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Saturday, June 14, 2014
No Logo Norway Chess 2014: Karjakin wins 2nd Time, Carlsen 2nd, Grischuk 3rd
Hello chess blog friends, the No Logo Norway Super Chess Tournament 2014 has been a huge success! Congratulations to Russia's GM Sergey Karjakin who has won the tournament for the second consecutive time.
Russian GM Sergey Karjakin wins No Logo Norway Chess 2014. Photo: No Logo Norway Chess official website.
The final round had the possibility of three players winning the tournament - Sergey Karjakin, Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen grind out the solid play by his former trainer Simen Agdestein to stay in contention. Karjakin stayed cool and beat Caruana after the latter lost the thread of the game mid-way in time trouble. Caruana had rejected a draw with three-fold repetition giving the last game his best shot at the title. Karjakin did say at the tournament that he would have been happy with a draw situation.
In the other games of the day Vladimir Kramnik lost to Alexander Grischuk and you can find a most delightful press conference video by the Russian #1 at the official website.
Anish Giri, Peter Svidler and Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian chose to draw their last round games. The final standings saw Karjakin with 6 points, Carlsen with 5.5 (second like last year) and Grischuk third with 5 points. Caruana and Topalov scored 4.5 points, Aronian, Svidler, Giri and Kramnik had 4.0 point, while Agdestein scored 3.5. Unfortunately, Agdestein's last place just does not do justice to the fabulous games he played in the tournament amongst the elite despite being the last seed!
Earlier, in the penultimate round, Karjakin had taken sole lead by beating Kramnik. Carlsen had only managed to draw with Svidler a game that even the latter was convinced he was going to lose. You can find lots of reports, videos and photographs on the excellent official website of the tournament. We sure look forward to Norway Chess 2015 already.
Hello everyone, |The Russia & India report has a nice profile of Sergey Karjakin - Russia's next chess sensation. Enjoy.
Sergey Karyakin, the 24-year-old Russian grandmaster. Source: Vladimir Vyatkin / RIA Novosti
Sergey Karjakin, the 24-year-old Russian Grandmaster born in Simferopol, entered the Guinness Book of World Records at the age of 12. At the 2014 Candidates tournament, which was held in Khanty-Mansiysk, he finished in second place behind former world champion Viswanathan Anand. Karjakin can now regard himself as the third best chess player in the world, behind world champion Magnus Carlsen and Anand.
Unable to live without chess
“I started playing chess when I was a little over five years old,” Karjakin said. “I was at home, watching TV, when I suddenly heard in a commercial: ‘A Pawn becomes a queen.’ I asked my father: ‘What is this about?’ He explained to me that this is about figures in a chess game. He showed me how to play, and I loved it. Once, when I was walking with my mother in Simferopol, we suddenly walked past the Palace of the Pioneers. Mom told me that when I am old enough, I will attend their chess club. A few days later we were once again walking past that place and I asked my Mom: ‘Mom, please, sign me up for that chess club now, I can’t live without chess.’ The coach checked the way I play, and let me sign up for the club, despite the fact that the other guys were much older than me.”
From Ukraine to RussiaKarjakin’s professional growth slowed down for a while, when he, while still a citizen of Ukraine, was faced with the lack of qualified teachers. Already the winner of the 2009 World Chess Olympiad as a part of the Ukrainian team, Karjakin obtained Russian citizenship and moved to Moscow.
Shortly after this event Karjakin’s marriage with Ukrainian chess player Catherine Dolzhikova fell apart. He now has a girlfriend named Galia, who he met at one of his tournaments. Galia is responsible for the grandmaster’s personal site and she is also a professional photographer.
Personal manager and supercomputerAfter moving to Russia, Karjakin’s results went straight uphill. He became the winner of several competitions of the highest category and in 2012 he won the world title in speed chess. About two years ago, Karjakin concluded a long-term sponsorship agreement with Alpari and hired a personal manager.
“It is very important to have a permanent sponsor,” Karjakin said. “For example, to simply buy a computer filled with cutting-edge chess software it will cost about $50,000. Besides this, it is important to contribute to keeping personal mentors and it is desirable to have trainers for physical preparation. Even the simplest training camp with accommodation and meals is very expensive. Alone, on your own prize earnings it will be impossible to upkeep this lifestyle and work pattern. It is easier for Magnus Carlsen – he has a huge number of advertising contracts. All of Norway is ready to work for Magnus.”
Friendship with Carlsen
In May 2013, Karjakin had one of his major victories, winning the super tournament in Stavanger, Norway, which included the ten best players of the world. The Russian grandmaster beat Carlsen, his main rival and host of the competition by just half a point. Six months later Carlsen, the Russian’s peer won the World Championship, beating Anand.
“Those who think that Magnuss and I are bitter rivals are completely wrong,” Karjakin said. “We are only rivals when it comes to the chessboard.. as for life - we are friends. We chat on the internet, communicate on Skype. I remember how once during a tournament in Moscow we went bowling and were out all night. At about 6 a.m. we decided to go home, but Magnus wanted to see what our city looks like. So we went down to the subway station when suddenly a group of guys ran up to us. They scared us a bit at first, but it turned out that they recognized Carlsen and wanted to take a picture with him. The Norwegian was pretty surprised.”
The road aheadDespite Karjakin’s many wins in different super tournaments, chess analysts believed that he was not yet ready to fight for the chess crown. But in Khanty-Mansiysk, the Russian made all the scepticism dissolve. Although he started the tournament on a bad note dropping to second to last place, Karjakin managed to win several times in the second round and eventually finished the competition in second place.
“In Khanty-Mansiysk I myself became fully aware of my potential,” Karjakin said. “I am 24 years old, and two year ago Boris Gelfand won the Candidates tournament while being 43 years old. So I still have everything ahead of me. I have been in the list of the top ten strongest chess players in the world for quite some time and this is a serious indicator of stability. But to be an equal to Carlsen is extremely difficult. His strongest feature is that he almost never makes mistakes, he plays like a machine. Right now I am not able to do the same.”
Anand one of the Greatest Chess Players of Modern Times: Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
The candidates tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk has completed with former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand making a huge comeback by winning the tournament. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and the new World Chess Championship challenger Vishy Anand met journalists at the press-center:
– Kirsan Nikolaevich, did you expect the result of the tournament? Did you follow the course of the event? K. I.: – On behalf of the FIDE Presidential Board I would like to congratulate the winner of the candidates tournament Vishy Anand with such a convincing victory. Also I want to thank all the players for their active play and fighting spirit. The tournament brought a lot of attention, millions of people from 211 countries followed the event. I want to thank the journalists for a high quality coverage of the competition. In my opinion, Vishy Anand’s victory is deserved and very convincing. He once again proved that he is one of the strongest and greatest players of modern times.
– Vishy, what are your impressions from the tournament and its organization?V. A.: – I want to thank the organizing committee for perfect organization of this tournament. I am grateful to the Ugra Governor and the city of Khanty-Mansiysk for their warm reception. I am obviously happy with my result, and also surprised how well everything worked out for me.
– Vishy, you have never been to Khanty-Mansiysk before. Did you have a chance to see the city?V. A.: – No, I only walked near the Chess Academy, the weather did not allow me to do more. Peter Svidler told me that Khanty-Mansiysk is very beautiful in summer.
– Kirsan Nikolaevich, Khanty-Mansiysk hosted chess events of all levels except the World Championship match. Is there a chance to see it in the capital of Ugra?K. I.: – As you know, FIDE announced the bidding for the next World Chess Championship match. Today the Presidential Board decided to extend the deadline until the end of April. Unofficially we have two bids so far. Khanty-Mansiysk is a real chess Mecca, FIDE leadership and the players love coming here, the atmosphere here is very special. The region does a lot for promoting chess, both at professional and junior level. I think if Khanty-Mansiysk submits an official bid, its chances to have the World Championship would be quite high.
– Ugra pays much attention to junior chess. Does it guarantee a World Champion coming from Ugra in future? V. A.: – When I prepared for my games, I was very surprised to see how many key games were played in Khanty-Mansiysk. Of course it is very important for children to have direct access to high level chess. K. I.: – Quantity sooner or later results in quality. When we are hosting major international tournaments, they influence chess development in the region, popularize the game. The “Chess at Schools” project is underway here. Recently they started another project, “Let’s remove blank spots from Ugra chess map”. Of course it increases Ugra chances to raise a true champion in future. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal chess blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014 Hello everyone,
There's plenty of Norway in chess these days and some strong chess in Norway as well! Coming this June is the very exciting Norway Chess Festival (June 2-13)including a super-GM event.
The official website states: The idea behind Norway Chess was not only to arrange one of the strongest tournaments in the world, but also to show the world our beautiful country and region. A traditional chess tournament is normally held in a fairly neutral venue, where the game and the players are in focus. We will of course also focus on the players, but we will give the event a edge by showing beautiful and unique surroundings while playing chess."
Six of the 10 players invited have already confirmed participation for the Norway Chess 2014 tournament: Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Veselin Topalov, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler.
Looks like a replica of the Candidates that will first be held in March in Khanty-Mansiysk. It will be nice also to have a stronger Russian flavour as compared to the very exciting Zurich Chess that concluded recently.
Here is a nice promo video Norway Chess 2013 featuring World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. In all probability you've seen it before!
Basque Chess at SportAccord World Mind Games Sergey Karjakin, Zhao Xue win Gold in Men, Women's Section
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Sergey Karjakin from Russia dominated the Basque system chess tournament at the SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing the last few days. Karjakin won the gold with a great score of 8,5 out of 10. His advantage over second Shahkryiar Memadyarov from Azerbaijan was up two points. Bronze went to Ruslan Ponomariov from Ukraine.
In the women's section China got the ultimate triumph by taking all the top three medals, Gold: Zhao Xue China 7.5 points, Silver: Hou Yifan China 7. points, Bronze: Ju Wenjun China 7. points. Right behind were GMs Viktorija Cmilyte and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, at just a point away.
In ”Basque” chess, the players face each other in two games simultaneously.
Beijing Chess Event SportAccord World Mind Games 2013: Congrats to Karjakin, Yifan for Gold
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Congratulations to Sergey Karjakin and Hou Yifan for winning the blitz event at the SportAccord World Mind Games 2013 in Beijing this Sunday.
Sergey Karjakin from Russia won the blitz tournament with 19.5 out of 30 games. Levon Aronian from Armenia finished with the same score, but he lost the direct match 0,5-1,5 and he had to settle for the silver medal. The third place was shared by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan. The same tie-break score decided, a bronze medal went to the French man.
The last part of the chess event was very exciting with Le Quang Liem taking away the initial lead that Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had gained. But, some successive losses by Liem allowed others to catch up.
The women's blitz chess event saw reigning women's word chess champion Hou Yifan win the event ahead of Valentina Gunina. Both dominated the event. Yifan picked up the gold with 21.5 points, Gunina got the silver with 19.5 points and Anna got the bronze with 18.5 points
The next two days we will feature the ”Basque” event, where the players face each other in two simultaneously played games! From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal chess blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
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
Mid-week Chess Trivia: What is Karjakin, Anand, Carlsen's Ranking and Which Event is This?
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Let's take you back in time for this chess trivia photo. Can you name the event and which of the top-three prizes each of these three players in the photo have won (Sergey Karjakin, Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen)? Check your answers with Chesspics.com.
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.
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
Possibly excited by Vladimir Kramnik's win at the Chess World Cup 2013 allowing Sergey Karjakin to enter the Candidates 2014, the Russian Grandmaster was propelled to win the 67th edition of the Moscow Blitz Chess Tournament. The women's section was won by Daria Charochkina.
On September 1st the 67th Moscow Blitz Championship was held in Moscow park “Krasnaya Presnya”. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and President of Moscow Chess Federation Vladimir Palikhata welcomed the participants of the championship. Previously the championship was organized under the auspices of “Vechernyaya Moskva” newspaper which is a partner of the event nowadays. Traditionally the event is held in open air whatever be the weather.
In previous years, the event has seen champions like Mikahil Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Vassily Smyslov, Yury Averbakh and Eugene Vasyukov. The list of chess stars that have won the event also includes the likes of Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk and Alexander Morozevich.
Despite the cold, nearly 150 chess players participated in the championship.
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.
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.
8th Tal Chess Memorial 2013 Round 1: Mamedyarov, Caruana, Carlsen Begin with Wins in Moscow
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The clocks were started at 15:00 local time. This year’s stage is set at the elegant Red October Building in Moscow. Yet another edition of the prestigious Tal Memorial started officially in Russia. The first playing day was long and did not lack emotions. Three decisive games left the same number of players at the top of the standings. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Fabiano Caruana won their first points leading the black pieces, while rating favorite Magnus Carlsen did it with white. The battle has begun.
The first, and rather quick, decisive game favored the new rapid world champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. His victim, American Hikaru Nakamura, seemed to be in good shape and ready to have a rampage start after his clear victory in the pre-tournament blitz competition. However, the number 1 player in United States will have to recover from his loss against the Azerbaijani in the upcoming rounds.
The game lasted only 31 moves. In a rather quiet Nimzo-Indian, Nakamura did not sense the imminent danger in the middlegame and allowed his opponent to launch a direct attack against the white king. Mamedyarov is not the kind of player to shy away from a sacrificial attack, and that is precisely what he did on move 19. Today, this aggressive attitude paid up and gave him his first full point.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Two players known for their deep preparation and their seriousness on and off the board faced each other today. World champion Viswanathan Anand led the white pieces in a battle against the American-born Italian grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana. The young star came out on top in 47 moves of a tense Ruy Lopez.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Sberbank Rapid Chess Tournament came to an end today in Kiev. Sergey Karjakin had another good day and managed to overtake Veselin Topalov at the top of the standings to get the winner’s trophy, according to a Chessdom report. The Russian star got his second important victory in rapid chess this year, after getting first place at the Aeroflot rapid event in February. This is also his second straight victory after winning the super-tournament in Norway. Karjakin will continue his busy schedule at the Tal Memorial, which begins next week. Karjakin started the third playing day with a win. He caught Veselin Topalov in the lead thanks to his victory over Sergei Zhigalko. The eventual champion turned around an inferior position in a Ruy Lopez. Zhigalko handled the tactical early middlegame accurately and got a pawn advantage, but was not able to follow through and fell victim of Karjakin’s active play on the kingside. Meanwhile, Peter Leko quickly held Topalov to a draw with the black pieces. The Hungarian simplified to an opposite-colored bishops endgame and signed the peace treaty on move 24. Given Leko’s good play in the second day, Topalov might have decided to avoid any unnecessary risk in this round. Pavel Eljanov gave Karjakin a hand in the eighth round. He defeated Topalov with white in 54 moves. The game was a long strategic battle where Eljanov’s rooks became very active and ended up being the key factor to get the full point. The Ukrainian saved face after a bad second day and finished on 4.5/9 after beating Naiditsch in the last round. The Russian derby between Evgeny Tomashevsky and Sergey Karjakin finished with a split point after 31 moves. Tomashevsky, playing white, looked for play on the queenside, but his higher-rated colleague correctly assessed that he should simplify the position to avoid getting in trouble. However, the peace treaty might have been slightly premature, especially for a rapid event. With these results, Karjakin was already first in the standings, a half point ahead of Topalov. The last round saw what can be seen as a clash of generations. Sergey Karjakin had white against Anatoly Karpov and had the chance to secure first place with a win. The ex-world champion chose the Scandinavian but quickly faltered, as his eight move already gives white an important advantage. Karjakin used his usual active style to grind down the veteran in 33 moves. This secured overall first place for the young Russian. Veselin Topalov also finished with a victory. He beat Tomashevsky with white in a Ruy Lopez. Peter Leko and Sergei Zhigalko, who had also arrived half a point behind Topalov, ended up sharing third place with 5/9 points. (Photos by Evgenia Dolukhanova) Final Standings: 1 Karjakin, Sergey RUS 2782 6½ 2 Topalov, Veselin BUL 2784 6 3 Leko, Peter HUN 2737 5 4 Zhigalko, Sergei BLR 2661 5 5 Eljanov, Pavel UKR 2707 4½ 6 Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS 2709 4½ 7 Korobov, Anton UKR 2715 4½ 8 Areshchenko, Alexander UKR 2708 4 9 Karpov, Anatoly RUS 2619 3 10 Naiditsch, Arkadij GER 2710 2 From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Sberbank Chess in Kiev: Toplaov Leads; Leko, Karjakin and Zhigalko Close Behind
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Veselin Topalov maintains the lead he got in the first day of the Sberbank Rapid Chess Tournament. Three players have closed on the Bulgarian; Peter Leko, Sergey Karjakin and Sergei Zhigalko are a mere half point behind the ex-world champion with three rounds to go. Everything is still up for grabs in Kiev, states a Chessdom report.
The second playing day began with a direct clash between two of the pre-tournament favorites, Sergey Karjakin had white against Topalov. What could have been a very long struggle finished as a miniature victory for the Russian. In a sharp variation of the French Defense, Topalov seems to have forgotten his preparation or, maybe, he was not able to calculate all the complications over the board. After 13…Qg4, black loses at least an exchange. The Bulgarian gave up on move 21 when he is about to lose even more material. This round also saw the beginning of Sergei Zhigalko‘s ascent to the top. The Belarussian defeated Arkadij Naiditsch with the white pieces in 37 moves. The German put all his confidence in his passed d-pawn, but Zhigalko neutralized it to get a totally winning position thanks to his material advantage. Anatoly Karpov got his first full point in this round. He defeated Pavel Eljanov in 52 moves of a highly strategical battle. The fifth round had three decisive results. All three players that eventually got to share second place won his games. Peter Leko, who is the only undefeated player of the event, defeated Evgeny Tomashevsky. As expected, give the nature of these players’ styles, the struggle was full of maneuvering; neither of them sacrificed the solidity of their pawn structures up until the late middlegame. Leko eventually got a pawn and converted the rook endgame with his usual strong technique. Sergey Karjakin got his second consecutive win against Arkadij Naiditsch. The Russian played the Ruy Lopez with black and used his space advantage on the kingside to grind down the German. Sergei Zhigalko also had black, and defeated Alexander Areschenko in only 26 moves. Zhigalko gained the initiative on the queenside in an opposite-sides castling Sicilian. His extremely strong bishop on g6 was a nightmare for white, who decided to resign when mate was inevitable in the next move. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
One-Million-Rouble Chess Match: Sergey Karjakin vs Chess Robot ChessKa
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
Human versus Chess Robot: This is as big as it gets! One of the strongest chess players in the world Sergey Karjakin will take on chess robot ChessKa for a prize-money of one million rubles.
The Blitz Chess Championships 2013 for Chess Playing Robots and a unique match between Russian Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin and chess robot ChessKa (aka Chess Terminator) will be held during 'Metalworking 2013' at the Exhibition Center in Moscow from May 27-27. Karjakin stands to win one million roubles if he beats the 'machine'.
Considering Mr ChessKa would not be getting tired so, in addition, kids from ages 6 to 10 in three age categories will also play with the robot. The providers of the event invite all young chess enthusiasts to compete with the robot and receive prizes. To apply for competition entry: chessrobot@yandex.ru.
Date
Event
May 27th, 2013
12.00 - 16.00
Children against robots
Blitz-tournament with robot for
children from 6 to 10 years old. Ceremonial awarding.
May 28th, 2013
12.00 - 16.00
Children against robots
Blitz-tournament with robot for
children from 6 to 10 years old. Ceremonial awarding.
May 29th, 2013
12.00 - 16.00
Children against robots
Blitz-tournament with robot for
children from 6 to 10 years old. Ceremonial awarding.
May 30th, 2013
12.00
World Chess Blitz Championship of
Chess Playing Robots 2013
May 31st, 2013
11.00 - 15.00
Millennium Chess Challenge
The match between the International
Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin and the
robot.
The commentator of the match is
Grandmaster Sergey Shipov.
Prize Fund is 1 million rubles.
General sponsor – the Group of companies DAMATE, www.acdamate.com with the support of the nonprofit organization Fund for support of the chess art www.chessdvor.ru.
Norway Chess 2013: Congratulations to Sergey Karjakin for Clear First at Super-Strong Tournament
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In an exciting finish to the Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013, Sergey Karjakin drew his last-round game with Veselin Topalov to win the tournament this Saturday. The Russian grandmaster was the only player to finish on 6/9. Magnus Carlsen drew his black game with Levon Aronian to finish shared second along with Hikaru Nakamura (who beat Jon Ludvig Hammer). Bringing back painful memories from the Wijk aan Zee event in January this year, Wang Hao defeated Vishy Anand in the last round. More updates to follow.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Just like in previous rounds of Norway Chess 2013, round 6 offered a lot of entertainment for the audience. We saw one pretty brutal win, one pretty boring draw, one exciting draw where none of the players ever seemed to get the upper hand, one nail biting draw where the worse side held on by the slimmest of margins and finally a totally exhausting end game squeeze where the relentless pressure eventually became too much for the defending side.
In other words, Hammer lost rather brutally to Aronian, Topalov and Wang Hao played a peaceful draw, Nakamura and Svidler both stayed in control in their sharp battle, Karjakin barely saved a draw against World Chess Champion Anand and Carlsen managed to bank another full point in a long grind against Radjabov.
In the first game to finish, Hammer ventured down a daring path in his Grünfeld game against Aronian, giving up a pawn in the hope that his a-passer should provide sufficient counterplay, only to realize that it simply wasn’t enough. Topalov vs Wang Hao was a Queen’s gambit where the tension in the center was resolved early with queens coming off resulted in a symmetrical pawn structure with no weaknesses in either camp. The game never became very exciting, and it finished uneventfully with a repetition and a draw on move 32.
Nakamura’s Ponziani against Svidler turned into a sharp, tactical battle already in the opening, leaving the mainlines. The game was a draw. Anand vs Karjakin started rather quietly, but sharpened up as the time control approached. Anand found a way to open the h-file and was close to beating Karjakin at some point, but the game went for a draw.
The last game to finish was another Carlsen vs Radjabov marathon, reminiscent of their 13th round battle in the London Candidates. The game saw yet one rather unassuming setup with white by Carlsen, with black taking on an isolani in the d-file quite early on, seemingly without any kind of problems. The isolani turned into two hanging pawns in the c- and d-file when white exchanged off his bishop for a knight on c6, and the battleground was set. However, Carlsen went for the long haul and eventually beat Radjabov.
Karjakin is still in the lead after 6 rounds, now only half a point ahead of Carlsen, who’s been going full steam ahead since round 4. Aronian’s win brought him up to shared 3rd with Nakamura, a full point off the pace of Karjakin, but half a point ahead of Anand and Svidler, who still have some chances to catch up with the guys in front. The rest of the field is probably too far behind by now to be considered real contenders for the tournament victory. (Read the full report by Hans Arild Runde at the official website.)
Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 5: Karjakin Loses to Carlsen, but Leads
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The fifth round started relatively quiet, as the games Svidler-Anand, Nakamura-Topalov and Radjabov-Aronian all were drawn before 40 moves and without too many exciting moments. But then the round suddenly accelerated, as the games left were two very entertaining and interesting attacking battles. The remaining home spectators spontaneously applauded when the last game finished, as Norway after winning none out of eight games in the first four rounds had won two out of two games! Magnus Carlsen looked like the world’s top rated chess player again when he by firework tactics decided the games against the former tournament leader Sergey Karjakin, true enough after the Russian as white first had a better position. After Carlsen left the scene Jon Ludvig Hammer, by far the lowest rated player in this tournament, created his great moment as he following a mutual time trouble drama and safely won the endgame against Hao Wang. (The full report by Hans Olav Lahlum is available at the official website.)
Here is also a personal note by Hans Olav Lahlum who has given us great coverage of the Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013.
As agreed with the tournament organizer and the president of the Norwegian Chess Federation long time ago, I would be arbiter only for the first half of this tournament. In accordance with that agreement, and of course without any kind of controversies, I have already left this tournament and this city when you are reading this my fifth and final round report. I was happy to accept writing the first five round reports in between my arbiter working, when the excellent and hardworking president of our chess federation asked me to do so a few days before the start of tournament. And I feel today happy and somewhat relieved now having finished this work. Writing round reports from an intensive super tournament of course is a very interesting possibility, but also a demanding challenge for an almost retired chess player at my low international level. If the results have disappointed some of my readers I can only apologize to you, and then say to myself what a former leader of the political opposition so much more than a long time ago said to a former prime minister in Norway: “You did the best you were able to do. That is both your judgment and your excuse.” I was most happy yesterday to learn that my chess friend Hans Arild Runde has agreed to write reports about the four final rounds, and wish him all the best of luck with this work. Also of course best of luck to another chess friend, Arild Rimestad, who will take over my duties as deputy arbiter for the rest of the tournament. I plan to return both as arbiter and round report writer first during the Norwegian Championships at Lillehammer in June-July, and then during the Oslo Chess International 28.09-06.10 (if interested to be a participant, you can find much more information about that tournament on www.bergensjakk.no/oslointernational/). Meanwhile: Many thanks for now to my wonderful arbiter colleagues Anémone Kulczak and Karl-Johan Rist, and of course also to all the ten players for producing so many interesting and exciting games. In my very last lines for now, I feel that we all owe numerous thanks to the organizer for making this historic super tournament in Norway possible! I much hope there will be another one in 2014 or 2015, with or without a World Champion from Norway in the field – and if so I will be most happy to return.
Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 4: Sergey Karjakin in Lead, Anand Loses to Nakamura
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 4 News: Round four also had five hard fought and interesting games, but for a change only two of them got a winner. This because Jon Ludvig Hammer, playing black against former World Champion Veselin Topalov, scraped a draw out of his long and difficult endgame. Although this round had only two game winners, one of them still was the 23 year old Russian Sergey Karjakin, today winning a great counterattacking game as black against second seeded Levon Aronian. The largest smile this evening by far still belonged to the 25-year-old American Hikaru Nakamura – and that was very well understandable as he in the afternoon outplayed World Champion Viswanathan Anand as black. Carlsen-Svidler and Wang-Radjabov both were relatively sound and balanced draws, meaning Karjakin at 4/4 is leading with an amazing one and a half point margin before the middle round of this tournament.
The first move was made by the organizer, which moved the playing venue home to one of the main sponsors, the Aarbakke AS factory at Bryne. That plan worked out very well, as many new faces were seen among the numerous spectators. All of the arbiters (and probably some of the players) got an aquarium feeling by seeing the spectators only through some giant windows. But playing conditions still were excellent inside the glass, and the spectators reportedly enjoyed the possibility to discuss the ongoing games outside.
The first key game of the fourth round obviously was second seeded and second placed Levon Aronian playing white against the so far untouchable leader Sergey Karjakin. Always ambitious Aronian entered a positional Queen’s Indian fianchetto line and once more had the longer preparation, making his first 19 moves more or less without thinking. But, Karjakin took his time to calculate and won. Needless to say, Karjakin-Carlsen in round five will be a key game for both players. Aronian after suffering one of his few collapses is down in the crowd at 50 %, but remember that is still only half a point behind the second prize.
The second most important game was World Champion Viswanathan Anand playing white against United States number one player Hikaru Nakamura. It all started with the Arkhangelsk variation in the Ruy Lopez, a rather closed line in which black plays 4.— Nf6 followed by 6.— Bc5. Interestingly Anand now gave this line a new try despite losing with it against Fabio Caruana in Zürich earlier this year, but Nakamura preferred 10.— Re8 to Caruana’s 10.— h6. By thematic means the players after 15 moves had reached a fairly balanced position with a King’s pawn center (e4 versus e5 with the d-pawns exchanged). Both afterwards tried to exchange the opponent’s bishop on e3/e6 for a knight – and both succeeded so far. Anand took back on e3 with his knight, apparently with pleasant prospects to reach d5 and/or f5. This plan however was nipped in the bud as Nakamura once more sacrificed his pawn structure for activity, accepting a double isolani pawn when he creatively took back on e6 with the f7-pawn instead of the rook. Good win for Nakamura. Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler settled for an uneventful draw. Hao Wang – Teimour Radjabov was an important game for both players, but true enough not the most exciting for any of them. It was a draw as for Topalov and Hammer. (The detailed report by Hans Olav Lahlum is available at the official website.)
Norway Chess Super Tournament 2013 Round 3: Sergey Karjakin Leads with Perfect Score
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The third round at the Norway Chess Super Tournament witnessed five interesting and tense games. In the end, it was still Sergey Karjakin leading with a perfect score. He won a nice positional game as white against Hao Wang. World Champion Viswanathan Anand on the other hand efficiently used his chances defeating former World Champion Veselin Topalov with a nice attack.
Magnus Carlsen and Hiraku Nakamura for sure both are such free thinkers. Their game made an unexpected start with 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Na5 5.Nge2, and within very few moves more left the theory books completely. As Carlsen later took on c4, Nakamura true to his principles about ignoring his pawn structures took back with the d-pawn and went for a kingside attack with f4-f5. True to his principle about not turning down interesting flank pawn sacrifices, Carlsen soon gave up one at b5 to break in the center with d5.
The game between Peder Svidler and Levon Aronian (that is, in case you have forgotten, the players sharing third place during that World Championship qualification in London some weeks ago), true enough was the shortest game of the tournament so far. Still it was a highly interesting 31 moves battle in which the outcome was a draw.
The last game to finish again was the one played by Jon Ludvig Hammer – and again ended with a loss for him. Still the second highest rated player in Norwegian chess history again played many good moves and again made an exciting game out of it, this time as black against Teimour Radjabov. (The full report by Hans Olav Lahlum on the round is available at the official website.)
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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