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International Chess News ArchiveBritish News Archive | 4NCL NewsArchive Keyword Search Facility2006 Chess King to G8 [11/07/06]
A Quiet Week in Chess? [13/06/06]
[for rest of this article, click
here to go to BCM Blog] 37th Chess Olympiad, Turin 2006 [04/06/06]
Ilyumzhinov still the President [02/06/06]
Topalov wins Mtel Masters, Sofia, 11-21 May [21/05/06]
Latest: Round 10: Topalov completed a fantastic
come-back - a 4/4 finish - to take the first prize after seeming to be
out of the running just four rounds before. Svidler ½-½
Kamsky - rather a dry game with most of the pieces coming off by move
20. Svidler may have had a slight edge but there was nothing too serious
for Kamsky to worry. Topalov 1-0 Bacrot - the Frenchman's opening selection
did not look ideal, but it is hard to know what to do against Topalov
when he is in this sort of form. The Bulgarian was content to establish
a slight edge and build up the pressure. He then started to play more
vigorously, advancing his h-pawn to cramp his opponent and then sacrificing
it to expose Bacrot's position to attack. In truth it just looked like
a super-confident player outplaying someone whose morale is rather low.
Eventually Topalov picked off some weak pawns and Bacrot's attempts at
counterplay got him nowhere. Ponomariov ½-½ Anand - Ponomariov
also looked like a man who had run out of ideas. That said, his h4-h5-h6
plan looked reasonable enough, but by 26 Bf5 things were beginning to
slide. Ponomariov soon spoiled his position irreparably, and should surely
have been dispatched without much effort. But Anand used up a surprising
amount of time, did not find the best way to finish off and allowed an
opposite coloured bishop ending. Neither player could be very happy with
this game. Mtel Masters, Sofia (BUL), 11-21 May 2006 cat. XX (2745) ------------------------------------------------------------- Final Table 1 2 3 4 5 6 ------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2804 ** 11 01 =0 =1 =1 6.5 2842 2 Kamsky, Gata g USA 2671 00 ** 1= 1= 1= =1 6.0 2831 3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2803 10 0= ** == 1= 1= 5.5 2768 4 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2743 =1 0= == ** == 10 5.0 2744 5 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2708 =0 0= 0= == ** == 3.5 2641 6 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2738 =0 =0 0= 01 == ** 3.5 2635 ------------------------------------------------------------- 4NCL 2005/6: Season Finale [02/05/06]
Welsh Chess Championships [28/04/05]
Liverpool: Capital of Culture - and Chess [17/04/04]Liverpool is better known worldwide for The Beatles and football, but
it looks like it could be about to establish itself on the chess map.
Click here to read an article entitled 'Capital of Culture
& Chess in Liverpool, 2006-2008 and beyond' by Prof. David Robertson
of Liverpool John Moores University (and Atticus Chess Club). Following
the city's successful bid to be crowned European
Capital of Culture 2008, plans have been put in place to hold the
European Union Chess Championships in September of this year, followed
by a possible European Individual Championship in 2007, and a world-class
GM tournament plus the British Championships in 2008. An exciting prospect! Coulsdon Easter International, 9-13 Apr [17/04/04]Coulsdon Chess Fellowship held a ten-player category 3 tournament in
the week before Easter. First place was shared by GMs Danny Gormally,
Colin McNab (SCO) and FM Thomas Rendle with 6½/9. Gormally was
the rating favourite by a considerable margin but he was caught in some
sharp opening preparation by Mark Lyell and lost. Thomas Rendle achieved
his third and final IM norm; he has already reached 2400 in the past so
should receive the title. Scores: 1-3 D Gormally, C McNab (SCO),
T Rendle 6½/9, 4 M Taylor 5½, 5 I Snape 4½, 6-7 M
Lyell, J Rudd 4, 8-9 N Tavoularis (GRE), A Khantuev (RUS) 3, 10 R Lukman
(INA) 1½. Note: the download is now complete. Download
games • Games
Viewer World Championship Match: Topalov vs Kramnik [14/04/06]In an open
letter dated 13 April, the World Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced
a world championship match between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik,
to be played in Elista, Kalmykia, from 21 Sept - 13 Oct, over 12 games
and for a guaranteed minimum of US$1m. This match would effectively heal
the schism in world chess which dates back to the breakaway Kasparov-Short
world championship match of 1993, since when there have been two versions
of the world chess championship. Topalov is the official FIDE world champion,
while Kramnik won Kasparov's more traditional version of the world title
by beating him in 2000, so the winner would be the first undisputed world
chess champion for 13 years. This is very good news for chess, if it happens.
One must always add that rider to official announcements as there have
been so many false dawns. The firm dates, venue and prize fund are all
positive indicators and grounds for above average optimism. However, there
is no question that FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has timed the announcement
to boost his re-election campaign (see below). Too good to be true? Only
time will tell.
Controversy over the England Team for Turin [30/03/06]
Ceefax Chess [31/03/06]The BBC Ceefax chess pages, which appear as teletext (page 568) on BBC1
and BBC2 TV screens in the UK, are now available online - go to www.ceefax.tv
and enter '568' into the search engine. Ceefax chess features the latest
chess headlines, some games, forthcoming UK tournaments and contact details
for UK chess federations.
124th Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Match, 11 March [12/03/06]The world's oldest regular chess fixture - the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Match - took place on 11 March at the RAC Club, Pall Mall, London. This was the 124th match in a series that has run from 1873, with gaps for the two world wars. Oxford University won 4½-3½ after seeming worse for much of the match. In the end it rested on the top board game which swung Oxford's way in the final half hour. Results (Oxford had Black on the top board): OXFORD UNIVERSITY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
1 Alvar Kangur (2231) 1-0 Tom Nixon (2116)
2 David Shaw (2200) ½-½ David Hodge (2164)
3 Kieran Smallbone (2194) ½-½ Adam Eckersley-Waites (2143)
4 Tom Eckersley-Waites (2116) ½-½ Richard Mycroft (2141)
5 Mark Gray (2120) ½-½ Andreas Werner (2154)
6 Christopher Rawlinson (2063) 0-1 Teresa Khoo (2055)
7 Anna Partington (2064) ½-½ John Rennie (2053)
8 Benedikt Wagner (e2050) 1-0 Martin Rohrmeier (e2000)
4½-3½
One curiosity is that twin brothers took part - on opposite sides.
Download games • Games
Viewer Kramnik Pulls Out of Wijk aan Zee [13/01/06]World Champion Vladimir Kramnik has been forced to pull out of the forthcoming
Corus Wijk aan Zee
tournament because of ill health. A short statement appears at his
website and has been circulated to the world's chess press, as follows:
“I would like to inform the chess community that due to health problems
I shall not be able to participate in the Corus Chess Tournament 2006.
A couple of years ago a form of arthritis was diagnosed. This disease
causes painful inflammation in the joints. Unfortunately since that time,
the symptoms have started to appear more often and with greater severity.
A new recent crises makes it necessary to undertake serious clinical treatment.
Solving the present problem within a few months will allow me to come
back and enjoy competitive chess at the highest level. I want to stress
clearly, that – as always – I am eager to continue and enhance
my chess career. There are still many goals to achieve.” There is
unconfirmed speculation that the illness Kramnik may be suffering from
is ankylosing
spondylitis, a chronic rheumatic/arthritic condition. BCM's sympathy
and best wishes for a full and speedy recovery go to the world match-play
champion. Kramnik's replacement at the Corus
tournament is Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, the world junior champion. Zugzwang [08/01/06]Leading UK Sunday newspaper The Observer relaunched in a new format
on 8 January and (as part of that relaunch) began serial publication of
a complete novel in weekly parts. The first novel to be published in this
way has chess as its subject. The novel's title is Zugzwang, and
its author is award-winning writer of fiction - and keen chess player
- Ronan
Bennett. The first two chapters appeared in today's Observer
and can also be read online at The
Observer website. The novel is set in 1914 at the time of
the famous St Petersburg tournament, and one of the main characters is
based on Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961). According to the website, the novel
embraces 'murder, detection, intelligence and counter-intelligence'. It
should be fascinating to see how the story unfolds over the next 29 weeks... Hastings International Congress, 28 Dec - 6 Jan [08/01/06]
Ilyumzhinov still the President [02/06/06]
Garry Kasparov on BBC TV... [31/03/06]Garry Kasparov appeared on BBC TV's political debate show Question
Time on 30 March. He appeared as part of a panel of politicians and
experts answering audience questions on this famous, long-running British
TV show which has relocated to Moscow for the occasion. Click
here for details at the BBC Website, where you may be able to watch
the show online for a limited period. Kasparov was given star billing
ahead of British and Russian government ministers. There was no chess
content. Kasparov was scathing in comments directed towards a Russian
government minister. One opinion we've heard was that Kasparov came over
as too volatile for a politician. Women's World Championship, Ekaterinburg [26/03/06]The FIDE Women's World Championship takes place in Ekaterinburg, Russia, from 11-27 March. 64 players are taking part in a knock-out, with two-game mini-matches in each round until the final, which consists of four games. Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria is defending her world title and other 2500+ players include Humpy Koneru (IND), Pia Cramling (SWE), Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS), former world champion Maia Chiburdanidze (GEO), Xu Yuhua (CHN) and Kateryna Lahno (UKR). The final of the women's world championship resulted in a 2½-½ victory for 29-year-old Xu Yuhua of China, ranked number 6 woman in the world, against 34-year-old Alisa Galliamova of Russia, ranked number 18 in the world. Xu Yuhua's previous best career performances were her victories in two successive FIDE World Cups for women, in 2000 and 2002. Xu Yuhua becomes the 11th women's world champion and is the third Chinese player to have won the title after Xie Jun and Zhu Chen. She also gains the title of (full) grandmaster, having not previously been a full IM but only the lower ranking title of woman grandmaster. In the semi-finals, Galliamova beat Viktorija
Cmilyte (LTU) 1½-½, while Xu Yuhua beat Svetlana Matveeva
(RUS) by the same score. Cmilyte missed a golden opportunity to win the
first game against Galliamova but allowed her opponent a perpetual check.
In the second, Galliamova seized control of the h-file towards the end
of a tough game to win through. Xu Yuhua outplayed Matveeva in an equal
rook and pawns endgame in the second game. Round 3: another big name bit the dust in this round - Alexandra Kosteniuk was knocked out ½-1½ by Viktorija Cmilyte of Lithuania. This round also saw the end for the pre-teen sensation from China, Yifan Hou (who only turned 12 on 27 February - another Judit Polgar in the making?): she lost 0-2 to Nino Khurtidze of Georgia. Another youngster from China, Wenjun Ju (aged 15) took former champion Maia Chiburdanidze to a blitz decider before bowing out. Round 2: British interest in the tournament
came to an end when Jovanka Houska was knocked out in the rapidplay play-off
by Qin Kanying of China. But she had done well to get this far. Her coach,
John Emms, said: "Given that Jovanka played six games against tough
opponents, she must be very happy with her result as well as her performance.
Beating the former European Champion, Almira Skripchenko, in a match
is a significant breakthrough and will give her big boost going into
the Olympiad and European Championship." Round 1: England's Jovanka Houska (ranked 47th
of the 64) did extremely well to eliminate 18th seed and former European
women's champion Almira Skripchenko 1½-½. There were quite
a number of other shock results. These included the elimination of Kateryna
Lahno at the hands of a 2218-rated unknown from Peru, Karen Zapata, as
well as losses for Nadezhda Kosintseva (RUS) and Monika Socko (POL) at
the hands of lowly-rated Chinese players; but one of the top Chinese players,
Zhao Xue, herself lost to a little-known Russian. Current British women's
champion Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (who represents Georgia) came through
the first round safely after a rapidplay play-off with Marta Zielinska
(POL). Official website: http://womenchess.com Grand Slam for Chess? [17/03/06]Today's issue of Chess
Today carries the story that organisers of the world's top all-play-all
tournaments are to meet to discuss a 'grand slam' concept for chess. Those
responsible for Linares/Morelia, Corus Wijk aan Zee and the M-Tel Masters
are planning to meet during the next edition of the M-Tel event in Sofia
(in mid-late May). This is an interesting idea and could be useful for
gaining wider interest in the general media. One difficulty is that not
all of the players can play in all of the potential 'grand slam' events.
For example, Aronian is not down to be playing in the M-Tel Masters, so
how can he achieve a grand slam? One simple solution would be to agree
that the winner of one grand slam event is automatically qualified for
the next one on the calendar. Three events seems a small number; the magic
number is four in tennis (and, I think, golf). I wonder why Dortmund is
not involved. Readers' thoughts? Email me at editor@bcmchess.co.uk 23rd Linares/Morelia, 18 Feb - 11 Mar [12/03/06]This year's 'City of Linares' tournament is being split between Spain and Mexico for the first time. Eight players play in a double-cycle all-play-all, with the first cycle held in Morelia, in the Michoacán province of Mexico (18-26 Feb) and then a week's break before the second cycle is held in its traditional venue of Linares, Spain (3-11 March). Players: Topalov (BUL, 2801), Svidler (RUS, 2765), Aronian (ARM, 2752), Leko (HUN, 2740), Ivanchuk (UKR, 2729), Bacrot (FRA, 2717), Radjabov (AZE, 2700), Vallejo Pons (ESP, 2650). Results and Crosstable • Download games • Games Viewer • ChessBase Viewer
23rd Linares/Morelia (ESP/MEX) cat. XX (2732) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Final Positions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2752 ** =0 1= =1 0= 1= 1= =1 8.5 2808 2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2801 =1 ** 0= =1 1= 01 =1 0= 8.0 2771 3 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2700 0= 1= ** 0= =1 =1 1= == 8.0 2786 4 Leko, Peter g HUN 2740 =0 =0 1= ** 1= == == 1= 7.5 2759 5 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2729 1= 0= =0 0= ** 1= =0 =1 6.5 2703 6 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2765 0= 10 =0 == 0= ** 1= 1= 6.5 2698 7 Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2717 0= =0 0= == =1 0= ** =1 6.0 2683 8 Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2650 =0 1= == 0= =0 0= =0 ** 5.0 2641 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Round 14: In the end Levon Aronian snatched the first prize, with a win as Black against a tiring Peter Leko. This left Leko adrift in 4th place, having led from the start to round 13, but finishing with 0/2. But it was a great achievement for the young Armenian who is now firmly established amongst the very best players in the world. Topalov's miraculous second-half recovery ended just short of victory when he was held by Vallejo Pons. Radjabov was also unable to capitalise on his excellent showing in the Spanish cycle of the tournament, but must be pleased with a share of second place with the world champion. Svidler was two pawns up against Ivanchuk but the Ukrainian found enough counterplay to hold the game. Round 13: An astonishing day's chess. It scarcely seems possible after his nightmare in Morelia, but Topalov now stands proudly at the top of the crosstable with one round to go. His win against the erstwhile leader Leko was the product of constant pressure, which finally brought its reward towards the end of the game when the Hungarian fell foul of some tactics. In fact, Topalov is not really top of the table, but shares that position with no less than three others. Aronian drew with Bacrot after trying hard to win a fairly lifeless position; he did well to get as close as he did. Radjabov won against an unrecognisable Peter Svidler, who allowed a powerful piece sacrifice to open up his king and made it even worse with further errors. Radjabov was in very bad time pressure, made a few errors but still managed to win. Ivanchuk-Vallejo Pons was a crazy game with the Spaniard making some very poor moves against the aggressive Ukrainian. So Topalov, Radjabov, Leko and Aronian all have 7½/13. Tomorrow should be interesting! Round 12: all four games were drawn. Svidler-Aronian was a quick draw but the others were more hard fought. Topalov won a pawn against Ivanchuk but it proved insufficient to win. Vallejo Pons-Radjabov reached a very complex knight and pawns endgame which is very hard to call; understandably, the two players decided to call it quits. Round 11: Aronian was the only winner and he moves into sole second place, half a point behind Leko. He reached a position with R+R and pawns vs R+B+N, but Vallejo Pons allowed the rooks to become too powerful. Topalov's winning run ended with a fairly solid Berlin Defence draw against Radjabov. Bacrot won Svidler's Q for R+B but eventually allowed a perpetual check. Ivanchuk-Leko was a long and rather cagey game which ended in a draw. Round 10: Topalov makes it 3/3 in Linares (already outscoring his dismal 2½/7 in Morelia). By beating Aronian, he has moved into joint 2nd (with Aronian and Radjabov), just a point behind Leko. Aronian seemed to be well placed in the early part of the game but then drifted into a bad position. Leko-Svidler promised to be lively but then all the pieces came off and the game petered out (sorry about the pun). Vallejo Pons played a rather rash g4 move against Bacrot and was soon in trouble. Ivanchuk-Radjabov was quite complex and decided by the strength of Radjabov's passed d-pawn. Round 9: Another good round for world champion Veselin Topalov, who beat Bacrot with Black to reach a 50% score. He is now within 1½ points of the leader Peter Leko. Aronian got himself into some trouble against Ivanchuk but still managed to hold a draw. Svidler-Vallejo Pons was a steady draw. Radjabov was a pawn up against Leko for much of a long game, but the extra pawn remained safely blockaded throughout; Leko's impeccable defensive technique saw him through to a draw. Round 8: As the tournament resumes in Linares, Topalov's luck may have changed. He beat Peter Svidler in a Grünfeld Defence today. Peter Leko settled for a draw in a complex, possibly better, position against Vallejo Pons. Aronian sacrificed a piece to force a draw by perpetual check against Radjabov. Ivanchuk once again ran horribly short of time and paid the penalty, losing on time in a winning position against Bacrot. Round 7: Aronian won a complicated game against Bacrot to move into second place as the Morelia cycle comes to an end. He sacrificed one piece, and then a second, in order to build up a big queenside pawn attack but the out of form French GM missed chances to save the game. The other games were drawn, though Leko-Topalov and Svidler-Radjabov were both interesting struggles. The tournament now moves across the Atlantic and resumes in its traditional venue of Linares on 3 March. It is clear that Topalov must hope for something approaching his San Luís first cycle performance (+6) if he is to have any chance of winning another tournament. Scores at the halfway mark: Leko 5, Aronian 4½, Svidler 4, Ivanchuk, Radjabov 3½, Vallejo Pons 3, Topalov 2½, Bacrot 2.
Picture right: World Champion Veselin Topalov shows good ball skills in a kick-about with the Morelia Monarchs football team - but he still cannot find the net in the chess tournament (not until Linares, that is!). Photo: Cathy Rogers
Round 6: Leko extended his lead to one point after drawing comfortably with Aronian and seeing his nearest rival Svidler succumb to a quick loss against Ivanchuk. Bacrot got a bad opening against Radjabov; despite playing on a long time, he never really looked like escaping defeat. There was a third loss for world champion Topalov who is now in joint last place. Vallejo Pons produced some sharp tactics to reduce his position to rubble. Round 5: Leko took over the sole lead, drawing with Bacrot. Svidler lost to Aronian after being steadily outplayed. Topalov won his first game after Ivanchuk drifted into a bad position. Radjabov-Vallejo Pons was the most entertaining game, but eventually petered out to a draw. Round 4: This is turning into a two-horse race. Leko beat Ivanchuk and Svidler beat Bacrot to increase their joint lead to 1½ points. Topalov is looking anything but a world champion after losing his second game, with White versus Radjabov. He is joint last with Vallejo Pons. Round 3: All four games drawn. Three of them were over quickly but Aronian-Topalov lasted 123 moves. At first the world champion seemed to be pressing for a win but eventually he had to struggle for a draw. Round 2: Leko beat Radjabov, and Svidler beat Vallejo Pons, so both have started with 2/2 (whilst their beaten opponents are on 0/2). Ivanchuk beat Aronian, while Topalov drew with Bacrot. Round 1: Peter Svidler got off to the best possible start, defeating
FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov. Aronian beat Radjabov and Leko beat
Vallejo Pons (with Black), while Ivanchuk came close to beating Bacrot. Book Reviews [18/02/06]As regular readers of this website will know, all book reviews published
in British Chess Magazine are made available online for anyone
to read. Click here for the index
to all the book reviews we have published since January 2000. In addition,
we sometimes publish longer, in-depth book reviews as articles in the
magazine. In January we published Jonathan Levitt's review of Chess
for Zebras (by Jonathan Rowson) and in February we published Cathy
Forbes' review of Chess Bitch (by Jennifer Shahade). We are pleased
to tell you that both of these reviews are now available online. Click
here for the Levitt review of Jonathan Rowson's book, and click
here for Cathy Forbes' review of Jennifer Shahade's book. Kings. Queens and Hot Flushes [13/02/06]IM Angus Dunnington turned up halfway through the recent Gibtelecom
Masters in Gibraltar, but not to play chess. He was there to take part
in a poker tournament which was being held as part of the congress, sponsored
by one of the chess tournament's sponsors 32redpoker.com.
Click on the title link above for his reflections on this event
and a few photographs. One additional piece of gossip: it is said that,
of the super-GMs, Alexander Grischuk is the strongest poker player. Gibtelecom Masters, 24 Jan - 2 Feb [08/02/06]This year's Gibtelecom Masters was bigger and stronger than ever, with
such luminaries as Shirov, Akopian, Short, Bologan and Korchnoi among
the 124 competitors. BCM editor John Saunders was on the spot. Click
here for final results and report. Kiril Georgiev (centre of
photo) scored 8½/10, a full point clear of Sutovsky and Short
who scored 7½, etc. The 2007 Gibtelecom tournament promises to
be even stronger than this year, with a major increase in the prize fund.
Download all games in PGN (zipped). Corus Wijk aan Zee, 14-28 Jan [30/01/06]We have day-by-day coverage here courtesy of regular BCM columnist FM Steve Giddins • Preview •
Download games • Games
Viewer Rd 12 - Only one decisive game today (Mamedyarov 0-1 Kamsky) while Topalov and Anand drew. Steve Giddins reports on Gelfand's 'Great Escape' against Ivanchuk. Scores with one round to go: Topalov 8½, Anand 8, Adams, Gelfand, Kariakin 7, etc Rd 11 - No change at the top. With two rounds to go, Topalov has 8, Anand 7½, Adams, Gelfand, Kariakin 6½, etc. Steve Giddins annotates Sergey Kariakin's win against Sokolov. Rest Day (3) - More news from the B and C events, a delightful endgame study by Harold van der Heijden and an excellent win by Yochanan Afek. Rd 10 - Topalov takes the sole lead again with a win against Aronian. Steve Giddins analyses a fascinating game. Other decisive results: Van Wely 1-0 Leko, Bacrot 1-0 Kamsky. Rd 9 - Anand wins to level with Topalov, and these two are now a point clear of Adams and Gelfand. Rest Day (2) - Steve Giddins reports on Magnus Carlsen's phenomenal performance in the Corus B group. Rd 8 - Anand beat Bacrot to rejoin Topalov in the lead. Mamedyarov lost again, this time to Aronian. Rd 7 - Topalov beat Ivan Sokolov to move into first place on his own. Anand drew with Adams, while Kariakin beat the last unbeaten player, Mamedyarov, to move into joint 2nd with Anand. Leko won a beautiful game which Steve Giddins compares to a Tal masterpiece. Rd 6 - Bottom beats top - Kamsky beat Anand, while Adams beat Ivanchuk. Anand and Topalov now share first place with 4/6, with Adams, Gelfand, Ivanchuk and Kariakin on 3½. Only one player remains unbeaten - Mamedyarov - and he has drawn all six games. Rd 5 - Decisive results - Kariakin 1-0 Bacrot, Anand 1-0 Leko, Ivanchuk 1-0 Kamsky. Anand leads with 4/5. Rest day - No play today, but that doesn't mean there is nothing for you to read. Check out Steve Giddins's rest day summary, with his reflection on the tournament so far, the linguistic talents of the competitors and an annotation of the game Carlsen-L'Ami from the 'B' Group. Rd 4 - Topalov wins again to tie with Anand on 3/4. Decisive results: Bacrot 0-1 Gelfand, Van Wely 0-1 Topalov, Kamsky 0-1 Aronian. Wednesday is a rest day. Rd 3 - after the celebration of Sunday, comes the hangover. Mickey Adams lost to Boris Gelfand today. I've put the Union Jack away for another day. The big game between Ivanchuk (on 2/2) and Anand ended in favour of the Indian, so Vishy has taken over as tournament leader with 2½/3. Click on the Round 3 Report above for Steve Giddins' annotation of Ivanchuk-Anand. Decisive games: Topalov 1-0 Bacrot, Ivanchuk 0-1 Anand, Kariakin 1-0 Kamsky, Gelfand 1-0 Adams. Rd 2 - Rule Britannia! UK Chancellor
of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has recently mooted the idea of having a
British
Day, when we Brits celebrate our Britishness. Good idea, Gordon,
and we chess players would like to nominate 15 January - the day
when top British chess player Mickey Adams beat world champion
Veselin Topalov at the Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament. It has been
a good weekend for British grandmasters: last night on Who Wants to
Be a Millionaire, British grandmaster Jim Plaskett made sure
of at least £8,000. Tune in next Saturday, when my crystal
ball tells me that Jim is going add to his existing stash big-time (you
heard it here first). It is the third time that Jim has appeared on the
show. Queenstown Classic, 15-24 Jan [21/02/06]New Zealand is staging its most prestigious tournament in years: a 10-round
open swiss event, which also incorporates the 113th New Zealand Championship
(which is incidentally one of the oldest national championships in the
world). 192 players from five continents, including four GMs and 15 IMs
are competing for a total prize fund of over NZ$35,000. It also marks
a nostalgic return for 84-year-old IM Bob Wade who has not set foot on
his native soil for 56 years. Final: M Chandler (ENG) 8½/10,
2-3 I Rogers, D Smerdon (AUS) 8, etc. Murray Chandler, whose idea the
event was, thus won his first New Zealand championship title since 1976
• Official
website • Download
games (460 games, input and amended by Peter Stuart)
Plaskett to Buy New Trousers... [22/01/06]English GM Jim Plaskett won £250,000 yesterday on ITV's Who
Wants to be a Millionaire TV programme (which was actually recorded
in November). Plaskett, who had already won £8,000 on the previous
week's show, answered another five questions correctly to win the money.
He used up all his 'lifelines' (ask the audience, 50:50, phone a friend
- Jim phoned his wife Fiona, but she wasn't sure) on the £250,000
question ("Crispin is the patron saint of which craftsmen? A: Thatchers,
B: Shoemakers, C: Coopers, D: Clockmakers" - answer - Shoemakers)
and opted not to answer the £500,000 question ("Which of these
astronauts has never set on the moon? A: Jim Lovell, B: Edgar Mitchell,
C: James Irwin, D: Charles Duke" - answer - Jim Lovell). On handing
Jim the cheque, the show's compere Chris Tarrant said "I've never
given a quarter of a million to anyone who looked so miserable".
Jim's initial reaction to his new-found wealth: "I can afford some
new trousers now." Kramnik Pulls Out of Wijk aan Zee [13/01/06]World Champion Vladimir Kramnik has been forced to pull out of the forthcoming
Corus Wijk aan Zee
tournament because of ill health. A short statement appears at his
website and has been circulated to the world's chess press, as follows:
“I would like to inform the chess community that due to health problems
I shall not be able to participate in the Corus Chess Tournament 2006.
A couple of years ago a form of arthritis was diagnosed. This disease
causes painful inflammation in the joints. Unfortunately since that time,
the symptoms have started to appear more often and with greater severity.
A new recent crises makes it necessary to undertake serious clinical treatment.
Solving the present problem within a few months will allow me to come
back and enjoy competitive chess at the highest level. I want to stress
clearly, that – as always – I am eager to continue and enhance
my chess career. There are still many goals to achieve.” There is
unconfirmed speculation that the illness Kramnik may be suffering from
is ankylosing
spondylitis, a chronic rheumatic/arthritic condition. BCM's sympathy
and best wishes for a full and speedy recovery go to the world match-play
champion. Kramnik's replacement at the Corus
tournament is Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, the world junior champion. Zugzwang [08/01/06]Leading UK Sunday newspaper The Observer relaunched in a new format
on 8 January and (as part of that relaunch) began serial publication of
a complete novel in weekly parts. The first novel to be published in this
way has chess as its subject. The novel's title is Zugzwang, and
its author is award-winning writer of fiction - and keen chess player
- Ronan
Bennett. The first two chapters appeared in today's Observer
and can also be read online at The
Observer website. The novel is set in 1914 at the time of
the famous St Petersburg tournament, and one of the main characters is
based on Akiba Rubinstein (1882-1961). According to the website, the novel
embraces 'murder, detection, intelligence and counter-intelligence'. It
should be fascinating to see how the story unfolds over the next 29 weeks... Hastings International Congress, 28 Dec - 6 Jan [08/01/06]
2005Review of the Year [31/12/05]
4NCL, Rounds 3 and 4, 19-20 Nov 2005 [27/11/05]
Guernsey International Festival [27/11/05]This year's Guernsey International Festival was beset by sadness at the
deaths of its usual arbiter, Steve Boniface, a few days before
the tournament started, and the congress founder, John Bisson,
just after it closed. But the show went on as usual, as they both would
have wanted. Oleg Korneev won the tournament ahead of Tiger Hillarp Persson
and Robert Bellin. Kevin Thurlow and Fred Hamperl report
on the tournament, with photos and games, and there are tributes to Steve
Boniface and John Bisson. Click on the above link. Full game downloads
now available. Are you up for some Chess-Boxing? [09/11/05]Chess-loving Guardian journalist Stephen Moss must be a prime
candidate for the unofficial title of 'world's most courageous chess player'.
Not content with interviewing Garry 'Ogre of Baku' Kasparov, getting Nigel
Short to assess and stress-test his chess-playing abilities, and then
asking Bobby Fischer to autograph his non-authorised version of Sixty
Memorable Games (that took real chutzpah), he has now tried
his hand at chess-boxing.
This is not for the faint-hearted: read Stephen's account of his chess-boxing
encounter in the ring with a super-fit German policeman at the Guardian
website. Better still, go out and buy the paper: it has several photos
of this rather scary sport. Gibtelecom Masters Presentation, 24 Oct [24/10/05]
FIDE World Championship, San Luis, Argentina [15/10/05]
FIDE World Ch, San Luis (ARG), 28 Sept - 14 Oct 2005 cat. XX (2739) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Crosstable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2788 ** == 1= 1= 1= 1= 1= 1= 10.0 2889 2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 == ** == 0= =1 01 1= 11 8.5 2811 3 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2738 0= == ** 11 1= == == 1= 8.5 2818 4 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2707 0= 1= 00 ** =1 =1 == == 7.0 2743 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2763 0= =0 0= =0 ** =1 1= 1= 6.5 2706 6 Kasimdzhanov, Rustam g UZB 2670 0= 10 == =0 =0 ** == 01 5.5 2668 7 Adams, Michael g ENG 2719 0= 0= == == 0= == ** == 5.5 2661 8 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2735 0= 00 0= == 0= 10 == ** 4.5 2606 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rd 12 - Topalov-Svidler was a sedate
draw in 21 moves, so Topalov maintains his 1½ point lead. Anand
caught up with Svidler by beating Leko in an (untypically) interesting
Petroff Defence. Kasimjanov was a pawn up for much of his game against
Adams but couldn't make it count. Morozevich-Polgar was a full-blooded
game which only ended in a draw when the players ran out of weapons. 12
October is the last rest day, and it remains to be seen whether Kasimjanov
and Polgar will stand in Topalov's way; two more draws will be good enough
to give him the FIDE world championship title. Rd 8 - Wins for Anand and Morozevich made no
real difference to Topalov's huge lead. The leader's draw finally brought
his run of wins (five) to an end. Topalov ½-½ Leko, Adams
½-½ Svidler, Kasimjanov 0-1 Morozevich, Anand 1-0 Polgar.
October 7 is a rest day. The following day Anand has White against Topalov
and the chance to reduce the gap between them to 1½ points - but
that would still be a very big lead. Rd 5 - Veselin Topalov moved into a remarkable
1½ point lead by beating Svidler with Black. The other games were
drawn. Svidler 0-1 Topalov, Polgar ½-½ Morozevich, Adams
½-½ Kasimjanov, Anand ½-½ Leko.
Obituary: Two British Stalwarts [04/10/05]
Jon Speelman Simul against the Civil Service, 22 Sept [27/09/05]
'Dream Team' at The Guardian [13/09/05]
Britain wins World Solving Team Championship [09/09/05]
Britbase Downloads [06/09/05]
3rd Staunton Memorial Tournament, 19-30 Aug [30/08/05]Chess returned to the famous 19th century London chess venue, Simpson-in-the-Strand,
on Friday 19 August with the start of the 3rd Howard Staunton Memorial
tournament. This year it was extended to six players playing a double-cycle
all-play-all: Jonathan Speelman (ENG, 2549g), David Howell (ENG, 2471m),
Colin McNab (SCO, 2451g), Jonathan Levitt (ENG, 2441g), Jovanka Houska
(ENG, 2342m), Lawrence Day (CAN, 2270m). Final: Colin McNab
was ousted from joint first place and replaced by Jonathan Levitt, who
beat the Scottish GM in 58 moves to share first place with Jonathan Speelman.
This was a remarkable turnaround for Levitt, who had been in last place
at the end of the first cycle but then reeled off 4½/5 (including
four straight wins in his final four games) to share first. The (literally)
underrated Canadian IM Lawrence Day also had an excellent finish (2/2)
and dispatched Jovanka Houska with some tactical wizardry in his last
game. Jovanka's consolation is that she can look back on wins against
both of the two players who shared first place. The organisers can be
pleased with only 12 draws in 30 games. Final Positions: 1-2 J
Levitt , J Speelman 6/10, 3 C McNab, 5½, 4-5 L Day, D Howell 4½,
6 J Houska 3½. Rd 10 Results: Levitt 1-0 McNab, Speelman
½-½ Howell, Day 1-0 Houska • Download
games • Games
Viewer • Crosstable
and Results McShane wins in Igualada, 17-23 Aug [24/08/05]There was a British success in Catalonia when English no.3 Luke McShane
won the 'City of Igualada' Master tournament. In a double-cycle all-play-all
of four players, McShane drew his first four games but then snatched first
prize by beating Beliavsky and Korchnoi in the last two rounds. The penultimate
round saw two extraordinary blunders: Korchnoi, a pawn up and with a near-winning
position, lost on time to Volokitin, while Beliavsky left a bishop en
prise to McShane in a relatively simple position. Time control 40/2 hrs,
1 hr for remaining moves. Scores: 1 L McShane (ENG, 2625g) 4/6,
2 A Volokitin (UKR, 2671g) 3½, 3 A Beliavsky (SLO, 2599g) 2½,
4 V Korchnoi (SUI, 2615g) 2 • Smith and Williamson British Championships, 1-12 Aug [13/08/05]The British Championships have crossed the sea for the first time in
their history. The 92nd BCF Congress took place in Douglas, Isle of Man,
where the leading contenders were reigning champion Jonathan Rowson (2599g,
SCO), John Emms (2509g, ENG), Stuart Conquest (2503g, ENG), Chris Ward
(2485g, ENG), Simon Williams (2461m, ENG), Gawain Jones (2442m, ENG),
Andrew Greet (2425m, ENG) and Richard Pert (2424m, ENG) in a field of
46. Final: Jonathan Rowson successfully defended the title
he won last year in Scarborough. This makes him the 8th player to win
the title two years in succession (after Atkins, Yates, Sultan Khan, Winter,
Penrose, Speelman and Hodgson). Congratulations to him. Leading scores:
1 J Rowson (SCO) 8½/11; 2-3 S Conquest, S Haslinger 8; 4-5 J Emms,
R Pert 7½, 6-7 S Gordon, A Greet 7, etc. Official Website and
Live Coverage: http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/live2005/ European Team Championships, Gothenburg, 30 Jul - 7 Aug [07/08/05]The 15th European Team Championships ran from 30 July to 7 August in
Gothenburg, Sweden. There were separate men's/open and women's competitions,
over nine rounds, with 41 and 27 teams respectively. Each team was composed
of four boards (from five-player squads). Current Tournaments [14/07/05]There are quite a number of events on the go at the moment... Dortmund Sparkassen (8-17 July, website http://www.chessgate.de/do2005/) - Naiditsch won with 5½/9 • Maccabiah Games, Jerusalem (10-20 July, website http://www.maccabiah-chess.co.il) - Smirin and Najer lead on 2/3, Judit Polgar gives a simul on 17 July • 2nd South Wales International (9-14 July, website http://www.southwaleschess.co.uk/SWI/) - 1 V Dobrov (RUS) 7½/9 • British Blitz Championship - 17 July: 1-2 Keith Arkell, Craig Hanley 12/16... Jovanka Houska is British Blitz Ladies Champion 2004
| ||
Like
most chessplayers, I always thought g8 was a square that a black knight
sat on in the starting position, but it means something entirely different
in the world of politics. Garry Kasparov still knows a thing or two about
how to get his pieces onto strong squares before the other guy. President
Putin is hosting a G8 summit in St Petersburg in a few days' time, but
Garry Kasparov has got his g8 move in first. His new political movement,
the United Civic Front, is currently hosting an alternative G8 summit
in Moscow, with significant attendees from USA, UK and elsewhere. Today's
Telegraph has the story - 
I've
always been a terrific admirer of Mark Crowther and The Week in Chess,
but I had to guffaw when I read his opening sentence this week... 
The
Turin Olympiad starts with the opening ceremony on 20 May in the playing
venue, the Turin Oval, followed by 13 rounds of chess, from 21 May to
4 June (with rest days on 26 May and 1 June). One of the big events of
this Olympiad will be the presidential election, with Dutch businessman
Bessel Kok mounting a serious attempt to oust the sitting tenant, Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov. The 77th FIDE Congress runs from 27 May to 4 June, with the
general assembly timetabled for 2-4 June. Latest: Final
round - England finished with a 2½-1½ win against Serbia
& Montenegro to finish 19th. Armenia won the gold from China (silver)
and USA (bronze). Ukraine won the women's event ahead of Russia and China.
NEWS
FLASH... at 18.30 British time on 2 June 2006, the result of the FIDE
Presidential election was announced - Kirsan Ilymuzhinov has retained
the FIDE Presidency by 96 votes to Bessel Kok's 54 (3 spoiled papers/abstentions).
A very good summary of the reasons for Ilyumzhinov's success, by IM David
Levy, may be found 
The
Mtel Masters was a six-player, double-cycle tournament, held in Sofia,
Bulgaria, and featuring six of the world's leading players. They were
world champion Veselin Topalov (2804, BUL), Viswanathan Anand (2803, IND),
Peter Svidler (2743, RUS), Ruslan Ponomariov (2738, UKR), Etienne Bacrot
(2708, FRA), Gata Kamsky (2671, USA). Time control: 40/2 hours, 20/1 hour,
all/30 mins. The 'no draw offers' rule was being applied as in 2005. The
cartoon, left, by Bulgarian caricaturist Chavdar Nikolov, shows
the tournament winner, Veselin Topalov, wearing his world champion's crown.
The
long weekend of 29/30 April/ 1 May saw Wood Green 1 win the 2005/6
4NCL (British Team League) at the Paragon Hotel in Birmingham. The 11th
and final round on 1 May saw a show-down between the league's strongest
teams, Wood Green 1 and Guildford-ADC 1 for the title (as happened in
the previous two seasons).
The
2006 Welsh Chess Championships took place over the Easter weekend (14-17
April) and were held at the Indoor Training Arena, Hensol, and sponsored
by The Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, Golf & Spa Resort. The surprise winner
was John Trevelyan (pictured left) , who recovered from a first-round
loss to take the title on his own with 5½/7. If you cannot remember
him winning the title before and think it was his first title, you would
be wrong - but it would be a perfectly forgivable mistake. A lot of readers
may not have been born when John won his two previous Welsh titles (both
shared with others) in 1973 and 1979. So that adds up to 33 years between
John Trevelyan's first Welsh title and his most recent (I won't say 'last'
because, who knows, he may win it again in the future). That's a very
long time and younger readers may have trouble imagining what 33 years
are like. Try adding the lifespans of Sergey Karyakin and Magnus Carlsen
together - it is a year or two longer than that.
This
year's Hastings Congress (the 81st) took place at the Horntye Park Sports
Centre. Official website: 
I've
been terribly quiet here just recently, enjoying my winter recession (actually,
it has been more of a slump). But I've finally tired of munching mince
pies and drinking wine and thought I would treat you to my irreverent
review of chess in 2005, by way of saying Happy New Year to all
BCM magazine and website readers. 
Wood
Green are back at the top of the table, closely pursued by Guildford-ADC
as usual. All the weekend's British Team League action can now be found
at BCM's 4NCL news page, in zipped PGN format and games viewer windows.
A
presentation was held at the RAC Club Club, Pall Mall, London today to
publicise the forthcoming 4th Gibtelecom Masters tournament (to
be held at the Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar, from 24 Jan to 2 Feb 2006. This
tournament is the strongest annual event held under the auspices of the
English Chess Federation (note new name as of 22 October).
The fourth edition of this ambitious event will feature 30+ GMs, headed
by players of the calibre of Alexei Shirov and Nigel Short, and the intention
is to develop the tournament still further in future years. After the
presentation, there was a unique four-hander blitz game featuring world
no. 14 Alexei Shirov partnered by 7-year-old Peter Andreev, playing leading
English GM Jonathan Speelman partnered by 8-year-old Edmund Harding. Both
juniors are members of Richmond Junior Chess Club, and they both gave
a very good account of themselves and were not overawed by the occasion.
The
FIDE World Championship started on 28 September in San Luis, Argentina.
It is being played as an eight-player double cycle all-play-all. Competitors
are Vishy Anand (IND, 2788), Veselin Topalov (BUL, 2788), Peter Leko (HUN,
2763), Peter Svidler (RUS, 2738), Judit Polgar (HUN, 2735), Michael Adams
(ENG, 2719), Alexander Morozevich (RUS, 2707), Rustam Kasimjanov (UZB,
2670). Play takes place 28 Sept to 14 October, with three rest days on
2, 7, 12 October. 
We
have sad news of two British chessplayers and organisers who have recently
passed away. Doug Bellis (pictured left), who died aged
69 on 24 September, was originally from Essex and was a good enough player
to have won the prestigious 'Battle of Britain' tournament in 1957 when
its usual winners were people like Leonard Barden, Michael Franklin and
John Fuller. He didn't play chess for many years but returned in the 1980s
to become a highly successful match captain and club organiser, first
of Mitcham Chess Club (whom he led to a number of Surrey league and cup
wins), and then latterly of Wimbledon CC. A second marriage late in life
brought him much happiness. Our condolences go to his widow Emer and his
10-year-old daughter Elizabeth. Keith Brown, who died on 1 October
aged 58, was a well-known player, arbiter and organiser in the Merseyside
area, who organised the British Blitz Championships on a number of occasions
and arbited at the 4NCL in its early days. He was also an avid chess book
collector. Condolences to his wife Janet and two children. 
Look
out, there's a 'Speelwolf' about... Jonathan Speelman played a 25-board
simultaneous display against the Civil Service Chess Association as part
of the organisation's centenary celebrations. He is one of the most amiable
and approachable of grandmasters. Until the game starts, that is. After
the handshake he is ruthlessly efficient. Only one of his opponents managed
to hold him to a draw. Click on the above link for Ian Pheby's report,
photos and downloadable/viewable games.
Nigel
Short has joined The Guardian newspaper as 'our new chess columnist'.
Good news for those of us who have enjoyed his wide-ranging and punchy
columns in his former newspaper. Click 
The
'Holmes and Watson' of British chess problem-solving - Jonathan Mestel
and John Nunn - won the team gold medals for Britain at the 29th World
Chess Solving Championship, held in Eretria, Greece on 6-7 September.
The team from Britain (Jonathan Mestel, John Nunn, Michael McDowell) finished
first, ahead of Israel and Finland. In the individual championship, first
was Piotr Murdzia (POL) with 84 points, 2nd Mestel (80), 3rd Nunn (78½).
The latter two scores were added together to represent the British score
in the team competition. John Nunn also won an open solving competition
which took place on 5 September. Detailed results can be found 