31 Mar 13
3 edits
Here's the game:
I wonder what prompted Radjabov to play 83.Nxa5. The position might have been lost anyway, but that sure made Magnus' life easier!
Also, I wonder what made him play 48.Rxb7. The position is definitely still drawn after that, but wouldn't it have been a much simpler position to hold if Radjabov had kept the rooks on the board and had just continued to shuffle his rook along the 8th rank? It don't see how black could have made any progress or after that.
This puts both Kramnik and Carlsen at 8.5/13. According to Chessbase's calculations, Kramnik will almost certainly win the tiebreaks in the event of a tie after tomorrow's game, so it seems there's now a high probability of a Carlsen/Anand match.
The outcome of the Ivanchuk/Kramnik match tomorrow will be particularly interesting.
Edit: I thought RJHinds would like this:
In the post-game conference, Svidler explained that his choice of play had been designed around psychological analysis more than chess. He felt that the Ukrainian would be steering for a principled continuation, and that is why, in a French Advance, he deliberately went for a very double-edged continuation at the cost of a pawn. Although he had great play for his risk, he never needed to work out the hardest lines as Ivanchuk’s flag fell on move 30.
01 Apr 13
Originally posted by KareemelbadryIt could be that Radjabov wanted to play for a win and he thought that removing the Rooks was the only way to have a chance at that. Unfortunately for him, it was his mistakes starting with move 80 that led to his defeat. Probably the mistake at move 83.Nxa5 was because he was mentally and psychologically spent by this time.
Here's the game:
[pgn]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.g3 O-O 7.Bg2 e5 8.O-O c6 9.Rd1 Re8 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.a3 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 Qe7 13.b4 Nb6 14.Be3 Ng4 15.Nd2 f5 16.h3 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 e4 18.Rac1 Be6 19.Qc3 Rad8 20.Bf1 c5 21.bxc5 Na4 22.Qb4 Nxc5 23.Nb3 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Na6 25.Qxe7 Rxe7 26.e3 Kf7 27.Be2 b6 28.Rd8 Nc5 29.Nd4 Kf6 30.Kf1 Rd7 31.Rf8+ Bf ...[text shortened]... sk, he never needed to work out the hardest lines as Ivanchuk’s flag fell on move 30.[/i]
01 Apr 13
Originally posted by KareemelbadryKramnik will win the tie-breaks but Carlsen will face Anand???
Here's the game:
[pgn]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.g3 O-O 7.Bg2 e5 8.O-O c6 9.Rd1 Re8 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.a3 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 Qe7 13.b4 Nb6 14.Be3 Ng4 15.Nd2 f5 16.h3 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 e4 18.Rac1 Be6 19.Qc3 Rad8 20.Bf1 c5 21.bxc5 Na4 22.Qb4 Nxc5 23.Nb3 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Na6 25.Qxe7 Rxe7 26.e3 Kf7 27.Be2 b6 28.Rd8 Nc5 29.Nd4 Kf6 30.Kf1 Rd7 31.Rf8+ Bf ...[text shortened]... sk, he never needed to work out the hardest lines as Ivanchuk’s flag fell on move 30.[/i]