Open Side Menu Go to the Top
Register
FIDE GP Thessaloniki FIDE GP Thessaloniki

05-25-2013 , 03:33 PM
The tournament is underway: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=81226

Players copied from the chessgames.com page:

Quote:
Bacrot, Etienne FRA 2725

Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2774

Dominguez Perez, Leinier CUB 2723

Grischuk, Alexander RUS 2779

Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2755

Kamsky, Gata USA 2741

Kasimdzhanov, Rustam UZB 2699

Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2760

Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2775

Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR 2742

Svidler, Peter RUS 2769

Topalov, Veselin BUL 2793
We had one post in the BBV thread on this already:

Quote:
Originally Posted by TexAg06
Sad day for Ivanchuk. Apparently he had a completely crushing position against Dominguez but couldn't put him away and later in the game blundered a knight to lose. Ivanchuk is such a strange story.

http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/...dy-240513.aspx
Also, this was an exciting draw: Moro - Naka

Right now, it's a 7-way tie for first at 2.5/4.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-25-2013 , 05:57 PM
That Moro-Naka game is unbelievable.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-27-2013 , 10:17 PM
Crazy game, thanks for pointing it out.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-28-2013 , 10:16 AM
Bad to worse for Ivanchuk, he loses in 19 moves to Ponomariov
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-28-2013 , 04:13 PM
Interesting note on that game: all 32 pieces were still on the board when Chucky resigned.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1718727
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-28-2013 , 04:30 PM
ouch. Chuky sure has had a lot of these meltdowns lately, has it always been this bad?
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-28-2013 , 04:53 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by wlrs
ouch. Chuky sure has had a lot of these meltdowns lately, has it always been this bad?
From his rating graph, it looks like yes, he's always been pretty high variance.

http://ratings.fide.com/id.phtml?event=14100010
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-28-2013 , 05:11 PM
heh yes I remember some gems such as http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1010204, but still it seems to me that he has totally blown up even more often lately. Or maybe I've been following more closely, shrug.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-28-2013 , 07:00 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by wlrs
heh yes I remember some gems such as http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1010204, but still it seems to me that he has totally blown up even more often lately. Or maybe I've been following more closely, shrug.
hahahaha never seen that game before
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-29-2013 , 04:51 PM
Kamsky and Caruana won today and are tied for first, half a point ahead of Dominguez Perez. I'm really surprised Kamsky is playing so well right now, he looks fantastic.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-30-2013 , 03:44 PM
In b4 Kamsky is 2800

FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-30-2013 , 04:52 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by YouKnowWho
In b4 Kamsky is 2800[/IMG]
The USA is now the only country with two* players ranked in the top-ten of the live ratings! USA!!! USA!!!

*Exactly two, that is. Russia of course has three, all of whom are rated higher than either of ours. But that's not the point!
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-30-2013 , 09:21 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobJoeJim
The USA is now the only country with two* players ranked in the top-ten of the live ratings! USA!!! USA!!!

*Exactly two, that is. Russia of course has three, all of whom are rated higher than either of ours. But that's not the point!
hahaha

btw, does Svidler look like he has lost weight? He looks thinner to me than normal. Could be the camera angle though, but he looks like he's trimming down.

FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-30-2013 , 10:49 PM
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1719188

Can someone explain to me why Moro felt compelled to play 35 ... Qxc3? It seems unnecessary to me, but he must have had some reason for it.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-30-2013 , 11:04 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Melkerson
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1719188

Can someone explain to me why Moro felt compelled to play 35 ... Qxc3? It seems unnecessary to me, but he must have had some reason for it.
White played 35.Rc3 to block the black queen's access to the g7 square where white threatens mate. Capturing on c3 with 35...Qxc3 is black's best chance to continue the game, even though it's still losing. If black tried something else, say 35...Bxe6, then 36.Qxe6+ and in a few moves black will be mated regardless of where the king goes.

A sample variation would be 35...Bxe6 36.Qxe6+ Kg7 37.Qe7+ Kg8 38.Rf3 mating. Black's king has other moves, but all of those variations end similarly to that one.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-31-2013 , 02:03 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexAg06
White played 35.Rc3 to block the black queen's access to the g7 square where white threatens mate. Capturing on c3 with 35...Qxc3 is black's best chance to continue the game, even though it's still losing. If black tried something else, say 35...Bxe6, then 36.Qxe6+ and in a few moves black will be mated regardless of where the king goes.

A sample variation would be 35...Bxe6 36.Qxe6+ Kg7 37.Qe7+ Kg8 38.Rf3 mating. Black's king has other moves, but all of those variations end similarly to that one.
Thanks. Makes sense.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
05-31-2013 , 01:12 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexAg06
hahaha

btw, does Svidler look like he has lost weight? He looks thinner to me than normal. Could be the camera angle though, but he looks like he's trimming down.
Yes, he lost a considerable amount of weight. First noticed it at the Candidates.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
06-02-2013 , 03:03 PM
Kamsky won again today as white against Morozevich and has a half point lead with one round remaining. He has black against Caruana, who is currently a full point behind him and can catch up with a win. Dominguez Perez is currently one half point behind Kamsky and has white against Topalov tomorrow. Should make for a great finish.

Kamsky's performance rating as of right now is 2942 and he stands to gain 24 points. Geez.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
06-02-2013 , 08:26 PM
Wow, I've been really rooting for Kamsky (who turned 39 today) and Dominguez this tournament. Kamsky's win against Morozevich was amazing, he comments it on a press conference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snpadxlU6KI. It's gonna be an interesting last round.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
06-03-2013 , 09:57 AM
kamsky blundered bad today...wow
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
06-03-2013 , 01:39 PM
Ugh. Kamsky didn't even get a share of first. That sucks.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
06-03-2013 , 02:03 PM
Geez, no kidding, brutal finish for Kamsky after playing so well for nearly the whole tournament.

Lots of credit to Dominguez Perez for holding on. This has to be a great feeling for him.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
06-07-2013 , 02:22 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Army Eye
Interesting note on that game: all 32 pieces were still on the board when Chucky resigned.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1718727
Wow
He can tell the game is over with all pieces
I'm impressed hard to imagine


Zy
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote
06-07-2013 , 04:22 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zy_69_yZ
He can tell the game is over with all pieces
It's fairly straightforward, the c-pawn is attacked 3 times but only defended twice after the b6 knight moves, since the b-pawn will be pinned. White wins that pawn and Black doesn't even have any positional compensation, in fact it opens lines for White to attack too.
FIDE GP Thessaloniki Quote

      
m