Chess #638

Magnus Carlsen won Nanjing decisively with 7 points from 10 games (+4,=6) for a 2900 level performance. It could have been even bigger if he had put away either of two clear winning chances against the second-placed Anand. Anand ran up 6 (+3,-1, =6) to take clear second with a 2829 performance. Etienne Bacrot was third with 5 points. Gashimov, Topalov (both 4.5) and Wang (3) all landed minus scores.

Carlsen was back in form after two poor events in a row. Apart from obdurate defence against Carlsen, Anand was careless when he lost a technical drawn endgame to Bacrot. But the world champion has done enough in Sept-Oct to retrieve the number one ranking from Carlsen Anand is at a lifetime high rating of 2804 and due to pick up another 4 points from Nanjing, which will be counted in the Nov-Dec rating period. Carlsen (2802) drops to number two, though he’s due to pull back 10 points when Nanjing is counted. Levon Aronyan's (2801) terrific Olympiad was enough to push him past 2800. Topalov (2786) dropped to no:5 behind Kramnik (2791). Carlsen and Anand clash again in London in December and that will influence the next rating list.

 

Anand and Humpy (number two in the women’s rankings behind Judit Polgar) apart, the picture isn’t very rosy. Just two more players, Sasikiran and Harikrishna, are in the top 100. Ganguly, Gopal, Chanda, Negi, Gupta and Humpy are all above 2600. India did reasonably at the World Youth Festival at Porto Carras, Greece, winning six medals in various age groups but there were no golds.

Negi (1993 born) has school exams and his stagnation can be attributed to academic pressures. But in the meantime, age-peers like Anish Giri, Wesley So and Sana Sjugirov have forged ahead. Giri scored 50 per cent in the recent Unive Crown in Hoogeven, (Holland). Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won there, ahead of Shirov, Giri and Tiviakov.

The DIAGRAM , WHITE TO PLAY, (Shirov Vs Giri., Unive 2010) saw white set a diabolical trap after over-reaching a little. 19.Rad1 Bxe3+ ? Giri falls for it. The counter-intuitive 19. --Bxd5 20. Nh5 looks scary with an impending attack on the King and the Bd5 pin. But 20. - g6 may hold. Taking e3 seems to lose though the following is bewilderingly complicated.

20.Kh1 Nxd5 The problem is that 20.-- Bc5 21. Nxe4! fxe4 22. Qe6+ Kh8 23. d6 is a killer. But after the text, black is even more brutally busted with 21.Nxf5 Bxf4 Lines like 21.-- Bc5 22.Nh6+ Kh8 23.Qe6 Rf6. (Yes, 23. - Qf6 24. Qg8+! is prettier) lead to the windmill-cum-Philidor's Mate 24.Nef7+ Rxf7 25.Nxf7+ Kg8 26.Nxd8+ Kh8 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Nh6+ Kh8 29.Qg8+ Rxg8 30.Nf7# Now white chose 22.Nh6+! gxh6 23.Qe6+ Kg7 24.Nc6+ Nxc3 25.Rxd8 (1-0)

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Devangshu Datta is an internationally-rated chess and correspondence chess player