Newsletter 7
January 16th, 2012 | 
Author: Mongoose Press
Newsletter 7
17 January 2012
The New Year has started just as the old one finished – with players from the highest level of chess slugging it out, with plenty of decisive results along the way.
The London Chess Classic, won by Kramnik, was a very exciting tournament. Three players from that event are already back in action at the Tata Steel tournament. Carlsen, Nakamura and Aronian are joined by powerhouses such as Topalov, Ivanchuk and, of course, the challenger for the 2012 World Chess Championship, Gelfand.
Carlsen won a big game against Aronian in the third round, which put his live rating dangerously close to Kasparov’s record of 2851. He is now within a mere 10 Elo rating points and it would be foolish to bet against him achieving the target.
By the way, the live ratings can be found on the 2700chess.com site.
It is interesting to see Jan Timman in action in the group B and also Matthew Sadler in group C. The former (a World Championship title contender nearly 20 years ago) has lost none of his love of the endgame and in round three he ground down Nyzhnyk (2568) in a very long game (97 moves!). Matthew Sadler was one of England’s finest players in his chess prime, but he left chess behind to join the real world. However, he has recently returned to the board and has knocking off the rust. It is possible that he will return to international duty in 2012 and strengthen the England team once more.
Follow all of the action on the official website.
The Baron – Reviewed!
The Amazing Chess Adventures of Baron Munchausen, by Amatzia Avni, has already been attracting good reviews. Particularly noteworthy is the review by Steve Giddins, which can be found on his blog.
Steve’s conclusion:
”All in all, this is a lovely book of fun chess, and a refreshing change from the grim reality of hundreds of pages of dense, computer-generated opening analysis, which fills up so many chess books nowadays. The book is a handsome hardback production, and can be strongly recommended to all those who still enjoy their chess, irrespective of results or ratings.”
Well, what can we say…except that we agree!
Further details of the book can be found on our own website. Keep an eye on this page too, which is an ongoing project to collate reviews of all of our books.
Meanwhile, it’s very strange to relate that I found, by chance, another Baron Munchausen book published by Mongoose. Not our Baron and not the same Mongoose, but take a look here. Quite a coincidence, I’m sure you’ll agree!
Win Like a Junior
Once again it’s thanks to Bill Harvey, the king of the gambit world, or providing the information and puzzles for this section of the newsletter.
This time, we have three positions featuring the two-time Women’s World Champion, Hou Yifan the #3 FIDE Woman and…only 17 years old! Attempting to ‘play like a junior’ certainly takes us into lofty levels of chess these days.
Take a look at the three positions and work out what you would do in each case. We’ll give the answers next month on our Facebook page.
Hou Yifan vs Wang Yu, Shanghai, 2010
White to play
Stanislav Novikov vs Hou Yifan, Moscow, 2010
Black to play
Thi Hoang vs Hou Yifan, Guanzhou, 2010
Black to play
And finally…
It’s time for the new Mongoose Contest!
For a chance to win a copy of The Amazing Chess Adventures of Baron Munchausen, all you have to do is answer the following question.
The great World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik was quoted as saying:
”He is not the most talented or the strongest player but certainly the most inconvenient player in the world! His ambition is not to play actively, but to paralyse his opponents’ intentions.”
He was talking about one of his World Championship challengers, but which one? Was it:
a) Bronstein
b) Smyslov
c) Tal
d) Petrosian
You have until midnight (Eastern time) of Wednesday, 1 February 2012 to submit your answer to contest@mongoosepress.com
The winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct entries we receive. Only one entry per household, please. Entries posted on our Facebook page, correct or not, will be disqualified.
The next Mongoose Newsletter should be available during the first week of February.
Updates – and maybe even the occasional clue for the Mongoose Contest – will follow on our Facebook page.
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Newsletter 6
Mongoose Press
Newsletter 6
20 December 2011
Chess Elite at the London Classic
The London Chess Classic produced some magnificent chess battles. The players were in a bloodthirsty mood as the tournament essentially split into two battles. The first was for the top spot. Could Carlsen take his third consecutive Classic title? The second battle featured a scramble by players trying to avoid finishing in last place! Such was the strength of the tournament and the fighting spirit shown by the players that even the World Champion wasn’t immune to being dragged into the lower reaches of the table.
We saw two outings for the King’s Gambit (1-1, although it should really have been 0-2), a celebrity appearance by Boris Becker, occasional V.I.P. room analysis by Viktor Korchnoy and Garry Kasparov and then finally a tremendous, hard-earned victory by Vladimir Kramnik, with a tournament performance rating of 2935!
It was good to see the former World Champion on such great form. Going into the final round, he needed just a draw against Aronian to secure first place. Aronian is tremendously strong, but Kramnik was White and the draw looked very likely from the earliest stages of the game.
There was one intriguing moment in the champion’s seventh round game.
Kramnik – Howell
The game concluded 39 …b1=Q 40 Rc8 and Black resigned, believing the threats to be terminal. However, there is a remarkable move for Black in the final position. He can try 40 …Qf1+! 41 Kxf1 Qa6+, forking the King and the Rook on c8.
The game would still be alive, although White’s passed pawn and Knight are still better than the Rook.
World Champion Anand didn’t have the best of tournaments. His play seemed somewhat lacklustre. Perhaps he is distracted by the forthcoming World Championship match with Gelfand.
Mongoose Book Reviewed
Our featured book this time is Gary’s Adventures in Chess Country by Igor Sukhin. This beautiful hardback book is specially designed to help children learn more about chess, using a narrative and a large amount of colorful puzzles.
Here’s a few samples of the excellent reviews the book has received:
”Gary’s Adventures in Chess Country is the ideal book for a parent, teacher, or chess coach to work through with young elementary students. For somewhat older children – or for parents who want to learn the Royal Game themselves, without having to become conversant with Nimzovich or Kmoch – Gary’s Adventures can be a self-study option.” Rick Kennedy for Chessville
”I can’t stress enough how awesome it is that this book can be a collaborative effort with your child – not only will you be helping to teach him or her chess, you will also be making memories together as I am positive you will share some laughs along the way.”jrobichess.com
”This book, which is suitable for children ages four on up, is lavishly illustrated with lots of color. The real key to its success however is not the excellent production values but the well thought out approach to presenting the material.” Jeremy Silman
There are plenty more reviews here and there’s more information about the book on our website. There’s even a video trailer here.
Win Like A Junior
Last time, we left you with some tactical positions form the games of Fabiano Caruana. We will round up the answers to those on our Facebook page. This time, Wesley So goes under the spotlight.
In October 2008, he became the youngest player ever in the history of the game to break the 2600 ELO barrier, a record previously held by Magnus Carlsen. He is currently ranked no.1 player in the Philippines and among the under-18 active players in the world.
Recent achievements include:
In January 2009, he was 1st in the Corus Group C in Wijk aan Zee.
…it’s time for the new Mongoose Contest!
For a chance to win a copy of Gary’s Adventures in Chess Country, all you have to do is answer the following question.
Vladimir Kramnik must have enjoyed his success at the London Chess Classic. 11 years ago, he had another major triumph in London, when he famously won a match for the World Championship.
Who was his opponent in the match?
No multi-choice this time – sorry!
You have until midnight (Eastern time) of Monday, 16 January 2012 to submit your answer to contest@mongoosepress.com
The winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct entries we receive. Only one entry per household, please. Entries posted on our Facebook page, correct or not, will be disqualified.
The next Mongoose Newsletter should be available on or before Tuesday 17 January.
Newsletter 5
Mongoose Press
Newsletter 5
1 December 2011
London Calling!
The London Chess Classic starts on 3 December 2011. The first round pairings show just how strong the tournament is:
Vladimir Kramnik v Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian v Luke McShane
Magnus Carlsen v David Howell
Michael Adams v Vishy Anand
Nigel Short v Bye (each player has a special rest day, during which they will help with the commentary of the other games).
(Photo © John Saunders)
World Champion Anand drew all of his games at the recent Tal Memorial. It must be tricky to play one’s best when preparing for a World Championship match. Presumably, the best opening moves must be saved, with the match in mind.
Will Anand find the extra motivation required to fight for top place in London?
(Photo © John Saunders)
Or will Magnus Carlsen (a glaring absentee from the World Championship cycle) repeat his Tal Memorial success and make it a third victory in as many Classics?
The full pairings are now available here. If Anand is going to make a serious attempt to win the tournament, then all eyes should be on his round 8 encounter with Carlsen, in which the World Champion will have the white pieces.
Follow all of the action on the official website.
Mongoose Books Reviewed
In the last newsletter, we looked at some reviews of Wojo’s Weapons: Winning With White Volume 1. Now it’s time to see what people have been saying about another one of our bestsellers.
The Complete Hedgehog Volume 1 by GM Sergey Shipov tackles a tricky subject which has not been covered many times in other books. The transpositional possibilities make it a difficult to opening to write about in a coherent fashion.
Here’s what the reviewers had to say:
”I highly recommend this book because it investigates strategic concepts instead of being limited to mere reactions. Knowing what to do and when to do it might allow for a degree of success. But to achieve mastery of anything, you must also understand WHY. With Grandmaster Shipov’s expert guidance, the reader has every opportunity to do exactly that.”
By Garry Kasparov (from the Foreword)
”The Complete Hedgehog vol. 1 is a great book, probably the best ever on its subject. Shipov is a highly entertaining author, a true master in explaining ideas and the underlying stragies and psychology. And all this is written in an unmistakenly humouristic, erudite and personal style that distinguishes him from many of his predecessors; in short: Sergey Shipov is your ideal chess instructor.” From Chess Vibes
”This is a big book. It has to be to have the thoroughness that the author wants. The presentation is well thought out and Shipov’s writing is very engaging.” From Chessville
”Shipov is a strong player (2662 peak Elo) who prefers the role of chess commentator these days. His love and fascination for the Hedgehog shines throughout this book where he uses very well annotated games, with plentiful prose and analysis, to explain this dynamic setup. If you play either side of the English Hedgehog you will definitely want this book.Highly Recommended.” From Jeremy Silman
”There have been very few opening books that could match this one … It is impossible to recommend this book highly enough.” From Compulsive Reader
”All in all, it’s a fine work and one of the most interesting chess books of the year. Let’s hope volume two isn’t far behind.” From Marsh Towers
Further details about this book can be found on our website.
Win Like A Junior
We left you with this position in the last newsletter.
Sergei Tiviakov vs Quang Liem Le
Moscow, 2008
Black is the highest rated Vietnamese GM, Le, who is also a FIDE Junior. The position is a shade on the wild side, but can you see how Le managed to win?
Black played 1…Qe5! and now if 2 Rxe5 Rd1+ 3 Bf1 Nxh6 or if 2 Qc1 Qh8 3 h3 fxe6
Master gambiteer, Bill Harvey, has selected some more positions to test your powers.
This time, they feature Fabiano Caruana, the Italian/US (dual citizenship) GM. He’s #1 on the Juniors FIDE list and #23 overall in November. On 15 July 2007 Caruana became a Grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 20 days – the youngest Grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United States. He lives in Switzerland and plays for Italy.
Recent events include:
In the Gibraltar Masters from 25 January to 3 February 2011, Caruana finished on place 5 behind Ivanchuk, Short, Kulaots and Roiz.
In July 2011 Caruana won with 7 points out of 10 at the AAI tournament in New Dehli (category 17).
Can you match Caruana’s tactical skill? We challenge you! What would you do in each of the three positions below?
Caruana vs Mikhail Klenburg, Budva, 2009
White to play
Caruana vs Hikaru Nakamura, Moscow (blitz), 2010
White to play
Jean-Christophe Olivier vs Caruana, Switzerland, 2011
Black to play
Answers next time! If you can’t wait to sharpen your play, try reading Bill’s book – The Gambit Files. After studying the 156 action-packed pages, you’ll never play the Reti Opening again.
And Finally…
…it’s time for the new Mongoose Contest!
For a chance to win a copy of The Complete Hedgehog Volume 1 (reviewed above), please answer the following question…
2011 marks the centenary year of a famous American Grandmaster, who was a serious contender for the World Championship title and seven-times champion of the U.S. He died in 1992 and enjoyed a chess career lasting 70 years. Who was he?
a) Larry Evans
b) Samuel Reshevsky
c) Pal Benko
d) Bobby Fischer
You have until midnight (Eastern time) of Monday, 19 December to submit your answer to contest@mongoosepress.com
The winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct entries we receive. Only one entry per household, please. Entries posted on our Facebook page, correct or not, will be disqualified.
The next Mongoose Newsletter should be available on or before Tuesday 20 December.
Newsletter 4
Mongoose Press
Newsletter 4
15 November 2011
Busy Times
We live in busy times for the world of chess. No sooner has one major event finished than another one – or two – start.
The European Team Championship concluded just a few days ago (congratulations to Germany and Russia, who won the Open and Women’s sections respectively) and today we saw the start of the Women’s World Championship, between reigning champion Hou Yifan and her challenger, Humpy Koneru. The first of the scheduled 14 games ended in a draw. Follow the action on the official website.
The 6th Mikhail Tal Memorial tournament will start on 16 November. The participants include the World Champion, Vishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik.
Once the Tal event has concluded, some of the players will have just a few days to recover before they are back trying to defeat each other over the board. The London Chess Classic boasts a particularly strong field. According to the organisers:
”The latest ratings published by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, are the ones which will apply to the event. At the top of the list, for the first time in the history of chess competition, there are four players rated 2800 or more. And it just so happens that these four gentlemen are playing in London next month!”
It will particularly interesting to see Hikaru Nakamura in action again. He has recently been working with Garry Kasparov…need I say more?
New Mongoose Title Announced
What’s the best way to teach chess to children? Thinking with Chess: Teaching Children Ages 5-14 is a handbook for teachers, librarians, after-school instructors, chess coaches, counselors, and parents that requires no prior knowledge of the game. Both novices and veteran chess players can use its innovative lesson plans for teaching groups of children.
In Thinking with Chess, Dr. Alexey Root connects chess with skills important to academic success, such as classifying, pattern recognition, decoding, creating, and predicting. The book also introduces challenges for practicing divergent thinking and puzzles for convergent thinking.
Thinking with Chess teaches not only the fundamentals of chess – the chessmen and how they move, how to keep score, and where to find people to play – but also tools useful in winning games, such as double check and smothered checkmate.
A former U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, Alexey Root holds a Ph.D. in education from UCLA. Dr. Root is the author of five previous books on chess in education and is a senior lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas. This is her first title for Mongoose Press.
Although this book won’t be available until late 2012, we currently have no fewer than six titles available for pre-order. They are four new volumes in the Chess Camp series, The Amazing Chess Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Chess is Child’s Play: Teaching Techniques That Work. We will explore all of the new books in further detail in forthcoming newsletters.
Head for our special pre-order page and save money if you order before the publication date!
Mongoose Books Reviewed
Please keep an eye on our growing collection of book reviews. They will help you to decide which books are best for you.
Here’s a few sample comments on one of our best sellers, the popular Wojo’s Weapons: Winning With White Volume 1
‘There is plenty of theory and important theoretical novelties in this book but at the end of the day most users will find the carefully and heavily annotated games to be its biggest strength.”
”Ippolito and Hilton have made a successful debut that would have pleased their hero.” – Jeremy Silman
”The reader is made to feel that the repertoire is safe, (relatively) simple and yet surprising to most opponents while offering good winning chances. What more could anyone want?” – The Chess Mind
”My experience with Wojo’s Weapons has been mostly a favorable one, in that my positional play is better as a result” – Jim West
”The game annotations themselves are excellent; not overdone in terms of variations, they genuinely get to the heart of the action.” – Marsh Towers
‘This book serves as a good introduction to the Catalan and the games are generally attractive and instructive” – Compulsive Reader
”Even if you’re not planning on playing the Catalan, reading through this book will help you understand how to play certain kinds of positions, which is to say even if you never play the catalan reading this book will make you a better chess player.” – Brooklyn64
By the way, everyone is welcome to post a review of any of our books on our Facebook page. You could find yourselves quoted on our main site.
Win Like A Junior
How did you get on with the position we gave you in the last newsletter?
Ruud Janssen vs Anish Giri
Giri won with 1…Ng3+ 2.Kg2 Rf2+ 3.Qxf2 Rxh2+ 0-1 Nice! Here’s another one for you to try, once again supplied by the author and gambit expert Bill Harvey.
Sergei Tiviakov vs Quang Liem Le
Moscow, 2008
Black is the highest rated Vietnamese GM, Le, who is also a FIDE Junior. The position is a shade on the wild side, but can you see how Le managed to win?
We will supply the answer next time.
And Finally…
Of course – it’s the new Mongoose Contest!
To be in with a chance to win a copy of Play Like A Girl! by Jennifer Shahade, all you have to do is answer one simple question…
Which one of the famous Polgar family was an official Women’s World Champion?
a) Sofia Polgar
b) Susan Polgar
c) Judit Polgar
You have until midnight (Eastern time) of Thursday, 1 December to submit your answer to contest@mongoosepress.com
The winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct entires we receive. Only one entry per household, pleaase. Entries posted on our Facebook page, correct or not, will be disqualified.
As always, we welcome your feedback on our books, newsletters and plans. You can comment any time on our Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you!
Newsletter 5 should be available from 1 December…
Newsletter 3
Mongoose Press
Newsletter 3
1 November 2011
Kasparov v St. George
Former World Champion Garry Kasparov has been in the news again. Shortly after his victory over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (as reported in Newsletter 2), The Boss was in action once again. He has been active in Europe to promote chess in schools and played his 1993 challenger Nigel Short in a Blitz match while he was in Belgium.
The Englishman put up a good fight. Trailing 1.5-3.5 after five of the eight games, he dug deep and won two in a row to equalise the score. However, there was a sting in the tail and Kasparov won the final game (on the black side of a Two Knights Defense) to take the match by the narrowest of margins.
To our eyes, game 7 was particularly interesting. Short was black and after 1 Nf3 b5 2 e4 a6 3 d4 e6 there appeared an excellent example of the St. George Defense.
The most famous game featuring this rare defense was, of course, Karpov v Miles (Skara 1980). It’s an interesting choice by Short for a number of reasons, not least his well-documented rivalry with Tony Miles. Also, it can be considered something of an insult to play such an eccentric opening against a World Champion. However, this was a Blitz game, so surprise would have played a role in the opening choice.
Once started in creatively style, it is often necessary to continue the same way and after 21 Ne1-d3…
…Short may have been understandably worried about committing his King with 22 …0-0. It’s easy to see a storm cloud breaking over Black’s head with moves like Nf4, Nh5 and possibly a sacrifice or two on g7 and h6. So Short played the creative 22 …Kd7 to connect his Rooks. His King turned out to be surprisingly resilient in the centre.
When Kasparov provoked a weakening of the dark squares with 29 Bg5, it turned out to be an unsatisfactory plan after 29 …Bxg5 30 hxg5, when the simple 30 …Nd2 won the exchange in broad daylight. It took 65 moves, but Short duly managed to convert his material advantage to score a notable victory.
So, two World Champions have now succumbed to the St. George Defense. Does that mean it’s a wonderful opening, deserving a place in your repertoire? As an occasional weapon, we believe it is a fully viable alternative to main line theory. Of course, we have an interest in this because the St. George Defense is one of the opening we cover in our most recent opening book.
Indeed, the St. George chapter is one of the longest and most detailed in the book and we believe it represents the latest word on this unusual opening. For further information, including a pdf sample, please head for the relevant page on our main site.
Chess in Schools
Grandmasters Kasparov and Short appeared together again at Westminster in London to help provide publicity for an exciting initiative to promote chess in UK schools.
The Chess in Schools and Communities charity celebrated its first birthday and in addition to Kasparov and Short there were many other well known faces from the world of chess, plus numerous MPs and journalists on hand.
Kasparov and Short – reunited in London
Image © Sean Marsh
Nigel Short took on the junior players in a simultaneous display. Kasparov gave a speech and some interviews, occasionally stepping in point something out in the simul games.
Image © Sean Marsh
It is good to chess spreading into more schools. Juniors are the future of the game the investment of time and energy will hopefully pay off in future years.
Checkmate Like a Junior
Speaking of juniors, we have a new regular feature for you. We aim to give a position from a junior game in each newsletter and challenge you to play as well as they did.
Ruud Janssen vs Anish Giri
Boxtel 2011
Anish Giri is an exciting chess talent. He made his final Grandmaster Norm when he was just 14 years, seven months and two days old. Earlier this year he won a very notable game against Magnus Carlsen – with black, in just 22 moves! The maturity of his annotations on the ChessBase site is noteworthy.
From this position, he finished off the game in style. Just for fun and practice, can you force mate, without any further clues? We will give you the answer next time.
The above position was selected by Bill Harvey, a man who definitely knows a thing or two about sharp tactics. Not only does he run this excellent website, he also wrote a book for Mongoose Press called The Gambit Files which can be recommended to those looking to sharpen up their game.
Further details can be found here.
”Thinking with Chess:
Teaching Children Ages 5-14”
Another new book is in the pipeline, and for this one we need your help. Consider the following position:
Here is a typical back-rank checkmate position. Find such a position from one of your chess games, either one or two moves before checkmate. Tell us the names of the players and when the game was played. Include the solution to your position. Not only might you win the new book, your position may also be published in our upcoming book Thinking with Chess: Teaching Children Ages 5-14 by Dr. Alexey W. Root, WIM.
Even if you can’t find anything suitable in your own games, you should be able to find something similar elsewhere, so feel free to submit games by other players.
And Finally…
…it’s time for the new Mongoose Contest!
For a chance to win a copy of Bill Harvey’s The Gambit Files (mentioned above), please consider the following question…
Rudolf Spielmann, a master of attack, was often referred to as “The Last Knight of the ??? Gambit”
Was it:
a) The Queen’s Gambit
b) The King’s Gambit
c) The Cochrane Gambit
d) The Budapest Gambit
You have until midnight (Eastern time) of Monday, 14 November to submit your answer to contest@mongoosepress.com
The winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct entires we receive. Only one entry per household, pleaase. Entries posted on our Facebook page, correct or not, will be disqualified.
As always, we welcome your feedback on our books, newsletters and plans. You can comment any time on our Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you!
Newsletter 4 should be available from 15 November…
Newsletter 2
Mongoose Press
Newsletter 2
25 September 2011
FIDE World Cup
The FIDE World Cup, which took place in Khanty Mansiysk, has recently concluded and the fighting spirit of the players attracted universal praise from chess fans and commentators alike. The mini-matches of two games (followed, if required, by tiebreak games at a faster rate of play) produced plenty of exciting games with an impressive percentage of decisive games. Possibly, the time control could be accused of inducing blunders (or large inaccuracies, at least). Defending against an opponent’s attack can be a tricky business and it’s made even more so when little time remains on the clock. The plus side – for the spectators – is that the players tended to play sharp chess as they tried to seize the initiative.
Large KO tournaments start off looking rather unwieldy but naturally this changes dramatically after every round. From an organisational point of view, they get easier – and smaller – as the things progress!
The Road to the Final
It is interesting to trace the paths of Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk on their way to the final. Were they dominant as they progressed through the competition or were they lucky? Perhaps it was a mixture of both. Here’s a quick look at their fortunes, together with a few interesting snippets from their games.
Round 1
Svidler 1.5-0.5 Darcy Lima
Grischuk 1.5-0.5 Vladimir Genba
A reasonably comfortable start, although Svidler had to work hard to overcome his stubborn opponent.
Grischuk won the first game with a standard tactic and easily held a draw in the second.
Grischuk – Genba
White has just played the menacing 20 Qg4. Now 20 …Kh8? looks like a natural response to unpin the g-pawn, but Grischuk still played 21 Bf6! which forces mate. Black resigned after 21 …gxf6 22 exf6, as 22 …Rg8 fails to 23 Rd8!
Round 2
Svidler 4-2 Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen
Grischuk 3-1 Sebastien Feller
Both of the eventual finalists required tiebreak games to make it through to the third round. Svidler needed six games to break down very stiff resistance from Nguyen.
The sixth game demonstrated the problem of trying to avoid a draw when only a win will do.
Nguyen – Svidler
24 Rxc5 bxc5 25 Bd6 Re8 26 Rxe8+ Nxe8 27 Bxc5 would have given dull equality. Nguyen needed more, but declining the trade of Rooks left him worse. 24 Rbb1? Nd5! and after the c3 pawn dropped off there wasn’t much to be done (0-1, 28)
Grischuk must have been confident that the tiebreak games would go his way; he drew the second regular game – with the white pieces – in just 13 moves. His match plan was justified but the final score.
Round 3
Svidler 3-1 Fabiano Curuana
Grischuk 1.5-0.5 Morozevich
Grischuk’s big clash with Morozevich turned out to be a disappointment in some respects. Having lost the first game, Morozevich needed to win the second one. Despite having the white pieces, the game ended without a struggle.
Morozevich – Grischuk
White has just played 12 Rc1. We are used to surprises in Morozevich’s games, but his next ‘move’ was a stunner. He offered a draw, which Grischuk (who originally thought he’d misheard what had been said) naturally accepted.
Svidler once again required tiebreak games. The regular games were fairly tame draws but Svidler eventually ground out a win after 85 moves in the first tiebreaker. There was a curious incident in the next game. Svidler, a staunch Grunfeld devotee, somehow managed to pick up the wrong pawn after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 and found himself playing 2 …e6 instead if his intended 2 …g6. Unexpectedly ending up on the wrong side of a Catalan is a nightmare for most chess players. For Svidler, everything worked out well and he picked up another win.
Round 4
Svidler 2-0 Gata Kamsky
Grischuk 2.5-1.5 Vladimir Potkin
I was expecting Svidler v Kamsky to be a very tough match. It turned out to be a Spanish Masterclass by the former, who won on both sides of 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5. The second game had an abrupt finish.
Kamsky – Svidler
I was following the online coverage and I thought Kamsky was doing well. 25 …Bxc6 was the expected move, when 26 Qxc6 keeps an edge. I certainly didn’t expect to see 25 …Qh4. With hindsight, Kamsky should have played 26 Be3 here, but instead he took the bait with 26 Nxb8 and after 26 …Re2! he was in big trouble. 27 Qxe2 Qg3! loses (just look at those Bishops!) and 27 Qc3 didn’t last long either: 27 …Rxf2 28 Nc6 Rf1+ 0-1
Grischuk didn’t have everything his own way. He had to come back strongly after losing the first game but he was successful in the tiebreak games. The decisive game went down to a King and pawn ending.
Potkin – Grischuk
Black is winning and it only remains to show the technique.
49 …e3! 50 Kd3 Kxb4 51 Kxe3 Kc3
52 Ke2 Kc2 53 Ke3 Kd1 54 Kf2 Kd2 55 Kf3 Ke1 56 Ke3 Kf1 57 Kf3 Kg1
White’s King has to abandon his pawns, so…0-1
Round 5
Svidler 1.5-0.5 Judit Polgar
Grischuk 2.5-1.5 David Navara
Judit is very popular and she had a lot of online support. Game one was drawn by perpetual check after 17 moves. Svidler had the black pieces in the second game and the players seemed to be heading for a tiebreak session, but Polgar decided against a draw by repetition and ended up losing.
Grischuk was successful in the tiebreak games, winning on the black side of a Caro-Kann in which Navara never really recovered after having to move his King to f1 instead of being able to castle into safety.
Semi-Final
Svidler 1.5-0.5 Ruslan Ponomariov
Grischuk 3.5-2.5 Vassily Ivanchuk
Svidler followed his pattern from the previous round, drawing quickly with the white pieces and then winning with black. His Grunfeld (when he remembered to pick up the g-pawn) served him well throughout the World Cup.
This was one of the best matches of the entire World Cup. The players traded wins before Grischuk managed to get his nose in front. Ivanchuk needed to win the sixth game but Grischuk kept control in a dangerous tactical situation.
Ivanchuk – Grischuk
30 …Nxd3! 31 Bxh6 (31 Rxd3 Rc1+ is much worse) 31 …gxh6 32 Qxh6+ Ke8 Black’s King – helped by the extra piece – turned out to be safer than it looked and the game ended with a perpetual check after 43 moves.
Final
Svidler 2.5-1.5 Grischuk
And then there were two…with the difference that the final was contested over four regular games.
Svidler got off to a great start, winning with black (again!). Having engineered an attacking position, Grischuk saw it all collapse due to severe time trouble.
Grischuk – Svidler
White had played imaginatively up to this point and has three pawns for a piece. Unfortunately, things now fell apart quite quickly as time trouble took its toll.
25 h3? (25 b3 was better, but he had no time to calculate properly and he is faced with difficult task of switching from attack to defence). 25 …Nxb2 26 Rd5 Bb6 27 Rd6 Nc4 28 Qf5 Rf7 29 Qe4 Nxd6 30 exd6 Nf8 0-1
Svidler kept a very high level of control over the course of the next three games (playing the white side of 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ in game 4 helped) and he emerged from a very long and tough tournament as the deserved winner of the 2011 FIDE World Cup.
Meanwhile, Ivanchuk and Ponomariov had to play a 3rd/4th place play-off, which was given great importance by the fact that there was a place in the next Candidates tournament up for grabs. Ivanchuk won, 2.5-1.5. Amazingly, it will be Ivanchuk’s first time as a Candidate since 1991.
To recap on the schedule for the World Chess Championship:
Anand will try and defend his title against Gelfand in May 2012
An eight-player Candidates event will be held ‘in the second half of 2012’ to produce an official challenger for the 2013 World Championship match.
Confirmed Candidates: Svidler, Grischuk and Ivanchuk (all qualified via the World Cup) plus the loser of the 2012 match will also be awarded a place (Anand or Gelfand)
According to FIDE, the remaining four places will be given to ‘…three players on rating from the average FIDE Rating List of July 2011 & January 2012, and one nominated player by the organizer.’
The World Championship cycle is not without its critics, but at least things are happening regularly again after years of strangeness.
The Return of The Boss
It was good to see Garry Kasparov returning to the chess board, albeit temporarily. he defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-0.5 in an exhibition match in Clichy, as part of his ongoing Chess in Schools campaign.
There was a great finish to the first game.
Kasparov – Vachier-Lagrave
It’s a funny position. White can obviously take back the piece whenever he likes, but where is the winning plan…? Kasparov spots a breakthrough: 57 g6! fxg6 58.exd8=Q Rxd8 59 f7+ ! 1-0 Very nice – and a reminder of what we have been missing since The Boss retired from chess.
The Amazing Chess Adventures of
Baron Munchausen
We are delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of what we are certain will be a very popular title. The famous Baron Munchausen has finally consented to allow his good friend Amatzia Avni to bring tales from his extraordinary chess life and career to the attention of the public. Apparently, The Baron was hoping to eventually write the book himself, but as he is continually caught up in a seemingly endless series of adventures and escapades he simply doesn’t have the time to do so.
The world should be grateful for Amatzia’s efforts. Getting Baron Munchausen to sit down long enough to tell even a single tale must have required an extraordinary amount of patience and determination, but to gather enough material for a whole book goes far beyond the call of duty.
The Baron’s life is truly astonishing.
The reader will accompany Munchausen to Heaven and to Hell; watch him play on a full board and on half a board; in simultaneous exhibitions, Internet and live chess; battling on land, sea and in the air; outsmarting a Cyclops; conversing with a talking horse and much more.
Pre-orders (with a 10% discount!) are now being taken.
Mongoose Contest
Congratulations to Rod Hill, who correctly identified the game Karpov – Miles as the answer to our St. George question in our last newsletter. A copy of ‘No Passion for Chess Fashion’ is on its way.
Now we have a new contest for you. For a chance to win a copy of ‘The Complete Hedgehog Volume 1′ all you have to do is answer this simple question.
Question
As mentioned above, Garry Kasparov recently returned to the chess board. For many years did he hold the title of World Chess Champion?
a) Five years
b) Ten Years
c) 15 years
d) 20 years
You have until midnight (Eastern time) of Monday, 10 October to submit your answer to contest@mongoosepress.com
The winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct entires we receive. Only one entry per household, pleaase. Entries posted on our Facebook page, correct or not, will be disqualified.
And finally…
News has reached us that CJ de Mooi, President of the English Chess Federation, is going to pose nude for Gay Times. CJ was recently involved in another headline-grabbing story at this year’s British Chess Championship, due to his intention of presenting the prizes in the T-shirt pictured here:
Photo © Sean Marsh
The story made it into the Sunday papers in the UK.
CJ certainly does things his own way and clearly isn’t afraid to innovate. I definitely can’t recall any of his presidential predecessors baring all for Gay Times.
Newsletter 1
Mongoose Press
Newsletter 1
September 7 2011
Welcome to the first in our brand new series of newsletters.
We aim to bring you the latest news from Mongoose Press and from around the chess world, starting on a fortnightly basis.
Mongoose Press News
It’s been a very busy and productive time at Mongoose Press. A new book has just been published and two more have been added to our official list of forthcoming titles. Naturally, there are more in the pipeline (including the much-anticipated Wojo’s Weapons Volume 3) and we will release further information about future titles as soon as possible.
New Book
Our new book is ‘No Passion for Chess Fashion’ by Grandmaster Alexander Raetsky and International Master Maxim Chetverik.
Professional grandmasters study the latest wrinkles of their favorite openings. They have time to think about innovations in the Sicilian Najdorf, the Marshall Attack, or the Semi-Slav. It’s part of their job. But club players can rarely afford such luxury, and an excellent way for them to beat their busy schedules is to play good, solid opening lines that happen to be out of style.
GM Raetsky and IM Chetverik have turned their backs on current fashion and have delved deep into the wardrobe of chess openings. These two opening specialists have selected eleven unusual variations to help readers refresh their repertoires.
Using key illustrative games (many previously unpublished), the authors present a host of surprising and accessible opening ideas. Never refuted, these openings have numbered World Champions among their victims.
Will your opponents really be so well prepared for the Albin Countergambit? Can they find their way against the tricky St. George Defense? Just how comfortable will fans of the Ruy Lopez feel when they have to think for themselves on their fourth move? Setting fashions can be a lot more fun than merely following them!
Further details (including a pdf sample) can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3q8w8wu
USCF Award
We are delighted to announce that Chess Camp, our series for juniors written by Igor Sukhin, has been named as ‘the official beginner’s puzzle book series of the USCF’.
The first three volumes have been very well received. I myself have tested the material in numerous schools and I can personally vouch for the quality of the series.
More good news: volumes 4-7 have been announced and the covers are available on our home page:
Coming Soon – Pre-Order Now!
The Amazing Chess Adventures of Baron Munchausen
by Amatzia Avni
Chess is Child’s Play: Teaching Techniques That Work
By Laura Sherman and Bill Kilpatrick
We will reveal more about these titles in the next newsletter.
Mongoose Contest
And finally for this newsletter, we have a brand new Mongoose Contest for you to try.
The prize is a copy of our new book, ‘No Passion for Chess Fashion’ (the winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct entries).
One of the unusual openings featured in the book is the St. George Defence.
Question:
Which famous game featured the position in the diagram and saw an English player beat a reigning World Champion with the St. George Defence?
Was it:
a) Botvinnik – Basman (Hastings 1966)
b) Karpov – Miles (Skara 1980)
c) Kasparov – Short (Brussels 1986)
You have until the end of Monday 19 September to submit your answer. Please send it via email to: contest@mongoosepress.com (Only one entry per household, please). Clues may well follow on Facebook and/or Twitter, so make sure you are signed up for both!
Mongoose Contest: Answer and Winner
The answer to our Mongoose Contest was Viktor Korchnoi (we accepted variations on the spelling!).
We are delighted to announce that the winner is Richard James, who will receive a Mongoose Press book of his choice.
Reviews of our books are building up:
http://tinyurl.com/3dky638
The full list of available titles is here:
http://tinyurl.com/6fd8ksw
And finally for now, don’t forget to pre-order our latest book, ‘No Passion For Chess Fashion‘
http://tinyurl.com/6c88lfb
The New Mongoose Contest
Time for the new Mongoose Contest! The prize: Your choice of any one of our titles! (See what is currently available here.)
Question: In both 1970 and 1984, the USSR took on the Rest of the World in titanic matches. Can you name the player who played for the USSR in 1970 and for the ROW in 1984?
You have until the end of Monday 1 August to submit your answers. Don’t post the answer here – please send it via email to: contest@mongoosepress.com (Only one entry per household, please).
Clue 1: Our mystery man is still an active player with a ferocious will to win.
Clue 2: Between the two matches, the player you are looking for was heavily involved in the battle for the World Chess Championship.
Clue 3: This man won the USSR Championship no fewer than four times. He also won the national championship of his current country of residence.
Clue 4: In 2006 our mystery man finally won the World Chess Championship…albeit the ‘Senior’ version!
Clue 5: To still be playing competitive chess at the age of 80 is a pretty impressive thing to do…but to play so well at such an advanced age is absolutely exceptional. But then our mystery man has been exceptional for a very time indeed!
Clue 6: So how could one man play first for the USSR and then for the Rest of the World? In those days, one had to be a defector…and our mystery man is the most famous chess-playing defector of all! He made the switch in 1976.
Clue 7: Have you noticed how many strong chess players have surnames beginning with the letter ‘K’? There’s Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Kamsky and, of course, our mystery player!
That’s all of the clues – now you need to enter by the end of 1st August!
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Brand New Book
We are delighted to announce that a brand new book is now available for pre-order from Mongoose Press.
”No Passion for Chess Fashion” is the latest work by the well-known ‘opening duo’, GM Alexander Raetsky and IM Maxim Chetverik.
Some chess openings can claim to represent the height of fashion. Those covered here cannot make that claim – and nor would they want to! The idea is to present the reader with a number of lesser-known lines to try in their own games.
These unfashionable variations include the Albin Counter Gambit, The St. George Defense. Many of the illustrative games will be new to most readers.
11 different openings are covered over the course of 234 packed pages. Perhaps you’d like to prepare a little surprise or two for your next opponents…?
For details regarding pre-ordering (and a sample, available to download), please head for this page. If you’d like to share your thoughts on Mongoose Press books (or, indeed, on any other chess matters), then please join our community over on Facebook.