Carlsen on His Win vs. Nakamura

HT: ChessVibes

This Week's ChessVideos Show: The Quick Ruy, Part 5: Berlin Sidelines (Part 1)

After a few weeks off, we're returning to our possibly never-evening series on the Ruy Lopez. First we looked at Black's rare 3rd move alternatives, then covered the Schliemann, and now it's time to start on the Berlin. Before we get to the "Wall" endgame, there are the sidelines to consider. The Wall starts after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 (the official start of the Berlin) 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8. The lines with 5.Re1 and 5.Qe2 will be covered next week; this time, I at least tried to cover everything important after 3...Nf6 through White's 8th move alternatives (or in this particular case, alternative).

The show is here, and per usual it's available on-demand, free of charge for the next month or so (free registration required).

Sigeman, Round 3: Three Draws

Tikkanen-So was a pretty easy draw for Black, but in the other games the weaker side had to suffer before sharing the point. Shirov enjoyed some edge against Giri with the Bishop's Opening, but couldn't make anything of an extra pawn. Finally, Grandelius-Hector was a complicated game that eventually reached an ending where White had a rook and f-pawn against bishop, knight and h-pawn. It seemed that Black should win, but if there was a win Hector couldn't find it, and after 101 moves Grandelius could finally call it a day.

With two rounds to go So, Giri and Tikkanen lead with 2/3, half a point ahead of Shirov.

Bazna, Round 1: Carlsen, Ivanchuk Win

The first round of the 5th King's Tournament got off to a very good start with two wins in the three games. Perhaps the start of the start wasn't so great, as Nisipeanu-Karjakin was a quick draw that may have been in both players' computers years ago. The other two games were much more exciting.

Ivanchuk-Radjabov was an Averbakh King's Indian with the rare 9.Bf3. Radjabov didn't seem very comfortable in the Maroczy Bind middlegame that ensued, and may have just missed Ivanchuk's 16.f5. Radjabov was forced to play the unpleasant 16...gxf5, but with weak pawns everywhere and a vulnerable king Ivanchuk had everything his way the rest of the game, and won.

Carlsen-Nakamura was a pairing most fans wanted to see, and they got it in the very first round. After 1.d4 Nakamura didn't go for either the Dutch or the King's Indian but opted for the solid Queen's Gambit Declined. It didn't stay solid, though, as Carlsen chose a plan with queenside castling while Nakamura played ...b5 and castled short. (In earlier games in that variation, Black had generally chosen to castle long as well, with a more technical position.) Unfortunately for Nakamura, White's attack was always faster, and while Black could have limited White's advantage at several moments Carlsen had the better of it from move 19 on. After mistakes on moves 26 and 28, White was able to break through, and Carlsen won on move 38 (possibly on time).

Carlsen and Ivanchuk are tied for the early lead, and for Live Top List fans the win will put Carlsen back at #1, ahead of Anand.

Tomorrow's pairings: Radjabov - Karjakin, Nakamura - Nisipeanu, Ivanchuk - Carlsen.

Today's games, with my notes, are here.

KC-Conference with Levon Aronian: Part 1

Over on Crestbook, rendered in English by Chess in Translation, is part one of a long series of questions and answers with world #3 and recent Candidate Levon Aronian. Many of his answers are jests, but not all are, and whether he's playing it straight or answering with tongue in cheek the session is consistently entertaining. Definitely worth a look.

Sigeman, Round 1 & 2: Lots of Wins

The Candidates' matches these ain't. There have been four wins in six games, two per round, and the two draws were extremely hard-fought as well. Top seed Alexei Shirov started with a win over Jonny Hector but then lost to Wesley So, who with Anish Giri and Hans Tikkannen leads with 1.5/2. Hector has half a point, and Nils Grandelius has the same total he started with.

Tournament site here.

Anand Interview: Part 1

Part 1 of a long, light-hearted video interview (with an ad break in the middle that hopefully won't start a trend) with world champ Viswanathan Anand can be found here.

5th King's Tournament (Bazna) Starts Saturday

("Officially", it starts on Friday, but play starts on Saturday.) The 5th King's Tournament, which takes place in Medias, Romania, is a double round-robin with the following very strong lineup:

• Magnus Carlsen (2815)
• Vassily Ivanchuk (2780)
• Hikaru Nakamura (2777)
• Sergey Karjakin (2776)
• Teimour Radjabov (2746)
• Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2656)

Will Carlsen confirm his place at #1? Will the streaky Ivanchuk offer more confirmation of the "genius" label sometimes applied to him? Will Nakamura be able to build on his success in Wijk aan Zee? Will Karjakin's steady progress under the tutelage of Kasparov's former trainer Dokhoian continue in this big venue? Radjabov may have his chances too, based on the work he did and practice he got at the Candidates. Nisipeanu is clearly an outsider, but he has been over 2700 and has the potential advantage of playing on his home turf.

Your predictions?

Sigeman & Co. Starts Tomorrow

It's a Short Swedish tournament starring Shirov, starting soon (tomorrow). There are only six players in this round-robin: Alexei Shirov, Anish Giri, Wesley So and Swedish GMs Jonny Hector, Nils Grandelius and Hans Tikkanen. There won't be any rest days, so they will finish on Monday.

Event site here.

Nakamura in the News

Here's an interesting article about American #1 Hikaru Nakamura from a local St. Louis newspaper. While it's in the "civilian" press, there's news for serious chess fans, too. For instance, did you know that he was invited to be on a national late night talk show in 2009, but refused to appear? Have a look to see why.

HT: Brian Karen