15.12.2009 – If you want to improve your understanding of a complex opening with a
huge history the best that can happen is to have a really strong player
with many years of experience teach it to you. That's exactly what GM Lubomir
Ftacnik offers you on his Sicilian
Scheveningen and DVDs.
Carsten Hansen from tested the former thoroughly. Read his review with sampler.
Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
Hurry Up and Get It
Lubomir Ftacnik: 'The Scheveningen Sicilian' reviewed by
Carsten Hansen
The Slovakian grandmaster Lubomir Ftacnik begins this DVD by modestly
telling the viewer that he will attempt to explain the ideas behind this
fascinating line in the Sicilian, and that he will be happy if he accomplishes
this goal, because he is constantly surprised by the new ideas that keep
emerging, even though he has played the opening for many years. He also
states that if you understand the Scheveningen variation, you will also
understand many other openings, as the pawn structure and typical ideas share
several similarities.
Ftacnik is best known nowadays for being a keen annotator for ChessBase
Magazine. He has been out of the limelight for several years, but he is a rather
strong grandmaster whose rating has hovered close to 2600 for nearly two
decades. In the early 1980s, when he first gained his grandmaster title he
helped Czechoslovakia win silver medals at the 1982 Luzern Olympiad with
the following stunning game:
The above list is long, but in all honesty, so is the entire disc. The running
time is seven hours! While Ftacnik has an eastern European accent, he speaks
very clearly and without a robotic, sleep-inducing intonation that some other
presenters are prone to when English is not their first language.
While it is impossible to cover all of the lines in this strategically complex
variation of the Sicilian Defense, even in seven hours, Ftacnik takes an
amazingly thorough and deep stab at it, methodically explaining the typical
ideas, and often using games that I had never seen before.
What amazes me most about this DVD is the clarity and consistency in
Ftacniks presentation. He doesnt quickly bypass anything important or
critical, rather he takes his time, presents the argument from both sides, and
explains why the play continues as it does. Similarly, he doesnt linger over a
beautiful variation if it isnt particularly relevant to the overall picture. Even
veteran presenters of these DVDs occasionally make this mistake, but not
Ftacnik.
This DVD is remarkably good. It is an absolute must-see for anyone playing
the Open Sicilian as white or the lines without g7-g6 as black. You will, as
I have, walk away with a deeper understanding and knowledge about
navigating these complex positions, which can be incredibly difficult to
understand without proper guidance. It has been quite a while since anything
has been written specifically on the Scheveningen, which makes this DVD
even more crucial, even if it only scratches the surface of the theory. My
message, if the above isnt clear enough: Hurry up and get it.
14.12.2009 – After drawing the regular games Ruslan Ponomariov and Boris Gelfand and into the tiebreaks. They won a rapid chess game each and drew two to proceed to the blitz, where again each won a game. Game three and four went to the Israeli, who thus won the World Cup. Gelfand is now part of the eight-player tournament to find a challenger for the World Champion. Final report and interview.
Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
The FIDE World Chess Cup took place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th to
December 15th 2009. It was 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 consisted of four games. The time control was 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. The World Chess Cup is an
integral part of the World Championship Cycle 2009-2011.
Final, tiebreak
The three weeks marathon of the 2009 World Cup finished with 41-year-old Boris
Gelfand of Israel beating Ruslan Ponomariov in the tiebreak on Monday. The organiser,
FIDE, feel vindicated that the top seed won the event. "Who would dare
to call the knock out format a lottery?" the official bulletin says. “Boris
is the only participant of the World Cup who could avoid the obvious failures,
the only one to play with quality and stability. Bravo, Boris!"
The start of the tiebreak round of the FIDE World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk
Gelfand vs Ponomariov – experience vs fighting spirit
Boris Gelfand, 41-year-old Israeli grandmaster
Ruslan Ponomariov: former FIDE knockout world champion
In the end the top see prevailed...
... while the former prodigy from Ukraine drops out in the final round
All photos from Khanty-Mansiysk are by Galina Popova for
Boris Gelfand: "I made a good present to my mom on her birthday!"
Gelfand: I managed to win in the tiebreaks, though it was very hard. I think
I could have showed good result already in the second rapid game. But the stress
and tension did the work and I started blundering. Ruslan was also making mistakes
and we ended in a draw. I had a bit advantage in the fourth game. The only thing
I should have done is to shoot the ball into the empty goal. But I blundered
again. Ruslan started a counter game and I resigned. Then we started playing
blitz games. Here everything depended on the coolness and ability to keep the
nerves together.
Did you have a feeling that you will win the tie breaks?
I realized that a tough match is ahead. I expected that I needed to fight.
Today is my mom's birthday and I cannot leave her without a present. She has
done a lot for me. I am very grateful to her for all. I also thank my father,
may his memory live forever. I am also very thankful to my wife and daughter
who miss me a lot. I am also grateful to all who was helping and training with
me. We have been working with Alexander Huzman for already 20 years together.
Also, during this tournament my second Maxim Rodshtein was helping me. He did
not seem to sleep at all, he was preparing for my opponents. My friends were
calling and writing to me. Thank you all for your support. My victory is your
merit as well.
Can you call the World Cup 2009 the best tournament in your career?
I think the World Cup 2009 can be only compared with the second place in the
World Chess Championship 2007 in Mexico .
You are the oldest participant of the World Cup. Are you happy that could
manage to show your strength to the young players?
Undoubtedly age influences performance. The older a grandmaster is, the more
experienced his games are. Starting from 1997 I participated in almost every
knockout tournament. I have gained a great deal of experience since then, especially
in the tiebreaks. There were so many strong and young chess players who fell
apart after their first defeats. They lacked the moral strength; they could
not forget about one failure to continue the fight in the further games. I think
it comes with experience.
The situation when the top seeded player wins a tournament is rare.
I was not impressed by the fact that I was top seeded. There were about 20
chess players who had every reason to expect to win the Cup.
Do you have something to say to your opponent?
Ruslan does not need consolation. He did well during the whole tournament and
managed many tiebreaks. My opponent is very good at knock-out tournaments; it
is confirmed by his results during last two years. Ponomariov once again proved
that he is a great chess player.
Where do you take the energy to participate in such long tournaments?
I just like to play chess. Therefore I work much; I try to improve my results.
Do you feel compassion to your opponent when you win?
It is not a battle of gladiators. We play chess. Someone wins, someone loses.
This is sport.
For many years the chess community is interested to know what you have
in this special bottle which you bring to the games?
It is not a doping… (laughing). I was checked at the last World Championship,
so, everything is legal.
Is it important for you to have an audience when you play?
Yes, that would be more pleasant if the hall would be crowded. But it is obvious
that our main spectators are in Internet. Whenever a tournament takes place,
about 90-95% of spectators watch the games via the Internet.
People said in the 80s, that it doesn't matter if you walk around the
hall or look around, you used to make the strongest moves…
The position is always with you, in your head. No matter where you look: around
or at the chess board.
What do you do in your free time?
I like to read classics: Pushkin, Bulgakov, Maugham. I regularly watch soccer
and tennis. I like sport.
Would you share your impressions about Khanty Mansiysk?
I would like to thank the city for this wonderful tournament. I had no problems
here at all. Every year it is better and better in Khanty Mansiysk. The only
thing which complicated my staying here was the temperature drop: from -30 to
0. It is harder to stand this with age. There are many cultural and sport institutions
here: library, picture gallery, hockey palace, tennis center. The Art Center
for talented children of North – the playing venue – is just fantastic
building. I would come back here next year with pleasure. I just hope that the
weather would be milder. I hope we will have a chance to walk around the city.
You were playing chess for almost a month without any rest. How are you
going to recover?
More than a month. Two weeks before the start of the World Cup I took part
in Tal Memorial and World Blitz Chess Championship, two of the toughest tournaments.
Now I will relax, make up for lost sleep, walk with my daughter. So I will be
back to “normal” life.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server .
If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also ue the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!
14.12.2009 – Round four of the London Chess Classic saw two decisive games today: Luke McShane defeated Hikaru Nakamura, and Magnus Carlsen stretched his lead to three points after beating Ni Hua with black. In the post-game press conference Magnus charmed everyone to the degree that John Saunders wishes that Britains over-zealous passport authorities will not let him out of the country.
Adrian Mikhalchishin:
Winning Structures Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!
Round five report
Round
5: Sunday, December 13, 2009
David Howell
½-½
Vladimir Kramnik
Hikaru Nakamura
0-1
Luke McShane
Ni Hua
0-1
Magnus Carlsen
Michael Adams
½-½
Nigel Short
There were two decisive games in an exciting round at the London Chess Classic
today. Magnus Carlsen stretched his lead to three points over Vladimir Kramnik,
while Luke McShane won again to move into third place.
Before moving onto a blow-by-blow account of round five, let’s clear
up a couple of errors from round four. One was in the original issue of the
press release, where we tried to tell you that Short-Ni Hua was the round four
best game winner. I hope neither of those gentlemen nipped out to spend their
500 euros (each) on Christmas presents on the strength of this comment because
it was wrong. The best game winners of round four were Carlsen and Nakamura
(shared). The other error was by the aforementioned Carlsen and (to a lesser
extent) Nakamura.
At yesterday’s press conference Carlsen told the audience that he regretted
playing 32 Qe2 and wished he had played 32 Re2. Nakamura backed him up and the
opinion was related to a packed commentary room. Nobody present spotted that
32 Re2 had a huge flaw and would have lost instantly (we’re assuming that,
at the chessboard, Hikaru would have found what he missed during commentary),
but all our computers found it instantly. You can find it mentioned in yesterday’s
game annotations.
After his game today, and before commenting on his round five, Magnus Carlsen
came to the commentary room and delivered rather a delightful little speech,
owning up to the unsoundness of the line he advocated at yesterday’s commentary
session and advising us against taking anything he said in his post-round comments
as gospel. It went down very well with the audience. Magnus has remarkable poise
for a young man of tender years and he’s made a big hit with the London
chess audience. You’ll remember that Big Vlad had some problems getting
into the country; I’m rather hoping that Britain’s over-zealous
passport authorities will take similar action when Magnus tries to get out of
Britain after the tournament. We’d like to keep him.
In today’s round, Carlsen was soon out of the ‘book’ (as
he admitted afterwards) and the watching grandmasters were not too convinced
about the safety of his position for the first part of the game. It is possible
that Ni Hua could have made more of some early attacking chances but the Norwegian
soon consolidated and, slowly but surely, outplayed his opponent. The game seemed
to hinge on a couple of judgement calls; in particular, compare and contrast
the trajectory of the two kings in the final phase of the game.
Ni Hua (2665) - Carlsen,Magnus (2801) [B51]
London Chess Classic London (5), 13.12.2009 [John Saunders]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 a6 5.Bxd7+ Bxd7
6.dxc5 dxc5 7.Nc3 e6 8.Bf4 Ne7 9.Ne5. This sort of thing has been played
before but not in this exact position. Magnus admitted that he was soon out
of his theory. 9...Ng6 10.Qh5!? This sort of move is easily overlooked. 10...Bc6. 10...Nxf4?? allows mate in one, while 10...Nxe5? 11.Bxe5 makes
it very hard to develop Black's kingside. 11.Bg3 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 c4 13.0-0. Magnus said he was wasn't so concerned about this move. He had expected
13.f4 which is a bit more aggressive. 13...Qa5. Magnus's view given in
the commentary room was that most of his problems were over around this point.
But to the less sophisticated eye (i.e. virtually everybody else on the planet),
he doesn't seem to be out of the wood yet. 14.Qg5
It is not obvious where Black can stow his king in this position but Magnus
comes up with what looks like a very risky solution. 14...h6 15.Qg3 f6. This
looks like a self-inflicted wound: the horrid weakness on g6 most chessplayers
would find repellent. But chess geniuses can assess a position on its merits. 16.Qg6+ Ke7. The previous day Ni Hua had gone in for a similar ugly king
move which blocked his own bishop on f8. 17.Bf4 Be8. This patches up
the light square weakness but does nothing to help develop the pieces or connect
the rooks. 18.Qg3 Kf7 19.Rad1 Bc6 20.Rd2. Magnus thought 20.a3 was better
and, for once, it is possible to understand fully what he has in mind. It stops
the black bishop coming to b4 where it causes some annoyance. 20...e5 21.Be3
Bb4. This line is not without risk for Black as White can try to open up
lines against his king. 22.f4 Rhe8! A key defensive move. Carlsen had
calculated that his king should be reasonably safe from attack after this. 23.f5
Bc5 24.Rfd1 Rad8 25.Rxd8 Bxe3+ 26.Qxe3 Rxd8 27.Rxd8 Qxd8. Once the rooks
are off, the position starts to turn inexorably in favour of Black. 28.Kf2
Qd6 29.a3. Otherwise Qb4 will be a nuisance. 29...a5
This looks like a fairly balanced position and your chess engine will probably
pronounce it equal, or perhaps slightly better for Black because he has bishop
for knight. That is probably about right and yet the position soon swings markedly
in favour of Black. One crucial aspect over the next few moves is what the players
do with their kings. Keep a watchful eye on the monarchs as the game unfolds... 30.Kf3. Here the game gets very grandmasterly. Carlsen felt that 30.Ke2
was more precise though he did not articulate this sentiment in such a way that
that we chess mortals could fully appreciate the difference. 30...Kg8. Carlsen
chooses to move his king backwards to safety. He wants it to have the option
of hiding on h7 should a white queen attack it along the back rank. Another
motive was possibly the provision of a square for the bishop to occupy and put
pressure on the a2-g8 diagonal. 31.g3 b5 32.Ke2 b4 33.axb4 axb4 34.Nd1 Ba4
35.b3?! Magnus thought the text was inferior. We looked at 35.Qd2 Qd4
and Black certainly gets a lot of pressure but nothing absolutely decisive.
35 b3 opens up the f1-a6 diagonal and this exposes the white king to danger. 35...cxb3 36.cxb3 Qa6+ 37.Kd2?! In time trouble, Ni Hua starts to make
a few slight errors which, when added together, make a big one. 37 Ke1 is better. 37...Bb5 38.Qc5 Qa2+ 39.Qc2? The final error. 39.Kc1 is better, though
Black still has problems after 39...Be2 . That said, 40.Ne3!? Qxb3 41.Qd5+ Qxd5
42.exd5 might just be OK for White. 39...Qa7! Black's command of the
two diagonals catches the eye. 40.Qc8+ White reaches the time control
with a check. There doesn't seem to be anything significantly better for White
since 40.g4 Kh7 41.h3 Qd4+ 42.Kc1 Bd3 wins the e4 pawn, with a very comfortable
positional plus. 40...Kh7. Black's king finds a safe haven but its adversary
remains horribly exposed. Notice that the e8 square, where White would dearly
like to post his queen to threaten perpetual check, is controlled by the bishop. 41.Kc1 Qa1+ 42.Kc2 Qd4. The e4 pawn cannot be saved and, without any
hope of positional compensation, White decides he has had enough. 0-1. [Click
to replay]
Immediately after his game Magnus Carlsen is interviewed by a batrachian
camera team
The above fairly impolite joke was examined and authorised by GM Robert Fontaine,
who is anchoring the video reports for Europe Echecs in London. It was instigated
by Nigel Short, a leading collector of obscure words.
Magnus and Ni Hua analyse for the spectators in London and on Playchess
The young Nowegian advised people against taking anything he said in his post-round
comments as gospel
Some months ago Nigel Short took back the title of England number one from
Michael Adams; surprisingly so, perhaps, since Nigel is 44 to Michael’s
38 and we have become accustomed to other leading players fading in their forties.
So their meeting today was a chance for Michael to regain his crown. The opening
was a Open Ruy Lopez, which Nigel has only recently started playing for Black
but with some success. He has evidently hit upon a system which suits him well
as he seemed to have an edge for much of today’s game with Michael. Just
before the time control he may have slipped up slightly with 39...g5 as he admitted
he had completely overlooked Michael’s reply 40 e6, threatening to queen
a pawn. In the commentary room Nigel confessed he was relieved to find he had
one saving move which led to the draw.
Trying to get back to number one in Britain: Michael Adams
Top slot at 44: former world championship challenger Nigel Short
Nigel and Mickey – the two top Brits analyse their game in the commentary
room
The queue of GMs: Magnus Carlsen and Ni Hua wait for their turn to analyse
Next up, a mouth-watering pairing between Hikaru Nakamura and Luke McShane:
Hikaru never fails to entertain and Luke is once again fully focused on chess
so this was a sure-fire winner as far as the crowd was concerned. Luke decided
to stick with his Na6 variation of the King’s Indian Defence with which
he lost to Magnus and his bravery was rewarded, not just with his second win
but with the round’s best game prize of 1,000 euros. Well done, Luke,
but also credit to Hikaru for a battling performance.
Nakamura,Hikaru (2715) - McShane,Luke (2615) [E94]
London Chess Classic London (5), 13.12.2009 [John Saunders]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0-0 Na6 8.Be3 Ng4
9.Bg5 Qe8 10.c5!? This imbalances the position and ensures that it will
not be a stereotypical KID game. 10...exd4 11.Nd5 Be6. 11...Nxc5 12.Nxc7
Qxe4 13.Re1 Rb8 14.Bc4 Qf5 15.Be7 was played in Navara-McShane, Gothenburg 2005,
and White eventually won. 12.Be7!? [Another bold decision by Hikaru.
He probably looked at 12.Bxa6 Bxd5 13.exd5 bxa6 14.cxd6 cxd6 15.Nxd4 Qd7 and
decided it didn't offer him enough. Chess engines seem to like it but it is
not clear that White has sufficient play.] 12...Bxd5 13.Bxf8 Qxf8 14.exd5
dxc5
Black has two pawns and a knight for the rook, so the material situation is
fairly balanced. 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.Rfe1 Qd6 17.h3. White has to be wary
of all those black pawns on the queenside. For example, 17.Bc4? b5! and if 18.Bxb5
c6! 19.dxc6 Nc7 20.a4 a6 and the bishop is lost; 17.Qa4!? may be a canny move
to restrain a queenside advance. 17...Nf6 18.Bxa6. After this, Black
seems to be slightly in the ascendant. Perhaps something less committal, such
as 18 a3, was called for. 18...Qxa6 19.Rac1 Bf8 20.Ne5 Qb6 21.Qf3 Qd6
22.g4?! Too gung ho. 22.Nd3!? was more cautious, restraining Black's
queenside pawns: 22...b6 23.b4 Nxd5 24.bxc5 bxc5 25.Rxc5 Nf4 26.Rec1 looks playable. 22...Bh6! Grabbing some important dark squares. Black even has dreams
of advancing a pawn to d2 one day. 23.Rc2 Re8 24.Rce2 Rf8 25.Nc4 Qxd5 26.Qxf6
Bg7!? Probably better than the immediate 26...Qxc4 27.Re8 when, for example,
the pawn grab 27...Qxa2? runs into 28.g5! Bg7 29.Rxf8+ Bxf8 30.Re8 and Black
finds he has no defence to 31 Qe7 and mate. 27.Qh4. 27.Qf4 may be better
but Black still has 27...Qxc4 28.b3 Qd5 29.Qxc7 d3 30.Re7 Bc3 with a probable
win in sight. 27...Qxc4 28.Re8 Qd5 29.Rxf8+ Bxf8 30.Re8 Kg7
31.g5. It's beginning to look very difficult for White. He could try
31.Qd8 Qxd8 32.Rxd8 but that may be quite similar to the text in the long run. 31...Qd6. Black has now completed his king's defensive set-up and can
turn his attention to march his queenside pawns down the board. 32.Kf1 b5
33.Ke1. White wants to use his king to block the advance of the pawns. 33...c4
34.Qe4 c5 35.h4 c3 36.bxc3 dxc3 37.Qe5+. A difficult decision but probably
best. 37...Qxe5+ 38.Rxe5 a5 39.Kd1 a4 40.a3 b4 41.Kc2
White appears to have stymied the pawn advance but Black has one more trick
in his locker. 41...h6! The idea behind this move is simply to give his
king a square on h7 so that he can put the bishop on g7 and play b3+. 42.Rd5? 42.Re8 Bd6 43.Ra8 gives Black a lot more problems than the text. 42...hxg5
43.hxg5 Kh7 44.Rd7
44...Bg7! The loss of the f7 pawn, and what is effectively a self-pin,
matter far less than the opportunity to advance the b-pawn another square. 45.Rxf7
b3+ 46.Kb1 Kg8 47.Ra7 Bd4 48.Rxa4 Kf7 49.Ra6. If 49.Ra7+ Ke6 50.Rb7 c4
and the phalanx of black material is invulnerable, e.g. 51.Rc7 Kd5 52.Rd7+ Ke4
and the black king sets up a mating finish. 49...Be5 50.Ra4. The rook
has to stop the big threat of c2+ and Bf4+ and so lets the black king in. 50...Ke6
51.Rh4 Kd5 52.a4 c4 53.Rh1 c2+ 54.Kc1 c3 55.Rh4 Bd6. Mate follows in only
two moves. 0-1. [Click to
replay]
Luke analyses while Lawrence Trent, Jon Rowson, Malcolm Pein, Stephen Gordon...
... and a young crisp-chewing chess fan look on.
After the lecture Luke poses with chess fans Thea-Lina and Veronika from Germany
The final game to finish was Howell-Kramnik. Watching this game brought back
memories of 1 March 2002 when the 11-year-old David Howell played a short exhibition
match, sponsored by Einstein.tv, against world champion Vladimir Kramnik in
London. Take a look at the photo I took then...
David Howell drew
a game against Vladimir Kramnik in 2002 [photo John Saunders]
Was that only seven years ago? David was just a little boy then but he’s
a tall young man these days (though not as tall as Big Vlad – few people
are). David got a draw in the fourth of four games in 2002, setting a record
for the youngest player to draw with a world champion. Of course, that was just
a bit of fun – let’s say that Vlad may not have been playing at
full throttle. But he certainly was today and he couldn’t overcome England’s
top teenager.
The game featured an early repetition but it was David who stopped the sequence.
That is not to say that Vlad would not have desisted from a possible threefold
repetition himself next move. This is favourite psychological trick of many
grandmasters. At move 20 there came a tactical trick from the ex-world champion
and it looked as though Howell’s defences might have been seriously breached.
But, not for the first time in the tournament, Howell showed resourcefulness
under pressure to reach a fairly decent middlegame position where he had bishop
and knight for rook and two pawns. Kramnik huffed and puffed but couldn’t
blow his house down. He went out on a limb rather and even seemed at risk of
losing at one point. It ended in a draw but was a splendid game which is worthy
of study.
Another great round, with huge numbers of spectators watching in person and
online. The current scores are Carlsen 11/15, Kramnik 8, McShane 7, Adams, Howell
5, Nakamura, Short 4, Ni Hua 3. It is curious to note that just three of the
eight players have wins to their names as yet, but all three of them have at
least two of them. Magnus and Vlad are two of the three but the third is home-town
boy Luke McShane who is showing how to exploit the 3-1-0 scoring system, as
he is two points up on the two other players who, like him, have a 50% score.
Colleagues comparing notes in the VIP room: Marie-Laure Kramnik writes op-eds
for
Le Figaro in Paris, Dominic Lawson for The Independent and The Sunday Times
in London
Pictures by Frederic Friedel in London
About the author of the London reports
John Saunders started playing competitive chess at school in High Wycombe
and was lucky enough to join the Cambridge University Chess Club when
it was the strongest club in the UK. He studied law and classics at university
and had a 20-year career as a public sector IT specialist before becoming
editor of
in 1999. As well as being editor, typesetter and webmaster for the magazine,
he writes articles and takes photos. He is the regular webmaster/journalist
for the Gibtelecom Chess
Festival, and performed a similar function for the 2001-2007 Monarch
Assurance Isle of Man Congresses and the 2008 European Union Championship
in Liverpool. He writes the chess page for BBC TV’s Ceefax service.
John plays hardly any chess these days but, when he did, he reached a
FIDE Rating of 2255 and represented Wales in the 1997 European Team Championship.
He is married, with two cats, and lives in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey.
Video report from
Standings
No.
Player
wins
draws
losses
points
Perf.
1
Magnus Carlsen
3
2
0
11
2913
2
Vladimir Kramnik
2
2
1
8
2747
3
Luke McShane
2
1
2
7
2718
4
Michael Adams
0
5
0
5
2691
5
David Howell
0
5
0
5
2719
6
Hikaru Nakamura
0
4
1
4
2625
7
Nigel Short
0
4
1
4
2586
8
Ni Hua
0
3
2
3
2590
Scoring System:
3 - Points per win
1 - Point per draw
0 - Points per loss
13.12.2009 – Draws like those in round four of the London Chess Classic are exciting and
instructive. We know this from following the games live with GM commentary at
the venue and on the .
And after the games chess fans all over the world could listen to all eight
players annotating their games. At least two had people holding their breath.
Full illustrated report with analysis.
Adrian Mikhalchishin:
Winning Structures Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!
Round four report
By John Saunders
Round
4: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Vladimir Kramnik
½-½
Michael Adams
Nigel Short
½-½
Ni Hua
Magnus Carlsen
½-½
Hikaru Nakamura
Luke McShane
½-½
David Howell
All four games played in Round 4 of the London Chess Classic on 12 December
2009 ended in draws. They were all fighting draws which were only concluded
after full-blooded battles.
Waiting for the round to begin: Vladimir Kramnik, Luke McShane, Michale
Adams, Nigel Short
The two top seeds: Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik
In many ways the star of today’s round were the chess fans themselves.
They came in their droves. Tournament director Malcolm Pein warned us to brace
ourselves for a bumper crowd on the Saturday and he wasn’t wrong. The
first three days of the congress were very well attended, but the chess audience
today was awesome. The auditorium was packed with fans, as was the commentary
room, and it was just as well that the organisers had thoughtfully planned further
commentary in the foyer of the Olympia Conference Centre as it was definitely
needed. Even more people were busy playing the game. Blitz and rapidplays events
were being played in the foyer and a weekend tournament got underway besides
the festival events that started on Tuesday. As an old-timer who has attended
chess tournaments in England’s capital for more than forty years, I’ve
not seen anything quite like this since the Fischer boom of the mid-1970s. In
addition, we were visited by some more continental chess organisers and journalists
and they were heard to comment in very favourable terms about the variety of
chess entertainments available at Olympia.
To the chess... Michael Adams has a pretty good record against Vladimir Kramnik.
They have met nearly 40 times over the board (including blitz and less serious
encounters) and Adams is +1 overall. One of their most important meetings was
in the 1999 FIDE World Knock-Out Championship in Las Vegas when Adams eliminated
Kramnik in the quarter-final via a rapidplay play-off. The following year Adams
beat Kramnik at the Russian’s favourite tournament, Dortmund, thereby
ending Kramnik’s 82-game unbeaten run which had lasted well over a year.
Adams beat him again in 2004 and 2005 and in fact has not lost a significant
game to him for more than nine years. So Vladimir Kramnik would have been keen
to take his revenge. But Adams was in very good form today. Playing Black, he
gave up the two bishops and then a pawn to neutralise the ex-world champion’s
pressure and steered the game towards a sterile opposite-coloured bishops endgame.
Admittedly, a draw was probably not what the big crowd wanted to see but it
was subtly played and a valuable lesson in how to keep a formidable player at
bay.
Vladmir Kramnik and Michael Adams analyse with GMs Stephen
Gordon (left) and
Jonathan Rowson (right) for the visitors in London and for the Playchess audience.
Magnus Carlsen kibitzes in the game David Howell vs Luke McShane
Appearances can be deceptive in chess. All the pieces other than pawns disappeared
from the board in McShane-Howell in double quick time and I suppose some spectators
might have thought this was a cunning ruse to get the game over with and agree
a draw. But I think this is most unlikely. Most experienced chessplayers know
that a king and pawn endgame, even with symmetrical pawn structures, can be
a very dangerous animal. One slip, or a faint positional weakness, and it can
be curtains. You don’t swap off your last minor or major piece without
doing a lot of checking and double-checking in case there is some little nuance
which you may have overlooked. It was something of a gamble on David Howell’s
part as he had the disadvantage of a pair of doubled pawns – just the
sort of problem that can be fatal in a king and pawn endgame – but it
paid off. McShane probed and prodded in expert fashion but Howell’s defence
stood firm.
Luke McShane and David Howell analyse with Chris Ward, Jon
Rowson and Lawrence Trent
Once again a lot of attention focused on Magnus Carlsen’s game. The last
time he met Hikaru Nakamura was in a four-game rapidplay match in Oslo only
two weeks ago, when the American won 3-1 so that must have been in the back
of his mind. Carlsen played White and managed to isolate Hikaru Nakamura’s
e6 pawn but it transpired his position was not as good as it appeared. Carlsen
even found himself obliged to surrender a pawn. The game came down a queen ending
and Carlsen secured a perpetual check.
The star of the show in London: Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen
Round four under way in London
Carlsen,Magnus (2801) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2715) D17
London Chess Classic London ENG (4), 12.12.2009 [John Saunders]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6. The Slav defence to the Queen's Gambit, which is currently
all the rage at super-GM level. One small positional detail is that Black's
light-squared bishop on c8 often has a bit more scope than is the case in the
Queen's Gambit Declined after 2...e6. 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4. At this
highly sophisticated level, Black doesn't really expect to retain his extra
pawn, but White has to take precautions with 5 a4 otherwise Black might well
do so. 5...Bf5 6.Nh4. White doesn't want the bishop to have time to settle
on the b1-h7 diagonal with h7-h6 (allowing Bf5-h7), so he drives it back at
the first opportunity. 6...Bc8. Is Hikaru mimicking Magnus? You may remember
Carlsen retreating his bishops to their original squares against Kramnik with
powerful effect. But the answer to the question posed is probably "no"
- this is a standard retreat here. Black figures that, since White has wasted
a move putting his knight on the edge of the board, he may as well put the bishop
back on c8 and relocate it somewhere more useful after he has had the chance
to kick the knight away from h4. 7.e3 e5 8.Bxc4. 8.dxe5 is a bad idea:
8...Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 (9.Kxd1 Ng4 10.Ke1 Nxe5 leaves Black a genuine pawn
ahead) 9...Bb4+ 10.Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Kxd2 Ne4+ and Black can follow up with
Be6 and claim a slight advantage. 8...exd4 9.exd4 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 Nd5
12.Nf3 Be6!? Quite a standard looking developing move, but you can bet your
bottom dollar (or Norwegian krone) that both these young fellows would have
been delving deep into the variations that follow White's next move. 13.Qb3 Now White is piling pressure along the a2-g8 diagonal as well as threatening
to take the b7 pawn. 13...Na6. Black has little option other than to
play this. If 13...b6 14.a5! is strong. If Black continues unwarily, e.g. 14...b5?
15.Bxd5 Bxd5? 16.Nxd5 Black cannot capture on d5 with the queen because then
the e7 bishop would be lost. 14.Bd2. Most experienced players would
think hard before daring to play 14.Qxb7 as b-pawns are often laced with poison,
but leading diagnostician Dr Fritz seems to think that eating this one would
at worst only bring about a slight case of indigestion and, at best, might even
be quite nutritious: 14...Nab4 - it's never nice seeing the door slam shut behind
your queen, but let's look further - 15.Bxd5 cxd5 16.Bg5!? and White's queen
is not in any danger. Black may have some compensation for the pawn in the shape
of the two bishops. I imagine Carlsen rejected this line because he wanted something
more tangible from the opening. 14...Nab4. 14...Nac7 15.a5 Rb8 , draw
agreed, was Arkell-Gormally, 4NCL 1999, but such an eventuality was not an option
for the players of the current game. 15.Ne4 Bf5 16.Ne5 a5 17.Nc5!? 17.Rac1
is perhaps the more solid option but the text is very challenging and might
have led to a very good position for White. 17...Bxc5. I suppose a second
retreat to the original square with 17...Bc8 was not entirely out of the question
here, but then White would continue to build up pressure with 18 Re2, etc.;
17...Nc2 gets horribly complex but after 18.Nxb7 Qc7 (there may be slightly
better alternatives) 19.Bxa5! Rxa5 20.Nxa5 Nxe1 21.Naxc6 White emerges with
a winning advantage. 18.dxc5 Qc7
19.Bxb4?! This looks as if it could be a misjudgement of the position
a little further along in the game. 19.Bxd5 Nxd5 20.Nc4 gives White a pleasant
advantage. 19...Nxb4 20.Qf3 Be6! 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.Qb3 Qe7. White has engineered
an isolated pawn for Black on e6 but now discovers that he cannot realistically
exploit it. 23.Nf3 Nd5 The rock-solid knight on d5 seems to negate any
positional advantage that White might have thought he possessed. 24.Rac1
Rf4. Quite a nice square for the rook, thinking about Rb4, etc. 25.Ne5
Raf8 26.Nd3 Rd4 27.Rc4 Rxc4 28.Qxc4 Qf6 29.g3 Rd8 30.Kg2 Qf5 31.Nc1 Rf8
32.Qe2. Here White has to be careful. If 32.Re2?? to protect the f2
pawn, then 32...Ne3+!! would have won the game for Black, since 33.fxe3
(33.Rxe3 Qxf2+ loses rook and pawn for a knight) 33...Qf1# is mate
and 32...Nc7 33.Nd3 Rd8 34.Ne5 Rd5. Black had gradually turned the position
round and now he is putting intolerable pressure on White's very weak c-pawn. 35.Kg1 White decides to be bold and let the c-pawn go for some activity. 35...Rxc5 36.Nc4 Qf8 37.Rd1 Rd5 38.Rxd5 exd5. Black's main problem here
was his time trouble but, if he had found 38...cxd5 he might have had some winning
chances. 39.Qe5 dxc4 40.Qxc7 Qb4 The 40th move is reached with Black
a pawn up, but White can give perpetual check. 41.Qc8+ Kf7 42.Qf5+ Ke7 43.Qe5+
Kf7. 43...Kd8 would allow 44.Qxg7 when White should be quite safe. 44.Qf5+
Ke7 45.Qe5+ Kf7 1/2-1/2. [Click
to replay]
Packed audience for the analysis session after Carlsen vs Nakamura
Every seat and all the standing room taken in the commentary section
Lawrence Trent, Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen discuss the game
The last game to finish was Nigel Short versus Ni Hua. Short won a pawn in
the early middlegame but lost his way and couldn’t make anything of it,
though the game went right down to the last pawn. But the players received a
reward for their endeavour: they shared the best game of the round prize of
1,000 euros.
The start of the game Ni Hua vs Magnus Carlsen
Chinese GM Ni Hua facing former World Championship challenger Nigel Short
Short,Nigel (2707) - Ni Hua (2665) C11
London Chess Classic London ENG (4), 12.12.2009 [John Saunders]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4. The Burn Variation, so-called
not because it is hot to the touch, but because it was played in the 1890s by
Amos Burn (1848-1925), a very strong player from Yorkshire. Ceding the centre
in this way makes it slightly less challenging than other moves such as 4...Bb4
or 4...Be7. 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.c3 h6 8.Bh4 c5. 8...Be7 and 9...0-0
seems normal. The text is a little risky. 9.Bxf6. Back in 2001, in the
first round of the Najdorf Memorial tournament in Buenos Aires, Nigel Short
continued 9.Qf3 against Viktor Korchnoi and the game continued 9...Be7 10.Bb5+
Nd7 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Ne2 0-0 13.0-0 Nf6 14.Rfe1 Rd8 15.Rad1 Bd7 , agreed drawn. 9...gxf6 10.Qf3. White plans 11 0-0-0 whilst keeping an eye on the pawns
at f6 and b7 and thinking about Bb5+. 10...cxd4. It has to be admitted
that Ni Hua has the courage of his convictions. This is really very bold. 11.Bb5+
Ke7
Black opts to put his king on a very uncomfortable square. One major consolation
for Black is that White has no dark-squared bishop to exploit sensitive squares
along the a3-f8 diagonal of f6 but it is still problematic for him. 11...Bd7
12.Qxb7 Bxb5 13.Qxb5+ Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Kxd7 15.0-0-0 wins a pawn for White, though
it may not be absolutely conclusive. 12.Ne2 Qd5. Few competition players
would contemplate 12...dxc3? since 13.Rd1 is the obvious retort, chasing the
queen away and threatening to use the open d-file to get at the boxed-in black
king. The text is more or less obligatory. 13.Qxd5 exd5 14.Nxd4 f5. Played
in order to use f6 as a haven for the king, though it doesn't do any favours
for the c8 bishop which loses scope. But king safety has to be the priority
here. 15.0-0-0 Kf6. The opening phase is over and has not been a success
for Black. His pawn structure is poor and his two bishops as yet undeveloped
and with restricted options. White would be quite confident of exploiting his
chances here. 16.Ne2 Be6 17.Nf4 Rd8 18.Bc4 d4. This doesn't save the
pawn, of course, but gives it up in a way which improves Black's position somewhat. 19.Bxe6 One snag with 19.Nxe6 is that it would leave opposite coloured
bishops on the board and improve Black's chances of reaching a drawn endgame. 19...fxe6 20.Rxd4 Bc5 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Nh3. White has gained a pawn but
lost his momentum. Still, he could hope to exploit his material advantage from
here. 22...h5 23.Re1 e5 24.Re2 e4 25.Kc2 h4 26.f3 Re8 27.fxe4 fxe4
Around here, White started losing the thread of the game. In the commentary
room afterwards, Nigel Short was rather disconsolate, but in an entertaining,
self-deprecatory way. He had some difficulty recalling what his thinking had
been. "Why did I play this?" (after one move he regretted) "Perhaps
because I am stupid...". 28.b4?! Bd6. 28...Bb6 would allow 29.c4
but after the text move White's queenside pawn advance is stymied and he has
to deal with problems on the kingside as well. 29.Rf2+ Ke5 30.Ng1. Putting
pieces on their original squares seems to be the theme of the tournament. It
reminds me in a strange way that big-time tournament chess was "coming
home" to the country where such events started back in 1851. However, this
particular 'homecoming' move may not be the best. Short was asked why he hadn't
played 30.Ng5 here. He repeated the question to himself: "Yes, why not
Ng5...". The question remained hanging in the air unanswered. 30...Rg8
31.g3 White surrenders his extra pawn. 31.Ne2 is a possibility, since 31...e3
32.Rf7 Rxg2? can be answered very well by 33.Kd3 and White is better. 31...hxg3
32.hxg3 Rxg3 33.Ne2 Rf3 34.Rg2 Kd5 35.Nd4 Rh3 36.Nb5 Be5 37.Rd2+ Ke6 38.Nd4+
Bxd4 39.Rxd4 Rh2+ 40.Kb3 Re2. The position is now equal and could justifiably
be agreed a draw. However, there are a few pitfalls for the unwary. 41.a4
e3 This may be a slight inaccuracy since the pawn gets cut off from its
second defender and is soon lost. However, it is not a critical error: even
with two pawns against three, they are all on the same side of the board and
the position drawn with best play. 42.Kc4 Ra2 43.a5 e2 44.Re4+ Kd6 45.Kd3
b6 46.axb6 axb6 47.Rxe2 Rxe2 48.Kxe2 b5 49.Kd2!
As I wrote elsewhere, the king and pawn endgame is a dangerous animal. White's
last move sets a deadly trap. 49...Ke6! This is the only move to draw.
If 49...Ke5?? 50.Ke3! and White gains the 'opposition'.; 49...Kc6?? 50.Ke3!
also wins for White. But you would expect most players with a rating of, say,
2200 or above to figure out the correct defence. A blunder in such a position
by a 2600+ player would be a major sensation. 50.Kd1 Kd5 51.Kc2 Kd6.
Again, White hopes for 51...Kc4?? when 52.Kd2 Kd5 53.Kd3 Kc6 54.Ke4! would eventually
win the b-pawn and the game. 52.Kd2 Ke6 53.Ke3 Ke5 54.Kd3 Kd5 55.c4+. By
playing this, White concludes his winning attempts, entertains the crowd a little
and enables a draw to occur naturally without recourse to the arbiter. 55...bxc4+
56.Kc3 Kc6 57.Kxc4 Kb6 58.b5 Kb7 59.Kc5 Kc7 60.b6+ Kb7 61.Kb5 Kb8 62.Kc6 Kc8
63.b7+ Kb8 64.Kb6. Stalemate. The players shared the daily best game prize
of $1,000. 1/2-1/2. [Click
to replay]
The most entertaining session: Nigel Short and Ni Hua (with Rowson,
Trent and Malcolm Pein)
A very young chess fan attentively follows Nigel's endgame analysis
All pictures by Frederic Friedel in London
Standings
No.
Player
wins
draws
losses
points
Perf.
1
Magnus Carlsen
2
2
0
8
2868
2
Vladimir Kramnik
2
1
1
7
2790
3
Luke McShane
1
1
2
4
2718
4
Hikaru Nakamura
0
4
0
4
2687
5
Michael Adams
0
4
0
4
2632
6
David Howell
0
4
0
4
2705
7
Nigel Short
0
3
1
3
2561
8
Ni Hua
0
3
1
3
2636
Scoring System:
3 - Points per win
1 - Point per draw
0 - Points per loss
The games will be broadcast
live on the official web site and on the chess server .
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!
11.12.2009 – It seems like just last week that he came visiting for the first time, a highly likeable, immensely talented 18-year-old chessplayer. Today Viswanathan Anand turns forty. He has won all worthwhile titles in chess: world championships, chess Oscars, you name it. In our congratulatory report we look back at dozens of memorable articles on the champ. Join us in wishing him a happy birthday!
Adrian Mikhalchishin:
Winning Structures Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!
World Champion Viswanathan Anand, 40
Today the reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand turns forty. He was born
on 11 December 1969 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to Vishwanathan, General Manager,
Southern Railways, and Susheela, housewife, chess/film/club aficionado and an
influential socialite, who taught him to play chess.
Anand held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when
the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and
defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. With this win, he became
the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three
different formats: Knockout, Tournament, and Match. Anand is one of five players
in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list.
In 2007 Anand was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma
Vibhushan. He is also the first recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in
1991–92, India's highest sporting honour.
Click on our feedback button on the left to send Anand greetings
(subject: "Anand").
We will pass all greetings on to the champ.
Vishy Anand turns 40. Wish him!
Viswanathan Anand turns 40 today. On the occasion, the chess ace has just one
wish -- that the sport be included in the Olympics. "It would be nice to
have chess in the Olympics," says the first player to become World champion
in all three formats of the game.
After all, having won World titles in the Knock-out, Tournament and Match formats,
a medal from the Olympics is the only accolade missing from his showcase.
The World Championship match against Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov that comes
up in April-May is Anand's big event for 2010, and he has already started preparing
for it in earnest. As he puts it, the Bulgarian is a "very versatile and
dangerous player". Sure, he'll need all the luck and backing from his legion
of fans to come out tops.
Join us in wishing the king of the 64 squares board a very happy birthday and
all the best for the coming year.
He was named "Anand" at birth, and as a good South Indian Brahmin the name
of his father was tagged on, to distinguish him from the hundreds of thousands
of other Anands that walk the land. The system is simple: you get a name, one
name, and add it to your father's name. This is similar to the Icelandic tradition,
except the "son" part (as in Gustavson, Perutursson, etc.) is left out.
Anand with his parents at home in Madras many years ago, in a country far,
far away
Now Anand's father is Viswanathan, an affable Railway executive who loves golf.
So it became Viswanathan Anand, which translates roughly to "Viswanathan's
son Anand". The spelling is correct, the 's' is usually pronounced "Vish..",
which is why the name is sometimes misspelled Vishwanathan. The stress (if any)
is on the first syllable: VISH-wah-nah-thaan with all the 'a's as in 'father'.
[Addendum: a friend named Jagdish sent us the this
audio file with perfect Indian pronounciation.]
Quick IQ quiz: Anand's father is Krishnamurthy Viswanathan. What is Anand's
grandfather's name?
Now the correct way to address Anand is as follows:
If you are a stranger and want to show respect call him Mr Anand;
If you are a friend or in informal circumstances (in a gym or at a chess
tournament) call him Anand;
Never call him Mr Viswanathan. That would be simply silly an unexpected
mention of his father.
When Anand first came to visit and stay we all called him Anand (what else?).
He was 17 at the time. Some years later I believe it was during an event in
Las Palmas and it was Max Dlugy, but I could be mistaken I first heard someone
refer to him as "Vishy". I thought this was quite rude and asked Anand about
it. "No, I'm cool with that", he said. So Vishy it became, and over the years
people started calling him Vishy Anand.
Mr and Mrs Anand
When Anand got married his wife Aruna became Aruna Anand. I don't know why
in the case of women it appears to be that way around, but I have also heard
Anand being referred to as Anand Viswanathan, so maybe it is interchangable.
The polite form of address is Mrs Anand, if you know her well you can call her
Aruna. (Interestingly her father's name is Ananth, so before her marriage she
was Aruna Ananth talk about minimizing the change!). When they are together
Aruna calls him Anand, as in "Aaanand, tell him to stop teasing me!" When she
talks about him to other people she may call him Vishy, probably because she
knows they will otherwise be confused.
Frederic Friedel
Title page of a 2008 issue of Europe
Echecs (click to enlarge)
A selecton of memorable ChessBase reports on Anand
Support teams in chess All The Kings Men 21.10.2009 Behind the kings of the chess
world, theres a crack team of knights or seconds, as they are called.
They work day and night, and spend months together locked up, and once
in a while they want to break the tension. In the team of World Champion
Viswanathan Anand Coldplay is staple music, but "the guys now also listen
to Tamil music." Jaideep
Unudurti reports on Outlook Business.
CNN-IBN: Anand on his coming year 27.06.2009 World Champion Viswanathan Anand
is currently in his home town of Chennai, India, preparing for his upcoming
events. He spoke about them with the network CNN-IBN about the rapid
chess tournament in Mainz, Germany, an event with Kramnik and Karpov.
He also speaks about Indian cricket and about the passing of pop superstar
Michael Jackson. Watch
the video.
Good humour, personal stories, and the champion's best
games 28.11.2008 Vishy Anand's clear victory at
the World Championship in Bonn was the chess highlight of the year. During
the match one wag suggested Kramnik might have fared better had he watched
Anand's DVDs 'My Career'. Steve Goldberg of
did just that and enjoyed the great combination of humour, anecdotes and
in-depth annotation in volume two.
Buy it now or read
Back from Bonn the hero returns 23.11.2008 After his remarkable success at
the World Championship in Bonn, where he defended his title in a match
against Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand has returned to India and his native
Chennai to a hero's welcome. The festivities have just begun, but we have
first videos from the arrival, where thousands were gathered in spite
of the very late hour. Anand and his wife Aruna give interviews in Tamil.
Bring on Kasparov says Anand 01.11.2008 That is just one of hundreds of
headlines in Indian newspapers and web news agencies. There are interviews
and video reports by Indian journalists who were in Bonn for the World
Championship match. Anand's parents speak, and wife Aruna admits she is
not the only woman behind Anands success. We bring you links and excerpts
from the most interesting of these effusive
reports.
World Championship Picture Gallery of the final day 30.10.2008 The Match in Bonn
is over, Anand has won and retained his title. After the final, eleventh
game was over there was a brief prize-giving ceremony, a press conference,
and then a flurry of phone calls for the World Champion, most from his
native India. Finally, a relaxed celebratory dinner with his team, which
had emerged for the first time from the workrooms in the hotel. Big
pictorial report.
WCC R11: Fighting draw, Anand wins World Championship
by 6.5:4.5 29.10.2008 It was a game of almost unbearable
tension. Anand switched to 1.e4, Vladimir Kramnik went for do-or-die complications,
Anand obliged, and for a couple of hours nobody knew what would happen.
In the end, Vishy Anand prevailed, got a slightly better position and
Vladimir Kramnik offered a draw. Anand remains World Champion. First report
with comments
by Garry Kasparov and Malcolm Pein.
Vishy Anand: 'Chess is like acting' 01.10.2008 In a rare interview before the
World Championship, which begins in less than two weeks in Bonn, Germany,
the reigning champion Viswanathan Anand speaks about the title match against
Russian Vladimir Kramnik, about his training in the cellar, the role of
emotions and his meeting with Bobby Fischer. The story is in the SPIEGEL,
one of Europe's largest new portals. Must-read
interview.
New DVDs: Anand My Career in Chess 22.08.2008 Acclaimed as the "Fastest Brain
in the World", Vishy Anand is the world number one and World Champion.
Experts rate him as one of the biggest natural talents in the history
of the game. Easy-going and humorous, he is also one of the best-loved
players. Now he has recorded two ChessBase DVDs on his career, with a
total of over eight hours of video comments and annotations. Order
now.
AMD plays its first game with Vishy Anand 26.06.2008 The World Chess Champion has signed
a deal with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), the company that develops
computer processors and related technologies and is the second-largest
global supplier of microprocessors. Anand is now the brand model for AMD,
which is driving large ad campaigns with him. We bring you the first
TV ad and some cool wallpaper.
Devil's Advocate: Viswanathan Anand on mind games 13.05.2008 World chess champion Viswanathan
Anand is set for his title-defending match against challenger Vladimir
Kramnik in October. Anand says Kramnik's challenge and taunts don't bother
him because he believes "the main thing" is to win. "My own tendency is
to just ignore him," Anand told Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate in CNN-IBN
Live. Videos
and transcripts.
A personal portrait of World Champion Anand 23.12.2007 The Indian network CNN-IBN has
published an extraordinary TV portrait of Viswanathan Anand. In it Anand
himself, his wife Aruna, his and her parents, friends, trainers, colleagues,
all talk about the nation's favourite son. This includes music, food,
clothing, travel, hobbies, ambitions, salsa and kickboxing. Yes, kickboxing.
Take some time to watch this broadcast. It is a Christmas
treat.
The Homecoming Anand arrives in Chennai 18.10.2007 The new world chess champion,
Viswanathan Anand, hails from Madras in South India, a city today known
as Chennai. After a brief sojourn in Delhi Anand at last flew into his
home town, where he was awaited by tens of thousands of fans. It was not
easy to get shots of the champion in the throng. Our reporter Arvind Aaron
did his best and presents visual
impressions.
Anand mobbed on arrival in India 16.10.2007 This is what happens when you
become world champion and one billion fans are waiting for you to return
to your native country. Viswanathan Anand arrived just after midnight
in New Delhi, where chaotic scenes ensued while press and public jostled
to get a glimpse of him. Anand took it in his stride and on Monday evening
visited the president of the country. News
reports.
World Championship Mexico: the closing ceremony 01.10.2007 After his win on Saturday night
Vishy Anand was treated to a fine victory dinner by his hosts. Then, on
Sunday, a long day of activies followed, crowned by the celebrations and
festivities of the closing ceremony, in which the new world champion was
crowned. Now it is Sunday night, muy tarde very late. Before we embark
on our return trip we bring you pictorial
impressions.
Who is this chess player it was the Vish! 10.09.2007 We asked you to guess who this
smart young boy was, and provided some more or less helpful clues. Turns
out it was Vishy Anand at six, depicted in an interesing article written
by Manisha Mohite for the Indian news portal Sify, which printed a retrospect
for the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence. Today, of course, Anand
is the world's number one.
The Story of Indian Chess
Susheela Viswanathan: 'I am a very proud mother' 04.04.2007 After Vishy Anand had bagged Morelia/Linares
it became obvious that he would soon appear as the world's strongest player
on the FIDE ratings list. In India his parent bore the brunt of the media
frenzy that ensued. Both mother Shusheela and father Viswanathan were
persuaded to write short pieces about their famous and well beloved son. Very
interesting insights.
Four-part indepth portrait of Vishy Anand
Anand on chess from square one to the World Championship
in Bonn 19.02.2009 Viswanathan Anand has won it all:
the knockout, tournament and match world championships, blitz and rapid
you name it. He is the strongest Indian chess player in history, and
one of the strongest in the world, ever. In a multi-hour interview Anand
sat down with Indian journalists and described his career, candidly and
in rare detail. Today you can read the first section: part
one the early years.
Anand on chess as a profession and on computers 23.02.2009 World Champion Viswanathan Anand
was one of the pioneers in the use of computers for chess. He started
using chess database just months after Kasparov, and stuck with information
technology ever since. In part two of his indepth interview Anand also
speaks about books, professional chess and sporting heros. We have dug
up some unique
hstorical pictures.
Anand in interview on intuition, creativity and blitz
chess 14.03.2009 In the past month we brought you
two sections of an unprecedented in-depth interview conducted by Indian
colleagues with World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Today we continue the
series with Anand's take on game formats, computer moves (ugly or creative?),
Karpov, Kasparov, and secretly watching people on the chess servers. Part
three of four.
Anand on the World Championship in Bonn 08.04.2009 In the fourth and final part of
our interview series Viswanathan Anand talks about his games against Vladimir
Kramnik last October. When did his seconds tell him he had missed a forced
mate? When did he decide to play 1.d4 with white? How close exactly was
game five, and how many minutes before its start did he decide what to
play? Fascinating
insights.
Anand My Career in Chess
In March 2007 Vishwanathan Anand reached the number one spot on the world ranking
lists by winning the prestigious Linares tournament. In September 2007 Anand
won the World Championship for the second time in his career, when in Mexico
he became the undisputed World Chess Champion, ending a schism in the chess
world which had lasted for many years.
If his talent as a rapid chess player is legendary, his records in classical
chess have been superlative. In January 2006 he became the only player in the
tournament's 70-year history to win the Corus Chess event five times (1989,
1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006). He has won the Linares Super Tournament twice (1998
and 2007), the Dortmund GM three times (1996, 2000 and 2004), and countless
other important events like, Madrid Masters, Biel, etc.
Anand: My Career Vol. 1
The first DVD with videos from Anand's chess career reflects the very beginning
of that career and goes as far as 1999. It starts with his memories of how he
first learned chess and shows his first great games (including those from the
1984 World Championship for juniors). The high point of his early developmental
phase was the winning of the 1987 WCh for juniors. After that, things continue
in quick succession: the first victories over Kasparov, World Championship candidate
in both the FIDE and PCA cycles, and the high point of the World Championship
match against Kasparov in 1995.
3:48 hours playing time.
Anand: My Career Vol. 2
The second DVD begins in 2000, when Anand became FIDE World Champion, and
it ends with his victory in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico. Anand not
only analyses his best games, but casts a look back at the World Championshp
in Delhi/Teheran in 2000 and the years before, he discusses the situation in
the Bundesliga and Kasparov's retirement from tournament chess.
4:28 hours playing time.
Price per volume:
32.90
incl.
VAT
27.65
without
VAT (for Customers outside the European Union)
