2016 Carlsen - Karjakin

I added a new page for the 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin title match, scheduled for November in New York. This was the next-to-last action from the post Moscow Candidates - My Resources. The last action -- 'Review title match resources' -- can only be done as the start of the match approaches.

I did set up a Google news alert for chess carlsen karjakin, but need to check whether it is accessible without a login. [Later: It isn't.] Two useful items flagged by the alert were:-

• 2016-04-10: Speelman: Karjakin’s decision-making in Moscow (chessbase.com)
• 2016-04-15: Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin unlikely to meet before world title (theguardian.com; Leonard Barden)

This past month FIDE also issued Bids for the World Chess Championships 2018 as an XLS spreadsheet. The title is somewhat misleading, as it includes only restricted World Championships. One nuance of which I wasn't previously aware is the naming of the FIDE championships for young players:-

• World Cadet 2018 (U8-U10-U12),
• World Youth 2018 (U14-U18),
• World Junior 2018

Nearly all of the bids for these and the other three events are for European venues.

Hou Yifan Recaptures a Title She Never Lost

I added the crosstable and PGN to my page on the 2015 Hou Yifan - M.Muzychuk Title Match. Should I change that title? The match, originally scheduled for 2015, was delayed until 2016, perhaps because of FIDE's all-too-typical fumbling when it comes to arranging anything.

At the beginning of the month, Chessbase.com ran a piece titled Interview with Hou Yifan by Dagobert Kohlmeyer. The Women's World Champion confirmed,

Initially, the match was supposed to take place in October 2015, but then got rescheduled to March 2016.

Later she mentioned an issue that I touched on last year in A Pseudo World Championship ('When is a World Chess Championship not a *real* World Championship?').

The current Women's World Championship system seems to be unfair. And I believe I'm not the only one who thinks like this. It would be good if the current system changed to a more reasonable format. I am sure, a "real" World Championship Match would attract much more attention.

Last month I officially made a proposal to FIDE to change the format of the Women’s World Championship. I suggested three reasonable alternatives but the answer I received seems to indicate that my proposal was not accepted. The main reason why they want to stick to the current system is the fact that it is easier to find sponsors if you call the knock-out tournament "World Championship". If you called it "World Cup" it would be extremely difficult to find sponsors.

Trivia question: When was the last time FIDE ran a women's event outside of the former Soviet Union? In fact, you don't have to go too far back. The first leg of the 2015-2016 FIDE Women's Grand Prix was held in one of the swankiest places on earth, Monte Carlo (Monaco), and the second was held in one of the most controversial, Tehran. The previous title match, 2013 Hou Yifan - Ushenina, took place in Taizhou (China).

If the sponsors are there, perhaps the problem with the 'World Cup' (aka 'World Championship') is the size of the event. Or perhaps it's its checkered history for determining a winner. If we give it a grandiose title, does everyone overlook the obvious?

Moscow Candidates - Wrapup

I ended my previous post, Moscow Candidates - My Resources, with a few follow-up actions. First, I added the tiebreak regulations to my permanaent page on the 2016 Candidates Tournament. Then I added the names of the eight players to my Index of Players. As I did for the previous event, Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Wrapup (April 2014), here is a list of noteworthy resources from two of the chess world's premier news sites.

Rd.	Chessbase	Chess24
R0	Opening ceremony at the Candidates 2016
R1	Anand the first to score	Round 1 Commentary
R2	Nakamura implodes, Karjakin strikes!	Round 2 Commentary
R3	Aronian beats Topalov	Round 3 Commentary
R4	Super Sergey!	Round 4 Commentary
R5	Fabiano’s Benoni!	Round 5 Commentary
R6	Anand beats Svidler, Aronian wins	Round 6 Commentary
R7	Nakamura beats Topalov	Round 7 Commentary
R8	Caruana is back!	Round 8 Commentary
R9	Anand beats Aronian	Round 9 Commentary
R10	Caruana wins, joins lead	Round 10 Commentary
R11	Vishy Anand, the comeback man!	Round 11 Commentary
R12	Young guns forge ahead!	Round 12 Commentary
R13	It's Karjakin or Caruana!	Round 13 Commentary
R14	Sergey Karjakin is the new Challenger!	Round 14 Commentary Part 1, Part 2
	Candidates closing ceremony revisited

This current post is the last in a series that stretches back more than a month:-

• 2016-03-09: Moscow Candidates - Kickoff
• 2016-03-16: Moscow Candidates - First Week
• 2016-03-23: Moscow Candidates - Second Week
• 2016-03-30: Moscow Candidates - Third Week
• 2016-04-06: Moscow Candidates - My Resources

Finally, here are related posts from my main blog:-

• 2016-03-07: Instructional Videos : the Candidates (video)
• 2016-03-11: Psychedelic Logo?
• 2016-03-15: GM Svidler's Headwear
• 2016-03-17: The Grownup Way
• 2016-03-18: Not-So-Candid Camera (video)
• 2016-03-20: Armenian Candidates
• 2016-03-25: Moscow Candidates Round 4
• 2016-03-28: The Winner and New Challenger
• 2016-03-29: GM Karjakin's Life Story
• 2016-04-05: Weary of Giri Jokes?
• 2016-04-08: Moscow Candidates - Final Round (video)

All in all, the tournament was a great show -- plenty of suspense, drama, off-board antics, and really great chess. Like the rest of the chess world, I'm already looking forward to the World Championship match later this year!

Moscow Candidates - My Resources

I added the crosstable, cumulative score, and PGN file to my page on the 2016 Candidates Tournament. The cumulative score is reproduced below.

Still to be done:-

• Document the tiebreak rules
• Update the index of players
• Summarize the action from major chess news sources
• Create a new page for the Carlsen - Karjakin title match
• Review title match resources

World Championship cycles are becoming complicated affairs.