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Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Leon Chess 2013: Vassily Ivanchuk versus Anish Giri
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
We first heard Ukraine Chess GM Vassily Ivanchuk declaring a "possible retirement" and then we heard about the Ukrainian GM beating Dutch talent Anish Giri in Leon. Leonxta Garcia's press report states: Ivanchuk beats Anish Giri with 7.5-2.5 in blitz games (five minutes per player). However, the 18-year-old Dutch GM took overall victory as he beat Ivanchuk in the Classical (1.5-0.5) and Rapid chess (3.5-0.5) sections.
Ivanchuk, completely focused, even backstage before the round, reached the venue with his trainer Viktor Moskalenko, wearing a baseball cap and unshaven.
The crowd was still talking about his declarations from Saturday: “After a disappointment in a love affair, the solution is to look for other woman, but nothing can replace chess, and I’m not interested in it anymore; thus, my problem has no solution”.
However, Giri realised quickly that this was a different Ivanchuk, maybe because the playing speed did not give him anytime to feel depressed. The Ukrainian genius won the first game in spectacular fashion, drew the second one without much trouble and won the next two. The Dutchman did not give up: after drawing the fifth game, he got a full point on the sixth, however, he was defeated on the next two to leave the blitz match decided.
At the post-games press conference, Ivanchuk was very enthusiastic, he recognised that life was already better and apologized for his depressing statements. When asked about his transformation, he answered: “I drank a very tasty beer at noon, and that relaxed me a lot. Given that the overall score left me four points behind, I decided to win the blitz match with a five points difference, and I did it”.
After praising the local cuisine, Giri was very explicit about his feelings regarding Leon: “Here, I won the Spanish Team Championship with Sestao in 2012, and also got my first Ciudad de Leon in 2013. If I ever have to play a World Championship Match, I will propose Leon as the host city”.
The young Dutchman, first rated at the under-20 lists, just finished high school, and will be working in chess full-time for two years: “I want to check how is it like to be an authentic professional player. However, I do not dismiss the possibility of combining my chess career with college education. I would like to study psychology. Anyway, my next goal is to become world champion, but there are other young candidates, such as Carlsen and Caruana, who want the same and, for now, are stronger”.
Leon Chess 2013: Ivanchuk – Giri in a Triple Format
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Creativity and good management against the financial crisis. That is the motto for the Ciudad de Leon organizers. Its 26th edition will be a clash of generations, a very attractive match: Vassily Ivanchuk (44 years old) and Anish Giri (18). The format is a new one: “Total Chess”, with two classical games (although somewhat accelerated) on Friday (June 7th), four rapid on Saturday and ten blitz on Sunday. As usual, the parallel activities will also be interesting.
Chess is really important in Leon. After 25 consecutive years of success, the risk of cancellation was there, because of the terrible financial crisis in Spain. However, almost all the sponsors (public institutions and private companies) and even a new one (Sabadell-Herrero Bank) have expressed their unconditional support to the tournament, and to the social applications of chess as well.
Ivanchuk, the absent-minded wise veteran, and Giri, the young killer, will play in the magnificent auditorium with the following time-controls: 45 minutes + 15 seconds increment on Friday (two games), 20 minutes + 10 seconds on Saturday (four games), and 5 minutes + 3 seconds on Sunday (ten games).
If the score is tied after the 16 games, a tie-break of two more blitz games will be played, followed by a sudden-death if necessary. The main arbiter will be Joaquin Espejo. International Masters Sergio Estremera and Joan Mellado will provide live commentary on all the games. According to Marcelino Sion, the Tournament Director, “Ivanchuk is the favourite for the slow games, but Giri probably has an edge in blitz. However, as Ivanchuk is a genius, you never know”.
The parallel activities connected to the tournament are always important in Leon. Besides chess films, the young talents tournament, a lecture for them by Ivanchuk and a simul by Giri, the main novelty this year is a debate on the social applications of chess (on Wednesday) which will also be a presentation of the book Ajedrez y Ciencia, pasiones mezcladas (Chess and Science, mixed passions), written by Leontxo Garcia.
XXVI Magistral Ciudad de Leon: Vassily Ivanchuk versus Anish Giri this June
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone, One tournament, two generations, three time-controls
After 25 consecutive years of full success, the 26th Magistral Ciudad de Leon (official website) opens up a “Total Chess” period: three different time-controls on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (June, 7-9th). And two geniuses will represent two generations: Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), 44, more than a quarter of century at the top; and Anish Giri (The Netherlands), 18, number one U-20. The Leon Auditorium will be the venue of another interesting and great match.
The Ciudad de Leon has always been at the forefront of modern chess. It was one of the first to add the electronic boards, giant screens, GM commentary by headphones, live TV and Internet broadcasting, daily press conferences with the players (open to the spectators), parallel activities with priorities for children and also the cultural side of chess… Leon was the place where the “Advanced Chess” Kasparov’s idea (computers assistance during the games) was applied in 1998 (Kasparov-Topalov) and 1999 (Karpov-Anand).
Nowadays, when rapid chess is getting more and more important, and the tendency goes towards accelerated time-controls, the 26th Ciudad de Leon will have three different ones: 45 minutes + 15 seconds per move on Friday (two games); 20 min. + 10 sec. on Saturday (four games); and 5 + 3 on Sunday (ten games); if a tiebreak is needed after those 16 games, it will be played on Sunday as well.
Two top gladiators will play this thrilling duel. Ivanchuk has won the affection and admiration of millions of fans over the past 25 years due to his genius, sympathy and deep love of chess. Giri is called to great success during the coming 25 years. Both are polyglots: Ivanchuk speaks Ukranian, Russian, English, Spanish, Turkish, Polish and Portuguese; Giri speaks Russian, English, Dutch, Japanese, Nepalese and German. They will not need all those languages in Leon, because their main common tongue, chess, will be enough to fascinate the chess lovers. (-Leontxo Garcia-Press Officer)
World Cities Chess Sheikh Zayed Cup: Congratulations to Hoogeveen Team for Title
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The City of Hoogeveen, Netherlands became World Cities Chess Champion after beating Baku, Azerbaijan 2.5-1.5 in the finals of the knockout tournament 21-28 December 2012 in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Sergei Tiviakov of Hoogeveen again proved the hero for the Dutch team as he squeezed out a victory in an opposite coloured Bishop endgame in a marathon 89 moves.
The match was difficult from the start as Anish Giri, playing white on top board for Hoogeveen, and Eltaj Safarli had a complicated duel. Giri essayed the English Opening as white and accepted the early exchange of Queens on the 14th move. Both sides penetrated with their Rooks on the opponent's second rank. Safarli was first to unleash an attack. Giri was poised to counter with three pieces weaving threatening nets on the Black King when Safarli decided to repeat position and force a draw on the 31st move.
The Hoogeveen team, kneeling from left, GMs Ivan Sokolov, Anish Giri, Sergey Tiviakov and Jan Smeets. Standing are, from left, Abu Dhabi Sports Council representative Salah Al Marzougi, FIDE Vice President Mohammed Kambouzia of Iran, Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan, UAE Chess Federaiton Vice President Abdulaziz Al Khouri, FIDE Vice President Nizar El Haj and Organizing Committee Managing Director Hisham Al Taher
The Ruy Lopez game between Rauf Mamedov of Baku with white and Ivan Sokolov of Hoogeveen on board two was next to draw. After an exchange of Queens on the 19th move, Mamedov won a pawn. Sokolov controlled the open file with his Rook and forced perpetual check to draw in 35 moves.
The lower boards were left. Vasif Durarbayli had white for Baku on board 4 against Jan Smeets who used the Petroff Defense. Smeets was a pawn up in their Rook and Pawn endgame. Both sides had a passed pawn in a clearly drawn position when they agreed to halve the point in 57 moves.
It looked as if the game on board three between Sergei Tiviakov of Hoogeveen and Nidjat Mamedov of Baku would also end in a draw. Tiviakov used the Alapin variation of the Sicilian defense and exchanged Queens on the 25th move. This led to an endgame with Rook and Bishops of opposite colors.
Tiviakov said, "After the opening I was sure that it is going to be a long game. We had this position with opposite colored bishops. Moreover I had one pawn up and gained an advantage in the endgame. My position gave me a chance to make about 100 moves. That's what I planned to do and generally what I did. Moreover my opponent was in time trouble. You can imagine: being in a time trouble, one pawn down, we can only think how to defend. My opponent was losing a lot of energy for that. The conditions of play were not equal by all means. As a consequence my opponent made a blunder and lost."
The Hoogeveen team won $21,000 out of the $150,000 prize fund. "We purposely had only four players to have fewer people to share the prize," Hoogeveen captain Ivan Sokolov said. Read more at the Fide website.
London Chess Grand Prix R10: Mamedyarov Leads, But Last Round to Decide Champion!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The London Chess Grand Prix draws to a close but not without plenty of excitement. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has a half-point lead over the others after the end of Round 10. Anything can happen in the last round which is being played on Wednesday.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov took the lead yesterday for the first time and he keeps on leading after the tenth round as five out of sixth games were drawn. In the tenth round the rating number one in the tournament Hikaru Nakamura managed to win against Anish Giri after four defeats in a row! The last tweet of the American player spoke for itself: “While I do my absolute best to commit harakiri, (chess) at least her calming presence from afar puts it all in perspective. So far, Hikaru was losing 26 rating points and was falling down to the 11th place in the World ranking but improved his situation. One round to go Topalov, Gelfand and Grischuk share the 2nd place with six points each, just half-a-point behind the leader.
Wang Hao – Mamedyarov:
Mamedyarov appeared very relaxed when he arrived at Simpson`s with his manager. Shakhriyar decided to play the Caro Kann defence – his opening of choice for this tournament. Wang Hao prepared a surprise for his opponent 5.Nc5 trying to defuse any preparation. “Shak” paused for thought, and then replied 5…e5!? which caught Wang Hao unprepared, as he had not expected Mamedyarov to know this line deeply. The forced line that followed saw a quick exchange of queens which led to the endgame with a slightly better pawn structure for white. “Hao”-ever it was not enough and a draw was the result.
Leko – Gelfand:
The main question is how Gelfand will recover from the Round 9 loss. Boris seemed in a good mood and was smiling before the game. Peter Leko went for a quiet line based on Nc3-Bc4 in close Sicilian. Nothing much happened until move 20 after which some pieces were exchanged. White started to take the initiative by opening the “f” file, and putting a strong bishop on d5. White started to control the black squares, and the knight on e3 defended the whole white pawn centre.
Kasimdzhanov – Grischuk:
Almost all the players of the tournament want to avoid the Marshall Gambit. In this game there was no exception, as Rustam chose the exchange variation of the Spanish opening. White decided to open the centre and found a very interesting plan, putting the queen on “b1” in order to push c3-d4. Sasha took a long time to play the first 15 moves and had just 14 minutes left for 22 moves. The two times World Blitz champion is quite used to time trouble…Taking initiative on the king’s side and centre, Grischuk increased his advantage, pressuring on the f2 pawn.
Kasimdzhanov survived from the attack when Grischuk offered the exchange of queens with 38…Qf3? The rook endgame, which appeared, was finally drawn. A disappointment for Grischuk who could have taken the lead.
Nakamura – Giri:
Giri didn’t change his main weapon against 1.e4 and the Petrov appeared once again on the board. Hikaru exchanged the queens after 5 moves and decided to play a long endgame. White pieces had more space but black pieces found good placing. The bishop on b6 protected by the a5 pawn was controlling the queen side. Hikaru settled his other bishop on a second strong square e6.
The position of Anish was very solid with the bishops on c6 and d6 but Hikaru managed to break through and finally won the game!
Topalov – Adams:
The only chance for Veselin to catch the leader was to win today with the white pieces against Michael Adams. We saw one of the first Queen’s Gambit of the tournament, which looked pretty safe for black. Veselin managed to double black’s pawns on the “b” file and took a small advantage in the endgame but it was not enough to implement it into more.
Dominguez – Ivanchuk:
Vasily was in a good mood before the start of the game, looking at the pictures of Staunton on the wall of the Simpson’s in the Strand. The famous Immortal Game was played in the same building between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky on 21 June 1851. The Ukrainian player decided today to play a rare line of the Spanish opening (4…d6). Leinier replied with a safe line, putting all his pieces in the centre and obtained a slight advantage, due to the doubled black pawns on c7 and c6.
Ivanchuk managed to exchange queens and equalized by putting a strong Bishop on e3. Draw.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Wang Hao: Click on photo to go to official website
The Biel Chess Festival needed no more excitement but to have the victor's decision go right down to the tape to the last round No. 10. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen went into the last round with a lead over Wang Hao and Anish Giri. While Hao and Giri were to play each other in the last round, Carlsen was to take on Etienne Bacrot. That meant, whoever of Hao and Giri would win could take the title.
Wang Hao and Anish Giri finished their game the fastest in the round with White's error being mirrored by Black and allowing Wang Hao to get back into the game with tactical finesse to win.
Magnus Carlsen - under pressure as he now required a win to get the overall title - could only draw with Bacrot. In the third game of the last round, US chess champion Hikaru Nakamura beat Viktor Bologan.
The Sofia rule of scoring was used. Chinese No. 1 Wang Hao finished the 45th Biel Chess Festival with 19 points. Defending champion Magnus Carlsen though had no losses, but because of the Sofia Rule had to finish with 18 points. Giri and Nakamura shared the third place with 16 points.
More information is available at the official Biel Chess Festival website. Here are some nice links related to the Biel Chess Fest that you would love to explore:
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is a nice chess game by one of the youngest and talented grandmasters of our times - GM Anish Giri. Though, at the losing end was another talented grandmaster - none other than GM Hikaru Nakamura - who ran out of gas (according to self admission on twitter) in the final half of the recently-concluded Reggio Emilia Chess Event. Sit back, and let the Chess King Show begin.
Ask your chess questions to GM Anish Giri on Chess News radio
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The nice Russian chess news website www.chess-news.ru is running another radio show with none other than Grandmaster Anish Giri this time. He has just won the strong Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament that concluded in Italy. You can post your questions here.
Reggio Emilia chess interviews with Morozevich, Ivanchuk, Giri - cool chess videos
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here are three super chess interviews from the Reggio Emilia Chess Cup in Italy. You have Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, and Anish Giri. We will bring you the latest standing and chess news updates from the event shortly. Enjoy.
Reggio Emilia Chess R7: Nakamura draws with Caruana, holds on to clear lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
The chess news from Reggio Emilia in Round 7 is that Vassily Ivanchuk blundered away the point to Nikita Vitiugov but Hikaru Nakamura drew quickly with Fabiano Caruana and maintained his 4-point lead while Alexander Morozevich and Anish Giri also drew their game. The 54th Torneo di Capodannno is being held from December 27th-January 6th, 2012.
Reggio Emilia 2011 | Round 7 Standings 1 Hikaru Nakamura 2758 15.0 2 Alexander Morozevich 2762 11.0 3 Anish Giri 2714 9.0 4 Vassily Ivanchuk 2775 8.0 5 Fabiano Caruana 2727 8.0 6 Nikita Vitiugov 2729 5.0 From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Reggio Emilia R3: Ivanchuk beats Caruana, Morozevich leads
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
The chess news from Italy is focused on the 54th Reggio Emilia Tournament that is into the third round now. In the third round, Fabiano Caruana lost to Vassily Ivanchuk giving the latter a shared second spot for now with Hikaru Nakamura. Here is the Caruana-Ivanchuk game.
Nakamura, on his part, drew his game with Alexander Morozevich who maintained his lead. The other game - between Nikita Vitiugov and Anish Giri - also ended in a draw.
In the women’s tournament Sopiko Guramishvili won and leads with a perfect score. You can access the official website for more info.
Round 3 standings (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw): 1. Morozevich Alexander 2762 RUS – 7 2-3. Nakamura Hikaru 2758 USA and Ivanchuk Vassily 2775 UKR – 5 4-5. Giri Anish 2714 NED and Vitiugov Nikita 2729 RUS – 2 6. Caruana Fabiano 2727 ITA – 1
Reggio Emilia Chess R1-Morozevich, Nakamura begin with wins
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
The 54th edition of Reggio Emilia's Chess tournament - 54th Torneo di Capodanno - has begun. The main event includes current Italian national champion Fabiano Caruana, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Morozevich, Hikaru Nakamura, Nikita Vitiugov and Anish Giri. The 54th edition of Reggio Emilia’s tournament also has a parallel chess event with three Italian chess stars competing against three strong WGMs from Eastern Europe.
The interesting first round saw two decisive games with Caruana blundering away the game to Morozevich in time trouble and Vitiugov losing to Nakamura. .
In the women's tournament, De Rosa beat Chierici, Marina Brunello lost to Guramishvili and Iva Videnova lost to Anna Sharevich. You can access the official website at this link.
Anish Giri - the talented chess youngster joins 2700+ in live ratings
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Here is an interview with one of the most talented young chess players of our times - Anish Giri of the Netherlands. This Chessvibes interview catches up with the young man who defended defended his title in Malmö recently and eventually finished shared first with Wesley So of the Philippines and Hans Tikkanen of Sweden at the Sigeman Chess Tournament. His live rating has just gone up to 2701 in the live ratings.
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Talented grandmaster Anish Giri is the talk of The Netherlands! Enjoy this video and then, we tell you more. You can read the transcript below the video.
[Matthijs van Nieuwkerk:] How was your day at school? [Anish Giri:] Today not so bad. What courses did you attend? Math B, Math D, Biology, English… What did you learn? Unfortunately not too much, but this will come.
Did you feel like going to school again? Honestly speaking I knew the day would come that I had to go back to school, so… Because you can look back at an incredible month, playing a tournament, beating Carlsen, all chess enthusiasts want to speak to you… For a moment you’re the king of the world, and then you have to go again. Yes, that’s true, it’s a very different life, but for me it has been a number of years like this, living in two worlds. A chess world in which I play against Carlsen, and a school world where I get a lot of homework.
You beat Carlsen. I’m not the expert here – Hans is – but… he made a wrong move; did you see that immediately? In a split second, when he let loose of the piece, did you think: I got him? Well, I knew in advance that it was a bad move, and a player like Carlsen should see this. Even Hans saw it… Even Hans saw it! [Laughter] [Hans:] Thanks for that! Sorry, that’s not what I meant… I mean, it’s a blunder…
[Matthijs:] Of course you’re sitting stoically, you’re sitting behind that board, you see him making that bishop move (I don’t know) and you see: this is wrong, you knew… Well, it was such a game that I was doing well from the beginning, with Black. He begins, and normally he has a small advantage from the beginning. So I was better in the whole game, but when he made the losing move, yes, it was really feeling great. [Turning to Hans Böhm:] How good is this boy? Yeah, I’m sitting right next to him, but… he’s just very good. It’s not just that he beats the world’s number one, and later in the tournament puts the World Champion under pressure, it’s not just that. It’s also not the tournament result, because he ended somewhere in the middle. That’s not it. It’s more the way he’s handling everything, the way he analyzes, how he deals with the top players, how they accept him, how they deal with him, the respect the top players have for him, from this you can conclude that he is a great talent.
And also the euphoria we had after he beat Carlsen – he didn’t have that himself. He just said that Qd2 was not a great move and this is how I refuted and, that’s it. So he saw this tournament… I think he and his coach Vladimir Chuchelov, I think they did this very well, they saw this prestigious tournament, this Tata tournament, the best event of the year, they saw it as one big lesson. I think he wants more than just doing well in this tournament. For example, in his game against Nepomniachtchi, a Russian grandmaster, he avoided a move repetition, so he could have scored even better, he could have finished equal with Carlsen. He didn’t do this. He had a chance to meet the very best players of the world, and he took full opportunity.
Later we’ll see how you could have beaten Anand, you almost beat the World Champion, if you had played the move Hans will show. But first: the future. You are obliged to go to school, but every chess fan says: quit school, go study, just chess, and you’ll become World Champion. Are you going to do this? In principle I do want to become World Champion, but I think there are more things in life and at a certain point… Oooh, that’s not a good answer for the chess world. Hans, can one become World Champion when ‘there’s more in life than chess’? Yes, it’s possible, but there shouldn’t be much more. You have to be a little monomaniac. You have to get your teeth into it; that’s what Kasparov did when he was the best. You should give everything for the sport, I think that’s what you should do. All the World Champions in the previous century had a side job… You also see the different ages, Euwe was 34, Botvinnik 36, they were all around 35. The first who broke with this was Spassky, he was 32, then you got Fischer, in ’72, he was 29, then they got in their twenties, Karpov 24…
What do you think he can do next to chess? Well… it’s getting younger and younger so you have to hurry, that was my point… Yes but the question was… what can he do. I read the newspapers, and the experts say: chess. Maybe walk the dog, c’est tout. He speaks several languages: Russian, English, a bit of Japanese, Dutch, he’s developing there already. If he’ll also develop writing skills, it would be nice if it would be about chess, or what he experiences in life, this way he would develop himself on the go, and in chess, so he would become educated more or less without effort. For me he doesn’t need to become a second-class economist or something. Who is your hero, chess hero, who is your example, your pop star? What I like about a chess player is that he’s just strong. I like universal players who play nice games but also ugly games, but keep on winning. So? My chess hero is Kasparov, because he dominated chess for a long period.
[Giel Beelen:] Just a moment, I’m curious, because you said pop star… You’re also just a 16-year-old; you’re not a geek or something… What kind of music do you like? Well, music… I like pop, hiphop, rap, for example Black Eyed Peas, Drake, Eminem…
Excellent. And are you a gamer too? I can imagine you also play chess on the computer. I think chess is quite different than gaming, but yes… I play some games with my friends or with chess players during a tournament, because they’re friends too…
And then you just shoot away for a while. Yes, well, maybe for ten minutes, just for fun… [Matthijs:] And which girl is hanging above your bed? [Anish looks astonished. Laughter follows.]
Posters! Aha you mean posters. You really thought I wondered if there was a girl hanging above your bed? Yeah it sounded a bit strange. But no, I don’t have posters of girls.
After this, for a few minutes Hans Böhm showed, with the Tata Steel tournament’s demo board, how Giri missed his chance at the end of his game against Vishy Anand. Not bad, a few minutes of pure chess at prime time on national TV…
Here is the absolutely fantastic article about 'Girimania' at www.chessvibes.com. You just cannot miss it. It has lots more about a Giri-simul and wins.
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Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
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