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Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

The 34th Bulgarian Open Chess Championship 2012 – Georgi Tringov Memorial, organized by the Bulgarian Chess Federation, the Chess Club Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Plovdiv Municipality, is taking place from 29th January to 5th February in Novotel Hotel, Plovdiv.

The tournament will be played over 9 rounds of Swiss system and is valid for FIDE elo and GM/IM norms. Total prize fund is 10000 EUR, with 2000 EUR reserved for the winner. 267 players compete.

GM Kiril Georgiev defeated his compatriot GM Vasil Spasov and joined GM Branko Tadic on the top of the crosstable with 7 points each. The two leaders will meet each other in the final round on Sunday.

Round 8 standings:

1-2. GM Tadic Branko SRB 2487 and GM Georgiev Kiril BUL 2658 – 7.0

3-10. GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2659, IM Benidze Davit GEO 2516, GM Antic Dejan SRB 2504, FM Lilov Valeri BUL 2411, GM Drenchev Petar BUL 2493, GM Petrov Marijan BUL 2521, GM Stanojoski Zvonko MKD 2455 and IM Mladenov Plamen BUL 2384 – 6.5

11-20. GM Spasov Vasil BUL 2570, GM Nikolov Momchil BUL 2560, GM Grigorov Grigor BUL 2491, FM Filev Georgi BUL 2349, IM Todorovic Goran N SRB 2397, Indjic Aleksandar SRB 2427, IM Milchev Nikolay BUL 2434, Sofranov Velizar BUL 2168, IM Bratanov Zsivko BUL 2459 and Vlashki Nino BUL 2235 – 6.0

21-49. IM Bukal Vladimir Jr CRO 2434, Yordanov Nikolay Plamenov BUL 2290, IM Arsovic Zoran SRB 2441, IM Dimitrov Radoslav BUL 2437, GM Petkov Vladimir BUL 2519, IM Bruno Fabio ITA 2439, IM Arsovic Goran SRB 2422, FM Hadzimanolis Antonios GRE 2332, GM Ristic Nenad SRB 2427, GM Janev Evgeni BUL 2503, FM Pavlidis Anastasios GRE 2359, IM Smith Bryan G USA 2460, IM Kukov Velislav BUL 2414, IM Todorov Ognjan BUL 2294, Nenkov Ljudmil BUL 2297, IM Piscopo Pierluigi ITA 2386, FM Pantev Veselin BUL 2389, Lomsadze Davit GEO 2341, IM Marholev Dimitar BUL 2370, IM Nikolov Sasho BUL 2407, IM Miljkovic Miroslav D SRB 2491, IM Enchev Ivajlo BUL 2430, Livaja Mario SRB 2234, IM Angelov Kosta BUL 2223, Todorov Momchil BUL 2226, IM Mrdja Milan CRO 2389, WGM Voiska Margarita BUL 2325, Dyulgerov Dimitar BUL 1914 and Ljangov Petar BUL 2105 – 5.5 etc

Round 9 top pairings:

GM Tadic Branko 2487 – GM Georgiev Kiril 2658
GM Cheparinov Ivan 2659 – GM Drenchev Petar 2493
FM Lilov Valeri 2411 – GM Petrov Marijan 2521
IM Mladenov Plamen 2384 – IM Benidze Davit 2516
GM Antic Dejan 2504 – GM Stanojoski Zvonko 2455
GM Spasov Vasil 2570 – Indjic Aleksandar 2427
GM Nikolov Momchil 2560 – IM Todorovic Goran N 2397
FM Filev Georgi 2349 – GM Grigorov Grigor 2491
IM Bratanov Zsivko 2459 – Vlashki Nino 2235
IM Milchev Nikolay 2434 – Sofranov Velizar 2168
GM Petkov Vladimir 2519 – IM Piscopo Pierluigi 2386

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Grandmasters Maxim Matlakov from Russia and Yaroslav Zherebukh from Ukraine have achieved victories in the 7th round of the Young Grandmasters RSSU Cup and extended the to a full point ahead of the rest of the field.

Matlakov defeated his compatriot Vladimir Belous, while Zherebukh outplayed Ray Robson from USA, who was the early leader in the tournament. After his second loss Robson slipped down to the third place.

Standings after 7 rounds:

1-2. Matlakov, Zherebukh – have 5 points; 3. Robson – 4; 4-5. Grigoryan, Stukopin – 3,5; 6-8. Reshetnikov, Belous, Ipatov – 3; 9-10. Sviercz, Yilmaz – 2,5.

In the penultimate 8th round the pairings are: Sviercz – Matlakov, Ipatov – Zherebukh, Robson – Stukopin, Reshetnikov – Yilmaz, Belous – Grigoryan.

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In the Women RSSU Student Grandmaster Cup all three leaders have drawn their games in the 7th round to maintain the top positions. Thus, Ziaziulkina, Batsiashvili and Szczepkowska-Horowska still share 1-3rd places.

Standings after 7th rounds:

1-3. Ziaziulkina, Batsiashvili, Szczepkowska-Horowska have 5 points each; 4. Goryachkina – 4.5; 5. Kashlinskaya – 4; 6-7. Pustovoitova, Padmini – 3.5; 8-10. Drozdova, Severina, Bulmaga – 1.5.

8th round pairings are: Bulmaga – Ziaziulkina, Szczepkowska-Horowska – Pustovoitova, Batsiashvili – Severina, Kashliinskaya – Goryachkina, Padmini – Drozdova.

Follow the games live with computer analysis

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Susan Polgar and her national champion chess team are leaving Texas Tech, headed to Webster University in St. Louis.

The Wall Street Journal quotes a Texas Tech representative who says, “We’re disappointed that they’ve chosen to transfer rather than continue their education here but we do wish them the best in that. They’ve represented us well in chess.”

Polgar said her goodbyes in a blog post on Friday, praising Texas Tech for their “incredible support” and offering to help them continue the program.

Polgar brought the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) to Texas Tech in 2007 and recruited players from all over the world.

Now these A-team players are set to follow her to St. Louis.

The following students have been accepted / committed to Webster University for the Fall 2012 (August):

Grandmaster Georg Meier – Germany – Sophomore
Grandmaster Wesley So – Philippines – Freshman
Grandmaster Ray Robson – USA – Freshman
Grandmaster Manuel Leon Hoyos – Mexico – Freshman
Grandmaster Elshan Moradiabadi – Iran – Graduate student
Grandmaster Anatoly Bykhovsky – Israel – Junior
Grandmaster Andre Diamant – Brazil – Junior
Grandmaster Denes Boros – Hungary – Junior
International Master Vitaly Neimer – Israel – Sophomore
International Master – elect Faik Aleskerov – Azerbaijan – Graduate student

“No team in the long and prestigious history of college chess has had eight Grandmasters before,” Polgar said.

A press release from Webster University describes Polgar as “one of the strongest female chess players in history.”

Polgar is the winner of four world championships and the only world champion in history – male or female – to win the Triple-Crown (Rapid, Blitz and Classical Chess world championships).

She is the first woman to break the gender barrier to qualify for the Men’s World Championship Cycle, earn the Men’s Grandmaster title, and to receive the Grandmaster of the Year Award. In 2011, Polgar became the first female head coach to lead a men’s Division 1 team (Texas Tech University) to the national title.

Source: http://www.kcbd.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

In the 9th round of the Turkish Women Championship the leaders of the tournament Kubra Ozturk and Betul Yildiz won their matches and finished the race with equal scores. According to the regulations, they had to play a tie-break in order to determine the champion.

Betul Yildiz, who is eight-times Turkish champion, won the first game of the playoff, in which both players had ten minutes for the whole game and five seconds increment per move.

In the second game her team mate Kubra Ozturk managed to equalize a score. The fate of the first place was decided in Armageddon – Kubra Ozturk won the game and clinched the title. Busra Arig took the bronze medal.

Turkish Championship among men continues until 5th February. With two rounds to go Dragan Solak and Firat Burak are leading with 7 points from 8 games. The group of players follows half a point behind.

Official website / Live games

Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Top chess players certainly aren’t clones.

Magnus Carlsen, the world’s highest-rated grandmaster, is intense at the chessboard but seems to instinctively sidestep the storm and stress that buffeted champions such as Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.

When asked whether he or Levon Aronian, the world’s second-ranked grandmaster, was the better player, Carlsen said he didn’t know but pointed out — for what it was worth — that his rating was a few points better than Aronian’s.

Carlsen doesn’t obsess about such things; he simply goes about playing chess.

With strong support from a family that often accompanies him when he plays, an income of more than

$1 million a year, and a father who is a businessman and helps in practical matters, the 21-year-old wunderkind leads a relatively worry-free existence.

At the board, it’s another matter.

Carlsen is as determined as anyone to win.

“Not winning a tournament is not an option for me,” he said.

He rarely gives anything away during a chess game. He is flexible and readily adapts to the vicissitudes of the struggle.

Carlsen’s credo was aptly expressed during a recent tournament: “I think your opponents become really afraid because you play on to the end. So they know they have to fight to the end.

“I think that’s correct in a way. You should have to fight for every half-point.”

Source: http://www.dispatch.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

#1 seed Texas Tech
#2 seed UTD
#3 seed UMBC
#4 seed NYU

Texas Tech University Knight Raiders Roster

Board 1: Grandmaster Georg “the German Precision” Meier (Germany)
Freshman – Finance
FIDE rating: 2671 – USCF rating: 2722
2011 European Team Championship Gold medalist, winner of the 19th Pamplona International, 2-time runner up of the SPICE Cup A group, #2 player on the German Olympiad team

Board 2: Grandmaster Elshan “the Knowledge Tree” Moradiabadi (Iran)
Graduate student – Business
FIDE rating: 2538 – USCF rating: 2594
Former National Champion of Iran, World Mind Sports Games Bronze medalist, #2 player on the Iranian Olympiad team

Board 3: Grandmaster Anatoly “the Rocket” Bykhovsky (Israel)
Sophomore – Finance
FIDE rating: 2536 – USCF rating: 2640
3-time National Youth Champion, 2-time Israeli Blitz Champion, 2-time SPICE Cup Champion, key member of the 2011 National Collegiate Chess Championship team

Board 4: Grandmaster Andre “the Shiny” Diamant (Brazil)
Sophomore – Economics
FIDE rating: 2494 – USCF rating: 2538
Former National Champion of Brazil, former top ranked Brazilian junior, member of the Brazilian Olympiad team, key member of the 2011 National Collegiate Championship team

First alternate: Grandmaster Denes “the Entertainer” Boros (Hungary)
Sophomore – Psychology
FIDE rating: 2482 – USCF rating: 2524
Former Hungarian youth rapid champion, former member of the Hungarian Youth Olympiad Gold medalist team

Second alternate: International Master Vitaly “the Diplomat” Neimer (Israel)
Freshman – Finance
FIDE rating: 2381 – USCF rating: 2421
Former Israeli Youth Champion, World under 14 and 16 runner up, Certified Chess Trainer

Head Coach: Grandmaster Susan Polgar
Coach: FIDE Master Paul Truong
Team Assistant: IM-elect Faik Aleskerov

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

Tradewise 2012 has rocked the world of chess and made history this week. Hou Yifan from China at 17 years of age played the best result by a female player in the history of the game. The world of chess will be talking about her achievements in this tournament for many years to come – she not only beat, up till now the best woman in the world, Judit Polgar, but four top players way above her own rating. The final round was thrilling as everyone waited to see if GM Nigel Short, who by his own admission plays his best chess on the Rock, would make it an awe-inspiring finish – as he played against Hou Yifan in the play-off. And he was victorious just after an hour and five minutes regaining the title he first won in 2003. At the official gala dinner Chief Minister Fabian Picardo presented the figure for the official website hits over the 10 days, a staggering quarter of a billion hits – this statistic he said best illustrated the huge success of chess in Gibraltar.

Thanking sponsors Gibtelecom, responsible for the technology used to make this happen, he wittingly remarked, “can the person organising the web presence please contact me at the end so they can help organise my next on line election campaign, and with this we are going for the presidency of the United States.”

Opening the night’s proceedings, Mr Picardo commented, it was an honour and privilege to be at the festival adding, “I want to start tonight’s address to you by apologising for being the first Chief Minister of Gibraltar that attends this event. I believe there should have been a Chief Minister here from the beginning of the event and it is my absolute pleasure to be here in my capacity as the representative of the people of Gibraltar. To show you by my presence the support of the Government of Gibraltar to the event that has flourished so successfully as a result of an idea that came to Brian so many years ago.”

“You will find us,” he stated, “a very willing participant and assistant in coming years whilst we are enabled by the people of Gibraltar as their government. With 363 individual chess players in Gibraltar there is no room at the inn. So it is up to us so that we can deal with the phenomenal success that Brian has created, that the sponsors have helped to make a reality, and to assure of a very warm welcome next year.”

Paying tribute to organiser Brian Callaghan, he said, politics was a little bit like chess.

“It is not always easy to get your queen to checkmate or stalemate the king. I think it is fundamentally important to leave you with these words. I think Brian Callaghan has managed to turn many, many pawns into queens through the success of this event and I would ask you to give him the warmest round of applause having created the best open tournament in the world.”

Nigel Short not only took the first prize but also won the special Commonwealth prize in this Diamond Jubilee year presented by the Governor Sir Adrian Johns and Bruno Callaghan. Hou Yifan, who came second overall in the tournament, also took the top Women’s prize and the Junior Award. Vicktor Korchnio won the Senior Award, and Best Game was awarded to Emmanuel Berg.

GM Nigel Short from England began his winner’s speech by asking for a Gibraltar passport.

“I don’t know what it is about this place. I get such a good feel at this tournament, it is so well organised that it helps me play better. I really could not imagine that I could be up here this evening making the speech. I was ranked 15th and I thought, my goodness we have come a long way in 10 years. I have not played every year, it is my fifth year. I played in the first year and it was a good little tournament with 60 players, and I was the star, and now I am just one of many superstars. There are many real giants of the game who I am honoured to play against. It is a great event. I am glad to have seen it grow and I really do believe that this is the best open tournament in the world,” he declared.

But Mr Short who had felt the might of the young Chinese player in the play-off just a few short hours earlier insisted he was not the story of the event although his victory had been very special. The story was the result of the young girl from China whom, he said, had put in a remarkable performance and shown what a world class player she is.

“Maybe,” he suggested, “what we are seeing here is the start of something new in women’s chess. I have in front of me Judit Polgar who has been forever, basically, the representative of women’s chess – the star above stars. This is nothing against Judit, who I respect greatly, but I am glad she now has some competition. Long live Gibraltar. Long may this event go on. I’ll be back next year.”

For tournament organiser Brian Callaghan, with world press headlines describing this as the best open ever, its success was clear, this had been an historic year coupled with the Government’s assurances of proactive support to chess in Gibraltar.

“What an amazing tournament we have had. It’s about having fun and playing serious, very serious chess. The chess you have played in Gibraltar this year has reverberated around the world,” he emphasised.

There was a special tribute for first Gibraltar tournament director Stewart Reubens involved since 2003.

Closing the gala was president of the English Chess Federation CJ de Mooi who stressed that although the festival may be under the English Chess Federation its success was solely due to the Gibraltar organisers of the event.

James Humphreys from Tradewise Insurance, said the festival had again shown the world the commitment and dedication this small territory had for the game – “our chess festival is by far the largest appearance Gibraltar puts in on any sporting world stage and with this understanding alone the event can and must be seen as an important ambassador for Gibraltar as a whole.”

The senior festival now gives way to another weekend of junior chess today and tomorrow. In August it looks forward to the second Gibraltar International Junior tournament.

Source: http://www.chronicle.gi

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar