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Nepomniachtchi and Cmilyte lead in Rijeka

Efimenko and Jobava lead in RijekaWith two rounds to go, Ian Nepomniachtchi is in sole lead at the European Individual Championship. The Russian GM scored 7.5/9. In the women’s section Viktorija Cmilyte leads with the same score.

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

The championship is an 11-round Swiss in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. As always, the European Championship is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.

Rounds 8-9

Baadur Jobava continued strongly in round 8, with a nice victory over Hungarian GM Zoltan Almasi.

Jobava-Almasi
Position after 15…bxc5Jobava-Almasi

Georgia’s number one comes with an impressive, positional pawn sacrifice: 16.b4!? cxb4 17.axb4 Qxb4 18.Rfb1 Qe7 19.Nd4 g6 20.Bxe4 dxe4 21.Qb3 and White had a long-term initiative. Almasi defended well, until he erred in the rook ending with 36…f4, where 36…Kf8 might have saved the game.

The other leader after 7 rounds, Ukrainian Zahar Efimenko, drew relatively quickly with Armenian grandmaster Vladimir Akopian. Ivan Sokolov and Ian Nepomniachtchi won their games and joined Efimenko at second place. The Russian GM did it with a nice sacrifice:

Nepomniachtchi-Inarkiev
Position after 32…Rb6Nepomniachtchi-Inarkiev

Do you see it? 33.Nxf7! Wham! 33…Kxf7 34.exd5 cxd5 35.Rc7 and Black had to give his queen with 35…Rd7, but it didn’t help.

Another pretty game from round 8 was the folllowing.

Svetushkin-Landa
Position after 12…Qxb2Svetushkin-Landa

White had answered the move 11…Qb4 with the strong 12.c4! which means he probably was already intending his next move, again proving that “it’s never good to take on b2″. 13.cxd5! Nc3 14.dxe6!! Nxd1 15.exd7+ Kd8 16.Raxd1 and the two pieces and the pawn on d7 which kept the king in the centre were more than enough compensation for the queen.

Yesterday, on the top board of round 9, Ian Nepomniachtchi grabbed sole lead:

Nepomniachtchi-Jobava
Position after 23…Re8Nepomniachtchi-Jobava

Another White game for Nepomniachtchi, and another inspired attack that brings quick victory: 24.e6! Nxe1 25.Rxe1 fxe6 26.Rxe6 Kh8 27.h3 Rxe6 28.Bxe6 Bb5
Nepomniachtchi-Jobava

29.f5! Qe8 30.f6 Qf8 31.f7 and Black resigned.

The Championship will see two more rounds, today and tomorrow. 22 players will qualify for the next World Cup. Tiebreaks will be played on Thursday to establish the Champion, to establish the medal winners and to establish qualifiers for the World Cup.

European Championship 2010 | Round 9 Standings (top 40)

European Championship 2010 | Round 5 Standings
Full standings here

Selection of games rounds 8-9

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Ian Nepomniachtchi (2656, Russia) leads the European Individual Champioship with a score of 7.5/9. His perfomance rating is 2864.

Viktorija Cmilyte

Viktorija Cmilyte (2485, Lithuania) leads the Women's section, also with a score of 7.5/9 and with a perfomance rating of 2658.

Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

Links

 
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/nepomniachtchi-and-cmilyte-lead-in-rijeka/
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:45:28 +0000
 
 
 
11? Campionato Europeo: diretta XI ed ultimo turno
 
Il russo Nepomniachtchi è l'11° Campione Europeo
  • Brunello batte il GM Bosiocic ed è il primo degli italiani con 6.5!
  • Dvirnyy patta con il GM Sedlak e raggiunge Caruana a quota 6
  • Femminile Pia Cramling Campionessa Europea per la seconda volta!
  • La Sedina patta con la MI Khotenashvili e termina a 6.5
Comprensibilmente deluso per la sconfitta di ieri, che lo ha tagliato fuori dall'obiettivo di entrare tra i 22 che si qualificano alla prossima World Cup, Caruana non riesce a trovare le motivazioni necessarie per terminare bene questo Campionato Europeo e perde con il GM Maiorov.  Nell' XI ed ultimo turno arrivano, invece, ottimi risultati dagli altri giocatori italiani. Brunello batte il GM Bosiocic e termina a 6.5, primo degli italiani. Dvirnyy patta con il GM Sedlak   e conclude il suo ottimo europeo agganciando Fabiano a quota 6 punti con una perfomance di 2569! Shytaj, Valsecchi e Piscopo vincono e raggiungono Godena e Ortega, che pattano, a quota 5.5.

Tra i giocatori non titolati, Corrado Astengo termina in bellezza battendo, con il nero, il MF croato Plenca (2323).  Da segnalare anche la vittoria di Guidi con il Maestro Internazionale Chudinovskikh.

Il russo Nepomniachtchi batte Akopian, vince il torneo per distacco e si laurea 11° Campione Europeo. 

Femminile La Sedina patta con la MI georgiana Kothenashvili e conclude il suo europeo con un ottimo 6.5/11. Marina Brunello patta con la MI Kachiani-Gersinska (2346) mentre Roberta Brunello e la Tonel vincono e terminano il torneo con un dignitoso 4/11. Purtroppo la Zimina perde e viene raggiunta a quota 4.5 da Marina.

La Cramling batte la Cmilyte e vince per la seconda volta il Campionato Europeo. La svedese vinse la prima volta nel 2003, proprio davanti alla giocatrice lituana!

Per sapere cosa è successo nel decimo  turno clicca QUI 

 


il russo Ian Nepoimniachtchi è il nuovo Campione Europeo



Classifica Finale, primi 10 direttamente qualificati alla prossima World Cup
1 RUS GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2656 9,0 63,5 77,5 2868 27,7
2 GEO GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2695 8,5 64,5 79,0 2839 20,0
3 RUS GM Timofeev Artyom RUS 2655 8,5 61,5 75,0 2801 20,5
4 UKR GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2640 8,0 64,5 78,0 2791 21,8
5 RUS GM Lysyj Igor RUS 2615 8,0 60,5 73,0 2752 19,7
6 HUN GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2720 8,0 60,0 73,0 2719 5,1
7 RUS GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2701 8,0 58,5 71,5 2746 6,1
8 ISR GM Rodshtein Maxim ISR 2609 8,0 56,0 67,0 2728 17,0
9 ESP GM Salgado Lopez Ivan ESP 2592 8,0 53,0 65,0 2685 13,7
10 ARM GM Pashikian Arman ARM 2652 8,0 51,0 62,0 2683 4,4

Spareggi per i restanti 12 posti disponibili
11 AZE GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2639 7,5 64,5 78,0 2728 13,9
12 SVK GM Movsesian Sergei SVK 2709 7,5 63,5 77,5 2726 3,1
13 BIH GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2638 7,5 62,5 76,0 2754 17,7
14 BLR GM Maiorov Nikita BLR 2510 7,5 61,5 74,0 2715 33,7
15 RUS GM Tregubov Pavel V RUS 2625 7,5 60,5 74,0 2694 10,6
16 ARM GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2688 7,5 60,0 74,0 2725 5,8
RUS GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2657 7,5 60,0 74,0 2695 6,2
18 RUS GM Alekseev Evgeny RUS 2700 7,5 60,0 73,5 2722 3,6
19 ISR GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2650 7,5 60,0 73,0 2718 10,6
20 RUS GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2674 7,5 60,0 72,5 2721 7,2
21 GRE GM Halkias Stelios GRE 2580 7,5 60,0 72,0 2711 21,3
22 ARM IM Hovhannisyan Robert ARM 2498 7,5 60,0 70,5 2670 31,3
23 HUN GM Berkes Ferenc HUN 2659 7,5 58,5 72,0 2705 7,2
24 SRB GM Vuckovic Bojan SRB 2630 7,5 58,5 71,5 2689 9,6
25 RUS GM Potkin Vladimir RUS 2606 7,5 58,5 71,5 2749 22,1
26 GRE GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios GRE 2511 7,5 58,5 70,5 2698 31,2
27 RUS GM Grachev Boris RUS 2667 7,5 58,0 70,5 2705 5,9
28 POL GM Socko Bartosz POL 2637 7,5 58,0 70,0 2668 5,0
29 RUS GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2667 7,5 57,5 72,0 2712 6,9
30 ROU GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROU 2661 7,5 57,0 70,0 2705 6,8
31 RUS GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2643 7,5 57,0 69,5 2719 11,8
RUS GM Vorobiov Evgeny E RUS 2616 7,5 57,0 69,5 2675 9,6
33 CZE GM Hracek Zbynek CZE 2615 7,5 57,0 69,0 2681 10,8
34 RUS GM Belov Vladimir RUS 2619 7,5 57,0 68,5 2651 5,1
35 CZE GM Navara David CZE 2708 7,5 56,5 69,5 2708 0,5
36 ARM GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2675 7,5 56,0 69,5 2687 2,4
37 RUS GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2612 7,5 54,5 67,5 2653 7,0
38 ENG GM Howell David W L ENG 2612 7,5 53,5 65,5 2642 5,1
39 UKR GM Drozdovskij Yuri UKR 2627 7,5 52,5 63,0 2632 1,4
40 CZE GM Babula Vlastimil CZE 2554 7,5 52,0 63,0 2650 16,0

Classifica Finale dei migliori italiani
Pos. Nome Elo Punti Perf. Var. Elo
119 Brunello Sabino 2476 6,5 2506 5,30
124 Caruana Fabiano 2680 6,0 2616 -9,80
129 Dvirnyy Daniyyl 2450 6,0 2569 17,30
208 Godena Michele 2561 5,5 2488 -9,60
212 Piscopo Pierluigi 2418 5,5 2435 2,30
231 Shytaj Luca 2472 5,5 2392 -11,30
233 Valsecchi Alessio 2360 5,5 2392 9,75
236 Ortega Lexy 2479 5,5 2348 -14,60
281 Astengo Corrado 2136 5,0 2308 29,40
284 Guidi Maurizio 2067 5,0 2055 4,20
300 Lanzani Mario 2371 4,5 2327 -6,90
307 Bentivegna Francesco 2361 4,5 2267 -18,30

Classifica Finale delle italiane
32 Sedina Elena 2334 6,5 2468 20,30
119 Brunello Marina 2217 4,5 2180 -9,00
124 Zimina Olga 2319 4,5 2127 -27,80
139 Brunello Roberta 2043 4,0 2037 -1,95
143 Tonel Giulia 2023 4,0 1918 -12,45



Regolamento

Calendario Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
a)  Median-Buchholz 1
b)  Buchholz
c)  Numero di vittorie 
d) Punteggio Progressivo.

Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
a)  il Campione Europeo
b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 


Partite degli italiani trasmesse nel XI ed ultimo turno

GM Maiorov, Nikita (BUL, 2510) - Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2680) 1-0
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. a4 c5 11. Rd1 cxd4 12. exd4 b6 qui si gioca prima Dc7, per attaccare l'alfiere ed impedire d5, e poi b6. Evidentemente Caruana ritiene di poter permettere la fastidiosa spinta di pedone 13. d5 e5 14. Cg5 il cavallo si dirige verso la casa e4 14...De7 15. Cge4  dopo questa mossa, si minaccia la fastidiosa inchiodatura Ag5. Il trattamento dell'apertura da parte di Caruana, a prima vista, sembra essere stato un po' impreciso, e i tempi di riflessione (Fabiano ha già speso oltre 40', il suo avversario 20') sembrano dirci che non sia tutto frutto della preparazione casalinga di Fabiano 15.. Cxe4 16. Cxe4 a5 adesso Ag5 sembra migliore dell'immediata Ae3 perché in pratica forza f6, dando così maggiore forza all'Ac4 tramite il latente scacco di scoperta (eventuale spinta d6, che contemporaneamente attaccherebbe la donna) che si presenterebbe sulla scacchiera. In pratica questa sequenza di mosse inchioderebbe nella sua casa l'Ad6, inibendo così la mossa Cc5 del nero, a meno che il nero sia poi disposto a cedere un pedone 17. Ag5 f6 18. Ae3 Cc5 e Caruana decide di  offrire all'avversario il pedone, per semplificare la posizione e ritendo che la debolezza del pd6 derivante dall'eventuale cambio degli alfieri camposcuro dia al nero un certo compenso 19. Cxc5 bxc5 20. Axc5 Ag4 21. Tdc1 Tfc8 22.Axd6 Dxd6 anche se a costo di un pedone, la posizione di Fabiano si è alleggerita e sembra difendibile. Difficile però intravedere possibilità di vittoria per il nero a meno che Maiorov, che avendo 6.5 punti ha necessità di vincere per accedere agli spareggi per la World Cup, decida di forzare 23. Db3 adesso il raddopio delle torri nere lungo la  colonna c (tramite Tc5 e Tac8) sembra una manovra scontata. Un'altra opzione consiste nell'iniziare a mettere pressione sul pa4 tramite Ad7 23.. Ad7 24. Ab5 Td8 25. Ac6 Tab8 26. Dc3 Tb4 27.h3 Rf7 28. Ta3 Tc8 29. Dc2 g6 30. Tc3 Af5 31. Dd2 Td4  32. De3 g5 33. Ab5 Txc3 qualcosa non deve aver funzionato nel trattamento della posizione da parte di Caruana che sta recuperando il pedone,  ma a costo della qualità. Comunque entrambi i giocatori sono in zeitnot 34. bxc3 Te4 35. Da7 Rg6 36. c4 Caruana ha tenuto in vita la torre, ma non si vede come ora possa salvarsi dai due pedoni uniti e  passati c e d del bianco. 36... Da3 37. Tf1 Axh3 disperazione, probabilmente non solo per come si è messa questa partita ... 38. Ae8+ Rh6 39. Df7 1-0 Peccato. Fabiano non è riuscito a trovare le motivazioni necessarie per terminare bene un torneo che, pur avendo fallito l'obiettivo principale, non era stato completamente negativo.

MI Sedina, Elena (ITA, 2334) - MI Khotenashvili, Bela (GEO, 2448) 1/2
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. c3 cxd4 5. cxd4 d5 6. exd5 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8.  Nc3 Nbd7 9. O-O Nb6 10. Bb3 Nbxd5 11. Re1 Qd6 12. Ne5 Be6 13. Bg5 Rac8 14. Qd2 Rfd8 15. Rad1 a6 16. h3 b5 17. Nd3 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Bd5 19. Bxd5 Nxd5 20. Nc5 Re8 21. Re4 h5 22. Bh6 Bxh6 23. Qxh6 Qf6 24. Qd2 Rxc5 25. dxc5 Nxc3 26. Qd7 Nxe4 27. Qxe8+ Kg7 28. c6 Qxf2+ 29. Kh1 Qe2 30. Rd8 Qe1+ 31. Kh2 Qg3+ 32. Kg1 Qe3+ 33. Kh2 Qf4+ 34. Kg1 Qc1+ 35. Kh2 Kf6 36. Qd7 Qf4+ 37. Kg1 Qe3+ 38. Kh2 Qg3+ 39. Kg1 Qe3+ 40. Kh2 Qf4+ 41. Kg1 h4 42. c7 Qc1+ 43. Kh2 1/2

 
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1767
2010-03-17T14:30:00+01:00
 
 
 
Europei, la sconfitta di Caruana contro Sokolov

Ivan Sokolov

Vediamo come il bianco giochi in maniera aggressiva prendendo molti rischi, fino a quando Fabiano decide di restituire il pezzo con 28…Cxd7 che probabilmente è la mossa perdente, anche se non appare facile trovare un’altro piano. A questo punto Sokolov diventa implacabile e conclude con precisione.

 
http://soloscacchi.altervista.org/?p=6858
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:41:24 +0000
 
 
 
11? Campionato Europeo: X turno
 
Giornata amara per gli italiani 
  • Femminile MI Skripchenko  - Sedina 1-0
Nel X turno del Campionato Europeo Caruana perde con il GM russo Vorobiov e, a meno di risultati  molto improbabili nell'ultimo turno, abbandona ogni speranza di qualificazione alla prossima World Cup. Dvirnyy torna alla vittoria e  raggiunge a quota 5.5 Brunello, sconfitto dal forte GM Areschenko. Purtroppo perdono contro due GM anche Godena e Ortega, che restano a quota 5. Shytaj e Piscopo perdono e vengono raggiunti a quota 4.5 da Lanzani e Bentivegna, che vincono come da pronostico e da Valsecchi che patta con il GM Berescu.

Qualche soddisfazione arriva dai giocatori non titolati. Buona patte di Corrado Astengo, con il MF Lorscheid (2328), e di Sgnaolin, con il MI Pancevski.

Femminile La Sedina perde e resta a quota 6. Con una vittoria domani, Elena dovrebbe comunque guadagnare il diritto a disputare gli spareggi per qualificarsi alla prossima World Cup Femminile. Tornano alla vittoria la Zimina e Marina Brunello, la seconda contro la sorella Roberta.

Per sapere cosa è successo nel nono  turno clicca QUI  


Partite degli italiani trasmesse in diretta

GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2680) - GM Vorobiov, Evgeny (RUS, 2616)
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 a5 8. Re1 c6 9. h3 h6 10. Ba2 Re8 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Qe2 Nf8 13. Qc4 Bd8 14. Rad1 Ng6 15. d5 Ra6 16. Qd3 Be7 17. Nd2 Nh5 18. Ne2 Rf8 19. dxc6 bxc6 20. Nf1 Nhf4 21. Qd2 Be6 22. Bxf4 Nxf4 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Nxf4 Rxf4 25. c4 Ra8 26. Re2 Rb8 27. Qd3 Qb6 28. Nd2 Qd4 29. Nf3 Qxd3 30. Rxd3 c5 31. Ne1 Rb6 32. b3 Rf8 33. Rb2 Rfb8 34. Nc2 d5 35. exd5 e4 36. Rd1 exd5 37. Rxd5 Rxb3 38. Rxb3 Rxb3 39. g3 Rb2 40. Ne3 Ra2 41. Re5 Kf7 42. Nd5 Bd6 43. Rxe4 Rxa4 44. Kg2 Ra3 45. h4 Rb3 46. h5 a4 47. Re2 a3 48. f4 Rb2 49. Rxb2 axb2 50. Nc3 g6 51. hxg6+ Kxg6 52. Kf3 h5 53. Ke4 Bc7 54. Nb1 Ba5 55. Na3 Bb4 56. Nb1 Be1 57. Kf3 Kf5 58. Na3 Bc3 59. Nb1 Bb4 60. Ke3 Kg4 61. Kf2 Ba5 62. Na3 Bc3 63. Nb1 Bb4 64. Ke2 Kxg3 65. f5 Ba5 66. f6 Bd8 67. f7 Be7 68. Kf1 Kf4 69. Nc3 Ke5 70. Ke2 Kf6 71. Kd3 Kxf7 72. Kc2 Bf6 73. Ne4 Bd4 0-1

MI Skripchenko, Almira (FRA, 2456) - MI Sedina Elena (ITA, 2334)
1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. Re1 Kh8 10. exd5 exd5 11. Nb3 b6 12. Bf4 Be6 13. h3 h6 14. d4 c4 15. Nbd2 b5 16. g4 Re8 17. Re3 b4 18. Qc2 bxc3 19. bxc3 Nd7 20. Rae1 Nb6 21. Bg3 Kg8 22. Nh4 Bd7 23. Rxe8+ Bxe8 24. Nf1 Bf6 25. Nf3 a5 26. Ne3 Ra7 27. Rb1 Bg7 28. Bh4 g5 29. Bg3 Ne7 30. Nf5 Nxf5 31. Qxf5 Bd7 32. Qc2 Ba4 33. Qc1 Re7 34. Nd2 Re2 35. Bf3 Re8 36. Nf1 Bd7 37. Ne3 Be6 38. Rb5 Bf8 39. Rxa5 Nd7 40. Rb5 Nf6 41. Rb8 Qa5 42. Rxe8 Nxe8 43. Qb2 Nf6 44. Be5 Nd7 45. Bg3 Ba3 46. Qc2 Bf8 47. Kg2 Qb5 48. Nf5 Nb6 49. h4 Qd7 50. Ne3 Bd6 51. Bxd6 Qxd6 52. Nf5 Bxf5 53. Qxf5 gxh4 54. a4 Qa3 55. Qf6 Nd7 56. Qf5 Nb6 57. Qf4 Nxa4 58. Bxd5 Qe7 59. Qf3 Nb6 60. Be4 Kg7 61. Kh3 Nd7 62. Bd5 Nb6 63. Bc6 Qd6 64. Qe4 Nd7 65. Bxd7 Qxd7 66. Kxh4 Qa7 67. Kg3 Qa3 68. Qe5+ Kg8 69. d5 Qc1 70. Qd4 Qg1+ 71. Kf3 h5 72. d6 Qh1+ 73. Ke2 hxg4 74. d7 Qf3+ 75. Kd2 1-0

Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 



Non solo scacchi: si socializza durante il party nel giorno di riposo


Almira Skripchenko, l'avversaria della Sedina 


X turno, prime scacchiere
1 34 RUS GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2657 7 7½ GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2656 RUS 35
2 49 AZE GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2639 7 7 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2695 GEO 10
3 12 ARM GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2688 7 7 GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2638 BIH 51
4 48 UKR GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2640 7 7 GM Timofeev Artyom RUS 2655 RUS 36
5 42 ISR GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2650 6½ 6½ GM Movsesian Sergei SVK 2709 SVK 3

incontri degli italiani
17 15 ITA GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2680 6 6 GM Vorobiov Evgeny E RUS 2616 RUS 77
58 18 UKR GM Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2670 5 5½ IM Brunello Sabino ITA 2476 ITA 205
98 113 CRO GM Bosiocic Marin CRO 2577 4½ 4½ IM Piscopo Pierluigi ITA 2418 ITA 242
84 129 POL GM Gajewski Grzegorz POL 2567 5 5 GM Ortega Lexy ITA 2479 ITA 203
86 135 ITA GM Godena Michele ITA 2561 5 5 GM Todorovic Goran M SRB 2453 SRB 217
130 193 ROU GM Berescu Alin ROU 2486 4 4 FM Valsecchi Alessio ITA 2360 ITA 279
120 219 ITA IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl ITA 2450 4½ 4½ FM Djurovic Goran CRO 2276 CRO 307
150 239 MKD IM Pancevski Filip MKD 2423 3½ 3½ Sgnaolin Davide ITA 2234 ITA 320
146 259 MNE IM Lekic Dusan MNE 2396 4 4 Guidi Maurizio ITA 2067 ITA 361
152 274 ITA IM Lanzani Mario ITA 2371 3½ 3½ Sheskin Matan ISR 2207 ISR 328
115 284 GEO IM Morchiashvili Bachana GEO 2345 4½ 4½ IM Shytaj Luca ITA 2472 ITA 209
153 330 ARM Pogosian Vladimir ARM 2204 3½ 3½ FM Bentivegna Francesco ITA 2361 ITA 276

Incontri delle italiane
12 21 FRA IM Skripchenko Almira FRA 2456 6 6 IM Sedina Elena ITA 2334 ITA 56
62 60 ITA IM Zimina Olga ITA 2319 3½ 3½ Boyarchenko Marie LUX 2009 LUX 146
70 115 ITA WIM Brunello Marina ITA 2217 3 3 Brunello Roberta ITA 2043 ITA 143
75 144 ITA Tonel Giulia ITA 2023 2½ 2½ Racki Barbara CRO 1698 CRO 152


Regolamento

Calendario Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
a)  Median-Buchholz 1
b)  Buchholz
c)  Numero di vittorie 
d) Punteggio Progressivo.

Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
a)  il Campione Europeo
b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 

Siti Utili

sito ufficiale

Live Stream

risultati su chessresult

 articoli di presentazione di Angelmann   1^ parte  2^ parte

 Report fotografico di Ruigino Tonel

VISORE
per vedere la partita della Sedina seguire il percoso Live Games --> Women
 
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1765
2010-03-16T14:30:00+01:00
 
 
 
European Individual Chess Championship 2010
rijeka_4The 11th European individual men and women's chess championship is taking place from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournaments are qualifiers for the next World Cup, part of the World Championship cycle. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify. Prize fund is 150.000,00 EUR for the men section and 75,000.00 EUR for the women.

Baadur Jobava from Georgia continues his impressive run and with the 8th round victory against the top-seeded Zoltan Almasi he singled out on the top with 7 points. Zahar Efimenko remained half a point behind after a draw versus Vladimir Akopian.

Ian Nepomniachtchi beat his compatriot Ernesto Inarkiev, while Bosnian GM Ivan Sokolov tackled another Russian contender, Alexander Riazantsev. Nepomniachtchi and Sokolov are sharing the second place with Efimenko. Top round nine matches are Ian Nepomniachtchi - Baadur Jobava, Ivan Sokolov - Zahar Efimenko and Vladimir Akopian - Bojan Vuckovic.

In the women championship, IM Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU 2485) scored an important victory against GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO 2447), and joined GM Monika Socko (POL 2465) on the tied first place, with 6.5 points each.

In a fighting round, IM Muzychuk Anna (SLO 2533), GM Kosintseva Tatiana (RUS 2524), IM Khurtsidze Nino (GEO 2434), GM Hoang Thanh Trang (HUN 2487) and WGM Natalia Zhukova (UKR 2492) used the chance to sign wins and move ahead to the shared third place, half a point behind the leaders.

Full results can be found on the official website. The games are starting at 15:30 with live relay of the top 60 boards.

In addition, there is live video coverage that features multiple web cameras that focus on top boards, as well as general views of the playing hall, showing players, spectators, and guests. As the games progress, the remaining interesting positions and battles are featured.


rijeka_org
ECU President Boris Kutin with agile Rijeka organisers Ivan Mandekic and Srdjan Zelenika


jobava
Baadur Jobava is obviously pleased with his play



 
http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4412-european-individual-chess-championship-2010.html
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:48:02 +0000
 
 
 
11? Campionato Europeo: diretta del VIII turno
 
Riprende la corsa di Fabiano! 
  • Caruana - GM Arutinian 1-0
  • Godena - GM Predojevic 1/2
  • Dvirnyy - GM Grigoryan 1/2 
  • Femminile La Sedina vince e sale a 5!
Nell' ottavo turno del Campionato Europeo Caruana si sbarazza del GM Arutianian e sale a 5.5. Continua il buon Europeo di Godena, che patta con il GM Predojevic (2639) e sale a 5. Anche Dvirnny si rimette in corsa, pattando con il GM Grigoryan. Daniyyl viene raggiunto a 4.5 dal vittorioso Brunello.

Valsecchi non riesce a sovvertire il pronostico contro il GM Iotov e viene raggiunto a quota 4 da Ortega. Stesso destino per Piscopo e Shytaj contro i GM Sulksis e Smiri.  Pierluigi e Luca vengono raggiunti a quota 3.5 da Lanzani.

In classifica generale il georgiano Jobava batte Almasi ed è da solo in testa con 7/8!

Femminile La Sedina torna a vincere e sale a 5! Due patte per Marina Brunello e la Tonel mentre perdono la Zimina e Roberta Brunello

Per sapere cosa è successo nel settimo turno, clicca QUI  



I Grandi Maestri Smirin Iotov Sulskis e Grigoryan
Nulla da fare per Shytaj Valsecchi e Piscopo. Solo Dvirnyy riuscirà a portare a casa un risultato positivo


La Zimina non inverte la rotta di questo Europeo e perde con la WIM Inna Ivakhinova (nella foto), campionessa europea under 18 nel 2007


VIII turno, prime scacchiere
1 10 GEO GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2695 6 1-0   5½ GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2720 HUN 1
2 48 UKR GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2640 6 1/2   5½ GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2688 ARM 12
3 35 RUS GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2656 5½ 1-0   5½ GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2667 RUS 24
4 29 RUS GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2660 5½ 0-1   5½ GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2638 BIH 51
5 49 AZE GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2639 5½ 1/2 5½ GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2657 RUS 34

incontri degli italiani
27 15 ITA GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2680 4½ 1-0   4½ GM Arutinian David GEO 2576 GEO 114
36 135 ITA GM Godena Michele ITA 2561 4½ 1/2   4½ GM Predojevic Borki BIH 2639 BIH 50
102 123 LTU GM Sulskis Sarunas LTU 2572 3½ 1-0   3½ IM Piscopo Pierluigi ITA 2418 ITA 242
84 127 BUL GM Iotov Valentin BUL 2568 4 1-0   4 FM Valsecchi Alessio ITA 2360 ITA 279
94 209 ITA IM Shytaj Luca ITA 2472 3½ 0-1   3½ GM Smirin Ilia ISR 2647 ISR 44
87 219 ITA IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl ITA 2450 4 1/2   4 GM Grigoryan Avetik ARM 2565 ARM 131
160 274 ITA IM Lanzani Mario ITA 2371 2½ 1-0   2½   Pogosian Vladimir ARM 2204 ARM 330
132 295 RUS IM Chudinovskikh Alexander M RUS 2314 3 0-1   3 GM Ortega Lexy ITA 2479 ITA 203
127 328 ISR   Sheskin Matan ISR 2207 3½ 0-1   3½ IM Brunello Sabino ITA 2476 ITA 205
153 365 ROU   Porfireanu Serban ROU 2034 3 0-1 3 FM Bentivegna Francesco ITA 2361 ITA 276

incontri delle italiane
32 97 CZE WIM Sikorova Olga CZE 2256 4 0-1   4 IM Sedina Elena ITA 2334 ITA 56
52 60 ITA IM Zimina Olga ITA 2319 3 0-1   3 WIM Ivakhinova Inna RUS 2218 RUS 114
64 89 CZE WGM Nemcova Katerina CZE 2264 2½ 1-0   2½   Brunello Roberta ITA 2043 ITA 143
65 115 ITA WIM Brunello Marina ITA 2217 2½ 1/2   2½ WIM Trofimova Antonina RUS 2182 RUS 128
74 144 ITA   Tonel Giulia ITA 2023 2 1/2 1½ Ikonomopoulou Maria GRE 2081 GRE 142

 
Regolamento

Calendario Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
a)  Median-Buchholz 1
b)  Buchholz
c)  Numero di vittorie 
d) Punteggio Progressivo.

Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
a)  il Campione Europeo
b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 

Siti Utili

sito ufficiale

Live Stream

risultati su chessresult

 articoli di presentazione di Angelmann   1^ parte  2^ parte

 Report fotografico di Ruigino Tonel

VISORE
per vedere la partita di Godena seguire il percorso Live Games -- > Men --> Board 31-50
 
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1759
2010-03-14T10:30:00+01:00
 
 
 
Rijeka R5: liderato compartido en ambas pruebas
El duelo clave de la quinta ronda en el Campeonato de Europa Individual Absoluto entre Jobava y Efimenko concluyó en tablas. Como consecuencia, Artyom Timofeev y Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, dos jugadores del grupo perseguidor lograron sumarse también a la cabeza de la tabla. Paco Vallejo empató con negras, contra Ivan Sokolov y figura ahora en décima posición. En la competición femenina, Monika Socko, tras su empate contra Anna Muzychuk, ha sido alcanzada por Ketevan Arakhamia-Grand y Tatiana Kosintseva. Ronda 5...
 
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8107
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
 
 
 
Ivan Sokolov gana el Abierto de Reykjavik 2010
En principio los vencedores del Abierto de Reykjavik 2010 han sido 4 jugadores que terminaron el torneo empatados a 7 puntos en 9 rondas. Por lo tanto, fue la valoración de desempate la que decidió el ganador y este fue Ivan Sokolov. A continuación se clasificaron Yuriy Kozubov, Abhijeet Gupta y el héroe local Hannes Stefansson. El Campeón del Mundo Juvenil Jorge Cori sumó 6,5 puntos y ocupó el sexto lugar. La mejor jugadora del torneo fue Harika Dronavalli. La india obtuvo 6 puntos y ocupó el décimo puesto de la clasifiación. En total participaron 104 jugadores. Reportaje final...
 
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8101
Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
 
 
 
European Individual Chess Championship 2010
rijeka_4The 11th European individual men and women's chess championship is taking place from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. The tournaments are qualifiers for the next World Cup, part of the World Championship cycle. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify. Prize fund is 150.000,00 EUR for the men section and 75,000.00 EUR for the women.

After seven rounds, GM Monika Socko (POL 2465) with six points is a sole leader in the women championship. She drew with WGM Lilit Galojan of Armenia and is set to meet the legendary GM Pia Cramling in round eight.

GM Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL 2555), GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (SCO 2447), IM Viktorija Cmilyte (LTU 2485), WGM Lilit Galojan (ARM 2380), GM Pia Cramling (SWE 2523) and IM Yelena Dembo (GRE 2457) are half a point behind Socko.

In the men section, Baadur Jobava (GEO 2695) and Zahar Efimenko (UKR 2640) both drew, against Alexander Riazantsev (RUS 2660) and Bojan Vuckovic (SRB 2630) respectively, and maintained joint lead with six points each.

Top eight boards were drawn in round seven, maintaining the order on front end of the crosstable. Ivan Sokolov (BIH 2638), Vladimir Akopian (ARM 2688), Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS 2667) and Denis Khismatullin (RUS 2657) leaped forward to the shared third place.

Full results can be found on the official website. The games are starting at 15:30 with live relay of the top 60 boards.

In addition, there is live video coverage that features multiple web cameras that focus on top boards, as well as general views of the playing hall, showing players, spectators, and guests. As the games progress, the remaining interesting positions and battles are featured.

Finally, GM Miso Cebalo is conducting interviews with the top seeded players.


rijeka_caruana
The arbiters in group photo


rijeka_arbiters
Players in action


 
http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4410-european-individual-chess-championship-2010.html
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:15:19 +0000
 
 
 
Reykjavik Open 2010
The Reykjavík Open 2010 took place 24th February - 3rd March 2010. Ivan Sokolov edged out Yurij Kozubov, Abhijeet Gupta and Hannes Stefansson on tie-break after all scored 7/9.
 
http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessnews/events/reykjavik-open-2010
Wed 03 Mar 2010 07:04:00 PM UTC
 
 
 
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 White Repertoire Webliography
I have been developing a 1.e4 e5 White repertoire based on the Italian Game or Giuoco Piano (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4) where White blows open the center with an early d4 (after 3...Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 or the gambit 3...Bc5 4.d4!?) rather than play the "quieter" Giuoco lines with 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 (which will feature in a repertoire book by John Emms titled Beating 1.e4 e5 due in May from Everyman Chess).  The repertoire also features the aggressive "Duffer's Attack" against the Two Knights (with 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 -- which Seigbert Tarrasch famously labeled a "duffer's move").  I realized the other day that my repertoire could be learned from web sources alone, so I thought I'd take on the challenge of putting together a "1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 White Repertoire Webliography" for anyone who is interested.  I have also listed a few books and other materials for those who want to study these lines more deeply. 


I present the repertoire as a 14-part webliography of sources.  Even if you are not interested in the Giuoco Piano, you may benefit from the recommendations and online resources against the Petroff, Philidor, Latvian, Elephant, and other lines at Black's disposal.  As always, I invite reader comments and additions. 

1. Giuoco Piano Overview (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5)
I recommend learning a few different Giuoco Piano lines to get the maximum enjoyment from the repertoire.  I am personally most interested in the Steinitz-Sveshnikov Attack (4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5!?), but I have also enjoyed trying out the Moeller Attack (4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3), Rossolimo Variation (with 7.Bd2), and Max Lange Attack and Gambit (beginning 4.d4!?).  All are lots of fun to play for amateurs and well supported by online sources.  Some of these lines are regarded as "suspect" by GM theory, but all have been used with success by GMs, while amateurs will find them simply deadly against their level of competition.  Those interested in exploring the world of the Giuoco Piano or Italian Game in greater depth might pick up Jan Pinski's Italian Game and Evans Gambit (Everyman 2005) or Jude Acers and George Laven's The Italian Gambit System (Trafford 2003)--the latter of which has a surprising amount of good opening advice to offer amateur players.  I also have Reinhold Ripperger's ChessBase CD on The Giuoco Piano, which has some annotated games and exercises but is probably not worth the investment.  As usual, the web offers everything most amateur players will need to get started: 
  • Beginner's Repertoire at Chessgames.com
    The link presents a game collection from Chessgames.com with great classic games showing you how to crush people with the Moeller and other Giuoco lines.  It's essentially a complete repertoire in games -- just click your way through them and you get the basic theoretical ideas and tactics.
  • "Don't Shoot the Piano Player!" by Leviathan at Chessgames.com
    Another great games collection that serves as an excellent introduction to Giuoco Piano themes and ideas.
  • Exeter Chess Club's The Italian Game for Beginners by Dr. Dave (e-book in PDF)
    Tricks, traps and tactical ideas in the Italian lines, including the Evans, Moeller Attack, and others.  This little e-book makes a great beginner's introduction to Giuoco Piano themes.
  • Swansong of the Giuoco Piano, Part 1 (Kibitzer #64 at ChessCafe) by Tim Harding
  • The Giuoco Piano, Part 2: The Case for the Defence (Kibitzer #65 at ChessCafe) by Tim Harding
  • The Giuoco Piano on Trial, Part 3: The Summing Up (Kibitzer #69 at ChessCafe) by Tim Harding
  • The Giuoco Piano on Trial: White Wins the Case (Kibitzer #70 at ChessCafe) by Tim Harding
  • The Giuoco Piano Revisited (Kibitzer #118 at ChessCafe) by Tim Harding
    This five part series of articles on the Giuoco Piano lines with c3 and d4 for White -- mostly focused on the Moeller Attack and Rossolimo's Bd2 line with only some discussion of others -- gives a great overview to the Giuoco Piano theory and is remarkably pro-White in the final analysis.  In the last article, Harding returns to the Giuoco by way of reviewing Pinski's book, focusing on the critical lines vs the Moeller Attack and the Rossolimo Variation.

1A. The Giuoco Piano, Steinitz-Sveshnikov Attack, a.k.a. "Anderssen Attack" (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5!?)
The advance with 6.e5!? secures a space advantage for White and creates opportunities for controlling the dark squares and attacking on the kingside.  First played by Adolf Anderssen, the line was adopted by Wilhelm Steinitz in a few World Championship match games with Lasker (though he later rejected the line in favor of the Moeller Attack), and much later revived with success by the great theoretician Evgeny Sveshnikov.  There really is not much good "book" material on this line, though Pinski or Acers & Laven offer coverage.  Currently I am analyzing Ni Hua's games based on his notes in Mihail Marin's excellent book on the Reggio Emilia tournament.  I think this line is typically underestimated by theory and can be deadly at amateur level.  It also does not risk as much as the gambit lines and is more fun than the Rossolimo.
1B. The Giuoco Piano, Moeller Attack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3)
This is a risky line and Black probably keeps a pawn with best play, but you are not going to find too many opponents below 2000 ELO who can prove that over the board.  Besides, these lines are a lot of fun and Black has lots of ways to go wrong.  If an amateur player asked my advice on learning the Moeller Attack, I think I would recommend hunting down a copy of Andy Soltis's fun little book Winning with the Giuoco Piano and the Max Lange Attack (Chess Digest 1996), which presents the material wonderfully for non-experts (though John Nunn questions some of the analysis in his Secrets of Practical Chess).  Due to its historical significance and continuing interest among beginners, there is plenty of material online, especially Tim Harding's articles (cited above) and the following links:








1C. Giuoco Piano, Rossolimo Variation (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2)
The idea of playing the safe 7.Bd2 was revived by U.S. players Nicolas Rossolimo and Edmar Mednis and recently advocated by Roman Dzindzichashvili in some videos and in Chess Openings for White, Explained.  The game Rossolimo-Reissmann, Puerto Rico 1967, is rather inspiring.  Though the resulting trade of Bishops generally eases Black's task, the line still leads to wide open positions with plenty of piece play and chances for both sides.  White accepts an isolated pawn, but this gives him control over the center, especially the c5 and e5 squares.  You will see that theory finds two methods of achieving equality for Black, but that is never the end of the story in amateur games. 





1D. Max Lange Gambit and Attack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4)
There has been a revived interest in the Max Lange Attack and Max Lange Gambit, due mainly to some excellent analysis published by Lev Gutman and Stefan Bücker in the German chess journal Kaissiber (volumes 22-25 especially).  Most of Gutman and Bücker's analysis is neatly summarized by John Emms in the recent Dangerous Weapons: 1.e4 e5 (Everyman 2008), which I have reviewed in these pages and think is excellent. You can also find lots of material online, including by yours truly:





2. Rousseau Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 f5!?)
This counter-gambit is much trickier than you would expect and must be met vigorously by 4.d4!  See the second part of the McGrew analysis for details.
  • Giuoco Fortissimo: The Rousseau Gambit, Part One by Tim McGrew
  • Giuoco Fortissimo: The Rousseau Gambit, Part Two by Tim McGrew
  • Gambits in Many Dimensions (The Gambit Cartel #13 at ChessCafe) by Tim McGrew
    Despite playing the Black side of this complex line, McGrew offers some excellent and objective analysis demonstrating White's advantage after 4.d4! -- returning to the subject later to add analysis and some philosophical reflections on the value of even "unsound" gambits that create many opportunities for opponents to go wrong.  You actually will not find anything as detailed or useful in the "books" that mention this line.
3. Blackburne Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4?!)
Black's idea resembles the Bird Defense to the Ruy Lopez, except that White's Bishop is much better placed on c4 than on b5 once the Knight goes to d4.  White should probably play 4.Nxd4! exd4 (White is up two tempi on the Bird) 5.c3! with a clear advantage.  The quiet alternative 4.c3!? Nxf3+ 5.Qxf3 Qf6 yields White little.  You may be amused, as I was, by the idea of "falling for" the trap after4.Nxe5?!? Qg5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.O-O! and Tim McGrew does the best job of demonstrating White's chances for attack.

    • Blackburne Gambit -- 3...Nd4?! by Adam Bozon
      Best for beginners to know what to do against this, since they will see it sometimes
    • Two Wild Black Systems by Jeremy Silman
      The second part of this article covers 3...Nd4 very well from the White perspective..
    • A Shilling in the Mailbag (The Gambit Cartel #26 at ChessCafe) by Tim McGrew
      Analyzes the response 4.Nxe5(?) Qg5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.O-O! and 5.O-O!? as providing White plenty of interesting play for his piece -- a surprising and fun way to turn the tables on the gambiteer.
    • Reader's Showcase (The Gambit Cartel #25 at ChessCafe) by Tim McGrew
      Maybe the only article I've ever seen to take 3...Nd4 seriously.
    Two Knights, Duffer's Attack Overview (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5)
    Seigbert Tarrasch may have called it a "Duffer's Move," but 4.Ng5 clearly forces Black to surrender a pawn or suffer a dangerous attack.  In "Duffer's Delight," a writer at the Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog describes some of the reasons why 4.Ng5 is being seen more frequently in GM practice, as computers have helped analysts recognize that even odd-looking ways of winning or holding an extra pawn are difficult to meet.

    4.Two Knights, Duffer's Attack, Traxler Counter-Gambit (4.Ng5 Bc5!?)
    This may well be the toughest thing Black has against the Duffer's Attack with 4.Ng5, but I feel safe with the unusual 5.d4!? This is the rarest line for White, the easiest to study, and offers some safe bail-out options (like 5.d4 d5! 6.dxc4 dxc5 7.Qxd8+ etc).  Pinski does not think much of it, but other authors think it may be best.   If you disagree, check out the webliography for more links -- including the complete set of articles by Maarten de Zeeuw from New in Chess Yearbook available online for download.
    5. Two Knights, Duffer's Attack, Amazing Counter Attack (4.Ng5 Nxe4?!)
    Tim Harding explored this wild line (based on the idea that 5.Nxe4?! d5 is good for Black), returning to the subject later with the best ideas for White.  Best to be prepared so you are not amazed.
    6. Two Knights, Lolli Attack or Fried Liver (4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4! or 6.Nxf7!?)
    This is actually a bit of a disputed territory of late, thanks to the use of computers.  And some players (most notably Dan Heisman) have made a very deep study of these lines, concluding that Black might be able to hold or reach an unclear position.  However, at the amateur level, you can be pretty certain that if your opponent plays into this line he has done so unwittingly and is going to be defeated swiftly.  The Lolli Attack (with 6.d4!) seems like the way to get the most out of the position compared to the traditional Fried Liver continuation (with 6.Nxf7!?), but both are very effective at the amateur level.  Hat tip to The Bishops Bounty for pointing me to some sources.


    7. Two Knights, Duffer's Attack, Gunsberg Variation (4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3!?)
    Daniel Stellwagen's article in SOS #9 on the surprising 8.Bd3!? (securing e4 for the Knight's retreat, as in Stellwagen - de Jong) seems to have inspired a number of GM games, including Nakamura-Friedel, Short - Sokolov, and Conquest-Howell. Nakamura's use of the line to win the 2009 US Championship certainly gave it excellent publicity.  White gets a very dynamic and complex game with an extra pawn and solid position.  The pressure is on Black to show what he has got.





    8. Two Knights, Duffer's Attack, Fritz-Ulvestad (4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nd4 or 5...b5)
    This is another tricky territory for White, but some recent games suggest that White looks good after 5....b5 6.Bf1 Nd4 7.c3 Nxd5 8.cxd4 in the Fritz-Ulvestad.  I am looking for more analysis to support this section. 



    9.Hungarian and Closed Defenses (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4)
    Besides the traditional Giuoco Piano with 3...Bc5 and the Two Knights Defense with 3...Nf6, Black can also play several moves leading to a more closed position with 3...Be7 (the Hungarian Defense), 3...Qe7 (Euwe's traditional Closed line), 3...d6 (Mihail Marin's recent favorite) or 3...g6 (my own preference as Black).  Jan Pinski's book on the Italian Game and Evans Gambit (Everyman 2005) probably offers the most objective coverage of these lines.  None of these lines is something White needs to fear.  The simplest general policy is to play as you would against the closed Philidor with c3, d4, h3, and a4, restraining Black and holding onto more space.  I would say that you will rarely encounter these lines at the amateur level.

    10. Philidor's Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4)
    Since my bibliography, Christian Seel's The Philidor: A Secret Weapon and a new edition of Van Rekom & Jansen's The Black Lion have come out to supplement Christian Bauer's book (which I now see has plenty of flaws).  But the bibliography is still useful and offers the best "refutation" of Jim West's favorite Philidor Counter-Gambit with 3...f5: 4.exf5! as seen in Dvoirys - West, New York 2000.




    11. Petroff (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4!)
    I think the best way to achieve an unbalanced position against the Petroff is by 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 which also has the advantage of getting many amateur Petroff players out of their comfort zone.  If you are serious about finding an antidote to the Petroff, you might consider tracking down The Petroff Defence by GM Artur Yusupov (Olms 1999) which may still be the best reference on the 3.d4 lines I recommend.



    12. Latvian (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5!? 3.Nxe5! Qf6 4.Nc4!?)
    If you are somebody who likes to have a book to study an opening, you might consider picking up Tony Kosten's The Latvian Gambit Lives! (Batsford 2001), but online analysis has gone much further than Kosten.  Though there is an intimidating amount of analysis on the line, I recommend the Leonhardt Variation, which I first encountered looking at the game Trifunovic - Apsenieks, Stockholm 1937.  The line is recommended by a number of books, including Chess Openings for White, Explained.
    13. Elephant Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5!? 3.exd5!)
    The best analysis of this tricky line is probably on the web, especially now that you can download an excellent chapter from Watson and Schiller's Survive & Beat Annoying Chess Openings.  I have never encountered this opening in a game, but it pays to be prepared.
    14. The Damiano (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?)
    Does this really need commentary?  Well, with Sam Sloan on the loose playing this move against unsuspecting youngsters, it at least deserves mention.
    • Chess (Washington Post, May 25, 2009) by Lubomir Kavalek
      Perhaps the most useful and extensive GM commentary on 2...f6? ever recorded.
    • Life on the Edge (Gambit Cartel #12 at ChessCafe, August 2003) by Tim McGrew
      Returns to the Damiano and discusses some other problematic gambit ideas.
    • Tactics of Mistake (Gambit Cartel #11 at ChessCafe, July 2003) by Tim McGrew
      Considers the Black side of Damiano's 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6!?? with the idea of either challenging White to prove he knows the refutation or meeting 3.Nxe5 with 3...Qe7.
    Conclusion
    I hope you have enjoyed this repertoire and the number of excellent online resources that support it.  There are many other resources out there, but not everyone has access to them.  I have most enjoyed Boris Alterman's videos at ICC/Chess FM and look forward to his forthcoming Alterman Gambit Guide from Quality Press devoted to White Gambits.  And I wish Chess Commander would stop ripping off my stuff.
     
    http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/kenilworthian/2010/02/1e4-e5-2nf3-white-repertoire.html
    Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:13:00 +0000
     
     
     
    11? Campionato Europeo: diretta del VII turno
     
    • LIVE h. 15:30
    • GM Ivan Sokolov-Caruana
    • GM Rodshtein-Dvirnyy
    • Femminile
    • MI Danielian-Sedina
    Oggi si disputa il settimo turno del Campionato Europeo Caruana. Domani è previsto il primo ed unico giorno di riposo.
    Per sapere cosa è successo nel sesto turno, clicca QUI 

    Ieri è stata una giornata molto positiva per gli italiani e, come sempre accade in questo genere di manifestazioni, dopo una giornata positiva arrivano gli impegni tosti. Tra gli azzurri con almeno il 50% dei punti Caruana, Dvirnyy e Piscopo incontreranno tre forti GM, mentre Godena e Valsecchi se la vedranno con due MI. Le partite di Caruana e Dvirnyy saranno trasmesse in diretta dalle ore 15:30.

    Non basta comunque avere meno del 50% per avere vita facile, visto che Lanzani (2.5) affronterà il GM greco Banikas (2617). Stesso discorso vale per Barlocco (2), che incontrerà il MI Zueger (2425), mentre Ortega, Shytaj e Brunello (2.5) affronteranno due MI e un MF con un elo attorno ai 2300. Da segnalare, infine, il derby tra Bentivegna e Corrado Astengo.

    Migliori performance degli italiani
    Nome Elo Performance Variazione Elo
    Caruana Fabiano 2680 2763 +6,20
    Dvirnyy Daniyyl 2450 2669 +17,60
    Godena Michele 2561 2519 -1,80
    Piscopo Pierluigi 2418 2421 +0,10
    Brunello Sabino 2476 2366 -9,10
    Astengo Corrado 2136 2360 +18,15
    Lanzani Mario 2371 2344 -2,30
    Shytaj Luca 2472 2333 -11,10
    Valsecchi Alessio 2360 2294 -5,10
    Ortega Lexy 2479 2276 -12,20
    Bentivegna Francesco 2361 2257 -10,65

    Femminile
    Sedina Elena 2334 2510 14,10
    Brunello Marina 2217 2211 -0,90
    Zimina Olga 2319 2180 -11,50
    Brunello Roberta 2043 2105 +6,75
    Tonel Giulia 2023 1999 -1,50




    VI turno: Caruana si appresta a giocare 33.Cxf6+. Salgado Lopez abbandonerà dopo poche mosse


    La MI armena Elina Danielian, prossima avversaria della Sedina

    VII turno, prime scacchiere
    1 10 GEO GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2695 5½ 5 GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2660 RUS 29
    2 58 SRB GM Vuckovic Bojan SRB 2630 5 5½ GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2640 UKR 48
    3 1 HUN GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2720 5 5 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2656 RUS 35
    4 3 SVK GM Movsesian Sergei SVK 2709 4½ 5 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2639 AZE 49
    5 61 BUL GM Delchev Aleksander BUL 2625 4½ 4½ GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2708 ESP 5

    incontri degli italiani
    10 51 BIH GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2638 4½ 4½ GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2680 ITA 15
    49 87 ISR GM Rodshtein Maxim ISR 2609 4 4 IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl ITA 2450 ITA 219
    130 74 GRE GM Banikas Hristos GRE 2617 2½ 2½ IM Lanzani Mario ITA 2371 ITA 274
    138 203 ITA GM Ortega Lexy ITA 2479 2½ 2½ IM Medancic Rikard CRO 2311 CRO 296
    140 205 ITA IM Brunello Sabino ITA 2476 2½ 2½ FM Kunze Carlo GER 2306 GER 297
    141 209 ITA IM Shytaj Luca ITA 2472 2½ 2½ IM Nedochetov Mikhail RUS 2299 RUS 301
    83 224 FRA IM Vernay Clovis FRA 2440 3½ 3½ GM Godena Michele ITA 2561 ITA 135
    158 236 SUI IM Zueger Beat SUI 2425 2 2 FM Barlocco Carlo ITA 2173 ITA 337
    106 242 ITA IM Piscopo Pierluigi ITA 2418 3 3 GM Cvitan Ognjen CRO 2550 CRO 143
    161 276 ITA FM Bentivegna Francesco ITA 2361 2 2 Astengo Corrado ITA 2136 ITA 345
    117 279 ITA FM Valsecchi Alessio ITA 2360 3 3 IM Sebenik Matej SLO 2504 SLO 177

    incontri delle italiane
    18 10 ARM IM Danielian Elina ARM 2491 3½ 4 IM Sedina Elena ITA 2334 ITA 56
    69 117 SRB Djukic Sandra SRB 2214 2 2 Tonel Giulia ITA 2023 ITA 144
    56 141 CRO WFM Berke Ana CRO 2097 2½ 2½ IM Zimina Olga ITA 2319 ITA 60
    57 143 ITA Brunello Roberta ITA 2043 2½ 2½ WGM Paulet Iozefina ROU 2303 ROU 70
    67 146 LUX Boyarchenko Marie LUX 2009 2 2 WIM Brunello Marina ITA 2217 ITA 115

     
    Regolamento

    Calendario     Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

    Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
    a)  Median-Buchholz 1
    b)  Buchholz
    c)  Numero di vittorie 
    d) Punteggio Progressivo.

    Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
    a)  il Campione Europeo
    b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
    c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

    Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 

    Siti Utili

    sito ufficiale

    Live Stream

    risultati su chessresult

     articoli di presentazione di Angelmann   1^ parte  2^ parte

     Report fotografico di Ruigino Tonel

    VISORE
    per vedere la partita di Dvirnyy seguire il percorso Live Games -- > Men --> Board 31-50
    per vedere la partita della Sedina seguire il percorso Live Games -- Women

     
    http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1758
    2010-03-12T14:30:00+01:00
     
     
     
    11? Campionato Europeo: diretta del VI turno
     
    Caruana torna alla vittoria e sale a 4.5!
    • Dvirnyy batte il GM Sanikidze e sale a 4!!
    • Femminile 
    • la Sedina patta con la GM Hoang Thanh e raggiunge quota 4
    • Nell'articolo i visori delle partite di Caruana e Sedina
    • Domani LIVE h. 15:30 Ivan Sokolov-Caruana
    • GM Rodshtein-Dvirnyy e MI Danielian-Sedina
    Nel VI turno del Campionato Europeo Caruana, dopo tre patte consecutive, torna alla vittoria travolgendo il GM  spagnolo Salgado Lopez. Importantissima vittoria per Dvirnyy contro il GM Sanikidze (2566). Daniyyl sale così a 4. Godena batte il MI Azaladze e raggiunge quota 3.5. 

    Nulla da fare per Brunello con il GM Nyback. Sabino resta a 2.5 e viene superato da Piscopo e Valsecchi, che vincono facendo rispettare il pronostico, e agganciato da Ortega Lanzani (vittorie) e Shytaj (patta),

    Prosegue l'ottimo torneo (una vittoria e due patte con tre MI, performance 2360) di Corrado Astengo che patta con il MI Rasulov e sale a quota 2 con Bentivegna (patta),

    In classifica generale Jobava e Efimenko ristabiliscono le gerarchie battendo i giocatori che li avevavo agganciati in vetta nel turno precedente, Timofeev e Nisipeanu. Da segnalare il veemente ritorno del numero uno del tabellone, l'ungherese Almasi, che dopo un inizio zoppicante (due patte nei primi tre turni) ha infilato tre vittorie consecutive (oggi vittoria, con il nero, contro Sutovsky) e si trova a solo mezzo punto dalla vetta.

    Femminile Bella prova della Sedina che patta con la GM Hoang Thanh Trang, e nel finale di donne che si è presentato sulla  scacchiera forse avrebbe potuto ottenere di più! Elena sale così a quota 4/6. La Zimina perde  con la WIM Isgandarova. Stessa sorte per Marina Brunello. A risollevare le sorti della famiglia ci pensa la sorella Roberta, che con il nero batte la WFM russa Semenova. Buona patta per la Tonel contro la WIM austrica Kopinits.

    In classifica generale la GM polacca Socko torna di nuovo da sola al comando battendo la GM russa Kosinteseva.

    Per sapere cosa è successo nel quinto turno, clicca QUI 




    La WIM Isgrandova, avversaria della Zimina


    Il GM Sanikidze, avversario odierno di Dvirnyy 


    VI turno, prime scacchiere
    1 36 RUS GM Timofeev Artyom RUS 2655 4½ 0-1
    		   4½ GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2695 GEO 10
    2 48 UKR GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2640 4½ 1-0   4½ GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROU 2661 ROU 28
    3 42 ISR GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2650 4 0-1   4 GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2720 HUN 1
    4 5 ESP GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2708 4 1/2   4 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2643 RUS 46
    5 7 ENG GM Adams Michael ENG 2704 4 1/2   4 GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2638 BIH 51

    incontri degli italiani
    21 15 ITA GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2680 3½ 1-0   3½ GM Salgado Lopez Ivan ESP 2592 ESP 100
    93 65 FIN GM Nyback Tomi FIN 2624 2½ 1-0   2½ IM Brunello Sabino ITA 2476 ITA 205
    102 135 ITA GM Godena Michele ITA 2561 2½ 1-0
    		  2½ IM Azaladze Shota GEO 2433 GEO 230
    84 219 ITA IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl ITA 2450 3 1-0
    		  3 GM Sanikidze Tornike GEO 2566 GEO 130
    151 261 CZE IM Plat Vojtech CZE 2395 2 1-0   2 FM Barlocco Carlo ITA 2173 ITA 337
    168 274 ITA IM Lanzani Mario ITA 2371 1½ 1-0   1½   Spika Ivica CRO 2086 CRO 357
    160 279 ITA FM Valsecchi Alessio ITA 2360 2 1-0   2   Valkovic Kristian CRO 2027 CRO 366
    132 302 ISR   Katzir Moshe ISR 2288 2 1/2
    		  2 IM Shytaj Luca ITA 2472 ITA 209
    142 309 CRO FM Dimitrijevic Darko CRO 2272 2 0-1   2 IM Piscopo Pierluigi ITA 2418 ITA 242
    165 336 ITA   Pantaleoni Claudio ITA 2179 1½ 0-1   1½ IM Berbatov Kiprian BUL 2481 BUL 202
    166 344 CRO   Kinez Ivo CRO 2138 1½ 0-1
    		  1½ GM Ortega Lexy ITA 2479 ITA 203
    167 345 ITA   Astengo Corrado ITA 2136 1½ 1/2   1½ IM Rasulov Vugar Ural Oglu AZE 2457 AZE 215
    169 350 ROU   Neagos Raul-Alexandru ROU 2110 1½ 1/2
    		  1½ FM Bentivegna Francesco ITA 2361 ITA 276


    incontri delle italiane
    11 56 ITA IM Sedina Elena ITA 2334 3½ 1/2   3½ GM Hoang Thanh Trang HUN 2487 HUN 11
    44 60 ITA IM Zimina Olga ITA 2319 2½ 0-1
    		  2½ WIM Isgandarova Khayala AZE 2224 AZE 110
    63 115 ITA WIM Brunello Marina ITA 2217 2 0-1   2   Abdulla Khayala AZE 2141 AZE 136
    69 123 RUS WFM Semenova Elena RUS 2195 1½ 0-1   1½   Brunello Roberta ITA 2043 ITA 143
    70 144 ITA   Tonel Giulia ITA 2023 1½ 1/2   1½ WIM Kopinits Anna-Christina AUT 2183 AUT 127

     
    Regolamento

    Calendario     Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

    Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
    a)  Median-Buchholz 1
    b)  Buchholz
    c)  Numero di vittorie 
    d) Punteggio Progressivo.

    Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
    a)  il Campione Europeo
    b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
    c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

    Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 

    Siti Utili

    sito ufficiale

    Live Stream

    risultati su chessresult

     articoli di presentazione di Angelmann   1^ parte  2^ parte

     Report fotografico di Ruigino Tonel

    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2680) - GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan (SPA, 2592) 1-0
    Difesa Alekhine

    --------------------------------------------------------------
    MI Sedina, Elena (ITA, 2334) - GM Hoang Thanh, Trang (HUN, 2487) 1/2
    Difesa francese
     
    http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1756
    2010-03-11T14:30:00+01:00
     
     
     
    11? Campionato Europeo: diretta del V turno
       
    Caruana patta di nuovo e sale a 3.5
    • Dvirnyy patta con un altro GM e sale a quota 3!
    • Nulla da fare per Godena con Motylev
    • Femminile
    • La Sedina vince e sale a 3.5!
    • Nell'articolo i visori delle partite di Caruana e Godena
    • Oggi Caruana-Salgado Lopez e Sedina-GM Hoang Live h. 15.30
    Nel quinto turno del Campionato Europeo, Caruana patta con Safarlj e sale a 3.5/5 mentre Godena, coraggiosamente, sceglie una variante minore della spagnola contro Motylev ma finisce con il perdere in 20 mosse. Nel sesto turno Fabiano se la vedrà con il GM spagnolo Ivan Salgado Lopez. Prosegue la serie positiva di Dvirnyy, ancora imbattuto in questo torneo, che con il nero patta con il forte GM tedesco Buhmann (2587) e sale a 3!  Domani quinto GM in questo torneo per Daniyyl: Tornike Sanikidze (2566).

    Questa volta Brunello fa rispettare i favori del pronostico, vince e raggiunge Michele a quota 2.5. Domani Sabino è atteso dall'incontro con il GM Nybak (2624)

    Putroppo arrivano le notizie delle sconfitte di Piscopo, Valsecchi, Lanzani, Bentivegna e, a sopresa, di Shytaj. Tutti questi giocatori restano sotto la quota del 50%.

    Nessun giocatore resta a punteggio pieno dopo il V turno. In prima scacchiera Jobava ed Efimenko pattano e vengono raggiunti da Nisipeanu e Timofeev, vittoriosi su Pelletier e Skoberne. 

    Femminile Buone notizie dal torneo femminile. La Sedina vince e torna nelle zone alte della classifica con 3.5. Ottima patta di Marina Brunello (nero) con la MI Borsuk. Prima vittoria in questo campionato europeo per la Tonel e per Roberta Brunello, che così salgono a 1.5. La  Zimina perde e resta a 2.5.

    Anche nel torneo femminile nessuna giocatrice resta a punteggio pieno, visto che la Socko patta con Anna Muzychuk. La giocatrice polacca viene raggiunta in vetta dalla Kosintseva e, a sopresa, dalla scozzese Arakhamia-Grant che ha avuto la meglio su Pia Cramling.

    Per sapere cosa è successo nel quarto turno, clicca QUI 



    con il tedesco     Buhmann arriva la 4^ patta con il 4° GM per di Dvirnyy


    con la turca Betul Cemre Yildiz la Sedina coglie un'importante vittoria

    V turno, prime scacchiere
    1 10 GEO GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2695 4 1/2     4 GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2640 UKR 48
    2 51 BIH GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2638 3½ 1/2     3½ GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2708 ESP 5
    3 71 MDA GM Iordachescu Viorel MDA 2621 3½ 1/2     3½ GM Adams Michael ENG 2704 ENG 7
    4 24 RUS GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2667 3½ 1/2     3½ GM Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula ROU 2525 ROU 159
    5 28 ROU GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROU 2661 3½ 1-0     3½ GM Pelletier Yannick SUI 2611 SUI 83

    Incontri degli italiani     
    15 90 AZE GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2606 3 1/2   3 GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2680 ITA 15
    45 6 RUS GM Motylev Alexander RUS 2705 2½ 1-0   2½ GM Godena Michele ITA 2561 ITA 135
    75 104 GER GM Buhmann Rainer GER 2587 2½ 1/2   2½ IM Dvirnyy Daniyyl ITA 2450 ITA 219
    112 163 NED IM Janssen Ruud NED 2516 2 1-0   2 FM Valsecchi Alessio ITA 2360 ITA 279
    139 186 ISL GM Danielsen Henrik ISL 2494 1½ 1-0   1½ IM Lanzani Mario ITA 2371 ITA 274
    190 203 ITA GM Ortega Lexy ITA 2479 ½ 1-0   ½   Pfeifer Antun CRO 1900 CRO 382
    142 205 ITA IM Brunello Sabino ITA 2476 1½ 1-0   1½ FM Schiendorfer Emanuel SUI 2340 SUI 286
    97 242 ITA IM Piscopo Pierluigi ITA 2418 2 0-1   2 GM Gajewski Grzegorz POL 2567 POL 129
    155 256 RUS IM Kargin Arseny RUS 2400 1½ 1-0   1½   Astengo Corrado ITA 2136 ITA 345
    138 276 ITA FM Bentivegna Francesco ITA 2361 1½ 0-1   1½ GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2554 MDA 139
    127 307 CRO FM Djurovic Goran CRO 2276 2 1-0   2 IM Shytaj Luca ITA 2472 ITA 209

    Incontri delle italiane
    29 56 ITA IM Sedina Elena ITA 2334 2½ 1-0   2½ WIM Yildiz Betul Cemre TUR 2244 TUR 103
    31 104 SVK   Mrvova Alena SVK 2239 2½ 1-0   2½ IM Zimina Olga ITA 2319 ITA 60
    54 53 ISR IM Borsuk Angela ISR 2338 1½ 1/2   2½ WIM Brunello Marina ITA 2217 ITA 115
    76 143 ITA   Brunello Roberta ITA 2043 ½ 1-0   ½   Starcevic Andrea CRO 1712 CRO 151
    77 155 CRO   Batory Lucija CRO 1575 ½ 0-1   ½   Tonel Giulia ITA 2023 ITA 144


    Regolamento

    Calendario     Il torneo si disputa sulla lunghezza di 11 turni (6-17 marzo). L'inizio delle partite è previsto per le ore 15:30. Unico giorno di riposo sabato 13 marzo. Il 18 marzo si svolgeranno gli eventuali Tie-breaks.

    Criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito sono previsti i seguenti criteri di spareggio tecnico:
    a)  Median-Buchholz 1
    b)  Buchholz
    c)  Numero di vittorie 
    d) Punteggio Progressivo.

    Spareggi Rapid sono previsti gli spareggi (15'+10" per mossa) solo per stabilire:
    a)  il Campione Europeo
    b)  i vincitori di Medaglie
    c)  I qualificati (22) alla prossima World Cup.

    Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa. 

    Siti Utili

    sito ufficiale

    Live Stream

    risultati su chessresult

     articoli di presentazione di Angelmann   1^ parte  2^ parte

     Report fotografico di Ruigino Tonel

    Partite commentate in diretta da Megalovic
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Safarly - Caruana 1/2

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Motylev - Godena  1-0

     
    http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1754
    2010-03-10T14:30:00+01:00
     
     
     
    Spectacular chess in Rijeka – 4 on 4.5/5

    Four players on 4.5/5 in RijekaAfter 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…Rxe3Krasenkow-Jobava

    The whole game had been a big tactical squirmish, but up to this point Polish grandmaster Krasenkow was still in the game. A puzzle book would ask a question like: “Is 33.Qg2 good or bad here?”. The answer… (calculate first!) …is…bad, though White had obviously counted on it. With 33.Qh4 he might still be on top, but the obvious 33.Qg2? was answered by 33…Bd4!! 34.Rxd4 Re1+35.Qf1 Ne3!! and White resigned.

    Jobava

    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…Kc7Nabaty-Khairllin


    Again we can pretend to be writing a tactics book (perhaps we should do that, one day…) and here we’ll ask: “Can White take on h8?” It’s a nice example of the theme “The deceiver deceived” because at first sight it looks like he cannot, because Black gives a check on e3 and then plays Qf2 (an important trick to know, often useful in blitz games as well). Then Rg1 can be answered by Re1, and after e.g. Ne8+, Kb6 Black controls the d4 square. But… if there’s a check in the position, always “check it”! The game went 32.Qxh8! Qe3+ 33.Kh1 Qf2 34.Nd5+! (the check that needed to be checked) Kd7 35.Qc8+!! (another one!) and Black resigned.


    Don’t miss Movsesian’s finish in his game against Chirila, Bologan’s handling of the King’s Indian against Babula or Nisipeanu catching Pelletier’s queen. And we didn’t even mention the game Motylev-Godena yet, a true 19th century chess classic! All below in the game viewer.


    After five rounds Zahar Efimenko, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Artyom Timofeev and Baadur Jobava are sharing the lead. Today the top pairings include Timofeev-Jobava, Efimenko-Nisipeanu, Sutovsky-Almasi, Vallejo-Zvjaginsev and Adams-I.Sokolov. In the women’s section Arakhamia-Grant, T.Kosintseva and Socko are on 4.5/5.

    European Championship 2010 | Round 5 Standings (top 40)

    European Championship 2010 | Round 5 Standings
    Full standings here

    Selection of games rounds 4-5

    Game viewer by ChessTempo

    Zamet Centre

    The top boards of the 5th round

    Zamet Centre

    Young & old in Rijeka

    Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

    Links

     
    http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/spectacular-chess-in-rijeka-4-players-on-4-55/
    Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:26:42 +0000
     
     
     
    Totes Rennen in Reykjavik
    Gleich vier Spieler beendeten das Reykjavik-Open mit 7 Punkten. So musste die Zweitwertung über den Turniersieg entscheiden. Hier hatte Ivan Sokolov die Nase vorn und gewann vor Yuriy Kozubov, Abhijeet Gupta und Lokalmatador Hannes Stefansson. Juniorenweltmeister Jorge Cori kam mit 6,5 Punkten auf Platz Sechs. Beste Frau wurde Harika Dronavalli. Die Inderin wurde mit sechs Punkten Zehnte. Insgesamt hatten sich 104 Spieler am Turnier beteiligt.
    Turnierseite... Endstand, Partien, Bilder...
     
    http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10133
    Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
     
     
     
    Four-way tie at Reykjavik Open

    Four-way tie in ReykjavikThe 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.

    Reykjavik OpenAs 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.

    Reykjavik Open 2010 | Final Standings (top 30)

    Reykjavik Open 2010 | Final Standings

    Selection of games

    Game viewer by ChessTempo

    Reykjavik Open 2010

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

    Reykjavik Open 2010

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

    Reykjavik Open 2010

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

    Reykjavik Open 2010

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

    Reykjavik Open 2010

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

    Reykjavik Open 2010

    The fifth victory for Stefansson

    Photos courtesy of the tournament website

    Links

     
    http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/four-way-tie-at-reykjavik-open/
    Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:44:29 +0000
     
     
     
    Reykjavik Open final standings
    Final standings, top 4
      Players Country Points Tie-break
    1 Sokolov Ivan BIH 7 53
    2 Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 7 52
    3 Gupta Abhijeet IND 7 51,5
    4 Stefansson Hannes ISL 7 51
     
    http://www.usefulchess.com/others/chess_news.html#reykjavik
    Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:00:31 +0200
     
     
     
    Reykjavik Open 2010 - Grandmasters Sokolov, Kuzubov, Gupta and Stefansson shared the first place
    The traditional Reykjavik Open chess tournament was held on 24th February - 3rd March, with 104 players taking participation. GM Ivan Sokolov bounced back after the loss in the eighth round and won a beautiful game versus IM Alex Lenderman, which propelled him to the shared first place. GM Yuriy Kuzubov also scored with white pieces, against GM Aloyzas Kveinys and joined Sokolov on the top.
     
    http://www.chessdom.com/news-2010/reykjavik-open
    Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:30:11 +0100
     
     
     
    Reykjavik Open 2010 - Round Eight - Abhijeet Gupta and Hannes Stefansson leading prior to the final
    The traditional Reykjavik Open chess tournament is currently ongoing on Iceland, with 104 players taking participation. The 2008 World Junior Champion Abhijeet Gupta of India defeated the Bosnian GM Ivan Sokolov in the penultimate round and moved ahead to the shared first place, together with the local GM Hannes Stefansson.
     
    http://reports.chessdom.com/news-2010/reykjavik-open-r8
    Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:00:26 +0100
     
     
     
    Sokolov führt in Reykjavik
    Trotz der Finanzkrise, die Island ganz besonders hart getroffen hat, lebt das Reykjavik Schachopen und erfreut sich in auch diesem Jahr ansteigender Beliebtheit. Viele Profis, darunter Spitzenspieler wie Dreev oder Sokolov, Openspezialisten wie Kogan, Kacheishshvili, Nataf oder Kveinys und zahlreiche einheimische Spieler beteiligen sich an Islands größtem Schachturnier, das mit einem Preisfonds von 20.000 USD wieder ansehnlich dotiert ist. Nach sieben Runden führt Ivan Sokolov (6 P.) vor Hannes Stefansson, Illya Nyzhnyk, Abhijeet Gupta und Igor-Alexandre Nataf (je 5,5 P.).
    Turnierseite... Tabelle, Partien, Bilder...
     
    http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10117
    Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
     
     
     
    Reykjavik Open 2010 - Round Three - Four players sharing the lead with perfect score
    The traditional Reykjavik Open chess tournament is currently ongoing on Iceland, with 104 players taking participation. After three rounds, experienced Grandmasters Ivan Sokolov and Vladimir Baklan, as well as the former World Junior Champion Harika Dronavalli and Denmark's IM Thorbjorn Bromann, are in the lead with perfect score.
     
    http://reports.chessdom.com/news-2010/reykjavik-open-r3
    Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:19:30 +0100
     
     
     
    Scacchi tra i ghiacci : Rejkyavik - Open 2010


    REYKJAVIK OPEN 2010

    Il suggestivo Open di Reykjavik è iniziato il 24 Febbraio e terminerà il 3 Marzo dopo 9 turni. Sono presenti 104 giocatori provenienti da ben 22 nazioni.
    Si gioca presso il Reykjavik Cityhall. L'evento è organizzato dalla Federazione Scacchistica Islandese e dal Reykjavik Chess Academy.  Il circolo cittadino che fu fondato nel 1900 vanta una lunga tradizione e il primo torneo internazionale fu organizzato nel 1964 e vide la vittoria del mago di Riga.

    L'edizione 2009 registrò il record di presenze con ben 110 giocatori da 21 Paesi. Alla fine a trionfare furono Hédinn Steingrímsson, Hannes Stefánsson and Yuiry Kryvoruchko.
    Erano presenti anche parecchi italiani mentre quest'anno nessuno si è spinto fino a certe latitudini.
    Nel 2008 si affermò invece il duo cinese composto da Wang Yue e Wang Hao.



    L'Ucraino Vladimir Baklan, numero 1 del Tabellone



    LISTA PREISCRITTI

    No.     Name FED Rtg
    1 UKR GM Baklan Vladimir UKR 2654
    2 RUS GM Dreev Alexey RUS 2650
    3 BIH GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2649
    4 UKR GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2634
    5 USA GM Shulman Yuri USA 2624
    6 USA GM Ehlvest Jaan USA 2600
    7 SWE GM Hillarp Persson Tiger SWE 2581
    8 IND GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2577
    9 ISL GM Stefansson Hannes ISL 2574
    10 USA IM Lenderman Alex USA 2560
    11 FRA GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2554
    12 LTU GM Kveinys Aloyzas LTU 2536
    13 FRA GM Nataf Igor-Alexandre FRA 2534
    14 LAT GM Miezis Normunds LAT 2533
    15 ISR GM Kogan Artur ISR 2524
    16 SWE IM Grandelius Nils SWE 2515
    17 UKR GM Romanishin Oleg M UKR 2512
    18 ISL GM Danielsen Henrik ISL 2495
    19 UKR IM Nyzhnyk Illya UKR 2495
    20 POR GM Galego Luis POR 2487
    21 PER IM Cori Jorge PER 2483
    22 IND IM Harika Dronavalli IND 2471
    23 RUS GM Ivanov Mikhail M RUS 2465
    24 USA IM Krush Irina USA 2455
    25 SRB IM Boskovic Drasko SRB 2454
    26 IND FM Grover Sahaj IND 2448
    27 DEN IM Bromann Thorbjorn DEN 2434
    28 ISL IM Gunnarsson Jon Viktor ISL 2429
    29 ISL GM Thorhallsson Throstur ISL 2426
    30 PER WIM Cori T Deysi PER 2412
    31 IND WGM Karavade Eesha IND 2405
    32 ISL IM Thorfinnsson Bragi ISL 2398
    33 IND IM Tania Sachdev IND 2398
    34 ISL IM Kjartansson Gudmundur ISL 2391
    35 ISL IM Thorfinnsson Bjorn ISL 2383

    Presente anche il duo Jorge e Deysi Cori, fratelli peruviani ormai veri e propri globetrotter scacchistici vista l'assiduità con cui stanno giocando tornei in giro per il mondo.



    Deysi e Jorge ( a 2 su 2) Cori, fratelli Peruviani



    MI indiana Tania Sachdev, ha fermato sul pari il GM svedese Hillarp Persson



    Un'altra MI Indiana, Harika Dronavalli, a 2 su 2

    L'Islanda è un Paese affascinante e degno di essere visitato nonostante la scarsità di popolazione (coloni prevalentamente giunti da Norvegia e Isole britanniche verso la fine dell'800 d.c.) e l'isolamento geografico.Infatti la varietà e la particolarità di scenari naturali  la rendono una nazione unica sotto certi punti di vista. L'islanda è scolpita dai ghiacci ma è anche ricca di vulcani e da questo mix derivano forti contrasti e colori irripetibili.

    Il Paese è stato investito da una profonda crisi economica nel 2008 a cui si è giunti dopo una serie di sintomi negativi come l'eccessivo ricorso al credito da parte dei cittadini determinandone una maggiore esposizione al rischio, una bolla immobiliare determinanta da una continua crescita dei prezzi delle case e investimenti nel settore ed infine un elevato rapporto debito sul pil. Insomma una situazione non poi così lontana dalla nostra con l'aggravante che con una popolazione ed economia di così piccole dimensioni le banche si sono trovate molto più in difficoltà ad affontare uno scenario talmente negativo. Ora in virtù della crisi la moneta ha perso gran parte del valore e giocare il torneo e visitare il Paese è particolarmente conveniente.

    Un Viaggio in Islanda sulle note di Joga,
    canzone della nota cantante locale Bjork




    FOTO







    Un'installazione di Tea Mäkipää and Halldór Úlfarsson durante il Reykjavik Art Festival



    Reykjavik



    Una splendida e imponente Chiesa ghiacciata



    Aurora Boreale


    LINKS UTILI:


    RISULTATI e ABBINAMENTI     QUI  

      PARTITE IN DIRETTA QUI
     
    http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1733
    2010-02-25T23:00:00+01:00
     
     
     
    Zherebukh (16) wins in Cappelle

    Yaroslav ZherebukhYaroslav 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.

    venue

    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! ;-)

    Cappelle-La-Grande 2010 | Final Standings

    Cappelle 2010

    Selection of games

    Game viewer by ChessTempo

    Links

     
    http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/underdog-zherebukh-wins-in-cappelle/
    Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:28:42 +0000
     
     
     
    26th Cappelle-la Grande Open
    The 26th Cappelle-la Grande Open takes place 13th-20th February 2010. Ivan Sokolov, Murtas Kazhgaleyev, Jon Ludvig etc play.
     
    http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessnews/events/26th-cappelle-la-grande-open
    Sun 14 Feb 2010 09:04:00 PM UTC
     
     
     
    Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares: Ronda 1

    Veselin Topalov (BUL-2805), Levon Aronian (ARM-2781), Boris Gelfand (ISR-2761), Vugar Gashimov (AZE-2759), Alexander Grischuk (RUS-2736) y Francisco (Paco) Vallejo Pons (ESP-2705), empezaron a mostrar su talento y arrancó Linares.

     

    La primera edición del torneo fue en 1978. En esta primera edición fue la única en que participó un jugador giennense, Viriato Pacheco y fue ganada por el sueco Jaan Eslon (que jugó muchos torneos en España, ya fallecido), fue el ganador de esta edición empatado a puntos con Roberto Debarnot de Argentina. Desde entonces se celebró de los años impares hasta 1987, año en que Linares acogió el match final de candidatos al título entre Anatoly Karpov y Andréi Sokolov. A partir de 1988 el torneo se ha venido celebrando todos los años (a excepción de 1996 en el que la ciudad acogió el Campeonato del mundo de ajedrez femenino).

     
    http://www.zonadeajedrez.com/noticias/noticias/837-torneo-internacional-de-ajedrez-ciudad-de-linares-ronda-1
    Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:19:21 +0000
     
     
     
    Brunello e Denis Rombaldoni a Cappelle La Grande


    Brunello e Denis Rombaldoni a Cappelle Le Grande

    Con i suoi 640 iscritti ha preso il via oggi, a Cappelle Le Grande (Francia), uno degli Open più frequentati dell'Europa occidentale. Il livello dei partecipanti non è certamente quello del concomitante Aeroflot, ma è garantita la presenza di una ventina di over 2600. Difenderanno i nostri colori i Maestri Internazionali Sabino Brunello e Denis Rombaldoni, alla caccia di una Norma GM.

    Denis Rombaldoni è alla sua seconda partecipazione consecutiva in questa manifestazione. Nell'edizione del 2009 Denis partì alla grande battendo il GM Frolyanov, ma successivamente incappò in qualche passo falso concludendo, comunque, con un apprezzabile 5.5/9.

    Dopo aver superato abbondantemente quota 2500 e aver sfiorato la terza norma GM, Sabino Brunello ha attraversato un periodo di leggero appannamento. Questo torneo potrebbe essere l'occasione giusta per rimettersi in marcia.

    Partecipano al torneo altri due giocatori italiani: Felix Stips (2205) e Veronika Goi (1944).

    In arrivo dal Moscow Open, anche quest'anno non farà mancare la sua presenza in questo torneo il Grande Maestro russo Igor Naumkin, simpatico e talentuoso giocatore spesso impegnato nei tornei italiani. 

    E' prevista la trasmissione in diretta delle prime 20 scacchiere (visore in fondo a questo articolo)

    I turno degli italiani

    7 BRUNELLO Sabino 2484   DUHAYON Yves 2241
    69 ROMBALDONI Denis 2497   WEGE Jochen 2263
    103 ZDEBSKAJA Natalia 2408   STIPS Felix 2209
    37 NABUURS Mart 2143   GOI Veronika 1944

    i nostri due Alfieri


    Veronika Goi, unica giocatrice italiana in gara, mentre gioca alla cieca

    foto tratta dalla galleria fotografica del settore arbitrale della FSI

     

    Igor Naumkin

    Preiscritti Over2600

    1 SOKOLOV Ivan 2649 F BIH
    2 KAZHGALEYEV Murtas 2643 F KAZ
    3 HAMMER Jon Ludvig 2627 F NOR
    4 DROZDOVSKIJ Yuri 2625 F UKR
    5 ROZENTALIS Eduardas 2623 F LTU
    6 SANDIPAN Chanda 2622 F IND
    7 NEGI Parimarjan 2621 F IND
    8 SUMETS Andrey 2621 F UKR
    9 VOROBIOV Evgeny E. 2621 F RUS
    10 BALOGH Csaba 2619 F HUN
    11 FEDORCHUK Sergey A. 2619 F UKR
    12 SANIKIDZE Tornike 2615 F GEO
    13 MAMEDOV Nidjat 2610 F AZE
    14 GHARAMIAN Tigran 2609 F FRA
    15 EDOUARD Romain 2608 F FRA
    16 CORRALES JIMENEZ Fidel 2602 F CUB
    17 KRYVORUCHKO Yuriy 2602 F UKR
    18 FIER Alexandr 2601 F BRA
    19 KOVALYOV Anton 2601 F ARG


    Ivan Sokolov, numero uno del ranking di partenza


    Jon Ludvig Hammer ha fatto la fortuna di molti fantallenatori nell'Europeo 2009


    Parimarjan Negi, 6° nel Corus B 2010


    la cinese Zhao Xue, giocatrice con l'elo più alto (2504)


    Regolamento

    Non sono ammesse le patte per accordo in meno di 20 mosse. In caso di arrivo in sede di gioco con oltre 30' di ritardo verrà decretata la sconfitta

    Calendario si gioca dal 13 al 20 febbraio tutti i giorni alle ore 14 ad esclusione del primo turno, posticipato alle 16 e dell'ultimo, anticipato alle 10. Il giorno 15 si disputeranno due turni (3° e 4°), il primo alle ore 9 ed il secondo alle 17.

    Sistema di accoppiamento viene utilizzato lo svizzero accelerato per 7 turni

    Tempo di riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' x terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa dalla prima mossa.


    un'immagine della sede di gioco tratta dal sito ufficiale
    Siti Utili

    sito ufficiale

    articolo dell'edizione 2009 di runner

    Visore
     
    http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1723
    2010-02-13T20:00:00+01:00
     
     
     
    Moscow Open 2010

      31 over 2600 in gara!

    Inizia oggi la “20 giorni moscovita”, con la sesta edizione dell’Open di Mosca che, ormai tradizionalmente, prelude al torneo Aeroflot (8 – 19 febbraio). L’ombra dell’open più forte del mondo  toglie forse un po’ di luce ad un Festival in realtà fantastico, con numeri da capogiro: circa 1300 gli scacchisti in gara, con un open femminile che raggiunge le 136 preiscritte e la presenza di 74 GM nel torneo principale, dei quali 31 over 2600!!

    Il torneo si svolge presso l’Università Statale di Mosca. Suona bene questa collocazione in un tempio della cultura, abbastanza distante, invece e purtroppo, dalla nostra realtà. Si gioca dal 30 gennaio al 7 febbraio, sempre alle ore 16 (14 in Italia) tranne l’ultimo turno, previsto alle 11 (le nove da noi). Identico per tutti i tornei il tempo di gioco, 105 minuti per la partita più 30 secondi per mossa a partire dalla prima. Come sempre razionale e ben fatto il sito di riferimento http://www.moscowchessopen.ru/eng/index . Prevista la trasmissione online delle partite, con link non ancora segnalato ma che credo corrisponda al solito http://russiachess.org/online/ . Montepremi notevolissimo di oltre 5 milioni di rubli (circa 118.000 euro), con 500.000 rubli al vincitore del torneo A.

    Sergei Rublevsky

    I primi 20 del tabellone principale:

    1 GM Rublevsky Sergei 2697 RUS 1974

    2 GM Motylev Alexander 2697 RUS 1979

    3 GM Bologan Viktor 2692 MDA 1971

    4 GM Bu Xiangzhi 2673 CHN 1985

    5 GM Georgiev Kiril 2672 BUL 1965

    6 GM Zhigalko Sergei 2668 BLR 1989

    7 GM Kurnosov Igor 2668 RUS 1985

    8 GM Najer Evgeniy 2665 RUS 1977

    9 GM Vescovi Giovanni 2660 BRA 1978

    10 GM Lastin Alexander 2659 RUS 1976

    11 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2658 RUS 1990

    12 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2653 IND 1981

    13 GM Grachev Boris 2653 RUS 1986

    14 GM Khismatullin Denis 2651 RUS 1984

    15 GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2649 RUS 1985

    16 GM Le Quang Liem 2647 VIE 1991

    17 GM Bareev Evgeny 2643 RUS 1966

    18 GM Kazhgaleyev Murtas 2643 KAZ 1973

    19 GM Savchenko Boris 2638 RUS 1986

    20 GM Andreikin Dmitry 2635 RUS 1990

     

    Ernesto Inarkiev

    Non pochi i giocatori che hanno già toccato quota 2700 in carriera. Grandissimo equilibrio comunque e gara pressoché impossibile da pronosticare. Un open così dovrebbe essere più adatto a giocatori che sanno rischiare e che riescono a trovare una buona vena nella gara, tuttavia un giocatore “solido” come Inarkiev, ad esempio, si è comportato benissimo sia nel 2008, nel gruppo dei secondi (alle spalle di Timofeev) dopo aver condotto il torneo con una impressionante serie di vittorie, sia nel 2009, sempre nel gruppetto dei secondi a mezzo punto dal vincitore Onishuk. D’altra parte, altrettanto buoni i risultati di un furente attaccante come Nepomniachtchi, anche lui a 7 su nove nel 2009 (e vincitore dell’Aeroflot 2008!).

    "Nepo"

    Sorprende un poco la discesa sotto i 2700 di Bu Xiangzhi ma il 24enne cinese ha relativamente ridotto la sua attività nel 2009, giocando peraltro meno spesso all’estero, forse in relazione ad impegni extra-scacchistici (magari qualche lettore ne sa di più). Se si è preparato per questa gara (e per il prossimo Aeroflot) Bu potrebbe essere da “pronosticare”. Notevole crescita nel recente periodo per il 19enne vietnamita Le Quang Liem, sicuramente talentuoso anche se non so se già abbastanza maturo e “roccioso” da sapersi imporre in un torneo così difficile. Fuori dai primi 20 in graduatoria Elo spiccano i nomi della Hou Yifan (2590) e del super creativo 17enne Sanan Sjugirov (2610). Non mancano poi grandi nomi, come Bareev, Andrei Sokolov, Evgeny Sveshnikov. Nonostante i ripetuti fallimenti nel fantascacchi, mi lancio comunque con un possibile podio: 1° Nepo, 2° Bu, 3° Rublevsky!

    Bu Xiangzhi

    Da notare la presenza di Igor Kurnosov, oggetto lo scorso anno all’Aeroflot di accuse di utilizzo di mezzi informatici da parte di Mamedyarov, duramente battuto nel confronto diretto e ritiratosi poi dalla gara; ne parlammo anche attraverso un’intervista a Mamedyarov di Ludwig Rettore, nostro corrispondente da Mosca (!! : - ) ) nelle ultime due edizioni. Non mi sembra che quest’anno Ludwig sia presente ma ripropongo l’introduzione al torneo che ci ha inviato nell’edizione 2009, del tutto attuale per trasportarci nella capitale degli scacchi:

    Luwig Rettore impegnato contro il super GM Emil Sutowsky

    "Agli amici di Scacchierando,

    Mosca è indubbiamente la vera capitale degli scacchi, citare la meraviglia di questi due megaopen immancabilmente appaiati nel mese di febbraio sarebbe per me l’ennesima ripetizione e naturalmente non sono il solo esempio che premia e mette in luce la dedizione di questa città per la nostra amata arte. A tratti è proprio l’aria che si respira a fare la differenza, si vedono ragazzi in metrò presi da tattiche sfide sul cellulare, né è una rarità vedere gente intenta a risolvere l’ultimo problema sulla Shakmatnaia Nedelia, o su un qualche quotidiano russo. Per di più si tratta spesso di problemi che escono dalla nostra un po’ labile mentalità scacchistica in quanto non tendono necessariamente a combinazioni da matto o a cospicui vantaggi di materiale bensì guarda un po’, a semplici vantaggi posizionali, al guadagno di un pedone o dei due alfieri, o ancora di una misera casa debole. Il testo si rivela essere sempre il bianco muove ( e perciò non necessariamente vince!) inducendo perciò il solutore a immedesimarsi nella partita, e a cercare la verità in ogni ambito dell’arte scacchistica, in ogni parte dell’universo della scacchiera. Insomma andare a caccia anche di quei cosiddetti ‘vantaggi minori’ rientra nella tipica logica della scuola russa e porta ad apprezzarne forse ancor più globalmente il gioco e perciò a migliorarsi… (Un consiglio per i nostri mitici direttori Messa e Capece…)

    Ma a proposito di bella aria che si respira, io mi reco spesso allo sgangherato circolo dell’Oktiabrskaia club (con le sedie senza schienale e i re senza croce) a due passi dal monumento di Lenin. Qui i tornei lampo sono all’insegna dei grandi maestri e talvolta anche dei grandi nomi, una fortuna che ovviamente si possono permettere data la vastità di GM. Anzi… vedendone sempre di nuovi viene da chiedersi: ma quanti ve ne sono nella sola Mosca? Una domanda che rimbalzo a Runner and company…

    Beh per stavolta ho messo più in luce lo sfondo che i tornei in sé data ahimé, la carenza di italiani disposti a parteciparvi quest’anno. Niente Caruana, niente Brunello… (presenti all’Aeroflot 2008 - ndr) quasi niente, nell’Aeroflot a dire il vero vi sarò soltanto io mentre nell’Open di Mosca sarò accompagnato appena da un altro paio di italiani nell’Open B. Ovviamente niente di sufficiente a destare troppo interesse… eppure…eppure pensandoci bene un bel nome in grado di difendere i nostri colori e a farci sognare c’è, soprattutto ricordando quello che ha fatto l’anno scorso e di come gioiva non solo per i risultati eccellenti ottenuti ma anche, ancor più, per il vostro apporto! Avete capito di chi sto parlando?…"

    Na zdarovia!

    Ludwig Rettore

    Non mi sembra ci siano italiani in gara in questa edizione 2010 ma il “nostro” Igor Naumkin (autore di un magnifico torneo nel 2008) c’è anche quest’anno!

    Se poi vogliamo affidarci ad un’assonanza italiana per tifare possiamo puntare l’attenzione su Giovanni Vescovi, anche se a parte il nome non ho idea di quanto vicina e avvertita sia la sua ascendenza italiana. Vescovi, 31 anni, è diventato IM a 15 anni e GM a 20, entrando nella top 100 mondiale nel 2001 e superando la soglia dei 2600 nel 2002, pur contemperando l’attività scacchistica con gli studi giuridici. Tra i suoi migliori risultati la vittoria nel torneo delle Bermuda del 2004, doppio girone a sei giocatori in cui ha superato Gelfand, Movsesian, Iordachescu, Shabalov e Macieja, concludento imbattuto con 7 su 10. Nel dicembre 2006 la decisione di lasciare il professionismo per dedicarsi alla carriera legale. Tuttavia, incoraggiato da familiari ed amici, lo scorso giugno ha scelto di dedicarsi completamente all’attività scacchistica, con l’obiettivo dichiarato di superare i 2700. Ha vinto il suo settimo titolo brasiliano lo scorso dicembre ma ha avuto una prova sofferta in prima scacchiera nel recente World Team Chess Championship. Questo Moscow Open é una occasione, peraltro non facile, per ritrovare fiducia.

    Il pluricampione brasiliano Giovanni Vescovi

     

     
    http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1702
    2010-01-30T02:00:56+01:00
     
     
     
    Corus Chess Tournament
    shirovThe 2010 Corus Chess Tournament is taking place from 15th until 31st January 2010 in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. The winner of the top group will qualify for the Grand Slam Final 2010.

    The Corus has three main tournaments. They are played according to the round-robin system, whereby each competitor plays in turn against every other during the tournament. All three Grandmaster groups have 14 players and start on January 16th. All rounds begin at 13:30 hours, except for the last round on January 31st, which begins at 12.30 hours.

    The first rest day arrived after four rounds of fierce fighting. Alexei Shirov is off to a flying start in the top group A, having scored all four wins, and is now full point ahead of the chasing pack. "If I try to play for a draw with Black in the Petroff, I lose, and when I try to win with White I also lose." - Shirov shared for the official website. Thus far, Alexey Shirov earned three IJmond Veelzijdig prizes, awarded by the commentator GM Ivan Sokolov for the best game of the day in each group.Hikaru Nakamura continues to play in fantastic shape after the World Team Chess Championship and signs nice wins against van Wely and Short. Tied on the second place with Nakamura are Magnus Carlsen and Vassily Ivanchuk. Dutch Grandmasters Loek van Wely and Jan Smeets are holding a negative record with three consecutive losses each.

    In the B group former Russian and now Dutch wonderboy Anish Giri and experienced Chinese Ni Hua are sharing the first place with three points each. Giri beat the top Grandmasters P. Harikrishna and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu at the beginning, while Ni also scored against strong opposition - Emil Sutovsky and Finland's Tomy Nyback. The two leaders split point ina head-to-head encounter in the 4th round. Dmitry Reinderman, another local Grandmaster, is last with only half a point which he took off from Giri.

    Two future stars, Li Chao and Ray Robson, are dominating the mixed C tournament, and both have collected 3.5 points from four games. The nearest followers are full point behind, but the race is still long with nine rounds to go.

    The action continues on Thursday, tune in to follow the games on the official website. A number of other chess services provide live expert commentary on selected games.


    shirov
    Alexei Shirov


    vassily-ivanchuk
    Vassily Ivanchuk


    ni-hua
    Ni Hua


    nisipeanu
    Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu



     
    http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4290-corus-chess-tournament
    Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:41:50 +0000
     
     
     
    Niederländische Liga
    Mit einigen deutschen Spielern gespickt ist die auch Mannschaft von Homburg Apeldoorn, die in der höchsten niederländischen Spielklasse, der Meesterklasse antritt. In der heutigen 5. Runde hatten die Spieler GM Michael Hoffmann, GM Sebastian Siebrecht und IM Ilja Zaragatski nichts zu bestellen und verloren allesamt bei der 2,5-7,5 Klatsche gegen den souveränen, verlustpunktfreien Tabellenführer aus Groningen, welcher mit Ivan Sokolov am Spitzenbrett antritt. IM Alexander Kabatianski gelang für die Apeldoorner immerhin ein Remis gegen IM Erik Hoeksema. Mit 8 Mannschaftpunkten Tabellenzweiter ist derzeit Schrijvers Rotterdam. HSG ist das zweite Topteam der Liga, da mit Stars wie Van Wely, Stellwagen, L´Ami , Smeets, Seirawan und Nikolic bestückt. HSG hat noch eine Nachholpartie gegen den punktlosen Tabellenletzten HWP SAS van Gent zu bestreiten und könnte bei einem Sieg auf Platz 2 vorstoßen.  Offizielle Seite
     
    http://www.schach.com/component/content/article/1-schach/772-niederlaendische-liga
    Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:20:35 +0000
     
     
     
    Aronian, Agassi and the Project Triangle of Chess

    Every chess player, no matter how weak, has a high point in his career. Mine occurred in May 2007, during the last round of the Dutch Team Chess Championship. I was playing in the Master League, the highest level in Dutch chess, and I was surrounded by all the top players of The Netherlands. Moreover, I had prepared a spectacular line which was sure to make the headlines the next day. In reality, I was displaying typical amateur behaviour.

    During the first moves, I was king of the world; never felt better. Everything went according to plan. From the outside, it looked as if we got a sharp position on the board, full of chances for both players. To be sure, everybody was looking at my game. What could go wrong? Yet it was then that it all went horribly wrong.

    My opponent was the talented youngster Wouter Spoelman, now a respected GM who recently did live commentary for ChessVibes during the Tal Memorial. In a sharp Najdorf main line, I had ‘prepared’ an obscure variation which would guarantee me interesting play against the uncastled black king, and with my opponent unprepared, I hoped to achieve at least a draw and, most  importantly, gain the respect from my teammates, including several grandmasters. It wasn’t to be.

    Moll-Spoelman
    Dutch League, 2007

    In this position, instead of the usual 14.f6, I played the little-analysed

    14.g6!? and immediately got up from my chair. I walked around for a while and saw that Ivan Sokolov was studying my position with some interest. I also saw that my opponent had never looked at this move before as he buried his head in his hands and started thinking for almost 45 minutes. In the mean time, I walked around, ordered several coffees, chatted with friends and enjoyed life. When I finally came back to the board, I saw that my opponent had played the expected

    14…hxg6 I remembered that John Nunn, in his seminal The Complete Najdorf: 6.Bg5 now gave 15.fxg6 fxg6 16.b4 Na4 17.Nxa4 bxa4 18.e5! leading to extremely complex play, as in the game Markzon-DeFirmian, New York 1991, which I had thorougly looked at in my preparations. So I instantly played what is in retrospect the most stupid move of my entire chess career:

    15.fxg6?? and went in total shock after Spoelman played

    15…0-0!! … brutally ending my preparation by playing a novelty Nunn failed to mention and, more importantly, which I had failed to analyse beforehand. I immediately felt I was now lost in a higher sense: black’s king is safe, he has an extra center pawn, a lead in development and apart from an isolated e-pawn, my pieces just don’t coordinate at all. I cursed myself for my sloppy homework and my horrible attitude of walking around and being proud of myself instead of thinking about the game. Most of all, I realized how utterly untalented I was in ‘feeling chess’, in recognizing crucial moments and sensing the ‘momentum’, especially in such an important game. I felt utterly amateurish in such a professional setting, and I was truly ashamed of myself. 

    Of course, if I had actually thought for a few minutes at move 15, I would have played 15.fxe6! regardless of what Nunn had written, if only because Black can’t castle after that in view of the threat Nd5. Now, however, after the subsequent 16.Qh5 fxg6 17.Qxg6 Bf6 Black was already better and won easily in 32 moves. It was to be my last game in the Master League, and I think I still haven’t fully recovered since. I’m a ‘mere’ chess amateur now - always was destined to be one – and all I have of that period is a few good memories of playing at a level where I totally didn’t belong.

    Well, to be honest I had it coming. My ‘preparation’ consisted of checking Nunn’s book and looking at a few possibilities in the DeFirmian game. I hadn’t really studied the tactical nuances of the position at all, let alone its strategical characteristics. I simply lacked the time to do more than I did, but I was also lazy. In short, I lacked both time and interest. I guess I just wasn’t that into chess anymore.

    Secondly, I found the fact that I was playing together with these top players in one room more important than actually winning the game. I was playing chess for all the wrong reasons: not because I wanted to have success, but because I wanted to be successful. I wanted to enjoy chess instead of playing it well. And thirdly, of course, I just lacked the talent to turn the game around after seeing it go wrong. In fact, I didn’t even believe in being able to turn it around.  I played a few weak moves right after the crucial stage and found myself lost before I knew it. 

    Why am I telling you all this? I think the three factors I’ve mentioned quite accurarely define amateur chess life in general. I thought about this during a project management course in which the teacher showed us the following picture:

    This dilemma (here applied to restaurants) is also known as the Project Triangle, which states a project can’t be done cheap, fast and good: it’s always a combination of two, not three of these. Similar examples can be found in other fields, such as operation systems (fast, efficient, stable), engineering parts (strong, light, cheap), dateable men (handsome, high-Earner, faithful) and, inevitably, women (single, sane, sexy, smart – choose three). 

    Can this principle also be applied to chess? Well, a club member of mine has long ago suggested that for chess players, it’s impossible to be succesful in relationships, work and chess all at the same time. But what about more specific chess-related aspects? Looking at the above example, I came up with the following ‘Chess Triangle’:

    Chess Triangle

    Pick any two. It’s funny how this triangle works for me: I can have fun and not spend time studying chess, but I will lose games as a result of this relaxed attitude and therefore not be successful. Or I can enjoy chess and aim to be successful, but it requires hard work and there’s no way to take it easy. Finally, I can relax and be successful, but at the very least it forces me to play systematic, mechanical and – to me – dull chess; trustworthy openings I know like the back of my hand, instead of experimenting with interesting new ideas.

    I think this pretty much works for most chess players, but some seem to defy the rule gloriously. Levon Aronian seems a case in point. The Armenian super-GM has a reputation of not being a hard worker at all. He seems the ultimate example of the relaxed chess player who’s still successful and has fun playing. Asked about the single most important factor in his current success, he answered: “Pure luck”. This seems to echo Artur Rubinstein, arguably the greatest pianist of the 20th century, who once proclaimed: “It is said of me that when I was young I divided my time impartially among wine, women and song. I deny this categorically. Ninety percent of my interests were women.”

    Aronian likes to sleep late and has claimed to be “lazy” in his opening preparation. Is he the Rubinsteinian exception that proves the rule? Perhaps, but I, for one, do not believe for a single second that he doesn’t prepare his ass off, together with Gabriel Sargissian, when he faces the big guys. Apart from his reputation of being lazy, Aronian, just like Rubinstein, also has a reputation of being ironic in his answers - perhaps to disguise his true intentions, perhaps because he equates being serious with being boring.

    Looking at some of Aronian’s colleagues, however, it’s easy to see hard work is a necessary part of being succesful in chess even for those who could theoretically compensate it with sheer talent. This is the same message Malcolm Gladwell brings home in his recent book Outliers: it’s all about hard work, or: practice, practice, practice. (Gladwell mentions both chess and music as clear examples.) Sadly, that’s exactly what chess amateurs like me lack: time to practice. Even ignoring the fact that most amateurs, including myself, lack any talent for the game, it’s simply a matter of not having enough time to spend on chess, resulting in such awful things as my game against Spoelman.

    Like so many others, I try to compensate it by telling myself it’s all about “having fun” and “taking it easy”, but somehow it feels bad when the results don’t follow. No matter how hard I convince myself of the opposite, I still feel positively annoyed whenever I lose. Then again, I don’t want to play ’solid’ or ’safe’ chess and at least avoid the worst kind of catastrophes. I want to have fun in chess, not only by scoring good results but also by playing itself.  But maybe this, too, is over-ambitious.

    I’ve often wondered whether a chess ‘pro’ like Vladimir Epishin, who used to play in about every European tournament imaginable, routinely grinding amateurs down in the first three rounds only to start playing seriously against his colleagues in later rounds – whether he actually enjoys chess as a game. Sure, he often wins prizes and he works hard for it, but that’s preciesely the point: it’s work for him (and many others), but where’s the fun in playing? Does he enjoy trying out a new idea in the Sicilian? Somehow, I have my doubts.

    I am reminded of Andre Agassi, one of my teenage tennis-heroes, who recenlty stated (in his autobiography) that he hated tennis during his most succesful period. (And he wasn’t alone: his wife, Steffi Graf, used to hate it, too.) Again, the triangle seems to work not only for amateurs but for most (chess) players I can think of. You can’t have fun and relax and be successful at the same time – come to think of it, this is especially true for professionals.

    Well then, may it be a consolation for us patzers! We’ll remain amateurs for the rest of our lives – and boy, don’t we hate it? – but at least we get to choose whether we want to have fun, to relax or to be succesful (at least to a certain extent). Against Spoelman, I chose to relax, and got kicked for it hard. Andre Agassi didn’t have that option. Sometimes being an amateur isn’t so bad after all.

     
    http://www.chessvibes.com/columns/aronian-agassi-and-the-project-triangle-of-chess/
    Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:48:55 +0000
     
     
     
    Five Easy Pieces: White Open Sicilian Repertoire
    Many amateur chess players are put off from playing the Open Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 followed by 3.d4) as White because of the wide range of choices at Black's disposal and the apparently large amount of theory you need to know to support this choice. The Open Sicilian looks like a lot of study.  But 2.Nf3 followed by 3.d4 is looking better than anything else against the Sicilian these days, and the anti-Sicilian side-lines (especially the Grand Prix, Smith-Morra, and Alapin) have accumulated enough theory of their own to make the effort to learn them nearly comparable to some main line repertoire choices.  A number of repertoire books, including John Nunn's three editions of Beating the Sicilian (my first influence), Nigel Davies's interesting Taming the Sicilian, Jesus de la Villa's mixed bag Dismantling the Sicilian, and (the best of the lot and most current) Quality Chess's multiple-authored Experts vs. the Sicilian make it almost seem possible to get your arms around main line Open Sicilian theory with just a little guidance.

    But is it possible to construct a low-theory, not-so-mainline Open Sicilian repertoire that is completely supported by free web sources?  That's the challenge I took on in compiling the following "Five Easy Pieces" main line Sicilian webliography.  If anyone is looking for a "starter" Open Sicilian repertoire on the web, here it is.  I may revise it down the road if my interest (or that of readers) merits, especially to add to the supplemental resources at the end.  As always, reader suggestions are most welcome.

    The lines I have chosen emphasize White's claim on the center, typically with an early f4 advance. These are very dangerous lines, especially at the amateur level where you are likely to score many quick kills by just over-running your opponent in the center (typically with an early e5) or on the kingside (often with an f5 advance).

    1) Sicilian Dragon, Levenfish Variation (B71)
    The Levenfish Variation has always intrigued me. White sets a huge trap for naive Dragoneers (or hasty blitz players) who continue with the natural 6...Bg7, when 7.e5! leads to some very sharp and dangerous play (that anyone who is booked enough to survive would have avoided by playing the safer 6...Nc6 in the first place!)  And some Black alternatives turn out not to be completely free of danger, as the following resources suggest.



    Transpo Tips: Black can sidestep the Levenfish and "enter the Dragon" via an Accelerated (2...Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6) or Hyper-Accelerated (2...g6) move order. You can meet the Accelerated with an early f4 push in the Maroczy Bind (which is essentially a Four Pawns Attack against the KID) as described in "How to Beat a GM, Part One Torture" and "How to Beat a GM, Part Five" by IM Tim Taylor. And you can meet the Hyper-Accelerated with 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4! Nf6 5.e5! as discussed by Gary Lane in Opening Lanes #115 -- meeting 3.d4 Bg7!? with 4.dxc5! Qa5+ 5.c3! as discussed by Jonathan Hilton in "How Wojo Won: The Accelerated Dragon" (which covers Nakamura - Wojtkiewicz, New York 2005, where Wojo lost; also see their game from 2004).

    2) Najdorf (B93), Scheveningen (B82), and Classical (B56) with f4

    Viktor Kupreichik and others have played a very straight-forward f4 system against lines where Black gets a small center (with d6 and e6).  This is most clear in the Najdorf line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 followed generally by a4, Bd3, Nf3, O-O, and possibly Qe1-g3 or -h4. This is a very straightforward line and much easier for White to play than for Black. 




    3) Sveshnikov Variation, Markovic Attack (B33)
    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5
    This might be called the "simplified Svesh," as White avoids the long and well-trodden paths of 7.Bg5 for the exchange line 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5, fixing the pawn center and giving the game a more strategic character. White can play this line in a few ways, but my links below focus on two: (1) the tricky and tactical 8...Nb8 9.Qf3!? meeting 9...a6 by 10.Qa3 pinning the a-pawn so that the Knight can remain on b5 and preparing a direct piece assault on the backward d-pawn by Bd2-b4, and (2) the solid 8...Nb8 9.c4 planning an eventual f4! to hault Black's kingside ambitions before getting on with the business of a queenside attack with c5.  The latter will hold up best long-term, but the former makes for some fun games and perhaps an interesting side-line.

    Transpo Tips: Black can try to reach the Sveshnikov while side-stepping the 7.Nd5 line via different early-e6 move orders, but the f4 system I recommend will generally keep play in our ballpark. White also needs to be prepared for the other ...e5 lines, especially the Haberditz and Lowenthal discussed by Bücker above.  Strong play against the Lowenthal was demonstrated in the game Robson - Vigorito, which I have annotated. 

    4) Paulsen and Kan (B48)
    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 followed generally by Be3, Bd3, O-O and eventual f4 advance.  This is much more straight-forward than the g3 "Guseinov Gambit" lines I've written about here previously.

    5) Pin Variation, Koch's Refutation (B40)
    The ultra-sharp Pin Variation (    1.e4 c5  2.Nf3 e6  3.d4 cxd4  4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4) has become popular among amateurs, but Koch's 6.e5 looks practically like a refutation.

    Supplemental Material
    Black has a number of sidelines that you need to know as White.  I may add more material here and welcome reader recommendations.

    • Kovacevic vs Pazos-Gambarrotti at Chessgames
      A solid response to 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d5!? is 5. Bb5, which practically forces a favorable ending for White -- as analyzed in depth by Gary Lane in Opening Lanes #124 at ChessCafe.
    • Tofte - Wohl, Arctic Challenge 2009 at Chessgames
      This looks like a good approach to the Grivas (early Qb6), which represents essentially a transposition to the f4 lines considered above.  The main line Grivas for White typically involves an ultra-aggressive g4 and O-O-O here, but I think White does better with the more circumspect O-O treatment that Tofte demonstrates.
     
    http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/kenilworthian/2010/01/five-easy-pieces-open-sicilian.html
    Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:45:00 +0000
     
     
     
    NJKOs Advance to Final Four

    The New Jersey Knockouts advanced to the final four of the US Chess League with their victory Monday night over Baltimore. Wins by the New York Knights (Monday over Boston), Miami Sharks (Wednesday over Seattle) and San Francisco Mechanics (Wednesday over Arizona) have made for an unpredictable final, since the Knockouts were the only team with the better record to advance. Miami's victory over Seattle was especially a surprise, with GM Julio Becerra not only beating GM Hikaru Nakamura but doing so in a record 12 moves!

    I have analyzed the Knockouts victory over Baltimore and posted it online in a java replay article along with the PGN file to download.

    The New Jersey - Baltimore match was very hard fought, but Baltimore had little chance against the best team in the League playing with draw odds (which meant that Baltimore had to win the match to advance). Nevertheless, Baltimore gave it their all and the games were very hard fought and complex (which is part of why I have not posted my analysis sooner!)

    The game that interested me most was the Board One encounter between GM Joel Benjamin and GM Sergey Erenburg, which had lots of drama in all of its stages. Benjamin played the super-solid Spanish Four Knights (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5), which I have written about in these pages (see my Spanish Four Knights Bibliography and various articles). It's a great opening to choose when you are playing with draw odds as White. Erenburg played the increasingly popular 4...Bd6!? which has been discussed by a number of sources, including an article in SOS #1 by Jeroen Bosch titled "Sokolov's Surprise" (currently available online as a PDF download at the New in Chess website.) This line has turned into a "cold war" of sorts, with Black waiting for White to castle kingside before he castles himself to avoid a potentially dangerous g4-g5 attack. The waiting game continues with White playing h3 (to support a possible g4 advance) and a3 (to provide an escape square for the Bishop) and Black playing h6 (to prevent a pin by Bg5) and a6 (trying to gain the Bishop pair by either Bxc6 dxc6 or Ba4 b5 Bb3 Na5 etc.) Black has more useful waiting moves than White does, however, and so White generally castles before Black and the second player can equalize without much trouble (as discussed by Larry Kaufman in The Chess Advantage in Black and White). But if Black wants to avoid a drawish Four Knights game then he might need to think of another plan.

    Some recent games have shown that Black can get away with castling right away, inviting White into the complications that follow g4 and often gaining good counterplay against White's king in the center. It's a double-edged continuation, but just the thing if you need to play for a win, so Erenburg naturally gave it a try. But he made a clear mistake after 5.d3 a6 6.Ba4 h6 7.a3 0-0!? 8.g4! Bc5 9.Rg1 d6 10.h3 Nh7 when White pushed forward with 11.g5 and he answered with 11...g6? (temporarily sacrificing a pawn) when probably 11...hxg5 or even 11...h5!? are better and lead to a balanced but complex struggle. After Erenburg's error, Benjamin had firm control of the initiative and great prospects of a kingside attack. However, just when the game began to look like it would be decided in the middlegame, Benjamin traded queens and headed for a slightly advantageous ending so that he could play for a win or draw without risk of losing. Erenburg fought hard and the ending became a very double-edged slugfest. Benjamin probably was never really at risk of losing, but both players were challenged to keep from getting in time trouble due to the complexity of the situation. Eventually Benjamin found a line that assured either a clear advantage or a draw by repetition (which by that point would have won the match.) Refusing to submit to the team loss, Erenburg chose a dangerous way to continue the game, after which Benjamin was able to force a win on the strength of a central passed pawn. This was quite an epic encounter and worth careful study.

    Dean Ippolito's game on Board Two against Tegshsuren Enkhbat was a much more straightforward affair. The opening posed some problems for Black, but none for which Ippolito seemed unprepared. Displaying his command of elite opening theory, Ippolito demonstrated an important improvement on some previous high level games in a line of the Slav where White typically has some chances of making trouble for Black in the ending. But Ippolito played with excellent care and secured a draw by repetition in an equal Rook ending. It is possible that most of the game was covered in his preparation.

    On Board Three, Mackenzie Molner took up the White side of a well-traveled and extremely double-edged line of the Sveshnikov Sicilian where Black gambits a pawn. His opponent, Shinsaku Uesugi, eventually got very strong counterplay that won back the pawn with advantage. However, rather than patiently building up his position, Uesugi went for premature breakthroughs (especially with 28...f4 and 37...e3) that ended up allowing lots of exchanges. When he exchanged Rooks in time pressure with 42...Ra7, the game petered out into a drawn bishops of opposite color ending, which essentially guaranteed a New Jersey match win.

    Battsetseg - Finn
    Black to play.

    Bour Four had the brilliant expert Sean Finn playing WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg in a line of the Saemisch King's Indian that resembled a Benko Gambit. A clear ratings favorite, Battsetseg seemed to be playing to keep things under control and have a quiet game. But Finn would have none of that, offering up his b-pawn for queenside counterplay. Battsetseg declined the gambit but Finn got good play anyway. And when Battsetseg seemed to have him stymied, Finn channeled Boris Gulko to play a brilliant "GM Exchange sac" that changed the course of the game. Likely White could have maintained equality, but Battsetseg missed a neat tactic (see diagram above) that netted Finn a winning material advantage, which he promptly converted with the help of connected passed pawns. This was a brilliant game from start to finish and I expect Finn to have a master rating by next season.

    Next week, New Jersey faces their arch-rival New York Knights, who have been responsible for ending New Jersey's previous two seasons. Let's hope there are plenty of donuts on hand -- and that the third time is the charm.

    Related Links
     
    http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/kenilworthian/2009/11/njkos-advance-to-final-four.html
    Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:43:00 +0000
     
     
     
    Torneo internacional de Pamplona
    GM Julio Granda

    GM Julio Granda

    Esta época de diciembre parece ser la más propicia del año para jugar ajedrez. Para prueba, pueden observarse las páginas www.ajedrezenmadrid.com, www.susanpolgar.blogspot.com, http://www.europe-echecs.com/ o www.chess-results.com/, que en opinión de este colaborador le brindan muy buena información al interesado en estos temas. En estas páginas, el lector podrá informarse de la gran cantidad de torneos que hay actualmente en juego en todo el mundo.

    El torneo internacional de Pamplona comprende un torneo magistral, al que aquí haremos referencia, y uno abierto, en el que hay inscritos 60 jugadores; todos españoles, con excepción del búlgaro Iván Tetimov.

    Ficha del torneo magistral: 
    Organizador  : IO Joaquin Perez-Seoane
    Director del Torneo  : GM Jesus De la Villa García
    Árbitro Principal  : IA Jesus Mena
    Árbitro  : FA Gregorio Sola
    Ciudad  : Pamplona
    Categoría  : 13 (Elo medio: 2575)
    Fecha  : 21.12.2009 A 29.12.2009

    El torneo se disputará en el Hotel Blanca de Navarra de Pamplona. El acto de clausura y el reparto de premios tendrán lugar el día 29 de diciembre de 2009 a las 21′00 horas en la sala de juego.
     
    El ritmo de juego será de 90 minutos para las primeras 40 jugadas más otros 30 minutos para terminar la partida.  Desde la primera jugada se añadirán 30 segundos por cada nueva jugada realizada. Se utilizarán relojes digitales. 

    Listado de Participantes torneo magistral:

    SNo.

     

    		Nombre

    EloInt

    FED

    		Aut

    1

    GM

    		 GEORGIEV, Kiril

    2672

    BUL

    		   -

    2

    GM

    		 MEIER, Georg

    2653

    GER

    		   -

    3

    GM

    		 GRANDA ZÚÑIGA, Julio E.

    2640

    PER

    		 Can

    4

    GM

    		 LAZNICKA, Viktor

    2637

    CZE

    		 Cat

    5

    GM

    		 MIRZOEV, Azer

    2617

    AZE

    		 Cat

    6

    GM

    		 LOPEZ MARTINEZ, Josep Manuel

    2589

    ESP

    		 Cat

    7

    IM

    		 ALSINA LEAL, Daniel

    2523

    ESP

    		 Cat

    8

    IM

    		 RECUERO GUERRA, David

    2494

    ESP

    		 Ast

    9

    IM

    		 REINALDO CASTIÑEIRA, Roi

    2488

    ESP

    		 Gal

    10

    IM

    		 HUERGA LEACHE, Mikel

    2435

    ESP

    		 Nav

     Clasificación tras la 4ª ronda:

    Rank

    SNo.

     

    		 Nombre

    Elo

    FED

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    7

    8

    9

    10

    Pts

    Sonen

    Res.

    1

    7

    GM

    		 GRANDA ZUÑIGA, Julio E.

    2640

    PER

    *

     

     

     

    1

    1

     

     

    1

    1

    4

    5,00

    0

    2

    3

    GM

    		 GEORGIEV, Kiril

    2672

    BUL

     

    *

    ½

    ½

     

     

    1

    ½

     

     

    2½

    4,50

    0

    3

    1

    GM

    		 MEIER, Georg

    2653

    GER

     

    ½

    *

    ½

    ½

     

     

     

     

    1

    2½

    3,50

    0

    4

    2

    GM

    		 LOPEZ MARTINEZ, Josep M.

    2589

    ESP

     

    ½

    ½

    *

     

     

    ½

     

     

    1

    2½

    3,25

    0

    5

    4

    GM

    		 LAZNICKA, Viktor

    2637

    CZE

    0

     

    ½

     

    *

     

    ½

    1

     

     

    2

    3,00

    0

    6

    6

    GM

    		 MIRZOEV, Azer

    2617

    AZE

    0

     

     

     

     

    *

     

    ½

    ½

    1

    2

    1,00

    0

    7

    9

    IM

    		 ALSINA LEAL, Daniel

    2523

    ESP

     

    0

     

    ½

    ½

     

    *

     

    ½

     

    1½

    2,75

    0

    8

    8

    IM

    		 REINALDO CASTIÑEIRA, Roi

    2488

    ESP

     

    ½

     

     

    0

    ½

     

    *

     

     

    1

    2,25

    0

    9

    5

    IM

    		 RECUERO GUERRA, David

    2494

    ESP

    0

     

     

     

     

    ½

    ½

     

    *

     

    1

    1,75

    0

    10

    10

    IM

    		 HUERGA LEACHE, Mikel

    2435

    ESP

    0

     

    0

    0

     

    0

     

     

     

    *

    0

    0,00

    0

    A continuación, veamos quiénes han ganado el torneo desde que se fundó en el año 90. 

    AÑO

    		 CAMPEÓN  SEGUNDO TERCERO

    1990

    		 Leonid Yudasin Viktor Korchnoi Zsuzsa Polgar

    1991

    		 Leonid Yudasin Miguel Illescas Zsuzsa Polgar

    1992

    		 Joel Lautier Miguel Illescas David García

    1993

    		 Jordi Magem Andrei Sokolov Felix Izeta

    1994

    		 Alexander Morozevich Vadim Zvjaginsev Jordi Magem

    1995

    		 Jordi Magem Julio Granda Miguel Illescas

    1996

    		 Zoltan Almasi Jonathan Speelman Zurab Azmaiparashvili

    1997

    		 Miguel Illescas Ulf Anderson Julio Granda

    1998

    		 Alexander Morozevich Michal Krasenkov Loek Van Welly

    1999

    		 Nigel Short Boris Gelfand Zoltan Almasi

    2001

    		 Viktor Bologan Teimour Radjabov Zoltan Almasi

    2002

    		 Rustam Kasimdzhanov Viktor Bologan Paco Vallejo

    2003

    		 Miguel Illescas Luke McShane Emil Sutovsky

    2004

    		 Boris Gelfand Segei Karjakin Lázaro Bruzón

    2005

    		 Ruslan Ponomariov P. Harikrishna Ivan Cheparinov

    2006

    		 Alexander Morozevich Dmitry Jakovenko Alexei Shirov

    2007

    		 Francisco Vallejo Yue Wang Baadur Jobava

    2008

    		 Krishnan Sasikiran Vladimir Malakhov Francisco Vallejo

    Veamos ahora dos de las partidas que ha ganado el peruano Julio Granda, que en esta ocasión lleva cuatro partidas ganadas en las cuatro rondas.     
                      
    Granda Zúñiga, Julio (2640) – Recuero Guerra, David (2494) [A29]
    19. Ciudad de Pamplona – Magistral Pamplona ESPAÑA (2.2), 22.12.2009

     1.c4 Cf6 2.Cc3 e5 3.Cf3 Cc6 4.g3 Ab4 5.Ag2 0–0 6.0–0 Te8 7.d3 h6 8.e4 d6 9.h3 a6 10.Ae3 Axc3 11.bxc3 b5 12.c5 Ae6 13.cxd6 cxd6 14.Cd2 d5 15.Cb3 Dc8 16.Rh2 dxe4 17.dxe4 Td8 18.Dc1 Dc7 19.Da3 Axb3 20.axb3

    Granda se ha quedado con la pareja de alfiles.

    20…Td3 21.Db2 a5

    El negro se prepara para doblar las torres en la columna ‘d’.

    22.Tfd1 Txd1 23.Txd1 Td8 24.Tc1 Db7 25.c4 Cb4 26.Da1 bxc4 27.Txc4 Cc6 28.Da4 Td6 29.Tc5 Db4 30.Dxb4 axb4 31.Tc4 Cd7 32.Af1 Rh7 33.Rg2 Rg6 34.f4 f6 35.Rf2 Rf7 36.h4 exf4 37.gxf4 g5 38.e5 fxe5 39.fxg5 hxg5 40.hxg5 Cd4 41.Tc7 Rg6 42.Ad3+ Rh5 43.Tc1 e4

    La situación del rey negro es delicada. Está cayendo en una red de mate. Por eso se deciden a entregar este peón.

    44.Axe4 Ce5 45.Af4 Te6 46.Re3 Cg6 47.Th1+ Rg4 48.Tg1+ Rh5 49.Th1+ Rg4 50.Rxd4 Cxf4 51.g6!? Te7 52.Th7 Ce6+ 53.Rc4 Cg7 54.Ad5 Rf5 55.Txg7 Txg7

    La torre está presa y el otro peón está a punto de caer.
    56.Af7 Re5 57.Rc5 Rf6 58.Rxb4 Re7 59.Rc5 Rd7 60.Rd5 Re7 61.Re5 Rf8 62.Re6

    Ahora la torre está obligada a tomar.

    Posición final

    1–0
    (15) Mirzoev, Azer (2617) – Granda Zúñiga, Julio (2640) [E20]
    19. Ciudad de Pamplona – Magistral Pamplona ESP (3.5), 23.12.2009
    1.d4 Cf6 2.c4 e6 3.Cc3 Ab4 4.Ad2 0–0 5.a3 Axc3 6.Axc3 Ce4 7.Dc2 Cxc3 8.Dxc3 b6 9.Cf3 Ab7 10.e3 d6 11.Ae2 Cd7 12.0–0 c5 13.Tfd1 De7 14.dxc5 Cxc5 15.Cd2 Tac8 16.Tac1 Tc7 17.b4 Cd7 18.Dd4 Tfc8 19.Cb3 Dg5

    El peón ‘d’ es débil, pero por ahora Granda amenaza mate en ‘g2’.

    20.g3

    Posición después de 20.g3

    Posición después de 20.g3

    Da la impresión de que esta jugada sea la causa de muchos de los problemas del GM Mirzoev a lo largo de la partida.

    20…Dg6

    Tampoco se puede tomar el peón ‘d’ por 21…De5, con nueva amenaza de mate.

    21.Df4 e5 22.Dg4 Df6 23.Dh3 g6 24.Df1 De6 25.Cd2 Cf6 26.Af3 Aa6 27.b5 Ab7 28.Axb7

    Aquí termina el capítulo del poderoso alfil blanco de las negras. Pero continua vigente la debilidad blanca en ‘c4’.
     
    28… Txb7 29.Tc3 Tbc7 30.Td3 Rg7 31.h4 e4 32.Td4 Tc5 33.a4 h6 34.Dg2 d5!? 35.cxd5 Txd5 36.Cb3 Te5 37.Tb4?! De7 38.Tbd4 De6 39.Tb4 Cd5 40.Cd4 Dg4

    Con unas piezas más activas, Granda no está interesado en las tablas.

    41.Tbb1

    Esto, por desgracia, es una necesidad.

    41…Cc3 42.Df1 Cxd1 43.Txd1 Tc3 44.Ta1 Td5 45.De1 Td3 46.Rh2 g5 47.hxg5 Txg5 48.Rg1 Th5 49.Df1 Rh7 50.Te1 Rh8 51.Tc1? Txe3 52.Tc8+
     
    [52.fxe3 Dxg3+ 53.Dg2 Dxe3+ 54.Rf1 Dxc1+ 55.Rf2 Dd2+ 56.Rg1 Dxd4+]

    52…Rh7 53.Tc7 Txg3+

    0–1

    Construcción histórica en Pamplona

    Construcción histórica en Pamplona


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    http://www.ajedrez32.com/torneo-internacional-de-pamplona/
    Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:13:28 PST
     
     
     
    Carlsen officially world’s number 1 at 2810

    Last month he turned 19, and today Magnus Carlsen officialy became the official world’s number one player. On the January 1st FIDE rating list the Norwegian as a rating of 2810, 5 points more than Veselin Topalov, who had occupied the number 1 spot since October 2008.

    CarlsenAfter winning the London Chess Classic with three wins and four draws it was a fact: Magnus Carlsen would become the youngest world’s number one in chess history. Thanks to the “live list” by Hans Arild Runde (which you can also find in the far right column on this website) everyone could already see how the top rankings would look like, and today this became official due to FIDE’s publication of the January list.

    World Champion Viswanathan Anand won 2 points and is still in third place; after the Tal Memorial and London Vladimir Kramnik surpassed Levon Aronian to become 4th. Vassily Ivanchuk is back in the top 10, and Wang Yue entered for the first time – the Chinese GM is now the world’s 9th player. After a successful period, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is 11th now. Leko and Morozevich dropped out of the top 10.

    Frenchman Vachier-Lagrave, just two months older than Carlsen, has now entered the top 20 while another former prodigy, Sergei Karjakin, dropped out – but let’s not forget he’ll be defending his Corus title soon. Vladimir Malakhov’s successful period resulted in a rise from spot 31 to 22. Without getting too much attention, Zoltan Almasi and David Navara occupy the excellent spots 26 and 27.

    ShortA disappointing London Chess Classic cost Nigel Short his 2700+ rating but he’s still just England’s best player at 2696; Michael Adams is now one spot below him at 2694. 17-year-old Fabiano Caruana did well again and climbed no less than 30 places; from spot 81 to 51. Another young player did even better: 18-year-old Sergei Zhigalko went from 93 to 58. New in the top 100 compared to the previous list are Ian Nepomniachtchi (69th), Wesley So (77th), Viktor Laznicka (84th), Le Quang Liem (93rd) Tomi Nyback (97th) and Evgeny Bareev (98th).

    In the women’s list again the top 3 didn’t change; the difference between Judit Polgar and Humpy Koneru is now 68 points. Nadezhda Kosintseva climbed from 9th to 5th while Alexandra Kosteniuk and Kateryna Lahno are back into the top 10. Nana Dzagnidze dropped out from 4th place all the way to 14th.

    Below you’ll find the new top 100, the top 100 women, the top 20 juniors and the top 20 girls. We give the first two lists including the changes with the previous lists. All data courtesy of FIDE.

    FIDE JANUARY 2010 RATING LIST: TOP 100 PLAYERS

    Legend:
    black color – player remained on the same position
    green color – player moved up in the list
    red color – player moved down in the list
    blue color – player is new to the current Top list
    Old represents player’s position in the previous period list

    Rank   Old    Name Title Country Rating Games
     1  2  Carlsen, Magnus  g  NOR  2810 (+9)  16 (+6)
     2  1  Topalov, Veselin  g  BUL  2805 (-5)  4 (-6)
     3  3  Anand, Viswanathan  g  IND  2790 (+2)  9 (+9)
     4  5  Kramnik, Vladimir  g  RUS  2788 (+16)  16 (+16)
     5  4  Aronian, Levon  g  ARM  2781 (-5)  17 (+4)
     6  7  Gelfand, Boris  g  ISR  2761 (+3)  25 (+14)
     7  6  Gashimov, Vugar  g  AZE  2759 (+1)  21 (+10)
     8  12  Ivanchuk, Vassily  g  UKR  2749 (+10)  13 (0)
     9  16  Wang, Yue  g  CHN  2749 (+15)  8 (-19)
     10  8  Svidler, Peter  g  RUS  2744 (-10)  27 (+10)
     11  19  Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar  g  AZE  2741 (+22)  19 (-6)
     12  9  Leko, Peter  g  HUN  2739 (-13)  9 (-1)
     13  13  Ponomariov, Ruslan  g  UKR  2737 (-2)  25 (+20)
     14  17  Eljanov, Pavel  g  UKR  2736 (+7)  14 (-1)
     15  14  Grischuk, Alexander  g  RUS  2736 (0)  8 (-5)
     16  11  Radjabov, Teimour  g  AZE  2733 (-15)  13 (+3)
     17  10  Morozevich, Alexander  g  RUS  2732 (-18)  19 (+19)
     18  23  Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime  g  FRA  2730 (+12)  21 (+21)
     19  15  Jakovenko, Dmitry  g  RUS  2730 (-6)  17 (+7)
     20  20  Shirov, Alexei  g  ESP  2723 (+4)  19 (+1)
     21  18  Karjakin, Sergey  g  RUS  2720 (-3)  12 (0)
     22  31  Malakhov, Vladimir  g  RUS  2716 (+10)  15 (-11)
     23  28  Wang, Hao  g  CHN  2715 (+7)  10 (-3)
     24  34  Bacrot, Etienne  g  FRA  2713 (+13)  18 (-9)
     25  21  Dominguez Perez, Leinier  g  CUB  2712 (-7)  4 (+4)
     26  33  Almasi, Zoltan  g  HUN  2710 (+6)  7 (-8)
     27  30  Navara, David  g  CZE  2708 (+1)  15 (+6)
     28  24  Nakamura, Hikaru  g  USA  2708 (-7)  7 (-10)