Grand Chess Draw Croatia

[Matt Mackenzie]

Tbf until today even the draw-heavy rounds usually had quite a bit of interesting chess.

Only one rest day for a 12 player event does seem a bit steep, too. Still, one does suspect tomorrow may prove more interesting

[David Sedgwick]

Only one rest day for a 12 player event does seem a bit steep, too.

There was a general desire from both players and organisers for meaningful tiebreaks in the event of a tie in the Classic events, so a day has been provided at the end both in Zagreb and in St Louis. To facilitate this, a possible second rest day was sacrificed.

This sort of thing is reviewed by the Grand Chess Tour at the end of each year.

[David Robertson]

Carlsen 1 - 0 MVL Easier than shelling peas. Equals his highest-ever Elo @ 2882

Nepo 0 - 1 Giri Frankly, even I could defend against Nepo's weary frivolous sac. Free point for Giri

I've never scored anything like +5 against such a field before... it's going well!

[Matt Mackenzie]

Knew that Magnus would be up for this one after what happened earlier this year

[Nick Burrows]

Nepo 0 - 1 Giri Frankly, even I could defend against Nepo's weary frivolous sac. Free point for Giri

No disrespect, but I woud have Nepo down for 100/100 if he played that sac against you. (Or me)

In answer to the poll question that started the thread - there were 41 draws

[NickFaulks]

In answer to the poll question that started the thread - there were 41 draws

I counted 47.

[Nick Burrows]

In answer to the poll question that started the thread - there were 41 draws

I counted 47.

Whoops, I'll take your word for it, I must have missed a round.

[John McKenna]

I get 49 draws and 17 decisive out of 66 games in all!?

[Ian Thompson]

In answer to the poll question that started the thread - there were 41 draws

I counted 47.

I didn't count anything, preferring to get Excel to do it for me. It says 19 wins and 47 draws.

[David Robertson]

Nepo 0 - 1 Giri Frankly, even I could defend against Nepo's weary frivolous sac. Free point for Giri

No disrespect, but I would have Nepo down for 100/100 if he played that sac against you. (Or me)

In truth, I wasn't wholly joking. Take a close look at the game.

At 13 Nxh7, in any thought experiment involving Nepo v. me, I'm taking the N with 13...Kxh7, and waiting for the coup de grace. Either I'm 100% busted (as I assume); or I'm not certain yet (because I'm too clueless to see the finish). So I play on. Not hard because it's mostly forced for the next eight moves. And even I can see that, if the BK quickly evacuates the K-side, some defensive shelter can be found on d7. Hence, after 21...Kd7, I can breathe again. Now, untangle the Q-side pieces; shift the heavy stuff K-side; nail down e6. Not that difficult to plan or achieve. OK, I grant Nepo would want me to show much more before resigning. But I'd be feeling fairly comfortable.

So what must Giri have thought? That it was Christmas Day, I imagine

[Ian Thompson]

So what must Giri have thought? That it was Christmas Day, I imagine

Apparently, he thought "... his opponent probably thought the sacrifice was sound, as the computers show it as good for White before reaching certain depth of analysis." (https://en.chessbase.com/post/zagreb-gr ... 9-round-11), a view which seems to be supported by the asinine computer analysis just above the comment:

giri.jpg

[David Robertson]

So what must Giri have thought? That it was Christmas Day, I imagine

Apparently, he thought "... his opponent probably thought the sacrifice was sound, as the computers show it as good for White before reaching certain depth of analysis." (https://en.chessbase.com/post/zagreb-gr ... 9-round-11), a view which seems to be supported by the asinine computer analysis just above the comment:

giri.jpg

I'm quite bewildered. I watched the game *live*, and saw 13 Nxh7 go in. Clearly, I carried on watching in such circumstances, watching and analysing. And I couldn't see enough. OK, I'm not Nepo. So what's the trick I've missed? It turns out there's no trick: it's not enough. Later, I saw the computer line given by Ian above, with the scarcely credible Nxh7! (note: !), rightly described by Ian as 'asinine'. My bewilderment therefore stems from Nepo. What on earth was he thinking? The sac barely needs an engine to work out that the BK can run to d7 (I did it!) where after, absent significant positional advantages, W is struggling to prove it. Hence, my initial choice of words to describe the sac: 'weary and frivolous'. I might have said 'superficial'

[Alex Holowczak]

I counted 47 draws too, so I don't think my Over/Under of 49.5 was too bad. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the Sinquefield Cup, which is exactly the same tournament but with colours reversed.

[Paul Cooksey]

I don't think the GCT Zagreb will be remembered for the draws.

Even without Magnus going on the rampage, a tournament with 6 games a day and some sort of Sofia rules seems quite spectator friendly to me.

[Alex Holowczak]

I don't think the GCT Zagreb will be remembered for the draws.

I think the Carlsen-Aronian draw will be remembered for a while.