en chessbase com (10)
TRANSCRIPT
8/19/2019 En Chessbase Com (10)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/en-chessbase-com-10 1/7
Today on playchess.com
3/15/2016 – The
Candidates tournamentthis year is taking place
in Moscow. Nakamura,
Anand, Caruana,Aronian, Svidler,
Karjakin, Topa lov and Giri will fight for theplace in the World Championship ma tch.
Simon Williams is doing a round up o f
the day at 9pm CET. View the wholeschedule!
News
New Fritz, new friend
A must-have for
ambitious chess playerswho want to improve
their own attacking
skills.
Winning with theDouble Fianchetto:
Nicholas Pert providesdeep insights into this
popular opening.
Geller-Karpov (1976):Let Robert Ris show you
why this game became a classic in chesshistory. Plus 37.565 topical games.
With famous classical
examples from the
works of the giants!
On this DVD, Sam
Collins presents arepertoire for Black
Jon Speelman - Overview of Candidates so far
3/15/2016 – A massive tournament like the Candidates is a tapes try with individual moves the threads thatare w oven toge ther into games, rounds and even tually the complete picture. Early on, it's impossible to guess
wha t form that finished article will take, but there are many indications of the form and sta te of mind of theplayers under a deg ree of tension the y will have seldom experienced.
C h e s s B a s e 1 3 D o w n l o a d
ChessBase 13 is a personal, stand-alone chess database that has become the standardthroughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur nextdoor. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more aboutit. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy your chess even more.
More...
I'm obviously in no w ay going to try to compete he re with the splendid game by game a ccounts coming fromSagar Shah in Mo scow. But I w ould like to highlight some critical moments, often quite small seeming things,which may indicate th e players' level of confidence and o f ambition.
We start with Viswanatha n Anand. When Ch essBase pub lished the fascinating analysis by James Jorasch and
Chris Capo bianco I, like many, was most struck by the low success rate - just 6 .7% - accorded to Anand. Thestatistics gene rated by a million instances o f a tourna ment certainly won't be inaccurate, but the initialassumptions are open to interpretation, and the events of the previous Candidates which Anand, supposedlycoming into it in dire form, dominated: demonstrated that two years ago a t the age o f 45, he was more tha ncapable of pulling out the s tops.
Who cares about stats when your name is Anand?
His first round game ag ainst Levon Aronian in Khanty-Mansiysk 2014 w as fea rsomely smooth. This timeagainst Veselin Topalov it wa s less so a nd of course Topalov missed a big chance for a near haymaker whenhe failed to play 20...Bxf2+.
Anand - Topalov
What would have happened had Topalov seen 20...Bxf2?
ChessBase
playchess.com
www.playchess.co
We are sorry, your browser needs an update. Please installthe latest version. Werecommend using Chrome or Firefox onWindows/Android/Linux, Safarion iOS. Enjoy your chess!
PLAYCHESS.COMNo registration! No download! »
Close x
converted by Web2P DFConvert.com
8/19/2019 En Chessbase Com (10)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/en-chessbase-com-10 2/7
based on the rock-solid Lasker variation,
reinvigorated with new ideas by forme rWorld Champion Vishy Anand and
forming the cornerstone of many strong
GM repertoires today.
On this 60 Minutes
renowned and
successful coach AdrianMikhalchishin presents
critical positions a ndshows how to handle
them.
The usual move orderis 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3
Nf3 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e5!? 5Nb5 d5 6 cxd5 Bc5
bringing us to a very
sharp position. AndrewMArtin shows this
variation from black'spoint of view.
Advertising
Books, boards, sets:Chess Niggemann
First round ga mes can have a huge impact on a tourna ment the most obvious recent instance being MagnusCarlsen's loss on time against Topalov in the first round of Stavanger 2015 and the diametrically oppos itetrajectories the two players took thereafter. Admittedly, Carlsen a lso lost to Topalov in the first round of theSinquefield Cup a couple of months later, but that wa s a normal game and he recovered w hile Topalov latersank.
The double miss of 20...Bxf2+ feels abnormal for two players of su ch class tho ugh both played reason ably
thereafter and Anan d wa s dead ly after the time control. In a fourteen round tourna ment of unremittingtension it's important to use your energy wisely. Anand's second ro und game aga inst Levon Aronian was a nexcellent example of this as he got a very decent position out of the open ing and then tried neither too muchnor too little accepting that if Aronian played w ell it would end up about equal. His third round g ame againstFabiano Ca ruana w as also w ell within limits with neither player going overboard.
In the pretournament sta tistical analysis, Caruana came out on top. This wa s hardly a surprise and he sho we dhis mettle as early as the sixth move of his first round game aga inst Nakamura.
Nakamura - Caruana
Position after 6. exd4
In positions like this 6...d5 might lead to slight suffering but should sure ly be perfectly defensible. I suppo seit's pos sible that Ca ruana n evertheless rea lly disliked it but if we put a positive spin on his choice of 6...Ne7 itwas much braver and more challenging and although Nakamura later got an edge, Caruana defended himself pretty convincingly.
Nakamura: nerves betraying him?
Nakamura has be en trying to persuad e himself in public and I presume in private too that it's poss ible to treatthe Ca ndidates a s a no rmal tournament. In round tw o aga inst Karjakin, he certainly failed to do s o. RecentlyNakamura has started to move from the King's Indian to "prope r" openings ag ainst 1.d4. There is such heavytheory against the KID that you can certainly see his point: scary though he is in these types of position thefear factor may not be enoug h aga inst wo rld class players. But he's still clearly not en tirely comfortable in QIDpositions and the loss to Karjakin wa s pretty miserable. Nakamura never looked ha ppy and convinced himself when he was worse but less so than he had been, that a combination worked that patently didn't.
Karjakin - Nakamura
converted by Web2P DFConvert.com
8/19/2019 En Chessbase Com (10)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/en-chessbase-com-10 3/7
Here Nakamura played 29 ...Nxg3??
Watching at home, I must admit that I didn't instantly see that Qf2 an d Rc7 wins, but I trust I wou ld havedone so in a g ame and Na kamura would sure ly only fail to do so o ne time in a hundred - hardly the ha llmark of a normal tournament. He also got into trouble as W hite against Pete r Svidler, who has sh own excellentpreparation: though he then dug in and managed to s ave himself in this nasty endgame.
Nakamura - Svidler
Nakamura s howed great res ilience defending this difficult position.The problem being that he found himself in it at all.
Svidler came out last in the Jorasch-Capobianco ana lysis. This doe sn't seem too u nreaso nable since againsttop guys he te nds to op erate on a fairly even keel so while there no reason a t all that he should do ba dly, it'salso pe rhaps u nlikely that he'll do very we ll. A slight hint of a lack of ambition and conviction - or perhap s justrealism - was evident in the second round game aga inst Topalov where he chos e to allow Topalov to ba il outimmediately with 23.a4 rather than 23.a3 which wo uld surely also have led to a draw but wa s a little more
combative.
Svidler - Topalov
converted by Web2P DFConvert.com
8/19/2019 En Chessbase Com (10)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/en-chessbase-com-10 4/7
After 22 ...a5
Svidler's very quick and assured opening play aga inst Nakamura was most impressive even if he failed in theend to convert, but it could be argue d that in order to be in contention he'll need to be converting advantag essuch as the rook endgame above.
Anish Giri came third in the p re-tournament simulation. He had that fantas tic run last yea r whe n he didn't losefor some en ormous number of (classical) games and is young, fit and extremely determined. The dete rminationwas in evidence in round one against Aronian when he was able to continue the fight to the bitter, as wellasthe second round game against Caruana that was also a good fight with both players in pretty good form.
Anish Giri, one of the pre-tournament favorites
The round three ga me against Karjakin show ed both a cting decisively.
Giri - Karjakin
Sagar Shah an alysed this in detail yesterday but from my point of view the " truth " isn't as important as theplayers' ability under this still unusual degree of tension to access their normal playing strength and makesensible choices w hen faced with difficult decisions.
Karjakin's paw n sacrifice rather than trying to curl up into a ba ll showed confidence in his positional judgement , and 23...Be7 , inviting almos t command ing W hite to sacrifice, disp layed furthe r confidence in hiscalculations.
Giri obliged but the n decided rather than trying 26.e4 (which gives more scope but sho uld also lead to a draw )played 26.Nc5 which wa s ae sthetically pleasing and forced Karjakin to find an only move 27...Rf8 but hardly adifficult defence. Online, I've s een some feeling tha t after s acrificing, Giri shouldn't then have forced a draw butI presume that his plan is to avoid defeat and w in the odd game an d he felt that "This is not the momentAnish" (with apo logies to Pink Panther fans).
The only other player to consider is Aronian wh o beg an by defend ing himself staunchly against Giri:
Giri - Aronian
converted by Web2P DFConvert.com
8/19/2019 En Chessbase Com (10)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/en-chessbase-com-10 5/7
Aronian was in trouble in rou nd one agains t Giri, but ultimately survived
You don't have to play 53...Rf4 here but you certainly want to a nd he sho wed good judge ment - and nerves -to go into the pawn endgame and set up his fortress. Aronian next played Anand and kept his balance whenthings could possibly have gone w rong if he'd lost his orientation; and then picked off Topalov whe n heblundered.
So whose smiling picture will we see on the tapestry when the final threads are woven together in afortnight's time? I'm afraid it's really too e arly for me to attempt a revea l yet but there are certainly someindications.
In London , in 2013, Carlsen and Kramnik made 8 .5/14 (+3) while in Khanty-Mansiysk 2015 Anand was we llclear also on 8.5. This doe sn't at the moment look like a tournament w hich somebody is going to run a waywith so I imagine that e ither 8.5 or possibly 9 will win this time too. To get that sort of score the most likelyplan is to play it fairly safe and pick the odd o ppone nt off.
Of the top three, Anand looks in very decent shape bu t not at his abso lute best, Aronian is moving throughthe gea rs and Karjakin has perhaps looked best of all with his calm ratcheting up of the tens ion againstNakamura which led to Nakamura's blunder and then the very decisive actions which led quickly to a drawagainst Giri.
The next two Caruana and Giri both look quite good and ready to pounce when the opportunity arises.
Svidler has show n some excellent opening preparation as Black (though the game as W hite against Topalovwa sn't great) but (in terms of his beloved cricket) has failed to get to the pitch of the ball in the subse quentadvantage ous po sitions. Nakamura looks terribly nervous but could of course put a b ig run together if things
click. And Topalov is in bad shape .
The picture should be much clearer by the next rest day.
About the author
Jon was born in 1956 and became a professional player in 1977after graduating from Worcester College Oxford where he read
mathematics. He became an IM in 1977 a GM in 1980 an d wa s amember of the English Olympic team from 1980-2006.
Three times British Cha mpion he played tw ice in the C andidatesreaching the semi-final (of what was the n a knockout series of matches) in 1989 whe n he lost 4.5 - 3.5 to Jan Timman. He's tw icebeen a second at the wo rld championship for Nigel Short and thenViswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 andNew York 1995.
He's written the O bserver (weekly) since 1993 a nd TheIndepende nt since 1998. With its closure (going online but withoutJon on boa rd) he's expanding online activity and is also no woffering online tuition.
He likes puzzles especially (cryptic) crosswords and killer sudokus.
If you'd like to lambast Jon or otherw ise he can b e contacted viahis email
converted by Web2P DFConvert.com
8/19/2019 En Chessbase Com (10)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/en-chessbase-com-10 6/7
Twittear
Feedback and mail to our news serv ice
Please u se this account if you w ant to contribute to or comment on our new s page service
Topics
Jon Speelman, Candidates 2016
See also
Candidates R03: Aronian beats Topalov3/13/2016 – The tradition of one d ecisive game per day continues at the WorldChampionship Candidate s 2016 in Moscow : with a black win Levon Aronian joinedthe leade rs at 2.0/3. It was by far the most interesting da y so far – all the gameshad so me or the othe r critical moment in them. Let’s take a closer look – w e haveextensive Elo-boosting analysis and so me exclusive pictures from the venue in ourRound Three report. [Discuss]
Candidates R02: Nakamura implodes, Karjakin strikes!3/12/2016 – Svidler against Topalov was a se date draw . Anand and Aronian playeda theo retical battle w here bo th of them we re excellently prepared. Giri andCaruana ’s game promised quite a bit, but in the end also finished in a draw. Thegame o f the d ay w as surely Sergey Karjakin’s victory over Hikaru Nakamura. TheRussian put on the s low stove pre ssure and Nakamura simply self-destructed.Detailed game analysis. [Discuss]
Discuss
Rules for reader comments
User: Passw ord: Not registered yet? Register
Comment:
Leave comment
Submit Reset
Fascinating.More of Spee lman plea se.
2 people like this. SignUp to see what your friends like.
LikeLike ShareShare
chessbibliophile 21 minutes ago
converted by Web2P DFConvert.com
8/19/2019 En Chessbase Com (10)
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/en-chessbase-com-10 7/7
© 2013 Che ssBase GmbH | Osterbekstraße 90a | 22083 Hamburg | Germany | Privacy policy | Imprint | Contact | Home