Magnus Carlsen today recovered completely from his bad start in Nice. The Norwegian defeated Levon Aronian, the winner in 2008 and 2009, in both the blindfold and the rapid game. Ukrainians Ivanchuk and Ponomariov lead the combined standings after two rounds.

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

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

Games round 2

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Round 2 report

Carlsen bounces back with 2-0 win over defending champion Aronian
After two rounds of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Vasily Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomariov are in the lead in the overall standings with 3 points from 4 games, followed at half a point’s distance by Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler. Top-seed Magnus Carlsen recovered from his poor start with a 2-0 win over defending Amber champion Levon Aronian. The Norwegian admitted that he had been upset about his 2-0 loss on the first day (particularly the rapid game, where he believed he was in no danger of losing), but said that he certainly had not despaired: ‘With twenty rounds to go there is always time to recover.’ The first two of those twenty rounds were certainly encouraging for him.

Magnus Carlsen fared excellently in Round 2 with two wins over Levon Aronian. After the round the Norwegian was happy to comment on his blindfold game for the tournament website.

Just like last year the second round of the Amber tournament clashed with the final stage of Paris-Nice, the 8-stage cycling race that started in Paris (you had guessed that much) a week ago. For many hours the Promenade des Anglais was crowded with people waiting for the denouement of the 68th edition of this legendary race and we can tell you that quite a number of chess fans mingled among these spectators. But after, early in the afternoon, Alberto Contador had won his second Paris-Nice, three years after his first victory, they could concentrate on chess again. Right they were. After the drama in Round 1 there was every reason to look forward to the developments in Round 2.

The final stage of the cycling course Paris-Nice finished today, about two hundred metres from the venue and about two minutes after the second round started | Photo Nadja Wittmann

Alberto Contador after winning the final stage of Paris-Nice | Photo Nadja Wittmann

Magnus Carlsen was obviously eager to fight back after yesterday’s dramatic 2-0 loss, but with Levon Aronian as opponent this was easier said than done. Moreover the Norwegian had the black pieces in the blindfold game and one would think that his first concern should be not to lose again. Already before the tournament Carlsen had prepared the King’s Indian and his ambition to steer for a highly complicated struggle worked out beyond expectation. To begin with he got the chance to implement an idea he had seen in a game Eljanov-Radjabov; a quick counter-push on the queenside to undermine White’s centre followed by a piece sacrifice (20…Nxd5) to break up that same centre. The tactical complications that ensued demanded a lot from both players and it was soon clear that Carlsen felt more at ease. Aronian missed the push 22…e4, a seemingly contradictory move that seems to contribute little to Black’s wish to open up lines and files, but which in fact is the right move to keep his initiative going. White could still have put up some resistance with 25.Bg5 (instead of 25.Nxf2), but Aronian had also missed 25…Qh4, which in case of 26.Be1 is followed by the deadly 26…Be5. Three moves later Aronian threw the towel. Carlsen found it easy to smile again when a couple of minutes later he spoke to the press.
Aronian’s worries were compounded when he also lost the rapid game. And perhaps this loss hurt even more as it was completely unnecessary. From a Four Knights’ Defence the players ended up in a totally drawish rook endgame. Probably the main factor that kept the game going was that neither of the players were willing to offer a draw. And as they plodded on Aronian got himself into trouble. A first moment where he was inaccurate was when he played 42…Ra2, when he could have thwarted all White’s further tries with 42…g5. He further pleased Carlsen with 50…h5 when he should have played 50…Kh7. Now his position became very unpleasant, and when he missed a last chance to stir up complications with 59…d5 he was inexorably counted out.

Blindfold: Carlsen beats Aronian with Black in a spectacular King's Indian

Jan Smeets had no trouble acknowledging that he had been completely lost in his blindfold game against Sergey Karjakin, as he was happy enough with the half point that he had saved miraculously. In a Ruy Lopez with 3…Nge7 and 4…g6, White drifted into trouble when he played his knight to e4 on move 17 (better 17.Be4) and followed this up with 20.Nf6+. Things quickly went from bad to worse and with 35…Kf8 Black could have forced his resignation. But even the pawn ending that Karjakin allowed his opponent, was lost for Black if only he had found 46…h5. Now the Dutch grandmaster could save the draw, even if, as usually, he was very short of time for the greater part of the game.
The blindfold game was another eventful affair and again the surprising outcome was a draw. In a Ruy Lopez Smeets lost his c-pawn after a heavy manoeuvring phase. Things looked bleak, but it wasn’t too easy for White to make further progress and when Karjakin made the move Smeets had been waiting and hoping for (58.h4), the vulnerability of his king suddenly became a source of sorrow. In fact, White would have been totally lost had Smeets played 59…Qg1. But being short of time (just like Karjakin) he failed to see this opportunity and the game ended in a repetition of moves. Ironically, Smeets could still play Qg1 in the final position, but he didn’t complain that the threefold repetition had ‘only’ brought him a draw.

Dutchman Jan Smeets managed to draw twice with Sergey Karjakin

The blindfold game between Vasily Ivanchuk and Peter Svidler not surprisingly saw a Grünfeld Defence, an opening in which the Russian is one of today’s greatest specialists. Afterwards he called the opening phase of ‘mild theoretical importance’, as Ivanchuk deviated on move 11 from an earlier game Gelfand-Svidler. In that game White played 11.Be2, Ivanchuk preferred to first play 11.Nf3. Almost forced the players ended up in an ending that Svidler had (of course) looked at before and although Black’s play is not entirely carefree he felt that it should be a draw objectively speaking. As a possible improvement for White he indicated 21.Bc6, the way it went now the point was quickly shared.
In the blindfold game Svidler felt he had missed a good chance when he played 13.Qd2 instead of 13.Qc1. ‘The idea is essentially the same, but it would have saved me a tempo in almost any variation’, as he explained afterwards. He even got into slight problems when Black played 22…Qe7, effectively stopping Ng5, the move White had hoped to make. In the final phase of the game the Russian had to be careful not to lose any material, but when he managed this task the game was drawn.

Boris Gelfand recovered from his poor performance in the first round with a win in the blindfold game against Vugar Gashimov. Nevertheless he called it ‘a stupid game’, as he had spoiled an excellent opening position to end up in a problematic situation. The last trick he wanted to try in order to extricate himself from this situation was 20.Nxd5. Now he was lucky as Gashimov could have played 22…Qb4 and White might as well resign. After 22…Qc7, White’s problems were not over yet, but when Black blundered with 23…Qxc4?, he suddenly was presented with a winning position. For the rest of the game Gelfand kept his eyes on the ball and converted his advantage without further problems.
The blindfold game started slowly. White got a slight edge but nothing for Black to get worried about. The game turned around when Gelfand opened the position and Gashimov snatched a pawn, that his opponent called ‘poisoned’. Soon White was totally lost, but the game was far from over yet. Gelfand spoiled his advantage and in the end he had to win an opposite-coloured bishop ending in a study-like manner (although the Israeli grandmaster was the first to say that he was not sure if this win was waterproof). Gelfand was certainly pleased with his two wins, but he didn’t forget how he obtained them: ‘Two points with bad play’.

The blindfold game between Vladimir Kramnik and Leinier Dominguez was a fascinating fight. Obviously Kramnik emphatically played for a win, but Dominguez fought back in his customary razor-sharp style. The game was decided when in a highly complicated position the Cuban grandmaster continued 36…Kh7 where his only chance was 36…Bf8. With the text-move he invited a forced mate and a couple of moves before this mate would become reality, Dominguez resigned.
In the blindfold game Kramnik played the Pirc Defence, the opening with which he surprised (and beat) Smeets in the recent Corus tournament. Again it looked as if this rather offbeat opening would give him easy and pleasant play, particularly after he bagged a point. But White had compensation for his material deficit and although Kramnik remained better for the rest of the game, Dominguez hung in tenaciously and was rewarded with a draw after 88 moves.

Deep concentration: Leinier Dominguez and Vladimir Kramnik

The blindfold game between Ruslan Ponomariov and Alexander Grischuk saw a Catalan Opening, similar to a game Ponomariov had played with colours reversed against Gelfand in the final of the recent World Cup. Instead of 10…Bb7, as Ponomariov had played, Grischuk went 10…Ba6. White obtained the bishop pair, but with a symmetrical pawn-structure it was difficult to exploit that slight advantage. Both players invested a lot of time as there were always tactics to be considered with opposing rooks on the c-file, but when Grischuk offered the opportunity to repeat moves and agree to a draw, Ponomariov saw no good reason to play on.
At the end of the rapid game Ponomariov walked into the hospitality lounge and wondered what people had thought of his rapid game. He himself wasn’t too happy as he had hoped to play something active, but somehow his Grünfeld ended up in a static position in which he had to suffer for a draw. When on move 32 the queens left the board, Grischuk offered that draw and Ponomariov didn’t have to think long before he accepted.

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“The 40-year old Ukrainian has a reputation of being an unpredictable genius, capable of producing absolutely brlliant games, as well as amateur-like losses from time to time,” Magnus Carlsen wrote on his blog yesterday. Today, at the Amber tournament in Nice, he met with a Chuky in excellent shape, and lost 2-0.

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

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

Games round 1

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Round 1 report

First day sensation: top-seed Carlsen loses 2-0 to ‘Mr Amber’
Last night the opening ceremony of the 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament took place at the Chateau de Cremat, a stylish wine chateau perched on a hill overlooking Nice at a half and hour’s drive from the Palais de la Mediterranée, the five-star luxury hotel on the Promenade des Anglais where the grandmasters are staying and playing. The evening started with a degustation of various wines of the house and then the guests of the Van Oosterom family and the players sat down for a delicious dinner. In the opening speech there was special attention for the totally unique place that the Amber tournament occupies in chess history. There have been chess benefactors who sponsored one tournament, two or even three. But no one ever came even close to the astounding 19th edition that the Amber tournament reaches this year.

There were also references to Steely Dan’s Hey Nineteen, Joe Jackson’s Nineteen Forever and Chanel 19 (by some strange coincidence Coco Chanel was presented the famous Chanel logo – two C’s elegantly locked together – by the owner of the Chateau de Cremat about a century ago!) and of course the twelve grandmasters were welcomed, with a special mention for Vasily Ivanchuk, ‘Mr Amber’, who participated in all 19 tournaments. Once the drawing of lots had taken place, we could start to think about the pairings for the first round and the overall chances of the participants. Who is the top-favourite for first place? Vladimir Kramnik, who won a record of six Amber tournaments? Levon Aronian, who won the last two editions? Or Magnus Carlsen, the world’s number one, who very appropriately celebrated his 19th birthday a couple of months ago? In any case the opening round didn’t go as they may have hoped. Not at all.

Today at 14.30 the first round started of a blindfold and rapid spectacle that will keep us entertained for the coming fortnight (the 11th and last round is on March 25). As always the players started with two blindfold sessions (in each of which six GMs played) followed by two rapid sessions and immediately there were some intriguing pairings.

When Ruslan Ponomariov saw at the drawing of lots that he had to play Boris Gelfand in the first round, he wondered aloud if he had to play Gelfand for the rest of his life. What he meant to say was that this was his first official competition since the dramatic final Gelfand and he played in the World Cup last December, a lengthy final that was only decided in the blitz games. Ponomariov’s second remark was that he wanted to have his revenge for that lost final. The only problem was that the first game was a blindfold game and his experience in that discipline was almost zero. In fact he had asked to play a training game on the day of his arrival in Nice. To avoid any complications he decided to play fast and to remain fully concentrated, not even considering the option of going to the toilet if needed. The approach worked well, as with the help of Gelfand his opening was a great success and after 15.Ng5 he felt that he was spoiled for choice when looking for a way to exploit his advantage. The game was practically decided when Ponomariov captured Black’s h-pawn. The rest was simple and he converted without any problems. After the game he was greatly relieved that this game for which he had been so nervous had gone so well. ‘Perhaps it turns out that I am not so bad at blindfold chess.’ He also shared his impression of playing chess on a screen that only shows an empty chess board: ‘It’s just like a computer game!’
Ponomariov completed his ‘revenge’ (to avoid any misunderstanding, he was the first to point out that, of course, these two games cannot be compared to the World Cup final) in the rapid game. Spoiling for a fight he came up with an interesting plan in the Grünfeld, sacrificing an exchange for promising play. He indeed got wonderful compensation when Gelfand played 14.f3? where he should have tried 14.Qe3. Suddenly it was a delight to sit behind the black pieces and Ponomariov fully enjoyed the next phase. White still managed to get into an ending with opposite-coloured bishops, but the two extra black pawns quickly carried the day.

Russian champion Alexander Grischuk had his work cut out for him when he immediately had to play Vladimir Kramnik. There could be no misunderstanding about Kramnik’s intentions as he played almost all his moves instantly. ‘He wanted to trick me’, smiled Grischuk after the game. Playing with white he had to leave the initiative to Black, but to his mind Kramnik went too far in his winning attempt. But even if Black ended up in a difficult position, the situation was still far from lost and things only got hopeless when he reverted to the desperate 38…Nxg4, where it seemed that Black could have stayed in the game with 38…Nf3. Now things were easy for Grischuk and the handful of seconds he still had on the clock proved enough to win an important scalp.
Kramnik struck back in the rapid game. After a strongly played opening he obtained a clear advantage and looking back he concluded that Black’s position was difficult after 34.Rd4. But Kramnik praised his opponent for his inventive defence in the next phase and expressed his doubts whether the position was really winning for White (‘That has to be checked with the computer’). However, Grischuk was once again low on time and after 40…Nc3 (he should have played 40…Nb6) Black certainly was lost. The rest wasn’t difficult anymore and Kramnik wrapped up fairly effortlessly.

The encounter between debutants Dominguez and Gashimov took a relatively quiet course, although the grandmaster from Azerbaijan offered to play a sharp Benoni, an invitation that was quietly turned down with Rodriguez. They ended up in a rook endgame that was slightly better for Black, but it was his lavish use of time that did Dominguez in. With more than ten minutes less on the clock he committed a few inaccuracies and when Gashimov stormed down the board with two passed pawns it was clear that the fight was over. After the game Gashimov was congratulated on his blindfold debut and confessed that he had not especially prepared for this unusual type of chess. ‘I played one training game two days ago against Ruslan (Ponomariov), this was my second game.’
The rapid game was a variation of the Italian Game ‘in which many games have been played’, as the database experts call it these days. The key question was if the knight that Gashimov managed to post on e7, was an asset or a weakness. Frantically he calculated variations, considering sacrifices here and there, but there was nothing that worked. In the meantime, Dominguez just stayed put and maintained his position. After some further manoeuvring it was clear that this balance was not going to be upset and a draw was agreed.

Magnus Carlsen openend his blindfold game against Vasily Ivanchuk with 1.a3, aiming for an open battle, unburdened by theory and steering clear of any possible preparation of his opponent. The plan wasn’t a success, even if he managed to win a pawn, but Black got such good compensation that the Norwegian top-seed must have regretted his unorthodox approach. He kept looking for his chances, but Ivanchuk remained fully concentrated and his advantage was such that at some point the white position should collapse. An oversight on move 31 sped up the end of the game and floored another top-favourite.
In the rapid game Carlsen tried to fight back with the Poisoned Pawn of the Najdorf Defence. Afterwards Ivanchuk felt that he again had had sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn, but was reluctant to give a concrete assessment of the game as it had been so ‘very complicated’. One move he criticized was 25…Kf7, which allowed him to increase the pressure. They ended up in a rook endgame of three pawns versus two, which Black failed to defend, leading to a sensational 2-0 defeat of the top-seed.

‘It’s been a while, clearly’, Peter Svidler commented after he had beaten Jan Smeets in his first Amber blindfold game in three years. Svidler had an edge from the opening, but Smeets should have been able to hold a draw. Things got funny when Svidler, played his 39th move thinking Black’s bishop was on e6 (it was on d7). That it was not, he found out when Black played 39…Ne6+ and picked up the pawn on g5. This was not a problem in itself as now White can go 40.Nd5+ and pick up the b6 pawn, but not knowing where the black bishop was, Svidler now reasoned that it was on c6, which ‘prevented’ this knight jump. Smeets on his part got confused by White’s 44.Bxg6 and panicked with 45…Be6 when 45…Kg5 was still a draw. Well, in fact he would have even won, as (still thinking the black bishop was on c6) Svidler had planned to answer 45…Kg5 with 46.Be4 Kxh6 47.Bc6, thinking he would capture a bishop but in fact giving one away. After this comedy of errors had ended, Smeets was left with a lost position and had to resign soon.
The rapid game ended in a draw. In a classical Ruy Lopez Black got good play and when he started piling up on White’s a pawn, Smeets decided that instead of defending a pawn that will drop off anyway at some point, he better hand it over immediately for some activity. This turned out to be an excellent exchange and at a certain point his compensation even seemed to turn into more. But his advantage got never concrete and both players could live with the draw that materialized.

Sergey Karjakin obtained a winning position in the blindfold game when in a sharp opening tussle Levon Aronian committed a serious error. Instead of 19…Bg5?, the Armenian grandmaster should have played 19…Bh4 or 19…Rb4. Things looked bleak for Aronian, but then he didn’t win himself a reputation for ‘slow-motion’ swindling for nothing last year. And this time, too, he almost escaped when Karjakin allowed a repetition of moves. But Aronian was going for the whole hog and thinking he was winning he didn’t repeat moves, but played 36…Nxc3, which turned out to be a losing move.
In the rapid game Levon Aronian showed a different face and put his opponent under pressure right from the opening. Perhaps this permanent pressure also explained the mistake Karjakin made at the end of the game. Instead of hanging on in a dubious ending he blundered and even got mated.

Report & photos © official website, more here

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YOYO voló al Cielo

( porque a que otro sitio puede ir una gran
persona como Yoyo ? )

hoy 2 Feb 2010 a la 1 de la madrugada

habia ido este domingo al Hospital NEGRIN para tratar de recuperarlo pues no comia, tenia muchos dolores y parecia que iba perdiendo fuerza por momentos.
Asi y todo, los que tuvimos la suerte de haber estado a su lado en estos ultimos dias, teniamos la esperanza que una vez mas saldria adelante .... pero esta vez Dios nos lo arrebató, pues seguro que querria tenerlo a su lado para gozar de su maravillosa compañia.

Descansa en paz amigo GREGORIO "Yoyo". Siempre te recordaremos como la gran persona que fuistes.

Hoy a las 12 del mediodia habra una misa en el Tanatorio SAN MIGUEL en Las Torres ( Las Palmas de GC ), en cuya sala 203 se encuentra y estará hasta las
02:00 del Miercoles en que será incinerado.


****************


No se como decirlo, son solo la 5:24 de la mañana y acabo de recibir la llamada que esperaba no se produjese en mucho tiempo, pero era ella, Rosy, su compañera y gran amor de sus ultimos años ..... Yoyo voló al cielo, mas que me joda y muchisimo acabo de perder a mi amigo, a mi gran amigo de la infancia y lo siento no solo por mi sino porque todos los que lo conociamos acabamos de perder un ser entrañable, generoso donde los haya, inteligente, trabajador, dinamico, con un gran sentido del humor y de la amistad y todo un GENIO, de esos que no paren las madres todos los dias y lo siento no solo por mí sino por toda su famila, amigos y por supuesto por la gran familia del Ajedrez al que él amaba con locura y a esa inseparable compañera de sus ultimos años a la que él amaba con locura y con la que se sentia super feliz y que luchó a su lado hasta el ultimo momento.

Un sentido pesame tambien para su ex mujer Mariam y sus hijos Ancor, Aubin y Mary (no me acuerdo el nombre) y a los hijos de Rosy a los que él consideraba tambien como sus hijos, Alfonso, Jose, Fran y sobre todo Marina, que se que lo queria con locura, a su hermana Piluca (en Francia ), a su primo Pepe de San Roque y al Ajedrez canario que acaba de perder su figura mas relevante de todos los tiempos.

GREGORIO murió esta madrugada del martes 22 Febrero 2010 a la 01:00 de la madrugada. Quizo ser muy madrugador tambien en esto asi que alli estará ya dandole la paliza a San Pedro y seguro enterandose de los ultimos resultados de la Liga Canaria de Ajedrez del Sabado pasado ( que me habia pedido el domingo que se los apuntara para cuando lo fuera a verlo de nuevo ).

PD:  Si quieren enviar alguna nota, recordatorio, etc., y que la pongan en su pagina web www.gregoriochess.com, por favor enviarla  al mio  pacoroque@gmail.com. Gracias

• FTP Publishing on Blogger to WordPress: Migration Guide by Ravi
• Migrating from Blogger to WordPress (FTP Blogs) by Ben Frain
  Be sure to check the comments area here, which suggests it may actually be easier than he says.
• Move from Blogger to WordPress without Losing GoogleRank by Jason Fitzpatrick at Lifehacker
• Migrate Your Blog from Blogger to WordPress with All the Google Juice by Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspiration
• Move from Blogger to WordPress and Maintain Permalinks and Traffic by Arpit Jacob

• 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.

• The Lolli Attack by Michael Goeller 
• The Lolli Attack at Chess Teaching and Lessons 
• Back to Basics (Opening Lanes #121 at ChessCafe, January 2009) by Gary Lane
  Covers the Lolli and Fried Liver attacks.
• Giuoco Piano, Two Knights, Fried Liver (C57) by Richard Westbrook (Farragut Chess Club 2006) -- see also Paul Morphy Fried Liver Attack.
  A useful article on how to win the Fried Liver Attack.
• Fried Liver Attack, Pratt-Wolford 1976 by John Pratt
  A useful introduction to the Fried Liver for beginners.
• The Fegatello Attack (Unorthodox Openings Newsletter #2) by Paul Valle
  Available in the archive or download the issue of UON.  Offers some deep analysis showing how Black might survive the traditional Fried Liver with 6.Nxf7.
• The Fried Liver Attack, Part One by Boris Alterman (June 1, 2008)
• The Fried Liver Attack, Part Two by Boris Alterman (June 6, 2008)
• The Fried Liver Attack, Part Three by Boris Alterman (June 13, 2008)
• The Fried Liver Attack, Part Four by Boris Alterman (June 16, 2008)
• The Fried Liver Attack, Part Five by Boris Alterman (June 19, 2008)
• The Fried Liver Attack, Part Six by Boris Alterman (June 29, 2008)
  A useful presentation for amateur players focused mostly on the 6.Nxf7 lines, culminating in the annotated game Morphy - NN, New Orleans simul 1858 which features the Lolli Attack.

• The Fritz and Ulvestad Variations by Steven Craig Miller for the Renaissance Knights Club
  A very useful quick-start guide on these critical lines.
• Open Games Revisited: The Two Knights (November 2005, Kibitzer #114) by Tim Harding
  Covers both the Fritz/Ulvestadt and main lines after Ng5.
  
• Charbonneau - Schneider, USCL 2009 without notes -- I hope to find some material on the web analyzing this game.
• Death of the Main-Line Ulvestad by Mark Ginsburg
  A very pro-White analysis refuting the Ulvestad.  See also his comments on Zierk - Friedel, embedded.
• Vallejo-Pons vs Naiditsch, European Teams 2007
• New Investigations in the Two Knights Defense (September 2008, Kibitzer #148) by Tim Harding
• Friedel's Fritz-Ulvestad Wins Again by Michael Goeller 
• GM Josh Friedel Plays the Ulvestad by Michael Goeller
• Two Knights Defense, Fritz-Ulvestad Variation by Michael Goeller
• Two Knights, Ulvestad by Katar at Chessvideos  
• Two Knights Fritz Notes by Pete Tamburro (forum only requires free registration to access).

Tomorrow the first round of the 2010 Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament will be played, and we have a second preview video to get you warmed up. The world’s number one, Magnus Carlsen, is there. Vladimir Kramnik, who won many times, is there. Levon Aronian, who won the last two editions, is there. Who do you think will win?

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

Preview video by Macauley Peterson

The world’s number one player, Magnus Carlsen, is the top-seed in Nice. Also present are Levon Aronian, the winner of the past two Amber tournaments, and Vladimir Kramnik, who won the Amber tournament a record six times. These three players are clearly the big favourites, but what about Alexander Grischuk, who replaced Alexander Morozevich less than a week ago? Or the ever unpredictable Vasily Ivanchuk? Or Ruslan Ponomariov, who is back among the world’s elite?

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

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

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

Link

• Official website

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

incontri degli italiani

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

incontri delle italiane

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

• Dates: Saturday and Sunday, March 20th and 21st.
• Times: 10:00 to 4:30 on both days
• Location: Lytton Plaza at 202 University Ave, Palo Alto (next to Pizza My Heart)
• Suggested Donation: $5 per 5-minute blitz game
• Good Cause: All proceeds will go to UNICEF for Haiti.

• Bellia Pace Damia e Codenotti i migliori italiani preiscritti
• 15 Scacchiere Live h. 19:30
  

• A (>2000)
  
• B (1700-2000)
• C (<1700)
• under 16 (rapid 30')
  

• GM Naumkin Igor RUS 2496
• GM Sanchez Joseph PHI 2493
• MI Salvador Roland PHI 2483
• MI Colovic Alexander MKD 2464
• MI Bellia Fabrizio ITA 2412
  
• MI Vuelban Virgilio PHI  2346
• MF Pace Pier Dario ITA 2304
• MF Damia Angelo ITA 2284
• CM Codenotti Marco ITA 2190
  

il Grande Maestro Igor Naumkin, n° 1 del tabellone


Fabrizio Bellia, il migliore dei nostri


Damia e Codenotti

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

incontri degli italiani

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

incontri delle italiane

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

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

Incontri degli italiani 

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

Incontri delle italiane

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

Bernard Parham has a claim to fame. No it is not as the 1967 Indiana State Champion, or even as a long-time chess educator. He is famous for something else… “The Matrix System of Chess.” This system was created decades ago when Parham had a fascination with the geometric patterns of chess after seeing a connection with vector analysis and physics. He employed a system that appeared so crude that it has brought as many critics as it has advocates. Parham has created a system that apparently defies the accepted principles of chess. He also has set different values for the pieces and even has a separate, albeit more logical way of recording moves.

What is this Matrix System? It involves positioning the pieces in order to arrive at the earliest possible checkmating positions. One element of this system is dubbed the “Parham Attack.” It entails playing an early Q-KR5 or Q-KB3… or both! What looks like a “Scholar’s Mate” is actually something much deeper. Opening moves would be 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5!? Nc6 3.Bc4 or 1.e4 c5 2.Qh5?! He has even employed 1.e4 c6 2.Qh5!? Parham has played this opening for 45 years regardless of the opponent.

His name surfaced when GM Hikaru Nakamura became the first world-class player (in the modern era) to employ the opening in a classical tournament. Nakamura, the perfect ambassador for this experiment, would employ it several times with mixed results. He ignited a fierce debate on the opening and the possibility that old laws of chess can be challenged. It was a healthy debate and a successful coup for Parham. That last word is that the opening is risky (at best), but playable. The most challenging line is 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nf6!? 3.Qxe5+ Be7 with good play for Black.

Hikaru Nakamura appears to glance at 2.Qh5!? on the demo board as India’s Krishnan Sasikiran ponders. Nakamura got the idea to play the move from Jason Doss during a chat on the ICC. Doss is one of Parham’s former students, but his urging was initially a light-hearted joke. What was initially a joke turned into reality when Nakamura played 2.Qh5. Photo by Sigeman & Co., 2005.

With a long-time relationship with Purdue University, Parham has returned to finish his education. He was featured in the student newspaper and has been instrumental in spurring activity at the Purdue Chess Club. He has taught over 6,000 students his chess philosophy. Now at 64, he was quoted in a recent article as being proud of reaching an age that is symbolic of chess. Since 64 represents a perfect number in many ways, the Matrix appears to be real!

Article: http://www.purdueexponent.com/index.php/module/Section/section_id/3?module=article&story_id=20435
Interview: Bernard Parham on the Matrix System

Diamond Abdus-Shakoor played in the Susan Polgar All-Girls Chess Challenge last year and won her group with a perfect 7-0 score. With this came a digital clock and a laptop computer! Diamond recently competed in the Polgar tournament and had another triumphant outing. The 9-year old, 3rd grade student traveled to Arizona with the support of her community and took home three honors:

• 1st Place: Girls Blitz, 7/10
• 2nd Place: Open Girls, Grades 3-5, 6/7
• 2nd Place: Bughouse (out of 15 teams)

Her father Abdul Abdus-Shakoor stated, “Diamond was the only African American Female to attend the Tournament for the 2nd year in a row out of 300 students!” Girls of African descent have traditionally done well in Polgar’s tournaments over the years showing that chess is more balanced amongst the girls competition… although children of Asian ancestry typically dominate scholastic chess.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/SPICEChess/2010SPNO#5445705928004653506

Les 11èmes championnats individuels d'Europe d'échecs se jouent du 5 au 19 mars 2010 à Rijeka en Croatie.

Chaque semaine, le maître international canadien d'échecs Jean Hébert nous propose sa Newsletter échiquéenne gratuite.

A la Une cette semaine : Jouer à Cappelle et mourir !

Il faut faire le tournoi de Cappelle la Grande au moins une fois dans sa vie. C'est une expérience unique qui marque un joueur d'échecs, peu importe son niveau. J'y avais déjà joué en 1996. Renouveler l'expérience 15 ans plus tard ajoute à mon bagage de bons souvenirs échiquéens. Brièvement en chiffre voyons de quoi il retourne.

Lors de sa 26e édition, ce tournoi a attiré 653 joueurs (3e meilleur total de son histoire) de 55 nations différentes, incluant 73 GM, 44 MI ainsi que tout un assortiment de titrées féminines et de FM. Parmi ces concurrents plus d'une centaine d'entre eux (surtout des GM mais aussi des joueurs moins titrés provenant de fédérations "exotiques" comme le Canada) sont hébergés et nourris gracieusement durant leur séjour...

Belle et charmante, Louise Bourgoin n'est pourtant pas une femme fatale. Son mot à elle, c'est "naturelle". "Quand on me présente à quelqu'un, je suis tout entière, directe, je ne cultive pas le mystère. Avec mes copains je suis un peu la bonne copine à qui ils racontent tout", explique tout simplement celle qui a été élue "Femme idéale" de l'année par le magazine GQ en février dernier.

Rayon de soleil éblouissant du Grand Journal de Canal+ pendant deux ans, la vie de l'ex de Julien Doré n'est pourtant très riche en couleurs : "Oui je suis très sérieuse, très studieuse. Un peu trop même".

En attendant, celle qui pose absolument sans retouche pour la couverture du magazine a toujours fait de la sincérité son cheval de bataille : "J'ai l'impression de jamais avoir été quelqu'un d'autre", quitte à paraitre pour un garçon manqué : "Je fais des choses assimilées aux hommes : je construis des meubles, je joue aux échecs, je tire à la carabine sur des canettes de bières avec mon frère."

Ben alors Louise, encore une idée reçue : le jeu d'échecs serait une exclusivité masculine ? Pas d'accord sur Chess & Strategy !

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

• You are in grades 9-12 and are rated above 2000.
• You are in grades 9-12, are rated above 1600 and wish to face tough competition.
• You are in grades K-8 and are rated above 1800 and feel that you need to face older and stronger opponents to get better.
• You are in grades K-12, are rated above 1200, and simply want to get your butt kicked--just for a learning experience.
  

• Top players tend to be more interested in qualifying for Denker than winning a state championship. Plus, one or two masters might go to Ohio for nationals instead.
• The Denker Qualifier presents a great opportunity for all of the talented elementary and middle school kids to compete against the top high school players. I expect most of the A and B rated K-6 and K-8 kids to be back in their normal age groups at the CalChess Scholastics.
• There won't be many weak players at the Denker Qualifier (currently 17 of 28 early entries are over 1800). On the other hand, the CalChess Scholastics attracts school teams, including many lower rated players.
  

ChessWar XV D 40c/20'
Classement final après la ronde 11
Les modules classés 1er à 24e sont promus dans ChessWar XV C
Les modules classés 51e à 74e sont relégues dans ChessWar XVI E

C'est fini, j'espère que ça vous a plu Le groupe C commence bientôt.

Olivier

Pl.  Nom                  Elo    Fed     Pts                  

1    KOMODO 1.0_x64_ja    2389   USA     9.5         

2    BISON 9.11           2222   RUS     9         

3    SPARK 0.3a_x64       2484   NED     8.5         

4    EQUINOX 0.58s_x64    2418   ITA     8.5         

5    CRITTER 0.52b_x64    2164   SVK     7.5         

6    ROTOR 0.5            2276   NED     7.5         

7    DEUTERIUM 090126492  2215   PHI     7.5         

8    DJINN 0.925x         2252   USA     7.5         

9    TAO 5.7b07           2278   NED     7         

10   POSTMODERNIST 1016   2261   ENG     7         

11   BUTCHER 1.60n1_x64   2234   POL     7         

12   DIRTY 0.99z20        2127   IND     6.5         

13   CAPTURE R01          2203   FRA     6.5         

14   GROMIT 3.8.2         2283   GER     6.5         

15   PHILIDOR 1.1.0       2240   FRA     6.5         

16   GAVIOTA 0.74.41_x64  2162   ARG     6.5         

17   XPDNT 091007_ja      2147   USA     6.5         

18   DIABLO 0.5.1_ja      2259   USA     6.5         

19   PUPSI2 0.08          2238   DEN     6.5         

20   YCHESS 1.0           2195   USA     6.5         

21   BETSY 6.51           2191   USA     6.5         

22   RODIN 2.3a           2214   ESP     6.5         

23   PHILOU 3.1.2         2233   FRA     6.5         

24   WCHESS 1.6           2220   USA     6         

25   CHEZZZ 1.03          2176   DEN     6         

26   PATZER 3.80          2198   GER     6         

27   ALMERE 20100219_x64  2177   NED     6         

28   L.THOUGHT 1.04_x64   2147   AUS     6         

29   PHALANX XXII Reb._ja 2193   CZE     6         

30   BRINGER 1.9          2273   GER     6         

31   PIKOSZACHY 3.3       2137   POL     6         

32   NULLMOVER 0.25       2073   NED     6         

33   MATACZ 1.4           2262   POL     5.5         

34   TCB 0052             2197   FRA     5.5         

35   TINKER 7.61a_x64     2186   USA     5.5         

36   KNIGHTX 1.92         2159   FRA     5.5         

37   ARION 1.7            2148   FRA     5.5         

38   SORGENKIND 0.4       2185   GER     5.5         

39   PORUCZNIK 9          2164   POL     5.5         

40   WAXMAN 2009          2101   USA     5.5         

41   RESP 0.19_x64_ja     2245   GER     5.5         

42   GAIA 3.5r            2161   FRA     5         

43   FLUX 2.2_ja          2171   SUI     5         

44   NESIK 0.7.0          2170   POL     5         

45   GNU 5.07.9b_x64_ja   2136   USA     5         

46   NATWARLAL 0.14       2179   IND     5         

47   MUSE 0.899b          2198   SUI     5         

48   AICE 0.99.2          2197   GRE     5         

49   AVERNO 0.81          2164   ESP     5         

50   JOKER 1.1.14_PII     2210   NED     5         

51   WASTER 0.16          2139   ENG     5         

52   CHEESE 1.3           2257   FRA     5         

53   CHISPA 4.0.3         2184   ARG     5         

54   DOCTOR? 3.0          2074   USA     4.5         

55   EEYORE 1.48          2208   RUS     4.5         

56   EXCHESS 5.03_x64_ja  2223   USA     4.5         

57   DORKY 3.48           2124   USA     4.5         

58   ASTERISK 0.6         2127   HUN     4.5         

59   MADELEINE 0.2        2118   ITA     4.5         

60   ANT 2006-F           2153   NED     4         

61   MAGNUM 2.0_ja        2133   CAN     4         

62   SAGE 3.53            2119   USA     4         

63   ALARM 0.93.1         2145   SWE     4         

64   DRUNKENMASTER 1.2    2175   USA     4         

65   CHESSALEX 2.0r4      2127   RUS     4         

66   CHESS SYSTEM TAL II  2124   ENG     4         

67   PROPHET 2.0b1_x64_ja 2124   USA     3.5         

68   POPOCHIN 3.2         2188   ESP     3.5         

69   AYITO 0.2.994        2158   ESP     3.5         

70   THOR 2.28.2_x64_ja   2149   CRO     3         

71   ZZZZZZ 6.436         2087   NED     3         

72   CHESS 3.x            2100   RUS     3         

73   MERLIN 2.3.1         2129   HUN     2.5         

74   CYBERPAGNO 2.1       2124   ITA     2            

El torneo que nunca falla

Aronián, Gélfand, Leinier y Vallejo darán 
espectáculo en el Auditorio 

LEONTXO GARCÍA (Jefe de Comunicación)

Muy pocos torneos de élite se han celebrado durante 23 años consecutivos, como el Ciudad de León, donde el ajedrez ha echado raíces en el tejido social que ni siquiera la crisis económica logra romper. Cuatro primeros espadas –Levon Aronián (Armenia, 1982), Borís Gélfand (Israel, 1968), Leinier Domínguez (Cuba, 1983) y Paco Vallejo (España, 1982)- convertirán el deporte mental en un espectáculo rápido y vibrante, de nuevo en el magnífico Auditorio y con televisión en directo, del 3 al 7 de junio.

96 niños de diferentes lugares se acercaron el sábado hasta Collado Villalba para disputar la 3ª edición de este Festival de Ajedrez que organizan conjuntamente el Club 64 Villalba (http://www.ajedrez64villalba.com) y la Concejalia de Infancia y Juventud de Collado Villalba.

Desde Burgos, Ciudad Real, Segovia, Valladolid y por supuesto de todos los rincones de la Comunidad de Madrid se acercaron a jugar el torneo a pesar del mal tiempo que hacia, y es que el ajedrez es deporte de fin de semana y levanta pasiones entre los más pequeños de la casa y más sabiendo los premios que había, probablemente los mejores de toda la Comunidad junto con el Torneo Mirabal. En este caso a los 5 primeros clasificados les esperaban tableros electrónicos NOVAG, software de ajedrez como FRITZ12 y otros, libros de ajedrez…. Todo por supuesto aparte de su correspondiente trofeo, en total 28 premiados, 7 por cada categoría.

An interesting development is taking place at the European Individual Championships in Rijeka, Croatia. Participants in the tournament have shown their aversion to the “zero tolerance” rule which states that a player must be present when the round starts or suffer a forfeit. It was a matter of time before a protest would put an end to the policy. There would be nothing else to do if players held fast to the protest.

This issue became the focal point of a controversy at the 2008 Olympiad where FIDE instituted the rule change without testing it. There were about 20 forfeitures at the Olympiad and inconsistent rulings on the matter. A good percentage of the forfeits involved African and Caribbean teams.

There have been other high profile cases such as the Chinese Championship where Zhou Jianchao forfeited to Ding Liren, the eventual champion. Hou Yifan also forfeited despite being in the hall, but not at the board. Discussion on this issue has not abated since it had been imposed. The other getting a lot of attention was the policy on cell phones ringing. That rule has been widely accepted an automatic infraction and loss of game.

A petition was circulated and 110 players (more than 25% of total) signed in support of a 30-minute grace period. Organizer Damir Vrhovnik had this to say,

The organizers are trying to do their best for the sake of our players. In accordance to that, on the behalf of Organizing committee and myself, I support the participants’ request. However, this question is under the European Chess Union’s jurisdiction and therefore, they are the ones who must make the decision.

What does this mean? It probably means that the organizers will capitulate and make the allowance. FIDE rules do allow for flexibility and leave it to the discretion of the organizers. However, this is the first protest of the rule which is said to be draconian. At the 2008 Olympiad, there was a vote and the players voted overwhelmingly for a grace period.

One of the main problems with imposing this rule in Dresden, Germany was the fact that all federations were not housed in a village. In some cases, teams had to take an hour tram ride while others were within walking distance. Of course, there may be no such exception made at the 2010 Olympiad. However, the following regulation is still in the rulebook,

7.4 Start and finish of the session

Five minutes before play commences, the Tournament Director must announce the approaching start of the session by a double acoustic signal.

The beginning of the playing session shall be announced by a single acoustic signal. Once the signal for the start of the round has been given, the clock of the player with the white pieces shall be started by his opponent. If the player of the black pieces is not present at the appointed time, his clock shall be started by the player with white, but without any move being made by the latter. Then, when the player of the black pieces arrives, he shall start his opponents clock and the latter shall make his first move. If both players are absent, whites clock shall be started by the Match Arbiter. Any player arriving at the chessboard more than one hour late shall forfeit the game. If both players arrive more than one hour late, the game shall be declared lost for both of them.

FIDE: http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook?id=94&view=article
Main Site: http://www.eurorijeka2010.com/home
ChessBase: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6171

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

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

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

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

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

Korchnoi-Almasi
Reggio Emilia (2) 2007

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

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

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

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

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

Almasi-Marin
Reggio Emilia (5), 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Links

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

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

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

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

Rounds 1-3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks and best regards!
Adolivio Capece

Selection of games rounds 1-3

Game viewer by ChessTempo

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

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

...and hundreds of chess players

Croatian chess fans watching the games from the side

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

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

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

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

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

Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

Links

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

GM Pontus Carlsson (Sweden)

Pontus Carlsson of Sweden is currently competing in the European Individual Championship being held in Croatia. The tournament is extremely strong despite not featuring any of the top 20 players in the world. Carlsson sits in the #204 position in a field of 408 participants. Carlsson has been playing sparingly in the past year and is trying to get back on track.

GM Zoltan Almasi of Hungary is the top seed at 2720. There are some rising young Grandmasters in the lineup such as Fabiano Caruana (Italy) along with Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan). They will be looking to make an impact among the approximately 200 Grandmasters vying for the prestigious title.

Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr29567.aspx
Official Website: http://www.eurorijeka2010.com/

• Live
  
• Caruana - GM Potkin
• Femminile
• MI Cmityle - Sedina
  

Si disputa oggi il quarto turno del Campionato Europeo. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite.
Per sapere cosa è successo nel terzo turno, clicca QUI

GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2680) - GM Potkin, Vladimir (RUS, 2606)  Siciliana Scheveningen [Stefano Bellincampi/Megalovic] 
1. e4 c5 2. Cf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Cxd4 Cc6 5. Cc3 a6 6. Ae3 Cf6 7. Ae2 d6 8. f4 Ad7 Fabiano, con posposizione di mosse, è rientrato in una Siciliana Scheveningen nella quale il nero sta ritardando - contrariamente al solito - lo sviluppo del lato di re. Infatti dopo 8..Ad7 Fabiano sta analizzando da un pò. 9. g4 E infatti parte l'attacco con 9.g4!. Secondo me ha giocato g4 perchè il cavallo nero non può andare in d7. E' vero che forse Potkin può giocare 9..Cxd4 e 10..Ac6, ma Fabiano vuole sfruttare l'ordine di mosse del nero 9..h6 Ora è chiaro che il nero non potrà arroccare corto, come del resto Fabiano, che immagino giocherà Dd2 e 0-0-0 10. h4 Dc7 11. Dd2 b5 12. a3 Ca5 a questo punto Caruana potrebbe decide di arroccare lungo o di accendere la miccia giocando 13. e5 13. e5 dxe5 14. fxe5 Dxe5 15. Af4 Dc5 16. b4 De7 17. bxa5 e5 18. Cdxb5 axb5 19.

MI Cmilyte, Viktorija (LTU, 2485) - MI Sedina, Elena (ITA, 2334)
difesa slava
1. Cf3 Cf6 2. c4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. Cc3 dxc4 5. a4 Af5 6. Ch4 Ac8 7. e3 e5 8. Axc4 exd4 9. exd4 De7+ 10. Ae2 Dc7 11.  Ag5 Cbd7 12. Dd2 Ad6 13. De3+ Rf8 14. Cf5 h6 15. Ah4 Cb6 16. Cxd6 Dxd6 17. De5
 
Tempo di Riflessione 90' x 40 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita + 30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla prima mossa.

Viktorija Cmilyte, l'avversaria di Elena Sedina

Safarlj e Golod, gli avversari di Shytaj e Dvirnyy

Ivan Cheparinov. Dopo un inizio non esaltante il bulgaro oggi affronterà Corrado Astengo

1	5		GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2708	3		3	GM	Timofeev Artyom	RUS	2655		36
2	37		GM	Krasenkow Michal	POL	2652	3		3	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2695		10
3	11		GM	Naiditsch Arkadij	GER	2691	3		3	GM	Efimenko Zahar	UKR	2640		48
4	83		GM	Pelletier Yannick	SUI	2611	3		3	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	RUS	2667		24
5	175		IM	Skoberne Jure	SLO	2509	3		3	GM	Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter	ROU	2661		28

8	15		GM	Caruana Fabiano	ITA	2680	2½		2½	GM	Potkin Vladimir	RUS	2606		89
69	209		IM	Shytaj Luca	ITA	2472	2		2	GM	Safarli Eltaj	AZE	2606		90
76	219		IM	Dvirnyy Daniyyl	ITA	2450	2		2	GM	Golod Vitali	ISR	2590		102
128	33		GM	Cheparinov Ivan	BUL	2657	1		1½		Astengo Corrado	ITA	2136		345
109	135		GM	Godena Michele	ITA	2561	1½		1½	IM	Kargin Arseny	RUS	2400		256
114	149		GM	Brkic Ante	CRO	2543	1½		1½	FM	Bentivegna Francesco	ITA	2361		276
151	251		IM	Reutsky Sergei	RUS	2404	1		1		Pantaleoni Claudio	ITA	2179		336
155	257			Nedilko Vasily	UKR	2400	1		1	FM	Barlocco Carlo	ITA	2173		337
161	274		IM	Lanzani Mario	ITA	2371	1		1		Neagos Raul-Alexandru	ROU	2110		350
164	279		FM	Valsecchi Alessio	ITA	2360	1		1		Hetzer Volkhard	GER	2091		355
134	312			Feher Adam	HUN	2260	1		1	IM	Brunello Sabino	ITA	2476		205
138	320			Sgnaolin Davide	ITA	2234	1		1	IM	Vernay Clovis	FRA	2440		224
145	328			Sheskin Matan	ISR	2207	1		1	IM	Piscopo Pierluigi	ITA	2418		242
176	338			Kadric Denis	BIH	2171	½		½	GM	Ortega Lexy	ITA	2479		203

8	13		IM	Cmilyte Viktorija	LTU	2485	2½		2½	IM	Sedina Elena	ITA	2334		56
44	60		IM	Zimina Olga	ITA	2319	1½		1½	WGM	Przezdziecka Marta	POL	2254		98
42	115		WIM	Brunello Marina	ITA	2217	1½		1½	WGM	Charkhalashvili Inga	GEO	2338		54
72	118		WIM	Kazimova Narmin	AZE	2212	½		½		Brunello Roberta	ITA	2043		143
74	144			Tonel Giulia	ITA	2023	½		0	WGM	Nemcova Katerina	CZE	2264		89

sito ufficiale

Live Stream

risultati su chessresult

 articoli di presentazione di Angelmann  

 Report fotografico di Ruigino Tonel

We were surprised to find that the previous Lubbock Chess Club had disbanded several years ago. In our online search we found a newsletter generated by the TTU Knight Raiders that led us to a “chess game night” at Barnes & Noble on a Friday night. There, we met several members of the Knight Raiders and the idea of reviving the Lubbock Chess Club was born.

2. What is the relationship of the Lubbock Chess Club with SPICE and/or the TTU Knight Raider Chess Club?

Once we began playing routinely several nights a week with members of the Knight Raiders, it was brought to Susan Polgar’s attention that we were interested in starting Lubbock Chess Club.

She immediately jumped in and helped us to initially organize our efforts and to locate a weekly meeting place. Combined with the ongoing support and participation of the Knight Raiders, we have had very successful club attendance to date.

3. Who is welcome to come and play with the Lubbock Chess Club? Are novice chess players and kids welcome to play?

All are welcome. Male or female, any age or skill level. Chess is a game for people of all ages and you can learn to play at any time. So come play even if you have never seen a chess board or if you are a highly advanced player.

4. How many players typically come and play at the Lubbock Chess Club, and what is the typical strength of those players?

It varies. We have an average of 18 to 20 regular players. Some nights we have as many as 30 plus players and 12 to 14 on others.

5. Is there a fee to join the Lubbock Chess Club?

At this time there is not a fee to join the club. However, in order to provide for the membership in the future we are in the process of formalizing the club with officers, by-laws, constitution and, of course, fees. Preliminary discussion on fees has been $20 per year for an adult membership, $15 per year for college students, and $10 per year for persons younger than 18.

6. What are some upcoming events that the Lubbock Chess Club is planning?

Since we are still getting off the ground we don’t have any events on the current schedule. We plan on sponsoring tournaments, leagues, chess ladders, and blitz tournaments in the future.

7. Why do you like playing chess?

In my opinion, chess is the ultimate game having a positive effect on a player’s attitude toward learning and cognitive achievement.

Chess play engages the human brain and employs new ways of thinking, imaginative processes, and creativity. Chess also develops your critical and analytical thinking ability and contributes to the increase of intelligence, problem solving skills, memorization and concentration. A little competition is also great for mental alertness, patience, sportsmanship, as well as challenging your sense of accomplishment.

8. How do you like playing chess at Lin’s Buffet on Mondays?

Lin’s provides us with a large, open, comfortable area to meet and play along with a wide variety of delicious food items to choose from. They offer a 10 percent discount to all members and, while we encourage dining, it is completely optional.

8. Where do you see the Lubbock Chess Club six months from now, and one year from now?

The current version of the Lubbock Chess Club is in its infancy. In the future we hope to offer chess instruction for any age and a comprehensive chess library available to all members.

Our primary purpose is to have fun and to promote the popularity of chess. We hope to eventually conduct tournaments and other forms of chess competition.

I feel that our membership will increase with time and advertising. As for the community, we hope to reach out to the school districts in the Lubbock area and promote the subject of chess and hopefully integrate it into their scholastic curriculum.

Source: http://www.lubbockonline.com

Chess daily news from Susan Polgar

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video

Link

• Official website

• Dvirnyy patta con il GM Salgado Lopez e sale a 2!
• Corrado Astengo batte il MI Pancevski
  
• Femminile
• Sedina - MI Mariya Muzychuk 1/2
  

Nel terzo turno Caruana si prende un giorno di riposo e, con il nero, patta velocemente con il GM Aleksandrov (2601). Prosegue l'ottimo torneo di Dvirnyy che patta, sempre con il nero, con il giovane Grande Maestro spagnolo Ivan Salgado Lopez (2592).

Come da pronostico, vince Shytaj che raggiunge Danyyl a quota 2. Godena patta, con il nero, con il MF Bajarani (2395). Michele sale cose a quota 1.5 insieme a Bentivegna che patta con il MI ungherse Banusz (2517). Termina con una patta anche il derby tra Brunello e Lanzani. La sorpresa negativa arriva da Ortega, che con il bianco perde contro il MF austriaco Platzgummer. Anche da Piscopo ci si aspettava qualcosa in più di una patta con il bileorusso Elkin (2189)

Tra i tanti italiani venuti a Rijeka senza particolari ambizioni, da segnalare la vittoria di Corrado Astengo contro il MI Pancevski (2423)!

Femminile giornata meno felice delle precedenti per la comitiva delle ragazze. Perdono la Zimina, Marina Brunello e la Tonel. La Sedina patta con Mariya Muzychuk e resta nelle zone alte della classifica mentre questa volta è Roberta Brunello ad ottenere un buon risultato: patta con la WGM croata Medic.

Per sapere cosa è successo nel secondo turno, clicca QUI


GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej (BLR, 2601) - GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2680)
difesa slava
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Cf3 Cf6 4. e3 Af5 5. Ad3 Axd3 6. Dxd3 e6 7. O-O Cbd7 8. b3 Ce4 9. Cfd2 f5 10. f3 Cxd2 11. Cxd2 Ad6 12. e4 Dh4 13. g3 implicita proposta di patta, confidando che dopo il sacrificio di alfiere in g3 il nero dia il perpetuo con la donna Axg3 14. hxg3 Dxg3+ 15. Rh1 Dh3+ 16.Rg1 Dg3+ Caruana decide di non andare a scoprire se il nero abbia chance di vittoria dopo la cattura del pe4, e si prende una giornata di riposo 1/2


MI Sedina, Elena (ITA, 2334) - MI Muzychuk Maria (UKR, 2444)
Francese Tarrasch

GM Dzagnidze, Nana (GEO, 2479)  - MI Zimina, Olga (ITA, 2319) 
gambetto di donna rifiutato

Il diciannovenne Grande Maestro spagnolo Ivan Salgado Lopez
L'avversario di Dvirnyy

Mariya Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze e Svetlana Matveeva
le avversarie di Sedina, Zimina e Marina Brunello


una panormaica della sede di gioco