Month: July 2018

Tenth town of Switzerland with about 50.000 inhabitants, Biel, at the juncture of German-speaking and Romandie Switzerland, has been staging its July Chess Festival for decades.
This tournament has a special place in Maxime’s heart, because he very much appreciates the organization and the surroundings, but also because he already won there five times!

As the drawing of lots gave him #1, Maxime had the privilege to begin the tournament with two whites. After a lively draw against Svidler, he decided to dig into his sub-variations stock (4.Bf4) to counter the Pirc defense chosen by World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
In a queenless middlegame that strongly resembled a French position, things seemed to be heading towards a draw after the exchange of all minor pieces…

In the diagrammed position, 32.Rh6! followed by 33.Rf6 would have clinched the draw, thanks to the double task of this Rook defending f4 and putting pressure on f7. However, after 32.Rgh4? Rg8!, Black took over the initiative, in a position that oscillated for more than 25 moves at the very edge of a draw and of a black win!

Long analysis will certainly be required to bring out the truth about this ending which, in numerous variations, conceals subtleties worthy of the finest sudies. Kudos to both players for what should become a classic endgame…

Ouch, 0.5/3!

When he introduced the Candidates tournament in March, Maxime explained why Mamedyarov is a player he doesn’t feel comfortable playing against… « My results in classical chess against him are quite disastrous. The main reason for it is that we both love dynamic play, but that he more often got positions in which he felt at home. In several games, I collapsed in such complicated positions ». He will certainly not change his mind after the round-3 game, which brought the Azeri to a +5 lead in classical games against him. Indeed, Maxime collapsed after a difficult fight, marked by a high-level theoretical preparation by Mamedyarov.

With only 0.5/3, things were looking very grim…

This is probably the reason why Maxime didn’t tempt fate the next day against Navara. In the diagrammed position, instead of playing the very complex position arising after 21…Ng4!?, he preferred the stylish move repetition that 21…Rac8 forces: 22.exf6 Rxc6+ 23.Kb3 Rd3+ 24.Ka4 Bd6 25.Rb3 Rd5 26.Rb5 Rd3.

Svidler overestimates his position

Round 5 against local boy Nico Georgiadis, Maxime got his first win, all in all rather easily. The Swiss forgot a simple 19.Qb1, attacking both h7 and b6 pawns simultaneously.

In this double-round tournament, masterly directed by the very francophon Swiss GM
Yannick Pelletier, the rest day was scheduled after 6 of the 10 rounds. Maxime grabbed the opportunity to score again before the break, which is always nice. The Russian Peter Svidler was punished for overestimating his position…

After the simple 20.Ke2, followed for instance by 21.Rhc1, the position is rather equal and the game should steer towards the draw. Svidler’s move, 20.e5?!, drastically changes the character of the position, but not really in white’s favour. After 20…fxe5 21.Re1 f6 22.f4 Rf8!, it is Black who has more options.

With 3/6, Maxime managed to restore what initially looked like a precarious situation.
After a rest day on Saturday, during which a boat trip and a lunch on the Biel Lake have been scheduled by the organizers, Maxime will go back to fight for round 7, with black against World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered” background_pattern=”otw-pattern-1″]Champions du Monde !It’s at home in Paris, with a bunch of friends, that Maxime watched the France-Croatia Football World Cup final. The victory of France was worth the selfie below, published on Twitter by Maxime. In the hope that it will give ideas to the French National Chess team which, led by Maxime, will soon play its own Mondial, ie. the Olympiads scheduled end of September in Georgia.[/otw_shortcode_quote]

Champions du monde !! pic.twitter.com/W0kQBS9t44

— MVL (@Vachier_Lagrave) 15 juillet 2018

Official site: www.bielchessfestival.ch

Maxime’s games (rounds 1 to 6):

The Asnières chess club, in partnership with the city, organized on June 27 a « Trophée MVL », held in the heart of Asnières’ castle. This event was meant to close the chess season, and all afternoon long, pupils who learnt chess in school, members of the club, and various personalities, gathered inside the historic walls.

Simultaneous displays against children, and then against adults, prize-giving of the scholarship tournament, photo sessions, small private masterclasses, a busy program was awaiting Maxime, who was the patron of this sunny day in honor of chess.

Maxime all over the place !

Maxime will have done a bit of everything during this afternoon. And you could even find him where least expected, that is helping to record the results of the schools tournament, and operate as a deputy arbiter !
You need a proof ? Here it is !

In this kind of festive event, the result itself is generally irrelevant, but it still has to be noted that Maxime won all of his games. The ones of the simultaneous display against the children, but also the 26 against the adults, where you could find a few players rated around 2000 Elo.

A few personalities had decided to join the show and to play against Maxime, among them Jean-Daniel Belfond, boss of the Editions de l’Archipel, Laurent Baumel, former Parliament deputy, Faycal Douhane, Bobigny sub-prefect, as well as representatives of HP-BTP and Sepur, the club’s partner companies.

Asnières will play the Top 12 with Maxime

Asnières mayor, Manuel Aeschlimann, was also expected to play, the more so as he used to play competitive chess; but he finally declined, choosing to remain on the delicious memories of a fighting draw he earned in simultaneous against Karpov, back in his prime !

By the way, here is a nice tactic picked up from one of these 26 games…

But this festive day was also a good opportunity to officially announce the arrival of Maxime in Asnières’ club, for whom he will play next season 2018-2019. Indeed, Asnières just won its N1 group a few weeks ago, and will thus access the Top 12 next year.

Maxime is currently enjoying some well deserved holidays.
We will be back on this website at the beginning of the Biel tournament, on July 22.

[otw_shortcode_quote border=”bordered” border_style=”bordered” background_pattern=”otw-pattern-1″]Asnières
Famous video about Asnières (in french) https://www.ina.fr/video/I06268515/
In the days prior to the « Trophée MVL », Asnières’ castle saw all the Grand Chess Tour players coming. Some of them, Maxime included, honored with their presence the « Rencontre des 400 », organized for the school audience by the Ligue d’Ile-de-France des Echecs. And all of them were there for the Paris Grand Chess Tour prize-giving ceremony.
For its part, the French Chess Federation, besides its own installation in the castle attic, organized at the same time two national finals, a few hundred meters from there, in Asnières’ Petit Théâtre.
Asnières, the new place to be of french chess ![/otw_shortcode_quote]