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Tuesday, December 16, 2014
SportAccord World Mind Games Chess 2014: Russia #1 Alexander Grischuk wins Double Gold
Hello chess blog friends, as you know the chess section of the SportAccord World Mind Games is on in Beijing. Two sections have been completed and the Russians have ruled particularly Alexander Grischuk who has won gold in both the blitz and rapid section of the men's events.
GM Alexander Grischuk
Playing some fantastic and focused chess this past week, Russia's top-rated Alexander Grischuk picked up the double gold with east. In the blitz list, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France picked up the silver and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan earned the bronze. In the women's section, reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan of China earned the gold, silver going to Valentina Gunina of Russia and Anna Muzychuk of Ukrained got the bronze. The Russian flag was flying high in the rapid section as well. Grischuk Alexander (RUS) became the winner of the tournament, Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (FRA) finished in the second place and Bronze medal went to Wang Hao (CHN). In the women's section of the rapid, the gold went to Gunina Valentina (RUS), silver to Hou Yifan (CHN) and bronze to Ushenina Anna (UKR).
The Basque chess event is now being played in Beijing that has the opponents play two games in each round - one with white and one with black against the same opponent. You can follow all the action live at the official website.
ABOUT WORLD MIND GAMES
SportAccord World Mind Games is a multi-sport event centred on the gymnasium of the mind and highlighting the great value of the mind sports. The 2014 edition will take place from 11-17 December. As well as the first, second and third editions in 2011, 2012, and 2013 the event includes five mind sports of great popularity and influence worldwide - Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). The event is a showcase of some top-level mind games performances with the world's best players. The Cultural and Social Programme is an integral part of the event and through a series of activities, it aims at increasing and improving mind sports' influence and practice in schools.
In addition, an online tournament extends the event's reach to the worldwide audience. Mind Games are spread and known throughout the world since ancient times and their educational values are widely recognised. They combine the fun of playing games and the enhancement of concentration, logic, memory, mathematics, literacy, learning skills, decision making and socialising skills, etc. Ever more countries and regions integrate the mind sports as an important part of their education programmes. Mind sports suit well a wide range of people not only in terms of age; these sports can be equally played by people with certain physical disability.
Glittering Start to 4th SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 (including Chess)
Hello chess blog friends, the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 - including chess - opened with a glittering ceremony in Beijing Wednesday evening.
The 4th edition of the annual event features 150 players from 37 countries, who will be competing in 5 sports, namely Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi. This year’s edition witnesses the introduction of American Checkers, which takes the total number of sub-disciplines to 14, with 24 medal rounds on offer. A total prize purse of $1.4 million is on offer for the winners at this year’s event, which is being hosted by the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, and is being organised by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports and the Board and Card Administrative Center of the General Administration of Sport of China.
Announcing his delight at the opening of the latest edition of the World Mind Games, SportAccord President Marius L. Vizer said, “The spirit of excellence, competition and friendship guides the 4th edition of the World Mind Games. Excellent organisation, superior competition and friendship between the players are the aims of this unique event. Our intention is to provide inspiration to millions of mind sports practitioners around the world to aspire to the highest standards. This intention has focused our efforts towards providing to millions of sportspersons across the world with the opportunities to compete in high-quality competitions through the multi-sports games under SportAccord's umbrella. The World Beach Games, World Combat games, World Mind Games and World Urban Games are the results of close cooperation with the international federations and give voice to the primary individuals- the players. At the World Mind Games 2014, I wish the players a lot of success and all participants at the event all the best for 2015."
The organisation of such an event on the desired scale of organisation and participation would not have been possible without the dedication and untiring efforts of the local organising committee. Speaking on behalf of the LOC, Mr. Chen Jie, secretary general of the LOC said, “As one of the highest level international sports events being held in Beijing this year, a successful World Mind Games will make a great contribution to the popularity and development of mind games, enhancing multi-cultural communication, pushing forward the healthy and harmonious development for the city of Beijing”.
Addressing the assembled media and the athletes, Mr. Vlad Marinescu, director general of SportAccord highlighted the value of working together to produce results by saying, “"The World Mind Games represent SportAccord's commitment to bringing the finest practitioners of mind sports under one roof to present an unparalleled spectacle to mind sports fans. We are thankful to the 5 international federations for providing us with the best athletes, services and officials to ensure that the quality of competition only improves each year. We are honoured to be hosted by the city of Beijing year after year and are thankful to the local organising committee for presenting the best face of World Mind Games 2014 in front of the world. Our production partners are essential for this purpose and their efforts will ensure that over 50 territories will be touched by the World Mind Games 2014. Our network of commercial partners for the event grows stronger due to the undying efforts of all those mentioned and the sponsors this year make the 4th edition of the World Mind Games the best supported edition yet."
The World Mind Games 2014 is the first multi-sports event to be organised in China with a fully certified integrity programme that has been distributed to the athletes before the competition for completion.
Competition at the World Mind Games will begin on the 11th of December and the last round of action will be organised on the 17th of December, with the final medals being awarded in the evening. The entire event will be broadcast live or deferred by 23 TV channels, apart from being streamed live on 2 digital media channels.
Top Chess Stars at World Mind Games Beijing Dec 11 - Be There!
Hello chess blog friends, the Chess events at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 begin in Beijing December 11. The chess events at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2014 are under the auspices of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The exciting events witness 32 players, 16 men and 16 women, competing for a rich haul of medals. The disciplines on the programme will be for both men and women Rapid, Blitz, Basque System. This year again, 12th women’s world chess champion Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk will be the official Chess Ambassador of the 2014 Sport Accord World Mind Games. This is the fourth edition of the Mind Sports Games. It’s a unique multi-sport event which highlights the great value of Mind Sports. The world’s best players will deliver top-level performances and create new valuable experiences based on intelligence, strategy and exercise of mind.
Here is the official trailer of the World Mind Games
You will recall that GM Kosteniuk got the very first Gold Medal in the Blitz Event of the first edition of the IMSA Mind Sports Games, by beating ex-world champion Antoaneta Stefanova in the blitz final 2-1. It was very tough because she started by losing the first game. Below are the 3 games in video.
SportAccord World Mind Games Chess Blitz: Gunina, Aronian Lead on Day 1
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Blitz Chess events began at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2013 in Beijing on Saturday. This category has a different format, whereby players will face-off two times and only have 3 minutes (+2 seconds added after every move) for an entire game.
Valentina Gunina from Russia was leading after 10 rounds with 8 points. She showed great play with excellent decision making. Right behind is Anna Muzychuk from Slovenia and Yifan Hou (reigning women's world chess champion) from China.
In the Men's Blitz category, Levon Aronian from Armenia was leading with 8.5 points. Right behind the leader was Current World Blitz Chess Champion, Le Quang from Vietnam.
Chess Grandmaster Bartek Heberla teaches a young chess club member)
On a day where no school visit took place, the students of the Faming Mountain Chess Club visited the competition venue. Chess Grandmasters Bartek Heberla and Pieter Heine Nielsen welcomed the 15 students of the Chess Club at the spectator area of the Beijing International Convention Center. This time around, the Grandmasters were the ones getting taught by 5-10 year olds!
Chess Queen Kosteniuk Appointed Ambassador of the 2013 Sport Accord World Mind Games
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
This year again, 12th women’s world chess champion Alexandra Kosteniuk will be the official Chess Ambassador of the 2013 Sport Accord World Mind Games, which will take place in Beijing, China between the 12th and 18th of December 2013. You can read all about it at the Chessqueen.com website. The post also includes a thrilling game (Stefanova – Kosteniuk: 1-0)
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Cool Chess Attack: Battle of the World Chess Champions Alexandra Kosteniuk vs Hou Yifan 1-0
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Some chess news to delight all our Chess Blog readers. Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk has uploaded a new chess video to her YouTube Channel ChessQueen. It’s her game against 13th women’s world chess champion Hou Yifan played last month at the Sport Accord Mind Sports Games in Beijing. GM Kosteniuk goes for an all out attack and wins in 26 moves. Click on graphic to view the video and read more.
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk Wins Blitz Gold at Sport Accord World Mind Games 2012 in Beijing
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
BREAKING NEWS:
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk with the women's Gold medal and GM Sergey Karjakin - also of Russia - with the men's gold medal in the Sport Accord Blitz.
JUST IN: Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk has just won the Gold in the Blitz Tournament at the Sport Accord World Mind Games 2012 in Beijing. Showing an incredible determination, the 12th Women's World Chess Champion led from the start and obtained a total of 11.5 points in 15 rounds over two days. That netted +76 Elo points to Alexandra, whose new Blitz rating will go from 2505 to 2581 at the end of the year.
These points included a record streak of six straight wins in the first rounds and a total of 11 wins, more than anybody in the tournament. The finish was extremely exciting as GM Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia caught up and even passed GM Kosteniuk by a half point before the last round. But Alexandra won her last round against Anna Zatonskih of the USA, while Anna drew Elisabeth Paehtz, in the tiebreaks Alexandra came our first due to her win in their direct encounter.
1. Gold: Alexandra Kosteniuk (center) 2. Silver: Anna Muzychuk (left) 3. Bronze: Elisabeth Paehtz (right)
This was one of the strongest blitz chess tournaments this year with all the top names like former world champions Hou Yifan and Antoaneta Stefanova, Koneru Humpy, Kateryna Lahno, and others. Incidentally, GM Kosteniuk beat both Hou Yifan and Antoaneta Stefanova in the tournament.
Chess Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk with her blitz gold medal along with (left) GM Anna Muzychuk (silver) and GM Elizabeth Paehtz (bronze) at the awards ceremony in Beijing on Monday.
More details would be updated soon on her personal blog www.chessqueen.com.
A very determined Kosteniuk in Beijing wins Blitz Gold
Here is the first round game Kosteniuk - Hou:
Alexandra Kosteniuk - Hou Yifan
Result: 1-0
Site: Sport Accord Blitz Beijing 2012
Date: December 15, 2012
[...]1.e4c5 The Sicilian Defense 2.¤f3d63.d4cxd44.¤xd4¤f65.¤c3e66.¥e2¤c67.¥e3¥e78.O-OO-O9.f4a610.a4¥d711.¤b3b612.¥f3£c7 "General opening development hs taken place, now it's time for making a plan"
13.g4! "The attack starts!" 13...¥c814.g5¤d715.¥g2! Gives passage to the Queen to h5 and to the rook to f3 then h3
15...¥b716.£h5¦fe817.¦f3 +0.00* 17...g6 N "Novelty"
(17...¤b4 was played before 18.¦h3¤f819.£e2d520.£f2¤d721.f5exf522.¦f1 "and the attack continues...1-0, Milov Leonid 2463 - Uwira Oliver 2282 , Dotzheim 2002 It (open)")
18.£h6¥f819.£h4¥g720.¦h3¤f8 "Now it seems all key squares around the black king are defended, h8, h7, h6"
21.f5!¥xc322.f6 "! N" Now the threat of Qh7 and mate on g7 is too strong, even giving back the Bishop with Bxf6 does not help"
(22.bxc3 "would have been a mistake since" 22...exf523.exf5¤e7 and both black knights are holding the key squares.)
22...h523.¥f3! This Bishop will sacrifice itself on h5 for a crushing attack to take place on the column h +4.76*
23...¥xf624.gxf6¤e525.¥xh5! +31.1025...¤h7 +299.9626.¥e2 and mate on either h7 or h8 is unavoidable. Hou resigns. An extremely strongly played game by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Sport Accord World Mind Games with Chess Included Begin in Beijing Today - Promo Video (Schedule Updated)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
SportAccord World Mind Games are a multi-sport event centered on the gymnasium of the mind and highlighting the great value of the mind sports. The first edition in 2011 included five mind sports of great popularity and influence worldwide - Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). The event showed some top-level mind games performances with the world's best players.
Find all the details of the chess events at the Sport Accord World Mind Games in this Chess Blog post. Schedule
Wednesday, December 12th Opening ceremony Thursday, December 13th Rest day Friday, December 14th 14:00-19:00 Rapid Event: 1-4 rounds (men), 1-4 rounds (women) Saturday, December 15th 14:00-19:00 Rapid Event: 5-7 rounds (men), 5-7 rounds (women) Sunday, December 16th 14:00-19:00 Blitz Event: 1-8 rounds (men), 1-8 rounds (women) Monday, December 17th 14:00-19:00 Blitz Event: 9-15 rounds (men), 9-15 rounds (women) Tuesday, December 18th 14:00-19:00 Blindfold Event: 1-4 rounds (men), 1-4 rounds (women) Wednesday, December 19th 14:00-19:00 Blindfold Event: 5-7 rounds (men), 5-7 rounds (women) & Closing Ceremony Thursday, December 20th Departure
FIDE has announced that SportAccord Mind Games 2012 will be held in Beijing, China between December 12-20.
PARTICIPANTS: Hou Yifan, Anna Muzychuk, Koneru Humpy, Zhao Xue, Kateryna Lahno, Viktorija Cmilyte, Anna Zatonskih, Antoaneta Stefanova, Bela Khotenashvili, Harika Dronavalli, Elizabeth Paehtz, Zhu Chen, Pia Cramling, Monika Socko, Elina Danielian and Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Among the men, the participants are: Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Sergey Karjakin, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Morozevich, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Grischuk, Vesselin Topalov, Gata Kamsky, Peter Leko, Viktor Bologan, Baadur Jobava, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Wang Hao, Anish Giri and Ding Liren.
An exciting chess video with comments by 12th World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. The game: against Antoaneta Stefanova that fetched the gold for Chess Queen™ in 2010.
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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