Aronian: I’ve never considered myself a strong blitz player
Maria Fominykh’s final report on the Tal Memorial at ChessPro included interviews with two of the winners, Sergey Karjakin and Levon Aronian. Both players talked about the main event, but also the upcoming blitz.
Kramnik and the robot
On the eve of the World Blitz Championship an event was held in Moscow for the opening of the Russian Women’s Championship – where the women were joined by Magnus Carlsen and many of the Tal Memorial players, and Vladimir Kramnik played against a robot.
Shipov on the Tal Memorial Rd 9
While the final round of the Tal Memorial provided all the human drama you could hope for, the chess itself at times perhaps left something to be desired. For instance, Shipov describes Grischuk – Nakamura as “a game of woefully poor quality”.
Shipov on the Tal Memorial Rd 8
The sensation of the eighth round was Sergey Karjakin’s crushing win over Vladimir Kramnik. Shipov’s report begins, “generational change is inevitable”. Other highlights include the awakening of the “lion” Shirov, and Nakamura and Gelfand paying tribute to Capablanca and Alekhine.
Shipov on the Tal Memorial Rd 7
An indication of how much Grandmaster Shipov is enjoying himself is the number of “translator’s notes” I need to add, and this report beat all records. Wang Hao has become “Ivan”, Nakamura scored a victory over Armenian chess, and Eljanov’s play provoked the comment: “Study theory, gentlemen!”
Shipov on the Tal Memorial Rd 6
While round 6 didn’t set any records for fighting chess, Grandmaster Shipov does a good job of explaining the opening subtleties that pass the average chess fan by. Highlights include an unfortunate “butterfly effect”, and Gelfand choosing a line that’s “not going to trouble giants”.
Shipov on the Tal Memorial Rd 5
Shipov’s impressions of Round 5 included holding back some analysis for his friend Boris, dismissing the “iron lumps” of computers and describing Shirov and Nakamura as players capable of “turning even a dry endgame into a fierce and ultra-complex thriller”.
Shipov on the Tal Memorial Rd 4
Despite all the games ending drawn, Sergey Shipov’s express report on round 4 pointed out that there could, and perhaps should, have been four white wins. There was certainly no lack of excitement.
Shipov on the Tal Memorial Rd 3
Sergey Shipov isn’t commentating live on the classical part of the Tal Memorial this year, but he gave a round-up of all the games from the third round for Chess-News. Read on to find out what cockroaches and elite GMs have in common.
“Fortune beckoned… then melted into thin air”
Russian Captain Evgeny Bareev comments on the first team failing to beat Ukraine and move into the lead at the World Chess Olympiad. The only (but perhaps sufficient) success story continues to be Sergey Karjakin, who revealed how a little female assistance gave him an easy victory against Pavel Eljanov.
