Aronians free lesson on rook endgames

[syzygy]

In the german chess24 news section i do read now Aronian was critized sharply for this performance from emil sutovsky, because of "betraying" the general chess public.
Indeed, when he told me it is a win, i do accidently believed that fully.
I think we should follow the example of Lee Sedol, he made an excellent figure during the alphago match.

A GM is criticised for commenting on his own game and, perhaps, incorrectly evaluating his position as a win? (In a game that he did up winning anyway, so...)

[BeyondCritics]

Yes, strong players should get much more respect.
Strong mathematicians as well, for that matter.

[yurikvelo]

Code: Select all

+0,29	67. ... Rh3 68.Rd7 Kg8 69.Kf5 Rh4
+1,43	67. ... Rb4+ 68.Rd4 Rb1 69.Rd7 Rh1
+1,43	67. ... Rb1 68.Rd7 Rh1 69.Kf3 Re1     <---- Analysis during after game conference
+1,43	67. ... Rb2 68.Kf5 Rh2 69.Kg4 Rg2+

Code: Select all

+1,31	74. ... Re2 75.Rb7 Ra2 76.Kg4 Re2
+1,31	74. ... Ra4 75.Rb7 Kf8 76.Rb8+ Kg7
+1,31	74. ... Ra3 75.Rb7 Ra4 76.h5 Ra5
+1,31	74. ... Ra1 75.Rd3 Ra4 76.Rd6 Rb4
+1,31	74. ... Ra8 75.Kg4 Ra4 76.e6 Kf6
+1,35	74. ... Ra5 75.Kg4 Rc5 76.Rb7 Rc4
+3,92	74. ... Rc2 75.e6 Rc5+ 76.Ke4 Kf6
+3,95	74. ... Rb2 75.e6 Rb5+ 76.Ke4 Kf6
+9,08	74. ... h5 75.Kg5 Re2 76.Kxh5 Rg2
+38,35	74. ... Kg8 75.Kf6 Ra6+ 76.Rd6 Ra2
+123,44	74. ... Kf8 75.Kf6 Ra6+ 76.Rd6 Ra8    <---- Nakamura played
+123,44	74. ... Kh8 75.Rxf7 Kg8 76.e6 Rf2

[syzygy]

In the german chess24 news section i do read now Aronian was critized sharply for this performance from emil sutovsky, because of "betraying" the general chess public.
Indeed, when he told me it is a win, i do accidently believed that fully.
I think we should follow the example of Lee Sedol, he made an excellent figure during the alphago match.

A GM is criticised for commenting on his own game and, perhaps, incorrectly evaluating his position as a win? (In a game that he did up winning anyway, so...)

I did not realise this is where Nakamura made his touch move error / blunder. And apparently Aronian might not himself have believed that the endgame had been won all along.

Maybe I'm still misevaluating this "position", but it seems to me Sutovsky criticised Aronian not for betraying the general public, but for acting slightly childish. (In view of Nakamura's attempt to ignore the touch move rule I have some sympathy for Aronian, though.)

[syzygy]

In the german chess24 news section i do read now Aronian was critized sharply for this performance from emil sutovsky, because of "betraying" the general chess public.
Indeed, when he told me it is a win, i do accidently believed that fully.
I think we should follow the example of Lee Sedol, he made an excellent figure during the alphago match.

A GM is criticised for commenting on his own game and, perhaps, incorrectly evaluating his position as a win? (In a game that he did up winning anyway, so...)

I did not realise this is where Nakamura made his touch move error / blunder. And apparently Aronian might not himself have believed that the endgame had been won all along.

Maybe I'm still misevaluating this "position", but it seems to me Sutovsky criticised Aronian not for betraying the general public, but for acting slightly childish. (In view of Nakamura's attempt to ignore the touch move rule I have some sympathy for Aronian, though.)

Ok, the German section of chess24.com has a much longer quote from Sutovsky than the English section:

Es tut mir leid, aber dass Aronian so tut, das Endspiel wäre gewonnen gewesen, macht mich sprachlos. Das klingt nach totalem Unsinn. Der Plan, den er angeblich „kennt“ und der „einfach gewinnt“, funktioniert einfach nicht und scheitert gleich an mehreren Entgegnungen. Ein Topspieler sollte nicht Tausende Schachfans so in die Irre führen. Auch die Art und Weise, wie Levon sein „Wissen“ vermittelte, war erschütternd. (...)

I don't know Sutovsky at all, but also in view of this article I am getting the impression that he has an underdeveloped sense of humour. Aronian just played a crazy game and now he's acting a bit crazily. Even if he knowingly confused thousands of amateur players about a position then so what. The few that really care will find out soon enough anyway.

Just watched the video myself and I found it extremely entertaining. It is clear that Aronian wasn't really sure himself that his plan would work.

[BeyondCritics]

If Nakamura can not defend against the Kf6 threat, he deserves to loose, no way around that. There is no betrayal whatsoever. Sutovsky choose the strong wording, so it is up to him to justify that.

[syzygy]

If Nakamura can not defend against the Kf6 threat, he deserves to loose, no way around that. There is no betrayal whatsoever. Sutovsky choose the strong wording, so it is up to him to justify that.

I think those are two separate issues?

Nakamura touched the king, so he had to a play a king move. That's simply the rule, whether you're Nakamura or So or a patzer playing a tournament. There is no question whatsoever that Aronian won the game fair and square.

As to the interview, if Aronian had somehow acted like a "bad winner", then I can understand criticism. But that's not what Aronian did. He bluffed that he knew that he had been winning all along, and he managed to swindle his way out of his bluff. In my view that's not disrespectful towards anyone. People who care about the position can analyse his plan with Stockfish and see if it works or not.

Anyway, in the end Sutovsky's remarks only add to the excitement so all is well

[BeyondCritics]

Yes, a man without humor is the natural enemy of anyone who is cool.
You can say whatever you want, they _always_ get anything backward.
Short is indisputable the most cool GM, maybe at time a little bit to cool, but this not the business of mine.

[BeyondCritics]

And Feynman is the most cool scientist. So maybe Sutovsky should read this
http://www.amazon.com/Surely-Feynman-Ad ... -Character

[duncan]

In round 6 of the "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2016" Aronian won a cute rook endgame against Nakamura (http://worldchess.com/broadcasts/europe ... nt/round-6)
Most experts were very sceptical about the white winning chances from this position on.
[d] 8/5pk1/7p/r3PK2/5P1P/8/2R5/8 w - - 0 62
In the after game press conference Aronian showd a supposedly winning strategy. You can start the live video at 07:08:45.
For your convenience i made a transcript:
[pgn]
[Event "Analysis during after game conference"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2016.03.18"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5pk1/7p/r3PK2/5P1P/8/2R5/8 w - - 0 62"]
[WhiteCountry "ARM"]
[BlackCountry "USA"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteType "human"]
[BlackType "human"]
[WhiteSex "m"]
[BlackSex "m"]
[WhiteFideId "13300474"]
[BlackFideId "2016192"]
[Annotator "Aronian"]

62.h5! Rb5 {waiting} 63.Rc8 {force the rook slowly into d8}
63...Ra5 64.Rd8 Ra4 {he is probably playing this (likely to answer Rd7 Kf8 Kf6?? with Rxf4#!)}
65.Kg4 {start slowly to bring your king to f3, to threatening f5, which is winning on the spot}
65...Rb4 66.Kf3 {now f5 is a big threat (aronian loved giving this lesson...)}
66...Rb3 67.Ke4 Rb1 {and now children...} 68.Rd7! {this is winning, because black can't prevent f5}
68...Rb4 69.Rd4! {and then he gets f5, f6} 1-0
[/pgn]

Without the h-pawns, it is a mere (Lomonosov) table base draw. The position at hand is of theoretical significance, since a straight win in this sort of position is not normal.
Now it is up to you, to support the claim of Aronian or to dispute it. I ampersonally probably not of great help with that, since i am feeling a bit dizzy today.

draw with finalgen