2021 World Championship - 3 games, all draws

 The 2021 World Chess Championship is on a rest day today, with the first 3 games all being drawn. This extends the draw streak in classical World Championship games to 17, with the last decisive games being Carlsen's game 10 win over Karjakin in 2016. 

Although the first 3 games were interesting, it was something else that struck me. In the age of streaming, what matters isn't how exciting the games are, but instead, how exciting the commentators can make them look. I did a quick surf across a number of streaming sites and noticed that in almost all of them, exciting novelties, possible breakthroughs, and amazing variations were being discussed, while the players themselves looked far less excited (and exciting). This, I may add, isn't a bad thing, as chess being an online spectator sport is one of the more surprising things to happen in the last few years. For this online commentators and streamers should be thanked, especially as the increasing accuracy at the top level is making the result more predictable. 

2021 Vikings Weekender - Tie for 1st

 The 2021 Vikings Weekender has ended in a tie for 1st place between CM Paul Russell, and Harry Press. The finished on the unusually low score of 4.5/6, although this was only one of many things that was slightly unusual about this event. 

Both scored last round wins to take 1st place, with Russell beating WFM Alana Chibnall and Press beating CM Anthony Fikh. Tied for 3rd place were Fikh and Fred Litchfield on 4 points, while Ryan Can and Matt Radisich one the rating prize on 3.5.

Due to the small size of the field, almost all games had an effect on the final standings. Curiously the 2 winners did not play each other, not did the top 2 seeds (Press and Litchfield). Press started the tournament with a draw and after 3 rounds was only on 50%, while Russell lost his first round, before winning his next 3 games. 

In the Minor Somon Vos was the outright winner on 5/6. Larry Cheng finished second on 4.5, while Nomon Vos, Joe Marks and Thomas Gatzen-O'Keefe tie for 3rd on 4.

Overall the small numbers made the tournament easier to run, although it was impacted by a number of withdrawals. The reasons were many and varied, but strongly indicated the existence of some sort of curse on the event. Sporting injuries, sudden family health emergencies, and flooded roads were some of the causes, while one player leaving the venue after a late night loss on Saturday found that their car would not start, and had to taxi home and back the next day. 

  

Press,Harry - Fikh,Anthony [B10]
2021 Vikings Weekender Canberra, Australia (6.1), 28.11.2021

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 5. Ne2 e6 6. d3 Nc5 7. d4 Ncd7 8. Ng3 c5 9. c3 Nc6 10. Bd3 cxd4 11. cxd4 Bb4+ 12. Kf1 Be7 13. h4 h6 14. Nh5 Bf8 15. Rh3 Qb6 16. Rg3 g6 17. Nf4 Ne7 18. Kg1 Nb8 19. Qc2 Nbc6 20. a3 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 Qxd4 22. Be3 Qxe5 23. Bb5+ Bd7 24. Nd3 Qd6 25. Bf4 Rc8 26. Qd1 Qb6 27. Bxd7+ Kxd7 28. Be3 Qb5 29. a4 Qa5 30. b4 Qc7 31. Rc1 Qb8 32. Bf4 Qa8 33. Rxc8 Nxc8 34. Qa1 Rh7 35. Ne5+ Ke8 36. a5 b5 37. axb6 Nxb6 38. Qa5 Bd6 39. Qb5+ Kd8 40. Nc6+ Kc7 41. Bxd6+ Kxd6 42. Qc5+ Kd7 43. b5 f6 44. Rxg6 Na4 45. Qa3 Nb6 46. Rxf6 Nc4 47. Qc5 a5 48. Rf8 Qb7 49. Nb8+ 1-0

2021 Vikings - Days 1&2

 The 2021 Vikings Weekender began with a much smaller field than last years 60. The main cause was the short notice, with the event only confirmed 2 weeks before it started. There were also a couple of last minutes withdrawals, leaving the tournament missing a few titled players.

The upside is that both events are very competitive, with any number of players in contention for the $1000 1st prize. Top seeds Harry Press and Fred Litchfield dropped points over the first 4 rounds, with CM Anthony Fikh leading on 3.5/4, followed by WFM Alana Chibnall and CM Paul Russell in 2nd place on 3. For top seed Press it could have been worse, as in a R+B+P v R+5P, he managed to win all the pawns to reach R+B v R, but failed to make any progress towards checkmate once the 50 move count began. Then on move 104 of the game his opponent lost on time (30 second increment is being used), despite no checkmate being in sight.

In the Minor, Somon and Nomon Vos lead with 3.5/4. Both took half point byes in the first round, and won all 3 games on Day 2. They play in round 5, but as almost all tournament games between the twin brothers have ended in quick draws, there should be a traffic jam at the top going into the final round.

To see the tournament standings and links to live games, click on this link

 

2021 Vikings Coverage

 If you wish to follow the games and results from the 2021 Vikings Weekender, you can do so at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/vikings2021/ 

The first round is tonight at 7:00pm Canberra time, with subsequent rounds at Saturday 11:15 am, 3pm, 7pm and Sunday 11:15am and 3pm. I hope to have 4 DGT boards running over all rounds

I accept your offer of a resignation

 One of my pet peeves as an arbiter is when players offer a draw by putting out their hand. This happens a lot in junior events and is often done by players in a losing position to try and save half a point (when the opponent isn't sure what happens and shakes the hand thinking it is a resignation). Such incidents almost always end in tears, which is another peeve of mine (there is no crying in chess).

The most recent occurrence of this problem happened the other night at my local club. The game between an older and very experimented player and a young junior player ended in a draw, at least according to the junior player. But the result on the computer showed a win for the opponent, so in my role as "fill in" arbiter, I called both players across to see what had happened. The older player said his opponent had resigned, while the younger player said that a draw had been agreed to. It turns out that the younger player could not find a move to play so simply said "draw" and put out his hand. The older player did not here any draw offer, and assumed his opponent was offering his hand in resignation.

Having gathered the facts (and had the players to reconstruct the position to check whether the draw offer had any merit), I explained (at some length) to the younger player that his opponent was quite entitled to the win at this point. However the older player sportingly offered to continue the game from the last position, an offer that the younger player was quick to accept. The older player then proceeded to demonstrate that the resignation would have been justified by winning in a few more moves. 

Good sportsmanship from the older player, and hopefully an important lesson learned for the younger one.

2021 World Chess Championship - My fearless prediction

 The first game of the 2021 World Chess Championship Match is on Friday 26th November, at 11:30pm Canberra time. For this match there will be a maximum of 14 games, followed by tie-breaks if necessary. It runs until the 16th of December, with rest days every 2 or 3 rounds.

As with most World Championship Matches I usually give a prediction before the start. Looking back at some old posts I did predict Anand beating Kramnik in 2008 (and winning the World Championship tournament in 2007). Since Carlsen became a challenger and then World Champion, I have usually played it safe and predicted a Carlsen win by 2 points. This means I have got the winner right, even if I have got the margin wrong. 

So my bold prediction for the this match is: Carlsen. And the margin of victory: 2 points! 

Why mess with a winning(?) formula ...

2021 ACT Interschool Finals

 After a lot of interruption (and a lot of effort), the 2021 ACT Junior Chess League Interschool Finals were held this weekend. Due to ongoing Covid restrictions they were held online for the first time, and despite some small hiccups, the whole thing went well. 

Each final was restricted to a maximum of 6 teams of 4 or 5 players, although we ended up with less than that in each section. Where qualifiers had been held in person, the winning school (or schools) was invited, while for other Canberra zones we just had to choose based on rating. The tournaments were held on Lichess using a swiss format (although players did not play team mates), and supervision was via zoom. Most players played from home, although one school played from a single venue, as they had teams in both the Primary and Open sections.

The winners were:

Grammar (Open Secondary)

Lyneham High (Girls Secondary)

Turner School (Open Primary)

Kaleen (Girls Primary)

At this stage we are hoping that the teams will be able to take part in the Australian Schools teams Championship in a fortnight. The only issue we face is getting a suitable venue in Canberra, as the ASTC organisers insist that the teams all play from one venue, a condition we may not be able to meet at short notice.

Humankind

 After quite a long wait from the first announcements until now, I finally purchased a copy of 'Humankind', which is Civilization type game that lets you develop societies from hunter gatherers to rocket scientists.

I had a first play last night (which is why this post is late!) and found it enjoyable (even on my creaky old PC). Didn't do fantastically well on my first run, but I assume that is because I missed a lot of nuances in play (too many cities too quickly get penalised, for example). But like CIV VI (and Chess), the early days are usually quite difficult before the right ides and strategies become apparent. 

Calling all grumpy old men

One of the more common excuses for not playing tournament chess is "too many annoying children". While I think this isn't really a good excuse ('beat them early and often' is my motto), there is no denying that have a bunch of small kids running around playing 'tips' during your game can be off putting.

So while the 2021 Vikings Weekender isn't designed to be a 'no juniors' event, the vaccination requirement for the event, and the timing of the roll out of vaccinations for Under 12's in Australia, means that Under 12's won't be playing (and we won't be getting a visit from Prime Minister Trump either). As junior players do make up a significant number of entries in chess events these days, the ACTCA is expecting that overall entries may be affected. However, this also provides an opportunity for all the grumpy old chess players out there to turn up, knowing they will be safe from juniors who are out to either give them colds (or worse) or to take their hard earned rating points off them. So if this sounds appealing visit the tournament website and get your entry in today!

2021 Asian Online Amateur

 Another week, another Asian Chess Federation online event. This week it is the Asian Amateur Championship, which is being held as a 9 round rapid event over 3 days (and yes I am an arbiter). 

While Australia hasn't really embraced these online events*, other countries have. There is a sizeable New Zealand contingent, while even Macau has a representative, although in this case it is CM Hui Li, currently resident in Canberra. At the end of the first day he is tied for first place on 3/3, along with 15 other players. With 150 players in the tournament, it will of course take more rounds (at least 7), before a likely winner is known.

(* Australia doesn't really embrace offline events in Asia either)

 

Li,Hui (1970) - Jain,Sachi (1395) [C99]
Asian Amateur Chess Championship - Open Oman (3.9), 16.11.2021

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Be7 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 d6 7. c3 Nf6 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 Nc6 14. Nb3 Bd7 15. Be3 Rfc8 16. Rc1 a5 17. Bd3 Qb7 18. dxe5 dxe5 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. Rxc5 Nb4 21. Nxe5 Rxc5 22. Bxc5 Nxa2 23. Nxd7 Nxd7 24. Be3 Nb4 25. Be2 h6 26. Qd2 Rc8 27. Bg4 Ne5 28. Bxc8 Qxc8 29. Rd1 Ned3 30. Qc3 Qe6 31. Rxd3 Nxd3 32. Qxd3 b4 33. Qd8+ Kh7 34. Qd5 Qf6 35. Qf5+ Qxf5 36. exf5 a4 37. Bc5 b3 38. f4 g6 39. fxg6+ Kxg6 40. g4 f5 41. Kf2 fxg4 42. hxg4 h5 43. Kg3 hxg4 44. Kxg4 Kf6 45. Ba3 Kg6 46. f5+ Kf6 47. Kf4 Kf7 48. Ke5 Kg7 49. Ke6 Kg8 50. f6 Kh8 51. f7 Kh7 52. f8Q Kg6 53. Qf5+ Kh6 54. Bf8# 1-0

Do not attempt

 While not in the business of giving out free advertising to big corporations, I was intrigued by the new Sony Playstation advertisement, which has a very chess heavy theme. While I am linking to the full 2+ minute clip, the shorter TV edit has an interesting cut, where the chess game is followed by the caption "Do not attempt" for the next scene. Of course it concerns parkour rather than chess, but still, an interesting sentiment.

 

2021 ETC

 Signs that OTB chess may return to normality within 12 months continue to appear. The 2021 European Teams Championship has kicked of in Slovenia, and the 9 round events has attracted a very strong field. There were 39 teams in the Open, and 31 in the Women's Section. Azerbaijan were the only team to win 4-0 in the Open in round 1, and their Women's team repeated the score in their event. 

The event is a 9 round tournament, and will be covered on all the major chess sites. I had a quick look through the games from the first round, and the following quick win for Black caught my eye.

Koykka,Pekka (2353) - Parligras,Mircea-Emilian (2576) [C47]
23rd European Team Chess Championship 20 Catez, Slovenia (1.2), 12.11.2021

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. Bd2 O-O 9. O-O Rb8 10. exd5 cxd5 11. Be3 Bd6 12. Bxa7 Rb4 13. Be2 c5 14. a3 Rb7 15. Nb5 Qd7 16. b4 Rxb5 17. Bxb5 Qxa7 18. bxc5 Qxc5 19. Qe2 Bg4 20. Qd3 Bh5 21. Ba4 Bg6 22. Qe2 Qd4 23. Bb5 Bxh2+ 0-1

Vikings 2021

The ACTCA is happy to announce that the 2021 Vikings Weekender is taking place from Friday 26th November until Sunday 28th November. Details are

Dates - 26th, 27th and 28th November 2021
6 round FIDE Rated Swiss*
Lanyon Vikings, Heidelberg St, Condor, ACT
Time control: 60m + 30s

Open and Under 1600 sections (Both FIDE Rated)
Round 1: Friday 7:00pm Round 2: Sat 11:15am Round 3: Sat 3:15pm Round 4: Sat 7:15pm Round 5: Sun 11:15am Round 6:Sun 3:15pm

1st Prize Open $1000, 1st Prize Minor $500 (All other prizes dependant upon entries)

** Entry conditions: All players must be fully vaccinated (two shots) and present proof to the organisers. Masks must be worn during play **

LOCATION

Lanyon Vikings Club
Heidelberg St, Condor ACT 2906

Entry fee: $65 ($45 Junior/Concession) GM, IM, WGM, WIM free

Maximum of 60 players

Enter at: https://www.trybooking.com/BVQDK

The thing about ratings

 I am in the process of building a web based rating management system, partly for my own interest, and partly as a proof of concept for a couple of chess organisations. In doing so I thought I would refamiliarise myself with the FIDE Rapid and Blitz  Rating Regulations, a found some differences from standard system that I had either forgotten, or failed to notice.

For example:

• The maximum number of rapid games in a day is 15, and for blitz, 30
• You have to score at least 1 point in your first event for it to count towards your rating. (It is only 0.5 for the standard list)
• Every either has a k factor of 20, or 700/total number of games played, if you play more than 35 games in a period.
• The maximum difference between two players rating is 735, rather than 400 in the standard list

A lot of these differences do make sense, in that there is the potential to play a lot more games of rapid/blitz in a month, although it does lead to slower rating changes for players that don't.

Once a knight, always a knight. Five time a night ....

Damod,Sajjad (1358) - Morshedloo,Amin [C45]
Asian Club Hybrid Chess Championship Tornelo (5.3), 07.11.2021

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nxd4 5. Qxd4 Nf6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Be3 c5 8. exf6 cxd4 9. fxe7 dxe3 10. exf8Q+ Rxf8 11. fxe3 d6 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Nc3 Bxb5 14. Nxb5 Kd7 15. O-O-O a6 16. Nxd6 Kc7 17. Rhf1 f6 18. Rd3 Rad8 19. Rfd1 b5 20. Nxb5+ axb5 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Rxd8 Kxd8 23. Kd2 Kc7 24. Kc3 Kb6 25. Kb4 g5 26. g4 h6 27. e4 Ka6 28. Kc5 Ka5 29. Kd6 Kb4 30. Ke6 Kc4 31. Kxf6 Kd4 32. e5 Kd5 33. e6 Kd6 34. e7 Kd7 35. Kf7 Kd6 36. e8Q Kc5 37. Qf8+ Kb6 38. Qxh6+ Ka5 39. Qxg5 Kb4 40. h4 Kc4 41. h5 Kd4 42. Qxb5 Ke4 43. g5 Kf4 44. g6 Kg4 45. h6 Kh4 46. g7 Kg4 47. b4 Kf4 48. Qd5 Ke3 49. c4 Kf4 50. a4 Ke3 51. a5 Kf2 52. c5 Ke3 53. b5 Kf4 54. c6 Ke3 55. b6 Kf4 56. a6 Ke3 57. a7 Kf2 58. b7 Kg3 59. c7 Kf2 60. h7 Ke3 61. Qc4 Kd2 62. Ke6 Ke3 63. Ke5 Kd2 64. Qb3 Kc1 65. Qa2 Kd1 66. Kd4 Ke1 67. Qc2 Kf1 68. Qd2 Kg1 69. Qe2 Kh1 70. Ke4 Kg1 71. Kf3 Kh1 72. Kg3 Kg1 73. h8N Kh1 74. g8N Kg1 75. c8N Kh1 76. b8N Kg1 77. a8N Kh1 78. Qf1# 1-0

Grand Swiss 2021

 With 1 round to play in the FIDE Grand Prix French GM Alireza Firouja leads on 7.5, half a point ahead of Fabiano Caruana and Grigoriy Oparin. The sole Australian entrant, Timur Kuybokarov is mid field, having scored a solid 50% against a field entirely rated over 2600. He has 2 wins, 2 losses and 6 draws, and a win in the final round will see him finish well above his seeding. Along the way he scored the following nice victory

 

Kovalev,Vladislav (2634) - Kuybokarov,Temur (2549) [C78]
2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss Riga (7.41), 03.11.2021

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. d3 Na5 11. Ba2 b4 12. Nbd2 O-O 13. Nc4 Nxc4 14. Bxc4 bxc3 15. bxc3 c6 16. d4 Bxf3 17. gxf3 exd4 18. cxd4 Bb6 19. Be2 c5 20. a5 Bxa5 21. dxc5 Bc3 22. Rxa6 Rxa6 23. Bxa6 dxc5 24. Qxd8 Rxd8 25. Be3 Bd4 26. Rd1 Kf8 27. Bc4 Ke7 28. Rb1 Nd7 29. Rb7 Rb8 30. Ra7 f6 31. Bf4 Be5 32. Bd2 Rb2 33. Ba5 Bd4 34. Ra8 Ne5 35. Ra7+ Ke8 36. Ra8+ Kd7 37. Ra7+ Kc6 38. Bd5+ Kb5 39. f4 Nf3+ 40. Kg2 Nh4+ 41. Kg3 Bxf2+ 42. Kg4 g6 43. Rxh7 Kxa5 44. Ra7+ Kb4 45. e5 Rd2 46. Rb7+ Kc3 47. e6 Rxd5 48. Rd7 Rh5 0-1

Hybrid Teams

 Hybrid Chess is one of the new innovations that has gained in popularity during the various covid lockdown periods. I have been involved as an arbiter for these events, an still have mixed opinions on how well they work (NB I was involved in the drafting of the FIDE Hybrid Regulations).

Of the events I have worked on, the format that seems to suit Hybrid Chess the best is for team events. Individual events can be a little messy to organise, especially small events like round robins. But team events have a more suitable arbiter(s) to player ratio. In the ongoing Asian Club Cup there are usually 2 officials per team or 2 teams, which is 1 to 3 or 1 to 6. However this also works best if there is a dedicated chess club to host the teams, which isn't a luxury that all countries have (almost all teams in this competition belong to full time clubs or organisations). It also reduces the average bandwidth requirements, as each player only needs a front facing camera, while the organisers provide the panoramic one.

Based on other experience, I'm not a fan of individual events in the hybrid format, as the arbiter to player ratio is 1 to 1, or even 2 to 1. Again having a single venue helps, but in geographically large countries (like Australia), this still causes problems for players not located in such a city.

So if I were to suggest which events could be held as a hybrid event in Australia (or Oceania) I think a 6 player team event might work, with the usual requirements for male and female players (plus juniors). Whether such an event does get organised is of course another question.

2022 O2C Doeberl Cup - entries open

 The details for the 2022 O2C Doeberl Cup have been posted at www.doeberlcup.com.au It will be held over the Easter weekend, which is 14-18 April 2022.

The most significant change from this years event, is that the rating limits for each of the tournament have been simplified. For the Premier, anyone with a FIDE or ACF rating above 1800 is eligible (plus title holders), while to get into the Major (under 2000), you need an ACF or FIDE rating above 1400 (and be blow ACF 2000 as well). In part this is to simplify the eligibility rules, but it is also to balance the numbers in each tournament. Entry fees are unchanged from this year, and the prize pool is still over $20,000

You can now enter at the tournament website, and 11 players have already made sure of their places for next year.

(** I am the Chief Organiser for this event **)

This one fooled me

 Face to face chess is back in Canberra, and tonight was the first week back for the Gungahlin Chess Club. There was a healthy turnout of 20 players, and I assume that this number will grow during the rest of the year.

The last game to finish was a tricky king and pawn ending that had me fooled as a spectator. At first glance it seemed that White was clearly winning (due to an outside passed pawn), and when Black managed to draw the position, my first thought was that White went wrong somewhere. But when I fed it into Fritz, it turned out that the position was drawn all along. I thought White could gain a tempo somewhere, but not matter what he did, Black was able to trap the White king on the h file, leading to a book draw.

Teymant,Roy - Cunningham,Cam
Korda Memorial, 02.11.2021

1...  Rf4 2. Rb4 Rxb4 3. axb4 Ke6 4. Kf3 Kd5 5. h4 Kc4 6. Ke4 h6 7. h5 gxh5 8. gxh5 Kxb4 9. Kf5 Kc5 10. Kg6 f5 11. Kxf5 Kd5 12. Kg6 Ke6 1/2-1/2

Sydney in the 60's

 The Australian National Sound and Film Archives has retrieved a number of short documentaries about Australian cities, and have made then available on youtube. I posted one about Canberra a few years back, and today I cam across one about Sydney. It was made around 1964, and shows Sydney just as the high rise developments were getting started.

Also included (at around the 8:30 mark), is a scene of outdoor chess, being played on council tables. I'm not sure where it was filmed (maybe Hyde Park),  but it may contain faces familiar to older players. There are also a number of other interesting scenes, including some very non-ohs work practices on high rise construction sites.