*** Chess Low Content Thread *** - Page 172 - Chess and Board Game Strategy

I typed up a narrative account of my "real-time analysis" but decided not to include it immediately. The solution is in the last three paragraphs, bolded for clarity.

Spoiler:

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07-05-2014 , 03:51 PM

#4277

wlrs

adept

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 989

Spoiler:

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07-05-2014 , 04:07 PM

#4278

Rei Ayanami

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 11,685

I wish my FPS was obligatory. Now the problem no longer deserves a "Wow".

That is just "spot mate-in-four before mate-in-two"-itis on a larger scale! I try not to think in too structured of a manner, instead trying to make art with the pieces, so sometimes that happens to me.

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07-05-2014 , 04:17 PM

#4279

TexAg06

veteran

Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,475

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeti

enjoyed this morphy piece

http://www.chess.com/article/view/mo...ices-explained

Naroditsky writes fantastic articles. His are my favorite on chess.com. He's a great author.

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07-06-2014 , 03:55 PM

#4280

BobJoeJim

Tournament Director

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,200

2700chess.com is listing the "2nd Sinquefield Cup" as an upcoming tournament, scheduled for August 27th through September 7th, with "many 2700+ players" participating. This is the first I've heard of the event, and the link to the "official site" just takes you to the main stlouischessclub.org page, on which I can't currently find any mention of this event.

Has anyone heard anything about it? I'd love to know which 2700+ players, in particular, they're expecting.

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07-06-2014 , 04:06 PM

#4281

kingstalker

grinder

Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 445

Sinquefield is a wealthy chess patron based in St Louis.Last year he sponsored the first Sinquefield Cup, a tournament that had Carlson, Kamsky, Nakamura and Aronian.

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07-06-2014 , 04:13 PM

#4282

Rei Ayanami

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Fun game featuring Wesley So from the 9th Edmonton International, which Chucky won with a score of 8/9.

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07-08-2014 , 04:15 PM

#4283

Rei Ayanami

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http://www.chess.com/article/view/17...ayer-must-know

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07-09-2014 , 08:46 AM

#4284

wlrs

adept

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 989

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rei Ayanami

Fun game featuring Wesley So from the 9th Edmonton International, which Chucky won with a score of 8/9.

Easy for So, the ideas up to 13.-Nbd7 are what an analysis engine gives you on this system (which is very bad for White), he finished off nicely after that admittedly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rei Ayanami

http://www.chess.com/article/view/17...ayer-must-know

To get serious on this subject, here's a guide to an effective thinking pose:
1. Sit up straight. No slouching. You're not Magnus.
2. Lean forward. Intimidation guaranteed, harder to degrade into slouchmode.

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07-09-2014 , 05:36 PM

#4285

BobJoeJim

Tournament Director

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,200

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobJoeJim

Update: they've gotten a mention of the event onto the St. Louis Chess Club website now. http://saintlouischessclub.org/2014-sinquefield-cup

The field will be six players this year, and they don't appear to have announce that field yet. Who wants to place some guesses?

Nakamura and Kamsky are just about locks to be there. I'm sure they tried to convince Carlsen to come defend his title, I'm going to guess they did land him. Any of the strong Webster University players are likely nominees, particularly Wesley So and Le Quan Liem. I'm going to go with pure longshot fantasy, and guess those five, plus Caruana as the sixth, but an American in the 2600+ range is probably more likely.

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07-09-2014 , 07:30 PM

#4286

Rei Ayanami

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Baadur Jobava's five wins from this year's Bronstein Memorial are well worth looking at -- there are fireworks in seemingly every game.

Ding Liren plays beautiful chess. His live rating is 2737 now, creeping ever closer to 2750+.

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07-09-2014 , 09:31 PM

#4287

TexAg06

veteran

Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,475

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rei Ayanami

Thanks for posting. This game is pretty freakin sweet.

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07-09-2014 , 09:33 PM

#4288

TexAg06

veteran

Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,475

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobJoeJim

With a $100k first prize, they'll get anyone they want. I agree that Kamsky and Nakamura will be there, and also agree on Wesley So because he has been playing great lately. Le Quang Liem is another good guess. As for the last two, I'm going with Carlsen and Grischuk

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07-09-2014 , 11:33 PM

#4289

BobJoeJim

Tournament Director

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,200

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexAg06

I wouldn't complain if Grischuk played, hehe. I agree they can get *just about* anyone they want with the prize fund, but I guess the real question is whether they want to keep the 50/50 USA vs. The World split they had last time (maybe with someone like Robson or Onischuk as the third American), or whether they want to go with just Naka, Kamsky, and four "world" players (albeit almost certainly at least one "world" player who goes to Webster, imo), and keep the whole field above 2700 ELO.

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07-10-2014 , 03:04 AM

#4290

Searix

NFL Swami Overlord

Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 19,233

Just lost to some guy named Hutch while he was streaming to 4000 people. Kinda drunk and pretty late are my only excuses :P

http://www.twitch.tv/z0mgitshutch/b/546153675?t=97m12s

Game gets pretty epic and both obviously f up but maybe we get some more chess players out of this

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07-10-2014 , 03:37 AM

#4291

Rei Ayanami

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Cool game.

Spoiler:

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07-10-2014 , 12:54 PM

#4292

Searix

NFL Swami Overlord

Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 19,233

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07-11-2014 , 01:45 AM

#4293

Rei Ayanami

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Why do people allow the Nimzo? It's forced mate for Black given perfect play (mate in 752, after 3.-Bb4). But all of the Indian defenses can be refuted by 1. d4 Nf6 2. e4!!, when the pawn is invulnerable due to a 386-move deflection–pin–overloading–clearance–desperado–ske wer–zugzwang–zwischenzug–quiet move combination (mostly quiet moves) leading to forced mate on move 584 -- Black can either immediately resign or grimly play out mate in 1214.

No, but seriously, I was wondering what figures into 1. d4 players' decisions whether to allow the Nimzo or the Bogo/QID/etc. complex instead, at the higher levels. In the ChessTempo database, 3. Nf3 is more common by 2:1 at the 2600+ level, whereas in the big free ChessBase database, which includes a wider range of playing strengths, they are equally common. After 3. Nf3, the QID is a lot more common than the Bogo above 2600 (6:1); the disparity grows even wider above 2700 (10:1!).

Is anyone familiar with the specific theoretical trends that have made 3. Nf3 more popular than 3. Nc3, and the specific reasons the Bogo isn't seen as often at the highest levels?

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07-11-2014 , 03:33 AM

#4294

wlrs

adept

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 989

speculation:
a) the Nimzo is very tough to crack
b) if the db doesn't account for move orders, the 3.Nf3 position can be transposed from 2.Nf3 or Reti/English stuff, while the Nimzo can't really be transposed into (okay the Keres system but anyway)
c) strong players have a wide enough opening rep to play QGDs with Nf3 in, many weaker players only play the exchange line which is pretty toothless after an early Nf3

and for Bogo/QGD:

d) QGD is nice and solid, while the 4.Nbd2 Bogo involves losing the bishop pair (or the centre) and top guys/girls really love them bishops. Magnus has played the Bogo against the Catalan though, his games there are really instructive and worth a look.

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07-11-2014 , 04:27 AM

#4295

coon74

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A continuation that's most popular according to databases is not always the best.

E.g., in the free Chessbase, after 1. d4 Nf6 2. e4!?, there are 120846 games with 2... d6?? (White's score 55%), which not only doesn't win a pawn, but also somewhat cramps Black's position. The only winning continuation for Black - 2... Nxe4!! (score 27%) - has been played only 133 times! Are 99.99% of players total patzers?!

Moreover, after 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. Ng1?!, 2... Ng8?! (score 54%) has been played 6878935 times, the resulting position has been seen many times even at the highest level (most recently - between Aronian and Carlsen at the World Blitz Championship; Carlsen's skill edge was big enough to squeeze draws out of this inferior position in both his Black games, though), and only 1 time was another continuation played, and it was the totally equalising 2... Nc6!
__________________________________________

As far as the Bogo-Indian, ChessExplained has posted a few games where he faced his own Black pet opening with White, and he prefers 4. Nbd2 (the Grunfeld variation)... though he acknowledges he doesn't know well how to play it with White. According to databases, it's indeed the strongest (scores 58%). I'm too dumb to understand the reason; maybe it's that White avoids doubled pawns typical for classical NID lines but otoh doesn't misplace the DSB to d2 but instead eventually fianchettoes it after b4 and creates a dreadful pawn centre (with the queen's knight controlling both c4 and e4 unless it's traded, which, as wlrs has said, is not so likely to happen).

Last edited by coon74; 07-11-2014 at 04:46 AM. Reason: typo

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07-11-2014 , 04:41 AM

#4296

Rei Ayanami

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Quote:

Originally Posted by wlrs

Yeah, neither database is sensitive to move orders, but I didn't consider how much more frequently 3. Nf3 can arise by transposition until a while after my post. Transpositions alone don't seem to account for the disparity, however.

****, I know how the databases work, but that is hilarious nevertheless.

ETA: omg, you are censored.

Last edited by Rei Ayanami; 07-11-2014 at 04:46 AM.

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07-11-2014 , 05:08 AM

#4297

coon74

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**** is censored, coon74 isn't - that's a well-known feature.

FICSgames.org has an option of excluding transpositions as you likely know, but in this mode, 3. Nf3 is still shown as the most popular at the (inflated) 2200-2400 and 2400+ levels.

I think the main reason why 3. Nf3 is preferred and scores better is that the QGD transposition (3... d5) is only by 25% less popular than the QID and Kramnik has changed the score of the QGD dramatically by setting a fashion for the Catalan (4. g3).