Amber Blindfold and Rapid - Simonsen

Round 10

2-0 against Ponomariov, what a great day! As white in the rapid game, everything went quite smoothly. From a relatively quiet opening I eventually got a somewhat better position with my bishop pair. My opponent then decided to open up the kingside, which turned out to be a double-edged sword, to say the least. Soon all my pieces were concentrated on the kingside, and when I started my counterattack, the game was essentially over already. A rook down, he resigned on move 41. The rapid game was a completely different story. After he surprised me in the opening, I got some problems, and I had to sacrifice a pawn. I eventually got reasonable compensation, even after the queens had been swapped off. After the knights were swapped, and just one rook and four pawn were remaining on each side, everything was headed for a draw. However, now, for the first time in the game I had a very slight advantage, so I decided to play on for a few moves at least. A few moves later I managed to saddle him with a weak pawn, and it became clear the though the position was still a clear draw, white would definitely have to suffer for a while. Unable to cope with the new circumstances, my opponent did not defend in the best way, and eventually lost a pawn. He could still have made a draw with precise play, but down to a few seconds on the clock he went wrong, and let his king be cut off from his last remaining pawn. Then, I was absolutely sure I would win, as I could just follow a game of mine from 2006, where I had won the exact same endgame. I soon won his last pawn, and with it, the game. Ivanchuk and Kramnik made two draws, with Ivanchuk pushing in first game (with serious winnings chances along the way) and Kramnik pushing in the second. This means that I am now the sole leader, with 13.5/20. Ivanchuk has 13/20, while Kramnik in third has 12/20. Tomorrow I am facing Alexander Grischuk. The Russian champion has, despite an unecessary loss today, done very well in the blindfold section, and is leading with 7/10. As I am clear second with 6.5/10, tomorrow will decide the winner in that section. For the record, his rapid play has been far less impressive, and with 4.5/10 he is two points behind in the combined, a lead I do not intend to give away too easily :)

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 24th 2010  

Round 9

1.5-0.5 against Dominguez today, finally back on track. The blindfold game was not a very exiting affair, as after a quiet opening as white, Dominguez played solidly without blundering, and there was not much I could do. Actually the most interesting thing that happened, was that I made an illegal move at one point, having forgotten where my rook was. Afterwards I discovered that the move I had attempted to make was a serious blunder, so I could really count myself lucky :) Anyway I eventually got a symbolic advantage in an almost symmetrical position, but there was no way to make progress, and the game quickly ended in a draw by three-fold repetition on move 50. The rapid game was considerably more interesting. After a slightly unusual opening I obtained a very promising position in the early middlegame. Soon I was already searching for a way to finish him off. I did not manage to do that, but after a couple of mistakes by my opponent, I got a winning position anyway. Subsequently, I certainly did not find the quickest win, but what I did was more than good enough, and I forced my opponent's capitulation on move 47, when one of my three connected passed pawns was about to queen. Ivanchuk has slowed down his pace a bit, but with two draws today he is still leading with 12/18, ahead of me at 11.5, and Kramnik and Grischuk at 11. Tomorrow I play Ruslan Ponomariov, who became FIDE world champion in 2002 at the age of 18. He has not had such great results since then, but is still a great player. I am certainly hoping to close in on the gap though, as my recent results against Ponomariov have been pretty good. Ivanchuk and Kramnik are playing each other, in another crucial contest.

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 23rd  

Round 8

0.5-1.5 against Kramnik today, and another day with absolutely awful play. In the blindfold game I sacrificed a pawn in the opening, for which I had reasonable compensation. I then proceeded to misplay position completely, and use up all my time. After he played a bit inaccurately, I had some chances again, but I did not take them, and lost like a complete idiot. In the rapid game I got quite a decent position from the opening, and had quite a reasonable position until I missed a simple tactic, and got a completely lost position. However, I had decided not to give up too easily that day, and fought on. He could not find an immediate knockout, and used up all of his time. On move 42 I could actually have made a draw with Qxd6, while my move, Rc1 was a serious blunder due to his simple response Re4, which led to a totally winning endgame with two pawns up for him. I once again seriously considered resigning, but decided to make a few more moves, and with great reward! He started to play inaccurately, and by move 55 the win was not quite automatic anymore. Five moves later I regained one pawn, and suddenly the endgame was now drawish. He fought for another 30 moves, but the endgame with knight and two pawns against bishop was quite an easy draw. At the endgame I could even sacrifice my bishop for one of his pawns, resulting in a theoretically drawn endgame. Tomorrow is a free day, which I apparently desperately need right now, to regain my composure. Fortunately Ivanchuk could only make two draws against Dominguez today, and is just one point ahead of me, with 6 games to go. My opponent on tuesday is the Cuban Dominguez. Dominguez is a very good player indeed, but his dismal score so far in the tournament(last place so far, with now wins) and my excellent previous record against him (+5=5 in classiscal games) certainly gives me grounds for optimism.

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 21th

Round 7

0.5-1.5 against Gashimov today, a miserable result for the first time since round 1. In the blindfold game I got a good position from the opening in a queenless middlegame, but then I became too ambitious, and grabbed a pawn, which turned out to be a huge mistake after I had missed his strong answer. As a result, I ended up in a fairly hopeless endgame with a passive bishop, and this time my opponent played very accurately and gave me no chances to escape. I was naturally hoping to strike back in the rapid game, and initially everything went very well, as I got excellent compensation for the pawn I had given up. Then, when I could have opbtained a big advantage with precise play, I made a serious inaccuracy, which turned the evaluation to equal. After a further blunder, having missed something as simple as a mate in 2 in one line, I was suddendly trying to find a way not to lose a stranded knight. I managed that by a nice combination, but the rook endgame that we reached was still lost for me. Luckily, my opponent did not play very accurately, and I managed to save the draw with some good defence. Ivanchuk won 1.5-0.5 against Grischuk today, including an impressive win in the second game, where he took considerable risks in order to avoid a draw, and was eventually rewarded. Ivanchuk is now leading with 10/14, followed by me at 9.5 and Karjakin and Gelfand at 8.5. Karjakin has now five a row, including his rapid against me. Well done! Tomorrow I am playing Kramnik, who is probably my main rival in general right. I will certainly need to take my game up a few notches from today to strike back, but I am optimistic as always :)

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 20th 2010

Round 6

After having lost the rapid game poorly yesterday, it was time to get back on track against Gelfand today. As white in the blindfold game I employed an unusual continuation on move 8, and did not get any advantage from the opening, as my opponent played actively and well. Eventually we reached a position where my prospects didn't look that great due to the passive position of my rooks, that both had to defend my weak pawn on c2. However, I was not that unhappy, as he had some weaknesses as well, and not many squares for his minor pieces. I gradually improved my position, and when I opened the position on the kingside on move 41, black was already in big trouble. Ten move later the game finished with a picturesque checkmate in middle of the board. In the rapid game I employed the kings indian defence, the opening I had used to beat Aronian in good style earlier in the tournament. This time however, the game went less smoothly for me. I got a worse position without much counterplay a mistake on move 14. However, my opponent quickly returned the favour, allowing me to solve my problems, and even get an initiative. He then spent a lot of time and found a great resource, that apparently would force perpetual check and a draw. However, as I had a lot of time left I calculated for a while and found out that it was still possible to pose him some serious problems, though I had to be careful not to fall into mate. For instance, in one variation, my king would have run all across the board to safety at b4. There was still a narrow path to a draw, but short of my opponent could not surprisingly not find it, and in the game I eventually escaped from the checks, and finished the game with a nice little combination that won his queen. Since Ivanchuk only made two draws from superior positions today, I am now leading the tournament with 9/12. Ivanchuk is second with 8.5, while Gelfand, Kramnik and Grischuk are sharing 3rd place at a respectful distance with 7/12. Tomorrow I am playing Vugar Gashimov. The 23-year old Azeri recently broke into the top ten in the world, and is a dangerous opponent for anyone.

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 19th 2010

Round 5

My winning streak finally ended today, at 7. I still have no draws though, so at least one streak is yet to end :) In the blindfold game against Karjakin I sacrificed a pawn for some compensation right after the opening. He was probably slightly better, but after he missed a shot that allowed me to win the pawn back with clearly the better bishop and pawn structure in an opposite-coloured bishop middlegame. As he rather short of time, I set a trap for him, allowing a seemingly quite strong bishop sacrifice, which I had calculated to be good for black. As a result, I got a pawn up in a queen endgame, with excellent winning chances. I felt that I played quite well subsequently, and won quite handily. A game I am very satisfied with! The rapid game however, was a rather sad story. After employing a logical and apparently quite strong novelty in the opening, my opponent quickly seized the upper hand. I then made a couple of weak moves, but my opponent missed a good chance (Ba5 instead of Rb3 as he played), which led to a position where I had a pawn less, but with a strong, passed pawn on the d-file. For some reason I then started to play for a win, which backfired completely after I missed a couple of good counters of his (Qe5 and Bd5). 0-1 The two oldest players Ivanchuk(41 today!) and Gelfand(41) beat Smeets and Dominguez 1.5-0.5 and 2-0 respectively. This means that Ivanchuk is now in the sole lead, with 7.5/10, followed by Gelfand and I at 7/10. The aforementioned Smeets and Dominguez share the dubious honour of being in last place, neither having won a game so far. My opponent tomorrow is Gelfand, certainly a tough opponent considering his current form.

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 18th 2010
  

Round 4

2-0 again today, and 6 in a row! In the blindfold game today against Jan Smeets, I got an interesting position from the opening after 1. g3 as white, with some advantage. I then failed to find any way to increase my advantage, while he defended quite well. We reached an endgame where I was a pawn up, but I would have had serious problems if he had just stayed put. However, his previous good defending had cost a lot of time, and as he had only one minute left I decided to make a couple of waiting moves, hoping that he would fall into my trap and snatch a pawn. Fortunately for me, he fell right into to trap, and a few moves later he resigned, as mate could only be avoided by giving up a rook. The rapid game was even tougher. After the opening he had a slight advantage in an almost symmetrical position. He then made a few innacuracies, so that I could first equalise, and then even get some winning chances with bishop against knight in the endgame. Short of time, he made the last mistake at move 54, and two moves later he resigned as my h-pawn was queening. Ivanchuk continued his great form, beating Aronian after warding off the Armenian's attack following a piece sac in the rapid game. He now has 6/8 in total, with 3/4 in both blindfold and rapid, exactly the same as the author of these lines. Grischuk and Gelfand share second place with 5/8. In Gelfand's case it should be mentioned that he has scored an excellent 5/6 the last three days, after suffering the same plight as I did the first day. Today he routed Kramnik 2-0, with especially the rapid game being very impressive. This means that the Russian now has a bit of ground to make up, at 50% with 4/8. Tomorrow is a free day. On thursday I will play Sergey Karjakin(20). I won my first classical game against the Russian, who was the youngest ever grandmaster in the world at 12y7m in Corus in January, after a few draws. My games against Karjakin are usually interesting, so I very much look forward to my next two games.

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 16th 2010  

Round 3

2-0 again today, this time against Peter Svidler. My bad start is now well forgotten! THe blindfold game today started in an amusing way. Since we usually change colors every day I had somehow assumed that I would be white in blindfold game, without checking the pairings properly. As a result, I was really surprised when 1.e4 appeared on the screen, as I had intended to play 1.d4 myself. I then sat there for a couple of minutes, as I had not yet prepared anything with black. An interesting position arose in which both sides had chances. After he missed a key blow, 22...Bxg2, the position certainly turned in my favour. I subsenquently missed a couple of good continuations, but what I did was enough to make him resign after 25 moves, in a position we both thought was dead lost for white. However, as we both realised later, his resignation was clearly premature. In the final position white could have fought on with 26. Nd7, a move both of us missed. Still, black would have been clearly better, but there was still everything to fight for. The rapid game went much smoother. From a Grünfeld Indian I reaced a pleasant position, which improved over time as I put pressure on my opponent, and he made a few inaccuracies. He resigned in a hopeless position at move 34, being a pawn down with few prospects. Ivanchuk took the sole lead today, beating Sergey Karjakin 1.5-0.5. He is half a point ahead of Ponomariov, Kramnik and I. Tomorrow my opponent is Jan Smeets. The Dutchman is the lowest rated player in the tournament, but is not to be underestimated, as witness my game against him in Corus this year, when I had to suffer a lot before finally winning in mutual time-trouble with white. Nevertheless, I naturally hope to continue the positive trend of the last two rounds.

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 15th 2010  

Round 2

After losing twice yesterday, I wrote that today would be a good moment to strike back. And I'm proud to say that that's what I did, by beating Levon Aronian 2-0. In the blindfold game I played the kings indian defence as black, which usually leads to a sharp and complicated game. I got a dynamic position, and when I got the chance to sacrifice a knight for two pawns and an attack on move 20, I really felt that things were going my way. After he missed a chance to complicate the position on the 25th move, it was over, and he resigned on the 28th move. A very enjoyable win, not least because I spent less than 10 minutes on the clock for the entire game. The rapid game was a completely different story. An equal position was reached out of the opening, and nothing much happened for the first 50 moves. Then, in a completely drawn position, he made a mistake I had being trying to provoke for a while with 50... h5, having underestimated my reply 51.g5! Suddenly, the position was not that clear anymore, and with the additional pressure of being short of time my opponent crumbled and lost 18 moves later. Vassily Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomariov are still in the lead with 3/4, both making two draws today, against Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk respectively. The aforementioned Svidler is my opponent tomorrow. The five-time Russian champion has been a more or less steady member of the top ten for 10 years now, and rarely loses. Certainly a tough opponent, but I hope to continue in the samne vein as today.

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 14th 2010

Round 1

0/2 against Vassily Ivanchuk today, an absolutely awful start! In the blindfold game I had white, and after an unconventional opening I made a serious mistake as early as the 10th move. After that it was an uphill battle already, and after a terrible blunder on the 31th move it was over. Funnily enough, I did at one point forget the position, as I imagined that he had two g-pawns instead of three. Luckily, I realised it in time, and did not hang my queen as I had intended :) In the second game I got a good position out after the opening after my opponent sacrificed first one, an then another pawn for the initiative. We reached an endgame where I had two pawn extra and the advantage, but my wrecked pawn-structure and his active pieces gave him reasonable drawing chances. Eventually, while searching for an advantage I found just about the only way to get a worse position, and after a few more mistakes I lost on time in a lost position on the 49th move. Ivanchuk is in the lead, with Ruslan Ponomariov, who beat Boris Gelfand twice. Fortunately there are still 20 rounds to go, and plenty of time to make up the lost ground. Tomorrow I play against the reigning champion Levon Aronian, who won one and lost one "today. Certainly a great opportunity to strike back!

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 13th 2010

Amber Blindfold and Rapid starting on Saturday

Amber blindfold and rapid starting on Saturday
After a solid break since Corus ended at the end of January, I am now ready for a another major tournament! The Amber Blindfold and rapid is a rather unique tournament, sponsored by the Dutch billionaire and chess lover Joop van Oosterom, that since the first edition in 1992 has attracted almost all of the best chessplayers in the world. This year is no exception, as apart from the highest rated player in the world(no points for guessing whom that might be :)there is also the world n.3 and former world champion as well as multiple winner of the Amber tournament, Vladimir Kramnik, as well as the reigning champion and world n.5,Levon Aronian, as well as several other members of the top ten. Each day we play one blindfold and one rapid game, each lasting about one hour on average. The atmosphere here more relaxed than in other super-tournaments, partly because there are no rating points at stake, but not least because of the luxurious playing conditions. Still, there is a lot of prestige connected to tournament, as most of the best players are here, and we all hate losing! Not to forget that playing blindfold is very demanding. Sometimes the blindfold game takes so much energy from the players that they are unable to produce anything decent in the rapid game later that day. The drawing of lots took place today, and as a result I will play the world n.11 Vassily Ivanchuk tomorrow. The 40-year old Ukrainian has a reputation of being an unpredictable genius, capable of producing absolutely brlliant games, as well as amateur-like losses from time to time. Ivanchuk is an Amber-veteran, being the only player to participate in all 19 editions so far! My duels with Ivanchuk are always filled with action, with plenty of decisive games since our first meeting in 2005, so stay tuned tomorrow at 16.00

Magnus Carlsen
Nice, March 12th 2010