Today In Chess | GM Eric Hansen Reports

by GM Eric Hansen

Day one of filming Today in Chess has just wrapped up. While the concept of the show is fresh, most of the crew that orchestrates the production has had ample experience doing this type of stuff with one glaring exception: me! But before I get too much into that, I might as well talk about a pretty exciting round of chess that just happened in round 8 of the 2016 Candidates Tournament.

The consequences of the clash between American Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana were both good and bad. The good thing was that both players badly needed a win. The flip side was that the loser would pretty much be knocked out of contention. The players went head-to-head in a very double-edged position with Caruana winning relatively easily due to some reckless play from Nakamura. In my opinion the result is probably best if someone is rooting for an American tournament victor. Caruana has been shaky but has had some good moments during the tournament while Nakamura for the most part has been completely out of shape and vulnerable.

That was the lone decisive game which meant that Caruana sits only a half point behind the leaders: Sergey Karjakin and Levon Aronian. It was not smooth sailing on Sunday for Karjakin though; he held onto his position for dear life with his trademark airtight defence and a bit of luck due to another poor conversion attempt by Peter Svidler in a commanding position. The other two games, Aronian vs Giri and Anand vs Topalov, both ended in fairly uneventful draws, although attention must be paid to the fantastic preparation shown so far by Anand, which has allowed him to remain comfortably in contention.

The amount of realistic contenders is starting to dwindle as the tournament continues to progress forward. At the top level of chess, winning on demand is still a rare quality. Karjakin, Aronian and Caruana seem like the safe bets right now while Anand remains a strong challenger as long as his great pre-game preparation continues. I expect Svidler, Topalov, and Nakamura all to play spoiler roles reasonably well with Giri being too solid that he is a non-factor. All-in-all it bodes well for chess fans that the tournament is still up in the air with six rounds to go.

Back to the filming, the first day was exciting. I've always believed that there is untapped potential in marketing and popularizing chess while being surrounded by a group of like-minded people was thoroughly enjoyable. I never realized the complexity of Maurice's job until I had to stand beside him for nearly two hours while trying to keep a good posture. This resulted in quite a few awkward moments where I was way too stiff to the viewers. Maybe I was a bit intimidated by the beautiful, high-tech chess studio that the Chess Club possesses. No matter the case, it was a humbling experience because, even though I have done fashion modeling and documentaries, I realized I have a lot to learn after rewatching the episode.

I'll be looking forward to working hard this next week to make the vision of Today in Chess a reality. P.S Go Fabiano!