The Chess Mind

Author: Dennis Monokroussos.
This is a blog for chess fans by a chess fan who is more than a chess fan - other topics do creep in from time to time, per my interest.
All material here is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced without my prior permission.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

This Week's ChessBase Show: Anand-Kramnik recap, part 3
Last week, we made it through game five of the match, at which point Anand enjoyed a two point lead. That's where the lead is now (after game 10), but much has happened over the past five games. Anand won game 6 and pressed in game 7 as well, but then the tables started turning. Kramnik had some chances in game 8, was almost winning in game 9, and then broke through in game 10.

How has this happened? We'll look at the games' critical moments, discuss the psychological and preparation aspects, and reflect on where the match is now - assuming it's still going by the time the show starts. We convene at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night, and the show is free for Playchess members. Log on, go to the Broadcast Room, look for "Anand-Kramnik recap" under the Games tab, and enjoy the show!
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on Tuesday October 28, 2008 at 11:13pm. 0 Comments 0 Trackbacks

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

This Week's ChessBase Show: Anand-Kramnik recap, part 2
The past few days have seen Anand experience what has probably been the highest point of his professional chess career - and the lowest point of Kramnik's. With wins in games 3, 5 and 6 Anand has not just taken the lead in the match, he's all but won the match and retained his title. How did this happen? We'll take a closer look at some of the key moments from these games in our ChessBase show for this week, including Anand's important novelties, the tough battling that always ensued, and those dramatic loci where the games were decided.

All you need to do is log on to the Playchess.com server at 9 p.m. ET. The show is free; just go to the Broadcasts room, find and select "Anand-Kramnik recap" under the Games tab, watch and enjoy. Hope to see you then.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

This Week's ChessBase Show: Anand-Kramnik recap, part 1
With the chess world all abuzz with the world championship match between title-holder Viswanathan Anand and his challenger, the previous champion, Vladimir Kramnik, I think it makes the most sense to go where the action is. So starting tonight and continuing through the end of the match, our show will recap the Anand-Kramnik games played over the past week. We’ll have the chance to take a closer look at some key moments while simultaneously taking stock of the bigger picture. And it will be a chance to express both our joy and frustration at what these two legends of the game are up to.

Please join me tonight at 9 p.m. ET for our first show, covering the first two games – the show is live, free, and only requires showing up in the broadcast room, selecting the games tab and clicking on the game “Anand-Kramnik recap”. I look forward to seeing you then.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

This Week's ChessBase Show: Anand-Macieja, Bundesliga 2006
Last week Kramnik, this week Anand, as we draw near the start of their world chess championship match in Bonn, Germany. Viswanathan Anand, the current world champion, has played so many beautiful games over the years that choosing just one for the show is a difficult task. Fortunately, Anand himself came to the rescue, calling attention on his second DVD to a comparatively unknown, recent game.

As I've noted more than once on my blog, the German Bundesliga features some of the best chess almost no one sees, because the games are spread out over many months and they tend to receive rather sporadic live coverage. Many great games fail to receive the widespread publicity they deserve, and Anand's win over Polish GM Bartlomiej Macieja is case in point.

The game features a Classical Caro-Kann with the players castling on opposite wings, and as is well known that's a prescription for attacking chess. So it was here, too, but Anand did a lot more of it than his opponent! All the same, the game was extremely interesting and close, and Macieja committed but a single error. Anand's attacking conception was outstanding, and the behind-the-scenes variations make the game even more memorable.

I do hope, therefore, to see all of you tonight at 9 p.m. ET on the Playchess.com server. To watch the show, log on to the server, enter the Broadcasts room, select the Games tab and double-click on the Anand-Macieja game; after that, just sit back and enjoy!
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on Wednesday October 8, 2008 at 3:10am. 1 Comments 0 Trackbacks

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

This Week's ChessBase Show: Kramnik-Kasparov, London 2000
With the Anand-Kramnik World Chess Championship match coming up later this month, it's time to start whetting our appetites with a look back at some of their career highlights. This week, we'll start with a look at a game that was instrumental in bringing Vladimir Kramnik to the title, his second win over the then-defending champion Garry Kasparov.

It was game 10 of 16, and although Kramnik led by a game it was a precarious lead. Kramnik had won game 2, but after missing wins in games 4 and 6 and narrowly escaping defeat in game 8, the tide was turning in Kasparov's favor. At this point, the match looked like it might be decided by the next win. If Kramnik could win, then a two-point margin with six games to go would be awfully hard to overcome, while a Kasparov win would put him in the lead, thanks to the champion's draw odds, while showing that Kasparov could take Kramnik's best punch and beat him anyway.

The game proved fascinating and extremely unusual. For one thing, the two players, almost always superlatively well prepared, were groping about at a surprisingly early stage of the game. For another, Kramnik chose a line that violated his unofficial "queen swap" policy for the match. Indeed, rather than trying to grind his opponent down in a queenless middlegame, Kramnik played aggressively - and it paid off.

The whys and wherefores of this Karpov variation Nimzo-Indian will be revealed tonight (Wednesday night) at 9 p.m. ET. It's an interesting game in its own right, but its value is enhanced by the historical and psychological factors surrounding it, too. And there's even a bit of scandal involved, too, so good reasons to tune in tonight abound (especially since the show is free). To watch, log on to the Playchess server, go to the Broadcasts room, find and double-click "Kramnik-Kasparov" under the games tab when we start, and then sit back and enjoy. (Further details, if necessary, here.)
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on Wednesday October 1, 2008 at 2:33am. 0 Comments 0 Trackbacks
Accessing my ChessBase Shows

Every Wednesday night, I present a live show on ChessBase's playchess.com server, and once the show is over it is uploaded into the server's archives. In this entry I'll explain how to access both live and archived shows.