Tag: Veselin Topalov

Irina Krush’s Lecture at the Marshall Chess Club

November 8th, 2011 · · -, Annotated Games, Games 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

So this evening I stopped by the Marshy to see a lecture by IM Krush (I can’t help but think of Big Punisher’s hit “I’m not a player I just Krush a lot.”) She covered a few games from the current European Team Championship with aplomb, nicely fitting in the recent games to the theme of the lecture: Unusual Positional Decisions.

In the first game Irina reviewed, Topalov shocked Svidler with an interesting move. In the following diagram, it is white to play. If you look at the position, you can see that black is happy with his pieces. The bishops are very well placed, and the queen is applying pressure to the kingside.

What would you play for white and why?

At a certain point in the lecture I realized there was someone sitting in the back who was being very quiet and not answering any of Irina’s questions… Kamsky?

Actually, when i first walked in I recognized him immediately and had to stop myself from saying all the gushing things any chess fan would want to say in the presence of a legend. Instead, I just got a cup of coffee and sat down across the room pondering why on earth an elite GM of his caliber would attend a run-of-the-mill chess lecture at the Marshall…

Oh right… because Irina Krush is giving the lecture… (swoon you chess nerds!)

Another game she covered involved the amazing move 20.b3! sacking the exchange. Mitch Fitsko saw this move immediately. As it turns out, the position after this sacrifice is equal, as white is able to secure his queenside and stifle black’s counter-play. However, between two human beings it goes without saying that white’s game was much easier to play. Later in the game, black missed his chance to simplify with 21…Bd7. Instead, the immediate 21…Qa5 was better. White doesn’t want to capture black’s queen and rid himself of his only weakness (the b-pawn,) and so black is able to use the a5 square to re-route the queen to h5, where she will defend against Bh6 and pressure the kingside pawns enough for an equal game. The move 21…Bd7 then was too slow, as after 22.Qc3 Qa5 23.Be2 the h5 square is covered. White when on to win in a rather straightforward way.


GELFAND WINS CANDIDATES

May 27th, 2011 · · -, Catalan, Games, Openings No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Gelfand emerged the winner of the candidates match in Kazan with a clutch win against Grischuk who had shut down both Kramnik and Aronian, and without question had the hardest pairing in the cycle. Without a question, Gelfand fought hard and deserves his shot at the title, and yet, part of me wishes it had been Kamsky who emerged victorious.

In any case, many people complained about the format of the matches, with so few classical games neither player wanted to take risks and so we saw many boring draws which meant that the next challenger of the World Champion was essentially decided by blitz games. And yet, I still watched every day, rapt, as the players fought or at least pretended to, hoping and wishing for anyone other than Topalov or Kramnik. I guess we should all be happy that Gelfand won in that respect.

In any case, the following game was the one that put Gelfand into the next world championship match…let’s hope it’s in London.

First Round of Drawndidates Concludes

May 9th, 2011 · · -, Games No comments - Tags: , , ,

Of the first 16 games at the FIDE 2011 Candidates matches in Kazan Russia 14 were draws. The only players to claim a victory in classical time controls will face each other in the next round, which I hope will make for some interesting chess. I love the Queen’s Gambit Declined, honestly I do, and Anand’s use of it to destroy Topa in the final game of the last World Championship has made the Lasker variation fashionable indeed. However, some of these games are so risk free as to make me wonder if either player is even looking for any imbalance.

Having said that, there certainly were some fantastic draws as well, such as this morning’s game between Topalov and Kamsky. Kamsky managed to draw what should have been Topalov’s victory to save him from elimination today, instead Kamsky will go on to face Gelfand while Topa will go home. Here is game 4 between Topalov and Kamsky:

KAMSKY CRUSHES TOPALOV IN GAME 2!

May 6th, 2011 · · -, Games, Grunfeld, Indian Defences, Openings No comments - Tags: , , ,

I could hardly believe my eyes early this morning when Topalov played the wacky 0-0-0 in a Qb3 Grunfeld, inviting black’s bishops to bear down upon his king position like an army of elephants. The game is a gorgeous masterpiece for several reasons. Watching the game live with my engine going, there were several interesting tactical shots that Kamsky no doubt saw but chose not to enter into, preferring to totally clamp down on Topalov’s position with unassuming pawn pushes that left his pieces uncoordinated and his king gasping for air.

The game features an odd h pawn thrust by Topa who failed to grasp the peril of his position.

Once again, all other games were draws and so Kamsky is the first of the contenders to draw blood, and he appears to be in top form. Great analysis of the match as always over at Chessdom. I absolutely cannot wait to see the game tomorrow when Kamksy will have the white pieces again.

Kamsky-Topalov: Game 1

May 5th, 2011 · · -, Games, Najdorf, Openings, Sicilian Defense No comments - Tags: , , , , ,

Wow! So, today was the first game of the 2011 World Championship Candidates Matches being held in Kazan. All four games were draws, though two were exciting games to watch. Naturally, as an American, I’m cheering for my fellow Brooklynite Gata Kamsky. This morning at 7am New York time when I was frying and egg and making coffee I was shocked by the first few moves of their game. In a standard Sicilian Najdorf, Kamsky played 6.a4!? and then followed it up with 7.a5! GM Danielsen describes some of the ideas behind this wacky sideline over at Chessdom. Kamsky was just coming off from his win at the U.S. Championship and was in full form for this battle with Topalov. Topalov won a match a couple of years ago against Kamsky as you may recall, but since then Kamsky seems to have gotten sharper while perhaps Topa has fallen off his game a bit- so this match could easily go either way. I can’t wait for 7a.m. tomorrow morning when the battle resumes and Topa will have white.

Here is the first game in its entirety. Kamsky missed a couple of wins as outlined by GM Danielsen over at Chessdom, though the most surprising one to me was when Kamsky played 17.b3, when 17.Bb3 gives white a chokehold on the position, as it threatens Ba4 and thus allows white the push the black queen around and place his pieces actively on the queenside of the board.

Aaggard’s Attacking Manuel Wins BCF Book of the Year Award

December 18th, 2010 · · -, Book Review, Games, Najdorf, Openings, Sicilian Defense 3 comments - Tags: , , ,

I have been meaning to give a favorable review of this book for a while now, and so after the announcement of the BCF award I thought I would give a brief overview of why I think this book is worth owning.

The book begins with a brief discussion concerning the riff over John Watson’s notion of “rule independence,” a debate I am not about to rehash here. Simply put: Aagaard sides with the Europeans in their criticism of Watson’s concept. This brief introductory jaunt into the theoretical debate over rule independence is not entirely inapposite here, as Aagard sets out to articulate new rules in a post-dynamic era. The “rules” he gives are in bold, and appear throughout the book. One such example: When you have the momentum you must act with great speed or the momentum will perish. Another one which I quite liked: We only need to win on one square to deliver mate. Most of these “rules” are vague enough to be applicable in many circumstances, like an astrology reading, however, with each concept he articulates Aagaard follows with a concrete example, giving the reader a firm hook to hang his otherwise abstract hat upon.

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Judit Polgar Shines in Mexico

November 23rd, 2010 · · - No comments - Tags: ,

This week Judit Polgar participated in the UNAM Torneo Cuadrangular in Mexico, defeating Ivanchuk in the first round of the knockout format tournament, and advancing to face Topalov in a 4 game rapid showdown. Having taking years off from chess, with only a few appearances here and there, most people probably did not expect her to outperform the former world champion so easily, winning 3 games and drawing 1. See the games and read the commentary over at chessdom.

Bishops of opposite color endings

November 11th, 2010 · · -, Bishop Ending, Endgame, opposite-colored bishops No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bishops of opposite color endings are notoriously drawish, even where one side has one or two extra pawns. Some common drawing plans are demonstrated in the positions below.

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The Queen’s Gambit & Catalan for Black, by Lasha Janjgava

November 11th, 2010 · · -, Book Review, Catalan, Queen's Gambit, Queen's Gambit Declined No comments - Tags: , , , ,

The Georgian GM Lasha Janjgava has produced a fantastic text on the QGD and Catalan for black. The book is worth buying for its coverage of the Catalan alone, though it also includes whole chapters with theory and game fragments for most variations of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, including the Tartakower, the Exchange, and the popular Lasker Defense, which Anand has been using to great effect against Topalov recently.

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Ideas for Black against the Catalan: 4…Bb4+

November 9th, 2010 · · -, Catalan, Openings 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,


The Catalan has become a go to weapon at the elite chess level for many top players, from Wang Yue to Carlsen. It has also been the key to Topalov’s defeat in his last two world championship matches, as both Kramnik and Anand employed it against him with impressive results. The appeal of the Catalan is obvious, white takes little risk and yet generally gets a positional pull that lasts deep into middle game because of his fianchettoed king’s bishop. This opening is also likely to be become very popular at the class level since the publication of “wojo’s weapons,” and the two volume series “1.d4 Grandmaster repertoire.” In this post, I would like to offer black a “simple” system against the Catalan, involving good piece placement, active queenside play, and the pawn break c6-c5.

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Ruy Lopez, Breyer

November 6th, 2010 · · -, Ruy Lopez, Ruy Lopez Breyer 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

In his last few encounters with the black pieces against Anand, Carlsen has employed the Ruy Lopez Breyer variation three times and drawn all three games. As a fan, it’s odd to see these two battling in an open game so deeply in the same variation, almost matchlike, because both of them tend to be 1.d4 players. While the world anticipates the real match to come between these two (though that may not happen) I can’t help but wonder if this “battle in the breyer” is serving merely as a proxy for their behind the scene preparations in the catalan, or would they attempt to surprise one another with 1.e4 in a match setting? More on the Breyer, after the jump…

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