I expect to see more upsets in this round. The most interesting matches are Socko - Hoang, Paehtz - Ushenina, Matveeva - Xu, Chmilyte - N. Kosintseva, Harika - Muzychuk, and T. Konsintseva - Zatonskih. Due to the withdrawal of 11 players, Koneru and Kosteniuk will get a bye in round 2 and they will go directly to round 3.

Women’s World Championship - Round 2 - Match 01

RUS Matveeva, Svetlana 2412 - CHN Xu, Yuhua 2483
IND Koneru, Humpy 2622 2-0 Walkover (advances to round 3)
MGL Mongontuul, Bathuyang 2406 - CHN Hou, Yifan 2557
BUL Stefanova, Antoaneta 2550 - CHN Ju, Wenjun 2389
CHN Tan, Zongyi 2387 - SWE Cramling, Pia 2544
POL Gasik, Anna 2211 - ARM Mkrtchian, Lilit 2436
CHN Shen, Yang 2445 - CHN Zhao, Xue 2522
RUS Kosintseva, Tatjana 2511 - USA Zatonskih, Anna 2446
RUS Kosteniuk, Aleksandra 2510 2-0 Walkover (advances to round 3)
LTU Chmilyte, Viktorija 2508 - RUS Kosintseva, Nadezhda 2460
IND Harika, Dronavalli 2461 -SLO Muzychuk, Anna 2504
CHN Ruan, Lufei 2499 - ARG Amura, Claudia 2345
UKR Gaponenko, Inna 2468 - USA Rohonyan, Katerine 2321
VIE Nguyen, Thi Thanh An 2323 - ITA Sedina, Elena 2344
POL Socko, Monika 2473 - HUN Hoang Thanh Trang 2487
GER Paehtz, Elisabeth 2481 - UKR Ushenina, Anna 2476

Official website: http://nalchik2008.fide.com/information/?lang=eng

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New scam targets chess coaches

Written by FM Eric Schiller
1 Sept 2008

I would like to warn our chess community that there is a new scam going around trying to defraud chess coaches. Recently I received an e-mail that seemed legitimate enough but was an attempt to set up a bank fraud.

I quickly realized what was going on and decided to turn the tables by pretending to go along while coordinating actions with the fraud division of my bank. As is typical of these scams the idea was to send me a large check from which I was supposed to send some money to a third party. The plan was that I would send the money and then their check would bounce leaving me out the amount sent.

The setup was a travel scam. I was sent a bogus check drawn on a legitimate Massachusetts company for several thousand dollars, supposedly to provide coaching for the 17-year-old daughter of someone who allegedly worked at the Vatican. I was to send $1500 to a supposed that travel agent in Texas using the scammer’s favorite method: Western Union.

Since I have some experience sending scammers on wild goose chases, I decided to go after this particular scammer by claiming that all the Western Union branches in my area had closed and that I would have to transfer the money by bank transfer instead. This got me access to all the information about their bank account, which I duly turned over to my bank.

Hopefully, they will go after the person who opened that account but in any case they will close down the account so no further scams can use it. I also notified the legitimate Massachusetts company that there are dank account was being used in the fraud.

The important thing is that you be aware that there is an attempt to defraud chess instructors so if you receive anything that looks like the e-mail below, delete it right away and do not respond. This particular e-mail, despite its reference to the Vatican, was sent from Israel and the bank account they wanted me to send money to was in Houston.

Source: Latest Chess

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A big qualifier with dozens of international stars, then the final with 18 players and an average rating of 2726. The Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament in Moscow was one of the strongest ever held. After the first half Vladimir Kramnik led, ahead of Magnus Carlsen. The second half was all Vassily Ivanchuk – the Ukrainian beat both Kramnik and Carlsen to win the event. Games, photos and videos.

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Most of the top seeds in the Women’s World Championship won their round one matches without much difficulty, with a few long struggles (Elisabeth Paehtz squeaked through in the seventh Armageddon game) and a few shockers (13th seed Natalia Zhukova was knocked out by 52nd seed Katerine Rohonyan). We bring you results, games, tables and an interview in this big pictorial report.

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Grand Slam Chess Final Masters

Bilbao will receive from September 2 to September 13, the strongest tournament of the History of the Chess. A tournament of the category XXII with Elo’s average of the participants of 2775,63. For the first time ever in the world an event of such characteristics will take place in the street, in the Plaza Nueva, right in the centre of Bilbao’s Old Town from 17:00hrs. To this end a huge soundproofed and air-conditioned glass case will be fitted out under a marquee where the games will be played.

The big deployment of computer and audiovisual means and the comments, interviews and analysis by journalists and presenters will allow and excellent entertaining and amusing follow up of this tournament for the people turning up at the Plaza Nueva.

The six participating players will be headed by world’s champion and number one Viswanathan Anand. Along with him, Magnus Carlsen (number two), Vasili Ivanchuk (number three), Véselin Topálov (number six and ex world’s champion), Teimur Radyábov (number seven) and Levon Aronián (world’s number ten currently) will compete in Bilbao. No tournament had managed so far to gather such a high Elo’s average level (scoring system to order players’ ranking).

The Grand Slam Final Masters has the official recognition of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and it will be played in a double round league during ten days (plus a two-day break). The total prize money amounts to €400,000, sum only exceeded by World Chess Championships.

Official website: http://www.bilbaofinalmasters.com/en_index.asp

The drawing of lots will begin tomorrow morning. It is my understanding that my LIVE commentary with my friend Leontxo Garcia, who I believe is the greatest chess commentator, will be available online.

Former World Champion Boris Spassky will take over the commentary duty for me when I have to leave Bilbao. The only player I have seen so far is Levon Aronian. This will be an incredible event as the #1 world ranking is on the line. Anand is still #1 but Ivanchuk and Carlsen are closing the gap.

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This is the London Chess Centre (owned by IM Malcolm Pein)

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The Chessdom team just sent me the following:

Appeals Committee on the Socko - Foisor case
World Women Chess Championship 2008

The Appeals Committee met today 31.08.2008 at 20.00 hrs to examine a protest made by the player Ms Monika Socko regarding her game with Sabina-Francesca Foisor.

The complainant fulfilled the conditions concerning the $ 500 deposit

The protest has been examined under the provision of Article 3.17, par. 3.17.1, point a) and d) of the Regulations for the Women’s World Chess Championship.

The protest related to the sudden death game between Ms Monika Socko (white) and Ms Sabina-Francesca Foisor (black) where, in the final position, both players had a king and a knight each.

The flag of black fell indicating that the game was lost on time.

However the Chief Arbiter decided that the game was drawn based on Article 9.6 of the Laws of Chess. The Chief Arbiter indicated that in order to achieve a position where white threatens to mate black in the next move, needs that black intentionally places his king and knight so that white can mate in the next move (White: Kc7,Nb6 - Black: Ka8,Na7).

Article 9.6 states that, quote “The game is drawn when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled play. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing this position is legal.”

In her protest, Ms Monika Socko contended that she had won the game based on the fact that the flag of her opponent had fallen.

Having considered the arguments presented by the player in her protest and the decision of the Chief Arbiter, the Appeals Committee has decided that indeed based on the provisions of Article 9.6, playing in a most unskilled manner can result in the position indicated by the Chief Arbiter which can lead to a checkmate.

Therefore, the Appeals Committee has decided that the game is a win for white.

Georgios Makropoulos, Chairman
Lewis Ncube, member
Lakhdar Mazouz, member

Source: official website

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With what that just took place in the Armageddon game in Nalchik, Russia between IM Socko and WGM Foisor during the Women’s World Championship, should the Armageddon system be abolished?

Should K + N vs. K + N, or K +B vs. K +B, or K + 2 Ns vs. K be considered a win (on time) in World Championship competition? What if this would have been the final game of the World Championship?

What should FIDE do about this rule? Should this rule be changed immediately?

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Details by Chessdom

Possible scandal at the Women’s World Championship?

This is my summary as I understand it:

In the Armageddon game between IM Socko and WGM Foisor, White (Socko) has 6 minutes to Black (Foisor) 5 minutes. However, Black has draw odd.

Black ran out of time but the position on the board was K and N versus K and N which obviously is a clear draw. The arbiter ruled that it was a draw. This means that Foisor moves on to the 2nd round. However, the other side made an official protest. It is now in the hands of the Appeals Committee.

I am not sure why the decision is slow to come.

17:20 CET
Drama in Socko-Foisor! Black ran out of time, but there were only a King and Knight for each player left on the board, and the arbiters have declared a draw. Polish players are now engaged in lively discussion in front of the playing hall. Foisor progressed to the next round.

17:35 CET
Sabina Foisor explained to the interpreters that she claimed a draw before her flag fell, but the arbiters have postponed the decision. They still have the right to declare the result after one of the players forfeits on time.

18:05 CET
Monica Socko filed a complaint and Appeals Committee is now meeting to reach the final decision. The Committee’s Chairman will later elaborate the outcome at the press conference.

18:40 CET
It seems like the Appeals Committee has reached the verdict. The press conference should start shortly. Earlier, the arbiters have asked the press officers for a FIDE Handbook printout.

18:45 CET
We will have to wait a bit longer, the Appeals Committee just moved to another room!

19:20 CET
Some new details about Socko-Foisor game became known - in the whole time scramble, as pieces flew around, nobody managed to write down all the moves. The arbiters are only recalling an approximate picture (all pieces in the center), as the board was cleared before the position was written down.

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Position after 27…Qf6 (Nataf - Nakamura, 2008 Montreal)

It is White to move. Can you find the best continuation for White?

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This was a thriller match. IM Monika Socko is the top Polish female player. Her peak rating was 2505 and her peak world ranking was #9.

WGM Sabina Foisor is one of the top female junior players in the world. Both her parents are IMs. Her peak rating was 2386 earlier this year. I have known her family for more than 2 decades.

Sabina won game 1. Monika won game 2. Sabina won game 3. Monika won game 4. Sabina advanced to the 2nd round by drawing the Armageddon game!

Congratulations to Sabina! Sabina is expected to be in Lubbock, Texas in 3 weeks to participate in the SPICE Cup Festival. I also expect her to attend TTU in the fall of 2009.

* Update: It seems that the Polish delegation has filed a protest. The arbiters are meeting now.

Here is the update by chessdom:

17:35 CET

Sabina Foisor explained to the interpreters that she claimed a draw before her flag fell, but the arbiters have postponed the decision. They still have the right to declare the result after one of the players forfeits on time.

18:05 CET

Monica Socko filed a complaint and Appeals Committee is now meeting to reach the final decision. The Committee’s Chairman will later elaborate the outcome at the press conference.

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Who is this very strong female chess player?

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Photo by Chessdom

After winning the first game and losing the second, WGM Rohonyan who represents the US has defeated GM-elect Zhukova by the score of 1.5 - 0.5 in the rapid playoff.

Chinese Wenjun Ju also upsets Natasa Bojkovic in the playoff to advance to the 2nd round.

All other playoff matches are heading into a blitz playoff phase.

Congratulations!

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Photo of the opening ceremony by chessdom

Ketino Kachiani is the only Georgian player that came to Nalchik. Here is an interview with her by Mr. Surov.

Surov: Ketino Kachiani is the only chess player from Georgia who came to Nalchik. But she represents Germany. I thank her for her agreement to talk after her loss that didn’t let her go on playing in the Championship.

Surov: You were among those Georgian chess players who wrote an open letter with a request to change the venue of the Championship because of the reasons of security. But in the long run you have come. Why?

Ketino: When we were writing this letter we were in Tbilisi and that was the territory of Georgia. Things like that don’t happen very often in capitals. Not only me but other chess players from the different countries backed up this letter. There were 8 Georgian chess players who were to participate in this tournament. I think the Championship would have been more interesting if they had been here.

The Georgian chess school is one of the best schools. Moreover it is not only a Georgian chess school. It was famous in the times of the Soviet Union. Maya Chiburdanidze has so many titles that I can’t even enumerate all of them. So I think we must support such people, such legends. But later the situation improved and I am happy about that. I think such problems must be solved peacefully. That’s why I have come here. We, sportsmen, understand each other perfectly. I am sure the same will be with politicians. They will negotiate and solve some problems. Important problems.

Surov: So you differentiate politics and sports?

Ketino: Yes. I do because I am a sportsman, a chess player. Politics is not my cup of tea.

Surov: Why do you think Georgian chess players haven’t come?

Ketino: I think it was difficult for them psychologically to play especially when such things happen to your town. I think nobody can imagine that. I myself can’t imagine that because I wasn’t there at that time. This psychological factor is very important in sport. I believe they wouldn’t be able to play comfortably. They had to solve a lot of problems within the last two days: visas, flights, problems of security, etc. These things are of utmost importance.

I think that it was psychologically difficult for the Georgian sportsmen to play. I perfectly understand them. I think the tournament like this Championship is planned beforehand. We must train, we need silence. I grew up in the Soviet Union. All my titles I got being a citizen of the Soviet Union. Now I play for Germany.

Source: Chessdom.com

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Greetings from London! I am at the London Chess Centre right now. I will be heading to Bilbao soon for the Grand Prix.

Here is an excerpt from Chess Today about the Bilbao Grand Slam:

Grand Slam Final, Bilbao

This tournament will take place in Bilbao, Spain on September 1-13. The six participants are: Viswanathan Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov.

Games will be played in a soundproof glass cube at the city centre (open air, under a big tent). That will allow the commentators (Susan Polgar, Boris Spassky, Francisco Vallejo and Leontxo Garcia) to be very close to the players without disturbing them at all.

The scoring system is three points for the victory and one for the draw, plus Sofia Rule.

This tournament is an ideal battleground for Anand, Carlsen and Ivanchuk to decide who will be first on the October 2008 rating list!

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Two share title as state champ
By Jack Peters, International Master August 31, 2008

Alexandre Kretchetov and International Master Enrico Sevillano tied for first place last Sunday in the Southern California Championship. Each scored 5-2 in the round robin that serves as a state championship.

Next at 4 1/2 -2 1/2 were IM Andranik Matikozyan and this writer. Others: IM Cyrus Lakdawala, 3 1/2 -3 1/2 ; Julian Landaw and Christian Tanaka, each 2 1/2 -4 1/2 ; and Danyul Lawrence, 1/2 -6 1/2 . Only eight of the 28 games ended in draws.

Two sixth-round upsets, Sevillano’s stumble against 15-year-old Tanaka and Matikozyan’s unexpected loss to Kretchetov, left five players in contention for first prize entering the final round. Kretchetov capitalized against the luckless Lawrence, while Sevillano eked out a win against Lakdawala with a superb endgame.

The tournament was held on two weekends in the Century City law office of John Rowell, an expert who participated in the 2000 state championship and offered to provide a more comfortable site. John Hillery directed for the Southern California Chess Federation.

Source: http://www.latimes.com

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Katerina Rohonyan prevailed against the higher-rated Natalia Zhukova to join Anna Zatonskih in advancing to round two of the Women’s World Championship. (Nalchik, Russia, August 29-September 18)

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• Sept. 19-28 daily (except Sept. 23, which is a rest day): SPICE Cup International
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/08/2008-spice-cup.html

• Sept. 20: SPICE Cup Scholastic Open (Grade K-12)
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/08/spice-cup-scholastic-championship.html

• Sept. 27-28: SPICE Cup Open Grand Prix
Two sections: Grand Prix and Amateurs (for players rated under 1000)
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/08/spice-cup-grand-prix.html

• Sept. 27-28: Texas State Women’s Open Championship
Open Tournament for women across the U.S. and worldwide
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/08/texas-womens-open-championship_27.html

Details for all of these tournaments are also available on the SPICE Web site, www.SPICE.ttu.edu.

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GM Bu is leading Antwerp by 1/2 point over GM Miroshnichenko with one round to go.

Here are the standings after 8 rounds:

1. Bu Xiangzhi g CHN 2710 6½

2. Miroshnichenko, Evgenij g UKR 2593 6

3. Timman, Jan g NED 2562 5
4. Gyimesi, Zoltan g HUN 2586 5

5. Vaganian, Rafael g ARM 2594 4
6. Werle, Jan g NED 2591 4

7. Schebler, Gerhard g GER 2453 3½

8. Lahno, Kateryna g UKR 2507 2½
9. Michiels, Bart m BEL 2442 2½

10. Van der Stricht, Geert m BEL 2426 1

Official website: http://www.inventichess.com

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GM So still on top of Vietnam chess

By Marlon Bernardino
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 10:28:00 08/31/2008

STANDINGS: 4.0 points — GM Wesley So (RP), GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Georgia), GM Dao Thien Hai (Vietnam), GM Le Quang Liem (Vietnam)

3.5 — IM Richard Bitoon (RP), GM Tu Hoang Thong (Vietnam), GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (Vietnam), GM Nguyen Anh Dung (Vietnam), FM Pham Chuong (Vietnam), Tu Hoang Thai (Vietnam), Vo Thanh Ninh (Vietnam)

3.0—IM Rolando Nolte (RP), GM Konstantine Shanava (Georgia), GM Marat Dzumaev (Uzbekistan), FM Nguyen Doc Hua (Vietnam), Nguyen Van Huy (Vietnam), Nguyen Hoang Nam (Vietnam)

2.5—IM Julio Catalino Sadorra (RP)

FRESH from beating 17th seed IM Goh Weiming (2403) of Singapore in the fourth round, 4th seed GM Wesley So (2577) settled for a draw with top seed GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili (2615) of Georgia in yesterday’s fifth round to remain on top along three others in the Dragon Capital Vietnam Open Chess Championship at the P&T Hotel in Vung Tau, Vietnam.

The 14-year-old So, who won board 1 gold medal in the recently World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad in Mersin, Turkey had 4.0 points on three win and two draw, the same out put of Azmaiparashvili, 3rd seed GM Le Quang Liem (2577) and 11th seed GM Dao Thien Hai (2489) of Vietnam, his sixth round opponent.

Sharing the limelight with So, who is currently the world’s youngest chess GM, is 15th seed IM Richard Bitoon (2439) of Cebu who upset 6th seed GM Konstantine Shanava (2552) of Georgia in the fourth round then split the point with 18th seed IM Tu Hoang Thai (2395) of Vietnam in the fifth to raise his total 3.5 points.

Bitoon now shares 5th to 11th places with his next round opponent 10th seed GM Tu Hoang Thong (2493) of Vietnam.

Meanwhile, 7th seed IM Rolando Nolte (2522) scored back-to-back draws against GM Tu and 19th seed Nguyen Van Huy (2386) of Vietnam to raise his total to 3.0 points, good for 12th to 17th spots along with his sixth round opponent 24th seed Nguyen Hoang Nam (2310) of Vietnam.

Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net

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FM Marc Arnold has won the 14th NA FIDE Invitational with the score of 6.5 out of 9. He also scored an IM norm in the process. Congratulations!

Official website: http://nachess.org/fide/

1st - FM Marc Arnold - 6.5/9 (IM norm scored)

2nd - 3rd IM Angelo Young and FM Florin Felecan - 6/9

4th - IM Mesgen Amanov - 5.5/9

5th - 6th FM Teddy Coleman and IM Kirill Kuderinov - 4.5/9

7th - 8th FM Teddy Parker and Parker Zhao - 4/9

9th - Robert Loncarevic - 2.5/9

10th - FM Aleksander Stamnov - 1.5/9

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Round 6 results:

Nataf 1/2 Nakamura
Shulman 1/2 Akobian
Bluvshtein 1-0 Zugic
Maze 1-0 Roussel-Roozman
Kovalyov 1-0 Charbonneau

Standings after 6 rounds:

1. Shulman, Yuri g USA 2623 4½

2. Akobian, Varuzhan g USA 2610 4
3. Bluvshtein, Mark g CAN 2548 4

4. Charbonneau, Pascal g CAN 2499 3½
5. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2697 3½

6. Nataf, Igor-Alexandre g FRA 2534 2½
7. Maze, Sebastien g FRA 2553 2½
8. Kovalyov, Anton m ARG 2548 2½

9. Zugic, Igor m CAN 2457 2

10. Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas m CAN 2486 1

Official website: http://perso.b2b2c.ca/lesechecauquebec/tim2008.htm

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GM Nataf (2534) - GM Nakamura (2697) [B94]
30.08.2008 - Montreal

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nc6 7.Qd2 Qb6 8.0–0–0 e6 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nb3 Qc7 11.f4 b5 12.Kb1 h5 13.Bd3 Bd7 14.Rhf1 Rb8 15.Qe1 b4 16.Ne2 a5 17.Nbd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Bg7 19.Qe2 f5 20.Bb5 Qb6 21.Bxd7+ Kxd7 22.Nf3 Qb5 23.Qd2 Rb6 24.exf5 Qxf5 25.Ne5+ Kc7 26.Nc4 Rc6 27.Nxd6 Qf6 28.Nc4 Rxc4 29.Qd7+ Kb8 30.Qb5+ Ka8 31.Qxa5+ Kb8 32.Qb6+ Ka8 Game drawn ½–½

Click here to replay the game.

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It was pretty much a rout. The lowest scorer in the Rising Stars team ended up a full point ahead of highest scorers of the Experienced Grandmasters. One must remember that the oldest player in the tournament had completed his third world championship final match eleven years before the youngest player was born. We bring you a big pictorial report with stunning photos by Fred Lucas.

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Over the years a number of correspondents have submitted to the Editor of Chess
Notes their photographs of the final resting-places of various chess masters,
including Anderssen, Capablanca, Grünfeld, Morphy and Nimzowitsch. There is even the remarkable case of the two masters who share the same grave. A pictorial record
is presented here.

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Who is this chess player?

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Black to move. Can you find the most accurate continuation for Black?

Source: Chess Today

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Photo by chessdom

Round 1 Results: (red = forfeit, bold = tie matches, blue = upsets)

CHN Xu, Yuhua 2483 1.5
RSA Solomons, Anzel 1895 0.5

EGY Alaa El Din, Yorsa 1959 0
IND Koneru, Humpy 2622 2

CHN Hou, Yifan 2557 2
EGY Khaled, Mona 2007 0

PER Zapata, Karen 2180 0 F
BUL Stefanova, Antoaneta 2550 2 F

SWE Cramling, Pia 2544 1.5
VEN Sanchez Castillo, Sarai 2202 0.5

POL Gasik, Anna 2211 2 F
FRA Sebag, Marie 2529 0 F

CHN Zhao, Xue 2522 2 ARG
Zuriel, Marisa 2231 0

UZB Muminova, Nafisa 2242 0
RUS Kosintseva, Tatjana 2511 2

RUS Kosteniuk, Aleksandra 2510 2
IRI Pourkashiyan, Atousa 2269 0

CRO Golubenko, Valentina 2271 0.5
LTU Chmilyte, Viktorija 2508 1.5

SLO Muzychuk, Anna 2504 2
BUL Velcheva, Maria 2281 0

RUS Zakurdjaeva, Irina 2308 0.5
CHN Ruan, Lufei 2499 1.5

UKR Zhukova, Natalia 2489 1
USA Rohonyan, Katerine 2321 1

VIE Nguyen, Thi Thanh An 2323 2
GEO Chiburdanidze, Maya 2489 0

HUN Hoang Thanh Trang 2487 1.5
CUB Arribas Robaina, Matza 2323 0.5

AZE Kadimova, Ilaha 2324 1
GER Paehtz, Elisabeth 2481 1

UKR Ushenina, Anna 2476 1.5
VIE Le Thanh Tu 2325 0.5

ROM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca 2337 1
POL Socko, Monika 2473 1

USA Krush, Irina 2470 0 F
ITA Sedina, Elena 2344 2 F

CHN Zhang, Jilin 2344 0.5
UKR Gaponenko, Inna 2468 1.5

GEO Javakhishvili, Leta 2461 0 F
ARG Amura, Claudia 2345 2 F

RUS Nebolsina, Vera 2350 0
IND Harika, Dronavalli 2461 2

RUS Kosintseva, Nadezhda 2460 2
IND Mohota, Nisha 2354 0

GEO Gvetadze, Sopio 2355 0 F
RUS Korbut, Ekaterina 2459 0 F

USA Zatonskih, Anna 2446 2 F
NED Bosboom Lanchava, Tea 2358 0 F

GER Kachiani-Gersinska, Ketino 2374 0.5
CHN Shen, Yang 2445 1.5

ARM Mkrtchian, Lilit 2436 1
AUT Moser, Eva 2383 1

CHN Tan, Zongyi 2387 1.5
IND Tania, Sachdev 2432 0.5

SRB Bojkovic, Natasa 2423 1
CHN Ju, Wenjun 2389 1

MGL Mongontuul, Bathuyang 2406 2
POL Rajlich, Iweta 2417 0

GEO Lomineishvili, Maya 2414 0 F
GEO Khukhashvili, Sopiko 2408 0 F

RUS Matveeva, Svetlana 2412 2 F
GEO Khurtsidze, Nino 2413 0 F

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Moiseenko-M. Gurevich 2007

White to move. Can you find the most accurate continuation (in 10 seconds or less)?

2r2k2/5Pp1/7p/p2Q4/2nB4/P6P/q4PPK/8 w - - 0 40

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After winning the super Tal Memorial by a full point, Ivanchuk made a surge today to win the super Tal Memorial Blitz by a full point over Kramnik! Ivanchuk is also the reigning World Blitz Champion. He won it ahead of Anand last year.

Perhaps we should all start to speak to our pawn before each game

Here are the final standings:

1. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2781 23.5

2. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2788 22.5

3. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2775 21.0

4. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2738 20.0
5. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2742 20.0

6. Lékó, Peter g HUN 2741 18.0
7. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2728 18.0
8. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2727 18.0

9. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2723 17.5
10. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2720 17.5

11. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2718 17.0

12. Grachev, Boris g RUS 2640 14.5

13. Alekseev, Evgeny g RUS 2708 14.0
14. Karpov, Anatoly g RUS 2651 14.0
15. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2788 14.0

16. Movsesian, Sergei g SVK 2723 12.5
17. Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2716 12.5

18. Tkachiev, Vladislav g FRA 2664 11.5

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Final Round Results:

Wang Yue - Evgeny Bareev ½ - ½
Erwin l’Ami - Viktor Kortchnoi 1 - 0
Daniel Stellwagen - Artur Jussupow ½ - ½
Fabiano Caruana - Simen Agdestein 1 - 0
Ivan Cheparinov - Ljubomir Ljubojevic ½ - ½

Experience 16½
Rising stars 33½

Experience individual scores:

Agdestein 4
Bareev 4
Ljubojevic 3½
Kortchnoi 2½
Jussupow 2½

Rising Stars individual scores:

Wang Yue 8½
Cheparinov 7½
Caruana 6½
l’Ami 6
Stellwagen 5

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Picture and report by chessdom

The chess player from Romania Sabina-Francesca Foisor celebrated her birthday on the second day of the Championship as well. The Organizing Committee of the Championship congratulated her on her 19 birthday with champagne and a cake with candles.

Aslan Afaunov, the Chairman of the KBR State Committee on Physical Culture and Sport wished her success and happiness and presented her with a bouquet of red roses. In the presence of all those present singing “Happy Birthday” the young Romanian blew out all the candles from the first attempt. While doing it she probably thought of winning the World Championship. The time will show.

Sabina drew both games against Polish top female player Monika Socko. They will head to a tie-break to determine who will advance to the next round.

I know Sabina’s parents (both are IMs) for many years and I am happy to see her following their success.

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Brooklyn based gamesplayer FM Ylon Schwartz (http://www.shipthecheese.com/),
has bested over 6800 players to qualify for the final table of the 2008
No-Limit Poker World Championship. He is nearly guaranteed the biggest payday ever for a chess/poker player.

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I just added some new cool internal features for this blog. One of them is the hybrid tracking chart of bloggers worldwide. Here is an example of the activities on this blog in the last 3 minutes. It shows the countries and cities of the bloggers. Amazingly, Norway is currently #2 (in the past 3 minutes) behind the U.S., and ahead of the U.K., Canada, France, India, Holland, Sweden, etc.

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The first upset of round 1 came in the hand of Zhongyi Tan of China who defeated Tania Sachdev of India. They drew the first game and Tania lost the second game.

The second upset belongs to Bathuyag Mongontuul. She defeated Iweta Rajlich 2-0.

The big names who have advanced so far are:

Koneru, Humpy 2-0 Alaa el Din, Yosra
Hou Yifan 2-0 Mona, Khaled
Kosintseva, Tatiana 2-0 Muminova, Nafisa
Muzychuk, Anna 2-0 Velcheva, Maria
Zhao Xue 2-0 Zuriel, Marisa
Harika, Dronavalli 2-0 Nebolsina, Vera

Xu Yuhua 1.5 - .5 Solomons, Anzel

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