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Saturday, January 12, 2013
75th Tata Steel Chess 2013 Begins: First Video with Interviews of Aronian, Carlsen, Anand, Caruana
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The first super-strong chess tournament of the year is here: 75th Tata Steel Chess 2013 in Wijk aan Zee. The opening ceremony and drawing of lots took place on Friday. The first round starts Saturday. In Group A, the pairings will see Aronian-van Wely, Carlsen-Caruana, Harikrishna, Giri, Anand-Nakamura, Sokolov-Wang Hao, Leko-L'Ami and Karjakin-Hou Yifan.
The first video from the Tata Steel Chess includes quick bytes from Aronian (last year's winner of Group A), Carlsen, Anand and Caruana.
The Group B Round 1 pairings include:
Rapport, R. - van Kampen, R. Edouard, R. - Nikolic, P. Ernst, S. - Timman, J. Movsesian, S. - Naiditsch, A. Tiviakov, S. - Ipatov, A. Turov, M. - Grandelius, N. Dubov, D. - Smeets, J.
The Group C Round 1 pairings include:
Peralta, F. - Goryachkina, A. Swinkels, R. - Kovchan, A. Brunello, S. - Klein, D. Schut, L. - Admiraal, M. Bitensky, I. - Romanishin, O. Mekhitarian, K. - Burg, T. Gretarsson, H. - van der Werf, M.
GM Chess Video: How a Grandmaster Explains a Blunder!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is an interesting chess video: How a Grandmaster explains a blunder by his opponent. We are going to say nothing more, just watch! It's of course Teimour Radjabov from Azerbaijan at the Tata Steel Chess in an official post-game interview video. Czech GM David Navara had blundered his piece against Radjabov in the Tata Steel 2012 Chess tournament in the third round.
Okay, take a look at the game - spot the blunder - and return to the video! Tata Steel Chess 2013 is going to be held from January 11-27 in Wijk aan Zee.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
An interesting chess interview for Indian fans. GM P Harikrishna - who has just won the Group B of the Tata Steel Chess, told Indian media that he is now focused on breaking into the elo 2700-plus category. He said, "We lack the opportunities to compete against leading Grandmasters, especially in India. This is a major handicap for all senior players in India. And, it is a very expensive proposition to keep playing on the European circuit."
“We should play in more and more round-robin tournaments where everyone plays for a win. That helps to take your game to a new level,” he said, adding that “I feel the system in India is excellent in grooming young talent till the junior grade. But, once you are in the transition phase from junior to senior, it becomes difficult."
“Unfortunately, even across Asia not many round-robin events are held featuring leading GMs,” he said.
“And, the problem for players like me is that when we plan on a three-event tour of Europe and fare badly even in one event, we lose valuable points.
“My focus now is not on the World title and I have set no time frame for that. I wish to take my career event-by-event,” said Harikrishna.
“I feel the win at the Corus event is more important than the Asian championship which I won last year, given the intensity and quality of the competition. It should help me in achieving my first objective of breaking into the Elo 2700-plus category.”
Harikrishna, whose rating now is Elo 2665, is expected to pick up 13 points from the Corus win and another six from the Bundesliga.
What next? “I will be leaving for France to play in the Capelle la Grande tournament before joining my German club team Eppingen,” says Harikrishna.
The 2004 World junior champion will be joining his mentor and coach GM Elizbar Ubilava for a two-week training camp in Spain. “He analyses my games and should be ready with moves in all the areas where I have to focus more,” he said.
“I would love to have a base in any European City, not necessarily Spain, to facilitate greater frequency of taking part in tournaments there. This should eliminate the huge travelling too,” Harikrishna said.
Tata Steel Chess Group B winner P Harikrishna looking forward to stronger Group A challenge next year
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
This year's winner of the Group B at the Tata Steel Chess has said that he is already looking ahead to playing stronger competition in next year's Group A. Pentala Harikrishna could not have started 2012 in a better way. Currently, the Tata Steel chess tournament (formerly called Corus) is the most popular among the super events and to win even the second group (B) is a big achievement.
Group B at Wijk aan Zee this year was a strong tournament as four of the 14 players were rated above Harikrishna, and to score nine points from 13 rounds was creditable.
"This victory is very important for me. It gives me the opportunity to play against the best players next year in group A," Hari told an Indian newspaper on Wednesday as he took stock of his performance.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
The latest chess news about tournament coming up next year is that the participants of the Tata Steel Chess 2012 have been announced.
Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin and Veselin Topalov are the four highest rated players in the upcoming Tata Steel Chess Tournament. The 74th edition will be held January 13-29, 2012 in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. Both Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik would not be playing.
The Grandmaster Group A of the 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament will have 10 of the top 15 chess players in the world. With an average rating of 2752 the Tata Steel Chess Tournament exceeds the anniversary edition in 2008, when the average rating was 2740. It is also the first time in history that a tournament with 14 participants will have such a strong field.
One player will make his debut in the A group: Vugar Gashimov from Azerbaijan, the current number 10 in the world. Other interesting names are those of Veselin Topalov (who didn't play much after he lost his World Championship Match against Vishy Anand) and Boris Gelfand (the challenger of Anand in the next world title match). The last Tata Steel Chess winner, Hikaru Nakamura from the USA, will be back in Wijk aan Zee as well. The Dutch contribution to the A-group of the tournament consists of 17-year-old Anish Giri and, back from his sabbatical, Loek van Wely.
In the Grandmaster Groups B and C a total of eight women participate. One of them is reigning European Women Champion Viktorija Cmilyte of Latvia. who will play in the B group. The other two female participants in this group are Kateryna Lahno (Ukraine, fifth in the world) and the young Dronavalli Harika (20) from India. Reigning European Champion Vladimir Potkin (Russia) makes his debut in Wijk aan Zee in this group. The organizing committee is pleased that former winner Jan Timman accepted an invitation to play in the B group.
In Grandmaster Group C the young Dutch players Lisa Schut (17) and Anne Haast (18) make their debut. Three other women in this group are Armenian grandmaster Elina Danielian (who lives in Groningen), Elisabeth Paehtz (Germany) and Tania Sachdev (India). Two-time national junior champion Lars Ootes (20) and Daan Brandenburg, who earlier this year gained the grandmaster title, play in 'C' for the first time.
One notable name in the C group is that of Netherlands-based former top player Matthew Sadler. The Englishman, in fact not a professional chess player, never played in Wijk aan Zee before. Recently he scored two impressive tournament victories in Barcelona and Oslo, which brings him back in the world's top 100 in the next rating list.
The 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from 13 to 29 January 2012 in, as always, sports complex De Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Admission is free. Participants in the amateur groups can register from Monday, October 31, 2011 via the official website.
GM Maxim Turov earns ticket to Tata Steel Chess C group 2012
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
GM Maxim Turov is the first player who has qualified for the Tata Steel C group (to take place in January 2012 after winning the BDO Tournament in Haarlem, The Netherlands. According to www.chessvibes.com, the Russian grandmaster shared first place after nine rounds with Dutch GM-elect Robin van Kampen, and won a nerve-wracking Armageddon game to win the tournament.
The 7th BDO Tournament took place August 20-28 in Haarlem, The Netherlands. As in previous years, IM and GM norms were scored in both the Premier and the Challenger Tournament. In the last round IM Ruud Janssen preferred a quick draw against Niclas Huschenbeth over tournament victory, to secure his third and final GM norm. In the Challenger Tournament David Klein did not settle for a draw. By beating Tom Bottema he both earned his first IM norm and an invitation to the Premier Tournament of 2012.With three players sharing first place before the last round, the BDO Chess Tournament saw an unprecedented exciting final round. All three were behind the white pieces as well, so it was obvious that the quick draw Ruud Janssen settled for would not be enough for tournament victory. It was no surprise that Maxim Turov beat Manuel Bosboom in a straightforward manner, but Robin van Kampen had to squeeze water from stone against British GM Stewart Haslinger - and eventually succeeded. In a tense tie-break Turov and Van Kampen both won their game with black, but in the Armageddon game Turov was just a little cooler - or shall we say luckier.
Wrap-up chess report and videos on Tata Steel Chess Fest 2011
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk 2011
Hi everyone,
Here are more details and great videos for our wrap-up report on the Tata Steel Super-GM Chess Tournament 2011 that concluded in Wijk aan Zee yesterday. Hope you read our previous report here on www.chessblog.com.
Hikaru Nakamura won the 2011 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. In the last round the American grandmaster drew with Black against Wang Hao from China. His main rival Vishy Anand from Indian also drew his game with Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. In the B group Luke McShane and David Navara drew, and will both be invited for the A group next year. Daniele Vocaturo won the C group after drawing with Ilya Nyzhnyk in the last round.
Hikaru Nakamura - The champion's interview.
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament was held from Friday, January 14th till Sunday, January 30th, 2011 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Besides many amateur events there were three Grandmaster Groups (A, B and C), all 14-player round-robins. The time control was 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment for each move starting from the first move. You can find loads of info at the official website www.tatasteelchess.com.
And, a nice article to read in The Huffington Post.
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
The 2nd Tata Chess and Studies Day had
twenty, international participants.
Hi everyone, The current world solving champion, British grandmaster John Nunn, has won the second Tata Steel solving tourney in Wijk aan Zee on Saturday, after finishing second in the first edition, two years ago. Twenty participants tried their best to crack nine original studies, seven of which were contributed by well-known Dutch GM Jan Timman. Nunn, a three-time winner of the grandmaster A tournament in Wijk aan Zee, scored 36 out of the maximum of 45 points to closely finish ahead of the top Belgian solver GM Eddy van Beers (34 points). The big surprise of the event, was the third place finish of WGM Alina l’Ami (member of the Romanian Olympic women team and the wife of Dutch GM Erwin l’Ami) who scored 33 points in her first solving tourney ever! She was followed by Dutch IM Piet Peelen, ahead of Marcel van Herck 31.5, Martin van Essen 29.5, GM Piotr Murdzia 27.5 (The world’s highest rated solver) , IM Twan Burg (winner of the first edition) 27, and GM Dolf Wissmann (the Dutch champion) 26.5. The best junior prize was won by Peter Ypma who ended in 10th place with 26 points. You can find a great, detailed report at www.chessvibes.com. Enjoy.
We've been following the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2011 from Wijk aan Zee and today, in the final round, drawing with Wang Hao, Hikaru Nakamura has walked away with the championship title. He notched up a total of 9 points.
Standings after round 13 of Group A
1.H. Nakamura9
2.V. Anand8½
3.L. Aronian, M. Carlsen8
5.V. Kramnik, M. Vachier-Lagrave7½
7.A. Giri, R. Ponomariov6½
9.I. Nepomniachtchi, Wang Hao6
11.A. Grischuk, E. l'Ami, J. Smeets4½
14.A. Shirov4
Standings after round 13 of Group B
1.L. McShane, D. Navara8½
3.Z. Efimenko8
4.L. Liem, G. Sargissian, W. So7½
7.V. Tkachiev7
8.R. Wojtaszek6½
9.L. Fressinet, Li Chao6
11.S. Ganguly5½
12.W. Spoelman5
13.J. Hammer4
14.F. Nijboer3½
Standings after round 13 of Group C
1.D. Vocaturo8½
2.I. Nyzhnyk8
3.I. Ivanisevic7½
4.K. Lahno, D. Swiercz7
6.M. Bluvshtein, M. Kazhgaleyev, T. Sachdev6½
9.B. Bok6
10.S. Siebrecht4½
11.J.W. de Jong, R. Pruijssers, M. van der Werf, R. van Kampen4
Tata Steel Chess Super-GM final round today: Exciting finish awaited; videos of Naka, Carlsen wins
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello Everyone,
The fantastic Tata Steel Chess Super-GM in Wijk aan Zee will witness the final 13th round today. It's been an exciting tournament and the last round is sure to live up to it all.
First, the standings.
Standings after round 12 in Group A 1.H. Nakamura8½ 2.V. Anand8, 3.L. Aronian, M. Carlsen7½ 5.V. Kramnik, M. Vachier-Lagrave7 7.A. Giri, R. Ponomariov6 9.I. Nepomniachtchi, Wang Hao5½ 11.A. Grischuk, E. l'Ami, J. Smeets4 14.A. Shirov3½
Today's pairings
Group A: Round 13 - Sun. Jan. 30st
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Viswanathan Anand
Vladimir Kramnik - Max. Vachier-Lagrave
Wang Hao - Hikaru Nakamura
Alexander Grischuk - Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian - Jan Smeets
Alexei Shirov - Erwin l'Ami
Anish Giri - Ruslan Ponomariov
Some super cool videos now.
Standings after round 12 of Group B
1.L. McShane, D. Navara8
3.Z. Efimenko7½
4.L. Liem, G. Sargissian, W. So, V. Tkachiev7
8.R. Wojtaszek6
9.L. Fressinet, S. Ganguly, Li Chao5
12.J. Hammer, W. Spoelman4
14.F. Nijboer3½
Standings after round 12 of Group C
1.D. Vocaturo8½
2.I. Nyzhnyk8
3.I. Ivanisevic7½
4.K. Lahno, D. Swiercz7
6.M. Bluvshtein, M. Kazhgaleyev, T. Sachdev6½
9.B. Bok6
10.S. Siebrecht4½
11.J.W. de Jong, R. Pruijssers, M. van der Werf, R. van Kampen4
Stay tuned for Sunday's final action in Wijk aan Zee at the official website www.tatasteelchess.com.
Tata Steel Chess 2011 R11 - Nakamura in the lead with two rounds to go
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
With two rounds to go, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has surged into a half-point lead over the rest in the Tata Steel Chess Super-GM. He pulled off a fine victory over current Russian Men's Champion Ian Nepomniachtchi. While Vishy Anand - who was in joint lead - had to settle for a draw with Vachier-Lagrave and Carlsen beat Vladimir Kramnik in a cool game.
Here are two nice videos giving you all the details about the situation after Round 11.
You can access more details at the official website www.tatasteelchess.com also. It's still anyone's game at the top. Stay tuned for more.
Here are two nice games that you can run in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.
Tata Steel Chess 2011 Rest Day 3 video and R11 pairings
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everybody,
There are just three more rounds to go at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2011 Super-GM. Without much ado, first the interesting and analytical Rest Day 3 video.
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2011 R10 - Anand, Nakamura back in joint lead
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everybody,
Round 10 at the Tata Steel Super-GM Chess Tournament 2011 in Wijk aan Zee is going to be remembered for several reasons -
Vishy Anand beating Alexeis Shirov and Hikaru Nakamura beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to get back into joint lead
Overnight joint leader Vladimir Kramnik slipping back a bit with Jan Smeets holding him to a draw
Overnight joint leader Magnus Carlsen showing how to best lose a complicated game to Russian Men's Champion Ian Nepomniachtchi.
First, the video from Round 10 and then the standings and results of Round 10. You can also access the official tournament website at www.tatasteelchess.com.
Standings of grandmaster group A after Round 10
1.V. Anand, H. Nakamura7 3.L. Aronian, V. Kramnik6½ 5.M. Carlsen, I. Nepomniachtchi, M. Vachier-Lagrave5½ 8.A. Giri, R. Ponomariov, Wang Hao5 11.J. Smeets3½ 12.E. l'Ami3 13.A. Grischuk, A. Shirov2½
Standings of grandmaster group B after Round 10
1.Z. Efimenko, W. So6½ 3.L. McShane, D. Navara, G. Sargissian, V. Tkachiev6 7.L. Liem, R. Wojtaszek5½ 9.Li Chao5 10.S. Ganguly4 11.L. Fressinet, J. Hammer3½ 13.F. Nijboer, W. Spoelman3
Standings of grandmaster group C after Round 10
1.D. Vocaturo7½ 2.K. Lahno6½ 3.I. Ivanisevic, I. Nyzhnyk6 5.M. Kazhgaleyev5½ 6.M. Bluvshtein, B. Bok, T. Sachdev, D. Swiercz5 10.S. Siebrecht4½ 11.R. van Kampen 4 12.R. Pruijssers, M. van der Werf3½ 14.J.W. de Jong3
Here is also Vladimir Kramnik's game against Erwin Erwin l’Ami from Round 9 that won the daily “Piet Zwart” prize of 500 Euros. Enjoy!
Tata Steel Chess Super-GM R9 video: Anand, Nakamura, Kramnik, Aronian in joint lead
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
The Tata Steel Chess Super-GM Tournament 2011 is at an exciting point. We've already had such great games that you can call the tournament a 'power chess show'. Round 9 saw Kramnik and Aronian win to join the leaders Anand and Nakamura while Carlsen pulled off a draw playing the last several moves with just one minute on the clock against Vachier-Lagrave. Here are the standings. Before that, as always, the video of the round. Enjoy.
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is held from Friday, January 14th till Sunday, January 30th, 2011 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Besides many amateur events there are three Grandmaster Groups (A, B and C), all 14-player round-robins. All rounds begin at 13.30 CET, except for the last which begins at 12.00 hours. There are three rest days: on January 19th, 24th, and 27th. The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment for each move starting from the first move.
Super chess videos from Tata Steel Chess Super-GM 2011
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi Everybody,
Even has the Round 9 is in progress at the Tata Steel Chess Festival in Wijk aan Zee here are some super videos to catch up with. We have the www.chessvibes.com pressroom videos of Anish Giri explaining his super win against Wang Hao from Round 8 and then we have the official rest day video. Of course watch some football too.
Tata Steel Chess: Carlsen shows his win against Nakamura and R9 pairings
Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011 Hi Everybody,
We just cannot help swinging between the two top stories of the day - Feller Cheating Controversy and Magnus Carlsen's win over Nakamura in R8 at the Tata Steel Super-GM Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. So, without much ado here are the www.chessvibes.com pressroom videos of Carlsen showing his win and the Round 9 pairing coming up for Tuesday. Have a great chess time.
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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