Chess Is In A World of Trouble

Chess is in trouble.

I realize the Royal Game appears to be in its heyday, but circumstances can be deceiving. Many will scoff because Chess has been enjoying a period of incredible popularity recently, which has put chickens in the pots of many players the all over the world. Yet for several reasons there are storm clouds gathering. The pandemic caused many to spend much more time at home at a time when contact could be made with anyone in the world via the internet. When Viswanathan Anand became World Chess Champion

Anand won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000 for the first time after defeating Alexei Shirov in the final at Tehran, Iran. (https://www.indiatimes.com/others/viswanathan-anands-5-big-wins-25982.html)

it kindled a firestorm in India which brought untold millions into the game. Kenneth W. Gronbach is president of KGC Direct, LLC and author of the current book, “Upside: Profiting from the Profound Demographic Shifts Ahead“, which was recently released in April 2017. “A demographic winter refers to locations that are seeing significant declines in their birth rates, such as China, which has “changed from an aging country to an aged country,” he commented. In practical terms, this means more people dying than being born. India, on the other hand, has a growing populace and will likely be strengthened in the years ahead.” (https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2022-07-20-show/) There are many Chess teachers in the US who teach only Indian students. With Anand covered with FIDE slime, how long will that last?

One of the most pressing problems with Chess is FIDE, the world Chess organization, which is led by a Russian stooge, Arkady Dvorkovich, known as Mad Vlad Putin’s “lapdog.”

Is Putin a king maker for the World Chess Federation? (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-is-putin-a-king-maker-for-chess-federation/)

Former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand decided, for whatever reason, to join the ticket of current president of the World Chess organization, Arkady Dvorkovich,

Dvorkovich and Anand sending Vlad a signal? photo: FIDE

who is running for reelection. Anand, known as “Vishy”, had a stellar reputation while being admired and respected the all over the world. That ended immediately when he chose to join the nefarious Russians, who are performing genocide against a neighboring country as this is being written. The name “Anand” has now become besmirched the world over. Why would anyone in his right mind join the perpetrators of war crimes against civilians? Need I remind anyone the Russians are not only wantonly killing innocent women and children but also bombing their wheat fields! (https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/07/15/ukraine-farms-wheat-fields-russia-shelling-crops-fire-pkg-watson-lead-vpx.cnn) The wheat grown in Ukraine formerly fed much of the world, therefore Russia has, in effect, attacked the REST OF THE WORLD! Although not acknowledged, World War III has begun, thanks to the opprobrious Russians. And Vishy Anand has joined the villains.

World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/magnus-carlsen-to-give-up-world-championship-title

decided to give up HIS title and who can blame him? The title of World Champion most definitely does NOT BELONG TO FIDE. That particularly corrupt organization can bestow the title on anyone, as it has done in the past. It matters not who is called the “World Chess Champion” when every Chess player in the world knows the best player is Magnus Carlsen. Awarding the title to another player will only cheapen the title, which has lost much luster over the years as changes were made to the World Chess Championship match format. Former World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik

once said, when asked, the match for the World Championship should be at least sixteen games. Even with the souped-up heebe-jeeb games, played with little time, the match for the World Championship is not played with sixteen games. Frankly, the World Championship lost luster when the match began using quick-play games to decide the Championship. It has reached a point where the Championship is virtually meaningless. The WCC cycle went from three years to a two-year cycle. Why would anyone in their right mind want to spend six months preparing for the match and do it again in little more than a year? Why would the World Champ want to face a player he defeated handily after that opponent, the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi,

melted down during the last match. The candidates tournament that Nepo won in order to face Carlsen should not have been started. After it was stopped it was certainly a terrible mistake to resume the tournament after a lapse of one whole year. The next recently completed Candidates tournament was an unmitigated DISASTER! FIDE has egg, after it has been digested, all over their faces. Fact is, FIDE is covered head to toe in STUFF.
The World Chess Championship match has been a cash cow for FIDE, and you can bet your sweet bibby that, if reelected, Putin’s lapdog, the Dvork, and his second in command, Vishy, will milk that cash cow for all it is worth.

Younger people will ignore what I write because, well, you know, to them I am an old fogy. The thing about we “old fogies” is that we have been around awhile and have seen things change, sometimes in a heartbeat. I have written on this blog (or was it the forerunner, the BaconLOG? https://baconlog.blogspot.com/2008/07/) about how the game of Putt-Putt was once more popular than golf.

The players earned more cash playing Putt-Putt than did the golf professionals of the PGA (Professional Golf Association) because Putt-Putt was televised. Then the fad was over, in the beat of a heart. I have also written about how popular was Backgammon. (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/paul-magriel-r-i-p/) After hitting the road to play the best I returned home to find Gammons closed. The “boom” had ended. As I write this the once popular card game of Bridge is on life support because the players have grown old(er) and not been replaced by younger players. (https://www.plumasnews.com/is-the-card-game-of-bridge-fading/) The time to worry is not after interest wanes but when interest is booming, because when interest fades it is too late to do anything but cry in your beer.

2 Nf3 Versus The French

Decades ago when playing Backgammon professionally there was a story going around about the best player in the world, a fellow named “Ezra.” As the story went “Ezra” enjoyed spending time watching players new to the game. When asked why he would waste his time watching novice players yet to have found a clue the answer was he liked watched those new to the game because they had no preconceived ideas about how the game was played. For that reason I have always found watching the play of newbies interesting.

In the second round of the European Senior 65+ an unrated player, Ryszard Borowik faced class A player Roger S Scowen, rated 1864. The opening moves were 1 e4 e6 2 Nf3. Now, “Everybody knows” the best second move is 2 d4, because players are taught to “Control the center,” are they not? Playing 2 d4 has become de rigueur. Who checks to learn what the latest version of Stockfish plays on the second move? The AW, that’s who. I was shocked, SHOCKED, to see the version of Stockfish at lichess.com plays 2 Nf3.

Ryszard Borowik UNR vs Roger S Scowen 1864
European Senior 65+ (round 2)
C00 French defence

1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Qe2 dxe4 4. Qxe4 Nf6 5. Qh4 Be7 6. d3 c5 7. Nc3 Nd5 8. Qg4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bf6 10. Bb2 e5 11. Qe4 Nc6 12. O-O-O O-O 13. h4 g6 14. h5 Bf5 15. Qe3 Bg4 16. Qxc5 Bxh5 17. Qc4 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Bg5+ 19. Kb1 Rc8 20. Qe4 f5 21. Qc4+ Kg7 22. Qb3 Na5 23. Qb5 Nc6 24. Bc1 a6 25. Qb2 Bxc1 26. Qxc1 h5 27. Be2 f4 28. Rh2 Rf5 29. Bf1 Rg5 30. Bh3 Rc7 31. Qb2 Qd5 32. Bg2 b5 33. Qb3 Ne7 34. Kb2 Qc5 35. Bh3 Nd5 36. c4 Nb6 37. cxb5 axb5 38. Kb1 b4 39. Be6 Rc6 40. Bg8 Rc7 41. Rhh1 Qxf2 42. Rhf1 Qc5 43. Rd2 Qc3 44. Bh7 Qxb3+ 45. axb3 Kxh7 46. d4 exd4 47. Rxd4 Rg2 48. Rxf4 Rcxc2 49. Rf7+ Kh6 50. Ra7 Rb2+ 51. Ka1 Rxb3 52. f4 Ra3+ 53. Rxa3 bxa3 54. f5 gxf5 55. Rxf5 h4 56. Rf6+ Rg6 57. Rf3 Kh5 58. Rxa3 Rg3 59. Ra5+ Kg4 60. Ra6 Nd5 61. Rg6+ Kf3 62. Rd6 Nf4 63. Kb2 h3 64. Rh6 Rg2+ 65. Kc3 h2 66. Kd4 Ne2+ 67. Kd3 Ng3 68. Rf6+ Kg4 69. Rh6 h1=Q 70. Rxh1 Nxh1 71. Kc3 Kf4 72. Kd4 Rg5 73. Kd3 Rd5+ 74. Kc4 Ke4 75. Kc3 Rd4 76. Kb3 Kd3 77. Kb2 Rb4+ 78. Kc1 Ng3 79. Kd1 Rb1# 0-1
   https://live.followchess.com/#!european-senior-65-2022/2005571260

GM Mikhail Bryakin 2441 RUS vs IM Balazs Csonka 2496 HUN
Titled Tuesday intern op 12th Apr Early 2022

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Qe2 dxe4 4.Qxe4 Nf6 5.Qh4 c5 6.b3 g6 7.Bb2 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 10.d3 O-O 11.Nbd2 Nd5 12.Qxd8 Rfxd8 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.g3 1/2-1/2 (From the ChessBaseDataBase)

The programs frown on 3 Qe2, preferring 3 exd5, as in the following games:

Magnus Carlsen (2857) vs Julio Catalino Sadorra (2560)
Event: 42nd Olympiad 2016
Site: Baku AZE Date: 09/08/2016
Round: 6.12
ECO: C00 French defence
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.d4 Bd6 5.c4 Nf6 6.c5 Be7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Be3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 Ng4 11.Bf4 Re8 12.Be2 axb4 13.axb4 Rxa1 14.Qxa1 bxc5 15.bxc5 Bxc5 16.dxc5 d4 17.O-O dxc3 18.Bc4 c2 19.Qa4 Bf5 20.Nd4 Bg6 21.Nxc2 Re4 22.Bg3 Ne5 23.Bxe5 Rxe5 24.Ne3 Rxc5 25.f4 h6 26.Qb4 Nd7 27.f5 Bh5 28.Qd2 Qg5 29.Qd4 Re5 30.Qxd7 Qxe3+ 31.Kh1 Qc5 32.Qd3 Re3 33.Qc2 Qe5 34.Qd2 Kh7 35.h3 Qe4 36.Kg1 c6 37.Rc1 Qe5 38.Bf1 Rg3 39.Qf2 Qd6 40.Rc4 f6 41.Rxc6 Qxc6 ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=4009476

Vassily Ivanchuk (2704) vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (2714)
Event: SportAccord Blitz 2014
Site: Beijing CHN Date: 12/13/2014
Round: 1.8
ECO: C00 French defence
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.d4 Nc6 5.h3 Be6 6.Bd3 Qd7 7.O-O O-O-O 8.Nbd2 f6 9.Nb3 g5 10.Re1 g4 11.Nh4 Kb8 12.Qe2 Bf7 13.Bf5 Qd6 14.Bxg4 Nge7 15.c3 h5 16.Be6 Bg6 17.Nc5 b6 18.Nxg6 Nxg6 19.Qb5 Nh4 20.Kf1 Rh7 21.g3 Ng6 22.Bf5 Nce7 23.Bxg6 Nxg6 24.Re6 1-0
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=3921752

French 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3?

Meadmaker
Sep 10, 2009

So I decided to start learning an opening or two at some point, and decided the French Defense would be one I would try out.

The books all have it. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5

There’s an occaisional variation mentioned, but that’s the line the books say is the usual one.

When playing blitz on chess.com, the most common second move I see is Nf3. What’s up with that? Has some master found great success with that line, but my books are too old for it? I just bought a book on the French Defense. 269 pages of French Defense. I doubt I’ll ever slug my way through it, but I thought I would try really studying one opening in depth, and seeing where it leads. In all those 269 pages, published in 2003, they don’t even mention the possibility of Nf3, or bother telling the reader how to reply.

So, am I just running into lots of players who don’t know the “right” move, or has someone advanced some theory showing why 2. Nc3 is superior to what people did for the last 100 years? And is there a better response than d5?
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/french-1-e4-e6-2-nf3

World Chess Championship Candidates Biorhythms

I have previously written about biorhythms on this blog in a post titled, End The World Chess Championship Match NOW! (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2021/12/08/10063/) If you surf on over you will find this: “Below you will find the biorhythm of Nepo, who is in a triple low period approaching the bottom, where he will remain for the next week. Nepo’s biorhythms are about as bad as it gets, biorhythm wise.” If any member of the Russian ‘team’ had bothered to check Nepo’s biorhythms prior to signing the agreement to play the match they would not have allowed their man to play during such an adverse time, at least in regard to his biorhythms.

For those new to the blog, or new to biorhythms, the father of the love of my life was a Senior VP at one of the largest banks in Georgia. He gave me a book about biorhythms by Bernard Gittelson:

Kasutatud raamatud, Vanaraamat, teema: Eneseabi, psühholoogia …
vanaraamat.ee

He brought it to my attention because it featured the biorhythms of Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky during the 1972 match for the World Chess Championship.

https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/spasskyfischer.html

It was learned the Japanese take it very seriously, seriously enough to not allow pilots or bus drivers to work when having a physical critical day. After so doing the accident rate fell dramatically.

I once posted something about biorhythms on the United States Chess Federation forum for which I was excoriated unmercifully by the ignorant, nattering nabobs of negativism. One called it a “pseudo-science.” None of the nabobs knew anything about biorhythms, and were too lazy, or ignorant, to check into biorhythms, yet they were ready to condemn this writer for even bringing it to their attention.

From what has been learned over the last half century the most pronounced aspect of biorhythms is the physical aspect. Every two weeks a human body changes, going from a high to low phase, or low to high phase. Your body cleans itself and you began the new phase. From my experience changing from the high phase to the low phase is not a good day. Transitioning from a low to high phase is usually not as bad a day, but still, one can feel “out of sorts” or maybe feel “out of phase.” On the days one transitions from high to low physically it is best to stay home.

It is terribly difficult to quantify the intellectual and emotional aspects of biorhythms. It can be made more understandable if one keeps a record of how one feels each and every day and reviews it later. From a lifetime of following my biorhythms I have come to think of the emotional aspect as being different from the other two aspects because it seems better to be emotionally ‘low’ than ‘high’. Think of it as being “low key” as opposed to “high strung.” The thing about the emotional aspect is that if your long loving wife were to inform you she wants a divorce, it matters not where you are in relation to your emotional biorhythms. Whether on top of the world, or bottomed out, one would immediately have a bad day, unless, that is, you, too, were ready to end the relationship.

The biorhythms of the eight players follow. I considered writing a post prior to the start of the Candidates tournament, but changed my mind. After seeing such horrendous play during the first part of the tournament my thinking changed. The physical aspect is the blue line; red is emotional; and green designates the intellectual aspect of biorhythms. For those of you interested, and objective, enough to want to know more, please begin with the aforementioned blog post written during the ill-fated World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepo. I chose to use the date of June 26, two days from now, as the mid-point because it is the day the second half of the match begins. Rather than attempting an explanation for each of the players I have made the choice to let you review the material and come to your own conclusion(s), with one caveat. After reviewing each and every biorhythm of the players prior to the start of the tournament it was obvious Fabiano Caruana would have the best chart of the group, and therefore the best odds of winning the tournament. After comparing the charts of the players I believe even the “nattering nabobs” would be forced to agree with the statement that Caruana will again face Magnus Carlsen with the title of World Champion on the line, if, that is, Magnus decides to again defend his title.

Nepo slapp naumlega á móti Nakamura – efstur eftir 5 umferðir | Skak.is
skak.is

Ian Nepomniachtchi (born 14 July 1990)

Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992)

Hikaru Nakamura, photo: FIDE/Stev Bonhage

Hikaru Nakamura (born December 9, 1987)

Magnus on Richard Rapport: “His understanding of the game is just superb” | photo: Stev Bonhage, FIDE

Richard Rapport (born 25 March 1996)

An excellent game by Ding Liren. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Ding Liren (born 24 October 1992)

Pierwsza porażka Jana-Krzysztofa Dudy w turnieju kandydatów
flashsport.pl

Jan-Krzysztof Duda (born 26 April 1998)

A huge missed chance to score for Teimour Radjabov, photo: FIDE/Stev Bonhage

Teimour Radjabov (born 12 March 1987)

Firouzja and Caruana before their game. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Alireza Firouzja (born 18 June 2003)

How To Draw A Chess Game

Chess is a difficult game, and it has become more difficult to win as the players have become stronger. The best players of today are exponentially stronger than their predecessors, which is only natural because today’s players stand on the shoulders of those who played in the past. When one adds what the computer programs have brought to the game it is obvious the top players of today would crush the best players of yesteryear.

The following games were played in the eight round of the Superbet Romania GCT tournament today. I give only the final position of the games and the number of moves to show how hard and long these players fought trying to win:

GM Wesley So vs GM Alireza Firouzja after White’s 38th move 1/2-1/2 (https://live.followchess.com/#!superbet-romania-gct-2022/919461025)

GM Levon Aronian vs GM Ian Nepomniachtchi after 85…Kc7 1/2-1/2 (https://live.followchess.com/#!superbet-romania-gct-2022/-702608188)

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac after 56…Kxg4 (https://live.followchess.com/#!superbet-romania-gct-2022/-715444276)

GM Fabiano Caruana vs GM Richard Rapport after 51…Kxf5 (https://live.followchess.com/#!superbet-romania-gct-2022/-39248169)

Contrast these games with the three and four move draws consummated at the most recent tournament at the Charlotte Chess Center (https://wordpress.com/post/xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/11582).

There was one decisive game played at the Superbet tournament today:

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs GM Leinier Dominguez Perez 0-1 43 moves (https://live.followchess.com/#!superbet-romania-gct-2022/-90636053)

Was Daniil Dubov a Secret Agent?

When Norway’s Magnus Carlsen

https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-championship-2021-g11

clinched victory over Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi

https://www.chess.com/article/view/nepomniachtchi-what-went-wrong

it was revealed that Russian Grandmsaster Daniil Dubov

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/dubov-hits-back-at-accusations-of-betrayal

had once again been a key part of the World Chess Champion’s team of helpers. That saw instant criticism led by Sergey Karjakin, with Sergey Shipov adding that Dubov would “rightly” now never play for the Russian team again. (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/dubov-hits-back-at-accusations-of-betrayal)

In an interview journalist, and FM, Mike Klein asked Nepo the question:

Mike: Is he a double-agent? Is that what you’re saying?

Ian: No, I don’t know. I don’t think he’s a double-agent, obviously, but the results of his work were quite favorable for us.
https://www.chess.com/news/view/ian-nepomniachtchi-on-the-world-chess-championship

Hold on there, Nepo. If the results of his work were favorable why did you lose? Surely Mother Russia must have known Dubov was working with team Magnus because…

Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/sergey-karjakin-magnus-can-psychologically-crumble

was a citizen of Ukraine until relocating to Russia, the country with 175000 troops poised on the border of Ukraine as the world collectively holds its breath at the possible coming of World War III.

Karjakin infamously said, “Magnus “can psychologically crumble.”

What pluses and minuses do you see for both opponents?

“Magnus has more match experience, he’s a more balanced chess player, without visible flaws. He plays almost equally well positionally and tactically, in a dull endgame and in sharp attacking positions.”

“But he does have flaws. When he doesn’t like what’s happening in a tournament he can psychologically collapse, as my match against Magnus showed. He missed wins in two games, and then he started to play significantly worse. He can psychologically crumble if something isn’t going right — he loses confidence in himself and he starts to perform less well than usual.”
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/sergey-karjakin-magnus-can-psychologically-crumble

Nepo was asked, “Were you involved in any psychological preparation during this period?”

“I don’t really understand what psychological preparation means. If it’s needing to have the correct attitude within yourself, then I’ve been preparing since childhood.”

Do you consider the match against Carlsen the match of your life?

“I don’t know. That will depend on the result. After I play it, I’ll tell you.”

Are there nerves?

“Nerves, as a rule, are before the start. From experience I can say that you get them in the first round when you sit down at the board and don’t yet know what kind of form you’re in. In such cases you usually make 2-3 moves and then your body readjusts to its working mode. Nerves, it seems me, also go at that moment. No doubt there will also be nerves when the finish is approaching, but now, before it begins, it’s early to talk about that.”
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/ian-nepomniachtchi-the-result-is-much-more-important-than-the-prize

Let us be honest, Nepo cracked. Before the match everyone knew Nepo had a fragile psyche. The World Chess Champ put it best:

“We spoke a bit during these tournaments, but didn’t have much contact for years, until 2011, when we had a training session together. He was a lowly-rated 2700 player and struggled a bit to make it to the very top. He complained that he didn’t get enough invitations to the best tournaments, and felt that the players at the very top were not better than him. I told him that his problem was that he wasn’t disciplined. He had one good tournament, followed by two bad ones. He could start an event with three wins in the first four rounds, then in his fifth game he would not win a better position, leading to a collapse. A very moody player.”

Carlsen talks about their history and why Nepomniachtchi failed to break through.

As usual, Magnus is less filtered when speaking in his native language. On Nepomniachtchi’s biggest challenge in Dubai, he says:

“In Norway Chess he seemed very strong for the first 3-4 rounds, he had a small setback, and then he collapsed. That’s not something he can allow himself in a World Championship match. I am not going to fall even if I am hit in the face once. Perhaps that will be his biggest challenge, to handle the setbacks that will come, regardless of whether it’s a good position he fails to convert, or a game that he should have held to a draw but ends up losing, or opening preparation that goes wrong — that will be a huge challenge for him.”

The World Champion, who has reigned since 2013 and been the world no. 1 consecutively since 2011, doesn’t think Nepomniachtchi would have won the Candidates if the event hadn’t been split in two.

“Because he lost the last game in the first half of the tournament. He rarely plays well after having lost. Now he managed it eventually and has started to become more pragmatic.”

Carlsen says he considers Nepomniachtchi, the world no. 5, to be “a wild card” and still thinks the no. 3 Fabiano Caruana and no. 2 Ding Liren would pose a bigger challenge for him.

“I would say they are the best. I thought beforehand that anyone else would be a good outcome for me, and I still feel that way.”
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/carlsen-good-outcome-to-face-nepo-not-fabi-or-ding

The one word to describe Magnus Carlsen would be “consistent.” The word to describe Ian Nepomniachtchi would be “erratic.”

Maybe is Nepo had devoted more time to Chess and less to other interests the match result would have been different. Maybe…

Who is Ian Nepomniachtchi, the biggest nerd to ever …
[Search domain gamelevate.com] https://gamelevate.com › who-is-ian-nepomniachtchi
Beyond his excellent skills at the chessboard, Ian Nepomniachtchi is also notable for being the biggest nerd ever to challenge for the world championship title. The Russian has played Dota 2 in a semi-professional capacity around the time of its release and was heavily involved in the original Dota scene as well.

The Chess world needs to come to terms with the fact that the way a challenger is chosen has been corrupted by the Russians. Because the nefarious Russians control world Chess they managed to have a player who was not worthy play in the Candidates tournament. The Candidates match “wild card” 22-year-old Russian Kirill Alekseenko said, “The Candidates wild card should be abolished.” (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/alekseenko-the-candidates-wild-card-should-be-abolished)

Think about it for only a moment…If Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered Alekseenko to lose do you really think there would be any other result?

The fact is the Candidates tournament should not have been started during a pandemic. Then, after it had to be stopped, it should not have been resumed a year later. There has got to be a better way of choosing a challenger. How about a match between the second and third highest rated players? What about a double round robin between the top eight players; The Elite Eight?

Magnus Carlsen’s Biorhythms

Four decades ago a gentleman gave me a book

BIO-RHYTHM; A PERSONAL SCIENCE By Bernard Gittelson …
ebay.com

after informing me he found it interesting. Although skeptical one of the subjects was former American World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer, and just as Jack suspected, I was hooked.

Before the match began I had compared the biorhythms of both competitors, World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. From a biorhythm perspective I knew the games played this weekend would be critical to the outcome of the match. After considering writing a post, I decided against it because I once posted something about biorhythms on the USCF forum and was excoriated for so doing. After the post, Biorhythms of Magnus Carsen and Fabiano Caruana (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2018/11/07/biothythms-of-magnus-carlsen-vs-fabiano-caruana/) some questioned my sanity. The following charts are for December 5, 2021:

Nepo

Magnus

No Time For Armageddon

Armageddon
n
1.
a. Bible In the book of Revelation, the place of the gathering of armies for the final battle before the end of the world.
b. The battle involving these armies.

2. A decisive or catastrophic conflict.
   American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Armageddon)

Does anyone know who had the brain cramp responsible for producing the idea of an Armageddon Chess game? That must have been one hellofa seizure, with blood clots bursting like fireworks on the fourth of July. There has got to be a better way to determine a “winner” in Chess than the use of the abominable Armageddon game. The fact is that Armageddon Chess means one side can, and probably should, PLAY FOR A DRAW from the get go! In an attempt to decrease the percentage of draws the fools in power have actually INCREASED the chances of a draw! Makes one wonder why the general public considers Chess players to be “smart,” does it not?

The fact that the best human Chess players in the world acquiesce to being made to look clownish while denigrating themselves for money turns them into trained seals. Armageddon is only the symptom, not the disease. Having to resort to Armageddon is the beginning of the end for Chess. Anything would be preferential; even flipping a coin. It would be better to have the opening for each round chosen at random, thereby precluding players from being “booked-up” in their favorite opening as they would then need to know something about everything. MVL would look good when the Najdorf came up, but how would he fare if forced to play the Scandinavian? The players could play two games against an opponent, having white in one and black in the other, playing same opening. Sure, it might be difficult for a GM booked, err, programed up on Queen side type openings to be forced to play the move Bobby Fischer called, “Best by test,” 1 e4, but that is the point.

After that you will wonder why I am presenting the Armageddon game between Karjakin and Nepo played today. Answer is: It is a Bishop’s opening! “The truth as it was known in those long ago days.” If you still have a question punch and poke “Bishop’s Opening” into the box above and be amazed at the theory you will find that would have satiated SM Brian McCarthy, at least for an evening.

ruchess.ru

Karjakin, Sergey 2758 vs Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2792
Norway Chess Tournament
C24 Bishop’s opening, Berlin defence

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 a5 6. a4 Bb4+ 7. c3 Bd6 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Na3 Nbd7 11. Nb5 Bb8 12. O-O O-O 13. Bh4 h6 14. Re1 Re8 15. d4 e4 16. Nd2 Ra6 17. c4 dxc4 18. Bxc4 Bxc4 19. Nxc4 Qe7 20. d5 Qb4 21. b3 Ne5 22. d6 Nxc4 23. bxc4 Bxd6 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qg4+ Kf8 26. Rxe4 Rxe4 27. Qxe4 Bc5 28. Nc7 Bxf2+ 29. Kf1 Qd2 30. Qf3 Rd6 31. Nb5 Qb2 32. Nxd6 Qxa1+ 33. Kxf2 Qd4+ 34. Ke2 Qxd6 35. Qxb7 Qe5+ 36. Kd3 Qf5+ 37. Qe4 Qf1+ 38. Kd4 Qd1+ 39. Kc5 Qxa4 40. Qb1 Qa3+ 41. Kb5 Kg7 42. c5 a4 43. Qb4 Qb3 44. c6 Qd5+ 45. Kb6 Qb3 46. Kc5 Qe3+ 47. Kb5 Qb3 48. c7 Qd5+ 49. Qc5 Qd7+ 50. Qc6 Qc8 51. Kxa4 h5 52. Kb5 h4 53. Kb6 h3 54. g3 f5 55. Ka7 1-0
   https://live.followchess.com/#!norway-chess-2021/1592152566

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 (This is the main line of the venerable Bishop’s opening, an opening near and dear to my heart as everyone who has followed the AW knows. Nevertheless, if ever faced with the main line again the AW will play a seondary move (at least it’s in second place at 365Chess!) which again, will come as no surprise to regular readers, 4 Qe2! What can I say? I just love to see the look on my opponent’s face any and every time I move the Queen to e2! Insert excrement eatin’ grin here…) 4…d5 5. Bb3 a5 (The choice of StockFish, therefore, main line) 6. a4 6…Bb4+ (Again, the move of the Fish) 7. c3 Bd6 8. exd5 (SF 13 @depth 70(!) takes the pawn, but SF 14 @depth 41 castles) 8…cxd5 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Na3 Nbd7 (Although the most played, 14 games, move, and played by Houdini, SF 13 @depth 73(!) plays 10…Nc6; SF 14 @depth 37 plays 10…h6. There is only one game with this move shown the ChessBaseDataBase until one clicks on. Then digging deeper one finds five games in which both players were at least 2200+ and all were drawn. See Lu vs Yu from the 2020 Chinese Championship below. 10…Nbd7 has held white to 68%; White has brutilized 10…Nc6 to the tune of 75%) 11. Nb5 Bb8 12. O-O (SF plays 12 d4) 12…O-O 13. Bh4 (SF 13 plays 13 Re1; SF 290420 @depth 48 would play 13 Nd2, which would be a NEW MOVE!) 13…h6 14. Re1 Re8 (SF 13 plays 14…Ra6) 15. d4 (SF and Komodo agree that 15 Nd2 is the move)

Lu, Shanglei (2615) vs Yu, Yangyi (2709)
Event: ch-CHN 2020
Site: Xinghua CHN Date: 12/29/2020
Round: 10.5
ECO: C24 Bishop’s opening, Berlin defence
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 a5 6.a4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bd6 8.exd5 cxd5 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Na3 h6 11.Bh4 Nc6 12.Nb5 Bb8 13.O-O O-O 14.Re1 Ra6 15.h3 Re8 16.Rc1 Qd7 17.Bg3 Bf5 18.d4 e4 19.Bxb8 Rxb8 20.Ne5 Qe7 21.f4 Be6 22.c4 dxc4 23.Bxc4 Bxc4 24.Rxc4 Rd8 25.Qc1 Rb6 26.Nc3 Nxd4 27.Nxe4 Ne6 28.f5 Nd4 29.Qf4 Rb4 30.Rxb4 axb4 31.Ng4 ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=4277249

Lu, Shanglei (2619) vs Liu, Guanchu (2366)
Event: TCh-CHN 2016
Site: China CHN Date: 04/14/2016
Round: 3.6
ECO: C24 Bishop’s opening, Berlin defence
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 a5 6.a3 a4 7.Ba2 Bd6 8.exd5 cxd5 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Nc3 Ra5 11.O-O Nc6 12.Re1 O-O 13.h3 h6 14.Bh4 Re8 15.Qd2 d4 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Ne4 Qd8 18.Bxe6 Rxe6 19.c3 dxc3 20.bxc3 Bf8 21.Qc2 Rd5 22.Red1 f5 23.Ng3 g6 24.h4 Qd7 25.h5 Be7 26.Qxa4 1-0
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=3989798

Lu, Shanglei (2640) vs Liu, Guanchu (2459)
Event: ch-CHN 2018
Site: Xinghua CHN Date: 04/28/2018
Round: 10.2
ECO: C24 Bishop’s opening, Berlin defence
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 a5 6.a4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bd6 8.exd5 cxd5 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Na3 Nbd7 11.Nb5 Bb8 12.O-O O-O 13.Re1 h6 14.Bh4 Re8 15.d4 e4 16.Nd2 Ra6 17.c4 dxc4 18.Bxc4 Bf4 19.Bxe6 Raxe6 20.d5 R6e7 21.Nc4 g5 22.d6 Re6 23.Bg3 Nb6 24.Ne3 1-0
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=4113151

Klabis, Rokas (2251) vs Sulskis, Sarunas (2546)
Event: ch-LTU 2016
Site: Vilnius LTU Date: 05/05/2016
Round: 9.4
ECO: C24 Bishop’s opening, Berlin defence
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Bb3 a5 5.a4 d5 6.Qe2 (! AW) Bd6 7.Bg5 dxe4 8.dxe4 Nbd7 9.Nd2 Nc5 10.Bc4 h6 11.Bh4 O-O 12.Ngf3 Qe7 13.O-O Ne6 14.Bg3 Nh5 15.Bxe6 Bxe6 16.Nc4 f6 17.Nh4 Nxg3 18.hxg3 Bc5 19.Rfd1 Rfd8 20.Ne3 Qf7 21.b3 Kh7 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Nxd1 Qd7 25.Nf3 Bf7 26.Nc3 Kg8 27.Kf1 Kf8 28.Qd2 Qc7 29.Ne1 h5 30.Nd3 Bd4 31.Ne2 Ba7 32.Qc3 Kg8 33.Nb2 Kh7 34.Qd3 b5 35.Nc3 Qb6 36.Nbd1 bxa4 37.Nxa4 Qb5 38.Ke2 Be6 39.c4 Qb4 40.Qc3 Bd4 41.Qxb4 axb4 42.Ne3 g5 43.Nc2 Ba7 44.Nxb4 Bd7 45.c5 Kg7 46.Nb6 Be8 47.Kd2 1-0
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?back=1&gid=3991991&m=10

Lu, Shanglei (2615) vs Liu, Yan (2524)
Event: ch-CHN 2021
Site: Xinghua CHN Date: 05/08/2021
Round: 2.1 Score: ½-½
ECO: C24 Bishop’s opening, Berlin defence
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 a5 6.a4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bd6 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.O-O O-O 10.Nbd2 Bg4 11.Nc4 Qc7 12.d4 e4 13.h3 Bh5 14.g4 Bg6 15.Nfe5 Bxe5 16.Nxe5 Nd7 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Qe2 f5 19.f4 Kf7 20.c4 Nb4 21.c5+ Nd5 22.Ra3 Nf6 23.Bc4 Qd7 24.Rg3 Rh8 25.Qg2 Rh7 26.gxf5 gxf5 27.Kf2 Kf8 28.Ke2 Nb4 29.Rd1 Rd8 30.Rg6 Nbd5 31.Rg1 e3 ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=4286102

Lu, Shanglei (2624) vs Liu, Yan (2504)
Event: 18th Asian Continental
Site: Xingtai CHN Date: 06/10/2019
Round: 4.3 Score: ½-½
ECO: C24 Bishop’s opening, Berlin defence
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 O-O 7.h3 b5 8.Bb3 Nbd7 9.c3 a5 10.d4 a4 11.Bc2 Qc7 12.Bg5 Re8 13.Nbd2 h6 14.Bh4 Nf8 15.Nf1 Ng6 16.Bg3 Bf8 17.Ne3 Qb6 18.Nf5 c5 19.N5h4 Nxh4 20.Bxh4 Nh5 21.Nh2 Nf4 22.Bg3 Ng6 ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=4197862

Caruana Fires Qe2 at the Berlin Wall!

I give Fabiano Caruana

full credit for trying something considered different against the dreaded Berlin defense,

especially when the move was previously played by none other than Bobby Fischer!

In an article at Chess24, Superbet Chess Classic 5: Shakh attack!, by Colin McGourty, one finds: “The other games in Round 5 of the Superbet Chess Classic were all drawn, with Fabiano Caruana’s 8.Qe2!? against the Berlin Defence the only one that’s likely to be remembered.”

“Anish Giri

had in the previous round explained that his Chessable course on the Sicilian Dragon had come about through some desperate brainstorming over how to win on demand with the black pieces in the Candidates Tournament.”

Whoa! Let us stop right there in the middle of a well written paragraph by Mr. McGourty for some editorial comment. Anish Giri playing the Dragon?! ‘Back in the day’ it was said that books about the Dragon variation were, “written in disappearing ink” because the theory was rapidly changing. Isn’t “Giri” and “win on demand” with either color, but especially black, oxymoronic? Over at the ChessBomb this was found at the “chat” during the second round games:

bobp55: Done – 3 draws today so far. So that’s 8 for 8 in the tourney.
lentil: Amish Girl will always find the draw.
GiriWillFindTheDraw: of course he will (https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-grand-chess-tour-romania/02-Giri_Anish-Radjabov_Teimour)

Like it or not Mr. Giri has the reputation of being his generations Master of the Draw. The only thing Anish can do to eradicate the reputation is win the World Championship, as did a previous Grandmaster with a reputation as a drawing master, Tigran Petrosian.

Unfortunately, putting up the Berlin wall will do nothing to eradicate his reputation and the drawmeister.

We return to the paragraph by Colin: “Perhaps some similar logic had gone into a way to surprise someone in that most solid of all variations, the Berlin Defence. Just when queens were about to leave the board for the infamous ending, Fabi veered off course with 8.Qe2!?, a move almost 30 times less popular.”

The game can be found at Chess24, and a plethora of other websites on the web, so I will present other games to complement the Chess24 article. First we will begin with a picture of Bobby Fischer playing Neikirkh, at Portorož 1958, posted by Douglas Griffin @dgriffinchess at Twitter:

Fischer, Robert James vs Neikirkh, Oleg
Event: Portoroz Interzonal
Site: Portoroz Date: ??/??/1958
Round: 1
ECO: C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qe2 Nd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Qe3 Qxe3 12.Bxe3 Bb4 13.Ne4 Bf5 14.c3 Bxe4 15.cxb4 a5 16.bxa5 Rxa5 ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=2541935

Qe2 can and has been played on the fifth move:

Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2792) vs Radjabov, Teimour (2765)
Event: FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021
Site: chess24.com INT Date: 05/30/2021
Round: 3.12
ECO: C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Qe2 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Qxe5+ Qe7 8.Qa5 Qd8 9.Qe5+ Qe7 10.Qa5 Qd8 11.Qe5+ ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=4287585

Although played with much less time for the game at the Crypto (Didn’t that stuff kill Superman?) Cup, it would have fit right in at the Superbet what with the “New Rule” in place at this tournament:

To promote competitive play during all GCT events, it will not be permitted for players to offer or agree to a draw in any game of a 2021 GCT event, including playoff games. In the event of a claim for a draw under Article 9.2 of the Laws (three-fold repetition) or under Article 9.3 of the Laws (50 move rule), one of the Event Arbiters must be asked by the players to verify the claim.

As Mr. Mr. McGourty wrote earlier:

“That doesn’t stop draws by 3-fold repetition of the position, however, which is how all the games were drawn in Round 2.”

Giri is not the only Grandmaster who will find a way…

Here is another game, a real rarity, played with Oe2 on the fifth move:

Naiditsch, Arkadij (2727) vs Akopian, Vladimir (2681)
Event: World Teams 2013
Site: Antalya TUR Date: 12/02/2013
Round: 6.3
ECO: C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Qe2 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Qxe5+ Qe7 8.Qa5 Qd8 9.Qc3 Be6 10.Re1 Qd7 11.Ng5 O-O-O 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.d3 Be7 14.Nd2 Bf6 15.Qb3 Nf5 16.Ne4 Be7 17.Bd2 Qd5 18.Bc3 Rhe8 19.Re2 b5 20.Ng3 Nxg3 21.hxg3 Bf6 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Qc3 e5 24.a4 a6 25.axb5 axb5 26.Ra7 Kd7 27.Qa5 Rc8 28.Re4 Re7 29.Qd2 Rg8 30.c4 Qd6 31.Rh4 e4 32.cxb5 cxb5 33.Qa5 Rg5 34.dxe4 Rc5 35.Kh2 Qd3 36.Qe1 Rc2 37.Ra1 Qe2 38.Qb4 Qxf2 39.Qxb5+ c6 40.Qb7+ Ke6 41.Qc8+ Kd6 42.e5+ Kxe5 43.Rh5+ f5 44.Ra5+ Ke4 45.Rh4+ Ke3 46.Ra3+ Ke2 47.Qa6+ Ke1 48.Ra1+ Kd2 49.Qa5+ 1-0
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=3875034

Here is a game located at the ChessBaseDataBase, which is an even more rare event in the Berlin world, a win with black!

N. Illijan (2290) vs D. Sifrer (2240)

SLO chT 1993

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qe2 Nd4 9. Nxd4 Qxd4 10. h3 Be6 11. Rd1 Qc4 12. Rd3 Be7 13. b3 Qh4 14. Bg2 Bg5 15. Rd4 g4 16. Ba3 Rd8 17. Rxd8+ Bxd8 18. hxg4 h5 19. g5 Rg8 20. Bc1 Bxg5 21. Nd2 Bf4 22. Qf3 Bd5 23. Ne4 Bxe4 24. Qxf4 Rxg2+ 25. Kf1 Rg1+ 0-1
   https://database2.chessbase.com/

Now a couple of games found only after a trip in the Wayback time machine:

Mackenzie, George Henry vs Riemann, Fritz
Event: DSB-04.Kongress
Site: Hamburg Date: ??/??/1885
Round: 4
ECO: C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.O-O Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qe2 Nd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.c3 Qh4 11.Be3 Be6 12.Nd2 Be7 13.f4 Bf5 14.Nf3 Qh5 15.Qf2 O-O 16.h3 Qg6 17.Kh2 h5 18.Rad1 Rfd8 19.Bd4 Rd7 20.Rde1 Rd5 21.c4 Rdd8 22.b3 b6 23.e6 fxe6 24.Ne5 Qe8 25.g4 hxg4 26.hxg4 Bxg4 27.Rh1 Bf6 28.Nxg4 Bxd4 29.Qc2 Qh5+ 30.Kg3 Qf5 31.Qe2 Rd6 32.Rh5 Qxh5 33.Nf6+ Bxf6 34.Qxh5 Rad8 35.c5 Rd2 36.Re2 R2d3+ 37.Kg2 R3d5 38.Qg4 Rxc5 39.Qxe6+ Kf8 40.Kf3 Rh5 41.Qxc6 Rh3+ 42.Kg4 Rh4+ 43.Kf5 Rh5+ 44.Kg4 Rh4+ ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=2693274

Mackenzie, George Henry vs Berger, Johann Nepomuk
Event: DSB-04.Kongress
Site: Hamburg Date: ??/??/1885
Round: 6 Score: ½-½
ECO: C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.O-O Nd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Kh1 Be7 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Rd1 Qc4 13.Qe1 Rd8 14.Be3 O-O 15.b3 Qa6 16.Rxd8 Rxd8 17.Ne2 Bf5 18.c4 Qa3 19.Nd4 Bg6 20.f4 Bc5 21.Qf2 Bxd4 22.Bxd4 Bf5 23.h3 b6 24.Re1 Qa5 25.Rc1 Qa3 26.Be3 Qe7 27.g4 Be4+ 28.Kh2 c5 29.Re1 Bb7 30.Bc1 Rd3 31.Be3 h6 32.Qg3 Qd7 33.f5 Qc6 34.Qf2 Qf3 35.Qxf3 Bxf3 36.Bf4 Rd7 37.Kg3 Bb7 38.h4 Rd3+ 39.Be3 Kf8 40.Kf4 g6 41.e6 Ke7 42.exf7 Kxf7 43.g5 h5 44.Ke5 gxf5 45.Kxf5 Rd6 46.Kf4 Bc8 47.Rf1 Kg6 48.Kg3 Bf5 49.Bf4 Rd3+ 50.Kf2 Rd4 ½-½
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=2693289

https://worldchesshof.org/hof-inductee/george-henry-mackenzie

An Open Letter To Vladimir Putin

Mr. Putin,

Would you prefer to be called Vlad, or Impaler?

Now that one of your favorites, Ian Nepomniachtchi, has lost a game, while coughing his head off:

Coughing but winning: Russia’s ‘unwell’ Nepo destroys Chinese rivals & surges into World Chess Candidates lead
24 Mar, 2020 10:58
https://www.rt.com/sport/483928-world-chess-candidates-ian-nepomniachtchi/

and Alexander Grischuk has stated:

‘I don’t want to be here’ – Russian GM Grischuk asks for Candidates to be called off
https://www.espn.com/chess/story/_/id/28942387/russian-grandmaster-asks-chess-tournament-candidates-called-off

that leaves only one Russian player left attempting to hold up the ‘honor’ of your beloved Mother F’n Russia, your ‘boy’ Kirill ‘Shill’ Alekseenko,

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/alekseenko-the-candidates-wild-card-should-be-abolished

currently tied for last place, the ‘wild card’ who should never have been allowed to play in such a prestigious event. Even the young man, who stated,  “The Candidates wild card should be abolished”, knows he does not belong.

Of two other Russian players, Nepo, one is physically sick, possibly infecting the other players and officials as I write, and the other, Grischuk, is obviously mentally weakened, with the possibility of becoming a ‘basket case’.

Holding the tournament has done, and will continue to do irreparable harm to the Royal Game. By insisting the tournament be played you have greatly insulted Caissa. Your gambit did not work, Vlady.

Headlines such as the following have prompted emails from readers of this blog asking, “What is wrong with Chess?”

Players unhappy as Candidates chess continues

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/74781974.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

You, sir, Vlad the Impaler, are what is wrong with Chess!

Chess players have been taught by the famous example of former World Chess Champion Jose Capablanca

to immediately correct a weak move by returning the piece to the previous square. Holding the Candidates tournament during this time of crisis when every other game or sport has been cancelled was a mistake. Admit your mistake and give the order to your minion, FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich,

to END THIS FARCE NOW BEFORE IT BECOMES A TRAGEDY!

Every Picture Tells A Story, Don’t It?

Candidates Tournament opens as Kramnik says it should have been postponed

The 2020 Candidates Tournament was officially opened today in Yekaterinburg, though all 8 players exercised their right not to attend the ceremony to avoid any coronavirus risk. 14th World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik pulled out of commentary on chess24, telling us tonight, “I strongly believe the Candidates Tournament should have been postponed considering the nowadays disastrous humanitarian situation in the world.” The event will go on for now, however, and we have Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler joining for Round 1.

Is this the new normal? Ian Nepomniachtchi in a mask as the players inspect the venue | photo: Lennart Ootes, official website

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/candidates-tournament-opens-as-kramnik-calls-playing-now-humanly-wrong