Tal Memorial 2012

Leave a Comment / Levon Aronian, Luke McShane, Queens Gambit - Slav, Tal Memorial /
This years Tal Memorial has been a really interesting tournament to follow, and with only two rounds left, and 5 leaders on 4/7 I am sure it is going to be an exciting finish! The tournament layout has been great, with 9 rounds, 10 super strong players and a blitz tournament to begin the tournament, and determine colours.

There have been plenty of interesting games, with quite a few upsets, especially McShane, the lowest seeded player in the tournament gaining wins over both Kramnik and Aronian.
Live coverage has been excellent, with numerous websites taking part. One website I have been using is whychess.org The site has a live chess viewer and analysis by houdini.
The only downfall is that the games air in Australia as I am getting ready for bed, I suppose I cant blame the tournament organisers for that.

The following game is McShane’s win over Aronian in the third round. This game was a very exciting game, with an exchange sacrifice early in the opening that gave McShane a splendid attack!
 

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World Chess Championship 2012

Leave a Comment / Boris Gelfand, Viswanathan Anand, World Chess Championship /
The World Chess Championship was held May 10-30 with Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand facing of for the title. It is the first world championship match I have ever followed while it was being played out and so I really enjoyed it. However, many commentators and chess players have expressed different thoughts, expressing their views about the lack of excitement in the match as a whole and the individual games that were played, along with the fact that the two players in the match were not the two highest ranked players in the world.
I found the games quite interesting though, even with the high number of drawn games. The things I found most interesting were the little intricacies in the games and the opening theory that was demonstrated by the players. My favourite games were rounds 10 and 12 where the Rossolimo Sicilian variation was played. The games were both drawn but I enjoyed the ideas in the opening as something different for White to play against the Sicilian.
I also really enjoyed watching Kingscrusher and Chessexplained on YouTube go through the games and give their insights on the games and would recommend the videos to those who are interested. (A link can be found on my blog.)
The great thing about a World Championship match and other high profile matches is the amount of analysis that occurs on different websites etc. from very experienced chess players, which are available for our viewing to help us grow in our understanding of chess.
The final result went in Anands favour and he earned the title of world champion once again. The title was secured after the match was drawn and the players moved onto a rapid playoff to decide the champion.

 

 

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Blitz Game

Leave a Comment / Blitz, Sicilian Defense /
Hi all!
Here is a blitz game that I played recently that I enjoyed. I am sure it is far from perfect but it was still a fun game. The opening is the Sicilian Defence – Najdorf variation. I used to play the Sicilian a lot when I was younger but have not been playing it much lately due to the vast variations that need to be learnt to open with confidence. I have mainly been sticking to Anti-Sicilian variations when playing the white pieces and playing e5 after e4 with the black pieces. However, I have decided that I am now up to the challenge and am ready to tackle the most popular opening in chess once again, well I think I am?!

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Blitz Game

Leave a Comment / Blitz, French Defense /
I have been trying to improve my play against the French Defence as it is an opening I have always had trouble playing against.  There are so many variations and It has been really interesting to look into so far.
One of the variations that I have found quite interesting is the Winawer – Advance variation.
Here is my first win using the Winawer in a blitz game on Chesscube. It is a bit of a Hack Attack but it shows the attacking potential in the opening.

 


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