Sartorial Hit

John B. Henderson • May 12, 2023

As one ex-title challenger in Fabiano Caruana holds on to the sole lead in the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, the contest in Bucharest took a dramatic twist in round 5 with a brace of losses by the two recent title combatants, newly-crowned Ding Liren and loser Ian Nepomniachtchi, as Alireza Firouzja, the returning teenage catwalk wannabe, once again climbs back up the world rankings!


The back in-form US champion retains a slender half-point lead in the opening leg of the St Louis-organised $1.4m Grand Chess Tour heading into the homestretch - but hot on Caruana's tail is a four-strong chasing pack that includes Firouzja - once seen as the ‘young pretender’ to Magnus Carlsen’s crown before his sabbatical to seek a second career as a fashion designer - who seems to be shaking off all his early troubles following his near year-long tournament praxis layoff.

After beating local wildcard invite Bogdan Deac in round 4, Firouzja, 19, then went on to follow up with a crazy wild win against Ding, and in doing so, the defending Grand Chess Tour champion recorded his first-ever classical win over a world champion, who with a wry smile very observantly added: “For sure, it’s an easier world champion than Magnus.” 


It could well be that a fatigued Ding might now be regretting his decision to play in Bucharest so soon after such an exhausting and demanding match in Astana - but already, and somewhat cruelly premature, the comparisons are already being made with the new champion to Tigran Petrosian, the mid-1960s double world champion, whose reign was bookended by a string of lacklustre tournament performances. 


But nevertheless, a win is a win is a win, and with it, Firouzja leapfrogs Ding to snatch the world #3 spot on the live rating list - and he didn’t have long to wait for his return to #2, as two-time title loser Nepo also looked to be ruing his Bucharest call-up, as following his round 4 loss to Caruana (which lifted the US champion up a spot to #6, ahead of Anish Giri), he crashed and burned to yet another Frenchman, as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave made the most of his 'playing on-tilt' opponent to win a scrappy game.


And that’s how it still stands at the top with all the games from round six ending in draws, as Caruana, who missed a golden chance to beat the returning and resurgent Firouzja, continues to lead the pack by a half-point going into the decisive final three rounds.


Standings:

1. F. Caruana (USA) 4/6; 2-4. A. Firouzja (France), W. So (USA), R. Rapport (Romania) 3½; 5-6. M. Vachier-Lagrave (France), A. Giri (Netherlands) 3; 7-9. I. Nepomniachtchi (FIDE), Ding Liren (China), JK. Duda (Poland) 2½; 10. B. Deac (Romania) 2.

GM Alireza Firouzja - GM Ding Liren

Superbet Chess Classic, (5)

Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 The notorious tough Berlin Defence that Vladimir Kramnik dramatically rehabilitated, as he successfully bamboozled Garry Kasparov with it to take his title in London in 2000. 4.d3 If you are looking for dynamic play against the Berlin Defence, then this is now the way to play, as it avoids the tabyia of the so-called "Berlin Wall endgame" with the early exchange of queens after 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 that's tough for White to break down. Instead, Firouzja wants to keep the queens on with this tepid-looking little move that's grown in popularity over the last few years. 4...Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d5 7.Nbd2 dxe4 8.dxe4 a5 9.Qc2 Qe7 10.a4 Nb8 11.h3 Up to this point, we were following Game 9 of the Nepo-Ding Liren from the recent World Championship tussle in Astana. 11...Rd8 12.Be2 Nbd7 13.Re1 Nf8 14.Nb3 Bb6 15.Nfd2 Be6 16.Nc4 Bxc4 17.Bxc4 Ne6 Like his match against Nepo, once again Ding has got a good position from the Berlin. But in essence, this is an equal position, and one where Firouzja says Ding just got "a bit too aggressive" with his next move. 18.g3 h5

Ambitious, if nothing else. But sometimes when you are the king, you try to use that crown to intimidate an opponent.

19.Kg2 h4 20.Qe2 g6?! "A terrible move," according to Firouzja, as this leaves Ding's king vulnerable and weak. But right now we probably can't see why - but for a super-GM at this level, it soon becomes clear. 21.Nd2! Firouzja quickly highlights the weakness with Ding's previous move, as the knight coming to f3 opens the f-file and pressure piling down on f7, and even more so with the pawn sacrifice as the knight looks to land on g5. 21...Nc5 22.Nf3!

Strategically, White is much better but Firouzja was the first to admit in his post-game presser to now "losing his way."

22...hxg3 23.fxg3 Ncxe4 24.Ng5?! Initially Firouzja just thought that 24.Qc2 was winning, only to discover the instant "cold shower" of 24...Qc5! and Black is winning! The (full) point is 25.Ba2 Rd2+!!. It was only after the game that it suddenly dawned on him that the prophylactic retreat with 24.Ba2! was better for White, but nevertheless, he felt that with his 24.Ng5 Plan B, he should be no worse - but he hadn't noticed a big flaw that could have proved fatal.

24...Nd6 25.Ba2 Re8 26.h4 Kg7 27.Rf1 Rad8! The pendulum has swung back to Ding - but at the critical moment, he goes astray with dire consequences. 28.Bd2 e4 29.Bf4 e3 30.Rad1(see diagram) 30...Nfe4? The position has just gone random crazy, as ironically the simply winning was the other knight move with 30...Nde4! the subtle difference is that 31.Nxf7 Rxd1! 32.Rxd1 Nf2! 33.Rf1 Qd7! with the double threat of ...Qh3+ and ...Qc6+ that can't be easily met. 34.Ng5 Qc6+ 35.Nf3 9Much worse is 35.Qf3?? e2! 36.Re1 Nd3 winning.) 35...Qxa4 and Black has a material and winning advantage. 31.Bxd6 Nxd6 32.Bxf7! Despite the seemingly strong Black e-pawn at the end of the rainbow, all the tactics are winning for Firouzja. 32...Nxf7 33.Rxf7+ Qxf7 34.Nxf7 Rxd1 35.Qxd1 Kxf7 Amidst the maelstrom, it could well be that Ding initially thought he was winning with 35...e2? but there's a big sting in the tail with the very unlikely mate with 36.Qd7! e1=Q 37.Ne5+ Kf6 38.Ng4#!! 36.Qe2 Ke7? This is an illogical move that goes against the grain of saving the game with the advanced e-pawn. What was needed, as one of the talking heads on the commentary team pointed out, was the consolidating ...Bc5 looking to bring the bishop to d6 covering some awkward checks on d7, and Black having the better coordination of his pieces to hold the game. It was a strange decision that Ding almost immediately regretted the moment he made it. 37.Kf1! The king coming to e1 blockading the e-pawn is the key to freeing up Firouzja's queen to wreak havoc on Ding's loose position. 37...Rf8+ 38.Ke1 Rf2

Looks can often be deceptive, and here, the rook only looks threatening - but it it isn't, and so long as White doesn't panic, he should easily start mobilising his kingside pawns up the board. 39.Qg4 The (full) point is basically that Black can't now play ...e2 as the e-pawn becomes a liability and restricts Black's rook. 39...Kf6 40.Qg5+ Kf7 41.Qd5+ Kf6 42.g4! Rxb2 43.g5+ Ke7 44.Qe5+ Kd7 45.Qg7+ Kd6 46.Qxg6+ The rest needs to further comment, as Firouzja successfully shepherds his kingside pawns home for his first classical win over a world champion! 46...Ke5 47.Qe8+ Kf4 48.g6 Rb1+ 49.Ke2 Rb2+ 50.Kd3 Rd2+ 51.Kc4 Rg2 52.Qf7+ 1-0

The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • 02 Oct, 2023
Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • 29 Sep, 2023
The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • 27 Sep, 2023
Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • 25 Sep, 2023
Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • 22 Sep, 2023
With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • 19 Sep, 2023
India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • 14 Sep, 2023
“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • 11 Sep, 2023
With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • 08 Sep, 2023
The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • 04 Sep, 2023
The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.
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