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

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.