exd5!

06.12.2009
– The semifinals of the FIDE World Cup saw Boris Gelfand, 41, beating his 19-year-opponent Sergey Karjakin in impressive style with the black pieces. Karjakin now has the daunting task of having to win the second game on Monday or say goodbye to Khanty Mansiysk. In the other game Ponomariov and Malakhov drew a Slav game in 40 moves. Illustrated report.

Sam Collins:
1.e4 Repertoire
Grandmaster lines explained for club players – Constructing an opening repertoire is one of the chess player’s most difficult and time-consuming tasks. Turned off by masses of theory, many players shy away from critical lines and concentrate on trappy lines, ‘universal’ systems, or variations which concede the advantage of the first move in order to get a playable position.
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Semifinals: game one

Boris Gelfand, 41 years old, very convincing in the FIDE World Cup

Former boy prodigy Sergey Karjakin, 19, struggling against his experienced opponent

Karjakin,Sergey (2723) - Gelfand,B (2758) [C55]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.1), 06.12.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bb3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5
8.h3 a5 9.a4 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Re1N

11...Ra6! A very interesting piece sacrifice (12.Bxd5 Qxd5
13.Rxe7 Rg6 – with the threat of 14...Qxg2#) immediately after Karjakin's
novelty, which the Ukrainian did not dare to accept. 12.Qh5 Nb4 13.Na3
Rg6 14.Bf4 b6 15.Qf3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Qe4 Bd6 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Qxd4

White is a pawn up, but Black is calling all the shots. 19...Qg5
(once again the annoying threat of ...Qxg2#) 20.g3 Qf5 21.g4 h5 22.Re4
d5 23.Kh2 Qf3 24.Ree1 hxg4 25.Qe3 gxh3 26.Qxf3 Rxf3 27.Rg1 Rxf2+ 28.Kxh3 Rxg1
29.Rxg1 Nxc2 30.Nb5 Rf3+ 31.Kg4 Rxd3

White has ended up three pawns down and not a hope left to survive. 32.Nd6
Ne3+ 33.Kf4 Nc4 0-1.

Gelfand vs Karjakin, closely followed by chief arbiter Ashot Vardapetian and
Ruslan Ponomariov

Ponomariov-Malakhov was a well-fought Slav that ended in a drawn four-bishop
endgame

Ruslan Ponomariov, former FIDE World Champion, in the semifinal of the World
Cup

Photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE

Results of round six

• Click to replay the
  semifinal games

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Rnd 1 – Rnd 2 – Rnd 3 – Rnd 4 – Rnd 5 – Semifinal The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Chessbase.com

Read Full Post »

06.12.2009
– The semifinals of the FIDE World Cup saw Boris Gelfand, 41, beating his 19-year-opponent Sergey Karjakin in impressive style with the black pieces. Karjakin now has the daunting task of having to win the second game on Monday or say goodbye to Khanty Mansiysk. In the other game Ponomariov and Malakhov drew a Slav game in 40 moves. Illustrated report.

Sam Collins:
1.e4 Repertoire
Grandmaster lines explained for club players – Constructing an opening repertoire is one of the chess player’s most difficult and time-consuming tasks. Turned off by masses of theory, many players shy away from critical lines and concentrate on trappy lines, ‘universal’ systems, or variations which concede the advantage of the first move in order to get a playable position.
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Semifinals: game one

Boris Gelfand, 41 years old, very convincing in the FIDE World Cup

Former boy prodigy Sergey Karjakin, 19, struggling against his experienced opponent

Karjakin,Sergey (2723) - Gelfand,B (2758) [C55]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.1), 06.12.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bb3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5
8.h3 a5 9.a4 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Re1N

11...Ra6! A very interesting piece sacrifice (12.Bxd5 Qxd5
13.Rxe7 Rg6 – with the threat of 14...Qxg2#) immediately after Karjakin's
novelty, which the Ukrainian did not dare to accept. 12.Qh5 Nb4 13.Na3
Rg6 14.Bf4 b6 15.Qf3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Qe4 Bd6 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Qxd4

White is a pawn up, but Black is calling all the shots. 19...Qg5
(once again the annoying threat of ...Qxg2#) 20.g3 Qf5 21.g4 h5 22.Re4
d5 23.Kh2 Qf3 24.Ree1 hxg4 25.Qe3 gxh3 26.Qxf3 Rxf3 27.Rg1 Rxf2+ 28.Kxh3 Rxg1
29.Rxg1 Nxc2 30.Nb5 Rf3+ 31.Kg4 Rxd3

White has ended up three pawns down and not a hope left to survive. 32.Nd6
Ne3+ 33.Kf4 Nc4 0-1.

Gelfand vs Karjakin, closely followed by chief arbiter Ashot Vardapetian and
Ruslan Ponomariov

Ponomariov-Malakhov was a well-fought Slav that ended in a drawn four-bishop
endgame

Ruslan Ponomariov, former FIDE World Champion, in the semifinal of the World
Cup

Photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE

Results of round six

• Click to replay the
  semifinal games

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Rnd 1 – Rnd 2 – Rnd 3 – Rnd 4 – Rnd 5 – Semifinal The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Chessbase.com

Read Full Post »

06.12.2009
– The semifinals of the FIDE World Cup saw Boris Gelfand, 41, beating his 19-year-opponent Sergey Karjakin in impressive style with the black pieces. Karjakin now has the daunting task of having to win the second game on Monday or say goodbye to Khanty Mansiysk. In the other game Ponomariov and Malakhov drew a Slave game in 40 moves. Illustrated report.

:
ChessBase Magazine 133
Four highlights and a new number one. That is the summary of the autumn of 2009 in chess. It ran from the Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing with the triumphal success of Magnus Carlsen via the European Club and National Championships to the major high point of the year, the Tal Memorial in Moscow, which Vladimir Kramnik was able to take with half a point of a lead. The new (unofficial) number one in the FIDE world ranking list is now Magnus Carlsen, whose second place in Moscow was sufficient for him to push Topalov from the top spot.
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Semifinals: game one

Boris Gelfand, 41 years old, very convincing in the FIDE World Cup

Former boy prodigy Sergey Karjakin, 19, struggling against his experienced opponent

Karjakin,Sergey (2723) - Gelfand,B (2758) [C55]
World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.1), 06.12.2009
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bb3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5
8.h3 a5 9.a4 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Re1N

11...Ra6! A very interesting piece sacrifice (12.Bxd5 Qxd5
13.Rxe7 Rg6 – with the threat of 14...Qxg2#) immediately after Karjakin's
novelty, which the Ukrainian did not dare to accept. 12.Qh5 Nb4 13.Na3
Rg6 14.Bf4 b6 15.Qf3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Qe4 Bd6 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Qxd4

White is a pawn up, but Black is calling all the shots. 19...Qg5
(once again the annoying threat of ...Qxg2#) 20.g3 Qf5 21.g4 h5 22.Re4
d5 23.Kh2 Qf3 24.Ree1 hxg4 25.Qe3 gxh3 26.Qxf3 Rxf3 27.Rg1 Rxf2+ 28.Kxh3 Rxg1
29.Rxg1 Nxc2 30.Nb5 Rf3+ 31.Kg4 Rxd3

White has ended up three pawns down and not a hope left to survive. 32.Nd6
Ne3+ 33.Kf4 Nc4 0-1.

Gelcand vs Karjakin, closely followed by chief arbiter Ashot Vardapetian and
Ruslan Ponomariov

Ponomariov-Malakhov was a well-fought Slav that ended in a drawn four-bishop
endgame

Ruslan Ponomariov, former FIDE World Champion, in the semifinal of the World
Cup

Photos by Galina Popova courtesy of FIDE

Results of round six

• Click to replay the
  semifinal games

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Rnd 1 – Rnd 2 – Rnd 3 – Rnd 4 – Rnd 5 – Semifinal The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Chessbase.com

Read Full Post »

06.12.2009
– With the masters now fine-tuning their preparations for the London
Chess Classic, the Editor of Chess
Notes passes on some advice on mastery of the game culled from old books.
Both the advice and the books have long been forgotten, but could the tips provide
the players with a fresh perspective, just in time? The great tournament is
about to begin, and we shall soon see...

Sam Collins:
1.e4 Repertoire
Grandmaster lines explained for club players – Constructing an opening repertoire is one of the chess player’s most difficult and time-consuming tasks. Turned off by masses of theory, many players shy away from critical lines and concentrate on trappy lines, ‘universal’ systems, or variations which concede the advantage of the first move in order to get a playable position.
More information...

Chess Explorations (32)

By Edward Winter

‘The object of the game is, of course, to checkmate the King, and before
the first move, the player should determine in his own mind how he is going
to do it and then develop the fighting qualities of his men accordingly.’

Source: page 67 of How to Play Chess by Charlotte Boardman Rogers (New
York, 1907).

Even so, the books are not unanimous that developing pieces in the opening
is necessarily a good idea. From page 106 of A Complete Guide to the Games
of Checkers and Chess by Maxim La Roux (Baltimore, 1916):

‘Before you stir your pieces, you ought to move your pawns, and afterward
bring out your pieces to support them. …You are not, therefore, to play
out any of your pieces in the early part of your game …’

One apparent problem with developing pieces is that an excessively strong attack
may result. That, at least, was the warning on page 20 of Chess & Draughts
Made Easy by J. Bishop (London, circa 1860):

‘Do not crowd your adversary’s king with your pieces, lest you
inadvertently give a stalemate, which is a drawn game.’

If an attack does develop, the opponent may buckle under the pressure and blunder
away a piece, but should it be accepted? From page 22 of Chess Made Easy
by J.A. Guthrie (London, 1922):

‘When your attack is in a prosperous way, never be diverted from it
by taking any piece thrown in your way, as it may be a bait which your taking
would cause your designs to miscarry.’

Castling is usually regarded as an important way of developing one’s
game, but that has not always been the unanimous view. In C.N. 3119 Calle Erlandsson
(Lund, Sweden) gave an English translation of the relevant passage of the first
(1771) edition of C.W. v. Königstedt’s Kort Afhandling om Schack-Spel
(‘A Short Treatise about the Game of Chess’). Chapter VII (About
Castling) states, on page 23:

‘Great players never castle until the end of the game, and often never
at all, as their king, although often in the middle of the board, nevertheless
stands secure.’

Mr Erlandsson added that in the third, improved edition, printed in 1806, the
start of the text was slightly different: ‘Good players seldom castle
...’

On the other hand, ‘castling often improves the situation when the game
is crowded’ according to page 15 of the “Popular” Handbook
of Chess by Professor de Lyons Pike (London, circa 1902). Some further
extracts:

• ‘The rook (also called the castle) moves horizontally the entire
  length of the board, if the space is open.’ (page 7)

• ‘Perpetual check is when the king can be placed in check at almost
  every move. When this is the case the weaker side can demand checkmate in
  any given number of moves. If his opponent fails to do this it can then
  pass as a drawn game.’ (page 11)

• ‘Stalemate is when one of the players has nothing left but his king,
  which is so situated that he cannot move without placing himself in check.’
  (page 11)

• ‘When a player fails to cry “check” his adversary need
  not unless he likes move his king out of check, nor even cover him.’
  (page 13)

• ‘Drawn games count for nothing.’ (page 13)

• ‘The Allgaier Gambit: ‘It is not a safe opening, although,
  if successful, it will prove a strong one.’ (page 25)

• ‘A great point to be observed in finishing a game, is, never to allow
  the king to escape into the centre of the board.’ (page 31)

Another book with a stream of notable advice is Chess and How to Play It
by B. Scriven, brought out by Universal Publications Ltd. in the 1930s. Some
snippets:

• ‘In chess, however, the sole aim is to attack the opponent’s
  king.’ (page 32)

• ‘Of course, another form of drawn game arises when both players are
  so weakened that neither has the strength to check the other.’ (page
  34)

• ‘Knights can do a great deal of damage which is only apparent when
  it is done.’ (page 41)

• ‘As soon as a player take his hand from a piece the move is finished.
  It can only be altered by the graciousness of the opponent.’ (page
  47)

• ‘If the king is checked, but “check” is not announced,
  the owner of the king need not attend to it. Though there is no rule on
  the subject, it is usual to announce “check” when the queen
  is affected. If “check” is announced and the owner of the king
  proceeds to move the king, then realizes that there was no “check”
  he may take back the move. The same applies if any other piece is moved
  for the purpose.’ (page 48)

• ‘... if the game is opened well, the middle game will largely take
  care of itself.’ (page 50)

Indeed, B. Scriven’s book offers, on page 49, what may be the single
most valuable piece of advice for the masters in London and, indeed, for chessplayers
of all levels:

‘Before making a move, note all the consequences.’

Submit information
or suggestions on chess explorations

All ChessBase articles
by Edward Winter

Edward
Winter is the editor of Chess
Notes, which was founded in January 1982 as "a forum for aficionados
to discuss all matters relating to the Royal Pastime". Since then, nearly 6,400
items have been published, and the series has resulted in four books by Winter:
Chess
Explorations (1996), Kings,
Commoners and Knaves (1999), A
Chess Omnibus (2003) and Chess
Facts and Fables (2006). He is also the author of a monograph
on Capablanca (1989).

Chess Notes is well known for its historical research, and anyone browsing
in its archives
will find a wealth of unknown games, accounts of historical mysteries, quotes
and quips, and other material of every kind imaginable. Correspondents from
around the world contribute items, and they include not only "ordinary readers"
but also some eminent historians – and, indeed, some eminent masters. Chess
Notes is located at the Chess
History Center. Signed copies of Edward Winter's publications are
currently available.

Chessbase.com

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