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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Friday, May 24, 2013
U.S. Chess Championship 2013 Special to Air on FOX Sports Midwest May 25
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
SAINT LOUIS -- On May 25 at 6 p.m. CT, FOX Sports Midwest will air a one-hour recap special covering the 2013 U.S. and U.S. Women’s Chess Championships, which recently concluded at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
The 2013 U.S. Championship and 2013 U.S. Women’s Championship were held concurrently May 2 through May 13 at the CCSCSL. This marked the fifth consecutive year these events, the two most prestigious chess tournaments in the nation, were held in Saint Louis.
Grandmasters Gata Kamsky and Alejandro Ramirez squared off in an intense, head-to-head, rapid playoff to determine the 2013 U.S. Champion while the 2013 U.S. Women’s Championship boiled down to a three-way race between Tatev Abrahamyan, Anna Zatonskih and Irina Krush.
The one-hour special premiering on FOX Sports Midwest on May 25 will introduce viewers to some of the unique personalities in the U.S. chess scene and recap all the exciting action, including the thrilling climax, of the most important chess tournaments in the country.
In addition to the premiere, the special will also air on the following dates and times:
Thursday, May 30 at 5 p.m.
Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 5 at 5 p.m.
Saturday, June 8 at 7 p.m.
Thursday, June 13 at 11 p.m.
Live play-by-play of each round of the event also was streamed online to tens of thousands of viewers across the world through the websites of FOX Sports Midwest and USChessChamps.com, the U.S. Championships event website.
CCSCSL Executive Director Tony Rich said the live streaming show and televised recap special through FOX Sports Midwest both mark an important turning point for U.S. chess.
“This partnership with FOX Sports Midwest allows us to bring chess to a broader audience and to introduce the excitement and intensity of tournament chess to a whole new demographic,” Rich said. “Our goal is to showcase the talents of the top chess players in the nation and to create more fans and students of the sport of chess.”
The 2013 U.S. Championship featured a field of 24 players and a total prize fund of $180,000, and the 2013 U.S. Women’s Championship featured a 10-player field and a prize fund of $65,000.
“These players are the superstars of the U.S. chess scene,” Rich said. "We hope their play will inspire young chess players all across the country to achieve great things."
The CCSCSL has been home to the championships for each of the past five years, helping contribute to Saint Louis’ reputation as the hub of the U.S. chess scene.
Not Chess News, but 'Chess-Triggered' Food for Thought
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
We just found these two very interesting articles which are not directly related to chess, but have a chess motif and worth reading. The first one is controversial and disturbing, but has a "chess man" link. The second article reminds us about a debate we've conducted here on Chess Blog before! 1. Bring up the bodies: a controversial anatomy exhibit comes to Moscow
A man sits playing chess. Hunched over in concentration, he reaches to move one of his pieces. He could be any lover of the game - only his brain is exposed, as are all of his muscles. The chess man is one of dozens of bodies on display in "Mysteries of the Body: The Universe Within," now at Moscow's Vetoshny Art Center. The macabre traveling exhibit displays human specimens preserved by "plastination," a process that replaces body fluids with liquid plastic. It's spurred human rights protests, bitter rivalries between scientists - and in Moscow, as in most previous locations, it's a packed house.
Before coming to Moscow, "Our Body: The Universe Within" (the show's international title) had successful runs in the U.S., Europe and South America; other parts of the collection are now on display in Florida and Nicaragua. (You can read the full article here.)
In chess, there is a tactic called 'The Cleavage Attack'. This is where a woman leans in, her breasts pressing towards the table behind her opponent's troops, so disconcerting him that she wins the game. Is this the kind of game we want to play? Is this the kind of recipe for success that we want to write? That is one of the subjects for debate at 'How The Light Gets In', the festival of philosophy and music which runs down by the river at Hay, in parallel with the literary festival. The premise is that we openly discriminate in favour of intelligence. The question is whether this is a mistake: ought we to prize beauty as much as brains? Or, to put it in the terms of Catherine Hakim, one of the panellists, ought we to maximise and reward erotic capital? (You can read the full article here.)
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: New Chess Grand Prix Series Starting Next Year
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
During the opening ceremony of Thessaloniki Grand Prix, Fide president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov gave an interview to Chessdom. Here are the excerpts. Q: Mr. Ilyumzhinov, you literally had only few weeks to prepare for Grand Prix in Thessaloniki. How did everything happen so sudden? A: Initially the tournament was supposed to take place in Madrid, where last year we signed protocol of agreement. But due to crisis in Spain, the sponsors asked me to postpone the tournament for year 2014. This was not acceptable for us because we wanted to strictly maintain the planned schedule. When my friend Ivan Savvidis learned about this, he offered to hold the Grand Prix tournament in Makedonia Palace Hotel, his recent acquisition. Savvidis already supported Greek Chess Federation and he wants to open children chess academy in PAOK. That is why he thought the Grand Prix would be a good opportunity to further popularise chess in Greece. Q: After this tournament finishes, you will have only one month before the next 5th stage is starting. Will this event take place in Berlin, as planned, or you will again have to move it to a different venue? A: We are now in the process of negotiating and I think next week we will announce the venue. But the dates will not be changed, and this is important. Q: After Berlin you have Paris as the last Grand Prix in the calendar. Will you continue with this Grand Prix format in the coming years? A: Yes, we will continue. Q: You insist on this format? A: Yes, I think this is a good format and chess players like it too. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Thessaloniki Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 2: More Decisive Games, Five Players in the Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
The second round of the FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Thessaloniki produced more decisive results and now we have as many as five players sharing the lead with 1,5 points each. Alexander Morozevich, Fabiano Caruana and Alexander Grischuk took advantage of the white pieces and signed important victories. The other three games were drawn.
Hikaru Nakamura, arriving directly from Norway Chess tournament, has a difficult start with two losses in two consecutive games with black pieces. The Grand Prix tournament is attracting huge attention in Thessaloniki, the chess capital of Greece. Even on the working days, around 100 people join the commentator GM Ioannis Papaioannou in the Salonika bar of Makedonia Palace.
In addition, GM Stelios Halkias and FM Sotiris Logothetis are providing live English commentary for the official website. Guests are commonly joining in to share their thoughts on the games. Today we had an honour to welcome the reigning Greek champion Antonios Pavlidis in the commentary room.
Nelly Serefidou, reigning Greek U18 Girls champion, and Elisavet Papathanasiou, two-times Greek U18 Girls champion, also analysed with the commentators. Leinier Dominguez - Ruslan Ponomariov 1/2-1/2 Ponomariov aimed to play the popular Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez, but Dominguez deviated with the quiet 8.h3 and 9.d3. Black prepared the d5-push and comfortably equalised. White released the tension on the a-file and exchanged a couple of pieces. Immediately after that the players silently agreed to a draw with the three-fold repetition. Dominguez said that he was surprised by the black's opening choice and decided to play solid. Ponomariov based his preparation on the game that Leinier played with white against Kasimdzhanov in Tashkent. He also analysed some games from the recent European Championship in Poland.
Chess Queen Kosteniuk is the Chess Cover Story in Echo Magazine in Switzerland
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Here's some cool chess news about Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk: While she was playing in the Geneva Grand Prix last week (see her report for the moment in Russian and in English thanks to Google Translate), the French-Swiss magazine Echo came out with an article about chess, and the 12th Women's World Chess Champion was on the cover! Read all about it at ChessQueen.com - GM Alexandra Kosteniuk's personal chess blog.
Danzhou Chess GM Tournament: Ni Hua in Sole Lead with Perfect Score
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The 4th Danzhou Grand Master Chess Tournament is taking place in Danzhou, Hainan, from 20 May to 29 May 2013. Ten Chinese Grandmasters compete in the round robin tournament. Ni Hua is leading the field as the only player that maintained a perfect score after three rounds. Two of these victories were achieved with the black pieces.
The first victim of the fourth seeded player was Xiu Deshun. A very long and hard-fought battle finished with Ni Hua getting the faster passed pawns on the queenside.
In the second round the leader had to face the Dutch put up by Lu Shanglei. After a series of simplifications the players went into a queens and rooks endgame where white’s initiative was enough to get ahead. Shanglei resigned on move 41 when he is about to lose his rook. Young GM Wei Yi was the last one to fall. He played white and agreed to get in a sharp Ruy Lopez. A tactical sequence around move 22 left him a piece down and he decided to resign instead of suffering any longer. Rating favorites Bu Xiangzhi and Ding Liren are sharing second place with 2.5/3. (Chessdom.com)
Thessaloniki Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 1: Svidler, Kamsky, Kasimdzhanov Win
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
The first round of the fourth stage of FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Thessaloniki got under way on 22nd May, with the Greek-Russian businessman Ivan Savvidis, main sponsor of the event, making the first symbolic move in the game Kamsky - Dominguez. After playing 1.e2-e4, Savvidis told Kamsky "now you have no right to lose this game". The American champion lived up to the expectations and went on to defeat Leinier Dominguez. To complete the fortunate day for Mr Savvidis, his club PAOK Saloniki beat Asteras Tripolis 2-1 in the Greek Football Super-Liga play-off. Peter Svidler and Rustam Kasimdzhanov also started with victories, while the other three games were drawn. Results, pairings, standings and photo gallery are updated. Ponomariov - Caruana 1/2-1/2 The first game to finish was the match between Ruslan Ponomariov and Fabiano Caruana. The players opened with Ruy Lopez and Caruana pointed that 9...Na5 was in important move to hold the setup. Ponomariov noted that none of the pieces or pawns were exchanged before move 16. Caruana then released tension in center and moved his Knight to f4 because there was no other way to defend the e5-pawn. Within the next dozen of moves a large number of pieces were exchanged. After the Queens also went off, a draw was signed according to Sofia rules. Ponomariov was happy with the result as "it is important to properly adjust to the new setting, and the new tournament." He also added that he is playing similar setups with black, he is familiar with many opening ideas, and that is why he took some time to find the most appropriate plan. He played all the logical moves, but black also played well and the draw is a fair result. Caruana reminded that most of the players competing in Thessaloniki also played last month in Zug Grand Prix and that he has the feeling "of playing the same tournament again". Ponomariov finally said that he is happy that the tournament is receiving a lot of attention from media and local chess fans. Svidler - Bacrot 1-0 Peter Svidler was the first to score a victory in Thessaloniki. His game with Etienne Bacrot started as Semi-Tarrasch and for awhile it looked like black is doing fine. But later he started to err and Svidler used the opportunity to invade the seventh rank with the rooks. Replay the full game with Chess King. Svidler feels greater pressure in Thessaloniki than he had in Norway Chess tournament because this event is a part of the World Championship cycle. He's been playing continuously in many tournaments, but after the Thessaloniki Grand Prix he will probably take a break until the World Cup in Tromso. He added that he might do live commentary for the Tal Chess Memorial. Bacrot said he had some time to work on the openings, but he still didn't get into the proper competitive shape. He hopes to play better as the tournament progresses.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Here is a super chess video on children and chess. It covers the Chess for Change programme in South Africa, children playing chess in the Bronx area in the US and more. Playing chess an-hour a-day is great for children. Sit back and enjoy the video.
World Junior Chess 2013 in Turkey from September 12
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The World Junior U20 Chess Championship 2013 will take place in Hatay, Türkiye, from 12th September (Arrival) to 27th September (Departure) 2013. Categories for Boys (Open) & Girls under 20 All national chess federations can send entries. Each National Federation can enter one (1) player born on or after 1st January 1993 in each of the boys (open) and girl categories, a maximum of two (2) invited players. Players with a personal right, according to FIDE rules, will also be accepted as invited players; Subject to age, entitled to participate are: a. The top 3 players of the previous edition. b. The Continental Junior Champions of the year preceding this edition. c. The top 6 (4 for Girls) Junior U20 players from the FIDE Rating List as of January 1st of the current year. d. World Youth U18 and U16 champions of the year preceding this edition. Additional (extra) players can also be registered. In order to ensure proper tournament standards, all invited players and all additional (extra) players must submit their registrations through their national federations until 12th July 2013 (registration deadline).
In accordance with Fide regulations an entry fee of 70 € (euros) is required for each invited player. This amount must be sent directly to Fide by their National Federation before the event. In accordance with Fide regulations an entry fee of 140 € (euros) is required for each additional (extra) player. This amount must also be sent directly to Fide by their National Federation before the event. For full details read this Fide notification about the World Junior Chess Championship 2013.
Fide Chess Grand Prix (Fourth Stage) Begins in Thessaliniki; Watch Live
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The opening ceremony of the 4th stage of FIDE Grand Prix Series 2012-2013 took place in the Amphitryon hall of Makedonia Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki (Greece) on the 21st of May.
The players and guests were greeted by the Tournament Director Theodoros Tsorbatsoglou, President of the Greek Chess Federation Georgios Makropoulos, General Secretary of Sports Kiriaki Gianakidou, Minister of Macedonia & Thrace Theodoros G. Karaoglou, Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Chief Arbiter Takis Nikolopoulos then proceeded with drawing of lots. He called up the players to come to the table and pick of the rooks in the shape of White Tower, the famous landmark of Thessaloniki.
Veselin Topalov approached first and picked number 1. Next was Alexander Grischuk who chose number 12 and immediately the first match-up was known.
Also attending the opening ceremony were MP of the Greek Parliament and former Minister of Health Andreas Loverdos, FIDE Vice-President Ali Nihat Yazici, Head of the Appeals Committee Zurab Azmaiparashvili, AGON Chief Andrew Paulson, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, consuls of USA and Bulgaria, and other distinguished guests.
The technical meeting for players, arbiters and organizers took place at 20:30. The players were briefed about the playing room and facilities and about the most important regulations - time control with increment only after move 60, no draw offers, zero tolerance rule, dress code.
Participants include three former World Champions Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan). GM Teimour Radjabov has withdrawn from the Thessaloniki Grand Prix for personal reasons and has been replaced by GM Etienne Bacrot from France.
Official commentators are GM Ioannis Papaioannou and GM Stelios Halkias.
Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then each player will be allotted 15 minutes after the second time control and an increment of 30 seconds per move will be allowed from move 61 onwards.
The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years (2012-2013). The 18 top players participate in 4 of these 6 tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014. Watch live at official website of the Chess Grand Prix.
One-Million-Rouble Chess Match: Sergey Karjakin vs Chess Robot ChessKa
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
Human versus Chess Robot: This is as big as it gets! One of the strongest chess players in the world Sergey Karjakin will take on chess robot ChessKa for a prize-money of one million rubles.
The Blitz Chess Championships 2013 for Chess Playing Robots and a unique match between Russian Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin and chess robot ChessKa (aka Chess Terminator) will be held during 'Metalworking 2013' at the Exhibition Center in Moscow from May 27-27. Karjakin stands to win one million roubles if he beats the 'machine'.
Considering Mr ChessKa would not be getting tired so, in addition, kids from ages 6 to 10 in three age categories will also play with the robot. The providers of the event invite all young chess enthusiasts to compete with the robot and receive prizes. To apply for competition entry: chessrobot@yandex.ru.
Date
Event
May 27th, 2013
12.00 - 16.00
Children against robots
Blitz-tournament with robot for
children from 6 to 10 years old. Ceremonial awarding.
May 28th, 2013
12.00 - 16.00
Children against robots
Blitz-tournament with robot for
children from 6 to 10 years old. Ceremonial awarding.
May 29th, 2013
12.00 - 16.00
Children against robots
Blitz-tournament with robot for
children from 6 to 10 years old. Ceremonial awarding.
May 30th, 2013
12.00
World Chess Blitz Championship of
Chess Playing Robots 2013
May 31st, 2013
11.00 - 15.00
Millennium Chess Challenge
The match between the International
Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin and the
robot.
The commentator of the match is
Grandmaster Sergey Shipov.
Prize Fund is 1 million rubles.
General sponsor – the Group of companies DAMATE, www.acdamate.com with the support of the nonprofit organization Fund for support of the chess art www.chessdvor.ru.
World as a Chess Board: Maurice Ashley (Chess Video)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Maurice Ashley sees the world as a chessboard. As a chess grandmaster, he enjoys competition, thinking and acting under pressure, and has found that the ancient game of chess lends itself to life strategies as well. Enjoy the short video speech on chess by the first Afro-American Grandmaster.
Lothar Schmid, who has died aged 85, was a German chess Grandmaster and a bibliophile said to possess the world’s most extensive private library of literature about the game.
Schmid earned his living helping his brothers to run the family’s publishing house, and as a player never reached the pinnacle; but his collection of books ran to many thousands of volumes, and included some great rarities.
He owned, for example, one of only 10 surviving copies of the first printed book about chess, Luis Lucena’s Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess (Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez), published in Salamanca in 1497.
He also possessed all eight editions of Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi, published in Rome in 1512 by the Portuguese apothecary Pedro Damiano (1470-1544). The first bestselling chess manual of the modern game (it ran to eight editions in 50 years), it offered advice on how to play and introduced readers to the “smothered mate” (in which checkmate is delivered by a knight when the opposing king is unable to move because he is completely hemmed in by his own pieces). Damiano suggested that chess was invented by Xerxes the Great, King of Persia from 519 to 465 BC.
In 1562 the book was translated into English by James Rowbothum under the title The Pleasaunt and Wittie Playe of the Cheasts Renewed with Instructions Both to Learne It Easely, and to Play It Well.
Chess, Rowbothum declared, would help statesmen to understand “the graue and waightye affaires of Princes” and provide recreation for the mind; players would develop “a certaine studye, pollicie, wit, forcast, memorie, with other properties, to make men circumspect not onelye in playing this game, but also comparing it to a publick gouernement, or more properly a battel”.
Schmid was also well-known as the chief arbiter at several world championship matches, including the notorious clash at Reykjavik in 1972 between the American Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, from the Soviet Union — an event which turned into a microcosm of the Cold War.
Fischer (who would eventually emerge the winner by 12½-8½) raged that the light was too bright; that he was being put off by the spectators and television cameras; even that the noses on the knights were too long. Meanwhile, the Soviets claimed that Fischer was being aided by experts communicating with him via a minute radio transmitter, and at one point they sent a sample of Spassky’s orange juice to Moscow to be tested for poison.
It is said that the match would have been even more stormy had it not been for Schmid’s skilful diplomatic interventions.
After Spassky had won the first game, Fischer refused to contest the second, and Schmid declared that Spassky had won by a forfeit. Fischer then threatened to walk out of the match altogether.
After the American had relented, Schmid still had his work cut out to get both players to the board. “I felt there was only one chance to get them together,” he later recalled. “They were two grown-up boys, and I was the older one. I took them both and pressed them by the shoulders down into their chairs and I said: 'Play chess now!’”
Schmid was again the arbiter when Fischer and Spassky played their so-called “Revenge Match” in Sveti Stefan in 1992. He also oversaw the world championship matches between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in the Philippines in 1978, and between Karpov and Garry Kasparov in 1986 in London and Leningrad.
Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid was born on May 10 1928 at Radebeul, near Dresden. His family co-owned the Karl May Press, which published the adventure novels of the German author Karl May (1842-1912), many of which were set in the American Wild West.
Aged 15, Lothar won the Dresden chess championship, and in 1948 he tied for fourth place in the German national championship in Essen; the following year he came third. In 1951 he achieved International Master status, and he became a Grandmaster in 1959.
Schmid played for West Germany at 11 Chess Olympiads, winning four individual silver medals (1950, 1952, 1968 and 1970) and two team bronze medals (1950 and 1964).
But his finest achievement as a player was probably in the tournament at Bamberg, in Bavaria, in 1968, when he shared second place with the reigning world champion Tigran Petrosian behind the Estonian Paul Keres.
He was also a top-class correspondence player, winning the first German Correspondence Championship (1950–52) and the first Eduard Dyckhoff Memorial (1954–56). In the World Correspondence Championship of 1956–59 he finished equal second .
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The European Chess Club Cup 2013 will take place on 19-27 October, 2013, in the conference center of the 5-star Rodos Palace Convention Resort which is regarded as one of the finest deluxe hotels on the Island of Rhodes. Rodos Palace offers luxurious accommodation, exquisite dining facilities and numerous recreational amenities, on a superb location just 2.5 km from the Medieval City of Rhodes! From each National Club Championship in European countries, one (1) to four (4) clubs qualify to the European Club Cup, depending on the strength of each national event. The European Club Cup will be held in 7 rounds for both categories (open/men teams with 6 boards and women teams with 4 boards), played with the Swiss system. The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Players may only agree to a draw after the 40th move has been made by black. According to FIDE regulations, the European Club Cup offers the possibility for players to achieve GM, IM, WGM and WIM norms based on 7 games.
Rodos Palace
The winners of the European Club Cup (currently SOCAR Azerbaijan) and the European Women’s Club Cup (currently Cercle d’Echecs de Monte Carlo) qualify directly to next year’s European Club Cup.
The total amount of 51,000 EUR, provided by travel agency AT Holidays, will be awarded to the winners of the European Club Cup, in both team and individual rewards! The prize distribution is described below in the official regulations of the event. Do not forget to consider the event’s sponsor AT Holidays when planning your next trip to Greece.
Special prices @ official hotel, the 5-star Rodos Palace
***** 53 euros per person per day in a double room, including breakfast, lunch and dinner (full board).
***** 78 euros per person per day in a single room, including breakfast, lunch and dinner (full board).
All registrations and bookings in Rodos Palace will be made through the Organising Committee and AT Holidays. The deadline for club registrations and bookings is 19 August 2013.
How to reach the Island of Rhodes The international airport of Rhodes (IATA code: RHO) is connected daily with many European capitals. The major airlines serving Rhodes are Olympic Airways and Aegean Airways. The sea port of Rhodes is also connected via ferry boats with Athens (Piraeus) and the nearby Turkish sea ports of Marmaris, Bodrum and Fethiye.
The Organising Committee will provide bus transfer from the airport and the port to Rodos Palace Hotel on the days of arrival and departure, in accordance with the official regulations.
Norway Chess 2013: Congratulations to Sergey Karjakin for Clear First at Super-Strong Tournament
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In an exciting finish to the Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013, Sergey Karjakin drew his last-round game with Veselin Topalov to win the tournament this Saturday. The Russian grandmaster was the only player to finish on 6/9. Magnus Carlsen drew his black game with Levon Aronian to finish shared second along with Hikaru Nakamura (who beat Jon Ludvig Hammer). Bringing back painful memories from the Wijk aan Zee event in January this year, Wang Hao defeated Vishy Anand in the last round. More updates to follow.
Follow Chess Queen Kosteniuk Hotel Reviews, Get Top Travel Tips
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
One of the greatest advantages of being a chess professional is to be able to travel across the world and visit places one might not during a regular holiday.
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk is as passionate about her travel plans as her chess. She's finally decided to share her unique and special travelling experiences with her fans and has accepted an offer from the Russian web-site – TravelTipz.ru to write regular reviews about the hotels where she stays.
"I stay, the restaurants which I discover and different activities I take part in during my trips. I will share my reviews on my site, Twitter and Facebook. My first review is about the huge hotel Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, coming up soon! I hope you will like it and it may be useful to you!"
"Flying from one country to another, I make at least 10 trans-Atlantic flights a year. Most of my trips are associated with chess tournaments and in recent times I have noticed that the hotels, replaced one by one, pass by me as a string of identical images. That is why I am so glad to accept the proposal by traveltipz.ru to talk about my trips. I am sure now I will be more careful to consider those hotels where I stay, and then to share the observations on the pages of this site. Map of my travels usually reflects the chess events' calendar and this calendar does not always coincide with the usual tourist routes. But, nevertheless, I can assure you that the world through the eyes of a chess traveller is not just black and white, but a collage of striking and unusual experiences."
Have fun travelling with the 12th Women's World Chess Champion on her chess adventures!
Irene Kharisma Sukandar wins Alexander The Great Chess Open
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Latest chess news via Fide: WGM Irene Kharisma Sukandar from Indonesia took a clear first place in Alexander The Great Open by concluding the event with 6,0/7 points. Despite challenging the field with 2 GMs and 6 IMs, her result was rather convincing as she started with four consecutive wins and remained in sole lead until the end of the tournament.
Sukandar also added 25 elo points and raised her rating to 2395, only five points shy from the title of International Master. She already has six(!) IM norms.
IM Boris Itkis took the trophy for the third place thanks to the superior tie-break.
Top placed women are WIM Sandra Djukic, WIM Ljilja Drljevic (both from Serbia) and IM Masha Klinova (Israel).
Irene Kharisma Sukandar commented that she didn’t expect to win this tournament and just hoped to play a couple of good games, “I didn’t come here with the focus on the Open, I am here to accompany my sister who is playing in the World School Championship. But I did pretty well and I hope that my sister can follow in the footsteps.”
“After this tournament I will compete in six-player double round robin in Keckemet, Hungary. It will be a tough challenge as there are four Grandmaster participating. I just hope I can get another five elo points in that tournament,” (smiling).
Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 7: Sergey Karjakin in Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone, Round 7 of Norway Chess was another spectacular round, but this time even the venue itself was part of the spectacle. The players were transported by boat to Flor & Fjære, an incredible park at a small island just north of Stavanger, where the audience, press and the players themselves were offered the grand tour and a lovely meal in the restaurant. In the playing hall Svidler and Topalov tried for a world record in exchanging off all the pieces quickly, only to arrive in a pawn ending where the Russian soon squandered his small advantage and a draw was agreed. Wang Hao vs Aronian also drew, without too much ado. Meanwhile, Radjabov butchered his Catalan in surprisingly few moves, and Anand safely converted his advantage. Among the two guys in front, Carlsen seemed to struggle, only to see Hammer fall apart when his opponent got short on time. Hence, Carlsen extended his win streak to 3 games. The tournament leader Karjakin was back on track, deconstructing Nakamura’s Sicilian Najdorf rather convincingly, showing some good technique to clinch the full point in the end. Here is the full report by Hans Arild Runde via the official website.
The view for the players
The first game to finish was Svidler vs Topalov, another Sicilian Moscow variation with 3… Nd7. By move 17 all the pieces except a rook, a knight and a bishop for each side were gone, and by move 23 the players already were in a pawn ending! On the queenside Svidler’s a, b and c-pawns faced two split pawns on a6 and c6, while Topalov had a 4 vs 3 majority on the kingside, with all pawns in their starting positions, except the black pawn on e6. If Svidler would’ve played the very natural 24. b4 immediately, Topalov seemingly would’ve had to tread a bit carefully not to become worse, although the pawn ending looks drawn with accurate play. However, after 24. f4?! c5 25. b4 a5 26. b5 f5! black could easily close the kingside, leaving the white king no possible entry into the black position. This rendered the white protected passer in the b-file quite irrelevant, and a draw was soon agreed. Radjabov seemingly wanted to get out of the most popular lines in his open Catalan against Anand, playing an early 6. Qa4+ and 7. Qxc4 instead of castling. I’m not certain regarding the relative merits of 8. 0-0 and 8. cxd5, but in my database white does better with the latter and Radjabov went with the former. Both are probably playable. However, after 9. Nc3 Rc8 10. Be3?! white’s position already looks unpleasant after the response 10… b5! played by Anand. After 15 moves the world champion was clearly better, and when he landed his knight on a4 on move 20, white looked locked up and pretty much unable to carry out any active plans. Anand simply increased the pressure, bearing down on white’s cramped pieces, causing immediate crisis when the d-file was forced open on move 25. Black finished things off with some nice tactics when the game was long since lost for Radjabov. Wang Hao vs Aronian was a rather slow, maneuvering Reti, with only a pair of pawns coming off in the first 17 moves. Aronian’s 17… Qc7?! possibly was a minor inaccuracy, after which a more or less forced series of exchanges left the Chinese with a pleasant position with more space and the bishop pair after 22 moves. The line 23. Rac1 e5 24. Rfd1 Ne6 25. Bb6! would’ve resulted in a slightly cramped position and some problems to solve for Aronian. Instead white’s continuation 23. f4!? e5 24. fxe5 fxe5 25. b3 Ne6 seemingly allowed black to break free. After this lost opportunity for Wang Hao, the game quickly fizzled and a repetition was initiated on move 34. In the all Norwegian battle of the day, Carlsen chose a careful setup against Hammer’s open Catalan. The players completed their development and reached a fairly balanced middle game. Here Carlsen started to spend a lot of time, apparently struggling to find a good way to play for advantage. Eventually he chose to release the tension in the center by pushing c6-c5, challenging white’s d4-pawn. As early as move 24, black’s time management was slightly worrying for the Carlsen fans, and after 25. Nd4 Hammer’s position looked very comfortable, with nearly 30 minutes on the clock compared to Carlsen’s 3-4 minutes. Whether it was the unusual time situation or something else, Hammer somehow seemed to lose touch with the position at that time, and with 27. Nb5? he made a grave, positional error, offering black a clear advantage. Possibly he missed Carlsen’s 28… Nf6! and from here it quickly went downhill for Norway’s number two. Low on time black may have missed the cleanest execution on a couple occasions, but after move 35 Hammer’s position was hopeless, and when he resigned on move 41, black’s a4-pawn was simply unstoppable. The last game of the round was leading Karjakin’s fist fight with Nakamura in a Sicilian Najdorf. Karjakin chose the slightly unusual 7. Qe2 after which Nakamura chose to fianchetto his dark squared bishop – a nearly equally rare choice here. These two half-moves brought the game well out of common territory, and after the US number one’s 9… Qa5 we had a position not debated at the elite level before. Black castled short on move 14, with a slightly weakened pawn shelter due to having played 10… h6. Karjakin’s 18. h4 and 19. h5 looked dangerous for black, although Nakamura may still be fine. The first mistake probably was 22… fxg6?! when 22… Rxc3! 23. Qg4 (23. gxf7+ Rxf7 24. Qf2 Rc6) Qxg6 24. Qxg6+ fxg6 25. Rxd6 Rf7 26. Rg1 Nf8 looks sufficient for black. In the game 23. Rxd6 Ne5? was a big blunder that Karjakin could’ve punished even more directly: 24. Qd1! Nc4 25. e5 Qe7 26. Qg4 Kf7 27. Nd4! won material immediately due to the naked black king. 27… Nxd6? 28. exd6 is lost for black. However, Karjakin kept a big advantage also with 24. Qh1, due to black’s exposed king and weak 7th row. Nakamura’s attempt to defend on the 7th with 28… Rc7?! was busted when white uncorked 29. Nc5! after which black had to give up the queen for rook and knight after 29… Rxc5 30. Rd7 Rc7 31. Rxf7 Kxf7. By this time the position was winning for white, but after a pair of rooks came off on move 35, white had to display some fine technique to demonstrate the win with queen and pawns against rook, knight and pawns, partly due to the nicely placed c4-knight and the slightly awkward white king. This proved no problem for a strong technical player like Karjakin, though, and Nakamura eventually had to resign on move 59. Hence, after 7 rounds nothing much has changed at the top of the table. Karjakin is still leading half a point ahead of Carlsen, but the gap down from 2nd to Aronian and world champion Anand in shared 3rd has increased to a full point. By now it’s hard to picture any other winner of the event than Karjakin or Carlsen, with their opposition being more or less equally tough in the last two rounds. In shared 5th position we find Nakamura and Svidler, both currently at 50%, while Topalov in 7th at -1 still is hunting his first victory in Norway Chess. Wang Hao and Radjabov share 8th with 2,5 points, while Hammer still struggles in 10th with 1,5 points. Being up against the world champion with black in the next round, it’s certainly a challenge to improve on his current position! From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
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Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
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