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02-03-2015 , 07:12 PM

coon74

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Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 10,684

http://www.grenkechessclassic.de/en/

Quote:

Originally Posted by chess24

The 2015 GRENKE Chess Classic starts on Monday 2nd February and sees the first encounter between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand since their match in Sochi. The 7-round event also features world no. 2 Fabiano Caruana as well as Levon Aronian, Michael Adams, Etienne Bacrot, Arkadij Naiditsch and David Baramidze. Rounds begin at 15:00 CET [9:00 ET] from 2-9 February, with a rest day on 5th February.

(Funnily, 'grenki' means 'toasts' in Russian.)

Two rounds have been played, and so far the biggest news is that Caruana has drawn the two second rounds (vs Anand and Bacrot) and slipped into the 3rd place on the live rating list, leaving the 2nd place to Grischuk. In general, the only decisive game out of 8 has been Carlsen's rook endgame (who expected otherwise?

) victory over Adams.

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02-03-2015 , 07:45 PM

BobJoeJim

Tournament Director

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,200

Somewhat impressive start by Baramidze to have two draws, as the big underdog in the field. I wonder if failing to beat him might come back to haunt Bacrot or Aronian in the final standings, if they find themselves really wishing they had that extra half point?

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02-04-2015 , 02:40 PM

ScottTK

journeyman

Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 355

What a wacky opening choice by Carlsen today.

(Naiditsch-Carlsen)
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.a4 Nf6 6.h3 O-O 7.g4 e5 8.d5 c6 9.Nge2 cxd5 10.exd5 Bxg4?!

Last edited by ScottTK; 02-04-2015 at 02:42 PM. Reason: added diagram

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02-04-2015 , 05:34 PM

ScottTK

journeyman

Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 355

After apparently getting out of trouble, Carlsen went on to lose the endgame.

On another note, Aronian lost and is out of the top 10.

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02-04-2015 , 10:58 PM

A-Rod's Cousin

banned

Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 37,130

What happened to Aronian? Wasn't he like 2820 last year? Hookers and blow?

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02-06-2015 , 11:23 AM

networth

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Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 2,208

Quote:

Originally Posted by A-Rod's Cousin

What happened to Aronian? Wasn't he like 2820 last year? Hikaru and So?

Best I could do.

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02-06-2015 , 02:39 PM

A-Rod's Cousin

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Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 37,130

Just saw the Carlsen-Anand match on chess.com. Wow. Interesting match.

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02-07-2015 , 05:44 PM

Rei Ayanami

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02-09-2015 , 02:08 PM

BobJoeJim

Tournament Director

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,200

The last round is shaping up with a three-way tie-break looking like a legit possibility. If Carlsen and Naiditsch draw, and Caruana wins, it's chaos

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02-09-2015 , 03:11 PM

#10

TimTimSalabim

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Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 14,531

Bring on the blitz!

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02-09-2015 , 06:53 PM

#11

ScottTK

journeyman

Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 355

After two games of rapid (10|2) and two games of blitz (5|2), Carlsen takes it down in the armageddon.

Playoffs are exciting!

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02-09-2015 , 07:05 PM

#12

Rei Ayanami

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Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 11,685

+2, tourney win, -2.1 points. Standard Carlsen.

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02-09-2015 , 09:07 PM

#13

feedmykids2

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 4,527

lol, watching the tiebreaker stream was the complete nuts. Not only is blitz really exciting, but Nigel Short was drunk and Aronian was probably drunk, and Caruana was there for good measure. They weren't using engines (I guess you can't in blitz), and they were just like yeah I have no clue whats happening and Nigel would randomly yell CHECKMATE sometimes, Aronian was saying things like "c4 should always be played on the first move" and Caruana was like the serious one.

As a casualfan, best show ever.

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02-10-2015 , 03:11 PM

#14

TexAg06

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Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,475

Quote:

Originally Posted by feedmykids2

Wait, that really happened? hahahahaha so mad I missed it.

Quote

02-10-2015 , 04:05 PM

#15

TimTimSalabim

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Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 14,531

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexAg06

Wait, that really happened? hahahahaha so mad I missed it.

The tiebreak games went very late local time, so the commentators were drinking while Levon (who claimed he was sober) was randomly shouting out moves from the background. Not the most professional of broadcasts, but entertaining nonetheless.

You can watch it here:

http://www.grenkechessclassic.de/en/videos-en/7th-round

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02-10-2015 , 04:12 PM

#16

BobJoeJim

Tournament Director

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,200

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexAg06

Wait, that really happened? hahahahaha so mad I missed it.

Yeah, it was amazing. Here's the final Armadillo game, but really they were more amusing earlier in the rapid and blitz games.

Edit: Even better, that link brings you to a page that has all the games!

Last edited by BobJoeJim; 02-10-2015 at 04:15 PM. Reason: Bah, slow pony.

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02-10-2015 , 05:38 PM

#17

watergun7

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Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 2,796

Is that what you call it in the States? Armadillo? I thought it's always been called Armageddon.

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02-10-2015 , 05:47 PM

#18

BobJoeJim

Tournament Director

Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 11,200

Quote:

Originally Posted by watergun7

Is that what you call it in the States? Armadillo? I thought it's always been called Armageddon.

It's what Nigel Short called it in the video, thanks to the copious amounts of wine. I think I heard Aronian buy in and call it an "armadillo game" as well, later on.

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02-10-2015 , 09:23 PM

#19

A-Rod's Cousin

banned

Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 37,130

Yeah those are fun to watch. Those guys make it sound more exciting. Not that I need that to watch a match - as I watch a lot of matches - but it helps when Magnus "blundered" his Rook for me to hear how excited they are about it and help put the game into perspective.

I think my favorite video so far is that blitz game where Anand spent like 1:43 of his 5 minutes on the 4th move, then went on to win even though he was spotting his opponent a minute or so. The announcers were going nuts "make a MOVE, Vishy!" lol

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02-11-2015 , 05:49 PM

#20

watergun7

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Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 2,796

OK now it makes more sense.

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