Tag: World Championship Candidates Match

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.