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Vishy Anand wins Morelia leg

2008-02-25T02:57:00.000-08:00

Vishy Anand won the Morelia half of the Morelia-Linares tourney.

First Half standings:

1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2799 4½
2. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2755 4
3. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2780 4
4. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2739 3½
5. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2733 3½
6. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2735 3
7. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2751 3
8. Lékó, Peter g HUN 2753 2½

Nepomniatchi leads after the eighth round at Aeroflot

2008-02-22T04:19:00.000-08:00

Russian prodigy Ian Nepomniatchi is the sole leader at Aeroflot after the eighth round. While he beat GM Le Quang Liem, the others leaders fell back after drawing their games.

One very interesting progess is the level of play by 13 year old Hou Yifan. She has gathered 4.5 points so far and has played very strong GMs, most of them just around 2600 or above that mark ! Watch out for her. She will soon be in the top 100 of the world and should challenge Judit Polgar in just a couple of years.

Aeroflot Open Moscow

Round 8 Standings:

1 Nepomniachtchi, Ian GM RUS 2600 6.5
2 Motylev, Alexander GM RUS 2644 6.0
3 Dreev, Alexey GM RUS 2633 6.0
4 Volokitin, Andrei GM UKR 2674 5.5
5 Guseinov, Gadir GM AZE 2617 5.5
6 Rodshtein, Maxim GM ISR 2614 5.5
7 Timofeev, Artyom GM RUS 2664 5.0
8 Amonatov, Farrukh GM TJK 2649 5.0
9 Predojevic, Borki GM BIH 2641 5.0
10 Asrian, Karen GM ARM 2621 5.0

Morelia Linares Chess: Anand leads after the Fifth Round

2008-02-22T04:15:00.000-08:00

World champion Vishy Anand leads after the fifth round of the Morelia Linares chess tournament.

Standings after 5th round:

1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2799 3½ 2892
2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2739 3 2836
3. Shirov, Alexei g ESP 2755 2½ 2760
4. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2780 2½ 2742
5. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2733 2½ 2767
6. Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2735 2 2692
7. Lékó, Peter g HUN 2753 2 2682
8. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2751 2 2676

Linares Past Winners

2008-02-12T01:48:00.000-08:00

Past winners at Linares

* 1990,92,93,97,99,2001,02 Garry Kasparov
* 1998,2007 Viswanathan Anand
* 1991,1995 Vassily Ivanchuk
* 1994 Anatoly Karpov
* 2000 Vladimir Kramnik / Garry Kasparov
* 2003 Péter Lékó / Vladimir Kramnik
* 2004 Vladimir Kramnik
* 2005 Garry Kasparov / Veselin Topalov
* 2006 Levon Aronian

Morelia Linares starts this week

2008-02-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

The eagerly awaited annual Morelia Linares chess tournament of 2008 starts this week.
Players are:
V Anand 2799
V Topalov 2780
A Shirov 2755
P Leko 2753
V Ivanchuk 2751
L Aronian 2739
T Radjabov 2735
M Carlsen 2733

We will try to give some live comments as the tourney progresses.

Timofeev wins Moscow Open 2008

2008-02-11T05:17:00.000-08:00

Artyom Timofeev won the Moscow Open chess tournament of 2008.

1 GM Timofeev Artyom RUS 2664 7.5
2 GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2628 7.0
3 GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2623 7.0
4 GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2638 7.0
5 GM Lastin Alexander RUS 2604 7.0
6 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2643 7.0
7 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2681 7.0
8 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas KAZ 2594 7.0
9 GM Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2643 7.0
10 GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2577 7.0

Aronian, Carlsen win Corus Chess

2008-01-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

Teenage sensation Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian jointly won the Corus Chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee.

Details soon to follow.

Update after Round 7

2008-01-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

Results of round 7

Aronian, Levon - Radjabov, Teimour 1-0 King's Indian Defence
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Kramnik, Vladimir ½-½ Petroff's Defence
Topalov, Veselin - Carlsen, Magnus ½-½ Ruy Lopez Closed
Adams, Michael - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Ruy Lopez Modern Steinitz
Polgar, Judit - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Gelfand, Boris - Lékó, Peter ½-½ Catalan
Eljanov, Pavel - Van Wely, Loek * Slav Defence (Game is still going on)

Standings after Round 7

Magnus Carlsen - 5
Vladimir Kramnik - 4.5
Levon Aronian - 4.5

Bobby Fischer dead

2008-01-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

The legendary Bobby Fischer, arguably one of the greatest ever chess players died on January 17 th 2008. He was pronounced dead at a Reykjavik iceland hospital.

Rated by many as the very best ever chess player, Fischer was a recluse and took on the US government in bitter fights.

Judit, Kramnik and Van Wely win

2008-01-16T06:26:00.000-08:00

Judit Polgar played a brave game to beat Gelfand with black pieces. Topalov was ground down by Van Wely who seems to be in fine nick. At least he is creating chances for himself. There is this feeling that his training with Kramnik is working, and working very well. Kramnik beat Eljanov in his normal efficient, no nonsense style.

Round 4 results :

Group A

Carlsen, Magnus - Aronian, Levon ½-½ Ruy Lopez Centre Attack
Radjabov, Teimour - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Gruenfeld Russian
Lékó, Peter - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ Caro Kann
Van Wely, Loek - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 Old Benoni
Kramnik, Vladimir - Eljanov, Pavel 1-0 English Opening
Anand, Viswanathan - Adams, Michael ½-½ Queens Indian
Gelfand, Boris - Polgar, Judit 0-1 Catalan

Group B

Bacrot, Etienne - Movsesian, Sergei ½-½ QGD Ragozin
Harikrishna, P - Spoelman, Wouter 1-0 Queen's Pawn Opening
Cheparinov, Ivan - Nepomniachtchi, Ian 1-0 Anti-Meran Gambit
Short, Nigel D - Koneru, Humpy ½-½ Petroff's Defence
Sargissian, Gabriel - L'Ami, Erwin ½-½ English Four Knights
Hou Yifan - Stellwagen, Daniël ½-½ Sicilian Scheveningen
Krasenkow, Michal - Smeets, Jan ½-½ Slav Defence

Group C

Braun, Arik - Van der Werf, Mark 1-0 Semi-Slav Defence
Caruana, Fabiano - Reinderman, Dimitri ½-½ Sicilian Early a7-a6
Carlsson, Pontus - Ruijgrok, Dennis 1-0 Ruy Lopez Breyer
Van der Wiel, John - Peng Zhaoqin ½-½ Sicilian Paulsen
Li Shilong - Negi, Parimarjan 0-1 Queens Gambit
Krush, Irina - Grivas, Efstratios 0-1 Dutch Staunton Gambit
Ushenina, Anna - Nijboer, Friso 0-1 Sicilian Alapin

Corus Chess Day 3

2008-01-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

Day three was a dull affair at Corus with all the games in the A Group ending in draws.

The most exciting news was provided by the 13 year old Hou Yifan who beat Short in a very short game. Short opened up his king side with a g5 thrust and tried to pin Yifan's knight against her queen but she found the correct way to bust Short's position and won in just 23 moves.

Adams - Carlsen - Same color bishop ending where Adams had doubled pawns on the b file, but it doesn't count for much. So Draw

Polgar - Topalov was an opposite color bishop ending with an extra pawn but going nowhere. Draw.

Eljanov - Anand was a Nimzo Indian Classical that proceeded on known lines and ended in a very quick draw

Aronian dominates again, beats Gelfand

2008-01-13T11:03:00.000-08:00

Levon Aronian of Armenia seems to be in top form so far. Today he beat Gelfand with the black pieces in a Slav Defence game in impressive style.

Carlsen beat Eljanov. As we mentioned before, Eljanov appears to be overwhelmed by the strong field. Carlsen ground him down with his usual efficiency.

Vishy Anand had his chances and dominated proceedings for a long time, but let the harassed Mamedyarov off the hook with an error in a Rooks and pawns end game.
Van Wely too dominated only to let Polgar escape with a draw.

Results of Round 2 at Corus chess:

Group A

Carlsen, Magnus - Eljanov, Pavel 1-0 Gruenfeld 5.Bg5
Kramnik, Vladimir - Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ King's Indian Classical
Van Wely, Loek - Polgar, Judit ½-½ Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3
Lékó, Peter - Adams, Michael (Prob a draw) Ruy Lopez Chigorin
Topalov, Veselin - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ Benoni
Gelfand, Boris - Aronian, Levon 0-1 30 Slav Defence
Anand, Viswanathan - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Ruy Lopez Modern Steinitz

Group B

Short, Nigel D - L'Ami, Erwin 1-0 Evans Gambit
Bacrot, Etienne - Stellwagen, Daniël ½-½ Sicilian Scheveningen
Harikrishna, P - Hou Yifan 1-0 French Defence
Cheparinov, Ivan - Movsesian, Sergei ½-½ Slav Defence
Sargissian, Gabriel - Smeets, Jan ½-½ Slav Defence
Krasenkow, Michal - Spoelman, Wouter 1-0 Queens Indian
Koneru, Humpy - Nepomniachtchi, Ian ½-½ Dutch

Group C

Caruana, Fabiano - Van der Werf, Mark 1-0 Ruy Lopez
Li Shilong - Ushenina, Anna 1-0 Gruenfeld Defence
Braun, Arik - Negi, Parimarjan 1-0 English Symmetrical
Van der Wiel, John - Nijboer, Friso 1-0 Ruy Lopez
Carlsson, Pontus - Peng Zhaoqin ½-½ Sicilian Paulsen
Grivas, Efstratios - Ruijgrok, Dennis 1-0 Dutch, QI and KID Systems
Krush, Irina - Reinderman, Dimitri ½-½ King's Indian Averbakh

Corus live mid day comments

2008-01-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

Live commentaries

Our comments:

Anand vs Mamedyarov

Anand again played boldly to open up his king side but found the right moves to always keep an edge. Looks like Anand will make it to a Rook endgame with an extra pawn.

Topalov vs Ivanchuk

In a modern Benoni game, Topalov seems to be playing pretty safe, probably stung by his loss to Aronian yesterday. The game is pretty much balanced with Topalov having nothing much more than a normal advantage that white gets as white.

Gelfand vs Aronian

Slav Defence game. Gelfand played a dubious pawn move that gave Aronian an edge that he's maintained. Aronian is almost winning. And this early, with black. We'll have to see if Gelfand's experience will help him hold this game.

Appears difficult since Aronian seems to be the man in form in this tournament so far.

Kramnik vs Radjabov

Its a Kings Indian again, with the classical variation. Radjabov has decided to take on the challenge even though he faced problems last year. Kramnik has played true to his style and has an edge by the middle game stage.

Carlsen vs Eljanov

Eljanov seems to be terrified of the strength of this tournament. Playing in the B is very different from the A. There are tigers everywhere. In a Gruenfeld game, he handed over the advantage to Carlsen by the 18th move when he grabbed a pawn to try and gain equality. Carlsen is still holding an edge at move 34 and had a chance to gain a winning advantage on move 35 with e4 (which he missed.)

Mamedyarov vs Carlsen, can it be drawn ?

2008-01-12T23:24:00.000-08:00

Here's are comments for the game Mamedyarov vs Carlsen live analysis. This game has led to a lot of discussions and many feel that Shak resigned prematurely. Well, to an extent, it wseems to be true. But the advantage is not overwhelming. Please note that we have added a few moves to the game after Mamed resigned, that is after 40. ... Ne3.
We present a line that could possibly lead to a draw with accurate play from white.

Also note that Carlsen suggested that white could have played on with 41. Ra5. But that line seems to be inferior. He was confident though, that his position was winning. Prodigies such as Carlsen do have a intuitive feel for the position. He was right, but Mamed had his chances.

Round 1 results of Corus Chess live

2008-01-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

Vishy Anand lost his opening game against Teimour Radjabov at the Corus Chess tournament that started today. In a semi-slav game, Anand made a couple of serious mistakes in the middle game to lose an exchange. Ironically, he held his own in the opening when his king was exposed. Anand was not able to demonstrate his Houdini-like end game wizardry and resigned after a long struggle.

Another mini-upset was the defeat of Topalov against Aronian. In a game of swinging fortunes, Aronian managed to stave off the many threats that Topalov produced at the early stages of the game. Topalov was clearly playing for a win and had to concede advantage. Aronian nursed home the advantage to a clear win in a Rook and pawn ending.

Mamedyarov resigned in a dead drawn position with Carlsen.
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Update : Hou Yifan lost her game to Bacrot as per the official site result. There was a lot of commotion on the chat but the king was placed in the center on a DGT board, perhaps.
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Corus Chess Round 1 results:

Group A

V. Kramnik - L. van Wely ½-½
T. Radjabov - V. Anand 1-0
S. Mamedyarov - M. Carlsen 0-1
P. Eljanov - P. Leko ½-½
M. Adams - B. Gelfand ½-½
L. Aronian - V. Topalov 1-0
V. Ivanchuk - J. Polgar ½-½

Gruop B

P. Harikrishna - N. Short ½-½
Y. Hou - E. Bacrot 0-1
D. Stellwagen - M. Krasenkow 1-0
W. Spoelman - I. Cheparinov 0-1
S. Movsesian - G. Sargissian ½-½
J. Smeets - H. Koneru 1-0
I. Nepomniachtchi - E. L’Ami ½-½

Group C

S. Li - I. Krush 1-0
A. Ushenina - J. van der Wiel 0-1
F. Nijboer - A. Braun 0-1
P. Negi - P. Carlsson 0-1
Z. Peng - F. Caruana 0-1
M. van der Werf - E. Grivas 1-0
D. Ruijgrok - D. Reinderman 0-1

Corus Chess update

2008-01-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Update

Kramnik - Van Wely (Draw)
Ivanchuk - Polgar (Draw)
Adams - Gelfand (Draw, what else)

In other interesting games in the other groups, Harikrishna was winning against Short but he seems to have messed up his winning chances. Same with Stellwagen and Li Chao, they both lost significant winning edges against Humpy and Irina Krush respectively.
Hou Yifan is putting up a good show against the 2700 Bacrot. A draw is still possible although Bacrot is piling on the pressure now.
The other prodigy Negi is almost equal against Sweden's Pontus Carlsson.

Corus Chess mid day live online commentary

2008-01-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

Corus mid day live commentary

Mamedyarov vs Carlsen

Mamedyarov always had a plus and was almost close to a significant plus, but he delayed the f pawn advance. Carlsen then managed to gain equality by move 23.

Ivanchuk vs Polgar

This queen's indian defence game was always balanced and Polgar has a slight edge in the middle game.

Aronian vs Topalov
By far one of the most exciting games on display today. Topalov made some amazing moves to bring the white king into the middle. But he missed a promising continuation and the game is drawish.

Radjabov vs Anand

A Semi-slav game with 5. Bg6 h6
Anand chose to sacrifice his castling rights to gain two pawns but Radjabov gave them back to get a decent edge by the middle game stage. Anand missed the right continuation to achieve balance.

Corus Chess at Wijk aan Zee

2008-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

Come on in. Everyday we will put up live analysis and post-mortem !

Here is the list of players that we consider masters at winning and masters at drawing. Its interesting to see some players who belong to these groups by character :)

Winning masters:

1. Garry Kasparov (73.08%)
2. Paul Keres (71.67%)
3. Max Euwe (71.43)
4. Lajos Portisch (66.14%)
5. Efim Geller (66.07%)

Drawing masters:

1. Gyula Sax (76.32%)
2. Peter Leko (75.96%)
3. Andras Adorjan (72.09%)
4. Gennadi Sosonko (71.52%)
5. Ulf Andersson (67.86%)

Corus Chess - Amazing Games Kasparov vs Topalov

2008-01-07T02:48:00.000-08:00

To get you warmed up for this year's Corus Chess tournament, here's an unbelievable game from two great masters. Kasparov beats Topalov in a brilliant manner at Wijk aan Zee in 1999. Do let us know what you think of this game.

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

2008-01-07T02:38:00.000-08:00

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

Zoltan Almasi wins Reggio Emilia 2008

2008-01-07T02:34:00.001-08:00

Zoltan Almasi of Hungary won the Reggio Emilia tournament of 2008. He finished half a point clear of three others who were tied at 5.5 points. Almasi garnered 6 points out of a possible 9. The local favorite, Godena, finished at the bottom with 3 points.

Final standings after round 9:

Almasi - 6
Gashimov, Ni Hua, Harikrishna - 5.5
Landa - 4.5
Korchnoi, Navara - 4
Tiviakov, Marin - 3.5
Godena - 3

Three tied for first place at Hastings

2008-01-07T02:26:00.000-08:00

Vadim Malakhatko, Nidjat Mamedov, and Valeriy Neverov were tied for the top place at the Hastings Chess Congress after the 10th and final round.
There was a six way tie for the next place.

Simon Williams is likely to become a Grandmaster as he crossed the mandatory 2500 mark with his performance at Hastings.

Standings after the final Round 10:

Malakhatko, Mamedov, Neverov - 7.5
Bindrich, Flear, Gawain Jones, Lalic, Pavlovic, Pert - 7
Chatalbashev, Conquest, Eames, Gormally, Greet, Haslinger, Hebden, Houska, Tahirov - 6.5

Second ACP World Rapid Chess Cup

2008-01-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

The Second ACP World Rapid Chess Cup sponsored by Pivdenny Bank has started.

Results so far:

Ivanchuk vs Eljanov 1.5 - 0.5
Radjabov vs Drozdovskij 1.5 - 0.5
Jakovenko vs Savchenko 2 - 0
Inarkiev vs Shirov 1.5 - 0.5

Rybka vs Benjamin II Draw Odds Match

2008-01-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

Update:

Rybka has won the Benjamin Joel vs Rybka match 6-2. Benjamin was able to draw only two games and he eventually ran out of drawing ideas. Rybka's team won 6 games (including the last four with black!) and drew two games. Benjamin had whites in all the games.

Human beings, arise and awake! Benjamin is a strong Grandmaster and was in the Deep Blue team that beat Kasparov.
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Earlier
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A fascinating battle is in progress. The Chess engine Rybka is playing Joel Benjamin. Benjamin gets white in every game in the 8 game match. He also gets another additional advantage in this man vs machine match. Even if he draws against the monster machine, it will be considered a win.

So far two games have been played. A seemingly drawn position in the first game turned out to be difficult to defend. Benjamin lost. In the second game, he simplified accurately to draw it, which means he won. So, the match is tied at 1-1.

The third game is in progress as we write this article.

In earlier matches with pawn odds against Benjamin and Jaan Ehlvest, Rybka was victorious three times.

More updates coming.

Players to watch at Wijk aan Zee (The Netherlands) in 2008

2008-01-04T01:25:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite list of players to watch at this year's Corus Chess tournament. What's yours, any suggestions ? I'll soon be adding the reasons to the players names.

GM Group A

Anand vs Kramnik - a preview of the titanic struggle later in the year !
Magnus Carlsen - can he start this year like he ended the last one ?
Veselin Topalov - a bit forgotten last year. This is his chance, right ?

GM Group B

Ivan Cheparinov - How about Topalov winning the A Group and Cheparinov the B ?
Nigel Short - His first real chance to start climbing up. Come on, Short.
Koneru Humpy - Her chance to make an impression in an elite men's tournament.
Hou Yifan - Can she hold her own against such a strong field ?
Stellwagen (for locals) - Time to move up and take the place of veterans in Holland.

GM Group C

Fabiano Caruana - Top favorite to win the C and try for the B next year.
Parimarjan Negi - Other prodigies have left you behind. Wake up, you can do it !
John van der Wiel - Show the kids real chess !

Honorary

Ljubomir Ljubojevic - Pure pleasure to see the old fire burn strong.