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    Wednesday
    Nov272013

    World Team Championship, USA Beats Russia 3-1 In Round 2

    It seems that there are three things you can count on in life: death, taxes, and the Russians underperforming in team events. The Russians drew with Armenia in round 1, which was only a mild upset (and admittedly a better result than the U.S.'s 2.5-1.5 loss to Ukraine), but they were dispatched by the Americans 3-1 in round 2. Hikaru Nakamura defeated Vladimir Kramnik in what one would normally think of as a Kramnik-like performance, and for dessert leapfrogged Kramnik into third place on the live rating list. The other victory came from Ray Robson, who took advantage of Nikita Vitiugov's losing the thread in a very sharp Slav Marshall Gambit. Here's a quick look at both games.

    Overall, Germany and Azerbaijan lead the World Team Championship with 4 match points (i.e. 2-0 scores in their matches) and 5.5 board points; Ukraine has 4 match points and 5 board points to sit in third. It's a ten team round-robin though, so the current standings aren't too important just yet.

    Tuesday
    Nov262013

    World Team Championship Underway: Pairings Include Russia-Armenia and USA-Ukraine

    Ten teams are playing in this round-robin event, in Antalya, Turkey. In the order given on this page (the official page seems to be inaccessible at the moment), they are Armenia, Russia, the USA, China, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Turkey, Germany, Azerbaijan and Egypt. I don't know the full first round pairings, but do know that in addition to the matches listed in the title there's also China vs. the Netherlands.

    Games of particular interest: Kramnik-Aronian (a Botvinnik System game(!) with Kramnik pressing, though a draw remains the likeliest result) and Ivanchuk-Nakamura (a Spanish Four Knights by transposition from a Berlin).

    Monday
    Nov252013

    A Short Carlsen Interview

    There will doubtless be dozens of Magnus Carlsen videos in the aftermath of his world championship victory over Viswanathan Anand, and many will be more in-depth than this one. This one's not so bad for a short one, and he gave an interesting and quite direct reply when asked if he expected that the match would be such a one-sided affair.

    Sunday
    Nov242013

    A Second Post On The Second Edition Of Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual

    Yesterday I wrote up a sort of micro-review of the second edition of Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual, noting that I had written a full review on a now-defunct version of my blog. Happily, Freddie Jones pointed me to my old review on the Internet Wayback Machine (many thanks!), and here it is:

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    Mark Dvoretsky, Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual (Russell Enterprises, 2008). 419 pp. $34.95. Reviewed by Dennis Monokroussos.

    Long-time readers of this blog will know that I'm a big fan of Mark Dvoretsky's work, and his latest book is no exception. This new work is not a unified monograph but a compilation of articles, some (but not all) of which have been published on the Chess Cafe - see his "The Instructor" columns. Not all of those columns are included, and those that have been have been re-checked and edited in some ways. Two useful features of the new edit: First, the positions to solve are awarded a certain number of stars to indicate the difficulty (1 star for the easiest positions, 5 for those that would cause Rybka to give up chess for something easy like nuclear physics). Second, the formatting of problems is better (though still not perfect). In the original Chess Cafe columns, it's often almost impossible to avoid seeing the answer, which is often given right alongside the diagram; here, it's below the diagram, making it possible to safely cover the answer in advance.

    Those columns will give you a very good taste for what you'll find here, but a few synthetic comments are in order. A major element of Dvoretsky's chess philosophy is that a chess improvement comes through the development of one's analytical skill. That's precisely what this book is good for: there are analysis exercises of tremendous depth for the serious, strong student. The book is designed to be used with a trainer or a sparring partner within 100 points of one's own rating, but in a pinch one can go through the exercises solitaire-chess style.

    That's what the book is; what it is not is a sort of middlegame companion piece to the earlier Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual. That work goes beyond the standard endgame textbook, but it is organized as a textbook and can be used in that way. Here, in the Analytical Manual, there isn't a corresponding principle of organization or unity.

    Part 1, "Immersion in the Position", focuses on exercises where accurate calculation of variations is the primary task.

    Part 2, "Analyzing the Endgame", is just what it sounds like. The reader doesn't get a discussion of topics like schematic thinking or the do-not-hurry principle, but is invited to calculate and analyze. (Example: there are 11 large, dense pages on the famous knight vs. bishop ending from game 9 of the first Karpov-Kasparov match.)

    Part 3, "Games for Training Purposes", doesn't really differ from the material in the first two parts, except that the analysis continues for a whole game rather than a fragment.

    In part 4, "Practical Psychology", the tone changes. Here there's an explicit acknowledgment of our inability to always get to the absolute bottom of things; sometimes our analyses must be supplemented by a psychologically informed intuition. Dvoretsky singles out three components of the psychological factor in chess, in descending order of importance: one's own psychology, the psychology of the "abstract opponent", and the character and playing style of our particular (non-abstract) opponent.

    Finally, there's part 5, "Lasker the Great", which celebrates Lasker not as some sort of psychologist who focused on and exploiting his opponent's concrete weaknesses - Dvoretsky consider this a myth - but as a powerful fighter. Dvoretsky takes a close look at seven Lasker games (including a whopping 28 pages on his famous draw with Edward Lasker from New York 1924); four of them wins, but a loss and two draws as well.

    In every game and fragment there are many places where Dvoretsky stops and challenges the reader to find the next move or moves. As you'll have gathered by now, these exercises are somewhere between challenging and impossible, so the question arises: who should buy this book? I like his answer, which I will now quote at length:


    The materials which in the course of my entire career as a trainer I have squirreled away and prepared for study (and later, used in books), have been aimed at youthful talents, who have already achieved a certain level of mastery, or else for young and ambitious grandmasters. A few reviewers have upbraided me for the excessive complexity of my books, and their inaccessibility to the common amateur. There is no more sense in such complaints than there would be in upbraiding the author of a beginners' primer for not making a book interesting for masters and grandmasters. Every book has its intended audience; it is not possible to make them interesting and useful for everybody at once.

    ...The book which lies before you is aimed first of all at helping strong players complete themselves. This ensures that it will overflow with exceptionally complex analyses and exercises which will be difficult for even the leading grandmasters to handle. But I suggest that even amateur players will find something of interest in it. How can it not be interesting to peek - perhaps not as an owner, but at least as a guest - into the world of high-level chess, to see with one's own eyes what sort of problems chess "pros" have to wrestle with (successfully or not), and how far from being complete even their play is? The many exercises presented in this book differ greatly from one another in their level of difficulty: some are fairly simple and accessible. It makes sense to take a stab at solving the tougher exercises, too; then later, once you have seen the answer, you will have a better grasp of your own abilities, strengths and weaknesses. And finally: the analyses presented in this book include a multitude of most impressive passages, unusual and spectacular moves and combinations - and chessplayers of almost any grade can certainly find enjoyment in beauty. [From the Introduction, page 7.]



    I agree with his reasoning, but fear that most buyers will look upon it as a holy book, and will take the equivalent of a sacred oath or a New Year's resolution to go through the work as their next step on the path to chess greatness. This "holy" book will then find its way to the blessed bookshelf, to be covered by sacramental dust.... The problem is that with such deep analysis, one doesn't want to look at the games superficially. But then to do it right takes hours, and for that one needs time and energy, and Hey - look at the cute bunny rabbit in the back yard! I wonder what's on TV tonight. See you tomorrow, Mr. Mark, when I've got more free time and am feeling perkier.

    Anyway, it's your money, and you'll be hard pressed to find a higher quality chess book than this one. Whether that means you should purchase this book is up to you. I hope that even if you're not part of the primary intended audience for the book, you'll give it a look anyway for the reasons he suggested. As long as you don't get caught up in the attitude described in the previous paragraph, I think you can enjoy the book quite a lot.

     

    Saturday
    Nov232013

    Notre Dame 23, BYU 13

    Back on the right track. The regular season concludes next week with a big road game against the Stanford Cardinal. Win that one and the season can be counted a good one, despite the unnecessary loss a couple of weeks ago. Season record: 8-3.

    Maestro, strike up the band!

    Saturday
    Nov232013

    Book Notice: Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual, 2nd Ed.

    I reviewed the first edition of Mark Dvoretsky's eponymous Dvoretsky's Analytical Manual when it first came out in 2008 (and I can't believe it came out five years ago!); unfortunately, the blog where I reviewed it is now defunct. Rather than write another full-scale review, I'll offer a very brief description of what the book is about and who it's for. For those of you who are already familiar with the first edition, you need not read beyond this sentence: there are no new articles in the book; only human- and computer-based revisions to the analysis.

    The book is a series of 33 stand-alone chapters in five parts, and all of them present games and game fragments with analysis-rich positions. All phases of the game are well represented in this tome with 424 large pages. The material is extremely challenging even by Dvoretsky's standards, and is most suitable for masters and up, though seriously ambitious players a bit below that might want to give it a shot. For such players, the book is highly recommended.

    More info here.

    Saturday
    Nov232013

    Book Notice: Lowinger On The 3...Qd8 Scandinavian

    USCF master Daniel Lowinger has written a book on the 3...Qd8 Scandinavian, and makes a case that it's better than its reputation. 3...Qd6 and 3...Qa5 are more common and score better than the counter-intuitive retreat to d8, but players like GM Nikola Djukic have shown that the latter is viable even in high-level chess.

    Lowinger is an enthusiastic advocate for the variation, which he has played many times, and players looking for something to play against 1.e4 that doesn't require a great deal of preparation may find this book useful. I can't see myself playing it and wouldn't normally recommend it to my students, but I think players who use the other variations of the Scandinavian might consider it for variety. Additionally, some Caro-Kann players might consider it as well, as it is structurally in the same family. (Indeed, after 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 c6 (he recommends 4...Nf6, but ...c6 often comes soon thereafter) White could transpose to a Classical Caro-Kann with 5.Ne4. The point isn't that he should, but to show the close family resemblance between the two openings.)

    The book's full title is The 3...Qd8 Scandinavian: Simple and Strong, and more information about it is available here.

    Saturday
    Nov232013

    Notre Dame to Cage the Cougars

    With a bit less enthusiasm after Notre Dame's epic fail a couple of weeks ago against Pitt, we will soldier on and predict their landslide victory today over the BYU Cougars. The demolition starts in about 30 minutes, and will be televised on NBC. (Reading material here.)

    Friday
    Nov222013

    World Championship, Game 10: Carlsen Becomes World Champion After A Long Draw

    Magnus Carlsen is the new world chess champion, achieving this final landmark eight days shy of his 23rd birthday. With a 6-3 lead coming into game 10 he only needed a draw to win the best-of-12 match against (now former world champion) Viswanathan Anand, and he succeeded.

    Some thought Anand would be amenable to a short draw, but to his credit he played a full game. He tried to liven things up with a Sicilian (no Berlin, to the relief of many spectators), but Carlsen kept the position quiet and controlled, and at one moment had good winning chances. Anand's 28...Qg5 was a serious error, but after 29.e5 Ne8 Carlsen let him off the hook with 30.exd6; instead, something like 30.Nc3 Rc6 31.f4 Qd8 32.Na4 would have left Anand with an absolutely miserable position and probably still another loss.

    After the exchange of errors Carlsen maintained a slight pull, but used it to swap almost everything off and reach a drawn knight ending. It turned into a queen ending that was drawn as well, and when (almost) all the pieces came off after 65 moves the players finally called it a day. (The game, with my brief comments, can be replayed here.)

    Carlsen has now reached the summit, becoming the second-youngest world champion in history (Garry Kasparov was a younger 22-year-old when he won the title; third-oldest if one counts Ruslan Ponomariov's FIDE knockout championship win in 2002 when he was 18 years old). He is already the highest-rated player of all time, so what's left? Hopefully he can remain motivated to keep improving, and for that matter hopefully the chase pack will close on him to help force him to keep getting better.

    For the almost 44-year-old Anand, it remains to be seen if he will put in the time and energy it will take to successfully fight in the next Candidates tournament this coming March. Will he start to fade, becoming just one of the super-GMs, or does he have the ambition to regain his title? We'll get a first glimpse of his form and ambition next month, as he is among the participants in the next edition of the London Chess Classic.

    In the meantime, congratulations to Magnus Carlsen!

    Friday
    Nov222013

    Viswanathan Anand Qualifies For The Candidates; Carlsen Fails To Do So

    With his performance against Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand qualified for the 2014 Candidates tournament, set for next March in balmy Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. He will be joined by Vladimir Kramnik and Dmitry Andreikin (World Cup qualifiers), Veselin Topalov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Grand Prix qualifiers), Levon Aronian and Sergey Karjakin (qualified by rating) and Peter Svidler (organizer's wild card pick).

    Carlsen will have to wait until next November for his earliest chance to qualify for the next Candidates event.