London Chess Classic 2013

[Ray Sayers]

I'm a little puzzled.

In the 1/4 finals the time limit was 25 mins + 10 secs.

In the Semi finals the pairing page says 10 mins + 10 secs.

Is this just a typo?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I could have sworn the increment was adding 20 seconds per move when I bothered to pay close attention to that in one of the blitz tie-break games, but maybe the display was wrong or something. I saw all the evening games, which were good. The blitz games in particular. The tension was palpable. Am still trying to work out why Anand resigned his final position against Kramnik. I understood why 1...Qh4 couldn't be met by 2.g3, but was puzzling over how Kramnik wins after 2.h3. Maybe there is some analysis somewhere already (no time to put diagrams up, Geoff, sorry!).

[Joey Stewart]

I really hope kramnik does not win this event - his vampiric, lifeless style of play is extremely grating to bear witness to. Hopefully nakamura will surprise him with something a little unusual and keep him off his usual grinding positions.

[David Sedgwick]

I could have sworn the increment was adding 20 seconds per move when I bothered to pay close attention to that in one of the blitz tie-break games, but maybe the display was wrong or something.

So it was you who panicked Malcolm Pein into thinking I'd set the clock wrongly

The display on the screen is typically a few seconds out while a player is thinking, but then autocorrects when a move is made. This can give the impression that the increment is something other than the actual amount.

[David Sedgwick]

I'm a little puzzled.

In the 1/4 finals the time limit was 25 mins + 10 secs.

In the Semi finals the pairing page says 10 mins + 10 secs.

Is this just a typo?

Yes.

At the time of my making this post, the front page of the website is wrong. I'm hoping it will be corrected in the morning.

Edit: The correction has been made.

[Mats Winther]

Look at the quarter final games--the quality of the games is almost amateurish. Where is super-GM chess going? I wonder what's behind this. Of course, it's rapid chess, but I find this disappointing, anyway.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/london-sup ... emis-ready

M. Winther

[Paul Dargan]

@ Chrispoher

If g3, then Bxg2; Kxg2 Qg3+ is doing the business.

Paul

[Christopher Kreuzer]

If g3, then Bxg2; Kxg2 Qg3+ is doing the business.

Thanks. It is amazing how easy it is to miss something like that if you are looking at something else. I saw how the rook played its part in the line: 1...Qh4 2.g3 Bxg3 3.fxg3 4.Qxh2# (if 3.hxg3 4.Qh1#). But for some reason I was only looking at 1...Qh4 2.h3 Qg3 3.fxg3 Rxg2+ and trying to find a mate there. I did look at 1...Qh4 2.h3 Bxg2 Kxg2, but I was missing the obvious...

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I could have sworn the increment was adding 20 seconds per move when I bothered to pay close attention to that in one of the blitz tie-break games, but maybe the display was wrong or something.

So it was you who panicked Malcolm Pein into thinking I'd set the clock wrongly

Telepathy! I did notice Malcolm coming onto the stage for a conflab with you, but I was safely sitting in the audience. Wouldn't have missed a minute of it. The standard was somewhat higher than the charity blitz sessions taking place in the foyer.

The display on the screen is typically a few seconds out while a player is thinking, but then autocorrects when a move is made. This can give the impression that the increment is something other than the actual amount.

That makes sense. I would suggest (as others have) that the clock be visible in the video feed, but that might end up with the arbiters or the cameras having to move, so I doubt anything will happen at this stage. I'd be more interested in the reason for the lag in the display time. Is this built in to the system, or something else?

Here's hoping Adams gets through to the final. I hope to be there, though I have to be elsewhere during the semis.

[Mats Winther]

Look at the quarter final games--the quality of the games is almost amateurish. Where is super-GM chess going? I wonder what's behind this. Of course, it's rapid chess, but I find this disappointing, anyway.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/london-sup ... emis-ready

M. Winther

The chess master of old would never play like this. Would Petrosian or Smyslov, in practice, lose in the beginning of the game, or make obvious blunders? It hardly ever happened, not even in blitz. There is something amiss with today's super-GMs. It's no wonder why Carlsen can just sit and wait for blunders.

M.

[Roger de Coverly]

The chess master of old would never play like this. Would Petrosian or Smyslov, in practice, lose in the beginning of the game, or make obvious blunders?

Perhaps modern GMs take rather more risks. Petrosian was capable of losing quickly with risky openings.

From the 1969 match

Event "Ch World (match)"] [Site "Moscow (Russia)"] [Date "1969.??.??"] [Round "5"] [White "Spassky Boris V (FRA)"] [Black "Petrosian Tigran V (ARM)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2548"] [BlackElo "2580"] [Annotator ""] [Source ""] [Remark ""] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.Qd2 h6 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.O-O-O e6 11.Rhe1 Be7 12.f4 O-O 13.Bb3 Re8 14.Kb1 Bf8 15.g4 Nxg4 16.Qg2 Nf6 17.Rg1 Bd7 18.f5 Kh8 19.Rdf1 Qd8 20.fxe6 fxe6 21.e5 dxe5 22.Ne4 Nh5 23.Qg6 exd4 24.Ng5 1-0

Historic annotations tend to condemn his opening play as incorrect. However the opinion of the chess engines is that he was OK, if a little worse, until a losing blunder of 19. .. Qd8.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I really hope kramnik does not win this event - his vampiric, lifeless style of play is extremely grating to bear witness to. Hopefully nakamura will surprise him with something a little unusual and keep him off his usual grinding positions.

Have you seen many of his games since he lost the world title??

[Simon Brown]

I really hope kramnik does not win this event - his vampiric, lifeless style of play is extremely grating to bear witness to. Hopefully nakamura will surprise him with something a little unusual and keep him off his usual grinding positions.

Have you seen many of his games since he lost the world title??

Obviously not.

[Joey Stewart]

Look at the games he has played in this competition - they all feature the sort of moves you see from somebody who has spent far too much time practising with computers, boring positional grinding play with no attempt to stir up any tactics.

And after all was said and done - my prediction of Nakamura turned out right.

Feel free to prostrate yourselves at my feet!

[Matt Mackenzie]

Crushing Anand with Black in under 30 moves?? Yeah, whatever