Tata Steel Chess Tournament 14th - 30th January 2011

[LozCooper]

Round 10 - Wednesday the 26th

Group A:

H. Nakamura (6) - M. Vachier-Lagrave (5.5) 1-0
A. Giri (4.5) - L. Aronian (6) 0.5-0.5
J. Smeets (3) - V. Kramnik (6) 0.5-0.5
V. Anand (6) - A. Shirov (2.5) 1-0
M. Carlsen (5.5) - I. Nepomniachtchi (4.5) 0-1
E. l'Ami (3) - W. Hao (4) 0-1
R. Ponomariov (4) - A. Grischuk (2.5) 1-0

Leaders: Anand & Nakamura 7/10

Group B:

L. McShane (6) - Z. Efimenko (5.5) 0-1
V. Tkachiev(5.5) - W. So (6) 0.5-0.5
L. Liem (4.5) - G. Sargissian (6) 1-0
L. Chao (5) - D. Navara (5) 0-1
R. Wojtaszek (5) - J. Hammer (3) 0.5-0.5
L. Fressinet (3.5) - W. Spoelman (2) 0-1
F. Nijboer (3) - S. Ganguly (3) 0-1

Leaders: Efimenko & So 6.5/10

Group C:

I. Ivanisevic (5) - D. Vocaturo (7.5) 1-0
D. Swiercz (4) - I. Nyzhnyk (6) 1-0
K. Lahno (6) - R. van Kampen (3.5) 0.5-0.5
S. Siebrecht (3.5) - M. Kazhgaleyev (5.5) 1-0
R. Pruijssers (2.5) - M. Bluvshtein (5) 1-0
B. Bok (4.5) - T. Sachdev (4.5) 0.5-0.5
M. van der Werf (3.5) - J.W. de Jong (2) 0-1

Leader: Vocaturo 7.5/10

[LozCooper]

Standings after round 10

Group A:

1. V. Anand & H. Nakamura 7
3. L. Aronian & V. Kramnik 6½
5. M. Carlsen, I. Nepomniachtchi & M. Vachier-Lagrave 5½
8. A. Giri, R. Ponomariov & Wang Hao 5
11. J. Smeets 3½
12. E. l'Ami 3
13. A. Grischuk & A. Shirov 2½

Group B:

1. Z. Efimenko & W. So 6½
3. L. McShane, D. Navara, G. Sargissian & V. Tkachiev 6
7. L. Liem & R. Wojtaszek 5½
9. Li Chao 5
10. S. Ganguly 4
11. L. Fressinet & J. Hammer 3½
13. F. Nijboer & W. Spoelman 3

Group C:

1. D. Vocaturo 7½
2. K. Lahno 6½
3. I. Ivanisevic & I. Nyzhnyk 6
5. M. Kazhgaleyev 5½
6. M. Bluvshtein, B. Bok, T. Sachdev & D. Swiercz 5
10. S. Siebrecht 4½
11. R. van Kampen 4
12. R. Pruijssers & M. van der Werf 3½
14. J.W. de Jong 3

Next games: Friday 28th January

[Matthew Peat]

I can assume that Luke McShane has caught a cold or something. Since his first loss, his playhas been a shadow of that of the early rounds.

It was truly tortuous to see how he self-destructed today against Efimenko.

[LozCooper]

I can assume that Luke McShane has caught a cold or something. Since his first loss, his playhas been a shadow of that of the early rounds.

It was truly tortuous to see how he self-destructed today against Efimenko.

Rather harsh, for a player who is still performing over 2700 and is playing in such a strong tournament. You only have to look at the quality of players on minus scores such as Fressinet to see how strong the event is. He has only lost to 2664 and 2701 rated GMs in ten rounds. Had he converted his game yesterday he would still be tournament leader with 3 rounds to go and even now is only half off the lead.

[Carl Hibbard]

Hard to keep the energy up for this number of rounds?

[LozCooper]

Hard to keep the energy up for this number of rounds?

The idea of playing a 13 round event horrifies me. Even with the rest days it requires a lot of energy, particularly for a player like Luke who never has quick draws and his games are hard fought, long and involve a lot of time trouble. The opportunity to win the tournament and qualify for Group A is a big incentive, I don't know if this explains the unpredictable results from the leaders in the last day or two with both So and Luke losing games with white.

I went to the World Junior in 2008 with David Howell, Sarah Heagrty and Peter Constantinou where the schedule was even more intense with 13 rounds in 13 days with one rest day and one double round. David's games are always very tense and involve time trouble and I was amazed at how he had the energy to cope with back to back 100+ move games in successive rounds and to bounce back after a loss. It seemed more a test of endurance than just playing ability.

The players in the top section do seem to take enough quick draws to stay in with a chance of winning whilst allowing themselves some respite. With the exception of Nakamura, those who don't ie Grischuk & Shirov seem to be really struggling.

[IM Jack Rudd]

I played a 13-round, 7-day event at Coulsdon a couple of years ago. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting.

[Richard Bates]

The players in the top section do seem to take enough quick draws to stay in with a chance of winning whilst allowing themselves some respite. With the exception of Nakamura, those who don't ie Grischuk & Shirov seem to be really struggling.

Quite. Sadly something which the casual spectator rarely appreciates, prompting howls of derision whenever some games are concluded quickly and peaceably. Having Sofia rules at something like Wijk an Zee would definitely produce far fewer draws, but largely as a result of later tournament blunders rather than top quality chess. All-play-alls are especially demanding because of the random nature of their pairings - games don't get any easier as you start to hit a bad trot. Many a British player can probably tell stories of disasters that unexpectedly befell them in A-P-As back when the format was far more common (due in part to the need for Category norms to fulfill FIDE titles).

I would imagine that many of the top players pay little attention to the positions until the very later rounds - focussing more on their own target scores (+1,+2,+3 etc) and what they need to do to achieve them.

[LozCooper]

I played a 13-round, 7-day event at Coulsdon a couple of years ago. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting.

I would not want to be facing your quick fire style at the end of one of those events!

[Alan Walton]

A few years ago I played in the British for 2 weeks in Edinburgh, then straight after that tournament played a 9 round A-P-A in Blackpool (quite a few others did this as well including Kunte the champion at Edinburgh)

The British being 11 rounds over 12 days, then 9 rounds over 6 days at Blackpool

Also at Blackpool, after the A-P-A had finished there was a 8 round Blitz tournament and 6 round QPlay, which equated to 34 games in 21 days

I was absolute knackered after that, and then decided never to play 3 full weeks on the bounce again

[LozCooper]

Round 11 - Friday the 28th

Group A:

M. Vachier-Lagrave (5.5) - V. Anand (7) 0.5-0.5
I. Nepomniachtchi (5.5) - H. Nakamura (7) 0-1
V. Kramnik (6.5) - M. Carlsen (5.5) 0-1
L. Aronian (6.5) - R. Ponomariov (5) 0.5-0.5
Wang Hao (5) - J. Smeets (3.5) 0.5-0.5
A. Shirov (2.5) - A. Giri (5) 0.5-0.5
A. Grischuk (2.5) - E. l'Ami (3) 0.5-0.5

Group B:

Z. Efimenko (6.5) - R. Wojtaszek (5.5) 0.5-0.5
W. So (6.5) - F. Nijboer (3) 0.5-0.5
D. Navara (6) - V. Tkachiev (6) 1-0
S. Ganguly (4) - L. McShane (6) 0-1
G. Sargissian (6) - L. Fressinet (3.5) 0.5-0.5
J. Hammer (3.5) - L. Liem (5.5) 0-1
W. Spoelman (3) - Li Chao (5) 1-0

Group C:

D. Vocaturo (7.5) - K. Lahno (6.5) 1-0
M. Kazhgaleyev (5.5) - I. Ivanisevic (6) 0.5-0.5
I. Nyzhnyk (6) - B. Bok (5) 1-0
R. van Kampen (4) - D. Swiercz (5) 0-1
M. Bluvshtein (5) - M. van der Werf (3.5) 0.5-0.5
T. Sachdev (5) - R. Pruijssers (3.5) 0.5-0.5
J.W. de Jong (3) - S. Siebrecht (4.5) 1-0

[Keith Arkell]

oops - try again

[Keith Arkell]

A few years ago I played in the British for 2 weeks in Edinburgh, then straight after that tournament played a 9 round A-P-A in Blackpool (quite a few others did this as well including Kunte the champion at Edinburgh)

The British being 11 rounds over 12 days, then 9 rounds over 6 days at Blackpool

Also at Blackpool, after the A-P-A had finished there was a 8 round Blitz tournament and 6 round QPlay, which equated to 34 games in 21 days

I was absolute knackered after that, and then decided never to play 3 full weeks on the bounce again

Wusses! Try 11 games in 11 days at the British Ch,while throwing in two six round rapidplays in the ''gaps'' followed by 2 more rapidplay games on the Sat morning,followed by 13 games in America starting the very next day,and squeezed into 7 days,followed by getting straight off the plane at Heathrow in time to play the last 7 rounds of Coulsdon,and then have very little break before playing in 7 rounds at Paignton,followed by 10 in the EU Champs at liverpool.
You win 5 of those tournaments,averaging well over a game a day,and discover that a national team selector has emailed the other selectors proposing that this ''unprofessional attitude'' should result in your not being considered for selection!

This was what happened to me in 2008.

It's a funny old world.

[LozCooper]

A few years ago I played in the British for 2 weeks in Edinburgh, then straight after that tournament played a 9 round A-P-A in Blackpool (quite a few others did this as well including Kunte the champion at Edinburgh)

The British being 11 rounds over 12 days, then 9 rounds over 6 days at Blackpool

Also at Blackpool, after the A-P-A had finished there was a 8 round Blitz tournament and 6 round QPlay, which equated to 34 games in 21 days

I was absolute knackered after that, and then decided never to play 3 full weeks on the bounce again

Wusses! Try 11 games in 11 days at the British Ch,while throwing in two six round rapidplays in the ''gaps'' followed by 2 more rapidplay games on the Sat morning,followed by 13 games in America starting the very next day,and squeezed into 7 days,followed by getting straight off the plane at Heathrow in time to play the last 7 rounds of Coulsdon,and then have very little break before playing in 7 rounds at Paignton,followed by 10 in the EU Champs at liverpool.
You win 5 of those tournaments,averaging well over a game a day,and discover that a national team selector has emailed the other selectors proposing that this ''unprofessional attitude'' should result in your not being considered for selection!

This was what happened to me in 2008.

It's a funny old world.

Even then you managed to gain rating points

[LozCooper]

Live coverage is available via the link below from 12.30 UK time:

http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tournament/livegames