[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: The Daily Update: Cap D'Agde down to the final four

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
The Daily Update: Cap D'Agde down to the final four
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1225425425.shtml


   For the moment, the chess world has slowed down to a crawl, but soon
   enough there will be another pile of big events filling our plate. In
   the wake of Anand's great triumph over Kramnik, however, all that's
   left is the [1]Cap D'Agde rapid tournament, but it's not a bad event
   to have left!
   Yesterday (Wednesday) Karpov defeated Caruana and Ivanchuk defeated
   Radjabov to punch their tickets to the semi-final; today we had the
   Nakamura vs. Vachier-Lagrave and Carlsen vs. Bu Xiangzhi matches to
   set the other two spots. Nakamura and Vachier-Lagrave drew their rapid
   games, but won the blitz games convincingly. The first game was an
   outright crush, and in the second one he took advantage of a
   self-induced pin on the c-file. Carlsen-Bu Xiangzhi didn't require
   blitz. Carlsen held with Black in the first game pretty comfortably,
   and in the second, which I recommend replaying*, Carlsen demonstrated
   once again his phenomenal technique. The position after 20...a6 looked
   pretty safe for Black - even GMs kibitzing online seemed to think it
   was time to proceed to the blitz games - but Carlsen dismissed Bu with
   almost magisterial disdain.
   That's perhaps the most amazing aspect of Carlsen's game - his
   technique. Lots of kids are great tacticians, are well-prepared in the
   opening and have lots of fighting spirit, but Carlsen's technique may
   be what separates him from his fellow 1990ers Karjakin and
   Vachier-Lagrave. I only hope that he doesn't turn into an "old man"
   before his time.
   Tomorrow (Friday) we'll have the matches Karpov vs. Nakamura and
   Carlsen vs. Ivanchuk, running concurrently. Should be great!
   * Use the link given above, and then click on either the PGN or chess
   board icon next to "Les parties à télécharger et à visualiser".

References

   1. http://www.europe-echecs.com/articles/a-la-une-8e-rencontres-du-cap-d-agde-1451.html