|
Many Top Players to Sit Out Championship Over Money
|
Oklahoma is not O.K. with many champions who, in addition to gripes about the money, cite Tulsa as a poor location for the United States Championship.
|
|
Leonard Barden. April 5, 2008
|
Vishy Anand, the world champion, is the clear No1 in Fide's latest rankings but the big mover among the elite is Magnus Carlsen. The 17-year-old Norwegian is up to fifth place and will surely soon become the youngest to top the list.
The leaders are Anand 2803, Vlad Kramnik 2788, Alex Morozevich 2774, Veselin Topalov 2767, Carlsen 2765 and Lev Aronian 2763.
Aronian is not out of it. The Armenian has just won in Nice by a 2.5pt margin, ahead of the quintet above him in the rankings. His win against Topalov, a high-class game for a short time limit, showed sophisticated use of the bishop pair. The fashionable 7 g4 soon had the BK in trouble since 13...axb5 14 Bb4! Rg8 15 Bxb5 g6 16 Nxh6 Rh8 17 Rc1! favours White. If Black swaps queens by 18...Qxe5 19 dxe5 Nfd7 20 Bc3 Nc6 21 0-0-0 is good for White, as is later 21...Nbd7 22 h4! At the end Topalov is material up but White's Qf5 will be decisive.
|
|
Big hand for Kramnik
|
Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik gave a clock simultaneous display at Enschede in Holland yesterday to showcase a new transmission system for chess tournaments that carries live video and commentary in tandem with a board display. Kramnik took on the French WGM Marie Sebag and the Dutch GM Jan Werle, defeating them both with the white pieces.
This was quite a feat but hardly compares with Garry Kasparov’s tours de force when he defeated the national teams of Argentina, Germany, Czech Republic and most memorably Israel, over four boards.
Black’s set up with Ra7 leaves him vulnerable if he cannot organise c7-c5 and Kramnik exploits the offside queen and rook.
V Kramnik – J Werle
DGT Clock Simul Enschede 90' + 30"
|
|
A Turkish delight
|
Turkey is preparing to host the Women’s World Chess Championship after an approach by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to Turkish Minister of State Murat Basesgioglu. Following the collapse of the original event, due to be hosted by Argentina, Iran offered to host the tournament but only on condition that all the players wore a headscarf.
The disturbing prospect of every player, irrespective of background being forced to cover their heads, irrespective of their background had a lot of FIDE officials running for cover themselves.
The Iranians even demanded that men not be allowed into the playing arena. The religious issues submerged the other consequences of a tournament in Iran which would have been the banning of the Israeli teams and the extreme unlikelihood of the USA and many western countries sending a delegation
It is ironic that Turkey, a country that was strictly secular until recently and which is in the midst of turmoil over the issue of the wearing of headscarves in universities be the place that digs Fide out of a very tight spot.
Ilyumzhinov was in Istanbul for the closing ceremony of the Isbank Ataturk International Women Masters which was won by the Chinese prodigy 14 year old Hou Yifan.
Former Woman World Champion Zhu Chen was outshone by her young compatriot, scoring just 4/9 and losing their individual game.
|
|
Tough Test for a Young Player: Seven Grandmasters in a Row
|
Robert Hess, an international master, and sophomore at Stuyvesant High School, faced the unlikely challenge of 7 grandmasters, scoring four wins, two draws and a loss.
|
|
Aronian plays a blinder
|
Levon Aronian was three times a winner at the Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess at Nice. As well as winning overall, Aronian won the Rapid Chess and shared first in the Blindfold with Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Morozevich and Veselin Topalov. World champion Vishy Anand scored below 50% at Rapid Chess, the first time I can recall him doing that.
Final scores overall: 1 Aronian 14.5/22; 2-5 Carlsen, Kramnik, Leko, Topalov 12; 6-8 Anand, Ivanchuk, Morozevich 11; 9 Karjakin 9.5; 10-12 Gelfand, Mamedyarov, Van Wely 9.
The British Women's Chess Association held the National Girls Championships at the Elmbank House, York, in February. The event was opened by the Lord Mayor of York Irene Waudby. There was free coaching at the event provided by England internationals Jovanka Houska and Sabrina Chevannes. The Arbiters were Lara Barnes and Alex McFarlane.
|
|
For 14-Year-Old Chinese Girl, Grandmaster Title Is in Sight
|
Hou Yifan of China has been among the world’s best female players since she was 12, but her performances since the beginning of the year have stood out.
|
|
Idaho Turns to Chess as Education Strategy
|
 Idaho officials plan to make their state the first to offer a statewide chess curriculum as part of a pilot program for second and third graders.
|
|
A Master Before the Age of 10, but Not Without a Mild Debate
|
A San Francisco boy has become the youngest master in United States history, but some, including the former record holder, have questioned whether it had been done fairly.
|
|
Leonard Barden. March 29, 2008
|
China's golden girl Hou Yifan, 14, is closing in on a record-breaking grandmaster title at men's level. Last week Hou won the Ataturk women's invitational in Istanbul with an unbeaten 7/9 and a rating performance well above the required 2600 points. Normally an all-female event would not count for the open GM title but two of her rivals were full GMs and a third awaited title ratification, so she should be going for her third and final GM norm when she competes in Merida, Spain, next week, where the top seed is the England No1 Michael Adams.
|
|
Aronian scents victory
|
Levon Aronian is almost certain of victory at the 17th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess at Nice after defeating Alexander Morozevich 2-0 in the ninth round. Aronian is two and a half points ahead overall with only two rounds and four games remaining. He leads the Rapid Chess outright and the Blindfold is a three way tie at the top between the Armenian, Vladimir Kramnik and Morozevich.
Kramnik was fortunate to defeat Magnus Carlsen in their Blindfold game as the young Norwegian lost on time in a position where he stood better although it was far from clear whether he could win.
The seventeenth edition of this ‘no expense spared’ chess party is once again sponsored by the Dutch chess enthusiast Joop van Oosterom and is being staged by the Association Max Euwe in the luxurious surroundings of the Palais de la Mediterranee Hotel on the Promenade des Anglais.
The twelve invited players are competing for a prize fund of 216,000 Euros with prizes for the best performance in the two disciplines and for the best scores overall.
Carlsen’s novelty in the sharp Anti Moscow Gambit led to a smooth victory over Loek van Wely who, as Kramnik’s trainer must have analysed this line in enormous detail. The idea of 12.b3 is well known in similar positions. By offering a pawn to open the a and c files White poses the question to Black: where will you put your king? The kingside has been compromised by the g7-g5 advance, the queenside becomes wide open and leaving the king in the centre is hardly an option. 12.Nxf7 Kxf7 13.e5 produced a stunning victory for Veselin Topalov over Kramnik at Wijk aan Zee but since then the sacrifice has been subject to the minute scrutiny of a 1000 laptop computers and defences have been found.
|
|
Dark side of the bishop
|
Levon Aronian sent Vishy Anand plummeting down the rankings in the eighth round of the 17th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess at Nice. The Armenian world title Candidate defeated the world champion in a wild blindfold game and then used his favourite Marshall Attack against the Ruy Lopez to draw the Rapid game.
Aronian leads Anand by 1.5 points in Rapid Chess and overall he has a one point lead with three rounds to go. Seventeen year old Magnus Carlsen is second overall after he convincingly outplayed Shakriyaz Mamedyarov twice. Carlsen described his win in the Blindfold game below as: 'a rare case of domination'.
The dark side of the force prevails, Black’s light squared bishop is no match for White's dark squared prelate after the opening exchanges and such is the disparity in influence Black is virtually paralysed.
17.g4!! was hard to foresee. White's king is quite safe.
|
|
Carlsen cashes in
|
Magnus Carlsen achieved his first ever victory over the world champion Vishy Anand in round seven of the 17th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess at Nice. Carlsen’s win came in the Rapid Chess after he had been badly mauled in the Blindfold game. Playing white, Carlsen avoided opening theory and when Anand blundered a pawn the seventeen year old prodigy made no mistake – see below.
The seventeenth edition of the Amber tournament is again sponsored by the Dutch chess enthusiast Joop van Oosterom and is being staged by the Association Max Euwe in he luxurious surroundings of the Palais de la Mediterranee on the Promenade des Anglais.
The twelve invited players are competing for a prize fund of 216,000 Euros with prizes for the best performance in the two disciplines and for the best scores overall.
Levon Aronian took the opportunity to extend his lead over Anand in the Rapid Chess and the overall standings with victory over Veselin Topalov.
Alexander Morozevich took control of the Blindfold section, increasing his score to 5./6 after a blunderful victory over Vassily Ivanchuk. The standard of play in these games without sight of the board is staggeringly good most of the time but the clock played a factor here and the rule of the last blunder applied, Ivanchuk made it when he gave away his queen in a won position.
M Carlsen – V Anand
|
|
Leonard Barden. March 22, 2008
|
Monaco's annual Amber tournament offers ?165,000 prize money, so the elite rarely turn it down. Moreover, the format of blindfold and rapid chess does not affect world rankings, so in theory a bad result can be shrugged off.
But it could be different after this week's game, where the world champion, Vishy Anand, sacrifices his queen to mate Vladimir Kramnik, who meets the Indian in a 12-game title match in October. Below Kramnik could have saved himself quite late, by 41 Qa5 Qxf4 42 Re1 d4 43 Be4+ Kf7 44 Bxh7 Rxh7 45 Qd8 when Black draws with Qh2+.
|
|
No talking, just winning
|
The grudge match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov ended in victory for the Russian in the fifth round of the 17th Amber Rapid and Blindfold Chess at Nice. Kramnik held the draw with black in the Blindfold and then massacred his great rival in the Rapid game given below. The win must have been particularly satisfying for Kramnik as he lost a spectacular game to Topalov at Corus Wijk aan Zee in January.
The pair have perfected the art of ignoring each other. As ever, there no words, no handshakes and scarcely any eye contact. Topalov also appears to ignore Kramnik’s king’s bishop in the following game, 26…Kg8 accelerates White’s main threat.
V Kramnik - V Topalov
|
|
Dgebuadze says it all
|
Alexandre Dgebuadze emerged the winner of the Blackpool Congress which attracted one the strongest fields in its history to the Winter Gardens. The Georgian Grandmaster, who plays under the Belgian flag, conceded just one draw in his five games and took home the first prize of ?1000. The total prize fund was ?8650 and the event attracted 463 players.
It’s not often one sees four GMs at a weekend tournament. The sole IM, Nicolai Vesterb Pedersen of Denmark underestimated the danger of relying solely on public transport and never recovered from a first round loss by default.
Dgebuadze had some luck as he managed to avoid his main rivals early on. As previously reported, GM Mark Hebden suffered an early defeat and GM Nigel Davies lost on time in round two in strange circumstances after misinterpreting the readings on the electronic clocks. In the fifth round Dgebuadze faced GM Igor Rausis but, with the advantage of the white pieces and a half point lead he was able to coast home with a quick draw.
Final scores: 1 GM Alexandre Dgebuadze (Belgium) 4.5/5; 2-5 GM Igor Rausis (Czech Republic), Jovica Radovanovic (Serbia), David Eggleston, GM Nigel Davies 4; I Salem – D Foord; Open Blackpool (5); Ruy Lopez Steinitz Deferred.
|
|
Birthday surprise
|
Vassily Ivanchuk celebrated his 39th birthday by taking a share of the lead at the 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapidplay being held at Nice. Ivanchuk defeated his compatriot and Ukrainian young pretender Sergei Karjakin with a stunning opening novelty he prepared last week.
Ivanchuk sacrificed his queen for two pawns but created such immense threats to the black king that this was no ‘sub prime’ investment, he regained it with interest.
The world champion Vishy Anand was outplayed by Peter Leko in the Rapid game and suffered a rare defeat. The Hungarian was playing ‘at home’ as the opening was a sharp Perenyi Attack developed by his fellow Hungarian the late Bela Perenyi.
V Ivanchuk – S Karjakin
|
|
Kramnik loses again
|
There was another dramatic game at the 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapidplay tournament and Vladimir Kramnik was again the loser. The fourteenth world champion was undone by a Budapest Gambit played by Shakriyaz Mamedyarov.
You have to admire Mamedyarov for playing such an offbeat – one could almost say ‘dodgy’ line against the great Kramnik but perhaps that is the way to unsettle him. Undoubtedly it is preferable to suffering for a long time in an endgame where the 14th champion has a small edge which is what tends to happen in games when Kramnik is white.
Kramnik seemed to have a great attacking position but when his opponent sacrificed the exchange it was clear that there was serious danger on the light squares and the white position collapsed. I suspect Kramnik had calculated a brilliant queen sacrifice but overlooked an intermezzo in one of the tactical lines.
Mamedyarov could have scored a famous double but missed a win in the Blindfold game. Vishy Anand drew twice with Veselin Topalov.
Anand leads the Rapid Chess with 2.5/3 followed by Levon Aronian and Topalov. Kramnik has just 1/3. In the Blindfold Magnus Carlsen shares the lead on 2/3 with Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Morozevich. Anand leads overall with 4/6.
|
|
A surprise Easter egg
|
The pairings for the 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapidplay tournament pitted the 15th and reigning world champion Vishy Anand against the 14th champion Vladimir Kramnik in the first round. The pair will contest a world title contest in the Autumn so there was quite a lot more riding on the games than just a battle between the two favourites.
After the blindfold game had been drawn it was Anand who struck a psychological blow as he won the Rapid game with black quite brilliantly, see below.
Anand and Levon Aronian were the only players on a perfect score after two Rapid games, no player was able to win both blindfold games. Anand, Aronian and Vassily Ivanchuk lead the combined standings with 3/4.
The drawing of lots was conducted by Mr Van Oosterom’s daughter Crystal, the sister of Melody after whom the tournament was named. The first giant Easter egg to come out of the basket was Anand, who rather fittingly was number one.
|
|
Tied up in triplicate
|
The Reykjavik Open coincided with the 65th anniversary of the birth of Bobby Fischer who died this year in the Icelandic capital. To mark the occasion, on March 9th, there was a memorial tournament comprising four of Fischer’s contemporaries; Pal Benko, Lajos Portisch, Vlastimil Hort and Fridrik Olafsson.
The Chief Arbiter was the 10th World Champion Boris Spassky who lost to Fischer in the Match of the Century’ at Reykjavik in 1972. GM William James Lombardy, who was Fischer’s second in 1972 was present as commentator.
The Open ended in a three-way tie for first between the Icelandic GM Hannes Stefansson and two of the leading Chinese players; GM Wang Hao and GM Wang Yue. Wang Hao had to recover from a shock defeat at the hands of tournament organiser Bjorn Thorfinnsson, rated over 300 points lower, in the first round
The early leader was the Italian champion, fifteen year old Fabiano Caruana who finished with 6.5/9. Caruana recently triumphed at Wijk aan Zee where he won Group C.
|
|
Leonard Barden. March 15, 2008
|
China's advance towards the international chess peak has entered a new phase. Women grandmasters led the climb as Xie Jun, Zhu Chen and Xu Yuhua all won the world title. Chinese men had good team results but no outstanding individual. Now Xie and Xu are semi-retired mothers; Zhu married a GM from Qatar and emigrated there. Hou Yifan, 14, has become the flag-bearer and promises to rival Hungary's Judit Polgar as the best ever female player.Four of China's elite men are now ranked in the world top 50. In recent months they have won team matches against Russia and Britain and scored highly in Ottawa, Siberia and Gibraltar. Their latest success came this week when Wang Hao and Wang Yue tied first in Reykjavik. China's men are approaching the top; all that is lacking is a mega-talent to lead the advance. With no exceptional male junior in sight, that role, too, looks destined for Hou Yifan.
|
|
For a Fast-Rising 17-Year-Old, Another Powerful Performance
|
The Morelia-Linares tournament provided more confirmation, if any was needed, that Magnus Carlsen of Norway has become one of the world’s top players.
|
|
Aggressive Play and Fewer Draws in Mexico
|
The first half of the Morelia-Linares tournament, last week in Morelia, Mexico, was an amazing display of creativity and aggressiveness.
|
|
Team of Three Grandmasters and a 5-Year-Old Highlights the Question of Who Is an Amateur
|
 A team of three grandmasters and a 5-year-old boy named Stephen Fanning won the annual amateur team championships in style.
|
|
Computers Are Ever Mightier, but Still Flawed
|
If a computer played perfectly, could any human hope to achieve a draw?
|
|
In the Land of Fischer, Dismay and Awe
|
 The relationship of the late former world chess champion Bobby Fischer to the current Brooklyn Chess Club in Canarsie is complex.
|
|
Two of Yesterday’s Stars, Battling It Out With Gusto
|
In chess, as in life, the elders deserve a little respect. The game’s legends may not regularly face the rigors of tournament play, but they can still put on a good show.
|
|
Carlsen’s Top Finish at Corus Signals Changing of the Guard
|
At the Corus international tournament in the Netherlands only Viswanathan Anand registered a plus score.
|
|
An Eruption of Bad Feelings Mars an Elite Tournament
|
An ugly situation arose at the Corus International tournament when Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria refused to shake the hand of Nigel Short of England before their match.
|
|
A Chess Master Returns Older, and Maybe Wiser
|
 Even in a chess world accustomed to odd characters like Bobby Fischer, the Brooklynite who became world champion and then an unstable recluse, Gata Kamsky has always been an object of curiosity.
|