Javier

All games were drawn at Linares on round 8. Aronian - Svidler only lasted 16 moves. Anand never seemed like he was really fighting for a win in his game against Topalov, but Morozevic - Carlsen was a tough fight. Ivanchuck was never in trouble in his game and he achieved equality rather easily: Leko,P (2749) - Ivanchuk,V (2750) [C10] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (8), 02.03.2007 [pgn] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Nxf6+ Nxf6 8.Be3 Nd5 9.Bd3 Nxe3 10.fxe3 Bd6 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Bc5 13.Bb5+ c6 14.Qxd8+ Kxd8 15.Bc4 Ke7 16.c3 Be6 17.Bxe6 Kxe6 18.Ke2 Bb6 19.Rhf1 Rhf8 20.Rad1 Rad8 21.Rxd8 Bxd8 22.Rd1 Bc7 23.Ke3 g6 24.g4 Rd8 25.Rxd8 Bxd8 26.Kf4 c5 27.h3 Bc7 28.h4 f6 29.c4 Bxe5+ 30.Nxe5 g5+ 31.Ke3 Kxe5 32.h5 a6 33.b3 Kd6 34.Kd3 b6 35.a3 Kc6 36.Kc3 Kd6 37.Kd3 Ke5 38.Ke3 Kd6 1/2-1/2 [/pgn] Anyway, instead of 38...Kd6 black might have tried 38...b5, but the position is still drawn: [38...b5!? 39.cxb5 a)39.Kd3?? bxc4+ 40.Kxc4 (a)40.bxc4 Kf4-+) 40...Kxe4 41.Kxc5 f5-+; b)39.a4?? bxc4 40.bxc4 a5! Javier: And white is in zugzwang.; 39...axb5 40.a4 c4! (40...bxa4?? 41.bxa4+- Javier: White gets the outside passed pawn and wins here.) 41.axb5 (41.bxc4?? bxa4-+ Javier: It is black who gets the outside passed pawn now. 42.Kd3 a3 43.Kc3) 41...cxb3 42.Kd3 Kd6 43.Kc3 Kc5 44.Kxb3 Kxb5 45.Kc3 Kc5 46.Kd3 Kd6 47.Kd4 Ke6 48.Kd3 Ke5 49.Ke3 Javier: With a draw.] ½-½ Anyway, watch out for Ivanchuk, he might end up winning the tournament. It's a feeling that I have...

Here are my predictions for the upcoming Candidates matches: Aronian vs Carlsen – I don't think Carlsen has much of a chance at this stage of his chess career. Aronian will crush him. Leko vs Gurevich – A more even match would have been Gurevich - Carlsen. Leko will win. Ponomariov vs Rublevsky – Rublevsky won the Russian Championship ahead of Morozevic, Khalifman, Dreev, Jakovenko... meanwhile Pono hasn't done much over the last couple of years, so Rublevsky is clearly the favourite for this one. Gelfand vs Kasimdzhanov – Kasimdzhanov defeated Adams to win the FIDE title. Although that match could have gone either way, I still think that Kasim is a stronger player than Gelfand nowadays, so I think Kasmdzhanov will win. Bacrot vs Kamsky – Kamsky is also the favourite for this one, if only because of his determination. Grischuk vs Malakhov – I'll be honest: I haven't got a clue what will happen on this one! Polgar vs Bareev – Although Bareeve has had very poor results over the last couple of years, Polgar's been away from competition ever since she became a mother. I think Bareev will win. Shirov vs Adams – I wish Shirov won this one, but he's so out of form over the last 12 months that anything could happen on this one. I'm really looking forward to seeing the games from this particular match though, they're going to be really interesting. Shirov has never lost a WC match against anyone, he even defeated Kramnik. Then Kasparov, in what is known as one of the most indecent acts in the history of FIDE's World Championships, didn't have the guts to play Shirov, and his excuse was that nobody was interested in that much and FIDE couldn't et any sponsors, so that match was called off...

Yes, Carlsen has his own blog, no kidding! How does he find the time to prepare for his games, play those tough games, rest and... write a blog? Hang on a minute, this is not Magnus Carlsen's blog we're talking about, is it? True, but it comes close: it's his dad's! Still, a very interesting source of information with plenty of photographs, family stories, honest and witty. Henry is doing a great job. Highly recommended. Read it here!

(2007 Oscar, best documentary) The subject is AIDS in China. Specifically in Anhui province. The victims are poor families. The adults donated blood in evidently unsanitary conditions: one individual apparently connected to the blood drawing procedure describes combining the donated blood of fifty individuals and then re-injecting a little bit of the mixture into the veins of the donors. It is hard to believe that China's health system would be so primitive! The consequence is not surprising. The donors get AIDS. In the absence of treatment to slow down the progression of the disease, they die quickly. Many had children. They are now orphans. Some of the kids are contaminated themselves. This documentary short is about those kids. The most poignant case is that of Gao Jun, a toddler sick with the disease and being taken care by an uncle. Fear of the disease by the local community segregates the kid to his own backyard, prohibited from playing with other kids, a trio of chickens his only companions. The uncle finds that keeping a kid with AIDS in his home crimps his social life. Finding a wife is not going to be easy. The solution is to have another family adopt Gao, one where the adults are HIV positive. For Gao this is a solution of sorts, but his health is deteriorating and eventually the state (unclear) takes him away, only one of very few that receive such attention. In Miao Zhuang Village, what's left of the Huang family are three children. Though uninfected, they suffer discrimination from a local community that is ignorant about how the virus is transmitted. Health officials do make an appearance in this rural province. They distribute leaflets about AIDS awareness. In Guo Zhuang Village, Nan Nan, a young infected girl is taking medicines. Her uninfected older sister is about to get married. She vows not to tell the groom about her sibling's disease. Though the film is primarily concerned about the social conditions of those children, political issues are indirectly raised. One can't help but be underwhelmed by China's social services. At one point, a charity organization comes to help. In my book, charity and communism are antithetical; the latter, if properly applied, obviates the first. The inescapable conclusion is that China's CP is "C" only in name, the lofty communist principles of the past now abandoned. "People's Republic" now an oxymoron. Author: rasecz, from United States Published on the Internet Movie Database iFrame (Click here to see this in a new window.)

I will not mention what happened in round six at Linares other than it was the most boring round of any GM tournament I've seen in years. If you have children at home and you're running out of ideas because you no longer remember what silence sounds like, let your kids watch the games from this round and I assure you that they too will go to sleep in no time! Anyway, Round VII was a lot more interesting. Only one of the 4 games ended in a draw. Here's Ivanchuk's victory against Aronian. Pay attention to Vasily's 17th move, a true Karpovian move indeed! The rest of the game is an exhibition of good technique against the IQP: Ivanchuk,V (2750) - Aronian,L (2744) [D38] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (7), 25.02.2007 [pgn] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Qc2 c5 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.e3 0-0 12.Be2 b6 13.0-0 Bb7 14.Rfc1 Rac8 15.dxc5 Qxc3 16.Rxc3 Rxc5 17.Rcc1 Rfc8 18.Rd1 Rc2 19.Bb5 Nf8 20.Rab1 R2c7 21.Ba4 Ne6 22.Bb3 Kf8 23.h3 Rc5 24.Kh2 Ke7 25.Rd2 Rb5 26.Ba2 Rbc5 27.Ne1 a5 28.Rbd1 Rd8 29.Kg3 Rb5 30.f3 Rc8 31.Nd3 d4 32.Bxe6 Kxe6 33.Nf4+ Ke7 34.Rxd4 Rc7 35.R1d2 Rbc5 36.e4 Rc4 37.Rd6 R4c6 38.e5 Rc2 39.Rxc2 Rxc2 40.Rxb6 Bc6 41.b4 g5 42.Nh5 axb4 43.axb4 Bd5 44.Ng7 Re2 45.Nf5+ Ke8 46.Nxh6 Be6 47.Rb5 Rb2 48.Rb8+ Kd7 49.Rg8 1-0 [/pgn] So, the first half of the tournament is over and now the players will travel to Linares (Spain!). I'll make one prediction: 2- Carlsen will play 1.e4 in his next games with white at Linares (he's only played 1.d4 in his 4 games with white).

Carlsen beats Topalov after the Bulgarian resigns a drawn position and now the Norwegian GM leads the tournament! Check my blog for the annotated game!

Dramatic day for Topalov in Mexico: after 64 moves of fighting chess, he resigned a drawn position, look: Magnus has just played 64.Qg6 and Topalov sees no defence against Qh7 and Qh8, but there was a rather simple defence! (if you can't see it, download the game with full analysis of the whole game here: carlstopa.cbv ) However, it'd be completely unfair to claim that Carlsen's victory was undeserved. Watch the first diagram, when he's about to play 48.h6! Or can you guess his 49th move?, watch: (if you can't, download the fully annotated game above) Magnus now leads the tournament with 3.5/4. Can he win it? I don't think so, although he's already played against Anand, Topalov and Morozevic, 3 players against which I thought he would have scored poorly (2 wins and 1 loss is pretty impressive). I don't know what it is with this kid, I don't think he's that good, he's just... lucky? no, he tries really hard, but sometimes he gets outplayed and his opponents make it look rather easy, like his game against Anand for example. It's gotta be something else... determination, will to win perhaps? talent? who knows...

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Anand beat Morozevic on round 4 and is now leading the tournament with 3/4. Check my blog for some annotated games!

After 4 rounds GM Anand is leading Morelia-Linares with 3/4. Playing the black side of a Ruy Lopez against the Anand probably sounds as the closest thing to a slow torture, particularly if you choose one of the main lines, like Morozevic did. However, the Russian GM defended solidly and at one point could have obtained a slight initiative. The position after white's 31st move is critical. 31...Bh6! seems like an improvement. I have annotated the game and you can download it here: anandmoro.cbv or see it without comments: (3) Anand,V (2779) - Morozevich,A (2741) [C95] XXIV SuperGM Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP (4), 21.02.2007 [pgn] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 c6 15.Nf5 Qc7 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.Nh2 c5 18.Qf3 c4 19.Bg5 Re6 20.Rad1 Nc5 21.Bxf6 Rxf6 22.Ng4 Re6 23.Nge3 Qa5 24.a3 g6 25.Nd5 Rd8 26.Qg3 Rd7 27.Nfe3 Qd8 28.Qf3 Bg7 29.a4 Red6 30.axb5 axb5 31.g4 Qh4 32.Ra1 Ne6 33.Qg3 Qxg3+ 34.fxg3 Nc5 35.h4 h6 36.Ra5 Bc6 37.Nb4 Bxe4 38.Bxe4 Nxe4 39.Rxb5 Nd2 40.Kg2 e4 41.Re2 Bf8 42.Ned5 e3 43.Nxe3 Re6 44.Nbd5 Nb3 45.Nf4 Rc6 46.Nxc4 Rxc4 47.Rxb3 Kg7 48.Rb5 Bc5 49.g5 hxg5 50.hxg5 Be7 51.Kf3 Bd8 52.Re4 Rc6 53.Kg4 Rd2 54.Rd5 Rxd5 55.Nxd5 Re6 56.Rxe6 fxe6 57.Nf4 Kf7 58.Nd3 Bc7 59.Kf3 1-0 [/pgn]

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ISBN: 0-7134-5937-9 Year of publication: 1981 (Reprinted 1998) Publisher:Batsford Pages: 207 Like many of Nunn's books, I find this one of little practical value. The 134 examples chosen are extremely long and difficult and demand some very serious analysis before they can be worked out. The book is devided into 13 chapters: Mate, stalemate, promotion, positional draw, breakthrough, Zugzwang, manouvering, perpetual check, passed pawns, rook endings, pawn endings, studies and practical examples. (I get the feeling John didn't have the prospective reader in mind, he chose positions which he liked or found interesting, which is Ok if you're a 2400 + player! Although many of the positions are taken from real otb play, most are studies. Will your endgame play improve much after reading this book? I doubt it, although your analysis might. 3 points.

ISBN:1-901983-26-9 Publisher:Gambit Year of publication:2000 Pages:224 A little disappointing. Original analysis (and one would expect at least some in such a complex book line) is scarce. Textual explanations of the strategical ideas is either missing or very brief. Game references are well explained though. One question I always ask when trying to find the true worth of an opening book is: what does this book provide that a large database doesn't? My vote is: 4.

ISBN: 0812922654 Year of publication: 1993 Publisher: Random House Pages: 290 Beginners will get the most from this book, although it could prove useful to players of intermediate level (1700-1900) It concentrates on how you should think when you play chess. Sunil, who is a well known chess coach in the US, chooses the platonic method of asking questions about the postion all the time: "who stands better and why, what has white gained after these exchanges" and so on. The games are extensively annotated and the acompanying lightly annotated games are well chosen. The book is enjoyable and easy to read. Sunil has done a very nice job with this one.

ISBN: 1-901983-31-5 Year of publication: 2000 Publisher: Gambit Pages: 208 A lot of the material found in this book is rather old. Nothing wrong with that, but it would have been nice to see more modern examples as well. My general impression of this book is that it really isn't saying anything new. For example, I found the chapter on the isolated pawn rather poor. Most of the topics have been dealt with in other books and I don't get the feeling that Marovic spent much time explaining ideas to his readers. 5 points for this one.

ISBN: Vol 1 - O-87568-190-5; Vol 2 - O-87568-200-6 Year of publication: Vol 1 - 1991; Vol 2 - 1992 Publisher: Chess Digest Pages: Vol 1 - 288 pages; Vol 2 - 224 pages Both these books are excellent general works on the opening. Volume One covers 'modern' openings, such as the Sicilian and the various Indian defenses, while Volume Two covers 'traditional' openings, such as the Ruy Lopez (perhaps Spanish would be better for this site and Queen's Gambit. Both books cover the development of the openings through examples from throughout the 20th centruy, with the focus on ideas and their logic, rather than on heavy variations. In the introduction, Soltis says he would like the book to be something of an extension of Rueben Fine's classic 'The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings', and both books, though particularly Volume One, do this admirably. Going through the book, you get an appreciation of how ideas have developed in various openings, and how masters try to solve problems, with varying degrees of success. It also gives a quick, yet usable guide to various opening plans and themes which crop up in particular lines. If you had to choose between the books, then Volume One is the one to go for, as not only does Soltis cover more material, but he seems to have a greater interest in the subject matter, as well as being able to present many recent (late 80s) games which are topical. I suppose I also have an inclination towards Volume One as I have been a player of the Benko Gambit (when the opportunity presents itself of course) for a long time, and found the material rather interesting. As for it being for 'advanced' players, I think it is simply an indication that it is not intended for rank beginners, but anyone 1500+ should be able to learn a great deal from these works. Highly Recommeded. (Originally edited by Jean Saulnier on June 30, 2002)

ISBN: 1.901983.18-8 Publisher: Gambit Date of publication: 1999 (first edition in 1992) Pages: 352 With the aid of an endgame database GM John Nunn explains the most common rook + pawn vs rook endgames (by the way, no other rook endings are covered, so the title "secrets of rook endings" is missleading at best. I guess "secrets of rook and pawn endings" wouldn't sell as well, but I hate it when publishers lie to people like this). Unfortunately his work is so meticulous that one wonders whether the sentence in the back cover of the book which says "This is no computer print out" is really true, I have my doubts... Personally I found the book of little practical value. One might as well get the CD-ROM and use it as reference. Nunn doesn't put much effort into the didactic aspect of these endings or how one should go about learning them. Apparently, his suggested method is "learn everything!". Humans don't learn or think like that, at least ordinary humans! Perhaps this was a personal challenge for himself. This book represents a titanic effort by John Nunn, but a book like "survival guide to rook endings, by GM John Ehms, will teach you a lot more than this. With that in mind, I can only give this book 6 points. (don't forget that the book has been reprinted several times and translated to other languages though, so this is just my opinion...) (Review originally posted on June 26, 2002)

ISBN: 1-880673-85-1 Publisher: ?? Date of publication: ?? Pages: 260 This is the highly aclaimed masterpiece of Aaron Nimzowitsch, one of the most profound and original players of the early years of the 20th century. It is a book on basic chess strategy and correct opening play. The topics include: The center Overprotection Blockade The passed pawn Open files Elements of chess strategy The 2 bishops The pawn chain Double pawn and restraint The isolated d pawn Positional play and the center Exchanging The 7th rank Maneuvering against weaknesses Although some of these topics are well explained, others have been covered somewhat superficially. Nimzowitsch has a very witty writing style. Although many players will benefit from this book, I think it is mainly geared towards players in the 1700-1900 range. This book was a masterpiece at the time it was published and although I know that this might sound as sacriledge, personally I find the book rather outdated and of scarce value to a young player of today. I give it a 5, if only to avoid too many complaints from Nimzowitsch's fanatics . By the way, GM Jusupov claims this is probably the best chess book he has ever read. (Review originally posted by Javier onJune 22 2002)

ISBN: 1-901983-24-2 Year of publication: 1999 Publisher: Gambit Pages: 224 First of all, are you willing to buy a book whose title has little to do with the contents of the book and was probably chosen to reach a wider audience? I understand that sometimes the book author has no say in such matters and he only cares about the check that he will collect, but that decission makes him a puppet. This is a collection of some of Yermolinsky's games. I must admit his annotations are witty, honest and sound and will prove very useful to the practical players. Apart from the annotation of a lot of his games, the book also covers some opening variations (like one line of the sicilian defence and some ideas in the benko gambit) but as a whole, the book's structure is non-existent, material seems to have been picked at random. For these reasons, my vote for this book is 5. (Review originally posted by Javier on June 10 2002)

ISBN: 1-85744-198-2 Year of publication: 1997 Publisher:Cadogan Pages: 176 A very nice book written by ex-World Champion Vasily Smyslov. You'll find nothing but positions from his games or completee games, which is good news because a player will normally annotate his own games best. There are 7 chapters: Pawn endings Minor piece endings Rook endings Endings with Rooks and Minor pieces Endings with Queens My studies Illustrative games. Smyslov's comments are simple, straight forward and very clear. They're easy to follow. Nice job. Pay attention to the fact that players with a rating of more than 2100 will find it more useful. (Review originally posted by Javier on June 10 2002)

ISBN: 1-901983-07-2 Publisher: Gambit Year of publication: 1998, 1999 Pages: 272 A tremendously popular book! Personally, I don't like it. The word that comes to my mind when I think about this book is "superficiality". John Watson kind of describes a revolution, a word that is bound to get a big audience but in reality, he just covers some very exceptional positions where the general rule doesn't apply. He doesn't really deepen into the subjects that he talks about, he treats them very, very lightly. Some of the book contents: The center and development Minorities, majorities and passed pawns Pawns: in chains and doubled up The evolution of the IQP Radical rooks Modern pawn play The modern bishop Bishop vs knights The exchange sacrifice Prophilaxis, etc. I give this book a 4, mainly because it's thought provoking, but unless you are a player with a sound knowledge of chess strategy this book might actually create a lot of confusion!. Then again, don't forget that this book won the book of the year award, and has been reprinted... (Review originally posted on June 10 2002)

ISBN: 1-901983-41-2 Publisher: Gambit Year of publication: 2001 Pages: 240 When I started reading this book, my first feeling was: "oh, this is Nunn's answer to Chernev's Logical chess move by move". Nunn's comments are always very enlightening and thourough. I guess a lot can be learned from them. Also, Nunn has made sure that his annotations are not flooded with lots and lots of variations, and has added lots of textual comments instead. On the negative side, I don't think his selection of games was all that good. Some of them will be quite difficult to follow even for an experienced player. A good book, but not outstanding. (Review originally posted on June 10 2002)