R-d1 instead?

I ran it through an engine and it says K-g1 is better move.

Black to move.

R-c2

Q-d2?

I don't know how these threads work.

I am sorry, I just couldn't resist. Still one of the best threads in 2+2 history for me (also makes me feel really old...)

Haha, whenever I see that_pope show up anywhere I immediately think of that too.

Vincent Keymer (13) just won the Grenke chess open with 8/9, beating 4 GMs in a row, including Rapport in the final round. His rating went from 2404 to 2444 and he qualified for the Grenke Supertournament 2019.

Very glad to see that - his rating has stalled at around 2400 (when his K went down) for like two years and I have to admit to thinking that maybe he was more a 40 K-factor star than a real super talent.

This win proves that I was wrong, as it is definitely very impressive. He was 99th (!!!) starting number, the Open had I think four or five 2700+ guys, etc... And he scored 8 out of 9!

However, the win is more impressive on paper than it is in reality, and kinda shows how big of a crap shoot these mega-large opens are. Not trying to rain on the young man's parade here, as finishing 4 out of 4 vs four GMs is of course incredible and very impressive.

Yet, if you look at it game per game basis:

Rounds 1-2: easy wins vs lower rated opponents.
Round 3: draw vs Korobov - excellent result.
Round 4: win vs a much lower rated opponent (kinda strange pairing)
Round 5: draw vs 2504 GM - fairly good result.
Round 6: win as white vs 2510 GM - good result.
Round 7: win as black vs 2580 GM - very good/excellent result (However, Buhmann had a perpetual but, probably not wanting to draw vs a kid, went full ****** and handed the full point).
Round 8: win as white vs 2615 GM - excellent result (this one was really really impressive, outplayed the guy)
Round 9: win vs Rapport - mega excellent result.

All I am trying to say is that if you just looked at the fact that he won Grenke Open, you would imagine that he had to battle 2650+ GM's for the most of the tournament, while in fact he had two really really really impressive results vs Korobov and Rapport, while the rest, even though very good, are all kinda sorta within his expected results (if you look at it on per game basis). It is more the fact that he strung them all together that is super impressive.

Despite all that, it is still a career win for the kid and let's hope that it is a building block or a very successful career.

Also, found, in my opinion, a really cool idea while browsing some games from Grenke. Black to play and win (quickly).

He's gonna be a 300 or more rating underdog next year in the elite section. He can demonstrate whether he is a k factor star or not then.

This one is beautiful.

You should say what the aim is PartyGirl. It's Black to play and gain a clear advantage. I spent my time trying to force a mate and then was like "huh?" when I loaded it up in an engine.

You don't get that information when you play an actual game either.

^^^ Almost ^^^

Yeah true story - it took me forever to find and would never see it over the board in the game

Yeah, I am kinda sad that I didn't have the chance to solve it, since I was just browsing through the game and then that happened and I was like "ooooooh?"

I think with decent amount of time I could maybe find it during the game just by process of elimination - the first move is a rather obvious one to defend from the threats, and then you just look at all the continuations that help the attack, including the move that was played. Definitely wouldn't find it in five minutes though!

I was re-watching some things today and it has reminded me of a grudge that I've been holding for a long time now. I might have already written about, I might have not, I don't remember, but here goes:

The single most corrupt thing about FIDE is the fact that Anastasiya Karlovich holds the position that she holds, and has been holding it for YEARS. It is absolutely ****ing unbelievable to me.

This woman has no idea how to conduct a press conference, there is zero flow, she basically does whatever the fk she pleases and makes it about her and not about the players often. There is zero camaraderie or whatever you wanna call it between her and the participants DESPITE THE FACT THAT SHE HAS BEEN INTERVIEWING THEM FOR YEAAAAARS NOW. On top of that, her English is plain bad, her questions are absolutely disgustingly terrible most of the time but the real icing on the cake - despite all of the above she still manages to be a real arrogant ******* to journalists.

Like, I don't understand how this is possible. If I was half as bad at my job I would be fired within a couple weeks for sure. She has been doing this for years now. She must know something about what those aliens did to Kirsan for him to keep her...


/rant

I noticed this during the candidates - the players just outright don't respect her or her questions. I know little about her background, but literally the only thing she knew how to do was put the mic in the proper place.

She's kind of hot though

Aside from the comment about her fluency, the above rant would sound almost identical to the complaints people make about Maurice Ashley.

There are many hot wim+ (I think that's her title) if that is a requirement. However, without her the grischuk thug life compilation wouldn't have been even half as good. So that's something at least.

BTW, she's just as bad or worse with women's tournaments. And I assume she should know some of them well. Still awkward as hell and goes relatively poorly.