OT: Chess: Part Two

[Say Hey Kid]

Carry on my wayward son

Click to read more...

 

[Say Hey Kid]

This is a list of the Top 10 recent non-champs based on a 5-year prime. This is how I rank them, not on peak.

1. Levon Aronian
2. Fabiano Caruana
3. Vesselin Topalov
4. Vassily Ivanchuk
5. Hikaru Nakamura
6. Alexander Grischuk
7. Sergey Karjakin
8. MVL
9. Anish Giri
10. Wesley So

 

[Say Hey Kid]

This is a list of the Top 10 recent non-champs based on peak. The players who didn't make the prime list are linked and underlined. Aronian, Caruana, and Topalov finished top 3 on both lists. Fabiano Caruana beat Levon Aronian 13 to 9. Veselin Topalov beat Levon Aronian 8 to 6. Fabiano Caruana beat Veselin Topalov 6 to 2.

1. Fabiano Caruana
2. Levon Aronian
3. Vesselin Topalov
4. Mamedyarov
5. Wesley So
6. MVL
7. Hikaru Nakamura
8. Ding, Liren
9. Alexander Grischuk
10. Firouzja

 

[Harbour Dog]

Yeah, there's not much argument against Caruana as the top of a peak list that excludes Carlsen. There were stretches where he was as far ahead of 3rd as Carlsen was ahead of him.

Looking at a 5-year prime, I think it would still be Caruana for me. Then, in some order: Topalov, Ivanchuk, Aronian, Mamedyarov would be there. And maybe with some research, MVL, Ding, and/or Giri would belong in that group as well.

Fabi tops both lists for me though. He's had a couple down years since he reached the top, but I don't believe that he's ever slipped out of the top5. And that's across about 8 years.

 

[aufheben]

Reposting this. Some line of a 1.d4 opening…I can’t remember which one though…might have been the Grunfeld. I remember practicing that at one point.

I don’t remember which opening it was because it was a fairly deep line—it could have been the Grunfeld—but you ended up with a bishop pair together nice and snug with long diagonals, wide open center files for rooks, and Queenside pawn action (I think). I know it was with black and it had a very distinct feel…like a new way of seeing the board, I guess because it was cut in half.

Edit: lmao I castled the Queen.​

 

[Harbour Dog]

Reposting this. Some line of a 1.d4 opening…I can’t remember which one though…might have been the Grunfeld. I remember practicing that at one point.

I don’t remember which opening it was because it was a fairly deep line—it could have been the Grunfeld—but you ended up with a bishop pair together nice and snug with long diagonals, wide open center files for rooks, and Queenside pawn action (I think). I know it was with black and it had a very distinct feel…like a new way of seeing the board, I guess because it was cut in half.

Edit: lmao I castled the Queen.​

lol, Queen castling could revolutionize the game!

This looks like a nice comfortable setup for Black though. Depending on the line that gets you there, White should be equally as comfortable.

But you can't plan to beat people out of the opening anyway. When you do, that's awesome; but if you're consistently getting into middle games that are comfortable to play for you, then that's as much as you can ask for. And this looks like a setup that would be very easy to get used to.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Endgame Riddle Fischer vs Spassky, Game 10: Spassky could have drawn!

"In 1972, the World Championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Reykjavik made headlines all over the world, and during and after the match the games were analysed in detail. One of the highlights of the match was game 10, in which Fischer won a difficult endgame after getting the advantage in a complicated middlegame. 50 years after the match Karsten Müller invited the ChessBase readers to take another look at this classic. Here is what the readers found".​

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Garry Kasparov talks about his life

"The English newspaper "The Guardian" recently published an interview with Garry Kasparov in which the 13th World Champion openly talks about his chess career, his political activities, his loss against Deep Blue, and how it feels to be thrown into jail".​

 

[Brief Candle]

Garry Kasparov talks about his life

"The English newspaper "The Guardian" recently published an interview with Garry Kasparov in which the 13th World Champion openly talks about his chess career, his political activities, his loss against Deep Blue, and how it feels to be thrown into jail".​

He really is one of my favorite people. A brilliant, good human.

 

[Harbour Dog]

And a draw today in a Pianissimo.

Despite Hikaru's reputation, I would give them near 50/50 odds at faster time controls over the board. Tomorrow will tell the tale of who comes away with 13 Grand Prix points, and who gets 10; could be the difference in a Candidates berth when everything is said and done.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Firouzja Among 'Full' Grand Chess Tour Participants But Not Carlsen Or Nakamura

"Superbet Chess Classic Romania: May 3-15, Bucharest, Romania
Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland: May 17-24, Warsaw, Poland
SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia: July 18-25, Zagreb, Croatia
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz: August 24-31, St. Louis, U.S.
Sinquefield Cup: August 31-September 13, St. Louis, U.S.
​

The participants of the 2022 Grand Chess Tour were announced in a press release on Wednesday. The tour consists of five events this year. The full-tour participants will play in both classical events—the first and last events of the tour—as well as in two of the three rapid and blitz tournaments. The Superbet Chess Classic is likely the first over-the-board event for Firouzja since he broke 2800 and became the world's number-two player".

Naka won the first game today, a Ruy Lopez, in 61 moves.

 

[Brief Candle]

Well, there it is. Hikaru played great. Bummer for Levon, as he's one of my favorites.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Gotta wonder if Carlsen would be motivated to take on Hikaru, if he makes it to and wins the Candidates. With all the popularity that chess has found recently, and Hikaru being at the forefront, it would be a special WCC.

 

[aufheben]

I was the sole poster to defend Naka's classical game. I have both Aronian and Naka top 5 in my recent non-champs which I stand by.

To be fair, one poster is like 25-50% of this thread.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

Its hard to conceive that such a strong player as Hikaru was basically discouraged at the thought of facing Magnus to the point of quitting competitive chess. Thats how dominant Magnus is.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

Gotta wonder if Carlsen would be motivated to take on Hikaru, if he makes it to and wins the Candidates. With all the popularity that chess has found recently, and Hikaru being at the forefront, it would be a special WCC.

Hikaru and Firouzja at the candidates would be fantastic.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Nakamura beats Aronian in tiebreaks, wins Berlin Grand Prix

"Hikaru Nakamura defeated Levon Aronian in tiebreaks to win the first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin. The hard-fought final match had seen two draws in the classical games. In the two rapid encounters that broke the tie, Nakamura showed better nerves in the last stage of the games to take home the title, 13 Grand Prix points and 24,000 Euros".​

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Qualifiers: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Teimour Radjabov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Sergey Karjakin, Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana.​

The last 2 will be from this group: Ding, Liren, Aronian, Giri, So, Shak, Grischuk, MVL, and Naka.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Airthings Masters kicks off 2022 Champions Chess Tour

"The Airthings Masters tournament kicks off this year’s Meltwater Champions Chess Tour with a glittering lineup featuring Magnus Carlsen and the new male and female world rapid champions. Sixteen players in total will battle it out in the round-robin stage of the online event before eight go forward to the knockout stage. The tournament will take place on February 19-26, with the action kicking off daily at 18.00 CET. Returning to the line-up are Carlsen’s world title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, China’s number one Ding Liren and the runner-up from the last Airthings Masters Levon Aronian, plus: Dutch number one Anish Giri; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov; Jan-Krzysztof Duda; Liem Quang Le; Canada’s chess streaming sensation Eric Hansen and the exciting talent Vladislav Artemiev". @Harbour Dog What dark horses will play better than their ratings?​

 

[Harbour Dog]

Airthings Masters kicks off 2022 Champions Chess Tour

"The Airthings Masters tournament kicks off this year’s Meltwater Champions Chess Tour with a glittering lineup featuring Magnus Carlsen and the new male and female world rapid champions. Sixteen players in total will battle it out in the round-robin stage of the online event before eight go forward to the knockout stage. The tournament will take place on February 19-26, with the action kicking off daily at 18.00 CET. Returning to the line-up are Carlsen’s world title challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, China’s number one Ding Liren and the runner-up from the last Airthings Masters Levon Aronian, plus: Dutch number one Anish Giri; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov; Jan-Krzysztof Duda; Liem Quang Le; Canada’s chess streaming sensation Eric Hansen and the exciting talent Vladislav Artemiev". @Harbour Dog What dark horses will play better than their ratings?

​

Abdussatorov, 100%.

Pragg and Keymer are both capable of making waves, and I expect one of the two will have a strong tournie. Hansen and Niemann will likely be outclassed.

But Abdussatorov is ready to compete in these 2700+ events now. He's as strong as Esipenko.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Full Tour Participants confirmed for the 2022 Grand Chess Tour

"The total Prize Fund Increased to $1.4 million across all five tournaments. The nine players are Wesley So Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Levon Aronian, Richard Rapport, and Leinier Dominguez".​

 

[Harbour Dog]

A stacked knockout round for the second RCC tourney tomorrow.

Nakamura vs. Fedoseev
Svidler vs. Dreev
Caruana vs. Dubov
So vs. Paravyan

Winner of Naka-Fedo gets winner of So-Paravyan in the semis.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Praggnanandhaa in Wijk aan Zee: Analyses and reflections

"The organizers of the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee are known for inviting promising talents. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu made his debut in the Masters this year. Thorsten Cmiel analyses Pragg’s games and shares some reflexions about the youngster’s performance".​

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Airthings Masters: Ding leads, Carlsen struggles

"Ding Liren had the best start at the Airthings Masters online tournament. The Chinese scored 10/12 points after winning three games and drawing one on the first day of action. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Andrey Esipenko are placed second and third, while Magnus Carlsen is currently eleventh after losing in rounds 3 and 4, against Esipenko and Nepomniachtchi respectively".​

 

[Harbour Dog]

Hikaru intentionally drew against Fabi with White in the 15 minute portion of their finals match, so he could play him at a faster time control as Black. Then Fabi smited him with extreme precision in the 3 minute game.

Had to feel good for Caruana; his speed chess game has gotten shit on quite a bit since Magnus' WCC strategy against him.