A Letter to Lady Zorro

Magnus Carlsen – Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra
5th World Rapid Chess Championship; Doha, December 26, 2016
Sicilian Defence B66

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. 0-0-0 h6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bf4 d5 11. Qe3 Bb4 12. a3 Ba5 13. Be2 0-0 14. e5 Nh7? This looks decidedly suspect. Much better appear to be 14. ... Nd7 and if 14. g4!?? (obviously there is a reason why the sounder 14. Qg3 is usually played) there might follow 14. ... Qb6 15. Qg3 Rb8 with quite crazy girls games, T. Kosintseva – Kosteniuk, Women’s World Blitz Chess Championship, Moscow 2010. 15. h4 Rb8 16. Na4! Bc7 17. Bd3. The immediate 17. g4! may well transpose into the game after 17. ... f6 18. Bd3. 17. ... f6 18. g4! fxe5 19. Bxe5 Nf6 20. f3! Ne8 21. f4 Bxe5 22. fxe5 Qa5. Henríquez Villagra is in a valley of tears, and Carlsen dismantles his defences in the most elegant way:

23. Rhf1! Qxa4. Black is doomed, whether he captures or not the Knight. 24. Rxf8+ Kxf8 25. Qc5+ Kf7. Or 25. ... Kg8 26. Rf1 with a mating attack. 26. Rf1+ Nf6 27. exf6 gxf6 28. g5 f5 29. g6+ Kxg6 30. Qd6 1 : 0.

Magnus Carlsen vs. Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra. Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova.

Five Minutes Alone

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – Péter Lékó
World Blitz Chess Championship; Doha, December 30, 2016
Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. 0-0 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. a4 a6 7. c3 0-0 8. h3 Ba7 9. Nbd2 Ne7 10. Re1 c6 11. b4 Ng6 12. d4 exd4 13. cxd4 d5!? More reserved than 13. ... Nxe4 14. Bxf7+!? Rxf7 15. Nxe4 d5 16. Nc5 h6 17. Ra3 Bf5 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. dxe5 Qh4! which, however, gave Black a satisfactory play, Carlsen – Karjakin, New York 2016, World Chess Championship match game 5. 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Qb3 Be6 16. b5 axb5 17. axb5 Ndf4 18. Bxe6 Nxe6 19. Ba3!? Quite unusually, Karjakin opts for a bold play and chooses a sharp Pawn sacrifice for the aim of the initiative. 19. ... Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxd4 21. Rad1 Re8 22. Ne4 Qb6 23. Nd6! Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Bxf2+ 25. Kh1 Bxe1?? The first and fatal blunder, but Lékó totally overlooks the Damocle’s sword hanging over his King’s crown. Correct was 25. ... Qc7 in order to answer 26. Rf1 by 26. ... Qe7! holding everything together.

26. Qxf7+ Kh8 27. Bb2 Rg8 28. Nf5 1 : 0. Mate is unavoidable. “I played the whole tournament excellently, and my game against Lékó in Round 19 was decidedly brilliant”, then Karjakin said.

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin was finally happy after winning the World Blitz Chess Championship. “This means a lot... after the match in New York”, he said. Photo: Chess-News.ru (‏@Chess__News).

The Last Days on Mars

The Turkish president has said he has proof that Russia is involved in the illegal oil trade with Isil in Syria as he attacked Russia’s claims that Ankara buys oil from Isil. After Russian military chiefs publicly accused the Turkish government of funnelling millions of dollars in illicit oil revenues to Isil terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned as “immoral” Russian claims that his own family was importing oil from the jihadists. “We have the proof in our hands. We will reveal it to the world”, Mr. Erdoğan said in a televised address in Ankara. [Read more].

• By Roland Oliphant, Moscow and Raziye Akkoc, Turkish president says he has proof Russia bought oil from Islamic State, The Telegraph, December 3, 2015

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaking in Ankara on Thursday
Photo: Murat Cetinmuhurdar/AP

Rockin’ in the Free World

• Carlo Renda, Turchia, Russia accusa: “Erdogan e famiglia fanno traffici con l’Isis”. Petrolio e armi. Le prove mostrate al mondo, L’Huffington Post, December 2, 2015

Russia’s top military officials holding a press conference
Photo: AFP

At a briefing today the Deputy Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation Anatoly Ivanovich Antonov unveiled satellite image proof that Turkey is benefiting from ISIS oil trade and vehemently accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s family of being involved in the “criminal business”. “We know the price of Erdoğan’s words. Turkish leaders won’t step down and they won’t acknowledge anything even if their faces are smeared with the stolen oil”, Antonov said. Instead, Erdoğan denied any involvement in oil trade with the ISIS, and said earlier that he would resign if Russia prove its accusations.

Nella lotta all’Isis tutto sembra chiaro: da una parte la civiltà moderna, dall’altra il terrore oscurantista. Nessuna via di mezzo. Ma è veramente così? Per esempio ci si può fidare fino in fondo delle intenzioni di Turchia e Qatar? E non è che gli stessi Stati Uniti abbiano in qualche modo concorso ad armare formazioni terroristiche in Siria? [Read more].

• Claudio Gatti, I C-17 del Qatar, le coperture di Ankara, l’“agente di viaggio” della Cia e le armi destinate ai ribelli in Siria, Il Sole 24 ORE, December 2, 2015