August 14, 2010 • General
Hello to everyone out there in the wide world and on their computers with internet access. After the great swindle in round 2, I went into round 3 with White against Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen. Much like van Wely, Nielsen is someone whom I have run into a lot over the last year and a half. However, like van Wely, I’ve only played classical games against him here despite many rapid/blitz games. Although Peter is known as a very solid player, his main claim to fame is the preparation he has done with the current world champion, Vishy Anand. As such, his general opening preparation is always quite good and he doesn’t tend to lose very often. Therefore, I went into this game wanting to play something simple with a fair amount of play and simply see what would happen.
I opened with 1.d4 and Peter as he has done every single time we have played so far, (including blitz) chose to play the Queens Gambit Declined. Unlike the other games, I decided to play a main variation as I continued with 5.Bf4. Peter ended up avoiding all the particularly sharp variations and instead played 5…Nbd7 6.c5 Nh5 with the idea of eliminating my dark square bishop. After a long sequence of normal moves, the first critical position was reached after I chose 15.Bc2 avoiding a trade of light squared bishops. (Diagram 1)
This rather unorthodox looking move appears to drop material at first site after (15…bxc5 16.bxc5 Nxc5 however, I calculated that after 17.Bxh7 Kxh7 18.dxc5) the two knights are better than the two bishops. Nielsen played another fairly natural move in 15…Bc4 16.Qd2 Ra7 17.Ne5 axb4 18.axb4 bxc5 19.bxc5 Nxe5 20.fxe5 Be7 21.Rab1 Rfa8 22.Rb4 (Diagram 2)
Here the main idea for White is to try and double on the b file while either trying to get in Na4-b6 or Rb6 and Ba4 at some point putting a lot of pressure on the c6 pawn. Black on the other hand wants to try and exchange a set of rooks and eventually go Bd8-a5. Sure enough, the game continued with 22…Bd8 but here between a miscalculation and a move order mishap, I ended up playing 23.Ne4? in our post mortem we concluded that had I played 23.Reb1 first, the position is better for White as 23…Qc8 24.Ne4! Ba5 25.Nf6 gxf6 26.exf6 kh8 27.Qh6 Qg8 28.Rb8! wins and 23…Qe7 24.Bd3 gives White an advantage due to a favorable exchange of light squared bishops and continued pressure on the b file. Alas in the game, Peter played 23…Qe7 and what I miscalculated here was that 24.Reb1 loses to the incredibly annoying 24…Ba2! and I lose an exchange or a piece. After using quite a bit of time and being highly annoyed with myself, I played 24.Nc3 as its the only move which doesn’t lose material. 24…Ra3? Peter returns the favor. After 24…Ba5 the position is definitely equal if not better for Black. Nevertheless, sometimes it is hard psychologically to play a natural move when your opponent ends up wasting a move as you want to punish it. 25.Reb1! (Diagram 3)
At this point during the game, I realized that I had gotten lucky and figured that I was probably a bit better here. 25…g6 26.Ne4! dxe4?! The reason I only give this move as dubious as opposed to a clear blunder is that the line which Rybka prefers is something no human would play. (26…Qf8 27.Nf6 Bxf6 28.exf6 Bb5 29.Qf4 Ra2) with approximate equality. However, there is certainly still plenty of play and Black’s position is very passive. 27.Rxc4 e3 28.fxe3 Qg5 29.Bd3 h5 (29…Qh6 30.Qe2 Bg5 31.e4 Be3 32. Kg2 Rd8 33.Rbb4) is a better try than the game. 30.Rcb4! a critical move to try and force an exchange of rooks which will eliminate any potential threats on a1/a2. 30…h4 31.Kg2 Kg7 32.Rb7 Ra2 33.R1b2 (Diagram 4)
Here in bad time pressure Peter blows it with 33…Ba5? (33…Rxb2 34.Rxb2 Ra3 is a better try, but I still would have kept a significant advantage after 35.Rb7) 34.Qf2 (34.Rxf7 is probably winning too, but I could not see a clear win and was worried about some sort of tactic after (34…Kg8 35.Qe2 Rxv2 36.Qxb2 Qxe3) 34…Rxb2 35.Rxb2 Ra7 preventing an invasion on the 7th rank. 36.Qf4 Bd8 (36…Qxf4 37.gxf4) is hopelessly lost due to the weak c6 pawn. 37.Be4 h3 clear desperation in time trouble, but it is already pretty hopeless. (37…Qh5 38.Bf3 h3 39.Kf2) is also winning. 38.Kxh3 Qh5 39.Kg2 Qd1 40.Rf2 (Diagram 5)
1-0
Here Peter resigned as there are he is down 2 pawns and both c6 as well as f7 are weak. Overall I was pleased with the game, but I still should have played the correct move order with 23.reb1 first. Alas, a win is a win and I will move on and start preparing for rounds 4 and 5 and then enjoy a much needed rest day at the halfway point.
Hikaru
8.14.10
August 13, 2010 • General
Howdy to all the chess fans on there from Amsterdam on a very boisterous Friday night here!
Coming off my successful first round, I had Black against GM Loek van Wely in round 2. Oddly, despite seeing Loek at many tournaments, the only time we’ve actually played against each other at classical chess was here last year when we drew both
encounters. Over the years Loek has been an up and down player, but there is no disputing that with his deep theoretical knowledge, he can be a dangerous player against anyone. As such, I chose to avoid anything too complicated by choosing to play
into the Nimzo Indian in an attempt to keep the position relatively calm and simple. However, I did a 360 almost as soon as the game began when I tried to take advantage of what I thought was a miscue by Loek. Unfortunately, my judgement was simply
off and this led to me reaching a very unpleasant middlegame position where I was significantly worse. My problems were only exacerbated when I got into time trouble as well. It was at this point that I decided to make a practical decision and sacrifice two pawns and go into a rook and pawn endgame which gave me a chance to bail out. (Diagram 1)
Here in bad time pressure, I chose to play 34…Rb4. At this point, the position is probably losing, but (34..f4 35.Rd8 Kf7 36.Rd7 Kf6 37.h4!) should be winning but it gives me better chances. Loek continued with 35.Rd8 which despite picking up an extra pawn is actually less precise than 35.c6 Rc4 36. Rd8 Kf7 37. Rd7 Kf6 38.c7 when White is almost certainly winning the rook and pawn endgame. 35…Kf7 36.Rd7 Kf6 37.Rd6 Ke5 38.Rxa6 Rc4 39.Ra7 Kf6 40.Ra5 h5 (Diagram 2)
At this point, having reached time control, I was pretty miserable and assumed I was simply lost here, but I willed myself to keep on playing on the off chance that I could find a miraculous draw. 41.Ra6? This was the start of a plan which is probably winning, but gives me a lot of tricky options to complicate matters. 41…Ke5 42.Rg6 Rxc5 43.Rxg7 (Diagram 3)
During my very brief and shallow analysis of the position before time control, I thought that in this position I was very close to drawing if not in fact drawing after (43…h4, however after 44.Re7 Kf4 45.Re1 followed by Ra1, I am simply lost.) Therefore, I chose to play 43…Rc4 44.a5 Ra4 (Diagram 4)
Already, this position has become very tricky. Mainly due to the fact that White’s king is very badly placed. 45.h4?? In our post mortem after the game, we concluded that (45.h3 is probably the only definitive move which wins after 45…Kf4 46.h4! Rxa5 47.Kh2 followed by Rh7 is winning.) Another line which might win but is tricky is (45.Rh7 45…Kf4 46. h3 [46.Rxh5 Ra1 47.Kf2 Ra2 48.Kf1 Ra1 49.Ke2 Ra2 and the endgame is probably a draw.] 46…Kg3 47. Rg7 Kf4 48.Kh2.) 45…Rxh4 46.a6 Ra4 47.a7 Kf4 48.Kh2 Ra2 49.Rb7 Ra6 50.Kh3 h4! (Diagram 5)
51.Rh7 not (51.Kxh4?? Rh6 mate) 51…Kg5 52. g3 (52.Kh2 doesn’t work as I play 52…Ra1 and keep the king boxed.) 52…hxg3 53.Kxg3 Ra2 54.Rg7 Kf6 55.Rb7 Kg5 56.f4 Kh5 57.Rg7 Kh6! 58.Rf7 Kg6 59.Re7 Kh5 = (Diagram 6)
At this point the position is equal as White cannot prevent Ra3 and Kg4 giving up the f4 pawn. If White trades the a7 pawn for the f5 this leads to the well known Philidor position and a draw. The rest of the game was fairly uneventful and drawn 10 moves later.
So what to say about this game? It is quite clear that I got incredibly lucky, but it just goes to show that if you keep fighting and trying to make your opponents ojective of winning harder, sometimes they will in fact crack and blow it. In many ways the difference between being good and great is the ability to salvage every half point and make the most of your opportunities. Hopefully, having gotten some luck, I can now put together a string of some solid games and avoid reaching such precarious positions in the remaining 8 games. Enough drama for 1 day!
Hikaru
8.13.10
August 12, 2010 • General
Hello everyone! Greetings from sunny Amsterdam, Netherlands. After a fairly calm journey, I finally have had the chance to take in two days now and the weather as well as people have been nothing but curteous.
In the first round, I got White against GM Lubomir Ljubojevic in a repeat of my first round last year except with colors reversed. Ljubo somewhat surprised me by choosing to play the accelerated dragon once again. I chose to play a fairly passive and uncomplicated variation, but true to his style, Ljubo found a way to create quite a few complications. After the first series of fireworks, we reached a position where positionally I had an advantage due to an isolated d pawn, however Ljubo’s counterplay was almost certainly sufficient. Fortunately, all these many years of blitz paid off as I outplayed Ljubo in the mad time scramble which ensued and collected the whole point. Although I’m not particularly enthused by the actual game and my play in it, the result was what I was hoping for and coming off a three month hiatus from chess, it was a good way to shake off some of the rust! Stay tuned for more as I take on GM Loek van Wely tomorrow with Black.
Cheers,
Hikaru
8.12.2010
August 08, 2010 • General
Hello everyone and greetings from Irvine, California.
Although this is not the long and insightful blog which everyone was looking forward to after a very long hiatus of two months. However, I would just like to let everyone know that I have been busy between guest appearances at the Chicago Open, climbing peaks in Sequoia National Park and receiving the prestigious grandmaster of the year award here at the 111th US Open. I will attempt to recap everything that has been going on shortly, but I thought I would at least inform everyone outside of Irvine that I am still alive and will be blogging from Amsterdam once the Rising Stars vs Veterans event begins on Thursday.
All the best!
Hikaru
8.8.2010
May 30, 2010 • General
Hello to everyone once again. My apologies to everyone who has been eagerly awaiting blog entries for the past month. Without further ado, I shall attempt to communicate my thoughts on the 2010 US Championship, Saint Louis and the Chicago Open
here in Wheeling, Illinois.
Prior to the start of the US Championship I moved from Seattle to downtown Saint Louis. In retrospect, this decision was probably wrong, however it made a lot of sense due to my busy schedule which begins in July and doesn’t slow down until
February of 2011! At the current point in time, I am extremely happy with living in Saint Louis and it is a testament to the Midwest and Southern United States about how genuinely friendly people are. I can also not say enough about the great Thai,
Indian and Japanese restaurants which I have discovered. Overall, this move has been extremely beneficial for everyone involved except for the fact that I failed to win the tournament! However, I will now talk about this disaster!
Coming off the victory last year and all the hooplah of my moving into town, I knew it would be an uphill battle trying to defend my title this time around. The other huge issue was that I had only played in the Saint Louis Open since the end of January
(Corus). My pessimism was only increased when I drew the wrong color at the opening ceremony and got Black against GM Alex Stripunsky. Despite this, I got off to a strong (or lucky) start by beating GMs Stripunsky and Hess in the first two rounds. In
both of these games, I was in a bit of trouble but found a way to outplay both of my respective opponents. In rounds 3-5 I played Gms Kamsky,Onischuk and Shulman. These games were not too inspiring either as I played terribly against Gata Kamsky
and was clearly losing but found a way to salvage a draw. This was in a way balanced out when I missed a win against Yuri Shulman and drew that game as well. In round six, I played GM Jesse Kraai with White. After entering a queenless middlegame via
the Catalan, I found a way to trick Jesse in a rook and pawn ending and won a game which would have made Kramnik proud. This led to a big final round showdown where I needed to win or draw in order to make the quad final. Having Black against GM
and former US Champion, Larry Christiansen was going to be a challenge regardless of how I played. In a typical fashion, I forgot my preparation and this led to me being close to lost after 13 moves! Somehow I managed to suck it up and simplify it down
to a rook and pawn endgame where I was down one pawn. Despite Larry’s best efforts, I played the ending very precisely and drew the game which secured my spot in the quad final with GMs Kamsky, Onischuk and Shulman.
Prior to the start of the quad I was cautiously optimistic about my chances as I felt I had not played a single game of precise chess during the first seven games. The fact that I was even in the quad was a great feeling considering all of this. In the first
game, I obtained a small advantage against GM Kamsky, but underestimated his pawn sacrifice in the middle game which led to a sharp battle. In the end, we settled upon a repetition which left all four of us tied due to Alex and Yuri drawing their game
as well. In the second round, I felt that for the first time in the tournament, I was adequately prepared and ready to go all out against GM Yuri Shulman. Unfortunately, Yuri had am improvement over the Kasparov-Anand game in the same variation which
was roughly equal if not better for him. I found my way through the complications and the position remained balanced until I made a horrible miscalculation in the middlegame and my position fell apart. As I said in my postgame remarks, I simply felt that
my ability to calculate was off during the entire tournament, but I avoided any direct blunders which led to an immediate loss in other games. Alas, such is life! In the last round GM Alex Onischuk and I drew fairly quickly as neither of us was in a fighting
mood after our devastating losses the previous day. In all fairness, I thought it was a crime that Alex did not win the championship as he clearly played the best overall of the four of us in the quad final. However, in the end Gata was able to control his
nerves the best and won the title when he held the draw with Black in the armageddon game. My congratulations to Gata Kamsky on winning the title in 2010. However, I think that if all four of us from the quad final can play at a high level in the 2010
Chess Olympiad, we’ll have a great shot at winning the gold medal in Khanty Mansiysk this upcoming September.
I will add more thoughts in the upcoming days and weeks, but that’s all for now, folks!
