http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/ en-us 2008-08-02T06:08+00:00 http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201988305.shtml When International Master Kenneth Regan takes a fancy to a position, he analyzes it deeply. Very deeply. But as you'll see from this abridged (yes, abridged) analysis of the pawn... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-02-02T21:02+00:00 Kenneth Regan takes a fancy to a position, he analyzes it deeply. Very deeply. But as you'll see from this abridged (yes, abridged) analysis of the pawn ending from Adams-Polgar (Corus, Round 12), he has a fine ability to explain what's going on as well - you'll see the trees and the forest,too. (Update: Tree lovers can download the unabridged version here.)

So thanks, Ken, for offering to share your analysis of the ending with us; readers, here it is.]]> http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201926890.shtml ... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-02-02T20:02+00:00 here.]]> http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201926053.shtml A little late, you say? Think of it as dessert.... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-02-02T04:02+00:00
Games here. Note that Kramnik-Carlsen was already annotated in a separate post; also, I hope to have IM Ken Regan's very detailed analysis of the Adams-Polgar pawn ending some time later tonight or this weekend. (An after-dessert mint?)]]> http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201585288.shtml ... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-01-29T05:01+00:00 Here, with my comments, are the games from round 11. The games from rounds 12 and 13 will probably show up within 24 hours.]]> http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201581453.shtml The game of the tournament? Granted, Kramnik's play wasn't terrific, but Carlsen's was, and it marked a double milestone for him: a win in classical chess over the former world champion... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-01-29T04:01+00:00
You can replay the game here. The annotations are mostly based on Carlsen's comments in the press conference, but I've added a few notes here and there as well.]]> http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201455852.shtml More later tonight; for now, here's a quick wrap-up.... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-01-27T17:01+00:00
In Group A, all the key games were drawn, leaving Aronian and Carlsen co-champs. (I'm not sure at the moment who had the better tie-breaks, but it's irrelevant as the tournament does not use them in determining the winner.) Polgar didn't achieve anything against Aronian's Marshall Gambit, while Carlsen-Radjabov went back and forth but never saw Norwegian in any serious danger. Anand tried very hard to break Kramnik down and get a third share of the title, but the latter held on and pulled out a draw.

Round 13 Results:

Ivanchuk - van Wely 1/2-1/2
Polgar - Aronian 1/2-1/2
Topalov - Adams 1/2-1/2
Gelfand - Eljanov 1-0 (Gelfand's first and only win in the event)
Leko - Mamedyarov 1-0 (A bit of a massacre)
Carlsen - Radjabov 1/2-1/2
Anand - Kramnik 1/2-1/2

Final Standings:

1-2. Aronian, Carlsen 8
3-4. Anand, Radjabov 7.5
5-6. Ivanchuk, Leko 7
7-8. Adams, Kramnik 6.5
9-11. Mamedyarov, Topalov, Polgar 6
12-14. Eljanov, van Wely, Gelfand 5

Group B:

All the relevant games were drawn, so Movsesian won with 9.5 (and a 2788 TPR), a point ahead of Short and Bacrot. This means that Movesesian qualifies for next year's Group A tournament.

Group C:

Coming into the last round, Caruana led Negi by a full point, and as it turned out they were paired for the finale. Negi chose the Marshall Gambit with the Black pieces, but Caruana successfully held the pawn and went on to win. Thus Caruana, who scored 10/13 (2696 TPR) won by two points ahead of Negi and Reinderman, and automatically qualifies for the Group B event next year.

Games later!]]> http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201448363.shtml Round 13, the final round, is underway, so I'll keep this relatively brief.... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-01-27T15:01+00:00
The big result of round 13 was Carlsen's win - with Black - over Kramnik. Kramnik losses are rare enough, and he loses with White just a little more frequently than Roger Federer loses a tennis semi-final. Anyway, Carlsen played very well, and, helped along by a Kramnik miscalculation on move 29, he managed to win the game and catch Aronian in first place. As all the other games relevant to first place were drawn, the key standings saw Carlsen and Aronian with 7.5 and Anand and Radjabov with 7. With Carlsen playing Radjabov in the last round, anything could happen!

Round 12 Results:

van Wely - Anand 1/2-1/2
Kramnik - Carlsen 0-1
Radjabov - Leko 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov - Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Eljanov - Topalov 1-0 (!)
Adams - Polgar 0-1
Aronian - Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round 12:

1-2. Aronian, Carlsen 7.5
3-4. Anand, Radjabov 7
5. Ivanchuk 6.5
6-9. Leko, Adams, Kramnik, Mamedyarov 6
10-11. Topalov, Polgar 5.5
12. Eljanov 5
13. van Wely 4.5
14. Gelfand 4

Pairings for Round 13: (The last round)

Ivanchuk - van Wely
Polgar - Aronian
Topalov - Adams
Gelfand - Eljanov
Leko - Mamedyarov
Carlsen - Radjabov
Anand - Kramnik

Other Groups:

In group B, Movesian continued his winning ways, defeating L'Ami, while his closest pursuers (Short and Bacrot) drew each other. Thus with one round to go, the leading standings are:

1. Movsesian 9
2-3. Short, Bacrot 8

Meanwhile, in Group C, Caruana continued to win. Of those entering the round within a point of the youngster, only Negi kept pace. He's still a point back with a round to go, but as they're playing each other (Caruana has White) anything's possible.

1. Caruana 9
2. Negi 8

Finally, in the finale of the Honorary Group, Timman beat Korchnoi's 1...e5 in the last round, while Ljubojevic defeated Portisch. The final standings look like this:

1. Ljubojevic 4
2-3. Timman, Korchnoi 3
4. Portisch 2]]> http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1201293669.shtml I'll be unavailable to blog until late Saturday at the earliest, so this overly brief recap will have to do until then. A pity, because it was an extremely eventful round,... Dennis Monokroussos 2008-01-25T20:01+00:00
They're joined at that score by Radjabov, who defeated tail-ender Gelfand with his signature opening, the King's Indian Defense. (Gelfand loves queenside openings, but as long as Radjabov's playing the Schliemann he really ought to make an exception.) Yet +2 isn't good enough at this point, as Aronian defeated van Wely, and enjoys solo first at +3. Three other players are at +1, so with two rounds to go the tournament is far from decided.

Round 11 Results:

Aronian - van Wely 1-0
Ivanchuk - Adams 1/2-1/2
Polgar - Eljanov 0-1
Topalov - Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Gelfand - Radjabov 0-1
Leko - Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Carlsen - Anand 0-1

Standings after Round 11:

1. Aronian 7
2-4. Radjabov, Carlsen, Anand 6½
5-7. Kramnik, Adams, Ivanchuk 6
8-10. Mamedyarov, Topalov, Leko 5½
11-12. Polgar, Eljanov 4½
13. van Wely 4
14. Gelfand 3½

Pairings for Round 12:

van Wely - Anand
Kramnik - Carlsen
Radjabov - Leko
Mamedyarov - Gelfand
Eljanov - Topalov
Adams - Polgar
Aronian - Ivanchuk

Other Groups:

In Group B, Movsesian continues to lead, but his 8/11 score is only good for a half-point over Short and Bacrot. In Group C, Caruana extended his lead to a full point over the chase pack; he has 8 points, while Reinderman, Nijboer and Negi have 7. Finally, in the Honorary Group Korchnoi made a colossal blunder in a dead drawn* ending against Ljubojevic, just trying to hard to win. Portisch meanwhile defeated Timman, which means that the winners caught the losers: Korchnoi and Ljubojevic lead with 3-2, while Portisch and Timman trail at 2-3.

* Positions can be objectively "dead", but experience teaches us over and over again that if a player really sets his mind to losing a game, there is almost no force in the whole of reality that can stop him.]]>