Category: Famous Players Page 3 of 6

The Texas Chess-Saw Massacre

When Bobby Fischer was king of the chess board it was hard for much of the world to imagine someone who could work harder or bring a greater sense of finesse to the game until the current world champion emerged. Magnus Carlsen has been called the Mozart of Chess and with his recent outburst that name seems fitting! He could be considered some kind of Chess-Saw intent on massacring any opponent that braves to stand in his way, but what is it that makes Carlsen so great? GM Daniel Naroditsky at Chess.com examines the phenomenon that is Magnus Carlsen and how the story of the great chess grinder is less of a horror movie and more of a real-life opera played out on the grandest stage for the world to see.

Read the full article on Chess.com.

Giri Plays 172 Move Nail-Biter

If I were Anish Giri I would want to find a cold scoop of ice cream and curl up in bed for the rest of the night. The recently married Grandmaster just finished a 172-move game against Ding Liren at the Bilbao Masters tournament. Giri missed several opportunities to capitalize against his opponent and was only able to manage a draw after six hours of play!

Check out more at Chess24.com.

FIDE Bans Garry Kasparov for 2 Years

Greetings, campers! This is a post that I never expected to write. For as long as he dominated the professional chess world Garry Kasparov has been an outspoken and often controversial figure. He has a longstanding hatred of Vladimir Putin and tends to see himself as more of a political activist than a chess ambassador. Unfortunately the way that Russian politics tends to deal with its rivals is to ridicule (or outright kill) them. Kasparov gained notoriety in this sense with the hilarious flying penis incident that has probably appeared on every funniest video countdown show since then.

Kasparov launched a massive campaign in 2014 to oust longtime president of FIDE Kirsan Ilyumzhinov but was literally destroyed in the lopsided election. Kasparov accused Ilyumzhinov (a close personal friend of Vladimir Putin) of winning the election through dirty politics that included bribery, extortion, and even the unusual step of removing a chess federation entirely from the list of FIDE organization and replacing it with a pro-Ilyumzhinov federation. Suffice to say that 2014 was a very exciting year for chess fans because politics and Kasparov both draw a crowd so interest was high on whether the former World Champion would be able to remove Ilyumzhinov. Kasparov remained relatively low key after the loss and made an appearance at the 2015 Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis but now he returns to the headlines by receiving a 2-year ban from FIDE for bribery! Here is the exact determination from the FIDE Ethics Commission:

ETHICS COMMISSION JUDGEMENT

Upon due consideration by the Ethics Commission of the factors relevant to the sanction, including the gravity of the offence and the presence of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the Ethics Commission imposes the following sanction:

Mr Kasparov and Mr Leong are both banned for a period of two (2) years from holding any office or position within FIDE, including its member federations, continental associations or any other affiliated international organisations, as well as participating in any FIDE meeting as delegate, proxy-holder or other representative of a FIDE member. This ban will be effective from the period 21 October 2015 until 20 October 2017.

So, what did they do? In 2014 when Kasparov was running for the FIDE Presidency he made a deal with Ignatius Leong so that he would switch his federation’s vote from Ilyumzhinov to Kasparov in exchange for monetary contributions. Having worked in government service I have come to learn that appearance is everything and intentions are seldom taken into account. Kasparov’s camp argued that the $500,000 contribution for Leong providing 10 votes for the presidential campaign was to create an offshoot of the Kasparov Chess Foundation in Asia. Unfortunately the truth in the situation does not matter. Kasparov made a political blunder in that he did not see how his opponents would be able to manipulate the selling of votes. In some ways its almost as though he walked into a fool’s mate because his entire campaign was run on the premise of removing Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and ridding FIDE of its corrupt government once and for all. Yet it was a sneaky move that cost him 2 years of membership in FIDE or participation in its activities. Kasparov had this to say in response to the commission’s original findings:

“Back in Russia I got used to being falsely accused by puppet courts and this one has as little value and credibility as those. Being accused of corruption by Ilyumzhinov is like being accused of foreign aggression by Putin!

“My mission has always been to promote chess and to build the future of the game. I once hoped that could happen with FIDE, but it is clearer than ever this work will continue despite FIDE, which continues to take resources out of the sport and to drive away those who love it.”

This is the kind of stuff that makes it difficult to take Kasparov and his activities seriously. He never wishes to admit that he made a mistake or something that went wrong might actually be his fault. Surely at some point in his life he had to have stepped away from the chessboard and realized that he was making errors in his games. How else could he have learned and become one of the greatest players in history? Failure is an opportunity to try again but Kasparov never seems willing to admit that he can fail of his own doing. Unfortunately that seems to be something ingrained into Russian politics and Kasparov has proven himself to be the true son of his motherland: a devious Russian politician.

Pawn Sacrifice – A Movie Review

The Bobby Fischer biopic Pawn Sacrifice debuted this week in theaters across the United States. The film stars Tobey Maguire as the venerable chess prodigy Bobby Fischer and Liev Schreiber as the pillar of Soviet Cold War chess dominance Boris Spassky. A couple of years ago when I heard that Zwick, Maguire, and Schreiber were working on a film based on Bobby and the 1972 World Chess Championship I was very excited to see chess returning to the silver screen. Although I had high hopes for the film I was skeptical that it could usurp my favorite chess movie of all time: Searching for Bobby Fischer. The story of Pawn Sacrifice‘s production is almost as dramatic as the story it tells. For the entire production and a long time after its conclusion there were only two promotional photos made available online to promote the film. When it was completed, there was a time when the film rode into festivals without a major distributor. However, Bleecker Street Media picked up the film and distributed it to audiences around the United States starting on September 24th of this year following a special presentation in Saint Louis after the conclusion of the Sinquefield Cup.


The Story

Robert James Fischer was one of the most electrifying personalities in 20th century chess. He taught himself to play chess when his mother left him alone for hours on end in their Brooklyn apartment overlooking Ebbets Field. At age 15 he became the youngest grandmaster in the history of the game and the youngest candidate to ever emerge for the World Chess Championship. The young boy from Brooklyn quickly took the chess world by storm and soon started winning the hearts of people outside the chess world for the way that he not only destroyed his opponents on the board, but also for the psychological damages he often caused. Bobby Fischer played chess at a time when the Soviet Union poured a significant amount of its national budget and effort into producing some of the world’s top grandmasters. Chess was seen as proof of Soviet intellectual superiority over the United States and its allies and the results of countless Chess Olympiads and World Championships seemed to validate that claim. However, Bobby’s emergence brought to light what had been known in secret for many years: the Soviet Union had been intentionally drawing games to stack the deck against players from other countries. The result was that key Soviet grandmasters were virtually assured a shot at the FIDE World Championship title, which was often played against another Soviet grandmaster. The player who had the most favor with the state at the time was allowed to win the title and hold it as long as it was beneficial for the sake of the Soviet system.

Bobby’s distate for the Soviet chess machine was put on prominent display in his now famous Sports Illustrated article in 1962, The Russians Have Fixed World Chess. If he was not a target of the red chess machine and the KGB, this article propelled him into the international spotlight and aired the dirty secrets of Soviet chess for the entire world. The rest of the story is pretty well known. Bobby went on to defeat some of the most powerful grandmasters of the day and win a chance to challenge Russian World Champion Boris Spassky in the 1972 championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. Yet, throughout the tournament and in the years leading up to it Bobby was plagued by a growing sense of paranoia and mania. He was obsessed with the Russians and convinced that they were tracking his every move. While its true that the KGB was keeping close tabs on Bobby, the fear and paranoia he was experiencing grew out of control and damaged practically every relationship he had. When the match was over Bobby emerged victorious over Spassky and the Soviet chess machine. After that he disappeared and was largely unheard from until his 1992 rematch with Spassky in Yugoslavia.

Pawn Sacrifice covers much of Bobby’s life from his adolescence through some of his prominent chess appearances up to the 1972 World Championship match. For much of the film the chess takes a backstage to Bobby’s growing paranoia and personal struggles. When it begins, the World Championship match in Reykjavik is a powerful backdrop for what is often seen as Bobby’s final battle to maintain his own sanity. Tobey Maguire’s portrayal of Bobby as the self-confident Da Vinci of modern chess is a perfect recreation of the man that many watched throughout the years on television and in tournaments around the world. In contrast Liev Schreiber is a silent, towering man who more closely resembles a football star than a chess champion. There is a heavy sense of Bobby’s personal desire to beat Spassky than of Spassky’s desire to beat Bobby. At least, until Bobby fails to show for the 2nd game of the match and risks losing the championship to Spassky by forfeit. Spassky agrees to play Bobby in the back room away from the audience because winning the match by forfeit would rob him of a true victory against Bobby. The film’s climax comes in game 6, which is widely known as the best game of the match and one of the greatest chess games ever played.

The Good

There is a lot to love about Pawn Sacrifice for chess and non-chess fans alike. For the non-chess fan, the acting in the film is superb and the way in which it portrays Bobby’s descent into paranoia is well done. Some have complained that Bobby spent much of his time in the film yelling at people around him and this is certainly not what is portrayed in much of the archival footage of him. However, this is consistent with the testimonies of his friends and family. Bobby Fischer drove away pretty much everyone that ever stepped forward to care for him. The paranoia, which was grounded in truth, simply became too much for him to handle. Even the greatest chess player in history had a breaking point.


Although the chess itself takes a backseat to the story of Bobby and his struggles again himself and the Soviet chess machine, I was deeply impressed by the quality of the chess presentation. The producers painstakingly recreated the 1972 World Chess Championship with precision right down to the design of the Reykjavik chess set used in the match. In addition, the film does a great job of creating an authentic look and feel of the late 1960s and early 1970s without overdoing it with excessive hippies and peace symbols.

The Bad

Just as there is a lot to love, there is a lot to dismiss, loathe, or simply forgive and forget about the film. Obviously I have already discussed the use of incorrect notation in an earlier post. In addition to this, there was the general choppiness in the first half of the film as the producers struggled to fit so much of the story into such a little block of time. Given the depth of material I think that the producers did a decent job providing the audience with enough information to follow the nuances of the story without becoming overwhelmed by minutia. However, there were some elements that were unusual and seemed out of place given the pace and direction of the film narrative. The biggest example I can think of is Bobby’s brief obsession with the Worldwide Church of God in which he listened to countless recorded sermons prophesying the end of the world. Bobby became disillusioned with the church and it was a major portion of his life, but the focus of Pawn Sacrifice made Bobby’s brief time spent listening to the sermons seem out of place. There was never a noticeable change in his behavior, whether verbal or nonverbal, that would have enabled the hint of his religiosity to benefit the story.


I also could not help but notice that Michael Stuhlbarg who played Bobby’s friend Paul Marshall in the film was wearing a standard issue US Air Force blue overcoat during much of the movie.

Finally, I could not help but laugh when my wife poked me in the side at the end of the film as Bobby rode away in his car from the tournament at Reykjavik. When he has cleared the crowd of people he reaches into his pocket and unzips a pocket chess set. And, this is not just any chess set…its a Chessmate Wallet! My wife recognized it because its from the same company that makes the Chessmate Ultima that I reviewed back when I first started this site.

The Final Verdict

Pawn Sacrifice is a solid psychological drama and a great historical pic about one of the greatest moments in chess history. Despite its few flaws and creative liberties taken by its creators, it stands on its own as a powerful representation of the tormented world of Robert James Fischer who, despite having his ELO eclipsed by other chess players, remains the greatest and most influential chess player in history.

World Cup Down to the Wire

The big news in the chess world today was that GM Hikaru Nakamura was eliminated from the 2015 FIDE World Cup with a draw against GM Pavel Eljanov from the Ukraine. The American battled the Ukrainian through the English Opening with 2…e6 for Black’s primary counter-play. The game was very well played and it was apparent that both players came to the board with the best that they had to offer. Winning and advancing to the semi-final round was a big dream of Nakamura’s as he had mentioned in some previous interviews during the tournament and immediately after his previous loss to Eljanov.

Now that Nakamura has been eliminated from the tournament, I am closely watching GMs Anish Giri of the Netherlands and Sergey Karjakin of Russia. I have not seen much of Karjakin this year with some of the other major players like Giri and Caruana mainly because he has been participating in some far east tournaments, but he is still a substantial chess force to be reckoned with. So far, Karjakin’s games against GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan have been an amazing display of the power struggle going on between them. Both games have ended in draws with the first game lasting an agonizing 88 moves. It was apparent in the second game that the two challengers were exhausted and the game was drawn on move 14 with a considerable amount of chess left to play.

At this point, Chess World Cup victory is anybody’s game. Personally, I am cheering for Karjakin because I think he is an exceptional chess player and would like to see him advance someday to the World Championship stage. That is nothing against Anish Giri, who is a great player in his own right. Yet, just like playing a game of chess: there can only be one champion.

The Sad Reality of Cheating in Chess

In his recent Chess.com column, chess legend Bruce Pandolfini explores the phenomenon of cheating in chess and how technology has evolved over time to make it easier for cheating both online and in tournament games. The point of the article is to explore the community perspective of cheating in chess. Does it happen as often as we think it does? What is the community’s experience at large with such cheating? As I read through the article and perused the comments left by the Chess.com user community, I wondered how the world of professional chess has dealt with the rising prevalence of technology and its affect on tournament culture throughout the years.

WGM Mihaela Sandu: One of the more recent high profile cases was the accusations of cheating surrounding WGM Mihaela Sandu at the European Women’s Individual Championship. Her perfect 5.0/5 score led 32 people to submit a letter to FIDE claiming that she was receiving outside assistance for her games. WGM Sandu’s performance in the tournament suffered significantly after the accusations, which prompted some to believe was an indicator of her dishonesty, but the psychological difficulties with being accused by so many participants in a tournament like that would have devastated anyone person’s performance.

WGM Anna Rudolf, who is a huge chess crush of mine, was accused in 2008 of receiving hints in her game against GM Christian Bauer at the Vandoeuvre Open. She scored a WGM and IM norm during that tournament and drew the ire of three Latvian players: Oleg Krivonosov, Vladimir Lazarev and Ilmārs Starostīts. The Latvians accused her of receiving messages in her lip balm, which was confiscated during the tournament to satisfy the complainants. The fallout from the incident was well documented on Chessdom featuring interviews from GM Bauer and WGM Rudolf. There was no real evidence that Anna was cheating and few (if any) people believe that she was cheating even today, but it was just a precursor to other instances of cheating that would appear in the coming years as technology continued to advance. Here is the Bauer-Rudolf game from Round 2 of the 2007 Vandoeuvre Open in which WGM Rudolf was accused of receiving messages in her lip balm:

Dhruv Kakkar: Cheating is an audacious behavior anyway, but this case was particularly disturbing given the brazen methods employed to cheat. Dhruv Kakkar basically came to the game wired with two Android smartphones strategically placed on his body to help improve his moves. However, when he missed some basic opening lines and paused at unusual points in the game, it gave away the fact that he was receiving outside help. The phones were linked into a tiny speaker tucked away in Kakkar’s ear (pictured below…the speaker, not his ear).

GM Gaioz Nigalidze: For one final example: at the 2015 Dubai Open, GM Tigran Petrosian faced a Georgian GM who held a strong attraction to a particular bathroom stall. After some investigation by the tournament staff, it was discovered that GM Nigalidze was using an iPhone hidden away behind a bathroom trash can. Prior to being discovered in Dubai, Nigalidze had won the Georgian Championship in 2013 and 2014 despite being ranked #9 and also won the Al-Ain Open in 2014 which netted him an $11,000 prize. In the official record of Round 6 between Nigalidze and Petrosian, the game ends at 23.Rf4, but the screenshot from the cheating device shows the game proceeding beyond move 24. Nigalidze learned quickly that cheaters will be caught and that it will stop them dead in their tracks:

Unfortunately, cheating is alive and well in chess. Technology continues to advance at an incredible rate and with those advancements come temptations to skirt the rules to gain an advantage in tournament play. Anti-cheating measures can only go so far. The rest of the effort will always come down to the personal integrity of chess players to remain true to themselves and to the game that we have all come to love.

Sinquefield Cup Round 3 Recap

Round 3 of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup saw the tournament developing in a completely different style than last year’s Caruana blowout. After 3 rounds in Saint Louis, Veselin Topalov remains in the lead with 2.5/3 points, but Magnus Carlsen is on a close trail with 2/3 points going into round 4. Topalov played a Canal-Sokolsky attack, which is a Nimzovich-Rossolimo variation.

The variation worked out well for Topalov, who has proven a force to be reckoned with in this year’s tournament. 2nd place is a 3-way tie between Carlsen, Giri, and Aronian each with 2 points. Carlsen played the English against Vachier-Lagrave and managed to edge out the French Grandmaster to continue his exceptional performance rebounding from a tragic time control mixup earlier this year in Norway Chess 2015.

Standings After Round 4

Rank Name Score Rating
1 Topalov 3.0/4 2816
2 Aronian 3.0/4 2765
3 Giri 2.5/4 2793
4 Carlsen 2.5/4 2853
5 Vachier-Lagrave 2.0/4 2731
6 Nakamura 2.0/4 2814
7 So 1.5/4 2779
8 Grischuk 1.5/4 2771
9 Anand 1.0/4 2816
10 Caruana 1.0/4 2808


2015 Sinquefield Cup Round 3 Games Collection

Sinquefield Cup Round 2 Recap

The 2nd round of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup is complete and it is almost possible to feel the air being sucked out of the tournament room in Saint Louis from anywhere in the country. Veselin Topalov won a scorching victory against Hikaru Nakamura this evening to go 2-0 in the tournament. The two grandmasters battled it out over the board in a Ruy-Lopez Berlin Defence 3…Nf6 where Topalov held a slight advantage throughout the game before Nakamura succumbed to the pressure with 57…Rd4+.

Topalov’s win brings him to within 25 points of World Champion Magnus Carlsen for #1 on the FIDE leaderboard. Speaking of the champ, Carlsen edged out another victory against Fabiano Caruana to go 2-0 in the tournament. Caruana was unable to obtain compensation after Carlsen’s brilliant 39…Rb2! This time last year, Caruana was beginning his now-famous rampage through his opponents in the tournament, but the beauty of chess is showing us that nothing is a sure thing, even in the professional world.

White Result Black
1 GM Topalov V. (1) 2816 1-0 GM Nakamura H. (1) 2814
2 GM Vachier-Lagr. (1) 2731 ½-½ GM Aronian L. (1) 2765
3 GM Giri Anish (1) 2793 ½-½ GM So Wesley (0) 2779
4 GM Caruana F. (0) 2808 0-1 GM Carlsen M. (0) 2853
5 GM Grischuk A. (0) 2771 1-0 GM Anand V. (0) 2816

After two rounds, Veselin Topalov has sole lead in the tournament with Vachier-Lagrave, Aronian, and Giri coming in close second.

Rank Name Score Rating
1 Topalov 2/2 2816
2 Vachier-Lagrave 1.5/2 2731
3 Aronian 1.5/2 2765
4 Giri 1.5/2 2793
5 Carlsen 1/2 2853
6 Nakamura 1/2 2814
7 Grischuk 1/2 2771
8 So 1.5/1.5 2779
9 Anand 0/2 2816
10 Caruana 0/2 2808

The pairings for tomorrow’s round are as follows:

White Result Black
1 GM So Wesley (0) 2779 – – GM Grischuk A. (0) 2771
2 GM Aronian L. (0) 2765 – – GM Giri Anish (0) 2793
3 GM Carlsen M. (0) 2853 – – GM Vachier-Lagr (0) 2731
4 GM Nakamura H. (0) 2814 – – GM Caruana F. (0) 2808
5 GM Anand V. (0) 2816 – – GM Topalov V. (0) 2816

All Sinquefield Cup Round 2 Games

Sinquefield Cup Round 1 Recap

The first round of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup is finished with each game concluding decisively. Magnus Carlsen and Veselin Topalov played a rather snoozy game that the World Champion later referred to as chicken chess. It seemed at times like Carlsen was playing as though he was not familiar with the opening. In the end Carlsen was unable to obtain sufficient compensation for his play and fell in the first round to Topalov.

Fabiano Caruana, who was last year’s tournament champion, was among the first players to fall in the first round. Caruana was unable to solve an exciting game against Levon Aronian. This was the game that I spent most of the day watching because I was curious to see how Caruana was going to approach this year’s tournament play. When it became apparent that he would be unable to convert a win against Aronian, WGM Jennifer Shahade remarked that Caruana, although lost, was poised to go out in a blaze of glory.


Fighting Spirit Throughout

While the Carlsen-Topalov game was a nice sleeper, it was clear that the participants came to Saint Louis this year with a strong will to fight in their hearts. Round 02 starts tomorrow at 1300 EST at the Saint Louis Chess Club and will be broadcast on multiple mediums across the web.

White Result Black
1 GM Carlsen M. (0) 2853 0-1 GM Topalov V. (0) 2816
2 GM Nakamura H. (0) 2814 1-0 GM Anand V. (0) 2816
3 GM Aronian L. (0) 2765 1-0 GM Caruana F. (0) 2808
4 GM Giri Anish (0) 2793 1-0 GM Grischuk A. (0) 2771
5 GM So Wesley (0) 2779 0-1 GM Vachier-Lagr (0) 2731


2015 Sinquefield Cup – Round 02 Pairings

White Result Black
1 GM Grischuk A. (0) 2771 — — GM Anand V. (0) 2816
2 GM Topalov V. (1) 2816 — — GM Nakamura H. (1) 2814
3 GM Caruana F. (0) 2808 — — GM Carlsen M. (0) 2853
4 GM Vachier-Lagr. (1) 2731 — — GM Aronian L. (1) 2765
5 GM Giri A. (1) 2793 — — GM So Wesley (0) 2779


2015 Sinquefield Cup – Round 01 Games Collection

2015 Sinquefield Cup Starts Today

Updated 1945 EST w/Round 1 Pairings – Click here to view.

The players have arrived in Saint Louis for the start of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup! Although it looks like rain has put a damper on some of the outside activities, the autograph session at 1200L was scheduled to proceed regardless of the weather. Round 1 will start tomorrow at 1300L with the following players participating:

Rank Title Name Country Rating
1 GM Carlsen Magnus NOR 2853
6 GM Anand Viswanathan IND 2816
4 GM Topalov Veselin BUL 2816
3 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2814
2 GM Caruana Fabiano USA 2808
7 GM Giri Anish NED 2793
10 GM So Wesley USA 2779
5 GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2771
9 GM Aronian Levon ARM 2765
8 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2731

There are several ways to tune in to the action including following the games on PlayChess.com, Chess24, and Chessbomb.

Round 1 Pairings

Pair Title White ELO Title Black ELO
1 GM Giri, Anish 2793 GM Grischuk, Alexander 2771
2 GM So, Wesley 2779 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
3 GM Aronian, Levon 2765 GM Caruana, Fabiano 2808
4 GM Carlsen, Magnus 2853 GM Topalov, Veselin 2816
5 GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2814 GM Anand, Viswanathan 2816

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