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Thursday, November 15, 2012
Kings Chess Bucharest: Ivanchuk Wins Title on Tiebreak with Topalov
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The winner of the Kings Tournament 2012 is Vassily Ivanchuk. After the last round the Ukrainian won the tiebreak rapid match against Veselin Topalov with the score 1,5-0,5 and secured gold. Thus Vassily Ivanchuk repeated his success from 2009 and just like Magnus Carlsen became the victor of Kings Tournament for the second time in history of these tournaments. The tiebreak included two games of 15 minutes each with a three-second increment per move. Surprisingly, Topalov lost the first game on time despite being a pawn up. Ivanchuk comfortably drew the second game. There were two decisive games in the six rounds though there were missed wins as well. The official website of the chess tournament can be accessed at this link.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
We know where Viswanathan Anand will be heading after meeting Boris Gelfand in Moscow for the world chess title this year in May! He will be attending the Kings Chess Tournament 2012 that is scheduled to take place in Medias, Romania, from 23rd of June to 4th of July.
The world number one rated player Magnus Carlsen and the main contender to enter the 2800 club Teimour Radjabov will also participate in the event. Sergey Karjakin and Vassily Ivanchuk are also confirmed participants, while the organization will announce one Romanian player in the coming days.
The Kings tournament (known before as Bazna Kings and Medias Kings) will be one of the main closed events of the year. Currently with 5 participants announced the average rating is 2790 ELO!
Preview - Category XXI Kings Chess Tournament 2011 starting June 11 in Romania
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
We have this very nice preview from Fide of the Kings Tournament 2011 beginning from June 11. Great chess coming up soon. How fantastic. The event started in 2007 organised by Chess Club 'Elisabeta Polihroniade' with sponsorship by Romgaz Company.
This year, the event is a category XXI one with n 2758 ELO rating. Kings Tournament was introduced in the Grand Slam of Grand Slam Association Spain, that offers the winner the opportunity to participate to the great final in Bilbao. Kings Tournament was introduced in the Grand Slam starting in 2011 alongside the tournaments from Nanjing China, Wijkaan Zee Holland (started in 1938), Linares (started in 1978) and Bilbao Spain.
During the 2010 edition the organisers of the greatest worldwide tournament (GSCA) met in Medias where they decided to accept “Kings Tournament” in Grand Slam thanks to the special conditions ensured by the organisers.
Kings Tournament 5th edition will take place during 11 -22 June 2011 within the Natural Gas Documentation and Information Centre in Medias.
The favorite of the 2011 Kings Tournament is the Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, the winner of the 2010 Edition and the youngest winner of the tournament. Magnus is currently rated No. 2 in the world with 2815 elo rating points on the FIDE list behind world champion Viswanathan Anand.
The winner of the 3rd 2009 Edition of the Kings Tournament, Vassily Ivanchuk promises an exceptional tournament where he will try to surpass his younger rival to the title. The Ukrainian Ivanchyk is 5th place on the FIDE list with a 2776 rating.
Among this edition’s participants is GM Sergey Karjakin, a “wonder” of chess, who holds the record for the youngest IM, at the age of 11 and 11 months, as well as the youngest Grand Master in history (at the age of 12 and 7 months). Karjakin represents Russia and takes the 6th place on the FIDE list with a 2776 rating.
Number 1 of the United States of America and participant to this Edition of the Kings Tournament is GM Hikaru Nakamura, number 8 worldwide with a 2774 rating on the FIDE list. In December 2010 Nakamura takes the 5th place at the London Chess Classic tournament, performance that ensured his official place among the first 10 players of the world, January 2011.
Number 13 on the FIDE list with a 2744 rating, Teimour Radjabov is a frequent participant of the Kings Tournament being one of the candidates to this year’s title. He is the UNICEF ambassador in Azerbaidjan and the winner of the tournament from Holland in Wijk aan Zee 2007 (ex-aequo), the World Quickplay Finish Cup in 2008 at Odessa and of Elista Grand Prix (ex-aequo).
Invited by the organizers, GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, participant of all former editions of the Kings Tournament and the European Champion in 2005 and number one in Romania, the Fide list puts him on the 89th place worldwide with a 2662 rating. At the 2010 edition of the Kings Tournament, Dieter was on the 5th place. Check out more details at http://www.turneulregilor.com/
Carlsen gets second highest rating in chess history after Kings Chess Tournament win
Marcel Adrian Piteiu, CEO of sponsor Romgaz, and
Magnus Carlsen holding the trophy
Hi Everybody!
Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen of Norway, at the age of 19, has notched up the second highest rating in chess history with a win at the Kings Chess Tournament in Bazna, Romania.
Carlsen's five wins and five draws in the double round-robin tournament has earned him a spectacular rating of 2826. Former world champion Gary Kasparov has held the highest rating of 2851. Carlsen finished with 7.5/10 - full two points ahead of the others.
That's even more commendable considering the rest of the field included Ukrainian GM Ruslan Ponomariov a former FIDE knockout world champion; Boris Gelfand of Israel, winner of the FIDE World Cup 2009; the top Chinese player Wang Yue; Teimour Radjabov, the second highest ranked player of Azerbaijan, and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, the best Romanian player!
The competition took place from June 14-25 and was organized by ROMGAZ and the Chess Club Society 'Elisabeta Polihroniade' of Bucharest.
Carlsen, playing the longest game of the last round at the tournament, use the Black side of a Gruenfeld Defence to beat Wang Yue. In the other games of the last round, Nisipeanu lost to Ponomariov and Gelfand lost to Radjabov.
Here is the last game Wang Yue-Carlsen. You can play it in our pgnplayer or watch it in the flash applet below. You can check the official tournament website here.
Carlsen draws, still leads at Kings Chess Tournament
Hello Everyone,
When 19-year-old World No. 1 Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen wins, he makes news. Lately, it seems, when he draws, he makes bigger news. Such has been the case at the Kings Chess Tournament being held in Mediaz-Bazna, Romania.
Carlsen had won four straight games till the seventh round. On Tuesday, everyone was wondering whether he would be able to win his fifth game as well! Grandmaster Boris Gelfand denied Carlsen the chance and the two drew a nice Queens Gambit Declined discussion over the board.
Meanwhile, Radjabov and Ponomariov drew their games while Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter beat Wang Yue. Carlsen leads with 6/8 followed by Gelfand at 5, Radjabov at 4, Nisipeanu at 3.5, Ponomariov at 3 and Wang Yue at 2.5.
Here is the Gelfand-Carlsen game. You can play it in our pgnplayer or watch it in the flash player below. You can read a news report here or visit the official website of the tournament.
Carlsen extends lead with fourth win at Kings Chess Tournament
Hello Everyone!
You may as well envy Carlsen's devastating form. He has just won his fourth straight game in the seventh round on Monday at the Kings Tournament in Romania! Carlsen is now leading with 5.5/7 and is a full point ahead of Boris Gelfand. The latter also won his seventh round game. Teimour Radjabov is at 3.5 followed by Nisipeanu, Wang Yue and Ponomariov at 2.5 each.
Incidentally, the tournament venue was shifted back to its traditional location - Expro Hotel in Bazna - for the seventh round and remaining games from Medias. The event is organized by Romgaz and the Chess Club Society 'Elisabeta Polihroniade'. This year the tournament is officially part of the Grand Slam, substituting the cancelled MTel Masters.
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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