| Sep-25-19 | | WorstPlayerEver: Black was lost anyhow:
26... Rb8 27. Nc7 b5 28. h4 Rb6 29. h5 f5 30. Nd5 Rb7 31. h6 Rf7 32. R1g5 fxe4+ 33. Ke3 Ke8 34. Kxe4 
click for larger viewOr..
26... Rb8 27. Nc7 b5 28. h4 Rb6 29. h5 h6 30. Nd5 Rb7 31. R7g6 Rf7 32. Rc1 Bb7 33. Nxf6 Rhh7 34. Rf1 Ke7 35. Ke1 Rhg7 36. Rxh6 Rg5 37. Nd5+ Kf8 38. Rh8+ Rg8 39. Rh6 Rxf1+ 40. Kxf1 Rg5 41. Rf6+ Kg8 42. h6 Bxd5 43. exd5 Kh7 
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| Sep-25-19 | | luzhin: Astonishing what exhaustion and tension in an Armageddon game does to even the strongest GMs. Yu's 9.Be4?? is just the start of the madness. And instead of 17...Nd7?? Vitiugov could have forced immediate resignation with 17...Qc5, as if 18.Ke3 Nc4+ wins the WQ. |
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| Sep-25-19 | | bubuli55: 20...Qf6+ |
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Sep-25-19
 | | Sally Simpson: ***
Much is being made of the missed Black chances but remember this is an
Armageddon game, White has 5 minutes, Black 4, Black has draw odds. This explains the mess White got in trying use his extra time whilst the lure of chopping wood for a draw proved too much for Black. 
click for larger viewBlack quickly played 17...Nd7 to then get in Nf6 which takes out the e4 Bishop. Here (Black to play)
click for larger viewAgain the clock and the chop wood strategy clouds the vision. 22...Qe7 to get the Queens off. White gladly obliged as he gets the g7 pawn with a check and Rook on the 7th. After that Black is toiling. White played well after the initial rush to accurately force home the win once he had the plus, at one time he was behind on the clock. The loser got $35,000 the winner at the very least will get $50,000. *** |
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| Sep-25-19 | | Inocencio: Caveat, the Chinese are coming! Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi and others. China will be the next superpower not only in chess but in world affairs. |
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| Sep-25-19 | | dumbgai: Oh boy, this is a messy game. Here's hoping an armageddon game won't be necessary to decide a world championship match one day. |
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| Sep-25-19 | | dumbgai: It seems like once Vitiugov got a winning advantage he started trying to draw until he lost! |
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| Sep-26-19 | | utssb: <luzhin> <17...Nd7?? 17...Qc5>
Yeah, hard to imagine such a move from him in a normal game. Even 17...Ng6 seems to work better because of the ...Qh4+ threat. |
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| Sep-26-19 | | Ulhumbrus: <luzhin: Astonishing what exhaustion and tension in an Armageddon game does to even the strongest GMs.> At the risk of repeating what you have just said, in an armageddon blitz game there is no time to think. Add to this ( once more at the risk of repeating what you have said) a strong dose of exhaustion and tension and what fails to occur to a player at this or that moment becomes unpredictable. All the same the loss may be instructive in one way: it may indicate how from a won game a player can first lose his advantage and then pass it to the opponent, and it doesn't take much. 17...Nd7 is a defensive withdrawal instead of an attacking move such as ...Qc5 and obstructs Black's development. 22...Qe7 allows White's rook to invade the seventh rank. 24...Kf8 attacks the rook only momentarily but traps the king in a way that disconnects the rooks. |
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| Sep-26-19 | | WorstPlayerEver: ~~~~~
22... a6 (#diagram 1) was necessary, Nb5-d6/c7 was threatening, probably why Black played 22... Qe7, but Black had plenty of time. 3 minutes or so. Obviously they were 'paralyzed' by the defense of g7, because otherwise they had 'simply' played 20... Qh4+ (#diagram 2) earlier in the game. Actually that's very hard to see (#diagram 4) during an armageddon game at the highest level. Possibly there were afraid of 20... Qh4+ 21. Ke2 Qf6 22. Qc5 (#diagram 3), but now Black has 22... Bd7, because their g-pawn is guarded now: 23. Raf1 b6! (#diagram 4) 
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click for larger viewThe last diagram shows it was not as easy as one might think it were. Crucial defending moves for Black are a6/b6 in this position. Notice that Black, by playing f6 (#diagram 1), was 'fixed' on the King side while the solution was located at the Queen side. All in all a nice demonstration how to defend g7 or not to defend g7.. very classical ;) |
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| Sep-26-19 | | WorstPlayerEver: PS also worth studying is the contrast between W: Nd4 and B: Bc8 |
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| Sep-26-19 | | I Like Fish: I regularly lose my chess games in this way ... |
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| Sep-26-19 | | WorstPlayerEver: PPS
Threats after 17. Qh5?: 17... g6? 18. Qxe5
click for larger view17... O-O? 18. Qxh7#
click for larger viewThen again, a (familiar) move like 17... Qf6 would have been an easy win. 
click for larger view17... Qf6+ 18. Kg3 g6
click for larger viewOr 17... Ng6 18. Bxg6 fxg6 19. Qe5 O-O+ 20. Kg3 
click for larger viewAll these (winning) positions show that Vitiugov totally was unaware of their strength/pressure on the f-file. A remarkable fact! |
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| Sep-26-19 | | whiteshark: "With two more draws in the 5+3 segment (see below in the multi-game viewer) this match went to armageddon. < Yu won the drawing of lots, and decided to play with the white pieces, thus putting himself in a must-win situation. < With one minute less on the clock but draw odds, Vitiugov probably couldn't believe his luck when Yu played 9.Be4 almost without thinking, blundering two pawns for nothing! <But the madness didn't end there as the St. Petersburg grandmaster first missed that he could win a full piece, then started playing too passively and, not standing the pressure, found himself in a lost position 20 moves later.< While Yu quickly signed the scoresheets and left the playing hall, Vitiugov remained in his chair for several minutes in disbelief. <It must have been the cruelest moment in his career."<<>>>> > > > https://www.chess.com/news/view/201... |
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| Sep-26-19 | | WorstPlayerEver: It's nonsense to state that a Black Queen is not a good defender of f6.. Again for the record: 20... Qh4+ 21. Ke2 Qf6 22. Qc5 Bd7 23. Raf1 b6
click for larger viewWhich simply demonstrates that a Queen is stronger than a Rook, armageddon or no armageddon. A Queen is equal to a Queen:
20...Qf6+ 21. Qxf6 gxf6
click for larger viewMy favorite position 😍
~~~20... Qf6+ 21. Qxf6 gxf6 22. Rac1 Bd7 23. Rc7 Rb8 24. Rd1 e5 25. Nf5 Bxf5 26. exf5 O-O 27. Rdd7 
click for larger view27. Rdd7 a5 28. Rxb7 Rxb7 29. Rxb7 Rd8 30. Rb5 Rd2+ 31. Kg3 
click for larger view31. Kg3 Kg7 32. Rxa5 Rxb2 33. Ra4
click for larger view33. Ra4 Rc2 34. h4 h5 35. Kf3 Rc3+ 36. Ke2 Rg3 37. Kf2 
click for larger viewStill unclear, but the last diagram demonstrates clearly why a King is stronger than a Rook. I think the game is drawn. Otherwise it's worth another study. Again, the situation on the f-file is significant. It's getting boring by now. I know ;) |
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Oct-03-19
 | | FSR: Good Monday puzzle after 17.Qh5. |
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Oct-08-19
| | Sally Simpson: ***
Luke McSHane uses this game for his first column in 'The Spectator.' He is taking over from Ray Keene. Luke agrees with most of us that Vitiugov got caught in two minds, ignore the win on the board, stick to playing for a draw. " Striving to draw from a won position is like sketching a circle with a pencil: the more effort you expend, the worse it will look." Full article here:
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10... *** |
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| Oct-08-19 | | amadeus: "Nobody said it better than Vitiugov himself, when asked how he would spend his prize: ‘I don’t even know what prize. The prize isn’t the main thing. The tournament is like life, it goes on and on, and then it ends, for everyone, and it ends the same way — bitterly.’ " |
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Kibitzing
