chess hard

Best match chess

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:54:00 -0800

In yet another thrilling Blitz Death Match, Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi edged out Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirezby a final score of 16.5-13.5, pulling away just enough in the final portion of play (Bullet) to win by three games.

The first Death Match of the year was held last weekend, January 12th for those in the Western Hemisphere - January 13th for those in the East. The different time zones meant GM Ramirez was to play late into the night (the match ended at roughly 11pm local time in Dallas, Texas USA), while GM Negi was forced to wake up much earlier than usual, with the pre-match interviews starting before 7:00 AM in India.

The match started out with a bang, with both players trading blows in the "slow" stage of the match (5 minutes + 1 second increment). Here's a nice win by each of these powerhouse players:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be2 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.O-O d6 8.f4 Be7 9.Be3 Nc6 10.Kh1 O-O 11.Qe1 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Qg3 Bb7 14.a3 Rad8 15.Rae1 Rd7 16.Bd3 Bc6 17.Nd5 exd5 18.exd5 Bxd5 19.Rxe7 Rxe7 20.Bxf6 g6 21.f5 Rfe8 22.fxg6 fxg6 23.Bxg6 hxg6 24.Qxg6+ Rg7 25.Qxe8+

2013 SPICE Cup

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:09:00 -0800

Le Quang Liem winning the 2011 SPICE Cup

As well as the seven 2700+ players, there are 14 players rated between 2600 and 2699. Two names to look out for: we are very pleased to welcome back Artur Yusupov (or Jussupow, to give the German version of his name), who was a world championship contender of the 1980s, three times reaching the semi-final stage of the Candidates’ competition. Artur was coached and mentored by the legendary Mark Dvoretsky and he later became his regular writing collaborator, helping to produce a number of influential titles. Artur is a giant of the game, but very much a gentle giant, with a ready smile. The other name to look out for is Gawain Jones, the reigning British Champion, who recently added another success to his record when he won the traditionalHastings Masters tournament.
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Artur Yusupov	Gawain Jones

The first prize in the Masters is an impressive £20,000 but one of the distinctive features of the Gibraltar tournament is the long list of special women’s prizes which can be won in addition to the main Masters prizes. First prize for female competitors is set at £12,000 and there are more than £24,000 in subsidiary women’s prizes, so there is also an impressive field of top women players in competition.

To give you an idea, the 2004 Women’s World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova, who reached the final of the 2012 Women’s World Championship and was close to regaining her title, is at number 39 in the competitors and in sixth place amongst the women’s competitors. In rating order the top women competitors in 2013 are Anna Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze, Zhao Xue, Marie Sebag, Pia Cramling, Antoaneta Stefanova, Viktorija Cmilyte, Dronavalli Harika and Ju Wenjun. All of these are rated in excess of 2500, and all but Marie Sebag and Ju Wenjun have competed at Gibraltar before (in most cases, regularly).

Anna Muzychuk and Zhao Xue at the 2012 Ankara Women's Grand Prix

Of course, there are lots of other prizes for different rating categories, juniors, seniors, etc. One of them we will mention specifically is the special prize awarded by the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) to the best score made by one of their members. In the citation for this the ACP said “by establishing this prize, the ACP is proud to support its members' choice: earlier this year the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival won the “2012 Best Open Tournament of the Year" vote, run by the ACP.” To which we can only respond – thanks very much, ACP!

Live coverage

The Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival has always been at the forefront of webcasting technology, housed at the specially-built suite at the Caleta Hotel, and this year we have added to our commentary team. English GM Simon Williams will be with us again and he will be joined at the commentator’s desk by reigning US Women’s Champion Irina Krush.

news results

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:07:00 -0800

The 11th edition of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festivalstarts on Monday and promises to be as prestigious and exciting as the previous ten.

With ten tournaments now played, the Gibraltar Festival already has a bit of history behind it and maybe it’s time to consider a few stats and records. For example, let’s consider the most impressive victory in terms of score and rating performance: that goes to Ukrainian super-GMVassily Ivanchuk in 2011 when he ran up an amazing 9/10 score and was only 32 rating points shy of 3000. That’s right – a TPR of 2968!

As for the player with the most Gibraltar victories: that honour goes to England’s Nigel Short, who shared first with Vassilios Kotronias at the inaugural tournament in 2003, came back to win outright in 2004, and won last year’s tournament after a play-off with Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan. That’s three first places in only five visits to the Rock.

Vassily Ivanchuk and Nigel Short, Round 6 2011

Those seem like the most significant stats – and the good news is that Ivanchuk and Short are back to do battle in 2013. Nigel Short could consider himself more than a little unlucky not to have won a fourth Gibraltar title in 2011 when he scored 8½/10 for a rating performance of 2883: good enough in almost any other year but not when Hurricane Chucky is blowing through the Straits of Gibraltar! The sight of Chucky and Nigel cutting a swathe through the rest of the field that year is not one that those of us who witnessed it will forget.

Nigel’s consolation came in 2012 when he managed to finish level with Hou Yifan after the Chinese women’s world champion had recorded one of the finest performances (if not the best ever performance) by a female player in chess history, and then used his vast experience to overcome her in the play-off.
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Nigel Short beat Hou Yifan in a playoff in 2012

Nigel enjoys playing in Gibraltar and he remains one of the most formidable Swiss System specialists in the world, but in rating terms he is only eighth in the pecking order at the 2013 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters. Between number one Ivanchuk and number eight Short are some more big-name players. Like Nigel, Gata Kamsky is a former world championship finalist and he has played in Gibraltar before though he has still to win the title.

25-year-old Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek is third in rating order on 2723. Radoslaw is perhaps not as well known as he might be but this might almost be deliberate: he is one of Vishy Anand’s regular helpers at world championship matches. He is making his first appearance at Gibraltar.
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Gata Kamsky	Radoslaw Wojtaszek

Mickey Adams is the fourth highest rated player playing in Gibraltar. He is a former winner, having tied with eight(!) others on 7½/10 in 2010 and then won the play-off. Mickey comes to Gibraltar on the crest of a wave (well, not literally – I expect he is flying in like everyone else). At the recent London Classic he finished an excellent third equal after Carlsen and Kramnik, and with a win against world champion Vishy Anand to his credit. In the process he wrested back his status as England’s highest rated player from Luke McShane. At 2725 he is the only English player currently above the elite 2700 threshold. This will be his fifth Gibraltar tournament. Mickey almost personifies the Rock: he has only lost one game of the 39 classical games he has played here.
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Mickey Adams at the 2012 London Chess Classic

22-year-old French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is making his third visit to Gibraltar. In 2009 he scored what was for him a slightly below par 6½/10 and then 6/10 last year, so he will be looking to make it third time lucky. At 2713 he is France’s top rated player.
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Maxime Vachier-Lagrave winning the 2012 SPICE Cup

Some last-minute recruitment on the part of our tournament director secured the services of another very strong and interesting 2700+ player – Czech GM David Navara. 27-year-old David is a universally popular player who is definitely going to be a big hit with the Gibraltar audience. David has played several sponsored matches in Prague against strong opposition and has match wins against Nigel Short and Sergei Movsesian to his credit.
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Last minute recruit GM David Navara, at the 2011 World Cup

Alexei Shirov needs no little introduction. He could and should have had a match for the world title with Garry Kasparov in the late 1990s when he was one of the best four or five players in the world but lack of financial backing meant the match was never held and later he had to stand by and watch Vladimir Kramnik – the player whom he had beaten to earn the shot at Kasparov – not only get an invitation to a title match but win it. Since then Shirov has become one of the world’s most prolific players, playing and winning a whole host of events. He has been to Gibraltar three times, in 2005, 2006 and 2012, with scores of 7½/10 (five-way tie for first), 7/10 and 6½/10. Alexei represented Spain for many years but has recently re-registered for his native Latvia.
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Alexei Shirov at the 2011 Euro Team Championships

Le Quang Liem is the last of the Gibraltar line-up’s eight players rated in excess of 2700 on the January 2013 FIDE List. The 21-year-old Vietnamese GM burst onto the elite scene in the space of a few months in 2009/2010 when he first won the annual Kolkata Tournament in India, and then two prestigious tournaments in Russia, the Aeroflot and the Moscow Open. The Aeroflot success secured him an invitation to the 2010 Dortmund tournament where he proved his earlier victories were not flukes by securing second place behind Ponomariov but ahead of Kramnik. This is his second Gibraltar tournament: he scored 7/10 last year.

chess nation

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:05:00 -0800

chess history

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:01:00 -0800

‘The following story, no less delightful for probably being apochryphal [sic], conveys Chotimirsky’s qualities admirably: in the St Petersburg tournament of 1909, Chotimirsky defeated both Emanuel Lasker and Rubinstein .. and managed to come 13th in a field of 19. Regarding his win against Lasker, it is said that he infuriated the world champion by pretending to be deeply absorbed in a Japanese translation of Also Sprach Zarathustra during their game.’

The article was reproduced in Reinfeld’s The Treasury of Chess Lore (New York, 1951); see page 161.
The anecdote also appeared (‘There is a story to the effect that ...’, but with no mention of Japanese) on page 131 of another Reinfeld book, The Great Chess Masters and Their Games (New York, 1952). And again on page 82 of a further Reinfeld work, How to Play Winning Chess (New York, 1962):

‘The story is told that during the course of his game with Emanuel Lasker (the world champion) in the St Petersburg tournament of 1909, Chotimirsky read a Japanese translation of Thus Spake Zarathustra. Legend has it that the world champion was so incensed at the young man’s studied insolence that he lost the game. Whatever the cause of his defeat, Lasker was singularly reticent about this encounter.’

Two or three years later Lasker made some remarks about Dus-Chotimirsky in an item in the New YorkEvening Post, as related on page 67 of the March 1912 American Chess Bulletin, but there was no reference to their game in St Petersburg or to the episode so flimsily recounted by Reinfeld (‘It is said that ...’, ‘There is a story to the effect that ...’, ‘The story is told that ...’ and ‘Legend has it that ...’).

online chess

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:58:00 -0800

Chigorin could have forced mate with 24...Rh1+ 25 Nxh1 Bh2+, etc., but was Chernev correct to state that the position had ‘very often’ been published as a brilliant win by Chigorin? Citations are sought.
‘This is a worthy candidate for the title of Greatest Combination That Was Never Played’, suggested Andy Soltis on page 12 of the December 1990 Chess Life. Apart from writing that the game ended with perpetual check, he had an incorrect venue (Berlin) twice and an incorrect date (1987) once. Berlin was also given in various editions of Renaud and Kahn’s book L’art de faire mat (The Art of the Checkmate).
Who discovered the missed win? Below is one claim, on page 210 of The Art of Chess by James Mason (London, 1905),

Finally, the ...Rh1+ brilliancy was indeed played, although only in a subsequent display of living chess. This report comes from pages 262-263 of the July 1897 BCM:

‘An extraordinary exhibition of chess with living pieces took place at St Petersburg on 5 June, which drew an immense crowd to the velodrome of the St Petersburg Cycling Club. The game selected to be played was the 13th of the match between Chigorin and Schiffers, in which, as we have already shown, the former at his 23rd move had a beautiful mate on in five moves. It was intended to illustrate the episode in the Hungarian uprising of 1849 when the dictator Georgey [Görgey], after his unfortunate battle at Világos, was taken prisoner, and surrendered to the Russians, and more or less the costumes adopted called to mind the nationalists of both sides. The large open space in the velodrome was laid out as a gigantic chess board, whose squares were clearly distinguished by sprinkled white sand and dark material. Its size was about 5,000 square metres, and each piece was represented by from three to eight persons. Thus, the king and queen were on horseback, surrounded by servants, pages and warriors. Each knight was represented by three armed riders; the bishops (as we so absurdly call them) consisted of six young ladies clothed in tasteful bright and dark red dresses; the castles were nearly ten feet high, and on their ramparts were cannons and troops; finally, each pawn was embodied in five foot-soldiers. This combination of persons for each piece must have been somewhat confusing, but all seems to have gone off well. The conductors were Chigorin and Schiffers, the former commanding the Russian and the latter the Hungarian army. Each move was heralded by a horn signal, which set the respective divisions of forces in motion.’

chess en ligne

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:54:00 -0800

that according to a report by Monvoisin in La Liberté, 26 September 1927 (reproduced on pages 722-723 of the September 1927 L’Echiquier) Polikier’s forename was Miroslar. He appeared, with Alekhine, in a group photograph on page 345 of the August 1975 BCM; see too page 544 of the December 1975 issue. When Chéron v Polikier was given on page 21 of 1000 Best Short Games of Chess (New York, 1955) by Irving Chernev it was unimpressively introduced as follows:

‘The story goes that when Monsieur Polikier lost this game, he swore never to play another game of chess again as long as he lived!’

It was by no means the end of his playing career.

formation chess

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:51:00 -0800

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Nbd7 5 e3 Be7 6 Nf3 O-O 7 Qc2 c6 8 a3 dxc4 9 Bxc4 Nd5 10 Bxe7 Qxe7 11 Ne4 N5f6 12 Bd3 Nxe4 13 Bxe4 h6 14 O-O e5 15 Rfe1 Qf6 16 Rad1 exd4 17 exd4 Nb6 18 Ne5 Be6 19 Re3 Rad8 20 Rf3 Qh4 21 g3 Qh5 22 h4 Bg4 23 Re1 Nd5 24 Rxf7 Rxf7 25 Bh7+ Kh8 26 Bg6 Qxe5 27 dxe5 Rff8 28 e6 Ne7 29 Bf7 Rd4 30 Qc5 Rfd8 31 Qxe7 Bf3 32 Qxd8+ Resigns.
This game was won by Salo Flohr against Karel Vaněk in a team match in Brno between Prague and Brno on 3 November 1929. He annotated it on pages 182-183 of the December 1929 Československý Šach, and a more detailed set of notes was provided by Tartakower on pages 9-11 of the January 1930 issue of Ajedrez

chess source

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:50:00 -0800

USA (exact occasion?)
1 f4 f5 2 e4 fxe4 3 f5 Nf6 4 Be2 h5 5 Nh3 d5 6 O-O Qd6 7 Nf4 Bxf5 8 Nxh5 Bg6 9 Nxf6+ exf6 10 h3 Qg3 11 Bg4 Bc5+ 12 Kh1 Bd6 13 Kg1 Qh2+ 14 Kf2 f5 15 Be2 and Black gave mate in seven. However, our computer offers 15…e3+ 16 Kxe3 Qe5+ and mate in three more moves.

Source: Deutsche Schachzeitung, June 1872, page 167.
Thomas Niessen (Aachen, Germany) now notes that the game was given in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletinon 22 July 1870. Reichhelm’s column stated that it was played at the Schu[e]tzen Halle in Philadelphia, and he called the opening the ‘Gambit Philadelphienne’ [sic].
Our correspondent adds that on 15 July 1870 the column in the Bulletin had published, without details of the occasion, another game with the same opening, the players being Huch and Bode:
1 f4 f5 2 e4 fxe4 3 f5 Nf6 4 Be2 d5 5 Bh5+ Nxh5 6 Qxh5+ Kd7 7 Nc3 c6 8 b4 b5 9 a4 Ba6 10 Nge2 e6 11 fxe6+ Kxe6 12 Nd4+ Ke7 13 O-O bxa4

Mate in 2 moves

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:47:00 -0800

7911. Two pawns (C.N. 7901)

White to move and draw

We took this composition from page 30 of the February 1942 Schweizerische Schachzeitung. The solution was on page 129 of the August 1942 issue: 1 g4+ Kf6 2 g5+ Ke7 3 gxh6 Nf6 4 h7 Re8 5 h8(Q).

The magazine stated that the composer was J. Jonas of Zurich and that the original source was the National-Zeitung, 1939. Richard Forster (Zurich) has provided cuttings from that newspaper (2 November and 23 November 1939). The second of these reported that the black bishop at h5 needed to be on e2 for the sake of soundness (since otherwise, as our correspondent points out, 1 g4+ Kg5 2 gxh5 offers White no prospect of stalemate).

7912. My 61 Memorable Games

Via Frederic Friedel (Hamburg, Germany) we learn that Garðar Sverrisson, who may be regarded as Fischer’s closest confidant in Iceland, states that Fischer would never have considered bringing out a book such as My 61 Memorable Games without consulting him. Mr Sverrisson writes:

‘When I told Bobby about the forgery in early December 2007 he just became sad and disappointed, exactly as he used to react when he learned about slander or a similar betrayal. At that time his health was deteriorating, and we had other things to worry about than who might be behind this book.

When we discussed the possibility of having My 60 Memorable Games republished he was very much against using any improvements of his own or others (including computers). And changing the notation from the descriptive to the algebraic was out of the question.

We never saw My 61 Memorable Games, and I still have not seen it.’

7913. Rosanes v Anderssen

From Fabrizio Zavatarelli (Milan, Italy):

‘Well-known classics can be surprisingly mysterious. A particular case is the game between J. Rosanes and A. Anderssen (Breslau, 1863), which seems to have appeared in books before it was published in magazines:

1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Nf3 g5 4 h4 g4 5 Ne5 Nf6 6 Bc4 d5 7 exd5 Bd6 8 d4 Nh5 9 Bb5+ c6 10 dxc6 bxc6 11 Nxc6 Nxc6 12 Bxc6+ Kf8 13 Bxa8 Ng3 14 Rh2 Bf5 15 Bd5 Kg7 16 Nc3 Re8+ 17 Kf2 Qb6 18 Na4 Qa6 19 Nc3 Be5 20 a4

We took this composition from page 30 of the February 1942 Schweizerische Schachzeitung. The solution was on page 129 of the August 1942 issue: 1 g4+ Kf6 2 g5+ Ke7 3 gxh6 Nf6 4 h7 Re8 5 h8(Q).

The magazine stated that the composer was J. Jonas of Zurich and that the original source was the National-Zeitung, 1939. Richard Forster (Zurich) has provided cuttings from that newspaper (2 November and 23 November 1939). The second of these reported that the black bishop at h5 needed to be on e2 for the sake of soundness (since otherwise, as our correspondent points out, 1 g4+ Kg5 2 gxh5 offers White no prospect of stalemate).

Michael Clarke Duncan and chess

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:43:00 -0800

chess free

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:40:00 -0800

This event will continue the tradition of great chess tournaments that the well-known southern German spa town has established over the last two centuries.

Baden-Baden is also renowned in the chess world as the home of OSG Baden-Baden, the most successful German club since the 1990s. In the same period we set up the Baden-Baden Chess Centre to lay the foundations for making Baden-Baden into an important centre for the European chess community.

The main event of the chess fortnight will be the Baden-Baden GRENKE Chess Classic, a supertournament providing three top German players with the chance to face three established world class players on their own soil.

The tournament is scheduled for 7-17 February 2013. The venue will be the historic halls of Kulturhaus LA8 (House of Culture) in the centre of Baden-Baden. The games will start daily at 3 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT) except for the last day when they start at 1 p.m. (12 p.m. GMT).

The main event will be complemented by several side tournaments – each limited to 80 players:

Chess Classic ELO Open (9 rounds, 9 days, only for players Elo 1800+ rated) 7 – 15 Feb 2013
Chess Classic Carnival (6 rounds, 3 days, open to all) 9 – 11 Feb 2013
Chess Classic Holiday (6 rounds, 3 days, open to all) 14 – 16 Feb 2013

final ranking chess 2013

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:29:00 -0800

Top final ranking (after 11 rounds)

Rk.	Title	Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	FM	Cheng Bobby	AUS	2377	9.5	76.5	63.0	67.25
2	GM	Zhao Zong-Yuan	AUS	2537	8.5	79.0	64.5	59.25
3	IM	Ly Moulthun	AUS	2417	8.5	78.0	64.0	59.25
4	IM	Illingworth Max	AUS	2408	8.5	76.5	62.5	56.25
5	WGM	Sukandar Irine Kharisma	INA	2362	8.0	72.0	58.5	49.75
6	FM	Canfell Gregory	AUS	2360	8.0	67.5	55.0	49.00
7	GM	Khenkin Igor	GER	2659	7.5	82.0	67.5	52.50
8	GM	Johansen Darryl K.	AUS	2441	7.5	75.0	61.5	49.25
9	IM	Tao Trevor	AUS	2440	7.5	73.0	59.0	46.75
10		Choong Yita	AUS	2161	7.5	72.5	59.5	47.00
11	WFM	Sengeravdan Otgonjargal	MGL	2153	7.5	68.0	55.5	41.50
12	FM	Ikeda Junta	AUS	2345	7.0	79.0	65.5	45.00
13	IM	Brown Andrew	AUS	2261	7.0	78.5	64.5	47.50
14	FM	Nakauchi Gene	AUS	2191	7.0	76.5	62.0	44.25
15		Morris Michael	AUS	2168	7.0	75.0	61.5	43.00
16	IM	Xie George Wendi	AUS	2382	7.0	73.0	60.0	44.00
17	IM	Solomon Stephen J.	AUS	2410	7.0	70.5	58.5	43.25
18		Zelesco Karl	AUS	2143	7.0	69.0	56.5	39.00
19		Chen Pengyu	AUS	2121	7.0	67.5	56.0	39.75
20		Tan Justin	AUS	2284	7.0	67.0	56.0	41.75
21		Charles Gareth	AUS	2159	7.0	66.5	53.5	39.00
22	FM	Wallis Christopher	AUS	2283	7.0	64.0	52.5	39.00
23		Atzmon-Simon Barak	ISR	2092	7.0	61.5	50.0	37.50

chess online

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:24:00 -0800

Soon after, several players in Group B joined the blunderfest. Nils Grandelius completely overlooked 13...Ne4? 14.Qxe5! against Predrag Nikolic, but Arkadij Naiditsch topped them all with the inexplicable 21...Bxh5? 22.Bxh5 handing the point to Robin

Round 10 and 11 saw the Cheng Express do what’s best and win. In round ten he beat Ikeda to take the title a full point ahead of his closest rivals. Ly had a good win against Johansen and Khenkin won against Li Zuhao. Round 11 Ly and Cheng held for a 19 move draw which secured him the title. occasionally upset by blunders that only can be explained in one way: Wijk aan Zee fatigue. The first player to drop a piece was Hou Yifan, who blundered a piece in a worse endgame against Levon Aronian, chasing a perpetual check that didn't exist. Instead of recapturing the e5-pawn, Black played 25...Rxa2? only to realize that after 26.Kb1 Rxf2 27.exd6 Rb7 28.Ka1 the intended 28...Rb6 with the idea Ra6 doesn't work after 29.Rd2.

Cheng had received a half-point bye in the first round, and conceded only one draw to GM Zhao in the next nine games. His 90% result from the ten games played gave him a 2660 tournament performance rating. He and Ikeda scored IM norms. Cheng didn't have a chance to play the third grandmaster in the tournament, so he missed the GM norm his performance would otherwise have given him.

Round 8 - Official website report
While a fierce snow storm battered Wijk aan Zee, inside De Moriaan the audience was treated to a quiet round

Olympics 2012

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:18:00 -0800

Round 1 saw IM Trevor Tao and FM Bobby Cheng taking byes. Most of the other games went according to rating, with the exception of WGM Irine Sukandar drawing to Benjamin Encel. Also FMs Gregory Canfell and Christopher Wallis lost in the first round.
Round 2 saw veteran GM Darryl Johansen drawing to David Webster, FM Tristan Boyd losing to George Lester. Otherwise another round going to ratings. So only two round gone and six out of the top ten seeds were on the perfect 2/2.

Round 3 was the battle of the Georges. That’s right: George Lester held IM George Xie to a draw. Lester was having a great start to the tournament, beating FM Boyd the previous round and now drawing with the IM. George Xie already has his three GM norms, but just needs the rating, the hardest thing to do. Out of the big guns, only five players were on 3/3.
Round 4 was breaking the deadlock round. Draws galore except one IM had different ideas. This was none other than IM Max Illingworth. While the top four boards had draws, he decided it was time to keep his winning streak up and take the sole lead with 4/4 with a win over Michael Morris. Former World under 12 champion, FM Bobby Cheng, won against the recent edition to the IM club, Trevor Tao. FM Canfell fell to the hands of George Lester.

Olympiad members playing with three from Australia, one from Mongolia and one from Germany. The three Australians were Moulthun Ly, Stephen Solomon and Max Illingworth, all IM’s and seeded 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.

The 24th seed of the tournament was a member of the Mongolian Women’s Olympiad, Otgoljargal Sengeravdan. With 19 titled players in the event consisting of three GMs, six IMs, seven FMs, one WGM and two WFMs.

Super Bowl 2013

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:49:00 -0800

Amanda Todd

Whitney Houston

Paul Ryan

Kate Middleton

One Direction

Morgan Freeman

opinings

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:09:00 -0800

facebook applications

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:27:00 -0800

Love chess? Love Facebook? Well, Chess.com has finally fully arrived on Facebook! Today we launched our new Facebook Chess app. We had the most popular chess app on Facebook already that was originally built by Jamie Holding, but we decided to bring even more features to the app and bring the development in-house.

If you are on Facebook you might want to check it out:
Play Chess.com on Facebook
Keep in mind that it only has a small fraction of the the features found on Chess.com, but it's really cool to be able to play with your buddies who are on Facebook and won't necessarily want to become Chess.com members. Some people ask if we can have it so that you can play games interchangably on Chess.com and Facebook

The short answer is NO - it is technically nearly impossible at this time :) Sorry! If you play on both, they are separate.

For those of you who want to just keep playing chess here on Chess.com but want to help support Chess.com, become a Chess.com fan on Facebook!

Become a Chess.com Facebook Fan
Thanks again for all of your support. We're working hard to bring a great chess experience to as many people around the world as we can. - The Chess.com Team

Applications iphone

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:19:00 -0800

Are you tired of playing chess games that look like they were designed for a Commodore 64 instead of an iPhone? We've got the antidote for you. Chess Free is the best chess game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it's free!

Chess Free supports both 1 player and 2 player gameplay, so you can play against friends or test your skills against a challenging computer opponent.

Chess Free offers a host of exciting features, including:

* Great graphics and exciting sound effects
* Configurable player names and score tracking
* Outstanding AI engine with configurable difficulty level
* Board rotation for two player games
* Undo function
* Automatic save when you get a phone call or exit the application

Chess Free is supported by unobtrusive banner advertising. Chess Premium is the same great app without the ads

Only complaint would be not being able to play against others. Still, fun app, actually fixes the bugs as soon as possible, and of course, it's just old school chess

Application android chess

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:14:00 -0800

The best Android chess apps incorporate powerful chess engines to provide a challenging game of chess for players. The most advanced chess software for Android also sports additional features like a nifty tutorial mode, undo move option, chess notations, game clocks and the names of opening moves.

There’s always an element of fun and strategy in playing a game of chess, whether on a computer or a gaming console. The advent of powerful mobile OS platforms like Android has made it possible for players to play a game of chess on a mobile device. Several Android chess apps for your mobile device provide the same level of complexity offered by a computer program. Built on popular chess engines like Stockfish 1.91 and Shredder, these chess apps are as good as any standard computer chess program. Here’s a roundup of some of the best chess apps for your Android device

Most beginner chess players look for additional features like suggest a move, tutorials and other aspects that help them know the advantages and drawbacks of each chess piece. Chess for Android is one of those Android chess apps that provides such features. Along with suggest a move feature, the program also features an auto-play mode where the AI plays against itself. Besides these nifty features, there are also different levels of complexity to suit beginner and advanced chess players.

Chess for Android offers three control levels. Players can use the trackball, keyboard or the touchscreen to move chess pieces. They can also undo moves up to eight tiles in case there’s an error in strategy. The app features the algebraic chess notation and records every move made by the computer and the player. The chess board and piece artwork is quite reminiscent of the ones that you may have seen in newspaper dailies and chess magazines. With straightforward controls and clear graphics, this nifty app is a must-have for chess fanatics.Most beginner chess players look for additional features like suggest a move, tutorials and other aspects that help them know the advantages and drawbacks of each chess piece. Chess for Android is one of those Android chess apps that provides such features. Along with suggest a move feature, the program also features an auto-play mode where the AI plays against itself. Besides these nifty features, there are also different levels of complexity to suit beginner and advanced chess players.

Chess for Android offers three control levels. Players can use the trackball, keyboard or the touchscreen to move chess pieces. They can also undo moves up to eight tiles in case there’s an error in strategy. The app features the algebraic chess notation and records every move made by the computer and the player. The chess board and piece artwork is quite reminiscent of the ones that you may have seen in newspaper dailies and chess magazines. With straightforward controls and clear graphics, this nifty app is a must-have for chess fanatics.

The best Android chess apps incorporate world-famous chess engines to provide a complex and challenging game of chess. However, most of them are paid apps. Chess Free is one of the very few free chess programs that use a state-of-the-art chess engine. It incorporates the Treebeard chess engine, which is also used by MSN Chess. There are 10 difficulty levels to choose from, which gives plenty of options for the beginner and advanced players to select the right level of complexity for a perfect match with the AI. Players can also play against each other with the program’s nifty 2-player hot seat feature.

Chess Free features up to three chess boards and chess pieces of different designs. This makes a game of chess much more interesting and engaging. The game has algebraic notation to record all chess moves as well as other stats to make the game more interesting. Chess Free is ad-supported, so make sure you have an Internet connection to activate the game.

The best way to enjoy a game of chess on your Android cell phone is to play the tournament mode, in which game clocks are key factors in determining the outcome. Priced at $4.66, Chess Genius is one of those Android chess apps that feature chess clocks to make the game of chess more exciting and challenging. There are over thirty levels of complexity. However, you can certainly get the whiff of challenging gameplay at the beginning levels. A variety of features such as “Hint” and “Next Best Move” eases the stress levels of beginner chess players by providing helpful tutorials in the middle of the game. Advanced chess players always look for the names of opening chess moves in every game, and Chess Genius offers this feature too.

The visuals are impressive and feature different colored chess boards with well-designed pieces, including the ever-popular Modern and Classic chess sets designed by Bryan Whitby. Overall, a perfect chess app if you are looking for a variety of features and difficulty levels.

Every chess player knows the super powerful Stockfish chess engine, which is one of the most popular chess programs after Rybka. Well, you can have that same chess engine on your Android mobile phone, courtesy of DroidFish. This free application provides greater levels of complexity which will certainly suit advanced players. However, make sure that your phone is equipped with a powerful processor to enable deeper searches and devise a strategy to give a challenging game of chess.

The DroidFish Chess application for Android sports a variety of features, including the names of opening moves, chess clocks in tournament mode and a special analyze mode, which helps players check their moves and determine their move mistakes. With so many features and a powerful chess engine, DroidFish will certainly appeal to advanced chess players.

Developed by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen in 1993, Shredder is one of the most famous commercial chess engines used by most chess software programs. Having won the Microcomputer Chess Championship in 1996, Shredder is known to offer a super-challenging game of chess. With the advent of Android, this program is available for several Android devices.

Priced around $7.88, Shredder Chess app has several excellent features including a nifty rating system that rates your play and an in-game chess coach for beginners. There are several levels to choose from and adjust the gameplay strength according to your logic levels. To facilitate learning chess, there are additional chess puzzles to solve. Shredder Chess is visually quite impressive as well and is one of the best Android chess apps right now.

The Tounament next match round 1

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:52:00 -0800

Despite a very sharp line of the French Defence, the split point between World Champion Viswanathan Anand and American Champion Hikaru Nakamura was much less exciting, as after just a few original moves game ended quickly.

Match

[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2013.01.12"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Nakamura,Hi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[Chesscat "CHESSCAT 1.0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[Eventdate "2013.01.12"]
[Plycount "56"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.Bb5 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 a6 13.Bxd7+ Bxd7 14.Rb3 Qe7 15.Rxb7 Qh4+ 16.Bf2 Qd8 17.Bb6 Qc8 18.Rc7 Qd8 19.Qd4 Rc8 20.Rxc8 Qxc8 21.O-O Qc6 22.Rb1 Be7 23.Qe3 O-O 24.Bd4 Rc8 25.Rb6 Qc4 26.Rb7 Qc6 27.Rb6 Qc4 28.Rb7 Qc6
1/2-1/2

Tournament next match round 1

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:45:00 -0800

Also exciting was the battle in a sharp King's Indian Defence between last year's winner Levon Aronian and Wijk aan Zee Dinosaur Loek van Wely that soon left theoretically well-throdden paths. Van Wely picked up the gauntlet grabbing a b-pawn left undefended and then offering his queen for a rook and a minor piece a few moves later. This could have led to an unclear position, but Aronian refused to take the 'bait' with 17.Qc2 cxd5 18.Nb6 Ra6 19.Rad1 and instead went for a more positional approach with 17.Nb6 Ra6 18.Rb1. The pressure was on, but the Dutchman's stubborn defence kept the door shut.

Match

[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2013.01.12"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Aronian,L"]
[Black "Van Wely,L"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2679"]
[Chesscat "CHESSCAT 1.0"]
[ECO "E90"]
[Eventdate "2013.01.12"]
[Plycount "105"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.h3 e5 7.d5 Nh5 8.g3 a5 9.Nh2 Na6 10.Be2 Nf6 11.h4 Nc5 12.Bf3 c6 13.Be3 Qb6 14.O-O Qxb2 15.Bxc5 dxc5 16.Na4 Qd4 17.Nb6 Ra6 18.Rb1 Bh3 19.Re1 Qxd1 20.Bxd1 h5 21.Nf3 Bg4 22.Ng5 Bxd1 23.Rexd1 a4 24.dxc6 bxc6 25.Rd6 Rb8 26.Rxc6 Nd7 27.Rc8+ Rxc8 28.Nxc8 f6 29.Rb7 fxg5 30.Rxd7 gxh4 31.Ne7+ Kh7 32.gxh4 Rb6 33.Nd5 Rb2 34.Nf6+ Kh6 35.Ne8 Bh8 36.a3 Rb3 37.Nd6 Rxa3 38.Nf7+ Kg7 39.Ng5+ Kg8 40.Rd8+ Kg7 41.Rc8 Ra1+ 42.Kg2 a3 43.Rxc5 a2 44.Ra5 Kf8 45.c5 Bf6 46.Ra8+ Ke7 47.Ra7+ Ke8 48.c6 Bxg5 49.hxg5 Rc1 50.Rxa2 Rxc6 51.Ra5 Re6 52.Kf3 Kf7 53.Kg2
1/2-1/2

chess tournament Round 1 - Official report

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:43:00 -0800

The 75th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament took off to a slow start with the vast majority of grandmaster games ending in a draw. First exception was Sergey Karjakin of Russia who celebrated his 23rd birthday with a clean victory over 19-year-old Hou Yifan, the Chinese former Women's World Champion who makes her debut at the highest level in Wijk aan Zee. With 11.c4! Karjakin put his finger on the sore spot of Hou Yifan's off-beat French.

Match

[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]

[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]

[Date "2013.01.12"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Karjakin,Sergey"]

[Black "Hou, Yifan"]

[Result "1-0"]

[BlackElo "2603"]

[Chesscat "CHESSCAT 1.0"]

[ECO "C11"]

[Eventdate "2013.01.12"]

[Plycount "97"]

[WhiteElo "2780"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Be3 b6 8.Be2 Ba6 9.O-O Bxe2 10.Nxe2 Nc6 11.c4 dxc4 12.d5 exd5 13.Qxd5 Nb4 14.Qxc4 b5 15.Qe4 Qc8 16.Nc3 Qc6 17.Qxc6 Nxc6 18.Nxb5 Rb8 19.Nc7+ Kd8 20.Nd5 Rxb2 21.Rfd1 Re8 22.Rac1 Rxa2 23.Nd2 g5 24.Ne4 gxf4 25.Bxc5 Bxc5+ 26.Nxc5 Rg8 27.g3 fxg3 28.h3 Ndxe5 29.Nb4+ Ke8 30.Nxa2 Nf3+ 31.Kg2 Nh4+ 32.Kf1 Nf3 33.Ne4 g2+ 34.Kf2 g1=Q+ 35.Rxg1 Rxg1 36.Rxc6 Ra1 37.Nf6+ Ke7 38.Nc3 Ne5 39.Ncd5+ Kd8 40.Rc3 Ra2+ 41.Kg3 Rd2 42.Kf4 Ng6+ 43.Kg5 Ne7 44.Nxe7 Kxe7 45.Re3+ Kd8 46.Ra3 Rg2+ 47.Ng4 h6+ 48.Kh4 f5 49.Nxh6

1-0

The only other player making his debut in the A Group fared much better. Last year's winner of Group B, Pentala Harikrishna of India, punished Holland's number one Anish Giri for sloppy play in a rook endgame that still contained “a few tricks”, to quote Harikrishna.

[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]

[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]

[Date "2013.01.12"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Harikrishna,P"]

[Black "Giri,A"]

[Result "1-0"]

[BlackElo "2720"]

[Chesscat "CHESSCAT 1.0"]

[ECO "C10"]

[Eventdate "2013.01.12"]

[Plycount "117"]

[WhiteElo "2698"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.g3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.O-O Bd6 10.Qe2 O-O 11.Rd1 h6 12.c4 Qe7 13.Ne5 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Bxe5 15.Qxe5 Rfd8 16.Qe2 Rd7 17.Be3 Rad8 18.Qf3 Ne8 19.b3 Nd6 20.d5 Nf5 21.Re1 Qf6 22.dxe6 fxe6 23.Bf4 Nh4+ 24.gxh4 Rf8 25.Rad1 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Qxf4 27.Qxf4 Rxf4 28.Kg3 Rf5 29.Rd8+ Kh7 30.Rd7 Rc5 31.Re7 Kg6 32.Rxe6+ Kf7 33.Re4 a5 34.Kg4 Kf6 35.f4 c6 36.h5 b5 37.a4 bxa4 38.bxa4 Rf5 39.Rd4 Rc5 40.h3 Ke6 41.Re4+ Kf6 42.h4 Rf5 43.Re8 Rc5 44.Ra8 Ke6 45.Ra6 Kf6 46.Ra7 g6 47.hxg6 Kxg6 48.Ra8 Kf6 49.Rf8+ Ke6 50.Re8+ Kf6 51.Re5 Rxc4 52.Rf5+ Ke6 53.Rxa5 Kf6 54.Ra8 c5 55.a5 Ra4 56.a6 c4 57.a7 Kg7 58.Kf3 c3 59.Ke3

1-0

All the remaining games in Group A ended in a draw, although Peter Leko of Hungary came very close to victory when Dutch Erwin l'Ami inexplicably sacrificed a pawn with 15...Bf6. Leko missed several promising ways to consolidate his material advantage, but eventually allowed l'Ami to escape into a drawn rook-and-knight endgame.

Match

[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]

[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]

[Date "2013.01.12"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Leko,P"]

[Black "L'Ami,E"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[BlackElo "2627"]

[Chesscat "CHESSCAT 1.0"]

[ECO "B91"]

[Eventdate "2013.01.12"]

[Plycount "108"]

[WhiteElo "2735"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.a4 Nc6 10.Be3 Bd7 11.Qe2 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bc6 13.a5 Nd7 14.Rfd1 Re8 15.Na4 Bf6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Rxd6 Qe5 18.Qd2 Nf6 19.Nc3 g5 20.Qd4 Ng4 21.Rd1 Rac8 22.h3 Qxd4 23.R6xd4 Ne5 24.f4 gxf4 25.gxf4 Ng6 26.e5 Bxg2 27.Kxg2 Rc5 28.Ra4 Kg7 29.Kf3 Re7 30.Rdd4 Rec7 31.Ke4 Ne7 32.Kd3 Nc6 33.Rdc4 Rd7+ 34.Ke3 Rxc4 35.Rxc4 Nxa5 36.Rc5 Nc6 37.Ne4 Kg6 38.Nd6 Ne7 39.Ke4 Nf5 40.Nxf5 exf5+ 41.Kf3 f6 42.b4 fxe5 43.fxe5 Rd4 44.b5 axb5 45.Rxb5 Re4 46.Rb6+ Kg5 47.Rxb7 Rxe5 48.Rxh7 Rc5 49.Rg7+ Kf6 50.Rg2 Rc3+ 51.Kf4 Rxh3 52.Rg8 Rc3 53.Rf8+ Ke7 54.Rxf5 Rxc2

1/2-1/2

Kim Kardashian, "I Want To Learn How To Play Chess"

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:36:00 -0800

The model, actress and fashion designer Kim Kardashian caused a stir in chess circles yesterday when she tweeted, "I want to learn how to play chess. Wondering if Levon Aronian can teach me!"

The Armenian world #3 ranked player Lev Aronian is currently playing at the prestigious Tata Steel tournament in the Netherlands. He re-tweeted Kim's plea but didn't respond.

Chess.com owner Erik Allebest was touched by Kim Kardashian's interest in the royal game and has offered to sponsor her chess tuition, recommending 21-year old US Grandmaster Sam Shankland as the ideal tutor!

So if you're reading this Kim, please tweet your interest to @chesscom and become part of the #1 online chess community!

chess hard Round 4 - Official report

noreply@blogger.com (chess) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 08:33:00 -0800

It was a day full of wins and losses, twists and turns, but still one game stood out head and shoulders above the rest. World Champion Viswanathan Anand used the black pieces versus 2nd seed Levon Aronian to create an evergreen that left all present in awe, not in the least Magnus Carlsen who called it “mind blowing”.

As the Indian Grandmaster explained afterwards, he used the preparation for his World Championship's match against Boris Gelfand from last year. A novelty on move 12 was the prelude to a series of sacrifices starting with 15...Bc5! Aronian plunged into deep thought, but was unable to solve his problems and after 16.Be2 Nde5! 17.Bxg4 Bxd4 18.Kh1 Bxg4 19.Nxf8 Anand crowned his attack with the beautiful 19...f5! and White was unable to stop the black queen from joining the attack.

Match

[Event "75th Tata Steel GpA"]

[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]

[Date "2013.01.15"]

[Round "4.5"]

[White "Aronian, Levon"]

[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]

[Result "0-1"]

[BlackElo "2772"]

[Blackfideid "5000017"]

[Blacktitle "GM"]

[Chesscat "CHESSCAT 1.0"]

[ECO "D47"]

[Eventdate "2013.01.12"]

[Opening "QGD semi-Slav"]

[Plycount "46"]

[Variation "Meran variation"]

[WhiteElo "2802"]

[Whitefideid "13300474"]

[Whitetitle "GM"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.O-O O-O 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.a3 Rc8 12.Ng5 c5 13.Nxh7 Ng4 14.f4 cxd4 15.exd4 Bc5 16.Be2 Nde5 17.Bxg4 Bxd4+ 18.Kh1 Nxg4 19.Nxf8 f5 20.Ng6 Qf6 21.h3 Qxg6 22.Qe2 Qh5 23.Qd3 Be3

0-1