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What a round: four out of five games decided, the only draw a cliff-hanger. Ponomariov beat Shirov, Leko beat Kamsky (with black!), Alekseev beat Mamedyarov. A fine victory by Vassily Ivanchuk over on-fire Alexander Morozevich brought the latter crashing down from yesterday’s number one in the world on the Live List to settle back at number two behind Anand. Sic transit gloria Caïssae.
If Arpad Elo were still alive he would be a hundred and five years old today – three years past the age of 102 that he was supposed to survive to, as foretold by a Budapest gypsy when he visited Hungary in 1970. In reality he died in Wisconsin, USA at the age of 89. A close associate and family friend, Elmer Dumlao Sangalang, looks back at the man who revolutionised chess.
If Arpad Elo were still living today he would have been a hundred and five years old today – three years past the age of 102 that he was supposed to survive to, as foretold by a Budapest gypsy when he visited Hungary in 1970. In reality he died in Wisconsin, USA at the age of 89. A close associate and family friend, Elmer Dmlao Sangalang, looks back at the man who revolutionised chess.
Foros
and the Dortmund Chess Festival are the outstanding tournaments of
this issue of ChessBase Magazine. Whereas in Foros in the Ukraine, the
young star Magnus Carlsen progressed smoothly from start to finish
with his final victory never in danger, in Dortmund the tension was
high for a long period and it looked like a sensation was in the
making. However, in the last but one round Peter Leko wrested the lead
from Jan Gustafsson and held on to it until the end. In the shape of
Carlsen, Karjakin, Eljanov, van Wely and Nisipeanu, we have five of
the participants from Foros taking a look back at some selected games
and explaining to you the decisive ideas and moments. For the first
time, Jan Gustafsson has sat in front of the camera and recorded in
Fritztrainer format his convincing victory over Arkadij Naiditsch. More information…
Remember how hard-fought these contests used to be? Well, in round five of the third NH Chess Tournament that pits Rising Stars against Experienced GMs it was 77-year-old Viktor Korchnoi who scored the first full point for the latter. Otherwise there were nine draws and 14 losses. Chinese GM Wang Yue leads the field with 5.0/5 points and a theoretical performance of 3400.
Big pictorial report.
Two black wins: Boris Gelfand overwhelmed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a Semi-Slav (Anti-Meran); and Peter Leko was taken to the cleaners by Vassily Ivanchuk in a Closed Ruy Lopez (Chigorin). Ruslan Ponomariov was basically lost after eleven moves in a wildly tactcial Nimzo Indian against Alexander Morozevich, who moves to number one in the world on the Live Rating list. Round six report.
In a rare interview Vladimir Kramnik, who is playing in the Tal Memorial in Moscow, sat down to a cup of coffee and a video interview with Europe Echecs reporter GM Robert Fontaine. The former world champion was very forthcoming about his performance in Moscow, his health problems (now solved!) and his chances and strategy for the match against Anand in October this year. Video and transcript.
She is seventeen, hails from Andhra Pradesh, India, and has just won the Under 20 Junior World Championship, ahead of the international – especially Eastern European – competition by a point and a half. Harika Dronavalli is is one of the nicest and brightest young ladies in the junior chess scene. Her goal: to be like Judit Polgar. Indepth interview by Özgür Akman.
A few days ago former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov visited the International Alcubeirre Tournament in Spain, where he gave a simultaneous exhibition and spoke to a local newspaper about Kasparov, the Zaragoza Expo, Scarlett Johansson (”I like her more in some ways, but my thing is chess”), his chess career and chess playing computers. Heraldo interview.
Ruslan Ponomariov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov both had drawn all their games so far. Peter Leko was on plus one, Gata Kamsky on 50%. Leko lost a Marshall Gamit to Ponomariov, Kamsky the white side of a Sicilian Scheveningen to Mamedyarov. Morozevich still leads. The round was particularly exciting since we had Levon Aronian commenting on Radio ChessBase. You can watch the rerun.
“Fully realizing all complexity of the present situation for the Georgian chess players,” writes FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, “I am appealing to you for your kind assistance in providing the sportsmen with conditions for smooth participation in the World Championship.” Letter from the President to the President.
Acclaimed as the “Fastest Brain in the World”, Vishy Anand is the world number one and World Champion. Experts rate him as one of the biggest natural talents in the history of the game. Easy-going and humorous, he is also one of the best-loved players. Now he has recorded two ChessBase DVDs on his career, with a total of over eight hours of video comments and annotations. Order now.
After a shock defeat or bad spell in a tournament it is usually advisable to avoid the risks involved in a quick comeback attempt and instead steady your nerves with a rock-solid draw. Vladimir Kramnik did it against Ruslan Ponomariov, and Alexei Shirov used it to score his first half-point against Boris Gelfan. The table remains unchanged with Morozevich by half a point. Round four report.
Four years ago Nigel Short, while winning the Commonwealth Championship, ran into some problems: “In the second round I drew with some 15-year-old boy from some very obscure place, some village somewhere. I think his name was Abhijeet Gupta.” Last week nineteen-year-old Abhijeet won the prestigious World Junior Championship in Gaziantep, Turkey. Interview.
It was a stunner: Vladimir Kramnik played the new move in a Semi-Slav, saw some promising moments and then went down with flying colours in 31 moves to Alexander Morozevich. Peter Leko scored his first victory, against the luckless Alexei Shirov, who has zero points so far. Kamsky had a win against Gelfand but spoiled it to a draw. Round three report.
It was a stunner: Vladimir Kramnik played the new move in a Semi-Slav, saw some promising moments and then went down with flying colours in 31 moves to Alexander Morozevich. Peter Leko scored his first victory, against the luckless Alexei Shirov, who has zero points so far. Kamsky had a win against Gelfand but spoiled it to a draw. Round three report.
Bisik-Bisik is a word from the Malay Archipelago, and means whispering
from one person to another. In a series Edwin Lam seeks to “whisper” to our
readers out there the previously unknown other side of his interview partners.
Today he talks with GM Alexander Khalifman, who in 1999 became the FIDE world
champion in Las Vegas. Today “El Khalif” runs a training web site
and publishes books. Bisik-bisik.
Recently a number of participants in the World Women’s Championship appealed to FIDE to have it moved away from a region of armed conflict. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the ECU and the organizers have appealed to the players not to politicize the event. Now Ilyumzhinov gives further assurances. Here’s his latest message and letters from participants and readers.
The second DVD begins in 2000, when Anand became FIDE World Champion, and it ends with his victory in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico. Anand not only analyses his best games, but casts a look back at the World Championshp in Delhi/Teheran in 2000 and the years before, he discusses the situation in the Bundesliga and Kasparov’s retirement from tournament chess. 4:28 hours playing time. More information…
Recently a number of participants in the World Women’s Championship appealed to FIDE to have it moved away from a region of armed conflict. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the ECU and the organisers have appealed to the player not to politicize the event. Now Ilyumzhinov gives further assurances. Here’s his latest message and letters from participants and readers.
The second DVD beginns in 2000, when Anand became FIDE World Champion, and it ends with his victory in the 2007 World Championship in Mexico. Anand not only analyses his best games, but casts a look back at the World Championshp in Delhi/Teheran in 2000 and the years before, he discusses the situation in the Bundesliga and Kasparov’s retirement from tournament chess. 4:28 hours playing time. More information…
The first DVD with videos from Anand’s chess career reflects the very beginning of that
career and goes as far as 1999. It starts with his memories of how he first learned chess
and shows his first great games (including those from the 1984 WCh for juniors). The high
point of his early developmental phase was the winning of the 1987 WCh for juniors. After
that, things continue in quick succession: the first victories over Kasparov, WCh
candidate in both the FIDE and PCA cycles and the high point of the WCh match against
Kasparov in 1995. 3:48 hours playing time. More information…
Sammy Reshevsky wasn’t known as a freewheeling player. But in the
last round or the 1944 US Open, having already having clinched first,
he decided to have some fun with a 19th century sideline in the
French. Reshevsky sacrificed a pawn and then a piece, and crushed his opponent with a
magnificent combination. All of this on view in Dennis Monokroussos’ Wednesday night Playchess lecture.
19-year-old Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta became the third Indian ever to win the World Junior (after Anand and Harikrishna). He did it after winning his last five games in a row, with 10/13 points. Second was 15-year-old Indian GM Parimarjan Negi. The girls’ section was won by Indian IM Harika Dronavalli, who finished a point and a half ahead of her nearest rival. Big illustrated report from Gaziantep.
Four games were drawn today in Moscow, one game resulted in a traumatic second loss for firebrand Alexei Shirov, who sacrificed a pawn unsuccessfully against US grandmaster Gata Kamsky. Yesterday’s winners Ivanchuk, Morozevich and Kramnik lead with 1.5/2. Express report.
19-year-old Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta became the third Indian ever to win the World Junior (after Anand and Harikrishna). He did it after winning his last five games in a row, with 10/13 points. Second was 15-year-old Indian GM Parimarjan Negi. The girls’ section was won by Indian IM Harika Dronavalli, who finished a point and a half ahead of her nearest rival. Big illustrated report from Gazaintep.
Earlier this month, we introduced Mr Jones, a bookshop owner who is commendably eager to stock only the very best books. Readers have made
many suggestions, and the Editor of Chess
Notes now sets out a representative selection. It may also be regarded as
a check-list of books which, as the cliché goes, should be in every chess lover’s library.
Michael Adams justified his position as the top seed in the 2008 Staunton Memorial, by winning the tournament for the second successive year. He can be justifiably happy with his result, as can all six of the Dutch players, who dominated the team event once again. Bob Wade, who is in his late 80s, battled wonderfully, but ultimately came up empty-handed. Final report.
The annual Tal Memorial has started, in the heart of Moscow, a round robin with ten players averaging 2745 Elo points. In the first round there was plenty of fighting spirit and action. Vladimir Kramnik beat his old nemesis Alexei Shirov, Alexander Morozevich positionally outplayed Evgeny Alekseev and Vassily Ivanchuk played a crusher against Gata Kamsky. Round one report
For the third time the Tromsø Chess Club staged an International Open in the Arctic Circle. It ran from August 2nd to 10th 2008, with sky high prizes, by Norwegian standards (total prize fund 11,000 Euros). The venue is spectacular, the atmosphere warm and generous. And the place is full of Carlsens: Magnus, Henrik, Sigrun, Ellen, Ingrid and Signe. Part one of our big pictorial report.
The annual Tal Memorial has started, in the heart of Moscow, a round robin with ten players averaging 2745 Elo points. In the first round there was plenty of fighting spirit and action. Vladimir Kramnik beat his old nemesis Alexei Shirov, Alexander Morozevich beat Evgeny Alekseev and Vassily Ivanchuk beat Gata Kamsky. Express report.
For the third time the Tromsø Chess Club staged an International Open in the Arctic Circle. It ran from August 2nd to 10th 2008, with sky high prizes, by Norwegian standards (total prize fund 11,000 Euros). The venue is spectacular, the atmosphere warm and generous. And the place is full of Carlsens: Magnus, Henrik, Sigrun, Ellen, Ingrid and Signe. Part one of our big pictorial report.
On Wednesday the third NH Chess Tournament starts in Amsterdam. It pits five rising stars against five veteran grandmasters. For the highest scoring youngster there is a special pirze: he will be invited to the 2009 Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in Nice, in the luxury of the Cote d’Azur. Both Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin started that way. Tournament details.
We repeat the previous Staunton Memorial headline. Top British GM Michael Adams drew a highly complicated game against Peter Wells in round eight, and then beat Jonathan Speelman in round nine to score 7.0/9 point, one more than his nearest rival Loek van Wely. Jan Timman follows with 5.5, behind him Short and Smeets with 5.0 each. Rounds 8-9 reports.
“The Organizing Committee is deeply disappointed and bewildered by the attempts of some circles to break up the competition,” writes Chairman Arsen Kanokov. “If the world championship is not shifted to another country, it will be impossible for the Georgian chess players to participate,” writes the Georgian Chess Federation. Background information and a WSJ article by Garry Kasparov.