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Anand well on the way
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The world number one Vishy Anand can scent victory after defying the efforts of Vladimir Kramnik in what must surely have been a must-win game for the world champion in the tenth round of the Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City. The Indian leads Boris Gelfand by a full point and Kramnik is a further half point adrift with only four games to play. Playing with the advantage of the white pieces Kramnik entered the Moscow Gambit, one of the sharpest lines of opening theory. Anand successfully defused a novelty from Kramnik as the players bashed out their moves at speed. By the time Kramnik and Anand had passed move 30, Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk were still trying to figure out their ninth moves.
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The Hot Openings in Mexico? The Petrov and the Ruy Lopez
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World championships always generate excitement, and the Mexico City tournament, which opened Sept. 12 and continues through Sept. 30, is no exception....
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Anand scents victory
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When Vishy Anand took a short draw with white against Levon Aronian there was a collective groan from the online audience but it seems to have been an inspired decision as the Indian is on the brink of victory at the Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City even with five games to go. Anand saw his two closest rivals Boris Gelfand and Vladimir Kramnik defeated by Alexander Grischuk and Alexander Morozevich respectively and he leads by a full point. Should Anand draw with black against Kramnik in round ten he will surely triumph.
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Queen's Indian with spice
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Peter Leko was the sole winner in the eighth round of the 1.3 million dollar Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City but his victory over Alexander Grischuk only brought him to 50%. The leaders were involved in short but rather tense draws and as ever it was left to Alexander Morozevich to take the role of entertainer in his game against Levon Aronian. Morozevich played the Queen’s Indian with black but he can spice up even the dullest opening and he chose to refine a pawn sacrifice he played against Boris Gelfand two rounds earlier.
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Leonard Barden. September 22, 2007
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Vlad Kramnik has a fight on his hands to retain his world title next week after the Russian trailed his main rival, India's Vishy Anand, by a full point at halfway in the championship tournament in Mexico City. Anand has 5/7, the oldest player, Israel's Boris Gelfand, a surprising 4.5/7, and Kramnik 4/7 with this week's game his only win so far.
When reacting as Black to 1 e4, these elite grandmasters have voted with their pawns, or rather with their knights. The Petroff 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 is the gilt-edged banker when aiming to halve out. Kramnik, whose Berlin Wall famously baffled the legendary Garry Kasparov in their London 2000 title series, has long since joined the Petroff club, and used it in his key game against Anand.
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A fitting punishment
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The world number one Vishy Anand enjoys a full point lead over Vladimir Kramnik at the halfway stage of the 1.3 million dollar Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City. Kramnik could not overcome the Israeli number one Boris Gelfand who remains undefeated and is in second place half a point behind Anand. Anand moved clear of the field with a well crafted victory over Alexander Grischuk whose legendary impatience cost him dear when he lashed out in an uncomfortable position playing black in the Ruy Lopez.
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Facing a stolen weapon
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Boris Gelfand has played superbly at the 1.3 million dollar Fide World Championship tournament in Mexico City and he joined world number one Vishy Anand in the lead with a sixth round victory over Alexander Morozevich. Gelfand has been solid with black, scoring three draws with the Petroff Defence and has taken his chances with white. The world champion Vladimir Kramnik continues to be bogged down with draws and is half a point off the pace but declared him self unworried at the post-match press conference following a lifeless game with Levon Aronian. Kramnik could hardly be blamed as he was playing black and Aronian chose to use Kramnik’s favourite weapon, the Catalan, against him.
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Anand takes advantage
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Vishy Anand took the lead of the 1.3 million dollar Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City with victory over Peter Svidler in a fifth round that saw three decisive games. Anand has 3.5/5, half a point ahead. The eight players are now divided into two groups; those on positive scores and those below 50%. Some of Svidler’s previous reverses have been attributed to his passion for watching too many England cricket matches during tournaments but this defeat was down to some superior opening preparation from Anand and I doubt that even Svidler would have been watching the defeat to New Zealand in the 20-20 World Cup as it started well after bedtime in Mexico.
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Prickly predicaments
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Two more escapes from seemingly hopeless situations ensured that the Fide World Championship tournament remains very closely contested as the players enjoyed the first rest day at Mexico City. The favourites Vladimir Kramnik and Vishy Anand may have cause to rue their missed opportunities to establish a full point lead over the field. Kramnik was visibly annoyed with himself after his compatriot Alexander Grischuk engineered a miraculous escape from a grisly position after being nearly ninety minutes behind on the clock at one stage. Grischuk’s prowess at Blitz Chess served him well as managed to exchange into an endgame less a pawn that he saved by a tempo.
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In Street Chess Games, a Pedigreed Pastime Becomes a Gritty Sideline
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 Russian Paul is one of a group of chess players in places like Union Square Park and Washington Square who make money from hustling.
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Boston Takes an Early Lead in United States Chess League
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After three weeks of matches, the Boston Blitz, led by grandmasters Larry Christiansen and Eugene Perelshteyn, is the only team to suffer no losses or ties....
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Close calls in Mexico
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There were two rearguard actions in the third round of the World Championship tournament at Mexico City as Peter Leko and Vishy Anand held endgames a pawn down to Boris Gelfand and Vladimir Kramnik respectively. Peter Svidler lost horribly to Alexander Morozevich as his two knights were no match for two bishops in open play. Anand must be mightily relived as he once lost a similar rook and pawn endgame to Garry Kasparov but this time his technique was sound. Had he lost, the Indian would have been a point behind the world champion and still to face him with the black pieces.
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Stars light up round two
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The FIDE World Championship tournament at Mexico City came alive in the second round and it was world champion Vladimir Kramnik and world number one Vishy Anand who scored fine victories over Alexander Morozevich and Levon Aronian respectively to take the early lead. Kramnik played a piece sacrifice that bordered on the magical but the clock times said it all; Kramnik was playing quickly, this was something that had been cooked up at home. Morozevich had refused an initial double pawn sacrifice but he could not resist the second offer and took a piece.
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Leonard Barden. September 15, 2007
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UK v China at Liverpool's St George's Hall last week was an imaginatively organised event. It was part of the city's 800th-anniversary celebrations and a prelude to an elite grandmaster tournament in Liverpool next year. China's team, average age 20, tied the women's match 6-6 but outplayed the home team 22-14 in the men's section - and this with a 13-year-old girl, Hou Yifan, taking on Michael Adams and Nigel Short. The impressive performance reminded me of half a century ago in 1954 when I was part of the British team crushed 18.5-1.5 by the emergent Soviets before a silent crowd at London's Caxton Hall.The USSR went on to dominate chess for decades, aside for the Bobby Fischer interlude, and plenty of commentators now forecast the same rosy future for China, already Olympiad silver medallists.
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Deadly when cornered
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There is so much at stake in the 1.3 million dollar FIDE World Championship tournament at Mexico City that it was no surprise to see the first four games drawn. Most of the players looked tentative and in two games time trouble was looming when the draw was agreed. Predictably Alexander Morozevich was the exception and from the early opening he tried to attack on the kingside. However Aronian applied the maxim - oft repeated in this column - the best response to an early flank attack is a blow in the centre and he levelled the game easily. The attack vanished and Aronian was slightly better but went wrong and a drawish position resulted.
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Time to commit hari-kiri
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The pairings for the FIDE World Championship tournament were drawn at the opening ceremony held on Tuesday night in Mexico City. The favourites World champion Vladimir Kramnik and world number one Vishy Anand both drew white in round one but as this is a double round all play all the advantage is purely psychological, each player will receive seven whites and seven blacks. Round one: Anand - Gelfand; Grischuk - Leko; Kramnik - Svidler; Morozevich - Aronian. There will be metal detectors at the entrance to screen for electronic devices and no mobile phones are allowed in the playing hall so hopefully there will be none of the kind of nonsense seen at Elista last year. The prize fund is 1.3 million dollars. A round one report will appear in tomorrow’s paper.
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A complex soap opera
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The FIDE World Championship tournament starts tonight in Mexico City. There will be fourteen rounds as the participants of the eight player all play all will face each other with both colours. The octet is composed of three players from the last Fide world championship event at San Luis in 2005, the reigning champion Vladimir Kramnik plus four qualifiers from the Candidates matches held at Elista earlier this year. This is the strongest tournaments held in the post Kasparov era and one of the strongest of all time.
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The UK's missed chances
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Today we will look at a couple of games from the UK – China Summit Match recently completed at Liverpool. Although China won quite comfortably the UK team failed to make the most of their chances and round five, which saw the Chinese win by the biggest margin of 5.5-2.5 was typical. It is fair to say that with a little luck the scores could have been reversed. Gawain Jones played a fine tournament. I was impressed by his range of openings. His preparation, aided by team analyst Tony Kosten was first class. In round five he abandoned the f4 Sicilian and played down one of the sharpest lines of opening theory, the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Jones won two pawns but opposite coloured bishops made it difficult.
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China finish in control
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The UK – China Summit ended in a comfortable victory for the visitors as they won rounds five and six to emerge victorious by a score of 28-20 at St Georges Hall in Liverpool. One the final day the UK only managed to win their ‘banker’ as Michael Adams efficiently dismantled the Sicilian Defence of 13 year old Hou Yifan. The UK sorely missed Luke McShane who has taken a job in the City of London and although Nick Pert, Gawain Jones and David Howell battled hard they were significantly out-rated. Howell showed great promise and it was pure inexperience that lost him his last round game when after having outplayed Wang Yue he went wrong in a favourable endgame. Jones played extremely well and missed wins in a couple of games yet his tournament rating performance was near 2600.
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China steals the lead
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The Chinese team reasserted their superiority in the fourth round of the UK v China Summit at St Georges Hall in Liverpool. With two games to play China lead 18-14. On top board there was the rare sight of Michael Adams losing with the white pieces as Zhang Pengxiang showed his tactical prowess. One bright spot for the UK has been the form of 16 year old David Howell who was given a stern examination by Ni Hua but drew after 60 moves playing black in a game where he was somewhat worse for a long time but recovered well and nearly won. Adams’ defeat by Zhang makes Howell’s win over the same opponent in the previous round look even more impressive. Jonathan Rowson was happy just to get on the scoreboard at the fourth attempt
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Formula to Pick a Champion? As Complex as a Good Game
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Eight of the best players in the world will play a double round-robin in a tournament starting Thursday and the winner will be world champion. Sort of....
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The chess column. September 7, 2007
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There was a second 5-3 defeat for the UK team at the hands of the Chinese in the Summit Match at Liverpool but once again the Chinese players engineered an escape from a difficult situation on a couple of boards. It was the Chinese women who were under pressure after Jovanka Houska played a strong pawn sacrifice and began to completely outplay Shen Yang while Ketevan Arakhamia Grant won a pawn against Ding Yixin. Unfortunately the time limit being employed is one of the silly ones invented by Fide and predicates against sensible play in the endgame. The players have two hours to start and receive an increment of 30 seconds per move. This means that once their thinking time is exhausted, usually in the endgame, they are playing moves every thirty seconds.
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Tenacity and tactics
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The Chinese team prevailed over the UK in the first round of the Summit Match being contested at St Georges Hall in Liverpool City Centre. The Chinese proved extremely tenacious and turned round some difficult positions. After three hours play the UK team seemed to have the advantage but the score ended 5-3 to the Chinese. There were two swing games. Jonathan Rowson had a big attack for a sacrificed pawn against Zhang Pengxiang but a highly complex game turned on a deep tactical point and Zhang played quite brilliantly in the endgame to convert his advantage. Gawain Jones played what looked like a prepared novelty against Ni Hua and also held the edge for a long time but was bemused by a clever tactical point near the time control that levelled the game and went astray.
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Zambian fells Goliath
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It was a good first round for the British players at the 800th Anniversary open tournament which is taking place alongside the UK v China Summit match at St Georges Hall in Liverpool city centre. Several of the visiting masters were either defeated or held to draws on the top boards. Richard Palliser’s performance stood out as he overcame the highly rated Swedish GM Emmanuel Berg who had the temerity to defend with the Modern Benoni, an opening about which Palliser has written a couple of books. Grandmaster Colin McNab beat Yuri Vovk of Ukraine and Gary Quillan, playing in his home city held GM Normunds Miezis to a draw with Black. There was something of a local derby in the first round as GM elect Stewart Haslinger of Southport defeated John Littlewood from Skelmersdale.
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Rapid strangulation
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The 800th Anniversary UK v China Summit Match begins this afternoon at St Georges Hall in the centre of Liverpool. The Chinese play the same five men who defeated Russia last week at Nizhny Novgorod but this match also includes two junior boards and on one will be the 13 year old Hou Yifan. This young lady is already rated 2500 and scything down Grandmasters at nearly every tournament she plays. Hou’s first challenge is England’s leading prodigy David Howell who became a Grandmaster this year at the age of 16. England’s other junior board is Gawain Jones who also became a GM this year and he faces Ni Hua rated 2691. Jones had a successful Staunton Memorial and he scored another impressive result last week with first prize at the XIX Festival Scacchistico Internazionale at Porto San Giorgio in Italy. Jones top scored with 7.5/9 in a field that included 20 Grandmasters after a last round win with black over GM Normunds Miezis of Latvia.
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Zambian With Little Training Stands Poised to Make History
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Amon Simutowe, 25, of Zambia, is on the verge of becoming the first black grandmaster from the sub-Saharan region, and he could soon contend for the world championship....
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Liverpool double-booked
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The Liverpool 800th Anniversary International Open starts today and will run alongside the UK v China Summit at St Georges Hall. As many as 30 Grandmasters are expected for the event which has a ?10,000 prize fund. The Summit Match begins tomorrow. China defeated Russia in both the men’s and women’s matches in the fourth such contest held at Nizhny Novgorod. The overall score was 52.5-47.5 with the Chinese men triumphing 25.5-24.5. Only the Russian champion Evgeny Alexeev performed well for the hosts and he was top scorer with an impressive 7/10. Chinese played the same five men who will be at Liverpool. Board one Bu Xiangzhi scored 5/10, Wang Hao 5.5/10, Wang Yue 5.5/10, Zhang Pengxiang 5/10 and Ni Hua 4.5/10. The Chinese team returned to Beijing and then set off almost immediately for Liverpool.
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Leonard Barden. September 1, 2007
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Britain meet China in an eight-a-side match from next Tuesday to Sunday at St George's Hall, Liverpool, as part of the City of European Culture programme. The former world title finalists Michael Adams and Nigel Short lead the home team but the visitors will start favourites. Their average 2571 rating is 20 points higher, they are Olympiad silver medallists, and they bring chess's golden girl, Hou Yifan, 13. A lost cause, then? Not necessarily. Hou has been in a form slump recently and China won only by a narrow 52.5-47.5 in Nizhny Novgorod in this week's match against what was virtually a Russia B team.
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FIDE Ethics Commission rules on Short and Topalov/Danailov
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After intense deliberation over the complaints brought against Nigel Short, who had criticised top FIDE officers, and Veselin Topalov and Silvio Danailov for accusing Vladimir Kramnik of cheating during the 2006 World Championship, the Ethics Commission has issued severe reprimands against the latter, while Nigel was warned for using the word "dunderhead".
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Putting on the squeeze
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The draw has been made for the first round of the UK v China match which begins on Tuesday at St Georges Hall in Liverpool. The first day’s play sees an intriguing match between the two youngest players on each team; David Howell, 16 of Seaford in Sussex plays the Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan just thirteen years old but already holding her own in strong Grandmaster tournaments. England number one Michael Adams plays China’s top rated player Wang Yue with black.
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