Monthly Archives: February 2015

39:th Kisei titel match, game 1

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There have been so many interesting games at the beginning of the year that it has been hard to decide on a single one that stands out. However, in the end, I felt that the game below impressed me more than all the others. It is the first game of the final series of the 39:th Kisei Title Match. Iyama Yuta plays the Black side against Yamashita Keigo:

Lately I have been watching the televised NHK Go tournament on youtube (the latest game can be watched here) and although I don’t understand more than ten words in japanese, I find it very relaxing. The tempo of the games gives you time to think for yourself before the next move is played and the comments are quite understandable even for someone who doesn’t get the language. This is something that worries me with the new DVD culture in chess. If you only use DVD:s as a source of information, there is a risk that you will become passive and instead of learning how to think, will learn not to think.

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Carlsen plays the Modern, again

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The World Champion has tried out the Modern Defence for the second time within a month and I feel it is my responibility to comment on this game since it follows my main line in “The Modern Tiger” up to move 8.

I am kind of hoping that this initial setback will not make Magnus abandon the Modern. I lost my first three games in this opening and it was only when I returned to it (a year later), that I got it right. Post Script: I now see (after having it pointed out to me by a friendly reader) that it was much more difficult to evaluate 19…Rab8, than I originally thought. It bears witness to how little we sometimes see from the side lines and how easily we… well, hrrm, I, fell into a false narrative. I shall try to do better next time.