| Mar-15-11 | | b3wins: Here's what I wrote on the tournament's page at chessgames while the game was on:
<b3wins: My impression after 22.f4 in Karjakin-Kramnik (following live round 4 blindfold) is that Karjakin came excellently prepared to this game, with an original idea in the Berlin that, it seems, the computer doesn't approve of at first sight. 12.♘d5 may seem like a loss of tempo, and 14.♗b2 with 15.e6 are also not obvious. It takes several moves to see that black is left with a bad knight for the pawn. Well played! (regardless of how the game ends)>
Now it should be added that his endgame play was also very good. Maybe Kramnik should have accepted the sacrifice with 14...gxf4, but it seems that his reaction to such opening surprises is usually on the cautious side. |
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Mar-15-11
 | | Penguincw: Even Kramnik's active king isn't enough to hold a draw. |
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| Mar-15-11 | | Ulhumbrus: Karjakin cracks the Berlin wall partly by means of the breakthrough e6. Of course one problem in normal classical games is that Black is unlikely to give White the opportunity to play this advance. |
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Mar-15-11
| | Penguincw: < Ulhumbrus: Karjakin cracks the Berlin wall partly by means of the breakthrough e6. Of course one problem in normal classical games is that Black is unlikely to give White the opportunity to play this advance. > List of Kramnik's other losts with the Berlin Defense:http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches.... |
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| Mar-15-11 | | b3wins: From Chessvibes' report:
<The € 1,000 Game of the Day Prize was awarded to Sergey Karjakin for his blindfold win over Vladimir Kramnik.
Sergey Karjakin achieved something in his blindfold game against Vladimir Kramnik that many grandmasters will envy him for: he broke through the former world champion’s Berlin Wall! As an expert in this line for both sides he introduced a novelty, 12.Nd5 which was followed up by ‘a nice idea’, 14.Bb2. According to Karjakin Black’s best reply was 14…gxf4, as after 14…Rg8, White had the strong pawn push 15.e6. White’s advantage became serious after 20.Ne5 and he cemented it with 22.f4, opening the kingside. Black could not avoid the loss of his h-pawn and then Karjakin could begin to push his kingside pawns. ‘I played quite well’, he smiled contentedly, and nobody argued with that.>
Well, it seems that without knowing much Berlin theory I managed to figure out that something great was going on while following live (see above) |
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Mar-15-11
 | | HeMateMe: I wonder what the computers say about this opening. After the exchange, is it a forced win for white? i wonder if some openings will be banned from tournament play, if they lead to forced wins for white? |
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Mar-15-11
| | Penguincw: Well,the players that won the € 1,000 prize so far.
Alexander Grischuk (Round 1) Magnus Carlsen (Round 2) Vugar Gashimov (Round 3) Sergey Karjakin (Round 4) |
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Mar-15-11
| | Penguincw: Berlin Wall.Oh.Well.Here are Kramnik's defeats from this Berlin Wall Defense:http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches.... |
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| Mar-16-11 | | wordfunph: "Did you see my position? I was three pawns down, without any compensation!?" - GM Sergey Karjakin
http://discusschess.com/ |
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Mar-16-11
 | | Domdaniel: <HeMateMe> - <i wonder if some openings will be banned from tournament play, if they lead to forced wins for white?> If an opening line leads to a White win, then Black players tend to stop using it. No opening line is forced from move one, nor are computers anywhere near solving such positions. The Berlin is just one small variation in the Spanish/Ruy Lopez complex, which is itself just one among many systems with 1.e4 e5. I've played tournament chess for 30 years without ever playing either side of the Ruy. |
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Mar-16-11
 | | AylerKupp: <Domdaniel> Wow, 30 years playing tournament chess and never played either side of the Ruy Lopez? How did you manage to avoid it? I guess you must be a confirmed anti-1.e4 and anti-1...e5 player. What do you prefer to open the game with? |
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Mar-16-11
| | Domdaniel: <AylerKupp> 1.Nf3 as White (with c4 or d4 or even e4 to follow) and 1...e6 as Black (against pretty much anything, with various transpositions). That covers most of it. At this stage, I wouldn't know what to do in a Spanish. I rarely play 1.e4, and I don't think I've ever replied to it with 1...e5 as Black. My loss, I know. But I prefer the kind of positions reached in the French or the English. |
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| Mar-16-11 | | fab4: <HeMateMe i wonder if some openings will be banned from tournament play, if they lead to forced wins for white?> We're nowhere near that yet ! lol
<Domdaniel> touched upon black avoiding such lines.. but also they often find refutations. Eventually. |
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Mar-17-11
| | AylerKupp: <<Domdaniel> I prefer the kind of positions reached in the French or the English.> I also used to play the French often against 1.e4 so I don't remember any black sides against the Ruy Lopez (which I think sounds much better than "Spanish Game"). But I'm a confirmed 1.e4 player so I've played the white side often and with good results. That's why I prefer to avoid it as black! They don't call it the "Spanish torture" for nothing. |
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| Mar-17-11 | | boz: One of the beauties of chess is that there is no single way to play. There is a style for every temperament, every personality. |
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Mar-17-11
| | AylerKupp: <Domdaniel> How could I forget! I once played the black side of a Ruy Lopez against Reshevsky in a simultaneous many, many years ago. I even had the audacity to ask him for a draw. He was very polite when he refused, just prior to crushing me. Maybe that game left a bad taste in my mouth and caused me to avoid the black side of the Ruy ever since. <boz> Yes, chess is beautiful. |
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| Mar-17-11 | | Ulhumbrus: <Domdaniel: ...At this stage, I wouldn't know what to do in a Spanish. I rarely play 1.e4, and I don't think I've ever replied to it with 1...e5 as Black.> <AylerKupp: <Domdaniel> How could I forget! I once played the black side of a Ruy Lopez against Reshevsky in a simultaneous many, many years ago. I even had the audacity to ask him for a draw. He was very polite when he refused, just prior to crushing me. Maybe that game left a bad taste in my mouth and caused me to avoid the black side of the Ruy ever since.> One conceivable answer is this. Pillsbury described the move Bg5 in the Queen's Gambit declined as a Ruy Lopez on the King side. If in the Queen's Gambit Black has to defend his d5 pawn and play for the advance ...c5, in the Ruy Lopez Black has to defend his e5 pawn and play for the advance ...d5. |
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Kibitzing
