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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sao Paulo Chess Masters R5: Caruana Wins First Leg of Grand Slam
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Latest chess news from Sao Paulo: Fabiano Caruana held up against Levon Aronian and drew the fifth round at the Chess Masters Grand Slam. Caruana finished the first half of the Sao Paulo-Bilbao Grand Slam event with the lead. But, Caruana did not get an easy draw. In fact, he was nearly lost at least twice against Aronian, but the latter let the Italian Grandmaster escape!
Caruana on his way to drawing
with Aronian in Sao Paulo.
The Italian Grandmaster begins the Bilbao section with 11 points, from October 8. Levon Aronian has seven points and Magnus Carlsen has six points.
Day 5th Results: Aronian-Caruana 1/2-1/2
Vallejo-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Anand-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Standings after Sao Paulo with the 3-1-0 scoring
- Fabiano Caruana: 11 points. - Levon Aronian: 7 points. - Magnus Carlsen: 6 points. - Viswanathan Anand: 5 points. - Francisco Vallejo: 3 points. - Sergei Karjakin: 3 points
London Chess Grand Prix R8: Hikaru Loses to Ivanchuk; Gelfand Leads
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
“So far so good” were the words of Boris Gelfand while leaving the playing venue after the seventh round. On Saturday, his opponent Anish Giri decided to go for a sharp King’s Indian. Boris had to think for a while and opted for the bayonet attack. First moves were played very fast and after 22 moves, Gelfand decided to sacrifice a piece! The two white bishops were very dangerous and Anish decided to give up an exchange with 25…dxc5?! Boris took a good advantage but 30.Rf1 was an inaccurate move and gave the opportunity for Anish to come back in the game and eventually equalised. A disappointing draw for Boris who could have increase the lead.
The first game to end in the eighth round was between Topalov and Mamedyarov. In a well-known line of Caro Kann, Mamedyarov equalised right after the opening. “Shak” didn’t know 18.Be1 but it was not a big danger for Black and after one hour of play, both players decided to repeat the moves. Draw in 31 moves.
Cool Chess Motif in Advertisement Videos: This Time It's Insurance
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
A big thank you to Chess Blog readers for sending us their favourite chess videos of advertisements from around the world. Here's another nice one just sent to us by Kara from Paris. It's a chess motif used in an advertisement for the insurance industry. Enjoy. Send us your favourite videos as well.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Chess, seniors, staying young, keeping illness away...We always love to read articles about chess and benefits. Here's one from guampdn.com titled "Staying active and challenging your mind: Lifelong habits for seniors could ward off Alzheimer's disease".
Your move: Miriam Piana, left, awaits Glynis Almonte's move as other members of the Guam ECHECS (Island Chess) Fide Zone 3.6 chess club watch their match at McDonald's in Harmon on Sept. 23. Virgilio Valencia/For Pacific Sunday News
Sao Paulo Chess Masters R4: Caruana Beats Vallejo; Leads
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Fabiano Caruana won his fourth-round game against Francisco Vallejo to maintain his lead at the Sao Paulo Chess Masters Grand Slam event. The Italian's victory over the Spanish and the draw between Carlsen and Aronian ensures that Caruana holds on to his lead in the first leg of the event that ends with Round 5 on Saturday in Sao Paulo. The second half will be played in Bilbao, Spain.
Day 4 results: Caruana-Vallejo 1-0 Carlsen-Aronian 1/2-1/2 Karjakin-Anand 1/2-1/2
The scoring pattern is 3-1-0 and the standings so far are:
Fabiano Caruana: 10 points. Levon Aronian: 6 points. Magnus Carlsen: 5 points. Viswanathan Anand: 4 points. Francisco Vallejo: 2 point. Sergei Karjakin: 2 points
London Chess Grand Prix R7: Gelfand Holds on to Lead; Mamedyarov half-a-point Behind
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is the Round 7 report by GM Robert Fontaine straight from the London Chess Grand Prix 2012.
Before the 7th round, we still had one leader, Boris Gelfand (4/6), chased by a pack of four players (Grischuk, Topalov, Mamedyarov and Leko) with 3.5/6. Strangely, none of them are facing each other today. The UK production company Sunset+Vine, famous for their innovations in televising major events, are shooting the whole day for the second time this week. Game-by-game summary is as follows:
Dominguez-Leko:
Leinier avoids the main line of the Berlin defence and decides to go for the closed Spanish opening. Right after the opening, Peter decided to destroy the pawn centre with 15…c6 and 16…d5!? The endgame, which arose from these exchanges, was a bit better for White due to the pawn structure. Not enough to break Leko’s defence and the draw was agreed.
Wang Hao-Topalov:
A very exciting Gruenfeld played by Veselin, who was 2 pawns down after 8 moves, but of course still in his preparation. As compensation, Veselin immediately had a better development. After 13 moves, White didn’t develop the king’s side at all with the bishop still on f1 and pawns on “e2” and “g2”! All the black squares were weakened and Topalov logically took the advantage step by step.
Approaching the time trouble, Hao managed to survive from his opponent’s attack and eventually equalized. A tough draw for the young Chinese player and a disappointment for Topalov.
Mamedyarov-Nakamura: Anyone is expecting blood in that game! “Shak” and Hikaru have explosive styles based on attack. So far, Hikaru’s results are not as he expects. Without any big surprise, we had a King’s Indian arriving on the board and Shakhriyar went for a quiet line based on g3, Bg2. White took the space and Hikaru decided to change the course of the game by playing 17…c5?!
It appeared that White suddenly took the advantage by creating some attack after 18.e5! Mamedyarov kept on pressuring his opponent until the time trouble, where Black couldn’t find the best defence. Mamedyarov is scoring his second full point in a row.
Ivanchuk-Kasimdzhanov:
After few moves, Vasily was not writing his moves. Carol Jarecki, the arbiter, made the small remark to the Ukrainian player. Vasily just forgot about it! In a strange move order (Reti), Rustam took the c4-pawn and tried to keep it as long as possible with 10…Qd4. Vasily didn’t go to the arbiter to ask for a draw (2 times repetition only) and finally the draw was agreed after only 11 moves!
Adams-Gelfand:
These two players know each other well very well and are from the same generation (Boris is born in 1968 and Michael in 1971). Michael went for the Rossolimo line of the Sicilian, choosing the b3, Bb2 plan. Boris decided to develop his pieces in an original way with f6, Kf7. Position looked pretty equal but Black had compensation with the two bishops.
Boris even went for the a2-pawn, which seemed risky. Black kept his two pawn advantage until the rook endgame and managed to win. An important victory for Boris who is in real good shape so far!
Giri-Grischuk:
Anish played the solid Maroczy Bind against Grischuk's 6…Ba7 Paulsen Sicilian. The young Dutch player went for the usual plan with a4-a5 in order to take space on the queen’s side. Grischuk’s position remained solid, exchanging all the pawns on the queen’s side and equalizing comfortably. The draw was agreed after a long fight!
Standings after seven rounds have Boris Gelfand at 5 points out of 7 with Mamedyarov right behind at 4.5. Three players are at 4 points each - Grischuk, Topalov and Leko. Wang Hao is at 3.5 points. Four players are at 3 points each - Ivanchuk, Adams, Dominguez, Giri. Two players are at 2.5 each - Kasimdzhanov and Nakamura.
More Chess in Moscow, Says City Chess Fed Chief Palikhata
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Muscovites Will Play Chess in Coffee Shops and Parks MOSCOW, Sept. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Chess, phenomenally popular in the USSR since the 1920s, when the state invested heavily in the game to show the world the prevalence of communism, is back in fashion in Moscow. Soon, young Muscovites will be able to enjoy a game of chess in cafes and parks all over the city.
Moscow Chess Federation President Vladimir Palikhata (left) and Grandmaster Boris Gelfand at the opening ceremony of World Chess Grand Prix in London. (PRNewsFoto/MCF)
Vladimir Palikhata, well-known businessman and philanthropist, became the President of the Moscow Chess Federation in 2012 and was impressed by how popular chess is among young people. “I feared that only people who remember the Fischer-Spassky times play chess and I was thrilled to learn that the game is most popular among 14-35 year-olds. Our next big tournament took place at Strelka Institute, heart of the Moscow hipster culture, and the turnout was phenomenal. Now we are taking chess to cafes,” says Palikhata.
Moscow Chess Federation is also actively involved in promoting chess around the world. Vladimir Palikhata, today called upon London to embrace the sport of chess. In a letter to mayor Boris Johnson, Mr. Palikhata, said that London should build upon the sporting legacy of the Olympics by actively supporting the game in London schools and chess clubs.
He said: “It has been proven that playing chess has a hugely beneficial impact on academic performance in schools and London could play a key role in the revival of the sport in England – a country with a proud history in the sport. And London is nearly as cold and wet as Moscow during the dark winter months. What better sport than chess to occupy our efforts.” Mr Palikhata’s remarks come as London plays host to the first Grand Prix in the new World Chess Championship Cycle.
Mr. Palikhata was present at the opening ceremony for the London Grand Prix, which took place at Somerset House on September 20. The Moscow Chess Federation co-hosted the event, which saw over 300 distinguished guests witness exhibition blitz games between the world’s leading chess players. Guests included FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and chess enthusiast Lily Cole, the supermodel and actress.
“We are studying other cities’ experience and integrating chess into Moscow’s urban culture. By 2013, chessboards will be in over 500 Moscow cafes,” added Palikhata.
Moscow Chess Federation, established in 1970, aims to develop and popularize chess in the Russian capital.
Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara: Koneru Humpy Wins Gold
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
Congratulations to GM Humpy Koneru for winning the sixth edition of the Fide Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara, Turkey. She is now placed second in the overall Grand Prix series after Hou Yifan. That is an interesting situation. If Hou Yifan were to retain her world chess title later this year, it would be Koneru Humpy again becoming her challenger. However, if Yifan were to lose her title, it would be Yifan challenging whoever is crowned the women's world chess champion this December!
The Chinese has already clinched the first place in the overall Grand Prix cycle and is a current World Champion among women. Round eleven was as thrilling as it was expected. All the attention turned to the games which would identify the winner of Grand Prix in Ankara.
Humpy Koneru confidently won against Monika Socko and had to wait for the final outcome of the game between Ruan Lufei and Anna Muzychuk. The victory could have given Slovenian player the second place in the Series but she missed a good chance for advantage and game was drawn.
Another important game for the final standings was played between Zhao Xue and Tatiana Kosintseva. A draw guaranteed Zhao Xue the bronze medal in GP in Ankara, which she earned. Both Turkish players Kubra Ozturk and Betul Yildiz lost in the 11th round to the higher rated Viktorija Cmilyte and Antoaneta Stefanova respectively. Munguntuul Batkhuyag won against Ju Wenjun and finished the tournament with +1.
Cool Chess, Poker Video at 2012 World Series with Jen Shahade, Jim Geary! (Video Link Updated)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Former US Women's Chess Champion and writer Jennifer Shahade and Jim Geary play 17-card Chinese Poker Chess at the "Math-house" party at the 2012 World Series of Poker.
In this game, they each set one five-card high hand, one five-card low hand, one badugi hand and one three card high hand. Whoever sets first presses the other player's clock. The slower Chinese player can only move after setting the hands. Scoring= 1 point for each poker game, 4 points for chess, four point bonus for sweeping all five games. Video courtesy Rodney Chen, editing by Daniel Meirom.
Vallejo Prediction: Sao Paulo Chess Masters Final Results Will be Close
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
Spanish Grandmaster Francisco Vallejo has said he is confident of having a good tournament at the Sao Paulo-Bilbao Chess Masters Grand Slam and it would be a tough fight for whoever becomes champion. Vallejo said he was not surprised by Caruana’s early lead, although he thinks that the Italian “was lucky” in his game with Carlsen.
The Spanish chess champion and number 25 in the world rankings, Francisco Vallejo, believes that “the name of the champion won’t be known until the last day of the second leg of the Final in Bilbao”.
The Menorcan, on the rest day of the 5th Chess Masters Final first leg which takes place in Sao Paulo until tomorrow Saturday (Sunday morning Spanish time) has stated the he is not surprised by the early lead in the tournament by the talented 19 year old Italian, Fabiano Caruana: “He is an up and coming player of great quality and his results in other tournaments show that he is a strong candidate to win,” although he adds that Caruana has had some luck in being able to take advantage of the mistakes committed by the world number one, Magnus Carlsen, in the game they disputed in the first round.
London Chess Grand Prix R6: Wang Hao Wins on Nakamura Blunder
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
Here is GM Robert Fontaine's summary report from the sixth round at the London Fide Grand Prix where Israel's Boris Gelfand continues to be in lead.
We had a fight of continents between Hikaru Nakamura and Wang Hao! Surprisingly, Hikaru chooses a quiet line with double fianchetto 2.g3 and 4.b3. Wang Hao had a pretty safe position and waited the time control to see a big blunder (45.Nxa4??) from the American player. You can see the game in the Chess King applet.
Alexander Grischuk and Peter Leko in pursuit of Gelfand have white pieces today and tried to reduce the gap. Alexander avoided the main weapon of Michael Adams (Marshall gambit) and went for 6.d3. White opened quickly the centre forcing black to give away a pawn. In compensation, Adams had pair of bishops. It was enough to secure the draw in the endgame.
The last game of the day saw Veselin Topalov facing Dominguez. Veselin faced the 4…a6 Slav defence and decided to take immediately space with 7.Ne5 and 8.f4. Topalov took gradually the advantage, sacrificed a piece to win beautifully on the endgame.
Meanwhile, Boris Gelfand (3,5/5) played against Vasily Ivanchuk. The Israeli player went for an aggressive line against Queen’s Indian, sacrificing a pawn very early in the game. Both players said it was a complicated game and finally the draw was agreed before the time trouble, on move 25.
The Uzbek player Kasimdzhanov plays the Azeri Mamedyarov in one of the latest modern lines of the Meran. The position became very sharp when Mamedyarov decided to develop his initiative on the King’s side, pushing his “f” and “h” pawns. The 38th move was a terrible blunder from the Uzbek player and “Shak” jumped on the opportunity to score a full point.
Peter Leko played Giri in a very fashion line of Sicilian Najdorf. Peter gives a pawn quickly in order to have initiative and two bishops. Anish started the counter attack on the “a” file and managed to equalize. Both players decided than to repeat quickly the moves and agreed for a draw.
Women's Chess Grand Prix Ankara R10: Humpy, Muzychuk in Joint Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Interesting things are happening at the Ankara Women's Chess Grand Prix. In the tenth round, Anna Muzychuk lost a good chance to get an advantage playing against Viktorija Cmilyte and game finished in a draw. Humpy Koneru confidently won against Kubra Ozturk to catch up Slovenian player. Thus both of them lead in the tournament with 7,5 points half a point above Zhao Xue, who won against Betul Yildiz and is placed third with one round to go.
Tatiana Kosintseva showed good preparation today and catch her opponent Ju Wenjun in the opening. Chinese player failed to find the exact moves which would lead the game to the force draw and as a result was outplayed by Russian player.
The games Stefanova-Socko and Batkhuyag-Lufei ended peacefully. The last round is going to decide the overall second place in Grand Prix. Humpy Koneru plays white against Monika Socko, who seems to be not in her best shape, while Anna Muzychuk is going to face Ruan Lufei, who plays with white and placed fourth in the tournament. Zhao Xue, who also got good chances to fight for medals, plays with white against Tatiana Kosintseva.
Cool Chess Article: Deep Blue, Bug Conspiracy Theory and Kasparov's Loss!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
A very interesting article in Cnet talks about how a bug in Deep Blue could have actually led to Kasparov's defeat. Columnist Tim Hornyak states: "In his new book, Nate Silver writes that a glitch in IBM's chess terminator may have spooked Garry Kasparov in his famous 1997 loss. But he was more likely psyched out by its surprising brilliance."
Under pressure: The second game proved pivotal in Kasparov's 1997 match against Deep Blue.(Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET) It's part of the conventional wisdom now that machines are smarter than us, especially when it comes to specific challenges. Chess, for instance. World champion Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of IBM's Deep Blue computer in 1997 was a milestone in the story of artificial intelligence. But did the machine merely psych him out? Statistician Nate Silver's new book "The Signal and The Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail--But Some Don't" contains an anecdote about how a glitch in Deep Blue may have led Kasparov to overestimate the machine's smarts, according to The Washington Post. Despite the machine's ability to evaluate 200 million moves per second, Kasparov easily won the first game of the match. In the 44th move, however, Deep Blue made an inexplicable play, moving a rook for no apparent purpose.
Kasparov may have been spooked by that, but his concern turned to panic in the second game, in which Deep Blue started playing much less like a computer and more like a human grandmaster. Kasparov lost, drew the next three games, and collapsed during the sixth, losing the epic battle.
Deep Blue's rook move, however, was the result of a bug, according to Silver. The glitch made it unable to select any of the many possibilities it could analyze, so it went to a fail-safe maneuver -- a random play. The move was of no consequence, and the bug was fixed before the second game. But Silver speculates:
In fact, the bug was anything but unfortunate for Deep Blue: it was likely what allowed the computer to beat Kasparov. In the popular recounting of Kasparov's match against Deep Blue, it was the second game in which his problems originated -- when he had made the almost unprecedented error of forfeiting a position that he could probably have drawn. But what had inspired Kasparov to commit this mistake? His anxiety over Deep Blue's forty-fourth move in the first game -- the move in which the computer had moved its rook for no apparent purpose. Kasparov had concluded that the counterintuitive play must be a sign of superior intelligence. He had never considered that it was simply a bug.
What inspired Kasparov to mess up probably had a lot more to do with how Deep Blue's playing style had changed dramatically in the second game. It unexpectedly avoided a classic trap for computer players that Kasparov set, then established a winning position, prompting the world champ to resign.
Kasparov seems to have been more concerned about IBM cheating and using the advice of a hidden grandmaster than finding himself face to face with a decidedly superior intelligence. It was the first time a reigning world champion had lost to a computer in a regulation match.
The rest, of course, is history. IBM denied it had cheated, and Deep Blue was dismantled. Along with its parts went a piece of human superiority.
Filipino Chess Icon Eugene Torre Upbeat About National Chess Team
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Filipino chess icon GM Eugene Torre has said that while the Filipinos finished 21st in the recent Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, they proved that they can slug it out with the world’s elite, beating top teams Bulgaria and England. The Filipinos even moved to joint second in a field of 143 after a draw with No. 4 Hungary and victories over the Bulgarians and the Englishmen. But defeats to China and Romania in the closing rounds spoiled their remarkable run, according to an article in The Philippine Star. “It was an eye-opener that we could slug it out with the elite teams,” said Torre, Asia’s first grandmaster who at 60 remains as sharp as ever.
World Chess Champ Boris Spassky in Hospital; Was He Kidnapped?
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
We wish speedy recovery to world chess great Boris Spassky who is currently hospitalised for treatment against hypertension in hospital Railways (RZD) in Moscow. (Photo: Photo: RIA Novosti). On September 26, Le Figaro reported that Spassky's son has complained in a French court against unknown people "for kidnapping" his father. In mid-August, the Russian media talked about Spassky's hospitalisation. In one of the interviews, Spassky said he had been abused by his family members.
According to reports, Spassky was hospitalised in a Moscow medical institution after suffering a stroke in 2010. He was first treated at a Moscow hospital, but his family then had him transferred to a hospital in France.
In an interview with a Russian publication, which Spassky Jr. claims was made up, his father is quoted as saying he had been "isolated" in France since 2010 and could not go to police, while his relatives gave him large quantities of sedatives which led to skin diseases. Spassky also said he had been deprived of both his Russian and his French documents, but with the help of his friends and the Russian embassy, he had managed to fly home this August.
However, Spassky's son gives a different account of the events in the Figaro interview. He said that a woman named Valentina Kuznetsova came to visit his father at the French hospital. She had an aggressive manner and stopped the family members from talking with Spassky in private. She was also extremely offensive towards them. Some time after Spassky came home from the hospital, he disappeared without a trace.
Three weeks after his father's disappearance, Spassky Jr. learnt that he was in a Moscow hospital and was being attended by Kuznetsova.
After he married Marina Shcherbachyova in 1976, he relocated to France, while still maintaining the right to play for the USSR.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The latest Fide chess tournament news is about the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club of San Francisco having organised the Third Imre Konig Chess Memorial on September 22-23 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of International Master Konig, the first top-rated chess player to reside in San Francisco.
The event, sponsored by Tibor Weinberger, was a seven-player round-robin, featuring a rapid time control of Game in 25 minutes, with a 15-second increment from move one.
Top six rated players from the Bay Area were invited – Grandmasters Sam Shankland, Nick de Firmian, Vinay Bhat, Jesse Kraai and Walter Browne, and International Master Daniel Naroditsky. The last player, Grandmaster Emil Anka of Hungary, pays respect to Konig’s ancestry as an international cosmopolitan who was born in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Kula, in today’s Serbia.
Final standings:
1-2. GM Sam Shankland 2601 and IM Daniel Naroditsky 2483 – 4/6 3-4. GM Jesse Kraai 2514 and GM Nick de Firmian 2510 – 3,5 5. GM Emil Anka 2382 – 3,0 6. GM Vinay Bhat 2511 – 2,0 7. GM Walter Browne 2449 – 1,0 Prizes: 1. $2000 2. $1500 3. $1000 4. $900 5. $800 6. $700 7. $600
Sao Paulo Chess Masters R3: Fabiano Caruana in Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The third day at the Sao Paulo Chess Masters Grand Slam witnessed three draws: Aronian drew with Vallejo, Caruana drew with Anand and Carlsen drew with Karjakin. Two more rounds are to be played after Thursday's rest day. The next half of the event would then proceed to the city of Bilbao in Spain from October 8 to 13. The standings are:
Fabiano Caruana: 7 Levon Aronian: 5 Magnus Carlsen: 4 Viswanathan Anand: 3 Francisco Vallejo: 2 Sergey Karjakin: 1
Fabiano Caruana could not convert his advantage and drew with Viswanathan Anand. Anand defended a position well with three vs four pawns and even if there was a win somewhere it would have been difficult to achieve for Caruana.
In the Aronian-Vallejo duel, the Spanish champion gained a clear opening advantage and he seemed on his way to earning his first victory of thetournament. The errors committed by the Armenian double Olympic championonly served to increase the Minorcan’s advantage. However, Vallejo decidednot to enter into the endgame, in an excess of respect for the quality of hisopponent and gave up the advantage to enter a line which which allowed him toeasily maintain a draw and with it his second point on the scoreboard. “The waythings were, I am satisfied with the draw achieved,” said Vallejo.
In the third matchup starring Carlsen and Karjakin, the Russian obtained hispromising first place in the Final, to later throw away the advantage in a slightlymisguided mid game, which condemned him to playing the endgame in aninferior position. In this last stage, world number one, Carlsen, was aboutto repeat the fatal error he made on the first day, and through an excess ofambition, gave clear opportunities to his opponent to win, that the latter was unable to take advantage of since the time on the clock was thrown on top of him. In short, it was a fair draw in a back and forth encounter which either ofthem could have won.
The matches can be followed live on the tournament’s oficial websitewww.bilbaomastersfinal.com and will resume on Friday.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here's a cool chess video we found on YouTube. It's a video postcard entry by Shandesignstudio for the final eurovision song contest. Don't forget to share your favourite videos with a chess motif from movies, ad films, local club, etc. with Chess Blog.
Women's Chess Grand Prix Ankara R9: Anna Muzychuk in Sole Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Koneru Humpy-Anna Muzychuk at
Ankara Women's Chess Grand Prix.
The Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara saw the top seeds clash in the ninth round. Anna Muzychuk beat overnight leader Koneru Humpy and is now in the lead. You can see the Humpy-Muzychuk with Chess King. Former women's world chess champion Antoaneta Stefanova scored the first full point in the tournament by winning against Kubra Ozturk who sacrificed a pawn in the middle game but didn't get enough compensation later on. Tatiana Kosinsteva committed three times the same mistake until Betul Yildiz found the winning move and converted the score in her favour. Zhao Xue was persistent in finding winning chances against Monika Socko and eventually succeeded in winning. Two more games could have been decisive if Viktorija Cmilyte and Ju Wenjun would have converted their advantage. Standings after nine rounds have Anna Muzychuk with 7 points, Koneru Humpy at 6.5, Zhao Xue at 6.0, Ruan Lufei at 5.5, Viktorija Cmilyte and Ju Wenjun at 5 each, Munguntuul Batkhuyag has 4.5 points, Tatiana Kosintseva 4 points and Antoaneta Stefanova has 3 points. Monika Socko and Kubra Ozturk have 2 points each. Two more rounds are to played.
Nezhmetdinov Chess Cup from Sept 25 with GM Timofeev as Top Seed
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Russian Chess Federation, Tatarstan Ministry of Sport and Tatarstan Chess Federation are organising the 34th Rashid Nezhmetdinov Cup from 25th September to 4th October in Kazan. The tournament also marks the centenary of Nezhmetdinov’s birth.
The tournament will be played over 9 rounds of Swiss system and is valid for the Russian Cup. Draw offers are not allowed before 40th move. The total prize fund is 12,400 EUR and the winner will earn 2500 EUR. There are 10 regular prizes and special prizes for women, juniors and seniors. On 29th and 30th September there will be a rapid tournament. Details would be announced on the official website.
Top rated players are GM Artyom Timofeev 2640, GM Sergey Volkov 2594, GM Vladimir Burmakin 2590, GM Evgeny Vorobiov 2586, GM Sergey Grigoriants 2560, GM Dmitry Frolyanov 2560 and GM Daniil Linchevsky 2558.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The Final of the 72nd Ukrainian Women Chess Championship is taking place from 24th September to 3rd October at the Students’ Palace of National University “Law Academy Yaroslav the Wise” in Kharkiv. Ten players compete in the round robin event, forming the line-up for the strongest national Championship in the history.
Top seed Kateryna Lahno
There were two decisive games on the first day: Kateryna Dolzhykova lost to Tatiana Kononenko and Irina Andrenko lost to Anastasiya Rakhmangulova. The other three games were drawn, including one of the main encounters between top seeds Kateryna Lahno and Natalia Zhukova. The longest game of the round was played between Oksana Gritsayeva and Inna Gaponenko – 108 moves! White kept the advantage throughout the game, but on move 67 she made a mistake that allowed Black to save the game.
Results of round 1: Lahno – Zhukova ½ Gritsayeva – Gaponenko ½ Andrenko – Rakhmangulova 0:1 Kononenko – Dolzhykova 1:0 Muzychuk – Ushenina ½
London Chess Grand Prix R5: Dominguez Misses Win vs Nakamura
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Tuesday was the last round before the first free day at the London Chess Grand Prix. Boris Gelfand of Israel is in sole lead after five rounds. Due to Yom Kippur, Boris and Shakhriyar had to start the game at 1pm. Ivanchuk, who arrived a bit earlier to watch the game, was surprised by the pawn sacrifice of Boris from the very beginning of the game.
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or to propose collaboration
Best chess wishes to you! Alexandra Kosteniuk
12th Women's World Chess Champion
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