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Malcolm Pein on…Felinefehlers

Malcolm Pein

March 26, 2021

What are felinefehlers? Apparently they are an unexpected hazard in online chess games. Malcolm Pein provides an explanation in today’s Daily Telegraph column.

Malcolm Pein on…Felinefehlers

The battle to reach the last eight of the $200,000 (£145,000) Magnus Carlsen Invitational was decided on the third and final day of the preliminary phase, although there was little change from the overnight standings as many games were drawn.

Magnus Carlsen achieved his stated objective of finishing first in the preliminary section to secure a more favourable pairing in the knockout phase as he eventually overhauled Anish Giri, who had defeated in him in the early rounds. Carlsen defeated qualifier Alan Pichot and drew the rest on day three, including this ‘Double Bongcloud’ against Hikaru Nakamura: 1.e4 e5 2.Ke2 Ke7 3.Ke1 Ke8 4.Ke2 Ke7 5.Ke1 Ke8 6.Ke2 Ke7 draw.

Levon Aronian qualified at the expense of Sergey Karjakin thanks to a superior tie-break. Aronian must have been thankful for this gift from Jorden van Foreest at the end of day two; he had been utterly outplayed. Aronian – Van Foreest after 64…Qd3-f5??

Test Your Strength

White to play and win

Ian Nepomniachtchi was top scorer with 4/5 on the final day after a mishap on day two. Nepo’s cat jumped onto his chair during his game against Carlsen when he had a “huge edge” after which “he was unable to concentrate”.

The Russian number one finished with a flourish:

I. Nepomniachtchi – A. Pichot
Sicilian Taimanov

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qf3 Ne5 8.Qg3 b5 9.0–0–0 Nf6 10.f4 Neg4 11.Bd2 b4 12.Na4 h5 (Black won after 12…Qa7 in Leko-McShane Bundesliga 2020) 13.Bd3 d5 14.e5 Ne4 15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.h3 Nh6 17.Qb3 (Black might thrive in the chaos of 17.Bxb4!? Bxb4 18.Qxg7 Rf8 19.Qxh6 Bd7 20.f5 Bxa4 21.fxe6) 17…Bd7 18.Bxb4 Rb8 19.Bxf8! Rxb3 20.Bd6 Qa5 21.axb3 Bxa4 22.bxa4 Qxa4 23.Ba3 Kd7! 24.Rhe1 Kc8 25.Rxe4 Rd8 26.Rd3 Nf5?? (26…Rd5 was forced).

Test Your Strength

White to play and win

Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answers.

Answer 1: 65.Qh8+ Kg5 66.Qh4# 1–0 Instead, 64…Qf3 65.Qh8+ Kg5 66.Qe5+ Kg4 or 64…c3 65.Qh8+ Kg5 66.Qe5+ Qf5 67.Qxc3 Qc5+ wins.

Answer 2: 27.Nxe6 1–0 After 27…Qxe4 28.Rxd8+ Kb7 29.Nc5+ wins the queen.

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Malcolm Pein

Malcolm Pein is a British International Master, chess organizer, author and journalist. He was a child prodigy and a former British Junior Champion. He qualified for the International Master title in 1985. Malcolm is a distinguished writer, journalist and editor. He has been a chess correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph for over 30 years, has written numerous chess books and is the Executive Editor of CHESS Magazine. In 1992, he founded the London Chess Centre, a games store in central London and the UK's only chess shop. He is also the founder and CEO of Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK charity whose aim is to introduce chess to state schools and has taught the game to over 250,000 children since its inception in 2009. Malcolm is also well-known for his chess event management. He was responsible for the pre-planning of the World Chess Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in London 2000. In 2002 he was appointed as Technical Director of the 'Brains in Bahrain' match between Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Fritz. In 2009, Malcolm devised and organized the 1st London Chess Classic - the UK's first world-class elite all-play-all tournament since the 1980s which ran annually until 2019. Malcolm is also very active with the English Chess Federation. In 2016, he was appointed as the Manager and Captain of the England national team. He was also appointed as English Chess Federation delegate to the European Chess Union and FIDE and is the Director of International Chess. In 2018, he also stood for the post of Deputy President of FIDE. In 2021, Malcolm joined the ranks of Chessable authors by bringing the highlights of his column in the Daily Telegraph in the form of an interactive Chessable course, titled Telegraph Tuesday. Profile photograph © Lennart Ootes