World Blitz: The dance of the knights

Dubov 0 - 0 Nepomniachtchi

Six players are sharing the lead after 12 rounds in the open section of the World Blitz Championships: Magnus Carlsen, Vladislav Artemiev, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Alexander Riazantsev. The players in the leading group each scored 9 points, with Artemiev having the strongest start in Samarkand — the 25-year-old GM won his first six games on Friday.

Two more players — Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi — appeared as co-leaders on the Chess-Results website for a few hours, but then saw their scores being lowered by a half point once the Appeals Committee upheld the decision taken by the Chief Arbiter earlier in the day.

Master Class Vol.10: Mikhail Botvinnik

Our experts show, using the games of Botvinnik, how to employ specific openings successfully, which model strategies are present in specific structures, how to find tactical solutions and rules for how to bring endings to a successful conclusion

Dubov and Nepomniachtchi had played the following (knight) moves before agreeing to a draw in round 11: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Nd4 Nd5 3.Nb3 Nb6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Ne4 Ne5 6.Ng5 Ng4 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Ng1 Ng8 9.Nc5 Nc4 10.Na4 Na5 11.Nc3 Nc6 12.Nb1 Nb8 13.Nf3 ½ - ½

Nepo later posted a YouTube link to Sergei Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights. X’s user Normchess clipped the sequence and added the audio of the aforementioned allegro pesante:

Chief Arbiter IA Ivan Syrovy first informed of his decision to give 0 points to both contenders based on subsections 11.1 and 12.9.5 of FIDE’s Laws of Chess:

11.1. The players shall take no action that will bring the game of chess into disrepute.

12.9.5. Options available to the arbiter concerning penalties: reducing the points scored in the game by the offending player.

According to Syrovy, the moves played in the game demonstrate that Dubov and Nepomniachtchi had prearranged the result of the game. The players objected to the decision, which prompted a referral to the Appeals Committee. The Committee unanimously voted (3/3) to reject the appeal.

Once the decision was confirmed, Dubov and Nepomniachtchi were left with 8½ points each, and now belong to the 7-player pack standing a half point behind the leaders.

Co-leader Vladislav Artemiev drew both Daniil Dubov and Ian Nepomniachtchi on Friday | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

The Hong v. Yu controversy

Five rounds earlier, another dispute that was eventually resolved by the Appeals Committee delayed the start of round 7 by close to an hour.

On board 11, Andrew Hong lost on time in his game with white against Yu Yangyi. According to Hong, however, he had pressed the clock and the clock had malfunctioned.

After checking the clock and talking to both players — with Ju Wenjun serving as translator for Yu — the Appeals Committee took their time and eventually decided to keep the score as was originally established: i.e. a win for Yu. FIDE shared the letter of the Committee explaining their reasoning for taking this decision.

Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1 and 2

In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures.

One of the consequences of this dispute — perhaps the most relevant — was the fact that the games in the open section continued until around 10 p.m. in Samarkand. By the end of the day, the players looked exhausted. GM Àlvar Alonso Rosell reflected on X about the experience of playing 12 rounds of blitz (against top opposition) on a single day — with long waiting times between rounds:

It is mental hell to have to put up with such long waits (I speak from experience), and it leads to a drastic drop of quality in the games.

Notwithstanding the controversies, the participants will return to the playing hall on Saturday (one hour earlier than usual) to play 9 more rounds of blitz. In the day’s first round, MVL will get the white pieces against Carlsen.

Women’s world champion helping Yu Yangyi with the translations, as he and Andrew Hong explain what happened to the arbiters | Photo: FIDE / Anastasia Korolkova

Caruana 1 - 0 Sjugirov

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Caruana, Fabiano2794

0–1

Sjugirov, Sanan2703

FIDE World Blitz-ch Open 2023 Samarkand29.12.2023[Mueller,Karsten]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Bxd7+ Qxd7 7.0-0 Be7 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nc6 10.Be3 0-0 11.Rc1 Rac8 12.h3 a6 13.Qe2 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Qc7 15.b3 Qa5 16.a4 Rfd8 17.Rfd1 h6 18.Rd3 Nd7 19.Rcd1 Ne5 20.Bxe5 dxe5 21.g3 Rd4 22.Kg2 Bc5 23.Qf3 Rcd8 24.Ne2 Rxd3 25.Rxd3 Rxd3 26.Qxd3 Qe1 27.Qf3 Qd2 28.h4 Qc2 29.g4 Be7 30.Kh3 Qd1 31.h5 Qf1+ 32.Kh2 Bc5 33.Ng3 Qxf2+ 34.Qxf2 Bxf2 35.Ne2 Be3 36.Kg2 Bd2 37.Ng1 g6 38.Nf3 Bc3 39.Kf2 Kg7 40.Ke3 f5 41.gxf5 exf5 42.hxg6 f4+ 43.Kd3 Bb2 44.Nh4 a5 45.c5 Bd4 46.Kc4 Kf6 47.b4 axb4 48.Kxb4 Bf2 49.Nf3 h5 50.a5 h4

Breakthroughs and fortresses. Passed pawn are often dangerous in an endgame: 51.a6? The wrong order of moves. The direct 51.Nxh4 wins, e.g. Be1+ 51...Bxh4 52.a6 bxa6 53.c6+- 52.Ka4 Bf2 53.c6 bxc6 54.a6 Bb6 55.Kb4 Bf2 56.Kc4 Ba7 57.Kd3 Bf2 58.Ke2 Ba7 59.Nf3+- 51...bxa6 52.c6?! 52.Nxh4!? puts more pressure, but does not win due to Kg7 Of course not 52...Bxh4?? 53.c6+- 53.Nf3 Be3 54.Nxe5 Bd2+ 55.Ka4 Be3= 52...Bb6 53.Nxh4 Bd8 54.Kc5 a5 55.Kb5 Bc7 56.Kc5 Bd8 57.Kc4 Ke6 58.Nf5 Kf6 59.g7 Kf7 60.Kb5?

The wrong king direction. The king must wait with 60.Kc3 then Black cannot make progress, e.g. f3 61.Kd3 a4 62.Nd6+ Kxg7 63.Nb5 Kf6 64.Ke3 Ke6 65.Kxf3= 60...f3 61.Kc4 f2 62.Ng3 62.Ne3 runs into Bb6-+ 62...Kxg7 63.Kd3 a4 64.Kc3 Ba5+ 65.Kc4 Kf7 66.Nf1 66.c7 is met by Bxc7 67.Kb4 Kg6 68.Kxa4 Kg5-+ 66...Ke6 67.Ne3 Kd6 68.Kb5 a3 69.Kxa5 a2 69...a2 70.Kb6 a1Q 71.c7 Qb2+-+ 0–1

How to attack - principles of training

Most players prefer to attack rather than defend. But what is the correct way to do it? GM Dr Karsten Müller has compiled many rules and motifs to guide you, along with sharpening your intuition for the exceptions.

In a good mood — Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Magnus Carlsen and Laurent Fressinet | Photo: FIDE / Anastasia Korolkova

Standings after round 12

...206 players

All available games

Gunina leads with 8½/9!

While 13 players have either 8½ or 9 points (out of 12) in the open section, a player managed to get a 1½-point lead (after 9 rounds) in the women’s tournament. The ever-creative Valentina Gunina kicked off the event with 7 wins in a row, drew Harika Dronavalli and ended the day with a win over women’s world rapid champion Anastasia Bodnaruk to become the clear leader of the blitz competition.

Remarkably, Gunina came from playing 11 decisive games in the rapid championship, as she finished in seventh place with an 8/11 score!

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

Standing 1½ points behind the 34-year-old from Murmansk are five players: Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Harika Dronavalli, Anastasia Bodnaruk and Leya Garifullina.

Valentina Gunina | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

Not surprisingly — since this is a blitz tournament — Gunina showcased a sharp, tactical style throughout the first day of action. In fact, her two last wins of day 1, over Gunay Mammadzada and Bodnaruk, ended in checkmate.

In round 2, she defeated Indian rising star Savitha Shri in only 21 moves.

21.Qb3 — instead of 21.Qc2 — allowed 21...Nh4, with mate-in-two on the board. Capturing the knight gives way to mate on h2.

Savitha Shri ended the day with 4/9 points | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

Gunina’s final win of the day came after Bodnaruk neglected her back rank decisively.

An in-form Gunina — who, by the way, had a 1-minute advantage on the clock — quickly found 32...Rd1+ 33.Bxd1 Qd1#.

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.

Will she manage to make the most of her massive lead on Saturday? Tough opponents stand close behind, as eight more rounds of blitz await!

In the chasing pack — Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 9

...118 players

All available games

Links

• Full pairings and standings on Chess-Results: Open | Women’s
• Official site
• Caruana wins FIDE Circuit, second spot to be decided in Samarkand
• Everything ready for the start of the World Rapid and Blitz in Samarkand