Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

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Jonathan Bryant
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:52 am

Chris Rice wrote:
Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:45 am
"But sir, you said we shouldn't play moves like that...."
Top players not castling at all or waiting until the last possible moment to try to squeeze every possible resource out of the position has been the bane of my life for the last 5 years.

an early queen move
losing castling rights with ... Rg8
knight on the rim
not knowing that rooks are 5 worth points and bishops only 3
not taking the opportunity to castle long
too many pawn moves in (9 of his first 22)
putting his bishop on prise
letting his queen be pinned against his king


Frankly, young Master Kramnik would have earned himself a stern lecture in one of my beginners’ classes playing like that.

Mick Norris
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Mick Norris » Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:04 am

Jonathan Bryant wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:52 am
Frankly, young Master Kramnik would have earned himself a stern lecture in one of my beginners’ classes playing like that.
Just think how good Vlad would be if he had lessons from you :lol:
Any postings on here represent my personal views

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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by NickFaulks » Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:35 am

Jonathan Bryant wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:52 am
Frankly, young Master Kramnik would have earned himself a stern lecture in one of my beginners’ classes playing like that.
For many years I did a weekly column for the local paper, and in an emergency would fill space with a recent example of some GM ignoring the safety of his own king in the opening and getting mullahed. These were never hard to find.
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David Robertson

Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by David Robertson » Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:28 pm

Blast from the past in Grischuk - Ding Liren

A Semi-Slav Anti-Moscow (madhouse variation), fashionable a decade ago or more, which I thought had been analysed down to bare Ks. Worth checking out Topalov - Kramnik, 2008, a key game won by White with bewildering brilliance. Grischuk varied from this with 16. a4, and has chosen a different path

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:48 pm

Odd position. White is a whole piece down with no obvious threats, but the online engine only has it at -0.47.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:49 pm

I can recommend the black side of this line to anybody who fancies a quick game against Stockfish on their smartphone.
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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:02 pm

IM Jack Rudd wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 3:48 pm
Odd position. White is a whole piece down with no obvious threats, but the online engine only has it at -0.47.
Which move? Which online engine?

The Chessbomb engine (Stockfish 8-CB 64 POPCNT, 30 sec, depth 20, 30254756 nodes) has the evaluation in Grischuk-Ding as +0.47 after 20.Bc6 with the "obvious" move being 21.f4 for Grischuk.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:23 pm

Chess24
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Tim Harding
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Tim Harding » Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:24 pm

Grischuk seems to have blitzed 22 Rxf4 (unclear) missing a forced win by 22 Bh4+.
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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:28 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:24 pm
Grischuk seems to have blitzed 22 Rxf4 (unclear) missing a forced win by 22 Bh4+.
I think Grishuk took 15 minutes to reject 22.Bh4+ but might win anyway.

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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Roger de Coverly » Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:29 pm

In Kramnik - Caruana, white played a line against the Petroff once favoured by Spassky, notoriously when Spassjy wanted the afternoon off. The game continues with no obvious signs of any early peace. Perhaps as against Kasparov in 2000, Kramnik would prefer to play a position without queens.

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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Tim Harding » Wed Mar 14, 2018 5:18 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:28 pm
Tim Harding wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:24 pm
Grischuk seems to have blitzed 22 Rxf4 (unclear) missing a forced win by 22 Bh4+.
I think Grishuk took 15 minutes to reject 22.Bh4+ but might win anyway.
I think the times shown online on chess24 are unreliable. The site now shows eight and a half minutes for Rxf4 but the commentators said he played it quickly.
Right now it looks as if Aronian and Caruana are more likely winners today and Grischuk could even be worse after 29 moves; all three results possible.
Tim Harding
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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Mar 14, 2018 5:20 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:28 pm
Tim Harding wrote:
Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:24 pm
Grischuk seems to have blitzed 22 Rxf4 (unclear) missing a forced win by 22 Bh4+.
I think Grishuk took 15 minutes to reject 22.Bh4+ but might win anyway.
The engines don't seem to think so FWIW......
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Tim Harding » Wed Mar 14, 2018 5:51 pm

Caruana may have let Kramnik off the hook (after missing 32...Rxc2) and could even be losing. Karjakin looks dead.

LATER: Time control reached in all games. Still hard to predict the results; even Karjakin is putting up some rearguard resistance which could go on for ages. Probably Caruana and Grischuk will rue their missed wins and if they don't even draw they will be really annoyed with themselves.

Aronian gets back into contention if he can close the deal (probably R ending with two f-pawns and an h-pawn).
Tim Harding
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by JustinHorton » Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:08 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:28 pm

Didn't Sutovsky say something about Caruana failing to convert more won positions than any other leading player?
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