Kings clinch gender match with a day to spare

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hi everyone,

Here is the chess news by Aviv Friedman from Saint Louis. With two rounds still to go, on a combative and draw-less day in Saint Louis, the Kings scored 3-2 both in the chess960 match and the rapid match, to secure the overall match victory. With only 10 possible points left in the kitty, today’s wins brought the margin between the two groups to a decisive 12 points. Just like in previous rounds, one could say once again that the final tally doesn’t fully reflect the positions the Queens have had in some of the games.

See how the chess960 position was determined for Wednesday’s match.

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GM Hikaru Nakamura continued his tour de force with two wins over GM Kateryna Lahno. The chess960 game was hard fought, and the tournament leader opined that he was worse,and had to come up with the exchange sac a-la-Pestrosian.

17.Re5!? completely changed the balance of the game, and maybe in hindsight black would have been all the wiser not to accept it, and instead concentrate on activating her pieces. The analysis engines liked the maneuver 17…Ra6! heading to c6, followed by …Bg6 and pressure on c2, giving the nod to black. Even after taking the offered exchange, black was fine, and even a lot more than fine, when white did not choose the best moves. Eventually the decisive factor was black’s severe time trouble, when in a slightly better position Lahno hung a rook and had to resign.

Game two showed an asymmetrical Pirc defense where, starting at the middle game, Nakamura impressively outplayed Lahno. He sacrificed a pawn and traded queens after which his active pieces and safer king guaranteed his advantage. After a few second-rate moves, white was facing a significant loss of material, gave up a piece instead and acknowledged defeat.

The first game between GM Ben Finegold and IM Irina Krush saw an early wholesale exchanges of pieces, and with a passed g-pawn and white double queenside pawns black, had nothing to complain about. At the critical moment of the game ...

... everyone expected the drawing line 28…Qxf5 29.Qxf5 Rxf5 30. Bxe5 dxe5 31.Rxg4 with a smile and a handshake. After spending much of her remaining several minutes, Krush went for the seemingly similar but very wrong 28…Rxf5?? 29.Qh8+ Qc8, but now instead of the expected simplification came the stinging 30.Ba7+, winning. Krush blurted out, “Oh my god,” played two moves out of inertia, but had to stop the clock. A tough loss indeed!

Krush got her revenge in the rapid game. She enjoyed a slight plus from the get-go and pushed for most of the game thanks to her pair of bishops and black’s weak a-pawn. At one moment, after white’s overcautious 25.g3, black had an opportunity to trade off one of white’s bishops and exchange his weak pawn on a7 for white’s b-pawn. That was his best chance to hold the position, and when the chance was gone, his position was beyond salvage.

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk had a 2-0 win against IM Jacek Stopa. Their chess960 game was a wild street fight, with both opponents trading punches. Black sacrificed a pawn to open lines in front of his opponent’s king, and Kosteniuk dynamically counter-sacrificed her king’s sheltering pawns to push the menacing black pieces back. In the heat of the battle, Stopa should have gone for a strong queen sac … 

… 20…Qxd5! 21.exd5 Bxe5 where the white pawns are blocked, and black has a lot of compensation. The actual game saw the opening of the position in white’s favor, and she finished in aesthetic style …



 

… 25.Rd8+! Kxd8 26,Qb8+ Kd7 27.Rd1 mate.

The second game was no joy either for the Polish IM. He once again tried his Sicilian Smith-Morra gambit, but didn’t get much for his pawn. He tried regaining his pawn for the cost of an exchange and some initiative, but black was in command of the game. In the diagrammed position time trouble reared his ugly head, and both sides missed a good chance …

 … 27…Nge5! simultaneously defending f7 and attacking f3 would have been hard to meet. Instead 27…Qxb2? was played, and had white played 28.Ra2! the battle would have started anew. White actually played 28.Rd1? and after 28…Nce5 white’s initiative had been squashed, and he had to resign only a handful of moves later.

Another 2-0 winner was IM Marc Arnold against IM Martha Fierro. Black’s over-provocative play in the chess960 game allowed white to build a very strong center, and a considerable space advantage. A petit combination earned him a pawn, while maintaining a large edge.

17.Nxd6+! cxd6 18.Qxd5 and white won easily.

The rapid encounter between the same two opponents saw Arnold playing his best game of the event. In a great version of a reverse Benoni, black answered white’s premature aggression 17.f4 with a shot of his own 17…g5!. We arrive at our diagrammed position after white, in an already worse position, blundered with 19.Qe2? …

… and black pounced with 19…Nxh2!. Perhaps white counted on the game’s 20.Bxc6 but after 20…Bxg3! white had to declare bankruptcy in a few more moves.

Finally the Kings’ last minute addition, 14-year-old local Master Kevin Cao, split the points with IM Anna Zatonskih. The first game was all Zatonskih, as when black castled too early, white gave a knight for some pawns, and a ‘traveling black king’ … 

… 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Qxa7!. White’s continuous attack bore further fruit in the shape of a minor piece, and black threw in the towel.

Cao evened the score in the rapid game. The opening did not hint at the final result of the game, as black was the one who came out of it smelling like roses. As a matter of fact … 

… 15…R8c8! should have been played, and the pressure against c4 and c2 was nearly winning. Our actual game saw several trades that led to a rook-plus-minor-piece endgame, where white had the better side of a draw. Zatonskih could have picked up a pawn, which would have forced white to give a perpetual check, but wanted more against her young opponent. Eventually we reached the following position. 

Surely the spectators, and also Zatonskih, must have assessed this as good for white, and so she opted for the losing 38…Nf5? 39.Bxf5 gxf5 40.Ke3 Kf6 41.Kd4 Ke6 42. Kc5 Kd7 43.Kd5 f6 44.a4 zugzwang, and white wins. Had she played 38…Nd5 she might have realized that black has little to fear.Thursday is the event’s last day.

 About The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.

Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit www.saintlouischessclub.org.  

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Nice videos: Nakamura and Robson win St Louis Exhibition chess matches

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everybody,

Hikaru Nakamura and Ray Robson won their matches held this week in Saint Louis, Missouri (USA). Nakamura defeated Ruslan Ponomariov in the last classical game to score 3.5-2.5, and won the rapid games 3-1. Robson defeated Ben Finegold 4-2 in the classical games and in the rapid he was the strongest with 2.5-1.5.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (USA) hosted two 10-game matches (6 classical, 4 rapid) from May 16 to 25, 2011. One was between Saint Louis Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, ranked No. 7 in the world, and GM Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine, ranked No. 11 in the world. The other was a match between GMs Ben Finegold and 16-year-old Ray Robson. 

The final press release had ‘Whirlwind Rapid Play Ends International Match’ as the headline. Tornado warnings sent the four grandmasters to the basement more than once at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis on Wednesday.

You can find more such great videos by Macauley Peterson at the official website link.

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www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com

Confessions of a grandmaster - the chess and weight connection

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everybody,

As you know, the very nice chess exhibition was organised in Saint Louis. Before we tell you all the results, here's a nice piece written by Grandmaster Ben Finegold after his not so nice loss to the 16-year-old Ray Robson. It's a cute piece. The fun part aside, it shows how important physical fitness is if you want to play top-class chess.

Confessions of a Grandmaster
By Ben Finegold, Grandmaster, special to the Beacon

The world did not end Saturday, but maybe those who were making predictions were just a little off. Perhaps their lines got crossed, and instead of "the end of the world will occur on May 21" they meant "Ben Finegold will lose his match on May 22."

When I lost to America's youngest-ever grandmaster, 16-year-old Ray Robson, in this week's international match, it made me think of one of my son's favorite laments: "What world do we live in?" I have decided to stop idly wondering and take some steps to proactively make it a world that works better for me.

I have a lot of bad habits (who doesn't?), and I decided Sunday night - after losing the last slow chess game in my match with young Robson - that I was going to make some changes in my life. What specifically?

• Spend more time studying/working on my chess game
• Lose weight (eat less of the wrong stuff and enjoy more of the right stuff and go to the gym more)
• Keep my home clean and my thoughts more clear

The most important decision was No. 2 on that list. I have had trouble with my weight, and this became more obvious during my chess match. My esteemed opponent is a tall, thin 16 year old. He is probably 5 foot 11 inches and 110-120 pounds. Conversely, I am 5 foot 8 and 315 pounds. Looking at the webcam and pictures from the match was quite disturbing, to say the least.

Now, I'm not making such rash life changes because it is the best thing for me. That would make too much sense. I decided to improve my life simply due to my suffering chess game. Chess is what I do best, and lately I have been playing poorly. About five years ago, I lost 100 pounds, and my chess rating soared. I went from about twenty-fifth rated in the U.S. to the top 10. I was playing and feeling great! Since then, I have gained all the weight back, and my chess has suffered. Now I am barely in the top 30. Enough is enough.

My birthday is Sept. 6. I will lose 50 pounds by then, and another 50 by the year's end. And that is just the beginning. Why all the fuss? Let's have a look at the sixth match game played Sunday.

****
Will my chess improve as my health gets better and my weight decreases? Only time will tell.

We wish him the best with his goals and all of you who are inspired to set similar goals! Don't forget to share you experiments with us.

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Cool chess videos - Game 1 & 2 Interviews from Saint Louis Special Matches with Ponomariov, Nakamura, Finegold, Robson

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hello everyone,


Enjoy your Sunday with some nice videos from Saint Louis.


The first-ever international match at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis features GM Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine against GM Hikaru Nakamura of Saint Louis and the Chess Club's Resident GM Ben Finegold against sixteen-year-old GM Ray Robson of Florida. The matches take place May 17-25. Here are the videos. 








You can follow a live feed of the matches at this link.

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

Exhibition Chess Match in Saint Louis - Ponomariov, Robson win first games

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011

Hello everyone,

The first-ever international match at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, being held from May 17-25, features GM Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine against GM Hikaru Nakamura of Saint Louis. The Chess Club’s Resident GM Ben Finegold is also taking on 16-year-old GM Ray Robson, of Florida. Each match consists of six games played with a classical time control and four rapid games.

After the drawing of the colors (determined by colored pens in a wooden box), the four grandmasters answered questions at a "virtual press conference" which fielded online questions from around the world. Nakamura revealed that in the past he had played more on the Internet than classical chess. He said good things happen when a person studies “instead of playing stupid blitz games.” Players would not hold back on any “novelties” during match play, and with research and computer engines, a player has to use a novelty when given the chance. Ponomariov said he would play his normal openings “and not hold back.”

Robson pointed out he did not have much time to prepare for Finegold, as the teen was a late replacement last week for legendary GM Viktor Korchnoi. Robson also said he has not often played under a match setup and said he remembered playing Finegold only once. Showing the wit for which he is known, Finegold pointed out the ages of the other three people at the table did not add up to that of Korchnoi, his original opponent. Here are the first two games. Enjoy. You can access the official website here. 

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com