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The rules are simple - send us your questions and see them featured in the weekly Q&A column!
Q1: Is it hard to live with a female chess player? What is the toughest part of it?
A1: I have never actually *lived with* a woman. Chess players are very different, it's hard to find something in common. Ok: they probably won't be willing to play chess at home and are likely to beat you (most men don't like it).
Q2: What is you next goal in chess? A2: First of all, to make it as popular as possible. Secondly, if we talk about personal goals, increase my chess level, perform well at the Olympiad and World Women Chess Championship. Finally get those GM norms.
Q3: What does a grandmaster do when she wants a business to sponsor her as a professional chess player?
A3: It depends on the grandmaster, of course. The typical way is to send out business proposals and try to attract sponsors by showing how beneficial the partnership can be. However, this way is not very efficient unless you have connections. People will just regard such letters as spam. So, the best way is probably to become so popular that companies will start contacting you with offers themselves. Q4: Are you planning a tour in South America? Or even just a trip as an anonymous tourist. A4: I don't have any time for non-business related travelling and have a rather busy schedule in general. Nonetheless, I always consider all the invitations and offers I receive.
Q5: Do you support the idea that more female players should also do a good quota of photograph sessions or even modeling to help confirm and show that chess is not a game of only old boring gentlemen sitting at a library and smoking pipes? A5: Absolutely. Of course, it should be done with grace, but photo shoots of beautiful female players definitely contribute to the popularity of the game.
Q6: What's your opinion on the Kasparov vs Deep Blue famous games? A6: There is so much controversy around the match, I just lack the information to comment on it. In my opinion Kasparov should have just played his own game rather than tried anti-computer strategy and dubious openings. At that time the machines were much weaker than nowadays, he had a perfect chance to beat Deep Blue.
The second day of the match turned out to be a massacre for the men's Russian team. If last time everyone drew while Potkin lost, today only Vladimir managed to draw, while all others scored 0 points altogether! In the women's section there was a tie: 2.5-2.5
Men, day 2
Vitiugov Nikita (2722) - Wang Hao (2722) 0-1
Wang Yue (2716) - Vladimir Malakhov (2732) 1-0
Timofeev Artem (2690) - Bu Xiangzhi (2676) 0-1
Rublevsky Sergei (2688) - Zhou Jianchao (2668) 0-1
Ni Hua (2645) - Potkin Vladimir (2626) 1/2-1/2
In the men's section all the games ended in a draw except for the Potkin-Wang Yue match-up. The Russian women's team was surprised with the pairings (they expected different colors), but still managed to win rather convincingly: 3.5-1.5
Men, day 1
Malakhov Vladimir (2732) - Wang Hao (2722) 1/2-1/2
Potkin Vladimir (2626) - Wang Yue (2716) 0-1
Bu Xiangzhi (2676) - Rublevsky Sergei (2688) 1/2-1/2
Zhou Jianchao - Vitiugov Nikita (2722) 1/2-1/2
Ni Hua - Timofeev Artem 1/2-1/2
Black found an amazing combination and won in great style. After you work out the solution, check the actual game and try to find a refutation to Black's inaccurate 30-th move (White could have saved the game).
One of the most efficient ways of improving in chess is analyzing ones own games. The legendary world chess champion Botvinnik emphasized the importance of this activity and urged masters to publish analyses of their games in the media. I believe that most readers will agree with me that studying ones mistakes is more important than dwelling on other peoples failures. There is just one tiny problem: most chess players have no idea how to do it.
Ok, another round has ended. You are tired and worried about the next game, so why bother making things worse by reviewing todays loss? Oh, sorry, did you actually win? A won game is won, why bother looking at it? Sounds funny, but many chess players really act this way.
A second widespread option is far from perfect too: after the end of the tournament the player turns on his PC, quickly pinpoints the blunders and substitutes them with the right moves (using space bar) and hastily edits the opening tree (the dubious moves are replaced by the most popular book lines). A quarter of an hour, and youre done! This approach hardly achieves anything though.
If the description above more or less fits you, you might ask: and what is the correct way to analyze games? Lets talk about it in detail:
1. Right after the game is over you should write down the thoughts you had in mind during the encounter. This will help you understand the nature of your mistakes later on. For example, put down: I wanted to get the knight to f5, but was afraid of the move g5 by Black. Or I believed this exchange leads to a favorable pawn structure, so I wanted to trade all the pieces and win the endgame. At this stage there is no need for using chess engines. Of course, you may be forced to fix your openings if someone finds a hole there. Let your coach/second (if available) do it, or review the variation yourself, but dont feed the whole game to your computer assistant.
2. Once you have spare time (after the tournament), you should recall what happened over the board. Your notes will prove helpful at this point. Now you will have a chance to reconsider your decisions and try to understand where you went wrong. Try to scan the game move by move and find tactical refutations, positional errors, right plans, etc. Annotate the game again using a different color, e.g. I wanted to get the knight to f5, but was afraid of the move g5 by Black. "I guess I should have done that anyway since g5 runs into h4 with good attacking chances for White".
3. After youre done, you may finally bring your chess engine to the rescue. Take a look at the mistakes you have made otb and during your home analysis. Pay special attention to the positions where you couldnt find the right solution after two attempts. For instance, if you blundered terribly otb, chances are you will be able to find the correct move at home. However, if the nature of your mistake was deeper, e.g. not understanding a certain middlegame position or not knowing how to handle an endgame, chances are you will face problems untangling it even during post-mortem. In this case your PC or coach may prove extremely helpful.
4. After you have reviewed the game and annotations using a chess engine, pay special attention to the key moments of the game. Memorize the associated principles, e.g. in such rook endgames the pawns should be placed like this. Or in this opening the light-squared bishop shouldnt be exchanged since keeping it is essential for protecting the light squares on the queenside. Or in such structures an isolated pawn may prove to be a force, not a weakness. The same refers to your opening tree make the appropriate changes.
Last time we have seen a game from the Mulhouse 2010-GM tournament that I should have won, but lost. Now the case is different: I was totally lost, but managed to hang on and eventually grab the full point. Here is how it proceeded:
Having faced serious problems in the opening, I had to analyze the game carefully to make sure it doesnt happen again. Also, thanks to the analysis, I have refreshed my knowledge of rook endings and Q vs R. This is very beneficial for an improving chess player.
P.S. A classic reminder: I understand perfectly well that for many people chess is just a game played for fun, so I am not claiming that everyone should follow the steps described above. However, for people who take chess seriously and/or set ambitious goals, this process is almost a must-do.
Chess players are very different, it's hard to find something in common. Ok: they probably won't be willing to play chess at home and are likely to beat you (most men don't like it).
