May-05-15 Alshouha Basil vs Grischuk, 2014
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| Rhialto: A devious trap by Black, the sort of thing that remains hidden when both players are as strong as Grishuk, but comes to the surface when a 2700 needs to go rabbit-catching. Given the appalling number of tactics that grandmasters weaker than Grishuk will see in a blitz game, I very ... |
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Feb-25-15 Tomashevsky vs Kasimdzhanov, 2015 
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| Rhialto: After 30...Re7 31.Bxd4 ed 32.Ne6 Rg8 what about 33.Nxd4 exploiting the pin? 33...Rc8 34.Nf5 wins the Exchange, and 33...Rf8 34.Ne6 Rg8 (or f7) 35.f4 (35.Rxg7 Rxg7 36.Rxg7 Rxg7 37.Nxg7 Kxg7 38.Kc2 Kf6 39.Kd3 Ke5 40.Kc4 Kf4 is way too much counterplay) 35...h6 36.Rxg7 Rxg7 37.Rxg7 ... |
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Jan-26-15 Wojtaszek vs Ding Liren, 2015
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| Rhialto: <Domdaniel: The winning tactic, 62...b5, is absurdly simple. Hard to believe that Wojtaszek didn't see it coming.> Indeed it is; he obviously saw it coming by move 62 or he wouldn't have played 62.Bb7. But the winning tactic was not so much 62...b5 as 61...a5 62. Kf4 b5 63. ... |
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Dec-13-14 Alekhine vs A Nimzowitsch, 1931
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| Rhialto: The story behind this weird opening is interesting; Alekhine sacrifices the second pawn with 7.f3, says it is "probably correct" but recommends 7.Bf4 and 8.f3 instead - which is exactly how Thomas lost to Nimzowitsch several years earlier. Granted he did not lose because of the ... |
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Nov-30-14 V Laznicka vs G Sargissian, 2014
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| Rhialto: yes Black was careful to avoid giving White a chance to eliminate that knight on e4. For instance I thought that 34.Rxe4? de 35.Re1 was a good defensive try, but 35...Rf8 saves the e4 pawn, and leaves White with a hopeless position. |
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Nov-28-14 Evgeni Vasiukov
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| Rhialto: Like most chess players he peaked around age 30 (a depressing thought for me, since I have yet to break 2200 USCF and just hit 30 myself) - according to chessmetrics he reached #11 in the world for a few months in 1962, ahead of many more famous players. But he is still remarkably ... |
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Nov-24-14 Nakamura vs Aronian, 2014
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| Rhialto: It does look odd to play 8.Bb5 and not meet 8...0-0 with 9.Bxc6, but I think in this case he simply meant to develop his bishop without hanging d4 or blocking e2 for the knight, though he was obviously willing to capture if Black wasted a tempo forcing it (by 8...a6). As b5 is ... |
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Nov-23-14 Aronian vs Leko, 2014
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| Rhialto: You know I had posted that 34.Re6 Kh8 defends, but after 35.Rxg6 fg 36.Qxg6 Black probably has to accept the hopeless q-vs-2r ending after 36...Qxe7, as 36...Rxd6 37.Qxd6 Qe4?? is mated by 38.Qf6+ Kh7 39.Qh6#, and 37...Qb6 38.Qe5+ Kh7 39.Qe4+ Kg7 40.Qxa8 wins a piece. That said, ... |
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Nov-22-14 Keres vs Botvinnik, 1947
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| Rhialto: A terribly weak game by Keres. This Qd3-f3-d3-d2-f4 and Bf4-g5-d2-f4 makes a terrible impression. It's true that you can't simply condemn a player for moving back and forth; chess is more complicated than that - and it's also true Botvinnik did a little back-and-forth with his ... |
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Nov-13-14 Martinez Martinez vs J Converset, 1994
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| Rhialto: 22.Nxf7 Kxf7 23.Qh7+ Bg7 24.Bh5+ Kf8 25.Qg6 seems like the simplest to me, pinning the light-squared bishop while threatening mate; 25...Re7 26.Rd7 Rxe7 27.Rxe7 and 25...Kg8 26.Rd7 Bxd7 27.Qxb6 both look pretty done. |
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Kibitzing
