Anand v Gelfand

Paul McKeown · Post by **Paul McKeown** » Mon May 14, 2012 3:51 pm

Anand appears to have bottled it. 35... Ree2 must surely be drawn.

Paul Cooksey · Post by **Paul Cooksey** » Mon May 14, 2012 3:54 pm

Paul McKeown wrote:
Speelman just kibitzed a way to win a double rook ending with d8=N check.
Can you give us the variation, Paul, please?

If my boss asks you, I am sick, ok?

Paul McKeown · Post by **Paul McKeown** » Mon May 14, 2012 3:55 pm

Paul Cooksey wrote:If my boss asks you, I am sick, ok?

Is that green enough for your boss?

Thanks!

Paul Cooksey · Post by **Paul Cooksey** » Mon May 14, 2012 3:57 pm

Apologies to Matthew I forget exactly what was said in commentary. I could give you a computer line, but I don't think you'd thank me for it

Definitely at least a half chance missed by Anand today I think. I wonder if the fact he is almost never in time trouble made him nervous when he got down to a few minutes.

Either way a much more interesting game. Bravo!

Paul McKeown · Post by **Paul McKeown** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:01 pm

Speelman's analysis, as always, looks convincing. Mind you Shipov's suggestion of 23... Nb6 24. Nc3 Rd5! etc. looked convincingly drawn at an earlier stage, e.g. 25. Rd3 Bf5 26. Rxd5 Nxd5 27. Bd3 Nxc3 28. Bxf5 gxf5 29. bxc3 Rxc3.

Paul Cooksey · Post by **Paul Cooksey** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:06 pm

Paul McKeown wrote:Speelman's analysis, as always, looks convincing. Mind you Shipov's suggestion of 23... Nb6 24. Nc3 Rd5! etc. looked convincingly drawn at an earlier stage, e.g. 25. Rd3 Bf5 26. Rxd5 Nxd5 27. Bd3 Nxc3 28. Bxf5 gxf5 29. bxc3 Rxc3.

Illescas found this too, although only with a computer. He was saying nb6 is a hard move even for a top GM, because the N looks so good where it is and there is no obvious threat.

He was expecting Gelfand to find it though, apparently the beaches near Barcelona are nice already and mentally he was half way there

Paul McKeown · Post by **Paul McKeown** » Mon May 14, 2012 4:13 pm

I am not sure why it should be so hard to find. The key lies two moves deep with 24... Rd5! Surely even some good club/county players faced with potential disaster might have raised their games to find it?

Jonathan Rogers · Post by **Jonathan Rogers** » Tue May 15, 2012 12:52 pm

So we are off again, with some reason to fear that the game will not be much different from the second.

KvK played several (maybe dozens) of QGD positions where Black held an IQP position; these two seem to be intent on playing several positions (albeit at least from different openings) where White has an extra passed d pawn of his own but Black must find the most accurate way to recapture it, and since the critical moment will come between move 20-25 (when the cleanest equaliser must be found) it is generally outside the theory of the Blcak player - albeit because he has probably looked at the line up to move 18 or so and decided it should be tenable and that he can work out the rest at the board in the unlikely event that it happens.

Mmmm, it's gruelling stuff, at the moment.

Alex Holowczak · Post by **Alex Holowczak** » Tue May 15, 2012 3:02 pm

Game drawn, 2-2.

JustinHorton · Post by **JustinHorton** » Tue May 15, 2012 3:53 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:Au contraire, "reasonable standard" in this context - IMO anyway - means knowing just enough to not just be randomly shifting bits around.......

That is, almost everybody who plays at a club and quite a few who don't. Even on this interpretation, shurely not 500 million though??

I very much doubt that five hundred million poeple know how to play chess. I am prepared to be corrected but I would be keen to know Malcolm's source for his claim.

Paul Cooksey · Post by **Paul Cooksey** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:23 pm

JustinHorton wrote:
Matt Mackenzie wrote:Au contraire, "reasonable standard" in this context - IMO anyway - means knowing just enough to not just be randomly shifting bits around.......

That is, almost everybody who plays at a club and quite a few who don't. Even on this interpretation, shurely not 500 million though??
I very much doubt that five hundred million poeple know how to play chess. I am prepared to be corrected but I would be keen to know Malcolm's source for his claim.

Perhaps Justin should drop FIDE VP Khalifa Mohammed Al-Hitmia a mail at [email protected]

The number seems to have originated with his Chess in the Olympics campaign around 2006.

JustinHorton · Post by **JustinHorton** » Tue May 15, 2012 4:29 pm

I find it hard to believe that Malcolm would atke his information from such an unreliable source...

Carl Hibbard · Post by **Carl Hibbard** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:20 pm

Alex Holowczak wrote:Game drawn, 2-2.

Boring in the extreme to be honest...

John McKenna · Post by **John McKenna** » Tue May 15, 2012 5:41 pm

If players of Chinese & Japanese chess were included (since they are, in all probability, only modifications of ancient Indian chess) then the total number of players worldwide must be in the hundreds of millions. Knowledge of the moves and a basic level of skill are widespread among the populations of those two countries. That may not remain the case as the younger generation has many new electronic games to choose from.

JustinHorton · Post by **JustinHorton** » Wed May 16, 2012 11:57 am

John McKenna wrote:If players of Chinese & Japanese chess were included (since they are, in all probability, only modifications of ancient Indian chess) then the total number of players worldwide must be in the hundreds of millions

Is Malcolm including them then?

English Chess Forum

Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand

Re: Anand v Gelfand