Rating Analytics: Seniors case study
Kaspars Migla is the creator and founder of chessratings.top. In his column, he analyzes monthly FIDE standard rating changes, career-high ratings, rating distribution by country, continent, region, and other rating-related statistics. This time he looks at the latest developments in seniors’ rating lists. Extra €30,000 added by FIDE to the prize fund (which totaled to €46,000) helped to organize the biggest World Senior Championship with 366 players from 58 countries competing in four categories. Maybe this financial boost will make this championship stronger because looking from the rating standpoint only women’s events can boast of the TOP players participating in it. Nona Gaprindashvili (Georgia, 2270) who tops the rating list in the W65+ category took the title. Despite winning the competition, the first woman-GM in history of chess lost five rating points. The list of entrants to the W65+ included three more players from the top 10, namely WGM Elena Fatalibekova (Russia, 2158), WIM Natalia Titorenko (Russia, 2113) un WGM Valentina Kozlovskaya (Russia, 2140). Ironically, the champion in the W50+ category WGM Elvira Berend (Luxembourg) also dropped a few rating points. Currently, she holds the fourth position (2348) among the women aged 50 years or older. The top 3 in this age category – Pia Cramling (Sweden, 2461), GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (Scotland, 2376) and GM Zhaoqin Peng (Netherlands, 2358) – opted not to play in the World Senior Championship. On the men’s side, there was only one participant in both categories from the top 10 active players. I am referring to GM Rafael Vaganian (Armenia, 2516) who occupies the 9th position in the M65+ category. The rating favorite lived up to his status and won gold at the recent World Senior Championship. The leader in this age group is Anatoly Karpov (Russia, 2617) who would be very welcome at the World Senior Championship. The 12th World Champion has been playing rarely lately, just in matches in various leagues here and there. The last time Karpov participated in a round-robin or Swiss tournament was ten years ago in Spain. Robert Huebner (Germany, 2576) and Henrique Mecking (BRA, 2553) holding second and third positions in the M65+ rating list also skipped the last World Senior Championship. There are nine players rated 2600+ in the M50+ rating list. Usually, having such a rating one feels comfortable and much-wanted in most of the tournaments. Most likely, that is the reason why high-rated GMs shy away from the World Senior Championship. On the top of the rating, we see infamous Igors Rausis (Czech Republic, 2685), but it is on paper only because he confessed to cheating, was imposed a 6-year ban by FIDE Ethics Commission and retired from chess. The real leader in the age group is none other than Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2684), followed by Julio Granda Zuniga (PER, 2644), Evgeny Bareev (CAN, 2638) and FIDE Vice President Nigel Short (England, 2626). It is no secret that senior age gives many players an opportunity to spend more time on chess. With 34 games in classical chess under his belt, Aleksandar Arandjelovic (SRB, 1933) became the most active player in December. According to chessratings.top, quite a few strong players reached their career high in December 2019: IM Gunay Mammadzada (AZE, 2455), IM Meri Arabidze (GEO, 2435), WGM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE, 2387) and WIM Anna Sargsyan (ARM, 2382) among women and Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL, 2758), Richard Rapport (HUN, 2758), Hao Wang (CHN, 2756), Alireza Firouzja (IRI, 2723) among men. It is worth noting that the last time Firouzja lost rating points was in July of 2018. Since then he has been steadily improving his rating except for one month. Vadim Shishkin (UKR, 2456) made the biggest rating progress among all grandmasters in December. The Ukrainian picked up 28 points after winning the World Senior Championship in the Open 50+ category. Igor Naumkin (RUS, 2415) has a distinction of playing most games with classical time control. Aged 54, he, nonetheless, did not participate in the World Senior Championship. Looking at the big picture, Mahdi Gholami Orimi (Iran, 2432) became the most active player in December. His busy chess schedule included 4 tournaments and 35 chess games with classical time control. Emanuel Lazic from Bosnia and Herzegovina showed the biggest progress (312 points) among all players, jumping from a 1549 to 1861 mark. Photo: Mark Livshitz Kaspars Migla, chessratings.top Category W65+, active players1. GM Gaprindashvili, Nona (GEO, 2270)2. WGM Veroci, Zsuzsa (HUN, 2246)3. WGM Fatalibekova, Elena (RUS, 2158)4. WGM Kozlovskaya, Valentina (RUS, 2140)5. WGM Saunina, Ludmila (RUS, 2130)6. WIM Titorenko, Natalia (RUS, 2113)7. WIM Sorokina, Tamara (RUS, 2062)8. WFM Malachowski, Margrit (GER, 2061)9. WIM Khurshudova, Lyudmila (RUS, 2046)10. Dwars, Conchita (NED, 2032) Category W50+, active players1. GM Cramling, Pia (SWE, 2461)2. GM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (SCO, 2376)3. GM Peng, Zhaoqin (NED, 2358)4. WGM Berend, Elvira (LUX, 2348)5. FM Schuurman, Petra (NED, 2346)6. IM Schleining, Zoya (GER, 2316)7. IM Sedina, Elena (ITA, 2299)8. WGM Grabuzova, Tatiana (RUS, 2284)9. IM Klinova, Masha (ISR, 2275)10. WGM Ning, Chunhong (CHN, 2270) Category M65+, active players1. GM Karpov, Anatoly (RUS, 2617)2. GM Huebner, Robert (GER, 2576)3. GM Mecking, Henrique (BRA, 2553)4. GM Dorfman, Iossif (FRA, 2540)5. GM Timman, Jan (NED, 2533)6. GM Ribli, Zoltan (HUN, 2529)7. GM Pinter, Jozsef (HUN, 2528)8. GM Beliavsky, Alexander (SLO, 2519)9. GM Vaganian, Rafael A (ARM, 2516)10. GM Andersson, Ulf (SWE, 2516) Category M50+, active players1. GM Gelfand, Boris (ISR, 2684)2. GM Granda Zuniga, Julio (PER, 2644)3. GM Bareev, Evgeny (CAN, 2638)4. GM Short, Nigel (ENG, 2626)5. GM Illescas Cordoba, Miguel (ESP, 2612)6. GM Krasenkow, Michal (POL, 2611)7. GM Khalifman, Alexander (RUS, 2608)8. GM Smirin, Ilia (ISR, 2607)9. GM Dautov, Rustem (GER, 2595)10. GM Sokolov, Ivan (NED, 2595)
GCT London Finals: Ding Liren scores, Carlsen escapes
The 2019 Grand Chess Tour is nearing the end after another action-packed day in London. Levon Aronian was very close to equalizing the score but ultimately was unable to break Magnus Carlsen’s defense. Ding Liren, on the other hand, played a clean game to put away Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Both Carlsen and Ding will enter the final day with a 6 point lead, putting an enormous amount of pressure on their opponents to score in the rapid to collect as many points as possible. The winner of the tour will be decided tomorrow at the end of two rapid and four blitz games followed by tiebreaks if required. As a special treat, legendary former World Champion Garry Kasparov will be calling into the show to share his thoughts. It’s not a day to miss! Results after the classical games Ding Liren vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: 1-0 After failing to deliver the decisive blow yesterday, Ding Liren proceeded more methodically in the final moments today. The commentators thought that Ding didn’t get any advantage out of the opening in the Symmetrical English, but that he simply played better than his opponent thereafter. The critical developments in the game happened on move 33, when the opening of the kingside made the g-file available for Ding, while he still kept control of the queenside and the center. While Vachier-Lagrave’s pieces were overcommitted on the queenside, the Chinese star was able to launch an unstoppable attack on the opposite wing by lifting his rook. The game ended with a beautiful sacrifice by Ding, who admitted to double-checking the line several times in order to avoid yesterday’s fiasco. Tomorrow, one of these two fine players will be crowned the 2019 Grand Chess Tour Champion. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after Ding Liren’s making 48.Rg7! Levon Aronian vs Magnus Carlsen: ½ – ½ Magnus Carlsen ended the year without a single loss in classical chess after a miraculous save, extending his undefeated streak to 107 games. Trouble began for the World Champion right out of the opening when he felt compelled to sacrifice a pawn in order to muddy the waters. He gave up another pawn a few moves later to open the center and get at his opponent’s king, but could never claim enough compensation for the material deficit. The evaluation of the position was changing throughout the game as Aronian kept allowing his opponent back in the game. The final blunder occurred on move 43, when Aronian miscalculated a tactic, ultimately entering a queen ending which ended with a perpetual on move 82. Carlsen described the game as “objectively awful quality-wise”, but to his credit, he did find amazing resources to survive. Photo: Grand Chess Tour Official site
Goryachkina misses a chance to join the lead in Monaco
Quiet day at the Women’s Grand Prix de Monaco, as four games end in a draw. Five players are on Humpy Koneru’s heels. The fifth round of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix was launched by Inna Bazhenova who played the first symbolic move at the board of tournament leader Humpy Koneru. The Russian publisher of The Art Newspaper, co-sponsor of the tournament and of the Monte Carlo Chess Club, is passionate about chess. Her two sons Egor and Boris are members of the youth team of the Club and also faced Garry Kasparov in the simultaneous exhibition last weekend. Another young guest attended the start of the round. Twelve-year-old Fiorina Berezovsky represented the Monaco national team at the last two Olympiads and was one of the youngest players to ever win a game at an Olympiad at the age of 9. In 2017, Fiorina held a talk about chess at TEDx Monte Carlo. In short, a brilliant young lady! The games of the Grand Prix were slightly less tense on Saturday than on previous days, but spectators still had their share of excitement. Aleksandra Goryachkina got an edge from the opening against Elisabeth Paehtz and was methodically increasing it throughout the game. The Russian reached a winning rook endgame, yet, finding the right path was far from trivial. The World Championship challenger was on the winning course but failed to avoid the last not that difficult pitfall and had to content herself with a draw. A victory would have allowed Alexandra to catch up with the leader Humpy Koneru, who made a draw with Kateryna Lagno. This game followed a well-known variation of the Grunfeld, where Black gets sufficient compensation for a sacrificed pawn. The Indian showed nothing new and agreed to a repetition early on. Anna Muzychuk had Alexandra Kosteniuk on the ropes when the Russian played inaccurately after the opening. Muzychuk’s decision to sacrifice the exchange proved unwise, as this allowed her opponent to stay in the game. After the exchange of Queens, it became clear that only Kosteniuk could press for a win. White had to play precisely in order to hold the knight vs rook endgame, but Anna made several mistakes and lost. Valentina Gunina started the game with aggressive intentions, as evidenced by her choice of 7.g4. Harika Dronavalli reacted solidly and both players soon simplified on the queenside to reach an equal position. The game seemed to be heading toward a draw but the Russian spurned a move repetition and played for more. Gunina’s decision was hardly justified, inasmuch she has been clearly out of form in this event, and the position did not offer much. She blundered immediately after with 31.Bf7 and lost her rook. A sad and painful outcome for Valentina. The game between Mariya Muzychuk and Zhao Xue was a very complicated battle. The Chinese played in very inspired fashion after the opening and obtained a promising position, where the white king was exposed. Muzychuk cleverly exploited her opponent’s time pressure and went for complications. With more time on the clock, Zhao Xue may have found the few precise moves to clinch the victory, but in the actual game, she failed to do so. In the end, the Ukrainian escaped with a draw. Pia Cramling did not challenge Nana Dzagnidze’s Vienna Variation and chose a risk-free line. White’s extra pawn proved worthless with opposite-colored Bishops on the board, and both opponents agreed to a draw on move 32. More and more players gather behind the sole leader Humpy Koneru. In the 6th round on Sunday, the Indian will have the black pieces against one of her pursuers, Alexandra Kosteniuk. Results of Round 5: Pia Cramling (Swe) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo): ½ – ½Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus): 0-1Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Zhao Xue (China): ½ – ½Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Harika Dronavalli (Ind): 0-1Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger): ½ – ½Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus): ½ – ½ Standings after Round 5: 1. Humpy Koneru – 3½ points2-6. Nana Dzagnidze, Harika Dronavalli, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Pia Cramling – 37-9. Zhao Xue, Mariya Muzychuk and Anna Muzychuk – 2½10. Kateryna Lagno – 211-12. Valentina Gunina and Elisabeth Paehtz – 1 Round 6, 8 December at 3 pm: Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus)Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Humpy Koneru (Ind)Zhao Xue (China) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr)Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr)Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Valentina Gunina (Rus)Pia Cramling (Swe) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) Official website with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, GM Josif Dorfman and GM Bartlomiej Heberla: https://wgp2019.fide.com Pictures are available on our official Flickr channel. Text: Yannick PelletierPictures: Karol Bartnik