Candidates Rd2: Three wins and the race is on

by Albert Silver
3/14/2014 – After a somewhat hesitant opening round, the second round clearly set the race in motion. The only draw of the day was Anand-Topalov, ending in bare kings, while Aronian was winning after 14 moves when Mamedyarov missed a tactic winning his queen. Andreikin lost to Svidler after a miscalculation, but the game of the day was Kramnik's impressive win over Karjakin. Report with GM commentary.

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The FIDE Candidates Tournament is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia). The first round will start on Thursday, March 13 at 3 p.m. local time, the final round is on Sunday, March 30, 2014. The event is a double round robin (14 rounds). The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 and 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 61.

The tournament will determine the challenger who will face the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen in a title match later this year. The prize fund is 600,000 Euros (= US $832,000), the first place 135,000 and last (8th) place 25,000 Euros.

Round two

Round two – 14.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Kramnik Vladimir
1-0
Karjakin Sergey
Svidler Peter
1-0
Andreikin Dmitry
Topalov Veselin
½-½
Anand Viswanathan
Aronian Levon
1-0
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

A nice shot of the stage and spectator area from behind the stage

After a slightly hesitant start in round one, in which Vishy Anand was only player able to break out of his shell ready for outright war, round two set the stage for open hostility by the other competitors.

It was both the longest game and the shortest

Topalov-Anand was a classic clash, in which the Bulgarian sidestepped the massive preparation he knew Anand would still have stored up from his World Championship match, and played a flexible Reti setup. This led to uncharted waters as of 7…Bd6. Black gave a pawn to complete his development and play against the fractured pawn structure, which was enough to keep the balance but no more. It is almost ironic that when they shook hands on move 54, with their bare kings, their game was the first to end, despite having the most moves played of all the skirmishes in the round.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Levon Aronian shake hands before the game

Levon Aronian had commented in the round one press conference after his loss that statistically he had a record for playing better after a loss, and he felt this. He quipped that he had might as well get it out of the way as early as possible. Still, even he could not have predicted what happened though, when Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, a great tactician in his own right, carelessly went astray in a Queen’s Gambit, and fell for a vicious tactic that lost his queen.

This was the position after Mamedyarov's ill-fated 13...Ne7?
White to play and win. (Answer below)

Aronian is already on the comeback trail

The conversion was far from straightforward, and the Armenian spent quite some time trying to cope with the winning, but very unorthodox position, causing his fans to worry whether he might fail to win, but he reeled in the point and self-fulfilled his prophecy.

Answer to position: After 14.Ne4!! dxe4 15.Nxe4 the queen is trapped with 15...Qh4 16.g3 Qh3 17.Nf2 and Black has nothing better to do than 17...Qxf1+.

Dmitry Andreikin chose the Sicilian Kalashnikov as his weapon of choice against Peter Svidler’s 1.e4, and seemed unprepared when Svidler improvised a novelty (13.b4) two moves after Black had entered a less travelled route with 11…Qg5. Andreikin failed to find the best continuation, and blundered with 22….Bd3 missing White’s zwischenzug 24.Nf5! after which he is essentially lost. Some precise calculation was required on Peter’s part, but he had seen it through and the game was over by move 31.

The post-mortem with Svidler and Andreikin

GM Alejandro Ramirez annotates:

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Andreikin, Dmitry"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2709"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 {The Kalashnikov is a rare guest in top level chess, and it is interesting that Andreikin is trying to make it work in such an important tournament. Svidler is well aware of the common plans, however.} 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Be6 (8... f5 {directly is another way of playing the position.}) 9. Be2 Bg5 10. Nc2 (10. O-O Bxc1 11. Rxc1 Nf6 12. Nc2 {is a more common continuation.}) 10... Bxc1 11. Rxc1 Qg5 { This queen sortie is uncommon and you could say we are out of common theoretical waters. The position is quite interestingly strategically. Black has gotten rid of a bad bishop on e7 and he has a small hold on d4 in case that the c2 knight moves away, but the bind created by the c4 and e4 pawns is hard to break. b5 will never be possible realistically so Black must resort to either maneuvering around the dark squares or pushing f5.} 12. O-O Rd8 {not a move that Andreikin wanted to play, but there was no choice with his queen already out on g5; someone has to protect d6.} 13. b4 Nf6 14. Qd3 O-O 15. Rfd1 Rc8 16. Nd5 b5 $6 (16... Bxd5 {eliminating this knight with the bishop is the obvious choice.} 17. exd5 $8 (17. cxd5 Nxb4 18. Qb3 Nxe4 $1 {A fantastic tactic.} 19. Qxb4 Nc3 20. Bc4 Nxd1 21. Rxd1 Qf4 $17 {The bishop and knight do not compensate for the powerful rook on the c-file as they have no space to maneuver in. After b5 the endgame will clearly favor Black.}) 17... Ne7 $13 { with mutual chances.}) 17. Qg3 $1 {A great move. White shatters Black's pawn structure in a Sveshnikov style, but in this case the f5 break will not bring as much counterplay.} Qxg3 18. Nxf6+ gxf6 19. hxg3 bxc4 $6 (19... Bxc4 $1 {was the lesser evil, but it was not so easy to see why.} 20. Bxc4 bxc4 21. Rxd6 Rfd8 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Ne3 Nxb4 24. Rxc4 Nxa2 25. Nd5 a5 26. Nxf6+ $14 {Black might be able to survive despite his ugly structure.}) 20. f4 $1 {Powerful!} ( 20. Rxd6 Rfd8 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 {brings White nothing.}) 20... f5 (20... Rfd8 21. f5 Bd7 22. Bxc4 $16 {crushes Black's position.}) 21. exf5 Bxf5 22. Ne3 Bd3 23. Bxd3 cxd3 24. Nf5 $1 {The beautiful point. This might have been what Andrekin missed.} (24. Rxd3 Nxb4 {can only favor Black.}) 24... e4 (24... f6 25. Rxc6 { is winning.}) (24... Kh8 25. Nxd6 Rc7 26. a4 {and the knight is lost anyways.} Rd8 27. Rxc6 $1) 25. Nxd6 e3 26. Nxc8 d2 27. Rxc6 e2 {Black's pawns seem threatening, but Svidler has it all under control.} 28. Rcc1 (28. Ne7+ {was also good.} Kh8 29. Rcc1 dxc1=Q 30. Rxc1 Re8 31. Kf2 Rxe7 32. Re1 Rb7 33. Rb1 Re7 34. a4 $18) 28... exd1=R+ 29. Rxd1 Rxc8 30. Rxd2 Rc3 (30... Rc1+ 31. Kh2 Rb1 32. Rd6 {is surely lost.}) 31. Rd5 {White's up two pawns and Andreikin didn't feel like testing Svidler's technique. The g3 pawn is poisoned as the king and pawn endgame is elementary.} 1-0

Karjakin found out why Kramnik is considered the foremost openings analyst of the day

The game of the day was unquestionably the battle of the Ks. 20 years back, a reference to the Ks was a clear and unmistakable allusion to the two greatest players of the day, but today it was a battle of generations between Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin. As guest grandmaster commentator, GM Rafael Leitão, notes "It is almost a general consensus among professional chessplayers that no one has better opening preparation than Kramnik."

GM Rafael Leitão annotates:

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2014.03.14"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "2787"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "GM Rafael Leitao"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2014.03.13"] {An excellent game by Kramnik, showing that he will once more be a serious top contender in the Candidates tournament.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Nb6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be3 Nb4 8. Be4 f5 9. a3 $1 {It is almost a general consensus among professional chessplayers that no one has better opening preparation than Kramnik. This is more than just a new move, it is a completely new direction he is taking in this opening. Until now, 9.exf6 had been played automatically.} fxe4 $146 {Objectively, this is the official novelty. There is one game on record in which 9...Nbd5 had been tried.} (9... N4d5 {is certainly a solid move, though White has the more comfortable position.} 10. Bf3 $14 (10. Bd3 Nxe3 11. fxe3 e6 {1/2-1/2 (30) Janczarski,M (2335)-Bartel,M (2273) Warsaw 2013})) 10. axb4 e6 11. Nc3 Bxb4 12. Qh5+ $1 {It is essential that White create weaknesses in Black's position.} g6 13. Qg4 (13. Qh6 {was also interesting.} Bf8 14. Qh3 Be7 15. Nge2 {with a clear advantage for White.}) 13... Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Qd5 15. Ne2 $16 {White's opening has been a complete success.} Bd7 16. O-O Qc4 17. Ng3 Bc6 18. Ra5 $1 O-O-O 19. Rc5 $1 (19. Rxa7 Na4 {is not clear.}) 19... Qb3 20. c4 $6 {I am unconvinced by this move.} ({After the perfectly natural sacrifice} 20. Rxc6 $1 bxc6 21. Nxe4 {Black's position would have been extremely difficult.}) 20... Kb8 {Quite natural though the engines point out an interesting resource for Black here.} (20... Rhe8 $5 {This is pure engine, since Black completely ignores the d4-d5 threat.} 21. d5 Nxc4 $1 22. Rxc4 Bb5 $1 (22... Qxc4 23. dxc6 Qxc6 24. Rc1 $16) 23. Rcc1 Bxf1 24. Rxf1 Qxd5 25. Rc1 {and White maintains the initiative.}) (20... Bd7 $6 21. Nxe4 Nxc4 22. Nd6+ Nxd6 23. exd6 c6 24. Ra1 $18) 21. Qxe6 Rde8 22. Qh3 Nxc4 23. Rxc6 bxc6 $2 {This is the decisive mistake.} (23... Nxe3 $1 {After this move, it is hard to prove an advantage for White.} 24. Nxe4 Qd5 $1 25. Qxe3 $1 {In practice, this is the most unpleasant move for Black.} (25. Rc5 Qxe4 26. fxe3 {White should still have a small edge, but considerably less than the pressure he exerted before.} (26. Qxe3 Qxe3 27. fxe3 Rhf8 $11)) 25... Qxc6 26. Rc1 Qb6 27. Nc5 $44 {This position is easier to play as White, though it is probably balanced.}) 24. Nxe4 $16 Nb6 25. Nc5 {Black's position is a nightmare, with a debilitated king and numerous weaknesses.} Qd5 26. Rc1 Ka8 27. Na6 $1 Kb7 28. Nb4 Qf7 29. Qg4 {Imprecise.} (29. Bh6 $1 $18 {[%cal Gh3a3] would have been deadly, opening the way for the white queen to attack on the queenside.}) 29... Nd5 30. Nxc6 Re6 $1 31. Na5+ Ka8 (31... Kb8 $1 {would have been more resilient.}) 32. Qe4 Rb6 33. g4 $5 {This move fits Kramnik's style perfectly.} ({It must be noted, for truth's sake, that} 33. Rc5 $1 {was possibly stronger.} c6 (33... Rd8 34. Nc6 Re8 35. h3 Qe6 36. Nxa7 $18) 34. Nxc6 Rc8 35. h3 Rbxc6 36. Rxd5 {with a crushing advantage for White.}) 33... h5 $2 {Surrender. There might have been some slim hope for Karjakin, but he would need to have found some extraordinarily difficult moves.} (33... Qe6 $1 {And now White would need to choose between two tempting continuations. Both lead to a clear advantage, but Black could still put up some resistance.} 34. Rc5 (34. Rxc7 Kb8 35. Rc5 Nf6 $1 36. Qf3 Qxg4+ 37. Qxg4 Nxg4 38. Bf4 $16) 34... c6 35. Nxc6 Nf6 $1 36. Qf3 Qxg4+ 37. Qxg4 Nxg4 38. d5 $16) 34. Rc5 Rd8 35. Nc6 $18 Rxc6 36. Rxc6 hxg4 37. Rf6 Qh7 38. Bg5 Qg8 39. Rxg6 1-0

Vladimir Kramnik was all smiles after the game

Curiously, Anatoly Karpov, one of the Ks alluded to above, went on record saying that he felt that of the two highest-rated Russian players in the tournament, Sergey Karjakin had the greatest chances. Obviously, they must have forgotten to send the memo to Kramnik. Nevertheless, a fantastic game showing that the Candidates tournament is well and truly underway.

About Rafael Leitão

Rafael Leitão is the top-ranked player in Brazil with 2645 FIDE, having won the Brazilian championship six times, the first in 1996, and the most recent in 2013. He is also the only Brazilian to have won World Youth titles, with gold in under-12 in 1991 and in the under-18 section in 1996. More information can be found at his official website.

GM Daniel King shares highlights of round two:

 

Games of the round:

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2785"] [BlackElo "2770"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Qc2 e5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. d4 Bd6 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 Bxe5 10. Qe4 Qe7 11. Nxd5 cxd5 12. Bb5+ Kf8 13. Qxd5 g6 14. Bd2 Kg7 15. Qxe5+ Qxe5 16. Bc3 Qxc3+ 17. bxc3 Be6 18. Ke2 Rac8 19. Rhc1 Rc5 20. a4 Rhc8 21. Ra3 a6 22. Bd3 b5 23. axb5 axb5 24. Rb1 Rxc3 25. Rxc3 Rxc3 26. Rxb5 Bc4 27. Bxc4 Rxc4 28. Kf3 h5 29. h3 Rc2 30. Rb1 Kf6 31. Re1 g5 32. Ra1 Kg6 33. Ra6+ f6 34. Ra4 h4 35. g3 hxg3 36. Kxg3 Rb2 37. e4 Rb1 38. f3 Rg1+ 39. Kf2 Rh1 40. Kg2 Rb1 41. Ra6 Kf7 42. Ra5 Kg6 43. Ra6 Kf7 44. Ra2 Ke6 45. Kg3 Rg1+ 46. Rg2 Rxg2+ 47. Kxg2 Ke5 48. Kf2 Kf4 49. Kg2 Ke5 50. Kg3 f5 51. exf5 Kxf5 52. h4 gxh4+ 53. Kxh4 Kf4 54. Kh3 Kxf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Andreikin, Dmitry"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2709"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Be6 9. Be2 Bg5 10. Nc2 Bxc1 11. Rxc1 Qg5 12. O-O Rd8 13. b4 Nf6 14. Qd3 O-O 15. Rfd1 Rc8 16. Nd5 b5 17. Qg3 Qxg3 18. Nxf6+ gxf6 19. hxg3 bxc4 20. f4 f5 21. exf5 Bxf5 22. Ne3 Bd3 23. Bxd3 cxd3 24. Nf5 e4 25. Nxd6 e3 26. Nxc8 d2 27. Rxc6 e2 28. Rcc1 exd1=R+ 29. Rxd1 Rxc8 30. Rxd2 Rc3 31. Rd5 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2830"] [BlackElo "2757"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nd2 c6 8. e3 Nf8 9. Bd3 Ng6 10. O-O O-O 11. f4 h6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. f5 Ne7 14. Nde4 dxe4 15. Nxe4 Qh4 16. g3 Qh3 17. Nf2 Qxf1+ 18. Kxf1 Nxf5 19. Qf3 Nd6 20. e4 f6 21. Bc2 Be6 22. Nd3 Nc4 23. Kg1 Bd6 24. Nf4 Bxf4 25. gxf4 Rad8 26. f5 Bf7 27. Qc3 Rfe8 28. Bd3 Nb6 29. a4 a6 30. a5 Nc8 31. e5 Ne7 32. e6 Bh5 33. Be4 Nd5 34. Qh3 Be2 35. Kf2 Bb5 36. Rg1 Kh7 37. Qa3 Bc4 38. Rg4 Bb5 39. Rg1 Bc4 40. Rc1 Bb5 41. Bf3 Nf4 42. Rd1 Kh8 43. d5 Nxd5 44. Bh5 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2014.03.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "2787"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "Robot 4"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Nb6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be3 Nb4 8. Be4 f5 9. a3 fxe4 10. axb4 e6 11. Nc3 Bxb4 12. Qh5+ g6 13. Qg4 Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Qd5 15. Ne2 Bd7 16. O-O Qc4 17. Ng3 Bc6 18. Ra5 O-O-O 19. Rc5 Qb3 20. c4 Kb8 21. Qxe6 Rde8 22. Qh3 Nxc4 23. Rxc6 bxc6 24. Nxe4 Nb6 25. Nc5 Qd5 26. Rc1 Ka8 27. Na6 Kb7 28. Nb4 Qf7 29. Qg4 Nd5 30. Nxc6 Re6 31. Na5+ Ka8 32. Qe4 Rb6 33. g4 h5 34. Rc5 Rd8 35. Nc6 Rxc6 36. Rxc6 hxg4 37. Rf6 Qh7 38. Bg5 Qg8 39. Rxg6 1-0

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Standings after two rounds

Schedule and results

Note: the games are played at 3 PM local time, which is 10 a.m. CET (Paris) and 5 a.m. EST (New York). Click here if you are uncertain what that means for your local time.

Round one – 13.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Andreikin Dmitry
½-½
Kramnik Vladimir
Karjakin Sergey
½-½
Svidler Peter
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
½-½
Topalov Veselin
Anand Viswanathan
1-0
Aronian Levon
Round two – 14.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Kramnik Vladimir
1-0
Karjakin Sergey
Svidler Peter
1-0
Andreikin Dmitry
Topalov Veselin
½-½
Anand Viswanathan
Aronian Levon
1-0
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Round three – 15.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Andreikin Dmitry
-
Karjakin Sergey
Svidler Peter
-
Kramnik Vladimir
Topalov Veselin
-
Aronian Levon
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
-
Anand Viswanathan
Round four – 17.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
-
Andreikin Dmitry
Karjakin Sergey
-
Topalov Veselin
Aronian Levon
-
Svidler Peter
Anand Viswanathan
-
Kramnik Vladimir
Round five – 18.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Andreikin Dmitry
-
Anand Viswanathan
Karjakin Sergey
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Svidler Peter
-
Topalov Veselin
Kramnik Vladimir
-
Aronian Levon
Round six – 19.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Aronian Levon
-
Andreikin Dmitry
Anand Viswanathan
-
Karjakin Sergey
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
-
Svidler Peter
Topalov Veselin
-
Kramnik Vladimir
Round seven – 21.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Karjakin Sergey
-
Aronian Levon
Svidler Peter
-
Anand Viswanathan
Kramnik Vladimir
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Andreikin Dmitry
-
Topalov Veselin
Round eight – 22.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Kramnik Vladimir
-
Andreikin Dmitry
Svidler Peter
-
Karjakin Sergey
Topalov Veselin
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Aronian Levon
-
Anand Viswanathan
Round nine – 23.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Karjakin Sergey
-
Kramnik Vladimir
Andreikin Dmitry
-
Svidler Peter
Anand Viswanathan
-
Topalov Veselin
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
-
Aronian Levon
Round ten – 25.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Karjakin Sergey
-
Andreikin Dmitry
Kramnik Vladimir
-
Svidler Peter
Aronian Levon
-
Topalov Veselin
Anand Viswanathan
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Round eleven – 26.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Andreikin Dmitry
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Topalov Veselin
-
Karjakin Sergey
Svidler Peter
-
Aronian Levon
Kramnik Vladimir
-
Anand Viswanathan
Round twelve – 27.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Anand Viswanathan
-
Andreikin Dmitry
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
-
Karjakin Sergey
Topalov Veselin
-
Svidler Peter
Aronian Levon
-
Kramnik Vladimir
Round thirteen – 29.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Andreikin Dmitry
-
Aronian Levon
Karjakin Sergey
-
Anand Viswanathan
Svidler Peter
-
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
Kramnik Vladimir
-
Topalov Veselin
Round fourteen – 30.03.2014, 15:00h (GMT+6)
Aronian Levon
-
Karjakin Sergey
Anand Viswanathan
-
Svidler Peter
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
-
Kramnik Vladimir
Topalov Veselin
-
Andreikin Dmitry

Playchess commentary

Date Round English commentary German commentary
March 13 Round Simon Williams/Chris Ward Oliver Reeh/Merijn van Delft
March 14 Round 2 Daniel King/Simon Williams Oliver Reeh/Karsten Müller
March 15 Round 3 Simon Williams/Irina Krush Klaus Bischoff
March 17 Round 4 Alejandro Ramirez/Simon Williams Klaus Bischoff
March 18 Round 5 Daniel King/Chris Ward Klaus Bischoff
March 19 Round 6 Alej. Ramirez/Parimarjan Negi Oliver Reeh/Merijn van Delft
March 21 Round 7 Simon Williams/Daniel King Oliver Reeh/Merijn van Delft
March 22 Round 8 Daniel King/Yasser Seirawan Oliver Reeh/Karsten Müller
March 23 Round 9 Simon Williams/Alejandro Ramirez Oliver Reeh/Merijn van Delft
March 25 Round 10 Daniel King/Simon Williams Klaus Bischoff
March 26 Round 11 Alejandro Ramirez/Irina Krush Klaus Bischoff
March 27 Round 12 Daniel King/Yasser Seirawan Klaus Bischoff
March 29 Round 13 Daniel King/Irina Krush Klaus Bischoff
March 30 Round 14 Daniel King/Yasser Seirawan Klaus Bischoff

Links

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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