I find it astonishing there are no live games from this event and that any to emerge will have to either be recorded by journalists or remembered. You spend $100,000 on prize money the event and can't get live games?

"If a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, then does it make a sound?"

If the games of a chess from a tournament aren't recorded is it worth holding it at all?

Mark: Is it really that easy to broadcast blitz games live?

Jobava, the winner of the qualifiers, seem to lose bigtime.

Blitz games can go awry especially late on in the game but they have been successfully broadcast in the past. Not to even try with the electronic boards they had for the main event seems very strange. I guess filming blitz games is the only way to be certain but the electronic boards do seem to cope these days, look at the FIDE Championships. Perhaps the best example was the recent Kasparov blitz exhibition, not all the games worked but we got most of the games from this important event.

Video them, put them on youtube, and I'd watch them over and over again.

a solution would be to replace the medieval chessboards with network connected laptops in every major tournament

as a player in tournament you wont even need to raise from your chair to see the postion on the other "tables", just switch to another window

each player will have his notebook and his assigned comfortable armchair and table for the whole duration of the tournament in the playing hall, the games would be then recoreded automatically ( not Fritz installed on the comps of course)

Caption contest
Svidler; "Sticky wicket" [old chap].

--
Yes, Blitz is a great candidate for motion pictures.

Ovidiu, are you planning to patent the idea? Because it sucks big time.

Caption: Svidler commits a [i]Fingerfehler[i], to the amusement of his opponent Jakovenko (? I may be wrong on the opponent).

the results are in amigo: 1. anand 23; 2. aronian 21; 3-4. svidler and radjabov 20.5

I think this photo deserves a caption

http://rsport.netorn.ru/enot/potemkin/enot/foto097.JPG

Hilarious, isn't it?

I don't agree with Ovidiu's laptop proposal. Part of the, ah, charm, of Blitz is the one-on-one interaction.

Video the game with any kind of video camera (they are everywhere, in case a reader of this blog hasn't left their house in 5 years) and you'll be able to reconstruct the game score. I'm thinking that for "broadcast quality", you'd want 3 cameras, two on tripods, each capturing a 3/4 view of a player (with Zoom, distance can be unobtrusive), and one camera overhead the board. Depending upon the tournament site, this third camera might be handheld, or, if the site is the Hall of Columns or some such, from a balcony above the game. Of course, experiment and ... variety is the spice of life.

At the 1988 World Blitz in Saint John, a fateful game was when Vaganian had RPP versus Kiril Georgiev's R. Vaganian moved a pawn, putting his king in check, and Georgiev snapped up the king. Those were the rules for the tournament: illegal move loses, but it can be taken back before pressing the clock. There was shocked silence in the room (full with hundreds of spectators, by the way), then Vaganian said to Georgiev in Russian that he hadn't pressed his clock. "Luckily" everything was on film, and the non-pressing (his hand had stopped an inch or so from the clock button) of Vaganian's clock was replayed for all on the "big screen". So Vaganian was allowed to make another move and of course he won the game. A complication was that Georgiev, although present for the players' meeting and in receipt of a copy of the rules, didn't really understand English and didn't know about the press clock rule (otherwise he might have waited a fraction of a second before taking the king). You might say "ho hum, so what?" but this was the semi-final match, Georgiev having eliminated Kasparov in an earlier match which included Kasparov's stalemate of Georgiev in the ending (AFAIR) Q+B versus nothing, with plenty of time on his clock. Vaganian won the match with Georgiev and thus faced Tal in the final. Tal won the final 3.5 to 0.5.

A couple of other upsets I remember were Chernin eliminating Karpov, and Igor Ivanov eliminating Yasser. Igor was a bit baffled. He told me: "I am not a Blitz player", but perhaps an important factor was that it was a morning round. Igor was always at his best in the morning (a "lark"), while Yasser, like many chess players, is an "owl".

nice anecdote.
anand seems to be back in form after the corsican debacle.

Mamedyarov started 8-0, finished 9-17. Total 17-17. I make the breakdown to be +16=2-16. Quite a contrast from his =9 in the main event.

Svidler - You said what, about Tal’s fingers?

I think Svidler is just silently answering the question, "which fingers was Tal missing and on which hand?"

>Ovidiu, are you planning to patent the idea? >

No of course, I know the story of the guy who owned California before the "gold rush".
He was the first there, he had papers on it.

>I don't agree with Ovidiu's laptop proposal. Part of the, ah, charm, of Blitz is the one-on-one interaction.>

What interaction ? You are not allowed to touch (as in judo) or talk to you opponent.

Staring him down and trying to guess what he thinks by monitoring the movement of his eyes ?

The players dont like anyway to stay at the board
( see Kramnik behavior, albeit it may have been his bladder as that picture suggessts )

For the picture of GM Svidler giving the finger:

"See my pinky, See my thumb, See my peace sign minus one!"

> Vaganian moved a pawn, putting his king in check, and Georgiev snapped up the king. >

no such absurd situations in my "laptop proposal",
the software will allow only legal moves, the repetitions automatically checked by comp if requested, etc

each player may even play in the tournament from his home location if there is a room specially designed for this in his chess club (one fullfilling some FIDE regulations- )

you will play in serious FIDE tournaments without leaving your hometown, saves money, or taking a leave from your job...

"the future of chess is bright" ..(Ostap Bender& Kirsan Iliumzhinow)

"Kid Rock got this from Tal, the thumb-off bird, see? Riga Badass"

or

"Your move, BEE-YATCH"
[don't know the Russian for this, may be funnier?]

"no such absurd situations..."

What's absurd about king-snapping in blitz situations? Did you not read Mr Berry's account of the shock wave sent through the audience at that moment? It's a carnival for fans, a rarity gem on the level of stealing home, the between-the-legs backhand winner, the fifty break, the shorthanded overtime goal or winning the Poker World Series with a pair of deuces.

Moreover your proposal suggests a zero tolerance for corporeal spectators! Not sexy, even by my Merano lights.

"Your move, BEE-YATCH"
[don't know the Russian for this, may be funnier?]

Well not having a caption would be funnier than these 2 from clubfoot, so I wouldnt be surprised.

>Moreover your proposal suggests a zero tolerance for corporeal spectators! Not sexy, even by my Merano lights.>

Ok then but if so what you say is about "socializing" rather playing chess. For such thing one should properly go to a night club, not a chess club

I see that you guys are falling behind the times, or perhaps you are stuck with the times of your youth and can't let go.
In 4-5 years when the Nakamura-Carlsen generation-- the generation who grew in front of the computer screens with Fritz and ICC-- comes to power what I said will smoothly happen.

Mig, we've recorded two games each round on webcams, so there will be 68 games available at some point. The players were definitely happy to see their games not relayed, though. :)

d,

You didn't enjoy Clubfoot's entry into the "Svidler" competition? How can that fact possibly interest anyone?

If his effort disappoints you why not come up with something better? But you have a long history of "gnatting" in this forum and maybe that's all we can expect of you.

Greg Koster: you didn't appreciate d's lack of enjoyment? How can that fact interest anyone?

A real shame that the games were not recorded with today's technology. The players never want their games recorded. But this is a loss to the history of chess. Russia which is the leading country in chess did not make the decision to record the games is incredible.

Of course the best would have been to have the games live. And having all the players use a laptop as they do at Melody Amber would have solved all the problems with recording the games.

Once that is accepted they can start some 1 minute bullet tournaments. Watching one minute games can give a real adreniline rush. No time for analysis. Just pure chess in motion.

"The players never want their games recorded. "

Has any player actually gone out and said that? Not that I'm doubting you; it's just that it sounds so odd. That would explain why the games went unrecorded and those from, for example, the World Blitz Cup were, but I'm not convinced it was because of the players.

"It is interesting to see how the expectations, based on the ratings of the players, compared to the results actually achieved in the blitz tournament.

As you can see the highest ranked player won the event, and the lowest ranked player finished at the bottom."
--Chessbase

Best performance by Karpov in several years. He's currently rated 2668, but until recently, his rating was going downward rather quickly, and he was mostly inactive.

Here, in a blitz field averaging 2708, he began ranked a lowly 15th of 18, yet finished tied for 9-10, half-way up the field. He beat Grischuk and Mamedyarov twice each. Not too bad for being in one's mid-50s. Bravo for the lone oldster in the field! (No one says Anand is old yet!)

tjallen

Love the picture Tarjei, it's very funny. Thanks.

The club in which Vishy used club in his younger days was the 'Tal club' at Madras (Chennai).

The club in which Vishy used to play in his younger days was the 'Tal Chess Club' at Madras (Chennai). It functioned on Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (whole day). Sad it is non-existent now.

Svidler caption contest:

"My queen against your rook, and this is what's happening to you!"

There was a young girl from Madras.

Also check out a lot of pictures here:

http://www.asargaev.com/photo/blitz/thumb.html
http://surov.livejournal.com/22152.html#cutid1
http://surov.livejournal.com/22299.html#cutid1

Besides Svidler's photo, there should also be a caption contest for this one: http://64.ru/images/illustr/bf06-58.jpg

I was surprised too. Karpov beat Grischuk, Mamedyarov 4-0. Based on his rating he should be on the bottom of the totem pole. Very nice.

Frank H. :
> And having all the players use a laptop as they do at Melody Amber would have solved all the problems with recording the games. >

yes, using laptops could become the standard

>Once that is accepted they can start some 1 minute bullet tournaments. Watching one minute games can give a real adreniline rush. No time for analysis. Just pure chess in motion.>

many such blitz tournaments, maybe one each weekend, should be broadcasted over the net

Guys is it just me or Anand wanted to continue against Moro (on the video) but couldnt reject the hand hanging in air? Who can read Moro's clock btw?

All i know is I need more pictures of that "Natasha girl"

From the "Fritz-Kramnik" website :

Chess has certainly been transformed by computers.. Indian Speed Chess World Champion Viswanathan Anand noted, "They push the boundaries of chess and enable people to gain a deeper understanding of the sport." ...(but) Not all chess players view these masses of silicon through such a benevolent lens: When asked how to beat a chess computer, Dutch grandmaster Jan Hein Donner quipped: "With a hammer!" However, all top players and many amateurs use computers to prepare or stress-test sophisticated variations...

Fischer once replayed all his games from a blitz tourney from memory. Do any of these players possess even a "similiar" FischerPhoto memory?

All of them, I imagine. I can't imagine not being able to do that.

2Photos: what Natasha girl?

The tea Girl with jeans

Not a bad effort from Karpov at the age of - what, 53?

Regarding the memory of top players:
Keres once told a friend of mine he disliked simultaneous displays with more than 40 participants because he then found it quite difficult to remember all the games...

dunno what "gnatting" is, not having had a classical education, but I will take to mean being witty, knowledgeable and articulate. Thanks Greg old boy!

I think my favourite picture is this (unmanipulated) one. Watch Gelfand's facial expression as he gets his Queen trapped by Moro.

http://64.ru/images/illustr/bf06-12.jpg

Tarjei: The manipulated fool's mate pic of Ponomariov is really funny as well.

I'd forgotten but of course recently the World Blitz Championship was held in Rishon Le Zion with many of the same players, they managed to record most of the games.

Blitz should be played over the board not on a computer with a mouse and with the improvement of hardware and software and the reduction in the price of computers this of course should be possible with the best electronic boards. They've used the video camera approach which should certainly work in absolutely recording the games they did record but its still a real shame that all the games were not recorded.

Players can hardly object to having their games recorded when they're playing for $100,000. Of course most games contain lots of errors but also they can contain wild and brilliant ideas too.

http://www.64.ru/?/ru/articles/item=1395

How about the picture of Aronian-Polgar? Did Judit smell something funny or get hit by James Bond's invisible car?

Watch Gelfand's facial expression as he gets his Queen trapped by Moro.

That would be funny, but it seems like Gelfand always has that expression on his face, from the pictures I've seen.

Yeah that one's pretty funny simsan.

And how about http://64.ru/images/illustr/bf06-58.jpg

Anand: You clumsy oaf, you're supposed to hit the clock not step on my foot!

"Indian Speed Chess World Champion Viswanathan Anand noted, "They push the boundaries of chess and enable people to gain a deeper understanding of the sport."

Hm. No doubt that computers help to test moves with quick results, but I can't see how you get a deeper understanding of chess with the comps that do not understand a single move they make. (??)

simsan,

Not to mention the ridiculous hat that Radjabov is wearing to the right of Gelfand. ;)

"Hm. No doubt that computers help to test moves with quick results, but I can't see how you get a deeper understanding of chess with the comps that do not understand a single move they make. (??)"

So astronomers gain no understanding by looking through their telescopes, nor chemists through their
microscopes, etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

"So astronomers gain no understanding by looking through their telescopes, nor chemists through their
microscopes, etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum."

We are talking about a game: chess. Not about things that may be important ;)
Things that can be discovered with telescopes might save the human species sometime, chess will never save anyone, it's just a stupid game to entertain people who have nothing else to do.

Obviously. But that doesn't mean it isn't possible to understand it more or less deeply. How anybody could fail to realise that computers enable one to do this - whether it is a worthwhile goal is another question - is beyond me.

It's also beyond me why people would use Latin tags when they can't spell them correctly. It's nauseam, for God's sake. As in nausea.

freitag: It may be a stupid game for you. But for many it is a noble game. In the recent times, it's image has gone down due to some of the rude and indecent fellows. The 19th century chess image was very different when great men played.

Why do you think that chess can not save anyone? A single Chess match between the US and Iraq could have liberated Iraq and saved us from a lot of destruction. If you think that this can not be true, be assured that all the nuclear science and astronomy can not save mankind.

Ryan
"...Why do you think that chess can not save anyone? A single Chess match between the US and Iraq could have liberated Iraq and saved us from a lot of destruction...".

That's hilarious! You should get into stand-up comedy! Excellent!

The full Mamedyarov-Radjabov video is available on youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4bmDwjre2V8

Hello, I am from Spain. I love chess and play daily some games from the main tournaments! Please, can you tell me where I get the games from Tal Blitz Cup 2006 won by Viswanatan Anand?

Thanks and best regards from Spain.
Antonio Castello.