The Daily Update: European Club Cup, Day 1; Sao Paulo/Bilbao Pairings (And An Interesting Rumor)
Monday, September 26, 2011 at 12:00AM While I don't have time to cover it, I'd be remiss not to remind everyone that the European Club Cup got underway Sunday. Whether or not you're interested in it as a club competition, it's hard for a chess fan not to notice an event with 2700s participating. Some of them were nicked for draws in round 1, but I didn't notice any grand upsets. Anyway, if any of you notice any games that look like compelling, must-see chess, please let us know!
Meanwhile, in Sao Paulo/Bilbao, we have the first round pairings for this double round-robin event:
- Hikaru Nakamura - Vassily Ivanchuk
- Viswanathan Anand - Magnus Carlsen
- Levon Aronian - Francisco Vallejo
The games start Monday (as in today or tomorrow, depending on your time zone) at 8 p.m. CET/2 p.m. ET.
And now, rumor time. Emphasis on rumor: the information is at least three people away from an original source, so cum grano salis and caveat lector. It is...that Nakamura is working with Garry Kasparov. If true, I'll repeat what I said when it came out a few years ago that Carlsen was working with Kasparov: it's good news for Nakamura and his fans, and very bad news for his competitors. Will they manage to make it work? (Assuming they are working together!) Time will tell - it's not hard to imagine some massive ego clashes - but if they can I think it will be great for Nakamura. Kasparov's discipline and deep researches nicely complement Nakamura's talent and fighting spirit. My prediction is that if the story proves true and they make it work, the American will reach 2800 within a year.
Reader Comments (8)
"Must-see games" is a big term, but two unbalanced encounters from round 1 struck my attention:
Giri - FM Bawart (2417) 1/2 - Giri had to give perpetual check a piece down (did he see it in advance?)
Pijpers (2313) - Shirov 0-1 - a wild French with 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qg7: Rg8 etc. . I thought Shirov was in trouble when he lost or sacrificed his queen, but then he won quickly and, so it seems in hindsight, convincingly.
Okay... I aware of this rumor since December 2010 - that is to say right before Tata which Nakamura won.
Nakamura - Ivanchuk 1 - 0
Anand - Carlsen 1/2 - 1/2
Aronian - Vallejo 1 - 0
I'd be very surprised if the rumor were true, but if it is, it could well be Nakamura's ticket to 2800 in short order.
I can't belive that Kasparov chose to do such a dubious move...
Suppose this article starts the partnership. "Any truth to the rumors that you guys are working together?"
"None whatsoever," Nakamura says. "Nyet," Kasparov says.
Then they both think it over, and decide to start one. Meanwhile no one asks them anymore questions and the rumor dies out.
To supplement what Daniel wrote, note that Hikaru met GK on Nov. 29: entry in Hikaru's Blog.
[DM: I also note that Kasparov was in Brazil, though with the wonders of Skype geographical proximity is not necessary (nor is it sufficient) to indicate a working relationship.]
FYI, check out the description by ChessBase of one of the annotated games in CBM 144:
"For this ChessBase Magazine the serial victor of Dortmund has chosen to annotate his win against Hikaru Nakamura. The American went into a theoretical duel in the Nimzo-Indian and chose an unfashionable variation with 8.Qb3. However, Kramnik points out in his analysis that in his day Kasparov championed this move. And especially since Kramnik knew that Nakamura had been working with Kasparov recently, he would probably not have been all that surprised at the choice."
http://www.chessbase-shop.com/en/products/6079
[DM: Thanks. I've received various confirmations since my post (mostly in private), but this is the first one from a publicly accessible source.]