Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The FIDE April rating list has been published with Magnus Carlsen remaining at the No. 1 slot with the same points as in March and most of the top ratings remain the same as the Candidates 2013 tournament has not ended yet. Only Boris Gelfand and Vladimir Kramnik have lost nine points and one point respectively from the games at the Zurich Chess Challenge. Here are the top-30 men and women's ratings. For the complete lists check out the Fide website.
Fide Chess Candidates 2013 Drama - Cool Slideshow Videos
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
Here are two nice videos compiled by Macauley Peterson with photos by Anastasiya Karlovich from the Candidates 2013 being held in London. The tournament is at an exciting stage with just two rounds to go. Russia's Vladimir Kramnik has a lead over the rest with 8.0 points. Magnus Carlsen is half-a-point behind. Enjoy the chess videos this Easter.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
This 'not chess' photo is from our award-winning database of world's best chess portraits at www.chesspics.com. Chess trivia question for the weekend is: What's 12th Women's World Chess Champion Chess Queen™Alexandra Kosteniuk playing?
Fide Chess Candidates R12: Vladimir Kramnik beats Levon Aronian, takes Lead; Magnus Carlsen Loses to Vassily Ivanchuk
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In a dramatic 12th round Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) took over the lead from Magnus Carlsen (Norway) at the FIDE World Chess Candidates' Tournament in London. The former World Champion beat Levon Aronian (Armenia) while Carlsen suffered his first loss against Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine). The other two games, between Boris Gelfand (Israel) and Peter Svidler (Russia) and Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) and Alexander Grischuk (Russia), were drawn.
With the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament entering its decisive phase, chess fans from all over the world will focus on London this Easter weekend. So far the tournament website has been visited by over half a million fans, even before the start of the 12th round! And every day the organizers are receiving dozens of emails. Christian from Germany wrote on Friday morning: “All of you are doing a marvellous job! Thanks to Socar, thanks to you, and thanks to Laurence and Nigel and everyone else making this fantastic event.”
In what was a truly dramatic round, for the first time all games went beyond move 40. Boris Gelfand and Peter Svidler, however, agreed to a draw immediately after the time control. Gelfand was happy with his position out of the opening, an Anti-Grünfeld. He said he knew that it’s “difficult to defend for Black”. Svidler agreed: “It’s a structure I’m not comfortable playing.”
Making matters worse with the inaccurate 20…Red8 and 21…Bg7, Svidler was looking at an unpleasant position around move 30. “I’m kind of running out of moves. To call it a Zugzwang position is an overstatement but it’s very difficult for me to make moves.” Gelfand, however, missed a tactic with his 32nd move (he should have played 32.Qb3) when the worst was over for Black. “I thought I was winning a piece,” said the Israeli grandmaster.
Aronian-Kramnik, on paper the Big Game of this round, became an absolute thriller, an “epic battle”, as Kramnik called it himself. It started as a Semi-Tarrasch and Aronian, who had to play for a win in this game, chose the modest 6.e3. It could have transposed into a Panov Caro-Kann, but with 10…f5 Kramnik took a different and quite original path. About this move, commentator IM Lawrence Trent said: “It’s like marmite, either you love it you don’t like it at all!”
On move 16 the game became extremely sharp, and every move was crucial. As became clear at the press conference, the players evaluated the position after 17.Rc5 quite differently. Aronian: “Honestly speaking I thought I was close to winning.” Kramnik: “Really? I thought I was close to winning!” The Armenian actually saw the line 21.Rh5 Rac8 22.Ne5 which draws (missed by Kramnik) but thought he had more. In that phase, according to some pundits Aronian “self-destructed”.
Breaking Chess News Candidates R12: Ivanchuk Grinds Down Magnus Carlsen; Kramnik in Lead
Breaking Chess News Update:Ukraine's Vassily Ivanchuk ground down World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in a tactical battle with a theoretical finale to a hard-fought Rook and pawn endgame. Yes, it was the Lucena position (that Chucky would have played eyes closed and sleeping if required) that made Carlsen resign. The game lasted more than seven hours. Updated post is here.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
In Thursday's 11th round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates' Tournament Vladimir Kramnik moved to second place. Russia's number one beat Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), while Levon Aronian (Armenia) lost to Peter Svidler (Russia). Drawing his black game with Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Magnus Carlsen (Norway) kept his half point lead in London with three rounds to go. Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and Boris Gelfand (Israel) played a very quick draw.
Designed by world-renowned Pentagram Design, the playing zone in the IET’s Lecture Theatre has a lower middle area and a higher area at the back. It is there where the arbiters stay and where the players are getting their food and drinks during the game. As became clear at the start of the 11th round, chess players aren’t really used to such a split-level room. Vassily Ivanchuk slipped and almost fell down, hurt is left ankle and had to treat it with some ice. (Now he’s fine.) At the press conference his opponent, Boris Gelfand, said that he too almost fell down in one of the previous rounds, plunged in thought about his position!
The encounter between Ivanchuk and Gelfand was in fact the shortest game of the tournament so far. In a Grünfeld, the two started repeating moves right after the opening, and agreed to a draw at move 17. It was a bit of a theoretical duel, as Ivanchuk repeated his Bf4 system which he adopted against Carlsen in the fifth round, Gelfand deviated on move seven and then the players followed the game Fridman-Kramnik, Dortmund 2012 until move 11. “It’s not easy to play if you don’t know it because it’s a very sharp position and both pawns are hanging. I think Vassily found a good solution to be safe,” said Gelfand. Ivanchuk: “I remember that Fridman played 12.Qb3 but I didn’t analyse it.”
Gelfand showed a few variations on the laptop in the press room, and said about the final position: “White can never be worse here. I think as a player who played Catalan all my career, I like generally White’s possibilities with this bishop on the big diagonal.” Asked about the historical importance of this Candidates’ Tournament, Gelfand said: “Tournaments like these are a milestone. Unfortunately recently I feel that the respect to the players is dropping, maybe because of computers. People think ‘OK, he didn’t see this move, the computer shows 0.65’, and they tend to respect players less. But of course such a tournament is fantastic. It’s wonderful to play here.”
Let Chess Answer Your Marriage Questions! - Funny Video
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone, Universally Speaking is a new comedy web series written by and starring Rob Cantrell. Watch as the universe gives Rob advice on how to overcome his various problems in the form of two-way conversation with an inanimate object such as a cactus, a lamp post, queen chess piece and a tree. There are many great guest comedians acting in the series including Greer Barns, Anthony Atamanuik, Kurt Metzger, Marina Franklin, Robin Montague and Dan Soder. Universally Speaking is directed by Dan Powell (Ugly Americans, Inside Amy Schummer)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone, Here's a jazzy photo with an American star - Can you name this chess babe?
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Can you name this very talented chess player? Hint: She's been invited recently for a game of chess with billionaire Bill Gates. Click on photo to read all Chess Blog posts about her. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
World Individual Chess Championship for the Disabled from June 17 in Czech Republic
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The 13th IPCA World Individual Chess Championship 2013 for chess players with physical disability will take place in Velke Losiny, Czech Republic, 17 - 26 June 2013. The tournament is organized by the IPCA (International Physically Disabled Chess Association) and Velke Losiny City. We are pleased to invite to the participation in this tournament all the National Chess Federations of disabled players and everybody individual disabled chess players from all countries. The application to the tournament you should be made through the Registration form to the 15th April 2013. You can download the Regulations and the Registration form to the tournament on the website: http://ipca.sweb.cz. The official tournament website: http://ipca.chess2013.cz/
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Interesting chess news from the Middle East states Sharjah just might now be home to the world's biggest chess club - areawise! His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, opened on Wednesday, in the presence of Shaikh Abdullah bin Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, the new premises of Sharjah Chess Club, the world’s largest state-of-the-art facility for the mental game in terms of size.
Upon arrival at the club, Sheikh Sultan was welcomed by Shaikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Shakhbout Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess Federation, Shaikh Saud bin Abdul Aziz Al Mua’lla, Chairman of Sharjah Chess Club, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of World Chess Federation (FIDE), and a number of senior local officials, chairmen of chess clubs in other emirates, and prominent sportsmen, according to news reports.Shaikh Sultan took a tour of different section of the 34,000 cubic feet facility, including the main hall which can accommodate up to 500 players. Sheikh Sultan said the club will serve as a favourite place for young minds to spend leisure time in practicing the mental game. The first chess club in Sharjah was opened in 1979. A brand new logo was designed for the club by Emirati artist Hisham Al-Mazloum recently. He is the head of Arts Directorate at Sharjah’s Department of Culture and Information. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Junior Chess Congress: San Francisco Event Witnesses Record Participation
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
A total of 375 participants played the 2013 Junior Chess Congress last weekend, at the San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency, breaking the previous record of participation. The National Chess Championship comprised of eight sections based on age from 20 & under to 6 & under. There was also a side event of blitz in two sections, 20 & under and 11 & under, on Sunday afternoon. Bay Area Chess and Norcal House dominated the club competition winning three National titles each bringing their tally in Junior Congress to eight and six National Titles, respectively. Coalinga, Liu Chess, Foster City, and Berkeley Chess won one section each to keep up their streak of National Titles. Edward Li (2045) sealed his National Championship title in the fourth round and won clear first with 4.5 points. Thomas Hart and Blake Wong tied for second with 4.0. After an epic see-saw batter Coalinga Chess and Bay Area Chess shared the National Championship title. Charles Tang (1951) won all his games to finish in clear first with 5.0. Sammy Kennedy (1747) came in second place with 3.5 while Andrew Tang, Kevin Wu, and Charles Ledesma tied for third place with 3 points. Liu Chess dominated from the beginning to win their third National title in 3 years. Alekhya Nandula (1788), Vikram Vasan (1837), and Dhanush Venkatesh (1706), all of Bay Area Chess, earned their first National Championship Title as they tied for the top spot in 16 & under, with 4.0 points. Bay Area Chess dictated terms from the very start to win their second National title this year. (US Chess Federation) From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Pan-Am Scholastic Chess Championships begin in Port of Spain
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Moruga Chess Club president Godfrey Lee Sing, second from right, receives chess equipment from TTCA president Russell Smith last Saturday. Eight other zone co-ordinators also received their equipment for expansion of the TTCA’s Chess in Schools programme. With them are Under-20 girls champion Javanna Smith, Douglas and Daniel Lee, right. This is timely as the Pan Am Scholastic Chess tournament, which will attract some 70 players from 13 countries in the Americas, will be held in Port-of-Spain during the upcoming Easter vacation.
The Trinidad & Tobago Chess Association, in conjunction with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Ministry of Education, is hosting the 7th Pan American Scholastic Chess Championships at the National Academy of the performing Arts (NAPA) in Port of Spain. The tournament is sponsored in part by First Citizens Bank and will be run in age groups: Under-9, Under 11, Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17. This is the first time the Pan American Scholastic Chess Championship is being held in T&T.
At last year’s tournament in Margarita, the T&T squad placed second to Venezuela, with Peru third. Javanna Smith and Sanjay Roopchand brought home silver medals while Della Marie Walcott got bronze. Local players have been doing well in this and other regional tournaments for the past three years.
A total of 150 players from 10 countries are expected to participate, along with 100 local players. Among the countries invited are Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Barbados, Suriname, Jamaica, Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. This event is expected to boost the TTCA’s current Chess in Schools Programme, and with the Easter vacation started, schools are also invited to bring along their students to witness the competition.
The Pan American Scholastic Chess Championships will be FIDE-rated, with chief international arbiter Russell Smith, deputy international arbiter Erick Hernandez from San Salvador and FIDE Arbiter Rawlson Paul presiding.
Fide Chess Candidates R10: Carlsen Keeps 1/2-Point Lead Over Aronian
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Magnus Carlsen kept his half point lead in round 10 of the FIDE Candidates’ Tournament in London. On Wednesday the Norwegian ground down Boris Gelfand (Israel) with White in a Rossolimo Sicilian. His main rivals also won: Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) admitted that he was lucky as in a drawish Berlin Endgame Alexander Grischuk (Russia) blundered in time trouble, while the opponent of Levon Aronian (Armenia), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), overstepped the time limit for the fourth time in this tournament, after playing well in a Budapest Gambit. Dejected about his score with White so far, Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) went for a quick draw against Peter Svidler (Russia) in a Grünfeld. An hour and a half into the 10th round, the game between Teimour Radjabov and Peter Svidler was already over. It’s about time to quote commentator Nigel Short’s description of such games: it was a damp squib. Having repaired his Grünfeld after his loss against Kramnik (“It wasn’t that broken, to be honest” – Svidler), the Russian grandmaster again went for his favourite defence but his opponent did manage to surprise him with his 16th move. This “either caught me by surprise or I simply couldn’t remember what my notes say,” commented Svidler, who continued playing sensible moves.
All of a sudden Radjabov started repeating, as early as move 19. At some point Svidler walked away from his board in his own time to get himself a cup of tea. “The longer he thinks, the more likely he’ll agree to a draw!” said Nigel Short. And indeed, Svidler did accept Radjabov’s silent draw offer, arguing: “I don’t believe I’m better, I couldn’t find any advantage after both 21…Qc3 and 21…Qa3.”
Radjabov: “Considering my amazing score with White in this tournament (…) I decided that a draw is a very nice result. I am not the guy who is here to lose all my games. I thought that if Peter would play for a win I would also play for a win because there would be no other chance. There were times in my life when I was very unsatisfied with a draw but now I think a draw is an amazing result sometimes!”
Another hour and a half later, Alexander Grischuk resigned his game against Vladimir Kramnik, who again brought back memories from his match against Kasparov in London by playing his favourite Berlin Ending. “The openings I played back in 2000 are working very well for me,” Kramnik said, “but although I score well in this Berlin, in fact I hadn't won a single classical game in it, only rapid and blitz.”
The 14th World Champion reached a comfortable position by “playing just theoretical moves”, and around move 25 it was “quite drawish”. Kramnik: “27…Bf5 was a clever move, there were a few traps.” Meanwhile Grischuk, who described his position after the opening as “awful”, was getting into time trouble. “I was not happy to get this position and just defend. I didn’t know what to play.”
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
This is a rare photo from the first American Chess Congress held in 1857. (That should be a hint). Can you name the two players at the chess board? Click on the photo to see the answer.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Association of Chess Professionals had recently conducted a poll to decide the best chess tournament of the year 2012. The ACP has just announced the results. All ACP members could vote for their favorite tournaments, having a choice out of 26 selected events of different formats. Voting for the best tournament of the year, the ACP members have shown their appreciation for the hard work done by the organisers. A total number of 769 votes were cast. The results are:
ACP Tournament of the Year 2012: Tata Steel Chess, Wijk aan Zee
Best Round Robin event of 2012: Tata Steel Chess, Wijk aan Zee
Best Open event of 2012: Tradewise Gibraltar Festival Best official event of 2012: World Chess Championship Match Anand-Gelfand, Moscow
Congratulations to all the winners. The Tournament of the Year contest is organized for the second consecutive year. See the 2011-results here: link
Top-5 for each category:
ACP Tournament of the Year 2012 1 Tata Steel Chess, Wijk aan Zee 2 London Chess Classic 3 World Chess Championship Match Anand-Gelfand, Moscow 4 Tradewise Gibraltar Festival 5 Tal Memorial, Moscow
Best Round Robin event of 2012 1 Tata Steel Chess, Wijk aan Zee 2 Tal Memorial, Moscow 3 London Chess Classic 4 ACP Golden Classic 5 Chess Masters Final, Bilbao/Sao Paulo
Best Open event of 2012 1 Tradewise Gibraltar Festival 2 Aeroflot Open, Moscow 3 Reykjavik Open 4 Moscow Open 5 Biel Master Tournament
Best official event of 2012 1 World Chess Championship Match Anand-Gelfand, Moscow 2 ACP Women Cup, Tbilisi 3 European Club Cup, Eilat 4 Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 5 Women's World Blitz and Rapid Championship, Batumi
Alekhine Chess Memorial SuperTournament in Paris and St Petersburg from April 20
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Alekhine Memorial International Chess Super-Tournament – which begins on 20th April at the Louvre Museum in Paris – will open with a concert by Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky. The distinguished pianist has selected a programme of works for the Alekhine Memorial by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. Mr Lugansky believes there are a number of parallels between Rachmaninoff's career and the fate of Russia's first World Chess Champion. “The idea of linking chess and art appeals to me. It was something first tried at the match between Anand and Gelfand held at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow” said Mr Lugansky. “I'm really pleased that the concept is gaining ground. The tournament celebrating the great Master being held at the Louvre and at the Russian Museum is a splendid event – not only for chess, but for culture as a whole.”
“Alekhine was always my favourite chess player, even in my childhood. I was impressed by his ability to find the thread for a combination of almost any position. The quadruple World Champion viewed every chess game as a work of art – as a chess fan, that way of thinking of things is very close to my own”.
Nikolai Lugansky stressed that his choice of Sergei Rachmaninoff's works in his programme for this event is far from coincidental. “There are many parallels between the life of the great Russian chess player, and the great Russian composer. Both Alekhine and Rachmaninoff were Russian by birth, but emigrated from the country – and both won world acclaim. Both of them made phenomenal contributions to world culture, and both represented Russian culture brilliantly. The Alekhine Memorial Tournament is certain to underscore Russia's worldwide cultural standing” Mr Lugansky observed.
As has been already reported, the Alekhine Memorial International Chess Super-Tournament will take place in two stages, from 21st April to 1st May, in Paris and St Petersburg. The tournament is organised by the Russian Chess Federation, with the supports of businessmen Gennady Timchenko and Andrei Filatov. The upcoming tournament will be a chance for chess fans all over the world to appreciate Russian culture more widely. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alexander Alekhine (1892–1946) Born in Moscow on 19 October 1892, the first Russian World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine was the son of a State Duma deputy, marshal of the Voronezh nobility, and the owner of huge black-earth estates in Central Russia. Alekhine graduated from the St Petersburg School of Law in 1914. That same year, he became one of the world’s strongest chess players, placing third at the prestigious St Petersburg chess tournament, after the then-reigning World Champion Emanuel Lasker and before the future Champion José Raúl Capablanca.
Third Chess Grand Prix in Zug, Switzerland from April 17
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
FIDE and Renova Group of Companies have announced the third leg of the Chess Grand Prix series will take place from April 17 to May 1 in Zug, Switzerland. Fide has announced that they are finalising negotiations with the hotel and would inform all participants of the hotel arrangements and any extra charges for accompanying persons in the next two days. Zug is located around 25 kilometers from Zurich Airport and the best connection is via train.
1.0 SCHEDULE The schedule has been maintained as originally announced: 17th April 2013 Arrivals & Opening Ceremony 18th April 2013 Round 1 19th April 2013 Round 2 20th April 2013 Round 3 21st April 2013 Round 4 22nd April 2013 Free Day 23rd April 2013 Round 5 24th April 2013 Round 6 25th April 2013 Round 7 26th April 2013 Round 8 27th April 2013 Free Day 28th April 2013 Round 9 29th April 2013 Round 10 30th April 2013 Round 11 & Closing Ceremony 1st May 2013 Departure
FIDE is currently also working on a replacement organiser for the fourth leg and more information will be available shortly. The dates of the fourth leg will also remain the same as scheduled in the calendar.
PLAYERS Players participating in the third leg: Radjabov, Teimour AZE 2793 Karjakin, Sergey RUS 2786 Topalov, Veselin BUL 2771 Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2771 Mamedyarov, Shakriyar AZE 2767 Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2766 Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2758 Leko, Peter HUN 2744 Wang, Hao CHN 2743 Gashimov, Vugar AZE 2737 Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR 2733 Giri, Anish NLD 2729
First reserve for any replacements is GM Gata Kamsky (USA)
Rare Chess Genius Bobby Fischer Photos in Harry Benson Book
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Harry Benson’s rare, exclusive photos of chess genius Bobby Fischer taken during the historic World Chess Championship match in Iceland in 1972 have been collected by powerHouse Books. Benson met Fischer in Argentina, during the qualifiers for the match, and followed him through his training and conditioning in New York, during the many weeks of the match, and was there in the winning moment to document Fischer’s historic victory. Fischer was a known recluse, and Benson was one of the very few people he would talk to throughout these defining moments in his life. Here is a nice video of the book 'Bobby Fischer'.
Scottish born photojournalist Harry Benson was the most published photographer in LIFE magazine before it closed and continues to photograph for many major magazines. In 2009, Queen Elizabeth named Benson a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Benson lives in New York and Florida with his wife, Gigi, who works with him on his exhibitions and books.
Cool Chess Video: Why Chess is Compulsory in Armenia Schools
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Here's a short video on why Armenia has added chess to the school curriculum: Readin', Ritin', and Rithmatic have long been the staples of a young person's education. In Armenia they've added chess to the list...by law.
Fantastic Chess King Discounts on eBay: Software, DVDs, Chess Queen Books and More!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
There are two sure ways of improving your chess this season. Pick up some Chess King™ software and DVDs, or read some super chess books by Chess Queen™ Alexandra Kosteniuk - the 12th Women's World Chess Champion. For those in the US, the ebay store is a must-visit. There are some fanstastic discounts going in the shop. Check out all the products including chess software like Houdini, chess key rings, books by GM Kosteniuk an more. You could even get an autographed product from the Chess Queen!
Fide Chess Candidates 2013 R9: Carlsen Survives Kramnik to Take Sole Lead
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Magnus Carlsen is the sole leader after nine rounds at the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament. On Monday the Norwegian drew with Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) while co-leader Levon Aronian (Armenia) lost to Boris Gelfand (Israel). Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk (both Russia) drew an amazingly complicated game and after 6.5 hours of play Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) scored his first win, against Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan). With the second half of the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament well under way, the interest in the tournament is growing, both online and at the IET in London. Every day both the number of spectators in the playing hall and journalists in the press room is growing, and many local grandmasters can be seen at the venue. Gawain Jones, Daniel King and Luke McShane have been frequent visitors and on Monday GMs John Nunn, Matthew Sadler, Jon Speelman and Simon Williams came along. They all witnessed another great round in which the big game was world number 2 Vladimir Kramnik against world number 1 Magnus Carlsen.
Kramnik got a nice advantage in a Catalan: “Actually it was my preparation for Kazan; I was about to play it against Radjabov in 2011 but finally for some reason I decided to play something else. Since that time I was keeping it and nobody played it. This 11.Qc2 and 12.Rd1 is kind of a new set-up; it’s quite dangerous I believe.” Carlsen: “I didn't know the details too much of this line. I more or less had to figure it out over the board. It’s not so easy to play and the way I played, he got a stable advantage so I probably did something wrong. I was just trying to find a good plan which I probably didn’t succeed in doing.”
After 13.Nc3 White was “just better” and after 20.Qe3 it was “getting really critical for Black” (Kramnik) but then, starting with 22…Re8, Carlsen found a key defensive idea (and perhaps even the only move): 25…Nd5!. Almost by force an ending with rooks and opposite-coloured bishops came on the board where Kramnik’s extra pawn wasn’t worth much. “It just seems to work by millimetre,” the Russian said two times at the press conference.
“Of course Magnus is a very strong player, a very strong defender. I don't say that I missed any win today but I was better in the opening, had a very nice position and then… it seemed very close. It’s a bit disappointing of course,” said Kramnik. Carlsen about defending this game: “I thought it was dangerous but the good thing for me is that most of the time I had to make only moves. Then in a way it’s easier.”
Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk played the most spectacular game of the tournament so far. The latter went for the ever-interesting King’s Indian Defence, and like in his game against Radjabov, Svidler played the Sämisch variation. Then, on move 12, Grischuk came up with an absolutely stunning novelty that involved a long-term piece sacrifice.
At first Svidler was “very worried”. “In a practical game (…) every move will be a torture.” English grandmaster Matthew Sadler, who lives in The Netherlands but spent his weekend with family, joined the commentary for a while and said: “I was counting the pieces and I must have counted them at least ten times!”
Svidler went for a long think, played an interesting sequence of moves and then felt he was winning. “Of course I missed 19…h3. After that I realized the game continues.” Eventually White got three minor pieces for his queen, and Svidler still felt that “White should be better somehow”, but “it became a bit too messy for my liking”. In time trouble he might have missed some ways to make Grischuk’s life harder. Just after the time control Black had created so much counter play that Svidler had seen enough and accepted his opponent’s draw offer.
The game between Boris Gelfand and Levon Aronian became quite very important for the tournament standings. In a Queen’s Gambit Declined that turned into some sort of Stonewall position, around move 25 Aronian missed a tactic and lost an important pawn. Computers don’t like his 26…Bf7, a move Gelfand didn’t expect: “Here I think Levon is in trouble.”
However, according to the Israeli Black wasn’t lost yet. “After 32…Rd3 I don’t know if my advantage is so big, but 32…h5 is a blunder.” Aronian, who had to skip the press conference because of a drug test (which Carlsen, Kramnik and Svidler also had to perform), said he had missed 28.e6 and then “completely forgot about this 33.f5 stuff”. However, just before the time control Gelfand missed a quick win, and a double rook ending came on the board. “Fortunately I have this plan of a king’s attack,” said Gelfand, who won the ending without too much trouble. It wasn’t an easy game for him, though. “I think for me it was more difficult because I played with my very close friend and he is leading the tournament. But we're professionals and we have to play our utmost in each game.”
After six and a half hours of play, Vassily Ivanchuk scored his first win of the tournament. He got a pleasant advantage out of the opening against Teimour Radjabov, who played what could be dubbed the “Accelerated Lasker Variation” of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. For a moment commentator Nigel Short thought that Radjabov had perhaps accidentally played Lasker’s Nf6-e4 one move too early, but in fact the Azerbaijani spent five minutes on it. Radjabov: “It was a long torture somehow. I got this unpleasant position, I mixed something in the opening and I got this slightly worse position where you always have to stand. I didn't have so many counter play ideas.”
Both players were not sure if the ending was really lost for Black. “Maybe I didn't have to change the knights as then the position became really easy to play for White. There’s maybe no direct win,” said Radjabov. Instead of his preparation, as suggested by Kramnik in an interview, Radjabov blamed his inactivity for his disappointing play thus far: “I should have played in one of the recent tournaments, but my family situation did not allow this. You can see that the players who played in Zurich didn't start very well, but now they are all in good form.”
After nine rounds, Carlsen is in clear first place with 6 points. Aronian is now second with 5.5, followed by Kramnik with 5 points. Gelfand moved to shared 4th place with Grischuk: both are on 4.5. Svidler is 6th with 4 points, Ivanchuk 7th with 3.5 and Radjabov last with 3. Tuesday, March 26th is the third rest day of the tournament. Play resumes on Wednesday, March 27th at 14:00 GMT with the tenth round: Carlsen-Gelfand, Aronian-Ivanchuk, Radjabov-Svidler and Grischuk-Kramnik.
(Report by Peter Doggers and Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich)
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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