drunk french super gm Forfeits game

[Ian Lamb]

no pics there either not seem to have pics of the event.

[Peter Brace]

no pics there either not seem to have pics of the event.

I couldn't find any pics either but I wonder if I've found Tkachiev's own secret video footage? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu27wuWm6Ac

[Ian Lamb]

good one peter like that one video lol

[Leonard Barden]

Round 6 is currently in progress. In round 5 Short couldn't break through Israeli GM Postny's Caro-Kann fortress defence so he is tied second with nine others on 4/5.

Nigel has been upfloated to the sole 4.5/5 leader GM Sandipan and has opened 1 d4 Nc6 which gave me an eerie sense of deja vu. In Jonathan Penrose's best years as England No1 he also occasionally chose 1 d4 Nc6 for games where he wanted a full point as Black, including once against me.

The other potentially interesting development is that, following his 1/3 start with the Drunken Swiss Gambit, Tkachiev has reached 3/5 and if he continues to progress will probably have 2300-2400 opponents for the next 2-3 rounds and so a chance to join the leading group. With around 120 players, 8/10 will probably win the tournament and Vlad, if he should get within shouting distance, will have maximum motivation to try to resurrect his currently broken career. Of course it's a very long shot at the moment....

Round 6 began 9 am BST and Sandipan v Short can be followed live at http://www.alekhinechessclub.com/4kolkata/media.html

[Ben Purton]

You should look in mirror

[Geoff Chandler]

The other chess new item that appears to have caught the eye
of newspaper editors is the Hitler/Lenin sketch playing chess.

CB and other chess sites are running with it.

Edward Winter busted this as a phoney ages ago.
It did not stop me from having a wee bit of fun on The Corner.

http://www.chessedinburgh.co.uk/chandle ... handID=360

other links:

Polgar:

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/09 ... -1909.html

What Do You Believe:

http://brianakira.wordpress.com/2009/09 ... t-who-won/

ChessBase:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5737

[Jonathan Rogers]

Depending entirely upon one's repertoire, and on that of the opponent, there are some possible "chess" justifications for 1. d4 Nc6:

2. c4 e5 is unchartered territory but seemingly quite playable for Black and no worse than any standard opening

2. Nf3 d5 3 c4 Bg4 enables Black to play a "safe" Chigorin, in the sense that he avoids the main line 1 d4 d4 2 c4 Nc6 3 cxd5 Qxd5 4 e3

2.e4 e5, as often played by the late Tony Miles, leads again to an unchartered but quite playable game after 3 dxe5 Nxe5;or after 3 Nf3 to a Scotch, but that is not such a bad transposition, especially against a 1d4 player.

[benedgell]

It ended in a draw after d4 Nc6 c4 e5 etc etc. Just out of curiosity, d4 nc6 d5 is a fairly okay Alekhine-esque opening I take it?

[Ian Lamb]

where the game? cant find it can someone post a direct link to the games please thanks.

[benedgell]

I couldn't get the live games on the site to load, but playchess was showing it.

[Sean Hewitt]

As far as Im aware alcohol dependency is not classed as a disability in itself unless there is some underlying cause such as depression.

Until a couple of months ago I used to work in an alcohol rehab. In Britain at least it's perfectly possible to claim Disability Living Allowance on the basis that you are an 'alcoholic'. I don't say this is a good thing or a bad thing. Just that it is.

Only if there is an underlying condition causing it. Or, at least, that's what the rules say is supposed to happen.

Anti social behaviour or defective character

R(A)2/92 states that only conditions which were defined medically could be assessed. Needs resulting from “anti social behaviour not related to mental illness” or as a result of a “defective character” cannot be taken into account. When representing claimants with alcohol or drug related problems you will need to stress that he or she has a mental or physical disability.

See R(DLA)3/06, a decision of a Tribunal of Commissioners for a more favourable decision as well as a discussion of the faults of this one. See also R(DLA)6/06, CSDLA/171/1998* (71/98) CDLA/2408/2003 and CSDLA/268/1995.

See http://www.disabilityalliance.org/dlalaw.htm#Alcoholism if you want the full legalese!

[Leonard Barden]

Ian Lamb wrote
where the game?


Go to the site http://www.alekhinechessclub.com/4kolkata/media.html

Click on live game

Click on replay games

click on round 6

and you have it.

Short's 12...c6 was a little risky (a5-a4) and Sandipan's 13 a3 (13 fxe5) a mistake missing the reply cxd5! Nigel was then clearly better but 19...Nc8? (a4 or Qb6 followed by f5 and e4) gave away the advantage. There's still play in the final position but it's about level and probably time pressure was a factor. Now I think there are three joint leaders on 5/6 with Nigel on 4.5, four rounds left.

[Jonathan Rogers]

For benedgell - I am no expert on this, but I would have thought that 1 d4 Nc6 2 d5 Ne5 is no worse for Black, and maybe a touch better, than an Alekhines (though for his part, Short has played/allowed both over the last year!).

My reasoning is that the 4 pawns attack v Alekhine's is genuinely dangerous because the pawn structure, with a well supported pawn on e5, can lend itself to a kingside attack. The fact that Black's bishop can develop to f5 is not very relevant and it may be vulnerable to attack there, if White has castled and if ...dxe5 and fxe5 have been inserted.

By contrast after 1 d4 Nc6 2 d5 Ne5 3 e4 e6 4 f4 Ng6, White may still have a space advantage but with a well supported pawn on d5 instead, it is not equally conducive to a kingside attack, and Black's bishop should be able to develop to c5 or b4, in either case exerting some real pressure on White's centre/kingside.

Just my opinion, of course, but I played a couple of 3 minute games with Luke McShane at the end of Stauntons, and he seemed a bit disappointed when I met 2...Ne5 with the calm 3 Nf3 - which is probably what I would do if I were to face this opening again with White.

[Leonard Barden]

Disaster struck Nigel this morning in round 7, when his Evans Gambit malfunctioned and he was outplayed by GM Anton Filippov 2595 Uzbekistan.

I think that's his first defeat since Fabiano Caruana in the final round of Corus B six months ago.

Click http://www.alekhinechessclub.com/4kolkata/media.html then live game then replay games then round 7 to view the grisly finish.

Short now has 4.5/7 and is tied 17th, 1.5 behind the Vietnamese leader Le Quang Liem with only three rounds left.

Tkachiev has 4/7 and seems to be halving out the rest of the tournament. In a new Chessbase interview, the chief arbiter at Kalkota has robustly defended his decision to try to awaken the sleeping grandmaster.


.

[Roger de Coverly]

the chief arbiter at Kalkota has robustly defended his decision to try to awaken the sleeping grandmaster.

Never mind whether arbiters can wake sleeping grandmasters. What are the conventions on players waking sleeping arbiters?