OT: Chess

[Ben Grimm]

Ian Nepomniachtchi Signs With Chess.com - Chess.com

"Chess.com is delighted and excited to announce that GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, 2021 Candidates Tournament winner and world championship challenger to GM Magnus Carlsen, has signed a long-term sponsorship agreement with Chess.com! "We are thrilled to have such a highly accomplished, talented, and powerful player as an ambassador for Chess.com and its mission of supporting chess players and their careers at all levels—from beginners to the world's elite" said Chess.com's CEO Erik Allebest. "We are proud to support Ian's continued endeavor to reach the top of the chess world." @Harbour Dog

 

[Ben Grimm]

Norway Chess R2: Nepomniachtchi Wins With The King's Gambit - Chess.com

"GM Richard Rapport continues to lead the Norway Chess tournament after drawing both his classical and armageddon games with GM Sergey Karjakin, gaining 1.5 points. GM Magnus Carlsen is in second place after surviving a scare in the classical and then beating GM Aryan Tari in the armageddon. After missing out on the first round, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi joined the tournament today and beat GM Alireza Firouzja in the armageddon as well, using the romantic King's Gambit opening."

 

[Ben Grimm]

Norway Chess R3: Rapport Still Leads After 3 More Armageddons - Chess.com

"For the second day in a row, all classical games at the Norway Chess tournament ended in draws and therefore three more armageddon games were played. GM Richard Rapport lost to GM Magnus Carlsen but is still a point ahead in the standings. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi beat GM Aryan Tari to catch GM Alireza Firouzja in third place as the French GM lost his third armageddon, to GM Sergey Karjakin."

 

[Ben Grimm]

Champions Showdown Chess9LX Day 2: Dominguez Leads, Kasparov Scores 2.5/3 - Chess.com

"Scoring 3/3 on the second day, GM Leinier Dominguez took over the lead from GM Fabiano Caruana at the Champions Showdown Chess9LX tournament in St. Louis. GM Garry Kasparov had an excellent day where he scored 2.5/3 and moved to shared third place, paraphrasing Mark Twain: "The rumors of my chess death have been slightly exaggerated!"

This is the best Kasparov has played in years. Hopefully @Harbour Dog will give us a little analysis of the opening in his win against Aronian with the Black pieces.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Champions Showdown Chess9LX Day 2: Dominguez Leads, Kasparov Scores 2.5/3 - Chess.com

"Scoring 3/3 on the second day, GM Leinier Dominguez took over the lead from GM Fabiano Caruana at the Champions Showdown Chess9LX tournament in St. Louis. GM Garry Kasparov had an excellent day where he scored 2.5/3 and moved to shared third place, paraphrasing Mark Twain: "The rumors of my chess death have been slightly exaggerated!"

This is the best Kasparov has played in years. Hopefully @Harbour Dog will give us a little analysis of the opening in his win against Aronian with the Black pieces.

I'm prepping for a cross-country move, and I never even knew this tournament was happening haha. That is a vast improvement over his last showing against top players!

Hopefully I'll get a chance in the next day or two to catch up with these and the Norway Chess games!

 

[Ben Grimm]

Richard Rapport

Number of games in database: 887
Years covered: 2008 to 2021
Last FIDE rating: 2760 (2727 rapid, 2759 blitz)
Overall record: +255 -114 =258 (61.2%)*

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
Rapport vs Carlsen, 2017 1-0

Norway Chess R6: Rapport Extends Lead; Carlsen Wins 1st Classical Game - Chess.com

"GM Richard Rapport increased his lead at Norway Chess to a commanding three points after scoring his third classical win on Monday. The Hungarian GM defeated GM Aryan Tari for the second time. GM Magnus Carlsen is back in third place after scoring his first classical win in the tournament, against GM Alireza Firouzja. GM Sergey Karjakin continued strongly after beating Carlsen the other day as he won the armageddon game vs. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is still in second place with four rounds to go." @Harbour Dog , what do you think about Rapport?

 

[Harbour Dog]

13	Rapport, Richard	HUN	2760		1996
14	Karjakin, Sergey	RUS	2758		1990
15	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	POL	2756		1998
16	Firouzja, Alireza	FRA	2754		2003
17	Anand, Viswanathan	IND	2753		1969

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Richard Rapport

Number of games in database: 887
Years covered: 2008 to 2021
Last FIDE rating: 2760 (2727 rapid, 2759 blitz)
Overall record: +255 -114 =258 (61.2%)*

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
Rapport vs Carlsen, 2017 1-0

Norway Chess R6: Rapport Extends Lead; Carlsen Wins 1st Classical Game - Chess.com

"GM Richard Rapport increased his lead at Norway Chess to a commanding three points after scoring his third classical win on Monday. The Hungarian GM defeated GM Aryan Tari for the second time. GM Magnus Carlsen is back in third place after scoring his first classical win in the tournament, against GM Alireza Firouzja. GM Sergey Karjakin continued strongly after beating Carlsen the other day as he won the armageddon game vs. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is still in second place with four rounds to go." @Harbour Dog , what do you think about Rapport?

Despite his rating and age, he actually keeps a pretty low profile. Up until a couple years ago, he had a reputation for playing some crazy opening ideas, even at the highest level. That's something I'd love to see more of, but I think he may have cleaned his repertoire up a bit recently; which is probably necessary if he wants to continue climbing through these uber-talents (currently the youngest player in top 10 in the live ratings).

I hope he ascends the rankings and gets more comfortable playing some wonky stuff against the best of the best. Good for the game to have new blood in these super GM tournaments to shake things up a bit.

edit - sidenote, he's in the process of pulling out a win against Karjakin today.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I recently read "The Longest Game" by Jan Timman (a grandmaster who was a top 3 player in the world for several years). He reviews the five Kasparov-Karpov matches from 1984 to 1990. He presents annotated summaries (in full or in part) of roughly half of the games from those matches, and also shares stories about what was going on behind the scenes.

I enjoyed the book. Even though Kasparov won all four matches (the 1984 match was suspended with Karpov leading, but Kasparov rapidly gaining ground), Timman shows how close the two players were. The analysis was quite detailed and truthfully I skimmed over a lot of it (not because it wasn't interesting, but because it required more time and energy than I could realistically invest in it). He did a good job highlighting the players' personalities and habits behind the scenes.

This book is probably suited for intermediate/advanced players (which I'm not...) with an interest in chess history.

(Since this is a hockey forum - I tried to think of an analogous case, where one team consistently beat another one, but each of the series were close. I'm struggling to think of any good examples, am I missing anything obvious?)

 

[Harbour Dog]

I recently read "The Longest Game" by Jan Timman (a grandmaster who was a top 3 player in the world for several years). He reviews the five Kasparov-Karpov matches from 1984 to 1990. He presents annotated summaries (in full or in part) of roughly half of the games from those matches, and also shares stories about what was going on behind the scenes.

I enjoyed the book. Even though Kasparov won all four matches (the 1984 match was suspended with Karpov leading, but Kasparov rapidly gaining ground), Timman shows how close the two players were. The analysis was quite detailed and truthfully I skimmed over a lot of it (not because it wasn't interesting, but because it required more time and energy than I could realistically invest in it). He did a good job highlighting the players' personalities and habits behind the scenes.

This book is probably suited for intermediate/advanced players (which I'm not...) with an interest in chess history.

(Since this is a hockey forum - I tried to think of an analogous case, where one team consistently beat another one, but each of the series were close. I'm struggling to think of any good examples, am I missing anything obvious?)

I understand not being able to focus on the analysis at times. I'm currently reading The Life and Times of Mikhail Tal, and I have two bookmarks in it; one is how far I've gotten when I'm capable of following the analysis, and the other is just when I read and skim.

For the hockey comparison, we had that stretch against the Capitals a few years ago where we met them three out of four years, and beat them in 7 every time.

 

[Ben Grimm]

.

1		Carlsen	2848.3	−6.7		2842.0		2892.0			30
2		Caruana	2800.0	0.0		2775.0		2765.0			29
3		Ding Liren	2799.0	0.0		2836.0		2788.0			28
4		Nepomniachtchi	2788.5	−3.5		2798.0		2792.0			31
5		Aronian	2782.0	0.0		2761.0		2767.0			38
6	↑7	Rapport	2778.4	+18.4

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

100

↑1

Swiercz

2647.0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Norway Chess R7: Rapport Moves To World Number 6 - Chess.com

"For the first time, the Norway Chess tournament saw three decisive classical games and therefore no armageddons. GM Richard Rapport defeated GM Sergey Karjakin to jump to world number-six in the live ratings. He is now 3.5 points ahead of the new runner-up in the tournament, GM Magnus Carlsen, who beat his compatriot GM Aryan Tari. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi dropped to third place after losing to GM Alireza Firouzja." @Harbour Dog , #6! What do you know about Swiercz?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Harbour Dog]

.

1		Carlsen	2848.3	−6.7		2842.0		2892.0			30
2		Caruana	2800.0	0.0		2775.0		2765.0			29
3		Ding Liren	2799.0	0.0		2836.0		2788.0			28
4		Nepomniachtchi	2788.5	−3.5		2798.0		2792.0			31
5		Aronian	2782.0	0.0		2761.0		2767.0			38
6	↑7	Rapport	2778.4	+18.4

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

100

↑1

Swiercz

2647.0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Norway Chess R7: Rapport Moves To World Number 6 - Chess.com

"For the first time, the Norway Chess tournament saw three decisive classical games and therefore no armageddons. GM Richard Rapport defeated GM Sergey Karjakin to jump to world number-six in the live ratings. He is now 3.5 points ahead of the new runner-up in the tournament, GM Magnus Carlsen, who beat his compatriot GM Aryan Tari. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi dropped to third place after losing to GM Alireza Firouzja." @Harbour Dog , #6! What do you know about Swiercz?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know next to nothing about Swiercz, aside from seeing his name on ratings lists. He did really well in an American, swiss-style tournament this summer that Niemann, Bortnyk, and Liang were in; but I don't remember if he won it or not.

edit- he did win it! Impressive.

 

[Ben Grimm]

Norway Chess R9: Carlsen Leads After 4th Straight Win; Firouzja Enters World's Top 10 - Chess.com

"He was close to a defeat this time but GM Magnus Carlsen turned his game with GM Sergey Karjakin around, won his fourth in a row, and became the new leader at Norway Chess with one round to go. GM Alireza Firouzja defeated GM Aryan Tari to enter the live top 10 for the first time, while GM Ian Nepomniachtchi beat GM Richard Rapport in the armageddon."

Nona Gaprindashvili Sues Netflix For Alleged Defamation In 'The Queen's Gambit' - Chess.com

"The producer of the series has provided the following statement: "Netflix has only the utmost respect for Ms. Gaprindashvili and her illustrious career, but we believe this claim has no merit and will vigorously defend the case."

She has horrible attorneys. This is fiction so just like comedy you can not sue. As for loss of income she's an 80 year old who only plays in Senior events. @Harbour Dog

 

[Bricho]

I recently read "The Longest Game" by Jan Timman (a grandmaster who was a top 3 player in the world for several years). He reviews the five Kasparov-Karpov matches from 1984 to 1990. He presents annotated summaries (in full or in part) of roughly half of the games from those matches, and also shares stories about what was going on behind the scenes.

I enjoyed the book. Even though Kasparov won all four matches (the 1984 match was suspended with Karpov leading, but Kasparov rapidly gaining ground), Timman shows how close the two players were. The analysis was quite detailed and truthfully I skimmed over a lot of it (not because it wasn't interesting, but because it required more time and energy than I could realistically invest in it). He did a good job highlighting the players' personalities and habits behind the scenes.

This book is probably suited for intermediate/advanced players (which I'm not...) with an interest in chess history.

(Since this is a hockey forum - I tried to think of an analogous case, where one team consistently beat another one, but each of the series were close. I'm struggling to think of any good examples, am I missing anything obvious?)

I don’t have a hockey analogy but in basketball this made me thing of the 90s Bulls vs the Knicks…. Knicks came close but was never able to pull through a series one. The Jordan-less series don’t count!

 

[Ben Grimm]

I don’t have a hockey analogy but in basketball this made me thing of the 90s Bulls vs the Knicks…. Knicks came close but was never able to pull through a series one. The Jordan-less series don’t count!

The Jordan-less Bulls should have won and almost did. A ref called a phantom foul on Pippen on a 3 pointer, the Knick made 3 free throws, and the Knicks won the game.

 

[Ben Grimm]

Magnus Carlsen Wins 2021 Norway Chess - Chess.com

"GM Magnus Carlsen won the Norway Chess tournament for the third time in a row, and the fourth in total. Like in the first half of the tournament, the world champion won the armageddon game against world title challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who came fourth. GM Alireza Firouzja ended up beating and overtaking GM Richard Rapport to finish in second place, just like last year. GM Sergey Karjakin, who won the first two editions of Norway Chess, came fifth after beating GM Aryan Tari in the armageddon."

 

[Ben Grimm]

'The Queen’s Gambit' Wins 11 Emmys Including Best Limited Series - Chess.com

"The Netflix hit series The Queen's Gambit won a total of 11 Emmy Awards, including the top prize for limited series. At Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards, director Scott Frank received a trophy as well, a week after the series had already clinched nine prizes in technical categories. The Queen's Gambit is the first streaming series to win the award for outstanding limited or anthology series, a separate category for series that run a maximum of one season. The other nominated series in the category were I May Destroy You, Mare of Easttown, The Underground Railroad, and WandaVision. Handed out for the 73rd time on Sunday, the Primetime Emmy Awards are prizes in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming, similar to the Academy Award (Oscar) for motion pictures."

 

[Ben Grimm]

Russian Teams Win At European Club Cup As Carlsen Plays Last OTB Games Before Match - Chess.com

"Mednyi Vsadnik of St. Petersburg won the 2021 European Club Cup in Struga, North Macedonia. South Ural (also Russia) won the women's tournament. Playing for Norway's Offerspill, GM Magnus Carlsen scored 2.5/3 in what was his last classical OTB event before the world championship."

I'm neutral on who I want to win the WC. Perhaps we can get some thoughts on it from @Harbour Dog . I'm taking a break until then.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Russian Teams Win At European Club Cup As Carlsen Plays Last OTB Games Before Match - Chess.com

"Mednyi Vsadnik of St. Petersburg won the 2021 European Club Cup in Struga, North Macedonia. South Ural (also Russia) won the women's tournament. Playing for Norway's Offerspill, GM Magnus Carlsen scored 2.5/3 in what was his last classical OTB event before the world championship."

I'm neutral on who I want to win the WC. Perhaps we can get some thoughts on it from @Harbour Dog . I'm taking a break until then.

I mainly want it to be exciting and come down to the wire, but all else being equal, I'd like to see Magnus retain the title. I like Nepo, I'm just not sure if he's the guy I want to see finally take down Carlsen.

That said, if my choices were Nepo in an exciting, tight match, or Magnus in a blowout; I'll take the Nepo win.

 

[Ben Grimm]

3

↓1

Caruana

2790.7

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

8

↓2

So

2772.0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

70

↑21

Sevian

2668.0

+14.0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

US Chess Championships R11: Caruana, So, Sevian Advance To Tiebreaks - Chess.com

"In round 11 of the 2021 U.S. Chess Championship, all three leaders drew their games which resulted in a three-way tie for first place among GMs Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Sam Sevian. They all finished with 6.5/11 and will play a rapid playoff on Tuesday, October 19, to determine the champion."

This is my favorite chess tourney in the world. 2 of the top 8 players in the world, Caruana and So, are in the tiebreak. Big deal. Since 2015 it's usually won by one of the top 4 players Caruana, So, or Nakamura, although Shankland won in 2018. The big deal is that Sam Sevian has moved up 21 ranks to become number 70 in the world, added 14 points to his rating, and made the tiebreak. @Harbour Dog , what do you think of this tourney, Sevian. and this Quiet Italian game by underdog John Burke?

"Finally, GM John M. Burke finished the event on an amazing note by winning a gorgeous game against GM Jeffery Xiong in just 25 moves. In the Quiet Italian, White opened the center and quickly developed a decisive attack to finish at 5/11. Let's take a look:"

John M Burke vs Jeffery Xiong (2021) (chessgames.com)
Italian Game: Italian Variation (C50) · 1-0

SO WON​

 

[Harbour Dog]

3

↓1

Caruana

2790.7

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

8

↓2

So

2772.0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

70

↑21

Sevian

2668.0

+14.0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

US Chess Championships R11: Caruana, So, Sevian Advance To Tiebreaks - Chess.com

"In round 11 of the 2021 U.S. Chess Championship, all three leaders drew their games which resulted in a three-way tie for first place among GMs Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Sam Sevian. They all finished with 6.5/11 and will play a rapid playoff on Tuesday, October 19, to determine the champion."

This is my favorite chess tourney in the world. 2 of the top 8 players in the world, Caruana and So, are in the tiebreak. Big deal. Since 2015 it's usually won by one of the top 4 players Caruana, So, or Nakamura, although Shankland won in 2018. The big deal is that Sam Sevian has moved up 21 ranks to become number 70 in the world, added 14 points to his rating, and made the tiebreak. @Harbour Dog , what do you of this tourney, Sevian. and this Quiet Italian game by underdog John Burke?

"Finally, GM John M. Burke finished the event on an amazing note by winning a gorgeous game against GM Jeffery Xiong in just 25 moves. In the Quiet Italian, White opened the center and quickly developed a decisive attack to finish at 5/11. Let's take a look:"

John M Burke vs Jeffery Xiong (2021) (chessgames.com)
Italian Game: Italian Variation (C50) · 1-0

SO WON​

Haven't been able to follow a single second, unfortunately.

I'm hoping to be able to do some catching up this week or next!

 

[Brief Candle]

.

1		Carlsen	2848.3	−6.7		2842.0		2892.0			30
2		Caruana	2800.0	0.0		2775.0		2765.0			29
3		Ding Liren	2799.0	0.0		2836.0		2788.0			28
4		Nepomniachtchi	2788.5	−3.5		2798.0		2792.0			31
5		Aronian	2782.0	0.0		2761.0		2767.0			38
6	↑7	Rapport	2778.4	+18.4

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

100

↑1

Swiercz

2647.0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Norway Chess R7: Rapport Moves To World Number 6 - Chess.com

"For the first time, the Norway Chess tournament saw three decisive classical games and therefore no armageddons. GM Richard Rapport defeated GM Sergey Karjakin to jump to world number-six in the live ratings. He is now 3.5 points ahead of the new runner-up in the tournament, GM Magnus Carlsen, who beat his compatriot GM Aryan Tari. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi dropped to third place after losing to GM Alireza Firouzja." @Harbour Dog , #6! What do you know about Swiercz?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It really is wild to thing just how amazing Magnus is, but not to mention just how good ALL the top guys are. FIDE points, especially at the higher levels are SO hard to earn. Just goes to show just how incredible a time it is to be a chess fan.

 

[ORRFForever]

Wait, what?...

At 10:35, he says Ne4 wins the Queen? Help me understand?
Am I missing something obvious?

Are You Team Magnus or Team Nepo? - YouTube

 

[ORRFForever]

One month until the BIG match.

 

[ORRFForever]

Wait, what?...

At 10:35, he says Ne4 wins the Queen? Help me understand?
Am I missing something obvious?

Are You Team Magnus or Team Nepo? - YouTube

^Quoting my own post.^

At 10:30, Agadmator says Ne4 wins Magnus' Queen.

Are You Team Magnus or Team Nepo? - YouTube

It does NOT ! Instead Nepo should leave the Knight on g5 and play a7 because a8 (most likely with Check) cannot be stopped.

Am I wrong? What am I missing?

 

[Ben Grimm]

Carlsen, Caruana Top Field For 2022 Tata Steel Chess Tournament - Chess.com

"The 84th edition of the Tata Steel Chess tournament during January 14-30, 2022 in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, will again have the world's top two players, GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Fabiano Caruana. On Tuesday, 13 of the 14 participants were announced; four are in the world's top 10. Carlsen will be playing in Wijk aan Zee for the 18th time. He won the Grandmaster Group C when he was 13 in his first year in 2004 and has won the main tournament a record of seven times. Caruana, the winner in 2020, will come to Wijk aan Zee for the 10th time. GM Jorden van Foreest, the defending champion, will again be representing the Dutch delegation with GM Anish Giri. GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and GM Daniil Dubov, who were initially announced for the 2021 tournament but had to withdraw for reasons related to the pandemic, will get a new chance next year. The youngest participants are 16-year-old GM Praggnanandhaa R. from India, who has made a strong impression during the pandemic in many online events, and 19-year-old GM Andrey Esipenko from Russia, who managed to beat Carlsen in their first-ever encounter in the last edition." I hope @Harbour Dog has time to follow this tourney.​