 "Chess (#1224)")
The blitz battle between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura at the Internet Chess Club (chess.com) was fascinating. Carlsen is #2 on the blitz rating list, behind Ding Liren. Nakamura is #3.
The format mimics "normal" club play. They played one set at 5 minutes with 2 seconds increment per move, the next set at 3 minutes with 2 seconds increment, and a final set at 1 minute plus 1 second. Each segment lasted an hour with new games starting (colours reversed) the instant a game finished. Every set starts with some chess960 randomised positions (the players don't know in advance what the C960 set up will be).
Any game with increments can last an indeterminate time and of course, game lengths vary. So, the number of games played per set can vary a lot. Carlsen won the 5-minute set with 5.5-3.5 to take the lead. He increased the lead by winning the 3-minute set by 5-2 (yes, these games lasted longer than the 5 minute sets). In the bullet 1-minute segment, Nakamura pulled back to 5-4 but it wasn't enough. Carlsen took $6,320, while Nakamura received $3,680. There is a $1,000 prize for the best game (to be decided).
Carlsen played from the Caribbean where he's training for the title match against Sergey Karjakin. Apart from this match being fun, he considered it a useful way to stay tactically alert.
Viswanathan Anand, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hou Yifan, Teimour Radjabov, Anton Korobov, et cetera, are playing the Corsica KO, which has a rapid control of 15 minutes + 3 seconds increment. Anand is in the quarter finals.
Kirill Alekseenko won the Chigorin Memorial in St Petersburg where Himal Gusain completed his IM title. The Indian contingent swept the Hoogeven Festival. Abhijeet Gupta (7.5/9) won, with Sandipan Chanda (7) second and Lalith Babu and Shyam Sundar (both 6.5) tied for 3rd-4th. Nigel Short beat Hou Yifan 3.5- 2.5 in a concurrent exhibition. The Russian Superfinal was also on. Alexandra Kosteniuk won the women's title. Alexander Riazantsev took the open title.
The World Cadet Championships are on in Batumi, Georgia. India is led by the two prodigies, Praggnanandhaa R and Nihal Sarin, who are playing the under-12. Vincent Keymer of Germany is another highly-rated talent in that cohort. Praggnanandhaa shares the lead with Nikhil Kumar of the USA (both 7/8) while Nihal shares 2nd-6th with Keymer (both 6.5).
The Diagram, White to play (White: Ekaterina Ubiennykh Vs Black: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian Women's Superfinals 2016) was critical. White can win with 36. fxe6! Nf4+ 37. Kh1 Nxe2 38. Rf7+ Ke8 39. Bb5+ Kd8 40. Rd7+ etc. But she played 36. Rg4? Nf4+ 37. Rxf4 Qxf4 38. fxe6 Ke7! and black eventually won (0-1).
The format mimics "normal" club play. They played one set at 5 minutes with 2 seconds increment per move, the next set at 3 minutes with 2 seconds increment, and a final set at 1 minute plus 1 second. Each segment lasted an hour with new games starting (colours reversed) the instant a game finished. Every set starts with some chess960 randomised positions (the players don't know in advance what the C960 set up will be).
Any game with increments can last an indeterminate time and of course, game lengths vary. So, the number of games played per set can vary a lot. Carlsen won the 5-minute set with 5.5-3.5 to take the lead. He increased the lead by winning the 3-minute set by 5-2 (yes, these games lasted longer than the 5 minute sets). In the bullet 1-minute segment, Nakamura pulled back to 5-4 but it wasn't enough. Carlsen took $6,320, while Nakamura received $3,680. There is a $1,000 prize for the best game (to be decided).
Carlsen played from the Caribbean where he's training for the title match against Sergey Karjakin. Apart from this match being fun, he considered it a useful way to stay tactically alert.
Viswanathan Anand, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hou Yifan, Teimour Radjabov, Anton Korobov, et cetera, are playing the Corsica KO, which has a rapid control of 15 minutes + 3 seconds increment. Anand is in the quarter finals.
Kirill Alekseenko won the Chigorin Memorial in St Petersburg where Himal Gusain completed his IM title. The Indian contingent swept the Hoogeven Festival. Abhijeet Gupta (7.5/9) won, with Sandipan Chanda (7) second and Lalith Babu and Shyam Sundar (both 6.5) tied for 3rd-4th. Nigel Short beat Hou Yifan 3.5- 2.5 in a concurrent exhibition. The Russian Superfinal was also on. Alexandra Kosteniuk won the women's title. Alexander Riazantsev took the open title.
The World Cadet Championships are on in Batumi, Georgia. India is led by the two prodigies, Praggnanandhaa R and Nihal Sarin, who are playing the under-12. Vincent Keymer of Germany is another highly-rated talent in that cohort. Praggnanandhaa shares the lead with Nikhil Kumar of the USA (both 7/8) while Nihal shares 2nd-6th with Keymer (both 6.5).
The Diagram, White to play (White: Ekaterina Ubiennykh Vs Black: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian Women's Superfinals 2016) was critical. White can win with 36. fxe6! Nf4+ 37. Kh1 Nxe2 38. Rf7+ Ke8 39. Bb5+ Kd8 40. Rd7+ etc. But she played 36. Rg4? Nf4+ 37. Rxf4 Qxf4 38. fxe6 Ke7! and black eventually won (0-1).
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player