Here's your Tal World Blitz item, sorry about the delay. The good news is that Garry's Kuala Lumpur speech was a big success, whew. His being 13 hours ahead did nothing good for my already-haphazard sleep schedule. Of course he was following the blitz every chance he got. He was amazed at Anand's 12/14 performance on the first day and couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry when Carlsen lost to Karpov after missing around a dozen wins. Karpov was in clear third (!!) after day one, but it will be hard for the veteran to hold up in this incredible 42-round marathon. Still, it does seem to show that his work for Valencia did something and that maybe Kasparov and Anand's big scores against him weren't just about his coming apart at the seams.
Carlsen finished second on day one and took over the lead today, thanks in part to beating Anand with white. That these two and Kramnik are at the top, along with Karjakin, is no surprise. That last year's winner and perennial blitz powerhouse Ivanchuk is so far down the chart is a shock. Dominguez, erstwhile world blitz champion, is confirming his fluke status, unless you want to consider this the fluke. On the first day Carlsen boggled his coach by beating several top seeds while losing to cellar-dwellars Kosteniuk and Gashimov, as well as that loss to Karpov. (Kosteniuk also tagged Anand.) French champion Tkachiev is again at risk of having his legend as a blitz maestro revoked and he sits at the bottom of the table, which is also where he finished here last year. (Speaking of blitz maestros, to answer a few questions with uncertain information, it is my understanding from some of Hikaru Nakamura's comments on the ICC that he did receive an invitation to the event but it came on very late notice, too late to drop everything and attend. A real shame.)
I've only had time to glance at a few games, mostly Carlsen's with Garry, so will save highlights until the event concludes tomorrow. With so many games, please help out and mention the stunning sacs and brilliancies you've spotted in the comments. Many of the scores are wrong or incomplete, alas, with little hope of their ever being completed. In Karjakin-Grischuk White missed a cute saving trick with 26.Rh7+! and got mated. And apparently Kasparov was right about Carlsen studying his basic endgames because he beat Leko in R+B vs R. Not sure whether that's harder to win or defend in blitz. Probably to defend. Kramnik's 32.Rd7 vs Aronian is nice.
R+B vs B he he
The finish from Anand-Ivanchuk on day 1 was also rather cute.
I got the impression from Smallville's comments today that he was saying he hadn't been invited at all, but I may be wrong. He also said, for Naka obsessives, that his favourite players were Capablanca and Kramnik.
This report has 13 positions from the first day of play given as tactical puzzles (answers at the end): http://chesspro.ru/_events/2009/memtal7.html
Today the complete minor piece domination at the end of Kramnik-Karjakin was nice. And the Mamedyarov-Kramnik slugfest was fun (Mamedyarov got there eventually!).
If Nakamura did receive a last-minute invitation, it may have been to replace Aeroflot blitz qualifier Zhou Jianchao who - for whichever reason - does not play the event. This spot went to Naiditsch which makes sense: six players qualified, he finished 7th. Nakamura didn't play the qualifying event, six other Americans and two Canadians did.
Four of the invited players (Karpov, Dominguez, Grischuk and Kosteniuk) were known by September 16th, exactly two months before the event - see Kosteniuk's blog:
http://www.chessblog.com/2009/09/kosteniuk-to-play-in-world-blitz-chess.html
Two others - Jakovenko and Polgar - were invited later on, or hadn't yet confirmed their participation.
Makes me wonder a bit if Nakamura even wants to risk his (ICC!) blitz reputation by playing over the board against strong opponents ... .
Mig, please stop writing about Carlsen, Anand and Kramnik so much. Why don't you every blog about Garry? What did he have to eat for breakfast -- and why did he choose that breakfast instead of another one?
No one cares about the world's 18-year-old #1, they only care about the world's former #1 who hasn't played a rated game in almost 5 years. Please tell us more Mig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just because you've tagged yourself "Chess Chump" doesn't mean you have to live up (down?) to your moniker...
Perhaps they could have made it 5 min +3sec/move. It is sad to see so strong GMs making mistakes like this. GM Kosteniuk, she played well at the end today. Very solid. Beating the leaders would have given a lot of confidence.
Yes, very strong play by Kosteniuk who, once again, has demonstrated that she's not only very pretty but also a good chess grandmaster. But I mostly followed Carlsen in today's games -- he's truly an extraordinary player and deserves his top-ranked position on the score table. Interesting that Nakamura's favorite players are Capablanca and Kramnik, two geniuses at positonal chess, a style of play I wouldn't immediately associate with Nakamura.
150 photo on http://pokerchess.ru/photogallery.php?album_id=28
150 photo on http://pokerchess.ru/photogallery.php?album_id=28
http://pokerchess.ru/photogallery.php?album_id=28
150 photo
"Yes, very strong play by Kosteniuk who, once again, has demonstrated that she's not only very pretty but also a good chess grandmaster."
You never told us you worked for Chessbase, Jim.
Impressive performance by Carlsen and Anand so far. Interesting to see that Fide rating is a good indicator of blitz performance.
Does anyone know anything about money prizes for this blitz tournament? They have 22 of the best players in the world playing for 3 days, presumably they are not playing just for the love of the game.
Prize fund for blitz tournament is $100,000.
Not sure about the rest of his games, but Ponomariov's tenacity and technique are quite something in a few of them. He won at least two simplified endgames where he started out worse if anything.
Wish the gamescores were better. At least two dozen are incomplete. They must have 11 competent chessplayers in Moscow to stand by each board and jot down the moves, no? Sigh.
Love the openings in these events, some wild and crazy stuff and players having fun. Others you'd barely notice the difference as they play the same things they play in classical.
It's a blog, CChump, my personal blog. There's no attempt to write what anyone else wants to read. If you don't want any mentions of my life, work, family, or Garry Kasparov (my boss), you really shouldn't be here. Unless you enjoy suffering and complaining, in which case carry on by all means.
The openings are indeed great ,some very useful for online play , as an e4 player i'm glad to see so many scandinavian play , i was getting a little tired of Andrew Martin's dvd ( great dvd btw , but i use it too much).
Nice pix Sergey. I wonder what the spectators can see? They can't really come close to the boards so watching over the net seems better.
My white e4 player's perspective on the Scandinavian: It may be slightly dodgy, but it is hard to play against particularly in blitz - because your opponent is generally more familiar with the position and knows what he can or has to do. Now Kramnik probably doesn't have such a competitive advantage, some other players do (e.g. Nakamura and Tiviakov) - or did Vlad secretly prepare on ICC, not revealing his identity?
Some bits and pieces from the Chessvibes report on day 2:
"We learnt that after for instance the Carlsen-Kosteniuk game, Henrik Carlsen approached Alexandra’s husband Diego with some sort of apology, but it was unnecessary, Diego said. She didn’t think anything out of the ordinary, despite the fact Magnus was clearly upset."
"Some players we expected to do better, for instance Levon Aronian and Vugar Gashimov. However, we were told that Aronian is clearly under the weather, sniffling audibly and looking sick. And what about Gashimov, currently the world’s number 6 player? His second day wasn’t very good either, on which he forfeited his first game against Svidler. According to one of our sources [it was mentioned in the comments] Gashimov went out until 5:00 AM…"
No info on Tkachiev, the only player who is behind Gashimov in the current standings ... .
Aronian seems to have been the one player whose chess really suffered after getting a cold. He said he played terribly at the end of the classical tournament and only beat Anand because the latter played so badly.
Kramnik in the Sports Express interview talks about Anand's "Aronian complex" & says he went up to Aronian after the game and asked him how he managed to force Anand to play at the level of an Indian candidate master. Apparently Aronian replied "pay me and I'll tell you"...
Carlsen's _father_ approached Kosteniuk's _husband_? Was it really too difficult to apologize in person to the one he actually played?
I don't know, I was just quoting from the Chessvibes report ..... .
I know that. Today's games have already started, btw, for those interested. I'm not particularly interested myself but I take a peek now and then.
That game Anand lost against Kosteniuk was pretty awful on his part. Looked like a race to drop as many pieces as you can before getting mated. Like my erstwhile bullet games. I think some of these top guys try to be too cute against Kosteniuk, and pay the price. She's a GM for Pete's sake. Cant play the Fandango against her and expect to win.
Ponomariov starts the day by beating Carlsen and then Anand!
Solution to the draw problem! I suggest replacing all classical-time-control tournaments with blitz. From chessbase:
Of the 308 games played so far only 76 were drawn, i.e. 24% of the games.
:)
If this continues Carlsen will become World Champion already at 18 :-)
On second thought, maybe it just means that Henrik Carlsen happened to meet Kosteniuk's husband while both were part of the audience - whereas the main protagonists were busy playing their next games.
Yeah, but almost 19. So he won't beat Ponomariov's record...
Kramnik just won a nice game against Kosteniuk - with an exchange sacrifice "a la Topalov" ... .
No, cause fide gave me a world title at 16..haa haa
Kramnik's 5/5 for today after crashing through with some fairly simple tactics against Bareev. His opponents have been quite accommodating today - out of 3 of Kramnik's 3 blacks only Gashimov tested the Scandinavian - and played into a help mate on move 14...
The repetitions in that post are proof that blitz addles the brain :)
Finally a draw against Morozevich, though he must have had a won position towards the end. 15 Bd5 was amazing - I couldn't see why Moro couldn't take it, but I guess Rxc8 & Qg4+ would follow?
The live feed from the russian site isn't working, is it?
Scratch that, now it does, of course :)
Wow i am not sure what was most inpressice King mating Anand or being down a poece for a pawn abd down 1.30 t0 .15 seconds in and endhame against Gelfland and almost flagging Boris for the draw...give the kid aby trophy he wants immpeccable.
Wow. Carlsen has just defeated Anand in a sharply played game.
Incredible play, wish they had there every month...so much mre exciting.Magnus is even stronger in speed chess endgames he like MagnusBase Carlsen. Bravo to all and thx to organizers.
1st title. Out of many.
Story of the tournament: Carlsen vs. the other top finishers (Anand, Karjakin, Kramnik, Svidler, Grischuk) = 2, 2, 2, 1.5, 2.
+20 by Carlsen, the only player apart from him to score better than +8 was Anand on +14.
Carlsen had a few lost positions where he was very lucky yo win. But thats blitz for you. Surpised to se Chucky way down the result-list.
Interesting how various players performed over the three days:
Carlsen 10/14, 11/14, 10/14
Anand 12+8+8
Karjakin 8+10.5+6.5
Kramnik 8.5+8+8
Gashimov 6.5+4.5+9.5
Aronian 7.5+7+6.5
Ivanchuk 7.5+4.5+7.5
Karpov 9+5+5
Kosteniuk 4+7+1.5
Whatever the explanations might be: Gashimov waking up today after he recovered from frustration (day 1) and hangover (day 2)? Kosteniuk and Karpov being taken more seriously by their opponents as the tournament moved on?
Of the players on my list, only Carlsen, Kramnik and Aronian were remarkably constant - each one at his own level.
Ach, c'mon. As I said before there's been plenty of players getting up from the board and dashing off. It's only an issue because AK is cute and some people want to knock MC. I'm sure both Kosteniuk and Carlsen had other things to think about - during a world blitz championships fer Chrissakes - than apologising for nothing. Hell, Kosteniuk's a beautiful woman. I've even known eighteen-year-olds who were shy about approaching those socially.
It'd be interesting to see that for the individual sessions. I got the impression Kramnik enjoyed his lunches a bit too much!
Maybe Tkachiev should have waited to quit his habit until after the Tal blitz tourney?!
Apparently lunch wasn't as delicious or copious on day one ,:) - Kramnik's sub-results: 4/7, 4.5/7, 5/7, 3/7, 5.5/7, 2.5/7 .
Of course several other things might play a role:
- getting tired more quickly than his opponents or, conversely, some opponents need more time to get going
- getting overly confident after a string of victories
- simply playing stronger opposition later during the day: Today he had two top10 players (final standings) in the first session [draw against Moro, loss against Svidler] and four in the second one [1/4 against Ponomariov, Grischuk, Mamedyarov and Karjakin].
As Mig asked for help - Chessbase has some highlights, or maybe lowlights from day two:
http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5922
However ... what's the point of letting Rybka laugh at GM blitz games? For example, 26.-Qg6:! in Mamedyarov-Kramnik isn't that easy to find even at slower time controls!?
extra 150 photo from past day
http://pokerchess.ru/photogallery.php?album_id=28&rowstart=140
There must be lots of these about, but here's a few videos from the blitz:
Karpov-Kramnik (0:1) - a Karpov masterclass in time management :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLb1ovNzYVk
Kramnik-Polgar (1/2:1/2) - an f7 bishop sack doesn't win the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L_svnmbaJI
Kramnik-Ivanchuk (1:0) - Ivanchuk takes a poisoned pawn (g3) (Nxc8 would be followed by Rxe5 & Rg4+ winning the queen if Ivanchuk didn't choose the also hopeless Qxd3).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3fFl-S_aK8
I was frustrated by the mysterious Russian-only tournament web site for this "world championship." Then I realized that the top two finishers were also the only two non-Russian speaking participants.
Ya nye gavryu pa-ruski.
Carlsen-Karyakin (1:0) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yD5rOjWRQ
Carlsen-Svidler (1:0) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OixHpjyjwlg
Mamedyarov -Kramnik. tragik game. Extra R+B? but loss(( Kramnik miss simplу defens in 2 move(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtdY8M7y5rw
Thanks! I was hoping that game would show up somewhere...
Anand-Kosteniuk 0:1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWmk2XbLaKM
I hope send to youtube 10-20 video)) after 2-3 day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YY22cOwpGk
Illegal move of Ivanchuk))
Nice interview by Carlsen published in Chessbase. Interesting, he mentions Anand and Kramnik as the strongest players right now.
The Kramnik interview is also interesting to read:
"To my mind, Magnus is still not as strong as some of the “old guys”, like Anand, me and Topalov. And if there were to be, say, a match Aronian-Carlsen, then at this moment, I would put my money on Aronian"
"I would say that Anand is favourite, but Topalov will win"
"Topalov avoids tournaments where I am playing"
I wonder if Kramnik's saying that he will play Wijk, Amber, Candidates and Olympiad next year means that he won't play Linares. Maybe the field isn't decided yet.
this is an interview conducted right after kramnik's tal memorial win where the quality of carlsen's games was appreciably below the quality of his games at nanjing probably due to his illness. kramnik clearly played the best chess of all players in the tournament.
however, after the blitz championship kramnik might have to rethink his statement concerning the "old guys" and who to put his money on.
Do you remember mishamp the argument about Sofia rules and how you claimed that consulting the arbiters was better?( Even though i was rooting mostly for Bilbao rules but that is another argument)
Listen to your master:
"How do you like the rule, used here, that draws can only be agreed with the permission of the arbiter?
It seems to me that this is an imaginary problem, but if the organisers do not want players to agree an early draw, then it is better to have stricter, the so-called Sofia rules. Because, with all due respect to the arbiters, I do not understand why they allowed a draw to be agreed in the game Leko-Ivanchuk. The final position was nothing like those envisaged in these rules. As it was explained to me, while Leko was thinking whether to agree or not, he used up almost all his time, and when he decided to accept Ivanchuk’s proposal, the arbiters did not object, out of “humanitarian” reasons, since he had so little time left. It is all a bit strange. And although such a problem did not arise for me personally – I played out all my games to the very end – I think that if you are going to have anti-draw sanctions, then it is better not to give the players the opportunity to have negotiations at the board."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVHpBbZtwWA
Magnus-Crischuk. zeitnot.
You're tedious, Manu. I didn't say consulting the arbiters was better, simply that that system was in place - explaining the almost complete absence of GM draws, which you continued to ignore while stupidly pretending there was a great problem.
For the record I also mentioned that Leko-Ivanchuk game as an exception and pointed out that in the Chesspro report either Leko or Ivanchuk (I think Ivanchuk) also said that it'd be better simply to have the full Sofia rules.
Sergey, thanks for posting these videos.
What was the illegal move? I don't understand what happened there
Black play h7-h8 -pawn!!! It is 0! Search game Dreev-Vlasov http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn-Ld6Kt0fE illegal move too> revisit of result)))
Don't worry , just be a little more sympathetic the next time i wrote about the necessity of having Sofia rules implemented , :)
mishanp and sergey--
Thanks for the links.
Yes, Manu, the next time there's a tournament with no short draws and hard fought chess I'll be oh so sympathetic when you attack it for short draws and claim only Sofia rules can save it... By the way, before you chalk Kramnik up as an advocate of the rules you might as well notice that he calls the draw issue "an imaginary problem".
I wasn't going to reply, actually - I know it's futile - but for curiosity's sake I wanted to point out that the section you quote is slightly bungled by Steve Giddins. He attributes everything to Kramnik, but the "As it was explained to me..." bit is actually the interviewer speaking.
Wonderful comment from Magnus in an interview published at Chessbase.com:
----------------
Q: Assess your chances in the fight for the title of world champion. Is the current cycle not your your time?
Carlsen: For me, short-term plans are more important. I do not look that far ahead. What will be, will be. It is all the more difficult to plan for something in particular, in the unstable conditions of the current leadership of the international federation. When I am the best chess player the world, then I will make my plans. In the meantime, Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik are both still very strong.
-----------------
Anand and Kramnik? But not Topalov, apparently.
And "When I am the best..." Yes, "When" he's the best, he'll make his plans, but those plans don't involve the unstable and arbitrary FIDE?
"when you attack it for short draws and claim only Sofia rules can save it... "
You are getting too creative here , i never said that...
Please notice that i am not calling u a liar, just a very creative person who likes to lie ...
Or is it the interviewer speaking?
Take it easy ;)
uff--
Wise beyond his years.
I saw in other videos (carlsen's for instance) where they played x8 for pawn.
That's just ridiculous to forfeit a game because of such a thing. Mamedyrov is really a horrible, HORRIBLE competitor. This isn't his first time showing the chess world how little sportsmanship he has.
The game was drawn, though, wasn't it? And it looked to me as though Mamedyarov was only helping, though I might well be wrong.
I got the same impression, Mamedyarov proposed the draw.
I have seen them play with a pawn at 8-th rank only when it is like immediate and automatic recapture on the next move. In Chucky-s case it was not. So in this episode it Shak actually acted in a very nice way imo.
Which was the last tournament (classical time controls) where Kramnik and Topalov played together?
What I loved from those videos (we also embedded a few today) is how much it looked like your regular blitz tourney. The players gathering around a pillar where a piece of paper hangs with the new pairings, the illegal moves.. They were having fun out there.
Recently a team member of mine lost after his opponent made his 40th move by placing a rook upside down on the 8th and pressing the clock, having just 2 seconds left. Only after making his 40th, my friend realized that his opponent's move was illegal and called the arbiter, but it was too late to claim anything. In such situations the solutiom is always: gently press the clock of the opponent again. (Btw the opponent is allowed to stop his clock and ask the arbiter to get a queen.) This is what Smeets did against Radjabov, and what should have given him the full point.
Looks to me like Mahmedyarov is not claiming a win vs Ivanchuk, but the latter realizes he was out of line and concedes the point.
playjunior beat me to it .. also looks like I got it wrong.
Mamedyarov-Kramnik is also one of the games presented on Chessbase, so I repost the link:
http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5922
They also show three games by Carlsen (against Anand, Leko and Kramnik) where he scored 3/3 but this could have been 1/3 [in any case, Anand lost out of a winning endgame position]. This doesn't diminish Carlsen's overall success, but - @Albos - blitz is not _directly_ related to classical chess (there are less blunders at slower time controls) so Kramnik's statement about the "old guys" may still hold.
Last year Dominguez won the world blitz championship. Does this really mean that he is as strong or stronger than the players who finished behind him? I doubt it, and not only because he couldn't nearly repeat his success this time.
About Kramnik's statement about Carlsen: In three years when Carlsen has a FIDE rating way above his competitors, and plays a bad tournament, Kramnik will say that Carlsen still is lacking something, call it experience, and the old guys, like himself and Anand are still just as good or better. I know this because I'm at Kramniks age and this is just how we think about these things.
Corus 2008?
Gee, are people over-analyzing a blitz performance. IT'S JUST BLITZ!
greg koster "Wise beyond his years."
That was my impression too.
"In such situations the solutiom is always: gently press the clock of the opponent again."
Isn't that an incredibly annoying thing for an opponent to do without explanation?
What is wrong with an upside-down rook instead of a queen?
"Just blitz"
Why "just"?
The guy who just made an illegal move shouldn't be talking about "annoying".
What's wrong with an upside-down rook instead of a queen is that it's an upside-down rook and not a queen. Odd question! Sure, use it if you are absolutely sure that your opponent is OK with it. But there is no reason whatsoever to assume that if you don't know him.
I once watched an IM demonstrate what to do in blitz against an upside-down rook. He calmly let the piece sit there, even allowed his opponent to move it once or twice along the back rank. First time the upside-down rook was moved diagonally, the IM stopped the clock and claimed victory: "Rooks don't move that way..."
USCF rules (8F7) state: "In the absence of the player's announcement to the contrary, an upside-down rook shall be considered a queen."
FIDE? Beats me.
No such thing in FIDE rules, of course. But, yes, regionally and locally there may naturally be peculiar rules like that. But surely it is allowed in blitz only?
[quote]It is all the more difficult to plan for something in particular, in the unstable conditions of the current leadership of the international federation. When I am the best chess player the world, then I will make my plans.[unquote]
From a Prince to a Pawn?? What does this mean? Is Carlsen looking to split the chess world? I hope not.
Anand should watch out for the ugly politics is trying to lift its head again. Anand should be careful with his seconds and about securing his preparations/computer for his upcoming match and for his future events.
Another reason why I can't take the USCF seriously.
PircAlert, I think what Carlsen is saying is that it is not yet his time to be in a WC match. Next spring is Anand-Topalov and there won't likely be another match for another two or three years. Given the arbitrary fickleness of FIDE, it doesn't make sense to start planning for that match now.
acirce, USCF's upside-down rook rule is not just for blitz. At most USCF events, the organizers do not provide equipment, and players use their own boards and pieces. Using an upside-down rook when a normal queen is unavailable is easier and more sensible than stopping clocks and scurrying around to locate a queen to borrow from another player.
I see. Well, each to their own.
You can't leave the pawn on 8th rank and hit the clock - it may be a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. Your opponent cannot plan his next move when you leave the piece choice in doubt.
Uff Da, yeah, but it makes one ask the same question you raised earlier. "And "When I am the best..." Yes, "When" he's the best, he'll make his plans, but those plans don't involve the unstable and arbitrary FIDE?"???!!!
Seems to me that at a fancy tournament like this one, the organizers should at a minimum furnish an extra queen and knight for each side.
Ashish: They almost do! Have a look at any of the YouTube videos from the Blitz WC in Moscow and you'll see that they start of with a spare white and black queen next to the board.
I'm guessing part of the explanation is also that the computer sofware would find it tricky to track an upside down rook as a queen.
"I once watched an IM demonstrate what to do in blitz against an upside-down rook. He calmly let the piece sit there, even allowed his opponent to move it once or twice along the back rank. First time the upside-down rook was moved diagonally, the IM stopped the clock and claimed victory: "Rooks don't move that way...""
I hate to say it, but that is mercilessly hilarious! :)
Pretty awesome performance by Carlsen, nobody beat him head-to-head, and he went 2-0 against the next 4 highest placers, Anand, Karjakin, Kramnik and Grischuk! Take a bow champion, here's me applauding you..
"You can't leave the pawn on 8th rank and hit the clock - it may be a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. Your opponent cannot plan his next move when you leave the piece choice in doubt."
You "can" leave a pawn on the 8th rank in blitz, but after you have pressed the clock, it's too late for promotion. If you in the next move move it as a queen (or as any other piece), the opponent can claim a win.
Hear, hear!
I second that.
But... isn't it a pretty much universally accepted convention that an inverted rook is a queen? In the "real" world I mean... To call the use of an inverted rook illegal and make comments like "rooks don't move that way" in a blitz game seems deeply pedantic. Apart from the comment about computer software not recognizing the piece, which is possibly valid but not a problem at *my* blitz games, I don't see the problem.
I wonder if that IM was losing the game. Must have been a relief to swindle the win.
Of course the IM was swindling ... I once was victim of another swindle: in a dead lost position, my considerably higher-rated opponent put his king deliberately in check, let me capture it and (successfully) claimed victory. Obviously it was my fault "in the heat of the moment", but instead he could have safely resigned.
While upside-down rook = queen is indeed a common convention, another problem at all levels might be: what if pieces fall over in time trouble? Could the super-rook suddenly become a normal rock? Could a very sneaky opponent say "j'adoube" and turn the rook around??
"IT'S JUST BLITZ!"
Well said, while quite obvious. Blitz needs other - additional - qualities than classical chess: playing fast may be as important as playing well, blunders are common (unavoidable?), nerves play a stronger role.
And past results seem to be no guarantee for future success: this time the two defending champions Dominguez (previous blitz WCh) and Ivanchuk (previous Tal Memorial blitz) finished 13th and 15th, respectively.
Its not about winning per se, its about appearing almost untouchable. Many tournament winners abound, like Tal and Anand and Kasparov and Ivanchuk, but I can think of only two people in the past who attained an "unplayable at blitz" reputation in their prime, Capablanca and Fischer, going on tournament results and comments and reports by their contemporaries. Carlsen looks to have made a start at being the third..
Could an even sneakier opponent remove my queen from the board when I wasn't looking?
These "rules" are nothing to do with chess, just food for amateur chess-lawyers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2R5WyBJCrQ
Vad Tkachev - Vladimir Kramnik Wch blitz 2009
"But... isn't it a pretty much universally accepted convention that an inverted rook is a queen?"
Not at all.
It is IMO still VERY premature to call Carlsen "untouchable at blitz". He's one of the best, but would he be playing a blitz match with, say, Anand with some serious prize at stake, I would confidently put my money on Anand. And there are some other players (Aronian, Kramnik, Karjakin or Grishchuk to name a few) who can put an even fight.
Don't forget that, for instance, Karjakin was one of the top blitz players on playchess, where he overtook Kasparov (Rafael) a couple of times as the top-rated player: this was when Kaspa hadn't retired yet or had just retired-I don't remember for sure.
He WAS untouchable, if he still had that cold, that is.
"And past results seem to be no guarantee for future success: this time the two defending champions Dominguez"
Thomas, why do you talk about Dominguez winning World Blitz 2008??
Dominguez won that event 1/2 point ahead of Ivanchuk, it was _only_ 15 rounds and Anand, Kramnik and Carlsen was not there.
Tal Memorial Blitz 2009 was a different ballgame, and Carlsen really outclassed this strong field in 42 rounds (3 days).
Tal Memorial Blitz 2008, was THE MAIN blitz event last year, not that FIDE event Dominguez won.
You didnt quite read my comment I think.
"Blitz needs other - additional - qualities than classical chess: playing fast may be as important as playing well, blunders are common (unavoidable?), nerves play a stronger role.
And past results seem to be no guarantee for future success: this time the two defending champions Dominguez (previous blitz WCh) and Ivanchuk (previous Tal Memorial blitz) finished 13th and 15th, respectively"
The difference isn't that big if you look at the top players. The four with the best blitz results over the last decade are Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Ivanchuk. The same players as on the top of the classical chess list, maybe Topalov would take Ivanchuk's place on the latter, but that would be the only difference.
After that Grischuk, Svidler and Leko would follow on the blitz list and they are approximately as strong with classical time controls, maybe Grischuk is the real blitz expert but he is strong enough to win Linares in classical chess.
Ivanchuk is uneven regardless what sort of chess that is played, but apart from winning the Tal Memorial blitz last year he also won the World Championship the year before, ahead of players like Anand and Kramnik. Dominguez had one super result last year against a weaker field but hasn't repeated it when playing stronger opposition.
"It is IMO still VERY premature to call Carlsen "untouchable at blitz"."
I agree. Maybe it is irrelevant that Carlsen was apparently "lucky" in several games (that's part and parcel of blitz, and possibly winner's/champion's luck), but after all it was just one tournament.
If we look at Carlsen's supertournament performances over the entire year 2009, he was dominant ("untouchable") only in Nanjing - not saying he played badly in Corus, Linares, MTel, Dortmund or Tal Memorial. As the whole discussion seems related to Albos' post (Kramnik should rethink his statements about Carlsen after the blitz tournament), let's see things through his eyes:
- He won both of his supertournaments ahead of Carlsen (another story is whether he should be blamed or rather praised for playing less frequently, yet another story why this was the case)
- His 2009 games against Carlsen:
Amber - crushing victory with black in the blindfold game, draw with white in the rapid (after pressing and declining several repetitions)
Dortmund - easy draw with black, spectacular win with white (marginally relevant that Carlsen missed the best defense)
Tal Memorial - draw after pressing with black (irrelevant whether or not he was actually winning at some stage)
So why-o-why should Kramnik be "afraid" of Carlsen?
Even if we include the blitz tournament, to me it doesn't look like Kramnik was convincingly outplayed in either of the two games (one game score seems incomplete).
BTW @MJ: Kramnik was basically talking about the ongoing WCh cycle, suggesting that Carlsen will "not necessarily" become WCh at the age of 20, but might be at the age of 23. The latter would assume that Carlsen continues to rapidly improve - a plausible but still untested assumption.
"Gee, are people over-analyzing a blitz performance. IT'S JUST BLITZ!"
As if dominating the world elite in blitz doesn't matter a thing.
The current Candidate match format has very short classical matches, so players having a dominating edge in rapids and/or blitz, will have a significant psychological edge.
It makes it even tougher to beat guys like Anand, Kramnik, Aronian and Carlsen.
Yes it is, unless you grow up playing chess on Mars, or are rich enough to afford sets that have extra queens when you first start playing, or play in the rarefied atmosphere of GM standard tourneys from the time you are a kid. It seems pathetic to throw a fit about an inverted rook being a queen if the person queening it says it is.
"It seems pathetic to throw a fit about an inverted rook being a queen if the person queening it says it is."
Karpov did it against Kasparov, during the following game:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067319
I remember someone did statistical analysis (was it Jeff) a few years ago that actually Blitz and Classical ratings are correlating quite well.
I think the fact that Dominiquez has won Blitz World Ch is not more special than for example Bologan winning Dortmund, surprises are not so rare in classical chess either.
For example, if you look at the performance compared to expected in the Blitz, Kramnik performed 2774 level when performance of 2772 was expected. The biggest surprise was actually Carlsen who performed 93 points better than expected and it is not unusual to see +100 or even more rating performance's in classical chess tournaments. Kosteniuk has +62 although she had some quite handsome wins during the event.
I had another look at all four blitz events under consideration (links to the earlier tournament tables are in the comments on the Chessvibes day 1 report):
Ivanchuk's "success rate" is a remarkable 75% (first at Tal Memorial 2007 and 2008, second at the blitz WCh) - maybe I am wrong after all suggesting that nerves play even more of a role in blitz?
Dominguez' success rate is now down to 50%. While the WCh last year was weaker than the Tal Memorial blitz, he still finished ahead of Ivanchuk, Svidler, Grischuk, Mamedyarov, Morozevich and Kamsky - all regularly in the top10 for the other events. Ironically, the weaker field was partly resulting from a "proper qualifying scheme": "no-names" as Kazhgaleyev, Amin and (at that stage) Dominguez won respective continental championships ... . A clear minus is that it was only a single round-robin, maybe Dominguez kept a certain surprise bonus (noone knew him, noone took him that seriously) throughout the event? Do players check tournament tables regularly between rounds? I guess they do at the end of each day, though ... .
@zarg:
"As if dominating the world elite in blitz doesn't matter a thing."
Give acirce a break, it seems that "it" (blitz in general) doesn't mean much to him ... .
"The current Candidate match format has very short classical matches, so players having a dominating edge in rapids and/or blitz, will have a significant psychological edge.
It makes it even tougher to beat guys like Anand, Kramnik, Aronian and Carlsen."
IMO, their (tiebreak) edge is smaller than it seems. The four other players will or might be Gashimov, Radjabov, Kamsky (who had reasonable to good results - 4th in 2007 - in the above-mentioned blitz events and was shared first with Anand and Aronian in this year's Amber rapid) and whoever wins the World Cup (partly relying on rapid and blitz skills?!).
Yup. His comment certainly raises the question, but it doesn't answer it.
I think Thomas and playjunior in their blitz-like haste missed the last sentence in d_tal's post, so I'll quote:
"Carlsen looks to have made a start at being the third."
And yes, you can usually identify the top players through blitz results but you can't tell in exactly what order they would fall in the classical game. They number one classical (real) chess player may easily come second or fourth for example.
Thank you for bothering to read. You certainly don't belong here!
I didn't miss d_tal's last sentence, but I question if one should make such far-reaching suggestions after one blitz event (in fairness, his words are relatively cautious). I question even more if one should draw conclusions regarding slower classical time controls - and agree with your follow-up comment.
Actually the number one classical player may end even further down .... but evidence is virtually non-existing. By rating, at least for the time being, it is Topalov - I googled for "Topalov blitz", little did I find but an exhibition match against Berbatov and a match against Anand back in 2004 (Topa lost).
But coincidentally I found the following:
http://previews.chessdom.com/bnbank-blitz-chess-2009
A blitz tournament "in Norway" on November 28th - a bit odd to call it "one of the top blitz events of the year": it cannot nearly compete with the Tal Memorial blitz, but it has two players rated above 2700: Carlsen and Nakamura.
I'd slightly dispute the whole idea of "untouchable at blitz", though, on different levels.
1) Someone like Capablanca was simply untouchable at chess at his peak - it doesn't really add anything to say he was also untouchable at blitz. Likewise it's still harder to beat Capablanca, Fischer or Carlsen at classical chess.
2) In Fischer's case he didn't unequivocally have a reputation as the best blitz player. He won one extremely high level tournament against many of his rivals (Herceg Novi), but who's to say there weren't some 2009 Ivanchuks in the field who finished mid-table but on another day would be top (all on-line players know mood, energy, focus etc. have a much higher importance at the quickest time controls). The Soviet School certainly didn't accept Fischer was unplayable at blitz - which you can dispute, or call sour grapes etc., but you can't simply state he had an undisputed reputation of being untouchable.
3) It strikes me as wrong to ignore modern players like Anand or Ivanchuk (who we have much more data about). They've both won the Tal Memorial blitz - in 2007 I think Anand either won all, or certainly didn't lose any of his mini-matches. I'd say Anand and Carlsen are similar to Fischer in the way they play blitz - quick, pragmatic and straightforward, not trying to create masterpieces. Oddly enough Kramnik tends to become overly creative when he plays blitz, trying out all kinds of weird and wonderful tactics.
4) In a way everything came together for Carlsen this year - he'd taken the classical tournament fairly easily (making accurate draws until the last couple of rounds) on account of his illness. He came into form & fitness at the perfect time. He's also young so has the energy you need to play after another tournament, but also has experience - this is the third year he's played the tournament, I think (going from mid-table, to third, to first).
5) What I'd add, though, is that he's really come into his own in demonstrating a Kasparov or Fischer-like drive to succeed. When a player with his skill comes into a blitz tournament with that drive it has to be worth a lot of points on the table (Ivanchuk, oddly, often turns into a monster when it comes to blitz - being attacked in previous years for throwing the pieces around and upsetting his opponents - though he seemed quite subdued this year).
Sorry for rambling on... :)
Mostly agreed, but you probably mean 2006 regarding Anand
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3496
One year later, he finished second 1 point behind Ivanchuk and lost his mini-matches against ALL other top 5 players (Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Kamsky, Kramnik) as well as midfielder Ponomariov - still finishing near the top due to several 2-0 wipeouts against other players ... .
http://www.chessbase.com/news/2007/worldblitz11.gif
Thanks, I did mean 2006. So this was already Carlsen's fourth appearance at the Tal Memorial!? How time flies...
Players with alot more years on them than Magnus have let their rating go to their head, with disastrous results. But here's a young man fresh from taking over the #1 rating spot AND wiping out the Tal Blitz tournament talking about needing some time to get better to take on Anand and Kramnik!
Also encouraging are his critical remarks about FIDE. As long as Kramnik has a reasonable path to the title he won't make waves. Anand can't be bothered with FIDE politics. And Kasparov had neither the temperament nor the political skills to mount a successful challenge to FIDE.
But is it took early to hope that Carlsen, a unique blend of fantastic talent, out-spokenness, and level-headedness might, by threatening to build a rival WCC structure, force FIDE to mend its ways?
HEY, MIG! What about a new thread for the starting Chess World Cup event?
Thanks!
"And Kasparov had neither the temperament nor the political skills to mount a successful challenge to FIDE."
LOL have you been living under a rock! go and read about the PCA, sheesh. And even, so Kasparov not having the temperament and political skills...LMAO...seriously have you watched CNN recently? He has long started a counter party against Putin and was even arrested. (Maybe you were being sarcastic?)
Pffffft
Anyway, I agree that the World Champion cycle right now is still broken despite the unification. They need to return to the original zonal format, and Kramnik and Topalov get too many chances at the title.
ZJAR
"They need to return to the original zonal format"
Do you mean the one Kasparov ruined?
ZJAR, getting arrested for political dissent in Russia does not require all that much skill. Also, greg koster has certainly read about the PCA (and what Kasparov has said about it, viz. 'twas a mistake). There's a world of difference between launching a challenge and launching a successful challenge, whether it is against FIDE or Russian authoritarianism.
Greg has been here a long time, Zjar. You can be sure he is perfectly well aware of that information.
"Players with alot more years on them than Magnus have let their rating go to their head, with disastrous results."
I'd be interested in hearing some names...what I also like is this very-quiet-but-very-assertive
"when I am number one" statement...i.e. you better treat me with some respect NOW!! Although IMO it remains to be seen whether he ebd up like Anand and not get involved. Also he alone would not be able to change the system, he would have to have the support of other top players. Maybe the younger generation will provide this, we will see.
Greg has been here a long time, Zjar. You can be sure he is perfectly well aware of that information.
"Players with alot more years on them than Magnus have let their rating go to their head, with disastrous results."
I'd be interested in hearing some names...what I also like is this very-quiet-but-very-assertive
"when I am number one" statement...i.e. you better treat me with some respect NOW!! Although IMO it remains to be seen whether he ebd up like Anand and not get involved. Also he alone would not be able to change the system, he would have to have the support of other top players. Maybe the younger generation will provide this, we will see.
Apologies for double, it was a technical prob with the site, one cat is enough, I know!
"The four other players will or might be Gashimov, Radjabov, Kamsky"
Gashimov and Radjabov?! If lucky, they will survive 1 tie-break, and better try to decide the match beforehand.
Kamsky had a very good Amber rapid this year, but this was only _one_ event. He lost to Anand and his win over Carlsen was more due to Carlsen than brilliancy by Kamsky, and Carlsen's performance against Kamsky-type players has now improved big time.
"whoever wins the World Cup (partly relying on rapid and blitz skills?!)."
The winner of the World Cup, will most likely be a player who can avoid tie-breaks, that's elementary math. :)
In the World Cup, it's foremost Ivanchuk and Karjakin, who could have close to equal chance against Aronian, Anand/Topalov, Kramnik, Carlsen in a tie-break, the rest will be more or less underdogs.
Add Morozevich and Shirov to your list , you never know with them , on their day they can beat anyone
Extraordinary watching that Carlsen-Grischuk link. First of all Carlsen overlooks mate in three with Qh8+ instead of Rb7+. Then he rejects repetition in favour of a roko and pawn ending two pawns down. Then Grischuk misses that Carlsen is queening with check in a pawn race. A miracle saves him because even with the king only on g4 Carlsen can't block the h2 pawn in time, but then he makes an extraordinary mistake by using the e-pawn instead of just hiking the king up to support the h2 pawn. Just blitz, I suppose, but it's no exaggeration to say that many 2400 players would have played better. No wonder Grischuk looks a bit peeved at the finish.
Still, it's a difficult game. In the first Carlsen-Kramnik game, by the way, Kramnik simply blundered a piece. You can see the rough moves on the video archive on the official site, but basically Carlsen had a rook on the sixth rank and Kramnik allowed Rd8+ which forced ...Bf8, thus allowing R takes knight on f6. Before that the position was fairly unclear, most probably about equal.
Anyone know why Polgar is shown as not having an opponent for first round in World Cup? Should player no 97, Dusko Pavasovic.
Hey my name sake who posted "Yup. His comment certainly raises the question, but it doesn't answer it.". Do you like the nick name that I use here to post? If you are planning on using it more often, let me know. I'll change my nick name to something else. ;)
I, as a 1950 player, would have played "differently" - along the lines you suggested - but actually it is no miracle draw for Grischuk after all. Due to black's (additional) e-pawn, there is no stalemate defense. White can force the black king to h1 (with his queen on g3) and then approach with his own king, eventually forcing mate.
Yes, a true blitz game - the bit that hit me the most in the video was Carlsen's expression and reaction when Gris resigned - intense!
more video fom Wch http://www.youtube.com/user/bumblebee1607#p/u
In defence of d-tal,
Thomas and Mishanp,
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
I Said You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
You Got To Be Startin’ Somethin’
I Said You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
You Got To Be Startin’ Somethin’
Yes, you're right. Still think Qh8+ was mate in three, mind!
Why "although"?
Ack! Sorry about that, PircAlert. I meant to send a note TO you, not FROM you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHgcTdkZDwM
Karpov-Kramnik blitz 2008
That ok, Uff Da. I understand you can't edit it also.
Something for those who wanted to see Nakamura playing Carlsen at blitz! http://www.chessdom.com/news-2009/bnbank-blitz/bnbank-blitz-chess-2009
Though the knock-out format means they might well not actually meet.
Well. It's quite unlikely that any of Carlsen and Nakamura will be knocked out before the final.
Both quarter-final and semi-final are best of 4 games, and the competition isn't all that strong:
Best player in Sweden and Denmark, another 3 Norwegian GMs (including unofficial 2600+ Jon Ludvig Hammer - JonLudvig on ICC), and a bunch of very young Norwegian players that shouldn't stand a chance against Naka & co.
I'm not ruling out an upset by Heine, Hammer or Berg. Hardly to win it all, but at least to knock out Nakamura - or perhaps even Carlsen (blitz is blitz after all...)
It starts at the same time as the World Cup, right?
No upsets. Carlsen-Naka in the finals. I predict 3-1.
How can you see in the future. I have tried but can not do it at lest not good. You must have money.
Well, I was pretty close, except that I meant 3-1 to Magnus :) Too bad about game 2, but that's blitz for you.
All your money gone now. + +
(^)
I propose not to hold back until you get enough money to order all you need! You should get the loans or just credit loan and feel free