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Who will win? This poll is closed. |
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| Vishy Anand |
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3 | 2.26% |
| Magnus Carlsen |
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30 | 22.56% |
| Kirsan Ilyumzhinov |
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100 | 75.19% |
| Total: | 133 votes | ||
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gret posted:drat, what is it with chess politics that seems to attract kooks like this? (See also Sam Sloan and the like in the US). By probability, we're looking at middle aged white Eastern European men who grew up and otherwise came of political consciousness during the crash phase of a multi-decade Soviet death spiral. Add to that the general paranoia that chess engenders along with the variously-sane anti-Soviet leanings of Fischer, Korchnoi, and Kasparov and I can certainly see how this type of nuttery comes about.
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Jun 27, 2014 00:07
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Hou Yifan now approaching Polgar's rating Plays very well against Giri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZVeO-A7xAE
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Jul 24, 2014 00:40
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+36 
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Jul 24, 2014 18:48
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Oh wow, two days to the Olympiad (the world's 4TH largest sporting event!!), I had forgotten all about it. Anand and Harikrishna are not playing on the Indian team? WTF?
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Jul 30, 2014 05:44
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Anand hasn't played th Olympiad in ages, and I would've been surprised had he started now with a title match on the horizon. The rest of it, though, I don't know. It sounds like the national federation has a bit of an odd selection process. I'm interested to see how the Canadian team does, since they're sending their far and away strongest team ever. Last year's top board, Bator Sambuev, is now the fourth board, and the top board is recent fed-switch Anton Kovalyov.
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Jul 30, 2014 14:27
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And hey, the Russian women will be allowed to play after a brief scare over missing a registration deadline! I, for one, am shocked.Hand Knit posted:I'm interested to see how the Canadian team does, since they're sending their far and away strongest team ever. Last year's top board, Bator Sambuev, is now the fourth board, and the top board is recent fed-switch Anton Kovalyov. That does look like a very solid team you guys are sending. I don't know if they still give out awards for each seed range like they used to, but that feels like a team that would have a shot at the second-tier prize (which I think was for the best result from a range that's something like 31st-60th seeds) if they do. OrangeKing fucked around with this message at 06:19 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 06:13
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Hope no one had money on the US team@GMHikaru posted:
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Aug 1, 2014 09:11
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V for Vegas posted:Hope no one had money on the US team Haha, wow. Though the USA really shouldn't need him for the first couple rounds anyway.
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Aug 2, 2014 18:13
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Come on Rex let Hikaru borrow your private jet.
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Aug 2, 2014 18:21
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A few things I noticed today: Csaba Balogh is board 1 on Hungary, despite being rated below Almasi, Rapport, and Polgar. Norway 1 gave up 1.5 points to Yemen  Peru today played 3 GMs and 1 2100. Slovakia's top board apparently resigned against a 2100 in a worse but equal material endgame. Philippines forfeited on board 3 against Afghanistan so that they could rest Eugene Torre. I'm assuming that there was a recording error and David Smerdon did not resign against a 1900 up a queen. Presumably this also happened further down the bracket and Cameroon did not actually tie Tajikistan.
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Aug 2, 2014 19:44
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Norway drew both its matches today. Norway 2 upset Ukraine after a 2500 IM beat Ivanchuk, and Norway 1 was upset by Finland including Tomi Nyback drawing Carlsen in the white side of Ye Olde Slav. It looks like Canada actually lost 2.5-1.5 to India, with yet another recording error on board 4. Board 3, Sasikiran - Gerzhoy, was a pretty spectacular destruction of a KID
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Aug 3, 2014 21:23
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Gata Kamsky has thus far scored 1.5/4 against opposition with an average rating of 2463. I think it's fair to say he's not off to a great start.
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Aug 6, 2014 05:34
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So is this a staged game: Zimbabwe-Togo: 1.e4 g5 2.d4 f6 3.Qh5 mate 1-0 Unrated beat 1900 player. Would there be any benefit to throw a game like this other than bribes? Will there be any consequences?
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Aug 6, 2014 09:52
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OrangeKing posted:Gata Kamsky has thus far scored 1.5/4 against opposition with an average rating of 2463. I think it's fair to say he's not off to a great start. Pretty sure his game yesterday is going to make it into Dvoretsky's next collection of tragicomedies. Beautiful attacking game and then he just sort of forgot to win, and then was down an exchange. Also,  Aronian-Carlsen on table 3 Through 19 moves and Lev looks pretty good. e: And Kramnik-Topalov on board 2. Awesome.
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Aug 6, 2014 14:14
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Zteuer posted:So is this a staged game: Zimbabwe-Togo: 1.e4 g5 2.d4 f6 3.Qh5 mate 1-0 I read that the result was (like so many seem to be in the initial reporting) reversed: the rated player mated the unrated player in three moves, which is quite a bit more believable. Edit: USA-Canada border war is fought to a 2-2 draw.
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Aug 6, 2014 22:24
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OrangeKing posted:Edit: USA-Canada border war is fought to a 2-2 draw. Yeah, it was an interesting match. Sambuev murdered Akobian which will just sort of happen sometimes with him (see also: beating Morozevich at the Knockouts last year), and Kovalyov outplayed Nakamura but couldn't convert the (very difficult) endgame. Very good result for the Canadian team. No more perfect records as the three 4-0 teams drew this round. A bunch of pretty surprising teams a +4 =1 -0 right now - Serbia (with a 2613 on board 1), Cuba (who upset Israel this round), and the Kasimdzhanov-led Uzbekistan team (that upset Ukraine).
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Aug 6, 2014 22:45
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Hand Knit posted:Yeah, it was an interesting match. Sambuev murdered Akobian which will just sort of happen sometimes with him (see also: beating Morozevich at the Knockouts last year), and Kovalyov outplayed Nakamura but couldn't convert the (very difficult) endgame. Very good result for the Canadian team. You just never know about those Cubans - their league isn't quite as deep, but the stars could play anywhere if it weren't for the embargo. Wait, that's baseball. In chess, it's cool to see them doing well, given their very solid players an the fact that they are the nation of Capablanca.
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Aug 7, 2014 02:45
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Interestingly, Cuba's average rating is almost the same as Israel's. I guess it's just that Dominguez doesn't have the same cachet as Gelfand, nor do Quesada Perez and Ortiz Suarez have the fame of Smirin and Sutovsky.
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Aug 7, 2014 03:13
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Tomorrow's pairings are up and it's Italy-Norway1 on board 3. Poor Magnus gets black against Aronian and Caruana on consecutive days.
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Aug 7, 2014 05:40
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Shankland beats Polgar to go to 7/7 with a 3196 rating performance. This was his first GM opponent, but still - a nice upset for him, and it would be awesome if he could snag a board 5 medal.
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Aug 11, 2014 02:02
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So Kirsan wins again. 
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Aug 11, 2014 17:58
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gret posted:So Kirsan wins again. Who would have thought that Kasparov's campaign strategy of "you're all loving idiots who are being bought off by the way America rulez" wouldn't work?
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Aug 11, 2014 18:12
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FIDE not being able to attract a single bid for Carlsen v. Anand should've told you all there is to tell about Kirsan's reign.
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Aug 11, 2014 18:45
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Hand Knit posted:Who would have thought that Kasparov's campaign strategy of "you're all loving idiots who are being bought off by the way America rulez" wouldn't work? But Mig Greengard assured me on Twitter that the election was very close!
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Aug 11, 2014 22:15
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Final standings: Open: (1) China (2) Hungary (3) India Women: (1) Russia (2) China (3) Ukraine So I guess that "disrespectful" Indian team wasn't so bad after all.
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Aug 15, 2014 03:42
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Sad news from the Olympiad, as two players died on the final day in separate incidents. One, Kurt Meier, died while playing in the final round, while another player was found dead of natural causes in a hotel room.
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Aug 16, 2014 05:54
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Big tourney in St Louis starts today, Sinquefield Cup named after that awful libertarian guy, 2pm central with the only off day on labor day. Good start time, great club, awesome to drink with. Looking forward to mr ashley's commentary. and scream guy with the knife. https://saintlouischessclub.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=62
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Aug 27, 2014 19:16
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DJ BK posted:Big tourney in St Louis starts today, Sinquefield Cup named after that awful libertarian guy, 2pm central with the only off day on labor day. Good start time, great club, awesome to drink with. Looking forward to mr ashley's commentary. and scream guy with the knife. Is this one of those tournaments funded by Peter Thiel? Anyway, the games today were decent. Carlsen navigated the opening pretty well before missing an incredibly deep subtlety to stay out of the perpetual, while Caruana beat up Topalov pretty badly.
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Aug 27, 2014 23:35
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Average rating over 2800  That must be a record, right?
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Aug 28, 2014 02:11
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King Pawn posted:Average rating over 2800 Zurich was also a "category 23" tournament. Using the ratings posted on the tournament site, the average rating on Sinquefield is 2801.6, compared to Zurich's 2800.8. I want to talk about a particular position from the MVL-Carlsen game today. I'm really interested in the next move, but I think the story starts best here, after 21.Ne7+  I like what happens here because it's actually very theoretical, and it shows very clearly a decision-making process that can be understood (although Magnus probably went through this much less explicitly). The first thing you want to look for when looking for what to do, before calculating or evaluating anything, are 'candidate moves'. This isn't a strictly fair characterization since most positions picking out those candidates comes against a background, intuitive, understanding of the position but here the check makes things simpler. There are four legally possible moves, and two of them (Qxe7 and Kf8) can immediately be thrown out for being suicidal. This leaves two candidate possibilities, Rxe7 and Kh8. Step two is that of "elimination:" do either of the possibilities lead to forcing variations that can easily be eliminated. It is natural to start with the exchange sacrifice Rxe7, since that demands more explicit compensation. With some effort (for us, not for Magnus) we can see that this variation allows black to force a draw: 21...Rxe7 22.fxe7 Qd2 (Xg2) 23.Rf2 Qd1+ and white has no choice but to repeat. This allows us to establish a baseline: every other variation must present something better than a draw. After a brief check to see if Rxe7 has other possible lines for black (it doesn't) we can now evaluate Kh8. Since black still possesses the threat of Qd2. If white wants to avoid a draw, then, white will play Qxc2. This will leave white up a pawn. The question, then, will black have enough compensation to warrant playing on down a pawn. According to one influential school of thought, positional evaluation is determined by three questions: (1) where are the weaknesses? (2) what are the worst pieces? (3) what are the plans? Let's go through these in order. Black's first weaknesses appear to be the g7 and h7 squares, which aren't easily defensible without concessions and would leaves him mated. However, white can't really get at them. White bringing the queen alone to h6 would be slow and difficult, and would be immediately met with Qf8. Loading two heavies up on the h-file is even slower. h7, then, isn't a weakness at all and g7 won't tell without a queen endgame. Does black have any other weaknesses? The pawn on b5 is pretty out there, but that's not a big deal. The backwards c7-pawn is a bit more of an issue, since pushing it to defend it would close off black's great bishop. White's weaknesses, on the other hand, are several. We've already mentioned one line that targets the g2 square, and white doesn't seem to have a way to shut off the black bishop. The pawn on e3 also stands out, backwards and alone. Also a pawn island is white's pawn advanced all the way to f6. Now that white's attack on black's king has run out, it looks a bit silly. We're already starting to see that, despite being a pawn down, black probably has enough targets in white's camp to play on. Question 2 is about the worst pieces. The first two are reasonably easy to spot: both a-rooks are not really doing anything. Black's is at least on a semi-open file, but there's no real pressure on a2. A sneakily-bad piece, I think, is the knight on e7. After it's aggressive foray in, it's suddenly completely trapped. Oftentimes you can live with a trapped knight that deep if it's solidly defended, but we've already established that the pawn on f6 is a target. Piece activity, then, is also slightly in black's favour. With weaknesses established, what are the likely plans? Two stick out for black, being an attack on g2 eyeing mate and an attack on f6 eying the trapped knight. White, meanwhile, is committed to the knight which means that he has to try and infiltrate black's position. The pawn on c7 is a natural target, where white could also go at black's good bishop. Both players want control of the d-file. Altogether, it looks like black is warranted in playing Kh8 to play on. However, there's still the question of exactly what to do. Magnus came up with:  22...Raa6! This answers all three questions: Black activates his last dormant piece; he targets one white weakness (f6) which would create another white weakness (e7) and solve a black weakness (g7); and he claims the d-file from white (23.Rad1 Rad6 -/+) with eyes to attacking g2 (Rad6=>Rd2). Raa6, despite being a rook lift on the far side of the board, is a really elegant positional move.
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Aug 28, 2014 03:36
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OrangeKing posted:Sad news from the Olympiad, as two players died on the final day in separate incidents. One, Kurt Meier, died while playing in the final round, while another player was found dead of natural causes in a hotel room. drat this is a hardcore sport, i never knew
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Aug 28, 2014 03:41
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I was not ready for how small Maurice Ashley's face is in proportion to his head.
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Aug 28, 2014 20:10
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May just be a poor translation from Norwegian, but still @SusanPolgar posted:How does Carlsen describe Nakamura in one word? Inept!
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Aug 28, 2014 23:55
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Do you agree with his assessment?
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V for Vegas posted:May just be a poor translation from Norwegian, but still The translation is correct, he was asked to describe the 5 other players in the tournament. Levon Aronian: – My strongest challenger. Fabiano Caruana: – Very confident player. Perhaps the most dangerous alongside Aronian. Veselin Topalov: – Played well at the olympics, generally a good opponent for me. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: – Haven't played him much. Very creative, good tactically, dangerous player. Nakamura - Inept (He laughs a bit as he says it, clearly tongue-in-cheek)
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Aug 29, 2014 06:48
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Meanwhile, Carlsen apparently has until Sunday to sign a contract to play the World Championship match in Sochi, or it's Anand vs. Someone (presumably Karjakin, as he finished 2nd in the Candidates and would be the most likely "alternate") for the Once Again Totally Legitimate FIDE World Championship! A ChessBase report, for those interested.quote:The title match this year has a budget of US $3 million, with $1.5 million reserved for the prizes. This is one million dollars less than the funding of the 2013 match in Chennai. Further the money appears to be coming from Aleksander Tkachev, who is Governor of the Krasnodar Territory and one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. For this reason Tkachev has been blacklisted by the European Union, together with other key Russian officials from the region. Hand Knit posted:Is this one of those tournaments funded by Peter Thiel? I think Rex Sinquefield funds these himself, but I could be wrong. OrangeKing fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Aug 29, 2014 |
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Aug 29, 2014 19:12
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OrangeKing posted:Meanwhile, Carlsen apparently has until Sunday to sign a contract to play the World Championship match in Sochi, or it's Anand vs. Someone (presumably Karjakin, as he finished 2nd in the Candidates and would be the most likely "alternate") for the Once Again Totally Legitimate FIDE World Championship! A ChessBase report, for those interested. quote:Emil Sutovsky Also round 3 has just started, and Magnus has decided to go with ye olde Bishop's Opening against Caruana. Hopefully Caruana manages his time a little bit better today than he did in Tromsø.
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Aug 29, 2014 20:06
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Also Carlsen-Caruana just got kinda wild. e: Magnus' sacrifice theoretically doesn't work, but Caruana has to see a line where he walks his king to g5. Hand Knit fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Aug 29, 2014 |
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Aug 29, 2014 21:39
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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCfWHqrYUqo
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Aug 31, 2014 00:18
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Caruana
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Sep 2, 2014 22:24
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gret posted:Caruana It's mental. How do you win 6 in 6 in a tournament like this?
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Sep 2, 2014 22:42
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