Thessaloniki Grand Prix, Round 1

The Grand Prix tournament in Thessaloniki got off to a good and lively start today, with three decisive games out of six and only one draw that so much as remotely resembled a non-event.

In fact, the quickest game was Peter Svidler's 27-move win over last-second sub Etienne Bacrot. Bacrot was only a little worse until 21...Ba3, and he could still fight until his 23rd move, ...Bc8?, which allowed Svidler to maintain the "blind pigs" on the 7th rank. Then it was just over.

The other two decisive games featured the participants from the U.S.A. Gata Kamsky had an advantage against Leinier Dominguez all game long, but putting his opponent away was another story. Had Dominguez played 44...Kd7 he would have kept chances to survive; instead, he committed a gross blunder with 44...Rxh4??, losing a piece to the simple tactic 45.Rxd6+ (45...exd6 46.Bf6+ and 47.Bxh4). My view is that if you're in Dominguez' situation, you just laugh, acknowledge your fallibility and forget about it.

The other U.S. participant, Hikaru Nakamura, lost what looks like a textbook-ready endgame to Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Kasimdzhanov won a pawn and reached a good knight vs. relatively ineffectual bishop ending after 43 moves, and skillfully used all his assets to break in with the knight. Black could have played on quite a while longer, but with the h-pawn dropping White's win is routine.

The other three games - Ponomariov-Caruana, Ivanchuk-Morozevich, and Topalov-Grischuk - were all drawn.

Round 2 Pairings:

• Grischuk - Nakamura
• Bacrot - Kasimdzhanov
• Morozevich - Svidler
• Caruana - Ivanchuk
• Dominguez - Ponomariov
• Topalov - Kamsky

Lothar Schmid: 1928-2013

Lothar Schmid is largely unknown to contemporary chess fans, and indeed was never among the world's elite. Nevertheless, he was a notable figure in the game, as in addition to achieving the grandmaster title in over-the-board play, he achieved it in correspondence chess as well. He was also a prominent arbiter, most notably overseeing the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match. Finally, he was also an incredible collector, owning more than 50,000 chess books.

For more on his life and career, try here and here.

Malcolm Pein on Cheating

A good, short essay here.

The Fourth Grand Prix Event of the 2012-13 Series Begins Today in Thessaloniki, Greece

Greece in the spring - sure beats Khanty-Mansyisk in the winter! The happy Grand Prix participants begin their super-strong tournament in Thessaloniki today, and here are the round 1 pairings:

• Veselin Topalov - Alexander Grischuk
• Gata Kamsky - Leinier Dominguez
• Ruslan Ponomariov - Fabiano Caruana
• Vassily Ivanchuk - Alexander Morozevich
• Peter Svidler - Etienne Bacrot (Bacrot was a late substitute for Teimour Radjabov, who withdrew due to undisclosed personal reasons)
• Rustam Kasimdzhanov - Hikaru Nakamura

Informant 116: A Short Review

It looks like the recent flurry of changes to the Informant have stopped for now, as the general structure of Informant 116 is essentially the same as that of Informant 115, which in turn followed the model from Informant 114. Following the links (just given) to my reviews of those periodicals may give a fuller picture of what these volumes contain; here I'll just offer some specifics about this particular volume and reiterate my usual conclusion.

The current issue covers a five month period, from September 2012 through January of this year, and its essential core consists of 203 high-level, deeply annotated games (or game fragments - but partial games are comparatively few) from that time frame. The games are annotated using their rich symbol set, but without language. One of the major changes the past few years is that a large section of every Informant includes a considerable amount of content (in this case, roughly 120 pages) with English-language commentary and annotation. I'll elaborate on that in what follows.

First, this issue sees the fourth installment of "Garry's Choice", in which he deeply annotates a game of his choosing in the Informant's time frame. Here he chooses an English Attack Najdorf, not only taking a careful look at the main game but also making reference to some of his games in that line and with relevantly similar motifs. As the games to which he makes reference are also included after the main game, with their original (languageless) annotations, it makes for a nice all-around lesson.

Next up is Mihail Marin's "Old Wine in New Bottles", in which he considers exchange sacrifices to remove outposts. An obvious concept, you might say, and in many cases you'd be right. That it's not always quite as simple as following the textbook recipe is seen in the final game of his article, in which Marin himself failed to defeat a "World Champion" (his term!) - Ponomariov - by forsaking such an opportunity. Twice! His closing words are instructive: "I come to the conclusion that sometimes knowing the classic examples is not enough: you have to remember them at the right moment, even in the most severe time trouble". Very true, but as it's not given to us to know before the start of a chess game what we need to remember (aside from opening preparation), it's worthwhile every now and then to review even those themes we think we've mastered, so that we'll have access to them when it really matters.

After this come annotated games by Dmitry Jakovenko, Sergei Rublevsky and Ernesto Inarkiev. All three have been over 2700, and all three are currently over or near that lofty mark.

Fourth is "One Country", which includes a game apiece from four players from the same country - Greece, in this case.

The fifth section, "CI Labs", has eight theoretical articles, covering the following opening lines: the Sveshnikov Sicilian (the 5...e5 one, not 2.c3), the Fianchetto Variation vs. the Taimanov Sicilian, the line 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.h3 vs. the Najdorf Sicilian, the Scotch Four Knights, the Steinitz Deferred (Ruy Lopez), Morozevich's 11...g5 in the Slav with 6...Nbd7, the Petrosian Variation against the Queen's Indian and the Classical Nimzo-Indian line 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6.

"Rising Stars" showcases Dariusz Swiercz, who has the odd and impressive distinction of having first won the main World Junior Championship in 2011 (open to players under 20 years of age) and then coming back in 2012 to win the Under-18 championship! First he is profiled, and then he annotates two of his games.

Finally, in what I assume is primarily an advertising arrangement, a column from the British Chess Magazine is also included. This issue's installment sees David Howell annotating Kramnik-Jones from London 2012.

The other usual sections are included (combinations, excellent moves, endgames, studies, etc.), and the star of this issue's "mini-Informant" is Etienne Bacrot.

That's what's there, and as usual I'm happy to recommend the volume. Even with the increasingly large sections including English text, it remains a periodical aimed at and most useful for stronger players - at least 1800-1900, in my opinion. If you're a reasonably ambitious player at or above that rating, it may not be an absolute must, but it is a good buy and worth your time - if you're not already swamped by all the other fine chess periodicals out there!

Norway Chess Finale: Karjakin Wins; Carlsen and Nakamura Tie for Second

There was some drama in the last round of the Norway Chess supertournament, but it was a little surprising that it mostly came from the victor, Sergey Karjakin, rather than his main rivals. Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand were half a point behind, and with Karjakin having the white pieces against Veselin Topalov it seemed they needed to win to have a chance.

Carlsen had Black against Levon Aronian, and never came close to getting anything. He equalized with no problem in a Queen's Gambit Declined, but the opening is so solid that even once Carlsen obtained a token edge Aronian didn't have much difficulty steering the ship to the drawing harbor after trading almost all the pieces.

Anand, by contrast, not only didn't come close to winning; he even lost against the resurgent Wang Hao. Like Carlsen, Anand came out of the opening (an unusual Symmetrical English) in fine shape with the black pieces. That was the good news, but from 17 on it was all bad news. If Anand had traded queens he would have kept equality; instead, 14...Bxa2? 15.Qa4! got him in trouble, and then 16...Rfd8 sealed his fate. Perhaps Anand missed Wang Hao's 16th and 17th moves, or maybe the oversight had to do with something that happened later in the sharp tactical sequence that followed. Whatever the case, Wang Hao finished with a material advantage, and in the end Black had no hopes of a fortress against White's powerful queen.

Radjabov-Svidler was a short draw, preventing Svidler from catching up to Carlsen, but Hikaru Nakamura did catch Carlsen by defeating Jon Ludwig Hammer. Hammer has gone after his opponents in this tournament, not just trying to draw or even win but to win by landing haymakers - knockout shots. So it was here too, as Hammer went all-out on the white side of a Noteboom, shoving pawns in the center and going for a kingside attack as his queenside collapsed. It looked a little scary and made for a great show for the spectators, but Nakamura had everything well-calculated. Had Hammer not resigned when he did, on move 34, he would soon have found himself down a queen and a rook and getting mated. Sometimes when you go for broke, you wind up broke!

That left Karjakin-Topalov. Karjakin was surprised not by the Najdorf, but by Topalov's choosing 7...Qc7 (after 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4) for the first time in his career. He handled things a bit unsurely, and after 16.Nd5 (16.Na5 was better) Black enjoyed an edge. There were no big swings through the time control, with neither player being more than slightly better, and the position was so difficult to play that inaccuracies were easy to make. I don't know if Karjakin was playing for a win or just to hang on, but it's clear that Topalov was pushing, whether or not he was objectively better. Topalov's 45...Rbb5? changed that, however, as 46.Qc2 left White clearly better. (Topalov may have missed that on 46...Rb3 47.Nd2 Rcxc3 White has 48.Rc4+, winning. Even if he throws in 47...Bxd2 48.Rxd2 and only then plays 48...Rcxc3, 49.Rc4+ is very strong here as well.) In the end Karjakin repeated moves from a position of strength, preferring guaranteed tournament victory to the chance for a few more rating points. (It would have pushed him to #4 in the world, but he can pursue an additional 3.8 rating points another day.)

Congratulations to the victor, Sergey Karjakin! I'm reminded that showcase events don't always turn out as the organizers planned. 100 years ago a double round-robin tournament was organized in Havana, Cuba, but hometown hero Jose Raul Capablanca finished second, half a point behind Frank Marshall - thanks in good part to losing a game to him in the second cycle. 50 years ago the First Piatigorsky Cup was organized in part for Bobby Fischer's benefit; he didn't show up. Three years later he did play in the Second Piatigorsky Cup, only to finish half a point behind Boris Spassky, who beat him in their game from the first cycle. And so it was here: Norway had their first super-tournament, and Magnus Carlsen finished half a point behind. (A consolation: his "great predecessors" went on to become world champions.) Here are the full standings:

1. Karjakin 6 (out of 9)
2-3. Carlsen, Nakamura 5.5
4-6. Svidler, Aronian, Anand 5
7. Wang Hao 4.5
8. Topalov 4 (one loss and eight draws!)
9. Radjabov 3 (losing 12 more rating points - he has dropped 60 points since the start of the Candidates!)
10. Hammer 1.5

Norway Chess, Round 8: Shades of London As Karjakin, Carlsen Both Lose

What a strange and exciting round at the Norway Chess tournament! After four rounds Sergey Karjakin was very close to being the runaway winner, and by round 6 it seemed that the contest was between him and Magnus Carlsen, with the other eight players relegated to a secondary tournament of their own. Not any more! Coming into round 8, the penultimate round, Karjakin had 5.5 points, Carlsen 5 and no one else had more than 4. At that point it seemed almost impossible that someone else could win the tournament, but now it seems well within the realm of possibility.

The first game to finish was the round's only draw. Topalov-Aronian was a Karpov Variation Nimzo-Indian that saw Topalov come up with a good new plan with 21.Be3 (rather than 21.Ba3, which had been played before) and then 23.a4 and 24.a5. This put a little pressure on Black, but Aronian's decision to sac a pawn for play enabled him to hold without undue difficulty.

The shortest decisive game in terms of moves was Nakamura-Radjabov, which was won by the American; the logical result, given the trend through the middlegame up to around move 33, but then strange things happened. The game grew increasingly wild, with Nakamura trying to give mate while Radjabov sought to crash through the center. Whether due to the complicated nature of the position or from an attempt to play on Radjabov's severe time pressure (or some mixture of the two) Nakamura started to err (34.Nf5! would have kept a winning, or very nearly winning advantage), and had Radjabov played 36...Bxc4 he would have been on top. When he played 38...Bxc4 two moves later, however, it was the wrong time, and Nakamura was winning again - this time for good.

Taking a few more moves but (I think) finishing slightly sooner than Nakamura-Radjabov was Anand-Hammer. The game was very messy early on, with even the world champion admitting that he was both at sea and missing various tactical possibilities. Nevertheless, he kept his head together, and while Hammer may have missed some small chances, Anand took advantage when a big one came his way. 20...Rd8 was a serious mistake, and 21.Nxf7! was a crusher. With the win, Anand got to 5 points, tying him with Carlsen's score before the round.

As it turned out, that was also Carlsen's score after the round. He lost to Wang Hao in the same way that he usually beats people: he keeps on playing, and then an equal position gradually turns into a slightly better position, which turns into a pawn up, which turns into a win. Carlsen flirted with an edge with the white pieces, but after 23 moves the position was simply equal. Here Carlsen played the double-edged 24.Nd6. It's a good move, and an ambitious one too, but the danger is that the knight is too committed, and can't get out. That's what ended up happening. Carlsen played 29.c5 to cement it, and after an inevitable ...Bxd6 cxd6 the pawn would likely drop, as it finally did on move 34. Even after losing the pawn, Carlsen probably should have drawn the ensuing rook ending. Wang Hao suggested that 52.f4 would have drawn, and the engine "claims" that 56.h5 would draw and that 64.Kf2 was White's last chance to defend. After 64.Kg2? d3, it was definitely over, thanks to the nice tactical trick that finished the game. Carlsen had missed and Wang Hao had foreseen the cute 79...g3+!, which wins the queen: 80.Kxg3 Qg1+ followed by 81...Qh1+ and 82...Qxh8.

This meant that Karjakin could have won the tournament with a win against Peter Svidler, or at least guaranteed himself a tie for first overall (with the guarantee of nothing worse than a blitz playoff in case someone caught him) with a draw. Svidler had prepared the line he chose with White for some time, but only spotted the idea with 9...d5 that morning. He was unhappy, as he felt that it killed the line, but as it hadn't been played he consoled himself that Karjakin wouldn't know it. Sure enough, Karjakin had found it too and played it, and had he followed up with 11...Nd6, Svidler felt he would have nothing, that Karjakin's approach would have killed the line for White.

11...Nxd2 was no disaster though, but it allowed Svidler to sharpen the position and soon obtain a serious advantage. Both sides made errors (Svidler's 20.Qh5? instead of 20.Qg4; Karjakin's 30...Qb6? rather than 30...dxc4 [Svidler's explanation is that Karjakin intended 30...Qb6 31.cxd5 Bd2, only to realize a move too late that 32.Re7 (or even 32.Bxh7+ Nxh7 33.Re7) wins on the spot.]), but the general flow was in Svidler's favor. When the time control was made Svidler only had two bishops for a rook and two pawns, but what bishops! Practically speaking, Karjakin's situation was extremely difficult, and the bishops finally swallowed him alive. Objectively, he could have held with 47...Ra8 or the bolder 47...Rc2, and a move later he still might have been able to save the game with 48...d3. (48...d3 49.Qg6 a3 50.Bxh6 Qe7 51.Bd2 Qxe6! 52.Bxc3 d2 53.Bxd2 a2 54.Bc3 a1Q 55.Bxa1 [what a rapacious bishop!] 55...Qe1+ 56.Kg2 Qxa1, with a likely draw.) It's one thing to work things out moving pieces or (especially) with an engine, but at the board Black's plight is nearly hopeless, and the decisive error was 48...a3. Svidler finished in style, the key move being 53.Kh3! (Without that, it may still be drawn.)

There's one round left, and for those of you want to see it live, be forewarned that it starts three hours earlier than usual. Here are the last round pairings (scores are in parentheses):

• Aronian (4.5) - Carlsen (5)
• Wang Hao (3.5) - Anand (5)
• Hammer (1.5) - Nakamura (4.5)
• Radjabov (2.5) - Svidler (4.5)
• Karjakin (5.5) - Topalov (3.5)

Just think: if Aronian draws or wins, Anand draws, Nakamura and Svidler win and Karjakin loses we can have a five-man blitz playoff! Half the field is still in the running for first place, with three players having an especially good shot at it. Still, Karjakin has the best chances, both because he leads and because he has White. Will he do it? We'll see starting in five hours.

Kasparov: How Chess Saves Lives

Here is a nice article by Garry Kasparov, extolling the virtue of chess as a way to aid education, especially in the developing world. Phiona Mutesi features prominently in the article, and hers is an inspirational story. Worth a read, especially if you haven't heard of her.

Other Events: Moiseenko Wins European Championship; Khotenashvili The Geneva Women's Grand Prix

The European Individual Chess Championship finished in a big tie for first, with Alexander Moiseenko, Evgeny Alekseev, Evgeny Romanov, Alexander Beliavsky, Constantin Lupulescu, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Sergei Movsesian, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexey Dreev and Hrant Melkumyan all finishing with 8/11. As usual, the title was awarded based on tiebreaks, and Moiseenko was declared the European Champion.

The Women's Grand Prix event in Geneva, Switzerland was a success for Bela Khotenashvili, who - like the European Championship winners - scored 8/11. Anna Muzychuk finished second, half a point behind, while Tatiana Kosintseva and Nana Dzagnidze were a further point behind. Former women's champion Hou Yifan beat Khotenashvili in their individual game, but otherwise had little to feel happy about, finishing tied for 8th-9th with just five points.

Karjakin Leads Norway Chess With Two Rounds Left; Carlsen Half a Point Behind

I've been letting the Norway Chess reports slide, as I've been trying to catch up on work while also moving along in the back-and-leg saga. About the latter: I had a second cortisone shot on Monday and started physical therapy today. Fun! The pain is more or less gone, but some numbness remains in my foot (and could last another six months to a year) and my body still has a lot of self-repair to do. Of course, it's also very important that I not just get through the current episode, but go on to do what I can to avoid suffering this same fate (or worse) next year, or the year after that, etc.

Back to chess. Between the last rest day, after round 3, and this one, four rounds have gone by. Sergey Karjakin was 3-0 while Magnus Carlsen was 3-for-3 as well - but three draws rather than three wins. Karjakin started the next block by defeating Levon Aronian - impressively, and with the black pieces to boot! - while Carlsen drew again. In round 5 they met, and with Karjakin having White and an eight-game winning streak (counting the blitz, and including a win there over Carlsen) it looked like a fantastic opportunity for him to practically put the tournament on ice.

Things started terrifically for Karjakin, and he obtained a significant edge against Carlsen's Breyer, winding up with an extra pawn. Around move 29 though, it started to fall apart. If Karjakin had played 29.Bb5, looking to round up the c-pawn, Carlsen would have been in trouble. Instead, 29.Bc2 looked to consolidate behind the e-pawn, but the main result was to give Black a free hand to develop his counterplay. After 36 moves Carlsen had regained his pawn and enjoyed some initiative, but the game was still up in the air. Unfortunately for Karjakin, he erred on moves 37 and 39 (and move 40 too, but by then it was already too late), and by the time he made the time control the game was as good as over.

The win brought Carlsen to within a point of Karjakin, and with a grind-'em-out victory over poor Teimour Radjabov (who was defeated by him in similar style in the penultimate round of the Candidates) he closed to within half a point. That wasn't such bad news for Karjakin though, as it meant he drew with Black against world champ Viswanathan Anand - and he did so only with great effort. That he held was both impressive and important, demonstrating both mental toughness and probably giving his confidence a boost.

He was able to build on that in round 7, defeating Hikaru Nakamura on the white side of a 6.Bg5 Najdorf. Carlsen remained "on" as well, defeating his countryman Jon Ludwig Hammer with Black. (About Hammer: he started the event 0-3, but drew with Black against Veselin Topalov in round 4 and beat Wang Hao in round 5. He lost in rounds 6 and 7 though.) Today (Thursday) was a rest day; the penultimate round starts Friday. Here are the pairings, with scores in parentheses:

• Carlsen (5) - Wang Hao (2.5)
• Topalov (3) - Aronian (4)
• Anand (4) - Hammer (1.5)
• Nakamura (3.5) - Radjabov (2.5)
• Svidler (3.5) - Karjakin (5.5)