Sunday
Aug172014
Shirov Loses to a 2200!
Sunday, August 17, 2014 at 6:45PM
When an amateur defeats a super-GM, it's not only a shocking story but also grounds for hope. Even the greatest players can be upset, and in the case of Florian Armbrust's first round win over Alexei Shirov, they can earn it! The point did not just drop in the winner's lap thanks to a simple blunder; no, he played very well and won a nice game. (Maybe even more impressively, it isn't as if Shirov was rusty or had been in bad form. He had been in excellent form in the Olympics, which just ended a few days ago.)
HT: Ross Hytnen
tagged Alexei Shirov, upsets
Reader Comments (6)
"it isn't as if Shirov was rusty or had been in bad form." He may well have been tired/rusty after the Olympiad, and form can be gone from one day to the other. Another example is Sam Shankland: "Excellent form" is an understatement for his Olympiad performance - in Riga, he drew and lost against 2200ish players, then he dropped out of the event.
There were other upsest as well:
Le Goff Damien (2250) - Erdos Viktor (2638) 1-0
Shankland Samuel L (2624) - Houska Jiri (2248) 0.5-0.5
Narva Mai (2205) - Miezis Normunds (2524)
and some more. Maybe exhaustion after the olympiad combined with the change of rhythm (from team play and stronger opponents to the open must wins) are factors.
[DM: What was the last result?]
Chess is such a complex game and a 2200's level of skill so great that I am surprised this doesn't happen more often.
It's a pretty interesting anti Sicilian, used by Tiviakov and Najer!
Well worth a punt.
Narva Mai (2205) - Miezis Normunds (2524) 1-0
Forgot the result here.
If you look at the board after move 16, with the white knight hemmed in on a4, the possibility of sacrificing it on h6 in the near future seems far-fetched. In fact, from moves 16 to 21, white puts everything else on hold while the knight makes its journey across the board.