World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk Round 4 game 1.
The World Cup is certainly tenser. Despite all three top seeds out by now, 13 of the 16 players left are 2700+. There's no easy prey and the margin between success and failure is small indeed.
As white against 7th ranked M.Adams (2729) Magnus was quite well prepared in the Nimzo-Indian opening.
(His second Kjetil Lie got to bed around 07:30 this morning and obviously did a great job again!)
After taking the pawn on c7 Magnus struggled with lack of development and coordination well into the middle game.
The computers disagree a bit on whether or not black has sufficient compensation for the pawn, but Magnus felt he was at least a little better most of the game.
When the position seemed a bit deadlocked around move 29, Magnus decided to regroup his pieces and give back the pawn. He was especially satisfied with 33.Rb1! and 35.Kg1!
Blacks position is playable for a computer, but for a human the bishop pair and weakness on b6 makes the defence very difficult.
Magnus managed to exchange rooks and win the b-pawn after which black is in real trouble.
Adams may not have found the best continuation and after 64.Bc1 white is winning.
Being down to 2 seconds on the clock on one occasion and below 10 seconds several times Magnus sure kept the spectators nervous, but he managed to find the right moves and make progress.
After 76 moves Adams resigned as the kingside pawns will fall and the king is too far way to save the game.
A great fight and seemingly another great game by Magnus, although he is not really sure about the quality of his play as he sometimes felt he was missing things.
Shirov continued to impress with a nice win as black against Akopian ,and Ponomariov is also looking very strong beating Sasikiran with the white pieces. The rest of the games ended drawn.
Magnus has 5.5/7 so far (plus the two rapid gains against Naiditsch) and a performance around 2850!
Lets hope he has some energy left for tomorrow as black against Adams.
Henrik Carlsen
Lommedalen, December 3rd, 2007
As white against 7th ranked M.Adams (2729) Magnus was quite well prepared in the Nimzo-Indian opening.
(His second Kjetil Lie got to bed around 07:30 this morning and obviously did a great job again!)
After taking the pawn on c7 Magnus struggled with lack of development and coordination well into the middle game.
The computers disagree a bit on whether or not black has sufficient compensation for the pawn, but Magnus felt he was at least a little better most of the game.
When the position seemed a bit deadlocked around move 29, Magnus decided to regroup his pieces and give back the pawn. He was especially satisfied with 33.Rb1! and 35.Kg1!
Blacks position is playable for a computer, but for a human the bishop pair and weakness on b6 makes the defence very difficult.
Magnus managed to exchange rooks and win the b-pawn after which black is in real trouble.
Adams may not have found the best continuation and after 64.Bc1 white is winning.
Being down to 2 seconds on the clock on one occasion and below 10 seconds several times Magnus sure kept the spectators nervous, but he managed to find the right moves and make progress.
After 76 moves Adams resigned as the kingside pawns will fall and the king is too far way to save the game.
A great fight and seemingly another great game by Magnus, although he is not really sure about the quality of his play as he sometimes felt he was missing things.
Shirov continued to impress with a nice win as black against Akopian ,and Ponomariov is also looking very strong beating Sasikiran with the white pieces. The rest of the games ended drawn.
Magnus has 5.5/7 so far (plus the two rapid gains against Naiditsch) and a performance around 2850!
Lets hope he has some energy left for tomorrow as black against Adams.
Henrik Carlsen
Lommedalen, December 3rd, 2007
Comments:
Posted by: Santa
Congratulations on Magnus's victory today! And Kjetil deserves some credit too, for his preparatory work.
A few comments:
"As white against 7th ranked M.Adams (2929) Magnus was quite well prepared in the Nimzo-Indian opening. "
A little typo there: Adams's rating is 2729 :)
"The computers disagree a bit on whether or not black has sufficient compensation for the pawn, but Magnus felt he was at least a little better most of the game."
Rybka always felt that Magnus had the advantage, due to his pair of bishops.
"Being down to 2 seconds on the clock on one occasion and below 10 seconds several times Magnus sure kept the spectators nervous, but he managed to find the right moves and make progress."
Yes, I was really impressed by Magnus's play under such tremendous time pressure. But fortunately for him Adams also had time pressure and made several weak moves that Magnus took advantage of. The game was probably lost anyway, but Adams made things a bit easier for Magnus.
A few comments:
"As white against 7th ranked M.Adams (2929) Magnus was quite well prepared in the Nimzo-Indian opening. "
A little typo there: Adams's rating is 2729 :)
"The computers disagree a bit on whether or not black has sufficient compensation for the pawn, but Magnus felt he was at least a little better most of the game."
Rybka always felt that Magnus had the advantage, due to his pair of bishops.
"Being down to 2 seconds on the clock on one occasion and below 10 seconds several times Magnus sure kept the spectators nervous, but he managed to find the right moves and make progress."
Yes, I was really impressed by Magnus's play under such tremendous time pressure. But fortunately for him Adams also had time pressure and made several weak moves that Magnus took advantage of. The game was probably lost anyway, but Adams made things a bit easier for Magnus.
Posted by: Yngvar Hartvigsen
Investigations so far seems to confirm that Magnus has Never lost a ratet tournament game (international or national) against an opponent younger than himself.
Your latest comment:
>Being down to 2 seconds on the clock on one occasion and below 10 seconds several times Magnus sure kept the spectators nervous, but he managed to find the right moves and make progress.
brings up another question:
Is it true (as I have heard) that Magnus has Never lost a tournament game on Time, including blitz games.
(over the board, not internet tournaments)?
yh
Your latest comment:
>Being down to 2 seconds on the clock on one occasion and below 10 seconds several times Magnus sure kept the spectators nervous, but he managed to find the right moves and make progress.
brings up another question:
Is it true (as I have heard) that Magnus has Never lost a tournament game on Time, including blitz games.
(over the board, not internet tournaments)?
yh
Posted by: Lars Olausen
Henrik!
This was exiting. I cross my fingers for tomorrow!
This was exiting. I cross my fingers for tomorrow!
Posted by: Jagadish
Its very exciting to see Magnus on the verge of reaching the round of 8. And even more amazing is that a draw is all he need. Of course, a draw against the Spider !
I feel Magnus, Mamedyarov, Aronian and a few others will take chess levels to 2800 + quickly. I mean they will be something like 2859, 2846, 2838 and so on :)
Winning this World Cup will be an early boost.
I feel Magnus, Mamedyarov, Aronian and a few others will take chess levels to 2800 + quickly. I mean they will be something like 2859, 2846, 2838 and so on :)
Winning this World Cup will be an early boost.
Posted by: Jagadish
By the way, does Adams have a wide white repetoire ? I've not followed Adams career too much, sorry.
Posted by: Paul Franklin
Hehe, Magnus indeed had some people lose their nerves when he was in time trouble today. So much more impressive that he found the moves to win today.
About my comment yesterday:
Of course, promoting chess would cut of Magnus' privacy, I agree. As far as posters, autograph cards, etc. go, I tink that would be possible without affecting him too much, and I think it would be good for his fans. You could e.g. offer some of these things over the web where people can purchase them.
Of course my comments are only meant in a positive way but if the result [of those things] would be that Magnus is not happy and/or losing focus, then of course they are not worth much.
So
I thank you for answering and thank you for writing this blog.
About my comment yesterday:
Of course, promoting chess would cut of Magnus' privacy, I agree. As far as posters, autograph cards, etc. go, I tink that would be possible without affecting him too much, and I think it would be good for his fans. You could e.g. offer some of these things over the web where people can purchase them.
Of course my comments are only meant in a positive way but if the result [of those things] would be that Magnus is not happy and/or losing focus, then of course they are not worth much.
So
I thank you for answering and thank you for writing this blog.
Posted by: Ole M. Persen
Magnus lost a tie break game vs. Aronian in Tripoli on time if I remember correctly.
Posted by: Yngvar Hartvigsen
To Ole M. Persen:
Thank you for answering.
You may very well be right, but when I check 4 websites giving running reports from Tripoli 2004, none of them mentions loss on time.
One said only "lost to", one said "ground down" while two states that Magnus "had to give in".
But surely Henrik will know this?
yh
Thank you for answering.
You may very well be right, but when I check 4 websites giving running reports from Tripoli 2004, none of them mentions loss on time.
One said only "lost to", one said "ground down" while two states that Magnus "had to give in".
But surely Henrik will know this?
yh
Posted by: Jon Kaare Myrene
I just have to say congratulations to a very strong performance... once again:-).
Ikke saa lett aa vaere turist i Tunisi om dagen, litt for langt mellom internett-cafeene...
Lykke til videre, dette lukter fugl!
Ikke saa lett aa vaere turist i Tunisi om dagen, litt for langt mellom internett-cafeene...
Lykke til videre, dette lukter fugl!
Posted by: Henrik C.
All,
thank you very much!
Yngvar,
Magnus lost on time against Korchnoi in Drammen 2004/5, although that was because he thought he had made 40 moves but still missed the 40th.
Ole,
I think you are right about Magnus losing on time in Tripoli , but the position was lost anyway.
In my understanding Magnus does not neccessary have full control when he is down to seconds left and still tries to calculate variations. The main reason for not losing more often on time is simply that he is seldom short on time and also that he seems to have good nerves and a clear mind in time trouble.
thank you very much!
Yngvar,
Magnus lost on time against Korchnoi in Drammen 2004/5, although that was because he thought he had made 40 moves but still missed the 40th.
Ole,
I think you are right about Magnus losing on time in Tripoli , but the position was lost anyway.
In my understanding Magnus does not neccessary have full control when he is down to seconds left and still tries to calculate variations. The main reason for not losing more often on time is simply that he is seldom short on time and also that he seems to have good nerves and a clear mind in time trouble.
Posted by: Ole Morten Persen
I just had to check to be sure, and he did lose on time vs. Aronian. It is on the Prince of Chess DVD. You are also right about the position being lost at that point of course, but technically he lost on time. And of course the loss to Korchnoi in Drammen as you mentions.
Anyway, great game today! What a lesson in the power of the bishop pair in endgames...! I can't but feel optimistic about Magnus' chances to go all the way. He just doesn't seem to get nervous in these kind of circumstances, which is just as important as other factors. Upon checking the draw, it is possible to get a Carlsen-Karjakin final...what a final that would be! But first...game 2 vs. Adams...:-) Good luck tomorrow, Magnus!
Anyway, great game today! What a lesson in the power of the bishop pair in endgames...! I can't but feel optimistic about Magnus' chances to go all the way. He just doesn't seem to get nervous in these kind of circumstances, which is just as important as other factors. Upon checking the draw, it is possible to get a Carlsen-Karjakin final...what a final that would be! But first...game 2 vs. Adams...:-) Good luck tomorrow, Magnus!
Posted by: Gegga
Kjetil A Lie (Magnus' second in WCC) writing about "a day with Magnus. In Norwegian...
Posted by: Gegga
And here is the link :-)
www.tyken.net/guestbook/guestbook.php
www.tyken.net/guestbook/guestbook.php
Posted by: Ramkumar
Go Carlsen Go. I was hoping you wd get Adams so that you can wipe him off. In my opinion, Adams is not really a 2700+ player. He is probably just lucky to be there.
The easiest opponent you could get in this round was Adams, and i'm glad you got it, so that you can proceed to the next round.
Next, i'd like to see you wipe off everyone else like aronian, svidler, topalov, etc.
Maybe Kramnik / Anand are a bit out of reach for you as of now, but if you can wipe out the others, it'll be real good.
The easiest opponent you could get in this round was Adams, and i'm glad you got it, so that you can proceed to the next round.
Next, i'd like to see you wipe off everyone else like aronian, svidler, topalov, etc.
Maybe Kramnik / Anand are a bit out of reach for you as of now, but if you can wipe out the others, it'll be real good.
Posted by: tor magne
wrong to say adams is bad
his score against kramnik on chessgames
+8 -7=23
topalov
+12-8=19
but he got bad score against kasparov
+2-12=8
anand
+6-26=39
and carlsen
+0-3=1
his score against kramnik on chessgames
+8 -7=23
topalov
+12-8=19
but he got bad score against kasparov
+2-12=8
anand
+6-26=39
and carlsen
+0-3=1
Posted by: Rob Vlaardingerbroek
Funny to see how some fans get a bit overheated every now and then ;-)
Never the less Magnus is on his own during the games, and he DID it.
Congratulations Magnus and on to Round 5. Impressive.
Best,
Rob.
Never the less Magnus is on his own during the games, and he DID it.
Congratulations Magnus and on to Round 5. Impressive.
Best,
Rob.
Posted by: Rob Vlaardingerbroek
Oops,
I amde a miostake in copying and pasting in my previous message.
It should start with:
Today I watched the games with a few pupils on a school.
We had a Magnus and Adams fans mainly, a bit more Magnus then Adams fans.
And then: Funny etc.
Best,
Rob.
I amde a miostake in copying and pasting in my previous message.
It should start with:
Today I watched the games with a few pupils on a school.
We had a Magnus and Adams fans mainly, a bit more Magnus then Adams fans.
And then: Funny etc.
Best,
Rob.
Posted by: Peter
Henrik you wrote:
"As white against 7th ranked M.Adams (2729) Magnus was quite well prepared in the Nimzo-Indian opening.
(His second Kjetil Lie got to bed around 07:30 this morning and obviously did a great job again!) "
What is Kjetil's role?
Does he look at the day's games to see if there have been an new variations of the Nimzo-Indian played?
What happens after 7:30 am? Does he wake up when Magnus gets up and then discuss what he has found during the night?
My basic request is: Could you please give us an outline of how Kjetil helps Magnus during a tournament.
Thanks, in anticipation.
"As white against 7th ranked M.Adams (2729) Magnus was quite well prepared in the Nimzo-Indian opening.
(His second Kjetil Lie got to bed around 07:30 this morning and obviously did a great job again!) "
What is Kjetil's role?
Does he look at the day's games to see if there have been an new variations of the Nimzo-Indian played?
What happens after 7:30 am? Does he wake up when Magnus gets up and then discuss what he has found during the night?
My basic request is: Could you please give us an outline of how Kjetil helps Magnus during a tournament.
Thanks, in anticipation.
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