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The pandemic has been the subject of many articles lately, some of my own included. While I have mostly presented the hardships that came along with it, there have been some positive moments as well. One of these aspects is the one which inspired me to write this article!

I have been playing for many years in the German Bundesliga, since 2009 to be more precise. After having been in Germany so many times, I do understand some of the language and I can even say some basic things. However, I have never seriously studied German and if I listened to German speakers at a dinner party, I could probably catch the subject of the conversation, but not more. However, the pandemic has offered me the chance to do some of the things I have always wanted to, but for which I have never been able to find time. One of those things was studying German, so, some months ago, I joined an online course and since then, three days a week, my mornings start with Deutsch lernen. While typing, I couldnt help thinking "How do I say with in German? Aha - mit - mit always needs to be used with the Dative case"

To be honest, this language fascinates me there are so many things one should consider before saying anything! I remember when I was studying English, I found it difficult to take care of the word order in a sentence, but well, in German it is a whole new level! Articles, prepositions, cases: the word order changes more often than my predilection for one type of shoes or another! It feels like my brain has to run on a few additional CPUs when I speak it, but when I say something right it is such a pleasure!

If you start to wonder how this article relates to chess Im getting to it! Well, it took me a month or so to get used to putting the verb always at the second position in a sentence, even when the sentence did not start with the subject, only to later experience the pleasures of conjunctive sentences, where everything changes drastically! Compared to Romanian or Russian, where one can build a sentence whichever way one pleases, or even to English, where there are some rules, which, however, can be broken occasionally, there is no room for improvising when building a sentence in German everything has to follow a certain order.

This made me think if one is used from an early age to operate on this rigorous order does that somehow transpose to chess? Is a chess player whose first language is German fated to build his or her playing style guided by this order? Lets take a look!

The first player who comes to mind when saying rigorous German style is GM Georg Meier.

Georg Meier | Photo: Grenkechess

He is currently number five in Germany and has been among the top players of the country for many years.

Going through the games of Meier and I think the one which weve just seen is quite typical one might think that there might be something to my assumption regarding the German order. However, lets not rush to conclusions, but rather dig deeper into the matter.

It only feels fair to look at the games of Germanys number one female player (since what seems to me forever): IM Elisabeth Paehtz.

Elisabeth Paehtz | Photo: Pascal Simon

I have played and prepared against Elizabeth many times and the difference between the games of Georg Meier and Elisabeth Paehtz is obvious. I once played against GM Meier and it was more or less clear to me what opening would appear on the board, but when preparing for games against Elizabeth, it often might be more effective to just say a prayer and go to sleep. Jokes aside, when playing against Meier, who usually sticks to his repertoire, the biggest challenge seemed to be to study a line deep enough, whereas things are often highly unpredictable when playing against Elisabeth. I will not argue that one approach is better than the other they are simply entirely different but the first approach relies on building up the game around ones strengths, whereas the second approach tries to find and to exploit the weaknesses of your opponent.

Lets have a look at a typical game to understand Elizabeths style better.

I think that this game characterizes IM Paehtzs playing style very well clever preparation and a very flexible repertoire, a good feeling for dynamics and a good technique. She often changes her approach and improvises

So, I would say this means her style doesnt really go along with my German order theory.

But it still has been very interesting for me to dig into this theory of mine and study games of these two players. Of course, one cant generalize a whole nations chess style based on the rules of their language, but my feeling is that there could be a connection maybe the language you grow up in is not a 100% factor which defines ones style of play, but it might be a factor which influences it to some degree, though there are of course other factors that shape the way you play chess What do you think?

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Mother tongue and chess is there a connection? - Chessbase News

On Wednesday, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi was officially crowned as the winner of the 2020-2021 FIDE Candidates Tournament. Before the ceremony, he answered questions from the media.

The final press conference.

Nepomniachtchi started by thanking his team and said that they deserve perhaps even more congratulations than himself: "They are the part of the iceberg that stays under the water. I am just moving the pieces!"

Earlier, the Russian grandmaster had revealed his team members: the general coach of the Russian Chess Federation GM Vladimir Potkin alongside GM Ildar Khairullin, GM Nikita Vitiugov, and GM Peter Leko.

Nepomniachtchi and Potkin have known each other for 20 years and started working together closely in November 2007. Within a few years, this teamwork started to bear fruit.

"This cooperation improved not only my game but I guess Vlad's game as well because first, it was me who won the European Championship and then him," said Nepomniachtchi, who won that event in 2010 while Potkin took the title in 2011.

Asked whether he would be interested in adding GM Daniil Dubov to his team, he said: "He's a great chess player and a great analyst, but he also worked with Magnus and I wouldn't like to put him into a position to have to make a choice between me and Magnus."

Nepomniachtchi acknowledged that he might have had a bit of home advantage, playing the event in Yekaterinburg: "When I found out that the tournament was going to take place in Yekaterinburg, I felt rather happy. In 2013 I won the Higher League here. Memories of a city are connected to a result you achieved.

"Apart from that, I like the city, I like the Ural, although I live myself in the western part of the country. Of course, this feeling of belonging helps. There's a saying in Russian: 'When you are at home, even the walls around help you,' and I guess this is true."

Asked whether he feels the pressure of bringing back the title to Russia, he replied: "I wouldn't say it's pressure. It's a great responsibility and a great challenge."

Some of Nepomniachtchi's colleagues have already commented on Nepomniachtchi's chances.

Grischuk: "They exist. For most players, they are a bit illusory but for him, they definitely exist. Less than 50 percent but much more than zero."

Caruana: "I think it's gonna be very close because he looks really strong now. Not just in this tournament. Over the past year, he has looked incredibly strong, so I think he's gonna be a very dangerous opponent for Magnus."

Carlsen: "It's very interesting. He's a very, very strong opponent. Somebody who also plays very aggressively and usually gives his opponents chances as well. In that sense, there is every chance there's going to be an exciting match."

Nepomniachtchi now commented himself about his chances: "There is this saying: 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.' By all means, it will be a tough match and I'm glad that my chances are assessed as high but I am a realist. I look at it in a realistic way, and I also do not have the tendency to downgrade myself."

Asked what is Carlsen's biggest weakness, he said: "In any case, I won't say. So let's say he doesn't have one!"

The closing ceremony.

Interestingly, FIDE's Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola announced at the press conference that there will be another Candidates Tournament next year. This news was later tweeted by FIDE's Director General Emil Sutovsky as well and it looks like the much-debated tiebreak rules could be changed:

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Nepomniachtchi: 'I Don't Have The Tendency To Downgrade Myself' - Chess.com

Garry Kasparov was recently Jan Gustafsson and Peter Heine Nielsen's pick as the Greatest Chess Player of All Time, though their no. 2, Magnus Carlsen, may have something to say about that before he's done! For Part 2 of Sean Marsh's Great Moments in Chess series, he looks at November 9th 1985, when 22-year-old Garry finally snatched the World Championship crown from Anatoly Karpov, three years after his odyssey to the title had begun.

As Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov battle it out in theNew in Chess Classic, we continue our celebratation of theNew in Chess Magazinethat the tournament is named after.

There's anew sale of New in Chess coursesfrom our friends at Chessable, while this is now the second part of our series on Great Moments in Chess, which began with Carlsen Crowned.

Garry Kasparov was World Champion for 15 years. Much to his chagrin, this isn't the record tenure, as bothEmanuel Lasker (27 years) and Alexander Alekhine (17 years) stand above him.

It is difficult to think of Kasparov having to go through the qualifying stages of the World Chess Championship. Back then, the system was very different. First, a player had to qualify for one of the three very competitive Interzonal tournaments.

Kasparov won the 1982 Moscow Interzonal, ahead of a star-studded cast, including Alexander Beliavsky, former champion Mikhail Tal, Ulf Anderssen and Efim Geller. Interzonals were very serious tournaments. This one lasted 13 rounds and Kasparov scored an impressive 10/13 to finish one and a half points ahead of Beliavsky.

Next, there came the first of three rounds of the Candidates Matches. Kasparov was paired with Beliavsky in the first round and even though the match was close for some time, a final burst of two straight wins allowed Kasparov to progress with a 6-3 victory.

The Candidates Semi-Final brought a massive clash with Viktor Korchnoi, who had pushed Anatoly Karpov hard in the very close matches of 1974 and 1978, before ultimately being outgunned by the World Champion in the 1981 title match. Nevertheless, Korchnoi, with more match experience than any other player, was in control for the first half of the match. Kasparov again finished strongly, with four wins from the last six games, to record a significant 7-4 victory.

Standing between Kasparov and a title match with Karpov was, incredibly, Vasily Smyslov - who had been World Champion from 1957 to 1958. Kasparov was the clear favourite in this battle of age against youth and, even though Smyslov gave a good account of himself, Kasparov powered through to another victory, by a score of 8.5-4.5.

This match was played in the Spring of 1984, meaning Kasparov had already spent two years battling his way through to play Karpov.

Anatoly Karpov had been champion of the world for 10 years, but at 33, he was still very much in his prime. Kasparov, 21, was aiming to become the youngest champion in history. Both players were in excellent form as they sat down to play the first game of the match on 10 September 1984, in Moscow.

The rules back then required a player to win six games to take the title. Draws did not count. Opinion was divided at the time. Traditionalists were in Karpov's favour; younger chess fans saw Kasparov as a change to a much more dynamic style of chess.

The dreams of the young challenger started to become nightmares when Karpov raced to a 4-0 lead after just nine games. Various weaknesses in Kasparov's game were ruthlessly exploited. Karpov then made a mistake in his match strategy, electing to play numerous short draws instead of pushing for victory. However, after 17 consecutive draws, he then won a fifth game, to lead 5-0 after 21 games.

How would a young player react to losing such a match 6-0? Would he have the maturity to recover and the strength to battle his way through the next series of Candidates Matches? It looked like we were going to find out, but Karpov became cautious once more, which backfired badly.

Kasparov finally won a game. This victory, in game 32, was his first-ever win against Karpov. 14 more draws followed. With hindsight, Karpov should have changed his match strategy, played longer games and mixed things up a lot more - but he was also getting very tired.

Unbelievably, Kasparov won games 47 and 48, to pull the score back to 5-3. Karpov was clearly struggling; he was unrecognisable in the brace of defeats. Would Kasparov be able to keep the wins coming?

Unfortunately, we shall never know - because the match was aborted by FIDE in extremely controversial circumstances. This is all a story for another day - but the upshot of the decision is that the players had to start a new match in 1985, with the slate wiped clean. After an extraordinary battle lasting 48 games and five months, the score was suddenly back to 0-0.

Seven months later and the players started their battle all over again. The rules had changed; this time it was a match of 24 games. Karpov would keep his title at 12-12.

It was a tight start. Kasparov won the first game, but Karpov hit back strongly, winning games four and five. Kasparov equalised in game 11 and then there were four consecutive draws. Karpov, of course, could afford to keep on drawing, but Kasparov had to try for more.

Kasparov won two excellent games (16 and 19) to leave Karpov in big trouble. Both players must have been feeling the pressure at this point. There were mistakes in the next few games and Karpov pulled one point back by winning game 22. One more draw followed in game 23, setting up a very tense final game.

Kasparov's Sicilian Defense was extremely difficult to breach. On the other hand, Karpov was generally very impressive on the white side of 1.e4 c5.

9 November, 1985. It is quite clear what each player needs. Karpov, the defending champion, needs to win the last game of the match to retain his title. Kasparov, the challenger, needs to avoid defeat to become the youngest wchampion.

This was not the moment to play a solid Petroff Defense or to try something unexpected. Both players were very much ready for a sharp struggle and the opening moves were no surprise:1.e4 c5.

The Sicilian Defense

A few moves down the line, Karpov shows he wants to stick with his trademark6.Be2against the Najdorf Variation and Kasparov transposes to his great favourite, the Scheveningen Variation, with6...e6.

Nobody ever liked to play the standard 6...e5 against Karpov. He specialised in obtaining a small edge and gradually crushing the opponent.

The battle lines were drawn very quickly. Karpov was clearly intent on an all-out assault, while Kasparov was hoping the hedgehog spines of theScheveningen would keep White's attack at bay.

Fast forward a few more moves and, suddenly, Kasparov has broken out with25...f5.

The position has exploded and history is about to be made. This is definitely more of a Kasparov position than something Karpov will feel entirely comfortable playing.

Indeed, once Kasparov played34...Nxc2, the writing was definitely on the wall.

Karpov's queenside collapses completely and the game is only heading for one result.

Black to Play

Despite the apparent activity of Karpov's pieces, he is losing. Not only is he a piece down, but Kasparov now has the choice between a number of winning moves.

Kasparov chose24...Nd4+, winning more material with a discovered check.

Kasparov Seizes the Crown

Thus, Kasparov, at 22, became the youngest world champion of chess and ended Karpov's 10-year reign. The final score was 13-11 to Kasparov.

1. e4 c5 2. f3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. xd4 f6 5. c3 a6 6. e2 e6 7. O-O e7 8. f4 O-O 9. h1 c7 10. a4 c6 11. e3 e8 12. f3 b8 13. d2 d7 14. b3 b6 15. g4 c8 16. g5 d7 17. f2 f8 18. g2 b7 19. ad1 g6 20. c1 bc8 21. d3 b4 22. h3 g7 23. e3 e7 24. g1 ce8 25. d1 f5 26. gxf6 xf6 27. g3 f7 28. xb6 b8 29. e3 h5 30. g4 f6 31. h4 g5 32. fxg5 g4 33. d2 xe3 34. xe3 xc2 35. b6 a8 36. xd6 b7 37. xa6 xb3 38. xe6 xb2 39. c4 h8 40. e5 a7+ 41. h1 xg2+ 42. xg2 d4+0-1

This was by no means the end of the classic rivalry between Karpov and Kasparov. They would go on to contest three more very close title matches and would be almost permanent rivals at top tournaments.

Such was the impact of the result that books are still being written about the great rivalry. These two were both contenders for the annualEnglish Chess Federation Book of the Year Award.

There will be another instalment ofGreat Moments in Chess soon.Meanwhile, theNew in Chess Classicis now in the Knockout phase.This exciting tournament can be followedlive here on chess24.

Originally posted here:
Great Moments in Chess: Kasparov Seizes the Crown - chess24

Under the headline 'Making all the right moves', The Mail reviewed the opening night of Barrow Amateurs' production of the Tim Rice musical Chess at Forum 28 in May 1994.

It was the northern premiere of the musical and Barrow Amateur did the town proud.

Because the show is nearly all sung, and there are very few spoken words, the actors had to put all their emotions across in song, stated the review.

Kenny Smyth as the American world chess champion Frederick Trumper did this brilliantly.

He had a strong rock voice and performed his songs really well, and his added dramatic dimension made him a force to be reckoned with, said the review.

Sarah Flanaghan as Florence Vassey, Trumper's chess second and lover, gave a moving performance as the woman who kept putting love for the men in her life before her own interests.

Her signing was excellent and in a moment at the end of the show when her microphone went off and she had to close the show with her song, she just lifted her voice and belted it out over the orchestra.

Steve Carrick played the well-meaning Russian chess champion Anatoly Sergievsky and his tenderness for Florence after her bitter break-up with Trumper was a joy.

Helena Troughton, as his wife Svetlana Sergievskaya, gave another beautifully- sung, delightfully-acted performance.

Her famous duet I Know Him So Well with Sarah was well worth the ticket price on its own, stated the review.

There was also praise for Phil McIntosh as The Arbiter and Nicholas Carson as the Russian second Alexander Molokov.

"The whole company has risen to the occasion and there is an obvious commitment to the show from everyone, which is a pleasure to see," said the reviewer.

The orchestra, playing music by former Abba stars Benny and Bjorn, under Peter Dyer, deserved a special mention.

The costumes were cleverly colour-coded and there was also praise for choreographer Melissa Thompson.

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Barrow Amateurs have al the right moves to make musical a success - NW Evening Mail

Jonathan D. Tisdall (born August 26, 1958 in Buffalo, New York) is a chess grandmaster (title awarded 1993) and works as a freelance journalist. An American citizen by origin, he became Irish and later Norwegian. He was Norwegian Chess Champion in 1987, 1991 and 1995. Jon also acted as a team captain for the Norwegian team and witnessed the rise and development of his compratiot, chess world champion Magnus Carlsen. His book "Improve your chess now" from 1997 is a modern classic.

Jonathan Tisdall (left) and Eric van Reem (right) during the podcast | Photo: Eric van Reem

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Be sure to follow GM Jonathan Tisdall on Twitter

There is a book about the first part of the Candidates, written by Vladimir Tukmakov and published by Thinkers Publishing. Click here to buy the book.

If you want to support the LTAC podcast with a small donation, you can buy Eric a coffee (or two) on Ko-fi. No subscribtion necessary, but a token of your appreciation is welcome. Thank you!

Feedback can be sent to: talkingchess@gmail.com or send me a tweet.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Host : Eric van ReemGuest : GM Jonathan Tisdall (USA)Editor : Dennis van ReemArtwork : Frnk StiefelMusic : Chess Pieces-Silent Partner

Feedback: talkingchess@gmail.com or tweet @ChessClassic

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Let's talk about the Candidates... with Eric van Reem and Jonathan Tisdall - Chessbase News