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

Game viewer by ChessTempo

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.

Report & photos © official website, more here

Videos

Links

• Official website
• Games in PGN: Blindfold | Rapid, via TWIC

Zahar Efimenko (Ukraine) and Baadur Jobava (Georgia) are sharing the lead at the European Individual Championship after seven rounds of play. The two are both on 6 out of 7.

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 6-7

The four players on 4.5/5 obviously met in the sixth round on Thursday. Baadur Jobava reached a better ending which suddenly turned into an easily winning one, when his opponent exchanged a pair of knights.

Timofeev-Jobava
Position after 39…Kd7

After winnin a few nice White games, Nisipeanu was on the wrong side of a devastating attack in round 6. Efimenko was in a killing mood:

Efimenko-Nisipeanu
Position after 15…Rd8

Grandmaster Karpov annonced his candidacy for the president of the World Chess Federation and pointed out that he is ready to use his chess fame around the world. He said that if he became the president, his first step will be the Federation’ reorganization as well as finding a major sponsors that will allow accoure more efficient FIDE activities. Karpov considers that it is necessary to remove the current negative FIDE image in the world, and that the main thing is to respect our own rules.

He note that by now he founded numerous chess schools and clubs all over the world, and than he recalled the times when he was the world’s leading chess player. On the question of how to restore the old glory of chess, Karpov said that the national federations must highlight the big names of world chess so they could obtain new sponsors.

“I was at Croatia 30 years ago, and the organization of this Championship in Rijeka delighted me. The organizers provided ideal conditions for a large number of players and so I congratulate them for the excellent organization“, Karpov said.

Selection of games rounds 6-7

Game viewer by ChessTempo

Zahar Efimenko, in shared first place, here in his round 6 game, beating Nisipeanu

Baadur Jobava, also on 6/7

Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

Links

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

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

Over the last 2 years I have been producing and directing a documentary about scholastic chess with my company Rescued Media.  Chess Movie (working title) goes inside one of the best junior high chess program in the nation, Intermediate School 318 in Brooklyn, New York. Many students at 318 come from difficult circumstances and 60% are from low-income families, but being part of a winning chess team gives them a unique opportunity to experience success at a young age. Justus, Patrick, Alexis, Pobo & Rochelle are 5 of 50 team members that are learning on the chessboard the skills they need to face challenges of adolescence and their working class circumstances.

In April 2009 we embarked on our first trip with the team to Nashville, Tennessee, to the USCF Super Nationals. Once we witnessed how big the scholastic chess world was, we were hooked. Over the next year we embedded ourselves with the team-- at home, at school and away at tournaments -- and slowly, the kids' individual stories began to take shape.  Please view our five minute teaser for an idea of where the film is now headed. It’s our ultimate goal to secure a national television broadcast for Chess Movie and maybe even a small theatrical release. We also plan to build a strong community outreach campaign in the hopes the film will build support for scholastic chess programs in under served communities as we have witnessed firsthand the profound effect the I.S. 318 chess program has had on its students.

Right now we have a fundraising campaign underway at Kickstarter.com. Kickstarter is an online funding platform for artists to engage with their audiences and build support for their projects. Our Kickstarter campaign has been pretty successful so far, reaching our initial goal of $4,000 in just a few short weeks. But we still have 50 days to go and we need more than 4k to finish this film. When you log onto Kickstarter you will see that we are offering some really cool rewards and incentives for backers. For example a $10 donation gets you exclusive access to video updates and deleted scenes and a $55 donation secures you a "Special Thanks" credit in our film. We also offer chess-centric rewards like free memberships to WORLD CHESS LIVE and CHESS.COM but at the end of the day I hope you are most inspired to give because you love chess and are moved by the kids and their stories. We believe this film has the potential to breakdown false stereotypes about chess and present a new and fresh perspective to one of the world's oldest and most beloved games.

• 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).

• Sundays 5-SS, G/45
• Mondays 4-SS, G/25 (1st & 2nd weeks of the month)
• Tuesdays 3-Round Quads, G/30
• Wednesdays 4-SS, G/30
• Friday 4-SS, 30 moves in 90 + SD/60 (one game per week)
• Saturday 4-SS, G/60 for U2400s

• Reassembler
• USCL News & Gossip
• Jim West
• Adventures of Rabin
• Castling Queenside

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

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

Mercoledi  17  Riposo

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

Lunedì 22  Riposo

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

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

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

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

RISULTATI e ABBINAMENTI

QUI  

  PARTITE IN DIRETTA QUI

• 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

D'après le Nouvel Obs, deux documents prouvent que Sacha Rhoul, condamné par contumace en France à quinze ans de prison pour avoir participé au meurtre de Gilles Andruet (photo des archives de l'AFP ci-contre), est bien marocain et n'aurait donc pas dû être extradé vers Paris.

• 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.
  

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

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

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

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

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

Rounds 4-5

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

Krasenkow-Jobava
Position after 32…Rxe3

Imaginative play by Baadur Jobava

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

Nabaty-Khairullin
Position after 31…Kc7

Selection of games rounds 4-5

Game viewer by ChessTempo

The top boards of the 5th round

Young & old in Rijeka

Photos courtesy of the official website, more here

Links

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

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.

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