Chess

The elite tournament at Stavanger in Norway has resulted in yet another victory for the world champion Magnus Carlsen. The format was unorthodox in that draws were replayed as so-called Armageddon blitz games. In such cases White has more time but any draws count as Black wins. Classical wins count as 2-0, whereas Armageddon wins count as 1½-½. The random factor is therefore very high and I doubt that the format will catch on. Final scores (out of a possible 18) from Stavanger were: 1. Carlsen 13½; 2= Lev Aronian and Yu Yangyi 10½; 4= Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So 10; 6 Ding Liren 8½; 7= Viswanathan Anand and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 8; 9= Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk 5½.

The Isle of Lewis chess pieces are one of the proudest possessions of the British Museum and also the National Museum of Scotland, which shares the hoard discovered on Uig in 1831. They represent the oldest complete chess sets in the world, with only a few pawns and a rook missing from one set. Now the rook has turned up from a back drawer in a private home and Sotheby’s are estimating a potential sale price of £1 million. The Lewis pieces are made from Walrus tusk, known as morse ivory, and give valuable insights into the Viking civilisation and environment from which they sprang.   This week, a game by that modern Norwegian descendant of Vikings, the world champion Magnus Carlsen, played on the traditional Viking turf of Stavanger.

An unusual tournament has taken place at the Lindores Abbey Whisky Distillery in Scotland, namely a double-round competition between four of the world’s elite, including world champion Magnus Carlsen. The final scores out of six were as follows: Magnus Carlsen 3½, Ding Liren and Sergey Karjakin 3, Viswanathan Anand 2½, and this week I focus on the decisive games from this most imaginative event.   Carlsen-Anand: Lindores Abbey Stars 2019 (See diagram 1)   Anand, as Black, had doubtless prepared a defence against the dangerous-looking 21 Qb3. In fact, after 21 Qb3 Black can defend with 21 ... Rb8 22 Qxf7+ Kh8 23 Nxc5 Nxc5 24 Rxc5 Ne5 with strong counterplay.

Gawain Jones has fought his way to the no. 1 position on the UK ranking list by a series of recent successes in the world team championship, the Reykjavik Open, and now by scoring first prize in the Sigeman closed invitational tournament in Malmo, Sweden. Gawain’s live rating is now 2,709, ahead of Howell and Sadler on 2,692, Adams 2,690 and McShane 2,688. Leading scores in Malmo (out of 7) were: Jones 5, Harikrishna 4½ and Grandelius 4.   Hillarp Persson-Jones: Sigeman & Co, Malmo 2019   1 c4 c5 2 Nc3 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 Nc6 5 Nf3 d6 6 0-0 e6 7 a3 Nge7 8 Rb1 0-0 9 b4 White has chosen a fairly sedate version of the English Opening where he hopes to gain a slight initiative on the queen’s flank.

One of the most irritating defences to meet when playing 1 d4 as White is the Benko Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5). It was foreshadowed by a Ruy Lopez between Nimzowitsch and Capablanca from St Petersburg 1914. In that classic game, White won a queenside pawn in ingenious fashion, only to see the black forces pour down the open lines occasioned by the pawn loss and destroy White’s queen’s flank.

This year’s Grand Chess Tour kicked off in the Ivory Coast with a significant innovation, the first ever tournament in Africa involving a reigning world champion. Magnus Carlsen duly triumphed in the overall scores of a combined rapid and blitz event. The champion, however, did not have it all his own way. Carlsen easily won the rapid section but suffered a scare in the blitz when Maxime Vachier-Lagrave twice defeated the champion and won a barely credible eight games in a row. This remarkable parade was, though, insufficient to jeopardise Carlsen’s victory, since his lead from the rapid section was too vast to overcome.

The French Defence appears to be somewhat cautious in nature but can in fact lead to disruptive middlegame clashes. It was a favourite of such aficionados of counterattack as Aron Nimzowitsch, Mikhail Botvinnik and Viktor Korchnoi. One of my favourite lines was espoused by world champion Tigran Petrosian, for example in the following win against a world championship candidate. Notes to the following game are based on those in Opening Repertoire: The French Defence by Cyrus Lakdawala (published by Everyman Chess).   Olafsson-Petrosian: Bled 1961; French Defence   1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 Qd7 5 Qg4 White engages his queen, going for the soft spot on g7. 5 ... f5 6 Qg3 b6 7 h4 Bb7 8 Bd3 This is logical now that Black has committed his bishop to b7. If Black now plays ...

In my column of 20 April I reported on the overwhelming victory by world champion Magnus Carlsen in the elite Gashimov Memorial tournament at Shamkir, Azerbaijan. Almost immediately he went on to repeat his annihilation of the world’s best by taking first prize at the Grenke tournament in Baden Baden and Karlsruhe, in Germany.   After struggling in his World Championship contest against Fabiano Caruana in London, Carlsen appears rejuvenated, and is treating the world’s elite rather as Alexander Alekhine dealt with the illuminati of his day at the great tournaments of San Remo 1930 and Bled 1931. My theory is that Carlsen, a quick learner, has absorbed lessons from the astounding games of AlphaZero, the brainchild of Demis Hassabis CBE and his DeepMind group.

India is quite possibly the birthplace of chess, with the four branches of the ancient Indian army, infantry, cavalry, chariots and war elephants, morphing into the pawns, knights, rooks and bishops of the modern game. The most celebrated protagonist of Indian chess is former world champion, Viswanathan Anand. Nevertheless, behind him are surging younger generations of Indian grandmasters, some of whom (e.g. Dommaraju Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa) are still barely into their teens.

I cannot conceal the feeling over the years of Magnus Carlsen’s leading position at the head of world chess, that his victories were to be ascribed to his powers of Sitzfleisch (endurance at the board) or opposing errors, rather than his own enterprise, dynamism and genius. The result of the London world championship last year tended, if anything, to reinforce this belief, with all the games in the classical section being drawn.   The Gashimov Memorial tournament, which ended earlier this month at Shamkir in Azerbaijan, has forced me to revise that opinion. Carlsen dominated the event, displaying huge energy, aggression and versatility.

Last week I wrote about Cyrus Lakdawala’s new book, which provides an aggressive repertoire based on the solid move 1 d4. This week I focus on what might be termed a companion volume by the experienced chess coach grandmaster Neil McDonald, Coach Yourself (Everyman Chess), which aims to provide a training programme for those who wish to seriously improve their results. McDonald’s book is packed with essential tips on teaching yourself to calculate, honing your feel for the initiative, and practising planning. It is thoroughly recommended for club players or anyone who has decided that it is time to put up a fight against the chess app on their phone. The following game is an excellent illustration of how to seize the initiative by opening lines of attack.

One way to improve your results is to develop a specific opening repertoire and learn it thoroughly so as to be prepared for most eventualities. This might seem like common sense but it is a lesson which many amateurs neglect to observe. A new book by the prolific author Cyrus Lakdawala (Opening Repertoire 1 d4 with 2 c4, published by Everyman Chess) seeks to plug this lacuna in the chess aficionado’s arsenal of openings by providing an aggressive repertoire based on the solid 1 d4.   Le Quang Liem-Nguyen Van Huy: Ho Chi Minh City 2014; Nimzo-Indian Defence   1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 f3 This is Lakdawala’s recommendation against the solid Nimzo-Indian Defence. White aims to create a strong centre as soon as possible and challenges Black to break it down.

A favoured line of the great Bobby Fischer was to meet both the French Defence (1 e4 e6) and the Caro-Kann Defence (1 e4 c6) with 2 d3, introducing what is known as the King’s Indian Attack. Fischer won celebrated games with this line against such powerful opponents as the Argentine grandmaster Oscar Panno and World Championship candidate Boris Ivkov. This week’s puzzle shows a further coruscating finish by Fischer with the King’s Indian Attack from the Interzonal stage of the World Championship cycle which brought Fischer the supreme title. Ever a good learner, the three-times British champion grandmaster Julian Hodgson put the King’s Indian Attack to good use in this week’s win against an illustrious opponent.

The World Team Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, finished last week with a victory for Russia but with an outstanding team silver medal for England — our best result for decades.   The final scores at the top (out of 18) were as follows: Russia 16, England 13, China 12, India and USA 11, Iran and Azerbaijan 8, Kazakhstan and Sweden 4, Egypt 3. The individual English scores were as follows: Michael Adams 3½/9, Luke McShane (individual gold medal) 6/9, David Howell (individual bronze medal) 6/9, Gawain Jones (individual silver medal) 5½/8 and Jon Speelman 0/1.   The hero of the English squad was the individual gold medallist Luke McShane, who was the only team member to go through this powerful event without losing a single game.

The annual Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge ended in a surprisingly narrow victory for the dark blues. Their team was led by the former women’s world champion Hou Yifan from China, and the rating difference on virtually every board was massively in favour of Oxford. Cambridge put up a stout fight and it was only a series of misjudgments by Cambridge board six, Peter Finn, in the tense last game to finish, which converted a drawn match (or even a win for Cambridge) into a loss. This was one of those times when defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory.

The Bunratty tournament in Ireland is one of the highlights of the chess year and always attracts an impressive field. This year grandmasters Luke McShane and Mark Hebden shared first prize on 5/6 in the main event. It is traditional in Bunratty that, although prize money can be shared, the title must go to a sole victor. McShane, accordingly, demolished Hebden 2-0 in a play-off. Places 3-8 were shared by Nigel Short, David Howell, Matthew Turner, Adam Hunt, Bogdan Lalic and David Fitzsimons.   McShane’s play was characterised by a fierce will to win. During the game which preceded the following extract he had already declined a draw in a slightly worse position. His determination paid off and was rewarded with the full point.

This Saturday (2 March) sees the annual varsity match between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford are strengthened this year by the addition of China’s Hou Yifan, the former women’s world champion, and are likely to be the favourites.   As usual, the match starts at noon in the traditional venue of the RAC in Pall Mall and spectators are welcome, though there is a smart dress code for those who wish to watch.   A continuing problem is the failure of Oxford to award their players half blues in recognition of their distinction in representing the university. The more enlightened authorities at Cambridge granted this deserved honour many years ago. It is time for the Oxford players to demand their rightful due.

This year’s Gibraltar Masters saw some surprising results at the top, chiefly the victory by the young Russian, Vladimir Artemiev, who netted £25,000. He came in ahead of a host of established grandmasters, including Levon Aronian, Vassily Ivanchuk, Michael Adams and Wesley So.   The winner’s style was marked by restless aggression with both black and white pieces. This week’s game shows him overwhelming a pre-tournament favourite. The notes are based on those by John Saunders in the official bulletin.   Artemiev-Nakamura: Gibraltar Masters 2019; Réti Opening   1 Nf3 Nf6 2 g3 d5 3 Bg2 e6 4 0-0 Be7 5 c4 0-0 6 b3 c5 7 Bb2 Nc6 8 e3 b6 Black decides against the double-edged 8 ...

The former world champion Vladimir Kramnik recently announced his retirement from competitive chess. He is one of the greats of the modern game, winning three World Championship contests — against Garry Kasparov, Peter Leko and Veselin Topalov — and retaining the title from 2000 to 2007. This tenure puts him on a par with other champions such as José Capablanca, Tigran Petrosian and Viswanathan Anand, who all reigned for around half a decade on the supreme chess throne. Kramnik was crowned champion when he defeated Kasparov in their match in London in 2000.

A notable feature from the recently concluded elite tournament at Wijk aan Zee was the abject failure of former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who finished in equal last place. I have been conjecturing that it might be time for him to put his pieces back in the box, in the style of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Tis all a Chequer-board of nights and days. Where Destiny with men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, And one by one back in the closet lays. He could evolve into an elder statesman for the new Fidé regime led by Arkady Dvorkovich and his vice-president Nigel Short. Now, at the age of 43, he has stunned the chess world by taking this dramatic step, announcing his retirement from active play.