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A last twist for Gordon
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A last round of almost excruciating tension climaxed with the Glasgow based Danish GM Jacob Aagaard, who had led throughout, capturing the British Championship held at Great Yarmouth College. This was the fourth time in successive years that the title has gone north of the border. For most of the afternoon it seemed like the barman would be serving pints of Greenfields real ale as co-leader IM Stephen Gordon from Oldham, playing for the Championship and the GM title, was in the ascendancy against Tony Kosten while Aagaard was in serious trouble against Glenn Flear. However in the fifth hour of play fortunes swung dramatically and it was double scotches all round yet again.Aagaard won and Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant from Edinburgh overcame Simon Fowler to make it four British Ladies titles in her last four attempts.
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Even 16-Year-Old Prodigies Sometimes Have Off Days
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A week ago, Magnus Carlsen, a 16-year-old from Norway, won the Biel International Chess Festival, one of the strongest tournaments of the year. It was the biggest triumph of his career.
The day after Biel, on a whim, Carlsen flew to Tromso, Norway, to play in the Arctic Chess Challenge, a tournament open to anyone. In Round 1, Carlsen, ranked No. 17 in the world, played Brede Hagen, a Norwegian ranked thousands of places below him.
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Gordon closes in
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There was yet another twist in the British Championship as the leader Jacob Aagaard was defeated by IM Stephen Gordon in the tenth round at Great Yarmouth College. Gordon reached 7.5/10 to share the lead with the Danish GM who now represents Scotland. Going into the last round there are eight players in the mix including defending champion Jonathan Rowson who is trying to make it four titles in a row. There is a distinct chance of an Englishman winning for the first time since 2000 with the young Grandmasters Stewart Haslinger and Nick Pert plus the old guard of Mark Hebden, Glenn Flear and Tony Kosten all tied for third half a point behind Aagaard and Gordon.
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Chess with Errol Tiwari
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In 38 days, on September 12, FIDE Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik will begin his title defence in picturesque Mexico City against seven of the strongest chess players on the planet. Chess players will know that Kramnik defeated Garry Kasparov for the title in London 2000, and has defended it successfully ever since. This time around, Kramnik will be tasked to prove he is better than India's Viswanathan Anand, a former FIDE world champion himself, who is renowned for his speed and accuracy in the attack.
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Perils of a chair leg
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The 5th Staunton Memorial roared away at Simpsons in the Strand with a novel way of determining the pairings. The event sponsor Jan Mol distributed two sets of numbers one to six to the twelve players. Players with the same number were then handed two remote controlled cars to be raced, with the winner playing white. Loek Van Wely, who once famously wrote off his sports car on the German Autobahn while travelling back from a match, sent his toy into a chair leg which gave Michael Adams the white pieces in their individual game. However, the England number one did not feel inclined to attack the Sicilian Defence and the game was a short draw. Scottish GM Colin McNab produced the game of the day to exploit errors by his opponent Ivan Sokolov...
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World Chess Federation to Build Hotels in Russia
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The world’s second largest chess federation (FIDE) intends to build hotels in 165 countries. All hotels are said to be in the shape of chess figures. FIDE plans to build 150 hotels and chess centres within the nearest four years. According to FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, at the first stage nearly US$1 billion is to be allotted for bringing the plans to life. The total cost of the project is estimated at US$50 billion. It is already known that a number of chess centres and hotel complexes will first appear in Chisinau (Moldova), People’s Republic of China, and such Russian cities as Samara, Yekaterinburg, and Khanty-Mansiysk.
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A classy finish
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Stewart Haslinger of Southport celebrated becoming England’s most recent Grandmaster by defeating Jacob Aagaard and opening up the British Championship in the eighth round held at Great Yarmouth College. Haslinger defended the Ruy Lopez patiently and accurately and took his chance when it arose. Haslinger now shares the lead with Aagaard on 6.5/8 with three to play. The defending champion Jonathan Rowson will find it tough to win a fourth successive title after misplaying the Benko Gambit and losing to Stephen Gordon. This result put Gordon in with a great chance of securing the GM title. The ninth round sees an all Lancashire clash on top board between Gordon and Haslinger...
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Second Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromso
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07.08.2007 – The Norwegian island town of Tromso lies well within the Arctic Circle, which means that this time of the year the sun never sets. Tromso is playing host to a strong GM tournament from August 4th-12th, 2007. Top seed is Magnus Carlsen, who rushed in from his victory in Biel and did not have a great start here (3.0/4, place ten). Two other GMs, Macieja and Lie, lead with 4.0/4...
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Aagaard steams on
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Jacob Aagaard’s dominance of the British Championship continued as he despatched another of his challengers in the seventh round held at Great Yarmouth College. Simon Williams became Aagaard’s sixth victim when, after trying to attack, he found himself first becalmed and then gradually forced back. The Danish GM, now a Scottish resident reached 6.5/7. Only Stewart Haslinger remains within a point of the leader. Haslinger looked impressive again as he followed up a smooth victory over GM Stuart Conquest with the rapid defeat of a second England international Danny Gormally. Gormally sacrificed a pawn but never got it back and ruined his position in the process. Like Aagaard, Haslinger’s fine play at Great Yarmouth has pushed his rating to the required 2500 level and ensured he will receive the Grandmaster title...
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Ponomariov wins XXII Torneo Villarrobledo
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07.08.2007 – You may be forgiven if this comes as a surprise to you. The 22nd edition of the rapid chess event took place in Villarrobledo, a city in the heart of the Spanish wine-growing area. Participants included Veselin Topalov, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexei Shirov. The event was won by Ruslan Ponomariov, on tiebreak ahead of Dreev and Topalov...
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An ill wind for Radjabov
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The Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen won the Biel Chess Festival crushing his rival Teimour Radjabov the world’s highest ranked junior play in the last round. Carlsen needed a win in their last round and playing white, threw caution to the wind and was rewarded when Radjabov, ranked world number 9, was unable to find the best defence.
The American Alexander Onischuk joined Carlsen on the winning score of 5.5/9 but the youngest won a Blitz play off to take the title...
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Lubomir Kavalek
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Magnus Carlsen won the elite grandmaster group at the 40th chess festival in the Swiss city of Biel last week. The brilliant 16-year-old Norwegian grandmaster had to beat the top-rated Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in the last round to catch Alexander Onischuk, a Maryland grandmaster and former U.S. champion. They shared first place in the tournament with 5 1/2 points in nine games, but Carlsen prevailed in the playoff 3 to 2. Radjabov, Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Judit Polgar of Hungary and Yannick Pelletier of Switzerland finished a half point behind the winners...
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On Big Screen, the Right Play Can Help Advance the Plot
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In “The Seventh Seal,” the 1957 film directed by Ingmar Bergman, who died last week, a game of chess between a knight and death is one of the central plots and one of the most memorable images in film history. That chess has cropped up again and again in movies, as well as in paintings and literature, is hardly surprising...
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Danish pasting
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The British Championships at Great Yarmouth College continued to provide entertaining chess in the fifth and sixth rounds. A stunning combination from the Edinburgh based Danish GM Jacob Aagaard overwhelmed England international Nick Pert in thirty moves to reach 5/5, a point clear of the field and set up a battle with defending champion Jonathan Rowson who looked far from convincing in defeating Steve Barrett, one of the amateur players who has made a big impact.
Aagard’s 12th move was such a surprise that the audience in the commentary room and online only found the idea after IM Andrew Martin had given them 24 guesses. Here is the position. If Black plays quietly 0–0–0, g4 and e4 will push him the board so what happened next?
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Leonard Barden. August 4, 2007
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It is probably unique in more than a century of British championships for two county-standard players to share the lead after three rounds, both with wins over grandmasters. Stephen Barrett and Graeme Oswald were the early heroes at Great Yarmouth this week, though the fairytale was halted in Thursday's round four when the GMs Nick Pert and Jacob Aagaard beat the interlopers and advanced to 4/4.
The question yet to be decided is whether an Englishman can win the title for the first time since 2000. Between 2001 and 2003 Indians triumphed, benefiting from an ancient rule allowing Commonwealth players to enter...
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GMs end amateurs' run
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The Grandmasters asserted themselves in the fourth round of the British Chess Championships at Great Yarmouth College as the amateur’s fine run came to an end. Steve Barrett and Graeme Oswald lost to Nick Pert and Jacob Aagaard respectively to set up a round five battle between the two players who have impressed the most so far.
GM Tony Kosten is in sole third place on 3.5 but only managed to defeat Philip Makepeace, rated 530 points lower, after a huge struggle...
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Wu just missed a win
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Its two amateurs against two professionals on the top boards as only four players made it to maximum points after three rounds of the British Chess Championships being hosted by Great Yarmouth College. Steve Barrett and Graeme Oswald both upset titled players, defeating IM Stephen Gordon and GM Glenn Flear respectively to reach 3/3 and will face Nick Pert and Jacob Aagaard in round four.
Barrett, who plays for White Rose in the 4NCL surprisingly outplayed Gordon who is the most likely candidate to be England’s next GM. In a quiet position that arose from the Capablanca Variation against the Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2. Barrett quickly won a pawn and after a few adventures in the rook and pawn endgame eventually hauled in the full point. Oswald withstood a sacrificial attack from Flear and gradually exploited his material advantage...
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Biel 09: Carlsen beats Radjabov and Onischuk, wins Biel
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03.08.2007 – Isn't this young man amazing! After losing two games in a row he bounced back with all the necessary force and determination in the final round, to beat the leading Teimour Radjabov in a critical game. Then, tying for first with Alexander Onischuk, he beat him in the tiebreak to take overall victory at the Biel GM tournament. Congratulations, Magnus, way to go, man...
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Telegraph chess: Flear mixes it up
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The defending chess champion Jonathan Rowson lost an error-strewn game to Glenn Flear in the second round of the British Chess Championships at Great Yarmouth College. Flear is now in a group of seven players on 2/2 that includes Nick Pert who scored another easy win over GM elect Stewart Haslinger and has yet to break sweat. Flear, originally from Leicester but now resident in France was initially outplayed but with time pressure looming found a lovely combination which, while not entirely sound had the effect of completely randomising the position and gave Rowson huge complications to navigate and countless ways to go wrong. Flear spurned the win of queen for rook and bishop in ...
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Biel 08: Carlsen loses to van Wely, Onischuk, Pelletier win
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02.08.2007 – Magnus Carlsen lost his second straight game, and was thus overtaken by Radjabov, who drew quickly with Motylev, and Onischuk, who beat Avrukh. Yannick Pelletier won his second straight, against Bu, whilst Polgar found a miracle endgame save against Grischuk. With one round to go, Radjabov and Onischuk lead by half a point from Carlsen, Pelletier and Polgar. Exciting battles...
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Howell wins fellowship
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England’s youngest ever Grandmaster sixteen year old David Howell begins his challenge for the British Championships today heartened by the news that he has become the first ECF John Robinson Fellow. The ECF announced the award to coincide with the start of play at Great Yarmouth.
The fellowship, backed by funds left by the much loved chess organiser and arbiter will be awarded annually by the ECF to the most talented English player, male or female, under the age of 21. The fellow will receive at least ?2,000 to support their playing activities over the following year and will either be a Grandmaster, or have realistic aspirations to the title...
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Biel 07: Radjabov wins, Carlsen loses to Pelletier
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31.07.2007 – Two days ago, we asked who could stop Magnus Carlsen. Step forward Yannick Pelletier! The Swiss GM gave the home fans something to cheer about, as he cashed in on a very strange error by the Norwegian prodigy. Radjabov won his second straight game, after a mind-boggling slugfest against the luckless Van Wely, and now shares the lead with Carlsen. Echos of Fischer...
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Edward Winter presents: Unsolved Chess Mysteries (11)
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Did Alekhine attempt suicide in 1922? Why is 1 b4 often called the Hunt Opening? What are the origins of the chess proverb about the gnat and the elephant? Does Gone with the Wind include music composed by a chess theoretician?
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Why do the movies love chess?
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In the Seventh Seal a Swedish knight returns from the crusades to find his home country ravaged by tragedy and is soon locked in a game of chess with death.
Without giving much away, it's a fairly intense game.
Bergman's arthouse favourite is perhaps the most notorious example of chess on celluloid, but there are hundreds and hundreds of others. From the brainiest to the schlockiest, one of the movie world's favourite devices is chess...
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Telegraph chess: Rowson ready for action
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The British Chess Championships start today at Great Yarmouth College with Scottish number one GM Jonathan Rowson aiming to make it four titles in a row. Rowson will face somewhat tougher competition this year than last as the English Chess Federation have taken the welcome decision to lower the prize fund and spend the money on supporting the participation of more titled players. The top dozen seeds are as follows: GM Jonathan Rowson 2599 GM Stuart Conquest 2546 GM Mark Hebden 2540 GM Nick 2536 GM David Howell 2519 GM Danny Gormally 2509 GM Tony Kosten 2508 IM Stephen Gordon ...
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Biel 06: Radjabov and Polgar win, Carlsen leads
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29.07.2007 – Teimour Radjabov won in decisive style against Boris Avrukh, narrowing the lead of Magnus Carlsen to half a point. Judit Polgar played an old and unfashionable line in the Najdorf, previously used by Fischer, to beat Alexander Motylev...
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Judit Polgar struggles against Bareev
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In the Candidates' Final, the top female chess player in the world, Judit Polgar, struggled in her match with Evgeny Bareev. This came as a surprise to many of Judit's fans, as we all felt she would have at least gone on to the second round. Bareev won the match with ease. This game was drawn. Winning with the black pieces was always going to be a tall order for Judit. She gave this game her best shot and obtained something of an advantage, but she really never came close to turning it into a win. The draw was agreed on move 47. Bareev dominated the chess match and might have finished it earlier and deserved to go through. ...
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Biel 05: Carlsen in the lead – can anyone stop this lad?
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Magnus Carlsen beats Alexander Onischuk, his main rival, with a typical piece of tactical wizadry, while Bu beat Motylev in a fairly obscure game. The other encounters ended piecefully. 16-year-old Magnus has now taken the outright lead, a full point ahead of the field. His score is 4.0/5, his performance so far a scary 2907.
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Biel 04: Four decided games, Carlsen and Onischuk lead
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The first result of the day saw Onischuk improve his score to plus-two at the expense of van Wely. Just as two rounds ago, the latter used the Slav Defence, but possibly stung by our suggestion that it is a middle-aged player's opening, he went in for the ultra-sharp Botvinnik Semi-Slav, definitely the younger man's choice. This is nowadays a rare guest at top level, and this game showed why. 19 moves of theory saw van Wely play the novelty 19...Kb8 (19...Bg7 had been played in an amateur game from 1995), but within just six more moves, the axe descended on his king's head. Perhaps middle-age has something to be said for it after all...
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Barden on Chess
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Canada's chess summer moved on this week from Quebec to Montreal and an even stronger grandmaster field. The Quebec winner, Bu Xiangzhi, left for the GM event in Biel, Switzerland, but Montreal included the world No4 Vassily Ivanchuk, in form and expected to shine against the Canadians, plus Nigel Short, renewing an old rivalry with the United States' Gata Kamsky, whose father a decade ago allegedly threatened the England No2 with violence during a candidates' match. The script went awry when Ivanchuk drew tamely with the lowest-ranked Canadian, and Short began catastrophically with five defeats and a draw, the worst start of his chess career. He then drew his grudge match with ...
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