Kavalek in Huffington: Carlsen, Azerbaijan

Carlsen Closer to Chess Crown, Azerbaijan Best in Europe

By GM Lubomir Kavalek

India is paying tribute to two great sportsmen. Sachin Tendulkar, 40, known as "God of Cricket," will retire after his last test match that started on Thursday. The world chess champion Vishy Anand, 43, is defending his title against Magnus Carlsen, 22, in his home city of Chennai. Anand made his task very difficult: after draws in the first four games, the Indian grandmaster blundered in two consecutive games and found himself down 2-4.

While Tendulkar's retirement made it to the front pages of American newspapers, the coverage of the chess match has been so far sporadic. The 5-foot-5 Indian cricket player, also called the "Little Master," began his wonderful career in 1989 at the age of 16. He played in 200 test matches and is considered cricket's best batsman.

Anand announced his arrival among the best chess players by winning the World Junior Championship in 1987 at the age of 17 and his collection of world titles is impressive and thus far unmatched. He won world championships in knockouts, tournaments and classical matches. He was also the world best in rapid and blitz play, and in advanced chess.

To overcome the deficit in the last six games against the world's top-rated Carlsen will not be easy, but Anand promises to do his best. The second half of the championship starts on Monday. It can be followed on the official site and other web sites such as ChessBase or The Week in Chess. We will have a wrap up after the match.

Azerbaijan wins the 2013 European Team Championship

The Azerbaijani team, led by the world championship candidate Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, was the only undefeated team of the competition that finished Sunday in the Polish capital of Warsaw. They drew four and won five matches, finishing with 14 points. Three teams, France (silver medals), Russia (bronze medals) and Armenia ended with 13 points.

Russia, the pre-tournament favorite and the top-rated team, surprisingly lost to Turkey and later to Armenia. France, leading throughout the event, lost to Russia in the last round. Altogether, 38 teams took part in the Open section.

Ukraine won the women's section with 15 points. Russia won the silver with a better tiebreak over the Polish women, both teams ending with 14 points.

Surprising knight retreats

We expect knights to be placed in the center of the chessboard. When they move backwards, specially to the edge of the board, something may get overlooked. Emmanuel Neiman & Yochanan Afek talk about it in their illuminating book Invisible Chess Moves, published by New In Chess. They say the backward knight moves are hardest to spot. The following three fragments could be good additions to their book. They were inspired by a game from Warsaw. The knights do the damage from a single spot – the square d8.

The first example is from the game between the Czech GM David Navara and the young Dutch GM Anish Giri.

The second example is from the 1998 Kettler Cup, a Scheveningen match between the USA and the Czech Republic, ending as follows: Kavalek 3.5/4, Yasser Seirawan 2.5/4, Zbynek Hracek 1.5/4, Jan Smejkal 0.5/4.

The last fragment is from a friendly match between the Czech Republic and Cuba, played before the Chess Olympiad in 1964. My opponent, Rogelio Ortega, who looked like the legendary blues guitarist B.B. King, won the Cuban championship in 1966.

Image by Anastasiya Karlovich

Original column here – Copyright Huffington Post

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