FC Chess Tournament 5 (Completed)

[anvi]

I saw a board-level analysis earlier this afternoon. It was impressive how from moves 16 to 20 the position went from a rather normal looking opening to a huge attack on the black king.

Anand's position was perfectly solid.  When he played 19...Ng6, though, I started to worry.  It's not a losing move, but it enabled Carlsen to continue ramping up the pressure and creating weaknesses in Anand's position.  I thought Anand could just play 19...Rd7, and White's attack would have gone nowhere.  But, for as desperate as things got as the first time control approached, Anand could have continued to fight on with something like 34...Qd2, where he will drop the f4 pawn but maintain enough activity to keep fighting and maybe hold.

The analysis I saw put quite a bit of the blame on 18...Be6. He thought the move was careless and didn't recognize how quickly the attack could develop, and thought that 18...Qf7 would have defused a lot of the attack.

Agree that 18...Qf7, trading off the Queens, leaves Black safe on the kingside for good.  But I actually thought 18...Be6 in itself was ok--it was the follow-up moves that were errant.  There are a couple of different ways of handling the defense in that position; one would be to take the White Knight as soon as it lands on f5 and the other is to let it stay there and just develop the c8 Bishop.  Either way, if Black handles the position correctly, I think he would be fine.  But there is sometimes in such attacking scenarios a bit of a danger in trading off too early to relieve the pressure, because if after trading off one attacker for one defender, the opponent can get more attackers lined up against your King than you have remaining defenders, then you don't have as many resources to save your position.  So just developing by 18...Be6 in that position I thought was useful for Black; it clears the way for Black's a-Rook to participate in the defense, plus the e6 Bishop controls the c4 and b3 squares and so does not allow White to place Rooks in those squares if he decides to transfer them to the queenside to attack Black's soft pawn structure there.  But maybe one incoherent thing Anand did to was to forego the trade of Bishop for f5-Knight on move 18 but then trade it anyway on move 20.  Anand even said after the game that he was of "two minds" about how to defend the position, and that's never a good sign.  After 18...Be6 19. Rg3 Ng6(?--this move I didn't like) 20. h4 Rd7, keeping all his defenders on the board, I think Black is still ok.

[anvi]

With a combination of incredible preparation and precision tactics, Anand dramatically rebounds to defeat Carlsen in the third game. Anand's first defeat of Carlsen in classical time control since 2010. All tied up 1.5-1.5 with nine games to go.  We've now got ourselves a match now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_iamolOaUg...

[anvi]

Game 4 sees Carlsen trying to squeeze something out of an isolated Queen's pawn Anand gets saddled with, but Vishy defends precisely. The fighting draw leaves the match tied at 2-2.  I'm replacing yesterday's video with this one, as it shows the whole game.  Rhe entire game was an outstanding demonstration of how both sides should play when there is an isolated Queen's pawn on the board.  These kinds of games, to me, are both really interesting and very instructive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMejdHi-1J4

[anvi]

Just thinking about chess as the world championship proceeds.  There are all kinds of great virtues one can learn from chess.  But one of the best ones, maybe the best one, is this.  In order to really improve your game and become an accomplished chess player, one has to always be totally honest with oneself about one's own mistakes.  In studying your own games, you have to look for your own errors on purpose, understand exactly what kinds of mistakes are most typical of your thinking habits and personality, and really discipline yourself to solve those problems.  Better players will almost always punish you for your mistakes, so there is no place to hide from them.  To play really well, there is no way around systematically improving yourself by bettering your ability to think through problems and find solutions.  You can't guess, you can't count on luck, at least not past a game here and there.  Obviously, lots of other games require this too, so I'm not claiming this is unique about chess.  But it's such a difficult game that it requires unusual degrees of honesty with oneself to dramatically improve.  I like that about chess a lot.

But one other thing that I do think is unique to chess, at least in a quite specific way, is that it requires so many different kinds of processing in the brain to be working at once.  Chess requires you to reason, calculate, plan, anticipate, remember, persevere, imagine, and appreciate as well as create beauty all at once.  Practically no other thing I do or have ever done brings so much of the mind "on line" in one activity.

[muon2]

To add to anvi's post, there are a couple of other skills that I find are nearly uniquely taught by chess as a game. The game teaches you that you don't have to play to the end, unlike most sports. Instead you can assess your opponent and understand that there is honor in resigning a lost position, and recognizing that many games will end in a draw when played well.

[anvi]

To add to anvi's post, there are a couple of other skills that I find are nearly uniquely taught by chess as a game. The game teaches you that you don't have to play to the end, unlike most sports. Instead you can assess your opponent and understand that there is honor in resigning a lost position, and recognizing that many games will end in a draw when played well.

Very much so.  As counter-intuitive as it might sound, it's best during a game to give as little thought to the result as possible.  The player is best advised to do what the position "wants" them to do.  If the position is such that one is just objectively lost with no hope of saving the game, then out of basic respect for the opponent who put one in that position, it's best to concede to them, learn something from the game, and move on to the next one.  When there is nothing left in the position but a draw, then it's also best to recognize that.  Chess is one of those activities, at least the way I think of it, that directs us out of ourselves and demands that we either create a new reality or at least acknowledge the one that's there.  No one can win every game--the best that can be done under all circumstances is to learn from every game.

[anvi]

Game 5 of the world chess championship sees a better-prepared Carlsen steer the play into what seems like a safe line of the Queen's Indian defense for him as Black.  However, Anand persists in trying to squeeze some initiative out of the position.  Carlsen takes some risks for counterplay, but quickly solves his problems and the game ends in another interesting draw.  Still tied 2.5-2.5 with seven games to go.  One catch: Carlsen will now have two Whites in a row for games 6 and 7.  Can he make something out of them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUX5RU1RFYc...

Must say, this is the most closely competed world championship match I've seen since the last face-off between Kasparov and Karpov in 1990, as well as the two matches between them that preceded it.  Really tense.  This is what I like--I'm not rooting for anyone in this case, I just want to see a great match.

[anvi]

A dramatic sixth game. Strangely, Anand plays into a passive line of the Kan Sicilian as Black and Carlsen builds up pressure on the kingside. But a rare inaccuracy by the champion gives Anand a golden opportunity for an advantage. Instead, Anand blunders and Calrsen exerts the full punishment and wins easily. Half the match is over, Carlsen leads 3.5-2.5. After a one-day rest, Carlsen gets White again in game 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj-T-7_WLKg&feature=youtu.be

[muon2]

A dramatic sixth game. Strangely, Anand plays into a passive line of the Kan Sicilian as Black and Carlsen builds up pressure on the kingside. But a rare inaccuracy by the champion gives Anand a golden opportunity for an advantage. Instead, Anand blunders and Calrsen exerts the full punishment and wins easily. Half the match is over, Carlsen leads 3.5-2.5. After a one-day rest, Carlsen gets White again in game 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj-T-7_WLKg&feature=youtu.be

The back-to-back errors by both contestants remind players at all levels that even the world's best can make fairly obvious mistakes. In the case of Anand, it also reminds other players not to be so focused on your own idea, that you miss an opportunity created by an opponent. Don't assume your opponent is so good that they can't goof once every while.

[anvi]

Yes, definitely.  Anand himself said after the game: "sometimes if you're not expecting a gift, you don't take it."  That seems to be a resurgence of Anand playing Carlsen instead of playing the position on the board, which in general is bad but in this case was disastrous.  It was also quite telling that, after the mutual blunders, Carlsen was able to consolidate and executed brilliantly, while Anan'd game quickly unraveled.  Anand is in a very tough spot in the match as well as psychologically at the moment.  He is a great player though, and half the match remains, so I expect him to put up a tough fight.

But yes, it's true; this is not just the world championship, but the human chess championship, and in a 12-game match, any two human beings, even so-called "super-grandmasters" like Carlsen and Anand, are going to make blunders.  It is nice consolation for the rest of us mere mortals who play the game. 

[anvi]

A marathon seventh game. Anand plays a seemingly level line of the Berlin Defense as Black, but then realizes that Carlsen has better endgame chances. He bails out by sacrificing a piece for two pawns to eliminate White's winning chances. Carlsen agrees to a draw--91 moves later--the entire game lasting 122 moves! Carlsen leads 4-3 after 7 games, but in the remaining five, Anand has three Whites. Can he catch up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fuw_EP87gg&feature=youtu.be

[muon2]

A marathon seventh game. Anand plays a seemingly level line of the Berlin Defense as Black, but then realizes that Carlsen has better endgame chances. He bails out by sacrificing a piece for two pawns to eliminate White's winning chances. Carlsen agrees to a draw--91 moves later--the entire game lasting 122 moves! Carlsen leads 4-3 after 7 games, but in the remaining five, Anand has three Whites. Can he catch up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fuw_EP87gg&feature=youtu.be

I kept checking in between classes and amazingly the game was going on longer than the Energizer Bunny. It seems that much of the game was played long after the analysts had taken it for a draw. Was Carlsen using the time to wear out Anand and his preparation for game 8?

[anvi]

One of Carlsen's signature traits as a player, and one he has been very successful with, is trying to gain even the tiniest of initiatives and push it as far as it will go.  Often, this puts enough cumulative pressure on opponents as the hours pass that they crack, even in objectively level positions.  It can happen in over-the-board play that you just get tired and blow an objectively drawn position--I've played a couple of six plus hour games in tournaments and it's happened to me.  But it happens to GMs too, even the best of them.  Carlsen as a rule won't sign the peace treaty until the position on the board is 100% objectively drawn.  He is not generally an attacker, but more a positional player shooting for a good endgame, and so this is the way he applies pressure.  This is his normal approach, but against Anand, who is twenty years his senior, I imagine Carlsen really wants to press in this way.  Whoever wins the title from Carlsen, sooner or later, is going to have to endure these kinds of games and come through them unscathed.  Anand did it well today, and it probably was something of a boost for him too.  But it remains to be seen if it will drain him tomorrow.  Expect a sharp 1. d4 line from Anand tomorrow--he still needs to catch up...

[anvi]

To everyone's surprise, it seems that the player who was most taxed by Monday's 122-move marathon was Carlsen.  On top of it, he had to defend with the Black pieces in game 8. But, in world championship matches, chess is often a team sport. That came through in game 8. Anand tries to direct the play to a sharp line of the Queen's Gambit, but Carlsen's seconds help him prepare a variation that enables him to breeze to a draw. Anand looked hard for ways to raise tactical possibilities, but the new variation designed for Carlsen was beautifully crafted just to shut down any such play.  In my view, if Anand is to stick with 1. d4 as White, he must be willing to plunge into the double-edged Nimzo Indian or try to force Catalan positions. Carlsen leads 4.5-3.5 with four games to go.  Rest day today, and Games 9 and 10 take place on Thursday and Friday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6uMEh2XgzU&feature=youtu.be

[anvi]

Anand uncorks a subtle novelty in another Berlin defense. Carlsen, caught in the coils of the challenger's preparation, can find nothing better than a perpetual check, and game 9 is drawn in 20 moves after only one hour. Carlsen leads 5-4, but Anand has two Whites in the last three games.  If he can win one game and draw the other two, the match score will be tied and that automatically propel it into a "rapid" round, where the players will contest several games where each has only 30 minutes for the whole game to decide who wins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgGeBG6hZLU&feature=youtu.be

[anvi]

In game 10, Carlsen surprisingly reverts to the Grünfeld Defense, but is well-prepared.  Anand gets a passed d-pawn but the champion's play is precise.  Anand, faltering and a bit short of time, trades down into a level ending and a draw is agreed.  Anand still can tie the match and send it into the rapid round with two games to go, but expect Carlsen as White to press for a win in game 11 on Sunday to wrap things up early.  Carlsen still leads, 5.5-4.5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbEffGPmf5w&feature=youtu.be

[anvi]

In a tense 11th game of the 2014 World Chess Championship, a dynamic level ending is reached. After gaining some initiative, Anand gambles with an exchange sacrifice to obtain a passed pawn, Carlsen calmly refutes the gamble. Carlsen wins the match, 6.5-4.5 and retains his title until 2016.

http://youtu.be/bjIQoU-96Xw

Here are my own notes to the final game.

Carlsen (W) vs. Anand (B)
2014 World Chess Championship
Game 11

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 (yet another Berlin Defense.) 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Bd7 (Anand goes for a stronger line than in previous games. Black intends to tuck the King safely amid the queenside mass of pawns while activating the pieces, which gives him good chances.) 10. Nc3 h6 11. b3 Kc8 12. Bb2 c5 13. Rad1 b6 14. Rfe1 (a solid but somewhat tepid move from the champion. Maneuvering the Queen's Knight around to contest for the important f5 square is more topical.) Be6 15. Nd5 g5 (just in time, preventing the d5 Knight from landing on f4 and harassing Black's best-placed piece, the e6 Bishop.)

16. c4 Kb7 17. Kh2 (the idea here is kingside expansion with g4, Kg3 and pushing more pawns. The basic theory of the Berlin is that, if a pawn endgame is reached, White's majority on the kingside gives him a win, and Magnus follows this basic plan.) a5 (And, in good fashion, Anand counters with play on the queenside. Carlsen does his best to shut down any action there before proceeding.) 18. a4 Ne7 19. g4 Ng6 20. Kg3 Be7 (Anand prevents an h4 advance.) 21. Nd2 (Carlsen continues trying to put a clamp on the kingside and coordinating his pieces by swinging this Knight around to e4 and f6.). Rhd8 22. Ne4 (Worth considering here is killing Black's dark-squared Bishop first with 22, Nxe7 Nxe7 23. Ne4, which minimizes Black's conterplay.)

Bf8 23. Nef6 b5!? (A surprising break by Anand. Here, I really liked instead 23...c6 24. Ne3 Nf4, and if the Black Knight lands on d3, Black has an extremely strong position. I'm still a bit baffled why Anand didn't chose this. The ...b5 break now does however put pressure on Carlsen's queenside. It's best for Carlsen not to take this gambit pawn, as after 24. axb5 a4 25. bxa4 Rxa4 Black will regain material with the initiative.) 24. Bc3 bxa4 25. bxa4 Kc6 26. Kf3 Carlsen plays cooly. He observes correctly after the game that his pieces are becoming loose and that centralizing his King is the best way to hold the balance in the endgame.) Rdb8 (The critical move in this position for Black seems to be 26...Be7 with the intention of snapping off the f6 Knight. If White recaptures with the d5 Knight, Black's e6 Bishop springs to life, and if he recaptures with the e-pawn, then White's kingside play is stalled and Black can switch to a full-court queesnside press that will probably tie White up. Instead, Anand, now running short of time, tries to convert his small advantage right away.)

27. Ke4 Rb4? (And here, by his own admission, is where Anand's nerves crack. Everyone here expected 27...Rb3 and Black maintains the initiative. The gamble Black takes is premature, unsupported by enough immediate piece activity to make it count.) 28. Bxb4 cxb4 (This is the best recapture as it leaves Black's structure better and White's a4-pawn stuck. But now, a whole exchange up, White's plan is simple. if he can block the advance of White's b-pawn and get his own kingside majority rolling, he should be able to convert the full point. As the rest of the moves show, Carlsen now does this with cool, machine-like precision.)

29. Nh5 Kb7 30. f4 gxf4 31. Nxf4 Nxf4 32. Nxf4 Bxc4 33. Rd7 Ra6? (The last straw. Worth a try may have been something like 33...Kc8 34. Reb1 Bb3 35. Rd8+ Kb7 36. Rxa8 Bc2! 37. Ke3 Bc5+ 38. Kd2 Bxd1 39. Rxa5 Bb6 40. Rb5 Bxa4 41. Rxb4 Bb6, and while White can probably win this in the long run, it allows Black to keep fighting for a while.) 34. Nd5 Rc6 35. Rxf7 (White now can get two passers on the e and g files, and Black's queenside pawns will simply not be fast enough.) Bc5 36. Rxc7+ Rxc7 37. Nxc7 Kc8 (sadly, Black cannot take the horse, because after 37...Kxc7? 38. Rc1 wins one of the Bishops back, perhaps even with check.) 38. Nb5 Bxb5 39. axb5 Kxb5 40. e6 b3 41. Kd3 (the safest route) Be7

42. h4 (an elegant way to clinch the deal!) a4 43. g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 a3 45. Kc3, and now, since Anand is facing 45...Bxg5 46. Re5+ Kc6 47. Rxg5 b2 48 Rg1, he gives up his bid for the title and resigns. 1-0.

23-year old Magnus Carlsen, with his rare precision and nerves of steel, retains his crown.

[bore]

And,  finally, with homely's victory over me, it is over. Congratulations to Gmantis for winning, and thanks to everyone else for taking part:

Gmantis 5
homelycooking 4
franzl 3
SPC 2
Mr X 1
bore 0

[homelycooking]

Hey, thanks for organizing that, Bore. As always, more fun than a barrel of Vikings.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Hey, thanks for organizing that, Bore. As always, more fun than a barrel of Vikings.