The "Mega" is the database every serious chessplayer needs. The database contains 7.1 million games from 1500 to 2017, in highest quality standard, full of top level analyses and completely classified.
"I played badly, because I have not played since January 2017, because I dedicated myself to training the team of Turkmenistan full time," wrote Tiviakov.
"But Sergei", we protest, "sixth place in a tournament of 38 participants is not so bad is it?"
Regardless, he has sent us a selection of photographic impressions of the beautiful Italian island of Capri, and that we can appreciate all the same.
Sergei Tiviakov enjoying the wonderful views that the island offers | Photo: Sergei Tiviakov
One curiosity is why "Vladimir Lenin" has a tournament named after him. We assume it has to do with the story of Maxim Gorky and Lenin spending a season on the island together:
Gorky sets foot on the island of Capri in 1906. It's the beginning of a hectic life in exile. His house becomes something like a shelter and refuge for many Russian intellectuals after the failure of the revolution of 1905.
In 1908, Gorky's house, called "Villa Casa Rosa", is the scene of a game of chess between Alexander Bogdanov and Vladimir Lenin, the two aspiring leaders of the Bolshevik movement. History notes that Gorky is on the side of Bogdanov, who happens to be the "free thinker" within the party.
Bogdanov, Gorky (middle) and Lenin in April 1908
Update November 5: Although clearly they did play chess on Capri, the game below is apocryphal. See the discussion in comments, and original in the Links section.
It’s a problem every player encounters when he stands better in a game: how to convert his plus into a full point? In this DVD the author answers this difficult question of chess strategy, considering both the psychological aspects of the realisation of an advantage and the technical methods.
A year later, they open a school in which the spirit of non-dogmatic thinking reigns. Lenin refuses to be a professor there. From his exile in Paris, he attacked the Bolsheviks of Capri and opened his own school in Paris. As a consequence, the school in Capri closed its doors in December of 1909.
Half a year later, Lenin returns to visit Gorky on the island. He depends on him to some extent and seeks to resurrect friendship with the esteemed writer. Two weeks later, when he returns to Paris, Lenin could be happy with the result. And three years later, on November 9, 1914, Gorky also leaves the island of Capri, returning to Russia under an amnesty arangement. His departure marks the end of a utopian era, that remains connected to the island. "Gorky and Lenin in Capri" is the story of a dream dreamed by Gorky and many more Russian exiles for a season.
A precipice so precious can scarcely be found | Photo: Sergei Tiviakov
"Azzurro" (Adriano Celentano's version jumps into his ear when he sees the photo) | Photo: Sergei Tiviakov
What about the special sunset of Capri, already knew to Rudi Schuricke in his (German) song of the year 1943 "Capri-Fischer" | Photo: Sergei Tiviakov
Aleksandr Rakhmanov, the king of the tournament | Photo: Sergei Tiviakov
Marta Fierro occupied the fourteenth place and was the best scoring woman | Photo: Sergei Tiviakov
| # | Title | Name | FED | Elo | Points | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 |
| 1 | GM | Rakhmanov Aleksandr | |
2654 | 6 | 31.00 | 25.75 | 2397.00 |
| 2 | GM | Istratescu Andrei | |
2589 | 5.5 | 31.00 | 23.75 | 2400.00 |
| 3 | GM | Epishin Vladimir | |
2519 | 5 | 31.00 | 20.50 | 2412.00 |
| 4 | GM | Lazic Miroljub | |
2490 | 4.5 | 30.50 | 18.25 | 2368.00 |
| 5 | GM | Djuric Stefan | |
2385 | 4.5 | 30.50 | 18.25 | 2344.00 |
| 6 | GM | Tiviakov Sergei | |
2591 | 4.5 | 30.00 | 18.75 | 2051.00 |
| 7 | FM | Kozlov Gennady | |
2332 | 4.5 | 28.50 | 16.50 | 2244.00 |
| 8 | Gregori Giacomo | |
2227 | 4.5 | 24.50 | 13.25 | 2114.00 | |
| 9 | FM | Selbes Tarik | |
2330 | 4.5 | 24.50 | 13.00 | 2210.00 |
| 10 | IM | Bonafede Alessandro | |
2397 | 4 | 27.50 | 13.75 | 2298.00 |
| 11 | FM | Esposito Luca | |
2200 | 4 | 25.00 | 11.25 | 2206.00 |
| 12 | IM | Martorelli Antonio | |
2198 | 4 | 24.50 | 12.00 | 2169.00 |
| 13 | GM | Mogranzini Roberto | |
2501 | 3.5 | 30.00 | 13.75 | 2331.00 |
| 14 | IM | Fierro Baquero Martha L. | |
2367 | 3.5 | 27.50 | 10.75 | 2234.00 |
| 15 | FM | Lagumina Giulio | |
2241 | 3.5 | 27.00 | 11.25 | 2241.00 |
| 16 | Pisacane Pietro | |
2148 | 3.5 | 27.00 | 11.00 | 2243.00 | |
| 17 | FM | Caposciutti Maurizio | |
2342 | 3.5 | 25.50 | 12.00 | 2219.00 |
| 18 | Grasso Gaetano | |
2130 | 3.5 | 24.00 | 9.50 | 2141.00 | |
| 19 | Egli Urs | |
1996 | 3.5 | 21.50 | 9.50 | 2057.00 | |
| 20 | IM | Laketic Gojko | |
2368 | 3 | 28.00 | 10.00 | 2204.00 |
(Total 38 players)
The purpose of this DVD is to explain the viewer all main methods of defence: exchanging pieces, creating a fortress, eliminating dangerous enemy pieces, escaping the danger zone with the king, improving the position of the pieces.
Photos and information: Sergei Tiviakov
Text: Nadja Wittmann (ChessBase)
Translation from Spanish: Macauley Peterson
