{"id":2125,"date":"2024-06-26T17:46:30","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T15:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skolasachu.com\/?p=2125"},"modified":"2024-07-04T21:24:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T19:24:23","slug":"through-the-years-and-the-tournament-world-and-the-gallant-ride-of-arjun-erigaisi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skolasachu.com\/en\/s-letem-letem-turnajovym-svetem-a-spanila-jizda-arjuna-erigaisiho\/","title":{"rendered":"With the summer, the tournament world and the splendid ride of Arjun Erigaisi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let us return once more to the arguably strongest tournament on paper in recent years (or perhaps of all time? \ud83d\ude42 ) held in Stavanger, Norway. There we witnessed not only a truly sad historical record, but also unusual serious blunders in the endgames by many participants, which at least deserve some reflection. Two other strong pre-summer tournaments can then be seen as a duel between the older generation and juniors, or even as a kind of distant tug-of-war between two of them for the rating lead as we step into the second half of the year. The winner emerging from this was the relatively lesser-known 20-year-old Arjun Erigaisi, who on 1 July will occupy 4th place in the world rating list.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers who follow chess events more closely might have literally stumbled upon a different event instead of the two strong closed tournaments in Tashkent and Armenian Jermuk!<\/p>\n

Match of the Century?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Blitz match<\/em> Kramnik vs. Jos\u00e9 Martinez Alcantara (known on online platforms as Jospe) caused such passion and division among chess fans, supporters, the Chess.com platform, and of course streamers who instinctively sensed earning opportunities, that it was immediately dubbed the Match of the Century<\/em><\/strong>. Without expressing my opinion here on the dispute Kramnik vs. Chess.com, which apparently will end up in court, and although I am closely following the problems around cheating in the world of online chess and the activities of Vladimir Borisovich and the management of the giant<\/em> online platforms\u2026 what saddens me most is precisely this title.<\/p>\n

Note: a two-hour interview of Jan Nepomniachtchi, the 14th World Champion, mainly concerning cheating in online chess and of course that blitz match, can be found by interested readers at<\/em> https:\/\/youtu.be\/NDgviFSMRDo?si=4N7RRFioSqZ83dpR<\/a><\/p>\n

Why? In my opinion, the bombastic title of the match best testifies to the fact that even the chess world has really gone completely off the rails!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Those who remember know when and where the real Match of the Century<\/em><\/strong>. was played. It took place in 1970 in Belgrade and the more official title was: \u201eUSSR versus the Rest of the World\u201c. If memory serves me right, not a single top player of the time was missing, including the reigning World Champion and four (sic) former World Champions! The fifth, then 68-year-old Max Euwe, participated in the true event of the century as captain of the World team.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Belgrade 1970: I have probably never seen such a concentration of World Champions and the very best chess players on the planet in any other photograph. Older readers will surely easily recognise many faces; for younger ones, a hint: in the front row sit five (!) World Champions. The future World Champion Robert James Fischer, and at that time probably the world number one, unfortunately did not participate in the photo session\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Stavanger 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

I devoted the previous article to the tournament with the star-studded line-up. As for its result, I more or less expected it, including the narrow victory of the former World Champion Carlsen. That is, a win according to the tournament rules by so-called replaying of draws.<\/p>\n

Had I known what would happen in Stavanger in the second half of the tournament, I probably would have waited a few days before publishing the article for Dommaraju Gukesh\u2019s eighteenth birthday and supplemented it, but so be it.<\/p>\n

Tragedy of the World Champion<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

It seemed that World Champion Ding Liren had been struggling with poor form since the beginning of the year. In interviews, he admitted to having mental problems, suffering from depression, and currently undergoing treatment. Even as a layman, I know that depression is a serious and insidious illness that should not be underestimated or confused with a bad mood or trivialised. However, to explain the collapse that Ding Liren suffered in the game against Carlsen by depression is, in my opinion\u2026 well, let\u2019s say hardly possible. For many readers, the notoriously known diagram and terrible blunder must be included here anyway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"What am I threatened with?\"<\/strong> Such a banal question should have been asked and answered by the world champion after the move was made 29.Re4<\/strong><\/span>. Instead, with thirty-five minutes on the clock and after three (sic!) minutes of thinking, he makes a blunder at the level of beginners. What followed was 29...Rb2??<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Never in my life, in more than 50 years of playing chess, have I seen a world champion overlook (fail to cover) a two-move checkmate in a serious game! I might add that after the forced 29...h6<\/strong> the game remained dynamically balanced even after the loss of the d4 pawn: 30.Bxd4 Bxd4 31.Rxd4 N e5! <\/strong>with excellent compensation.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/skolasachu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Carlsen-Ding-Liren-hrubka.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

However, I will share with the reader a similar tragic event. I mentioned it in the introduction to a work I wrote many years ago. I was delighted to start writing a book about the life and work of the founder of the Russian chess school. The prologue of my work dealt precisely with a similar mishap\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201eHavana, 28 February 1892. In the Cuban capital, the World Chess Championship match between the defending champion Wilhelm Steinitz and the challenger, Russia\u2019s best player Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin, is reaching its climax. The current score is 9 to 8 in favour of the world champion (the match is played to 10 wins, with the match continuing to three further wins if the score reaches 9-9), but it can be said that the initiative in the match swings back and forth. The 23rd game of the match is underway, and it is very tense and dramatic. The world champion makes an unsound piece sacrifice and after White\u2019s 30th move the following position arises on the board<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Black continues with a checking move\u00a0 30...Re2<\/strong><\/span>, but Chigorin decides not to adjourn the game (the time control at that time was usual \u2013 30 moves in two hours, adjournment and resumption at 15 moves per hour) and continues playing. Presumably he and more than 1000 spectators in the hall expect Black to resign immediately or within a few moves! What follows is 31.d5 Rcd2<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What is happening? Suddenly an indescribable murmur, noise and confusion breaks out in the hall. The Russian master holds his head in his hands! Without any necessity, quite thoughtlessly he plays 32.Bb4??<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(32.Rxb7 easily won, and if 32...Rxd5 then 33.Nf4) and after 32...Rxh2+<\/strong><\/span> he resigns, because the next move delivers checkmate.<\/p>\n

An unbelievable blunder - moreover at the moment when Chigorin could have interrupted the game, which would have almost certainly led the world champion to automatically resign - ends this truly titanic battle! Chigorin will never be so close to the world championship title again, he will never have another chance to fight for the highest title\u2026\u201c<\/p>\n

Well, true. Chigorin did not make the blunder that also leads to a two-move mate in the rank of world champion title. And it is probably appropriate to mention one difference. With my pupils, I divide blunders into so-called active and passive. Chigorin made himself<\/em>, so he made an active blunder, whereas Ding Liren did not cover the threat! Even more terrifying about Ding Liren's mistake is that the manoeuvre Qxh7 and Rh4 should normally have been seen long before Bb5+\u2026<\/p>\n

The world champion lost four games in a row in Stavanger! It can be said that even in the other lost games he was unable to orient himself in the complications. In such a situation, I thought he would not finish the tournament and I was worried whether he would be able to start defending his title at the end of the year at all. On the other hand, roughly a million dollars can be a sufficient stimulus (and that is the minimum, we have no idea yet how far the Indians might push up<\/em> the prize fund)\u2026<\/p>\n

More about Ding Liren's career, current health problems and his statements in interviews can be seen by readers in the video https:\/\/youtu.be\/G63K-_96V4Q?si=rwr-4taHg5XHwhxS<\/a><\/p>\n

The newly crowned world champion in bullet \ud83d\ude42<\/strong>\u00a0shocked in Norway no less<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

I have already written so much about Firouzja that it would be pointless to repeat myself. Do you remember his incredible blunder in the endgame in the game against Nakamura in Toronto? The video shows how he literally fired into the g7-g5 position, and he was not even in time trouble. So I thought I would never see anything worse from him in the endgame. Wrong!<\/p>\n

By the way: Recently Alireza became the world champion (so far unofficial, but that will probably change, the times are favourable) in bullet. Enthusiasts <\/em>from all over the world were eagerly watching especially the final of the online one-minute games, where Firouzja faced\u2026 who else but Nakamura. One cannot help but be amazed when streamers analyse online hyperblitz games<\/em>. These are of course played in at most a few minutes, but their analysis then takes ten\u2026<\/p>\n

Let us now turn to Stavanger. The tournament is entering the halfway point, round five is next and the central game becomes the clash Carlsen vs. Firouzja<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We might still somehow understand that nowadays even a super grandmaster with a personal best of 2804 may not have to play this once<\/em> \ud83d\ude42 evidently saving a drawn endgame, especially when various organisers can really work wonders with time controls (in Stavanger they played with 120 minutes for 40 moves plus a 30-second increment from move 41, so no further time control). Well, besides, the most qualified player has the white pieces. But what do you say to this<\/em>, dear readers?!...<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The position on the board is still objectively drawn and Black played correctly 76...Rb6<\/strong><\/span>. Unaware <\/em>Magnus (I really believe the adjective is fully justified here) responded with the logical 77.Rd6<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and surely looked forward to his favourite cat-and-mouse game in the sense of \u201ein a drawn endgame I will try to outwit Alireza to exhaustion\u201c<\/em>! However, he (whether in time trouble or not) interpreted the last move in his own way. Such a shock might be too much for a fan who still believes in the lucky star of the Iranian-French genius! Well, and what followed? Even readers who missed this next Stavanger shock probably guess correctly!<\/p>\n