{"id":26975,"date":"2024-05-15T01:39:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T01:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www1090.fide.com\/?p=26975"},"modified":"2024-06-04T11:43:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T11:43:42","slug":"back-to-the-future-with-casablanca-chess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/back-to-the-future-with-casablanca-chess\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Future with Casablanca Chess!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By GM Hicham Hamdouchi and GM Laurent Fressinet<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

This weekend, the grand chess spectacle will begin in Morocco. Four top grandmasters \u2013 Carlsen, Nakamura, Anand, and Amin \u2013 will test the new Casablanca Chess Variant, introduced by the Casablanca Stock Exchange. They will start their rapid games from carefully selected positions derived from historical games. The idea of this innovative format was suggested by Tarik Senhaji, CEO of Casablanca Stock Exchange.<\/p>

The schedule will be as follows (all times are local):<\/p>

Saturday, May 18<\/strong><\/p>

Round 1 at 4:15 pm \/ Carlsen vs Anand & Nakamura vs Amin
Round 2 at 5:30 pm \/ Amin vs Carlsen & Anand vs Nakamura
Round 3 at 6:45 pm \/ Nakamura vs Carlsen & Amin vs Anand<\/p>

Sunday, May 19<\/strong><\/p>

Round 4 at 7:15 pm \/ Anand vs Carlsen & Amin vs Nakamura
Round 5 at 8:30 pm \/ Carlsen vs Amin & Nakamura vs Anand
Round 6 at 9:45 pm \/ Carlsen vs Nakamura & Anand vs Amin<\/p>

The event will be broadcast live on chess.com. Each round will be preceded by a 15-minute segment dedicated to\u00a0the selection of\u00a0the position, either with a guest or via online polls.\u00a0<\/p>

At the beginning of each round, the players will receive the scoresheets of the chosen position. They will have two minutes to play through the historical game on the board up to the position from which their game will commence. Subsequently, the\u00a0arbiter\u00a0will initiate the clocks.<\/p>

The time control will be 15 minutes with a 10-second increment. No draw offers will be permitted.<\/p>

Context<\/strong><\/p>

There have already been themed tournaments\u00a0in history, for example, starting with a position from the Buenos Aires or Najdorf variation. Alternative formats have\u00a0been attempted, such as Bobby Fischer’s Chess960, Anti Chess, Crazy House, or even No Castling in Dortmund (where castling is prohibited). The objective is always the same: to break away from the well-trodden path and offer new horizons to players. Among these, only Chess960 resembles “real chess” in terms of traditional rules and enjoys relative success. The most recent experience\u00a0to date\u00a0was the Weissenhaus tournament in Germany, which brought together the world’s top players at classical time controls. It saw Carlsen’s victory. Unanimously, the invited top GMs were delighted with this format.\u00a0It is true that Chess960 allows\u00a0for more creativity.\u00a0Players find themselves immediately in unfamiliar territory and try,\u00a0not without\u00a0difficulty, to fall back on classic and familiar patterns.<\/p>

The Casablanca Variant<\/strong><\/p>

Now, let’s delve into the technical aspects of the Casablanca Variant. The idea is quite different. We stay within the realm of classical chess. Players are given a position from a game that has already\u00a0been played\u00a0(or could also be imagined). However, this position must meet several well-defined criteria.\u00a0First and\u00a0foremost, the evaluation should be roughly equal (around 0.00, according to engines).\u00a0The position must be taken from the opening, somewhere\u00a0between the 6th and 15th moves (although mainly between the 10th and 12th).\u00a0Most importantly, and this is the most crucial criterion, it must offer rich possibilities for both players. As you may have guessed, the main idea is to have exciting games or, at the very least, encourage the participants to produce them. We will have the opportunity and privilege of having a royal line-up to test this idea (Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Viswanathan Anand, and Bassem Amin).\u00a0The positions\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0carefully\u00a0chosen\u00a0by us\u00a0(GM Hicham Hamdouchi and GM Laurent Fressinet).\u00a0The event coincides with the centenary celebrations of FIDE.\u00a0To further engage the audience, each position will be chosen from a historically significant game.<\/p>

Let’s look at a concrete example:<\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

Will Magnus Carlsen choose 14\u2026Rc8?<\/p>

This game was played\u00a0between Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze during their Women’s World Championship match in 1978. It is the 14th round, and the position arises from a Caro-Kann defence after the White’s fourteenth move 14.Rh4. The analysis module sanctions it with an even evaluation\u00a00.00. The most played moves for Black in the database are in the following order: 14…Be7, 14…Rc8, 14…cxd4, and 14…0-0-0.<\/p>

Which strategy to choose?\u00a0We can easily deduce that the\u00a0position is rich in possibilities for both sides.\u00a0We can see the potential opposite-side castling, a white pawn majority on the queenside,\u00a0as well as\u00a0other likely imbalances depending on the chosen plan by both sides. In the actual game, Maia chose 14…Rc8. The players quickly transitioned into an endgame in which Black missed a win, settling for a draw on the move 52. One game later, Maia Chiburdanidze was crowned world champion!<\/p>

No\u00a0preparation\u00a0possible,\u00a0unless…\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

It is in\u00a0this state of mind\u00a0that we\u00a0have chosen a total of 18 positions (6×3=18).\u00a0Before the start of every round, the position players will face off and\u00a0will\u00a0be picked\u00a0out of possible three.\u00a0After each game, it will be interesting to test\u00a0the\u00a0memory and\u00a0encyclopaedic\u00a0knowledge\u00a0of our champions\u00a0to see if they have managed to place the games: who played them, and when?\u00a0We hope to witness a grand spectacle despite starting positions presumed to be “equal”. However, rephrasing a well-known expression: all positions are equal, but some are\u00a0more equal\u00a0than others!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By GM Hicham Hamdouchi and GM Laurent Fressinet This weekend, the grand chess spectacle will begin in Morocco. Four top grandmasters \u2013 Carlsen, Nakamura, Anand, and Amin \u2013 will test the new Casablanca Chess Variant, introduced by the Casablanca Stock Exchange. They will start their rapid games from carefully selected positions derived from historical games. The idea of this innovative format was suggested by Tarik Senhaji, CEO of Casablanca Stock Exchange. The schedule will be as follows (all times are local): Saturday, May 18 Round 1 at 4:15 pm \/ Carlsen vs Anand & Nakamura vs AminRound 2 at 5:30 pm \/ Amin vs Carlsen & Anand vs NakamuraRound 3 at 6:45 pm \/ Nakamura vs Carlsen & Amin vs Anand Sunday, May 19 Round 4 at 7:15 pm \/ Anand vs Carlsen & Amin vs NakamuraRound 5 at 8:30 pm \/ Carlsen vs Amin & Nakamura vs AnandRound 6 at 9:45 pm \/ Carlsen vs Nakamura & Anand vs Amin The event will be broadcast live on chess.com. Each round will be preceded by a 15-minute segment dedicated to\u00a0the selection of\u00a0the position, either with a guest or via online polls.\u00a0 At the beginning of each round, the players will receive the scoresheets of the chosen position. They will have two minutes to play through the historical game on the board up to the position from which their game will commence. Subsequently, the\u00a0arbiter\u00a0will initiate the clocks. The time control will be 15 minutes with a 10-second increment. No draw offers will be permitted. Context There have already been themed tournaments\u00a0in history, for example, starting with a position from the Buenos Aires or Najdorf variation. Alternative formats have\u00a0been attempted, such as Bobby Fischer’s Chess960, Anti Chess, Crazy House, or even No Castling in Dortmund (where castling is prohibited). The objective is always the same: to break away from the well-trodden path and offer new horizons to players. Among these, only Chess960 resembles “real chess” in terms of traditional rules and enjoys relative success. The most recent experience\u00a0to date\u00a0was the Weissenhaus tournament in Germany, which brought together the world’s top players at classical time controls. It saw Carlsen’s victory. Unanimously, the invited top GMs were delighted with this format.\u00a0It is true that Chess960 allows\u00a0for more creativity.\u00a0Players find themselves immediately in unfamiliar territory and try,\u00a0not without\u00a0difficulty, to fall back on classic and familiar patterns. The Casablanca Variant Now, let’s delve into the technical aspects of the Casablanca Variant. The idea is quite different. We stay within the realm of classical chess. Players are given a position from a game that has already\u00a0been played\u00a0(or could also be imagined). However, this position must meet several well-defined criteria.\u00a0First and\u00a0foremost, the evaluation should be roughly equal (around 0.00, according to engines).\u00a0The position must be taken from the opening, somewhere\u00a0between the 6th and 15th moves (although mainly between the 10th and 12th).\u00a0Most importantly, and this is the most crucial criterion, it must offer rich possibilities for both players. As you may have guessed, the main idea is to have exciting games or, at the very least, encourage the participants to produce them. We will have the opportunity and privilege of having a royal line-up to test this idea (Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Viswanathan Anand, and Bassem Amin).\u00a0The positions\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0carefully\u00a0chosen\u00a0by us\u00a0(GM Hicham Hamdouchi and GM Laurent Fressinet).\u00a0The event coincides with the centenary celebrations of FIDE.\u00a0To further engage the audience, each position will be chosen from a historically significant game. Let’s look at a concrete example: Will Magnus Carlsen choose 14\u2026Rc8? This game was played\u00a0between Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze during their Women’s World Championship match in 1978. It is the 14th round, and the position arises from a Caro-Kann defence after the White’s fourteenth move 14.Rh4. The analysis module sanctions it with an even evaluation\u00a00.00. The most played moves for Black in the database are in the following order: 14…Be7, 14…Rc8, 14…cxd4, and 14…0-0-0. Which strategy to choose?\u00a0We can easily deduce that the\u00a0position is rich in possibilities for both sides.\u00a0We can see the potential opposite-side castling, a white pawn majority on the queenside,\u00a0as well as\u00a0other likely imbalances depending on the chosen plan by both sides. In the actual game, Maia chose 14…Rc8. The players quickly transitioned into an endgame in which Black missed a win, settling for a draw on the move 52. One game later, Maia Chiburdanidze was crowned world champion! No\u00a0preparation\u00a0possible,\u00a0unless…\u00a0 It is in\u00a0this state of mind\u00a0that we\u00a0have chosen a total of 18 positions (6×3=18).\u00a0Before the start of every round, the position players will face off and\u00a0will\u00a0be picked\u00a0out of possible three.\u00a0After each game, it will be interesting to test\u00a0the\u00a0memory and\u00a0encyclopaedic\u00a0knowledge\u00a0of our champions\u00a0to see if they have managed to place the games: who played them, and when?\u00a0We hope to witness a grand spectacle despite starting positions presumed to be “equal”. However, rephrasing a well-known expression: all positions are equal, but some are\u00a0more equal\u00a0than others!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":26904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[168,179],"regular":[],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-26975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-news","tag-fide-100","tag-morocco"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26975"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26979,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26975\/revisions\/26979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26975"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=26975"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=26975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}