Candidates Tournament 2013

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Jonathan Bryant
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:23 pm

Jonathan Rogers wrote:I notice incidentally that the organisers still envisage the winner playing Anand this year - who really believes this?
I suspect it might depend if Carlsen qualifies or not. You know it might happen. I can imagine a situation where everything else AGON were trying to do goes completely pearshaped, but they can still scrape a World Championship match together.


As for today, I thought it was a pretty decent first round all in all.

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:14 pm

It was Ok. It was always one of the more likely contenders for four draws, not only because it was the first round but also because only one of the favourites had White - and he against Carlsen. This game was the one disappointment, though Paolo rightly says above that it is better for the tournament that, having achieved nothing in the opening, Aronian at least made sure he didn't lose.

Interesting play from Radjabov, though with him it is taken for granted that he plays interesting chess - with Black. One sensed that both he and Grischuk were prepared to test the oldest players in the event, albeit within limits.

Actually, I thought that, having played on as long as he did, Grischuk might have played a couple more moves - or at least that this would be worth doing at a lower level. The final position was:

White - king d3, pawns f3, g3, h4
Black - king f7, pawns a3, b5, h5

Now after 1 Kc3 b4+ 2 Kb3 Kf6 it is indeed a draw but should White play 3 g4 or 3 f4, or does it not matter? (Yes, this is episode 94 of my occasional "instructive endgame" series).

Colin S Crouch
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Colin S Crouch » Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:44 pm

Some brief comments, including notes to the Svidler - Kramnik game, in my site Shakthinking.

I will add more on later rounds, but not necessarily one a day.

Clive Blackburn

Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Clive Blackburn » Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:51 pm

Jonathan Rogers wrote: Now after 1 Kc3 b4+ 2 Kb3 Kf6 it is indeed a draw but should White play 3 g4 or 3 f4, or does it not matter? (Yes, this is episode 94 of my occasional "instructive endgame" series).

Angus French
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Angus French » Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:59 pm

Colin S Crouch wrote:Some brief comments, including notes to the Svidler - Kramnik game, in my site Shakthinking.

I will add more on later rounds, but not necessarily one a day.
Colin's site and his comments on the Candidates' Tournament including the Svidler - Kramnik game.

Matthew Turner
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Matthew Turner » Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:00 pm

I hope round two will be an interesting round. Grischuk and Radjabov seem to be the dark horses to me and they have white in round 2. If they are going to make a serious challenge then it would be good to put down a mark in the sand. Carlsen has White against Kramink and a win would really cement his position as firm favourite. A draw or even a loss for Carlsen would leave Kramnik with a very nice start (having had two blacks). Aronian has a second white so he will be under a bit of pressure if he doesn't register a win.

Predictions
Carlsen draw Kramnik
Grischuk 1-0 Svidler
Radjabov 1-0 Ivanchuk
Aronian draw Gelfand

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:23 pm

Would swap the Aronian and Radjabov results around, myself.......
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Ray Sayers

Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Ray Sayers » Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:57 pm

Let's go to Fantasy Island (de plane boss, de plane!):

Carlsen 1 - 0 Kramnik
Grischuk 0 - 1 Svidler
Radjabov 1-0 Ivanchuk
Aronian 1 - 0 Gelfand

And a streaker invades the stage as part of the 'Original Staunton pieces for Justice' campaign.

David Sedgwick
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by David Sedgwick » Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:38 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:Agon were supposedly making changes to the traditional Staunton designs. There are some chess sets on display in the background of some of the shots of the reception. They don't look much different apart from the Knights seeming a bit fatter. In any event for transmission of live games, they would have to use the DGT pieces or engineer the DGT adaptations into their new design.
The new style sets are indeed in use, although, as you say, the design does not differ greatly from the traditional one.

DGT were commissioned to install their technology into a small number of the new style sets.

David Blower
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by David Blower » Sat Mar 16, 2013 2:50 am

Just got back sorry if its not what people want to hear, but I don't think it was worth £25. It did confirm to me that chess is a better sport to play than to watch! Don't get me wrong though I'm glad I went (when else am I going to see the worlds top players in action,) but I wouldn't need to go again.

I was amazed btw at the amount of times the players kept getting up from their seat. THey could hardly sit still.

There was commentry, in an outside room, and there were screens following the action inside it, although these were in my opinion really difficult to see.

I'll post more later on, but am going to bed as I have just got back from London.

P.S. Anyone thinking about the autograph books out, the players basically went straight into a press conference after the match.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:09 am

As Colin said, four draws by really strong players. I mentioned short draws earlier, but none of these were that, it seems that the players matched up really well in terms of maintaining equality, though the human side came through as I watched four of them struggle in time trouble like mere mortals.

I was there from the start today, and jotted down a few thoughts, some of which I'm going to post here. Part of the reason I wrote about my impressions of the venue and the opening moments and the first round is because cameras, mobile phones, and other electronic equipment are not allowed in the playing hall. So I was forced to actually observe and watch, rather than being lazy and taking photos!

I did end up with seven pages of notebook scribbles, so I'll try and shorten it a bit here. Some bits may be useful to those travelling to the venue later in the event.

Travelling by train, I took the scenic route from London Waterloo, a 10-minute walk across the Thames over Waterloo Bridge (the road bridge). The playing venue, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in Savoy Place is right beside the north bank end of the bridge, on the left, down steps and across a road. I arrived around 10 minutes before the round was due to start (2pm), and took pictures of the outside and of the Michael Faraday statue, doing my best to ignore the fact that Vladimir Kramnik was walking past at just that moment. These would turn out to be the only photos I took that day, as inside I was told that cameras and mobile phones and bags had to be deposited in the cloakroom.

I then collected my ticket from the tournament shop (just behind the main reception) and proceeded to the playing hall, the room called the Lecture Theatre. Both this hall and the commentary room are on the ground floor, all very close together. The security for the playing hall is airport-style, with a walk-through gate scanner and handheld scanners used to check those entering the playing hall. The room itself is surprisingly intimate, with about 300 seats arranged in a U-shape around a central area where the four chess tables and boards are located on the same level as the seating (i.e. not up on a stage). It is also relatively dimly lit, with each board having its own overhead light, making for a more serious atmosphere compared to other events I've attended. This is understandable, given that this is part of the World Championship Cycle.

When I entered, a few minutes before play started, the central area was bustling and full of press, dignitaries, and tournament officials, all circling around the players who were seated at the boards. I took my seat (you can sit anywhere within the seating area) and took the opportunity to gaze around the room. The audience was a mix of the paying public, guests, presumably friends and family of the players, and journalists, though many of the latter later went off to the press room. The arbiters included David Sedgwick, and there seemed to be one arbiter for each game. There were just over 100 people in the audience, with a capacity of around 300, so around one-third full. Large event posters at the front of the room were either side of the central display screen that shows the positions in each game. The ceiling had an intriguing display, presumably some engineering diagram/artwork, and gravitas was provided by portraits around the room of eminent engineers.

All attention soon turned though to the contest that was about to get underway. Small cameras trained on the boards relayed the view of the players to the watching worldwide audience, with other cameras on the upper balconies. In the front left corner, technical staff kept things under control. The arrangement of the boards meant that depending on where you chose to sit, you saw different angles of each board. To see all four boards, sitting in the middle section is best. AGON, FIDE, SOCAR, and Samsung logos were present. The players were identified by cards below and on the sides of the tables, emblazoned with name and country flags.

Those at the opening were a mix of chess journalists and photographers. The opening round was started by someone who I did not recognise, but who was presumably the Chief Arbiter.[1] Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (FIDE President) and someone else whose name I didn't catch (possibly a SOCAR representative)[2] made the first moves in Radjabov's game. There was a slightly awkward moment when it seemed there was some confusion over a name, and there was a chuckle from the audience.[3] That chuckle seemed to pick up on the underlying tension, as the players seemed to be more on edge here than at other events, understandable considering what is at stake. All the players were formally attired, with suits and blazers and some wearing ties as well. The body language was fascinating to watch, both at the board and while they strolled around the central area between moves.

One annoying quirk was that the display used lagged noticeably behind the players' moves. This wasn't too bad in the sedate phases of play, but during the two time trouble scrambles later it became difficult to follow what was actually happening in the game, and rather frustrating. Returning to the start of the games, after one hour's play, there were no obvious advantages on any boards. Some in the audience were beginning to doze off. Just after 3pm, moves 12, 11, 13 and 13 had been made for Black on each board. In the Svidler-Kramnik game, the queens and a pair of knights had been traded, while all the other games still had lots of material on the boards.

At this point, I decided to go to the commentary room. Inside, there was an interesting set up, more as a social and gathering point than an audience for commentary. Chairs were around the side of the room, with nine tables and chess sets in the centre of the room for people to play chess while standing and partaking of the refreshments that were on sale. The commentators in action at the time were Lawrence Trent and Malcolm Pein. Around 15 people were there, with those online and in the audience also listening. These headphones came with the tablet computers to be found in the playing hall. There were not enough of these tablet computers for all the spectators, so it appears to be a case of getting there early enough and sitting in the right place. The tablet computers provided analysis in the form of 'advantage bars' (the same Chess Casting output was available online, I think), and video broadcasts and commentary. There was also a 'crowdsourcing analysis' option where you could analyse with (presumably) other audience members, though I'm not sure how popular this was. No sign of the 'eye-following' technology, which was a disappointment to me personally as I had been looking forward to that.

Back with the games, it was by now clear that Aronian-Carlsen was heading swiftly for a very symmetrical draw. At this point I discovered that re-entering the playing hall involved another search, which could get tedious after a while, but again it is understandable given the prize being played for here. Svidler-Kramnik also ended in a draw, but the audience that waited until 6pm were treated to not one, but two time scrambles, with Ivanchuk making his last 6 moves in less than a minute. However, both games (Gelfand-Radjabov and Ivanchuk-Grischuk) were still drawn.

Having just read what David Blower posted about his thoughts on attending, I agree that this is not an 'autograph' type of tournament. It was probably a bit naive of me to say that earlier. It is clear that all the players are treating this very seriously (as you would expect), and the tension is palpable. I'm just enjoying having the chance to see them playing live. The commentary room was perhaps the most disappointing part of the day, though maybe I should spend more time there on another day. My visit ended with a short walk up to the Strand in light rain, to get a bus to Victoria to, funnily enough, a chess club! :D

[1] Werner Stubenvoll of Austria.
[2] The person accompanying the FIDE President was his assistant Berik Balgabaev, not a SOCAR representative as I had thought.
[3] The story behind this is related here.

EDIT: With thanks to David Sedgwick for later additions and corrections.
Last edited by Christopher Kreuzer on Sun Mar 17, 2013 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

David Blower
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by David Blower » Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:24 am

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
One annoying quirk was that the display used lagged noticeably behind the players' moves. This wasn't too bad in the sedate phases of play, but during the two time trouble scrambles later it became difficult to follow what was actually happening in the game, and rather frustrating.

Some in the audience were beginning to doze off.
Totally agree with the lag on the displays boards. Especially if we were down to 30 seconds per move or even less than that in some cases.

I confess I was one. The dark room, the quietness, the fact I had a long journey. I believe the science behind is that its called a "micro sleep."

Nigel Short
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Nigel Short » Sat Mar 16, 2013 6:54 am

White should play 3.g4, of course, because after 3.f4? he is lost.

Mick Norris
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Mick Norris » Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:55 am

Any postings on here represent my personal views

Matthew Turner
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Re: Candidates Tournament 2013

Post by Matthew Turner » Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:15 am

Thanks for the links. Interestingly Mark Crowther is talking up Svidler's chances and I noticed the commentary team doing that yesterday too. I thought Peter gave a brilliant interview after his game, where he seemed both humble and focused, but I really don't see him as a potential winner. Do other people disagree?