Wednesday chess round up
Wednesday: Chess Tidbits and Potpourri
(Photo by David Llada) Lots of chess in play right now! Congrats to Indian GM Sasikiran for winning the 2017 edition of the prestigious Capablanca Memorial! Meanwhile, Stavanger got underway yesterday, bringing together 8 of the top rated 10 players of the world, including the current World Champion, Carlsen.
Stavanger 2017
(Photo by L. Ootes)
Heralded as the strongest tournament of the year, which it no doubt is, the on-line community doesn’t seem to be very impressed, yet. Many of yesterday’s ‘official’ YouTube videos (‘chessfan’) only have triple-digit views at the time of writing this (but that will likely grow as time passes). As I have discussed numerous times on this blog, the often prostrate quality of much of the LIVE streaming coverage of tournaments has turned away chess fans.
Much better viewership can be seen at Chess24 (Svidler’s edited work especially, often in collaboration with Gustafsson) or Danny King’s ‘PowerPlay‘, both of which have developed a large and loyal fan base who have come to appreciate a more refined and edited coverage of chess events.
For those readers who prefer photos, then I recommend the excellent coverage of the talented Maria (the women on the ‘cover’ of this blog article, and who goes by the nickname ‘Miss Lova Lova’!). You can visit her TWITTER or FACEBOOK.
Also recommended is Lennart super photography: FACEBOOK or TWITTER. Finally, you might want to explore the Norwegian photographer Steinbru’s excellent work: FACEBOOK
European Championship
And if that is not enough, the world’s strongest Open tournament is heating up at the European Individual Championship in Minsk. (Games and tactics to follow below)
(Photos courtesy of Minsk organizers)
Spain’s David Anton (born 1995) won the very strong 2017 Gibraltar TradeWise tournament on tie-break (before the ‘traditional’ but problematic rapid/blitz lottery, which gave Nakamura the ‘official’ title) and is now considered by many as the top player of his generation. Will he be able to repeat his success in Minsk?
Some social-media humour and insight
Might actually work! Give it a try…
Can you solve Tania ‘s chess problem?
When in doubt, blame it on Putin!
Sasikiran wins Capablanca Memorial!
Taking full advantage of the absence of Cuba’s leading grandmasters, Dominguez and Bruzon, Sasikiran’s solid play was sufficient to go undefeated, finally finishing a full point ahead of both Ivanchuk and Shankland. The 36 year old Madras native was also the only participant to go undefeated.
