London Classic Grand Tour

[John McKenna]

Guys, Geoff Chandler will be along to admonish us - me for no diag. and you(s) for not even giving the drawing move's name, rank and serial no. I give up.

[Roger de Coverly]

Here's the whole game
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bd3 Nxf4 9. exf4 b6 10. b4 a5 11. a3 c6 12. O-O Ba6 13. Re1 Bf6 14. Ne5 Bxe5 15. fxe5 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Ra7 17. g3 Qa8 18. Rab1 axb4 19. axb4 Ra3 20. Qc2 Rb8 21. h4 h6 22. Kg2 Qa6 23. Rec1 bxc5 24. bxc5 Rxb1 25. Qxb1 Qc4 26. Qb2 Rb3 27. Qd2 Qb4 28. Rc2 f6 29. f4 fxe5 30. fxe5 Nf8 31. Ne2 Qb7 32. Nf4 Qf7 33. Rb2 Rxb2 34. Qxb2 g5 35. hxg5 hxg5 36. Nd3 Ng6 37. Nf2 Ne7 38. Qd2 Qg6 39. g4 Kg7 40. Nh3 Kh6 41. Kg3 Nc8 42. Qf2 Kg7 43. Qe3 Kh6 44. Qf3 Kg7 45. Qa3 Qe4 46. Nxg5 Qe1+ 47. Kf4 Qf2+ 48. Nf3 Ne7 49. Qa7 Kf8 50. Qb8+ Kf7 51. Qb7 Kf8 52. Qd7 Ng6+ 53. Kg5 Qxf3 54. Qxe6 Nh8 55. Qf5+ Nf7+ 56. Kf6 Qxf5+ 57. gxf5 Nd8 58. e6 Nf7 59. Kg6 Nd8 60. Kf6 Nf7 61. exf7 ½-½

and the position showing the drawing resource.
[SetUp "1"]<br> [FEN "5k2/5n2/2p1PK2/2Pp1P2/3P4/8/8/8 w - - 5 61"]

Earlier the chessbomb stockfish doesn't think giving up the pawn by 45. .. Qe4 is the best move, but seeking active play is a plausible idea and not a blunder.

[Angus French]

It doesn't seem obvious to me that 61. e7+ Ke8 62. Ke6 <knight move> 63. Kd6 is drawn (though Stockfish tells me it is).

[John McKenna]

Nice try, Angus -

It doesn't seem obvious to me that 61. e7+ Ke8 62. Ke6 <knight move> 63. Kd6 is drawn (though Stockfish tells me it is).

And, thanks to Roger for appearing the save -

Here's the whole game
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bd3 Nxf4 9. exf4 b6 10. b4 a5 11. a3 c6 12. O-O Ba6 13. Re1 Bf6 14. Ne5 Bxe5 15. fxe5 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Ra7 17. g3 Qa8 18. Rab1 axb4 19. axb4 Ra3 20. Qc2 Rb8 21. h4 h6 22. Kg2 Qa6 23. Rec1 bxc5 24. bxc5 Rxb1 25. Qxb1 Qc4 26. Qb2 Rb3 27. Qd2 Qb4 28. Rc2 f6 29. f4 fxe5 30. fxe5 Nf8 31. Ne2 Qb7 32. Nf4 Qf7 33. Rb2 Rxb2 34. Qxb2 g5 35. hxg5 hxg5 36. Nd3 Ng6 37. Nf2 Ne7 38. Qd2 Qg6 39. g4 Kg7 40. Nh3 Kh6 41. Kg3 Nc8 42. Qf2 Kg7 43. Qe3 Kh6 44. Qf3 Kg7 45. Qa3 Qe4 46. Nxg5 Qe1+ 47. Kf4 Qf2+ 48. Nf3 Ne7 49. Qa7 Kf8 50. Qb8+ Kf7 51. Qb7 Kf8 52. Qd7 Ng6+ 53. Kg5 Qxf3 54. Qxe6 Nh8 55. Qf5+ Nf7+ 56. Kf6 Qxf5+ 57. gxf5 Nd8 58. e6 Nf7 59. Kg6 Nd8 60. Kf6 Nf7 61. exf7 ½-½

and the position showing the drawing resource.
[SetUp "1"]<br> [FEN "5k2/5n2/2p1PK2/2Pp1P2/3P4/8/8/8 w - - 5 61"]

Earlier the chessbomb stockfish doesn't think giving up the pawn by 45. .. Qe4 is the best move, but seeking active play is a plausible idea and not a blunder.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Rest day today.

[JustinHorton]

Was there more going on in Nakamura-Kramnik than I thought?

That's a bit cryptic, Justin. What are you referring to?

Well I didn't pay much attention to that game, it just looked pretty equal all the way and there were exciting things going on elsewhere. So when I see Seirawan talking about outstanding, superstar moves I start wondering what I was missing!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

It doesn't seem obvious to me that 61. e7+ Ke8 62. Ke6 <knight move> 63. Kd6 is drawn (though Stockfish tells me it is).

Good point. Who has the better of the draw there? Is White pressing for the win, or does it suddenly fall apart and White has to take a draw? There was one line earlier, where Black suddenly starts winning. One tempo can make all the difference.

[LawrenceCooper]

It doesn't seem obvious to me that 61. e7+ Ke8 62. Ke6 <knight move> 63. Kd6 is drawn (though Stockfish tells me it is).

Good point. Who has the better of the draw there? Is White pressing for the win, or does it suddenly fall apart and White has to take a draw? There was one line earlier, where Black suddenly starts winning. One tempo can make all the difference.

I had a quick look at that and thought that Nf7-h6-f5xd4 was in time to draw but I'm saying that without the position in front of me

[Christopher Kreuzer]

It doesn't seem obvious to me that 61. e7+ Ke8 62. Ke6 <knight move> 63. Kd6 is drawn (though Stockfish tells me it is).

Good point. Who has the better of the draw there? Is White pressing for the win, or does it suddenly fall apart and White has to take a draw? There was one line earlier, where Black suddenly starts winning. One tempo can make all the difference.

I had a quick look at that and thought that Nf7-h6-f5xd4 was in time to draw but I'm saying that without the position in front of me

I think White plays f5 and f7 and mates (or wins the knight). The Black knight probably needs to go to g5 with check after Ke6, and then to f7 or f3, but White does seem to win all the Black pawns and have chances to try and queen the White c- and d-pawns. Question is, why didn't Nakamura at least try this. Is it so obviously a draw to him and Kramnik?

[Mick Norris]

Question is, why didn't Nakamura at least try this. Is it so obviously a draw to him and Kramnik?

Yes

[Tim Harding]

The video on chess24 (which I was watching live) shows clearly that only after 57...Nd8 Nakamura suddenly saw the stalemate resource which Kramnik must have spotted several moves earlier. Nakamura is not able to do oriental inscrutability and his expressions were a marvel to behold.
Eventually he must have realised there was no way to safely avoid it, though he spent a good bit of time on both moves 58 and 59. The two had a lengthy and friendly post-mortem afterwards.

[Matt Fletcher]

The video on chess24 (which I was watching live) shows clearly that only after 57...Nd8 Nakamura suddenly saw the stalemate resource which Kramnik must have spotted several moves earlier. Nakamura is not able to do oriental inscrutability and his expressions were a marvel to behold.

Kramnik said he saw the whole variation into the Knight vs pawns ending (but not as far as the stalemate) when playing 45...Qe4. It's not totally clear when he spotted the stalemate try.

On Nakamura's expressions, you may have seen it already, but someone's made a short compilation of them and put them to music:
https://twitter.com/AntonSquaredMe/stat ... 1317724162

Edit: corrected N to Q...

[Kevin Thurlow]

"On Nakamura's expressions, you may have seen it already, but someone's made a short compilation of them and put them to music:
https://twitter.com/AntonSquaredMe/stat ... 1317724162"

That's great. At Gibraltar about ten years ago, Tony Ashby and I played Nakamura and partner in the pairs event (you move alternately, except for the pair who cheated against us in the last round). I attacked Nakamura's queen in the opening and his partner failed to extricate it. The look on Hikaru's face was quite spectacular, although he very politely resigned and congratulated us. He stomped off with shame-faced partner, but returned soon after (beer in hand - probably the fine) and seemed quite relaxed.

[JustinHorton]

Giri has now drawn 5 out of 5. Surely not.......?

He might struggle to maintain that run today.

[Barry Sandercock]

Giri is in danger of winning !