by scribe | Sep 24, 2015 | current news, people, tournaments
Last time I wrote that the problem with Cinderella is always what happens when the pixie dust wears off. In round five of the 2015 FIDE World Cup, the answer was emphatically, “Don’t worry about it.” The #26 seed, Pavel Eljanov, claimed #2 Hikaru...
by scribe | Sep 22, 2015 | current news, people, tournaments
Round four of the 2015 FIDE World Cup was definitely the Round of the Underdogs. When the smoke cleared, five of the eight higher-seeded players had lost, and only two players who were originally seeded in the top 8 have actually made it to the final 8. The two...
by scribe | Sep 19, 2015 | current news, ruminations, tournaments
The playoffs for round three of the 2015 FIDE World Cup have just ended, with Hikaru Nakamura winning an Armageddon game as Black against Ian Nepomniachtchi to advance. The big surprise of the day was Dmitry Andreikin, the #27 seed, beating #6 Vladimir Kramnik in a...
by scribe | Sep 14, 2015 | current news, endings, people, tournaments
A couple days ago I asked, “What happened to Lawrence Trent and Susan Polgar?” For me, their witty and exciting commentary was one of the most enjoyable things about the 2013 World Cup. I missed that sparkle and that sense of excitement in this...
by scribe | Sep 12, 2015 | current news, tournaments
The second day of the World Cup was a pretty bad day for the Americans and a pretty good day for favorites. The top six seeds all advanced to the second round, so the highest-seeded player who has not yet punched his ticket to round two is #7 Alexander Grischuk, who...
