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Thursday, June 13, 2013
Vietnam Joins Global Chess Elite
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Vietnam has recently joined the elite group of global chess powers – countries that are leaders in world chess, using the ancient game as a component of their public education and culture. Vietnam achieved its latest chess milestone when Vietnamese national Le Quang Liem won the FIDE World Blitz Championship earlier this month in the northern Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, the largest city and regional capital of Yugra.
The 22 year-old Vietnamese grandmaster is seeded higher than any other competitive chess player from Vietnam. He has been playing chess since he was seven, starting at around the time the Vietnamese government began its efforts to promote chess in the nation of around 90 million people. After two days of blitz championship games, Liem scored a total of 20.5 points, 0.5 points ahead of silver medalist Alexander Grischuk and bronze medalist Ruslan Ponomariov, both of Ukraine.
Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won silver in the Rapid tournament one day earlier, finished fourth, missing out on the medals in the blitz. Together with his gold medal, Liem received a cash prize of US$40,000 for winning the blitz tournament and another US$22,500 for coming in fourth in the rapid championship the previous day. Liem’s teammate Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son ranked fifth in the blitz tournament, winning US$18,000 in prize money.
Liem’s coach Anatoly Shvedchkov started training the new blitz champion since age 7. “Liem is a very talented young man. A combination of an Eastern mindset and the fundamentals of the Soviet school of chess has produced amazing results,” said international chess master Shvedchkov who has been training Vietnamese chess players for the past 15 years.
This year’s contemporaneous FIDE-organized World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships were 15 and 30-round Swiss events respectively. The opening ceremony on June 6 included a concert by the host city’s leading performers and entertainers. Participants and guests are noting the pleasant atmosphere and fantastic organization that made them feel right at home in the capital city of the Russian central-northern Yugra Region.
Chess fans worldwide had a chance to follow the tournaments online live, and more than 70,000 chess enthusiasts in 150 countries took the opportunity to do so. This was also an excellent occasion for the city to showcase its unique culture and features to the world outside. Khanty-Mansiysk has hosted its eighth major international chess competition in the past decade and a half, putting to good use its three-story Yugra Chess Academy, designed and built as a world-standard competitive chess venue.
Natalia Komarova, the governor of Yugra region, said: “We are thrilled to host major chess events and hope that chess enthusiasts from Russia and from around the world will get to know Khanty-Mansiysk and will come visit.”
World Blitz Chess 2012 Title: Le Quang Liem says it's his Biggest Win Ever!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Vietnam Grandmas Le Quang Liem in a chat with the official website after winning the World Blitz Chess Championship 2013 in Khanty Mansiysk.
- Liem, congratulations on the victory! Did you expect that you would win the Championship? - You know, this result was a big surprise for me. When I was coming here I did not even think about victory. There are lots of strong chess players who are famous all over the world. I just wanted to see what will happen and who will become the Champion. In fact I cannot recollect any success in any previous blitz tournaments. For instance last time when I played Aeroflot, I played badly though I was fifth in the starting list. And in the final list I was not even in the first 50 players. Today I did not play very well but with each game I had better game. By the end of the day I started to play more confidently, making less mistakes.
- At some points you were two points ahead of your competitors. Did you feel that you have a chance to win? - Yes, I was two points ahead but it was still unclear who will lead. This is blitz and if you make a small mistake – you lose. Everything I was thinking about at that moment is that I just have to play. Somewhere I started to put some pressure.
- Your compatriot showed good results as well. Did you prepare for these championships, perhaps by playing against each other? - Yes, we were really training before the tournament. We were playing against each other and via Internet. This gave me more confidence.
- Is the victory in this championship your biggest success in your chess career? - Yes, it is the biggest success in my life. It happens once in a while when someone wins the World Champion’s title. This victory is very important for me, As for the chess side, I see that I need to learn and learn. I will not practice more, I will play more chess.
- You are the first chess player from Vietnam who became the World Chess Champion. Do you feel like a hero of your country? - Before this success I had some achievements in chess career. They know me in Vietnam, they recognize me in the streets. I would like to underline that today’s success will not only give me energy in my future career but also will help the chess development in my country.
- You were wearing the sport suit during all days of the championships. Now you have changed to the suit… - Usually when I participate in rapid or blitz competitions, I wear something comfortable. Because I need to move pieces very quickly. But it is good to wear an official dress for the press conference and Closing Ceremony.
- Despite the fact that you had a big distance throughout the whole tournament. But in the last round all three chess players had almost equal chances. You played against Sergey Movsesian in the last round? What did you feel during this game. - Before the last round it was an interesting situation. Several chess players had chances to win the tournament. I think that it was difficult not only for me. I came to play this game as all other games. I just played chess. I tried not to make mistakes. In the first game against Movsesian we had an equal position and came to a draw. Then I saw that Ponomariov won and I share the first place with him. That is why I thought that I have to take the second game against Movsesian more seriously. I thought I have to try to get some advantage and try to win. At some point I had worse position but then some chances appeared and I used them. Fortunately I managed to win.
- After this victory, don’t you think it is high time to organize big international official chess tournaments in Vietnam to give you and other Vietnamese chess players a chance to participate in them. - I would be really great if the Vietnamese Chess Academy and our country in general will organize big chess competitions of high level. The main problem is to find sponsors. Unfortunately chess is not so popular in our country as other sports. For instance football. But I think that thanks to our chess players and their success during last years and particularly thanks to this success of mine in this championship, people would have more interest in chess.
- What memories will you have after this tournament? - I come to Khanty-Mansiysk for the 5th time. I was playing in the World Cup, took part in the World Chess Olympiad. There are many chess competitions of the international level, with good organization. I have very good memories about this city. It is a small and beautiful city. After this success Khanty-Mansiysk is a lucky place for me. I think it is just created for chess.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
GM Le Quang Liem is the World Blitz Chess Champion 2013. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Liem had finished the first day by staying in joint lead at the championship in Khanty Mansiysk at the Ugra Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk. Sixty chess players from 18 countries were fighting for the title of the World Blitz champion. Both GMs - Liem and Nepomniachtchi - had 12 points each at the World Blitz Chess Championship after the first day. Ruslan Ponomariov was in second place at 11.5. Right behind were Alexander Grischuk and Ernesto Inarkiev.
But, Liem shot ahead of the other chess players on the second day and held on to his lead. The only chance anyone had of catching up with Liem was with Ruslan Ponomariov who came very close. However, eventually, Liem beat Sergey Movsesian (Armenia) in the last round and won the title. Ponomariov drew with Gabriel Sargissian in the last round.
Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi and Ponomatiov finished the World Blitz Chess championship only half a point behind the winner. The silver medal went to Alexander Grischuk and the bronze to Ruslan Ponomariov.
The World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship took place from June 6 to 10 in Khanty-Mansiysk. The World Rapid Champion 2013 is Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE). Silver and Bronze medals in the Blitz went to Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexander Grischuk.
The prize fund of the World Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships was $4,00,000 and was divided between the two tournaments equally.
World Blitz Chess Championship 2013 1st Day: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Le Quang Liem in Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The World Blitz Chess Championship has started on 9th June in Khanty-Mansiysk. The format of this championship is 3 minutes for the game plus 2 additional seconds per move.
The Ugra Chess Federation President, Head of Khanty-Mansiysk Vasily Filipenko made the first symbolic move on the board with Ildar Khairullin vs the representative of Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who won the title of the World Rapid Chess Champion one day before. Mr. Filipenko played 1.d2-d4.
The participants had 8 rounds (16 games) in the first day of the championship. As a result Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) and Le Quang Liem (Vietnam) took the lead after day 1. Both of the Grandmasters gained 12 points each. In the direct encounter in Round 8 the Vietnamese chess player won 1.5-0.5.
Ruslan Ponomariov (the Ukraine) is on the third position after 8 rounds.
Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), Nguen Ngok Chong (Vietnam), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rauf Mamedov (AZE) gained 10.5 points. Ilya Snirin (ISR), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Gadir Guseinov (AZE), Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS) and Sergey Movsesian (ARM) have 10 points…
The participants will have another 7 rounds (14 games) in the second day of the championship on 10th of June.
The World Blitz Championship takes place for two days: 9 and 10 June. The players will play 30 games in total. The tournament is held per swiss system in 15 paired games.
The prize fund of the tournament is 200 thousand US dollars.
The Award Ceremony of the prize winners and medalists will be held at 19.30 (local time), on 10th June in the Cultural and Entertainment Centre “Oktyabr”.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The 2013 Asian Continental Championship (Open) was held on 18-26th May in Manila, Philippines. The tournament was organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and Eugene Torre Chess Foundation, Inc. 75 players from 14 federations, including 26 Grandmasters and 18 IMs, took part in the tournament, according to a Chessdom news update.
Chinese Grandmaster Li Chao emerged Asian Continental Champion after concluding the tournament with 7,0/9 points. Half a point behind, there were five players sharing the 2nd place. Local chess fans are delighted that Philippines’ Grandmasters Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua grabbed the silver and bronze medals respectively. Further, Le Quang Liem (Vietnam, 4th) and Adhiban Baskaran (India, 5th) also qualified for the 2013 World Chess Cup. Sasikiran Krishnan had the worst tie-break and remained outside of the qualification.
Manny Pacquiao Chess Cup Asian Continental 2013: Four Players in Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Manny Pacquiao (centre) watching Filipino GM Julio Sadorra beat IM Wang Chen of China. With Pacquiao are GM Eugene Torre (left) and NCFP Chairman/President Prospero A. Pichay, Jr.
Here is the latest chess news via Fide. Four Philippine players are in the lead pack at the halfway mark of the Manny Pacquiao Chess Cup Asian Continental Chess Championship at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Metro Manila, Philippines.GM Mark Paragua grabbed solo lead with 4.5 points after beating erstwhile leader compatriot Julio Sadorra in the 5th round. Sadorra, a senior business administration student at the University of Texas in Dallas, Filipino GMs John Paul Gomez and Richard Bitoon, top seed Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem and Chinese GM Li Chao trail by half-point behind with 4 points each.
There was exciting chess in all the rounds. Paragua penetrated the French Defense of Sadorra with his Rook on the seventh rank and delivered checkmate on the 33rd move. Gomez beat Chinese GM Li Shilong, Bitoon outsmarted compatriot GM Joey Antonio, Li Chao smashed GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam while Le Quang Liem was held to a draw by GM Lalith Babu of India.
The top five qualify for the World Chess Cup to be held this August in Tromso, Norway.
In the women's chess division, the champion qualifies to next year’s Women’s World Chess Championship. WGM Mary Ann Gomes of India outclassed WGM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva of Kazakhstan to create a four-way tie for first along with IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul of Mongolia, WGMs Guo Qi and Wang Jue of China with 4.0 points each. Munguntuul drew with WGM Huang Qian of China; Guo bested WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An of Vietnam; Wang nipped WIM Hoang Thi Nhu Y of Vietnam. WFM Antoinette San Diego blasted WGM Swaminathan Soumya of India to lead the group of 3.5 pointers with WGMs Huang Qian and Tan Zhongyi and WIM Ni Shiqun of China, WGM Nafisa Muminova of Uzbekistan and IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Vietnam.
The chess tournament is organised by the GM Eugene Torre Chess Foundation and sponsored by eight-division world boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Cafe Puro, Alaxan, Oriental and Motolite Corp. and held under the auspices of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, Asian Chess Federation and Fide. Top games are broadcast live on http://www.asianchessonline.com.
Gibraltar Chess Festival: Vassily Ivanchuk, Le Quang Liem Short Draw Creates Discussion
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
There is an interesting chess report about the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Tournament via Chessdom.com: The event is already in the seventh round and some of the most exciting games are being played. One of the top encounters of the day is the game between the top seeded Vassily Ivanchuk and the co-leader Le Quang Liem. Ivanchuk and Le Quang Liem played an exchange variation of the Slav defense. At move 14 the players shook hand for a draw. That would have been perfectly fine, if there were not rules in Gibraltar expecting players to complete 30 moves.
This is not the first case of under 30 moves game in Gibraltar. It has happened earlier at lower boards and the players were given the option to start over the game or they were forfeited.
A similar situation occurred with Ivanchuk and Le Quang Liem. In live commentary Simon Williams and Irina Krush reported that after a discussion with the arbiters and the organizers, they were given the option to replay the game.
Update 17:53 CET Simon Williams and Irina Krush report in the Gibraltar live commentary that Le Quang Liem has actually gone to his room.
Update 18:05 CET Stewart Conquest in now in the commentary room giving an update in the next minutes…
Update 18:10 CET GM Conquest updated on the situation, “The initial problem started when Ivanchuk and Le Quang Liem agreed to a draw and signed the score sheet without the presence of an arbiter. Therefore, no one warned them not to agree on a draw as it is forbidden before move 30. So they just went to their rooms.”
He continued, “We had a long talk with them and they stated that even though the rule is mentioned in the regulations, it was never announced before the rounds. And they are right about that, so tomorrow we will make the reminder to all players at the start of the round.”
A politically correct situation was reached, leaving the score as draw. GM Conquest said, “It is like a first warning and we do not want to upset the players”. He also added, “The great news is Ivanchuk has agreed to give a master class for the audience at 9 o’clock local time”
The official website of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2013 can be accessed at this link.
Video Chess Lectures by GMs at ACP Golden Classic: Ivanchuk, Kamsky & Quang
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The ACP Golden Classic, that was won by Vassily Ivanchuk, had several other chess events for chess fans as well. These includes chess lectures by Grandmasters Vassily Ivanchuk, Gata Kamsky, and Le Quang Liem. Here are the videos that the organisers recorded and put up for chess lovers.
Association of Chess Professional Plans Return of Adjournments with Anna Muzychuk and 6 GMs
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) is going to try and interesting new idea at a chess tournament in Amsterdam next month. The games will be adjourned after move 40 and resumed the next day! The time control will also be like in the old days: 2.5 hours for the first 40 moves.
The chess tournament named "Golden Classic" will be held July 14-22 July in Amsterdam on the sidelines of the Dutch National Chess Championship and the SPA Chess Open.
The tournament will be a single round robin with seven players: Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR, 2764), Gata Kamsky (USA, 2741), Baadur Jobava (GEO, 2721), Krishnan Sasikiran (IND, 2720), Le Quang Liem (VIE, 2703), Emil Sutovsky (ISR, 2687) and Anna Muzychuk (SLO, 2598).
Tournament director will be Jeroen van den Berg who also runs the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee and the Univé Tournament in Hoogeveen each year. The tournament won't be rated. The players will be fighting for an overall prize-fund of US $35,000. The sponsor is private and doesn't want to be mentioned.
Do you know how adjournments work in chess?It's almost two decades since the adjournment rule went out of style and the rulebook. All games at top tournaments were adjourned after the after the time control (after either move 40 or 60). The player whose turn it was to move wrote the move on a piece of paper and the arbiter sealed it in an envelope. The players could then spend the day or a rest day as well analysing the position with their team. The game resumed with the arbiter opening the envelope and playing the move when the chess tournament resumed.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
HCM CITY — Chinese GM and third seed Ni Hua won the second HD Bank International Open Chess Tournament yesterday with eight points after nine games.
Top seed and local favourite GM Le Quang Liem was second with 7.5 points and received a prize of US$5,000. Ni, 29, drew with second seed GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in the ninth and last game to win the title and $10,000.
Son finished third with 6.5 points, sharing the prize with five other players, who had the same number of points. They were followed by seven players with six points and 16 players with 5.5 points.
"The game against Liem (the top seed) the toughest game for me in the tournament. I was losing the game, but was lucky to come back and hold on for a draw," said Ni, China's former number one.
Ni was unbeaten through the tournament.
"I am happy with the result. I have played better than at the two previous tournaments," Liem said. He finished seventh at English Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Championship and failed to defend his title at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow.
Meanwhile, WGM Pham Le Thao Nguyen earned six points to win the first prize of $1,500, followed by compatriot WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An and China's WGM Gu Xiaobing. — VNS
Le Quang Liem explains the tough life of a chess player!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
We have here a nice interview with a talented young chess player - Le Quang Liem. His tough schedule is something all chess players are used to. But if you truly love chess then, every sacrifice is worth it!
A tight schedule that took him from one chess competition to the next, leaving him little time for rest and recovery in between, is the main reason for his two consecutive failures at recent international tournaments, local chess talent Le Quang Liem shared at a press briefing yesterday.
Earlier this month, Liem finished seventh at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in the UK. Only a week later, he was in Russia to attend the 2012 Aeroflot Open, where he was expected to defend his championships won for two years in a row, 2010 and 2011. However, the Vietnamese chess grandmaster failed to retain the title and make a hat-trick.
“There was little time between the UK and Russia tournaments for me to relax and allow my mind and physical strength to recover,” he said. However, Liem confirmed he is ready for the coming International Chess Tournament HDBank Cup 2012, which will run from March 2–7, attracting nearly 100 players from Vietnam, China, Russia, India, Ukraine, and Gruzia.
After the failures in the last tournaments, Liem’s Elo rating dropped to 2,698 from 2,714, he said. “I will try my best at the HDBank cup to return to the group of chess players with Elo 2,700 and above.” Liem was the top seed in last year’s cup, but only concluded at the fourth place.
Prior to the opening of the HDBank Cup, Liem played multiple games with 20 amateur players who are his fans in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, none of whom could claim the satisfaction of beating their idol at his own game.
Le Quang Liem to defend title at Aeroflot Chess Open from Feb 7
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The Aeroflot Chess tournament takes place 7-17 February 2012 in Moscow, the city where the RSSU Cup has just finished and where the 2012 World Chess Championship will be played.
Top rated players are Tomashevsky, Caruana, Le Quang Liem, Vallejo Pons, Jobava, Sasikiran, Eljanov, Inarkiev, Andreikin, Zvjagnisev, Akopian, Kobalia, Alekseev, Bu Xiangzhi, Csaba Balogh, Khismatullin, Korobov, Bartel, Zhigalko, Ragger, Gupta, etc. see the full list below. Here is a list of the top participants in Group A of the tournament this year:
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The London Organizing Committee of the 2012 Olympic Games has invited Grandmaster Le Quang Liem to run about 300 meters in the 70-day torch procession that will visit more than 1,000 cities and towns in the UK prior to the official opening ceremony on July 27 in London.
Liem, who will join 100 other outstanding individuals in the torch relay. On January 22, Liem will fly to the UK to compete in the Gibraltar Chess Festival, which takes place from January 23 to February 2. The young grandmaster, ranked 29th in the world on the Fide rating list, has a packed chess schedule for the year. He would be going to Russia for the Aeroflot Open 2012, from February 6 to 18, the Asian Championships in May, and the world team chess championship in August.
Chess players would certainly like to see the sport included in the Olympics at some time in the future. You can read the full post here about how Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk feels that chess should be part of the bigger Olympic movement:
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