Champion Of Champions (part nine)

HERE is the tournament bracket after the round of 16.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals            Semi-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)
                                    v................................
8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer
                                    v.................................
13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)
                                     v................................
5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov
10. Spassky
                                     v................................
15. Anand
v----------------------------Lasker
2. Lasker (+50.5)

Quarter-Finals
Match One: Carlsen v Tal
Game One
Magnus Carlsen - Mikhail Tal
Sicilian Najdorf/Scheveningen
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6
Tal has 144 games with 2...d6 in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, compared with 99 for 2...e6 and 66 for 2...Nc6.
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
Tal played the text 68 times in Mega20 compared with 50 for 5...Nc6 and 30 for 5...e6.
6.Be3
Carlsen has played eight other moves here but 6.Be3 has been his favourite.
6...e6 7.f3
Carlsen has played the text and 7.g4 twice each, winning both times with 7.f3 but scoring just a draw with 7.g4.

As far as we can get - Tal did not face 7.f3

Komodo11.01 gives Carlsen a minuscule edge but Stockfish11 prefers Black, and the evaluations average out to an advantage for Tal of +19.5.

Game Two
Mikhail Tal - Magnus Carlsen
Spanish Closed
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.a4 Nb6
We have a new record for getting deep into a 'game'. Carlsen has played the text and 15...c5 once each, drawing with the former and losing with the latter, so 15...Nb6 wins on tiebreak. It is not a move Tal faced.

A new record for depth in this tournament

The engines give Tal an averaged advantage of +60, making him a runaway winner of the first quarter-final.
Here is the updated bracket.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals              Semi-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)
                                       v................................Tal
8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal (+79.5)
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer
                                       v.................................
13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)
                                        v................................
5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov
10. Spassky
                                        v................................
15. Anand
v----------------------------Lasker
2. Lasker (+50.5)

Good News ... Bad News

CZECHTOUR has announced four more congresses and highlighted an associated one:

Upcoming festivals arranged within the frame of CZECH TOUR 2020 / 2021:
26. 12. 2020 – 1. 1. 2021 21st LITOMYSL OPEN
15. - 22. 1. 2021 20th PRAGUE OPEN
23. - 30. 1. 2021 20th MARIENBAD OPEN
20. - 27. 2. 2021 21st LIBEREC OPEN
Other festivals:
11. - 19. 2. 2021 3rd PRAGUE INTERNATIONAL CHESS FESTIVAL DON GIOVANNI
Detailed regulations will be published in October 2020.

The bad news is that right now the Czech Republic is experiencing a big rise in covid-19 cases.

At least they have time to sort the situation out before Christmas.

Champion Of Champions (part eight)

HERE is the tournament bracket after seven matches.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)

5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v----------------------------
2. Lasker

Round of 16
Match Eight: Anand v Lasker
Game One
Vishy Anand - Emanuel Lasker
Spanish Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6
This should be interesting. Lasker was something of a loner among top players of his time in playing the Berlin, while today Anand is regarded as one of the experts at playing against it.
4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7
Lasker preferred this to the 5...Nd6 of the Berlin Wall.
6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 9.Nc3
Anand has reached the position after 8...Nb7 twice in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, once playing the text and once playing 9.Re1. Since he drew with the latter but won with 9.Nc3, it is 9.Nc3 that is chosen on tiebreak.
9...0-0 10.Re1 Nc5 11.Nd4
Anand has played the text once, winning, and 11.Be3 once, drawing.
11...Ne6 12.Nxe6

Lasker never faced 12.Nxe6

I thought Anand-Lasker would be an intriguing match, but I did not expect a 'game' to get this deep.
Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 give Anand an averaged advantage of just +4.5.
On the face of it that makes Lasker favourite to progress to the quarter-finals.

Game Two
Emanuel Lasker - Vishy Anand
Spanish Marshall Attack
1.e4 e5
This is preferred to 1...c5 by Anand in Mega20 by 347 games to 310.
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7
Anand has preferred this to 5...Nxe4 by 40 games to 33.
6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5
This should be fun.
9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6

Again we have got quite some way into a game, but Lasker did not face 11...c6

The engines' averaged evaluations give Lasker an advantage of +55, making him an easy match winner.
Here is the updated bracket at the end of the round of 16.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)

5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v----------------------------Lasker
2. Lasker (+50.5)

Some statistics:
*Five of the eight round-of-16 matches were won by the earlier world champion;
*The average winning margin was +36.3;
*Carlsen had the biggest winning margin (102.5), Tal the smallest (8.5);
*Lasker and Carlsen are the only champions in the quarterfinals who are neither Russian or Soviet.

Maltese Cross

ANNOUNCEMENT at chessorg.de:

10th Malta-Open 2020

15.-21.11.2020

We are sorry to announce that the tournament cannot take place this year.

London League Has No 2020 Vision

THE London League has dropped plans (https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2020/07/london-league-restart.html) to resume fixtures on September 19.
Instead the league announces on the front page of its website: "All OTB matches organised by the London Chess League are suspended with immediate effect at least until the end of December."
The real picture seems worse than this as it has produced a revised fixture list with matches not starting until April 12, ie more than a year since the league halted play.

Champion Of Champions (part seven)

HERE is the tournament bracket after six matches.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)

5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Round of 16

Match Seven: Smyslov v Spassky

Game One

Vasily Smyslov - Boris Spassky

Spanish Closed

1.e4

Preferred by Smyslov over 1.d4 in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database by 454 games to 425.

1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7

Spassky did not highly rate the Open Variation: 5...Nxe4.

6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8

As far as we can get as Smyslov, somewhat surprisingly, did not face Breyer's System

Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 give Smyslov an averaged advantage of +57, which will be hard to overturn.

Game Two

Boris Spassky - Vasily Smyslov

Spanish Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0

Another heavyweight Spanish, and this time Black leaves open the possibility of playing the Marshall Attack ...

8.c3 d6

... but there are no Smyslov games with 8...d5.

9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Nc6 13.d5 Nd8 14.Nf1

Spassky reached the position after 13...Nd8 three times as White, winning with the text but drawing with 14.a4 and 14.c4, so the text is chosen on tiebreak. It turns out not to have been faced by Symslov.

The deepest into a 'game' we have reached in the tournament before running out of played moves for one champion

The engines give Spassky an averaged advantage of +39 - good, but not enough to overturn Smyslov's advantage from game one.

Here is the updated bracket after seven matches.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)

5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

More Czech Events Going Ahead - But Malta Cancelled?

WHILE playing at Prague last month I was told the CzechTour people planned to soon announce more tournaments.
Nothing was announced during Prague, but yesterday Hradec Kralove (Oct 31-Nov 7) and Brno (Nov 14-21) appeared on the site.
http://czechtour.net/hradec-kralove-open/regulations/
http://czechtour.net/brno-open/regulations/
Unfortunately I am unofficially told Malta (Nov 15-21) almost certainly will not be held.
http://chessorg.de/ausschreibungen/Malta-Open2020.pdf
I could not do Brno and Malta anyway, but I know which should have the better weather.

Champion Of Champions (part six)

HERE is the tournament bracket after five matches.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)

5. Euwe
v--------------------------
12. Karpov

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Round of 16
Match Six: Euwe v Karpov
Game One
Max Euwe - Anatoly Karpov
Nimzo-Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3
The first time in this tournament White has allowed a Nimzo-Indian.
3...Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Bg5!?

Karpov has not faced 5.Bg5!?

Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 are unimpressed with Euwe's opening play, evaluating the position as dead-equal, giving the Dutch world champion an uphill task in game two.

Game Two
Anatoly Karpov - Max Euwe
QGD Semi-Tarrasch
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3
No Nimzo-Indian this time.
3...d5 4.Nc3 c5!?
Aggressive play by Euwe. He preferred this over 4...c6 by 17 games to 16 in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+
Euwe reached the position after 8.cxd4 twice as Black, playing 8...Nc6 in a 1932 draw against Flohr and the text in a 1937 draw against Alekhine. The text is chosen on tiebreak by having been played more recently.
9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0-0 11.Rc1

As far as we can go

The engines give Karpov an averaged advantage of +11.5, meaning he wins the match by the same score.
Here is the updated tournament bracket.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)

5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Champion Of Champions (part five)

HERE is the updated tournament bracket after four matches.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v-----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v-----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v-----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v--------------------------
14. Kramnik

5. Euwe
v--------------------------
12. Karpov

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Round of 16
Match Five: Capablanca v Kramnik
Game One
José Capablanca - Vladimir Kramnik

Spanish Four Knights Rubinstein

1.e4!?

This is surprising, but there are 393 of Capablanca's games with 1.e4 in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database compared with 306 for 1.d4.

1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

This easily beats 2...Nf6 - 253 games to 105.

3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3!? Nd4

No games in Mega20 with Capablanca facing 4...Nd4

The engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 give Capablanca an averaged advantage of +25.5, which should make for a tense second game.

Game Two

Vladimir Kramnik - José Capablanca

QGD Orthodox

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5

Capablanca preferred this over 3...b6 by 25 games to 20.

4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bg5

Kramnik has played this and 5.cxd5 four times each, scoring 75% in both cases, but recording a much better rating performance with the text (+116 compared with +61 for 5.cxd5).

5...Be7

Kramnik has not faced 5...Be7 so this is far as we can go

The engines give Kramnik an averaged advantage of +37.5, meaning he wins the match with a score of +12.

Here is the updated tournament bracket.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)

5. Euwe
v--------------------------
12. Karpov

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Champion Of Champions (part four)

HERE is the tournament bracket after three matches.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v--------------------------
4. Alekhine

3. Capablanca
v--------------------------
14. Kramnik

5. Euwe
v--------------------------
12. Karpov

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Now for the match-up I have been eagerly anticipating.

Round of 16
Match Four: Kasparov v Alekhine
Game One
Garry Kasparov - Alexander Alekhine
Queen's Indian
1.d4
Favoured over 1.e4 in Kasparov's games in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database by 691 to 639.
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3!?
Twenty-six games with this move compared with 25 for 4.Nc3 and 20 for 4.g3.

Alekhine never faced 4.a3!?

Well, that was an anti-climax. The engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 are not impressed with White's play, giving Kasparov an averaged advantage of just +4.
I hope game two will be more interesting.

Game Two
Alexander Alekhine - Garry Kasparov
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5
I am intrigued to see how Alekhine will deal with Kasaprov's Najdorf.
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
Only just - there are four Alekhine games in Mega20 with the text and three with 5.f3!?
5...a6

As far as we can get - Alekhine never faced 5...a6

Another anti-climax. The engines's averaged evaluation gives Alekhine a score of +25.5, meaning he wins the match with a score of +21.5.
Here is the updated tournament bracket.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v--------------------------
14. Kramnik

5. Euwe
v--------------------------
12. Karpov

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Note that the older generation has won three of the four matches in the top half of the bracket.