by scribe | Aug 16, 2013 | current news, tournaments
Today the second round of the World Cup finished, with playoffs for the 15 matches that were tied 1-1. This time there were surprisingly few lengthy playoffs. Thirteen of the fifteen playoffs were decided in the first two games, another was decided in the next two...
by scribe | Aug 15, 2013 | current news, games, openings, positions, tournaments
It was just yesterday that I was watching a steady stream of queenside openings, flank openings, etc. and thinking, “Wouldn’t be great if just once I could see a King’s Gambit in this tournament?” Well, today Aleksandr Shimanov granted my wish!...
by scribe | Aug 14, 2013 | current news, tournaments
I didn’t catch very much of the action on Day 4 of the World Cup, because I had other commitments, but I did steal a glance at it now and then. Today was very nearly a whitewash for the higher-rated players. Out of 32 games, only one lower-rated player was able...
by scribe | Aug 13, 2013 | current news, tournaments
As expected, the playoff day for Round 1 of the World Cup was full of drama, with unbelievable reversals of fortune, controversy, and yes, two Armageddon games. The most unbelievable shift of fortune occurred in the match between #27 Evgeny Alekseev and #102 Baskaran...
by scribe | Aug 12, 2013 | current news, tournaments
After a good first day, my predictions did not do so well in Day 2 of the World Cup. Let’s recap the results: Upset Specials: Six players pulled upsets without even needing to go to the playoffs. I picked only one of the six, Dubov (75), who beat Fedorchuk (54)....
by scribe | Aug 10, 2013 | current news, ruminations, tournaments
The FIDE World Cup starts tomorrow in Tromsø, Norway, and I was excited to see at the official Web page that you can fill out a bracket to predict the winners. Although I think the knockout format (with two-game matches followed by tiebreaks) is dreadful for actually...
