Zurich Chess Challenge 2014: Magnus Carlsen wins Tournament despite Collapse in Rapid Section
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen begins the rapid section, at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014, with a win over Boris Gelfand. He managed to score only 2/5, but won the tournament thanks to super performance in the classical section and some crazy results in the rapid section! Photo: Maria Emelianova
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has won the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 despite being "outplayed by Aronian and Caruana" on the final day in the five-game rapid section. Carlsen had come into the rapid section after winning the five-game classical section with a two-point lead over Aronian.
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 had a unique format: Five rounds of classical games over five days and five rounds of rapid games (15 minutes +10 seconds increment) on the final day. Each win in the classical section was worth two points and draw was one point. In the rapid section, each win was worth one point and draw was half-point.
Today, in the rapid section, the world #1 scored 2/5 with Caruana playing extremely well to score 4/5 including wins over Carlsen, and Nakamura. The Zurich title nearly slipped out of the World Champion's hands.
Rapid Standings
1. Fabiano Caruana 4.0
2. Hikaru Nakamura 3.5
3. Levon Aronian 3.0
4. Magnus Carlsen 2.0
5. Boris Gelfand 1.5
6. Viswanathan Anand 1.0
Final Standings (on a max of 15 points)
1. Magnus Carlsen 10.0
2. Fabiano Caruana 9.0
3. Levon Aronian 9.0
4. Hikaru Nakamura 7.5
5. Viswanathan Anand 5.0
6. Boris Gelfand 4.5
But, it was a crazy situation in the rapid section. Hikaru Nakamura did a huge favour to Magnus Carlsen by beating Levon Aronian in after Magnus himself lost to both Caruana and Aronian. Nakamura also lost to Caruana, but drew with Magnus.
This held Aronian back from catching up with the World Chess Champion! Aronian scored 3/5 and could not cover up the two-point lead Carlsen had obtained over him in the classical section.
This was the Magnus Carlsen's first tournament (and first tournament victory) after winning the world chess champion title in November 2013 by beating Viswanathan Anand in Chennai.
Fabiano Caruana was the youngest player at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014. He was also the defending champion. This year's edition of the event was also the highest-average rating tournament in chess history.
Replay all the games of the rapid section at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Chess King.
Here is the closing ceremony video:
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Labels: Boris gelfand, Chess video, closing ceremony video, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru nakamura, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 Round 5: Magnus Carlsen Top Scores in Classical Section
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 had only one decisive game in Round 5. Against the Marshall-Gambit, Levon Aronian's home territory, the US-Italien Fabiano Caruana had a well defined. Aronian underestimated Caruana's chances even as the latter gave up his bishop pair and build a strong centre forcing Black to eventually resign.
In the game between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand, Caruana, the game petered to a draw by move 18. However, the duo played on until move 40 so as to avoid the rapid game which would have been obligatory to play according to the rules of the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 in case of an early draw.
Replay all games of Round 5 at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Chess King.
Boris Gelfand, with the black pieces, was well prepared against Hikaru Nakamura's 1. e2-e4. A draw by repetition on move 21 forced the two players into a rapid game, which was won by the Israeli.
StandingsRank Name Pts. Elo
1 Magnus Carlsen 8 2872
2 Levon Aronian 6 2812
3 Fabiano Caruana 5 2782
4 Hikaru Nakamura 4 2789
5 Viswanathan Anand 4 2773
6 Boris Gelfand 3 2777
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Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 Round 4: Carlsen beats Caruana, Gelfand loses to Anand, Aronian beats Nakamura
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen before the start of his game that would end in victory over Fabiano Caruana. Photo: Maria Emelianova/official website
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen was on sure footing as he beat Fabiano Caruana in the fourth round at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 on Sunday. It was a convincing win unlike the jittery-lucky previous-round victory over Hikaru Nakamura. With an unexpected exchange sacrifice on move 22, the World Chess Champion found a neat method to win even as Caruana was unable to find the best answers.
Replay all the games of Round 4 at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Chess King.
Levon Aronian consolidated his position in second place in the standings with a win over Hikaru Nakamura who must have lost his rhythm after the previous-round tragic loss to Magnus Carlsen.
Meanwhile, Viswanathan Anand scored his first win of the event by beating Boris Gelfand in a complex game marked by a cool counter-attack.
StandingsRank Name Pts. Elo1 Magnus Carlsen 7 2872
2 Levon Aronian 6 2812
3 Hikaru Nakamura 3 2789
4 Fabiano Caruana 3 2782
5 Viswanathan Anand 3 2777
6 Boris Gelfand 2 2773
Labels: zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 Round 3: Nakamura Misses Win, Loses to Carlsen
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
Thousands of chess fans spent Saturday night getting more than their money's worth watching Round 3 at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014. World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen headed straight into a "sure shot" loss versus Hikaru Nakamura when the American Grandmaster crumbled in an inexplicable manner and went on to lose the game. Magnus Carlsen pulled off a win from what would have normally been a loss. Norwegian fans were pleased as punch, no doubt.
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen before his game with Hikaru Nakamura. Photo: Maria Emelianova
With his victory, the Norwegian World Chess Champion is now in sole lead at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014. But the 23-year old Magnus Carlsen was not entirely happy about his victory. The US-American Hikaru Nakamura missed in the highly tactical melee a subtle winning move and went on, after some more inaccurate moves, to even lose the game.
The decisive position after 36. ... Qg6 (left), as commentator Werner Hug said, will find it's way into the books. And co-commentator Peter Leko added that the correct move 37. Qf1 was not easy to find, even when a diagram was pointing out that this was a winning position.
Meanwhile, Viswanathan Anand earned his first point by a draw against Fabiano Caruana. They both didn't know exactly which of them had the better position and therefore a better chance for a win. The first Rapid Game was played between Levon Aronian and Boris Gelfand because they didn't reach move 40 in their game. The Armenian won this Show Game with the black pieces convincingly.
Standings Round 3 (Win is 2 points, Draw is 1 point)1 Magnus Carlsen (2872) 5
2 Levon Aronian (2812) 4
3 Hikaru Nakamura (2789) 3
4 Fabiano Caruana (2782) 3
5 Boris Gelfand (2777) 2
6 Viswanathan Anand (2773) 1
Replay all the games of Round 3 at the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Chess King.
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Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 Round 2: Anand loses to Nakamura, Carlsen-Aronian, Gelfand-Caruana Draw
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 Round 2 was as interesting as the first though with just once decisive game. All three games were very interesting, with a plethora of nuances and subtleties. Prominently among them the most anticipated game between Magnus Carlsen with the white pieces and Levon Aronian with the black pieces. The Armenian had to solve several tricky problems in order to avoid a lost position, but at the end he obtained the even more comfortable position to play. The game was a draw.
Magnus Carlsen - Levon Aronian: Hard-fought draw. Photo Maria Emelianova
Also a draw was the result between Boris Gelfand and Fabiano Caruana. This time, luck was on Boris Gelfand's side. After an oversight, which would have cost him a pawn, Fabiano Caruana returned the favor and missed his chance.
Replay all the games of Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 Round 2 with Chess King.
The second time in a row, Viswanathan Anand scored a loss, this time against Hikaru Nakamura. An optically good-looking move of the former world chess champion provoked Hikaru Nakamura to a strong piece sacrifice. At the end of the resulting complications the Indian cracked under pressure and made a decisive mistake.
Labels: zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 Round 1: Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian begin with Wins
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
The strongest-ever chess tournament - Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 - has begun with a bang. Two of the three chess games in the first round proved decisive with Magnus Carlsen beating Boris Gelfand, Levon Aronian beating Viswanathan Anand, but Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura drawing their game.
Photo Maria Emelianova
All the games were hard-fought and full of interesting ideas. Levon Aronian capitalized despite an inaccuracy in time trouble on his part on a mistake from Viswanathan Anand before move 40 and went on to win on the 73rd move.
The most unhappy of all of them was Fabiano Caruana. He missed an excellent opportunity against Hikaru Nakamura and was thereafter forced to defend tenaciously for a long time, before his compatriot acquiesced in a draw.
You can replay all the Round 1 games of the Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Chess King.
Labels: zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 begins at Hotel Savoy
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 started on Wednesday 29th January at Hotel Savoy in Zurich, Switzerland. After the opening ceremony, a round robin blitz tournament was held to determine the starting numbers. Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian scored 3/5, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Vishwanathan Anand had 2,5/5 each, while Boris Gelfand finished on 1,5/5. The first round pairings are Carlsen - Gelfand, Aronian - Anand and Nakamura - Caruana.
With six participants it is the first tournament in the history of chess to reach category 23 with an amazing average rating of 2801.
The six-player field is topped by World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. It takes place in Zurich’s Hotel Savoy at the initiative of Oleg Skvortsov and the Zurich Chess Club. The Classical tournament is an all-play-all event starting at 15:00 CET each day from 30 January- 3 February. The time control is 40 moves/120 min + 20 moves/60 min + 15 min/rest of the game + a 30 sec/move increment from move 61. A rapid game will follow any draw in under 40 moves. (FIDE)
Labels: zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge begins Jan 29: Carlsen, Aronian, Nakamura, Caruana, Gelfand, Anand (Six of World's top-10 GMs)
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
On Wednesday, 29 of January 2014, the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» will commence at the Hotel Savoy. With six participants it is the first tournament in the history of chess to reach category 23 with an amazing average rating of 2801!
The star of the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» will be the newly crowned world-champion Magnus Carlsen. During his first tournament appearance since winning the world title last November, the 23-year old Norwegian will compete against his predecessor and former world-champion, Viswanathan Anand of India (number 9 in the world-ranking), the Armenian Levon Aronian (2), the American Hikura Nakamura (3), the US-Italian Fabiano Caruana (6), as well as the Israeli Boris Gelfand (8).
This brilliant event, which will take place in the extraordinary familial environment of the ballroom of the Hotel Savoy, has already caught the attention and led to the registration of many journalists and top-players from throughout the world, including Peter Leko, Jan Timman and Gennadi Sosonko. Further, the Chinese women's world-championHou Yifan will attend this unique occasion and will be playing a simultaneous exhibition with clocks against 6 top Swiss juniors on 1 February at 1 p.m. at the Zurich «Zunfthaus zur Saffran».
For the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014», a blitz tournament will determine the color distribution on the first day. Five rounds of classical chess will then be played from Thursday to Monday (30 January to 3 February), followed by a rapid tournament with reversed colors on the last day (4 February). A won game in the classical tournament counts two points, draws one point. Wins in the rapid tournament count one point and draws half a point. All games will be commented live by GM Yannick Pelletier and IM Werner Hug and broadcast world-wide live via Internet on www.zurich-cc.com. Admission to the classical and rapid games of this formidable event is free and no previous registration of spectators is required!
The «Zurich Chess Club» was founded in 1809 and is the oldest active chess club of the world. With the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» it will continue its long-standing tradition of hosting top-level tournaments, which have included such memorable events as the candidate's tournament 1953, the simul and rapid tournament of all living world-champions at at the Zurich main train station 2009, the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2012» with Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik as well as the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2013» with the four grand masters Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana and Boris Gelfand.
The «Zurich Chess Club» is very proud to be the organizer and host of this unique event. Further, it would like to thank the main tournament sponsor and chess-enthusiast Oleg Skvortsov from the «International Gemological Laboratories» of Moscow, Russia, whose generous contribution has allowed for this extraordinary happening! We look forward to welcoming all our friends from throughout the chess world either at the Hotel Savoy or live via the Internet!
Participants (Elo rating according to FRL of January 2014)
Magnus Carlsen (Norway, Elo 2872, Nr 1)
Levon Aronian (Armenia, Elo 2812, Nr 2)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA, Elo 2789, Nr 3)
Fabiano Caruana (Italy, Elo 2782, Nr 6)
Boris Gelfand (Israel, Elo 2777, Nr 8)
Vishwanathan Anand (India, Elo 2773, Nr 9)
Schedule
Daily from 30 January to 4 February 2014.
The rounds start at 15.00 local time (CET), except for the last round, which begins at 13.00 CET.
Spectators are welcome, entrance free.
Main sponsor
«IGC International Gemological Laboratories» is a Russian institute providing gemological services, such as diamond grading reports, enhanced diamonds identification, man-made/synthetic diamonds and imitation detection, as well as certification of diamonds, gemstones and jewelry in the Russian Federation. IGC is the Russian branch of «GCI» a group of gemological laboratories located worldwide.
Co-sponsors
Aspeco, SurJewel, Savoy Chess Corner, Zurich Chess Club (founded in 1809, the oldest chess club of the world)
Partners
Hotels Savoy Baur en Ville, Rössli and Seehof in Zurich
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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at www.chessqueen.com
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Labels: zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 – Strongest Tournament in Chess History begins Jan 29
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
«Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» – The strongest tournament in chess history to date
On Wednesday, 29 of January 2014, the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» will commence at the Hotel Savoy. With six participants it is the first tournament in the history of chess to reach category 23 with an amazing average rating of 2801!
The star of the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014» will be the newly crowned world-champion Magnus Carlsen. During his first tournament appearance since winning the world title last November, the 23-year old Norwegian will compete against his predecessor and former world-champion,Viswanathan Anand of India (number 9 in the world-ranking), the Armenian Levon Aronian (2), the American Hikaru Nakamura (3), the US-Italian Fabiano Caruana (6), as well as the Israeli Boris Gelfand (8).
This brilliant event, which will take place in the extraordinary familial environment of the ballroom of the Hotel Savoy, has already caught the attention throughout the world and led to the registration of many journalists and top-players, including Peter Leko, Jan Timman and Gennadi Sosonko.
Further, the Chinese women's world-champion Hou Yifan will attend this unique occasion and will be playing a simultaneous exhibition with clocks against 6 top Swiss juniors on 1 February at 1 p.m. at the Zurich «Zunfthaus zur Saffran».
For the «Zurich Chess Challenge 2014», a blitz tournament will determine the color distribution on the first day (29 February). Five rounds of classical chess will then be played from Thursday to Monday (30 January to 3 February), followed by a rapid tournament with reversed colors on the last day (4 February).
The owner of «IGC International Gemological Laboratories», Mr. Oleg Skvortsov, is the creator of this chess event. He not only loves chess, but also plays chess and supports chess events. Furthermore, Mr. Skvortsov knows many of the greatest chess players in the world personally and has played a lot of games with them.
The «Zurich Chess Club» is very proud to be the organizer and host of this unique event and it would like to thank the main tournament sponsor and chess-enthusiast Oleg Skvortsov, whose generous contribution has allowed for this extraordinary event to take place! We look forward to welcoming all our friends from throughout the chess world either at the Hotel Savoy or live via the Internet!
All games will be commented by GM Yannick Pelletier and IM Werner Hug and broadcast live via the Internet at the official website.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
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Labels: zurich chess challenge 2014
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 with Anand, Carlsen, Aronian, Nakamura, Caruana, Gelfand from Jan 29
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 will be the first encounter between the newly-crowned World Chess Champion, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, and the former title holder, India’s Viswanathan Anand after their recent match in Chennai.
Zurich Chess 2013 Opening Ceremony: Boris Gelfand, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana (left to right)
From Wednesday, 29 January to Tuesday, 4 February 2014, they will compete in the 3rd Zurich Chess Challenge along with four other great chess stars Levon Aronian (Arm), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (It) and Boris Gelfand (Isr). With an average of 2794 Elo points (according to the September 13 rating list) this is going to be the strongest tournament in chess history.
The main sponsor is Oleg Skvortsov of the International Gemological Laboratories, Moscow, with the Zurich Chess Club acting as organizer.
The owner of IGC International Gemological Laboratories, Mr. Oleg Skvortsov, is the creator of this chess event. He not only loves chess, but also plays chess and supports chess events. Furthermore, Mr. Skvortsov knows many of the greatest chess players in the world personally and has played a lot of games with them.
The first Zurich Chess Challenge in 2012 was a match between Kramnik and Aronian. The second event in 2013 was a double-round robin with Kramnik, Anand, Caruana and Gelfand.
For the 2014 edition, a blitz tournament will determine the color distribution. A round-robin tournament of five rounds with a classical time control is then followed by a rapid tournament with colors reversed on the last day of play. A won game in the classical tournament counts 2 points, a draw 1 point. Wins in the rapid tournament count 1 point and draws half a point.
All games will be commented by Yannick Pelletier and Werner Hug and broadcast live via Internet.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
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Labels: Boris gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru nakamura, levon aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, vladimir kramnik, zurich chess challenge 2014
World's Oldest Chess Club hosts Zurich Chess Challenge Jan, 2014: Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, Nakamura, Gelfand, Caruana to Play
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk during a simul at Zurich Chess Club. Read post at www.chessqueen.com.
The Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 will be the first encounter between India’s Viswanathan Anand and Norway’s Magnus Carlsen after their forthcoming world championship match in Chennai.
From Wednesday, 29 January to Tuesday, 4 February 2014, they will compete in the 3rd Zurich Chess Challenge along with four other great chess stars Levon Aronian
(Arm), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Fabiano Caruana (It) and Boris Gelfand (Isr). With an average of 2794 Elo points (according to the September 13 rating list) this is going to be the strongest tournament in chess history.
The main sponsor is Oleg Skvortsov of the International Gemological Laboratories, Moscow, with the Zurich Chess Club acting as organizer.
The first Zurich Chess Challenge in 2012 was a match between Kramnik and Aronian. The second event in 2013 was a double-round robin with Kramnik, Anand, Caruana and Gelfand. For the 2014 edition, a blitz tournament will determine the color distribution. A round-robin tournament of five rounds with a classical time control is then followed by a rapid tournament with colors reversed on the last day of play. A won game in the classical tournament counts 2 points, a draw 1 point. Wins in the rapid tournament count 1 point and draws half a point. All games will be commented by Yannick Pelletier and Werner Hug and broadcast live via Internet.
ParticipantsMagnus Carlsen (Norway, Elo 2862, Nr 1)
Levon Aronian (Armenia, Elo 2813, Nr 2)
Fabiano Caruana (Italy, Elo 2779, Nr 5)
Vishwanathan Anand (India, Elo 2775, Nr 7)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA, Elo 2772, Nr 9 )
Boris Gelfand (Israel, Elo 2764, Nr 11)
ScheduleDaily from 29 January to 4 February 2014.
Spectators are welcome, entrance free.
Main sponsorIGC International Gemological Laboratories is a Russian institute providing gemological services, such as diamond grading reports, enhanced diamonds identification, man-made/synthetic diamonds and imitation detection as well as certification of diamonds, gemstones and jewelry in the Russian Federation. IGC is the Russian branch of GCI – a group of gemological laboratories located worldwide.
Co-sponsors
Savoy Chess Corner, Zurich Chess Club (founded in 1809, the oldest chess club of the world)
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Labels: Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess Queen, zurich chess challenge 2014
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