New Kasparov Book Out

Revolution in the 70's, Part 1 of Kasparov's new series of chess books (Modern Chess Series) came out a couple of weeks ago. I've read all the text and played through a couple of the games; quite interesting. I think I like it even better than the My Great Predecessors series.

Here's a Chess Cafe interview with Kasparov regarding recent changes in his plans for the series. Right now it seems like after "Revolution" he's going to do two volumes on his games with Karpov, two volumes on his selected best games, and a book on Man vs Machine. Also, he's going to do an additional book in the MGP series consisting just of anecdotes, no chess. He says this makes a total of 13 books in both series, but by my count it's just 12.

Harry Potter and the Chess Game

Here's an interesting article by Jeremy Silman, who designed the chess scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

http://www.jeremysilman.com/movies_tv_js/harry_potter.html

Linares/Morelia R14

Svidler 2728 - Morozevich 2741 [C11]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.a3 Bb7 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Bxc5 Nxc5 12.Bd3 b4 13.Ne2 Qb6 14.Qe3 d4 15.Nfxd4 Nxd4 16.Qxd4 bxa3 17.Rxa3 Rd8 18.Qe3 Qxb2 19.Qxc5 Qb1+ 20.Kd2 Qxh1 21.Nc3 Qxh2 22.Ra4 Qxg2+ 23.Kc1 Rc8 24.Qb4 Qg1+ 25.Nd1 Bf3 26.Rxa6 Qc5 27.Qa4+ Kf8 28.Ra5 Qg1 0-1

Leko 2749 - Carlsen 2690 [E15]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Ba6 7.b3 0-0 8.Nc3 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bg2 Re8 11.Ne5 c5 12.0-0 Bb7 13.Rfd1 Na6 14.Qf4 Nc7 15.Ng4 Nxg4 16.Qxg4 Qf6 17.e3 Rad8 18.Rac1 Qe7 19.dxc5 bxc5 20.Qa4 Rd7 21.Ne4 d4 22.exd4 Bxe4 23.Bxe4 Ne6 24.d5 Nd4 25.Re1 Qd8 26.Kf1 Rde7 27.Bd3 Qc8 28.g4 Rxe1+ 29.Rxe1 Rf8 30.h3 Qd8 31.Be4 Qb6 32.Bg2 g6 33.Kg1 Kg7 34.Qd7 Rd8 35.Qe7 a5 36.Kh1 Nb5 37.Re6 Nd6 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Re7 a4 40.bxa4 c4 41.Kh2 Qb8 42.f4 Qc8 43.Re3 Re8 44.Rxe8+ Nxe8 45.Qc6 Qxc6 46.dxc6 Kf8 47.Kg3 Ke7 48.Kf2 Kd6 49.Ke3 Kc5 50.g5 Nc7 51.a3 Ne6 52.Be4 c3 53.f5 1-0

Anand wins by a full point

Linares/Morelia R13

Morozevich over Topalov in 80 moves. The other three games were drawn.

Anand's 1/2 point lead at +3 intact going into the last round.

Linares/Morelia R12

Ivanchuk 2750 - Morozevich 2741 [C45]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 d6 9.Qe2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Re8 11.f3 Be6 12.Kb1 a5 13.Bf2 a4 14.Nc5 a3 15.Nxe6 Rxe6 16.Bxb6 cxb6 17.Qd2 axb2 18.Bc4 Re5 19.Bb3 Rc5 20.Na4 Rca5 21.Nc3 Ne8 22.Nd5 Ne5 23.Qd4 Nd7 24.Rd2 Nc5 25.Rhd1 Nxb3 26.axb3 Nc7 27.Nxc7 Qxc7 28.Qxb2 b5 29.Rxd6 b4 30.Rd7 Qxh2 31.Rxb7 Qxg2 32.Rxb4 Qxf3 33.Rbd4 Kh7 34.b4 Ra4 35.e5 Qe2 36.R4d3 h5 37.b5 Ra1+ 38.Qxa1 Rxa1+ 39.Kxa1 Qxe5+ 0-1

Leko 2749 - Svidler 2728 [B90]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.f3 Be6 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a5 11.Qe1 Qc8 12.a3 a4 13.Nd2 Nbd7 14.Kb1 Rd8 15.Bb5 d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.Qe2 Qc7 19.Ne4 Be6 20.Nc3 Nb6 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Nxa4 Nc4 23.Bxc4 Bxc4 24.Qf2 Qc6 25.Nb6 Be6 26.Qe2 f5 27.Re1 Bf6 28.g3 h6 29.Bf2 e4 30.fxe4 fxe4 31.a4 Qd6 32.c4 Qb4 33.Nd5 Bxd5 34.cxd5 Rxd5 35.Qc2 Rd2 36.Qc8+ Kf7 0-1

Anand's lead is unaffected at +3 with two rounds to go.

Look familiar?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_beaten_Jos%C3%A9_Ra%C3%BAl_Capablanca_in_chess

http://mychess.blogspot.com/2004/10/capablanca-club.html

Linares/Morelia R11

Carlsen 2690 - Ivanchuk 2750 [D87]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Rc1 cxd4 13.cxd4 e6 14.Qd2 Bb7 15.h4 Qe7 16.h5 Rfc8 17.e5 Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Rc8 19.Rxc8+ Bxc8 20.Bg5 Qc7 21.Bf6 Nc6 22.Qg5 h6 23.Qc1 g5 24.Bb5 Bd7 25.d5 exd5 26.Nd4 Bxf6 27.exf6 Qd6 28.Bxc6 Qxf6 29.Bxd7 Qxd4 30.g3 Qc5 31.Qxc5 bxc5 32.Bc6 d4 33.Bb5 Kf8 34.f4 gxf4 35.gxf4 1-0

Anand still in sole lead at +3, but Carlsen is only 1/2 point behind.

Linares/Morelia R10

Anand 2779 - Carlsen 2690 [C96]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.d5 Nb6 13.Nbd2 g6 14.b4 cxb4 15.cxb4 Nac4 16.Nxc4 Nxc4 17.Bb3 Nb6 18.Be3 Bd7 19.Rc1 Rc8 20.Rxc8 Bxc8 21.Qc2 Bd7 22.Rc1 Na8 23.Qd2 Qb8 24.Bg5 Bxg5 25.Nxg5 Rc8 26.Rf1 h6 27.Ne6 Kh7 28.f4 Qa7+ 29.Kh2 Be8 30.f5 gxf5 31.exf5 f6 32.Re1 Nc7 33.Rc1 Bd7 34.Rc3 e4 35.Rg3 Nxe6 36.dxe6 Be8 37.e7 Bh5 38.Qxd6 1-0

Ivanchuk 2750 - Svidler 2728 [C88]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 Re8 10.a4 h6 11.axb5 axb5 12.Rxa8 Bxa8 13.c3 d6 14.Na3 b4 15.Nc4 Bf8 16.Bd2 bxc3 17.bxc3 Nb8 18.Ne3 Nbd7 19.Ng4 Nc5 20.Bc4 Nxg4 21.hxg4 d5 22.exd5 Bxd5 23.Rxe5 Rxe5 24.Nxe5 Bxc4 25.dxc4 Ne4 26.Qf3 Nxd2 27.Qxf7+ Kh7 28.Qf5+ Kg8 29.Qe6+ Kh7 30.Qg6+ Kg8 31.Qe6+ Kh7 32.Qg6+ Kg8 33.Qf7+ Kh7 34.Nd7 Ba3 35.c5 Kh8 36.g5 hxg5 37.Qe6 Ne4 38.Qh3+ Kg8 39.Qe6+ Kh8 40.Qxe4 Qxd7 41.Qa8+ Kh7 42.Qxa3 Qd1+ 43.Kh2 Qh5+ 44.Kg1 1/2-1/2

Leko 2749 - Topalov 2783 [B90]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.a4 Be7 9.a5 0-0 10.Be2 Be6 11.0-0 Rc8 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 Bg4 14.c4 Nd7 15.Nd2 Bxe2 16.Qxe2 f5 17.f3 Nf6 18.b4 Qd7 19.Rfd1 Qe8 20.Qd3 Qh5 21.c5 Rd8 22.Nc4 Rac8 23.Rac1 e4 24.fxe4 fxe4 25.Qb3 Ng4 26.h3 Nxe3 27.Nxe3 Bg5 28.c6 Rf8 29.Re1 Qh4 30.Qa2 Bf4 31.Qe2 Qg3 32.Nf1 Qd3 33.Qxd3 exd3 34.Rc4 bxc6 35.dxc6 d5 36.Rd4 Rxc6 37.Rxd3 Rc4 38.b5 axb5 39.Rxd5 b4 40.a6 Rc6 41.Rb5 Bd6 42.Ra1 Ra8 43.a7 Rb6 44.Rxb6 Bc5+ 45.Kh1 Bxb6 46.Ra4 Bc5 47.Ra5 Bxa7 48.Nd2 Rd8 49.Rxa7 Rxd2 50.Rb7 Rd4 51.Kg1 Rf4 52.Kh2 h5 53.Kg3 Rc4 54.Kf3 Kh7 55.Rb6 g5 56.Rb7+ Kg6 57.Rb6+ Kf7 58.g4 Rf4+ 59.Kg3 h4+ 60.Kg2 Rc4 61.Kf3 Ke7 62.Ke3 Kd7 63.Kd2 Kc7 64.Rb5 Kc6 65.Rxg5 b3 66.Rg8 Rc2+ 67.Kd1 Kc7 68.Rg7+ Kb6 69.Rg8 Ka7 70.Rg7+ Ka6 71.Rg8 Kb7 72.Rg7+ Kc6 73.Rg8 Rh2 74.Kc1 Rxh3 75.g5 Kd7 76.Rf8 Ke7 77.Rf6 Rg3 78.Rh6 h3 79.Kb2 Kf7 80.Ka3 Kg7 81.Kb2 Kg8 82.Ka3 Kf7 83.Kb2 Kg7 84.Kc1 1/2-1/2

Anand beats Carlsen, in sole lead by a full point at +3 now.

Comment on MGP2

In My Great Predecessors 2, Kasparov rants about the unfairness of the rule limiting world championship candidates from a single country. In particular, he claims that this rule operated against Bronstein (and Averbakh) in the Portoroz 1958 Interzonal and dedicates two pages (pp186-187) to these comments. However, I don't understand what he's talking about.

The six players who moved on from Portoroz to the 1959 Candidates Tournament were Tal (13.5), Gligoric (13), Petrosian and Benko (12.5), and Olafsson and Fischer (12) - and these are precisely the six highest scorers. Bronstein and Averbakh were a half-point behind at 11.5, together with Mantovic, Szabo and Pachman. Yes, IF Bronstein and Averbakh had scored 12, THEN the rule would have operated against them (because Tal and Petrosian were ahead of them and there was only one slot left). But they didn't, so I don't get what Kasparov's beef is.

New World Championship Format (Again)

It's deja vu all over again. Ilyumzhinov has instituted yet another world championship qualification system. In all fairness, this system makes some sense. But we all know it won't stick any more than the last five systems he's suggested, so who cares. It's so sad that professional chess has turned into such a joke.

The proposal is to terminate the World Championship Tournament and keep the World Cup as a Candidates tournament to find a challenger for a World Championship match. So in every odd year there will be only the World Cup (2007, 2009, etc.) and the respective winner will play every next year (2008, 2010, etc.) a match against the World Champion.

2007: World Cup will be held in Khanty-Mansiysk

Early 2008: The winner from WCCT 2007 in Mexico plays a World Championship match against the previous World Champion. If Kramnik does not win the WCCT 2007, then Kramnik [as previous World Champion] can challenge the winner of Mexico in the first part of 2008. If Kramnik wins in Mexico, then the right to challenge goes to the previous World Champion, i.e. Topalov.

Late 2008 or Early 2009: The winner of the 2008 World Championship match plays a World Championship match against the winner of the 2007 World Cup.

A little bit more detail is available on the Chessbase website.

Linares/Morelia R9

Anand and Carlsen in lead at +2. Topalov is 1/2 point from the bottom of the table. I predict that the April 2007 ratings list will sport a new #1.

Svidler 2728 - Anand 2779 [C42]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.a3 Nc6 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Bf5 14.Re1 Rfe8 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.h3 Be4 17.Qa4 Qf5 18.Bg3 Bc2 19.Qb5 Qxb5 20.Bxb5 a6 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Re5 f6 23.Ra5 Bd3 24.Ne1 Bb5 25.a4 Be2 26.Nc2 c5 27.dxc5 Kf7 28.c6 Red8 29.Ne3 Rd2 30.Rb1 Bd6 31.Bxd6 Rxd6 32.Nf5 Rxc6 33.Nd4 Rb6 34.Re1 Bd3 35.Rc5 Rd6 36.Re3 Bb1 37.Nc6 Re8 38.Nd4 Rc8 39.Re2 Bd3 40.Re1 Rd7 41.f3 1/2-1/2

Topalov 2783 - Ivanchuk 2750 [B42]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Ba7 7.Qe2 d6 8.Be3 Nc6 9.f4 Nge7 10.0-0 0-0 11.c3 b5 12.N1d2 Bxe3+ 13.Qxe3 Rb8 14.Kh1 Qb6 15.Qe2 a5 16.a3 Bd7 17.Rf3 Ng6 18.g3 Rfd8 19.Rd1 Nce7 20.h4 h6 21.Kh2 Be8 22.Rg1 Nc6 23.h5 Nf8 24.g4 e5 25.g5 hxg5 26.fxg5 Rb7 27.Qf1 Ne6 28.h6 g6 29.Nc1 Qc7 30.Qf2 Qe7 31.Qh4 b4 32.Nc4 bxc3 33.bxc3 d5 34.exd5 Rxd5 35.Re3 Qc5 36.Rf1 Rb2+ 37.Rf2 Rxf2+ 38.Qxf2 Qe7 39.Be4 Rd1 40.Qc2 Rd8 41.Nd3 Nxg5 42.Bxc6 Bxc6 43.Ndxe5 Qf6 44.Nxc6 Qxc6 45.Qe2 Qc7+ 46.Ne5 Rd5 47.Kg2 Ne6 48.Qc4 Qe7 49.Kg3 Qg5+ 50.Ng4 Rc5 51.Qe4 Rf5 52.Rf3 Kh7 53.c4 a4 54.Qe3 Qe7 55.Qc3 Qc7+ 56.Kf2 Rxf3+ 57.Qxf3 Qc5+ 58.Ne3 f5 59.Qb7+ Kxh6 60.Qd5 Qe7 61.Qe5 Qh4+ 62.Kf1 Ng5 63.Qh8+ Nh7 64.Qe5 Nf6 65.Ke2 Kg5 66.c5 Qh5+ 67.Kd3 Qf3 68.Kc4 Qb7 69.Qc3 Ne4 70.Qb4 Qa6+ 71.Kd4 Qf6+ 72.Kd5 Kf4 73.Qd4 Qf7+ 74.Kc6 Qe8+ 75.Kb6 Qb8+ 76.Ka6 Qa8+ 77.Kb6 Qb8+ 1/2-1/2

Morozevich 2741 - Leko 2749 [E15]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qb3 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.e4 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.exd5 Re8 10.Bd3 Bf8+ 11.Kf1 d6 12.Kg2 Nbd7 13.h4 g6 14.Qa4 Bb7 15.h5 Nxh5 16.Rxh5 gxh5 17.Ne4 f5 18.Neg5 h6 19.Nh3 Ne5 20.Nxe5 dxe5 21.Bxf5 Qf6 22.Be4 Re7 23.Qd1 h4 24.Qh5 hxg3 25.fxg3 Rg7 26.Bd2 Qf7 27.Qe2 Bc8 28.Nf2 Bf5 29.Bxf5 Qxf5 30.Ne4 Rf7 31.Rh1 Qg6 32.Rh4 Kh8 33.Ng5 Rf5 34.Ne6 h5 35.Bg5 Kg8 36.Rxh5 Re8 37.g4 Rf7 38.Bh4 Bg7 39.Rg5 Qh6 40.Qxe5 Kh8 41.Rxg7 Qd2+ 42.Kh3 Qd3+ 43.Bg3 Rxe6 44.dxe6 Rxg7 45.e7 Qh7+ 46.Kg2 1-0

Carlsen-Aronian copied Topalov-Leko from round 3 until the 27th move and was abandoned as a draw two moves later.

Linares/Morelia R8

Anand, Carlsen in lead at +2.

Morozevich 2741 - Carlsen 2690 [C83]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Nbd2 Nc5 11.a4 Nxb3 12.Qxb3 0-0 13.axb5 axb5 14.Rxa8 Qxa8 15.Qxb5 Rd8 16.Qd3 Qb7 17.Nd4 Nxe5 18.Qe2 Bf6 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.f4 Qb6+ 21.Kh1 Nf7 22.Nf3 c5 23.g4 Re8 24.g5 Bd8 25.f5 e5 26.c4 Qa6 27.Re1 e4 28.cxd5 Qxe2 29.Rxe2 Nd6 30.Nh4 h6 31.Bf4 Nb5 32.d6 Nd4 33.Rg2 Bxg5 34.Bxg5 hxg5 35.Rxg5 Kf7 36.Rg3 Nb5 37.Rg6 Rd8 38.Re6 Nxd6 39.Re5 c4 40.Rd5 Kf6 41.Ng2 Ke7 42.Ne3 1/2-1/2