Tal had the congenital deformity of ectrodactyly in his right hand.

I really enjoyed the first round comments including saying the name of the opening. I'm very disappointed in the second round comments . They are very brief, mostly just give variations, and don't tell what each player is trying to accomplish. Here's a great example:

"1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. Re1 Re8 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Bf4 Rac8 16. Bd3 Qd7 17. Rb1 b6 18. d5
A tricky move. 18. Bb5!? also leeds to interesting complications. "

the commentary is great, very good initiative. I miss info on how long the players have left though, could the commentators maybe add "timelefts" sometimes? It makes the commentary valuable after the game has finished too, since its hard to know when the players were in time trouble, and its interesting to know when they started thinking in the opening, etc.

everyone has his/her own style of commenting the games...yesterday's games were nicer, I suppose... not always it depends on annotator, but also on the class of the play!!!...thanks to Chessvibes and commentators for this initiatives...show must go on!!!

Thank you very much for the superb coverage!!

@xtra: You get that information, at least _during_ the games, if you (also) watch at chessok and/or Chessdom. There were some comments in the chat that those are "better" - I don't agree and simply cannot choose. Thus I kept switching between various windows, also because human comments and Rybka analyses are complementary.

It is true that the other sites were frequently more up-to-date, this may be due to technical problems here for a still brand-new service?

That's a great picture. Fischer visiting Tal in hospital. never seen this one before...
Thanks.

In the fighting spirit of Tal, I hope we get to see some brilliant wins soon here...

Pono simply had a SIMPLE won game after 29 (or 31) Rf1 , right???
So, there's nothing normal about "five more draws", nor did Aronian's rook manouvers "held everything together"!

"Pono simply had a SIMPLE won game after 29 (or 31) Rf1 , right???"

At least it looked like a good winning try, he would be piece down but with four passers on d5-e4 and g2-h2 after Rf1 Qg5 (seems to be black's chance to hold) and Rxf6. He also had 25 minutes against 10 or something like that before his 29th and even if it wouldn't have won it is hard to imagine Aronian or Carlsen going for the draw with white in that position.

Do not expect many decisive games when Leko, Svidler, Gelfand, Kramnik playing in the same tournament...

On 29. Rf1 i would play f5 as black and it looks doubtful to me that white has an easy win

"On 29. Rf1 i would play f5 as black and it looks doubtful to me that white has an easy win"

30. Qh6+ followed by Qg5+ picks up the rook on d8.

Tal won 3 games in Curacao Candidates Tournament,.

i could be mistaken, but i believe this is the tournament(Curaçao, 1962) where when Tal was hospitalized, the ONLY person to come visit him was Fischer. None of his fellow Soviet GM's even bothered...

@Onischuk fan: Don't be too harsh, firstly we all have to get used to the new commentary settings and secondly today's games generally remained of quite a technical nature (even Pono-Aronian and Svidler-Ivanchuk quickly petered out). GM Sipke Ernst is the most creative and enjoyable chessplayer I have ever met. Because we grew up together I've been very lucky to have countless joint analyses (together with many other chess friends). His amazing chess spirit and understanding have always been a huge source of inspiration. As soon as the games become a little bit more exciting and we're all used to the new setting, Sipke will soon be your favourite commentator, trust me :-)

@gg

That endgame is not merely "a good winning try"! It's won.
I say Aronian wouldn't even pretend to do a holding try for black, and would resign imediately.

@Jonas

Some time ago you'd include Carlsen on that :-) (or even Anand?).
That's not like that. Any of those four players you mentioned can have a record of desisive games on such a tournament. I'm a Moro's fan myself, but can not agree with that kind of generalities.

@Thomas: Indeed that will quickly improve, we're working around the clock to optimize everything. For ChessVibes it's like a dream come true to have Live Commentary and as several visitors have put it, 'to become the number one chess hotspot'. We try to listen carefully to the feedback we are receiving and quickly 'learn by doing'. We're enjoying every minute of it! So keep your comments coming, both positive and negative :-)

@Jonas

You picked the wrong time to make such a comment with the wonderful fight Kramnik put up in round one. A sharp, dangerous game with black, not his usual draw-with-black win-with-white philosophy. Why not give him the benefit of the doubt? Or at least limit the complaints to when he actually plays in a drawish, conservative style.

Hey, what is wrong with Tal's right hand in the hospital picture? It looks kinda of deformed...

@Castro: Don't put all your money on it, since this ending (Ponomariov-Aronian after 29.Rf1 Qg5 30.Rxf6 Qxg6 31.Rxg6 Nb7) is extremely tricky and hard to judge.
First of all I like Sipke's judgement of this line in the chat:
GM Sipke Ernst : white slightly better
Prutser : So why didn;t white play on you think?
GM Sipke Ernst : cause it's a bit imbalanced, and pono was low on time
GM Sipke Ernst : white can also lose that position
Especially that last comment is insightful and something we tend to forget when staring at the engine's judgement - is White 'playing for two results only' or is the position in fact a total mess?
Btw my Rybka (who tends to slightly overestimate passed pawns in my experience) gives +0.49 and my Fritz gives +0.35 after thinking for quite a while. What does that mean in such a crazy position. Not much I guess. Besides: White has many passed pawns, but he can't push them all at the same time. As far as I'm concerned this ending is totally unclear. I'm not even sure White is better.

I agree with Jean-Michel. Kramnik's play is beyond reproach in this tournament so far. If anything, I was rather disappointed at Anand blitzing his game with black out to a (quick) draw against Kramnik. If Anand was so comfortable with the game that he needed only about 20 minutes to hold Kramnik to a draw, why not try to sweat over it little bit more and get an advantage?

@IM Merijn van Delft: Impressive that you are indeed "working" (guess it's fun at the same time!?) long hours - last comment at 2:21 am.

Concerning Pono's game: As far as I remember, he thought for about 20 minutes before giving perpetual check. I guess he evaluated the ending, and let's not forget that he is higher-rated than most kibitzers (except Rybka). At the very least, it refutes suggestions made in live commentary elsewhere that he merely forced a draw by sacking his knight. It will be interesting to know Pono's own opinion: maybe there is or will be something at chesspro.ru, anyone able to read Russian is very welcome to translate and quote!

General points:
- If I have one suggestion for improvement: Maybe the round reports (after the games) suffer a tiny little bit from the focus on live coverage? For example Svidler-Ivanchuk yesterday: GM Sipke Ernst seemed to prefer black after moves 14 and 16, and after move 20 states that white is "surprisingly OK". Great to keep the flow of live comments - I guess many kibitzers as well as players have such impressions ("He [or I] had an advantage and suddenly it's gone"). But was there ever a black advantage, and why did it then slip away within three moves? Or was it just an (optical) illusion?
- And a dream: It would be great if players with recent supertournament experience could contribute. If anyone (Smeets, Stellwagen, van Wely, ... , "non-Dutchies") reads this, PLEASE join the chat if you can and want to! :) You will have Dimitri Reinderman later on (who played Corus A some years ago), curious if he will add a special flavor to his comments.

Finally, let me join the crowd in complimenting you for the live coverage - even if I wouldn't call you "clear #1" simply because there is also lots of good stuff elsewhere. Similarly, I wouldn't call one player much better than the rest (ever since Kasparov retired) or one opening much better than the rest.
For once, I regret having to play chess myself this afternoon. Maybe I will make a quick draw - oh no wait, it's a team competition ... .

Thanks Thomas, we'll certainly take your and others' feedback into account. In general we expect the level to go up more and more as soon as everyone is used to the technical issues. Good luck with your game today.

Thanks again for the great commentary. But i had 2 questions or suggestions.

1. Could you say when players are out the theory and really have to think.
2. "White is slighty better" , could that sort of statements be explained why white is slightly better (for instance: better pawn structure, active pieces)

Or is it just a feeling GM's have for positions that is hard to epxlain?

Today (round 3 was a treat!) with so many decisive games, Moro-Kramnik being the most spectacular! Thanks chessvibes, I enjoy the commentary very much, though I have to say today I saw that there was a bit of noticable lag for the commentary (not sure abt the previous rounds as I wasn't following live). And the entire commentary available on the reports page is really great - nice to find it all in 1 place so soon after the round!

@Guillaume: >> Anand.. why not try to sweat over it little bit more and get an advantage?

you mean like he did in round 3!? where a seemingly innocuous position suddenly sprang up to life. I guess time/place/position/opponent etc plays a role in when it is possible and when it is not!

@IM Merijn van Delft

Thanks for your enlightment of the Rf1 question.
For some reason you're a master and I'm not! :-)
Still, I'd put some (maybe not all) of my money on that! I'll receive proposals (Even from Pono or Aronian themselves :-) )
Something is clear: Time presure must be (and must have been) taken in carefull consideration, and not going for it can be understandable (but Pono must be more ambitious, then)
Now, I realy didn't consult an engine (some lazziness from me but also because the best I have now is Fritz...4!!). Maybe if I did, and got those 0.49 or 0.35 I wouldn't be so asertive! But is precisely from the human point of view that I find that win "easy". Of course never easy in the sense of no work or no extreme concentration required! Nerves and good technic are most required!
These endings are question of human intuition given by experience. Engines don't understand them so well. But then, there are also IMs and GMs contradicting me, so I humbly change my "It's won" to "I'm completely sure I'd win it against whoever" (How is that for humble? Looks more like silly and presumptuous optimist I can be, right? hehehe).

@IM Merijn van Delft

Ah, and I also don't agree it's merely a question of passed pawns and pushing them all in a kind of serial moves. I find it incredible not thinking of "two results only", unless we have to count on an ugly UGLY blunder. (That's why time and fairly good chess can matter)
If they weren't going to promote and win the game (which they are :-) ), those passed pawns ensure at least enough threats to nulify black's a and b pawns, after which it would ALSO take to loose all white pawns for it to be "just" a draw.
Look: Can't we say (after that 31.... Nb7) that the position would be "almost" (not quite here, but almost) a draw, even without white's g and h pawns? Maybe with a better king it would be.
Other thing: Is not noticeable that black cannot go for no kind of equal piece trade? (N or B against B, or RxR). If I'm right, it's serious realy, because (lovely!) Even up a piece, Black cannot exchange pieces!
At first glance the move is 32.Kf2 (it looks like every other white piece is good where they are, now).
If you have the time and pacience, please help my (wrong?) "intuition" again!