Radjabov wins - earlier Jakovenko, Radjabov, Grischuk, Karjakin in ACP rapid

Update:
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Radjabov won the ACP world rapid chess championship. He beat Grischuk 2.5-1.5 in the final.
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The semi-finalists in the world cup rapid championships were spotted. Jakovenko beat giant-killer Inarkiev, Radjabov upset Ivanchuk, Grishchuk defeated Svidler and Karjakin eliminated Gelfand.

In a tournament graced by ex-world champion Karpov and Judit Polgar, who lost earlier, the youngsters are surely grabbing the limelight.

Results of the Quarterfinals:

Jakovenko, Dmitry vs Inarkiev, Ernesto 1.5-0.5
Radjabov, Teimour vs Ivanchuk, Vassily 3-2
Svidler, Peter vs Grischuk, Alexander 0.5-1.5
Karjakin, Sergey vs Gelfand, Boris 3-1

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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 !

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

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/

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.

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.

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.