Other Events: Perugia & Milan Finish, Beijing Continues
The Italian Championship finished in Perugia and was a complete success for Fabiano Caruana, whose 10/11 score put him three full points ahead of the second-placed finisher. Very impressive, Fabiano, but please come back and try to win some U.S. Championships instead!
Another event in Italy was the 32nd Crespi Memorial in Milan. This was an open event rather than a round-robin, but like the Italian Championship the winner romped: Georgia's Baadur Jobava finished with a great score of 8.5/9, finishing two points ahead of Vladimir Malaniuk.
Finally, the SportAccord World Mind Games continues on. There have doubtlessly been many interesting games in this event, which has featured a large collection of very strong GMs competing in blitz, rapid and blindfold chess, but for now I'll just present one. It was mentioned in a comment to this blog, and as it fits nicely with the Carlsen-Kramnik game in London, it's an especially apt choice. Have a look at Ponomariov-Nielsen, from round 1 of the rapids.
Reader Comments (6)
What about 26...d4? White either lets the Black king out of the box, or, if he doesn't take on d4, after Bf5 White's king can't leave the d3 pawn. Seems like a draw.
[DM: I think you're right!]
I really enjoy this blog...
Its got the quality of a popular magazine, combined with the entertaining weekly chess videos and friendly atmosphere of a chess cafe where everyone can chip in.
[DM: Thanks - I almost feel like I should pay you to write advertising copy for me!]
There is a rapid/blitz event this weekend in Warsaw, Poland with some BIG talent in it, like Nepomniachtchi, Bacrot, Polgar, and Movsesian. Should be interesting to watch!
http://www.poloniachess.pl/amplico2011/en/
[DM: Thanks for the tip! It's interesting juxtaposing some of these strong events with Kramnik's remarks in one of the London interviews that he had nothing to play in until July. Being a 2730 is one thing, but being in the super-elite is something altogether different.]
I saw that comment by Kramnik about having nothing to play until July, and it makes me wonder why the very top players lock themselves into elite tournaments only, shunning the many big open tournaments available. Do they simply not have the time for them, or has chess simply become a 9-to-5 "job", with no pleasure derived from playing against people beneath them in the ratings? It is sad that these guys can't play the game simply for the fun of it any more, and mingle with the "99%". (Not to mention they miss out on the guaranteed winning of some extra spending cash!)
[DM: There are two very obvious reasons why they don't do that: the risk to their ratings, and the lack of pay. Early 2012 is a bit of an exception, but in general they get to play about as much as they want to, and the appearance fees and prize money in elite events greatly exceeds what they're likely to win in events for the unwashed masses (low-2700s on down).]
Two additions:
- There will be another strong rapid and blitz event next February in Latvia (actually one of the first ones to be rated?) featuring, so far, Shirov, Ivanchuk, Mamedyarov and Ivanchuk. Initially it was also called Tal Memorial, now for reasons which I don't quite understand it will be called Petrov Memorial. Source: http://www.whychess.org/node/3419
- Not all super-GMs avoid Swiss Opens (or is the Elo limit exactly 2750?): The Gibraltar Open (10th edition next year with improved prize fund will have Mamedyarov and Svidler, along with "unwashed masses" Adams, Le Quang Liem, Vachier-Lagrave, Shirov, Almasi and Short.
Tournament director Stuart Conquest asked Kramnik (if I am not mistaken, in the very same interview) whether he would like to join. His answer was "not yet" as he wouldn't want to play an event where he is clear favorite - unclear whether he knew that he might not be the only favorite. Kramnik's answer is interesting IMO: it seems that he now can imagine to keep playing even if he should drop out of the absolute world top, in other words if he should become "another Nigel Short" (or Karpov, or Adams, or - arguably - Shirov). A few months ago he - more or less - said in an interview that he will retire when he drops out of the top10. Maybe it was just the adrenaline right after winning London?
[DM: I'd define the absolute elite as comprised of players who are essentially guaranteed the right to play in events like Wijk aan Zee (A group), Linares (if it ever happens again), MTel (ditto), Dortmund, the Tal Memorial and so on. Those who play occasionally (they're having a great year, or they qualified somehow, or they're the local cannon fodder) don't count. Another way to put it is it that they are the players who can or soon will be able to afford to retire from the game without having to to worry much if at all about their financial futures.]
Kramnik said that it’s not very interesting for him to play in such open tournaments, and this might be the simple truth and also one of the reasons to avoid them (for him as well as other top players). I can certainly see why for the likes of Kramnik or Carlsen, playing with a bunch of 2400, 2500, or even low or mid-2600 players might hardly seem “fun”, but rather as very unchallenging and simply a waste of their time. As far as rating goes, it can actually be very beneficial – for example, Ivanchuk played Gibraltar last year and gained nearly 20 points. It this context, it’s interesting to note with regard to Kramnik himself that during 2011, his leap from 2785 to 2800 was achieved mainly due to butchering sub-2700 players (a score of +9 =2, leading to a gain of 26 points; in comparison, against 2700-2749 players he scored +7 -2 =20, leading to a gain of 1 point, and against +2750 players he scored +2 -4 =15, leading to a loss of 12 points; see http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=52948&kpage=2537#reply66318 for the statistics of some other top players).