by scribe | May 9, 2010 | 2010 world championship, endings, games, tournaments
After a blazing start, with three decisive games in the first four, the last two-thirds of the Anand-Topalov match has turned into a war of nerves. Today’s game was no exception. It was played almost entirely on a strategic level, with tactics only in the...
by scribe | May 7, 2010 | 2010 world championship, endings, games
The tenth game of the world championship match could have been Topalov’s chance to break through and place Anand in an almost untenable position. Anand lost the thread in the middlegame and drifted into an inferior endgame, with a bishop and knight against...
by scribe | May 6, 2010 | 2010 world championship, endings, games
Here’s the thing about Veselin Topalov — he just can’t play it safe. For today’s game, Vishwanathan Anand prepared a variation of the Nimzo-Indian where he gives up a queen for two rooks. Topalov didn’t have to venture into the...
by scribe | May 4, 2010 | 2010 world championship, endings, games
The biggest concern for Vishwanathan Anand, after his heroic defense in game 7, was that he might wear down mentally and physically from the constant pressure from Topalov. That’s exactly what GM Sergei Shipov talks about in his introduction to game 8, and...
by scribe | Apr 17, 2010 | endings, games, people
A couple years ago, when Bobby Fischer died, I had the bright idea of writing an article about the aborted match between Sammy Reshevsky and Bobby Fischer from 1961. I think I may have even mentioned the idea on this blog. The thing that interested me about this match...
by scribe | Apr 8, 2010 | Chess Lecture, endings, games, off-topic
Every now and then, when I’m listening to a sports broadcast, I’ll hear the announcers say something about how the game is a “chess match” between the coaches. Usually I scoff at such comments, because the calculations that go on during a...
