World Rapid Chess Championship 2014: Spills, Chills, Thrills... and Carlsen Wins.
Hello chess friends, three days of exciting rapid chess have concluded in Dubai with World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen becoming the new World Rapid Chess Champion 2014. That is a double along with is World Classical Chess Champion title! The World Blitz Chess Championship begins tomorrow in Dubai and everyone's asking the same question: Can Magnus pick up a third world title?
Meanwhile, looking at the rapid event, let's just say it was spills, chills and thrills all the way. Magnus Carlsen concluded the first day of play just 0.5 points behind leaders Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin who had 4.5 points. Carlsen, along with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Laurent Fressinet, Le Quang Liem and Sergei Movsesian had 4.0 points.
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen makes a double by winning the World Rapid Chess Championship 2014 in Dubai. Photo: Screenshot
However, the World Chess Champion concluded the second day of play with a clear lead after 10 rounds with 8 points. Levon Aronian was right behind at 7.5. There was quite a group at 7.0 points including Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Alexander Grischuk, Yu Yangyi, Viswanathan Anand and Peter Svidler.
The third day of play was not easy at all today. Magnus stayed in a 0.5 lead after drawing with Levon Aronian in the 11th round (the first on the third day of play today), but suddenly lost the 12th round - the BIG ONE - to Viswanathan Anand. Most fans on twitter took it as a psychological win for the Indian and started calculating who was going to win the title by the time the 15 rounds ended.
The loss meant Caruana and Anand were suddenly in joint lead with 9.0 points. Carlsen was down to third at 8.5 points along with Yu Yangyi, Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov.
So, was it going to be Anand picking up the Rapid World title, or perhaps Caruana? Then came the 13th round. Could Carlsen pick himself, dust off the loss and go forward?
Magnus stood firm and beat Yu Yangyi, while Anand could only draw Carlsen and Levon Aronian could only draw Radjabov. This meant we again had three joint leaders after 13 rounds (two to go) -- Caruana, Carlsen and Anand at 9.5 each. The rest of the pack just 0.5 points away.
Round 14 was actually mad! Totally! Carlsen beat Grischuk in a game that was so obviously lost... that it must have been a heartbreak for the Russian Grandmaster to not win it. Carlsen won. Caruana also floundered and lost to Aronian. Radjabov held Anand to a draw.
The 15th round began with Carlsen needing just a draw with Radjabov to win the title. None of the other managed to catch him and he got a clear first. Karjakin could have won and drawn level to force a tiebreak score evaluation, but he lost to Morozevich. Anand and Aronian drew. Caruana beat Le Quang Liem to win the silver, while Anand got the bronze on better tiebreak score over Aronian.
Stay tuned at the official website for the Blitz World Chess Championship 2014 beginning tomorrow.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, world rapid chess championship 2014
Magnus Carlsen wins Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial with Last Round Win over Fabiano Caruana
Hello everyone,
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has won the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 with a rating performance of 2868 which is actually less than his current rating of 2882. Carlsen topped the event with 5 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws!
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen receiving the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial winner's trophy...
... Pavel Eljanov receiving the trophy for the winner for the B Group.
Fabiano Caruana, who took on Carlsen, in the last round with an equal score was playing for the title as well. However, he had to settle for the second place with 5.5 points. Hikaru Nakamura, Teimour Radjabov and Sergey Karjakin all scored 5 points. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored 3.
Yesterday, in the 9th round, Caruana came up with a solid performance to beat Mamedyarov and draw level at 5.5 with Carlsen who could only draw with Radjabov. Karjakin and Nakamura also drew their games.
It all came down to the last round today in Shamkir. Magnus Carlsen was back with precise chess and steadily ground out Caruana to earn the win and the title. The others, Nakamura - Radjabov, Mamedyarov - Karjakin, drew their Round 10 games.
Meanwhile, Pavel Eljanov convincingly won the B Group at the tournament.
Group A
Group B
Vugar Gashimov
Born on July 24th, 1986 in Baku, Vugar Gashimov achieved his peak ranking-world#6 in November, 2009. He has been the winner of Baku Grand Prix. Representing Azerbaijani team, he became the European champion in 2009. He played a crucial role in the historical victory of the national team at the European Championship held in Serbia. In 2011 he became the winner of Reggio Emilia chess tournament held in Italy since 1958. Playing on behalf of several chess clubs, he became the champion of Croatia, Turkey, Romania, Iran, Spain and Moldova. A silver-medalist, Gashimov was known as a particularly strong blitz chess player. Owner of more than 72 titles, Vugar Gashimov is the winner of Kasparov Cup. For his individual indicators, he became silver medalist of the Chess Olympiad held in 2008. He is also a silver and bronze-medalist of the World Intellectual Games.
Vugar Gashimov passed away on January 10th, 2014 in Heidelberg, Germany at the age of 27 due to illness.
Official website
Other Chess Blog reports on Vugar Gashimov
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, vugar gashimov chess memorial 2014
Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 Round 8: Carlsen Keeps 1/2-Point Lead Over Caruana
Hello everyone,
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen not too happy to draw with Sergey Karjakin, but keeps the lead after 8 rounds at the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014. (official website)
There has not been a dull moment at the Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial 2014 in Shamkir. The eighth round witnessed sharp chess with very few games left now.
Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura won their respective games to keep Magnus Carlsen - the leader - within catching distance. Caruana is half a point behind Carlsen and three players are only one point away!
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov tried aggressive experimental chess and went down fighting to Hikaru Nakamura. Carlsen could not break Sergey Karjakin's solid defence leading to a dead draw with Bishops and pawns locked. Caruana continued to press and Caruana held his nerve, went for a pawn sac and broke Radjabov's game in time pressure.
Standings after Round 8 have Carlsen at 5 points, Caruana at 4.5 points, Karjakin, Radjabov, Nakamura at 4 points each and Mamedyarov with 2 points.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, shamkir chess, vugar gashimov chess memorial 2014
Vugar Gashimov Memorial Chess 2014: Carlsen Loses to both Caruana, Radjabov (Updated)
Hello everyone,
The Vugar Gashimov Memorial Chess 2014 in Shamkir has hit the chess headlines like a bomb explosion. Not only did World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen lose to Fabiano Caruana but he set a sort of record by suffering his second straight loss the very next round to Teimour Radjabov.
Round 1 and 2 began "normally" enough with the World Chess Champion beating Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura. All other games were drawn in both the rounds. In Round 3, Sergey Karjakin worked hard to hold Magnus Carlsen to a draw and the latter was unable to convert a win. Nakamura, meanwhile, beat Mamedyarov.
Round 4 and 5 - Fabiano Caruana and Teimour Radjabov delight fans by beating World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in successive rounds. That's how tough chess can be at the top level. Photos: Official website.
Disaster struck for Carlsen in Round 4. Playing Black against Caruana, he was at the receiving end with a slight fumble allowing Caruana to grind out a win. Carlsen blundered a pawn and then couldn't prevent a collapse. The other games were drawn. This is Magnus Carlsen's first loss in classical chess after winning the world champion title in November, 2013.
Today, in Round 5, the World Chess Champion was to face the horror of his second successive loss against Teimour Radjabov. Nakamura and Karjakin settled for a draw while Mamedyarov beat Caruana!
The standings after Round 5 have Radjabov in lead with 3 points followed by Carlsen, Nakamura, Caruana, Karjakin all at 2.5 points and Mamedyarov at 2 points. *Games via Chess King soon
The Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial is being held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, from April 20-30 and is divided into two groups. The A Group features six players: World Champion Magnus Carlsen (2881), Fabiano Caruana (2783), Sergey Karjakin (2772), Hikaru Nakamura (2772), and the two Azeri players Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760) and Teimour Radjabov (2713). The B group includes ten players - top five from various countries and five from Azerbaijan.
Follow all the action live at the official website
Tomorrow is a rest day at Shamkir Chess 2014 tournament. There will be held an opening ceremony of a chess school in Shamkir. Synergy Group officials, media representatives and Shamkir Chess 2014 tournament participants will attend the ceremony. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov rapid world champion and blitz world champion Sergey Karjakin will show 10 sessions on the board at Zeka Youth Center. At 16:00 football tournament will be held with the participation of 4 teams. Competition with foreign players for team of World and national Grandmasters will play for the Azerbaijan national team. In addition, the organizers of the tournament consisting of the members of organizing committee Synergy Group, and journalists will compete as well.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, teimour radjabov
Norway Chess 2014 with Carlsen, Aronian, Karjakin, Svidler, Topalov, Caruana Confirmed
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
There's plenty of Norway in chess these days and some strong chess in Norway as well! Coming this June is the very exciting Norway Chess Festival (June 2-13)including a super-GM event.
The official website states: The idea behind Norway Chess was not only to arrange one of the strongest tournaments in the world, but also to show the world our beautiful country and region. A traditional chess tournament is normally held in a fairly neutral venue, where the game and the players are in focus. We will of course also focus on the players, but we will give the event a edge by showing beautiful and unique surroundings while playing chess."
Six of the 10 players invited have already confirmed participation for the Norway Chess 2014 tournament: Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Veselin Topalov, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler.
Looks like a replica of the Candidates that will first be held in March in Khanty-Mansiysk. It will be nice also to have a stronger Russian flavour as compared to the very exciting Zurich Chess that concluded recently.
Here is a nice promo video Norway Chess 2013 featuring World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. In all probability you've seen it before!
Labels: Fabiano Caruana, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, norway chess 2014, peter svidler, sergey karjakin, veselin topalov
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014: Magnus Carlsen wins Tournament despite Collapse in Rapid Section
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen begins the rapid section, at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014, with a win over Boris Gelfand. He managed to score only 2/5, but won the tournament thanks to super performance in the classical section and some crazy results in the rapid section! Photo: Maria Emelianova
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has won the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 despite being "outplayed by Aronian and Caruana" on the final day in the five-game rapid section. Carlsen had come into the rapid section after winning the five-game classical section with a two-point lead over Aronian.
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 had a unique format: Five rounds of classical games over five days and five rounds of rapid games (15 minutes +10 seconds increment) on the final day. Each win in the classical section was worth two points and draw was one point. In the rapid section, each win was worth one point and draw was half-point.
Today, in the rapid section, the world #1 scored 2/5 with Caruana playing extremely well to score 4/5 including wins over Carlsen, and Nakamura. The Zurich title nearly slipped out of the World Champion's hands.
Rapid Standings
1. Fabiano Caruana 4.0
2. Hikaru Nakamura 3.5
3. Levon Aronian 3.0
4. Magnus Carlsen 2.0
5. Boris Gelfand 1.5
6. Viswanathan Anand 1.0
Final Standings (on a max of 15 points)
1. Magnus Carlsen 10.0
2. Fabiano Caruana 9.0
3. Levon Aronian 9.0
4. Hikaru Nakamura 7.5
5. Viswanathan Anand 5.0
6. Boris Gelfand 4.5
But, it was a crazy situation in the rapid section. Hikaru Nakamura did a huge favour to Magnus Carlsen by beating Levon Aronian in after Magnus himself lost to both Caruana and Aronian. Nakamura also lost to Caruana, but drew with Magnus.
This held Aronian back from catching up with the World Chess Champion! Aronian scored 3/5 and could not cover up the two-point lead Carlsen had obtained over him in the classical section.
This was the Magnus Carlsen's first tournament (and first tournament victory) after winning the world chess champion title in November 2013 by beating Viswanathan Anand in Chennai.
Fabiano Caruana was the youngest player at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014. He was also the defending champion. This year's edition of the event was also the highest-average rating tournament in chess history.
Replay all the games of the rapid section at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Chess King.
Here is the closing ceremony video:
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Labels: Boris gelfand, Chess video, closing ceremony video, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru nakamura, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Anand, Carlsen, Aronian, Nakamura, Caruana, Gelfand from Jan 29
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 will be the first encounter between the newly-crowned World Chess Champion, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, and the former title holder, India’s Viswanathan Anand after their recent match in Chennai.
Zurich Chess 2013 Opening Ceremony: Boris Gelfand, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana (left to right)
From Wednesday, 29 January to Tuesday, 4 February 2014, they will compete in the 3rd Zurich Chess Challenge along with four other great chess stars Levon Aronian (Arm), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (It) and Boris Gelfand (Isr). With an average of 2794 Elo points (according to the September 13 rating list) this is going to be the strongest tournament in chess history.
The main sponsor is Oleg Skvortsov of the International Gemological Laboratories, Moscow, with the Zurich Chess Club acting as organizer.
The owner of IGC International Gemological Laboratories, Mr. Oleg Skvortsov, is the creator of this chess event. He not only loves chess, but also plays chess and supports chess events. Furthermore, Mr. Skvortsov knows many of the greatest chess players in the world personally and has played a lot of games with them.
The first Zurich Chess Challenge in 2012 was a match between Kramnik and Aronian. The second event in 2013 was a double-round robin with Kramnik, Anand, Caruana and Gelfand.
For the 2014 edition, a blitz tournament will determine the color distribution. A round-robin tournament of five rounds with a classical time control is then followed by a rapid tournament with colors reversed on the last day of play. A won game in the classical tournament counts 2 points, a draw 1 point. Wins in the rapid tournament count 1 point and draws half a point.
All games will be commented by Yannick Pelletier and Werner Hug and broadcast live via Internet.
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Labels: Boris gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru nakamura, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, vladimir kramnik, zurich chess challenge 2014
5th London Chess Classic: Caruana, Gelfand, Svidler, Polgar Also Sign Up
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hello everyone,
Chess in Schools and Communities has announced that another four international stars, Fabiano Caruana, Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler and Judit Polgar have accepted their invitation to play in the 5th London Chess Classic to be staged at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, running from Saturday 7th Fabiano Caruana, 21, is the Miami-born, Brooklyn-raised former chess prodigy who beat Bobby Fischer’s record of becoming the youngest American Grandmaster. He holds both Italian and American citizenship, and plays under the Italian tricolour. In the last year or so, Caruana has burst onto the elite stage with some superb results. Currently, he is ranked World number five on the September 2013 FIDE rating list.
Boris Gelfand, 45, is the Belarus-born Israeli grandmaster who, nearly a quarter-century ago, became a World Top 10 player and qualified for a number of World Championship Candidates events. But just when everyone thought his best days were behind him, he
made a dramatic comeback to win the Candidates to challenge Vishy Anand in last year’s World Championship match, where he lost in the play-offs. And his Indian summer continues: this year, he tied for first in the Alekhine Memorial in Paris and St. Petersburg
followed by clear first at the Tal Memorial in Moscow.
Peter Svidler, 36, is the erudite and popular St. Petersburg grandmaster, former World Cup winner, and multi-time Candidates qualifier with a record-breaking six Russian championship titles to his name. But he’s not your stereotypical Russian grandmaster,
because Svidler is a big cricketing fan who owns a complete set of the cricketer’s almanac Wisden, and once had a letter read out by Henry Blofeld on the BBC’s Test Match Special.
Judit Polgar, 37, from Budapest, Hungary is a phenomenon in the game. At the age of 15, she broke Bobby Fischer’s near 30-year record for becoming the youngest Grandmaster. Polgar is the best woman player of all time and the only woman currently in the world’s Top 100. At her peak she was in the Top 10 and would regularly do battle in Super GM tournaments with the likes of Kasparov, Karpov and Anand.
Caruana, Gelfand, Svidler and Polgar now join World Champion Vishy Anand, recent World Cup winner Vladimir Kramnik and the US No.1, Hikaru Nakamura to have confirmed they will play in the 5th London Chess Classic. The rest of the 16-player field will
be announced early next week.
Labels: Boris gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Judit Polgar, london chess classic 2013, peter svidler
Topalov Qualifies for Candidates Chess Tournament 2014
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Beijing Chess Grand Prix and, along with Fabiano Caruana, could fill one of the seats of the Candidates Chess Tournament 2014. However, Veselin Topalov is already in a good overall first place in the Grand Prix series 2012/13 and qualifies for the Candidates.
The Bulgarian got his third good result after playing four events of the Grand Prix. He shared first in London, got a clear win in Zug and shared 3rd-4th in Beijing thanks to a final round victory over Alexander Morozevich. The regulations of the Grand Prix series provide two spots at the Candidates event, so the second coveted prize is still up for grabs. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is the clear favorite to achieve this feat, but he still has to wait for the final leg, where Alexander Grischuk and Fabiano Caruana still have a mathematical chance of passing him on the standings. Mamedyarov already played the four allowed tournaments and achieved a score of 390 points. However, both Grischuk and Caruana are set to participate in the final leg.
If Grischuk is sole winner, he will get to 400 points; if Caruana is the sole winner, he will get to 395 points. In case of a shared first place, Mamedyarov would get the spot anyway, according to a Chessdom.com report.
Labels: alexander grischuk, Alexander Morozevich, beijing chess grand prix, candidates chess 2014, Fabiano Caruana, shakhriyar mamedyarov, veselin topalov
Fide Chess Ratings July 2013: Guess the top-10
12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
The International Chess Federation has published the July 2013 ratings list. Magnus Carlsen remains way ahead of his colleagues in first place, he is 49 points above Levon Aronian. The main highlight is the presence of Fabiano Caruana in third place. The 20-year old Italian has risen straight to the top of the charts in the last year and a half and seems to be ready to fight for first place with Carlsen in the upcoming years.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand did not have a good run lately, and has fallen to the eighth place, staying right above his two last challengers for the crown, Boris Gelfand (9th) and Veselin Topalov (10th).
Even though he has not been playing as much as before, Alexander Grischuk continues showing his great strength and is now fifth with 2780 elo points. However, the player who had the biggest leap forward was Cuban star Leinier Dominguez, who won 30 points thanks to his victory in Thessaloniki; he is now 13th in the list.
Judit Polgar still leads the women’s list with a big margin. Dilijan Grand Prix winner Humpy Koneru is second, followed closely by Hou Yifan and Anna Muzychuk.
Anish Giri leads the juniors list, while Hou Yifan is first among the girls. (www.chessdom.com)
Read more »Labels: alexander grischuk, Fabiano Caruana, fide chess rating list july 2013, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, vladimir kramnik
Boris Gelfand Wins 8th Tal Chess Memorial, Magnus Carlsen Second, Fabiano Caruana Third
12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
Boris Gelfand was declared sole winner of the Tal Memorial on Sunday in Moscow. The Israeli Grandmaster had an undefeated performance of +3; two of his wins were achieved with the black pieces. This great run put Gelfand back in the top-10 at the live ratings list; he is 9th after gaining 18 points in this event. Defending champion Magnus Carlsen recovered from his loss against Caruana in the third round to finish sole second with 5.5/9 points.
The best Russian in the competition ended up being the lowest-rated, Dmitry Andreikin. The national champion drew eight of his games and defeated Vladimir Kramnik. Andreikin shared 3rd-5th places with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Fabiano Caruana. The young Italian jumped to third place in the live ratings list, and is four points away from the 2800-mark.
The eventual champion arrived to his last game with a draw in mind. His rival, Vladimir Kramnik, did not have a good event and was not likely to push too hard with white, as he was probably expecting to finish the tournament as soon as possible, rest and think about his next compromises. This forecast was accurate as their game was the first one to finish. The experienced strategists split the point in 25 moves.
Gelfand left the playing hall and went on to wait for the result in the game of his closest follower, favorite Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian also had the black pieces, and faced Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. This game was a totally different affair, as the players went into a sharp middlegame. Gelfand must have been relieved to see that the Azerbaijani was in the driver seat in the middle of the complications, but it is impossible to write-off Carlsen even in the worst situations. This time, the Israeli finished on top as the game ended in a draw in 33 moves.
Boris Gelfand with his trophy
The only decisive game of the day was the win of Alexander Morozevich over Hikaru Nakamura. This was Morozevich’s only victory of the event and Nakamura’s third straight loss. The American had a performance full of ups and downs, as he only drew one game, won four and lost four. He seemed in good shape to win the tournament after the sixth round, when he was sole leader and only had Gelfand close behind.
The game was a sharp Queen’s Gambit Accepted where Morozevich chose very complicated lines at the critical moments. The American was left with a healthier pawn structure while black had the bishop pair and a dangerous passed c-pawn. However, the decisive factor in the end was Morozevich’s control of the open h-file. Nakamura sacrificed an exchange to free himself but the material disadvantage was impossible to overcome later. The American resigned on move 49.
Fabiano Caruana and Dmitry Andreikin drew their last round game in 41 moves of a Ruy Lopez. Both players finished on +1 which might be considered more successful for the Russian. Caruana comes from playing the Grand Prix in Thessaloniki and, with two good results in these two events, he rose to third place in the live ratings lists, thanks to an impressive gain of 22 points in the last period. The Italian was not very satisfied with his play in the event, but said that his result was not bad, and that he got it with a little bit of luck.
Sergey Karjakin and Viswanathan Anand signed a rather quick draw in a Sicilian. The world champion’s performance was below par, as he lost three games, something that is very rare for the Indian. The young Russian finished on -1 and was probably expecting a better result in the tournament. (Text: Chessdom.com/Photo: Eteri Kublashvili)
Final Standings:
1 Gelfand, Boris ISR 2755 6
2 Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2864 5½
3 Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2774 5
4 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE 2753 5
5 Andreikin, Dmitry RUS 2713 5
6 Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2784 4½
7 Karjakin, Sergey RUS 2782 4
8 Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2760 3½
9 Anand, Viswanathan IND 2786 3½
10 Kramnik, Vladimir RUS 2803 3
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Labels: Boris gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen, tal chess memorial
8th Tal Chess Memorial 2013 Round 1: Mamedyarov, Caruana, Carlsen Begin with Wins in Moscow
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The clocks were started at 15:00 local time. This year’s stage is set at the elegant Red October Building in Moscow. Yet another edition of the prestigious Tal Memorial started officially in Russia. The first playing day was long and did not lack emotions. Three decisive games left the same number of players at the top of the standings. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Fabiano Caruana won their first points leading the black pieces, while rating favorite Magnus Carlsen did it with white. The battle has begun.
The first, and rather quick, decisive game favored the new rapid world champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. His victim, American Hikaru Nakamura, seemed to be in good shape and ready to have a rampage start after his clear victory in the pre-tournament blitz competition. However, the number 1 player in United States will have to recover from his loss against the Azerbaijani in the upcoming rounds.
The game lasted only 31 moves. In a rather quiet Nimzo-Indian, Nakamura did not sense the imminent danger in the middlegame and allowed his opponent to launch a direct attack against the white king. Mamedyarov is not the kind of player to shy away from a sacrificial attack, and that is precisely what he did on move 19. Today, this aggressive attitude paid up and gave him his first full point.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Two players known for their deep preparation and their seriousness on and off the board faced each other today. World champion Viswanathan Anand led the white pieces in a battle against the American-born Italian grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana. The young star came out on top in 47 moves of a tense Ruy Lopez.
Read more »Labels: 8th tal chess memorial 2013, Alexander Morozevich, Boris gelfand, dmitry andreikin, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru nakamura, Magnus Carlsen, sergey karjakin, shakhriyar mamedyarov, Viswanathan Anand, vladimir kramnik
Thessaloniki Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 7: Caruana, Kamsky Win Again, Share Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Fabiano Caruana and Gata Kamsky continued the winning streak to remain joint leaders after the 7th round of Thessaloniki Grand Prix 2013. Kamsky outplayed Rustam Kasimdzhanov with black pieces, while Caruana took advantage of Alexander Morozevich's blunder to keep up the pace. In one of the longer games of the day Hikaru Nakamura defeated Veselin Topalov.
Tournament sponsor Ivan Savvidis visited the playing hall and watched the games before heading to the football match of his club PAOK. Results, pairings, standings and photo gallery are updated.
Ivanchuk - Grischuk
Just as the Tournament Director Τheodoros Tsorbatzoglou was presenting FIDE Press Officer Anastasya Karlovich with a birthday cake, the game finished in a draw and the players entered the press room!
Knowing that Grischuk is very well prepared for the openings with kingside fianchetto, Gruenfeld and King's Indian, Ivanchuk decided to go with a more reserved English opening. Black made an early excursion with the Queen, allowing white to repeat the moves and make a much needed break from the losing streak. Ivanchuk took the microphone and a river of words followed. He discussed the game emotionally and showed many interesting lines from an apparently quiet opening.
Ivanchuk also shared an interesting story about his opponent. Vassily said that the Russian is a difficult opponent because he is rarely accepting draws, even if he doesn't have better position or better time on the clock. Ivanchuk believes that this attitude brought Grischuk good results recently: "Maybe he is using some poker tricks that I am not familiar with :)"
Svidler - Ponomariov
Svidler remained consistent and opened with 1.d4 while Ponomariov replied with the Queen's Gambit Accepted. The Russian said he expected something else in the opening.
11.a3 took black by surprise and he spent almost one hour for the next move. Svidler believed that after 11.Be3 black is just comfortable and he wanted to give him a choice to possibly make a mistake.
11...Bd6 was a decent choice, but after spending so much time Ponomariov "wanted to play a simpler game". Svidler thought he could exercise some pressure after 15.b5, but black's 15...f5 is a very precise answer. Svidler mentioned that 18.b6!? would have been an interesting try, but "...as the tournament goes for me, it was best to keep things under control." The game soon fizzled out to a draw.
On the question about the time control in the tournament, Ponomariov said: "I think the discussions about which time control is better are pointless, it is like people have nothing better to do. I would prefer to have one, any time control, to be used throughout the whole WCC cycle, but without changing."
Kasimdzhanov - Kamsky
Gata Kamsky spent 7-8 minutes for the first move before opting for the Dutch defence. He took up this opening because he "wanted to play something interesting". The game was an interesting battle that you can replay with Chess King.
Morozevich - Caruana
This was another English opening and white angled to set the reversed Hedgehog structure. Already after 8.b3 Caruana was unhappy with this opening and that is why he decided to exchange the light-squared Bishops. Morozevich might have felt black's discomfort as he immediately replied with aggressive-looking 11.h4. But Caruana kept his cool and calmly exchanged another pair of pieces to reduce the attacking potential. Black came up with a nice win which you can replay with Chess King.
Nakamura - Topalov
The game started with Naidorf Sicilian, which Hikaru Nakamura himself played earlier against Morozevich. But instead of the English Attack, this time white opted for the good old positional 6.Be2. White obtained the Bishops' pair and Topalov tried to restrict the light-squared piece with g6-h5 formation. This turned to be a bit too slow because white quickly summoned the pawns on e5 and c5. Replay the full game with Chess King.
On question about Thessaloniki, Nakamura said that he likes the city and that he enjoys the weather "which is better than in previous tournaments he played in."
"It's great to see that many people are coming to the playing hall to follow the games," he added.
Bacrot - Dominguez
Leinier Dominguez repeated the Bogo Indian, which he successfully used against Kasimdzhanov in the 5th round, but Bacrot was prepared and answered with the principled 8.cxd5 heading for the Carlsbad pawn structure.
One of the advantages was that the Rook was on b1 (Kasimdzhanov had the Rook on d1), allowing white to organise a quick advance on the queenside.
Dominguez said that he wanted to repeat the solid line and be safe, but then he committed some mistakes and had to suffer for a long time.
Bacrot refused the repetition on two occasions, then conveniently exchanged the pieces and passed the time control with a better pawn structure.
The backward c6-pawn was a constant source or worry for black. White's advantage was moderate but lasting.
Bacrot kept on pressing for another 40 moves, but Dominguez finally escaped with a draw in the Knights endgame.
GM Papaioannou and FM Logothetis believed that white's best try was to play with three pawns versus lone Knight, as in 71.f5 Kg5 72.Kxg3 Kf6 73.Nxd5 Nxd5 74.e4 etc. It is still unclear however whether this would be sufficient for a win. (Report by Goran Urosevic/official website)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Labels: Fabiano Caruana, gata kamsky, thessaloniki chess grand prix 2013
Renova Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 10: Topalov Beats Caruana, 1 Point Ahead of Nakamura before Last Round
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In the tenth round of Grand Prix in Zug Veselin Topalov nearest player in points standings Fabiano Caruana and now is on a sole lead with 7 points, one point ahead of Hikaru Nakamura. The American player won against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to take the second place. Alexander Morozevich managed to outplay Teimour Radjabov, while Gata Kamsky won against Sergey Karjakin. Kasimzdhanov-Ponomariov, Giri-Leko were drawn. Ruslan Ponomariov and Fabiano Caruana share the third place while Kamsky, Morozevich, Karjakin share the fifth place.
Tie Break Criteria for trophies only: 1.direct encounter 2. number of wins 3. Sonnenborn-Berger System 4. Koya System.
Veselin Topalov won against Hikaru Nakamura at the fifth round and it means even in the worst scenario for him he will take the gold at Grand Prix in Zug.
Caruana-Topalov 0-1
Despite the victory in the game and, as a result, the victory in the tournament, Veselin Topalov looked very serious and tired at the press-conference. It’s obvious that the tournament is not over for the former world champion will fight for the sole victory in the tournament in the last round.
Fabiano Caruana got a pleasant position and managed to create threats on the King’s side. Players showed many possible variations on the laptop and agreed that White could have played more precisely but at the same time they didn’t find any direct attack. The things went wrong when White lost a few tempos after dubious Qf2-Qa7 but Caruana had time trouble and it was not easy for him to find the right plan.
After the first time control Italian player could have kept the queens on the board to have better chances for a draw because the knight and bishop endgame turned to be absolutely winning for Black.
Read more »Labels: Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru nakamura, renova chess grand prix 2013, veselin topalov
Renova Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 9: Topalov Leads, Caruana 1/2-Point Behind
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
It was raining hard during the second free day and most of players preferred to stay in the hotel and relax before the final part of the tournament. Three decisive games were played in the ninth round. Two more could have finished in favour of Peter Leko and Rustam Kasimdzhanov as both players were close to winnin against Sergey Karjakin and Anish Giri respectively.
The leader of the tournament Veselin Topalov drew against Shakhriyar Mamdeyarov and keeps half a point distance from Fabiano Caruana, who won against Gata Kamsky and placed second. Ruslan Ponomariov moved from the second to the third place after his lose against Teimour Rajabov and shares the third place with Hikaru Nakamura and Sergey Karjakin. Alexander Morozevich lost the third game in a row despite he got a huge advantage against Hikaru Nakamura.
Anish Giri - Rustam Kasimdzhanov 1/2-1/2Another symmetrical English and once again Anish Giri’s enterprising play led to a dynamic position with lots of complex variations on the board. 11…Be6 was the new move on the board instead of 11..e6 and White decided to spice life up with 18.Ne5!? but Black missed 18…Qa6 and instead allowed the exchange sacrifice and subsequent attack by White.
However White then pursued this attack a bit too aggressively and after 25.Rc1 Black simply took the rook off the board and after a forced continuation Black could have played the strong 31…Rd8 or not human move 32...e6 leaving White with some activity but without material. Black decided to go for the endgame with an exchange up but 36...e5 instead of Ra8 would have put more problems for White to decide. After 59 move the peace was signed.
Read more »Labels: Fabiano Caruana, renova chess grand prix 2013, veselin topalov
Renova Group Chess Grand Prix R1: Morozevich, Caruana Begin with Wins
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The first round of the third stage of Grand Prix tournament in Zug got under way on the 18th of April 2013, after FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov made the first symbolic move in the game Caruana-Radjabov. The first round was a pretty tough one for the start of the tournament - Fabiano Caruana and Alexander Morozevich started with victories while the other four games were drawn.
Read more »Labels: Alexander Morozevich, Fabiano Caruana, renova group chess grand prix 2013
Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 Title Goes to Fabiano Caruana
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hello everyone,
Fabiano Caruana has won the Zurich Chess Challenge 2013. Caruana earned two victories - over Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand - in the six-round round-robin four-player format. Viswanathan Anand finished second with a win over Vladimir Kramnik's after the latter's blunder in the last round. The next tournaments ahead for Kramnik and Gelfand is the Candidates in London.
Photo: Georg Kradolfer
Final Standings:
1. Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2757 4
2. Anand, Viswanathan IND 2780 3
3. Kramnik, Vladimir RUS 2810 2½
4. Gelfand, Boris ISR 2740 2½
Labels: Boris gelfand, Chess video, Fabiano Caruana, Viswanathan Anand, vladimir kramnik, zurich chess challenge
Zurich Chess Challenge Videos - Anand, Kramnik, Caruana, Gelfand
Grenke Chess Classic Baden-Baden 2013 pairings
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Grenke Chess Classic Baden-Baden 2013 pairings have been announced. The World Champion will start against Michael Adams, while the top pairings with Fabiano Caruana will happen in round 2 and round 7. Access te official website of the tournament at this link.
Round 1 on 07/02/2013 at 15:00
Naiditsch Arkadij – Fridman Daniel
Adams Michael – Anand Viswanathan
Caruana Fabiano – Meier Georg
Round 2 on 08/02/2013 at 15:00
Fridman Daniel – Meier Georg
Anand Viswanathan – Caruana Fabiano
Naiditsch Arkadij – Adams Michael
Round 3 on 09/02/2013 at 15:00
Adams Michael – Fridman Daniel
Caruana Fabiano – Naiditsch Arkadij
Meier Georg – Anand Viswanathan
Round 4 on 10/02/2013 at 15:00
Fridman Daniel – Anand Viswanathan
Naiditsch Arkadij – Meier Georg
Adams Michael – Caruana Fabiano
Read more »Labels: arkadij naiditsch, daniel fridman, Fabiano Caruana, grenke chess classic baden-baden 2013, meier georg, michael adams, Viswanathan Anand
ACP Chess Tour 2012: Caruana, Yifan with Max Points
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012Hi everyone,
With the start of 2013, the ACP Tour 2012 has come to an end. No less than 95 mens tournaments have counted for the Tour, which was organised for the 8th time. Fabiano Caruana ended up on the first place, with a clear gap between the runner up Sergey Karjakin and number three Dmitry Jakovenko. One can find the final results here.
Hou Yifan ended up first in the Women Series 2012, with a clear lead ahead of Anna Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru. A total of 38 tournaments have counted for the ACP Women Series, of which the final results are published here.
№
|
Player
|
Events
|
Pts
|
1
|
Caruana, Fabiano
|
11
|
3519
|
2
|
Karjakin, Sergey
|
6
|
2653
|
3
|
Jakovenko, Dmitry
|
9
|
2601
|
4
|
Vachier-Lagrave
|
14
|
2497
|
5
|
Ivanchuk, Vasyl
|
8
|
2300
|
6
|
Nakamura, Hikaru
|
7
|
2031
|
7
|
Kurnosov, Igor
|
9
|
1754
|
8
|
Mamedyarov, Sha...
|
6
|
1749
|
9
|
Fressinet, Laurent
|
13
|
1620
|
10
|
Andreikin, Dmitry
|
9
|
1616
|
№
|
Player
|
Events
|
Pts
|
1
|
Hou, Yifan
|
8
|
3141
|
2
|
Muzychuk, Anna
|
10
|
2468
|
3
|
Koneru, Humpy
|
8
|
2407
|
4
|
Lahno, Kateryna
|
11
|
1740
|
5
|
Stefanova, Antoaneta
|
7
|
1324
|
6
|
Kosintseva, Nadezhda
|
6
|
1313
|
7
|
Zhao, Xue
|
7
|
1279
|
8
|
Kosintseva, Tatiana
|
5
|
1162
|
9
|
Kosteniuk, Alexandra
|
9
|
1116
|
10
|
Pogonina, Natalia
|
4
|
1095
|
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: acp chess tour, Fabiano Caruana, Hou Yifan
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