][Site "?"][Date "2012.01.02"][Round "?"][White "Genius"][Black "Sylvain"][Result "1/2-1/2"][Annotator "Sylvain"][PlyCount "151"][EventDate "2012.01.03"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 {Une sicilienne Alapine différée.} Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Nc6 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 dxe5 12.Nxe5 {Genius est visiblement arrivé au bout de sa bibliothèque d'ouvertures etjoue un coup inférieur.} (12. dxe5 {est le coup théorique. La structureblanche est affaiblie mais ils s'accrochent à l'important pion e5 et ont uneavance de développement.} Qa5 (12... Qc7) 13. Bd2 (13. Rb1)) 12... Nxe5 13.Qxe5 (13. dxe5 Qc7 14. Bd3 b6 15. Qe4 g6 16. Qxa8 Bb7 17. Qxa7 Ra8 18. Qxa8+Bxa8 19. Be3 Qxe5 $13) 13... Bf6 {je voulais mettre la pression sur la chainede pions c3-d4.} (13... Bd6 {est la place normale pour le Fou}) (13... b6) 14.Qg3 b6 {les Noirs veulent finir leur développement et bien contrôler la cased5. La rupture d4-d5 est toujours à surveiller.} (14... Bd7 {était possiblecar d5 n'est pas bon.}) 15. Ba3 Re8 (15... Be7) 16. Rae1 {un choix discutable.Une des idées peut être d'envoyer le pion f, toutes les pièces blanches visantalors l'aile Roi.} Bb7 $2 {un coup de blitz} (16... Qd7 {suivi de Fb7 avecégalité}) 17. Bb5 {oups !} Qd5 {une bonne réaction, la Dame va se retrouverfort bien placée au centre.} 18. Bxe8 Rxe8 19. Ra1 {Un coup typiqued'ordinateur, qui protège le pion de la seule façon possible mais est trèspassif.} (19. f3 Qxa2 20. Bd6 Qc4 21. Re3 {suivi de Fe5 pour casser la pairede Fous, même si les Noirs restent avec des compensations.}) 19... Rc8 {Diagramme # Voilà un moment clef de la partie. Les Noirs ont perdu la qualitémais maintenant leurs pièces sont bien placées. Le Ff6 est la moins bonne maisil contrôle l'importante case e5, empêchant ainsi des Te5 ou De5, et lapression qu'il exerce sur d4-c3 peut gêner les Blancs. La paire de Fous est unélément intéressant mais le plus frappant est le contrôle des cases blanches.Les Noirs ont la main mise sur d5 et c4 et cela empêche les Blancs deprogresser. En fait malgré une qualité nette de différence la position estégale !} 20. Bb2 {un autre coup passif mais il n'est pas simple de donner unbon conseil aux Blancs.} (20. Rfc1) 20... h5 {Toutes mes pièces étant bienplacées je décide d'améliorer ma position en prenant de l'espace à l'aile Roi.}21. Rfe1 h4 $5 {Par contre cette poussée est peut-être un peu trop ambitieuse,ce pion sera potentiellement faible.} (21... g6 $11) 22. Qg4 Rc4 {Juste uncoup plaisant pour montrer que les Noirs contrôlent totalement les casesblanches.} 23. Rad1 Ra4 {Finalement je donne un sens à Tc4 en forçant le piona2 à avancer, ce qui affaiblit encore le Fb2.} 24. a3 Rc4 {La Tour a fait sontravail.} 25. f4 {Une décision compromettante puisque maintenant il n'est pluspossible de jouer f3 pour s'opposer à la pression sur la grande diagonale. Apartir de là les Noirs ont au minimum l'égalité.} (25. Rd3 {avec l'idée Fc1pour réactiver le Fou !}) 25... g6 {pour bien surveiller la poussée f5.} 26.Rd2 Kg7 {Améliore la position en surprotégeant g6.} 27. Rf2 a5 {Je sais qu'ilne peut pas arriver grand chose aux Noirs et je décide de placer les pions ena4 et b5. Ce n'était pas obligatoire, il était possible d'attendre, les Blancsn'ont pas grand chose à entreprendre.} 28. h3 a4 29. Rd2 b5 30. Rf2 {L'ordinateur erre sans but.} Bc6 {Il faut juste être sûr qu'il ne va rienarriver à la Tc4, mais les Blancs n'ont aucune pièce pour l'attaquer.} 31. Rf3Qd7 32. Rd3 Bd5 33. Rde3 Rc6 {La position noire est imprenable. La nullepourrait être conclue ici.} 34. R3e2 Bc4 35. Re4 Bd5 36. R4e3 Qc8 37. Rb1 Ba238. Rd1 Bd5 39. Rf1 Rb6 {protégeant b5, faiblesse potentielle sur la colonne bsemi-ouverte, mais facile à défendre.} 40. Rb1 Rb7 41. Ree1 Qc4 42. Ra1 Qb3 43.Re2 Rc7 44. Kh2 Rxc3 $5 {Je décide de jouer pour le gain, pour qu'il y ait unpeu d'animation. On a bien compris que la nulle pouvait être signée également.}45. Bxc3 Qxc3 46. Ree1 Bxd4 {Les Noirs restent avec 2 pions pour 2 qualités,et la paire de Fous. C'est un rapport matériel très intéressant ! Faisons lepoint sur les avantages et les inconvénients de ce sacrifice. Avantages : lecentre blanc a disparu, le Fou de cases noires s'est réveillé et ainsi lapaire de Fous a gagné en puissance, et le pion a3 est devenu une ciblepotentielle, sachant que sa capture créerait un ou deux pions passés. Inconvénient : 2 colonnes se sont ouvertes pour les Tours blanches, ce quipeut leur permettre de pénétrer dans le camp adverse.} 47. Rf1 (47. Qxh4 $2 {je n'avais pas calculé de réfutation, je pensais juste que c'était dangereux}Qd2 {et les Blancs perdent du matériel et la partie !} 48. Qg4 f5 49. Qg5 (49.Qg3 Bf2 50. Qg5 Bh4 $1 $19) 49... Bf6 50. Qg3 Bh4 $19) 47... Bf6 48. Rfd1 (48.Rfc1 Qe3 49. Re1 Qb6 50. Rab1 Qc5 51. Rb4 Qc3 52. Rd1 Qxa3 53. Rxb5 Qc3 54. Rb6Qc4 $17 {avec tapis rouge pour le pion a !}) 48... Be7 $2 (48... b4 49. axb4 a350. Rac1 Qxb4 51. f5 Qb8+ 52. Kh1 exf5 53. Qe2 (53. Qa4 Qb2 $1 $19) 53... Be4$19 {La paire de Fous vaut bien la paire de Tours !}) 49. Rac1 $2 (49. Rdc1 Qe350. Re1 Qc5 51. Qe2 {et les Noirs ne vont pas passer si facilement}) 49... Qxa350. Rc7 Bd6 $2 {la mauvaise pièce} (50... Qd6 51. Ra7 a3 $19) 51. Rd7 Qb4 (51... Be7 52. f5 Bb3 53. Re1 exf5 54. Qe2 Bf6 55. Qxb5 Bd5 $1 56. Qb8 Qc3 57.Re8 Bc6 $19) 52. Rf1 (52. Qxh4 Qxf4+ 53. Qxf4 Bxf4+ 54. g3 Be5 55. Ra7 Bb2 56.Rf1 e5 57. Rb1 a3 58. Rxa3 Bxa3 59. Rxb5 Bc4 60. Rxe5 f5 $17) 52... Be7 (52...Bc6 $19) 53. Rc1 Bc4 (53... Bd6) 54. Rcd1 a3 55. Ra7 {pour doubler sur la 7èmerangée} Bd5 56. Rc1 {Idem} Bd6 {si les Noirs limitent l'entrée des Toursblanches dans leur camp, alors ils tiendront la victoire grâce à leurs pionspassés accompagnés par leur paire de Fous.} 57. Rf1 a2 58. Ra6 Be7 (58... Bc5)59. Ra7 Bf6 60. Qd1 Qb2 61. Qg4 Qd2 (61... b4 $19) 62. Rd1 Qb2 $2 {Le débutd'une série d'erreurs commises par les deux joueurs. Excusons Genius parcequ'il était paramétré pour répondre à tempo et l'humain parce qu'il est humain.} (62... Qf2 63. Ra6 b4 $19) 63. Rf1 $2 (63. Rxd5 $1 exd5 64. Qe6 Kh7 65. Qxf7+Bg7 66. Ra6 Qb1 67. f5 $1 Qxf5 68. Qxf5 gxf5 69. Rxa2 $11) 63... b4 64. Rd1 b3(64... Qf2) 65. Rxd5 {Cela fait un moment que les Blancs auraient aimé rendreau moins une qualité, mais c'est trop tard maintenant.} exd5 $2 {Les Noirs setrompent.} (65... a1=Q 66. Rxa1 Qxa1 67. Rd1 b2 $19) 66. Qe6 Kh7 (66... Be7 $3{était superbe} 67. Qxe7 Qf6 68. Qb4 a1=Q 69. Rxa1 Qxa1 70. Qxb3 Qd4 71. Qf3Qe4 72. Qf2 d4 $17) 67. Qxf7+ Bg7 68. Qxd5 $2 (68. Qe7 Qd4 69. Qxh4+ Kg8 70.Qd8+ Bf8 71. Qc7 Qg7 72. Qa5 Qxa7 73. Qxa7 Bg7 74. Qb8+ Kh7 75. Qxb3 a1=Q 76.Qxd5 {avec de bonnes chances de nulle.}) 68... Qf2 $2 {La dernière erreur.} (68... a1=Q 69. Rxa1 Qxa1 70. Qxb3 Bd4 {j'ai raté cette pointe} 71. Qf7+ Kh6 72.Qf8+ Kh5 $19) 69. Rxg7+ {Les Blancs rendent finalement la 2ème qualité pourobtenir un échec perpétuel !} Kxg7 70. Qe5+ Kf7 71. Qc7+ Ke6 72. Qc6+ Kf5 73.Qd5+ Kxf4 74. Qf7+ Ke3 75. Qxb3+ Ke4 76. Qe6+ {Echec perpétuel. Une partietrès instructive concernant le rapport matériel Tour/Fou !} 1/2-1/2

Interesting video

2011-11-14T13:38:00.000+01:00

Chess Me Out - talk on board from davide nulliversi fasolo on Vimeo.

Bundesliga

2011-10-15T15:42:00.000+02:00

Le championnat allemand, l'un des plus forts au monde, a repris.

Toujours des Français dans les équipes.

Le direct est toujours excellent. Ils ont même ajouté une webcam et un tchat.

Ca se passe ici.

Test de 20 positions

2011-10-14T03:05:00.002+02:00

Vous avez un petit quart d'heure devant vous ? Testez-vous avec ces 20 positions :

http://www.chess-teaching.com/test_20_positions.php

FIDE ratings update of September

2011-09-14T16:30:00.000+02:00

Youth FIDE ratings pages were updated with new ratings of September.

For now the Youth European Championship is taking place in Albena (Bulgaria).

FIDE World Cup 2011

2011-09-05T23:20:00.002+02:00

3 tours ont été joués dans ce tournoi de 128 joueurs à élimination directe, il n'en reste donc plus que 16.

Ne manquez surtout pas le remarquable direct en vidéo ! La grande classe :
- prise d'antenne dès la 1ère minute de jeu
- nombreuses caméras qui permettent d'avoir des gros plans de toutes les tables et tous les joueurs
- "contrôle du direct", donc possibilité de revenir en arrière à tout moment, et de revoir en différé
- commentaires en russe (pas évident !) et en anglais par le GM Landa et la GMF Sharevich (des slaves qui parlent anglais, c'est très compréhensible).
- conférences de presse quasi systématique après les parties, en russe et traduites en anglais
- quelques GM qui viennent dire un mot auprès des commentateurs

La Russie est sans doute le pays avec la plus grande culture échiquéenne et depuis 1-2 ans ils commencent à tout comprendre en terme de communication avec de réguliers directs de ce genre.
Le pas à franchir n'est pas si énorme pour que ça voit le jour sur une chaîne de télé et soit accessible aux néophytes... Bien sûr les rapides et blitz sont plus attractifs que les parties lentes...
Un autre événement récent, le Botvinnik Memorial Rapid, va également dans une bonne direction.

Du côté des résultats et des parties, j'ai noté plus particulièrement :

le retour au premier plan de Judit Polgar qui a sorti Movsesian puis surtout le n°1 du tournoi Karjakin
les résultats sensationnels du cadet Ukrainien Yaroslav Zherebukh (2580), vainqueur de Cappelle en 2010 et qui rappelle un peu le parcours de Wesley So il y a 2 ans. Il a commencé par sortir son compatriote Eljanov, certes tombé à 2683 mais 2755 l'an dernier ! Il a ensuite mis 2-0 en rapides à l'expérimenté Argentin Felgaer (2573) et surtout il vient d'éliminer Mamedyarov (n°3 - 2765) en rapides. Notons qu'il est entraîné par Jobava.
la présence en 1/8ème de l'irrégulier Cubain Lazaro Bruzon (2673) qui a sorti les outsiders Vallejo Pons et Le Quang.
l'élimination des 4 Français en 3 tours... Ils ont sans doute un peu payé les 11 rondes de National juste avant.
le match du 3ème tour Ivanchuk - Sutovsky, avec Emil qui gagne la 1ère avec les Noirs mais ne peut s'empêcher de sacrifier une pièce au 10ème coup contre la Pirc de Chuky, se fait égaliser puis se prend 0-2 en rapides.
le fair-play de Navara contre Moiseenko, proposant nulle avant que son adversaire n'abandonne, sous prétexte que ce dernier n'a pas fait d'esclandre pour le forcer à jouer son Roi qu'il avait malencontreusement touché en milieu de partie, ce dernier ne lui rendant pas la faveur par un fair-play équivalent qui aurait voulu qu'il refuse la nulle et abandonne... Le talentueux et très émotif Navara passera ensuite dans les départages.
l'incompréhensible proposition de nulle de Morozevitch, au 12ème coup, avec les Blancs, mené 0-1 en parties lentes contre Grischuk.
la confirmation du champion d'Europe Potkin, qui sort Shirov puis Vitiugov.
la présence de 8 des 10 têtes de série en 1/8ème (seulement trois de 11 à 40 !).

Ce qui nous donne les 1/8 de finale suivants :
Polgar - Dominguez (Judit semble difficile à arrêter)
Kamsky - Svidler (pronostic difficile ! Une petite pièce sur Kamsky pour ses nerfs)
Ponomariov - Bruzon (je crains que notre ami Lazaro passe à la casserole)
Gashimov - Nielsen (Vugar est plus fort)
Ivanchuk - Bu (tout est possible)
Radjabov - Jakovenko (ça va se finir en blitz cette histoire)
Zherebukh - Navara (Navara a-t-il les nerfs ?)
Grischuk - Potkin (Grischuk redoutable en départages mais sait-on jamais)

Les résultats
Les vidéos des jours précédents
Le site officiel avec le direct en vidéo

Championnat de France de Caen

2011-08-24T15:05:00.002+02:00

9 rondes sur 11 ont été jouées dans les nationaux.

Dans le féminin, Sophie Milliet devrait ajouter un 4ème titre à sa collection. L'absence de Sebag (qui préfère jouer en mixte, et elle a bien raison) et Skripchenko (qui préfère jouer au poker, je ne dirais pas qu'elle a raison mais en tout cas c'est sûr que ça rapporte plus) dévalorise forcément un peu le titre et en tout cas affaiblit beaucoup le championnat.

Dans le national c'est encore le panier de crabes puisque 4 joueurs sont à 5,5/9. On retrouve les 3 favoris : the French guy with 2 names (MVL), Bacrot et le champion sortant Fressinet. Ainsi qu'un petit nouveau : Andreï Istratescu (2645), joueur talentueux, entraîneur reconnu et récemment naturalisé. Romain Edouard, vice-champion 2010, conserve une petite chance de départages, un demi-point derrière.

A vrai dire il ne se passe pas grand chose dans ce national... MVL a fait étalage de sa technique pour convertir 2 finales supérieures en début de tournoi mais ne fait que des nulles depuis. Bacrot était à +1 avant sa victoire contre Romain ronde 9. Fressinet serait le plus impressionnant des 3 - et en tête - s'il n'avait pas poussé un peu trop fort contre Le Roux. D'un autre côté il a eu de la chance de gagner au temps contre Shchekachev, ça compense.
Dorfman poursuit son interminable série de nulles en National (11 l'an dernier, 9 cette année), même s'il a manqué des gains hier contre Shchekachev. La routine quoi.

A la limite l'événement serait plutôt extra-sportif, à savoir les 230 pendules volées à mi-tournoi, soit une perte de 10000 à 15000 euros pour la Fédé (j'imagine), qui n'avait pas vraiment besoin de ça cette année avec les frais judiciaires...
Un vol similaire s'étant produit au Championnat de Paris 2010, il va falloir considérer ce problème très sérieusement à l'avenir.

Revenons tout de même aux échecs. Voici ce que j'ai trouvé d'intéressant dans le National après 9 rondes donc : 3 parties commentées et 3 diagrammes.
Au final c'est Bacrot qui fait le spectacle, avec ses 2 brillants gains !

3 parties :

[Event "86th ch-FRA"][Site "Caen FRA"][Date "2011.08.15"][Round "2"][White "Bacrot, E."][Black "Shchekachev, A."][Result "1-0"][ECO "B07"][WhiteElo "2710"][BlackElo "2537"][PlyCount "62"][EventDate "2011.08.14"]1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 {le score des Pirc/modernes est assez mauvaisentre le National A et le B. Je compte déjà 2 défaites d'Andreï et 2 de Jules.}4. Be3 c6 5. h3 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Bd3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qd2 Re8 10. Bh6 e5 11.a3 Qc7 12. Rad1 {c'est le style Bacrot : centre et développement harmonieux} b513. dxe5 dxe5 14. Ne2 Nc5 15. Ng3 Be6 16. Be3 Bf8 17. Ng5 Rad8 18. f4 Bc4 19.Qe2 Bxd3 20. cxd3 h6 21. f5 {les Blancs sont plus ou moins forcés de sacrifier une pièce !} hxg5 22. fxg6Re6 23. Bxg5 Bg7 24. Bxf6 Rxf6 25. Rxf6 Bxf6 26. Rf1 {Diagram #} Rd6 $2 {un coup naturel mais perdant} ({il fallait trouver} 26... fxg6 27. Rxf6 Rd6 $11{et ça tient}) 27. gxf7+ Kf8 (27... Qxf7 28. Nf5 Qe6 29. b4 Nd7 30. Qe3 a6 31.Rf2 $16) 28. d4 $1 {l'attaque blanche devient irrésistible} Nd7 (28... exd4 29.Qh5 Nd7 30. Qh7 $18 {une infiltration décisive}) 29. Qg4 Kxf7 30. Nh5 Qd8 (30... Ke7 31. Nxf6 Rxf6 32. Qg7+ Kd8 33. Rxf6 Nxf6 34. Qxf6+ Ke8 35. dxe5 $18)31. dxe5 $18 {les Blancs vont récupérer la pièce avec beaucoup d'intérêts} Ke81-0[Event "86th ch-FRA"][Site "Caen FRA"][Date "2011.08.16"][Round "3"][White "Shchekachev, A."][Black "Edouard, R."][Result "0-1"][ECO "A30"][WhiteElo "2537"][BlackElo "2587"][PlyCount "72"][EventDate "2011.08.14"]1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. g3 e5 6. Nb5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 a6 8.N5c3 d5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Bg2 Be6 11. O-O Nb6 12. Ne4 Be7 13. Be3 Nc4 14. Bc1Qxd1 15. Rxd1 Nd4 {les Cavaliers noirs font forte impression} 16. Nbc3 O-O-O17. Rf1 {triste à jouer alors que les Blancs ont déjà un retard de développement} (17.b3 Nxe2+) 17... h6 18. b3 Na3 19. e3 Ndc2 20. Bxa3 Nxa3 21. Na4 Kb8 22. Nec5$11 Bd5 23. e4 $6 (23. Rfd1 {simple chess}) 23... Bc6 24. Rac1 $2 ({il fallait se contorsionner avec le peu naturel} 24. Rfc1 $17) 24... Bb5 25.Rfe1 (25. Rfd1 $2 b6 $1 {gagne une pièce}) 25... Bg5 {maintenant ce sont lesFous noirs qui font forte impression, en se placer sur des diagonales un peuinhabituelles !} (25... Rd2 {était fort également}) 26. f4 {tristement forcé, les Tours blanches manquent d'air} (26. Rcd1 Bd2) 26... exf427. h4 Be7 28. e5 Rd2 $17 29. Ne4 Rd4 $2 (29... Rxa2 $17) 30. gxf4 Bxh4 31.Red1 Nc2 32. Bf3 Rhd8 33. Nd6 Rxf4 34. Bxb7 $2 (34. Rxc2 {offrait encore quelques chances} Rxf3 35. Nc5 b6 36. Ncb7 Rf8 37. Nxb5 axb5 38.Nd6) 34... Bf2+ 35. Kh2 Ne3 36. Nxb5 Rh4# 0-1[Event "86th ch-FRA"][Site "Caen FRA"][Date "2011.08.23"][Round "9"][White "Bacrot, E."][Black "Edouard, R."][Result "1-0"][ECO "D27"][WhiteElo "2710"][BlackElo "2587"][PlyCount "57"][EventDate "2011.08.14"]1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 a6 6. O-O c5 7. Bb3 Nc6 8. Nc3cxd4 9. exd4 Be7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Qd2 {une position typique de pion d isolé,comme affectionnait Botvinnik notamment. Les Blancs ont de nombreux plansd'attaque sur le roque noir, ces derniers doivent jouer précisément pour tenirla position.} Bd7 $146 12. Rad1 Na5 13. Bc2 Nc4 14. Qe2 Rc8 (14... Nxb2 $5 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16. Qxb2) 15. Bb3 {on peut être surpris par ce retour du Fou maisles Blancs ne tolèrent pas le fort Cc4} b5 (15... Na5 16. d5 {une rupture trèsfréquente tant que le Fou est en d7, souvent favorable aux Blancs}) 16. Ne5 (16. d5) 16... Nb6 17. Rfe1 h6 {Diagram #} 18. Bxh6 $1 {un sacrifice purement positionnel ! Le Roi noir va rester faible pour longtemps et ça suffit à compenser le matériel ! Une conception profonde et ambitieuse.} gxh6 19. Rd3 Kh8 20. Qd2 (20. d5 {avec l'idée de forcer un exd pour jouer Cxd7 puis Dxe7}) 20... Ng8 21. d5 Nc422. Bxc4 bxc4 23. Rd4 Bc5 $2 {les Noirs finissent par se tromper, dans une position tendue} (23... Qe8 {tenait} 24. Ne4 exd5 25. Rxd5 Be6 26. Nd6 Bxd6 27. Rxd6 Rc7 28. h3 Qc8 29.Nxf7+ (29. Ng6+ fxg6 30. Rexe6 Rcf7 31. Rxg6 $13) 29... Bxf7 30. Qd4+ Kh7 31.Qe4+ Bg6 32. Qxg6+ Kh8 33. Ree6 $13) 24. dxe6 $18 Bxd4 25. Qxd4 Qf6 (25... Bxe626. Nxf7+ Kh7 27. Qh8+ Kg6 28. Nxd8 $18) 26. exd7 Rcd8 27. Re3 (27. Ne4 Qg7 28.Nc5 $18 {gagnait également largement}) 27... Ne7 {en fait les Noirs n'ont plus tellement de coups à jouer} (27... Rb8 28. Ne4 Qg729. Rg3 $18) 28. Rf3 Nc6 29. Nxf7+ {les Blancs vont rester avec 4 pions deplus. Bacrot revient dans la course au titre.} 1-0

3 diagrammes :

() vs. ()
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Les Noirs ont joué d3 mais ils avaient un brillant gain : Ch4+ Rh1 Txe4!! un coup très impressionnant !

() vs. ()
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Les Blancs se sont montrés négligent en jouant Fd3. Comment les Noirs peuvent-ils en profiter ?

() vs. ()
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Les Blancs ont une Tour de plus. Hélas pour eux c'est nulle ! Ramener le Roi n'y change rien, et en plus les Noirs ont de la marge !

Les parties en direct

FIDE ratings update of July

2011-08-03T17:33:00.003+02:00

Youth FIDE ratings pages were finally updated with new ratings of July. I will be faster in September :-)

I was just in time for Junior World Championship in India!

Hou Yifan suffering a lot

2011-05-07T10:25:00.001+02:00

Women World champion Hou Yifan is having a terrific tournament in Asian individual championship : -2341 -2330 -2340 =2418 +1717. Already loosing some 25 Elo points. Here is her 3rd game.

() vs. ()
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[Event "ch-Asian Individual"][Site "Mashhad IRI"][Date "2011.05.04"][Round "3"][White "Noroozi, O."][Black "Hou Yifan"][Result "1-0"][ECO "A35"][WhiteElo "2340"][BlackElo "2612"][Annotator ",Sylvain"][PlyCount "117"][EventDate "2011.05.02"]1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nd4 $5 {un coup peu fréquent mais assez intéressant}4. Ng1 $5 {si on n'a jamais vu ce coup on peut croire à une erreur deretransmission ! En fait c'est un coup qui se justifie dans les échecsmodernes : les blancs préparent e3 et vont regagner le temps perdu.} (4. Ne5 $5{est un autre coup surprenant tentant d'esquiver le Cd4 !} Nc6 {continuant la danse aussi amusante que logique}) 4... Nc6 (4... e5 5. e3 Nc6 6.Nf3 {transpose dans 3...e5}) 5. Nf3 g6 {la jeune chinoise ne veut bien sûr pas de la nulle aussi tôt dans la partie !}6. e3 Bg7 7. d4 d6 8. d5 Na5 {une variante qui ressemble à la variante Pannode l'Est-Indienne. La différence est que le Ff1 n'est pas en fianchetto etdonc mieux placé. En effet il est plus difficile pour les noirs d'attaquer c4et de jouer b5.} (8... Ne5 {est une alternative}) 9. Bd3 Nf6 10. O-O O-O 11. e4e5 12. h3 b6 (12... Ne8 {a déjà été joué par le GM Fedorov.}) 13. Bg5 Qe8 14.Qd2 Nh5 {projetant f5} 15. g4 {un coup qu'il faut bien considérer... Le roque blanc devient vulnérable.} Nf616. Nh4 Kh8 17. f4 {un traitement original de la position : il est rare queles blancs attaquent à l'aile Roi dans une Est-Indienne avec 0-0 blanc !} exf4{le Fg7 revit.} 18. Bxf4 Nb7 {il est temps de ramener ce pauvre Cavalier,réquisitionné pour défendre la faiblesse en d6. Toutefois ce genre de case estsouvent désagréable pour un Cavalier.} 19. Qh2 {les blancs ont un avantaged'espace intéressant et ils en profitent ! D'un autre côté leur roque estaffaibli.} Nd7 {se dirigeant vers l'excellente case e5.} 20. Nb5 Ne5 21. Be2 {ce Fou ne tient pour l'instant qu'un rôle défensif.} f6 {les coups 21 et 22 ont sûrement été intervertis dans la saisie.} 22. Nf3 Qe723. Rae1 Bd7 24. Nc3 Rae8 25. Qg3 Nd8 {il faut bien sûr replacer ce malheureux Cavalier.} 26. Nxe5 {forçant les noirs à occuper e5 avec un pion.} dxe5 {crée un pion passé protégé en d5 mais libère d6 pour le Cavalier} 27. Bd2 Nf728. h4 Nd6 {le Cavalier est un excellent bloqueur de pion passé. Ici il enprofite pour mettre la pression sur c4 et e4 tout en soutenant éventuellementles poussées b5 et f5 ! Le temps où il se morfondait en b7 semble bien loin.}29. Bd3 f5 $5 {une décision intéressante} ({une possibilité plus sage était de jouer pour l'autre rupture en b5 :} 29... a630. Be3 Rb8 31. Rf2 Rfc8 32. a4 b5 33. axb5 axb5 34. cxb5 c4 35. Bf1 Nxb5 36.Nxb5 Rxb5 37. Rc1 Rb4 {avec des chances pour les 2 camps}) 30. exf5 gxf5 31. g5(31. gxf5 Bf6 {avec du jeu pour les noirs}) 31... e4 32. Bf4 Be5 33. Be2 Qg7 {la position s'est équilibrée} 34. Nd1 Rg8 35. Ne3 {les blancs aussi ont droit à leur Cavalier bloqueur de pion passé !} h6 {les noirs ont peu de choix s'ils veulent faire bouger les choses. Mais cefaisant ils prennent aussi des risques...} 36. Kh2 hxg5 37. hxg5 Qh7+ $2 {un échec qui perd la partie ! Un exemple à montrer aux jeunes joueurs qui nepeuvent pas s'empêcher de faire échec au Roi!} (37... Nf7 {avec pression sur g5} 38. Qh4+ Qh7 39. Qxh7+ Kxh7 40. Bh5 Ref8 41. g6+ Rxg6 42. Bxg6+ Kxg6 {et les noirs ne perdront pas cette position}) 38. Kg2 {soudain rien ne peut sauver les noirs} Bxf4 (38... Qg6 39. Rh1+ Kg7 40. Bh5 {gagne la Dame}) 39. Qxf4 Qe7 (39... Rxg5+ {semble bon mais...} 40. Kf2 $1 {gagne !} (40. Qxg5 $2 Rg8 41. Rh1 Rxg5+ 42. Kf2 f4 43. Rxh7+ Kxh7 {et ce sont les noirs qui ont l'avantage}) 40... Qg7 41. Qh4+ Kg8 42. Rg1 Nf743. Rxg5 Nxg5 44. Rg1 $18) 40. Rh1+ Kg7 41. Rh7+ $1 {pas très difficile mais c'est sûrement le coup qu'avait oublié Hou Yifan} Kxh742. Qh4+ Kg7 43. Qh6+ Kf7 44. Bh5+ Rg6 45. Bxg6+ Kg8 46. Bxe8 Nxe8 47. Rh1 {et les blancs n'ont plus qu'à convertir tranquillement leur qualité de plus}Qe5 48. Qh7+ Kf8 49. Qh8+ (49. Qxd7 $2 {serait trop gourmand} Qxb2+ {avec échec perpétuel !}) 49... Qxh8 50. Rxh8+ Kg7 51. Rh6 f4 {ces 2 pions passés ne sauveront pas les noirs} 52. Nd1 Bg4 53. Nf2 Bf5 54. Nh3f3+ 55. Kg3 Bxh3 56. Kxh3 e3 57. Kg3 f2 58. Kg2 Kf7 59. Re6 1-0

Moralités :
- ne faites pas échec sous prétexte que vous voyez échec (même si vous êtes champion du monde !)
- soyez très vigilants si vous décidez d'avancer les pions du roque un peu loin.
- les Cavaliers font d'excellents bloqueurs de pions passés.

Mon Championnat d'Europe commenté (+ bonus)

2011-03-23T00:15:00.024+01:00

J'ai la chance de pouvoir participer aux Championnats d'Europe qui se déroulent à Aix-les-Bains (France) du 22 mars au 2 avril.
Je le commenterai ici ronde par ronde.

Forte impression lors de la première ronde : je jouais dans la même salle qu'une pelletée de 2600 Elo. Mon adversaire me joue un Benko et des spécialistes comme Khalifman, Tregubov et Vuckovic passent régulièrement pour observer la partie... Joueurs dont j'ai attentivement étudié les parties l'été dernier !

Ronde 1
() vs. ()
- -

Ce que je peux retirer de cette partie :
1) Un jeu provocateur n'est que rarement le meilleur choix.
2) Il faut rester vigilant et patient. Même si je le savais déjà...
3) Travailler les finales paie. Ici j'ai pris les bonnes décisions et atteint une bonne position défensive. Dommage que j'aie tout gâché en 1 coup.

Ronde 2
() vs. ()
- -

Ce que je peux retirer de cette partie :
1) Lorsqu'on se dit sans cesse "il faut que je travaille cette variante", il faut vraiment le faire car tôt ou tard ça tombe.
2) Contre des joueurs plus modestes souvent la simple patience suffit...

Ronde 3
() vs. ()
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Dommage pour le gain manqué à la fin mais dans l'ensemble le résultat est assez logique.
Ce que je peux retirer de cette partie :
1) Il faut se forcer à jouer plus vite ! C'est anormal de perdre autant de temps à la sortie de l'ouverture.
2) Un bon feeling pour l'activité.
3) Une partie très riche et intéressante. Un déséquilibre, de la stratégie, de la tactique, des rebondissements, une partie de 5h30 comme on les aime.

Ronde 4
() vs. ()
- -

Presque une non partie, même si elle a duré 2h30. Pour une fois j'avais de l'avance à la pendule mais j'ai commis une grosse erreur de jugement qui a immédiatement mis fin à la partie.
Ce que je peux retirer de cette partie :
1) Il faut se méfier des choses qu'on croit savoir et toujours vérifier si elles sont vraies dans la situation concernée. (ici je croyais que h6 était une réaction automatique au plan avec g4 et que ça défendait bien)
2) Une partie comme on ne les aime pas : le sentiment de ne pas vraiment avoir joué et donc de ne pas apprendre beaucoup.

Ronde 5
() vs. ()
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Partie un peu rageante. Déjà le contexte était un peu spécial : lors de la première publication des appariements la veille je devais jouer Kursonov (2653). Je me prépare, je termine le lendemain matin, quand vers 10h je me rends compte que ça a changé ! Re-préparation... Mais ok je n'étais pas trop mal concentré sur ma partie tout de même. Par contre depuis 3 jours je suis soumis à d'affreuses migraines et ça c'est assez agaçant. Les médicaments n'y font pas grand chose pour l'instant. Inutile de dire qu'affronter des GM dans ces conditions n'est pas une mince affaire...
Ce que je peux retirer de cette partie :
1) Il faut jouer plus vite (bis, bis, bis).
2) Jouer sainement est quand même toujours préférable : ici malgré une position un peu sous pression c'était solide et ça offrait assez de ressources pour tenir. Au final c'est sans doute le manque de temps qui m'a fait jouer 31.Dc4? et 37.Td1?.
3) Une fois de plus le sentiment que la différence est mince... Mince et pourtant toujours présente et quasi-palpable.

Ronde 5 : bonus !
() vs. ()
- -

Finalement il semblerait donc que les blancs aient toutes les peines du monde à tirer quelque chose de leurs 2 pions de plus ! Superbe compréhension de jeu des noirs !
Dans la partie Julien n'a pas joué h5 mais le déroulement a été similaire. Les noirs ont défendu une finale avec un pion de moins mais n'ont jamais été réellement en danger.

Ronde 6
() vs. ()
- -

Une analyse frustrante : je n'ai pas bien vu où est-ce que les noirs auraient pu faire nettement mieux. Les blancs avaient beaucoup de variantes pour tenir.

Ce que je peux retirer de cette partie :
1) Un joueur ne peut pas blitzer toute une partie en jouant à chaque fois les meilleurs coups !
2) Une fois encore le jeu d'échecs montre toutes ses ressources : la position blanche est assez faible mais ils peuvent quand même tenir presque tout le temps ! Donc une fois de plus : la résistance est une qualité très importante. Il faut toujours se battre bec et ongles.

Ronde 7
() vs. ()
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Une nulle un peu heureuse, même si on pourra toujours arguer que les noirs ont raté des gains parce qu'ils se sont mis trop en difficulté à la pendule.

Ce que je peux retirer de cette partie :
1) C'est bien agréable d'avoir 20-30 minutes d'avance durant les 20 premiers coups ! Même si comme d'habitude il ne me restait encore plus que 30 minutes pour jouer les 20 suivants...
2) Il n'y a pas que les joueurs modestes qui sont perturbés par le zeitnot : mon adversaire avait une superbe position mais s'est emmêlé les pinceaux.
3) Il faut mieux sentir l'insécurité du Roi. Ici j'ai mal comparé 18.De2 et 18.h4 alors que dans le 1er cas f1 était un abri sûr pour le Roi.

Ronde 7 : bonus
Voici la dernière partie qui s'est achevée au Casino ce lundi. Elle met aux prises Clovis à un jeune Israëlien.
La situation est très classique : les noirs ont sacrifié leur Tour sur la Dame promue en a8 et une course s'engage. Inutile de dire que les joueurs n'avaient plus beaucoup de temps à la pendule.

() vs. ()
-

Une finale instructive.

Ce mardi, journée de repos. Courses au supermarché du coin où on peut croiser quantité de GM dans les rayons :-)

Ronde 8
() vs. ()
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J'ai fait la fermeture de la salle pour la deuxième fois, mais il faut dire que je suis un habitué ! Je l'ai aussi fait une fois à Cappelle :-)
Un gain qui a mis longtemps à venir. Je croyais avoir fait le plus dur en gagnant un pion et la paire de fous juste avant le contrôle de temps mais il fallait encore travailler dur et mon adversaire a manqué des nulles...

Ce que je peux retenir de cette partie :
1) Je suis trop lent bis bis bis, il faut jouer beaucoup plus vite !
2) Exactement comme lors de la ronde 6 cette partie démontre encore que la défense a souvent beaucoup de ressources : finalement je n'ai raté qu'un gain clair au 60ème coup tandis que les blancs avaient plus façons d'annuler.

Ronde 9
() vs. ()
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J'étais motivé et assez confiant. Mais une fois de plus j'ai été assez lent (lui aussi) et ça a coûté cher dans le zeitnot. Presque la routine...

Ronde 10
() vs. ()
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Encore une partie frustrante ! Il était temps que ça s'arrête...
J'ai un atout au niveau de la préparation, elle dévie pour l'éviter, tombe dans une ligne que j'ai plutôt bien travaillée, joue une ligne un peu rare et dangereuse, je me trompe totalement et me retrouve avec une position très difficile à jouer. Mais elle a pris beaucoup trop de temps et un zeitnot assez sévère survient pour les deux joueurs. Elle manque un gain clair (25.e6), puis un bon avantage, puis un dernier gain plus difficile avant le contrôle. Elle me laisse une chance inespérée de jouer une finale de Tours sauvable (38...Cxf4) que je laisse inexplicablement passer... Dommage...

A noter : je ne jouerai pas la 11ème et dernière ronde car j'accompagne des jeunes en interclubs. Cela dit ce n'est pas plus mal : ce n'aurait pas été un titré et je commençais à fatiguer...

Bilan :

j'ai joué 3 joueurs en dessous de 2100 pour 3/3 (non sans mal).
affronté 7 titrés dont 6 Grands Maîtres, dont 5 avec les blancs, obtenu 2 nulles et 5 défaites. J'estime que c'est assez moyen. Surtout étant données les couleurs.

En tout cas l'objectif était de rencontrer un maximum de joueurs titrés, et il a été rempli. C'était forcément une expérience enrichissante.
Ce que j'en retire principalement :

Face aux 2400-2500 l'équilibre n'est pas si loin, le sentiment d'ensemble est qu'ils ne maîtrisent pas suffisamment leur sujet pour obtenir ou conserver un avantage et le transformer proprement en victoire. Par contre ils sont solides et difficiles à battre...
Le temps joue un rôle important. Je le savais avant et n'ai cessé de le répéter tout au long du tournoi. Cela influe de manière non négligeable sur le jeu. S'améliorer dans ce domaine doit être un objectif prioritaire. A noter : les titrés n'ont pas tous une bonne gestion du temps non plus !
La répétition des parties face à de forts joueurs apporte indéniablement de la compréhension et permet de mieux sentir la différence de niveau. C'est logique et ça se vérifie.

J'espère que vous aurez pris du plaisir à me suivre. N'hésitez pas à m'en faire part avec un petit mail ou un commentaire. A bientôt.

Knight versus 4 pawns

2011-03-14T01:20:00.000+01:00

Chekhover 1938

Black to play. What will be the result ?
(not very difficult but funny)

New FIDE rating of March : update and new tool

2011-03-08T23:10:00.001+01:00

New FIDE rating of March is out for more than a week now.

I updated my Youth ratings pages and made a new search tool.

Let me know if you like it.

Last morning game in Cappelle

2011-03-06T12:54:00.002+01:00

vs.
- -

[Event "Cappelle la Grande"][Site "France"][Date "2011.03.05"][Round "9"][White "Ravot, S."][Black "Messam-Sparks, L."][Result "1-0"][ECO "B81"][SetUp "1"][FEN "1rb2rk1/2q2ppp/pn2p3/8/1p1BNbP1/7P/PPP2QB1/1K1R3R w - - 0 19"][PlyCount "19"]19. Bc5 {Here I was calmly waiting for Re8 when 20.Nd6 is just winning.} Nc4 $1{I thought "ok she saw that Re8 lost and she just sacrifices the exchange fora pawn". I briefly checked if some Qe2 or Qd4 would be better before taking inf8 but then simply grabbed the rook...} (19... Re8 $2 20. Nd6 Rf8 (20... Rd8 21.Nb5 $1 $18 (21. Qxf4 Qxc5 22. Qxf7+ Kh8 23. Ne8 $18) 21... axb5 22. Qxf4) 21.Bxb6 Rxb6 22. Qxf4 Rd8 23. Nxc8 $18 (23. Nc4 $18)) 20. Bxf8 Na3+ {played instantaneously! I did not even consider this move! How is that possible : it's avery well known tactical motif in the sicilian!! I must have been completelysleepy! What an adrenaline rush... Trying to calm down myself I began tocalculate variations. The first thing I thought was : maybe I could sacrificethe queen with Ka1 Nxc2+ Qxc2 Qxc2 Rd8 ? But of course it doesn't work. Then Isaw I had to take the knight and put my king in the corner... I have to saythat I did not even think to accept the draw by repetition...} 21. bxa3 (21. Ka1Nxc2+ 22. Kb1 Na3+ 23. Ka1 $11) 21... bxa3+ 22. Ka1 Be5+ {she took too muchtime to play this (obvious) move and was left with only 5 min on the clock toreach the 40th move (with 30 sec for each move).} 23. Rd4 {I was not comfortable at all but still had 25 minutes on my clock.} Rb2 $6 (23... Kxf8 {was the logical continuation} 24. c3 f5 (24... Rb2 25. Rd2 $1 Rxd226. Qxd2 Bb7 27. Kb1 $16) 25. Rhd1 Bxd4 (25... Ke7 26. gxf5 exf5 27. Nc5 $1 $18) 26. cxd4 Rb2 27. Qf3 Rxg2 28. Qxg2 fxe4 29. Qd2 Bb7 $44 {with an unclear endgame}) (23... Bb7 $1 {was difficult to find because itblocks the rook. But the Bxe4 threat is very serious.} 24. Qd2 Kxf8 25. c3 Bd5{threatening Rb2} 26. Rb1 Rxb1+ 27. Kxb1 Bxd4 28. Qxd4 Qb7+ 29. Kc2 Qb2+ 30.Kd3 Qb1+ 31. Ke2 Qxa2+ 32. Nd2 $13 {with another confused situation}) {here I thought "ok now Bc5 must be very fine for me". But then I began tocalculate Bd6 and I had the feeling that it was better to simplify... So Iplayed it :} 24. Bd6 $2 (24. Bc5 $18 {was just winning}) 24... Qb6 {played in afraction of a second! I immediately saw the threat of mate in 2 but was anothertime very shocked : like for 20...Na3+ I did not even calculate this simplemove!! I was only looking for black sacrifices. Another adrenaline rush forme this morning... That's somehow classic : when you are surprised with Na3+you wake up and tell to yourself to be careful for the rest of the game. Thenyou calculate variations, some moves are played and you begin to be morerelaxed because you understand that your position is playable. Then after 23...Rb2you see Bc5 with absolutely nothing for black and you are relieved for good...That's exactly the kind of situation where you can let your attention slowlywander... And bang! Finally I saw the only winning miraculous move.} 25. Rb4$18 (25. Bxa3 Bxd4 26. Qxd4 Rxa2+ 27. Kxa2 Qxd4 28. Rb1 Qc4+ 29. Kb2 Qe2 30.Bh1 f5 $13 {was unclear}) 25... Qa5 (25... Qxb4 26. Bxb4 Rxc2+ 27. Kb1 $18) (25... Rxb4+ 26. Bxe5 $18) (25... Qxf2 26. Nxf2 Bxd6 27. Rxb2 $18) 26. Rxb2Bxb2+ 27. Kb1 Qb5 28. Qc5 {What a lucky win... But every chessplayer in theworld will agree with me that a chessplayer can't play chess in the morning :-) } 1-0

Final results of this very strong tournament

Bukavshin oversight

2011-02-19T01:20:00.001+01:00

15y old Russian player Ivan Bukavshin played a very good tournament in Aeroflot, with a GM norm. But here he forgot something against former FIDE world champion Khalifman (it's good to see him againt in tournaments!).

() vs. ()
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Black just played Qg6. Which tactical problem did he overlook ?

Beautiful game in Aeroflot

2011-02-12T00:16:00.000+01:00

The Bundesliga game was nice. But here is a fantastic game played today in Moscow!!

() vs. ()
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Crazy game in Bundesliga

2011-02-07T21:23:00.000+01:00

Enjoy :-)
() vs. ()
-

Wijk aan Zee - R12

2011-01-29T19:07:00.002+01:00

If you are a chess fan I hope you are following this tournament closely!

Exciting finish to come in last round!

In the A Group, Nakamura, who played very good chess so far, made a quick draw with white against Kramnik today. One could expect more but as Aronian only drew against L'Ami (having taken a lot of risks), and Anand struggled to draw against the young talent Giri, Nakamura is still leading before playing Wang Hao on Sunday.
Vachier-Lagrave won a nice game against Nepomniachtchi today. It's funny because I saw that in this game he used almost the same pattern than in the one he won against Rodshtein in Biel last July!!

In the B Group, there were 4 players leading with 7/11! In a crazy game McShane sacrificed a piece against So, then got it back, and when one could think it would end in a draw, So played mistakes before the 40th move and was suddenly lost!
Navara made a big come-back and is now leading with McShane, with 8/12. Last round there will be... Navara-McShane!!

In the C Group, almost everybody said Vocaturo had won 2 rounds before the end. Well, that was a mistake! Today young Grandmaster Nyzhnyk, 14 years old, has beaten Van Kampen in a school-like bishop ending, whereas Vocatura suffered a lost against Polish Junior Dariusz Swiercz.
That makes Vocaturo still leading with 8,5 with Nyzhnyk at 8. And guess what : last round will be Vocaturo-Nyzhnyk!!

To make it up to you, here are 10 games from the A Group you don't want to miss :
R3 : Nakamura - Shirov (nice Archangelsk)
R4 : Anand - Wang Hao (stunning sacrifice by Anand)
R5 : Smeets - Anand (flawless technik from the world champion)
R5 : Nepomniachtchi - Shirov (another brilliant Archangelsk)
R6 : Shirov - Kramnik (Kramnik puts fire on the board)
R6 : L'Ami - Nakamura (endgame lesson by the American)
R7 : Nakamura - Smeets (a true Botvinnik gambit)
R8 : Carlsen - Nakamura (good old Najdorf)
R9 : Kramnik - L'Ami (how to make chess easy)
R10 : Kramnik - Carlsen (endgame lesson by Carlsen)

http://www.tatasteelchess.com/

Wijk aan Zee starts on Saturday - and other things

2011-01-14T14:41:00.001+01:00

Famous tournament Wijk aan Zee starts tomorrow with Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, Kramnik and so on. 3 closed tournaments with very interesting players.
http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tournament/participants/group/1

No time to update this blog this last month. I was too busy to play official games (and lost!) and with some websites, including the for-now-small www.chess-teaching.com.

Here is a New in Chess link to vote for the Novelty of the year 2010.

Simple chess by Tukmakov

2010-12-10T16:17:00.000+01:00

Most of the time chess is a difficult game. But sometimes some players, usually very strong grandmasters, make it a very simple game :-) Have a look at this one, by chess legend Tukmakov, showing that more space can be enough to win a game!

() vs. ()
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Cmilyte - Demina WWCC

2010-12-05T20:46:00.001+01:00

The Women World Chess Championship began yesterday in Turkey. Here is an easy positional win of the first round.

() vs. ()
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[Event "WCh Women"][Site "Antakya TUR"][Date "2010.12.05"][Round "1.2"][White "Cmilyte, Viktorija"][Black "Demina, Julia"][Result "1-0"][ECO "E11"][WhiteElo "2514"][BlackElo "2323"][Annotator "SR"][PlyCount "77"][EventDate "2010.??.??"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ {Bogo-indian defense} 4. Bd2 a5 (4... Qe7 {is the main move}) 5. g3 d5 (5... b6 {switches to a Queen's indian}) 6. Bg2 O-O7. Qc2 c6 {maybe not the best idea} (7... c5 {is more logical}) 8. O-O Be7 9.Bg5 {now it's like a semi-slav but with the weird move a5 for black} h6 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nbd2 {planning the typical advance e4} Nd7 (11... b5 $5) 12. e4dxe4 13. Nxe4 Be7 {this bishop lost a lot of tempi : Bb4-e7-f6-e7} 14. Rad1 {very comfortable play for white! With a good center and a better development}Qc7 {playing for the thematic e5} 15. Qc3 {stopping black's plan} b6 {what else?} 16. b3 Bb7 17. Ne5 Rad8 18. c5 $1 {that's really thematic! Whiteblock the bishop in b7. On the other hand it's important to check that blackcan't play an easy Nd7-f6-d5 (which could be met here by Nc4-d6).} b5 (18...Nf6 19. Nc4 {is nice for white}) (18... Nxe5 19. dxe5 bxc5 20. Nxc5 {almost with a dream positional advantage for white!}) 19. f4 {Consolidating.White's position is pleasant but now Cmilyte must find a way to advance.} (19.b4 $2 {with the idea to stop b5-b4 and thus locking up the bishop in b7, butit wouldn't work} axb4 20. Qxb4 Ra8 {with Ra4 coming, with undreamed-of counterplay for black}) 19... Rfe8 {black's position is really cramped.} 20. a4 Nf8 $2 {a mistake which gives a good opportunity to white} (20... b4 {was normal} 21.Qc4 Nf6 22. Nxf6+ Bxf6 23. Qe2 {with a solid edge for white, even if not so easy to turn into victory.}) 21.Nd6 $1 {Cmilyte doesn't miss the chance} Bxd6 22. cxd6 Rxd6 (22... Qxd6 23.axb5 {is even worse for black}) 23. axb5 {with a pin and too much pressure on c6} f6 24. Nxc6 {white won a pawn and keep better pieces} (24. b6 {was easier} Qd8 25. Nc4 {winning}) 24... Bxc6 $2 (24... Ng6 {was better}) 25. bxc6 {now this passed pawn, very well protected, is a monster} Ra8 26. Qc5 Ng6 27. d5e5 (27... Rad8 {was the last (very small) hope}) 28. Be4 Ne7 29. fxe5 fxe5 30.Ra1 Nc8 31. Bf5 (31. b4 $18 {was simple and strong too}) 31... Qb6 32. Qxb6Nxb6 33. Be6+ Kh7 34. c7 {as it could be forseen the pawn now costs the knight}e4 35. Rac1 h5 (35... Nc8 36. Rf8 {would end the game}) 36. c8=Q Nxc8 37. Bxc8{black can't even take in d5 :-)} Rb8 38. Bf5+ Kh6 39. Rc6 1-0

Very nice study

2010-12-01T16:18:00.000+01:00

To start this snowy December, here is a "not so simple not so hard" study of Herbstmann.

White to play and win.

Hint : the first idea doesn't work immediately. The second idea does but you will have to find a third idea for that!

Gros combat Paikidze - Galliamova

2010-11-27T20:28:00.002+01:00

En vidéo :

() vs. ()
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[Event "Russian Championship Super Final women"][Site "Moscow"][Date "2010.11.24"][Round "8"][White "Paikidze, Nazi"][Black "Galliamova, Alisa"][Result "0-1"][ECO "B82"][WhiteElo "2401"][BlackElo "2487"][Annotator "SR"][PlyCount "166"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. f4 {un choix intéressant} (6. g4 {l'attaque Keres}) (6. Be2 {est classique}) 6... a6 7. Qf3 {une ligne à part entière} (7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Kh1 Qc7 10. a4) 7... Qb6 8.Nb3 Qc7 {la Dame a joué deux fois mais le Cb3 trois fois et est moins bien placé} 9. g4b5 10. g5 {une ouverture très agressive !} b4 {les noirs sont prêts pour le combat !} 11. Nb5 axb5 12. gxf6 gxf6 13. Bxb5+ Nd714. f5 {un coup typique contre cette structure, qui va forcer un affaiblissement} e515. Bd3 $146 (15. Qd3 $14 {avec un bon contrôle des cases blanches}) 15... Bb716. O-O {il est toujours difficile de savoir où mettre le Roi dans ce genre deposition. Ce coup est cependant un peu risqué.} (16. Be3 {et soit on laisse leRoi au centre, soit on peut tenter 0-0-0 en sacrifiant a2 !} Bc6 17. O-O-O Rxa218. Kb1 Ra8 19. Qh5 $13) 16... Nb6 17. Be3 Nc4 {un coup typique de sicilienne}18. Bxc4 {affaiblit fortement e4} (18. Bc1 {n'était pas agréable mais limitait un peu les dégâts}) 18... Qxc4 19. Nd2 Rg8+20. Kh1 Qxc2 {Galliamova relève le défi !} 21. Rac1 Qd3 (21... Qxb2 {de l'incorrigible module évidemment}) 22. Rc7 Qb5 23. Rfc1 {les blancs ontpris le contrôle de la colonne c en échange du pion, la position est à doubletranchant} Rd8 {il faut défendre le Roi, notamment contre Dh5} 24. a4 (24. Qh5 Rd7 25. R7c4 Rg7 (25... d5 $226. Rc8+ Bxc8 27. Rxc8+ Rd8 (27... Ke7 28. Bc5+ Rd6 29. Bxd6+ Kxd6 30. Qxf7 $18) 28. Rxd8+ Kxd8 29. Qxf7 $18) 26. Bh6 Rg8 27. Bxf8 Rxf8 $15) 24... bxa3 25.bxa3 {menace Tb1} Rd7 26. Qd1 Rxc7 27. Rxc7 Be7 28. Qc2 {la Dame surveille toujours e4 et a fait le tour pour s'approcher du Roi noir}Bd8 $1 {les noirs chassent la Tour très bien placée en 7ème rangée} 29. Rc4 d5{et réalisent leur percée thématique !} 30. Rb4 Qc6 {les noirs ont la paire deFous, un pion de plus, une meilleure sécurité du Roi, ils peuvent donc même sepermettre l'échange des Dames} 31. Qb1 {tandis que les blancs doivent lesgarder à tout prix et espérer une contre-attaque} Ba8 32. Rb8 d4 $1 (32... dxe4$2 {ne permettrait pas l'ouverture de la grande diagonale, le Fou en e3 étantdifficile à déloger !}) 33. Bf2 {les blancs doivent être très vigilants car sile Cavalier ou la Dame quittent la défense de e4, ils sont carrément mat !} Rg4{les noirs envisagent bien sûr de sacrifier la qualité en e4 !} 34. h3 Rf4 $6 (34... Rxe4 {méritait une sérieuse attention} 35. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 36. Qxe4 Bxe4+ 37.Kh2 Kd7 {avec une position très agréable pour les noirs : f5 tombe, ce quifera donc 3 pions passés liés. La seule interrogation est le pion a qui peuts'avérer un peu ennuyeux.}) (34... Rg5 {suivi de prise en f5, évitait la combinaison blanche}) 35. Kg1 $2 {la jeune joueuse manque sa chance} (35. Bxd4 $1 {était un joli coup tactique ! Voyez-vous l'idée sur exd4 ?} Rxe4 $1 36. Rxd8+Kxd8 37. Bb6+ Ke8 38. Nxe4 Qc4 $1 39. Kh2 Bxe4 40. Qb2 {et les noirs sont mieux mais les blancs peuvent espérer}) 35... Rxf5 {la Tour est évidemment imprenable} 36. Kf1 {la position est devenue trèstactique et difficile à jouer, surtout à l'approche du contrôle de temps} Rf437. Qb4 Rxe4 {les noirs se lancent finalement} 38. Nxe4 Qa6+ $2 {une erreur due au zeitnot} (38... Qxe4 39. Rxd8+ Kxd8 40. Qf8+ Kc7 41. Qxf7+Kb6 42. Qxf6+ Bc6 $17 {était incalculable et difficile à juger en crise de temps}) 39. Kg1 Bxe4 40.Bxd4 $1 {cette fois Paikidze a trouvé ce coup !} Qe2 {les joueuses se rendent coup pour coup} (40... exd4 41. Rxd8+ ({ou} 41. Qxd4)41... Kxd8 42. Qxd4+ Kc7 43. Qxe4 Qxa3 44. Qxh7 {et les blancs respirent mieux}) 41. Qa4+ Ke7 42. Bc5+ Ke6 43. Qe8+ Kf5 44. Qd7+ Kf4 45. Qg4+ Qxg4+ 46. hxg4Ba5 {on y voit plus clair. Les blancs ont profité du zeitnot pour s'en sortir.La finale est équilibrée.} 47. Rb5 (47. a4) 47... Bc3 48. a4 Bc6 49. Rb6 Bxa450. Rxf6+ Kxg4 51. Rxf7 h5 {la position s'est simplifiée et est annulante maisles joueuses doivent terminer la partie avec 30 minutes au KO (après le 40èmecoup) !} 52. Rg7+ Kf5 53. Be3 Bd1 {ce sont bien sûr les noirs qui jouent pour le gain} 54. Kf2 Bg4 55. Kg2 Ke4 56.Bf2 Bd4 57. Bh4 (57. Bxd4 exd4 58. Kf2 {était nulle selon les tables de Nalimov}) 57... Kf4 58. Rf7+ Ke3 59. Kg3 e4 60. Re7 (60. Bf6 $11) 60... Kd3 61. Bg5 e362. Bxe3 {une décision pratique, les blancs ont de bonnes chances de nulle. Eneffet, tout joueur ayant les bases en finales peut trouver quelques idées pourannuler : sacrifier la Tour contre pion et Fou naturellement, ou simplementsacrifier sur le Fou de cases blanches puisque les noirs se retrouveraientavec la case de promotion de la mauvaise couleur.} Bxe3 63. Kh4 Bb6 64. Re8 (64. Rh7 Bd8+ 65. Kg3 Ke4) 64... Bd4 65. Kg5 Bd1 66. Re7 Be3+ 67. Kh4 Be2 68.Rh7 Bb6 69. Rh8 Bd4 70. Re8 Bf6+ 71. Kh3 Bf1+ 72. Kh2 $2 {Selon Nalimov, alorsque c'était nulle théorique depuis la prise du pion e3, ce coup est une fautequi offre le gain aux noirs en... 69 coups. Il s'agit là de considérationséchappant aux simples mortels que nous sommes.} (72. Kg3 $11) 72... h4 $2 {par contre ce coup est une faute reconnaissable à oeil humain ! Voyez-vouscomment les blancs annulent?} (72... Kd4 $17 {gagnait selon l'ordinateur. Nousautres humains préférerons utiliser l'expression "conservait des chances degain".}) 73. Rf8 $4 {une occasion manquée sûrement à cause du zeitnot} (73. Re1$1 {forçant la disparition du Fou de cases blanches, annulait en 2 coups} Be274. Rxe2 Kxe2 $11) 73... Be5+ 74. Kh1 Be2 {Galliamova ne laissera plus d'occasion à sa jeune adversaire} 75. Rf2 Bg4 76.Rf7 h3 77. Rh7 Ke3 78. Rh4 Bc8 79. Rh7 Kf2 80. Rc7 {un coup astucieux pour jouer pour le pat} (80. Rf7+ {pouvait encore résister quelques temps} Kg3 81. Ra7 Be6 82. Ra5 Bf4 $17 {et à force de manoeuvres les noirs l'emporteront (selon la théorie !)}) 80...Bg4 81. Rf7+ Kg3 ({sûrement pas} 81... Bf3+ $4 82. Rxf3+ Kxf3 $11) 82. Rf1 Be283. Rf5 (83. Rf2 $5 Bd3 84. Rd2 Be4+ 85. Kg1 h2+ 86. Rxh2 Bd4+ 87. Kf1 Kxh2 $19) 83... Bf4 {ponctue un beau combat !} 0-1

Partie folle Kosteniuk - Paikidze

2010-11-23T17:20:00.001+01:00

Une fois n'est pas coutume, voici une partie commentée en français.(it's rare but here is a game commented in French)

() vs. ()
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[Event "Russian Championship Super Final women"][Site "Moscow"][Date "2010.11.20"][Round "5"][White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"][Black "Paikidze, Nazi"][Result "0-1"][ECO "B12"][WhiteElo "2507"][BlackElo "2401"][Annotator "SR"][PlyCount "108"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Ne7 8. c4Nbc6 9. Qa4 a6 (9... dxc4 10. Nc3 a6 11. O-O-O Qa5 12. Qxa5 Nxa5 13. Nxf5 Nxf514. Bb6 Nc6 15. f4 Rc8 16. Bf3 Be7 $11 {Leko,P (2751)-Anand,V (2783)/Miskolc HUN 2009/1/2-1/2 (42)}) 10. Nd2 Qd7 $146 {le premier choix de l'ordinateur, donc pas une nouveauté très surprenante !} (10... Rc8 11. Rc1 Qd7 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Nxc6 Bb4 14. O-O Rxc6 15. Rxc6 Qxc6 16.Qxc6+ bxc6 17. Nb3 $14 {Kosteniuk,A (2524)-Girya,O (2414)/Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2010/1/2-1/2 (34)}) 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Rc1 Bb4 14. O-O $1 {un fort sacrifice de qualité}Nxe3 (14... O-O {était plus sage du coup, même si les blancs gardent un petitplus du fait de la structure}) 15. Qxb4 Nxf1 16. Nc4 Qe7 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. Rxc6{les blancs ne sont pas pressés de prendre le Cf1 !} Kg8 19. Bxf1 a5 20. Qc5$16 {les blancs sont gagnants, ils ont un pion pour la qualité mais dominenttout l'échiquier de manière impressionnante} h5 (20... Bg6 {pour défendre f7}21. Rc7 Qd8 22. Bb5 $16) 21. Rc7 {magnifique Tour en 7ème rangée} Qf8 22. Ba6 {une idée orignale mais pas nécessaire} ({on peut comprendre que les blancs nesoient pas très intéressés par obtenir la finale survenant après} 22. Rxf7 Qxf723. Nxf7 Kxf7 24. Qc7+ Kg6 25. h4 $14) ({Par contre} 22. Bb5 $142 {n"aurait pas laissé de chances aux noirs, par exemple :} Bg6 23. h3 Kh7 24. Qe3Rd8 {rêvant de rendre la qualité sur le monstre en d6 et le pion e5} 25. Qa3 {pas question !} f6 {luttant contre le point d'appui du Cd6} (25... Rb8 26. Qxa5Ra8 27. Qc3 Rxa2 28. Be8 $18) 26. Bd3 {éliminant la seule bonne pièce noire}fxe5 27. Bxg6+ Kxg6 28. Qg3+ Kh7 29. Nf7 Rc8 30. Rb7 Rb8 (30... Kg8 31. Qg6 $18{avec une nouvelle domination totale}) 31. Ng5+ Kg8 32. Nxe6 $18) 22... Bg6 23.Bc8 {pour couper complètement le jeu en 2, cependant sans obtenir quelquechose de concret} Kh7 24. f4 Qd8 25. g3 {les blancs ne savent pas trop commentprocéder. Le jeu d'échecs est exigeant : il ne suffit pas d'obtenir uneposition de rêve, il faut aussi savoir comment la transformer en victoire !}Rb8 26. Bb7 f6 $2 (26... Re8 $3 {était une libération inespérée} 27. Nxe8 (27.h4 Re7 $11) 27... Qd1+ 28. Kf2 Rxb7 $1 (28... Qd2+ 29. Kf3 $11) 29. Rxb7 Bd330. Ke3 Qe2+ 31. Kd4 Qf2+ 32. Kxd3 Qxc5 $15) 27. Be4 f5 {quelle horreur pour le Fg6 !} 28. Bb7 Rf8 $2 (28... Re8 $1 {toujours le même thème}) 29. b3 (29. h4 {pour tenter de bloquer le Fg6} a4 30.b4 axb3 31. axb3 Be8 32. b4 Rf7 $1 {la seule chance pour se libérer} 33. Nxf7Qd1+ 34. Kg2 Rxb7 $1 35. Rxb7 Qe2+ 36. Qf2 Bc6+ 37. Kg1 Qd1+ 38. Qf1 Qd4+ 39.Kh2 Bxb7 $11) 29... h4 {bien sûr, pour trouver enfin du contre-jeu} 30. Kg2 Bh5{les noirs s'accrochent à leur seule pièce active} 31. Qc6 (31. Qc3 Rh8 32. h3hxg3 33. Bc8 Qh4 34. Qxg3 Qxg3+ 35. Kxg3 Bf7 $1 36. Rxf7 Rhxc8 37. Nxc8 Rxc838. Ra7 Rc3+ 39. Kh4 Rf3 40. Rxa5 Rxf4+ 41. Kg5 Rf2 42. Ra6 Rg2+ 43. Kf4 g5+44. Kf3 Rh2 45. Kg3 Rd2 46. Rxe6 Rd3+ 47. Kf2 Rxh3 48. Rf6 Rh2+ 49. Kg3 Rxa250. Rxf5 Kg6 51. Rf6+ Kh5 $11) 31... Be8 32. Qc3 Bd7 33. Kf2 $2 (33. Qxa5 $16 {aurait laisser les noirs agonisant} g5 34. Bd5 $1 $18) 33... Kh8 {pour préparer g5} 34. Qxa5 g5 {maintenant le terrain devient un peu glissant,avec l'aile Roi qui s'ouvre sur les 2 Rois} 35. Qc3 h3 36. a4 $2 (36. fxg5 {gagnait assez facilement} f4 37. g4 f3 38. Qc2 Rf4 39. Qd2 Qxc7 40. Qxf4 Qc2+41. Kg3 $18) 36... gxf4 37. gxf4 Qh4+ 38. Ke3 $2 (38. Qg3 {était un chemin sûr vers la victoire} Qxg3+ 39. Kxg3 Rg8+ 40. Kf3 $18 {les pions a et b vont faire la différence}) 38... Be8 39. a5 (39. Bc8 Qh6 40.Rb7 Rxb7 41. Bxb7 Qg7 42. Qe1 Qc7 43. Kd3 $16 {avec une relative sécurité du Roi, laissant aux blancs de meilleures chances})39... Rg8 40. Nxf5 Qg4 41. Qe1 $2 {une gaffe} (41. Ng3 {était le coup logique}Rxb7 $1 42. Rxb7 Qxg3+ 43. hxg3 Rxg3+ 44. Kf2 Rxc3 45. Rb8 Rc2+ 46. Kg1 Rg2+47. Kh1 Rg8 48. Kh2 Bc6 49. Rxg8+ Kxg8 50. Kxh3 Bb5 $11) 41... exf5 {maintenantles noirs jouent avec une Tour de plus, même si l'issue reste incertaine !} 42.a6 Bh5 43. e6 Rge8 44. Kd3 {malgré la Tour de moins et leur Roi en pleincentre, les blancs ont assez d'activité et de pions passés pour annuler !} (44.e7 $2 Rbd8 $19) 44... Rbd8+ 45. Kc2 Kg8 (45... Qd1+ 46. Qxd1 Bxd1+ 47. Kc3 Rxe648. a7 $11) 46. a7 (46. e7 $13 {avec le chaos sur l'échiquier !}) 46... Qxf447. Rd7 $2 {la dernière erreur} (47. Qg1+ {en intermédiaire faisait encore nulle} Bg4 48. Rd7 Rxd7 49. exd7 Qc7+ 50. Kb1Qxd7 51. a8=Q Rxa8 52. Bxa8 $11) 47... Qxh2+ ({ou} 47... Rxd7 48. exd7 Qc7+ 49.Kb2 Rxe1 50. a8=Q+ Kh7 $19) 48. Kc3 Rxd7 49. exd7 Qc7+ 50. Kd4 Qxd7+ 51. Kc3Rxe1 52. a8=Q+ Kg7 53. Bd5 Re8 54. Qa5 Re5 {une partie complètement folle où Kosteniuk aurait mérité la victoire} 0-1

Kramnik - Shirov of last week

2010-11-19T22:52:00.000+01:00

Here is my analysis of this wild game played in the last round of the Memorial Tal tournament. Both player were suffering before the game, Shirov 3/8, Kramnik 3,5/8.
() vs. ()
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[Event "5th Tal Memorial"][Site "Moscow/Russia"][Date "2010.11.14"][Round "9"][White "Kramnik, Vladimir"][Black "Shirov, Alexei"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D52"][WhiteElo "2791"][BlackElo "2735"][Annotator "SR"][PlyCount "117"][EventDate "2010.??.??"]1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 {this is theCambridge Springs defense. The name derives from a 1904 tournament inCambridge Springs, Pennsylvania in which the defense was used several times.Practitioners of the opening have included Efim Bogoljubov, Vasily Smyslov,and Garry Kasparov.} 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Rc1 {a very rare move by Kramnik} ({the main line goes} 8. Qd2 Bb4 9. Rc1 h6 10. Bh4 c5 11. a3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 b6 (12... Qxa3) 13. Bd3 Ba6 14. O-O {with a small plus for white}) 8... h6 9. Bh4Bb4 10. a3 $5 {Kramnik sacrifices a pawn, the idea is well known though this position is new}(10. Qd2 {would transpose in the main line but it was not Kramnik's idea})10... Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qxa3 12. Qd2 b5 (12... c5 {would be the main line with the rare 12...Qxa3}) 13. Bd3 O-O 14. O-O Bb7 15. c4{creating a weakness in c6} (15. e4 {is another possibility} N5b6 16. Ra1 Qd6 {with compensations for white but probably not more}) 15... bxc4 16. Bxc4 N5b617. Bd3 Rfc8 ({safer was} 17... Ba6 18. Bxa6 Qxa6 19. Rxc6 Rfc8 $11) 18. Bb1 (18. Be4 Qf8 19. Rfd1 {and black can't move a lot}) 18... c5 {Shirov exchanges his weak pawn} 19. dxc5 ({Kramnik wasn't sure of} 19. Be7 {and showed this variation :} Nd5 20. Bd6 Rc6 21. dxc5 Nxc5 22. Rxc5 Rxc5 $13 (22... Rxd6 $2 23. Ra5 Qb3 24. e4)) 19... Nxc5 20. Qd6 Qa4 (20... Rc6 {would have forced the Queen to return in d1 or d2} 21. Qd1 (21. Qg3 Ne4 22.Bxe4 Rxc1 23. Bxb7 Rxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Qd3+ 25. Ke1 Qc3+ 26. Kf1 {with a draw, as shown by Kramnik})) 21. Nd4 (21. Rxc5 Bxf3 $15 {would be good for black because the Bh4 is hanging.}) 21... Qd7 (21... Ne4) 22.Qf4 g5 $6 {Shipov said you can't play like this if you are a human!} (22... f5{was probably dangerous too!}) (22... Qd5 {is more human} 23. Qg4 h5 24. Qg3Ne4 25. Bxe4 Qxe4 {and black is more than ok}) 23. Qf6 (23. Bxg5 {wasn't good because of} Nd5 ({but not the tempting} 23... Qd5 $2 {because of the nice} 24. Bh7+ $1 Kf8 25. Bxh6+ Ke8 26. Qg3 $18)) 23... gxh4 24.Qxh6 f5 (24... Ne4 {was the other way to block the Bb1} 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. f3e5 27. fxe4 exd4 28. e5 d3 29. Qg5+ Kf8 30. Qh6+ Ke7 31. Qf6+ Ke8 $11 {with a draw}) 25. Rxc5 $1 {wow, a piece down Kramnik sacrifices an exchange!}Rxc5 26. Nxe6 {this totally destroys the last shield of the black king} Rac8 (26... Rd5 {keeps the material but} 27. e4 $40 {will open the diagonal to the black king, with good chances for white.}) 27.Qg6+ Kh8 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Bxf5 {now the black king can't count on any pawnprotection, which is always very dangerous} Rxf5 {Shirov knows very well hehas to give some material back to reduce white's attack} (29... Rc1 30. Qg5+Kh8 31. Qxh4+ Kg8 32. Qg5+ Kh8 33. f3 {to open the path for the white king}Rxf1+ 34. Kxf1 $44 {despite being a rook down, white is by no way worse}) 30.Qxf5 Bd5 ({Better was} 30... Qe7 {to protect the h pawn! A draw is likely.})31. Qg5+ Kf7 32. Nf4 Bc4 $2 (32... Bb3 {this strange move kept some chancesaccording to the computer. But in practice black's position remains verydifficult to play.}) 33. Ra1 Rg8 (33... Rc7 34. h3 $14) 34. Qh5+ Kf8 35. Qxh4 {white has now enough material for the bishop and is still attacking} (35. Rd1)35... Bf7 {it's really difficult to defend this position with a very weak kingand no possibility to counter attack} 36. h3 {simply preventing all back rank mates} Rg7 (36... Nc4 37. Qh6+ Ke7 38. Qa6 Rb8$14) 37. Qh8+ Rg8 38. Qf6 Nd5 39. Qd4 Qf5 40. Rxa7 {the last pawn} Nxf4 41.exf4 {of course white is not ready to exchange queens, he wants to take otherbenefits from the position of the black king} Qd5 42. Qb4+ Kg7 43. Qe7 Kh8 $2 (43... Rc8 {activating the rook was a more stubborn defense}) 44. Qh4+ (44. Qf6+Rg7 45. g4 Kg8 46. Rc7 Qd1+ 47. Kh2 Qe2 48. Qd4 Rh7 49. Kg3 {pawns will advance more and more, white is probably winning}) 44... Qh5 (44...Kg7 45. Qg5+ Qxg5 46. fxg5 Kg6 47. f4 Bc4 48. Rd7 Ra8 49. g4 {impressive pawns!} (49. Rd6+ $2 Kf5 50. Rd4 Be2 51. Kf2 Re8 {and it's unclear if white could win because} 52. g4+ Bxg4 53. hxg4+ Kxg4 {is a draw}) 49... Ra3 50. Kh2 Be6 51. Rd6 Kf7 52. f5 Ba2 53. h4 Ra4 54. g6+ Ke755. Rb6 Rxg4 56. h5 Rh4+ 57. Kg3 Rxh5 58. f6+ Kd7 59. Kg4 Rh1 60. f7 Rg1+ 61.Kh5 Rf1 62. Rb7+ Kc6 63. Ra7 Be6 64. Kh6 $18) 45. Qf6+ (45. Qxh5+ Bxh5 46. Kh2Be2 47. Re7 (47. g4 $2 Bxg4 48. hxg4 Rxg4 {is draw}) 47... Bd1 48. f5 Rg5 49.Re1 Bh5 50. Re5 Kh7 (50... Kg7 $2 {would trap his own rook :-)} 51. f4 Kf6 52.fxg5+ Kxe5 53. g4 $18) 51. f3 Bf7 (51... Bxf3 52. gxf3 {would be a funny ffh endgame, probably winning though}) 52. g4 {must win})45... Rg7 46. f5 Kg8 (46... Qd1+ 47. Kh2 Qd5 48. g4 Qd2 49. Kg3 Qd3+ 50. Kh4Qb3 51. Ra8+ Bg8 52. Qd4 $18) 47. Kh2 Qe2 48. Qd4 Qc4 $2 {helping white even if it was winning anyway} (48... Qb5 49. f6 Rg5 50. Qf4 Qd551. g4 Qc5 52. Re7 Qd5 53. h4 Rg6 54. g5 $18) 49. Qxc4 Bxc4 50. Rxg7+ Kxg7 51.g4 $18 {with 3 pawns it would be draw but 4 is too much for the bishop} Kf6 52.Kg3 Ke5 53. h4 Bd5 (53... Kf6 54. Kf4 Bd3 55. g5+ Kg7 56. h5 $18) 54. h5 Bb355. h6 Bg8 56. Kh4 Kf6 57. f3 Bh7 58. Kh5 Bg8 59. g5+ {nice game by Kramnik}1-0

World youth ratings updated

2010-11-15T18:16:00.000+01:00

My pages on world youth ratings were updated with November ratings and 2011 categories.

Rook ending

2010-11-14T19:14:00.001+01:00

() vs. ()
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"Must win" situation. How should black proceed ?

Karjakin - Shirov played yesterday

2010-11-09T15:46:00.001+01:00

() vs. ()
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[Event "5th Tal Memorial"][Site "Moscow/Russia"][Date "2010.11.08"][Round "4"][White "Karjakin, Sergey"][Black "Shirov, Alexei"][Result "1/2-1/2"][ECO "C78"][WhiteElo "2760"][BlackElo "2735"][Annotator "Sylvain"][PlyCount "126"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000+30:900+30"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 {Archangelsk defence is one of Shirov's favorites} 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. Be3 {9.a4 and 9.h3 are the main moves here} O-O 10. Nbd2 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Bg5 exd4{12...Na5 is tried more often but not very successfully. Before this game 12...exd4 has been played only once.} 13. Bd5 {this sharp move leads to a variationwhere black will get 2 pawns for the exchange.} dxc3 14. Bxc6 cxd2 15. Bxa8Qxa8 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qxd2 Qxe4 {here we are. This looks promising for black :bishop pair and 2 pawns for the exchange, this is balanced} 18. Rfe1 Qf5 19.Nh4 Qg5 20. Qxg5+ fxg5 {black's structure is better now but white gets an active knight} 21. Nf5 Bg622. Ne7+ Kg7 23. Nd5 ({That's modern chess opening preparation!} 23. Rad1 {was Jobava-Grigoryan in 2008. White won in 48 moves, reaching a rook vsbishop+2 pawns endgame.}) 23... Rb8 24. Rad1 Kf8 {preventing Re7 thanks to c6}25. g4 $1 {white needs to play very actively because black could end better inthe endgame. Karjakin would like to place his knight firmly in f6.} c5 26. h4({the computer is afraid of the bishop pair and asks to take in b6} 26. Nxb6Rxb6 27. Kg2 {is still balanced. Black has better chances but it's difficultto activate the bishop, the king and the d pawn!} b4 28. Rd5 c4 29. Rxg5 c3 30.b3 Rc6 31. f3 f6 32. Ra5 Bf7 33. Kf2 d5 {finally, but still no way to play with the Kf8 and white have active pieces}34. Ke3 Re6+ 35. Kf2 Rd6 36. Rc5 Rd7 37. a3 d4 38. axb4 Bxb3 $11) 26... gxh427. f4 {discreetly threatening to trap the bishop :)} f5 28. g5 {nice idea by Karjakin: now he got f6 for his knight and the Bg6 is less strong.} Bf7 29. Nf6 c4+ (29... Rd8 30. Nxh7+ Kg7 31. Nf6 d5 32. Re7 c4+ 33. Kg2 {is almost the same than the game, white having enough activity in compensation}) 30. Kg2 Rd8 31. Nxh7+ Kg7 32. Nf6 b4 33. Re7 (33. Nd5 {with the idea Ne7, was safer} Bxd5+ 34. Rxd5 c3 35. bxc3 bxc3 36. Re7+ Kg8 37.Re2 Rc8 38. Rc2 Rc4 $11) 33... c3 34. bxc3 bxc3 35. Nd7 {very good activity for white} Ba5 36. g6 $1 {impressive, 2B+2p against R+N canbe really strong but Karjakin played so actively that it's Shirov who ishaving a hard time!} Kxg6 37. Kh3 {threatening to win the Bf7} Rxd7 {only move}38. Rxd7 Bb4 39. Kxh4 Bxa2 {3 pawns for 2 exchanges: nice!} 40. R1xd6+ $1 {white immediately gives one exchange back to eliminate the c and d passed pawns} (40. Rc7 $2 {could become dangerous for white, the bishop pair can be verystrong to support passed pawns.} a5 41. Kg3 Bb3 42. Rc1 Kf6 43. Kf3 a4 44. Ke3Bc5+ 45. Kd3 c2 46. Rxc2 {sooner or later white will have to give one exchange back} Bxc2+ 47. Kxc2 Ke648. Rc8 a3 49. Kc3 Kd5 50. Kd3 $11) 40... Bxd6 41. Rxd6+ Kf7 42. Rc6 {of course the c pawn is more important} a5 43. Rxc3 {now black is playing fora draw. This game was played in the fourth round and Shirov lost first 3 gamesin endgames! One could imagine what he had in mind here : "no no please let medraw this one...".} a4 44. Rc6 {cutting the black king} Ke7 45. Kg3 (45. Ra6Bb3 46. Kg5 Bc2 47. Rc6 Bd3 48. Rc3 Bb1 $1 {only move} (48... Be4 49. Rc4 $18)49. Rc1 Bd3 $11) 45... Kd7 46. Ra6 Bb3 47. Kf2 Kc7 48. Ke1 Kb7 49. Rh6 (49. Ra5{was more challenging} Kb6 50. Re5 $1 Kc6 51. Rxf5 a3 52. Kd2 a2 53. Ra5 Kd654. Kc3 Bd5 55. Ra6+ Ke7 56. Kd4 Bb3 57. Ke5 Kf7 58. f5 Kg7 $1 59. Ra7+ Bf7 $11) 49... Kc7 50. Kd2 a3 51. Kc3 a2 52. Kb2 Kd7 53. Ra6 Bc4 54. Ra5 Be6 55. Ra7+Kc6 56. Ra6+ Kd7 57. Kc3 Kc7 58. Kd4 Kb7 59. Ra3 Kb6 60. Ke5 Bc4 61. Kxf5 {it's a draw} Kc5 62. Kg6 Kb4 63. Rxa2 Bxa2 {Nice game. It's impressive andinstructive how Karjakin played with the "supposed slightly worse" materialR+N against 2B+2p.} 1/2-1/2

Delightful study of the weekend

2010-11-06T20:23:00.000+01:00

Kakovin - 1936

White to play and win. (level medium)

Ivanchuk wins Cap d'Agde

2010-11-02T14:44:00.004+01:00

Vassily Ivanchuk wins Cap d'Agde rapid tournament with a 1,5-0,5 victory against last edition's winner Hikaru Nakamura. In this final match both games opened with a King's gambit!! I commented the first one.

(2754) vs. (2733)
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[Event "Le trophée CCAS 2010"][Site "Cap d'agde"][Date "2010.10.31"][Round "1"][White "V. Ivanchuk"][Black "H. Nakamura"][Result "1-0"][ECO "C30"][PlyCount "83"][EventDate "2010.??.??"]1. e4 e5 2. f4 $5 {wow, Ivanchuk shows another time he is a great chessplayer! It's the final of the tournament, he faces very strong Nakamuraagainst whom he lost 2 years ago here, and he goes for a King's gambit!!} Nc6 $5 {good choice by Nakamura to play a rare defense to face Ivanchuk's surprise} 3.Nf3 f5 {this looks crazy but it's a solid defense! I played it a couple oftimes myself after having seen it in a "101 surprises in the openings" book byBurgess 10 years ago.} 4. d3 {of course white has many other possibilities but Chuky decides to play securely} d6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. g3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 {that's funny, one could expect wild stufffrom a King's gambit but finally here is this symetrical position which leadsto a positional game} 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Be3 O-O 11. O-O fxe4 12. dxe4Be6 {almost symetrical but black played h6 which is not very significant for now}13. a3 Kh7 14. Kh1 {both player played prophylactic moves with their King} a6 ({the computer is claiming that black could take a small edge with} 14... Bc415. Re1 (15. Qxd8 Raxd8 16. Rfd1 Ng4 17. Bc5 Nd4 $1 {getting the f2 square})15... Qe8 $1 16. Qc1 Rd8 {with a very small plus for black}) 15. Bg1 Rf7 16.Qe2 Nd4 17. Qd3 Nxf3 18. Qxf3 Rd7 (18... Ng4 {is not useful} 19. Qe2) 19. Rad1Bg4 20. Rxd7 {white had to foresee that of course} Bxf3 21. Rxd8 Bxg2+ 22. Kxg2Rxd8 {so, it's dead draw, isn't it?} 23. Be3 g5 {after the game a player toldme that Nakamura said he played like an idiot by putting his pawns on blacksquares...} 24. h3 Kg6 25. g4 {whereas white are putting their ones on white...}c6 {I'm not sure if white is already winning here but it's a textbook exemple.White has the good bishop, black the bad.} 26. Rf2 b5 {ok, that's white!} 27.Rd2 Rxd2+ 28. Bxd2 Bf8 29. Kf3 h5 $2 {one could think it's good idea toexchange a pawn which was on black, but it's not sure at all, because now g5is weak.} (29... Nd7 {must be a better defense}) 30. Ne2 hxg4+ 31. hxg4 Nd7 (31... Bc5 32. Nc1 Bb6 33. Nd3 Nd7 34. b3 Bd8 35. Be3 Be7 36. a4 bxa4 37. bxa4Kf6 {black suffers but maybe he can hold}) 32. Nc1 c5 $6 {oops, another pawn on black...} (32... Nc5 {must be better}) 33. Na2 Nb8 $2 (33... c4 {was forced} 34. Ba5 Bd6 35. Nb4 Nb8 36. b3 cxb3 37. cxb3 Kf6 38. Nd5+Ke6 39. b4 Nc6 40. Bb6 Nd4+ 41. Bxd4 (41. Ke3 Nc2+ 42. Kd3 Nxa3 43. Bd8 Nc4 44.Bxg5 Kf7 45. Bd8 Kg6 $11 {and black must hold}) 41... exd4 42. Ke2 Bf4 43. Kd3Ke5 44. Nc7 Bc1 45. Nxa6 Bxa3 46. Nb8 Kd6 47. Kxd4 Bxb4 48. e5+ Ke6 49. Na6Bc3+ 50. Kxc3 Kxe5 $11) 34. c4 $1 {Grandmaster technique in action! Thisblocks c5 on black and maybe seals black's fate!} bxc4 (34... Nc6 $1 35. Nc3Nd4+ 36. Ke3 b4 37. axb4 cxb4 38. Na4 Ne6 {g5 is so weak!} 39. Kd3 Bc5 40. Ke2a5 41. Nxc5 Nxc5 42. Be3 Nxe4 43. c5 Kf7 44. Kf3 Nf6 45. Bxg5 Nd5 {remains unclear}) 35. Nc3 Nc6 36. Nd5 Nd4+ 37. Ke3 Kf7 38. Nb6 Ke6 39. Nxc4 Be740. Ba5 Nb5 (40... Kf6 41. Kd3 Ke6 42. Ne3 Nf3 43. Kc4 Bf8 44. Nf1 {to play Bb6 without Nd2+} Kd6 $13 {and the outcome is still unclear}) 41. Kd3 Nd6 $2 (41... Nd4 $13 {transposes in 40...Kf6}) 42. Nxd6 {and the American player resigned, understanding that this endgame with 3 black pawns on black is totally winning for white} (42.Nxd6 Kxd6 (42... Bxd6 43. Kc4 Be7 44. Bb6 {wins a pawn and the game}) 43. Kc4Kc6 44. Bd2 Bf6 45. Be3 Be7 46. b3 a5 47. a4 $18 {is a very wellknown zugzwang in this kind of endings!}) 1-0

Brillancy by Shirov 2 days ago

2010-10-28T16:22:00.001+02:00

() vs. ()
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[Event "Unive Crown Group"][Site "Hoogeveen NED"][Date "2010.10.26"][Round "2"][White "Shirov, Alexei"][Black "Tiviakov, Sergei"][Result "1-0"][ECO "B01"][WhiteElo "2749"][BlackElo "2637"][PlyCount "51"][EventDate "2010.10.25"]1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 {Tiviakov is fond of this move and worked alot on this variation. But one can say what he wants, this is not a normalplace for a Queen in the opening!} 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. f4 {the two main moves are 7.Nc4 and 7.Bf4} Nb6 8. g4 Nbd5 (8... Be6 9. Bg2 g6 10.O-O {is Shirov-Tiviakov, Benidorn 2008, 1-0 !}) 9. Bg2 {this seems to be alittle improvement on 9.g5 played in 2 games in 2008 and 2009 (black won inboth!)} g6 10. g5 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nd5 12. c4 {forcing the knight to go to an ugly square} Nc7 13. c5 Qd8 {so, how could Qxd5-Qd6-Qd8 have been useful?} 14. d5 $1 {you know Shirov...}cxd5 (14... Nxd5 $2 15. c4 f6 16. cxd5 fxe5 17. dxc6 {and white has some edge})15. c4 {you just can't give Shirov so much space and better placed pieceswithout being attacked!} e6 16. Bb2 {both white bishops are beautiful} Bg7 (16... Rg8 {may be better but is not very appealing!} 17. Ng4 Be7 18. Nf6+ Bxf619. Bxf6 Qd7 20. O-O {and you only have to look a few seconds to the positionto understand that white is just winning}) 17. Nc6 {of course} bxc6 18. Bxg7Rg8 19. Be5 {nothing can challenge this bishop on dark squares} Bd7 {very nice bishop!! Well, I'm not sure, is the knight on c7 really better? Sure he can goto a6! Or more seriously in d5 after dxc4.} 20. O-O {dream position} Rb8 {maybe some activity?} (20... dxc4 $2 {is unfortunately not playable because of}21. Bf6 Qb8 22. Rb1 Nb5 23. Rxb5 cxb5 24. Bxa8 $18) 21. Qa4 {well, the only square on the b file for the rook is b7 actually...} Rb7 (21...dxc4 {may have been the last (very small) hope} 22. Bxc6 (22. Rfd1 Nd5 {yes, the Be5 is worth a rook}) 22... Rc8 23. Bxd7+ Qxd7 24. c6 Qd5 25. Rac1 $16) 22. Rab1 Qc8 23. Rxb7 Qxb7 24. Rf2 d4 $2 {a mistake but black was dead lost anyway because of Rb2 coming} 25. Qa5 Kd8 (25... Na6 26. Bf6 Qc8 27. Rb2 {with some Rb7 idea, is of course crushing}) 26.Be4 {Tiviakov has had enough of this ugly position! Effortless win by Shirov.}1-0

Nice attacking chess by untitled player

2010-10-24T23:04:00.001+02:00

Under 2200 players can play very good attacking chess too! Have a look at this one.

() vs. ()
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Bad surprise

2010-10-20T23:35:00.001+02:00

() vs. ()
- -

Black just played 18...Rad8. Which tactical problem did he totally overlook ?

Grandmaster plan in N vs B endgame

2010-10-14T17:17:00.001+02:00

This nice endgame was played some days ago in Bundesliga.

() vs. ()
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[Event "Bundesliga"][Site "Germany"][Date "2010.10.10"][Round "2.1"][White "Postny, Evgeny"][Black "Sandipan, Chanda"][Result "0-1"][WhiteElo "2595"][BlackElo "2641"][Annotator "SR"][SetUp "1"][FEN "3n4/pp5p/2p2k2/5p1P/1PP1p2p/2P1P2P/4BP2/2K5 w - - 0 25"][PlyCount "36"][EventDate "2010.??.??"]{How would you assess this endgame?} 25. c5 {this looks logical to free the bishop's way} (25. f4 $1 exf3 {to get e5 and g5 for the knight} 26. Bxf3 {maybe with the pressure on c6/b7 white could save the game?} Nf7 27. Kd2 Ng5 {black has to pressurize h3 or white will save the game!} (27... Ne5 $2 28. Be2Kg5 {black is better : space advantage and white's king has problems to becomeactive. And h3 and h5 are weak, despite being on white squares.} 29. c5 {and here black has to find} h6 $1 (29... f4 $2 30. h6 $1 {saves the game thanks to the clever idea Bd1-c2} (30. exf4+ Kxf4 31. c4 h6 32.b5 Nd7 33. Kc3 Nxc5 34. Kb4 Ne4 35. bxc6 bxc6 36. c5 Nf2 37. Bf1 Kg3 $19) 30...Kf5 (30... f3 31. Bd1 Nc4+ 32. Ke1 {only move} Nxe3 33. Bxf3 Kf4 34. Be2 Nf535. Bg4 Ne7 36. Kf2 Kg5 37. Ke3 Kxh6 38. Kf4 $11 {and with an alive King and b7/c6 on white, white is ok}) 31. exf4 Kxf4 32. Bd1Nf3+ 33. Kd3 Kg3 34. Ke3 Ng5 35. Bc2 Kxh3 36. Kf4 Nf7 37. b5 $1 Kg2 (37... Nxh638. bxc6 bxc6 39. Be4 Kh2 40. Kg5 Nf7+ 41. Kxh4 Nd8 42. Bxh7 a5 43. Bc2 $11)38. Bxh7 Nxh6 39. bxc6 bxc6 40. Be4+ Kg1 41. Bxc6 h3 42. Bd5 h2 43. c6 Nf7 44.c7 Nd6 45. Ke5 Nc8 46. Kd4 $11 (46. Ke6 $4 a5 $19)) 30. Bd1 (30. c4 f4 31.exf4+ Kxf4 32. Kc3 Kg3 $19) 30... Kf6 31. Be2 Nf7 {back to the good g5 square! So it was stupid to play Ne5.} 32. Bf1 Ke5 33. Ke2Ng5 34. Bg2 f4 35. c4 Kf5 36. exf4 Kxf4 37. b5 Ne6 38. bxc6 bxc6 39. Kd3 Nxc5+40. Kc3 a5 41. Bxc6 Kg3 $19) 28. Bg2 Ke5 {better King, pressure on h3, it's winning, if black plays carefully} 29. Ke2 f4(29... b6 {is less natural} 30. Bxc6 Nxh3 31. Kf3 h6 32. Kg2 Ng5 33. Ba4 Ne434. Kh3 Nxc3 35. Bb3 Ke4 (35... a5 $2 36. c5 $1 {only move} a4 37. cxb6 Kd6 38.Be6 Nd1 39. Kxh4 Kc6 40. Kg3 Kxb6 41. Kf4 a3 42. Kxf5 Nxe3+ 43. Kg6 Kb5 {threatening Nc4} 44. Bb3 $11) 36. Bc2+ Kxe3 37. Bxf5 Kd4 38. Be6 b5 39. cxb5Nxb5 40. Kxh4 Kc3 41. Kg4 Kxb4 42. Bg8 Nd4 43. Kf4 a5 $19) 30. c5 (30. b5 $2 {gives black a free a-passed pawn} f3+ $1 31. Bxf3 Nxf3 32. Kxf3 a5 $19) 30...Kf5 {white will very soon be in some zugzwang} 31. exf4 Kxf4 32. b5 (32. h6 Kg333. Kf1 Nf3 34. Bh1 Kf4 35. Kf2 Ng5 36. Bg2 Ne4+ 37. Ke1 Nxc3 38. Bf1 Nd5 39.b5 cxb5 40. Bxb5 Nf6 $19) 32... Ne4 33. bxc6 bxc6 34. Kd3 (34. c4 a5 35. Kd3 a436. Kc2 Nxc5 37. Kb2 Kg3 38. Bxc6 Kxh3 39. Ka3 Kg4 40. Kb4 h3 $19) 34... Nxc5+35. Kc4 Ne4 36. h6 a5 37. Kb3 c5 38. Ka4 Nxc3+ 39. Kxa5 Ne4 40. Kb5 Nf2 41.Kxc5 Kg3 42. Bf1 Nxh3 $19) 25... Nf7 26. Kd2 Ng5 27. Bf1 Ke5 {black is on top. More space, better King and pressure on h3.} 28. Kc2 f4 29.Kd1 f3 $1 {taking more and more space! It's very difficult for the computer tofind a winning plan! Could you?} (29... fxe3 30. fxe3 {and black will win h5 but it's not easy to win the game}) 30. Kd2 h6 {the first step is to grab h5, this will allow to play h6-h5} 31. Kc2 Nh7 {now h3 is not attacked any more but the white bishop can't take benefit of that} 32. Kd2 Nf6 33. Bc4 Nxh5 34. Bf7 {would have the bishop been able to reachc8, of course it wouldn't be the same story} Nf6 35. Bc4 (35. Bg6 $5 {could almost have saved the game!} a5 $1 {another black's idea} (35... Ng4 {a very important idea, coming again and again in this endgame} 36. Ke1 a5 37.bxa5 Nf6 38. Kd2 Nd7 39. Bf7 Nxc5 40. Bc4 $13 {to stop Nd3. I'm not sure black can win now}) 36. bxa5 Nd7 37. Be8 Nxc5 38. c4{white may feel out of danger but black is able to win} Kd6 39. Bg6 Kc7 40. Bf5(40. Bh5 Nd3 41. Bxf3 Nxf2 42. Ke2 Nxh3 43. Bxe4 Ng5 44. Bd3 Kd6 45. Bf5 Ne646. Kf3 Nc5 47. Bc8 Kc7 48. Bf5 Nb3 $19 49. Kg4 Nxa5 50. Bd3 Kd6 51. Kxh4 Kc552. Kh5 Nxc4 53. e4 Kd4 54. Be2 b5 55. Kxh6 b4 56. Bd1 Ne3 57. Ba4 c5 $19)40... Kb8 41. Kc3 Nd3 42. Bxe4 Nxf2 43. Bxf3 Nxh3 44. Kd4 Ng5 45. Bh1 Ka7 46.e4 Ka6 47. Kc5 Kxa5 48. e5 h3 49. Kd6 Kb4 50. e6 Nxe6 51. Kxe6 Kxc4 52. Kf5 h253. Kg4 Kd3 54. Kg3 c5 55. Bxb7 c4 56. Kxh2 c3 57. Bc8 Ke4 $19) 35... Nh7 $19 {going back to g5} ({or} 35... Ng4 36. Ke1 Kf6 37. Bf1 Kf5 38. Bc4 Ne5 39. Bf1h5 {will allow Ng4 for ever} 40. Kd2 Ke6 41. c4 Ng4 $1 42. Ke1 Nh2 $19 43. b5Ke5 $19 {zugzwang}) 36. Kd1 Ng5 37. Bf1 Kd5 {stopping all Bc4. Now the last step: h5 and Ng4 are unstoppable} 38. Kd2 (38.Kc2 Nf7 39. Kb3 Ne5 40. Kc2 (40. c4+ Ke6 41. Kc3 Kf5 42. Kd4 h5 43. b5 Ng4 $19)40... h5 41. Kd2 Ng4 42. Ke1 Nh2 $19 {with zugzwang to come}) 38... Nf7 39. c4+(39. Kc2 Ne5 40. Kb3 h5 41. c4+ Ke6 42. b5 Ng4 $19) 39... Ke5 40. Kc3 h5 41.Kd2 Nh6 42. Ke1 Ng4 {with total domination and zugzwang!} 0-1

Areshchenko: Scheveningen killer

2010-10-10T19:39:00.001+02:00

Ukrainien strong GM Alexander Areshchenko won 2 Scheveningen sicilians in a row in Bundesliga (German team championship). You will find them commented below.

[Event "Bundesliga Bremen - Hamburg"][Site "Germany"][Date "2010.10.09"][Round "1.4"][White "Areshchenko, Alexander"][Black "Ftacnik, Lubomir"][Result "1-0"][ECO "B85"][WhiteElo "2664"][BlackElo "2568"][PlyCount "67"][EventDate "2010.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4Qc7 9. Kh1 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qe1 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Qg3 Rad8 (14... Bc6 {Areshchenko-Lammers, Bundesliga 2010 (7)}) 15. Rae1 Rd7 16. Bd3 Re817. Re3 g6 18. Ref3 d5 19. e5 Ne4 {black is fine} 20. Qe1 b4 (20... Nxc3 {simple chess was good too} 21. Bxc3 d4 {opening for the bishop} 22. Ba5 Qc8 23.Rh3 Qa8 $11) 21. axb4 Bxb4 22. Rh3 Qd8 (22... Rc8 $11) 23. Qe3 Nxc3 24. bxc3Bf8 25. f5 $1 {it takes some time for the computer to find Areshchenko's move}exf5 (25... Qc7 {cold blood defense} 26. Qg3 exf5 {forced} 27. Bxf5 {with better chances for white}) 26. Bxf5 {white's idea} gxf5 (26... Rc7 27. e6$1 {crushes black}) 27. Rg3+ Kh8 (27... Bg7 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. e6+ Kg6 30. Rf3$18) 28. e6+ f6 29. Rxf5 (29. Qg5 Bg7 30. Qxf5 Rc7 31. Rh3 h6 32. Rxh6+ Bxh633. Bxf6+ Qxf6 34. Qxf6+ Bg7 {looks unclear}) 29... Bg7 30. Rh5 {now black can't save his position. White is pressing both on dark squares (with the bishop)and light squares (on h7). And the small e6 pawn is very useful too.} (30. Rxf6{would have been flashy} Bxf6 (30... Qxf6 31. Bxf6 Bxf6 32. exd7 Rxe3 33. Rxe3Kg7 34. Re6 Bd8 35. Re8 Bf6 36. d8=Q Bxd8 37. Rxd8 Bc6 38. Rd6 $18) 31. e7 $1 {with a nice picture} Qxe7 32. Bxf6+) 30... Rc7 31. Qd3 h6 {the bishop is trying to hold black's castle} (31... Bf8 32. Qg6 {mating! Black can't defend h7, g8 and f6!}) {thus...} 32. Rxg7 {bang!} (32. Qe3$18 {was the calm but as efficient alternative}) 32... Rxg7 (32... Kxg7 33.Qg3+ Kh7 34. Qh4 Kg7 35. Rxh6 Rxe6 36. Rh7+ Kf8 37. Qh6+ Ke8 38. Qg6+ Kf8 39.Bc5+ {mating}) 33. Rxh6+ Kg8 34. Qh3 {black will be mated very soon} 1-0[Event "Bundesliga Bremen - Delmenhorst"][Site "Germany"][Date "2010.10.08"][Round "7.4"][White "Areshchenko, Alexander"][Black "Lammers, Markus"][Result "1-0"][ECO "B85"][WhiteElo "2664"][BlackElo "2395"][Annotator "Sylvain"][PlyCount "63"][EventDate "2010.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Qe1 O-O 11. Qg3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Kh1 Bc6 ({In the 1st round, Ftacnik tried} 14... Rad8 {and lost in 34 moves}) 15. Rae1Qb7 16. Bd3 b4 17. Nd1 (17. axb4 Qxb4 18. Ne2 Qb7 19. e5 Nh5 20. Qh3 g6 21. Bc3Bb5 22. f5 exf5 23. exd6 Bxd6 24. Bxf5 Rae8 {and black may hold}) 17... bxa318. bxa3 g6 19. Nf2 {all this is welknown, the position must be balanced} Rac820. Qh3 Rfd8 21. Rb1 Qd7 22. Qh6 Bb5 23. Nh3 Bf8 (23... d5 24. Ng5 Bf8 25. Qh3$14 {+=}) (23... Bxd3 24. cxd3 Rb8 25. Ng5 e5 26. Bb6 Re8 27. fxe5 Bf8 28. Qh4Qg4 29. Qxg4 Nxg4 30. exd6 Bxd6 31. Nxf7 Bxh2 {is the computer's defense, though white is still a pawn up}) 24. Qh4 Nh5 25. g4Be7 26. Ng5 e5 27. gxh5 Bxg5 28. Qxg5 exd4 29. f5 $16 {and suddenly black's castle is falling apart} Re8 (29... Qe8 {was a better try}30. hxg6 fxg6 31. fxg6 hxg6 32. Rf6 Kh7 33. e5 Bxd3 34. cxd3 Rd7 35. Rg1 Rg736. Rxd6 $18) ({or} 29... Rc5 30. Qh6 Qe7 31. hxg6 hxg6 32. fxg6 f6 33. Rxf6 $1Qxf6 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. g7+ Qxg7 36. Rf1+ $18) 30. f6 Kh8 31. hxg6 Re5 (31...fxg6 32. f7 $18) 32. Qh6 {f7 is coming} 1-0

Do not miss the excellent live website.

Funny tactic

2010-10-06T21:12:00.001+02:00

(2385) vs. (2330)
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Black just sacrificed with 14...Rxf5. How should white react?

Final results of chess olympiad

2010-10-03T23:51:00.001+02:00

The last round was incredible. Ukraine couldn't win against Israel (2-2) whereas Russia wasn't able to overcome Spain (2-2)! Ukraine won again after 2004. No win for Russia since 2002.

Some big clashes of this last round:
Poland 1,5 - 2,5 Hungary
France 2 - 2 Armenia
Azerbaijan 2 - 2 Russia-3
Cuba 1,5 - 2,5 USA
England 2 - 2 Czech Republic
India 2,5 - 1,5 Georgia

Final ranking in the open section:
1.Ukraine 19
2.Russia 18
3.Israel 17
4.Hungary 17

Individual board gold medals: (with Rating Performance)
1st board: Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2890
2nd board: Emil Sutovsky ISR 2895
3rd board: Vitaly Teterev BLR 2853
4th board: Sergey Karjakin RUS 2859
5th board: Sebastien Feller FRA 2702

All results here

King's hunting at chess olympiad

2010-09-30T21:38:00.003+02:00

() vs. ()
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[Event "39th Olympiad Men"][Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"][Date "2010.09.22"][Round "2.4"][White "Rodshtein, Maxim"][Black "Novita, Anjas"][Result "1-0"][ECO "E01"][WhiteElo "2632"][BlackElo "2356"][PlyCount "71"][EventDate "2010.09.21"][EventType "team"][WhiteTeam "ISR"][BlackTeam "INA"]{This game was played in the match Israel vs Indonesia} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2Qxd4 8. Bxb4 Qxe5 {white sacrificed 2 pawns to get the dark-squared bishop andkeep the black king in the center. The hunting is open !} 9. Na3 b5 10. Bd6Qxb2 {third pawn !} 11. O-O a6 12. Rb1 Qc3 {black don't want the fourth :-)} (12... Qxa2 {the computer wants !} 13. Bxb8 Rxb8 14. Ra1 Qb2 15. Qd6 Rb6 16. Qc7{but he agrees the price is a whole rook !} O-O 17. Qxb6 Qxe2 {with a crazy position, probably winning for white though}) 13. Bxb8 Rxb8 14.Qd6 {still no castle} Rb6 15. Nxc4 ({another good possibility was} 15. Rfc1 Qa516. Qc7 {white lets black castling but creates a very unpleasant pin} O-O 17.Nxc4 bxc4 18. Qxb6 Qxa2 19. Rb2 Qa3 20. Bxc6 $16) 15... Qxc4 16. Rbc1 Qxe2 (16... Qxa2 17. Rxc6 Rxc6 18. Bxc6+ Bd7 19. Bxd7+ Nxd7 20. Rd1 Qd5 (20... g6 $221. Qxd7+ Kf8 22. Qd6+ Kg7 23. Qe5+ $18) 21. Rxd5 exd5 22. Qxd5 {and white is winning}) 17. Bxc6+ (17. Rxc6 $2 Rxc6 18. Bxc6+ Nd7 19. Bxd7+ Bxd720. Rd1 g6 $1 {and black survives}) 17... Nd7 18. Rfd1 $5 ({Rodshtein would like more than this:} 18. Bxd7+ Bxd7 19. Qxb6 O-O 20. Qxa6 $16) 18... Kd8 {only move} 19. Qd4 Rxc620. Rxc6 Ke7 {black is still ahead in material but his king is still hunted !}21. Rc7 h5 {black tries to create some counter play} 22. Rdc1 h4 $2 (22... f6 {was better, the position remains very unclear}) 23. Qxg7 hxg3 24. Qg5+ f6 25. Qg7+ {the black king is forced to try his luck in the center of the board} Kd6 26.Qxg3+ e5 $2 ({More resilient was} 26... Ne5 27. R7c2 Qd3 28. Rxc8 Qxg3+ 29. hxg3Rxc8 30. Rxc8 a5 31. Kf1 $16 {and white has to work to win that}) 27. R7c6+ Kd5{unfortunately forced} 28. Qg2+ e4 29. Qg3 e3 30. Rd6+ {the simplest} (30. Qg2+{was even stronger} Kd4 31. Rd6+ Ke5 32. f4+ Kxd6 (32... Kxf4 33. Qxe2) 33.Rc6+ Ke7 34. Qg7+ Kd8 35. Qxh8+ Ke7 36. Qg7+ Kd8 37. Qg8+ {and black will be mated}) 30... Ke4 31. f3+ Qxf3 32. Rd4+ Kxd4 33. Qxf3 $18 Ne534. Rd1+ Kc4 35. Qxe3 Rh3 36. Qd4# {The king was finally trapped !} 1-0

Ivanchuk 5/5 at Chess Olympiad!

2010-09-27T19:29:00.000+02:00

Vassily Ivanchuk must play between 2900 and 3000 Elo when he is in good shape. For now he is, he won all his Olympiad games so far. You can find them below. In all 5 games the same feeling: he wins effortlessly...

[Event "39. WCO"][Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"][Date "2010.09.21"][Round "1"][White "Ahmed, Abdul Sattar abdul"][Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"][Result "0-1"][ECO "C27"][WhiteElo "2342"][BlackElo "2754"][PlyCount "48"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Iraq"][BlackTeam "Ukraine"][WhiteTeamCountry "IRQ"][BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe4 d5 5. d4 dxc4 6. Qe2 Qxd4 7. Nf3 Qd5 8.Nc3 Bb4 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 Nc6 11. Ba3 f6 12. Nd4 Bd7 13. Rfd1 O-O-O 14. Nb3Qf7 15. Nc5 b6 16. Nxd7 Rxd7 17. Rxd7 Qxd7 18. Qxc4 Rd8 19. h3 Kb7 20. Rb1 Qd521. Qa4 Qxa2 22. Rb2 Qd5 23. Kh2 Qd2 24. Bc5 Qxc3 0-1[Event "39. WCO"][Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"][Date "2010.09.22"][Round "2"][White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"][Black "McNab, Colin A"][Result "1-0"][ECO "E94"][WhiteElo "2754"][BlackElo "2445"][PlyCount "75"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Ukraine"][BlackTeam "Scotland"][WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"][BlackTeamCountry "SCO"]1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. e4 e5 6. Be2 Ngf6 7. Be3 O-O 8. O-Ob6 9. Re1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Bb7 11. f3 Re8 12. Qd2 c6 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. b4 Rad8 15.Bf1 Ne5 16. Bg5 a6 17. b5 axb5 18. cxb5 c5 19. Nc2 c4 20. Kh1 Nd3 21. Bxd3 cxd322. Nb4 Qc5 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Ncd5 Bg7 25. Qxd3 Rc8 26. a4 h5 27. Na6 Bxa6 28.bxa6 Qa5 29. Qb5 Be5 30. f4 Bc3 31. Re2 Kg7 32. g3 h4 33. gxh4 Rh8 34. Rc2 Be135. Qb2+ Kh6 36. Rxc8 Rxc8 37. Qg2 Bxh4 38. Qh3 1-0[Event "39. WCO"][Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"][Date "2010.09.24"][Round "4"][White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"][Black "Beliavsky, Alexander G"][Result "1-0"][ECO "B13"][WhiteElo "2754"][BlackElo "2632"][PlyCount "49"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Ukraine"][BlackTeam "Slovenia"][WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"][BlackTeamCountry "SLO"]1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nxd4 8.Nf3 Nxf3+ 9. Qxf3 Qc7 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. O-O Bc6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Rad1 e6 14.Nd5 O-O-O 15. Bxc6 exd5 16. Bxd5 Kb8 17. Rc1 Qd7 18. Rcd1 Be7 19. g3 Qc7 20.Rc1 Qd7 21. Rfd1 Rc8 22. Bxb7 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Qxb7 24. Qf4+ Ka8 25. Rc7 1-0[Event "39. WCO"][Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"][Date "2010.09.25"][Round "5"][White "Sokolov, Ivan"][Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"][Result "0-1"][ECO "A57"][WhiteElo "2641"][BlackElo "2754"][PlyCount "50"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Bosnia Herzegovina"][BlackTeam "Ukraine"][WhiteTeamCountry "BIH"][BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Qc2 bxc4 5. e4 d6 6. Bxc4 g6 7. b3 Nxe4 8. Bb2Qa5+ 9. Kf1 Nf6 10. Nc3 Bg7 11. Re1 Qd8 12. Qe2 Nbd7 13. h4 Ne5 14. Bb5+ Bd715. f4 Nh5 16. Bxd7+ Qxd7 17. Qe3 Qf5 18. Nh3 Qd3+ 19. Kg1 Qxe3+ 20. Rxe3 Ng421. Rf3 Bd4+ 22. Kf1 Ne3+ 23. Ke2 Nxg2 24. Ng5 h6 25. Nge4 Ngxf4+ 0-1[Event "39. WCO"][Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"][Date "2010.09.27"][Round "6"][White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"][Black "Leko, Peter"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D46"][WhiteElo "2754"][BlackElo "2724"][PlyCount "77"][EventDate "2010.??.??"][WhiteTeam "Ukraine"][BlackTeam "Hungary"][WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"][BlackTeamCountry "HUN"]1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-Odxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. Rd1 b5 11. Bd3 Qc7 12. Bd2 c5 13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. a4 bxa4 15.Rxa4 Bb7 16. Rc4 Qa7 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Rac8 20. Qd4 Bc5 21.Qc3 Rcd8 22. Qc2 Rfe8 23. Ng5 g6 24. Ba5 Bb6 25. Bc3 e5 26. Ne4 Re6 27. Bb4 Kg728. Rc6 Nf6 29. Rxe6 fxe6 30. Nxf6 Kxf6 31. Ra1 Qb7 32. Bc3 a5 33. Qa4 g5 34.h4 h6 35. Qg4 Qh7 36. Qh5 Qg6 37. Bxe5+ Kf7 38. Qf3+ Kg8 39. Qc6 1-0

Vachier-Lagrave outplayed Gelfand

2010-09-23T23:30:00.010+02:00

() vs. ()
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[Event "39th Olympiad Men"][Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"][Date "2010.09.23"][Round "3.17"][White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"][Black "Gelfand, Boris"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D43"][WhiteElo "2721"][BlackElo "2751"][PlyCount "73"][EventDate "2010.09.21"][EventType "team"][WhiteTeam "FRA"][BlackTeam "ISR"]{This game was played on the first board of the France-Israel match} 1. d4 {No Petroff, thanks!} d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 {Maxime prefers this sharp anti-moscow gambit}9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Bxg4 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 b4 (14...c5 {was played 3 times in the Gelfand - Leko match last month, Gelfand waswhite and scored 2,5/3. By playing b4 he probably wanted to avoid some homepreparation... but according to Rybka it's the best move and Maxime was ready})15. Na4 c5 {attacking both white central pawns} 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. dxc5 Nxe4 18.Qxd7+ Kxd7 19. O-O-O+ (19. Rd1+ Ke7 20. Bd6+ Ke8 $11) 19... Ke8 20. Bf4 Nxc521. Bxb7 Nxb7 22. Bxh6 Nc5 (22... Rxg2 23. Be3 {and the Nb7 is not very impressive, but the h pawn is still ready to run}) 23.Be3 Nd3+ 24. Kb1 Rxg2 25. h5 {in the interview after the game, Vachier-Lagravesaid he was prepared until there approximatively. White has sacrificed a pawnto get the h-passed pawn} f5 {this move looks logical to come with the king}26. h6 Kf7 27. h7 Rh8 {White played h5 h6 h7 but what to do now ?} 28. b3 $1 {destabilizing the knight} e5 {black wants to stop Bd4 to take in f2} (28...Nxf2 29. Rd7+ Ke8 (29... Kf6 $2 30. Rh6+ Rg6 31. Bd4+ e5 32. Bxe5+ Kxe5 33.Rxg6 $18) 30. Rxa7 Nxh1 31. Ra8+ Kf7 32. Rxh8 Rh2 33. bxc4 Ng3 34. Bf4 Rh1+ 35.Kc2 Ne2 36. Be5 f4 37. Kd2 Nc3 38. Bxf4 Rh5 39. Be5 $1 Ne4+ 40. Kd3 Nf2+ 41.Kc2 Ng4 42. Bd6 $18) 29. bxc4 {Wath carefully this second passed pawn...} Nxf2 30. Bxf2 Rxf2 {at first sight one could think this endgame is balanced} 31. c5 {the sentence of this game is : passed pawns should be pushed !} Rf3 {Boris knows since a very long time that rooks should be behind passed pawns,so he is going to c3. But amazingly he is already dead lost!!} (31... e4 32. c6 e3 33. c7 e2 34. Rc1 $18) 32. c6 $18 (32. Rc1$2 Rd3 33. c6 Rdd8 34. c7 Rc8 {beautiful picture :-) But it must be draw})32... Rc3 33. Rd7+ Kg6 (33... Ke6 34. Rh6# {is unexpected !}) (33... Ke8 34.Rg1 Rxc6 35. Rxa7 $18) 34. c7 {impressive: 2 pawns reached the seventh rank after a mere 34 moves} f4 35. Rd6+Kg7 36. Rg1+ Kf7 (36... Kxh7 37. Rh1+ Kg7 38. Rd7+ Kg8 39. Rd8+ Kg7 40. Rdxh8$18) 37. Rd8 {Maxime still had 1 hour on his clock. Very few players can saythey defeated the ultra solid and experimented Boris Gelfand with so much ease.} 1-0

39th chess Olympiad

2010-09-20T16:57:00.001+02:00

I know it's not very original but Chess Olympiad are such a beautiful event I can't resist speaking of it!

In 2010 it will be played in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia).

In the Open section, 150 teams are expected.
A tough battle is predictable between Russia-1 (Kramnik, Grischuk, Svidler, Karjakin) and Ukraine (Eljanov, Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Efimenko). But there are a lot of other strong teams like China, Hungary (with Judit), Armenia (2006 and 2008 titles holder!!), Azerbaijan (withouth Gashimov), France (without Bacrot), Israël, England (experience+youth), etc.
Russia (last time winner in... 2002) will have 5 teams in Open, Russia-2 being 4th seed and Russia-3 19th!
Past winners

In the Women section, 108 teams are expected.
Here too Russia-1 is the hot favorite but hasn't win since... 1986!! Main rivals will be China, Ukraine and Georgia, as usual.
Past winners

First round will be played on September 21^st, 11^th round on October 3^rd.

My Youth Ratings page

2010-09-17T15:11:00.000+02:00

I worked on it for a while and I'm finally happy to announce the creation of my page on youth chess players sorted out by their FIDE ratings. You will find:

World tops 10 (boys&girls) in each category (U10 U12 U14 U16 U18 U20)
Full world ranking (all players) in each category
Country ranking in each category
Possibility to compare each country ranking to the world ranking

Feedbacks are welcome!

I will probably update these pages on each new ratings list.
Next month (19-31 October) will take place 2010 World Youth Chess Championship in Greece.

Crazy computer tactical pattern

2010-09-14T08:00:00.006+02:00

White took a knight in c6, Black (thus a piece down) just played Qd7, pinning the rook. After 1.Rc4 b5 The computer says white can stay in the game with the stunning 2.Ne5!! . Try to understand why.

(you can see the answer by clicking one time on the board and then with the right arrow of your keyboard)

Armageddon blitz

2010-09-11T01:05:00.001+02:00

Vladimir Kramnik earned the 4th place for the 2010 Bilbao tournament (October) by winning the sudden death blitz game against Levon Aronian. Before that they played two 4'+3'' games, Kramnik won the first and had an easy draw in the second but forgot his clock and lost by time.
Here you can see these 3 blitz games :
http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/2010/en/fotos-y-videos/
As we can see, the end of the last one was somehow chaotic, but that's forced with only a few seconds on the clock. I would even say that these player are really dexterous and nifty.
It would have been quite unfair if Kramnik wouldn't have qualified because in slow games he won 1,5/2 against Aronian. I have no idea why direct encounter is still not the first criterion to decide between 2 players when one of them won, it's an heresy!

But no chess fan could be satisfied with this kind of end between world class players. It makes me remember 2 famous cases of sudden death in 2008 :

Krush - Zatonskih (US championship)

Socko - Foisor S. (Women World Championship) (beginning at 1:15)

In Socko - Foisor, first the arbiter decided it was a draw, but then Socko made an official claim which was accepted and she won the game, thus qualifying for the next round.

Losing the way Krush lost or the way Foisor lost, are definitely unsatisfactory for chess. I understand that at a point organizers want to put an end to the match, but in my opinion armageddon blitz should never be played without increments. Why not playing these armageddon with 5+2 for white (forced to win) and 4+2 for black? Would this really be an advantage for black? I'm not sure.
What is your opinion?

Double exchange sacrifice stories

2010-09-08T17:52:00.003+02:00

The 5th game of the Gelfand - Leko rapid match played some days ago was a fantastic battle featuring 2 Rooks against Bishop+Knight+pawn+activity. Here is this great game, I added some comments and variations to the already good job of match commentators Berkes and Meszaros.
This made me think of another game with a double exchange sacrifice, Zhu Chen - Taimanov 1997. You can see it here too. Let me know if other games with this pattern come in your mind.

[Event "Miskolc Rapid"][Site "?"][Date "2010.08.28"][Round "?"][White "Gelfand, Boris"][Black "Leko, Peter"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D43"][Annotator "Berkes/Meszaros/SR"][PlyCount "89"][EventDate "2010.03.07"]1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b59. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Bxg4 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 c5 15. e5{Novelty. In the first game 15.dxc5 happened. This move opens the way for thec3 knight.} Nd5 16. Ne4 O-O-O 17. O-O {#} Rxg3 $1 {very interesting exchange sacrifice!} 18. Nxg3 (18. fxg3 $2 Ne3) 18... Nf4 $1 {It's a very deep plan! For the exchange Black has stong pressure on the d-lineand better pawn structure. For now he has a strong Nf4 and d4 won't stay here.} 19. dxc5 (19. Qd2 Qxd4) (19. a4 b4) 19... Qc7 20. Bxb7+ Qxb7 (20... Kxb7 $221. Qf3+ Nd5 22. Ne4 $18) 21. Qf3 Qxf3 22. gxf3 Bxc5 23. Ne4 Bd4 24. Nd6+ Rxd6$1 {Second beautiful exchange sacrifice !!} 25. exd6 {#} Kd7 $5 {Leko misses his chances! He could capture the b2 pawn for example:} (25... Bxb226. Rab1 c3 27. Rxb2 $8 (27. Kh2 $2 Kd7 28. Kg3 Nd3 $17) 27... cxb2 28. Rb1 Nd329. Kf1 a5 $1 30. Ke2 (30. a3 $2 a4 $1 {is a pleasant move} 31. Ke2 b4 32. Kxd3bxa3 33. Kc2 a2 34. d7+ Kd8 $19) 30... Nc1+ 31. Kd2 Nxa2 32. Rxb2 Nb4 $132 {with an exciting position.}) 26. a4 $1 {Gelfand is trying to break Blackqueenside pawns and open new lines for his rooks.} (26. Rab1 Kxd6 27. Rfd1 e5 {is drawish. Black pieces are really impressive.}) 26... b4 27. Rac1 $1 (27.Rfc1 c3 28. bxc3 Bxc3 29. Kf1 Bxa1 30. Rxa1 a5 31. Rc1 Kxd6 32. Rc8 Nd5 33. Rb8Kc5 {and black plays for the win}) 27... c3 {#} (27... Ne2+ 28. Kg2 Nxc1 29.Rxc1 c3 30. bxc3 Bxc3 $11) 28. Rfd1 $3 {This fantastic move uses the x-raypower of his rook and opens the way for the king!} (28. bxc3 Bxc3 29. Rb1 a530. Rfd1 Nd5 {and I don't think black is in danger. Perhaps it's black who isplaying for a win!}) 28... e5 (28... Ne2+ $2 29. Kf1 Nxc1 30. bxc3 Bxc3 31.Rxc1 Kxd6 32. Ke2 Ke5 (32... Kd5 $6 33. Kd3 h5 34. f4 $1 a5 35. f3 $16) 33. Ke3Bd4+ 34. Kd3 Bxf2 35. h5 $13 {with good practical winning chances for White, according to Berkes/Meszaros.})(28... cxb2 29. Rc7+ Kxd6 30. Rc4 $1 Nd5 (30... e5 $2 31. Rxb4 Kc5 32. Rdxd4 $1exd4 33. Rxb2 $16) 31. Rcxd4 Kc5 $1 {#This is one of the most beatiful endgames we ever saw!} 32. R4d2 Nc3 {N+2 pawns against 2 rooks!} 33. Rc2 Kc4 34. Rb1 b3 35. Rcxb2 (35. Rbxb2 bxc236. Rxc2 a5 $44) 35... Nxb1 36. Rxb1 Kc3 37. Kg2 Kc2 38. Re1 b2 39. Kg3 h5 $8 (39... a5 40. Kg4 b1=Q 41. Rxb1 Kxb1 42. Kh5 Kb2 43. Kxh6 Kb3 44. h5 Kxa4 45.Kg5 $18) 40. Kf4 f6 41. Ke4 b1=Q 42. Rxb1 Kxb1 43. f4 $1 a5 44. f5 exf5+ 45.Kxf5 Ka2 46. Kxf6 Kb3 47. Kg5 Kxa4 $11) 29. bxc3 bxc3 (29... Ne2+ 30. Kf1 Nxc3(30... Nxc1 $4 31. cxd4 $18) 31. Rd3 a5 32. f4 f6 33. fxe5 fxe5 34. f4 $18) 30.Kf1 {#} f6 $6 (30... a5 {was better possibility to try to save the game!} 31.Rc2 Nd5 32. Ke1 h5 $1 33. Rd3 (33. Rb1 Nb4 34. Kd1 Kxd6 $44 {and another time B+N are at least worth 2R here}) 33... f6 34. f4 $16 Nxf4 35.Rdxc3 Bxc3+ 36. Rxc3 Kxd6 37. Kd2 $14) 31. Rc2 Nd5 (31... Ng6 32. Rd3 Nxh4 33.f4 Nf5 34. fxe5 fxe5 35. Rdxc3 Bxc3 36. Rxc3 Kxd6 37. Rc8 e4 38. Ra8 e3 39. f4Ng3+ 40. Ke1 Nh5 41. f5 Ke5 42. Rxa7 Ng3 43. Rf7 h5 44. f6 h4 45. Rf8 h3 46. f7Ke6 47. Rh8 Kxf7 48. Rxh3 Ne4 49. Rxe3 Nc5 50. a5 $18) 32. Rb1 a5 33. Ke2 Nb4 {#} 34. Kd1 {This is also winning, but} (34. Rxb4 {was easier, according to Berkes/Meszaros} axb4 35. Kd3 Kxd6 (35... b3 $2 36.Rxc3 $18) (35... Bb6 $2 36. Kc4 Ba5 37. h5 Kxd6 38. Rc1 Ke6 39. Kb3 Kf5 40. Rd1Kg5 41. Rd6 f5 42. Re6 Bc7 43. Kxb4 Kxh5 44. Kxc3 Kg5 45. Rc6 Bb8 46. Kd3 h547. Ke2 h4 48. Rc8 Ba7 49. a5 $18) 36. Kc4 Bc5 37. a5 Kc6 38. a6 Bd4 39. Ra2Kb6 40. Kxb4 Ka7 41. Kc4 $18) 34... Kxd6 35. Rb3 Nxc2 36. Kxc2 h5 37. Rb5 Bxf238. Rxa5 Bxh4 39. Rb5 Bf2 40. Rb7 Kc6 41. Rf7 $18 {The rest is easy} Kb6 (41...h4 42. Kxc3 Kc5 43. Rxf6 Bg3 44. Rh6 Be1+ 45. Kb3 Bf2 46. a5 Kb5 47. a6 h3 48.Rxh3 Kxa6 49. Kc4 $18) 42. Rxf6+ Ka5 43. Rf5 Kxa4 44. Rxe5 h4 45. Kxc3 {With this victory Gelfand again leads the match!} 1-0[Event "Veterans-Women"][Site "Copenhagen"][Date "1997.??.??"][Round "4"][White "Zhu Chen"][Black "Taimanov, Mark E"][Result "1-0"][ECO "E11"][WhiteElo "2515"][BlackElo "2425"][Annotator ",Sylvain"][PlyCount "117"][EventDate "1997.07.23"][EventType "schev"][EventRounds "10"][EventCountry "DEN"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 a5 5. Qc2 {a rare move, usually white play 5.g3 or 5.Nc3} O-O 6. g3 d5 7. Bg2 {somehow we are back in a catalan line} Nc6 8. O-O Bd7 9. Rc1 {pressure on the c-file will be a major theme of the game} Re8 10. Bf4 {increasing pressure on c7 and making the bishop in b4 feel a little stupid} Bd6{back to a good place!} 11. cxd5 Nb4 $1 (11... Nxd5 12. Bxd6 cxd6 13. e4 $14)12. Qd1 Nbxd5 (12... Bxf4 13. gxf4 exd5 $11) 13. Be5 Bc6 14. Nbd2 Nb6 $11 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16. e4 e5 17. d5 Bb5 18. a4 Bd7 {black have a very safe position} 19.Ne1 {aiming for c5} h5 $5 20. Nd3 (20. Qxh5 Nxa4 $11) 20... h4 {black creates some play on the white castle, nothing really dangerous though}21. b3 g6 $1 {with the idea to convey a rook in h8, this kind of move isdifficult to find for a computer} 22. Qe2 Kg7 23. Qe3 {typical queen centalization} Rh8 {have a look at how black wait with the h4 pawn} 24. Nc5 Bc8 {black want tokeep this important attacking piece, even if it means no job for the a8 rookyet.} 25. Nd3 {white changes his mind} Bd7 26. Rc2 hxg3 27. fxg3 Rh5 28. Rac1 {you may wonder why white is doubling here whereas c7 is defended by a bishop.You will understand very soon!} Rah8 29. Nf1 {human typical defense. Thecomputer wants to play some dangerous defenses based on h2-h4. I can't recommandthis kind of move at all!} Qg5 $6 (29... Ba3 {trying to disturb white} 30. Rxc7$1 Bxc1 31. Nxc1 Bc8 32. Qc5 {with compensations}) (29... Qd8 {was solid, even if a5 is weak}) 30. Qxg5 Rxg5 31. Rxc7 $1 {First exchangesacrifice. A very logical one, white get bishop and pawn for the rook, astrong passed pawn in d5, and activity.} Bxc7 32. Rxc7 Bc8 $2 {this loses the e-pawn} (32... Rc8 {activity against activity!} 33. Rxb7 Rc3 34.Nxe5 Rxe5 35. Rxb6 Re8 36. Nd2 $14) 33. h4 Rgh5 34. Bf3 R5h7 35. Nxe5 {white must be winning now} Kf6 36. Nd3 Rd8 37. e5+ {impressive central pawns}Kg7 38. e6 Kf6 39. Nf4 (39. Nc5 Nxd5 40. Bxd5 Rxd5 41. Rxc8 fxe6 42. Ne3 {was easier}) 39... Na8 $1 {I always like knight-corner-moves} 40. e7 $1 {Zhu Chen measures up!} (40. Rc5 b6 41. Rc6 Bb7 42. Rc3 fxe6 43. Nxe6 $14) 40...Re8 41. Rxc8 $1 {and here comes the second exchange sacrifice!!} Rxc8 42. d6 {So, what do we have ? White are two exchanges down, but have 2 pawns incompensations, and what pawns! Central, passed, connected, on the 6th and 7thrank!} Nb6 {forced to prevent d7} 43. Bxb7 Rhh8 (43... Rb8 44. Nd2 {and the bishop is untouchable}) 44. Ne3 (44. Bxc8 Nxc8 45. e8=Q Rxe8 46. d7 $16) 44... Rb8 45. Bc6 Ke5 (45... Nc8 46. Nfd5+ Ke6 47. e8=Q+ Rxe8 48. Bxe8 Nxd649. Bb5 $1 $16) 46. d7 Nxd7 47. Bxd7 {a piece back} Kd6 48. e8=Q Rhxe8 49. Bxe8{and an exchange back} Rxe8 {so now white is just winning, even if she has to be careful nevertheless} 50.Nc4+ Kc5 51. Nxa5 Kb4 52. Nb7 Kxb3 53. a5 {without this pawn maybe it wouldn't be so winning, but it's on the board!} Re1+54. Kg2 Ra1 {good old rule: the rook behind the passed pawn} 55. Nd6 Rxa5 56.Nxf7 {but it's too easy for white} Rf5 57. Nh6 (57. Nh8 $4 {it's never too late to make a mistake} g5 $11) 57... Rf6 58. Ng4 Ra6 59. Ne5 {very nice game from Zhu Chen} 1-0

Ivan's oversight

2010-09-05T07:34:00.004+02:00

() vs. ()
- -

Black just played Rxe3. Which tactical problem did he overlook ?

New FIDE ratings: young leaders

2010-09-03T05:51:00.001+02:00

Boys:
U20: Carlsen, Magnus 2826 NOR
U18: Caruana, Fabiano 2700 ITA
U16: Giri, Anish 2677 NED
U14: Nyzhnyk, Illya 2538 UKR
U12: Artemiev, Vladislav 2356 RUS
U10: Sevian, Samuel 2105 USA

Girls:
U20: Muzychuk, Anna 2535 SLO
U18: Muzychuk, Mariya 2464 UKR
U16: Hou, Yifan 2578 CHN
U14: Zhai, Mo 2148 CHN
U12: Sidorova, Anna 2124 RUS
U10: Rosado Perez, Maria Jose 1981 COL

August report of the blog

2010-09-01T23:58:00.001+02:00

Chess all over the world in August, it was :

31 articles
2 games commented in video
10 commented games
9 endgames
11 selected exercises (all answers are here)
the first 3 games of Hammer in Arctic Stars commented here the same day at 21:07
Andreikin-Stupak commented some days before chess.com
Edouard-Tkachiev commented one day before chessbase.com
comments on French championships, British championships, World junior championships, among others
1108 pages seen, thanks!

In September I will probably publish once every 2-3 days.

Knight endgame

2010-08-30T15:40:00.001+02:00

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "ch-RUS Higher League"][Site "Irkutsk RUS"][Date "2010.08.26"][Round "1"][White "Frolyanov, D."][Black "Tomashevsky, E."][Result "0-1"][ECO "C95"][WhiteElo "2587"][BlackElo "2708"][SetUp "1"][FEN "8/5pk1/3p2p1/1p1Pp2p/4P3/2n2P1P/P2N2PK/8 w - - 0 51"][PlyCount "70"][EventDate "2010.08.20"]{This endgame is better for black because their knight is more active, butprobably not winning} 51. a3 h4 52. g3 f5 53. Kg2 (53. gxh4 $2 f4 54. h5 (54.Kg2 Kh6 {is similar to the game}) 54... gxh5 (54... g5 55. h4 $1 Kh6 56. hxg5+Kxg5 57. Kg2 Kxh5 58. Kh3 Nd1 59. Nb1 Kg5 60. Nd2 Ne3 61. Nb1 Nc4 62. Kg2 Kh463. Kh2 $13) 55. Kg2 Kf8 56. Kf1 Ke7 57. Nb3 Kd7 58. Na5 Nb1 59. Nc6 Nxa3 60.Ke2 Kc7 61. Kd3 Kb6 62. Kc3 Kc5 63. Kb3 Nc4 64. Kc3 h4 65. Nb4 Nb2 66. Nc6 Nd1+67. Kc2 Nf2 68. Ne7 Nxh3 69. Ng6 Ng1 70. Nxh4 Ne2 $19) 53... hxg3 54. Kxg3 Kh655. Kf2 f4 56. Kg2 Kg5 57. Kh2 Kh5 58. Kg2 Nd1 59. Kh2 Ne3 60. Nb1 Nc2 {the white knight is paralyzed, it's not funny for white} 61. Kg1 Kh6 62. Kf2Kg5 63. Kg1 Kf6 {but black has to create threats on both sides of the board towin, which is not an easy task here} 64. Kf2 (64. h4 Kg7 (64... Ke7) 65. Kf1Nd4 66. Nd2 Kh6 67. Kg2 Kh5 68. Kh3 Nc2 69. Nb1 Ne1 70. Nc3 Nxf3 71. Nxb5 Nxh472. Nxd6 g5 73. Nf5 $1 g4+ 74. Kh2 g3+ 75. Nxg3+ fxg3+ 76. Kxg3 Ng6 77. a4 Kg578. a5 Ne7 79. a6 Nc8 80. Kf3 Kf6 81. Kg4 Na7 82. Kh4 Ke7 83. Kg5 Kd6 84. Kf5Nb5 85. Kf6 $11) 64... Ke7 65. Kg2 Ke8 66. Kh2 Kf7 67. Kg1 Kf8 68. Kf2 Ke7 69.Kg2 Ne3+ 70. Kf2 Nc4 71. Kg2 (71. Ke2 Kd7 72. Kd3 Kc7 73. a4 Nb2+ 74. Kc3 Nxa4+75. Kb4 Nc5 (75... Kb6 76. Na3 $11) 76. Kxb5 Nb3 77. Kc4 Nd4 78. Nd2 $11) 71...g5 72. h4 $4 {White can't play this ! Cat and mouse play by black worked. White were on defense and lost their calm, wanting to draw by force. This canoften happen when defending a long time slightly worse endgames.} (72. Kf2 Kd773. Kf1 Ne3+ 74. Ke2 Nc2 75. Kd3 Nd4 76. Nd2 Kc7 77. Kc3 Kb6 78. Kb4 Ne2 79.Nb1 Nc1 (79... Ng1) 80. a4 bxa4 81. Nd2 Ne2 82. Nc4+ Kc7 83. Nd2 Ng1 84. Kxa4Nxh3 85. Kb4 Nf2 86. Kc3 g4 87. fxg4 Nxg4 88. Nf3 Nf2 89. Nd2 Kd7 90. Kc4 Kc891. Kb5 Kb7 92. Ka5 Nd3 93. Kb5 Kc7 94. Ka5 Kd7 95. Kb5 Nc5 96. Kb6 Na4+ 97.Kb5 Nb2 98. Kb6 Nd1 99. Kb5 $13 {I'm not sure black can win that}) 72... gxh473. Kh3 Kd7 74. Kxh4 Kc7 $19 75. Kg5 Kb6 76. Kf6 Kc5 77. Ke7 Kd4 78. Kd7 Ke379. Kc6 Kxf3 80. Kxb5 Nb2 81. Kc6 Ke3 82. Kxd6 f3 83. Ke7 Nc4 84. Nc3 Kd2 85.d6 Nxd6 0-1

Sunday's rook endgame, key idea

2010-08-29T22:22:00.002+02:00

"Chess teaches you to control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks good and it trains you to think objectively when you're in trouble." - Stanley Kubrick

Sébastien - Wilfried
Black to play, a pawn down. How to draw ?
(not very difficult)

Hammer's unlucky day

2010-08-28T21:07:00.003+02:00

Arctic Securities Chess Stars began today in Norway, with Carlsen, Anand, Polgar and Hammer. Hammer was the unlucky player of the day (he missed a draw and 2 wins!). I commented his 3 games below. Don't miss Carlsen's incredible mistake against him.

[Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"][Site "Kristiansund NOR"][Date "2010.08.28"][Round "1"][White "Anand, V."][Black "Hammer, J."][Result "1-0"][ECO "C53"][WhiteElo "2800"][BlackElo "2636"][SetUp "1"][FEN "6k1/1pp3p1/2n2p1p/p1b1p3/P1N1P3/2P2P1P/1P4P1/3KB3 b - - 0 31"][PlyCount "50"][EventDate "2010.08.28"]{Symetrical pawn structures, same material, nothing really special, but Anandwill try to put some pressure on his young opponent} 31... h5 (31... Kf7 {keeping things as they are, for now, looks more logical}) 32. g4 hxg4 33. fxg4{now it's not symetrical any more, but it's still equal} g5 34. Ke2 Kf7 35. Kd3Ke6 36. Nd2 Nb8 (36... Kd6 37. h4 gxh4 38. Bxh4 Ke6 {and even if e5 and f6 are on dark squares, it must be equal}) 37. b4 axb4 (37... Bb6 38. Nc4 Nd7 39. h4 gxh4 40. Bxh4 c6 41. Kc2 Bd8 42. Bf2 axb4 43. cxb4Nb8 44. Be1 Na6 45. Ne3 Be7 46. Kb3 b5 47. a5 Bf8 $11) 38. Nb3 Bb6 39. cxb4 c640. Kc4 Nd7 (40... Na6 41. a5 Be3 42. b5 cxb5+ 43. Kxb5 Nc7+ 44. Kc4 b6 $11)41. a5 Be3 42. b5 cxb5+ 43. Kxb5 Nb8 (43... Ba7 $11 44. Bb4 Bd4 45. Nxd4+ (45.Nc5+ Nxc5 46. Bxc5 Bxc5 47. Kxc5 Kd7 48. Kb6 Kc8 49. a6 bxa6 50. Kxa6 Kc7 51.Kb5 Kb7 $11) 45... exd4 46. Kc4 Ke5 47. Kd3 Nb8 48. Be1 Nc6 49. Bg3+ Ke6 50.Bc7 Kd7 51. Bb6 Ke6 52. Bxd4 Nxa5 $11) 44. Nc5+ {forcing a favourable exchange}Bxc5 45. Kxc5 {but despite white small advantages, it's not enough to win} Nd7+$8 (45... Nc6 $4 46. Kb6 Nd8 {doesn't hold} 47. Kc7 Ke7 48. Bd2 Ke8 49. Bb4 Nc650. a6 $18) 46. Kb5 Kd6 47. Bb4+ Ke6 (47... Kc7 $2 48. Be7 Kb8 49. Kc4 b6 50.axb6 Nxb6+ 51. Kb5 Nc8 52. Bxf6 Nd6+ 53. Kc6 Nxe4 54. Bxe5+ Kc8 55. Bd4 Kd8 56.Kd5 Ng3 57. Bf6+ Ke8 58. Bxg5 $18) 48. a6 bxa6+ 49. Kxa6 {black are dominatedby e4, the Bb4 and soon white king coming back, but it's still a draw} Kf7 (49... Nb8+ $4 50. Kb7 Nd7 51. Kc7 $22 {zugzwang}) 50. Kb7 f5 $4 {Hammer probably thought the endgame was lost, but it wasn't!!} (50... Nf8 $851. Bxf8 Kxf8 52. Kc6 (52. Kc8 Ke8 53. Kc7 Ke7 54. Kc6 Ke6 55. Kc5 Ke7 56. Kd5Kd7 $11) 52... Ke7 (52... Ke8 $4 {wanting to take the opposition, is a well known mistake} 53. Kd6 Kf7 54. Kd7Kg6 55. Ke8 Kg7 56. Ke7 Kg6 57. Kf8 $18) 53. Kc7 Ke6 $8 {maybe the move Hammer missed} (53... Ke8 $4 54. Kd6 $18 {-52...Ke8}) 54. Kd8Kd6 (54... Kf7 $4 55. Kd7 $18) 55. Ke8 Kc5 {and black draws because he will promote the e pawn} 56. Ke7 Kd4 57. Kxf6 Kxe458. Kxg5 Kf3 59. h4 e4 60. h5 e3 61. h6 e2 62. h7 e1=Q 63. h8=Q Qd2+ 64. Kf5Qf4+ 65. Ke6 Kxg4 $11) (50... Ke8 $4 51. Kc7 Nf8 52. Bxf8 Kxf8 53. Kd7 Kf7 54.Kd6 $18) 51. exf5 e4 52. Kc6 Ne5+ 53. Kd5 Nd3 54. Bd2 Nf2 (54... Kf6 55. Be3$18) 55. Bxg5 Nxh3 56. Be3 1-0[Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"][Site "Kristiansund NOR"][Date "2010.08.28"][Round "2"][White "Carlsen, M."][Black "Hammer, J."][Result "1-0"][ECO "D42"][WhiteElo "2826"][BlackElo "2636"][Annotator ",Sylvain"][SetUp "1"][FEN "3r2k1/6pp/6b1/R7/2rp4/2B2P2/PP4PP/2R3K1 w - - 0 30"][PlyCount "87"][EventDate "2010.08.28"]30. Rd1 {Hammer was quickly outplayed and is 2 pawns down, but he will fight to survive}Rd7 31. Rb5 h6 (31... dxc3 $4 32. Rxd7 $18) 32. Ba5 Rc2 {the seventh rank is always interesting for a rook} 33. h4 d3 {this passed pawn is becoming dangerous for Carlsen} 34. a4 $2 (34. Bc3 Re7 35.Re5 Rxe5 36. Bxe5 d2 37. Kf2 Bf7 38. Ke3 Bxa2 39. Rxd2 $16) 34... Re7 {and Ree2 is coming now!} 35. h5 (35. Rd2) 35... Be8 36. Rb8 (36. Rb4 Ree2 37.Rg4 Bd7 38. Rg3 Bxa4 39. Rxd3 Rxb2 40. Rd8+ Kh7 41. Bc3 Rb7 42. Rb8 Ree7 {both rooks are back from the 7th to the 2nd! Black has very big drawingpossibilities}) 36... Ree2 37. Rxd3 {white took this dangerous pawn but now black rooks are at their best} Rxg2+ 38.Kf1 Rh2 (38... Rcf2+ {was another good move} 39. Ke1 Re2+ 40. Kd1 Kh7 41. Rxe8$1 Rxe8 42. Bc3 Rg5 43. b4 Rxh5 44. b5 Rh1+ 45. Kc2 h5 46. a5 h4 47. b6 h3 48.f4 Rb8 49. Be5 Rc8+ 50. Kd2 Rh2+ 51. Ke3 Ra2 52. b7 Re8 53. b8=Q Rxb8 54. Bxb8h2 55. Rd1 Rxa5 56. Ke4 Ra2 57. Rh1 Kg6 58. f5+ Kf7 59. Be5 Re2+ 60. Kf4 Rf2+61. Kg4 Re2 62. Bxh2 g6 $11) 39. Rd2 $4 {incredible, the number one in the world is human!!} ({He probably planned toput the Bishop here and mixed up in his head at the very last moment} 39. Bd2Kf7 $1 (39... Rhxd2 $4 {is losing in this variation} 40. Rxe8+ Kf7 41. Rxd2Rxd2 42. Rb8 $18) 40. Ke1 Bxa4 $11 {and it's equal, black rooks have sufficient activity for the pawn}) 39... Rhxd2$4 {Hammer was really short in time, he had seconds left on the clock, and hewas probably calculating some Bd2 move beforce Calsen played.} (39... Rc1+ 40.Rd1 Rxd1+ 41. Be1 Rh1+ 42. Kf2 Rhxe1 $19) 40. Bxd2 Kf7 {Jon Ludwig has some chances now though} 41. Bc3 Bxa4 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Rxg7 Bb5+44. Kg1 Be8 45. Rh7 Kf5 46. Rxh6 Kg5 47. Re6 Bxh5 {but Carlsen's technic willnow be almost flawless. It's almost the same endgame than Gelfand's first winagainst Leko in the match they are currently playing in Hungary!} 48. Re5+ Kh649. f4 Kg6 50. f5+ Kf7 51. f6 Bg6 52. Re7+ Kf8 53. Rc7 Ke8 54. b4 Kd8 55. Rc5 {all Magnus' pieces are on dark squares} Kd7 56. b5 Kd6 57. Bb4 Rb2 (57... Rxc558. b6 Ke6 59. Bxc5 Be4 60. Be7 $18) 58. Ba3 Ra2 59. Rc3+ Ke6 60. b6 Ra1+ 61.Kf2 Be4 62. Be7 Bh1 63. Re3+ Kf7 64. Rb3 Bb7 65. Ke3 Ra5 66. Rc3 Rb5 67. Rc7Bh1 68. Bd8+ Ke8 69. f7+ Kf8 70. Bf6 $2 {another small flaw for the human Magnus!} Bd5 $2 (70... Rf5 {was a draw!}) 71.Bd4 Bxf7 72. b7 Be8 73. Ba7 {rapid play often leads to interesting fights!} 1-0[Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"][Site "Kristiansund NOR"][Date "2010.08.28"][Round "3"][White "Hammer, J."][Black "Polgar, Ju"][Result "1/2-1/2"][ECO "E53"][WhiteElo "2636"][BlackElo "2682"][PlyCount "90"][EventDate "2010.08.28"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Qb3 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bb7 12. Ne5 Nbd7 (12... Qc7 {is the move usually played here} 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Bb5 Nc6 15. Rfe1 $14) 13. Nxf7Rxf7 14. Bxe6 Qe8 $8 15. Ba3 Nf8 16. Bc4 Qd7 17. Bxf7+ Qxf7 18. c4 Ne4 19. Qd3Ne6 20. d5 N6c5 21. Qd4 $14 Rc8 22. Rfe1 Nd6 23. Rac1 Nf5 24. Qd2 h6 25. Rc3Qg6 26. h3 $2 (26. Qf4) 26... Nh4 27. Rg3 Ne4 28. Rxg6 Nxd2 29. Rg4 Nhf3+ 30.gxf3 Nxf3+ 31. Kf1 Nh2+ 32. Ke2 (32. Kg2 Nxg4 33. Re7 $1 {is typical computer play}) 32... Nxg4 33. hxg4 Rxc4 {white d pawn is dangerous but it seems black is now able to hold} 34. d6 Ba635. Kf3 Bb5 (35... Bb7+ 36. Ke3 Rc3+ 37. Kd4 Rxa3 38. Re8+ Kf7 39. d7 Rxa2 40.d8=Q Rd2+ 41. Ke3 Rxd8 42. Rxd8 Ke7 43. Rb8 Bc6 44. Rg8 Kf6 45. Rc8 $14) 36.Bb2 Rc2 37. Bd4 Rd2 (37... Bc6+ 38. Kf4 Rd2 39. Ke5 Rxa2 40. Ke6 Ra4 41. Be5Rxg4 42. Rc1 Bb5 $11 {white will have a hard time to win this}) 38. Ke4 Kf7 39.Kd5 Be2 40. Kc6 $2 (40. Rc1 {with good winning opportunities} Bf3+ (40... Bxg441. Rc7+ Ke8 42. Re7+ Kd8 43. Rxg7 Bd7 44. Rg8+ Be8 45. f4 h5 46. f5 Rd1 47. f6Rf1 48. Ke6 $18) 41. Ke5 Bxg4 42. Rc7+ Ke8 43. Re7+ Kd8 44. Rxg7 Re2+ 45. Be3h5 46. Rxa7 b5 47. Kf6 Rc2 48. f4 $18 {and the f pawn runs fast}) 40... Bf3+41. Kc7 Rxd4 42. d7 Rc4+ 43. Kb8 Rd4 44. Kc7 Rc4+ 45. Kb8 Rd4 1/2-1/2

The good choice

2010-08-27T23:56:00.002+02:00

White is on the attack. How to proceed now ?
Allocated time: < 1 min.

Another black disaster in Spain

2010-08-26T21:41:00.012+02:00

() vs. ()
- -

It's interesting to see that Graf won another game in the same 24 moves in 1998 with this variation (but 8.d5).

Miniaturized master

2010-08-25T23:33:00.019+02:00

() vs. ()
- -

Who said only beginners let their poor king alone with all dark squares weakened ? :-)

Comments on French championship players

2010-08-24T16:53:00.002+02:00

Here are my small comments on each player of the 2010 edition:

1. Laurent Fressinet 8
A big year for this 29y-old player. Among French top 3 for years he earned his first French champion title and crossed the 2700 Elo threshold for the first time. Currently 2717 and among world top 30, this nice guy is currently at his top.

2. Romain Edouard 8
Last year was great for Romain, from 2562 to 2620, being 19y-old. It's more difficult this year, but with this fantastic 2nd place he is back. He won 21 Elo points in this tournament. He has a very strong will to win and works with a very good coach.

3. Etienne Bacrot 7
It's not necessary to introduce him! 6 times French champion, youngest GM in the world at his time (he was 14). He failed to win the title this year but he is not very far from his best Elo ever reached and has strengthened his play with more agressive lines.

4. Christian Bauer 6
A very interesting player, always fighting and playing entertaining chess. I must say I have 100% against this player (but ok it's only on 1 game and a simultaneous one :-)).

5-6. Vladislav Tkachiev 5,5
The 2009 champion was totally out of form in this tournament. He was not lucky too. He will be in the French Olympiad team. He can obviously play very good games.

5-6. Iossid Dorfman 5,5
A very wellknown and experienced trainer (Kasparov, Bacrot, among others) but nowadays a disappointing player. As he already did, this year his made 11 draws in 11 games, some of them very quickly. It's a pity because when he wants to attack he can play fantastic chess.

7. Emmanuel Bricard 5
I like this player. He is always playing very strange openings, home-prepared, very interesting. He is very strong in closed positions and is able to outplay strong grandmasters. He played a very good tournament this year because he was last seed!

8. Andrei Sokolov 4,5
Former n°3 in the world, world championship challenger in the 80', very experienced trainer and very solid player (he can probably draw with white against almost every player in the world). He had a disappointing tournament this year.

9. Hicham Hamdouchi 4,5
Former African champion and first to cross 2600, he lives in France for years and played his first French tournament last year. He had a very good start this year but had a very difficult tournament then, being sometimes unlucky (Edouard, Fressinet).

10. Aliaksei Charnushevich 4
A very solid player, playing for Besançon for years. Fressinet and Bacrot had a hard time to finally beat him with white.

11. Jean-Mard Degraeve 4
An experienced and agressive player. He played some fantastic attacking games. Sometimes he goes too far with his openings, but it's very interesting for spectators. This year he was totally out of form too.

12. Matthieu Cornette 4
One of the French hopes, though he is 25 now. He was a very tactical player (and can still play amazing combinations) but decided to play more solid openings now (a little like me, ha ha). I played 2 times against him, scoring +1 -1. In this tournament his play was quite good but he was unlucky in several endgames.

Funny hold-up

2010-08-23T18:49:00.008+02:00

vs.
- -

It's not about commenting this game, "?" marks speak for themselves, it's about the third tag of this message.
Of course if it's a serious game you can't fight with a bishop against a queen. Well after it's all about level of the players and time control. I already saw masters playing a serious game a piece down for almost nothing (against another master) and save the game. Because chess is more complex than "I'm a pawn up" or "I'm a piece up" or even "I'm a queen up". King's safety, pieces activity, passed pawns, clock, and a lot of other small things, combined with a Fischer-like will to win, can sometime turn material into insignificant wood!

Edouard - Tkachiev attacking game video

2010-08-22T19:08:00.001+02:00

Unusual endgame challenge

2010-08-21T19:48:00.021+02:00

Queen against bishop+pawn on the 7th rank.
How should black proceed to win quickly ?
(or he will have to struggle with the 50 moves rule!)
Time allocated : 10 min.

Fast calculation

2010-08-20T20:44:00.003+02:00

Black to play. How many seconds to find the mate ?

French championships outcome

2010-08-19T21:14:00.001+02:00

Exciting finish in the 2010 French championship!
In round 10 Edouard catched up Fressinet with a spectacular win against defending champion Tkachiev whereas Bacrot could only draw with black against Hamdouchi and Fressinet quickly with white against Dorfman.

Standing before last round :
1-2. Edouard, Fressinet 7,5
3. Bacrot 6,5
4. Bauer 5,5

Last round encounters :
Sokolov,A (2596) - Edouard,R (2620)
Bacrot,E (2720) - Fressinet,L (2697)
R11 Live (Friday)
(If 2 or 3 players finish equal first, there will be rapid/blitz tie-breaks on Saturday)

In the Women championship, Almira Skripchenko (2458) is champion one round before the end with 7/9.

[Update : Edouard and Fressinet both drew last round with good preparation. In the rapid tie-breaks, Fressinet won 1,5-0,5 and gets his first French champion title.
And guess what: Fressinet and Skripchenko are husband and wife!]

Endgame improvement

2010-08-18T23:27:00.013+02:00

() vs. ()
-

Do you see where Bacrot could have improved and won ?

Andreikin - Stupak WJun 24 moves game

2010-08-17T22:51:00.004+02:00

Here is a game played in the 11th round by the new Junior World champion.

() vs. ()
-

World Junior Championships

2010-08-16T02:32:00.005+02:00

World Junior Championships, i.e. under 20, boys and girls, are taking place in Chotowa, Poland. These are very long tournaments played in 13 rounds.

In the boys tournament, the Russian Dmitry Andreikin (2650) was leading for many rounds but in round 12 he decided to make a quick draw with white against his fellow countryman Matlakov (2603). Thus he was joined at 9,5/12 by another Russian, Sanan Sjugirov (2610), who nicely won an endgame of opposite-colored bishops against Swedish IM Blomqvist.
So, the last round of this Monday will be deciding. Both are black but Andreikin has a difficult game against Norwegian Hammer (2636) whereas Sjugirov faces 17y-old UAE player Salem (2469, but doing well so far).
Round 13 live

In the girls tournament, the story is very similar. Slovenian Anna Muzychuk (2527), ranked 8th woman in the world, was leading since round 5, logically collecting an impressive 10/11. But in round 12 she was defeated by 17y-old Peruvian Deysi Cori (2403) and saw the Russian Olga Girya (2373) catching her up.
They both play theorically weaker opponent in the last round. If Muzychuk wins she will probably become world champion.
Round 13 live

[Update:
Andreikin drew and Sjugirov struggled to draw in a breathtaking finish. Polish Swiercz takes 3rd place.
Muzychuk won easily and Girya was happy to draw a losing endgame. 16y-old Indian girl Rout Padmini drew with Cori and finishes 3rd.]

Chess tactic

2010-08-15T00:12:00.003+02:00

NN - Sarno,S
1993
Black to play. Do you have this pattern in your mind ?

Howell-Gelfand video

2010-08-14T02:16:00.002+02:00

This game was played in the first round of the NH tournament (Rising stars vs Experience) in Amsterdam.
Mig Greengard made some interesting comments on the round 1.
Here is the official website, with the same design than the Amber one, and as usual with a very good following of the tournament : very nice presentation of the players, videos, round reports, live games, and so on.

P.S. Let me know if my English is too poor!

Chess is above all, a fight

2010-08-13T00:01:00.010+02:00

As Emanuel Lasker said. He said that too :
Chess is a conflict, not between 2 intelligences, but between 2 wills.

() vs. ()
-

Endgame trick

2010-08-12T15:54:00.001+02:00

() vs. ()
-

Black has a difficult endgame. What is the safest way to draw ?

Koneru-Zhao

2010-08-11T03:46:00.020+02:00

Very tactical game yesterday in Mongolia :
() vs. ()
-

Rook endgame

2010-08-10T01:34:00.003+02:00

How should Black proceed ?
In this case what will be the result of the endgame ?

Jonny Hector

2010-08-09T00:10:00.003+02:00

This fantastic Swedish Grandmaster was born in... 1964 ! He learned chess at 14 and progressed fairly quickly. He is one of the most agressive players and often plays unusual and sharp openings.

Last week he played in the Politiken Cup tournament, finishing equal 5th with 7,5/10 (losing against Meier and Ganguly).
Here are some openings he played in this tournament :

7.O-O!? like a Milner-Barry

5...d5 against this English

A good old Evans

Munguntuul - Koneru

2010-08-07T02:58:00.003+02:00

Very good game from the Mongolian player today against top seed Humpy Koneru :

British chess championships

2010-08-06T23:31:00.011+02:00

Convincing victory of Michael Adams with 9,5/11 (+8 =3), 2757 performance.
It's "just half-a-point short of the record set by former champion Julian Hodgson back in 1992".

Short, McShane and Howell did not play.

Michael Adams
British champion 2010

Jovanka Houska
British women champion 2010

Unsound sacrifice for Maia

2010-08-05T17:09:00.003+02:00

Former World Champion (1978-1991) Maia Chiburdanidze was playing top seed Koneru (2nd woman to cross 2600 Elo in the history) with black.

In this position she tried a clever exchange sacrifice : 17...Rxe4 18.Qxe4 Re8, with the idea Q moves somewhere then Rxe2 and then Qxf4. Do you see why it doesn't work ?

ZHAO Xue in Women GP

2010-08-05T07:41:00.003+02:00

After 5 rounds she is leading the event with Stefanova.

Homework of the day : try to point out the blunders of her opponents in these 5 games.

Games of the event in PGN

Fargere wins Dutch Open

2010-08-04T06:56:00.011+02:00

Very convincing performance from Francois Fargere in the Dutch Open after 7 rounds with 6,5. Round 7 he won this important game with black, with a nice use of the e4 square :-)

He faced strong GM Edwin L'Ami in round 8 and drew in 19 moves.
In round 9 he drew with black though his opponent sacrificed pawns and built a strong attack. At the end he was probably winning but strangely decided to secure a draw (whereas tables 2 and 3 quickly drew).

So he won the event with 7,5/9, 1 full point clear of the rest of the field, with 2729 performance and +29 Elo points. Congratulations !
Now Fargere only has to improve his extra-chess behavior. It would be really good for organizers and for chess in general.

Final results

Chess tactic

2010-08-03T01:49:00.003+02:00

Black to play.
(not so easy, not so hard)

ZHU Chen - ZHAO Xue

2010-08-02T15:33:00.004+02:00

This game was played in the 3rd round of 5th FIDE women's Grand Prix. It was a crazy game with mistakes from both sides. Mistakes are common but here they were really big.

Former Women World Champion sacrificed her Queen with 27.Qxc6?? and black answered with 27...Rg6??. During the press conference both players admitted they totally forgot that black could have taken the Queen not being mated ! Both are Grand Master, how is that possible ?
Well, 2 moves before white sacrificed a whole Rook in g7, having probably already planned to sacrifice the Queen after. I guess black could not imagine that such a player could give a Rook followed by a Queen for free. However every chess player should know that you must never trust your opponent, even if he is very strong :-)

Then the (end)game was interesting because white ended with B+N+p against Q.
Finally after a long battle, the classic endgame Queen against pawn in 7th appeared on the board. Cases of c and f pawns are the most interesting, like here.
As pointed out by commentators, including Susan Polgar here, black missed a somehow basic draw at move 64.
That's not very good for a former Women World Champion but ok, she had to be tired with the game and obviously it wasn't her day. I'm not sure she can regret anything because she could have resign at move 27 :-)

Mistakes are part of the game.

Cannes

2010-08-02T04:27:00.006+02:00

Location : Cannes, France.

3 GM on first 3 places, Sengupta, Sanchez and top seed Sumets.
French under 16 hope Jules Moussard made his 3^rd IM norm and gets the title ! And 2^nd IM norm for another u16 hope, Christophe Sochacki.
This comes after third u16 French hope Maxime Lagarde 2^nd IM norm in Creon yesterday.

Cannes final standing

Pamplona

2010-08-02T01:18:00.000+02:00

Location : Pamplona, Spain.

Strong closed tournament with an average rating of 2637.
It was the small come back of Russian genius Alexander Morozevich, because his last rated game was played in January. Unfortunately for him (and for chess fans), though beginning with 2,5/3 he had a very difficult tournament, scoring only 4/9 while being top seed, losing some 15,5 points in the process.

Co-winners of the tournament with 6,5/9 (+4 =5) are Polish Radoslaw Wojtaszek, one of Anand's seconds, and French Laurent Fressinet (former Kramnik's second !), who is now rated over the 2700 mark for the first time.
(http://chess.liverating.org/ will probably be updated soon)

Results and games