Topalov is Anand's Challenger

A lip-smacking potential encounter between World Champion Anand and Veselin Topalov has been set up. Topalov beat Gata Kamsky 4.5-2.5 in the Challenger's match. Topalov today won the 7th game and sealed up the match one game before the scheduled end.

Kamsky missed some promising continuations to even the match score and blundered heavily as he headed to the first time control. Topalov played enterprisingly and managed to keep up the pressure and won easily thereafter.

A New GM Couple!

GM Kateryna Lahno and GM Robert Fontaine are now a married couple! Wish them a happy married life.

Robert is a very popular GM known for his Chess reporting on Europe Echecs, the French Chess magazine, while Lahno is an ex-child prodigy and a full GM with many tournament wins from a very young age.

Carlsen beats Anand

Carlsen beat Anand in the 6th round of the Linares Open tournament, thus breaking his drawing jinx. Anand played provacatively abandoning caution and missed several drawing chances. Carlsen played his steady game to slowly overpower Anand in an endgame that was reduced to a Rook vs Knight one.

One gets the feeling that Anand is operating at a much higher risk taking level after the match against Kramnik. In most games, he is managing to frighten his opponents, but when faced with solid play, he tends to slip a bit and hand over the game.

Kamsky blunders away a drawn position

Kamsky blunders to give Topalov an upper hand in the match. We have just 3 more games to go and Topalov clearly has an upper hand. For Kamsky, the only hope is that he has the white pieces in the 6th game.

Kamsky played the French Defence, equalized pretty comfortably and sailing on towards a draw, before he committed a shocking blunder.



Kamsky needs to strike immediately if he hopes to survive. That will make the match all the more lively.

Mamedyarov Kurnosov, Aeroflot 2009

Mamedyarov resigned and withdrew from the Aeroflot chess tournament after the shocking 21 ... Qd2 find by Kurnosov. He accused Kurnosov of cheating and said that the moves resembled Rybka evaluation.

Could it be plain preparation? What do you feel?

Mamedyarov withdraws from Aeroflot

Top seed Mamedyarov withdrew from the Aeroflot Chess tournament after accusing his opponent Igor Kurnosov of cheating. Mamedyarov was leading the tournament with +3 at the end of the fifth round and slid back while Kurnosov is in the lead after 6 rounds.

What rattled Mamedyarov is probably a combination of things. Imagine a 2602 player refusing an early draw from a 2724 giant! Kurnosov did exactly that. The arbiters though, did not agree. They felt that the moves could be found by a strong GM.

Some facts related to this story.

-- Some witnesses claim that Kurnosov never went to the bathroom. He was mostly in the smoking area.
-- Mamedyarov has slid down to number 21 in the live ratings. He used to be in the top 10 in the recent past
-- Kurnosov has been in top form in the last few months, winning Hastings in December comprehensively with 7.5/9
-- Mamedyarov had resigned in an apparently equal game against Magnus Carlsen at Corus 2008, which created a buzz at the time on different forums. Later, it was argued that accurate defense was possible only by a top engine.

Mamedyarov's letter to the Organizers:

To: The organizer of the AEROFLOT-OPEN tournament
Alexander Grigorievich Bakh

From: GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Explanation of my protest

Dear Alexander Grigorievich,

On 22.09.2009 the game between myself and Igor Kurnosov was played.

During the game my opponent went out of the playing hall after each move, took his coat and withdrew himself on the toilet. After suspicion of unfair play on move 14 I offered a draw, he refused. We quickly played 11 moves, on the 12th move I played a move which confused my opponent. The next moves from him were given as first choice by Rybka, which quickly allowed him to win the game.

Due to this series of suspicions, having to do with the unusual behaviour of my opponent, Igor Kurnosov, I hereby lodge a protest and refuse to continue participation in the tournament.

I hope that this kind of situation will not occur in the future.

Sincerely,

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

A bit more about Igor Kurnosov from www.chessgames.com
Igor Kurnosov from Russia was born on May 30th, 1985 in the large industrial city of South Ural Chelyabinsk. His daddy taught him chess when he was only 4 years old. He started to study chess regularly at age 8 and when he was 9 he started tournament play. He achieved the International Master title when he was 15 years old, and became a Grand Master (GM) when he was 18.
Kurnosov has finished the South Ural State University education specializing in "Economy and management". Now he is taking a postgraduate course and participation in chess tournaments abroad and in Russia. At leisure he likes to communicate with friends, read books, play football and swim.

In 2003 he became the Champion of Russia under 18. In 2004 as a member of the Russian team he became World Champion among students. Among his many tournament victories are Groningen 2003, Bad Wiessee Open 2004, Politiken Cup 2005, Inautomarket 2006 in Minsk, 4 stages Cup of Russia 2006, New Delhi Open 2008 and Moscow Open 2008. He was a finalist at the Russian Cup 2006, and took a strong 7.5 out of 11 at the European Championship 2007.

Kurnosov has a sharp attacking style playing 1.e4 as white and using defences like the Sicilian, Marshall, the Kings Indian and the Grünfeld with black.

Here's a link to another cheating controversy a few years back, although I doubt the current one belongs to such a category.

Kamsky evens match score

Gata Kamsky demonstrated his tenacity by grinding out Topalov and earning a full point in the 4th game of the 8 game match. In a game that represents Kamsky's style best, he did not allow Topalov to create counter chances and won in 73 moves.

Kamsky probably brings in about 100 ELO points equivalent of guts to any match. No wonder, he has beaten the likes of Anand and Kramnik earlier. Match experience is Match experience and the result of that can be seen by one and all.

The match is now precariously poised and a win gives a massive edge to the first one to do it.

Third Game drawn

Kamsky played a solid third game with the black pieces masking the disappointment of the previous round. He now has the white pieces tomorrow to try for a win.

Aronian beats World Champion Anand

World Champion Anand faltered against Aronian in a Meran game. Anand probably used his World Championship preparation, but the complicated middle game meant that both parties had chances. Anand overlooked an exchange sacrifice to give Aronian the advance.

The game was a bit comical since at one time Aronian had 6 pawns for a Bishop, which he duly converted to a win.



In other games, Grischuk beat Wang Yue of China. The other two games were drawn.

Anand beats Radjabov

Anand beat Radjabov in a Q+N vs Q+B endgame in the first round of Linares 2009.

Topalov pushes Kamsky to defeat

Topalov surprised Kamsky by unleashing the relatively lesser used 5... Bc5. Kamsky lost the game on the clock, prefering to play accurate chess than to take chances. Kudos to Topalov for taking risks in such a short match. Credit is even more due since Topalov was also out of his prepartion as early as move 9. Every single game is critical now. Even a draw means a lot, especially to Topalov, although knowing him he'll probably try to shut the door on Kamsky in the next couple of games. A just result considering that Topalov attacked relentlessly over two games.

A good start for Kamsky

Gata Kamsky held favorite Veselin Topalov in the first game of the Challenger's match being held in Bulgaria. In an exciting, Grunfeld game, Kamsky forced the aggressive Topalov to go for a draw after 36 moves. The result must be considered to be good for Kamsky's morale since he now has the white pieces tomorrow.



Kamsky cooly countered the novelty that Topalov dished out on the 17th move, held on to an extra pawn and made Topalov fight for the initiative. After the novelty, both players played accurate chess to reach an even endgame where a draw was an expected result.

Topalov to start with the White pieces

Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria will start the Chess World Championship Challenger's match with the white pieces. A colorful opening ceremony was conducted today.

Knowing Topalov, he would like to start with a bang and retain the initiative right till the end, especially since this is an ultra short match. Don't be surprised if he comes up with some spicy home cooked recipe. Kamsky is no slouch either. He is best equipped to handle Topalov's aggressive style. We will cover the important stages of the game live.

It is rumored that Kamsky had problems with the lighting arrangement at the venue.

GM Georgiev will try to break the Guiness record for the most consecutive Chess games played. The record is currently held by IM Andrew Martin.

Chess Trivia

We all know Illya Nyzhnyk now.But have you heard about GM Zherebukh, Yaroslav? You are excused if you haven't. He is a 15 year old from the Ukraine. Another young teenager on a Pogo stick, jumping over his seniors. Currently rated 2558. He's played other contemporary and famous prodigies such as Anish Giri and Illya Nyzhnyk and drawing them mostly. He's also beaten and drawn some GMs and played in the Ukranian Championship Finals

Looking at the recent trend, we expect Li Chao B to move rapidly towards the 2700 mark. You can't count out Hou Yifan of course, but it may take her a while to get there. Zhou Jianchao is also in the race and is also young and raring to go. Russia and Ukraine are way ahead of the others in the top countries list. If you are looking for some untitled talent, there is a 16 year old named Rui Gao now rated 2500! And guess what? Although Rui faced some rating correction in the last rating period, there were astounding jumps of 259 and 135 in two 3 month rating periods!!


Noting that China now has 4 players over 2700. Any idea why Hans Arild Runde does not have Wang Hao in the 2700 list?

Quick Linares Preview

Anand should be well rested and hopefully ready for the battle ahead. After all, he now needs to show who is the boss! There's always a threat of relaxing a bit too much and the relief after such an intense phase of preparing and winning the World Championship can make one complacent. Let's hope nothing like that happens.

Aronian and Carlsen will of course be in the title race, as always. Chucky, will you make us proud just one more time in an elite field?

Yue is expected to be fighting in this tournament and I predict a top half finish for him. Wijk Aan Zee was a rude shock to him. But we all know the Chinese, they'll get going sooner or later. Never ones to shirk hard work.

Radjabov and Grischuk can never be counted out. Lenier Dominguez will continue delivering surprises and rise further.

Topalov vs Kamsky Predictions

Correction - We are sticking our neck out and predicting a 4.5 - 3.5 win for Topalov over Kamsky :-) in the Challenger's match. Pray for Kamsky and me.

Interview with Wesley So after his Corus Wijk Aan Zee Chess Tournament Win

We managed to request and get to interview Wesley So of the Philippines on Facebook via chat. Here are some interesting responses from him.

imchess.com: Congrats for the amazing performance at Corus Chess. Thanks for giving us your time. The Chess world wants to know more about you.
Wesley So: Thank you and thanks for following my games.

imchess.com: Your performance was really strong. Which was the toughest game?
Wesley So: The toughest game was the opening one against Nijboer.

imchess.com: And the most satisfying?
Wesley So: The win against Tiger Hillarp Persson of course! Because it guaranteed me the tournament win.

Wesley So's famous win against Tiger Persson with the black pieces.


imchess.com: Yes, Tiger was hot on your heels. Any disappointments?
Wesley So: Too bad that I lost to Holzke. That was hard. After I lost that game, I did not think I would win the tournament. Maybe I relaxed since I was in the lead.

imchess: Right, that was tough I guess. Otherwise, it was a clean performance. What was the feeling like, playing in the same tournament as the biggies such as Carlsen, Aronian, Morozevich, Ivanchuk, and the others?
Wesley So: It's a pleasure to play alongside, in the same tournament as them. I was very happy to see them play and I felt really honored.

imchess: Was there anything in particular you observed about the Elite Chess players?
Wesley So: Well, I saw that they were generally more focused. I plan to emulate them in that aspect.

imchess: What do you think you need to improve upon to compete against them?
Wesley So: There are lots of areas to improve, but I think I will concentrate mainly on opening preparation.

imchess: What is your training schedule usually like?
Wesley So: I usually train for five hours every day. I learn from books on Openings and also work on my Computer.

imchess: How do you manage to balance Chess and School?
Wesley So: Well, I train and attend school as much as possible and during tournaments, I take leave from the School.


So and his Chess friends Darwin Laylo, Cesar Caturla, Idel Datu, and John Paul

imchess: Did you get a chance to talk to the top players? Any advice from them?
Wesley So: I didn’t get a chance to talk to the top players, but I did get some useful advice from some other GMs about the attitude one should have towards Chess in general.

imchess: Hope you get to meet other top players for more specific advice. Anand has some Chess roots in The Philippines.
Wesley So: Yes, I hope so too. By the way, Aronian has a connection too. His girlfriend, WIM Arianne Caoili is from this region.

imchess: True, you can probably directly call him I guess; he is known to be a really cool guy. Hope you get that opportunity.
Wesley So: Yes, he is a really nice guy. We shared dinner once at the same table at Corus.

imchess: So, what are your goals right now?
Wesley So: I want to reach 2700 as soon as possible.


Wesley So playing another prodigy, Alejandro Ramirez

imchess: What is next on your Chess calendar for this year? You are really in demand with your performance at Corus!
Wesley So: I got some invitations from organizers. I am playing the Aeroflot open starting 16th this month and then the Spice Cup being conducted by Susan Polgar, and probably the Rising Stars vs Experience. Unfortunately, I could not participate in the Reykjavik open since it clashes with the National Championship of The Philippines.

imchess: Interesting. Susan mentions you a lot on her site.
Wesley So: Yes, she is kind. The Spice cup will probably be a strong Category 16 or 17 tournament, so it will be good for me. I’m grateful to her for inviting me.


So being interviewed by Susan

imchess: Who else is participating in the Spice Cup?
Wesley So: I am not yet sure about the full list of participants. The invitations and preparations are still on.

imchess: Thanks a lot for your time and we wish you all the best for your future.
Wesley So: Thank you very much for everything.

M Jagadish
Editor

Linares Chess 2009

The following players will fight for the Linares 2009 Chess title. An elite field participates in this edition. Topalov had to withdraw due to his match against Kamsky.

Viswanathan Anand
Magnus Carlsen
Vassily Ivanchuk
Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov
Wang Yue
Alexander Grischuk
Lenier Dominguez

Why so many tied for First?

Have you noticed how many players are tied for the first place these days at major Chess tournaments? Even towards the closing stages? This happened at Corus Wijk Aan Zee and now at Gibraltar. Six players were tied for first before the final round in the Group A of the Corus tournament. Only in the last round did an eventual sole winner emerge. Five players are tied for first before the final round of the Gibtelecom tournament even though Elite GMs such as Svidler, Gashimov, and Nakamura are playing. Is it the worldwide recession and a safe approach by the players? Please leave Nakamura out when you put on your thinking hats:)

What do you think is the reason?

Live Top Chess Rankings

Live Chess Ratings End January, 2009

1 Topalov 2809
2 Anand 2791
3 Carlsen 2770
4 Radjabov 2765
5 Aronian 2760
6 Kramnik 2759
7 Jakovenko 2753
8 Leko 2751
9 Ivanchuk 2746
10 Morozevich 2746