After 5 games, the score is 4-1 in favor of the young phenom Karjakin.

GM Karjakin (2727) - GM Short (2655) [B12]
05.07.2008 - Match / Game 5

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.c4 Bc5 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.Be3 Bxd4 9.Bxd4 0–0 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bb5 Bd7 12.Be2 Nbc6 13.0–0 Be6 14.Nb5 a6 15.Nd6 Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Nc6 17.Qe3 d4 18.Qg3 f6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Bh5 Rh6 21.Rfe1 Qd7 22.Rxe6 Rxe6 23.Bf7+ Kh8 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 25.Nxb7 Qe7 26.Nd6 Rd8 27.Nc4 d3 28.Qe3 Qb4 29.b3 h6 30.h3 a5 31.Rd1 Qc3 32.Qb6 Qf6 33.Nxa5 Nxa5 34.Qxa5 Qd4 35.Qd2 Re8 36.Kh2 Qd6+ 37.f4 Rd8 38.a4 Qd4 39.a5 Qd5 40.b4 Qb5 41.Qc3 Qa6 42.Qd2 Qb5 43.Ra1 Rd6 44.Rc1 Qd7 45.Rc3 Qb5 46.Rc5 Qe8 47.b5 Qf8 48.Rc3 Qf5 49.b6 Qb5 50.Ra3 Rd8 51.Ra1 h5 52.Ra2 h4 53.Rb2 Qa6 54.Qe1 Kg8 55.Qxh4 Rd7 56.Qe1 Kf7 57.Qd2 Re7 58.Rb3 Rd7 59.b7 White wins 1–0

Click here to replay the game.

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It’s Saturday Open Forum!

Kramnik is playing in his first tournament in a while in Dortmund. However, the lowest seed is stealing the show. German Jan Gustafsson is leading the tournament with 2 rounds to go over big names such as Kramnik, Leko, Mamedyarov, and Ivanchuk, etc.

The July 2008 FIDE rating list is finally out with Carlsen at #6 since FIDE kept its word by not rating Foros for this list.

1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2798

2 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2788

3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2788

4 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2781

5 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2777

6 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2775

Greetings from Sardinia! It’s Saturday Open Forum. The forum is yours. What would you like to discuss?

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OFFICIAL STANDINGS AFTER THE 8th ROUND
Those in red are in medal contention entering the last round.

LISTS ACCORDING TO http://201.216.215.172/torneos/XIX_PANAM_08/index_panam_08.htm

Under 8 girls:
5th - Singh Reva 5.0/8

Under 10 girls:
2nd - Liao, Simone 6.5/8
3rd –Evan Xiang 6.0/8

Under 12 girls:
3rd - Yang, Sylvia 6.5/8
5th - Xiang, Ellen 5.5/8
21st - WCM Munoz, Claudia 4.0/8

Under 14 girls:
5th - Kats, Alena 5.5/8
10th - Robinson, Darrian 5.0/8

Under 18 girls:
4th - Jamison, Courtney 5.0/8
16th - Maffeo, Nicole Suzanne 4.0/8

Under 8 boys:
33rd - Liao, Stan 3.0/8

Under 10 boys:
28th - Munda Pamatmat, Jordan James 4.0/8

Under 12 boys:
3rd - Munda Pamatmat, Jared John 6.0/8
13th - Zhang Eric Ruiyang 5.0/8

Under 14 boys:
2nd - Huang Huashi 6.5/8
43rd - Karp, Justin 4.0/8
58th - Gunawon, Cheston 3.0/8

Under 16 boys:
1st - Getz, Alec 6.5/8 (according to http://201.216.215.172/torneos/XIX_PANAM_08/TABLA-POSICIONES/pos-sub-16-abs.htm)
5th - Yang, Stanley 6.0/8
10th Tanaka, Christian T. 5.5/8
29th - Tan, Jared 4.0/8

Under 18 boys:
9th - CM Lau, Robert 5.0/8

Source: http://www.womancandidatemaster.blogspot.com/

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Williams Sisters Advance to Final
By HOWARD FENDRICH,
AP
Posted: 2008-07-04 01:51:25
Filed Under: Tennis, Sports

WIMBLEDON, England (July 3) - A spot in her seventh Wimbledon final already secured, Venus Williams headed back to Centre Court to catch the end of the next match.

Scouting? Not really. More like rooting. And when Thursday’s second semifinal ended, Williams stood, smiling and applauding for the woman who won, the woman she will have to beat to earn a fifth championship at the All England Club: her younger sister, Serena.

The most unusual and, at times, uncomfortable rivalry in tennis is once more in the spotlight at the pinnacle of the sport: Venus will play Serena in their third all-in-the-family Wimbledon final Saturday.

It’s their seventh Grand Slam title match - Serena holds a 5-1 edge over her sister - but first final at any tournament since 2003.

“Our main focus is obviously both of us getting to the final,” Venus said. “Then, from there, it’s every Williams for themself.”

Source: AP

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Questionable sports set for Olympics
Posted By DON BARRIE
Posted 2 hours ago

The XXIX Olympiad opens in Beijing, China next month. There will be 302 medal events, one more than the 2004 Athens Games. One new event is BMX bike racing; not surprising since many of the world’s bikes are made in China.

The inclusion of BMX racing reintroduces the controversy of what is an Olympic sport? There are already events for road and track cycling and mountain bikes, now with these trick bikes only kids’ tricycles are out.

There is no shortage of questionable sports in the Olympics. Both chess and bridge were exhibition sports in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Salt Lake City Olympics two years later.

Juan Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, stated at the time, “Bridge is a sport and your place is here, like all other sports.”

Two years later, his more realistic successor, Jacques Rogge, in an attempt to quell concern they may be included in future Games stated; “Chess and bridge were indeed sports, but sports where the physical elements are not performed by the players in the conduct of competition.”

Based on that definition, why is dressage, which is essentially dancing horses, been in the Olympics since 1912? The horse is the only athlete in that event. Even ballroom dancing, which once applied for Olympic status and was turned down, requires more athleticism than a dressage rider.

The decision of Olympic sports spawns a number of questions. First, what is a sport?

Bernard Suits wrote that for a game to be a sport it must meet four criteria. First, it must require skill. Second, it must have a physical component. Third, it must have a wide following and finally it must achieve a level of stability.

Source: www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com

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27-time champion was formidable even in old age
Saturday, July 5, 2008 3:06 AM
By SHELBY LYMAN

How strong a player was Emanuel Lasker, who was world champion for 27 years (1894-1921)?

A young Bobby Fischer obscured Lasker’s legacy when he wrote in 1964 that he “was a coffeehouse player” who “knew nothing about openings and didn’t understand positional chess.”

For many, Fischer’s famous statement has been the final word. But he apparently reversed himself later when he told fellow grandmaster Pal Benko that “Lasker was a truly great player.”

A measure of Lasker’s ability was his performance at age 67 in the 1935 Moscow International Tournament. He finished in third place, only a half-point behind Mikhail Botvinnik and Salo Flohr but ahead of Jose Capablanca, the acknowledged chess genius who had wrested away Lasker’s world title 14 years earlier.

Capablanca regarded Lasker — even as the latter neared 70 — as the most dangerous player in the world in a single game. No other contemporary, he thought, surpassed the former world champion in his ability to evaluate a position and find the correct strategy.

Lasker was notable for his lack of fear and his willingness to take on new challenges. Siegbert Tarrasch wrote: “Lasker occasionally loses a game, but he never loses his head.”

His friend Albert Einstein offered an impressive non-chess tribute: “I shall remember with gratitude the pleasing conversations I enjoyed with that incessantly eager, truly independent and yet most modest of men.”

Source: Columbus Dispatch

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Round 6 pairings:

Jan Gustafsson - Peter Leko
Vladimir Kramnik - Ian Nepomniachtchi
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Vassily Ivanchuk
Arkadij Naiditsch - Loek van Wely

Official website: http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/english/english.html

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Greetings from Costa Smeralda in Sardinia! I am at a very special private chess event with my sister Judit and the main entertainer is Seal. He was excellent and very nice. There will be plenty of activities tomorrow and I will blog more about it soon.

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Lubbock, Texas
July 4, 2008

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Kasparian 1934, presented by Andreas

White to move. Which side is better? How should White continue?

8/2B3p1/7b/7p/7k/2q4P/Q5P1/7K w - - 0 1

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GM Ivanchuk (2740) - GM Naiditsch (2624) [D37]
Dortmund - Round 5, 04.07.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e3 a6 6.a4 c5 7.Bxc4 Nc6 8.0–0 Be7 9.dxc5 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Bxc5 11.Bd2 b6 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.Ne4 Be7 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Rac1 0–0 16.Be4 Rfc8 17.b3 Na5 18.Bxb7 Nxb7 19.Bb4 Bb2 20.Rxc8+ Rxc8 21.Rd7 Na5 22.Bxa5 bxa5 23.g4 h6 24.Kg2 Bc3 25.g5 Rb8 26.Rd3 Rc8 27.h4 hxg5 28.hxg5 Kh7 29.Kg3 Kg6 30.Kf4 Rc6 31.e4 f6 32.Kg4 fxg5 33.Nxg5 e5 34.Nf3 Kf6 35.Kh5 Ke7 36.Nh4 Kf6 37.Rf3+ Ke6 38.Nf5 Kd7 39.Rd3+ Kc7 40.Nxg7 Be1 41.f3 Rc3 42.Ne6+ Kc6 43.Rxc3+ Bxc3 44.Kg6 Kd6 45.Kf5 Kc6 46.f4 exf4 47.Kxf4 Bf6 48.e5 Be7 49.Ke4 Bh4 50.Kd4 Bg3 51.Ng5 Bf4 52.Nf3 Bg3 53.Kc4 White wins 1–0

Click here to replay the game.

Jan Gustafsson is having an incredible tournament! He is leading with 2 rounds to go!

Standings after 5 rounds:

1. Gustafsson, Jan g GER 2603 3½

2-3. Leko, Peter g HUN 2741 3
2-3. Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2634 3

4-6. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2752 2½
4-6. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2740 2½
4-6. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2788 2½

7. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2624 2

8. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2677 1

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GM Leko (2741) - GM Nepomniachtchi (2634) [B52]
04.07.2008 / Dortmund - Round 5

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nf6 9.h3 Bg7 10.Be3 0–0 11.0–0 Rfc8 12.b3 e6 13.Rc1 Qe7 14.Qd2 a6 15.Rfd1 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Rc6 17.a4 Rac8 18.Re1 Qf8 19.Rcd1 Nd7 20.Bxg7 Qxg7 21.Ne2 Nc5 22.Nd4 R6c7 23.Qe3 Rd7 24.a5 Rdd8 25.Rd2 e5 26.Ne2 f5 27.exf5 gxf5 28.Red1 Ne4 29.Rd5 Kh8 30.f4 Game drawn ½–½

Click here to replay the game.

GM Mamedyarov (2752) - GM Kramnik (2788) [E15]
04.07.2008 / Dortmund - Round 5

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.dxc5 bxc5 8.0–0 Be7 9.Nc3 0–0 10.Rd1 Qb6 11.Bf4 Rd8 12.Rd2 d6 13.Rad1 Ne8 14.e4 Bc6 15.Qc2 Nd7 16.e5 dxe5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Nf6 20.Ne4 Rxd2 21.Rxd2 Rd8 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.g4 h5 24.h3 hxg4 25.hxg4 Rxd2 26.Qxd2 Qc6 27.f3 f5 28.gxf5 exf5 29.Nc3 Qg6+ 30.Kf1 Qh5 31.Qg2+ Kf8 32.Nd5 Qh6 33.f4 Bd6 34.Qg1 Qh5 35.Kf2 Qh8 36.Qc1 Qd4+ 37.Kf3 Qd3+ 38.Kf2 Qd4+ 39.Kf3 Qd3+ 40.Kf2 Game drawn ½–½

Click here to replay the game.

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GM Short (2655) - GM Karjakin (2727) [B23]
04.07.2008 / Match game 4

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.f4 e5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Ng3 Be7 7.Be2 Nd4 8.0–0 exf4 9.Bxf4 0–0 10.Kh1 d5 11.Bf3 Nxf3 12.gxf3 Be6 13.Rg1 Re8 14.Qe2 g6 15.Rae1 Rc8 16.Qf2 Qb6 17.Be5 dxe4 18.Ncxe4 Nd7 19.Bc3 c4 20.Bd4 Qa6 21.dxc4 Qxc4 22.c3 Qxa2 23.Nh5 Qa5 24.Ng7 Rf8 25.Qd2 Rc4 26.Qh6 Rxd4 27.Nxe6 fxe6 28.Rxg6+ Kf7 29.Rg7+ Ke8 30.Qxe6 Kd8 31.Qxe7+ Kc7 32.Qxf8 White wins 1–0

Click here to replay the game.

Score after 4 games:

Karjakin 3 - 1 Short

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Jan Gustafsson won in 18 moves with the Black pieces against Loek Van Wely to lead Dortmund with only 2 rounds to go!

GM Van Wely (2677) - GM Gustafsson (2603) [D31]
Dortmund, 04.07.2008 - Round 5

1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Na6 9.Ba5 b6 10.Qd6 Bd7 11.0–0–0 0–0–0 12.Bc3 f6 13.Bf3 Qxc4 14.Be2 Qxa2 15.Nf3 Nc5 16.Ne5 Ne4 17.Bc4 Qa1+ 18.Kc2 Qa4+ Black wins 0–1

Click here to replay the game.

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Three games and three losses against the young Karjakin in their 10 game match. It is half way toward a Taimanov / Larsen. What do you think? Can Short make a heroic comeback?

GM Karjakin (2727) - GM Short (2655) [B05]
04.07.2008 / Rapid match - game 3

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 c6 6.0–0 Bxf3 7.Bxf3 dxe5 8.dxe5 e6 9.Nd2 Nd7 10.Re1 h6 11.a4 a5 12.g3 Qc7 13.Nc4 N7b6 14.Qd4 Nxc4 15.Qxc4 Rd8 16.c3 Nb6 17.Qe4 Nd7 18.b4 Be7 19.Rb1 h5 20.Qe2 g6 21.bxa5 Ra8 22.Qb2 Ra7 23.a6 b6 24.Be2 0–0 25.Be3 Rb8 26.a5 Bc5 27.Bxc5 bxc5 28.Qd2 Qxe5 29.Rxb8+ Qxb8 30.Rd1 Qc7 31.Qd6 Qxa5 32.Qxc6 Nf6 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qb8 Re7 35.Rb1 Nd5 36.Rb7 Qxc3 37.a7 Rxb7 38.Qxb7 Qe1+ White wins 1–0

Click here to replay the game.

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I just arrived in Rome. I will be in this region of the world for a few days then I will be heading to San Luis, Argentina for a major chess and education conference.

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In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Congress approved the wording of the Declaration on July 4 and then sent it to the printer. Whether John Hancock, as the elected President of the Second Continental Congress, or anyone else signed the document that day is unknown, because that document has been lost — presumably destroyed in the printing process. Hancock’s name and that of a witness do appear on the typeset broadside that was published within a few days. On August 2 in the following month, an engrossed document in script form was signed by Hancock and other delegates.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, baseball games, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States, but is often also viewed as simply a summer festival, apart from its patriotic overtones.

Source: Wiki

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Round 5 pairings:

P. Leko - I. Nepomniachtchi
S. Mamedyarov - V. Kramnik
V. Ivanchuk - A. Naiditsch
L. van Wely - J. Gustafsson

Your prediction? Can Kramnik and Ivanchuk turn things around? Can Gustafsson and Nepomniatchi continue their excellent form?

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Here is a strong GM giving a clock simul to a few very enthusiastic young players. Can you name this GM?

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Chess: The rapid ascent of Magnus Carlsen
July 6, 2008
Bill Cornwall

Carlsen is for real: Erasing all doubts, 17 ½-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway has established himself as the next potential Bobby Fischer.

In the past few years, the teen has soared into the supergrandmaster category, but just recently he stunned everyone when he won a major event in the Ukraine. He not only bested 11 of the world’s top players, he did so without losing a game. He cinched first prize with one round left.

A Web site that updates ratings (chess.liverating.org) now lists Carlsen as No. 2 in the world with a 2,791 rating. World champion Vishwanathan Anand of India is only eight points ahead at 2,798. Former champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia follows with 2,789.

In this column’s game, Carlsen sacrifices a rook for bishop to establish a winning position.

Traveling with a king: In our chess infancies, most of us learned through painful experience to keep our kings out of the lines of fire. Only the most stubborn among us fail to follow the basic strategic opening dictate: Castle early! So ingrained in us is that principle that we have a natural reluctance to emerge with our kings when we should.

Here is the full article.

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What Is a Sport to You?
by Sanjay Kumar

According to Wikipedia.com, “Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance) and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.”

So from this detailed definition of sport, is Xbox Live gaming a sport?

It is governed by a set of rules, and is most of the time competitive.

Granted their is no physical requirement in the world of on-line video games, but there is no doubt some level of mental aptitude necessary to be victorious.

A person that plays chess and eventually becomes a grand master…do they qualify as an athlete?

Or a golfer that is grossly overweight, and does nothing physical except for his swing?

There is no doubt that the interpretation of what is a sport is going to vary by person, but we can all agree that a sport is a competitive event that people gather for.

Typically sports have fans that cheer for a team or individual. Well in the World Series of Poker, people gather to watch the participants climb up the ladder to win the jackpot.

Some even cheer for certain players they like for whatever reason it is.

As I said above, I believe that a sport is an event that is in a competitive environment with people attending, whether it be at someone’s house to watch their friend play Halo 3, to watching their favorite player win Wimbledon.

A sport is what you make it. Shuffleboard at a bar may not require athletic skill, but it’s unbelievably fun, attracts people to watch the games and really get into it. Rounds are played, people win and lose. It’s all a game.

In other words in my view a sport equates to a game in its simplest sense, and is what you make of it.

Here is the full article. Do you agree with the author?

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Kramnik will participate in the Tal Memorial in Moscow
News by Chessdom

Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik will participate in the traditional super-tournament Mikhail Tal Memorial, which will be held in Moscow from 18th to 28th August, as reported by Sports.ru. Kramnik is back to defend the last year’s trophy, when he confidently took the first place, full point ahead of Alexei Shirov.

Apart from Vladimir Kramnik, also confirmed is the participation of the winner of the Mtel Masters 2008 - Vassily Ivanchuk, the World Chess Championship semi-finalist Gata Kamsky, the 2007 World Championship participant Boris Gelfand and the 2007 World Cup finalist Alexei Shirov. There will be 10 players, but the rest of the field is to be announced later.

This tournament will probably serve as the last practical test for Kramnik and Kamsky prior to important matches in the World Championship cycle.

Riga to host its own Mikhail Tal Memorial
Organized by the Tal Foundation

Besides the heavyweight Moscow event, another Mikhail Tal Memorial will be held this fall in his hometown Riga. President of the Tal Foundation and daughter of the great Magician, Zana Tal, shared with Latvian Telegraph that Boris Spassky and Victor Korchnoi have already agreed to take participation.

Top Spanish player Alexei Shirov, who is also former resident of Riga, will most likely play as well, if the Memorial is not in conflict with his tournament schedule. Best female players of Riga will demonstrate their skill on the board, along with applicants from Lithuania and Estonia. A total of 20 players are expected to show up at the opening.

News via e3e5.com

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Isabel is crowned queen of chess
Kathryn Ryan 3/ 7/2008

A YOUNG girl has made her smartest move yet after being crowned a national chess champion.

Isabel Cotogni beat off competition from across the country to be named All England Girls Under-12s Chess Champion.

The title means her dad Stephen, 47, and her older male competitors at Worsley Chess Club don’t have to feel quite so bad at being beaten by a 12-year-old girl.

Isabel, of Woodstock Drive, Worsley, said: “I’m really pleased because I didn’t expect to win so when I won all my matches I was really happy.

“I travel all over the country, I meet new people and I like it as a hobby.

“People think it’s quite a nerdy game but you do meet some new people.

“It is the biggest thing I’ve won but I’ve won quite a few competitions.”

As well as practicing her moves against her dad and members of the chess club Isabel also has weekly tuition from chess coach Andrew Wilson who encourages her to think more tactically.

On top of all this Isabel, who is also Salford’s reigning girls champion, is set to receive some expert tuition from a grandmaster.

Her prize for winning the competition is 10 hours of grandmaster coaching and three trophies.

Isabel, who is gearing up to play in the Northern Gigafinal this weekend, said: “I’m really looking forward to it.

“I really have to work hard and I play my dad every night.

“I will definitely carry on playing as I get older but I’m not sure if I’ll become a grandmaster, I think I might want to do something with science.”

Mum Ellen, 42, said she is very proud of her daughter but steers well clear of facing her across the chess board.

She added: “I’m very proud of her, she works very hard.

“I haven’t got the patience for chess.

“She beats Stephen all the time but he just takes it on the chin.”

Source: http://www.salfordadvertiser.co.uk

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The 10 game rapid match between Sergey Karjakin and Nigel Short is taking place in Kiev, Ukraine, from July 3 to 7, 2008. After 2 games, the score is Karjakin 2, Short 0.

Official site: http://chess.life.com.ua/index.php?lng=en

Karjakin, S. (2727) - Short, N (2655) [B12]
Rapid Match, Kiev, 03.05.2008 - Game 1

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.0–0 Ne7 9.c4 Ng6 10.Qe2 Be7 11.f4 0–0 12.Nd2 a5 13.Nf3 Ba6 14.Be3 a4 15.Rac1 Qb8 16.Rc2 Rd8 17.Rfc1 c5 18.h4 Nf8 19.cxd5 Bxd3 20.Qxd3 Rxd5 21.Qe4 Nd7 22.h5 Ra7 23.Nd2 Ra6 24.Qf3 f6 25.exf6 Nxf6 26.h6 gxh6 27.Bxc5 Bxc5+ 28.Rxc5 Rxc5 29.Rxc5 Qb6 30.Qf2 Ng4 31.Qd4 Qd6 32.Rc8+ Kf7 33.Qh8 Nf6 34.Nf3 Kg6 35.Rf8 Qxf4 36.Rg8+ Kh5 37.Qxf6 1–0

Click here to replay game 1.

Short, N (2655) - Karjakin, S (2727) [B23]
Rapid Match, Kiev (2), 03.05.2008 - Game 2

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.d3 e6 7.0–0 Nge7 8.a3 0–0 9.Ba2 Nd4 10.Kh1 Bd7 11.Bd2 Nec6 12.Ng5 h6 13.Nh3 b5 14.Rc1 a5 15.Nb1 b4 16.c3 b3 17.Bxb3 Nxb3 18.Qxb3 Rb8 19.Qa2 e5 20.f5 gxf5 21.exf5 Qf6 22.g4 Qh4 23.Nf2 c4 24.Rce1 Ne7 25.Re3 Bc6+ 26.Kg1 Nd5 27.Rh3 Qd8 28.dxc4 Nf4 29.Bxf4 exf4 30.b4 Re8 31.Qd2 Re3 32.Rxe3 fxe3 33.Qxe3 Qf6 34.Re1 h5 35.b5 Ba8 36.Qe7 Rc8 37.Qxf6 Bxf6 38.gxh5 Kh7 39.Ng4 Bh4 40.Rd1 Bf3 41.Rd4 Re8 42.Nd2 Re1+ 43.Nf1 Rc1 44.Nge3 Be1 45.Rxd6 Rxc3 46.a4 Rb3 47.Rd2 Bxd2 48.Nxd2 Rxe3 49.Kf2 Rc3 50.Nxf3 Rxc4 51.Ng5+ Kg7 52.h6+ Kxh6 53.Nxf7+ Kg7 54.Nd8 Rxa4 55.Nc6 Ra2+ 56.Ke3 a4 57.Kd4 Rb2 58.Kc4 a3 59.Nb4 Rxb4+ 60.Kxb4 a2 0–1

Click here to replay game 2.

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Rey Ardid 1944, presented by Andreas

White to move. How would you assess this position? What should White do? (No computer analysis please)

8/5k2/5p2/p7/2P1K1P1/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

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Lyon, Thursday 3rd of July 2008

Press release Alice and the chess master : the adventure goes on !

The team of Alice and the chess master catched by English-speaking people!

With the help of Europe Echecs and its technologies for broadcasting of chess events and the Lyon Olympic Chess team and knowledge, and the decisive venue of Anatoly KARPOV in Lyon, the first « Circuit Espoirs Europe Echecs » got in 6 days, more than 1 million of visitors.

But problem … !

Some English-speaking people, among them one of the most important website in the world, asked us information about the mysterious chess game of Lewis CARROLL from the tale Through the looking glass and what Alice found there following of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland.

Indeed they have understood that the mysterious and secret meeting with Anatoly KARPOV of June 26th in the town of Lyon was in the painter Max SCHOENDORFF’s flat.

Max is the chairman of URDLA too. (http://www.urdla.com/gardes.htm)

Christophe LEROY (bewitched) could thus expose his thought …

Marcel DUCHAMP, François LE LIONNAIS, Lewis CARROLL and his mysterious chessgame, the giant chessboard of mirrors in Domaine de Lacroix-Laval (near Lyon, France), Europe Echecs, the regretted Gérard LABOUR and his actions in hospitals, Henri RINCK the famous problemist from Lyon, philately and magnets collections, articles on Fischer from 1972, are some topics which were recalled with Anatoly KARPOV with a final dedications session : books of M. SCHOENDORFF, books of A. KARPOV and book Alice and the chessmaster of C. LEROY.

M. SCHOENDORFF and A. KARPOV spoke about links between subjects like literature, art, chess, painting, style of play, etc.

C. LEROY explained the most interesting points of Lewis CARROLL’s mysterious chessgame to A. KARPOV, with B. KOUATLY translating from French to English. Christophe offered personalized stamps of Alice to Anatoly, and more other collection pieces.

This meeting in photos here:
Photos de la soirée carrollienne (1)
Photos de la soirée carrollienne (2)

It is true that looking at these photos it is frustrating as an English-speaking not to have information in English!

Therefore following numerous requests Sylvain RAVOT and Antoine CHAMBA worked hard to translate for you the summarized version of this unpublished literary discovery:

English version: http://www.echecs-histoire-litterature.com/eng/carrollmaincodes.doc
French version: http://www.echecs-histoire-litterature.com/docs/carrollprincipauxcodes.doc

Much more information can be found on the website:
http://www.echecs-histoire-litterature.com/ and some of them, here too, were translated for you!

Do not hesitate to contact us to bring us your new contributions!
Contact England Alice and the chess master: Sylvain RAVOT sylvain.ravot@freesbee.fr
Contact France Alice et le maître d’échecs : Christophe LEROY, 3, rue de l’Angile à Lyon 5ème.
Tél. 06 10 60 60 75 - aliceandthechessmaster@orange.fr

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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

New Jersey Futurity II

Welcome back to the New Jersey Knockouts blog! Where have you been? More importantly, where have I been? The US Chess League starts up again in under two months, and you can tune in right here to find all the action.Until then, there’s other New Jersey chess action to keep us occupied. The New Jersey State Chess Federation has another Futurity tournament starting on Monday, July 7, 2008, the day after the conclusion of the World Open.

The ten-player single round robin will take place at the Dean of Chess Academy in Branchburg, NJ. It concludes on July 11, 2008.

I got a scoop on the pairings, and an updated list of the participants, so without further ado…

Participants

GM Jaan Ehlvest (2603 - USA)
GM Sergey Erenburg (2563 - ISR)
GM Leonid Yudasin (2550 - ISR)
GM Sam Palatnik (2472 - USA)
IM Dean Ippolito (2445 - USA)
IM A. Almeida Saenz (2419 - MEX)
IM Milos Scekic (2371 - SRB)
IM Mikhail Zlotnikov (2345 - USA)
Mackensie Molner (2337 - USA)
Evan Ju (2286 - USA)

Average Rating = 2439 (Category

Report by Rob Bernard
minusone@alumni.princeton.edu
http://njknockouts.blogspot.com/

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US Top 10 (July 2008)

1 Kamsky, Gata 2723
2 Nakamura, Hikaru 2697
3 Onischuk, Alexander 2670
4 Seirawan, Yasser 2634
5 Shulman, Yuri 2623
6 Shabalov, Alexander 2611
7 Akobian, Varuzhan 2610
8 Kaidanov, Gregory S 2605
9 Ehlvest, Jaan 2603
10 Becerra Rivero, Julio 2598

Source: FIDE

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July 27 - August 1 at Texas Tech University (TTU) in Lubbock, Texas

The annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls, the most prestigious all-girls event in the United States, will be held at the Frazier Pavilion at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Starting time of each round will be at 1:30 P.M., except for round 1 and 6.

Round 1 will be at 3:00 PM and round 6 will be at 10 AM., and the time control is 90 minutes for the entire game with 30 seconds increment added per move. This is the approved FIDE time control. Pre-tournament registration is required.

The open ceremony will be at 1:30 PM on July 27. The closing ceremony will take place 30 minutes after the conclusion of the last game on August 1.

State - Confirmed - Name

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona Conf Sayaka Foley
Arkansas Conf Crystal Qian
California (Northern) Conf Rebekah Liu
California (Southern) Conf Nisha Deolalikar
Colorado Conf Alexandra Lasley
Connecticut Conf Alexandra Wiener
Delaware Conf Ann Marie Fitch
District of Columbia
Florida Conf Rita Mirchandani
Georgia Conf Ananya Roy
Hawaii Conf Ashbea Oyadomari
Idaho Conf Erica Barkell
Illinois Conf Sonya Vohra
Indiana Conf Emily Tallo
Iowa Conf Dhrooti Vyas
Kansas Conf Katrina Pritchard
Kentuck
Louisiana
Maine Conf Sorel Edes
Maryland Conf Fiona V. Lam
Massachusetts Conf Michelle Chen
Michigan Conf Ashley Carter
Minnesota Conf Morgan Mahowald
Mississippi Conf Melanie Newell
Missouri Conf Joanna Gossell
Montana
Nebraska Conf Elizabeth Oliver
Nevada
New Hampshire Conf Avary Bell
New Jersey Conf Eve Zhurbinskiy
New Mexico Conf Rebecca Anne DeLand
New York Conf Linda Diaz
North Carolina Conf Amelia Wheeless
North Dakota
Ohio Conf Brianna Conley
Oklahoma Conf Michelle Farell
Oregon Conf Taylor Bailey
Pennsylvania Conf Shinan Jin
Rhode Island
South Carolina Conf Hannah Whatley
South Dakota Conf Kaitlynn Loos
Tennessee Conf Autumn Douthitt
Texas Conf Sylvia Yang
Texas Conf Rheanna English
Utah Conf Jamie Olsen-Mills
Vermont
Virginia Conf Susan Brown
Washington Conf Leanne Hwa
West Virginia Katherine E. King
Wisconsin Conf Mira Ensley-Field
Wyoming
WILD CARD Conf Victoria Bian
Special Invitation Conf Courtney Jamison
SPNatOpen Conf Claudia E. Munoz
LVPolgarWorldGirls Conf Annie Wang-U8
LVPolgarWorldGirls Conf Alisha Chawla-U8
LVPolgarWorldGirls Conf Rebecca Lelko-U19
All Star Team Conf Michelle Xueying Chen

PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATE (SusanPolgar@aol.com) IF YOU QUALIFIED AND YOUR NAME IS NOT LISTED!

Important information available here.
Rules and conditions are located here.

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The players will have another day off today. Round 5 will resume tomorrow. Here are the matchups for round 5:

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Vladimir Kramnik
Peter Leko - Ian Nepomniachtchi
Loek van Wely - Jan Gustafsson
Vassily Ivanchuk - Arkadij Naiditsch

Official website: http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/english/english.html

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OFFICIAL STANDINGS FOR TEAM USA AFTER THE 4th ROUND

Under 8 girls:

5th - Singh Reva 3.0/4

Under 10 girls:

2nd - Liao, Simone 3.5/4
4th – Evan Xiang 3.5/4

Under 12 girls:

2nd - Yang, Sylvia 4.0/4
3rd - Xiang, Ellen 3.5/4
17th - WCM Munoz, Claudia 2.0/4

Under 14 girls:

3rd - Kats, Alena 3.5/4
16th - Robinson, Darrian 2.5/4

Under 18 girls:

9th - Jamison, Courtney 2.5/4
11th Maffeo, Nicole Suzanne 1.5/4

Under 8 boys:

34th - Liao, Stan 1.0/4

Under 10 boys:

37th - Munda Pamatmat, Jordan James 1.5/4

Under 12 boys:

7th - Munda Pamatmat, Jared John 3.0/4
9th - Zhang Eric Ruiyang 3.0/4

Under 14 boys:

10th - Huang Huashi 3.0/4
44th - Karp, Justin 2.0/4
55th - Gunawon, Cheston 1.5/4

Under 16 boys:

5th - Getz, Alec 3.5/4
8th Yang, Stanley 3.0/4
9th Tanaka, Christian T. 3.0/4
33rd - Tan, Jared 2.0/4

Under 18 boys:

7th - CM Lau, Robert 3.0/4

Source: www.womancandidatemaster.blogspot.com

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Vesely - Antos (Czechoslovakia, 1968), presented by Andreas

White to move. Is it possible for White to win this game?

7k/6p1/6K1/p5P1/5N2/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

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Nepomniachtchi (2634) - Van_Wely (2677) [B90]
Dortmund 2008, 02.07.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.0–0–0 Be7 10.f4 Ng4 11.g3 Nxe3 12.Qxe3 b5 13.Kb1 Qb6 14.Qe2 b4 15.Na4 Qc6 16.f5 Bxf5 17.exf5 Qxa4 18.Bg2 0–0 19.Bxa8 Rxa8 20.g4 Qc6 21.Na5 Qc7 22.Nc4 a5 23.Nxd6 Bxd6 24.Qd3 Nf6 25.Qxd6 Qxd6 26.Rxd6 Nxg4 27.Rg1 Nxh2 28.f6 g6 29.Rg2 Nf3 30.Re2 h5 31.Re3 e4 32.Rxe4 g5 33.Rd3 g4 34.Rd5 Ra6 35.Rf4 Re6 36.a4 Re1+ 37.Ka2 Rh1 38.Rxa5 Kh7 39.Rd5 Kg6 40.a5 Re1 41.a6 Re8 42.a7 Ra8 43.Ra5 Nh2 44.Rxb4 g3 45.Rb8 Rxa7 46.Rg8+ Kxf6 47.Rxa7 Ng4 48.Ra3 White wins 1–0

Standings after 4 rounds:

1-3. Gustafsson, Jan g GER 2603 2½
1-3. Leko, Peter g HUN 2741 2½
1-3. Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2634 2½

4-6. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2752 2
4-6. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2624 2
4-6. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2788 2

7. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2740 1½

8. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2677 1

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Gustafsson (2603) - Ivanchuk (2740) [D37]
Dortmund 2008, 02.07.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 b5 7.a4 c6 8.e5 h6 9.exf6 hxg5 10.fxg7 Rg8 11.g3 g4 12.Nh4 Bb7 13.Bg2 Rxg7 14.axb5 Qb6 15.bxc6 Nxc6 16.0–0 Ne7 17.Qe2 Rc8 18.Qe5 Kf8 19.Na4 Qc7 20.Qxc7 Rxc7 21.Bxb7 Rxb7 22.Rfc1 Rc7 23.Nc5 c3 24.bxc3 Bxc5 25.dxc5 Rg5 26.Ra4 Nc6 27.Kg2 Rb7 28.Rc2 Rb5 29.f3 gxf3+ 30.Nxf3 Rgxc5 31.Nd4 Game drawn ½–½

Naiditsch (2624) - Mamedyarov (2752) [B46]
Dortmund 08, 02.07.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0–0 Nf6 9.Re1 Be7 10.e5 Nd7 11.Qg4 g6 12.Na4 Qa5 13.Bh6 c5 14.b3 c4 15.Bf1 Bb7 16.Qg3 Bc6 17.Nb2 Rb8 18.Reb1 Bf8 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.bxc4 Kg7 21.a3 Rhc8 22.Qe3 Rc7 23.cxd5 Bxd5 24.c4 Ba8 25.Nd3 Rxb1 26.Rxb1 Rxc4 27.Nb4 Rc8 28.Re1 Bb7 29.h4 h5 30.f4 Nb6 31.Rc1 Nd5 32.Nxd5 Rxc1 33.Qxc1 Qxd5 34.Qe3 a5 35.Kf2 Qa2+ 36.Kg1 Qb2 37.Be2 Bd5 38.Bf3 Bb3 39.Qc5 Qd2 40.g3 a4 41.Bg2 Qd1+ Game drawn ½–½

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