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Sunday, October 13, 2013
Levon Aronian Wins Bilbao Chess Masters, Regains No. 2 Spot in Ratings
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Levon Aronian has won the 6th Bilbao Chess Master's Final and thereby regained his No. 2 spot on the ratings list which he lost just a few days back. In Round 5, Aronian beat Michael Adams to set himself up for the title. Adams was second, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov tie for third.
The event included Armenian Olympiad champion Levon Aronian, the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the Azeri Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and the Englishman Michael Adams. The tournament was held from October 7-12 on a double round-robin format along with the Sophia Rules and Bilbao Rules which prevent a player from agreeing to a draw without an arbiter's and panel's approval. Also, the scoring is three points for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss.
Topalov Qualifies for Candidates Chess Tournament 2014
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the Beijing Chess Grand Prix and, along with Fabiano Caruana, could fill one of the seats of the Candidates Chess Tournament 2014. However, Veselin Topalov is already in a good overall first place in the Grand Prix series 2012/13 and qualifies for the Candidates.
The Bulgarian got his third good result after playing four events of the Grand Prix. He shared first in London, got a clear win in Zug and shared 3rd-4th in Beijing thanks to a final round victory over Alexander Morozevich. The regulations of the Grand Prix series provide two spots at the Candidates event, so the second coveted prize is still up for grabs. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is the clear favorite to achieve this feat, but he still has to wait for the final leg, where Alexander Grischuk and Fabiano Caruana still have a mathematical chance of passing him on the standings. Mamedyarov already played the four allowed tournaments and achieved a score of 390 points. However, both Grischuk and Caruana are set to participate in the final leg.
If Grischuk is sole winner, he will get to 400 points; if Caruana is the sole winner, he will get to 395 points. In case of a shared first place, Mamedyarov would get the spot anyway, according to a Chessdom.com report.
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.
Geneva Chess Masters 2013 Begins June 26: Watch Top Stars Nakamura, Kramnik, Kosteniuk, Polgar, Mamedyarov, Pelletier, Bacrot, Edouard in Action
12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
The Geneva Chess Masters Festival 2013 is taking place from June 26-30 at the Pitoeff Theater, a renovated cathedral in the centre of Geneva. The main event will be the highlight of the big chess festival that includes two open chess tournaments and several age-group event for players U-10, U-12 and U-14.
The main event - a rapid masters - will witness in action (two groups of four each in the single-round robin format) former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, former US champion Hikaru Nakamura, top-rated woman player Judit Polgar, former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Etienne Bacrot, Yannick Pelletier and Romain Edouard. Each group will have the top two players advance to the semi-finals.
Every match between 2 players consists of 2 games of 25 minutes + 10 seconds; if it’s necessary a tie-break of two games of 4 minutes + 2 seconds will be played; in case of a tie, a decisive game with 4 minutes + 2 seconds for white and 3 minutes + 2 seconds for black (with draw odds) will be necessary. Access the official website of the Geneva Chess Masters here.
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.
World Rapid Chess Champion 2013 is Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Grandmaster from Azerbaijan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has won the title of the World Rapid Chess Champion 2013. On the final day of the event, he won five games in a row. He finished the tournament with 11.5 points out of 15 in Khanty Mansiysk on Saturday. The silver medalist is Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian Grandmaster was leading with two points after two days, but lost to Alexander Grischuk in Round 13 and drew with Alexander Riazantsev in the last round. He finished the tournament in second place just half a point behind the winner. Alexander Grischuk won the bronze medal with 10.5 out of 15. He made a draw with Nikita Vityugov in Round 15.
The final standings: 1. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – 11.5/15 2. Ian Nepomniachtchi – 11/15 3. Alexander Grischuk – 10.5/15 4. Le Liem – 10/15 5-14 – Gadir Guseinov (AZE), Ildar Khairullin (Russia), Dmitry Andreikin (RUS), Sergey Movsesian (ARM), Denis Khismattulin (RUS), Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS), Ivan Cheparinov (BUL), Alexander Riazantsev (RUS), Nikita Vityugov (RUS), Rauf Mamedov (AZE) – 9/15 etc.
The World Rapid Chess Championship was organised under the aegis of FIDE for the second time. The championship took place from 6 to 8 June 2013 in the Ugra Chess Academy of Khanty Mansiysk. The defending champion (winner in 2012) Sergey Karjakin is currently in Kieve playing another chess tournament and did not defend his title that he had won in Astana.
The World Blitz Chess Championship 2013 will start on the 9th of June in Khanty Mansiysk. Russian Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk will defend his title he earned in 2012 in Astana.
The award ceremony of the medalists and prize winners in the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships will take place on the 10th of June in Cultural Entertainment Centre “Oktyabr” at 19.30 local time. You can continue to follow all the chess action live via the official website. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Russian Team Chess Championships 2013 Begin April 6 with Top Chess Stars
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Russian Team Chess Championships will take place from April 6th-14th at the village of Loo in the Krasnodar-Krai region of Russia. The men’s tournament will be a 7-round Swiss open, while the women’s competition will be a single round-robin with six teams. The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes until the end of the game and 30 seconds increments per move, starting from move one.
Sergey Karjakin will be the highest-rated player in the event The players cannot agree to a draw before move 40. The first seven seeded teams have line-ups with 8 GMs. Some of the strongest players in the world will be participating, including Candidates Peter Svidler, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk.
Other highlights will be the young stars Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin, the always interesting Alexander Morozevich, crowds pleasers Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexei Shirov, among others. Full line-ups below (according to a Chessdom report).
London Chess Grand Prix: Topalov, Gelfand, Mamedyarov Joint Winners
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The first of the Chess Grand Prix Series 2012/13 has concluded with three winners in London: Veselin Topalov, Boris Gelfand and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov! According to regulations, Grand Prix points and prize money is shared equally in case of a tie. Here is the official report by GM Robert Fontaine.
London Chess Grand Prix R10: Mamedyarov Leads, But Last Round to Decide Champion!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The London Chess Grand Prix draws to a close but not without plenty of excitement. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has a half-point lead over the others after the end of Round 10. Anything can happen in the last round which is being played on Wednesday.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov took the lead yesterday for the first time and he keeps on leading after the tenth round as five out of sixth games were drawn. In the tenth round the rating number one in the tournament Hikaru Nakamura managed to win against Anish Giri after four defeats in a row! The last tweet of the American player spoke for itself: “While I do my absolute best to commit harakiri, (chess) at least her calming presence from afar puts it all in perspective. So far, Hikaru was losing 26 rating points and was falling down to the 11th place in the World ranking but improved his situation. One round to go Topalov, Gelfand and Grischuk share the 2nd place with six points each, just half-a-point behind the leader.
Wang Hao – Mamedyarov:
Mamedyarov appeared very relaxed when he arrived at Simpson`s with his manager. Shakhriyar decided to play the Caro Kann defence – his opening of choice for this tournament. Wang Hao prepared a surprise for his opponent 5.Nc5 trying to defuse any preparation. “Shak” paused for thought, and then replied 5…e5!? which caught Wang Hao unprepared, as he had not expected Mamedyarov to know this line deeply. The forced line that followed saw a quick exchange of queens which led to the endgame with a slightly better pawn structure for white. “Hao”-ever it was not enough and a draw was the result.
Leko – Gelfand:
The main question is how Gelfand will recover from the Round 9 loss. Boris seemed in a good mood and was smiling before the game. Peter Leko went for a quiet line based on Nc3-Bc4 in close Sicilian. Nothing much happened until move 20 after which some pieces were exchanged. White started to take the initiative by opening the “f” file, and putting a strong bishop on d5. White started to control the black squares, and the knight on e3 defended the whole white pawn centre.
Kasimdzhanov – Grischuk:
Almost all the players of the tournament want to avoid the Marshall Gambit. In this game there was no exception, as Rustam chose the exchange variation of the Spanish opening. White decided to open the centre and found a very interesting plan, putting the queen on “b1” in order to push c3-d4. Sasha took a long time to play the first 15 moves and had just 14 minutes left for 22 moves. The two times World Blitz champion is quite used to time trouble…Taking initiative on the king’s side and centre, Grischuk increased his advantage, pressuring on the f2 pawn.
Kasimdzhanov survived from the attack when Grischuk offered the exchange of queens with 38…Qf3? The rook endgame, which appeared, was finally drawn. A disappointment for Grischuk who could have taken the lead.
Nakamura – Giri:
Giri didn’t change his main weapon against 1.e4 and the Petrov appeared once again on the board. Hikaru exchanged the queens after 5 moves and decided to play a long endgame. White pieces had more space but black pieces found good placing. The bishop on b6 protected by the a5 pawn was controlling the queen side. Hikaru settled his other bishop on a second strong square e6.
The position of Anish was very solid with the bishops on c6 and d6 but Hikaru managed to break through and finally won the game!
Topalov – Adams:
The only chance for Veselin to catch the leader was to win today with the white pieces against Michael Adams. We saw one of the first Queen’s Gambit of the tournament, which looked pretty safe for black. Veselin managed to double black’s pawns on the “b” file and took a small advantage in the endgame but it was not enough to implement it into more.
Dominguez – Ivanchuk:
Vasily was in a good mood before the start of the game, looking at the pictures of Staunton on the wall of the Simpson’s in the Strand. The famous Immortal Game was played in the same building between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky on 21 June 1851. The Ukrainian player decided today to play a rare line of the Spanish opening (4…d6). Leinier replied with a safe line, putting all his pieces in the centre and obtained a slight advantage, due to the doubled black pawns on c7 and c6.
Ivanchuk managed to exchange queens and equalized by putting a strong Bishop on e3. Draw.
London Chess Grand Prix R7: Gelfand Holds on to Lead; Mamedyarov half-a-point Behind
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is the Round 7 report by GM Robert Fontaine straight from the London Chess Grand Prix 2012.
Before the 7th round, we still had one leader, Boris Gelfand (4/6), chased by a pack of four players (Grischuk, Topalov, Mamedyarov and Leko) with 3.5/6. Strangely, none of them are facing each other today. The UK production company Sunset+Vine, famous for their innovations in televising major events, are shooting the whole day for the second time this week. Game-by-game summary is as follows:
Dominguez-Leko:
Leinier avoids the main line of the Berlin defence and decides to go for the closed Spanish opening. Right after the opening, Peter decided to destroy the pawn centre with 15…c6 and 16…d5!? The endgame, which arose from these exchanges, was a bit better for White due to the pawn structure. Not enough to break Leko’s defence and the draw was agreed.
Wang Hao-Topalov:
A very exciting Gruenfeld played by Veselin, who was 2 pawns down after 8 moves, but of course still in his preparation. As compensation, Veselin immediately had a better development. After 13 moves, White didn’t develop the king’s side at all with the bishop still on f1 and pawns on “e2” and “g2”! All the black squares were weakened and Topalov logically took the advantage step by step.
Approaching the time trouble, Hao managed to survive from his opponent’s attack and eventually equalized. A tough draw for the young Chinese player and a disappointment for Topalov.
Mamedyarov-Nakamura: Anyone is expecting blood in that game! “Shak” and Hikaru have explosive styles based on attack. So far, Hikaru’s results are not as he expects. Without any big surprise, we had a King’s Indian arriving on the board and Shakhriyar went for a quiet line based on g3, Bg2. White took the space and Hikaru decided to change the course of the game by playing 17…c5?!
It appeared that White suddenly took the advantage by creating some attack after 18.e5! Mamedyarov kept on pressuring his opponent until the time trouble, where Black couldn’t find the best defence. Mamedyarov is scoring his second full point in a row.
Ivanchuk-Kasimdzhanov:
After few moves, Vasily was not writing his moves. Carol Jarecki, the arbiter, made the small remark to the Ukrainian player. Vasily just forgot about it! In a strange move order (Reti), Rustam took the c4-pawn and tried to keep it as long as possible with 10…Qd4. Vasily didn’t go to the arbiter to ask for a draw (2 times repetition only) and finally the draw was agreed after only 11 moves!
Adams-Gelfand:
These two players know each other well very well and are from the same generation (Boris is born in 1968 and Michael in 1971). Michael went for the Rossolimo line of the Sicilian, choosing the b3, Bb2 plan. Boris decided to develop his pieces in an original way with f6, Kf7. Position looked pretty equal but Black had compensation with the two bishops.
Boris even went for the a2-pawn, which seemed risky. Black kept his two pawn advantage until the rook endgame and managed to win. An important victory for Boris who is in real good shape so far!
Giri-Grischuk:
Anish played the solid Maroczy Bind against Grischuk's 6…Ba7 Paulsen Sicilian. The young Dutch player went for the usual plan with a4-a5 in order to take space on the queen’s side. Grischuk’s position remained solid, exchanging all the pawns on the queen’s side and equalizing comfortably. The draw was agreed after a long fight!
Standings after seven rounds have Boris Gelfand at 5 points out of 7 with Mamedyarov right behind at 4.5. Three players are at 4 points each - Grischuk, Topalov and Leko. Wang Hao is at 3.5 points. Four players are at 3 points each - Ivanchuk, Adams, Dominguez, Giri. Two players are at 2.5 each - Kasimdzhanov and Nakamura.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
World champion Viswanathan Anand overpowered second- seeded defending champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2-0 to win the Corsica Masters knockout rapid chess title at Ajaccio, France, on Monday. Anand, who overcame compatriot Krishnan Sasikiran 3-1 in the semifinal by winning the two blitz games, outwitted Mamedyarov with white pieces in the first game after 43 moves of Grunfeld defence.
The 14 top players from the Corsican Open were joined by two seeded world-class grandmaster for the Masters Knockout. In the second game, that followed the opening moves of Queen's Gambit Declined, Anand won with black pieces in 40 moves to seal the title. This was Anand's third rapid title of the year. He won the Leon Masters in June and the Botvinnik memorial in September when he finished ahead of Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the four-player field.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
The anguish of chess - is it not all worth it? Would you dare squander your life for chess?
In a very interesting interview, Grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has said that chess life is tough and he would not wish it upon his children. In an interview to 1news.az as translated by www.chess-news.ru, he says, "I sometimes think to myself about what gave me chess. And I understand that the sport took me more than it gave in return. I can not not regret anything. This is my destiny. But for my children, I would not wish such a life.This particular kind of sport would even say, complex. Not everyone can become the best, and if you do not go to this, there is no point to start. It may take a whole life."
He also says, "I live for today, thinking about tomorrow. Do not load up with the idea of the distant future. For all is God's will."
You can read further here. For all Mamedyarov fans a must read.
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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