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!
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.
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
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 2013 Round 1: Karjakin, Nakamura, Svidler Begin with Wins
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
History was in the Norwegian air when the French chief arbiter Anémone Kulczak exactly as scheduled at 15.00, May 8 2013, started the first round in the Super Group of Norway Chess 2013. Including this year’s World Champion, this year’s World Challenger and five other players from the world’s top ten list, this is not only by far the strongest chess tournament in the history of this country – but also one of the strongest round robin tournaments in the history of this game! Here is the full report by Hans Olav Lahlum
As the tournament will be played with nine rounds in eleven days and true quality time limits, Norway and the rest of the chess world for sure can look forward to many great games this week. The tournament made a fresh start this afternoon, with four of out five games lasting more than four hours – and three of them getting a winner.
To tell the truth, World Champion Viswanathan Anand made a very solid but not very frightening start on this Norwegian chess adventure. Playing white in a closed Ruy Lopez against second seeded Levon Aronian, the chess star from India played a rather slow and closed set up with an early c4. The ambitious Armenian (of course) did not hesitate to jump in at the outpost d4 with one of his knights before move 10. Three set of minor pieces were exchanged within five moves afterwards, leaving a fairly balanced position with queen, rooks, different colored bishops and eight pawns on each side. Something finally seemed about to happen as Aronian played 22.— Bh6!?, intending to answer 23.Qh4 with a tactical 23.— Bxf4 – as played. Some spectators wondered (creatively) whether the World Champion was planning to sacrifice his queen for rook and bishop, but Anand instead (wisely) exchanged some more pieces to regain the pawn he gave up on f4. In the endgame with rook and six pawns versus rook and six pawns, Aronian at move 29 placed his rook on the seventh rank and for a few minutes seemed close to something. Anand however remained laidback and still was not in any real danger. As black could never accept to exchange rooks, it all dried out with two rooks following each other around to a repetition of moves after 33 moves.
The second game to finish was the slowest start, as Sergey Karjakin spent much time as white and Teimour Radjabov even much more time as black in their internal youngster meeting. Only 14 moves were made on the board after two and a half hours had passed on the clock, and continuing in the same slow speed, Radjabov two moves later had only eight minutes left to reach the time control after 40 moves. On the board was a closed Sicilian line with 4.Bb5, in which white came a little better after black played 5.— e5 followed by 7.— h6. Although black got a nice outpost for his knight on d4, white playing with a guarded passed pawn at d5 appeared somewhat better after 20 moves. While Karjakin methodically increased the pressure with a queenside attack, Radjabov somehow somewhere mixed up the critical lines and lost a pawn just before 30 moves. Defending with rook and bishop versus rook and knight, black still had some drawing chances, but having only seconds left he lost another pawn just before 40 moves. In the end Radjabov threw out his move 39 with two seconds left and his move 40 with nine seconds left on the clock – only to resign instead of making his move 41, as Karjakin’s 41.c5! demonstrated the rook endgame on the board to be won. No way a promising start for Radjabov on the third tournament following two nightmare results, while Karjakin looked relaxed and inspired at the same time today.
Less relaxed but all the more inspired (as usual) was the United States representative, colorful Hikaru Nakamura. Facing a solid Russian opening from Chinese opponent Hao Wang, white bravely castled long to go for a kingside attack. Objectively speaking black was perfectly fine from the opening, but white still got an initiative following a probably inaccurate manoeuver with 15.— Re4 and 16.— Re6. Having weakened his kingside with h6, Wang felt forced to exchange queens at the cost of a pawn. Sacrificing two minor pieces for a rook later on was a creative try from a Chinese point of view. Although the computer programs gave black some drawing chances, the endgame with rook and six pawns versus knight, bishop and six pawns for most present human beings still looked difficult at best. Anyway Wang too lost the thread on the board when running short of time on the clock, and the outcome became obvious as white got an octopus knight on e6 while black still had no open line for his rook. Wang too survived the time trouble, having seven seconds left after making his move 40 – but the new time only helped him to realize that his position was lost behind all reasonable doubt. Nakamura definitely is a potential hit man also in this tournament, remaining to test out whether he will hit only his opponents or also himself in later rounds…
Much too few home country spectators were observed in the playing hall today, but those present got a lot of excitement as the Norwegian players both played long and interesting games. Most of the heat of course turned on a tight and heavyweight positional battle between top rated Magnus Carlsen and former World Champion Veselin Topalov. Carlsen handling the white stones (as usual) did not get much of an advantage, this time in an English fianchetto line. Having played d5 and exchanged the queens at d1 before 10 moves, Topalov equalized as black without any known difficulties. Carlsen however played on with his usual optimism, and although his king appeared a little awkward on c2, white kept a slight initiative in the middle game. A balanced position with rook, bishop, knight and five pawns on each side became more interesting as Magnus established a stronghold on d5. Then it became even more interesting as Topalov kicked out the bishops to reach a highly double edged rook and knight endgame. An isolani pawn on d5 gave white some more chances, but at the same time he had to watch out not to overstretch. Some Norwegian spectators claimed they saw some light just before 40 moves, as white apparently was about to get a dangerous attack in the h-file (which black had been helpful to open up a few moves earlier on). A top concentrated Topalov however walked confidently around on the water, and it turned out white had nothing better than exchanging rooks. Just after 40 moves some Bulgarian chess fans on internet claimed they saw some light, as Topalov won the d5-pawn in the knight endgame. It however soon turned out that white’s active king was too disturbing for black to reach any winning chances even with an extra pawn, and Topalov returned the pawn while offering a draw after 51 moves. A waiting start both for the former rating king and the former World Champion, but still under the surface a very interesting game.
Seeded more than 100 points below the ninth rated player in this field, Jon Ludvig Hammer obviously is the underdog among the wolves this week. Still he started barking immediately, being ahead on the clock and probably equal on the board after 15 moves as black against Russian chess star Peter Svidler in a well known Grünfeld exchange line. Without the queens white kept a slight queenside initiative, but black defended creatively when sacrificing a pawn on b6 to win back another pawn on e4. Being a patient player with a magnificent technique, Svidler still played on for a win as white. He was partially rewarded as Hammer made some inaccuracies when entering the rook and minor piece endgame, forcing himself to give up a pawn in the rook endgame. Still these rook endgames, with three kingside pawns for both players and an extra a-pawn for white, usually is drawn if black can place his rook beside the a-pawn and cut off the white king – like Hammer did from the start in this endgame. Still there was some play left in the position, and Hammer probably made the decisive mistake when he just before 40 moves put his king out in the thin air at f6 instead of just waiting and smoking on g8. Svidler (of course) used his chance, instructively opening up the kingside with h4-h5 to win another pawn and the game before 60 moves. A very honest loss still was a difficult start for Hammer. While Svidler following a slow but successful start, no way should be underestimated by anyone in this tournament either…
In short: Karjakin, Nakamura and Svidler are sharing the lead at +1 – so far. Still much to learn and discuss from the games from round one while we are waiting for round two – including the much expected game between World Chess Challanger Carlsen and World Chess Champion Anand!!
Men's Chess Grand Prix Series 2012/13 Cumulative Points
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Fide has just released the latest men's chess grand prix scores in the 2012/13 series. Below is the graphic. GM Adams replaced GM Svidler for London 2012 only.
Renova Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 10: Topalov Beats Caruana, 1 Point Ahead of Nakamura before Last Round
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In the tenth round of Grand Prix in Zug Veselin Topalov nearest player in points standings Fabiano Caruana and now is on a sole lead with 7 points, one point ahead of Hikaru Nakamura. The American player won against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to take the second place. Alexander Morozevich managed to outplay Teimour Radjabov, while Gata Kamsky won against Sergey Karjakin. Kasimzdhanov-Ponomariov, Giri-Leko were drawn. Ruslan Ponomariov and Fabiano Caruana share the third place while Kamsky, Morozevich, Karjakin share the fifth place.
Tie Break Criteria for trophies only: 1.direct encounter 2. number of wins 3. Sonnenborn-Berger System 4. Koya System. Veselin Topalov won against Hikaru Nakamura at the fifth round and it means even in the worst scenario for him he will take the gold at Grand Prix in Zug.
Caruana-Topalov 0-1 Despite the victory in the game and, as a result, the victory in the tournament, Veselin Topalov looked very serious and tired at the press-conference. It’s obvious that the tournament is not over for the former world champion will fight for the sole victory in the tournament in the last round.
Fabiano Caruana got a pleasant position and managed to create threats on the King’s side. Players showed many possible variations on the laptop and agreed that White could have played more precisely but at the same time they didn’t find any direct attack. The things went wrong when White lost a few tempos after dubious Qf2-Qa7 but Caruana had time trouble and it was not easy for him to find the right plan.
After the first time control Italian player could have kept the queens on the board to have better chances for a draw because the knight and bishop endgame turned to be absolutely winning for Black.
Renova Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 9: Topalov Leads, Caruana 1/2-Point Behind
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
It was raining hard during the second free day and most of players preferred to stay in the hotel and relax before the final part of the tournament. Three decisive games were played in the ninth round. Two more could have finished in favour of Peter Leko and Rustam Kasimdzhanov as both players were close to winnin against Sergey Karjakin and Anish Giri respectively.
The leader of the tournament Veselin Topalov drew against Shakhriyar Mamdeyarov and keeps half a point distance from Fabiano Caruana, who won against Gata Kamsky and placed second. Ruslan Ponomariov moved from the second to the third place after his lose against Teimour Rajabov and shares the third place with Hikaru Nakamura and Sergey Karjakin. Alexander Morozevich lost the third game in a row despite he got a huge advantage against Hikaru Nakamura.
Anish Giri - Rustam Kasimdzhanov 1/2-1/2Another symmetrical English and once again Anish Giri’s enterprising play led to a dynamic position with lots of complex variations on the board. 11…Be6 was the new move on the board instead of 11..e6 and White decided to spice life up with 18.Ne5!? but Black missed 18…Qa6 and instead allowed the exchange sacrifice and subsequent attack by White.
However White then pursued this attack a bit too aggressively and after 25.Rc1 Black simply took the rook off the board and after a forced continuation Black could have played the strong 31…Rd8 or not human move 32...e6 leaving White with some activity but without material. Black decided to go for the endgame with an exchange up but 36...e5 instead of Ra8 would have put more problems for White to decide. After 59 move the peace was signed.
Renova Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 8: Veselin Topalov in Sole Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Whilst the weather in Switzerland is still relatively cold, things were heating up over the chess boards in Zug! After 8 rounds of play former world champion Veselin Topalov became the sole leader in the tournament. He defeated Russian player Alexander Morozevich, who lost the second game in a row after so good a start of the tournament. All other games finished in draws. Ruslan Ponomariov managed to defend the worse endgame against Hikaru Nakamura and is on the second place half a point behind of Topalov. Sunday is a free day and the ninth round is scheduled on 28th of April.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov - Teimour Radjabov ½ - ½ The two tail-enders seemed peacefully inclined before the next rest day and after Kasimdzhanov chose the Bf4 line against the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Radjabov did not wish to get involved in any of the long theoretical lines with and immediate c5 and opted instead for the Nbd7 line. White preferred the quieter 11.Be2 to the main line with 11.Be5 and the first “new” move cane with 20…Rac8 in a position which was already quite equal and the final result was never in doubt for either player. Clock Times 1:33 - 1:11
Ruslan Ponomariov - Hikaru Nakamura ½-½Nakamura returned to his favourite Najdorf variation in the Sicilian. Previously they had played a Najdorf but that time Ponomariov was Black ! Both players know the theory in this variation extremely well and Ruslan was the first to try and deviate from the main path with 12.Qd2 in lieu of the main lines 12.h3 or 12.Be2. First new move on the board came with 17.f4 but this seemed to allow black to take the initiative and after 20..a4! Black was controlling the game. During the press-conference American player pointed out that he could have tried to play 27...Qh5 instead of 27...d5 and this was a critical moment in the game. But even after the move in the game the position looked difficult for White but Ruslan defended very well.
Alexander Morozevich - Veselin Topalov 0-1 The most critical game today was obviously Morozevich – Topalov and it was clear that Morozevich had to make up for the lost ground of the previous day. The players went for a symmetrical English and White immediately sprung a novelty on the 9th move with c5 instead of the normal 9.Qe2. Topalov side stepped but Morozevich was determined to get a complicated position on the board and there were immeasurable of thrusts and parries in the game. Topalov never seemed in any great difficulties however and kept good control over the position. White was in time trouble when he could have tried to create more problems for Black by playing 41. Be5 or 52.c4.
Renova Chess Grand Prix 2013 R7: Ponomariov, Topalov in Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
At the seventh round of the third stage Grand Prix in Zug only one game was decisive while all others finished in draws. Gata Kamsky defeated one of the leaders Alexander Morozevich. The central game of the round between two other leaders Veselin Topalov (White) and Ruslan Ponomariov (Black) finished peacefully after long and precise defence of White in a worse endgame. After 7 rounds Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov share the first place with 4, 5 points. Two Russian players Alexander Morozevich, Sergey Karjakin and Italian Fabiano Caruana are half a point behind.
Kamsky – Morozevich 1-0Gata Kamsky got the position with a small space advantage out of the opening but was not sure how to fight for more, as he estimated the position as equal. The help suddenly came from his opponent, who chose the wrong plan with 19…Nf6 – 20…Nh5. During the press-conference Alexander Morozevich pointed out that the game was completely lost for Black after Nf6. American player could have got advantage after an accurate 22.Bh4 but played Rae1 instead, allowing Black to protect h4 square by playing Qd8. However, Black continued making mistakes and Gata Kamsky, despite the fact he was in time trouble, found the exact way to win. Leko-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2Shakhriyar Mamedyarov chose to play quite rare line in Ruy Lopez with 4...Nge7. Peter Leko was expecting Caro-Kann. He mentioned during the press-conference that his preparation started relatively late because he could not miss the football match Real-Borussia. Hungarian player tried to find the way to get an edge with White but it seems Shakhriyar had better preparation and was following his analyzes at least till the 15th move. Azeri player managed to equalize and after the nice blow Rf2 it was White who had to find the exact moves to make a draw.
Renova Chess Grand Prix 2013 Round 6: Ponomariov, Topalov, Morozevich in Joint Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Renova Chess Grand Prix has three leaders after six rounds: Ponomariov, Topalov and Morozevich. Both leaders Veselin Topalov and Alexander Morozevich finished their games in draws while Ruslan Ponomariov outplayed Gata Kamsky to join two other leaders on top of the table.
Hikaru Nakamura won the first game in the tournament against Rustam Kasimdzhanov The craziest game of the sixth round between Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin ended in a draw, but not before either player had had a winning position.
Teimour Radjabov - Veselin Topalov ½ - ½Following the previous round's game, Radjabov wanted to come back to the event and he selected the Alekhine variation against the Nimzo Indian. The line they followed was quite extensively played before and the new move was 17.0-0-0 but this did not change much. However, White decided to check Black’s preparation and Veselin Topalov had to play precisely in order to equalize. It seems both opponents were familiar with many different lines in this opening as the players used around 1 hour each for the 30 odd moves played today.
Fabiano Caruana - Sergey Karjakin 1/2-1/2 Six of the GMs in this event have become Grandmasters before the age of 15! The record holder Karjakin (GM at 12 years and 7 months but now a ripe 23 years old!) was Black against Caruana who also achieved his title at a very young age. They chose the positional variation of the Ruy Lopez Berlin with 4.d3 and while Black maintained equality till move 19, Karjakin then chose the dubious 20…Ne5?! which gave Caruana the opportunity to get a winning advantage with 21.f4! However, Caruana missed the easy 35.Rxe7+ Bxe7 36.Qe6+ Kf8 37.d6 Bd8 38.d7 Be7 39.Qd6 winning immediately. After 37…a4 Black was back in the game as the pawn had to be blockaded before it became a runner. Fabiano Caruana started to make mistakes and it was hard for Italian player to defend his position after 42.d6. Computer analysis was showing -6 in Black’s favor when suddenly Sergey “helped” his opponent to survive. 48…Bd4?? 49. Bd4 Rd4 50.Rf6! and it’s a draw on the board! During the press-conference Sergey pointed out that probably he just didn’t deserve to win this game. His opponent replied with a smile that most likely both of them deserved to lose it.
Ruslan Ponomariov - Gata Kamsky 1 - 0 Interestingly, Ponomariov tested his opponent with 1.c4. Kamsky spent some time on his first move choice and then replied 1…c6 which soon transposed into a Caro Kann - Panov Botvinnik with Bb4. Kamsky avoided the main line with 10…Bb7 and instead chose 10…Bxc3 which allowed white to resolve the traditional isolated pawn structure. “I tried to trick my opponent with this move order today. We had English, then Slav, Panov and even ended up in some Nimzo,” explained Ruslan Ponomariov. The new move came on with 15…Rfd8 but Kamsky was spending a lot of time on the position and around move 25 had only 4 minutes left for 15 moves in a very difficult position. Both players agreed that Black could have tried to play f6 earlier in order not to let White to get so strong initiative. 29.d5! was a nice touch and White dominated from that point on. “The tournament is very strong and it’s hard to win at least one game here. I have +2 which I believe is a good result, taking into consideration my previous results in Grand Prix events,” said the former world chess champion during the press-conference.
Alexander Morozevich - Peter Leko ½ - ½Morozevich played a positional line against Leko and they chose the Symmetrical English. Black chose a minor line with 6…Bc5 instead of the main line 6…Qb6 or 6…Bb4 transposing to the Nimzo Indian. The idea of Black was just to avoid repeating the line with Qb6 played between same opponents in Tashkent. Hungarian player lost that important game and it was psychologically hard to repeat the same line. White in turn, chose a rarely played line with 10.Nd5!? instead of 10.Bf4. “If I would have been ready for Nd5 I would have reacted immediately,” said Peter Leko at the press-conference. Leko’s 12…d5 was a new move compared to the previous 12..b5. There was very little movement in the equality line however as both players played extremely accurate and gave no chance to the other side to take any realistic advantage.
“Today I feel very happy because it’s a first game when I equalised with White and I’m pretty happy that I’m improving. I was not so sure after the opening if I would be able to do it today but once I played Qe4 I thought it should be okay. Maybe I had some advantage but not enough to put some real pressure. So, I plan to keep on playing game by game and equalising,” commented Alexander Morozevich on his play.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Anish Giri ½ - ½ After the previous game, the Azeri player decided not to spend much time for preparation and just play some fighting chess. Anish Giri cleverly chose a line with little complications and one which they had both played before, as white! Mamedyarov tried to tempt Giri to take on c4 after 4.Bg5 but black went for a Ragozin setup with a slight improvement of 13…Bd7. In the post game analysis the players spent some time on 19.Nh5 and although White may have been better, he could not convert the position into a concrete advantage.
Once queens came off there was a steadfast exchange of pieces in very short time and a draw was agreed on move 46. However, after inaccurate move 29.Rb1 Black could have tried to play for more with 29…a5. “I’ve already said to myself it is a draw and in such case it’s not a good idea to change my mind. Maybe I have slight pressure in this position,” explained Anish Giri.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov - Hikaru Nakamura 0-1 Nakamura was obviously in a mood for complications as he first went for 1…Nc6 and then chose 3…Nge7 in the Ruy Lopez. Kasimdzhanov played very well and got a solid advantage up until the dubious sacrifice 26.Rxd6?! which Black reacted very well to and took the upper hand defending against the immediate threats to emerge with a piece extra for three pawns. This might not have been enough to win but Rustam was in time trouble and made a few mistakes. According to Rustam, the last mistake was 37.Be2. He should have played 37.Be4, changing the pieces and keeping good chances to make a draw. After the move Be2 Black pieces came close to the White’s king and there was no defence against checkmate.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi Everyone,
GM Veselin Topalov and GM Viktor Laznicka will play a 6 games match from 18th to 25th September. The competition is the 2013 edition of Nový Bor chess corrida, the last edition of which paired Laznicka vs Shirov.
The match Topalov – Laznicka will have time control is 40/90 + G/30 with 30 seconds increment per move.
Arbiter of the match will be IA Pavel Votruba. September 21st will see the traditional Fejfar Memorial, a blitz tournament that once again drew a lot of chess enthusiasts last year. September 22nd as the free day will be dedicated to a simultaneous exhibition of Veselin Topalov.
Norway Chess May 7-18 with Carlsen, Kramnik, Aronian, Radjabov, Karjakin, Anand, Topalov, Nakamura, Hao, Hammer
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
How about a chess summer 2013 in Norway? You won't say 'no' if we tell you the list of players who have already confirmed their participation in the Norway Chess super-grandmaster event along with the the Stavanger Open. Stavanger Chess Club invites all Norwegian and international chess players to participate in Stavanger Open NGP 2013 – an open tournament parallel to Norway Chess.
Player FIDE-rating: (Feb. 2013) Magnus Carlsen 2872 Vladimir Kramnik 2810 Levon Aronian 2809 Teimour Radjabov 2793 Sergey Karjakin 2786 Viswanathan Anand 2780 Veselin Topalov 2771 Hikaru Nakamura 2767 Wang Hao 2743 Jon Ludvig Hammer 2629 Average rating: 2776,0
Have you seen the promo video with Magnus Carlsen?
Kings Chess Bucharest: Ivanchuk Wins Title on Tiebreak with Topalov
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The winner of the Kings Tournament 2012 is Vassily Ivanchuk. After the last round the Ukrainian won the tiebreak rapid match against Veselin Topalov with the score 1,5-0,5 and secured gold. Thus Vassily Ivanchuk repeated his success from 2009 and just like Magnus Carlsen became the victor of Kings Tournament for the second time in history of these tournaments. The tiebreak included two games of 15 minutes each with a three-second increment per move. Surprisingly, Topalov lost the first game on time despite being a pawn up. Ivanchuk comfortably drew the second game. There were two decisive games in the six rounds though there were missed wins as well. The official website of the chess tournament can be accessed at this link.
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.
Congrats to Sergey Karjakin for Becoming World Rapid Chess Champion 2012 in Astana
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
World Rapid Chess Champion 2012 Sergey Karjakin of Russia
Congratulations to Russia's Sergey Karjakin for winning the World Rapid Chess Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan a few minutes back. In the end, it was the steady performance, the cool head, and the pure chess that counted. Karjakin put his overnight loss to Magnus Carlsen behind him and went on to win the World Championship a full point ahead of World No. 1 Carlsen!
It appeared that Magnus Carlsen would run away with the title particularly after he finished Day 2 1.5 points ahead of the field. But, as the stats pointed out, he had not yet played the stalwarts. The third day was a self-destruct for him. He began the third day with a win over Ismagambetov, but went in for two straight losses against Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk.
The next draw against Radjabov put him out of contention for the title. In the final round, he might have even lost the silver medal had Veselin Topalov not missed the endgame win. Eventually, the silver went to Carlsen and the bronze went to Topalov.
The World Blitz Chess Championship 2012 would be held on Monday and Tuesday in Astana with 15 chess games played each day.
Final standings 1 GM Karjakin, Sergey RUS 11.5 2 GM Carlsen, Magnus NOR 10.5 3 GM Topalov, Veselin BUL 9.5 4 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE 9.5 5 GM Grischuk, Alexander RUS 9 6 GM Gelfand, Boris ISR 8 7 GM Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 7.5 8 GM Svidler, Peter RUS 7.5 9 GM Radjabov, Teimour AZE 7.5 10 GM Dreev, Aleksey RUS 7 11 GM Morozevich, Alexander RUS 6.5 12 GM Bologan, Viktor MDA 6 13 GM Kurnosov, Igor RUS 6 14 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas KAZ 6 15 GM Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA 4.5 16 GM Ismagambetov, Anuar KAZ 3.5 World Rapid Results day 3 11 Bologan, Viktor - Svidler, Peter ½-½ Dreev, Aleksey - Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 0-1 Grischuk, Alexander - Tkachiev, Vladislav 1-0 Ismagambetov, Anuar - Carlsen, Magnus 0-1 Karjakin, Sergey - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ Morozevich, Alexander - Kurnosov, Igor 1-0 Topalov, Veselin - Gelfand, Boris ½-½ 12 Carlsen, Magnus - Ivanchuk, Vassily 0-1 Gelfand, Boris - Morozevich, Alexander 1-0 Ismagambetov, Anuar - Grischuk, Alexander 0-1 Kazhgaleyev, Murtas - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 0-1 Kurnosov, Igor - Bologan, Viktor 0-1 Radjabov, Teimour - Karjakin, Sergey 0-1 Svidler, Peter - Dreev, Aleksey 1-0 Tkachiev, Vladislav - Topalov, Veselin 1-0 13 Bologan, Viktor - Gelfand, Boris 0-1 Dreev, Aleksey - Kurnosov, Igor ½-½ Grischuk, Alexander - Carlsen, Magnus 1-0 Ivanchuk, Vassily - Radjabov, Teimour 1-0 Karjakin, Sergey - Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 1-0 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Svidler, Peter 0-1 Morozevich, Alexander - Tkachiev, Vladislav ½-½ Topalov, Veselin - Ismagambetov, Anuar ½-½ 14 Carlsen, Magnus - Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ Gelfand, Boris - Dreev, Aleksey 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander - Topalov, Veselin 0-1 Ismagambetov, Anuar - Morozevich, Alexander ½-½ Kazhgaleyev, Murtas - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Kurnosov, Igor - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 0-1 Svidler, Peter - Karjakin, Sergey 0-1 Tkachiev, Vladislav - Bologan, Viktor 0-1 15 Bologan, Viktor - Ismagambetov, Anuar ½-½ Dreev, Aleksey - Tkachiev, Vladislav 1-0 Ivanchuk, Vassily - Svidler, Peter 1-0 Karjakin, Sergey - Kurnosov, Igor ½-½ Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Gelfand, Boris 1-0 Morozevich, Alexander - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ Radjabov, Teimour - Kazhgaleyev, Murtas 1-0 Topalov, Veselin - Carlsen, Magnus ½-½
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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