The Group C has some fresh new faces, none fresher than Caruana, who should already be a strong contender for the title. Negi did not have a great year last year, but what the heck when you are 15 and the world at your board ?
Van der Weil will be interesting to watch here. Ushenina, Krush and Zhaoqin bring in the ladies charm and agression at the board.
GM Group C
GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko UKR 2651
GM Fabiano Caruana ITA 2594
GM Friso Nijboer NED 2559
IM Arik Braun GER 2541
GM Parimarjan Negi IND 2514
GM Dimitri Reinderman NED 2510
GM Efstratios Grivas GRE 2509
GM John van der Wiel NED 2496
WGM Anna Ushenina UKR 2486
GM Pontus Carlsson SWE 2481
WGM Irina Krush USA 2475
GM Zhaoqin Peng NED 2419
IM Mark van der Werf NED 2389
Dennis Ruijgrok NED 2330
Monday, December 31, 2007
Corus GM Group B
The GM Group B is by no means less interesting. There are super Grand Masters, dangerous floaters, and teenagers looking to break through.
Bacrot, Cheparinov, Short are very strong and will go all out. Humpy is riding on her successful year 2007. She needs to be watched. In fact Humpy - Yifan is a potential future rivalry. Yifan must have done some serious work the last few months. She's gained heavily in the January ratings list, so lets see if she can put up a fight, even though the opposition is pretty strong for her. Nepomniachtchi and Stellwagen need to be watched carefully.
GM Group B
GM Etienne Bacrot FRA 2695
GM Gabriel Sargissian ARM 2673
GM Ivan Cheparinov BUL 2670
GM Sergey Movsesian SLK 2670
GM Pentala Harikrishna IND 2668
GM Michal Krasenkow POL 2668
GM Nigel Short ENG 2649
GM Daniel Stellwagen NED 2639
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2611
GM Koneru Humpy IND 2606
GM Erwin L’Ami NED 2577
GM Jan Smeets NED 2558
WGM Hou Yifan CHI 2502
IM Wouter Spoelman NED 2445
Bacrot, Cheparinov, Short are very strong and will go all out. Humpy is riding on her successful year 2007. She needs to be watched. In fact Humpy - Yifan is a potential future rivalry. Yifan must have done some serious work the last few months. She's gained heavily in the January ratings list, so lets see if she can put up a fight, even though the opposition is pretty strong for her. Nepomniachtchi and Stellwagen need to be watched carefully.
GM Group B
GM Etienne Bacrot FRA 2695
GM Gabriel Sargissian ARM 2673
GM Ivan Cheparinov BUL 2670
GM Sergey Movsesian SLK 2670
GM Pentala Harikrishna IND 2668
GM Michal Krasenkow POL 2668
GM Nigel Short ENG 2649
GM Daniel Stellwagen NED 2639
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2611
GM Koneru Humpy IND 2606
GM Erwin L’Ami NED 2577
GM Jan Smeets NED 2558
WGM Hou Yifan CHI 2502
IM Wouter Spoelman NED 2445
Corus Chess GM Group A
The focus will obviously be on the Kramnik - Anand rivarly and now that they are tied for the top spot in the world with exactly the same ELO points, this tournament will more or less serve as a tie-break.
Topalov has lost a lot of the headlines to the top two, so he'll probably grab this chance to try and get some. Carlsen, Mamedyarov, and the ever dangerous Judit Polgar are others to watch.
The Group A of the Corus Chess Tournaments reads like a Who's who in chess.
Here's the list updated with the January 2008 Ratings. Note that Ivanchuk for example, appears second but is ninth in the world because he slipped by the time the Corus tournament was announced and the Ratings list was updated. Same with Leko and Aronian too and so on. Kramnik moved up.
World Rank, Name, Country, Rating
GM Group A
1 GM Viswanathan Anand India 2799
9 GM Vassily Ivanchuk Ukraine 2751
1 GM Vladimir Kramnik Russia 2799
3 GM Veselin Topalov Bulgaria 2780
8 GM Peter Leko Hungary 2753
6 GM Shakryar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 2760
12 GM Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan 2735
10 GM Levon Aronian Armenia 2739
11 GM Boris Gelfand Israel 2737
16 GM Michael Adams England 2726
13 GM Magnus Carlsen Norway 2733
22 GM Judit Polgar Hungary 2707
27 GM Pavel Eljanov Ukraine 2692
35 GM Loek Van Wely The Netherlands 2681
Topalov has lost a lot of the headlines to the top two, so he'll probably grab this chance to try and get some. Carlsen, Mamedyarov, and the ever dangerous Judit Polgar are others to watch.
The Group A of the Corus Chess Tournaments reads like a Who's who in chess.
Here's the list updated with the January 2008 Ratings. Note that Ivanchuk for example, appears second but is ninth in the world because he slipped by the time the Corus tournament was announced and the Ratings list was updated. Same with Leko and Aronian too and so on. Kramnik moved up.
World Rank, Name, Country, Rating
GM Group A
1 GM Viswanathan Anand India 2799
9 GM Vassily Ivanchuk Ukraine 2751
1 GM Vladimir Kramnik Russia 2799
3 GM Veselin Topalov Bulgaria 2780
8 GM Peter Leko Hungary 2753
6 GM Shakryar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 2760
12 GM Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan 2735
10 GM Levon Aronian Armenia 2739
11 GM Boris Gelfand Israel 2737
16 GM Michael Adams England 2726
13 GM Magnus Carlsen Norway 2733
22 GM Judit Polgar Hungary 2707
27 GM Pavel Eljanov Ukraine 2692
35 GM Loek Van Wely The Netherlands 2681
Corus Chess 2008 at Wijk Aan Zee
The 2008 Corus Chess Tournament at Wijk and Zee - A Preview
The Category 20 chess tournament with average ELO 2741 will be held as usual at Wijk aan Zee from 11 to 27 January 2008.
The venue will be the De Moriaan Community Centre and the Bar de Zon.
The tournament will be held in different groups. All eyes will be on the premier GM A Group. But players in the GM Group B and GM Group C are no pushovers. In fact, any other city would be proud to host a tournament with players as strong as the ones in GM Group C. As an example, Magnus Carlsen first earned real publicity with his amazing show as a 13 year old kid at Wijk aan Zee.
The GM Group A has almost all the top ranked players of the world. This tournament is the first of the Grand Slam events of chess.
In addition to the GM Group sections, there is a Honorary tournament running in parallel. Victor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, and Lajos Portisch play in this section. Amazingly even this is a category 13 tournament.
The Category 20 chess tournament with average ELO 2741 will be held as usual at Wijk aan Zee from 11 to 27 January 2008.
The venue will be the De Moriaan Community Centre and the Bar de Zon.
The tournament will be held in different groups. All eyes will be on the premier GM A Group. But players in the GM Group B and GM Group C are no pushovers. In fact, any other city would be proud to host a tournament with players as strong as the ones in GM Group C. As an example, Magnus Carlsen first earned real publicity with his amazing show as a 13 year old kid at Wijk aan Zee.
The GM Group A has almost all the top ranked players of the world. This tournament is the first of the Grand Slam events of chess.
In addition to the GM Group sections, there is a Honorary tournament running in parallel. Victor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, and Lajos Portisch play in this section. Amazingly even this is a category 13 tournament.
XIX International Open Villa de Roquetas
The XIX Internation Open Villa de Roquetas chess tournament will be organized from January 2-6.
Leading participants:
1 GM GRANDA ZUÑIGA Julio PER 2592
2 GM UBILAVA Elizbar ESP 2551
3 GM BARSOV Alexei UZB 2526
4 GM CIFUENTES PARADA Roberto ESP 2499
5 GM MEIJERS Viesturs LAT 2490
6 GM DJURIC Stefan SCG 2463
7 IM GAPONENKO Inna UKR 2440
8 IM COSSIN Sebastien FRA 2437
9 FM DOLEZAL Cristian ARG 2424
10 IM KOVACEVIC Slobodan SCG 2414
Leading participants:
1 GM GRANDA ZUÑIGA Julio PER 2592
2 GM UBILAVA Elizbar ESP 2551
3 GM BARSOV Alexei UZB 2526
4 GM CIFUENTES PARADA Roberto ESP 2499
5 GM MEIJERS Viesturs LAT 2490
6 GM DJURIC Stefan SCG 2463
7 IM GAPONENKO Inna UKR 2440
8 IM COSSIN Sebastien FRA 2437
9 FM DOLEZAL Cristian ARG 2424
10 IM KOVACEVIC Slobodan SCG 2414
European Rapid Chess Championships 2007
Results of the European Rapid Championships at Warsaw, Poland:
1 Aleksej Aleksandrov
2 Tomasz Markowski
3 Fernando Peralta
4 Wojciech Moranda
5 Adam Tukhaev
6 Mateusz Bartel
7 Vladimir Malaniuk
8 Hristos Banikas
9 Dimitros Mastrovasilis
10 Wojciech Przybylski
11 Csaba Balogh
12 Artur Jakubiec
13 Aleksander Miśta
14 Namig Guliyev
15 Mikhail Gurevich
16 Aleksander Moiseenko
1 Aleksej Aleksandrov
2 Tomasz Markowski
3 Fernando Peralta
4 Wojciech Moranda
5 Adam Tukhaev
6 Mateusz Bartel
7 Vladimir Malaniuk
8 Hristos Banikas
9 Dimitros Mastrovasilis
10 Wojciech Przybylski
11 Csaba Balogh
12 Artur Jakubiec
13 Aleksander Miśta
14 Namig Guliyev
15 Mikhail Gurevich
16 Aleksander Moiseenko
II Obert Internacional de les Illes Medes
The Obert International open Illes Medes is being held in Girona, Spain.
The 9 round event started on 28 th December and finishes on 4 th January.
Leading players are Bartel Mateusz, Victor Moskalenko, Rainer Buhmann, Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel, Narciso Dublan Marc, Aroshidze Levan, Czakon Jakub, Fluvia Jordi, Rasmussen Karsten, Rasmussen Allan Stig.
Final Standings:
1 GM Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel ESP 7,5
2 GM Aroshidze Levan GEO 7,0
3 IM Czakon Jakub A POL 7,0
4 GM Narciso Dublan Marc ESP 7,0
5 FM Rasmussen Allan Stig DEN 6,5
6 GM Moskalenko Viktor UKR 6,5
7 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 6,5
8 FM Rombaldoni Denis A ITA 6,5
9 FM Terrieux Kevin FRA 6,5
10 IM Groetz Harald AUT 2321 6,0
The 9 round event started on 28 th December and finishes on 4 th January.
Leading players are Bartel Mateusz, Victor Moskalenko, Rainer Buhmann, Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel, Narciso Dublan Marc, Aroshidze Levan, Czakon Jakub, Fluvia Jordi, Rasmussen Karsten, Rasmussen Allan Stig.
Final Standings:
1 GM Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel ESP 7,5
2 GM Aroshidze Levan GEO 7,0
3 IM Czakon Jakub A POL 7,0
4 GM Narciso Dublan Marc ESP 7,0
5 FM Rasmussen Allan Stig DEN 6,5
6 GM Moskalenko Viktor UKR 6,5
7 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 6,5
8 FM Rombaldoni Denis A ITA 6,5
9 FM Terrieux Kevin FRA 6,5
10 IM Groetz Harald AUT 2321 6,0
Leading boards drawn at Hastings chess congress
The lead pairings, Williams vs Tahirov and Sengupta vs Gormally were drawn. Top seed Malakhatko continued his trek back from the shock first round defeat at the Hastings Chess Congress 2007 - 2008.
There were some winners from the home team when Mark Hebden, Stuart Conquest, Nicholas Pert, Haslinger, Houska, and others won. Gormally was held to a draw by the young Deep Sengupta of India. The other two leading Indians, Satyapragyan and Roy Chowdhury, lost today to Neverov and Georgiev respectively.
Leaders after 3 rounds:
Chatalbashev, Falko, Haslinger, Gerogiev, Neverov, Flear, Hebden, Williams, Gormally, Tahirov, Sengupta, Conquest, Pert (2.5 Pts each)
Malakhatko, Gawain Jones, Mamedov & others (2 points each)
There were some winners from the home team when Mark Hebden, Stuart Conquest, Nicholas Pert, Haslinger, Houska, and others won. Gormally was held to a draw by the young Deep Sengupta of India. The other two leading Indians, Satyapragyan and Roy Chowdhury, lost today to Neverov and Georgiev respectively.
Leaders after 3 rounds:
Chatalbashev, Falko, Haslinger, Gerogiev, Neverov, Flear, Hebden, Williams, Gormally, Tahirov, Sengupta, Conquest, Pert (2.5 Pts each)
Malakhatko, Gawain Jones, Mamedov & others (2 points each)
University of Texas wins Pan American Collegiate Chess 2007
University of Texas Dallas team won the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess championship also known as the "World series of College chess", at Miami.
UT Dallas team won 5 rounds and drew the final round to win the gruelling tournament. Salvijus Bercys was the hero for the winning team on the last day. The coach Rade Milovanovic was proud of the achievement, which is understandable as one of the features was that Salvijus managed a victory with hardly any time left on his clock.
Standings after round 6:
1 Univ. of Texas D- B 5.5
2 Univ. of Texas D- A 5.5
3 Univ. of Mary. BC A 4.0
4 Miami Dade College A 4.0
5 Univ. Catolica del Peru 4.0
6 Duke University 4.0
7 Yale A 3.5
8 Univ. of Texas - Brownsville 3.5
9 Harvard University 3.5
10 Univ. of Tor. A 3.0
UT Dallas team won 5 rounds and drew the final round to win the gruelling tournament. Salvijus Bercys was the hero for the winning team on the last day. The coach Rade Milovanovic was proud of the achievement, which is understandable as one of the features was that Salvijus managed a victory with hardly any time left on his clock.
Standings after round 6:
1 Univ. of Texas D- B 5.5
2 Univ. of Texas D- A 5.5
3 Univ. of Mary. BC A 4.0
4 Miami Dade College A 4.0
5 Univ. Catolica del Peru 4.0
6 Duke University 4.0
7 Yale A 3.5
8 Univ. of Texas - Brownsville 3.5
9 Harvard University 3.5
10 Univ. of Tor. A 3.0
Nakamura and Pruess finish first at the 2007 North American Open
GM Hiraku Nakamura and IM David Pruess finished first with 6 points out of the possible seven at the North American Open chess tournament 2007.
Shabalov, Becerra and Kretchetov finished next with 5.5 points.
Final Standings:
1 Hikaru Nakamura and IM David Pruess 6
3- GM Alexander Shabalov, GM Julio Becerra and FM Alex Kretchetov- 5.5
6-10- GM Varuzhan Akobian, GM Jesse Kraai, Denys K.Shmelov, GM Gildardo J. Garcia and IM Vladimir Mezentsev- 5
Shabalov, Becerra and Kretchetov finished next with 5.5 points.
Final Standings:
1 Hikaru Nakamura and IM David Pruess 6
3- GM Alexander Shabalov, GM Julio Becerra and FM Alex Kretchetov- 5.5
6-10- GM Varuzhan Akobian, GM Jesse Kraai, Denys K.Shmelov, GM Gildardo J. Garcia and IM Vladimir Mezentsev- 5
Sunday, December 30, 2007
2007 Groningen Chess
Five players were tied for the first place at the Groningen Chess Festival. Stelios Halkias won the title on tie-break.
The final standings after round 9 in the Harmonie Open A category at Groningen 2007:
1 GM Halkias, Stelios 6.5 GRE
2 GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 6.5 GRE
3 GM Ernst, Sipke 6.5 NED
4 GM Adly, Ahmed 6.5 EGY
5 IM Lobzhanidze, Davit 6.5 GEO
6 GM Banikas, Hristos 6.0 GRE
7 GM Li, Shilong 6.0 CHN
8 IM Hoffmann, Michael 6.0 GER
9 GM Nijboer, Friso 5.5 NED
10 GM Rotstein, Arkadij 5.5 GER
11 IM Swinkels, Robin 5.5 NED
12 IM Pruijssers, Roeland 5.5 NED
13 FM Burg, Twan 5.5 NED
14 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 5.0 NED
15 IM Simutowe, Amon 5.0 ZAM
16 IM Spoelman, Wouter 5.0 NED
17 IM Hendriks, Willy 5.0 NED
18 IM Van Oosterom, Chiel 5.0 NED
19 FM De Jong, Migchiel 5.0 NED
20 FM Clemens, Adrian 5.0 NED
The final standings after round 9 in the Harmonie Open A category at Groningen 2007:
1 GM Halkias, Stelios 6.5 GRE
2 GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 6.5 GRE
3 GM Ernst, Sipke 6.5 NED
4 GM Adly, Ahmed 6.5 EGY
5 IM Lobzhanidze, Davit 6.5 GEO
6 GM Banikas, Hristos 6.0 GRE
7 GM Li, Shilong 6.0 CHN
8 IM Hoffmann, Michael 6.0 GER
9 GM Nijboer, Friso 5.5 NED
10 GM Rotstein, Arkadij 5.5 GER
11 IM Swinkels, Robin 5.5 NED
12 IM Pruijssers, Roeland 5.5 NED
13 FM Burg, Twan 5.5 NED
14 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 5.0 NED
15 IM Simutowe, Amon 5.0 ZAM
16 IM Spoelman, Wouter 5.0 NED
17 IM Hendriks, Willy 5.0 NED
18 IM Van Oosterom, Chiel 5.0 NED
19 FM De Jong, Migchiel 5.0 NED
20 FM Clemens, Adrian 5.0 NED
Ciudad de Pamplona open category
In the very strong open tournament that is running in parallel, IM Ivan Salgado Lopez was placed first on tie break. Lopez stole a march over several strong GMs such as San Segundo, GRANDA ZUÑIGA, Li Chao, Pogorelov, Krivoshey and others.
Ciudad de Pamplona chess round 7
Francisco Vallejo Pons won the Cuidad de Pamplona chess event. In a rather short tournament, he edged ahead of Wang Yue and Jobava Baadur by half a point to win the title.
Beliavsky and Movsesian were winners today over Rodshtein and Khamrakulov respectively. Vallejo Pons vs Wange Yue, the very strong pairing was drawn.
Results of Round 7:
GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 1 - 0 GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615
GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673 ½ - ½ GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644
GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 1 - 0 GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 ½ - ½ GM WANG, Yue 2703
Final Standings after Round 7
Vallejo Pons - 4.5
Wang Yue, Jobava Baadur - 4
Beliavsky, Movsesian - 3.5
Rodshtein, Sargissian - 3
Khamrakulov - 2.5
Beliavsky and Movsesian were winners today over Rodshtein and Khamrakulov respectively. Vallejo Pons vs Wange Yue, the very strong pairing was drawn.
Results of Round 7:
GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 1 - 0 GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615
GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673 ½ - ½ GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644
GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 1 - 0 GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 ½ - ½ GM WANG, Yue 2703
Final Standings after Round 7
Vallejo Pons - 4.5
Wang Yue, Jobava Baadur - 4
Beliavsky, Movsesian - 3.5
Rodshtein, Sargissian - 3
Khamrakulov - 2.5
Pentala Harikrishna beats Godena
Harikrishna beat in form Godena in the second round of the Reggio Emilia tournament.
All the other games were drawn.
Results of second round:
Gashimov vs Ni Hua 0.5 - 0.5
Korchnoi vs Almasi 0.5 - 0.5
Marin vs Navara 0.5 - 0.5
P Harikrishna vs Godena 1-0
Tiviakov vs Landa 0.5 - 0.5
All the other games were drawn.
Results of second round:
Gashimov vs Ni Hua 0.5 - 0.5
Korchnoi vs Almasi 0.5 - 0.5
Marin vs Navara 0.5 - 0.5
P Harikrishna vs Godena 1-0
Tiviakov vs Landa 0.5 - 0.5
Morozevich wins Russian superfinals
Alexander Morozevich won the Russian Superfinals 2007. He finished with a win over Inarkiev and a 2800 + performance.
The only other contestant for the title, Grischuk drew with Svidler. Thus Morozevich finished a full point ahead of Grischuk.
In the women's section, there was a four way tie for the first place between Tatiana Kosintseva, Ovod, Tairova and Korbut.
Round 11 main results (Will be updated soon):
Men
Morozevich beat Inarkiev
Grischuk drew Svidler
Tomashevsky drew Jakovenko
Timofeev drew Dreev
Sakaev beat Amonatov
Vitiugov beat Rychagov
Women
Korbut lost to Ovod
Stepovaia beat Tairova
Pogonina lost to Tatiana Kosintseva
Shadrina drew Nadezhda Kosintseva
Kovalevskaya drew Matveeva
Giriya beat Gunina
Final Standings
Men
Morozevich 8
Grischuk 7
Tomashevsky 6.5
Women
Tatiana Kosintseva 7
Ovod 7
Tairova 7
Korbut 7
The only other contestant for the title, Grischuk drew with Svidler. Thus Morozevich finished a full point ahead of Grischuk.
In the women's section, there was a four way tie for the first place between Tatiana Kosintseva, Ovod, Tairova and Korbut.
Round 11 main results (Will be updated soon):
Men
Morozevich beat Inarkiev
Grischuk drew Svidler
Tomashevsky drew Jakovenko
Timofeev drew Dreev
Sakaev beat Amonatov
Vitiugov beat Rychagov
Women
Korbut lost to Ovod
Stepovaia beat Tairova
Pogonina lost to Tatiana Kosintseva
Shadrina drew Nadezhda Kosintseva
Kovalevskaya drew Matveeva
Giriya beat Gunina
Final Standings
Men
Morozevich 8
Grischuk 7
Tomashevsky 6.5
Women
Tatiana Kosintseva 7
Ovod 7
Tairova 7
Korbut 7
Hastings Chess Round 2
The pace of upsets subsided somewhat in the second round of the Hastings Chess Congress Tournament. But the Indians continued their rampage. Deep Sengupta beat fifth seed Nidjat Mamedov, Saptarishi Roy Chowdhury drew Stuart Conquest, S Satyapragyan drew against Pert Nicholas.
In other notable games, Farhad Tahirov beat Jovanka Houska. Mark Hebden was held to a draw by Andrew Greet. JONES,Gawain beat Poobalasingam to rise up in the standings list.
In other notable games, Farhad Tahirov beat Jovanka Houska. Mark Hebden was held to a draw by Andrew Greet. JONES,Gawain beat Poobalasingam to rise up in the standings list.
Rilton Cup 2007 - 2008
The Rilton Cup has started. Top players are Wojtaszek, Kotronias, Berg, Lars Bo Hansen, Cicak, Tiger Hillarp Persson, Robert Fontaine, Nybäck Tomi, Agrest, Cramling, Pontus Carlsson, Åkesson Ralf and others.
Leading standings after Round 3:
GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw, GM Nybäck Tomi, GM Cramling Pia, GM Åkesson Ralf - 3 points
Cicak Slavko, GM Agrest Evgenij, GM Carlsson Pontus, IM Lindberg Bengt, GM Kotronias Vasilios, GM Berg Emanuel, GM Hillarp Persson Tiger, IM Berczes David, GM Bellon Juan ESP - 2.5 points
Leading standings after Round 3:
GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw, GM Nybäck Tomi, GM Cramling Pia, GM Åkesson Ralf - 3 points
Cicak Slavko, GM Agrest Evgenij, GM Carlsson Pontus, IM Lindberg Bengt, GM Kotronias Vasilios, GM Berg Emanuel, GM Hillarp Persson Tiger, IM Berczes David, GM Bellon Juan ESP - 2.5 points
January 2008 FIDE chess rating list
The rating list for January 2008 has been published a bit early this time. As expected Anand and Kramnik are tied for the first place with 2799. Topalov moves to number three.
Big gainers are Svidler, Carlsen, Karjakin and Cheparinov. Svidler in fact jumped into the top five in style. He is about to lose some serious points from the Russian Superfinals event though. But that event will be rated only in the next list. Shirov too moves deeper into the top ten. Mamedyarov is already firmly entrenched in the top ten.
In the women's section, Koneru Humpy of India is gaining on Judit Polgar of Hungary. The difference between them is now only 95 points. No one has dared come nearer in recent times. Hou Yifan is also bound to challenge these two very soon. Zhu Chen is probably coming back to her full form. She is now fourth and is one of the fastest movers. She has gained in the last six rating lists consecutively ! Probably for the first time, the top ten active players in the ladies section are above 2500.
In the juniors section, Carlsen and Karjakin are battling it out for the top spot and will most likely retain it for several more rating lists. In the junior girls, 14 year old Hou Yifan tops the list for girls under 20 ! D Harika would have been second had she not dropped serious points in the last three months.
Among countries, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, USA, and China make up the top five. Armenia, France, Hungary, The Netherlands, and Azerbaijan follow. Azerbaijan's continuous ascent is mainly due to the exploits of Mamedyarov and Radjabov.
For more ratings information see the following: http://www.fide.com/ratings/toplist.phtml
Big gainers are Svidler, Carlsen, Karjakin and Cheparinov. Svidler in fact jumped into the top five in style. He is about to lose some serious points from the Russian Superfinals event though. But that event will be rated only in the next list. Shirov too moves deeper into the top ten. Mamedyarov is already firmly entrenched in the top ten.
In the women's section, Koneru Humpy of India is gaining on Judit Polgar of Hungary. The difference between them is now only 95 points. No one has dared come nearer in recent times. Hou Yifan is also bound to challenge these two very soon. Zhu Chen is probably coming back to her full form. She is now fourth and is one of the fastest movers. She has gained in the last six rating lists consecutively ! Probably for the first time, the top ten active players in the ladies section are above 2500.
In the juniors section, Carlsen and Karjakin are battling it out for the top spot and will most likely retain it for several more rating lists. In the junior girls, 14 year old Hou Yifan tops the list for girls under 20 ! D Harika would have been second had she not dropped serious points in the last three months.
Among countries, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, USA, and China make up the top five. Armenia, France, Hungary, The Netherlands, and Azerbaijan follow. Azerbaijan's continuous ascent is mainly due to the exploits of Mamedyarov and Radjabov.
For more ratings information see the following: http://www.fide.com/ratings/toplist.phtml
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Pan Am intercollegiate chess championship
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS-A is leading at the 2007 PAN AM INTERCOLLEGIATE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP. IM Daniel Fernandez and IM John Bartholomew lead in the individual standings. Davorin Kuljasevic, who recently made a GM norm in the tournament where Ray Robson made news headlines, also plays.
More details here: http://www.bocachess.com/2007PanAm.htm
More details here: http://www.bocachess.com/2007PanAm.htm
North American Open 2007 Las Vegas, Nevada
Six rounds of the North American open have been completed. GM Alexander Shabalov is leading the strong field with 5.5 points. He has won all his games except one. GM Hiraku Nakamura and GM Varuzhan Akobian along with IM David Pruess.
FMs Alex Kretchetov and Jake Kleiman are ranked high in a strong field.
Nakamura was held to two draws by IM Joshua Friedel and GM Jesse Kraai.
No results of a few rounds of Irina Krush have been published.
The top 20 after round 6:
1 GM Alexander Shabalov 5½
2 GM Hikaru Nakamura 5
3 GM Varuzhan Akobian 5
4 IM David Pruess 5
5 GM Ildar Ibragimov 4½
6 GM Julio J Becerra 4½
7 FM Alex Kretchetov 4½
8 FM Jake Kleiman 4½
9 GM Nikola Mitkov 4
10 GM Jesse Kraai 4
11 GM Gildardo J Garcia 4
12 GM Dashze Sharavdorj 4
13 IM Vladimi Mezentsev 4
14 FM Slava Mikhailuk 4
15 Denys K Shmelov 4
16 FM Robby Adamson 4
17 Dennis Monokroussos 4
18 GM Anatoly Y Lein 4
19 FM Matthew Beelby 4
20 Rodelay Medina 4
FMs Alex Kretchetov and Jake Kleiman are ranked high in a strong field.
Nakamura was held to two draws by IM Joshua Friedel and GM Jesse Kraai.
No results of a few rounds of Irina Krush have been published.
The top 20 after round 6:
1 GM Alexander Shabalov 5½
2 GM Hikaru Nakamura 5
3 GM Varuzhan Akobian 5
4 IM David Pruess 5
5 GM Ildar Ibragimov 4½
6 GM Julio J Becerra 4½
7 FM Alex Kretchetov 4½
8 FM Jake Kleiman 4½
9 GM Nikola Mitkov 4
10 GM Jesse Kraai 4
11 GM Gildardo J Garcia 4
12 GM Dashze Sharavdorj 4
13 IM Vladimi Mezentsev 4
14 FM Slava Mikhailuk 4
15 Denys K Shmelov 4
16 FM Robby Adamson 4
17 Dennis Monokroussos 4
18 GM Anatoly Y Lein 4
19 FM Matthew Beelby 4
20 Rodelay Medina 4
Hastings Chess Congress
The Hastings Chess Congress tournament has started and will last until 6th of January, 2008.
There was a big upset in the first round. Top seed Vadim Malakhatko was beaten by Sebastian Bogner. The seeds 2-5 were also held to draws. This includes Gawain Jones who drew Simon Knott. Sanity was restored by seeds 5-9 who beat their opponents as expected.
There was a big upset in the first round. Top seed Vadim Malakhatko was beaten by Sebastian Bogner. The seeds 2-5 were also held to draws. This includes Gawain Jones who drew Simon Knott. Sanity was restored by seeds 5-9 who beat their opponents as expected.
50th Torneo di Capodanno Reggio Emilia
The strong Reggio Emilia tournament has started. There were two winners today:
Mihail Marin beat Sergei Tiviakov and Zoltan Almasi beat Pentala Harikrishna.
Gashimov vs Godena, Korchnoi vs Landa, Navara vs Ni Hua were drawn.
Mihail Marin beat Sergei Tiviakov and Zoltan Almasi beat Pentala Harikrishna.
Gashimov vs Godena, Korchnoi vs Landa, Navara vs Ni Hua were drawn.
Pamplona chess Round 6
Six rounds of the Pamplona chess tournament have been completed. The leaders are:
1. Vallejo Pons, Francisco 4
2. Jobava, Baadur 3½
3. Wang Yue 3½
4. Khamrakulov, Ibragim 3½
5. Rodshtein, Maxim 3
6. Movsesian, Sergei 2½
7. Beliavsky, Alexander 2½
8. Sargissian, Gabriel 1½
1. Vallejo Pons, Francisco 4
2. Jobava, Baadur 3½
3. Wang Yue 3½
4. Khamrakulov, Ibragim 3½
5. Rodshtein, Maxim 3
6. Movsesian, Sergei 2½
7. Beliavsky, Alexander 2½
8. Sargissian, Gabriel 1½
Groningen Chess festival Harmonie Open A section
The 8th round of the A section of the Harmonie open has been completed.
The top ten in this tournament are:
1 Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 6.0
2 Ernst, Sipke 6.0
3 Li, Shilong 6.0
4 Adly, Ahmed 6.0
5 Banikas, Hristos 5.5
6 Halkias, Stelios 5.5
7 Rotstein, Arkadij 5.5
8 Lobzhanidze, Davit 5.5
9 Hoffmann, Michael 5.5
10 Nijboer, Friso 5.0
The top ten in this tournament are:
1 Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 6.0
2 Ernst, Sipke 6.0
3 Li, Shilong 6.0
4 Adly, Ahmed 6.0
5 Banikas, Hristos 5.5
6 Halkias, Stelios 5.5
7 Rotstein, Arkadij 5.5
8 Lobzhanidze, Davit 5.5
9 Hoffmann, Michael 5.5
10 Nijboer, Friso 5.0
Grischuk challenges Morozevich for the title
Now, its Grischuk's turn to make the Russian Superfinals interesting. With just one more round to go, he is within reach of Morozevich. Grischuk beat Rychagov in an exciting rook vs rook plus bishop endgame. Tomashevsky, the only other guy with realistic chances for the title lost today to Inarkiev. Sakaev beat Dreev with the black pieces in the only other decisive game.
Morozevich seemed to lack interest after his loss yesterday. Amonatov in fact had chances to convert the game into win but he let Morozevich slip away to an opposite color bishop endgame where Amonatov had an extra pawn.
In the women's section, decisive games were again the order of the day. Kovalevskaya, Tatiana Kosintseva, Ovod, and Gunina won their games against Tairova, Shadrina, Giriya, and Pogonina respectively.
Results of Round 10:
Men
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 1-0
Dreev, Alexey - Sakaev, Konstantin 0-1
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Vitiugov, Nikita
Svidler, Peter - Timofeev, Artyom ½-½
Amonatov, Farrukh - Morozevich, Alexander ½-½
Rychagov, Andrey - Grischuk, Alexander 0-1
Women
Tairova, Elena - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 0-1
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Shadrina, Tatiana 1-0
Ovod, Evgenija - Girya, Olga 1-0
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Stepovaia, Tatiana ½-½
Matveeva, Svetlana - Korbut, Ekaterina ½-½
Gunina, Valentina - Pogonina, Natalija 1-0
Standings after Round 10
Men
1. Morozevich, Alexander 7
2. Grischuk, Alexander 6½
3. Tomashevsky, Evgeny 6
4. Inarkiev, Ernesto 5½
5. Dreev, Alexey 5
6. Jakovenko, Dmitry 5
7. Vitiugov, Nikita 4½
8. Sakaev, Konstantin 4½
9. Svidler, Peter 4½
10. Amonatov, Farrukh 4½
11. Rychagov, Andrey 4
12. Timofeev, Artyom 3
Women
1. Tairova, Elena 7
2. Korbut, Ekaterina 7
3. Kosintseva, Tatiana 6
4. Pogonina, Natalija 6
5. Ovod, Evgenija 6
6. Kosintseva, Nadezhda 5½
7. Matveeva, Svetlana 5
8. Shadrina, Tatiana 5
9. Stepovaia, Tatiana 4
10. Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 3
11. Girya, Olga 3
12. Gunina, Valentina 2½
Morozevich seemed to lack interest after his loss yesterday. Amonatov in fact had chances to convert the game into win but he let Morozevich slip away to an opposite color bishop endgame where Amonatov had an extra pawn.
In the women's section, decisive games were again the order of the day. Kovalevskaya, Tatiana Kosintseva, Ovod, and Gunina won their games against Tairova, Shadrina, Giriya, and Pogonina respectively.
Results of Round 10:
Men
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 1-0
Dreev, Alexey - Sakaev, Konstantin 0-1
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Vitiugov, Nikita
Svidler, Peter - Timofeev, Artyom ½-½
Amonatov, Farrukh - Morozevich, Alexander ½-½
Rychagov, Andrey - Grischuk, Alexander 0-1
Women
Tairova, Elena - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 0-1
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Shadrina, Tatiana 1-0
Ovod, Evgenija - Girya, Olga 1-0
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Stepovaia, Tatiana ½-½
Matveeva, Svetlana - Korbut, Ekaterina ½-½
Gunina, Valentina - Pogonina, Natalija 1-0
Standings after Round 10
Men
1. Morozevich, Alexander 7
2. Grischuk, Alexander 6½
3. Tomashevsky, Evgeny 6
4. Inarkiev, Ernesto 5½
5. Dreev, Alexey 5
6. Jakovenko, Dmitry 5
7. Vitiugov, Nikita 4½
8. Sakaev, Konstantin 4½
9. Svidler, Peter 4½
10. Amonatov, Farrukh 4½
11. Rychagov, Andrey 4
12. Timofeev, Artyom 3
Women
1. Tairova, Elena 7
2. Korbut, Ekaterina 7
3. Kosintseva, Tatiana 6
4. Pogonina, Natalija 6
5. Ovod, Evgenija 6
6. Kosintseva, Nadezhda 5½
7. Matveeva, Svetlana 5
8. Shadrina, Tatiana 5
9. Stepovaia, Tatiana 4
10. Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 3
11. Girya, Olga 3
12. Gunina, Valentina 2½
Friday, December 28, 2007
Dreev upsets Morozevich
Just when you thought Morozevich did the impossible by winning six games in a row, he made the other impossible possible. Now, Tomashevsky too has a chance of winning the title. Until yesterday, it seemed impossible that anyone will catch up.
The veteran Alexey Dreev, who seems to be on a second wind inspired form, beat Morozevich in 49 moves of a Sicilian. And that too with black. Well, color doesn't really matter when Moro is on the board. Tomashevsky beat Amonatov and he is just half a point adrift now.
Grischuk beat Timofeev to climb up to the third spot while Inarkiev beat Vitiugov.
In the women's section, Tatiana Kosintseva continued her slide by losing to Gunina. Her sister made up for the dismal day by beating Kovalevskaya with the black pieces.
Giriya beat Matveeva and Shadrina beat Stepovaia. The women's drawing quotient has been very low in this tournament.
Standings after Round 9:
Men
Morozevich - 6.5
Tomashevsky - 6
Grischuk - 5.5
Dreev - 5
Women
Tairova - 7
Korbut - 6.5
Pogonina - 6
The veteran Alexey Dreev, who seems to be on a second wind inspired form, beat Morozevich in 49 moves of a Sicilian. And that too with black. Well, color doesn't really matter when Moro is on the board. Tomashevsky beat Amonatov and he is just half a point adrift now.
Grischuk beat Timofeev to climb up to the third spot while Inarkiev beat Vitiugov.
In the women's section, Tatiana Kosintseva continued her slide by losing to Gunina. Her sister made up for the dismal day by beating Kovalevskaya with the black pieces.
Giriya beat Matveeva and Shadrina beat Stepovaia. The women's drawing quotient has been very low in this tournament.
Standings after Round 9:
Men
Morozevich - 6.5
Tomashevsky - 6
Grischuk - 5.5
Dreev - 5
Women
Tairova - 7
Korbut - 6.5
Pogonina - 6
Upcoming chess tournaments
Tournaments to be held in the near future:
Hastings Chess Congress - 28 December 2007 to 6 January 2008 (David Howell,Stuart Conquest, Glenn Flear, Danny Gormally, Valeriy Neverov, Mark Hebden, Nicholas Pert,Safarli Eltaj Nidjat, Mamedov, others ). Contact Stuart Reuben.
50th Torneo di Capodanno Reggio Emilia - December 29th 2007 - January 6th 2008 (Almasi Zoltan, Landa Konstantin, Harikrishna Pentala, Gashimov Vugar, Navara David, Tivjakov Sergej, Ni Hua, Korchnoi Viktor, Marin Mihail, Godena Michele)
6th Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament
New Delhi, 12-20 January 2008
http://www.delhichess.com/
Hastings Chess Congress - 28 December 2007 to 6 January 2008 (David Howell,Stuart Conquest, Glenn Flear, Danny Gormally, Valeriy Neverov, Mark Hebden, Nicholas Pert,Safarli Eltaj Nidjat, Mamedov, others ). Contact Stuart Reuben.
50th Torneo di Capodanno Reggio Emilia - December 29th 2007 - January 6th 2008 (Almasi Zoltan, Landa Konstantin, Harikrishna Pentala, Gashimov Vugar, Navara David, Tivjakov Sergej, Ni Hua, Korchnoi Viktor, Marin Mihail, Godena Michele)
6th Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament
New Delhi, 12-20 January 2008
http://www.delhichess.com/
Ciudad De Pamplona Round 4
Vallejo Pons continues to lead after the fourth round of the Pamplona chess tournament 2007.
Standings after Round 4.
1. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2660 3
2. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2646 2½
3. Wang Yue g CHN 2703 2
4. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2670 2
5. Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2644 2
6. Rodshtein, Maxim m ISR 2615 2
7. Khamrakulov, Ibragim S g ESP 2604 1½
8. Sargissian, Gabriel g ARM 2673 1
Standings after Round 4.
1. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2660 3
2. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2646 2½
3. Wang Yue g CHN 2703 2
4. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2670 2
5. Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2644 2
6. Rodshtein, Maxim m ISR 2615 2
7. Khamrakulov, Ibragim S g ESP 2604 1½
8. Sargissian, Gabriel g ARM 2673 1
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Mighty Morozevich beats Svidler
The Moro magic continued into the 8th round of the Russian Superfinals of chess. Morozevich beat Svidler and with black and in 38 moves in a Sicilian Najdorf game. Morozevich's rating performance is a whopping 2900 now. The others seem to be tiring now with only one other game which saw a result when Timofeev beat Rychagov with the black pieces. Timofeev has salvaged a lot of points right at the end in what was otherwise a disastrous tournament for him.
In the women's section, the competition is cut-throat. No moro-like performance from anyone. But there were 5 decisive games out of 6. The big upset of the round in this section was Stepovaia beating Tatiana Kosintseva.
Results of the 8th round:
Men
Grischuk, Alexander - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½
Dreev, Alexey - Tomashevsky, Evgeny ½-½
Amonatov, Farrukh - Vitiugov, Nikita ½-½
Svidler, Peter - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1
Rychagov, Andrey - Timofeev, Artyom 0-1
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½
Women
Tairova, Elena - Girya, Olga 1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Stepovaia, Tatiana 0-1
Matveeva, Svetlana - Pogonina, Natalija 0-1
Ovod, Evgenija - Gunina, Valentina 1-0
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Korbut, Ekaterina ½-½
Shadrina, Tatiana - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0
Standings after 8 rounds:
Men
Morozevich 6.5
Tomashevsky 5
Grischuk 4.5
Women
Tairova 6.5
Korbut 6
Pogonina 5.5
In the women's section, the competition is cut-throat. No moro-like performance from anyone. But there were 5 decisive games out of 6. The big upset of the round in this section was Stepovaia beating Tatiana Kosintseva.
Results of the 8th round:
Men
Grischuk, Alexander - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½
Dreev, Alexey - Tomashevsky, Evgeny ½-½
Amonatov, Farrukh - Vitiugov, Nikita ½-½
Svidler, Peter - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1
Rychagov, Andrey - Timofeev, Artyom 0-1
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½
Women
Tairova, Elena - Girya, Olga 1-0
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Stepovaia, Tatiana 0-1
Matveeva, Svetlana - Pogonina, Natalija 0-1
Ovod, Evgenija - Gunina, Valentina 1-0
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Korbut, Ekaterina ½-½
Shadrina, Tatiana - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0
Standings after 8 rounds:
Men
Morozevich 6.5
Tomashevsky 5
Grischuk 4.5
Women
Tairova 6.5
Korbut 6
Pogonina 5.5
Garry Kasparov interview on Chessvibes.com
Chessvibes.com has published a two part interview with Garry Kasparov, arguably the greatest chess player of all time.
In the first part, he talks about politics and his views on Vladimir Putin. In the second part, he discusses his chess career and how chess is a small issue compared to the situations he faces taking on Putin.
For more details, check www.chessvibes.com
In the first part, he talks about politics and his views on Vladimir Putin. In the second part, he discusses his chess career and how chess is a small issue compared to the situations he faces taking on Putin.
For more details, check www.chessvibes.com
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Chess Ratings January 2008 preview
A preview of the January ratings and a few observations I made.
I'm not yet sure if the World Cup results will be included. If yes, then a lot of other changes are possible.
Kramnik and Anand will probably be tied for the World No.1 position.
Big loser on points, no marks here for the correct guess, yes, Ivanchuk losing more than 30 pts (has already started to make up for it, though)
Topalov moves to clear third with 2780. Mamedyarov gains smart points and he is likely to be fourth on the list.
Big movers up - Karjakin, Cheparinov, Svidler and Carlsen. Sasikiran moves up a bit.
Among the ladies, Koneru Humpy is inching up on Judit Polgar, even though she is not yet a match in class. She will be at 2612. Polgar loses a couple of points.
Hou Yifan gains impressively.
I'm not yet sure if the World Cup results will be included. If yes, then a lot of other changes are possible.
Kramnik and Anand will probably be tied for the World No.1 position.
Big loser on points, no marks here for the correct guess, yes, Ivanchuk losing more than 30 pts (has already started to make up for it, though)
Topalov moves to clear third with 2780. Mamedyarov gains smart points and he is likely to be fourth on the list.
Big movers up - Karjakin, Cheparinov, Svidler and Carlsen. Sasikiran moves up a bit.
Among the ladies, Koneru Humpy is inching up on Judit Polgar, even though she is not yet a match in class. She will be at 2612. Polgar loses a couple of points.
Hou Yifan gains impressively.
Roustam Kamsky resurfaces
Roustam (Rustam?) Kamsky, the father of the World Cup Champion 2007, Gata Kamsky has reappeared on the chess scene. In a letter appealing for "moral and financial support" from the US federation and the mayor of New York, Bloomberg, Kamsky has written a long letter justifying the actions that the Kamskys took right from the days of the Soviet Union to his defection, quitting chess and playing again. This appeal is apparently to garner support for Gata to prepare to win the World Chess Championship of chess.
In the letter, the senior Kamsky accuses Kasparov and Karpov of trying to sabotage his son's career.
The letter is available on the chess blog of Fernando Arrabal here :
http://chessarrabal.blogspot.com/
In the letter, the senior Kamsky accuses Kasparov and Karpov of trying to sabotage his son's career.
The letter is available on the chess blog of Fernando Arrabal here :
http://chessarrabal.blogspot.com/
Round 4 Groningen Chess Festival
Banikas upset the in-form Li Shilong at the Groningen Chess festival in the fourth round.
Standings after Round 4:
1 GM Banikas, Hristos 3.5 GRE
2 GM Ernst, Sipke 3.5 NED
3 GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 3.0 GRE
4 GM Nijboer, Friso 3.0 NED
5 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 3.0 NED
6 GM Li, Shilong 3.0 CHN
7 GM Adly, Ahmed 3.0 EGY
8 IM Lobzhanidze, Davit 3.0 GEO
9 IM Hoffmann, Michael 3.0 GER
10 IM Simutowe, Amon 3.0 ZAM
Standings after Round 4:
1 GM Banikas, Hristos 3.5 GRE
2 GM Ernst, Sipke 3.5 NED
3 GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 3.0 GRE
4 GM Nijboer, Friso 3.0 NED
5 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 3.0 NED
6 GM Li, Shilong 3.0 CHN
7 GM Adly, Ahmed 3.0 EGY
8 IM Lobzhanidze, Davit 3.0 GEO
9 IM Hoffmann, Michael 3.0 GER
10 IM Simutowe, Amon 3.0 ZAM
Morozevich beats Grischuk
Morozevich won again, this time against the very strong Grischuk. Svidler was shocked by Tomashevsky. Jakovenko beat Amonatov and Timofeev beat Sakaev with the black pieces. Morozevich now boasts a performance rating of 2867, which is pretty unusual after seven rounds. Grishuk resigned in just 27 moves when he was about to lose a piece for nothing.
Tailender Timofeev finally earned a full point beating another trailer, Sakaev in 39 moves of the Semi-Slav.
The women section was full of decisive results. Elena Tairova beat Pogonina and jumped into the lead (jointly with Korbut.) Tatiana Kosintseva was held to a draw by Ovod.
Results of Russian Chess Championship - Round 7
Morozevich, Alexander - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Svidler, Peter 1-0
Vitiugov, Nikita - Dreev, Alexey ½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Amonatov, Farrukh 1-0
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Rychagov, Andrey ½-½
Sakaev, Konstantin - Timofeev, Artyom 0-1
Results of Russian Chess Championship Women - Round 7
Korbut, Ekaterina - Shadrina, Tatiana 1-0
Pogonina, Natalija - Tairova, Elena 0-1
Ovod, Evgenija - Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½
Girya, Olga - Kosintseva, Nadezhda 0-1
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Stepovaia, Tatiana 1-0
Gunina, Valentina - Matveeva, Svetlana 0-1
Standings after Round 7
Men
1. Morozevich - 5.5
2. Tomashevsky - 4.5
3. Grishchuk - 4
4. Svidler, Rychagov, Dreev, Vitiugov, Jakovenko , Amonatov 3.5
10. Inarkiev
11. Sakaev
12. Timofeev
Women
1. Tairova, Korbut 5.5
3. Kosintseva Tatiana 5
4. Pogonina, Matveeva 4.5
6. Ovod, Kosintseva Nadezhda 3.5
8. Shadrina 3
9. Stepovaia 2.5
10. Giriya, Kovalevskaya 2
12. Gunina 0.5
Tailender Timofeev finally earned a full point beating another trailer, Sakaev in 39 moves of the Semi-Slav.
The women section was full of decisive results. Elena Tairova beat Pogonina and jumped into the lead (jointly with Korbut.) Tatiana Kosintseva was held to a draw by Ovod.
Results of Russian Chess Championship - Round 7
Morozevich, Alexander - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Svidler, Peter 1-0
Vitiugov, Nikita - Dreev, Alexey ½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Amonatov, Farrukh 1-0
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Rychagov, Andrey ½-½
Sakaev, Konstantin - Timofeev, Artyom 0-1
Results of Russian Chess Championship Women - Round 7
Korbut, Ekaterina - Shadrina, Tatiana 1-0
Pogonina, Natalija - Tairova, Elena 0-1
Ovod, Evgenija - Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½
Girya, Olga - Kosintseva, Nadezhda 0-1
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Stepovaia, Tatiana 1-0
Gunina, Valentina - Matveeva, Svetlana 0-1
Standings after Round 7
Men
1. Morozevich - 5.5
2. Tomashevsky - 4.5
3. Grishchuk - 4
4. Svidler, Rychagov, Dreev, Vitiugov, Jakovenko , Amonatov 3.5
10. Inarkiev
11. Sakaev
12. Timofeev
Women
1. Tairova, Korbut 5.5
3. Kosintseva Tatiana 5
4. Pogonina, Matveeva 4.5
6. Ovod, Kosintseva Nadezhda 3.5
8. Shadrina 3
9. Stepovaia 2.5
10. Giriya, Kovalevskaya 2
12. Gunina 0.5
İş Bankası - Atatürk International Women Masters Chess Tournament
The Turkish Chess Federation, following the example of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, wants to give Women's chess a bold face. They attempt this by organizing the first Women's super tournament sponsored by İş Bankası. The total prize money is $ 16, 000.
The Turkish Chess Federation is also making an attempt at bringing up a Women dream team for the future and aim to win medals at future olympiads.
The tournament will be a round robin and starts on the 10th of March 2008 (arrival) and will finish on 20th March 2008 (departure). There will be eight invited players and the best two Turkish women player, according to the FIDE ElO List.
Notable absentees this year are
Judit Polgar - does not play in Women events.
Koneru Humpy - Second strongest female ever
Alexandra Kosteniuk - Pregnancy and children.
The event will still be a pretty strong one.
The following players are confirmed for the 2008 edition:
1 Cramling, Pia GM SWE 2531
2 Zhu Chen GM QAT 2531
3 Zhao Xue WGM CHN 2530
4 Hou Yifan WGM CHN 2502
5 Chiburdanidze, Maia GM GEO 2500
6 Ushenina, Anna IM UKR 2486
7 Harika, Dronavalli WGM IND 2480
8 Krush, Irina IM USA 2475
9 Atalık, Katerina IM TUR 2404
10 Betul Cemre Yildiz WIM TUR 2220
Reserve players
14 Javakhishvili, Lela IM GEO 2474
15 Socko, Monika IM POL 2473
For more details, see the official site - http://www.tsf.org.tr/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=19&Itemid=27
The Turkish Chess Federation is also making an attempt at bringing up a Women dream team for the future and aim to win medals at future olympiads.
The tournament will be a round robin and starts on the 10th of March 2008 (arrival) and will finish on 20th March 2008 (departure). There will be eight invited players and the best two Turkish women player, according to the FIDE ElO List.
Notable absentees this year are
Judit Polgar - does not play in Women events.
Koneru Humpy - Second strongest female ever
Alexandra Kosteniuk - Pregnancy and children.
The event will still be a pretty strong one.
The following players are confirmed for the 2008 edition:
1 Cramling, Pia GM SWE 2531
2 Zhu Chen GM QAT 2531
3 Zhao Xue WGM CHN 2530
4 Hou Yifan WGM CHN 2502
5 Chiburdanidze, Maia GM GEO 2500
6 Ushenina, Anna IM UKR 2486
7 Harika, Dronavalli WGM IND 2480
8 Krush, Irina IM USA 2475
9 Atalık, Katerina IM TUR 2404
10 Betul Cemre Yildiz WIM TUR 2220
Reserve players
14 Javakhishvili, Lela IM GEO 2474
15 Socko, Monika IM POL 2473
For more details, see the official site - http://www.tsf.org.tr/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=19&Itemid=27
Monday, December 24, 2007
Li Shilong leads at Groningen
The Chess Festival at Groningen, The Netherlands has started. Li Shilong is creating waves with a 100 % score after the first three rounds in the Harmonie A section.
World Junior champion Ahmed Adly of Egypt is also participating. He is currently lying at the 10 th position.
Standings after 3 rounds
1 GM Li, Shilong 3.0 CHN
2 GM Banikas, Hristos 2.5 GRE
3 GM Halkias, Stelios 2.5 GRE
4 GM Nijboer, Friso 2.5 NED
5 GM Ernst, Sipke 2.5 NED
6 IM Brandenburg, Daan 2.5 NED
7 IM Hoffmann, Michael 2.5 GER
8 GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 2.0 GRE
9 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 2.0 NED
10 GM Adly, Ahmed 2.0 EGY
World Junior champion Ahmed Adly of Egypt is also participating. He is currently lying at the 10 th position.
Standings after 3 rounds
1 GM Li, Shilong 3.0 CHN
2 GM Banikas, Hristos 2.5 GRE
3 GM Halkias, Stelios 2.5 GRE
4 GM Nijboer, Friso 2.5 NED
5 GM Ernst, Sipke 2.5 NED
6 IM Brandenburg, Daan 2.5 NED
7 IM Hoffmann, Michael 2.5 GER
8 GM Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios 2.0 GRE
9 GM Reinderman, Dimitri 2.0 NED
10 GM Adly, Ahmed 2.0 EGY
Ciudad de Pamplona Chess - Vallejo Pons in the lead
Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain is in the lead after 3 rounds of the Ciudad de Pamplona chess tournament. He was held to a draw by the experienced Beliavsky. Khamrakulov was the lone winner today. He beat young Maxim Rodshtein. The other two games were drawn.
Top seed Wang Yue was held to a draw, the third straight time. He has been fairly active this year and it remains to be seen if he can whip himself into action soon. The local players are stealing the thunder for now.
Round 3 on 2007/12/24
GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 1 - 0 GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615
GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644 ½ - ½ GM WANG, Yue 2703
GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 ½ - ½ GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660
GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673 ½ - ½ GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670
Merry Christmas break on 2007 12/25
CIUDAD DE PAMPLONA - MAGISTRAL
Ranking after round 3
1 GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 ESP 2½
2 GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 SLO 2
3 GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 ESP 2
4 GM WANG, Yue 2703 CHN 1½
5 GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 SVK 1½
6 GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 ISR 1½
7 GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644 GEO 1
8 GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673 ARM ½
Round 4 Pairings to be played on 2007/12/26
GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 - GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 - GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
GM WANG, Yue 2703 - GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646
GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 - GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644
Top seed Wang Yue was held to a draw, the third straight time. He has been fairly active this year and it remains to be seen if he can whip himself into action soon. The local players are stealing the thunder for now.
Round 3 on 2007/12/24
GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 1 - 0 GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615
GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644 ½ - ½ GM WANG, Yue 2703
GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 ½ - ½ GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660
GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673 ½ - ½ GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670
Merry Christmas break on 2007 12/25
CIUDAD DE PAMPLONA - MAGISTRAL
Ranking after round 3
1 GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 ESP 2½
2 GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 SLO 2
3 GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 ESP 2
4 GM WANG, Yue 2703 CHN 1½
5 GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 SVK 1½
6 GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 ISR 1½
7 GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644 GEO 1
8 GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673 ARM ½
Round 4 Pairings to be played on 2007/12/26
GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 - GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 - GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
GM WANG, Yue 2703 - GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646
GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 - GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644
Morozevich in Sole lead at the Russian Superfinals
Alexander Morozevich broke away to become the sole leader after the sixth round of the Russian Chess Superfinals. Today, he beat the tailender Artyom Timofeev with the black pieces. Timofeev gave up on the 36th move when he was about to lose a piece and his king under attack by Moro's marauding pieces.
Grishchuk, Svidler, and Dreev were other winners over Tomashevsky, Vitiugov, and Jakovenko respectively. Dreev is clearly in good form and after this round, is performing above his rating expectation.
Vitiugov dared to take the poisoned pawn on the King side of a Sicilian game and was duly punished. He did have his chances to survive, but eventually, Svidler asserted his class to prevail.
Grishchuk vs Tomashevsky was a Queen's Indian defence game in which Grishchuk's doubled rooks on the "a" file did the damage to give him a winning edge which he converted to win in 45 moves.
It is interesting to note the performance ratings of the men in this tournament. No one has been able to perform at absurd levels as we normally see in many tournaments. The leader Morozevich is performing at only 2817 !
In the women's section, Tatiana Kosintseva, Korbut and Tairova were winners today.
Russian Superfinals Round 6
Grischuk, Alexander - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 1-0 Queens Indian
Svidler, Peter - Vitiugov, Nikita 1-0 Sicilian Rauzer
Amonatov, Farrukh - Inarkiev, Ernesto ½-½ Scotch Game
Rychagov, Andrey - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½ 39 Anti-Meran Gambit
Dreev, Alexey - Jakovenko, Dmitry 1-0 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Timofeev, Artyom - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 Sicilian Defence
Russian Superfinals Women Round 6
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0 Sicilian Rossolimo
Tairova, Elena - Gunina, Valentina 1-0 Ruy Lopez Marshall
Matveeva, Svetlana - Ovod, Evgenija ½-½ Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Shadrina, Tatiana - Girya, Olga ½-½ Sicilian Labourdonnais
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Pogonina, Natalija ½-½ Sicilian Modern Dragon
Stepovaia, Tatiana - Korbut, Ekaterina 0-1 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Leader Board
Men
1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2755 4½
2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2715 4
3. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2732 3½
Women
1. Kosintseva, Tatiana m RUS 2492 4½
2. Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2462 4½
3. Tairova, Elena m RUS 2391 4½
Grishchuk, Svidler, and Dreev were other winners over Tomashevsky, Vitiugov, and Jakovenko respectively. Dreev is clearly in good form and after this round, is performing above his rating expectation.
Vitiugov dared to take the poisoned pawn on the King side of a Sicilian game and was duly punished. He did have his chances to survive, but eventually, Svidler asserted his class to prevail.
Grishchuk vs Tomashevsky was a Queen's Indian defence game in which Grishchuk's doubled rooks on the "a" file did the damage to give him a winning edge which he converted to win in 45 moves.
It is interesting to note the performance ratings of the men in this tournament. No one has been able to perform at absurd levels as we normally see in many tournaments. The leader Morozevich is performing at only 2817 !
In the women's section, Tatiana Kosintseva, Korbut and Tairova were winners today.
Russian Superfinals Round 6
Grischuk, Alexander - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 1-0 Queens Indian
Svidler, Peter - Vitiugov, Nikita 1-0 Sicilian Rauzer
Amonatov, Farrukh - Inarkiev, Ernesto ½-½ Scotch Game
Rychagov, Andrey - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½ 39 Anti-Meran Gambit
Dreev, Alexey - Jakovenko, Dmitry 1-0 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Timofeev, Artyom - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1 Sicilian Defence
Russian Superfinals Women Round 6
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0 Sicilian Rossolimo
Tairova, Elena - Gunina, Valentina 1-0 Ruy Lopez Marshall
Matveeva, Svetlana - Ovod, Evgenija ½-½ Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Shadrina, Tatiana - Girya, Olga ½-½ Sicilian Labourdonnais
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Pogonina, Natalija ½-½ Sicilian Modern Dragon
Stepovaia, Tatiana - Korbut, Ekaterina 0-1 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Leader Board
Men
1. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2755 4½
2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2715 4
3. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2732 3½
Women
1. Kosintseva, Tatiana m RUS 2492 4½
2. Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2462 4½
3. Tairova, Elena m RUS 2391 4½
Ciudad de Pamplona Round 2
The young but strong Maxim Rodshtein of Israel beat a very strong Gabriel Sargissian in the second round of the Ciudad de Pamplona tournament. Local hero Francisco Vallejo also won over Jobava Baadur.
Vallejo Pons forced Baadur to resign after 69 moves when the Georgian was a clear piece down in a slightly complicated end game where Baadur made several seriuos mistakes to lose a knight for almost nothing.
The Rodshtein vs Sargissian game was a roller coaster. Rodshtein capitalized on a faulty simplification effort by Sargissian and later won an exchange. But he could not capitalize on it. But Sargissian gave the young Israeli another chance by making inaccurate moves and resigned the game again an exchange down.
The other two games were drawn fairly early out of the opening in 21 and 30 moves.
Results of Round 2 on 2007/12/2
GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 1 - 0 GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 ½ - ½ GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 1 - 0 GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644
GM WANG, Yue 2703 ½ - ½ GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604
Vallejo Pons forced Baadur to resign after 69 moves when the Georgian was a clear piece down in a slightly complicated end game where Baadur made several seriuos mistakes to lose a knight for almost nothing.
The Rodshtein vs Sargissian game was a roller coaster. Rodshtein capitalized on a faulty simplification effort by Sargissian and later won an exchange. But he could not capitalize on it. But Sargissian gave the young Israeli another chance by making inaccurate moves and resigned the game again an exchange down.
The other two games were drawn fairly early out of the opening in 21 and 30 moves.
Results of Round 2 on 2007/12/2
GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 1 - 0 GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 ½ - ½ GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 1 - 0 GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644
GM WANG, Yue 2703 ½ - ½ GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Russian Super Finals Round 5
The 5th round of the Russian super finals are over. Tomashevsky and Morozevich are the leaders with 3.5 points each. In the women's section, Pogonina is the sole leader with an impressive 4/5. She now boasts a rating performance of over 2630 for the tournament.
Morozevich again teased and taunted to get another win, this time against Sakaev. But he took 59 moves to wrap it up in a slav defence game.
Alexey Dreev was a winner over the relatively inexperienced Inarkiev.
In the women's category, Tairova, Korbut and Nadezhda Kosintseva won over Kovalevskya, Ovod and Gunina respectively.
Russian Chess Championship Round 5
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Timofeev, Artyom 1-0
Amonatov, Farrukh - Rychagov, Andrey ½-½
Morozevich, Alexander - Sakaev, Konstantin 1-0
Vitiugov, Nikita - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Svidler, Peter ½-½
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Dreev, Alexey 0-1
Russian Chess Championship Women Round 5
Pogonina, Natalija - Shadrina, Tatiana ½-½
Korbut, Ekaterina - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0
Matveeva, Svetlana - Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½
Ovod, Evgenija - Tairova, Elena 0-1
Girya, Olga - Stepovaia, Tatiana ½-½
Gunina, Valentina - Kosintseva, Nadezhda 0-1
Morozevich again teased and taunted to get another win, this time against Sakaev. But he took 59 moves to wrap it up in a slav defence game.
Alexey Dreev was a winner over the relatively inexperienced Inarkiev.
In the women's category, Tairova, Korbut and Nadezhda Kosintseva won over Kovalevskya, Ovod and Gunina respectively.
Russian Chess Championship Round 5
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Timofeev, Artyom 1-0
Amonatov, Farrukh - Rychagov, Andrey ½-½
Morozevich, Alexander - Sakaev, Konstantin 1-0
Vitiugov, Nikita - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Svidler, Peter ½-½
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Dreev, Alexey 0-1
Russian Chess Championship Women Round 5
Pogonina, Natalija - Shadrina, Tatiana ½-½
Korbut, Ekaterina - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0
Matveeva, Svetlana - Kosintseva, Tatiana ½-½
Ovod, Evgenija - Tairova, Elena 0-1
Girya, Olga - Stepovaia, Tatiana ½-½
Gunina, Valentina - Kosintseva, Nadezhda 0-1
Kasparov invites Putin to a Russian Challenge !
Garry Kasparov, the retired chess genius turned politician, gave his views on Putin winning Time Magazine's Person of the year on the official "The other Russia" website.
He also invited the Russian leader to a duel in speaking or writing in Russian. Putin had earlier criticized Kasparov for speaking in English to reporters after being arrested. Kasparov claims that Putin blocks all the Russian that he speaks or writes.
More on this on the official site : http://www.theotherrussia.org/2007/12/19/kasparov-on-the-time-person-of-the-year-award-for-vladimir-putin/
Announcement of Person of the Year by Time Magazine : http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/
CIUDAD DE PAMPLONA - Round 1 and Round 2 Pairings
The first round of the CIUDAD DE PAMPLONA tournament started with a well-deserved win for veteran Alexander Beliavsky against Gabriel Sargissian. Beliavsky capitalized on an early advantage to prevail against Sargissian. The other winner was local favorite Francisco Vallejo Pons against the last seed, Ibragim Khamrakulov. Top seed Wang Yue of China was held to a draw by promising Maxim Rodshtein of Israel.
CIUDAD DE PAMPLONA - MAGISTRAL Round 1 on 2007/12/22
SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
1 GM WANG, Yue 2703 ½ - ½ GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615
2 GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 0 - 1 GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660
3 GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644 ½ - ½ GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670
4 GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 1 - 0 GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
Round 2 Pairings 2007/12/23
GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 - GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 - GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 - GM JOBAVA, Baadur
GM WANG, Yue 2703 - GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604
CIUDAD DE PAMPLONA - MAGISTRAL Round 1 on 2007/12/22
SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
1 GM WANG, Yue 2703 ½ - ½ GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615
2 GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604 0 - 1 GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660
3 GM JOBAVA, Baadur 2644 ½ - ½ GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670
4 GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646 1 - 0 GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
Round 2 Pairings 2007/12/23
GM RODSHTEIN, Maxim 2615 - GM SARGISSIAN, Gabriel 2673
GM MOVSESIAN, Sergei 2670 - GM BELIAVSKY, Alexander G 2646
GM VALLEJO PONS, Francisco 2660 - GM JOBAVA, Baadur
GM WANG, Yue 2703 - GM KHAMRAKULOV, Ibragim S 2604
XVII Torneo Internacional Ciudad De Pamplona Chess
The games of the Seventeenth edition of the Internation Ciudad De Pamplona started on 22 December 2007. There are several strong grand masters participating in this event.
The main players in order of their ratings are:
1 GM WANG Yue 2703 CHN
2 GM SARGISSIAN Gabriel 2673 ARM
3 GM MOVSESIAN Sergei 2670 SVK
4 GM VALLEJO PONS Francisco 2660 ESP
5 GM BELIAVSKY Alexander G 2646 SLO
6 GM JOBAVA Baadur 2644 GEO
7 GM RODSHTEIN Maxim 2615 ISR
8 GM KHAMRAKULOV Ibragim S 2604 ESP
The previous top three of this popular event are:
Year, First place, Second Place, Third Place
1990 Leonid Yudasin Viktor Korchnoi Zsuzsa Polgar
1991 Leonid Yudasin Miguel Illescas Zsuzsa Polgar
1992 Joel Lautier Miguel Illescas David García
1993 Jordi Magem Andrei Sokolov Felix Izeta
1994 Alexander Morozevich Vadim Zvjaginsev Jordi Magem
1995 Jordi Magem Julio Granda Miguel Illescas
1996 Zoltan Almasi Jonathan Speelman Zurab Azmaiparashvili
1997 Miguel Illescas Ulf Anderson Julio Granda
1998 Alexander Morozevich Michal Krasenkov Loek Van Welly
1999 Nigel Short Boris Gelfand Zoltan Almasi
2001 Viktor Bologan Teimour Radjabov Zoltan Almasi
2002 Rustam Kasimdzhanov Viktor Bologan Paco Vallejo
2003 Miguel Illescas Luke McShane Emil Sutovsky
2004 Boris Gelfand Segei Karjakin Lázaro Bruzón
2005 Ruslan Ponomariov P. Harikrishna Ivan Cheparinov
2006 Alexander Morozevich Dmitry Jakovenko Alexei Shirov
The main players in order of their ratings are:
1 GM WANG Yue 2703 CHN
2 GM SARGISSIAN Gabriel 2673 ARM
3 GM MOVSESIAN Sergei 2670 SVK
4 GM VALLEJO PONS Francisco 2660 ESP
5 GM BELIAVSKY Alexander G 2646 SLO
6 GM JOBAVA Baadur 2644 GEO
7 GM RODSHTEIN Maxim 2615 ISR
8 GM KHAMRAKULOV Ibragim S 2604 ESP
The previous top three of this popular event are:
Year, First place, Second Place, Third Place
1990 Leonid Yudasin Viktor Korchnoi Zsuzsa Polgar
1991 Leonid Yudasin Miguel Illescas Zsuzsa Polgar
1992 Joel Lautier Miguel Illescas David García
1993 Jordi Magem Andrei Sokolov Felix Izeta
1994 Alexander Morozevich Vadim Zvjaginsev Jordi Magem
1995 Jordi Magem Julio Granda Miguel Illescas
1996 Zoltan Almasi Jonathan Speelman Zurab Azmaiparashvili
1997 Miguel Illescas Ulf Anderson Julio Granda
1998 Alexander Morozevich Michal Krasenkov Loek Van Welly
1999 Nigel Short Boris Gelfand Zoltan Almasi
2001 Viktor Bologan Teimour Radjabov Zoltan Almasi
2002 Rustam Kasimdzhanov Viktor Bologan Paco Vallejo
2003 Miguel Illescas Luke McShane Emil Sutovsky
2004 Boris Gelfand Segei Karjakin Lázaro Bruzón
2005 Ruslan Ponomariov P. Harikrishna Ivan Cheparinov
2006 Alexander Morozevich Dmitry Jakovenko Alexei Shirov
Ivanchuk wins XX Carlos Torre Memorial tournament
Vassily Ivanchuk won the XX Carlos Torre Memorial tournament at Merida, Yucatan.
In the finals, he beat India's Pentala Harikrishna 3-1, winning the last two games after being tied 1-1. Ivanchuk continues his habit of collecting points at the non-prime events and losing heavily in the leading tournaments. Whatever, but works !
Earlier, in the semi-finals Ivanchuk beat Alexander Graf and P Harikrishna beat Jesus Nogueiras. The knock out style tournament had started with 16 players. The format was similar to the recently held World Cup chess tournament. Two games first and then tie-breaks if required.
In the finals, he beat India's Pentala Harikrishna 3-1, winning the last two games after being tied 1-1. Ivanchuk continues his habit of collecting points at the non-prime events and losing heavily in the leading tournaments. Whatever, but works !
Earlier, in the semi-finals Ivanchuk beat Alexander Graf and P Harikrishna beat Jesus Nogueiras. The knock out style tournament had started with 16 players. The format was similar to the recently held World Cup chess tournament. Two games first and then tie-breaks if required.
2007 Asian Junior Chess Final Results
India dominated the Asian Junior Chess Championship 2007. In a tournament without the Chinese, it was a cakewalk for the Indian players. In the boys section it was 10/10 for India and in the Girls section only Pourkashiyan and Shamima Akter managed minor placings.
P Karthikeyan was placed first on tie-break while Mary Ann Gomes dominated the girls section right from the start. The only GrandMaster in the field, Parimarjan Negi could only finish fourth.
Final Standings of the Asian Junior Chess:
Boys:
1 Karthikeyan P 2340 IND 7 36
2 Ashwin Jayaram 2478 IND 7 34
3 IM Shyam Sundar M 2241 IND 6½ 34
4 GM Negi Parimarjan 2514 IND 6½ 33½
5 Lalith Babu M R 2350 IND 6½ 33
6 Purushothaman T 2252 IND 6½ 32½
7 Vishnu Prasanna 2297 IND 6 37½
8 Saravana Krishnan P 2261 IND 6 29
9 IM Sethuraman S P 2427 IND 6 29 10
10 Udeshi Aditya 2355 IND 5½ 30½
Girls:
1 WIM Gomes Mary Ann 2262 IND 8½ 43½
2 Padmini Rout 2226 IND 7 35
3 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2263 IND 6 30½
4 Priya P 2129 IND 5½ 27
5 WIM Soumya Swaminathan 2244 IND 5 27½
6 Sivasankari P 2114 IND 5 26
7 WIM Pourkashiyan Atousa 2308 IRI 5 25½
8 WFM Pon N Krithika 2140 IND 5 24
9 WFM Shamima Akter Liza 2107 BAN 5 24
10 Uthra P 2055 IND 5 22
P Karthikeyan was placed first on tie-break while Mary Ann Gomes dominated the girls section right from the start. The only GrandMaster in the field, Parimarjan Negi could only finish fourth.
Final Standings of the Asian Junior Chess:
Boys:
1 Karthikeyan P 2340 IND 7 36
2 Ashwin Jayaram 2478 IND 7 34
3 IM Shyam Sundar M 2241 IND 6½ 34
4 GM Negi Parimarjan 2514 IND 6½ 33½
5 Lalith Babu M R 2350 IND 6½ 33
6 Purushothaman T 2252 IND 6½ 32½
7 Vishnu Prasanna 2297 IND 6 37½
8 Saravana Krishnan P 2261 IND 6 29
9 IM Sethuraman S P 2427 IND 6 29 10
10 Udeshi Aditya 2355 IND 5½ 30½
Girls:
1 WIM Gomes Mary Ann 2262 IND 8½ 43½
2 Padmini Rout 2226 IND 7 35
3 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2263 IND 6 30½
4 Priya P 2129 IND 5½ 27
5 WIM Soumya Swaminathan 2244 IND 5 27½
6 Sivasankari P 2114 IND 5 26
7 WIM Pourkashiyan Atousa 2308 IRI 5 25½
8 WFM Pon N Krithika 2140 IND 5 24
9 WFM Shamima Akter Liza 2107 BAN 5 24
10 Uthra P 2055 IND 5 22
Russian Superfinals Women Round 4
Olga Giriya upset the more fancied Kovalevskaya with the black pieces while Tatiana Shadrina beat Valentina Gunina in the fourth round of the Russian Superfinals Chess in the Women's section. All the remaining games were drawn.
All Round 4 Results:
Russian Chess Championship Women Round 4 (December 22, 2007)
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Korbut, Ekaterina ½-½ Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Tairova, Elena - Matveeva, Svetlana ½-½ French Tarrasch
Stepovaia, Tatiana - Pogonina, Natalija ½-½ Sicilian Rossolimo
Shadrina, Tatiana - Gunina, Valentina 1-0 French Defence
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Ovod, Evgenija ½-½ Ruy Lopez Schliemann
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Girya, Olga 0-1 Sicilian Labourdonnais
Standings after round 4:
1. Pogonina, Natalija (2462) 3½
2. Kosintseva, Tatiana (2492) 3
3. Matveeva, Svetlana (2433) 2½
4. Tairova, Elena (2391) 2½
5. Ovod, Evgenija (2386) 2½
6. Korbut, Ekaterina (2443) 2½
7. Stepovaia, Tatiana 2375 2
8. Shadrina, Tatiana (2379) 2
9. Kosintseva, Nadezhda (2469) 1
10. Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina (2448) 1
11. Girya, Olga (2338) 1
12. Gunina, Valentina (2359) ½
For more details, visit the official site Official site: http://www.russiachess.org/
All Round 4 Results:
Russian Chess Championship Women Round 4 (December 22, 2007)
Kosintseva, Tatiana - Korbut, Ekaterina ½-½ Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Tairova, Elena - Matveeva, Svetlana ½-½ French Tarrasch
Stepovaia, Tatiana - Pogonina, Natalija ½-½ Sicilian Rossolimo
Shadrina, Tatiana - Gunina, Valentina 1-0 French Defence
Kosintseva, Nadezhda - Ovod, Evgenija ½-½ Ruy Lopez Schliemann
Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina - Girya, Olga 0-1 Sicilian Labourdonnais
Standings after round 4:
1. Pogonina, Natalija (2462) 3½
2. Kosintseva, Tatiana (2492) 3
3. Matveeva, Svetlana (2433) 2½
4. Tairova, Elena (2391) 2½
5. Ovod, Evgenija (2386) 2½
6. Korbut, Ekaterina (2443) 2½
7. Stepovaia, Tatiana 2375 2
8. Shadrina, Tatiana (2379) 2
9. Kosintseva, Nadezhda (2469) 1
10. Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina (2448) 1
11. Girya, Olga (2338) 1
12. Gunina, Valentina (2359) ½
For more details, visit the official site Official site: http://www.russiachess.org/
Russian Superfinals Chess 2007 - Round 4
No big surprises in round 4. The top seeds seem to have settled down to their usual business. Especially, Morozevich who beat who beat Rychagov in 50 moves with the black pieces.
The leader board after round four has five players with 2.5 points each. And three of them already have lost a game ! Never seen such a tournament with swinging fortunes so early.
The leaders are : Evgeny Tomashevsky , Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Nikita Vitiugov, and Farrukh Amonatov.
Round 4 Results (Men):
Grischuk, Alexander - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½
Sakaev, Konstantin - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 0-1
Rychagov, Andrey - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1
Svidler, Peter - Inarkiev, Ernesto ½-½
Dreev, Alexey - Amonatov, Farrukh 0-1
Timofeev, Artyom - Vitiugov, Nikita 0-1
Standings after Round 4(Men):
Evgeny Tomashevsky , Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Nikita Vitiugov, and Farrukh Amonatov - 2.5
Sakaev, Rychagov, Inarkiev, Svidler, Jakovenko - 2
Dreev - 1
Timofeev - 0.5
The leader board after round four has five players with 2.5 points each. And three of them already have lost a game ! Never seen such a tournament with swinging fortunes so early.
The leaders are : Evgeny Tomashevsky , Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Nikita Vitiugov, and Farrukh Amonatov.
Round 4 Results (Men):
Grischuk, Alexander - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½
Sakaev, Konstantin - Tomashevsky, Evgeny 0-1
Rychagov, Andrey - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1
Svidler, Peter - Inarkiev, Ernesto ½-½
Dreev, Alexey - Amonatov, Farrukh 0-1
Timofeev, Artyom - Vitiugov, Nikita 0-1
Standings after Round 4(Men):
Evgeny Tomashevsky , Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk, Nikita Vitiugov, and Farrukh Amonatov - 2.5
Sakaev, Rychagov, Inarkiev, Svidler, Jakovenko - 2
Dreev - 1
Timofeev - 0.5
Friday, December 21, 2007
XX Carlos Torre Memorial, Cuba
Note: At the time of writing this report, Ivanchuk beat Graf in the first game of the semi-finals and the other semi-final first game was drawn.
The semi-finals seem to have been reached and the following seems to be the situation:
Vassily Ivanchuk 2787 vs Alexander Graf 2576
P Harikrishna 2668 vs Jesus Nogueiras 2549
There is a local presence in Nogueiras.
The full quarter-final results:
Ivanchuk beat Almeida 1.5-0.5
Graf beat Quezada 1.5- 0.5
Nogueiras beat Cordova 2-0
Harikrishna beat Meier 1.5-0.5
The semi-finals seem to have been reached and the following seems to be the situation:
Vassily Ivanchuk 2787 vs Alexander Graf 2576
P Harikrishna 2668 vs Jesus Nogueiras 2549
There is a local presence in Nogueiras.
The full quarter-final results:
Ivanchuk beat Almeida 1.5-0.5
Graf beat Quezada 1.5- 0.5
Nogueiras beat Cordova 2-0
Harikrishna beat Meier 1.5-0.5
Russian Super Finals December 21st 2007
Today is a rest day for the Russian Superfinals participants. The no-holds barred contests resume from tomorrow.
So far, we have seen enterprising chess from the youngsters and some tremendous comebacks from Svidler and Morozevich. Let the trend continue !
So far, we have seen enterprising chess from the youngsters and some tremendous comebacks from Svidler and Morozevich. Let the trend continue !
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Carlos Torre Memorial
Game 1 results of the Quarterfinals:
Tregubov – Meier 1-0
Cordova – Zapata 1-0
J.Gonzalez – Almeida ½–½
Bruzon – Ivanchuk 0-1
Harikrishna – G.Hernandez 1-0
Nogueiras – Dominguez ½–½
H.Hernandez – Graf 0-1
Quezada – Leon Hoyos 1-0
Now, I'm a bit confused about the games on 20th Dec 2007. Ivanchuk seems to have drawn his game against Bruzon and won another game against Omar Almeida Quintana, and both with white ! And he's supposed to have won a game against Bruzon yesterday. Whats going on here ? Why oh why do you (Ivanchuk) play in these places and make things difficult for us ? Oh ok, to gain back the rating points you just lost, you say ? OK OK.
Someone please help !
One more result I have is of P Harikrishna beating Georg Meier. A weird game where black resigns in a position that he can hold and just a few moves before the end, he was kind of better ! Once again folks, what's going on ? !
Tregubov – Meier 1-0
Cordova – Zapata 1-0
J.Gonzalez – Almeida ½–½
Bruzon – Ivanchuk 0-1
Harikrishna – G.Hernandez 1-0
Nogueiras – Dominguez ½–½
H.Hernandez – Graf 0-1
Quezada – Leon Hoyos 1-0
Now, I'm a bit confused about the games on 20th Dec 2007. Ivanchuk seems to have drawn his game against Bruzon and won another game against Omar Almeida Quintana, and both with white ! And he's supposed to have won a game against Bruzon yesterday. Whats going on here ? Why oh why do you (Ivanchuk) play in these places and make things difficult for us ? Oh ok, to gain back the rating points you just lost, you say ? OK OK.
Someone please help !
One more result I have is of P Harikrishna beating Georg Meier. A weird game where black resigns in a position that he can hold and just a few moves before the end, he was kind of better ! Once again folks, what's going on ? !
Day 3 of Russian Superfinals
There were no real surprises on day 3 unlike day 1 and 2 in the Russian Championship superfinals mens section.
Morozevich crushed Tomashevsky with the black pieces. The class of players like Svidler and Moro can be seen in the games after losing. They simply come back stronger. If you have ever observed other players who are not that sure of themselves in other tournaments, they lose a game, they will desparately try to draw the next. The the difference is the class !
OK and back to the results and Jakovenko beat Timofeev. The remaining games were drawn with Amonatov holding the strong Svidler.
The women's section was an all clobbering day with 6/6 results. No, draw is not considered a decent result :-). Thousands of threads on the Sofia rule, how to eliminate draws and many such.
A notable win was Matveeva's over N. Kosintseva.
The results:
Men
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1
Vitiugov, Nikita - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½
Amonatov, Farrukh - Svidler, Peter ½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Timofeev, Artyom 1-0
Dreev, Alexey - Rychagov, Andrey ½-½
Women
Pogonina, Natalija - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0
Ovod, Evgenija - Shadrina, Tatiana 1-0
Matveeva, Svetlana - Kosintseva, Nadezhda 1-0
Tairova, Elena - Kosintseva, Tatiana 0-1
Gunina, Valentina - Stepovaia, Tatiana 0-1
Girya, Olga - Korbut, Ekaterina 0-1
Morozevich crushed Tomashevsky with the black pieces. The class of players like Svidler and Moro can be seen in the games after losing. They simply come back stronger. If you have ever observed other players who are not that sure of themselves in other tournaments, they lose a game, they will desparately try to draw the next. The the difference is the class !
OK and back to the results and Jakovenko beat Timofeev. The remaining games were drawn with Amonatov holding the strong Svidler.
The women's section was an all clobbering day with 6/6 results. No, draw is not considered a decent result :-). Thousands of threads on the Sofia rule, how to eliminate draws and many such.
A notable win was Matveeva's over N. Kosintseva.
The results:
Men
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Morozevich, Alexander 0-1
Vitiugov, Nikita - Sakaev, Konstantin ½-½
Inarkiev, Ernesto - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½
Amonatov, Farrukh - Svidler, Peter ½-½
Jakovenko, Dmitry - Timofeev, Artyom 1-0
Dreev, Alexey - Rychagov, Andrey ½-½
Women
Pogonina, Natalija - Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina 1-0
Ovod, Evgenija - Shadrina, Tatiana 1-0
Matveeva, Svetlana - Kosintseva, Nadezhda 1-0
Tairova, Elena - Kosintseva, Tatiana 0-1
Gunina, Valentina - Stepovaia, Tatiana 0-1
Girya, Olga - Korbut, Ekaterina 0-1
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
XX Carlos Torre Memorial Chess Tournament
This tournament takes place at the growing chess town of Mérida, Yucatán, México from 15th-23rd December 2007. The tournament includes a knock out phase.
The leading players are: GM Ivanchuk Vassily, GM Bruzon Batista Lazaro, GM Dominguez Perez Lenier, GM Harikrishna Pentala, GM Tregubov and others.
Games of round two are here: http://www.okantomi.com.mx/torre2007/w2/tfd.htm
If the above link does not work, then try this one - http://www.idey.gob.mx/ct2008.htm
Russian superfinals round two
Peter Svidler, probably angered by his strange defeat to a low ranked player yesterday, beat Alexey Dreev in only 36 moves in a show of dominance to come back into the reckoning.
The shock of the day was the defeat of Alexander Morozevich at the hands of Nikita Vitiugov. While no one in this tournament can really be called weak, Vitiugov is certainly not in Morozevich's class yet. But maybe this is his break out moment ?
In other games, Sakaev upset Jakovenko and Grischuk beat Amonatov.
The tournament is pretty amazing since these young guys don't seem to think much about the exploits of players like Svidler and Morozevich at the very top of world chess. More exciting games sure to come !
The shock of the day was the defeat of Alexander Morozevich at the hands of Nikita Vitiugov. While no one in this tournament can really be called weak, Vitiugov is certainly not in Morozevich's class yet. But maybe this is his break out moment ?
In other games, Sakaev upset Jakovenko and Grischuk beat Amonatov.
The tournament is pretty amazing since these young guys don't seem to think much about the exploits of players like Svidler and Morozevich at the very top of world chess. More exciting games sure to come !
Russian Superfinals - Women
The results of this tournament are very hard to get. But anyway, here are some highlights of the second round of the women's section.
Tatiana Kosintseva seems to have started her rampage with a win over Olga Girya. But her sister Nadezhda, lost quite unexpectedly to Elena Tairova. Tairova is no pushover herself, but she had a bad patch tournament a while ago. Its a good sign probably that it has not continued.
In other games, Shadrina beat Matveeva in a very long game lasting 84 moves and Pogonina defeated Korbut in a miniature.
Anyone volunteering to translate the official site that is Russian ?
Any idea about Kosteniuk's activities ?
Tatiana Kosintseva seems to have started her rampage with a win over Olga Girya. But her sister Nadezhda, lost quite unexpectedly to Elena Tairova. Tairova is no pushover herself, but she had a bad patch tournament a while ago. Its a good sign probably that it has not continued.
In other games, Shadrina beat Matveeva in a very long game lasting 84 moves and Pogonina defeated Korbut in a miniature.
Anyone volunteering to translate the official site that is Russian ?
Any idea about Kosteniuk's activities ?
Anand Kramnik match details announced
World Champion V Anand of India and V Kramnik of Russia battle it out for the world championshiop title in 2008. The details have just been announced.
The winner of this match will play the winner of Kamsky and Topalov in a bid to find a solid world champion.
The winner of this match will play the winner of Kamsky and Topalov in a bid to find a solid world champion.
- When: From October 11 – 30, 2008
- Where: Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn
- Overall Prize fund: 1,5 Million Euro
- Patron: German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück
- Main sponsor: Evonik Industries AG
As per the announcement on the official site , the match will consist of twelve games, played under classical time controls, in the period from October 11 to October 28, 2008. If there is a tie at the end of these games a tiebreak will be played on October 30, 2008. The prize fund, which will be split equally between the players, is 1,5 million Euro (approximately 2,1 million US Dollars) including taxes and FIDE licensee fees.
More details on this link - http://www.uep-worldchess.com/
Click the News link on this site.
2007 Asian Junior Chess Championship
The 2007 edition of the Asian Junior Chess Championship is underway and the half way stage has been crossed. While the Boy's section is close and GM Parimarjan Negi is among the leaders, Mary Ann Gomes is threatening to become the runaway winner of the Girls section.
For more details on Results, Parings and Reports, see the Venus Chess Academy website - http://www.venuschessacademy.org/
For more details on Results, Parings and Reports, see the Venus Chess Academy website - http://www.venuschessacademy.org/
The Koneru Humpy Interview
Koneru Humpy is already a strong Grand Master of chess in the open section (including men). Her rating has soared to 2606. She is set to rise even higher in the January 2008 ratings list to be announced shortly.
She expresses her views on her chess and how she would prefer to play in the men's team than the women's teams.
Interview on latestchess - http://latestchess.com/showInterview.php?id=7
She expresses her views on her chess and how she would prefer to play in the men's team than the women's teams.
Interview on latestchess - http://latestchess.com/showInterview.php?id=7
Bobby Fischer resurfaces
Fischer (or mostly likey a scamster in Fischers' garb) has come back in the news again. An auction was placed on the Canadian website of Ebay of his latest edition of his book written decades back.
Mig at Chessninja.com says he got a mail from a reader saying the auction has been withdrawn and this appears to be just a scam.
More on this on the Chess Dirt on Chessninja.com - http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/
Mig at Chessninja.com says he got a mail from a reader saying the auction has been withdrawn and this appears to be just a scam.
More on this on the Chess Dirt on Chessninja.com - http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Anand thirsts for a game with Kasparov
V Anand, the recently crowned world champion, is craving for another chance to play Kasparov. Anand, who is preparing for the Corus chess at Wijk Aan Zee (Netherlands) tournament to be held in January considers playing a match against Kasparov as one of his dreams.
More about this on the Rediff site - http://www.rediff.com/sports/2007/dec/19chess.htm
And to put your memories to a jog, here is the Game 10 of the World Championship match at the World Trade Center in 1995. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e96IovA3WbU
Anand never really got another shot at Kasparov in a match. He was pretty young in 1995 and combined with Kasparov's vicious tactics, he never really had any chance.
More about this on the Rediff site - http://www.rediff.com/sports/2007/dec/19chess.htm
And to put your memories to a jog, here is the Game 10 of the World Championship match at the World Trade Center in 1995. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e96IovA3WbU
Anand never really got another shot at Kasparov in a match. He was pretty young in 1995 and combined with Kasparov's vicious tactics, he never really had any chance.
Russian Superfinals Round One
The Russian superfinals got off to an explosive start with Andrey Rychagov beating fancied Peter Svidler. Rated almost 200 points below Svidler, Rychagov converted an advantage of a rook and knight endgame with an extra central pawn to win in 51 moves.
Morozevich played his usual brand of chess to completely outplay Jakovenko but could not finish smoothly. They settled for a draw in 69 moves.
There were wins by Farrukh Amonatov against Artyom Timofeev and Evgeny Tomashevsky against Nikita Vitugov (with Black) while Grishchuk drew his game against the solid Alexey Dreev.
In the women's Russian superfinals, there were four first round winners, Svetlana Matveeva won against Tatiana Stepovaia, Natalija Pogonina beat Olga Girya, Elena Tairov defeated Tatiana Shadrina and Ekaterina Korbut beat Valentina Gunina. The two Kosintseva sisters drew their match in just 9 moves.
The official site in Russian - http://russiachess.org/content/blogcategory/93/385/
Morozevich played his usual brand of chess to completely outplay Jakovenko but could not finish smoothly. They settled for a draw in 69 moves.
There were wins by Farrukh Amonatov against Artyom Timofeev and Evgeny Tomashevsky against Nikita Vitugov (with Black) while Grishchuk drew his game against the solid Alexey Dreev.
In the women's Russian superfinals, there were four first round winners, Svetlana Matveeva won against Tatiana Stepovaia, Natalija Pogonina beat Olga Girya, Elena Tairov defeated Tatiana Shadrina and Ekaterina Korbut beat Valentina Gunina. The two Kosintseva sisters drew their match in just 9 moves.
The official site in Russian - http://russiachess.org/content/blogcategory/93/385/
Russian Championship Superfinals starts
The incredibly strong Russian Superfinals starts today. The field includes Alekseev, Grischuk, Dreev, Morozevich, Svidler, Timofeev, Tomashevsky, Jakovenko and other strong contenders.
The tournament will be over 11 rounds and Alekseev is the defending champion.
The tournament will be over 11 rounds and Alekseev is the defending champion.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Its Kamsky vs Topalov
Gata Kamsky won the World Cup Chess tournament 2007 being played at Khanty Mansiysk. What was expected to be a fiery battle in the end fizzled out into a draw by the 35th move. However, Kamsky was the one bound to break into a smile as he won $ 120 000. Shirov managed $ 80 000 in the end.
Shirov did provoke Kamsky to fight a complicated battle. He offered a knight in the middle game but Kamsky declined it with his customary cool way and went on to sacrifice an exchange and then advance the dangerous e-pawn. The draw was agreed when Shirov could no longer prevent the perpetual thanks to Kamsky's queen.
Kamsky now meets Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria for a chance to meet the winner of Vishwanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. The eventual winner is to be considered the absolute World Champion.
Shirov did provoke Kamsky to fight a complicated battle. He offered a knight in the middle game but Kamsky declined it with his customary cool way and went on to sacrifice an exchange and then advance the dangerous e-pawn. The draw was agreed when Shirov could no longer prevent the perpetual thanks to Kamsky's queen.
Kamsky now meets Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria for a chance to meet the winner of Vishwanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. The eventual winner is to be considered the absolute World Champion.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Battles against Fritz
In my attempt to better understand chess openings and to practice correct principles, I found a nice way to train. It is good only if you can bear the pain of defeat. I cannot win a single game in my life. It is almost assured. The reason is however much I may improve I will run into a chess program which is a monster. It is strong enough to beat Kramnik and Anand combined !
For example, look at this game I recently played. It was against Fritz playing at the unleashed strength of 3062 :). The one positive point in this game is that I think I was plus around the 20th move when I replayed the game with the Infinite analysis engine on !
A note is in order here. Black is Fritz at 3062 and White is me. So it is 0-1 in favor of the engine.
For example, look at this game I recently played. It was against Fritz playing at the unleashed strength of 3062 :). The one positive point in this game is that I think I was plus around the 20th move when I replayed the game with the Infinite analysis engine on !
A note is in order here. Black is Fritz at 3062 and White is me. So it is 0-1 in favor of the engine.
Magnus Carlsen - World Cup and beyond
Magnus Carlsen is back in Norway after making a brave bid for the title. It is heartening to see that he is just a normal kid who likes to do usual stuff that kids his age do. His father talks about him helping out already in preparing cookies for Christmas and skiing around the beatiful slopes around their town !
It is always nice to see balanced individuals also achieving success so early in their life. One hopes things continue the same way.
On the other hand, Henrik Carlsen, Magnus's father talks about a prospective healthy rivarly developing. Magnus and Karjakin will soon be the top juniors with 2733 and 2732 respectively. They will be juniors for 3 more years ! Wonder if they will enter the pure senior ranks at 2800 :-). Nothing is impossible for these naughty kids who spoil adult players' chess parties.
You can read more on Henrik Carlsen's thoughts on Magnus performance and other articles here:
http://blog.magnuschess.com/
It is always nice to see balanced individuals also achieving success so early in their life. One hopes things continue the same way.
On the other hand, Henrik Carlsen, Magnus's father talks about a prospective healthy rivarly developing. Magnus and Karjakin will soon be the top juniors with 2733 and 2732 respectively. They will be juniors for 3 more years ! Wonder if they will enter the pure senior ranks at 2800 :-). Nothing is impossible for these naughty kids who spoil adult players' chess parties.
You can read more on Henrik Carlsen's thoughts on Magnus performance and other articles here:
http://blog.magnuschess.com/
Kamsky holds on to his lead against Shirov
Gata Kamsky of USA held on to his lead against Alexei Shirov of Spain in the finals of World Cup Chess 2007 being held at Khanty Mansiysk. The final is a four game affair with normal time, then rapid, blitz games to break a tie.
Today's drawn game:
The winner here meets Veselin Topalov for a chance to challenge the winner of Anand and Kramnik.
The results so far are as follows:
Game 1 - Draw after a brief struggle. Shirov cannot break the solid Kamsky's defence.
Game 2- Kamsky wins a thrilling game which could have swung either way. Shirov had chances only if Kamsky made minor errors but Kamsky displayed his strength of will to prevail
Game 3- Is again a draw. Shirov tries for 41 moves before the peace treaty is signed.
Tomorrow, Shirov must win with black pieces to tie the match and move to the tie-breaks. On current form, Kamsky is expected to at least draw and hang to his lead and hence win the title, but with the Alexei "Fire on the board" Shirov, you never can be very sure.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Shirov beats Karjakin
Shirov beat Karjakin to move to the finals of the World Cup Chess that is now on at Khanty Mansiysk. The winner plays Topalov later.
Karjakin was probably trying to take the games to the blitzs. With white, he could not make headway against Shirov, who in fact had the upper hand by the end.
But with Shirov and the white the tables were turned and he played an amazingly accurate endgame to triumph.
Experience won against teens, but only in the semi-finals. The finals promise excitement - the steady Kamsky vs the "Fire on the Board" Shirov.
Karjakin was probably trying to take the games to the blitzs. With white, he could not make headway against Shirov, who in fact had the upper hand by the end.
But with Shirov and the white the tables were turned and he played an amazingly accurate endgame to triumph.
Experience won against teens, but only in the semi-finals. The finals promise excitement - the steady Kamsky vs the "Fire on the Board" Shirov.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Karjakin and Shirov fight for a place in the finals
Karjakin and Shirov go to war in a set of rapid and blitz games for a place in the finals of the World Cup Chess 2007 at Khanty Mansiysk.
Karjakin is well known for his rapid and blitz skills. His style of play is also clean and less prone to errors. But Shirov is no push over. His immense experience will come handy.
The difference between the winner and loser in tomorrow's games very significant. In addition to this, the finals will be of four classical time games followed by tie-breakers.
Karjakin is well known for his rapid and blitz skills. His style of play is also clean and less prone to errors. But Shirov is no push over. His immense experience will come handy.
The difference between the winner and loser in tomorrow's games very significant. In addition to this, the finals will be of four classical time games followed by tie-breakers.
R B Ramesh is the commonwealth chess champion 2007
R B Ramesh of India won the Commonwealth Chess Championship of 2007. The official web site strangely lists K Rathnakaran as first but the declaration on the home page shows Ramesh as the winner. We will wait for more clarification on this front.
Several more famous names finished further down in the order including GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Gawain Jones of England finished 26 th !
India's Dronavalli Harika finished fifth, notable performance in the open section, though it is hardly a surprise given her high rating.
For results, pairings, cross-table, go to http://www.delhichess.com/Commonwealth07_Pairing.asp
Several more famous names finished further down in the order including GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Gawain Jones of England finished 26 th !
India's Dronavalli Harika finished fifth, notable performance in the open section, though it is hardly a surprise given her high rating.
For results, pairings, cross-table, go to http://www.delhichess.com/Commonwealth07_Pairing.asp
Carlsen beaten by Kamsky, Karjakin - Shirov to play tie-breaks
Magnus Carlsen of Norway suffered an agonizing defeat against Gata Kamsky of the USA in the semi-finals of the World Cup Chess at Khanty Mansiysk. The wily Kamsky, a looming threat after the initial rounds, won an exchange in the middle game to triumph. The tournament nevertheless has been a success for Carlsen in his father's own words. See http://blog.magnuschess.com/. Carlsen is bound to be disappointed but the humble dad-son duo have made Norway proud. We hope it is just a step for Carlsen to overcome and achieve greater deeds.
The other semi-final between Karjakin of Ukraine and Shirov of Spain was drawn in 33 moves. They will play the rapid and blitz tie-break games tomorrow for a place in the finals. The winner meets Kamsky.
The other semi-final between Karjakin of Ukraine and Shirov of Spain was drawn in 33 moves. They will play the rapid and blitz tie-break games tomorrow for a place in the finals. The winner meets Kamsky.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Karjakin joins others in semi-finals at Khanty Mansiysk
Sergey Karjakin beat a determined Alekseev to join Carlsen, Shirov and Kamsky in the semi-finals of the World Cup Chess. The winner of this tournament meets Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria. The semi-finalists already have won quite a bit. They automatically get selected for the new Grand Prix series for the coming year. They also win at least a minimum $ 50,000
In the semi-finals to be played tomorrow, Carlsen takes on the wise old Gata Kamsky of the USA. In the other semi-finals, Karjakin plays Shirov of Spain.
In the semi-finals to be played tomorrow, Carlsen takes on the wise old Gata Kamsky of the USA. In the other semi-finals, Karjakin plays Shirov of Spain.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Carlsen, Shirov, Kamsky through to the Semi-finals
Three semi-finalists were identified before the rapid and blitz games begin tomorrow. That means only Karjakin and Alekseev battle it out tomorrow for the remaining last four place.
Carlsen held Cheparinov comfortably with black to advance. Shirov did one better by beating young Jakovenko again today while Kamsky beat Ponomariov with his usual grit. This is consistent with our predictions before this round.
Carlsen held Cheparinov comfortably with black to advance. Shirov did one better by beating young Jakovenko again today while Kamsky beat Ponomariov with his usual grit. This is consistent with our predictions before this round.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Carlsen, Shirov beat Cheparinov and Jakovenko
Magnus again showed his brilliance in beating Bulgarian Ivan Cheparinov at the World Cup Chess being held at Khanty Mansiysk. In the first game of the quarter-finals, playing a risky game in which both Kings were exposed, Carlsen simplified the position to a won ending. However, he made some mistakes but Cheparinov missed the right continuations.
Alexei Shirov beat Dmitry Jakovenko with authority. Jakovenko misplayed the middle game to give Shirov the advantage. Shirov drove home the advantage to win. Jakovenko resigned when he was a piece down for a pawn.
The other two games, Karjakin - Alekseev and Ponomariov - Kamsky were drawn. Karjakin did not press with the white pieces and the game was a draw by the time the middle game was reached. Ponomariov had good advantage but made mistakes. Kamsky too showed his determination. His fighting spirit is his main weapon. Tomorrow Kamsky gets to try with the white pieces.
Alexei Shirov beat Dmitry Jakovenko with authority. Jakovenko misplayed the middle game to give Shirov the advantage. Shirov drove home the advantage to win. Jakovenko resigned when he was a piece down for a pawn.
The other two games, Karjakin - Alekseev and Ponomariov - Kamsky were drawn. Karjakin did not press with the white pieces and the game was a draw by the time the middle game was reached. Ponomariov had good advantage but made mistakes. Kamsky too showed his determination. His fighting spirit is his main weapon. Tomorrow Kamsky gets to try with the white pieces.
2007 Parsvanath Commonwealth Chess Championships, New Delhi
The Commonwealth Chess Championships 2007 have reached the half way stage with a chaotic start. None of the top 3 seeds are among the leaders. Himanshu Sharma leads with a 100 % win record. Earlier Jones Gawain was shocked by S Arun Prasad in the 5th round.
Several youngsters with recent international exposure have scored wins or draws against fancied opponents. The top seed Surya Shekar Ganguly and 3rd seed Abhijit Kunte trail the leader by a point. Last year's winner, Nigel Short is not playing this year.
Several youngsters with recent international exposure have scored wins or draws against fancied opponents. The top seed Surya Shekar Ganguly and 3rd seed Abhijit Kunte trail the leader by a point. Last year's winner, Nigel Short is not playing this year.
India's leading chess prodigy and the second youngest grandmaster ever, Parimarjan Negi has shown impressive form dropping just a draw so far.
Leading sixth pairings :
IM Arun Prasad S 2423 IND 4½ 5 IM Himanshu Sharma 2408 IND
IM Kamble Vikramaditya 2374 IND 4½ 4½ GM Negi Parimarjan 2514 IND
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2585 IND 4 4½ GM Reefat Bin-Sattar 2482 BAN
GM Kunte Abhijit 2547 IND 4 4 IM Wohl Aleksandar H 2415 AUS
The sixth rounds are on right now. Live games can be followed at : http://www.delhichess.com/Commonwealth07_LiveGames6.asp
The official site for the 2007 commonwealth games: http://www.delhichess.com/Commonwealth07.asp
Leading sixth pairings :
IM Arun Prasad S 2423 IND 4½ 5 IM Himanshu Sharma 2408 IND
IM Kamble Vikramaditya 2374 IND 4½ 4½ GM Negi Parimarjan 2514 IND
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2585 IND 4 4½ GM Reefat Bin-Sattar 2482 BAN
GM Kunte Abhijit 2547 IND 4 4 IM Wohl Aleksandar H 2415 AUS
The sixth rounds are on right now. Live games can be followed at : http://www.delhichess.com/Commonwealth07_LiveGames6.asp
The official site for the 2007 commonwealth games: http://www.delhichess.com/Commonwealth07.asp
Quarter finals at Khanty Mansiysk
The Quarter finals of the World Cup Chess have started.
Carlsen-Cheparinov
Karjakin-Alekseev
Jakovenko-Shirov
Ponomariov-Kamsky
Carlsen-Cheparinov
Karjakin-Alekseev
Jakovenko-Shirov
Ponomariov-Kamsky
Carlsen, Karjakin, Shirov and Ponomariov are my picks.
There were two 1. d4 Nf6 and two 1.e4 e5. Nice balance !
The last 8 players are mostly teens or early twenties guys and two veterans. Carlsen must now be one of the favorites to win. He already has a lot of experience at the top levels of chess. Cheparinov is a determined fighter and his results in the past year have been spectacular. According to discussions on blogs:
- Carlsen leads by +2-1=1 against Cheparinov in their head-to-head clashes. This includes a win to eliminate Cheparinov in one of the previous editions of the World Cup of Chess.
- The winner of the World Cup will not only qualify to play Topalov in Bulgaria, but the last four will also be eligible to be picked up for the FIDE Grand Slam of chess.
We'll keep you updated.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Svidler, Aronian shocked
Peter Svidler of Russia and Levon Aronian of Armenia were shocked by Gata Kamsky and Dmitry Jakovenko respectively in the World Cup Chess tournament being held at Khanty Mansiysk.
Svidler - Kamsky drew their first rapid game. In the second rapid game, Svidler lost from a plus position.
Jakovenko played accurately to outplay Aronian.
Alekseev completely outclassed Bareev in both the rapid games to advance to the quarter-finals.
A lot of goodies not even counting the huge prize money awaits the quarter-finalists. It is said that the top four may be invited to the premier Grand Slams of chess.
Svidler - Kamsky drew their first rapid game. In the second rapid game, Svidler lost from a plus position.
Jakovenko played accurately to outplay Aronian.
Alekseev completely outclassed Bareev in both the rapid games to advance to the quarter-finals.
A lot of goodies not even counting the huge prize money awaits the quarter-finalists. It is said that the top four may be invited to the premier Grand Slams of chess.
World Cup Chess - Round 4 Rapid and Blitz
Only three seats remain for the Quarter Final flight. Today the rapid and the blitz games will be played. Aronian takes on Jakovenko, Svidler battles it against Kamsky and Alekseev against Bareev.
Aronian, Svidler are the favorites in the first two matches but Kamsky and Jakovenko are no pushovers having progressed so far. It’s a toss up between Alekseev and Bareev – youth vs experience.
Aronian, Svidler are the favorites in the first two matches but Kamsky and Jakovenko are no pushovers having progressed so far. It’s a toss up between Alekseev and Bareev – youth vs experience.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Fantasy Future Chess
Chess News in 2019:
World Top Five
1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2989
2. Levon Aronian (ARM) 2973
3. Shakriyar Mamedyarov (AZB) 2972
4. Chiu Wei (CHN) 2961
5. Sahaj Grover (IND) 2954
World Top Five
1. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 2989
2. Levon Aronian (ARM) 2973
3. Shakriyar Mamedyarov (AZB) 2972
4. Chiu Wei (CHN) 2961
5. Sahaj Grover (IND) 2954
- The King's Gambit is unsound. Computers have proved that black wins by force in 56 moves.
- If the last piece of the puzzle is solved, computers will be able to prove the French Defence is also unsound. It loses in under 89 moves.
- The Petroff Defence is indeed a draw. It is a draw by perpetual in 68 moves or 76 moves depending on the variation on the 36th move.
- Bobby Fischer - Boris Spassky world championship match held. Fischer wins 12.5 - 9.5
- Vishwanathan Anand announces his retirement after a long reign at top level chess. He is currently ranked 14th with a rating of 2918.
- China win the Chess Olympiad for the third time in succession. India again had to be content with the second position. USA finished third. Hou Yifan was the star performer for China. She won the Gold medal on the third board with a 9/10 score, performance rating 3015.
- The Hou Yifan - Judit Polgar match ended in a loss again for Polgar. The eventual score was 12.5-10.5 in the regular 25 minute games. They did not have to play the 4 min rapid or 1 min blitz games.
Karjakin, Carlsen advance to the Quarter Finals at Khanty Mansiysk
The following players advanced to the Quarter finals of the World Cup Chess at Khanty Mansiysk.
Carlsen reached the quarter finals in spectacular style, improving upon his 10th position as a 15 year old. His rival Michael Adams pushed hard and was dominating the proceedings but again as in the first game, time played a big factor. Carlsen found a surprising saver to draw this dangerous game.
Karjakin's advance too has been smooth but not as heavily advertised. Karjakin beat back a determined Nisipeanu today.
Cheparinov beat Wang Yue of China with black pieces. Yue took his chances by playing a very risky opening against the solid but enterprising Bulgarian.
Ponomariov won the second game of the pre-quarterfinal match against Sasikiran of India. Remember Sasikiran is no pushover, he beat Anand a few years back at the world level.
Alexei Shirov drew against the already demoralised Akopian of Armenia. He too advances to the last 8 and is now looking very dangerous.
- Sergey Karjakin
- Ivan Cheparinov
- Ruslan Ponomariov
- Alexei Shirov
- Magnus Carlsen
Carlsen reached the quarter finals in spectacular style, improving upon his 10th position as a 15 year old. His rival Michael Adams pushed hard and was dominating the proceedings but again as in the first game, time played a big factor. Carlsen found a surprising saver to draw this dangerous game.
Karjakin's advance too has been smooth but not as heavily advertised. Karjakin beat back a determined Nisipeanu today.
Cheparinov beat Wang Yue of China with black pieces. Yue took his chances by playing a very risky opening against the solid but enterprising Bulgarian.
Ponomariov won the second game of the pre-quarterfinal match against Sasikiran of India. Remember Sasikiran is no pushover, he beat Anand a few years back at the world level.
Alexei Shirov drew against the already demoralised Akopian of Armenia. He too advances to the last 8 and is now looking very dangerous.
Boris Spassky vs Magnus Carlsen - Old Wine vs New Blood !
Boris Spassky (GM) and Magnus Carlsen (GM)
What are Carlsen's chances of matching the achievements of Boris Spassky ? Well, we'd like to hear from you. Here are the comparisons so far. Carlsen has the same kind of skills in terms of general style, which is comfort in both attacking and defending. Spassky could attack as well as play well in a simplified and boring game.
| Boris Spassky | Magnus Carlsen | |
| Date of Birth | 30 Jan 1937 | 30 Nov 1990 |
| Nationality | Russia, later France | Norway |
| Started Chess at | Five (War time) | Five (Peace time) (Tournament at Eight |
| Trained by | Vladimir Zak Alexander Tolush Igor Bondarevsky | Henrik Carlsen Simen Agdestein |
| Grandmaster at | 18 | 13 |
| Significant Achievements | World Junior Champion USSR Champion World Champion Gold European Team Championships 13 Olympiad medals Winner Santa Monica Winner Linares Winner Leiden Joint Winner Bugojno | Corus Wijk and Zee Group C Winner European U-14 Bronze Norwegian Champion Winner Biel 10th Place World Cup Second at Linares |
Monday, December 3, 2007
Carlsen, Shirov, Ponomariov win at Khanty Mansiysk
Carlsen-Leko from an earlier tournament
Teenage prodigy Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Alexei Shirov of Spain, and Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine won the first games of the 4th round at the World Chess Cup.
The other 5 games, Alekseev - Bareev, Karjakin - Nisipeanu, Cheparinov - Wang Yue, and Svidler- Kamsky were drawn.
Carlsen outplayed his experienced rival in a minor pieces endgame. For a while, Carlsen had the advantage of two bishops and also of an extra pawn. In a major time scramble, Carlsen held his nerve to win convincingly.
Shirov played a vintage-Shirov game to beat the hapless Akopian while Ponomariov crushed India's Sasikiran.
Kamsky seems to be getting stronger by the day. We feel that he will be a major force to reckon with very soon again ! He seems to be peaking at the very appropriate moment. Svidler could not make any progress against the fighting spirit of Gata Kamsky.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Ivanchuck out in the 3rd round at Khanty Mansiysk, Russia
Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine was knocked out in the 3rd round of the World Chess Cup at Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania beat him in an edge-of-the-seat thriller. The score was a close 3.5-2.5. Almost as close as it can get.
India's Krishnan Sasikiran advanced with a 4-2 win after both the normal and rapid games were drawn. Sasikiran won the last two games. Levon Aronian won 3-1 against Ernesto Inarkiev. Arorian remains one of the strong favorites to win now that the two top seeds, Ivanchuk and Mamedyarov have been knocked out. Svidler beat Rublevsky of Russia to advance. Svidler too will be one more firm favorite.
Evgeny Bareev knocked out Alexander Grishchuk, in what must be a significant upset. Although Bareev was one of the very top players a few years back, he has dropped way behind in rankings. Sergey Karjakin was another player to advance with a facile 3-1 win over Etienne Bacrot of France.
Evgeny Bareev knocked out Alexander Grishchuk, in what must be a significant upset. Although Bareev was one of the very top players a few years back, he has dropped way behind in rankings. Sergey Karjakin was another player to advance with a facile 3-1 win over Etienne Bacrot of France.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
World Cup chess Round 3 - Tomorrow's rapid and blitz games
There are some interesting pairings for round 3 rapid games. Obviously the most interesting is the Ivanchuk (Ukraine) - Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu (Romania). Ivanchuk should still be the favorite but you never know. Sasikiran probably missed a win in an ending which he should have won with accurate play in the 2nd game of the 3rd round. He takes on the hero of the second round, Macieja Bartolomiej.
Levon Arorian, surprisingly plays Ernesto Inarkiev of Russia to try and advance to the next round. Sergei Rublevsky and Peter Svidler too fight it out in the extended games tomorrow. Svidler is the firm favorite here. Alexander Grischuk - Evgeny Bareev will be another slugfest with Grischuk expected to win. Karjakin and Bacrot have stayed true to their rating and brought the situation to a 1-1 so far.
Levon Arorian, surprisingly plays Ernesto Inarkiev of Russia to try and advance to the next round. Sergei Rublevsky and Peter Svidler too fight it out in the extended games tomorrow. Svidler is the firm favorite here. Alexander Grischuk - Evgeny Bareev will be another slugfest with Grischuk expected to win. Karjakin and Bacrot have stayed true to their rating and brought the situation to a 1-1 so far.
World Cup Chess Round Three - Day 2
The normal time games of round three are over.
Ivan Cheparinov hammered the nail in Mamedyarov's coffin by drawing the second game. The draw was agreed when he had a slight plus.
Alexei Shirov uncorked his tactical machine gun from a seemingly quiet position. Adams advanced in his ruthlessly efficient style. Carlsen gave himself a nice present around birthday time by moving into the round of 16, while Gata Kamsky is efficiently disposing off lesser ranked players, even though his opening preparation is not yet top notch. Ponomariov did not have to go through the second game noose this time. But the first game was almost that noose.
One Chinese player moved to the elite 16. We feel this is a sign of the times to come. Watch out for the domination that is inevitable.
The following players advanced without having to play the rapid and blitz games.
Ivan Cheparinov hammered the nail in Mamedyarov's coffin by drawing the second game. The draw was agreed when he had a slight plus.
Alexei Shirov uncorked his tactical machine gun from a seemingly quiet position. Adams advanced in his ruthlessly efficient style. Carlsen gave himself a nice present around birthday time by moving into the round of 16, while Gata Kamsky is efficiently disposing off lesser ranked players, even though his opening preparation is not yet top notch. Ponomariov did not have to go through the second game noose this time. But the first game was almost that noose.
One Chinese player moved to the elite 16. We feel this is a sign of the times to come. Watch out for the domination that is inevitable.
The following players advanced without having to play the rapid and blitz games.
- Ivan Cheparinov
- Alexei Shirov
- Michael Adams
- Evgeny Alekseev
- Magnus Carlsen
- Gata Kamsky
- Vladimir Akopian
- Dmitry Jakovenko
- Ruslan Ponomariov
Round three game 1 at Khanty Mansiysk
Ivan Cheparinov shocked second seed Shakriyar Mamedyarov in the first game of round three at the World Cup at Khanty Mansiysk. One very interesting fact is that Cheparinov is also the training partner of Veselin Topalov. If at all Cheparinov goes all the way, one wonders what kind of a battle will Topalov vs Cheparinov ?
Mamedyarov had several chances to save the game. But with both the kings pretty much exposed, both had their chances and Cheparinov took his chances. Mamedyarov resigned in a hopeless position. It remains to be seen if Mamedyarov brings his famed fighting skills to battle when he also the advantage of the white pieces.
Other winners on this day were Kamsky with a technical grind of the equally technically-skilled Kiril Georgiev (yes, of Bulgaria !). Michael Adams beat Zhou Jianchao, Dmitry Jakovenko beat Zoltan Almasi, Wang Yue beat countryman Bu Xiangzhi.
Magnus Carlsen turned 17 today. Happy Birthday big boy.
Mamedyarov had several chances to save the game. But with both the kings pretty much exposed, both had their chances and Cheparinov took his chances. Mamedyarov resigned in a hopeless position. It remains to be seen if Mamedyarov brings his famed fighting skills to battle when he also the advantage of the white pieces.
Other winners on this day were Kamsky with a technical grind of the equally technically-skilled Kiril Georgiev (yes, of Bulgaria !). Michael Adams beat Zhou Jianchao, Dmitry Jakovenko beat Zoltan Almasi, Wang Yue beat countryman Bu Xiangzhi.
Magnus Carlsen turned 17 today. Happy Birthday big boy.
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