Chess Room Newsletter #988

Click HERE to see our full slate of specialty chess classes, we offer something for everyone!

Scholastic Chess Bulletin

The scholastic news is covered in a dedicated publication:
Mechanics' Institute Scholastic Chess Bulletin

Scholastic Chess Bulletin #5 is out!

In this issue:

• 2021 Fall Enrichment - Report on the Start
• 2021 Fall & Winter Holiday Camps
• Special Event: Halloween Tournament @ Mechanics' Institute on Oct 30
• Understanding Tournaments - Byes & Forfeits
• Upcoming Tournament Schedule
• ​Tournament Results & Featured games analyzed by GM Nick de Firmian

Please click the following LINK to read our latest edition.
Interested in reading the past issues? Click here to see the list of all issues.

All of us at Mechanics' Institute would like to thank you for your support of our scholastic chess programming.

FM Paul Whitehead's Column

[email protected]

The Meltdown Championship

As I write this column it happens to be a rest day in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. This is the final tournament of the Champions Chess Tour, and speaking quite frankly folks, I can’t keep up.  Every week (every day!) there’s big-time chess on the Internet.  Where top players used to play (maybe) a tournament once every month or two, now it’s non-stop action.  The entertainment value is high: different time controls, Armageddon games, trash-talk on social media, streaming on Twitch and YouTube.  If you can throw a bell or whistle into the mix, then it’s a go, go, go! for all concerned.

Where Bobby Fischer played (roughly) 700 tournament games over a (roughly) 20-year span, Carlsen has more than tripled that in the same amount of time.  I myself have played 11-year old kids who have played more tournament games than I have done, or ever will.

Playing strength has improved over time, but that’s a given - it always has.  Computer assisted Grandmasters seem to be less error-prone and better defensive players than in the past, but is that really true?  Let’s go back to Fischer, who only had a handful of recorded blitz games.  When you don’t play zillions of games, maybe each game you DO play counts just a little bit more:

Victor Korchnoi – Robert Fischer, Herceg-Novi 1970. World Blitz Championship.

King’s Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4  d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nd2 c5 10.a3 Ne8 11.b4  b6 12.Rb1 f5 13.f3 f4 14.a4 g5 15.a5 Rf6 16.bxc5 bxc5 17.Nb3 Rg6 18.Bd2 Nf6 19.Kh1 g4 20.fxg4 Nxg4 21.Rf3 Rh6 22.h3 Ng6 23.Kg1 Nf6 24.Be1.

24…Nh8!! 25.Rd3 Nf7 26.Bf3 Ng5 27.Qe2 Rg6 28.Kf1 Nxh3 29.gxh3 Bxh3+ 30.Kf2 Ng4+ 31.Bxg4 Bxg4.  0-1.

Of course Carlsen has played many beautiful blitz games, but I can’t help but wonder what Fischer or other World Champions from the past would have thought of 1.f3 e5 2.Kf2 - as played by Carlsen against So in a “Banter Blitz” game from 2020, or 1.e4 e6 2.Ke2 – the so-called “Bong-Cloud” opening as Nakamura has played.

On to the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021, which was supposed to take place in San Francisco this month, but alas the Global Pandemic… now it’s a “hybrid event” with a few players in Oslo and the rest scattered around the globe.  You can find the rules, etc. on-line.  Basically it’s four 15-minute Rapid games followed by two 5-minute Blitz games, and then 5-minute to 4-minute Armageddon games where white gets the extra minute but black has draw-odds.

As you can see, I’ve titled this tournament the “Meltdown Championship”, and I think it’s with good reason.  The players are woozy from too much chess and it shows.  At the moment Carlsen and Nakamura share the lead, although Carlsen is the sure overall winner of the Tour.  Carlsen’s play has been loose but uncompromising as usual.  The fast time-controls suit Nakamura: he has been pragmatic, and he’s in good form.

 Let’s get down to the action – and, in some cases, the lack of action:

Anish Giri – Hikaru Nakamura, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.1.

White has just played 21.b4 with an obvious threat… 21…Nb2? …which black completely overlooked. After 22.b5! the bishop is lost on e7 if the attacked knight moves, so Nakamura threw more wood onto the fire before giving up: 22…Bc5 23.bxc6 Bxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Bxc2 25.Qxc2 Nd3+ 26.Kg1 Nxf4 27.Nf5 Kh8 28.Qe4. White has a strong attack AND an extra piece. 28…Nd5 29.Ng5 g6 and 1-0.

Levon Aronian – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.1.

Did I say the players were burning out?  This position was reached after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 cxd5 cxd5 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 Ne4 8.Nd2 Nf6 9.Nf3 Ne4 10.Nd2 Nf6 11.Nf3. It’s a 3-time repetition and agreed drawn on the 11^th move!

Anish Giri – Hikaru Nakamura, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Blitz. Rd.1.

Nakamura probably needed another swig of his Red Bull, otherwise how do you explain 45…Bxa5?? 46.Ne7+. 1-0.

Levon Aronian – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Armageddon. Rd.1.

I guess Levon and Maxime decided to leave all the action for their Armageddon game, but 81.Qb2?? was over the top: 81…Rxb2. 0-1.

This fascinating position arrives after 14 moves by way of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.dxe5 Nxb5 7.a4 Nbd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d5 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Qe4+ Qe6 12.Qd4 Qd6 13.Qe4+ Qe6 14.Qd4 Qd6, and was agreed drawn by 3-time repetition in three of Nakamura’s games, and 3 of So’s games:

Hikaru Nakamura – Teimour Radjabov, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.2.

Wesley So – Hikaru Nakamura, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.4.

Hikaru Nakamura – Wesley So, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.4.

Anish Giri – Wesley So, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.5.

The tournament is not over, so maybe this complex “tabiya” will show up again!

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Magnus Carlsen, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.2.

In this dangerous position Carlsen overplayed his hand with 9…Qxa2? when 9…Qb5 would have been the safe alternative. After 10.Ra1! Qc4 11.Ra4! Qc5 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Rxa6! bxa6 14.Bxa8 Bxb2, he had 3 pawns for a piece but it was not enough, and 1-0 after 45 moves.

Another 2 games draw by 3-time repetition, this time after 19 moves: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bf5 12.Be2 Bf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Qd4 Qd6 15.Rd1 Rad8 16.Qd2 Qf6 17.Qd4 Qd6 18.Qd2 Qf6 19.Qd4 Qd6. Maybe you can guess the players involved…

Hikaru Nakamura – Teimour Radjabov, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.2.

Teimour Radjabov – Hikaru Nakamura, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.2.

Teimour Radjabov – Hikaru Nakamura, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Blitz. Rd.2.

Even the strongest players need reminding of the basics, like the opposition: 48.Kd2?? was a horrible blunder (48.Kc3! draws) and Nakamura had a simple win after 48…Ke5! 49.Kd3 Kd5. 0-1.

Magnus Carlsen – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Blitz. Rd.2.

Down a pawn, Carlsen tries to fight his way out of a jam by giving up the exchange with 24.Rxd5!? and instead of the obvious and best 24…Bxd5! Mamedyarov implodes with 24…Rxc3?? completely overlooking 25.Rxg5+! and 1-0.

Magnus Carlsen – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.3.

This position arose after that zany 2.Nc3 and 3.Bb5+ line against the Sicilian – a variation Carlsen does very well with. But here he over-reacted with 9.e5? losing a pawn and eventually the game after 9…Qc7!

An interesting moment occurred in Levon Aronian - Hikaru Nakamura, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.3.

With both sides about to queen Aronian erred with the natural 47.Kg6? and couldn’t hold on to the extra pawn after 47…Kxa2 48.f5 Kb3 49.f6 a2 50.f7 a1=Q 51.f8=Q Qg1+! and drawn a few moves later. Instead he could have held on to the f-pawn with a theoretical win (I think!) with 47.Kg4!

In Magnus Carlsen – Vladislav Artemiev, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.4.

the World Champion made a poor judgement call in trying to unbalance the position with 29.Nc7? instead of the boring 29.Bxe6. White was simply lost in the ensuing rook vs 2 minor piece ending: 29…Bxb3 30.Nxa6 bxa6 31.Rc8+ Kh7 32.a5 Bc4 33.Kf2 Bb5 34.Rc2 Nc4 35.Ra2 Kg6 36.Kf3 Kf5 37.g4+ Ke5 38.h3 g5 39.Kf2 f5 40.gxf5 Kxf5 41.Ra1 Ke5 42.h4 g4 43.Rc1 h5 44.Rd1 Nd6 45.Rc1 Bc4 46.Rb1 Nf5 47.Rb7 g3+ 48.Kg1 Nxh4 49.Rh7 Be2 50.Rg7 and 0-1.

Seeking revenge two games later, Carlsen let loose the howler of the event so far, hanging his queen when he spurned a perpetual check: Magnus Carlsen – Vladislav Artemiev, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.4.

51.Qxc5+?? (51.Qe7+ keeps it even) 51…Qxc5. 0-1.

An amazing turnaround, and the most unexpected and stunning move of the event so far occurred on the 35^th move in the game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.4.

In a winning position simply 35.d7! followed by 36.d8=Q will win, but the Frenchman got fancy with 35.Qe7?? Who could blame him for overlooking the brilliant 35…Qh5!! threatening 36…Qxh2 mate, while 36.Bxh5 is met by 36…Rf1 mate! White found no perpetual check after 36.h4 Qxe2 37.Qe8+ Kh7 38.Qe4+ Kh8 39.Qe8+ Kh7 40.Qe4+ Kg8. 0-1. If 41.Qe8+ Rf8.

White’s game is maybe not so great in Wesley So – Anish Giri, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.5. However, it became a whole lot worse after he blundered a rook with 29.Rxf5?? Nxf5 30.Rf1 and now 30…Rd5! defended, and 0-1.

Two rounds later it’s time for Anish to blunder in Wesley So – Anish Giri, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.5. Black’s queen is attacked, and if he moves it with 24…Qg5! he’ll pick up the exchange with either …Nxb1 or …Ne2+ with great prospects. Instead, he tried to get fancy with the immediate 24…Ne2+? and was stunned by 25.Qxe2! After 25…Qxd4 (25…Bxe2 26.Rxh4 is simply a piece down) 26.Qxa6! meant white kept two powerful bishops for a rook. The game did not last long: 26….Qd2 27.Bd4 Rc1+ 28.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 29.Qf1 Qd2 30.Bd5 Rd8 31.Bb3 Rc8 32.Kg2 Rc1 33.Qb5 Qe1 34.Qe8+ Kh7 35.Bc2+. 1-0. If 35…Rxc2 36.Qe4+.

This next tactic, from Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Vladislav Artemiev, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021. Rapid. Rd.5. is right out of the textbooks.  Black holds a nice edge, with a dominating knight and a seemingly safe king position.  24…Nf4 looks good. However, black tried the obvious and active 24…Ra4?? and was gunned down on the streets of the Internet with 25.Qxf8+!! Kxf8 26.Rc8 mate!

The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals 2021 resumes tomorrow.  Draw your own conclusions, but I think I’m going to go take a walk in the park.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GM Nick de Firmian's Column

World Class Chess in San Francisco

Magnus was supposed to be here now. They were going to have the finals of the Meltwater Grand Chess Tour right here in our city. That plan went a bit awry, perhaps due to the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, but maybe it was never firmly set in place. The Grand Chess Tour has rules and schedules that are hard to follow and seem open to change. I’m not complaining (too much) about this entertaining event that has filled the year with top level chess. It’s only that this first year of the event seems rather haphazard, and the games are mostly quick play and blitz. That’s fun but usually a lower artistic level than the classical time control tournaments. Plus the finals were supposed to be in San Francisco!

The Pro Chess finals held at the Folsom Street Foundry two years ago was the last great chess event in the city, and allowed us to have a wonderful rapid event at the Mechanics’ club with Fabiano Caruana and many super grandmasters. Still, the last time a world champion played classical chess at the club was in the 90’s when Mark Pinto, Jim Eade and Neil Falconer organized the Pan Pacific events. We give below one of the classic games from the second of the three Pan Pacific tournaments. Such players as Viktor Korchnoi, Women’s world champion Xie Jun, Hubner, Nunn and others came to town for these two week events. The game below features Australia’s best ever chess player against our favorite visitor, former world champion Tal. We give another game, from the current Meltwater Grand Chess Tour Finals. It should have been played here in San Francisco, and with some luck we will get the world’s top players here in the next year or two.

(1) Tal,Mikhail (2570) - Rogers,Ian (2545) [C10]
San Francisco San Francisco (8), 1991

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 The Rubinstein Variation of the French Defense is very solid. White must play very actively to get any edge against it. 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Bd3 c5 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Qe2 0-0 10.Bg5 Qa5+?! This is a little too direct. 10...h6 is better. 11.c3 Be7 12.Ne5 b6?!

(2) Carlsen,Magnus - Duda,Jan-Krzysztof [D41]
Meltwater Chess Tour Finals, 26.09.2021

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 c5 6.e3 A Semi-Tarrasch Queen's Gambit Declined. Reasonable opening for both sides. 6...cxd4 7.exd4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qc7 9.Rb1!? What's with Magnus? He thinks he's Tal offering such a speculative pawn sacrifice. 9...Nd7 [9...Qxc3+ 10.Bd2 Qc7 11.Bb5+ Is fair compensation for a pawn, so Duda feels safer declining the offer.] 10.Bd3!? Qxc3+

[There is no defense anymore against the white onslaught. See how every piece is aggressively placed to attack the king. On 16...Qd8 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Qh5 g6 (18...h6 19.Rg6! threatening 20 Rxh6+ 19...fxg6 20.Qxg6 is mate next on h7) 19.Bxg6! fxg6 20.Nxg6+ Kg7 21.Nxf8+ Kxf8 22.Qxh7 is the end] 17.Bxh6! gxh6 18.Qf3 Duda resigns. Magnus' final move is very accurate to keep the black knight on f6 (else white has 19. Nxf7+). There is absolutely no defense to 19. Qf4 and 20. Qxh6+ (18....Qd2 19. Rd1). A great game by Magnus (probably inspired by seeing old Tal games). 1-0

Solution to Tony's Teaser

Best Play: 1. d4  Kh5  2. Qd3  Kg4  3. Qh3#