1/10/2019 – A few weeks ago we launched a reader poll with nominations for the best game, endgame and combination of 2018. The results are in! The "endgame of the year" was hotly contested, and best game of the year contest was virtually a dead heat. Games of Kramnik, Carlsen and Caruana were the top vote-getters in that category. But readers clearly felt that Ivan Cheparinov deserved to be recognised for the best combination of 2018 for his brilliant rook sacrifice way back in January at the Gibraltar Masters. Take a look...
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Best of 2018 (part 1)
At the outset, a small caveat: It became clear that some readers were confused by the current design of our polls — which looks a bit too much like normal links, and no confirmation step — leading at least a few to accidentally vote prematurely for the first item on the list. Nostra culpa! We'll take that into consideration when reviewing the results and improve the system for the future.
No amount of over-voting can undermine the result of our first reader vote, however...
Special attention will be paid to Intermediate Moves, Quiet Moves, Sacrifices on Empty Squares, Mating Patterns, Ignoring Opponents Threat, Calculation in Defence and Method of Comparison. Plus 50 interactive examples to test your knowledge.
This one is clear: Ivan Cheparinov's combination against Alan Pichot was judged as the best of 2018 by a plurality of the 246 ChessBase Account holders who voted.
Karsten Müller selected ten of the best endgames for our shortlist. This category was really close, with Nepomniachtchi vs Nisipeanu registering 22%, Carlsen vs Caruana notching 20% and Kramnik vs Caruana taking 19% of the total of 240 votes cast:
Poll results:
Endspiel/Endgame/Final
Nepomniachtchi-Nisipeanu
55
22%
Carlsen-Caruana
48
20%
Kramnik-Caruana
47
19%
Carlsen-Yifan Hou
24
10%
Grischuk-Caruana
15
6%
Karjakin-Kramnik
14
5%
Carlsen-Navara
14
5%
Korobov-Sutovsky
8
3%
Jakovenko-Fedoseev
8
3%
Giri-Caruana
7
2%
Given the propensity for the top choice to get a few extra clicks by accident, we're inclined to give the nod to the World Championship playoff duel. Replay all three below:
Rook endings are amongst the most frequently encountered endgames there are, and so your training effort will be quickly repaid in the form of half and full points. Knowing even a few rules of thumb and key methods makes life a great deal easier and provides a guiding light even in complex positions. This DVD focuses on the important themes which are to be found in common rook endings.
Mueller reviews the contenders in a special solo edition of Endgame Magic:
Caruana also features in a contender for the best game overall of 2018. But this one is truly too close to call. With 105 votes for Kramnik vs Caruana from the fourth round of the 2018 Candidates Tournament in Berlin, but 104 votes for Aronian vs Kramnik, we can only say for certain that Vladimir Kramnik "wins" the Game of the Year. His titanic, back-and-forth struggle with Caruana in Berlin was crucial to the course of the tournament. Caruana's win with Black propelled him into the clear lead. Kramnik's win with Black against Aronian was also played in Berlin.
Poll results:
Partie/Game/Partida
Kramnik-Caruana
105
26%
Aronian-Kramnik
104
26%
Hillarp Persson-Laurusas
91
23%
Ding-Duda
62
15%
Aronian-Mamedyarov
30
7%
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nf63.Nxe5d64.Nf3Nxe45.Qe2Qe76.Nc3Nxc37.dxc3Qxe2+8.Bxe2Nc6This position has an extremely high drawing
percentage.9.Be3Be710.0-0-00-011.Rhe1Bf612.Nd2Re813.Bf3Ne514.Bf4Kf815.Bd5c616.Bb3Bf517.h3g518.Bh2Kg719.c4g420.Ne4Bxe421.Rxe4Bg5+22.Kb1gxh3Safer and was better23.c5?!Bold but
dangerous.23.gxh323...f524.Rb4hxg225.Rxb7+Kh826.cxd6Nf327.Ba427.Bg1was Kramnik's original plan, butRe2is winning for black.28.Bf7Rd2or28...Nxg129.Rxg1Rxf230.Bc4Be329.Rxd2Nxd2+30.Ka1Rd8Black collects
the d6-pawn and then forces White to five up a piece for the g-pawn.27...Nxh228.Bxc6Rad828...Re4Caruana burned up several vital minutes trying to make this interesting move
work, e.g.29.Rg129.Bxe4fxe430.Rg1e3!is winning.29...Rae8was
what Caruana considered, but it's only equal.29.d729.Bxe8?Rxd6!30.Rd7Rxd1+31.Rxd1Nf1!and Black wins.29...Re230.Bxg2Rxf231.Bc6Ng432.Rxa7Ne333.Rg1Nachh6?33...Rxc2Black stands well,
e.g.34.Ba434.Rc7Bf6!35.Rc8looks strong, but actually threatens
nothing.Rxb2+36.Kc136.Ka1Rb4#36...Rxa237.Re1f4-+34...Rf235.a3Bf636.Rb7Nc437.Re1Kg7-+After the text the white pawns become very
dangerous.34.Rc7Kg735.a4Kf736.Bb5Ke737.a5Rf438.c3Kd639.Rb739.Rc6+Ke739...Rg440.Re1f441.a6h542.a7Ra8Still stronger was43.b443.c4z.B.Kc544.b4+Kxb445.Bc6+Kc346.Rc1+Kd443...h4Here Kramnik misses the strong
possibility44.c4?!44...h345.c5+Ke5Better was46.Rb8?Now, white gets into
trouble.46.Bc6e.g.h247.Rh1Rg1+48.Kb2Rxh149.Bxh1Nd1+50.Kb3f351.Bxf3Nf252.c6and the white pawns decide.46.c6h247.c7Rg148.Bc6could have led to an amazing draw, e.g.Rxe1+49.Ka2Nd550.Bxd5Kxd546...Rxa747.Rg8Bf648.d8QBxd849.Rxg4Bf6White is an exchange up, but the black pawns are more
dangerous.50.Rg6Rb751.Be2Rxb4+52.Ka2Nc253.Rc1Nd454.Bd3Ra4+55.Kb1Nb356.Re1+Kd557.Kc257.Rxf6Ra1+58.Kb2Rxe159.Kxb3h260.Bc4+Kxc561.Rf5+Kd462.Rxf4+Ke363.Rh457...Nd4+58.Kb1Nf359.Rd1a devastating blunder for Kramnik
in time pressure.59.Rxf6Nxe160.Bf1h261.Rh6still offered
drawing chances.59...Ra1+60.Kc2Rxd161.Ba661.Kxd1h2and White can't stop the
pawn from queening.61...Rd2+62.Kc1Bb2+63.Kb1Kxc564.Bb7Ne565.Rf6f366.Rf5f20–1
On this DVD Vladimir Kramnik retraces his career from talented schoolboy to World Champion in 2006. With humour and charm he describes his first successes, what it meant to be part of the Russian Gold Medal team at the Olympiad, and how he undertook the Herculean task of beating his former mentor and teacher Garry Kasparov.
IM Sagar Shah uses ChessBase 14 and a few tools at his disposal to try and find out if ...Rg8 by Kramnik was a brilliant novelty or careless preparation by Aronian
Check back tomorrow for a look at the "players of the year"!
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Videos by Nico Zwirs: Nimzo-Indian with 4.e3 b6 and Robert Ris: French Advance Variation with 6.Na3. Alexander Donchenko analyses his winning game against Fabiano Caruana from the Saint Louis Masters 2024. “Lucky bag" with another 43 analyses by Edouard,
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