Chess Commander

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice wins Guardian’s Chess Book of the Year Award

2009-11-11T14:00:40+00:00

The revised and expanded version of the classic The Sorcerer's Apprentice by David Bronstein and Tom Fürstenberg has won the fourth Guardian Chess Book of the Year Award. According to the British daily it's an "unusual, personal, inspirational and endearing work that deserves a place on every chess player's bookshelf". The ...

Carlsen - Anand LIVE

2009-11-11T11:24:00+00:00

With only 4 rounds left, Magnus has to make a move to have a chance to catch up with the leaders. This is why this game is important to the young Norwegian phenom.

[Event "Tal Memorial"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Anand, V."]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2801"]
[BlackElo "2788"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 h6 (I don't remember seeing this move before.)

8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. e3 (9...0-0 is the safer and more solid choice. 9...b5 is the riskier one.)

9...b5 10. a4 (Black must play 10...c6 here. 10...a6 is no good because White can simply play 10...axb5 due to the pin.)

10...c6 (Both 11. Qb1 and 11. Ne5 are playable.)

11. Ne5 (Black can simply castle. Another possible move is 11...a6. Both are fine choices.)

11...a6 (Now White needs to put his Bishop on the h1-a8 diagonal. He can do that with either g3 then Bg2 or Be2 then Bf3.)

12. g4! (I give it a ! because it is a shocker. I did not expect this at all. This looks to me like one of the Kasparov move. While it may or may not be the strongest move, it certainly has excellent psychological value.)

12...Bb7 13. Bg2 Qe7 14. 0-0 0-0 = (White has compensation for the pawn. Now is the time to start some actions on the Kingside while Black is still not fully developed and his pieces are not fully coordinated yet. Magnus can start with 15. f4.)

15. f4 (Perhaps it is time for Vishy to give back the pawn and develop his Knight with Nd7. Black cannot afford to be under develop just to hang on to the pawn, especially when Magnus is threatening to launch a Kingside assault.)

15...Nd7 (Now the question is which pieces to capture on c6? A capture by the Knight makes more sense to me.)

16. Nxc6 Qd6 = (Magnus can simply retreat with Ne5. But another interesting choice is 17. Ne7+ Qxe7 18. Bxb7. )

17. Ne7+ Qxe7 18. Bxb7 Ra7 19. Bg2 Nb6 20. axb5 axb5 21. Rxa7 Qxa7 22. Qa1 Qe7 (A series of moves were rapidly played. The position is somewhat equal but if given a choice, I would take Black as White has weaknesses with his pawns. Black obviously did not want to trade Queens. It is more beneficial for Black to keep his Queen on the board to create chances to win.)

23.

Difficult endgame challenge

2009-11-11T08:00:00+00:00

White to move and win. Can you find the winning plan for White?

Note: This is an extremely hard puzzle. See if you can solve it without computer assistance.

Mandil 1943

The Phenom vs the Champ

2009-11-11T07:59:00+00:00

Round 6 pairings:

Magnus Carlsen - Vishy Anand
Vladimir Kramnik - Ruslan Ponomariov
Boris Gelfand - Levon Aronian
Alexander Morozevich - Vassily Ivanchuk
Peter Leko - Peter Svidler

Your prediction?

Standings after 5 rounds:

1-2.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2772	3½	2919
1-2.	Anand, Vishy	g	IND	2788	3½	2900
3.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2786	3	2831
4-7.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2801	2½	2761
4-7.	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2739	2½	2765
4-7.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2758	2½	2762
4-7.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2739	2½	2766
8.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2750	2	2701
9-10.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2754	1½	2615
9-10.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2752	1½	2615

Alsina wins Barcelona by a full point

2009-11-11T07:07:00+00:00

Final standings:

1 IM Alsina Leal Daniel 2523 ESP 6,5

2 GM Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel 2589 ESP 5,5
3 GM Magem Badals Jordi 2564 ESP 5,5

4 GM Narciso Dublan Marc 2510 ESP 5,0
5 GM Dreev Alexey 2655 RUS 5,0

6 GM Peralta Fernando 2557 ARG 4,5

7 GM Tregubov Pavel V 2642 RUS 4,0

8 GM Almeida Quintana Omar 2542 CUB 3,5
9 GM Andersson Ulf 2582 SWE 3,5

10 GM Fier Alexandr 2653 BRA 2,0

Official website: http://www.escacs.cat/ciutat09

Doubts?

2009-11-11T06:39:00+00:00

Doubts cast on Chessmen origins
Page last updated at 10:38 GMT
Tuesday, 10 November 2009

New research has cast doubt on traditional theories about the historic Lewis Chessmen.

The 93 pieces - currently split between museums in Edinburgh and London - were discovered on Lewis in 1831.

But the research suggests they may have been used in both chess and Hnefatafl - a similar game that was popular in medieval Scandinavia.

It also casts doubt on the traditional theory that the ivory pieces were lost or buried by a merchant.

The research was led by Dr David Caldwell of the National Museum of Scotland, who believes the Lewis chessmen were more likely to have belonged to a high-ranking person who lived on Lewis.

Dr Caldwell told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme that many of the pieces could have doubled for Hnefatafl, another conflict game which also pitted a king against pawns or warriors on the other side.

The ancient game has not survived into modern times.

For the first time, they also tried to work out which pieces were made by the same groups of craftsmen by measuring the chessmen's faces, looking at their clothing, and studying details of the workmanship.

Dr Caldwell added: "We certainly still believe the pieces are Scandinavian in origin, perhaps made in a workshop by several masters in a city like Trondheim.

Here is the full article.

An old interview with Fabiano

2009-11-11T06:15:00+00:00

2009 PanAm Collegiate Championship

2009-11-11T06:08:00+00:00

The 2009 Pan American Intercollegiate Chess Championships will be held at the Sheraton South Padre Island Beach Hotel.

December 27-30, 2009

Tournament site:
Sheraton South Padre Island Beach Hotel
310 Padre Boulevard
South Padre Island, Texas 78597

Special Tournament Rate:
Room rate is $89 for up to four people.
Free WiFi throughout entire hotel, including guest rooms!
For reservations call Teri Murphy (956) 761-6551 or 800-222-4010
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=909

For more information on beautiful South Padre Island visit http://www.sopadre.com/!

Team Format:

4 player Teams, up to 2 Alternates, Traditional 6 round Fix Roster Swiss Tournament
Open to College and Universities teams (at least two players) from North and South America, including the Caribbean

Time Control:
Game/90 with a 30-second increment per move
Notation is required throughout the games
MonRoi Units (Electronic Scoresheets may be provided and must be used)

This tournament is FIDE and USCF rated, but uses United States Chess Federation Rules. All U.S. players must have current USCF memberships.

Championships to be awarded in 4 divisions (according to average team rating)

Teams must supply letter from University stating that the players meet eligibility requirements. (Please refer to Registration Information for more details.)

Round Times (for all):

Round Times (for all)
Round	Check In	Reception	1	2	3	4	5	6	Award Ceremony
Dates	12/27	12/27	12/27	12/28	12/28	12/29	12/29	12/30	12/30
Start Time	4pm	5pm	6pm	10am	5pm	10am	5pm	9am	2-3pm

Coach/Captain must hand in proposed team roster changes one hour before the beginning of the Round.

There will be a reception for all participants at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Prizes:

Prizes
Placement	Monetary	Trophy or Plaque
1st Team	$1250	Trophy
2nd Team	$750	Trophy
3rd Team	$600	Trophy
4th Team	$400	Trophy
5th Team	$250	Trophy
Top International Team	$500	Trophy
2nd International Team		Trophy
3rd International Team		Trophy
Division I Champ (Team rated 2200 or above)		Trophy
Division II Champ (Team rated 2000-2199)		Trophy
Division III Champ (Team rated 1800-1999)		Trophy
Division IV Champ (Team rated below 1800)		Trophy
Top Board 1	$100	Plaque
Top Board 2	$100	Plaque
Top Board 3	$100	Plaque
Top Board 4	$100	Plaque
Top Alternate

Chess sets will be provided for tournament use, but please be sure to bring your chess clocks!

Masterful Park Job

2009-11-11T06:00:00+00:00

Tal Memorial 09: Anand Steps Up

2009-11-11T05:03:12+00:00

Another day, another decisive game at the Tal Memorial. Today it was Anand's turn, and the victory put him into a tie for first Kramnik on +2. The world champ trampled Leko with the latest hot novelty in the Semi-Slav. Last year Kramnik took out Aronian in similar fashion in the same line, giving back the extra piece with the spectacular 25.Nc3!, improving on Radjabov-Anand, 2006. Today it was Leko's turn to step into a world champion's sights when Anand dropped 22.Nxd4! on him. The Hungarian was up to the challenge for a good long time, however. He used his time judiciously and wended his way down a very narrow path toward safety. It wasn't until move 30 that he started to slide off the cliff under the intense pressure. After that it was a ruthless dismantling job by Anand, closing in on the open black king. After White eliminated the black d-pawn, all the rook and queen endgames were doomed for Leko, who hung on grimly even after reaching the time control in a hopeless position. A sweet piece of preparation and a classy win by Anand.

Gelfand-Kramnik took an unexpected turn for the dramatic after a tranquil start. Kramnik steadily made progress on the black side of a hybrid Catalan. It wasn't clear if Gelfand was going to be able to ge this pawn back without suffering, but it seems like he had it under control. Time trouble began to set in for both players before move 30 and Kramnik's nerves held up much better than Gelfand's. Just when White could have played for an advantage with 27.Rb7, the Israeli began a series of retreating moves that left Black in control. Soon they were both blitzing and they crossed the finish line on move 40 with seconds to spare. During the scramble both missed improvements. The cool 36..Rd8 would have eliminated White's only source of counterplay. Instead, Gelfand got a miracle save just in time, the saving geometry of 41.Rc7! coming when he had time to find it.

Gelfand's day still wasn't over though, as they reached an always annoying to defend R+4 vs R+3. This is almost always drawn, but Kasparov encouraged a generation of players on the stronger side twice in a single year. First, in February 2000, Kasparov shockingly lost a 4 vs 3 to Jeroen Piket in the final of the KasparovChess Online Grand Prix. Later that year, in a slightly more prestigious event, Kasparov came very close to beating Kramnik in it near the end of their London world championship match. Oddly, they've played it a few other times as well. So you definitely play on, but you don't expect to win against someone as steady as Gelfand unless the weaker side's pawns are in bad shape. Kramnik gave it a go for 80 moves before accepting the inevitable. A great second-half battle.

Carlsen is still quite ill, but Ivanchuk was the one showing the symptoms today. He played what GM Larry Christiansen called "The Granny Opening" today, aka the London System. These Colle-ish lines with the white bishop on f4 are a form of anti-theory, notably favored by Kamsky in the early parts of both phases of his career. It has the advantage, if you want to call it that, of avoiding an opening discussion. Perhaps it was Ivanchuk's plan to avoid having such a discussion with Carlsen and his illustrious coach. Carlsen held the long and uncomplicated fight without any punches landing. Morozevich took a risk by playing a Dutch against Aronian. The Armenian made a little progress, and is usually very dangerous in such fixed maneuvering positions. But he lost his way somewhere along the line and ended up with a dominating position and no way to make progress. Svidler played an aggressive line against Ponomariov's Berlin but couldn't avoid liquidation and a draw.

That Berlin was the second game of the round attended by the spirit of Etienne Bacrot in Novi Sad a few weeks ago at the Euro Teams. He drew against Adams in the stem game. And his win over Aronian in the Semi-Slav was duplicated up till move 17 in Anand-Leko. News you can't use.

Round 6: Carlsen-Anand, Kramnik-Ponomariov, Leko-Svidler, Morozevich-Ivanchuk, Gelfand-Aronian. The heir apparent vs the world champ is the obvious top billing even though it's hard to say if Carlsen will be in fighting shape at all. Leko and Svidler share the cellar on -2 and have only rating points and pride to lose at this point. Hard to imagine a Marshall when they want to lick wounds, but we can hope. I'll be on Chess.FM in, blargh, seven hours with Joel Benjamin.

Two Share Lead in Elite Moscow Tournament

2009-11-11T04:34:10+00:00

The current world champion and a former champion share the lead of the Tal Memorial after five rounds.

Piss Off Tal

2009-11-11T00:51:00+00:00

The very strong Tal Memorial tournament is on right now and it is in that light that GM Ian Rogers related a story, an encounter he had with the great man, in his column last Sunday for the Sun Herald. Actually, he first shared this story with me back in Dresden. It amused me then and it amuses me now.

While analysing with his opponent post game, Rogers saw "a bony hand from an old codger" reach for a central pawn with the idea of apparently sacking it. The Australian shooed the hand away, but the hand keeps on reaching, Rogers turns and, whoops(!), it's Tal! Naturally the pawn sac was a "powerful" one.

It makes me wonder how many wonderful stories GM Rogers has in his memories. When is his autobiography coming out?

More Marshall Attack

2009-11-11T00:42:00+00:00

White to move. How should White procceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

GM Daniele Vocaturo in Corus C

2009-11-11T00:26:00+00:00

Young Italian GM Daniele Vocaturo was invited to Corus C 2010, along with GM-elect Ray Robson. Daniele recently made 3 GM norm within 6 months, the last one in Reykjavik with a wonderful game beating GM Hillarp Perssonn ( game available at http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1360). He will be at the Corus tournament with his trainer GM M. Marin and manager Y. Garrett.

Special thanks to Dario P. for sending us the information (http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1599).

Wednesday night training on Playchess

2009-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Sammy Reshevsky (1911-1992) was at one time one of the strongest players in the world. He did have some weird weaknesses, though. Apart from time trouble and carelessness in opening preparation he had an apparent blind spot to stalemate. This is the subject of the Playchess lecture at 9 p.m. ET by FM Dennis Monokroussos. Before that IM Merijn van Delft discusses current games. Schedule.

Tal R05: Anand beats Leko, joins Kramnik in the lead

2009-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Almost exactly a year ago the two were playing for the title of World Champion. Now Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand are battling each other for the lead in the Tal Memorial in Moscow. Kramnik worked very hard in an 81-mover against Boris Gelfand, but had to concede a draw. Anand beat Peter Leko in a Semi-Slav and joined Kramnik in the lead. Round five report.

GM Ken Rogoff Book Launching

2009-11-10T22:20:00+00:00

I’ve Been Working on the Caro …

2009-11-10T21:07:10+00:00

… All the live-long day! (Sorry about the reference to a nineteenth-century folk song that is probably best forgotten.)

Anyway, Michael Goeller posted a comment a week ago that set me off on another serious binge of Caro-Kann study. He pointed out this post in Mark Ginsburg’s blog, which re-opens the debate over what I called the Homo Erectus Variation of the Caro-Kann, where White plays the ungainly lunge: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. g4!?

Ginsburg calls this the “Fugly Advance Variation,” a name that I’m not sure is acceptable for a family audience. Another possibility would be the “Mackenzie-Ginsburg Variation,” which would have the ironic advantage of naming the variation after an adamant opponent of it! But maybe the best name of all would be “Bronstein’s Folly.” That’s because Ginsburg dug up an old game Bronstein-Petrosian from 1959 where Bronstein (who was never afraid of a sharp battle) played this saucy move.

Ginsburg wrote about this variation because it appeared in a game from Week 9 of the U.S. Chess League between Pascal Charbonneau and Tenghsuren Enkhbat. Before we get to that game, there is still an old matter that I need to follow up on from the original debate between Ginsburg and me.

Ginsburg claims, in his notes to Charbonneau-Enkhbat, that Bronstein’s Folly is refuted by 4. … Be4! And he gives a very persuasive argument in his original post here. By the way, you should definitely read his post, because it’s a very nice example of using logical reasoning to fight against computer-inspired analysis. However, there is a catch, which is that he makes it appear too easy. In nine tournament games after 4. … Be4 I have only faced one opponent who came up with the key eighth move in Ginsburg’s refutation. That was an opponent who prepared for me at home, and even so he managed to mess up later and lose. The story is recounted in this post.

I have two arguments to make against Ginsburg. First is that in his refutation, 4. … Be4 5. f3 Bg6 6. h4 h5 7. Ne2 hg 8. Nf4 Bh7! 9. e6 fe 10. fg Qd6! he does not consider White’s answer 11. Qe2. If he was thinking of 11. … Be4 12. Rh3 e5? then he would run into 13. de Qxe5 14. Ng6. However, I am not going to press this argument too hard because I think that Black can play more patiently with 11. … Nd7 and still be doing quite well for the basic reasons that Ginsburg outlines.

My second and more important argument is White can avoid Ginsburg’s line by playing a different move order! I did not realize this when I wrote my original series of posts on Bronstein’s Folly (formerly the Homo Erectus Variation). The move order I would now like to recommend is 4. … Be4 5. f3 Bg6 (see diagram below) 6. Ne2.

There are two points to this move. First, White has a momentary pang of conscience and actually plays a developing move instead of 6. h4. I should not have to justify that decision! Second, this move is more flexible. 6. … h5 would now be a mistake because after 7. Nf4 White is a tempo up on the line Ginsburg recommended. I think that 6. … c5 is also too early, because now White plays 7. h4 h5 8. Nf4 followed either by 9. Nxg6 or (if 8. … Bh7) 9. e6! Again, if we play a la Ginsburg for Black and try 9. … fe 10. Nxe6 Qd6, it just doesn’t work because of 11. Qe2. Black is a tempo behind Ginsburg’s line, and now 12. Bf4 is coming.

So I think the main variation after 6. Ne2 must be 6. … e6, a solid developing move for Black that ends all of the e5-e6 possibilities for White. Now we play 7. h4 h5 8. Nf4, reaching the diagrammed position.

Comparing this with Ginsburg’s refutation, we see that Black has played … e6 instead of … hg. If Black now tries to play 8. … hg 9. Nxg6 fg 10. fg! Rxh4 11. Rg1! we get to a position I discussed in my original post, which is surprisingly good for White.

An alternative for Black, which I have faced several times in speed chess but not yet in a tournament, is 8. … Ne7. Here Black is trying to turn the move order to his advantage; because he has played … e6 he now has the option of defending his bishop. The jury is still out on this, but I have had good luck in my speed games with the provocative 9. Nc3 Nd7 10. b4!? Black’s problem is that all of his pieces are stepping on each others’ toes, and another problem is that if White gets his knight to b5 (e.g. after 10. … a5 11. b5 cb 12. Nxb5) the threat of Nd6+ is pretty big. And if 12. … Nc6 to defend that threat, now 13. Nxg6 takes the wrecking ball to Black’s kingside. If White doesn’t want to tempt fate with 10. b4, another option would be 10. Be3 with the plan of Qd2 and O-O-O.

Finally, there is a move that I’m sure Ginsburg would approve of: 8. … Bh7! Black sticks to his policy of creating no weaknesses, and he realizes that he is not really sacrificing a pawn because after 9. Nxh5 Bg6! White cannot hold the knight on h5 and the pawn on h4. I see two possible treatments for White. First, White can simply return the pawn with 10. Nf4 Rxh4 and then play the computer’s recommendation 11. Bh3. The computer considers this position equal. Black once again has some pieces that step on each others’ toes; for instance, if he plays 11. … Bh7? to save his bishop, it blocks the rook’s retreat and White wins the exchange with 12. Ng2.

But the alternative, and really exciting possibility after 9. … Bg6 is to go for broke with 10. Bg5?! Qb6 11. Nf4. White asks Black: Do you have the guts to take on b2? Because Black is a Caro-Kann player, he probably doesn’t. If he does play 11. … Qxb2, then we can offer a whole rook with 12. Nxg6 fg 13. c3!?

Again, because Black is a Caro-Kann player, he probably doesn’t have the guts to take the rook. If he does, then after 13. … Qxa1 14. Qb3 we have just the kind of wild, obscure position White was hoping for.

Is this sacrifice sound?

Probably not. The computer gives Black an advantage of between 1 and 2 pawns. But I cannot emphasize too strongly, your opponent is not a computer! Against a human opponent, what I would expect to happen is that Black will give up his queen for a rook, giving him the nominal advantage of two rooks against a queen. But it’s not going to be such a great position for the two rooks, because there are no open files and because there are nice diagonals for White’s queen and bishops, and weak pawns on e6 and g6 for them to target. I would be happy to play White here.

Once again I feel as if I have probably fallen into the trap of giving you lots of lines, rather than reasoning from general principles as Mark Ginsburg did in his post. So let me back up and try to explain from general principles why Bronstein’s Folly is playable for White and how you should play it.

First, you should recognize that psychology is a big part of this variation. You smack your opponent right in the mouth on move 4 and you don’t stop. By playing 1. … c6, your opponent has already advertised that he is not in the mood for a fight, so you take the fight to him.
In the event that your opponent plays 4. … Be4, I now think that 5. f3 Bg6 6. Ne2 is a somewhat more precise move order than 6. h4 right away.
Yes, White has created big weaknesses with 4. g4, and Ginsburg correctly points out that pawns cannot move backward. In order to get compensation, White must (a) create equally serious weaknesses in Black’s pawn formation, and/or (b) prevent Black from castling queenside. The key moves to do this are e5-e6 and Nf4xg6 (after Black has played … h5). The pawn thrust is especially effective if Black’s bishop has retreated to h7, because e6xf7+ will flush Black’s king out into the open. Also, g4-g5-g6 may come into play. If Black allows the capture on g6, then of course Bd3 or Qd3 targeting the g-pawn is next on White’s agenda.
In lines where Black plays … Ne7, he may have some problems because all of his pieces are in each others’ way. The bishop on g6 is in the way of the knight, the knight on e7 is in the way of the bishop on f8, and the pawn on c6 is in the way of both knights. I like the idea of trying to prevent Black’s freeing move … c6-c5 with Nc3, Be3 and possibly even b2-b4.
Don’t be afraid to sacrifice some material!

In my next post I will discuss the 4. … Bd7 variation again. Ginsburg, in his post, criticizes this move: “Black submits to white’s bully-boy ploy.” Well, yes, that’s right — and it goes perfectly with point (1) above, that 4. g4 is partly a psychological move. Curiously, in my experience and in spite of Ginsburg’s comments, masters almost always play 4. … Bd7. The reason is not that masters are more easily intimidated than amateurs. I think the reason is that masters are more willing to make a temporary concession, in the expectation that over the long term White’s weaknesses will come back to haunt him (and also expecting that the bishop will find greener pastures on the queenside after … c5). The amateur, on the other hand, probably will not even consider playing 4. … Bd7 because it looks like a loss of time and it puts the bishop back behind the pawn chain.

Anyway, if you are going to play Bronstein’s Folly against masters, experience shows that you will often face 4. … Bd7. For that reason it behooves you to be prepared for that move and take it seriously. More on that next time.

Two champs lead Tal Memorial

2009-11-10T20:11:00+00:00

Standings after 5 rounds:

1-2.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2772	3½	2919
1-2.	Anand, Vishy	g	IND	2788	3½	2900
3.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2786	3	2831
4-7.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2801	2½	2761
4-7.	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2739	2½	2765
4-7.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2758	2½	2762
4-7.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2739	2½	2766
8.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2750	2	2701
9-10.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2754	1½	2615
9-10.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2752	1½	2615

Tal Memorial R5: Anand beats Leko, leads with Kramnik

2009-11-10T19:01:01+00:00

Very deep opening preparation and powerful middlegame play brought Viswanathan Anand a deserved victory against Peter Leko today. The World Champion leads the Tal Memorial together with Vladimir Kramnik, who drew with Boris Gelfand - the same result as in the other three games. Ivanchuk played his game against Carlsen ...

Marshall Attack

2009-11-10T18:03:00+00:00

White to move. How should White continue the Kingside attack?

Source: ChessToday.net

Tal Memorial round 5 results

2009-11-10T16:11:00+00:00

Round 5 results:

Boris Gelfand (2) 1/2 (3) Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian (2.5) 1/2 (1.5) Alexander Morozevich
Vishy Anand (2.5) 1-0 (1.5) Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk (2) 1/2 (2) Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler (1) 1/2 (2) Ruslan Ponomariov

Wild stuff between Anand - Leko LIVE

2009-11-10T15:37:00+00:00

Anand,V (2788) - Leko,P (2752) [D43]
Tal Memorial (5), 10.11.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 Bg7 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Bd6 a6 14.a4 e5 15.Bg4 exd4 16.e5 c5 17.Re1 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 0–0 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Ne2 f5 21.Bh5 f4 22.Nxd4 cxd4 23.Re6 Bc8 24.Rg6+ Kh7 25.axb5 Rf6 26.Rxf6 Qxf6 27.Qc2+ Bf5 28.Qxc4 Rc8 29.Qd5 axb5 30. h3 += (Black needs to play 30...Rc7 to defend the 7th rank.)

30...h3 Kh8 31. Qxb5 Rf8 32. Ra6 Qg7 33. Rd6 d3 (I like White's position a lot better. 34. Qc5 here basically puts Black in a zugzwang.)

34. Qb6 (The idea is after 34...Kh7 35. Rc6 threatening 36. Rc7. Black does have 37...Rc8.)

34...Qe5 (Leko is looking at something like this: 35. Rxh6+ Kg7 36. Rd6 Rf6 37. Rxf6 Qxf6 38. Qxf6+ Kxf6 39. Kf1+/-)

35. Bb6 (Here is a quick line off the top of my head 35...d2 36. Bxf5 Qxf5 37. Qd4+ Rf6 38. Rxf6 d1=Q+ 39. Qxd1 Qxf6+/-)

35...d2 36. Bxf5 Qxf5 37. Qd4+ Kh7 38. Qxd2+/- (It is a very difficult position for Black. Not only that he is a pawn down, his King is very vulnerable.)

38...h5 40. Rd5 Qg6 41. Qa5 +- (Black's position is hopeless. It is just a matter of technique from here on in. I don't think Leko's valiant effort to defend this will be successful. The problem is White can attack head on from the Kingside, from the side in the 6th and 5th rank, and from behind in the 8th rank.)

41...Rb7 (Now 42. h4 will be the knockout blow.)

42. h4 +- Qb1+ 43. Kh2 Qxb2 (44.Rd6 and Black can resign 44....Qc2 45. hxg5 1-0)

44. Rxg5 (Anand missed the strongest move 44. Rd6. But this is still an easy win, just more work.)

44...Rxg5 45. Qxg5 (This is a clear win for White. Leko can play on but it is simple a waste of time.) 1-0

Click here to replay the game.

Fischer declined the meeting in Iceland

2009-11-10T15:28:00+00:00

Local man selling Sports Illustrated collection for $2M
Sunday, November 8, 2009 Last updated: Monday November 9, 2009, 4:11 PM
Suburban Trends
STAFF WRITER

Would you pay $2 million for a historic collection of more than 10,000 original copies of almost every Sports Illustrated magazine edition that has ever been published? How about if every cover was signed by the cover star? A local man is selling his entire collection of autographed Sports Illustrated magazines for $1,999,999 on eBay.

Why not just make it a cool $2 million? Scott Smith admits it's a marketing tactic to draw attention to his other online sports memorabilia auctions, but he'd still be willing to sell his entire collection of over 10,000 signed Sports Illustrated copies today for the seven-figure price. His signed collection on its own represents 94 percent of the magazine's history. Mostly, Smith admits, he's trying to drum up publicity for individual edition sales for collectors and fans as the holiday season approaches.

"I don't really expect anyone to give me $2 million, but if it happens," said Smith, "fantastic. I'll be set."

Smith, 44, a New Jersey native who lives in Pompton Plains, has made a profitable hobby out of his autograph-collecting obsession. It started when he was about 8 years old and his father took him to Rangers, Yankees and Mets games and he'd try to get the players' John Hancocks.

"I'd always just hang around and get my notebooks signed as a kid," said Smith. "Then in 1972, my grandma gave me a subscription to Sports Illustrated as a present, and like any packrat at that age, every time another issue would come in the mail, I'd put it in my closet and just build huge stacks."

The first glimpse of Smith's entrepreneurial spirit came about 10 years later, when he "got wind" that the Edmonton Oilers with Wayne Gretzky were staying at a hotel in Hasbrouck Heights. Thinking quickly, he eschewed his usual autograph notebooks and instead brought some of his Sports Illustrated copies for "The Great One" to sign. After that, he decided to put his hobby into overdrive and "take it up a notch."

Smith's hobby has since taken him all over the world in pursuit of sport stars' autographs. He estimates that about 94 percent of his 40,000-plus total Sports Illustrated copies are signed by the cover star, and 99 percent of the autographs he obtained in person. He reckons he's spent between $300,000 and $400,000 on his hobby between travel expenses and purchasing autographed Sports Illustrated copies with deceased cover stars going all the way back to when the magazine was first published in 1954.

His Holy Grail? Chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer's autograph on a Sports Illustrated. The eccentric and tortured genius, who died last year, was on the cover of Sports Illustrated after winning the 1972 World Chess Championship. Getting that autograph proved difficult owing to Fischer's reclusive nature and reluctance to commercialize his success.

Smith even attempted to set up a meeting with Fischer in Iceland, where Fischer lived out the rest of his days after being released in 2005 from a Japanese prison. Fischer had been incarcerated for nine months for attempting to leave Japan with an expired U.S. passport. But Fischer declined the meeting in Iceland, which Smith owes to Fischer's self-awareness of what a controversial figure he had become with his anti-American and anti-Semitic statements.

Here is the full article.

Polgar Chess University

2009-11-10T14:04:00+00:00

Special Bonus: Annual plan includes 1 year of FREE World Chess Live membership!

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I developed the structured curriculum, personally teaching many of the courses along with other top chess players and professional instructors who will be joining the faculty as the school grows. Polgar Chess University is initially offered in this format:

- Courses identified by level - Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced

- Three general courses, one at each level, run concurrently

- Course lessons are prerecorded lectures that may be viewed at your convenience

- A new lesson in each course is offered each week, on Mondays

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Ivanchuk 1/2 Carlsen LIVE Commentary

2009-11-10T12:40:00+00:00

Ivanchuk, V (2739) - Carlsen, M (2801) [A48]
Tal Memorial (5), 10.11.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 (Ivanchuk chose the London system. Perhaps he did not want to face possible novelties from Magnus in the Gruenfeld.)

3...Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 0–0 6.Be2 b6 7.a4 c5 8.c3 Ba6 9.0–0 Qc8 10.Re1 Qb7 11.Bb5 =

11...Bxb5 12. axb5 a6 13. Qe2 axb5 14. Rxa8 Qxa8 15. Qxb5 Na6 (16. Qxb6 cxd4 17. cxd4 Rb8 18. Qa5 Rxb2)

16. Bh2 Qc7 17. Nbd2 Nc7 18. Qb3 (The position is equal. However, I like Black's position a little better.)

18...Ne6 19.Ra1 Rb8 (Some players have a hard time playing with the Black pieces. Magnus seems to do well in this game equalizing very quickly.)

20. Ra3 (The idea of this is to double up the Queen on a2 with the threat of Ra7. A way to stop this is with 20...Qd5. However, I like 20...b5 a little better and then after 21.Qa2 Qd5.)

20...b5 21. Qa2 Qd5 (If 22. Qxd5 Nxd5 23. Ra7 cxd4 24. exd4 =)

22. Qa1 (Ivanchuk wants to keep the Queens on the board to increase his chances of scoring a full point. Wishful thinking though. Both 22...cxd4 and Ne4 are fine for Black. As I mentioned above, even the position is equal, I would prefer Black's position a little better.)

22...Ne4 23. Qa2 Qxa2 24. Rxa2 Nxd2 25. Nxd2 b4 26. Kf1 bxc3 27. bxc3 cxd4 28. cxd4 (This game is clearly heading toward a draw soon.)

28...Nc7 29. Ra5 f5 30. g4 Rb5 = 31. Rxb5 (In this level, neither side has any practical chances on winning whatsoever.) 1/2

Click here to replay the game.

AQUAPROFIT-POLGÁR SAKKNAP

2009-11-10T12:39:00+00:00

AQUAPROFIT-POLGÁR SAKKNAP
IMMÁRON A HARMADIK!

Immáron harmadjára kerül megrendezésre a méltán népszerű Aquaprofit-Polgár Sakknap, mely minden sakkbarát számára az év eseményének számít. A híres olimpiai bajnok Polgár-nővérek évente csak egyszer lépnek hármasban a nagyközönség elé és játszanak száztáblás szimultánt kihívóikkal.

Idén is az Aquaprofit Zrt. szervezésében mérkőzhetnek meg a sakkozni vágyók november 13-án, pénteken a Magyar Telekom székházában (1013 Budapest, Krisztina krt. 55.).

Az Aquaprofit Zrt. évek óta a magyar sakkélet meghatározó támogatója, hazánk egyik legerősebb sakkcsapatának, a nagykanizsai sakkcsapatnak a névadó szponzora. Ezen kívül minden évben megrendezi a nagysikerű Aquaprofit-Polgár sakknapot lehetővé téve, hogy újra közösen játshasson hazánkban a világhírű testvérhármas. Ezt a hagyományt szeretnénk idén is folytatni.

A világ különböző pontjairól érkező Polgár-lányok idén összesen 99 táblán játszanak majd egyszerre az ellenfelekkel (mindnyájan 33-33 táblán). A tervek szerint több mint száz vállalkozó kedvű játékos jut lehetőséghez a szimultánon. Az esemény iránt óriási az érdeklődés, a jelentkezők száma már most meghaladta a 200-at. Annyi bizonyos: fiatal tehetségek, profi sakkozók, színészek, újságírók fognak az asztalhoz ülni.

A programot különleges játszma elemzések, sakk-komédia és a már megszokott száz táblás szimultán mellett Judit snell partijai szinesítik majd, ezen túl vendégeink nyeremény sorsolásokon vehetnek részt és filmvetítéseken kapcsolódhatnak ki. A belépés az idei évben is díjtalan.

http://www.aquaprofit.com/sakknap/index.php?oldal=sakknap2009.php

Spanish Dance

2009-11-10T12:29:00+00:00

Leeam Polgar practicing piano at home. The song title is Spanish Dance.

One of the best books on tactics ever!

2009-11-10T11:00:52+00:00

We have just received: Chess Tactics for Advanced Players In this superb book on tactics, which was originally published in 1984, the well-known Russian grandmaster and author Yuri Averbakh expounds his approach on studying this crucial aspect of the game. In the first part of this book, Averbakh demonstrates the ...

Four-way tie in Bad Wiessee

2009-11-10T10:00:47+00:00

This year's Bavaria Championship in Bad Wiessee ended in a four-way tie between Viorel Iordachescu, Vitaly Kunin, Abhijeet Gupta and Gerald Hertneck. The four grandmasters ended on 7.5; Iordachescu had the best tiebreak. The 13th Open Bavaria Chess Championship took place October 31-November 8 in Bad Wiessee, Germany, about 50 km ...

Overnight chess tactic

2009-11-10T08:44:00+00:00

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Tal Memorial resumes

2009-11-10T08:39:00+00:00

Round 5 pairings

Boris Gelfand (2) - (3) Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian (2.5) - (1.5) Alexander Morozevich
Vishy Anand (2.5) - (1.5) Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk (2) - (2) Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler (1) - (2) Ruslan Ponomariov

Standings after 4 rounds:

1.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2772	3
2-3.	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2788	2½
2-3.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2786	2½
4-7.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2801	2
4-7.	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2739	2
4-7.	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2758	2
4-7.	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2739	2
8-9.	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2752	1½
8-9.	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2750	1½
10.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2754	1

Your prediction?

Candid interview with Danailov

2009-11-10T06:52:00+00:00

Danailov about Magnus Carlsen, the match Topalov - Anand, Linares 2010, and the Canary islands
Interview for gong.bg
Presented by Chessdom.com

Silvio Danailov, the manager of the ex World Champion Veselin Topalov, gave an extensive interview for Radio Gong. Chessdom.com brings you exclusively the translation of the interview. Note that the English translation is of the audio version, as it includes more details and important nuances, that are omitted or wrongfully transcribed in the text version.

Mr. Danailov, is the calendar year over for Veselin Topalov?

Yes, the games in Novi Sad were the last of Topalov for this year, from now on we concentrate on Topalov's preparation for the match with Anand.Topalov is first in the FIDE rating list.

This is our goal since the World Championship title in 2005, Topalov to be number one at the FIDE rating list and at the same time. The first is already achieved and now we have to aim at the WCC match in Sofia.

Magnus Carlsen is second only 9 points behind Topalov, Anand is third. Any surprises for you in top 3?

Since Carlsen started working with Kasparov, he is progressing as expected. At this moment he has to deal with the psychological pressure to be only 9 points from the top. He is young and talanted, it is expected for him to become number 1 at some point.

Regarding Anand, he is resting on his past success. He is almost not playing now. Let's not forget he is 40 years old now and it is difficult for him to keep the pace of the younger players. At his age there is not much energy and he is reserving it. The main thing for him is to keep the title, as it gives him privileges.

There is more than half an year to the match, do you expect "blows below the waist"?

I suppose that in the next six months from Anand's team will make everything possible to require unfulfillable conditions during the negotiations for the contract for the match, in order to make us nervous. They believe the match is more important to us, but in any case the match will take place and no matter what they do, they missed their chance. They could make a bid for India, which to be better than ours. For sure there will be caprises from their side. We have gone, however, through Elista, where it was much more difficult, so we are ready.

The dates for the match are 5th to 24th of April Sofia?

The dates are not sure yet, 5th to 24th of April is the desire of FIDE because Kirsan Ilymzhinov's birthday is April 5th, and the the President of FIDE wouldlike his birthday to coincide with the start of the match. However, as far as I know, Anand has already requested a change of date for the end of April. FIDE will try to convince him for the initial dates, but anyhow it does not matter. If Anand is firm in his position and does not want to give in, the match can also start in the end of April.

Ilymzhinov likes Bulgaria, several times an year he visits Vanga's grave and draws energy from there. I expect the final date to be announced during the coming visit of Kirsan Ilymzhinov in Bulgaria in December (the date is still to be confirmed), which is for the signing of the contract and a meeting with the Prime Minister Boiko Borisov.

What are the plans for Topalov's preparation?

Currently we are selecting coaches and seconds for Topalov. After that we will have training sessions in Spain, they will be in November, December, and January. As he needs practice, for sure he will participate in the Linares 2010 tournament from 13th to 25th of February. There is a theoretical chance that he participates in Monte Carlo as well, but that depends on the dates of the match with Anand.

There will be new names in Topalov's camp, for now I will keep them secret. It is always good to have motivated people and new ideas, We will have a doctor, psychologist, nutritionist, fitnes instructor. Of course there will be 7 to 10 days rest between the sessions, we will send him to the Canary Islands to regain energy.

What is the role of the nutritionist?

The nutritionist makes a special selection of food and a diet for Topalov. Some foods cannot be mixed, and so on. Such diet begins at least two months before the competition. This is in all sports, not just in chess. Before chess was considered to be only mental sport, but it turns out that without serrious physical preparation it is difficult to endure a whole game. In a match like the World championship every detailcounts.

Currently you are in Spain, how do you evaluate the performance of the team at the ETCC in Novi Sad?

It is a bad performance, the chess team resembles the soccer one, we have one or two good players, and we need at least five. I will rely on Kiprian Berbatov for the future, we had desire to include him in the team, but decided suchstep is premature.

Cheparinov is also not in good form, if Cheparinov, Topalov, and Beebatov play next year we have more chances, but unfortunatelly that is what we have for now, the people that participated do not have the needed class for something more serious.

Topalov has always played for Bulgaria, always with good scores. However, before we had chances for medals, now most teams gained speed, and when there are no chances for medals he is less motivated. In any case he always defends the honor of Bulgaria.

General Trivia

2009-11-10T06:26:00+00:00

Can you name this (chess playing) celebrity?

Additional FB account

2009-11-10T06:21:00+00:00

Since my first Facebook account has reached the limit of 5,000 friends, I just created an additional account.

http://www.facebook.com/susanpolgar?ref=name#/profile.php?id=100000495666304&ref=nf

Tal Memorial 09: Lost Grunfeld Weekend

2009-11-10T04:09:16+00:00

Apologies to Ray Milland. It's not easy being Peter Svidler. Everybody knows he's going to play the Grunfeld and yet he still does quite well with it. The drawbacks of not surprising anyone is compensated for by being the leading expert and by developing an uncanny, or perhaps just canny, feel for the positions. This argument between breadth and depth has a long history in chess, of course. Walter Browne was married to the Najdorf and occasionally suffered a loss to a much weaker player who had cooked up something nasty. That doesn't happen to Svidler, but sometimes his Grunfeld looks like a big target on his back. His weekend at the Tal Memorial consisted of defending the honor of the Grunfeld on back to back days against world champion Anand and his predecessor Kramnik. Not a fun way to spend your weekend.

Both games were sharp and violent. Kramnik came prepared with yet another novelty from his deep stockpile. 12.h4 demonstrates what seems to be a trend toward direct kingside attacking plans against the popular defense. Ponomariov-Aronian, Anand-Svidler, and yesterday Kramnik left his king in the center and threw his h-pawn forward. It's always nice when hyper-sophisticated super-GM play breaks down into simple themes, even when it's really just an illusion. The quick attack on the kingside looks like a logical counter to the off-sides positions of the black knight on a6 and the black queen on a5. They end up spectating for quite a long while. Svidler took a long time considering his reply and responded in true Grunfeld fashion, opening lines with 12..f5. It still looked very precarious, though GM de Firmian on Chess.FM thought Black had come through the worst when Svidler found the counter-intuitive 16..Bxh6! That gave Black time to get his pieces back in the game. Unfortunately for Svidler, he picked the wrong piece to rehab first. 18..Qa4? was met with the wonderfully subtle and powerful 19.Qe3! Svidler must have missed the strength of the queen move because it forced him to swap queens and go into a dismal pawn-down endgame that Kramnik converted with his usual steamroller efficiency. 18..Nc7 was the right way to get back on defense, although the complications are alarming. 19.Bc4 b5! (19..Rdd6 runs into 20.Qe3 again.) 20.Nc6 Qa4 21.Bxb5 (21.Nxd8?! Qxc4 is dangerous for White.) 21..Qxb5 22.Nxd8 Qd7 23.Nb7 Qb5 and the knight must go back to d8.

The win put Kramnik into clear first on +2 and he's looking very good indeed. The other four games were drawn, so Anand and Aronian stay in the chase at +1. Carlsen, Ponomariov, Gelfand, and Ivanchuk have drawn all four games. Carlsen is still quite ill with a throat infection and fever, but has steadfastly declined to entertain the thought of exiting the tournament. If a player is contagious should the organizers take steps? Just wondering, since so much is going on around here these days to combat H1N1. I doubt anything will be done, especially since Carlsen has already faced Kramnik, Russian Chess Federation honcho Bakh's main concern! Leko and Morozevich are on -1 and Svidler has the cellar alone with -2. There are now five rounds on the trot. Mark your calendars now for round seven on Thursday, which sees Aronian-Kramnik.

Ponomariov got little against Anand's Grunfeld, partly thanks to a petite tactic that, it turns out, was already played once this year by Anand's countryman Negi. 16..Nc4 apparently wasn't known to either Pono or the world champ, who invested considerable time. Negi played the shot against the Russian GM Maletin at the Chigorin Memorial a few weeks ago in St. Petersburg. It seems to equalize quite handily. Morozevich and Gelfand gave it a go in an unusual reversed Sicilian for a good long time and things got exciting in time trouble, but the balance was never disturbed. Leko-Ivanchuk was one of the few disappointing draws of the tournament so far. Ivanchuk parried Leko's attack well but Nick thought there was still plenty of action on the board when the draw was agreed on move 27. Carlsen played the Immune Defense against Aronian, taking it easy with the white pieces. Aronian managed to stir up a few brief flurries but it was clear Carlsen just wanted to get back to bed, which he achieved in 32 moves. The conclusion is actually quite witty and worth a look. Swap like a Grandmaster!

I'll be on with the inimitable Larry Christiansen bright and early for round five: Gelfand-Kramnik, Aronian-Morozevich, Ivanchuk-Carlsen, Anand-Leko, Svidler-Ponomariov.

Iceland: Fischer's estate, his final resting place

2009-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

The chess legend Bobby Fischer died in Iceland on January 17, 2008. He was buried in the compound of a church in Selfoss, 60 km from the capital Reykjavik. Since then there has been a battle over his estate, which is claimed by his nephews Alexander and Nicholas Targ. Now the Reykjavik Discrict Court has ruled in favour of Fischer's lawfully wedded wife, Miyoko Watai. Pictorial report.

ACIS: bold as love

2009-11-09T20:28:00+00:00

Or ACIS of evil. Or ACIS in the hole.Any way you pun it, Adult Chess Improvement Seekers (ACIS) are a staple of the blogoshere, and aren't going away. Also, it is quite clear that the Knights Errant aren't big enough to contain the blogosphere's burgeoning mass of people scrambling to improve. The Circles are cool and all, but the Knights Errant have pretty much died.There are googles more paths

Monday chess tactic

2009-11-09T19:46:00+00:00

White to move. How should White proceed?

2k1rb1r/1p3p2/1Q4n1/2p1Pp2/1pP3q1/1P2BpP1/P4PbP/R2R2K1 w - - 0 1

Magnus blogs from Moscow

2009-11-09T19:31:00+00:00

Moscow, November 8th 2009, Tal Memorial Round 4

People say top chess is becoming younger, but it doesn’t show in the top 10. We’re only 3 players below 30 in this tournament. The Armenian Levon Aronian (27), may very well be my fiercest competitor when the “old” guard retires. We’ve had several tense encounters already and after he eliminated me from both the World Cup in 2004 (I was just 13) and the World Championship Candidate Matches in 2007, I’ve won quite a number of games to have a positive score in our classical encounters.

Today I was not in much of a fighting mood and was quite happy to play a relatively short but somewhat complicated drawn game against him despite having the white pieces. I’m starting to feel somewhat better this evening after a few days with a sore throat and also fever. Tomorrow is a rest day and I hope to be back in good shape for round 5 on Tuesday. Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik won again and is leading with 3 out of 4. I’m still shared 4th with a 50% score.

Magnus Carlsen
2009-11-08 21:03:45

Moscow, November 7th 2009, Tal Memorial Round 3

After some snow this morning we had a rainy day in Moscow. I played black against Boris Gelfand from Israel (born and raised in Belarus). At 41 he is the oldest player in the field. My opening preparation worked well and at the crucial point Boris had to choose between a complicated game with chances for both sides and simplifications leading to a slightly better position for me. He chose the latter, but I soon concluded that my marginal advantage was insufficient to create serious winning chances. We traded off more material and entered a dead equal ending. Draw.

At this level it is not easy to win with black unless white complicates the game or makes some serious mistakes. My main competitors Anand, Aronian and Kramnik all used the opportunity to win and they are sharing the lead with 2 points out of 3. I'm sharing 4th at 1,5 points and will have white against Aronian Sunday.

Magnus Carlsen
2009-11-07 21:09:50

Source: http://www.arcticsec.no/index.php

Special thanks to a Norwegian fan from Norway for sending us the information.

Another chess union

2009-11-09T18:53:00+00:00

The bridal pair (middle), with former Ukrainian champion Valery Aveskulov and his girlfriend

Ukrainian grandmaster Pavel Eljanov (2729) married Ukrainian WIM Olena Dvoretska.

ChessBase has full information here.

The new GM-in-residence in St. Louis

2009-11-09T18:12:00+00:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHESS CLUB AND SCHOLASTIC CENTER OF SAINT LOUIS ADDS GM-IN-RESIDENCE

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 9, 2009 -- The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

has hired Grandmaster (GM) Ben Finegold as its first GM-in-residence. As GM-in-residence, Finegold will give weekly lectures, provide lessons to members and others, teach summer camps and work with the club’s scholastic program.

Finegold is expected to start shortly after New Year’s. The Detroit native, who now lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., will move to St. Louis to work at the club full time.

Few chess clubs have full-time GMs-in-residence.

“It’s another sign that our club in St. Louis is one of the premiere institutions in the country,” said Tony Rich executive director of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. “It’s going to help raise the level of play in St. Louis and encourage other titled players to come to St. Louis.”

Finegold, 40, is one of the top 25 ranked players in the United States. He has played in six U.S. Chess Championships and twice tied for first in the U.S. Open Chess Championship.

Known for his good nature and self-effacing style, Finegold provided expert commentary during the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship held last month at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

That appearance convinced Chess Club officials that Finegold would be an ideal GM-in-residence.

“He’s easy to get along with,” Rich said. “Sometimes you have a good teacher and sometimes you have a good chess player. It’s not often those things overlap in the same person. He’s the right person to teach any level of chess player.”

Finegold said his main task will be turning out stronger chess players from the St. Louis area.

“Probably 50 to 60 percent will be giving private lessons in the club,” he said.

Abhijeet finishes joint leader in Bad Wiessee

2009-11-09T16:51:00+00:00

Abhijeet finishes joint leader in Bad Wiessee
Press Trust of India
STAFF WRITER 19:9 HRS IST

Bad Wiessee (Germany) Nov 9 (PTI) Former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta finished as the joint leader after drawing his final round game against Grandmaster Vitali Kunin of Russia in the International Open chess tournament here.

Abhijeet finished with a tally of 7.5 points in all, winning six and drawing the remaining three games. He stands to gain important rating points from his performance here which will take him to the coveted 2600 ELO rating mark.

It was a four-way tie at the top and when it was resolved, GM Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova was declared the winner on better Bucholz count.

Kunin, Abhijeet and Gerald Hertnek of Germany finishing in that order. Over 400 players including 20 Grandmasters participated in the annual event.

Source: http://www.ptinews.com

Austrian Chess Bundesliga

2009-11-09T15:35:00+00:00

Austrian Chess Bundesliga starts with interesting results
Sparkasse Jenbach takes the lead
Report by Chessdom.com

The first three rounds of the Austrian Chess Bundesliga 2009 / 2010 were played from 6th to 8th of November. Three straight wins with a sensational 16,0/18 game points gave Sparkasse Jenbach the lead. GM Zoltan Gyimesi lead the team of Jenbach scoring 2,5/3, while GM Schlosser on board two had a perfect 3,0/3.

With two match wins and a draw are the teams of Sparkasse Fürstenfeld (with GM Igor Kurnosov 2,5/3 on board 1), Holz Dohr (with GM Georg Meier 2,5/ on board 1), Styria Graz (with GM Thomas Luther 1,5/3 on board 1), and SK Advisory Invest Baden (1,5/3 on board 1).

Besides GM Schlosser, there are two more players with perfect score in the first weekend of the Austrian Bundesliga - GM Peter Wells and GM Zoltan Ribli, both for Styria Graz. Multiple surprising results were seen during the first rounds. The 2700 club participant GM Eljanov was defeated by GM Kurnosov and held to a draw by GM Ragger. GM Kurnosov was held to a draw by the experienced Austrian IM Valery Atlas, while GM Kuzubov and GM Balogh drew all their games.

Here is the full article with results and pics.

Updated LIVE ratings

2009-11-09T13:06:00+00:00

Rank	Name	Rating	Change	# games
01	Topalov	2805,1	-4,9	4
02	Carlsen	2799,1	-1,9	4
03	Anand	2790,9	+2,9	4
04	Aronian	2783,1	-2,9	12
05	Kramnik	2782,0	+10	4
06	Gashimov	2766,6	+8,6	9
07	Gelfand	2758,1	+0,1	4
08	Morozevich	2751,4	+1,4	10
09	Leko	2747,4	-4,6	4
10	Svidler	2744,7	-9,3	14
11	Ponomariov	2740,7	+1,7	4
12	Ivanchuk	2740,1	+1,1	4
13	Eljanov	2739,7	+10,7	8
14	Radjabov	2738,4	-9,6	9
15	Wang Yue	2738,2	+4,2	2
16	Grischuk	2736,0	0	0
17	Vachier-Lagrave	2727,6	+9,6	15
18	Mamedyarov	2725,7	+6,7	9
19	Jakovenko	2725,1	-10,9	7
20	Karjakin	2723,0	0	0
21	Shirov	2721,5	+2,5	11
22	Dominguez	2719,0	0	0
22	Movsesian	2719,0	+1	2
24	Nakamura	2715,0	0	0
25	Navara	2714,6	+7,6	9
26	Tomashevsky	2711,7	+3,7	8
27	Almasi	2709,8	+5,8	7
28	Wang Hao	2709,6	+1,6	3
29	Vallejo	2708,7	-2,3	8
30	Short	2707,0	0	0
31	Alekseev	2706,7	-8,3	7
32	Malakhov	2705,5	-0,5	3
33	Bacrot	2705,0	+5	8
33	Kasimdzhanov	2705,0	0	0

Source: http://chess.liverating.org

Youngsters show enthusiasm for chess

2009-11-09T12:22:00+00:00

Youngsters show enthusiasm for chess
By Nicole Plascencia
KCBY News

COQUILLE, Ore.- While it doesn't seem likely that elementary aged school school kids would have any interest in chess, it's quite the opposite, youngsters showed a lot of enthusiasm for the game before their competitive rounds began Saturday morning.

"One of the kids was trying to come here and the mom said, oh that game is for old people but fortunately he came because it is a game for young people as well, it's very stimulating for the mind, it's puzzle solving and help people with math and science scores," says Nancy Keller of the game.

Director of the tournament and coach for the Coquille chess club Nancy Keller says there were 11 beginners at Saturday's tournament, with a total of about 30 kids playing all together.

While the kids are competing, Keller says it's not quite the same as other competitive sports, "the hard part is this game you can't go and get cheered on, everyone has to be quiet... so you don't get the enthusiastic support you get like at the basketball games."

Keller encourages anyone, including adults to participate if they are interested.

Source: http://www.kcby.com

Marshall's Italian Legacy of d7-d5

2009-11-09T11:39:00+00:00

Frank James Marshall was known for his risky and uncompromising opening play, especially in the Open Games, where he often insisted on playing an early d7-d5 push as Black even if it meant playing a gambit. His legacy continues to interest players today, especially in the Marshall Gambit against the Spanish but also in an early d7-d5 advance against the Italian or Giuoco Piano, which players continue to try in various forms. Though the early d5 push in the Italian game is often frowned upon by theory, some recent games show that it is not as bad as they say and definitely creates many problems for White. We take as our example the game Garnelis - Brunello, World Junior Championship 2009 which opened 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.O-O d5! 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 (see diagram above) and continued like the famous game Leonhardt - Marshall, Barmen 1905 (which we examine in the notes). Due to White's pressure on the e-pawn, Black will have to sacrifice it. But he is able to induce weaknesses in White's camp (chiefly by 8...Bg4, inducing h3 and g4) that provide sufficient compensation. Sabino Brunello has played the d-pawn push many times before with success. His games (and those of at least one of his chessplaying siblings) feature in our analysis. You can examine the game and notes online or download the PGN to do your own analysis with a computer.

Early risers chess tactic

2009-11-09T11:37:00+00:00

Black to move. How should Black proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Linex-Magic wins third Spanish title

2009-11-09T11:00:49+00:00

Last year CajaCanarias (Tenerife) won the Spanish Championship after a nail-biting finish, but this weekend Linex-Magic won back the national title. It was the third cup for the team from Mérida, and match winner was Fabiano Caruana, who scored the only victory in the final. Photo courtesy of Linex-Magic This weekend the ...

Tal Memorial Round 5

2009-11-09T07:54:00+00:00

Round 5 matchups:

Boris Gelfand (2)	-	(3) Vladimir Kramnik
Levon Aronian (2.5)	-	(1.5) Alexander Morozevich
Vishy Anand (2.5)	-	(1.5) Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk (2)	-	(2) Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler (1)	-	(2) Ruslan Ponomariov

Anand Interview

2009-11-09T07:10:00+00:00

Interview with Anand during Tal Memorial
Anand speaks for Radio Mayak
Presented by Chessdom.com

How do you find the Tal Memorial

Viswanathan Anand: Generally, the composition of the tournament is impressive. Incredibly strong composition. I am sure this tournament will be remembered in the chess history, I have not seen so many strong grandmasters gathered in one place. I am expecting a difficult struggle literarly in every game. I believe this is the strongest tournament of the year.

The Russian chess school, how to explain the recent failures?

Viswanathan Anand: No, I think that Russia is still one of the strongest chess powers on the planet, I am certain of this. It is just that now learning chess has become easier for people from around the world and therefore it is easier to compete against Russians. But I think that at the last European Team Championship Russians were simply unlucky - they couldn't win the last win and took only silver medal. I am sure that your country is still one of the best, although now there is no domination of Russian players.

About world championship cycle?

Viswanathan Anand: Well, actually I played with various systems, in matches and tournaments, and it is not easy to form an opinion. Probably it is better to have matches, although, perhaps, there is no fundamental difference. I think that it is very important that the chess world is finally united and that there is only one world champion. It is very important because earlier we didn't have single answer to the question - who is world chess champion. This was great obstacle for the promotion of the sport and for finding sponsors, and it even hampered organization of tournaments and other events. So the most important thing is that chess world is united.

On the inclusion of chess into the Olympic family?

Viswanathan Anand: Yes, that would be great, if possible, of course. Because in many countries an Olympic sport receives much more in funding. But in many places chess is not considered to be sport, and this is another obstacle before we are ready for the Olympic appearance.
Frankly, I don't know which stage was reached in the talks with the International Olympic Committee. I think it would be great if chess could join the Olympic family.

Your future plans

Viswanathan Anand: After Tal Memorial I will play in the blitz tournament, then go to India. And then I don't know, I'll go on vacation. But in any case, going home to native people is always a pleasure, already that is a holiday for me.

Author - Elmira Mirzoeva. Full interview (Russian language)

Tiger vs Phil on the board

2009-11-09T06:46:00+00:00

KING ME OR SOMETHING!

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson compete on the board prior to the start of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China.

Source: GolfChannel.com Team

Final MVP: Fabiano Caruana

2009-11-09T06:45:00+00:00

Linex Magic wins the Spanish Club Chess Championship 2009
Fabiano Caruana a major contribution to the victory in the final
Report by Chessdom.com

Linex Magic won the Spanish CECLUB Chess Championship in a hard fought final against Marcote - Kasparov. All games of the final finished in a draw, except for the one of Caruana - Graf, where the Italian pressed from start to the end and used every mistake of his opponent.

On the top table Shirov and Gashimov protagonized one of the most interesting games of the day. The position quickly became disbalanced and Gashimov got a slight advantage. However, slight inaccuracies around move 30 equalized the position on the board. With active play both players tried to find a way to the victory, but finally Shirov defended well to get the draw.

Candelario was offered an early queen exchange by Salgado, offered a draw and the game finished peacefully. Vallejo and Adams were one of the first to shake hands after a 22 moves draw. Near the same time Milov and Cheparinov also headed for the same score with a rook and pawns ending. Just before the time control, Inarkiev and Sargissian went for a perpetual to increase the tention even more.

Caruana started to build positional advantage early in the game. With a nice knight exchange for two pawns on 30. Nxd5 Caruana achieved a very active position. While looking for a way out, Graf made a blunder with 32... Na7, losing a full bishop and practically deciding the outcome of the game. Graf's position was hopeless and with the attempt to activate the knight 39... Nb5 he walked into a mate that Caruana did not miss.

To replay all games go to the Live games arena and click on the Spanish CECLUB tab. The information about yesterday's semi final is here.

1 GM Shirov Alexei 2718 1/2 GM Gashimov Vugar 2768
2 GM Adams Michael 2698 1/2 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2687
3 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2668 1/2 GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2645
4 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2671 1/2 GM Milov Vadim 2652
5 GM Caruana Fabiano 2654 1-0 GM Graf Alexander 2596
6 IM Perez Candelario Manuel 2512 1/2 GM Salgado Lopez 2550

Abby Marshall

2009-11-09T06:44:00+00:00

Newport News teen ranks as a celebrity — and a master — in the chess world

By Mark St. John Erickson
November 9, 2009

Young Abby Marshall may look a lot like the rocking teenage girl next door.

But underneath her trademark T-shirt beats the heart of warrior — one whose remarkable displays of grit, cunning and ferocity on the 64-square battleground of chess have generated international admiration.

Just this past summer, the 18-year-old Warwick High School girl became the first female to win the hotly contested Denker Tournament of High School Champions, which serves as the nation's high school championship.

She's also a two-time winner of the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, where her strong, attacking style of play and her clever, tongue-in-cheek blog first began to attract global attention in the world of chess.

Google the name "Abby Marshall" and chess, in fact, and you'll discover a host of Web sites that cover her matches like those of a sports celebrity — with interviews, pictures and comments from fans, including one describing this "badass" devotee of the much-maligned King's Gambit opening move as a "chess hero."

Over the past four years, she's repaid that attention with some blistering tournament victories, pushing her performance-based player rating past the magical "2,200" points needed to ranks as a national chess master.

This week, Marshall will join the national team for her second trip to the World Youth Chess Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, where she hopes to win a few more points toward her goal of becoming a Grand Master.

Here's what she had to say when we caught up with her just before her departure:

DP: Abby, you started playing chess competitively in kindergarten. But you didn't make the leap from learning to lethal for several years. When did you discover you might be pretty good?

Abby: When I won fourth place in the nationals in fifth grade, I realized it was a big deal. And in 7th grade when I won the nationals — and then the Polgar — it cemented my reputation as a rising player.

DP: You study or practice chess every day. You've traveled all over the country, not to mention long trips to China and Turkey, to play tournaments. What makes chess so interesting to you?

Abby: I really like the game. I like solving difficult problems under pressure. I like seeing the depth and complexity unfold. It's a cool experience — and it has this kind of intensity that I don't get anywhere else. It has some nice travel perks, too.

DP: What's your best moment since you started attracting so much attention?

Abby: I want to say winning the Denker this summer. Everybody made a big deal because I was the first girl to do it. But it's really the first nationals I won in the seventh grade. I beat a kid who'd been at the top every year I went for five years, and he was considered invincible. It was a big surprise because I was seeded fifth — and everybody else was ranked so much higher than me.

DP: Your first coach describes your open, tactical style of play as "a fighting game." He singles you out for your "grit and resolve," plus "forcing moves that can be explosive, even wild and strange." What do you see when you play?

Abby: "I don't see the individual pieces as much as the patterns and configurations they make on the board. And once you get really good, those patterns and configurations can tell you what your opponent's plan is going to be — and what you'll be able do. Calculating the sequences of moves is easy. It's the plan or strategy that's hard. And when it gets to the end game, you have to be precise, fast and smart. You have to make sure that what you want to do happens faster than what your opponent wants."

DP: Part of your appeal in the chess world is your honesty and wit as a tournament blogger. Did you know how much people would like your descriptions of the ups and downs, the role of luck and even the goofiness that can happen in a four-hour match?

Abby: They wanted me to make it chatty — and it was very easy. There's always a lot of stuff to talk about. So I tried to make my experience fun and relatable. I tried to make it personal. But I didn't expect people to like it so much."

DP: What's next?

Abby: "Eighteen is old — like real old — in chess. So my childhood career is over. But since I won the Denker and moved up to master, I've been telling people I want to be a grand master — and that's 2,600 points. So I still have a long way to go. The other thing is that the strongest American-born female player is only about 100 points in front of me. I hope to surpass that — and raise the level of American chess. There are all these 10-year-old girls out there who are really, really good — ridiculously good — and it would be really cool to show them how far they could go.

Abby Marshall
Position: Chess master

Home: Newport News

Age: 18

Source: http://www.dailypress.com

Alsina leads Barcelona

2009-11-09T06:30:00+00:00

Ronda 7 el 08.11.2009 a las 16,00
SNo.		Nombre	Elo	Res.		Nombre	Elo	SNo.
4	GM	Dreev Alexey	2655	1 - 0	GM	Andersson Ulf	2582	10
5	GM	Magem Badals Jordi	2564	½ - ½	IM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2523	3
6	GM	Tregubov Pavel V	2642	1 - 0	GM	Fier Alexandr	2653	2
7	GM	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	2589	½ - ½	GM	Almeida Quintana Omar	2542	1
8	GM	Narciso Dublan Marc	2510	1 - 0	GM	Peralta Fernando	2557	9

Ronda 6 el 07.11.2009 a las 16,00
SNo.		Nombre	Elo	Res.		Nombre	Elo	SNo.
10	GM	Andersson Ulf	2582	0 - 1	GM	Narciso Dublan Marc	2510	8
9	GM	Peralta Fernando	2557	½ - ½	GM	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	2589	7
1	GM	Almeida Quintana Omar	2542	1 - 0	GM	Tregubov Pavel V	2642	6
2	GM	Fier Alexandr	2653	0 - 1	GM	Magem Badals Jordi	2564	5
3	IM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2523	1 - 0	GM	Dreev Alexey	2655	4

Ronda 5 el 06.11.2009 a las 16,00
SNo.		Nombre	Elo	Res.		Nombre	Elo	SNo.
3	IM	Alsina Leal Daniel	2523	½ - ½	GM	Andersson Ulf	2582	10
4	GM	Dreev Alexey	2655	½ - ½	GM	Fier Alexandr	2653	2
5	GM	Magem Badals Jordi	2564	1 - 0	GM	Almeida Quintana Omar	2542	1
6	GM	Tregubov Pavel V	2642	0 - 1	GM	Peralta Fernando	2557	9
7	GM	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	2589	½ - ½	GM	Narciso Dublan Marc	2510	8

Standings after 7 rounds:

SNo.	Nombre	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts
1	Almeida Quintana Omar	CUB	*	½	0	0	0	1	½			½	2½
2	Fier Alexandr	BRA	½	*	0	½	0	0			½	0	1½
3	Alsina Leal Daniel	ESP	1	1	*	1	½			½	½	½	5
4	Dreev Alexey	RUS	1	½	0	*			0	½	1	1	4
5	Magem Badals Jordi	ESP	1	1	½		*	½	0	½	½		4
6	Tregubov Pavel V	RUS	0	1			½	*	½	1	0	½	3½
7	Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel	ESP	½			1	1	½	*	½	½	½	4½
8	Narciso Dublan Marc	ESP			½	½	½	0	½	*	1	1	4
9	Peralta Fernando	ARG		½	½	0	½	1	½	0	*		3
10	Andersson Ulf	SWE	½	1	½	0		½	½	0		*	3

Official website: http://www.escacs.cat/ciutat09

Kramnik Surges Ahead at Tal Memorial

2009-11-09T02:29:59+00:00

Vladimir Kramnik leads elite tournament in Moscow.

Setting Up a Breakaway Fed

2009-11-09T01:07:00+00:00

Talk of a breakaway national chess body that will replace the Australian Chess Federation pop up now and then, mostly these days in local online chess forums. But they are mostly that: talk and more talking. This is because a breakaway is, quite frankly, unrealistic.

For a rival body (to the ACF) to succeed, it would require popular support. Plus, the conditions that make a breakway popular simply do not exist, other than perhaps in the minds of a handful of disgruntled chessers. They know who they are.

Well, if anyone out there wants to set up a new Australian national chess fed, you could take a few tips from the so-called Chess Association of India. The CAI isn't recognised at any level, but they know exactly how to attract attention: lure people with money.

There's more from the Hindustan Times.

GM vs Amateur

2009-11-09T01:00:00+00:00

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Gong interview with Silvio Danailov

2009-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

"Veselin will rest on the Canary Islands, Anand rests on old laurels," is the title of the telephone interview by the Topalov manager in the Bulgarian sports newspaper Gong. Danailov expects that in the six months before the World Championship match in Sofia "the team of Anand will do everything possible to make us nervous." But they are ready, steeled by experience in Elista. Highlights.

The secrets of a top grandmaster

2009-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

On the latest Elo rating list we find Pavel Eljanov at 2729 Elo points on place 17. In the live rankings, with his extraordinary European Team Championship results evaluated, he is number 11 in the world. The Ukrainian GM has been climbing steadly since April. His secret: enormous talent, hard work – and marriage! We bring you a photo report and an annotated brilliancy by Pavel Eljanov.