Pretty good bang for our buck in the first round, I'd say. The ChessBase report should soon be updated with some notes from me and comments from Kasparov, among others. The official site has more features than in the past, kudos to them. They have a first-round report up with some basics.
Anand showed Karjakin what elite preparation is about these days: winning in the Najdorf without leaving home. White is already lost after 23...Nc7!! 24.Bg2. 23...Qa8 is natural and so must also have been in Karjakin's preparation, but having good chess software and knowing how best to use it aren't the same thing. (Finding 23..Nc7, and how long it takes to realize it's winning, is a good engine test. Shredder 9 is the only one on my machine that picks that move from the start, then taking two minutes to see White is lost. Others go longer and still suggest different moves (like ..Ng4) with a plus for White.) A win with black for Anand in the first round is a great omen for his winning chances.
Topalov pounded Kamsky, who essayed an unbalanced line of the Scandinavian and then went full tilt with the wild novelty 10...g5. It's hard to imagine such a position holding up in classical play without considerable luck and flawless tactical play. The game would have ended even sooner had Topalov seen the line 17.Be5 clean through. Aronian's impressive-looking pawn wall and erroneous piece sac were taken apart by Ivanchuk.
Lots of good games in the B Group as well, which has become one of the strongest and most interesting tournaments of the year in its own right. The most notable difference is the relatively inferior level of defense compared to the elite A Groupers. Inferior positions tend to turn into blunders and collapses almost routinely; at least they did in the first round.
I confess to having slept through most of the round. How have your live coverage experiences been? For those of you who don't want live Grandmaster commentary and chat, the official site has a simple new Java viewer that still doesn't let you grab the raw PGN. But at least it worked and their server held up fine.
Updates: Kamsky rocks Gelfand in a very nice game. Brooklyn, baby! Adams is throwing the entire kitchen at Topalov in a spectacular game.
Yes, 24 ..Nc7 is a good engine test. Most engines will realise that black is winning AFTER you have entered the move manually.
But, Rybka beta (winfinder) finds the 23..Nc7 itself, under 2 min also.
/Titu
However, for a human Nc7 should be a fairly natural move, which you surely would expect a player like Karjakin to at least consider immediately... But nice homework by Anand.
Rybka 1.01 UCI on my machine (Athlon 64 3800) doesn't find it after over 15 minutes.
It's hard to admit White has nothing better than 24.Rd4. But since it was only a move out of Karjakin's prep it does reflect a dependence on superficial computer analysis; we see it all the time. Nakamura got burned against Kudrin at the US Championship last year for trusting an engine's big eval. He noticed it in time but missed several quick wins because he was following a comp line that turned out not to work.
Amazing game by Adams, but waits...it didn't happen...Topalov cannot lose a game to someone rated one hundred points behind him! Hohohohoho
Yes, there was a funny story about Nc7. As Sakaev worked on the online, our editor Alexander Kentler approached him and asked, what about Nc7, itsn't it just mating? Sakaev ruled it out saying that the computer gives +3 to White after a two-minute thought. They started to exchange variations and then the evaluation reversed. :) We decided not to alter the commentary. :)
I'm glad we've picked a right game for the online tonight, Adams' play was just perfect.
Go Kamsky!!!
Maybe Adams will even be 'known for his endgame play' after this result ;)!
Mig, if you have bought the program, you should have access to the beta versions also. Try the RybkaWinfinder 1.0.
Another topic. When was last time that Russia didnt have a participant in a Super GM tournament? I know Motylev is there, but he is in the B tournament. I cant remember.
/Titu
Mig, if you have bought the program, you should have access to the beta versions also. Try the RybkaWinfinder 1.0.
Another topic. When was last time that Russia didnt have a participant in a Super GM tournament? I know Motylev is there, but he is in the B tournament. I cant remember.
/Titu
Maybe Adams will even be 'known for his endgame play' after this result ;)!
Topalov is probably glad he won't have to say "Last time I lost, it was to Kramnik" any more.
Get a load of Carlsen's game against Smeets. The pressure from the kid is amazing!
Misha, how do I access Sakaev's commentary? Is it only in Russian?
thanks.
Peace...
Glad to see Kamsky recover and show that he still has the ability to beat players at this level. He played well against Gelfand. As for Topalov, somebody must tell the arbiter to change that score. It is not possible for him to lose to Adams. To hear Topa tell it, that's almost a different class!
Hotep,
Maliq
Pretty sad if Anand's entire game was indeed won in home prep.
Hello JaiDeepBlue,
Sakaev is at http://www.e3e5.com/eng/ which is the English version of Russian online chess magazine e3e5.
i followed Karjakin-Anand live on the net..looking at the time Anand spent thinking, it hardly looked like it was all home prep...did he say after the game that it was home prep?...maybe he just knew of the idea (Nc7) in some similar pos..
macuga: Anand would still desrve credit for finding the move even if it was home prep...he probably found it himself and verified it using a comp?
what ? ? ?
Does deserve credit a player for winning a game without thinking? That is terrible.
I dont want elite chess to be transformed into an arena for super-memory geeks. If such phenomena increase then it would be high time to change the rules of the game.
christosk, the player *did* think, but before the game.
And memory is rewarded, yes. It is what the game has become.
But this is not exactly new. Remember the Göteborg Variation...
Everytime I see the pairing Adams-Topalov, I just assume it's 1-0 Sicilian Najdorf/Scheveningen. Can Danailov tell him to be a little more practical one of these days? Oh wait, there was last year's Dortmund 1-0 Petroff. When Adams is white, he's in Topalov's head. So annoying.
Hey guys, give the lad a break.
We know what Adams is capable of. Just because he is on the wrong end of 2700s, does not mean he is no longer Super GM stuff. I hope he keeps his stamina and does not fade away in the later rounds as seems to be his custom of late.
Go on Adams....get those lost rating points back.
Hey guys, give the lad a break.
We know what Adams is capable of. Just because he is on the wrong end of 2700s, does not mean he is no longer Super GM stuff. I hope he keeps his stamina and does not fade away in the later rounds as seems to be his custom of late.
Go on Adams....get those lost rating points back.
superlative game by Adams. He's extremely dangerous with this kind of initiative, remember a beautiful game against Leko once, with 2 knights on the 5th rank aimed right at Leko's king. Go Adams!
Adams has consistently shown giant-slaying tendencies in the past, repeatedly beating the supposedly impregnable Kramnik and unexpectedly beating other strong opponents even when they were in good form. He failed to beat Kasparov, but that's hardly a unique flaw.
to charles milton ling:
Did the player himself found the novelty or his computers and seconds?
Memory is indeed rewarder, but the question is whether should it be rewarded..
And this kind of situation brings to surface a lot of inequality issues, a player about 2650 maybe does not have the money to invest in skilled seconds or very expensive software and hardware , but that alone doesnt mean that he is not a world class player but merely he just hasnt the requisite capital.
to charles milton ling:
Did the player himself found the novelty or his computers and seconds?
Memory is indeed rewarder, but the question is whether should it be rewarded..
And this kind of situation brings to surface a lot of inequality issues, a player about 2650 maybe does not have the money to invest in skilled seconds or very expensive software and hardware , but that alone doesnt mean that he is not a world class player but merely he just hasnt the requisite capital.
Btw, what is Yuri Dokhoyan doing these days?
christosk, christosk:
I think, I think... oops...
If money alone a chessplayer could make...
If money alone a chessplayer could make...
If money along a chessplayer would make, Joop van Oerstrom would be the world champion. Oh, wait, Joop van Oerstrom _is_ the world champion... shucks...
I cannot see the reason for so much hate agains Topalov.He is human he can lose a game, the more important things how many will he win!
Kramnik who is he?
> Kramnik who is he?
He is also human ;-)
yes human, and a better chess player when is healthy, just check their score against each other
Topo has solved the draw problem. Players know he is coming to win and not draw. So they are as well.
If Kramnik was unhealthy what was the rush to play a match with Topalov.
Kramnik is nobady.Ratings don'a lie humans do.
YES. If he was strong enough to issue a challenge to Topalov with a 1.4 million purse a couple of months ago but he is too sick now to participate in Corus, what is the real situation.
Was he bluffing then, is he lying now. Couldn't he clear all this with some sort of explanation by his doctors? Is his manager going to allow this dubious situation to remain without doing anything to clarify it?
Al--
It's not that complicated. The gentleman tried to play through his difficulties and failed. He's taking some time off. When he's ready to come back and play he'll let you know. His particular medical prognosis is none of my business or yours.
Greg,
So, it's not my business and it's not your business... but many people have strong views about this, for or against... is it not their business either... commentators and analysts, it's not their business either... the chess world in general, for whom the World Championship is so meaningful, it's none of their business... and you say he will let me know... I think I'll take you word for it...
Thanks.
Riveting comeback, Al. But it's still nobody's business but his. Competitive chess did just fine before Kramnik and will carry on without him. His greatest gift to chess was his convincing victory over Kasparov. And that, like all historic victories and the herpes virus, will keep on giving whether or not he recovers.
Yes, that triumph was a great achievement, there's no denying that. Your comparing it to the herpes virus is entirely vicious, sorry.