 "Chess (#1061)")
VladimirKramnik clinically beat Dmitry Andreikin to win the World Cup. The former world champion won the first game of the four-game finals with a deep queen sacrifice. He held the draw twice and when Andreikin took risks, Kramnik gained the edge before offering a merciful draw in game 4.
Kramnik's victory returns him to #3 in the rating list with 2794 behind Magnus Carlsen (2862), and Levon Aronian (2813). Fabiano Caruana (2779) dropped to #5 behind Alexander Grischuk (2785) and ahead of Viswanathan Anand (2775). S Harikrishna (2709) is #35 and Parimajan Negi (2662) at #86 with S Sasikiran (2660) at #93. Andreikin has actually lost rating.
Kramnik, Andreikin,Vasily Topalov, Aronian, Sergey Karjakin and the loser of the Anand-Carlsen title match all make the Candidates. The organisers have one wild card. The eighth spot will go to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Grischuk or Caruana, depending on results of the last GP.
Predictions about the title match have started. Purely by rating formula, Carlsen should win by game 11 with a score of 7-4 so he's undeniably the massive favourite. However, match dynamics are different from rating calculation methods, where every game is assigned equal importance.
Elo is usually right about the winner in title-matches. In 13 matches since Elo was introduced in 1983, the higher-rated player won 9 times, with one tie. The three big upsets were Kramnik-Kasparov 2000, Kramnik-Topalov 2006, and Anand-Topalov 2010. But the the higher-rated player has often under-performed performance expectations.
The DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY, (Kramnik Vs Andreikin, World Cup Final Game 1, 2013) is seen as flat-equal by computers. In fact, subsequent play suggests that it almost won for white. Black lost without a major error.
Kramnik played 28.d5! exd5 29.exd5 Re8. The passive 29.-- Bd7 30. Qe4 g6 just leaves white on top. After the text, play is forced with 30.dxc6 Rxe1+ 31.Nxe1 Qc7 and the back-rank weakness allows 32.Rxb5 g6 33.Rc5 Ne5 34.Be4 Ng4 35.Nd3 Kg7 36.Bf3 Nf6.
Material equality here. But the c6 pawn is dynamite. Kramnik laconically described the win as "Exchange kts, force c7, the 2R Vs Q ending is winning. " He demonstrated it with 37.Nb4 h5 38.Rdc1 Ra7 39.Nd5 Nxd5 40.Bxd5 Qd8 41.c7 Rxc7 42.Rxc7 Qxd5.
Now the rooks hit pawn weaknesses, starting with f7. White's king is safe and he can gain multiple tempi by attacking the queen. Play went 43.Re1 Kh6 44.Ree7 f6 45.Red7 Qa5 46.f4 g5 47.Kh2 Kg6 48.fxg5 Kxg5 49.Rh7 f5 50.Rcg7+ Kf6 51.Ra7 Qb4 52.Ra6+ Ke5 53.Rxh5 Qb1 54.Ra5+ Kf6 55.Raxf5+ Kg6 56.Rfg5+ Kf6 57.Rb5 Qc2 58.Rh6+ Kg7 59.Rbb6 Qc5 60.Rbg6+ Kf8 61.Rh7 Qf5 62.Rgg7 Qe6 63.Re7 (1-0). The end could be 63.--Qd6 64. Rd7 Qf6 65. Rd8+ Qxd8 66. Rh8+ etc. Superb technique and even more incredible judgement.
Kramnik's victory returns him to #3 in the rating list with 2794 behind Magnus Carlsen (2862), and Levon Aronian (2813). Fabiano Caruana (2779) dropped to #5 behind Alexander Grischuk (2785) and ahead of Viswanathan Anand (2775). S Harikrishna (2709) is #35 and Parimajan Negi (2662) at #86 with S Sasikiran (2660) at #93. Andreikin has actually lost rating.
Kramnik, Andreikin,Vasily Topalov, Aronian, Sergey Karjakin and the loser of the Anand-Carlsen title match all make the Candidates. The organisers have one wild card. The eighth spot will go to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Grischuk or Caruana, depending on results of the last GP.
Predictions about the title match have started. Purely by rating formula, Carlsen should win by game 11 with a score of 7-4 so he's undeniably the massive favourite. However, match dynamics are different from rating calculation methods, where every game is assigned equal importance.
Elo is usually right about the winner in title-matches. In 13 matches since Elo was introduced in 1983, the higher-rated player won 9 times, with one tie. The three big upsets were Kramnik-Kasparov 2000, Kramnik-Topalov 2006, and Anand-Topalov 2010. But the the higher-rated player has often under-performed performance expectations.
The DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY, (Kramnik Vs Andreikin, World Cup Final Game 1, 2013) is seen as flat-equal by computers. In fact, subsequent play suggests that it almost won for white. Black lost without a major error.
Kramnik played 28.d5! exd5 29.exd5 Re8. The passive 29.-- Bd7 30. Qe4 g6 just leaves white on top. After the text, play is forced with 30.dxc6 Rxe1+ 31.Nxe1 Qc7 and the back-rank weakness allows 32.Rxb5 g6 33.Rc5 Ne5 34.Be4 Ng4 35.Nd3 Kg7 36.Bf3 Nf6.
Material equality here. But the c6 pawn is dynamite. Kramnik laconically described the win as "Exchange kts, force c7, the 2R Vs Q ending is winning. " He demonstrated it with 37.Nb4 h5 38.Rdc1 Ra7 39.Nd5 Nxd5 40.Bxd5 Qd8 41.c7 Rxc7 42.Rxc7 Qxd5.
Now the rooks hit pawn weaknesses, starting with f7. White's king is safe and he can gain multiple tempi by attacking the queen. Play went 43.Re1 Kh6 44.Ree7 f6 45.Red7 Qa5 46.f4 g5 47.Kh2 Kg6 48.fxg5 Kxg5 49.Rh7 f5 50.Rcg7+ Kf6 51.Ra7 Qb4 52.Ra6+ Ke5 53.Rxh5 Qb1 54.Ra5+ Kf6 55.Raxf5+ Kg6 56.Rfg5+ Kf6 57.Rb5 Qc2 58.Rh6+ Kg7 59.Rbb6 Qc5 60.Rbg6+ Kf8 61.Rh7 Qf5 62.Rgg7 Qe6 63.Re7 (1-0). The end could be 63.--Qd6 64. Rd7 Qf6 65. Rd8+ Qxd8 66. Rh8+ etc. Superb technique and even more incredible judgement.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player