Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

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Tim Harding
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Tim Harding » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:03 pm

Shak & Fabi reach move 40 in probably drawn position but play left.
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LawrenceCooper
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by LawrenceCooper » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:03 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:01 pm
Aronian nightmare continues with zeitnot blunder in drawn position.
A sad end to a very exciting game.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:04 pm

Ding really is going to do a Giri, then?
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Tim Harding » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:22 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:04 pm
Ding really is going to do a Giri, then?
With a little help from his friends (especially Fabi two days ago).

He still has to play Grischuk (with White), Mamedyarov, Kramnik and Karjakin (White)
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:41 pm

LawrenceCooper wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:03 pm
Tim Harding wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:01 pm
Aronian nightmare continues with zeitnot blunder in drawn position.
A sad end to a very exciting game.
Just got in, I'm shocked, did Vlad miss some decent chances to lose? :lol:
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:55 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:04 pm
Ding really is going to do a Giri, then?
Whereas Vlad, who has Giri as a second, seems incapable of drawing

I reckon Ding v Vlad will be an interesting clash
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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:01 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:01 pm
Aronian nightmare continues with zeitnot blunder in drawn position.
But a horrendously complex one for even the best humans when you are short of time!
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Tim Harding » Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:04 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:55 pm
Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:04 pm
Ding really is going to do a Giri, then?
Whereas Vlad, who has Giri as a second, seems incapable of drawing

I reckon Ding v Vlad will be an interesting clash
I don't think Caruana will be too worried about the result of that one, but he would like to see draws (or Ding wins) v Grischuk and Mamedyarov.

Can Fabi make it 2-0 against Vlad tomorrow?
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by MartinCarpenter » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:56 pm

Suspect he'll be happy to try and neutralise things and see if Kramnik's muse leads him to self destruct :)

Kramnik - Ding certainly has to be a huge threat to Ding's chances of emulating Giri.

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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Mar 22, 2018 11:46 pm

Elite Grandmasters are continuing a practice of revisiting club or school openings.

Take the Kramnik-Aronian encounter for example.



The position after White's move 5 has presumably been seen numerous times at that level. I wouldn't be so sure about 5. .. a6 as that's an "obvious" waste of time. The Be3 idea provoking Bxe3 was seen frequently enough. 6. Nd5 breaks the "rules" about moving a piece twice in the opening and thus is rubbish unless you disregard such coaching.

There is a bit of GM sophistication floating about as deferring .. d6 could allow ..d5 to be played although arguably Kramnik's Vienna style idea with Nc3 thwarts this.

I'm pretty sure I abandoned all this at the age of 14 or 15 in favour of the apparent greater sophistication of the Spanish and later the Queen pawn and Flank openings. As it can be difficult to find decent moves for both players perhaps it's an opening that will only appeal to beginners and super GMs.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:00 pm

Ding-Grischuk is tremendous fun, especially if you're watching on Chess24 where their mouse has stopped responding so they've had to get out an actual proper chess set.
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JustinHorton
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:14 pm

Karjakin's big advantage against Aronian is also worth keeping an eye on, as Karjakin has been quietly playing himself back into the tournament and plays Caruana tomorrow.
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Nick Ivell
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Nick Ivell » Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:20 pm

I like the old-fashioned set! It's great seeing Svidler analysing on it - a player of his standard seems to move the pieces differently. You don't get that feeling with a computer screen.

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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:06 pm

Ding is going to avoid winning this, which is quite an achievement given he was about plus 16.
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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Candidates Tournament in Berlin March 2018

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Mar 23, 2018 8:29 pm

Well, some of us who thought Aronian might actually win this are now looking just a tad chumpish :oops:
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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