Yeah, Edna, more than anything, you must fear what they are capable of for their own interest, and how little they regard all who are not within their magic circle

Artwork © Cindy Finoux-Nikolic (@cindynikolic)

A New Kind of Science

A staff member, wearing a face mask, speaks with a robot at the venue for the 3rd World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in 上海 (Shànghǎi), China July 9, 2020. Photo: 阿里宋 (Ālǐ Sòng)/Reuters.

Family Matters

Aryan Tari – Magnus Carlsen
8th Altibox Norway Chess; Stavanger, October 7, 2020
Sicilian Defence B69

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Qd2 a6 8. 0-0-0 e6 9. f4 Be7 10. Nf3 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Kb1 Qb6 13. f5 0-0-0 14. Bd3 Kb8 15. Ne2 Bc8 16. Nf4 Ne5 17. Be2 d5 18. exd5 exf5!? Carlsen’s novelty has an almost insignificant impact on the assessment of the position. 18. ... Nxf3 was played in a previous game, in which Black saved a draw only after considerable difficulties: 19. Bxf3 e5 20. Ne2 Bxf5 21. Ng3 Bg6 22. Qe2 Rc8 23. Be4 Rc4 24. Nf5 Qc5 25. Bd3 Bxf5 26. Bxf5 Rd8 27. Bxh7 Rxd5 28. Rxd5 Qxd5 29. Rd1 Rd4 30. Rxd4 Qxd4 31. a3 Qg1+ 32. Ka2 Qxh2 33. Bg8 Qf4 34. Bxf7 e4 35. c4 Qe5 36. cxb5 axb5 37. Be8 Bxa3 38. Qxb5+ ½ : ½ Šolak – Ashwin, 36th International Chess Open, Albena 2012. 19. Nd4 Bc5 20. Rhf1 Rhe8 21. a3 Ka8 22. h3 Bd7

23. Nh5? A grossly naïve and simplistic move by Tari. On the other hand, Carlsen would never have allowed such a move, if it had been a strong one. White should have played 23. d6 or 23. Qc3 with a solid advantage in both cases. 23. ... Nc4 24. Bxc4 bxc4 25. Qc3? 25. Ka1 is a little better, although 25. ... Rb8 26. c3 Bxd4 27. cxd4 Re3! (Δ ... c4-c3) 28. Qb4 (28. Nxf6? Ba4 29. Rb1 Rb3−+) 28. ... Qc7 29. Qc5 Qb7 30. Qb4 Qxd5 31. Nf4 Qc6 leaves Black a Pawn up with great advantage. 25. ... Rb8−+ (Δ ... Re8-e3) 26. Rf3

26. ... Re1!! 27. Rxe1 Bxd4 28. Qb4 Qc7 29. d6 Qc6 30. Qa5 Bxb2 31. Ka2 Be5 32. Rb1 Rxb1 33. Kxb1 Qxd6 34. Kc1 Qd4 35. Qxa6+ Kb8 36. c3 Qg1+ 37. Kd2 Qxg2+ 38. Ke3 f4+ 39. Nxf4 Bxf4+ 40. Rxf4 Qg3+ 41. Rf3 Qe1+ 42. Kd4 Qe5+ 43. Kxc4 Qe4+ 44. Kc5 Qxf3 45. Kd6 Bc8 0 : 1.

Not surprisingly, in today’s derby, Norwegian chess family’s hierarchies were respected. Photo © Lennart Ootes.

A Letter to the Editor

Chess-News.ru (@Chess_News)

“We never relinquished our right to host the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg”. Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov sent a LETTER to Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich, expressing his surprise at learning that FIDE “is conducting backdoor negotiations” to move the Tournament to another location. For further details, please visit: http://chess-news.ru/node/27387.

Don’t worry, Edna; I am sure he will charter a flying saucer to pick you up just in time

Artwork © julybubble80 (@julybubble80)

Glaciology

Fabiano Caruana – Jan-Krzystof Duda
8th Altibox Norway Chess; Stavanger, October 6, 2020
Slav Defence D10

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. e3 Nf6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Nc3 a6 8. Bd3 Bg4 9. Nge2 e6 10. 0-0 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Be7 12. a3 0-0 13. Na4 h6!? 13. ... Nd7 14. Rac1⩲ transposes into the games Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn – Grachev, 2nd World Rapid Chess Championship, Khanty-Mansiysk 2013 and Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn – Al-Sayed, 11th Asian Chess Championship, Manila 2013. 14. Bg3 Nd7 15. h3 Qa5 16. Qd1 Rfc8 17. b4 Qd8 18. Rb1 Ra7. Here 18. ... b5 19. Nc5 Nb6 was worth considering, and if 20. Bc2 then 20. ... Qe8, so as to answer 21. Qd3 by 21. ... g6 with a tenable game. 19. Nc5 Ncb8 20. Qe2 a5 21. Rfc1 axb4 22. axb4 Nf6 23. b5

23. ... b6? This very grave mistake gives White absolute domination of the board. 23. ... Nbd7! was mandatory as well as perfectly playable. 24. Na6! Rxc1+. Now 24. ... Nbd7 is met instead by 25. Rc6! with painful consequences for Black. 25. Rxc1 Nbd7 26. Rc6 Qf8 27. Qc2 Ra8 28. Rc7 Bd6 29. Bxd6 Qxd6 30. Qc6 Qf8

31. Rxd7. Finally, White measures his own advantage simply by quantity. What follows is an almost mechanical display of technique by Caruana. 31. ... Nxd7 32. Qxd7 Rc8 33. g3 Rc3 34. Bf1 Qc8 35. Qxc8+ Rxc8 36. h4 g5 37. Nb4 Kf8 38. Nc6 Ra8 39. Be2 Ra2 40. Kf1 Ra1+ 41. Kg2 Ra2 42. Bd3 Rd2 43. Bf1 f6 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. g4 Ke8 46. Kg3 Rd1 47. Be2 Rg1+ 48. Kh2 Re1 49. Bd3 Rd1 50. Nb4 Kd7 51. Kg2 Ra1 52. f4 Ra3 53. fxg5 fxg5 54. Nc6 Kd6 55. Ne5 Ke7 56. Kf3 Ra2 57. e4 Ra1 58. Ke3 Re1+ 59. Be2 Rg1 60. Kf2 Ra1 61. Nf3 Kf6 62. Ke3 Ra8 63. Bd3 Rg8 64. Bb1 Ke7 65. Ne5 Ra8 66. Bd3 Rc8 67. Nc6+ Kd6 68. Ne5 Rf8 69. exd5 exd5 70. Bf5 Re8 71. Kd3 Re7 72. Bg6 Ra7 73. Ke3 Ke6 74. Bf5+ Kd6 75. Kd2 Ra2+ 76. Kc3 Ra3+ 77. Kb4 Ra7 78. Bc2 Ke6 79. Nc6 Ra2 80. Kb3 Ra1 81. Kc3 Rc1 82. Ne5 Rg1 83. Bf5+ Ke7 84. Nd7 Rc1+ 85. Kb3 Rc4 86. Nxb6 Rxd4 87. Kc3 Rd1 88. Nc8+ Kd8 89. b6 d4+ 90. Kc2 Re1 91. Nd6 Re3 92. Nf7+ Ke7 93. b7 d3+ 94. Kd1 1 : 0.

Duda got entangled into Caruana’s deceptively unambitious opening. Photo © Lennart Ootes.

O tempora, o mores

A street trader sells face masks from a stall in Manchester, England. Photo: Phil Noble/Reuters.

Yeah, Edna, it’s almost a mission impossible making a suit which can be worn in every season

Artwork © new_horizons_star_ (@new_horizons_star_)

Tomorrow Never Knows

Chinese Grandmaster 王皓 (Wáng Hào) is not happy to go back to Siberia for the second time in the same year, and raised safety concerns about the opportunity for resuming the Candidates Tournament under such times and circumstances. Not surprisingly, he found an ally in Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers, who argued that “Moving the tournament seems like a sensible suggestion by 王皓 (Wáng Hào)”. Mutatis mutandis, the ghost of Azerbaijani Grandmaster Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov reappeared backstage as a metaphor for conscience, which put FIDE President Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich before yet another dilemma: either to charter a fleet of airplanes, or to move the second act of the saga elsewhere. Interviewed by chess24.com, world’s No. 2 Fabiano Caruana couldn’t say whether November 1 (and Yekaterinburg) shall be the resumption date (and venue) or not: “I think there is a chance, but I can’t predict how much of a chance”. On the other hand, between past and future, there is no key to understand the original sin: “To be honest I think we should have just completed the tournament when we were there!”, Caruana said.

Living in the Arctic

Aryan Tari – Fabiano Caruana
8th Altibox Norway Chess; Stavanger, October 5, 2020
Sicilian Defence B47

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g3 a6 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. 0-0 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 Bc5 10. Bf4 d6 11. Qd2 h6 12. Rad1 e5 13. Be3 Bxe3!? Caruana goes for an unclear Pawn sacrifice rather than challenging his greatest predecessor with 13. ... Bg4 14. Bxc5 dxc5 15. f3 Be6 16. f4 Rd8 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. exd5 e4 19. Rfe1 Rxd5 20. Rxe4+ Kd8 21. Qe2 Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1+ Qd7 23. Qxd7+ Kxd7 24. Re5⩲ R. J. Fischer – Taimanov, Vancouver 1971, Candidates Quarterfinal match game 4. On the other hand, the sacrificial idea is not new at all — as Caruana claimed afterwards — it having been originally introduced by Croatian Grandmaster Mato Damjanović fifty years ago! 14. fxe3 Be6 15. Qxd6 Rc8!? A novelty and also an improvement on 15. ... Qxd6 16. Rxd6 Ke7 17. Rb6 Rab8 18. Nd5+ Bxd5 19. exd5 Rhd8 20. c4 Rd6 21. Rb3± which left Black with no compensation for the Pawn in Szmetan – M. Damjanović, 3rd Open Chess Tournament, Mar del Plata 1970. 16. a4 h5 17. h3 Qxd6 18. Rxd6 Nd7

19. h4 Ke7 20. Rd2 Nb6 21. Nd5+ Bxd5 22. exd5 Nc4 23. Re2 Nd6 24. e4 a5 25. Ra1 Rc4 26. c3 f6 27. Re3 Rhc8 28. Kf2 g5 29. Bf3 g4 30. Bg2 R4c5 31. Bf1 f5! 32. exf5 Rxd5 33. Rd3. Black has more than enough for the Pawn. Now the game might have continued 33. Rae1 Kf6= with equality. 33. ... Rcc5 34. Rad1 Rxd3 35. Bxd3 e4 36. Be2? 36. Bb1 Rxf5+ 37. Kg2 b5 seems to keep things much more balanced, if a little easier for Black. Now instead Caruana gets optimal coordination of Knight and Rook: 36. ... Nxf5 37. Bb5

37. ... Nd6! 37. ... e3+? 38. Ke2 Nxg3+ 39. Kxe3 Nf5+ 40. Kf4 Nxh4 41. Rd7+ Ke6 42. Rxb7 would lead to an uncertain but quite drawish ending. 38. Be2 Ke6! 39. Rc1. Now the endgame is quite hopeless for White, whatever he does: if, for instance, 39. Rd4 there may follow 39. ... e3+! 40. Ke1 Nf5 forcing matters. 39. ... Ke5 40. Rd1 Rc7 41. Kg2 b6 42. Ba6 Rf7 43. Be2 Rf8 44. Rb1 Nf5 45. b4 Ne3+ 46. Kg1 Nd5 47. Rb3 Rc8 48. bxa5 bxa5 49. c4 Nb4 50. Rb1 Kd4 51. Bf1 Nd3 52. Rb5 Rc5 53. Bxd3 exd3 54. Kf2 Kxc4 55. Rb1 Re5 0 : 1.

Being flesh and blood, Caruana got the chance to be shooted by a professional photographer. Photo © Lennart Ootes.

Alphabetti Spaghetti

A woman looks at the sculpture Alphabetti Spaghetti created by Alex Chinneck for the Kensington + Chelsea Art Week Public Art Trail 2020 (KCAW20), in London, England. Photo: Simon Dawson/Reuters.

Of course, Edna, every artist begins with a white sheet of paper, and the less the ink, the quicker the drying time

Odyssey Two

Almost everything is ready for the 8th Norway Chess to start “over the board” Monday in Stavanger, Norway. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the usual single 10-player round-robin has been turned into a 6-player double round robin, with the same format as last year, including Armageddon. Aside from Magnus Carlsen and Aryan Tari, all others had to quarantine on arrival in Norway; namely they are (in alphabetical order): Levon Grigori Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Jan-Krzystof Duda, and Alireza Firouzja. This is also the last stop before Caruana go back to Yekaterinburg, Russia (or, who knows, maybe to Tbilisi, Georgia), where on November 1 he will have to play the eight round (as well as other six rounds in the following days) of the Candidates Tournament, which was truncated halfway last March 26 due to Russia’s ban of all air traffic to and from everywhere.

Yeah, Edna, life is too short and beautiful to let it fly by with nonsensical half sentences and clichés

Artwork © Aeka (@a4aeka)

Backwards and Forwards

Stockfish – Leela Chess Zero

Top Chess Engine Championship Season 19 — Superfinal; match game 18; tcec-chess.com, October 3, 2020

Sicilian Defence B45

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. g4 h6 (6. ... a6 7. Be3 Nge7! 8. Nb3 b5 9. f4 Bb7 10. Qf3 g5! 11. fxg5 Ne5 12. Qg2 b4 13. Ne2 h5! 14. gxh5 Nf5 15. Bf2 Qxg5! 16. Na5 Ne3!! 17. Qg3 Qxg3 18. Nxg3 Nxc2+ 19. Kd1 Nxa1 20. Nxb7 b3 21. axb3 Nxb3 22. Kc2 Nc5 23. Nxc5 dxc5 24. Be1 Nf3 25. Bc3 Nd4+ 26. Kd3 Bd6 27. Bg2 Be5 28. Kc4 Ke7! 29. Ra1 Nc6 0 : 1 Shirov – J. Polgár, Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky Chess Tournament, Buenos Aires 1994) 7. h4 a6 8. Nxc6!?TN (8. Bg2 Be7 9. Be3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 e5 11. Qd1 Be6 12. Nd5 Rc8 13. c3 Nf6= 14. Nxe7 Qxe7 15. g5 hxg5 16. hxg5 Rxh1+ 17. Bxh1 Ng4 18. Bd2 Qf8 19. Qf3 Qh8 20. Bg2 Qh4 21. b3 d5 22. Qg3 Qxg3 23. fxg3 Rd8 24. Ke2 Ke7 25. Bc1 d4 26. Ba3+ Ke8 27. cxd4 exd4 28. Rh1 Ne5 29. Rh8+ Kd7 30. Rxd8+ Kxd8 31. Bb2 Bg4+ 32. Kd2 Nf3+ ½ : ½ Karpov – Kasparov, Moscow 1985, World Chess Championship match game 14) 8. ... bxc6 9. Qd3 Nf6 10. g5 hxg5 11. Bxg5 Qb6 12. 0-0-0 a5 13. Qf3 Bd7. 13. ... Rb8 14. b3 Bd7 might have been considered here, in order not to allow White’s Bishop to claim the diagonal a2-g8. 14. Bc4 Rb8 (14. ... a4 15. e5!+−) 15. Bb3 c5 16. h5! a4 (16. ... c4 17. h6!+−) 17. Nxa4 Qa5 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Nc3 (19. Qxf6?? Rh6 20. Qc3 Qa7∓) 19. ... Qb6 20. Qd3 Ke7 21. a3 Bh6+ 22. Kb1 Rhc8 23. Qc4 Rc6 24. Rhe1 Rc7 25. Rd3 Bf4

26. Nd5+! exd5 27. exd5+ Be5

28. Qh4! Kd8. 28. ... c4 is also met by 29. Rxe5+! Be6 (neither 29. ... dxe5 30. d6++− nor 29. ... Kd8 30. Qxf6+ Kc8 31. Rg3+− are of any help to Black) 30. Rxe6+! fxe6 31. Qg4! with an irresistible attack. 29. Rxe5! dxe5 30. Rf3! White is down a whole Rook, but the passed h-Pawn will cost Black much more than that. 30. ... Kc8 31. h6 Kb7 (31. ... c4 32. h7+−) 32. Bc4 Ba4 33. Rxf6 Qa5 34. Qe4 Bb5 35. d6+ Bc6 36. Qxe5 Re8 37. Qf5 Rd7 38. Rxf7 Qd8 39. Rg7 Kb6 40. b4 cxb4 41. axb4 Rxg7 42. Qc5+ Kb7 43. hxg7 Re1+ 44. Kb2 Qf6+ 45. c3 Qxg7 46. b5 Be4 47. Bd5+ Bxd5 48. Qxd5+ Ka7 1 : 0. The curtain falls without waiting for 49. d7.

Flashback Friday

ChessBase correspondent Carlos Alberto Colodro dedicates his Throwback Thursday October article to four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and her tying for first place at 10th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in 2012, where she defeated several élite Grandmasters, including the all-time No. 1 woman Judit Polgár, chalking up an Elo performance of 2872.

• Carlos Alberto Colodro, Throwback Thursday: 17-year-old 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) ties for first in Gibraltar, ChessBase.com, October 3, 2020

Oh yeah, Edna, I’ve always known that Jimi’s “Foxy Lady” wasn’t inspired by Heather Taylor

Artwork © Elena Fowler (MisMonsta) (@mismonsta)

Out of Place

Yeah, it’s a big problem, Edna. Almost all public administration is currently telecommuting from home, but yet they are not content to get a salary for their grueling work — they are indeed very anxious to suppress any civil rights and freedoms of the enslaved and oppressed people, who otherwise could stop working twelve hours a day to give all civil servants a 13 months salary... So, what do you think? Will Spartacus tackle the slave-owning oligarchy again?

Artwork © Leiani13

Shadow Game

Marek Biegalski, Shadow Game, Tuscany, Italy. Photo: Marek Biegalski/Drone Photo Awards 2020.

Of course, Edna, we all have mood swings — you don’t have to feel guilty about that

Artwork © e1venbeauty

Down to Earth

Alessio Valsecchi – Pier Luigi Basso
11th Dolomiti International Chess Open; Forni di Sopra, October 1, 2020
Caro-Kann Defence B15

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 c6 4. h3 d5 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. 0-0 c4 10. Be2 Qa5 11. Bd2 Qa4 12. Qc1!?TN (12. Nh4 Nc6 13. f4 e6 14. g4 Ne7 15. Kh2⩲↑ Nozdrachev – V. Borisenko, 7th World Rapid Chess Championship, Saint Petersburg 2018) 12. ... Na6 13. Bd1 Nc7 14. Nh4 h5 15. Rb1 b6 16. Re1 Be6 17. Bg5 Kd7 18. Qb2 Rae8 19. Bc1 Bh6 20. Bxh6 Rxh6 21. Nf3 Rhh8 22. Ng5 Ref8 23. Re3 Bf5 24. Nf3 Rhg8 25. Qb4 Qxb4 26. cxb4 g5 27. Rb2 g4 28. Nh4 Be6 29. hxg4 hxg4 30. a4 f5 31. exf6 exf6 32. c3 f5 33. f4 gxf3 34. Nxf3 f4 35. Re5 Kd6 36. Rbe2 Bg4 37. Re1 Re8 38. Kf2 Bxf3 39. Bxf3 Rxe5 40. Rxe5

40. ... Rh8? The curse of the 40th move strikes again. Correct was 40. ... Re8 in order to answer 41. Rf5 by 41. ... Re3= with equality. 41. Rf5? Maybe the only inaccuracy by Valsecchi. Best is 41. Rg5! as after 41. ... Rh1 42. b5!+− White wins in all lines; for instance: 42. ... Rc1 43. Rg6+ Ke7 44. Rg7+ Kd8 45. Bg4! a6 46. a5! and finis. 41. ... Rh4? Apparently, Black missed here his last saving chance: 41. ... Rh1! 42. Rxf4 Rc1 43. Rf6+ Ke7 44. Rc6 Kd8 45. Bg4 Rxc3 46. Rd6+ Ke8 47. Rd7 Na6 48. b5 Nb4 49. Rxa7 Ra3 with a draw coming soon. 42. Rf6+ Ke7 43. Rc6 Kd7 44. b5+− Kd8 45. Rg6 Rh7 46. Rd6+ Ke7 47. Rc6 Kd8 48. Bg4 Ne8 49. Rc8+ Ke7 50. Ra8 Nf6 51. Bf5 Rh5 52. Rxa7+ Kd8 53. Bc2 Ne4+ 54. Bxe4 dxe4 55. Rf7 Rh4 56. Rf6 Kd7 57. d5 f3 58. gxf3 exf3 59. Rxb6 Rh2+ 60. Kxf3 Rc2 61. Ke4 Rxc3 62. Rc6 1 : 0.

Rooftops

A woman reads a book at Chobhar a picnic spot in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters.

Not Only Chess

This morning we exchanged views with Florence’s Quarter 2 President Michele Pierguidi about our NON-participation in the Festa dello Sport at the Giardini del Campo di Marte which was held from September 9–11, 2020. On such occasion, we illustrated to the President the new contemporaneity of Fischerandom chess (a.k.a. chess960), with a bright hope of winning a new enthusiast!

Well, yes, Edna, perhaps Scholar’s Mate may be a fair way to turn after-school study time into free time

Artwork © 𝔻𝕚𝕓𝕦𝕛𝕠𝕤🌼 𝕕𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕤👩‍🎨𝕝𝕚𝕫💕 (@dibujoselizz)