A group of chess fans from Bulgaria took issue with ChessBase's one-sided coverage of the World Championship in which Viswanathan Anand dispatched challenger Veselin Topalov. It was a great match; both players can be proud of their performance and the quality of games. Of course, errors were made, and Topalov's final error was fatal.
It does seem that the world was rooting for Anand. This impression does not stem solely from the coverage by ChessBase, but from a potpourri of websites and chess discussion forums. Even so, Topalov has his admirers, including many in his own country. It's too bad that some of them are so partisan that they offer this nonsense:
Russian Chess Federation ask for World Title Changes
According to a report in kommersant the Russian Chess Federation (RCF) in two letters signed by presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich has written to FIDE asking for significant changes to the next World Championship cycle both for Men and Women.
Nor are they the only critics. Emil Sutovsky has proposed Changes to the current Candidates cycle. He wishes to separate the Final of the Candidates from the Quarter and Semi-Final stages.
Veselin Topalov has made it clear that he objects to playing in Russia at all, but most particularly if he is to play an Russian opponent (in this case Kramnik is the only Russian in the event). http://letters.chessdom.com/topalov-candidate-matches
Danailov: ‘No match in Russia against a Russian player’
Contrary to what was expressed in an open letter last week, Veselin Topalov is, after all, willing to play Candidates Matches in Russia. However, he is “refusing to play a match with a Russian player in Russia, if that match is connected to the title struggle,” his manager Silvio Danailov said in an interview with Sport Express this week.
Last week in an open letter Veselin Topalov declared that he wouldn’t “participate in any stage of the cycle for the World Chess Title that takes place in Russia, in order to avoid problems and conflicts that already took place there”. The former world’s number one anticipated FIDE’s decision to move the Candidates Matches, scheduled for March-April 2011, from Baku, Azerbaijan to Kazan, Russia. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s reaction to Topalov’s open letter was that he would send the Bulgarian a letter ‘asking not to take hasty decisions’.
In an interview with Sport Express, his manager Silvio Danailov has now stated that Topalov is, after all, willing to play in Russia.
You should read his letter more carefully. It doesn’t say that Topalov refuses to play in Russia. He’ll go to Khanty-Mansiysk for the Olympiad and will represent Bulgaria on board one. Topalov is refusing to play a match with a Russian player in Russia, if that match is connected to the title struggle. The chances of Topalov meeting a Russian player in Kazan aren’t high as for that they’d both need to get to the final, though it’s a possibility.
In the interview, translated at Chess in Translation, Danailov doesn’t mention the name of Vladimir Kramnik, who is the only Russian player who qualified for the Candidates Matches.
The Russian player we played a match against in 2006 in Elista doesn’t exist for us!
Danailov also talks about the World Championship match in Sofia between Anand and Topalov, and once again reacts sharply to the happenings surrounding the vulcano eruption and Georgios Makropoulos’ decision to postpone the first game one day.
la decisione presa nonostante le precedenti minacce di ritiro di Topalov
update la reazione del Manager di Topalov
Il Presidential Board della FIDE, riunito in Tromso, ha assegnato alla città di Kazan (Russia) il Torneo dei Candidati che determinerà lo sfidante del Campione del Mondo Anand e che si dovrebbe disputare in un periodo compreso tra il 1 Marzo e il 31 Maggio 2011. La notizia, pubblicata dal sito chessdom.com, ha sorpreso l'intera comunità scacchistica. Tutti davano, infatti, per certo che almeno una parte della manifestazione sarebbe stata ospitata dall'Azerbajan, la cui federazione aveva già provveduto a versare un acconto di 150.000 euro. La Federazione Internazionale, sempre secondo Chessdom, ha però cambiato idea facendo comunque salva la nomina dell'azerbajano Mamedyarov quale giocatore invitato dagli organizzatori. Con la scelta di una sede russa viene dunque superata definitivamente la questione Aronian che, a causa delle tensioni esistenti tra Armenia e Arzebajan, avrebbe avuto serie difficoltà a disputare il torneo in Azerbajan. Proprio per questo motivo sembrava, infatti, ormai certo che quarti e semifinali del Torneo dei Candidati si sarebbero disputati in due sedi diverse.
E tutti vissero felici e contenti? Macchè! Pochi giorni prima Veselin Topalov, seguendo il solco della tradizione degli scacchisti che amano complicare la vita a chi deve gestire questo sport, aveva fatto sapere, tramite una lettera aperta, che per lui sarebbe stata inaccettabile una seconda sede russa. Secondo Veselin, infatti, il trattamento riservato a lui ed al suo team durante il Match Mondiale, perso contro Kramnik in Elista (Russia) nel 2006, era stato decisamente "unpleasant." Questa situazione, con una evidente forzatura, era stata paragonata proprio alla questione Aronian. Ma la decisone presa dalla FIDE ha comunque superato questa possibile obiezione. E', poi, per certi versi paradossale che la dichiarazione di non voler giocare contro un russo in Russia sia stata rilasciata proprio da chi ha da poco giocato, nella propria patria, un match valevole per il Titolo Mondiale contro il Campione in carica. La FIDE non ha, comunque, tenuto in alcuna considerazione la lettera del bulgaro ed ha assegnato alla città di Kazan addirittura tutta la manifestazione! Come reagirà l'ex Campione del Mondo FIDE? Nel caso in cui si dovesse davvero ritirare dalla manifestazione, Topalov sarebbe sostituito dal russo Grischuk (3° classificato del Grand Prix FIDE) ma è difficile immaginare che il bulgaro rinunci effettivamente alla possibilità di riconquistare il Titolo.
update 30 luglio La reazione di Danailov, Manager di Topalov e Candidato alla presidenza ECU
Come era ampiamente prevedibile, arriva l'immediata (mezza) marcia in dietro di Silvio Danailov. Il Manger di Topalov, intervistato dal sito russo sport-express.ru, parla diffusamente del Match Mondiale perso contro Anand e successivamente si sofferma sulla lettera aperta di Topalov precisando che Veselin non intendeva affermare che non avrebbe disputato un Torneo dei Candidati in Russia, ma che non avrebbe sfidato un giocatore russo in Russia! L'unica riserva posta da Danailov prima di confermare la presenza dell'ex Campione del Mondo FIDE in Kazan riguarda, e su questo non si nutrivano dubbi, i termini del contratto ed il montepremi. E se la Finale dovesse essere tra Topalov e Kramnik? la risposta di Danailov è stata: "Veselein si è espresso chiaramente nella sua lettera".
la lettera aperta di Topalov
Alexander Grischuk spera ...
... ma c'e' da scommetere che Topalov non rinuncerà!?
Nel frattempo l'invito di Mamedyarov è salvo!
mentre Anand, al riparo da ogni polemica, attende sereno lo sfidante
Il cremlino di Kazan
Kazan, sede del Torneo dei Candidati nel 2011
Il Tabellone tennistico del Torneo dei Candidati
Partecipanti al Torneo dei Candidati ordinati in base all'elo della lista del 1° gennaio 2010, con Topalov numero 1 in quanto perdente del match mondiale di Sofia.
Topalov 2805, perdente del Mondiale 2010
Carlsen 2810, rating (media lista elo luglio 2009 - gennaio 2010)
Kramnik 2788, 2° giocatore con il rating più alto
Aronian 2781, 1° Classificato Grand Prix
Gelfand 2761, 1° Classificato World Cup 2009
Mamedyarov 2741, over 2700 nominato dagli organizzatori
Radjabov 2733, 2° Classificato Grand Prix
Kamsky 2693, perdente della sfida Topalov-Kamsky
Modalità del Torneo dei candidati match ad eliminazione diretta, con quarti e semifinali sulla distanza di quattro partite, e finale sulla distanza di sei partite. Durata della manifestazione: 23 giorni.
cadenza di gioco 120' x 40 mosse + 60' x 20 mosse + 15' per terminare la partita +30" di incremento per mossa a partire dalla 61esima mossa.
eventuali spareggi rapid 4 partite rapid (25'+10). in caso di ulteriore parità si svolgeranno al massimo 5 mini match blitz (5'+3"). In caso di ulteriore parità, si disputerà una partita secca (5' bianco, 4' nero + 3" di incremento per mossa dalla 61esima mossa). In caso di patta vince il nero.
news di Chessdom sull'assegnazione a Kazan del Torneo dei candidati
According to a report in Sport Express by chess journalist Yuri Vasiliev, the FIDE Presidential Board in Tromso decided that the Candidates will be moved from Baku in Azerbaijan to Kazan in Russia. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov retains his position in the Candidates as the Azerbaijani representative.
Last week we reported that FIDE was intending to move the Candidates Matches (scheduled for March-April 2011 to determine the challenger of World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the 2012 WCh match) from Baku, Azerbaijan to Kazan, Russia. This report focused on Veselin Topalov’s open letter in which he stated that he ‘would not participate in any stage of the cycle for the World Chess Title that takes place in Russia’.
Yesterday, Sport Express journalist Yuri Vasiliev broke the news that the FIDE Presidential Board, currently together in Tromso, Norway, have announced the move to Kazan. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov retains his position in the Candidates as the Azerbaijani representative. The players (and pairings) are:
Topalov vs Kamsky ( 1 vs 8 )
Carlsen vs Radjabov ( 2 vs 7 )
Kramnik vs Mamedyarov ( 3 vs 6 )
Aronian vs Gelfand ( 4 vs 5 )
So far it’s not clear whether FIDE has responded to Emil Sutovsky’s open letter of last week in which the Israeli Grandmaster suggested some changes. However, according to Vasiliev, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov did respond to Veselin Topalov’s open letter.
Sport Express mentions that Ilyumzhinov would send Topalov a letter ‘asking not to take hasty decisions’. If Topalov still refuses to go to Kazan, he will be replaced by the third player in the final standings of the 2008-2010 FIDE Grand Prix Series, Alexander Grischuk from Russia.
Update: as Colin mentions in the comments section, it looks as though Sutovsky’s proposal was rejected. On his LiveJournal page (http://emilchess.livejournal.com/) he says that it wasn’t FIDE’s fault, but one of the players insisted that there shouldn’t be more changes made during the cycle, even though the player accepted the changes were logical (no mention of who the player was). He also made it clear that his meeting Ilyumzhinov & being photographed with him in no way means that he supports Ilyumzhinov in the presidential campaign (he said he’s staying out of chess politics).
Update 2: Mr Sutovsky couldn’t confirm whether his proposal was rejected, but did say that one player rejected it: Boris Gelfand, who said “I think that your proposal is very interesting for the next cycle, but I strongly oppose any change of official regulations while the cycle is in process. I hope you’ll inform all interested parties about my opinion.”
So what next for the world champion? With a rating of "only" 2800, third behind Carlsen, 2826, and Topalov, 2803, Anand has a renewed aim to bag numero uno spot. The Hindustan Times quotes him saying: "I have resumed practice after a much needed break. I am motivated to be number one again. My strategy has always been of playing few tournaments. But now I realise I will have to play more often if I have to be number one."
But what really impressed me about that article is that India apparently has about 8,000 chess clubs!
Topalov on Candidates Matches: “I won’t play in Russia”
A few days ago, we published an open letter by GM Sutovsky about the current FIDE Candidates Matches problems. Yesterday, Veselin Topalov published an open letter in response to the news that part of the matches might be played in Kazan, Russia.
According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, the Russian Chess Federation has asked FIDE President Ilyumzhinov to move part of the Candidates Matches from Baku, Azerbaijan – not a very pleasant place for Armenian GM Levon Aronian, though Armenian sources appear to in fact deny that he won’t play in fact Baku – to Kazan, Russia.
This, in turn, has prompted Veselin Topalov to write an open letter announcing he refuses to play in Kazan or any other place in Russia, in part because of what happened back in 2006, during ‘Toiletgate’. Here is Topalov’s open letter as it appeared on Chessdom:
July 22th, Sofia, Bulgaria
Dear President of FIDE, Dear members of the PB,
I am writing an open letter to you regarding the next World Championship Cycle. After many promises and changes I learn that a new place for the Candidates matches is being discussed, the one of Kazan, Russia.
I believe that it is a strategic mistake to stage almost all the cycle in one country. Four events of the FIDE Grand Prix, the World Cup, and now possibly Candidates Matches are in Russia. This transmits the message that FIDE can’t find sponsors and Organizers from other countries, which is very sad.
I would also like to state that for me the venue of Kazan, or any other venue in Russia, is totally unacceptable for another reason. Everybody still remembers the unpleasant situations which my team and I had to face during the WCC Match in Elista 2006.
Having in mind all this, I would like to declare that I would not participate in any stage of the cycle for the World Chess Title that takes place in Russia, in order to avoid problems and conflicts that already took place there.
The venue of Baku was rejected by Aronian and this looked natural for everyone. Before that, FIDE have changed their own rules and regulations to avoid the WCC rematch Topalov-Kramnik with Sofia as a venue. I believe it is logical to ask, if I play any matches in the future, (especially against Russian GMs), that they should be outside of Russia.
Open letter by Veselin Topalov regarding the Candidate Matches - Letter to the Presidential Board in
As Chessdom.com informed yesterday, Azerbaijan have secured the first half of the Candidate matches. They have already transferred the initial 100,000 EUR to FIDE account and have signed contract with the local player Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
Among the locations discussed for the second part of the Candidate matches is Kazan (Russia). This caused a sharp reaction by Veselin Topalov.
Topalov To Be Honorary Guest at Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad
Topalov To Be Honorary Guest at Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad
Bulgaria’s GM Veselin Topalov will be among the honorary guests at the opening of the Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad on September 19. Topalov has been invited along with world champion Vishy Anand and the Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is also expected to attend the opening ceremony. Topalov will participate in the Olympiad, while new heads of the European and the world chess will be elected at the following FIDE congress.
MEGAUPDATE a fine articolo: foto in esclusiva per Scacchierando!
6T: Pono 4, Le 3,5, Mamedyarov e Kramnik 3, Naiditsch 2,5, Leko 2
15-25 luglio: Kramnik, Leko, Mamedyarov, Ponomariov, Le Quang Liem, Naiditsch: inizia lo Sparkassen Chess-Meeting di Dortmund. L'evento è davvero tra i più importanti della stagione, paragonabile al Corus e a Linares. I sei giocatori disputeranno un doppio girone all'italiana, di conseguenza si tratterà di un torneo a 10 turni, questa è una recente innovazione nel formato, visto che sino a pochi anni fa 8 giocatori si affrontavano unicamente ?all'andata?, totalizzando così 7 turni in effetti forse non abbastanza per dare una chiara indicazione della forma dei partecipanti.
Novità invece assoluta qui a Dortmund sarà l'applicazione della Regola di Sofia: i giocatori non potranno quindi offrire la patta ai propri avversari. A detta degli organizzatori questo ?garantirà che ogni partita sarà combattuta sino alla fine?. L'esperienza sembra dimostrare che non è proprio così, ma si apprezza lo sforzo fatto per diminuire le patte, che a detta di molti l'anno scorso sono state decisamente troppe.?
Gli Organizzatori: Gerd Kolbe (Direttore), Uwe Samulewicz (Direttore della Sparkasse di Dortmund), Birgit J?rder (Sindaco), Stefan Koth (Direttore del Torneo)
Come ovvio in un supertorneo, i ?superpartecipanti? hanno davvero poco bisogno di presentazioni:
l'ex Campione del Mondo Vladimir Kramnik (Elo 2790, numero 4 al mondo)?è chiamato a difendere il primato nel ?suo? torneo: ha infatti vinto qui a Dortmund qualcosa come 9 volte, testa di serie numero 1 quest'anno, facile voglia puntare alla doppia cifra.
Peter Leko (2734, 16)?è anche lui in qualche modo ?a casa?: secondo gli organizzatori è difficile immaginare un Dortmund senza di lui: lo ha vinto 3 volte (importante in particolare nel 2002, quando il torneo ebbe valenza di Candidati, portando Leko, vincitore su Topalov, a sfidare per il Titolo proprio Kramnik) ed è inoltre molto legato alla Germania: parla il tedesco e ha conosciuto la moglie proprio qui a nord delle Alpi.
Arkadij Naiditsch (2684, 51)?è invece davvero il giocatore di casa: benché nato a Riga, in Lettonia, rappresenta da anni il Top degli scacchi tedeschi e dal 2003 viene costantemente chiamato a difendere il nero-rosso-oro della bandiera tedesca qui a Dortmund. Non è una supercorazzata come molti degli altri partecipanti e di conseguenza ha dovuto registrare risultati non eclatanti, ma nel 2005 è riuscito a uscire vincitore in un campo che vedeva ?noti spingilegno? come Kramnik, Topalov, Svidler, Adams e Van Wely.
Benché molti non riescano a pronunciare nella stessa frase le parole ?Campione del Mondo? e ?Ruslan Ponomariov? (2734, 14)?è innegabile che non è esattamente da tutti imporsi a 18 anni come Campione del Mondo FIDE, menchemeno trovandosi di fronte in finale tale Vassily Ivanchuk. Da allora (2002) non ha fatto sfracelli ma si è dimostrato giocatore, benché con alti e bassi, capace di competere bene con gli over 2700. Arriva da un'ottima World Cup, è al varco per vedere se lo stato di forma può continuare.
?
Invitare Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2761, 6), già presente nel 2008, non sembra essere stata una pessima idea da parte degli organizzatori: ?The Shark? è noto per il suo gioco aggressivo e tattico, capace di trovare sempre nuove idee quando si tratta di mettere pressione all'avversario. Tra l'altro arriva da una vittoria alla President Cup di Baku (assieme a Kramnik e Kamsky): se è al top della forma, aspettiamoci buone cose.
I cinque giocatori fin qui nominati sono stati invitati dall'organizzazione e hanno gentilmente accettato: per essere qui?Le Quang Liem (2681, 55)?ha invece?dovuto vincere un ?torneuccio? quale l'Aeroflot di Mosca (probabilmente l'Open più forte del Mondo). Nel 2005 è diventato Campione del Mondo under 14, ha iniziato a ?farsi le ossa internazionali? rappresentando il Vietnam in 2 Olimpiadi (2006 e 2008) e ora è pronto per confrontarsi con l'élite. Come molti asiatici in rapida crescita, è quasi impossibile stabilire la sua reale forza di gioco: vedremo cosa saprà fare a Dortmund. A dargli il benvenuto sarà il Campione in carica Kramnik: la sorte gli ha assegnato il primo turno.
A proposito: ecco la tabella degli incontri:
Giorno di riposo dunque il 20 luglio. E chi passasse da quelle parti proprio il 20 luglio avrà la possibilità di incontrare i Campioni presenti, di ottenere il loro autografo e di partecipare all'estrazione di diversi premi, sono piccole chicche che si fanno apprezzare.
Il tempo di gioco previsto è di 100 minuti per le prime 40 mosse, poi 50 per le successive 20 e infine 15minuti per finire, il tutto con 30 secondi di abbuono a partire dalla prima mossa. A quanto affermato dagli organizzatori, l'esperienza indica che in 4 ore saranno finite circa la metà delle partite, mentre dopo 6 ore l'80/90 % delle sfide dovrebbero essere finite. Chi non avrà modo di essere online alle 15, orario di inizio delle partite (l'ultimo turno è invece previsto per le 13), ha quindi un'idea di quando poter tornare a casa per i risultati
La media Elo dei partecipanti è di 2734, 10 punti in meno dell'anno scorso per pura cronaca, rendendolo un torneo di Categoria XX?
La sede di gioco sarà, come da qualche anno a questa parte,?il? Teatro Cittadino
All'epoca dell'edizione 2007 (Fonte: Chessbase)
Come in ogni megatorneo che si rispetti sono stati organizzati diversi eventi di contorno: segnaliamo il Torneo dedicato all'ex Cancelliere tedesco Helmut Kohl, un round robin a 10 giocatori, evento ?minore? di tutto rispetto: 3 GM, Eckhard Schmittdiel (GER, Elo: 2485), Romuald Mainka (GER, 2484) e?Mihail Saltaev (UZB, 2495), 1 WGM, Carmen Voicu (RUM, 2346), 1 IM, Markus Sch?fer (GER, 2382) e 2 FM, Laurence Webb (ENG, 2313) e Patrick Zelbel (GER, 2345).?
Dal 17 al 25 si disputeranno anche due Open, il primo riservato a chi ha un punteggio Elo superiore a 1700 e il secondo per chi lo ha inferiore ai 1900.
Il Torneo ad oggi:
E' dal 1973 che la Sparkassen (Cassa di Risparmio) di Dortmund sponsorizza il torneo. L'evento si è rapidamente imposto tra i principali del panorama scacchistico, aggiungendo edizione dopo edizione nomi illustri sul libro dei vincitori: Ciocaltea, Andersson, Keene, Hort, Gruenfeld, Ribli, Geller...All'inizio degli anni '90, per non farsi mancare nulla, il libro suddetto ha anche incamerato i nomi di Kasparov (1992) e Karpov (1993). Ma da allora il torneo è diventato ?proprietà? di Kramnik, che lo ha vinto 4 volte di fila dal 1995 al 1998, lo ha ?lasciato? a Leko nel 1999 per poi riprenderselo nel 2000 e nel 2001. L'allora Campione del Mondo ha visto poi trionfare nuovamente Leko (2002), Bologan (2003), Anand (giusto per non avere buchi nel curriculum immagino ) (2004), il giocatore di casa Naiditsch (2005), per poi imporsi nuovamente nel 2006 e nel 2007. Leko non ha perso il vizio di interrompere le serie locali di Kramnik e nel 2008 ha nuovamente vinto. Kramnik, dal canto suo, non ha perso quello di vincere a Dortmund e nel 2009 è tornato in vetta, distanziando di un punto gli inseguitori Carlsen, Jakovenko e lo stesso Leko.
Scacchierando in diretta da Dortmund!
All'arrivo, la sede di gioco si mostra imponente
Pronti ad entrare...
...un'occhiata a come procede il Torneo...
...e finalmente siamo in Sala da gioco!
La "concorrenza" è numerosa, ma il nostro inviato si avvicina ai giocatori
Naiditsch - Ponomariov
Naiditsch - Ponomariov bis
Mamedyarov - Le
Kramnik - Leko: 1/2 1/2 fisso
Un bis anche per chi ha disputato un Match mondiale
Peter Leko all'apparente ricerca di qualcosa per riempire il bicchiere
"Aiutato" dalla programmazione del Teatro, il nostro inviato infine ci saluta
Scacchierando ringrazia Andreas Kuhn per il gentile e ottimo lavoro
Scacchierando danke an Andreas Kuhn fur die freundliche und gute Arbeit
There was an old saying concerning opening theory "Players of today believe that modern opening theory began the day they were born. In fact it began the day David Bronstein was born". I'm not sure who originally said it (Boleslavsky? Spassky?) but in part it does suggest that players of today be mindful of what has gone before. For example the game between Naidistch and Mamedyarov played in the first round of the Dortmund tournament started with a line thought to be bad for White for at least 14 years. Naiditsch played a sharp line against the Najdorf, although this line resulted in a loss to Topalov against Short in 1996. Where Naidistch thought the improvement was going to be is unclear, as the move he chose to move away from Topalov - Short didn't seem to change the assessment of the position. Maybe he hoped to follow one of the stem games given in the notes below, but given the strength of the players involved, improvements for Black were certain to be found. Naidistch reached a position that on the surface looked equal but he had two problems. One, only reaching equality as White is a minor victory for Black at this level, and two, it wasn't even equal, as Black had an edge in the Rook and Bishop ending, which he duly converted.
Mark Izrailovich Dvoretsky a la réputation d'être le meilleur entraîneur aux échecs du monde. Ces écrits et chroniques sont tous de qualité supérieure et ses conseils ne vieillissent jamais. C'est ce que nous avons voulu monter ce matin sur Chess & Strategy. Alors Pourquoi et comment ?
Les dossiers de l'écran
Né le 9 décembre 1947 à Moscou Russie, Mark Dvoretsky est d'abord devenu un maître international de très haut niveau. En 1973, il remporte le championnat de Moscou et en 1975, il gagne le tournoi B de Wijk aan Zee ce qui lui confère le titre de maître. Ensuite, Dvoretsky choisit de s'orienter vers la profession d’entraîneur et de formateur avec ses qualités de psychologue échiquéen.
Une reconnaissance unanime des professionnels
Tous les joueurs d'échecs quel que soit leur niveau, fussent-il même champion du monde, trouvent dans les écrits de Mark Dvorestky des conseils et des «trucs» extraordinaires qui leur permettent de progresser dans leur quête de vérité échiquéenne. Ces écrits et chroniques sont toutes de qualité supérieure et ses conseils qui pratiquement ne vieillissent jamais vu qu’il nous met en garde contre l’épreuve du temps. Universels, ses conseils peuvent être adressés à tous les joueurs quel que que soit leur niveau ainsi qu’à tous les entraîneurs. On trouve chez Mark Dvoretzy l’esprit et l’essence de toute l’expérience échiquéenne contenue dans le formidable engouement pour le plus ancien des jeux déclenché à partir des années vingt et après la période soviétique.
L'entraîneur des meilleurs joueurs du monde
De nombreux joueurs de l'élite ont travaillé avec lui : Anand, Topalov, Lautier, Kasparov... Mark Dvoretsky a écrit de nombreux livres, dont plusieurs en collaboration avec Arthur Youssoupov, qui sont très estimés dans le milieu échiquéen. Nous vous invitons à découvrir ses ouvrages, et notamment son célèbre manuel des finales, pour progresser aux échecs.
Dortmund R1: Ponomariov and Mamedyarov start with wins
In the first round of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2010 in Dortmund, Germany, which started yesterday, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ruslan Ponomariov had a great start with wins over Arkadij Naiditsch and Peter Leko respectively. Elo-favourite Vladimir Kramnik drew his game against 19-year old Liem Quang Le.
The elite tournament in Dortmund is a double round robin, lasting until July 25th. The tournament is played under the Sofia rule, which means a draw can only be declared after intervention from the arbiter.
The first round no doubt contained a small surprise: Vladimir Kramnik couldn’t beat young Quang Le with the white pieces. Looking at the game, one gets the impression the Vietnamese close-to-2700 GM simply held himself very well in a relatively quiet Slav encounter. Kramnik naturally tried for a long time to achieve something in a QR vs. QR ending, but in the end he gave up his winning attempts and the peace was signed.
Liem Quang Le (photo by Georgios Souleidis)
Naiditsch-Mamedyarov was a much more explosive duel. In a razor-sharp 6.Bc4 Najdorf, Mamedyarov played the strong theoretical move 12…d5! – which is already known since Topalov-Short, Amsterdam 1996 – after which Naiditsch’s initiative seems to have simply faded away into nothingness. It leaves one wondering what the German had actually prepared.
Ruslan Ponomariov said he wanted to surprise Leko in the opening (he played the Scotch), but his experienced opponent didn’t seem too impressed. However, at move 17, Leko made a mistake (according to Pono) by exchanging queens, after which White seems to be better.
Ruslan Ponomariov (photo by Georgios Souleidis)
According to Ponomariov, the decisive mistake was 29…a5? after which White was clearly on top in the resulting rook ending. Today, Pono faces another tough client: Vladimir Kramnik, but judging from his fine play yesterday, he seems up to the challenge. The other games are Leko-Mamedyarov and Quang Le-Naiditsch.
Vladimir Kramnik (photo by Georgios Souleidis)
Games start daily at 15.00 CET and can be followed live here.
In this holiday period many people, either at a camping site or on the beach, are looking for only one thing: something to read. And since you can take the internet with you these days, with your phone, your netbook, your iPads and all, we might as well make a suggestion for you. A new website was launched recently, and its title and subject is ‘Chess in Translation’.
Chess in Translation is a new site by Colin McGourty about chess news and interviews published mainly in Russian. You probably know Colin already a bit, from his articles here on ChessVibes, about the Ilyumzhinov-Karpov saga. For us he keeps an eye on Russian media, and summarizes and translates the most important news. He’s doing much more of the same on his own site.
We give a few examples below, to give you an idea of what you can find on Colin’s site.
Can anyone who wants to become a GM? It’s a complex question which I’ve already touched on. I’d repeat: it seems to me that it’s possible. Especially if you have unlimited opportunities to study 24 hours a day. Plus an enormous desire to do it – that’s the main thing – whatever it is in life you’re aiming for. On the other hand that’s not the most important goal. The main thing is, why do people play chess? It seems to me that it’s most important to do it for the pleasure it brings you.
Can the intellect and memory be developed? Let’s leave the intellect aside, it’s an abstract concept. While memory can in some ways be trained. At my level I pay more attention to systemising my knowledge. So as not to remember everything, but only the most important things. And as for development… I play the game “Memory” with my daughter and have it on my computer. If children can develop their memory then adults can too… No doubt there are some methods but here the question isn’t for me, a chess player, but for a specialist in the field of psychology.
Classical Anand, Romantic Topalov
84-year-old Mark Taimanov interviewed by the Russian site Smena. He talks about the recent WC Match in Sofia and gives his opinion of how the current players compare to the former Champions.
Was it really as high as the legendary encounters between Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov?
I don’t want to offend the players in this match, but here we saw a struggle among chess players, while in the Karpov-Kasparov confrontation we witnessed a battle of personalities. Differing in world view, temperament… The interests of Topalov and Anand are focussed on chess – they have no achievements or even a desire for achievements beyond the board, in contrast to the great players from Steinitz to Kasparov. Moreover, in spite of their total concentration on chess the current leaders have in no way surpassed their predecessors in their play, and in fact seem to be inferior.
Analysing by the riverside with Bobby Fischer
In a remarkable interview given to Yury Vasiliev of Sport Express, the 87-year-old GM Svetozar Gligori? talks about some of his career highs and lows, his friendship with Fischer and the unlikely new career he took up, aged 81.
I considered it my duty to take care of Bobby; he was 15, while I was 35. We spent a lot of time together. Once we were by the river, swimming and sunbathing. I was a good swimmer but Bobby tried to outswim me. And then sulked when he didn’t succeed. I told him: “Bobby, you need to train for about 20 years – and then you’ll beat me!”
Kramnik on competing with Carlsen
In something of a media blitz around his 35th birthday, Vladimir Kramnik gave another interview, this time to Evgeny Gik of the Moscow-based Moskovsky Komsomolets. He talks about Magnus Carlsen’s threat to his chances of reclaiming the title, chess politics and how age has affected his chess.
You once said of Magnus Carlsen that there’ll come a time when it’ll be impossible to compete with him. Has it already arrived?
The Norwegian’s successes really are impressive, but nevertheless they’ve been achieved mainly against the lower half of the table. So that if we talk about matches against, say, Anand or myself, I’m not sure that Carlsen will be the favourite. But in a tournament his chances are greater – his flexible, malleable style adjusts well to different types of opponents. In that you can see the influence of Kasparov who also, on top of everything else, was capable of “cutting down the tail-enders”.
Karpov: I simply developed that universal style which dominated with the arrival of Spassky and then Fischer. But all the same we were different chess players, of course. Both Spassky and Fischer were brilliant at developing and sensing the initiative. In that regard I was, perhaps, a little inferior, but on the other hand I stood out by having excellent technique for converting an advantage, positional sense and an ability to maneuver positionally – in that area I was clearly superior to Spassky, and Fischer, and perhaps everyone, except Petrosian.
You just won the Tal Memorial with 6 points out of 9, while not playing in the Kramnik style at all – but boldly, confidently, with a flourish – like your walking around the hall. Where did that change come from?
Kramnik: No, no – I’ve always walked around a lot, there’s nothing new. And in general these cliches about my style – “boring”, “careful” – are rubbish. Professionals understand it – it’s just my style. Take, for example, Morozevich – do you think he plays that way so that the spectators will call him a “romantic”? No – that’s how he wins the most points. Or Kasparov – everything that he said about playing for the fans – it’s just not serious, he just has that style of play. And me – my talent’s best seen in positional play, in the endgame, though I consider myself a sufficiently universal chess player. Forgive me, of course, but no-one plays for the public – everyone plays to get the best possible result.
Spassky: I didn’t learn to play, I learnt a few chess moves. How did it happen? At first I watched others playing and then, when I was alone, I went up to the board, took away the black pawn and then ate up the whole white army with the black rook. That was the start of my career. And what attracted me – I’ve no idea. I liked that the rook moved in straight lines and ate everything. It was voracious. That’s all.
(…)
In December last year in Elista there was a friendly match between you and Viktor Korchnoi. Tell us about it.
Spassky: What’s there to say? Two old men hurled themselves at each other, thrashed each other around and then quietened down with the score at 4:4.
El Gambito de Rey en manos de Carlsen en el King’s 2010, en Bazna, Rumania.
Carlsen Reina. Gana el King’s 2010 con 7,5/10; dos puntos de ventaja sobre Radjabov y Gelfand. Ganó 5 partidas, realizó una actuación equivalente a 2920 ELO; sube 13 puntos en el nuevo listado y con 2826 se aleja y se afirma en la cima del Ajedrez Mundial, seguido por Topalov (2803), Anand (2800) y Kramnik (2790).
Tras un comienzo tranquilo, con tres tablas, Magnus apretó el acelerador y ganó consecutivamente a Wang Yue, Nisipeanu, Ponomariov y Radjabov. Otro par de empates y un cierre con nuevo triunfo ante Wang Yue. Ganó 4 de los 5 mini-matches y sólo empató ante Gelfand (ambas partidas).
Dio la impresión que Carlsen estaba experimentando nuevas ideas que, aunque en algunos momentos parecieron poco convincentes, permitieron mostrar cómo Carlsen se las ingenió para salir de esos senderos pedregosos y hacer aún más espectacular su victoria. Así fue que en la 4ta Ronda sorprendió con el Gambito de Rey y elegimos esa partida como eje de la nota. No obstante, para deleite, conocimiento y estudio de nuestros lectores presentamos todas las partidas de Carlsen comentadas.
Magnus nunca utilizó el Gambito de Rey. "Las cosas no iban tan bien en el torneo pensé en probarlo y ver cómo va", dijo Carlsen después de la partida.
Su victoria no fue espectacular pero sobre todo tuvo un despliegue interesante y su visión y plan fue estratégico, de acumulación de ventajas, espacio, movilidad y su chance se basó en un peón aislado y pasado. Wang Yue no encontró los mejores caminos y fue quedando cada vez con menos espacio.
En los últimos 40 años, encuentro menos de 300 partidas en que jugadores de más de 2500 la utilizaron (incluyendo torneos blitz, rápidos y aún simultáneas). Entre los más entusiastas seguidores están el fuerte GM beloruso Alexei Fedorov (35 partidas), que la planteó ante Super GM con buen resultado (aunque la última fue en 2004, tablas justamente contra el niño Carlsen); los GM Joseph Gallager, Yuri Shulman aunque ante rivales un poco menos fuertes.
De los Top, Short es quien más la utilizó en partidas a ritmo normal y ante rivales fuertes. Del resto, encontraremos en partidas rápidas, blitz o simultáneas.
Cuando vi esta partida y que Carlsen había planteado el Gambito de Rey, varias historias vinieron a mi memoria. Lo primero fue el recuerdo de uno de mis ídolos, Boris Spassky y uno de los primeros libros de ajedrez que llegaron a mi biblioteca "XXVII Campeonato de Ajedrez de la U.R.S.S. 1960", con bastantes partidas comentadas. El Campeonato se jugó entre enero y febrero de 1960, lo ganó Korchnoi y Spassky planteó tres veces el Gambito de Rey, hizo 2.5/3 y entre sus derrotados estuvo Bronstein. En marzo de 1960, tanto Boris como David, vinieron a la Argentina, a jugar el tradicional Magistral de Mar del Plata. Y también vino, como en 1959, un joven de 17 años, Robert "Bobby" Fischer. Los tres Super-GM, estimándose que en ese momento superaban los 2700 ELO. Se dice que Bronstein, que conocía a Fischer del Interzonal de Portoroz 1958, fue el que acerco a Bobby y Boris, naciendo allí un fuerte vínculo amistoso entre ambos. El torneo lo ganaron Spassky y Fischer con un impresionante 13,5/15. Lo cierto es que en la 2da Ronda se enfrentaron y Boris planteó el Gambito de Rey. Bobby la analiza en "Mis 60 Partidas Memorables". Quedó mejor el Negro, pero errores le dieron el triunfo a las Blancas. Como dice Fischer en su libro: "Esta derrota me incitó a buscar una 'refutación' del Gambito de Rey. (___) El movimiento correcto (tras 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf 3.Cf3) es 3.__ d6!" y publicó sus análisis en el "American Chess Quarterly", Vol I (1961), núm 1; bajo el título "Un Busto para el Gambito de Rey", donde dice: "En mi opinión (___) se pierde forzosamente". Sin embargo, el mismo Fischer lo empleó varias veces en partidas importantes, aunque normalmente, tras 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 jugaba 3.Ac4. Y vino a mi recuerdo una partida en simultáneas de Bobby, sobre la que no tengo certeza de la fecha, 1970 (año en que arrasó en el Magistral de Buenos Aires, con 15/17) o en 1971 (cuando en Buenos Aires ganó la Final del Candidatura frente a Tigran Petrosian, 6,5-2,5). Las Simultáneas se jugaron en el Club Estudiantes de La Plata y un joven de 17 años, Carlos García Palermo, campeón de esa ciudad, triunfó sobre el Gambito de Rey planteado por Fischer y con el contra-gambito Faalkber con el que respondió Wang a Carlsen. Y vale el recuerdo de García Palermo, que terminó su carrera de Abogacía, obtuvo el título de GM, representó a la Argentina en Olimpíadas, terminó afincándose en Italia (a quien también representó y donde fue Campeón Nacional); y obtuvo una victoria sobre el entonces Campeón Mundial Anatoly Karpov, en Mar del Plata 1982.
We've got an exciting week to look at this time! As always, for feedback and recommendations go to the forum!
Round 5 of the CVTV tournament has come and gone. After beating augelmo last week, a white-hot Andrewrun on 4/4 took on Josh Specht, who was just half a point behind him. The crucial match of the tournament, with just one round left after round 5! Another high-level game was augelmo vs gooeyjim, and eimaj playing Dizzler as well as Kamus vs Admin shouldn't be missed either.
Analysis Exchange is now in its third round! Some of the analysis of the second round can be seen in Josh's analysis of Andrewrun's game, Kamus' take on Dizzler's game, and Andrewrun's analysis of JoshSpecht vs Hiddie. Participate in the fun, and most importantly, submit your analysis if you signed up!
Computers manage to spark ingenuity Saturday, July 3, 2010 02:51 AM
The notion that computers take the creativity out of chess doesn't ring true in today's game.
Grandmasters are forced to constantly re-evaluate and update the openings they play because scrutiny by the search engines in opponents' software can quickly render old ideas obsolete.
The result is that players have no choice but to be nimble. They must change their openings frequently enough to stay a step ahead of their foes.
Broadening one's repertoire by constantly encountering and adapting to new ideas can be enriching and empowering.
In the best of circumstances, the result is a more complete and more interesting player.
But computer support can have a Star Wars quality.
During his recent title match with Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov had access to Bulgarian government hardware that included speedy series 8792 processors and could exercise one thousand billion operations per second.
Anand countered with a supercomputer of his own - apparently not as powerful but powerful enough. The result was an apparent technological standoff.
Human ingenuity, courage and judgment - good and bad - finally determined the outcome of the match, which wasn't decided until the 10th and final game.
Incredibile: Carlsen alla Russia! Topalov con gli Usa! Anish Giri alla Germania! Questi i team per cui queste star delle 64 caselle giocheranno le prossime Olimpiadi. Il quarto nome non lo faccio per scaramanzia...
Per fortuna non è la realtà, o quantomeno tale scenario non si è ancora verificato. Ma accadrà probabilmente qualcosa di simile se, come sembra, quanto reso noto ed effettivo dalla FIDE oggi dovesse prendere piede e se i giocatori troveranno una effettiva utilità in tale normativa.
Infatti è stato pubblicato sul sito della FIDE, QUI, (pagina 1, punto 2.2.2, concordato durante l'Executive Board ad Halkidiki nel 2009 ed effettivo da oggi 1 Luglio 2010) un nuovo documento con cui si regolamenta anche il passaggio dei giocatori da una Federazione all'altra senza la necessità di avere la cittadinanza o la residenza nel nuovo Paese.
Questa la tabella dei prezzi di contrattazione, che la nuova Federazione dovrà versare alla vecchia.
FIDE Title/Rating Amount of Compensation Fee Payable
GM rated > 2700 € 50,000 GM rated da 2600 a 2699 € 30,000 GM rated sotto 2600 € 10,000 IM rated sopra 2400 € 6,000 IM rated meno di 2400 € 4,000 FM o rated sopra 2300 € 2,000
Women players rated sopra 2600 € 50,000 Women players rated sopra 2500 € 20,000 Women players rated sopra 2400 € 10,000 Women players rated sopra 2300 € 5,000 Women players rated sopra 2200 € 2,000 WFM or rated sopra 2100 € 1,000
Ne prendiamo atto. Ma si rischia di stravolgere la bellezza delle competizioni Internazionali, le Olimpiadi in primis e il valore storico che esse racchiudono. Speriamo che i trasferimenti da una nazione ad un'altra, fino ad oggi limitati, non diventino un fenomeno di massa anche perchè qui si parla di Federazioni Nazionali e non di Club.
Ma una cosa la sappiamo. Quando ogni giocatore ha preso per la prima volta in mano un pedone l'ha guardato, l'ha girato e rigirato tra le mani, l'ha osservato con attenzione ed ha sorriso. E nel sorridere sicuramente non pensava a quella barca che lo porterà via...
The gap between Magnus Carlsen (2826) and Veselin Topalov (2803) has increased to 23 points on the July 1 FIDE rating list. The Norwegian won 13 points whereas the Bulgarian dropped 9. Third is World Champion Viswanathan Anand, now with 2800 points exactly. Wang Yue dropped from 8th to 28th.
FIDE has published its July 1st rating list and since all the big events were entered in time, there’s no difference between the official top 10 and the “live” top 10 of Hans Arild Runde (which you can also find in the far right column on this website). In fact there aren’t very big changes in the top 10 compared to the previous list either.
Carlsen’s fine victory in Romania last week got him another 13 rating points and because Topalov lost 9 points in his match with Anand, the gap between the world’s number one and two is now 23 points. Those 9 points went to Anand, who thereby surpassed Kramnik to regain the 3rd spot, at a nice 2800 precisely.
At the Kings’ Tournament Gelfand lost twice to Radjabov; the two switched places on the rankings between spots 10 and 13. Malakhov and Navara are in the top 20 on this list – the latter thanks to a stunning 8.5/9 at the Czech Championship.
Vugar Gashimov, who was still 7th in the world on the January 2010 list, dropped further to a 26th spot. The biggest skydive was performed by Wang Yue, who lost 36 points and went down from 8th to 28th. Winning 16 points, Wang Hao surpassed him to become China’s number one at 2724.
After entering the top 100 on the May list, Anish Giri won 30 more points to climb to a 62nd place at 2672, but the highest rated Dutch player is Loek van Wely with five points more. Ivan Cheparinov is back in the top 100 with 2661.
The women’s list is still very stable, with very few changes in the top 10. Judit Polgar again didn’t play, but Humpy Koneru did. The Indian lost 22 points at the 3rd FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik and so the gap increased from 60 to 82 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.
FIDE JULY 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
Dans le Top 100 mondial de Juillet qui vient de paraître, Magnus Carlsen consolide sa place de leader. Le champion d'échecs norvégien Carlsen est classé numéro un pour la 4ème fois consécutive, après Janvier (2810), Mars (2813), et Mai (2813). Cette fois, Carlsen établit un nouveau record personnel avec 2826 dans la liste Fide de Juillet. Son résultat provient de sa récente performance au tournoi de Bazna, où il a gagné 13 points Elo après un excellent parcours ponctué de 5 victoires et 5 nulles.
Magnus Carlsen devance désormais de 23 points le bulgare Veselin Topalov et de 26 points l'actuel champion du monde d'échecs, l'Indien Vishy Anand. Rappelons que le record historique appartient toujours à Garry Kasparov avec 2851 points, établi en Juillet 1999 et Janvier 2000.
Les Français :
Belle remontée pour le numéro 1 tricolore Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2723, +13 points). Le champion du monde junior 2009, occupe désormais la 22ème place du classement général grapillant 8 places en 2 mois. Etienne Bacrot (2720, +10 points) remonte de la 29ème à la 25ème position en engrangeant 10 points Elo. Côté féminin, Marie Sebag (2519, -5 points), reste la dixième joueuse mondiale et règne toujours sans partage en France.
Partida complementaria a la 6ª partida del mundial de Baguio:
Korchnoi-Mecking,
Cuartos de Final del Torneo de Candidatos m(9), Augusta 1974
Tras lo analizado en http://www.ajedrezcanarias.com (Secretos de Alcoba - 77) en la sexta partida del mundial de Baguio City, 1978; toca hoy ver como “partida complementaria” a la misma, esta otra, bastante interesante por la gran capacidad de lucha desarrollada ante el tablero en su momento por ambos contendientes.
Resultó este encuentro, disputado en Augusta, ciudad del condado de Richmond, Georgia, Estados Unidos; mucho más reñido de lo que el marcador indicó al final tras trece partidas:
Korchnoi 7,5 – Mecking 5,5 (+3 -1 =9).
Korchnoi, principal favorito, llevó la lucha hacia largos finales de partida, en los que, gracias a su mayor experiencia, logró desbordar a su joven adversario.
Así llegaron sus dos primeras victorias (en el quinto y séptimo cotejos) al cometer fallos Mecking. Este dominó en los planteos, pues era (como Fischer!) un especialista de las aperturas y acortó distancias en el décimosegundo juego. En el siguiente y último, Mecking tuvo óptimas posibilidades, pero desgraciadamente se puso muy nervioso, al tener al alcance de la mano la igualada en el marcador (otra vez la inexperiencia propia de sus pocos años de edad y sobre todo de práctica) y no solo dejó escapar el triunfo, sino también después el empate. Dramática lucha aquella.
Pero toca ahora ver la maratoniana partida de la novena ronda que espero que les guste, tanto como a mi haberla analizado, siguiendo los comentarios de buenos grandes maestros y la reciente opinión de Deep Rybka 4 y de las famosas “tablebases”.
Kortschnoj,V - Mecking,H [A29] Ct Augusta (m) (9), 1974 [Jimenez,A sobre varios comentaristas]
Fue mucho más complicado analizar esta partida que la sexta del mundial de Baguio 1978. 1.c4 e5 2.Cc3 Cf6 3.Cf3 Cc6 4.g3 Ab4 5.Ag2 0-0 6.0-0 e4!? Cuando vemos la historia de las variantes, intuímos lo apasionante que es el ajedrez de alta competición. Esto nos lo dijo a los tinerfeños una vez en directo el excampeón del mundo Veselin Topálov. Mecking había aprendido esta línea en el Interzonal de Petrópolis de 1973!. 7.Ce1 Sigue un precioso recorrido de caballo. 7...Axc3 8.dxc3 d6 9.Cc2 Te8 Diagram
10.Ce3! [Dos pesos pesados del ajedrez, habían continuado con: 10.Ag5 h6 11.Axf6 Dxf6 12.Ce3 Te5 13.Dc2(13.Dd2 Af5 14.Cd5 Dd8 15.f4 exf3 16.exf3 Te8= Yudovich.) 13...Af5 14.Tad1 Tae8 15.Td5 Ce7 16.Txe5 Dxe5 17.Da4 Cc6 18.Db5 Dxb5 19.cxb5 Ce7 20.Td1 Ad7 21.c4 f5 22.f3 exf3 23.Axf3 Ac8 24.Td3 Rf7 25.b4 Re6 26.Cc2 Rf6 27.Ta3 a6 28.Cd4 Cg6 29.bxa6 bxa6 30.Ac6 Te5 31.b5 axb5 32.cxb5 Ce7 33.Ta7 Cxc6 34.bxc6 Te7 35.Ta8 Ae6 36.Rf2 Re5 37.Re3 Ac4 38.Ta5+ d5 39.Ta8 g5 40.Tf8 Rd6+ 41.Rd2 Rc5 42.e3 f4 1/2-1/2 Portisch,L (2650)-Uhlmann,W (2560)/Madrid 1973]10...h6 11.Dc2 [Poco tiempo después a esta partida, se probó: 11.Cd5 Af5 Yudovich. 12.b3 Ah7 13.Af4 Cd7 14.Dd2 Cce5 15.Ah3 Cc5 16.Tad1 Ce6 17.Ag2 Cxf4 18.Cxf4 a5 19.Dd4 Cc6 20.De3 b6 21.Cd5 Dd7 22.Df4 Te5 23.Td2 Tae8 24.Tfd1 Dc8 25.Dh4 Af5 26.Df4 Cd8 27.De3 Ag4 28.b4 axb4 29.cxb4 Cb7 30.a3 Ad7 1/2-1/2 Hort,V (2600)-Kortschnoj,V (2665)/Moscow 1975]11...a5 [11...Te5!? 12.Ad2 Ad7 13.f4 exf3 14.exf3 Dc8= 15.Tfe1 Te8 16.Cd5 Cxd5 17.Txe8+ Dxe8 18.cxd5 Ce5 19.c4 Df8 20.h3 Te8 21.f4 Cg6 22.Ac3 c5 23.Rh2 De7 24.Te1 Dd8 25.Ae4 Cf8 26.b3 Te7 27.Dd2 De8 28.Ad3 f5 29.Txe7 Dxe7 30.De2 Dxe2+ 31.Axe2 Rf7 32.g4 Ch7 1/2-1/2 Polugaevsky,L (2640)-Savon,V (2570)/Petropolis 1973/IZT]12.Td1!? con idea de c5. Matanovic.[12.a4 fue lo que Kárpov jugó en la sexta partida del Mundial de Baguio de 1978 que puede seguirse con comentarios de grandes maestros y también ahora, inéditos, de Deep Rybka 4, en la página web: http://www.ajedrezcanarias.com en la crónica titulada "Secretos de Alcoba (77)", donde en sucesivos artículos pretendemos analizar el "polémico" mundial de 1978 al completo!!]12...b6 [Si 12...Ce5 sigue la idea de Matanovic 13.c5! y aquí se para en sus análisis a esta partida, el maestro rumano Mihail Marin. Veamos que dice nuestro módulo favorito: 13...d5 14.Cxd5 Cxd5 15.c4 Cxc4 16.Dxc4 c6 17.Axe4+/= con buena pareja de alfiles. Deep Rybka 4.; Otra idea más tranquila era: 12...Ad7 13.Cd5 Af5 14.Ae3 y ahora 14...b6 Marin. Veamos: 15.h3 a4 16.g4 Ag6 17.g5!? hxg5 18.Axg5 Cb8 19.Axf6 gxf6 20.Dd2 Cd7 21.Dh6 f5 22.h4 Cf6!= Deep Rybka 4. Y es que no vale 23.Cxf6+ Dxf6 24.h5 por 24...Dh4!-/+ Deep Rybka 4.]13.b3 Tb8 14.a4 Diagram
14...Ce5 [También era posible: 14...Ad7 porque tras la que aparentemente es mejor: 15.Ab2!? sigue(15.Cd5 Af5 16.b4 Ce5= Marin.17.Db3 c6 18.Cxf6+ Dxf6 19.Af4 Tbc8= Deep Rybka 4.; 15.Db1 Ce5 16.Cd5 Cxd5 17.cxd5 f5= Marin.18.Dc2 Df6 19.c4 Ac8 20.Ab2 Ab7 21.Te1 Df8 22.Ad4 Te7 23.Dc3 Tbe8= Deep Rybka 4.) 15...Ce5 y aunque tras 16.Cd5 Marin indique ligera ventaja de las blancas, el módulo señala que tras 16...Cxd5 17.cxd5 sigue la fuerte 17...e3! 18.f3(18.fxe3? Cg4!) 18...h5 19.Td4 Df6 20.c4 Af5 21.Dc1 Dh6 22.Dc3 f6= and Black is OK!. Deep Rybka 4.]15.Cd5! las blancas se aseguran de este modo la iniciativa.[Tras 15.Axe4? sigue 15...Cxc4! Matanovic. En efecto: 16.Ac6 Ad7 17.Af3 Cxe3 18.Axe3 De7 19.Td4 Ac8= Deep Rybka 4.]15...Cxd5 16.cxd5 f5 17.c4 Ad7 [Parece mejor: 17...Cd7!? con idea de ...Cc5 y ...Ad7. Marin. 18.Ae3 Ab7 19.Tf1 Cc5 20.Ad4 Dg5 21.Dc3 De7= Deep Rybka 4.]18.Ab2+/= Por la pareja de alfiles. Matanovic.18...Dg5 19.Dc3 Cg4 [Marin consideró: 19...Te7 20.f4 exf3 21.exf3 f4 pero ahora la computadora recomienda: 22.Ac1! Deep Rybka 4. (Y no lo que el maestro rumano analizó como jugada interesante: 22.gxf4 Marin. 22...Dxf4 23.Td4 con idea de Te4 y Tae1. Marin. Pero para el módulo la cosa no está clara para las blancas: 23...Df6 24.f4(24.Te4 Af5 25.Te3 Tbe8 26.Dd2 Dg6 27.Axe5 Txe5 28.Txe5 Txe5 29.f4 Te8 30.Tf1 Ah3 31.Rh1 Axg2+ 32.Dxg2 Dd3 33.f5 Te2 34.Dg4 Te4 35.Df3 Te3-/+ Deep Rybka 4.) 24...Cg6 25.Tf1 Tbe8=/+ Deep Rybka 4.) 22...Cg6 23.Ad2 Tbe8 24.Te1 Txe1+ 25.Txe1 Txe1+ 26.Axe1 Ce5= Deep Rybka 4.]20.Te1 Te7 21.f4 Dg6 22.e3 h5 Diagram
Este match de Augusta fue tremendamente combativo, con partidas largas y disputadas.23.Dd2 [23.b4!? Marin. Pero sigue: 23...Ta8! Deep Rybka 4.(El maestro rumano sólo sugirió:23...axb4 24.Dxb4 h4 25.gxh4 Dh5 26.h3 Cf6 con idea de ...Dxh4, Ch5, g5. Marin. Pero tras:27.a5! Dxh4 28.Ad4! Ac8 29.axb6 Cd7 30.Teb1+/- Deep Rybka 4.) 24.Db3 axb4 25.Dxb4 Ta5 26.Ac3 De8 27.h3 Ch6 28.Db2 Txa4 29.Txa4 Axa4 30.Ta1 Rh7 31.Rh2 con compensación por el material entregado. Deep Rybka 4.; 23.Te2!? Marin. 23...h4 24.gxh4 Dh5 25.De1 Rf7 26.Ad4 Th8 27.Tb2 Dxh4 28.Dxh4 Txh4 29.h3 Cf6 30.b4+/= con iniciativa. Marin. Veamos un precioso ejemplo ofrecido por el módulo: 30...axb4 31.a5! bxa5 32.Txa5 g5 33.fxg5 Ch7 34.Ta7 Cxg5 35.Txc7 f4 36.c5 fxe3 37.Axe3 Cxh3+ 38.Axh3 Txh3 39.cxd6 Txe3 40.dxe7 Rxe7 41.Txb4+/= Deep Rybka 4. Pero imposible de materializar. Sigue un enfrentamiento entre módulos a nivel de campeonato del mundo "oficial": 41...Tg3+ 42.Rh2 Td3 43.Tbb7 Txd5 44.Rg3 Td3+ 45.Rf4 e3 46.Rf3 Re6 47.Re2 Td4 48.Tc5 Rd6 49.Tg5 Ac6 50.Tb1 Ad5 51.Tb6+ Rc5 52.Tb8 Ta4 53.Tc8+ Rd4 54.Tg4+ Ae4 55.Td8+ Re5 56.Te8+ Rf5 57.Tg1 Ad5 58.Tf1+ Rg6 59.Rxe3 Y tablas teóricas. 1/2-1/2 Deep Rybka 4 w32-IvanHoe-T63 Tactical/40 jugadas en 2 h 30' sin finish. (109). ]23...Rf7 24.b4! Quedó patente el eterno espíritu de lucha de Korchnoi que entonces tenía 43 años por 22 de su rival.24...axb4 25.Dxb4 h4 26.gxh4 Th8 27.h3 Cf6 28.a5 bxa5 29.Dxa5!? [29.Txa5 Yudovich. 29...Dg3! Marin. Y ahora no lo que indica Matanovic, que da ligera ventaja a las blancas, algo totalmente incierto: 30.Ta7?? Matanovic. Porque sigue:(Es mejor:30.Rf1 Ch5 31.Dd2 Dh2 32.Rf2 Th6 33.Th1 Dg3+ 34.Rg1 Dxh4= Deep Rybka 4.) 30...Tb8! 31.Dxb8 Dxe1+-+ pues no vale 32.Rh2 por 32...Cg4+!! 33.hxg4 fxg4 con la mortífera idea de ...g4-g3, ganando. Deep Rybka 4.]29...Ae8 30.Tab1 Txh4 31.Axf6 Rxf6 32.Rh2 Dh7! 33.Tb7 g5!= Mecking también estaba entonces "totalmente" bajo el influjo del espíritu luchador de Bobby Fischer!.34.fxg5+ Rxg5 35.c5 Dg7! 36.Tg1 Rh6 37.Da1! Diagram
37...Ag6! [No valía: 37...Dxa1? 38.Txa1 con iniciativa en el flanco de dama. Matanovic. Y más que eso. Veamos: 38...Tg7 39.Ta8 Ag6 40.Th8+ Ah7 41.Tc8 f4 42.Tcxc7 Txc7 43.Txc7 f3 44.Af1 dxc5 45.d6 Th5 46.Rg3 Td5 47.d7 Td2(47...Af5? 48.Txc5+-) 48.Rf4 f2 49.Re5 Rg5 50.Txc5 Af5 51.h4+ Rg4 52.Tc2 Txd7 53.Txf2 Ag6 54.Tg2+ Rh5 55.Tg5+ Rh6 56.Ah3 Td3 57.Rf4 Td2 58.Af5+- Deep Rybka 4. ¡Precioso análisis!.]38.cxd6 cxd6 39.Txe7 [39.Dxg7+ Txg7 40.Tb6 Td7= Matanovic. 41.Rg3 Rg5 42.Tgb1 Thh7 43.Tf1 Af7 44.Tf4 Rg6 45.h4 Th5(45...Axd5? 46.Tb5 Ae6 47.Axe4!+/- Deep Rybka 4.) 46.Tb5= Deep Rybka 4.]39...Dxe7 40.Dh8+ Ah7 41.Af1 Diagram
Topalov vs Anand – Game #12: 2010 World Chess Championship
This is an analysis video covering Game 12 of the 2010 World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand (India) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria). The opening is the Queens Gambit Declined. More instructional videos can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ChessNetwork.
~Jerry~
People who read this also read:2010 World Chess Championship: Anand vs Topalov – Game #4 Post by Jerry [...]
People who read this also read:
2010 World Chess Championship: Anand vs Topalov – Game #4
Post by Jerry
This is an analysis video covering Game 4 of the 2010 World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand (India) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria). The opening played is the Catalan. More instructional videos can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ChessNetwork.
People who read this also read:Topalov vs Anand – Game #12: 2010 World Chess Championship This is [...]
People who read this also read:
The following is a video tutorial presentation providing insight on how to improve at the game of chess. As a National Master of the game, the 10 points made by me have all contributed to my own successes in the game. More instructional videos can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ChessNetwork.
People who read this also read:2010 [...]
People who read this also read:
SOFIA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Viswanathan Anand, 40, was officially crowned here on Thursday as the world chess champion for the 2010-2011.
The Indian grandmaster retained his title against Veselin Topalov in 12-game match achieving 6.5 points while the challenger managed to get 5.5 points.
Chief Arbiter Panaqiotis Nikolopoulos declared Anand the world champion at the official closing ceremony attended by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, head of the organizing committee, and the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Ilyumzhinov crowned Anand with winner's ribbon, laurel wreath and a gold medal, Borisov gave him a Cup, and the organizing committee greeted Anand with his favorite song.
Checks from the price fund, 1.2 million euros (about 1.6 million dollars) for Anand and 800,000 euros (about 1.07 million dollars) for Topalov, were not provided to them at this ceremony.
"It was not so heavy for eight-million Bulgaria to lose with one point only against one-billion India," Borisov told the ceremony.
"We are ready for revenge," Borisov added.
The first game in this match started on April 24 when Topalov with whites won. Followed Anand's victory, a tie and a second success for Anand.
Fifth, sixth and seventh game were draws but Topalov came back into the match winning the eight game for 4-4. After new three ties and 5.5-5.5, the 12th game on Tuesday was decisive whether it would be tie-break games but Anand with blacks won this game and the match
Bulgaria wants to host the 2010 world chess crown match between Bulgarian grandmaster Vesselin Topalov and world champion Viswanathan Anand, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said on September 3 2009.
"We have a duty to stand behind our champion and give him the opportunity to play in his home country," Borissov said after meeting Topalov and manager Silvio Danailov.
Borissov accepted the invitation to head the committee that will attempt to secure Sofia as the host city and called upon Bulgarian businesses and institutions to sponsor the event.
Costs were estimated at about six million leva and Borissov said that plan B was for the state to cover the expenses.
The deadline for submitting bids for hosting the match is September 30 2009, while the showdown itself is tentatively scheduled for early-2010. So far, interest in hosting the match has been shown by the Chechen capital Grozny, Dubai and Delhi.
Topalov won the right to challenge Anand for the title after winning the chess crown pretenders match against American Gata Kamsky on February 26 2009. Topalov's superb performance forced Kamsky to concede on the 45th move of the seventh match, with one game to spare.
Topalov, the 2005 world champion in the world chess federation FIDE championship, but lost it in the unification match to Professional Chess Association champion Vladimir Kramnik. Topalov and Anand, the two top-ranked grandmasters in the FIDE rankings, was initially scheduled to be played in 2009, but has been postponed.
HAVANA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Cuban chess players Leinier Dominguez, Lazaro Bruzon and Fidel Corrales will represent Cuba at the World Cup of Khanty-Mainsysk, Russia from Nov.20 to Dec.15, authorities said on Monday.
Dominguez got direct entry with his world ranking while Bruzon and Corrales went through after the qualification matches.
Bulgarian Vesselin Topalove, Ukranian Vassily Ivanchuk, Russians Alexander Morozevich and Valdimir Kramnik will also attend the event.
The Bulgarian is an aggressive player. But the Catalan doesn't bring about a quick victory
Topalov-Leko, Amber Blindfold 2008. Concluding our look at the Catalan, White to play.
RB When you see that the player with the move is Topalov you immediately start thinking tactics – quiet, careful improvement is not the Bulgarian's style. So, using the player's identity as a clue, and with an additional hint provided by the absence of a knight on f6, my eye is immediately drawn to 1 Ng5, with the twin threats of 2 Qxh7 mate and 2 Bxb7.
Let's have a look at how Black might counter: 1...g6 might not be as bad as it first appears. After 2 Bxb7 Rb8 both the bishop and knight are en prise. Here I would be tempted to play 3 Bc6, rather than retreat the bishop all the way back to its defensive post at g2, and try to maintain it there, cramping Black's queenside pawns. Black might be better off playing 1...Bxg5, in which case 2 Bxb7 Rb8 also allows the same idea of taking advantage of Black's backward c-pawn and light-square weakness with 3 Bc6.
DK Unmasking the Catalan bishop is a common tactic. Here it does not force the win of material, but allows White to take a firm hold of the position. 1 Ng5 Bxg5 (Ronan is wrong about 1...g6 because 2 Bxb7 Rb8 3 Ne4 Rxb7 4 Qc6 Rb6 5 Qxd7 wins) 2 Bxb7 Rb8 3 Bc6 was the game continuation. Black's backward c-pawn is a long-term problem: he could easily find himself condemned to passive defence. That's why Leko countered with 3...Nb6 4 Rd1 Qd6 5 Bg2 e5, but after 6 Nc3 (threatening Ne4) 6...f5 (preventing Ne4 but weakening the king) 7 dxe5 Qxe5 8 Nd5 Nxd5 9 Rxd5 White was still in control. See online for the rest of the game.
If you play the Catalan with White, don't expect a quick victory, but enjoy the space advantage, the solid king position and the sound pawn structure. Last week we recommended Play the Catalan by Nigel Davies (Everyman Chess, £14.99). For more advanced players, Grandmaster Repertoire 1 d4 Volume One by Boris Avrukh (Quality Chess, €24.99) has an excellent section on the Catalan.
Veselin Topalov had the upper hand on opening preparations in his world championship match against Anand. By choosing Jiri Dufek, the author of this
Opening book, as one of his seconds he gained unlimited access to dozens of
opening novelties.
Anand: My money is on Argentina, Spain A STAFF REPORTER
Calcutta: He is not ashamed of having sought advice from former world champion Garri Kasparov during his world championship match against Veselin Topalov. He has enjoyed every moment of Argentina’s match against Nigeria. In the city to inaugurate the NIIT inter-college chess competition, world champion Viswanathan Anand spoke to the mediapersons on chess and beyond.
The following are excerpts
On what made this year’s world championship special
I must admit that this year, it was the toughest compared to other years. During past years, never did the title round clashes go the distance. This year, it was different. This is the first time that the championship was undecided till the final round with both of us locked at five-and-a-half points each. It was a see-saw struggle. There were certain new formations that I tried.
On what was unique about the victory
Right from the time we started our journey to Sophia till the end, it was a definitely different from other competitions. Also it’s a healthy thing that the fight has been such intense.
Topalov’s criticism of him seeking Kasparov’s help
I have already reacted by taking his (Kasparov) help. I wouldn’t prefer to react to Topalov’s reaction... If you react to reactions, it will go on forever... If I have taken someone’s help, I am glad that I did so. I will do it again (smiles).
Handling tough situations
I manage to look cool in tough situations. And I have managed to fool you all with my cool looks (laughs)... It’s not that I don’t get tense, but with years of experience, you start having a different perception about how you approach things... You start worrying less once the action starts. Then it is the dynamics of the game that takes over. You only think about the game and shut yourself from the rest of the world. I have always been very relaxed on the board irrespective of my performance.
The advantage of having an unchanged team of seconds
It’s always helps when you have members who enjoy working with each other. This is the team [GM Peter Heine-Nielsen (Denmark), GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly (India), GM Radoslav Wojtasek (Poland) and former world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), for the record] that has worked for me… It’s like five people doing a final proof reading before a you publish a work.
Surya’s contribution
Surya is a fantastic player himself and we have been working together for a long time now. It’s only recently that his role has got formalised. It always helps when you work with someone with whom you share a comfort level.
If he’s hooked to the World Cup
Who isn’t? My money is on Argentina and Spain. I enjoyed watching Argentina play against Nigeria. Messi is my current favourite. He might not have scored but look at the number of chances he created. It was amazing goalkeeping from the Nigerian goalkeeper… I will also follow Brazil’s matches but Spain will be another team to watch out for. If you have players as talented as Xavi Hernandes, Fernando Torres and Andres Iniesta, you should take them seriously.
(I have to disagree with Anand here. I'm picking Brazil to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup.)
On wife Aruna’s role
She takes care of everything so that I can only concentrate on the game. It’s always nice to have someone with whom you can share your feelings after a hard day’s work.
Bazna-Romania: inizia oggi il? 2?"Kings Tournament" che vede coinvolti 6 GM di primo piano. Il favorito è il norvegese Carlsen,n? 1 della lista FIDE mondiale. Già nel 2009 il torneo rumeno si affermò a livello internazionale grazie alla presenza di forti GM. Ad imporsi fu l'ucraino Ivanchuk che precedette di un punto Gelfand. Tale evento potrebbe entrare a far parte in futuro del circuito del Grande Slam.
Cerimonia di apertura con Nisipeanu, idolo locale(foto chessdom.com)
PARTECIPANTI:
Carlsen
NOR
2813-n?1
Wang Yue
CHI
2752-n?8
Gelfand
ISR
2741-n?11
Radjabov
ARZ
2740-n?13
Ponomariov
UKR
2733-n?18
Nisipeanu
ROM
2672-n?59
Magnus Carlsen, 2813
Wang Yue, 2752
Boris Gelfand, 2741
Teimour Radjabov, 2740
Ruslan Ponomariov, 2733
Magnus Carlsen dopo l'Amber dichiarò dal suo blog : " la primavera è ormai alle porte e in quel periodo non sarò particolarmente impegnato. Uno degli appuntamenti principali è il Bazna Tournament di Giugno in Romania. Sarà per me eccitante visitare per la prima volta questo Paese. L'edizione 2009 fu il torneo di scacchi più forte mai organizzato in Romania. Fu un successo e rese orgogliosa la comunità scacchistica locale." 1? turno-14 Giugno:
Il torneo-regole: ieri,domenica c'è stata la cerimonia di apertura. Oggi,lunedì 14 Giugno, inizia il torneo, un doppio girone all'italiana per un totale di 10 turni. Ogni giorno si gioca alle 14.30 tranne l'ultimo turno alle ore 12.30. Cadenza di gioco: 120 minuti x 40 mosse+ 20 minuti per altre 20 mosse+ 15 minuti per finire con? 30 secondi di incremento a partire dalla 61esima mossa.
Nel torneo non è possibile accordarsi per la patta prima della 30esima mossa. In ogni caso ciò può avvenire solo in determinati casi:
* triplice ripetizione della posizione * scacco perpetuo * posizioni patte teoriche
Criteti di spareggio: si guarderà nell'ordine 1) il numero di vittorie 2) gli scontri diretti 3)il Berger. Alcune novità riguardanti il Grande Slamdi questo e del prossimo anno, emerse dal congresso del Comitato Organizzatore svoltosi pochi mesi fa.
1)? si sta cercando di coinvolgere altri tornei all'interno del Grande Slam a patto che questi diano garanzia di almeno 3 edizioni di alto livello per gli anni futuri. Si tratta dei tornei :
- Memorial Tal (è stato il torneo più tosto del 2009) - London Chess Classic (anche nel 2010 sarà una grande edizione con Carlsen,Anand e Kramnik) - Bazna Kings (Romania,? in Giugno) - Tra le ipotesi anche San Luis e altri tornei dei continenti americani, per questo motivo Danailov sta incontrando? vari organizzatori d'oltreoceano.
2) La finale del Grande Slam 2010 a Shanghai e Bilbao avrà 8 finalisti, ovvero i 4 vincitori dei supertornei più altri 4 secondo criteri ancora da definire.
La novitàsarà che la Finale del Grande Slam sarà divisa in due parti e si disputerà in due città diverse : Shanghai (Cina, dal 3 al 12 Settembre) e la tradizionale Bilbao (Spagna, dal 6 al 14 Ottobre).? Infatti ad interrompere momentaneamente la manifestazione ci saranno le Olimpiadi 2010 in Russia !
Anche San Luis (Argentina) e Londra (Inghilterra) sono tornei presi in considerazione per farli entrare nel circuito. In ogni caso il Comitato organizzatore del Grande Slam ha posto una regola per i nuovi tornei, ovvero che questi diano garanzia di svolgere almeno 3 edizioni.
CALENDARIO 2010 GRANDE SLAM:
NANCHINO (CINA 2009) = Carlsen
WIJK AAN ZEE (OLANDA 2010) = Carlsen
LINARES (SPAGNA) = 12-25 Febbraio Topalov
SOFIA (BULGARIA)= 25 Maggio - 5 Giugno? Non disputato
FINALE MASTER = SHANGHAI ( Cina, 3-12 Settembre) & BILBAO ( Spagna, 6-14 Ottobre)
1. Short, Nigel g ENG 2660 7 2. Portisch, Lajos g HUN 2523 5 3. Andersson, Ulf g SWE 2537 5 4. Suba, Mihai g ROU 2487 4? 5. Khalifman, Alexander g RUS 2628 4? 6. Beliavsky, Alexander g SLO 2641 4? 7. Mecking, Henrique g BRA 2565 4? 8. Murariu, Andrei g ROU 2483 4 9. Timman, Jan g NED 2565 4 10. Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2617 3? 11. Sokolov, Andrei g FRA 2596 3?
Thierry Hugues a écrit: salut Patrick
c'est vraiment interessant cette experience :
ensuite je suis tres intrigué par ton message et ce qu'il semble suggerer : soit tu en dis pas assez , soit je n'ai pas compris !!
est ce que tu dis que l'interface joue un role dans le choix du coup joué : en disant que sous gui fritz , personne ne joue le sacrifice de cavalier, alors que sous arena alaric le joue 6 fois ???
il est par contre extremement interessant d'essayer de comprendre pourquoi alaric est le seul moteur a jouer ce sacrifice ....
thierry
Sourire, je suis heureux d'etre rassuré sur mon état de fonctionnement de mes neurones ... j'avais donc bien compris le but initial de l'experience !!
j'avoue, que je ne pense pas avoir jamais vu de veritables tests sur l'influence que pourrait avoir la GUI sur le choix des coups joués par le moteur ...
on peut penser que si le protocole UCI est bien ecrit dans le code du moteur, il fonctionne de la meme facon quelque soit l'interface ..
par contre si tout le monde semble s'amuser à decortiquer les codes des moteurs pour les cloner ou s'en inspirer; personne me semble t il n'a jamais cherché à decortiquer l'interface chessbase ou arena ou schredder, pour voir si dans le programme il y avait des lignes de programmation qui pourraient modifier la routine de travail du moteur ... ou si toutes les interfaces GUI traitent la norme UCI de la meme maniere ....
j'attends avec beaucoup d'interet la suite de l'experience.
Includes a World Championship special, interviews with Anand and Topalov who does not mince words, Kasparov shines his light on the match.
Judit Polgar reports, Bent Larsen looks back, Andor Lilienthal and Florencio Campomanes remembered.
Anand, Carlsen, Kramnik in 2010 London Chess Classic
World Champion Viswanathan Anand will play in this year’s London Chess Classic, where he will face Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik as his main rivals. Hikaru Nakamura, Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell complete the field of the second edition that runs 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre in London.
PRESS RELEASE by John Saunders
Viswanathan Anand will become the first reigning world chess champion to play in a major tournament in London since Anatoly Karpov in 1984 when he joins the eight-player field for the second London Chess Classic, which runs from 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre.
Vishy Anand is the one change from the stellar field which brought spectators flocking to London to watch elite chess in December 2009. The great Indian player, who will turn 41 during the tournament, recently retained his title as the undisputed champion of the world by defeating Veselin Topalov in the latter’s home city of Sofia, Bulgaria. In London he will meet his immediate predecessor as champion, Vladimir Kramnik, 36, of Russia, and also the young man who is currently riding high as the world’s highest rated player and widely tipped to be Anand’s next challenger – Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who will be 20 by the time the tournament starts.
London is thus privileged to witness a clash of the past, present and likely future chess champions. At the time of writing Carlsen is world number one on the FIDE (World Chess Federation) Rating List, Kramnik is number three and Anand number four. Looking forward, London is also bidding to host the 2012 World Championship title match, so Anand’s clashes with Carlsen and Kramnik could well be a preview of what happens in London’s Olympic year.
Five more players make up the field of eight, all of whom played in the exciting 2009 event. Each one earned his place for his fighting play last year. The fourth non-British player is Hikaru Nakamura, USA, who will turn 23 during the London event. The American is known as the ‘H-Bomb’ for his explosive and totally uncompromising style of play. He has won the US Championship twice and also won major events in San Sebastián and Gibraltar in the past couple of years. He is improving all the time and can be expected to press hard for wins against the leading trio of players.
England has an established quartet of elite players and all four will be playing in London. Michael Adams, 39, from Cornwall, has recently wrested back his position as England number one and he spent a number of years as the world number four. He is fresh from winning the prestigious Gibraltar International. Nigel Short, 45, became a chess legend when he broke the Kasparov-Karpov stranglehold on world title matches, beating Anatoly Karpov on the way to a title match with Garry Kasparov in 1993. He is still one of the most entertaining players on the circuit – and not to be missed in the commentary room after the game! Luke McShane, 26, started a financial career after university but couldn’t resist the lure of the international chess scene. He is now re-establishing his status as one of the most talented of the world’s young grandmasters. David Howell, 20 in November, had a sensational elite tournament debut in this event last year when he finished third behind Carlsen and Kramnik. He had recently won the British Championship by a handsome margin and has subsequently shared first at Hastings and won the British Rapidplay Championship for the second year in succession.
It’s great to see a very successful first London Chess Classic getting an even stronger sequel. Last year’s field will be there again except for Ni Hua from China, who was substituted for the world champ himself, making it even harder to avoid visiting this tournament in the second week of December. ChessVibes won’t even try.
On her blog Natalia Pogonina has posted an article from her sport.ru live online interview. Viwewers could send their questions and her answers were happily published real-time.
From that interview I'd like to point out a few interesting answers:
Q: Whom were you rooting for at the World Championship? Why? (Traglodit)
A: I can't say I was actively rooting for someone, but I like Topalov's agressive and risky style.
This answer made me giggle for one basic reason. I was rooting for Anand the entire match. I think Natalia just had to be different from me.
Q: Do you like clubs and hanging out? (Oleg Haliulin)
.A: Rarely visit them, I am not a fan of clubbing.
Only in chess would such a question be asked in an open forum. Why is it we suffer such peculiarities?
Q: If you became FIDE President, what would you change? (Andrey Santalov)
A: Stabilize the World Championship cycle. Find respectable sponsors. Promote chess in the media, including TV and Internet. Expanding the geography of top events. Serious and constant work connected with the support of developing (in the chess sense) countries. Becoming part of the Olympics. Changing the rating system.
I like all of these ideas (well, actually the last two I really have no opinion of because it doesn't seem to matter all that much). I think if she were running for office i'd probably be singing her praises right now but, alas, to my knowledge she isn't a candidate ... it just goes to show that those who are most interested in what's good for chess are busy playing.
Natalia, I know you or Peter are gonna read this so here's my personal message to you: A very well answered interview altogether. Steering clear of those questions that really had no place and being prepared for the obvious (women in chess, having a family) questions. And most importantly, staying far away from the political questions. At any rate, it's always good to hear from you and you're doing all the right things to publicize yourself on the internet. I'd like to think I've helped pave the way for chess professionals to use the internet as a marketting tool but people like yourself deserve all the credit for having the sense to latch onto the idea and run with it!
That's it folks. There's no more of my commentary for the day. Go play some good chess.
NY Times on the Chessbase copyright case - statements by all sides
During the Anand - Topalov WCC 2010, a message appeared on the official site stating, "Warning! It is absolutely prohibited the live broadcast of the moves or video during the game on other websites, media or software without the explicit permission of the organizers of the match. This prohibition is being violated by ChessBase"
A few weeks after the end of the championship Chessdom.com received news directly from a German source that the case is already presented in court. Silvio Danailov explained his point of view in an interview.
Thomas Luther on the World Championship - GM Luther criticises Anand for taking Kasparov's help
German Grandmaster Thomas Luther has backed Bulgarian Veselin Topalov and has hit out at Indian ace Vishwanathan Anand for having taken the help of two former champions Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik during successful defense of his world crown in Sofia last month.
Levon Aronian to participate in World Chess Championship 2011 June 3, 2010 - 15:38 AMT 10:38 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - 2 countries will host World Chess Championship 2011, with 4 chess players to rival in Baku. The remaining 4, including Levon Aronian will compete in the country to be announced later.
World Chess Championship 2011 will be held in knockout format. 7 chess championship participants were announced: Levon Aronian (Armenia), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Gata Kamsky (USA) Boris Gelfand (Israel) and Timur Rajabov (Azerbaijan).
Viswanathan Anand, Vishy per tutti noi, ha conquistato il suo terzo titolo mondiale – assoluto e consecutivo – andando a vincere in casa dello sfidante Veselin Topalov, ma dentro e fuori dall’ambiente scacchistico il pubblico sembra distratto...
The Bulgarian organizers of the Anand-Topalov World Championship match take Chessbase to court for “violating copyright rules”. Chessbase transmitted the moves of the match live on their Playchess server, against the will of the Bulgarians.
During the Anand-Topalov World Championship match it already became clear that the organizer were planning to take legal action against Chessbase for transmitting the moves of the match live on Playchess. On May 27th the Bulgarians filed a case at a court in Berlin, and Chessdom has now quoted Silvio Danailov on the matter:
“Before the start of the World Chess Championship we explicitly stated that no company can use the moves without the official site’s staff permission. And this was violated by Chessbase, they put themselves above the law in Europe, above the general FIDE ethical rules. (…) I believe in European law and in our Attorney who is presenting the case – Mr. Rainer Polzin. What’s more, I am candidate for President of the ECU and as such I have to stand behind the rights of professional chess. Such actions, as the one by the German company Chessbase, affect the sponsors of events negatively, which damages sponsorship, from there future organization and level of events. In the long run the biggest damage is made on the chess fans, who are the most important part of the game – they certainly deserve to enjoy high level events and have chess sponsorship on all levels. Thus, by defending our rights through European law, we will be defending all fans and the future of chess.”
In an article by Dnevnik, Danailov states that the Bulgarians would expect to win at least 500,000 euros from this court case.
The attorney of the Bulgarian organizers, GM Rainer Polzin, has a law firm in Berlin. We asked him for some more details. He told us:
“The case has been filed at a court in Berlin [Landgericht - CV]. The action is partly based on the German Copyright Law, which is based in the protection of databases mainly to European directives. The EU directive (EU Directive) 96/9/EC of 11 March 1996 will play an important role.
Further claims from the Competition Law will be invoked. It is essentially a question of whether the live acquisition of content from a website, which is funded by sponsors, put onto another website, with the intention of generating profits, is admissible.
There have been some cases in Germany on broadcasting rights of football matches. But there it’s clear what is copyrighted: photos, moving pictures and radio reports. The problem for the clubs is when reporters without prior permission for sale, after buying a ticket, make photos or videos. These are fascinating cases. But it’s not comparable with our case, as ChessBase had no reporters in Sofia.”
Media rights
The organizers of the Anand-Topalov World Championship match, which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria last month, managed to collect a prize fund of 3 million Euros: 2 million for the players, 400,000 for FIDE taxes and 600,000 for organizational costs. In an attempt to earn back at least part of that money, they tried to sell the rights to cover the event to other media. For instance, the Bulgarian national TV channel are said to have paid the organizers to have the right to film the players with cameras inside the playing hall.
The organizers also attempted to sell the media the right to transmit the games live on the internet. Silvio Danailov, the manager of Veselin Topalov but also one of the main figures responsible for the organization of the match, told ChessVibes a few weeks before the match that we needed to pay 15,000 Euros if we wanted to transmit the games live. Although we weren’t sure about the legal situation, we were not inclined to fight this over court. Chessbase apparently was. All twelve games could be followed on the Playchess server.
During the match, the official website transmitted the games live on a page with a standard DGT game viewer. Below the viewer, the following note was seen throughout the match:
Warning! It is absolutely prohibited the live broadcast of the moves or video during the game on other websites, media or software without the explicit permission of the organizers of the match. This prohibition is being violated by ChessBase.
Earlier warnings
It was not the first time the Bulgarian organizers did this. The same warning was placed on the official website of the Topalov-Kamsky match, also held in Sofia in February 2009. Back then the Bulgarians “won”, since after being threatened with a law suit, Chessbase did stop transmitting the games. Arne wrote a column in which he discussed philosophical, legal and historical aspects of the issue. It led to 127 comments.
Meanwhile, we discovered that already in 2006 a similar note was published on the website of the MTel tournament:
(Sofia, May 13, 2006) Pirates broadcast the super chess tournament M-Tel Masters in internet. The biggest game server in the world ICC (www.chessclub.com) announces the live broadcast of the moves from the games in the tournament. The transmission is being done by using signal from the official web site of M-Tel Masters 2006 – www.mtelmasters06.com, which is violation of the copyrights of the organizes of the competition.
Interestingly, the Bulgarian organizers first attacked ICC, but in recent years they only seem to point their attack to the German company Chessbase. It’s well known that the relationship between the Bulgarians and Chessbase has become very bad, especially after a video was embedded by Chessbase on February 11th, 2007 that was claimed to show “assistance given to the world’s top-rated player Veselin Topalov during his games”.
Why only Chessbase?
We asked Silvio Danailov why other media, like ICC, Chessdom, Susan Polgar and Crestbook (Sergey Shipov) were not taken to court. He answered:
“With Chessdom we have commercial agreement signed. Susan Polgar and Sergey Shipov I respect very much. Both are excellent professionals, doing a lot for chess, making it more popular. They are not commercial and don’t resell the games. Having in mind all this, they had our permission.
With ICC I have long collaboration with mutual interest for both sides. But I explained already before that this is the last time; next time they should paid like everybody else.”
Danailov added that the situation in the US is complicated, and would probably ask for more research, and more attorneys.
Motorola vs NBA
We asked John Henderson of the Internet Chess Club (ICC) about their experience with events wanting to copyright the games. He answered “Many threatened but never followed through” and then referred to the “Motorola vs NBA case”, which to his knowledge basically settled matters until now in the States.
In that case, from 1997, the National Basketball Association demanded the exclusive right to transmit scores of basketball games, which Motorola was doing with their “Sports Trax” pagers. These were electronic devices which transmitted the scores, ball possession, and time remaining. Motorola obtained those scores by using public information, e.g. by watching basketball games on TV. Initially, in a New York court, the case was won by the NBA (comparable to the Bulgarian organizers). However, later Motorola (comparable to Chessbase) won the case, at the United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit.
Last year, the Staunton Memorial didn’t even make its games available for free live; visitors had to pay five pounds to watch the tournament games. One and a half years ago, the organizers of the World Championship match in Bonn, between Anand and Kramnik also attempted to prevent other media from broadcasting the game live (they only allowed the broadcast elsewhere with half an hour delay), to benefit as much as possible from their new broadcasting system Foidos. This never became a commercial success.
Copyright: an old issue
The copyright-over-chess-moves issue is about as old as the game itself. During the very first big, strong, international chess tournament, London 1851, rule number 12 said:
“As the managing committee guarantee to every subscriber of a guinea and upwards, a correct copy of the whole games, and as considerable expense must attend the recording of so many games and their subsequent publication, it must be understood that no-one will be allowed, in the first instance, to publish any part of them without the express sanction of the committee.” Source: Chess Notes
In many later disputes, the main point was always that if anyone would own the copyright over a game, it was the players themselves. The contract over the 1886 Steinitz-Zukertort match included a clause that gave the property right in the record of all games played in the match to each player. In negotiations for a match with Capablanca as early as 1911, Lasker wanted to claim the rights personally, because of his “activity in chess extending over more than 20 years”. As was also pointed out by Arne in his column, Capablanca’s point of view has always been taken as the general rule:
“A chess game, from its very nature and the manner of its production, must be the joint property of the two persons producing it … You can charge what you like for the publication of the games in any form you may deem to your advantage. But, unfortunately, that is a common privilege, of which anyone may take advantage.” Source: Chess Notes
Asked whether he thought the Bulgarian organizers had a chance, attorney Rainer Polzin answered us:
“Chances are good. You never know in court cases, but I’m a chess player. I don’t make a move when I know my opponent can mate me in one or two moves.”
Naturally we also asked Chessbase to comment on the lawsuit, but thus far we didn’t receive an answer from them.
Of course, Viswanathan Anand is one of the most influential player in recent history. To recount all of his accomplishments would be redundant, but he represents all that is good about chess at this point. He is generous, humble, polite, alturistic and certainly a great ambassador of the game.
ChessBase ran a report with an interesting interview before his successful defense of his world title last month. One of the most important points of the interview was his comments about marketing chess. This has been quite a challenge in the past few decades. Anand states that chess should show a more interesting side of itself and that the efforts should be made to market the game in diverse places.
Unfortunately, one of the major problems in chess is that it maintains its reputation as an elitist sport played only in rich nations. This tends to limit the worldwide appeal of the game to reach the other 90% of people who do not play. However, Anand’s ascendancy in the game has had a positive impact in creating a generation of players from India’s 1.1 billion inhabitants and has served as an inspiration to those in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.
In this interview, Anand shows his indelible charm as he takes questions from chess enthusiasts and compatriots. This interview occurred before the recent championship match against Veselin Topalov. Enjoy!
Dombivli, Pune lads hold GMs at 3rd Mayor's Cup Chess tournament Deepak Narayanan / DNA Thursday, June 3, 2010 2:00 IST
Mumbai: The 3rd Mayor’s Cup chess tournament, which got underway in Mumbai on Wednesday, provided yet another example of just how far the game of kings and queens and 64 squares has come, and a reminder of how far there is to go still.
The tournament has got 353 entries this year, a rise of more than 100 from the previous edition. Of the 353, 41 are Grand Masters (nearly double from 2009), 253 are internationally rated and as many as 88 players have won titles — numbers that make the field fairly competitive.
On Day 1 here, there were two surprises. One on the 16th table, where Pravesh Satra from Dombivli held Ukrainian GM Kravtsiv Martyn for a draw after 22 moves, and the second where Pune’s Sarang Ponkshe held Kazakhstan GM Anuar Ismagambetov after a gruelling encounter that lasted 53 moves.
Even Parimarjan Negi, the youngest GM in the country and the top-ranked Indian player here, needed four hours and 65 moves to take a full point against the inexperienced Jotish Joy.
Less than a month after Viswanathan Anand retained his world championship title by beating Veselin Topalov, this certainly is another indication of how the game is growing on the ground. But organising tournaments of this nature — which give young Indian players a chance to improve their ratings — remains a demanding task.
“Anand’s performances have brought the sport into the limelight, he’s given parents the confidence to allow their children to pursue the sport," Ravindra Dongre, senior vice-president of the All-India Chess Federation, told DNA.
"But getting in corporate sponsorship for these events is still very hard,” he said. The Mayor’s Cup is sponsored by the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the BMC. “These tournaments are important as youngsters get the opportunity to play GMs and other higher ranked players without having to travel abroad,” Dongre said. An opportunity that Dombivli’s Satra and Pune’s Ponkshe grabbed with both hands.
Le mosse del Mondiale Anand-Topalov in una corte di giustizia. Era solo una questione di tempo, e oggi ne abbiamo la certezza. In un'intervista pubblicata su ChessdomSilvio Danailov, manager di Topalov,? uno degli organizzatori del Mondiale 2010 e candidato alla presidenza ECU, ha confermato che il 27 Maggio, attraverso il suo legale Rainer Polzin, ha presentato un'istanza contro ChessBase che secondo il bulgaro sarebbe colpevole di aver trasmesso le mosse del Mondiale senza l'autorizzazione degli organizzatori. Prendere le mosse dal sito ufficiale e rivenderle ai propri clienti sarebbe, per il manager bulgaro, una robbery (rapina).
Come molti di voi ricorderanno, nella pagina del sito ufficiale dedicata alla trasmissione delle mosse era apparsa la scritta: "Attenzione! E' assolutamente proibita la trasmissione in diretta delle mosse durante le partite senza l'esplicito permesso degli organizzatori del match. Questa proibizione è stata violata da ChessBase". Sempre secondo quanto dichiarato da Danilov, ChessBase sarebbe stata diffidata durante il mondiale, ma l'accordo proposto dagli organizzatori del Mondiale sarebbe stato rifiutato dall'azienda tedesca.
Al termine dell'intervista, Danailov definisce la moglie di Anand, che aveva reagito seccata al commento di Topalov a proposito degli aiuti giunti al Campione del Mondo da parte di Kasparov e Kramnik ("non avrei mai accettato aiuto da persone che mi hanno umiliato nel corso degli anni"),? una segretaria e non un manager, visto che quel che fà si riduce a "prendere il telefono, inviare e-mail, fax, prenotazioni biglietti, ecc."
Nel corso del Mondiale, Scacchierando ha deciso di non trasmettere in diretta le mosse perché la proposta arrivata, su nostra richiesta, da parte degli organizzatori del Mondiale è stata giudicata troppo onerosa. ?
Danailov versus Chessbase, chi la spunterà?
[Megalovic? 01-06]
Poikovsky RUSSIA. Si svolge dal 2 al 14 Giugno il fortissimo 11? Karpov Tournament. 6 dei 12 giocatori sono over 2700! Tra i nomi più prestigiosi troviamo i tre nazionali russi Karjakin (fresco campione del mondo RAPID), Jakovenko,Vitiugov e il Georgiano? Jobava (medaglia d'oro Olimpica nel 2004 e Vicecampione Olimpico con la sua nazionale a Dresda nel 2008). A chiudere il lotto dei partecipanti c'è Ivan Sokolov, forte GM che negli ultimi mesi ha vinto l'Open di Rejkiavik, battuto Caruana all'Europeo e organizzato il recente e prestigiosissimo Bosna Open...
Xinghua-Cina - E' in corso il Campionato Cinese che quest'anno si svolge a Xinghua dal 24 Maggio al 4 Giugno. Torneo che vede partecipare i più forti giocatori del Paese tra cui i nazionali Bu, Ni Hua e Wang Hao.Presente anche Ding Liren che l'anno scorso vinse a sorpresa il Campionato.Quest'anno invece è il GM Li Shilong (classe '77) a soprendere, infatti dopo 7 turni è primo con Bu a quota 5.
Nel femminile è invece Ju Wenjun (2500) in testa con 6 su 7.
Avellino - E' in corso di svolgimento il 2? Festival Internazionale "Torre di Bisaccia".? Ai nastri di partenza dell'Open A ci sono ben sei GM: Epishin, Tratatr, Kosic, Lazic, Naumkin e Sanchez. Completano il lotto dei giocatori titolati otto MI, tra i quali spicca il nome di Pierluigi Piscopo, quattro MF e la WFM Maria De Rosa. La manifestazione si disputa dal 29 maggio al 2 giugno ed è suddivisa in tre Open nei quali partecipano complessivamente 110 giocatori. Il montepremi è di 7.970 euro, 900 dei quali andranno al vincitore dell'Open A .
Open A, migliori 20 iscritti per elo (50 partecipanti)
1
Epishin Vladimir
GM
2611
2
Tratar Marko
GM
2507
3
Kosic Dragan
GM
2501
4
Lazic Miroljub
GM
2494
5
Salvador Roland
IM
2485
6
Naumkin Igor
GM
2480
7
Sanchez Joseph
GM
2478
8
Laketic Gojko
IM
2453
9
Piscopo Pierluigi
IM
2426
10
Dragojlovic Andjelko
IM
2403
11
Kizov Atanas
IM
2394
12
Aleksic Nenad
IM
2372
13
Vuelban Virgilio
IM
2369
14
Seletsky Grigory
FM
2337
15
Gromovs Sergejs
FM
2319
16
Martorelli Antonio
IM
2259
17
Passerotti Pierluigi
FM
2258
18
Caprio Guido
--
2224
19
Fiore Mario
FM
2223
20
Quimi Marco
--
2163
Vladimir Epishin, numero uno del tabelonne
Pierluigi Piscopo, il miglior italiano nel ranking di partenza
One of the most interesting tidbits to emerge out of the recent World Championship match was the challenger's use of a supercomputer. He's also even planning to use it in candidates matches later this year as well as in 2011.
Well, we can't have that! Must even the field.
If, by some chance, one or more of our readers are future World Championship challengers, then this report from the BBC is a must-read. There you'll hopefully find a supercomputer near you. Just going by the chart, it looks like an American challenger will have the best chances, followed by the Chinese and then the Germans!
All they have to do is memorise all the lines and hope that the other bastard plays predictably.
De Anand-Topalov. Kasparov, Carlsen, Kramnik, como asistentes de Anand. Karpov y la FIDE. GP Fide y el Próximo Campeonato Mundial. Selecciones Autonómicas en España. GP FIDE: ya están los Candidatos. Karjakin gana la Copa Mundial Ajedrez Rápido. Anish Giri en el Sigeman & Co. Se viene León XXIII.
En Zona de Ajedrez, comentamos extensamente las partidas y alternativas del Match por el Campeonato Mundial, finalizado el 11 de mayo de 2010 tras el cual Anand confirmó su calidad de Campeón y lo será al menos por dos años más.
Alto nivel de combatividad, excelencia técnica fueron las características del Match. Destacamos la preparación previa y el que muchas jugadas venían desde el laboratorio casero. Y casi todas las novedades las aportó Anand. Hoy se sabe que Topalov contó, antes de su salida al mercado del Rybka 4 y que la gente de Hiarcs le facilitó a Anand un equipo muy potente durante todo el Match. Pero el Match no se trató de un duelo entre ordenadores, el factor humano o el “cluster” humano fue más importante. El ordenador sirve, pero también tiene lugares oscuros que pueden llevar al fracaso. No es muy fiable. Así, el jugador no puede no ser creativo “per se” y debe correr riesgos. Tras el error en la primera partida 23…. Rf7? (según Anand una omisión u olvido en el orden de las jugadas), el Vishy tomó el control, rápidamente igualó y pasó a la delantera. Aparentemente el cansancio y la derrota en la 8va partida (54… Ac6?? cuando las tablas estaban ahí nomás) pusieron en aprietos al Campeón. Llegaron a la última partida y la conclusión parece ser que los nervios de Topalov le jugaron una mala pasada. Anand hubiera estado conforme con unas Tablas e ir a los Desempates con una confianza razonable (su calidad en partidas rápidas era un plus). Por eso eligió la sólida Defensa Lasker del Gambito Dama. Lejos de variantes secretas o armas preparadas por Véselin y así controló la partida. No pude dejar de recordar aquella famosa partida de la Final de San Petersburgo 1914, en la que Lasker eligió la Variante del Cambio de la Ruy López frente a Capablanca y fue la llave para ganar aquel Torneo. Pero hablamos de factor humano y más allá de la psicología, la tensión, el cansancio y demás ingredientes, es increíble el equipo que colaboró con Anand. Desde septiembre de 2009 había empezado a trabajar con sus colaboradores habituales: Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB-30-2699), Peter Heine Nielsen (NOR-36-2698), Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Pol-23-2663) y Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IND-27-2672).
Pero poco a poco se fue sumando gente a echar mano en la preparación de Anand. Magnus Carlsen se puso en contacto y se ofreció, como ya había hecho en otras oportunidades, una vez finalizado el Amber en Niza, para participar unos días en el entrenamiento. Luego se brindó para ayudar un poco, nada menos que Garry Kasparov e intercambió información, antes y durante el Match y entre otras cosas apoyó la idea de jugar la Catalana. Pero claro, faltaba Vladimir Kramnik, que se comunicó con Anand y fue otro asesor invalorable en el transcurso del Match. También la joven promesa Anish Giri que aportó lo suyo en partidas de entrenamiento. Increíble. Los Campeones Mundiales Kasparov y Kramnik; el candidato de todos, Magnus Carlsen y el sorprendente Anish Giri. Entendemos que Anand tuviera alta la moral. Más allá que ante el tablero se sienten dos seres humanos, con sus virtudes y carencias, Anand tuvo un plus importante en quienes lo apoyaron y colaboraron con él. Tal vez esto valorice aún más la tarea de Topalov, de quien dijo Anand: "Véselin es un luchador excepcional. (…) Lo que ha pasado es que mi rival no ha aguantado la tensión nerviosa en la última partida de un duelo agotador".
V Campeonato de España de Selecciones Autonómicas 2010.
Unos días antes, el 2 de mayo de 2010, había finalizado este importante torneo por Equipos. Se disputó en Tossa de Mar entre el 29 de abril y el 2 de mayo de 2010.
Fue una nueva victoria del fortísimo equipo de Catalunya, cuyos 6 titulares masculinos se ubicaban entre los mejores 10 por ránking inicial y entre los mejores jugadores de toda España y en el Tablero Femenino la segunda mejor española en el ELO.
El Equipo, integrado por GM Miguel Illescas Cordoba (2604); GM Daniel Alsina Leal (2548); GM Marc Narciso Dublan (2530); GM Alfonso Romero Holmes (2515); GM Josep Oms Pallisse (2494); IM Alvar Alonso Rosell (2509-U18) y WIM Patricia Llaneza Vega (2277).
Barcelona ganó todos sus matches, a seis tableros y seis rondas. A continuación la tabla de posición y más abajo todas las partidas para ver y descargar.
Anatoly Karpov “Un Campeón del Cambio”: Después de una vida dedicada a la práctica y promoción del ajedrez, el ex Campeón Mundial, Anatoly Karpov anunció sucandidatura a la Presidencia de la FIDE, bajo el título “Un Campeón del Cambio” e inició su campaña a la presidencia de la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez. Presentó los objetivos y temas principales de su campaña. Podéis acceder a su plataforma y demás en www.karpov2010.org.
En una conferencia de prensa 21 de abril en Moscú, el Presidente del Consejo de Supervisión de la Federación Rusa de Ajedrez (RCF) y asesor del presidente de Rusia, Arkadi Dvorkovich, anunció que se ha decidido apoyar la candidatura presidencial del actual presidente de la FIDE, Ilyumzhinov en 2010.
Garry Kasparov, criticó esta actitud de Dvorkovich y declaró su apoyo a Karpov: "La Federación de Ajedrez de Rusia y Arkadi Dvorkovich -esto no es lo mismo, creo-; y hasta donde yo sé, la cuestión de apoyar (la reelección de) Ilyumzhinov no se discutió (…). Se trata de algo personal de Dvorkovich y creo que su declaración es indignante. Ilyumzhinov Los resultados son conocidos. El ajedrez está ahora en una situación muy difícil, diplomáticamente hablando. Hoy viajo mucho en el mundo y sé que los jugadores de ajedrez, y muchas federaciones desean cambiar. Creo que Karpov es el candidato ideal para hacer los cambios necesarios.”
El 14 de mayo, el Consejo de Supervisión de la Federación Rusa de Ajedrez (RCF) se reunió en Moscú y Anatoly Karpov fue nominado como candidato a presidente de la FIDE en la elección que tendrá lugar en Khanty-Mansiysk, Rusia, en septiembre. La nominación de Karpov recibió 17 votos de los 32 miembros del Consejo.
El 17 de mayo, en Nueva York, Kaspárov y Carlsen participan en una cena para recaudar fondos en apoyo de la candidatura de Karpov y la del norteamericano Richard A. Conn Jr. como vicepresidente de la FIDE.
El 21 de mayo, Karpov y Kasparov, visitaron Berlín para apoyar la candidatura de Robert von Weizsäcker para ser presidente de la ECU (Unión Europea de Ajedrez). La Federación Alemana había organizado una rueda de prensa el viernes al mediodía en la cual se hizo púbico oficialmente la candidatura de Von Weizsäcker para dicho cargo. El candidato para ser presidente de la FIDE Anatoly Karpov y Garry Kasparov también estuvieron presentes y muy activamente además. "Vamos a destrozar el mito del Ilyumzhinov invencible", comentó Kasparov. Weizsäcker cuenta con un equipo de importantes ajedrecistas en actividad, entre ellos Short, Hjartarsson, Sokolov.
Anatoly está recibiendo mucho apoyo mundial (las federaciones de Rusia, EE:UUU., Inglaterra, España, Francia, Suiza, República Checa, Bosnia, Mónaco, Islandia, Escocia, Alemania, Ucrania, Egipto, Congo, Marruecos, Angola, El Salvador, Nicaragua, entre otras han hecho su apoyo oficial y lo pusieron por escrito) y muchas personalidades del Ajedrez también han dado su apoyo y se han sumado a los equipos de Karpov.
Gata Kamsky gana el Campeonato de EE. UU. 14 de mayo al 24 de mayo de 2010.El campeonato de EE.UU. se llevo a cabo en St. Louis, por segundo año consecutivo. El torneo que se desarrolló por sistema suiza a 7 rondas. Los 4 primeros (Shulman, Kamsky, Nakamura y Onischuk) compitieron en un torneo cerrado, empatando en el primer puesto Shulman y Kamsky. El desempate por el 1er lugar es especial: Sobre la base de 60 minutos + 5 segundos, los jugadores pujan secretamente “ofreciendo” una cantidad de tiempo (minutos y segundos igual o inferior a 60 minutos). El jugador que oferta la cifra más baja elige su color, mientras que el oponente tiene 60 minutos. Gata Kamsky ofreció 25’ + 5’’ y eligió las piezas negras. Shulman los blancas y 60’ + 5’’. Estos fueron el tiempo y los colores con los que dispuso cada jugador. El empate consagró a Kamsky como Campeón.
Más abajo todas las partidas para ver y descargar.
Fide Grand Prix – 6ta Etapa: Eljanov gana el Torneo. Levon Aronian y Teimour Radjabov se clasifican para el Candidatura para el Campeonato Mundial a jugarse en 2012.
El gran maestro ucranio Pavel Eljanov ganó con autoridad y un punto de ventaja la última etapa del Grand Prix de la FIDE en Astracán. Compartieron el 2do puesto Ponomariov, Jakovenko, Mamedyarov, Alexeev y Radjabov. Bajo rendimiento de Ivanchuk que pronto quedó sin chances.
Con esto están los 8 candidatos: Veselin Topalov (el perdedor en el Match por el Campeonato del Mundo); Gata Kamsky (por Semifinalista en el ciclo anterior); Boris Gelfand (como ganador de la Copa del Mundo 2009); Vladimir Kramnik y Magnus Carlsen (clasificados por ranking) y por su actuación en el ciclo de FIDE Grand Prix: Levon Aronian y Teimour Radjabov.
Más abajo todas las partidas para ver y descargar.
4th ACP Copa Mundial de Ajedrez Rápido - Sergey Karjakin Campeón.
El ucraniano, naturalizado ruso, venció en la última partida a “muerte súbita” a Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS-2725); tras seis tablas y un grueso error en la jugada 62.
Los 16 participantes se fueron eliminando tras matches a dos partidas, para llegar a la Final, que se definía en cuatro partidas.
El ritmo de juego fue de 20’+5’’. Los desempates en partidas blitz a 3’+2’’ y finalmente a “muerte súbita”.
Casi todos los favoritos ganaron en la 1ra ronda: Grischuk, Eljanov, Shirov, Karjakin, Gashimov, Jakovenko y Movsesian; excepto Vasili Ivanchuk (que parecía estar mal antes del inicio) perdió a Mikhail Gurevich.
En los cuartos de final Grischuk ganó por Movsesian; Sergey Karjakin alguna manera pasó contra Shirov después de una partida relámpago a “muerte súbita”, tras estar dos veces en desventaja, perdiendo en el primera rápida y en el primer relámpago. Fantástico Jakovenko sobre Eljanov. Mikhail Gurevich volvió a sorprender al eliminar a Gashimov.
En las semifinales Sergey Karjakin volvió a pasar con dificultades. Tuvo que ganar con negro la segunda rápida para sobrevivir. Después ganó un primer blitz caótico y entabló en el segundo. Dmitry Jakovenko derrotó a la sorpresa Mikhail Gurevich.
Como dijimos, tras cuatro tablas en las partidas rápidas y dos empates en blitz, se definió a “muerte súbita”.
En la posición del Diagrama, el ruso Jakovenko jugó 62. … Tb8??, lo que permitió el detalle técnico definitorio de Karjakin: 63.Txe5+ Rxe5 64.Ac7+, cae la Tb8 y ambos peones más el Alfil no tienen inconvenientes en marchar fácilmente hacia el triunfo.
Interesante actividad se desarrolló el 29 de mayo, en el marco de la IV Copa del Mundo ACP de Ajedrez Rápido, por la Fundación Caritativa "Mercy Victor". Todo destinado para los niños -juegos a la ciega y simultáneas- con el GM participantes en el torneo.
A continuación la tabla de posición y más abajo todas las partidas para ver y descargar.
Anish Giri ganó el tradicional Torneo Sigeman & Co en Malmö, Suecia (26 al 30 de mayo); con una actuación ELO 2920.
En la última ronda venció al hasta entonces co-líder Jon Ludvig Hammer. En un torneo Cat.13 (2569) empató sólo una partida.
Hacemos un resumen de sus partidas.
1ra Ronda: Anish Giri triunfó con Negras ante Pia Cramling. Tal vez no fue tan fácil, ya que 15… Ce5 parece un descuido que fue castigado inmediatamente por Cramling ganando un peón con 16.Axh7+. El problema era que tras 16.Axh7+ Rxh7 17.Txd8 Cxf3 es fuerte 18.Dxf3. Obtuvo compensación con su par de alfiles y después 24... b5! ya no había peligro. El blanco estaba presionado por el tiempo, Cramling no encontró la mejor defensa y rápidamente se encontró perdida. 32.Cc5 para forzar un cambio de Alfil de casillas negras hubiera ofrecido mayor resistencia, ya que aunque cayese el peón b, el final con alfiles de distinto color, da muchas posibilidades de empate.
2da Ronda: Una interesante partida frente a otro joven, Nils Grandelius. El haber practicado Catalana con el Campeón Mundial Anand le ha servido mucho. Anish sacrifica un par de peones. 13.Dg4 es una novedad (13.Dh5 es lo conocido). Grandelius parecía haberlo previsto y respondido rápidamente. Después de la jugada 20. parecía neutralizada la iniciativa blanca y las Negras mantenían sus dos peones extra. Pero 21... h4 (mejor 21… 0-0 o 21… c3) no ayudó a su posición. El error decisivo 24... Cd8 (24… 0-0), permitió a Giri definir con estilo y finalmente dar mate.
3ra Ronda: El plan de Tiger Hillarp Persson, con Blancas, no se puede decir que haya sido bueno. Obtuvo par de alfiles pero con un costo alto, reflejado en el desarrollo. Además de deficiente estructura de peones. Axial Anish pudo decidir el sacrificio 17... Chf4. Obtuvo compensación por la calidad y fue comprimiendo al Blanco, cuya posición no tardo en desmoronarse. En la jugada 29. el punto fue para las Negras.
4ta Ronda: Una jornada más tranquila que concluyó en un breve empate. Jonny Hector optó por una variante de bien conocido en la apertura de los cuatro caballos, que suele llevar a Tablas. Pronto se hizo evidente que el juego terminaría en empate.
5ta Ronda: Anish Giri condujo las Blancas contra Jon Ludvig Hammer, los dos líderes del torneo. En una Catalana, Giri siguió el juego Grandelius-Hammer, pero eligió 11.Te1 (en lugar de 11.Cg5) y puso un poco de presión. Hammer jugo pasivamente y trató de liberar a su posición con 21... Axb3 22.cxb3 c5. El Negro eligió cambiar las Damas con 24… Dxc5. Giri fue por el peón a6, obteniendo peón de ventaja aunque doblado. La posición no parecía mala para el Negro. Anish reveló una técnica excelente para jugar el final y un lindo sacrificio de calidad (54.Txe7+) lo condujo a la victoria.
A continuación la tabla de posición y más abajo todas las partidas para ver y descargar.
Aronián, Gélfand, Leinier y Vallejo darán espectáculo en el XXIII Magistral de León, del 3 al 7 de junio de 2010.
Campeonato del Mundo ANAND - TOPALOV a ronda 9 igualados 4.5 puntos
Hoy se jugó la partida 9 y al final quedó en tablas. Fué una partida muy dura y a veces parecía que Topalov ganaba y luego era Anand el que parecía dominar, pero en todos los casos ambos encontraban soluciones extraordinarias dignas de dos grandes campeones. Mañana viernes será la partida 10 y ya solo quedarán 2, el próximo domingo y el martes. ¿Quien ganará? Se admiten apuestas !!
Se está jugando el Campeonado del Mundo de AJEDREZ
Por fin empezó el campeonado del mundo de ajedrez donde el hindu ANAND se juega el titulo ante el aspirante el bulgaro TOPALOV. Hasta hoy se han jugado 3 rondas y el resultado esta igualado a 1.5. La primera la ganó Topalov, luego Anand y este marte 27/4 quedó tablas. Este miercoles 28/4 se jugará la 4º ronda. Empezará a las 12:00 hora canaria. Si quieres seguirla en directo puedes conectarte aqui ver partidas en directo.
El búlgaro Vesselin Topalovganó el famoso “Wimbledon del ajedrez” en Linares al derrotar hoy en la décima y última ronda al bielorruso Boris Gelfand. Topalov terminó con 6,5 puntos, seguido del ruso Alexander Grischuk, con 6,0. El gran maestro búlgaro de 35 años, siempre sale a ganar arriesgando ¡¡¡ Batió a Gelfand en 62 jugadas con una defensa Petroff!!! Recibió un cheque de 75.000 euros por su triunfo.
Precedent in chess history, chess moves copyright violation goes in court - Danailov shares details
During the Anand - Topalov WCC 2010, a message appeared on the official site stating, "Warning! It is absolutely prohibited the live broadcast of the moves or video during the game on other websites, media or software without the explicit permission of the organizers of the match. This prohibition is being violated by ChessBase"
A few weeks after the end of the championship Chessdom.com received news directly from a German source that the case is already presented in court.
Temporary insanity costly to Topalov Saturday, May 29, 2010 02:50 AM
Most of us pay at least lip service to the golden mean.
Moderation and consistency usually maximize returns in the long run whether it be in business, love, sports or games such as chess.
It is a cliche of performance psychology to talk about the importance of "staying within oneself."
Such behavior has been the bread and butter of Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov. A fierce and uncompromising fighter, he is, above all, a realist who excels in appraising situations with admirable objectivity.
But in the final game of his recent match for the world title with Viswanathan Anand, Topalov stepped out of his paradigm and astonishingly self-destructed to lose the game and match.
Egregiously playing to create winning chances with a series of ill-advised moves when the nature of the position offered no more than a draw, Topalov was crushed.
After the game, Anand acknowledged: "I honestly thought he had gone nuts."
But Topalov, who held the world title from 2005 to 2006, was as redoubtable as ever.
"I really committed suicide, but I don't feel sorry," he said. "My confidence is still really strong because I didn't feel I was outplayed here."
The Times of India today has a very long must-read article on their World Champ, GM Vishy Anand. There are a couple of new tidbits that I hadn't previously known about, but most are the familiar detail.
To counter Team Topalov's Blue Gene/P supercomputer, Team Anand had the decidedly lightweight Hiarcs!
Team Anand may not have been short on money - and that makes a difference to preparation - but there was no way they could match the resources and firepower that such noholds-barred state patronage brings. India, which later celebrated Anand's title win with the usual momentary hysteria, was oblivious to the event, much less the challenges. The best Team Anand could do was to tap into contacts who had developed Hiarcs, a computer chess program that had come second best to Rybka in 2008 World Computer Chess Championship. They now had improved versions of it, and developers of the programme let Team Anand have it along with a powerful computer for the duration of the match.
* ??????? ??? ?????????? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ????????????? ???? 11/6 ??: Malakhov, Vladimir 2722 RUS Sargissian, Gabriel 2677 ARM Caruana, Fabiano 2675 ITA Cheparinov, Ivan 2640 BUL Salgado Lopez, Ivan 2606 ESP Cramling, Pia 2536 SWE Perez Candelario, Manuel 2527 ESP Cori T, Deysi 2409 PER
The unpublished interview of Veselin Topalov - Aruna answers before knowing the full text
A few days ago Times of India published exclusive interview with Topalov about the World Championship match in Sofia. At the same time Anand's reply was published by Indian media, Veselin Topalov contacted Chessdom.com sending the full text of the interview, large parts of which have not been published by TOI. At the same time, unaware of the full text, Aruna has already answered publicly.
I don't think we are going to give attention to him now
'Topolov's allegations are baseless'
26 May 2010, 1328 hrs IST
World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand's camp has hit back at Veslin Topolov for his comments slamming Anand for taking help from Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW, Anand's wife Aruna Anand on Wednesday (May 26) said that Topolov is trying to intimidate them and that they are not bothered by such allegations.
She said, "We never really gave attention to what he said before I don't think we are going to give attention to him now. I don’t know what his reasons are but till now we have just kept silent to whatever has been the provocation from his side. They think they are trying to intimidate us, but I think by making these allegations his is also showing his weakness quite openly."
"I don't know what is in their mind, but why make these allegations and what these allegations are we are really not going to be bothered. I think especially after winning the match in their own country, I don't think we should be bothered by what they say and why they are saying it," she added.
Earlier, in an exclusive interview to Times of India, Topalov had snubbed Anand saying that he doesn't think Anand should be very proud of taking help from Kramnik and Kasparov. Topalov said that he doesn't think Anand should be very proud of this and has remembered how Kasparov treated the Indian for years.
The Bulgerian also mentioned that he would never accept help from people who humiliated him for years but said Anand may be different.
He said, "I do not think Anand should be very proud of this. I remember how Kasparov treated Anand for years. And not long before the World Championship match in Bonn 2008, Anand had to stand the arrogant statements of his opponent in the press. I would never accept help from people who humiliated me for years even for free. But it seems Anand is different."
New Delhi: India’s chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand reacted sharply to world No. 2 Veselin Topalov’s comments that the former should not have been proud of taking help from his earlier foes Kasporov and Kramnik.
“It is a lame excuse, I took more of an emotional support from them”, Anand told reporters after an interview of Topalov was published in an Indian daily.
The interview quoted Topalov taking a pot-shot at Anand saying, “I do not think Anand should be very proud of this. Especially by the fact he accepted help from the first two. I have been among the chess elite for 15 years and perfectly remember how Kasparov treated Anand for years. And not long before the World Championship match in Bonn 2008, Anand had to stand the arrogant statements of his opponent in the press. I would never accept help from people who humiliated me for years even for free. But it seems Anand is different.”
I'm going to keep away from chess SRINIVASA RAMANUJAM, May 27, 2010, 12.00am IST
...says world champion Viswanathan Anand, in an interview to us, on how he plans to unwind after a grueling season
It’s been a super hectic season for ace chess champion Viswanathan Anand. This time around, the cool-as-a-cucumber chess player has had to go through the trauma of missing a flight, enduring a 40-hour long bus journey and being stopped by the Bulgarian police for speeding! But in the end, all that didn’t matter as the Chess czar got the better of Veselin Topalov in his “toughest match yet”.
Lessons from cricket... The trick is to get more people involved with the game. In that sense, this year is significant because the MindChampions’ Academy will help the game reach a million students. Hopefully, in the next five years, we’ll touch 10 million. Once the numbers come in, interest in the game will inevitably increase.
The ever-supportive Aruna When there’s an important tournament going on, I try and stay in a bubble. It’s easy that way because then you don’t have to worry about anything else. Aruna was a great support. She used to take care of everything that was non-chess related and that helped me concentrate on the game.
Chess boxing... There are some people who play it. It’s an amusing game in which you play chess and boxing simultaneously. But no, I’ve never tried it.
Physical vs mental fatigue The season was quite draining. We played incredibly long games this time; something exciting happened every day! But I made it a point to hit the gym every day, except for one game that we finished at 9.30 pm. I also took long walks to be on track. Interestingly, in chess, you almost feel physical fatigue ‘mentally’. Also, I tried to get a lot of sleep.
Changes in Chennai... To be honest, I’ve not been away for long this time. I left the city in December and am back after a few months. But I’m sure there’ll be some minor changes and I’ll spot them when I drive around the city, which I’ll be doing soon.
Momsi dearest I honestly don’t remember when and why I started calling my mom ‘Momsi’. These are family things; it starts for some reason. It’s not that I just call her Momsi; I call her other things as well!
Losing the first game... It was a setback because you like to begin well in all tournaments. Sometimes, if you are nervous, it could actually turn out to be a manifestation of your exhaustion. The point is that any setback is bad but if you see it from a perspective, you’ll recover.
How to unwind... The basic thing is to keep away from chess. Yes, I might look at a thing or two now and then, but it’s important to maintain some distance from the game for a while. That way, when you come back, you’re actually hungry for chess. It must be pretty easy for me; Chennai has enough distractions to keep me away from the game for a while. I’ll be watching a few movies but I haven’t decided which ones yet.
Sometimes, I get a little tired of reading about the big names in chess all the time. Another super tournament with seven players out of the top 10; another huge open featuring dozens of well-known GMs fighting hard for serious money prizes; another great exhibition rapid match between two former World Championship candidates. In such cases, reading something from Genius in the Background, is the perfect remedy for me.
Genius in the Background by Tibor Károlyi and Nick Aplin (published by Quality Chess) is a book about, well, geniuses in the background. As Károlyi writes in the preface:
Most of the people featured in this book have recorded significant achievements, yet they remain virtually anonymous to the great majority of chess fans. A few of them are known amongst certain segments of the chess world, but none are known widely as I believe they deserve to be. (…) Your author, who is first of all a junior trainer who desires to pass on knowledge, believes that getting acquainted with these remarkable chess personalities will deepen anyone’s understanding of our game.
In other words, the presentation of these unknown heroes is not only interesting, but also useful. For me, they shed some special light on the development and choices of such great players as Topalov and Kasparov that have in my view so far not been emphasized. In the chapter about Topalov’s former coach, Petko Atanasov, the choice of openings for the young Veselin is discussed. It turns out that Atanasov, rather surprisingly, taught Topalov the Old Indian Defence against 1.d4 and the French against 1.e4. Atanatov adds that at some point Topalov “refused to play it and started to play the Sicilian Defence instead.” Quite telling if you ask me.
Karolyi gives some interesting, excellently annotated examples from Atanasov’s own games, showing how his preference for exchange sacrifices influenced Topalov:
Atanasov-Ilievski Ruse 1978
27.Rd5!! This is another lovely exchange sacrifice. White needs to play like this in order to invade.
27…Bxd5 In the long term Black cannot avoid taking the rook. For instance: 27…Qb4 28.Kc2 (White is also better after 28.Qc2 Bb8 29.Ne1) 28…Bb8 (28…a4 29.bxa4) 29.Ra1 Black cannot avoid the type of position he gets in the game.
28.Rxd5! Taking back this way really chokes Black.
28…Qc6 29.Ne1! Atanasov improves all his pieces.
29…Bb6 30.Qd1 Ke7 31.Rb5 Forcing Black to decide where to put the bishop. (…)
Despite the obvious achievements of these geniuses in the background, there’s often more than a touch of melancholy in the words of the former trainers. Asked about his current relationship with Topalov, Atanasov embarks on a somewhat bitter personal story:
“In 1991 there were big changes in Bulgaria and in my life too. Sport societies were cleared away and I was thrown out of work. At the same time I built my own appartment and the problems grew every day. Exactly at this critical moment Silvio Danailov made an offer to Vesko [Topalov] to leave for Spain. From this moment it was clear that there was no future for our partnership. (…) Unfortunately, I have not been a coach for a long time. In 1993 the sport society ‘Dunav’ was closed. Since that I have had many jobs of various types in different places. Now I’m unemployed.” (…)
Do they invest money into junior chess or just the big Sofia event?
“No one gives money for junior chess in Bulgaria! Only some people with bigger financial opportunities try to support chess, but this is unprofitable for them and they give up very soon. (…) I personally evaluate the big changes – economical and political – as negative. Thousands of Bulgarians, most of them young people, left the country. There is widespread unemployment, small salaries, corruption and criminality. This is what we have after the changes up to now. (…) I’m already 61 years old. Looking back and considering my life, I see that there are many things to regret. But most tragic is that my future promises to be very hard.”
Such extreme honesty, almost painful to read, makes for fascinating background information on both Topalov’s chess career and his country’s current efforts to promote chess and is a valuable contribution to chess literature. However, not all of the book’s interviews with former trainers, are quite so compelling. In the chapter on Alexander Shakarov, one of Kasparov’s earliest trainers, questions are often answered in such a brief way that they one raise more questions than they answer:
What does chess mean to you?
“Chess for a long time was the most important thing for me. I was a fanatic, then it became my profession.”
Can you recall when you first met Garry?
“The first time was in January 1972 when he played at the schoolboys’ championship where I was an arbiter.”
When did you start training him and how long did you train him?
“Officially in September 1976, unofficially from 1973.”
Obviously not satisfied with these short answers, the interviewer tries again, but Shakarov prefers to stay on the surface:
Could you explain it in a more detailed way?
“In the years 1973-1975 I worked with Garry unofficially, and it was not that regular. There were even some weeks when we did not do anything. There were two groups and Garry officially was in the other one. The trainer of the other section was Oleg Privorotsky who was his first trainer. However, from 1973 onwards Garry was selected for the national teams of Azerbaijan. I was senior trainer of these national teams.”
Did you follow any plan when you trained him?
“The main plan was constructed by Botvinnik.”
Once again, the interviewer feels there must be more to it than this, but he’s in for another disappointment:
Could you please say a few words about what a session was like?
“I no longer remember well what themes we worked on – you know, three decades have passed. In our sessions we usually followed Botvinnik’s and Alexander Nikitin’s plan. And in addition sometimes we analysed very tough and complicated opening positions. I recognized the ‘tracks’ of our work in Garry’s play only in the openings.”
Reading this interview, I’m left with the feeling that Shakarov didn’t exactly have a huge role in this period, and I wonder how important he actually was to Kasparov’s development. How close was he to Kasparov, anyway? According to Károlyi, he and Kasparov analysed and annotated about two dozens of games together, but I can’t help wondering whether this was perhaps Botvinnik or Nikitin delegating the analyses and Kasparov doing most of the work? When asked if he was present during the final game of the 1985 World Championship match against Karpov, Shakarov only says “No, I was not in the tournament hall during that game.” It’s all a little puzzling, if you ask me.
On the other hand, the book convincingly shows that Alexander Shakarov was a truly great chess player himself, and the games section of the chapter dedicated to him is one of the highlights of the book. Here’s an example of what Károlyi calls Shakarov’s influence on Kasparov’s ability to “execute brilliant attacking ideas on the edge of the board”.
Rubin-Shakarov Corr. 1975
18…Rd2!! It is thematic to get to the opponent’s second rank; however, it is extraordinary to achieve it so early, especially with Black. The text also creates a strong aesthetic impression by placing the rook en prise.
19.e4 The rook is immune because of 19.Qxd2 Ne4!, with terrible mating threats along the g-file. And if 19.Rad1 Rxe2 20.Rxe2 Qxf3 Black forces mate. (…)
19…Rfd8! 20.Kh1 Nh5 21.Rab1 There are many alternatives, but Black prevails in all lines (…).
21…Qg6 22.Rg1
22…Rxe2! Black keeps playing on the second rank. The loss of the queen is a small price to pay for the wonderful attack he obtains.
23.Rxg6 hxg6 24.f4 After 24.Rg1 Rdd2 25.Bc1 Rc2 26.Qe5 Rxf2 27.Be3 Bg2+ 28.Rxg2 Rxg2 29.Bxc5 Rgd2 White’s king is caught. (…) Finally, in the event of 24.Qb3 Rxf2 25.Be5 b6 26.a4 Rdd2 27.a5 Bg2+ 28.Kg1 Rxf3 Black simply has too many pieces surrounding the enemy king.
24…Red2! This clever switchback with the rook was tough to anticipate; it looks more natural to look for a way to double on the second rank. However, upon closer inspection, White’s position is bleeding as the back rank is so weak. The damage is irreparable. It takes a little preparation but Black invariably succeeds in every variation. (…)
In this fragment, Károlyi shows his great annotation skills (the analyses are much more elaborate than they are reproduced here) and his ability to see patterns in games and player’s qualities. Károlyi is always looking for comparisons between teacher and pupil, trying to make connections between past and present and linking skills and sometimes lack thereof.
Genius in the Background isn’t about chess trainers only. It’s a much more ambitious project than that. There’s a chapter on the development of chess culture in Singapore. It features elaborate and loving portraits of endgame study composers Yochanan Afek and Karsten Müller. And indeed much, much more. One of the most fascinating chapters is about the remarkable Laszlo Lindner (1916-2004), a Hungarian chess player and endgame composer who survived the Nazi concentration camp Bor, now part of Serbia. Lindner actually recorded some chess games he played in the camp against the later Hungarian chess champion Tibor Florian.
The games were played on a small chess set Florian managed to bring inside the camp. The player hid behind their barracks and the moves were scribbled in a notebook by Lindner, a picture of which is reproduced in the book. I can’t help quoting one game in full.
13.Ne2 The early moves tell us that the two players were quite well educated in opening theory.
13…c4 14.Bc2 Nf8 15.g4! This is a modern approach. Even today world-class grandmasters use the same idea, although nowadays Black will usually have exchanged the light-squared bishops on a6. The most famous game involving this central structure was the immortal encounter Botvinnik-Capablanca, Avro 1938.
15…Qc7 16.Ng3 Ng6 17.h4 Nh7
18.Qb1?? The presence of such a blunder indicates that our heroes were already in very bad shape.
18…Nhf8? 18…Rxe3+! wins instantly.
19.Nh5 Rb8 20.Kf1! On the other hand this is a subtle move.
20…b5? 21.e421…dxe4 22.Bxe4
22…Bxg4?? This is a bluff, but it does the trick.
23.Nxg7? After the simple 23.fxg4 Qd7 24.Bf3 Black is a piece down with no compensation.
23…Kxg7 24.fxg4 Qf4 0-1 Though White has a reasonable position, he resigned. Probably his physical state no longer allowed him to see things clearly.
Replaying these games, knowing in which circumstances they must have been played, is a weird sensation. Who knows what might have caused Florian to resign in this position? And this is only the beginning of an utterly haunting chapter on a truly extraordinary character in 20th century chess history.
Genius in the Background is a unique book, a one-of-a-kind experience in chess literature. It’s beautifully published and extremely well-researched and annotated. Sure, some chapters are more interesting than others, but the overall concept is so gripping that that’s easily forgiven. If you are interested in more than – or from time to time even a bit bored by – the constant stream of daily chess news, then this is the right book for you. Personally, I think everyone should read it.
Gata Kamsky won the U.S. Championship today in St Louis by beating Yury Shulman in a playoff (rapid) game. Sunday the two eliminated Alexander Onischuk and Hikaru Nakamura respectively, and yesterday they drew each other.
The 2010 U.S. Chess Championship takes place May 13-25 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, Missouri. The event features a new format, which includes a 24-player, seven-round Swiss tournament followed by a four-player Championship final. In the event that there is no clear U.S. Champion after the quad finals, there will be a championship playoff. More info in our first report.
Quad finals: Saturday
As we reported earlier, Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk, Hikaru Nakamura and Yury Shulman qualified for the quad finals. The four would play each other one more time, in games on Saturday, Sunday and if necessary Monday.
In the first round (or rather round 8), the top two seeds, Nakamura and Kamsky, met for the second time, though with colors reversed. Nakamura had a promising initiative, but then Kamsky turned the tables on the attacking player by offering several pawns to gather a piece storm near Nakamura’s king.
The first surprise from Kamsky came when he played 16…Bf8. “It’s a quad, everyone’s trying to win a game, and in that sense, Bf8 was a good try,” Nakamura said. “Bf8 makes a lot of sense,” Kamsky agreed. “I get my structure ruined but I didn’t see any way for White to exploit it.”
Later, Nakamura’s White queen went gallivanting in search of queenside pawns. Kamsky took the opportunity to amass all of his pieces menacingly near Nakamura’s castle king. As commentator GM Maurice Ashley has been fond of saying all tournament: “When one queen is away then the other one plays.”
“I think I just miscalculated the resulting variations,” Nakamura said. “I missed how strong the Re6, Rg6, Ng5 idea is.”
Onischuk and Shulman had played each other also on Thursday, and so they met for the second round in a row. Unlike round seven when both players were playing it safe to qualify for the quad, Onischuk had White and more of a reason to create complications. Still, after a benign opening, no initiative was created for either side. Shulman said he felt very little stress during the rematch. “I felt that Alex didn’t get what he wanted out of the opening,” Shulman said.
Quad finals: Sunday
In the most dramatic and meaningful round so far, GM Yury Shulman upset defending champion GM Hikaru Nakamura on board one. On board two, GM Gata Kamsky dug out of a hole, and after his draw offer was refused, he delivered GM Alex Onischuk his first loss in nearly five years of U.S. Championship appearances.
Nakamura played quickly in the opening and sacrificed a center pawn to gain pressure on the kingside. He won a few pawns and pinned all his hopes on advancing his passed h-pawn. But Shulman’s pieces arrived too quickly, and the pawn never seriously threatened Shulman’s position.
“The first mistake was the opening choice,” Nakamura said. “I wasn’t 100 percent prepared.”
“In the opening I had to recall,” Shulman said. “I was having a hard time. Once I played h6 I realized I was back in my preparation. [The move] h6 was quite a problem for Hikaru to solve.”
Alexander Onischuk refused a draw offer to pursue a slight advantage but was eventually overrun by a relentless Gata Kamsky.
In the post-mortem, the players agreed that after 20…Rc8 21. Qd3 Qh7 22. Qh6 was an improvement, when White has a better chance of holding the balance. “It’s probably just a draw,” Nakamura said. “That was the best I have.”
Instead, after the queens remained and Nakamura played 22. f4, his king was too open to last much longer. Shulman’s rook got to the second rank, his queen to the king’s diagonal, and his knight was poised to jump to f5 and g3. “I forgot about these stupid ideas,” Nakamura said.
Shulman said that after his rook got to c2, he found the idea of sacrificing Rxg5 and the only thing that remained was getting the move order right.
Nakamura-Shulman Here Shulman played the brilliant 24…Rxg5!! and after 25.Qxg5 Qd4+ 26.Kh1 Qe3 Nakamura resigned.
Below is a screenshot of the wonderful live show of this game, which can still be watched in the video player below. It’s called “LIVE: Shulman Brilliancy” and is really recommended.
This game only lasted 26 moves and ended well before board two, meaning Kamsky and Onischuk knew the result while their game was still in progress. This may help explain why Onischuk turned down Kamsky’s draw offer after 41. Ne4, the first move after time control. If Onischuk had accepted, he would no longer control his own fate since he already played Shulman in the first game of the quad finals.
Kamsky claimed he was worse out of the opening but praised his defensive idea of Rd4 and f4. He said he still preferred Onischuk’s position after the offer was refused. But after the game became a rook-and-pawn endgame, Onischuk may have had better chances with 43…b4. He then ran low on time and slipped with 45…Kd5. “He played Kd5 really quickly, and I was really surprised,” Kamsky said.
Onischuk-Kamsky Here Black played 45…Kd5?.
Quad finals: Monday
Kamsky and Shulman were expected to play safely, but in fact the game started as a very sharp Exchange Grünfeld. Last year the two had the same line on the board, and back then Kamsky opted for the safer 11…Ne5. About Kamsky, who this time grabbed the pawn with 11…Bxc3+, commentator Maurice Ashley said: “I think he really wants to win this game.”
Shulman responded instantly with 13.h4, trying to attack the king that just lost its defender on g7. Kamsky played very quickly for many moves to come, making clear that he had analysed this variation deeply, perhaps already for his match against Topalov last year. When the queens were exchanged, thanks to the increment Kamsky had a minute more on his clock than when the game started.
The tactical phase of exchanges led to a dead drawn rook ending and so the players shook hands at move 30, knowing they would meet again the next day. Kamsky and Shulman played again in a rapid tiebreaker on Tuesday morning, at 10AM local time (17:00 CET).
Playoff on Tuesday
Last year the base time for the Armageddon game was 60 minutes+ 5 second increment. This time Kamsky got to bid, and he went for the following: play with Black and draw odds for the title with 25 minutes, versus 39:55 minutes for Shulman.
After the game Kamsky regretted his choice of the clock times, as he felt I didn’t have enough time. His reason for going for the black pieces, he said, was “because I’m more solid with Black”. And indeed he seemed to equalize comfortably in his favourite Slav/Slechter/Grünfeld hybrid, when the queens got exchanged.
Then Shulman found the very nice idea of 34.Rc5! (”yeah, I blundered Rc5″ – Kamsky) and won a pawn. But as so often in these cases, this allowed the black pieces to become active and Kamsky soon won the pawn back. Around move 42 Shulman had lost his time advantage – both had about 1.5 minutes left (plus 5 seconds per move). When it became clear that he couldn’t win anymore, Shulman offered his hand.
At the press conference GM Maurice Ashley said that, winning the U.S. title again, 19 years after his first title, Kamsky must feel content. The champ shouted “yeah!” with his hands in the air and a big smile.
Shulman’s comment was: “‘Alekhine said that one had to beat him three times. I could only beat Gata twice. He had nine lives today and showed brilliant defence.”
Besides the $35,000 first place, Kamsky also got an automatic spot on the 2010 Olympiad Team.
The Challenger’s Swiss was won by Alex Shabalov, who beat Alex Stripunsky in only 25 moves. Shabalov takes home the top prize of the Swiss, which is actually fifth-place money – $10,000.
Shabalov vs Krush, who missed a GM norm by half a point
Report borrowed heavily from FM Mike Klein’s excellent round-by-round coverage.
“24ª partida” y última del Mundial de 1966 entre Tigran Petrosian y Boris Spassky, cuando el mismo ya estaba decidido a favor del entonces campeón mundial, Petrosian.
Coincidió nuestro relato final de este magno campeonato del mundo de 1966 con el comienzo del disputado en este año 2010, entre el campeón Anand y el aspirante Topálov.
Se imponía por tanto dejar de escribir momentáneamente estas crónicas y disfrutar primero de las partidas en directo de este actual certamen, gracias al avance que supone hoy en día Internet.
Una vez acabado el evento con el triunfo “in extremis” de Vishy Anand, retomamos pues ahora la última crónica de nuestro mundial de 1966.
El 24º cotejo fue otro encuentro muy difícil de jugar para el campeón Petrosian. Pero esta vez, con blancas, al menos planteó una partida en donde siempre obtuvo la iniciativa.
Spassky consideraba la posibilidad de igualar el match, sobre todo a efectos del reparto de premios, pues en caso de empate final bien era sabido que los 20.000 francos suizos se repartirían entre ambos contendientes ¡en partes iguales!.
La partida fue larga (aplazamiento incluido). Petrosian esta vez no soltó fácilmente a su presa. Pero bien es verdad que tampoco llegó a rematar su ventaja posicional. Al final incluso, pudo haberse metido en problemas, pero ante las impresiciones de su rival, logró forzar las tablas en 77 movimientos.
Acababa pues, oficialmente, este Campeonato Mundial de 1966 con la victoria de Petrosian por 12,5-11,5 puntos.
El resumen final podría ser que Petrosian mereció el triunfo debido a una excelente preparación teórica y a una clara ¡agudeza táctica! que invalidó los esfuerzos de Boris Spassky que declaró al término del encuentro no conocer el método óptimo para “coger” a Petrosian (!?).
Sigue la partida sin comentarios, pues no merece la pena darle excesiva importancia deportiva y una bonita foto que bien muestra la actitud de todo un campeón ante el tablero de ajedrez!.
Anand shouldn't be proud of his K links: Veselin Topalov Amit Karmarkar, TNN, May 26, 2010, 01.54am IST
PUNE: World number four Viswanathan Anand retained his world chess crown in incredible fashion by beating world No. 2 Veselin Topalov in Sofia last fortnight.
Topalov, a former World champion and reigning Linares champion, shares his thoughts on Anand and world chess in an email interview. Excerpts:
How tough was the World Championship match against Anand?
Physically the match was not so difficult. Twelve games are not so many and there were many rest days. Knockout format is much tougher in this sense. Mentally of course, the tension was very high, but it is also true that top chess players are used to pressure.
According to some reports, it seems Anand was helped by Kasparov, Kramnik and Carlsen for the match. Your comments.
I do not think Anand should be very proud of this. Especially by the fact he accepted help from the first two. I have been among the chess elite for 15 years and perfectly remember how Kasparov treated Anand for years. And not long before the World Championship match in Bonn 2008, Anand had to stand the arrogant statements of his opponent in the press. I would never accept help from people who humiliated me for years even for free. But it seems Anand is different.
Do you think you have got enough recognition for your stance of not accepting draws and making the game uncompromising and more entertaining?
Yes, I think so. Since the Sofia rules (no quick and agreed draws) were invented by my manager Silvio Danailov back in 2005, the results are very positive. Sponsors liked them and new tournaments appeared. Media interest for chess has grown up and prizes increased. For winning the world title in 2005 I received $300,000 and five years later Anand got $1.5 million. This speaks for itself.
Do you think Anand is the most complete player?
Yes, that is something no one can deny. Also, he has been a Rapid World Champion, very strong in blitz play and one of the best blindfold players in the world.
What are your thoughts on Anand?
I think being a world champion is a great responsibility. He has to collaborate with FIDE and attract new sponsors to chess. But Anand does not have a professional team behind him and has failed to find sponsors. India could be a paradise for chess, but the fact that he has not played a single tournament in India since 2002 can only mean two things: either Anand does not like to play in India, or his team is not capable to stage a top level event.
World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand interacts with the media on his arrival at the Chennai airport on Monday.
The Tiger of Madras Viswanathan Anand returned to his hometown of Chennai after being crowned World Chess Champion for the fourth time earlier this month with a hard-fought victory that was unexpectedly sealed with the black pieces in game 12.
Anand, who defeated Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in Sofia, was greeted by his parents, adoring fans, airport officials, and fellow passengers, besides of course the omnipresent media, as he arrived late on Sunday night.
By winning his fourth World Chess Championship title, Vishwanathan Anand feels he has proved his critics wrong, who had earlier accused him of lacking the killer instinct. “People accused me of lack of nerves or killer instinct. My nerves worked better. I defended the third title in a row and that is very special,” he said. Anand retained his World Chess Championship title after beating Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in a nerve-wrecking 13th and final game on May 11 in Sofia, Bulgaria. “It was the toughest that I played. Every game was intense and hard fought. We almost never finished a game under four hours. It was exceptionally tense and nerve wracking,” he added.
Viswanathan Anand - The second half was difficult for me - Interview with Rakesh Rao for Sportstar n
"In one sense, I think, I misjudged Topalov. He made certain changes during the match. One of the things we assumed was, he always likes moving around in matches. This means, he'll play an opening for a couple of games and then move on to the next one. His match strategy in the past was never to stand his ground. Kind of hit-and-run strategy. So, whether consciously or sub-consciously, we had made this assumption the basis of our preparation."
Eljanov wins final FIDE GP, Radjabov qualifies for Candidates
Pavel Eljanov today won the sixth and final FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Astrakhan, Russia. The Ukrainian finished with a score of 8/13, a full point ahead of a group of five GMs. One of them was Teimour Radjabov, who finished second in the final GP standings and qualified for the FIDE Candidates matches.
The 6th FIDE Grand Prix took place May 10-24 in Astrakhan, Russia. Akopian (2694), Alekseev (2700), Gashimov (2734), Gelfand (2741), Eljanov (2751), Inarkiev (2669), Ivanchuk (2741), Jakovenko (2725), Leko (2735), Mamedyarov (2763), Ponomariov (2733), Rajabov (2740), Svidler (2735) and Wang Yue (2752) played. More details can be found in our first report.
Round 10
Would Pavel Eljanov be able to finish the tournament as strongly as he had played so far? How would he fare after the second and last rest day? Well, on Friday the Ukrainian had a crystal clear answer to this question. He defeated Hungarian top GM Peter Leko in 43 moves, perhaps not in the most convincing way, but the result is what counts.
Leko was more than fine after the opening (Eljanov didn’t like his 10.Ng3) and even rejected a draw offer on the 20th move. However, in the subsequent game the Hungarian made a few mistakes, and White obtained an advantage in the ending due to a strong passed pawn on the queenside. From that point Eljanov played very energetically. He did not allow Black to bring his king into the center, which would save the game for Leko. On the 43rd move White’s passed pawn became unstoppable, and Leko resigned.
Gashimov stayed half a point behind the leader after beating Inarkiev in a strong Ruy Lopez game. “I found an interesting plan with 15.Bd3 and 16.Re2,” he said afterwards. “My pawn sacrifice led to a curious position: White is a pawn down, Black pieces seem to be active, but actually White can play for a win at no risk. Soon I regained the material, keeping all the advantages of my position, then won an exchange and converted the advantage without much trouble.” Inarkiev: “I admit that Vugar played very energetically and deserved his win.”
Radjabov slowly but surely outplayed Akopian with Black in a Sveshnikov. “Maybe trading the queens was wrong,” said Akopian, “and I should have preferred 24.Qh6. I also don’t like my next moves – 26.Ndf4 and 28.f4. White’s position became very cramped, and Teimour showed good technique, not giving me any chances to survive.” 26.Ndf4 was a “serious inaccuracy” according to Radjabov.
Round 11
This round saw another Azeri derby: Radjabov versus Mamedyarov. It was an important game, since Radjabov’s win regained his chances to qualify for the Candidates matches. In the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez White got a small advantage and then developed a strong initiative following Black’s unsuccessful queen maneuver on the 19th move. The game transposed to a queen ending with a remote passed pawn for White. Black was short on time and committed the decisive error on the 38th move. Mamedyarov resigned immediately due to inevitable loss of the kingside pawns.
Radjabov: “I think after 20.Qf4 White may already be winning. Not sure if 28.d6 was necessary, but I thought I needed to force the issues. In any case, after this move it becomes extremely difficult for Black to hold.” Mamedyarov didn’t agree with Radjabov’s assessment of the opening: “In my opinion, White didn’t get any advantage. He started to take the upper hand only when I made a mistake by 19…Qd4 – this move is overambitious.”
Also relevant for the Candidates spot was Gashimov’s loss against Ponomariov. He couldn’t adopt his Benoni as the Ukrainian went for other schemes. Ponomariov about Gashimov only playing the Benoni: “The disadvantage is that he knows other lines superficially. Thus I decided to transpose to the Nimzo-Indian Defense. In my opinion, I got a very comfortable position. Perhaps in the middlegame I could play better. For example, on the 17th move I could take on g3 with the queen, making Black’s defensive task tougher. Yet, defending was unpleasant enough for such an active player as Vugar. He started to make reckless moves such as 26…h5, which helped me to win the game.”
Round 12
Five-time Russian champion Peter Svidler finally won his first game in Astrakhan. He successfully avoided Gelfand’s Petroff and used the Four Knights to beat the Israeli in 31 moves. Gelfand’s sharp f-pawn push on the 21st move proved to be a big mistake. Svidler delivered a nice tactical blow, and Black’s position collapsed.
Akopian defeated Ivanchuk in just 23 moves. The Ukrainian handled the Ragozin Variation of the Queen’s Gambit too passively. Akopian comfortably arranged his pieces and launched a kingside attack. On the 21st move the Armenian sacrificed an exchange, which turned out to be a very unpleasant surprise for Black. In two more moves Ivanchuk abandoned his resistance.
Akopian, after the game: “I’m surprised that the victory came so easily – I have a bad score against Vassily. The plan that I employed in this game is not new: White ignores the d4-pawn and concentrates on a kingside attack. Vassily played without confidence; his 14…g6 only provokes my attack. And on the next move he should have played 15…h5. After he missed this opportunity, my only problem was to choose correctly from several good continuations. The final position is so ugly for Black that Vassily just resigned. Well, this probably just wasn’t his day…”
Mamedyarov improved upon his first round game against Jakovenko, to which Leko couldn’t find a good answer. Perhaps White didn’t find all the best moves, but nevertheless Mamadyarov managed to transpose to an ending with a big advantage, which he effectively converted to the full point.
Leko: “This was a strange game. Losing to Eljanov killed my chances to qualify for the candidates matches, which obviously affected my motivation today. Of course, this is not a good excuse for my poor play against Shakhriyar…”
Alekseev-Inarkiev was the longest game of the 12th round. After interesting complications in the Slav Defense the players arrived at a very original position, in which White had three minor pieces against a rook and three pawns. White slowly but surely consolidated his pieces and launched the attack on the king. He then won a pawn and advanced to a winning ending. Despite Black’s stubborn resistance, Alekseev won the game on the 88th move.
Round 13
Eljanov needed a draw to secure sole first, and he did so with the black pieces against Gelfand. The two have worked together in the past years, but with White Gelfand did press for while. In a Nimzo he sacrificed a pawn to open up the position, but Eljanov gave back the material and after the exchange of the minor pieces the position remained balanced.
After winning the Bosna tournament in 2009, Eljanov now has a new ‘best tournament of his career’. Winning this Grand Prix, one of the strongest tournaments on average rating and of this scale ever held, is a fantastic result for the 27-year-old, who proved that his new status of Ukraine’s number one player wasn’t a coincidence.
Astrakhan Grand Prix 2010 | Round 13 (Final) Standings
Astrakhan Grand Prix 2010 | Schedule & results
After the 12th round, Ivanchuk, Leko, Mamedyarov and Alekseev were eliminated from qualifying for the runner-up position. Grischuk was also eliminated, because Radjabov scored well enough to ensure that even if he’d lose his final round, he’d gain enough GP points to surpass Grischuk.
In the final round of Astrakhan, Jakovenko was eliminated with his draw and Gashimov has been eliminated with his loss. The winner of the Radjabov-Wang Yue game decided matters: a win for the Chinese would have meant qualification, but Radjabov with White held a Petroff ending a pawn down to a draw and this was enough to end second in the overall Grand Prix. Thanks to ebutaljib for providing this table:
FIDE Grand Prix Series 2008-2009 | Overall Final Standings
And so an end has come to a long series of six super tournaments which had its ups and downs. Positive were the tournament websites, with extensive reports (disclaimer: which were written by yours truly in Baku and Sochi), sometimes videos (by the Turkish Chess Federation in Baku, Europe-Echecs in Sochi and – another disclaimer – by me in Nalchik) and sometimes game analysis by GM Sergey Shipov.
More importantly, a big number of players had the opportunity to play in big, strong events and make good money.
But of course many more things went wrong. Three host cities (Doha, Karlovy Vary and Montreux) withdrew when it became clear that the money wasn’t there. Their nominated players had to leave the series and Yannick Pelletier was hit the most, as he couldn’t play a single event. The Czech organizers were very disappointed when Adams and Carlsen had good reason to leave the series: because of the sudden change of the World Championship cycle, during the cycle.
When it all started, the idea was that the winner of the GP would play against the World Champ. (We would have had a Aronian-Anand match in 2012.) winner of the World Cup. (We would have a Gelfand-Aronian match and the winner would play Anand.) But during the Olympiad in Dresden, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov suddenly announced the Candidates ‘tournament’ (which would later be rephrased to ‘matches’), for which the numbers one and two of the GP Series would qualify.
Another point of criticism FIDE received by many (e.g. more than once by Kasparov) was about the locations of the events. The whole series never managed to leave the greater Caucasus region, and so no single event was organized in a bigger, Western city, which didn’t really help to attract corporate sponsorship either.
In general the idea wasn’t so bad. But the execution could have been much better.
Update: according to Harish in the comments, the pairings for the Candidates matches are:
1. Topalovs vs Kamsky ( 1 vs 8 )
2. Carlsen vs Radjabov ( 2 vs 7 )
3. Kramnik vs Nominee ( 3 vs 6 )
4. Aronian vs Gelfand ( 4 vs 5 )
Contrary to what was expressed in an open letter last week, Veselin Topalov is, after all, willing to play Candidates Matches in Russia. However, he is “refusing to play a match with a Russian player in Russia, if that match is connected to the title struggle,” his manager Silvio Danailov said in an interview with Sport Express this week.
Il torneo dei Candidati assegnato alla Russia!
According to a report in Sport Express by chess journalist Yuri Vasiliev, the FIDE Presidential Board in Tromso decided that the Candidates will be moved from Baku in Azerbaijan to Kazan in Russia. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov retains his position in the Candidates as the Azerbaijani representative.
A few days ago, we published an open letter by GM Sutovsky about the current FIDE Candidates Matches problems. Yesterday, Veselin Topalov published an open letter in response to the news that part of the matches might be played in Kazan, Russia.
?
In the first round of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2010 in Dortmund, Germany, which started yesterday, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ruslan Ponomariov had a great start with wins over Arkadij Naiditsch and Peter Leko respectively. Elo-favourite Vladimir Kramnik drew his game against 19-year old Liem Quang Le.
In this holiday period many people, either at a camping site or on the beach, are looking for only one thing: something to read. And since you can take the internet with you these days, with your phone, your netbook, your iPads and all, we might as well make a suggestion for you. A new website was launched recently, and its title and subject is ‘Chess in Translation’.
El Gambito de Rey en manos de Carlsen en el King’s 2010, en Bazna, Rumania.
Magnus nunca utilizó el Gambito de Rey. "Las cosas no iban tan bien en el torneo pensé en probarlo y ver cómo va", dijo Carlsen después de la partida.
Bronstein. En marzo de 1960, tanto Boris como David, vinieron a 
Sin embargo, el mismo Fischer lo empleó varias veces en partidas importantes, aunque normalmente, tras 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 jugaba 3.Ac4. Y vino a mi recuerdo una partida en simultáneas de Bobby, sobre la que no tengo certeza de la fecha, 1970 (año en que arrasó en el Magistral de Buenos Aires, con 15/17) o en 1971 (cuando en Buenos Aires ganó 
The gap between Magnus Carlsen (2826) and Veselin Topalov (2803) has increased to 23 points on the July 1 FIDE rating list. The Norwegian won 13 points whereas the Bulgarian dropped 9. Third is World Champion Viswanathan Anand, now with 2800 points exactly. Wang Yue dropped from 8th to 28th.
Carlsen’s fine victory in Romania last week got him another 13 rating points and because Topalov lost 9 points in his match with Anand, the gap between the world’s number one and two is now 23 points. Those 9 points went to Anand, who thereby surpassed Kramnik to regain the 3rd spot, at a nice 2800 precisely.
We have just received:
?
? 
Just out: 
World Champion Viswanathan Anand will play in this year’s London Chess Classic, where he will face Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik as his main rivals. Hikaru Nakamura, Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell complete the field of the second edition that runs 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre in London.
The Bulgarian organizers of the Anand-Topalov World Championship match take Chessbase to court for “violating copyright rules”. Chessbase transmitted the moves of the match live on their Playchess server, against the will of the Bulgarians.
“Before the start of the World Chess Championship we explicitly stated that no company can use the moves without the official site’s staff permission. And this was violated by Chessbase, they put themselves above the law in Europe, above the general FIDE ethical rules. (…) I believe in European law and in our Attorney who is presenting the case – Mr. Rainer Polzin. What’s more, I am candidate for President of the ECU and as such I have to stand behind the rights of professional chess. Such actions, as the one by the German company Chessbase, affect the sponsors of events negatively, which damages sponsorship, from there future organization and level of events. In the long run the biggest damage is made on the chess fans, who are the most important part of the game – they certainly deserve to enjoy high level events and have chess sponsorship on all levels. Thus, by defending our rights through European law, we will be defending all fans and the future of chess.”
“The case has been filed at a court in Berlin [
De Anand-Topalov. Kasparov, Carlsen, Kramnik, como asistentes de Anand. Karpov y 
Pero poco a poco se fue sumando gente a echar mano en la preparación de Anand. Magnus Carlsen se puso en contacto y se ofreció, como ya había hecho en otras oportunidades, una vez finalizado el Amber en Niza, para participar unos días en el entrenamiento. Luego se brindó para ayudar un poco, nada menos que Garry Kasparov e intercambió información, antes y durante el Match y entre otras cosas apoyó la idea de jugar 
V Campeonato de España de Selecciones Autonómicas 2010.
Anatoly Karpov “Un Campeón del Cambio”: Después de una vida dedicada a la práctica y promoción del ajedrez, el ex Campeón Mundial, Anatoly Karpov anunció su candidatura a 
Gata Kamsky gana el Campeonato de EE. UU. 14 de mayo al 24 de mayo de 2010. El campeonato de EE.UU. se llevo a cabo en St. Louis, por segundo año consecutivo. El torneo que se desarrolló por sistema suiza a 7 rondas. Los 4 primeros (Shulman, Kamsky, Nakamura y Onischuk) compitieron en un torneo cerrado, empatando en el primer puesto Shulman y Kamsky. El desempate por el 1er lugar es especial: Sobre la base de 60 minutos + 5 segundos, los jugadores pujan secretamente “ofreciendo” una cantidad de tiempo (minutos y segundos igual o inferior a 60 minutos). El jugador que oferta la cifra más baja elige su color, mientras que el oponente tiene 60 minutos. Gata Kamsky ofreció 
Fide Grand Prix – 6ta Etapa: Eljanov gana el Torneo. Levon Aronian y Teimour Radjabov se clasifican para el Candidatura para el Campeonato Mundial a jugarse en 2012.
4th ACP Copa Mundial de Ajedrez Rápido - Sergey Karjakin Campeón. 
En los cuartos de final Grischuk ganó por Movsesian; Sergey Karjakin alguna manera pasó contra Shirov después de una partida relámpago a “muerte súbita”, tras estar dos veces en desventaja, perdiendo en el primera rápida y en el primer relámpago. Fantástico Jakovenko sobre Eljanov. Mikhail Gurevich volvió a sorprender al eliminar a Gashimov.
Sometimes, I get a little tired of reading about the big names in chess all the time. Another super tournament with seven players out of the top 10; another huge open featuring dozens of well-known GMs fighting hard for serious money prizes; another great exhibition rapid match between two former World Championship candidates. In such cases, reading something from Genius in the Background, is the perfect remedy for me.
Gata Kamsky won the U.S. Championship today in St Louis by beating Yury Shulman in a playoff (rapid) game. Sunday the two eliminated Alexander Onischuk and Hikaru Nakamura respectively, and yesterday they drew each other.
Pavel Eljanov today won the sixth and final FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Astrakhan, Russia. The Ukrainian finished with a score of 8/13, a full point ahead of a group of five GMs. One of them was Teimour Radjabov, who finished second in the final GP standings and qualified for the FIDE Candidates matches.
