The New Chess!
When young Grandmasters whip out crazy theory backed by millions of pre-game CPU cycles, this is the new chess, Ladies and Gentlemen.
[Event “World Team”]
[Site “Turkey”]
[Date “2010.01.12”]
[White “Vitiugov, Nikita” (Russia)]
[Black “Rodshtein, Maxim” (Israel)]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D15”]
1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. d4 b5 6. b3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 e5!!?
The New Chess, Indeed
I believe Levon Aronian started to popularize this wild shot. What follows is a sequence of bizarre and somewhat logical moves resulting in more computer-aided insanity.
9. dxe5 Bb4 10. Bd2 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Ne4 12. Bb4 bxc4 13. Qg4
So far, so crazy modern theory. Note that 13. bxc4 Nd7! (13…c5 14. Rd1!) 14. Rb1 Rb8 15. cxd5 cxd5 16. Qd1 Qh4 17. g3 Nxg3 18. fxg3 Qe4 19. Rh2 a5 is equal!
13… c5 14. f3 Nc6 15. fxe4 Nxb4 16. Qxg7 Rf8 17. exd5
This?!
17…Qh4+ My computer, admittedly running on fewer cycles than the players, prefers the absolutely craven material grab 17…Nc2+ 18. Kf2 Nxa1 19. Bxc4 Nc2 20. Qxh7 Na3 – talk about a laborious capture-and-slink-back! – and here is a sample absurd continuation: 21. d6 Nxc4 22. bxc4 Rb8 23. Rf1 Qg5 24. Rb1 Rxb1 25. Qxb1 Rg8 26. Qb7 Qh4+ 27. Kg1 Kf8 28. Qc8+ Kg7 and black is happy since his King has somehow found safety. Well, if my computer is much newer, its shorter ponder time might have accomplished the same cycles. The players and I need to compare computer benchmarks.
18. Ke2 Qe4 19. Kf2 (19. bxc4?! Nc2 20. Qh6 Nd4+ 21. Ke1 Rb8)
19… Nc2 20. Qh6 Qg6 21. Qf4 Nxa1 22. Bxc4 Nc2 23. d6 Rg8 24. g4!
This is terrible for black. White completely dominates. I refer to the prior note on move 17 for a possible improvement.
24…Ra7 25. Rd1 Qg5 26. Qe4 Rg6 27. Ke2 h5
A nice win is to be had
28. Rd5?
Here White missed a vicious win. 28. d7+!! Rxd7 (28… Kd8 29. Bxf7 Rh6 30. e6 Nb4 (30… Qe7 31. Qc6 wins) 31. e7+ Qxe7 32. Qxe7+ wins) 29. Bxf7+ Rxf7 (29… Kxf7 30. Rxd7+ Ke8 31. Qb7 Qxe3+ 32. Kd1 and wins, an amazing variation and the one most likely missed by white!) 30. Qa8+ Ke7 31. Qd8+ Ke6 32. Qd6 mate)
28… Kd8? In mild time trouble, black has to try the tricky 28… Qh4! – the only correct response is 29. Qxc2!. Note after 29. Rxc5?? Qe1+! black turns the tables and wins!
After 29. Qxc2! Qxh3 30. Rxc5 white should take the point.
29. Qxc2 Now white wins without much trouble and even gets to finish it with a nice blow.
29…hxg4 30. e6 Qh6 31. e7+ Ke8 32. Qf5 Rd7 33. Qxf7+! Nice. Mate in 8.
The rather cruel computer points out that 33. Rxc5 is Mate in 7!
At any rate, in the game, if black takes it is indeed mate: 33… Kxf7 34. Rf5+ Kg7 35. Rf7+ Kh8 36. e8=Q+ Rg8 37. Qe5+ Rg7 38. Rf8+ Kh7 39. Bd3+ Rg6 40. Qh8 mate.
1-0
A competitively important win for white – vive the New Chess!
Corus “B” Prediction
Here’s the round 1 pairings.
| Round 1 – Saturday the 16th | |
| Ni – E. l’Ami | |
| E. Sutovsky – D. Reinderman | |
| T. Nyback – L. Nisipeanu | |
| A. Giri – P. Harikrishna | |
| D. Howell – P. Negi | |
| A. Muzychuk – V. Akobian | |
| A. Naiditsch – W. So | |
Looking at this list of strong grandmasters, and noticing young GM Parmesan (Cheese) Negi, and other luminaries of the junior chess world, I predict the redoubtable Wesley So from the Philippines to have a monster result. Not sure if he will win it ahead of tough cookie Nispy or Arkady (Mr Vienna) Naiditsch, but So has a great shot at winning the “B”. So there! Recent games from Wesley (Wesley is the name of a crazed serial killer in books by Andrew Vachss, but that doesn’t relate to the Corus prediction) have been most impressive. Super young GM Giri is a force, but I think So having only half the letters brings double the chess to the table. Look for Giri to do well and So to do even better. Hopefully Naiditsch will lose in a Vienna causing him to CHANGE OPENINGS! I don’t like it when a strong GM repeats a single, narrow variation ad nauseum.
For A Change in Perspective
First, a giant cactus.
It's tall
Second, a vessel sink schematic (you wouldn’t know this, but the material is Italian Travertine granite).
Schematic
Thirdly, a new toy line.
Chubbies
Tags: Aronian, Chubbies, Computer Chess, Corus 2010, Giri, Naiditsch, Negi, Rodshtein, Slav, So, Vitiugov
IM Mark Ginsburg Presents A Personal Chess History 
January 18, 2010 at 2:22 pm |
So, the New Chess–one still has to think for oneself after the computer generated novelties are over, and human error plays just as big a part, just somewhat later in the game. Thank Goddess!
My impression reading the chess proletariat’s blogs and talking to U-1800s at tournaments and clubs is that a lot of them just don’t care that much about GM chess these days. Sure, they look at the Corus results and sometimes follow on ICC but but games like the above, how does this help me whip Jones for the club class B championship? There are still beautiful tactics and interesting chess involved here, to be sure, but the masses increasingly don’t care about innovations at move 17 or 25, even compared to 20 years ago in the Kasparov era. We can study Tarrasch or Zurich 1953 or even 60 Memorable Games and get more out of it, in a purely practical sense.
I’m sure ambitious 10-year-olds are also studying this game, but my purely unscientific sample says that the over-teenage, under-2200 crowd spends a lot less time at the club discussing the latest GM games than when I started going to clubs around 1980.
It turns out that the computer can turn things upside down early.
For example, the discredited Pin Variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 c:d4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 is all right for black according to the all-knowing CPU!
January 18, 2010 at 6:52 pm |
I used to play the Pin many years ago and I thought I was a daredevil risking positional destruction if White knew the lines–maybe I need to pull my head out of the ’80s and embrace the New Chess! It would be fair to say the computer has brought us a lot closer to “chess truth” than we were 20 year ago, and that’s a good thing. Standing athwart history yelling “Stop” isn’t the most effective strategy.
Typical computer finding: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 c:d4 4. N:d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd3!? and now what’s black’s best move? The previously seen 6…Nc6 might be a tad too soon… and the computer finds the ingenious 6…..d6! Its point is only revealed many moves later; black gives up the bishop pair but gets an equal foothold in the center in a semi-closed game.
February 6, 2010 at 1:44 pm |
[…] games and tournaments, it occurred to me that perhaps the reason I didn’t like this position as given by IM Mark Ginsburg […]