Dec-27-15
 | | keypusher: I remember thinking at the beginning that they had taken all fun out of the Najdorf, but I was quite wrong. Great game. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | King Radio: Very entertaining game, was much more interesting than I was expecting. Nothing crazy, but it wasn't boring, and both players played well. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | Ulhumbrus: 8 Bg5?! would have been considered a weak move a few decades ago. It was employed in the game Averbakh vs Petrosian, 1959 which White lost. This suggests that either Carlsen will find an improvement on Averbakh's play or else Giri will make a choice which is not as promising as Petrosian's choice. Petrosian did not play 10...Be7 but played later his bishop to g5. This suggests that 10..Be7 may allow some of Black's advantage to slip Instead of 12...Bxd5 12..Nf6 invites White to take Black's bad king's bishop. It may be that after 12...Bxd5 this Petrosian's plan of a minority attack is no longer as good Perhaps Giri allowed some of his advantage to slip at the end although it may have been not enough to win. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | Pulo y Gata: Yes, greatly entertaining game. Giri was quite fearless in playing again his Najdorf Sicilian against Magnus himself. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | Steve.Patzer: Tomorrow is another day. Carlsen will not take Sjugirov as lightly as he did over 5 years ago. |
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Dec-27-15
 | | perfidious: <Steve.Patzer....Carlsen will not take Sjugirov as lightly as he did over 5 years ago.> On examination of Sjugirov-Carlsen, it is clear that Black played well below his usual strength, so how does it necessarily follow that he took his opponent 'lightly'? |
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| Dec-27-15 | | frogbert: Carlsen faces Mamedyarov tomorrow, so the argument is kind of moot. :) And Carlsen is one of Mamedyarov's least favourite opponents, it seems. (It doesn't matter that the two of them seemingly are buddies.) |
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| Dec-27-15 | | Jay60: Giri is now #2 and 4 years younger than Carlsen. At some point Carlsen's continued inability to beat Giri may cause a loss of confidence. For a while it looked like Caruana would be the challenger for Carlsen, but now Giri seems the better prospect. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | frogbert: Instead of 34. Rb3, 34. g4! looked very strong for white. Even 35. g4!? instead of 35. g3 looked more promising for white, the point being opening lines for white's rook on e1, while both black rooks are tied up on the queenside. 37. Rc1? was probably white's worst move in the game, and Carlsen played it rather quickly, with more than enough time on his clock. After he allowed that exchange sacrifice with his rook misplaced, the game changed from being slightly more pleasant for white to black having a slight initiative, requiring some precise play by white to maintain equality. Objectively, though, I guess the game never saw any significant advantage for either side. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | RookFile: That g4 move was a favorite idea of Petrosian's. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | gokusano: Carlsen criticized Giri before of being coward. But in this game, Giri gave Carlsen what he is longing for, a slambang affair. It was Carlsen who backed off for a tense struggle by choosing to castle queenside. This could show that Giri is starting to bug him under his skin. Yes, it could be the solid Giri who will become Carlsen's nemesis in the second defense of his title. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | epistle: as of now, however, it is Wesly So's fans who are challenging Carlsen for the crown. (thunder and lightning) |
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| Dec-27-15 | | Everett: c-27-<15 frogbert: Instead of 34. Rb3, 34. g4! looked very strong for white.> Trying to make sense, in human terms, why this move works. A closer look shows that Black has a N and R misplaced, while White has a restricted LSB. <34.g4!> undermines Blacks pawn chain, offers another diagonal for the LSB, and potentially opens lines for Whites superior Rs. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | Everett: <
memberDec-27-15 keypusher: I remember thinking at the beginning that they had taken all fun out of the Najdorf, but I was quite wrong. Great game.>Doesn't the Nc6 remind one of Botvinnik? Never seen a positional plan like that out of the Najdorf, but why not? It's not like Black ever allows a N to live on d5 for long. Might as well solidify the spot with a pawn after Black commits to ...b5, and target the c6 square then. Interesting strategy here. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | gokusano: Errata: by not castling queenside |
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| Dec-27-15 | | gokusano: Epi, wow! Can't laugh out loud with my empty stomach. Soon, i will hear them crying in the rain. |
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| Dec-27-15 | | blackdranzer: Iam a bit shocked that magnus didn't play 35. g4!..34 Rb3 was a good move...restricting the knight..but 35 g4 was perhaps obvious I think..and am sure he did see it..dunno y he opted for g3 instead |
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| Dec-27-15 | | Forager: Giri has moved his game up a notch or two in the last 12-18 months. Tukmakov has been a good addition to his repertoire. |
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Dec-28-15
| | keypusher: <Everett> ...Nc6, ...d6, ...e5 predates and points the way to the Najdorf. But it wasn't Botvinnik's idea -- it was Boleslavsky's. |
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| Dec-28-15 | | Everett: <keypusher> yes, yes... I was talking about Botvinnik implanting a N on c6 as White in queen's pawn openings. It was curious to me that White is able to get it here as well, vs a Najdorf. Apologies if I wasn't clear. |
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Dec-29-15
| | keypusher: Everett, of course, I should have known you would know that. |
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| Dec-31-15 | | Everett: <keypusher> The hole on c6
Botvinnik vs J H Donner, 1963
Which the subsequent greats have used...
Karpov vs Yusupov, 1993
Karpov vs Kasparov, 1990
Carlsen vs Aronian, 2015 |
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Kibitzing
