Thanks so much for the coverage, curtains. That last game was terrific, and a fitting end to the tournament. I can't wait for your coverage of the US Championship. You rock!

Thank you curtains for the excellent tournament. I'm looking forward to the US Championship, hopefully there will be lots of fighting chess with the top ranking players looking to crush their weaker opponents and so on. It seems logical to me that when the ratings of players are more spread out there will generally be less quick draws. I'm rooting for Nakamura in the US Championship; he plays chess which is great fun to watch (based on his blitz games against you!) and i like the picture you've painted of a dark genius, capable of great things if only he could keep his temper under control

Good coverage as always, thx for all the great videos.


Btw: on the official site the "game commentary" for this round opens the page: http://nalchik2009.fide.com/gamescommen ... k09-13.htm which has actually only the game "L. Aronian - P. Leko". (There does not seem to be a short English review of round 13.)

To make the text of these game commentaries by Shipov readable in IE click on "Tools" > "Internet Options" > "General" > "Languages" and add Russian.
Or on a page by page basis, click on "Page" > "Encoding" > "More" > "Cyrillic (Windows)".
In Firefox it's "View" > "Character Encoding" > "Cyrillic".

And if you read Russian it's all good.

Please note that there is a no short draw rule at the US Championships. Not sure if it's 30 or 40 moves, but it's definitely part of the rules.

Great coverage. Thanks a lot Greg. Anxiously waiting the US Championship!

Wow, what a tour de force in the decisive game! A masterpiece! For the win, hehe...

This was your best video from the tournament, i think.

I think Aronian's move f3 also was intended to stop the Ne4 fork.

From that page:

46.Rxe8+ Qxe8 47.d5 Àðîíÿí ïðîäëåâàåò óäîâîëüñòâèå îò îæèäàíèÿ ïîáåäû.
[47.Bxg5 hxg5 48.Bf7 Qd7 49.Qg6! ñ íåîòðàçèìîé óãðîçîé ìàòà íà h5.]

I have no idea what the text says, but (I think) it suggests your line.

Thanks for the coverage.

46.Rxe8 + Qxe8 47.d5 Aronian prolongs the pleasure of expectation of victory.
[47.Bxg5 hxg5 48.Bf7 Qd7 49.Qg6! with irresistible checkmate threat to h5.]

http://translate.google.com can be somewhat confusing though:

21.f3 N6h5 queen fell under the horse.
22.Qf2 but escaped with slight consternation.
...
48.Qc4 all under the control of whites. The second gate subscribes to the runaway forward girlfriend.


Clearly the singularity is still a long way off.

Very enjoyable to follow this tournament through your eyes.

Your approach makes it very clear how much more worthwhile it is to play through games without an engine running, stopping and thinking here and there, and it seems even better to do that without knowledge of the results.

I thought the best bits of this video were when you anticipated and analysed the Re5 exchange sac plan in the Aronian game, and instantly noticed the more immedately decisive 47.Bxg5 48.Bf7 49.Qg6 combination that Aronian obviously missed at the board.

Oh yeah, I forgot to even check that after the game, but seemed pretty clear. Was I right?!?!?!

Oh yeah, I forgot to even check that after the game, but seemed pretty clear. Was I right?!?!?! [/quote]

Looks like almost anything wins at move 47. But, as you also pointed out, 47.Bxg5 is best met by ...Rxc7, still winning for W but no forced mate in sight.

Great coverage and great finish to the tournament! I am strongly looking forward to the U.S. Championship..! One serious problem with the lineup... Where is IM Greg Shahade 2446? A person would think that stud would of been on the list. Oh well, I guess the best we can hope for is a guest appearance from Strong Bad..!

curtains where are you? i miss the live blitz videos.

can't wait for the US Ch. looking forward to seeing how the youngsters do.