Sunday, October 26, 2008

Great Game by Aronian

Besides the Chess World Championship, the Euro Clup Cup is also going on, which has a large number of participants, including some of the top grandmasters. The following game, Aronian vs Volokitin, was played in Euro Clup Cup. It is probably one of Aronian's best games. It went:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. h3 O-O 7. Bd3 Be6 8. Ng5 Bf5 9. Bxf5 gxf5 10. Qb3 Qb6 11. Qc2 e6 12. g4 h6 13. Nf3 fxg4 14. hxg4 Nxg4 15. e4 dxc4 16. e5 Nd7 17. Be3 f5 18. O-O-O c5 19. d5 f4 20. Ng5 hxg5 21. Qh7+ Kf7 22. Ne4 exd5 23. e6+ Kxe6 24. Qxg7 Ngf6 25. Bxc5 Nxc5 26. Nxc5+ Qxc5

Position after Black's 26th move


This position is like a chess problem: there is a mate to be had. The game continued: 27. Rde1+ Kf5 28. Rh5 Nxh5 29. Re5+ Kg4 30. Qxg5+ Kf3 31. Qxh5+ Kxf2 32. Qe2+ 1-0








World Championship Match Game 3

The third game of the Championship Match was brilliantly won by Anand, playing Black. The game started: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Bd6 16.Rd1 Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.Nxd4 h5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Qd3 Rg7 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.gxf4

Position after White's 25th move


Notice at this point Anand is down two pawns. From what I have heard, computers gave Kramnik some advantage here, but this might be one of rare cases where computers mis-evaluated a position. Anand proceeded to win: Rd8 25.Qe2 Kh6 26.Kf1 Rg8 27.a4 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3 29.Ra3 Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Kc2 Bg4 32.f3 Bf5+ 33.Bd3 Bh3 34.a5 Rg2 35.a6 Rxe2+ 36.Bxe2 Bf5+ 37.Kb3 Qe3+ 38.Ka2 Qxe2 39.a7 Qc4+ 40.Ka1 Qf1+ 41.Ka2 Bb1+ 0-1




World Championship Match 2nd Game

The second game of the championship match ended in a draw:

White: Anand Black: Kramnik
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 f5 9. Qc2 Nd7 10. e4 fxe4 11. fxe4 N5f6 12. c6 bxc6 13. Nf3 Qa5 14. Bd2 Ba6 15. c4 Qc5 16. Bd3 Ng4 17. Bb4 Qe3+ 18. Qe2 O-O-O 19. Qxe3 Nxe3 20. Kf2 Ng4+ 21. Kg3 Ndf6 22. Bb1 h5 23. h3 h4+ 24. Nxh4 Ne5 25. Nf3 Nh5+ 26. Kf2 Nxf3 27. Kxf3 e5 28. Rc1 Nf4 29. Ra2 Nd3 30. Rc3 Nf4 31. Bc2 Ne6 32. Kg3 Rd4 1/2-1/2

World Championship Match 1st Game

The first game in the World Championship Match 2008 between Anand and Kramnik ended in a draw. Kramnik played White, Anand played Black.


1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Qb3 Bb4 9.Bb5 O-O 10.Bxc6 Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Rc8 12.Ne5 Ng4 13.Nxg4 Bxg4 14.Qb4 Rxc6 15.Qxb7 Qc8 16.Qxc8 Rfxc8 17.O-O a5 18.f3 Bf5 19.Rfe1 Bg6 20.b3 f6 21.e4 dxe4 22.fxe4 Rd8 23.Rad1 Rc2 24.e5 fxe5 25.Bxe5 Rxa2 26.Ra1 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Rd5 28.Rc1 Rd7 29.Rc5 Ra7 30.Rc7 Rxc7 31.Bxc7 Bc2 32.Bxa5 Bxb3 1/2-1/2

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Svidler Still In First

Svidler is still in first place in the Russian Superfinal Tournament. However, he might not be if one of his opponents found a winning move. The game between Peter Svidler and Nikita Vitiugov went: 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 e6 6. c5 b6 7. cxb6 Nbd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. b3 Nxb6 10. O-O Bb7 11. Bb2 cxd4 12. exd4 Be7 13. Rc1 O-O 14. Qe2 a5 15. a4 Nc8 16. Ne5 Na7 17. Nb5 Nxb5 18. Bxb5 Qb6 19. Rc2 Rfc8 20. Rfc1 Rxc2 21. Rxc2 Bd6 22. Qe1 Qd8 23. Qc1 Qe7 24. Bc3 h6 25. h3 Ne4 26. Be1 Qd8 27. Nd7 Ra7 28. Ne5 Ra8 29. Nd3 Qe7 30. f3 Ng3 31. Bxg3 Bxg3 32. f4 Ba6 33. Bxa6 Rxa6 34. Rc8+ Kh7 35. Rc7 Qf6 36. Qe3 Bh4 37. Ne5 Qf5 38. Rxf7 Qe4 39. Qc3

Position after White's 39th move


Here, Vitiugov missed the winning move 39. ... Rc6!. This was mentioned at chessgames.com--I cannot stop praising that site--see http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1508855 for analysis.




Zappa vs. Rybka Game

Here is a game between Zappa and Rybka, arguably the two strongest chess playing programs, which occurred this year.

The game started: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 b5 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. Bd3 Be7 12. Kb1 O-O 13. h4 Rc8 14. a3 Ba8 15. Qe3 Re8 16. Qa7

Diagram after White's 16th move


And here Rybka sacrifices the rook 16. ... Rxc3, an idea seen in Sicilian games. The game continued: 17. bxc3 Qc8 18. a4 Qxc3 19. axb5 axb5 20. Bd2 Qc6 21. Ba5 d5 22. e5 Nd7 23. Qc7 Bc5 24. Qxc6 Bxc6 25. f4 Ra8 26. Bc3 Nb6 27. Bb2 h6 28. Rh2 Be3 29. Bc1 Bf2 30. Rh3 d4 31. Be2 Nd5 32. Rf1 Bxh4 33. Bb2 Be7 34. Bxd4 Ra4 35. c3 b4 36. Bd1 Ra5 37. cxb4 Nxb4 38. Bf3 Bb5 39. Rfh1 Bd3+ 40. Kb2 Bf5 41. g4 Nd3+ 42. Kb3 Ra3+ 43. Kc4 Ra4+ 44. Kc3 Bg6 45. Bc6 Ra6 46. Bb5 Ra3+ 47. Kd2 Ra2+ 48. Ke3 Nf2 49. Ra1 Rxa1 50. Kxf2 Ra2+ 51. Be2 Bc2 52. Kg1 Be4 53. Kf2 g5 54. fxg5 Bxg5 55. Kf1 Bd5 56. Ke1 Ra4 57. Bb2 Kg7 58. Ba3 Bf4 59. Bb2 Re4 60. Kf2 Bxe5 61. Bc1 Bf4 62. Bb2+ e5 63. Ra3 Be6 64. Bd3 Re3 65. Be2 Rxa3 66. Bxa3 Kg6 67. Bf3 Kg5 68. Be7+ f6 69. Ke2 Kh4 70. Kf2 Bg5 71. Bd6 Bxg4 0-1

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Svidler In Lead

In the Russian Superfinals, Peter Svidler so far is in first place, with three wins in three games. One of his games, against Ernesto Inarkiev, went:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. e4 e5 11. Ne2 a6 12. b3 Re8 13. Bb2 Bb7 14. Rc1 exd4 15. Nexd4 c5 16. Nf5 Bf8 17. e5 Ng4 18. Nd6 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Ngxe5

Position after Black's 19th move



Then Svidler played 20 Bxh7+ and the game went: Kxh7 21. Qf5+ Kg8 22. Nxe8 Qxe8 23. Rce1 g6 24. Qe4 Bg7 25. f4 Rb8 26. Qd5 Rb6 27. fxe5 Re6 28. Rd1 Nxe5 29. Qxc5 Nf3+ 30. Rxf3 Bxb2 31. Qd5 Bf6 32. Rdf1 Qe7 33. g3 Kg7 34. Kh1 Rd6 35. Qa8 b4 36. Rf4 Bc3 37. Re4 Qc7 38. Rh4 Rd8 39. Qxa6 f5 40. Rc4 Qe7 41. Qc6 Kh6 42. Qf3 1-0