Saturday, February 10, 2018

Alan Lasser's Game of the Week

 
 The Chess World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, is currently playing Hikaru Nakamura in a Fischer-Random chess match.  The non-traditional starting positions generate opening moves unlike what they play on the grandmaster circuit, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference, the second game of the match is a common everyday sort of chess position after 18…0-0.  It certainly sounds like a good idea, throw out the preparation and see who is really the best at moving the pieces around, but the first two games of the match have shown that at the elite level, it’s just as difficult to gain a winnable advantage at Fischer-Random.  Two games is too small for a sample, but the worst case scenario for the future of Fischer-Random would be if it actually made draws a bit more likely, by removing the decisive results that come from bad opening preparation. 
  The starting position has the Black knights at a8 and b8, the queen at c8, rooks at d8 and h8, the bishops are at e8 and f8, and the King is at g8(ready to complete the castling maneuver allowed in Fischer-Random).
  The White starting position is the mirror, knights at a1 and b1, queen on c1, rooks on d1 and h1, bishops on e1 and f1, and the King on g1.
 
GM Hikaru Nakamura-GM Magnus Carlsen
2/9/18
2018 Fischer-Random Match
Berum, Norway
4.c4 b5 
18.Qc2 0-0 
The software programs just stop here, they do not yet recognize the Fischer-Random castle, where the rook on h8 hops to f8.  At this point I had to start a new game with the remaining moves and combine the two sections for the notation to the whole game.  The moves played are numbered correctly, but the moves in the analysis are not.
21.Nf1 Rd7 
22.Rxd7 Nxd7 
23.Bc4 Qd6 
24.Ne3 Qd4 
26…Nb6 
28.Qb3+ Kf8 
30.Nf1 Nd6 
31.Ng3 Nb5 
33.Qd1 Nd4 
34.Qd2 Kg7 
35.Kh2 Qc2 
36.Qe3 a6 
37…exf4 
40.Kh2 Qxa3 
41.Qc5 Kf8 
43.Qc4+ ½-½
 
 
Your pgn reader may be unable to play through the game because it has not been programmed for the Fischer-Random castling move.
 
[Event "2018 Fischer-Random Match "]
[Site "Berum, Norway"]
[Date "2018.02.09"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Result "*"]
[FEN "nnqrbbkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNQRBBKR w - - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]
 
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Rxd4 d6 4.c4 b5 5.Nb3 Nc6 6.Rd1 bxc4 7.Bxc4 Nb6 8.Be2 g6
$6 { +0.39/19 } ( 8...f5 { +0.07/21 } 9.exf5 Qxf5 10.f4 e6 11.Nc3 Be7 12.Bg3
Bf6 13.Bd3 Qg4 14.Kf2 Nb4 ) ( 8...Qb8 { -0.17   Stockfish } ) ( 8...h5 9.Nc3
h4 10.h3 Qb8 11.Bd2 d5 12.Bf4 e5 13.Bg5 f6 14.exd5 Nb4 15.Be3 N6xd5
{ -0.19   Stockfish } ) 9.Bc3 f6 10.h4 h5 11.Rh3 Bf7 12.Rg3 Ne5 13.Bxe5 dxe5
14.Rc3 Rxd1+ 15.Qxd1 Qa8 16.N1d2 Bh6 17.Rc7 Qb8 18.Qc2 0-0
19.Ba6 Bxd2 22.Nxd2 Rd8 21.Nf1 Rd7 22.Rxd7 Nxd7 23.Bc4 Qd6 24.Ne3 Qd4 25.b4 $6
{ -0.23/27 } ( 7.Qb3 { +0.29/25 } 7...Bxc4 8.Qxc4+ Qxc4 9.Nxc4 Nc5 10.f3 Nd3
11.a3 Kf7 12.Kf1
{ 12. b4 Ke6 13. Kf1 Kd7 14. Ne3 Nf4 15. a4   +0.21   Stockfish } 12...Ke6
13.g3 g5 14.hxg5 fxg5 ) ( 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qc7 Nb6 9.Qxa7 Qxb2 10.a4 Qb1+
11.Kh2 Qxe4 12.Qxb6 Qxh4+ 13.Kg1 Qxa4 { +0.25   Stockfish } ) 26...Nb6 27.Bxf7+
Kxf7 28.Qb3+ Kf8 29.Qb1 Nc8 30.Nf1 Nd6 31.Ng3 Nb5 32.a3 Qc4 $6 { -0.19/26 } ( 
13...Qc3 { -0.69/26 } 14.a4 Na3
{ 14...Nd4 15. b5 Qd2 16. Kf1 Kf7 17. Kg1 Ke8 18. Kf1 Qc3 19. Kg1 Qc4 20.
Qd1 Ne6 21. Kh2 Nf4   -0.76   Stockfish } 15.Qd1 Qxb4 16.Qd8+ Kg7 17.Ne2 Nb1
18.Qe8 Qd6 19.Kh2 Qe6 20.Kh1 a6 21.Kg1 Nd2 22.Nc3 Nc4 23.Qa8 Qb6 24.Qc8 Nd2
25.Qe8 Qc5 26.Qd8 Nb3 ) 33.Qd1 Nd4 34.Qd2 Kg7 35.Kh2 Qc2 36.Qe3 a6 37.f4 $6
{ -0.55/26 } ( 18.f3 { -0.14/28 } 37...Qc4 38.Qd2 Qb3 39.Qc1 Kf7 40.Nh1 Qd3
22.Ng3 Qc2 23.Qf1 Kg7 24.Qxa6 Nxf3+ 25.Kh3 Ne1 26.Qe2 Qc3 27.Kh2 Nc2 28.Qb5
Qd4 29.Qe8 Qd6 30.Qa4 ) ( 18.Nf1 Nb5 19.f3 Nd4 20.Ng3 Kf7 21.Nf1 Ke8 22.Nd2
Kd7 23.f4 Nc6 24.Nb3 exf4 25.Nc5+ Kd8 26.Qxf4 Ne5 { -0.09   Stockfish } )
37...exf4 38.Qxd4 fxg3+ 39.Kxg3 Qb3+ $6 { 0.00/28 } ( 20...Qe2 { -0.71/26 }
21.Kh2
{ 21. a4 Qg4+ 22. Kh2 Qxh4+ 23. Kg1 Qe1+ 24. Kh2 h4 25. e5 fxe5 26. Qc5
Qg3+ 27. Kg1 Kf8 28. b5 h3 29. Qc8+ Kf7 30. Qxh3 Qxh3 31. gxh3 axb5 32.
axb5 Ke6 33. Kg2 Kd5 34. Kf3 Kc5 35. Ke4 Kxb5 36. Kxe5 Kc4 37. Ke6 Kd4 38. Kxe7 Ke5 39. Kf7 g5 40. Kg6 Kf4 41. Kf6 g4 42. hxg4 Kxg4   =   Stockfish
} 21...Qg4 22.Qd5 Qxh4+ 23.Kg1 Qe1+ 24.Kh2 Qc3 25.Qe6 Qc7+ 26.Kg1 Qc1+ 27.Kh2
Qf4+ 28.Kg1 Qe3+ 29.Kh2 Qf4+ ) 40.Kh2 Qxa3 41.Qc5 Kf8 42.Qc8+ Kf7 43.Qc4+
1/2-1/2
 

 

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