Kramnik Retires

I'll go out on a limb and predict that Kramnik will follow Arkady Dvorkovich as President of FIDE.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/vladimir-kramnik-to-retire

Kramnik and Giri at Tata where Kramnik finished in last place. 

Heading South to The Straight

Moving from the cold of the North at Wijk to the warmth of Gibraltar where friend GM Nigel Short is participating. After seven rounds the leader is Russian GM Vladislav Artemiev with 6 points. Nigel is presently at 4.5 points. All the games can be followed on Chessbase and any number of other popular chess web sites. 
Complete standings after Round 7 can be found here:

http://chess-results.com/tnr377792.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=7&fbclid=IwAR26euNu8WfcKxIYPm-6tj0CaPK38ZYIba7NQ0a7PlyrD9ZyBHAK4B1REO0

Thank You from Kingdom Chess!

Thank you to the folks who donated towards the purchase of another banquet size table to accommodate the increased number of players showing up on Sunday afternoons at Cafe Lotti. We also have two new digital clocks with delay and bonus feature thanks to Hal Frost's generosity. See you all on Sunday!  

New and old faces in the photo from this past Sunday of some of the folks who showed up early in the session. Eric arrived a bit later after having left work quite ill, but making a miraculous recovery after leaving work........😊

Shankland Blunders at Wijk Resigning a Drawn Position Against Giri

The result is that Giri enters the penultimate round in a tie with Carlsen. Carlsen and Giri are scheduled to meet in the final round on Sunday.

[Event "81st Tata Steel Masters 2019"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2019.01.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Shankland, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2725"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.01.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Na4 Qe7 7. a3 Be6 8. Bxe6
Qxe6 9. b4 Bb6 10. O-O O-O 11. c4 Nd7 12. Bb2 Nd4 13. Nd2 f5 14. Rc1 c5 15.
exf5 Nxf5 16. Ne4 cxb4 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. axb4 Qg6 19. Ra1 Rxa1 20. Bxa1 Nf6 21.
Nxf6+ Rxf6 22. Qf3 Nh4 23. Qd5+ Kh8 24. f4 h6 25. Qe4 Qxe4 26. dxe4 Rxf4 27.
Rxf4 exf4 28. e5 dxe5 29. Bxe5 Ng6 30. Bc7 b5 31. cxb5 Kg8 32. Kf2 Kf7 33. Kf3
Nh4+ 34. Kxf4 Nxg2+ 35. Ke5 Ke7 36. Bd6+ Ke8 37. Ke6 g5 38. Kf6 Kd7 39. Bf8 Nh4
40. Bxh6 Nf3 41. h3 Ng1 42. Bxg5 Nxh3 43. Be3 Kd6 44. Kf5 Kd5 45. b6 1-0

Shankland Holds Carlsen to a Draw at Wijk, 9th Round

Bravo!!

[Event "81st Tata Steel Masters 2019"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2019.01.22"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Shankland, Samuel"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2725"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2019.01.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 h6 6. Bf4 Nf6 7. e3 Bd6 8. Bxd6
Qxd6 9. Qc2 O-O 10. Bd3 Re8 11. h3 Be6 12. O-O Nbd7 13. a4 Rac8 14. Rfc1 c5 15.
dxc5 Nxc5 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. Qd1 Rc7 18. Bc2 Rec8 19. Nde2 Ne6 20. Bb3 Bc6 21. Nd4
Qb4 22. Nce2 Bd7 23. Rxc7 Rxc7 24. Qe1 Qxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Nc5 26. Rc1 a5 27. Bc2
Kf8 28. b3 Na6 29. f3 Nb4 30. Kf2 Ne8 31. Ke1 Nd6 32. Bb1 Rxc1+ 33. Nxc1 Ke7
34. Bd3 Kf6 35. h4 b6 36. Kd2 Ke5 37. g4 g5 38. hxg5 hxg5 39. Nce2 Nxd3 40.
Kxd3 Nb7 1/2-1/2

Old Tigers Battle at Wijk

Two old tigers battle at Wijk with Anand coming out on top. Anand now joins the event leaders in a five way tie for first.
[Event "Tata Steel Chess Masters 2019"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2019.01.19"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2777"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. Nd5 h6 7. c3 d6 8. h3 Ba7
9. a4 Be6 10. a5 Bxd5 11. exd5 Ne7 12. d4 exd4 13. Nxd4 O-O 14. g4 Nexd5 15.
Kf1 Qd7 16. h4 Bxd4 17. Qxd4 Ne7 18. Be2 Qc6 19. Rh3 Qd5 20. Qxd5 Nfxd5 21. Bf3
c6 22. Ra4 b5 23. axb6 Nxb6 24. Re4 Rfe8 25. g5 hxg5 26. Bxg5 f6 27. Bc1 d5 28.
Rg4 Nc4 29. Be2 Ne5 30. Rf4 Kf7 31. h5 Rh8 32. Ra4 a5 33. b3 Rab8 34. Bd1 Rb5
35. Bc2 c5 36. Rah4 c4 37. bxc4 Nxc4 38. Kg2 Rc5 39. Rg3 Rcc8 40. Rhg4 Rcg8 41.
Rh3 Ra8 42. Rhg3 Rxh5 43. Rxg7+ Ke6 44. Ba4 Rah8 45. Bf4 Rh2+ 46. Kf1 Rh1+ 47.
Ke2 Ra1 48. Bb5 Ra2+ 49. Kf1 Rh1+ 50. Kg2 Raa1 51. Bxc4 Nf5 52. Bxd5+ Kxd5 53.
Kf3 Nxg3 54. fxg3 a4 55. Kg4 a3 56. Ra7 a2 57. Kf5 Rh2 0-1

Deja Vu for FIDE?

As reported in Buzzfeed and The Washington Post, it appears that Trump's man Gates met twice with Arkady Dvorkovich, the recently elected President of FIDE; once in Moscow in early 2016 where he gave a speech and then again during the transition in December 2016. Ivanka Trump earlier had Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen contact former Russian Olympian Dmitry Klokov about a Trump-Putin meeting. Klokov and Dvorkovich apparently are aware of each other through the Russian oil and gas company Rosneft and Dvorkovich’s role with Russian oil and gas regulators while Putin's Deputy Prime MInister. When the caca hits the Mueller indictment fan, FIDE may once again be sullied. 

What should be done about FIDE? Replace it with a new, transparent organization. 

A Question for Our Russian Readers

If you are residing in or are from Russia, please let me know in Russia and the former Eastern Block how prevalent  the use of Chess Assistant database software is compared to Chessbase software. This has been the subject of debate in several online chess forums of late.
Thanks!!

Carlsen Finally Ends His Run of Classical Draws

At Tata Steel:

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.01.16"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2612"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "DH"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Carlsen sticks to his repertoire from the recent World
Championship match.} 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 {The
first surprise of the game. Van Foreest is a very principled player who often
favours direct openings, especially with White. However it seems excessively
brave to take on Carlsen in this line. While Van Foreest might have spent
several hours preparing this position, it is likely that Carlsen and his team
(assisted by powerful engines) had spent many weeks analysing the following
labyrinthine varitions for the World Championship. In hindsight it would have
been wiser to choose something which would have been less fresh in Carlsen's
memory.} (7. Bg5 {is the main line of the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Play could then
continue:} a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 (9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 {leads to many long
complex variations with chances for both sides.}) 9... Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4
({or} 11. c3) 11... b4 12. Nc2 {with a strategic battle ahead.}) 7... Nxd5 8.
exd5 Ne7 {This was played twice by Carlsen in his recent match against Caruana.
} (8... Nb8 {also featured in two games from the World Championship match.}) 9.
c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb4 Qb8 {Carlsen shows his ambitious intentions.} (11...
Bf5 {featured in Game 12 of the World Championship, but it allows a repetition
of moves:} 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. Qb4 Bf5 14. Qa4 (14. h4 {was Caruana's choice in
the aforementioned game and was also played by Kramnik at the 2018 Olympiad.}))
12. h4 h5 {With the inclusion of the h-pawn moves it appears that neither king
will find a safe haven on this side of the board.} 13. Be3 a6 14. Nc3 f5 $5 {
Not quite a novelty, but Carlsen displays his opening expertise by unleashing
a rare idea.} (14... a5 {was Carlsen's choice in one of the decisive tie-break
games against Caruana:} 15. Qb3 a4 16. Qd1 Be7 17. g3 Qc8 18. Be2 Bg4 19. Rc1
Bxe2 20. Qxe2 Qf5 {and despite Carlsen's victory, White holds the upper hand.}
21. c5 (21. O-O $14 {would have left White with a long-term edge due to his
structural superiority on the queenside.}) 21... O-O $1 22. c6 bxc6 23. dxc6
Rfc8 24. Qc4 Bd8 25. Nd5 e4 $2 26. c7 Bxc7 $1 27. Nxc7 Ne5 28. Nd5 $2 Kh7 $1 {
0-1, Caruana-Carlsen, London 2018.}) 15. O-O-O $146 {A natural choice, if
somewhat risky.} (15. g3 {looks like a safe option}) ({while} 15. Be2 {is also
playable.}) (15. Na4 $5 {was mentioned by Van Foreest after the game, and
indeed this move would have led to interesting positions which would have
suited his style:} f4 $1 16. Bd3 Nxh4 $1 {(apparently this was suggested by
Carlsen in the post mortem. Further proof of the depth of his preparation)} 17.
Rxh4 fxe3 18. Bg6+ Kd8 {with a very double-edged position. As usual, the
engine eventually assesses this as 0.00 but neither king is safe and fireworks
are likely to ensue.}) 15... Be7 16. g3 O-O $5 {An interesting pawn sacrifice,
most likely still part of Carlsen's preparation.} (16... e4 {would have been
my first thought. Black intends to land the knight on e5 as quickly as
possible.}) ({Meanwhile the immediate} 16... b5 $5 {is also worthy of
consideration.}) 17. Be2 {Now the h5-pawn is indefensible.} e4 18. Bd4 $6 {A
step in the wrong direction.} ({Snatching the pawn with} 18. Bxh5 {was of
course critical:} Ne5 19. Be2 b5 20. cxb5 axb5 $44 {it is clear that Black has
compensation here. There is a simple plan of ...Rf8-c8 and ...Be7-d8-a5 while
the white king is a target. However, the b5-pawn will soon fall and if an
attack fails then White should convert his extra pawn.} 21. Bg5 $1 {looks like
White's most accurate move to nullify the black initiative.}) ({If White was
too afraid to capture on h5, then} 18. f4 {was another option:} exf3 19. Bxf3
Ne5 20. Be2 b5 21. cxb5 axb5 22. Bd4 $132 {and, compared to the game, Black's
e5-knight lacks stability.}) 18... Bf6 19. Bxf6 Rxf6 20. Qb6 $2 {Van Foreest's
plan is understandable; he wishes to prevent Black from opening the queenside.
Unfortunately queens are known to be poor blockaders, and this short-term
measure soon fails.} (20. Bxh5 {was now essential. Play could continue:} Ne5
21. Be2 b5 22. cxb5 Bxb5 $1 {(forcing the exchange of White's strong knight)}
23. Nxb5 axb5 24. a3 (24. Kb1 $6 Qa7 $15) 24... Rf8 25. Bxb5 Qc7+ 26. Kb1 Rfb8
$44 {with yet another position that is difficult to evaluate. Objectively
chances are still equal, although in practical terms it feels easier to play
Black.}) 20... Ne5 21. Kb1 Be8 $1 $15 {Black re-routes the bishop and intends
to kick the white queen away from b6.} 22. Rd2 Nd7 23. Qd4 Qc7 24. Nd1 {The
start of a poor manoeuvre, but it is not easy to offer any constructive
alternatives. White's position is strategically dubious - it lacks purpose,
while Black can slowly prepare the b7-b5 or f5-f4 pawn breaks.} Ne5 {Black's
knight is incredibly powerful here. It simply cannot be challenged.} 25. Ne3 f4
$1 {Simple and strong.} 26. gxf4 Rxf4 27. Rg1 (27. Ng2 {does not help:} Rf8 28.
Qe3 Qf7 29. Rf1 (29. Qxe4 Qxf2 $19) 29... Rc8 $17 {and Black holds an obvious
advantage.}) 27... Bg6 28. Ka1 ({It is a sad situation when the engine
suggests jettisoning material with moves such as} 28. Rxg6 {although Black's
conversion task is not so easy:} Nxg6 29. Ng2 Rf5 $17 30. Qxe4 Qf7 31. Bd3 {
and the game continues.}) 28... Raf8 29. c5 {Desperation, but otherwise f2
falls without compensation.} Rxf2 {Black simply gobbles the pawn.} (29... dxc5
{is also sufficient:} 30. Qc3 Qd6 $17) 30. Qc3 (30. c6 $5 {would have been my
final attempt at creating confusion.}) 30... Qxc5 31. Qxc5 dxc5 32. d6 Kh7 33.
d7 Nf3 {Winning material. A brutal victory from Carlsen, who pounced upon his
opponent's indecisiveness to score his first win of the tournament.} 0-1

https://en.chessbase.com/post/tata-steel-chess-2019-round-5

Announcing the Kingdom Chess 2019 Ladder Challenge

Attached on the Kingdom Chess Facebook page (linked below) is a wall chart in Excel format of a club challenge ladder that I've compiled. Players are listed informally by estimated rating strength. Anyone on the ladder may challenge a person on a higher rung to a match of G-25+10 games. Here are the basic rules:

1. Matches will be the best of four games. win = 1; loss = 0; draw = 1/2
2. Players will draw for first game colors by traditional pawns in hands selection. Colors will then alternate between the players until a winner is decided.
3. If the match is tied after four games, both players remain on their respective ladder rungs.
4. Games may be played at club chess time on Sunday afternoons at Cafe Lotti, at any other time(s) the players agree to, including via live games over the Internet.
5. Once a challenge is made, the four games must be completed within two weeks commencing with the next Sunday meeting at Cafe Lotti.

At the end of the year, the top three players will receive beautiful plastic medals, peer admiration and bragging rights for the coming year. 😁
If any who are not on the ladder want to join in, please let me know at any time and I will be happy to add you to the ladder.

Good chess to all.
Cheers, Brian

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700339456802664/

Six Players Tie for First at the 94th Hastings Tournament

"Hastings is the grandaddy of international tournaments, first staged in 1895 and held annually since 1920 apart from war years. Its vintage periods were in the 1930s, ’50s and ’70s when chess legends including almost all the world champions were eager to compete while Sir George Thomas and Hugh Alexander defeated top Russians in stunning upsets........"
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jan/11/chess-danny-gormally-hasting-six-way-tie

60 Years Ago Today Bobby Fischer Won His Second US Chess Championship

https://en.chessbase.com/post/bobby-fischer-second-us-champion-title-1959

Play the Alekhine Against Alekhine?

Is it a good idea to play a defense against the creator of the defense? Does anyone have other examples of players doing this when playing Black against the creator of the defense used?
[Event "?"]
[Site "Vitoria Gasteiz (Spain)"]
[Date "1941.12.19"]
[Round ""]
[White "Alekhine Alexander A (RUS)"]
[Black "Esnaola B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C29"]
[Annotator ""]
[Source ""]

{[ VIENNA GAME,C29] Alekhine Alexander A (RUS) +9 =0 -3 Esnaola B +0 =0 -1 Alekhine Alexander A (RUS)-Esnaola B +1 =0 -0}
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 {=} Nc6 ( 3...d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 Nc6
6.Bb5 Bb4 7.O-O O-O 8.Ne2 Bg4 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Kh1 Ng5 11.d3 f6
12.Bxg5 fxg5 13.c3 Be7 14.Qa4 Bd7 15.Nd2 c5 16.Rxf8+ Bxf8 17.Qb3
Bf5 18.c4 Rb8 19.Qc3 d4 20.Qc2 Qe8 21.Ng3 Bg6 22.Re1 g4 23.h3
Qe6 24.hxg4 Qxg4 25.Ndf1 Be7 26.b3 Bh4 27.Qd1 Qxd1 28.Rxd1 Re8
29.Ne2 Bh5 30.Rd2 Bg5 {0-1, Hector Jonny (SWE) 2539 - Caruana Fabiano (ITA) 2782 , Malme 5/16/2012 It (cat.16)}
) 4.fxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.e5 Qe7 ( 6...Ng8 7.Nf3 d5 8.Bb5
( 8.Bd3 Nge7 {+0.68 CAP} ) Bd7 9.O-O a6 10.Bxc6 Bxc6 11.Ng5 f6
12.Ne6 Qe7 13.Nxf8 Qxf8 14.Qg4 Qe7 15.Bf4 Bd7 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Qf3
c6 18.exf6 Qf7 19.Rae1+ Kd8 20.Be5 Rc8 21.Na4 Bf5 22.Nb6 Rc7
23.Qg3 Nxf6 24.Qg5 Rf8 25.g4 Bxg4 26.Rxf6 Qxf6 27.Bxf6+ {1-0, Al-Modiahki Mohamad (QAT) 2577 - Goudioudi K, Hania 4/23/2003 Simultan}
) 7.Be2 Ng8 8.Nf3 b6 9.O-O h6 {+2.38 CAP} 10.Bf4 {N} Bb7 11.Nd5
Qd8 12.e6 d6 13.exf7+ Kxf7 14.Ng5+ hxg5 15.Bh5+ Rxh5 16.Qxh5+
Ke6 17.Bxg5 Be7 18.Qg4+ Kxd5 19.Qf3+ $20 1-0

Kingdom Chess in the Caledonia-Record

And we made the print edition