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The Anand-Carlsen title match will be played at the Hyatt Regency, Chennai between November 6 and 26. It's a 12-gamer. So, allowing for a day at each end, there will be a rest day after each pair of games.
Gata Kamsky leads in the Grand Prix in Thessaloniki with a very impressive 6 points from eight games. Lenier Dominguez Perez and Fabiano Caruana share second with 5.5 each. Alexander Grischuk is on 4.5. Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov have 4 each. Veselin Topalov, Etienne Bacrot, Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich have all scored 3.5 while Hikaru Nakamura and Vassily Ivanchuk bring up the rear.
The GP has been hard-fought. It has also seen a high blunder ratio. But it does have a very large number of risk-takers and quite a few are playing their third tournament in a row. Kamsky has been playing an odd blend of his usual "boring" technical stuff and unusual openings. More than just the skill, which one takes for granted, his energy at 39 is astonishing, especially coming straight to Salonika after clinching his umpteenth US title.
The traditional Sigeman tournament in Malmo, Sweden, has just ended. Hungarian prodigy Richard Rapport (rated 2674, born 1996) shared first with Nigel Short and Nils Grandelius, who all scored 4.5 in the eight player round robin. Ivan Sokolov and Loek Van Wely shared 4-5 with 4 each while local GMs Emmanuel Berg and Jonny Hector trailed.
The GP has seen many decisive games but this draw trumped them all for excitement. Even engines may err here. THE DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY (Morozevich Vs Nakamura Thessaloniki 2013). Fireworks start with 13.Rg1!? dxe4 Black declines the piece 13...e5!? 14.g5 hxg5 15.hxg5 exd4 16.Bxd4 Nh5 17.Rh1!
Play continued 14.g5 hxg5 15.hxg5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.g6 f5 18.fxe4 fxe4 19.Kb1 Ne5 20.Nxb5!? Nf3 Again 20...axb5 21.Bxb5+ Bc6 22.Bxc6+ Nxc6 23. Qc3 (or 23. Qg2) gives white an attack.
21.Qf2 Qf6 ?! The engines say 21...Rh2! 22.Rg2 Rxg2 23.Qxg2 Ba2+ 24.Kc1 Qh4 is good for black; 21... Ba2+? 22.Kxa2 Qxd1 23. Nd4 wins for white (threat Bb5+). White tried 22.Qg3 axb5 23.Bxb5+ Ke7 24.c4 Rh2 25.Qxh2! Best, 25. Rg2 Rxg2 26. Qxg2 Bc6 puts black on top.
After the forced 25...Nxh2 26.cxd5 Qf5! (the only way to handle both d6 and Bg5) 27.Bg5+ Kd6! 28.dxe6+ Ke5!! The king is safe here - 28. .. Kc7? 29. Rc1+ Kb8 30. Rxc8+ Kxc8 31. Bd7+ Kc7 32. e7! loses.
29.Bd7 e3+ There's no mate via 29.e7 Bxe7 30.Bxe7 Qf2. The game was drawn after 30.Ka1 Bxa3!? It's unclear after 31. bxa3 Ra8 32. e7 but white took the safer option of 31.Bxc8 Qc2 32.bxa3 Qc3+ 33.Ka2 Qxc8 34.e7 Qc2+ 35.Ka1 Qc3+ 36.Ka2 Qc2+ 37.Ka1 Qc3+ 38.Ka2 Qc2+ (½-½).
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player
