Opening Developments in Yekaterinburg
One of the most interesting aspects of a tournament at the highest level is the plethora of new and creative opening ideas displayed by each player. Each of the eight candidates spent months preparing their repertoires and created specific ideas for one another, while not being afraid to show their best analytical work.
The first part of my reflection focusses on opening ideas from the first half of the tournament (Rounds 1-7), especially ones by Giri and Caruana because these two unleashed several remarkable ideas in their games. These ideas have contributed significantly to the development of theory in the Catalan, Classical Slav, and 6Bc5 Ruy Lopez in particular. As we will see in our analysis of the games below, some of these ideas are strong enough to completely overwrite past conclusions from opening theory.
Lighting up the Symmetrical English
Right from the start of the tournament against Nepomniachtchi, Giri made it clear how much effort had been invested into his Candidates preparation. His concept began with a new idea on move 12 and the ensuing complications were filled with double-edged positions and exchange sacrifices. Nepomniachtchi demonstrated great resilience by heading straight for the critical line of Giris preparation and then successfully calculated his way out of danger. Suddenly the initiative passed to Nepomniachtchi, who eventually won a difficult endgame which was on the verge of becoming a fortress.
Anish Giri vs Ian Nepomniachtchi, Round 3 | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Caruanas Double Pawn Sacrifice
Caruanas repertoire with the Black pieces (Classical Slav and 6Bc5 against the Ruy Lopez) would have been very difficult to predict before the tournament began. In his Round 3 game against Ding Liren, Caruana not only surprised his opponent by playing the Classical Slav, but also unleashed a shocking novelty on move 9 based on a double pawn sacrifice. Similarly to the game between Giri and Nepomniachtchi, Ding responded by heading for one of the most critical lines in Caruanas preparation and successfully calculated his way out of danger. Unfortunately for Caruana, he mixed up the move order in his preparation and ended up with insufficient compensation for the two pawns after Ding found a way to consolidate.
The result doesnt diminish the impact of Caruanas new idea, and I am especially interested in seeing how the theory develops in this line after 10.e4, where the resulting positions are extremely messy and full of sharp ideas.
Ding Liren | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Giris h5-h4 in the Catalan
The Catalan is a staple in the repertoire of many elite players, especially Ding Liren, who plays closed openings almost exclusively with the White pieces. Facing Ding Lirens Catalan in Round 4, Giri employed a rare system with 4a5!? and reached a position that looks favourable for White because of Blacks hanging pawns. However, Giri had prepared some very deep ideas involving h5-h4 which not only make this system fully playable, but also give Black excellent chances to fight for the initiative in some lines (see Vidit Giri in the annotations below).
Considering that Giri had enough confidence in the 4a5 system to employ it against one of the worlds leading experts on the Catalan, I would not be surprised if it eventually becomes as mainstream as some of the other, more established ways of meeting the Catalan.
Anish Giri fighting the Catalan | Photo: Lennart Ootes
AlphaZero-Inspired Play Against the Grunfeld
I should mention that each of the ideas discussed in this article were certainly analyzed extensively by the players and their neural network engines (Leela Chess Zero and recent versions of Stockfish, among others). However, this game in particular contains clear parallels to AlphaZeros famous h-pawn advance in the Grunfeld. Caruana plays the Classical Exchange Variation with 7.Bc4 against Nepomniachtchis Grunfeld and goes for a modern idea involving h4-h5 to put pressure on Blacks kingside dark squares. Nepomniachtchi reacts well and finds a way to simplify the game, leading to a slightly worse endgame which he holds comfortably.
New Ideas in the 6Bc5 Ruy Lopez
Caruana defended one of the most critical lines (10.a5) in the 6Bc5 Ruy Lopez twice in the first half of the Candidates. In both games, Caruana showed deep knowledge of the arising positions and had several new ideas in store. Especially in the game we are about to examine, Caruanas 12th move likely came as a complete shock to Grischuk because this move was previously thought to be tactically flawed. In fact, exploiting the tactical flaw could easily backfire on White as Black seizes a powerful initiative and obtains dangerous kingside attacking chances (see the note to Whites 13th move).
Alexander Grischuk and Fabiano Caruana analyse their game | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Nepomniachtchis French Defence
We have already discussed some surprising changes in Caruanas Black repertoire for the Candidates, but arguably the most shocking repertoire change in the event was Nepomniachtchis decision to deviate from his usual Najdorf and play the Winawer French in Rounds 3 and 7. In an extremely important Round 7 matchup between MVL (3.5/6 points) and Nepomniachtchi (4.5/6 points), MVL went for a relatively new and critical setup against the Winawer and obtained a very comfortable position immediately out of the opening.
This was the only game in the Candidates where Nepomniachtchis calculation abilities and resilience in defence were not enough to survive against deep, targeted preparation and strong middlegame play by his opponent.
The eventual tournament winner Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Pros and Cons of Deep Preparation
One of the key themes seen throughout this article was the use of deep, original preparation. Perhaps the most attractive reason to employ such preparation is that the opponent will be forced to think over the board while the prepared player can rely on remembering and understanding their home analysis. This leads to an advantage on the clock as well as a psychological advantage because the player on the receiving end of the preparation may be concerned with traps set by the opponent. For example, Grischuk remarked after his game with Caruana that it was very unpleasant to play half of the game against a computer (i.e., Caruanas preparation).
It may be the case that certain players react better to their opponents deep preparation. In the first two games of the article, we saw how Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren both managed to calculate their way out of opening problems, seize the initiative, and eventually take the full point over Giri and Caruana respectively. Especially in the case of Nepomniachtchi, who usually employs a double-edged and narrow repertoire with the Black pieces (Grunfeld and Winawer or Najdorf), this ability to calmly calculate when faced with the opponents deep preparation is extremely important.
As a further warning of relying heavily on deep preparation, we saw in the Ding Liren Caruana game that it is impossible to memorize every detail (17Ng6 instead of 17Rc8!) and that the engine can sometimes provide a false sense of knowledge and security. In reality, the position may be just as dangerous (or even more so) for the side employing the preparation, but this is only realized over the board.
Clearly deep preparation will remain an important component of top-level chess, but I think that it is useful for players of all strengths to recognize its limitations and understand the risks involved for both sides, so they can be addressed and diminished before it is too late during a game.
The first game in my second article will be another piece of deep preparation by Caruana, which eventually brings him a very important victory.
The second part of this 2020-2021 Candidates reflection will focus on opening ideas from the second half of the tournament (Rounds 8-14).
See the original post here:
Reflecting on the 2020-21 Candidates Part 1 - Chessbase News
- The Silicon Gambit: How AI is Reshaping the World's Oldest Game - Chess.com - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- Gukesh wins Candidates: The boy raised without chess engines wholl challenge Ding Liren at World Championships - The Indian Express - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- Stars of the future shine in chess's ancestral homeland - Washington Times - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- The 15 Best Episodes of Cowboy Bebop - MovieWeb - September 19th, 2023 [September 19th, 2023]
- Charge of the knight brigade: Indian teens storm global chess - IndiaTimes - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Knowing when to insist - ChessBase - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- World Cup: Pragg and Salimova win tiebreakers - ChessBase - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- What do F-16 and MiG-29 fighter jets do? - Times of Oman - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Xbox game releases August 21 to 27 - TrueAchievements - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Go! Guide Aug. 17 - The Republic - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- MinStrength: An Alternative to Performance Rating - ChessBase - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Mittens (chess engine) - Wikipedia - January 31st, 2023 [January 31st, 2023]
- AlphaZero - Chess Engines - Chess.com - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- 2022 U.S. Chess Championships, Round 3: Earning Respect! | US Chess.org - uschess.org - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Go! Guide Oct. 13 - The Republic - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Events, sales and more things happening Downriver The News Herald - Southgate News Herald - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Chess cheating drama: What are the different ways to cheat in chess? - The Indian Express - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Formula 1 2022: How to Watch the Italian Grand Prix Today - CNET - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- The Machines That Made 500 Years of Circumnavigation Possible - Popular Mechanics - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Formula 1 2022: How to Watch the Belgian Grand Prix Today - CNET - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Kids want to grow, learn; are we planting seeds of knowledge? - Las Cruces Sun-News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- New: 3.h4 against the Kings Indian and Grnfeld - ChessBase India - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- A bright chess champ emerges from Thiruvallur - The New Indian Express - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Interviewing The Coach Of Olympiad Sensation Gukesh - Chess.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Virtual Psychiatry is Here to Stay - Psychiatric Times - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Whatever Happened to the Transhumanists? - Gizmodo - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Beyond Carlsen: the devaluation of the World Chess Championship - TheArticle - July 31st, 2022 [July 31st, 2022]
- Go! Guide July 21 - The Republic - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Chennai Chess Olympiad and AI - Analytics India Magazine - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Go! Guide July 23 - The Republic - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Was Basman right? Iconoclasm, ridicule and chess - TheArticle - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix Is Today: How to Watch the Race Live - CNET - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Sentience is the wrong discussion to have on AI right now - TechTalks - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- Headlines at 10:30 am on 20th June 2022 - The Indian Express - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- 5 Chess Brilliancies That Stockfish Hates - Chess.com - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Carlsen Wins, Leads, Hits A 2870 Live Rating - Chess.com - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- 21 things to do with kids in San Diego County in June - The San Diego Union-Tribune - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- Is This Cooling Technology Company Ready To Heat Up? - Benzinga - Benzinga - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Calendar of events and activities throughout Downriver - Southgate News Herald - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Tilting Point partners with Polygon on Web3 games - VentureBeat - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- Online booking agents have been behaving like kings - it's time to topple them - City A.M. - April 17th, 2022 [April 17th, 2022]
- Chess Games - Play Chess Games on CrazyGames - March 29th, 2022 [March 29th, 2022]
- A tale of two universities and two engines - Chess News - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Charity Cup: Anton wins three in a row to reach knockout - Chess News - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Formula 1: How to Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix and F1 Racing in 2022 - CNET - March 26th, 2022 [March 26th, 2022]
- Praggnanandhaa, 16, becomes only third Indian to beat Magnus Carlsen in stunning upset - ESPN - February 21st, 2022 [February 21st, 2022]
- Is Artificial Intelligence as Intelligent as We Think it is? - Analytics Insight - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Didnt Become a Hostage- Former World Chess Champion Calls Magnus Carlsen the Bridge Between Traditional and Modern Chess - EssentiallySports - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Can the academy rein in Big Tech? - Times Higher Education - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- FIDE World Women's Team Championship Final: Russia Wins Gold In Victory Over India - Chess.com - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Researchers warn that social media may be fundamentally at odds with science - TechCrunch - February 15th, 2022 [February 15th, 2022]
- Battle of the Sexes: Men triumph! - Chessbase News - February 9th, 2022 [February 9th, 2022]
- Battle of the Sexes: Men increase lead - Chessbase News - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Chairman of the board | Boris Starling - The Critic - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Using AI in Recruiting - Onrec - February 5th, 2022 [February 5th, 2022]
- Arena Download - Complete GUI for chess engines that will ... - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- A hundred years of exactitude: Jos Ral Capablanca - TheArticle - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- Intel Core i5-12400 vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Face-Off: The Gaming Value Showdown - Tom's Hardware - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- software - Why dont chess engines use Node.js? - Chess ... - December 29th, 2021 [December 29th, 2021]
- Stockfish - Chess Engines - Chess.com - December 27th, 2021 [December 27th, 2021]
- Top 10 Strongest Chess Engines In 2021 - Hercules Chess - December 23rd, 2021 [December 23rd, 2021]
- The 10 Greatest Blitz Chess Games Of All Time - Chess.com - December 23rd, 2021 [December 23rd, 2021]
- Ninja, the worlds top streamer, on how video games can make you smarter about money and investing - MarketWatch - December 17th, 2021 [December 17th, 2021]
- 8 Reasons To Play In The 2022 Daily Chess Championship - Chess.com - December 15th, 2021 [December 15th, 2021]
- World Chess Championship - the Arena - Chessbase News - December 7th, 2021 [December 7th, 2021]
- The World Chess Championship Opens With An Endless Knight-Rook Dance - FiveThirtyEight - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- Play chess: online and computer chess on real boards in the test - Market Research Telecast - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- The 5 Best Computer Chess Engines - Chess.com - November 15th, 2021 [November 15th, 2021]
- 10 Strongest Free Chess Engines [all above 3000 ELO] at ... - November 15th, 2021 [November 15th, 2021]
- Chessprogramming wiki - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Stockfish can crush you at chess even more efficiently in the 14.1 update - Neowin - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Grand Swiss: Shirov and Najer join Firouzja in the lead - Chessbase News - November 3rd, 2021 [November 3rd, 2021]
- Deadmau5's 'Oberhasli' is what it looks like when the metaverse comes for music fans - Mashable South East Asia - October 26th, 2021 [October 26th, 2021]
- Deadmau5's 'Oberhasli' is what it looks like when the metaverse comes for music fans - Mashable - October 24th, 2021 [October 24th, 2021]
- Deep Blue - Chess.com - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- AlphaZero Crushes Stockfish In New 1,000-Game Match - Chess.com - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- Free UCI-Compatible Chess Programs for the Stockfish Engine - HobbyLark - October 17th, 2021 [October 17th, 2021]
- CORRECTING and REPLACING RazerCon Is Back for Round II: Tune in for a Keynote By CEO Min-Liang Tan Filled With Exclusive New Announcements and Guest... - September 29th, 2021 [September 29th, 2021]
- Going back in time in La vie sans applis - The Concordian - September 8th, 2021 [September 8th, 2021]
- The Road to 2030 in the Age of Intelligence - Huawei - September 8th, 2021 [September 8th, 2021]