Chess: The Championship

Exciting news in chess: The 2012 World Championship is going on right now! Four games have been played in a best of twelve. We’ve been going over their games, and they are pretty interesting actually, but because they are both so good, there hasn’t been much aggression between the two players (Anand from India and Gelfand from Israel). Every game has been a draw actually, so the score is tied 2-2. Additionally, we’ve been seeing very similar openings in each game because they are played by the same two players. Hopefully, one or both players will start to be more creative/aggressive. Nonetheless, we analyzed the games. Although the games did not seem aggressive, after analyzing the moves, one could tell that each move had its own motive that it accomplished, either threatening a piece while also positioning or creating potential tactics (ie forks or skewers). Even the opening theory was very interesting as they played openings I had never played before (Grunfield Defense and Slav Defense). Even at 5 moves in, a seemingly logical move is incorrect and would end in that player’s demise. Of course, they both knew opening theory, but it was still interesting to look at. By watching their games, I learned how important a positional advantage is. For example, not trading pieces when you have the space advantage is crucial to maintaining any advantage because you can better organize your pieces while your opponent is cramped. My favorite was the two black rooks on the second rank able to force a draw through three-fold repetition even though white was about to promote a pawn into a queen. Anyways, these things I do not learn about from the chess puzzles I have been transcribing (because those focus on tactical play), so it was great learning a different part of the game.