Only a handful of people have ever been allowed a look at David De Lucia’s astonishing chess collection. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam shows the treasures and tells the story.
Further on-the-spot reporting from Chicago, Havana, Malmo, Astrakhan, St Louis, and Romania with authors like Carlsen, Eljanov, Giri, Short, Van Wely, and Benjamin.
Jeroen Bosch launches a new SOS (the delayed Budapest Gambit), Hans Ree reviews the recent Bobby Fischer movie, and Vugar Gashimov lambasts dishonorable chess officials.
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
On August 12, a week earlier than in previous years, the new edition of the NH Chess Tournament starts in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You can watch Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler, Peter Heine Nielsen, Loek van Wely and Ljubomir Ljubojevic (the Experience team) against Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Anish Giri and David Howell (the Rising Stars) with free admission and expert commentary at the Krasnapolsky Hotel in Amsterdam.
The NH Chess Tournament will take place August 12-22 in hotel Krasnapolsky, in the heart of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As always, the tournament is a confrontation between a team of five young ‘Rising Stars’ and a team of five ‘Experienced’ grandmasters who can look back on impressive and glorious careers.
The two teams play a ‘Scheveningen’ tournament, which means that each player of one team plays against each of the players of the other team. They do so twice, once with the white pieces and once with the black pieces.
The team that collects most points wins the tournament. The best player of the ‘Rising Stars’ team will be invited to the 20th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in March 2010 in Nice, provided he or she scores over 50% in the NH Chess Tournament in Amsterdam.
The playing schedule:
Round 1
August 12
13.30 hrs
Round 2
August 13
13.30 hrs
Round 3
August 14
13.30 hrs
Round 4
August 15
13.30 hrs
Round 5
August 16
13.30 hrs
August 17
Free Day
Round 6
August 18
13.30 hrs
Round 7
August 19
13.30 hrs
Round 8
August 20
13.30 hrs
Round 9
August 21
13.30 hrs
Round 10
August 22
12.00 hrs
Every day the games will be commented on by experts in a nice and spacious commentary room to which the admission is free. These sessions start one hour after the start of the round, i.e. at 14.30 hrs, with the exception of the last round when the commentary will start at 13.00 hrs. IMs Hans Böhm, Jop Delemarre, Cor van Wijgerden, Gert Ligterink and GM Genna Sosonko will be doing the commentary (schedule here). At the end of the round, or towards the end, depending on the duration of the games, there will also be a press conference with one of the players in the commentary room.
Just like the last two years, and just like at the Amber tournament in Nice, both Macauley Peterson and yours truly will be providing daily video coverage and live interviews during this tournament. To get everyone warmed up, here’s the playlist of the videos from 2009 and 2008:
GM Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands faces GM Viktor Laznicka of the Czech Republic in the last round. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
The World Open moved from City Center to Valley Forge. This change of venue was not greeted with enthusiasm, but there was still lots of exciting chess ready to be played. The field was stacked with talent despite the absence of Hikaru Nakamura. A strong Indian contingent and several of the world’s top brass trekked to King of Prussia. The venue was certainly not a gleaming example befitting the status of such a tournament, but a thousand competitors filled the giant convention hall and braved the searing summer heat.
Francisco Vallejo-Pons and Loek Van Wely have much more in common than cheering for their national teams in the World Cup (both are now in the final). Both were expected to be in the hunt for the title, but unfortunately neither finished in the running. Top-ranked Vallejo-Pons ended on a disappointing 6/9 with five draws!
IM-elect Farai Mandizha Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
The star of the tournament was 22-year old Viktor Laznicka from the Czech Republic. In a show of dashing bravery, his maiden tournament in the U.S. was accented by six straight wins. At that point he was a full point clear of the field. After two draws, he sat down in his chair needing only a draw with Van Wely to win the title. To the amazement of many, he spurned a draw offer to play on in a better position. The game was one of the last to finish, but ended in a draw nevertheless. Laznicka would take home $17,413.00. GMs Pentala Harikrishna, Ilya Smirin and Luke Shane were joint 2nd and took home $5,028.67.
In the under-2400 section, FM Victor Shen blitzed the field with a scorching 8/9. He won his first seven games, but still only won by half-point over IM-elect Farai Mandizha who has been playing stellar chess as of late. The Zimbabwean earned norms in the New York and Philadelphia Internationals and should be close to reaching the required 2400 ELO. In joint 3rd was IM Chandrashhekhar Gokhale, WIM Alisa Melekhina and IM Oladapo Adu.
Video by Chess Scoop (Jennifer Shahade).
The World Open tournament will move back to Philadelphia’s City Center. Before the last round, Tournament Director Boyd Reed announced this news to sighs of relief. The Scanticon Convention Center does not appear to have met the standards for the World Open. There were complaints about the location and the fact that one needs a car to find a variety of food choices.
In addition, those staying at the Clarion Hotel had an irregular shuttle service and could not choose to walk a few blocks since there were no sidewalks. One Grandmaster walked a mile each day to the playing site because his hotel did not have a shuttle service. The playing room was tantamount to a basement and the lighting was not ideal. Even the trapped bird did not approve of the conditions. See you next year!
(The top two seeds--Sam Shankland at left and Ray Robson on right--share a lighter moment before the action begins. Photo from CCSCSL website.)
Two of the Bay Area's most successful young chess players will participate in the US Junior Closed (invitational) beginning this weekend at the magnificent Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. Please join me in cheering for FM Steven Zierk (one IM norm) and IM Sam Shankland (two GM norms).
The field seems a bit disappointing, with only three of the top nine players under 20 on the April Top 100 list actually showing up. This year's favorite is top seed and defending champion GM Ray Robson. The second seed, and only International Master to participate, is our own Sam Shankland, who could benefit from a little more luck than at recent tournaments. To be quite honest, I will be shocked if neither Ray nor Sam finish at least tied for first.
The dark horse is FM Conrad Holt, the highest rated player from Kansas ever. He gained another 50 rating points and earned a pair of IM norms at the Copper State International and World Open. Third seed FM John Bryant of Los Angeles won't be intimidated by anyone and may also end up being a force to reckon with.
In addition to Sam, I will cheer loudly for my student Steven Zierk. This is Steven's first one-game-per-day invitational and he will need to adjust to the level of competition. He has enough experience drawing against Grandmasters (plus one notable win) that he could be a serious contender. The challenge will be to play consistently in a round-robin tournament where eight of his nine competitors are rated within 30 rating points or higher.
2010 US Junior Closed (most updated USCF rating, July FIDE rating)
GM Ray Robson (2608, 2562)
IM Sam Shankland (2561, 2513)
FM John Bryant (2483, 2403)
FM Conrad Holt (2468, 2402)
FM Darwin Yang (2429, 2396)
NM Warren Harper (2416, 2304)
FM Steven Zierk (2412, 2385)
NM Parker Zhao (2382, 2267)
NM Tyler Hughes (2381, 2312)
NM Eric Rosen (2227, 2179)
Watch for live video coverage from St. Louis beginning at noon Pacific time daily through July 19 (rest day 7/16). As a treat, GM Hikaru Nakamura is scheduled to comment on the first two rounds this weekend. Games are being broadcast LIVE on ICC (check under the Events list). Watch for occasional updates on this blog and on my Twitter page.
Viktor Laznicka Wins World Open 2010 - June 29 to July 5, at the Valley Forge Convention Plaza, PA
Laznicka started the tournament with 6 straight wins, leaving him a clear point ahead of the field at that stage. Rounds 7 and 8 were fairly peaceful draws while the final half-point needed to take the title was scored in a complex fight against GM Loek Van Wely in round 9.
Viktor Laznicka won this year’s World Open in Philadelphia. The Czech grandmaster was the only player to finish at 7.5/9, half a point more than Harikrishna, Smirin and McShane, and a point more than Van Wely, Gustafsson, Potkin and Lenderman.
The 38th World Open took place June 29-July 5 at the Valley Forge Convention Plaza of the Radisson Hotel Valley Forge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Many different tournaments over different rating sections were held, each over 9 rounds.
Norms were available in the Open and Under 2400 Sections, but it was also possible to go for a shorter gig, for example a 4-day option, with rounds 1-2 with 75 minutes in total on the clock, or even a 3-day option with rounds 1-5 at just 45 minutes. (This is what Nakamura chose last year, and got him a shared first place.) There was a guaranteed prize fund of US $175,000.
One of the participants was English grandmaster LukeMcShane, who played his first tournament in the United States. An interview with Chess Scoop (Jennifer Shahade and Dim Mak Films):
22-year-old Viktor Laznicka, who played the 5-day schedule, won this year’s World Open. Czech Republic’s second best player (behind David Navara) was leading the field by a point, and had the white pieces against Loek van Wely in the last round. As always, the Dutch GM went for a fight, this time trying the Benoni, but eventually he offered a draw in a worse position. Laznicka proved a true fighter himself by at first declining the draw (which would secure the first prize), but eventually the point was split anyway.
World Open (Philadelphia) 2010 | Round 9 (Final) Standings
Udine- Dal 5 al 11 luglio si svolge la terza edizione del Torneo Internazionale "Oro Caffe". Partecipano alla manifestazione due Maestri Internazionali, il francese Okhotnik e l'italiano Mogranzini. Il torneo è un Open integrale e si disputa sulla lunghezza di sette turni. Il Montepremi complessivo è di 1800 euro, 500 dei quali andranno al vincitore.
Migliori dieci iscritti per Elo FIDE (47 partecipanti)
Marrekech-Marocco. Dal 25 Giugno al 2 Luglio si è svolto il 1° Festival Internazionale di Marrakech. Ha vinto il francese Shchekachev per spareggio tecnico sul tedesco Meier.
Castiglione Olona-Varese. La Società Scacchistica "Città di Varese", in collaborazione con gli enti locali, porterà in scena, domenica 4 luglio 2010 (ore 21:00), nel Borgo Antico di Castiglione Olona (Piazza Garibaldi) "Scacco al Borgo".
Una spettacolare partita vivente di scacchi in costumi d'epoca che farà rivivere la storica battaglia avvenuta in epoca longobarda tra il Seprio e Milano, ed in particolare l'assedio milanese a Castiglione nel 1161.
Le mosse saranno quelle della brillante partita disputata a Londra nel 1834 tra il francese Louis Charles Mahè de La Bourdonnais (bianco) e l'irlandese Alexander McDonnel (nero). Alleghiamo la partita e alcune brevi note storiche.La partita fu vinta da La Bourdonnais con scacco matto in 18 mosse.
La Regina e il Re dei bianchi sono impersonati da Maria Rosa Centofante e Francesco D'Aulisa(rispettivamente Presidente e Vicepresidente della Società Scacchistica"Città di Varese").
Philadephia-USA. Attualemente in corso il World Open, un torneo Open della durata di 7 giorni di alto livello e col ragguardevole montepremi di 250.000 dollari. L'evento si svolge dal 29 Giugno al 5 Luglio presso il Valley Forge Convention Plaza, Scanticon and Radisson Hotels.
Prendono parte alla competizione infatti il GM Vallejo Pons (spagnolo,over 2700), l'indiano secondo di Anand:GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly,i connazionali GM Harikrishna e Sandipan Chanda, il britannico GM Luke McShane, e l'olandese GM Loek Van Wely, GM Evgeny Najer,ilGM ceco Viktor Laznicka e il GM Jan Gustafsson. Il giocatore locale più forte è GM Alexander Onischuk.
World Open Philadelphia,montepremi 250.000 $
Il GM ceco Viktor Laznicka,attualemente a 5 su 5!
IL giovane GM USA Ray ROBSON
Vallejo Pons (Spagna)
GM Harikrishna
Accattivante il video di presentazione,da vedere per capire l'atmosfera del torneo:
VIDEO del TORNEO
CLASSIFICA e TABELLONE DOPO 5 TURNI
1 GM Viktor Laznicka 2636 CZE W45 W57 W21 W8 W17 5.0 2 GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly 2672 IND D76 W110 W33 D6 W28 4.0 3 GM P Harikrishna 2660 IND W49 W30 D6 D14 W29 4.0 4 GM Loek Van Wely 2653 NED W82 D67 W76 D12 W31 4.0 5 GM Ilya Smirin 2634 ISR W72 W59 D23 D31 W40 4.0 6 GM Luke McShane 2623 ENG W64 W13 D3 D2 W43 4.0 7 GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev 2609 KAZ L11 W51 W74 W60 W47 4.0 8 GM Alexander Shabalov 2585 PA W63 W42 W34 L1 W27 4.0 9 GM Mesgen Amanov 2479 TKM W86 W106 D18 W22 D10 4.0 10 IM Salvijus Bercys 2427 NY D92 W89 W56 W19 D9 4.0 11 FM Conrad Holt 2375 KS W7 D32 D54 W57 W53 4.0 12 GM Francisco Vallejo Pons 2703 ESP W68 W15 D14 D4 D18 3.5 13 GM Alexander Onischuk 2699 VA W113 L6 W68 W67 D21 3.5 14 GM Sandipan Chanda 2640 IND W83 W37 D12 D3 D23 3.5 15 GM Jan Gustafsson 2640 GER W101 L12 W49 D53 W61 3.5 16 GM Vladimir Potkin 2634 RUS W71 W69 D31 D29 D24 3.5 17 GM Aleksandr Lenderman 2598 NY W73 W39 W24 D27 L1 3.5 18 GM Jaan Ehlvest 2591 NY W47 W40 D9 D23 D12 3.5 19 GM Robert L Hess 2590 NY D75 W65 W36 L10 W60 3.5 20 GM Sergey Kudrin 2571 CT W79 H— D35 H— W58 3.5 21 GM Alexander Stripunsky 2570 NJ W48 W26 L1 W42 D13 3.5 22 GM Ray Robson 2569 FL W111 D60 W66 L9 W59 3.5 23 GM Eugen Perelshteyn 2534 MA W114 W44 D5 D18 D14 3.5 24 GM Mark C Paragua 2497 PHI W84 W74 L17 W71 D16 3.5 25 IM Anthony Bellaiche 2442 FRA W90 L27 D73 W87 W54 3.5 26 IM Vitaly Neimer 2397 ISR W117 L21 D87 W95 W56 3.5 27 GM Gata Kamsky 2702 NY W70 W25 D29 D17 L8 3.0
GM Pentala Harikrishna in a battle against GM Luke McShane. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
The 38th Annual World Open is in progress in the city of King of Prussia at the Valley Forge Convention Center. The tournament has attracted a strong Indian contingent along with GMs such as Francisco Vallejo-Pons, Loek Van Wely and Luke McShane. The top U.S. player Hikaru Nakamura will not be present at this year’s event, but Gata Kamsky and Alexander Onischuk headline the list of U.S. players vying for the $250,000 prize fund.
World Open 2010 - video and information after round 3
The Open section is the main event of the World Open. The seven days section of the event has one player from the 2700 club - GM Vallejo Pons (Spain), and his main competition comes from Anand's second GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, the Indian GMs Harikrishna and Sandipan Chanda, the British GM Luke McShane, and the Dutch GM Loek Van Wely, a;; with 2,5/3 after 3 rounds.
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
I've just been catching up with some news over at ChessVibes and noticed an item from 2 weeks earlier. Actually, it's thanks to this recent post that I found my way to what I want to talk about.
In a recent encounter, the game Bok - van Wely ended a draw after an amazing 13 move repetition. Yes, you read that right: thirteen moves. And these guys were a FIDE master and a long-established super GM, respectively.
But, let's be serious. Why did these guys play on for so long? Here's ChessVibes quoting van Wely:
I didn’t want the draw, and I didn’t want to give the impression that I was happy with a draw. I wasn’t. Whatever opening you play these days, these youngsters always know the theory. Why didn’t he play something sharp, like against Smeets? Then he dropped a piece. I got very angry when I realized he was going for a draw right from the start. I mean, the organizers give him a wildcard, but then instead of getting some experience here, this idiot just goes for a draw.
One important fact that we should point out immediately is that this encounter was in the recent Dutch Championships. It was no casual, exhibition, simul or any other kind of inconsequential contest. Score tally, FIDE ratings and, of course, money were at stake.
To my mind, the situation was simple. Bok was perfectly entitled to steer the game to whatever direction he saw best fit his interest in the tournament. For the sake of fair play, players must decide for themselves independent of outside pressures. Most of all, players have no business worrying about the prima donna sensibilities of their opponents.
And another thing: as pointed out by some CV readers, if van Wely didn't want a draw, why didn't he simply deviate himself? There a couple of possible answers. Either van Wely judged the alternative variation to be risky or he just didn't know any better. So all in all, he was equally to blame for what happened.
With all that said, van Wely was way out of line in calling his opponent an idiot. I suspect that having been the centre of attention (he was involved in an experiment), van Wely's head expanded just a little bit bigger.
But there is one last thing to be added. These two guys really ought to have been charged by the organisers with bringing the game into disrepute. Such farce in a premiere national tournament is simply unacceptable.
You’ll probably remember the 13-fold repetition in the game Bok-Van Wely at the Dutch Championship, two weeks ago. Afterwards Van Wely was fuming that his young opponent didn’t use the opportunity to get more experience in a real fight. As GM Luke McShane pointed out, something similar happened in a clock simul between Kasparov and the USA in 1988.
What would you do, when you played the world champion in a simul, with the white pieces, and you have the possibility to repeat moves in a theoretical position? Would you go for it, being able to tell your friends that the man couldn’t beat you? Or would you consider it bad ethics, like Kasparov, who argued that the White player should always play for a win?
In his June 10 column for the online version of the Daily / Sunday Express, GM Luke McShane picked up the Bok-Van Wely story, and demonstrated a clear parrallel with the 1988 clock simul between then World Champion Garry Kasparov and the USA, held in New York City. This event was beautifully depicted for TV and can now be found on YouTube in three separate videos (due to YouTube’s 10-minute limit).
The second video shows Kasparov being clearly upset when IM Daniel Edelman goes for the draw in the well-known Sveshnikov sequence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Qa5+ 10.Nc3 Qd8 11.Nd5.
McShane argues that a simul and a tournament game are quite different situations.
My opinion is that forcing a well known draw (when there are more interesting options available) in an exhibition game like a simul really is spineless. Bok’s decision certainly wasn’t brave, but is harder to judge. Apparently he was aware that he could play on with h2-h4, but wasn’t familiar with the position. I’m sure his opponent was, and that’s a serious handicap against a stronger player.
I’ve occasionally gone into games eager to face my opponent’s lines A, B or C, but accepted that if he chooses D then I’ll be content with a draw. Maybe Bok was tired that day, or judged that his overall tournament would benefit from a draw. Any competitive player can sympathise with those feelings. As for gaining experience, Bok probably learned more about chess psychology from this game than he ever would have normally!
By drawing his last round game in four moves (or rather three and a half) Jan Smeets won the 2010 Dutch Championship. Zhaoqin Peng secured her 12th (!) Dutch title already one round before the end. This year’s event will mainly be remembered for its many peculiarities.
The Dutch Championship took place June 11-20 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The rate of play was 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes to end the game, with 30 seconds increment from move 1. Venue was the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, a technology center at the site of the former ‘NatLab’, the Philips Physics Laboratory.
In the women’s section, Zhaoqin Peng won her 12th title, as convincingly as always. In the open section Jan Smeets finished first with a 6.5/9 score, ahead of 2009 champ Anish Giri. With a draw against Van Wely in the last round, Sipke Ernst secured third place.
An important game for Smeets was his victory against friend and colleague Erwin l’Ami in the penultimate round. Smeets also defeated Nijboer, Bok and Reinderman. Six times winner Van Wely finished on plus one, but did play an important role by beating Anish Giri in the eighth round.
Loek van Wely before the tournament: "I'll do my best to stay ahead of Anish as long as possible"
This year’s championship will perhaps mostly be remembered not for the winners, or the games that were played, but for the many peculiarities that had nothing to do with a national championship.
Firstly, there were the different starting times of the rounds. The games started two hours later on the days when the Dutch national football team played a game in South Africa. It might not seem a big thing, but one cannot deny that the federation implies that football is more important than chess. As Hans Ree yesterday pointed out in his Saturday column in the newspaper NRC Handelsblad, ‘many may have this opinion, but not the federation’.
Other examples of peculiar happenings were Loek van Wely being allowed to play a blitz tournament in Germany during the second round, or the experiment to test Van Wely’s stress levels during a game. At first we didn’t think too much of it, but now that the tournament is over, we’re not sure if all this really belongs to a national championship.
The players themselves seemed to have been affected by this frivolous virus. As you already read here, Bok and Van Wely repeated the same position no less than thirteen times. And today, in the last round, Van Kampen and Smeets played the very brief sequence of moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 to finish their game in just two minutes, which secured the title for Smeets.
Van Kampen and Smeets have already reached their final position
We agree with Hans Ree that, adding it all up, it seems like the federation and some of the players didn’t take this year’s national championship as seriously as they should have. One may ask: if they don’t take it seriously, who will? The result is that chess will only be reaching mainstream media when one of these peculiarities takes place.
We’ve seen this with Toiletgate, and in fact this was also the case with this year’s championship. Dutch newspapers didn’t pay much attention to the championship, but suddenly they mentioned the tournament with a few paragraphs of text on Saturday. The reason? Another odd thing had happened in the seventh round on Friday. After he had accidently cut himself with a bottle, Anish Giri had some blood on his hand and one ear (which he had touched) and because of this he almost fainted. Someone with a First Aid Kit helped him, but the reigning champ wasn’t motivated to continue playing. Giri offered a draw to Nijboer, who accepted.
Two weird stories popped up today, one to do with chess, and one to do with something else. I've decided to group them together, simply because I found them both funny. The first involved Loek Van Wely in the Dutch Championship. As an experiment, he had sensors attached to his body to read his stress levels during his round 4 game. However things didn't quite go according to plan, as his opponent FM Benjamin Bok forced a repetition starting on move 13. This didn't amuse Van Wely, as neither player was willing to claim a three-fold repetition until move 37! As for measuring Van Wely's stress levels, the use of equipment may have been unnecessary, as his post game comments where he referred to his opponent as an "idiot" probably provided enough experimental data on its own. Chessvibes has the full story, including the game in question. The second (non-chess) story involved a giant statue of Jesus, located in Ohio,USA. Nicknamed the "Touchdown Jesus" due to the its raised arms (like the signal for a touchdown in American Football), it was completely destroyed by a bolt of lightning during an overnight storm. Apparently the Adult Bookstore located on the other side of the freeway was left untouched. Full story here.
During his game against FM Benjamin Bok at the Dutch Championship in Eindhoven, GM Loek van Wely today was involved in an experiment to measure his stress levels. And indeed, in a game that saw a repetition of the position between moves 14 and 37, clear signs of arousel on the side of Van Wely were measured, but for an unexpected reason…
The Dutch Championship takes place June 11-20 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The rate of play is 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes to end the game, with 30 seconds increment from move 1. Venue is the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, a technology center at the site of the former ‘NatLab’, the Philips Physics Laboratory. For more details see our first report.
An experimental draw
“Wouldn’t it be nice to show the spectators how stressful a chess game is for the players?” This was the question the Dutch Chess Federation asked themselves when they realized that this year’s Dutch Championship was held in the midst of 90 top-notch technological companies that are based at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven.
It was Bert-Jan Woertman, Communications Manager of the Campus and host of this year Dutch Championship, who realized that there was an opportunity to create a synergy between the championship and the collective technological knowledge in Eindhoven. He made sure that the tournament got in touch with Holst Centre, an independent open-innovation R&D partnership between IMEC (Flanders, Belgium) and TNO (The Netherlands).
A technology that was developed for medical applications today was applied for the evaluation of a mental game of chess. Loek van Wely, always ready for a stunt, volunteered and so before the fourth round sensors were attached to his body which were to provide an indication of his stress levels.
Van Wely wore a chest strap that measured his heart rhythm (ECG, electrocardiogram) and respiratory
Specifically, Van Wely wore a chest strap that measured his heart rhythm (ECG, electrocardiogram) and respiratory. Around his wrist, the grandmaster wore a sensor measuring skin resistance. The outcome would be the “arousal” level of the player, and this would be connected to the amount of stress the player would feel during the game. The results were quite unexpected.
Around his wrist, the grandmaster wore a sensor measuring skin resistance
At move 14 already, FM Bok started repeating the moves Be2-d3-e2, and GM Van Wely had nothing better than to go Qg6-h5-g6. This went on until move 37 (!) when finally Bok claimed a draw based on threefold (or rather thirteenfold) repetition. After the game he said: “I knew I could continue with h2-h4, but I didn’t remember the position very well, so I went for a draw.” Bok explained that he offered the draw twice, but Van Wely didn’t accept.
Asked why, the six times Dutch Champion said: “I didn’t want the draw, and I didn’t want to give the impression that I was happy with a draw. I wasn’t. Whatever opening you play these days, these youngsters always know the theory. Why didn’t he play something sharp, like against Smeets? Then he dropped a piece. I got very angry when I realized he was going for a draw right from the start. I mean, the organizers give him a wildcard, but then instead of getting some experience here, this idiot just goes for a draw.”
So much for the experiment, you might think. But the results of the test did show something interesting. Van Wely clearly wasn’t exaggerating when he said he was angry during the game. According to Holst Centre the diagram with the test results showed a clear sign of arousel at the point when Bok first repeated moves.
Van Wely wins Chicago Open Los Angeles Times The Continental Chess Assn., organizer of many of the country's largest tournaments, conducted the 695-player Chicago Open over the Memorial Day weekend in ...
... dédiée aux échecs mérite qu'on s'y attarde : Rémy Artinyan, entraîneur officiel de la FFE et sociétaire de l'échiquier sportif de St Etienne, alimente depuis quelques semaines à un rythme soutenu (une position par jour, assortie d'un bref commentaire) un blog intitulé "matériel et cours d'échecs". Son objectif : nous faire améliorer notre "fond de jeu" et en particulier faire progresser notre sens tactique. Tiens, tiens... ça me rappelle un autre blog, pas vous ?... Mais non, détrompez-vous, avec beaucoup de délicatesse, Rémy décrit le blog "échecs en amateur" de la façon suivante : "avec des positions, parties commentées... plus faciles qu'ici". Après un échange de mail j'ai trouvé Rémy beaucoup plus ouvert, modeste, et sympa que cette entrée en matière ne le laissait paraître, et j'ai décidé de lui faire un peu de pub. Je précise que Rémy diffuse son mémoire d'entraîneur, que j'ai trouvé très intéressant : il concerne "la recherche du meilleur coup" et conclut de la façon suivante : • Il existe bien un meilleur coup dans chaque position, c’est scientifiquement prouvé. Cependant, on est encore loin de « résoudre » le jeu par des moyens scientifiques. • Il n’existe aucune recette miracle pour trouver le meilleur coup, il faut seulement, pour bien jouer aux échecs, s’en approcher au maximum, et toujours rester objectif : il faut trouver le juste milieu entre le meilleur coup contre des réponses parfaites et le coup qui s’adaptera le plus à l’environnement de la partie. • Bien qu’il n’existe aucune méthode infaillible pour trouver le meilleur coup, il est bon de retenir certains conseils et méthodes qui permettent de s’en approcher, tant pour atteindre l’essence de la position que pour économiser son temps et son énergie. C’est comme ça qu’on progresse aux échecs !
Il m'a fait l'amitié de répondre à une petite interview, que je vous livre brute de décoffrage :
vdm : Peux-tu me dire en détail comment on devient entraîneur ? (les motivations
et le parcours).
ra : Il faut faire un stage DEFFE (5 jours dont 1 d'examens si je me souviens
bien, et c'est dense ! )
Je suis devenu entraîneur par hasard : j'étais en vacances au camping la
rochade (je ne sais pas si tu connais, c'est dans le médoc et c'est très
sympa, voir leur site http://www.campinglarochade.com/presentation.html )
quand Julius et Rike Armas (les propriétaires du camping, respectivement MI
et MIf ) m'ont proposé de participer à un stage pour devenir entraîneur
donné par Darko Anic.
J'ai dit oui et me suis retrouvé entraîneur !
En fait je pense que ma motivation vient surtout du fait que j'aime les
échecs, et c'est dû à la bonne ambiance des entraînements et cours au club
d'Ermont quand j'ai commencé !
Les cours d'Eric Birmingham étaient super, comme l'ambiance avec les autres
jeunes du club (par exemple Mathilde Congiu, qui a gagné plusieurs fois les
championnats de france jeunes et est MIf) !
Pour les modalités à remplir pour devenir entraîneur, il faut :
-être classé plus de 2000 (il était question de monter la barre à 2100 mais
je n'ai pas trop suivi l'histoire)
-faire un stage DEFFE
-réussir aux examens en fin de stage : un examen d'échecs écrit (des
positions quoi !), un cours donné à des jeunes et évalué par un jury, et un
mémoire à rendre.
vdm : peux-tu te présenter en quelques mots : quelle est ta profession et ton
parcours échiquéen ?
ra : Je suis étudiant dans l'école d'ingénieurs Télécom Saint-Etienne, en
première année.
Au niveau échiquéen, en gros :
fin 1995 : début au club d'Ermont (j'avais 6 ans)
; les années suivantes : joué dans plein de tournois rapides principalement
dans le 95, une bonne partie gagnés
7 fois 2è aux championnats du 95 jeunes ; (
2fois 1er après ; )
Très peu de tournois en parties longues (ça prend bcp de temps) mais bon je
compte en faire cet été ; mon élo est à 2142 mais ne fait que monter ; )
plusieurs participations aux supers stages d'écancourt (organisés par le
comité val d'oisien des échecs avec Philippe Pierlot, Alain Viot, Bruce
Rakotonoely... qui ont fait un boulot fantastique)
Des masters classes à Enghien en marge du tournoi international avec Akopian
et Van Wely
et de nombreux stages à la rochade avec entres autres :
Mark Dvoretsky (super entraîneur, probablement le meilleur du monde),
Alexei Shirov,
Viorel Iordachescu,
Friso Nijboer, Darko Anic,
Julius Armas
vdm : Quel est ton meilleur souvenir échiquéen ?
ra : Meilleur je ne sais pas, il y en a plein : les blitz à 4 endiablés, les
arnaques improbables, le bouquin The King de Donner...
Les plus marquants sont probablement les blitz avec Shirov en marge du stage
(sisi, j'ai failli en gagner 1 lol) et la simultanée contre Kramnik au sénat
où il joue un coup, je ne comprends pas, je réfléchis, réfléchis et finis
par comprendre que c'est de la prophylaxie contre un truc que je n'avais
même pas envisagé... monstrueux
vdm : et comment vis-tu l'activité d'entraîneur ?
ra : C'est sympa de trouver ce qu'il faut à quelqu'un pour avancer et de le voir
progresser en direct !
vdm : quels conseils donnerais-tu à ceux qui veulent se lancer comme entraîneur ?
ra : En fait je suis en train de me lancer donc c'est difficile pour moi de
donner un conseil ; )
vdm : Tu viens de créer un blog. Quelles sont tes motivations ?
ra : fournir du matériel original pour progresser aux échecs, des études sympa
pour ceux qui aiment, et puis faire un peu de pub pour mes cours (faut rester honnête lol)
vdm : Et le mot de la fin ?
ra: On est là pour le plaisir !
Today the Dutch Championship started at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. In the first round Nijboer beat Van Kampen and Bok upset Reinderman.
The Dutch Championship takes place June 11-20 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The rate of play is 40 moves in 90 minutes followed by 30 minutes to end the game, with 30 seconds increment from move 1.
Venue is the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, a technology center at the site of the former ‘NatLab’, the Philips Physics Laboratory. Eindhoven is the home town of the world famous Dutch company Philips, and soccer club PSV, of which the ‘P’ stands for Philips as well, the club’s life-long sponsor. The Campus houses a wide variety of high tech companies that collaborate in the development of new technologies, focusing on key technology areas such as microsystems, semiconductor products, Embedded Systems, signal processing and nanotechnology.
High Tech Campus Eindhoven | Photo HHahn, GNU Free Documentation Licence
This year’s The Dutch Championship sees the strongest field ever, which includes reigning champion Anish Giri, but also six-times champion Loek van Wely and one-time champion Jan Smeets. In addition, as many as five of the ten participants have an Elo rating of over 2600. The average rating is 2581. In the women section Zhaoqin Peng defends her Dutch title, and tries to win her 12th (!) championship.
Loek van Wely, Anish Giri and Robin van Kampen at the opening ceremony
Zhaoqin Peng, Bianca Muhren, Caroline Slingerland, Anne Haast and Marieke Dirksen
The games start each day at 13.30 CET, except for round 8 on Saturday, June 19th. Then it starts two hours later, to give the players the opportunity to watch the World Cup soccer match Netherlands-Japan, which starts at 13.30! Holland is a football minded country, and so the organization decided to avoid any complications and simply let the participants watch the games.
Therefore the rest day is already after three rounds, on Monday, because… indeed, the national team also plays on that date. The women, who don’t have a rest day at all, start their games on Monday at 15.30 as well.
Loek van Wely has a completely different schedule altogether. He was allowed to play in a different tournament on Saturday, and will play his second round game on Monday, also at 15.30, against Robin van Kampen.
Chalons en Champagne, led by Loek van Wely and Anish Giri, Sunday won the French league. The team finished just ahead of Evry Grand Roque, who played with Eljanov, Gashimov, Svidler and Vachier-Lagrave.
The last four playing days (rounds 8-11) of the French League Top 16 were held in the stadium of the French soccer club En Anan in Guingamp, a commune in the Côtes-d’Armor department in Brittany in north-western France. The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the games with 30 seconds per move from move one.
The last round saw the clash between the two leading teams, Chalons en Champagne and favourite Evry Grand Roque, which had four players rated above 2700. Peter Svidler did his job and defeated Anish Giri with Black in a sharp Grünfeld. Giri had scored 2/3 in rounds 8-10 against Bauer, Bacrot and Housiaux. The game showed remarkable resemblance with the recent computer game Stockfish-Rybka, which we included for comparison. (All details will be explained in this week’s ChessVibes Openings by guest commentator GM Sipke Ernst!)
Loek van Wely, the other Dutchman in the Chalons en Champagne team (mainly for ‘playing Giri’s chauffeur’, as he joked last week) did well by beating Vugar Gashimov with the black pieces. Marie Sebag then managed to hold Pavel Eljanov to a draw, and Sebastien Cossin did the same against Arnaud Hauchard. This way Chalons ended first on tiebreak and became French Team Champions for the first time.
French Team Championship Top 16 2010 | Final Standings
Châlons-en-Champagne remporte le titre de champion de France 2010 d'échecs par équipe en annulant 1-1 face à Evry !
Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
Le duel Châlons-Evry nous aura tenus en haleine jusqu'à la ronde 11 : Peter Svidler (2735) battant Anish Giri (2642) pour Evry, puis Van Wely égalisant pour Châlons en prenant le meilleur sur l'Azéri Vugar Gashimov (2734).
Châlons-en-Champagne, la formation de notre ami Diego Salazar, remporte le titre de champion 2010 au meilleur départage (+41 contre +32 pour Evry). Toutes nos félicitations aux nouveaux champions!
Rappelons simplement qu'au terme de la phase préliminaire du Top 16, aucun club n'avait pu résister à Evry et Châlons , créditées du total des 21 points des 7 premières rondes. Le mano à mano entre ces 2 équipes de choc s'est prolongé tout au long de la phase finale du Top 16 qui se déroulait du 3 au 6 juin 2010 à Guingamp en Bretagne.
Dans la poule Basse, Cannes avait assuré samedi son maintien en battant Drancy 3-0. Dimanche, c'est l'équipe de Strasbourg qui gagne son billet pour le Top 16 2011, en s'imposant 3-0 sur Drancy.
Loek van Wely wins Chicago Open (UPDATE: Interview)
Loek van Wely won the Chicago Open tournament in Wheeling, Illinois. In the 9-round Swiss, the Dutch GM was the only player to score 7.5 points. Adams, Najer, Mikhalevski and Stocek ended shared second with 7 points. Interview with Van Wely added.
Loek van Wely in Chicago | Photo: Rose Homa
The 19th annual Chicago Open was held May 27-31 and organized by the Continental Chess Association. This year the organizers added two more rounds to their traditional 7-rounder, making norms possible.
The tournament was traditionally held during the Memorial Weekend. The rate of play in the Open Section was 2 hours for 40 moves plus another hour to finish the game.
For the different sections (besides the Open there was an Under 1000, Under Under 1300, Under 1500, Under 1700, Under 1900 and Under 2100) there was a US $100,000 unconditionally guaranteed prize fund.
The venue was the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois
Like in previous years, the tournament attracted several very strong grandmasters from the US and abroad. Besides US Championship participants Ben Finegold, Varuzhan Akobian, Aleksandr Lenderman, Melikset Khachiyan, Alex Yermolinsky, Samuel Shankland, Alexander Shabalov, Dmitry Gurevich and Jaan Ehlvest (who defended his title in Chicago), the tournament had for instance Michael Adams (England), Evgeny Najer (Russia), Victor Mikhalevski (Israel) and Jiri Stocek (Czech Republic) from abroad. One name we didn’t mention yet is that of Dutch GM Loek van Wely, who won the tournament with 7.5 points.
GM Loek van Wely (a pic from last year in Chicago) | Photo Chris Bird
Van Wely won after beating IM Sam Shankland in the final round, while Akobian, who went into the round tied with Van Wely and Shankland, lost to Adams.
Van Wely-Shankland From the moment the move c4-c5 was possible tactically on move 15, the bishop on a7 had been out of the game. Now Van Wely decided the endgame with 28.Bxa6! bxa6 29.Nd4 Bd7 30.Bd6 and White was basically a piece up.
Adams-Akobian Can you see how White won a pawn (and later the game)? Answer below in the game viewer.
We talked with Loek van Wely through Skype on Tuesday night (Dutch time; afternoon in the US), while he was at Chicago airport, on his way back to The Netherlands. He told us that he played Chicago together with his girlfriend Lorena Zepeda from El Salvador, who didn’t do bad either (5/9). Before Van Wely will play the Dutch Championship (June 10-20 in Eindhoven), he will first compete in the French team championship and travel to France together with Anish Giri (’I'm in the same team so I can be his driver!’), that other Dutchman who won a tournament this week.
When was your last victory at a big open?
“That must have been Foxwoods, in 2006. In the U.S. I won the World Open in Philadelphia in 1994, and the New York Open in 1996. The funny thing was that Mickey Adams played his last tournament in the States in New York in 1996, the one I also won. He said to me he was bringing me luck.”
That last round looked quite easy, but what were the more difficult moments in this tournament?
“Against Mulyar in round 3 was tough. We got this very sharp line from the Slav, from the Anand-Kramnik match, and at some point I deviated from what I intended to play. I won a piece, but then I saw that I had to simplify the position as quickly as possible. And the games against Yermo and Dmitry Gurevich were both very tricky.”
Does this mean you were also lucky, or do you feel you did play the best chess in Chicago?
“Well, in those games against Yermolinsky and Gurevich I was the one who was pushing. Against Yermo, for instance, I declined a draw offer and played an ending a pawn down. You always take some risks, you know. Against Gurevich it was very sharp, and I deliberately went for complications, based on some calculations. This means it can go well, or bad.”
“What’s the main difference between tournaments in the US and Europe, for you?
In Europe, with all these strong Russians, and with just one round a day, openings are much more important than over here. In the States it comes down to stamina, tactics, those kind of things. In Europe preparation plays a much bigger role.”
Does such a tournament, with 9 rounds in 5 days, suit you better?
“Well, I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind to play one game a day here, but for some players over here it’s a bigger problem. My physical condition is not bad, I would like to do a bit more sports, but I can’t complain. But for some players that’s different.”
And what about bringing your own chess set and clock, I cannot imagine that big names like you, or Mickey Adams, walk into the playing hall with a chess set under their arm?
“Well, you think wrong, mate! We do. Some people don’t, and hope that the opponent will bring material, but this means you might get into the situation that your opponent isn’t there yet, and you cannot press his clock.”
Does a victory like this make you want to play more often?
“Well, one victory doesn’t suddenly change the world, you know. And in fact I play more than you might think. After this I play the French team championship, then the Dutch championship, then a tournament in Norway, then Amsterdam, then the Spanish league and then the Olympiad.”
Yes, that’s a pretty tough schedule. What about the Olympiad team? I presume Anish will play, and…?
“Yes, Anish is in team, Jan Smeets is, and I am, for the moment. The other two spots will be clear after the Dutch Championship. But it comes down to the following, I believe: if Dimitri Reinderman doesn’t win, it will be Erwin l’Ami and Daniel Stellwagen by rating.”
On Facebook Anish teased you, that staying ahead of him was an extra motivation for you to win in Chicago. Is it still important to you to be the number one on the Dutch rating list?
“Let’s say it’s always good to keep Anish down as long as possible. ”
Loek Van Wely stifled Sam Shankland’s quest for GM norm (and title) while Varuzhan Akobian fell to England’s Michael Adams. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
Loek Van Wely has been spending a lot of time in the states in past years including the 1994 World Open and 1996 New York Open. He also played in Maurice Ashley’s HB Global Chess Challenge and several open tournaments including last year’s Chicago Open. Thus, he has certainly found a hospitable climate here.
Having to win against a norm-hungry Samuel Shankland, Loek was able to take advantage of a couple of endgame mistakes and snare the full point. He got help from Michael Adams who vanquished Varuzhan Akobian in a smooth victory. The Dutchman took him clear first and $10,200.00. Adams, Evgeny Najer, Victor Mikhalevski, Jiri Stocek all shared second with 7/9 for $2425.00.
1.c4 e5 2.Cc3 Cf6 3.Cf3 Cc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Cxd5 6.Ag2 Cb6 7.0-0 Ae7 8.a3 g5!? Un'idea del Gm Gurevich e che, nonostante la poca popolarità, sembra aver dato ottimi risultato al nero: ben 6.5 su 7! La partita inizia così con un approccio che ricorda uno dei numi tutelari di Shirov, Misha Tal! 9.d3 g4 10.Cd2 h5 11.b4 La posizione non ha precedenti illustri, ma qui sono state tentate altre vie come 11.Cb3, 11.Cc4 e 11.Te1. 11...h4 Una vera partita di poker quella di Shirov! Così facendo il nero si è procurato numerose debolezze e se l'iniziativa dovesse sfumare comincierebbero i problemi per il nero. 12.Cc4 hxg3 13.hxg3 Cxc4 14.dxc4 Cd4 15.Cb5 Obbligando il nero a cambiare le donne. Una linea come 15.e3 Cf3+ 16.Axf3 gxf3 17.Dxf3 Dd3! 18.Cd5! Dh7! (Non 18...Dxc4 19.Ab2 Ag4 20.Dg2 Ah3 21.Dh1! con compenso.) è proprio ciò che desidera Shirov.15...Ce6!? Adesso Shirov ha dei problemi legati al poco spazio che hanno i suoi pezzi al centro.La più naturale è 15...Cxb5 16.cxb5 a6 17.Dxd8+ Axd8 18.bxa6 Txa6 19.Ab2 e il nero non può aspirare a qualcosa piu della patta.; 15...a5!? è una mossa utile a cui può seguire 16.Cxd4 Dxd4 17.Dxd4 exd4 18.Ab2 axb4 19.axb4 Txa1 20.Txa1 Axb4 21.Axd4 Th5! E dopo questa mossa chiave il nero è un po' indietro di sviluppo ma la posizione è sostanzialmente pari. 16.Dc2 Una mossa semplice ma che richiede un gioco preciso al nero. Una variante esemplificativa di ciò che può incontrare il bianco è 16.Ab2 Th5 17.c5 a6 18.Cc3 Cg5! 19.Dxd8+ Axd8 20.Tfd1 Ch3+ 21.Rf1 Tf5 con gioco molto incerto. 16...c617.Td1 Ad7 Non 17...Db6 18.Cd6+ Axd6 19.Txd6 Cd4 20.De4 e il bianco ha una posizione vinta. 18.Cd6+ Axd6 19.Txd6 De7 20.Dd3?! Decidendo di sacrificare la qualità, ma èmigliore 20.c5! Cd4 21.Txd4 exd4 22.Af4 Th5 23.Ad6 Df6 24.Td1 e qui obbietivamente la partita è pari, ma il bianco ha un gioco piu facile. Sulla colonna h' l' attacco spara a salve e se il nero arrocca lungo dopo a4 la posizione diventa molto minacciosa per il bianco. 20...Cd4 21.Txd4 exd4 22.Dxd4 Th5 23.Af4 Dxe2! Più sicura, ma anche pattaiola, è 23...Ae6 24.Ad6 0-0-0 25.Td1 Txd6 26.Dxd6 Dxd6 27.Txd6 Axc4 . La scelta di Shirov appare la migliore dal punto di vista pratico. 24.Td1? Adesso il nero riesce a consolidarsi e il materiale in più si farà presto sentire. Migliore è24.b5!? De6 25.Td1 Td8 26.bxc6 bxc6 27.Dd2! Df5 28.Ad6 dava al bianco un attacco pericoloso. Ma forse il nero gioca subito 24...Td8 e il compenso del bianco c'è, ma niente di davvero pericoloso. 24...Ae6 25.b5 Rf8! Un gioco creativo oltre che concreto. Il nero si premura di portare al sicuro il re per poi completare lo sviluppo. 26.Af1 Adesso Van Wely gioca, come disse una volta Petrosian, come se il pedone l'avesse perso e non sacrificato. Ma il bianco non ha alternative migliori e deve accontentarsi di limitarsi a rincorrere la regina. Df3 27.Ag2 De2 28.Af1 Dc2 29.Te1 Rg8 30.bxc6 bxc6 31.Ad3 Db3 32.Ad2 c5 33.Dd6 Axc4 33...Ad5! sarebbe stata ancora piu forte. 34.Ae4 Ad5 35.Df4 Anche se la partita è durata altre venti mosse si puo dire che questo è l'errore finale. L'ultima chanche pratica era 35.Dxc5 Te8 36.Axd5 Txe1+ 37.Axe1 Dxd5 38.Dxd5 Txd5 ma la precisione di Shirov nel finale si è gia vista, e quindi difficilmente il risultato sarebbe cambiato. 35...Axe4 36.Txe4 Dd1+ 37.Ae1 Df3 38.Dxg4+ Dxg4 39.Txg4+ Rf8 40.Ad2 Tc8 41.Tc4 Re7 42.g4 Td5 43.Ae3 Rd6 44.Rf1 Td1+ 45.Re2 Ta1 46.Ta4 c4 47.Rd2 47.Txa7 c3 48.Txf7 c2 49.Tf6+ Re7 50.Ta6 c1D è un modo piu sofisticato di perdere. 47...c3+ 48.Rc2 Ta2+ 49.Rd3 c2 50.Ac1 Ta1 51.Td4+ Re6 52.Te4+ Rf6 53.Te1 Tb1 54.Rd2 Tb7 55.Te3 Rg5 56.f3 Rf4 57.Td3 Rg3 58.Re2 Te7+ 59.Rd2 Rf2 0-1
Un'altra prestazione maiuscola quella di Shirov che incomincia a prendere il largo. La fine del torneo è ancora lontana, certo che se riuscisse a fare anche il 50% dei punti difficilmente qualcunaltro potrebbe inserirsi nella lotta per il primo posto.
We formulated ten questions related to Developing Chess Talent and every Monday we’ll ask them to an interesting personality in the chess world.
1. Please introduce yourself (name, age, nationality, etc.)!
Hi, I am Jan Gustafsson from Hamburg, Germany. 30 years old and slowly coming to terms with it.
2. What is your role in the chess world?
Chess player! I like to play for my club Baden-Baden and the german national team. Planning to play more than I used to this year, somehow I decided now is the time to become a bit better. In the past I have worked as a second for the likes of Loek van Wely, Jan Smeets and Peter Leko. Sadly, at some point they all figured out the extent of my lazyness.
3. How did you develop your chess talent as a kid?
By reading whatever chess book I could get my hands on. Basically I liked studying and disliked losing, so I felt the former might help the latter.
4. Who had a profound influence on your chess development?
My first coach, the late Vincent Kolanoske. While he was not a strong player, he always made me look forward to going to chess training on Friday afternoon.
5. What are your favourite sports besides chess?
Football! Currently I am bitterly disappointed by the failure of HSV on european level in both football and handball
6. What would be your advice for young people?
Don’t ever start smoking! Seriously, don’t.
7. What has your main concern in life besides chess?
The question what should have my main concern in life besides chess.
8. What is the best chess game you played?
Somehow I never liked looking at my own games (Yes, I know I should!). Therefore I can’t give a qualified opinion.
9. What’s your connection with ‘Developing Chess Talent’?
I was fortunate enough to be a member of the Apeldoorn Chess club since the mid-90s and could therefore enjoy the stimulating chess atmosphere created by the Van Delfts first hand.
10. What question do you miss and what would be your answer?
As a professional player, I am sure you watch a lot of TV series during tournaments to relax. Any recommendations?
I am glad you asked! Check out “The Big Bang Theory” and “Curb your Enthusiasm”, they are both hilarious. If you want drama, “Sons of Anarchy” and “The Wire “are great. Oh, and “True Blood” is so good that I watched 2 seasons while playing Inarkiev in the World Cup. You do the math how that turned out…
Magnus Carlsen (2813) tops the world rankings by one point. On the May 1 FIDE rating list Veselin Topalov has won seven rating points to reach 2812. Vassily Ivanchuk is not the highest rated Ukrainian anymore; Pavel Eljanov confirmed his steady progress and surpassed him to enter the world’s top 10. And Alexei Shirov is back there too.
FIDE published its May 1st rating list and this time there’s not a big 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). Only Anand’s and Topalov’s ratings are different because of the current World Championship match: virtually speaking Topalov has dropped back to 2806 and Anand is just 3.6 points away from the 2800 barrier.
The biggest news this time is that Vassily Ivanchuk isn’t Ukraine’s number one player anymore, for the first time in years. Winning another 15 points in 20 games, on the May 2010 list Pavel Eljanov has reached a 9th spot, while Ivanchuk lost seven points and dropped slightly from 11 to 12.
With solid results in not so many games Wang Yue climbed from 10 to 8, and the 10th place is now occupied by Alexei Shirov. Boris Gelfand is out of the top 10 again but only lost 9 rating points. Sergey Karjakin might see the first results of his switch of federations and trainers: he climbed from 21 to 14. Alexander Morozevich didn’t play this period but still dropped three places, to 27 now. Anand’s seconds Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Peter Heine Nielsen can be found next to each other on the list: numbers 39 and 40.
One of the biggest climbers was Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won no less than 39 points and went up from 78 to 42. Reaching 97, Anish Giri is a top 100 player for the first time.
The women’s list has been stable for a long time now, with very few changes in the top 10. Both Judit Polgar and Humpy Koneru didn’t play, so the gap is still 60 points. Below you’ll find the new top 100, the top 100 women, the top 20 juniors and the top 20 girls. We give the first two lists including the changes with the previous lists. All data courtesy of FIDE.
FIDE MAY 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
Echecs & Top 16 : Châlons met le feu à l'échiquier
La seconde phase du Top 16, l'élite du championnat national des échecs, se dispute du jeudi 29 avril (ronde 4) au dimanche 2 mai (ronde 7).
Diego libre dans sa tête !
Ci-contre, Loek Van Wely, Diego Salazar et Anish Giri pour Châlons-en-Champagne
Châlons-en-Champagne bat Clichy ! Vous avez bien lu. Malgré la présence d'Ivanchuk (2748) et Jakovenko (2725) dans l'équipe d'échecs de Clichy, l'échiquier Chalonnais s'est offert hier la dream team de Clichy sur le score de 3-2. Cossin et Smirin permettent aux Chalonnais de prendre l'avantage dans le match et, malgré les points de Fressinet et Mazé pour Clichy, Van Wely (2639) délivre les Marnais en fin de rencontre en s'imposant avec les noirs face à Jakovenko. Clichy est écarté et Châlons-en-Champagne reste à priori la seule équipe capable de barrer la route du champion sortant, Evry. Toutes nos félicitations à Diego Salazar, le coach de l'équipe et l'homme de tous les défis !
Au programme de ce samedi, la ronde 6 à 15h en Direct Live.
Pour les amoureux du ballon rond et de l'échiquier carré, Planète Marseille avec les équipes du groupe A (Vandoeuvre, Évry, Marseille-Échecs, Drancy, Deauville, Noyon, Montpellier, Guingamp) à l'Hôtel Holiday Inn Prado - 103 avenue du Prado (Metro 2, station Perier). A suivre, le tenant du titre Evry face à Vandoeuvre.
Amateurs de choucroute, direction Mulhouse en Alsace pour les équipes du groupe B (Châlons-en-Champagne, Metz Fischer, Clichy, Cannes, Mulhouse Philidor, Strasbourg, Lyon Olympique Échecs, Bischwiller) à l'Hôtel Mercure - 4 Place du Général de Gaulle. A l'affiche du jour, le duel entre le leader Châlons et le second Metz.
La formidable aventure de l'US Quevilly en Coupe de France a pris fin mercredi en demi-finale après une défaite contre le PSG. Remis de ses émotions footballistiques, notre ami normand Samir Adyel nous offre sa chronique hebdo sur les échecs en guise de consolation. Prenez donc le temps de découvrir son nouvel article du journal Paris-Normandie, un surprenant voyage dans le monde des cases blanches et noires, raconté avec passion chaque semaine sur notre site échiquéen.
Au sommaire cette semaine, un mat en deux coups signé G. Mott-Smith, tiré du Chess Revieuw, de 1939. Puis Samir nous apprend qu'en général, le roque permet de mettre le roi à l’abri. C’est ce que pensaient les blancs lorsqu’ils ont pris cette décision au 8ème coup. Mais leur choix était discutable car après avoir roqué leur roi se retrouve étrangement esseulé.
Cette nouvelle donne a incité les noirs à lancer une attaque rapide faisant voler en éclats le roque et mettant à genoux le monarque blanc.... Une idée brillamment illustrée par la partie Van Wely (2681) – Acs (2591) disputée à Hoogeveen (Pays-Bas) en 2002.
Place ensuite à un curieux tableau final avec un mat esthétique issu de la partie Dodge – Houghteling de Chicago en 1904. Puis, une superbe finale jouée très récemment en Bundesliga dans laquelle le numéro 3 français Laurent Fressinet va démontrer toute sa dextérité. Enfin, une petite phrase de l'artiste français Marcel Duchamp, et pour finir un piège d'ouverture sur la Défense russe. Merci Samir !
Hello once again to everyone out there in the blogosphere. Before I dive right into talking about Wijk, I would like to clear up a certain rumour from the online world. I am not playing in Aeroflot, nor did I ever seriously consider it. Any suggestions to the contrary are simply not true. Now that this is out of the way, onto the tournament recap!
Round 1: Smeets-Nakamura
In the first round, I had Black against Dutch GM Jan Smeets. Like quite a few other European GMs, I have seen him at several tournaments over the past few years but not had the opportunity to play. Overall, Jan seems to be a very solid player with a pretty good general knowledge of openings. In our game, he surprised me by playing the 6.Bg5 variation against the Najdorf. As fate would have it, the tournament seemed to be a referendum on whether the Bg5 variation is good for White or not. I picked a mild sideline which surprised Jan, and he played a tame variation.
The following was the position after 14.Nd5. Oddly enough, our silicon friends seem to think 14...Nxd5 was simply better for me, but I thought White had a solid positional advantage after 15.exd5 followed by eventually putting a knight on e4. When I chose to avoid this variation, the position eventually fizzled out and it was a fairly standard draw. Overall, I felt that coming off of the tournament in Turkey this was a great start to the tournament with a solid draw as Black. Onto round 2!
Round 2: Nakamura-van Wely
In the second round I had White against another Dutch man albeit it, one who is a bit older and stronger! Shockingly Loek was playing in Wijk for a 19th! straight year. The last time we played in Amsterdam, I was White in a Najdorf, but blundered in a completely winning position and he was able to escape with a draw. This time around, we played another Najdorf although I decided to play the 6.Bg5 variation against him. Unfortunately for Loek, I was very well prepared and he walked right into my preparation.
This is the position after 15.Nd5. Unlike the game against Smeets, the knight on d5 is actually an intentional piece sacrifice. Prior to the game, I had prepared this variation with Kris and we concluded that the position might be holdable for Black, but it would be extremely unpleasant for a human to play. As it turned out, our assessment was correct since Loek went wrong almost immediately and simply got blown off the board. It was after this second round game that I realized I would at least have a chance of putting together a good showing in the tournament.
Round 3: Short-Nakamura
In the third round, I faced another familiar opponent in Nigel Short. Having faced Nigel only the month before in the London Chess Classic, I had become fairly familiar with his style. During the tournament in London, Kris and I both lamented having White against Nigel and not Black as we felt Nigel was significantly more solid with Black than White. This time around, I decided to surprise everyone by playing the Classical Sicilian. Having played it in Turkey during the World Team Championship, I felt like giving it a whirl! Nigel deviated from prep very early on by choosing to play the Boleslavskij variation. At which point the following critical position arose.
This critical position occurred after 13...Bg4. Strangely enough, this was the third straight game of mine featuring a knight on d5, and it certainly wasn't the last either! Here, Nigel went badly astray with 14.c4. This move isn't necessarily awful, but after 14...Nxd5 15.exd5 Nb8, I had absolutely no problems as well as having an easier position to play. After the game, Nigel seemed to think 14.Nxe7 Qxe7 15.c4 gave White an advantage, but subsequent analysis shows that there is no advantage at all after 15...Nd7 due to Nc5-e6-d4 ideas later on. Although Nigel probably could have maintained the equilibrium and drawn, a few minor errors in a row doomed his position and I pounced on them to win my second game in a row. More than the great start, I was pleased by my calculation and accuracy in playing the best moves. From the first three games, I very rarely deviated from the Rybka suggestions in any given position.
Round 4: Anand-Nakamura
In the fourth round, I faced my first major test as I had Black against the current World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. Many people have asked me if I felt nervous before the game. Having played against Carlsen and Kramnik in London certainly helped me as this felt like just another game. I think that once you play against anyone who is top five, you inevitably realize that it is just a name and they are still "only human." As such, I did not feel nervous at all and enjoyed the moment instead! Regardless of what happens, I can certainly tell my children in the future that I played a World Champion! That in itself, is more than enough!
The game itself started off as a Leningrad Dutch. Recently, I have started playing the Dutch frequently as it is an opening which is unbalanced and gives both sides chances. I also felt that as Vishy is not a native d4 player, something off the beaten path would yield me better chances. The opening was fairly tame, as I avoided several chances to go for serious complications. Eventually we reached the moment of truth.
In this position, the obvious trump for White is the better pawn structure with only one potential weakness in the pawn on a3. During the game, I actually felt mildly nervous as I had overlooked 19.Rac1 Nb5 20.Rxc6! after which White is close to winning. However, during the game I noticed the nice safety moves 19...Nf7 contending for and eventually preparing to play e5. Vishy chose a much less testing continuation in the more natural 19.Ne5 after 19...Bxe5 20.dxe5 I had the nice tactical shot in 20...Qa5! after which the position is almost completely dead equal. This led to a draw shortly there afterwards. Once again, I went in there with a goal and held my own with Black.
Round 5: Nakamura-Carlsen
In the fifth round I was White against another opponent who has become a bit too familiar. Having played Magnus so many times recently, (Norway,London) I have become extremely familiar with his style. This time around, I decided to deviate early and play the exchange Ruy Lopez. I felt this was simply a practical choice as I avoided any deep analysis by Magnus or Garry. In many ways, when I play against people such as Magnus, I try to play simple chess and just outplay them instead of playing a different game called memorization.
In the game itself, my plan worked out nearly perfectly as Magnus lashed out with the dubious 10..b5 which was a novelty. After this error I certainly had some initiative although, much to his credit, Magnus was able to alleviate the pressure and simplify into an ending where he had three pawns for a piece. During the game, I felt I did not miss any clear wins, although the following position is where many people thought I had winning chances.
In this position, I chose to play 47.Ne6. Many people seemed to be of the impression that 47.h4 was winning, but upon further analysis 47...b2 48.Nf5! g5! 49.Rxf6 Ke8 50.Rb6 gxh4 51.Kxh4 Kd7 followed by b1 leads to a simplification and a draw. After the game, I was rather disappointed that I could not win but sometimes chess is simply a draw.
Stay tuned for Part II shortly! Have a great Superbowl weekend, everyone!
The new ChessBase Magazine presents the greatest chess tournament of the year
so far, Wijk an Zee, in a worthy fashion: six of the main protagonists (tournament
winner Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik, Shirov, Short, and Van Wely) have commented
on their best games, some even in video or audio format. A total of 13 up-to-date
openings articles on the DVD once again enforce your repertoire with new ideas
and tricks. Order CBM
135 now, or read this preview.
Im Mittelpunkt des neuen ChessBase
Magazins steht das Spitzenturnier in Wijk an Zee. Mit dem
Turniersieger Magnus Carlsen sowie Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexei Shirov,
Nigel Short und Loek van Wely haben gleich sechs der Hauptdarsteller von Wijk
ihre besten Partien für die neue DVD kommentiert, teilweise sogar im Video- oder
Audioformat. Das zweite Turnierhighlight der DVD ist der Klassiker in Linares,
und da hier der WM-Herausforderer Veselin Topalov an den Start ging (und
gewann), wagt das neue ChessBase Magazin auch schon einmal einen Ausblick auf
das
WM-Match Anand-Topalov, das am 23. April in Sofia beginnen wird. Die Themen
der insgesamt 13 Eröffnungsartikel auf der DVD sind wiederum bunt gestreut - so
ist für jeden etwas dabei. Das Spektrum reicht von echten Exoten wie dem Réti-Papa-Gamibt (1.e4 e6 2.b3 d5 3.Lb2 dxe4 - vorgestellt von GM Moskalenko)
bis hin zu Kuzmins Analyse des hochaktuellen Najdorf-Klassikers mit 6.Lg5 (in
der auch in Wijk intensiv erprobten Variante mit 6...Sbd7). Im Videoformat
bietet die DVD zudem eine Darstellung des Damengambits mit 5.Lf4 (Hauptvariante)
von GM Mikalchishin, und eine Einführung in den Stonewall-Aufbau vom jungen
bulgarischen FM Lilov. Mehr Infos über ChessBase Magazin 135
(pdf-Format)... ChessBase Magazin 135 im Shop bestellen... ChessBase Magazin Testpaket mit Bonus-DVD
(Anand) im Shop bestellen... ChessBase Magazin Testpaket mit Bonus-DVD
(Kramnik) im Shop bestellen... ChessBase Magazin Testpaket mit Bonus-DVD
(Hort) im Shop bestellen...
Buon esordio per Michele Godena nella Top 16, massima serie del Campionato francese. SuperMichele, 3^ scacchiera della squadra di Cannes, ha disputato nel weekend a Chalons en Champagne tre partite valide per i primi turni del girone B, nel quale sono impegnate solo sette formazioni dopo il ritiro del Bischwiller.
Michele Godena
Ecco la formazione del Cannes schierata nel weekend:
GM Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA 2639 GM Kazhgaleyev, Murtas KAZ 2637 GM Godena, Michele ITA 2561 GM Fontaine, Robert FRA 2548 GM Lahno, Kateryna UKR 2518 MI Govciyan, Pavel FRA 2430 MI Guidarelli, Laurent FRA 2433 WGM Leconte, Maria FRA 2330
La lista dei titolari comprende anche:
GM Inarchiev, Ernesto RUS 2667
GM Palac, Mladen CRO 2557
MI Abasov, Nijat AZE 2514
Nel primo incontro (si gioca su otto scacchiere, il risultato finale è determinato dalle vittorie) il Cannes ha sconfitto per 3-0 il Lyon Olympique grazie alle vittorie sulle ultime scacchiere. Per Godena una patta con il nero contro il MI francese Vernay (Elo 2440).
Nel secondo incontro un'altra vittoria del Cannes, stavolta contro lo Strasbourg, per 5-1, grazie anche alla vittoria di Godena contro il MI francese Roos (Elo 2435), che potete gustare con il visore.
Cannes vs. Strasbourg: in primo piano Rozentalis-Tkachiev, in 3^ scacchiera si scorge Michele Godena (foto Europe-Echecs)
Nell'ultimo incontro in programma il Cannes ha perso per 4-1 contro la "corazzata" padrona di casa dello Chalons en Champagne, che può vantare nelle sue fila molti giocatori over-2600, del calibro di Loek Van Wely , Anish Giri, Romain Edouard e Michal Krasenkow. Godena ha fatto la sua parte, pattando contro Edouard (Elo 2617), mentre l'unica vittoria per il Cannes è stata ottenuta da Kateryna Lahno, che ha battuto Krasenkow.
La 1ère phase du championnat de France d'échecs de 1ère division (Top 16) s'est joué ce week-end.
Ci-contre, Loek Van Wely, Diego Salazar et Anish Giri pour Châlons-en-Champagne
Quinze équipes (après le désistement de Bischwiller), réparties en deux groupes A et B, étaient en lice sur 4 sites en France: Châlons, Clichy, Evry et Vandoeuvre.
Bilan des 3 premières rondes du Top 16 : Dans le groupe B, Châlons-en-champagne a réalisé un parcours sans faute en remportant ses 3 rencontres. Après avoir humilié Strasbourg (8-0), pulvérisé Lyon (6-0), l'équipe de notre ami Diego Salazar a balayé Cannes (4-1). Les "échecs champagne" c'est ça ! Dans le Groupe A, Vandoeuvre et Evry ont remporté sans surprise leurs 3 matchs.
Hello once again to everyone out there in the blogosphere. Before I dive right into talking about Wijk, I would like to clear up a certain rumour from the online world. I am not playing in Aeroflot, nor did I ever seriously consider it. Any suggestions to the contrary are simply not true. Now that this is out of the way, onto the tournament recap!
Round 1: Smeets-Nakamura
In the first round, I had Black against Dutch GM Jan Smeets. Like quite a few other European GMs, I have seen him at several tournaments over the past few years but not had the opportunity to play. Overall, Jan seems to be a very solid player with a pretty good general knowledge of openings. In our game, he surprised me by playing the 6.Bg5 variation against the Najdorf. As fate would have it, the tournament seemed to be a referendum on whether the Bg5 variation is good for White or not. I picked a mild sideline which surprised Jan, and he played a tame variation.
The following was the position after 14.Nd5. Oddly enough, our silicon friends seem to think 14...Nxd5 was simply better for me, but I thought White had a solid positional advantage after 15.exd5 followed by eventually putting a knight on e4. When I chose to avoid this variation, the position eventually fizzled out and it was a fairly standard draw. Overall, I felt that coming off of the tournament in Turkey this was a great start to the tournament with a solid draw as Black. Onto round 2!
Round 2: Nakamura-van Wely
In the second round I had White against another Dutch man albeit it, one who is a bit older and stronger! Shockingly Loek was playing in Wijk for a 19th! straight year. The last time we played in Amsterdam, I was White in a Najdorf, but blundered in a completely winning position and he was able to escape with a draw. This time around, we played another Najdorf although I decided to play the 6.Bg5 variation against him. Unfortunately for Loek, I was very well prepared and he walked right into my preparation.
This is the position after 15.Nd5. Unlike the game against Smeets, the knight on d5 is actually an intentional piece sacrifice. Prior to the game, I had prepared this variation with Kris and we concluded that the position might be holdable for Black, but it would be extremely unpleasant for a human to play. As it turned out, our assessment was correct since Loek went wrong almost immediately and simply got blown off the board. It was after this second round game that I realized I would at least have a chance of putting together a good showing in the tournament.
Round 3: Short-Nakamura
In the third round, I faced another familiar opponent in Nigel Short. Having faced Nigel only the month before in the London Chess Classic, I had become fairly familiar with his style. During the tournament in London, Kris and I both lamented having White against Nigel and not Black as we felt Nigel was significantly more solid with Black than White. This time around, I decided to surprise everyone by playing the Classical Sicilian. Having played it in Turkey during the World Team Championship, I felt like giving it a whirl! Nigel deviated from prep very early on by choosing to play the Boleslavskij variation. At which point the following critical position arose.
This critical position occurred after 13...Bg4. Strangely enough, this was the third straight game of mine featuring a knight on d5, and it certainly wasn't the last either! Here, Nigel went badly astray with 14.c4. This move isn't necessarily awful, but after 14...Nxd5 15.exd5 Nb8, I had absolutely no problems as well as having an easier position to play. After the game, Nigel seemed to think 14.Nxe7 Qxe7 15.c4 gave White an advantage, but subsequent analysis shows that there is no advantage at all after 15...Nd7 due to Nc5-e6-d4 ideas later on. Although Nigel probably could have maintained the equilibrium and drawn, a few minor errors in a row doomed his position and I pounced on them to win my second game in a row. More than the great start, I was pleased by my calculation and accuracy in playing the best moves. From the first three games, I very rarely deviated from the Rybka suggestions in any given position.
Round 4: Anand-Nakamura
In the fourth round, I faced my first major test as I had Black against the current World Champion, Viswanathan Anand. Many people have asked me if I felt nervous before the game. Having played against Carlsen and Kramnik in London certainly helped me as this felt like just another game. I think that once you play against anyone who is top five, you inevitably realize that it is just a name and they are still "only human." As such, I did not feel nervous at all and enjoyed the moment instead! Regardless of what happens, I can certainly tell my children in the future that I played a World Champion! That in itself, is more than enough!
The game itself started off as a Leningrad Dutch. Recently, I have started playing the Dutch frequently as it is an opening which is unbalanced and gives both sides chances. I also felt that as Vishy is not a native d4 player, something off the beaten path would yield me better chances. The opening was fairly tame, as I avoided several chances to go for serious complications. Eventually we reached the moment of truth.
In this position, the obvious trump for White is the better pawn structure with only one potential weakness in the pawn on a3. During the game, I actually felt mildly nervous as I had overlooked 19.Rac1 Nb5 20.Rxc6! after which White is close to winning. However, during the game I noticed the nice safety moves 19...Nf7 contending for and eventually preparing to play e5. Vishy chose a much less testing continuation in the more natural 19.Ne5 after 19...Bxe5 20.dxe5 I had the nice tactical shot in 20...Qa5! after which the position is almost completely dead equal. This led to a draw shortly there afterwards. Once again, I went in there with a goal and held my own with Black.
Round 5: Nakamura-Carlsen
In the fifth round I was White against another opponent who has become a bit too familiar. Having played Magnus so many times recently, (Norway,London) I have become extremely familiar with his style. This time around, I decided to deviate early and play the exchange Ruy Lopez. I felt this was simply a practical choice as I avoided any deep analysis by Magnus or Garry. In many ways, when I play against people such as Magnus, I try to play simple chess and just outplay them instead of playing a different game called memorization.
In the game itself, my plan worked out nearly perfectly as Magnus lashed out with the dubious 10..b5 which was a novelty. After this error I certainly had some initiative although, much to his credit, Magnus was able to alleviate the pressure and simplify into an ending where he had three pawns for a piece. During the game, I felt I did not miss any clear wins, although the following position is where many people thought I had winning chances.
In this position, I chose to play 47.Ne6. Many people seemed to be of the impression that 47.h4 was winning, but upon further analysis 47...b2 48.Nf5! g5! 49.Rxf6 Ke8 50.Rb6 gxh4 51.Kxh4 Kd7 followed by b1 leads to a simplification and a draw. After the game, I was rather disappointed that I could not win but sometimes chess is simply a draw.
Stay tuned for Part II shortly! Have a great Superbowl weekend, everyone!
The 2010 Corus tournament at Wijk aan Zee has been over more than a week. Many of the games featured the sort of tactical shots that could be part of the training of any and all improving players.
We formulated ten questions related to Developing Chess Talent and every Monday we’ll ask them to an interesting personality in the chess world. In the book you can find the interview we had with Loek in 1996, let’s see how his views developed fourteen years ahead.
1. Please introduce yourself (name, age, nationality, etc.)!
Loek van Wely, IGM, 37, 2639, 6-time Dutch Champion, current world ranking: 109th, highest ranking: 10
2. What is your role in the chess world?
Mainly I see myself as an (adventurous) player, but also try to be an ambassador for chess, and a mentor/trainer for young players. Unfortunately my role as a player is mainly in Holland and from time to time scalping one of the top players in a nice way.
3. How did you develop your chess talent as a kid?
Very simple: playing everywhere I could and reading any chess book I could get my hands on. Always analysing my games (also with my opponent). To be able to spend more time with my trainer wouldn’t have hurt either…
4. Who had a profound influence on your chess development?
Definitely Gary Kasparov, although Fischer was a legend, and Timman was our national chess icon, Kasparov stood for ambition, passion, energy, aggression and willpower.
5. What are your favourite sports besides chess?
Soccer! Maybe right now I am more passionate in soccer than in chess….cycling is however my best sport, but my dream is to do the Iron Man of Hawai once in my life (world record is not necessary though…).
6. What would be your advice for young people?
Be in good shape both mentally and physically. And not to follow the current trend: working with Fritz 99 to prepare your openings, and then trying to remember it… That’s not chess and that’s is no life!
7. What has your main concern in life besides chess?
To have a nice and interesting and challenging life.
8. What is the best chess game you played?
I do have quite a number of very nice games, however the number of miserable games I managed to produce, while knowing better, is equally high (with the connected feeling of stupidity and self-hate not being very far away) So lets be modest now
9. What’s your connection with ‘Developing Chess Talent’?
Hopefully in the future a lot as in the giving end, right now I’ve been mainly on the receiving end. However, when playing now in the team experience against the time of the rising stars, it’s about time to give something back.
10. What question do you miss and what would be your answer?
Did you get the maximum out of your talent or were you lazy, had other interests? Maybe yes, but ok, who cares, “what if” doesn’t count. Only the first place counts, please no more excuses!
World number one Magnus Carlsen won the Corus 2010 chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee (pronounced "wake ahn zey" say ChessBase and ChessVibes), followed by Vladimir Kramnik and Alexey Shirov in second. All three top finishers had held the first place spot at one point in the event, with Shirov starting the tournament extremely hot with five wins in a row, Kramnik catching up, then Carlsen grabbing the lead at the finish (despite losing to Kramnik). World Champion Vishy Anand (with the tournament's only undefeated record) and U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura finished tied for fourth. The B-group was won by 15-year-old Dutch GM Anish Giri (profiled at ChessBase) who led for most of the way (see B-player profiles at ChessBase). The C-group was won by Li Chao (see C-group profiles at ChessBase). US youngster Ray Robson led the C-group by the middle of the tournament but fell back to fourth by the end following his loss to Li Chao in the Dragon. You can play over the games from the A-section at Chessgames.com. There was excellent coverage of the event by ChessBase, TWIC, Chessdom, Mig's Daily Dirt (where there is always good discussion), ChessVibes, ChessOK and others.
Salut Stanislas!
Je te remercie : Dans la suite que je t'ai donnée , tu vas jusqu'à 10 e5 compris
Les 20 premiers coups sont ceux de Anand-Van Wely Corus A 2007
Je l'ai jouée plusieurs fois , notamment contre Christophe Jaulneau champion de France AJEC 2008 dans le Championnat 2007-2008
Elle est aussi dans la bibliothèque de Fritz12
Elle doit normalement aboutir à une Nulle , mais par perpétuel , et pas toujours le meme :en fait ils sont tous différents , ce qui prouve la richesse de cette matrice
Vachier-Lagrave wins World Blitz Championship Preliminaries
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Thursday won the World Blitz Championship Preliminaries, held in Moscow after the Aeroflot Open. Together with Bu Xiangzhi, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedov, Savchenko and Grachev he qualified for the 2010 World Blitz Championship, to be held after the Tal Memorial later this year.
The World Blitz Championship Preliminaries took place February 18 at the same venue where the Aeroflot Open was held: in hotel “Gamma – Delta” of the tourist complex “Izmailovo”, in Moscow, Russia.
The tournament consisted of a 9-round Swiss in which the players played two games against each other, one with White and one with Black. The rate of play was 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment per move. In the final standings, the first tiebreak rule was Median Buchholtz score (i.e. Buchholz score without the best and the worst results).
2010 World Blitz Championship Preliminaries | Final Standings (top 30)
World Junior Champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France collected 13.5 points out of 18 games to finish clear first. Seven players ended shared 2nd, with 13 points each, but only five qualified for the World Blitz Championship: Bu Xiangzhi (China), Rauf Mamedov (Azerbaijan), Boris Grachev (Russia), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) and Boris Savchenko (Russia).
Alexei Dreev (Russia) and Loek van Wely (Netherlands) also scored 13/18 but just missed qualification. Top GMs like Dmitry Jakovenko, Sergei Karjakin and Ruslan Ponomariov, as well as rising star Le Quang Liem, also failed to qualify.
Just like last year the 2010 World Blitz Chess Championship will be held just after the Tal Memorial, in November in Moscow.
La 9ème édition de l'Open Aeroflot se déroule à Moscou du 8 au 19 Février 2010 dans les salons de l'hôtel Izmailovo (Gamma-Delta) qui se situe à 10 kilomètres du centre-ville de Moscou.
La 9ème édition de l'Open Aeroflot se déroule à Moscou du 8 au 19 Février 2010 dans les salons de l'hôtel Izmailovo (Gamma-Delta) qui se situe à 10 kilomètres du centre-ville de Moscou.
Anche quest'anno Caruana al "Rising Stars Vs. Experience"!
"Caccia" al Melody Amber 2011!
E' ufficiale: Fabiano Caruana giocherà anche quest'anno il prestigioso torneo "Rising Stars Vs. Experience", che si svolgerà come di consueto presso il NH Grand Hotel Kransnapolsky di Amsterdam dall'11 al 23 agosto.
Ottimo Caruana contro Svidler nel 2009: patta con il bianco e vittoria con il nero!
Lo scorso anno la sfida - che prevede lo scontro di 5 Rising Stars contro 5 Experience a doppio girone per un totale di 10 turni - fu vinta dalla squadra Experience per 27,5 a 22,5, mentre Fabiano si piazzò secondo nella classifica delle Rising stars con 5 su 10, preceduto dall'olandese Smeets, che totalizzò 6 punti.
Il Rising Stars Team 2009: Nakamura, Caruana, Smeets, Stellwagen, Hou Yifan
L'obiettivo di quest'anno è quindi il primo posto, che gli darebbe l'accesso al Melody Amber 2011! Ma non sarà affatto facile, perchè - anche se la lista è ancora incompleta - è già chiaro che quest'anno parteciperanno i migliori giovani talenti del pianeta: Nakamura, che lo scorso anno fece solo 4 punti ma al Corus ha fatto vedere grandi cose, So, secondo alcuni il più promettente talento mondiale e Giri, dominatore del Corus B 2010!
Caruana e Nakamura analizzano dopo la sfida nel Corus 2010, terminata patta ( foto Scacchierando)
Ecco la lista dei partecipanti confermati fino ad oggi (manca un nome per ciascuna squadra):
After finishing shared first at the Moscow Open, Le Quang Liem continues strongly at the Aeroflot Open. The Vietnamese grandmaster leads with 3/3 – he’s the only player left with a 100% score.
The 9th Aeroflot Open takes place February 9-17 2010 in Moscow, Russia. It’s one of the biggest tournaments (and certainly the strongest) of the calendar, and as always sponsored by airline company Aeroflot and organized by the Russian Chess Federation in cooperation with the Committee on Tourism of the Municipality of Moscow. The festival has the same prize fund as in 2009 amounting a total of 180,000 EUR (which includes the prizes for the World Blitz Qualification Tournament which will be held afterwards).
Time flies; it’s already five years ago that yours truly played in the event, which took place in the famous Hotel Russia next to Red Square for the last time in 2005 (the hotel, the biggest in the world, doesn’t exist anymore). Already for the fifth time, the Aeroflot Open is held outside the city centre, in hotel “Gamma – Delta” of the tourist complex “Izmailovo”, where almost all participants also stay.
The 'Delta' section of the hotel complex
As always, the players are divided by rating over four open tournaments (A1, A2, B and C). Naturally, the greatest interest is aroused by the A1 tournament, in which a rating above 2550 is required. Top seeds in this group are the two top GMs from France Vachier-Lagrave (2730) and last year’s winner Etienne Bacrot (2713). Their main rivals are Alexander Motylev (2697), Gata Kamsky (2693) and Andrei Volokitin (2692). Other big names include Ivan Cheparinov, Bu Xiangzhi, Alexander Khalifman, Gabriel Sargissian, Arkadij Naiditsch, Wesley So, Evgeny Bareev, Loek van Wely, Luke McShane, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hou Yifan, Marie Sebag and Nadezhda and Tatiana Kosintseva.
Hotel 'Gamma - Delta' of the tourist complex 'Izmailovo'
18-year-old Le Quang Liem became World Youth Champion Under-14 in July 2005, and continues to improve rapidly. In September last year he won the 4th Kolkata Open ahead of 13 higher-rated players and last week he finished shared first at the Moscow Open with an undefeated 7/9. At the Aeroflot Open he’s the only player who won his first three games.
Jianchao Zhou vs Vachier-Lagrave and next to them Le Quang Liem, who beat Bu Xiangzhi in round 3
Pubblichiamo oggi altre 37 di una quantità industriale di bellissime foto che un lettore appassionato ci ha gentilmente inviato da Wijk Aan Zee dove si è recentemente conclusa la 72esima edizione del supertorneo vinto dal norvegese Carlsen.
Inoltre potete vedere tutte le 250 foto in formato originaleQUI
relax e sorrisi, Anand e Van Wely e dietro Leko e Garcia
Caruana e Nakamura con un attento Ian Rogers che prende appunti e analisi
il "corridoio" dei top players
In analisi Grandelius vs Giri, Gupta, Bok (in piedi) e dietro Robson Vs Lie
Kramnik vs Karjakin, Nisipeanu vs Sutovsky e Ivanchuk che osserva
Robson vs Grandelius, del barbiere ancora non vi è traccia...
Short e Smeets, aplomb nordico
Vocaturo vs S. Swaminathan
Vocaturo ( ITA) - S. Swaminathan ( IND)
Van Wely vs Anand e due bellezze indiane
Carlsen, padre e figlio
le due star del Corus 2010 : Carlsen (vincitore torneo A) e Giri ( a sinistra, vincitore del torneo B)
Vocaturo vs Swaminathan , a fianco Yuri Garrett
Janis Nisii, per Torre e Cavallo
Bianca Muhren
un "pasciuto" Kramnik, soddisfatto per il buon torneo
Ian Rogers con Caruana, col padre di Carlsen che osserva
Il Direttore della celebre rivista olandese New in Chess, con Anish Giri
maxischermo, un altro momento importante del Corus 2010, la patta di Caruana con Carlsen
la conclusione del spettacolare attacco di Giri contro Wesley So, sul maxischermo
TORNEI COLLATERALI
Baldazzi ( torneo collaterale)
Billio Atto ( torneo collaterale)
Marano Salvatore ( torneo collaterale)
Ori ( a destra, torneo collaterale)
Adriano Testa ( torneo collaterale)
Massimo Testa
il pubblico segue con attenzione in sala analisi
relax e analisi nei pub e locali vicino la sede di gioco
Tutte le 250 Foto di Wijk Aan Zee sulla Gallery di Scacchierando QUI
Stellwagen wins 2009 Yearbook Novelty of the Year Award
Daniel Stellwagen has been voted the winner of the 2009 Yearbook Novelty of the Year by readers of the New In Chess website. The Dutch grandmaster earned 350 Euros for his novelty 24…Qf3 in the King’s Indian against Loek van Wely at the NH Chess Tournament in Amsterdam in August 2009.
In a poll at www.newinchess.com Stellwagen’s novelty got 52.8% of the votes – an absolute majority. Second, according to NIC’s readers, was Jonny Hector for his new idea of sacrificing a pawn for good play with black in the Slav, by playing 12…0-0-0 and 13…Nc5. 24.5% of the readers voted for Hector’s novelty. Vladimir Kramnik earned 17% of the votes for his novelty 17.Qh6 in the Vienna Gambit against Naiditsch in Dortmund, 2009, and Abhijeet Gupta came fourth with 5.7% of the votes for his 18…f5!? in the Marshall Gambit.
A raffle among the voters for the winning novelty earned Larry Rydel from Lander, Wyoming (USA) a one-year subscription to the Yearbook. The New In Chess staff congratulates Messrs Stellwagen and Rydel. Below you can find the relevant games.
The 9th Aeroflot Open takes place 8th February - 19th February 2010. This is the strongest open of the year. Players include: Bacrot, Bu Xiangzhi, Cheparinov, Motylev, Khalifman, Niaditsch, Nepomniatchi, Sargissian, Sasikiran, Smirin, Timofeev, Vachier-Lagrave, Van Wely and Zvjaginsev.
The 2010 Corus Chess Tournament, which was composed of three 14-player groups and took place on 16-31st January, had a thrilling finish with the last round deciding on who will win the main group A.
Magnus Carlsen sat for the final game with a half point advantage ahead of the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and tournament's earlier leader Alexei Shirov. Kramnik was the first to give up on the ambition to claim a full point after the last year winner Sergey Karjakin comfortably held equality with black pieces in the Queen's Indian defence.
Meanwhile, Carlsen tried to squeeze something out of the equal position against Fabiano Caruana, and Alexei Shirov jumped into the fire hoping to clear the way to Leinier Dominguez's King by sacrificing the material. The developments in this game provoked Carlsen to risk more while searching for a win and secured clear first place.
However, Shirov burned his clock to find precise moves which maintain the attack and consequently run into the horrible zeitnot. On the 30th move Dominguez erred but accompanied his move with a draw offer, which Shirov, with only few seconds remaining, accepted. Now Carlsen needed only half a point to become a sole winner, but Caruana was already pressing for a full point in the slightly better endgame. After the persistent defence, Carlsen took a well deserved draw and trophy for the first place.
Dutch champion Anish Giri battled his way through a higher rated opposition to win the Corus B and qualify for the next year's main event. He collected 9.0 points from 13 games and practically secured the first place even before the last round. The Chinese GM Li Chao B, top-seeded in the Corus C, also reserved the first place in advance, but he finished the tournament in style, with a win over the Netherland's GM Zhaoqin Peng.
Corus A final standings:
1. GM Magnus Carlsen, Norway - 8.5 2-3. GM Alexei Shirov, Spain and GM Vladimir Kramnik, Russia - 8.0 4-5. GM Viswanathan Anand, India and GM Hikaru Nakamura, USA - 7.5 6-7. GM Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukraine and GM Sergey Karjakin, Russia - 7.0 8-9. GM Leinier Dominguez Perez, Cuba and GM Peter Leko, Hungary - 6.5 10. GM Fabiano Caruana, Italy - 5.5 11-12. GM Loek van Wely, Netherlands and GM Nigel Short, England - 5.0 13-14. GM Jan Smeets, Netherlands and GM Sergey Tiviakov, Netherlands - 4.5
Corus B final standings:
1. GM Anish Giri, Netherlands - 9.0 2. GM Arkadij Naiditsch, Germany - 8.5 3. GM Ni Hua, China - 8.0 4-5. GM Wesley So, Philippines and GM Erwin l’Ami, Netherlands - 7.5 6-7. GM Parimarjan Negi, India and GM Pentala Harikrishna, India - 6.5 8-9. GM David Howell, England and GM Emil Sutovsky, Israel - 6.0 10-11. WGM Anna Muzychuk, Slovenia and GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Romania - 5.5 12-13. GM Tomi Nyback, Finland and GM Dimitri Reinderman, Netherlands - 5.0 14. GM Varuzhan Akobian, USA - 4.5
Corus C final standings:
1. GM Li Chao B, China - 10.0 2. GM Abhijeet Gupta, India - 8.5 3-4. GM Daniele Vocaturo, Italy and IM Robin van Kampen, Netherlands - 8.0 5-6. GM Ray Robson, USA and GM Robin Swinkels, Netherlands - 7.5 7. FM Benjamin Bok, Netherlands - 7.0 8-10. WGM Marya Muzychuk, Ukraine, FM Stefan Kuipers, Netherlands and IM Nils Grandelius, Sweden - 6.0 11. GM Kjetil Lie, Norway - 5.5 12. GM Zhaoqin Peng, Netherlands - 5.0 13-14. WGM Soumya Swaminathan, India and Sjoerd Plukkel, Netherlands - 3.0
Eine Runde vor Schluss sieht es beim Corus-Turnier in Wijk aan Zee tatsächlich
so aus, als könnte Magnus Carlsen sein erstes Turnier als Nummer Eins der
Welt gewinnen. Carlsen selbst spielte in Runde 12 Remis gegen Peter Leko, aber
Weltmeister Vishy Anand zeigte sich gegen Vladimir Kramnik hoch motiviert und
gewann eine schöne Partie. Da sich Alexei Shirov und Sergey Karjakin Remis
trennten, liegt Carlsen eine Runde vor Schluss mit 8 aus 12 alleine an der Spitze,
einen halben Punkt vor Kramnik und Shirov mit je 7,5. Für die zweite Gewinnpartie
des Tages in Gruppe A sorgte Jan Smeets, der Loek Van Welys Najdorf-Variante
in wenigen Zügen demontierte. In Gruppe B führt Anish Giri das Feld
mit 8,5 Punkten mit einem Punkt Vorsprung an und braucht nur ein Remis zum Turniersieg.
In Gruppe C steht der Sieger bereits sicher fest: mit 9 Punkten liegt der Chinese
Li Chao mit anderthalb Punkten Vorsprung uneinholbar vor seinen Konkurrenten.
Turnierseite... Tabellen, Partien, Bilder...
Magnus Carlsen has won Corus 2010. In the last round, he drew Fabio Caruana. Anish Giri has won the B group and Li Chao takes C. We’ll bring you the Corus Chess Tournament live, with regular updates.
The Corus Chess Tournament takes place January 16-31 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Next to hundreds of amateurs, three Grandmaster Groups (A, B and C) with 14 players each play a closed round-robin. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, and 30 seconds increment starting from move 1.
13:20 CET
The board is on fire in Short-Smeets, despite the fact that it started as a Petroff. (This tournament once more confirmed that it’s not just the opening that’s boring, but more what the players are doing with it!) It’s easy enough to follow the start: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 Bc5 5.Bc4 Nxf2 6.Bxf7+ (wow!) which was in fact mentioned in one of the our ChessVibes Openings issues. Our main line was 6…Kf8; in the game 6…Kxf7 7.Qd5+ Kg6 8.Bg5 got Smeets thinking.
Carlsen takes up Caruana’s Ruy Lopez carefully, in Steinitz style while Kramnik and Karjakin are in a theoretical Queen’s Indian. Negi can still spoil Giri’s tournament, but in another Petroff the 15-year-old tournament leader looks OK after the opening.
13:44 CET
Smeets has only just made a move after 8.Bg5! Meanwhile, Shirov must be happy with the Najdorf hybrid (mixing a Bg5 and Bc4 setup) that he has on the board: it looks perfect for playing for a win today. Nakamura will be pressing Tiviakov a bit with the pair of bishops, but Black’s position looks quite solid.
15:10 CET
Things are heating up in the A group! Kramnik decided to make a draw against Karjakin, securing a good tournament, and Ivanchuk and Leko have called it a day already as well. But what about the other games? Of course all attention in the press room is focused on Short-Smeets, a true Romantic classic! After 10.Nd2, the computer supposedly prefers 10…d6 11.Ndf3+ Kg4! 12.h3+ Kg3! with completely unclear consequences. Several prominent players have already said they’re rooting for Short, not so much because they like the Englishman personally but because they like the way he’s playing the game, reminding them of Morphy and Anderssen and taking us all back to the 19th century. Time trouble will probably decide the game, however.
Shirov and Carlsen, both playing White, are still trying to win, although objectively, Dominguez doesn’t seem to have much to complain about. Carlsen-Caruana is a mess, only time will tell who’s better here. In the meantime, Anish Giri has made a draw to make sure he’s promoting to the A Group next year: a formidable achievement from the young Dutchman!
16:05 CET
With the time control coming up, the tournament can be decided any minute now. Carlsen seems to have an inferior position against Caruana, and Shirov’s attacking chances seem very realistic all of a sudden, so who knows what kind of upsets we’ll see this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Loek van Wely drew his game with Anand even though the experts claimed he was lost at some point, so this is definitely a small Dutch success. The same can be said for Jan Smeets, who managed a draw as well. His opponent Short apparently couldn’t find the win (and neither could the computer) so he decided to repeat moves with his clock ticking away. A disappointing end of a very promising game but perhaps this round will go down in history anyway if Shirov would miraculously manage to win the tournament after all! We’re sure many chess fans are rooting for him very hard right now…
16:45 CET
Well, the tournament will definitely end in dramatic fashion after Shirov accepted a draw in a completely winning position! We have exclusive video footage of the last minutes of the game and we’ll bring it to you as soon as possible, but for now we should mention Shirov’s last seconds were ticking when he accepted the draw, obviously not having seen the move 31.b4!!
Immediately after the game, Karjakin came up to him to tell him about it, but Shirov still couldn’t believe it. However, it may just be his lucky day after all, since Carlsen’s position against Caruana looks very, very bad, probably losing. This would mean Kramnik, Shirov and Carlsen will share first prize. Who would have thought?
On a more quiet note, Chao added another win to his successful tournament; the Chinese beat Peng. Robin van Kampen is best Dutchman in this group. In B, Erwin L’Ami lost his first game of the tournament against Naiditsch.
17:26 CET
It’s official: Magnus Carlsen drew his game with Caruana and has won the 72nd Corus Chess Tournament with 8,5/13. Alexei Shirov and Vladimir Kramnik share 2nd place with 8 points. In a tight knight ending, Carlsen defended successfully and now has added the most prestigious chess tournament to his victory list. Carlsen and Giri will be doing the press conference and we’ll have coverage of that later on, of course.
17:55 CET
Carlsen says the knight ending against Caruana should be a draw, although both players thought that Black had great winning chances during the game. According to Carsen, his best game of the tournament was against Karjakin. He also said Shirov reacted ‘remarkably calm’ to the fact he failed to grab 1st place by playing 31.b4, and that Anish Giri played ‘great chess’ in this tournament , especially in his game against Nisipeanu.
A il N° 1 del ranking mondiale soffre per portare il mezzo punto a casa
Kramnik e Shirov non ne approfittano e Magnus si aggiudica il torneo
BVince Anish Giri
CVocaturo chiude in bellezza travolgendo la Swaminathan e arrivando 3°
Si svolge oggi l'ultimo turno della 72^ edizione di Corus Wijk aan Zee. Carlsen, che ha già vinto il gruppo A nel 2008 (ex-aequo con Aronian), è ad un passo dalla vittoria ma dovrà superare l'ostacolo Caruana. Kramnik e Shirov inseguono a mezzo punto, e dovranno affrontare rispettivamente Karjakin e Dominguez. Ridotte ad un lumicino le speranze di vittoria di Anand, distanziato di un punto e impegnato con van Wely. Il campione del mondo in carica, dopo un inizio di torneo anonimo (9 patte consecutive), ha voluto ristabilire le gerarchie superando negli ultimi turni Shirov e Kramnik, che sino a quel momento erano in testa alla classifica.
GM Carlsen, Magnus (NOR, 2810) - GM Caruana, Fabiano (ITA, 2675) [Megalovic] Corus Chess 2010, Gruppo A, XIII turno. Wijk aan Zee 31.10.2010
1. e4 e5 2. Cf3 Cc6 3. Ab5 a6 4. Aa4 Cf6 5. d3 Carlsen evita la linea principale della spagnola (0-0) per provare a sorprendere Fabiano 5..d6 6. c3 g6 7. Cbd2 Ag7 8. Cf1 0-0 9.Ag5 d5!? in questa linea poco usuale della spagnola si gioca più spesso h6 (Golod e Khalifman). La mossa del testo la troviamo nella Gvetadze (2411) - Shen (2440) 0-1 campionato mondiale a squadre femminile, Ekaterinburg 2007 10.De2 Novità dopo la prima lunga (15') riflessione del norvegese. La Gvetadze catturò in d5 10..Dd6 11.Axf6 Axf6 12.Ce3 Ce7! ottima mossa che difende il pd5 e da strada al pc7 che potrà così dedicarsi alla lotta per il centro 13.Ab3 c6 14.h4 Carlsen rompe gli indugi e si muove sul lato di re. Adesso Fabiano potrà reagire spingendo i pedoni sul lato di donna (a5 b5) o intensificando la lotta al centro (Ae6). La spinta d4 è meno attraente perché chiude la posizione e da più forza alla coppia dei Cavalli di Carlsen (Caruana ha mantenuto la coppia degli Alfieri) 14..Ae6 15.Cg5 momento psicologicamente critico. La mossa più logica sembra Ad7 per conservare la coppia degli alfieri, ma ci vuole sensibilità per rigiocare un pezzo appena mosso mentre i pezzi avversari si avvicinano al tuo re 15...Ad7 sensibilità che ovviamente non manca a Caruana 16.Td1 momento posizionalmente critico. La posizione si va delinenado (Carlsen non potrà arroccare lungo) ma è notevolmente complessa, di quelle che mettono in difficoltà l'amigo inhumano. Fabiano deve però evitare di ridursi con poco tempo sull'orologio (adesso ha 30' in meno di Carlsen) per non doversi poi trovare ad affrontare momenti tatticamente complessi in zeitnot. Adesso sembra indicata una normale mossa di sviluppo come Tad8 16..Tad8 17. Df3 mossa molto aggressiva alla Carlsen, che in caso di h6 lascia il ph4 in presa 17..h6 18.Cc4!? dxc4 19.dxc4 Cd5! splendida mossa che da un'ottima casa (e7) alla donna di Caruana, e il Cg5 di Carlsen è ancora in presa. Attenti a metterla sulla rissa con Fabiano 20.Ch3 il pedone h4 è in presa, ma ci vuole tanto tanto coraggio per prendelo 20.. h5 Caruana mira più in alto minacciando Ag4 21.Dg3 ora la donna difende il pedone h4, ma in g3 è un po' scomoda21..Ag4 minacciando De7 in caso di f6? 22.Td2 Axh4!? forzando il cambio delle donne ed entrando in un quasi-finale con una struttura pedonale e una disposizione dei propri pezzi migliore 23.Dxh4 Dgf3 Dxf6 Cxf6 25.Cg5 c5! fissando il pc4su case bianche 26.f3 Ac8 27. Aa4 Rg7 l'intenzione di Fabiano dovrebbe essere quella di cambiare il Cavallo con l'Alfiere (dopo Cg8 e f6, forzando il Cg5 ad andare in h3) 28.Txd8 Txd8 giocata per riservarsi la possibilità di andare con il Re sulla seconda traversa e spostare la torre sul lato di Donna , unico luogo della scacchiera dove il norvegese può tentare di costruirsi un controgioco che bilanci la maggioranza di Caruana sul lato di Re 29.b4?! sembra prematura, visto che permette Td3 29..Td3! 30.bxc5 Txc3 31.Rd2 Txc4 32.Ab3 Txc5 33.Cxf7 Carlsen ha preferito sacrificare un pedone pur di stravolgere il tema posizionale del finale e puntando a rifarsi sul pe5 di Fabiano. Riuscirà nel suo intento? nel frattempo Caruana ha 4' più incremento per arrivare al controllo della 40esima 33...a5 34.Tc1 Txc1 35.Rxc1 adesso l'amigo inhumano propone una linea che porta ad un finale di pedoni e Cavalli favorevole al nero, ma molto molto difficile da vedere in zeitnot 35..a4 36.Ac4 b5! 37.Cd6 bxc4 38.Cxc8 h4 l'ha giocata!! 39.Cb6 Ch5 40.Cxc4 recuperando il pedone ma ... 40.Rf6! la migliore e trovata in tremendo zeitnot. Non c'e' fretta di posizionare il Cavallo in f4 e si difende prima il pe5. I giocatori hanno raggiunto il controllo della quarantesima e Fabiano è l'unico che può giocare per vincere questo finale, visto che il pg2 dovrebbe cadere forzatamente 41.Rd2 Cf4 sembra incredibile, ma Ce3 non va per Rg4 seguita da Cxg2! e il cavallo non si può catturare, pena la promozione del pedone h 42.Re3 Cxg2+ 43.Rf2 a3 45.Cc4 Cd3+ 46. Rg2 Rg5 ritenendo di non poter giocare per vincere dopo la variante Cb4 47.Cxa3 Cxa2, Caruana decide di restituire il pedone provando un'altra strada che probabilmente prevede Rf4!? 47.Ca3 Rf4!? 48.Cc2 Cb2 il finale sembra comunque patto 49. Cb4 h3+ 50. Rxh3 Rxf3 51. Rh4! Rf4 52. Cd5+ Rxe4 53. Ce7 Rf3 54. Cxg6 e4 55. Ce5+ Rf4 56. Cg4 Ca4 1/2 una partita splendida da parte di Caruana e c'e' voluto il miglior Carlsen per portare a casa il mezzo punto!
Carlsen, al primo trionfo in solitario nel Corus A
12° turno: Anand si appresta ad infliggere una dura lezione alla russa di Kramnik
Corus A incontri del tredicesimo ed ultimo turno
L. van Wely - V. Anand
1/2
N. Short - J. Smeets
1/2
H. Nakamura - S. Tiviakov
M. Carlsen - F. Caruana
1/2
V. Ivanchuk - P. Leko
1/2
A. Shirov - L. Dominguez
1/2
V. Kramnik - S. Karjakin
1/2
Classifica Finale
1.
M. Carlsen
8½
2.
A. Shirov V. Kramnik
8
4.
V. Anand
7½
5.
S. Karjakin V. Ivanchuk
7
7.
H. Nakamura L. Dominguez P. Leko
6½
10.
F. Caruana
5½
11.
L. van Wely N. Short
5
13.
S. Tiviakov J. Smeets
4½
Corus B incontri del tredicesimo ed ultimo turno
A. Naiditsch - E. l'Ami
1-0
W. So - A. Muzychuk
½-½
V. Akobian - D. Howell
1-0
P. Negi - A. Giri
½-½
P. Harikrishna - T. Nyback
½-½
L. Nisipeanu - E. Sutovsky
½-½
D. Reinderman - Ni
½-½
Classifica Finale
1.
A. Giri
9
2.
A. Naiditsch
8½
3.
Ni
8
4.
W. So E. l'Ami
7½
6.
P. Negi P. Harikrishna
6½
8.
E. Sutovsky D. Howell
6
10.
A. Muzychuk L. Nisipeanu
5½
12.
T. Nyback D. Reinderman
5
14.
V. Akobian
4½
Corus C incontri del tredicesimo ed ultimo turno
D. Vocaturo - S. Swaminathan
1-0
S. Plukkel - B. Bok
½-½
L. Chao - Z. Peng
1-0
R. van Kampen - S. Kuipers
1-0
K. Lie - M. Muzychuk
0-1
N. Grandelius - R. Swinkels
0-1
A. Gupta - R. Robson
1-0
Classifica Finale
1.
L. Chao
10
2.
A. Gupta
8½
3.
D. Vocaturo R. van Kampen
8
5.
R. Robson R. Swinkels
7½
7.
B. Bok
7
8.
M. Muzychuk S. Kuipers N. Grandelius
6
11.
K. Lie
5½
12.
Z. Peng
5
13.
S. Plukkel S. Swaminathan
3
REGOLAMENTO
Tempo di riflessione: 100' x 40 mosse + 50' x 20 mosse + 15' per terminare la partita, con 30" di incremento per mossa dalla prima mossa.
Calendario: sono previsti 13 turni. Si gioca tutti i giorni alle ore 13.30, ad esclusione dell'ultimo turno, anticipato alle ore 12.30. Sono previsti tre giorni di riposo: 20, 25 e 28.
In caso di arrivo a pari punti, il Corusnon prevede alcun criterio dispareggio tecnico ma assegna la vittoria ex-aequo
Vladimir Kramnik RUS (2788) - Sergey Karjakin RUS (2720)
Le traditionnel tournoi d'échecs Corus se déroule du 16 au 31 Janvier 2010 à Wijk aan Zee, une station balnéaire de Hollande. Cette année encore, le plateau est particulièrement relevé, avec la présence de Magnus Carlsen (2810), Vishy Anand (2790) et Vladimir Kramnik (2788) parmi les 14 participants. Ce tournoi majeur - un catégorie 19 - affiche la moyenne Elo stratosphérique de 2719 points, identique à celle de l'édition 2009.
Round 12 of the Corus Chess Tournament live, with regular updates.
The Corus Chess Tournament takes place January 16-31 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Next to hundreds of amateurs, three Grandmaster Groups (A, B and C) with 14 players each play a closed round-robin. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, and 30 seconds increment starting from move 1.
15:09 CET
We have a winner already! The leader of the C grop, Li Chao, offered a draw to Stefan Kuipers after 9 moves in a Petroff, and the young Dutchman, who already scored an IM norm yesterday, had no reason to decline. The Chinese grandmaster has thus qualified for the B group next year as he’s on 9 points out of 12 games, and Robson, Vocaturo and Van Kampen have 7 points while still playing.
Leko and Carlsen (whose sister Ingrid, by the way, is currently playing in the amateur tournament in Gibraltar) repeated their game of the 2009 Tal Memorial until 12.0-0-0; today the Norwegian castled first before playing …Nc6. After one and a half hours of play they’ve reaced a rook ending that looks very drawish.
Yet again Van Wely, who remains faithful to his Najdorf, seems to have fallen into some nasty 6.Bg5 preparation, this time by compatriot Jan Smeets. Against Dominguez, Ivanchuk copied Kramnik’s set-up during the World Blitz in Moscow last year: the Scandinavian with …g6. Kramnik himself uses the Petroff against Anand; not much has happened there yet.
Shirov is in another theoretical Archangelsk Ruy Lopez against Karjakin; the two reached an ending in no time where White’s extra pawn doesn’t seem to be very relevant. Caruana-Nakamura is a Rauzer Sicilian that has some French tendencies while Short went for the rare 4…Nf6 Caro-Kann against Tiviakov.
16:17 CET
Two, not very surprsing draws: Leko-Carlsen – the rook ending was a draw indeed, and Karjakin-Shirov, which also remained equal. Also on the other boards it’s rather quiet so far, except for Smeets-Van Wely where White’s atack has already decided the game on move 23. “I like my Najdorf, but I don’t like my results. Apparently I mixed up something in the opening again,” Van Wely said after the game. We’ll have him and Jan in tonight’s Corus News video.
O, and strictly speaking we’ve been cheering too early for Li Chao, who can still be caught of course if he loses tomorrow. Sorry about that.
Dal 16 al 31 gennaio si svolge la 72^ edizione di Corus Wijk aan Zee. Scacchierando allestirà, per ogni turno, un articolo di rimando al sito ufficiale nel quale i lettori potranno seguire e commentare l'andamento degli incontri. Domani l'ultimo turno avrà inizio alle 12:30, con un'ora di anticipo sul consueto orario di inizio.
Corus A incontri del dodicesimo turno
V. Anand - V. Kramnik
1-0
S. Karjakin - A. Shirov
1/2
L. Dominguez - V. Ivanchuk
P. Leko - M. Carlsen
1/2
F. Caruana - H. Nakamura
S. Tiviakov - N. Short
1/2
J. Smeets - L. van Wely
1-0
Classifica dopo dodci turni (provvisoria)
1.
Carlsen
8
2.
Shirov Kramnik
7½
4.
Anand
7
5.
Karjakin
6½
6.
Nakamura Ivanchuk Leko
6
9.
Dominguez
5½
10.
Caruana van Wely Short Tiviakov
4½
14.
J. Smeets
4
Accoppiamenti del tredicesimo ed ultimo turno
L. van Wely - V. Anand
N. Short - J. Smeets
H. Nakamura - S. Tiviakov
M. Carlsen - F. Caruana
V. Ivanchuk - P. Leko
A. Shirov - L. Dominguez
V. Kramnik - S. Karjakin
Corus B incontri del dodicesimo turno
E. l'Ami - D. Reinderman
Ni - L. Nisipeanu
E. Sutovsky - P. Harikrishna
T. Nyback - P. Negi
A. Giri - V. Akobian
D. Howell - W. So
A. Muzychuk - A. Naiditsch
Classifica dopo undici turni
1.
A. Giri
8
2.
Ni E. l'Ami
7
4.
A. Naiditsch W. So
6½
6.
P. Negi
6
7.
D. Howell P. Harikrishna
5½
9.
E. Sutovsky A. Muzychuk
5
11.
L. Nisipeanu
4½
12.
D. Reinderman
4
13.
T. Nyback
3½
14.
V. Akobian
3
Accoppiamenti del tredicesimo ed ultimo
A. Naiditsch - E. l'Ami
W. So - A. Muzychuk
V. Akobian - D. Howell
P. Negi - A. Giri
P. Harikrishna - T. Nyback
L. Nisipeanu - E. Sutovsky
D. Reinderman - Ni
Corus C incontri del dodicesimo turno
S. Swaminathan - A. Gupta
R. Robson - N. Grandelius
R. Swinkels - K. Lie
M. Muzychuk - R. van Kampen
S. Kuipers - L. Chao
Z. Peng - S. Plukkel
B. Bok - D. Vocaturo
Classifica dopo undici turni
1.
L. Chao
8½
2.
R. Robson D. Vocaturo R. van Kampen
7
5.
A. Gupta
6½
6.
R. Swinkels
6
7.
S. Kuipers B. Bok N. Grandelius
5½
10.
Z. Peng K. Lie
5
12.
M. Muzychuk
4
13.
S. Swaminathan
3
14.
S. Plukkel
1½
Accoppiamenti del tredicesimo ed ultimo turno
D. Vocaturo - S. Swaminathan
S. Plukkel - B. Bok
L. Chao - Z. Peng
R. van Kampen - S. Kuipers
K. Lie - M. Muzychuk
N. Grandelius - R. Swinkels
A. Gupta - R. Robson
Tempo di riflessione: 100' x 40 mosse + 50' x 20 mosse + 15' per terminare la partita, con 30" di incremento per mossa dalla prima mossa.
Calendario: sono previsti 13 turni. Si gioca tutti i giorni alle ore 13.30, ad esclusione dell'ultimo turno, anticipato alle ore 12.30. Sono previsti tre giorni di riposo: 20, 25 e 28.
(The top two seeds--Sam Shankland at left and Ray Robson on right--share a lighter moment before the action begins. Photo from CCSCSL website.)
Junior Closed (invitational) beginning this weekend at the magnificent Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. Please join me in cheering for FM Steven Zierk (one IM norm) and IM Sam Shankland (two GM norms).
6 LUGLIO
?
On August 12, a week earlier than in previous years, the new edition of the NH Chess Tournament starts in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You can watch Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler, Peter Heine Nielsen, Loek van Wely and Ljubomir Ljubojevic (the Experience team) against Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Anish Giri and David Howell (the Rising Stars) with free admission and expert commentary at the Krasnapolsky Hotel in Amsterdam.
Every day the games will be commented on by experts in a nice and spacious commentary room to which the admission is free. These sessions start one hour after the start of the round, i.e. at 14.30 hrs, with the exception of the last round when the commentary will start at 13.00 hrs. IMs Hans Böhm, Jop Delemarre, Cor van Wijgerden, Gert Ligterink and GM Genna Sosonko will be doing the commentary (schedule 
Viktor Laznicka won this year’s World Open in Philadelphia. The Czech grandmaster was the only player to finish at 7.5/9, half a point more than Harikrishna, Smirin and McShane, and a point more than Van Wely, Gustafsson, Potkin and Lenderman.
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.
You’ll probably remember the 13-fold repetition in the game Bok-Van Wely at the Dutch Championship, two weeks ago. Afterwards Van Wely was fuming that his young opponent didn’t use the opportunity to get more experience in a real fight. As GM Luke McShane pointed out, something similar happened in a clock simul between Kasparov and the USA in 1988.
By drawing his last round game in four moves (or rather three and a half) Jan Smeets won the 2010 Dutch Championship. Zhaoqin Peng secured her 12th (!) Dutch title already one round before the end. This year’s event will mainly be remembered for its many peculiarities.
During his game against FM Benjamin Bok at the Dutch Championship in Eindhoven, GM Loek van Wely today was involved in an experiment to measure his stress levels. And indeed, in a game that saw a repetition of the position between moves 14 and 37, clear signs of arousel on the side of Van Wely were measured, but for an unexpected reason…
Today the Dutch Championship started at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. In the first round Nijboer beat Van Kampen and Bok upset Reinderman.
Chalons en Champagne, led by Loek van Wely and Anish Giri, Sunday won the French league. The team finished just ahead of Evry Grand Roque, who played with Eljanov, Gashimov, Svidler and Vachier-Lagrave. 
Loek van Wely won the Chicago Open tournament in Wheeling, Illinois. In the 9-round Swiss, the Dutch GM was the only player to score 7.5 points. Adams, Najer, Mikhalevski and Stocek ended shared second with 7 points. Interview with Van Wely added.
The biggest news this time is that Vassily Ivanchuk isn’t Ukraine’s number one player anymore, for the first time in years. Winning another 15 points in 20 games, on the May 2010 list Pavel Eljanov has reached a 9th spot, while Ivanchuk lost seven points and dropped slightly from 11 to 12.
We formulated ten questions related to Developing Chess Talent and every Monday we’ll ask them to an interesting personality in the chess world. In the book you can find the interview we had with Loek in 1996, let’s see how his views developed fourteen years ahead.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Thursday won the World Blitz Championship Preliminaries, held in Moscow after the Aeroflot Open. Together with Bu Xiangzhi, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedov, Savchenko and Grachev he qualified for the 2010 World Blitz Championship, to be held after the Tal Memorial later this year.
"Caccia" al Melody Amber 2011!
After finishing shared first at the Moscow Open, Le Quang Liem continues strongly at the Aeroflot Open. The Vietnamese grandmaster leads with 3/3 – he’s the only player left with a 100% score.
Daniel Stellwagen has been voted the winner of the 2009 Yearbook Novelty of the Year by readers of the New In Chess website. The Dutch grandmaster earned 350 Euros for his novelty 24…Qf3 in the King’s Indian against Loek van Wely at the NH Chess Tournament in Amsterdam in August 2009.
In a poll at 
The 2010 Corus Chess Tournament, which was composed of three 14-player groups and took place on 16-31st January, had a thrilling finish with the last round deciding on who will win the main group A.
Magnus Carlsen has won Corus 2010. In the last round, he drew Fabio Caruana. Anish Giri has won the B group and Li Chao takes C. We’ll bring you the Corus Chess Tournament live, with regular updates.
Round 12 of the Corus Chess Tournament live, with regular updates.
