There is only good news today, well from a certain perspective. I thought I would give the Ponziani a whirl today and I can't complain too much about my opening and am sure that 22.b4 would have posed black some challenges. Instead I lost pawns but surprisingly Stockfish tells me that I was worse but not actually lost. Somewhat surprising as I am two connected passed pawns down in an ending.
The Championship has turned out to be a thriller. Max Illingworth and Anton Smirnov are tied for first on 7/10 and are playing tomorrow. If there is a winner the title will be decided. Otherwise there is a pack on 6.5 who can all join a playoff by winning.
The biggest story for me this year is the sovereign performance of Dough Hamilton in the reserves. He is already home with 9.5/10!! , two points clear of the pack. Much has been written about his non-selection for the Championship. I guess in two years time his participation will not be an issue.
One more game to go. It would be nice just to spectate tomorrow. It should be an exciting round!
Turned into a sort of reversed Philidor, and you proved against Morris that you're comfortable with the ordinary Philidor.
ReplyDeleteExcellent showing by 72-year-old IM Hamilton, showing his class as a 3-times Aussie champ, winning two games by Q-sacs. Still not convinced that he should have been a wild-card for the Champs this time round though. FIDE probably wouldn't let Karpov in a 2015 Candidates tourney on the 40th anniversary of his winning the World Championship.
Lieber Alex,
ReplyDeletedarf ich mich Dir als demütiger Spieler mit weniger als 1700 DWZ unterwürfigst nähern und bemerken, daß 4.d3 von den Maschinen nicht vorteilhaft bewertet wird. Nakamura spielte hier 4. Da4 gegen Svidler, den Zug den auch Houdini & Co angeben, allerdings mit winzigstem Vorteil für Schwarz.
Aber vielleicht wolltest Du ja mal wie Carlsen, Deinen Gegner erst später überspielen.......
Mit den besten Grüßen, Rainer Heidebreck, Schachklub Weilheim