Filmed it all, so I might just post them uncut. I'll see.

Dear Peter,

I hope we get some video from the blitz games!

You mean Frankfurt 1998?

Yes, that was rapid event. Bilbao will be the first category 22 event with "normal" time controls (although 90'/40+(60'+10')' is pretty rapid too ;) )

this was great entertainment. Really nice blitz games.

Wat een blitse play-off, Peter. Mieters!

What happened in round 6? (before the blitz)

Final Bilbao Masters will have a record average rating of 2788. But it is not the first category 22 tournament in history. The first (and sofar only) category 22 tournament was in Frankfurt 1998.

Funny when top players like Ivanchuk and Shirov are the ones who drag the average ELO down :)

This was rapid!?

Peter, it was not rapid, but they had a blitz tiebreak to determine who gets to play in Bilbao (Kramnik won).

Didn't Anand-Topalov match have higher average rating? Or maybe Kasparov-Kramnik 2000.

Oh. Yeah, Frankfurt was rapid and it doesn't really count.

I don't think Category matters much either though... I prefer Sonas' notion of "tournament class," and by that Bilbao is not close to say, Tal Memorial 2009.

I hope Kramnik is real proud of "winning" that Armageddon game. My condolences to Aronian, he was royally screwed.

Isn't there a three-fold repetition in the second blitz game? I think the position after Black's move 48, 50 and 54 is the same...

Noyb. What is your point. Obviously you have no point. I think Kramnik would have been just as happy with a draw.

Great job with the coverage of Shanghai! Good job with the video coverage as well :)

It would be great if you could upload the whole blitz-tiebreak. It's always interesting to see those chess giants blitzing.
p.s. will there be subtitles for the video in which Shirov only speaks Spanish?

Both players lost a game on time. Maybe that's not how we would like to see games finish, but that's blitz.

I am curious as to how many Armageddon play-off have resulted in a win for white. A statistic would be nice to have. White is psychologically under a lot of pressure from the beginning to force a win and in trying to find one, he easily runs out of the extra time that he started with.
I can recall Kamsky was black in his Armageddon against Shulman. Isnt there any better system.

Nice win for Kramnik
I hope he'll get better at Bilbao...

Shirov was great too

Shirov interview translated:

"Well, it seems that the qualification is almost guaranteed, so I won't think
in that. I will focus to play the last two games the best that I can, because ok I am
a professional. I feel almost qualified, but of course, we are playing for ELO, the international
ranking, and I feel very confortable here, I think I am getting a good shape then
I'll try to play good games, but yes, some part of my mind is going to be in Bilbao, that is true.

I always try to play the better chess that I can, if I reach complicated positions its ok. I
think I know how to play quiet positions too. My goal is to make always the best moves, if
they turn to complicate game its ok, if they turn to a simpler chess, more technique its ok too.
I think that's not going to change.

I think (Bilbao) is going to be the most important challenge of my career. By the way,
the calendar is not well organized, because I'm going to play for the national team in
-(Translator: some city I dont know)- I cant prepare in a 100% for the Bilbao final. I cant neither
leave the national team. But anyway, I hope to reach my best shape and play my best chess.

The hotel is of very high quality, the only problem is that it is placed in a bussiness
zone, then it is no so easy to move around and to find a restaurant. But the hotel is really
very good.

It's funny but we played half of the games in one place and half on other. Both places
are completely different. I think after the last round I will decide which place I liked most,
but of course, they are so different that you can't compare.
I think it is ok to change the playing hall, because sometimes you get bored when you
play always in the same place. New blood circulates when you are in a new place.

I'm very happy here in general, I can not specify much. I'm fine, happy and that is the most important."

Again sorry for my english :)

chessvibes.com --> the best site of chess news.

Wow, thanks a lot, really appreciated! Added to the article.

Afterwards Kramnik said that he was looking forward to Bilbao, but thought that Anand and Carlsen have a considerable advantage. “While I’m playing the Olympiad, which is always very tough, they are preparing.”

Isn't Kramnik aware that Carlsen is playing for Norway at the Olympiad?!

Thank you Peter for the coverage and would love to see the blitz video cut or uncut.

Second that!
I guess many would like to see the entire(uncut) blitz video.

Mr Shirov was very lucky

I would like to vote for the uncut blitz videos as well :D

+1 for the uncut blitz videos.

I just wanted to thank you Peter and Chessvibes for the excellent coverage and game reports , really a good service for us from the chess community , thanks a lot ;)

+2 for the uncut blitz videos
;)

I would like to add some sentences missing from the excellent translation by Pandolfi; they are in capitals:

“Well, it seems that the qualification is almost guaranteed, so I won’t think
in that. I will focus to play the last two games the best that I can, because ok I am
a professional. I feel almost qualified, but of course, we are playing for ELO, the international ranking, and I feel very confortable here, I think I am getting a good shape then I’ll try to play good games, but yes, some part of my mind is going to be in Bilbao, that is true.

I HOPE IT ISN'T TOO EARLY!

I always try to play the better chess that I can, if I reach complicated positions its ok. I think I know how to play quiet positions too. My goal is to make always the best moves, if they turn to complicate game its ok, if they turn to a simpler chess, more technique its ok too. I think that’s not going to change.

I think (Bilbao) is going to be the most important challenge of my career. By the way, the calendar is not well organized, because I’m going to play for the national team in

KHANTY-MANSIYSK THIS IS A BIT DISAGREEABLE I WOULD LIKE PREPARING in a 100% for the Bilbao final. I cant neither leave the national team. But anyway, I hope to reach my best shape and play my best chess. IT IS ALL I CAN SAY.

The hotel is of very high quality, the only problem is that it is placed in a bussiness zone, then it is no so easy to move around and to find a restaurant. But the hotel is really very good.

It’s funny but we played half of the games in one place and half on other. Both places are completely different. I think after the last round I will decide which place I liked most, but of course, they are so different that you can’t compare.
I think it is ok to change the playing hall, because sometimes you get bored when you play always in the same place. New blood circulates when you are in a new place.

I’m very happy here in general, I can not specify much. I’m fine, happy and that is the most important.”

Blitz videos added - at your service. ;-)

Thank you!

wow great videos ChessVibes!!

I feel it is a shame that the top players (and ex-World Champ Kramnik!) must suffer the indignity of these sudden death games.

Thank you so much for a great coverage! Extremely exiting!
By the way, I have a question: I was very surprised to hear Aronian and Kramnik speak english to each other when the controversy appeared. I thought Armenia had russian as second language. Can someone clarify that?
Thank you

Agreed - thanks Peter. Great work - it was almost like being there.
Russian is only a guaranteed second language for older people in Armenia - after 1991 many young people chose to learn English as their second language.

Awesome videos thank you!!!!

I will watch them over and over:).

Will chessvibes put pop up adds on their site now that they are by far the best site for chess news??? (he he he)

Again, very professional videos and a wonderful service!
Thank you!

Aronian speaks Russian as well as Armenian!
But I do not think that people around them whould understand Aronian complaining in Russian :)

This sudden death often ends up with a mess.
Should not be practiced at all!

That last blitz game was a farce.

Blitz should be played on computer, where you can't knock the opponents pieces down and make him waste time picking them up.

What a joke.

The armageddon itself is a joke. Any blitz without an increment is.

Great videos from the tie breaks, but agreed about armageddon - it's just a mess if it comes down to trying to flag your opponent (and you can't blame the players as that's how the 5/4, no increment is set up). Sure, there are penalties in football, but that's neat and clear cut, not mayhem. On the Chesspro forum Emil Sutovsky said he'd persuaded FIDE not to have armageddon as a possibility in the World Championship cycle, so we should at least be spared that!

About the little discussion at the end of the Armageddon:

Isn't the rule you must correct the (fallen) piece(s) in your OWN time? Kramnik just pushes the clock and is correcting it in Aronians time... Don't know how much time Kramnik had left at the end, but it would have won Aronian some seconds and Kramnik should have lost some. (maybe 3/5 seconds if you add it up)

Thank you for the great quality videos! As expected from Chessvibes!

@john: i don't see what dignity has to do with a game of chess. Both players were on edge, as it often happens in blitz games, and they had a little quarrel. It' s no biggie. and as Peter said they were both in (their usual)friendly terms a moment later.

The real question here is whether this armageddon format of tie-breaks is really fair with such tight time limits(5' vs 4'). What i mean to say is that with 1 hour vs 40 minutes the difference in time is significant enough to compensate for the only win situation in which White finds himself in. While 5 vs 4 minutes the difference in time(1 minute) is not enough for White to claim an advantage.
In my opinion, there is no real sense in the tiebreak format we witnessed in Anand-Carlsen and today in Aronian- Kramnik. While it became clear, in both cases, that the player with the Black pieces held a clear advantage(in the armageddon game), i don't quite see the point of putting such pressure on one of the two players after just two blitz games. It would seem much more sensible to let the players decide the matter in as many blitz games are required. For example, if after the first two games the score is equal, let them play another two games and so on and so forth. My personal guess is that, it wouldn't be long until one player won one game with White and draw his game with Black.

@Peter Doggers: Is there a way to download the tiebreak videos? (like the videos from the "Euwe match" in Amsterdam)

@Arjo,

I suppose you are right about the rule that one should correct pieces from his own time. However, in blitz the rules are practically bent. You move your piece and hit the clock, you see the piece falling but your opponent is already moving - what else to do than just lift the piece up and continue. In any case, as things turned out, it was good that Kramnik won in the end: otherwise Aronian would have got his position in the finals by flagging his opponent in an unwinnable position, and that would have been a much bigger shame than some slightly too horizontal king during the game.

@Arjo: Yes, but Aronian didn't give him a chance to do that as he made a move. He should just have pushed the clock back without making a move.

@Peter Doggers: the end of the round six video seems to be broken unfortunately.

@john: he had the chance to avoid this indignity by winning more games at classical time control in the previous rounds (as Shirov did :)

I totally agree with John and Jussu: chess, including blitz games, is much more fair with an increment. And, dear organizers and sponsors, even with an increment it's still spectacular enough, plus it creates less potential conflict & controversy !

As Arjo says, according to the rules one has to put back fallen pieces in one's own time. But once both players are down to a number of seconds on the clock, the only realistic way of playing is to hit your clock within a fraction of a second (without waiting to see whether any pieces will fall down), and to start moving your arm for your next move as soon as you've more or less seen your opponent's move (without waiting until he has reached his clock).

In this case Kramnik's king fell down twice, each time after he had already hit his clock and Aronian had already started to move his arm in order to respond (otherwise Aronian could have simply pressed the clock forcing Kramnik to first put back his king). With an increment, play would be just a fraction slower, allowing e.g. Aronian to press the clock and thus win back the lost time. Also, a player who would knock down a piece three times could be declared lost.

But without any increments there is just no way to avoid, nor to correctly resolve this kind of incidents. And it gets much worse than what happened here, because after all Kramnik's king clearly touched its destination square and it didn't specifically hinder Aronian's pieces or movements.

We can be quite happy that both players showed restraint and mutual respect after the incident (guess what Kasparov or Korchnoi used to do in such situations). Probably Aronian didn't push his complaint too far because he realized Kramnik didn't do it on purpose and the position had been a dead draw for 18 moves already. Their faces and voices show that both were feeling unhappy to be criticizing one another. Bravo !

In the end, Kramnik's qualification is entirely deserved, because according to Chessvibes he came close to winning in several of his regular games that ended in a draw. He also beat Aronian 1,5-0,5 in their mutual games, and in the tie-break he narrowly missed a draw and even a win at the end of game 2.

Thank you Peter for the excellent, thrilling videos :-)

awesome job with the videos! un-cut is definately the way to go. wish i could see the naka-giri blitz videos, but for some reason no one will post them. they would obviously be very enjoyable to watch.

If they're going to play sudden death, they should have a better chess set. Understandably, they want to use a digital board, but after looking at the video a few times, Black's king seems particularly wobbly. It's probably an optical illusion that the base of White's king looks bigger (say, at 8:22 where they both sit on white squares) but I wonder around 9:10 (the moment shown in the picture in the article), where you can see the metallic sensor at the bottom of the king, if that's affecting its stability.

What Aronian complains after the last game?
I can't see it clearly.

Thanks for the excelent videos.

"Two games of 4 minutes and 3 minutes increment,..." I assume it should be:
"Two games of 4 minutes and 3 seconds increment..."

Indeed, Kramnik helped Aronian a bit at 9:10 he pushes the clock on Aronian side.

I meant he pressed the clock on Aronian's side, so his (Kramnik's) time was still running.

Clifford and Wlad, thank you for taking time to answer, thank you.

This armageddon format is ridiculous. Stupid. Pathetic.

If you're going to do it, at least do it on computers where pieces cannot be knocked over.

Fu*king pathetic.

In my opinion the blitz games should be avoided at all cost as we can see in the final blitz game was a complete disaster . What should be done instead is for them to play just 1 game 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and then 60 minutes to finish the game, with 10 extra seconds per move from move number 41.

In case of a tie the winner should be decided by material piece value compared left on the board i.e pawn 1 point , knight/bishop 3 points , rook 5 points and queen 9 points .If material piece value is the same they play again till there is a clear winner!

This system is ideal because both chess players will not feel robbed by time and knocked over pieces which in my opinion leads to arguments, frustration and a bad representation to the game of chess. I hope one day this system is implemented because blitz games takes away the patience, accuracy and wisdom which is what chess is all about !

@test this will be repaired when Peter is back from transit (China - Amsterdam)

Indeed, someone in the room was very sloppy (and it wasn't a spectator). Btw almost home. :-)

The armageddon video is very painful to watch. Why on earth do they force these great champions to humiliate themselves with this? What's wrong with at least playing a few more pairs of blitz games until a winner emerges? Do organizers have to be in bed by 9 pm or what?

Watching this, it was obvious that during the king hunt,Kramnil missed a 3 fold repetition in the game he lost.

Wonderful videos. As others mentioned, all in all a well-deserved victory for Kramnik.

Thank you Peter - ChessVibes rules!

New version of the final video is now up!

Kramnik jumping up and down on his chair. Not the usually calm and relaxed player we are used to see.

BTW: Did you see thar Aronian got seriously disturbed by a cell phone ringing at 11.56 on the video just prior to his loosing move in blitz game one?

oO

@Sam

You have excellent point. I agree that blitz should be on computer, especially when the stakes are so high... Although the video wouldn't be as entertaining i suppose ;-)

I don't agree with blitz on the computer. I remember that Morozevitch simply refuses because he is very clumsy with the mouse. On the internet it is too often a matter of being more handy with the mouse which has nothing to do with chess.

Something wrong with the round 6 video at the end!

@Titu : see my comment on September 9th, 2010 22:37 : this will be repaired when Peter is back from transit (China – Amsterdam)

>> BTW: Did you see thar Aronian got seriously disturbed by a cell phone ringing at 11.56 on the video just prior to his loosing move in blitz game one?
>> Indeed, someone in the room was very sloppy (and it wasn’t a spectator).

Hard to believe organizers still make such amateurish mistakes.

High level chess and the general public don't mix. Another reminder of this was the recent segment on Dutch TV with Magnus which reinforced my personal opinion that trying to make chess as popular as things like football or tennis or even poker is a pipe dream, if not a delusional fantasy.

The arbiter is totally useless. All she does is announce the beginning of the game and ask for the signature at the end, despite the controversy at the end of game 3. Is she a certified arbiter or just a random secretary?

I am amazed that no one comments on Kramnik's disgraceful behavior. First the insulting way he dramatically looked away when offering his hand to Shirov after being crushed and then repeatedly knocking over pieces during the rapid. Aronian was ripped off. It's really too bad we don't get to have Aronian in the final instead of Kramnik, whose presence is like the kiss of death for a tournament's dynamism.

ooops, that was rather unfair by vladimir kramnik, wasn't it? if he moves the pieces like this he might want to consider starting a bowling career. very unfortunate and remarkably incompetent by the arbiters...

i liked the starting statement of the chinese lady at the left, though. all three times she spoke like a machine... i'm sure they would have electro-shocked her had she said even one wrong word. let us not forget that the tournament took place in china, where human rights and democratic values are unknown.
it's always nice to see such dictatorships appreciated by tournaments, trade etc....

What a ridiculous comment.

1) The arbiters cannot do anything in blitz when a player doesn't stop the clock.
2) Electro-shocked?? You watch too many movies.
3) The arbiter wasn't speaking her own languague.

Dude,
Don't be to quick calling comments ridiculous, first check the FIDE Handbook: "B.2 Where there is adequate supervision of play, (one arbiter for one game) the Competition Rules and Appendix A.2 shall apply." So all the normal rules apply to blitz games, except that players are not required to record their moves
So you come to: ."13.1 The arbiter shall see that the Laws of Chess are strictly observed. " and "13.6 The arbiter must not intervene in a game except in cases described by the Laws of Chess." But the situation is described: "7.3 If a player displaces one or more pieces, he shall re-establish the correct position on his own time. If necessary, either the player or his opponent shall stop the clocks and ask for the arbiter’s assistance. The arbiter may penalise the player who displaced the pieces."
The arbiter did not intervene, but according to the rules it was possible. Maybe because of: "13.2 The arbiter shall act in the best interest of the competition."
Off course it's open to discussion whether this was the case.

@Bobby Fiske: Well spotted - I guess even for very experienced players a blitz, let alone Armaggedon game with so much at stake is a "special" situation. For Kramnik, was it the first time in his career? He hardly played knockout events as the World Cup ... .

@Steve Jenkins: Maybe not many people hate Kramnik (a priori) the way you do? For me it wasn't such a big deal ... :
The game against Shirov: Kramnik's behavior at the end wasn't perfect, but he was obviously upset by his blunder in time trouble - and well, he and Shirov aren't exactly friends of each other (which is also human). Regarding the game as a whole: Kramnik took risks playing for a win with black. This time he didn't succeed, but in other cases since his "comeback" after his post-WCh and fatherhood break he did. So much for "Kramnik['s] .. . presence ... kiss of death for a tournament’s dynamism".
In the Armaggedon game, Kramnik accidentally knocked over pieces - no indication that it was done on purpose. Aronian tried to flag him in a position where he couldn't possibly win by other "normal" means, what's worse? Both misbehaved IMO, understandable given the circumstances.

Very well spoken, Thomas!

Less than 1% of Chessplayers do the right thing when their opponent knocks down a piece which is to slam your clock without making a move until they pick up their piece - Kramnik lost on time in the middle of a perpetual in Game 2, that sucked. The first rapid game was vintage Kramnik- how does he always engineer a passed pawn on d6? Good luck to Shirov in the finals, definitely one of the most creative Chessplayers to ever walk the eath.

Can some entrepeneur introduce weighted pieces to China? Use the old Marco Polo trade routes.