CHESS #1406

Carlsen leads in his semi-final versus Fabiano Caruana in the Chessable Masters hosted by Chess24.com

The Chessable Masters hosted by Chess24.com is the third event in the Magnus Carlsen Tour. Carlsen leads in his semi-final versus Fabiano Caruana while Ian Nepomniachtchi leads against Vlad Artemiev. Ding Liren plays Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri plays Alexander Grischuk on Friday.

Each semi-final has two legs, with the second Carlsen –Caruana, Nepomniachtchi-Artemiev match on Friday while Giri-Grischuk, Nakamura-Ding play their second leg on Sunday. As is normal with fast controls, the games were messy with many errors. While this ensures excitement with evaluations swinging from move to move, it is a trifle disappointing for purists.

The Fide Women’s Speed Chess Championships proceeds at Chess.com. In the Leg 1 semifinals, it’s Valentina Gunina Vs Alexandra Kosteniuk in one and Vaishali Rameshbabu Vs Anna Ushenina. This is a breakout for the 19-year-old WGM from Chennai and she’s done well so far. The finalists will get a slot in the upcoming Grand Prix so she’s got plenty to play for.

The online chess explosion is developing contours of its own. It’s no longer just about an unusual period of quarantine and lockdowns. There’s more prize money coming in. All the major chess websites are seeing far more traffic. Indeed, TwitchTV and YouTube too, for that matter, are seeing more quality chess content and far more interest.

If the pandemic continues, at some stage, Fide and national federations will have to figure out how to play “serious” with classical controls, ratings, and stronger anti-cheating measures. It’s not inconceivable that the next title match could be an online event. A large component of the logistics are already in place.

As chess moves online in a big way, more players and commentators are also embracing social media. Surya Sekhar Ganguly has launched his own YouTube channel and he’s started with a couple of superb conversations with Viswanathan Anand. They have a special relationship. The Kolkata-based GM worked as Anand’s second through three world title matches.

The Diagram , White to Play (White: Nepomniachtchi Vs Black: Artemiev, Chessable Semifinals 2020) is interesting. Black has pressure on c4 but White can generate an attack with a pure positional approach. The giveaway: lack of black pieces defending the kingside.

White played 34. Bg4! Bxg4 35. hxg4 Qa8 36. g5 fxg5?! [ At least 36.—Qxe4 gets the queen into the game. ]. Now the attack went mega with 37. Nhf5+ gxf5 38. Nxf5+ Kg8 39. Qg3! Qxe4 40. Qxg5+ Kf7. White can finish here with the lovely 41. Qg7+ Kf6 42. Qh6+ Kxf5 43. f3!  or 42. Qh6+ Kf7 43. Qxh7+. But Nepo faltered with 41. Rd3? Ra1 42. Rxa1 Qxd3 43. Ra3 Qxa3 44. Nh6+ Ke8 45. Qg8+ Ke7 46. Qg5+ Ke6 47. Qf5+. This is no more than a perpetual but Black got disconnected (1-0). 

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player