Sabato 13  14.30 hrs - Round 1
Domenica 14  14.30 hrs - Round 2
Lunedi 15 14.30 hrs - Round 3
Martedi 16 14.30 hrs - Round 4

Mercoledi  17  Riposo

Giovedì 18 14.30 hrs - Round 5
Venerdì 19 14.30 hrs - Round 6
Sabato 20 14.30 hrs - Round 7
Domenica 21 14.30 hrs - Round 8

Lunedì 22  Riposo

Martedi 23 14.30 hrs - Round 9
Mercoledì 24 14.30 hrs - Round 10
Giovedì 25 12.30 hrs - Round 11

1.  Aronian    14    
2.  Anand      13½
    Kramnik    13½
4.  Carlsen    13    
5.  Morozevich 11    
6.  Karjakin   10½
    Topalov    10½
8.  Kamsky     10    
    Leko       10    
10. Ivanchuk   9½
11. Radjabov   9    
12. Wang Yue   7½

1.  Aronian    7    
    Carlsen    7    
    Kramnik    7    
4.  Anand      6½
    Morozevich 6½
6.  Leko       5½
    Topalov    5½
8.  Ivanchuk   5    
    Radjabov   5    
10. Karjakin   4½
11. Wang Yue   3½
12. Kamsky     3

1.  Anand      7    
    Aronian    7    
    Kamsky     7    
4.  Kramnik    6½
5.  Carlsen    6    
    Karjakin   6    
7.  Topalov    5    
8.  Ivanchuk   4½
    Leko       4½
    Morozevich 4½
11. Radjabov   4    
    Wang Yue   4

RISULTATI e ABBINAMENTI

QUI  

  PARTITE IN DIRETTA QUI

The 19th traditional TopGM’s blindfold and rapid tournament in Nice, France will be held from March 13th to 25th.
Players: Levon Aronian (Armenia), Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Leinier Dominguez (Cuba), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), Boris Gelfand (Israel), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Sergey Karjakin (Russia), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Ruslan Ponomariov, Jan Smeets (The Netherlands) and Peter Svidler.

Magnus Carlsen (2813) (NOR) brVladimir Kramnik (2790) (RUS) brLevon Aronian (2782) (ARM) brAlexander Grischuk (2756) (RUS) brPeter Svidler (2750) (RUS) brBoris Gelfand (2750) (ISR) brVasily Ivanchuk (2748) (UKR) brVugar Gashimov (2740) (AZE) brRuslan Ponomariov (2737) (UKR) brSergey Karjakin (2725) (RUS) brLeinier Dominguez (2713) (CUB) brJan Smeets (2651) (NED)

After five rounds of play, Zahar Efimenko, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Artyom Timofeev and Baadur Jobava are sharing the lead at the European Individual Championship in Rijeka. The four grandmasters scored 4.5 points and are chased by 23 GMs who are on 4/5.

The 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship is held from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, in new Zamet Centre sports hall. The event is organized by chess club “Rijeka”, in agreement with the Croatian Chess Federation under the auspices of the City of Rijeka and the European Chess Union. It is open to all players representing the chess federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.

The championship is based on Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. As always, the European Championship is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.

Rounds 4-5

Especially the 4th round in Rijeka saw a number of highly entertaining games and in this report we’ll present a few diagrams to give you an idea of how amazing the game of chess can be (if you didn’t knew already). Let’s start with the following brilliancy by Georgia’s number one player Baadur Jobava.

Krasenkow-Jobava
Position after 32…Rxe3

Imaginative play by Baadur Jobava

18-year-old Tamir Nabaty from Israel is a player without any title yet, but he’ll probably become at least an IM soon. In Rijeka he drew with GM Zoltan Gyimesi and then defeated GMs Gadir Guseinov and Ildar Khairullin, only to be stopped by top seeded GM Zoltan Almasi yesterday. The game against Khairullin had a nice finish.

Nabaty-Khairullin
Position after 31…Kc7

Selection of games rounds 4-5

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The top boards of the 5th round

Young & old in Rijeka

Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

Links

• Official website
• All details and statistics
• Games in PGN: Men | Women via TWIC

Having read mostly chess improvement books and opening manuals lately, I was delighted to see a new publication in the best tradition of chess writing: a serious tournament book. Strangely, it’s a tradition that seems rather unpopular these days – a very unfortunate development indeed.

The tournament book tradition has given us many classics, e.g. Bronstein on Zürich 1953, Alekhine on Nottingham 1936 and, more recently, Jan Timman on Curacao 1962. Nowadays, tournament books are a rare guest among the countless opening guides, chess tutorials and personal game collections. Still, a serious tournament report has many advantages over these other genres.

If a single game is like a newspaper column, and a game collection is like a short story, a collection of all games from one tournament is, in my view, like a full-grown novel, with different story-lines and intricate plots, small personal dramas and highlights, seemingly trivial details and an intricate plot leading up to a satisfying or thought-provoking finish. I would like you to see Mihail Marin and Yuri Garrett’s Reggio Emilia 2007/2008, published by Quality Chess, as an intriguing and well-written novel, rather than ‘just another’ chess book on the market.

On of the characteristics of a good tournament book is that all games are seriously analysed. As Garrett, the tournament’s technical director, writes in the introduction, in the current book, 25 out of the total of 45 games are analysed by at least one of the combatants, 3 of them present the views of both players and the remaining 20 have been annotated by GM Mihail Marin.

One of the very nice things is of this is that quick, ‘boring’ draws are also seriously analysed. This is something you don’t see in regular game collections or in New in Chess magazine, but I’ve always found it very instructive to see how the big guys make these draws, especially with such an outstanding explicator as Marin commenting them:

Korchnoi-Almasi
Reggio Emilia (2) 2007

How realistic are White’s chances of retaining even a tiny edge? In the absence of knights, there is no way to take advantage of the relative weakness of the d6-square. Speaking about “ifs”, under certain circumstances a knight jump to f6 would have been devastating. The way it is, I see only one (highly unrealistic) possibility: exchange all the rooks in order to avoid any form of counterplay, install the queen on e4 to dominate both wings, and advance (by some miracle) the b-pawn to b5, in order to put the black pawns placed on dark squares in potential danger. Admittedly, there is no way all this could happen.

16.Bxb7 Maybe Korchnoi’s initial intention was to keep control of the long diagonal with 16.Qf3. However, in this case he would have lost control of another important avenue, the d-file, after 16…Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Rad8 18.Rad1 Rd7! followed by …Rfd8. This would also have led to plain equality.

16…Qxb7 17.Qe2 Rfd8 18.Rad1 Qc6 19.f4 g6 20.Qg2 This is the only way to try to activate his position, but the almost complete simplifications that follow lead to a dead draw.

20…Qxg2+ 21.Kxg2 h5 22.Kf3 Kf8 23.Ke4 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rd8 25.Rxd8+ Bxd8 26.h3 Ke8 27.g4 hxg4 28.hxg4 Kd7 When this position was reached, Korchnoi said in a loud voice, “What can I do?” A draw was agreed.

Of course, the tournament not only consisted of solid draws, but also of some very spectacular and beautiful chess. And again, Marin takes us by the hand towards a crystal-clear understanding of the games.

Almasi-Marin
Reggio Emilia (5), 2008

28.e6! White sacrifices his central pawn to clear the e5-square for his knight and make the e-file available for his rook. Black’s contorted piece coordination, which was quite functional in the closed position before Almasi’s breakthrough, will soon lead me to defeat. (…)

28….Qxe6 29.Ne5 c6 To tell the truth, I was still optimistic at this point, especially since, judging from his physical reaction, I knew Almasi had overlooked this defensive resource. My pleasant state of mind was not altered by his next strong move.

30.Bd2!! I would have enjoyed playing one of my favourite type of defensive positions – an exchange down – after 30.Nxg6 hxg6. Then Black has practically no weaknesses and his structure is much better than White’s. Moreover, if the black knight reaches the e4-square, White would be in trouble.

In this fragment, we see Marin at his best. He honestly describes his emotions yet manages to stay objective all the time, enabling him to explain the technical details without ever becoming boring or repetitive. He also shows a constant concern for the reader trying to make assessments of the arising positions. Marin even comes to the rescue in annotations by the other participants, when they have not been explicit enough to Marin’s satisfaction. The very first game of the book is a good example: Zoltan Almasi analyses his victory over Pentala Harikrishna in a solid, but rather clinical fashion, so Marin jumps in at several points in the analysis to add useful comments like “It may seem that Black has regrouped his forces harmoniously and his kingside counterplay is developing without problems. However, White’s space advantage in the centre and on the queenside should not be underestimated.”

Reggio Emilia 2007/2008 (it started on December 29, 2007) was in many ways perfect for a tournament book. Not only were there a number of world-class players such as Vugar Gashimov and David Navara, but also the legendary Viktor Korchnoi was present, as well as two rising stars from Asia (Pentala Harakrishna and Ni Hua), and of course Mihail Marin himself. As is good practice in a literary review, I won’t give away the ending of the ‘novel’, nor any other spoilers. In the end, however, it’s the moves and the games that tell the story of this tournament, not the results.

I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself into this tournament (even though I had never seen a single game from it before), identifying with the players and the problems they were facing during the games, and I suddenly felt it as a real loss that such books are hardly ever written anymore these days. I think a tournament book is the closest a chessplayer can come to identifying with fictional characters, and it’s a true pleasure to be able to enjoy the excitement of chess for once without having to think about improving my own game or updating my opening or endgame knowledge. This is simply top level chess entertainment.

Apart from the tournament itself (the heart of the book) there are numerous interesting extras in Reggio Emilia 2007/2008, such as excellent interviews with the players, a history of the Reggio Emilia tournament (including some memorable games from past editions) and a sympathetic description by Garrett of how this particular tournament was organised. Garrett is a keep observer who not only loves to watch the games but also the players themselves:

It was also interesting to witness the cultural differences between the players, ranging from Almasi’s assertive comments to the hesitant and modest ones by the Chinese warrior, Ni Hua (…). Gashimov whispered his fascinating comments, which were charcterized by a wildly tactical approach (albeit with that raw touch so typical of the young player who has yet to fully exploit his potential).

I hope readers will consider buying this very charming book; perhaps it will energize publishers to publish more serious tournament reports. It’s too beautiful a tradition to be written off already.

Links

• Get yourself a copy of Reggio Emilia 2007/2008
• Read more book reviews

Naiditsch, Vallejo, Jobava, Pelletier, Timofeev, Martinovic, Skoberne, Krasenkow, Inarkiev, Nisipeanu, Efimenko, Maiorov and Nepomniachtchi are the names of the thirteen players who are still on 100% in Rijeka. Three rounds at the European Individual Championship have been played.

The 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship is held from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, in new Zamet Centre sports hall. The event is organized by chess club “Rijeka”, in agreement with the Croatian Chess Federation under the auspices of the City of Rijeka and the European Chess Union. It is open to all players representing the chess federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.

The championship is based on Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. As always, the European Championship is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.

Rounds 1-3

Top seed Zoltan Almasi started with a draw with Black against Italian GM Lexy Ortega. In this first round, played on Saturday, Russian top GMs Alexander Motylev and Evgeny Tomashevsky, the reigning European Champion, also started with draws. The biggest upsets were IM Artem Smirnov beating GM Evgeniy Najer, IM Pavel Potapov beating Viktor Laznicka, FM Burak Firat beating GM Konstantin Sakaev and FM Danny Raznikov beating GM Zaven Andriasian. On one of the lowest boards, Dutch GM Friso Nijboer was held to a draw by Denis Kadric (2171).

The second round saw two draws on the top boards, in Stefansson-Bacrot and Movsesian-Ragger. Moldav top GM Viktor Bologan lost to Bulgarian GM Valentin Iotov and GM Avetik Grigoryan defeated GM Kiril Georgiev. Ivan Cheparinov, long-time team member of Veselin Topalov, lost to Spanish GM Josep Manuel Lopez Martinez, but another Bulgarian of the same generation did better: IM Momchil Nikolov defeated GM Boris Savchenko. FM Hamitevici Vladimir managed to beat GM Mateusz Bartel in this round.

Round 3 was played on International Women’s Day, and all the women playing in the tournament received a rose “as a small sign of appreciation to all women players and all the ladies participating in the organization of this big sporting event”.

Dutch ladies Lisa Schut, Anne Haast and Arlette van Weersel, with roses at the chess boards

In the women’s section there are four leaders with a perfect score after three rounds: Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS), who is the only survivor from the ten best rated players, Monica Socko (POL), Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO) and Irina Chelushkina (SRB).

Back to the men. After three rounds there are still 13 players with a 100% score. Among them are the two young international masters Sasa Martinovic (CRO) and Jure Skoberne (SLO) who in round 3 defeated GMs Vorobiov and Howell respectively. David Navara, these days boasting a 2708 rating, lost to Yannick Pelletier yesterday. Cheparinov went down again, this time against IM Artem Smirnov. IM Pavel Povatov and FM Burak Firat had more successes: the former defeated GM Tomi Nyback, the latter beat GM Gregorz Gajewski.

Today’s round will see some interesting encounters: Vallejo Pons-Timofeev, Krasenkow-Jobava, Naiditsch-Efimenko, Pelletier-Inarkiev, Skoberne-Nisipeanu, Nepomniashtchi-Maiorov and Adams-Martinovic. In the women’s section there are two clashes at the top: Arakhamia-T.Kosintseva and Socko-Chelushkina.

A nice curiosity about the European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship in Rijeka

For the first time, there will be a ‘priest’ to represent – unofficially – the State of Vaticano. Unofficially because Vaticano is not (yet) affiliated to FIDE.

The name of the priest who will partecipate to the European Championship is Don Valerio Piro, from Neapolis; he got the formal authorization from Cardinal Sepe (note that Cardinal is more than Bishop; the Cardinal reports directly to the Pope).

Don Valerio is candidate-master for the Italian Chess Federation. Officially he is registered as Italy, but he will play with the flag of Vaticano. This is the first partecipation of a representative of the little State that is not afffiliated to FIDE. But only for the moment, as there are many priest that are good chessplayer.

Historically, the first (important) was Ruy Lopez – the inventor of the famous opening. The last one is William Lombardy, assistant of Bobby Fischer.

There is the idea to organize a championship for ‘ecclesiastics’ (priests, friars, monks, nuns), then there will be the possibility to create a Chess Federation of the state of Vaticano. So may be that it will be possible to see a team fom Vaticano also in the Olympiads.

The news had a good interest in the Italian newspapers and press agency. Please find enclosed the links (sorry, but the articles are in Italian!). Please note that the most important ‘catholic’ newspaper, Avvenire, dedicated a complete page to the news.

• http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/regioni/campania/2010/02/28/visualizza_new.html_1709041681.html
• http://napoli.repubblica.it/dettaglio/scacchi-parroco-di-boscotrecase-primo-sacerdote-agli-europei/1875352
• http://www.ilvesuvio.it/index.php?page=0&news=8711
• http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Regioni/Campania/Prete-ai-Campionati-europei-di-scacchi-Al-mio-rientro-lezioni-in-parrocchia_70956501.html
• http://www.libero-news.it/regioneespanso.jsp?id=360194

Thanks and best regards!
Adolivio Capece

Selection of games rounds 1-3

Game viewer by ChessTempo

The venue is the Zamet Centre (16,830 m2), which hosts various facilities: a sports hall with max 2,380 seats, local community offices, a library, 13 retail and service spaces and a garage with 250 parking spaces.

These days the sports hall is occupied with tables, seats and chess sets...

...and hundreds of chess players

Croatian chess fans watching the games from the side

Vallejo Pons, from Linares to Rijeka, with Michael Adams next to him

Local hero GM Marin Bosiocic (r.), here against GM Ernesto Inarkiev, has many fans

Top seed GM Antoaneta Stefanova (l.), here against WGM Sopiko Guramishvili

Second seeded is IM Nadezhda Kosintseva, but another favourite...

...is her sister Tatiana, two times European Champion already

Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

Links

• Official website
• All details and statistics
• Games in PGN: Men | Women via TWIC

Alexander Morozevich has withdrawn from the Amber tournament, which starts in six days from now in Nice, France. The Russian is replaced by his compatriot Alexander Grischuk. To get you a bit in the mood already, today we present a video with footage from 2008 and 2009.

The 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament takes place at the Palais de la Mediterranée in Nice, France, from March 12 to 25, 2010. The event is organized by the Association Max Euwe of chess maecenas Joop van Oosterom, which is based in Monaco. The total prize-fund is € 216,000.

The world’s number one player, Magnus Carlsen, is the top-seed in Nice. Also present are Levon Aronian, the winner of the past two Amber tournaments, and Vladimir Kramnik, who won the Amber tournament a record six times.

The following twelve grandmasters will take part (between brackets their country and their rating in the March 1, 2010 world rankings): Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2813), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2790), Levon Aronian (Armenia, 2782), Alexander Grischuk (Russia, 2756), Boris Gelfand (Israel, 2750), Peter Svidler (Russia, 2750), Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 2748), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan, 2740), Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, 2737), Sergey Karjakin (Russia, 2725), Leinier Dominguez (Cuba, 2713) and Jan Smeets (The Netherlands, 2651).

Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid sessions. The first session starts at 14.30 CET. The fourth session finishes around 20.00 CET. The final round on March 25 starts at 12.30 CET. March 17 and 22 are rest days. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player. With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock, with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added.

Below you’ll find an appetizer video. Like in previous years, many more will be posted on the official website during the tournament. Besides, you can expect something new this year: live chess with audio commentary, streaming footage from the playing hall and live commentary sessions with the top GMs!

Video

Link

• Official website

Every week we present you an endgame study selected by IM Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Good luck solving!

S. Didukh
2003

White to play and win

Next week the solution.

Solution last week

I. Aliev
2008

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Baby, let's quit playing chess,
You've been to my address,
You keep checking me out,
I wanna get loud,
Stop playing mouse and cat,
I'm telling you that,
I'm gonna win,
I'm checking you in

Chess players love wooden chess sets for their massive, easy-playing pieces, their obvious superiority over cheap plastic stuff and their distinguished classical look. But what about their sustainability?

I got interested in this question after seeing an advertisement for a truly magnificent chess set called the ‘Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set’. Created by Grant Dawson Collections in the United States, it is “hand made from certified sustainable North American hardwoods (walnut and maple), food safe natural finishes with recycled glass ball feet, and features 32 lead-free pewter playing pieces finished in 24k gold or sterling silver.”

The set is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, but it’s not exactly cheap: if you’re interested, you can buy it here for the nice sum of $5000. It’ll buy you this:

Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set

That’s much more expensive, for instance, than the slightly less serious Freshwater vs. Saltwater Fish Chess Set or the various Animal Chess Sets that are sold on the internet. (”Endangered species will live on, healthy and free, in your own controlled temperature living room. Beware if you lose a piece or you could be in trouble with the Feds.”)

This is all good fun, of course (in fact, I can’t help mentioning a marvellous – if not really environmentally ‘correct’ – Through the Looking-Glass chess set, with pieces vanishing as soon as they are captured!) – but what about regular, Staunton-style chess sets?

I personally became interested in deforestation and sustainability issues after a visit a few years ago to Easter Island (which was completely deforested by its original people) and after reading Jared Diamond’s influential book Collapse (2005) about the collapse of great civilizations in the past and present, which deals about deforestation in great detail. As Diamond writes:

More than half of the world’s original area of forest has already been converted to other uses, and at present conversion rates one-quarter of the forests that remain will become converted within the next half-century. Those losses of forests represent losses for us humans, especially because forests provide us with timber and other raw materials, and because they provide us with so-called ecosystem services such as protecting our watersheds, protecting soil against erosion, constituting essential steps in the water cycle that generates much of our rainfall, and providing habitat for most terrestial plant and animal species. Deforestation was a or the major factor in all the collapses of past societies described in this book.

I tried searching for the word ’sustainable’ on a couple of well-known chess vendor sites such as The House of Staunton and the online shop of the London Chess Centre, but got a No products matched your search criteria in all cases. (One of the very few hits I got at all on Google was for a recyced chess set on Cool Gadgets.com. Pretty cool indeed, but hardly useful for even the smallest-sized chess tournament.)

I looked for more information online on the type of wood that’s used in chess sets. Again, it’s not easy finding out about this. On one site, I learned that “rosewood is a very popular type of wood used for chess men.” This would be bad news, since rosewood is in fact a tropical hardwood which is hugely overexploited. Still, a quick look at some retailer’s sites show that this is indeed one of the most commonly used wood for chess sets. According to the BBC,

The most reliable way to choose environmentally friendly timber and wooden products is to look out for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo. The FSC is a charity which certifies wood, paper and other tree products that have come from sustainability managed forests. (…) Wood from trees native to Europe, such as pine, oak, beech and birch, pose lower environment risks than those from tropical and subtropical trees such as mahogany, teak, rosewood and ebony.

The widely-used Digital DGT wooden boards are made of rosewood. On the website of the USCF Shop, too, most chess sets (both pieces and boards, and both ‘tournament’ and ‘luxury’ sets) seem to be made from rosewood, ebony or mahogany. And on this site, too, the word ’sustainable’ doesn’t return any pages. (There are ecologically sustainable types of rosewood, such as Santos Palisander, but again it is unclear (at best) whether this palisander type is used for the chess boards advertised on these websites.) In fact, one of the very few websites that explicity features ’sustainable chess sets’ is the English ShopWiki, which links the so-called Negiel Decorative Staunton Wooden Chess Set:

Folding wooden chess set by Negiel, comprising of an ornate stained wooden chess board and traditional Staunton style weighted chess pieces. Quality product made in Europe from carefully selected high quality sustainable wood.

The sustainable Negiel Staunton chess set doesn't look so bad, does it? (Apart from the wrongly placed king and queen, that is.)

It’s also quite cheap (certainly compared to the Endangered Parrots one!): £44.99, and it will be in stock from April this year on. But again, on the above-mentioned online shops, you’ll search in vain for the Negiel chess set, as far as I can tell.

I phoned Joris van Vuure of Chess and Go Shop Het Paard in Amsterdam, one of the largest chess equipment sellers in The Netherlands, to ask him what, if anything, he knew about sustainable chess sets. “Well, to be honest I’ve never thought about it,” Joris van Vuure told me. “Our customers – including the Dutch Chess Federation – simply never ask for it. They are obviously interested in the price and quality of the chess sets, but not their sustainability. Our top-selling chess sets are mostly made of mahogany, palissander or boxwood. Boxwood pieces are usually painted, which you can easily recognize because the black pieces are really black, whereas the others have a natural dark wood colour. I personally thought boxwood is sustainable, but I’m not sure.”

In fact, the sustainability of boxwood (or buxus as it says on the chess sets) is questionable. It’s an extremely hard type of wood which makes it very suitable for many things, including chess pieces, but it’s often overexploited and its sustainability really depends on where the plant was cultivated. Even if some boxwood would deserve to get the benefit of the doubt (Het Paard sells a lot of them, which is a good thing!), rosewood, mahogany and other tropical hardwoods wouldn’t.

Van Vuure says their shop would be interested in marketing explicitly sustainable chess sets, possibly even with an FSC logo, but he doubts whether customers would want to pay more for them. “In fact, many of our customers explicitly say they want nice wooden products rather than plastic ones, which obviously look cheap and actually have a bad image environmentally speaking. It’s a complicated issue, but if we could market it in a good way, without confusing customers, why not?”

Exactly how bad is it that we chess players mostly use unsustainable wooden chess sets, and what can be done about it? To quickly answer the first question: I have no idea – but it certainly doesn’t help. As often with these things, it’s clearly better in any case to be part of the solution, instead of the problem. Besides, I’m pretty sure more chess sets are being sold each day than expensive musical instruments made of the same materials, so there’s another clue. Finally, while unsustainble furniture at least looks really nice, I really wouldn’t be able to spot the difference between a maple chess set and a boxwood one. Nor would I much care: as long are the pieces are heavy (which can be achieved in other ways as well) and they don’t look too distracting, it’s all perfectly fine by me.

The second question seems tougher. I can advice you to buy a sustainable chess set next time, and you can tell your chess-playing friends, but even if you’d be willing to follow my advice, when will that be? And how effective will that be in the grand scheme of things anyway? It’ll also look decidedly pedantic to complain with your local club staff about the nice sets they just bought to please their club members: gee, thanks for the support!

This is an example of what marine scientist Jennifer Jacquet, who studies the overfishing problem, calls horizontal agitation:

Horizontal agitation is peer pressure combined with a pejorative element of what is socially or environmentally unacceptable. One friend lambasts me if she sees me with a disposable coffee cup. Another one does when I drive instead of walk. A British colleague in fisheries told me he could no longer bear dinner with his “middle-class friends” because they would pester him about the hypocrisy of his seafood consumption.

Although horizontal agitation can be beneficial, as studies have shown, Jacquet thinks there’s a better way: vertical agitation.

Choosing a MSC-certified fish over another is not going to relieve overfishing — not when one trawler today can remove 60 tonnes of fish from the ocean in a single haul. The way to get big changes quickly and maximize the effect of our scrutiny is with vertical agitation.

Vertical agitation means working higher in the demand chain. Rather than consumers hassling consumers, vertical agitation implies consumers hassle mega-consumers (chefs, managers, retailers, universities) or government. Today’s conservation movement, like the industries it seeks to revolutionize, must make big changes quickly. It can do this best with vertical agitation. (…) [A] colleague, Claire Nouvian, managed to arrange a meeting with President Sarkozy and vertically agitated him into supporting a CITES listing of bluefin tuna.

In terms of chess sets, the problem is obviously not as big as, say, slavery or the extinction of the bluefish tuna. Nor will buying sustainable chess sets alone save the world’s rainforests. But, as Joris van Vuure says, why not give it a try? At least unsustainable chess sets are not subsidized by FIDE! Chess organizers and federations could use nicely made plastic chess sets only (there are nice plastic sets, I’ve seen them myself!) or they could ask retailers about sustainable wooden sets. They might even be subsidized because of it!

Retailers, especially small ones already offering that little ’something extra’ to customers, should in my view seriously consider importing (and marketing) more sustainable wooden chess sets made of, for instance, oak or beech, even if perhaps they don’t always look as posh as some of the tropical of subtropical hardwood products. After all, in no-nonsense tournament chess, nobody ever really looks at the pieces for their beauty, do they? As long as they’re not distracting, surely it’s the chess that matters, not the board and pieces?

Finally, FIDE (Gens una sumus) itself should also be listening closely. Since they seem to have a liking for introducing weird new rules, here’s a suggestion for them: order all FIDE-rated tournaments to play with plastic or sustainable wooden chess sets. And they shouldn’t just do it because they like new rules, either. Like most ’sustainability’ initiatives, it could actually save them real money in the long run. What with all the financial troubles of our dear World Chess Federation, might this not be music to their ears?

The 2010 Reykjavik Open ended in a four-way tie between Abhijeet Gupta, Yuriy Kuzubov, Ivan Sokolov and Hannes Stefansson. The four grandmasters all ended on 7/9; Dutchman Sokolov had the best tiebreak.

The Reykjavik Open took place February 24 – March 3 in the capital of Iceland. It was a 9-round Swiss with 104 players (20 GMs, 16 IMs). The rate of play was 1.5 hours for 40 moves plus 30 minutes to end te game, with an increment of 30 seconds starting from move 1. The main sponsor was MP Bank, the bank started by grandmaster Margeir Pétursson and the only bank in Iceland that more or less managed to avoid the biggest damage in the crisis so far.

As always the Reykjavik open was quite a strong event, with 11 GMs rated higher than 2550 and six rated 2600 or higher. Besides the usual suspects (Baklan, Dreev…) there were the sometimes quite famous veterans (Westerinen, Ehlvest, Romanishin) and some of the biggest talents around (Nyzhnyk, Jorge and Deysi Cori).

In the end the first place was shared between Abhijeet Gupta (India), Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukraine), Ivan Sokolov (The Netherlands) and Hannes Stefansson (Iceland). Sokolov recovered well from his terrible result at his last open, the open in Cappelle-la-Grande. For local hero Stefansson it was the third time in a row that he ended (shared) first, and the fifth time in total.

Selection of games

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Veterans meet: Alexey Dreev (Russia) vs Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine)

Newcomers meet: Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukraine) vs Ilya Nyzhnyk (Ukraine)

Peruvian rising star Jorge Cori vs Iceland's number two (on rating still behind the inactive Johann Hjartarson) Hannes Stefansson

Ivan Sokolov (The Netherlands) vs Irina Krush (USA)

A draw in the last round between Hannes Stefansson and Abhijeet Gupta

The fifth victory for Stefansson

Photos courtesy of the tournament website

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

He watched Max Euwe become World Champion. He chatted with Emanuel Lasker, and saved dozens of Jewish babies during the Second World War. Last night I had the privilege to play a club game against 99-year-old Professor Dr Johan van Hulst. I couldn’t beat him.

Photo: Fred Lucas

Professor Dr Johan Wilhelm van Hulst was born in Amsterdam on January 28th, 1911. He’s a Dutch emeritus professor of education and a politician. Starting as a teacher and mentor, from 1942 to 1960 Van Hulst was Principal of the Pedagogical Academy in Amsterdam and in that capacity he was responsible for rescuing hundreds of Jewish babies and children from the nursery of the Hollandsche Schouwburg. For this he received the Yad Vashem Distinction in 1973. About this period he said:

“The director of the kindergarten, our neighbor, asked me if she could use the school because the nursery was full. I made available an empty room and a part of the garden. Soon, this became the flight route for the children. Many children were smuggled away from the school. Members of the resistance could just walk in and out, because the Germans did not notice the school. Probably because I deliberately acted like I didn’t want anything to do with the Hollandsche Schouwburg and the Jews.” Source: Verzetsmuseum

Van Hulst earned a doctoral education and psychology and graduated in 1961. From 1956 to 1981 he was member of the Senate of the Dutch government and from 1961 to 1968 Member of the European Parliament. He’s a former Chairman of the political parties CHU and CDA and held many other functions. Van Hulst is also author of numerous scientific publications and books; the last was published when he was 95.

Consultation between (L-R) Gerard Leijenhorst, Johan van Hulst (CDA chairman for the Senate) and Ruud Lubbers (chairman CDA for the Parliament)

In the chess world he is no stranger either. He was quite a strong player himself and in fact was once invited to play for the Dutch team at one of the Olympiads. However, Van Hulst had to decline the invitation, with the knowledge that he would lose his job as School Principal if he would play. This was the moment he decided that he wouldn’t pursue a chess career. But for decades he has played in the special group for (former) parliamentarians at the Corus Chess Tournament, and won it many times, including the 2010 edition, at 99 years old.

Johan van Hulst giving one of his famous speeches,
during the 2010 Corus Chess Tournament | Photo Fred Lucas

I play chess myself very little these days. This season I’ve probably played just three or four games at my Amsterdam club Caïssa. Last year the ‘Max Euwe’ chess club ceased to exist and its members transferred to Caïssa. On the first club night in September last year, we met with our new club members, and one of them was the distinguished Professor Van Hulst. He is an honorary member of the Caïssa Chess Club, and has been a member for about seventy years.

“I have been a spectator at all of Max Euwe’s matches in Holland,” he told us on that Tuesday night. “During one of the early games of the 1935 match, Emanuel Lasker was one of the spectators. I asked him what he’d think of Euwe’s chances.” We were listening in awe to Mr Van Hulst, a magical figure already, who saw Euwe play, who talked to Lasker… Of course we immediately asked: “What did Lasker answer?” Van Hulst, smiling: “I remember very clearly. He said Alekhine should be considered slight favourite, considering the time control they were playing.”

Johan van Hulst in 2007 | Photo Fred Lucas

Later that evening he also told about the period of the Second World War. “I was the chairman of a chess club here in Amsterdam. At the end of the 1930s the situation for our Jewish members became more and more difficult. At some point they weren’t allowed to play anymore, so we decided to secretly play at their houses instead of at the club. Later this had to stop as well.

One night an SS officer walked into our club. ‘I want to be come a club member and play here,’ he told me. I had to think deeply, and then I responded: “Are you a Christian? You have to be a member of our Christian community too, you know.’ This way I managed to get rid of him.”

Van Hulst still plays almost every week. He’s being brought and picked up by taxi, and needs a walker or a stick to move around. “Not long ago he had to skip a club night,” the current chairman of the club told me. “The next week he came and apologized for his absence, but he had a very good reason. His daughter had turned 60.”

Last night I decided to go to my club, and to my surprise I was paired against Professor Van Hulst. Remembering the many stories, and with deep respect for my opponent, I had trouble concentrating. But that’s no excuse; I simply played badly. More importantly, except for the opening I believe he played quite strongly, as if there was no age difference of 65 years.

Van Hulst-Doggers
Amsterdam (Caïssa) 2010

Game viewer by ChessTempo

After the game I said: “I won the opening, you won the ending.” He answered with “I’m an old man, you know. I’m getting tired after a few hours of play.” Then he asked me about my rating. I told him it was a bit over 2200. “Aha! Well, perhaps I shouldn’t tell you mine, then. Well, OK, it’s 1600.”

After that he stood up, grabbed his walker, adding “I’m satisfied about the game.” He went for his coat. “I’m satisfied too,” I replied, having enjoyed the evening, and feeling OK about a draw against this man. But he was quick in pointing out that this was just nonsense: “I don’t think you have any reason to be satisfied!” I smiled, knowing that he was right. In the end he was the one who had won.

Photo © Fred Lucas;
for another photo see also Schaaksite

Aujourd'hui samedi, Cannes déroulera le tapis rouge pour le "roi des jeux". Le Festival International des Jeux consacre une journée spéciale "Les Echecs, une passion pour se surpasser".

En ouverture de cette journée dédiée aux échecs, le Dr. Poucet du Laboratoire de Neurobiologie de la Cognition d'Aix-Marseille Université, donnera une conférence sur le thème "Jeux de stratégie et fonctionnement cérébral". Puis à 16h, sera lancé en avant-première nationale le Neurodon 2010 par Bernard Esambert, Président de la FRC (Fédération pour la Recherche sur le Cerveau), en présence du parrain du Neurodon, l'acteur Christophe Malavoy.

Au programme, des parties simultanées, à l'aveugle et en blitz. Mais également, une conférence de presse Les échecs et l'art par Yves Marek, et la projection du film de Caroline Bottaro Joueuse, en présence de Bertina Henrichs, l'auteur du roman La joueuse d'échecs.

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

“They might think they’ve got a pretty good jump shot or a pretty good flow, but our kids can’t all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil’ Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers.”

President of the United States, Barack H. Obama, at the 100-year anniversary of the NAACP

On Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Words Beats & Life (WBL) in partnership with the Historical Society of Washington and the Columbia Heights Youth Club will host the fifth annual Bum Rush the Boards Hip-Hop Chess Tournament. The tournament will take place at the Historical Society of Washington located at 801 K St. NW at Mount Vernon Square Washington, DC 20001. Bum Rush the Boards was created by WBL in 2005 to promote strategic thought and actions within the hip-hop community. The name of the event was inspired by Public Enemy’s album, “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” released in October 1987.

Mazi Mutafa of Words, Beats & Life

This year, Bum Rush the Boards will consist of 6 rounds of 30-minute team-based tournament play for intermediate and advanced youth, ages 5-23. Beginning Youth will participate in 3 rounds of 1 hour individual play. There will also be six 30-minute rounds rounds of individual tournament play for intermediate and advanced adults. These workshops give chess players the opportunity to have hands-on learning experiences based on the core elements of hip-hop culture. Participants will also participate in a series of S.T.E.M. -based workshops called “Engineering a Culture.”

Beginning with our 2010 tournament, there will be a specific focus on career exploration in S.T.E.M.A. We know that S.T.E.M.A. is important because together, these areas of study and employment constitute key components of the creative economy, one of the largest employment sectors in the United States. Read More About Our S.T.E.M.A. based Approach!

~Mazi Mutafa

Registration: http://www.wblinc.org/bumrushreg.html
2009 Mixtape: http://wblinc.bandcamp.com/album/bum-rush-the-boards-official-events-mixtape 2010 mixtape coming March 20th!

In what was probably the strongest Bundesliga match ever, OSC Baden-Baden Saturday lost for the first time in more than three years, against their biggest rival Werder Bremen. The two teams are leading the standings, together with SG Solingen, with 20 points out of 11 matches. Games, photos and a video.

In the 10th round of the Schachbundesliga, Werder Bremen won 5-3 against Baden-Baden. It was the first loss in more than three years for the German champion. The match took place last Saturday at the Kongresshaus of the Stadthalle in Heidelberg, and match winners were Alexander Areshchenko and Michael Roiz who defeated Michael Adams and Arkadij Naiditsch respectively. All other matches ended in a draw.

ICC Chess.FM’s Macauley Peterson was in Heidelberg too this weekend and made the following video on the victory for the ‘Green Shirts’.

On Sunday Baden-Baden recovered and easily defeated Hamburger SK with 1.5-6.5. On board 1 Anand beat Kempinski with a nice combination. Shirov, Movsesian, Naiditsch and Heine Nielsen also scored full points. Werder Bremen did even better by crushing host club Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim 7.5-0.5. Winning 2.5-5.5 against SK Turm Emsdetten, SG Solingen managed to reach a shared first place together with Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen.

Selection of games played last weekend

Game viewer by ChessTempo

The venue, with Baden-Baden against Werder 'Green Shirts' Bremen

The World Champion, scoring 1.5/2 this weekend...

...including an easy draw with Black against Vugar Gashimov using fine, Archangelsk Ruy Lopez preparation

Peter Svidler, another Baden-Baden top gun...

...but it was Bremen's Michael Roiz, together with...

...Alexander Areshchenko who decided the important match

Photos by Christian Bossert & Georgios Souleidis

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGNvia TWIC

Every week we present you an endgame study selected by IM Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Good luck solving!

I. Aliev
2008

White to play and win

Next week the solution.

Solution last week

V. Kovalenko
1970

Game viewer by ChessTempo

C'est simple, il suffit d'écoutez la chanson "Les Rois du Monde", extraite de la comédie musicale Roméo et Juliette. Ce tube comporte le nom d'une pièce du jeu d'échecs bien connue. Mais, sauriez-vous préciser à notre amie Marie Bérenger laquelle, et surtout combien de fois elle est citée ?

 Si vous en avez assez que les joueuses d'échecs ne vous remarquent pas, découvrez le nouveau déodorant Axe Twist.

Plus qu'un nouveau déodorant, il agit durant plusieurs heures et change progressivement de parfum. C'est bien connu, les filles se lassent rapidement et quand bien même vous avez réussi à les séduire, il est bien plus compliqué de conserver leur attirance pour vous sur le long terme!

A l'occasion du lancement de son nouveau produit, Axe organise un concours dont l'égérie n'est autre que Clara Morgane, la femme favorite des jeunes français (sondage IFOP2).

Via le site dédié, participez à un concours original: le but du jeu est de garder Clara sous votre charme, le plus longtemps possible. Du style intello au rockeur en passant par le look bling bling, AXE met à disposition une application photo élaborée qui rassemble tous les accessoires rêvés pour garder les filles sous son charme plus longtemps. A la clef, de nombreux lots (iPods, écrans etc), mais surtout, une séance de shooting photo avec la star, et qui sera ensuite affichée dans votre ville! Un bon moyen d'augmenter votre karma charme,non?!

Doublez vos chances d'être l'heureux élu qui posera aux côtés de la star, en témoignant de vos expériences: les filles qui se lassent, vous connaissiez mainenant c'est fini ?!  N'hésitez pas à  laisser votre commentaire sur le sujet, ici même… vous avez une heure pour gagner un shooting photo avec Clara. Bonne chance à tous !

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

In our last video from Linares we speak with Veselin Topalov, just after he won his first Linares. He talks about the game against Gelfand and several other topics, and it includes a brief comment by Grischuk as well as footage from the closing ceremony. Below we give many photos from the closing.

The closing ceremony started with music from the Andrés Segovia Choir

Host was Leontxo Garcia

The players in front row enjoying the ceremony

Organizer Paco Albalate, during the rest of the year French teacher

Arbiters Juan Vargas and Faik Gasanov with Paco Albalate

A speech by the President of the Spanish Chess Federation, Javier Ochoa de Echagüen

Paco Vallejo receives last prize from the mayor of Linares himself, Juan Fernández

Boris Gelfand with Javier Ochoa de Echagüen

Vugar Gashimov with Antonia Olivares, a Province delegate occupied with turism

A speech by the secretary general of sports of the Andalucía region, Manuel Jimenez

Levon Aronian and Vugar Gashimov

Topalov and Aronian just received the prize (excellent olive oil) for 'most beautiful game'

All players together on stage during one of the speeches

The mayor of Linares gives Topalov the trophy

The trophy (1st prize): a mine shaft - Linares was a mining city until 1991

Proud winner of Linares 2010: Veselin Topalov

Some final words by the mayor...

...and a final group photo with all players and authorities.

Complicated tiebreak rules made all kinds of scenarios possible, but in the end it couldn’t be more clear. By beating Boris Gelfand in a tense game, Veselin Topalov won the 2010 Linares tournament outright as Grischuk drew with Vallejo. Games & final standings. later more.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain.

A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705).

Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Games round 9

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

In our second video from Linares we give the mic to Alexander Grischuk, who gave his view on his victory over Topalov. “I didn’t understand why people thought I had no chance against him.”

This year the Linares tournament has seen a lot of draws, despite the newly introduced rule that draws are in principle not allowed under move 40. Yesterday we spoke with Gashimov, Vallejo, Gelfand and Aronian about their draws and this rule. Video!

Alexander Grischuk defeated Veselin Topalov in round 9 of the Linares super-tournament. The two are leading with just one round to go. Gashimov-Vallejo and Gelfand-Aronian were both drawn. Big pictorial report.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain.

A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705).

Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Round 9

Just two rounds ago Veselin Topalov seemed sure of his first tournament victory in Linares, but two days later this picture has changed dramatically. Alexander Grischuk defeated the tournament leader with the white pieces in round 9 and should now be considered favourite for victory, since this year the first tiebreak rule is the individual enounters. Update: Here I forgot that Grischuk lost to Topalov in the first stage. The tiebreak rules are:

1. Individual result.
2. Highest number of victories.
3. Highest sum of points against players who scored 50% or more.
4. Remove the points scored against the player/group of players at the bottom of the standings. If still equal, do the same for the player/group of players above.
5. If still equal, blitz games will be played (but only to decide the 1st place).

Grischuk was ‘pretty much happy’ with his play, as he said after the game. And he had all the reason, since he had simply played a good game, and certainly better than Topalov. Slightly under pressure, the Bulgarian continued to play quickly, to try to create complications; a strategy we also saw for example during his match against Kamsky a year ago. This time his opponent kept his calm and didn’t give away the advantage. During the last phase Topalov didn’t defend optimally and so Grischuk won the ending with RBN vs Q easily, where it should have been more difficult.

Gashimov-Vallejo was drawn, and way before move 40, before which officially one is not allowed to agree to a draw. However, an exception is made in clearly drawn positions, and this was one of them.

Later Gelfand and Aronian also split the point and for the Armenian this was the 9th consecutive draw. His comment after the game: “A personal record! I once had eight, but never nine!”

Tomorrow we’ll have a video with Grischuk’s reaction after the game as well as a video on ‘the draw’, with comments by Gashimov, Vallejo, Aronian and Gelfand. Unfortunately the Hotel Anibal’s internet speed is too slow to upload.

Games round 9

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Calle Cervantes (Cervantes Street)...

...where Teatro Cervantes, the venue, is located

Only three boards fill the stage this year...

...and just 10-20 spectators showed up on Tuesday

But the press room is crowded as always...

...with, amongst others, Ljubojevic and Topalov's two Dutch seconds, Erwin l'Ami and Jan Smeets

As always, the games shop across the street of Hotel Anibal is dedicated to chess again...

...with the flags of all the participants...

...and all kinds of chess sets....

...creating a beautiful picture

The January issue of the Spanish chess magazine Jaque

Does that cover photo look familiar? Sharp vision! It’s by yours truly, also published over here; the report on the London Chess Classic for Jaque was done by me.

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Trionfa Topalov!

• Veselin batte Gelfand mentre Grisuchk patta con Vallejo
• Aronian coglie la prima vittoria ed è 3°
  

A tre turni dal termine sembrava che Topalov, con un punto e mezzo di vantaggio sui secondi in classifica, dovesse vincere con relativa facilità la 27^ edizione del torneo di Linares. Ma la patta con Aronian e la concomitante vittoria di Grischuk nell'ottavo turno, e soprattuto la sconfitta subita nello scontro diretto del nono turno, hanno rimesso tutto in discussione. I due giocatori sono adesso in perfetta parità, anche in base ai primi tre criteri di spareggio. Il quarto criterio vede in vantaggio Grischuk, ma solo perché Alexander deve ancora giocare con l'ultimo in classifica. Aronian, che teoricamente potrebbe agganciare i due a quota 5.5, è invece escluso dalla lotta per la vittoria finale proprio in virtù dei criteri di spareggio (in parità negli scontri diretti, ma un numero inferiore di vittorie).

Saranno dunque decisive le sfide dell'ultimo turno. Il bulgaro se la vedrà, con il bianco, con il solido Gelfand (otto patte e una sola sconfitta, proprio contro Grischuk) mentre il russo affronterà l'idolo di casa, Vallejo, che sinora ha perso solo con Topalov e Gashimov. Se dovessero vincere entrambi, si dovrebbe ricorrere agli spareggi blitz. In caso di due patte, invece, vincerebbe Grischuk per il quarto criterio di spareggio. Anche in caso di due sconfitte Grischuk, per il terzo criterio di spareggio, bisserebbe il successo dello scorso anno.

Due immagini delle sfide del girone di andata tratte da Chessbase

criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito

1. scontri diretti
   
2. numero di vittorie
3. punti ottenuti contro i giocatori che hanno conquistato almeno il 50% dei punti a disposizione
4. si rimuovono i punti ottenuti contro il giocatore o il gruppo di  giocatori che si trovano in fondo alla classifica. Se permane la parità, si rimuovono i punti ottenuti contro il giocatore o il gruppo di  giocatori in testa alla classifica
5. se permane la parità, sono previsti gli spareggi blitz (due partite. 3'+2". In caso di ulteriore parità,  si giocherebbe una partita secca: 5' al bianco, 4' al nero e vince il nero in caso di patta)  ma solo per decidere il 1° posto
   

Regolamento

calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.

tempo di riflessione 2h x 40 mosse  +  1h per 20 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita +30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla 61esima.  

Non si può offrire patta prima della 40esima mossa

SITI UTILI

sito ufficiale

From the USChess Rating site,

--------  --  ----------  ------ ------ -----------------------
12490706 (NJ) 1989-02-28   Unr    Unr   GINSBURG, ALEX B 
12427342 (AZ) 1990-10-31  1371P   Unr   GINSBURG, BEN 
13138610 (CA) 2006-03-31   471P   459P  GINSBURG, BENJI 
13171016 (RI)  Dupl. ID    744    655P  GINSBURG, DANIEL 
12486555 (RI) 2008-06-30   758    635   GINSBURG, DANIEL 
12887849 (SC) 2006-04-30   612P   610P  GINSBURG, DAVID 
12850468 (NY) 2002-11-30   416P   406P  GINSBURG, DYLAN 
12915462 (MD) 2007-12-31   740    740   GINSBURG, ELIJAH 
12709120 (AZ) 2001-02-28   823    Unr   GINSBURG, ELLIOT 
12893211 (NJ) 2003-07-31  2527P   Unr   GINSBURG, GENNADY 
12783962 (CA) 2000-11-30   880P   Unr   GINSBURG, GRAEME 
13693330 (SC) 2008-04-30   Unr    Unr   GINSBURG, JACOB 
12526368 (MD) 1991-11-30   935    Unr   GINSBURG, JAMES 
20087839 (CA) Non-Member   901    Unr   GINSBURG, JASON 
10270871 (OH) 2011-03-31  2331    Unr   GINSBURG, JEFFREY MARSHALL 
12915461 (MD) 2007-11-30  1059   1045   GINSBURG, JESSE A 
12752216 (CA) Non-Member   658P   Unr   GINSBURG, JOAHUA 
12834327 (IL) 2004-06-30   959    961   GINSBURG, JOEY E 
12173960 (CA) 1988-02-29  1614    Unr   GINSBURG, JONATHAN 
14075233 (NJ) 2009-11-30   101P   101P  GINSBURG, JORDAN 
12849259 (MO) 2008-01-31   649    546P  GINSBURG, JOSH A 
20018146 (CO) Non-Member  1079    Unr   GINSBURG, KATE 
12433030 (AZ) 1986-02-28   Unr    Unr   GINSBURG MD, LEON J 
12854815 (CA) 2003-01-31  1008P   Unr   GINSBURG, LEONARD M 
12781372 (SC) 2003-12-31  1248    Unr   GINSBURG, LEVI 
12947965 (MD) 2007-12-31   241    240   GINSBURG, LILA M 
13744028 (RI) 2008-08-31   100P   Unr   GINSBURG, LILY 
12854816 (CA) 2003-01-31   866P   Unr   GINSBURG, MARCO H 
10172918 (AZ) Life        2432   2416P  GINSBURG, MARK 
10270898 (OH) 2009-11-30  1408   1456P  GINSBURG, MARSHALL 
12687714 (NY) 1997-09-30   571P   Unr   GINSBURG, MATTANYA 
12455996 (SC) 1989-07-31  1849    Unr   GINSBURG, MILTON 
12857187 (CA) 2003-01-31    *     Unr   GINSBURG, MOLLY M 
12657541 (SC) 2000-10-31  1223    Unr   GINSBURG, MOSHE 
12284700 (PA) 2006-01-31   Unr    Unr   GINSBURG, SIDNEY 
11368115 (CA) 1986-12-31  1951    Unr   GINSBURG, STEPHEN 
12684511 (SC) 2009-05-31  1199   1181P  GINSBURG, YAKOV 

A note on etymology: Gins is derivated from Ganz – German word for Goose. Burg can be a fortified castle (usually with a moat) or a small village. Not a “mountain” as in “iceberg” – “berg” is different. Thus – Geese in a moat that surrounds a castle, or geese in a tiny village.

Depressing Postscript

I was rated 2578 in 1993.

Humorous Post-Postscript

ChessBase has a bunch of games under my name I did not play – they are mostly Midwestern encounters courtesy of Jeff Ginsburg.  GM Gennady Ginsburg came out of nowhere (Jersey!!) and has given me new motivation. I know he’s played in Bundesliga games.

Yaroslav Zherebukh Saturday won the strong open in Cappelle-La-Grande. The Ukrainian grandmaster, just 16 year old, was the only player to finish on 7.5/9. Veteran GM Mihhail Gurevich was doing well, but lost the crucial round 8 game to Zherebukh.

Yaroslav Zherebukh | Photo Jean Michel Delfosse

The 26th edition of the Cappelle-La-Grande chess festival was held 13-20 February. The main event was a big 9-round Swiss.

The rate of play of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move for the first 40 moves and then 30 minutes plus 30 seconds per move to the end of the game. Draws by mutual agreement in under 20 moves were not allowed.

The tournament was organized by the “L’Echiquier Cappellois” chess club and took place at the Palais des Arts in Cappelle-la-Grande, just south of Dunkerque, France.

Yet another relatively unknown Ukrainian grandmaster won in Cappelle this year. 16-year-old Yaroslav Zherebukh scored 7.5 points and only lost to the winner of last year, Yuri Vovk. As Chess Today reports, both are in fact pupils of IM Vladimir Grabinsky.

Zherebukh finished ahead of many favourites, such as Yuri Drozdovskij (2625), Murtas Khazgaleyev (2643) and Ivan Sokolov (2649). The latter probably won’t like to be reminded of the tournament, finishing 85th with 5.5/9 as the top seed. His performance rating was just at GM level: 2507. In Wijk aan Zee Sokolov told me that he’ll be tournament director of the big Bosna chess festival this year, so, well, he has more important things to do!

Selection of games

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Every week we present you an endgame study selected by IM Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Good luck solving!

V. Kovalenko
1970

White to play and draw

Next week the solution.

Solution last week

E. Pogosjants
1970

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 Grischuk sfida Topalov per riaprire il torneo Live h. 16

La 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares si avvia alla conclusione. Sinora  la competizione è stata letteralmente dominata da Topalov (3 vittorie e 5 patte), per nulla distratto dalla sfida Mondiale che il bulgaro affronterà ad aprile contro Anand. Grazie ai risultati ottenuti sinora (performance 2889), il bulgaro ha superato Carlsen in testa alla classifica del Live Rating internazionale curata da Hans Arild Rundle.

Il menù di oggi ci offre la sfida tra Topalov e Grischuk, l'unico giocatore che nel corso del torneo ha dato l'impressione di poter contrastare il dominio di Veselin. Nel match di andata si impose Topalov dopo una partita emozionante. In quella occasione Griuschuk ebbe anche un paio di occasioni per vincere, ma il russo le sprecò a causa del terribile zeitnot in cui si era ridotto. Superato il controllo della 40esima mossa, Topalov  finì con il prevalere sfruttando magistralmente il piccolo vantaggio che aveva nel finale presentatosi sulla scacchiera.

Alexander oggi ha l'occasione di rifarsi, e vincendo aggancerebbe Topalov in testa alla classifica!

V turno: la Topalov-Grischuk è appena iniziata. Sarà una battaglia!

Incontri del IX turno

Regolamento

calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.

tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita

SITI UTILI

sito ufficiale

Vugar Gashimov once again tried his luck in a Benoni, but this time around Grischuk made him pay, as the Linares defending champion moves to within a point of the leader Topalov. Today is the second and last restday in Linares.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain.

A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705).

Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Round 8

Things have not yet been decided in Linares. In round 8, Alexander Grischuk narrowed Veselin Topalov’s lead to a point by beating Vugar Gashimov, and after today’s restday it’s… Grischuk-Topalov on Tuesday. Yours truly is typing this from Madrid Barajas Airport, and so you can guess what that means. I’ll be arriving in Linares tonight and I’ll be covering the last two rounds (and the closing ceremony) on site. It wasn’t clear if I would make it, since I flew to Madrid from Frankfurt (after a short trip to the US) and part of the Lufthansa crew is on strike. Luckily not my cabin crew and pilots.

So Gashimov’s Benoni got a beating in round 8, and a tough one. Grischuk played a very powerful game, accurately preparing and calculating his 21st move which yielded a clear advantage, and then finishing it off strongly as well. He seems to have found his shape of e.g. last year, and this hopefully leads to an exciting encounter against Topalov. This year’s Linares tournament can use every excitement available.

Topalov himself played an interesting draw against Aronian, and missed a clear win (34.Rxe4! Qxe4 35.Qc3+ Kg8 36.Qc7+-). Vallejo and Gelfand also split the point after a less eventful game. On today’s rest day Topalov is playing a simul somewhere; I’ll try to find out some more when I get to Linares. Although perhaps some of you might provide a link.

Soon more, on-the-spot stuff!

Games round 8

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With three more draws in round 7, the drawing percentage Saturday rose to 77% in Linares. Veselin Topalov kept his 1.5 point lead, with three more rounds to go.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.

This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Round 7 report by Rick Goetzee

Five centuries ago
Before telling you about the happenings in today’s 7th round, we’re going back 500 years. Because that’s when the chess tradition in Linares was anticipated. Juan Huarte de San Juan (1530-1592) is the patron of Spanish psychology. He was a writer, philosopher and professor at the university of Baeza. One of his publications was Examen de ingenios in which he defined profiles of people who excelled at different professions. One of the profiles was that of a chess player, as Huarte was very fond of the game.

The Huarte de San Juan street in Linares

According to Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Huarte described personal and psychological attributes which match Kasparov’s characteristics more than 400 years later. As he was a high-profile and controversial figure the Spanish inquisition brought him to court and he was convicted. Then he promised that he would give the heritage of all of his work to the church and not to his nine children. This saved his life. His wish was to be buried in the Santa Maria church in the heart of Linares. With a twinkle in his eye Ljubo said: “It’s clear that the spirit of Huarte is still present in Linares and that’s why we have this great chess tradition.”

The Santa Maria church in the heart of Linares

I also had a word with one of the organisers, Señor Paco Albalate. After reading all the comments from people expressing their disappointment with this year’s tournament, I had to ask him a few questions.

Q: Last year the announcement was made that Dubai would organise the first half this year. What happened?
A: They made a lot of promises, also about prize money. But in the end nothing materialised and we don’t really know why. But we are working with a number of candidates for next year’s tournament. Also, next year a number of changes will be introduced but it’s too early to give any details about that.
Q: With the economic recession how difficult was it to put the tournament together this year?
A: Very easy. We cut the budget by 30%. We cut the prize money, brought the number of players down and we cut hotel costs. And what helped was that the players generously accepted the changed conditions.
Q: What about the rule of not allowing draw offers before move 40?
A: Yes we introduced a version of the Sofia rules. We wrote to all players beforehand because it was important for us that they understood why we were doing this instead of just enforcing the rule.
Q: How does it feel that people are saying that Linares is no longer the Wimbledon or the Tour de France of chess?
A: It’s clear that there are tournaments that are stronger. It’s clear that Corus is a very important tournament with a different format than we have here. It’s true that the Tal Memorial is a great tournament. But we have organised a first class tournament for 27 years. This year it may be a bit less than we are used to, but in 2011, if our projects work out, we will surprise the chess world.

There were three more draws in Linares today. Grischuk took nine minutes for his response to Gelfand’s 1.c4; eventually the Russian decided to go for 1…Nf6. The players ended up in a complicated rook ending which was drawn after 60 moves.

Alexander Grischuk pondering over his first move

Gashimov-Topalov was a Nf6/Bc5 Ruy Lopez in which Gashimov sacrificed a pawn. The game went along like Kamsky-Topalov 2009 till move 7 when Kamsky played 7.d4 followed by 7…Qe7 8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.Nc3. Svidler-Ivanchuk 2009 was followed a while longer which deviated with 10.Qxg7 Bxd4 11.Qg3 a6. At the right moment Topalov gave back the pawn and had the better chances, but a draw was agreed on move 42.

Aronian-Vallejo was the most interesting game of the round. In a Slav defence Vallejo came up with the mysterious 7…Qc7 and then 11…Qb6. It looked like a loss of tempo but eventually he reached a promising position with two rooks against the queen. Then the Spaniard won a pawn and then another, but suddenly the screen showed ½-½. What had happened? Nobody knew. Ljubo: “He is two pawns up and has good winning chances. He must have been very tired.”

Games round 7 with brief annotations

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The chess hotel: Anibal

Photos © Rick Goetzee

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In the 6th round of the Linares super-tournament, Veselin Topalov was in trouble against Francisco Vallejo until the Spaniard suddenly blundered a full rook. By then Gashimov and Gelfand had already drawn in a very theoretical Petroff. The last game to finish was Grischuk-Aronian, which also ended in a draw. Thanks to his win, Topalov is the world’s number one player in the live ratings again.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.

This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Round 6 report by Rick Goetzee

Ljubomir Ljubojevic

Ljubojevic met his wife-to-be at the 1981 tournament. He then decided to settle in Linares, also because there was quite a bit of chess activity in the region, apart from the yearly grandmaster tournament. In those years there were plans to bring chess to schools, but unfortunately they didn’t materialise. According to Ljubojevic this is a great pity, as he was often approached by parents telling him that their children would love to learn chess and he visited schools to talk about the game.

The press room, at the first floor of the Teatro Cervantes

Recently a second attempt has been launched. Only two cities in Andalusia have plans to integrate chess in the school curriculum: Sevilla and Linares. Ljubojevic says that it is a pity that it took almost thirty years before a second attempt was made but ‘better late than never’.

Ljubo doesn’t like the Sofia rules: ‘they are funny’. In his view top chess players are artists and artists have good days and bad days and this should be accepted as part of the game. Also he thinks it’s hard to enforce the rule, because if strong players want to make a draw they will find a way through a perpetual check or move repetition. “It is done because organisers think it will favour chess. What they should do is invite the right people, then they won’t have to worry about short draws.”

There was some confusion at the start of today’s round at the board of Topalov-Vallejo. A guest made the first move and started the clock but Vallejo’s clock started to run. The arbiter had to intervene to reset the clock.

Topalov and Vallejo pointing out the error to arbiter Faik Gasanov

Then Vallejo took three minutes to reply to Topalov’s 1.c4. After an English opening the game became very sharp as Vallejo setup an attack against Topalov’s king. It was hard, even for Ljubo, to give a correct evaluation of the position although it seemed that Vallejo was better. His main problem was the clock, having only one minute left for the last twelve moves. He played well for a long time till he hung a full rook on the 38th move and overstepped the time limit on move 40.

According to GM Larry Christiansen on ICC’s Chess.FM, Gashimov proved to have done a lot of good homework against Gelfand’s Petroff. He achieved a promising position from the opening without counterplay for Black. However, Gelfand defended accurately and a draw was agreed in a knight endgame.

Grischuk decided to burn the midnight oil against Aronian, trying to win a rook vs knight endgame with an extra pawn for Black. In an empty pressroom there was still the voice of Leontxo Garcia continuing his commentary for the tournament website. Finally, at move 101, the players decided to call it a day.

Before we’ll leave you, we’d like to point out that GM Anish Giri, reigning Dutch champion and winner of the Corus B group this year, is doing wonderful commentary for Chessbase each round. This round he did Topalov-Vallejo, over here.

Games round 6 with brief annotations

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The town hall of Linares which proudly shows...

...the tournament poster - something the Spanish are really good at

Andalusian palm trees in sunny Linares

The entrance of the venue; the Teatro Cervantes

Photos © Rick Goetzee

Links

• Official website
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Ultima chiamata per Aronian contro Topalov Live h.16

Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Domani è previsto il secondo ed ultimo giorno di riposo.

Incontri del VIII turno

Regolamento

calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.

tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita

SITI UTILI

sito ufficiale

Topalov consolida il vantaggio

Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.

Incontri del VII turno

Regolamento

calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.

tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita

SITI UTILI

sito ufficiale

21 febbraio 2010 ore 14,30
Accademia Le Due Torri - Augusta Perusia

Leggi articolo

Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov.

Après sa nulle hier face à Gashimov en fort zeitnot, Topalov maintien son leadership au classement avec une confortable avance d'un point et demi sur ses poursuivants directs. Aronian pourrait-il freiner aujourd'hui le Bulgare?

Veselin Topalov    2805 - Levon Aronian   2781
Francisco Vallejo  2705 - Boris Gelfand   2761
Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Vugar Gashimov  2759

Vugar Gashimov    2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805
Boris Gelfand     2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Levon Aronian     2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo  2705

Veselin Topalov    2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian     2781
Vugar Gashimov     2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand     2761

Veselin Topalov   2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov     2759
Levon Aronian     2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand      2761

Boris Gelfand      2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov   2805
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Vugar Gashimov     2759 1/2 Levon Aronian     2781

Levon Aronian     2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805  
Boris Gelfand     2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo  2705  
Vugar Gashimov    2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736  

Veselin Topalov    2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov   2759
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand    2761
Francisco Vallejo  2705 1/2 Levon Aronian    2781  

Levon Aronian      2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Boris Gelfand      2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov     2759
Francisco Vallejo  2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov.

Après sa victoire sauvage hier face à Vallejo, le bulgare Veselin Topalov mène au classement avec une confortable avance d'un point et demi sur ses poursuivants directs. Mais qui pourrait bien stopper Topalov ?

Vugar Gashimov  2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805
Boris Gelfand   2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Levon Aronian   2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo  2705

Veselin Topalov    2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian     2781
Vugar Gashimov     2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand     2761

Veselin Topalov   2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov     2759
Levon Aronian     2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand      2761

Boris Gelfand      2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov   2805
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Vugar Gashimov     2759 1/2 Levon Aronian     2781

Levon Aronian     2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805  
Boris Gelfand     2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo  2705  
Vugar Gashimov    2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736  

Veselin Topalov    2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov   2759
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand    2761
Francisco Vallejo  2705 1/2 Levon Aronian    2781  

Levon Aronian      2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Boris Gelfand      2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov     2759
Francisco Vallejo  2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Veselin Topalov defeated co-leader Alexander Grischuk in round 5 of the Linares super-tournament. The Bulgarian now leads by a full point at half time. Vugar Gashimov beat Francisco Vallejo with Black, and while being a pawn up, Levon Aronian had to be satisfied with a draw against Boris Gelfand.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.

This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Round 5 report

Some of you have already discussed the tournament website, and the fact that the contents is only in Spanish. That’s disappointing indeed, but even worse was the ‘Fotogaleria’ page which contained only a Marca announcement video for the first few days. However, today we suddenly noticed two video playlists with some videos, not of the highest quality yet, but it’s better than nothing. Below that, indeed a photo gallery has now been added. Just to let you know.

The game of the day was of course the encounter between the two tournament leaders, Topalov and Grischuk. It certainly provided excellent entertainment for the chess fans, but the number of mistakes was above average, at this level of play. Again it seemed that Topalov was avoiding the most theoretical lines, this time against Grischuk’s Najdorf Sicilian. Just when his opponent was about to consolidate a slight positional advantage, the Bulgarian came up with a dangerous but highly creative concept: avoiding the exchange of queens with 20.Qb2 and sacrificing a knight (21.Nf5) to bring Bg2 to life.

Grischuk replied with a strong defensive set-up (…a5 + …Ra6) and was suddenly winning after the slow (or ‘lazy’, as The Doctor used to call it) 26.Kb1. 27…Kh7, avoiding the Ne5 pin, would have won material. Topalov then missed the winning 29.Qc1 but it must be said that the ideas behind that one are very computeresque. It was Grischuk’s turn to miss the very promising 31…Qg3 after which an equal (but slightly more comfortable for White) ending was reached. Around move 52 Grischuk suddenly collapsed.

Against Vallejo, Gashimov was confident enough to go for the Benoni again, and it’s really amazing how the grandmaster from Azerbaijan keeps on surviving, and even winning these positions that are actually just better for White. He just knows them very well and has a great sense of timing and counterchances, like his compatriot Radjabov in the King’s Indian. Moves like 19.Nb6 or 20.Ncd2 should be better for White, and 26.Qxc8 was a clear misjudgement of Black’s play on the queenside.

Less entertaining was Aronian-Gelfand, except for the fact that White’s novelty was deviating from a 1929 game. In a middlegame with opposite-coloured bishops Gelfand sacrificed a pawn and confidently held it to a draw, helped by the unsafe white king.

Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera

Games round 5 with brief annotations

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Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

?Grischuk-Aronian, chi è l'anti-Topalov? Live h.16

Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.

Incontri del VI turno

Regolamento

calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.

tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita

SITI UTILI

sito ufficiale

Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov.

Après 5 rondes, le bulgare Veselin Topalov mènent au classement avec 3,5 points, et un point net d'avance sur ses poursuivants. Qui pourra stopper Topalov ?

Veselin Topalov    2805 - Francisco Vallejo 2705
Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Levon Aronian     2781
Vugar Gashimov     2759 - Boris Gelfand     2761

Veselin Topalov   2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov     2759
Levon Aronian     2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand      2761

Boris Gelfand      2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov   2805
Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705
Vugar Gashimov     2759 1/2 Levon Aronian     2781

Levon Aronian  2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805  
Boris Gelfand  2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo  2705  
Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736  

Veselin Topalov     2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov     2759
Alexander Grischuk  2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand      2761
Francisco Vallejo   2705 1/2 Levon Aronian      2781  

Levon Aronian       2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736
Boris Gelfand       2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov     2759
Francisco Vallejo   2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

The Dutch quarterly Matten provides a mixture of interviews, stories and anecdotes with a literary flavour, interweaved with drawings, cartoons and photos. We bring a review of the 7th edition in the Dutch language, together with a review of De Pion, the first book of a new series on chess pieces by endgame composer (and ChessVibes contributor) Yochanan Afek and the Dutch ‘Mr. Chess’ Hans Böhm.

Mijn recensie van het vorige Matten-nummer begon ik met de constatering dat er sinds de opheffing van Schaaknieuws niet veel meer te beleven was op Nederlandstalig schaakgebied. Dat is niet meer helemaal juist. Niet alleen is er de nieuwe website schaaksite.nl, een initiatief van Kees Schrijvers met columns, verslagen en analyses, maar ook schrijft Richard Vedder sinds enige tijd zeer lezenswaardige schaakboekrecensies op schakers.info en zijn niemand minder dan Yochanan Afek en Hans Böhm een nieuwe, laagdrempelige serie over de schaakstukken begonnen. Het eerste deel, De Pion – De Ziel Van Het Schaakspel, werd onlangs gepresenteerd. Hoog tijd dus voor weer eens een Nederlandse (dubbel)recensie.

Matten 7: Eindelijk op topniveau!

Matten 7, uitgegeven door New in Chess, staat dit keer helemaal in het teken van schaken en vrouwen, en de introductie van dit enkele thema voor (bijna) alle artikelen is een gouden greep van de redacteuren, want dit nummer is zonder twijfel de leukste Mattten sinds haar oprichting in 2006.

Ik wil beginnen met het interview dat Karel van der Weide had met de schaaktweeling Marlies en Laura Bensdorp. Hebben we in het verleden Van der Weide als schaakliterator regelmatig kritisch gevolgd, de rol van interviewer vertolkt hij met verve. Het interview, met de goed gekozen titel Zelfstandig en Weerbaar, is vlot geschreven, scherp en tegelijk bedachtzaam van toon en levert veel interessante en soms onthullende antwoorden van de schaakzusjes op. Sterk is vooral dat Van der Weide in dit interview nu eens niet zijn eigen (inmiddels overbekende) opvattingen over een onderwerp als het vrouwenschaak herhaalt, maar de zusjes alle ruimte geeft hun punt te maken:

Het aansnijden van het onderwerp [vrouwenschaak] leidt bij Marlies tot enige verontwaarding. Hoe de KNSB met damesschaak omgaat, valt volgens haar zeker nog te verbeteren. De ‘publiciteit’ rond het afgelopen NK in Haaskbergen sterkte haar in die opvatting. De persdienst had toch op z’n minst een paar foto’s op internet kunnen zetten?! Laura vult aan dat vrouwen sowieso op een heel andere manier naar schaakverslaggeving kijken. Reportages op ChessBase en New in Chess worden eerst beoordeeld op de kwaliteit van de foto’s, anders beginnen de zussen niet eens aan de tekst! Marlies vervolgt dat ze zich vreselijk ergerde aan een uitspraak van Hans Böhm tijdens datzelfde NK. Hij zei dat hij hoopte ‘geen damespartij te hoeven bespreken’. Marlies: ‘We zijn minder goed dan de mannen, maar het is altijd zo negatief’.

In zo’n fragment toont Van der Weide dat hij wel degelijk kan schrijven: hij observeert, verwoordt en interpreteert goed, durft op te schrijven wat hij hoort en mixt alles met pittige soundbites van de dames zelf. Ook prima: het interview is ideaal van lengte, lang genoeg om de diepte in te gaan en toch kernachtig genoeg om niet te gaan vervelen.

Langer van stof is een ander vermaard interviewer, Dirk-Jan ten Geuzendam, in een sympathiek vraaggesprek met Corry Vreeken – het interview is langer, maar de 82-jarige Damesgrootmeester honoris causa heeft logischerwijs ook meer te vertellen dan de nog geen dertigjarige dames Bensdorp. Ook Ten Geuzendam slaagt erin de geïnterviewde opmerkelijke uitspraken te ontlokken – curieus vond ik bijvoorbeeld dat Vreeken aan het eind van het gesprek, dat veel gaat over ouderdom en nog meer over herinneringen aan het verleden, bekent nog wel degelijk te schaken: op internet. Relevant en stijlvol is ook Ten Geuzendam’s inleiding over schaken en sanatoria in de literatuur, die mij herinnerde aan een andere beruchtste schaakroman die zich afspeelt in een sanatorium: Murphy van Samuel Beckett.

Beckett had trouwens misschien beter gepast in het stuk van Peter Boel over die andere grande dame van het Nederlandse schaak: de in 2007 overleden tienvoudig Nederlands dameskampioene Fenny Heemskerk. Eigenlijk vond ik Boels stuk nog boeiender, waarschijnlijk omdat het persoonlijker, soberder en diepgravender van toon is: waar Corry Vreeken vooral smakelijke anekdotes vertelt, beschrijft Heemskerks dochter, die zelf ook behoorlijk schaakte, openhartig de manische depressies van haar moeder en de moeilijkheden die dat opleverde voor het gezin én Heemskerks schaakprestaties. Het resultaat is een betrokken en aangrijpend portret van een Nederlandse schaaklegende.

Diepgang wordt zeker ook niet vermeden in John Kuipers’ stuk De ziel tussen duister en licht over Erika Sziva en Johan van Mil, een relaas dat in zijn eerlijkheid en onopgeschmukte tragiek soms bijna pijnlijk om te lezen is. Iets luchtiger, maar eveneens zeer onderhoudend, is het interview dat Danielle Pinedo hield met Peng Zhao Qin. Pinedo stelt goede vragen die getuigen van mensenkennis (’je aanpassingsvermogen is je redding geweest’, ‘ben je nooit bang geweest dat je familie de dupe zou worden van je vlucht?’) en Peng geeft open en uitgebreid antwoord op de vragen.

Sterk is ook het opzettelijk wat raadselachtig gelaten stuk van Jan Timman over zijn trainingservaringen met Judit Polgar, en Matten’s huisfilosoof Dirk Poldauf houdt een genuanceerd en goed beargumenteerd ‘enerzijds-anderzijds’ betoog over het vrouwenschaak als speciale discipline, waar ikzelf mij in elk geval uitstekend in kon vinden:

“Op korte termijn zou het afschaffen van toernooien voor alleen maar vrouwen een traumatisch effect kunnen hebben en ertoe kunnen leiden dat sommige meisjes zich bij het ontbreken van de kans op snelle lauweren van het schaken afwenden. Op de langere termijn zou het waarschijnlijk echter tot een normalisering in de verhoudingen in het toernooischaak leiden (…).”

De korte rubrieken Het Notatieformulier (Rob van Vuure) en De Foto (Allard Hoogland) zijn ook nu weer leuk om te lezen, en ook Het Gedicht dat Paul van den Hout schreef voor Frans Naerebout (’Verliezen doet hij immers nog maar zelden,/ want juist zijn stille kracht wordt onderschat’) is mooi en toepasselijk, op zijn minst voor wie Naerebout gekend heeft.

Is het dan alleen maar hosanna voor de nieuwe Matten? Niet helemaal. Lex Jongsma schreef een wisselvallig en wat rommelig stuk (met de al even rommelige titel ‘Mag ik u mijn Dame aanbieden? Het Dameoffer en het Paard in de Zak’) dat aanvankelijk over De Groene-hoofdredacteur Martin van Amerongen lijkt te gaan, maar opeens overspringt op Reuben Fine, dameoffers en iets ‘uit eigen werk’. Jongsma’s aanstekelijke manier van vertellen komt op papier een stuk minder tot zijn recht. Ik kon mijn aandacht er in dit artikel niet bijhouden: te veel van de hak op de tak, te veel onuitgewerkte invallen, overbodige uitwijdingen en te stellig geformuleerde opinies (’Nu was Freud een genie, en Fine een schaker van wereldkampioenstatuur, en een zeer geacht en goed verdienend psychiater, die weliswaar nooit meer toernooien speelde, maar het schaken allerminst verleerd had: bij een enkele malen herhaald bezoek aan het Amsterdamse koffiehuis/schaakcafe op het Leidseplein eind jaren zestig, in de pauzes van een …’ Enfin, enzovoorts.)

Vergeleken met deze woordenbrei zijn de twee bondige stukken over Jan Timman, van Hans Böhm (‘Madame Chaudé de Silans’ over hun reizen naar Frankrijk) en van Franka van der Loo (over de fascinatie van Laurie Langenbach) een lust voor het lezend oog. Pikant is de foto van Langenbach voor Timman waarop ze in ‘een decolleté tot haar navel’ staat afgebeeld met op de achterkant de woorden ‘Op de overwinnning!’.

Ach ja, en dan is er nog Guus Luijters, als altijd kwistig strooiend met boek- en filmtitels en Grote Namen uit de Kunst en Literatuur. Luijters weet niets van schaken, is niet geïnteresseerd in schaken, schrijft niet over schaken. Dit keer roept hij wat over Graham Greene en de onlangs verschenen laatste roman van Nabokov (The Original of Laura), ‘koortsig proza, waarin zowaar een keer geschaakt wordt’, zonder ooit iets diepzinnigs of verrassends ter tafel te brengen. Raadsel waarom Luijters iedere keer weer gevraagd wordt voor een bijdrage aan Matten; ik begin inmiddels te vermoeden dat de redacteurs het zelf ook niet weten.

Tot slot: een fascinerend portret van de Pools-Nederlandse schaker Salo Landau door Adri Plomp – het enige artikel dat niet over vrouwen gaat. Choquerend zijn iedere keer weer de antisemitische stukken die Aljechin, wiens secondant Landau was in 1935, in de Tweede Wereldorlog schreef; maar de door Plomp beschreven gebeurtenissen rond de dood van Landau in de oorlog, zijn nauwelijks met droge ogen te lezen. Het is volkomen terecht dat de Matten-redactie er ondanks het themanummer toch voor gekozen heeft dit boeiende artikel nu op te nemen.

Met Matten 7 is het tijdschrift eindelijk helemaal op het niveau dat past bij de al tijdens de oprichting uitgesproken ambities van de redactie. Proficiat!

Wij presenteren … De pion – De Ziel van het Schaakspel

Er is een nieuw project van Hans Böhm en Yochanan Afek: een serie boeken over alle stukken van het schaakspel, uitgegeven door Trion Sport. Het eerste deel heet De Pion. Uit Böhms voorwoord:

Elk stuk van het eeuwenoude schaakspel verdient het om apart gepresenteerd te worden. Dit boek is het het eerste in een serie van zes – en we beginnen met de pion. Nog nooit zijn van dit kleine stuk zoveel speelfacetten, aanvallend en verdedigend, bij elkaar gebracht. Per thema – zestig in totaal – geven we vier voorbeelden. Door de presentatie, vier diagrammen op de linkerpagina en uitleg op de rechterpagina, is dit boek een ode aan de pion maar ook een leerboek.

Uit de inleiding wordt overigens niet helemaal duidelijk voor wie de serie nu precies bedoeld is. Voor mensen die ’slechts’ geïnteresseerd zijn in schaken? Of ook voor schakers die het leuk vinden problemen en schaakpuzzels op te lossen? Gezien het niveau van de stellingen denk ik eerder het laatste – en dat is goed nieuws voor gevorderde schakers!
Böhm schrijft dat hij te rade is gegaan bij schaakhistoricus Leo Diepstraten om een beeld te krijgen van de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de pion als schaakstuk. Afek heeft voor zijn selectie van fragmenten en composities inspiratie opgedaan uit vele verschillende bronnen. Kortom, dit is een degelijk project geschreven door twee schakers die weten hoe ze hun passie over het voetlicht moeten brengen, en dat is te merken.

De historische inleiding is een pakkend en levendig geschreven stuk met relevante citaten en interessante feiten over de evolutie van de moderne schaakpion, die over het algemeen ook nog eens accuraat beschreven is. Ik kwam één foutje tegen: het zogenaamde Göttingen manuscript stamt volgens de laatste wetenschappelijke opvattingen niet uit 1471, maar uit de vroege 16de eeuw, zoals ik vorig jaar leerde op een symposium in Valencia over de oorsprong van het moderne schaak. (Zie J.A. Garzón, The Return of Francesch Vicent, 2005, p. 399 e.v.) Ook in de bijbehorende beschrijving van de ontwikkeling van de rokade kan wellicht de nodige nuance worden aangebracht, maar ik wil geen muggenzifter zijn. Het historische gedeelte van het boek is leuk en informatief, en daar gaat het om.

Het leeuwendeel van het boek bestaat uit de al genoemde fragmenten en composities, ingedeeld in relevante thema’s. Het eerste thema is ‘De vertraagde pion’ en het eerste voorbeeld is meteen al behoorlijk pittig:

Remise. De eindspelkenner herkent direct een overeenkomst met de beroemde studie van Réti over het ‘kwadraat’, en inderdaad is deze studie van T.Gorgiev uit 1930 daarop gebaseerd, al noemen Afek en Böhm dit niet. De oplossing:

1.c6! (niet 1.a4 h6! ‘en zwart wint het tempospel’ of 1.a3 h5!) 1…h6 2.a3! h5 3.a4 h4 4.a5 h3 5.a6 h2 6.a7 h1D pat. Of 1…Kc7 3.a4 [sic, bedoeld is 2.a4] 3…Kxc6 4.a5 Kb5 5.Kb7 Kxa5 6.Kc6 h5 7.Kd5 ‘en de witte koning zit in het kwadraat (h1-h5-d5-d1) en dus remise’.

Oef! Hoe fraai en subtiel de studie ook is, voor een eerste voorbeeld in het boek vond ik dit tamelijk zware kost, vooral omdat de bijbehorende uitleg nogal summier en weinig specifiek is. Mensen die dit boek kochten omdat ze ’schaken een leuk spelletje vinden’ zullen zich toch misschien wel even op hun achterhoofd krabben wat nu precies de definitie van een ‘kwadraat’ is (is dat altijd h1-h5-d5-d1 of alleen in dit geval?). Schakers die Afeks werk kennen weten dat zijn niveau hoog is, maar geldt dat ook voor argeloze kopers?

De voorbeelden zijn trouwens niet allemaal zo pittig, al zijn ze ook nooit echt makkelijk. Uit het hoofdstukje ‘De kamikazepion’:

Wit aan zet.

Dit is een fragment uit de partij Tal-Zdravko Milev, München 1958. De eerste zet is fraai en in het kader van het thema niet al te moeilijk te vinden, maar daarna wordt het toch lastiger:

1.d5!! exd5 2.Tfe1! Kd8 3.Db3 c5 4.Pxc5! en wit won in enkele zetten (al schrijven Böhm en Afek dat de partij hier ‘abrupt eindigde’).

Afek en Böhm geven als alternatieven voor zwart op de tweede zet 2…dxe4 3.Dxe4+ De7 4.Dg4 en vervolgens – zonder nadere toelichting! – de tamelijk complexe variant 2…Le7 3.Pf6+! Kd8 4.Db3 Kc8 5.Lf4! Dxf4 6.Txe7 Tb8 7.Dh3+ en wit wint. Hier sta ik toch wel even van te kijken. Ten eerste wil ik na het spectaculaire 3.Pf6+ toch ook wel even weten wat er volgt op gxf6 gevolgd door rochade, dus ik zocht de partij op in mijn database en kwam toen pas te weten dat zwart helemaal niet meer mag rocheren aangezien de koning op zet 14 een stuk op d7 geslagen heeft en daarna weer teruggegaan is naar e8. Dat hadden de auteurs er toch wel even bij mogen zetten! (Dat wit toch wint als zwart had mogen rocheren, doet daar niets aan af.) Daarnaast is pas 19…c5? de beslissende fout en kan zwart nog aardig partij geven na 19…Kc8, al blijft wit ook dan goed staan.

Uit deze twee voorbeelden blijkt dat de auteurs hun taak op een tamelijk rigoureuze manier hebben opgevat: het gaat ze puur om de ideëen die door de thema’s worden geïllustreerd: het visuele aspect. Ze lijken minder geïnteresseerd in de uitleg van het waarom, en dat is jammer, want gaat het daar uiteindelijk niet om? Misschien is dit een knieval naar het ‘grote publiek’, dat mogelijkerwijs niet zit te wachten op een diepgaande uitleg, maar op zoek is naar ’snel vermaak’. Zou het zo zijn? Zou een oppervlakkige lezer wel geraakt worden door de schoonheid van Gorgievs studie, maar niet geïnteresseerd zijn in de precieze uitwerking?

Toch valt niet te ontkennen dat Hans Böhm en Yochanan Afek met De Pion een zeer vermakelijk en aanstekelijk boekje hebben geschreven, dat zich zowel goed leent voor ‘in bed’ als voor diepere (zelf)studie. Welk stuk volgt? Het Paard? Ook dat belooft wat.

• Koop Matten 7
• Koop De Pion
• Lees meer recensies

Le Quang Liem Wednesday won the Aeroflot Open in Moscow. Like at the Moscow Open, the grandmaster from Vietnam finished on an undefeated 7/9, which this time was enough for clear first and qualification for the Dortmund tournament later this year.

Le Quang Liem | Photo © Eldar Mukhatemov

The 9th Aeroflot Open took place February 9-17 2010 in Moscow, Russia. It’s one of the biggest tournaments (and certainly the strongest) of the calendar, and as always sponsored by airline company Aeroflot and organized by the Russian Chess Federation in cooperation with the Committee on Tourism of the Municipality of Moscow. The festival had the same prize fund as in 2009 amounting a total of 180,000 EUR (which includes the prizes for the World Blitz Qualification Tournament which will be held afterwards).

As always, the players are divided by rating over four open tournaments (A1, A2, B and C). Naturally, the greatest interest is aroused by the A1 tournament, in which a rating above 2550 is required. Already for the fifth time, the Aeroflot Open is held outside the city centre, in hotel “Gamma – Delta” of the tourist complex “Izmailovo”, where almost all participants also stay.

In our previous report on the Aeroflot tournament we already wrote a paragraph about 18-year-old Le Quang Liem, who became World Youth Champion Under-14 in July 2005. He “continues to improve rapidly”, we said last week, and this was even more true than we thought.

In September last year he won the 4th Kolkata Open ahead of 13 higher-rated players and two weeks ago he finished shared first at the Moscow Open with an undefeated 7/9. At the Aeroflot Open he again finished on an undefeated 7/9, and this time that meant a sole first place.

Ukrainian GM Anton Korobov finished on sole second place with 6.5 points, followed by four players who scored 6 points: Alexander Motylev (Russia), Zhou Jianchao (China), Boris Grachev (Russia) and Le Quang Liem’s compatriot Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son from Vietnam.

See if you can find how Bacrot quickly decided matters in his game against Bareev in round 6. White to play and win, solution in the game viewer.

Bacrot-Bareev
Aeroflot Open 2010

Position after 19…Qxd4

Aeroflot Open 2010 | Group A1 | Round 9 (Final) Standings

Games rounds 4-9 (top boards)

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Topalov in fuga al giro di boa

• il bulgaro batte Grischuk e prende il largo
• Grischuk Aronian e Gashimov inseguono ad un punto

Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.

Incontri del V turno

Regolamento

calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.

tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita

SITI UTILI

sito ufficiale

Luzern - Zürich 2½:5½ (Kurmann - Bauer 0:1, Züger - Pelletier ½:½, Almada - Vogt ½:½, Räber - W. Hug 0:1, Lötscher - Goldstern ½:½, Gloor - Grünenwald 0:1, Wüest - M. Hug ½:½, Rusev - Friedrich ½:½).

Reichenstein - Tribschen 6:2 (Sokolow - Kaufmann 1:0, Volke - Strauss 1:0, Heimann - Nideröst ½:½, Eschbach - Lustenberger ½:½, Kühn - Cremer ½:½, Drabke - Gabersek 1:0, Wirthensohn - Herzog ½:½, V. Riff - Bellmann 1:0).

Wollishofen - Riehen 2½:5½ (Prusikin - Buss ½:½, O. Moor - Ekström 0:1, Hochstrasser - Kaenel ½:½, R. Moor - Brendel ½:½, Carron - Toth ½:½, Gähler - Aumann 0:1, Mäser - Giertz ½:½, Fierz - Schmidt-Schäffer 0:1).

Bern - Joueur Lausanne 3½:4½ (Flückiger - Tschernuschewitsch 0:1, A. Lehmann - Gallagher 0:1, Turdyev - Sermier ½:½, Lombard - Domont ½:½, M. Lehmann - Ch. Lamoureux ½:½, Gast - Serban 0:1, Kellenberger - Meyer 1:0, L. Rindlisbacher - Kusnezow 1:0).

Zürich  (1):

GM Christian Bauer 2621 ELO, GM Yannick Pelletier 2602, GM Viktor Kortschnoi 2588, IM Werner Hug 2469, GM Lothar Vogt 2460, GM Lucas Brunner 2424, FM Jörg Grünenwald 2337, FM Marcel Hug 2322, FM Filip Goldstern 2321, FM Norbert Friedrich 2319.

Left: GM Florian Jenni

Average ELO: 2446

Reichenstein (2):

GM Andrei Sokolow 2582, IM Jean-Noël Riff 2484, GM Vlastimil Hort 2463, IM Karsten Volke 2452, IM Andreas Heimann 2442, IM Lorenz Drabke 2431, Dennis Eschbach 2420, IM Peter Kühn 2412, IM Heinz Wirthensohn 2398, IM Christian Maier 2382.

Average ELO 2447 (Nr. 1).

Riehen (3):

GM Jörg Hickl 2610, GM Ognjen Cvitan 2518, IM Roland Ekström 2502, FM Ralph Buss 2407, IM Oliver Brendel 2359, IM Hansjürg Kaenel 2340, FM Matthias Rüfenacht 2334, FM Clemens Werner 2311, Welf Aumann 2309, IM Bela Toth 2307.

Left: FM Christian Flückiger

Average ELO : 2400 (Nr. 5).

Lucerna (4)

GM Robert Hübner 2616, GM Andrei Istratescu 2615, GM Romain Edouard 2608, GM Rustem Dautow 2601, IM Beat Züger 2461, IM Oliver Kurmann 2453, IM Georg Danner 2429, FM Enrique Almada 2345, FM Roland Lötscher 2339, Roger Gloor 2297, (Markus Räber 2248).

Joined:  GM Andrei Istratescu , GM Romain Edouard , IM Georg Danner , Roger Gloor

Left: IM Severin Papa, IM Valery Atlas, IM Giulio Borgo

Average Elo (ohne Romain): 2440 (Nr. 3).

Wollishofen (5):

GM Michael Prusikin 2559, IM Olivier Moor 2416, IM Rico Zenklusen 2389, IM Michael Hochstrasser 2385, IM Julien Carron 2359, IM Roger Moor 2356, FM Felix Hindermann 2340, Marco Gähler 2327, FM Martin Fierz 2323, Andreas Umbach 2317.

Average ELO : 2377 (Nr. 8).

Joueur Losanna (6):

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2523, GM Alexei Tschernuschewitsch 2510, GM Anthony Kosten 2509, GM Joe Gallagher 2495, IM Guillaume Sermier 2424, IM Jean Netzer 2375, IM Charles Lamoureux 2345, FM Petri Lehtivaara 2337, IM Alexandre Domont 2322, FM Denis Bucher 2311, (Vlad Serban 2230).

Joined:  IM Alexandre Domont

Left: FM David Burnier

Average ELO : 2387 (Nr. 7).

Winterthur (7)

GM Fabiano Caruana 2675, GM Artur Jussupow 2611, IM Richard Forster 2430, FM Walter Bichsel 2371, IM Martin Ballmann 2369, FM Oliver Sutter 2366, Guido Schleicher 2327, FM Emanuel Schiendorfer 2322, FM Peter Szakolczai 2301, FM Urs Rüetschi 2297.

Joined:  GM Fabiano Caruana Guido Schleicher

Average ELO 2407 (Nr. 4).

Genf (8):

GM Igor Khenkin 2590, GM Olivier Renet 2522, GM Gilles Mirallès 2464, FM François Fargère 2432, IM Claude Landenbergue 2409, IM Richard Gerber 2358, IM Alexandre Vuilleumier 2352, IM Emmanuel Preissmann 2303, Nicolas Duport 2247, Vladimir Kovacevic 2209.

Joined:  GM Igor Khenkin , IM Emmanuel Preissmann

Left: GM Sébastien Mazé  Flavio Pérez

Average ELO: 2389 (Nr. 6).

Berna (promoted):

IM Giancarlo Franzoni 2445, FM Christian Flückiger 2326, IM André Lombard 2319, Anvar Turdyev 2304, FM Andreas Lehmann 2302, FM Marco Lehmann 2292, FM Beat Neuenschwander 2249, FM Jonathan Gast 2204, Lukas Kulczyk 2194, Stéphane Kellenberger 2169.

Joined: : FM Christian Flückiger

Average ELO : 2280 (Nr. 9).

Tribschen (promoted):

GM Falko Bindrich 2512, Jürgen Strauss 2284, Bruno Nideröst 2271, Werner Kaufmann 2242, Daniel Lustenberger 2240, Kevin Cremer 2175, Albert Gabersek 2140, Lukas Fischer 2134, Raphael Rölli 2098, Rambert Bellmann 2090.

Joined: GM Falko Bindrich

Luzern - Zürich 2½:5½ (Kurmann - Bauer 0:1, Züger - Pelletier ½:½, Almada - Vogt ½:½, Räber - W. Hug 0:1, Lötscher - Goldstern ½:½, Gloor - Grünenwald 0:1, Wüest - M. Hug ½:½, Rusev - Friedrich ½:½).

Reichenstein - Tribschen 6:2 (Sokolow - Kaufmann 1:0, Volke - Strauss 1:0, Heimann - Nideröst ½:½, Eschbach - Lustenberger ½:½, Kühn - Cremer ½:½, Drabke - Gabersek 1:0, Wirthensohn - Herzog ½:½, V. Riff - Bellmann 1:0).

Wollishofen - Riehen 2½:5½ (Prusikin - Buss ½:½, O. Moor - Ekström 0:1, Hochstrasser - Kaenel ½:½, R. Moor - Brendel ½:½, Carron - Toth ½:½, Gähler - Aumann 0:1, Mäser - Giertz ½:½, Fierz - Schmidt-Schäffer 0:1).

Bern - Joueur Lausanne 3½:4½ (Flückiger - Tschernuschewitsch 0:1, A. Lehmann - Gallagher 0:1, Turdyev - Sermier ½:½, Lombard - Domont ½:½, M. Lehmann - Ch. Lamoureux ½:½, Gast - Serban 0:1, Kellenberger - Meyer 1:0, L. Rindlisbacher - Kusnezow 1:0).

2° TURNO il 21 Marzo

Zürich  (1):

GM Christian Bauer 2621 ELO, GM Yannick Pelletier 2602, GM Viktor Kortschnoi 2588, IM Werner Hug 2469, GM Lothar Vogt 2460, GM Lucas Brunner 2424, FM Jörg Grünenwald 2337, FM Marcel Hug 2322, FM Filip Goldstern 2321, FM Norbert Friedrich 2319.

Cessioni: GM Florian Jenni

Media ELO: 2446

Reichenstein (2):

GM Andrei Sokolow 2582, IM Jean-Noël Riff 2484, GM Vlastimil Hort 2463, IM Karsten Volke 2452, IM Andreas Heimann 2442, IM Lorenz Drabke 2431, Dennis Eschbach 2420, IM Peter Kühn 2412, IM Heinz Wirthensohn 2398, IM Christian Maier 2382.

Media ELO 2447 (Nr. 1).

Riehen (3):

GM Jörg Hickl 2610, GM Ognjen Cvitan 2518, IM Roland Ekström 2502, FM Ralph Buss 2407, IM Oliver Brendel 2359, IM Hansjürg Kaenel 2340, FM Matthias Rüfenacht 2334, FM Clemens Werner 2311, Welf Aumann 2309, IM Bela Toth 2307.

Cessioni: FM Christian Flückiger

Media ELO : 2400 (Nr. 5).

Lucerna (4)

GM Robert Hübner 2616, GM Andrei Istratescu 2615, GM Romain Edouard 2608, GM Rustem Dautow 2601, IM Beat Züger 2461, IM Oliver Kurmann 2453, IM Georg Danner 2429, FM Enrique Almada 2345, FM Roland Lötscher 2339, Roger Gloor 2297, (Markus Räber 2248).

Acquisti: GM Andrei Istratescu , GM Romain Edouard , IM Georg Danner , Roger Gloor

Cessioni: IM Severin Papa, IM Valery Atlas, IM Giulio Borgo

Media Elo (ohne Romain): 2440 (Nr. 3).

Wollishofen (5):

GM Michael Prusikin 2559, IM Olivier Moor 2416, IM Rico Zenklusen 2389, IM Michael Hochstrasser 2385, IM Julien Carron 2359, IM Roger Moor 2356, FM Felix Hindermann 2340, Marco Gähler 2327, FM Martin Fierz 2323, Andreas Umbach 2317.

Media ELO : 2377 (Nr. 8).

Joueur Losanna (6):

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk 2523, GM Alexei Tschernuschewitsch 2510, GM Anthony Kosten 2509, GM Joe Gallagher 2495, IM Guillaume Sermier 2424, IM Jean Netzer 2375, IM Charles Lamoureux 2345, FM Petri Lehtivaara 2337, IM Alexandre Domont 2322, FM Denis Bucher 2311, (Vlad Serban 2230).

Acquisti: IM Alexandre Domont

Cessioni: FM David Burnier

Media ELO : 2387 (Nr. 7).

Winterthur (7)

GM Fabiano Caruana 2675, GM Artur Jussupow 2611, IM Richard Forster 2430, FM Walter Bichsel 2371, IM Martin Ballmann 2369, FM Oliver Sutter 2366, Guido Schleicher 2327, FM Emanuel Schiendorfer 2322, FM Peter Szakolczai 2301, FM Urs Rüetschi 2297.

Acquisti: GM Fabiano Caruana Guido Schleicher

Media ELO 2407 (Nr. 4).

Genf (8):

GM Igor Khenkin 2590, GM Olivier Renet 2522, GM Gilles Mirallès 2464, FM François Fargère 2432, IM Claude Landenbergue 2409, IM Richard Gerber 2358, IM Alexandre Vuilleumier 2352, IM Emmanuel Preissmann 2303, Nicolas Duport 2247, Vladimir Kovacevic 2209.

Acquisti: GM Igor Khenkin , IM Emmanuel Preissmann

Cessioni: GM Sébastien Mazé  Flavio Pérez

Media ELO: 2389 (Nr. 6).

Berna (promossa):

IM Giancarlo Franzoni 2445, FM Christian Flückiger 2326, IM André Lombard 2319, Anvar Turdyev 2304, FM Andreas Lehmann 2302, FM Marco Lehmann 2292, FM Beat Neuenschwander 2249, FM Jonathan Gast 2204, Lukas Kulczyk 2194, Stéphane Kellenberger 2169.

Acquisti: FM Christian Flückiger

Media ELO : 2280 (Nr. 9).

Tribschen (promossa):

GM Falko Bindrich 2512, Jürgen Strauss 2284, Bruno Nideröst 2271, Werner Kaufmann 2242, Daniel Lustenberger 2240, Kevin Cremer 2175, Albert Gabersek 2140, Lukas Fischer 2134, Raphael Rölli 2098, Rambert Bellmann 2090.

Acquisti: GM Falko Bindrich

Media ELO: 2219 (Nr. 10).

SITO Campionato Svizzero SMM

Calendario 

CHESS MOVIE (working title) from Rescued Media on Vimeo.

Tucson chess players, coaches, parents, teachers and enthusiasts come by Lineweaver Elementary School on Saturday February 20 to meet Elizabeth Vicary- nationally renowned chess teacher from IS 318 Brooklyn and star of the upcoming documentary Chess Movie. Beginning at 12 noon Elizabeth will answer questions and provide information on how to create and sustain your own chess club, regardless of your skill level or experience. For more information email jhoffman@9queens.org.

The standings in Linares remained unchanged after three more, and this time rather uneventful draws in round 4. Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov maintained their shared lead, going into the first rest day.

The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin.

This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time.

Round 4 report by Rick Goetzee

Topalov and Grischuk still in the lead
The patience of chess fans was put to the test at the start of today’s round as the opening moves came through with a 15 minute delay. Real addicts were trying to spot the moves on the webcam of the official tournament site. Then the moves came up on the same site and showed that Gelfand had played Qc4 on his first move after which Topalov replied with the strong 1…Bc6.

It later turned out that these moves were indeed played but only on the 9th move. Gashimov had allegedly played 1.d5 with White and it was clear from the webcam that Aronian was struggling to find a good reply to that move. Soon afterwards the technology was back working properly.

Gelfand-Topalov was a Catalan of which the first fifteen moves were copied from game 4 of the World Cup final in December. Like against Ponomariov, Gelfand chose a calm approach in an attempt to squeeze Topalov in the middlegame. It didn’t work out as planned as it was in fact Topalov who did the squeezing.

It never amounted to much and the players reached an equal rook endgame. Play had to continue till the time control as draw offers before move 40 are not allowed. On move 40 the draw was agreed. Topalov must be very satisfied with the start of his campaign: three draws with Black and a nice win in his only game as White.

In Grischuk-Vallejo we saw one of the main lines of the 6.Ne5 Slav in which Black sacrifices a piece for three pawns. Grischuk took over an hour for 19.Kc2 and was in serious time trouble from move 25. Rather disappointingly, the game suddenly ended in a repetition of moves. According to GM Jon Speelman White could have run away with his king to g1, win the black b-pawn and push his c-pawn, with winning chances. With only a few minutes left on his clock Grischuk was probably happy to allow the move repetition.

Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera

Gashimov and Aronian played an Anti-Marshall and soon reached a queenless middlegame. Aronian slightly outplayed his opponent and got a better position because of his space advantage and better pieces. This was especially clear after thirty moves, when Speelman commented: ‘All black’s pieces are better than their white counterparts.’ Gashimov had to play accurately in time trouble and proved himself up to the task. After the time control a simply drawn endgame was reached.

Wednesday is a rest day with round 5 scheduled for Thursday 4pm local time.

Games round 4 with brief annotations

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Per Topalov l'ostacolo Gelfand Live h.16

Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Domani  ci sarà il primo dei due giorni di riposo previsti.

Incontri del IV turno

Accoppiamenti del V turno

Regolamento

calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio.

tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita

SITI UTILI

sito ufficiale

La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février.

Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov (en photo), Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov, qui défendra ses chances ici pour la première fois.

Levon Aronian  2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov    2805  
Boris Gelfand  2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo  2705  
Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736  

Veselin Topalov     2805  1-0  Vugar Gashimov     2759
Alexander Grischuk  2736  1-0  Boris Gelfand      2761
Francisco Vallejo   2705  1/2  Levon Aronian      2781  

Levon Aronian       2781  1/2  Alexander Grischuk 2736
Boris Gelfand       2761  1/2  Vugar Gashimov     2759
Francisco Vallejo   2705  1/2  Veselin Topalov    2805

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

The Chess Drum celebrated its 9th year in existence on February 12th. I have just posted a commemorative video for the 9th Anniversary of The Chess Drum. Below is the 15-minute version. Enjoy!