Back from a quick jaunt to California with a bad cold, courtesy of a Jetblue passenger I can only hope feels even worse than I do. Hack, sneeze. At least Ponomariov and Gelfand have played a pretty tedious/exhausted affair of a final match. Tiebreaks tomorrow.
Magnus Carlsen was very close to starting out the London Classic with three straight wins. He was a series of checks away from victory when he lost the thread and had to settle for a half point, confirming, if nothing else, that he's not a Terminator programmed by Skynet (aka "Rybka") and sent from the future to destroy all our chessplayers. (What, you didn't know Skynet started as a chess program?) David Howell deserved the draw after putting up excellent resistance until his inevitable time-trouble. While Carlsen's momentum slowed in round three, Kramnik won his second in a row after his initial loss to Carlsen. He took out McShane in a nice attacking game with black to move to a plus score. I'm all for avoiding the Petroff like the plague it is, but if White can't do better out of the Bishop's / Vienna Opening than he's been doing over the past week, it might be time for a little 2.f4. Gelfand beat Karjakin at the World Cup with a very nice attack with black against this and now Kramnik joins the fun.
Also in round three, Adams' new Marshall move 18..Re7 put Ni Hua in the tank for a good 40 minutes. (Aronian played 18..h5 this year.) When he emerged he still couldn't find anything to do with his e-pawn other than to give it away. Black had all sorts of potential threats on the long diagonal thanks to the Bb7 and they were enough to keep White at bay. There were also many sharp ideas in the Nakamura-Short game but none of them made it to the board despite the players' best intentions to do their worst.
Round four saw four draws for the first time. Carlsen-Nakamura was the headliner and it didn't disappoint. The first phases were a sharp 5.a4 Slav and Carlsen trying to do something against Black's isolated e-pawn. Nakamura defended well and even grabbed a pawn as the end of the first time control approached. Now Black was for choice, but with so little time remaining it would have been very risky to recapture on d5 with the c-pawn on move 38. 39.Qe5! was the only move to hold the balance and Carlsen found it, saving himself from a long defense down a pawn.
In today's round five, perhaps inspired by his big win at the Tal Memorial, Kramnik sacrificed a piece on f2 for the second time in three days. This time it was a real sac and the game would have been far more fascinating (and far shorter, one way or another) had Howell said a few prayers and grabbed the piece. 22.g3?! f4! is no walk in the park. One line leads to two more piece sacrifices by Black and the computer wants it to end in a perpetual check. 23.Kg2 fxg3 24.hxg3 Bh3+ 25.Kxh3 Bxg3 and the bishop is immune at penalty of mate. So 26.Nf3!? Rxf3 27.Kg2 Rf2+ 28.Kxg3 Rxf2 with a position only a computer could love. But 24..Bxg3 is stronger for Black, although the lines are harrowing. 25.Bxh7+ (25.Kxg3 Qg5 is hard to meet.) 26..Kh8 26.Rh1 Qg5! An incredible position. Discoveries and mate threats everywhere for both sides. A shame we missed it! Apparently 27.Bf5+ is then the only move. 28.Ne4 (naturally) 28..Bf3+ (of course) 29.Kf1 (obviously) 29..Qxf5 30.Rxh4+ Kg8 31.Nf6+! (only move, throwing away a knight) 31..Rxf6 32.Qxf5 Rxf5 and ta-dah, Black has an extra pawn. Yeesh.
Instead it quickly boiled down to an endgame with Kramnik having a rook and two pawns for a two pieces. There were some twists and turns but the balance was never broken. We might have had some drama had Howell taken on f4 while Black pushed his h-pawn, but even that race looks pretty dry. In the game they found a quick repetition. Adams and Short, battling for the #1 English spot, failed to play one of the short draws they have foisted on us in recent match-ups. Maybe it's the anti-short-draw rules in effect or maybe there's more tension now that Short has recaptured the top spot and isn't rated 80+ lower than Adams as in recent years. Adams got nothing but a two-bishop headache against Short's Open Ruy, the new toy he's been playing with to fine effect lately. But Short couldn't make any headway and 40.e6! eliminated any torture possibilities.
Carlsen had more success with his black bishop pair against Ni Hua. The leader endured an awkward kingside development scheme for a few moves but saw that he would come out of it unscathed and with the better pieces. When everything came off except queens and one set of minors, bishop for Carlsen and knight for Ni Hua, and 14 pawns on the board, Carlsen went to work. Just recently a minor himself, Carlsen is nevertheless a remarkable endgame talent, "as good as Karpov!" gushed his coach, Garry Kasparov after the game. He certainly made quick work of Ni Hua, who, like most of the Chinese stars, is a tenacious and well-grounded endgame player himself. The white king came over to help but soon came under fire. It doesn't seem like Black should be able to penetrate with such effect against queen and knight. 35.Qd2!? is certainly a better try, for example. 35..Qd4 36.Qxd4 exd4 37.Kd2 with c3! next looks horrible but isn't easy to crack.
Carlsen's third win makes him a lock for the #1 rating spot on the January list if he holds on. It's also close to a lock on the tournament, since he has a full-point lead over Kramnik with two rounds to play. He has white against Adams and black against Short in the last two rounds, and with the Sofia Rules in effect there are always chances for a slip-up. Kramnik has white against Short and in the final round, black against Nakamura.
That last will likely be the American's legions of fans' last hope to take away something positive from this event. Nakamura lost to McShane with white today, playing a grabby line of the King's Indian in which Black gets a knight and two pawns for a rook. Here White got neither a quick attack nor open lines for his rooks against McShane's solid play and was soon on the defensive. It's likely White had opportunities to hold in the R vs B endgame, but it's a thankless chore. The subtle 42.Re8 leaves Black will few ways to improve. 43..Kh7!, tossing the worthless f-pawn, was a nice move. But White can ignore it. I'm still not sure how Black wins after 44.axb4 cxb4 45.Rb5. That looks like a solid wall to me. Long king walks seem unlikely. In the game, after the white king gets stuck on the first rank it's only a matter of time before bishop gets out to deliver the coup de grace.
R6: Carlsen-Short, Kramnik-Adams, McShane-Ni Hua, Howell-Nakamura. I'm on Chess.FM with LarryC starting at 9am, raspy voice and constant sniffle and all. Only three players have scored wins so far.
Very nice write up as usual Mig.
Hope you get better soon, Mig! Missed you.
"...and had to settle for a half point" They're using the 3-1-0 scoring system, so Carlsen really got 1 point ;)
My first post to this blog. Mig's write-ups are terrific. Thanks!
Oops. I meant "comment", not post. :)
Mig, I’ve eagerly been waiting your report. Thanks! All best wishes to your good health -- may your pen remain always sharp!!
Superb tournament all-round, well organized and attended. A few interesting (to me)points.
1. The stars in the top section used the same chairs as all the other sections- no special imports this time.
2. The top players used the same toilet facilities as the rest of us. One could bump into Kramnik,Carlsen et al on their toilet breaks- does this happen in other tournaments?
3.I was pleased there wasn't an obsession with absolute silence even in the auditorium where the top section played. Footsteps could be heard and the doors didn't open/close silently. But the players didn't seem perturbed in the least. very relaxed atmosphere. A mobile phone even rang yesterday and the offender was neither identified nor hanged!
4. And Korchnoi was amiable in the simul- but the old man is noticeably less nimble on his feet.
London Classic is very well organized, indeed. A joy to follow by internet, and with lots of benefits for visitors on site.
It's good that the english players do (relatively) well. Hopefully this tournament will become a fixed annual happening.
With only 2 rounds left, except for McShane, the 3-8 seeds have 0 wins. I'm disappointed.
Is there a term for the 3-1-0 scoring system that we should be using? FIFA scoring? Bilbao scoring? I note that some people have concluded that it's part of the "Sofia rules", but that's just a mistake, isn't it?
"FIFA scoring system" was a good sugestion!
"Idiotic system" works for me.
British fan,
why the disappointment? I think disappointment should result from a lack of effort not a lack of "results". It is not like the lower players are not trying. Cheers
Raspy voice indeed. But still much better then shahade, we hate her voice. Would be great to pair you up with Speelman, we love him
Carlsen-Adams looks quite exiting to my patzer eye's...I don't understand much of chess, but running naked in the London weather can't be good for the Norwegian king.
Rybka's beginning to really like Adams' position against Carlsen, and the Rybka line looks quite human, so who knows. Kramnik's position also looks shaky though he's still a pawn up for now. The "Rybka" blunders of 16...Rhe8 & 17. Bxe6+ are commented on at Chesspro as being a deliberate attempt by Short to sacrifice another pawn for complications - which Kramnik reasonably rejected.
Carlsen won't survive this, will he?
The lower 6-8 seeds are trying. I'm not sure if the middle 3-5 seeds Nakamura, Short, and Adams are giving 100%. 2 games in my favorite opening French Tarrasch today is awesome!
He certainly wouldn't against Rybka - impressive turnaround just when it seemed as though white's attack might be dangerous!
Adams approaching time trouble. He may take the repetition.
Adams is approaching time trouble rapidly. He may take the repetition.
Write that once more, and this thread is officially drawn! ;-)
Excellent as always, Mig. Glad the sniffles don't effect the writing hand. (Or, these days, the typing fingers!)
Entertaining broadcast at Chess FM with all the sniffing around ;).
Carlsen drew against Adams.
Kramnik won against Short.
Again, Kraminik is only one point behind Carlsen. This makes tomorrow last round exciting.
My wild guess is that Carlsen will draw against Short tomorrow. Only because Short is already -2 and will have
extra incentive not seeing -3.
Kramnik might be able to gain full point against Nakamura if he is able to take Nake to a complicated endgame :-). If not, Naka might just play for a draw.
London Times sports headline : H-Bomb is ROYAL dud
London Classic is certainly destined to be one, great tournament. We can only hope it becomes an annual event.
I would really have liked to see Nigel and Hikaru perform better but they just didn't answer the bell. Kudos to Luke McShane for his fighting performance. This will certainly boost his tournament appearances.
And there's still one round left, plenty of opportunity for some last minute fireworks!
The 3-1-0 scoring system is called Bilbao rules apparently. One of the organisers told us on Saturday that Kasparov had phoned him up after Carlsen's draw with Howell. He was complaining about the tournament having both Sophia and Bilbao rules, reasoning that they both do the same thing and that Carlsen was punished for having such a long draw that evening. The organiser didn't have an answer for him and was asking us for suggestions of what to tell Garry the next time he phoned up :).
The scoring system will not allow a shared 1st place. Either Carlsen or Kramnik will be the winner.
It's funny to see McShane with a negative score above Adams and Howell, who have equal score.
If Kramnik wins his last game, we might see 3 players above 2800 in the January rating list. I believe it will be the first time in history.
Short's losses will probably allow Adams to regain his place as the top British guy on the rating list, by simply drawing his games. Except perhaps if Short wins his last game - but against Carlsen, this is a very tall order.
The scoring system will not allow a shared 1st place. Either Carlsen or Kramnik will be the winner.
It's funny to see McShane with a negative score above Adams and Howell, who have equal score.
If Kramnik wins his last game, we might see 3 players above 2800 in the January rating list. I believe it will be the first time in history.
Short's losses will probably allow Adams to regain his place as the top British guy on the rating list, by simply drawing his games. Except perhaps if Short wins his last game - but against Carlsen, this is a very tall order.
The scoring system will not allow a shared 1st place. Either Carlsen or Kramnik will be the winner.
It's funny to see McShane with a negative score above Adams and Howell, who have equal score.
If Kramnik wins his last game, we might see 3 players above 2800 in the January rating list. I believe it will be the first time in history.
Short's losses will probably allow Adams to regain his place as the top British guy on the rating list, by simply drawing his games. Except perhaps if Short wins his last game - but against Carlsen, this is a very tall order.
The scoring system will not allow a shared 1st place. Either Carlsen or Kramnik will be the winner.
It's funny to see McShane with a negative score above Adams and Howell, who have equal score.
If Kramnik wins his last game, we might see 3 players above 2800 in the January rating list. I believe it will be the first time in history.
Short's losses will probably allow Adams to regain his place as the top British guy on the rating list, by simply drawing his games. Except perhaps if Short wins his last game - but against Carlsen, this is a very tall order.
The scoring system will not allow a shared 1st place. Either Carlsen or Kramnik will be the winner.
It's funny to see McShane with a negative score above Adams and Howell, who have equal score.
If Kramnik wins his last game, we might see 3 players above 2800 in the January rating list. I believe it will be the first time in history.
Short's losses will probably allow Adams to regain his place as the top British guy on the rating list, by simply drawing his games. Except perhaps if Short wins his last game - but against Carlsen, this is a very tall order.
Sorry for the repetition. Please delete the redundancy.
"Kramnik might be able to gain full point against Nakamura if he is able to take Nake to a complicated endgame :-). If not, Naka might just play for a draw."
Or, Naka will feel some satisfaction from depriving Carlsen of the win, and thus not play as hard as he otherwise would...
But that's a far fetched theory, i guess.
"If Kramnik wins his last game, we might see 3 players above 2800 in the January rating list. I believe it will be the first time in history."
It would be the first time in history someone gains more than a dozen points by beating Naka :)
So, if Carlsens wins or draws tomorrow he will be new official number one (unless Topalov can quickly organize a fake event in Sofia to take points :-)).
What happens if he looses?
"The scoring system will not allow a shared 1st place. Either Carlsen or Kramnik will be the winner."
Carlsen loses, Kramnik draws - they both end up on 12 points, don't they? (of course they'll find a winner by the tie-breaks)
"What happens if he looses?"
He'll still be the new #1, due to more played games than Topa even though they'll have the same points.
I guess Kramnik will get the best game prize today, but probably he would have been happy to leave that one (and the 1,000€) to Adams - who didn't manage to finish off what looked like a nice counterattacking game against Carlsen.
About the last round tomorrow: Yes, Short is probably happy with a draw. Regarding Nakamura, "it depends" if he really wants to finish the tournament without winning a single game. But if Naka takes risks against Kramnik, Vlad will in turn get winning chances with black!?
Oh yes, if Carlsen loses, he might get a shared 1st place. Somehow Carlsen losing against Short didn't occur as a possibility to me :-).
Personally I think they could do with more silence in the auditorium. It never ceases to amaze me how little idea some people have of how to behave.
Still, there's not much the organisers can do about that when however many thousand years it is of civilisation we've had have failed, and apart from that it's been brilliant. Although the loud intros to the simul during the final stages of round seven of the open could perhaps have been avoided. I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been my distracted opponent who put a piece en prise instead of me.
Talking about Carlsen's rating, I got interested in checking how many youngsters (which I take as under 25) are among the top 10 and 20.
There is often discussions about how more and more young people are getting to the top quickly, compared with earlier periods.
But is this really true?
In the next (January 2010) rating list, there will be probably around 4 players younger than 25 in the top 10, plus around 3 more within top 20.
But in the early 90s we have about the same number of youngsters close to the top: Anand, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Shirov, Topalov, Kamsky, Polgar, Adams, Dreev. (not counting other youngsters who were top 20 for a short period such as Tiviakov, Lautier, etc).
Only when we go further back do we see a clear contrast. The 1970s were dominated by older guys, except Karpov, and a couple others.
"What happens if he looses?"
Looses what? The hounds?
Bilbao rules are working just fine in this tournament , thx to them tomorrow Kramnik has hypothetical chances of winning the event alone ,thus making the last round even more exciting.
If the older system were aplied Carlsen would already be first or shared first.
Sofia and Bilbao rules worked nice toguether , we had a truly fighting tournament with many long and hard fought games , like it should be.
¨If the older system were aplied Carlsen would already be first or shared first.¨
I meant by playing for a quick draw in the last round which now is not enough for him if Kramnik wins..
"'Idiotic system' works for me."
Yes, it is ridiculous to award the same points to "Player A" who scores six draws and the obviously superior "Player B" who scores two wins and four losses.
So I suggest the Bilbao-Improved Rules: Ten points for a win, one point for a draw. And if that doesn't work, drag any wimpy draw player away from the board and beat him with a stick.
Heh.. How did you do by the way?
I am one of those unfortunates who couldn't get a ticket to get in on Saturday at the gate. As the organisers so gleefully informed us, it was sold out...
Ah. Well, I could have told you that in advance!
I did OK, 6/9 in the open. A mere thrown game plus Mark Hebden failing to win a winning rook endgame away from taking one one-nineteenth share of whatever eighth prize was.
Still, apart from listening to the players show their games to the public when I could, the main thrill was going to the closing banquet and assisting my table in beating the assembled great ones (plus David Norwood and Malc) in their collective simul. Well, when I say assisting, what I mean is watching GM Will Watson perform that feat, but it was fun anyway.
A wonderful event; pretty much a perfect chess tournament. I really hope they do it again. The organisers have great plans, from what they were saying.
Damn, I am really disappointed as that was the only day I could make it. I almost bought a ticket online a couple of weeks before, but for some reason didn't like the online site. Oh well, my stupidity and mine alone.
6/9 sounds great, well done.