Sergey Shipov’s review of 2012
2012 in chess was, yet again, the year of Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian prodigy finally surpassed Garry Kasparov’s highest ever rating, causing Sergey Shipov to remark in his review of 2012 at Crestbook: “He’s Kasparov’s heir – not Kramnik, Topalov or Anand”.
Mark Taimanov at 85
For someone perhaps best known for spectacular failure – losing 6:0 to Bobby Fischer – Mark Taimanov has had the most successful of lives. A top Soviet grandmaster and a successful concert pianist, he’s now the happy octogenarian father of 6-year-old twins. He talks about his life and contemporary chess.
Birth of a Supernova: Vasiliev reports from Wijk aan Zee
Hikaru Nakamura’s tournament victory was described as “the birth of a supernova” by Yury Vasiliev in two final reports from the Tata Steel 2011 Tournament. The Russian journalist was on the ground in Wijk aan Zee to provide photo reports and comments from players and observers throughout the event.
Shipov’s live commentary on Tata Steel Chess 2011, Rd 11
After Nakamura’s impressive win against Nepomniachtchi, he was quoted by the official site as saying: “People may say I’m an aggressive player but it was clear ‘Nepo’ was the one out for a kill today”. Sergey Shipov agreed, even mentioning a “grenade launcher”, an item perhaps rare in the annals of chess commentary.
Shipov’s live commentary on Tata Steel Chess 2011, Rd 9
The encounter between the front-runners, Hikaru Nakamura and Vishy Anand, didn’t disappoint. Nakamura’s unorthodox opening play led to a dangerous position that Sergey Shipov, commentating for Crestbook, described as “beautiful”. Anand’s failure to exploit his advantage means we now have four leaders tied on +3!
Shipov’s live commentary on Tata Steel Chess 2011, Rd 8
Sergey Shipov introduced today’s game by saying we needed a Terminator to deal with Hikaru Nakamura’s run-away tournament lead. His opponent, Magnus Carlsen, proved up to the task, winning in devastating style after a tense middlegame phase in which it was never fully clear where exactly Nakamura went wrong.
Shipov’s live commentary on Tata Steel Chess 2011, Rd 3
After regretting commentating on two short draws, Sergey Shipov got more than he bargained for in Round 3: Hikaru Nakamura defeated Alexei Shirov in an epic 7-hour battle, with both players coming up with some brilliant (and at times less brilliant!) moves, before the American grandmaster finally prevailed.
Vladimir Kramnik on 2010
Evgeny Surov’s interview with Vladimir Kramnik after the recent London Chess Classic provided not only an insight into Kramnik’s thought processes during that event, but also a review of 2010 as a whole and an indication of his hopes for the coming year.
Shipov’s live commentary on the London Classic, Rd 4
For round 4 of the London Chess Classic, GM Sergey Shipov followed the clash between the young contenders, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. Despite his uneven tournament, the Norwegian gave a masterclass in pragmatic, positional chess, taking full advantage of his opponent’s time trouble.
Shipov’s live commentary on Tata Steel Chess 2011, Rd 12
By mishanp on January 29, 2011
When Sergey Shipov saw Nakamura – Kramnik was heading, as the Russians say, “for a drawing harbour”, he abandoned ship and started commentating on Anand – Giri instead. It proved the perfect choice, as 16-year-old Anish Giri played “the game of his life, but he couldn’t bring it to its logical conclusion”.
Posted in Live commentary, Russian | Tagged Anand, Crestbook, Giri, Kramnik, Nakamura, Shipov, Tata Steel 2011 | 1 Response