SumanSpeaksChess

Chess Lesson: The Dutch Defence - Stonewall Variation

2011-06-06T02:14:00.000-07:00

2011-06-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

It's Gelfand vs Anand for world title: Israel Vs India:

Candidates final on Wednesday at Kazan, will be between Boris Gelfand of Israel and Viswanathan Anand (who is one year younger than Boris).

Interestingly, Anand has met only players younger to him since he faced Anatoly Karpov (1998) and Garry Kasparov (1995) for the world title. Alexei Shirov, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, who met Anand in 2000, 2008 and 2010 respectively, are all younger to him.

Gelfand showed tremendous fighting qualities to prevail over the young Russian,Alexander Grischuk, who had his chances in the first five games but co

uld not convert them into wins. Gelfand's masterstroke came in the sixth game on Wednesday when he won in 35 moves in Grunfeld Defence.

Curiously, Gelfand had a good record against Anand in tournament play in the 1990s but the Israeli, who was born in Belarus, could not make any headway in the world championship.

However, in the last three years he has been in terrific form, climbing up in world ranking. IT SEEMS THAT THE CANDIDATES FINAL WOULD BE VERY INTERESTING.

CHESS PUZZLE: FOR INTERMEDIATE PLAYERS:

Q. White to play and win in

5 moves. Please try to solve the Puzzle without looking at the solution. The beauty of this end-game is the positioning of Knight--King combination. Please try to solve the Puzzle without looking at the solution.

Sol:

1 Nf4 Kh7

2 Bg5 Kh8

3 Ng6+ Kh7

4 Nf8+ Kh8

5 Bf6++ Mate

Thanks!!

2009-04-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

AICF may reconsider ban on GM Gopal

CHENNAI: The All India Chess Federation (AICF) has expressed its willingness to reconsider its ban on Grandmaster GN Gopal.
Talking to TOI on Wednesday, AICF secretary DV Sundar said the federation would look into the matter again if the player appealed against the ban.
"We have kept the options open and we have told the player that he can appeal against the decision," said Sundar.
GN Gopal was banned by AICF afer the Kerala-based GM took part in a tournament in Canada skipping the National A in Mangalore late last year.
The chess fraternity, including the Chess Players Association of India, had reacted sharply against the decision. AICF came under pressure because World champion Viswanathan Anand and some former national champions also supported Gopal.
Sundar said the federation would organise a series of GM tournaments in India to give more opportunities to the players. The first of it will be an open tournament with 26 GMs in Mumbai from April 30 to May 10.

2009-03-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

Anand finishes fourth as Grischuk wins Linares tourney

LINARES (Spain): World champion Viswanathan Anand had to content with a fourth place finish following his final round draw against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the Magistral Ciudad De Linares chess tournament on Sunday.
Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk of Russia won the tournament after settling for a draw with Levon Aronian of Armenia. Grischuk finished with eight points in all and tied for the top spot along with Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine.
The tiebreak favoured Grischuk as he had won three games in the event compared to two victories by Ivanchuk who drew with Lenier Dominguez of Cuba in his final round game. The tiebreak favoured player with more decisive games and despite remaining unbeaten, Ivanchuk finished second.
Carlsen finished third on 7.5 points, a half point ahead of Anand who in turn had half a point more than Aronian, Wang Yue Of China and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan. Dominiguez finished last on 6 points.
The final day did not have even a single decisive game and the standings remained same as they were after the penultimate round.
Grischuk gained a great deal from his performance here as apart from the trophy and winner's cheque, the Russian also earned right to take part in the Grand Slam final scheduled to be held in Bilbao, Spain later this year.
This was by far the best performance ever by Grischuk who was the semifinalist in the world championship of 2000 when it was held at New Delhi.
For Anand the final day did not have much excitement as Carlsen played solid and safe with his black pieces. Anand came back to the queen pawn and faced the Grunfeld defense, got just an optical advanatage out of the opening and when Carlsen regrouped his forces well, the draw was agreed after 29 moves.
Grischuk had to defend well with black against Aronian and he did precisely that. It was a King's Indian defense where the Armenian got a whiff of an advantage but Grischuk neutralised in quick time. A series of exchanges led to a balanced position with queens, rook and a minor piece onboard but it was quite difficult for Aronian to make progress. The game lasted 41 moves.
Ivanchuk did not get any chance either against Dominguez who played the white side of a closed Ruy Lopez. Equalising early, Ivanchuk was never in any troubles and exchanged pieces at will to get a level rook and minor piece end game where the draw was a just result.
The other match of the final round saw Wang Yue settling for a draw with Radjabov.

2009-01-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

Abhijeet wins, Sasikiran loses again

WIJK AAN ZEE (The Netherlands): World Junior champion Abhijeet Gupta came back reckoning for top honours with a fine positional triumph over veteran Grandmaster Oleg Romanishin of Ukraine in the 9th round of the 'C' group of Corus International chess tournament.
But Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran suffered a defeat at the hands of David Navara of Czech Republic in the 'B' group to make it a mixed day for the Indian contingent.
Abhijeet took his tally to a respectable 5.5 points out of a possible nine and is now in joint third position along side Frank Holzke of Germany and David Howell of England.
The lead position remained unchanged after Tiger Hillarp Persson of Sweden played out a draw with D Harika and inched himself up to 6.5 points. The second place is held by Wesley So of Philippines who made short work of local hopeful Ali Bitalzadeh.
In the 'B' group Sasikiran will look forward to saving some of the vital elo points.
The Indian has 3 points and is playing much below his expected score. Abhijeet played his moves well to beat the experienced Romanishin. Expectedly the Ukrainian employed the Nimzo Indian and faced the Capablanca variation.
Abhijeet got a bind in the center and slowly his pieces gained in strength.
Romanishin opted to go for an inferior endgame to cut down on some pressure but ended up losing a pawn for effectively no compensation.

2009-01-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

Sasi held by Motylev at Corus chess

WIJK AAN ZEE (The Netherlands): Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran played out a draw with Alexander Motylev in the eighth round of the 'B" group of Corus chess tournament.
Sasikiran took his tally to 3 points with the draw and it seems that the fortunes of the top seed Indian in the fray are just not changing.
Ahead of the second rest day Sasikiran again could not get much to hope for with his white pieces as Motylev kept himself in contention in a Queen pawn game and after the dust subsided the players just had a level position on board. The peace was signed in 32 moves.
It turned out to be a bad day for Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta too in the 'C' group as he went down to Grandmaster Friso Nijboer of Holland.
The loss dented Abhijeet's chances in the event considerably after Tiger Hillarp Person of Sweden managed to eek out a win against Mexican Manuel Leon Hoyos.
Persson emerged as the sole leader in this section on 6 points out of a possible eight and stretched his lead to a full point after top seed Wesley So of Philippines blundered and lost to Frank Holzke of Germany.
Wesley remained on 5 points and in sole second spot despite the disaster and Abhijeet now shares the third spot with David Howell of England and local hopeful Manuel Bosboom who played out a draw with D Harika in this round.
Playing the black side of a Ruy Lopez Abhijeet was surprised early in the opening after sacrificing a pawn and did not get a chance to recover during the remaining part of the game.
The Indian was forced to spend a lot of time in the early middle game and Nijboer increased his advantage after a couple of more inaccuracies by the Indian world junior champion.

2008-11-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

An interview with World Chess Champion Anand of India

Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand of India just defeated Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in a 12-game World Championship match in Bonn, Germany to retain his title. The final score was 6.5 - 4.5. The match prize funds are 1.5 million Euros ($2.35 million U.S.).
Here is the continuation of my column last week.
Susan Polgar: What role do computers play in today's chess?
Viswanathan Anand: Well, I think it is like having the best tactical player in the world at your disposal 24/7.
Clearly, you have to find a way to use that. And of course as the processors get better, the computer goes a little bit further out. So nowadays, we have engines even suggesting non-tactical moves, simply because they look so far ahead. And I think it is a great help.
But of course you have to make sure that you don't drown in that information, so you have to keep track of what you do. Essentially, it comes down to the same thing, getting to the heart of the position, some key concepts, and then being able to get to the bottom of things.
SP: How have you been able to maintain your top level for two decades?
Anand: I think it is basically easy, because chess is fascinating and it is very easy to keep that. And of course when I start to lose it, I take off for a few months and maybe take a vacation and do something else and things usually come back after that.
Sometimes you manage to stop on your own, and sometimes it takes a heavy defeat to stop you. But anyway, usually after you stop for a while, you'll get it back, as long as you maintain this kind of balance with the right amount of chess. You need practice and you need to maintain that tournament tension to have that feeling. If you stay away for too long, you lose that and then it is harder to come back.
But if you can sort of manage this kind of balance, it's nice. I like to lose myself in my hobbies as well, like astronomy and traveling. And this is nice because it allows you to put chess in the proper place.
SP: How many countries have you visited and do you have a favorite?
VA: Actually, I just reached forty-nine. So I am hoping to get to fifty.
SP: Can you tell me about the chess in the school's program in India?
VA: We currently have a program called Mind Champion's Academy. It is an idea from the IT company that I work with (NIIT), they already do all the computer education through many schools in many states, so something like 4,000-plus schools, with a total student population of more than 1.4 million. And of that, more than 70,000 have played in a competition this year. The nice thing is that we also reach out to non-traditional areas; not only the cities, but small towns and villages as well. So hopefully in five to ten years, we will start to see the effect of this as more and more people enter the chess world.
But the idea for the students is that even if their attraction for chess is limited, we think it is a good tool to help their academics, to develop certain skills and so on. So it is a win-win situation and that's what I'm excited about. Obviously when I come back now, it is a program that I'll continue.
SP: What role does chess play in education?
VA: I think nowadays, children need all the help they can get and generally children learn better in the form of a game. So in that sense, chess has a role because it teaches them problem solving, but in a fun way, because they will reject anything that bores them.
For chess, I think there is an incentive because it will help the sport. But frankly, it is a big help for the schools and it gives the kids something to do. Perhaps it will replace other less healthy alternatives. To give them anything that's fun and positive is good.
I think that's one area where chess will grow, because many countries are doing the same thing, and all based on the theory that chess develops skills that are useful. I think it's something that will prosper.
SUSAN POLGAR is a professional chess player, champion and founder of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Texas Tech, susan.polgar@ttu.edu.

2008-10-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Anand is the World Chess Champion

Game 11. Anand holds it together to retain his title

Anand 1/2 Kramnik; Game 11.

Commentary IM Malcolm Pein

Well this is a pleasant surprise, I thought we were only going to get tengames but Vlad did as he promised and kept fighting to the end.
1.e4
I had a feeling this was coming. Anand invites Kramnik to play his Petroff Defence which can be very drawish, particularly if White wants it to be
1...c5
Given the match situation this is the best option Kramnik has to head for an unbalanced position. A Sicilian was widely expected in this circumstance
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
A Najdorf, I wonder if Kramnik has ever played this before
6.Bg5
[6.Be3 Is another theoretical battleground but Bg5 is a sound choice as it both a proven moveand limits Black's options]
6...e6 7.f4
7...Qb6 the Poisoned Pawn would not suit Kramnik now as White has many forced drawing lines there
7...Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6
I recall Anatoly Karpov being forced to play a sharp Sicilian against Nigel Short at their Candidates SF at Linares in 1992. Karpov also allowed Bxf6 gxf6 and Short gave him a good tonking. That was a Richter Rauzer from memory and Black castled kingside.
9.f5
[9.Be2 Nc6 10.Nb3 Qb6 11.Qd2 h5]
9...Qc5
This looks very odd as it contradicts the basic rules of developing your pieces but Kramnik had to prevent fxe6 and Qh5+
10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3
We are following Kavalek - Chandler Bundesliga 1982
11...Qe5
[11...Qb6 12.0-0-0 Bh6+ 13.Kb1 Bf4 coming to e5 looks reasonable also]
12.0-0-0 exf5
[12...exf5 Good heavens, Black does not usually do this. It might win a pawn but it ruins the pawn structure and opens lines towards the king. The d5 square is screaming for equine occupation 13.Kb1 Be7 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Qf3 0-0-0 16.Bxa6!]
13.Qe3
We can only admire Kramnik's bravado even if he hasn't got much choice but he is at least making Anand think. The threat is Rd5
[13.Nd5 fxe4 14.Qxe4 Be6; 13.Nd5 Rb8 14.exf5]
13...Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3
Now if Rg8 then Qh4 later can be annoying
[15.Qg3 0-0 16.exf5 Ne5 17.Bd3]
15...Rg8 16.Qf4
Hmm, Kramnik may be able to play Be6 and escape with his king to the queenside which seems reasonable
[An implausible variation is 16.Qf4 Be6 17.Rd1 fxe4 18.Nxe4 Bg4 19.Nxd6+ Kf8 20.Bc4 Bxd1 21.Rxd1 Ne5 22.Be2 Rd8 23.Nf5 Rxd1+ 24.Bxd1 Qc7 25.Qb4+ Ke8 26.Nd6+ Kf8 27.Nf5+]
16...fxe4
Looks like the king will be headed to f8 now, this is perfect for Kramnik a very wild position
17.Nxe4 f5
[17...Be6 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Rd1 Bg4 20.Qxg4?? Bh6+ is a nice cheapo and this line seems to be sounder for Black than the game]
18.Nxd6+ Kf8
Anand has to watch his back rank now but I wonder if he will be attracted to the idea of taking on c8. Although the knight on d6 is a mighty piece it could come under attack after Be5 for example and after the bishop on c8 is exchanged the f5 pawn is very weak
[18...Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Qc1 Qe4]
19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1
[20.Qd6 Nb4 21.Qxe7+ Kxe7 22.Rd2 Bh6-+ Illustrates why it's better to have the king on b1. Now Qe1 can be met by Nc1 or Qc1]
20...Qe1+ 21.Nc1
and now there is a nasty Qd6+ Ne7 Qd8+ cheapo on the horizon
21...Ne7 22.Qd2
Forcing a queen exchange as Rd8+ is threatened
[22.Qd6 Qe6 23.Qd8+ Rxd8 24.Rxd8#]
22...Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2
Holding g2 so that the bishop can come out. Vishy just has a somewhat advantageous endgame. g3 and Bg2 is a threat. Perhaps Kramnik has to play Be3 to try and confuse matters. Vishy can also be content with the presence of opposite coloured bishops, if he doesn't win they make the draw more likely
24...Be3
and Kramnik offered a draw. After Rf3 he is worse and has no winning prospects. In the end a very decent match indeed
1/2-1/2

Result: Viswanathan Anand retains World Championship

2008-10-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

World Chess Championship Game 10.

Kramnik delivers a win at the last moment:

Kramnik -Anand Game 10. Commentary IM Malcolm Pein
1.d4
Kramnik has promised to fight to the end but after his admittal that he was overlooking 1 move mates in his analysis we can only assume that he is not himself. Indeed his 2 year unbeaten run and rise to power was ascribed to his ability to eliminate blunders and here he has missed quite a few shots
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, for what may be his last stand Kramnik plays the Kasparov Variation
5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3
I might have known, a long and highly analysed line where White plays for a small edge and grinds away. Expect a flurry of moves now
9...Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.0-0 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4
Now Qxb4 is thought to be slightly better for White. Vishy played Qh5. against Kasparov at Wijk aan Zee 2000 and drew but with difficulty #
17...Qh5 18.Re1
A new move that anticipates Be2. I guess Anand may have a think now
[18.Be3 Be2 19.Rd2 Rab8 20.Bxb6 axb6 21.Qd6 Bf3 was Kasparov - Anand but 18...Rfc8 was played subsequently by Short and Leko]
18...c5
This seemed obvious as otherwise Be3 creates some instability for the knight and bishop on the queenside
19.Qa5
I guess Rfc8 or Be2 here
19...Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2
Now the question is what has Kramnik come up with ?
21.Bf4 e5 22.Be3
Putting the question to the c5 pawn. If you are not inspired by this bear in mind White is playing for a small edge in a static position but I agree where it comes from is far from obvious
[22.Bxe5 Nc4 23.Qa6 Qxe5 24.Rxe2 Qxc3 25.Rd1 Rd8=]
22...Bg4
Now White may seize the vacant f1-a6 diagonal or grab the pawn Bxc5. Kramnik thought this inaccurate.
[22...Bg4 23.Bxc5 Nc4 24.Qb5 Be6 Black has good control of the queenside and this may ensure equality]
23.Qa6!
I like this creeping move it controls key squares
23...f6?
Virtually the decisive mistake according to Kramnik [23...Be6 24.Bf1 Qf3] and the game will continue on.
24.a4!
Black is gradually being driven back here, very nice play from Kramnik this is his kind of position
24...Qf7 25.Bf1!
Kramnik takes control of c4 tactically and a5 comes next #
[25.Bf1 Be6 26.Reb1 Bc4 27.Bxc4 Qxc4 28.Rxb6; 25.Bf1 Be6 26.Reb1 Bc4 27.Bxc4 Nxc4 28.Rb7 wins]
25...Be6 26.Rab1 c4?
I don't understand this but the position already looks unpleasant. How does Black hang on to his a pawn ? Qa6 was a lovely move
[26...Rab8 27.a5]
27.a5 Na4
[27...Nd7 28.Rb7]
28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6!
The threats are Re7 and Qb7 they can't both be prevented, what a nice game by Kramnik, he got his kind of position and played it beautifully #
[29.Qd6 Bf7 30.Qb4 with the simple plan of a6 and taking on a7 with total control; 29.Qd6 Rd8 30.Qb4 Rab8 31.a6 when Black can hardly move and a7 falls]
1-0

2008-10-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

World Chess Championship 2008:

Game 6: Anand takes 3 point lead with yet another win.
Anand, Viswanathan Vs Kramnik, Vladimir

Commentary by IM Malcolm Pein

Will Anand try and kick him when he is down? he didn't in game 4. But he knows his opponent is low so he will just play with white and see what happens. If it's a draw he won't be disappointed but expect a solid line today
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2
Anand played the sharp 4.f3 in game 2 This is a much more positional move. White avoids damage to his pawn structure if Black plays Bxc3+. White often tries to secure the 2 bishops and play with them against bishop and knight, This advantage is particularly potent in an endgame with play on both sides of the board
4...d5
The most solid response. This line was developed by Oleg Romanishin, one of the most creative players of the 20th century IMHO. Black develops the queen early but this is often a prelude to playing Qf5 or Qe4 looking for a level endgame.
5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Bd2 0-0 9.h3
9.h3 Another novelty from Vishy! Previously 9.e3 was played. White has the option of playing g4 and if Qg6 Nh4 traps the queen ! Of course the queen can go to a5 but then perhaps the kingside attack might develop in the lady's absence
9...b6
Vlad is calm, he develops his last minor piece and invites Vishy to lash out with g4. I guess he figures since he is losing with White he might as well provoke a crisis with Black !
10.g4
He's done it! of course Vishy does not have to attack, he can simply continue Bg2
10...Qa5 11.Rc1 Bb7 12.a3
It was a privelege to have Anatoly Karpov in the analysis room and his view was that after an exchange of queens on d5 White will be slightly better
12...Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Qd5 14.Qxd5
Now exd5 will block the Bb7 and lead to trouble on the c file for Black but after Nxd5 Bd2 White is ready for e4 so I think I like White
14...Nxd5 15.Bd2
Now maybe f7-f5 ? Black has to play for control of the white squares. Also Nf6 would be reasonable when Black controls e4 and threatens Nxd4 exploiting a pin on the long diagonal
15...Nf6 16.Rg1
Black should be more or less OK Rg1 was clearly not a move White wanted to make but he had no choice. Maybe Rac8 and then Ne4 to neutralise the bishop pair by taking on d2 Rfd8 first might be better
[Karpov liked 16.g5 Ne4 17.Bf4]
16...Rac8
Black will try and arrange c7-c5 after some preparation perhaps Nc6-e7. Vishy's position is quite good on the queenside but his kingside pieces are innefectual. Rg1 was a major inconvenience. Perhaps now g5 and Bg2 or just Bg2 first
17.Bg2 Ne7 18.Bb4
I am gradually realising that after an exchange of bishops on g2 the white rook emerges on g3 favourably.White's king is handily placed
18...c5
Black could have played Rfe8 but then he maynot have had time to organise c7-c5
[18...Rfe8 19.Bxe7 Rxe7 20.Ne5 Bxg2 21.Rxg2 c5 22.dxc5 Rxc5 23.Rxc5 bxc5 24.Rg3 is certainly an edge but Black should hold this. Kramnik's move looks like a bold winning attempt but he is losing a pawn. Perhaps White has better but this c5 move is so risky]
19.dxc5 Rfd8 20.Ne5 Bxg2 21.Rxg2
I don't see how Black recovers the pawn
21...bxc5
[21...Nc6 22.Nd3! is clearly good for White. Goodness me is he going to go three down ??? 22...Nd4 23.cxb6?? Rxc1+ 24.Nxc1 Nc2+ 25.Kf1 Rd1+; 21...Nc6 22.Nd3! Nd4 23.e3 Nb3 (23...Nf3+ 24.Ke2) 24.Rc3; 21...a5 22.Bd2 Ne4 23.cxb6 Rxd2 24.Rxc8+ Nxc8 25.b7 Rc2! 26.Kd1! wins]
22.Rxc5 Ne4
Kramnik is just going to have to grovel a pawn down here. Very grim. The white rook may be misplaced but his king is great. Vishy has only castled in three of the six games !
23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Nd3 Nd5
Maybe now Kd1 and try and slowly unravel. At this stage I can't see how Kramnik can penetrate
25.Bd2
It seems that Rc2 is met simply by Bc1 and Kd1
25...Rc2 26.Bc1 f5
This prevents the possible plan of Kd1 f3 and e4 but I think the Kd1 and f3 part are coming anyway
27.Kd1 Rc8 28.f3 Nd6 29.Ke1
Anand is no hurry, there is apparently nothing active White can do
29...a5 30.e3 e5
Trying for some activity but this looks bad
31.gxf5 e4 32.fxe4 Nxe4 33.Bd2 a4
[33...Rc2 34.Kd1?? Nxe3+; but 33...Rc2 34.Re2!]
34.Nf2!
The computer assessment has jumped and we can see why. Vishy is keeping both extra pawns
34...Nd6 35.Rg4 Nc4 36.e4 Nf6 37.Rg3 Nxb2
Winning back a pawn but now there are great possibilities for White like e4-e5 or Bc3 This looks winning
[37...Nxb2 38.Bc3 Nh5!? 39.Rf3 Nc4 fights on so I guess e5 is better]
38.e5 Nd5 39.f6
Now there is the killer tactic of g6 Ne4 threatening f7+ Kxf7 Nd6+ The computers have called this one and who are we to argue. It's +3
39...Kf7 40.Ne4
Kramnik has only 90 seconds for his last move but 90 minutes would no help. Nd6 is the obvious one but Ng5 is also a killer
40...Nc4
Now a White pawn ought to promote, my money's on Freddie the f pawn. Time control, Vlad has left the stage 41 Rxg7+ Ke6 42.Ng5+ Kxe5 43.f7 must be curtains. It just wins a rook. As they say on UK TV, "they think it's all over, it is now" (Wembley 1966) That was 4-2 to England, this is 4,5-1.5 to India
41.fxg7
Winning but not as overwhelming as Rxg7 but it won't change the outcome . Now Rg8 42.Nd6+ Nxd6 43.exd6 and Rxg7 will allow the d pawn to promote. This keeps it simple
41...Kg8 42.Rd3
There was a diablolical line
[42.Nf6+ Nxf6 43.exf6 Re8+ 44.Kd1 Rd8 45.Kc1 Nxd2 46.f7+ Kxf7 47.g8Q+ Rxg8 48.Rxg8 Nb3+!]
42...Ndb6 43.Bh6 Nxe5 44.Nf6+ Kf7 45.Rc3
A crowd pleaser
45...Rxc3 46.g8Q+ Kxf6 47.Bg7+ 1-0

2008-10-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

World Chess Championship 2008

Anand - Kramnik Game

Game- 4.

Result: Drawn in 29 moves.
Score: Anand 2½ Kramnik 1½
Commentary by IM Malcolm Pein

1.d4 Nf6
There are 9 games left. After his fantastic win yesterday Anand must be tempted to concentrate on avoiding defeat. But he should leave those kind of thoughts to Kramnik. Experience and countless matches tells us the time to kick a man is when he is down.
2.c4 e6 3.Nf3
Avoiding 3.Nc3 Bb4 the Nimzo-Indian of game 1
3...d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4
Anand prefers Bf4 to the more common Bg5 - this can lead to positions with opposite castling after Black plays c5, White takes and plays Qc2 and 0-0-0
5...0-0 6.e3 Nbd7
Well who would have thought it, a wireless network at the KOP end. Kramnik has gone for the solid Queen's Gambit
[6...c5 7.dxc5 Nc6 8.Qc2 Bxc5 9.a3 Qa5 10.0-0-0 is the sharp stuff]
7.a3
An unusual wrinkle which means either Vishy is going to take no risks today or he is planning c4-c5 andb2-b4
7...c5
The standard response in the centre now White can force Black to accept an isolated queen's pawn
8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5
OK, so we can see that Anand's idea is to play rather like Kramnik and reach a position where he can play with a tiny edge and try to exert maximum psychological advantage
11.Be5
White emphasises his control of the square in front of the isolated pawn. This is essential, the pawn must be blocked before it can be attacked
11...Bf5
[11...Bf6 is standard but again, Kramnik may be motivated by a desire to avoid any preparation]
12.Be2 Bf6
Often in these lines White plays Bxf6 and Qd4 but it doesn't look likely here. I just hope the football is more entertaining than thisgame
[12...Bf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Qd4 Nb3 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.Rd1 Bc2 17.Rxd5]
13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nd4 Ne6
Black fights for the d4 square
15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.0-0 Rfd8
Black is more active and this compensates for the weak d5 pawn. If he plays d5-d4 he will be fine
17.Bg4 Qe5 18.Qb3 Nc5
[18...d4 19.Qxb7 gives White a bishop v knight on an open board and some hopes if queens are exchanged]
19.Qb5 b6
White may appear to have a small edge at this point but I can't believe it's much
20.Rfd1 Rd6 21.Rd4 a6 22.Qb4 h5
Once the white bishop has been driven away from the h3-c8 diagonal Black can play Ne6 and he controls the d4 square and then if black can play d5-d4 then any white edge would probably disappear after piece exchanges.
23.Bh3 Rad8 24.g3 g5!
Kramnik plays to evict the bishop as I mentioned before. He is deliberately avoiding Ne6 Bxe6 when he has slight structural weakness and Anand could try and make him suffer although with only a limited chance of success
25.Rad1 g4 26.Bg2 Ne6 27.R4d3 d4
The breakthrough, Liverpool could do with one of those its Liverpool 1-2 Wigan and if any of our Egyptian readers are online today, Zaki just scored a wonder goal. Of course Black is absolutely fine here
28.exd4 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4
After another exchange Black would take with the knight. As they say: "queen and knight, they're alright" and if you think about it these two pieces compliment each other. Black is so well centralised White has no active possibilities.
Rather disappointing, I had hoped Vishy would go for it from the start today. Thanks for watching, the score is Anand 2.5-1.5 Kramnik
1/2-1/2

2008-10-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

World Chess Championship 2008:

World Chess Championship Game 3. Anand wins with the black pieces.:
Kramnik - Anand Game-3. (Notes by IM Malcolm Pein).

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3
Welcome to game 3 this is Malcolm Pein from the

3...Nf6 4.Nc3
No Exchange Slav, this is main line and sharp offering the Meran Variation
4...e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3
Kramnik is white (I'll try to remember that throughout :) ) and we have another Slav Defence but I suspect we will see something more aggressive than in game 1
6...dxc4
The mainline Meran Variation, the sharpest line.
7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7
This is all well analysed theory which is why the players are bashing out their moves at high speed It's a very unbalanced position. Black may be a pawn up but d4 or b5 usually fall and Black leaves his king in the middle A new move 14...Bb7 from Vishy ! now Vlad will have to think long and hard to work out what the idea is Black usually tries to hang on to b5 for longer with b5-b4 or Ba6 The obvious question arises now, why not 15.Bxb5
15.Bxb5
Kramnik has to take I guess otherwise Qe2 makes little sense
15...Bd6
Black can continue Rg8, Ke7 and then maybe Ne5 trying to set up threats against g2. Black's king is pretty safe behind the pawn mass for the moment but at some point he has to break the pin on his knight White lacks an active square for the bishop on c1 it could go to d2 and then support the a pawn after a2-a4 and a4-a5 Incidentally the weather here is 15 degrees and sunny in London. Anand has used virtually no time so far- he is in his home analysis. The computer wants to play g3, typical Fritz, not many humans would play g3 unless they absolutely had to opening that diagonal with the black bishop on b7 and the queen in proximity to c6 is scary. A more human response to the threats along b7-g2 might be Bb5-d3 and then to e4 snuffing out the problem at the cost of freeing the knight on d7.
16.Rd1
[16.Bd3 Ke7 17.Rd1 Rag8 18.Be4 is my suggestion to head for a safer position.]
16...Rg8
Now g3 and even Rxd4 are possible obviously the latter is a little risky It's too late for Bd3, I reckon.
17.g3
I suppose there is an upside to g3, at least it threatens Rxd4 Anand still blitzing em out, this defends d4. In fact we transpose to some previous games here but Anand's next move is new I believe
[17.Bd3 Ne5 18.Be4 d3 ouch Rxd4 is more than risky for example; Rxd4 was not good 17.Rxd4 Rxg2+ 18.Kxg2 Qxd4 and Black is on the rampage]
17...Rg4
Defending d4
18.Bf4
Great shot, if Bxf4 Rxd4
[It's clear Nd2 was not good, it felt wrong, completely denuding the king 18.Nd2 This is so double edged but Kramnik is up against Anand and his computer analysis from home I wonder.... 18...Ke7!! 19.Bxd7 (19.Qxg4 Qxb5 Looks very dangerous with Ne5 and Qd5 coming) 19...Rag8 When Black has the idea of sacrificing on g3 and playing d3+ winning the white queen - nasty ! Yes I think that's the dastardly plan 20.Bb5 d3 21.Qxd3 Rxg3+ 22.hxg3 Rxg3+ wins the queen as the f2 pawn is pinned. Black looks better in that line even if material is equal. White's king is exposed. This would explain why Kramnik is having a long think]
18...Bxf4
Vishy still playing fast, he's been here
19.Nxd4
What a sho t, Kramnik attacks the rook on g4 and sets up Nxe6 now I guess Rg6 or h5 because after Bxd7+ Kxd7 there is no killer discovered check but the more Kramnik fights, the more chance he has of missing a tactic seen by a computer pre-game
19...h5
This should be at least as good as Rg6 the rook and h pawn are less exposed and the rook more active on g4. Kramnik has no choice now but to take the plunge
[19...Rg6 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Rxh7 (22.Bd3 Be5 23.Bxg6 hxg6) 22...Bxg3 23.hxg3 Rxg3+ 24.Kf1 Rg5 attacking the bishop on b5 25.Rh2 (25.Bd3 Bg2+ 26.Ke1 Re5 wins) 25...Re5]
20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Qd3
Playing it this way enables the queen to cover g3 but now I wonder about Rg7 after an exchange White takes on f4 remaining two pawns up but his king is very exposed
22...Rg7
[22...Bc8 23.Rh7 Kg8 24.Re7! threat Qh7 is good for White 24...f5 25.Rd1]
23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.gxf4 Rd8 25.Qe2 Kh6
This is the position I was considering, Black has Rg8+ in reserve but his king is not totally safe either, perhaps now f4-f5
26.Kf1
[26.f5 Rg8+ 27.Kf1 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bc6 29.Qd2+ Kh7 30.Bxc6 Qxc6! 31.Ke2 forced 31...Qb5+ 32.Kf3 (32.Qd3 Qxb2+ 33.Kf3 Qxa1 34.fxe6+ Kh8) 32...Rg4 Deep Hiarcs tells me this wins for Black So we can conclude Kramnik has problems here]
26...Rg8 27.a4?
I guess time pressure had to be a factor by now but this is such a tightrope anyway. Even back on move 22 one could see that White's king was going to be in trouble and Anand is playing it beautifully Kramnik will be lucky to save this.
[27.Rc1 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3 29.f5 Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Bd3 Qxb2+ 32.Rc2 Qb4+ 33.Rc3 Bxf5 34.Bxf5 exf5=/+; 27.Rd1 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Qa5+ 29.Rd2 Bh3]
27...Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3!
nasty !
[28...Bc6 29.Kf1 Bg2+= 30.Ke1 Bh3!]
29.Ra3
Desperate but
[29.Rd1 Bg4 30.Qe3 Qxe3+ 31.fxe3 Bxd1 32.Kxd1 Rg2 should be winning 33.b3 Rxh2 34.a5 Ra2 35.a6 h4; 29.Kd2 Rg2 30.Rf1 Rxh2!]
29...Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Kc2
[31.Rd3 Qxb2+ 32.Ke3 Qa1 wins, Re1 follows]
31...Bg4 32.f3
[32.Rd3 Bf5]
32...Bf5+
[32...Bf5+ 33.Kb3 Rc1 with either Qd5+ or e5 and Be6 in reserve surely Vlad can't survive this 34.a5 Qd5+ (34...Rc2 35.Qxc2 Bxc2+ 36.Kxc2 Qc5+ 37.Kb1 Qxb5 38.a6 saves the game) 35.Bc4 Qb7+ 36.Bb5 Rc5 37.Kb4 Rc2 38.Qe3 Rxb2+ 39.Rb3 Qe7+-/+]
33.Bd3 Bh3
I don't believe it he's missed a mate. Pressure and time pressure combined - Still, Vishy's move is pretty strong but it's not mate
[33...Bxd3+ was curtains 34.Rxd3 (34.Qxd3 Rg2+) 34...Qc4+ 35.Kd2 Qc1#]
34.a5
I see a little silhouetto of a swindle, scaramoosh scaramoosh lets promote the passed a pawn (It's a queen geddit ?)
34...Rg2 35.a6 Rxe2+ 36.Bxe2 Bf5+ 37.Kb3 Qe3+ 38.Ka2 Qxe2 39.a7 Qc4+
No swindle for Vlad, it's India who are singing we are the champions
40.Ka1 Qf1+ 41.Ka2 Bb1+
Wow that was close Vlad nearly escaped but nevertheless a great game by Vishy he takes the lead 2-1 !!
[41...Bb1+ 42.Kb3 Qxf3+ 43.Kb4 Be4 wins]
0-1

2008-10-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

World Chess Championship Game-2,(Anand Vs Kramnik) drawn in 32 moves.

Yesterday we saw Anand hold the draw easily with black so today he will seek to capitalise on that with white. The match score is 0.5-0.5 so today will we see a Petroff Defence, Kramnik's super solid answer to 1.e4 or something sharper. The last outing with the Petroff at Dortmund saw Kramnik lose spectacularly to Arkady Naiditsch and then to Vasily Ivanchuk.
Anand - Kramnik Game 2:
(Notes by IM Malcolm Pein)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
Wow. who said Vishy had to play 1.e4?
2...e6 3.Nc3
Anand has played successfully against the Queen's Indian in the past The Nimzo ?
3...Bb4 4.f3
Yes and Anand plays a super sharp line which has been championed by the Russian GM Viktor Moskalenko Now there is crazy stuff after this sequence - 4...c5 5.d5 Nh5 idea Qh4+ 6.Nh3 and if Qh4+ 7.Nf2 Qxc4 8.e4
4...d5
Of course Kramnik plays the solid answer
5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5
An important departure 8.Qd2 and Qd3 have been experimented with but did not work out well. We now head down a main line of theory tha has been analysed very deeply White will play e2-e4 and in some lines he hangs to the c5 pawn for a while to obstruct Black's possible play on the c file
8...f5 9.Qc2
This is a surprise although not unknown. 9.Nh3 has been played and 9.e4 fxe4 10.Qc2
9...Nd7 10.e4 fxe4 11.fxe4 N5f6
Qh4+ is met by g3
12.c6
An important point, Anand does not want an isolated pawn on an open file which he would get if he allowed Nd7xc5
12...bxc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2
Vishy did not have to cover the c3 pawn as 14.Be2 was possible but perhaps he wants to play c4. In general Black would like to exchange a white bishop and so Bc8-a6 suggests itself Now it seems that 15.c4 would make sense but then Qc5 or Qc7. Had Vishy managed to place his bishops on c4 and e3 he may have had an edge. Now it seems rougly level [14.Be2 Nxe4? (14...0-0 15.0-0 Ba6 16.Bxa6 Qxa6 17.Bf4 Ng4 18.Ng5 Qc4 19.Qd2 Rad8 20.Qd4 Fritz 11: =(0.12)) 15.Qxe4 Qxc3+ 16.Kf2 Qxa1 17.Qxe6+ Kf8 18.Bf4 Qxh1 19.Bd6# Would be calamitous]
14...Ba6
Kramnik wants to exchange one bishop because White's bishop pair can be strong
15.c4 Qc5
I am starting to like this for Black, White may have to be careful. The two bishops are no advantage in a position where one of them is completely locked in and the bishop on f1 is looking like a sorry piece. Black also has more active pieces. Anand must watch out for Nf6-g4
16.Bd3
Now 16...Ng4 17.Bb4 Qe3+ or Qb6 are pretty dangerous for White but initial analysis suggests he may be OK the bishop on b4 is powerful [16.Bb4 Qe3+]
16...Ng4
Definitely the most aggressive move of the match so far ! [16...Ng4 17.Bb4 Qb6 18.h3]
17.Bb4
[17.Bb4 Qe3+ 18.Qe2 Seems OK for White 18...0-0-0 19.Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Nxc4 21.Bxc4 Bxc4 22.Rhc1 Bb5 23.a4 Ba6 24.Rxc6+ Is better for White but this seems fine for Black he can improve on the line above as we will see]
17...Qe3+ 18.Qe2 0-0-0 19.Qxe3
[19.Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21.Kg3 Nge5 Seems fine Now Bf1 Well this is a lot more fun than yesterday at least there are some pawns which can drop off In general when Black captures on c4 a white rook comes to c1 and then captures on c6 with check disturbing the black king]
19...Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21.Kg3 Ndf6
Aggressive, Kramnik leaves the knight on g4 in the air to an extent and opens up the rook on d8 to attack the bishop on d3. It looks active but also risky
22.Bb1
White must hang on to the e4 pawn but now he intends h2-h3
22...h5 23.h3
Now it seems to me that Kramnik is committed to sacrificing a pawn with h4+ [23.h3 h4+ 24.Nxh4 Ne5 25.Nf3 Nxc4 26.Ng5 Rhe8 Fritz 11: +(0.55)]
23...h4+ 24.Nxh4
Kramnik may play Ng4-e5 and take on c4 re-establishing material equality but the more the game opens up the better the white bishops might become Also taking on c4 as we discussed before opens the c file for a white rook This looks very risky for Black there were safer choices on move 21
24...Ne5 25.Nf3 Nh5+ 26.Kf2 Nxf3 27.Kxf3 e5!
The situation has clarified. Kramnik has some play for the sacrificed pawn but remember White's bishops are still potentially strong if some light square diagonals open up Black still cannot play Bxc4 because Rc1 will win back the c6 pawn Black can retreat to b5 but then a3-a4 dislodges the bishop White's bishop on b4 prevents Rf8+
28.Rc1
[28.Rc1 Rh6 29.Ra2 Nf4 30.Be7 Rd4 31.c5 Bc4 32.Rb2 Nd3 Fritz 11: +(0.89)]
28...Nf4 29.Ra2
Very clever play from Anand his rooks cover loads of squares but not d1 at the moment
29...Nd3 30.Rc3 Nf4
Kramnik offers a repetition of moves Anand is having a think about this but he must try to play on with an extra pawn
31.Bc2 Ne6
Kramnik's knight is a great piece now he might play c6-c5 and the Rf8+ is possible. Also there is the idea of Nd4+ and takes on c2 when we get opposite coloured bishops which increase Black's chances of a draw Of course a computer will just say +1 for White but this Homo Sapiens reckons the bishop on c2 is a dud, Black's rooks have files and so Black has some compensation It's actually quite hard to see how White makes progress here. This is a high level game, positional factors take precedence
32.Kg3 Rd4
Black intends to take on c4 and if 33.c5 then both white bishops are hemmed in by pawns and Black has full compensation.
1/2-1/2

2008-10-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

World Chess Championship 2008

World Champion Viswanathan Anand defends his title against Vladimir Kramnik in a 12 game match (rapid and blitz tie-breaks if the match finishes 6-6) in Bonn, Germany, October 14th– 2nd November, 2008. The main sponsor is Evonik Industries AG and the prizemoney 1,5 Million Euro.
World Chess Championship Game-1:
Kramnik, V - Anand, V.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5
IM Malcolm Pein: The Exchange Slav, predictably solid for the first game. Also it suits Kramnik's solid style and frustrates Anand's natural attacking instincts
4...cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3
IM Malcolm Pein: This keeps the option of Nge2 or answering Bc8-g4 with f2-f3
6...Bf5 7.Nf3
IM Malcolm Pein: But now this is just the best move according to theory
7...e6 8.Qb3
IM Malcolm Pein: White exploits the absence of the bishop from c8
8...Bb4 9.Bb5 O-O
IM Malcolm Pein: An important moment, Black stops copying White's moves. Of course doing that for too long always loses
10.Bxc6
10.O-O IM Malcolm Pein: Is the most common move now let's look at a typical example of how White can keep a small edge in a quiet position} 10...Bxc3 11.Bxc6 Bxb2 12.Bxb7 Bxa1 13.Rxa1 Rc8 14.Bxc8 Qxc8 15.Qa3 Qb7 16.Rc1 Rc8 17.Rxc8+ Qxc8 18.Ne5 Nd7 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.Qa6 {IM Malcolm Pein: and Black's queen is restricted. White now used his move active queen in combination with the bishop and played Bf4-b8 x a7 and won in Malakhov-Ivanchuk FIDE World Cup 2002}
10...Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Rc8
IM Malcolm Pein: Black avoids the loss of a pawn by pinning the bishop but White can use the tempo it takes Black to recapture. Note how White dominates the dark squares because his bishop is unchallenged
12.Ne5 Ng4
12...bxc6 13.Nxc6 Qe8
IM Malcolm Pein: Wins the knight but White would not take the pawn. He would just lay siege to the weak c6 pawn on the open c file}
13.Nxg4 Bxg4 14.Qb4
IM Malcolm Pein: Black has a choice, submit to the weak pawn on c6 by taking back with the pawn or sacrifice the b pawn
14...Rxc6 15.Qxb7 Qc8
IM Malcolm Pein: Anand can see he will get active pieces and complete control of the only open file in return for the sacrificed pawn. Also the opposite coloured bishops tend to make endgames drawish
16.Qxc8 Rfxc8 17.O-O
IM Malcolm Pein: Kramnik's 14.Qb4 was a new move at the top level. What Anand has to worry about here is that Kramnik has analysed this move extensively with a computer. Computers love extra pawns and they show us how to hang on to them
17...a5
IM Malcolm Pein: This is a typical kind of move in a situation where there is a 2 pawn v 1 pawn majority. Anand wants to prevent the a2 and b2 pawns moving forward.} IM Malcolm Pein: It's interesting that Kramnik is thinking at this juncture. I would have though this was still home analysis
17...Rc2 18.b3 IM Malcolm Pein: was the obvious move but after f2-f3 White might try and organise Bd6-c5 which the rook on c6 prevents.
18.f3
IM Malcolm Pein: A move which increases the dynamism of White's kingside pawns, e3-e4 may be possible later and g2-g4. Also the second rank can be defended with Rf1-f2
18.f3 Bf5 19.h4 h5 20.Rf2 f6 21.Re1 Bg6 {Rybka 2.2: (+=0.29)}
18...Bf5 19.Rfe1
IM Malcolm Pein: Now e3-e4 may be on the agenda. This kind of position is perfect for Kramnik while Anand must be careful and this adds to the psychological pressure. Kramnik rarely takes risks but this kind of position is almost completely without risk
19...Bg6
IM Malcolm Pein: Anticipating the e3-e4 thrust. Black should centralise his king next and put it on d7. Note that White cannot centralise his king yet IM Malcolm Pein: 20.Kf2 Rc2+ 21.Re2 Rxe2+ 22.Kxe2 Rc2+ regaining the pawn IM Malcolm Pein: Anand anticipated e3-e4 last move so Kramnik anticipates Rc2 which now will not attack the b2 pawn
20.b3 f6
IM Malcolm Pein: OK Vlad, how are you going to improve your position.

IM Malcolm Pein: White cannot contest the c file he cannot play Rc1
21.e4
IM Malcolm Pein: It was hard to see another active idea} {IM Malcolm Pein: Black must be careful, if he takes on e4 then White recaptures with the pawn and d4-d5 making a passed pawn looks good as it reaches a protected square on d6 quickly} {IM Malcolm Pein: I am a little surprised by this but on further investigation I guess we will see that Anand has worked out a way to attack these centre pawns}
21...dxe4
22.fxe4 Rd8 23. Rad1 Rc2

2008-10-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

2008 World Chess Championship Anand vs Kramnik in Bonn

The 2008 World Chess Championship between the reigning Champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Vladimir Kramnik takes place in Bonn, Germany. Main info in brief:
When:From October 14 – November 02, 2008
Where: Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn
Prize fund: 1.5 million Euro (= US $2.35 million)
Patron:German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück
Main sponsor: Evonik Industries AG
Duration and time controls: The match consists of twelve games, played under classical time controls: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.
Prize fund: The sum of 1.5 million Euro (approximately 2.35 million US Dollars) including taxes and FIDE license fees, is split equally between the players.

Tickets and accommodation:
Tickets cost 35 Euro (= US $54.80) per round. They include the following benefits:
entry to the playing hall;
entry to the commentary room, where there is analysis and discussions with prominent grandmasters.
The tickets are available at all ticket agencies in Germany. You can also buy tickets for the match in advance via BONNTICKET, by email (tickets@bonnticket.de) or telephone (+49-180-5001812).

2008-03-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Chess Openings:

1.Alekhine's Defense

1.e4 Nf6
Alekhine's Defense is an example of a true Hypermodern opening. The Knight dares the White Pawns to start chasing it around the board. They usually oblige, creating the conditions for a classic battle against an overextended Pawn center.

2. Modern Variation
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4

3. Scandinavian Variation

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5

4. Positional Play in Chess: Strong and Weak Squares:

To understand pawn structure, you have to understand strong squares and weak squares. Your strong squares are those which your pieces control; your weak squares are those which your opponent's pieces control. Your strong squares are usually your opponent's weak squares, and vice versa.
Pawns, more than any other chess piece, have built-in strong and weak squares. Their strong squares are the two diagonal squares where they can capture the opponent's pieces. Their weak square is the square directly in front, which can be occupied unhesitatingly by the opponent's pieces. When the square is occupied, the Pawn can't advance.
Consider two Pawns side by side on the same rank, like the White Pawns on d4 and e4 in the diagram. The Pawn on d4 guards e5, which is the weak square for the Pawn on e4. None of Black's major or minor pieces can move to e5, blocking the Pawn on e4, without risking capture by the Pawn on d4. In the same way, the Pawn on e4 guards d5. The two Pawns cover and complement each other.
The pawn structure determines how well the Pawns work together. In this diagram, the c5 and f5 squares are marked in green. They represent strong squares for White, but weak squares for Black.

White's pieces can move to c5 and f5 without the slightest worry that they will be attacked by a Black Pawn. Both of these squares would be ideal for a White Knight or a White Bishop.
The corresponding squares on the White side of the board -- c4 and f4 -- represent no particular danger for White. If a Black piece threatens to move to c4 with strong effect, White plays b2-b3, protecting the square.
Black also has weak squares on a5 and h5. These are less important because they are further from the center, but they would require constant attention during a game if White started to invade the Black position via one of these squares.
Strong and weak squares are not determined only by the pawn structure. In the initial position, before either player has made the first move, White has a weak square at f2 and Black has a weak square at f7. These squares are weak because they are protected only by the King, who is not a fierce fighter until the later stages of the game.

2008-03-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

UAE chess opens doors to foreign players
By K.R. Nayar, Senior Reporter

March 11, 2008

Dubai: Chess players from abroad can play in UAE's domestic tournaments from this year.
Following a meeting of the development and marketing committee of the UAE Chess Federation, it has been decided to open the doors for players from abroad.
In the chess championship to be organised for the various companies in the UAE, the participating companies can hire players from any part of the world to represent them. It is part of the the federation's effort to make chess very competitive in the UAE.
The UAE Chess Federation has also decided to start five new championships as part of their effort to attract people from different community into the game.
The tournament for companies will commence from May 2008. It will be open for all companies in the UAE which can furnish a trade license. It will be team tournament (4+2 (reserve) event. The second tournament will be for government organisation (Local and Federal departments).
Inter-university event:
Plans are also on to stage a competition for Higher Education establishments. It will include an inter-Universities team tournament.
To spot talent at the grass root level a championship for private and public schools will also be held.
Though UAE stages some of the finest junior championships in the region, there has been a shortage of junior domestic tournaments.
These tournaments will be followed by a championship for embassies in the UAE and expatriate communities. The UAE Chess Federation will also host seminars. The first seminar will throw light on Internet and soft ware for chess. An invitation for all clubs and communities will given by the UAE Chess Federation to take active part in the promotion of the game here.

2008-03-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

Anand beats Kramnik
15 March 2008

Although the Amber tournament is known as a friendly event, and there isn’t a single rating point involved, the players did show great fighting spirit already in the first round. Anand won his mini match against Kramnik 1½-½.
Two participants are playing Amber for the first time: Mamedyarov and Karjakin. Both had a satisfying start because the former drew both of his games against Morozevich, who must be considered one of the favorites here, whilst the young Ukrainian even won his mini match against Gelfand 1½-½. On his birthyday, Topalov beat Leko with the same figures and in two very interesting games Aronian defeated Van Wely, again 1½-½. The only player who started really disappointingly (at least for the many fans) was Carlsen; in his White (and blindfold) game against Ivanchuk his attack wasn’t succesful and in his Black game he escaped from what probably was a lost ending.

2008-03-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Classic Games:

M. Carlsen (2690) - A. Morozevich (2741)
Morelia/Linares, 2007

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 e5 10. b3 Ng4 11. h3 Nh6 12. Nde4 12. Bb2 f5 13. Qc2 Nf7 14. Rae1 g5 15. e3 h5 16. f3 Bd7 17. Nd1 b6 18. Nf2 Nh6 19. Nd3 Rf7 20. Qd1 g4 21. fxg4 hxg4 22. Nf2 Qg5 23. hxg4 fxg4 24. Nfe4 Qg6 25. Rxf7 Nxf7 26. Nf1 Bf5 27. Nf2 e4 28. Bxg7 Kxg7 29. Nd2 Re8 30. Qa1+ Kg8 31. Kf1 Ng5 32. Ke2 Nf3 33. Rh1 Re5 34. Nf1 Nb7 35. Bxf3 exf3+ 36. Kd2 Qg5 37. Rh4 Nd8 38. Kd1 Nf7 39. e4 Qg7 40. Qc3 Rxd5+ 41. Kc2 Re5 42. exf5 Re2+ 43. Nd2 Rxf2 44. Qxg7+ Kxg7 45. Rxg4+ Kf6 46. Rf4 Ng5 47. Kd3 Rg2 48. Ne4+ Nxe4 49. Kxe4 Rxg3 50. Kd5 Kg5 0-1, Tatai-Quinteros, Ljubljana/Portoroz 1973 12... f6 13. Nxd6!? It's hard to prove the correctness of such a move, but it shows fantastic fighting spirit. 13... Qxd6 14. Ne4 Qd8 15. Nxc5 f5 Deciding to give back the piece immediately. 15... Nf5 looks natural, stopping the d-pawn. 16. d6 e4 16... Bd7? isn't possible because of 17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18. Bxh6 Bxh6 19. Qd5+ 17. d7 17. Bxh6!? 17... Nf7 18. Rb1 Qe7 19. dxc8=Q Raxc8 20. Na4 Rfd8 21. Qe1 Nc6 22. Nc3 Nd4 White has emerged with a pawn up but Black has some compensation. 23. Bb2 b5!? 24. Nd5 Qd6 25. Bxd4 Bxd4 26. Rd1 Be5 27. Qa5 bxc4 28. Ne3 Qc7 29. Qxc7 Bxc7 30. Nxc4 A very good phase by Magnus. 30... Ne5 31. Rxd8+ Rxd8 32. Rc1 Nxc4 33. Rxc4 Rd1+ 34. Bf1 Bd6 35. e3 a5 36. Kg2 Kf7 37. Rc2 Ke7 38. Be2 Rd5 39. Bc4 Rd1 40. g4 f4!? This allows a tactical shot with which White wins another pawn, but it might be the best try. 41. exf4 Bxf4 42. Re2 Rd4 43. Bd3! Kf6 44. Bxe4 Rd2 The was the idea of the pawn sac, because with the rooks on the board it's even easier for White. 45. Rxd2 Bxd2 46. Kg3 Be1 47. Kf3 Bb4 48. h4 h6 49. Ke2 Bd6 50. Kd3 Bc5 51. f4 h5 52. g5+ Kg7 53. Kc4 Bd6 54. Kb5 Bxf4 After this, the ending is lost. It takes a lot of analysis but 54... Bb4 might be more tough. 55. Kxa5 Bg3 56. Kb5 Bxh4 57. a4 Bxg5 58. a5 Kf6 59. a6 Be3 60. Kc6 g5 61. b4 Ke5 62. b5 Kxe4 63. b6 g4 64. a7 g3 65. a8=Q Kf3 66. b7 Bf4 67. Qf8 Ke4 68. Qe8+ A wonderful game that will make Magnus forget about Wijk aan Zee! 1-0.

2008-03-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

Classic Games:
V. Topalov (2783) - V. Anand (2779)
Morelia/Linares, 2007

Result: Draw

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3 d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Nf6 13. e4 dxe4 14. Nxe4 14. a4 Nd5 15. cxd5 Bxf1 16. d6 Bxg2 17. dxe7 Qxe7 18. Kxg2 f5 19. b4 Qd7 20. Qe2 Qd5 21. f3 exf3+ 22. Nxf3 h6 23. Re1 Rfe8 24. Qc2 Rad8 25. Bd2 Qd7 26. Kf2 Rc8 27. Bf4 Qd5 28. Re5 Qd7 29. h4 Ra8 30. Bd2 Rac8 31. Qc4 Kh7 32. Bc3 Qd6 33. Ne1 b5 34. Qc5 Qd8 35. Nd3 1-0, Topalov-Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2007 14... b5 15. Qe2 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. Bb4 Bxd4 17. Bxf8 Bxa1 18. Qxd8 Rxd8 19. Be7 Re8 20. Bg5 Bd4 21. Bxc6 Rb8 22. Rd1 e5 23. cxb5 Bxb5 24. Bxb5 Rxb5 25. Be3 Rd5 26. Kf1 g6 27. Bxd4 exd4 28. Ke2 Kg7 29. Kd3 Kf6 30. Rc1 g5 31. Rc6+ Kg7 32. Ra6 Rf5 33. f4 gxf4 34. gxf4 Rxf4 35. Rxa7 Rh4 36. b4 Rxh2 37. b5 Rb2 38. a4 Rb4 39. Ra6 h5 40. Ke4 h4 41. Kf3 d3 42. Rd6 Rxa4 43. Rxd3 Rb4 44. Rd5 Kg6 45. Rd6+ Kg5 46. Rb6 Rb3+ 47. Kf2 Rb2+ 48. Kg1 f5 49. Rb8 Kg4 50. b6 f4 51. b7 Kf3 52. Kh1 Rb1+ 53. Kh2 h3 54. Ra8 Rxb7 55. Ra3+ Kg4 56. Rc3 Rb2+ 57. Kg1 f3 58. Rc1 Kg3 59. Ra1 Rg2+ 60. Kh1 Rh2+ 0-1, Mateuta-Parligras, Sovata 2001 15. Nc5 Bxc5 16. dxc5 bxc4 17. Qe2 Nd5 18. Be5 Qg5 19. Bd6 Rfd8 20. bxc4 Rac8 21. Qc2 Nb6 22. cxb6 Rxd6 23. Qa4 Bb7 24. Qxa7 Qe7 25. Qa3 c5 26. Qa7 Rd7 27. Rad1 1-0, L'Ami-Iordachescu, Vlissingen 2006 15... bxc4 16. Rfd1 Nd5 17. Be1 Nb6 18. Nc5 Qc8 19. Nxa6 Qxa6 20. a4 20. Bxc6 Rac8 21. Bg2 Ba3 22. Bd2 Rfd8 is OK for Black. 20... Rab8! A great move. 21. Bf3 21. Bxc6 Qc8 and c4 is unpinned with tempo. 21. a5 Nd5 22. bxc4 Bf6= 21... Bf6 22. Rac1 Nd5 23. Qxc4 Qb7 24. Qxc6 Qxb3 With some fine manoeuvres, Anand has solved all his opening problems. 25. Be4 Nb4 26. Qd7 a5 27. Rb1 Qa2 28. Qa7 Qxa4 29. Ra1 Qb5 30. Qxa5 Nd5 1/2-1/2

2008-03-15T00:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
This blog has been formed today (15th March, 2008) to cater to the needs of the Chess Lovers. I think you are aware that present day Chess is a variation of Chaturanga which originated in India sometime in the 6th century or earlier. The Chaturanga was played on an 8x8 board called the Ashtāpada. The game shows the four fold division of the ancient Indian Army consisting of the Infantry, elephants, cavalry and chariots. Anyway overlooking the aspect of wherever the chess originated, it is a wonderful mind game was flavoured, from time to time by the likes of Alexander Alekhine, Michail Chigorin, Bobby Fischer, Boris Spasky, José Raúl Capablanca, Dibendu Barua, Vishwanathan Anand, Praveen Thipsey, Surya Shkhar Ganguly, P Harikrishna, Shasi Kiran, Abhijit Kunte, Vagshree Thipsey, Koneru Humpy, etc. I hope the Chess aficianodos will get inputs from here regarding the International matches, any new developments in the circuit, end-games, openings, novelties etc.
In the left is the Photo of the Chess wizard and master craftsman GM Alexander Alekhine repesenting the then USSR and on the other side is Chess-madman and genius, GM Bobby Fischer (USA), who took on the might Russians (then USSR). But the Chess-king is Undoubtedly, the GM Garry Kasparov,the hero of many battles on board. However, one cannot overlook the strong end-game and positional play of another genius, GM Anatoly Karpov (then USSR) and our own "Speed Chess Hero", GM Vishwanathan Anand who is among the list of Chess Prodigies which included GM Paul Morphy, GM Jose Raul Capablanca, GM Samuel Reshevsky, GM Bobby Fischer, GM Garry Kasparov, WGM Susan Polgar (Hungary), WGM Judith Polgar (Hungary), WGM Koneru Humpy (India), etc. Ms Koneru Humpy, become the youngest female player in the history of chess to achieve a male grandmaster title. Humpy (that's her first name) achieved her final norm at the Elekes Memorial GM tournament at the age of 15 years, one month and 27 days, breaking Judit Polgar's previous record by three months.

Here are the updated statistics for GM titles so far:
Player-------------------------> Final GM norm at:
Bobby Fischer---------------------> 15 years, 6 months, 1 day
Judit Polgar------------------------> 15 years, 4 months, 28 days
Koneru Humpy---------------------> 15 years, 1 month, 27 days
Peter Leko--------------------------> 14 years, 4 months, 22 days
Etienne Bacrot----------------------> 14 years, 2 months, 0 days
Ruslan Ponomaryov-----------------> 14 years, 0 months, 17 days
Teimour Radjabov------------------> 14 years, 0 months, 14 days
Bu Xiangzhi---------------------------> 13 years, 10 months, 13 days
The USSR have always dominated the Wold-Chess-Arena. Surprisingly we do not have too many Americans doting this space. Even small countries like Hungary and Cuba did very well in this sphere.
Indian Grandmasters (GMs):Vishwanathan Anand, Sasikiran, P. Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, Sandipan Chanda (Bengal), SS Ganguly (Bengal), Abhijjet Kunte, Parimarjan Negi, Gopal, Neelotpal Das (Bengal), Deepan Chakravarty (Bengal), P. Magesh Chandran, Pravin Thipsay, D.Barua (Bengal), Ramesh, Tejas Bakre.

At the end I would like to say that, In this blog one will find regular updates on the events related to Chess from across the globe. I had long wanted to create a blog on Chess which is one of my favourite mindsports and today my wish has been fulfilled. I hope the contents of this blog will be useful to one and all.

Investor/Traders/Readers of this blog,viz.www.sumanspeakschess.blogspot.com, can send me their feedbacks at:suman2005s@rediffmail.com/sumanm2007s@gmail.com. I wish you all the sucesss in all your future endeavours.

Best wishes,

Suman Mukherjee
15th March, 2008.
India.
http://www.sumanspeaks.blogspot.com/

www.sumanspeaksplus.blogspot.com

Origin of chess is UP

9 th Mar 2007

Akhilesh Kumar Singh

Times News Network

LUCKNOW: It's like a Taj-like glory for Uttar Pradesh. A group of German Indologists has claimed to have resolved the controversy over the origin of chess in favour of Kannauj, a township about 75 km from Kanpur in the state.

Different countries, at some point in time, have been associated with the game's invention including India, China, Persia (Iran), Egypt, Assyria, Arabia, Greece, Ireland and Uzbekistan. Many countries claim to have invented chess in some incipient form. But the Indologists' group has almost come to the conclusion that chess originated in Kannauj when it was the capital of Maukhari kingdom in the 6th century.

The Maukhari ruler Sharva Varman had gifted the game of 'chaturanga' to his contemporary Persian ruler Khushrau-II in lieu of saltpetre (a variety of gunpowder). "According to the research done by us so far, we have reached the conclusion that 'chaturanga' was the initial form of chess,"German researcher Manfred A J Eder told TOI. Eder heads the group which in the past one week visited Allahabad, Varanasi, Kannauj, Kanpur and Lucknow, tracing the origin of chess. Other members of the group are — chairman of Sacrmonte Institute for Public Policy Leander A Feiler, Munich University professor Habil Sayed Ranate and Robert S Dinsmore.

A recent book 'Kannauj, The Maukhari And Chaturanga — The origin of chess and its way from India to Persia,' authored by Ranate, laid the foundation for further research. The Maukhari rulers used to play 'chaturanga' with 16 cabinet terracotta before venturing into military campaigns, said Eder. Even Banbhatta in his 'Harshcharita' had mentioned a game called 'ashtapada' similar to chess, he added.

Historical accounts say during the later Gupta period there was an Indian army school where cadets were taught about warfare through terracotta pieces on 'ashtapada', which was again the game of chess in its primitive stage, said Eder. [From Times of India]