Naiditsch, Vallejo, Jobava, Pelletier, Timofeev, Martinovic, Skoberne, Krasenkow, Inarkiev, Nisipeanu, Efimenko, Maiorov and Nepomniachtchi are the names of the thirteen players who are still on 100% in Rijeka. Three rounds at the European Individual Championship have been played.
The 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship is held from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, in new Zamet Centre sports hall. The event is organized by chess club “Rijeka”, in agreement with the Croatian Chess Federation under the auspices of the City of Rijeka and the European Chess Union. It is open to all players representing the chess federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.
The championship is based on Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. As always, the European Championship is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.
Rounds 1-3
Top seed Zoltan Almasi started with a draw with Black against Italian GM Lexy Ortega. In this first round, played on Saturday, Russian top GMs Alexander Motylev and Evgeny Tomashevsky, the reigning European Champion, also started with draws. The biggest upsets were IM Artem Smirnov beating GM Evgeniy Najer, IM Pavel Potapov beating Viktor Laznicka, FM Burak Firat beating GM Konstantin Sakaev and FM Danny Raznikov beating GM Zaven Andriasian. On one of the lowest boards, Dutch GM Friso Nijboer was held to a draw by Denis Kadric (2171).
The second round saw two draws on the top boards, in Stefansson-Bacrot and Movsesian-Ragger. Moldav top GM Viktor Bologan lost to Bulgarian GM Valentin Iotov and GM Avetik Grigoryan defeated GM Kiril Georgiev. Ivan Cheparinov, long-time team member of Veselin Topalov, lost to Spanish GM Josep Manuel Lopez Martinez, but another Bulgarian of the same generation did better: IM Momchil Nikolov defeated GM Boris Savchenko. FM Hamitevici Vladimir managed to beat GM Mateusz Bartel in this round.
Round 3 was played on International Women’s Day, and all the women playing in the tournament received a rose “as a small sign of appreciation to all women players and all the ladies participating in the organization of this big sporting event”.
Dutch ladies Lisa Schut, Anne Haast and Arlette van Weersel, with roses at the chess boards
In the women’s section there are four leaders with a perfect score after three rounds: Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS), who is the only survivor from the ten best rated players, Monica Socko (POL), Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO) and Irina Chelushkina (SRB).
Back to the men. After three rounds there are still 13 players with a 100% score. Among them are the two young international masters Sasa Martinovic (CRO) and Jure Skoberne (SLO) who in round 3 defeated GMs Vorobiov and Howell respectively. David Navara, these days boasting a 2708 rating, lost to Yannick Pelletier yesterday. Cheparinov went down again, this time against IM Artem Smirnov. IM Pavel Povatov and FM Burak Firat had more successes: the former defeated GM Tomi Nyback, the latter beat GM Gregorz Gajewski.
Today’s round will see some interesting encounters: Vallejo Pons-Timofeev, Krasenkow-Jobava, Naiditsch-Efimenko, Pelletier-Inarkiev, Skoberne-Nisipeanu, Nepomniashtchi-Maiorov and Adams-Martinovic. In the women’s section there are two clashes at the top: Arakhamia-T.Kosintseva and Socko-Chelushkina.
European Championship 2010 | Round 3 Standings (top 40)
A nice curiosity about the European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship in Rijeka
For the first time, there will be a ‘priest’ to represent – unofficially – the State of Vaticano. Unofficially because Vaticano is not (yet) affiliated to FIDE.
The name of the priest who will partecipate to the European Championship is Don Valerio Piro, from Neapolis; he got the formal authorization from Cardinal Sepe (note that Cardinal is more than Bishop; the Cardinal reports directly to the Pope).
Don Valerio is candidate-master for the Italian Chess Federation. Officially he is registered as Italy, but he will play with the flag of Vaticano. This is the first partecipation of a representative of the little State that is not afffiliated to FIDE. But only for the moment, as there are many priest that are good chessplayer.
Historically, the first (important) was Ruy Lopez – the inventor of the famous opening. The last one is William Lombardy, assistant of Bobby Fischer.
There is the idea to organize a championship for ‘ecclesiastics’ (priests, friars, monks, nuns), then there will be the possibility to create a Chess Federation of the state of Vaticano. So may be that it will be possible to see a team fom Vaticano also in the Olympiads.
The news had a good interest in the Italian newspapers and press agency. Please find enclosed the links (sorry, but the articles are in Italian!). Please note that the most important ‘catholic’ newspaper, Avvenire, dedicated a complete page to the news.
The venue is the Zamet Centre (16,830 m2), which hosts various facilities: a sports hall with max 2,380 seats, local community offices, a library, 13 retail and service spaces and a garage with 250 parking spaces.
These days the sports hall is occupied with tables, seats and chess sets...
...and hundreds of chess players
Croatian chess fans watching the games from the side
Vallejo Pons, from Linares to Rijeka, with Michael Adams next to him
Local hero GM Marin Bosiocic (r.), here against GM Ernesto Inarkiev, has many fans
Top seed GM Antoaneta Stefanova (l.), here against WGM Sopiko Guramishvili
Second seeded is IM Nadezhda Kosintseva, but another favourite...
...is her sister Tatiana, two times European Champion already
Photos courtesy of the official website, more here
Silvio Danailov candidate for ECU President - Danailov to hold reception during EICC
Silvio Danailov, executive director of the Grand Slam Chess Association and manager of Veselin Topalov, will run for ECU President. The candidacy of a Bulgarian representative has been a rumor since December, when President Georgi Parvanov announced after his meeting with the FIDE President Kirsan Ilymzhinov that Bulgaria will have its own candidate for ECU. Now the news is official via announcement on the EICC Rijeka page.
Veselin Topalov made a fantastic comeback to one of his favourite sites, after taking a timeout last year to play the match against Kamsky, and won the six-player Linares supertournament in style.
Entering the second half of the double round robin tournament with a large margin of point and a half ahead of the opposition, his victory appeared imminent, but he almost threw it away in the penultimate game after losing against the last-year winner Alexander Grischuk, who then caught up on the shared first place.
But Topalov quickly bounced up and beat the 2009 World Cup winner Boris Gelfand in the last round in an impressive Rook endgame. Meanwhile, Grischuk could not achieve more than a draw with black pieces against Francisco Vallejo Pons and remained half a point behind the Bulgarian. Levon Aronian secured the third place by winning against Vugar Gashimov.
Final standings: 1. Veselin Topalov BUL 2805 - 6.5 2. Alexander Grischuk RUS 2736 - 6.0 3. Levon Aronian ARM 2781 - 5.5 4-6. Vugar Gashimov AZE 2759, Boris Gelfand ISR 2761 and Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2705 - 4.0
Dans le Top 100 mondial, le prodigieux norvégien Magnus Carlsen se maintient à la place de numéro 1 avec 2813 points Elo (+3 points). Il devance le bulgare Veselin Topalov à 2805 (=). A noter, la progression de Kramnik (+2) qui grille la politesse au champion du monde en titre Anand (-2). Rappelons que le record historique appartient toujours à Garry Kasparov avec 2851 points, obtenu en Janvier 2000.
Les Français :
Petit recul sans conséquence pour le numéro 1 tricolore Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2717, -3). Le champion du monde junior 2009, occupe désormais la 19ème place du classement général (-1). De son côté, le n°2 français Etienne Bacrot (2714) engrange un petit point et pointe en 26ème position. Côté féminin, Marie Sebag (2506, -4) règne toujours sans partage en France.
Veselin Topalov briefly took the #1 spot during the Linares Super GM tournament, but then fell back off Magnus Carlsen (2813, +3) to remain in the #2 spot. The World Champion challenger is behind Carlsen by mere percentage points on the unofficial live list. Unfortunately, Linares did not make the calculations and the official list shows him eight points back (2805, +0). Topalov is gearing up for his big match with World Champion Viswanathan Anand (2787, -3).
GM Le Quang Liem (Vietnam) Photo by WGM Yana Melnikova.
Vladimir Kramnik (2790, +2) has supplanted Anand at the #3 position. He had a strong showing at Corus, but that was only worth an increase of .19 points. Levon Aronian (2782, +1) holds steady at #5 while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760, +20) vaulted into the #6 position from #11. Alexander Grischuk (2756, +20) jumped eight places on the strength of his Russian Championship.
Peter Svidler (2750, +6) and Boris Gelfand (2750, -11) are tied for 8th-9th. Gelfand plummeted in the World Team Championship after his World Cup win. Chinese #1 Wang Yue (2749, +0) has been relatively inactive since bowing out of the World Cup. The biggest winner of the top 100 is Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem (2689, +42), the winner of 2010 Aeroflot tournament. Hikaru Nakamura also saw a big gain (2735, +27).
In women’s chess, Judit Polgar remained as “Queen of the Hill” (2682, +0) with Humpy Koneru closing in (2622, +8). At one time there was almost 200 ELO points separating the top two positions. Hou Yifan (2570, -20) dropped a ton of points after the Moscow Open. One lady rising on the horizon appears to be Nadezhda Kosintseva (2554, +21) who won the Russia Women’s Championship. Zhao Xue (2490, -16) dropped under 2500 for the first time in three years and Ju Wenjun (2500, -12) is now the nation’s #2. Zhao and Xu Yuhua (2478, +0) may be preparing to make way for the wealth of Chinese talent coming through.
GM Anish Giri (Netherlands) Photo by FIDE.com.
As far as juniors are concerned, Carlsen will remain at the top for as long as he is eligible. At 2813, he is almost 100 ELO points from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2727, -3). Sergey Karjakin (2725, +5) is on position #3 and Le Quang Liem (2689, +42) has been touted as the new young star on the scene. Wesley So (2665, +9) keeps gaining and is now the strongest Filipino player in history. So is in the #6 spot. Anish Giri (2624, +36) won Corus B and vaulted over 2600. He is the youngest on the top 20 junior list and has gained some notoriety for annotating games from the Linares tournament. Watch this young man!
Interview with Veselin Topalov - Topalov about Linares and the World Championship match with Anand
The Russian journalist Yurii Vasilev conducted an interesting interview with Veselin Topalov for Sport Express after his victory in Linares. For the chess fans not acquainted with the coming match Topalov - Anand this is a nice introduction, for the frequent Chessdom readers it is a good summary of the events. Enjoy the interview, and follow the linked articles for further information.
Linares R9: Grischuk stops Topalov, joins him in lead
Alexander Grischuk won his second game in a row, the third in this tournament.
He beat the leader Veselin Topalov, avenging a loss to him in
the first half. Topalov and Grischuk go into the final round tied for first.
Topalov has white against Gelfand, Grischuk black against Vallejo. It's going
to be an exciting finish – watch it on Playchess
with GM Danny King at the mike. Round nine report.
FIDE publishes March 1 ratings, Linares not counted
Just a few days ago Veselin Topalov won the Linares tournament and narrowed the gap with Magnus Carlsen on the live rating list to just one point. On the March 1st FIDE rating list the Norwegian leads with a personal record of 2813 and is still 8 points ahead of Topalov.
It’s already an improvement to have six rating lists a year instead of four, but today we are reminded again of the fact that a monthly, or even weekly official list might be even better. While Carlsen and Topalov are just one (in fact 0.7) rating point away from each other on the “live list” by Hans Arild Runde (which you can also find in the far right column on this website), on the official list the distance is 8 points because Linares hasn’t been counted yet.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand lost his third place to Vladimir Kramnik; between them there are just three points. This means that the upcoming World Championship match in Sofia will be played between the current world’s number 2 and 4.
Vugar Gashimov was Azerbaijan’s number one player briefly, but he’s out of the top 10 again. His 6th place is now occupied by his compatriot Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who is back among the elite after a lesser period. Grischuk and Svidler climbed to spots number 7 and 8.
Vassily Ivanchuk is out of the top 10 again; he dropped slightly from 8 to 11. Hikaru Nakamura saw a strong period awarded with a 17th place. Alexander Morozevich’ decline continued; the former World’s number 2 can now be found on spot 24. There are now 37 players with a rating of 2700 or higher.
In the women’s list nothing much changed. The difference between Judit Polgar and Humpy Koneru decreased a bit further, from 68 to 60 points. Below you’ll find the new top 100, the top 100 women, the top 20 juniors and the top 20 girls. We give the first two lists including the changes with the previous lists. All data courtesy of FIDE.
FIDE MARCH 2010 RATING LIST: TOP 100 PLAYERS
Legend:
black color – player remained on the same position
green color – player moved up in the list
red color – player moved down in the list
blue color – player is new to the current Top list Old represents player’s position in the previous period list
Shahriyar Mammadyarov rises to sixth place in FIDE rating Tue 02 March 2010 05:55 GMT
The international chess federation (FIDE) has released the list of the strongest chess players of the world.
According to News.Az, Shahriyar Mammadyarov is the strongest Azerbaijani grandmaster in the renewed table about ranks. He rose to the sixth place though two months ago he was just 11th. His coefficient is 2760.
Vugar Hashimov lowered from the seventh to 12th place with 2740 points. Teymur Rajabov has the same number of points and is 13th. He rose 3 points.
The top five include Magnus Carlsen (2813), Veselin Topalov (2805), Vladimir Kramnik (2790), Vishi Anand (2787) and Levon Aronyan (2782).On the whole, the Azerbaijani team has 2637 (the average index of the ten best chess players of the country) and takes seventh place after Russia, Ukraine, China, France, India and Israel.
For the second time in succession the 19-year-old Norwegian has topped the list – his 2813 rating is the second-highest in the history of chess. Second is Veselin Topalov, third Vladimir Kramnik, who has overtaken World Champion Vishy Anand. Levon Aronian is fifth, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (+19 points) and Alexander Grischuk (+20) are now in places six and seven. Top rankings.
Topalov gana y se corona Campeón del Torneo de Linares 2010
Veselin Topalov fue destacado en la clasificación varias jornadas y parecía que iba a ser el vencedor, pero luego perdió contra Grischuk y el ganador solo se decidiría en la emocionante última ronda, en un duelo a distancia con el otro líder. Para el desempate, en este torneo, en primer lugar se compara el número de victorias; después, el mejor resultado contra los jugadores con 50 % o más; a continuación se prescinde del resultado contra el último clasificado. Esto favorecía a Grischuk, porque Topalov había obtenido uno de sus puntos contra Vallejo. El ruso mantuvo las tablas e inmediatamente después de mostró contento de haber aguantado y con esperanzas de ganar el torneo. No obstante, Topalov logró imponerse a Gelfand en un final de torres, aprovechando una pequeña ventaja, con lo que al final: 1º Topalov, 2º Grischuk, 3º Aronian, 4º Gashimov (por el desempate), 5º Gelfand y 6. Vallejo. Reportaje ilustrado de la última ronda...
El día de descanso en Linares con simultáneas y paella taurina
Ayer, lunes fue día de descanso en Linares en cuanto a las partidas del XXVII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de Linares". Veselin Topalov, sin embargo, únicamente tuvo media jornada de descanso, porque a las 12:00 del mediodía dio unas simultáneas en 21 tableros, en el vestíbulo del hotel Aníbal. Topalov únicamente cedió tres tablas, dos de ellas a jugadores linarenses. A continuación hubo un almuerzo para los periodistas en la peña taurina "Paco Moreno" de Linares, la única de España que tiene su sede dentro de la propia plaza de toros. Pedro (a la izquierda) nos preparó una estupenda paella. Reportaje fotográfico por Nadja Wittmann...
Vishy Anand, who defends his world title against Veselin Topalov at Sofia in April, kept his powder dry in his warm-up event at Corus Wijk where the Indian, 40, played at full force in only a few games. In contrast Topalov, 34, has played hard in almost every game this week at the Linares elite tournament in Andalusia, where he won first prize with 6.5/10, half a point ahead of Russia's Alex Grischuk.
The Bulgarian squeezed points from tiny advantages and by round six had regained the world No1 spot on the live ratings from Magnus Carlsen. These daily updated rankings have a huge following and their prestige is now not far short of the official world title. Topalov dropped back to No2 after his ninth-round defeat by Grischuk but overall he can be well satisfied with his Linares performance.
Topalov was also laying down a marker for a possible future title clash with Carlsen and answering critics who said he could hope to beat Anand only if his manager, Silvio Danailov, introduced similar dubious offboard tactics to the infamous 2006 "Toiletgate" series against Vlad Kramnik. Given Anand's deep preparation methods, which defeated Kramnik in 2008, the Indian remains a marginal favourite, but basically the match looks too close to call.
Topalov's Linares wins have all been quite long, so this week's game is an impressive demonstration by Grischuk on how to use an isolated d4 pawn to attack the opposing king. Two high points are 19 Bxd5! on the principle that White's dark square bishop is a key attacker and 32 a5! which stops counterplay.
Motifs which recur in IQP games and which any player who has such positions needs to know are White's timely h pawn push, his dark square queen probes and his rook lifts to the third rank. Boris Gelfand should have tried 26...Bxe5 to defend with Qe7 and Kf7. It's a model game, well worth study.
This weekend the 10th and 11th round of the Schachbundesliga are being played. On board one of the top match between Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen, Vugar Gashimov (Werder Bremen), who travelled from Linares to Heidelberg, plays the World Champ, Viswanathan Anand.
In the 10th round of the Bundesliga the German champion OSG Baden-Baden faces the most serious contender Werder Bremen. It will be the most exciting match in the history of the Schachbundesliga, and both Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen will play with their nearly best possible lineup. The elo average of Baden-Baden is 2717 and of Bremen 2679. Both teams will have only top 100 players from the current world ranking at their disposal. Bremen will play on the first two boards with the Azerbaijani GMs Vugar Gashimov and Shakhriyar Mamedayrov, both known for their uncompromising style.
Laurent Fressinet and Tomi Nyback will also defend the “green-white coloured”. After nine rounds they belong to the five top scorers of the league.
Undoubtedly the biggest attraction of the whole weekend is World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Two months before his match against Veselin Topalov in Sofia he makes a “break” in his preparation to support his team in Germany. For many years he’s maintained friendly relations to the environment of Baden-Baden so his appearance doesn’t come as a big suprise.
Etienne Bacrot and Germay’s number one Arkadij Naiditsch will also play for Baden-Baden. They belong to the five best performers of the whole league so far in this season.
Here are the line-ups and the pairings of the match Baden-Baden – Werder Bremen:
Saturday, 27th of February 2010, 2 pm Playing venue: Kongresshaus Stadthalle Heidelberg, Neckarstaden 24, 69117 Heidelberg
OSG Baden-Baden – Werder Bremen
1 Viswanathan Anand 2788* Vugar Gashimov 2740
2 Peter Svidler 2741 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2721
3 Alexei Shirov 2730 Pavel Eljanov 2717
4 Etienne Bacrot 2709 Zahar Efimenko 2654
5 Sergei Movsesian 2711 Laurent Fressinet 2658
6 Michael Adams 2682 Alexander Areshchenko 2667
7 Arkadij Naiditsch 2685 Michael Roiz 2658
8 Peter-Heine Nielsen 2687 Tomi Nyback 2615
*Rating at the beginning of the season
This match and of course all other matches of the Schachbundesliga will be covered live on the internet. At the day of the matches you can get access via the website of the Schachbundesliga.
Here are all matches of the 10th and 11th round of the Schachbundesliga.
10th round: Saturday, 27th of February 2010, 2 pm Playing venue Heidelberg
OSG Baden-Baden – Werder Bremen
SK Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim – Hamburger SK
Playing venue Mülheim
SV Mülheim Nord – Bayern München
SF Katernberg – Erfurter SK
Playing venue Solingen
SG Solingen – SV Wattenscheid
SC Remagen – SK Turm Emsdetten
Playing venue Trier
SG Trier – SF Berlin
SC Eppingen – SK König Tegel
11th round: Sunday, 28th of February 2010, 2 pm Playing venue Heidelberg
Hamburger SK – OSG Baden-Baden
Werder Bremen – SK Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim
Playing venue Mülheim
Bayern München – SF Katernberg
Erfurter SK – SV Mülheim Nord
Playing venue Solingen
SV Wattenscheid – SC Remagen
SK Turm Emsdetten – SG Solingen
Playing venue Trier
SF Berlin – SC Eppingen
SK König Tegel – SG Trierem>
SC Remagen – SG Solingen (5pm)
Bundesliga 0910 | Current Standings
Teams
1. OSC Baden-Baden
1 Anand, Viswanathan GM IND 2788
2 Carlsen, Magnus GM NOR 2772
3 Svidler, Peter GM RUS 2739
4 Shirov, Alexei GM ESP 2732
5 Bacrot, Etienne GM FRA 2721
6 Movsesian, Sergej GM SVK 2716
7 Adams, Michael GM ENG 2699
8 Naiditsch, Arkadij GM GER 2697
9 Vallejo Pons, Francisco GM ESP 2693
10 Nielsen, Peter-Heine GM DEN 2680
11 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter GM ROU 2675
12 Caruana, Fabiano GM ITA 2670
13 Gustafsson, Jan GM GER 2622
14 Dautov, Rustem GM GER 2596
15 Doettling, Fabian GER 2571
16 Schlosser, Philipp GER 2560
17 Dinger, Florian GER 2391
18 Hager, Joshua Aarasch GER 2217
9. SF Katernberg
1 Volokitin, Andrei GM UKR 2678
2 Chuchelov, Vladimir GM BEL 2598
3 Firman, Nazar IM UKR 2571
4 Seel, Christian IM GER 2493
5 Bischoff, Klaus GM GER 2551
6 Halkias, Stelios GM GRE 2564
7 Glek, Igor V GM GER 2528
8 Zaragatski, Ilja IM GER 2472
9 Senff, Martin IM GER 2469
10 Ris, Robert IM NED 2421
11 Thesing, Matthias IM GER 2436
12 Siebrecht, Sebastian GM GER 2458
13 Scholz, Christian IM GER 2373
14 Hoolt, Sarah WIM GER 2240
15 Rosen, Bernd FM GER 2355
16 Geilmann, Ulrich GER 1837
17 Kotainy, Jens GER 2270
2. Werder Bremen
1 Gashimov, Vugar GM AZE 2740
2 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar GM AZE 2717
3 McShane, Luke James GM ENG 2620
4 Eljanov, Pavel GM UKR 2716
5 Efimenko, Zahar GM UKR 2654
6 Fressinet, Laurent GM FRA 2667
7 Meier, Georg GM GER 2658
8 Areshchenko, Alexander GM UKR 2651
9 Roiz, Michael GM ISR 2658
10 Nyback, Tomi GM FIN 2627
11 Hracek, Zbynek GM CZE 2608
12 Babula, Vlastimil GM CZE 2566
13 Llaneza Vega, Marcos IM ESP 2521
14 Fish, Gennadij GM GER 2508
15 Skripchenko, Almira IM FRA 2450
16 Knaak, Rainer GM GER 2484
17 Lichman, Peter GER 2317
10. SK Turm Emsdetten
1 Mchedlishvili, Mikheil GM GEO 2592
2 Giri, Anish GM NED 2518
3 Spoelman, Wouter IM NED 2546
4 Hector, Jonny GM SWE 2556
5 Feygin, Michael IM GER 2546
6 Janssen, Ruud IM NED 2527
7 Cramling, Pia GM SWE 2525
8 Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel GM ESP 2445
9 Brandenburg, Daan IM NED 2463
10 Breder, Dennis IM GER 2435
11 Fiebig, Thomas GER 2426
12 Pruijssers, Roeland IM NED 2401
13 Kabatianski, Alexandr IM GER 2425
14 Richter, Christian FM GER 2417
15 Zumsande, Martin IM GER 2403
16 Bosman, Michiel FM NED 2356
3. SC Eppingen
1 Tiviakov, Sergei GM NED 2674
2 Postny, Evgeny GM ISR 2647
3 Berkes, Ferenc GM HUN 2647
4 Balogh, Csaba GM HUN 2595
5 Gyimesi, Zoltan GM HUN 2591
6 Ruck, Robert GM HUN 2561
7 Acs, Peter GM HUN 2550
8 Braun, Arik GM GER 2529
9 Bindrich, Falko GM GER 2516
10 Medvegy, Zoltan GM HUN 2547
11 Guliyev, Namig GM AZE 2555
12 Muzychuk, Anna IM SLO 2542
13 Paehtz, Elisabeth IM GER 2474
14 Mann, Christian IM GER 2454
15 Vogt, Lothar GM GER 2422
16 Dekan, Hans GER 2179
17 Noe, Christopher GER 1798
11. SF Berlin
1 Nataf, Igor-Alexandre GM FRA 2529
2 Markos, Jan GM SVK 2555
3 Miezis, Normunds GM LAT 2572
4 Lauber, Arnd IM GER 2517
5 Polzin, Rainer GM GER 2491
6 Kraemer, Martin IM GER 2481
7 Schneider, Ilja IM GER 2508
8 Berndt, Stephan IM GER 2442
9 Agopov, Mikail IM FIN 2442
10 Brynell, Stellan GM SWE 2471
11 Thiede, Lars IM GER 2452
12 Thinius, Marco IM GER 2375
13 Degtiarev, Evgeny FM GER 2373
14 Rudolf, Henrik FM GER 2353
15 Wintzer, Joachim Dr. FM GER 2384
16 Lundin, Jan FM SWE 2382
17 Abel, Dennes GER 2328
18 Glantz, Robert GER 2239
4. SV Mülheim-Nord
1 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam GM UZB 2672
2 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime GM FRA 2703
3 Motylev, Alexander GM RUS 2710
4 Tregubov, Pavel V. GM RUS 2652
5 Landa, Konstantin GM RUS 2655
6 Fridman, Daniel GM GER 2665
7 Potkin, Vladimir GM RUS 2619
8 Golod, Vitali GM ISR 2599
9 Malakhatko, Vadim GM BEL 2570
10 Berelovich, Alexander GM GER 2550
11 Levin, Felix GM GER 2491
12 Hausrath, Daniel GM GER 2519
13 Saltaev, Mihail GM UZB 2505
14 Schebler, Gerhard GM GER 2486
15 Litwak, Aleksej FM GER 2268
16 Kaufeld, Juergen FM GER 2274
17 Wittenberg, Andreas GER 2129
18 Kahleys, Kevin GER 1986
12. SG Trier
1 Lupulescu, Constantin GM ROU 2620
2 Bobras, Piotr GM POL 2568
3 Cyborowski, Lukasz GM POL 2498
4 Haslinger, Stewart GM ENG 2538
5 Gordon, Stephen IM ENG 2537
6 Jaracz, Pawel GM POL 2539
7 Erdoes, Viktor GM HUN 2565
8 Flumbort, Andras IM HUN 2507
9 Gonda, Laszlo IM HUN 2499
10 Galyas, Miklos IM HUN 2457
11 Seger, Ruediger IM GER 2405
12 Kolbus, Dietmar IM GER 2383
13 Cioara, Andrei Nestor IM ROU 2437
14 Goriachnik, Dmitry MDA 2324
15 Rat, Dan Ovidiu FM ROU 2315
16 Jeitz, Christian LUX 2221
17 Korman, Maxim GER 2172
5. SG Solingen
1 Stellwagen, Daniel GM NED 2630
2 Smeets, Jan GM NED 2632
3 Nikolic, Predrag GM BIH 2602
4 Buhmann, Rainer GM GER 2603
5 Werle, Jan GM NED 2575
6 Edouard, Romain GM FRA 2597
7 Jussupow, Artur GM GER 2570
8 L’Ami, Erwin GM NED 2593
9 Ragger, Markus GM AUT 2563
10 Ernst, Sipke GM NED 2598
11 Naumann, Alexander GM GER 2522
12 Hoffmann, Michael GM GER 2502
13 Gabriel, Christian GM GER 2507
14 Drabke, Lorenz Maximilian IM GER 2455
15 Wegerle, Joerg IM GER 2430
16 Schaefer, Markus IM GER 2378
17 Hobusch, Alexander GER 2103
18 Hannewald, Anton GER 1931
13. FC Bayern München
1 Bezold, Michael GM GER 2517
2 Bromberger, Stefan IM GER 2510
3 Schenk, Andreas IM GER 2509
4 Marcelin, Cyril GM FRA 2498
5 Boensch, Uwe GM GER 2511
6 Stangl, Markus GM GER 2455
7 Reiss, Tibor IM HUN 2414
8 Renner, Christoph IM GER 2431
9 Belezky, Alexander IM UKR 2446
10 Meissner, Bernd IM GER 2410
11 Meister, Peter IM GER 2396
12 Reich, Thomas IM GER 2368
13 Rodewis, Thomas Dr. GER 2367
14 Unzicker, Ferdinand Dr. GER 2332
15 Deglmann, Ludwig FM GER 2329
16 Lentrodt, Thomas FM GER 2304
17 Jorczik, Julian FM GER 2352
18 Graf, Felix GER 2291
6. Hamburger SK
1 Wojtaszek, Radoslav GM POL 2637
2 Kempinski, Robert GM POL 2601
3 Ghaem, Maghami Ehsan GM IRI 2589
4 Baramidze, David GM GER 2527
5 Adly, Ahmed GM EGY 2548
6 Rogozenco, Dorian GM ROU 2541
7 Hansen, Sune Berg HDEN 2554
8 Rasmussen, Allan Stig GM DEN 2536
9 Ftacnik, Lubomir Dr. GM SVK 2525
10 Mueller, Karsten Dr. GM GER 2523
11 Heinemann, Thies IM GER 2484
12 Chevelevitch, Evgueni Dr. IM GER 2461
13 Reeh, Oliver IM GER 2442
14 Huschenbeth, Niclas IM GER 2416
15 Sebastian, Dirk GER 2443
16 Van Delft, Merijn IM NED 2360
17 Carlstedt, Jonathan GER 2309
18 Bracker, Frank GER 2280
14. Erfurter SK
1 Romanov, Evgeny GM RUS 2589
2 Haba, Petr GM CZE 2533
3 Michiels, Bart IM BEL 2451
4 Kuczynski, Robert GM POL 2505
5 Casper, Thomas IM GER 2395
6 Votava, Jan GM CZE 2561
7 Enders, Peter GM GER 2467
8 Mueller, Matthias IM GER 2410
9 Voekler, Bernd FM GER 2393
10 Schoene, Maria WIM GER 2274
11 Troyke, Christian IM GER 2350
12 Schuetze, Norman GER 2278
13 Brueggemann, Joachim IM GER 2356
14 Krueger, Rainer Dr. GER 2211
15 Troyke, Doreen WFM GER 2105
16 Duzy, Stefan GER 1545
17 Friedt, Marius GER 1885
7. SV Wattenscheid
1 Vitiugov, Nikita GM RUS 2681
2 Najer, Evgeniy GM RUS 2663
3 Macieja, Bartlomiej GM POL 2612
4 Bartel, Mateusz GM POL 2619
5 Czarnota, Pawel GM POL 2530
6 Rustemov, Alexander GM RUS 2532
7 Johannessen, Leif Erlend GM NOR 2553
8 Appel, Ralf GM GER 2552
9 Holzke, Frank Dr. GM GER 2526
10 Handke, Florian GM GER 2513
11 Souleidis, Georgios IM GRE 2435
12 Dinstuhl, Volkmar Dr. IM GER 2417
13 Tereick, Benjamin FM GER 2378
14 Straeter, Timo FM GER 2347
15 Thiel, Thomas FM GER 2280
16 Gohla, Ulf GER 2181
17 Koerber, Matthias GER 1898
15. SK Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim
1 Ikonnikov, Viacheslav GM RUS 2556
2 Svetushkin, Dmitry GM MDA 2607
3 Ginsburg, Gennadi GM GER 2537
4 Gurevic, Vladimir GM UKR 2470
5 Chernov, Vadim IM ROU 2433
6 Solomunovic, Igor IM GER 2421
7 Gerigk, Erasmus FM GER 2335
8 Schwalfenberg, Joerg FM GER 2317
9 Maier, Christian IM GER 2347
10 Vatter, Hans-Joachim FM GER 2302
11 Syska, Albert FM GER 2268
12 Nippgen, Georg GER 2272
13 Roos, Jean-Luc IM FRA 2250
14 Neunhoeffer, Helmut Dr FM GER 2281
15 Pielmeier, Thomas GER 2231
16 Schott, Reimund FRA 2019
8. SC Remagen
1 Ivanchuk, Vassily GM UKR 2703
2 Fedorchuk, Sergey GM UKR 2655
3 Gharamian, Tigran GM FRA 2615
4 Goloshchapov, Alexander GM UKR 2580
5 Parligras, Mircea GM ROU 2557
6 Huebner, Robert Dr. GM GER 2605
7 Degraeve, Jean-Marc GM FRA 2559
8 Dgebuadze, Alexandre GM BEL 2516
9 Mainka, Romuald GM GER 2521
10 Swinkels, Robin IM NED 2516
11 Teske, Henrik GM GER 2536
12 Popovic, Petar GM SRB 2496
13 Polaczek, Richard IM BEL 2381
14 Kipper, Jens GER 2393
15 Schulz, Klaus-Juergen IM GER 2385
16 Bok, Benjamin FM NED 2360
16. SK König Tegel
1 Rabiega, Robert GM GER 2551
2 Stern, Rene IM GER 2498
3 Muse, Mladen GM CRO 2448
4 Von Herman, Ulf IM GER 2400
5 Muse, Drazen IM CRO 2374
6 Fruebing, Stefan FM GER 2305
7 Tomczak, Rainer FM GER 2287
8 Mielitz, Heinz GER
9 Sarbok, Torsten FM GER 2319
10 Breier, Andreas FM GER 2405
11 Giemsa, Stephan FM GER 2301
12 Jahnz, Fabian GER 2191
13 Jaehnisch, Frank GER 2230
14 Roth, Josef GER 2152
15 Schulz, Stefanie GER 2109
16 Rausch, Manfred GER 1689
17 Kachibadze, Georg GER 2224
In our last video from Linares we speak with Veselin Topalov, just after he won his first Linares. He talks about the game against Gelfand and several other topics, and it includes a brief comment by Grischuk as well as footage from the closing ceremony. Below we give many photos from the closing.
The closing ceremony started with music from the Andrés Segovia Choir
Host was Leontxo Garcia
The players in front row enjoying the ceremony
Organizer Paco Albalate, during the rest of the year French teacher
Arbiters Juan Vargas and Faik Gasanov with Paco Albalate
A speech by the President of the Spanish Chess Federation, Javier Ochoa de Echagüen
Paco Vallejo receives last prize from the mayor of Linares himself, Juan Fernández
Boris Gelfand with Javier Ochoa de Echagüen
Vugar Gashimov with Antonia Olivares, a Province delegate occupied with turism
A speech by the secretary general of sports of the Andalucía region, Manuel Jimenez
Levon Aronian and Vugar Gashimov
Topalov and Aronian just received the prize (excellent olive oil) for 'most beautiful game'
All players together on stage during one of the speeches
The mayor of Linares gives Topalov the trophy
The trophy (1st prize): a mine shaft - Linares was a mining city until 1991
Proud winner of Linares 2010: Veselin Topalov
Some final words by the mayor...
...and a final group photo with all players and authorities.
Topalov se adjudica el Torneo de Linares en una épica partida final
Linares sigue siendo el equivalente ajedrecístico a un combate de gladiadores que un buen día soñó Luis Rentero, su creador y mecenas durante muchos años. Una competición especial donde las derrotas no resultan una deshonra –cualquiera puede ganar a cualquiera en un torneo restringido a los mejores jugadores del mundo-, pero lo único que no se perdona son las tablas sin lucha. Un espíritu combativo que se ajusta como anillo al dedo al vencedor de esta edición, Veselin Topalov, búlgaro de 35 años que lleva casi dos décadas afincado en Salamanca.
Topalov es Topalov. Tras la victoria de Grischuk sobre Veselin en la penúltima Ronda la Final se puso caliente e incierta. Topalov ganó a Gelfand y Grischuk salvó la ropa ante Paco Vallejo. Conclusión: Veselin Topalov Campeón de Linares en solitario. Recupera puntos en el Ranking y estaría a 1 punto de Carlsen en el próximo listado.
Tras el duro golpe que el Campeón ruso Alexander Grischuk sobre Veselin Topalov, en la 9na Ronda, alcanzándolo en la punta del torneo, la 10ma y última Ronda prometía un final de suspenso y emoción.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco-Grischuk, Alexander: ½-½ (32). Siciliana Najdorf. Alexander venía de dos victorias y tenía mejor sistema de desempate en caso de compartir la punta con Topalov. Esto le daba buena chance de consagrarse ganador del Linares. Hasta 10. … Ce5 se repetía Anand-Grischuk, Match, Mainz CCM5, Rapid, 2005 (½ en 24). Paco jugó bien –no por nada es un Top 2700-, quedó con iniciativa y da la impresión que tuvo algunas opciones. Grischuk ofreció el peón b7 para movilizar sus piezas y montar contrafuego, pero lógicamente no fue aceptado. No pareció buena 20. … Tab8 y el Blanco quedó con la pareja de Alfiles y un peón en c6 que podía generar algún problema al Negro. Queda por ver si era suficiente. Paco eligió cambiar piezas y tras una repetición de movidas se acordó el empate. Grischuk a la espera de lo que pudiera hacer el duro Gelfand. Un empate sería buena noticia para él.
Topalov, Veselin-Gelfand, Boris: 1-0 (62). Defensa Petroff. Ya sabemos que Gelfand conoce bien y practica mucho la Petroff y que no es fácil ganarle. Se siguió Caruana-Kramnik, Corus 2010 (½ en 31), que ya publicamos en Zona de Ajedrez. Veselin trató de presentar problemas nuevos a Boris y mantener la partida viva y en tensión. Claro que habrá jugadas técnicamente mejores, pero hay que resolver en el tablero. Tras 24.fxe3 Topalov había quedado con calidad e iniciativa. Gelfand debería trabajar bastante para sostener la posición. Imprevistamente 32.Txf6 (32.Td1 +/-) devuelve calidad y todo pareció equilibrarse. Quedo un final de Torre y cuatro peones contra Torre y tres peones, que aunque complicado no se veía con muchas chances de desnivel. 49. … a2?? (49 ... Re7 50. Th7+ Re6 51. C4 Re5 52. Td7 Tc3 53. Td5+ Re4 parece ser el camino correcto hacia el empate) y Topalov aprovechó. Un nuevo error 51. … Tb2?? Y el final ya era inmodificable. No obstante Topalov es Topalov y es muy linda la definición con 61.Txa2!!.
Aronian, Levon-Gashimov, Vugar: 1-0 (58). Benoni. Ya hablamos varias veces de Gashimov y la Benoni. Una posición con varios antecedentes recientes. No parece buena idea 13. … h6. Una partida bastante compleja, con altibajos, pero interesante. Se llegó al control de tiempo con bastantes piezas en el tablero e iniciativa para Aronian. Gashimov no tardó en derrumbarse, 50. … Cxd6?, 51. … Df5? y Levon demostró que las Blancas ganaban, así que Vugar se resignó poco después. Para Aronian el único triunfo tras 9 empates. Para Gashimov una actuación que lo dejó en el último puesto y con Gelfand los que más puntos perderán por sus actuaciones.
Acompañamos las posiciones finales, un detalle de todas las Rondas y las partidas para ver y descargar.
Sito ufficiale: www.ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es/index.htm Le partite in diretta (sito ufficiale)
Le partite del torneo in formato PGN - Visore on lineTurno 10 - 24 febbraio 2010
Topalov - Gelfand 1-0
Aronian - Gashimov 1-0
Vallejo - Grischuk 1/2-1/2
Classifica finale: 1° Topalov 6,5 punti su 10; 2° Grischuk 6; 3° Aronian 5,5; 4°-6° Gashimov, Vallejo, Gelfand 4
Alla fine Veselin Topalov ce l'ha fatta. Malgrado il ko del penultimo turno ad opera di Alexander Grischuk, che lo aveva così raggiunto in vetta alla classifica, il bulgaro è riuscito a iscrivere per la prima volta il proprio nome nell'albo d'oro del supertorneo di Linares (Spagna)...
Clamoroso a Linares. Sono bastati due soli turni a Veselin Topalov, lanciato verso il suo primo trionfo in terra spagnola, per dilapidare il punto e mezzo di vantaggio sul più agguerrito inseguitore, Alexander Grischuk, il quale, vendicando il ko dell'andata, nel 9° turno ha restituito all'avversario pan per focaccia e lo ha agguantato in vetta alla classifica con 5,5 punti...
Complicated tiebreak rules made all kinds of scenarios possible, but in the end it couldn’t be more clear. By beating Boris Gelfand in a tense game, Veselin Topalov won the 2010 Linares tournament outright as Grischuk drew with Vallejo. Games & final standings. later more.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain.
A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705).
Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Alexander Grischuk defeated Veselin Topalov in round 9 of the Linares super-tournament. The two are leading with just one round to go. Gashimov-Vallejo and Gelfand-Aronian were both drawn. Big pictorial report.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain.
A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705).
Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 9
Just two rounds ago Veselin Topalov seemed sure of his first tournament victory in Linares, but two days later this picture has changed dramatically. Alexander Grischuk defeated the tournament leader with the white pieces in round 9 and should now be considered favourite for victory, since this year the first tiebreak rule is the individual enounters. Update: Here I forgot that Grischuk lost to Topalov in the first stage. The tiebreak rules are:
1. Individual result.
2. Highest number of victories.
3. Highest sum of points against players who scored 50% or more.
4. Remove the points scored against the player/group of players at the bottom of the standings. If still equal, do the same for the player/group of players above.
5. If still equal, blitz games will be played (but only to decide the 1st place).
Grischuk was ‘pretty much happy’ with his play, as he said after the game. And he had all the reason, since he had simply played a good game, and certainly better than Topalov. Slightly under pressure, the Bulgarian continued to play quickly, to try to create complications; a strategy we also saw for example during his match against Kamsky a year ago. This time his opponent kept his calm and didn’t give away the advantage. During the last phase Topalov didn’t defend optimally and so Grischuk won the ending with RBN vs Q easily, where it should have been more difficult.
Gashimov-Vallejo was drawn, and way before move 40, before which officially one is not allowed to agree to a draw. However, an exception is made in clearly drawn positions, and this was one of them.
Later Gelfand and Aronian also split the point and for the Armenian this was the 9th consecutive draw. His comment after the game: “A personal record! I once had eight, but never nine!”
Tomorrow we’ll have a video with Grischuk’s reaction after the game as well as a video on ‘the draw’, with comments by Gashimov, Vallejo, Aronian and Gelfand. Unfortunately the Hotel Anibal’s internet speed is too slow to upload.
...with, amongst others, Ljubojevic and Topalov's two Dutch seconds, Erwin l'Ami and Jan Smeets
As always, the games shop across the street of Hotel Anibal is dedicated to chess again...
...with the flags of all the participants...
...and all kinds of chess sets....
...creating a beautiful picture
The January issue of the Spanish chess magazine Jaque
Does that cover photo look familiar? Sharp vision! It’s by yours truly, also published over here; the report on the London Chess Classic for Jaque was done by me.
Veselin Topalov hatte das Turnier von Linares dominiert und sah mit zweitweise
1,5 Punkten Vorsprung lange wie der sichere Sieger aus. Doch dann verlor er
gestern in der vorletzten Runde gegen Verfolger Alexander Grischuk und befand
sich heute im Fernduell mit dem Russen um den Turniersieg. Die Zweitwertung von
Linares sieht vor, dass bei Punktgleichheit zunächst der direkte Vergleich
zählt, dann die höhere Anzahl von Siegen, dann das bessere Ergebnis gegen die
Spieler mit 50% oder mehr. Schließlich wird der letzte Spieler in der Tabelle
bzw. das Ergebnis gegen ihn gestrichen. Dies begünstigte Grischuk, denn Topalov
hatte einen seiner Punkte gegen den Letzten, Vallejo, geholt. Grischuk kam mit
Schwarz heute nicht über ein Remis gegen Vallejo hinaus. Doch Topalov gelang es,
Gelfand in einem Turmendspiel mit einem halben Mehrbauern studienartig zu
bezwingen. Während die anderen beiden Partien schon beendet waren, hatten
Aronian und Gashimov noch nicht einmal das Mittelspiel verlassen. Stattdessen
machten sich die beiden Großmeister noch eine schöne Zeit im Benoni. Mit
Übergang ins Schwerfigurenendspiel zog Gashimov dann jedoch den Kürzeren und
musste bald aufgeben. Turnierseite... Tabelle, alle Partien, Impressionen...
Veselin Topalov made a fantastic comeback to one of his favourite sites, after taking a timeout last year to play the match against Kamsky, and won the six-player Linares supertournament in style.
Entering the second half of the double round robin tournament with a large margin of point and a half ahead of the opposition, his victory appeared imminent, but he almost threw it away in the penultimate game after losing against the last-year winner Alexander Grischuk, who then caught up on the shared first place.
But Topalov quickly bounced up and beat the 2009 World Cup winner Boris Gelfand in the last round in an impressive Rook endgame. Meanwhile, Grischuk could not achieve more than a draw with black pieces against Francisco Vallejo Pons and remained half a point behind the Bulgarian. Levon Aronian secured the third place by winning against Vugar Gashimov.
Final standings: 1. Veselin Topalov BUL 2805 - 6.5 2. Alexander Grischuk RUS 2736 - 6.0 3. Levon Aronian ARM 2781 - 5.5 4-6. Vugar Gashimov AZE 2759, Boris Gelfand ISR 2761 and Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2705 - 4.0
Coup de théâtre à Linarès. A une ronde de la fin, Topalov s'est fait rattraper au classement par le Russe Alexander Grischuk.
Comment le Bulgare va-t-il digérer sa défaite d'hier et terminer le tournoi. Le duel à distance entre ces deux champions d'échecs constituera indéniablement la clé du tournoi.
Flash Info : Dans une finale de tours et pions égale, Topalov fait craquer Gelfand et s'adjuge le tournoi de Linarès !
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les résultats de la ronde 10 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761
Levon Aronian 2781 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759
Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Veselin batte Gelfand mentre Grisuchk patta con Vallejo
Aronian coglie la prima vittoria ed è 3°
A tre turni dal termine sembrava che Topalov, con un punto e mezzo di vantaggio sui secondi in classifica, dovesse vincere con relativa facilità la 27^ edizione del torneo di Linares. Ma la patta con Aronian e la concomitante vittoria di Grischuk nell'ottavo turno, e soprattuto la sconfitta subita nello scontro diretto del nono turno, hanno rimesso tutto in discussione. I due giocatori sono adesso in perfetta parità, anche in base ai primi tre criteri di spareggio. Il quarto criterio vede in vantaggio Grischuk, ma solo perché Alexander deve ancora giocare con l'ultimo in classifica. Aronian, che teoricamente potrebbe agganciare i due a quota 5.5, è invece escluso dalla lotta per la vittoria finale proprio in virtù dei criteri di spareggio (in parità negli scontri diretti, ma un numero inferiore di vittorie).
Saranno dunque decisive le sfide dell'ultimo turno. Il bulgaro se la vedrà, con il bianco, con il solido Gelfand (otto patte e una sola sconfitta, proprio contro Grischuk) mentre il russo affronterà l'idolo di casa, Vallejo, che sinora ha perso solo con Topalov e Gashimov. Se dovessero vincere entrambi, si dovrebbe ricorrere agli spareggi blitz. In caso di due patte, invece, vincerebbe Grischuk per il quarto criterio di spareggio. Anche in caso di due sconfitte Grischuk, per il terzo criterio di spareggio, bisserebbe il successo dello scorso anno.
Due immagini delle sfide del girone di andata tratte da Chessbase
Incontri del X ed ultimo turno
Veselin Topalov
1-0
Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian
1-0
Vugar Gashimov
Francisco Vallejo
1/2
Alexander Grischuk
Classifica Finale
1.
Topalov, Veselin
g
BUL
2805
*
*
1
0
½
½
½
1
½
1
1
½
6½
2.
Grischuk, Alexander
g
RUS
2736
0
1
*
*
½
½
½
½
1
½
½
1
6
3.
Aronian, Levon
g
ARM
2781
½
½
½
½
*
*
½
½
½
½
½
1
5½
4.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco
g
ESP
2705
½
0
½
½
½
½
*
*
½
½
0
½
4
5.
Gelfand, Boris
g
ISR
2761
½
0
0
½
½
½
½
½
*
*
½
½
4
6.
Gashimov, Vugar
g
AZE
2759
0
½
½
0
½
0
1
½
½
½
*
*
4
criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito
scontri diretti
numero di vittorie
punti ottenuti contro i giocatori che hanno conquistato almeno il 50% dei punti a disposizione
si rimuovono i punti ottenuti contro il giocatore o il gruppo di giocatori che si trovano in fondo alla classifica. Se permane la parità, si rimuovono i punti ottenuti contro il giocatore o il gruppo di giocatori in testa alla classifica
se permane la parità, sono previsti gli spareggi blitz (due partite. 3'+2". In caso di ulteriore parità, si giocherebbe una partita secca: 5' al bianco, 4' al nero e vince il nero in caso di patta) ma solo per decidere il 1° posto
Regolamento
calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.
tempo di riflessione2h x 40 mosse + 1h per 20 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita +30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla 61esima.
Non si può offrire patta prima della 40esima mossa
An enthralling last round at Linares 2010 saw Veselin Topalov (pictured) take the title with a last round victory against Boris Gelfand.
Topalov tried hard to create chances against Gelfand's Petroff defence, but the Israeli seemed to have good c...
The penultimate round of the Linares 2010 super-GM tournament saw a titanic struggle between the leader Veselin Topalov and his closest pursuer, Alexander Grischuk.
A dynamic and exciting game ended in victory for Grischuk, who therefore catches ...
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde du 13 au 24 février en Espagne : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov.
A deux rondes de la fin, Topalov maintient son leadership au classement, devançant d'un point le Russe Alexander Grischuk. Le duel du jour entre ces deux champions d'échecs constituera indéniablement la clé du tournoi. Mais "Topi" serait-il en période de doute ? Après sa nulle samedi face à Gashimov en fort zeitnot, l'attaquant bulgare rate le gain dimanche face à Aronian. Rendez-vous à 16h !
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les appariements de la ronde 9 :
Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Veselin Topalov 2805
Vugar Gashimov 2759 - Francisco Vallejo 2705
Boris Gelfand 2761 - Levon Aronian 2781
Comme l'aurait dit Thierry Roland, en direct du stade de Linarès, l'attaquant bulgare Veselin Topalov a manqué l'immanquable face au goal (Roi) de l'équipe arménienne. Cela n'arrive pas qu'à nous. Dans cette position, Topalov joue le fautif 34.Fb3?? et rate une combinaison simple que des grands-maîtres de ce calibre voient normalement en une seconde.
La solution : [34.Txe4!! Dxe4 35.Dc3+ Rg8 (35...Rxg6 36.Fc2 gagne la Dame) 36.Dc7 L'idée de la combinaison est fondée sur une double menace : le mat et attaque de la Tour. 36...Db1+ 37.Rh2 Dxg6 38.Dxd8+ Rg7 39.Fb3]
La fin de la partie 34...e3 35.fxe3 fxe3 36.Db4 Td6 37.Te2 Txg6 38.Dc3 Dxc3 39.bxc3 Tg5 40.Txe3 Cxd5 41.Fxd5 Txd5 42.Te7+ Rf6 43.Txb7 Ta5 44.Tb2 Re5 45.Rf2 ½–½
La journée de repos de ce lundi va permettre au Bulgare de souffler avant les deux dernières rondes du tournoi d'échecs de Linarès.
Grischuk sfida Topalov per riaprire il torneo Live h. 16
La 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares si avvia alla conclusione. Sinora la competizione è stata letteralmente dominata da Topalov (3 vittorie e 5 patte), per nulla distratto dalla sfida Mondiale che il bulgaro affronterà ad aprile contro Anand. Grazie ai risultati ottenuti sinora (performance 2889), il bulgaro ha superato Carlsen in testa alla classifica del Live Rating internazionale curata da Hans Arild Rundle.
Il menù di oggi ci offre la sfida tra Topalov e Grischuk, l'unico giocatore che nel corso del torneo ha dato l'impressione di poter contrastare il dominio di Veselin. Nel match di andata si impose Topalov dopo una partita emozionante. In quella occasione Griuschuk ebbe anche un paio di occasioni per vincere, ma il russo le sprecò a causa del terribile zeitnot in cui si era ridotto. Superato il controllo della 40esima mossa, Topalov finì con il prevalere sfruttando magistralmente il piccolo vantaggio che aveva nel finale presentatosi sulla scacchiera.
Alexander oggi ha l'occasione di rifarsi, e vincendo aggancerebbe Topalov in testa alla classifica!
V turno: la Topalov-Grischuk è appena iniziata. Sarà una battaglia!
Incontri del IX turno
Alexander Grischuk
Veselin Topalov
Vugar Gashimov
Francisco Vallejo
Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian
Classifica dopo 8 turni
1.
Topalov, Veselin
g
BUL
2805
*
*
1
.
½
½
1
½
½
.
½
1
5½
2889
2.
Grischuk, Alexander
g
RUS
2736
0
.
*
*
½
½
½
1
1
½
½
.
4½
2807
3.
Aronian, Levon
g
ARM
2781
½
½
½
½
*
*
½
.
½
.
½
½
4
2751
4.
Gashimov, Vugar
g
AZE
2759
0
½
½
0
½
.
*
*
½
½
1
.
3½
2718
5.
Gelfand, Boris
g
ISR
2761
½
.
0
½
½
.
½
½
*
*
½
½
3½
2705
6.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco
g
ESP
2705
½
0
½
.
½
½
0
.
½
½
*
*
3
2686
Accoppiamenti del X ed ultimo turno
Veselin Topalov
Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian
Vugar Gashimov
Francisco Vallejo
Alexander Grischuk
Regolamento
calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.
tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita
Vugar Gashimov once again tried his luck in a Benoni, but this time around Grischuk made him pay, as the Linares defending champion moves to within a point of the leader Topalov. Today is the second and last restday in Linares.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain.
A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705).
Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 8
Things have not yet been decided in Linares. In round 8, Alexander Grischuk narrowed Veselin Topalov’s lead to a point by beating Vugar Gashimov, and after today’s restday it’s… Grischuk-Topalov on Tuesday. Yours truly is typing this from Madrid Barajas Airport, and so you can guess what that means. I’ll be arriving in Linares tonight and I’ll be covering the last two rounds (and the closing ceremony) on site. It wasn’t clear if I would make it, since I flew to Madrid from Frankfurt (after a short trip to the US) and part of the Lufthansa crew is on strike. Luckily not my cabin crew and pilots.
So Gashimov’s Benoni got a beating in round 8, and a tough one. Grischuk played a very powerful game, accurately preparing and calculating his 21st move which yielded a clear advantage, and then finishing it off strongly as well. He seems to have found his shape of e.g. last year, and this hopefully leads to an exciting encounter against Topalov. This year’s Linares tournament can use every excitement available.
Topalov himself played an interesting draw against Aronian, and missed a clear win (34.Rxe4! Qxe4 35.Qc3+ Kg8 36.Qc7+-). Vallejo and Gelfand also split the point after a less eventful game. On today’s rest day Topalov is playing a simul somewhere; I’ll try to find out some more when I get to Linares. Although perhaps some of you might provide a link.
Alexander Grischuk (pictured) closed the gap to leader Veselin Topalov with a win against Vugar Gashimov in round eight at Linares.
Gashimov's brave use of the Benoni defence finally got him into trouble as Grischuk achieved a clear advantage ear...
With three more draws in round 7, the drawing percentage Saturday rose to 77% in Linares. Veselin Topalov kept his 1.5 point lead, with three more rounds to go.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 7 report by Rick Goetzee
Five centuries ago
Before telling you about the happenings in today’s 7th round, we’re going back 500 years. Because that’s when the chess tradition in Linares was anticipated. Juan Huarte de San Juan (1530-1592) is the patron of Spanish psychology. He was a writer, philosopher and professor at the university of Baeza. One of his publications was Examen de ingenios in which he defined profiles of people who excelled at different professions. One of the profiles was that of a chess player, as Huarte was very fond of the game.
The Huarte de San Juan street in Linares
According to Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Huarte described personal and psychological attributes which match Kasparov’s characteristics more than 400 years later. As he was a high-profile and controversial figure the Spanish inquisition brought him to court and he was convicted. Then he promised that he would give the heritage of all of his work to the church and not to his nine children. This saved his life. His wish was to be buried in the Santa Maria church in the heart of Linares. With a twinkle in his eye Ljubo said: “It’s clear that the spirit of Huarte is still present in Linares and that’s why we have this great chess tradition.”
The Santa Maria church in the heart of Linares
I also had a word with one of the organisers, Señor Paco Albalate. After reading all the comments from people expressing their disappointment with this year’s tournament, I had to ask him a few questions.
Q: Last year the announcement was made that Dubai would organise the first half this year. What happened?
A: They made a lot of promises, also about prize money. But in the end nothing materialised and we don’t really know why. But we are working with a number of candidates for next year’s tournament. Also, next year a number of changes will be introduced but it’s too early to give any details about that.
Q: With the economic recession how difficult was it to put the tournament together this year?
A: Very easy. We cut the budget by 30%. We cut the prize money, brought the number of players down and we cut hotel costs. And what helped was that the players generously accepted the changed conditions.
Q: What about the rule of not allowing draw offers before move 40?
A: Yes we introduced a version of the Sofia rules. We wrote to all players beforehand because it was important for us that they understood why we were doing this instead of just enforcing the rule.
Q: How does it feel that people are saying that Linares is no longer the Wimbledon or the Tour de France of chess?
A: It’s clear that there are tournaments that are stronger. It’s clear that Corus is a very important tournament with a different format than we have here. It’s true that the Tal Memorial is a great tournament. But we have organised a first class tournament for 27 years. This year it may be a bit less than we are used to, but in 2011, if our projects work out, we will surprise the chess world.
There were three more draws in Linares today. Grischuk took nine minutes for his response to Gelfand’s 1.c4; eventually the Russian decided to go for 1…Nf6. The players ended up in a complicated rook ending which was drawn after 60 moves.
Alexander Grischuk pondering over his first move
Gashimov-Topalov was a Nf6/Bc5 Ruy Lopez in which Gashimov sacrificed a pawn. The game went along like Kamsky-Topalov 2009 till move 7 when Kamsky played 7.d4 followed by 7…Qe7 8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.Nc3. Svidler-Ivanchuk 2009 was followed a while longer which deviated with 10.Qxg7 Bxd4 11.Qg3 a6. At the right moment Topalov gave back the pawn and had the better chances, but a draw was agreed on move 42.
Aronian-Vallejo was the most interesting game of the round. In a Slav defence Vallejo came up with the mysterious 7…Qc7 and then 11…Qb6. It looked like a loss of tempo but eventually he reached a promising position with two rooks against the queen. Then the Spaniard won a pawn and then another, but suddenly the screen showed ½-½. What had happened? Nobody knew. Ljubo: “He is two pawns up and has good winning chances. He must have been very tired.”
In the 6th round of the Linares super-tournament, Veselin Topalov was in trouble against Francisco Vallejo until the Spaniard suddenly blundered a full rook. By then Gashimov and Gelfand had already drawn in a very theoretical Petroff. The last game to finish was Grischuk-Aronian, which also ended in a draw. Thanks to his win, Topalov is the world’s number one player in the live ratings again.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 6 report by Rick Goetzee
Ljubomir Ljubojevic
The main aspect that makes the pressroom in Linares a nice place to be is the presence of GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, the 1985 winner. He lives in Linares and is present every day. Always standing in the same place, close to the monitors, he gives his opinion on the games in Spanish, English, Russian and a handful of other languages.
Ljubojevic met his wife-to-be at the 1981 tournament. He then decided to settle in Linares, also because there was quite a bit of chess activity in the region, apart from the yearly grandmaster tournament. In those years there were plans to bring chess to schools, but unfortunately they didn’t materialise. According to Ljubojevic this is a great pity, as he was often approached by parents telling him that their children would love to learn chess and he visited schools to talk about the game.
The press room, at the first floor of the Teatro Cervantes
Recently a second attempt has been launched. Only two cities in Andalusia have plans to integrate chess in the school curriculum: Sevilla and Linares. Ljubojevic says that it is a pity that it took almost thirty years before a second attempt was made but ‘better late than never’.
Ljubo doesn’t like the Sofia rules: ‘they are funny’. In his view top chess players are artists and artists have good days and bad days and this should be accepted as part of the game. Also he thinks it’s hard to enforce the rule, because if strong players want to make a draw they will find a way through a perpetual check or move repetition. “It is done because organisers think it will favour chess. What they should do is invite the right people, then they won’t have to worry about short draws.”
There was some confusion at the start of today’s round at the board of Topalov-Vallejo. A guest made the first move and started the clock but Vallejo’s clock started to run. The arbiter had to intervene to reset the clock.
Topalov and Vallejo pointing out the error to arbiter Faik Gasanov
Then Vallejo took three minutes to reply to Topalov’s 1.c4. After an English opening the game became very sharp as Vallejo setup an attack against Topalov’s king. It was hard, even for Ljubo, to give a correct evaluation of the position although it seemed that Vallejo was better. His main problem was the clock, having only one minute left for the last twelve moves. He played well for a long time till he hung a full rook on the 38th move and overstepped the time limit on move 40.
According to GM Larry Christiansen on ICC’s Chess.FM, Gashimov proved to have done a lot of good homework against Gelfand’s Petroff. He achieved a promising position from the opening without counterplay for Black. However, Gelfand defended accurately and a draw was agreed in a knight endgame.
Grischuk decided to burn the midnight oil against Aronian, trying to win a rook vs knight endgame with an extra pawn for Black. In an empty pressroom there was still the voice of Leontxo Garcia continuing his commentary for the tournament website. Finally, at move 101, the players decided to call it a day.
Before we’ll leave you, we’d like to point out that GM Anish Giri, reigning Dutch champion and winner of the Corus B group this year, is doing wonderful commentary for Chessbase each round. This round he did Topalov-Vallejo, over here.
Die siebte Runde des Internationalen Schachturniers der Stadt Linares der
brachte drei Punkteteilungen. So begnügte sich Veselin Topalov, der trotz des
bevorstehenden WM-Kampfes gegen Anand das Turnier überlegen dominiert, mit einem
Remis gegen Vugar Gashimov in einem damenlosen Mittelspiel, das aus der
Klassischen Variante der Spanischen Partie entstanden war. In Aronian gegen
Vallejo sah es so aus, als käme der Spanier mit Dame gegen zwei Türme in
Vorteil. Doch der Armenier entwickelte genügend Aktivität, um einen entfernten
schwarzen Freibauern in Schach zu halten. Am längsten dauerte die Partie
zwischen Boris Gelfand und Alexander Grischuk. In einem remislich aussehenden
Doppelturmendspiel entfachte Gelfand plötzlich einen gefährlichen Königsangriff.
Doch Grischuk verteidigte sich aufmerksam und erreichte die Punkteteilung. Turnierseite... Partien, Tabelle, Bilder...
Ultima chiamata per Aronian contro Topalov Live h.16
Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Domani è previsto il secondo ed ultimo giorno di riposo.
Incontri del VIII turno
Veselin Topalov
Levon Aronian
Francisco Vallejo
Boris Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk
Vugar Gashimov
Classifica dopo 7 turni
1.
Topalov, Veselin
g
BUL
2805
*
*
½
.
1
½
1
.
½
.
½
1
5
2901
2.
Aronian, Levon
g
ARM
2781
½
.
*
*
½
.
½
½
½
.
½
½
3½
2743
3.
Gashimov, Vugar
g
AZE
2759
0
½
½
.
*
*
½
.
½
½
1
.
3½
2764
4.
Grischuk, Alexander
g
RUS
2736
0
.
½
½
½
.
*
*
1
½
½
.
3½
2764
5.
Gelfand, Boris
g
ISR
2761
½
.
½
.
½
½
0
½
*
*
½
.
3
2704
6.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco
g
ESP
2705
½
0
½
½
0
.
½
.
½
.
*
*
2½
2673
Accoppiamenti del IX turno
Alexander Grischuk
Veselin Topalov
Vugar Gashimov
Francisco Vallejo
Boris Gelfand
Levon Aronian
Regolamento
calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.
tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita
Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.
Incontri del VII turno
Vugar Gashimov
1/2
Veselin Topalov
Boris Gelfand
1/2
Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian
1/2
Francisco Vallejo
Classifica dopo 7 turni
1.
Topalov, Veselin
g
BUL
2805
*
*
½
.
1
½
1
.
½
.
½
1
5
2901
2.
Aronian, Levon
g
ARM
2781
½
.
*
*
½
.
½
½
½
.
½
½
3½
2743
3.
Gashimov, Vugar
g
AZE
2759
0
½
½
.
*
*
½
.
½
½
1
.
3½
2764
4.
Grischuk, Alexander
g
RUS
2736
0
.
½
½
½
.
*
*
1
½
½
.
3½
2764
5.
Gelfand, Boris
g
ISR
2761
½
.
½
.
½
½
0
½
*
*
½
.
3
2704
6.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco
g
ESP
2705
½
0
½
½
0
.
½
.
½
.
*
*
2½
2673
Accoppiamenti del VIII turno
Veselin Topalov
Levon Aronian
Francisco Vallejo
Boris Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk
Vugar Gashimov
Regolamento
calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.
tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov.
Après sa nulle hier face à Gashimov en fort zeitnot, Topalov maintien son leadership au classement avec une confortable avance d'un point et demi sur ses poursuivants directs. Aronian pourrait-il freiner aujourd'hui le Bulgare?
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les appariements de la ronde 8 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 - Levon Aronian 2781
Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Boris Gelfand 2761
Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Vugar Gashimov 2759
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov.
Après sa victoire sauvage hier face à Vallejo, le bulgare Veselin Topalov mène au classement avec une confortable avance d'un point et demi sur ses poursuivants directs. Mais qui pourrait bien stopper Topalov ?
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les résultats de la ronde 7 :
Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805
Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Once again: the result sounds boring, the games on the other hand were electrifying. Not, we hasten to add, due to their flawless perfection – on the contrary, they demonstrate that these are humans playing at the boards. Humans with nerves and frailties. The result left Veselin Topalov still in the lead by a point and a half, and the tail ender Vallejo the tragic hero of the event.
Aronian gets another draw in Linares tournament 12:28 / 02/20/2010
Armenian GM Levon Aronian drew with Alexander Grischuk in the sixth round of Linares chess tournament in Spain.
Bulgarian Veselin Topalov defeated Spanish Francisco Vallejo, and Azerbaijani Vugar Gashimov drew with Israeli Boris Gelfand.
After the sixth round the standings are as follows: Veselin Topalov (4.5 points), Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk and Vugar Gashimov (3 points each), Boris Gelfand and Francisco Vallejo (2 points each).
Linares R6: Topalov wins again, leads world rankings
It was a very complicated game, and with Veselin Topalov pressing hard and Francisco Vallejo in terrible time trouble the Spaniard, who had had winning chances, blundered a full rook. This third victory put the Bulgarian GM a point and a half ahead of the field – and two points ahead of Magnus Carlsen in the live world rankings. Game with commentary by GM Anish Giri.
Veselin Topalov defeated co-leader Alexander Grischuk in round 5 of the Linares super-tournament. The Bulgarian now leads by a full point at half time. Vugar Gashimov beat Francisco Vallejo with Black, and while being a pawn up, Levon Aronian had to be satisfied with a draw against Boris Gelfand.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 5 report
Some of you have already discussed the tournament website, and the fact that the contents is only in Spanish. That’s disappointing indeed, but even worse was the ‘Fotogaleria’ page which contained only a Marca announcement video for the first few days. However, today we suddenly noticed two video playlists with some videos, not of the highest quality yet, but it’s better than nothing. Below that, indeed a photo gallery has now been added. Just to let you know.
The game of the day was of course the encounter between the two tournament leaders, Topalov and Grischuk. It certainly provided excellent entertainment for the chess fans, but the number of mistakes was above average, at this level of play. Again it seemed that Topalov was avoiding the most theoretical lines, this time against Grischuk’s Najdorf Sicilian. Just when his opponent was about to consolidate a slight positional advantage, the Bulgarian came up with a dangerous but highly creative concept: avoiding the exchange of queens with 20.Qb2 and sacrificing a knight (21.Nf5) to bring Bg2 to life.
Grischuk replied with a strong defensive set-up (…a5 + …Ra6) and was suddenly winning after the slow (or ‘lazy’, as The Doctor used to call it) 26.Kb1. 27…Kh7, avoiding the Ne5 pin, would have won material. Topalov then missed the winning 29.Qc1 but it must be said that the ideas behind that one are very computeresque. It was Grischuk’s turn to miss the very promising 31…Qg3 after which an equal (but slightly more comfortable for White) ending was reached. Around move 52 Grischuk suddenly collapsed.
Against Vallejo, Gashimov was confident enough to go for the Benoni again, and it’s really amazing how the grandmaster from Azerbaijan keeps on surviving, and even winning these positions that are actually just better for White. He just knows them very well and has a great sense of timing and counterchances, like his compatriot Radjabov in the King’s Indian. Moves like 19.Nb6 or 20.Ncd2 should be better for White, and 26.Qxc8 was a clear misjudgement of Black’s play on the queenside.
Less entertaining was Aronian-Gelfand, except for the fact that White’s novelty was deviating from a 1929 game. In a middlegame with opposite-coloured bishops Gelfand sacrificed a pawn and confidently held it to a draw, helped by the unsafe white king.
?Grischuk-Aronian, chi è l'anti-Topalov? Live h.16
Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.
Incontri del VI turno
Veselin Topalov?
?
?Francisco Vallejo
Alexander Grischuk?
?
?Levon Aronian
Vugar Gashimov?
?
?Boris Gelfand
Classifica dopo 5 turni
1.
Topalov, Veselin
g
BUL
2805
*
*
?
.
1
.
1
.
?
.
?
.
3?
2897
2.
Aronian, Levon
g
ARM
2781
?
.
*
*
?
.
?
.
?
.
?
.
2?
2753
3.
Gashimov, Vugar
g
AZE
2759
0
.
?
.
*
*
?
.
?
.
1
.
2?
2757
4.
Grischuk, Alexander
g
RUS
2736
0
.
?
.
?
.
*
*
1
.
?
.
2?
2762
5.
Gelfand, Boris
g
ISR
2761
?
.
?
.
?
.
0
.
*
*
?
.
2
2685
6.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco
g
ESP
2705
?
.
?
.
0
.
?
.
?
.
*
*
2
2696
Accoppiamenti del VII turno
Vugar Gashimov?
?
?Veselin Topalov
Boris Gelfand?
?
?Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian?
?
?Francisco Vallejo
Regolamento
calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.
tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov.
Après 5 rondes, le bulgare Veselin Topalov mènent au classement avec 3,5 points, et un point net d'avance sur ses poursuivants. Qui pourra stopper Topalov ?
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les appariements de la ronde 6 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 - Francisco Vallejo 2705
Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Levon Aronian 2781
Vugar Gashimov 2759 - Boris Gelfand 2761
La classifica del supertorneo di Linares comincia a delinearsi meglio dopo il 5° turno, nel quale si è registrata un solo pareggio. Il bulgaro Veselin Topalov, battendo il russo Alexander Grischuk, ha conquistato la vetta solitaria della classifica, portandosi a +1 dagli inseguitori, fra i quali l'azerbagiano Vugar Gashimov...
All three games were full of fight: Aronian came close to defeating Gelfand but drew; Vallejo even closer to defeating Gashimov but lost; and Alexander Grischuk had clear winning chances against Veselin Topalov but was outplayed by the Bulgarian in the end. We bring you extensive and deeply insightful commentary on this exciting struggle, provided by GM Anish Giri. Miss it at your own peril.
The 2010 Linares chess tournament is a six-player double round robin running from 13th until 24th February. The first rest day was granted after four rounds of intense games. Despite the high fighting spirit, thus far only two games have finished with decisive result, when Veselin Topalov beat Vugar Gashimov and Alexander Grischuk scored against Boris Gelfand in round two. Both were beautiful positional games, you can download them from the official website.
Topalov and the last year winner Grischuk are sharing the lead with 2.5 points each. Topalov has been cautious more than usual, but nevertheless he run into problems in the game against the aggressive Levon Aronian, who is always seeking to crush his opponents with white pieces in hand. With resourceful and imaginative defence, Topalov narrowly escaped the defeat by transposing into an endgame with opposite-coloured Bishops and wrong promoting corner.
Another wild game was the encounter between Boris Gelfand and Francisco Vallejo Pons. The Spaniard gave up the Queen for White Rook, but his minor pieces were dangerously coordinated and pointed towards the enemy King. With not more than 15 minutes on the clock, Gelfand decided to drop calculating complicated lines in the quest of exploiting material advantage, and instead gave the Queen back to reach a safe endgame where he easily held a draw.
The competition continues with round five games on Thursday. Pairings are Topalov-Grischuk in the derby match, Vallejo - Gashimov and Aronian - Gelfand.
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février.
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après 4 rondes, Topalov et Grischuk mènent au classement. Au programme du jour, le choc des leaders.
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les appariements de la ronde 5 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 - Alexander Grischuk 2736
Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Vugar Gashimov 2759
Levon Aronian 2781 - Boris Gelfand 2761
Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.
Incontri del V turno
Veselin Topalov
1-0
Alexander Grischuk
Francisco Vallejo
0-1
Vugar Gashimov
Levon Aronian
1/2
Boris Gelfand
Classifica dopo 5 turni
1.
Topalov, Veselin
g
BUL
2805
*
*
½
.
1
.
1
.
½
.
½
.
3½
2897
2.
Aronian, Levon
g
ARM
2781
½
.
*
*
½
.
½
.
½
.
½
.
2½
2753
3.
Gashimov, Vugar
g
AZE
2759
0
.
½
.
*
*
½
.
½
.
1
.
2½
2757
4.
Grischuk, Alexander
g
RUS
2736
0
.
½
.
½
.
*
*
1
.
½
.
2½
2762
5.
Gelfand, Boris
g
ISR
2761
½
.
½
.
½
.
0
.
*
*
½
.
2
2685
6.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco
g
ESP
2705
½
.
½
.
0
.
½
.
½
.
*
*
2
2696
Accoppiamenti del VI turno
Veselin Topalov
Francisco Vallejo
Alexander Grischuk
Levon Aronian
Vugar Gashimov
Boris Gelfand
Regolamento
calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.
tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita
The standings in Linares remained unchanged after three more, and this time rather uneventful draws in round 4. Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov maintained their shared lead, going into the first rest day.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 4 report by Rick Goetzee
Topalov and Grischuk still in the lead
The patience of chess fans was put to the test at the start of today’s round as the opening moves came through with a 15 minute delay. Real addicts were trying to spot the moves on the webcam of the official tournament site. Then the moves came up on the same site and showed that Gelfand had played Qc4 on his first move after which Topalov replied with the strong 1…Bc6.
It later turned out that these moves were indeed played but only on the 9th move. Gashimov had allegedly played 1.d5 with White and it was clear from the webcam that Aronian was struggling to find a good reply to that move. Soon afterwards the technology was back working properly.
Gelfand-Topalov was a Catalan of which the first fifteen moves were copied from game 4 of the World Cup final in December. Like against Ponomariov, Gelfand chose a calm approach in an attempt to squeeze Topalov in the middlegame. It didn’t work out as planned as it was in fact Topalov who did the squeezing.
It never amounted to much and the players reached an equal rook endgame. Play had to continue till the time control as draw offers before move 40 are not allowed. On move 40 the draw was agreed. Topalov must be very satisfied with the start of his campaign: three draws with Black and a nice win in his only game as White.
In Grischuk-Vallejo we saw one of the main lines of the 6.Ne5 Slav in which Black sacrifices a piece for three pawns. Grischuk took over an hour for 19.Kc2 and was in serious time trouble from move 25. Rather disappointingly, the game suddenly ended in a repetition of moves. According to GM Jon Speelman White could have run away with his king to g1, win the black b-pawn and push his c-pawn, with winning chances. With only a few minutes left on his clock Grischuk was probably happy to allow the move repetition.
Gashimov and Aronian played an Anti-Marshall and soon reached a queenless middlegame. Aronian slightly outplayed his opponent and got a better position because of his space advantage and better pieces. This was especially clear after thirty moves, when Speelman commented: ‘All black’s pieces are better than their white counterparts.’ Gashimov had to play accurately in time trouble and proved himself up to the task. After the time control a simply drawn endgame was reached.
Wednesday is a rest day with round 5 scheduled for Thursday 4pm local time.
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février.
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après 4 rondes, Topalov et Grischuk mènent au classement. Journée de repos ce mercredi.
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les résultats de la ronde 4 :
Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781
The third round of the super chess championship in Linares Levon Aronyan ended in draw. This time his rival was one of the leaders, Veselin Topalov.
The other rounds also had a peaceful ending. Hashimov shared the point with Grishchuk and Gelfand with Valekhoy. Thus the recorded results on the tournament list didn’t bring any changes. They are followed by Aronyan and Valekho.
Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Domani ci sarà il primo dei due giorni di riposo previsti.
Incontri del IV turno
Boris Gelfand
Veselin Topalov
Vugar Gashimov
Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk
Francisco Vallejo
Classifica dopo 3 turni
1.
Topalov, Veselin
g
BUL
2805
*
*
.
.
½
.
½
.
1
.
.
.
2
2873
2.
Grischuk, Alexander
g
RUS
2736
.
.
*
*
½
.
.
.
½
.
1
.
2
2892
3.
Aronian, Levon
g
ARM
2781
½
.
½
.
*
*
½
.
.
.
.
.
1½
2748
4.
Vallejo Pons, Francisco
g
ESP
2705
½
.
.
.
½
.
*
*
.
.
½
.
1½
2782
5.
Gashimov, Vugar
g
AZE
2759
0
.
½
.
.
.
.
.
*
*
½
.
1
2642
6.
Gelfand, Boris
g
ISR
2761
.
.
0
.
.
.
½
.
½
.
*
*
1
2608
Accoppiamenti del V turno
Veselin Topalov
Alexander Grischuk
Francisco Vallejo
Vugar Gashimov
Levon Aronian
Boris Gelfand
Regolamento
calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.
tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita
Non si muove la classifica al supertorneo di Linares: nel 3° turno tutte e tre le partite si sono concluse in parità e, quindi, Veselin Topalov e Alexander Grischuk sono rimasti al comando, portandosi a quota 2. Parlare di calma piatta, però, dopo quanto visto nelle sfide di oggi, sarebbe per lo meno fuori luogo...
Due giocatori si trovano in vetta a Linares dopo il 2° turno: sono il russo Alexander Grischuk, vincitore della scorsa edizione, e il bulgaro Veselin Topalov, ancora alla ricerca del primo successo nell'evento spagnolo...
In der heutigen zweiten Runde des Turniers von Linares waren die Zuschauer
zeugen zweier Weißsiege. Im Slawischen Damengambit hatte Vugar Gashimov dem
dauerhaften Druck Veselin Topalovs nicht genug entgegen zu setzten und musste
sich schließlich nach langer Verteidigung im Schwerfigurenendspiel im 48.Zug
geschlagen geben. Auch Alexander Grischuk kam gegen Boris Gelfand zu einem Sieg.
In einem Nimzoinder gab wie in der vorgenannten Partie ein geschwächter
schwarzer Königsflügel den Ausschlag. Die dritte Partie zwischen Vallejo und
Aronian andete in der Spanischen Berliner Variante remis. Turnierseite... Tabelle, Partien...
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février.
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov (en photo), Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après 3 rondes, Topalov et Grischuk mènent au classement.
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les appariements de la ronde 4 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 - Alexander Grischuk 2736
Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Vugar Gashimov 2759
Levon Aronian 2781 - Boris Gelfand 2761
Les résultats de la ronde 3 :
Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805
Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Les résultats de la ronde 2 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761
Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781
Les résultats de la ronde 1 :
Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759
Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février.
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov (en photo), Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov, qui défendra ses chances ici pour la première fois.
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
Les appariements de la ronde 3 :
Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805
Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Les résultats de la ronde 2 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761
Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781
Les résultats de la ronde 1 :
Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759
Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805
Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov maintained their shared lead in Linares after all round 3 games ended in a draw today. Don’t judge this round by the results, though, as all three games were highly interesting fights.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 3 report by Rick Goetzee
Snow in Linares
There are reports that because of Global Warming the south of Spain will have a desert climate in thirty years from now. But the people from Linares are not too worried, as thirty years ago the same prediction was made and did not come true. And last night it was snowing!
Today there was heavy rainfall before the start of the round and it was a damp affair when the players took their places at the board. As usual there were not many spectators in the auditorium. But with the move from the Anibal Hotel to Teatro Cervantes there are more non-chess players in the audience, probably people taking a break from shopping. Today there was a young woman with her 3 year old daughter. The little girl was impressed by the typical atmosphere of a chess tournament and sat quietly in her seat staring at the stage. Later she was spotted in the press room eating cakes and cookies. When they left, she said to her mother: ‘I like it here, I want to come to your work more often.’
Another nice quote came from a visitor who said after the games had started: ‘Those pieces are really beautiful, I liked it when they were lined up. Now they are scattered all over the place; it looks very messy.’ Sometimes it’s nice to look at our game through the eyes of an outsider.
Gashimov-Grischuk was a repeat from the exciting game they played at the World Team Championships only a few weeks ago. In the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf, Grischuk was the first to deviate, probably because his slightly artificial 15…Rh7 from that game can probably be answered by 16.g5. Today Gashimov proved to be well prepared but couldn’t claim an advantage; soon the game fizzled out into a draw.
Just when we wrote that the Benoni is a rare opening at this level, Veselin Topalov plays it. In the big encounter against Aronian the Bulgarian sacrificed a pawn with 22…b5 today. It looked pretty, but a few accurate moves later Aronian was clearly on top. White should probably have gone for e5-e6 somewhere; in the game Topalov got away with a draw by defending brilliantly. Just look at this one:
38…Nd6!! amazingly held the game.
In a Slav, Vallejo’s set-up against could have backfired at an early stage, but Gelfand didn’t see it. With 17.Bxd7+! Kxd7 18.Rd1! White suddenly threatens to win the black queen with Rd1-d4, to which there doesn’t really seem to be an adequate defence. In the game Gelfand got a probably winning advantage anyway, but like Topalov, Vallejo managed to defend the game to a draw by using all the tactics available. Both Aronian and Gelfand will be disappointed after today’s round…
En la segunda ronda del torneo de Linares hubo dos victorias con blancas. Vugar Gashimov no pudo con la permanente presión en el Gambito de Dama eslavo que Veselin Topalov ejercía sobre sus piezas y finalmente se tuvo que dar por vencido en el movimiento 48 tras un final de piezas pesadas. Alexander Grischuk, por su parte se impuso a Boris Gelfand. La clave de la partida nuevamente fue el flanco debilitado del rey negro. El tercer encuentro de la jornada, la partida Española con la variante berlinesa, entre Paco Vallejo y Levon Aronian terminó en tablas. Crónica con fotos y análisis de GM Anish Giri...
XXVII Torneo Intercontinental de Ajedrez ‘Ciudad de Linares’
Ayer viernes, a las 20:00 horas se llevó a cabo la ceremonia inaugural con el sorteo de los emparejamientos en el Teatro Cervantes de Linares. En la primera ronda, que se disputará hoy a partir de las 16:00 CET y que contará con comentarios a cargo de Leontxo García en directo desde Linares, gratuitos para todos los usuarios del servidor de ChessBase Playchess.com, se enfrentarán Paco Vallejo vs. Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian vs. Alexander Grischuk y Boris Gelfand vs. Vugar Gashimov. Emparejamientos e impresiones fotográficas...
Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov both won their White games in Linares today, after their opponents erred in close to equal positions. The two share the lead after two rounds.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Round 2 report by Rick Goetzee
Blood has been shed
The reactions to the first round in Linares were not very positive. Disappointment about the diminished number of participants, unhappiness with the uneventful draws and frustration with the tournament website. Grumbling chess lovers all over the Internet, probably spoiled too much by the Corus coverage. There was also confusion about the 26 move draw in Aronian-Grischuk. What about the Sofia rules? This was clarified during the day. The players had asked the arbiter for permission to declare the game drawn. A more lenient version of the Sofia rules seems to be used in Linares, which makes a lot of sense.
Hopefully the reactions to the second round will be more positive as blood was shed in two of the three games. Defending champion Grischuk beat World Cup winner Gelfand from a Nimzo-Indian opening. It seems the Nimzo is making a revival at the top level; 3.Nc3 is being seen more and more. On ICC Chess.FM, GM Jan Gustafsson joked that he thought 3.Nc3 was indeed a good move, although he preferred 3.Nf3 avoiding the pin.
GM Varuzhan Akobian praised Grischuk’s energetic play starting with 14.Qe4 and said that Gelfand will have mixed feelings about taking with the knight on the 13th move. In the middlegame Gelfand kept White’s advantage to a minimum, until he made a big mistake on move 29. White’s threats of Qh4, Rg3 and Bh6-g5-f6 had to be answered by 29…Rc7. Grischuk’s 32.a5! was surprisingly strong as Black was suddenly in some kind of Zugzwang. Black’s last chance was to give the queen, but that looks winning for White too.
Topalov beat newcomer Gashimov in an untheoretical Chebanenko Slav. Akobian commented that White’s set-up must be one of Topalov’s back-up openings and that he will choose sharper systems in the match against Anand. Still, the Bulgarian slowly increased the pressure on his opponent and was able to exploit the unsafe position of Gashimov’s king in a queen and rook endgame.
Vallejo and Aronian drew a Berlin Wall, “old style”. Aronian went for the old main line 9…Ke8 and his follow-up with …b6 and …Bb7 is yet another (but more than 30 years old) idea in this intriguing ending. The Spaniard had a slight advantage because of Black’s undeveloped rook on h8. After Aronian found a way to free his rook (especially 18…g6! was accurate) an opposite-coloured bishop ending arose with a worthless extra pawn for Vallejo.
Finally a word on the playing venue which is Teatro Cervantes in the heart of the city. For many years the playing venue was the ballroom of Rentero’s Hotel Anibal. Since 2008 they have moved to Cervantes, which is a more suitable venue for players and press. In Anibal there was always a pillar in the way if you wanted to follow all games at the same time. A shuttle service is in place to bring the players from the hotel to the playing venue but most make the 15 minute journey by foot.
The Linares tournament takes place in Spain 12th-25th February 2010. Players: Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand and for the first time in a super-tournament Vugar Gashimov who deserves his chance in this company.
Round 2. Both in Topalov - Gashimov and Grischuk against Gelfand white ended up with quite nasty pressure and better king positions that meant that holding the positions practically was extremely difficult. Even though Gashimov reduced the pawns to one side the position was almost impossible to defend. Gelfand's 29...Kh8 was losing but he was facing a long defence anyhow.
The game Vallejo - Aronain was a fairly dull Berlin Defence which ended in a sterile ending on move 41.
Round 3 (February 15, 2010)
Aronian, Levon - Topalov, Veselin
Gashimov, Vugar - Grischuk, Alexander
Gelfand, Boris- Vallejo Pons, Francisco
Team Anand wants to avoid visual contact between the players and audience - Reported in The Times of
Viswanathan Anand has requested for a special curtain to be placed separating the audience and the stage to avoid visual contact for his upcoming World Chess Championship match against Veselin Topalov in April.
Anand requests for a curtain between audience, player TNN, 14 February 2010, 02:41am IST
CHENNAI: Viswanathan Anand has requested for a special curtain to be placed separating the audience and the stage to avoid visual contact for his upcoming World Chess Championship match against Veselin Topalov in April.
Though this move looks simple and harmless, it has unveiled Team Anand's cautious approach to the match in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Anand's wife and manager Aruna Anand visited the venue earlier this week and inspected the arrangements to officially kick-start the preparations.
Basically in all World championship matches, the teams get to see the arrangements two to three times before the actual game. This was Team Anand's first visit, though only the manager was present, but she must have got a clear idea of what was already in place and what improvements she expected from the hosts. "
In Bonn, we also had a chance to see the facilities. Before the last World Championship in 2008 the WCC contract covered all the details in how the event will be staged and the details that pertain to the stage, the logistics etc.
"So my visit was only to follow on that," Aruna explained on Saturday.
Veselin Topalov and Alexander Grischuk (pictured) both won with the white pieces in their second round games at Linares to emerge as the early leaders.
Topalov defeated Gashimov's Slav defence with an impressive display where black's more exposed...
Bulgarian GM and World Championship challenger Veselin Topalov scored a fine positional win over Azeri GM Vugar Gashimov. Alexander Grischuk of Russia dismantled Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, while Levon Aronia of Armenia used the Berlin Defence to get a somewhat shaky draw against Francisco Vallejo. Games with commentary by GM Anish Giri.
Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares: Ronda 1
Veselin Topalov (BUL-2805), Levon Aronian (ARM-2781), Boris Gelfand (ISR-2761), Vugar Gashimov (AZE-2759), Alexander Grischuk (RUS-2736) y Francisco (Paco) Vallejo Pons (ESP-2705), empezaron a mostrar su talento y arrancó Linares.
La primera edición del torneo fue en 1978. En esta primera edición fue la única en que participó un jugador giennense, Viriato Pacheco y fue ganada por el sueco Jaan Eslon (que jugó muchos torneos en España, ya fallecido), fue el ganador de esta edición empatado a puntos con Roberto Debarnot de Argentina. Desde entonces se celebró de los años impares hasta 1987, año en que Linares acogió el match final de candidatos al título entre Anatoly Karpov y Andréi Sokolov. A partir de 1988 el torneo se ha venido celebrando todos los años (a excepción de 1996 en el que la ciudad acogió el Campeonato del mundo de ajedrez femenino).
The Linares tournament started peacefully today, with draws on all three boards. Topalov surprised Vallejo with a Breyer against the Spaniard’s Ruy Lopez and easily equalized. Grischuk needed a lot of time on the clock, but was also doing fine with Black against Aronian in a 4.f3 Nimzo ending. Gelfand had some advantage against Gashimov’s Benoni but just before the first time control a drawn ending was reached.
The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.
Linares 2010 | Pairings and results
Round 1 report by Rick Goetzee
The famous Linares tournament is on its way again. It is true that the event has lost some of its aura and some say that Corus has taken over as the Wimbledon of chess, but it is still one of the greatest tournaments around. And not only because of its history. It’s quite remarkable how the organisers have kept the event alive through great adversity and without corporate sponsorship. In the last year they had to deal with the economic recession and voices in the local government challenging the decision to invest in a chess tournament. Also the plan to host the first half of the tournament in Dubai fell through. Despite all this, the Linares organizers have secured this famous event for another year.
The field once consisted of 14 players, but since 2006 (after Kasparov retired) there have been eight players, competing in a double round robin. This year, because of financial constraints, it went down to six. While this is a pity it puts it on par with the Grand Slam tournaments in Sofia and Nanjing. Only Corus still has 14 players in their A-group.
One of the consequences of a relatively small field is that the tournament is very strong. In Wijk aan Zee there were a few players (predominantly the local ones) who acted as the rabbits in the field, as GM Joel Benjamin referred to them on ICC’s Chess.FM. In Linares the only local player is Vallejo Pons but with a rating of 2705 he can hardly be called a rabbit.
Although he has always been a top player, it’s been already 13 years since Boris Gelfand has last played in Linares. In the polls before the start of the tournament Aronian was the favourite, undoubtedly because Topalov will have the upcoming world championship match in the back of his mind.
The opening ceremony on Friday was short but entertaining with flamenco dancers and Spanish traditional music. The first round started on Saturday at 4pm which is quite late compared to other tournaments. It must have to do with the great Spanish tradition of ‘la siesta’.
All games were drawn in the first round. Vallejo-Topalov lasted 41 moves after a Ruy Lopez opening, Breyer variation. This solid system isn’t something Topalov regularly plays, and Vallejo was probably not well prepared for it. The Spaniard chose an old system but got nothing, and after many exchanges Topalov couldn’t play for a win either.
Aronian-Grischuk was a Nimzo-Indian with 4.f3, the system popularized by Fritz Sämisch. White’s move 8.Qd2 led the game into a position that was popular in the 50s (!) and Grischuk used a lot of time in the opening, but he was able to solve all his problems. In fact if anyone was better it was Black, who could have tried 19…N7e5 if he’d had more time. After 26 moves the players shook hands. Aronian only used 40 minutes for the whole game.
The most interesting game of the day was Gelfand-Gashimov. The Azerbaijan GM went for his favourite Benoni, an opening we don’t see very often in the elite tournaments. According to GM Benjamin this is a sign of the new philosophy of modern top players. Chess is becoming more of a sport than a science. A fight over the board is preferred over home preparation.
Well, in any case Gelfand was, as so often, very well prepared. The World Cup winner went for the 7.Bf4 line, and knew all ins and outs of Gashimov’s pawn sacrifice on move 9. Gashimov always seemed to have compensation, but was it enough? White’s bishops looked very strong. Eventually Black won his pawn back and the game ended after 54 moves with a repetition of moves in a knight and bishop ending.
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février.
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov, qui défendra ses chances ici pour la première fois.
Les appariements de la ronde 2 :
Veselin Topalov 2805 - Vugar Gashimov 2759
Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Boris Gelfand 2761
Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Levon Aronian 2781
Les résultats de la ronde 1 :
Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759
Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février.
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov, qui défendra ses chances ici pour la première fois.
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Télécharger
The 2010 Linares chess tournament, part of the Grand Slam circuit and one of the top chess events in the world, is starting today with the games of the first round. The field is reduced to six players, which will compete in a double round robin event.
Tournament director Juan Fernandez underlined at the opening ceremony that he is happy the tournament has a category XXI despite the economic crisis and expressed the desire the competition to share venue with Morelia, UAE, or another city in 2011.
Last year champion Alexander Grischuk and FIDE Grand Prix winnerLevon Aronian are making another consecutive appearance. Former World Champion Veselin Topalov, who skipped the last year event because of the FIDE Challengers match against Gata Kamsky, is back to play in one of his favourite tournaments. He noted, "It will be very important to enter the World Chess Championship match against Anand with a victory in Linares. However, it will not be easy, as the competition is very strong."
Boris Gelfand was invited after his win at the prestigious FIDE World Cup, while Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan is making a debut at the super-tournaments. Francisco Vallejo Pons was happy returning to Linares five years after his last participation and shared, "It is an honor for a Spanish player to participate in the most prestigious tournament in the world."
Pairings of the first round are: Francisco Vallejo Pons - Veselin Topalov (draw signed) Levon Aronian - Alexander Grischuk (draw) Boris Gelfand - Vugar Gashimov, still in progress
The formalities at Linares have been completed, and the draw for the first round games looks like this...
 Lev Aronian
 Alexander GrischukÂ
 Boris GelfandÂ
 Veselin Topalov
 Francisco Vallejo PonsÂ
 Vugar Gashimov
Â
Games start at 4pm ...
Si sono appena spente le eco del magnifico Corus ed ecco che i fari si riaccendono, come ogni anno, sul palcoscenico dei grandi scacchi. Cerimonia inaugurale oggi per il 27mo Ciudad de Linares: minor tradizione forse rispetto a Wijk aan Zee ma un evento diverso, da sempre o quasi riservato all’assoluta élite mondiale, che ha scritto alcune delle pagine più straordinarie degli scacchi moderni. Dopo 4 anni con 8 partecipanti si torna a 6, come già avvenuto nelle edizioni 2000 e 2001.
Motivi di carattere economico hanno indotto a questa “edizione di transizione”: l’accordo con Dubai come sostituta di Morelia non è stato trovato per quest’anno ma sembra prospettarsi per l’edizione 2011, in cui Linares si è già assicurata, notizia di questi ultimi giorni, la presenza del n° 1 Magnus Carlsen. Come dire: qualche difficoltà quest’anno, ma Linares continuerà e sarà sempre grandissimo! Non possiamo che esserne contenti!
Il primo premio scende, dai 100.000 euro dell’anno scorso ai 75.000 di quest’anno, via via fino ai 15.000 euro per il sesto, che restano pur sempre poco meno del 1° premio dell’Aeroflot! Confermata la scelta di riservare tutto al montepremi, in luogo degli ingaggi, per incoraggiare la combattività, una caratteristica sempre ricercata storicamente da Luis Rentero.
Primo turno sabato 13, riposo il 17 e il 22, ultimo turno il 24. Si gioca alle 16, con un tempo di gioco, se non ho compreso male, privo di abbuoni: 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e mezz’ora per finire la partita. Zeitnot in vista! Partite online, ovviamente, sul sito ufficiale http://ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es/ e grande copertura live anche da parte di Chessdom, che per diversi mesi è stato il primo sito a dare notizie su un Linares 2010 avvolto da qualche nebbia. Per il terzo anno consecutivo, comunque, torneo di XXIma categoria (media 2758):
Giocatore, anno di nascita, nazionalità, Elo, posizione in classifica mondiale, liverating
Veselin Topalov (1975) BUL 2805 (2 – 2805)
Levon Aronian (1982) ARM 2781 (5 – 2782.3)
Boris Gelfand (1968) ISR 2761 (6 – 2750.4)
Vugar Gashimov (1986) AZE 2751 (7 – 2740.2)
Alexander Grischuk (1983) RUS 2736 (14 – 2756.0)
Francisco Vallejo (1982) ESP 2705 (30 – 2708.0)
Una nota curiosa é che nessuno dei partecipanti al Corus é presente a Linares, fatto decisamente inconsueto.
Per il Corus si era annotato che difficilmente Anand si sarebbe espresso al meglio, con la necessità di preservare il suo arsenale di aperture per il prossimo match mondiale con Topalov. Non sono sicuro che lo stesso argomento sia completamente valido per Veselin: certo, il campione bulgaro terrà le carte coperte, ma la sua voglia di vittoria e il suo desiderio di sbilanciare le partite alla ricerca del punto intero potrebbero far capolino. Credo che a Topalov non dispiacerebbe presentarsi al match di Sofia con la vittoria di Linares: penso che dopo San Luis Veselin abbia acquistato la convinzione di essere il miglior giocatore del mondo e che avverta il desiderio di dimostrarlo in modo eclatante, ad esempio con una sequenza tipo Linares – Titolo Mondiale – Finale del Grande Slam! Un 2010 da leggenda, nel caso, ma il rischio è quello di strafare, di perdere qualche partita a Linares, e con essa qualche sicurezza. Vedremo un Topalov “disciplinato” e pienamente orientato sul match mondiale o fortemente motivato a vincere questo torneo? Da notare che Anand, restando imbattuto e superando Kramnik, un piccolo segnale l’ha lanciato. Per la prima parte del torneo Topalov non avrà l’apporto come secondo di Cheparinov, impegnato a Mosca, ma potrà contare su Dominguez (!!), che presumo faccia parte anche del suo team per il match mondiale.
Il ruolo del favorito potrebbe passare comunque ad Aronian, che ha sicuramente qui l’impegno più importante di questa prima parte del 2010, una gara che ha avuto pienamente il tempo di preparare. Il campione armeno si è spinto a novembre fino al suo massimo Elo, 2786, con un 2009 tutto condotto ad alto livello, dal secondo posto al Corus alle vittorie di Nalchik e di Bilbao, inserendosi a pieno titolo nella top five. La domanda, necessariamente rinviata ai match dei candidati, è se Aronian possa essere appieno un contendente per il titolo mondiale. Considerando Carlsen e Kramnik, di spazio sembra essercene poco, sta a Levon mandare qualche segnale di forza e questo Linares potrebbe essere un punto di passaggio interessante. Una vittoria potrebbe aggiungere convinzione e un piccolo vantaggio c’è: manca Ivanchuk, bestia nera del campione armeno (lo scorso anno, qui a Linares, un tremendo doppio zero contro Chuky)!
La vittoria di Grischuk a Linares 2009 è stata senz’altro una sorpresa, non tanto per il talento, indiscutibile, quanto per la sequenza di risultati relativamente anonimi cui Alexandar ci aveva abituati, con la sensazione di una non piena applicazione agli scacchi e lasciando un po’ scivolare, anno dopo anno, la percezione di un giovane che forse avrebbe potuto / potrebbe lottare fino al livello del titolo mondiale. Dopo Linares un 2009 “come al solito”, fino all’eliminazione da Jakovenko in Coppa del Mondo. Acuti recenti però con il titolo russo e un buon World Team Chess Championship, restando imbattuto in entrambe le manifestazioni. Grischuk riuscirà mai a trovare la determinazione necessaria per nutrire pienamente il suo talento? Parrebbe di no, finora, ma una certa curiosità per il suo comportamento in questo Linares è legittima. E’ forse il miglior outsider per la vittoria finale e, nel caso, il bissare Linares potrebbe porgli qualche prospettiva su cui riflettere.
Di lista in lista Boris Gelfand continua ad aggiungere qualche punticino al suo record di punteggio Elo, con un trend stupefacente per i suoi quasi 42 anni e con tanti giovani super-computerizzati che si affacciano oltre quota 2700. La conferenza stampa di qualche mese fa a Roma ci dà però delle risposte: Boris ha ancora una grande passione per gli scacchi ed è un uomo di spessore, un lottatore che si dà sempre degli obiettivi, per piccoli passi, un approccio che possiamo ritrovare nel suo stile alla scacchiera, solido e insidioso, con grandi capacità posizionali. Grande soddisfazione la vittoria nella World Cup e poi un periodo di riposo e di preparazione. Facile immaginare come Gelfand sia orientato sui match dei candidati. Nella World Cup 2005 mi colpì una sua dichiarazione in cui affermava che la sua generazione (con Anand e Ivanchuk) aveva espresso dei grandi giocatori ma che Kasparov era “imbattibile”, impedendo loro di arrivare fino al titolo mondiale. Non facile da dire per una persona volitiva come lui. Penso che Gelfand sarà uno di quei giocatori dal declino molto lento, capace di stupirci anche a 50 anni ed oltre, uno che non molla, mai!
Prima volta in un super torneo per Vugar Gashimov, il “n° 3 dell’Azerbaijan” che in questo 2009 è diventato il n° 1, scavalcando, almeno per ora, Radjabov e Mamedyarov. Un’escalation costruita a partire dalla sua vittoria a pari merito nel Gran Prix di Baku 2008 e proseguita perdendo pochissimo, senza tuttavia brillare. Decisamente insolita per lui la debacle subita nel World Team Chess Championship, con tre sconfitte in sole sette partite, ad opera di Grischuk, Sasikiran e Adly, anche se le prove a squadre possono essere psicologicamente particolari. Una World Cup all’insegna delle patte, superando faticosamente Fabiano ed uscendo con Ponomariov. Difficile pensare che Gashimov possa spingersi oltre nella sua scalata del ranking mondiale; questo Linares ci saprà dire, comunque, qualcosa in più.
Cinque partecipazioni consecutive a Linares per Vallejo, dal 2002 al 2006, fruendo del suo essere la migliore speranza spagnola, in cui “Paco” è sempre rimasto nelle posizioni di coda. Il suo talento, molto creativo, non è finora riuscito ad esprimersi fino ad uno stabile inserimento nell’elite mondiale. Nel 2009 è arrivato, finalmente, oltre quota 2700 ma anche stavolta sembra difficile che possa inserirsi nelle prime posizioni qui a Linares. Vallejo vanta anche due partecipazioni nel nostro CIS, prima nel Master 2008 con il Massimo di Palermo, condotto fin quasi allo scudetto, e poi nell’A1 2009 con il Dorico Ancona. Da queste occasioni il ritratto di un giovane simpatico e alla mano, che non si dà arie da super GM, molto disponibile ed eccellente forchetta! Per chi non avesse letto l’articolo da non perdere la sua partita, commentata per Scacchierando, giocata contro Malfagia, in cui è disponibile anche l’eccellente commento dello stesso Malfagia, una doppia rivisitazione della stessa partita di straordinario valore didattico!
Ciò che mi sembra accomuni quest’anno Wijk aan Zee e Linares, pur nella notevole diversità nella tipologia di gara e con partecipanti completamente diversi, è il senso di attesa rispetto ad una stagione scacchistica straordinariamente incerta e interessante. A breve il match mondiale tra due grandissimi protagonisti e all'orizzonte dei match dei candidati che si prospettano estremamente interessanti, fino alla nuova sfida mondiale del 2011. Forse Carlsen sarà il dominatore del futuro ma ancora non lo è del tutto e non è facile immaginare chi sarà il campione del mondo alla fine del 2011.
Un corridoio dell'Hotel Anibal (da Chessbase)
Poi, ovviamente, Corus e Linares sono accomunati dalle grandi storie scacchistiche che hanno scritto. Nell’Hotel Anibal, in passato sede di gioco e tutt’ora albergo di soggiorno dei giocatori, ci sono moltissime immagini dei grandi campioni che hanno partecipato al torneo, anno dopo anno.
Un 22enne Gelfand (da Chessbase)
Superba vittoria di Vassily nel 1991! (da Chessbase)
Garry 1992 (da Chessbase)
Il fantastico do di petto di Karpov 1994! (da Chessbase)
Insomma, il vento dei grandi scacchi soffia impetuoso in Andalusia!
The 27th traditional TopGM’s tournament in Linares, Spain will be held from Feb 13th to Feb 24th. Players: Veselin Topalov (BUL, 2805), Levon Aronian (ARM, 2781), Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2761), Vugar Gashimov (AZE, 2759), Alexander Grischuk (RUS, 2736), Francisco Vallejo Pons (ESP, 2705).
Tournament format: Double round-robin.
Average ELO is 2758, 21th FIDE tournament category.
ChessOK is going to broadcast all games of this tournament with Rybka Aquarium commentary.
Games:
Nach dem kürzlich beendeten Corus-Turnier folgt bereits der nächste
Höhepunkt: Das Turnier von Linares. Sechs Spieler gehen an den Start und
treten doppelrundig gegeneinander an, nämlich Levon Aronian, Boris Gelfand,
Vugar Gashimov, Alexander Grischuk, Veselin Topalov und Franciso Vallejo
Pons. Die erste Runde wird am kommenden Samstag gespielt. Rundenbeginn ist
jeweils um 16 Uhr. ChessBase begleitet das Turnier mit täglichen
Live-Kommentaren auf dem Fritz-Server (Kostenloser Zugang für
Premium-Mitglieder). Als Kommentatoren wechseln sich Daniel King und Yasser
Seirawan ab.
Fritz 12 mit Premium-Zugang kaufen...Turnierseite... Programmplan...
The second Grand Slam tournament of the year will officially be opened on Friday, February 12th. The first round of the Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” starts 16:00 CET on Saturday the 13th. Topalov, Aronian, Gelfand, Gashimov, Grischuk and Vallejo play. Who do you think will win?
The 27th Linares tournament takes place February 12th-25th in Linares, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event goes back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. Also in 2000 and 2001 there were only six players. In the years 2002-2005 the tournament had 7 players, and in 2006-2009 there were 8.
This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET. The opening is on Friday the 12th, the closing on Friday the 26th, and rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. ChessVibes will bring on-the-spot coverage with on-site reports during the first half, and coverage by yours truly during the final week.
Veselin Topalov will be back behind the chess board after almost four months of absence. For the Bulgarian it will be the first tournament since Nanjing 2009, where he finished second on 5.5/10, 2.5 points behind sensational winner Magnus Carlsen. After that Topalov only played four games at the European Team Championship in Novi Sad, end October, where he scored 2.5/4. The big question will be whether the now world’s number 2 will be able to fight for first and at the same time save his biggest opening novelties for the upcoming match against Anand. His regular second Ivan Cheparinov is currently playing at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, but Topalov is taking Leinier Dominguez, a strong theoretician himself, to Linares.
Last year Levon Aronian scored 6.5/14, which meant a shared 5th place in the standings with Radjabov and Wang Yue. However, he continued strongly by retaining his title at the Amber tournament and then winning his second FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik, and with it the GP Series. Aronian’s last event was the World Team Championship in Bursa last month, where he scored 6/9. Before that, at the Tal Memorial, he scored 5/9.
Boris Gelfand is the only player older than 40 in Linares, but the Israeli grandmaster has proven many times already that experience can still beat youth. As the top seed, he won the FIDE World Cup in December in Khanty-Mansiysk, beating Ruslan Ponomariov in the final. This earned Gelfand a spot in the Linares tournament in fact, because already before the World Cup the organizers decided to invite the winner.
For Vugar Gashimov Linares will be the first super-GM tournament, although he has clearly shown already to be a world-class grandmaster, especially in the FIDE Grand Prix Series. As a result, Gashimov is currently the world’s number 7 player and the highest rated player in Azerbaijan (although in the live list Mamedyarov has surpassed him again).
Alexander Grischuk is defending his title in Linares. Last year he won the event on tiebreak, finishing first together with Vassily Ivanchuk on 8/14. (The Ukrainian’s SB was higher and he left the tournament undefeated, but Grischuk was declared winner due to having more wins.) Grischuk played well at the World Team Championship, where he scored 4.5/7 (and defeated Gashimov in a wild game). Before that he won the Superfinal of the Russian Championship with 6.5/9.
Local hero Francisco “Paco” Vallejo, another second of Topalov, didn’t have to travel too much. His last tournament was in Gibraltar, where he finished on an undefeated 7.5/10 and eventually lost to Adams in the play-off final. In the Bundesliga he scored two draws and three wins for Baden-Baden this season, but it remains to be seen how he will do against top 10 players.
GRANDE SLAM: LA FINALE DEI DUE MONDI ! A Shanghai (Cina) e Bilbao(Spagna)
Sorpresa per il Master 2010, manifestazione giunta alla terza edizione e che vedrà in campo i vincitori dei principali tornei al Mondo ( Nanchino, Wijk Aan Zee, Linares, Sofia e forse il Kings Tournament di Bazna in Romania ) facenti parte del Grande Slam.
Per il 2010 infatti è previsto un rilancio dell'evento dopo una seconda edizione nel 2009 in tono minore che fu caratterizzata dal taglio dei premi e che portò lo sfidante mondiale bulgaro Topalov a declinare l'invito.
La novità sarà che la Finale del Grande Slam sarà divisa in due parti e si disputerà in due città diverse : Shanghai (Cina, dal 3 al 12 Settembre) e la tradizionale Bilbao (Spagna, dal 6 al 14 Ottobre). Infatti ad interrompere momentaneamente la manifestazione ci saranno le Olimpiadi 2010 in Russia !
Anche San Luis (Argentina) e Londra (Inghilterra) stanno valutando se entrare a far parte del circuito. In ogni caso il Comitato organizzatore del Grande Slam ha posto una regola per i nuovi tornei, ovvero che questi diano garanzia di svolgere almeno 3 edizioni.
CALENDARIO 2010 GRANDE SLAM:
NANCHINO (CINA 2009) = Carlsen
WIJK AAN ZEE (OLANDA 2010) = Carlsen
LINARES (SPAGNA) = 12-25 Febbraio
SOFIA (BULGARIA)= 25 Maggio - 5 Giugno
BAZNA (?) (ROMANIA) = 10-22Giugno
FINALE MASTER = SHANGHAI ( Cina, 3-12 Settembre) & BILBAO ( Spagna, 6-14 Ottobre)
Nakamura at the 2004 World Open. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
Hikaru Nakamura has quite a story to tell. Born in Osaka, Japan and arriving in the U.S. at the age of two, Nakamura has been gracing the pages of chess magazines since he began breaking many of Bobby Fischer’s records. One of the first indicators of chess talent is the age record for National Master.
There have been many talented players to come through the scholastic ranks, but many either quit playing after high school, or shortly after reaching National Master. When Nakamura entered Dickinson College, there were fears that America would lose yet another promising talent along the likes of Grandmasters Michael Wilder and Patrick Wolff.
Under the early tutelage of his stepfather FM Sunil Weeramantry and the mentorship of older brother Asuka Nakamura, young Hikaru shattered the record reaching the mark in 10 years, 79 days. In 2008, his record was later lowered to 9 years, 11 months by Nicholas Nip, a player who is no longer active. Five years later, he broke Bobby Fischer’s long-standing record by earning Grandmaster status in 15 years, 79 days.
Media comparisons to Fischer immediately heightened when he won the U.S. Championship at age 16. However, Nakamura reminded everyone, “I’m not Bobby Fischer.” He was intimating the point that Fischer was an unbalanced individual who only thought of chess. Of course, this was only half the story with Fischer, but certainly he was one who could not operate comfortably outside of the chess realm.
When you talk to Nakamura, he is comfortable talking about a wide range of topics including his beloved Vancouver Canucks hockey team. He also has a variety of interests including music, finance, sports and politics. Many of the existing stereotypes of Nakamura are based on history from his teen years and commentary from online chess servers.
Chief Organizer Erik Anderson (left) stands next to GM Hikaru Nakamura and WGM Rusudan Goletiani after both were crowned the 2004 U.S. Champions.
Nakamura’s talent was hardly questioned on the U.S. scene as he had put together an impressive résumé of wins. At the closing ceremonies of the 2003 U.S. Championship, winner Alexander Shabalov singled out a young Nakamura and stated that he had a bright future in chess. In American tournaments, Nakamura’s brash style has become a breath of fresh air in a sport that had become stagnant with the same players competing every year in the U.S. Championships and the open tournaments. His victory the next year was definitely good for chess.
Once Nakamura joined the elite class in the U.S., he carried a reputation as being an isolationist and distrustful of his colleagues. He rankled many when he made comments about collusion among the U.S. elite. “That’s actually why I still work alone. It’s very hard to trust anybody.” However, as Nakamura begin to ascend to a world-class level, he enlisted some help. After the 2009 U.S. Championship, he mentioned that he had been working with National Master Kris Littlejohn. This choice of a second puzzled many, but has paid dividends.
Viktor Mikalevski ponders Gata Kamsky’s next move while Nakamura-Najer reaches the climatic stage of the 2009 World Open. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
In U.S. chess, there had been too many “friendships” between top players which resulted in many quick draws and dispirited play. Nakamura was dismissive of these tactics and forced the issue with his ‘play-to-win’ attitude. His determination affords him psychological capital when an opponent understands that they have to fight when they are already content on drawing. This fighting spirit came into great effect when he won his first U.S. Championship at age 16. However, in an important interview in Salon magazine, there were still had doubters.
“The finish is very good but few purists will rank his play in the same league as Fischer’s — it lacks elegance,” wrote chess scribe Alan Goldsmith. Another chess writer, Bobby Ang, wondered, “When Nakamura reaches the higher echelons of the chess elite, will his style work?” Citing a benchmark of great contemporary players, Ang asked of Nakamura, “Can his brilliance overcome the tactical mastery of Alexei Shirov? Will his will-to-win be sufficient to breach the solid fortifications of Vladimir Kramnik, or Peter Leko? Is his much-touted resourcefulness of a high enough standard to battle with Rustam Kasimdzhanov? I doubt it very much.” (see link)
Nakamura’s sales pitch to Europe was more difficult, but he was beginning to pick up momentum. Tournament organizers were attracted to his brash, no-nonsense style. He has since broken through in a number of strong tournaments and is now comfortably ensconced in the top 20. Many detractors rail at the notion that Nakamura has not gotten the opportunities to face the elite level. They cite his skipping Corus “B” in 2008 for the Gibraltar Masters as a snub. Nakamura cited inadequate conditions, but made good on his trip by winning Gibraltar.
Nakamura winning the 2009 U.S. Championship. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
On various chess blogs, the conversation of Nakamura ascendancy is a popular topic. Naysayers continue to claim Nakamura is not worthy of “elite” status for very specific reasons. After he refutes these reasons, another set will be created and standards increased. At this point, pundits state that Nakamura has to make top 10 to be considered seriously as a World Championship. Last year, it was top 20.
Of course, the candidacy of players such as Magnus Carlsen, Sergey Karjakin or Teimour Radjabov was recognized almost immediately. What is the difference? The theory was that the European stars were “battle-tested” and Nakamura had not faced tough competition. Many top chess journals, websites and blogs take liberties to print negative portrayals of the young American star. Even his head-to-head blitz victory over Carlsen in Norway was trivialized.
So the question…”Is Nakamura the ‘Real Deal’?” Does he have World Championship potential? When Vladimir Kramnik was asked this question, he seems to believe that Nakamura is a legitimate talent, but stopped short of giving a full endorsement. Most of the fans and journalists believe that Carlsen is the heir apparent to Viswanathan Anand or Veselin Topalov, but it is not certain if Carlsen will maintain his level. The performance of Anish Giri turned some heads and the Chinese and Indians deserve attention. If one looks at Nakamura, he has many things going for him.
Killer Instinct – Nakamura is unparalleled in the intensity he brings to the board. While it should not be taken literally, Nakamura seems to have an assassin’s mentality when approaching his chess encounters. His play is relentless, hyper-energetic, provocative and aggressive. One of his greatest assets seems to be making opponents uncomfortable, both over the board and in his confident posture.
Independence – Kris Littlejohn selection as Nakamura’s assistant was a bold step that bucks another trend… having a peer as a second. Nakamura theory seems to be based more on work chemistry than the talent of his second. In the 2008 U.S. Championship, he stated that Littlejohn helps him in many intangible ways and understands his style very well. What we now know is that Kris is a computer specialist and can use his understanding of Nakamura’s style with his chess knowledge to create powerful intelligence. “Team Nakamura” has been a rousing success thus far. This doesn’t preclude Nakamura from adding additional members to his camp.
Flexibility - Chess pundits may now be convinced at Nakamura’s resilience and ability to adapt. There are still a lot of doubters who insist on viewing him based on his online persona of a “blitz god” with an arrogance far exceeding his accomplishments. One thing critics may overlook is Nakamura’s maturation over the past few years. He is willing to experiment at a high level and to reignite debates on acceptable play. One of the difficulties at top level is preparing for an opponent like Vassily Ivanchuk or Nakamura. While Nakamura doesn’t have the depth in opening knowledge of Ivanchuk, he still poses difficult problems and is comfortable in a variety of positions.
Self-Critic – Nakamura is openly critical of his play. On his silver-medal performance in the World Team Championship and his Corus “A” debut, he was quick to point out improvements… even in victory. This is a good sign and is contrary to the belief that he doesn’t work hard to improve his game. His ability to be self-critical will keep him alert and hungry enough to know that he can still improve. Approaching the 2750 mark, he will continue to vault over many of the veterans as he continues his march. At some point, he may enlist the help of a world-class player to help him in specific areas.
GM Hikaru Nakamura at 2010 Corus in Wijk aan Zee.
Photo by Fred Lucas.
Will these factors mean that he has enough to win a World Championship? Time will tell. One thing that is true is that if Nakamura has his goal set and resources are not an issue, he will have more than an adequate shot at winning the World Championship. He is only 22 years old and he will continue to get better. The downside is does not have a sponsor and gets limited help from his federation which means that he does not have the luxury of focusing purely on chess development.
In a 2005 interview with the New York Times, Nakamura summed up his chances.
”If I am able to get up there and play for the actual title of the world championship, then once again, everyone will be excited,” Mr. Nakamura said, noting how chess gained wide appeal when Mr. Fischer toppled Boris Spassky, the Soviet world champion, in 1972. ”There have been plenty of great players since Fischer but none have been American players.” (see link)
Nakamura has the tenacity, the nerves and still has some areas of improvement in his game. Given Carlsen’s breach of 2800, there will be a new cadre of players to vie for the world crown. With the right combination of training, sponsorship and tournament invitations, Nakamura hopes to be one in that number.
Grand Slam dates announced; Masters Final in Shanghai and Bilbao
This year’s Grand Slam Masters Final will be split into two parts. One will be held in Shanghai, China (just before the Olympiad) and one in Bilbao, Spain (just after). This was announced last week in Wijk aan Zee, were the board of the Grand Slam had a meeting to discuss matters. All dates for the coming year were announced.
Linares: Feb 12-25
In five days from now, the second Grand Slam tournament in 2010 will already start. Linares runs from the 12th till the 25th of February . Like last year it will be a six-player, double round-robin with rest days on February 17th and 22nd. The players are Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Boris Gelfand, Vugar Gashimov, Alexander Grischuk and Francisco Vallejo.
MTel Masters: May 25-June 5
Two weeks after the Anand-Topalov match (April 23rd – May 12th), Sofia will again host the MTel Masters. This year the tournament runs May 25th – June 5th.
Bazna: June 10-22
Last year it was already terribly strong, with Radjabov, Ivanchuk, Shirov, Gelfand, Kamsky and Nisipeanu. This month the Kings Tournament in Bazna will decide whether they’ll be part of the Grand Slam; the Romanian tournament runs June 10th – 22nd this year.
Masters Final: Sep 3-12 & Oct 6-14
The biggest news from the Grand Slam board is about the Masters Final, which was organized twice in Bilbao, Spain. The first year it was a 6-player double round-robin won by Topalov, and the second year Aronian won a group of 4 with Karjakin, Grischuk and Shirov. This year the event will be split into two parts: one part in Shanghai, China (September 3rd – 12th) and one part in Bilbao, Spain (October 6th-14th). In between, the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk takes place September 19th – October 4th.
Nanjing: Oct 17-29
The third edition of the Pearl Spring tournament in Nanjing, China will start already three days after the Final Masters ends. It runs October 17th till 29th.
Corus: January 14-30
The 73rd Corus Chess Tournament will take place January 14th till 30th in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands.
As always, the winners of the Grand Slam tournaments will qualify for the Masters Final. Since Magnus Carlsen won two consecutive Grand Slam tournaments (and might win more), the organizers we will wait until all tournaments have finished, and then look at best performances of the runner-ups.
The above information was announced last week by Corus tournament director Jeroen van den Berg, after the Grand Slam board meeting held in Wijk aan Zee. (We have entered all super-GM tournaments in capitals in our tournament calendar. Organizers of open tournaments are invited to enter their events there.)
When Vishy Anand drew his first nine games at Corus Wijk aan Zee last week, opinions were divided on whether the world champion had lost his edge or was simply taking a well-paid rest before his April title defence in Sofia against Veselin Topalov. Then Anand acted as Corus king-maker, beating Alexei Shirov and Vlad Kramnik, so that the pair finished half a point behind Magnus Carlsen.
Norway's world No1 had previously won at Pearl Spring in China and the London Classic and finished second at the Tal Memorial, His fine run continued at Wijk, and the live ratings now make him the all-time No2 to Garry Kasparov. Carlsen had final-round luck in Holland, and the impression is that Anand would still beat him in a match. But their 20-year age difference means that he is Andy Murray to Anand's Roger Federer, and a clearer dominance of his peers will come.
Overall Anand's controlled play at Wijk sent a confident message to Topalov, especially in the best game of the tournament below. His 17 Qc1 novelty induced the passive 18...Bf8 (Bd6) and, when White won a pawn by 26 Bxc7, Kramnik mixed it up when 26...Bc5! gives counterplay. The Russian missed the force of the exchange sac 28 Rxc2! with the follow-up 34 Be5! (idea Bh5) and 35 Bg4! (even better than the queen swap). Anand's one slip was 39 f4 (39 Qe3) as 40...Qe4! makes the win a lot harder. Missing this trick, Kramnik was overrun by Anand's central pawn duo.
Vishy Anand (pictured) has been virtually anonymous this year at Corus, with his efforts clearly directed more towards preparations for his upcoming world title defence against Veselin Topalov.
However, in today's penultimate round he inflicted V...
Cuba chess championship 2010 - Campeonato nacional de ajedrez de Cuba
The National Chess Championship of Cuba (Campeonato nacional de ajedrez de Cuba) is going to take place January 12th-25th in Ciego de Ávila. Top seeded of the event is the 2009 champion GM Lazaro Bruzon and his main competition comes from GM Corrales Jimenez and GM Delgado Ramirez. The tournament is being played without GM Leinier Domínguez, second of Veselin Topalov, who is starting his participation at Corus 2010 in a few days.
Corus Chess: Anand leads Indian challenge January 10, 2010 19:52 IST
Five-time champion and World No 3 Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand [ Images ] will spearhead a five-man strong Indian challenge at the prestigious Corus Chess Tournament starting in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands, on Monday.
Anand, a reigning world champion, is the lone Indian in the elite Group A of the event, which he has won thrice jointly and twice individually.
The rest of the Indian team comprises of P Harikrishna and Parimarjan Negi in Group B and Abhijeet Gupta and Woman Grandmaster Soumya Swaminathan in Group C.
Barring World No 2 Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, who will square off against Anand in a World Championship in April this year, all the top players will compete in the Corus event.
That includes World No 1 Norwegian Magnus Carlsen [ Images ] and other top performers like Russian Vladimir Kramnik [ Images ] and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in Group A.
Anand first won the title in 1989 jointly with Predrag Nikolic, Zoltan Ribli and Gyula Sax. He had to wait for nine years to lift his second title and this time he shared it with Kramnik.
The individual wins for the Indian came in 2003 and 2004 before he shared it with Topalov in 2006.
To their credit, Harikrishna, Abhijeet and Sowmya have won world junior titles, while Negi is the youngest ever Indian to become a Grandmaster.
FIDE has just released its January 1st 2010 rating list, and it has the 19-year-old Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen with 2810 in the number one slot, five points ahead of number two Veselin Topalov, and twenty points above World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Magnus is the youngest player to cross the 2800 mark and to top the world rankings.
Congratulations!
OSLO (AP) — Norway's Magnus Carlsen has become the youngest person ever to top the world ranking in chess.
The 19-year-old was listed as number one in the World Chess Federation's January statistics with a rating of 2,810.
The Norwegian Chess Federation Monday said Carlsen is the youngest person to hold the title since ratings were introduced in 1971.
General Secretary Dag Danielsen said the previous youngest was chess legend Garry Kasparov, who first reached number one aged 20.
Carlsen has competed in chess since childhood and became a grandmaster at 13. He tops the rankings ahead of Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov and Viswanathan Anand of India.
The Tal Memorial concluded in Moscow with former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik winning with 6 out of 9 and Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen close behind with 5.5 out of 9. None of the top three finishers had any losses. Current World Champion Viswanathan Anand lost in the final round to Levon Aronian to drop to 5 out of 9, leaving him tied with Aronian for fourth and fifth. Carlsen was widely expected to do much better after his incredible performance in Nanjing (see Carlsen Wins to Finish Nanjing with 8/10 and Magnus Carlsen Dominates Nanjing), but he was suffering from the flu for the first half of the tournament (which prompted Ivanchuk to wear a mask during their game) and did not recover until the halfway point. However, after finishing with two wins he not only tied Ivanchuk for second but also gained enough rating points to edge out the temporarily inactive Veselin Topalov for the number one spot on the Live Ratings List, making him the youngest number one ever. You can download all games in PGN from a number of sources, including ChessBase and the official site, or view the games online at Chessgames.com. The official tournament site is only available in Russian. Kramnik and Carlsen's next tournament will be the London Chess Classic, December 8-15.
Veselin Topalov made a fantastic comeback to one of his favourite sites, after taking a timeout last year to play the match against Kamsky, and won the six-player Linares supertournament in style. 
Les Français :
Naiditsch, Vallejo, Jobava, Pelletier, Timofeev, Martinovic, Skoberne, Krasenkow, Inarkiev, Nisipeanu, Efimenko, Maiorov and Nepomniachtchi are the names of the thirteen players who are still on 100% in Rijeka. Three rounds at the European Individual Championship have been played.
Just a few days ago Veselin Topalov won the Linares tournament and narrowed the gap with Magnus Carlsen on the live rating list to just one point. On the March 1st FIDE rating list the Norwegian leads with a personal record of 2813 and is still 8 points ahead of Topalov.
This weekend the 10th and 11th round of the Schachbundesliga are being played. On board one of the top match between Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen, Vugar Gashimov (Werder Bremen), who travelled from Linares to Heidelberg, plays the World Champ, Viswanathan Anand.
In our last video from Linares we speak with Veselin Topalov, just after he won his first Linares. He talks about the game against Gelfand and several other topics, and it includes a brief comment by Grischuk as well as footage from the closing ceremony. Below we give many photos from the closing.
Topalov es Topalov. Tras la victoria de Grischuk sobre Veselin en la penúltima Ronda la Final se puso caliente e incierta. Topalov ganó a Gelfand y Grischuk salvó la ropa ante Paco Vallejo. Conclusión: Veselin Topalov Campeón de Linares en solitario. Recupera puntos en el Ranking y estaría a 1 punto de Carlsen en el próximo listado.
Complicated tiebreak rules made all kinds of scenarios possible, but in the end it couldn’t be more clear. By beating Boris Gelfand in a tense game, Veselin Topalov won the 2010 Linares tournament outright as Grischuk drew with Vallejo. Games & final standings. later more.
Alexander Grischuk defeated Veselin Topalov in round 9 of the Linares super-tournament. The two are leading with just one round to go. Gashimov-Vallejo and Gelfand-Aronian were both drawn. Big pictorial report.
With three more draws in round 7, the drawing percentage Saturday rose to 77% in Linares. Veselin Topalov kept his 1.5 point lead, with three more rounds to go.
In the 6th round of the Linares super-tournament, Veselin Topalov was in trouble against Francisco Vallejo until the Spaniard suddenly blundered a full rook. By then Gashimov and Gelfand had already drawn in a very theoretical Petroff. The last game to finish was Grischuk-Aronian, which also ended in a draw. Thanks to his win, Topalov is the world’s number one player in the live ratings again.
Topalov consolida il vantaggio 
Veselin Topalov defeated co-leader Alexander Grischuk in round 5 of the Linares super-tournament. The Bulgarian now leads by a full point at half time. Vugar Gashimov beat Francisco Vallejo with Black, and while being a pawn up, Levon Aronian had to be satisfied with a draw against Boris Gelfand.
?Grischuk-Aronian, chi è l'anti-Topalov? 
The standings in Linares remained unchanged after three more, and this time rather uneventful draws in round 4. Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov maintained their shared lead, going into the first rest day.
Per Topalov l'ostacolo Gelfand
Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov maintained their shared lead in Linares after all round 3 games ended in a draw today. Don’t judge this round by the results, though, as all three games were highly interesting fights.
Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov both won their White games in Linares today, after their opponents erred in close to equal positions. The two share the lead after two rounds.
Veselin Topalov (BUL-2805), Levon Aronian (ARM-2781), Boris Gelfand (ISR-2761), Vugar Gashimov (AZE-2759), Alexander Grischuk (RUS-2736) y Francisco (Paco) Vallejo Pons (ESP-2705), empezaron a mostrar su talento y arrancó Linares.
The Linares tournament started peacefully today, with draws on all three boards. Topalov surprised Vallejo with a Breyer against the Spaniard’s Ruy Lopez and easily equalized. Grischuk needed a lot of time on the clock, but was also doing fine with Black against Aronian in a 4.f3 Nimzo ending. Gelfand had some advantage against Gashimov’s Benoni but just before the first time control a drawn ending was reached.
The 27th traditional TopGM’s tournament in Linares, Spain will be held from Feb 13th to Feb 24th.
Veselin Topalov will be back behind the chess board after almost four months of absence. For the Bulgarian it will be the first tournament since Nanjing 2009, where he finished second on 5.5/10, 2.5 points behind sensational winner Magnus Carlsen. After that Topalov only played four games at the European Team Championship in Novi Sad, end October, where he scored 2.5/4. The big question will be whether the now world’s number 2 will be able to fight for first and at the same time save his biggest opening novelties for the upcoming match against Anand. His regular second Ivan Cheparinov is currently playing at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, but Topalov is taking Leinier Dominguez, a strong theoretician himself, to Linares.
Last year Levon Aronian scored 6.5/14, which meant a shared 5th place in the standings with Radjabov and Wang Yue. However, he continued strongly by retaining his title at the Amber tournament and then winning his second FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik, and with it the GP Series. Aronian’s last event was the World Team Championship in Bursa last month, where he scored 6/9. Before that, at the Tal Memorial, he scored 5/9. 
Boris Gelfand is the only player older than 40 in Linares, but the Israeli grandmaster has proven many times already that experience can still beat youth. As the top seed, he won the FIDE World Cup in December in Khanty-Mansiysk, beating Ruslan Ponomariov in the final. This earned Gelfand a spot in the Linares tournament in fact, because already before the World Cup the organizers decided to invite the winner. 
For Vugar Gashimov Linares will be the first super-GM tournament, although he has clearly shown already to be a world-class grandmaster, especially in the FIDE Grand Prix Series. As a result, Gashimov is currently the world’s number 7 player and the highest rated player in Azerbaijan (although in the live list Mamedyarov has surpassed him again).
Alexander Grischuk is defending his title in Linares. Last year he won the event on tiebreak, finishing first together with Vassily Ivanchuk on 8/14. (The Ukrainian’s SB was higher and he left the tournament undefeated, but Grischuk was declared winner due to having more wins.) Grischuk played well at the World Team Championship, where he scored 4.5/7 (and defeated Gashimov in a wild game). Before that he won the Superfinal of the Russian Championship with 6.5/9. 
Local hero Francisco “Paco” Vallejo, another second of Topalov, didn’t have to travel too much. His last tournament was in Gibraltar, where he finished on an undefeated 7.5/10 and eventually lost to Adams in the play-off final. In the Bundesliga he scored two draws and three wins for Baden-Baden this season, but it remains to be seen how he will do against top 10 players.
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This year’s Grand Slam Masters Final will be split into two parts. One will be held in Shanghai, China (just before the Olympiad) and one in Bilbao, Spain (just after). This was announced last week in Wijk aan Zee, were the board of the Grand Slam had a meeting to discuss matters. All dates for the coming year were announced.
