I personally do not understand the idea of this match. It is quite obvious that Negi is a big talent but he is not ready. He has no or little experience in match play. Match play and tournament play is as different as night and day. And to start with an 18 game match is not a great idea. I hope this does not destroy his self confidence and take him back in his chess development.
Lahno on the other hand is a seasoned professional even at a young age of 16. She already competed in big events such as the Olympiad, Women’s World Championship, National Championship and more. I hope she can capitalize on this and grow to the next level in chess. She certainly has the talent for it.
WGM Lahno – GM Negi [C55]
Amity Grandmasters Challenge, New Delhi, India, 23.12.2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 a6 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.Bb3 Ba7 8.0-0 d6 9.h3 Nh5 10.Re1 Qf6 11.Nf1 Nf4 12.Ng3 g6 13.Be3 h5 14.d4 Nd8 15.d5 Bd7 16.Rc1 a5 17.a3 a4 18.Ba2 Bc5 19.Kh2 g5 20.Nd4 h4 21.Nh5 Qh6 22.Nxf4 gxf4 23.Nf5 Bxf5 24.Bxc5 Bd7 25.Bb4 f6 26.Bc4 Kh8 27.Be2 Rg8 28.Bg4 Qg7 29.Rg1 Bxg4 30.Qxg4 Qxg4 31.hxg4 Rxg4 32.Kh3 Rg5 33.c4 b6 34.g3 hxg3 35.fxg3 fxg3 36.Bd2 Rh5+ 37.Kxg3 Nf7 38.Kg4 Rh2 39.Rh1 Rg8+ 40.Kf5 Rgg2 41.Kxf6 Kg8 42.Ke7 Rxh1 43.Rxh1 Nh8 44.Bb4 Rg7+ 45.Kd8 Ng6 46.Rg1 Kh7 47.Rh1+ Kg8 48.Rg1 Kh7 49.Rh1+ Kg8 50.Kc8 Nf4 51.c5 dxc5 52.Bc3 Nd3 53.Rh5 Re7 54.Kd8 Rg7 55.Bxe5 Rg4 56.Ke7 Nxe5 57.Rxe5 c4 58.Kd7 Rg2 59.Kxc7 Rxb2 60.d6 c3 61.d7 Rd2 62.d8Q+ Rxd8 63.Kxd8 c2 64.Rg5+ Kf7 65.Rg1 White wins 1-0
Click here to replay game 7
GM Negi – WGM Lahno [C78]
Amity Grandmasters Challenge, New Delhi, India, 23.12.2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bg4 9.a5 0-0 10.h3 Bh5 11.d3 d5 12.Qe2 Qd6 13.Bg5 d4 14.c4 Bb4 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.cxb5 axb5 17.Bd5 Bxf3 18.Qxf3 Qxf3 19.gxf3 Rxa5 20.Nd2 Ne7 21.Rxa5 Bxa5 22.Nb3 Bb6 23.Bb7 Rb8 24.Ra1 Kf8 25.Na5 Bxa5 26.Rxa5 Ng6 27.Bc6 Nf4 28.Bxb5 Nxh3+ 29.Kf1 Nf4 30.b3 Ke7 31.Bc4 f6 32.Kg1 h5 33.Kh2 h4 34.Ra4 Kd6 35.Ra6+ Rb6 36.Ra8 Kc5 37.Rc8 c6 38.Rc7 Kb4 39.Rxg7 Kc3 40.Rf7 c5 41.Rc7 Nxd3 42.Kg2 Nf4+ 43.Kg1 Kb4 44.Kf1 h3 45.Kg1 Rd6 46.Rb7+ Kc3 47.Rb5 Rc6 48.Rb8 d3 49.Rd8 d2 Black wins 0-1
Click here to replay game 8
WGM Lahno – GM Negi [C77]
Amity Grandmasters Challenge, New Delhi, India, 23.12.2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.c3 0-0 8.Nbd2 d5 9.0-0 dxe4 10.dxe4 Bc5 11.Qe2 Qd6 12.Nh4 Bg4 13.Ndf3 Nh5 14.Bg5 Nf4 15.Bxf4 exf4 16.h3 Be6 17.Rad1 Qe7 18.Bd5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 g6 20.Qd2 Bd6 21.Re1 f6 22.a4 bxa4 23.Qc2 a3 24.bxa3 Bxa3 25.Qa4 Ne5 26.Nxe5 fxe5 27.Nf3 Bd6 28.c4 Qg7 29.c5 Be7 30.Nxe5 Rfd8 31.Qc4 Kf8 32.Red1 a5 33.Nc6 Re8 34.Rd7 Qf7 35.Qd4 Qf6 36.Rxe7 Qxd4 37.Rxe8+ Kxe8 38.Nxd4 a4 39.Nb5 Ra5 40.Nxc7+ Kf7 41.Nd5 Rxc5 42.Nxf4 a3 43.Ra1 Rc3 44.Kf1 Rb3 45.Ke2 Kf6 46.Nd3 White wins 1-0
Click here to replay game 9
Katya gave some nice lessons and brute slapping to the young guy. Excellent play, Katya, you are great!
Susan,
Your comments are very fair, accurate and encouraging to both parties. Thanks for the great service!
I hope Lahno stays in the ‘open’ chess environment, rather than playing in female only events.
If Negi is really 2538, then Kateryna’s performance is 2704 over 9 games.
If she is really 2460, then his performance is 2290.
From the quality of games, it seems most likely that he is overrated, maybe 100-150 points, perhaps in the rush to get ‘youngest’ this and ‘youngest’ that.
His playing strength is not yet like a strong mature GM of 2538.
I thought it was interesting that both preferred the Steinitz pawn formation (pawns at c3-d3-e4) in the Ruy and Italian Game. Is this 19th century variation going through a revival?
She plays chessbase-blitz all the times, so her performance is not 2704 over 9 games.
Finally some games with a definite result! Wins! Defeats! Now that’s chess.
I still believe we’re not seeing true chess ability here. Both players are being shielded via memorized chess. This is not a true representation of their skills.
The only way we’d see if either player truly has advanced in chess is via Fischer Random. This mode of playing is the ONLY way to gauge in chess skill. Classical chess has been around for centuries and the drawback is GM’s have been able to get by with memorizing lines guaranteeing them draws or getting an occasional win because their opponents may not be “booked up”.
So I hear GM Susan Polgar is running for a USCF Executive board position. Wonderful. Now let’s see her stake a position on Fischer Random Chess in the USCF. Doing this would send a loud message to FIDE to wake up and start looking at this new form of chess as a viable way of playing the game.
You can agree to disagree with me on this…but Fischer Random Chess is NOT going away and I believe it needs to be looked at seriously. The clogging in GM levels with draws is not encouraging for chess. GM Susan Polgar would be in a terrific position to address this problem and Fischer Random chess is one way to solve the draw issue.
Running for a USCF board position, you should be neutral. And not delete objective posts that you don’t like.
“Finally some games with a definite result! Wins! Defeats! Now that’s chess.”
Hi Bobby, how is the weather in Iceland!
This is merely ‘Rapid’ Chess, not regular long-time-control chess.
So I would not put too much emphasis on the worries or conclusions regarding any outcome of this match.
G
Seems Negi’s endgame needs work. My of these games were lost from better or even endgames.
I’m curious what Susan might have said if the score was the other way around. Perhaps something like this: “Was it fair to pit a mere WGM against a significantly higher-ranked GM? Wasn’t the result of the match a foregone conclusion? Tell me what you think!”
Chess is a tough game, isn’t it.