Pardon our Blunders recap for 1/26!

   And we're back with another recap. This one is from today's Pardon our Blunders episode which aired at 10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern and open to Platinum/Diamond members.

   There were 10 topics today, including the Blunder of the Week, which there were A LOT of candidates for and I hope I got them all down. Anyway, here are the topics that were discussed with links for some of them.

1. Oh no he didn’t?  Giri calls out Aronian as a “coffee house player.” Any truth to it? Does Aronian care?  (YouTube video mentioned during show in this recap)

2. “My game to a new level.”  - Aronian…Is Aronian headed for 2850??

3. Awkward to play Chuky?  Are his previous meltdowns bothering opponents or is he a “Chess God” again??

4. Naka claims the “onus” is on Magnus to beat him, even with black. Do you agree? What’s going on with that?

5. How high can you get in chess without opening theory?

6. Gibraltar getting stronger??  Getting to be an elite event??  http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-boys-are-back-in-town-and-girls

7. Picking a winner in Gibraltar?  Is it possible to choose with such a tight field?

8. “Big Dogs” shouldn’t run with the “Big Girl!”  Is it a bad idea to get into a tactical slug-fest with Judit Polgar?? http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/download/games/2012/masters/r2/masters_r2_2012.htm

9. Hou Yifan – the next woman to get over 2700 FIDE?!?  True/False??

10. B.O.T.W (lots of PGNs)

#1 - Giri calling Aronian a "coffee house player" - He may be one of the great up and coming GMs, but GM "hyrbid" Anish Giri has a lot to learn according to this video below.

   It would've been nice for someone to get Aronian's response to this kind of comment. Giri, who lost 3 games in a row, was clearly frustrated and it seems he's taking it out on everyone else, calling them "coffee house players," instead of saying that he needs to improve his own game to be able to score wins at TATA. It's showing disrespect to his opponents, the game, and making himself look like an arrogant punk kid. Man up Giri and take the blame instead of shoveling it on everyone else.

#2 - Aronian hitting 2850 FIDE? - With all this talk about Magnus possibly breaking Kaspy's 2851 peak rating, Armenian GM Levon Aronian is quietly closing the gap himself between his current rating and the 2851 milestone. Now ranked #2 on the FIDE ratings list, will Aronian be the first one (or next one?) to achieve such greatness? More performances like the one he is having a TATA will definitely put him neck in neck I think with Magnus Carlsen, and heading down the homestretch later on this year towards more of the elite tournaments the race is only going to get tighter.

#3 - Awkwardness vs. Chuky - For the past couple of weeks now, Vassily Ivanchuk has been "cannon fodder" on recent Pardon our Blunders episodes because of his ranting, raving and 'Karate Kid" actions. It seems that Chuky is getting worse with his meltdowns. As it was mentioned in a comment last week, Ivanchuk might be bi-polar, because of his history of erratic and eccentric behavior. As a person who suffers from it, I can see the resemblances in his behavior that I too deal with. Does this put off players who oppose him during events because they don't know what's going to happen? Being against Chuky is like being on a broadcast of "Let's Make a Deal." You never know what "outfit" or persona he'll be wearing and you never know what's behind the doors of his mind in that round. I think it's a good analogy.

#4 - Naka claiming "onus" is on Magnus! - Another video clip here below.

   It really shouldn't make a difference who or what the onus is on, you should still be playing to win. Yes Magnus is the #1 player in the world, but that doesn't mean you don't try to beat him and work your hardest to do so. This kind of thing bothers me somewhat because as a professional, he should be giving 110% in each game and not claiming that it's Magnus' job to beat him since he's the better player. You play to win. At least that's the idea of it all. If it was a World Championship match between these two, I bet he would not take the quick draw.

#5 - So, how high can one player get without opening theory in chess? 1500?  1700?  1800+?  Does it depend on the individual, how their brain works with memorization, and natural talent?  If it's all just recollection, then can anyone be trained to be good at opening theory?  Without it, how far can one player go without studying? This is more of an open ended topic so it will be interesting to see in the comments what people think about this.

#6 - In an article written by FM Eric Schiller for Chess.com, the Tradewise Gibraltar tournament is beginning to look like one of the newest elite chess tournaments, especially with this lineup. Is it on the way to becoming the new kid on the block when it comes to one of the biggest tourneys of the year? It only took the London Chess Classic that first year three years ago to be deemed as the new kid in town. What does a line-up like this mean for future Gibraltar events? It will be interesting to see what lies ahead for this event and its organizers.

#7 - Staying with Gibraltar and using the link above as a guide, who would be the favorite here? Peter Svilder? Michael Adams? Or maybe even perhaps the best women's player ever Judit Polgar? The field is an impressive one to say the least so picking the lead horse wouldn't be easy here. Personally, I would say Judit, but that's just me.

#8 - And now running with the Judit ball, can the "Big Dogs" of male chess get into tactical warfare with the "Big Girl" Judit Polgar?  Take a look at this game here and decide for yourself. How many men can stand up to her when it comes to tactical duels? Even though she never held the Women's World Championship like her sister Susan, her legendary status is still strong and she's so very feared in the world of chess, despite taking time off to raise her family. When Judit plays big events, she plays in the Open Section, going head-to-head with the men. In the 2010 Olympiad, she was on the Men's side. If she did get a chance to face the World Chess Champion, my bet is that she would beat whoever it was, that's how strong she is.

#9 - True or False - is Hou Yifan, the 17-year-old GM from China capable of being the 2nd woman to break 2700 FIDE? We all know who the other woman is, but according to this game, is Yifan on her way to do just that?

   She's already the youngest Women's World Champion as well as the youngest woman to earn the GM title and the third female player to break 2600 FIDE. Is 2700 next?

#10 - B.O.T.W. - There's A LOT of candidates and games, so don't hate me if I miss one.

   First, naturally, Danny had a few joke candidates to blame on David. Poor David gets so much heat from his co-conspirator.

   The first of the Pruess blames was David thinking that Magnus was going to break 2850 at the TATA tournament. I think we all thought that. I know I did.

   Secondly, to David thinking he could sleep during the TATA tournament but he winds up wanting to watch the games anyway or the broadcasters for Chess.com/TV, Melik for example, calling David at 4 or 5 AM for troubles or situations that happen to arise either during setup or someone not showing up for a broadcast, turning off their phone or reading the times wrong. Poor David never gets a break.

   Finally, to David not knowing the video below exists.

   There were more legitimate Blunders of the Week and I hope I got them all down.

   All of them were from TATA. How can one super tourney like this have so many Blunders?!?!

Round 10 TATA - and the moves that started the Blunder:

Radjabov/Van Wely - 40. Qf3:

Navara/Ivanchukv- 29. Nf5:

Harikrishna/Vocaturo 25. Qb5

Round 9 TATA:

Carlsen/Karjakin - 8. Rc1

Ivanchuk/Giri - 40...Rxb5 and Giri collapses

   Finally, to Ivan Sokolov who awards the "Game of the Day" prize at TATA. The 500 euro prize went to Ivanchuk capitalizing on the Blunder by Navara, who allowed 30...Re2. He chose that game over the one where Aronian, as Black, beat Giri. That game is below:

   So lots to talk about. I'm sorry for the length of this but I'm trying to make these recaps interesting and include everything that was shown during the show.

   Take it easy everyone! Have a good night! 

   -Mark