WHAT AN UPSET DAY... and we have another round in the evening, my god. Drop what you're doing and go watch!
Tons of upsets. Magnus, even though he plays the long AI/FT-marketing game (#1613794), having played so poorly in the beginning of the tournament (#1613507), TODAY EVEN lost to Hauk Martirosyan -- #43 on the world rankings, some 150 points below Magnus, and one of the lowest-rated players in the field. ("I will think about this moment for the rest of my life" I think he said in a post-game interview)
Fabianu Caruano, on the other hand, was calm as a cucumber and beat everyone, meaning...
Maybe this is the tournament Magnus loses his crown?!
I was clearly too cheap in my Predyx market for Total Chess (didn't wanna pay freakin' 30k sats to fund every major player, so I just picked what I thought were the main contenders). #1610239
Just goes to show that at elite-level chess, anybody can beat anybody in a given tournament
It was a day of the rooks, for sure. The coolest non-move of this round (didn't) happen(ed) on move #28 in the Hong vs Alireza game. Hong, another underdog and non-contender, also some 150 points lower rated than Alireza, was putting pressure in an open Sicilian (a Najdorf, right?). It got real spicy and complicated with a weird knight trade around move 12 or so, but objectively level... UNTIL... Alireza went for a king walk into the open c- and d-files, and a completely wrong queen retreat.
HERE my browser engine says +7
I've already given you the clue of a rook move and major advantage, and there are only so many to choose from. GOOD LUCK, SCHTACKERS
Luckily for Hong, who didn't find the best and flashiest way to proceed, his move was +3 and good enough. A few moves later, he forced Alireza to give up his queen: Game Review gives it a brilliant... and like our "free pawn" example the other day, if you take/interpose the queen's defense of checkmate with the wrong (but more natural) piece #1612294, you die:
The wacky shit is that the only move to hold for black here isn't to take the rook but to defend against checkmate with your knight (and counterattack the queen on e4 with your knight).
No, Hong placed his bishop on c7 (brilliant)... Alireza, forced to give up the queen for two pieces, also lost the rook in the corner after the skirmish and the rest was clean-up. Technique and maneuvering needed but these guys are pros. (At our levels, you and I would find a way to lose that queen-vs-two-pieces endgame WITH EITHER COLOR!)
I'm at a loss. I assume Rc1+ was played?
I am thinking it has to do with a kind of clearance sac. Clearing the path for the queen to get to the d file for example. But Rd8+ Rxd8 Qd1+ is just met with Qd7 and I've nothing.
Then I'm thinking maybe something to do with getting those nasty looking bishops active and pointing at the king. Rd5 and if exd5 then Bxf5 which looks dangerous but I can't see the continuation from there.
Any more hints?
No, Hong placed the bishop on b6 first
And for the best move/rook sac, you're soooo close! (I feel like a fellow student, having looked at the answer at the back of the book five minutes ago and be like soooo annoyingly anxious to tell you!!) Correct that the rook-queen thing is wrong.
CORRECT to find Rd5 and that the knight loses protection when the e-pawn takes.
keep going from there!
Ok I was looking at Bxf5+ but after Kb8 couldn't see anything crushing. But now thinking maybe it's Rxf5 and then I am hitting the queen and also have a discovered check when I move the rook, so I think I can win the bishop on e5 next, at least.
And as for refusing the rook on d5, I am thinking that if you move that bishop on e5 there is Qc3+ ideas with a fork on the rook on h8.
After Rxf5 Qg7 maybe holds it together though. Visualization gets very fuzzy for me after 3ply but that Rxf5 looks strong. Maybe you can even drop the LSB too and the argument is that rook, queen and DSB are just too powerful against that exposed king.
Right move, wrong reason.
Think bigger. The bishop on e5 is mostly a spectator/last final thing to munch on once the dust has settled.
Oh, Qg7 isn't possible because Rg5+ shielding the bishop giving the discovered check and your queen is lost. Actually, it looks like that queen is going to be lost wherever it moves.
Eeeexactly!! Queen has nowhere to go/hide where the rook can't find her! :)
Good job
Love your write ups. Actually I don't usually follow professional chess because I can never seem to find good coverage even if I am interested. But your recaps are great.
hiiiiiigh praise! I'm honored! <3
Exciting! I'm watching the stream too.
it is PURE content today. The players showed up and deeeelivered!
Interesting post, and I think the big news of the day is Mozart's defeat.
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