Experience versus Rising Stars Chess begins in Amsterdam

GM Hikaru Nakamura

Hello Everyone,

The NH Chess Tournament that sees a team of five young 'Rising Stars' against a team of five 'Experienced' Grandmasters is taking place from August 12-22 in hotel Krasnapolsky, in the heart of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In the first round both teams won one game each and drew the remaining three. Hikaru Nakamura defeated Ljubomir Ljubojevic who got muddled in time-trouble. Boris Gelfand beat David Howell, who got lost in a complex queen ending.

The two teams play a ‘Scheveningen’ tournament, which means that each player of one team plays against each of the players of the other team. They do so twice, once with the white pieces and once with the black pieces. The team that collects most points wins the tournament. The best player of the ‘Rising Stars’ team will be invited to the 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in March 2011 in Nice, provided he or she scores over 50% in the NH Chess Tournament in Amsterdam.

You can find excellent reports and photos at the official website of the tournament.

The ‘Experience’ team consists of

1. Boris Gelfand (Israel)

2. Peter Svidler (Russia)

3. Peter Heine Nielsen (Denmark)

4. Loek van Wely (The Netherlands)

5. Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Serbia)

And the ‘Rising Stars’ are:

1. Hikaru Nakamura (United States)

2. Fabiano Caruana (Italy)

3. Wesley So (The Philippines)

4. Anish Giri (The Netherlands)

5. David Howell (England)

The players of the ‘Rising Stars’ team can invite a trainer to help them during the tournament. The seconds of the ‘Rising Stars’ are (in the same order):

1. Kris Littlejohn (United States)

2. Boris Avrukh (Israel)

3. Richard Bitoon (The Philippines)

4. Vladimir Chuchelov (Belgium)

5. Stephen Gordon (England)

Here is the Nakamura-Ljubojevic game that you can run through our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com