Play Chess with Nakamura, Aronian: Schein-Friedman Benefit Auction Chess Auction
Hello chess blog friends, this is a cool chess event in the US - Time with Aronian and Nakamura: Schein-Friedman Benefit Auction! FM Aviv Friedman writes at the www.uschess.org.
Need a creative holiday gift idea? Find details on an online auction to benefit the Schein-Friedman Scholastic Recognition Project headlined by lessons with Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura. The two super-GMs face each other in a match later this week in Saint Louis. Also up for auction: A private simul by GM Robert Hess and lessons with GMs Ray Robson, Daniel Naroditsky, Kayden Troff, Sam Sevian, Daniel Naroditsky & FM Alisa Melekhina.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Labels: chess auction, levon aronian, nakamura
World Team Chess Round 1: Russia - Armenia Draw
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The World Team Chess Championship 2013 has begun in Antalya, Turkey. The most important pairing of the first round was Russia versus Armenia, but it ended in a hard-fought draw!
The top game of the day, Vladimir Kramnik versus Levon Aronian was a very sharp struggle in a Botvinnik Slav. The exchange sacrifice by Kramnik resulted in an queen+bishop vs. queen+rook ending, where Kramnik had two pawns for the exchange. The position was in dynamic equilibrium and although Kramnik tried a bit to play for a win, but Aronian didn't let him get anything.
On the second board Movsesian, achieved a nice advantage and wanted to torture Karjakin which didn't materialise in the end as Karjakin managed to exchange pieces to relieve the pressure and save the game. Also on the fourth board Armenia seemed to have the advantage but when Sargissian missed the double attack 39...Qa7 he had to concede the draw to his resourceful opponent Nepomniatchi.
The last game was Grischuk-Akopian in which the Russians hoped that Akopian would falter under the pressure of Grischuk in a rook endgame up a pawn but the game was drawn.
The other big fight was the Ukraine versus USA match. Nakamura wanted to employ the impenetrable Berlin Wall (possibly inspired by the recent Anand - Carlsen World Chess Championship), but Ivanchuk preferred not to bother dealing with it and chose instead the old Two Knights System. As he didn't manage to create something out of this well-studied line, the game ended in a draw. Moiseenko-Onischuk was also a quiet affair in which neither side could imbalance the game.
On the remaining two boards Akobian couldn't convert his nice positional edge into a full point due to the dynamic defense of Kryvorouchko and thus when Korobov punished Kamsky's over-optimistic pawn sacrifice in a long endgame it was time to cheer for Ukrainians.
USA will for sure try to make a comeback in the race for the world team champion title.
Actually the first match to finish in the first round was Netherlands-China. On first board after a Caro Kann opening Anish Giri decided to force a repetition in a balanced position pretty quickly whereas second and fourth boards saw two longer draws in which Dutch players showed strong and solid play, giving their Chinese opponents no chance to take advantage of white pieces.
The only decisive result of the match came from the Tiviakov-Bu Xiangzhi game. Bu had obviously prepared thoroughly for Tiviakov's pet line Alapin Sicilian and even being perhaps the most formidable expert of the variation Tiviakov couldn't achieve any advantage with white.
To make things worse for Netherlands he soon lost control of position under time pressure and collapsed giving China the chance to score an important match victory.
One of the most exciting games of the round was played on the fourth board of Germany-Egypt match between Bassem Amin and David Baramidze. Feeling perhaps the need to win as the leading player of Egypt, Amin didn't allow a threefold repetition and instead moved his king to h4 in a complicated middlegame with queens on the board! It was a very risky decision which was at the end efficiently punished by Baramidze. What was perhaps unfortunate for the representative of Africa was the fact that although in the first three boards they were definitely the underdogs they managed to held their ground and their cause of defeat came from the most unexpected board. But such is chess!
Finally, in the first round the hosts had a tough challenge against the Azerbaijani team but they were obviously hoping to get a good start to the championship. The positions of Turkish players were looking mostly fine at one point however Azeris didn't give them a chance to score a win in the end and the defeat of Yilmaz at the hands of Nidjat Mamedov meant a disappointing loss for the Turkish team.
In the second round pairings include USA-Russia! Also don't forget to follow the live commentary by GM Oleksienko and IM Arduman.
Labels: Ivanchuk, levon aronian, movsesian, nakamura, sergey karjakin, vladimir kramnik, world team chess
Thessaloniki Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 6: Caruana, Kamsky, Dominguez in Joint Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Fabiano Caruana and Gata Kamsky won their games in the 6th round of Thessaloniki Grand Prix 2013 to join Leinier Dominguez in shared lead. Dominguez outplayed Hikaru Nakamura, but couldn't convert the winning position into the full point. Vassily Ivanchuk collapsed again and lost to Ruslan Ponomariov after only 19 moves and barely 75 minutes of play.
Ponomariov - Ivanchuk
Again the game of Vassily Ivanchuk finished quickly, as the legendary Ukrainian fell down to his compatriot Ruslan Ponomariov. Ponomariov kept his options open, with possibility to play on either of the flanks. Ivanchuk underestimated white's flexibility and carelessly castled long and lost. Replay the full game with Chess King.
Ivanchuk apologised to Ponomariov - "I am sorry that I played this bad," and then resigned. Ponomariov said that after five draws in a row he wanted to play for a win. Yesterday he missed some chances against Grischuk and is happy that today he won so quickly.
On question about opponent's form, Ponomariov said that it would have been easier for Ivanchuk if this was a knockout event where - "...You lose and you go home, but here you have to stay until the end and suffer."
About the World Chess Championship match in Chennai, Ponomariov said, "Everyone is claiming that Carlsen is clear favorite to win the WCC match, but as you can see he also loses some games. Besides, the match is being held in India, so I don't think everything is so clear. Having been World Champion at the age of 18, I am always rooting for younger players, so I am Carlsen's fan in this match."
Caruana - Bacrot
The Italian Grandmaster refrained from Ruy Lopez and used the Scotch opening. He has pleasant memories about the system as he used it to defeat the great Vladimir Kramnik. Caruana said his preparation finished after 21.f3, where computer is giving advantage to white, and pointed that e5-e6 is a very dangerous threat. Eventually, Caruana ground down Black. Replay the full game with Chess King.
Grischuk - Morozevich
The two Alexanders, who kept confusing our commentators used to mention the players by their first names, were involved in an interesting discussion of a Ruy Lopez sideline. Grischuk played the quiet 5.d3, and Morozevich answered with kingside fianchetto, carefully preparing the expansion with the pawns.
Black pieces started looming around the opponent's King, but the timely reaction in the center allowed white to weather the storm. Grischuk said that he played in a logical manner, he didn't see many alternatives, just kept going with the natural moves, bu Morozevich played creatively and kept posing challenges. The draw was recorded shortly after the time control.
Topalov - Kasimdzhanov
Another game with d3 in Ruy Lopez, only this time played on the 6th move. The setup was similar to Dominguez - Svidler, but Kasimdzhanov jumped his Knight to a5 instead of d4. He considered this to be a slight improvement. Topalov was satisfied after 12.b4 - "I like this structure. But sometimes this pawn can be a target for counterplay with a6-a5." He criticised 16.h3 and felt that is was unnecessary I saw something like he pushes d6-d5, I answer e4-e5, and his Knight jumps to g4. I am not sure if this was any good."
About the exchange 18.bxc5, Topalov said - "I was not afraid of advance c5-c4 because I always have this nice Bb4." 22.f4 might have been a little too ambitious as it allowed Kasimdzhanov to sacrifice a piece for two pawns and get the avalanche rolling. Rustam believed he was nearly winning after 24...Qxc2.
Apparently Topalov wasn't too concerned about the pawn mass, but later he admitted that he underestimated its potential. There was an interesting endgame with B+N+2P for white and R+4P for black. Kasimdzhanov was definitely pressing for a win, but with reduced material and accurate defence Topalov held a draw.
Kamsky - Svidler
As usual, Gata Kamsky avoided theoretical discussion and started calmly with the English opening. In reply, Svidler set the reversed Sicilian Dragon. The play developed slowly with lots of maneuvering, but as the time was passing by, white attained better pawn structure. Black decided not to wait too long and started operating on the kingside. However, the position opened to white's benefit. The game still remained very complicated and Kamsky was not sure by how much he was better until he played 42.Rh2. Already after the next move Svidler resigned. Replay the game with Chess King.
Dominguez - Nakamura
We are already used to have Hikaru Nakamura playing the longest game of the day and closing the press center with the final interview. He surprised tournament leader Leinier Dominguez with the Scandinavian defence. In any case, the Cuban couldn't really prepare for the last two rounds because his computer has broken down. According to Nakamura, 7.Bd3 was a clever way to take advantage of black's move order. He also considered 8...e6 to be a mistake and said that he planned 8...Qa6 (recently played by tournament commentator GM Papaioannou), but he can't explain why he forgot about it. 10.Qg3 reminded black that he will have serious trouble to get the King into castle. Nakamura suggested that he should have dug in with Be7 and if Bf4 to play Qc8, where he is clearly worse but he could play on - "After 14.Qxf6 black is simply lost".
Nevertheless, the American put up a stubborn defence. It looked like Dominguez was trying to always be on the safe side, but he said he just played a normal game. The players have agreed that 34.f5 was premature and that it was better to start with preparatory 34.Ke3 and then f5 on the next move. Dominguez confirmed that the resulting endgame was winning but difficult to convert.
Nakamura said he was preparing to resign, but he changed his mind when white traded the Rooks with 46.Rg4 "because then suddenly black has drawing chances." Both players promoted to Queens and the resulting endgame is worthy of teaching manuals. It looked like white should be winning, but the magical dance of black pieces saved the draw for Nakamura who defended brilliantly.
The players have suggested possible improvements for white - probably 60.Kg7 instead of 60.h5 should win because black king cannot move closer. Also 61.Kg5 was mentioned by Nakamura. (Report by Goran Urosevic/official website).
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Labels: bacrot, caruana, dominguez, Grischuk, Ivanchuk, kamsky, kasimdzhanov, morozevich, nakamura, Ponomariov, svidler, thessaloniki chess grand prix 2013, topalov
Nakamura Beats Kamsky to Take Lead at U.S. Chess Championship 2012 with One Round to Go
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
In a hard-fought chess game, GM Hikaru Nakamura beat GM Gata Kamsky for the first time ever in classical chess to take over the lead by one-half point with one game to go. Nakamura has 7.5 points to Kamsky’s seven.
Playing Black in round ten, Nakamura chose the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense because he wanted a volatile position. During their last encounter, at the Tata Steel Tournament in January, Nakamura’s Dragon Variation did not produce any winning chances. Kamsky uncharacteristically labored in the opening, spending more time than his opponent for one of the first times in the event. He spent 30 minutes after 11…Na5. Lacking his usual confidence, he was down 45 minutes on the clock a few moves later.
Nakamura said he thought it was still technically winning, but he was worried about his king’s safety. The alternative plan from the actual game left Nakamura up the exchange, but with a different set of difficulties ahead.
“Optically the knights are very strong, but at the same time, they don’t have very many squares,” Nakamura said. He wanted to avoid an endgame where one of Kamsky’s knights would sacrifice for his lone queenside pawn, as an ending with pawns on only one side can often reduce winning chances.
The defending champion’s lack of time came back to hurt him on the 40th and final move of time control. According to Nakamura, 40. Kh4 is an unrecoverable mistake. The forcing sequence beginning with the pinning of one knight and the sacrifice for another led to Kamsky searching fruitlessly for counterplay against the inexorable march of his opponent’s a-pawn.
Tomorrow, Nakamura assured everyone that he was out to win, as he gets white versus GM Yasser Seirawan. If he is able to do so, he will clinch the title, his first since 2009.
Kamsky meanwhile needs some help to win his third consecutive championship. He will likely need to win as black against GM Robert Hess, then get some help from Seirawan. Should there be a tie at the end of the 11th round, the playoff will be Sunday at noon Central time.
Tomorrow’s final day for the U.S. Championship and U.S. Women’s Championship will begin at 1 p.m. Central, 2 p.m. Eastern. Tune in to www.uschesschamps.com for live commentary from GM Ben Finegold and WGM Jennifer Shahade. You can also read a nice report by FM Mike Klein on the official website of the US Chess Championship 2012.
Labels: 2012 us chess championships, gata kamsky, nakamura
Tal Chess Memorial R5: All games drawn after ballistic chess;
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Even though all the games were drawn in the fifth round at the VI Tal Chess Memorial in Moscow on Sunday, the round was an exhausting one. Absolutely. Nepomniatchtchi, Aronian and Carlsen were all poised to win but the defenses were equally tenacious.
The standings after Round 5 have Aronian, Carlsen, Karjakin and Nepomniachtchi with 3 points, Anand, Ivanchuk and Svidler 2.5 points, Kramnik and Nakamura 2.0 points and Gelfand with 1.5 points.
Vladimir Kramnik at the Tal Chess Memorial
Here are all the games of Round 5 while you can access the official website at this link.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Labels: anand, Aronian, Carlsen, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Karjakin, Kramnik, nakamura, nepomniachtichi, svidler, tal chess memorial 2011
'Hottest' London winter ever - Chess Classic 2011 with Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik, Aronian, Nakamura, Adams, Short, McShane, Howell
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Four 2800+ chess players
to feature in
London Chess Classic 2011
It is surely going to be the best-ever line-up of chess players at a major British tournament with the London Chess Classic 2011. There will be four of the six highest-rated players of all time at the event.
Running from 3rd-12th December, the third annual Classic will be the strongest tournament in the history of British chess, with the world’s best chess players competing in 36 high-profile matches.
For the first time ever in the game, four Grandmasters have simultaneously passed the 2,800 mark in the World Chess Federation (FIDE) rating system and this year’s event will make history as all four players will take part in the tournament.
Leading the field will be world number one Magnus Carlsen, who returns to London’s Olympia Conference Centre to defend the title he won in 2010. Joining Carlsen as part of the star-studded line-up will be World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand from India, his immediate predecessor as World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik from Russia, and Armenian Levon Aronian, ranked world number three and the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion.
Also taking part in the elite Classic tournament will be American star Hikaru Nakamura. Check out the full line-up at the official website.
Apart from the elite Classic tournament, other professionals from around the world will be chasing a £2,500 first prize for the nine-round world-rated Open. Separately, a host of events and prizes are available to chess players of all ages and standards.
The tournament is once again being brought to the UK’s capital by the charity ‘Chess in Schools and Communities’. CSC, a registered charity which promotes the playing and teaching of chess in schools, will also host a ‘chess festival’ at the event which will feature five days of free school activities and tournaments, to which over 1000 children are expected to attend.
Children under 16 are admitted free to the London Chess Classic, with adult tickets just £15 per day (£20 at weekends) and £100 for access to all ten days of the tournament. Adult and Junior ticket holders receive admission to the tournament, plus a guaranteed seat in the auditorium and access to the Commentary Room where some of the UK's leading Grandmasters will give insights into the play and answer questions.
All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the CSC charity. To buy tickets and for more information on the CSC initiative, please visit: www.londonchessclassic.com and www.chessinschools.co.uk.
In case you missed our earlier posts on the CSC events, check them out now.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Also see her personal blog at
Labels: adams, anand, Aronian, Carlsen, Howell, Kramnik, London Chess Classic 2011, McShane, nakamura, Short
You too can play at the London Chess Classic 2010
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess News & Trivia (c) 2010
Hi Everybody,
You've heard about the London Chess Classic 2010.... Right? It's supposed to be the strongest-ever tournament to be held in Britain. Eight of the world's best players will be competing in the London Chess Classic from December 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre. You can pick up tickets here!
And, that's the best part. You can get tickets not just to be a fan watching the greats but also play in a wide range of subsidiary events.
Of course, for the main event, Magnus Carlsen is going to be the defending champion. You can read our earlier blog entry here about the details of the London Chess Classic 2010.
The average rating of the 2010 London Chess Classic is 2729 – an unprecedented figure for a tournament held in Britain and also making it one of the strongest tournaments held anywhere in the world this year.
The 400-seater auditorium at the Olympia Conference Centre is very nice. As games end, spectators have the chance to hear the players’ immediate post-game comments as they are interviewed live in the commentary room.
There are all sorts of events and prizes for all chess standards and tastes, from the humblest beginner, and tournaments which last days at a time, or over the weekend – or for just part of a day (e.g. evening blitz events lasting no longer than 2½ hours).
Entry forms are available for download NOW from the tournament website at www.londonchessclassic.com. Apart from the eight-player elite tournament, there is a nine-round world-rated open which attracts professional grandmasters from around the world, chasing the £2,500 first prize. As in 2009, one of the legendary figures of the game, Viktor Korchnoi, will be playing simultaneous displays, where amateur players can experience what it is like to face the player who contested world championship matches with Anatoly Karpov in the 1970s and 1980s.
Tournament Line-Up
Name Title Country Rating (1/9/2010) World Ranking (1/5/2010) D.O.B. (dd/mm/yy)
Carlsen, Magnus grandmaster NOR 2826 1 30.11.1990 Anand, Viswanathan world champion IND 2800 3 11.12.1969 Kramnik, Vladimir ex-world champion RUS 2780 5 25.06.1975 Nakamura, Hikaru grandmaster USA 2733 15 09.12.1987 Adams, Michael grandmaster ENG 2728 18 17.11.1971 Short, Nigel grandmaster ENG 2690 48 01.06.1965 McShane, Luke grandmaster ENG 2657 85 07.01.1984 Howell, David grandmaster ENG 2616 167 14.11.1990
Last Year’s Tournament (n.b. win = 3pts, draw = 1pt)
Final Placings: 1 Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 13/21, 2 Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) 12, 3 David Howell (ENG) 9, 4 Michael Adams (ENG) 9, 5 Luke McShane (ENG) 7, 6 Ni Hua (CHN) 6, 7 Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 6, 8 Nigel Short (ENG) 5.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at
Labels: adams, david howell, London Classic 2010, luke mcshane, Magnus Carlsen, nakamura, nigel short, Viswanathan Anand, vladimir kramnik
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