I was traveling so much last days and barely was able to check my mail. After the Russian Team Chess Championship in Dagomys, I flew immediately to Novosibirsk to take part in the forum about the development of Siberia. The next day I flew to Moscow and today after several interviews and meetings I'm finally able to make a short post here. I'll be flying back to Miami on Monday and will try to prepare a post about the most interesting games of Dagomys which was won by the team from Saint-Petersburg with Viktorija Cmilyte playing on the first board.
Not the catchiest of headlines, that – but the Russian teams aren't know for their pretty names. The Championships were played in three groups, the Premier, Higher and Women's Leagues. Sergey Karjakin and Alexander Riazantsev were the top performers amongst the men (2889 and 2885), whild Viktorija Cmilyte shone with a 2700 performance amongst the women.
Illustrated report.
I'm in Moscow now, in between two planes, will be flying east in about an hour. I just have time to share with you the poster of my April 24 Space Coast Chess Simul. It's still not too late to sign up.
Tomorrow I'll write about the end of the Russian Team Championship in Dagomys. Our team finished 4th, and I did 3/6, which is a performance of 2475 ELO. The great winner was Viktorija Cmilyte, who only lost one game to me, winning the remaining 4, that's a performance of 2662!
Russian Team Chess Championship 2010, Last Round Preview
Hello my friends!
After my unexpected loss in the 4th round to Natalia Zhukova, I came back nicely by beating Viktorija Cmilyte today with Black. So I'm at 2 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, that's 50% and a performance just below 2500, and one game to go tomorrow. My team of Moscow drew their match today and overall is 4th, but tomorrow hopefully we can do well against the Chigorin Chess Club and pass in front of AVS who is not playing tomorrow, and get a medal. I'll let you know how it goes. For the moment the team Giprorechtrans with Zhukova, Munguntuul, Zaiatz, Vasilevich and Fominykh are leading with 8 match points, and very good chances for the Gold!
All the games, past and live, can be seen on http://livechess.chessdom.com/site/. Here below is my game against Cmilyte, I hope you like it (especially my move 36...f3!):
Sarŕ possibile ammirare dal 1 aprile a Dagomys, nei pressi di Sochi sul Mar Nero, la "Premier League" del Campionato Russo a squadre (10 team), competizione di livello assoluto che per il secondo anno consecutivo annovera tra i propri protagonisti il nostro Fabiano Caruana, una delle punte del team di ShSM-64. In squadra con lui ci saranno campioni del calibro di Gelfand e Karjakin, l'italiano in terza e poi Wang Hao e Grachev.
Jakovenko,campione 2009 come prima scacchiera del Tomsk-400, č passato invece nella squadra di Ugra dove milita anche Malakhov. Quest'ultimo russo sta attraversando un buon periodo di forma, infatti si č messo in mostra nelle ultime uscite ed in particolare nella recente World Cup arrivando fino alle fasi finali. Tra le favorite vanno sicuramente citate l'Ural (con Grischuk e Shirov) e San Pietroburgo (con Ivanchuk e Svidler).
Tra i giovani russi si segnala Vitiugov (San Pietroburgo) e Tomashevsky (Ekonomist) che hanno contribuito fortemente alla vittoria della Russia al recente Mondiale a Squadre. Il loro apporto č stato fondamentale per riportare la loro nazionale ad una medaglia d'oro dopo alcuni anni di cocenti delusioni. In quell'occasione inoltre hanno sfoderato anche alcune partite di bellezza assoluta. Tra i possibili protagonisti da tenere d'occhio anche il teenager Sjugirov, ormai qualcosa in piů di una promessa.
Tornando a Fabiano va ricordato chel'anno scorso fu il miglior giocatore in termini di perfomance, infatti giocando in terza e quarta scacchiera realizzň un ottimo 5 su 6 ottenendo una perfomance pari a 2856 punti elo. Purtroppo la sua squadra vide svanire i sogni di vittoria facendolo riposare all'ultimo turno e la ShSM-64 perse contro SPbChFed a causa della sconfitta in ultima scacchiera dove Efimenko(SPbChFed) ebbe la meglio su Savchenko(ShSm-64).
Ad impreziosire la manifestazione ci saranno come al solito altri due tornei in contemporanea:la "Higher League" e il Campionato a squadre femminile, entrambi a 7 squadre.
Probabilmente sarŕ possibile seguire alcune fasi del Campionato Femminile sul blog della Kosteniuk e sul suo canale youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/chessqueen).
Caruana premiato nel 2009
Riportiamo ora la composizione dei team, anche se da oggi all' 1 Aprile potrebbero ancora avere luogo dei piccoli cambiamenti.
Premier League
Ekonomist SGSEU-1 (Saratov): Alexander Morozevich Wang Yue Ni Hua Pavel Eljanov Evgeny Tomashevsky Evgeny Alekseev Michael Roiz Dmitry Andreikin
Alexander Morozevich
Ural (Sverdlovsk): Alexander Grischuk Alexei Shirov Emil Sutovsky Evgeny Bareev Alexei Dreev Vadim Milov Igor Khenkin Vladimir Epishin
Alexander Grischuk
ShSM-64 (Moscow): Boris Gelfand, Sergey Karjakin Fabiano Caruana Wang Hao, Boris Grachev Boris Savchenko Evgeniy Najer Alexander Riazantsev Vladimir Potkin
Boris Gelfand
Sankt-Petersburg Chess Federation: Vassily Ivanchuk, Peter Svidler Nikita Vitiugov Sergei Movsesian Zahar Efimenko Konstantin Sakaev Vadim Zvjagintsev V.Emelin
Vitiugov (3° scacchiera dietro Ivanchuk e Svidler)
Ugra (Khanty-Mansiysk): Dmitry Jakovenko Vladimir Malakhov Alexander Khalifman Sergei Rublevsky Sanan Sjugirov Konstantin Landa
Malakhov (2° scacchiera)
Tomsk-400: Ruslan Ponomariov Alexander Motylev Ernesto Inarkiev Viktor Bologan Denis Khismatullin Farrukh Ammonatov Artyom Timofeev Sergei Tiviakov Igor Kurnosov
Motylev (2° scacchiera)
In gara ci saranno anche altre 4 squadre, ovvero:
BelGU (Belgorod), Ekonomist SGSEU-2 (Saratov), Chigorin Club (Sankt-Petersburg) e Etud-Kontakt (Moscow)
Tomsk-400: vincitori del campionato 2009
La squadra di Fabiano, ShSM-64, 2° classificata nel 2009
Women's Premier League
AVS: Antoaneta Stefanova, Anna Muzychuk, Natalia Pogonina Maria Muzychuk
Next Monday, March 29, I will be flying to Moscow, and 2 days later to Sochi. I'm going to Dagomys to take part in the Russian Team Chess Championship.
On the image below you can see the red dot, that's where Dagomys is, in the South of Russia, on the coast of the Black Sea.
There will be two men (higher and first leagues) tournaments and one women tournament. There will be many strong GM's playing and this tournament is a qualification for the World and Euro Club Cups that will take place later on this year.
The women tournament will take place from April 1 to April 7, 2010. There will be 7 teams playing in the women's tournament. I will be playing for the Moscow Chess Federation Team. My teammates will be Valentina Gunina, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, Svetlana Matveeva and Olga Girya. The other 6 teams of the event are: Saint-Petersburg Chess Fedearation (with Monika Socko, Viktorija Cmilyte, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, Ekaterina Atalik, A. Bodnaruk and Julia Demina); Giprorechtrans (with Natalia Zhukova on the first board); Moscow Palace (with Marina Romanko on the first board); AVS (with Antoaneta Stefanova; Anna and Maria Muzychuk, Natalia Pogonina, A. Savina and Tatiana Shadrina); GUDO SDUSHOR from St.Petersburg and Ekonomist SGSEU-Saratov (with Anna Ushenina, Zhao Xue, Elizabeth Paehtz, Baira Kovanova, Maria Kursova).
The tournament will have live coverage on the official web-site of the Russian Chess Federation. I will let you know how this tournament goes and promise to send you many photos and news.
After nine round Ian Nepomniachtchi was sole leader in the open group, with 7.5/9, followed by no less than seven other players on 7.0/9 and a further eleven on 6.5/9. So what would they all do? Nepomniachtchi drew in 14 moves, and two of his main rivals in 16. Thank heavens for the women, where the top boards brought in decisive results. The hero and leader was Lithuanian IM Viktorija Cmilyte.
The European Championship gold medal winners were already known (Nepomniachtchi and Cramling), but for deciding the other medals and World Cup qualifiers, tiebreak matches were played on Thursday in Rijeka. We bring you the results and some statistics.
The 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship was held from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, in new Zamet Centre sports hall. The event was 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 was also no limit of participants per federation.
The championship was an 11-round Swiss in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The rate of play was 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 was a qualification event for the next World Cup.
Tiebreaks
On Thursday tiebreaks were played to establish the silver and bronze medal in the open section, the bronze medal in the women’s section and to establish the qualifiers for the World Cup. Jobava beat Timofeev in the first tiebreak game and then drew the second to claim silver.
European Championship 2010 | Tie-break match for silver and bronze medal
Jobava (r.) beat Timofeev with Black in game 1 of the tiebreak
The results of the other tiebreaks:
European Championship 2010 | Tie-break matches for qualification
1st round
2nd round You can download all women’s tiebreak’s results in PDF here.
The following 23 players qualified for the next World Cup:
From the women’s section Cramling, Cmilyte, Socko, T. Kosintseva, Sebag, Zhukova, Dembo, Stefanova, A. Muzychuk, N. Kosinsteva, M. Muzycduk Kovalevskaya, Ziazulkina and Rajlich qualified.
We received some interesting statistics and quotes in a last press release from the organizers:
Rijeka’s Championship in quotes and numbers
Yesterday, March 18th the 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship ended in Rijeka. As you already know, the gold was won by the 20-year old Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi and by Swedish GM Pia Cramling.
The Championship achieved various records, and here are some of the numbers. Total of 566 chess players from 41 European countries participated in Rijeka. 440 players with a chess title, 196 of them Grandmasters, as well as 158 players female chess players, 134 of them with a chess title.
Now, here are some of the details about matches played in Rijeka: total of 3.078 matches were played and 2.088 or 68% of them ended by win or loss situation. Only 32% of the matches resulted with a draw. A total of 41 norms for titles of man and women Grandmasters and International masters were won at both tournaments. A total of 8 male and 1 female player have won a norm for the title of a Grandmaster. 23 male chess players qualified for the World Cup and 14 female players qualified for the World Championships.
This Championship will be remembered by the large number of visitors who watched 75 broadcasted matches every day. Up to now, our web site was visited more than two million times. March 11th, was a record day, when there was more than 200.000 visitors. Some 1.500 visitors passed through the sport’s hall of the Centre Zamet.
Here are some of the quotes about this Championship:
Anatoly Karpov, ex World Champion: “I was at Croatia 30 years ago, and the organization of this Championship in Rijeka delighted me. The organizers provided ideal conditions for a large number of players and so I congratulate them for the excellent organization“.
Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE Deputy President: “This is the best organized European Individual Chess Championship, because excellent accomodation and playing conditions are provided for all players.
Boris Kutin, ECU President: “No championship has ever received as many compliments as this one in Rijeka. This is surely the best one.”
Zoltan Almasi, GM: “This is the strongest European Championship ever and as well the best organized championship for sure. Opatija is a very nice place and I fell excellent here.”
Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM: “I love this country and I must admit that I was warmly welcomed in Croatia. This is a country full of friendly individuals. Conditions for the game are also great.”
Pia Cramling, GM: “This is my first time in Croatia and I am really enjoying. Everything is nice here and it is my great pleasure to play in Rijeka. It is very important for men and women to play together so that’s why this sports hall is ideal for this tournament.”
Victoria Cmilyte, WGM : “I think this is the best competition ever. Opatija is a beautiful place, and the hall is ideal for playing chess. All this has made this championship very special and unique.”
Today the last tie-break matches of the European championship have been played and it's time to congratulate the winners.
Pia Cramling from Sweden took clear first place in the women's European chess championship 2010 , she scored 9 points out of 11, congratulations! It's the second success of the Swedish GM in the continental championships, Pia also took gold 7 years ago in 2003.
Viktorija Cmilyte who lost to Pia in the final round took clear second place with 8,5 out of 11. This is Viktorija’s third second-place finish, the other two being in 2003, and 2008.
The bronze medal was decided on tie-break since 5 players shared third place with 8 points out of 11. After winning all the tie-break matches Monika Socko won the bronze medal.
1. Pia Cramling 2. Viktorija Cmilyte 3. Monica Socko
Congratulations to these 3 ladies on their great performance and fair play!
Among the players who scored 7,5 out of 11, tie-break matches were also needed to determine the qualifiers for the 2012 women's world chess championship. Since only 14 qualification places were on play, some players needed to play tie-breaks. Among all the tie-break matches one can notice the win by the 14-year old Ziaziulkina Nastassia (2188) from Belarus who beat Almira Skripchenko in blitz 2-0 to take the final qualifying spot.
The full table of the 2010 European Chess Championship can be found at the bottom of this post.
The previous winners of the European Chess Championships are as follows:
2000: Natalia Zhukova
2001: Almira Skripchenko
2002: Antoaneta Stefanova
2003: Pia Cramling
2004: Alexandra Kosteniuk
2005: Kateryna Lahno
2006: Ekaterina Atalik
2007: Tatiana Kosintseva
2008: Kateryna Lahno
2009: Tatiana Kosintseva
2010: Pia Cramling
Below are a few tactical shots from Pia Cramling's games from this championship:
Round 1. Sandu - Cramling. Black to move
Round 3. Molchanova - Cramling. Black to move
Round 4. Cramling - Zawadzka. White to move
Round 9. Khurtsidze - Cramling. Black to move.
By the way, did you know that Pia and I share the same birthday day - April 23 :-)
Here is the full final table of the European Championship:
After many draws in the penultimate round, Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) defeated Vladimir Akopian (Armenia) in the last round and won the gold medal at the European Championship in Rijeka. The women’s section was won by Swedish GM Pia Cramling, who beat Viktorija Cmilyte (Lithuania) in the last round.
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 an 11-round Swiss 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 10-11
With draws on the first seven boards in round 10, nothing changed in the top of the standings in Rijeka. Ian Nepomnaichtchi went into the final round in sole lead, and no less than seven GMs were chasing him with half a point less. Some GMs in Nice expected the last round’s top game Nepomniachtchi-Akopian to quickly end in a draw (since both would be sure of a good prize and qualification for the World Cup) but that’s not what happened.
Nepomniachtchi-Akopian Position after 23.Rec1
Black played the somewhat passive 23…Bf8?! (perhaps it was time for 23…f5!?) and after 24.b5 axb5 25.Qxb5 Rb8 26.Qa4 White’s passed a-pawn became too strong.
Pia Cramling had a very strong finish, drawing with Socko and then beating Khurtsidze, Stefanova and Cmilyte in rounds 8-11. The decisive game went like this:
Cramling-Cmilyte Position after 24.Ne4
The ending is about equal, but might become slightly more difficult for White when Black manages to activate her majority on the queenside. 24…Bd5?! Better was 24…Nd4 25.Nc5 Bc8. 25.Nc5 Bxg2 26.Nxg2 a5 27.Ne3 (27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.a4! was perhaps even stronger) 27…a4
28.Nd7! Rh8 29.Rd6 and White’s activity soon yielded a pawn, and eventually the game.
And so for the gold medals in both sections no tiebreak is needed. In the women’s section the silver medal goes to Viktorija Cmilyte, who was the only one to score 8.5/11.
Thursday tiebreaks will be played to establish the silver and bronze medal in the open section, the bronze medal in the women’s section and to establish the qualifiers for the World Cup.
European Championship 2010 | Round 11 Standings (top 40)
European Championship 2010 | Women section | Round 11 Standings (top 30)
With two rounds to go, Ian Nepomniachtchi is in sole lead at the European Individual Championship. The Russian GM scored 7.5/9. In the women’s section Viktorija Cmilyte leads with the same score.
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 an 11-round Swiss 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 8-9
Baadur Jobava continued strongly in round 8, with a nice victory over Hungarian GM Zoltan Almasi.
Jobava-Almasi Position after 15…bxc5
Georgia’s number one comes with an impressive, positional pawn sacrifice: 16.b4!? cxb4 17.axb4 Qxb4 18.Rfb1 Qe7 19.Nd4 g6 20.Bxe4 dxe4 21.Qb3 and White had a long-term initiative. Almasi defended well, until he erred in the rook ending with 36…f4, where 36…Kf8 might have saved the game.
The other leader after 7 rounds, Ukrainian Zahar Efimenko, drew relatively quickly with Armenian grandmaster Vladimir Akopian. Ivan Sokolov and Ian Nepomniachtchi won their games and joined Efimenko at second place. The Russian GM did it with a nice sacrifice:
Nepomniachtchi-Inarkiev Position after 32…Rb6
Do you see it? 33.Nxf7! Wham! 33…Kxf7 34.exd5 cxd5 35.Rc7 and Black had to give his queen with 35…Rd7, but it didn’t help.
Another pretty game from round 8 was the folllowing.
Svetushkin-Landa Position after 12…Qxb2
White had answered the move 11…Qb4 with the strong 12.c4! which means he probably was already intending his next move, again proving that “it’s never good to take on b2″. 13.cxd5! Nc3 14.dxe6!! Nxd1 15.exd7+ Kd8 16.Raxd1 and the two pieces and the pawn on d7 which kept the king in the centre were more than enough compensation for the queen.
Yesterday, on the top board of round 9, Ian Nepomniachtchi grabbed sole lead:
Nepomniachtchi-Jobava Position after 23…Re8
Another White game for Nepomniachtchi, and another inspired attack that brings quick victory: 24.e6! Nxe1 25.Rxe1 fxe6 26.Rxe6 Kh8 27.h3 Rxe6 28.Bxe6 Bb5
29.f5! Qe8 30.f6 Qf8 31.f7 and Black resigned.
The Championship will see two more rounds, today and tomorrow. 22 players will qualify for the next World Cup. Tiebreaks will be played on Thursday to establish the Champion, to establish the medal winners and to establish qualifiers for the World Cup.
European Championship 2010 | Round 9 Standings (top 40)
The European Champions: Pia Cramling and Ian Nepomniachtchi
Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia and Pia Cramling from Sweden are the new European Chess Champions. In the last, 11th round, the 20-year old Russian Grandmaster defeated Vladimir Akopjan from Armenia to complete his excellent score of 7 wins and 4 draws, earning 9 points and over 25 rating points.
It was just a confirmation of his total dominance at the Center Zamet and yet another title in his splendid career, beginning with the first gold as a 10 year-old and followed by many medals from the World and European Championships.
Second place is shared by Baadur Jobava (GEO) and Timofeev Artyom (RUS) so tomorrow they will play for the bronze and silver medal. Seven players with 8 points are directly qualified for the World Cup: Lysyj, Efimenko, Almasi, Tomashevski, Rodshtein, Pashikian and Salgado Lopez. The remaining 13 players will be determined by the playoffs in which there will be 28 players who finished the Championship with 7.5 points.
Today's round at the women's tournament was very interesting, namely, the new European Champion, Swedish Pia Cramling, inflicted the first defeat to Victoria Cmilyte (LTU), and so that was enough for winning the title in Rijeka. This is the second title of Europan Champion for Pia, who recorded 8 wins with 2 draws and 1 defeat at this Championship. She managed to collect 9 points and to improve her rating for 19 points.
Viktorija Cmilyte won the silver with 8,5 points, while the owner of the bronze is still unknown thus there are five players with 8 points: Monika Socko, Maire Sebag, Tatiana Kosintseva, Natalia Zhukova and Yelena Dembo. All these players qualified for the World Cup, and seven other travelers will be known after the playoffs at which 10 players with 7,5 points will participate.
For tomorrow, March 18th, the tie-breaks for the medals and the placement at the World Cup are scheduled. The two qualifying rounds will start at 10am and 1pm, while the final matches will start at 4.30pm.
Rijeka: Nepomniachtchi, Cramling European champions
The European Championship ended on a bang, not a whisper, with great games on the top boards. Open section leader 20-year-old Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi was victorious against Armenian GM Vladimir Akopian. He took the title alone and with a 2868 performance. Swedish GM Pia Cramling defeated IM Viktorija Cmilyte to become Women's champion. Final report.
Echecs ŕ Rijeka : l'or pour Nepomniachtchi et Cramling
En remportant sa partie face ŕ Vladimir Akopian, lors de la derničre ronde des 11čmes championnats individuels d'Europe d'échecs, le Russe Ian Nepomniachtchi s'adjuge le titre avec 9 points sur 11. Pas de qualifiés français chez les hommes pour le championnat du monde.
Męme résultat ŕ 9 points sur 11 pour la suédoise Pia Cramling qui décroche le titre féminin en allant chercher la victoire ŕ l'ultime ronde face ŕ Viktorija Cmilyte. En terminant aux 5e et 13e places, Marie Sebag (8/11) et Almira Skripchenko (7,5/11) gagnent leur billet pour le championnat du monde.
Statu quo hier au classement des 11čmes championnats individuels d'Europe d'échecs. Dans la section masculine, le Russe Ian Nepomniachtchi se maintient en tęte du tournoi avec 8 points. Côté Français, le meilleur tricolore, Laurent Fressinet pointe ŕ la 11čme position avec 7 points sur 10. Aprčs sa 8čme nulle consécutive ronde 9, Etienne Bacrot a jeté l'éponge et abandonné le tournoi.
Dans la section féminine, Viktorija Cmilyte conserve une demi longueur d'avance avec 8 points. A une ronde de la fin, la meilleure Française Marie Sebag est 4čme ŕ 7,5 points. Tout reste encore possible pour une médaille.
The last round of the European Chess Championship just started. You can see the very first moves of the games on the image above. The winner will be decided in the direct encounter between Pia Cramling and Viktorija Cmilyte. While we are waiting for the final result of this exciting tournament, let me tell you some news about women's tournaments around the world.
From March 3 to March 14, 2010, Iranian Chess Championship Finals for Men and Women took place. In the women's final the 16-years old WFM Ghazal Hakimifard defended the lead and eventually won the women championship by collecting 10 points from twelve games.
The winners of the Iranian women's chess championship 2010.
Last year champion WGM Atousa Pourkashian finished second with 8.5. The full reports with photos and results can be found on chessdom.com.
I visited Iran in August 2001 and played with the best girls of the country. Since women in Iran can officially participate only in very limited number of sports and chess is one of such sport, chess is very popular among women and girls.
The women's Iranian team on the Olympiad 2006 in Torino.
I faced Iranian girls also at the very top level competition, for example, in the Women's World Chess Championship in Nalchik in 2008 where I played against Atousa Pourkashian in the first round.
That's nice to see so many women's tournaments played all around the world. If you know about a women's tournament in your country or your community and would like to share it with the world, write me an email with your article and photos. I'm sure that if we all unite our efforts in making chess and women's chess more popular we will succeed!
In the Women's European Individual Chess Championship 2010 that is being played these days in Rijeka, Croatia Viktorija Cmilyte won today's game against Monika Socko to take the sole lead in the tournament.
( The game between Hernandez Hol 2287 - Gomez F 2462 , 2001 Holguin 82/(300) continued with 15.Qe2 Bf5 16.Ne1 Qg6 17.Kh1 Rae8 18.b4 c5 with compensation for the sacrificed pawn)
Here Cmilyte found the very strong continuation - 20. ... Rff5! with the threat to play 21. ... Qg3!! and then after 22. fxg3 Rxh2+ and Rh5#. That's why Monika replied with 21. h3
( If 21.a5 then 21. ... Qg3 !! 22. fxg3 Rxh2! 23. Kxh2 Rh5# )
The position before the 21st move of Black.
But Cmilyte continued the attack with the brilliant 21. ... Rf3! and soon was able to win the game
So after the 9th round, Viktorija Cmilyte is in clear first place with 7,5 points out of 9, followed closely by Anna Muzychuk, Antoaneta Stefanova and Pia Cramling, all with 7 points. There are 2 more rounds to go and we can be sure to see some exciting games. The game live can be found on the official web-site fo the organizers, here.
Echecs ŕ Rijeka : Nepomniachtchi et Cmilyte en tęte
Double coup de théâtre lors de la 9čme ronde des 11čmes championnats individuels d'Europe d'échecs. Dans la section masculine, le Russe Ian Nepomniachtchi défait le précédent leader Baadur Jobava, et passe en tęte du tournoi avec 7,5 points. Côté Français, le meilleur tricolore, Laurent Fressinet pointe ŕ la 12čme position avec 6,5 points sur 9.
Dans la section féminine, la Polonaise Monika Socko abandonne également le leadership du tournoi au profit de Viktorija Cmilyte, qui mčne seule avec 7,5 points. A deux rondes de la fin, la meilleure Française Marie Sebag est 9čme ŕ 6,5 points. Tout reste encore possible pour une médaille.
Rijeka: Nepomniachtchi, Cmilyte take the sole lead
Tournament leader Baadur Jobava beat top seed Zoltan Almasi, but then lost to 20-year-old Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is now in the sole lead. In the women's section Polish GM Monika Socko lost her game and the lead to Lithuanian IM Viktorija Cmilyte. There are some interesting news tidbits from Silvio Danailov in the Europe Echecs video interviews by GM Robert Fontaine.
European Individual Chess Championship - Round 9 - Nepomniachtchi and Cmilyte take over the helm
Ian Nepomniachtchi used an original opening system in the ninth round game against the leader Baadur Jobava and claimed a win after 30 moves of sharp struggle, thus taking over the pole position in the race for title, with two rounds to go. In the women's championship, IM Viktorija Cmilyte pulls another crucial victory, with black pieces against the then co-leader Monika Socko.
The 11th European individual men and women's chess championship is taking place from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournaments are qualifiers for the next World Cup, part of the World Championship cycle. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify. Prize fund is 150.000,00 EUR for the men section and 75,000.00 EUR for the women.
Baadur Jobava from Georgia continues his impressive run and with the 8th round victory against the top-seeded Zoltan Almasi he singled out on the top with 7 points. Zahar Efimenko remained half a point behind after a draw versus Vladimir Akopian.
Ian Nepomniachtchi beat his compatriot Ernesto Inarkiev, while Bosnian GM Ivan Sokolov tackled another Russian contender, Alexander Riazantsev. Nepomniachtchi and Sokolov are sharing the second place with Efimenko. Top round nine matches are Ian Nepomniachtchi - Baadur Jobava, Ivan Sokolov - Zahar Efimenko and Vladimir Akopian - Bojan Vuckovic.
In the women championship, IM Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU 2485) scored an important victory against GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO 2447), and joined GM Monika Socko (POL 2465) on the tied first place, with 6.5 points each.
In a fighting round, IM Muzychuk Anna (SLO 2533), GM Kosintseva Tatiana (RUS 2524), IM Khurtsidze Nino (GEO 2434), GM Hoang Thanh Trang (HUN 2487) and WGM Natalia Zhukova (UKR 2492) used the chance to sign wins and move ahead to the shared third place, half a point behind the leaders.
Full results can be found on the official website. The games are starting at 15:30 with live relay of the top 60 boards.
In addition, there is live video coverage that features multiple web cameras that focus on top boards, as well as general views of the playing hall, showing players, spectators, and guests. As the games progress, the remaining interesting positions and battles are featured.
ECU President Boris Kutin with agile Rijeka organisers Ivan Mandekic and Srdjan Zelenika
The 11th European individual men and women's chess championship is taking place from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournaments are qualifiers for the next World Cup, part of the World Championship cycle. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify. Prize fund is 150.000,00 EUR for the men section and 75,000.00 EUR for the women.
After seven rounds, GM Monika Socko (POL 2465) with six points is a sole leader in the women championship. She drew with WGM Lilit Galojan of Armenia and is set to meet the legendary GM Pia Cramling in round eight.
GM Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL 2555), GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO 2447), IM Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU 2485), WGM Lilit Galojan (ARM 2380), GM Pia Cramling (SWE 2523) and IM Yelena Dembo (GRE 2457) are half a point behind Socko.
In the men section, Baadur Jobava (GEO 2695) and Zahar Efimenko (UKR 2640) both drew, against Alexander Riazantsev (RUS 2660) and Bojan Vuckovic (SRB 2630) respectively, and maintained joint lead with six points each.
Top eight boards were drawn in round seven, maintaining the order on front end of the crosstable. Ivan Sokolov (BIH 2638), Vladimir Akopian (ARM 2688), Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS 2667) and Denis Khismatullin (RUS 2657) leaped forward to the shared third place.
Full results can be found on the official website. The games are starting at 15:30 with live relay of the top 60 boards.
In addition, there is live video coverage that features multiple web cameras that focus on top boards, as well as general views of the playing hall, showing players, spectators, and guests. As the games progress, the remaining interesting positions and battles are featured.
Finally, GM Miso Cebalo is conducting interviews with the top seeded players.
is the winner of the 42nd annual 8th of March Women's Grandmasters Tournament that took place from March 3 to March 12, 2010 in Belgrade, Serbia. Margarita Voiska scored the same number of points as the winner - 6,5 but was second on tie-breaks. The bronze went to Grabuzova Tatiana from Russia.
Here are two nice wins by the winner:
White just played 14. Kh1, what is the best move for Black?
7 rounds have been played so far and Monica Socko (on the photo below playing White against Tatiana Kosintseva) is in the lead with 6 points out of 7.
She is followed by Antoaneta Stefanova, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, Viktorija Cmilyte, Lilit Galojan, Pia Cramling and Yelena Dembo, all with 5,5 out of 7. Tomorrow, March 13, is a free day and on March 14 the tournament will continue with 4 more rounds to go.
The shortest decisive game of the championship so far is the encounter between Aginian and Goslawska which lasted for only 16 moves:
If you want to watch the games interactively, the best way to do so is to COPY the moves (in the case above 1. e4 c5 etc.) and PASTE them in my PGN PLAYER, then you'll be able to play the games on-screen.
Natalia Zhukova and Michael Adams topped their categories
The Gibraltar Gibtelecom Chess Masters has its 2010 winners!
In the overall category, 9 (male) players end the tournament with 7.5 out of 10, but the winner after tie-break is Michael Adams, congratulations to Michael for a deserved win!
Right after that group, in the 7 points group are the two top women of this competition, Natalia Zhukova and Humpy Koneru. Natalia gets the top women's prize thanks to her higher performance score, of 2686, quite impressive! My best wishes go to both ladies who have performances above 2650!
I shared the third women's prize, together with 10 other women, all with 6.5 out of 10, just one half point behind the top ladies, and 1 point behind the overall winners (ranking in order of performance):
Antoaneta Stefanova
Pia Cramling
Lela Javakhishvili
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Nana Dzagnidze
Dronavalli Harika
Viktorija Cmilyte
Deysi Cori
Eesha Karavade
Dana Reizniece
Joanna Dworakowska
Then come the group with 6.0/10:
Irina Krush
Jovanka Houska
Katrine Tjolsen
With 5.5/10:
Anna Zatonskih
Tania Sadchev
Elena Sedina
Anna Zozulia
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Monica Calzetta
With 5.0/10:
Kruttika Nadig
Iva Videnova
Maria Schoene
4.5: Marina Martsynovskaya
4.0: Szilvia Lochte
3.5: Ingrid Carlsen
3.0: Erie Hansen
2.5: Caroline Jacobsen
2.0: Lovinia Chidi
1.5: Nadja Reci
0.0: Victoria Agdestein
0.0: Margrethe Grodas
Thanks to the organizer for a wonderful hard-fought tournament, which I am sure will keep attracting in the next years the strongest women of the planet!
My last game was very hard fought, but after 6.5 hours I finally managed to win it, it's nice to finish a tournament on a positive note! :-)
Also notable win by Antoaneta Stefanova over GM Siebrecht (2468). In a sisterly battle Humpy Koneru defeated Irina Krush. Nana Dzagnidze lost to GM Sandipan, Anna Zatonskih lost to GM Vallejo Pons (2705), Eesha Karavade lost to GM Geetha Narayanan (2584), Jovanka Houska lost to GM Maze (2554), Alexandra Kosteniuk drew with IM Saravanan, Anna Zozulia lost to GM Hoffmann.
There are lots of male GM's in Gibraltar, so there are plenty of opportunities for ladies to show their strength, and we're pleased to see that every day brings male GM victims of women chess stars.
The women's standings are as follows after 6 rounds:
5.0 (leading the tournament are only 4 players with 5.0/6):
Today's 5th round top result in the Gibraltar Chess Masters by women was by Natalia Zhukova who beat GM Lopez Martinez (2593), congratulations! Also great results by women against male Grandmasters: Harika drew GM Vallejo Pons, Zatonskih drew GM Istratescu (2466), Krush drew GM GM Halkias (2566), and Zozulia drew GM Naumann (2525).
Humpy Koneru lost to GM Michael Adams (2694), Sedina lost to GM Speelman (2525), Dzagnidze won against Dasaolu, Stefanova beat Videnova, Kosteniuk won against Stebbins, Javakhishvili beat Rioseco Pinochet.
After 5 rounds, the best women are as follows:
4.0: Nana Dzagnidze
Natalia Zhukova
3.5: Humpy Koneru
Antoaneta Stefanova
Pia Cramling
Alexandra Kosteniuk
Lela Javakhishvili
Dronavalli Harika
Anna Zatonskih
Irina Krush
Eesha Karavade
Jovanka Houska
Anna Zozulia
3.0: Viktorija Cmilyte
Deysi Cori
Tania Sadchev
Monica Calzetta
Dana Riezniece
Elena Sedina
Katrine Tjolsen
2.5: Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Iva Videnova
Marina Martsynovskaya
2.0: Joanna Dworakowska
Kruttika Nadig
Szilvia Lochte
There are 10 rounds in total so anything can happen, let's wish all ladies success, especially against male Grandmaster-competitors!
Out of the leading ladies who had 2.5/3, playing against male Grandmasters only Humpy Koneru was able to win against GM Hoffmann 2508, congratulations!
Antoaneta Stefanova lost to GM Bacrot 2713 in a hard-fought and very long game. Alexandra Kosteniuk lost to GM Fridman 2654, Lela Javakhashvili lost to GM Geetha 2584 and Viktorija Cmilyte lost to GM Edouard 2608.
Notable results are also by Pia Cramling who drew GM Movsesian 2708 and Natalia Zhukova who drew GM Malakhatko 2549.
This afternoon I arrived to Gibraltar, by first flying to Malaga, in Spain, and then driving down the road till the very tip down across from Africa. It's fascinating and quite exciting to be here! On the photo you can see the famous "Rock" of Gibraltar.
The opening ceremony took place just a few minutes ago and the top 3 players for men and women have been paired. The full pairings for the first round will be known tonight. You can follow the tournament and game lives on the official web-site, here.
During the tournament I might make fewer posts on my blog, but you can be sure that I will let you know how the tournament went as soon as it's over. Thanks to everyone for their kind emails and Twitter tweets and Facebook comments, I sincerely appreciate them!
The First ACP Women's World Rapid Chess Cup is over and now I have some time to tell you more about this interesting event.
As you may know the ACP (the Association of Chess Professionals) holds the ACP men and women chess tournament series. That means that almost all important chess tournaments are taken into account and the winners of these events get points which are later used to determine the top players of the year. Some time ago I made a post about the winners of the 2008/09 women's chess series. The top 8 ladies were invited to take part in the first ACP women's world rapid chess cup, together with 3 local players and one ACP nominee. Natalia Pogonina who recently gave birth to a son decided not to take part in this competition and was replaced by Monica Socko.
We played on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of December. The time control of the tournament was 20 min + 5 sec per game. There were 4 rounds on the first day which I started very well and won each game. Four more rounds on the second day which happened to be the most difficult day for me in the competition as I lost my only game in the tournament to my compatriot Tatiana Kosintseva and was very close to losing to Pia Cramling. We finally played 3 more games on the last day. All the regulations of the tournament, together with the final cross-table, perfomance of the participants and photos of the organizers can be found on the official web-site.
I won this tournament with the impressive result of 10 out of 11 and my rating perfomance was 2746!
Here are my chess impressions of the tournament. As I posted after the first day I started the tournament with 4 out of 4 with wins in a pretty convincing style over Monica Socko, Natalia Zhukova, the local Turkish girl Menzi Ezgi and Nadezhda Kosintseva. Especially I liked my game against Nadezhda Kosintseva where after a mistake from Nadezhda I managed to find the most precise way to finish the game.
After Black's mistake on the 16th move Ne7? I played 17. dxe5 and after Bxe3 we reached the following position. Before playing dxe5 I was planning to play here 18. Nxf7? with the idea after Rxf7? 19. Bxf7 Kxf7 to play 20. exf6! and get a winning position similar to the one that I got in the game. But when I was calculating this variation I suddenly noticed that after 18. Nxf7 Black has the very strong intermediate move 18. ... Bxf2+! and after 19. Kxf2 Nxe4+! and it's White who needs to think about equality here. That's why I found another move to continue the game with and this move is 18. Bxf7+! and after 18. ... Rxf7 19. Nxf7 I won in convincing style.
During the third round a very interesting endgame arose in the game between Pia Cramling and Ozturk Kubra.
Pia is playing with white and despite being a Rook up White is not able to win the game. The game continued for quite a while but at the end White had to agree that it's a draw.
The last game to finish on the first day was the encounter between Viktorija Cmilyte and Tatiana Kosintseva. The last 25 moves were played with seconds on the clock for both players but nevertheless both players played pretty well. At the end Viktorija was more precise and won this exciting game.
The position before the 28th move of White. White played 28. Rxe4!?
The second day started pretty badly for me. I lost to Tatiana Kosintseva, by overlooking a very nice combination.
I just played 26. ... Rae8? (26...g5 was better) and Tatiana found a nice way to finish the game 27. Qxe4! it turns out that I will be checkmated after dxe4 28. c4! Qb4 29. Rgh1 and I can defend from checkmate only by giving away my Queen. That's why I didn't take the Queen on e4 and tried to complicate the game after 27. ... f5 but I don't have enough compensation and soon I needed to resign.
But Viktorija Cmilyte with whom I was sharing the first place after the first day also lost the 5th game to Pia Cramling, so after the 5th rounds there were 4 players (me, Cmilyte, T. Kosintseva and M. Socko) with 5 out of 6. In the 6th round I got lucky since Pia in our game forfeited on time in a won position.
After lunch we continued the second day. I could manage all the worries after the rather shaky morning's games and won two games pretty easily.
Here is one more nice small combination by Tatiana Kosintseva against Menzi Ezgi.
It's White to move, try to find the best continuation for White.
In the 8th round Tatiana met her sister Nadezhda and as usual they agreed on a draw while I won my game and so after the second day I was leading alone with 7 out of 8.
In the 9th and 10th rounds I won two games. While my followers were losing points in their direct encounters.
This is the game between Tatiana Kosintseva and Monica Socko. It's Black to move. Try to find the best move for Black.
In the last round I was playing against Cmilyte. I was in a pretty comfortable tournament situation. I had 9 out of 10 and she was following me with 8 out of 10. So she needed to win in order to play the tie-break for the first place. After the opening I got a very good position and had a tremendous time advantage but at some point lost concentration and gave my opponent some counter-chances which she could have used at one point. But all is well that ends well and I managed to win this game and took 10 out of 11.
After the end of the tournament the organizers created for us a short touristic trip to the center of Konya. Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the capital of the Konya Province, and had a city population of 980,973 in 2008. Konya has the reputation of being one of the more religiously conservative metropolitan centers in Turkey. We had time to visit the Mevlana Museum which is the mausoleum of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Sufi mystic also known as Mevlâna or Rumi and even got a permission to take some photos inside this building.
Immediately after the visit to the historical part of Konya we got back to the wonderful 5-stars hotel Rixos Konya where we were staying and had the closing ceremony.
I got the gold medal and a very nice cup. The second place with 8 points out of 10 was awarded to Viktorija Cmilyte and the bronze went to Tatiana Kosintseva who finished the tournament with 7.5 out of 11.
From left to right: Ali Yazici, Tatiana Kosintseva, Viktorija Cmilyte and Alexandra Kosteniuk.
At the end of this post I'd like to thank the organizers of the event, the Turkish Chess Federation and its President Mr. Ali Yazici for making this final tournament of the ACP women's series 2008/09 possible and I'm sure we will meet many more times in Turkey in the future! Thank you and see you next year, Turkey!
All the participants and the organizers of the first ACP Women's World Rapid Chess Cup.
Three rounds so far have been played in this year’s edition of the Czech Coal Match, and the team of “Snow Drops” (Humpy Koneru, Anna Muzychuk, Kateryna Lahno and Jana Jackova) are in the lead: 7 points versus 5 for the “Old Hands” (Jan Timman, Vlastimil Hort, Robert Hübner and Viktor Kortchnoi).
The Czech Coal Chess Match 2009, a double-round Scheveningen match, takes place November 28 – December 5 at the Chrystal Palaca Hotel in Marianske Lazne (the former Marienbad), Czech Republic. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes and 30 seconds increment to finish the game. The tournament is organized by the Prague Chess Society.
Last year the “Snow Drops” versus “Old Hands” tournament was very even but nevertheless it was won by the quartet of men (Anatoly Karpov, Vlastimil Hort, Fridrik Olafsson and Wolfgang Uhlmann). Of the four ladies (Viktorija Cmilyte, Anna Ushenina, Jana Jackova and Katerina Nemcova) it was the Czech number one, Jana Jackova, who was the most successful. She managed to take down former world champion Anatoly Karpov already in the first round.
This year the “Snow Drops” team is a bit stronger, led by the world’s number 2 player Humpy Koneru, and after three rounds they are leading with a small margin: 7-5. And again it was Jana Jackova who started strongly; this time with the black pieces she defeated the now 78-year-old Viktor Kortchnoi in the first round. In the next round she would lose to Hübner with White, while Koneru defeated Hort. Yesterday Muzychuk also beat Kortchnoi, and by now we’ve already mentioned all decisive results so far in this friendly tournament.
Rounds start at 16:00 CET (except for the last round which starts at 13:00 CET), live here.
The venue, like last year, is the Chrystal Palace Hotel in former Marienbad
Music at the opening ceremony...
...and the eight participants presenting themselves
Arbiter Pavel Votruba and guest and former FIDE President Fridrik Olafsson
Another famous guest: Mark Dvoretsky, together with organizer Pavel Matocha..
...and perhaps the most famous guest: 10th World Champion Boris Spassky
Round 1: Viktor Kortchnoi vs Jana Jackova...
...a win for the Czech lady
These organizers know how to set up a commentary room. There's the live boards, there's Chessbase and there's GM Marek Vokac, sometimes aided by Boris Spassky
Anna Muzychuk vs Jan Timman
Robert Hübner versus Kateryna Lahno
Timman and Lahno analyzing, Spassky kibitzing
Pavel Matocha with Bessel Kok
A unique experience for Humpy Koneru: advice from Olafsson, Dvoretsky, Timman and Spassky!
Hikarua Nakamura defeated Magnus Carlsen 3-1 in the final of the BNbank Blitz tournament, held Saturday, November 28th in Oslo, Norway. Carlsen won the first game and had good positions in games 2 and 4, but Nakamura had the strongest nerves.
The one-day blitz tourney sponsored by BNBank, a Norwegian retail and corporate bank, took place in Oslo Central Station on Saturday, November 28. Six blitz tournaments took place already on October 31st in Norway in the cities of Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim and Porsgrunn. The winner from each city earned a spot in the final in Oslo, where ten invited world class players were also present, and the prize fund was 74,000 NOK (app. 8,700 Euros).
The participants were GM Magnus Carlsen (2802, NOR), GM Hikaru Nakamura (2715, USA), GM Peter Heine Nielsen (2697, DEN), 4. GM Emanuel Berg (2594, SWE), 5. GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2588, NOR), 6. GM Kjetil A. Lie (2547, NOR), 7. IM Viktorija Cmilyte (2480, LTU), 8. GM Monica Socko (2457) POL), 9. WIM Ellen Hagesćther (2269, NOR), 10. GM Leif Erlend Johannessen (2528, NOR), 11. Anders Hobber (2132, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Porsgrunn), 12. Daniel Kovachev (2243, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Oslo), 13. FM Kjetil Stokke (2382, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Bergen), 14. Pal Andreas Hansen (2072, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Trondheim), 15. FM Vadims Daskevics (2380, LAT, winner of the qualifier in Stavanger) and 16. Peter Flermoen (NOR, 2100, second place in the qualifier in Tromsř).
In the preliminary rounds the players were divided into 4 double round-robin groups. Two players from each group qualified for the quarter-finals. The time control was 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move. All results are nicely put together on this page of the tournament website.
Below are all available games for replay; unfortunately only the top 2 boards of each round were recorded. Below the viewer there are four videos of the final. Carlsen was dominating in the first two games, but his 62.Kf6?? in game 2 turned a won pawn endgame into a lost one. It had a devastating effect and eventually the reigning World Blitz champion had to acknowledge defeat after four games. The king of online blitz, Hikaru Nakamura, beat Magnus Carlsen 3-1.
Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura are the top favourites to win tomorrow’s BNbank Blitz 2009, a one-day blitz tournament in Oslo, Norway.
A strong field of players will participate in the BNbank Blitz 2009 which takes place in Oslo on Saturday, November 28. Among the ten invited players is the 18-year-old Norwegian chess wonder Magnus Carlsen, who recently won the World Blitz Championship. The other contenders include Hikaru Nakamura, the 2009 US champion considered one of the strongest blitz players on the internet, Peter Heine Nielsen of Denmark, the second strongest chess player in the Nordic region, Jon Ludvig Hammer who is ranked as the second strongest player in Norway and two of the strongest female chess players in the world Victoria Cmilyte, Lithuania and Monika Socko, Poland, who recently won the strongest chess tournament ever played in Northern-Norway.
In the preliminary rounds the players are divided into 4 double round-robin groups. Two players from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. The time control is 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.
Preliminary groups: 11.00 – 12.15 CET
Quarter-Finals: 12.30 – 13.30 CET
Side tournament for places: 9-16 12.30 – 14.00 CET
Semi-Finals: 14.15 – 15.15 CET
Final and Bronze final: 15.30 – 16.30 CET
Prize giving ceremony: 16.45 CET
Six blitz tournaments took place on October 31st in Norway in the cities of Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim and Porsgrunn. The winner from each city earned a spot in the final in Oslo, tomorrow, where he or she will compete against ten invited world class players for a prize fund of 74 000 NOK (app. 8700 Euros).
The participants tomorrow are:
1. GM Magnus Carlsen (2802, NOR)
2. GM Hikaru Nakamura (2715, USA)
3. GM Peter Heine Nielsen (2697, DEN)
4. GM Emanuel Berg (2594, SWE)
5. GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2588, NOR)
6. GM Kjetil A. Lie (2547, NOR)
7. IM Viktorija Cmilyte (2480, LTU)
8. GM Monica Socko (2457) POL)
9. WIM Ellen Hagesćther (2269, NOR)
10. GM Leif Erlend Johannessen (2528, NOR)
11. Anders Hobber (2132, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Porsgrunn)
12. Daniel Kovachev (2243, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Oslo)
13. FM Kjetil Stokke (2382, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Bergen)
14. Pal Andreas Hansen (2072, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Trondheim)
15. FM Vadims Daskevics (2380, LAT, winner of the qualifier in Stavanger)
16. Peter Flermoen (NOR, 2100, second place in the qualifier in Tromsř)
The tournament will be covered live at Chessbomb. Here’s the official site.
The European Club Cup at its peak right now. There are still 3 very important rounds to play. The official web-site of the tournament is here. All the results can be found here. On October 11 I will let you know in details how the women's tournament went and how I did.
There are many strong women chess players playing in the Women's European Club Cup and one of them is Viktorija Cmilyte. She is from Lithuania but playing here for the Team T-Com Podgorica. Viktorija agreed to answer my questions about her life and chess career and it's my pleasure to present you this strong chess player, mother of 2 and very kind person.
What is your place and date of birth?
I was born in Siauliai, Lithuania, on the 6 th of August, 1983.
How did you start playing chess?
My father taught me when I was 6, and I started attending the local chess club.
What are your main achievements in chess?
I've won the Lithuanian Open Championship twice, was European women vice-champion, and women's world championship semi-finalist.
What is your peak rating?
2512
Do you consider yourself a professional chess player? If yes, for how long are planning to play chess professionally?
I am a chess professional, and although a couple of years ago I've finished my studies, I'm not planning to start a new career soon.
What does fascinate you most in chess?
The struggle of the two personalities.
How often do you study chess? How many hours a day?
It really depends, I don't have a strict schedule.
Do you have a chess trainer or you study chess by yourself?
For many years my coach has been Gediminas Rastenis, an IM from Vilnius.
What do you study most: openings, middle game or endgames?
Studying openings and looking for new ideas can be very exciting. But normally I study something that matters at that particular point.
Do you prefer to play chess with men or with women?
I don't think there is any particular difference in how men and women play, but I certainly prefer playing strong opponents.
Why do you think men are stronger than women in chess?
It has been proven by some female players, most notably by Judit Polgar, that in chess women can be just as good as men. The problem is that there are so fewer women playing chess. Women's only events don't help either. While it is an excellent way to determine who is the best female player, it harms the level of women's chess in the long run. Due to a smaller competition, it is relatively easier to become good among women, and while our progress slows down, our male counterparts have to fight much harder and consequently reach higher level.
When did you feel happiest about being a chess player? Why?
Winning is what ultimately gives most satisfaction. It is also a great feeling to be able to appreciate the beauty of the game.
If you had not become a chess player what career would you have chosen?
Since I was a teenager I wanted to play chess professionally. But I was also interested in literature, and languages, so I guess I would have chosen an academic career in one of those fields.
What are the names of your children and how old are they? How do you manage to be a mom and a chess player? Do your sons know how to play chess?
I have two boys, Dmitri is 7 and Alexander is 5. They both can play chess. Combining being a mother and a chess player is obviously a challenge. But it is wonderful to see one's kids grow, which reminds me everyday that while chess is a big part of my life it is not the most important one.
Do you find life and chess similar? Can we tell that chess is a little model of life? What are the main similarities/differences between chess and life?
If one sees life as a constant struggle, then chess and life are similar. However, I think chess is so attractive precisely because it is different from life. There is a sound underlying logic to everything that happens on the board, and it sometimes offers an escape from daily worries and uncertainties.
What's your home?
Siauliai, Lithuania.
What is your favorite chess book?
It's not easy to name one. Generally I've been impressed by Jonathan Rowson's books, they are very instructive chess-wise and a great fun to read.
What is your favorite non-chess book?
„A History of the World in 10˝ Chapters“ by Julian Barnes, “Heart of a Dog“ by Mikhail Bulgakov, to name a few.
Whom do you consider the best chess player in history?
Bobby Fischer.
What is the best game you have ever played?
I'm still looking foward to playing it:)
What do you like doing besides playing chess?
I like music, reading, travelling.
Do you believe in the future of women’s chess?
I don't see women's chess as something separate. And I believe that regardless of what happens in chess politics people will keep on playing chess, so in that sense I believe in the future of the game.
What is the best chess country in the world?
China.
What is the best organized women’s tournament you took part in?
Actually, I've never played a badly organised women's tournament:) .But if I have to name one, I really liked the recent Baltic Queen tournament in St Petersburg.
What is your dream in chess and in life?
I feel that having a career one likes is already a big privilege. And both in chess and life I prefer having realistic aims, instead of big dreams.
What is your favorite chess piece?
According to my kids, the queen is by far the best, so I'll stick to that too:)
What is your favorite place in the world?
I think Rome is maginificent. I also like the Lithuanian coast, with it's small cozy towns, pine forests and beautiful dunes.
Baltic Queen International Tournament: Atalik in the lead
With seven of nine rounds completed in the Baltic Queen, IM Ekaterina Atalik of Turkey has taken the sole lead with 5.0/7, followed by GMs Arakhamia and Cramling. With the top contenders meeting in the final rounds a climatic finish is expected, Viktorija Cmilyte, 4.0/7, may certainly make a statement as well. Feel the atmosphere in St Petersburg in this big photo report by IM Irina Sudakova.
The Mainz Chess Classic is probably the most professional, well-organized and streamlined tournament in the world. On top of that, Mainz itself is an interesting city to visit, with a rich history and a more than fascinating architecture. Arne Moll paid a visit to the Chess Classic, and to Mainz itself.
By Arne Moll
Despite its fantastic lineup and highly attractive events, the Mainz Chess Classic tournament is still mainly visited by German chess players – non-titled players, that is. On the first day of the open rapid tournament, I couldn’t find a single Dutch compatriot among the almost 700 (!) players. This wasn’t a big deal for me, though, for there were plenty of other interesting players to follow.
The hall & bar next to the playing hall, with Viktorija Cmilyte on the video screen
The super-strong Ordix Open, with GMs like Bologan and Moiseenko on boards 13 and 16!
GM Alexander Grischuk with White against GM Leonid Gofshtein
Germany's top GM Naiditsch also on stage
Former top 5 player Vlastimil Hort still enjoying the game...
...as does Rafael Vaganian
Aronian's girlfriend and Australia's top player Arianne Caoili
Ian Nepomniachtchi doing well on Saturday in the preliminaries...
...here playing against the World Champion who was in bad shape
GM Daniel Fridman
Chess960 winner Hikaru Nakamura came close to winning the Ordix Open as well
Former FIDE World Champ Alexander Khalifman
Sergei Movsesian
Gata Kamsky
Mainz was so heavily bombed during the second World War that practically the whole city has been rebuilt after the war. Many of the ancient buildings have been renovated or redecorated entirely,often in very bright colours, while many new buildings have arisen in the city center as well. As a result, Mainz now offers a curious mixture of renovated and repainted baroque buildings next to either completely neglected, or very modern and futuristic stores and apartments – a rather deadly combination in some cases.
A view from the Weiszliliengasse
Around the Marktplatz, modern and old architecture don't always go together very well
Still, Mainz rightly prides itself, among other things, as the city where Johannes Gutenberg invented the book press around the year 1450 and printed his famous Gutenberger bibles, some of which can be seen together with even older medieval manuscripts in the Gutenberg Museum. In my opinion, this piece of world heritage alone is worth the trip to Mainz – even if you don’t particularly care for bibles.
The Gutenberg Museum has many ancient manuscripts on display
Interestingly, the city has a number of exceptionally striking (modern) statues.
A refreshingly sober and thought-provoking tribute to the Mainzer episcopate
Walking towards the Rheingoldhalle, where the tournament is held, from the riverside along the stately houses, it’s hard not to think of the famous ‘rheingold! reines gold!’ end tune from Wagner’s first Nibelungen opera, not in the least because this is indeed the ‘golden’ neighborhood of Mainz – something which can also be discovered by looking at the cars parked here.
A view from the tournament hall at the famous Dom
The boulevard along the river Rhine as seen from the playing hall
You’re probably wondering what this all has to do with chess, and perhaps the answer is that the interesting but strange mix of beautiful and ugly as seen in the city centre of Mainz, definitely isn’t applicable to the tournament itself. At the Mainz Chess Classic, everything is just perfect. The huge entry hall with its book stalls, chess computer exhibitions, gigantic movie screens (showing ChessVibes videos as it turns out) and monitors displaying the main boards together with the most actual evaluation of either Rybka or Fritz, and even grandmasters commenting on the games, are just the main eye catchers.
GM Sebastian Siebrecht commenting on the games from the Grenkeleasing Rapid World Championship
What struck me most while walking around the tournament area was something which in my opinion is rarely seen at chess tournaments: an extreme concern and care for visitors and chess lovers. The tournament organization looks extremely skilled and professional, and this shows in just about everything. On top of that, they’re friendly and helpful and easy going. It truly is chess players (and chess journalists!) heaven.
The Rapid World Championship beautifully set-up on stage, with big screens showing thepositions and smaller TV screens showing computer evaluations
I congratulate all the Swiss and wish them all the best for their country.
A famous chess festival in the Swiss town of Biel came to its end yesterday. The tournament was won by Boris Grachev, Russia with 8,5 points out of 11. The best women's result in the open section of the tournament was shown by Nadezhda Kosintseva. Who finished 11th with 7,5 points out of 11. The full table of the results can be seen here.
There are many interesting and strong tournaments being held in Spain. A strong rapid tournament was held on July 25 and 26 in Villarrobledo, Spain. The tournament was won by Arkadi Naiditsch. The top result among women was shown by Hou Yifan who finished 13th with 6 out of 9. The official web-site of the ogranizers can be found here. The article about this tournament can be found on chessbase.com, here.
2nd International Chess Tournament was held from July 21 till July 28 in Paleohora, Greece. Evgeny Najer took the first place. The top result among women was shown by Katerina Lahno who scored 7 out of 9 and took the 12th place. The results are here.
Zonal 3.3 was held from July 22 to July 30 and was won by mongolian WGM Munguntuul Batkhuyag who lives in Moscow, Russia but plays for Monglia. Munguntuul scored 7,5 points out of 9 and took the first place. The full standing is here. Iweta Rajlich is the new women's champion of Poland, she took the first place with with 9 points out of 11. The result can be found here.
The European Veterans Championship was held from July 18 to July 31 in Rogaska Slatina, Slovenjia. In the women's section all 8 participants were Russian. The tournament was won by Ludmila Saunina. The results are here.
European veterans Politiken Cup 2009 was held from July 18 till July 26th in Denmark and was won by Parmerian Negi with 8,5 points out of 10. The top women's result was shown by Viktorija Cmilyte with 7,5 points. The final table is here.
From July 26 till July 31t the 6th annual SP National Invitational for Girls has been held at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, USA. 60 young chess players under the age of 19 from 44 states competed for the most prestigious all-girls national championship in the U.S. Yang Dai of Virginia won the main event with a 6-0 score. My student Rachel Gologorsky of Florida shared 2nd place with Epiphany Peters from Michigan with 4 points out of 5, congratulations! Rachel was second on tie-break with Epiphany taking the third place. More information about the tournament can be found here.
Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion www.chessblog.com
Baltic Queen Tournament in Saint-Petersburg, Russia
From August 10 till August 20, 2009 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia a very strong women closed chess tournament will take place.
The participants are: Pia Cramling (SWE, 2525), Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO, 2506), Elizabeth Paehtz (GER, 2474), Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU, 2470), Natalia Zhukova (UKR, 2465), Peng Zhaoqin (NED, 2418), Ekaterina Atalik (TUR, 2434), Anastasia Bodnaruk (RUS, 2388), Irina Turova (RUS, 2387) and Julia Demina (RUS, 2378). The tournament will be held by Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation, the main sponsor is OAO Gazprom. The schedule of the tournament can be found here.
I'm very glad to see that the Saint Petersburg Chess Federation is doing so many things for women's chess. This year European Women's Chess Championship was also held in Saint-Petersburg and now we will see another very strong chess women's tournament in this wonderful and beautiful city on the banks of the Neva river.
A small photo album of my visit to Saint-Petersburg in 2003 can be found here.
Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk Women's World Chess Champion www.chessblog.com
Porto Mannu: vince Conquest, titolo GM per Vocaturo
Terza e definitiva norma di grande maestro per Daniele Vocaturo al festival internazionale di Porto Mannu, disputato dal 16 al 23 maggio. Il titolo al giovane romano dovrebbe essere ratificato al piů presto, dato che, oltre ad aver ottenuto le norme richieste, ha giŕ superato i 2500 punti Elo. Vocaturo č rimasto in corsa per il primo posto fino al settimo turno, quando ha perso col GM svizzero Yannick Pelletier; prima aveva fra l'altro pattato col GM olandese Sergei Tiviakov e col GM inglese Stuart Conquest e sconfitto il GM belga Vadim Malakhatko, quindi ha concluso la sua prova pattando con due tedeschi, il GM Artur Jussupow e il MI Stefan Loeffler, totalizzando 6 punti su 9 come un altro azzurro, il MI romano Carlo D'Amore, e molti giocatori piů titolati. A vincere il torneo solitario con 7 punti č stato Conquest, che nell'ultimo incontro ha avuto la meglio sul GM svedese Tiger Hillarp-Persson; secondi a 6.5, fra gli altri, Tiviakov, il GM rumeno Mihail Marin, il GM russo Oleg Korneev, Pelletier, il GM greco Damian Lemos e la MI lituana Viktorija Cmilyte. In gara c'erano 175 giocatori, fra i quali undici GM e altrettanti MI. Sito ufficiale: http://asd.caissa.it/portomannu2009
Sin dalla sua prima edizione, nel 2007, Porto Mannu si č proposto come uno dei grandi appuntamenti del nostro calendario, con promesse puntualmente mantenute e non č un caso se molti appassionati vantano un 3 su 3 nelle partecipazioni!
Yuri Garrett, coadiuvato dal team di Caissa Italia e dal padrone di casa Stefano Lupini, ha puntato su molti aspetti qualitativi, della sede, dell’ambiente e dei materiali di gioco, del clima dato dalla sensazione di cittŕ degli scacchi che viene a formarsi nel bel residence di Capo d’Orso, uno degli aspetti piů piacevoli e interessanti rilevato dagli appassionati nelle precedenti edizioni. Confermate anche quest’anno le lezioni gratuite da parte di alcuni dei GM presenti. Numero chiuso di fatto per la partecipazione, in relazione agli spazi previsti per l’area di gioco (con un lieve ampliamento quest’anno, con circa 180 partecipanti), che il torneo raggiunge con largo anticipo, a testimonianza del gradimento.
La manifestazione non si ferma tuttavia sull’ottimo livello raggiunto e cerca di proporre ulteriori aspetti di sviluppo. Quest’anno, dopo il Festival, si svolgeranno, dal 25 al 28 maggio, anche due corsi di scacchi, gratuiti per chi ha partecipato al torneo e prolunga il soggiorno. Per la Scuola Superiore di Scacchi alla presenza del GM Mihail Marin, eccellente didatta e amico consolidato di Caissa Italia, si aggiunge un grandissimo come il GM Arthur Jusupov, per tanti anni tra i primissimi giocatori al mondo e trainer al massimo livello! Un massimo di 40 partecipanti divisi in due gruppi, in relazione alla forza di gioco, che vedranno l’alternarsi dei due docenti attraverso sei sessioni. Non da meno l’iniziativa Scuola di Scacchi Sardegna U17, condotta dagli IM Roberto Mogranzini e Martha Fierro Baquero, in collaborazione con il Comitato Regionale, che sostiene interamente la partecipazione di 10 giovani sardi. Anche qui un massimo di 40 partecipanti, con analoga organizzazione.
Arthur Jusupov
Jusupov partecipa anche all’Open, che vanta una partecipazione crescente anche a livello qualitativo, a partire dal n° 1 del tabellone Sergey Tiviakov e con nuove presenze come quelle di giocatori di primo piano come Malakhatko e Pelletier. Per scendere sotto i 2400 č necessario arrivare al n° 22 del tabellone, tra l’altro con una presenza interessante come quella della IM e WGM Anna Zozulia (2371).
Sergey Tiviakov
I primi del tabellone:
1 GM Sergej Tivjakov (NLD)
2 GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson (SWE)
3 GM Vadim Malakhatko (BEL)
4 GM Oleg Korneev (RUS)
5 GM Jusupov Artur (DEU)
6 GM Mihail Marin (ROU)
7 GM Yannick Pelletier (CHE)
8 GM Stuart Conquest (GBR)
9 GM Damian Lemos (ARG)
10 IM Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU)
11 IM Nils Grandelius (SWE)
12 GM Igor Naumkin (RUS)
13 IM Carlo D'Amore (ITA)
14 IM Daniele Vocaturo (ITA)
15 IM Duilio Collutiis (ITA)
16 GM Spyridon Skembris (GRC)
Yannick Pelletier
Da seguire la partecipazione di giovanissimi di grande talento come Nils Grandelius (16 anni, 2491) e Jorge Cori (PER, 14 anni, 2418).
A sinistra Nils Grandelius. A destra Jorge Cori con la sorella Deisy, 16 anni, anche lei a Porto Mannu
Qualche problema di "affollamento" nel calendario e la concomitanza della Mitropa Cup non consentono la partecipazione di alcuni azzurri, giŕ presenti in passato a Porto Mannu. I nostri colori sono comunque ben rappresentati da D’Amore, Vocaturo, Collutiis e Piscopo, restando nel solo ambito degli over 2400.
Daniele Vocaturo. Due norme e mezzo da GM, con la vittoria di Torino al vaglio della Fide... E se decidessimo la questione a Porto Mannu, e non se ne parla piů?
Pierluigi Piscopo, grande creativitŕ e ottimi margini di ulteriore crescita
Prime scacchiere on-line, per 9 turni, dal 16 al 23 maggio, con doppio round il 19 maggio (4° e 5° turno). Tempo di gioco 100’ x 40 + 20’ + 30s per mossa a partire dalla prima. Stessa formula Open integrale del 2008 con sistema svizzero accelerato decrescente, sulla base di una suddivisione in tre fasce dei giocatori. Montepremi di 8.600 euro e diversi premi accessori, tra cui spicca il Chesstravels “Dilettanti sugli scudi”, iscrizione e soggiorno per il torneo di Pardubice 2009 per il miglior italiano ad esclusione dei titolati IM/GM. Insomma, giŕ sapore di tradizione (dopo soli tre anni) e qualche nuovo ingrediente nell’ottima cucina degli chef Yuri Garrett e Stefano Lupini! Sito di riferimento quello di Caissa Italia.
L’interesse degli appassionati seguirŕ certamente la lotta al vertice ma sarŕ ovviamente calamitato dalla gara nella gara tra due gigantesche figure come quelle di Alessandro J. e CrazyHorse, impegnati prima alla scacchiera e poi attesi a due report che potrebbero varcare la soglia del mito: tra impressioni tratteggiate con sapienza pittorica, spaccati umani e scacchistici, elegante umorismo e finezze stilistiche, due “penne” fantastiche! CrazyHorse ci ha giŕ dato un saggio!
In the first round he escaped with a draw against a much weaker opponent, but after seven games Vugar Gashimov is leading the 7th Gibtelecom Chess Festival with six points. Seven follow with 5.5 points, including Peter Svidler, Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Beliavsky.
The 7th 2009 Gibtelecom Chess Festival takes place January 27th to February 5th in the luxurious Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar, with a record 199 players from 36 countries, including 35 grandmasters, The strongest field ever assembled for a 10-round Open Swiss are competing for Ł100,000 (€ 111,170) sterling of prize money, with Ł15,000 (€ 16,700) going to the eventual winner.
This year’s line-up is tremendous, again, with a tie for top rated player: both Azeri star Vugar Gashimov and super-grandmaster and many-times Russian champion Peter Svidler are rated 2723. One of their major rivals is the 2008 winner Hikaru Nakamura returning to defend his title.
Other stars in contention for the first prize are 18-year-old French super-star Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, plus Michael Roiz, Pentala Harikrishna, Boris Avrukh and Ivan Sokolov.
Leading the challenge for the generous women’s awards (first prize is Ł6,000; app. € 6,700) are world championship semi-finalist Pia Cramling, Antoaneta Stefanova, Viktorija Cmilyte, Nana Dzagnidze, former world champion Zhu Chen, Irina Krush, Ketevan Arakhamia and Anna Zatonskih.
Former World Champion Boris Spassky, special guest in Gibraltar this year, always happy to pose with someone for a photo
Round 1
First rounds in big Swisses are always full of excitement.
Quillan versus Gashimov: almost 1-0
Elsewhere, results went pretty well as one might have expected although there were a couple of shocks as FM Stefan Fruebing (GER) beat Pia Cramling with the black pieces and Hungarian FM Attila Istvan Csonka did the same to Jonathan Speelman whilst Jovanka Houska drew as black with Vadim Milov and Spanish GM’s Josep Lopez Martinez (2540) and Gabriel Del Rio (2532) could only draw with lower rated opposition in Anthony Stebbings (ENG) and Benjamin Bok (NED) respectively.
Round 2
The accelerated pairings used at Gibraltar meant that, even though 200 players were playing, there were a number of GM v GM clashes in Round 2. Several of these games from the most prestigious open swiss in the world showed why you should always study your endgames as several games were decided by endgame technique (both good and bad).
Berczes-Svidler, a nice rook ending by the Russian
Round 3
How many children in the world can claim that both their father and mother are full grandmasters? Well, we don’t know the exact answer - maybe somebody out there can help us? - but we do know that two of them are in the photograph below…
Sitting at the board in the picture is little Anna Cramling-Bellon, daughter of GM Juan Manuel Bellon and GM Pia Cramling (who is also in the photo). Anna made her international competition debut on 29 January here in Gibraltar. On the right, having some fun with Pia Cramling is Weronica Socko, daughter of GM Bartosz Socko and GM Monika Socko. All four parents hold the full GM title. How many other children can boast two GM parents? Other than Weronica's siblings that is. We can think of maybe one more double GM husband and wife with children but haven't thought about it too deeply yet. Maybe there are more - can you think of any?
In Round 3 of the Masters event chess was hard fought and exciting. Surya Ganguly (2614) defended well on top board to hold a draw with the black pieces against Peter Svidler (2723) whilst there was something of a shock on board 2.
GM Bartosz Socko defeated GM Antoaneta Stefanova and joined Kotronias in the lead.
Round 4
On 30 January 1649, King Charles I of England was beheaded for treason. 360 years later to the day in Gibraltar there was no treason that we know of, but several players attempted to execute the opposing monarch!
Charles I
Elsewhere Greek GM Vasilios Kotronias (2603) had another excellent win, defeating Indian Pentala Harikrishna (2673) in 53 moves with Black. Kotronias secured an early edge, and gently applied the pressure until it became unbearable. An impressive victory which gives him the sole lead of the tournament on 4/4 after the other two players on maximum points GM Dzagnidze and GM Socko drew with each other.
Kotronias, often wearing football shirts, scored a nice win over Harikrishna
Round 5
There were no players left on maximum points after Vassilios Kotronias drew with Michael Roiz. But this was no “Grandmaster” draw as peace only broke out after 76 moves. Slovenian GM Alexander Beliavsky joined Kotronias in the lead on 4˝/5 by defeating Nana Dzagnidze by proving that his bishop was better than her knight in the endgame. There were no fewer than 12 players just half a point behind the leaders. Joining Roiz on 4/5 are Bartosz Socko and Vugar Gashimov (draw in 30) and Vitali Golod and Boris Avrukh (draw in 77).
Round 6
In the sixth round the top two boards both saw decisive results and, coincidentally, both featured instructive rook and pawn endgames. On board 1, former World Junior Champion, Slovenian GM Alexander Beliavsky (2646) demonstrated his technical prowess against the co-leader, Greek GM Vasilios Kotronias (2603) to take the full point and move into clear first.
Round 7
White won in all the important games round seven: Gashimov-Beliavsky 1-0, Harikrishna-Avrukh 1-0, Svidler-Stefanova 1-0, Milov-Del Rio 1-0 and Kotronias-Sokolov 1-0. After this round Gashimov is leading with six points. Seven follow with 5.5 including Svidler, Nakamura and Beliavsky.
Gashimov grabs the lead after a fine, positional game against Beliavsky
La 7e édition du Festival Gibtelecom 2009 se déroule du 27 Janvier au 5 Février, ŕ l’hôtel Caleta ŕ Gibraltar. Plusieurs forts joueurs français y participent, en particulier Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Arnaud Hauchard et Clovis Vernay.
Rappresenta l’Open piů forte di inizio anno, preparando la stagione ai fortissimi tornei di Mosca: si tratta del Gibtelecom Chess Festival che si disputa a Gibilterra per la settima volta. Si gioca dal 27 gennaio al 5 febbraio e questa č l’intrigante lista dei partecipanti, primi 20:
1 GM Gashimov, Vugar AZE 2 GM Svidler, Peter RUS 3 GM Nakamura, Hikaru USA 4 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA 5 GM Harikrishna, Pentala IND 6 GM Milov, Vadim SUI 7 GM Sokolov, Ivan NED 8 GM Berkes, Ferenc HUN 9 GM Roiz, Michael ISR 10 GM Beliavsky, Alexander G SLO 11 GM Avrukh, Boris ISR 12 GM Socko, Bartosz POL 13 GM Gurevich, Mikhail TUR 14 GM Akobian, Varuzhan USA 15 GM Ganguly, Surya Shekhar IND 16 GM Berg, Emanuel SWE 17 GM Kotronias, Vasilios GRE 18 GM Golod, Vitali ISR 19 GM Andersson, Ulf SWE 20 GM Sandipan, Chanda IND
Dunque due 2723 in lizza, l’azero Vugar Gashimov che tanti progressi ha fatto nell’ultimo periodo e Peter Svidler, pluricampione russo; ma la presenza di Hikaru Nakamura, vincitore della precedente edizione (tie-break su Bu Xiangzhi), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Pentala Harikrishna e Vadim Milov costituiscono serie alternative per la conquista del primo posto assoluto, al quale andranno le 15.000 sterline del primo premio.
Come al solito consistente la partecipazione femminile: Pia Cramling, Antoaneta Stefanova, Viktorija Cmilyte, Nana Dzagnidze, Zhu Chen, Irina Krush, Ketevan Arakhamia, Anna Zatonskih, attratte anche dal generoso primo premio al femminile: 6.000 sterline!
Partecipazione anche da parte di un manipolo di scacchisti italiani, tra i quali spicca Fabio Bruno che, nonostante il suo ragguardevole Elo di 2460 punti, parte col n° 42 del tabellone!
Gibilterra by night
Si gioca come sempre al Caleta Hotel, uno dei migliori di Gibilterra.
La scimmietta, animale-simbolo di Gibilterra, tanto da comparire anche nel logo del torneo
Previsti dieci turni con inizio alle ore 15.00. Non permesse le patte d'accordo entro le prime 30 mosse.
This headline could be read in Blesk, the biggest newspaper of the Czech Republic, earlier this week. Its readers were informed about the fantastic victory of Jana Jackova over ex-world champion Anatoli Karpov, who lost in just 22 moves. After five rounds in Mariánské Lázn?, “Snowdrops and Old Hands” are exactly even: 10-10.
We know the formula from the 90s when chess maecenas Joop van Oosterom (currently responsible for the Amber and NH tournaments) sponsored many tournaments between talented female chess players against highly experienced, former top players. It was exactly this format that was chosen by Pavel Matocha for a tournament that’s currently taking place in the Czech town of Mariánské Lázn? (the former Marienbad).
The town where 72-year-old Goethe met his 17-year-old Ulrika is witnessing four chess legends meeting promising young female chess players. In the “Old Stagers” (as they are called by the Czech) team there’s Anatoli Karpov, Vlastimil Hort, Fridrik Olafsson and Wolfgang Uhlmann; the “Lasses” team consists of Viktorija Cmylite, Anna Ushenina, Katerina Nemcova and Jana Jackova.
The two teams (called “Snowdrops versus Old Hands” elsewhere - were prefer this one) meet twice following the Scheveningen system. Venue is the hotel Cristal Palace in Mariánské Lázn?, from November 29 to December 6, 2008.
Hotel Christal Palace
The games start at 16:00 CET daily (live here) with the exception of the last day, when they start at 13:00. The tournament is organized by Prague Chess Society and tournament director is Pavel Matocha, who was also responsible for e.g. the rapid matches Navara-Short & Timman-Jackova and Navara-Kramnik.
The first round included a sensation: after a mere 22 moves Anatoli Karpov had to resign against Jana Jackova. He was about to get mated!
At half time, after four rounds, the young ladies were leading by a small margin: 8.5 points out of 16 games, to 7.5 for the legends. Yesterday the four distinguished gentlemen levelled the score with the white pieces: Karpov took revenge against Jackova and Hort beat Nemcova, while Olafsson-Ushenina had ended in a draw. Cmilyte prevented the men from taking the lead; she beat Uhlmann.
Czech Coal Chess Match 2008 | Results
Round I
Round II
Round III
Round IV
Ushenina - Olafsson 1-0
Hort - Ushenina 1-0
Ushenina - Karpov ½-½
Uhlmann - Ushenina 0-1
Nemcova- Hort 0-1
Olafsson - Nemcova ½-½
Nemcova- Uhlmann 1-0
Karpov - Nemcova 1-0
Jackova - Karpov 1-0
Uhlmann - Jackova 1-0
Jackova - Olafsson 1-0
Hort - Jackova 1-0
Cmilyte - Uhlmann 1-0
Karpov - Cmilyte 1-0
Cmilyte - Hort 1-0
Olafsson - Cmilyte 1
Round V
Round VI
Round VII
Round VIII
Olafsson - Ushenina ½-½
Ushenina - Hort
Karpov - Ushenina
Ushenina - Uhlmann
Hort - Nemcova 1-0
Nemcova- Olafsson
Uhlmann - Nemcova
Nemcova- Karpov
Karpov - Jackova 1-0
Jackova - Uhlmann
Olafsson - Jackova
Jackova - Hort
Uhlmann - Cmilyte 0-1
Cmilyte - Karpov
Hort - Cmilyte
Cmilyte - Olafsson
Czech Coal Chess Match 2008 | Round 5 Standings
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
Snowdrops
3
½
3½
1½
1½
Old-hands
1
3½
½
2½
2½
Total Snowdrops
3
3½
7
8½
10
Total Old-hands
1
4½
5
7½
10
Czech Coal Chess Match 2008 | Round 5 Individual Scores
O1
O2
O3
O4
O1
O2
O3
O4
Total
S1
Anna Ushenina
1
½
½
0
1
3
S2
Katerina Nemcova
0
1
½
0
0
1½
S3
Jana Jackova
1
1
0
0
0
2
S4
Viktorija Cmilyte
1
1
½
0
1
3½
OS1
OS2
OS3
OS4
OS1
OS2
OS3
OS4
O1
Fridrik Olafsson
½
½
½
0
0
1½
O2
Vlastimil Hort
1
1
1
1
0
4
O3
Anatoli Karpov
1
1
1
½
0
3½
O4
Wolfgang Uhlmann
0
1
0
0
0
1
Here are all the games played so far:
Old Hands, Old Friends: Karpov, Uhlmann, Hort and Olafsson
WGM Katerina Nemcova (2369), no. 1 in the Czech Republic, at the drawing of lots
World champion in "footbag" Vaclav Klouda
IM Jana Jackova (2360) interviewed for NOVA TV
Pavel Matocha - remarkable harcuts, remarkable tournaments
Vlastimil Hort with his wife, who works in the publishing business
Jackova made headlines by crushing a former world champion
Viktorija Cmylite, best performing lady with 3˝ / 5
Anatoli Karpov, with the same score after five rounds
Former FIDE President GM Fridrik Olafsson (2440) analyzing with Katerina Nemcova
The legendary GM Wolfgang Uhlmann (2417) from the Olympiad's city of Dresden
IM Anna Ushenina (2496), Ukraine's highest rated female player
143 photos taken during the 2008 Mainz Chess960 Women's World Championship, won by Alexandra Kosteniuk, with runner-up Kateryna Lahno, third Viktorija Cmilyte and 4th Natalia Zhukova. The photos are ? Pufichek and cannot be used without written permission.
News about the event: http://www.kosteniuk.com
Chess videos: http://www.tubechess.com and http://www.chessmovies.com
This is a 24-minute movie of the Chess960 World Championship in Mainz, Germany, where Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk defended her title against the challengers Kateryna Lahno, Viktorija Cmilyte and Natalia Zhukova. Listen to Alexandra comment her games.
This is a 24-minute movie of the Chess960 World Championship in Mainz, Germany, where Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk defended her title against the challengers Kateryna Lahno, Viktorija Cmilyte and Natalia Zhukova. Listen to Alexandra comment her games. The file is very large (112 MB), so please be patient while it loads. If you run out of patience, you can try to watch it on www.tubechess.com (same movie i flash format) or also on www.youtube.com/chessqueen (shorter version of the movie in flash).
Anna Ushenina (born August 30, 1985 in Kharkov) is a Ukrainian chess player with the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM).
Biography
Born in Kharkov, she still lives there with her family. It was her mother who introduced her to chess at the age of seven, along with painting and music, being determined that the young Ushenina would develop intellectual and creative talents.[1]Her earliest chess results were remarkable; consistently winning events in her age group and beyond, culminating in becoming the Ukrainian Girls' (under 20) champion at just 15 years. Many of her chess skills have been self-taught, although there was some coaching at a specialist facility in Kramatorsk. Even today she often works without a trainer but is, at the same time, critical of the lack of support for chess in the Ukraine. Other countries such as China offer concessions and generous stipends to their top players.
[edit] National success
At the national Ukrainian Women's Championship, her progress and achievements have been noteworthy. In 2003 (Nikolaev) and 2004 (Alushta), she finished in fourth and sixth places respectively, thereafter becoming the champion at Alushta in 2005, and outperforming top seed Tatjana Vasilevich along the way. She almost repeated the success at Odessa in 2006, finishing second, but ahead of the higher rated Natalia Zhukova and Inna Gaponenko.[2]At these combined (men and women) events, she has defeated male grandmasters of the calibre of Anton Korobov and Oleg Romanishin and in the Ukraine was endowed with the title Honored Master of Sports.
[edit] Exceptional team performances
Her many successes in team chess reached an early pinnacle in 2006. At the Turin Women's Olympiad she was a part of the victorious Ukrainian team and remained undefeated throughout the contest. Ushenina and her compatriots Natalia Zhukova (also undefeated), Kateryna Lahno and Inna Gaponenko each scored between 70-80%, in what was a commanding performance, earning them team gold medals and much adulation in chess circles.[3]
For Ushenina, her earliest major medal-winning performance occurred in Balatonlelle, at the European Team Championship for Girls (under 18) in 2002, where she took team gold and individual silver on board 1. On another occasion at the 2007 Women's World Team Chess Championship in Yekaterinburg, she helped Ukraine to a bronze medal finish and added an individual bronze to her tally. She has also played twice at the European Team Championship, in 2005 and 2007. The team finished outside of the medal places each time, but for her personal performance, Ushenina took individual gold at the latter event, held in Heraklion, with 5/7.[4]
A very active league chess player, she regularly plays in the national leagues of France, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia.
Tournaments and titles
Tournament successes at Kiev in 2001 and Odessa in 2003, earned her the WGM title, awarded in 2003. Her Olympiad performance and subsequent results in Pardubice and Abu Dhabi (both 2006) then qualified her for the IM title, awarded in January 2007.
In the 'A2' section of the prestigious Aeroflot Open in Moscow 2007, she scored 5 points from the first 7 rounds, defeating three male grandmasters for a part performance rating of 2672. At the Women's European Individual Chess Championship, held 2008 in Plovdiv, she took the bronze medal, losing out 1-2 to Viktorija Cmilyte in a tie-break for silver. Playing at the Wijk aan Zee Corus 'C' (mixed) event of 2008, she found the standard very tough and finished towards the bottom of the Group, equal with Peng Zhaoqin on 4˝/13. At the 2008 Moscow Open Women's event, run alongside the Aeroflot tournament, she took second place (after Anna Muzychuk, but ahead of Natalia Zhukova and Kateryna Lahno).[5]
In her spare time, she enjoys reading detective novels and listening to classical and pop music.
As of July 2008, Anna Ushenina had an Elo rating of 2476, placing her third behind Kateryna Lahno and Natalia Zhukova in the national listings and number 22 in the world among women.
Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia, the top seed and No. 25 in the world, and Emil Sutovsky of Israel are the leaders of the men’s European Championships after six rounds. Each has 5.5 points. Viktorija Cmilyte of Lithuania, Anna Ushenina of the Ukraine and Ekaterina Kovalevskaya of Russia, who each have 5 points, are tied for [...]
Hi Everybody,
Caruana nel Campionato Russo a Squadre!
The European Championship gold medal winners were already known (Nepomniachtchi and Cramling), but for deciding the other medals and World Cup qualifiers, tiebreak matches were played on Thursday in Rijeka. We bring you the results and some statistics.
After many draws in the penultimate round, Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) defeated Vladimir Akopian (Armenia) in the last round and won the gold medal at the European Championship in Rijeka. The women’s section was won by Swedish GM Pia Cramling, who beat Viktorija Cmilyte (Lithuania) in the last round.
With two rounds to go, Ian Nepomniachtchi is in sole lead at the European Individual Championship. The Russian GM scored 7.5/9. In the women’s section Viktorija Cmilyte leads with the same score.
Ian Nepomniachtchi from Russia and Pia Cramling from Sweden are the new European Chess Champions. In the last, 11th round, the 20-year old Russian Grandmaster defeated Vladimir Akopjan from Armenia to complete his excellent score of 7 wins and 4 draws, earning 9 points and over 25 rating points.
The 
Three rounds so far have been played in this year’s edition of the Czech Coal Match, and the team of “Snow Drops” (Humpy Koneru, Anna Muzychuk, Kateryna Lahno and Jana Jackova) are in the lead: 7 points versus 5 for the “Old Hands” (Jan Timman, Vlastimil Hort, Robert Hübner and Viktor Kortchnoi).
Hikarua Nakamura defeated Magnus Carlsen 3-1 in the final of the BNbank Blitz tournament, held Saturday, November 28th in Oslo, Norway. Carlsen won the first game and had good positions in games 2 and 4, but Nakamura had the strongest nerves.
The participants were GM Magnus Carlsen (2802, NOR), GM Hikaru Nakamura (2715, USA), GM Peter Heine Nielsen (2697, DEN), 4. GM Emanuel Berg (2594, SWE), 5. GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2588, NOR), 6. GM Kjetil A. Lie (2547, NOR), 7. IM Viktorija Cmilyte (2480, LTU), 8. GM Monica Socko (2457) POL), 9. WIM Ellen Hagesćther (2269, NOR), 10. GM Leif Erlend Johannessen (2528, NOR), 11. Anders Hobber (2132, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Porsgrunn), 12. Daniel Kovachev (2243, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Oslo), 13. FM Kjetil Stokke (2382, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Bergen), 14. Pal Andreas Hansen (2072, NOR, winner of the qualifier in Trondheim), 15. FM Vadims Daskevics (2380, LAT, winner of the qualifier in Stavanger) and 16. Peter Flermoen (NOR, 2100, second place in the qualifier in Tromsř).
The Mainz Chess Classic is probably the most professional, well-organized and streamlined tournament in the world. On top of that, Mainz itself is an interesting city to visit, with a rich history and a more than fascinating architecture. Arne Moll paid a visit to the Chess Classic, and to Mainz itself.
In the first round he escaped with a draw against a much weaker opponent, but after seven games Vugar Gashimov is leading the 7th Gibtelecom Chess Festival with six points. Seven follow with 5.5 points, including Peter Svidler, Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Beliavsky.
Tania Sachdev et Viktorija Cmilyte 
This headline could be read in Blesk, the biggest newspaper of the Czech Republic, earlier this week. Its readers were informed about the fantastic victory of Jana Jackova over ex-world champion Anatoli Karpov, who lost in just 22 moves. After five rounds in Mariánské Lázn?, “Snowdrops and Old Hands” are exactly even: 10-10.
