Tashir Chess: Alexander Grischuk wins Title, Joins 2800 Club
Hello chess blog friends, top-rated Russian chess talent GM Alexander Grischuk has won the International Tashir Chess Memorial organised in honour of the legendaryTigran Petrosian. The final round was played at the Novotel Moscow City Hotel last evening.
GM Alexander Grischuk, who had led the tournament for some rounds, drew with former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik to win the title. Grischuk took the title with a score of 5.5 in 7 rounds. The “+4” score permitted Alexander to join the “2800+ elite club” in the FIDE ratings.
Vladimir Kramnik finished second with 4.5 points to his credit.
The third place went to Boris Gelfand, who defeated Peter Leko with White in the final round and scored 4 points. Players had exchanged most of their pieces early in the game, and the main struggle took place in the pawn endgame, in which White gradually outplayed his opponent.
Levon Aronian, who scored the same number of points as Boris Gelfand, took the fourth place as his tiebreak indicators were worse. Black developed an attack en masse against the enemy king and, after the attack itself had ended, obtained a better endgame. In the bishop endgame the Armenian grandmaster outplayed his Russian vis-à-vis.
Alexander Morozevich obtained a promising position as White against Ding Liren but committed an inaccuracy after which all his advantage gradually vanished. The Russian player had sacrificed a pawn, but that was enough only for forcing a draw by perpetual check.
Results of round 7: A. Grischuk – V. Kramnik 1/2, E. Inarkiev – L. Aronian 0-1, B. Gelfand – P. Leko 1-0, A. Morozevich – Ding Liren 1/2
Final standings: 1. A. Grischuk – 5.5, 2. V. Kramnik (both from Russia) – 4.5, 3. B. Gelfand (Israel), 4. L. Aronian (Armenia) – 4. 5. Ding Liren (People’s Republic of China) – 3.5, 6. P. Leko (Hungary) – 2.5, 7-8. A. Morozevich, E. Inarkiev (both from Russia) – 2.
On the same night the closing ceremony of the International TASHIR Chess Tournament in Memory of Tigran Petrosian took place. The attendees were: the President of the ROC Alexander Zhukov, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin, the President of the TASHIR group of companies Samvel Carapetian, the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the President of the RCF Andrey Filatov, 12th chess world champion Anatoly Karpov, the President of CCIFR Emmanuel Quidet, Director General of CCIFR, Vice-President of the RCF Pavel Shinsky and many others.
After the official part was over, a memorial Tigran Petrosian evening was held where a film about the 9th champion of the world was demonstrated. After that the 12th world champion Anatoly Karpov, a well-known chessplayer and the Armenian National Coach Arshak B. Petrosian, one of the participants of the International TASHIR Chess Tournament in Memory of Tigran Petrosian Levon Aronian and a well-known chess journalist Stanislav Zhelezny shared their memories of Tigran Vartanovich. (FIDE)
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Labels: alexander grischuk, tashir chess, vladimir kramnik
Funny Chess Moment with World No. 3 Alexander Grischuk - Video
Hello chess friends, on FIDE chess ratings list July 1, GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia is the current World No. 3 and also the No. 1 Russian chess player. We were reminded of this funny Grischuk chess video and thought about sharing it with you. Grischuk is a creative and expressive Grandmaster apart from, of course, being a very strong Grandmaster. You may remember his clash with Kuka Monster as well. For now, the funny video!
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: alexander grischuk, funny chess video, russia chess
Magnus Carlsen's Secret-Just Plain Good Chess, says Alexander Grischuk
Hello everyone,
Grischuk-Carlsen in Round 11 of the 2013 London Candidates tournament, an event where time trouble thwarted the Russian's ambitions | photo: Anastasiya Karlovich
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen's secret is plain good ol' chess! Thus says Russian Grandmaster and World No. 3 Alexander Grischuk!
If you've been following the monthly chess ratings, you would recall that Grischuk gained a huge 15 rating points this past month to jump to World No. 3 behind Carlsen and Levon Aronian.
The comments about Carlsen were made in a detailed interview in Russian for the website R Sport. A very nice translation in English appears on Chess24.com. You will enjoy reading posts at both the links!
On Magnus Carlsen
What qualities have allowed Carlsen to dominate chess and become World Champion?
The guy simply plays chess well. It seems to me that in such cases people are inclined to look for some supernatural explanation, although the simplest explanation is also the most appropriate: the guy simply plays chess well.
How big is the group of players who are capable of competing with him in the coming years?
It’s hard to say because his results recently are undoubtedly impressive, but history shows that it’s very rare for any domination by one person to last for a very long period of time. The group of Magnus’ competitors isn’t so small – eight to ten guys.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: alexander grischuk, chess ratings, Magnus Carlsen
May 2014 Chess Ratings: Carlsen, Polgar No. 1; Grischuk, Kosteniuk Top-Rated Russians at No. 3 and 8!
Hello everyone,
The May FIDE chess ratings list is out and World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway maintains his No. 1 slot. Also maintaining his second spot is Levon Aronian of Armenia. Alexander Grischuk is now the highest rated Russian at No. 3 followed by former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand of India. Grischuk added a whopping 15 points to his rating to get to the No. 3 slot while Vladimir Kramnik fell following the Candidates.
In the women's list, Judit Polgar of Hungary, Hou Yifan of China and Koneru Humpy of India keep the top three slots. Alexandra Kosteniuk remains the top Russian woman chess player and actually improves on her previous month's no. 9 slot by moving up to no. 8 by earning five rating points. Hou Yifan has earned 11 rating points. Viktorija Cmiylte has done well to earn 14 points and jump up to 10th position in the women's list.
Russia is still the strongest chess country in the world according to ratings in the elite of the chess world. Three Grandmasters from Russia - Alexander Grischuk, Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin are in the top-10 of the men's list. There is one Russian Grandmaster in the top-10 of the women's list as well - Alexandra Kosteniuk. China could be next as they have three Grandmasters in the top-10 of the world, but these are in the women's list only - Yifan, Zhao and Wenjun.
Top 20 women chess players in the world
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2685 0 1976
2 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2629 11 1994
3 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2613 0 1987
4 Muzychuk, Anna g SLO 2561 13 1990
5 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2541 11 1987
6 Lagno, Kateryna g UKR 2540 11 1989
7 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2538 11 1985
8 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2532 11 1984
9 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2526 3 1991
10 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2525 8 1983
11 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2521 4 1992
12 Khotenashvili, Bela g GEO 2518 3 1988
13 Kosintseva, Nadezhda g RUS 2513 0 1985
14 Hoang, Thanh Trang g HUN 2509 1 1980
15 Gunina, Valentina g RUS 2507 9 1989
16 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2507 0 1963
17 Harika, Dronavalli g IND 2503 9 1991
18 Ruan, Lufei wg CHN 2503 0 1987
19 Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2501 6 1985
20 Ushenina, Anna g UKR 2495 11 1985
Top 20 men chess players in the world
Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2882 1 1990
2 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2815 3 1982
3 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2792 7 1983
4 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2785 0 1969
5 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2783 0 1992
6 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2783 0 1975
7 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2772 0 1987
8 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2772 0 1975
9 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2770 7 1990
10 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2768 6 1983
11 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2760 0 1985
12 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2758 0 1990
13 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2753 6 1976
14 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2753 0 1968
15 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2753 0 1969
16 Adams, Michael g ENG 2750 3 1971
17 Giri, Anish g NED 2746 4 1994
18 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2742 6 1987
19 Leko, Peter g HUN 2737 7 1979
20 Nepomniachtchi, Ian g RUS 2735 6 1990
The FIDE chess ratings website can be accessed at the official website.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: alexander grischuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, fide chess ratings may 2014, Hou Yifan, Judit Polgar, koneru humpy, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen
Antalya World Chess Team 2013: Russia wins Title, Board 4 Gold for Nepomniachtchi, Board 2 Silver for Karjakin, Reserve Board Bronze for Vitiugov
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Russia has won the World Chess Team Championship 2013 in Antalya, Turkey. Ukraine had lead the chess championship team standings from the first, but they ran into the Russian brick wall in the eighth round. Russia beat Ukraine, took the lead and won the title by beating Egypt in the last round. (Photos: Anastasiya Karlovich/official website)
On top of the world: The Russians
The team of Russia – Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Nikita Vitiugov – scored 15 match points (7 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss) and took the gold medal. The other medals were divided on first tiebreak of game points, as China and Ukraine both finished with 14 match points (7 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses). Silver went to China with 23 match points and bronze to Ukraine with 22 match points.
This is the fourth World Team Championship title for Russia. Besides the one in 2013, they have won the gold in 1997, 2005, and 2010. This is the first time Kramnik, Karjakin, and Nepomniachtchi are part of the winning team. For Vitiugov, this is a second title, while it is the third title for Grischuk.
The winning captains: Xu Yun (China), Yury Dokhoian (Russia) and Olexandr Sulypa (Ukraine)
Board Medals were as follows:
Board One 1. Levon Aronian 2. Hikaru Nakamura 3. Vassily Ivanchuk with TTCF Vice President Askin Keles
Board Two 1. Anton Korobov 2. Sergey Karjakin 3. Ding Liren
Board three 1. Daniel Fridman 2. Alexander Onischuk 3. Yue Wang
Member of Appeals Committee Petr Pisk presented the awards
to successful players on Board 4 1. Ian Nepomniachtchi 2. Xiangzhi Bu 3. Yuriy Kryvoruchko
Chief Arbiter Anastasia Sorokina presented the awards to successful players on reserve board 1. Varuzhan Akobian 2. Yu Yangyi 3. Nikita Vitiugov
Final standings (teams)
1 Russia 15
2 China 14
3 Ukraine 14
4 USA 10
5 Armenia 10
6 Netherlands 9
7 Germany 8
8 Azerbaijan 7
9 Turkey 3
10 Egypt 0
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: alexander grischuk, ian nepomniachtchi, Nikita Vitiugov, sergey karjakin, turkey chess, vladimir kramnik, world chess team championship 2013
FIDE Chess Ratings December 1 Announced: Carlsen, Judit Stay No. 1; Kramnik, Kosteniuk Russia No. 1
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The latest FIDE chess ratings list has been announced. World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen remains the highest-rated human on the planet with 2782 - a record he had set in April 2013. Carlsen earned two rating points for beating Viswanathan Anand at the Chennai World Chess Championship 2013 recently.
Levon Aronian is the only player, besides Magnus, rated over 2800 elo though, the Armenian is still about 79 points behind. Vladimir Kramnik is third with 2793. Hikaru Nakamura of the US is at fourth place with 2786.
World Chess Ratings Top-20
1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2872 10 1990
2 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2803 9 1982
3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2793 0 1975
4 Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2786 0 1987
5 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2785 7 1975
6 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2783 8 1983
7 Caruana, Fabiano g ITA 2782 9 1992
8 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2777 0 1968
9 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2773 10 1969
10 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2758 11 1976
11 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2757 8 1985
12 Karjakin, Sergey g RUS 2756 0 1990
13 Adams, Michael g ENG 2754 8 1971
14 Dominguez Perez, Leinier g CUB 2754 0 1983
15 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2745 11 1990
16 Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2741 0 1987
17 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2740 10 1983
18 Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2737 9 1985
19 Wang, Hao g CHN 2735 3 1989
20 Giri, Anish g NED 2734 10 1994
In the women's list, Judit Polgar retains her number 1 spot with 2693. In second place is Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan with 2629. India's Humpy Koneru is third with 2607. Chessqueen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk is back in the top-10 with a fantastic two months of hard work! Read all about it in her post at ChessQueen. She is now the #1 woman chess player in Russia and tied for world number 8 with a rating of 2527 along with Bela Khotenashvili. Vladimir Kramnik remains top Russian player in the men's group.
World Women's Chess Ratings Top-20
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2693 8 1976
2 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2629 0 1994
3 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2607 3 1987
4 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2568 3 1985
5 Muzychuk, Anna g SLO 2566 0 1990
6 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2557 9 1987
7 Lagno, Kateryna g UKR 2543 9 1989
8 Khotenashvili, Bela m GEO 2527 9 1988
9 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2527 8 1984
10 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2525 3 1963
11 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2514 9 1983
12 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2514 3 1991
13 Kosintseva, Nadezhda g RUS 2513 9 1985
14 Gunina, Valentina g RUS 2509 10 1989
15 Hoang, Thanh Trang g HUN 2507 10 1980
16 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2503 8 1992
17 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2501 9 1986
18 Ushenina, Anna g UKR 2501 8 1985
19 Krush, Irina m USA 2499 12 1983
20 Kosintseva, Tatiana g RUS 2496 0 1986
For a full list of all ratings read this FIDE page. For a list of the progress chart, read this FIDE chess ratings list.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: alexander grischuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Anna Muzychuk, fide chess ratings december 2013, Hikaru nakamura, Hou Yifan, Judit Polgar, koneru humpy, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, vladimir kramnik
Grischuk on "Chess Bubble," Sponsorship and More: Video Interview with Chess.com
ACP Chess Rapid Knockout: Alexander Grischuk wins Battle of Nerves vs Ian Nepomniachtchi in Final
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
Photos: Lennart Ootes
The high-energy ACP Rapid Chess Knockout has just concluded in Riga, Latvia. The final was an exciting battle of nerves with Alexander Grischuk beating fellow Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final.
The entire tournament had excellent live commentary in Russian and English. There was quite a friendly atmosphere as well. In fact, that's what chess is all about. Just before the last game, Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi engaged in an animated conversation even though they were going to start the battle for the top prize within a few seconds!
The ACP Cup was organised by the Association of Chess Professionals together with the Latvian Chess Federation. The venue for the tournament is provided by Rietumu Bank, which has one of the best premises in Riga for hosting exhibitions, auctions and other cultural and intellectual events. The bank is also participating in the financing of the tournament.
The Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) is a not-for-profit organisation, whose main purpose is the protection of chess professionals’ rights and the practice and promotion of chess worldwide, in particular through the organisation of chess tournaments and other chess events.
Also Read: Why 16 Rapid Chess Experts ignored Friday the 13th Omen in Riga?
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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Labels: ACP Chess Cup, alexander grischuk, ian nepomniachtchi
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
Beijing Chess Grand Prix 2013: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Wins Clear First
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
This completes a hat-trick of sorts for Azerbaijan Grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov as he wins the Beijing Chess Grand Prix event in China on Tuesday. He came to Beijing right after winning the Geneva Chess Masters and the World Rapid Chess Championship 2013.
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World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov nominated on Tuesday two Chinese chess players - Hou Yifan and Wei Yi to participate in the World Cup 2013. "Intellectual sports are growing in popularity, particularly among young people. As a result, I have nominated Hou Yifan and Wei Yi to participate at the World Cup 2013," said Ilyumzhinov during the closing ceremony of the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series Beijing. A former women's world champion, Hou was the youngest ever to win the title at the age of 16. Her countryman Wei Yi, whose name sounded the same as "only", was the youngest Grandmaster(GM) at 13 years 8 months and 23 days and the only GM in the world who is under 15 years old. FIDE World Cup 2013 will be held from August 10 to September 3 in Tromso, Norway.
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Mamedyarov drew against Boris Gelfand of Israel in the last round of the Grand Prix to take the clear first place with 7 points. Earlier, he was in sole lead. Based on the results of the five stages of the FIDE Grand Prix, Mamedyarov is in second place (behind Veselin Topalov) for earning the right to participate in the Candidates Tournament in 2014.
Under the rules of the series each participant can take part in four tournaments of the six stages, of which the top three will be counted. Two winners of the Grand Prix tournament can participate in the Candidates Tournament.
Mamedyarov has represented Azerbaijan at the Chess Olympiads in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010. In 2009, he won a gold medal for Azerbaijan at the European Team Chess Championship, having won a bronze medal in 2007 and silver in 2011.
Final Standings
1. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 7
2. Alexander Grischuk 6.5
3. Peter Leko 6.0
4. Veselin Topalov 6.0
5. Alexander Morozevich 5.5
6. Sergey Karjakin 5.5
7. Anish Giri 5.5
8. Wang Yue 5.5
9. Vassily Ivanchuk 5.0
10. Boris Gelfand 5.0
11. Wang Hao 5.0
12. Gata Kamsky 3.5
Labels: alexander grischuk, Alexander Morozevich, beijing chess grand prix 2013, Hou Yifan, peter leko, sergey karjakin, shakhriyar mamedyarov, veselin topalov, wei yi
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
World Rapid Chess Champion 2013 is Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Grandmaster from Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has won the title of the World Rapid Chess Champion 2013. On the final day of the event, he won five games in a row. He finished the tournament with 11.5 points out of 15 in Khanty Mansiysk on Saturday. The silver medalist is Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian Grandmaster was leading with two points after two days, but lost to Alexander Grischuk in Round 13 and drew with Alexander Riazantsev in the last round. He finished the tournament in second place just half a point behind the winner. Alexander Grischuk won the bronze medal with 10.5 out of 15. He made a draw with Nikita Vityugov in Round 15.
The final standings:
1. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – 11.5/15
2. Ian Nepomniachtchi – 11/15
3. Alexander Grischuk – 10.5/15
4. Le Liem – 10/15
5-14 – Gadir Guseinov (AZE), Ildar Khairullin (Russia), Dmitry Andreikin (RUS), Sergey Movsesian (ARM), Denis Khismattulin (RUS), Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS), Ivan Cheparinov (BUL), Alexander Riazantsev (RUS), Nikita Vityugov (RUS), Rauf Mamedov (AZE) – 9/15
etc.
The World Rapid Chess Championship was organised under the aegis of FIDE for the second time. The championship took place from 6 to 8 June 2013 in the Ugra Chess Academy of Khanty Mansiysk. The defending champion (winner in 2012) Sergey Karjakin is currently in Kieve playing another chess tournament and did not defend his title that he had won in Astana.
The World Blitz Chess Championship 2013 will start on the 9th of June in Khanty Mansiysk. Russian Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk will defend his title he earned in 2012 in Astana.
The award ceremony of the medalists and prize winners in the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships will take place on the 10th of June in Cultural Entertainment Centre “Oktyabr” at 19.30 local time. You can continue to follow all the chess action live via the official website.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal blog at
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Labels: alexander grischuk, ian nepomniachtchi, khanty mansiysk chess, shakhriyar mamedyarov, world rapid chess championship 2013
Fide Chess Candidates 2013: Magnus Carlsen wins on Tiebreak (Final Report)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013Hi everyone, Magnus Carlsen won the FIDE Candidates' Tournament in London on Monday after a bizarre finish of what has become a historic event for chess. Both the Norwegian and the other leader, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, unexpectedly lost their game in the final round, and so they remained tied for first place and Carlsen won on the second tie-break rule: higher number of wins. This means that in the next title match, World Champion Viswanathan Anand will face Carlsen. On the last day Levon Aronian of Armenia beat Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan while Boris Gelfand of Israel and Alexander Grischuk of Russia drew their game.
A Hollywood blockbuster couldn’t have had a more dramatic scenario with the hero of the story going down just before the end, only to emerge as the winner after all. This is what happened in rounds 12-13 with Carlsen losing his lead to Kramnik on Friday and then recovering on Sunday, and it also happened in a thrilling final round. The Norwegian unexpectedly lost his white game against Peter Svidler, but because Vladimir Kramnik also went down against Vassily Ivanchuk, Carlsen won the tournament anyway. It was quite a fitting scenario for April 1st, except that this is what really happened!The day started quietly with a draw between Boris Gelfand and Alexander Grischuk. Facing the Grünfeld, which he included in his own repertoire last year against Anand, Gelfand tried the 5.Bd2 variation. Grischuk was “surprised by 11.Bc4” but reacted well and about the position after 17.f4 he said: “White at maximum can get a very slight advantage but Black can get a winning position if something goes wrong for White.” Already with 18…b4 Black “more or less forced the draw”, according to the Russian. Joining the live commentary, Grischuk said: “I’m quite happy to finish my game early so that I can enjoy this!”Then, the game between Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov finished in favour of the Armenian. “In general after the opening I got a big advantage and it was very difficult to play for Black,” said Aronian. Radjabov, who finally went for a proper King’s Indian – the defence with which he has had so many successes – managed to trap the white queen in the early middle game, but Aronian got two rooks for it and combined with the presence of opposite coloured bishops, his attack on the king was just too strong.But, of course this last round was all about the other two games: Vassily Ivanchuk versus Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen versus Peter Svidler. Because Carlsen was leading on tie-break, Kramnik basically had to outperform him in the final round to emerge as the winner: he needed a win if Carlsen drew, or a draw if Carlsen lost. It all went quite differently. Kramnik, playing black, got under serious pressure right out of the opening, while Carlsen didn’t get much of an opening advantage playing white.
To keep all options open, Kramnik played the Pirc Defence, and Ivanchuk responded with simple, healthy developing moves. However, the Ukrainian (again!) needed quite some time to make his moves in this game, so even though he was building up an advantage, the Carlsen fans weren’t sure at all about the situation. Would Ivanchuk lose on time again...?Meanwhile, Carlsen himself was using lots of time himself – too much time. After making his 27th move, the Norwegian had only 5 minutes left for 13 moves, and 2 moves later his clock was down to 1 minute and 20 seconds. It was a situation Carlsen hadn’t been in before in all previous rounds! It must have been around this time that the home page of Norway’s biggest newspaper online, vg.no, crashed (like several chess servers) due too the high number of visitors trying to follow the games.Carlsen only barely made the time control – he made his last three moves in about nine seconds, knocking over some pieces in the process and losing precious seconds there. After the dust had cleared, he found himself in a completely lost ending. Svidler had simply played an excellent game, while Carlsen had succumbed under the pressure and the tension. “I was trying to equalize and then Magnus perhaps overestimated his position,” said Svidler.“I was spending too much time in the middle game on reasonably good moves but also on not too difficult moves. (…) I definitely overestimated my position. Additionally, I just couldn't calculate very well today and then you have to spend a lot of time, that’s the way it is. Obviously not as much time as I did, because it became a serious liability at the end, but it's not easy. From early on there were lots of things to calculate on every move,” said Carlsen at the press conference, while Ivanchuk and Kramnik were still playing.Before leaving the press room, Carlsen asked whether he could get the position of that last game on the laptop that was available. By that time Ivanchuk had made the time control, and he had a winning position. Carlsen said: “I think this cannot possibly go wrong,” and right at that moment Kramnik resigned his game, and with it his fight for first place. Carlsen was congratulated by his manager and by Svidler, and immediately gave a few interviews to mostly Norwegian press.
Meanwhile, Ivanchuk and Kramnik arrived in the press room to comment on their game. “I had to play for a win, to burn bridges in a way, because of course I didn't think that Magnus was going to lose. I thought I got what I wanted at some point. It was an interesting position but terribly complicated. Somewhere around 20…Nhf4 I liked my position and then somehow I lost a bit of concentration because I didn’t know what to do,” said Kramnik, who also kept an eye on the other game.“The problem was that Peter [Svidler]’s position was already promising but not yet so clear so I didn’t know what to do, whether to play for a draw… Somehow I got a bit lost between watching that game and trying to understand what I should do. Then I made a few awful decisions and I was unlucky that I had to make a tough decision on move 40, not 41.” In time trouble the Russian missed an important tactic, and then his position was lost. Ivanchuk agreed that the position was at some point drawish. “But I noticed that my opponent started to play a bit risky and he gave me chances.”Carlsen then returned to the press room to answer questions in his new status as tournament winner. He said: “I never expected to lose and I didn't really have any expectations for the other game. That didn’t make sense to me since I couldn’t do anything about it. (...) I didn't really want to resign before I was sure that Ivanchuk would win!”The tournament winner felt that until the 11th round he “played the best chess for sure”. “At the end everyone got tired, the quality got lower and anything could happen. But overall I think I did pretty well and I deserve to win.” Carlsen said he was “very impressed” by Kramnik’s comeback in the second half of the tournament. About his match against Anand, he said: “I think it’s going to be very interesting, a great event but it’s a long time ahead so we’ll see what happens.”The final standings are as follows: 1. Carlsen 8.5 points (5 wins), 2. Kramnik 8.5 points (4 wins), 3-4. Svidler and Aronian 8 points, 5-6. Grischuk and Gelfand 6.5 points, 7. Ivanchuk 6 points and 8.Radjabov 4 points.The FIDE Candidates' Tournament took place March 14th-April 1st, 2013 at IET London, Savoy Place. It was sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and organized by AGON and the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
(Report by Peter Doggers/Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.comAlso see her personal blog atwww.chessqueen.comDon't miss Chess Queen™YouTube Channel
Labels: alexander grischuk, Boris gelfand, fide chess candidates 2013, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, peter svidler, teimour radjabov, Vassily Ivanchuk, vladimir kramnik
Fide Chess Candidates R14: Magnus Carlsen Wins Tournament, Qualifies to Challenge Vishy Anand in Nov, 2013
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Breaking Chess News: Magnus Carlsen has earned the right to challenge World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand later this year. The tournament ended with a crazy quirk of fate.
Carlsen won the the Fide Chess Candidates 2013 a few minutes back in an exciting last round. Both Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen went into the last round with equal scores. If both were to win their last-round games, Carlsen would have qualified on the basis of the tiebreak as he had more wins. Carlsen would also have qualified if both drew, or both lost. Kramnik would have qualified if he were to win and Carlsen were to draw or if he were to draw and Carlsen were to lose. No one expected both Kramnik and Carlsen to lose their last round games this Monday to Vassily Ivanchuk and Peter Svidler respectively!
The illustrious line-up in London included Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk, Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk.
Labels: alexander grischuk, Boris gelfand, fide chess candidates 2013, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, peter svidler, teimour radjabov, Vassily Ivanchuk, vladimir kramnik
Fide Chess Candidates 2013 R13: Carlsen beats Radjabov, in Joint Lead with Kramnik
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In yet another truly dramatic 13th round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates' Tournament Magnus Carlsen (Norway) caught Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) in first place. Carlsen, who ground down Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) in 89 moves, is now first on tie-break because of his higher number of wins. Kramnik had a promising position against Boris Gelfand (Israel) but couldn't get more than a draw. Alexander Grischuk (Russia) and Levon Aronian (Armenia) drew as well, while Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) lost yet another game on time against Peter Svidler (Russia).
In the 13th round “giant killer” Vassily Ivanchuk returned to his bad habit in this tournament of handling the clock terribly. It’s hard to believe but it’s true: the Ukrainian's flag fell for the fifth time! It must be said that in this game the final position was lost. “It was a new experience for me. When he played 27…Rd7 he looked away, and after I played 28.a4 and pressed the clock, he lost about half a minute trying to figure out which move I made,” said Svidler.
The game was a French Advance, and the Russian grandmaster played concrete moves from the start. “If I do nothing Black will develop very naturally so I went 11.Bg5 and 12.Be3 asking questions with every move.” Then, on move 15, Svidler went for pawn sacrifice. It was “one of those moments” where he thought: “If I don’t play this I will kind of regret it forever.” After 23.Re1 he was “very happy for a while” until he realized that Black has 23…Nd6 there. Svidler then showed an amazingly complicated computer line which his seconds told him about after the game. “Good luck finding that. There’s absolutely no one who can find that out at the board!”
Ivanchuk didn’t spot it, again spent too much time and after White’s 37th move his flag fell. “I saw White’s ideas but I didn’t know what to do. From the opening my position wasn’t very comfortable,” the Ukrainian said. At the press conference GM Danny King asked him the question that needed to be asked: how can you explain to yourself the masterpieces you played against Radjabov and Carlsen, and at the same time losing on time in five games? Ivanchuk: “Everything has happened. I don’t like to focus too much on my lost games. I’d like to forget them as quickly as possible and soon start a new tournament.” On his game against Kramnik tomorrow, he said: “For me it’s not important, it’s just a normal game.”
Alexander Grischuk and Levon Aronian drew a Slav/Catalan in 38 moves. “I think I got a comfortable advantage out of the opening. Black has of course decent chances to equalize but he has to play very accurately because White has a positional advantage in the centre,” said Grischuk, who thought that Aronian’s 12…a5 was “very ambitious”. White got a nice endgame advantage with the bishop pair and more active rooks, but somehow Grischuk misplayed it. “White has to be precise and it will be long suffering for Black,” he said. A tactical phase followed and Aronian could save the half point. At the press conference Grischuk said that he did play for a win: “Of course I lost a big part of my motivation but it’s not every day that I can play against such a brilliant player like Levon!”
Moving on to the two key games of the round, Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand were the first to finish. This encounter started as a Fianchetto Grünfeld and the former World Champion came up with a new idea as early as move five – something that’s very rare in chess. “It’s amazing how many ideas he’s introducing, maybe more than all of us together!” said Gelfand. “At least I got a game, I got a game,” said Kramnik, who needed to keep all options open: going for a solid draw or playing for a win, depending on the developments in Radjabov-Carlsen.
Read more »Labels: alexander grischuk, Boris gelfand, fide chess candidates 2013, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, peter svidler, teimour radjabov, Vassily Ivanchuk, vladimir kramnik
Fide Chess Candidates 2013 R4: Magnus Carlsen Joins Levon Aronian in Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In Tuesday’s fourth round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament in London Magnus Carlsen of Norway caught Levon Aronian of Armenia in first place. Carlsen beat Alexander Grischuk of Russia in a Ruy Lopez Berlin, while Aronian was held to a draw by Peter Svidler of Russia in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted. The two oldest participants, Boris Gelfand of Israel and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, drew a very interesting game that started with the rare Chigorin Defence. Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia drew a Nimzo-Indian that was always more or less balanced.
Replay Magnus Carlsen-Alexander Grischuk 1-game with Chess King.
After enjoying their first rest day, on Tuesday the eight top grandmasters returned to the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) at Savoy Place for the fourth round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament. It was also the first day that, in the commentary room, host IM Lawrence Trent was joined by former World Championship contender GM Nigel Short. Throughout the tournament, online spectators can follow the games while watching and listening to live commentary simultaneously. In the playing hall, the audience enjoys a similar experience thanks to Samsung tablets which are waiting for them on their seats at arrival.
The first game to finish was a relatively short draw: tournament leader Levon Aronian split the point with Peter Svidler after 31 moves. In this game, Svidler showed once again that he has come to London very well prepared. The grandmaster from St. Petersburg successfully employed a rare line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted in which Black actually hangs on to his c-pawn with an early ...a6 and ...b5.
Read more »Labels: alexander grischuk, levon aronian, london chess candidates 2013, Magnus Carlsen
Big Chess Show 2013: Candidates' Opening Ceremony Today
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The big chess show of 2013 is here. Today is the opening ceremony of the World Chess Candidates Tournament being held in London
London from March 15-April 1. The event has been announced by FIDE and AGON – the World Chess Federation’s
commercial partner.
The London Candidates will be the strongest tournament of its kind in history. The Prize Fund to be shared by the players totals €510,000. The winner of the Candidates will become the Challenger to Viswanathan Anand who has reigned as World Champion since 2007.
Format: The Candidates is a double round-robin tournament with four rest days.
Venue: The IET at 2 Savoy Place
Address: 2 Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL
Players:
Levon Aronian (ARM)
Magnus Carlsen (NOR)
Boris Gelfand (ISR)
Alexander Grischuk (RUS)
Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR)
Vladimir Kramnik (RUS)
Teimour Radjabov (AZE)
Peter Svidler (RUS)
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of FIDE, said: “FIDE is happy that this major tournament will take place in London and that UK chess fans will be able to see the greatest chess players live. We support AGON’s efforts to bring important chess events to the great cities of Europe.” Andrew Paulson, the founder of AGON, said: “I am pleased to confirm that the 2013 Candidates Tournament will take place in a great venue on the banks of the River Thames and be broadcast online to a global audience.”
The World Chess Championship Cycle is the pinnacle of chess and consists of nine events over two years. The Championship Match between Viswanathan Anand and the winner of the Candidates Tournament will take place in November, 2013. The commercial rights for the World Chess Championship Cycle were accorded to AGON by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in February 2012.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: alexander grischuk, Boris gelfand, candidates chess, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, peter svidler, teimour radjabov, Vassily Ivanchuk, vladimir kramnik
Candidates Chess London March 14 - Pairings ad Curtainraiser
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Guardian has carried a super curtainraiser on the upcoming Candidates Chess matches in London from March 14. Most fans are betting on World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen to win the tournament and obtain the chance to challenge Viswanathan Anand for the world title. Here is one of the best articles with a preview and analysis of this must-watch historic event!
Chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen enters endgame for world title
22-year-old grandmaster labelled greatest ever player hopes to earn right to play for world championship at London tournament
Stephen Moss in Oslo
Magnus Carlsen has been described as the greatest chess player of all time. Photograph: Fred Jonny for the Guardian
Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen is the Tiger Woods of chess. In a good way. Just as Woods, before his fall, established an iron grip on golf, so Carlsen, at the age of 22, has made himself supreme in his own more esoteric field. He became world No 1 while still a teenager, and is now officially rated the strongest player of all time.
What he is not, however, is world champion. That title has been held since 2007 by India's Viswanathan Anand, a great player but 20 years older than Carlsen and now rated only No 6 in the world. The time may be ripe for the young genius, and, in a three-week tournament that starts in London on Thursday, Carlsen and seven other top grandmasters will compete for the right to challenge Anand for his crown later in the year. (Continue reading here.)
Meanwhile, the official website of the event has details of the venue and profiles of the players as well. You can access the site here. In the extended post, you can read the full pairings for all the rounds of the Candidates Chess matches 2013.
Read more »Labels: alexander grischuk, Boris gelfand, candidates chess london 2013, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, peter svidler, teimour radjabov, Vassily Ivanchuk, vladimir kramnik
Aeroflot Chess Blitz 2013: Congrats to Ian Nepomniachtchi for Clear First; GM Alexandra Kosteniuk Best Among Women
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi Everyone,
Winner of the 2008 Aeroflot Chess Open and the 2010 Russian Chess Champion Ian Nepomniachtchi has won the 2013 Aeroflot Blitz Chess event today. Taking home $10,000 as the first prize, the Russian Grandmaster showed a steady performance in a Swiss system of 9 rounds paired. This means each player played nine matches of two games against every opponent of a round. 12th Women's World Chess Champion Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk was leading the tournament after four rounds with a perfect score of 8.0 points and Ian Nepomniachtchi was in second place with 7.5 points. The two were paired in the fifth round. That's when the 2010 Russian champion put on speed and went on to win the title. A nice report is available at the Russian Chess Federation website.
The time control was 3 minutes per game plus two seconds per move starting from the first. A total of 270 participants were in attendance at the tournament that began with a different format instead of the traditional open chess tournament.
Ian Nepomniachtchi scored 15.5 points out of 18. Peter Svidler came in second with 14.5 points and third was Alexander Grischuk with 14 points.
If the Russian men Grandmasters were sweeping the top slots, the Russian women chess divas were not far behind.
12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk proved to be the best woman chess player at the event scoring 11.0 points. That gave her the 48th position in the final ranking. GM Kosteniuk earned 31 elo points for her strong performance and her next official blitz chess rating will be 2612!
Second among women was India's GM Dronavalli Harika in 72nd place with 10.5 points. In 92nd place was Russia's GM Tatiana Kosintseva with 10.0 points. GM Kateryna Lahno was one place below in 93rd place also with 10.0 points. GM Natalia Zhukova was in 117th place with 9.5 points.
Top women's standings at Aeroflot Blitz Chess 2013
| Rnk |
|
|
|
|
Pts |
Perf |
| 48 |
GM |
Kosteniuk Alexandra |
RUS |
2581 |
11.0 |
2632 |
| 72 |
GM |
Harika Dronavalli |
IND |
2397 |
10.5 |
2444 |
| 92 |
GM |
Kosintseva Tatiana |
RUS |
2480 |
10.0 |
2458 |
| 93 |
GM |
Lahno Kateryna |
UKR |
2519 |
10.0 |
2466 |
| 117 |
GM |
Zhukova Natalia |
UKR |
2531 |
9.5 |
2355 |
Top men's standings at Aeroflot Blitz Chess 2013
| Rnk |
|
|
|
|
Pts |
Perf |
| 1 |
GM |
Nepomniachtchi Ian |
RUS |
2723 |
15.5 |
2897 |
| 2 |
GM |
Svidler Peter |
RUS |
2697 |
14.5 |
2834 |
| 3 |
GM |
Grischuk Alexander |
RUS |
2860 |
14.0 |
2835 |
| 4 |
GM |
Korobov Anton |
UKR |
2700 |
13.5 |
2810 |
| 5 |
GM |
Karjakin Sergey |
RUS |
2901 |
13.5 |
2759 |
Full results are now available at Chess-Results. You can read a personal update by GM Alexandra Kosteniuk at www.chessqueen.com as well. A nice report on the Aeroflot Blitz Chess 2013 is also available at Chessdom. (All photos in this Chess Blog post are by Eteri Kublashvili)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Labels: aeroflot blitz 2013, alexander grischuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, anton korobov, harika dronavalli, ian nepomniachtchi, peter svidler, sergey karjakin
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