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Dortmund starts in a few days time and here are the Round 1 pairings:

Nisipeanu – Blübaum
Vachier-Lagrave – Wojtaszek
Wang Yue – Andreikin
Kramnik – Fedoseev

The big question is though, can Kramnik, despite his talk of getting too old, gain 10.1 Elo and become the World Number 1?

The main battle for Vlad is rating points to help his push for a spot in the Candidates

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chess24live

Starts at 2:30 pm UK time I think

What on Earth was Kramnik thinking of?

JustinHorton wrote:What on Earth was Kramnik thinking of?

According to the chessbomb engine, this is a critical position.
[FEN "r2nk2r/1bq2ppp/p3p3/6N1/p1BP1b2/4N2P/1P3PP1/R2QR1K1 w kq - 3 18"]

White to play and over estimate his attacking chances.


1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. Na3 a6 7. Nc2 Nf6 8. h3 e6 9. Nf3 b5 10. O-O Bb7 11. Re1 Bd6 12. Bg5 Ne4 13. a4 bxa4 14. c4 Nxg5 15. Nxg5 dxc4 16. Bxc4 Nd8 17. Ne3 Bf4 18. Qh5 Bxe3 19. Rxe3 Qxc4 20. Rxe6+ Kf8 21. Re5 h6 22. Rae1 g6 23. Qh4 Kg7 24. Nxf7 Nxf7 25. Re6 g5 26. Qh5 Rhe8 27. Qg6+ Kf8 28. f3 Qxd4+ 29. Kh1 Rac8 0-1

Though it already looks tricky for White - 18 Nd5 possibly?

I was looking at 18 Rc1, which bodes well for my annual foray into competitive chess next month.

JustinHorton wrote:I was looking at 18 Rc1, which bodes well for my annual foray into competitive chess next month.

The chessbomb engine would capture a pawn with check by Qxa4.

Four draws for the second successive round although one game did make it to move 121
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2017/4/1/4

LawrenceCooper wrote:Four draws for the second successive round although one game did make it to move 121
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2017/4/1/4

And another ran for 102 moves down to bare Ks. The rest went the distance too. So no lack of effort.

On the other hand, three wins from sixteen games over four rounds is a drab return. And one of the games in Rd 3 I recognised from games with my younger brother when I was 10 - locked pawn chains; no squares; no entries; no play

The draw percentage goes up to 81.2% but this years Dortmund will never be forgotten for the Rd 4 game, Bluebaum v Andreikin as described in Peter Doggers report. A game that lasted seven hours and 121 moves with Andreikin being a rook for a pawn down for more than half of it. ""At the start I thought it was a simple win," said Bluebaum. All the fans thought so too..."

Also covered in Macauley Peterson's ChessBase report and the Chess24 report. Bluebalm and Wojtaszek lead on 2.5/4.

Chris Rice wrote:The draw percentage goes up to 81.2% but this years Dortmund will never be forgotten for the Rd 4 game, Bluebaum v Andreikin as described in Peter Doggers report. A game that lasted seven hours and 121 moves with Andreikin being a rook for a pawn down for more than half of it. ""At the start I thought it was a simple win," said Bluebaum. All the fans thought so too..."

Also covered in Macauley Peterson's ChessBase report and the Chess24 report. Bluebalm and Wojtaszek lead on 2.5/4.

Finally a decisive game as Wang Yue defeats Bluebaum. There could easily have been more decisive games as Fedoseev had a huge advantage against Nisipeanu. Wojtaszek is now outright leader on 3/5, Kramnik is last on 2 and the other six are all on 2.5/5.

LawrenceCooper wrote:There could easily have been more decisive games as Fedoseev had a huge advantage against Nisipeanu

Fedoseev has since retired to his room with a bottle of brandy and a loaded revolver

ChessBase report on Round 5

Four draws today but all hard fought.