Besides round reports, currently the website of the European Championship in Rijeka has two interesting news items. It’s reported that Silvio Danailov is running for President of the European Chess Union, and that 110 participants have protested against the zero-tolerance rule.

At the European Championship website we’re informed of the following:

Mr. Silvio Danailov, vice-president of the Bulgarian Chess Federation will host a reception for delegates and guests of the ECU General Assembly on Saturday, 13th March at 9PM, in Opatija at the hotel Millenium (M. Tita 109).

At the reception Mr. Danailov will announce his candidacy for the President of the European Chess Union at the upcoming elections and will present the basic guidelines of his programme.

Danailov is executive director of the Grand Slam Chess Association and manager of Veselin Topalov and Ivan Cheparinov. By running for ECU President, Danailov is rivalling against the other candidates: Ali Nihat Yazici, President of the Turkish Chess Federation, and Boris Kutin, the reigning ECU President.

Chessdom posted part of the program that the Danailov team is preparing, which we quote below:

Dear friends in chess,

I speak to you as a person who spent his best years as a chess player, trainer, manager and organizer. Doing my job, I have always tried to make it as professional as possible, bringing new ideas and aspiring to higher standards.

I am proud of the fact that some of my ideas and standards of organizing competitions have been accepted even at the most important chess tournaments in the world.

I have accepted the initiative of my friends and I am running for the President of the European Chess Union, but this doesn’t mean I am ready to give unrealistic promises.

My campaign to win your vote will be led under the slogan “I know…”
In the highest interest of the progress of the European Chess Union and chess in Europe in general, I am prepared to implement all those ideas and results I have reached so far in the following areas:

- Training and management of the leading chess players
- Organization of top-level chess competitions with the highest possible standards
- Drawing undivided attention of the media and sponsors towards chess
- Contacts with influential people for the prosperity of chess
Including youth competitions in elite tournaments…

I will be happy if I win your support with this program and if you bring along any new ideas.

Sincerely yours,

Silvio Danailov

Another interesting item at the European Championship website is the protest of 110 players against the zero-tolerance rule:

The participants of the 11. European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championsh have submitted a petition to the Organizing commitee and Boris Kutin (the president of European Chess Union) in which they request changing the delay tolerance from 0 to 30 minutes. They require this measurement to be valid from the 4th round and was signed by 110 participants.

Due to request, on the behalf of Organizing commitee, the president of the Executive Commitee Damir Vrhovnik said:

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

We first mentioned the zero-tolerance rule in our article on all new rules in the FIDE Laws of Chess which came into effect on July 1st, 2009. Later, in our column ‘Too late to leave?’ we commented on the forfeiting of Li Chao and Wang Yue for arriving a little too late for their second rapid game in round 3 of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. This column provoked 174 comments.

Links

• Tournament website

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

Bonjour ami lecteur, nous vous offrons tout d'abord ce bon café de notre ami photographe Charly Founes, histoire de bien commencer la journée avec Chess & Strategy.

Ensuite, prenez le temps de lire le nouvel article sur les échecs du journal Paris-Normandie, un surprenant voyage dans le monde des cases blanches et noires, raconté avec passion chaque semaine sur notre site échiquéen par Samir Adyel.

Au sommaire de cette chronique échecs très éclectique : un mat en deux coups signé de S. Štambuk, tiré du Šahovski Glasnik de 1952, le thème du clouage illustré par la partie Gamback (2167) – Nevanlinna (2338) de 2001. Un rendez-vous normand à Evreux, la récente finale Topalov (2805) – Gelfand (2761) de Linares. Enfin, une petite phrase de Savielly Tartakover et un piège d'ouverture sur la Défense Française. Bonne journée !

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Dans le Top 100 mondial, le prodigieux norvégien Magnus Carlsen se maintient à la place de numéro 1 avec 2813 points Elo (+3 points). Il devance le bulgare Veselin Topalov à 2805 (=). A noter, la progression de Kramnik (+2) qui grille la politesse au champion du monde en titre Anand (-2). Rappelons que le record historique appartient toujours à Garry Kasparov avec 2851 points, obtenu en Janvier 2000.

Petit recul sans conséquence pour le numéro 1 tricolore Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2717, -3). Le champion du monde junior 2009, occupe désormais la 19ème place du classement général (-1). De son côté, le n°2 français Etienne Bacrot (2714) engrange un petit point et pointe en 26ème position. Côté féminin, Marie Sebag (2506, -4) règne toujours sans partage en France.

2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés

Veselin Topalov briefly took the #1 spot during the Linares Super GM tournament, but then fell back off Magnus Carlsen (2813, +3) to remain in the #2 spot. The World Champion challenger is behind Carlsen by mere percentage points on the unofficial live list. Unfortunately, Linares did not make the calculations and the official list shows him eight points back (2805, +0). Topalov is gearing up for his big match with World Champion Viswanathan Anand (2787, -3).

Vladimir Kramnik (2790, +2) has supplanted Anand at the #3 position. He had a strong showing at Corus, but that was only worth an increase of .19 points. Levon Aronian (2782, +1) holds steady at #5 while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2760, +20) vaulted into the #6 position from #11. Alexander Grischuk (2756, +20) jumped eight places on the strength of his Russian Championship.

Peter Svidler (2750, +6) and Boris Gelfand (2750, -11) are tied for 8th-9th. Gelfand plummeted in the World Team Championship after his World Cup win. Chinese #1 Wang Yue (2749, +0) has been relatively inactive since bowing out of the World Cup. The biggest winner of the top 100 is Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem (2689, +42), the winner of 2010 Aeroflot tournament. Hikaru Nakamura also saw a big gain (2735, +27).

In women’s chess, Judit Polgar remained as “Queen of the Hill” (2682, +0) with Humpy Koneru closing in (2622, +8). At one time there was almost 200 ELO points separating the top two positions. Hou Yifan (2570, -20) dropped a ton of points after the Moscow Open. One lady rising on the horizon appears to be Nadezhda Kosintseva (2554, +21) who won the Russia Women’s Championship. Zhao Xue (2490, -16) dropped under 2500 for the first time in three years and Ju Wenjun (2500, -12) is now the nation’s #2. Zhao and Xu Yuhua (2478, +0) may be preparing to make way for the wealth of Chinese talent coming through.

As far as juniors are concerned, Carlsen will remain at the top for as long as he is eligible. At 2813, he is almost 100 ELO points from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2727, -3). Sergey Karjakin (2725, +5) is on position #3 and Le Quang Liem (2689, +42) has been touted as the new young star on the scene. Wesley So (2665, +9) keeps gaining and is now the strongest Filipino player in history. So is in the #6 spot. Anish Giri (2624, +36) won Corus B and vaulted over 2600. He is the youngest on the top 20 junior list and has gained some notoriety for annotating games from the Linares tournament. Watch this young man!

FIDE: http://ratings.fide.com/toplist.phtml

"Ciudad de Linares" 2010

Tablas para ganar no ganan – Jugadas y bifurcaciones – La preparación del Super GM Paco Vallejo

Hemos visto las crónicas de Linares en esta página. Un torneo que, faltando dos rondas, parecía al alcance de Topalov que llevaba un punto sobre Grischuk. En la penúltima Grischuk venció al búlgaro y llegaron a la última ambos primeros y únicos con posibilidades de ganar Linares.

Vallejo-Grischuk y Topalov-Gelfand eran las partidas decisivas. Pensar que hay rivales fáciles a este nivel es poco serio. Paco no perdió con Grischuk y tiene una victoria de cuando ambos eran Sub-14. Topalov tiene score ampliamente favorable con Blancas ante Gelfand y le ganó las dos últimas Petroff. Pero todo esto son estadísticas que no avalan un resultado y menos en momentos decisivos.

Just a few days ago Veselin Topalov won the Linares tournament and narrowed the gap with Magnus Carlsen on the live rating list to just one point. On the March 1st FIDE rating list the Norwegian leads with a personal record of 2813 and is still 8 points ahead of Topalov.

It’s already an improvement to have six rating lists a year instead of four, but today we are reminded again of the fact that a monthly, or even weekly official list might be even better. While Carlsen and Topalov are just one (in fact 0.7) rating point away from each other on the “live list” by Hans Arild Runde (which you can also find in the far right column on this website), on the official list the distance is 8 points because Linares hasn’t been counted yet.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand lost his third place to Vladimir Kramnik; between them there are just three points. This means that the upcoming World Championship match in Sofia will be played between the current world’s number 2 and 4.

Vugar Gashimov was Azerbaijan’s number one player briefly, but he’s out of the top 10 again. His 6th place is now occupied by his compatriot Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who is back among the elite after a lesser period. Grischuk and Svidler climbed to spots number 7 and 8.

Vassily Ivanchuk is out of the top 10 again; he dropped slightly from 8 to 11. Hikaru Nakamura saw a strong period awarded with a 17th place. Alexander Morozevich’ decline continued; the former World’s number 2 can now be found on spot 24. There are now 37 players with a rating of 2700 or higher.

In the women’s list nothing much changed. The difference between Judit Polgar and Humpy Koneru decreased a bit further, from 68 to 60 points. Below you’ll find the new top 100, the top 100 women, the top 20 juniors and the top 20 girls. We give the first two lists including the changes with the previous lists. All data courtesy of FIDE.

FIDE MARCH 2010 RATING LIST: TOP 100 PLAYERS
Legend:
black color – player remained on the same position
green color – player moved up in the list
red color – player moved down in the list
blue color – player is new to the current Top list
Old represents player’s position in the previous period list

Rank		Old	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games
	1	1	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2813 (+3)	13 (-3)
	2	2	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2805 (0)	0 (-4)
	3	4	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2790 (+2)	13 (-3)
	4	3	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2787 (-3)	13 (+4)
	5	5	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2782 (+1)	9 (-8)
	6	11	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2760 (+19)	9 (-10)
	7	15	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2756 (+20)	16 (+8)
	8	10	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2750 (+6)	9 (-18)
	9	6	Gelfand, Boris	g	ISR	2750 (-11)	7 (-18)
	10	9	Wang, Yue	g	CHN	2749 (0)	0 (-8)
	11	8	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2748 (-1)	13 (0)
	12	7	Gashimov, Vugar	g	AZE	2740 (-19)	7 (-14)
	13	16	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2740 (+7)	7 (-6)
	14	20	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2737 (+14)	13 (-6)
	15	13	Ponomariov, Ruslan	g	UKR	2737 (0)	0 (-25)
	16	14	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2736 (0)	0 (-14)
	17	28	Nakamura, Hikaru	g	USA	2735 (+27)	21 (+14)
	18	12	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2735 (-4)	13 (+4)
	19	18	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2727 (-3)	9 (-12)
	20	19	Jakovenko, Dmitry	g	RUS	2725 (-5)	14 (-3)
	21	21	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2725 (+5)	13 (+1)
	22	22	Malakhov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2721 (+5)	7 (-8)
	23	26	Almasi, Zoltan	g	HUN	2720 (+10)	9 (+2)
	24	17	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2715 (-17)	6 (-13)
	25	23	Wang, Hao	g	CHN	2715 (0)	0 (-10)
	26	24	Bacrot, Etienne	g	FRA	2714 (+1)	19 (+1)
	27	25	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	g	CUB	2713 (+1)	13 (+9)
	28	41	Vitiugov, Nikita	g	RUS	2710 (+18)	15 (+7)
	29	29	Movsesian, Sergei	g	SVK	2709 (+1)	10 (+8)
	30	31	Vallejo Pons, Francisco	g	ESP	2708 (+3)	10 (0)
	31	27	Navara, David	g	CZE	2708 (0)	0 (-15)
	32	35	Motylev, Alexander	g	RUS	2705 (+8)	18 (+12)
	33	39	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	2704 (+10)	10 (-7)
	34	40	Kamsky, Gata	g	USA	2702 (+9)	28 (+22)
	35	34	Kasimdzhanov, Rustam	g	UZB	2702 (0)	0 (-2)
	36	30	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	g	RUS	2701 (-4)	14 (0)
	37	33	Alekseev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2700 (-3)	9 (-4)
	38	36	Rublevsky, Sergei	g	RUS	2697 (0)	8 (+4)
	39	37	Nielsen, Peter Heine	g	DEN	2697 (0)	0 (0)
	40	32	Jobava, Baadur	g	GEO	2695 (-9)	9 (-6)
	41	44	Naiditsch, Arkadij	g	GER	2691 (+4)	22 (+9)
	42	93	Le, Quang Liem	g	VIE	2689 (+42)	35 (+15)
	43	49	Akopian, Vladimir	g	ARM	2688 (+10)	9 (-1)
	44	57	Onischuk, Alexander	g	USA	2687 (+17)	9 (+5)
	45	42	Volokitin, Andrei	g	UKR	2687 (-5)	9 (+1)
	46	83	Sasikiran, Krishnan	g	IND	2686 (+33)	33 (+29)
	47	38	Short, Nigel D	g	ENG	2686 (-10)	13 (+6)
	48	45	Miroshnichenko, Evgenij	g	UKR	2686 (0)	0 (0)
	49	43	Bologan, Viktor	g	MDA	2684 (-8)	18 (+12)
	50	52	Bu, Xiangzhi	g	CHN	2682 (+9)	18 (+12)
	51	46	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2682 (0)	0 (-4)
	52	51	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2680 (+5)	22 (+4)
	53	48	Sargissian, Gabriel	g	ARM	2675 (-5)	15 (+3)
	54	60	Kurnosov, Igor	g	RUS	2674 (+6)	9 (-1)
	55	80	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	g	IND	2672 (+18)	13 (+9)
	56	55	Fressinet, Laurent	g	FRA	2670 (0)	10 (-2)
	57	56	Areshchenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2670 (0)	0 (-6)
	58	53	Georgiev, Kiril	g	BUL	2669 (-3)	18 (+18)
	59	50	Moiseenko, Alexander	g	UKR	2668 (-9)	9 (+9)
	60	82	Grachev, Boris	g	RUS	2667 (+14)	27 (+9)
	61	98	Bareev, Evgeny	g	RUS	2667 (+24)	18 (+8)
	62	72	Ni, Hua	g	CHN	2667 (+10)	13 (+3)
	63	89	Inarkiev, Ernesto	g	RUS	2667 (+18)	9 (+3)
	64	77	So, Wesley	g	PHI	2665 (+9)	22 (+14)
	65	61	Najer, Evgeniy	g	RUS	2665 (0)	18 (+14)
	66	91	Korobov, Anton	g	UKR	2663 (+15)	9 (-8)
	67	68	Meier, Georg	g	GER	2663 (+5)	9 (-3)
	68	47	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	g	ROU	2661 (-20)	13 (+1)
	69	54	Harikrishna, P.	g	IND	2660 (-12)	27 (+27)
	70	-	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2660 (+)	18 (+)
	71	63	Riazantsev, Alexander	g	RUS	2660 (-1)	9 (+9)
	72	84	Laznicka, Viktor	g	CZE	2659 (+7)	9 (-7)
	73	66	Berkes, Ferenc	g	HUN	2659 (0)	0 (-9)
	74	-	Lautier, Joel	g	FRA	2658 (+)	0 (+)
	75	65	Cheparinov, Ivan	g	BUL	2657 (-3)	19 (+4)
	76	86	Khismatullin, Denis	g	RUS	2657 (+6)	18 (+2)
	77	70	Beliavsky, Alexander G	g	SLO	2657 (0)	0 (-18)
	78	69	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2656 (-2)	18 (+8)
	79	76	Avrukh, Boris	g	ISR	2656 (0)	0 (-8)
	80	85	Timofeev, Artyom	g	RUS	2655 (+3)	18 (+14)
	81	62	Tiviakov, Sergei	g	NED	2653 (-9)	13 (+11)
	82	87	Dreev, Alexey	g	RUS	2653 (+3)	9 (0)
	83	-	Savchenko, Boris	g	RUS	2652 (+)	18 (+)
	84	94	Pashikian, Arman	g	ARM	2652 (+5)	15 (+9)
	85	78	Krasenkow, Michal	g	POL	2652 (-4)	9 (+9)
	86	75	Roiz, Michael	g	ISR	2652 (-5)	6 (-2)
	87	73	Smeets, Jan	g	NED	2651 (-6)	14 (+4)
	88	90	Seirawan, Yasser	g	USA	2651 (+2)	1 (-1)
	89	74	Sutovsky, Emil	g	ISR	2650 (-7)	20 (+11)
	90	79	Fridman, Daniel	g	GER	2650 (-4)	10 (+2)
	91	-	Zhou, Jianchao	g	CHN	2650 (+)	9 (+)
	92	-	Fedorchuk, Sergey A.	g	UKR	2649 (+)	18 (+)
	93	58	Zhigalko, Sergei	g	BLR	2648 (-20)	29 (+16)
	94	59	Smirin, Ilia	g	ISR	2647 (-21)	14 (+3)
	95	-	Gustafsson, Jan	g	GER	2646 (+)	10 (+)
	96	-	Andreikin, Dmitry	g	RUS	2645 (+)	9 (+)
	97	81	Baklan, Vladimir	g	UKR	2644 (-10)	9 (+7)
	98	96	Milov, Vadim	g	SUI	2644 (0)	0 (-6)
	99	-	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	g	PER	2643 (+)	18 (+)
	100	67	Lastin, Alexander	g	RUS	2643 (-16)	9 (+5)
	101	-	Zvjaginsev, Vadim	g	RUS	2643 (+)	9 (+)

FIDE MARCH 2010 RATING LIST: TOP 100 WOMEN

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Rank		Old	Name	Title	Country	Rating	Games
	1	1	Polgar, Judit	g	HUN	2682 (0)	0 (-4)
	2	2	Koneru, Humpy	g	IND	2622 (+8)	10 (+2)
	3	3	Hou, Yifan	g	CHN	2570 (-20)	18 (+4)
	4	4	Stefanova, Antoaneta	g	BUL	2555 (+10)	10 (+3)
	5	5	Kosintseva, Nadezhda	m	RUS	2554 (+21)	18 (+9)
	6	7	Muzychuk, Anna	m	SLO	2533 (+10)	13 (-12)
	7	10	Kosintseva, Tatiana	g	RUS	2524 (+9)	18 (+10)
	8	8	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	g	RUS	2524 (+1)	10 (0)
	9	6	Cramling, Pia	g	SWE	2523 (-5)	21 (+17)
	10	9	Lahno, Kateryna	g	UKR	2518 (0)	0 (-16)
	11	11	Chiburdanidze, Maia	g	GEO	2514 (0)	0 (0)
	12	13	Sebag, Marie	g	FRA	2506 (-4)	9 (+1)
	13	16	Mkrtchian, Lilit	m	ARM	2503 (0)	0 (-9)
	14	19	Javakhishvili, Lela	m	GEO	2500 (+7)	19 (+12)
	15	12	Ju, Wenjun	wg	CHN	2500 (-12)	9 (+5)
	16	17	Pogonina, Natalija	wg	RUS	2496 (-5)	7 (+7)
	17	32	Zhukova, Natalia	wg	UKR	2492 (+30)	10 (+2)
	18	18	Danielian, Elina	m	ARM	2491 (-4)	2 (-9)
	19	15	Zhao, Xue	g	CHN	2490 (-14)	18 (+14)
	20	-	Galliamova, Alisa	m	RUS	2487 (+)	9 (+)
	21	21	Hoang Thanh Trang	g	HUN	2487 (0)	0 (0)
	22	22	Paehtz, Elisabeth	m	GER	2486 (+2)	9 (0)
	23	20	Cmilyte, Viktorija	m	LTU	2485 (-4)	10 (+1)
	24	14	Dzagnidze, Nana	g	GEO	2479 (-27)	20 (+1)
	25	23	Ruan, Lufei	wg	CHN	2479 (0)	0 (-2)
	26	24	Xu, Yuhua	g	CHN	2478 (0)	0 (-3)
	27	28	Zhu, Chen	g	QAT	2476 (+6)	7 (+3)
	28	25	Harika, Dronavalli	m	IND	2473 (+2)	24 (+13)
	29	26	Gaponenko, Inna	m	UKR	2472 (+2)	5 (-11)
	30	53	Melia, Salome	m	GEO	2467 (+36)	31 (+22)
	31	-	Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman	m	IND	2466 (+)	11 (+)
	32	29	Qin, Kanying	wg	CHN	2466 (0)	0 (0)
	33	41	Socko, Monika	g	POL	2465 (+15)	8 (-6)
	34	31	Tan, Zhongyi	wg	CHN	2464 (0)	0 (-3)
	35	37	Krush, Irina	m	USA	2461 (+6)	24 (+19)
	36	30	Zatonskih, Anna	m	USA	2461 (-5)	10 (+10)
	37	36	Rajlich, Iweta	m	POL	2459 (+4)	8 (-5)
	38	42	Gunina, Valentina	wf	RUS	2457 (+9)	18 (+11)
	39	34	Dembo, Yelena	m	GRE	2457 (0)	0 (-8)
	40	-	Polgar, Sofia	m	HUN	2457 (+)	0 (+)
	41	35	Skripchenko, Almira	m	FRA	2456 (0)	0 (0)
	42	38	Tairova, Elena	m	RUS	2455 (0)	0 (0)
	43	40	Hunt, Harriet V	m	ENG	2452 (0)	0 (0)
	44	39	Ushenina, Anna	m	UKR	2452 (0)	0 (-6)
	45	33	Khotenashvili, Bela	m	GEO	2448 (-13)	13 (+5)
	46	43	Korbut, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2448 (0)	0 (0)
	47	27	Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan	g	SCO	2447 (-23)	10 (+1)
	48	45	Atalik, Ekaterina	m	TUR	2445 (0)	0 (0)
	49	44	Muzychuk, Mariya	m	UKR	2444 (-3)	13 (+13)
	50	46	Shen, Yang	wg	CHN	2444 (0)	0 (-2)
	51	48	Huang, Qian	wg	CHN	2439 (0)	0 (-3)
	52	54	Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina	m	RUS	2438 (+10)	9 (+5)
	53	56	Moser, Eva	m	AUT	2437 (+13)	7 (-1)
	54	50	Zhang, Xiaowen	wg	CHN	2437 (0)	0 (-24)
	55
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/fide-publishes-march-1-ratings-linares-not-counted/
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:32:56 +0000
MS: è on-line il numero 510
E' on line il numero 510 del nostro settimanale web, Messaggero Scacchi. E' possibile leggerlo in versione html o scaricarlo in formato pdf. Il file di partite è in formato PGN zippato. In questo numero, fra l'altro: 1 - LINARES (SPAGNA): TOPALOV RE SUL FILO DI LANA, GRISCHUK SECONDO 2 - GRADUATORIA FIDE: MAMEDYAROV VOLA AL SESTO POSTO, KRAMNIK SUPERA ANAND 3 - ELO ITALIANI: CARUANA SEMPRE PIÙ VICINO AL "MURO" DEI 2700 6 - NANCY (FRANCIA): SUCCESSO SOLITARIO DELL'ISRAELIANO POSTNY
http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2191
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:00:47 +0000
Topalov was the winner at Linares 2010
Bulgaria’s top chess player has won the title at the prestigious chess tournament in Linares, Spain, also known as the “Wimbledon of Chess.” In the last round of the tournament, Topalov beat Boris Gelfand from Israel after a five-hour game. Thus, Topalov got 6,5 points out of 10 possible winning for the first time in his career the Linares Chess Tournament. In 2005, Topalov came close to winning when he beat legendary Russian chess player Garry Kasparov in the last round, and equalized his score. However, Kasparov was declared the winner thanks to his better performance in additional criteria. The Linares Tournament was the last competition for former world champion Topalov before he pays for the World Chess Title with India’s Viswanathan Anand in the Bulgarian capital Sofia from April 21 until May 12, 2010
http://www.365chess.com/news/topalov-was-the-winner-at-linares-2010/
2010-03-02T14:56:59Z
Mammadyarov rises to sixth place in FIDE rating
Shahriyar Mammadyarov rises to sixth place in FIDE rating Tue 02 March 2010 05:55 GMT The international chess federation (FIDE) has released the list of the strongest chess players of the world. According to News.Az, Shahriyar Mammadyarov is the strongest Azerbaijani grandmaster in the renewed table about ranks. He rose to the sixth place though two months ago he was just 11th. His coefficient is 2760. Vugar Hashimov lowered from the seventh to 12th place with 2740 points. Teymur Rajabov has the same number of points and is 13th. He rose 3 points. The top five include Magnus Carlsen (2813), Veselin Topalov (2805), Vladimir Kramnik (2790), Vishi Anand (2787) and Levon Aronyan (2782).On the whole, the Azerbaijani team has 2637 (the average index of the ten best chess players of the country) and takes seventh place after Russia, Ukraine, China, France, India and Israel. Elmir Aliyev News.Az http://www.news.az Chess daily news from Susan Polgar
http://www.news.az/articles/10417
2010-03-02T01:00:00.001-06:00
Magnus Carlsen still number one
For the second time in succession the 19-year-old Norwegian has topped the list – his 2813 rating is the second-highest in the history of chess. Second is Veselin Topalov, third Vladimir Kramnik, who has overtaken World Champion Vishy Anand. Levon Aronian is fifth, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (+19 points) and Alexander Grischuk (+20) are now in places six and seven. Top rankings.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6158
Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Topalov gana y se corona Campeón del Torneo de Linares 2010
Veselin Topalov fue destacado en la clasificación varias jornadas y parecía que iba a ser el vencedor, pero luego perdió contra Grischuk y el ganador solo se decidiría en la emocionante última ronda, en un duelo a distancia con el otro líder. Para el desempate, en este torneo, en primer lugar se compara el número de victorias; después, el mejor resultado contra los jugadores con 50 % o más; a continuación se prescinde del resultado contra el último clasificado. Esto favorecía a Grischuk, porque Topalov había obtenido uno de sus puntos contra Vallejo. El ruso mantuvo las tablas e inmediatamente después de mostró contento de haber aguantado y con esperanzas de ganar el torneo. No obstante, Topalov logró imponerse a Gelfand en un final de torres, aprovechando una pequeña ventaja, con lo que al final: 1º Topalov, 2º Grischuk, 3º Aronian, 4º Gashimov (por el desempate), 5º Gelfand y 6. Vallejo. Reportaje ilustrado de la última ronda...
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8071
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
El día de descanso en Linares con simultáneas y paella taurina
Ayer, lunes fue día de descanso en Linares en cuanto a las partidas del XXVII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de Linares". Veselin Topalov, sin embargo, únicamente tuvo media jornada de descanso, porque a las 12:00 del mediodía dio unas simultáneas en 21 tableros, en el vestíbulo del hotel Aníbal. Topalov únicamente cedió tres tablas, dos de ellas a jugadores linarenses. A continuación hubo un almuerzo para los periodistas en la peña taurina "Paco Moreno" de Linares, la única de España que tiene su sede dentro de la propia plaza de toros. Pedro (a la izquierda) nos preparó una estupenda paella. Reportaje fotográfico por Nadja Wittmann...
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8066
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Linares R9: Grischuk vence a Topalov y lo alcanza en el liderato
El ganador del año pasado, Alexander Grischuk ha aprovechado su oportunidad y ha derrotado a Topalov. Ahora todo sigue en el aire y mañana vamos a tener una última ronda realmente apasionante. Además de esta manera, de momento, Topalov ha vuelto a perder la primera posición en la clasificación mundial continua oficiosa. Las otras dos partidas terminaron en tablas. No se pierdan la última ronda mañana a partir de las 16:00 horas, con los comentarios de viva voz gratuitos de Leontxo García en directo en Playchess.com. Reportaje ilustrado de la novena ronda...
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8068
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Alexander Grischuk catches Veselin Topalov by beating him
Alexander Grischuk needed to beat Veselin Topalov to have a chance of retaining his Linares title and this he did in a fine game in Round 9.
http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/malcolmpein/alexander-grischuk-catches-veselin-topalov-by-beating-him
Thu 25 Feb 2010 06:36:00 PM UTC
Topalov leads with two rounds to go
Veselin Topalov retains the lead with just two rounds of the Linares tournament to go.
http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/malcolmpein/topalov-leads-with-two-rounds-to-go
Tue 23 Feb 2010 06:30:00 PM UTC
Leonard Barden on Chess
Vishy Anand, who defends his world title against Veselin Topalov at Sofia in April, kept his powder dry in his warm-up event at Corus Wijk where the Indian, 40, played at full force in only a few games. In contrast Topalov, 34, has played hard in almost every game this week at the Linares elite tournament in Andalusia, where he won first prize with 6.5/10, half a point ahead of Russia's Alex Grischuk. The Bulgarian squeezed points from tiny advantages and by round six had regained the world No1 spot on the live ratings from Magnus Carlsen. These daily updated rankings have a huge following and their prestige is now not far short of the official world title. Topalov dropped back to No2 after his ninth-round defeat by Grischuk but overall he can be well satisfied with his Linares performance. Topalov was also laying down a marker for a possible future title clash with Carlsen and answering critics who said he could hope to beat Anand only if his manager, Silvio Danailov, introduced similar dubious offboard tactics to the infamous 2006 "Toiletgate" series against Vlad Kramnik. Given Anand's deep preparation methods, which defeated Kramnik in 2008, the Indian remains a marginal favourite, but basically the match looks too close to call. Topalov's Linares wins have all been quite long, so this week's game is an impressive demonstration by Grischuk on how to use an isolated d4 pawn to attack the opposing king. Two high points are 19 Bxd5! on the principle that White's dark square bishop is a key attacker and 32 a5! which stops counterplay. Motifs which recur in IQP games and which any player who has such positions needs to know are White's timely h pawn push, his dark square queen probes and his rook lifts to the third rank. Boris Gelfand should have tried 26...Bxe5 to defend with Qe7 and Kf7. It's a model game, well worth study. A Grischuk v B Gelfand 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 O-O 5 Bd3 d5 6 Nf3 c5 7 O-O dxc4 8 Bxc4 Nbd7 9 Qe2 a6 10 a4 cxd4 11 exd4 Nb6 12 Bd3 Nbd5 13 Nxd5 Nxd5 14 Qe4 g6 15 Bh6 Re8 16 Ne5 Bd7 17 Qf3 Qe7 18 Be4 Bc6 19 Bxd5! Bxd5 20 Qf4 f5 21 h4! Rac8 22 Rac1 Bd6 23 Rfe1 Qf6 24 Rc3! Rxc3 25 bxc3 Rc8 26 Qg3 Be4? 27 h5! Bxe5 28 dxe5 Qf7 29 Re3! Kh8 30 Qh4! gxh5 31 Rg3 Bd5 32 a5! f4 33 Rg7 Qf5 34 Qe7 Qe4 35 Qf6 1-0 3128 1 Qxc8+! Rxc8 2 Rxc8+ Ka7 3 Nc6+! bxc6 4 Rf7+ mates. Black avoided mate by 2...Qb8 3 Rxb8+ Kxb8 4 Kxg3 but, a knight down, soon lost. Chess Leonard Barden guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/feb/27/leonard-barden-chess-vishy-anand
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:27:52 GMT
Gashimov-Anand today’s top game in the Bundesliga
This weekend the 10th and 11th round of the Schachbundesliga are being played. On board one of the top match between Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen, Vugar Gashimov (Werder Bremen), who travelled from Linares to Heidelberg, plays the World Champ, Viswanathan Anand. In the 10th round of the Bundesliga the German champion OSG Baden-Baden faces the most serious contender Werder Bremen. It will be the most exciting match in the history of the Schachbundesliga, and both Baden-Baden and Werder Bremen will play with their nearly best possible lineup. The elo average of Baden-Baden is 2717 and of Bremen 2679. Both teams will have only top 100 players from the current world ranking at their disposal. Bremen will play on the first two boards with the Azerbaijani GMs Vugar Gashimov and Shakhriyar Mamedayrov, both known for their uncompromising style. Laurent Fressinet and Tomi Nyback will also defend the “green-white coloured”. After nine rounds they belong to the five top scorers of the league. Undoubtedly the biggest attraction of the whole weekend is World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Two months before his match against Veselin Topalov in Sofia he makes a “break” in his preparation to support his team in Germany. For many years he’s maintained friendly relations to the environment of Baden-Baden so his appearance doesn’t come as a big suprise. Etienne Bacrot and Germay’s number one Arkadij Naiditsch will also play for Baden-Baden. They belong to the five best performers of the whole league so far in this season. Here are the line-ups and the pairings of the match Baden-Baden – Werder Bremen: Saturday, 27th of February 2010, 2 pm Playing venue: Kongresshaus Stadthalle Heidelberg, Neckarstaden 24, 69117 Heidelberg OSG Baden-Baden – Werder Bremen 1 Viswanathan Anand 2788* Vugar Gashimov 2740 2 Peter Svidler 2741 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2721 3 Alexei Shirov 2730 Pavel Eljanov 2717 4 Etienne Bacrot 2709 Zahar Efimenko 2654 5 Sergei Movsesian 2711 Laurent Fressinet 2658 6 Michael Adams 2682 Alexander Areshchenko 2667 7 Arkadij Naiditsch 2685 Michael Roiz 2658 8 Peter-Heine Nielsen 2687 Tomi Nyback 2615 *Rating at the beginning of the season This match and of course all other matches of the Schachbundesliga will be covered live on the internet. At the day of the matches you can get access via the website of the Schachbundesliga. Here are all matches of the 10th and 11th round of the Schachbundesliga. 10th round: Saturday, 27th of February 2010, 2 pm Playing venue Heidelberg OSG Baden-Baden – Werder Bremen SK Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim – Hamburger SK Playing venue Mülheim SV Mülheim Nord – Bayern München SF Katernberg – Erfurter SK Playing venue Solingen SG Solingen – SV Wattenscheid SC Remagen – SK Turm Emsdetten Playing venue Trier SG Trier – SF Berlin SC Eppingen – SK König Tegel 11th round: Sunday, 28th of February 2010, 2 pm Playing venue Heidelberg Hamburger SK – OSG Baden-Baden Werder Bremen – SK Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim Playing venue Mülheim Bayern München – SF Katernberg Erfurter SK – SV Mülheim Nord Playing venue Solingen SV Wattenscheid – SC Remagen SK Turm Emsdetten – SG Solingen Playing venue Trier SF Berlin – SC Eppingen SK König Tegel – SG Trierem> SC Remagen – SG Solingen (5pm) Bundesliga 0910 | Current Standings Teams 1. OSC Baden-Baden 1 Anand, Viswanathan GM IND 2788 2 Carlsen, Magnus GM NOR 2772 3 Svidler, Peter GM RUS 2739 4 Shirov, Alexei GM ESP 2732 5 Bacrot, Etienne GM FRA 2721 6 Movsesian, Sergej GM SVK 2716 7 Adams, Michael GM ENG 2699 8 Naiditsch, Arkadij GM GER 2697 9 Vallejo Pons, Francisco GM ESP 2693 10 Nielsen, Peter-Heine GM DEN 2680 11 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter GM ROU 2675 12 Caruana, Fabiano GM ITA 2670 13 Gustafsson, Jan GM GER 2622 14 Dautov, Rustem GM GER 2596 15 Doettling, Fabian GER 2571 16 Schlosser, Philipp GER 2560 17 Dinger, Florian GER 2391 18 Hager, Joshua Aarasch GER 2217 9. SF Katernberg 1 Volokitin, Andrei GM UKR 2678 2 Chuchelov, Vladimir GM BEL 2598 3 Firman, Nazar IM UKR 2571 4 Seel, Christian IM GER 2493 5 Bischoff, Klaus GM GER 2551 6 Halkias, Stelios GM GRE 2564 7 Glek, Igor V GM GER 2528 8 Zaragatski, Ilja IM GER 2472 9 Senff, Martin IM GER 2469 10 Ris, Robert IM NED 2421 11 Thesing, Matthias IM GER 2436 12 Siebrecht, Sebastian GM GER 2458 13 Scholz, Christian IM GER 2373 14 Hoolt, Sarah WIM GER 2240 15 Rosen, Bernd FM GER 2355 16 Geilmann, Ulrich GER 1837 17 Kotainy, Jens GER 2270 2. Werder Bremen 1 Gashimov, Vugar GM AZE 2740 2 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar GM AZE 2717 3 McShane, Luke James GM ENG 2620 4 Eljanov, Pavel GM UKR 2716 5 Efimenko, Zahar GM UKR 2654 6 Fressinet, Laurent GM FRA 2667 7 Meier, Georg GM GER 2658 8 Areshchenko, Alexander GM UKR 2651 9 Roiz, Michael GM ISR 2658 10 Nyback, Tomi GM FIN 2627 11 Hracek, Zbynek GM CZE 2608 12 Babula, Vlastimil GM CZE 2566 13 Llaneza Vega, Marcos IM ESP 2521 14 Fish, Gennadij GM GER 2508 15 Skripchenko, Almira IM FRA 2450 16 Knaak, Rainer GM GER 2484 17 Lichman, Peter GER 2317 10. SK Turm Emsdetten 1 Mchedlishvili, Mikheil GM GEO 2592 2 Giri, Anish GM NED 2518 3 Spoelman, Wouter IM NED 2546 4 Hector, Jonny GM SWE 2556 5 Feygin, Michael IM GER 2546 6 Janssen, Ruud IM NED 2527 7 Cramling, Pia GM SWE 2525 8 Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel GM ESP 2445 9 Brandenburg, Daan IM NED 2463 10 Breder, Dennis IM GER 2435 11 Fiebig, Thomas GER 2426 12 Pruijssers, Roeland IM NED 2401 13 Kabatianski, Alexandr IM GER 2425 14 Richter, Christian FM GER 2417 15 Zumsande, Martin IM GER 2403 16 Bosman, Michiel FM NED 2356 3. SC Eppingen 1 Tiviakov, Sergei GM NED 2674 2 Postny, Evgeny GM ISR 2647 3 Berkes, Ferenc GM HUN 2647 4 Balogh, Csaba GM HUN 2595 5 Gyimesi, Zoltan GM HUN 2591 6 Ruck, Robert GM HUN 2561 7 Acs, Peter GM HUN 2550 8 Braun, Arik GM GER 2529 9 Bindrich, Falko GM GER 2516 10 Medvegy, Zoltan GM HUN 2547 11 Guliyev, Namig GM AZE 2555 12 Muzychuk, Anna IM SLO 2542 13 Paehtz, Elisabeth IM GER 2474 14 Mann, Christian IM GER 2454 15 Vogt, Lothar GM GER 2422 16 Dekan, Hans GER 2179 17 Noe, Christopher GER 1798 11. SF Berlin 1 Nataf, Igor-Alexandre GM FRA 2529 2 Markos, Jan GM SVK 2555 3 Miezis, Normunds GM LAT 2572 4 Lauber, Arnd IM GER 2517 5 Polzin, Rainer GM GER 2491 6 Kraemer, Martin IM GER 2481 7 Schneider, Ilja IM GER 2508 8 Berndt, Stephan IM GER 2442 9 Agopov, Mikail IM FIN 2442 10 Brynell, Stellan GM SWE 2471 11 Thiede, Lars IM GER 2452 12 Thinius, Marco IM GER 2375 13 Degtiarev, Evgeny FM GER 2373 14 Rudolf, Henrik FM GER 2353 15 Wintzer, Joachim Dr. FM GER 2384 16 Lundin, Jan FM SWE 2382 17 Abel, Dennes GER 2328 18 Glantz, Robert GER 2239 4. SV Mülheim-Nord 1 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam GM UZB 2672 2 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime GM FRA 2703 3 Motylev, Alexander GM RUS 2710 4 Tregubov, Pavel V. GM RUS 2652 5 Landa, Konstantin GM RUS 2655 6 Fridman, Daniel GM GER 2665 7 Potkin, Vladimir GM RUS 2619 8 Golod, Vitali GM ISR 2599 9 Malakhatko, Vadim GM BEL 2570 10 Berelovich, Alexander GM GER 2550 11 Levin, Felix GM GER 2491 12 Hausrath, Daniel GM GER 2519 13 Saltaev, Mihail GM UZB 2505 14 Schebler, Gerhard GM GER 2486 15 Litwak, Aleksej FM GER 2268 16 Kaufeld, Juergen FM GER 2274 17 Wittenberg, Andreas GER 2129 18 Kahleys, Kevin GER 1986 12. SG Trier 1 Lupulescu, Constantin GM ROU 2620 2 Bobras, Piotr GM POL 2568 3 Cyborowski, Lukasz GM POL 2498 4 Haslinger, Stewart GM ENG 2538 5 Gordon, Stephen IM ENG 2537 6 Jaracz, Pawel GM POL 2539 7 Erdoes, Viktor GM HUN 2565 8 Flumbort, Andras IM HUN 2507 9 Gonda, Laszlo IM HUN 2499 10 Galyas, Miklos IM HUN 2457 11 Seger, Ruediger IM GER 2405 12 Kolbus, Dietmar IM GER 2383 13 Cioara, Andrei Nestor IM ROU 2437 14 Goriachnik, Dmitry MDA 2324 15 Rat, Dan Ovidiu FM ROU 2315 16 Jeitz, Christian LUX 2221 17 Korman, Maxim GER 2172 5. SG Solingen 1 Stellwagen, Daniel GM NED 2630 2 Smeets, Jan GM NED 2632 3 Nikolic, Predrag GM BIH 2602 4 Buhmann, Rainer GM GER 2603 5 Werle, Jan GM NED 2575 6 Edouard, Romain GM FRA 2597 7 Jussupow, Artur GM GER 2570 8 L’Ami, Erwin GM NED 2593 9 Ragger, Markus GM AUT 2563 10 Ernst, Sipke GM NED 2598 11 Naumann, Alexander GM GER 2522 12 Hoffmann, Michael GM GER 2502 13 Gabriel, Christian GM GER 2507 14 Drabke, Lorenz Maximilian IM GER 2455 15 Wegerle, Joerg IM GER 2430 16 Schaefer, Markus IM GER 2378 17 Hobusch, Alexander GER 2103 18 Hannewald, Anton GER 1931 13. FC Bayern München 1 Bezold, Michael GM GER 2517 2 Bromberger, Stefan IM GER 2510 3 Schenk, Andreas IM GER 2509 4 Marcelin, Cyril GM FRA 2498 5 Boensch, Uwe GM GER 2511 6 Stangl, Markus GM GER 2455 7 Reiss, Tibor IM HUN 2414 8 Renner, Christoph IM GER 2431 9 Belezky, Alexander IM UKR 2446 10 Meissner, Bernd IM GER 2410 11 Meister, Peter IM GER 2396 12 Reich, Thomas IM GER 2368 13 Rodewis, Thomas Dr. GER 2367 14 Unzicker, Ferdinand Dr. GER 2332 15 Deglmann, Ludwig FM GER 2329 16 Lentrodt, Thomas FM GER 2304 17 Jorczik, Julian FM GER 2352 18 Graf, Felix GER 2291 6. Hamburger SK 1 Wojtaszek, Radoslav GM POL 2637 2 Kempinski, Robert GM POL 2601 3 Ghaem, Maghami Ehsan GM IRI 2589 4 Baramidze, David GM GER 2527 5 Adly, Ahmed GM EGY 2548 6 Rogozenco, Dorian GM ROU 2541 7 Hansen, Sune Berg HDEN 2554 8 Rasmussen, Allan Stig GM DEN 2536 9 Ftacnik, Lubomir Dr. GM SVK 2525 10 Mueller, Karsten Dr. GM GER 2523 11 Heinemann, Thies IM GER 2484 12 Chevelevitch, Evgueni Dr. IM GER 2461 13 Reeh, Oliver IM GER 2442 14 Huschenbeth, Niclas IM GER 2416 15 Sebastian, Dirk GER 2443 16 Van Delft, Merijn IM NED 2360 17 Carlstedt, Jonathan GER 2309 18 Bracker, Frank GER 2280 14. Erfurter SK 1 Romanov, Evgeny GM RUS 2589 2 Haba, Petr GM CZE 2533 3 Michiels, Bart IM BEL 2451 4 Kuczynski, Robert GM POL 2505 5 Casper, Thomas IM GER 2395 6 Votava, Jan GM CZE 2561 7 Enders, Peter GM GER 2467 8 Mueller, Matthias IM GER 2410 9 Voekler, Bernd FM GER 2393 10 Schoene, Maria WIM GER 2274 11 Troyke, Christian IM GER 2350 12 Schuetze, Norman GER 2278 13 Brueggemann, Joachim IM GER 2356 14 Krueger, Rainer Dr. GER 2211 15 Troyke, Doreen WFM GER 2105 16 Duzy, Stefan GER 1545 17 Friedt, Marius GER 1885 7. SV Wattenscheid 1 Vitiugov, Nikita GM RUS 2681 2 Najer, Evgeniy GM RUS 2663 3 Macieja, Bartlomiej GM POL 2612 4 Bartel, Mateusz GM POL 2619 5 Czarnota, Pawel GM POL 2530 6 Rustemov, Alexander GM RUS 2532 7 Johannessen, Leif Erlend GM NOR 2553 8 Appel, Ralf GM GER 2552 9 Holzke, Frank Dr. GM GER 2526 10 Handke, Florian GM GER 2513 11 Souleidis, Georgios IM GRE 2435 12 Dinstuhl, Volkmar Dr. IM GER 2417 13 Tereick, Benjamin FM GER 2378 14 Straeter, Timo FM GER 2347 15 Thiel, Thomas FM GER 2280 16 Gohla, Ulf GER 2181 17 Koerber, Matthias GER 1898 15. SK Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim 1 Ikonnikov, Viacheslav GM RUS 2556 2 Svetushkin, Dmitry GM MDA 2607 3 Ginsburg, Gennadi GM GER 2537 4 Gurevic, Vladimir GM UKR 2470 5 Chernov, Vadim IM ROU 2433 6 Solomunovic, Igor IM GER 2421 7 Gerigk, Erasmus FM GER 2335 8 Schwalfenberg, Joerg FM GER 2317 9 Maier, Christian IM GER 2347 10 Vatter, Hans-Joachim FM GER 2302 11 Syska, Albert FM GER 2268 12 Nippgen, Georg GER 2272 13 Roos, Jean-Luc IM FRA 2250 14 Neunhoeffer, Helmut Dr FM GER 2281 15 Pielmeier, Thomas GER 2231 16 Schott, Reimund FRA 2019 8. SC Remagen 1 Ivanchuk, Vassily GM UKR 2703 2 Fedorchuk, Sergey GM UKR 2655 3 Gharamian, Tigran GM FRA 2615 4 Goloshchapov, Alexander GM UKR 2580 5 Parligras, Mircea GM ROU 2557 6 Huebner, Robert Dr. GM GER 2605 7 Degraeve, Jean-Marc GM FRA 2559 8 Dgebuadze, Alexandre GM BEL 2516 9 Mainka, Romuald GM GER 2521 10 Swinkels, Robin IM NED 2516 11 Teske, Henrik GM GER 2536 12 Popovic, Petar GM SRB 2496 13 Polaczek, Richard IM BEL 2381 14 Kipper, Jens GER 2393 15 Schulz, Klaus-Juergen IM GER 2385 16 Bok, Benjamin FM NED 2360 16. SK König Tegel 1 Rabiega, Robert GM GER 2551 2 Stern, Rene IM GER 2498 3 Muse, Mladen GM CRO 2448 4 Von Herman, Ulf IM GER 2400 5 Muse, Drazen IM CRO 2374 6 Fruebing, Stefan FM GER 2305 7 Tomczak, Rainer FM GER 2287 8 Mielitz, Heinz GER 9 Sarbok, Torsten FM GER 2319 10 Breier, Andreas FM GER 2405 11 Giemsa, Stephan FM GER 2301 12 Jahnz, Fabian GER 2191 13 Jaehnisch, Frank GER 2230 14 Roth, Josef GER 2152 15 Schulz, Stefanie GER 2109 16 Rausch, Manfred GER 1689 17 Kachibadze, Georg GER 2224
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/gashimov-anand-todays-top-game-in-the-bundesliga/
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:33:51 +0000
Bundesliga 2009/10: X e XI turno
Entra in scena il Campione del Mondo! Gashimov-Anand  Svidler-Mamedyarov  Eljanov-Shirov  Live ore 14   In questo fine settimana si svolgeranno due turni del campionato tedesco a squadre, stagione 2009/10. Dopo le recenti fatiche del Corus e prima della sfida mondiale con Topalov, che si disputerà ad aprile,  farà il suo esordio nella manifestazione il Campione del Mondo in carica. Viswanathan Anand occuperà la prima scacchiera del OSG Baden-Baden che sta dominando la Bundesliga: nove vittorie e 54,5/72 nelle sfide individuali! Per capire la forza del OSG Baden Baden è sufficente citare una sola cifra: 2717, media elo degli otto giocatori che saranno impiegati in questi due turni. In vista dello scontro diretto del X turno contro il Baden Baden, che si disputerà nella città di Heidelberg, il Werder Brema (media melo: 2679) ha richiamato alle armi Gashimov e Mamedyarov, sinora tenuti a riposo. Ad inizio stagione la squadra  di Brema era considerata l'unica possibile antagonista dei campioni in carica, ma il suo cammino è stato rallentato dai due pareggi ottenuti con l'Amburgo e con gli ultimi in classifica dell'Erfurt. Dopo nove turni il Werder è terzo in classifica  dietro il SG Aljechin Solingen (Smeets e Nikolic), vera sorpresa di questo campionato e che sinora ha perso, di misura (3.5-4.5), solo con i primi della classe. Nei precedenti due turni la squadra del OSG Baden Baden ha schierato Fabiano Caruana. Potrete trovare i visori delle due vittorie di Caruana ed altre informazioni nell'articolo di Scacchierando pubblicato il 6 febbraio. Gashimov-Anand e Svidler-Mamedyarov, due sfide di altissimo livello Il poster del Werder Brema, edizione 2005 della Bundesliga. Sicuramente l'avrete riconosciuta, lei è Almira Skripchenko Le due partite del OSG Baden Baden Decimo turno, sabato 26 febbraio, ore 14 OSG Baden-Baden   Werder Bremen   1 Viswanathan Anand 2788 Vugar Gashimov 2740 2 Peter Svidler 2741 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2721 3 Alexei Shirov 2730 Pavel Eljanov 2717 4 Etienne Bacrot 2709 Zahar Efimenko 2654 5 Sergei Movsesian 2711 Laurent Fressinet 2658 6 Michael Adams 2682 Alexander Areshchenko 2667 7 Arkadij Naiditsch 2685 Michael Roiz 2658 8 Peter-Heine Nielsen 2687 Tomi Nyback 2615 Undicesimo turno, domenica 27 febbraio, ore 10 Hamburger SK   OSG Baden-Baden   1 Robert Kempinski 2616 Viswanathan Anand 2788 2 Ehsan Ghaem Maghami 2579 Peter Svidler 2741 3 David Baramidze 2532 Alexei Shirov 2730 4 Dorian Rogozenco 2541 Etienne Bacrot 2709 5 Thies Heinemann 2484 Sergei Movsesian 2711 6 Oliver Reeh 2442 Michael Adams 2682 7 Niclas Huschenbeth 2411 Arkadij Naiditsch 2685 8 Dirk Sebastian 2443 Peter-Heine Nielsen 2687 NB l'elo considerato è quello che i giocatori avevano all'inizio della manifestazione Tutti gli incontri del X e XI turno Turno 10 27 febbraio ore 14 No. Squadra Squadra Ris. : Ris. 1   SV Mülheim-Nord   FC Bayern München : 2   SF Katernberg   Erfurter SK : 3   SV Heidelberg Handschuhsheim   Hamburger SK : 4   OSG Baden-Baden   Werder Bremen : 5   SG Aljechin Solingen   SV Wattenscheid : 6   SC Remagen   SK Turm Emsdetten : 7   SG Trier   SF Berlin : 8   SC Eppingen   SK König Tegel : Turno 11 28 febbraio ore 10 No. Squadra Squadra Ris. : Ris. 1   FC Bayern München   SF Katernberg : 2   Erfurter SK   SV Mülheim-Nord : 3   Hamburger SK   OSG Baden-Baden : 4   Werder Bremen   SV Heidelberg Handschuhsheim : 5   SV Wattenscheid   SC Remagen : 6   SK Turm Emsdetten   SG Aljechin Solingen : 7   SF Berlin   SC Eppingen : 8   SK König Tegel   SG Trier : Classifica dopo 9 turni 1 OSG Baden-Baden 9 9 0 0 18 54.5 2 SG Solingen 9 8 0 1 16 45.5 3 Werder Bremen 9 7 2 0 16 43.5 4 SV Mülheim Nord 9 6 2 1 14 44.5 5 SV Wattenscheid 1930 9 6 1 2 13 42 6 Hamburger SK 9 5 1 3 11 41.5 7 SK Turm Emsdetten 9 5 0 4 10 39.5 8 SC 1950 Remagen 9 5 0 4 10 39 9 SF Katernberg 9 4 0 5 8 32 10 SC Eppingen 9 3 1 5 7 35.5 11 SF Berlin 1903 9 2 2 5 6 32.5 12 SG Trier 9 2 0 7 4 28.5 13 Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim 9 0 4 5 4 26 14 FC Bayern München 9 1 1 7 3 27 15 SK König Tegel 9 0 2 7 2 23 16 Erfurter SK 9 0 2 7 2 21.5 Regolamento Calendario il torneo vede la partecipazione di 16 squadre e si svolge con un girone all'italiana di sola andata  (15 turni). I prossimi turni si svolgeranno il 20 e il 21 marzo e il 10 e 11 aprile. Sistema di punteggio i match si disputano su 8 scacchiere e vengono assegnati 2 punti per la vittoria, 1 per il pareggio e 0 per la sconfitta. In caso di arrivo a pari merito, si considera la somma dei punti individuali ottenuti. Tempo di riflessione 100' x 40 mosse + 50' x 20 mosse + 15'  per terminare la partita più 30" di incremento per mossa dalla prima mossa. Visore Per vedere le altre partite spostare il Visore a destra e scegliere Solingen, Muhlheim o Trier SITI UTILI Sito ufficiale   Risultati su Chessresult
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1736
2010-02-26T14:00:00+01:00
Linares 2010: Topalov Triumphant
Topalov beats Gelfand in final round to take clear first ahead of Grischuk. Aronian wins to finish +1 and clear third.
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2010/02/linares-2010-topalov-triumphant.htm
2010-02-26T03:29:01Z
VIDEO: Interview Veselin Topalov
In our last video from Linares we speak with Veselin Topalov, just after he won his first Linares. He talks about the game against Gelfand and several other topics, and it includes a brief comment by Grischuk as well as footage from the closing ceremony. Below we give many photos from the closing. The closing ceremony started with music from the Andrés Segovia Choir Host was Leontxo Garcia The players in front row enjoying the ceremony Organizer Paco Albalate, during the rest of the year French teacher Arbiters Juan Vargas and Faik Gasanov with Paco Albalate A speech by the President of the Spanish Chess Federation, Javier Ochoa de Echagüen Paco Vallejo receives last prize from the mayor of Linares himself, Juan Fernández Boris Gelfand with Javier Ochoa de Echagüen Vugar Gashimov with Antonia Olivares, a Province delegate occupied with turism A speech by the secretary general of sports of the Andalucía region, Manuel Jimenez Levon Aronian and Vugar Gashimov Topalov and Aronian just received the prize (excellent olive oil) for 'most beautiful game' All players together on stage during one of the speeches The mayor of Linares gives Topalov the trophy The trophy (1st prize): a mine shaft - Linares was a mining city until 1991 Proud winner of Linares 2010: Veselin Topalov Some final words by the mayor... ...and a final group photo with all players and authorities.
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/video-interview-veselin-topalov/
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:52:42 +0000
How did Topalov win ?
Topalov - Gelfand: 1 - 0 (Linares 2010) Answer
http://www.usefulchess.com/others/chess_news.html#topalovwin
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:41:04 +0200
Topalov wins
Vesselin Topalov wins in Spain Thu, Feb 25 2010 10:54 CET by Nick Iliev Bulgarian chess grand master and contender for the world chess championship Vesselin Topalov won the super-tournament in the Spanish town of Linares, beating Boris Gelfand of Israel in the last round, Bulgarian media reported on February 25 2010. The Israeli conceded defeat after the 62nd move, nearly five hours into the fray. With his latest victory, Topalov accumulated a total of 6.5 out ot 10 available points and leapfrogged with half a point his main opponent, Alexander Grischuk of Russia. The traditional Linares tournament is taking place in Andalusia, Spain, from February 13 to 24 2010. It is popularly known as the "Wimbledon of Chess", being one of the strongest annual chess tournaments alongside Wijk aan Zee Corus and the Dortmund events. This year, the tournament has been scaled down to six contenders while a year earlier the players were eight and before that, there have been up to 14 players. The event, sponsored by Spanish businessman Luis Rentero, was first held in 1978. At that time it was not an elite event and was won by the relatively unknown Swede, Jaan Eslon (on tie-break from the Argentine Roberto Debarnot). After the following year's event, it was held every other year until 1987 when no tournament took place Topalov became the FIDE world chess champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. The Bulgarian won the 2005 Chess Oscar and was ranked number one in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, and had the second highest Elo rating of all time (2813). He regained the world number one seed ranking again in October 2008, and officially remained top of the ladder until January 2010, when he fell number two, behind Norwegian Magnus Carlsen. Source: http://www.sofiaecho.com Chess news from Susan Polgar
http://www.sofiaecho.com/2010/02/25/864378_vesselin-topalov-wins-in-spain
2010-02-26T01:00:00.000-06:00
Topalov se adjudica el Torneo de Linares en una épica partida final
Linares sigue siendo el equivalente ajedrecístico a un combate de gladiadores que un buen día soñó Luis Rentero, su creador y mecenas durante muchos años. Una competición especial donde las derrotas no resultan una deshonra –cualquiera puede ganar a cualquiera en un torneo restringido a los mejores jugadores del mundo-, pero lo único que no se perdona son las tablas sin lucha. Un espíritu combativo que se ajusta como anillo al dedo al vencedor de esta edición, Veselin Topalov, búlgaro de 35 años que lleva casi dos décadas afincado en Salamanca.
http://www.zonadeajedrez.com/noticias/noticias/845-topalov-se-adjudica-el-torneo-de-linares-en-una-epica-partida-final
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:56:21 +0000
Veselin Topalov Campeón de Linares en solitario.
Topalov es Topalov. Tras la victoria de Grischuk sobre Veselin en la penúltima Ronda la Final se puso caliente e incierta. Topalov ganó a Gelfand y Grischuk salvó la ropa ante Paco Vallejo. Conclusión: Veselin Topalov Campeón de Linares en solitario. Recupera puntos en el Ranking y estaría a 1 punto de Carlsen en el próximo listado. Tras el duro golpe que el Campeón ruso Alexander Grischuk sobre Veselin Topalov, en la 9na Ronda, alcanzándolo en la punta del torneo, la 10ma y última Ronda prometía un final de suspenso y emoción.   Vallejo Pons, Francisco-Grischuk, Alexander: ½-½ (32). Siciliana Najdorf. Alexander venía de dos victorias y tenía mejor sistema de desempate en caso de compartir la punta con Topalov. Esto le daba buena chance de consagrarse ganador del Linares. Hasta 10. … Ce5 se repetía Anand-Grischuk, Match, Mainz CCM5, Rapid, 2005 (½ en 24). Paco jugó bien –no por nada es un Top 2700-, quedó con iniciativa y da la impresión que tuvo algunas opciones. Grischuk ofreció el peón b7 para movilizar sus piezas y montar contrafuego, pero lógicamente no fue aceptado. No pareció buena 20. … Tab8 y el Blanco quedó con la pareja de Alfiles y un peón en c6 que podía generar algún problema al Negro. Queda por ver si era suficiente. Paco eligió cambiar piezas y tras una repetición de movidas se acordó el empate. Grischuk a la espera de lo que pudiera hacer el duro Gelfand. Un empate sería buena noticia para él.   Topalov, Veselin-Gelfand, Boris: 1-0 (62). Defensa Petroff. Ya sabemos que Gelfand conoce bien y practica mucho la Petroff y que no es fácil ganarle. Se siguió Caruana-Kramnik, Corus 2010 (½ en 31), que ya publicamos en Zona de Ajedrez. Veselin trató de presentar problemas nuevos a Boris y mantener la partida viva y en tensión. Claro que habrá jugadas técnicamente mejores, pero hay que resolver en el tablero. Tras 24.fxe3 Topalov había quedado con calidad e iniciativa. Gelfand debería trabajar bastante para sostener la posición. Imprevistamente 32.Txf6 (32.Td1 +/-) devuelve calidad y todo pareció equilibrarse. Quedo un final de Torre y cuatro peones contra Torre y tres peones, que aunque complicado no se veía con muchas chances de desnivel. 49. … a2?? (49 ... Re7 50. Th7+ Re6 51. C4 Re5 52. Td7 Tc3 53. Td5+ Re4 parece ser el camino correcto hacia el empate) y Topalov aprovechó. Un nuevo error 51. … Tb2?? Y el final ya era inmodificable. No obstante Topalov es Topalov y es muy linda la definición con 61.Txa2!!.   Aronian, Levon-Gashimov, Vugar: 1-0 (58). Benoni. Ya hablamos varias veces de Gashimov y la Benoni. Una posición con varios antecedentes recientes. No parece buena idea 13. … h6. Una partida bastante compleja, con altibajos, pero interesante. Se llegó al control de tiempo con bastantes piezas en el tablero e iniciativa para Aronian. Gashimov no tardó en derrumbarse, 50. … Cxd6?, 51. … Df5? y Levon demostró que las Blancas ganaban, así que Vugar se resignó poco después. Para Aronian el único triunfo tras 9 empates. Para Gashimov una actuación que lo dejó en el último puesto y con Gelfand los que más puntos perderán por sus actuaciones. Acompañamos las posiciones finales, un detalle de todas las Rondas y las partidas para ver y descargar. {iframe height="730"}visor3/visor.php?archivo=2010-Linares (1).pgn{/iframe}
http://www.zonadeajedrez.com/noticias/noticias/844-veselin-topalov-campeon-de-linares-en-solitario
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:34:25 +0000
Linares (9): commento
Clamoroso a Linares. Sono bastati due soli turni a Veselin Topalov, lanciato verso il suo primo trionfo in terra spagnola, per dilapidare il punto e mezzo di vantaggio sul più agguerrito inseguitore, Alexander Grischuk, il quale, vendicando il ko dell'andata, nel 9° turno ha restituito all'avversario pan per focaccia e lo ha agguantato in vetta alla classifica con 5,5 punti...
http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2167
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:00:51 +0000
Topalov beats Gelfand, wins Linares outright
Complicated tiebreak rules made all kinds of scenarios possible, but in the end it couldn’t be more clear. By beating Boris Gelfand in a tense game, Veselin Topalov won the 2010 Linares tournament outright as Grischuk drew with Vallejo. Games & final standings. later more. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705). Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Games round 9 Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 10 (Final) Standings Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/topalov-beats-gelfand-wins-linares-outright/
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:37:03 +0000
VIDEO: Grischuk-Topalov
In our second video from Linares we give the mic to Alexander Grischuk, who gave his view on his victory over Topalov. “I didn’t understand why people thought I had no chance against him.”
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/video-grischuk-topalov/
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:14:39 +0000
Linares R9: Grischuk beats Topalov
Alexander Grischuk defeated Veselin Topalov in round 9 of the Linares super-tournament. The two are leading with just one round to go. Gashimov-Vallejo and Gelfand-Aronian were both drawn. Big pictorial report. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705). Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 9 Just two rounds ago Veselin Topalov seemed sure of his first tournament victory in Linares, but two days later this picture has changed dramatically. Alexander Grischuk defeated the tournament leader with the white pieces in round 9 and should now be considered favourite for victory, since this year the first tiebreak rule is the individual enounters. Update: Here I forgot that Grischuk lost to Topalov in the first stage. The tiebreak rules are: 1. Individual result. 2. Highest number of victories. 3. Highest sum of points against players who scored 50% or more. 4. Remove the points scored against the player/group of players at the bottom of the standings. If still equal, do the same for the player/group of players above. 5. If still equal, blitz games will be played (but only to decide the 1st place). Grischuk was ‘pretty much happy’ with his play, as he said after the game. And he had all the reason, since he had simply played a good game, and certainly better than Topalov. Slightly under pressure, the Bulgarian continued to play quickly, to try to create complications; a strategy we also saw for example during his match against Kamsky a year ago. This time his opponent kept his calm and didn’t give away the advantage. During the last phase Topalov didn’t defend optimally and so Grischuk won the ending with RBN vs Q easily, where it should have been more difficult. Gashimov-Vallejo was drawn, and way before move 40, before which officially one is not allowed to agree to a draw. However, an exception is made in clearly drawn positions, and this was one of them. Later Gelfand and Aronian also split the point and for the Armenian this was the 9th consecutive draw. His comment after the game: “A personal record! I once had eight, but never nine!” Tomorrow we’ll have a video with Grischuk’s reaction after the game as well as a video on ‘the draw’, with comments by Gashimov, Vallejo, Aronian and Gelfand. Unfortunately the Hotel Anibal’s internet speed is too slow to upload. Games round 9 Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 9 Standings Calle Cervantes (Cervantes Street)... ...where Teatro Cervantes, the venue, is located Only three boards fill the stage this year... ...and just 10-20 spectators showed up on Tuesday But the press room is crowded as always... ...with, amongst others, Ljubojevic and Topalov's two Dutch seconds, Erwin l'Ami and Jan Smeets As always, the games shop across the street of Hotel Anibal is dedicated to chess again... ...with the flags of all the participants... ...and all kinds of chess sets.... ...creating a beautiful picture The January issue of the Spanish chess magazine Jaque Does that cover photo look familiar? Sharp vision! It’s by yours truly, also published over here; the report on the London Chess Classic for Jaque was done by me. Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/linares-r9-grischuk-beats-topalov/
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:46:57 +0000
Topalov gewinnt Linares
Veselin Topalov hatte das Turnier von Linares dominiert und sah mit zweitweise 1,5 Punkten Vorsprung lange wie der sichere Sieger aus. Doch dann verlor er gestern in der vorletzten Runde gegen Verfolger Alexander Grischuk und befand sich heute im Fernduell mit dem Russen um den Turniersieg. Die Zweitwertung von Linares sieht vor, dass bei Punktgleichheit zunächst der direkte Vergleich zählt, dann die höhere Anzahl von Siegen, dann das bessere Ergebnis gegen die Spieler mit 50% oder mehr. Schließlich wird der letzte Spieler in der Tabelle bzw. das Ergebnis gegen ihn gestrichen. Dies begünstigte Grischuk, denn Topalov hatte einen seiner Punkte gegen den Letzten, Vallejo, geholt. Grischuk kam mit Schwarz heute nicht über ein Remis gegen Vallejo hinaus. Doch Topalov gelang es, Gelfand in einem Turmendspiel mit einem halben Mehrbauern studienartig zu bezwingen. Während die anderen beiden Partien schon beendet waren, hatten Aronian und Gashimov noch nicht einmal das Mittelspiel verlassen. Stattdessen machten sich die beiden Großmeister noch eine schöne Zeit im Benoni. Mit Übergang ins Schwerfigurenendspiel zog Gashimov dann jedoch den Kürzeren und musste bald aufgeben. Turnierseite... Tabelle, alle Partien, Impressionen...
http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10103
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Veselin Topalov Wins Linares 2010!
Veselin Topalov made a fantastic comeback to one of his favourite sites, after taking a timeout last year to play the match against Kamsky, and won the six-player Linares supertournament in style. Entering the second half of the double round robin tournament with a large margin of point and a half ahead of the opposition, his victory appeared imminent, but he almost threw it away in the penultimate game after losing against the last-year winner Alexander Grischuk, who then caught up on the shared first place. But Topalov quickly bounced up and beat the 2009 World Cup winner Boris Gelfand in the last round in an impressive Rook endgame. Meanwhile, Grischuk could not achieve more than a draw with black pieces against Francisco Vallejo Pons and remained half a point behind the Bulgarian. Levon Aronian secured the third place by winning against Vugar Gashimov. Final standings: 1. Veselin Topalov BUL 2805 - 6.5 2. Alexander Grischuk RUS 2736 - 6.0 3. Levon Aronian ARM 2781 - 5.5 4-6. Vugar Gashimov AZE 2759, Boris Gelfand ISR 2761 and Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2705 - 4.0 Official website Veselin Topalov
http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4369-veselin-topalov-wins-linares-2010
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:43:04 +0000
Echecs à Linares : Topalov vainqueur !
Coup de théâtre à Linarès. A une ronde de la fin, Topalov s'est fait rattraper au classement par le Russe Alexander Grischuk. Comment le Bulgare va-t-il digérer sa défaite d'hier et terminer le tournoi. Le duel à distance entre ces deux champions d'échecs constituera indéniablement la clé du tournoi. Flash Info : Dans une finale de tours et pions égale, Topalov fait craquer Gelfand et s'adjuge le tournoi de Linarès ! Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les résultats de la ronde 10 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Levon Aronian 2781 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Vidéos - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 9 : Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Veselin Topalov 2805 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 8 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-le-finish-en-live-16h.html
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:06:00 +0000
Linares 2010 r9: Grischuk Saves Linares
Grischuk beats Topalov to tie him for first heading into tomorrow's final round.
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2010/02/linares-2010-r9-grischuk-saves-linares.htm
2010-02-23T22:12:29Z
Ciudad de Linares: diretta del X ed ultimo turno
Trionfa Topalov! Veselin batte Gelfand mentre Grisuchk patta con Vallejo Aronian coglie la prima vittoria ed è 3° A tre turni dal termine sembrava che Topalov, con un punto e mezzo di vantaggio sui secondi in classifica, dovesse vincere con relativa facilità la 27^ edizione del torneo di Linares. Ma la patta con Aronian e la concomitante vittoria di Grischuk nell'ottavo turno, e soprattuto la sconfitta subita nello scontro diretto del nono turno, hanno rimesso tutto in discussione. I due giocatori sono adesso in perfetta parità, anche in base ai primi tre criteri di spareggio. Il quarto criterio vede in vantaggio Grischuk, ma solo perché Alexander deve ancora giocare con l'ultimo in classifica. Aronian, che teoricamente potrebbe agganciare i due a quota 5.5, è invece escluso dalla lotta per la vittoria finale proprio in virtù dei criteri di spareggio (in parità negli scontri diretti, ma un numero inferiore di vittorie). Saranno dunque decisive le sfide dell'ultimo turno. Il bulgaro se la vedrà, con il bianco, con il solido Gelfand (otto patte e una sola sconfitta, proprio contro Grischuk) mentre il russo affronterà l'idolo di casa, Vallejo, che sinora ha perso solo con Topalov e Gashimov. Se dovessero vincere entrambi, si dovrebbe ricorrere agli spareggi blitz. In caso di due patte, invece, vincerebbe Grischuk per il quarto criterio di spareggio. Anche in caso di due sconfitte Grischuk, per il terzo criterio di spareggio, bisserebbe il successo dello scorso anno. Due immagini delle sfide del girone di andata tratte da Chessbase Incontri del X ed ultimo turno Veselin Topalov   1-0  Boris Gelfand Levon Aronian   1-0  Vugar Gashimov Francisco Vallejo   1/2  Alexander Grischuk Classifica Finale 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 * * 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 6½ 2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 0 1 * * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 6 3. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 ½ ½ ½ ½ * * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5½ 4. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * * ½ ½ 0 ½ 4 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * * ½ ½ 4 6. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ * * 4 criteri di spareggio in caso di arrivo a pari merito scontri diretti numero di vittorie punti ottenuti contro i giocatori che hanno conquistato almeno il 50% dei punti a disposizione si rimuovono i punti ottenuti contro il giocatore o il gruppo di  giocatori che si trovano in fondo alla classifica. Se permane la parità, si rimuovono i punti ottenuti contro il giocatore o il gruppo di  giocatori in testa alla classifica se permane la parità, sono previsti gli spareggi blitz (due partite. 3'+2". In caso di ulteriore parità,  si giocherebbe una partita secca: 5' al bianco, 4' al nero e vince il nero in caso di patta)  ma solo per decidere il 1° posto Regolamento calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio. tempo di riflessione 2h x 40 mosse  +  1h per 20 mosse + 30' per terminare la partita +30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla 61esima.   Non si può offrire patta prima della 40esima mossa SITI UTILI sito ufficiale partite commentate in diretta su Chessdom (in inglese) Articolo di presentazione di Angelmann FantaLinares 2010 di LightKnight Visore
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1732
2010-02-24T14:00:00+01:00
Topalov wins Linares, remains number two in the world
Francisco Vallejo held Alexander Grischuk to a draw in the final round, and for a while it looked as though Topalov had spoilt a very good position against Boris Gelfand to a draw. But the Israeli played the endgame inaccurately and Topalov could take the full point and tournament victory. In the world live rankings he is now one point behind Magnus Carlsen. Express report with commentary.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6151
Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Topalov Wins Linares!
An enthralling last round at Linares 2010 saw Veselin Topalov (pictured) take the title with a last round victory against Boris Gelfand. Topalov tried hard to create chances against Gelfand's Petroff defence, but the Israeli seemed to have good c...
http://www.chess.com/news/topalov-wins-linares-7207
Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:12:09 -0800
Grischuk Defeats Topalov In Linares
The penultimate round of the Linares 2010 super-GM tournament saw a titanic struggle between the leader Veselin Topalov and his closest pursuer, Alexander Grischuk. A dynamic and exciting game ended in victory for Grischuk, who therefore catches ...
http://www.chess.com/news/grischuk-defeats-topalov-in-linares-3473
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:39:15 -0800
When are you expected to see eveything?
The round 8 game between Topalov and Aronian from the current Linares tournament is provoking some interesting discussions on the various chess forums around the world. In the diagrammed position Topalov played 34.Bb3 and the game was eventually drawn. Instead Topalov could have played 34.Rxe4 which leads to a winning position after 34. ... Qxe4 35.Qc3+ Kg8 36.Qc7! Topalov's missed win has been described in a number of different ways. Commentators on ICC described it as a 'blunder', while young GM Anish Giri thought that a 2800 player should have found 34. Rxe4 in a couple of seconds. On the other hand GM Mikhail Golubov in ChessToday was far more diplomatic. "Missing a really nice win" was his comment to White's 34th move. Personally I prefer Golubov's take on the situation rather than the "OMG, he didn't see everything" crowd. In part because I feel the commentators are holding Topalov to a standard of perfection that none of us will ever achieve, and also because it is easier to find moves like 34.Rxe4 from a 'standing start' rather than as part of the thread of a 3 or 4 hour game.
http://chessexpress.blogspot.com/2010/02/when-are-you-expected-to-see-eveything.html
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:35:00 +0000
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 9 en Live à 16h
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde du 13 au 24 février en Espagne : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. A deux rondes de la fin, Topalov maintient son leadership au classement, devançant d'un point le Russe Alexander Grischuk. Le duel du jour entre ces deux champions d'échecs constituera indéniablement la clé du tournoi. Mais "Topi" serait-il en période de doute ? Après sa nulle samedi face à Gashimov en fort zeitnot, l'attaquant bulgare rate le gain dimanche face à Aronian. Rendez-vous à 16h ! Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 9 : Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Veselin Topalov 2805 Vugar Gashimov 2759 - Francisco Vallejo 2705 Boris Gelfand 2761 - Levon Aronian 2781 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Vidéos - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 8 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-la-ronde-9-en-live-16h.html
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:57:00 +0000
Mieux jouer aux échecs que Topalov
Comme l'aurait dit Thierry Roland, en direct du stade de Linarès, l'attaquant bulgare Veselin Topalov a manqué l'immanquable face au goal (Roi) de l'équipe arménienne. Cela n'arrive pas qu'à nous. Dans cette position, Topalov joue le fautif 34.Fb3?? et rate une combinaison simple que des grands-maîtres de ce calibre voient normalement en une seconde. La solution : [34.Txe4!! Dxe4 35.Dc3+ Rg8 (35...Rxg6 36.Fc2 gagne la Dame) 36.Dc7 L'idée de la combinaison est fondée sur une double menace : le mat et attaque de la Tour. 36...Db1+ 37.Rh2 Dxg6 38.Dxd8+ Rg7 39.Fb3] La fin de la partie 34...e3 35.fxe3 fxe3 36.Db4 Td6 37.Te2 Txg6 38.Dc3 Dxc3 39.bxc3 Tg5 40.Txe3 Cxd5 41.Fxd5 Txd5 42.Te7+ Rf6 43.Txb7 Ta5 44.Tb2 Re5 45.Rf2 ½–½ La journée de repos de ce lundi va permettre au Bulgare de souffler avant les deux dernières rondes du tournoi d'échecs de Linarès. Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Les dérapages de Thierry Roland 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/mieux-jouer-aux-echecs-que-topalov.html
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:12:00 +0000
Ciudad de Linares: diretta del IX turno
Grischuk sfida Topalov per riaprire il torneo Live h. 16 La 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares si avvia alla conclusione. Sinora  la competizione è stata letteralmente dominata da Topalov (3 vittorie e 5 patte), per nulla distratto dalla sfida Mondiale che il bulgaro affronterà ad aprile contro Anand. Grazie ai risultati ottenuti sinora (performance 2889), il bulgaro ha superato Carlsen in testa alla classifica del Live Rating internazionale curata da Hans Arild Rundle. Il menù di oggi ci offre la sfida tra Topalov e Grischuk, l'unico giocatore che nel corso del torneo ha dato l'impressione di poter contrastare il dominio di Veselin. Nel match di andata si impose Topalov dopo una partita emozionante. In quella occasione Griuschuk ebbe anche un paio di occasioni per vincere, ma il russo le sprecò a causa del terribile zeitnot in cui si era ridotto. Superato il controllo della 40esima mossa, Topalov  finì con il prevalere sfruttando magistralmente il piccolo vantaggio che aveva nel finale presentatosi sulla scacchiera. Alexander oggi ha l'occasione di rifarsi, e vincendo aggancerebbe Topalov in testa alla classifica! V turno: la Topalov-Grischuk è appena iniziata. Sarà una battaglia! Incontri del IX turno Alexander Grischuk     Veselin Topalov Vugar Gashimov     Francisco Vallejo Boris Gelfand     Levon Aronian Classifica dopo 8 turni 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 * * 1 . ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ . ½ 1 5½ 2889 2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 0 . * * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ . 4½ 2807 3. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 ½ ½ ½ ½ * * ½ . ½ . ½ ½ 4 2751 4. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ . * * ½ ½ 1 . 3½ 2718 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 ½ . 0 ½ ½ . ½ ½ * * ½ ½ 3½ 2705 6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 ½ 0 ½ . ½ ½ 0 . ½ ½ * * 3 2686 Accoppiamenti del X ed ultimo turno Veselin Topalov     Boris Gelfand Levon Aronian     Vugar Gashimov Francisco Vallejo     Alexander Grischuk Regolamento calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio. tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita SITI UTILI sito ufficiale partite commentate in diretta su Chessdom (in inglese) Articolo di presentazione di Angelmann FantaLinares 2010 di LightKnight Visore
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1730
2010-02-23T15:00:00+01:00
Linares 2010 r5-8: Topalov the Creator
Topalov leads on +3 with two rounds to go, a full point ahead of Grischuk. They meet on Tuesday. Monday is an off day.
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2010/02/linares-2010-r5-8-topalov-the-creator.htm
2010-02-22T06:45:03Z
MS: è on-line il numero 509
E' on line il numero 509 del nostro settimanale web, Messaggero Scacchi. E' possibile leggerlo in versione html o scaricarlo in formato pdf. Il file di partite è in formato PGN zippato. In questo numero, fra l'altro: 1 - LINARES (SPAGNA): TOPALOV A DUE PASSI DAL TRIONFO, GRISCHUK INSEGUE 3 - DRESDA (GERMANIA): ITALIA NONA NEL CAMPIONATO EUROPEO SENIOR A SQUADRE 5 - MILANO: IL RUSSO MAXIM TUROV STRAVINCE L'OPEN DELL'ACCADEMIA 7 - REGGIO EMILIA: MALFAGIA A PUNTEGGIO PIENO, EXPLOIT DEL MODENESE VERRELLI
http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2158
Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:40:30 +0000
Linares: Grischuk gewinnt, Topalov verpasst Sieg
Topalov, der bisher in Linares alle seine Weißpartien zu gewinnen pflegte, ließ heute gegen Aronian eine Punkteteilung zu. Dabei hatte sich der Bulgare in der Moskauer Variante auch diesmal eine Gewinnstellung erarbeitet. Im 34.Zug übersah der WM-Herausforderer dann jedoch eine Gewinnkombination (34.Txe4 statt 34.Lb3?) - ein ungewöhnlicher Fehler für den sonst so präzise rechnenden Supergroßmeister. Zu seinem zweiten Sieg im Turnier kam Alexander Grischuk, der aus den wilden Verwicklungen im Benoni gegen Vugar Gashimov nicht nur materiell als Sieger hervor ging. In Vallejo-Gelfand zeigte der zuletzt so unglücklich agierende Spanier keinerlei Ambitionen, mehr als die Punkteteilung zu erreichen. Topalov führt das Turnier mit einem satten Punkt Vorsprung an. Turnierseite... Tabelle, Partien, Bilder...
http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10092
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Grischuk narrows Topalov’s lead
Vugar Gashimov once again tried his luck in a Benoni, but this time around Grischuk made him pay, as the Linares defending champion moves to within a point of the leader Topalov. Today is the second and last restday in Linares. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. A six players, double round-robin, with Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705). Rounds start at 16:00 CET, with rest days on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 8 Things have not yet been decided in Linares. In round 8, Alexander Grischuk narrowed Veselin Topalov’s lead to a point by beating Vugar Gashimov, and after today’s restday it’s… Grischuk-Topalov on Tuesday. Yours truly is typing this from Madrid Barajas Airport, and so you can guess what that means. I’ll be arriving in Linares tonight and I’ll be covering the last two rounds (and the closing ceremony) on site. It wasn’t clear if I would make it, since I flew to Madrid from Frankfurt (after a short trip to the US) and part of the Lufthansa crew is on strike. Luckily not my cabin crew and pilots. So Gashimov’s Benoni got a beating in round 8, and a tough one. Grischuk played a very powerful game, accurately preparing and calculating his 21st move which yielded a clear advantage, and then finishing it off strongly as well. He seems to have found his shape of e.g. last year, and this hopefully leads to an exciting encounter against Topalov. This year’s Linares tournament can use every excitement available. Topalov himself played an interesting draw against Aronian, and missed a clear win (34.Rxe4! Qxe4 35.Qc3+ Kg8 36.Qc7+-). Vallejo and Gelfand also split the point after a less eventful game. On today’s rest day Topalov is playing a simul somewhere; I’ll try to find out some more when I get to Linares. Although perhaps some of you might provide a link. Soon more, on-the-spot stuff! Games round 8 Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 8 Standings Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/grischuk-narrows-topalovs-lead/
Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:37:59 +0000
Linares Round 8
Alexander Grischuk (pictured) closed the gap to leader Veselin Topalov with a win against Vugar Gashimov in round eight at Linares. Gashimov's brave use of the Benoni defence finally got him into trouble as Grischuk achieved a clear advantage ear...
http://www.chess.com/news/linares-round-8-2591
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:33:38 -0800
Three draws in 7th round Linares
With three more draws in round 7, the drawing percentage Saturday rose to 77% in Linares. Veselin Topalov kept his 1.5 point lead, with three more rounds to go. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 7 report by Rick Goetzee Five centuries ago Before telling you about the happenings in today’s 7th round, we’re going back 500 years. Because that’s when the chess tradition in Linares was anticipated. Juan Huarte de San Juan (1530-1592) is the patron of Spanish psychology. He was a writer, philosopher and professor at the university of Baeza. One of his publications was Examen de ingenios in which he defined profiles of people who excelled at different professions. One of the profiles was that of a chess player, as Huarte was very fond of the game. The Huarte de San Juan street in Linares According to Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Huarte described personal and psychological attributes which match Kasparov’s characteristics more than 400 years later. As he was a high-profile and controversial figure the Spanish inquisition brought him to court and he was convicted. Then he promised that he would give the heritage of all of his work to the church and not to his nine children. This saved his life. His wish was to be buried in the Santa Maria church in the heart of Linares. With a twinkle in his eye Ljubo said: “It’s clear that the spirit of Huarte is still present in Linares and that’s why we have this great chess tradition.” The Santa Maria church in the heart of Linares I also had a word with one of the organisers, Señor Paco Albalate. After reading all the comments from people expressing their disappointment with this year’s tournament, I had to ask him a few questions. Q: Last year the announcement was made that Dubai would organise the first half this year. What happened? A: They made a lot of promises, also about prize money. But in the end nothing materialised and we don’t really know why. But we are working with a number of candidates for next year’s tournament. Also, next year a number of changes will be introduced but it’s too early to give any details about that. Q: With the economic recession how difficult was it to put the tournament together this year? A: Very easy. We cut the budget by 30%. We cut the prize money, brought the number of players down and we cut hotel costs. And what helped was that the players generously accepted the changed conditions. Q: What about the rule of not allowing draw offers before move 40? A: Yes we introduced a version of the Sofia rules. We wrote to all players beforehand because it was important for us that they understood why we were doing this instead of just enforcing the rule. Q: How does it feel that people are saying that Linares is no longer the Wimbledon or the Tour de France of chess? A: It’s clear that there are tournaments that are stronger. It’s clear that Corus is a very important tournament with a different format than we have here. It’s true that the Tal Memorial is a great tournament. But we have organised a first class tournament for 27 years. This year it may be a bit less than we are used to, but in 2011, if our projects work out, we will surprise the chess world. There were three more draws in Linares today. Grischuk took nine minutes for his response to Gelfand’s 1.c4; eventually the Russian decided to go for 1…Nf6. The players ended up in a complicated rook ending which was drawn after 60 moves. Alexander Grischuk pondering over his first move Gashimov-Topalov was a Nf6/Bc5 Ruy Lopez in which Gashimov sacrificed a pawn. The game went along like Kamsky-Topalov 2009 till move 7 when Kamsky played 7.d4 followed by 7…Qe7 8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.Nc3. Svidler-Ivanchuk 2009 was followed a while longer which deviated with 10.Qxg7 Bxd4 11.Qg3 a6. At the right moment Topalov gave back the pawn and had the better chances, but a draw was agreed on move 42. Aronian-Vallejo was the most interesting game of the round. In a Slav defence Vallejo came up with the mysterious 7…Qc7 and then 11…Qb6. It looked like a loss of tempo but eventually he reached a promising position with two rooks against the queen. Then the Spaniard won a pawn and then another, but suddenly the screen showed ½-½. What had happened? Nobody knew. Ljubo: “He is two pawns up and has good winning chances. He must have been very tired.” Games round 7 with brief annotations Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 7 Standings The chess hotel: Anibal Photos © Rick Goetzee Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/three-draws-in-7th-round-linares/
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:12:23 +0000
Topalov beats Vallejo, increases lead in Linares
In the 6th round of the Linares super-tournament, Veselin Topalov was in trouble against Francisco Vallejo until the Spaniard suddenly blundered a full rook. By then Gashimov and Gelfand had already drawn in a very theoretical Petroff. The last game to finish was Grischuk-Aronian, which also ended in a draw. Thanks to his win, Topalov is the world’s number one player in the live ratings again. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 6 report by Rick Goetzee Ljubomir Ljubojevic The main aspect that makes the pressroom in Linares a nice place to be is the presence of GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, the 1985 winner. He lives in Linares and is present every day. Always standing in the same place, close to the monitors, he gives his opinion on the games in Spanish, English, Russian and a handful of other languages. Ljubojevic met his wife-to-be at the 1981 tournament. He then decided to settle in Linares, also because there was quite a bit of chess activity in the region, apart from the yearly grandmaster tournament. In those years there were plans to bring chess to schools, but unfortunately they didn’t materialise. According to Ljubojevic this is a great pity, as he was often approached by parents telling him that their children would love to learn chess and he visited schools to talk about the game. The press room, at the first floor of the Teatro Cervantes Recently a second attempt has been launched. Only two cities in Andalusia have plans to integrate chess in the school curriculum: Sevilla and Linares. Ljubojevic says that it is a pity that it took almost thirty years before a second attempt was made but ‘better late than never’. Ljubo doesn’t like the Sofia rules: ‘they are funny’. In his view top chess players are artists and artists have good days and bad days and this should be accepted as part of the game. Also he thinks it’s hard to enforce the rule, because if strong players want to make a draw they will find a way through a perpetual check or move repetition. “It is done because organisers think it will favour chess. What they should do is invite the right people, then they won’t have to worry about short draws.” There was some confusion at the start of today’s round at the board of Topalov-Vallejo. A guest made the first move and started the clock but Vallejo’s clock started to run. The arbiter had to intervene to reset the clock. Topalov and Vallejo pointing out the error to arbiter Faik Gasanov Then Vallejo took three minutes to reply to Topalov’s 1.c4. After an English opening the game became very sharp as Vallejo setup an attack against Topalov’s king. It was hard, even for Ljubo, to give a correct evaluation of the position although it seemed that Vallejo was better. His main problem was the clock, having only one minute left for the last twelve moves. He played well for a long time till he hung a full rook on the 38th move and overstepped the time limit on move 40. According to GM Larry Christiansen on ICC’s Chess.FM, Gashimov proved to have done a lot of good homework against Gelfand’s Petroff. He achieved a promising position from the opening without counterplay for Black. However, Gelfand defended accurately and a draw was agreed in a knight endgame. Grischuk decided to burn the midnight oil against Aronian, trying to win a rook vs knight endgame with an extra pawn for Black. In an empty pressroom there was still the voice of Leontxo Garcia continuing his commentary for the tournament website. Finally, at move 101, the players decided to call it a day. Before we’ll leave you, we’d like to point out that GM Anish Giri, reigning Dutch champion and winner of the Corus B group this year, is doing wonderful commentary for Chessbase each round. This round he did Topalov-Vallejo, over here. Games round 6 with brief annotations Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 6 Standings The town hall of Linares which proudly shows... ...the tournament poster - something the Spanish are really good at Andalusian palm trees in sunny Linares The entrance of the venue; the Teatro Cervantes Photos © Rick Goetzee Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/topalov-beats-vallejo-increases-lead-in-linares/
Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:41:19 +0000
Drei Remis in Linares
Die siebte Runde des Internationalen Schachturniers der Stadt Linares der brachte drei Punkteteilungen. So begnügte sich Veselin Topalov, der trotz des bevorstehenden WM-Kampfes gegen Anand das Turnier überlegen dominiert, mit einem Remis gegen Vugar Gashimov in einem damenlosen Mittelspiel, das aus der Klassischen Variante der Spanischen Partie entstanden war. In Aronian gegen Vallejo sah es so aus, als käme der Spanier mit Dame gegen zwei Türme in Vorteil. Doch der Armenier entwickelte genügend Aktivität, um einen entfernten schwarzen Freibauern in Schach zu halten. Am längsten dauerte die Partie zwischen Boris Gelfand und Alexander Grischuk. In einem remislich aussehenden Doppelturmendspiel entfachte Gelfand plötzlich einen gefährlichen Königsangriff. Doch Grischuk verteidigte sich aufmerksam und erreichte die Punkteteilung. Turnierseite... Partien, Tabelle, Bilder...
http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10090
Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Ciudad de Linares: diretta del VIII turno
Ultima chiamata per Aronian contro Topalov Live h.16 Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Domani è previsto il secondo ed ultimo giorno di riposo. Incontri del VIII turno Veselin Topalov     Levon Aronian Francisco Vallejo     Boris Gelfand Alexander Grischuk     Vugar Gashimov Classifica dopo 7 turni 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 * * ½ . 1 ½ 1 . ½ . ½ 1 5 2901 2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 ½ . * * ½ . ½ ½ ½ . ½ ½ 3½ 2743 3. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 0 ½ ½ . * * ½ . ½ ½ 1 . 3½ 2764 4. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 0 . ½ ½ ½ . * * 1 ½ ½ . 3½ 2764 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 ½ . ½ . ½ ½ 0 ½ * * ½ . 3 2704 6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 . ½ . ½ . * * 2½ 2673 Accoppiamenti del IX turno Alexander Grischuk     Veselin Topalov Vugar Gashimov     Francisco Vallejo Boris Gelfand     Levon Aronian Regolamento calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio. tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita SITI UTILI sito ufficiale partite commentate in diretta su Chessdom (in inglese) Articolo di presentazione di Angelmann FantaLinares 2010 di LightKnight Visore
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1728
2010-02-21T15:00:00+01:00
Ciudad de Linares: diretta del VII turno
Topalov consolida il vantaggio Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Incontri del VII turno Vugar Gashimov   1/2  Veselin Topalov Boris Gelfand   1/2  Alexander Grischuk Levon Aronian   1/2  Francisco Vallejo Classifica dopo 7 turni 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 * * ½ . 1 ½ 1 . ½ . ½ 1 5 2901 2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 ½ . * * ½ . ½ ½ ½ . ½ ½ 3½ 2743 3. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 0 ½ ½ . * * ½ . ½ ½ 1 . 3½ 2764 4. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 0 . ½ ½ ½ . * * 1 ½ ½ . 3½ 2764 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 ½ . ½ . ½ ½ 0 ½ * * ½ . 3 2704 6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 . ½ . ½ . * * 2½ 2673 Accoppiamenti del VIII turno Veselin Topalov     Levon Aronian Francisco Vallejo     Boris Gelfand Alexander Grischuk     Vugar Gashimov Regolamento calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio. tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita SITI UTILI sito ufficiale partite commentate in diretta su Chessdom (in inglese) Articolo di presentazione di Angelmann FantaLinares 2010 di LightKnight Visore
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1727
2010-02-20T15:00:00+01:00
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 8 en Live à 16h
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après sa nulle hier face à Gashimov en fort zeitnot, Topalov maintien son leadership au classement avec une confortable avance d'un point et demi sur ses poursuivants directs. Aronian pourrait-il freiner aujourd'hui le Bulgare? Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 8 : Veselin Topalov 2805 - Levon Aronian 2781 Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Boris Gelfand 2761 Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Vugar Gashimov 2759 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-la-ronde-8-en-live-16h.html
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:17:00 +0000
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 7 en Live à 16h
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après sa victoire sauvage hier face à Vallejo, le bulgare Veselin Topalov mène au classement avec une confortable avance d'un point et demi sur ses poursuivants directs. Mais qui pourrait bien stopper Topalov ? Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les résultats de la ronde 7 : Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 6 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-la-ronde-7-en-live-16h.html
Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:59:00 +0000
Linares R7: All games drawn, Topalov leads
Once again: the result sounds boring, the games on the other hand were electrifying. Not, we hasten to add, due to their flawless perfection – on the contrary, they demonstrate that these are humans playing at the boards. Humans with nerves and frailties. The result left Veselin Topalov still in the lead by a point and a half, and the tail ender Vallejo the tragic hero of the event.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6143
Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Another draw for Aronian
Aronian gets another draw in Linares tournament 12:28 / 02/20/2010 Armenian GM Levon Aronian drew with Alexander Grischuk in the sixth round of Linares chess tournament in Spain. Bulgarian Veselin Topalov defeated Spanish Francisco Vallejo, and Azerbaijani Vugar Gashimov drew with Israeli Boris Gelfand. After the sixth round the standings are as follows: Veselin Topalov (4.5 points), Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk and Vugar Gashimov (3 points each), Boris Gelfand and Francisco Vallejo (2 points each). L.A. Source: http://news.am Chess news from Susan Polgar
http://news.am/en/news/14804.html
2010-02-20T06:28:00.001-06:00
Linares R6: Topalov wins again, leads world rankings
It was a very complicated game, and with Veselin Topalov pressing hard and Francisco Vallejo in terrible time trouble the Spaniard, who had had winning chances, blundered a full rook. This third victory put the Bulgarian GM a point and a half ahead of the field – and two points ahead of Magnus Carlsen in the live world rankings. Game with commentary by GM Anish Giri.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6142
Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Linares Round 5 & 6
After the first of two rest days at Linares, joint leaders Topalov (pictured) and Grischuk clashed in round 5 and it was Topalov who took the full point. It could have been a different story, but Grischuk let time trouble spoil a winning position...
http://www.chess.com/news/linares-round-5-amp-6-8356
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:43:20 -0800
Topalov beats Grischuk, leads by a point
Veselin Topalov defeated co-leader Alexander Grischuk in round 5 of the Linares super-tournament. The Bulgarian now leads by a full point at half time. Vugar Gashimov beat Francisco Vallejo with Black, and while being a pawn up, Levon Aronian had to be satisfied with a draw against Boris Gelfand. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 5 report Some of you have already discussed the tournament website, and the fact that the contents is only in Spanish. That’s disappointing indeed, but even worse was the ‘Fotogaleria’ page which contained only a Marca announcement video for the first few days. However, today we suddenly noticed two video playlists with some videos, not of the highest quality yet, but it’s better than nothing. Below that, indeed a photo gallery has now been added. Just to let you know. The game of the day was of course the encounter between the two tournament leaders, Topalov and Grischuk. It certainly provided excellent entertainment for the chess fans, but the number of mistakes was above average, at this level of play. Again it seemed that Topalov was avoiding the most theoretical lines, this time against Grischuk’s Najdorf Sicilian. Just when his opponent was about to consolidate a slight positional advantage, the Bulgarian came up with a dangerous but highly creative concept: avoiding the exchange of queens with 20.Qb2 and sacrificing a knight (21.Nf5) to bring Bg2 to life. Grischuk replied with a strong defensive set-up (…a5 + …Ra6) and was suddenly winning after the slow (or ‘lazy’, as The Doctor used to call it) 26.Kb1. 27…Kh7, avoiding the Ne5 pin, would have won material. Topalov then missed the winning 29.Qc1 but it must be said that the ideas behind that one are very computeresque. It was Grischuk’s turn to miss the very promising 31…Qg3 after which an equal (but slightly more comfortable for White) ending was reached. Around move 52 Grischuk suddenly collapsed. Against Vallejo, Gashimov was confident enough to go for the Benoni again, and it’s really amazing how the grandmaster from Azerbaijan keeps on surviving, and even winning these positions that are actually just better for White. He just knows them very well and has a great sense of timing and counterchances, like his compatriot Radjabov in the King’s Indian. Moves like 19.Nb6 or 20.Ncd2 should be better for White, and 26.Qxc8 was a clear misjudgement of Black’s play on the queenside. Less entertaining was Aronian-Gelfand, except for the fact that White’s novelty was deviating from a 1929 game. In a middlegame with opposite-coloured bishops Gelfand sacrificed a pawn and confidently held it to a draw, helped by the unsafe white king. Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera Games round 5 with brief annotations Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 5 Standings Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/topalov-beats-grischuk-leads-by-a-point/
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:43:47 +0000
Ciudad de Linares: diretta del VI turno
?Grischuk-Aronian, chi è l'anti-Topalov? Live h.16 Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Incontri del VI turno Veselin Topalov? ? ?Francisco Vallejo Alexander Grischuk? ? ?Levon Aronian Vugar Gashimov? ? ?Boris Gelfand Classifica dopo 5 turni 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 * * ? . 1 . 1 . ? . ? . 3? 2897 2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 ? . * * ? . ? . ? . ? . 2? 2753 3. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 0 . ? . * * ? . ? . 1 . 2? 2757 4. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 0 . ? . ? . * * 1 . ? . 2? 2762 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 ? . ? . ? . 0 . * * ? . 2 2685 6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 ? . ? . 0 . ? . ? . * * 2 2696 Accoppiamenti del VII turno Vugar Gashimov? ? ?Veselin Topalov Boris Gelfand? ? ?Alexander Grischuk Levon Aronian? ? ?Francisco Vallejo Regolamento calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio. tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita SITI UTILI sito ufficiale partite commentate in diretta su Chessdom (in inglese) Articolo di presentazione di Angelmann FantaLinares 2010 di LightKnight Visore
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1726
2010-02-19T15:00:00+01:00
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 6 en Live à 16h
Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après 5 rondes, le bulgare Veselin Topalov mènent au classement avec 3,5 points, et un point net d'avance sur ses poursuivants. Qui pourra stopper Topalov ? Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 6 : Veselin Topalov 2805 - Francisco Vallejo 2705 Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Levon Aronian 2781 Vugar Gashimov 2759 - Boris Gelfand 2761 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 0-1 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-la-ronde-6-en-live-16h.html
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:15:00 +0000
Linares (5): commento
La classifica del supertorneo di Linares comincia a delinearsi meglio dopo il 5° turno, nel quale si è registrata un solo pareggio. Il bulgaro Veselin Topalov, battendo il russo Alexander Grischuk, ha conquistato la vetta solitaria della classifica, portandosi a +1 dagli inseguitori, fra i quali l'azerbagiano Vugar Gashimov...
http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2128
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:50:55 +0000
Linares R5: Gashimov, Topalov win, Topalov leads
All three games were full of fight: Aronian came close to defeating Gelfand but drew; Vallejo even closer to defeating Gashimov but lost; and Alexander Grischuk had clear winning chances against Veselin Topalov but was outplayed by the Bulgarian in the end. We bring you extensive and deeply insightful commentary on this exciting struggle, provided by GM Anish Giri. Miss it at your own peril.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6140
Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Linares: Gashimov und Topalov mit Siegen
Vugar Gashimov liebt scharfe Eröffnungen. Heute wählte er gegen Francisco Vallejo Pons die in Super-GM-Kreisen eher selten gespielte Benoni-Verteidigung und legte die Partie dem Charakter der Eröffnung entsprechend scharf an. Um den 30sten Zug herum verlor der Spanier in zweischneidiger Stellung die Übersicht und konnte dann einen schwarzen Freibauern nicht mehr einfangen. In Aronian-Gelfand bestimmten in der Meraner Variante bald ungleichfarbige Läufer den Lauf des Geschehens und sorgten schließlich im Endspiel für die Punkteteilung. IN Topalov -Grischuk hatte der Bulgare im Najdorf-Sizilianer mit Hilfe eines Figurenopfer die Initiative übernommen. Im Laufe des Mittelspiels konnte Grischuk das Spiel zwar ausgleichen, wurde aber von Topalov im Endspiel dann in Zeitnot ausgespielt. Turnierseite... Tabelle, Partien...
http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10085
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Linares 2010 - First Rest Day
The 2010 Linares chess tournament is a six-player double round robin running from 13th until 24th February. The first rest day was granted after four rounds of intense games. Despite the high fighting spirit, thus far only two games have finished with decisive result, when Veselin Topalov beat Vugar Gashimov and Alexander Grischuk scored against Boris Gelfand in round two. Both were beautiful positional games, you can download them from the official website. Topalov and the last year winner Grischuk are sharing the lead with 2.5 points each. Topalov has been cautious more than usual, but nevertheless he run into problems in the game against the aggressive Levon Aronian, who is always seeking to crush his opponents with white pieces in hand. With resourceful and imaginative defence, Topalov narrowly escaped the defeat by transposing into an endgame with opposite-coloured Bishops and wrong promoting corner. Another wild game was the encounter between Boris Gelfand and Francisco Vallejo Pons. The Spaniard gave up the Queen for White Rook, but his minor pieces were dangerously coordinated and pointed towards the enemy King. With not more than 15 minutes on the clock, Gelfand decided to drop calculating complicated lines in the quest of exploiting material advantage, and instead gave the Queen back to reach a safe endgame where he easily held a draw. The competition continues with round five games on Thursday. Pairings are Topalov-Grischuk in the derby match, Vallejo - Gashimov and Aronian - Gelfand. Levon Aronian
http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/4355-linares-2010-first-rest-day
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:34:09 +0000
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 5 en Live à 16h
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février. Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après 4 rondes, Topalov et Grischuk mènent au classement. Au programme du jour, le choc des leaders. Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 5 : Veselin Topalov 2805 - Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 - Boris Gelfand 2761 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-la-ronde-5-en-live-16h.html
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:44:00 +0000
Ciudad de Linares: diretta del V turno
Topalov in fuga al giro di boa il bulgaro batte Grischuk e prende il largo Grischuk Aronian e Gashimov inseguono ad un punto Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Incontri del V turno Veselin Topalov   1-0  Alexander Grischuk Francisco Vallejo   0-1  Vugar Gashimov Levon Aronian   1/2  Boris Gelfand Classifica dopo 5 turni 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 * * ½ . 1 . 1 . ½ . ½ . 3½ 2897 2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 ½ . * * ½ . ½ . ½ . ½ . 2½ 2753 3. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 0 . ½ . * * ½ . ½ . 1 . 2½ 2757 4. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 0 . ½ . ½ . * * 1 . ½ . 2½ 2762 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 ½ . ½ . ½ . 0 . * * ½ . 2 2685 6. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 ½ . ½ . 0 . ½ . ½ . * * 2 2696 Accoppiamenti del VI turno Veselin Topalov     Francisco Vallejo Alexander Grischuk     Levon Aronian Vugar Gashimov     Boris Gelfand Regolamento calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio. tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita SITI UTILI sito ufficiale partite commentate in diretta su Chessdom (in inglese) Articolo di presentazione di Angelmann FantaLinares 2010 di LightKnight Visore
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1725
2010-02-18T15:00:00+01:00
Three more draws in round 4 Linares
The standings in Linares remained unchanged after three more, and this time rather uneventful draws in round 4. Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov maintained their shared lead, going into the first rest day. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 4 report by Rick Goetzee Topalov and Grischuk still in the lead The patience of chess fans was put to the test at the start of today’s round as the opening moves came through with a 15 minute delay. Real addicts were trying to spot the moves on the webcam of the official tournament site. Then the moves came up on the same site and showed that Gelfand had played Qc4 on his first move after which Topalov replied with the strong 1…Bc6. It later turned out that these moves were indeed played but only on the 9th move. Gashimov had allegedly played 1.d5 with White and it was clear from the webcam that Aronian was struggling to find a good reply to that move. Soon afterwards the technology was back working properly. Gelfand-Topalov was a Catalan of which the first fifteen moves were copied from game 4 of the World Cup final in December. Like against Ponomariov, Gelfand chose a calm approach in an attempt to squeeze Topalov in the middlegame. It didn’t work out as planned as it was in fact Topalov who did the squeezing. It never amounted to much and the players reached an equal rook endgame. Play had to continue till the time control as draw offers before move 40 are not allowed. On move 40 the draw was agreed. Topalov must be very satisfied with the start of his campaign: three draws with Black and a nice win in his only game as White. In Grischuk-Vallejo we saw one of the main lines of the 6.Ne5 Slav in which Black sacrifices a piece for three pawns. Grischuk took over an hour for 19.Kc2 and was in serious time trouble from move 25. Rather disappointingly, the game suddenly ended in a repetition of moves. According to GM Jon Speelman White could have run away with his king to g1, win the black b-pawn and push his c-pawn, with winning chances. With only a few minutes left on his clock Grischuk was probably happy to allow the move repetition. Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera Gashimov and Aronian played an Anti-Marshall and soon reached a queenless middlegame. Aronian slightly outplayed his opponent and got a better position because of his space advantage and better pieces. This was especially clear after thirty moves, when Speelman commented: ‘All black’s pieces are better than their white counterparts.’ Gashimov had to play accurately in time trouble and proved himself up to the task. After the time control a simply drawn endgame was reached. Wednesday is a rest day with round 5 scheduled for Thursday 4pm local time. Games round 4 with brief annotations Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 4 Standings Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/three-more-draws-in-round-4-linares/
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:05:12 +0000
Linares 2010 r4: Steady On
All three round 4 games drawn. Topalov and Grischuk still lead on +1. Off day Wed. Round 5: Topalov-Grischuk, Vallejo-Gashimov, Aronian-Gelfand.
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2010/02/linares-2010-r4-steady-on.htm
2010-02-17T02:08:35Z
Echecs à Linares : journée de repos
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février. Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après 4 rondes, Topalov et Grischuk mènent au classement. Journée de repos ce mercredi. Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les résultats de la ronde 4 : Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-journee-de-repos.html
Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:33:00 +0000
Peaceful round
The usual draw of Levon Aronyan Wednesday, February 17 The third round of the super chess championship in Linares Levon Aronyan ended in draw. This time his rival was one of the leaders, Veselin Topalov. The other rounds also had a peaceful ending. Hashimov shared the point with Grishchuk and Gelfand with Valekhoy. Thus the recorded results on the tournament list didn’t bring any changes. They are followed by Aronyan and Valekho. Here is the 3rd round step by step. Levon Aronyan – Veselin Topalov 0,5:0,5 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Nd2 a6 11. a4 Nbd7 12. h3 Rb8 13. Nc4 Nb6 14. Na3 Bd7 15. e4 Nc8 16. Qd3 Re7 17. Rb1 Be8 18. b4 cxb4 19. Rxb4 Rc7 20. Bd2 Nd7 21. Rc1 Nc5 22. Qb1 b5 23. axb5 a5 24. Rb2 Nb6 25. Ra2 a4 26. Ne2 Rcb7 27. Bf4 Nc8 28. Rxc5 dxc5 29. Bxb8 Rxb8 30. f4 g5 31. e5 gxf4 32. gxf4 f6 33. Qe4 fxe5 34. fxe5 Qg5 35. Nc4 Bxb5 36. h4 Qg6 37. Qxg6 hxg6 38. Rb2 Nd6 39. Nxd6 a3 40. Ra2 Bxe2 41. Rxe2 Bxe5 42. Nc4 Bb2 43. Nxa3 Bxa3 44. Re6 c4 45. Rxg6+ Kf7 46. Rc6 Rh8 47. Rc7+ Kf8 48. Rxc4 Be7 49. Rc8+ Kg7 50. Rxh8 Kxh8 51. h5 1/2:1/2: Boris Gelfand-Francisco Valekho 0,5:0,5 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4 b5 5. a4 b4 6. Na2 Nf6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Bxc4 e6 9. Nf3 Ba6 10. b3 Bb7 11. Ng5 h6 12. Ne4 Qh4 13. Qe2 Nd7 14. O-O c5 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Bb5 Be7 17. Bd2 Rd8 18. f4 O-O 19. Rac1 f6 20. Nd6 Ba8 21. Be1 Qxf4 22. Rxf4 Nxf4 23. Qc4 fxe5 24. Qc7 Bg5 25. h4 Nd5 26. hxg5 Nxc7 27. Rxc7 Nb6 28. Bxb4 Nd5 29. Rd7 Nxb4 30. Nxb4 Rxd7 31. Bxd7 Rd8 32. Bxe6+ Kf8 33. Nf5 a5 34. gxh6 gxh6 35. Nc2 Bxg2 36. Kxg2 Rd2+ 37. Kf3 Rxc2 38. Ke4 Re2+ 39. Kd3 Rg2 40. Bc4 h5 41. Ke4 h4 42. Nxh4 1/2:1/2: Vugar Hashimov-Alexander Grishchuk 0,5:0,5 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd3 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 Be7 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Be2 Qa5 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. g4 h6 15. Qh3 O-O 16. g5 hxg5 17. Nxe6 Qc6 18. Rf1 g4 19. Bxg4 Nxg4 20. Rxf8+ Bxf8 21. Qxg4 Qd7 22. Nd5 Qxe6 23. Qxe6+ Bxe6 24. Nc7 Ra7 25. Nxe6 b5 26. Nxf8 Kxf8 27. Bb4 Ke7 28. e5 Nc6 29. exd6+ Ke6 30. a4 Nxb4 31. Rxb4 bxa4 32. Rxa4 Kxd6 33. Ra5 g6 34. h4 Re7+ 35. Kd2 Re4 36. Rxa6+ Kc5 37. Rxg6 Rd4+ 38. Kc3 Rc4+ 39. Kd3 Rd4+ 40. Kc3 Rc4+ 1/2:1/2: 16.02.2010, 13:09 Aysor.am Chess news from Susan Polgar
http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2010/02/16/levon-aronyan/
2010-02-17T01:13:00.000-06:00
Linares Round 4 Results
Just a brief update on the latest games at Linares today. All the games from round four were drawn and are shown below. The standings after four rounds are: Grischuk, Alexander  RUS  2736 2½  Topalov, Veselin  BUL  2805 2½  Aronian, L...
http://www.chess.com/news/linares-round-4-results-8654
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:56:41 -0800
Ciudad de Linares: diretta del IV turno
Per Topalov l'ostacolo Gelfand Live h.16 Dal 13 al 24 febbraio si disputa la 27^ edizione del torneo Ciudad di Linares. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale dove i lettori potranno commentare le partite. Domani  ci sarà il primo dei due giorni di riposo previsti. Incontri del IV turno Boris Gelfand     Veselin Topalov Vugar Gashimov     Levon Aronian Alexander Grischuk     Francisco Vallejo Classifica dopo 3 turni 1. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805 * * . . ½ . ½ . 1 . . . 2 2873 2. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736 . . * * ½ . . . ½ . 1 . 2 2892 3. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781 ½ . ½ . * * ½ . . . . . 1½ 2748 4. Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2705 ½ . . . ½ . * * . . ½ . 1½ 2782 5. Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759 0 . ½ . . . . . * * ½ . 1 2642 6. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761 . . 0 . . . ½ . ½ . * * 1 2608 Accoppiamenti del V turno Veselin Topalov     Alexander Grischuk Francisco Vallejo     Vugar Gashimov Levon Aronian     Boris Gelfand Regolamento calendario i sei giocatori si affronteranno in un girone all'italiana con partite di andata e ritorno. I 10 turni si svolgeranno dal 13 al 24 febbraio, con inizio alle ore 16. Sono previsti due giorni di riposo, il 17 e il 22 febbraio. tempo di riflessione 2h x 40, 1h per le 20 mosse successive e 30' per terminare la partita SITI UTILI sito ufficiale partite commentate in diretta su Chessdom (in inglese) Articolo di presentazione di Angelmann FantaLinares 2010 di LightKnight Visore
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=1724
2010-02-16T15:00:00+01:00
Boris Gelfand - Veselin Topalov LIVE!
Welcome to the Linares 2010 live coverage on Chessdom.com. The game between Boris Gelfand and Veselin Topalov will start at 16:00 CET.
http://www.chessdom.com/linares-2010/boris-gelfand-veselin-topalov
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:39:36 +0100
Linares: oggi il 4° turno, domani riposo
Attenzione! Il numero 508 di MS sarà on line questa sera Sito ufficiale: www.ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es/index.htm Le partite in diretta (sito ufficiale) Le partite del torneo in formato PGN - Visore on line Turno 4 - 16 febbraio 2010 Gelfand - Topalov Gashimov - Aronian Grischuk - Vallejo Classifica dopo il turno 3: 1°-2° Topalov, Grischuk 2; 3°-4° Aronian, Vallejo 1,5; 5°-6° Gelfand, Gashimov 1 La crisi economica sembra aver afflitto anche il supertorneo di Linares. L'edizione 2010 dell'evento, la 27^, non solo non prevede l'abbinata con Morelia, che negli anni passati aveva consentito alla competizione di mantenere un montepremi più che appetibile, ma neppure quella, paventata fino a pochi mesi fa, con Dubai...
http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2043
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:10:51 +0000
Linares (3): commento
Non si muove la classifica al supertorneo di Linares: nel 3° turno tutte e tre le partite si sono concluse in parità e, quindi, Veselin Topalov e Alexander Grischuk sono rimasti al comando, portandosi a quota 2. Parlare di calma piatta, però, dopo quanto visto nelle sfide di oggi, sarebbe per lo meno fuori luogo...
http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2085
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:40:10 +0000
Linares (2): commento
Due giocatori si trovano in vetta a Linares dopo il 2° turno: sono il russo Alexander Grischuk, vincitore della scorsa edizione, e il bulgaro Veselin Topalov, ancora alla ricerca del primo successo nell'evento spagnolo...
http://www.messaggeroscacchi.it/?p=2078
Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:30:33 +0000
Linares: Remisrunde
Alle drei Partien endeten in der heutigen dritten Runde des Turniers von Linares remis. Gashimov und Grischuk lieferten sich ein scharfes Gefecht in einem eher selten gewählten Abspiel der Bauernraubvariante, doch am Ende stand ein Remisturmendspiel auf dem Brett. In Gelfand gegen Vallejo gab der Spanier in einem Slawischen Damengambit seine Dame gegen Turm und Leichtfigur, erhielt diese später aber zurück. Das resultierende Endspiel war ausgeglichen. In Aronian gegen Topalov hatte der Armenier im Benoni großen Raumvorteil und nach einem Qualitätsopfer zwei gefährliche zentrale Freibauern. Doch Topalov verteidigte sich geschickt und so endete auch diese Partie unentschieden. Turnierseite... Mehr...
http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10074
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Linares: Grischuk und Topalov mit Siegen
In der heutigen zweiten Runde des Turniers von Linares waren die Zuschauer zeugen zweier Weißsiege. Im Slawischen Damengambit hatte Vugar Gashimov dem dauerhaften Druck Veselin Topalovs nicht genug entgegen zu setzten und musste sich schließlich nach langer Verteidigung im Schwerfigurenendspiel im 48.Zug geschlagen geben. Auch Alexander Grischuk kam gegen Boris Gelfand zu einem Sieg. In einem Nimzoinder gab wie in der vorgenannten Partie ein geschwächter schwarzer Königsflügel den Ausschlag. Die dritte Partie zwischen Vallejo und Aronian andete in der Spanischen Berliner Variante remis. Turnierseite... Tabelle, Partien...
http://chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=10071
Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 4 en Live à 16h
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février. Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov (en photo), Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov. Après 3 rondes, Topalov et Grischuk mènent au classement. Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 4 : Veselin Topalov 2805 - Alexander Grischuk 2736 Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Vugar Gashimov 2759 Levon Aronian 2781 - Boris Gelfand 2761 Les résultats de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-la-ronde-4-en-live-16h.html
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:07:00 +0000
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 3 en Live à 16h
La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février. Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov (en photo), Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov, qui défendra ses chances ici pour la première fois. Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger Les appariements de la ronde 3 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Francisco Vallejo 2705 Vugar Gashimov 2759 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Les résultats de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 1-0 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 1-0 Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés
http://www.chess-and-strategy.com/2010/02/echecs-linares-la-ronde-3-en-live-16h.html
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:10:00 +0000
Linares 2010 r3: Brilliant Battles
All games draw in round three with all games fantastic fights. Round 4: Gelfand-Topalov, Gashimov-Aronian, Grischuk-Vallejo.
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2010/02/linares-2010-r3-brilliant-battles.htm
2010-02-16T05:53:31Z
Linares 2010: r1-2
Topalov and Grischuk win in round two. Round 3: Aronian-Topalov, Gelfand-Vallejo, Gashimov-Grischuk.
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2010/02/linares-2010-r1-2.htm
2010-02-15T05:06:44Z
Three draws in round 3 Linares
Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov maintained their shared lead in Linares after all round 3 games ended in a draw today. Don’t judge this round by the results, though, as all three games were highly interesting fights. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 3 report by Rick Goetzee Snow in Linares There are reports that because of Global Warming the south of Spain will have a desert climate in thirty years from now. But the people from Linares are not too worried, as thirty years ago the same prediction was made and did not come true. And last night it was snowing! Today there was heavy rainfall before the start of the round and it was a damp affair when the players took their places at the board. As usual there were not many spectators in the auditorium. But with the move from the Anibal Hotel to Teatro Cervantes there are more non-chess players in the audience, probably people taking a break from shopping. Today there was a young woman with her 3 year old daughter. The little girl was impressed by the typical atmosphere of a chess tournament and sat quietly in her seat staring at the stage. Later she was spotted in the press room eating cakes and cookies. When they left, she said to her mother: ‘I like it here, I want to come to your work more often.’ Another nice quote came from a visitor who said after the games had started: ‘Those pieces are really beautiful, I liked it when they were lined up. Now they are scattered all over the place; it looks very messy.’ Sometimes it’s nice to look at our game through the eyes of an outsider. Gashimov-Grischuk was a repeat from the exciting game they played at the World Team Championships only a few weeks ago. In the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf, Grischuk was the first to deviate, probably because his slightly artificial 15…Rh7 from that game can probably be answered by 16.g5. Today Gashimov proved to be well prepared but couldn’t claim an advantage; soon the game fizzled out into a draw. Just when we wrote that the Benoni is a rare opening at this level, Veselin Topalov plays it. In the big encounter against Aronian the Bulgarian sacrificed a pawn with 22…b5 today. It looked pretty, but a few accurate moves later Aronian was clearly on top. White should probably have gone for e5-e6 somewhere; in the game Topalov got away with a draw by defending brilliantly. Just look at this one: 38…Nd6!! amazingly held the game. In a Slav, Vallejo’s set-up against could have backfired at an early stage, but Gelfand didn’t see it. With 17.Bxd7+! Kxd7 18.Rd1! White suddenly threatens to win the black queen with Rd1-d4, to which there doesn’t really seem to be an adequate defence. In the game Gelfand got a probably winning advantage anyway, but like Topalov, Vallejo managed to defend the game to a draw by using all the tactics available. Both Aronian and Gelfand will be disappointed after today’s round… Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera Games round 3 with brief annotations Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 3 Standings Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/three-draws-in-round-3-linares/
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:04:42 +0000
Linares R3: three draws, Topalov and Grischuk lead
In today's round all games were drawn, but all of them were very interesting! Gashimov continued his opening discussion with Grischuk in the Qd3 line of the Poisoned Pawn Variation; Gelfand-Vallejo was a Slav sideline which led to very dangerous play; and Aronian-Topalov saw both sides miss opportunities to improve their chances. Commentary by GM Anish Giri.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6129
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Exciting Play At Linares
Round three at Linares provided three great games and a whole lot of excitement! Topalov (pictured) tried the Benoni against Aronian, but it was the Armenian who gained the upper hand, obtaining mighty connected passed pawns on d5 and e5. Topalo...
http://www.chess.com/news/exciting-play-at-linares-3404
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:45:23 -0800
Linares R2: victorias para Topalov y Grischuk
En la segunda ronda del torneo de Linares hubo dos victorias con blancas. Vugar Gashimov no pudo con la permanente presión en el Gambito de Dama eslavo que Veselin Topalov ejercía sobre sus piezas y finalmente se tuvo que dar por vencido en el movimiento 48 tras un final de piezas pesadas. Alexander Grischuk, por su parte se impuso a Boris Gelfand. La clave de la partida nuevamente fue el flanco debilitado del rey negro. El tercer encuentro de la jornada, la partida Española con la variante berlinesa, entre Paco Vallejo y Levon Aronian terminó en tablas. Crónica con fotos y análisis de GM Anish Giri...
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8038
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
XXVII Torneo Intercontinental de Ajedrez ‘Ciudad de Linares’
Ayer viernes, a las 20:00 horas se llevó a cabo la ceremonia inaugural con el sorteo de los emparejamientos en el Teatro Cervantes de Linares. En la primera ronda, que se disputará hoy a partir de las 16:00 CET y que contará con comentarios a cargo de Leontxo García en directo desde Linares, gratuitos para todos los usuarios del servidor de ChessBase Playchess.com, se enfrentarán Paco Vallejo vs. Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian vs. Alexander Grischuk y Boris Gelfand vs. Vugar Gashimov. Emparejamientos e impresiones fotográficas...
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8034
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Linares R1: empatando bajo la lluvia
La primera ronda del XXVII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez "Ciudad de Linares" comenzó con tres empates, en un día con lluvia y frío. El resultado suena pacífico, pero en realidad hubo lucha en los tres tableros sobre el escenario del Teatro Cervantes. La partida más corta fue la de Aronian y Grischuk con 26 movimientos y la última en terminar fue Gelfand vs. Gashimov, que únicamente firmaron las paces tras casi seis horas de lucha. Mañana se enfrentarán Topalov vs. Gashimov, Grischuk vs. Gelfand y Vallejo vs. Aronian. Fotos, partidas y vídeo...
http://www.chessbase.com/espanola/newsdetail2.asp?id=8036
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Grischuk and Topalov win in second round Linares
Alexander Grischuk and Veselin Topalov both won their White games in Linares today, after their opponents erred in close to equal positions. The two share the lead after two rounds. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Round 2 report by Rick Goetzee Blood has been shed The reactions to the first round in Linares were not very positive. Disappointment about the diminished number of participants, unhappiness with the uneventful draws and frustration with the tournament website. Grumbling chess lovers all over the Internet, probably spoiled too much by the Corus coverage. There was also confusion about the 26 move draw in Aronian-Grischuk. What about the Sofia rules? This was clarified during the day. The players had asked the arbiter for permission to declare the game drawn. A more lenient version of the Sofia rules seems to be used in Linares, which makes a lot of sense. Hopefully the reactions to the second round will be more positive as blood was shed in two of the three games. Defending champion Grischuk beat World Cup winner Gelfand from a Nimzo-Indian opening. It seems the Nimzo is making a revival at the top level; 3.Nc3 is being seen more and more. On ICC Chess.FM, GM Jan Gustafsson joked that he thought 3.Nc3 was indeed a good move, although he preferred 3.Nf3 avoiding the pin. GM Varuzhan Akobian praised Grischuk’s energetic play starting with 14.Qe4 and said that Gelfand will have mixed feelings about taking with the knight on the 13th move. In the middlegame Gelfand kept White’s advantage to a minimum, until he made a big mistake on move 29. White’s threats of Qh4, Rg3 and Bh6-g5-f6 had to be answered by 29…Rc7. Grischuk’s 32.a5! was surprisingly strong as Black was suddenly in some kind of Zugzwang. Black’s last chance was to give the queen, but that looks winning for White too. Topalov beat newcomer Gashimov in an untheoretical Chebanenko Slav. Akobian commented that White’s set-up must be one of Topalov’s back-up openings and that he will choose sharper systems in the match against Anand. Still, the Bulgarian slowly increased the pressure on his opponent and was able to exploit the unsafe position of Gashimov’s king in a queen and rook endgame. Vallejo and Aronian drew a Berlin Wall, “old style”. Aronian went for the old main line 9…Ke8 and his follow-up with …b6 and …Bb7 is yet another (but more than 30 years old) idea in this intriguing ending. The Spaniard had a slight advantage because of Black’s undeveloped rook on h8. After Aronian found a way to free his rook (especially 18…g6! was accurate) an opposite-coloured bishop ending arose with a worthless extra pawn for Vallejo. Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera Finally a word on the playing venue which is Teatro Cervantes in the heart of the city. For many years the playing venue was the ballroom of Rentero’s Hotel Anibal. Since 2008 they have moved to Cervantes, which is a more suitable venue for players and press. In Anibal there was always a pillar in the way if you wanted to follow all games at the same time. A shuttle service is in place to bring the players from the hotel to the playing venue but most make the 15 minute journey by foot. Games round 2 with brief annotations Game viewer by ChessTempo Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Linares 2010 | Round 2 Standings Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/grischuk-and-topalov-win-in-second-round-linares/
Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:33:22 +0000
Linares 2010
The Linares tournament takes place in Spain 12th-25th February 2010. Players: Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand and for the first time in a super-tournament Vugar Gashimov who deserves his chance in this company. Round 2. Both in Topalov - Gashimov and Grischuk against Gelfand white ended up with quite nasty pressure and better king positions that meant that holding the positions practically was extremely difficult. Even though Gashimov reduced the pawns to one side the position was almost impossible to defend. Gelfand's 29...Kh8 was losing but he was facing a long defence anyhow. The game Vallejo - Aronain was a fairly dull Berlin Defence which ended in a sterile ending on move 41. Round 3 (February 15, 2010) Aronian, Levon - Topalov, Veselin Gashimov, Vugar - Grischuk, Alexander Gelfand, Boris- Vallejo Pons, Francisco
http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessnews/events/linares-2010
Mon 15 Feb 2010 02:02:00 PM UTC
Team Anand wants to avoid visual contact between the players and audience - Reported in The Times of
Viswanathan Anand has requested for a special curtain to be placed separating the audience and the stage to avoid visual contact for his upcoming World Chess Championship match against Veselin Topalov in April.
http://www.chessdom.com/news-2010/anand-topalov-curtain-on-stage
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:40:27 +0100
Anand's request
Anand requests for a curtain between audience, player TNN, 14 February 2010, 02:41am IST CHENNAI: Viswanathan Anand has requested for a special curtain to be placed separating the audience and the stage to avoid visual contact for his upcoming World Chess Championship match against Veselin Topalov in April. Though this move looks simple and harmless, it has unveiled Team Anand's cautious approach to the match in Sofia, Bulgaria. Anand's wife and manager Aruna Anand visited the venue earlier this week and inspected the arrangements to officially kick-start the preparations. Basically in all World championship matches, the teams get to see the arrangements two to three times before the actual game. This was Team Anand's first visit, though only the manager was present, but she must have got a clear idea of what was already in place and what improvements she expected from the hosts. " In Bonn, we also had a chance to see the facilities. Before the last World Championship in 2008 the WCC contract covered all the details in how the event will be staged and the details that pertain to the stage, the logistics etc. "So my visit was only to follow on that," Aruna explained on Saturday. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com Chess news from Susan Polgar
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5570895.cms?frm=mailtofriend
2010-02-15T06:49:00.001-06:00
Linares Rd2: Topalov And Grischuk Win
Veselin Topalov and Alexander Grischuk (pictured) both won with the white pieces in their second round games at Linares to emerge as the early leaders. Topalov defeated Gashimov's Slav defence with an impressive display where black's more exposed...
http://www.chess.com/news/linares-rd2-topalov-and-grischuk-win-1920
Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:33:07 -0800
Linares R2: Topalov and Grischuk score first wins
Bulgarian GM and World Championship challenger Veselin Topalov scored a fine positional win over Azeri GM Vugar Gashimov. Alexander Grischuk of Russia dismantled Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, while Levon Aronia of Armenia used the Berlin Defence to get a somewhat shaky draw against Francisco Vallejo. Games with commentary by GM Anish Giri.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6126
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT
Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares: Ronda 1
Veselin Topalov (BUL-2805), Levon Aronian (ARM-2781), Boris Gelfand (ISR-2761), Vugar Gashimov (AZE-2759), Alexander Grischuk (RUS-2736) y Francisco (Paco) Vallejo Pons (ESP-2705), empezaron a mostrar su talento y arrancó Linares.   La primera edición del torneo fue en 1978. En esta primera edición fue la única en que participó un jugador giennense, Viriato Pacheco y fue ganada por el sueco Jaan Eslon (que jugó muchos torneos en España, ya fallecido), fue el ganador de esta edición empatado a puntos con Roberto Debarnot de Argentina. Desde entonces se celebró de los años impares hasta 1987, año en que Linares acogió el match final de candidatos al título entre Anatoly Karpov y Andréi Sokolov. A partir de 1988 el torneo se ha venido celebrando todos los años (a excepción de 1996 en el que la ciudad acogió el Campeonato del mundo de ajedrez femenino).
http://www.zonadeajedrez.com/noticias/noticias/837-torneo-internacional-de-ajedrez-ciudad-de-linares-ronda-1
Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:19:21 +0000
Peaceful start in Linares
The Linares tournament started peacefully today, with draws on all three boards. Topalov surprised Vallejo with a Breyer against the Spaniard’s Ruy Lopez and easily equalized. Grischuk needed a lot of time on the clock, but was also doing fine with Black against Aronian in a 4.f3 Nimzo ending. Gelfand had some advantage against Gashimov’s Benoni but just before the first time control a drawn ending was reached. The 27th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares” takes place February 12-25 in Linares, Andalucia, Spain. As a result of the financial crisis, the event went back to the (nowadays almost universal) formula of six players, double round-robin. This year Veselin Topalov (2805), Levon Aronian (2781), Boris Gelfand (2761), Vugar Gashimov (2759), Alexander Grischuk (2736) and Francisco Vallejo Pons (2705) play. The rounds start at 16:00 CET; rest days are on the 17th and the 22nd. The rate of play is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game, wit 30 seconds increment starting from move 61. The Sofia rules for offering a draw apply in Linares for the first time. Linares 2010 | Pairings and results Round 1 report by Rick Goetzee The famous Linares tournament is on its way again. It is true that the event has lost some of its aura and some say that Corus has taken over as the Wimbledon of chess, but it is still one of the greatest tournaments around. And not only because of its history. It’s quite remarkable how the organisers have kept the event alive through great adversity and without corporate sponsorship. In the last year they had to deal with the economic recession and voices in the local government challenging the decision to invest in a chess tournament. Also the plan to host the first half of the tournament in Dubai fell through. Despite all this, the Linares organizers have secured this famous event for another year. The field once consisted of 14 players, but since 2006 (after Kasparov retired) there have been eight players, competing in a double round robin. This year, because of financial constraints, it went down to six. While this is a pity it puts it on par with the Grand Slam tournaments in Sofia and Nanjing. Only Corus still has 14 players in their A-group. One of the consequences of a relatively small field is that the tournament is very strong. In Wijk aan Zee there were a few players (predominantly the local ones) who acted as the rabbits in the field, as GM Joel Benjamin referred to them on ICC’s Chess.FM. In Linares the only local player is Vallejo Pons but with a rating of 2705 he can hardly be called a rabbit. Although he has always been a top player, it’s been already 13 years since Boris Gelfand has last played in Linares. In the polls before the start of the tournament Aronian was the favourite, undoubtedly because Topalov will have the upcoming world championship match in the back of his mind. The opening ceremony on Friday was short but entertaining with flamenco dancers and Spanish traditional music. The first round started on Saturday at 4pm which is quite late compared to other tournaments. It must have to do with the great Spanish tradition of ‘la siesta’. All games were drawn in the first round. Vallejo-Topalov lasted 41 moves after a Ruy Lopez opening, Breyer variation. This solid system isn’t something Topalov regularly plays, and Vallejo was probably not well prepared for it. The Spaniard chose an old system but got nothing, and after many exchanges Topalov couldn’t play for a win either. Aronian-Grischuk was a Nimzo-Indian with 4.f3, the system popularized by Fritz Sämisch. White’s move 8.Qd2 led the game into a position that was popular in the 50s (!) and Grischuk used a lot of time in the opening, but he was able to solve all his problems. In fact if anyone was better it was Black, who could have tried 19…N7e5 if he’d had more time. After 26 moves the players shook hands. Aronian only used 40 minutes for the whole game. The most interesting game of the day was Gelfand-Gashimov. The Azerbaijan GM went for his favourite Benoni, an opening we don’t see very often in the elite tournaments. According to GM Benjamin this is a sign of the new philosophy of modern top players. Chess is becoming more of a sport than a science. A fight over the board is preferred over home preparation. Well, in any case Gelfand was, as so often, very well prepared. The World Cup winner went for the 7.Bf4 line, and knew all ins and outs of Gashimov’s pawn sacrifice on move 9. Gashimov always seemed to have compensation, but was it enough? White’s bishops looked very strong. Eventually Black won his pawn back and the game ended after 54 moves with a repetition of moves in a knight and bishop ending. Photos © María José Sánchez Rivera The pairings for the 2nd round on Sunday are Topalov-Gashimov, Grischuk-Gelfand and Vallejo-Aronian. Games round 1 with brief annotations Game viewer by ChessTempo Links Official website Games in PGN via TWIC
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/peaceful-start-in-linares/
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:34:37 +0000
Echecs à Linares : la ronde 2 en Live à 16h
Le Direct Live à 16h + La Webcam + Les parties à Visualiser et/ou Télécharger La 27ème édition du prestigieux tournoi d'échecs de Linares (Espagne) se déroule du 13 au 25 Février. Six super GMI s'affrontent en double ronde : Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Boris Gelfand et Vugar Gashimov, qui défendra ses chances ici pour la première fois. Les appariements de la ronde 2 : Veselin Topalov 2805 - Vugar Gashimov 2759 Alexander Grischuk 2736 - Boris Gelfand 2761 Francisco Vallejo 2705 - Levon Aronian 2781 Les résultats de la ronde 1 : Levon Aronian 2781 1/2 Alexander Grischuk 2736 Boris Gelfand 2761 1/2 Vugar Gashimov 2759 Francisco Vallejo 2705 1/2 Veselin Topalov 2805 Pour en savoir plus: Le site officiel - Le Live sur Chessdom 2007-2010 © Chess & Strategy - tous droits réservés