These 7:30 rounds will kill me if I don't get some sleep, so I'm mostly just posting to give you more thread. The official site has a nice recap up, with game commentary by Nakamura on his explosive win over van Wely. Shirov took advantage of a strange decision by Caruana to sac a pawn instead of taking a draw. He's now on 2/2 and in the clear lead with Nakamura and Carlsen on +1. The world #1 was outprepared by the Botvinnik Variation-obsessed Jan Smeets, but the Dutchman made one slip and that's usually fatal in this sharpest of sharp lines. Teenage Dutch champion Giri won again in the B group to take the lead there and American Ray Robson went to 2/2 in the C group with an extremely entertaining victory.
Almost all the Group A games were exciting and we had lots of great stuff on ICC Chess.FM with super-commentator Peter Svidler and guest star Jan Gustafsson. I hope to have more time to relay extensive game notes tomorrow. The dynamic GM duo will swap seats in round three, with Gustafsson on all day and Svidler dropping by.
Round 3: Dominguez-Anand, Leko-Karjakin, Caruana-Kramnik, Tiviakov-Shirov, Smeets-Ivanchuk, van Wely-Carlsen, Short-Nakamura
Svid/Gusti are a great combo. Really entertaining stuff Sunday, I am sorry I have to work Monday:)
The organizers of Corus must be extremely pleased so far. Extremely entertaining chess in each of the Groups so far. Looks like we'll have another couple of weeks of great chess.
Hurrah for Ray Robson! If you haven't played over Nakamura's win vs. Van Wely, do yourself a favor and savor!
I have played over Nakamura-van Wely and it's a truly amazing game. The b4 move is the kind you'll love to play but very few have the nerves to do. Nakamura truly knows no fear.
Good tournament thus far. I hope Alexei Shirov can keep this early lead but there are several banana skins ahead.
for those of us unable to enjoy the beautiful wonder of svidler... is icc offering a full recap to the round?!! They did last year svidler opened it up in rd1!
Another win by Anish Giri, another 50$ for the Haiti Red cross!
"The b4 move is the kind you'll love to play but very few have the nerves to do. Nakamura truly knows no fear."
It was a nice game, but that's just hype. Pretty much every GM has the nerves to play a good move they've prepared at home when they know it'll give them a very good game at worst.
It's funny how the pairings have worked out at Corus. Yesterday the ELO favourites had white in every game - today they have black in all but Leko-Karjakin.
According to Chesspro Van Wely gave Carlsen's 10...Ne4 a ? when analysing a game of his with Piket from 1997 - though Rybka seems perfectly happy with it.
Kramnik played the Petroff again against Caruana, but with opposite side castling and potential pawn storms it doesn't look that drawish (famous last words).
Any updates really welcome as cannot have a chess board graphic on my screen at work :-)
Leko-Karjakin & Caruana-Kramnik drawn.
Dominguez has 3 v 2 pawns on one side against Anand - with a pair of rook and same coloured bishops.
Short was under pressure against Nakamura, seemed to find a good way of solidifying his position, but then committed suicide. Nakamura hasn't been Rybka-accurate in converting it, but should still win easily.
Van Wely got into trouble against a Carlsen novelty but liquidated to an endgame a pawn down. He got rooks on the 7th rank and seemed likely to draw, though he just withdrew one of them to the 2nd - I'd bet on Carlsen gradually converting, though if it was Kramnik instead of Van Wely I'd bet on a draw.
Tiviakov-Shirov and Smeets-Ivanchuk both fascinating. Tiviakov and Smeets seemed to be doing well - but the Rybka assessment has been swinging. At present Smeets has a slight edge and Shirov seems to be a pawn up, but anything could happen.
Tiviakov was in a horrible position but now he's blundered mate or something very close to it. Ivanchuk also seems to be crashing through in a Sicilian - the kingside's blocked and his a&b pawns have white's king position in ruins. Van Wely short of time and Carlsen's advantage increasing - still some chances based on "all rook endings are drawn"... Dominguez-Anand is still a game for Soviet GMs to say whether it's theoretically drawn or not - I don't know :)
Thanks a million!
Shirov goes 3/3!
White 0 - Black 4
Time trouble made short work of it... Van Wely and Smeets both lost quickly (Van Wely should surely have just taken the c4 pawn when he had the chance - the position doesn't look great, but non-existent pawns are less likely to become queens in time trouble).
The ELO advantage of black ended up in 4 black wins! Only Dominguez could get a consolation win for white, but probably Anand will be able to hold it (it's already at move 58!).
Black is very OK today in the A group, so far +4=2 (and methinks Anand will draw in the end, albeit after some more suffering). Of course this has something to do with what mishanp pointed out: "Yesterday the ELO favourites had white in every game - today they have black in all but Leko-Karjakin."
Naka win = $10 for Haitian relief.
B-R5 (played by both Short and Naka!) was a signature Kasparov move.
Alexey!! :) but game was strange...wasn't it a Tiviakov novelty which provoked all that? van Wely threw it all away with Kg3. I think a4 then would have still drawn as the Rd3+ won't be possible. Really unfortunate.
Round 7 is Nakamura - Shirov. If they keep playing this way that could be one hell of a game.
We all weak plaers include me so all we say is no accurat talking. Some who say most also make most mistakes but they like. Even the real plaers bumder all over like me.
... me Cheeta, you Tarzan
Anand can't lose that position. It would be difficult to lose that position even against a player 300 pts higher rated than you are if you are over 2000.
OK Mig, you've got your Rnd 3 recap byline: "Fire On Board!" : )
This is turning out to be a truly fantastic tournament and a great way for chess to begin 2010. One of my favorites who I've been following for more than 15 years, Alexei Shirov, is doing everything right with his perfect +3 score and I hope he keeps it up. Not only is it great to see him on form, but he'll need all the plus scores he can get before entering the round 8 through round 12 wrecking crew of world class chess heroes.
I could lose if I Anand.
Excuse me for saying it, but this I M Stoopid guy is very entertaining.
Round 4 Preview:
Vishy Anand - Hikaru Nakamura (What does Vishy have against the KID?)
Alexei Shirov - Jan Smeets (4/4?)
Magnus Kasparov - Nigel Short (1-0)
---
And later in Round 8:
Vladimir Kramnik - Hikaru Nakamura (4)... d6 against Kramnik? No KIDding)
Shirov faces Smeets, Van Wely, and Short in the next three rounds. He could be on 6/6 after those! I'd expect him to score at least 2/3 in these three games.
I think I M Stoopid is Ramvakh's brother.
I think there is a glitch on the official website: it shows Kasparov-trained wonderboy is behind a talented amateur.
I take it we'll see no Sicilian or 1.e4 from Vishy, saving his stuff for what's-his-name. Here's hoping he revs up anyway, I like dominant champs.
I am not sure 1.e4 is the best Anand can do. Topalov can play the Petroff, too, IIRC. But you may be right about the Sicilian.
And to answer StringTheory, Anand-Nakamura won't have to be the KID, even if Anand plays 1.d4. Nakamura is known to play the Dutch, among other things. I think that may actually be a game where we will see Anand play 1.e4, as I have a feeling Anand may still be more comfortable with facing the offbeat lines (and Naka is likely to play one) in the open games.
I didn't follow the games closely today.
There are some impressions
1)van Wely-Carlsen
Loek must have really fallen off the cliff if he has games like this, Seems like he has no clue what's going on. Was Nd6 forced? and what about the vague move Rc2?
Carlsen just keeps on rolling to 2900. There are maybe 20 people left in the world who can play him without fear.
2)Dominguez-Anand
I didn't wait for the end of this one. Was it a draw? Whatever Vishy said in an interview has to be exactly opposite to how he really feels. Here he plays loose and fun chess, something that he hasn't done in many years - which indicates no pressure. Remember him groveling for a draw against Ivanchuk in the Slav? No more of that.
3)Caruana-Kramnik
No comment
4)Leko-Karjakin
Same here
5)Smeets-Ivanchuk
This time Vassily really went for it. Never mind that his position was bad - anything would work against a guy who cannot manage his clock. Smeets was able to sneak up on people last year, but as El Khalif mentioned in his predictions, no such luck this time. The tall Dutchman needs to pull himself together or it's not going to be pretty.
6)Short-Nakamura
A thought after two tough games with Black Nigel would be extra careful in this one, and the quiet opening seemed to confirm this. However, it's almost impossible to keep Nakamura down these days. Just like Carlsen, he can beat you with most obvious moves and make it look inevitable.
7)Tiviakov-Shirov
In every game so far Shirov achieved Herculean deeds. Here he rocked the steady Tivi right out of the opening and made him look anything but a perennial 2670 guy.
After three rounds.
Biggest surprise: Shirov
Biggest disappointment: Smeets
Should have stayed home: Van Wely, Short, Leko
Dark Horse: Karjakin, Caruana
Excellent stuff, I (we) hope you keep it coming!
randowan,
Can you verify that Giri is donating to the Haitian fund for each win? I'd like to report on it. Send me a link. Thx!
Not enough love being given to the word "Boleslavskij", re: Short-Nakamura.
I try very hard becusae I nto such good plaeyer as other poeples and mabey not as smart but who can say. So any way thank you for what you say.
Once again, excellent commentary from our GM kiblitzer, Yermo.
Yermo - Thank you for edifying the Caissic masses.
How about a 2nd Biggest Disappointment category tie for Anand and Kramnik's performances? Two World Champions starting out as they have against the opponents they've faced? Seems lame to this patzer...
http://www.chesspro.ru/_events/2010/weik2.html is good as usual - though the Vasiliev man love for Nakamura is a little disturbing! :) (and the labels - Nakamura is "Hooligan" & one Carlsen photo "Poet - Viking"...
Shirov comments on his three wins. Leko:
"It turned out that Leko and I switched roles. While he was thinking over his move it seemed to me that he'd enter an endgame with opposite coloured bishops and an extra pawn. I'd have done that in his position. I think with accurate play I should have been able to hold the draw. Besides, it seemed to me that it would have been his style: playing without risk, with chances to win, and then see what happens. And suddenly Peter made a choice that amazed me: he went for a very sharp position (19.bc), where I saw that I didn't seem to be any worse in the complications. It really wasn't any worse and later when I analysed the game I saw that the computer shows equality. However, at the board it's not so easy to find. During the game I assessed the position as equal, but I also couldn't see a clear defence for him. And when Leko sacrificed the exchange I realised that I was playing for a win".
Caruana:
"It was drawn. But I managed to find a few practical chances. He had to make a choice between a number of types of position, I think that they were all objectively drawn, but it was a choice he had to make, and he seemed to refrain a little and then chose the wrong one".
Tiviakov:
"Sergey played the opening interestingly. The position was complex and seemed about equal. We exchanged a lot of pieces, material was equal, opposite coloured bishops, but actually there were a lot of nuances and a danger that black could end up worse. I think I managed to find an interesting move 18...Qd4, which at least didn't allow white to start playing "strategic chess", and meant we both had a lot to calculate as a very complex position arose.
And when I began to calculate it seemed to me that I wasn't any worse. And if that's the case it means I chose the correct line. Well, and after that everything just came together well".
Karjakin mentioned that he thinks Dominguez (a Topalov second) had used preparation that had been worked on with Topalov - if true I can imagine Danailov having a few words!
About Kramnik-Leko:
- It seemed as though white was on the verge of delivering the decisive blow, and black's position would collapse... - I said to Vladimir.
- Yes, on the surface black's position looked very precarious, - Kramnik replied. - But he found some only moves and defended extremely well. Perhaps I should have played 24. Nh7 instead of 24. Qg3, but that didn't seem so clear to me. In the post mortem we didn't find anything I could have done to win. In general, it ended up as a logical draw. Now I'll go and have a look, perhaps the computer will recommend where I could have played better.
Leko thinks he had a strategically lost position and only saved it by a miracle: "I had to make 20 only moves!"
Thanks mishanp. Thanks Yermo. Thanks Mig. We get all these resources at no cost.
Sorry to disappoint you - I was following up on the earlier topic where someone proposed that we should all send some money to Haiti if our favourite players win. And Giri won, so I sent some money.
To be fair, the Russian word "hooligan" has evolved quite a bit, so it is probably better to translate it (back) as "the bad boy" or some such.
And yes, thanks to yermo for the interesting insights.
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