Even as I write these lines, the Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tournament has come to an end. It was a star-studded field with Carlsen, Caruana, Nakamura, Abdusattorov and Keymer, among others. The Indian contingent was led by Dommaraju Gukesh. The young FIDE World Champion had the baptism of fire in Weissenhaus Freestyle Grand Slam Tournament. Success eluded him there, with too many draws and losses to Carlsen and Firouzja. Sadly, history repeated itself, with both him and Praggnanandhaa finishing at the bottom of the score table.
However, it would be wrong to write off the sporting success of the pair as a fluke.
In the recent Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa shared first and second place with a score of 8½/13 (+5, -1, =7). Then they played a blitz match to resolve the tie. After both had drawn level with 1-1 score, Praggnanandhaa won the final game to claim first prize in this prestigious tournament.
After this game, both spectators and commentators said that Gukesh was lucky. However, as Anish Giri shows, nothing was so simple and Gukesh's victory was no fluke.
One game that deserved to be annotated in this issue was the final game of the tiebreak blitz match. I have done it for readers:
Gukesh Dommaraju's frustration after misplaying a drawn knight endgame | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes
An incredible game in which the loser deserves as much as the winner!
A Viktor Korchnoi special
This issue has a special feature on Viktor Korchnoi. There are 24 annotated games. His opponents include Fischer, Tal, Petrosian, Kasparov and Karpov, among others. I would have loved to see encounters with other great players like Spassky, Geller, Larsen and Portisch. In the MegaBase there are more than five thousand games played over a period of 70 years (1945-2015)!
Opening videos
There are 4 opening videos in this issue.
Michael Prusikin introduces opening traps in the French Advance Variation (C02).
1. e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5
In the second video, Surya Ganguly offers an introduction to a rare line in the Sicilian (B40):
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qe3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 (6…d5 among others is an alternative).
In the third video, Felix Blohberger offers a discussion of an unorthodox idea that defies White's options in both the regular Queen's Gambit and also the Queen's Indian (E10):
1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 h6!?
This is a kind of waiting move. If White plays 4.Nc3, Black replies with 4…Bb4, transposing to the Nimzo-Indian. One line ruled out for White is the Leningrad, as Black's 3…h6 move does not allow Bg5.
In the fourth video, Daniel King offers a demo lecture on an offbeat line in the Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation (D35):
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6.e3 h6 7. Bh4 Bb4!?
Take your pick.
Opening surveys
There are as many as 11 opening surveys ranging from the Italian to the King's Indian in this issue. I would first single out the survey on the 3…Nxe4 line in the Petroff Defence by Balász Csonka. His analysis is vindicated by a recent correspondence game:
Among others, the analysis of a trendy line with h4 against the Grünfeld by Sergey Grigoriants is of interest. Again, one can see how correspondence chess players pick up these ideas fast:
Besides opening surveys, this issue has standard features on tactics, strategy and the endgame.
In Practical Tips for the Tournament Player, Jan Markos offers a demo lecture on the slow manoeuvring play by Carlsen. A lesson on patience. Former World Champion Tigran Petrosian was a past master in "the art of doing nothing", as Harry Golombek used to call it. Carlsen has gone one step further.
A slow approach has a number of practical advantages: it exerts psychological pressure on the opponent who does not know when you are about to implement a concrete plan. In addition careful manoeuvring can help you to wait for the right moment to start activity. And last but not least, playing with patience can help you to gain an advantage on the clock!
Endgame play
In the regular column Fundamental Endgame Knowledge, Karsten Müller offers a demo lecture on knight versus bishop endings. He also analyses a number of rook endings in Korchnoi's games. The warlord was an authority on rook endgames, having authored a whole book on these endings, Practical Rook Endings.
One difficult theme in the endgame is the fortress. In the last issue, CBM 223, Dorian Rogozenco had dealt with queen versus rook and pawn endings. This time he offers a demo lecture on queen and pawn versus rook and pawn endings.
This section also offers a column, Readers Write, in which we find contributions on the endgame by experts like Zoran Petronijevic, Alex Fishbein, Wolfram Schoen and Rene Kalmes
Summing up
The main database of the issue has 209 games, of which 15 are deeply annotated. There is much else in this DVD that deserves to be explored. Apart from the players I have already mentioned, the commentators include Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa and Karsten Müller, among others. It may be noted that there are more annotated games in the opening and training sections of this issue. Well, practice makes perfect.
Note: The final moment of the Tata Steel tiebreaker blitz match may be seen in the official video at 1:06 - 1:13:
| Advertising |
.jpeg)
