Just when almost everyone (including myself) thought Anand was passed his prime, he confounded the pundits with a convincing win in the 2014 Candidates Tournament. He finished a full point ahead of Sergey Karjakin, and was the only player to go through the event undefeated. His win sets up a rematch with current World Champion Magnus Carlsen later this year, and gives him a chance to regain the title he lost last year.
Anand's win in the tournament was based on getting away to a good start, and then keeping his head while his closest rivals took points of each other. Both Karmnik and Aronian fell away in the second half of the tournament, with Aronian finishing with 2 losses. Karjakin found form at the right time to take clear second, while Topalov had flashes of brilliance, but ended up at the tail of the field.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Sunday, 30 March 2014
2014 ACT Championship - Final Day
The 2014 ACT Championship once again saw a dramatic finish with tournament leader FM Junta Ikeda and IM Andrew Brown finishing in a tie for first, and sharing the title. Ikeda took a one point lead into the final round but was upset by a determined Victor Braguine, allowing Brown to catch up after a quick win over Stephen Priest. Going into the last game Braguine was not confident of his chances, but after Ikeda declined an early draw offer, Braguine's 'nothing to lose' attitude helped him gain the upper hand, with a lead in material and a better position. Braguine kept the resulting position under control, and was rewarded with an upset win.
Braguines win moved him to outright third, with Andrey Bliznyuk, Jeff Suptut, and Brian Butler sharing fourth place. Suptut picked up the Under 1800 prize, while Siddhant Badrinarayan was the best U/1200 player with an impressive 5/9.
Final standings and gaes can be download from chess-results.com
Ikeda,Junta (2338) - Braguine,Victor (1775) [B06]
2014 ACT Championship Canberra, Australia (9.1), 30.03.2014
Braguines win moved him to outright third, with Andrey Bliznyuk, Jeff Suptut, and Brian Butler sharing fourth place. Suptut picked up the Under 1800 prize, while Siddhant Badrinarayan was the best U/1200 player with an impressive 5/9.
Final standings and gaes can be download from chess-results.com
Ikeda,Junta (2338) - Braguine,Victor (1775) [B06]
2014 ACT Championship Canberra, Australia (9.1), 30.03.2014
Saturday, 29 March 2014
2014 ACT Championship - Day 4
After 7 rounds of the 2014 ACT Championship, FM Junta Ikeda holds a one point lead over nearest rival, IM Andrew Brown. Ikeda scored 2 wins in today's rounds, over Harry Press and Jeff Suptut, while Brown won his round 6 game, before taking a half point bye for round 7. Third place is shared between Andrey Bliznyuk, Harry Press and Stephen Priest, a point and a half behind Ikeda.
While most results went according to rating, there were a couple of upsets. Stephen Priest dropped a pawn in the opening to Michael Kethro but turned it around to eventually win enough material to win the game. Siddhant Badrinarayan beat Cam Cunningham and Paul Dunn to move above 50%, while Albert Winkelman and Indis Daniswara are also placed well above their seeding.
Full results and games from this tournament can be found here. Tomorrow's first round will see Junta Ikeda up against 3rd seed Andrey Bliznyuk, while Andrew Brown players Harry Press.
Suptut,Jeff (1723) - Dunn,Paul (1143) [B10]
2014 ACT Championship Canberra, Australia (6.5), 29.03.2014
While most results went according to rating, there were a couple of upsets. Stephen Priest dropped a pawn in the opening to Michael Kethro but turned it around to eventually win enough material to win the game. Siddhant Badrinarayan beat Cam Cunningham and Paul Dunn to move above 50%, while Albert Winkelman and Indis Daniswara are also placed well above their seeding.
Full results and games from this tournament can be found here. Tomorrow's first round will see Junta Ikeda up against 3rd seed Andrey Bliznyuk, while Andrew Brown players Harry Press.
Suptut,Jeff (1723) - Dunn,Paul (1143) [B10]
2014 ACT Championship Canberra, Australia (6.5), 29.03.2014
Friday, 28 March 2014
Take my pawns, please
While I enjoy sacrificing material when I can, I am also a 'take the money and run' kind of player as well. If a player offers me a pawn or two, I tend to grab them, as I feel this puts my opponent under greater pressure not to stuff up. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
One classic example of this kind of strategy not working, was the game between Paul Keres and William Winter. It was played early in Keres's career and it was one of the games that made him famous. Winter grabbed a fistful of pawns in the opening, but leaving his king in the centre found himself facing a ferocious, and ultimately, successful attack.
Keres,Paul Petrovich - Winter,William [B29]
ol Warschau, 1935
One classic example of this kind of strategy not working, was the game between Paul Keres and William Winter. It was played early in Keres's career and it was one of the games that made him famous. Winter grabbed a fistful of pawns in the opening, but leaving his king in the centre found himself facing a ferocious, and ultimately, successful attack.
Keres,Paul Petrovich - Winter,William [B29]
ol Warschau, 1935
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Connect and Participate Expo
The ACT Chess Association is doing a bit of outreach work this weekend, taking part in the Canberra Connect and Participate Expo. The Expo is designed to showcase the various sport, art and cultural groups in Canberra, allowing members of the public to see what the nations capital has on offer.
The Expo is on Saturday (29 March) from 11am to 4pm at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston. There will be a chess display there, and if you get along you can play some friendly games against Miles Patterson or Stephen Priest. There will also be some other chess related activities, including a 'Guess the number of chess pieces' competition.
There is no charge to attend, and you can find further details here.
The Expo is on Saturday (29 March) from 11am to 4pm at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston. There will be a chess display there, and if you get along you can play some friendly games against Miles Patterson or Stephen Priest. There will also be some other chess related activities, including a 'Guess the number of chess pieces' competition.
There is no charge to attend, and you can find further details here.
A relaxing night of blitz
The ANU Masters event is have a break this week, so a couple of the participants decided to play the ANU Autumn Blitz instead. A good sized field of 27 players turned up, which made my job of arbiter a little more challenging. The tournament was won by Michael Kethro on 8/9, with a group of 4 players 1.5 points behind.
Of course blitz chess is pretty forgettable, apart from the final results, but it can be interesting from an arbiters point of view. I had a couple of interesting questions tonight, some involving the touch move rule.
One game was completed, when the winner asked me if you touch an opponents piece (first) and one of yours (which cannot capture it) , what should happen. I explained that you have to capture the opponents piece (with a legal move) as you touched that piece first. He then confessed to breaking that rule and was happy to have the result of the game reversed (as he played an illegal move by not capturing the piece). Weirdly I then received a related question a few rounds later. A different player asked me if you touch an opponents piece, and then one of your own, which cannot legally capture it, do you lose because you have to play an illegal move to fulfil the conditions of 'touch move'. I simply explained you can't be forced to play an illegal move, and you should instead capture the piece with another, legal, move. There was also a game where one player tried to resign, and the other player refused to accept it, but as they were brothers I assumed this was sibling rivalry rather than a misunderstanding of the rules. (I declared the game over btw)
Of course blitz chess is pretty forgettable, apart from the final results, but it can be interesting from an arbiters point of view. I had a couple of interesting questions tonight, some involving the touch move rule.
One game was completed, when the winner asked me if you touch an opponents piece (first) and one of yours (which cannot capture it) , what should happen. I explained that you have to capture the opponents piece (with a legal move) as you touched that piece first. He then confessed to breaking that rule and was happy to have the result of the game reversed (as he played an illegal move by not capturing the piece). Weirdly I then received a related question a few rounds later. A different player asked me if you touch an opponents piece, and then one of your own, which cannot legally capture it, do you lose because you have to play an illegal move to fulfil the conditions of 'touch move'. I simply explained you can't be forced to play an illegal move, and you should instead capture the piece with another, legal, move. There was also a game where one player tried to resign, and the other player refused to accept it, but as they were brothers I assumed this was sibling rivalry rather than a misunderstanding of the rules. (I declared the game over btw)
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Never say die
The diagrammed position is yet another example of this. Andrey Bliznyuk was white in this position and had just played 65.Rd6. Faced with a totally lost position, even if the knight is protected Ikeda decided that stalemate was the way out, and gave away the knight with 65. ... Kxa5. After 66.Rxc6 h6 Blinzyuk avoided the first trap by playing 67.Rc5+ Kb6 68.Rb5+ Ka6 69.Nxd4. Now the king has a 3 squares on the a file to move along, so everything should be OK. But ... 69. ... Rh4 encouraged the knight to move and Bliznyuk chose 70.Nc6?? The moment his hand left the piece both players realised that the king had no squares to move to. Ikeda played 70... Re4+ as dxe4 is stalemate. If the king goes to d1 or d2 Ikeda just checks on e1 and e2. Bliznyuk played 71.Kf2 but after 71. ... Rf4+ both players knew the rook could just check across the 4th rank and a draw was agreed.
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