2024 World Chess Championship - Boy, that de-escalated quickly

 The 5th game of the 2024 World Chess Championship has just ended in a draw, but for many spectators, it was somewhat of an anti-climax. Chances of a decisive result started off close to zero after Gukesh played the Exchange Variation against Ding's French Defence, but things got spicy when Gukesh recaptured the wrong way on move 23. Given the speed of Ding's reply it looked as though he realised Gukesh had made a slight mistake, and he could start to push for a win. But instead of doing so, Ding seemed convinced the position was still equal and steered the game towards a drawn opposite coloured bishop eneding.

So after 5 games it is 2.5-2.5. Ding's strategy of nullifying Gukesh's opening prep with some offbeat opening choices seems to be paying off, but apart from game 1, he doesn't seem to be pushing for more than equality. He at least enjoys having White tomorrow, which may encourage him to be a little more aggressive.

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [C01]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (5), 30.11.2024

2024 World Chess Championship - Taking it easy

 The 4th game of the 2024 World Chess Championship ended in a fairly pedestrian draw, no doubt satisfying both players match strategies. Taking place immediately after yesterdays rest day, the position never ventured very far from equality, despite White's interesting opening idea of an early exchange of dark squared bishops. The only point of excitement (at least for online viewers) was whether Ding might play 29.Qc3?? (which loses to 29 ... Re1+). Once that did not happen, it was just a case of reaching the first time control before shaking hands.

The score now stands at 2-2, with 10 games still left to be played. Game 5 and 6 are being played over the weekend, with another rest day on Monday.

Ding,Liren (2728) - Gukesh D (2783) [A06]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (4), 29.11.2024

2024 World Chess Championship - Gukesh fights back

 The 2024 World Chess Championship is tied 1.5-1.5, after Gukesh scored a win in round 3. World Champion Ding Liren chose a sharp line in the Queens Gambit (as Black), but chose a variation that was known to be somewhat risky. Posting his bishop on c2 (to threaten the pawn on b3) was a brave choice, but the constant threat of the bishop being trapped forced Ding to make a number of concessions. Eventually he reached a position where is miscalculated, resulting in having to give up the bishop for 2 pawns. This proved to be insufficient, and he lost on time in a losing position.

Tomorrow is a rest day, giving both players a chance to asses their match strategies. However, the odds now move back in Gukesh;s favour, as he has overcome the hiccup that was round 1, and now has some momentum behind him.

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [D02]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (3), 27.11.2024

2024 World Chess Championship - sometimes a draw is all you get

 The 2nd game of the 2024 World Chess Championship has ended in a draw by repetition. With the regulations forbidding draw offers before move 40, the players used the old standby of repeating the position instead. Ding maintains his 1 point lead after this game, although tomorrow might be the chance for Gukesh to even the score, as he has the white pieces.

Unlike yesterdays game, I was not able to watch the game from start to finish. I was involved in my own club game, which somewhat fittingly also finished in a draw. So all I can do is present the game here sans comments.

Ding,Liren (2728) - Gukesh D (2783) [C50]
FIDE World Championship Match 2024 Singapore SGP (2), 26.11.2024

2024 World Chess Championship - all endgames are winning

 Defending World Champion Ding Liren has started the defence of his title with a win in Game 1. Such a win came as a real surprise to most (including me), but Ding recovered from a cramped opening position to dominate the board in the middlegame. Part of his plan was to push the a pawn down to a3, which meant that Gukesh had to be very careful about any potential queenless endings. Despite have some tactical tricks, Gukesh wasn't able to find a way to attack Ding's king, which remained in the centre for a lot of the game. 

Not only does this give Ding a 1-0 lead in the match, it no doubt upsets predictions for the final result, as well as potentially changing how Gukesh approaches the next few game. Following the  Russian antidote for a loss (draw the next game) is probably advisable, especially as Gukesh would then have white in game 3. On the other hand, Ding can approach the next few games with confidence, recognising that he held off Gukesh in a position that did not start of well for him.

Gukesh D (2783) - Ding,Liren (2728) [C11]
FIDE World Championship 2024 Singapore, Singapore (1.1), 25.11.2024

Should I try Bluesky?

 I am in the process of re-tooling my social media choices. One reason is that when I mentioned that Street Chess has a Facebook page, I got a 'no one uses facebook' response from a few people. The other is that I stopped using Twitter long ago, in part due to having the account hacked. And as you can see, the panel to the right of this blog is evidence of that.

So, is Bluesky a better choice, or am I just moving from one swamp to another?

2024 World Championship Match

 The 2024 World Championship Match begins on the 23rd November in Singapore, although play doesn't start until the 25th. It is a 14 game match, with tie breaks at the end if required. I am heading over for the middle of the event (Games 7, 8, 9) , as a spectator/journalist. I also plan to cover the Singapore International Open event, which is running alongside the World Championship.

As for a predicted result, I am going to fall in with the majority and expect Gukesh to win. Ding is still well off his best form, while Gukesh looks to be highly motivated. The only way I can not see Gukesh winning is if Ding keeps the match even through the first 9 games, and then pressures Gukesh to find a win. Otherwise, if Gukesh gets out to an early lead, I'm not seeing how Ding can come back.

2024 Vikings Weekender - Final day

 The final 2 rounds of the 2024 Vikings Weekender delivered on the action, with a couple of upsets delivering a surprise(d) set of winners. IM Junta Ikeda took a half point lead going into the final day, but loss to Harry Press on the top board through the tournament wide open. Press overtook Ikeda at the top of the table, and going in to the final round, Ikeda, FM Fred Litchfield, Willis Lo and Daniel Wang were all tied on 4/5.

Despite having an advantage against FM Fred Litchfield in the final round, Press offered a draw which was quickly accepted. This moved Press to 5/6, but gave the following pack a chance to tie for 1st. Despite his best efforts Lo could only draw with Yifei Hu, leaving him tied for third. The real drama was being played out on board 2, where Ikeda was playing Daniel Wang. Knocking back a draw offer from Wang, Ikeda soon found himself in real trouble, and in the last game of the tournament to finish, lost his 2nd game in a row. This allowed Wang to join Press in first place, with both players winning the event for the 1st time.

The Minor (under 1600) was much more straightforward, with Max Windsor scoring a perfect 6/6. Nichloas Lee finished outright 2nd on 5, recovering from the loss of a piece against Padma Gyalpo, by finding a back rank mate combination. There was a big tie for 3rd place, with the performance of James Madoc being a standout.

Full results can be found at https://www.vegaresult.com/en/event.php?id=2996

Games from the top 4 boards from each round are at https://lichess.org/broadcast/2024-vikings-weekender/ZAZeeJdk

Press,Harry (2129) - Ikeda,Junta (2384) [C79]
2024 Vikings Weekender Canberra, Australia (5.1), 17.11.2024

2024 Vikings Weekender - Day 2

 The 2024 Vikings Weekender once again is following the regular script, with IM Junta Ikeda leading with 4 wins from 4 games. He defeated young NSW players Vu Nguyen and Yifei Hu in Rounds 3 and 4, and leads 3rd seed Harry Press by half a point. Press looked a little bit shaky in yesterdays early rounds (escaping with a draw against Oladoyin Fasakin), but finished the day with a crushing win over CM Hui Li. There is a large pack of players on 3 points, including 2nd seed FM Fred Litchfield and 17th seed Ryan Liu.

In the Under 1600 event, Max Windsor is on 4/4, leading unrated Axel Healy on 3.5. Windsor converted a slightly tricky QvN ending after Padma Gyalpo missed a saving check in a KvN v KvP ending. The following pack of players on 3/4 consists entirely of junior players, with the significant exception of CM Bill Egan, now well into his ninth decade on this earth.

The final 2 rounds are being played today, at 10:15am and 2:00 pm. Links to the event are

Pairings and Standings - https://www.vegaresult.com/en/event.php?id=2996

Live Games - https://lichess.org/broadcast/2024-vikings-weekender/ZAZeeJdk 

2024 Vikings Weekender - Day 1

 The 2024 Vikings Weekender saw a large turnout for this years event. Both sections reached the initial capacity 2 weeks ago, but fortunately extra space was found to let more players in.

Th Open section saw a good field of 37 players, represented by the usual grouping of Canberra's top players. IM Junta Ikeda is the top seed, and he started the tournament with a win over Larry Cheng. FM Fred Litchfield beat David Esposito on board 2, with Harry Press winning against Chayne Planiden on board 3. The top half didn't all have it their own way, with wins by Jerry Cheng and Thomas Eleutherios against higher rated opponents standing out. 

The Minor (Under 1600) had a slightly smaller field of 32 players. A couple of no-shows at the top did cause a problem, but otherwise most games went according to rating. The notable exceptions were wins by James Madoc and James Nelson, the latter playing his first OTB tournament game.

The results for the event can be found at https://www.vegaresult.com/en/event.php?id=2996 with coverage of the top 4 games at https://lichess.org/broadcast/2024-vikings-weekender/ZAZeeJdk

The Day of the Jackal

 One of my favourite movies of all time is The Day of the Jackal  (1973). So I thought I would catch the new series of the same name, with Eddie Redmayne playing the title character. 

Two episodes in, and there are already a couple of chess connections. In the first episode, it is revealed The Jackal is a chess set collector, in a scene where he confesses that if he got carried away, he would go bankrupt. The in the second episode, he arranges a meeting, which it turns out was filmed at Paris Court in Budapest (masquerading as Munich). This was also the filming location for a key scene in another of my favourite films, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", and I made sure I visited while in Budapest for the Chess Olympiad. 

Favoured Country Status

 Sometimes we have a favourite opponent (or 'customer') who we invariably do well against. Or an opponent we just enjoy playing. 

Once I started playing in chess olympiads, I also found that against certain countries I did well against. On the other hand I suspect there were players who found Papua New Guinea an enjoyable pairing, and not just from recent history.

As mentioned previously I played a tournament in Appletreewick (on the Yorkshire Moors). I was beaten in the qualifying stage by Colm Barry, and again in the final.  He mentioned that he had represented Ireland at chess olympiads in the 1980's and a little research turned up the fact that I wasn't the only PNG player he enjoyed beating! Here is a game from the the 1982 Chess Olympiad, where PNG meat Ireland in the second round

Markov,Joseph - Barry,Colm (2220) [B07]
Luzern ol (Men) Luzern (2), 31.10.1982

I have books (for sale)

 I am always on the look out for new chess experience, and selling chess books is a new one I am looking into. I recently acquired some chess books (quite a lot actually) and am now selling them off. While I am still in the process of setting up the entire catalogue, you can get a sneak peek at https://street-chess-canberra.square.site/s/shop Everything is at a fixed price of $20 per book, although I do offer discounts if 3 or more books are purchased. 

One slight obstacle is getting the website set up, as books keep appearing and disappearing from the catalogue. Nonetheless I should have everything updated by the end of the week! 

Losing a pawn?

 The Ponziani can be a tricky opening for Black to face, as there are a number of lines where White wins a pawn in the opening. However, if Black treats it like a gambit, then maybe the loss of the pawn isn't as bad as it looks.

Sidney,Will (1879) - Arnott,Jonathan W (2082) [C44]
39th European Chess Club Cup Hotel Zepter, Vrnjacka Banja (6.5), 25.10.2024

Chess in da hood

 Grassroots chess in Papua New Guinea is really taking off at the moment. The visit by GM Nigel Short last year was the impetus for the formation of a number of clubs in Port Moresby, and the involvement of new administrators and organisers has seen a real boom in the number of events and players.

Here is a short news story covering recent developments