I'm only rarely up for event coverage, but this looks like a good one. Plus, our main man, US Champion and Black Belt contributor Hikaru Nakamura is in action. I haven't seen pairings at the official site yet, but H-Bomb sent in an email from Mexico to let us know he's going to start with a bang. He's got black against top seed Ruslan Ponomariov in the first round today!
Mexican chess legend and organizer GM Marcel Sisniega helpfully posts below some info of the sort that is lacking at the official site. Muchisimas gracias, maestro.
Carlsen, Bacrot, Radjabov and Harikrishna were invited. Carslen declined because of school work. Bacrot also declined, possibly due to his playing Linares a week afterwards. We figured Radjabov was in the same position. Harikrishna initially had a tournament in Bermuda, which was later cancelled. By that time the ten players were booked.
Games start at 1600 local time, which is 5pm EST, 2200 GMT/UTC.
Could be very tough for Naka today. Both can count fighting spirit as their top strength, but Pono is a lot better positionally.
does bomb mean 0-1 or 1-0 ;)?
Can anybody help me by providing the link to the live games on this (pathetic) website ?
*Partidas en vivo* is your best bet...once the games begin.
Games begin at 5 pm Boston time. and that would be 2 pm California time.
For now it looks like the games will be on ICC. I would think at least the Nakamura games would be on ICC and maybe a few others. Have to wait to see if all the games are shown. it is now 9:30 am so too early to know.
see everyone tonight at 5 pm.
I think Nakamura will have a hard time in this first game. if he can win it however, he will be off to a great start. It reminds me of Kamsky getting killed playing Topalov in Round 1 at Corus. I hope Nakamura does much better and turns the tide and wins.
I am getting more interested in the US Championships. and any game between Nakamura and Kamsky will be very interesting to me.
I know this is off topic, and I apologize for that, but how much money do the players make in Wijk? What do Topalov and Anand get at the top and what does Kamsky get at the bottom?
Why should they tell how much they make ? Do you tell them how much you make ?
I don't think he said that they should tell how much they make. He simply asked how much they make.
The first round is: Ponomariov-Nakamura; Volokitin-Vallejo; Cheparinov-Karjakin; Bruzon-Dominguez and León Hoyos-Felgaer. The time control will be 100 minutes for the entire game, plus 30 second increments per move. This was done to accomodate the Sophia-Mtel, no short draw rules. The players basically favored these rules, as long as the time control didnot imply six to seven hour games each day.
Carlsen, Bacrot, Radjabov and Harikrishna were invited. Carslen declined because of school work. Bacrot also declined, possibly due to his playing Linares a week afterwards. We figured Radjabov was in the same position. Harikrishina initially had a tournament in Bermuda, which was later cancelled. By that time the ten players were booked.
Why should they tell how much they make ? Do you tell them how much you make ?
Posted by: Peach
He didn't say they should tell him, he asked what they made. However its public knowledge what most celebrity/sports figures make per season, film etc. Why should Chess Players be different?
I would be interested to know how much cash was in the kitty at a tournament like Corus. Just out of curiosity, but its also possible someone would need to know a general figure like this to counsel a young person etc. I don't think its a dollar figure that needs to be jealously gaurded in any event.
It is not all school work for Magnus, who is taking part in a two-day event this week in Denmark:
http://www.dsu.dk/fibertex/engelsk.htm
The point is : part of the money is prize fund and part of the money is appearance fees. Appearance fees are jealously guarded secrets.
Maestro Sisniega,
Are you doing live on-site on board commentary for this tournament? As for instance, in Guadalajara, last year.
I might drive down there for the weekend.
Regards,
Francisco
Looks like it will be a tough uphill battle for home player Manuel León. He is 179 Elo points 1389 ranking places below closest opponent!!
regards,
Francisco
Francisco: Yes, IM Raul Ocampo and I will be commenting the games live.
So will it be 2. ... Qh4 or 2. ... Qa5 for Naka?
What an interesting pairing Bruzon-Dominguez. Bruzon played a line which is not that highly regarded, so I wonder what he has up his sleeve or if he and Dominguez are going to have a rest day together.
I chuckled at Nakamura's Nc3 in response to Ponomariov's e4. I chuckled again when Ponomariov declined to play d4 (it became 'Spanish', apparently to honor the language of the venue)
Ponomariov opened with e4, and I chuckled when Nakamura responded with Nc6. I chuckled again when Ponomariov declined to play 2.d4. It became 'Spanish', both players apparently want to honor the language of the venue.
1...Nc6!? is one of the popular GM replies. This fact is unknown to most chess mortals, as it was to me until recently. A latest CD, published by the Russians proves it's value.
Bruzon's 23. Nc6 was mentioned by Lutz, although Lutz (conveniently) doesn't assess the line. It'll be interesting to see. Dominguez has defended the position after 20. Rxb7!? twice already.
Hey Everyone! Just for your information, the correct moves were 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. :) Ok, that's all for now. I'll probably post at a later point in the tournament.
Ponomariov's opening play was, frankly, rather insipid. In order to try for a positional grind, you ought to first strive for some kind of edge out of the opening. Maybe he was freaked out by Nakamura's 1...Nc6
Felgaer seemed to lose his grip on the position, right when it seemed that he could play for an advantage.
It's amazing to me that Vallejo Pons is only 23 years old. He started at Linares quite a while back. He handled the Berlin well, but never was able to obtain more than a tiny edge.
Karjakin demonstrated that he has ice water running in his veins. Cheparinov played well to stir up an attack, but Karjakin simply grabbed a pawn, then let his King get checked about the board, for almost 30 moves. Maybe Fritz can find a Coup d'grace in that game.
Hikaru, don't confuse everyone with the facts! Let them think you played 1...Nc6! :)
Good luck homes, we are all rooting for you!
BPF
Mig
I just have to say that your news item on
The Jackal vs Veselin Topalov
is really great. I am still laughing. the movie was really fun to watch. Nice going. Great to see Topalov get into a fun game.
Hikaru,
Nice start to the tournament. you got a nice draw from the top seed. Now go out and kick some butts.
Karjakin is coming off a pretty good Corus and will be near the top.
I put Nakamura, Ponomariov and Karjakin as the 3 to fight it out for the crown. go Hikaru. I will be here for all the games.
I am more than willing to keep appearance fees secret. However, I would like to know how much money is the prize fund for winning first place etc.
I think the prizes for winning should be part of the public information. For example on this tournament I looked on the web site and I did not find any mention of a prize fund. if there is no prize fund and there is only appearance fees then it would be nice to know that.
as a fan I like to know how much money they are fighting for. if there is no prize fund then I am not so sure they will fight so hard and there might be all draws.
oh darn, I thought 1...Nc6 was played. A little Morozevichian...I guess playing solidly will help inch up to 2700...
tommy, as far as I know there is no prize money at Chorus, just appearance fees, glory, and a trophy.
And let's not forget the famous pea soup, Chris!
Hikaru should play 1.e4 and 2.Qh5 against Volokitin and just win!
Seriously, I think Hikaru will be gunning for Volokitin because of the Young Masters match. Let's hope Hikaru can blow up some kingsides (or wherever the king is).
Good chess so far though.
1.e4 2.Qh5 is retarded. If Hikaru plays that, I will give him the smack down and a tongue lashing. Hikaru, we want something good, some juice, no crap! You got any chicken? I have to warn you, I am one of the world's best players.
Ben, you are a classic! I will be cheering for you at the US Championships! Even if you don't win, I feel sure you will slice up somebody's bacon and fry it extra (tasty) crispy!!!
Charles....
And don't forget the famous recipe for the famous pea soup....
"First you take a pea...."
Nakamura just avenged himself on Volokitin and is in the joint lead with Vallejo. Keep it up, Hikaru!
That was the most complicated game ever! Good going Hikaru. I like the way your raggedy pawns kept creeping down the board, until you were getting a raggedy queen. Win the tournament, get the money, then you get the sugar, then you get the women!
I just want to say that I like all the Radjabov's games, maybe this comment is very simple, but it's product of playing this game during some years. I hope I could play like Radjabov, Nikamura, Karjakin and Carslen (Mozart).
Thanks to read this.