ChessBomb Blog: 2015-01

2015-01-28

Unlocking the Grandmaster's Mind by GM Maxim Dlugy and RCA Team

We would like to present the introduction video to the new course "Unlocking the Grandmaster's Mind" by the RCA Team together with GM Maxim Dlugy.

More information about the new course

Have you noticed, when a Grandmaster or a top player is commenting on their games during a press conference or in any video lesson, usually they show you tons of variations that could happen in various lines.

The variations they show you might not relate to the actual thinking process. Some of those variations are their own preparations, while some variations they will simply never show you - because it is their secret weapon which they hope to use in their next games.

The question remains open: how do GMs actually think?

Even if you have observed a couple of very interesting variations in the games of top players, still it doesn't exactly clarify how can you find such moves in your own game within a short amount of time.

Next, you may be wondering about this question. It’s hard to calculate long lines, but what about knowing the strategic and tactical motives but not knowing typical plans in different openings; what if you study them and apply them - shouldn't this clarify everything for you?

Find more information on Remote Chess Academy website.

The authors of this new course are GM Maxim Dlugy and the RCA team. The release date will be at the end of this month.

Check out the free lessons by RCA

20th HIT Open Slovenia 2015

Watch the 20th HIT Open 2015 on ChessBomb

Organiser: Nova Gorica Chess Club, Slovenia

Official website

The 20th HIT Open 2015 takes place from 30th January until 5th February 2015 at the Hotel Casinò Perla in Nova Gorica, Slovenia.

Tournament information (pdf)

Participants: Open A

	Name	Birth yr.	Cat	ELO	Fed.	Club
1	Kožul Zdenko	1966	GM	2631	CRO	ŽŠK Maribor
2	Beliavsky Alexander	1953	GM	2623	SLO	ŠD Ptuj
3	Markuš Robert	1983	GM	2614	SRB	ŠK Nova Gorica
4	Maiorov Nikita	1985	GM	2596	BLR
5	Indjic Aleksandar	1995	GM	2546	SRB
6	Pap Gyula	1991	GM	2543	HUN
7	Blagojevic Dragisa	1966	GM	2520	MNE
8	Tratar Marko	1974	GM	2474	SLO	ŠK Branik Maribor
9	Drazic Sinisa	1967	GM	2437	SRB
10	Jelen Igor	1972	IM	2422	SLO	ŠK Ig
11	Sriram Jha	1976	GM	2413	IND
12	Tomazini Žan	1994	FM	2372	SLO	ŠK Impol Slov. Bistrica
13	Mazi Leon	1959	IM	2359	SLO	ŠD Podpeč
14	Špalir Jernej	1992	FM	2359	SLO	ŠK Slovenj Gradec
15	Kerigan Demre	1993	M	2311	TUR

Full list

Schedule

1. krog / round / turno / 30. 1. 2015 / 17:00
2. krog / round / turno / 31. 1. 2015 / 10:00
3. krog / round / turno / 31. 1. 2015 / 17:00
4. krog / round / turno / 01. 2. 2015 / 10:00
5. krog / round / turno / 01. 2. 2015 / 17:00
6. krog / round / turno / 02. 2. 2015 / 17:00
7. krog / round / turno / 03. 2. 2015 / 17:00
8. krog / round / turno / 04. 2. 2015 / 17:00
9. krog / round / turno / 05. 2. 2015 / 15:00

2015-01-27

Tata Steel 2015: winners

Review games from Tata Steel 2015 with computer analysis: MASTERS | CHALLENGERS

Official website

Photo by Alina L'Ami: Official website
The winner of the 77th edition of Tata Steel Chess Tournament was World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen with a half-point lead. Congratulations!

Carlsen: The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an interesting tournament. You get to play lots of different players and it makes for lots of excitement. This year's edition is a bit of a flashback to 2010 for me, because I have won, but I'm not very happy with the way I have played.

Very strong performance among the Challengers as well. Wei Yi won the victory with 10.5/13 points. This means he has earned a spot in the Tata Steel Masters during the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2016.

The 78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from 15th till 31st January 2016 in Wijk aan Zee.

Results: Masters

#	Name	Pts	SB
1	Carlsen, Magnus	9	53.5
2	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	8.5	54.25
	Giri, Anish	8.5	51
	So, Wesley	8.5	49
	Ding, Liren	8.5	46
6	Ivanchuk, Vassily	7.5	45
7	Caruana, Fabiano	7	40.25
8	Radjabov, Teimour	6.5	38.5
9	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	5.5	39.75
	Aronian, Levon	5.5	31
11	Hou, Yifan	5	29.25
12	Saric, Ivan	4.5	23.5
13	Van Wely, Loek	4	21.5
14	Jobava, Baadur	2.5	15

Results: Challengers

#	Name	Pts	SB
1	Wei, Yi	10.5	61.25
2	Navara, David	10	58.25
3	Shankland, Samuel L	9	55
4	Van Kampen, Robin	8.5	45.25
5	Salem, A.R. Saleh	7.5	43
	Sevian, Samuel	7.5	41.75
7	Potkin, Vladimir	7	37
8	L'Ami, Erwin	6.5	37.75
9	Gunina, Valentina	5	30.5
10	Michiels, Bart	4.5	22.5
	Klein, David	4.5	22.25
12	Haast, Anne	4	19
13	Dale, Ari	3.5	23.75
14	Timman, Jan H	3	15.75

Commentary on selected games

Round 12: Giri - So
Commentary by GM Alexander Delchev
So is having an almost perfect tournament so far, and I hope for a big clash today. His first move 1. c4 is an invitation to English opening, which So refused with 1... e6. The same he did against Carlsen in round 1 when the game later transposed to Nimzo-Indian defence ... See more

Round 8: Jobava - Carlsen
Commentary by IM Tihomir Yanev
Today I comment the game between Baadur Jobava and the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, two of the most entertaining players at Tata Steel (both have 3 draws combined). The Georgian grandmaster has been faithful to his aggressive and creative style thus far, so I expect plenty of action today. Probably you do remember this game back in 2010?... See more

Round 6: Caruana - Carlsen
Commentary by GM Alexander Delchev
Game of the tournament! The World Champion meets his most advanced rival and Top 2 in the rating list Caruana, who is most probably one of the next contenders for the chess crown. Both players are in the group with +1 and it depends on this game who will challenge the sole leader Ivanchuk on +3. Carlsen is in a series of two consecutive wins, while Caruana lost yesterday against Wojtasek... See more

Round 4: Ivanchuk - Vachier-Lagrave
Commentary by GM Alexander Delchev
Today in round 4 we have two games in which the tournament leaders with score +2 Ivanchuk and Caruana are meeting the challengers with +1 Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So. I chose to comment the game between Ivanchuk and Vachier, as I think Ivanchuk is showing interesting chess and this game will be the most exciting of today's games. In Ivanchuk's game yesterday against Van Wely, a white storm was trolling over the board. In Sicilian defence he as white chose the rare system with f4 and Qe2. Soon black lost control and Ivanchuk scored a nice victory with an amazing domination of white pieces over the whole board. Hope we enjoy another great performance of him today!?... See more

Round 3: Giri - Caruana
Commentary by GM Alexander Delchev
Giri had to play Carlsen, Aronian and Caruana in the first 3 rounds - quite a tough start. While against Carlsen he didn't get advantage and soon a draw was agreed, his game yesterday was quite hard - he managed to save the endgame with different colour bishop being two pawns down. I believe today his game against TOP 2 Caruana will be the most important and eventful game of the day... See more

Round 2: Carlsen - So
Commentary by GM Alexander Delchev
Today Carlsen will face another young star - the winner of the First Millionaire tournament who recently entered in TOP 10 - Wesley So, originally from Philipines. In his first round game of So against Wojtaczek, on the 57 move in a very sharp position both players blundered and So missed his chance to win. Actually, it is the first game between So and Carlsen, so lets see what approach Magnus will choose ... See more

Round 1: Giri - Carlsen
Commentary by GM Alexander Delchev
After a monstrous performance in Qatar (7 wins, 6 of which in a row ) and a solid + 1 in London, Giri moved to #7 in Top January List. He is fighting for first place here and his age of 20 is giving him slight advantage in this 13 round event. In the first round he catches Carlsen with white and it can be the perfect start for Anish. As I remember, in 2013 Giri prevailed against Carlsen in the last round, so naturally Magnus will be eager to take revenge. Anyway, the score between them is about equal in Classic... See more

2015-01-24

Tata Steel 2015: Round 12 with commnetary by GM Delchev

Watch LIVE Tata Steel 2015 with computer analysis: MASTERS | CHALLENGERS

Official website

Photo by Alina L'Ami: Official website

Our distinguished commentator GM Alexander Delchev provides live commentary on selected games of TATA STEEL Master 2015.

Round 12: Giri - So
So is having an almost perfect tournament so far, and I hope for a big clash today. His first move 1. c4 is an invitation to English opening, which So refused with 1... e6. The same he did against Carlsen in round 1 when the game later transposed to Nimzo-Indian defence ... See more

Round 6: Caruana - Carlsen
Game of the tournament! The World Champion meets his most advanced rival and Top 2 in the rating list Caruana, who is most probably one of the next contenders for the chess crown. Both players are in the group with +1 and it depends on this game who will challenge the sole leader Ivanchuk on +3. Carlsen is in a series of two consecutive wins, while Caruana lost yesterday against Wojtasek... See more

Round 4: Ivanchuk - Vachier-Lagrave
Today in round 4 we have two games in which the tournament leaders with score +2 Ivanchuk and Caruana are meeting the challengers with +1 Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So. I chose to comment the game between Ivanchuk and Vachier, as I think Ivanchuk is showing interesting chess and this game will be the most exciting of today's games. In Ivanchuk's game yesterday against Van Wely, a white storm was trolling over the board. In Sicilian defence he as white chose the rare system with f4 and Qe2. Soon black lost control and Ivanchuk scored a nice victory with an amazing domination of white pieces over the whole board. Hope we enjoy another great performance of him today!?... See more

Round 3: Giri - Caruana
Giri had to play Carlsen, Aronian and Caruana in the first 3 rounds - quite a tough start. While against Carlsen he didn't get advantage and soon a draw was agreed, his game yesterday was quite hard - he managed to save the endgame with different colour bishop being two pawns down. I believe today his game against TOP 2 Caruana will be the most important and eventful game of the day... See more

Round 2: Carlsen - So
Today Carlsen will face another young star - the winner of the First Millionaire tournament who recently entered in TOP 10 - Wesley So, originally from Philipines. In his first round game of So against Wojtaczek, on the 57 move in a very sharp position both players blundered and So missed his chance to win. Actually, it is the first game between So and Carlsen, so lets see what approach Magnus will choose ... See more

Round 1: Giri - Carlsen
After a monstrous performance in Qatar (7 wins, 6 of which in a row ) and a solid + 1 in London, Giri moved to #7 in Top January List. He is fighting for first place here and his age of 20 is giving him slight advantage in this 13 round event. In the first round he catches Carlsen with white and it can be the perfect start for Anish. As I remember, in 2013 Giri prevailed against Carlsen in the last round, so naturally Magnus will be eager to take revenge. Anyway, the score between them is about equal in Classic... See more

2015-01-21

Australian Women Masters 2015: winners

Watch Australian Women Masters 2015 on ChessBomb

Organisers: Melbourne Chess Club, Australian Chess Federation, Asian Chess Federation

Official website

Bulletins

Rounds 1-3
Round 4
Round 5
Rounds 6-8

Round 9

Round 9 finished with only a one win from WIM Narelle Szuveges. With all games coming to a close at 6pm, the closing ceremony began at 6.30pm. The prize winners were as follows: 1st WGM Julia Ryjanova Russia, 2nd WIM Heather Richards Australia and 3rd WFM Anita Stangl Germany.

The organisers wish to thank each and everyone for participating in the event and we do hope to see you again for the 2016 event.

Gallery

You can find all photos of the event at the following page on facebook.

Final Standings

#	Name	Pts	SB
1	Ryjanova, Julia	8	31.5
2	Richards, Heather S	6.5	25.25
3	Stangl, Anita, Dr.	6	21.5
4	Brokko, Margit	4.5	19
	Vahtra, Tuuli	4.5	16.75
6	Guo, Zhi Lin	4	16.25
	Anton, Sarah	4	11.75
8	Stones, Rebecca	3.5	13
9	Szuveges, Narelle	3	8.75
10	Quek, Shi Ning Kristine	1	4.25

2015-01-19

Australian Women Masters 2015: rounds 6-8

Watch Australian Women Masters 2015 on ChessBomb

Organisers: Melbourne Chess Club, Australian Chess Federation, Asian Chess Federation

Official website

Bulletin

Rounds 1-3
Round 4
Round 5

Round 6

Round 6 saw 3 wins and 2 draws but not easy draws but fighting draws which is good for chess. With top seed and visiting WGM from Russia, Julia Ryjanova leading the tournament on 5.5/6, and Heather Richards in clear second on 4 points. The race is now on for second spot. Will Heather take clear second or will she be stopped? Could we see a slip up from Julia at the top in the next 3 rounds.

Round 7

Round 7 saw 5 victories which was the first for the tournament. Victories went to Stangl, Richards, Vahtra, Ryjanova and Brokko. The game of the round I think was the Stones v Ryjanova as Stones had a good chance to upset the top seed by almost providing checkmate.

Round 8

Round 8 has seen a tournament victory already with top seed and visiting WGM Julia Ryjanova winning the event with a round to spare. Congratulations on winning the event with a round to spare. The race is now on for second and third places. Round 9 looks to be exciting and let the battles begin for the final places.

Gallery

You can find all photos of the event at the following page on facebook.

Standings after round 8

#	Name	Pts	SB
1	Ryjanova, Julia	7.5	25.5
2	Richards, Heather S	6	19.25
3	Stones, Rebecca	5	17
4	Stangl, Anita, Dr.	4.5	11.5
5	Vahtra, Tuuli	4	13.5
	Brokko, Margit	4	11.75
7	Guo, Zhi Lin	3.5	11.25
8	Anton, Sarah	2.5	4.75
9	Szuveges, Narelle	2	8.75
10	Quek, Shi Ning Kristine	1	3.75

2015-01-18

Tata Steel Chess 2015: Live commentary by IM Tihomir Yanev

Watch LIVE Tata Steel 2015 with computer analysis: MASTERS | CHALLENGERS

Official website

Photo by Alina L'Ami: Official website

Our distinguished commentator IM Tihomir Yanev provides live commentary on selected games of TATA STEEL Master 2015.

Round 8: Jobava - Carlsen
Today I comment the game between Baadur Jobava and the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, two of the most entertaining players at Tata Steel (both have 3 draws combined). The Georgian grandmaster has been faithful to his aggressive and creative style thus far, so I expect plenty of action today. Probably you do remember this game back in 2010?... See more

Commentary on rounds 1-6

2015-01-16

Tata Steel 2015: live commentary by GM Delchev on round 6

Watch LIVE Tata Steel 2015 with computer analysis: MASTERS | CHALLENGERS

Official website

Photo by Alina L'Ami: Official website

Our distinguished commentator GM Alexander Delchev provides live commentary on selected games of TATA STEEL Master 2015.

Australian Women Masters 2015: round 5

Watch Australian Women Masters 2015 on ChessBomb

Organisers: Melbourne Chess Club, Australian Chess Federation, Asian Chess Federation

Official website

Bulletin

Rounds 1-3
Round 4

Round 5

Round 5 saw some more long games but all hard fought. We saw the top seed, WGM Julia Ryjanova have a half point taken off her from second seed by rating, WIM Heather Richards. Sarah Anton had a win against Rebecca Stones and Zhi Lin Guo had a win against visiting German WFM, Anita Stangl. Also on a pleasing note for Kristine Quek, she is off the board with a draw against visiting WFM from Estonia, Margit Brokko. Here is the round 5 games for the event.

Gallery

You can find all photo’s of the event at the following page on facebook.

Standings after round 5

#	Name	Pts	SB
1	Ryjanova, Julia	4.5	9.25
2	Richards, Heather S	3.5	8.5
	Stones, Rebecca	3.5	6.25
4	Brokko, Margit	3	5.75
5	Guo, Zhi Lin	2.5	5.25
	Anton, Sarah	2.5	3.25
7	Vahtra, Tuuli	2	4.25
8	Szuveges, Narelle	1.5	4.5
	Stangl, Anita, Dr.	1.5	1.5
10	Quek, Shi Ning Kristine	0.5	1.

2015-01-15

Australian Women Masters 2015: round 4

Watch Australian Women Masters 2015 on ChessBomb

Organisers: Melbourne Chess Club, Australian Chess Federation, Asian Chess Federation

Official website

Bulletin

Rounds 1-3

Round 4

Round 4 got underway and 4 games finished with 2.5 hours of starting which meant another quick round. The last game to finish was Anita Stangl v Rebecca Stones. As soon as the game finished the Melbourne Chess Club had a special guest, Hua Ni who has recently crossed the 2700 rating mark. Back to the tournament though, 3 wins this round were recorded with the white pieces.

Gallery

You can find all photo’s of the event at the following page on facebook.

Standings after round 4

#	Name	Pts	SB
1	Ryjanova, Julia	4	5.5
2	Richards, Heather S	3	5
3	Brokko, Margit	2.5	4
	Stones, Rebecca	2.5	3
	Anton, Sarah	2.5	1.75
6	Guo, Zhi Lin	1.5	3.25
	Vahtra, Tuuli	1.5	2.75
	Stangl, Anita, Dr.	1.5	0.75
9	Szuveges, Narelle	1	2.5
10	Quek, Shi Ning Kristine	0	0

Australian Women Masters 2015: Bulletin

Watch Australian Women Masters 2015 on ChessBomb

Organisers: Melbourne Chess Club, Australian Chess Federation, Asian Chess Federation

Official website

Bulletin

Round 1

The 2015 event of this tournament has kicked off again. Featuring newly crowned Australian Women’s Champion, WIM Heather Richards, National coach of Qatar, WGM Julia Ryjanova, Estonians WFM’s Tuuli Vahtra and Margit Brokko, Germany’s WFM Dr. Anita Stangl and fellow Australian’s, WIM Narelle Szuveges, WCM Sarah Anton, Zhi Lin Guo, Kristine Quek and Rebecca Stones.

Before the games are shown, we have to thank the Asian Chess Federation for the generous sponsorship in making this tournament happening, the Melbourne Chess Club for providing the venue and finally the players. Without the players, the Melbourne Chess Club and finally the Asian Chess Federation, this event would not have happened.

All games are starting at 3pm local time and here are the round 1 games.

Round 2

Round 2 got underway and may very well be the longest round in the tournament. Also we have seen in the 3 year history of the event our first game over 100 moves, actually reaching a record 122 moves. Also forgetting to mention another sponsor of the tournament, the Australian Chess Federation for their small but generous offer of sponsorship is much appreciated. Wins were recorded by Stangl, Anton and Ryjanova with draws in the Stones-Richards and Brokko-Guo games.

Round 3

Going from the longest round to possibly the quickest round, with 3 games finishing in less than 30 moves and the 2 remaining games finishing in 50 moves but still in good time of 3.5 hours. Only 1 draw was recorded in the round and 4 wins, with Heather Richards being the only player having a win with the white pieces.

Gallery

Results of rounds 1-3

Round 1 - Monday 12th January 3:00pm
1 Ryjanova, Julia   2413 1:0 Stangl, Anita     2078
2 Vahtra, Tuuli     2043 ½:½ Brokko, Margit    2003
3 Guo, Zhi Lin      1746 ½:½ Anton, Sarah      1752
4 Szuveges, Narelle 1780 1:0 Stones, Rebecca   1911
5 Richards, Heather 2165 1:0 Quek, Kristine    1851

Round 2 - Tuesday 13th January 3:00pm
1 Stangl, Anita     2078 1:0 Quek, Kristine    1851
2 Stones, Rebecca   1911 ½:½ Richards, Heather 2165
3 Anton, Sarah      1752 1:0 Szuveges, Narelle 1780
4 Brokko, Margit    2003 ½:½ Guo, Zhi Lin      1746
5 Ryjanova, Julia   2413 1:0 Vahtra, Tuuli     2043

Round 3 - Wednesday 14th January 3:00pm
1 Vahtra, Tuuli     2043 ½:½ Stangl, Anita     2078
2 Guo, Zhi Lin      1746 0:1 Ryjanova, Julia   2413
3 Szuveges, Narelle 1780 0:1 Brokko, Margit    2003
4 Richards, Heather 2165 1:0 Anton, Sarah      1752
5 Quek, Kristine    1851 0:1 Stones, Rebecca   1911

Standings after round 3

Name	Country	Rating	Total
WGM Julia Ryjanova	RUSSSIA	2413	3
WIM Heather Richards	ENGLAND	2150	2.5
WFM Margit Brokko	ESTONIA	2044	2
Rebecca Stones	AUSTRALIA	1911	1.5
WCM Sarah Anton	AUSTRALIA	1734	1.5
WFM Anita Stangl	GERMANY	2138	1.5
WIM Narelle Szuveges	AUSTRALIA	1780	1
WFM Tuuli Vahtra	ESTONIA	2038	1
Zhi Lin Guo	AUSTRALIA	1802	1
Kristine Quek	AUSTRALIA	1851	0