Yeah, I'm pretty excited for the Wei/Ding matchup. I was pretty impressed with how far the Chinese were getting in this tournament until I realized that everyone left is Russian anyway.

Karjakin has to be pretty pissed he's likely only facing one Chinese player. If he was on the other side of the draw he could have had the chance to just auto-advance through several of them.

Andreikin is the type of player who probably does way better in this knockout format than ratings indicate. He plays a naturally dry style in classical games, and he can hope to cling on with draws against the higher-rated players because he'll have an edge in the tiebreaks against almost everyone.

Yugo's going to have a huge told-you-so grin plastered over his face if Naka doesn't pull this one out.

The #2 and #4 blitz players in the world, in one of the most important blitz games you'll ever see, with white needing a win or bust. Doesn't get much more fun than this!

Nakamura wins in armageddon!! What a great match that was

Plenty of cool match-ups. BJJ what are the odds?

https://chessnumbers.wordpress.com/w...015-world-cup/

(For odds in the specific matches, just check the "quarterfinal odds" column, ldo.

Also Nepmniachtchi is pretty mad about Nakamura castling with two hands. From twitter:

(His didn't have asterisks...)

Jakovenko looking in pretty good shape. Now three of the eight players in his half of the bracket could get him to the Candidates Tournament. Himself, and the top two seeds. I have him at 65.5% to qualify now (most of that equity is trusting in Nakamura and Caruana, but still being alive himself doesn't hurt).

That first Nepo tweet is hilarious.

Very exciting match, too bad I was rooting for Ian.

My spell check wants me to change "Nepomniachtchi" to "kleptomaniac". I found that amusing and worth sharing.

Also worth noting is that Nepomniachtchi means "forgetful" or something like that, so some translations straight from Russian sometimes read Ian Forgetful.

It's correct, though, right, that one needs to use one hand to complete the move (pieces & clock)?

I think so. Looks like Nepo officially objected. Claim was rejected but Naka did receive a "warning".

Here is how you pronounce Nepo's name correctly: Ne-pom-ni-chi.

I was pretty sure that he had no chance against Naka. He is just the irresistible force. That guy goes straight for the throat just like Kasparov in his best days.

Makes sense, thanks.

Nepo did formally protest to the appeals committee. They ruled that Nakamura did violate the rules by castling with two hands and that he "clearly touched the rook before the king" so if Nepo had objected at the time it happened an arbiter could have compelled Naka to move the rook rather than castling.

However Nepo ignored it when it happened, and so runs afoul of a different rule which reads "A player forfeits his right to a claim against his opponent’s violation of Article 4 once he deliberately touches a piece", and so the committee both issued a warning to Nakamura and also rejected Nepomniachtchi's appeal.

http://www.bakuworldcup2015.com/news/8/141

It's worth noting that while article 4.1 of the FIDE rules do require you to make your move with one hand, there is no clearly prescribed penalty for castling two handed IF you touch the king first. A warning might be issued, but you'll presumably still be allowed to castle.

If you touch the ROOK first, though, you're in trouble. See articles 4.4.a and 4.4.b https://www.fide.com/component/handb...1&view=article

are you allowed to use two feet to castle?

Feet no, paws yes, afaik.

I think these are both true but predictably miss the important point Nepomniatchi raised:

It's a mistake by the arbiter not to intervene here. An understandable mistake, given that it requires looking at the replay to be certain - but the appeals committee should still at least acknowledge the mistake instead of whitewashing it.

It would have been appalling if Nepomniatchi had objected to the arbiter and the arbiter had only then intervened. Either the arbiter saw it was incorrect, and should have unilaterally intervened, or he did not see it, and would have rejected Nepomniatchi's complaint. Video footage is not foreseen in the FIDE rules but I believe the arbiter is not expected to avail himself of it.

Either way, it's another victory for Nakamura and his utter lack of class.

I've never heard of an arbiter calling touch-move on her own.

I think there is plenty to cite for Nakas lack of class but I have no idea how this is on of them. He plays no role in this unless you think he intentionally was doing that to save time. I can only imagine he just did it due to playing casually that way or due to nerves or something.

So, I assume Svidler has class. Would he forfeit the game or something ridiculous like that after his opponent brought it up?

Maybe I'm missing a Naka quote somewhere bc I have no idea how this reflects on him either way.

Let's declare Nepo the winner! He played like an idiot, walked into a mating attack, but Naka didn't manage to castle in the most elegant way.

Maybe there is a way to become world champion like that, for instance if Carlsen violates the dresscode by wearing too many sponsor patches.

I mean, not sure this is an example of "lacking class" but, come on, of course he played a role in this. There's a rule, he didn't follow it.

I don't think this is a huge deal, by the way, but Naka is a professional, he knows the rules, and this definitely is faster than using one hand.