Scacchi e gambetti

Grunfeld: 15.Ne5! N

2012-01-27T07:14:00.000-08:00

Una novità interessante nella Grunfeld per il Bianco, emersa durante un test di Robbolito 10, che fra parentesi gioca meglio di Rybka 4.1.

Antimoderna: attacco laterale "alla Mariotti"

2012-01-16T12:34:00.001-08:00

Verybadchess (1930) - Marco Saba (blitz 5m)
http://live.chess.com/

1.g3 h5
2.Nf3 h4
3.Nxh4 Rxh4
4.gxh4 e5
5.d4 Qxh4
6.dxe5 Bc5
7.e3 Nc6
8.Qd5 Bb6
9.Nc3 Nh6
10.Qe4 Ng4
11.Nd1 Ncxe5
12.h3 f5
13.hxg4 fxe4
14.Rxh4 Nf3+
15.Ke2 Nxh4
16.Nc3 d5
17. 0-1

President Václav Have passed away

2011-12-22T13:17:00.000-08:00

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

GET UPDATES FROM LUBOMIR KAVALEK

Chess Player Vaclav Havel

Posted: 12/22/11 03:49 PM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lubomir-kavalek/chess-player-vaclav-havel_b_1163317.html

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Bessel Kok , Jiri Krizan , Mikhail Tal , Vaclav Havel , William Steinitz , Sports News

President Vaclav Havel died last Sunday and the sad news spread quickly. The Czechs lost one of their best statesmen - a good, modest man who was respected throughout the world. Thousands walked on Wednesday behind his casket from the center of Prague, across the Charles Bridge to the Prague Castle. Czech and foreign dignitaries will pay their last respects to Havel at a funeral ceremony in the St. Vitus cathedral on Friday.

Havel became perhaps the only head of state who played - and won - an actual chess game during a ceremonial opening of a chess tournament. It happened in Prague in 1990 and here is the account I wrote around that time:

I was trying to explain to the president and his advisor, Jiri Krizan (pictured in the middle), the protocol and how he would make a single move on a chessboard. But Havel interrupted me.

"Can we play a little more?"

A meek entreaty, but since it was uttered in Czechoslovakia, by the president of Czechoslovakia, it amounted to a command. And so it was that on Aug. 26, 1990, the charismatic, enigmatic playwright-president Vaclav Havel and I played a game of chess.

It wasn't supposed to have happened. Havel was merely to have been the celebrity host of the opening ceremonies of "Prague 1990," the international grandmaster chess tournament I had organized under his auspices, as a tribute to the country's new democracy.

At such events, dignitaries's play is symbolic, usually limited to one move. Often, they simply pose contemplatively at the chess board while cameras zoom in.

But Havel disdains the ceremonial. He did not wish to be limited to only one move he was supposed to play against his designated dignitary opponent - Bessel Kok. Kok, CEO of the Belgian financial telecommunications company SWIFT, was chairman of the Grandmasters Association, but he was not himself a grandmaster. For an amateur like Havel to defeat an experienced player like Kok may be a worthy triumph, but to defeat a grandmaster would be....well, about as heady, and about as unlikely, as dissident intellectual melancholic getting elected president of a Communist bloc country.

The logistics were tactfully scripted by presidential adviser Jiri Krizan, formerly a screenwriter. Krizan suggested that I could act as chess adviser to Kok - standing by him and helping plot his strategy - and in that way the president would get his wish and actually compete against me. I suggested that Krizan be Havel's adviser: "If my memory serves me, he used to play chess quite well," I told Havel, recalling my last game with Krizan. It was at a New Year's Eve party in Prague in 1967. Next year I would leave Czechoslovakia and we would not see each other for 22 years.

Havel agreed to the four-man game.

When I announced to the crowd in the Congress Hall of the Hotel Intercontinental that the president would not only throw out the ceremonial first ball, but would be the home team's starting pitcher, pandemonium erupted.

The attendance was encouragingly robust. And when Havel stepped up to the chess table, and the cheering crowds surged forward past helpless security guards, to secure the best tableside positions, it became evident that big-time chess was back in Prague.

About Havel and his chess, I knew nearly nothing; only that he had been imprisoned, and that political prisoners tended to play incessantly in prison. It was their means of communication. When the guards were far away, they would exchange information; when they were close by, they talked chess moves.

As a writer, Havel is impulsive, intuitive, a risk-taker, a dreamer.
As a politician, he is a pragmatist, conciliator, a seeker of consensus.

I wondered which man we would be playing. We shook hands all around. The president of Czechoslovakia pushed a white queen pawn forward, and the game was on.

Kok and I played well initially. By the ninth move, two things were clear: Havel knew how to play the game, but he was no expert. He had doubled up his pawns, cramping his queen and bishop, limiting his options. He was very likely heading for a loss.

I offered a draw, a diplomatic resolution. Havel smiled, said nothing and answered by capturing a pawn. So we were playing the playwright, not the politician.

Kok was a little nervous. I think he began to suspect that it was actually three Czechs against one Belgian, since I could understand what the two gentlemen from the Prague Castle were whispering feverishly to each other across the table - and I was clearly more interested in a graceful solution than a win.

Kok wouldn't mind a peaceful solution, but Havel was in for a fight. After our 13th move, I again offered a draw, and Havel again declined it with a move of the hand. He advanced on a knight so impetuously that he forgot the rules, pushing a pawn one space farther than it was legal. His adviser smilingly pulled it back. But Havel had clearly decided on a strategy - he wanted that black knight - and he pursued it. It was risky, perhaps foolhardy, but he pursued it.

Coincidentally, his lapses at the beginning of the game were working in his favor now; in a sense, two wrongs had made a right. Because he had doubled up on his pawns, his rook was now clear, in a position to threaten our king.

There are moments when the game of chess takes over, when one does not notice the noise or the crowd. When one forgets his daily problems, does not think about the future or the past. This has happened for Kok and Havel. It was their game now. Krizan and I did not speak to each other, or exchange signs, but we simultaneously sensed it was time to let whatever would happen, happen.

Havel created his first mating threat, but Kok saw it and prevented it. After white's queen aggressively moved forward, the Belgian moved to shield his pawn, completely overlooking that his knight was also in jeopardy.

Havel didn't notice either, though. No piece was taken.

Neither Krizan nor I interfered. It was unsound chess, but good drama.

On move 20, Havel protected his pawn with his rook. It looked innocent, but it contained a trap. Kok impulsively attacked the rook, and Havel moved on black's queen. It seemed the queen could not remain where it was. It would have to retreat, forcing the loss of the knight.

Kok peered up at me uncertainly.

"It doesn't look good," he said, and I agreed, as solemnly as I could.

Vaclav Havel accepts Bessel Kok's resignation. From left Havel, Krizan, Kavalek, Kok.

Kok held out a hand and Havel took it. Perhaps in the final position Kok had a way out, but it was irrelevant. The game lasted 15 minutes, and Havel's 15-minutes of chess fame could not have been written better either by him or by his advisor, the screenwriter Krizan. It was a spontaneous, impromptu performance, a perfect drama played in front of TV cameras.

The next day, perhaps, the president of Czechoslovakia would return to the grave business of being a statesman in a young democracy struggling to define itself. But for a moment, he was grinning, just like a slap-happy kid.

The game became known throughout the world. Havel never played in public again. He and Bessel Kok became good friends. Kok lives in Prague with his wife and son. He is a member of the Board of the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation and honorary member of the VIZE 97 foundation. He was also instrumental in staging Havel's last theater play "Leaving." Jiri Krizan died in October 2010.

Havel, Krizan - Kok, Kavalek
Prague 1990

1.d4 d5 2.e3 (White is playing the French defense with the white pieces.) 2...Nf6 3.Nf3 Bg4 (A natural development, pinning the knight.) 4.h3! (Away with the pin!) 4...Bxf3 5.gxf3 (In general, pawns should capture towards the center. In doubling them, president Havel followed some great chess masters. The world champion William Steintz recommended this move after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.gxf3!?, with the idea to attack the center after 5...dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 with 7.f4. Mikhail Tal came up with a similar idea in the Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.gxf3 when he won the world championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik in 1960. We expected 5.Qxf3.)

5...Nc6 6.Nc3 (Develops a piece, but 6.f4 stops the central advance e7-e5.] 6...e6 [6...e5 is more aggressive.) 7.Qe2 Bb4 8.Bd2 (The president smiled after this move, pointing out that he is ready to castle long.) 8...0-0 9.0-0-0 (During the castling, Vaclav Havel began to place his king to the square b1, something the great Italian romantics would do in the 16th century.) 9...e5 (This sharp advance in the center is a hidden trap, luring white into a wrong combination.)

10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.f4 (White discovered the trap and avoids it. After 11.Nxd5? Qxd5 12.Bxb4 Qxa2 13.Bxf8 Qa1+ 14.Kd2 Qxb2 15.Be7 Nd5 black is a rook down, but his knights secure him a marvelous counterplay. White has to watch out. For example, white gets mated after 16.Ke1? Qc3+ 17.Rd2 Qa1+ 18.Qd1 [After 18.Rd1 Qa5+ 19.Rd2 Nc3 wins.] 18...Nc3!! 19.Qxa1 Nxf3 mate.)

11...Ned7 12.Rg1 (A rook belongs on an open file.) 12...c6 13.a3 Ba5 (The bishop can't come back to protect the king and white begins the attack.) 14.e4 dxe4 (After 14...Bxc3 15.Bxc3 dxe4 Havel was ready to perform a wonderful combination:

16.Rxg7+!! Kxg7 17.Qg4+ Kh8 18.Rxd7 mating soon.)

15.Nxe4 (White could have opened the diagonal c1-h6 for his bishop with 15.f5.) 15...Nxe4 (Black could have equalized comfortably with 15...Bxd2+!? 16.Rxd2 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Re8 18.Qf3 Re1+ 19.Rd1 Rxd1+ 20.Qxd1 Nf6; or 16.Nxd2 Qc7=) 16.Bxa5 Qxa5 17.Qxe4 Nf6 18.Qe7 (A double attack: both the knight on f6 and the pawn on b7 are hanging. At this moment both players were completely engulfed in the fight and played quickly. Their advisers stared helplessly at the board.)

18...Rab8? ("I have to protect this pawn," Kok said and made the rook move before I could change his mind. 18...Qf5 was a playable defense.) 19.Bc4? (White was winning immediately with 19.Qxf6. Krizan saw it, but could not intervene because Havel's hand was too fast.) 19...Qf5 20.Rd4 (Protecting the f4-pawn and threatening 20.Rg5, but 20.Qe5 was objectively better.) 20...c5?! (Black could have counterattacked with 20...Rbe8! 21.Qxb7 Ne4.)

21.Rg5

("It's hopeless," said Bessel and thinking he must lose the knight, offered Havel his resignation. However, after 21.Rg5 black can minimize his losses with 21...Rbe8! 22.Rxf5 Rxe7 23.Rxc5. White is a pawn up, but black can still fight.)
Black resigned.

The Great London Chess Debate

2011-12-20T10:42:00.001-08:00

Blog Entries by Lubomir Kavalek

The Great London Chess Debate

Posted December 20, 2011 | 12:02:06 (EST)

The former world champion Vladimir Kramnik won the London Chess Classic, a tournament that brought the English capital close to its former glory. London was the world chess center in the mid-19th century when the first two important...

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When Bobby Fischer Played Chess Like Misha

Tal

7 Comments | Posted November 30, 2011 | 11:49:53 (EST)

Reckless sacrifices were not his style, but for one day, one game and
one moment in 1959 Bobby Fischer threw caution to the wind, went
va banque and played like Mikhail Tal. His opponent was the Czech
grandmaster Ludek Pachman and the game was played in Santiago
de Chile.

Tal...

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Joys of Chess: From Krabbé to Hesse

20 Comments | Posted November 17, 2011 | 20:20:44 (EST)

Christian Hesse's book The Joys of Chess: Heroes, Battles &
Brilliances, published by New in Chess, was endorsed by the world
champion Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. It is a compilation of
chess stories, biographical sketches, games and fragments with
references to art and science. The author is a...

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Magnus Carlsen Wins Chess Masters Final

2011-10-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Magnus Carlsen Wins Chess Masters Final with a Blitz Game

The Huffington Post, 10/12/11 06:14 PM ET

They flew from Europe to Brazil, played five rounds in Sao Paulo, crossed the equator again on the way to Bilbao, Spain, where they played another five rounds. After the world's best chess grandmasters have done all this traveling and playing, the outcome of the Chess Masters Final was still up in the air. It came down to a tiebreaking blitz game in which Norway's Magnus Carlsen, the world's top-rated player, defeated Ukraine's Vassily Ivanchuk, at 42, the oldest participant.

Txapeldun: champion Carlsen in a traditional Basque beret

Ivanchuk had a blistering start with one draw and three wins in the first four games, but things changed in a hurry. He lost to Carlsen in the next round and suddenly the Norwegian GM had a chance to catch up. The first part of the double-round event was over and the players had to fly to Spain.

On the way to the airport, still on the hotel premises, Ivanchuk and his wife were robbed. But the thugs didn't get Ivanchuk's laptop, a necessary tool of today's chess players, and the Ukrainian resumed play in Bilbao on time. He beat the American GM Hikaru Nakamura, but managed only two draws and two losses till the end. The loss to Carlsen catapulted the Norwegian into first place. Had the organizers used the traditional results, the final crosstable would have looked like this:

But to encourage fighting chess, the Chess Masters Final was scored differently. Based on soccer scoring, the Sao Paulo/Bilbao results were kicked up to 3 points for a victory, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. It enabled Ivanchuk to share first place with Carlsen.

Regardless of the soccer-style scoring, the organizers will be submitting only the traditional crosstable to FIDE for ratings. It is the only way to align it with other tournaments and to be able to make a historical comparison.

The Championship Game

Since the classical games did not produce a clear winner, Carlsen and Ivanchuk had to play a blitz game tiebreak. The first game was drawn, but Carlsen won the second game and became the champion. What if Ivanchuk had won the blitz? The tournament results would have become meaningless. Strange, very strange, indeed.

Carlsen just played 39...Qg3+, the final move in the championship game

Here is the game with some notes:

Ivanchuk,Vasily (2765) - Carlsen,Magnus (2823)
Chess Masters Final, Bilbao, 11.10.2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 (Not allowing the dreadful Berlin endgame after 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8.) 4...Bc5 5.Be3 Qe7 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.Bxc5 Qxc5 8.Nc3 (By exchanging both bishops, Ivanchuk attained a simple position in which he can play fast. No fancy moves, just speed seems to be his strategy.) 8...0-0 9.0-0 Rb8 10.Qd2 Qe7 11.b3 c5 (Stopping any central play with the d-pawn. Both sides would like to open the game with the f-pawn, but who comes first?) 12.h3 d6 13.Nh2 Nh5 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Rae1 (After 15.Qd1 g6 16.Nf3 f5 black comes first on the kingside. And 15.f4? c6 loses a pawn.) 15...Be6 16.Nc3 f5 (Black is first.) 17.exf5 Bxf5

18.f3?! (Threatening to win a piece with g2-g4, but it weakens the dark squares. The immediate 18.g4? loses to 18...Nf4 19.gxf5 Qg5+ 20.Ng4 Nxh3+ winning the queen.) 18...Bg6 19.Rf2 Qh4 (Black controls the dark squares and the open f-file helps him to increase the pressure on white's position.) 20.Nd5 Rf7 21.Qc3 c6 22.Ne3 Nf4 23.Qd2 Rbf8 (Aiming all pieces at the white king. Ivanchuk can only wait and see what Carlsen can come up with.)

24.Nd1 h5 25.Nc3 Bf5 26.Ne2 Ne6 27.Qe3 Rf6?! (Carlsen would like to switch the rook on the g-file, but the rook move is blocking the escape route for the black queen.) 28.Kh1?! (Ivanchuk is still waiting, but he could have jumped out of the box with 28.f4!? [threatening 29.Nf3 to win the queen] 28...exf4 29.Nxf4; or 28...Nxf4 29.Nxf4 Bc8 30.g3 exf4 31.gxh4 fxe3 32.Rxf6 Rxf6 33.Rxe3 with equal chances.)28...Rg6 (28...Nd4 29.Nxd4 cxd4 30.Qd2 c5 would increase the space advantage, but Carlsen does not want to reduce his forces. He probably thought the knight was important enough to be kept on the board.)29.Rg1 Nc7 30.Rgf1 Nd5 31.Qd2 Rgf6?! (Carlsen gives Ivanchuk another chance to run for freedom and blocks his queen again.)

32.Nc3?! (Ivanchuk misses 32.f4! e4 [32...Nxf4? 33.Nf3 wins the queen.] 33.dxe4 Bxe4 34.Nf3 Bxf3 35.Rxf3 with equal chances.) 32...Nf4 33.Ne4 Rg6 34.Rg1 Qd8 35.Nf1 Qe7 (Carlsen prepares to push away the knight on e4. He could have done it right away: 35...d5 36.Nxc5 Qg5 threatening to take on h3. But in a blitz game your plans are often realized slowly.) 36.Nfg3 d5 (Carlsen could have won also with 36...Bxh3 37.gxh3 Nxh3 38.Rgf1 Nxf2+ 39.Qxf2 d5 40.Nxc5 Rf4.) 37.Nxf5 Rxf5 38.Nc3 Qh4!(Threatening to win with either 39...Nxh3 or with 39...Rfg5, Carlsen's attack is breaking through.)

39.Kh2 (Ivanchuk blunders with 93 seconds on his clock, but he had no good defense anyway against 39...Nxh3 40.gxh3 Qxh3+ 41.Rh2 Qxf3+ 42.Rhg2 Qh3+ 43.Rh2 Rxg1+ 44.Kxg1 Rf1 mate. White cannot challenge the black knight: 39.Ne2 Qxf2 wins.) 39...Qg3+ (After 39...Qg3+ 40.Kh1 Nxh3 41.Rff1 Rf4 42.gxh3 Qxh3+ 43.Qh2 Qxh2+ 44.Kxh2 Rh4 mates.) White resigned.

Nakamura threw away his chance to finish first when he got up to get a drink, thinking he has made the time limit, and overstepped the time after 39 moves against the Spanish GM Francisco Vallejo Pons. At the end, the American shared places with the world champion Vishy Anand and Levon Aronian of Armenia.

The Most Treacherous Defense

2011-10-18T06:07:00.000-07:00

Lubomir Kavalek

The Most Treacherous Defense in Chess

International Chess Grandmaster

The Huffington Post, 10/5/11 12:25 PM ET

Named after the Austrian master Ernst Grunfeld, the defense has been around for nearly 90 years. At first, it was looked upon with suspicion: giving white a strong pawn center that could only be tickled by black's dark bishop and other pieces didn't seem to be a fair deal. Those who played the Grunfeld defense knew that it could turn into a nightmare in an instant. But the defense also brought them bright moments, tempted them again and again, and they could not live without it.

Bobby Fischer created the "game of the century" in 1956 against Donald Byrne and he almost beat the world champion Mikhail Botvinnik at the 1962 olympiad in Varna, Bulgaria, with the Grunfeld defense. Garry Kasparov picked it up and played it in the world championship matches against Anatoly Karpov.

The most unlikely convert was Nigel Short, a classical player who liked his pawns to be present in the center. For him the Grunfeld belonged to another universe, but as his coach I thought it made perfect sense to use it against Jonathan Speelman in the 1991 Candidates match in London. Speelman was one of those "diagonal players" who liked to place his kingside Bishop on the long diagonal h1-a8 as white. The Grunfeld steals the diagonal play from white because black's dark bishop has a target in the center. I taught Short the Grunfeld defense in three months and it won him the match.

Image by Jan Brychta

When they met in the 1988 Candidates quarterfinal, Speelman won convincingly 3.5 - 1.5. He seemed to have a psychological edge and what was even worse, Short didn't have suitable repertoire for the black pieces against him. No matter what he did, he was playing to Speelman's strength. The Grunfeld changed all that and Short had suddenly something new, fresh and surprising up his sleeve.

Speelman was switching from variation to variation, but in four Grunfeld games he was able to surprise Short only once. When he tried to win in the same variation again, Nigel easily drew by repeating all 27 moves I have analyzed for him the previous night. In the final game Speelman developed his light bishop on the diagonal, but ran into a prepared setup we used to play in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s around the time Short was born. Nigel won the game and the match. Considering the limited time we had to prepare the Grunfeld, it was a miracle.

But Short was not comfortable with the new defense and shortly after the match, he dropped it from his repertoire. With the appearance of Vladimir Kramnik, Kasparov got rid of the Grunfeld defense. But others like Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Svidler continue to play it. It made huge strides in the last 20 years and more and more people are playing it now.

New books covering the defense come out almost every year and the number of pages grows. Boris Avrukh's two-volume work The Grunfeld defense, published recently by Quality Chess, is more than 600 pages long. The Israeli grandmaster presents ideas from black's point of view, mixing known games with many original analyses. It is a wonderful Grunfeld manual that gives tournament players advice on where to move and what to avoid. And there are many slippery slopes as the miniature game from the recent European Club Cup in the Slovenian town of Rogaska Slatina shows.

In the last round, the Danish grandmaster Pieter Heine Nielsen, who is known as the second of the world champion Vishy Anand, faced Andrei Volokitin. The Ukrainian grandmaster played the Grunfeld reasonably well, followed Ivanchuk's idea of exposing one weak spot in white's camp - the square d3. Volokitin first controlled the weakness from a distance before occupying it with his knight. We all know what the black knight can do on the third rank and on the square d3 in particular. Remember Garry Kasparov's knight from the 16th game of the 1985 world championship match? How it tied up Karpov's pieces almost to the point of zugzwang?

Karpov-Kasparov, Moscow 1985, Game 16, after 16...Nd3

Volokitin aimed his knight at the same square, but didn't react well to Nielsen's novelty. When his horse leaped to d3, it was a losing blunder. Volokitin spent only 21 minutes on his 17 moves before he resigned.

Nielsen,Peter Heine - Volokitin,Andrei27th ECC Rogaska Slatina SLO (7), 01.10.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4
(This line against the Grunfeld defense could be tricky and requires a precise reaction. White develops with speed.)
4...Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Rc1 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0-0 9.Nf3 Qxc5 10.Bb3 Nc6 11.0-0
(White developed his pieces nicely and black has to play a catch-up game.) 11...Qa5 12.h3
(A quiet positional move, creating an escape on h2 for his dark bishop and limiting black's light bishop.)

12...Qa6 (The queen controls the diagonal a6-f1 and black is ready to make the white queen uncomfortable with Rf8-d8. Avrukh recommends the natural 12...Bf5 only, which leads to complications after 13.Ng5 e5 14.Bh2 Rad8 15.Bxf7+ Rxf7 16.Qb3 Rdf8 with roughly equal chances.
The swashbuckling exchange sacrifice 13.Qe2 Ne4 14.Nd5 [The currently fashionable 14.g4!? requires a careful study according to Avrukh.] 14...e5 15.Rxc6!? played in London's Park Lane hotel in the 11th game of the 1986 match Karpov-Kasparov, lost its luster. After 15...bxc6!? [Kasparov didn't challenge the sacrifice and played the weaker 15...exf4.] 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc6 Qb6 18.Ncxe5 Be6 19.Bxe6 Qxe6 20.Qc2 f5 black has a good game and scored well from this position.)
13.e4 Rd8 14.Qe1
(Solid and reasonable. The aggressive 14.Nd5!? is Romanian grandmaster George Gabriel Grigore's pet line. It could get hairy: 14...Nxd5 15.exd5 Bxb2?! 16.Qc2!? Bxc1 17.Qxc1 Nb4 18.Qc5 [18.d6! Is stronger] 18...Qb6? [An error, leading to a beautiful king's hunt. After 18...Nd3! 19.Qxe7 Bf5 20.d6 Rd7 holds comfortably.] 19.Qxe7 Nxd5 20.Bxd5 Rxd5 21.Qe8+ Kg7

22.Bh6+! Flushing out the black king. 22...Kxh6 [or 22...Kf6 23.Qh8+ Ke6 24.Re1+ Kd6 25.Bf4+ Kc6 26.Qe8+ wins.] 23.Qf8+ Kh5 24.Qxf7 Kh6 25.Qf8+ Kh5 26.Qg7 h6 27.Qe7 Qd8 28.Qe2 (28.Qe4!) 28...g5 29.Ne5+ g4 30.hxg4+ Kh4 31.Kh2 Qc7 32.f4 1-0 Grigore,G (2542)-Sanikidze,T (2559)/Baia Sprie 2009)14...Nb4 15.Ng5!? (A new attempt. Previously, the preferred choice was 15.Ne5 but black can utilize the Qa5-a6 move and play 15...Be6!, equalizing instantly.) 15...e6 (After 15...Nd3 16.Qd2 [16.Bxf7+?! Kf8 17.Qd2 h6 is weaker.] 16...e6 17.Rcd1 white is better.)
16.Rd1 Rxd1 (16...Rd3 or 16...Bd7 are better choices.) 17.Qxd1

17...Nd3? (Blundering a piece, but black is already under huge pressure. For example
A. 17...Qa5 18.e5 Nfd5 19.Qf3 Nxc3 20.bxc3 Nc6 21.Rd1 Qc7 22.Ne4 with a clear advantage, e.g. 22...Nxe5 23.Qg3 Bd7 24.Qh4 with a winning attack,
B. 17...Nd7 18.Qf3 Qd3 19.Qg4 Nc6 20.Rd1 Qa6 21.Qf3 Nd4 22.Rxd4! Bxd4 23.Nxf7 Kxf7 24.Be5+ Ke8 25.Bxd4 wins;
C. 17...Bd7 18.e5 Nfd5 19.Nxd5 exd5 20.Nxf7! Kxf7 21.Bd2 Nd3 22.Qf3+ Ke8 23.Qxd5 with advantage.)
18.Bc2 (Simple. After18...Nxf4 19.Qd8+ Bf8 20.Qxf6 black is mated soon.) Black resigned.

The 27th European Club Cup ended last Saturday with a victory for the Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation (with Svidler on the top board), ahead of the Azerbaijani team of Socar (led by Teimur Radjabov and Alexander Grischuk). The Czech team of Novy Bor finished third on a tiebreak.

Chess World Cup: Peter Svidler

2011-10-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Chess World Cup: Peter Svidler All the Way

The Huffington Post, 9/21/11 03:06 PM ET

It was the most amazing move of the 2011 Chess World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, a wonderful coup de grâce you don't see every day. And it could have been enough to play it, go home and enjoy it for years to come. But it was not all Peter Svidler had done at the World Cup this month. The six-time champion of Russia easily carved through the 128-player knockout tournament and won it almost as efficiently and convincingly as Novak Djokovic did the tennis Grand Slams at Wimbledon, Melbourne and New York this year. It was Svidler's greatest result.

Svidler defeated his countryman Alexander Grischuk 2.5-1.5 in the final match.Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine finished third, eliminating his countryman Ruslan Ponomariov 2.5-1.5 in the match for the bronze medal. The top three players qualified for the next Candidates, a final 8-player event to determine the challenger for the world crown after 2012.

Svidler's Magic

Sliding his rook towards Gata Kamsky's pieces, Svidler sensed that his astonishing move didn't belong to 21st century. In the computer age such a brilliant move is not usually allowed. It belonged to the games of Adolf Anderssen, the great German attacker who in the 1850s created both, the Immortal and the Evergreen games; or to the Belgian doctor who played chess with Humphrey Bogart.

Kamsky had to win the game and played the Spanish Opening cleverly. Svidler was outplayed. The U.S. champion not only won a pawn, but his pieces were swarming around the black king. But as it often happens in chess, out of desperation beautiful ideas are born. Svidler launched a counterattack that was gaining strength and suddenly Kamsky could not handle the storm. The surprising rook move was a "blow of mercy."

Kamsky - SvidlerFIDE World Cup 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.axb5 axb5 9.c3 d6 10.d4 Bb6 11.Be3 0-0 12.Nbd2 h6 13.h3 Re8 14.Qc2 (Svidler calls it a poisonous little move. 14.Re1 is the most popular choice.) 14...exd4 (After 14...Bb7 the connection between the rook on b8 and black's dark bishop is broken and white can proceed with 15.d5 Bxe3? 16.dxc6 Bxd2 17.cxb7. Not only doesn't white rook stand on e1, but the dark bishop is in trouble.) 15.cxd4 Na5 (One can alwyas talk about the Tarrasch dictum about a badly placed knight on the edge. Instead, black could have finished the development, bringing the bishop into play: 15...Bb7 and because the square b4 is free, the pawn advance is not dangerous anymore: 16.d5 Nb4 17.Qc3 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Na6 19.Bc2 Nc5 and black has no problems.) 16.Ba2 Bb7 17.e5 (After 17.d5 Bxe3 18.fxe3 c6 black holds quite comfortably, for example 19.b4 Nc4 20.dxc6 Bxc6 21.Nxc4 Bxe4.) 17...Nd5 ("Normally this set up is very much in black's favor," Svidler explained. "I just assumed I play next Nd5-b4 and take the bishop. He played Bb1 and I'm very lucky I'm not just losing immediately.") 18.Bb1 g6 19.Bxh6 Nc6 ("I'm not saying I'm fine but it's trickier than it looks." - Svidler)

20.exd6 ("It seems that this is the move that throws away white's advantage," Svidler thought. Moving the white queen to the center was suggested by many experts, but it is not clear how white could have a big advantage after that. For example:
A. 20.Qe4 dxe5!? 21.dxe5 Nf6 [21...f5 22.Qe2 Nxe5 23.Nxe5 Qh4 24.Qxb5 Qxh6 25.Ndf3 with white's edge.] 22.Qh4!? Nxe5 23.Bg5 Ned7 [After 23...Nxf3+? 24.Nxf3 white wins either after 24...Kg7 25.Qh6+ Kg8 26.Bxg6; or after 24...Bxf3 25.Bxf6 Bxf2+ 26.Qxf2 Qxf6 27.Ra3!] 24.Bd3 Bc6 25.Rae1 with white's advantage.

B. After 20.Qe4 Kamsky looked at 20...Nxd4!? 21.Nxd4 [21.Bg5 is met by 21...Nf4!] 21...Rxe5, but after 22.Qg4 white's position is more pleasant either after 22...Nf6 23.Qg3!? Bxd4 24.Bxg6 Kh8 25.Bxf7 Nh5 26.Qg4 Qf6 27.Qxd4 c5 28.Qg4 Qxh6 29.Nf3; or after 22...Rh5 23.Bxg6 Rxh6 24.Be4+ Kf8 25.Nf5 Rg6 26.Qf3 c6 27.Nb3.)
20...Qxd6 21.Ne4 Qb4 22.Ba2 (Svidler thought first that he was lost, but it dawned on him that something spectacular is about to happen. After 22.Bd2 Nxd4 23.Bxb4 Nxc2 24.Bxc2 Nxb4 25.Nf6+ Kh8 26.Nxe8 Nxc2 27.Rac1 Bxf3 28.Rxc2 [ 28.gxf3 Nd4] 28...Be4 29.Rxc7 Rxe8 30.Rxf7 black is fine with the bishop pair.) 22...Nxd4 23.Nf6+ Kh8 24.Nxd4 (Kamsky had to win and 24.Nxd5 is petering out to a draw after 24...Nxc2 25.Nxb4 Nxb4 26.Bxf7 Re2 or after 24...Nxf3+ 25.gxf3 Bxd5 26.Bxd5 Qh4, threatening 27...Qg3+ with perpetual check and after 27.Be3 Bxe3 28.fxe3 Qg5+ 29.Kh2 Qxd5 the chances are equal.) 24...Nxf6 25.Nc6
(Svidler's first reaction was that he had to capture the knight, but then he found something else.)25...Qh4! ("Here I'm probably already better but it isn't obvious immediately. After 25...Bxc6 26.Qxc6 Qh4 white has this horribly strong move 27.Be3. I realized black is in a huge amount of trouble because my pieces are not coordinated. As soon as this bishop is exchanged away, all my potential initiative is gone: pawn on f7 is hanging, pawn on c7 will be hanging. I think I'm close to lost here. So I started looking at some romantic variations starting with Qh4." - Svidler) 26.Nxb8? (Allowing a magnificent clincher. "There really isn't much white can do here. After 26.Be3 Rxe3 27.fxe3 Re8 for a single exchange I'm getting this horrible attack on the kingside and there really isn't much he can do. I definitely have a draw everywhere here and probably I'm already even winning. " - Svidler;
Perhaps the best way for white to resist is 26.Bxf7 Qxh6 27.Bxe8 Rxe8 28.Rae1.)

26...Re2!!

(Svidler's coup de grâce: "It's something you see in Anderssen's games. Put on the cover of a book. Suddenly white is just completely lost."
Before arriving at this amazing deflection, Svidler considered two other continuations:
A. 26...Be4 was Svidler's initial idea, but after 27.Qd2 Qg3 [After 27...Ng4 28.Bf4 the whole thing collapses because black is running out of pieces.] 28.Qg5 black's attack is refuted.
B. 26...Qg3 27.Nc6 Re2 was Svidler's other idea, which can be met by 28.Qc3 Bxf2+ 29.Kh1 Qxc3 30.bxc3 Bxc6 31.Rfd1 with roughly equal chances.

"But why am I starting this with 26...Qg3? This is where it dawned on me what was happening," Svidler explained his thinking process. )
27.Qc3 (After 27.Qxe2 Qg3 nothing stands in the way of black's light bishop; the diagonal a8-h1 can't be blocked and white is being mated on g2.) 27...Rxf2 28.Nc6 Rxf1+ ("...and I'm just collecting the entire chess set. It's a very nice feeling to make a move like Re2 on the board. It really doesn't happen every day. It's a great feeling. It's something you don't really see in the modern game because you never have an opportunity to do anything like that." - Svidler) White resigned.

The Belgian doctor

During a team competition in Brussels in 1970 I met an older man who introduced himself as dr. Limbos. He put me quickly at ease, saying: "I love chess, but I do not have much time to play." I had not heard of him before and had not the slightest idea that it was the same dr. Paul Limbos who played chess with Humphrey Bogart during the filming of "The African Queen" in 1951.

Bogart did not know that Limbos was a strong player, strong enough to win the city championship of Brussels several times and the Belgian championship as well. Yet Limbos had a habit of making his opponents believe that he was just an amateur. Bogart agreed to play for a dollar a game with the Belgian doctor, but must have regretted soon his decision. Limbos was smashing him game after game even though Katharine Hepburn and Lauren Bacall kept helpfully filling Limbos's glass with whiskey in the hope to level the competition.

I didn't even know that dr. Limbos played for Belgium at the chess olympiads and when I had a chance to begin a reckless attack in Misha Tal's style, I jumped at the opportunity. The attacking material, a pair of bishops and the queen, was similar to Svidler's weapons. Soon I realized that my opponent, who acted like an amateur and spoke like an amateur was not playing like an amateur. He smashed my attack with an incredibly brilliant queen move, a game clincher one may produce once in a lifetime.

Dr. Limbos - KavalekBrussels 1970

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 Nc6 6.c4 e6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Nc2 0-0 9.Be2 b6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.b3 Re8 12.Qd2
(White has an interesting plan in mind. He wants to play Rf1-d1 and Bc1-a3, but the queen move allows the central break d6-d5 black is aiming for. It could have been prevented with 12.Ne3.)
12...d5! 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Ne5 (I could have equalized immediately with 15...Nb4 16.Nxb4 Bxb4 17.Qxb4 Rxe2, but I tried to keep more pieces on the board.)
16.Rd1 (After 16.Bb5 Bc5+ 17.Kh1 Re7 the game is roughly equal.) 16...Bc5+ 17.Kh1 Qh4 18.Bb5 Bxd5!? (I should have been punished for this reckless move. It was sufficient to play 18...Red8 with a good game, but I couldn't resist the following attacking ideas with pieces flying around and hanging at the same time.)

19.Bxe8! (Dr. Limbos is on the right path. Taking the rook is stronger than 19.Qxd5 Rad8 20.Bb2 Rxd5 21.Rxd5 Nxf3 22.gxf3 Rc8 23.Rf1.) 19...Ng4! (Threatening mate on h2 and, at the same time, opening the diagonal h2-b8. 19...Nxf3 allows 20.Qf4.)
20.Bxf7+! (The doctor finds another strong move. Black's main idea is 20.fxg4 Bd6 and as in Svidler's game, black seems to have a raging attack with a bishop pair and the queen.)
20...Kh8! (One may argue that 20...Kf8 is better, forcing a king's chase 21.fxg4 Bd6 22.Kg1 Qxh2+ 23.Kf1 [On 23.Kf2? Qxg2+ 24.Ke3 Qf3+ 25.Kd4 Bc5+ 26.Ke5 Qe4 mates.] 23...Qh1+ 24.Ke2 Qxg2+ 25.Kd3 Qe4+ 26.Kc3 Be5+ 27.Nd4 Bxf7 but now 28.Qf2 pins the bishop on f7 and white has time to protect the knight with 29.Be3.
Other moves lose: 20...Bxf7 21.fxg4 wins.; 20...Kxf7 21.Qxd5+ wins.)
21.fxg4 Bd6

22.Qh6!!

(A coup de grâce! I overlooked this magnificent move that should have won the game. Instead, I thought I could hunt the white king and my chances didn't seem bad at all. Incredibly, running away with the king gives black a lot of play: 22.Kg1 Qxh2+ 23.Kf1 Qh1+ 24.Ke2 [24.Kf2? Qxg2+ 25.Ke3 Qf3+ 26.Kd4 Bc5+ 27.Ke5 Qe4 mate.] 24...Qxg2+ 25.Kd3 Qe4+ 26.Kc3 Be5+ 27.Nd4 Bxf7 with some attacking chances, for example 28.Qd3 [After 28.Qf2 Rc8+ 29.Kb2 Bg6 threatening 30...Rc2+, white has problems.] 28...Rc8+ 29.Kb2 Qg2+! 30.Ka3 (Black is better after either 30.Bd2 Rd8; or 30.Rd2 Qxg4.] 30...Bd6+ 31.b4 a5! 32.Rd2 Rc3+! 33.Qxc3?! axb4+ 34.Qxb4 Qa8+ wins.) 22...Bxg2+ (The only way to continue. After 22...gxh6?? 23.Bb2+ white mates soon.) 23.Kxg2 Qxg4+ 24.Kf2 Qf5+ (24...Bc5+ as later in the game, is better.) 25.Kg2?! (White should have taken advantage of my last move with 25.Ke2! gxh6 26.Bb2+ Be5 27.Ne3 Qf4 28.Rf1 Qxh2+ 29.Rf2 Qg3 30.Rg1 and white wins.) 25...Qg4+ 26.Kf2 Bc5+ 27.Ne3 Rf8(The desire to bring the last piece into play backfires. But collecting material does not help either: 27...Qxd1 28.Qh5 [28.Qxg7+ does not work: 28...Kxg7 29.Bb2+ Qd4!] 28...Bxe3+ 29.Kxe3 Qe1+ 30.Kd3! Rd8+ 31.Bd5 Qa5 32.Kc2 Qc5+ 33.Kb1 white wins.)

28.Qc6?

(Blundering the game away. White could have won with 28.Ke1!, for example
a) 28...Bb4+ 29.Bd2 Qd4 30.Qe6 Bxd2+ 31.Ke2+-;
b) 28...Qf3 29.Qh4 Qxf7 (29...Bxe3 30.Qg3+-) 30.Rd8;
c) 28...Qg1+ 29.Ke2.)
28...Rxf7+ 29.Ke1 Qh4+ 30.Ke2 (After 30.Kd2 Rf2+ 31.Kc3 Qb4+ 32.Kd3 Qd4 mates.) 30...Rf2+ 31.Ke1 (Or 31.Kd3 Qd4 mate.) 31...Rxh2+ (After 32.Kf1 Qf2 mates.) White resigned.

Anderssen's Evergreen masterpiece

The German master Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) was the world's leading player in the mid-19th- century. His attacks and combinations were remarkable and memorable. His friendly game against Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky in London in 1851 was called the "Immortal game." One year later in Berlin, he created the "Evergreen game" against Jean Dufresne. Svidler might had the former game in mind when he referred to Anderssen. The German maestro seems to be on the ropes when suddenly his white rook delivers the final blow on the same square as Svidler did with his black rook. Technically, the coup de grâce is the queen sacrifice on the next move.

Anderssen - Dufresne'Evergreen game' Berlin 1852

20.Rxe7+! Nxe7!? (After 20...Kd8 21.Rxd7+! Kc8 (21...Kxd7 22.Bf5+ Ke8 23.Bd7+ Kd8 24.Bxc6+ with mate; 21...Ke8 22.Re7+ Kd8 23.Be2+ Bd4 24.Bxf3 and white mates soon.) 22.Rd8+! Kxd8 (22...Rxd8 23.gxf3 wins; or; 22...Nxd8 23.Qd7+!! Kxd7 24.Bf5+ Kc6 25.Bd7#) 23.Be2+ Nd4 24.Bxf3 Bxf3 25.g3 Bxd1 26.Qxd1 and white should win the endgame.] 21.Qxd7+!! (Coup de grâce.) 21...Kxd7 22.Bf5+ Ke8 23.Bd7+ Kf8 24.Bxe7 mate.

The Hand of God in Chess?

2011-10-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

Lubomir Kavalek

The Hand of God in Chess?

International Chess Grandmaster

The Huffington Post, 9/7/11 11:44 AM ET

A quarter of a century ago, the phenomenal Argentinian soccer player Diego Maradona scored a goal with his hand during a quarterfinal match against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. The referee didn't see the hand-play, allowed the goal and Argentina went on to win the Cup. "It was a hand of God," Maradona said later. Garry Kasparov used the same quote after an incident during his game against Judit Polagr in Linares, Spain, in 1994. The world champion finished a knight move, changed his mind, grabbed the knight again and moved it to a different place. Like in any sport, there are chess players who try to win at all costs, bending the rules in their favor. But there are also noble chess warriors who believe in decency and fair-play.

It was a moment of disbelief when the game between the Czech David Navara and Alexander Moiseenko of the Ukraine finished Sunday at the 2011 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The official website showed the result as a draw, but the position was clear: Navara was about to deliver a checkmate in a few moves and Moiseenko had no way of escaping.

Moiseenko-NavaraWorld Cup 2011Final position

Great online scramble ensued in an effort to find out what happened in Siberia. It was an important game: the loser would be eliminated from the competition, the winner would have a chance to increase his prize money and qualify for the next world championship. Navara, in fact, confirmed in an e-mail after the game that he offered his opponent a draw. The match was tied 1-1 and was headed to a tiebreaker the next day. Did Navara have a reason to be so gracious? Does it pay to be nice?

We know the answer to the second question. Navara won the tiebreaker and also eliminated his next opponent, another Ukrainian grandmaster, Yaroslav Zherebukh. The Czech was on his way to the quarterfinals.

The game with Moiseenko took a dramatic twist in the following position:

Moiseenko-NavaraWorld Cup 2011

Navara tried to play 35...Be7-d6, but when he was reaching for the bishop he accidentally clipped his king. Moiseenko's reaction was spontaneous. "King moves," he said, trying to take advantage of his opponent's misfortune. He knew well what Navara's intention was, but the temptation to win the game outright overwhelmed him. After any king move, black loses the bishop and the game. Navara acknowledged that he touched both pieces, the king and the bishop, but he wasn't sure which piece he touched first. What to do? The arbiter arrived and Moiseenko decided not to insist on the king move. The players agreed to continue, but a certain discomfort prevailed till the very end.

At one time they reached an endgame I was familiar with

Navara - MoiseenkoWorld Cup 2011

A deja vu from my duel against the Hungarian grandmaster Levente Lengyel from the tournament at the Bulgarian coastal resort of Varna in 1965. The victory in the game lifted me towards a GM norm and I became a grandmaster later that year.

Lengyel-KavalekVarna 1965

Black can win by running his king behind the e-pawn, somewhere around the square e2. To achieve it, black has to use the zugzwang, forcing the rook or the king out of their best defensive set-up. Any advance of the pawn weakens the defense and helps to win. This is easier said than done, but in those days games were adjourned and you could hit the endgame books and learn what to do. I found out the endgame was already analyzed by Andre Danican Philidor in the second edition of his Analyse du jeu des Échecspublished in 1777. I didn't even have to make the long king's journey.

The game ended the following way:

81. Rd4 Qg2+ 82. Ke1 Qf3 83. Kd2 Qf2+ 84. Kd3 Qe1 85. Re4+ (85. Ke4
Qf1! ) 85... Kd5 86. Rd4+ Ke5 87. Re4+ Kf5 88. Rf4+ Kg5 89. Kd4 Qd2+ 90. Ke4
Qd1 91. Ke5 Qd3 92. Re4 Kg6 93. Kf4 (93. Rg4+ Kh5 94. Re4 Kg5 zugzwang) 93...Qd6+ 94. Kg4 Qd5 95. Rd4 Qg2+ 96. Kf4 Qf2+ (White must lose the -epawn since after 97. Ke4? Qf5 black mates.)White resigned.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click either on the arrows under the diagram or on the notation to follow the game.

You don't have the luxury of adjourning today, but you can practice it against an endgame tablebase run by a computer. The electronic programs can be intimidating. They can tell you, for example, that a mate is achievable in 46 moves. Navara knew how to win the e-pawn, but after he did it he had 50 moves to mate Moiseenko. If he could not do it, the game would be declared a draw according to the FIDE rules. The Ukrainian GM played the defense as well as he could and after Navara made a few inaccuracies, Moiseenko's chances to draw increased. As a matter of fact, he could have sent the game beyond the 50-move limit with a precise play, but that was humanly impossible.

The Czech was winning, but he could not forget what happened earlier in the game. "My opponent is a decent man and we had a misunderstanding," Navara wrote. " I don't know who was formally right." He felt the match should not have been decided by this crazy game or by a protest without sufficient evidence. He didn't want to be accused of advancing unfairly and offered a draw. They began the tiebreaker next day with a clean slate and the better player won.

Both players received the Fair Play Prize after their match specially created by the Governor of Ugra, Natalia Komarova. "I lost not just to a very strong player, but also to a noble man," Moiseenko commented. "I think David's decision to offer me a draw is unique for the chess world. No one else would do it under such circumstances."

Generosity can sometimes backfire. At the end of a strong tournament held in a German spa Baden-Baden in 1925, Karel Treybal, having a clearly won position, accepted a draw offered by the American champion Frank Marshall.

Treybal - MarshallBaden-Baden 1925

Black just played 32...Nd5, threatening to mate with 33...Nb4+ 34.Ke4 Rf4 mate. To prevent it, white has to jettison couple of pawns. Rather than resigning, Marshall resorted to his last option: he proposed a draw. The Czech lawyer was the only amateur in that event and he didn't want to interfere with the American's chance to make more prize money. He accepted Marshall's offer.

It didn't go well with a group of players, led by Ernst Grunfeld (the same one behind the Grunfeld Indian defense) and they protested against the result. Treybal was reprimanded by a jury for being so generous to Marshall. He defended himself by saying that he didn't see a clear winning way, but the jury didn't buy it. "A player of Treybal's strength should be able to play such a winning position for a win," they concluded.

The World Cup Update

The field of 128 players will dwindle to eight by Thursday. Three players already qualified for the quarterfinals on Wednesday:
The Russian champion Peter Svidler (eliminating the U.S. champion Gata Kamsky),
Teimur Radjabov of Azerbaijan (defeating Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia) and Navara.

Five players will advance from the tiebreakers on Thursday. The pairings are as follows:
Judit Polgar (Hungary) - Lenier Dominguez Perez (Cuba)
Alexander Grischuk (Russia) - Vladimir Potkin (Russia)
Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine) - Lazaro Bruzon Batista (Cuba)
Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) - Bu Xiangzhi (China)
Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan) - Peter Heine Nielsen (Denmark)

You can follow the games on the official website.

The top three finishers in the World Cup will play in the next World Championship.

Image by http://chess.ugrasport.com/

Gambetto Evans, secondo Kasparov

2011-10-15T07:07:00.001-07:00

Caricate qui il seguente listato per rivedere le mosse: http://chesstempo.com/pgn-viewer.html

[Event "Your Next Move Blitz"]
[Site "Leuven BEL"]
[Date "2011.10.09"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Short, N"]
[Black "Kasparov, G"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2698"]
[BlackElo "2812"]
[ECO "C52"]
[EventDate "2011.10.09"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[Opening "Evans gambit"]
[WhiteFideId "400025"]
[BlackFideId "4100018"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 $201 7.Qb3 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 14:-0.65}
( 7.O-O {15:-0.15} 7...Nf6 8.e5 Ne4 9.Qe1 Nc5 10.Bg5 Ne7 11.Nxd4 Ne6
12.Nxe6 dxe6 13.Qc1 h6 14.Bh4 O-O 15.Rd1 Qe8 16.Qa3 Nc6 17.Nd2 Bb6 $10
)
7...Qf6 8.O-O $201 d3 $6 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:+0.00}
( 8...Bb6 {16:-0.58} 9.Na3 dxc3 10.e5 Qf5 11.Be3 Ba5 12.Rad1 Nge7 13.
Bd3 Qh5 14.Nc4 Bb6 15.Be2 Bxe3 16.Nxe3 Nxe5 17.Qxc3 N7c6 18.Nd5 O-O
19.Nxc7 $15 )
9.e5 Qg6 $201 10.Ba3 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:-0.26}
( 10.Rd1 {17:+0.00} 10...Nge7 11.Ba3 h6 12.Bxd3 Qe6 13.Bc4 Qg6 14.Qa4
Bb6 15.Bb5 Qe6 16.Bc4 Qg6 $10 )
10...Nge7 11.Rd1 O-O 12.Bxd3 $201 Qh6 N $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:+0.18}
( 12...Qh5 {16:-0.25} 13.Nbd2 Re8 14.Bxe7 Rxe7 15.Nc4 Bb6 16.Be4 Bc5
17.Qb5 Nxe5 18.Ncxe5 Rxe5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Qb1 Qxc3 21.Bxh7+ Kf8 22.Be4
c6 23.Bf5 Bd4 24.Qe4 Qxa1 25.Rxa1 Bxa1 $10 )
13.Nbd2 d5 14.exd6 cxd6 $201 15.Ne4 $10 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 14:+0.07}
( 15.Nc4 {16:+0.31} 15...d5 16.Nxa5 Nxa5 17.Qb5 Nac6 18.Re1 Qf6 19.
Rab1 Rd8 20.c4 dxc4 21.Bxc4 Nf5 22.Bb2 Qg6 23.Ne5 Nxe5 24.Bxe5 Be6 25.
Bxe6 Qxe6 26.Qxb7 Qxa2 $10 )
15...d5 $10 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:+0.33}
( 15...Bg4 {14:+0.07} 16.Neg5 Bxf3 17.Nxf3 Rad8 18.Rab1 Bb6 19.Bc1 Qf6
20.Bg5 Qe6 21.Re1 Qxb3 22.axb3 Rfe8 23.Rbd1 $10 )
16.Bc1 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 16:-0.09}
( 16.Neg5 {15:+0.33} 16...Bc7 17.h4 f6 18.Nxh7 Rf7 19.Re1 Qh5 20.Rad1
a6 21.c4 Na5 22.Qb4 Nac6 23.Qc5 b6 $10 )
16...Qg6 $201 17.Ng3 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:-0.29}
( 17.Neg5 {16:+0.01} 17...Qh5 18.Nxh7 Re8 19.Nhg5 Bc7 20.Re1 f6 21.Ne6
Bxe6 22.Rxe6 Rac8 23.h3 Be5 24.Nxe5 Nxe5 25.Bb5 Qf5 26.Rd6 Nf7 27.Rd7
$10 )
17...Qf6 $201 18.Nh5 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:-0.70}
( 18.Bb2 {15:-0.32} 18...Bg4 19.c4 d4 20.Be4 Rad8 21.Rd3 g6 22.Ne2 Bb6
23.Re1 Ne5 24.Bxd4 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 Bxf3 26.Bxf3 Nxf3+ 27.Qxf3 Qxf3 28.
gxf3 Rxd4 29.Nxd4 $10 )
18...Qxc3 19.Qb1 $201 Qb4 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 14:-0.44}
( 19...Qc5 {16:-0.85} 20.Bb2 d4 21.Ng3 Kh8 22.h3 Bb6 23.Ne4 Qd5 24.Ba3
h6 25.Qb2 Bd7 26.Nd6 Ne5 27.Nxe5 Qxe5 28.Nxb7 Rac8 29.Nd6 $15 )
20.Bxh7+ Kh8 21.Bb2 f6 22.h3 $201 Be6 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 14:-0.28}
( 22...Bb6 {15:-0.57} 23.a3 Qd6 24.Re1 Be6 25.Nf4 Bd7 26.Ng6+ Nxg6 27.
Qxg6 Rae8 28.Rad1 $15 )
23.Nd4 $201 Bf7 $6 $10 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:+0.11}
( 23...Bd7 {14:-0.48} 24.Nxc6 bxc6 25.Rd4 Qd6 26.Bd3 Rfb8 27.Qc1 Bc7
28.Ng3 Kg8 29.Rh4 c5 30.Ba3 Bb6 31.Bh7+ Kf7 32.Qc2 $10 )
24.Ng3 $6 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 14:-0.80}
( 24.Nxf6 {15:+0.11} 24...Ne5 25.Nc2 Qh4 26.Bxe5 gxf6 27.Bd6 Rae8 28.
Bd3 Bb6 29.Ne3 Rg8 30.Qb2 Nc8 31.Nf5 Bd4 32.Qxd4 Qxd4 33.Nxd4 Nxd6 34.
Rac1 Nc4 35.Re1 $10 )
24...Bb6 25.a3 Qd6 26.Ngf5 Nxf5 27.Bxf5 Rae8 $201 28.Bg4 $6 $15 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:-1.39}
( 28.Qd3 {16:-0.84} 28...Re7 29.Bg4 Rfe8 30.Nf5 Qf4 31.Nxe7 Qxf2+ 32.
Kh1 Rxe7 33.Rab1 Ne5 34.Bxe5 fxe5 35.Qc3 Qc5 36.Qg3 e4 37.Rdc1 Qf2 38.
Qxf2 Bxf2 $15 )
28...Qf4 $15 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:-0.90}
( 28...Re4 {15:-1.39} 29.Nf5 Qf4 30.Rf1 Bg6 31.g3 Qg5 32.Nh4 Bh7 33.
Nf3 Qg6 34.Nh4 Qf7 35.Qd3 Re1 36.Nf5 $15 )
29.Nf3 $6 $17 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 16:-1.86}
( 29.g3 {15:-0.90} 29...Qc7 30.Qc2 Ne5 31.Qxc7 Bxc7 32.Kg2 Nxg4 33.
hxg4 Kg8 34.Rac1 Bb8 35.Rd3 Bg6 36.Rd2 Rc8 37.Nf5 Rxc1 38.Bxc1 $15 )
29...f5 $6 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 15:-1.28}
( 29...Re2 {16:-1.86} 30.Bc1 Bxf2+ 31.Kh1 Qe4 32.Qxb7 Ne5 33.Qb4 Qxb4
34.axb4 Nxg4 35.hxg4 Kh7 36.Rd2 Rxd2 37.Bxd2 Kg6 38.g3 Re8 39.Kg2 Bb6
40.Nh4+ Kh7 41.Rh1 Kg8 42.Re1 d4 43.Rxe8+ Bxe8 44.Nf5 d3 $17 )
30.Qxf5 Qxf5 31.Bxf5 $201 Re2 $6 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:-0.57}
( 31...Bh5 {19:-1.36} 32.Bg4 Bxg4 33.hxg4 Re2 34.Bc3 Rxf2 35.Kh1 Rd8
36.Be1 Re2 37.Rd3 Be3 38.Rb1 b6 39.Ng1 Bxg1 40.Kxg1 Ne5 41.Rd4 Nc4 42.
Bh4 Rd6 43.Bg3 Rd7 44.a4 $15 )
32.Bd4 Nxd4 33.Nxd4 Rb2 $201 34.Bg4 $6 $17 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 17:-1.53}
( 34.Rac1 {18:-0.55} 34...g6 35.Bg4 Kg7 36.Bf3 Re8 37.g3 Re7 38.Rd3
Rc7 39.Rxc7 Bxc7 40.Kg2 Bg8 41.Bd1 Bd6 42.h4 Bc5 43.g4 Ra2 44.a4 $15 )
34...Bg6 $6 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:-0.99}
( 34...Bg8 {17:-1.53} 35.Nf3 Bxf2+ 36.Kh1 Re8 37.Rab1 Rxb1 38.Rxb1 b6
39.a4 Bc5 40.Rd1 g6 41.Bd7 Rd8 42.Bb5 Kg7 43.Kh2 Rc8 44.Ne5 d4 45.Kg3
Bd6 46.Kf4 $17 )
35.Bf3 Be4 36.a4 $201 Bxf3 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 19:-0.60}
( 36...Bxd4 {16:-1.04} 37.Rxd4 Bxf3 38.gxf3 Rxf3 39.Rf1 Rf5 40.f4 Rc2
41.Rb1 b6 42.Rb5 Rc5 43.Kf2 Kg8 44.Ke3 Kf7 45.Kd3 Kf6 46.Rb2 Rc1 47.
Re2 Rd1+ 48.Rd2 $15 )
37.Nxf3 Bxf2+ 38.Kh1 Rf5 $201 39.Rd3 $15 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 16:-0.84}
( 39.Ra3 {15:-0.63} 39...Rh5 40.Rad3 Bg3 41.Ne1 Bc7 42.Rc3 Bd6 43.Rc8+
Kh7 44.Rd8 Bg3 45.Nd3 Rb6 46.Rd7 Rf5 47.a5 Rb5 48.a6 bxa6 49.Rxa7 $15
)
39...Rb4 $10 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:-0.48}
( 39...Kg8 {16:-0.84} 40.Rad1 Ra2 41.R3d2 Rxd2 42.Rxd2 Bb6 43.Rd3 d4
44.Rd2 Rf4 45.Kh2 Bc5 46.Kg3 Re4 47.Rd1 b6 48.Rd3 Re3 $15 )
40.a5 $15 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 17:-0.98}
( 40.g4 {18:-0.48} 40...Rff4 41.Ra2 Bc5 42.a5 Ra4 43.Rxa4 Rxa4 44.Rxd5
Rxa5 45.Kg2 Ra2+ 46.Kg3 b6 47.Rd7 Ra3 48.h4 a5 49.Kf4 a4 50.Ng5 Kg8
51.Ne6 Bf8 52.Ke4 Rc3 $10 )
40...g6 $6 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 17:-0.10}
( 40...d4 {17:-0.98} 41.g4 Rc5 42.Rad1 Rc3 43.Ng5 Rxd3 44.Rxd3 Be3 45.
Nf7+ Kg8 46.Nd6 g6 47.Kg2 Bf4 48.Nc8 Bb8 49.Kf3 Kf7 50.Ke4 Rc4 $15 )
41.g4 Rff4 42.Rf1 $201 Rb2 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 17:+0.00}
( 42...Bc5 {19:-0.22} 43.Rxd5 Rb5 44.Rd7 Kg8 45.Rd8+ Bf8 46.Rd7 Rb2
47.Kg1 Bc5+ 48.Kh1 Rf6 49.Rd8+ Rf8 50.Rxf8+ Bxf8 51.Ne5 Bd6 52.Nxg6
Rh2+ 53.Kg1 Rxh3 54.Rd1 Bc7 55.Rd7 $10 )
43.Ne5 Kg7 44.Rxd5 $201 Bg3 $6 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:+0.49}
( 44...Rd4 {19:-0.05} 45.Rc5 Kh6 46.a6 bxa6 47.Rc6 Bg3 48.Nxg6 Rd6 49.
Ne7 Rxc6 50.Nxc6 Ra2 51.Rf3 Bc7 52.Rf7 Bg3 53.Rxa7 Kg6 54.Rd7 a5 55.
Ne7+ Kg5 56.Rd5+ Kf6 $10 )
45.Rxf4 Bxf4 $201 46.Rd7+ $6 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 19:-0.26}
( 46.Nd3 {19:+0.44} 46...Rb1+ 47.Kg2 Bd2 48.h4 Kf7 49.Rd7+ Ke8 50.Rg7
Bxa5 51.Rxg6 Bc3 52.Rg8+ Kf7 53.Rc8 Bd2 54.Rc7+ Kg8 55.Kf3 a5 56.Ke2
Bh6 57.g5 Bf8 58.Ke3 a4 $10 )
46...Kf6 47.Nd3 Rd2 $201 48.Rd5 $15 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 19:-0.62}
( 48.Nc5 {19:-0.29} 48...Rh2+ 49.Kg1 Rxh3 50.Nd3 Bh6 51.Kg2 Re3 52.Nc5
Re7 53.Rxe7 Kxe7 54.Nxb7 Ke6 55.Nc5+ Kd5 56.Nd3 Ke4 57.Nc5+ Kf4 58.Kh3
Ke5 59.Kg2 Be3 60.Nd7+ Kf4 61.Nf6 Bd4 $10 )
48...Be3 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:-0.26}
( 48...Bc7 {19:-0.62} 49.Nb4 Rh2+ 50.Kg1 Rxh3 51.Rb5 Rh7 52.Nd5+ Ke6
53.Nxc7+ Rxc7 54.Kf2 Kf6 55.Ke3 Re7+ 56.Kf4 Rd7 57.Ke3 Rf7 58.Kf4 Re7
59.Rc5 Rd7 60.Ke3 g5 61.Rf5+ Kg6 62.Re5 Rd1 $15 )
49.h4 $201 b5 $10
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:-0.05}
( 49...Bf2 {19:-0.26} 50.h5 Be3 51.a6 bxa6 52.Nb4 gxh5 53.gxh5 Rf2 54.
Nxa6 Rb2 55.Nc5 Kg7 56.Ne4 Kh6 57.Nf6 Bg5 58.Ng4+ Kxh5 59.Ne5 a6 60.
Kg1 $10 )
50.axb6 Bxb6 $201 51.g5+ $6 $15
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:-0.95}
( 51.h5 {18:-0.11} 51...gxh5 52.gxh5 Be3 53.Nb4 Re2 54.Rd6+ Kg5 55.h6
Bf4 56.Ra6 Rh2+ 57.Kg1 Kf5 58.Nc6 Rxh6 59.Kg2 Rh2+ 60.Kf3 Rh3+ 61.Ke2
Bd6 62.Nd4+ Ke5 63.Nf3+ Kd5 $10 )
51...Ke7 $201 52.Nf4 $6 $17
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 19:-2.08}
( 52.h5 {19:-0.74} 52...gxh5 53.g6 Kf8 54.Rf5+ Kg8 55.Nb4 Kg7 56.Rxh5
a5 57.Nd5 Kxg6 58.Re5 Bd8 59.Nc3 Bf6 60.Rxa5 Bxc3 61.Ra6+ Kf5 62.Kg1
Ke4 63.Ra8 Bf6 64.Kf1 Be5 65.Ra5 Rh2 66.Ra6 Bd4 67.Ke1 Rg2 $15 )
52...Rxd5 53.Nxd5+ Ke6 54.Nc3 $201 Bd4 $2 $10 $201
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 20:-0.05}
( 54...Kf5 {20:-2.42} 55.Nd5 Bc5 56.Kg2 a5 57.Kg3 a4 58.Nc3 a3 59.Na2
Bd6+ 60.Kh3 Bc7 61.Nc1 Ba5 62.Na2 Be1 63.Nc1 Bd2 64.Na2 Bf4 65.Nb4 Be5
66.Na2 Bc7 $17 )
55.Ne2 $2 $17
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 19:-2.31}
( 55.Nb5 {20:-0.05} 55...Be3 56.Nxa7 Bxa7 57.h5 Kf7 58.hxg6+ Kxg6 59.
Kg2 Bc5 60.Kf3 Bb4 61.Ke4 Bd6 62.Kd5 Kxg5 63.Kxd6 Kg4 64.Kd5 Kh3 65.
Kc4 Kh2 66.Kd5 $10 )
55...Be5 56.Kg2 a5 $201 57.Kf3 $6 $19
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 18:-3.50}
( 57.Nc1 {20:-2.48} 57...Kf5 58.Kh3 a4 59.Na2 a3 60.Nb4 Bc3 61.Na2 Be1
62.Nc1 Bd2 63.Na2 Bf4 64.Nb4 Bc7 65.Na2 Bd6 66.Nc3 Bb8 67.Na2 Bc7 68.
Nb4 Ba5 69.Na2 Bc7 $17 )
57...Kf5 58.Ke3 a4 $201 59.Nc1 $4 $21
{ RobboLito 0.085g3l x86_64: 21:-11.01}
( 59.Kf3 {19:-3.81} 59...a3 60.Nc1 Bd6 61.Na2 Bf4 62.Nb4 Bd2 63.Na2
Be1 64.Ke2 Bxh4 65.Kd3 Bxg5 66.Kc2 Be7 67.Kb1 g5 68.Nc3 g4 69.Ne2 Bd6
70.Ka2 Ke4 71.Nc3+ Kd4 72.Ne2+ Kd5 73.Kb3 Be7 74.Ka2 Ke5 75.Ng3 Kf4
76.Ne2+ Kf3 77.Nd4+ Ke4 78.Ne2 $19 )
59...Bf4+
( 59...Bf4+ {22:-11.17} 60.Kd3 Bxc1 61.Kc2 Bf4 62.Kb1 Bxg5 63.hxg5
Kxg5 64.Kb2 Kg4 65.Kb1 a3 66.Ka2 g5 67.Kb3 Kf5 68.Kc2 g4 69.Kb3 g3 70.
Kxa3 g2 71.Kb3 g1=Q 72.Kc4 Ke4 73.Kb5 Kd5 74.Kb4 Qd4+ 75.Kb3 Qd3+ 76.
Kb4 Kc6 77.Ka4 Qb5+ 78.Ka3 $21 )
0-1

Gajewski Gambit

2011-08-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Gajewski Gambit

As chess gambits go, the Gajewski Gambit with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0 0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0 0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5!? is a relative newcomer to the game. The position after White's tenth move had been reached thousands of times with 10...c5 being universally played, before the Polish grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski revealed recently that Black has a fascinating, almost Marshall Attack-like gambit at his disposal with 10 …d5!? The introductory game came at the 2007 Czech open, when Gajewski uncorked it against the unsuspecting Kuznetsov, in a brilliant attacking game that soon became a hot candidate for novelty of the year. It was then given the seal of approval at elite level by being taken up after this by Carlsen and Leko.

Report from the Enciclopedy of Chess Gambits:

[html] Gajewski [Spanish: Closed, Chigorin, 10.Bc2] 1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cc6 3.Ab5 a6 4.Aa4 Cf6 5.OO Ae7 6.Te1 b5 7.Ab3 d6 8.c3 OO 9.h3 Ca5 10.Ac2 d5

[pdf] Gajewski [Spanish: Closed, Chigorin, 10.Bc2] 1.e4 e5 2.Bf3 Bc6 3.Cb5 a6 4.Ca4 Bf6 5.OO Ce7 6.De1 b5 7.Cb3 d6 8.c3 OO 9.h3 Ba5 10.Cc2 d5

Pitching a Perfect Chess Game

2011-08-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Pitching a Perfect Chess Game

Lubomir Kavalek

The Huffington Post, 8/21/11

Asked to name his best game, the legendary Bobby Fischer pointed to his encounter with Donald Byrne from the Rosenwald Trophy in New York in 1956, but admitted it wasn't perfect. "There is no perfect game in chess," he said. After all, we are human and we make mistakes. But according to the Hungarian writer and International Master Tibor Karolyi, Anatoly Karpov came close to playing a mistake-free game at the 1974 chess olympiad in Nice, France, and only a tiny error deprived him of creating a perfect game. It was played when we met on the top board of the USA-USSR match. It became one of Karpov's most analyzed games.

Of the 17 games we played against each other in major competitions in the span of 13 years (photo above is from Buenos Aires in 1980), Karpov won four games, I won once and we drew 12 games. My victory came in our first encounter in Caracas 1970 and we played our last game in Hannover, Germany, in 1983.

In his prime, the former world chess champion Karpov played like the famed FC Barcelona soccer team. Beautiful one-touch passes, allowing the Barca players to keep possession of the ball most of the time, were similar to Karpov's little chess moves that would deny his opponents the control of the game. He fought for every inch and giving him space was deadly. You can feel it from Karolyi's work, published by Quality Chess. The 560-page first volume Karpov's Strategic Wins 1 - The Making of a Champion covers years 1961-1985. The 576-page second volume Karpov's Strategic Wins 2 - The Prime Years embraces years 1986-2010.

Karolyi dissects Karpov's wins thoroughly and the books examine Karpov's career in detail. It was a colossal undertaking and Karloyi spent several years studying his protagonist. He delivers a fascinating account of Karpov's skills.

When I met Karpov in Nice, he was number two rated player in the world behind Fischer; I was number 10. It was the first time he played the top Soviet board and I felt the pressure with each of his moves. Still, I was able to keep his advantage to a minimum. The game was heavily analyzed, specially the concluding stage. Experts such as Mark Dvoretsky, Mihai Marin, Alexander Motylev, Karpov himself and others tried their hands in finding a logical conclusion. Karolyi devotes some 16 pages to it, showing most of the analysis and his improvements. He claims that Karpov made only one small inaccuracy. Was he pitching a perfect game?

This is hard to say because at a critical point I missed one move that could have saved me. True, I was pressed by time, but I should have found a pretty rook pin at the end of a logical sequence. The trouble was I had to move my rook backwards.

In the book "Invisible Chess Moves," Emmanuel Neiman and Yochanan Afek talk about the problem. "Forward moves are easier to find than backward moves, "they write. "Human beings usually walk forward, they seldom walk backward and hardly ever horizontally." In chess "we learn to move pawns (always forward) and to develop pieces toward the center and in the direction of opponent's pieces. There is a general movement from the back to the front, and some players are even reluctant to go backward on principle." It is an outstanding book, originally published in French and recently brought out in English byNew In Chess.

Let's see what happened in Nice. For the first 29 moves Karpov and I fought tooth and nail and we reached the following position:

Karpov (2700) - Kavalek (2625)Nice 1974

White is better, but Black's game is solid and the bishops of opposite colors give it a drawing flavor. The only loose pawn on a6 can be protected easily. Karpov finds a way to improve his position and create winning chances.

30.h6 (Karpov is closing the kingside and fixes the pawn on h7. But how is he going to win it?) 30...Bf8(Keeping the pawn h6 under observation.) 31.Kc3 (Karolyi devotes six pages to 31.g5. The move locks the kingside completely, but it is not easy to envision how white could break through. Anyway, Karolyi shows the winning ways and concludes that white's king move is the only inaccuracy Karpov made during the entire game.) 31...fxg4 32.Bxg4 Kf7 33.Be6+ Kf6 34.Bg8 (White was able to dribble his bishop to g8, attacking the h-pawn. After 34.Kb4 a5+ 35.Kb3 Rc7 36.a3 g5 black is fine.) 34...Rc7 (Surprisingly, the computer engines suggest a pawn sacrifice as the way out. After 34...e6, for example:
a) 35.dxe6 Rh5=;
b) 35.Bxh7 exd5 36.Rg1 (36.Bg8 Bxh6! 37.Rxh6 Kg7) 36...Rxc4+ 37.Kd3 Rxf4 38.Rxg6+ Kf7 the white pieces stumble against each other.;
c) 35.Bxe6 a5 36.Kb3 Rc7 37.Ka4 Rxc4+ 38.Kxa5 white still has some chances after 38...Rxf4? 39.a4 the passed a-pawn is dangerous, but black should play 38...Be7 to keep the a-pawn in check.) 35.Bxh7 e6 36.Bg8 exd5 37.h7

37...Bg7? (A time pressure blunder. The correct 37...Rxc4+! gives black good drawing chances, for example
a) 38.Kd3 Bg7 39.h8Q?! [39.Bxd5!? would be the only try to win, but after 39...Rc5 40.Ke4 Bh8 41.Rg1 Rb5 black has some chances to hold.] 39...Bxh8 40.Rxh8 and I missed the backward rook move 40...Rc8! threatening 41...Kg7, black draws. But not 40...Kg7? 41.Bxd5 Rc5 42.Rg8+ Kh7 43.Be6 wins as I calculated, abandoning the idea.
b) Better seems 38.Kb3 Bg7 39.Bxd5 Rc8 40.Be4 threatening 41.Rg1 with some pressure.)
38.Bxd5 Bh8 39.Kd3 Kf5 40.Ke3 Re7+ 41.Kf3 a5 42.a4 Rc7 43.Be4+ Kf6 44.Rh6 Rg7(Unfortunately, 44...Kg7 45.Rxg6+ Kxh7 46.Rg1+ Kh6 47.Rh1+ Kg7 48.Rh7+ drops a rook.) 45.Kg4(Black is in zugzwang and must lose the pawn on g6.) Black resigned.

Long Live the Chess King

2011-08-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Long Live the Chess King

7/22/11

The Huffington Post

Lubomir Kavalek

Chess sometimes becomes a beautiful game even in the eyes of those who don't play it. Find a charming town, bring back its glorious past, turn people into chess pieces, invite kids and a jester and you can evoke magical moments.

Every year since 2005, the picturesque Slovak town of Banska Stiavnica stages a game of living chess. It is a powerful, almost mystical, spectacle with human chess pieces dressed into medieval costumes and armed with spears and swords. They are moving on a big chessboard to the sound of drums and trumpets.

On Saturday, July 16, they were recreating a live blindfold game I was playing against the legendary Hungarian grandmaster Lajos Portisch. The top-rated American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura became Stiavnica's king last year, defeating GM Sergei Movsesian. Who would get the royal crown this year?

Banska Stiavnica is nestled in the mountains and surrounded by beautiful lakes. Several churches and castles add to the charm of the Slovak town proclaimed by UNESCO as one of its world heritage sites. It was an important place already in the 13th century, rich in gold and silver, with 40,000 inhabitants. Only 10,000 people live there today. Many of them participated in the chess festivities.

The day of the game began with a costume parade through the town's main street to the Holy Trinity square, where most of the action took place. In the afternoon Portisch and I played simultaneous exhibitions there.

It was in January 1986 when we played a similar exhibition in Italy. Our own encounters over the chessboard go further back. We met the first time at the 1963 Zonal tournament in Halle that Portisch won ahead of Bent Larsen and Bora Ivkov. This grandmaster trio made it even to the Candidates matches. Throughout his career, Portisch was a formidable opponent to anybody and in 1981 was rated as world's number two behind Anatoly Karpov.

During the next five decades Portisch and I fought in two dozen games. He has dominated me in the world-class tournaments, but the advantage tilted slightly in my favor during chess olympiads when we faced each other on the top board. My victory in Thessaloniki in 1984 helped the U.S. team to win the bronze medals just half a point ahead of Hungary. We never played a blindfold game against each other.

Slovakia witnessed a world record in the blindfold simultaneous play in January 1921 in the town of Kosice when another Hungarian champion, Guyla Breyer (1893-1921), played 25 opponents at the same time. Breyer was an immensely talented player and theoretician. His knight leap backward (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8) still gives fits to the proponents of the Spanish game. The defense was used by world-top players from Boris Spassky to Magnus Carlsen.

Portisch came to Banska Stiavnica not only for chess, but to give a singing performance at the closing ceremony of the International Championship of Slovakia -- part of the entire chess festival organized by Milan Maros and his team. Portisch's musical repertoire, mostly Franz Schubert's German romantic songs, fits the chess grandmaster who once famously stated that the main objective in the opening is to reach a playable middlegame.

When the darkness fell on Stiavnica's town square, Portisch's pieces were ready. The game could begin.
Portisch - Kavalek
Blindfold-Live chess, Banska Stiavnica,16.07.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3
(In 1975 in Wijk aan Zee, I won the Leo van Kuijk prize for the most spectacular game of the tournament against Lajos Portisch and the tradition of the spectacular prizes begun. As in this game, the Samisch variation of the King's Indian defense was played and I positionally sacrificed my queen for a mere bishop and a pawn and the game was eventually drawn.)
5...Nc6
(I decided to accelerate Oscar Panno's idea to play on the queenside.)
6.Nge2 0-0 7.Bg5
(For some reason, the bishop move too far has better results than the dominant 7.Be3.)
7...a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 9.h4!?
(Portisch goes for the sharpest line. The positional answer is 9.Rc1.) 9...b5 10.0-0-0 (Larry Christiansen's 10.h5!? is preferable. The white king is pretty safe in the middle.) 10...bxc4 (The stopper 10...h5 makes it more difficult for white to ignite the attack, but in the blindfold game, with the eyes closed, you just go.) 11.h5 Nb4 (I only found out after the game that everything was played before.)

12.Ng3 (Portisch makes a stronger move. In the game Wallach-Naroditsky, Las Vegas 2008, white played 12.Nf4 c5 13.dxc5?! [After 13.hxg6 cxd4 14.Qxd4 hxg6 15.Nxg6 fxg6 16.e5 Be6 17.exf6 exf6 18.Qxd6 Qxd6 19.Rxd6 Kf7 the game is roughly equal.] 13...Qa5 14.hxg6? [14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Bxc4 Qxc5 16.Bb3 was necessary.] 14...Nxe4?! [The talented San Francisco junior missed 14...Nxa2+! 15.Nxa2 Qxa2 and black should win.] 15.Nfd5! Rb7 16.gxh7+ [After 16.Nxe4 Nxa2+ 17.Kb1 white wins.] The rest went: 16...Kh8 17.fxe4 Nxa2+ 18.Kc2 Bd7 19.Bxc4 Nxc3 20.Nxc3 Rxb2+ 21.Kxb2 Qa4 22.Bb3 Rb8 23.Qc2 Be6 24.Rd5 Bxd5 25.exd5 dxc5 26.Rh4 c4 27.Kc1 Qa1+ 28.Kd2 cxb3 29.Qd3 Qb2+ 30.Ke3 Qxg2 31.Bf4 Rc8 32.Ne2 b2 33.Qf5 e6 34.dxe6 fxe6 35.Qxe6 Qb7 36.Be5 Rd8 37.Nf4 Qe4+ 38.Kxe4 draw.)

12...c5 (I thought I should bring as many pieces as possible on the queenside to tickle the white king. 12...d5 did not cross my mind since 13.Bh6 gives white a powerful attack; however 12...Nd3+ 13.Bxd3 cxd3 would have slowed white's advances.) 13.d5 (Lajos is playing it safe. He could have gained a clear advantage with 13.hxg6 cxd4 14.Bxf6 exf6 15.gxf7+ Rxf7 16.Qxd4.)

13...Qa5?! (Bringing the queen out seems natural, but the computer engines scream for the stunning knight sacrifice 13...Nfxd5!, for example

A. 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 (15.exd5 Rxb2 16.Qxb2 Bxb2+ 17.Kxb2 Qb6+ 18.Kc2 Bd7 and black should win.) 15...Qa5! threatening 16...Bxb2+, black has a winning attack.

B. 14.exd5 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Qa5! 16.cxb4 Rxb4 17.Qc2 black can win the queen immediately 17...Qa3+ 18.Kd2 Rb2 19.Rc1 Rxc2+ 20.Rxc2 Qb4+ 21.Ke2 (21.Ke3 f6 22.Bh6 Qe1+-+) 21...Qb1 22.Rxc4 Bb7 and black should win; or he can first bring more pieces into the attack 17...Bd7 18.Bxc4 Qa3+ 19.Kd2 Rb2 with a winning advantage.

The knight maneuver 13...Nd7! seems also strong, for example 14.Bxc4 Ne5 15.Qe2 Nxc4 16.Qxc4 a5 17.e5 h6 18.Be3 Ba6 19.Qe4 Qb6 with a massive storm.)

14.Bxc4 Nd7! (I came to this idea one move too late. The knight wants to leap into attack, creating a havoc in white's camp. "As a former King's Indian player you should have known to keep the knight on f6 to defend your king," GM Jan Plachetka told me after the game, but I felt the knight could play a more ambitious role in the game.) 15.hxg6 (At this point Lajos announced "pawn h5 to h6," but it was an obvious slip of the tongue and he quickly corrected himself with "pawn h5 takes g6.")

15...Ne5? (I should have been punished for this reckless move. I was briefly contemplating to retake with the f-pawn, but I thought I could gain a tempo by attacking the bishop. As a matter of fact 15...fxg6 was correct, for example 16.Bh6 Bxh6 17.Qxh6 Rf7 stops white's attack and after 18.a3 Qb6 white can't cash in the knight since after 19.axb4 Qxb4 20.Rd2 Qxc4 black is clearly on top.) 16.Bh6? (Lajos could have finished the game with 16.gxh7+! Kh8 17.Bh6 when black would have had to resort to some acrobatics with 17...Bf6 18.Qe2 Rd8 but after 19.Rd2 making room for the king to move to the kingside, white enjoys sufficient material advantage to win.)

The drums stopped and silence dropped on the old town square. It seemed it lasted an hour, but only a few seconds elapsed. I froze, unable to think. The drums, the applause after each move by nearly 1,000 spectators, brought my brain to halt. Didn't Lajos hang a bishop?

16...Nxc4?? (A terrible blunder. I must have been on another planet, thinking about previous misses and not paying attention to the situation on the board. It was a decisive moment and I failed to fight back with 16...fxg6 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 and white has to be careful, for example

A. 18.Qh6+ Kf7 19.Qxh7+ (19.Nf5! is good here.) 19...Ke8 white went too far, burning bridges behind him. Black has a deadly attack, for example: 20.Bb3 c4 21.Ba4+ Bd7 and black wins.

B. 18.Qe2 Qb6 or18...Bd7 with equal chances ;

C. 18.Nf5+! the best reply 18...Bxf5!? [Other moves are not great, for example 18...Rxf5 19.Qh6+ Kf7 20.exf5 Bxf5 21.Qxh7+ Ke8 22.Qg8+ Kd7 23.Qxb8 Nxc4 24.Rh8 and white wins; or 18...gxf5 19.Qh6+ Kf7 20.Qh5+ Ng6 21.Qxh7+ Ke8 22.Qxg6+ Kd8 23.a3 Qb6 24.Rd2 winning.] 19.exf5 Qb6 [19...h5 is possible] 20.Rde1 Rxf5 21.Qh6+ Kf7 22.Qxh7+ Ke8 23.Na4 Qa5 equalizing.)

17.gxh7+ (This led to a quick mate, but before we got there, lots of pieces disappeared from the live board. The spectators got their money's worth since every capture resulted in a swashbuckling duel on the live board.) 17...Kxh7 18.Bxg7+ Kg8 19.Rh8+ Kxg7 20.Qh6 mate.

"What happened to my king? Did he get killed by a sword?"
"No," they said." They only took his crown away and placed it on Portisch's head."
A new king of Banska Stiavnica was born.

Pictured below from the left: Portisch, the chief organizor Milan Maros, Kavalek.

"Congratulations, Lajos. You can smile now!"

Photo images by Marian Garai

Barclays International Chess Festival

2011-08-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Barclays International Chess Festival

Time	Sunday, September 4 at 5:00pm - September 11 at 4:00pm

Location	Highlands Institute Via della Scultura 15 Roma - Eur Rome, Italy

Created By	Circolo Scacchi Vitinia

More Info	Montepremi complessivo - Total Prizes : € 16.500 Enrolled Players - Giocatori già confermati GM Kaido Kulaots GM Igor Khenkin GM Aleksander Delchev GM Gawain Jones GM Tamir Nabaty GM Martyn Kravtsiv GM Yuri Solodovnichenko GM Vladimir Georgiev GM Alexandr Fier GM David Berczes GM Laszlo Gonda GM Marin Bosiocic GM Alojzije Jankovic GM Alexandre Dgebuadze GM Shanava Konstantine GM Davit Jojua GM Mickail Ivanov GM Lexy Ortega GM David Arutinian GM Vasif Durarbeyli IM Bryan Smith IM Diego Di Berardino IM Virgilio Vuelban IM Saptarshi Roy IM Somak Palit IM Suvrajit Saha IM Vaibhav Suri IM Tomescu Vlad IM Roman Chytilek IM Sam Collins IM Leon Lederman IM - WGM Tania Sachdev WGM Nazi Paikidze WGM Adriana Nikolova WGM Kruttiga Nadig WGM Sopiko Guramshvili WIM Vesna Rožič FM Alessandro Bove FM Marco Corvi FM Angelo Damia FM Alain Fayard FM Ladron Pinto de Guevara Paolo FM Mario Sibilio FM Guido Caprio FM Martin Skliba FM Filip Umanec M Marco Quimi M Davide Cappai M Marco Lantini WFM Ksenija Novak CM Fiammetta Panella CM Bruno Roberti CM Giorgio Pala CM Antonio Barletta Yulia Astanovskaya 1N Daniela Movileanu CM Rosario Lucio Ragonese CM Alessandro Almonti CM Giuseppe Andreoni CM Adolfo Colombrini CM Vincenzo Cannada Bartoli CM Marco Massironi CM Giorgio Pala CM Luca Albertini CM Stefano Bellincampi 1N Sergio Graziani Shmuel Itzhaki Adrian Montañés Arribas Ignacio Madurga Lopez CM Fabrizio Maggi CM Danilo Santivecchi CM Paolo Carola CM Marco Medori CM Savino Di Lascio PREISCRITTI OPEN B 1N Enzo Viscogliosi 1N Andrea Manfroi 1N Luigi Sipione 1N Luigi Rinaldo 2N Emanuele Baiocchi 2N Valerio Rossi NC Andrea Caputo 2N Simone Bocci 1N Tommaso Bernardini 3N Tommaso Di Nezio 3N Riccardo Buldini 3N Andrea Loreti NC Sofia Bizzarro NC Alessio Imperi Galli NC Luca Buldini 3N Girolamo Mossa 2N Placchetta Omero NC Palozza Christian NC Edoardo Di Piero 2N Massimo Carconi NC Bossi Alessandro 2N Paolo Andreozzi 1N Marco Iandolo NC Lorenzo Torricelli 1N Minikh Edouard NC Andrea Alfarano 1N Luigi Maggi NC Edoardo Di Piero 1N Tomassetti Giuseppe 1N Marco Iandolo Torneo Internazionale OPEN A September 4th - 10th 2011; 15.30 p.m. September 7th: 10 a.m. - 16.30 p.m September 11th 10am Admission: players with FIDE- or IT-rating ELO 1900 and more. Direttore di gara: AI Manlio Simonini 9 Turni sistema svizzero/9 Rounds Swiss system Cadence: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Il giocatore che arriva alla scacchiera dopo 60 minuti dall’inizio della sessione di gioco perderà la partita. Any players who arrives at the chessboards after 60 minutes from the start of the session shall lose the game. RIMBORSI SPESE ASSOLUTI - Prizes 1) 2500 € 2) 2000€ 3) 1500 € 4) 1250 € 5) 1000 € 6) 750 € 7) 650 € 8) 500 € 9) 400 € Premi di fascia/Prize Range (9 premi totali) Elo 1900-2049 1) 250€ +50€* 2) 150€ +50€* 3) 100 € +50€* Elo 2050-2199 1) 250€ +50€* 2) 150€ +50€* 3) 100 € +50€* Elo 2200-2350 1) 250€ +50€* 2) 150€ +50€* 3) 100 € +50€* 1) 1° Femminile 150€+ 50€* Torneo OPEN B - B Tournament Admission: players with FIDE- or IT-rating ELO 2000 and below. 8 Turni/8 Rounds Swiss system September 4th - 10th 2011; 15.30 p.m. September 11th 10am Cadence: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Il giocatore che arriva alla scacchiera dopo 60 minuti dall’inizio della sessione di gioco perderà la partita. Any players who arrives at the chessboards after 60 minutes from the start of the session shall lose the game. RIMBORSI SPESE ASSOLUTI 1) 700 € 2) 500 € 3) 400 € 4) 350 € 5) 250 € 6) 200 € 7) 150 € 8) 100 € Premi di fascia /Prize Range( 6 premi totali) Players 1600-1799 1) 150 € +50 €* 2) 100€+50 €* 3) 75 € +50 €* Players Elo under 1600 1) 150 € +50 €* 2) 100€+50 €* 3) 75 € +50 €* Giocatori under 16 1) 100 €* 2) 75 €* 3) 50 €* * Premi in buoni libro Caissa Italia Sponsor Tecnico della manifestazione: Caissa Italia Editore Programma Domenica 4 Settembre ore 15:00 Termine Iscrizioni e sorteggio Domenica 4 Settembre ore 17:00 Primo turno Lunedì 5 Settembre ore 15.30 Secondo Turno Martedì 6 Settembre ore 15.30 Terzo Turno Mercoledì 7 Settembre ore 9:30 Quarto Turno Mercoledì' 7 Settembre ore 16:30 Quinto turno Giovedì 8 Settembre ore 15:30 Sesto Turno Venerdì 9 Settembre ore 15:30 Settimo turno Sabato 10 Settembre ore 15:30 Ottavo Turno Domenica 11 Settembre ore 10.00 Nono turno Domenica 11 Settembre ore 15.30 Premiazione Direzione di gara: AI Manlio Simonini Iscrizioni: OPEN A €65 (€55 Over 60; €45 under 18) OPEN B €55 (€45 over 60; €35 under 18) (+ 20€ dopo il 15 Agosto) Le iscrizioni vanno effettuate entro il 14 Agosto 2011 tramite bonifico bancario; eventuali iscrizioni dopo tale termine comporteranno una maggiorazione di € 20 e saranno accettate solo compatibilmente con la disponibilità di spazio e materiale. Poichè l’iscrizione sia considerata valida, è necessario: 1) Versare la quota di iscrizione sul conto Barclays codice IBAN IT96Q0305103216000031950005 intestato ad ASD Circolo Scacchi Vitinia, indicando il torneo di riferimento 2) Inviare una e-mail in cui siano indicati i propri dati anagrafici (nome, indirizzo, email, categoria FSI, Elo FIDE, il CRO del bonifico ed il tipo di soggiorno scelto (se hotel o altro) Per i giocatori italiani è richiesta la tessera Agonistica FSI per l’anno in corso (€ 40,00) o la tessera Junior per gli Under 18 (€ 10,00) (Integrazione TO/TA: € 22,00). Chi ne fosse sprovvisto, può richiedere di sottoscriverla all’atto dell’iscrizione al torneo. Le promozioni avverranno secondo il regolamento vigente della F.S.I. e della F.l.D.E. Tutti I giocatori italiani e stranieri residenti in Italia devono essere in possesso della Tessera Agonistica FSI 2011 o sottoscriverla in sede di torneo. Tutti i giocatori sprovvisti di ELO FIDE devono esibire documentazione del proprio punteggio nazionale, senza la quale saranno scritti d’ufficio al Torneo Internazionale OPEN A. Le variazioni ELO FIDE, FSI e le Promozioni sono regolate dalle norme FIDE e FSI in vigore alla data del torneo All foreign people without FIDE rating have to show proof of their national ranking. Without this they will accepted in the OPEN A International Tournament only. FIDE and FSI rating changes and achievements according to current FIDE and FSI handbooks Per quanto non contemplato dal presente bando –regolamento, valgono le norme del Regolamento Internazionale FIDE vigenti al momento della manifestazione; l’iscrizione comporta l’accetazione di quanto esposto nel Bando- Regolamento e di eventuali modifiche apportate per il buon esito della manifestazione For every matter not covered by these rules, the current International FIDE regulations apply. Inscription implies full acceptance of the regulation above as well of every change which will be needed for a successful event. In sala da gioco è vietato fumare ed utilizzare dispositivi elettronici. It’s forbidden to smoke in the play stage and use telephones Tariffe alberghiere e di Bed and Breakfast riservate per scacchisti ed accompagnatori che prenoteranno entro il 16.08.2011. Special accomodation rates in hotel and Bed & Breakfast for chess players and accompanyng people for any booking made before 16.08.2011. Segreteria organizzativa/Hotel and B&B booking FASTChess: fastchess@libero.it +393492246781 - Cristiano Sternini- For English and German speaking +393495760753 - Federico Fantozzi For English and French speaking e-mail: circoloscacchivitinia@hotmail.com www.circoloscacchivitinia.net

Chess engines: Fire 2.2 xTreme released

2011-08-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

Fire

Fire 2.2 - don't get burned ...try it yourself, it's free!

w/ 70+ system, search, eval, and material UCI options (also loadable via an external fire.cfg configuration file)

an intensive and rich user experimentation, testing, and configuration experience...

one of the world's top engines, now with you firmly in the drivers seat!

Fire 2.2 xTreme

Fire 2.2 xTreme x64 PP
optimized windows 64-bit executable and readme files,
automatic detection and configuration for large page capable systems
compiled by Peterpan

Fire 2.2 xTreme x64 GH
optimized windows 64-bit executable and readme files,
automatic detection and configuration for large page capable systems
compiled by George Harrison

Fire 2.2 xTreme x64 NLP PP
optimized windows 64-bit executable and readme files,
NLP = No Large Pages, intended for systems experiencing difficulty w/ large page memory configuration. try this if you have problems with the compiles above
compiled by Peterpan

Fire 2.2 xTreme w32 NS
optimized windows 32-bit executable and readme files,
compiled by NS

Fire 2.2 xTreme no SSE2 w32 NS
optimized windows 32-bit executable and readme files,
for older systems that don't support SSE2 instruction set
compiled by NS

Fire 2.2 xTreme source code
GPL licensed C source code

If you appreciate Fire, please consider a contribution to the effort...

Fire logos by Dave Dahlem:

others:

Fire 2.2 xTreme (for Windows) by Kranium
is UCI only, extremely strong, fast, and stable

features:
magic bitboards
true SMP parallel search
configurable pawn hash
ponder
searchmoves
multiPV
benchmark utilities
multi positional gain (for each CPU/core/thread)
multi history (for each CPU/core/thread)
robbobase support (up to 6 piece endings)
70+ UCI/fire.cfg options
random configuration generation
optional timestamped I/O log file
and much more...

major changes:
dear user:
some might 'disapprove' of versions released so close together...to them i have a couple of things to say:
i will not 'conform' to the 'good-old-boy' establishment criteria of 1-2 releases per year. users and/or testers will not dictate how or when i release a new version.

if i have an improvement to the source code, no matter how insignificant, and i feel it will benefit the user, i may choose to release it. i do the work for free, i offer it for free, i have a right to release whenever and however i so choose. if you disagree with this, the answer is simple: don't download it.

best regards as always-
kranium

BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD

2011-08-06T05:27:00.001-07:00

THE FILM

BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD

Considered by many to be the world’s greatest chess player, Bobby Fischer personified the link between genius and madness. His trajectory propelled him from child prodigy to world chess champion at age 29 and then into a nosedive of delusions and paranoia. Fischer was a recluse for decades before resurfacing for a bizarre final chapter as a fugitive.

As a loner with no familial support, Fischer had to defend his title while representing his country against the mighty Russians during the cold war. The center of media attention, Fischer was never equipped for a life in the spotlight.

From veteran filmmaker Liz Garbus, and the final project of late editor Karen Schmeer, Bobby Fischer Against the World exposes the disturbingly high price Fischer paid to achieve his legendary success and the resulting toll it took on his psyche. Rare archival footage and insightful interviews with those closest to him expand this captivating story of a mastermind’s tumultuous rise—and fall.

Host your own premier: Become an Ambassador

A Caro Kan gambit refused

2011-07-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

Marco Saba - Gamer1959 (1910)

Blitz game on http://live.chess.com

July 29, 2011

1.e4 c6

2.d4 d5

3.Nc3 dxe4

4.f3 e5

5.Nxe4 exd4

6.Bd3 Nf6

7.Bg5 Be7

8.Qe2 Be6

9.O-O-O Nxe4

10.Bxe7 Qxe7

11.Qxe4 Qg5+

12.f4 Qd5

13.Nf3 Qxe4

14.Bxe4 O-O

15.Nxd4 Bg4

16.Nf3 Na6

17.h3 Nc5

18.Bxh7+ Kxh7

19.hxg4+ Kg8

20.Rh4 f6

21.Rdh1 Kf7

22.g5 Rg8

23.f5 fxg5

24.Nxg5+ Kf6

25.Nh7+ Kxf5

26.Rf1+ Kg6

27.Rg4+

Urusov Gambit Report by ChessBase 11

2011-07-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Urusov Gambit Report by ChessBase 11

Scacchi e gambetti

Grunfeld: 15.Ne5! N

Antimoderna: attacco laterale "alla Mariotti"

President Václav Have passed away

Chess Player Vaclav Havel

The Great London Chess Debate

Blog Entries by Lubomir Kavalek

Magnus Carlsen Wins Chess Masters Final

Magnus Carlsen Wins Chess Masters Final with a Blitz Game

The Most Treacherous Defense

Chess World Cup: Peter Svidler

Chess World Cup: Peter Svidler All the Way

The Hand of God in Chess?

Gambetto Evans, secondo Kasparov

Gajewski Gambit

Pitching a Perfect Chess Game

Pitching a Perfect Chess Game

Long Live the Chess King

Long Live the Chess King

Barclays International Chess Festival

Chess engines: Fire 2.2 xTreme released

BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD

THE FILM

BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

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A Caro Kan gambit refused

Urusov Gambit Report by ChessBase 11