Who's On Second?

John B. Henderson • June 6, 2023

The fabled “Who’s On First?” baseball comedy routine is one of the lasting legacies of Bud Abbott (1897-1974) and Lou Costello (1906-1959). So good, that Time magazine proclaimed it to be the “Best Comedy Sketch of the 20th Century” in 1999; and such is the skit’s standing, it was even inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1956, where it has played in a continuous loop since 1967. 


The routine has also become something of a cultural touchstone, transcending comedy as a metaphor for miscommunication, multiple confusion, and double-talk in business, politics, and everyday life - and it could well be about to be reworked for chess’ pecking order, as the World #2 spot sees musical chair-like daily changes with almost every round of the Norway Chess Tournament in Stavanger.

In the world rankings, while we all know that the numéro uno is, of course, Magnus Carlsen - and indeed, unbroken since July 2011 - but as each round ends in Stavanger, you can almost envision Bud & Lou’s argumentative contortions not being about who’s on first but rather just who’s on second? 


We started Norway Chess with teenager Alireza Firouzja in the World #2 spot behind Carlsen, and he was then leapfrogged momentarily on the live ratings by Fabiano Caruana; only for a couple of rounds later, Firouzja being numéro dous overnight. Then, with a brace of wins over Gukesh D and Aryan Tari, Hikaru Nakamura got in on the act by leapfrogging both Firouzja and Caruana for his overnight stint as World #2! 


That lasted only 24 hours, because with a fourth classical win, over Nodbirbek Abdusattorov in round 6, Caruana not only extends his lead at the top but he’s also back in the World #2 spot; though with things likely to remain in a state of flux with just three rating points separating the Carlsen-chasing trio!


And while a resurgent Caruana has dominated in Stavanger, the US champion is not only involved in a three-way dogfight with Firouzja and Nakamura to be World #2, he's also now involved in an increasingly two-horse race with home-front rival Nakamura for the tournament #1 spot, as the US duo begin to break from the chasing pack going into the home stretch. 


And through all the musical chairs shenanigans going on behind him, a yet classical-winless Carlsen continues to dip in the pecking order, with the gap between the World #’s 1 & 2 dramatically closing with the Norwegian haemorrhaging 14-rating points - and a fifth straight Norway Chess Tournament title looks extremely remote now, a distant dream, as he's six-points adrift of Caruana, as his former title foe looks to be staking his claim to become World Champion.

Standings:

1. F. Caruana (USA) 13.5/18; 2. H. Nakamura (USA) 11; 3-4. A. Firouzja (France), Gukesh D. (India) 8.5; 5. S. Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) 8; 6-7. M. Carlsen (Norway), W. So (USA) 7.5; 8. A. Giri (Netherlands) 7; 9. N. Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) 6; 10. A. Tari (Norway) 3. 


Hikaru Nakamura is in an All-American battle with Caruana for both the World #2 spot and Tournament #1 | © Norway Chess

GM Hikaru Nakamura - GM Aryan Tari 

11th Norway Chess, (5)

C24: Bishop's Opening, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 It was the 'Great Dane' himself, Bent Larsen, who almost single-handedly is responsible for reviving the Bishop's Opening in the 1960s and 1970s at the top level, as it was a long-forgotten system first studied in the 16th century by Greco. And sometimes the Bishop's Opening can come as a total shock to the system when deployed against younger players, hence Nakamura's wisdom of using it as a surprise weapon against the Norwegian #2. 2...Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 The Bishop's Opening can be used as a conduit into the Giuoco Piano - but Larsen's original thinking, which Nakamura concurs with, is a completely separate agenda. 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bb3 d6 6.h3 O-O 7.Nf3 a5 8.O-O Nbd7 9.a3 b5 10.Ba2 a4 11.Nh4 Ba7 12.Qf3 Nakamura goes for control of the crucial d5 square and a firm grip of f5 for his knight - but Black has a simple development plan that should guarantee not only total equality but an intriguing tussle ahead. 12...Nc5 13.Nf5 Bxf5 14.Qxf5 Re8 15.Bd2 Ne6 16.Ne2! Heading for the ideal f5 outpost for the knight. 16...d5! And Tari reacts correctly and energetically by pushing in the centre of the board.

17.exd5 Nxd5 Not bad or losing in any way, but with the e-pawn taboo due to the discovered attack down the e-file, there was a view among the talking heads that more dynamic was 17...cxd5! and the plan of pushing on with ...e4 due to the x-ray attack down the d-file, and if 18.Rad1 to defend d2, then plan B is 18...Qc8! looking to play ...Nd4 or even ...Nf4, which offered Black good prospects. 18.Rae1 Qd6 19.Qg4 Rad8 20.Ng3 No shortage of good options for Nakamura's knights, with both the e4 and f5 squares ready to slip into. And from here, Nakamura is in his element with some timely trades, as his knight dominates Black's bad bishop. 20...Nd4 21.Bg5 Rb8 22.Be3 Qg6 23.c3 Nxe3 24.fxe3 Nb3 25.Ne4! Creating a force majeur moment in the game for Nakamura, as Tari feels compelled to trade queens, which just makes the endgame easier for White. 25...Qxg4 26.hxg4 c5? Tari starts to lose the plot at this point, and he soon pays for it with the game. Correct was keeping the tension for now with 26...Rbd8 27.d4 Re6! 28.Ng5 Re7 29.Nf3 e4! 30.Bxb3 (If 30.Nh4 simply 30...g6! 31.g3 Rd5! and a major headache for White, with the Black rook ready to jump over to g5 to hit the double g-pawns) 30...exf3 with equal chances. 27.Bxb3! Nakamura jumps on the good knight v bad bishop scenario - and what's not like about the promising endgame prospects for the American? 27...axb3 (see diagram) 28.c4! Effectively the winning move now, as it locks the bishop out of the game. 28...Red8 29.Rd1 Rd7 30.Kf2! Excellent play from Nakamura, who uses his king to defend d3 to free up one of his rooks - and with it, the ending is so easy now for White to convert. 30...h5 In dire straits, Tari goes for a last throw of the dice to try - somehow - to activate his pieces. 31.gxh5 f5 32.Nc3 b4 33.Nb5 f4 The desperation continues for Tari, but then again, after the better 33...bxa3 34.bxa3! Black's b-pawn falls with a bad endgame in prospect. 34.axb4 Bb6 35.exf4 cxb4+ 36.Kf3 exf4 Tari opts to hang for the sheep as for the lamb now, rather than going down meekly in the endgame after 36...Rbd8 37.Ke2 Re8 38.f5 Ra8 39.g4 Bd4 40.Rd2 etc.

37.d4 Rbd8 38.Rd3! A nice final touch from Nakamura, as 38...Bxd4 will be strongly met by Rfd1 resulting in a self-pin down the d-file and a heavy loss of material for Black. 38...Rc8 39.Rc1 Nakamura has masterfully re-arranged his furniture and is now ready to start pushing his central passed pawns. 39...Rd5 40.c5 Rg5 41.Nd6 Winning both material and the game! 41...Rc6 42.cxb6! 1-0 And Tari resigns, faced with the impossible defence of

42...Rxc1 43.b7 and the pawn can't be stopped from queening.

The 42 Paradox

By John B. Henderson • October 2, 2023
Well, well, well. After rampaging his way through many of the finals and opponents throughout the 2023 Champions Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s “final boss” reign came to a screeching halt in what proved to be an enthralling AI Cup Grand Final on Friday, as the favourite was beaten not once but in three games, and over two matches, by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who sensationally grabbed the last remaining spot in the Champions Tour Final in December. Earlier, Carlsen had defeated MVL in the final of the winners’ bracket, before the Frenchman gained the right to a rematch in the double-elimination contest by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final of the losers’ bracket. In the Grand Final, buoyed up and firing on all cylinders, MVL beat Carlsen by a 2½-1½ score.

We'll Meet Again

By John B. Henderson • September 29, 2023
The self-proclaimed “final boss of chess” does what the final boss of chess does best of all: Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the AI Cup winners’ bracket, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season, to reach yet another Grand Final in the novel double-elimination contest. But it wasn’t without an epic bare-knuckle street fight from both players, as MVL proved to be a worthy opponent for what looked to be an unstoppable Carlsen, who narrowly prevailed in the Armageddon to take the match 3-2. "This is the sort of thing that happens when you play Sicilians in every game," said a magnanimous Carlsen in victory after four fighting Sicilians left the match tied at 2-2.

Tiers For Fears

By John B. Henderson • September 27, 2023
Fans were treated to arguably the greatest online rivalry in chess history recently, with the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship Grand Final showdown between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura seeing the Norwegian narrowly snatch victory by a solitary win to end the American speed maven’s hopes of a sixth successive victory. But Carlsen’s narrow win left the salivating fans feeling they’d been denied seeing this epic gladiatorial speed contest going into overtime - but they didn’t have to wait long for the rivalry redux, as a couple of days later, both Carlsen and Nakamura went head-to-head yet again in the opening day of the AI Cup, the sixth and final leg of the 2023 Champions Chess Tour regular season.

Bossing It

By John B. Henderson • September 25, 2023
Magnus Carlsen more than lived up to his self-proclamation of being “The Final Boss of Chess” with a revenge-is-sweet narrow victory over fellow chess influencer Hikaru Nakamura, as he denied his long-time arch-rival a sixth successive Chess.com Speed Chess Championship title last Friday. Last year, it was Nakamura who narrowly squeaked home by one point - this time, in yet another thrilling match consisting of three different speed limits - 5+1, 3+1 and 1+1 (more commonly known as ‘bullet’) - between the two speed titans, it again ended with the same scoreline, though this time seeing Carlsen triumph by a solitary win after two pulsating hours of thrilling play, as he took the $150,000 2023 Speed Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, 13.5-12.5.

Death, Taxes, Magnus & Hikaru

By John B. Henderson • September 22, 2023
With a smorgasbord of online chess events out there now, the granddaddy of them all is surely the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship , with a $150,000 prize fund that determines just who is the best blitz and bullet players. It has become the perennial fan-favourite with arguably the best viewing experience - and the fans are set for yet another spectacular finale later today, as the two rivals who dominate the roll of honour, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, get set for another explosive showdown in the 2023 final. Friday’s final and commentary, free to view, starts at 14:00 ET (11:00 PT; 20:00 CEST; 23:30 IST) on Chess.com. Carlsen and Nakamura have won each edition since the inaugural Speed Chess Championship event in 2016 - Carlsen won the first two speed titles before taking a hiatus, only for Nakamura to rule the roost, winning four more times.

A Messi Kid

By John B. Henderson • September 19, 2023
India today is a land of amazing young talents and prospects in chess, with the country seemingly having a never-ending production line of prodigies rolling off the factory conveyor belt. But for some countries, such as Argentina, prodigies only seem to come around with all the regularity of Halley’s Comet . One of the first notable post-war chess prodigies was Oscar Panno from Buenos Aires, who became the first world-class player born in South America. In 1953, at the age of 17, he became only the second World Junior Champion , having won the coveted youth title ahead of a strong cadre of future elite-level Grandmasters such as Boris Ivkov (who in 1951 was crowned the first World Junior Ch), Bent Larsen, and Fredrik Olafsson.

The Great Rook 'n' Roll Swindle

By John B. Henderson • September 14, 2023
“Chess is a cruel game. We all know that feeling when your position has gone awry and everything seems hopeless. You feel like resigning. But don’t give up! This is precisely the moment to switch to swindle mode. Master the art of provoking errors and you will be able to turn the tables and escape with a draw or sometimes even steal the full point!” So wrote David Smerdon, an Australian chess grandmaster and one of his country’s leading behavioural economists, on the back cover of his witty and wickedly entertaining, not to mention the much-lauded and deserving 2020 ECF Book of the Year winner, The Complete Chess Swindler (New in Chess).

No Country For Young Men

By John B. Henderson • September 11, 2023
With the top teenage talents being overshadowed in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata by a dominant performance from seasoned veteran Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, there were hopes of a homeland comeback in the follow-on Blitz tournament - and one looked to be on the cards, only for another “old guy”, this time Alexander Grischuk, crashing the teenage party by capturing the second, even faster speed title. Early doors, all eyes were firmly on Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa, with his flying start of a perfect 5/5 on the opening day of the two-day double-round contest. But that was as good as it got for the 18-year-old Candidate-qualifier, who could only finish the day on 6.5/9, and despite being the sole leader, he held what looked a very slender half-point lead over nearest rivals Santosh Vidit and Grischuk, ominously the only unbeaten player.

My Indian Summer

By John B. Henderson • September 8, 2023
The past couple of years have proved to be a major one for India - not only a global player with world leaders descending this week in New Delhi for the G20 Summit and recently successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon but now also a fully-fledged chess superpower, with many exciting young talents set to make the country a dominant force for the foreseeable future. Many would even speculate that Indian Chess could well turn into a hegemony, in much the same way as the Soviets dominated the chess scene in the 1945 post-war period until its collapse and ultimate dissolution in 1991. The latest big chess tournament to be held in India coincides with the G20, with the fifth Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz - a spinoff from the larger Dutch super-tournament, the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee - taking place 5-9 September in Kolkata.

Me & The Kids

By John B. Henderson • September 4, 2023
The fifth and latest leg of the Champions Chess Tour , the Julius Baer Generations Cup more than lived up to its name with the world No.1, Magnus Carlsen, after overpowering Alireza Firouzja in the winners’ final, to effortlessly cruise his way into the Grand Final, declaring: “It’s just me against the kids now!” After three clean kills that included a brace of back-to-back 2½-½ victories over Iranian Amin Tabatabaei and his old title foe Caruana, Carlsen proceeded to sweep Firouzja 3-0 to reach the Grand Final of the contest - but it wasn’t lost on the “old man” that non of his old rivals were left in the competition, and that meant that Denis Lazavik (16), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (18), and Firouzja (20) were the only three left standing to see who would go forward to meet him in the Grand Final.
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