2nd Vugar Gashimov Memorial 16-26 April 2015

[Chris Rice]

Michael Adams has just been invited to play in this tournament as Radjabov has withdrawn through illness. The line up is:

Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2863)
Fabiano Caruana (Italy, 2802)
Viswanathan Anand (India, 2791)
Anish Giri (Netherlands, 2790)
Wesley So (USA, 2788)
Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2783)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France, 2762)
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2754)
Michael Adams (2746)
Rauf Mamedov (2651).

It is interesting that the tournament which is in Azerbaijan overlaps with the World Team Championship in Armenia that the Azerbaijan team refuses to play in. Perhaps its just a coincidence.

http://www.shamkirchess.az/content/2
http://www.chessdom.com/adams-to-replac ... ournament/

[Mick Norris]

Round 1 (April 17, 2015)
Anand, Viswanathan - Carlsen, Magnus
So, Wesley - Giri, Anish
Kramnik, Vladimir - Adams, Michael
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Caruana, Fabiano
Mamedov, Rauf - Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime

[Mick Norris]

preview

The rate of play will be 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes to finish the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 61 onwards

[Simon Brown]

Quite brave of Mickey to take on that field with 2 weeks' notice. Black side of a Catalan against Kramnik usually isn't much fun and I don't like his position at move 16.

[Roger de Coverly]

Quite brave of Mickey to take on that field with 2 weeks' notice. Black side of a Catalan against Kramnik usually isn't much fun and I don't like his position at move 16.

He should be well familiar with most of his opponents, some of whom he would have been facing for twenty years or more. In today's game, he will presumably now be steering for a complete liquidation of the queen-side. That's not to say he will succeed but at move 23 he seems on his way to that objective.

(edit) He lost the a pawn, but failed to win the c pawn. So 1-0 (/edit)

[David Robertson]

Formula Kramnik with the Catalan. He'd have found shelling peas harder work

[MJMcCready]

He always struggles against Kramnik, sometimes it seems like he is psychologically lost before his position is.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Hmmm, didn't Mickey have a decent record against Vlad once? Not in recent years, admittedly......

[MJMcCready]

Maybe before Kramnik was world champion but not in recent years. What was the opening played by So and Giri? Does it even have a name?

[IM Jack Rudd]

Its ECO code is A10, which is English Opening - unspecified variation.

[Event "superturnir"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2015.04.17"] [Round "1.5"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [BlackElo "2790"] [WhiteElo "2788"] [ECO "A10"] 1. c4 {[%clk 1:59:57]} g6 {[%clk 1:58:36]} 2. e4 {[%clk 1:57:20]} e5 {[%clk 1:55:40]} 3. d4 {[%clk 1:57:04]} Nf6 {[%clk 1:54:25]} 4. dxe5 {[%clk 1:54:19]} Nxe4 {[%clk 1:53:18]} 5. Bd3 {[%clk 1:50:32]} Bb4+ {[%clk 1:39:30]} 6. Kf1 {[%clk 1:21:46]} Nc5 {[%clk 1:27:46]} 7. Nf3 {[%clk 1:20:54]} Ne6 {[%clk 1:10:22]} 8. a3 {[%clk 1:08:36]} Be7 {[%clk 1:07:19]} 9. Nc3 {[%clk 1:07:48]} d6 {[%clk 1:06:38]} 10. exd6 {[%clk 1:01:57]} Bxd6 {[%clk 1:05:43]} 11. b4 {[%clk 0:57:43]} Bf8 {[%clk 0:53:45]} 12. Qe2 {[%clk 0:48:51]} Bg7 {[%clk 0:53:11]} 13. Bg5 {[%clk 0:48:01]} Bf6 {[%clk 0:46:08]} 14. Bxf6 {[%clk 0:38:43]} Qxf6 {[%clk 0:46:01]} 15. Qd2 {[%clk 0:36:56]} O-O {[%clk 0:45:16]} 16. Re1 {[%clk 0:36:36]} Qd8 {[%clk 0:37:05]} 17. Rd1 {[%clk 0:33:16]} a5 {[%clk 0:34:27]} 18. h4 {[%clk 0:32:11]} axb4 {[%clk 0:29:52]} 19. axb4 {[%clk 0:31:50]} Nd7 {[%clk 0:26:30]} 20. h5 {[%clk 0:27:02]} Nf6 {[%clk 0:24:57]} 21. c5 {[%clk 0:25:18]} b6 {[%clk 0:21:20]} 22. hxg6 {[%clk 0:22:52]} fxg6 {[%clk 0:21:12]} 23. Qe3 {[%clk 0:22:36]} Qe7 {[%clk 0:17:08]} 24. Bc4 {[%clk 0:21:55]} bxc5 {[%clk 0:16:32]} 25. b5 {[%clk 0:19:30]} Rb8 {[%clk 0:10:51]} 26. Re1 {[%clk 0:16:42]} Rb6 {[%clk 0:04:12]} 27. Na4 {[%clk 0:16:30]} Rd6 {[%clk 0:03:25]} 28. Nxc5 {[%clk 0:15:49]} Ng4 {[%clk 0:03:24]} 29. Qe4 {[%clk 0:11:52]} Nxf2 {[%clk 0:03:22]} 30. Kxf2 {[%clk 0:11:37]} Rd2+ {[%clk 0:03:18]} 31. Kg3 {[%clk 0:06:14]} Rxf3+ {[%clk 0:01:51]} 32. gxf3 {[%clk 0:05:24]} 1-0

[MartinCarpenter]

Have a feeling its named after Adorjan? Fairly sure its one of his ideas anyway.

[Roger de Coverly]

What was the opening played by So and Giri? Does it even have a name?

For want of a better name "English Opening". That particular line of play isn't anything new, being known from some 1970s games by Hartston, Timman and others. The specific 6. Kf1 looks to be an attempt to improve on a Korchnoi - Timman game from 1976 where Nd2 was played.

1.c4 g6 2. e4 e5 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Bd3 Bb4+ 6. Kf1

If you are prepared to play a Kings Indian, you don't really care too much about the White move-order. If not then you venture into territory unknown to many amateur players of 1. c4 g6 2. e4 e5 so as to avoid it in its most normal form.

(edit) (as above) The idea of the early .. e5 has been attributed to Adorjan. The earliest games, including one by Adorjan, date back to 1972. The idea spread amongst top players including the British ones, as Tony Miles used it as Black in the 1972 British against Alan Perkins. The Informator era had after all started by then. (/edit)

[MJMcCready]

Thanks, never seen it before. Very odd looking.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I think it has been dubbed the "Anglo-Indian".

[Mick Norris]

TWIC round 1 report

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