Carlsen strikes back!

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       A relieved Carlsen at the press conference

You would have had to stay up late on Thursday evening to see Magnus Carlsen finally break his duck and level the score in the World Championship at 1-1 with two games to go. Who would bet against the Champion now, especially as he has the white pieces in Game 12? Many experts are predicting a tie break, however, which would be decided next Wednesday, Carlsen’s 26th birthday.  The theme in this match appears to be the consistency of the players’ inconsistency.  True to form, there were moves in this match that puzzled the commentators, none more so than Karjakin’s 20th move. After 20. Nd2 he had the chance to force a draw with 20…Nf2+! He claimed at the press conference that he had overlooked the resulting fork had Carlsen not repeated, winning the queen. Instead he played 20….d5 almost instantly, a move described by one commentator as “one of the most shocking moves of the entire World Championship”! Eventually, Carlsen’s pressure told and after yet another six-hour game it was the challenger’s turn to wilt.

After two wins in the last three matches, the excitement is spreading beyond the chess world. After Game 8 The Independent went so far as to say with apparent sincerity that “The most exciting sporting event on the planet right now is the World Chess Championship match in New York!” although the article’s sign-off line, “It’s exciting stuff, people,” was less than convincing.   To his credit, there was no sulking from Karjakin who, unlike his opponent the other day, fulfilled his contractual obligations by turning up to answer questions at the press conference. This time it was Carlsen who had the last word: “It’s a huge relief. I haven’t won in ten games and that’s basically something that hasn’t happened to me. It’s been a struggle, and it’s still going to be a struggle, but at least now we’re fighting on level terms.”          

White: Magnus Carlsen (2853)            Black: Sergey Karjakin (2772)

World Chess Championship Game 10  

World Championship: Karjakin leads!

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                  Karjakin reflects on his victory

After a series of draws, some more interesting than others, the World Championship finally came alive in Game 8 in sensationally unexpected fashion with a win for the challenger, Sergey Karjakin with the black pieces. Commentators agree that the World Champion has not been playing well and it seemed as if Carlsen was determined to win this game with the advantage of the white pieces. However, over-pressing in time trouble, he blundered with disastrous consequences.  His problems did not end there because in frustration he later stormed out of the press conference, a contractual obligation with a 10% deduction in prize money the consequence i.e. a minimum of $40,000. Needless to say, the official Russian chess website celebrated the unexpected win with understandable delight, imaginatively comparing Karjakin’s eighth round ‘knockout’ with Muhammad Ali’s defeat of George Foreman in the same round of the Rumble in the Jungle when Foreman, like Carlsen, was the overwhelming favourite. The difference here is that Carlsen has four more ’rounds’ to recover which Foreman did not. However, the hubris of his statement at the opening press conference (“I’ll punch him until he finally knocks over”), which the Russian blogger, Vladimir Barsky, took great pleasure in repeating,  may come back to bite him.   Game 9 takes place tomorrow (Wednesday).

White: Magnus Carlsen (2853)            Black: Sergey Karjakin (2772)

World Chess Championship Game 8  

Swindle of the Week

Those players who refuse to resign in lost positions can take heart from this game. A rook and two pieces down with a passed pawn on the sixth rank? No problem! White may have had some better alternatives to the moves played but you can’t fault Black for the sheer pluck and doggedness of his counter attack.

 

White: Mark Towlson (101)            Black: Reg Pidduck (107)

Mick Croft Cup v Woodnesborough  

World Championship update

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                           “You lookin’ at me?”

The much-anticipated World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin has finally started in New York. Fortunately, the dispute between the official organisers and the various chess websites around the world, the former threatening to sue the latter for any unauthorised coverage of the match, has been resolved and fans can now follow the games in a variety of ways.  The official site offers, for a reasonable sum, ‘live 360 degree coverage’ of the games for which, apparently, special glasses are required.                  

With such anticipation, it was almost inevitable that the first couple of games would be something of an anti-climax and so it proved. This was not what spectators expected, Carlsen having announced at the press conference that, “I’ll punch him until he finally knocks over.” If this was a new tactical variation on the popular sport of chess boxing it was not demonstrated in either of the first two games. Nigel Short tweeted that, “It is at moments like this when watching a game that I am grateful that I have plenty of wine in the house”. Still, as Garry Kasparov pointed out, “Often one of the best indicators that a chess game is interesting is that amateurs think it isn’t!” Nevertheless, it may be that the build up was, indeed, more interesting than the chess.

Let’s start with the venue. The Fulton Market Building has attracted some criticism and, while it was packed for the press conference, the main reason was that not only had those with tickets turned up but so also had those with complimentary tickets for Game One. Consequently, there were not enough seats and it was very much standing room only. The press conference was entertaining on a number of levels.  FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer – taking charge in place of the President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who was refused a visa to travel to the US (!), commented that this was the youngest World Chess Championship in history. He contrasted Botvinnik’s defence of his title to Tal when the former was fifty years old with the current match where both players’ ages combined only came to 52, each player 26 years old. (Carlsen then interrupted to say that he would not be 26 until November 30!). After initially mis-hearing one journalist’s question as to who he thought was the best chess player in the world (“I’m sorry, what was the question?”), Carlsen replied both tactfully and honestly, “I think that’s going to be decided in the next couple of weeks… Right now, if I may be so bold, I would say myself.” 

After the main press conference there was a second for the Russian press which, presumably, Carlsen did not attend. When asked then about his chances, Karjakin replied: “I dream of returning the crown to Russia.”  The President of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrey Filatov, said that during the recent Olympiad many ‘chess experts’ had told him that Karjakin’s chances were about the same as Donald Trump becoming U.S. President…..However, before Karjakin’s supporters break out in a chorus of ‘We shall overcomb’ (sic), it is worth noting that while this may be a term lost in translation – the official website for the Russian Chess Federation in its report on the press conference, twice referred to Karjakin as the ‘runner up’ when, presumably, they meant ‘challenger’. We shall see.

Russian Chess Championships

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                    GM Alexander Riazantsev

The 69th Russian Chess Championship has just concluded in Novosibirsk with a victory for Alexander Riazantsev. If this name is new to many people, this is not surprising. His ELO grade of 2651 made him only the eighth seed of the twelve in the tournament so while his victory does not quite sit alongside Foinavon winning the Grand National or Leicester City winning the Premier League, it was still a surprise. For the uninitiated, Riazantsev was born on September 12 1985 in Moscow and has been an international grandmaster since 2001. While he remained undefeated throughout the eleven rounds, his score of 7/11 included eight draws so it is fair to say that he can attribute his success to the fact that he achieved more wins (3) than any other player. However, just as the saying goes that the loser in chess is the one who makes the last mistake, the reverse is also true – that if you are going to win any game in a tournament, make it the last.  Here is Riazantsev’s crucial last-round victory.

White: Dmitry Jakovenko (2714)            Black: Alexander Riazantsev (2651)

Russian Chess Championship 2016

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                     GM Alexandra Kosteniuk

If the men’s result was unexpected, the same cannot be said for the women’s championship where Alexandra Kosteniuk won her second title with a score of 8½/11. Her total included seven wins with only one defeat and victory in this, her penultimate game, gave her the title with a round to spare. It is worth noting that after White’s 59th move, the computer says that ‘Black is much better’ but after Black’s reply 59…a4? it has the position as ‘equal’, by 62…Qb3 ‘White is much better’ and after 64…Qa4? ‘White is winning’.

White: Alexandra Kosteniuk (2537)            Black: Evgenija Ovod (2362)

Russian Women’s Chess Championship 2016